Author: Official Release

Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

KANSAS CITY (September 28, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday after earning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

When you come here do you know you’re going to run the top line for qualifying?

“100%, yes. There is not one question in my head of what lane I’m going to run in qualifying. There’s a lot of things to be determined. Where I position my car on the race track is pretty set in stone. That’s where it’s going to be for sure.”

Why is it that concrete?

“I was fortunate enough to do the tire test for the Next Gen car here at Kansas, and whenever I came here, we had an abundance of tires and I was able to – running down, running middle, running high and it was pretty clear that the top was the fastest lane. And I remember coming here for the first Next Gen race in 2022 – it would’ve been the spring of 2022 – I think I was the first guy to qualify on the top and it was just from the experience I had at the tire test. It’s a unique race track. All the other places that you go, and you run high, you run high on older tires. But Kansas is the one place where you can run high and make lap time on new tires as well. I think it’s just the progressive banking that this place has in it and yeah, it’s fast for whatever reason.”

How do you translate this pole into a win here at Kansas?

“Well, I haven’t done it yet. I don’t know, Kansas has been a weird track for us because we come here, and we obviously qualify really well but it seems like over the course of the long run I just haven’t had what I need to compete with the best cars. We’re consistently good, like we’ve finished top 10 a lot or on the verge of top five but certainly every race since the Next Gen introduction we haven’t been the winning car here. So, with that being said, we haven’t left here and said we hit it perfect either. So, I think a little bit of car work and me working on myself as a driver and then hopefully I can continue to improve and drive better tomorrow than I have in the past here and we can have a better result. It’s a tricky race track because the top is so fast but your balance changes during the course of the run so much that you have to move around, and you can’t be committed to the top. It’s honestly a little opposite of Homestead. Where Homestead you kind of run down and you migrate to the wall. Here at Kansas, it seems like you can start at the wall and as the run goes, you’re going to move around and get away from it whenever your balance starts to change.”

Is there any reason why we shouldn’t pick you to win tomorrow’s race?

“There’s a lot of reasons why you shouldn’t pick me, Bob (laughter). I can go down the list. Yeah, but I feel good. I feel good. Certainly, in practice it felt different. I felt really comfortable in the car here and most of the time I haven’t felt comfortable over the course of the long run. I don’t know. It is Kansas and there are a couple guys who are always going to be upfront but hopefully tomorrow is the day the 20 car is upfront.”

What can you do this week to protect yourself at Talladega?

“Win this week. I mean, yeah, that’s a great question. There really is no hiding, although it does feel like the fall Talladega race has been a lot calmer than the spring race the last couple years. I don’t know. Superspeedway racing, I’ve been very vocal, it’s not my favorite style of racing and that puts a lot of emphasis on this race tomorrow to try to get some stage points. Obviously, winning would be ideal, but certainly going to Talladega with a big cushion is our number one goal.”

Did the driver’s meeting this morning give you any sense of security for Talladega next weekend?

“No. There’s obviously talking about potential changes. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but whatever the changes are aren’t going to change the fact that the Toyotas haven’t qualified well (there). We’re likely not to qualify well which means it’s going to be tough to score stage points in stage one. Nothing is going to be earth-shattering. We kind of know what to expect going into Talladega and Daytona so I don’t see any big changes on how the race plays out.”

How differently does the wind affect the Next Gen car compared to the last car?

“I don’t know. These things are just way more on edge than the old cars were. The old cars, you could slide them around and catch it. You just have to be more mindful of what the wind is doing to your car, and definitely today the balance was pretty split. (Turns) one and two, I think everybody was fighting pretty tight in (turns) one and two and then you get to (turns) three and four and it’s a lot looser. So, you just have to be careful because this thing is just a knives edge where the other car, even if you were tight and you slide the front tires, it wouldn’t take off on you. So, this car everything about it – you have to be a lot more precise and cautious driving it.”

