CHRISH BUESCHER, DRIVER OF THE #17 FASTNAL FORD DARK HORSE MUSTANG FOR RFK RACING – MOTORSPORT AMERICA FILE PHOTO
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix
Sunday, March 2, 2025
Ford Finishing Order:
7th – Chris Buescher
8th – Noah Gragson
10th – Todd Gilliland
15th – Brad Keselowski
19th – Ryan Blaney
23rd – Cole Custer
24th – Joey Logano
25th – Austin Cindric
26th – Josh Berry
29th – Zane Smith
31st – Cody Ware
33rd – Ryan Preece
CHRIS BUESCHER No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “This 17 team
battled really hard to get our Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse up to P7
here. We are happy with that. It was a really hard day; a lot of ups and
downs. We never got ourselves into the track position that we wanted to.
We want to be better. It was a good day but I just feel like we are not
quite competitive enough to win here at COTA. We have been very close at
all of the other road courses – we feel like we have a chance to win at
the others. We need to make a couple more tweaks to our Mustang here at
this place. A good showing for this new course. We stayed out of the
melee, for the most part, and I am proud of everyone on this Fastenal
team. They did a good job today.”
NOAH GRAGSON – MOTORSPORT AMERICA FILE PHOTO
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 4 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It
was not looking good after that first run. We were really, really bad.
We kept our heads up and never quit. This Rush Trucks Centers team did
just an awesome job of wrenching on this Ford Mustang Dark Horse. We
persevered and didn’t let that early adversity get us down. It was a
lot of hard work throughout the day but I am super proud of everyone’s
efforts. It just matters what that scoreboard says at the end of the
day, not what it took to get there. We brought it home in one piece and
in the top-10.”
TODD GILLILAND, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse –
“We knew it would look different here today. We started 10th and
finished 10th but we battled all day. We were OK at the beginning but we
got stuck behind the [number] 9 literally in turn one. That is how it
goes sometimes. I am just really proud of the fight in our team. We
fought through a lot. We got a little lucky with the caution there at
the end but overall we just kept fighting through everything. That
brought home a top-10 finish for our Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang
Dark Horse and we can be proud of what got us that result .”
COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Haas Brothers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was
a lot of ups and downs. A hard fought day for sure. Our guys did a great
job rebounding throughout the day. We brought a fairly fast Ford Mustang
Dark Horse but we had a few hiccups throughout the day. I feel like, to
come back and get a solid result at the end of the day, wasn’t a bad
thing. We will just keep building from here.”