Ford Performance NASCAR: Blaney Gives Ford Seventh Win of 2020

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang -- VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW -- “I just kind of blocked, just trying to block the best we good.  Ride the top, ride the bottom.  The 20 got to my outside and I tried to go up there to slow him down and I’m not sure, I don’t know three-wide, I hate that I hit him, but just kind of trying to beat and bang to the line and things like that.  We just edged it out, but I’m really proud of this whole Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang team.  It’s been a cool year so far and I’m really excited to get our first win of the year at a cool place.  Thank you everybody for coming.  I appreciate it you sticking around.  That was a lot of fun.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE SAVING FUEL BUT WANTING TO GO?  “We were riding there.  We came back in and topped off and we were just riding around until maybe 12 to go.  I was waiting for Kevin to kind of go, but he had to save more than I did, so we just kind of had to get going.  You’re just biding your time and hoping you saved enough.  There’s enough information in there nowadays where you do save enough, but it was a lot of fun.  Thank you everybody for coming out.  I appreciate it.”

BACK-TO-BACK AT TALLADEGA.  TAKE US THROUGH THE LAST TWO LAPS?  “I wanted to take the bottom.  I thought the 47 was a really good pusher all day and I thought the bottom lane could just kind of get out there and was gonna be good, but I don’t know if he spun his tires or what, but I didn’t get the help at all, but was able to kind of pick and choose lanes there and wanted to wait for a while until later on that last lap, but you don’t want to wait too long because the caution might come out.  I was surprised the caution didn’t come out in three and four and I was lucky we were ahead, and then they got a big run again.  I was kind of out too far down the frontstretch and I couldn’t really see who was outside.  I knew there were some people and I just tried to go up and slow down and we kind of hit and beat and banged, and just another exciting one here.”

WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE THAT ALLOWED YOU TO STAY IN FRONT OF STENHOUSE?  “I don’t know.  I don’t know where he came from.  He came with a big run there.  I know me and the 20 kind of got beating and banging.  I was trying to slow him down and he almost got us I guess.  He came out of nowhere.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES?  YOU DON’T HAVE A BETTER FRIEND IN THIS SPORT THAN BUBBA WALLACE.  “It’s great.  It’s a tough couple days for him.  I’ve known him for 15 years and he’s one of my best friends.  I support him 100 percent of the way and I can’t wait to go see him.”

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HEAR THE FANS AGAIN?  “It’s nice to just have fans here again.  They’re awesome.  They stuck around throughout the rain and it’s cool.  Hopefully, we keep getting fans at the racetrack.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang -- WHAT DID YOU FEEL IN THE CAR AND WHAT DID YOU SEE ON THAT LAST LAP?  “I thought we had a shot to get our Smithfield Ford Mustang in Victory Lane.  We had a really good car and our strategy was to stay out of trouble all day and be there at the end, and we were there at the end.  It was close, but we just couldn’t get it done.  I’m proud of all my guys on this team.  We had a great week last week at Miami with a top five and leave here at Talladega with another top five, so we’ll keep building on that and it looks like the ball is going in the right direction for us.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang -- “Not a bad run for our Fastenal Ford Mustang and our team.  There was a lot of excitement throughout the race in different areas and obviously we’d want to replay the end and do a little bit better, but at the end of the day it was a good run for us and now we’ll go on to Pocono and go get a doubleheader in.”

-30-     NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020

FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER - POST RACE QUOTES

FORD FINISHING RESULTS:
1st - Ryan Blaney
3rd - Aric Almirola
6th - Chris Buescher
8th - John Hunter Nemechek
10th - Kevin Harvick
16th - Corey LaJoie
17th - Joey Logano
18th - Michael McDowell
19th - Brad Keselowski
22nd - Cole Custer
23rd - Ryan Newman
25th - Clint Bowyer
26th - Matt DiBenedetto
30th - Gray Gaulding
37th - Joey Gase

RYAN BLANEY GIVES FORD SEVENTH CUP WIN OF 2020

• Ryan Blaney piloted his No. 12 Ford to victory today, his first win of the season.
• Ford has now won 9 of the last 10 and 10 of the last 12 Cup races at Talladega..
• All three Team Penske drivers have now won a Cup race this season.
• The victory marks his fourth career MENCS win.
• The win is Mustang’s seventh win of the season.
• Today’s win is Ford’s 693rd all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
• Of Team Penske’s 76 MENCS wins with Ford, 49 have come since rejoining Ford in 2013.