Do you think Kansas Speedway could hold the championship race weekend?

“I do if weather was not an issue. I think it would be a great place to hold a championship. I think that was a question at media day of which track should get the championship event and I said Vegas, but Kansas certainly could be an amazing championship race venue if weather is not an issue. The Next Gen car has just raced so well on the multi-lane intermediate race tracks. You look at here, Vegas, Charlotte – those three are really our best races now. Yeah, any of those three would be an amazing final race. Homestead too – you could put Homestead back in there too.”

What is on your mind now between now and tomorrow’s race?

“Yeah, just go back and study data from practice and see what was good and what was bad. Myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief), we haven’t even been able to debrief, so I’m sure he has a lot better idea of where we need to improve and what our strengths and weaknesses were from the practice session. Yeah, it all starts tomorrow by winning the start. I won the pole here several times and sometimes I’m able to lead and sometimes I lose the start and that’s a big, big part of the run is getting the lead, getting that clean air. If you can get the lead and get clean air, you’re going to lead for a period of time, and then just managing it from there. It starts at the wave of the green flag to make sure that you get the launch and get out front and then that’s a big first step of the race.”

How aggressive will you be to get the lead at the start of the race?

“I mean, you want to do everything you can, but obviously you’re walking a tightrope. You’re managing risk versus reward and obviously the risk is much greater at the beginning of the race. Whenever you get down to the end – green-white checkered and stuff – you know how the stages have played out, if you have points in the bank and then that risk versus reward meter is going to read a little bit different. Certainly, you want to race hard to get the lead right off the bat, but you’re not going to put yourself in jeopardy to hurt your race.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying
Hollywood Casino 400 | Kansas Speedway
Saturday, September 28, 2024

FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS

5th – Joey Logano (P)
7th – Ryan Blaney (P)
9th – Chase Briscoe (P)
17th – Austin Cindric
21st – Michael McDowell
24th – Noah Gragson
25th – Chris Buescher
26th – Brad Keselowski
27th – Corey LaJoie
28th – Harrison Burton
29th – Josh Berry
33rd – Todd Gilliland
34th – Kaz Grala
37th – Ryan Preece
(P) denotes playoff driver

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 5th)

“It is nice to start in the top five. I feel like our car was better today than what we have had here the last couple of years. I am proud of the gains we have made to be in the ballpark. We just need to go out there and score stage points and be solid tomorrow, that is what we need to do. I think we are closer than what we have been here in a long time. This has been, maybe, our worst race track. So the fact that we are in the ballpark says a lot.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 7th)

“Overall I think that was a decent day. It was nice to make the second round. Qualifying hasn’t been my strong suit here so it was nice to make it to the second round today and start inside the top 10. I thought our race pace in practice earlier was pretty good, so we will see what we have come race time tomorrow. Overall, I think it is a good start to the weekend.”

Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

KANSAS CITY (September 28, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Are you still taking an analytical approach to this second round of the Playoffs?

“You could still take the approach, but truthfully, we’re going to just try to win this weekend and then not have to worry about numbers. But certainly, we’re going to approach these three races and get all we can and live with the result no matter what it is. We can’t control the things we can’t control, but if we just do the best that we can we feel pretty confident.”

Is this a different approach?

“Yeah, I mean, did that prove to be true or not? It did. Certainly, it was closer than we wanted it to be and certainly if I had to do it all over again, there’s some factors that changed the way I was going to approach Atlanta after things went down – after 40 or 50 laps that changed that. But, yeah, certainly we just don’t have the buffer entering these rounds that we did before. You use the numbers to try to help you make the best decisions possible, but I think the best avenue for us going forward is to just go all out.”

NASCAR is proposing changes for Talladega to help with lift off speeds. Is there anything you heard that you like or dislike as an owner and/or driver?

