It was announced by NASCAR after the Monster Energy Cup Series qualifying that the times of the Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 8 of Daniel Hemric were disallowed due to having unapproved alternators.
“I think the track was in really good shape. I don't know if there was anything that really favored up, mostly it was just the team doing a great job with the preparation and executing a flawless lap driving the car. Most of the credit goes to my team for sure.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 3rd “For us to qualify third is really good. We started the day here kind of 1th to 13th, so to make that improvement is really good for us. I feel great about it, honestly. I feel like the guys have worked super hard and we just need a good weekend. I think if we start up front we’ll have a really good shot at it.”
“I look forward to that day. I know it will happen, just don’t know when. 2031, that’s 12 years from now. I’ll have as long of a Cup career as Tony Stewart did and I’ll still be in my mid-30s. I’ll be fine.”
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Team Penske Ford won the pole on Friday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway with a time of 37.80 seconds at 190.471 mph.
“I’m getting old! It’s cool. I have been lucky to have a great career and have worked with a lot of great teams and drive a lot of great cars and win a lot of races. It’s been fun. Hopefully, we can keep it going for a couple hundred more, I don’t know about 500. It’s been crazy to see how long we have been around. Pretty cool.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang - Qualified 2nd “It was a good day for our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang. Track position is really important everywhere we go. Coming to Michigan it is of the utmost importance so this is a really good start to the weekend for us.”
“Of course, I was very upset following the race with what took place there, and in my opinion you have to go talk to people and try to find out if what you thought in the car happened or not. Through that conversation, I was able to learn a lot about where Ryan’s head was on it all and here we are, we’re in Michigan. That’s last weekend. It did not turn out the way if could have for us and points are so important for us right now. That is where a lot of the frustration came from. I’m sure we’ve all... Читать дальше...
“It’s pretty cool. It’s not an impound race, so people are all trying to go as fast as they can and doing their thing to make the car go fast. We obviously did a really good job of that. It’s not the easiest to drive when you’re trimmed out like that. It’s a little more hair-raising, I guess you could say, when you’re out there in qualifying trim doing your thing. So, yeah, I’m pumped. I think we have a good shot at the pole and an opportunity to start up front here means a lot. You saw what Joey (Logano) was able to do with the pole last time.
“Everyone was in qualifying trim, so no one ran around each other, and everyone is running wide open, so it was uneventful from that stand point. You kind of got a good idea of where your car was on speed. I think ours is probably a couple tenths off from a pole winning car, but if we can be somewhere in the top 12-13, we will pretty happy.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 met with media and discussed traction compound, what it would be like to win at Michigan, the upcoming race at Bristol, and more. Full Transcript:
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang -- LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEKEND, IS IT YOUR BEST SHOT TO WIN? “I think Bristol is our race track to go in and do what we need to do. I am bummed in the spring that we didn’t get to race and show exactly how much speed we had because throughout the weekend in practice that was by far the best race car that I have ever had at Bristol. I know we have ran second there and struggled in practice and qualifying. I was bummed that we didn’t get to show that speed. Читать дальше...
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang -- YOU SET A LOT OF RACING RECORDS WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU AND KEPT YOU GOING WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER? “That is really awesome for you. We probably have a lot of similarities with you stepping into a tough situation right? Here you are, how old are you? 12. Okay. You are here with a bunch of media members that have been in here for way longer than 12 years."
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang -- YOU HAD SOME GOOD NEWS THIS WEEK WITH DISCOUNT TIRE, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THAT? “It has been a good week so far for a lot of reasons but certainly being here in Michigan, I always enjoy coming out here. It is a good chance to see a lot of family and friends and Team Penske with Roger Penske out of here as well. We get a lot of turnout for the team and our sponsor this weekend, Discount Tire, was founded here in Ann Arbor which is... Читать дальше...
“Pretty much the same pressure as I have had all year. We show up to the racetrack every week to win. Along those lines, nothing has really changed. I feel like there is other people that maybe will be driving a little farther over their heads, probably me included at some points. It’s the last chance. That part is a little bit tough, but I feel like my team has brought better and faster equipment every week to the racetrack, and this is no different. I’m really excited to get out there.”