Ford Racing drivers Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson were involved in a multi-car incident on lap 51 of the YellaWood 500 which ended their races at Talladega Superspeedway early. The drivers spoke to media after being released from the infield care center.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT LED TO YOU GUYS BEING A PART OF OUR INCIDENT? “We went through the first cycle and it didn’t work out for us, I thought we did the right stuff there to get some stage points, that’s our priority. Yeah, so then it was just seeing whether we could get it fixed enough to go back out or not, but we had a steering rack issue so I couldn’t drive it out.” DO YOU THINK YOU HAD A WINNING CAR TODAY IF NOT FOR THAT INCIDENT? “I don’t see why not, our Discount Tire Ford Mustang was really fast, and I felt like we positioned ourselves well for the cycle but maybe didn’t have enough cars there.” 

NOAH GRAGSON, No. 4 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT INCIDENT? “We executed that pit stop really well and we were up there with Joey. He was running second in the bottom lane and I was just trying to control our lane from the lead, and the No. 43 was pushing really hard. You usually get those pushes late in the race in the third stage, but he was just pushing hard. It’s unfortunate. The back straightaway here is really rough and I was pushed in the wrong area and started wheelbarrowing down the backstretch before he caught me.” ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED TO FIND YOURSELF OUT OF THE RACE THIS EARLY? “Yeah, it’s just unfortunate. We have two more opportunities to end the season with strong races, but we were looking like we had a lot of speed.” CAN YOU ELABORATE MORE ON THE PUSH YOU GOT? “Yeah, I was just trying to keep even with the No. 16. There’s a couple of times where we both got clear of him. He was pushing really hard in the corner, places that guys don’t normally push in the first stage, whether it’s through the trioval or the corners. It just seemed a little bit aggressive in the first stage and we still had nine laps left so that was definitely a bummer.”

Ford Racing PR