“From an owner standpoint, no. From a driver’s standpoint, yes. I heard drivers say that they didn’t like what was being proposed simply for visibility reasons amongst other things. Certainly, from aesthetic reasons, I certainly don’t love it but they’re going to try to make the best, educated guess that they can on what would fix it. But I’ve said a million, times, I certainly don’t think that rollovers are necessarily a bad thing.”

What about Kansas fits your driving style?

“I mean, I think the things that have made us really strong here is the ability to run the same lap time in multiple lanes. Certainly, everyone can run fast when they go up by the wall, but can you run fast when you actually have to pass someone and have to go down low. I think our ability and the versatility of our car over the last few years is really what’s made us excel and just the momentum-based type of racing that we have on these mile and a halves. It seems like I’ve adapted to that type of style.”

Does Kansas have the capability of hosting a NASCAR championship race?

“Yeah, it certainly from a driver’s standpoint, from a competition standpoint, it seems like it puts on some of the best racing that we have. Even though mile and a halves generally have gotten really good over the Next Gen era, this track in particular stands out amongst them. So, certainly, bias, yeah sure – from my standpoint, absolutely (laughter) – as the one race winner take all. But, certainly, there’s a lot of factors that go into that.”

Do you think you need to get business done the next two weeks prior to the Roval and have you studied the new track layout there?

“Certainly, the Roval will be a challenge, but it’s going to be a challenge for everyone to learn the new track. Yeah, we want to get as much business as we can done over the next two weeks. No doubt about it. You always want to have a bigger buffer going into that final race just simply because of the flip flopping that can go on during stages there. Passing at the Roval has been extremely, extremely hard. We’ve seen guys that stay out for stage points, do not make it back up to the front no matter how good either car is. So, I just think, generally speaking you want to have some sort of buffer going into that track so you can play strategy multiple ways.”

How does your mindset change from the first round to the second round of the Playoffs?

“Just from my standpoint, I never contemplate going out in the first round. It’s just not the standard I set for myself. I don’t contemplate going out in the second round either, equally. But there are things that are different certainly this year, right? We’re 14 points less than what we should have had given our regular season points position and the penalty. It puts it in play. It puts the unknowns a little bit more in play this time around. So, certainly there was a little sigh of relief from my standpoint leaving the first round around and certainly now going into one of my best race tracks I think that now let’s capitalize and go from treading water seven days ago to punching our ticket into the Round of 8, eight days later.”

How could your points situation impact how you do things moving forward?

“Yeah, I mean, you can’t let it impact you too much. I think if we try to change strategy or I change the way that I do things, it’s more of a recipe for disaster than it is success. I think that we’ve had enough success in these playoffs and how we’ve run over the last few years, that what we do is good enough. We don’t need to change based off of a given situation. Now, you can’t be dumb about it right? If your competition stubs their toe and goes out early, you’ve got to manage the race accordingly from there. But generally speaking, I just feel as though we’re good enough and I’m good enough, we just have to have it all put together. And certainly, feel like this year on performance that’s as good as we’ve been. There’s certainly probably been some other years statistically that’s been a little bit stronger, but as far as speed is concerned, we don’t come to these race tracks hoping we have speed. It’s just we’re hoping these races play out where speed really matters. I don’t know. I just feel pretty good about it, but I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in my day. I’m not going to let myself get too high or too low in any given situation. I’m going to just go for the result and win.”

How important has FedEx been to your career?

“Good question. It’s been a fantastic partnership that we’ve had nearly 20 years. They’re the ones that really took a risk on me when I was just running the Xfinity Series about fifth to eighth (place) every week, and J.D. Gibbs said this is the move we want to make and put him in there. So, they’re the ones that really took a risk. So certainly, that risk paid off for many, many years and I couldn’t be happier to be aligned with FedEx. I’ve got to do a lot of great things with them off the track as well. We’ve rebuilt houses, done some things with Salvation Army, Team Rubicon – just some great things. They’re a company that has given back to the local communities unlike any other. When Covid happened, getting important medical supplies to hospitals and whatnot that needed it. So, it’s certainly a relationship that has made my career. It’s made it a lot easier being aligned with someone for that long and we’re going to continue to represent them on and off the race track for a time to come. I certainly feel happy about that relationship and certainly it happened because of Joe Gibbs and his relationship, but I’ve been very proud to represent that company.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Toyota Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

KANSAS CITY (September 28, 2024) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 DraftKings Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

Were you able to pinpoint why 23XI Racing didn’t have the speed in the spring race at Kansas?

