Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
Ford Performance NASCAR Notes and Quotes
Good Sam 500 – Phoenix International Raceway
NSCS QUALIFYING
Friday, March 11, 2016
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion (Qualified 19th) – TALK ABOUT THAT WIN LAST WEEK AND HOW THAT TRANSLATES TO THIS WEEKEND AND EVEN AUTO CLUB NEXT WEEKEND. “I am not sure it carries over, other than my pit crew which was blazing fast last week and made my life a lot easier. These tracks are so different that there isn’t a lot to really compare off of them. We haven’t been exactly where we want to be speed wise this weekend but we haven’t been in race trim yet so I am optimistic about that. My teammates have been fast so there are things we can learn there and apply them. Phoenix has been a good track for us the last couple half dozen times or so we have run up front and led laps and had solid top-five and top-10’s so we want to keep that going.”
YOU HAVE RACKED UP LOTS OF WINS IN EVEN NUMBER YEARS, DID WINNING LAST WEEKEND GIVE YOU AN INDICATION THAT TREND MAY CONTINUE HERE IN 2016? “I am not sure why that happens but we do seem to get more wins on even years. I am not sure if there is any logic behind that. I don’t feel any different than any other year. Sometimes teams just get on streaks, both good and bad. We finished last year on a really good streak, just they weren’t wins. They were solid, consistent races leading a lot of laps and we were able to carry a lot of that over. That can reset at any time. The roller coaster goes up and it goes down and you try to ride the waves both ways as best you can.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED WITH THE REACTION ON SOCIAL MEDIA LAST WEEK WITH THE FLAG DEAL AND WILL IT CAUSE YOU NOT TO DO THAT TYPE OF CELEBRATION ANYMORE JUST TO AVOID THAT? “I don’t know if I am surprised by anything on social media anymore. It is hard to be surprised by the internet these days. I think my team guys told me they came up with some new system to help me hold it better in the car. I asked them what it was and they said I will find out if I win. So that is all I can tell you. It is inspiration I guess.”
WHEN YOU WENT OUT AND PICKED UP THE FLAG DID YOU HAVE A FEELING PEOPLE WOULD BE CRITICAL OF IT? “Yeah, probably, I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking about much other than just picking it up. I wasn’t thinking that it made a lot of people mad. In my mind I didn’t want to see it on the ground either, so I got there as quick as I could and picked it up.”
IT SEEMS LIKE THIS YEAR THE GIBBS GUYS CAN ALMOST DO NO WRONG AND THE HENDRICK GUYS SEEM TO BE HAVING TROUBLE EVERYWHERE. DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE OTHER TEAMS TOO MUCH? “There is a balance between watching other teams and focusing on your own. A lot of people would tell you to just do your own thing the best you can and you will be alright but that is not really how sports work. You line up against other teams all the time. So I think you have to keep your focus on yourself and the other teams at the same time and I guess in one way it can make you kind of cross-eyed. I think you are right, there is a reason the Gibbs cars are 1-3 right now. They have a lot of speed and are doing things at a very high level. They had a shot at winning the first three races and have been very close to doing that. I don’t know if anyone else can say the same. It is our goal to go out there and find some speed to be able to put up the numbers they are putting up like in qualifying today. Hopefully we can do that. They have a lot to be proud of with the things they have done to their cars to make them so fast. Of course we want to do the same and get ahead.”
