Team Penske Photo
Ford Racing Notes and Quotes – NASCAR Cup Series
South Point 400 — Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Ford Racing Finishing Results:
4th – Austin Cindric
5th – Ryan Blaney
10th – Joey Logano
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse – A LITTLE
BITTERSWEET TODAY? “Yeah, obviously we overcame a bit today, but to
come up with a solid finish in our Autotrader Ford Mustang. I feel like
we had a car that was pretty good and close to capable of winning today.
There was a lot of deja vu from last week with the leaders fighting for
the win and still giving us a shot there, but I’m just proud of
everybody on the 2 car. We were able to bring two really fast cars two
weeks in a row and we’re really starting to execute really well
throughout this stretch.” WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE YOUR STRENGTH ON THE
MILE-AND-A-HALF TRACKS TO? “I think we’ve got a good notebook and I
think Brian and all the guys do a great job weighing these things out.
It wasn’t an easy weekend. We didn’t start the race necessarily as
close as we needed to and didn’t start practice as close as we needed
to, but the guys worked on it all day and gave us some strengths that we
didn’t have before. It takes a great team. That’s what it takes to
be good at this level on a consistent basis and I just want to win.”
YOUR BEST FINISH HERE AT LAS VEGAS, BUT IT HAD SOME DRAMA. “We
definitely had to work for it there, but the guys did a great job with
the strategy and adjustments throughout the day. I just wish that third
stage would have played out a little bit more favorably for us. I
thought we had a good enough car to at least go contend. I wouldn’t
say I’m the best guy out there, but I thought we were one of the
best.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I
definitely felt decent. Our long run pace was good, but not enough to
overcome the short run pace that I would lose. The 19 got really far
away there and start of the third stage I lost a couple of more spots. I
then found a little bit and ran along and just tried to get a tire
advantage and kind of got back to right around where we were. Overall,
it was a good day. Our mile-and-a-half program is definitely getting
better. Three cars in the top 10, that’s a really good day for our
group, so I appreciate Team Penske for continuing to work on it, Ford
Racing, Menards, Duracell, everybody who puts a lot into our program.
We’ll keep digging and keep locking in and go at it week to week.”
WHERE DO YOU PUT YOURSELF NOW WITH BEING 80 POINTS BACK GOING TO
CHARLOTTE? DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE STILL IN THE FIGHT? “Yeah. Hopefully,
we can put together a day like we just did with good stage points and
top fives, stuff like that. That’s what you’ve got to do. Our
mindset, no matter where you’re at or how many points ahead or behind
you are, you keep going to the racetrack and try to win the race and
continue to try to fight for all you can. It’s nice that we gained a
little bit on the leader, so that’s good. We’ll just try to do the
same next week and try to piece it together one race at a time.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW WOULD
YOU BREAK DOWN YOUR RACE TODAY? “It was okay. We got up there and got
some stage points in the second, so that was okay. I saw the front for a
second, but we either have short run or long run speed – pick which
one you want, but you can’t have them both. That’s kind of where it
seemed we were, and then we just got lucky because the rear gear was
smoking hot. I was probably too aggressive with some stuff there, but it
worked out that we made it. I feel lucky we made it.” YOU TALKED ABOUT
JUST TRYING TO HANG IN THERE WITH THESE THREE INTERMEDIATES. HOW DO YOU
FEEL ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE? “I think we’re 71 behind, so we lost a
couple but it could have been worse. We’ll just keep trying.”