“There was a lot of things that happened in the race that contributed to that. Specifically for our team, we were very close in practice, qualifying didn’t exactly go perfect. Made some mistakes on my end that put us out of the top 10. But as for the race itself, yeah, I’d say we were decent. I think we could’ve ran top five but certainly hitting the wall the way I did to start the race racing the 48 (Alex Bowman) did a lot of damage to our car and from there it spiraled out of control. We ran something over and put a hole in the floor in the car so just a lot of things went wrong to really hurt the performance. Certainly, seeing some of the tire wear that we had that others didn’t there was some things that we learned there. I think the finish wasn’t great, but as we prepared for this coming weekend we weren’t panicked or any kind of freak out coming back here because the other Toyota’s ran good, and we know where they’re at. And we’ve been very close. We’ve had winning speed and had that potential in year’s past, so we knew that we weren’t going to have to look at a lot of things to improve and change coming back.”

Can you bring things from last year’s race win at Kansas into Sunday’s race?

“When the race happens isn’t necessarily a factor, it’s just the temperature of the weekend. Is it cloudy? Is it sunny? What’s the air temperature? What’s the track temperature? Is it going to be humid? Is it going to be dry? All those things kind of change it more so than the time of year. And typically, further into the year yeah, it’s normally a little bit cooler but that’s all of the information we know coming into it and have already adjusted for. I don’t necessarily think it moves the needle on what you bring setup wise, but it can kind of dictate where you start with the balance of your race car compared to the spring races.”

How would you summarize the first round of the Playoffs and do you feel you have momentum left?

“It’s there. Well, we’ll see shortly, I think it’s there. It was definitely not a good first round for us. Yeah, I think a number of things played into that, but we’ve done a really good job all year long of at our worst being able to still get a top 10 out of it. Some of the handling issues that we had at tracks where normally it’s not an issue for us really set that in stone for the first round. I think we still could’ve scored decent points especially the last two races. We were just missing things a little bit – made mistakes in qualifying on my behalf that put us back there and then were in that box where we have to get a little desperate or aggressive, if you will, to try and get some points out of it. Yeah, we’re able to look at the results and understand why we were there. We’re not scratching our heads as to why we ran that bad. We know what caused it. Yeah, it is what it is. It stinks, but you get to reset and start over for this round where we were at the beginning.”

Does winning at Talladega in the spring give you more confidence going there in the Playoffs, and do you approach this race differently because it’s in the Playoffs?

“I don’t think we approach it differently. You still need to do what is best for your team whether that’s as yourself or working with the other Toyotas. I think a number of us, all of us will have an understanding of what we need to do going in there, but yeah, each speedway is so unique. I have confidence when we go to the speedways certainly of what we need to do to put ourselves in position to win, but every race plays out just so unique it’s hard to say, ‘Well, it’s going to play out in the same way and we’re going to get to the front because of it.’ So, we just have to be adaptable when you go to speedway races like that. You have to be ready to adjust up or adjust down. It just depends on how much fuel saving takes place in the stages of the race. I think that’s going to really dictate who gets where.”

Do you foresee this round could be as big of a wild card as the Round of 16?

