Ford Racing TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Notes & Quotes:

Lone Star Le Mans (Austin, Texas)

Race

Sat., Sept. 20, 2014

FORD ECOBOOST FINAL RACE RESULTS

Overall/Class

1/1         01 (*Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas) – 2:45:54.946 (77 laps)

5/5         60 (*Ozz Negri, John Pew) – 2:46:43.394 (77 laps)

*Last driver in car.

FORD ECOBOOST STARTING POSITIONS

3              01 (Scott Pruett, *Memo Rojas) – 1:58.928, 102.919 mph

7              60 (*Ozz Negri, John Pew) – 2:00.042, 101.964 mph

* Driver qualified.

Circuit of the Americas (COTA)

Ford podium: p2 in 2013 with Starworks Motorsport (Ryan Dalziel/Alex Popow).

No. 01 Telcel/Telmex Ford EcoBoost Riley

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates

SCOTT PRUETT: “We knew the finish was going to be tight (on fuel). We didn’t have the pace, but we thought we would have a lot more of a fighting chance by stretching it to just doing two stops. At the same time you have to go fast. We looked at what we needed to do and went back and forth with the team and basically decided I was going to get as much fuel mileage as I could, go as fast as I could, until I could see the 5 car gain ground on me. At that point, when they got to me, I was going to take off. Fortunately everything came together and that was exactly what happened. With the traffic and some of the other things, that’s one thing about this race, you never know how traffic is going to play. Sometimes it plays for you, sometimes it plays against you. I’ve lost races because of it; I’ve won races because of it. You just never know how that’s going to be. Fortunately for us today the traffic worked in our favor. We stayed strong all day. I think we cut it just about tight enough on fuel.

“I just couldn’t be more proud of our guys. It has been a very tough season for us. We’ve had our ups and downs, we’ve gone through a pretty tough stretch. Ford has had to dig deep. We’ve been impressed with how they’ve dug in. This is new technology, with the twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 and they continually are working hard on it. Telcel and Telmex continue to have faith and continue the support. Memo did a terrific job today and the guys did a great job in the pits and that’s what you need to do. We needed this shot in the arm of adrenaline.”

MEMO ROJAS: “We’re happy because it’s been a tough season for us. It’s had its ups and downs. We work hard every race and sometimes things don’t go your way, but I’m glad we’re back here. Like they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We’ve come back stronger and we’re trying to finish the season as strong as we started it. Winning here is important to me, personally, and to the team, especially since there’s a large Hispanic community (here) and we have Hispanic sponsors and I’m from Mexico. This race is closest to home for me, so I’m really happy to win here.”

ON HIS LAP 1, TURN 1 PASS: “We want to win races, and we know the only way to win races is to go to the front. So that’s what I was determined to do. We needed to make a move early.”

No. 60 Aero Ford EcoBoost Riley

Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian

OZZ NEGRI: “My job today involved a fuel economy run. It's hard to hold yourself to that, but with discipline you can do it and that's what we were able to do. It was an interesting race. We got a little bit unlucky on that yellow. Ganassi (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) pitted right before it went yellow. It's tough coming from behind, going through the pack. The team did a great job coaching me through pace and saving fuel. Which that's so frustrating; you want to go fast but at the same time, you have to save enough fuel to finish. I was looking at the dash and I couldn't see any more light on the fuel display and I thought I was out of fuel but the team said I had three more laps to go. I kept doing what I was doing and trying to keep up the pace as well. I tried to get to the 2 car but he was just a little too far ahead. We were able to gap the 90; we started off about 11 seconds ahead of them and were able to stretch that out to about 20. The changes that we did for the race definitely made the car better. The hardest part is disciplining yourself not to go 10/10ths when the team is asking you to save fuel. You are lifting and braking earlier and short-shifting but we did what we had to do to finish P5. I thought we had the pace to be up there with the leaders if we had had track position.”

JOHN PEW: “My job today was to keep the car clean, stay clear of trouble and hand it to (co-driver) Ozz (Negri) without any problems. I think I was able to accomplish that. It was too bad the first start was called off because I had a good start and got around the 2 car but on the second attempt I was unable to get around him. There was a lot of debris in the last two corners for quite a while and you are having to drive off line to miss it. Finally at the very end of my stint, they were just about to call me in for the stop and they called a yellow. Because the pits were closed, I had to really work hard to save enough fuel to make it until we could get in for the stop.”