Archive for February, 2020

BRISCOE POSTS 5TH-PLACE FINISH TO LEAD FORD IN NXS OPENER

Posted on: February 19th, 2020
Location: post

DAYTONA, FL – February 18, 2020 – Chase Briscoe secured Ford in the top-5 at the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 this weekend.

Ford Finishing Results:
5th  – Chase Briscoe  
25th  – Austin Cindric  

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Highpoint.com Ford Mustang –  Finished 5th
“That one is going to sting for awhile for sure. I feel like we were making more moves than anybody and I thought I was going to have a really good shot there at the end. I don’t know what was up with the 19, he couldn’t give me any help on the bottom. It was just one of those where you wish you would have picked the top. We went on the bottom because at the time it felt like the right decision. For our first race with Highpoint.com to almost put them in victory lane here at Daytona would have been pretty special. We will go on to Las Vegas next week and I feel like we will have a good car next week. This is a good way to start the season. You can bury yourself in points here, so for us to come out with a fourth place finish and a clean race car to go to Talladega goes a long way.”

WHAT ABOUT THAT INCIDENT BEFORE THE LAST ONE WHERE EVERYONE GOTSTACKED UP BEHIND YOU?
“I had just taken the lead and I saw them wrecking in my rearview mirror. I don’t really know what happened. I wish that caution didn’t come out though. I had taken control of the lead and feel like I could have blocked my way to the win. It just wasn’t in the cards today. But we will go to Las Vegas next week where I feel like we are going to be strong and hopefully get this Ford Mustang in victory lane.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – Finished 25th
“I was just watching the replay there.  It looks like it was in a tough spot or he got compressed pretty hard, but it was definitely the push that I gave him that sent him around, but I thought I pushed him in the right spot.  It was obviously the time in the race to push, so it’s unfortunate.  I wish our MoneyLion Ford Mustang would have been there to see the end of the race.  We obviously ran up front all day, but it’s too bad to tear up some cars, but that’s what you get here at Daytona.”

WHAT HAPPENED?
“Everyone is trying to make moves happen.  It’s Daytona.  Everyone is in a pack.  Everyone is pushing hard.  The 98 jumped up in front of the pack.  The 9 car jumped in front of the top lane, so it really compressed us.  I thought I gave the 8 the right
push at the right spot in the bumper, so I don’t really know why he got loose there.  Maybe he was trying to move, but overall it was unfortunate.  We had a fast MoneyLion Ford Mustang.  We ran up front all day and just could never get me and Chase synced up to where we could help each other.  You were usually just fighting teammates, so that’s what was difficult about today, but we’re going to Vegas and
start our season.”

WHAT WAS THE PLAN IF THE RACE STAYED GREEN?
“The first goal is to have a Ford win the race.  That’s the big deal and obviously we had the two of us and the 19 was probably the wild car, whether he was gonna go with us or the JRM guys, but the game changed pretty quickly there.  I wasn’t expecting it to go all green.  It never does in these races, so it’s just unfortunate we weren’t able to make the top lane work there and ended our day.”

* Courtesy of Ford Performance

FORD MUSTANGS SWEEP NASCAR CUP & XFINITY SERIES IN LAS VEGAS

Posted on: February 24th, 2020
Location: post

LAS VEGAS, NV – February 24, 2020 – Joey Logano and Matt DiBenedetto led Ford Performance to a 1-2 finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Pennzoil 400. Logano piloted the Team Penske Pennzoil Mustang to Ford’s first win of 2020 while winning his 24th NASCAR Cup Series career race.
“Congratulations to Joey, Paul, Roger, and the No. 22 crew,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “It was great to see these Ford Mustangs run so strong. Our guys drove a great race and happy to see Joey and Paul get their first win of the season. We {Roush Yates Engines} are proud to be part of the Ford Performance team and power these fast Ford Mustangs.”
After a late race caution, at lap 262, Logano missed the call to pit, which placed him in the lead for the restart and a two-lap shoot out. As they came to green, Logano received a big push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. which pushed him to the lead. With the clean air, he was able to separate himself from the rest of the pack and take the white flag before another caution came out on the last lap, securing Logano back-to-back wins in Las Vegas with Ford Performance.
Logano commented in Victory Lane, “There was a little confusion, but it worked out really well. A lot of cars stayed out and that was key to that move. Winning the Pennzoil 400 with the Pennzoil car, this is huge. It means a lot to be able to do this two-years in a row winning this race. I’m proud of the effort everybody here behind me did today. They prepared a great car and executed the race perfectly and that’s what we wanted. We fought hard and tried to keep every spot we possibly could and then ultimately, oh man, being able to pull it into Victory Lane here.”
Ford has won four out of the last five races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Kevin Harvick (2018), Brad Keselowski (2018) and Logano (2019).

The Ford teams led a combined 165 laps out of the 267-lap race with a race high by Harvick of 92 followed by race winner, Logano with 54 and Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney with 19.

DiBenedetto drove the No. 21 Ford Mustang to a second-place finish with Wood Brothers Racing while Keselowski finished P7 and Harvick P8.
Ford also went 1-2 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Sunday. Chase Briscoe from Stewart-Haas Racing crossed the finish line first, leading 89 laps out of the 200-lap race, to win his third career NXS race while Austin Cindric from Team Penske came in second, leading a total of 39 laps.
“It’s nice to get a win early,” Briscoe commented in Victory Lane. “Obviously, we were hoping that we could get a win at some point in the year – we expected to – but to get it in our Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang before Phoenix is definitely nice just because we can go there and kind of try some stuff because I feel like that’s one place I need to get way better at. That being said, it’s nice to take the point lead. It doesn’t mean as much this early in the season, but it’s a good confidence booster and it goes a long way when you’re in that first garage stall with your guys.”
The Ford teams will take this momentum to Fontana, CA and the Auto Club Speedway later this week. Reference the full 2020 schedule on Roushyates.com.

27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 381 WINS – 356 POLES!

*Photos courtesy of NASCAR media