“Certainly, I definitely do. Just it will be that much more important to have solid races and that’s kind of what our foundation has been the majority of this year. Yeah, it will be nice to leave here with a win and not have to worry about the next two, but certainly our strengths has been about getting top fives and getting top 10s and scoring lot of points. If we do those things here, it will put us in a position where we’re not overly stressed going into Talladega and then the Roval. We went into it below the cut and were able to score a lot of points and advance by a good margin leaving there. All three of these tracks I think are good for our team. A lot can happen. A lot can take place early in the race – at any point in the race – and can really shift the flow of the race. But, typically, when that’s happened this year at some of these other events that we’ve normally had a good response to it and have been able to come out in the positive throughout those more chaotic races.”

Does it make it easier that Kansas starts this round of the Playoffs?

“I mean, I think it can – it depends on where you’re at, I think. I think if you’re below the cutline, if Talladega was the first race in the round, you’re just trying to have a really solid day and then you can kind of manage and run your own race a little bit more at the next two if they’re not speedway races. But at the end of the day, they all pay the same amount of points, the same potential is out there to be had or lost every single race weekend. Yeah, I think when you look at it on the calendar, right, next year, it was the opening race of the Round of 12 I’m sure people would be like, ‘Oh boy! That’s going to be a stressful race.’ Any time you go speedway racing so much can happen in such a short amount of time that you’re just kind of on the edge of your seat if you will throughout the whole race just hoping you can get out of there with a race car that’s clean and leaves the way it came to the race track.”

How do you find the balance going into practice to find a speed that you need for the race?

“I think a lot of it is what the team brings to the race track. Certainly, we play our part in what our car does, what kind of lap time it produces. But certainly, I definitely have been fortunate. I feel like every time I’ve been here whether it was the old car or this current car, whether it was RCR or now 23XI, it just seems like I’ve been able to come here and have solid cars and that gives me a good starting point to be able to have some good days. Certainly, the car has to play its part, but at a place like this where you have the seams, the change in banking from the bottom to the middle to the top, the little bit of tire fall off that we have, it is in your hands. But I just think it takes really fast Toyota Camrys but also, I feel like the team has had a really good mindset and that’s a fact – you can see it in the results. Certainly, those things you have to keep in mind going into this race weekend.”

What does it mean to see dirt track racers like yourself, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson at the top of the Playoff standings?

“I’ve only been a part of small chapters of it. I’ve only done this for a few years, but it certainly seems like from a fan’s perspective – my perspective as a fan growing up – there was less reward for taking a risk and I feel like now that just continues to elevate. So, for us, when we come from dirt racing, we’re used to making aggressive moves, dealing with aggressive race tracks, if you will, at times too and just having to go out there and in the first lap or two find it. You get three or four laps in warm up or practice and you gotta go run a lap in qualifying. Just our nature, our upbringing, really kind of primed us for how this car races today. You hear Kyle (Larson) talk about it right at Bristol — 100% of all you’ve got for 500 laps at Bristol. That’s just kind of the mindset we had growing up as drivers was just to always push the issue. I remember the last time I did go run some dirt, it was like wow, my mindset has really shifted. We’re used to having 40 or 50 laps opening stage or 20 or 30 laps in practice to really feel what you have, and when you go dirt racing you need to find it in two laps. A lot of times your races are 20 to 30 laps, maybe 50 in some of the bigger ones. You just don’t have the time or the luxury of time that you do here. It does really seem like the dirt racing mindset has applied well to this car I feel.”

How do you look at momentum?

“When things are going good, it’s easy. Confidence comes with very little effort, right? I think when you have a tough stretch or a bad weekend you have to, however it may work for you or that team, you’ve got to do the things that help get you back in the right mindset going into the next weekend. Yeah, it was certainly a letdown for us to perform like we did in the first round, but it’s hard to stay down for more than a couple hours after the race because when you look ahead and see what we have in front of us – one a great opportunity but also very, very good race tracks for our team. Good style of race tracks for our team. Your kind of in control of that if you will – the team, the driver. You’ve just got to have the right mindset. We’ve had these things happen in the past. A year ago, it was up and as soon as it was up, it was all the way down to the very bottom. We’ve had to deal with this in the past.”

