DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.— With the win in the Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford Performance has won six of the last races at either Daytona or Talladega.

 

For many teams, beating any of the Ford drivers at a restrictor plate event is crucial. Brad Keselowski, Stenhouse Jr., and Clint Bowyer discussed the power of Ford Performance this weekend at Daytona. That success is also attributed to the power of Roush-Yates Engines.

 

“I think that every year we see seem to see different cars and teams and manufacturers have strengths and weaknesses. I think we’re starting to see at this point and time in the season where the Fords have distinct strengths and weaknesses. Probably more that we’ve seen in the last four or five years with the manufacturers. The Fords right now are the best cars on the speedway tracks for a number of reasons. One of which is the power in their engines is very strong a the higher rpms. And with the current gear rules and current engine packages at Daytona and Talladega, the engines sustain higher rpm for the duration of running in the pack,” said Keselowski. “And I think with the bodies, the Ford body on the Gen 6 car lends itself to well to the restrictor plate tracks with having high-efficiencies with respect to its drag characteristics.  I would agree that the Fords have some strengths right now on the restrictor plate tracks and probably behind on the other race tracks. Like anything, if your golf game is good on the greens and not good on the driving range you have to make the putts. So the Fords are doing a good job at that. I would like to see it be a little more balanced out with our strengths and weaknesses but with the current landscape that’s where it is right now.”

 

“Let me just say this:  Those Roush Yates engines are phenomenal.  Doug does such a great job, puts a lot of emphasis on this plate stuff, takes a lot of pride in it, and he should.  Those things run amazing.  They take a beating out there.  At the end of that thing, I was overheating, blowing water, doing all the things that you know are going to happen when we get like that.  I mean, I was pushing him all the way down the back straightaway all the way through 3 and 4.  It was just kind of one of those deals,” said Bowyer in his post-race media availability. “We were up against the wall, and I was shoving, and the water temperature was pegged and blowing water.  But it’s just — those things are phenomenal.  It’s amazing any of these engines make it through this stuff.  I’m just blown away if you really think about it and look at the mechanics of what those on in them things each and every week, you’re looking back at last week, all the rpms and everything that turns, I’m just proud to have that Roush Yates power under our hood.”

 

“I think it’s really strong.  I think obviously qualifying showed that our Ford Performance cars are really strong, and I think I kind of echo what Brad said maybe on the broadcast before the race is the high RPM tracks we feel really, really good at.  I feel like that’s why we run the top of the racetracks, a lot of the racetracks we go to, and the engine package, the bodies, everything is just working really well for the speedways,” said Stenhouse Jr. “And then we work well together.  We all practice together, and it was nice to be able to use your Ford teammates throughout the race to keep us up front, and even — all the Fords, David Ragan’s car was fast there.  He’s a good speedway racer.  So we feel like we’ve still got work to do on other racetracks, but it’s nice to capitalize on — when you have the opportunity to, and that’s what it’s all about.  The fastest cars don’t always win at speedways, but it’s nice that we’ve been able to capitalize on that for Ford, for Roush Yates, and particularly for Roush Fenway.

 

 

With the dominance of Ford Performance at restrictor-plate tracks, can anybody stop them when Cup heads to Talladega in October? That is a question that will be interesting to watch.

Caleb Whisler
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