How do you feel about what you can do with the mile-and-a-half program in the Playoffs?

“Looking back at it, we have Charlotte where we had unfortunately – started from pit road essentially, and, then pulled off the leaders on scuffed tires so I mean we were good there. I was planning on using all 400 laps to get to the front, we just ran out of time unfortunately. And then, I look at Michigan and that car was just lights out. Michigan and Kansas are different sizes, but the amount of banking the track has, some of the things that you need to have as a driver in your car or mindset as a driver, can apply here too. Being that we were as good as we were at Michigan, we can’t help but be really excited for this weekend in Kansas.”

What are your thoughts on the changes to the Roval track layout for this year?

“I’m not totally sure how it’s going to change it. I think I remember when we went to running the Roval and just there’s a lot of unknowns. I remember how slick the surface was. The tire we were running at the time was a harder tire on the Cup and Xfinity car and it just didn’t mesh well until it really rubbered in, so I remember there were a lot of spins and a lot of crashing in practice. But for the most part, a lot of the surface hasn’t changed, right? It’s just that stretch from turn 6 over into the new turn 7. I’m not totally sure. I think it’s a corner, there’s not a lot of corners around the Roval where you really have the option to use that bumper or get physical to move people out of the way or get position, but that new turn 7 is certainly going to be slow enough where if you do a good enough job and stay close to someone through (turn) 6, I think it’s slow enough to where you can move someone out of the way without completely ending their day. It is a bit of an unknown. Certainly, there are some elevation changes that seem pretty alarming, but we’ll tackle it. I think the whole industry figured out the Roval pretty quick and I think we’ll be able to figure out this change too.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Hollywood Casino 400 | Kansas Speedway
Saturday, September 28, 2024

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing, met with media members Saturday morning.

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

IN 2022 IN THE PLAYOFF RACE YOU WERE 13TH AND THAT WAS ON THE PATH TO YOU MAKING THE ROUND OF 8. DO YOU GUYS FEEL LIKE THAT’S A GOOD BENCHMARK TO SET YOURSELF UP FOR THIS ROUND OR DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO HAVE THE DARLINGTON BRISTOL-CLASSIC PERFORMANCE THIS WEEKEND?

“Yeah, the Darlington Bristol-style performance would definitely be a big help for sure. We were talking about it earlier this week and feel like we definitely need to try to maximize this race just with Talladega and the Roval being unpredictable. I do think if we can come out of here 12th or 13th, and get some stage points, it should put you at least in the hunt. You’re not going to start at huge depths like you did at Atlanta. So that’s for sure a focus. This has probably not been our best racetrack, so we’ve got some work to do, but I am confident that we’re going to be the best we’ve been here in a long time.”

IT’S BEEN SINCE MAY SINCE YOU GUYS ACTUALLY RACED ON A TRUE MILE-AND-A-HALF TRACK BUT NOW YOU’VE GOT THREE IN THE PLAYOFFS SO GIVEN HOW MUCH TIME HAS PASSED, HOW GOOD DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHAT YOU GUYS COULD DO AT THOSE TRACKS WITH YOUR PROGRAM?

“Yeah, it is crazy to think the last time we ran one of these was in May, right? But I think for us, honestly probably the closest comparison to a mile and a half would be Darlington. Aero does make a little bit of an issue there. This track does have a little bit of tire fall off, like a place like Darlington does. Obviously, not near as extreme. The speeds are way slower, but as far as a mile and a half style race, out of everything we’ve done recently, that’s the closest comparison. I thought from where we were in April or whenever it was we raced Darlington the first time to where we are last time we went there was quite a bit different so I think if we can just make our program kind of make that same jump then it should be way better. Last time we came here we were able to qualify in the final round and do things like that so I’m confident that we should be able to be in the mix but it’s still obviously going to take execution and just a full complete weekend. That’s the difference in the playoffs it doesn’t take just a full complete day. It really takes the whole weekend and you know it starts in practice and obviously qualifying. That’s something that we’ve been really good at these last couple weeks.”

HOW REWARDING IS IT TO YOU AND THE 14 TEAM KNOWING THAT PEOPLE DIDN’T EXPECT YOU TO MAKE IT TO THIS ROUND?

“Yeah, it’s nice. I think internally we all knew what we were capable of, especially once we got into the playoffs and just the momentum and the confidence that that brought. It’s honestly been kind of similar to 2022 in that sense where everybody said that we were going to be out the first round and we kind of knew that we were way better of a team than that. So from that standpoint, it’s been fun to kind of bust everybody’s brackets again. Hopefully we can do like the last time and make a really deep playoff run. I feel like we’re way stronger now than we’ve ever been as a team. Even when we did that in 2022, we just had like some really good weeks. We still weren’t really that fast, like Texas and Vegas. We were running 30th a lot of that race and just kind of salvaged the top five. Where right now I feel like we’re in a totally different space. We’re running up front, we’re one of the faster cars, so I feel really good about it and hopefully we can just keep proving people wrong.”

HOW DEMORALIZING WOULD IT BE TO KIND OF WATCH THINGS DISAPPEAR IF SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS NEXT WEEK AT TALLADEGA BECAUSE SOMETIMES IT’S COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR HANDS, OUT OF YOUR CONTROL, KIND OF LIKE WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED AT ATLANTA.

“I definitely have experience with that, just from Atlanta and even the Truck Series. The reason I didn’t make the Final Four was Talladega. So it’s tough, just because there it is out of your control to a certain extent, but also it’s the same for the other 11 guys I’m racing. They all have to go to Talladega too. So it’s the cards that you’re dealt and you just gotta figure out what the best hand is and hopefully we can go there and have a good day. But regardless of what the finish is, it’s gonna be what it is, right? You can’t change it, so you just gotta move on from it and hopefully we can leave Talladega in a really good spot going into the Roval, because I definitely feel like the Roval is our strongest track out of the three in this round.”

WITH NO 1.5-MILE TRACKS SINCE MAY, FORD WASN’T GOOD AT THEM EARLY IN THE SEASON, BUT THAT WAS ALSO BEFORE FORD WENT ON ITS REALLY HUGE SUPER RUN WITH WINNING A BUNCH OF RACES. SO WHEN YOU GUYS LOOK AT THE RESULTS OF THOSE RACES, ARE THOSE ONES YOU CAN KIND OF JUST THROW OUT THE WINDOW KNOWING THAT IT’S NOT GOING TO BE THE SAME AS WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN THIS WEEK?

“I definitely don’t think you can look at the manufacturer performance and say just because you were bad in May or whatever that you’re going to be bad now. I think if you’re good, it’s a little bit easier to say. Toyota, for example, has always been super fast every time they come here, and I’m sure it’ll be the same. But for us, I feel like as a not even an OEM, but even just as a team, where the Fords have come from, where they were in May is totally different. And even as a race team, I feel like we’re a totally different team. I don’t think you can really read into the results of what we did in April or May just because stuff changes so much. Even a month and a half ago, guys that were running good aren’t running now and vice versa. The sport is constantly evolving, constantly changing. I definitely don’t think you can read a whole lot into just because you were bad in May, you’re going to be bad now.”

THE DYNAMIC WITHIN STEWART-HAAS RACING, THERE WAS A PIT CREW CHANGE THIS WEEKEND. THREE TEAMS STILL RUNNING FOR WINS, RUNNING FOR THEIR OWN RESPECTIVE SITUATIONS, BUT YOU’RE IN THE PLAYOFFS. HAVE YOU NOTICED A CHANGE OR WHAT IS THAT DYNAMIC LIKE WITH YOU BEING APPARENTLY ON THE RECEIVING END OF LOTS OF INSIGHT? I KNOW NOAH’S TEAM AND YOURS HAVE BEEN KIND OF SEPARATED. WHAT’S THAT LIKE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?

“It’s been humbling, just from the whole company all embracing the 14 car and doing everything they can to make the 14 car have the best potential to win the championship. So that’s been cool. Just to have 300 and something employees literally feel like they’re on your back and riding with you every single weekend. And then just as a company, like SHR from the day I’ve been there has never worked as well as they have right now. Like all four crew chiefs, all four drivers. I think, we even saw it last week, Noah was genuinely excited for me to make it onto the next round of the playoffs and, the 10 car has been going to the racetrack identical to us every week for the last three weeks and even this week now the 4 car as well. I do think that’s a little unique where since I am the only car in, and even just our situation with the whole team shutting down, like all the resources, all the effort, all the focus, everything they got is on us right now. So that’s different. No other team can say that. Penske still has three cars, and they’re all three trying to make the next round, where for us, especially at a place like Talladega next week, I do think it’ll make a difference, just because I’m going to have three teammates that are super committed to doing everything they can to help me.”

HAVE YOU STUDIED THE CHANGES TO THE ROVAL AND WHAT EFFECT DO YOU THINK THEY MIGHT HAVE?

“I definitely think it’s going to race way better. It’s going to create more passing zones, it’s going to create more chaos too, which I think is always exciting from a fan’s standpoint. I do think it’s going to race really, really good. That whole section that they added the corner to, that was kind of a non-passing zone all the way once you got into the infield until you got back on that back straightaway. There was really no opportunity to pass anybody, where now it’s going to create a huge brake zone. I think it’s going to struggle to get the car back going, so it’s going to make even a passing zone on corner exit. And then the front stretch chicane is going to be way tighter, so it’s going to be heavier braking, which should create more passing opportunities as well. The restarts are going to be probably tougher just with how much more narrow it is now. I’m excited for the change. I think it was something that will definitely make the racing better. I’ve been able to go over there through our relationship with Ford Performance Racing School and go see it and it’s definitely different. It’s way different than what we’ve had. Even that whole new corner, I haven’t gotten to drive on that part of it, but just the elevation is a lot and it’s completely blind. Like inside the race car, I think you will probably catch some air over that. It’s going to be a challenge for the race car driver, so I’m excited.”

WHAT DO YOU NEED OUT OF THIS NEW PIT CREW, AND WHAT WERE YOU NOT GETTING?

“The pit crew thing is tough, because the guys that I’ve had have been on it for the last year and a half really well they got changed whenever Harvick was in the playoffs so I’m back kind of with my original guys. It’s tough you know they’ve been able to be there and get his to this point right and that’s a decision that truthfully is made above me. I didn’t even know it was happening until they called me on Monday. The big thing I think for me is I just told those guys – I texted them all and I said look you guys are just as much of the 14 team as you were last week. I know it probably doesn’t feel that way right now, but obviously, Zippy and just everybody at SHR felt like that’s what gave us the best opportunity to try to move on and try to advance to the next round. Last week was a struggle, right? We had a couple bad pit stops, but there’s tons of races that I have bad mistakes too and it’s just a tough situation all the way around. You don’t want guys to be on the 14 and get kicked off, but that’s the decision that was made and you gotta just try to move on from it. I told Josh on the way over here today that your pit crew gonna be on it this weekend. They’ve got a lot to prove. I think it’ll it’ll be good, but definitely hate it for those guys just because they were like family to me. It’s just a tough situation all the way around.”

CHANGES LIKE THAT ARE NOT UNPRECEDENTED AS YOU NOTED IN THE PLAYOFFS, BUT YOU KNOW WHEN THEY HAPPEN IT CAN CREATE KIND OF A SENSE FROM THE OUTSIDE OF A CHAOS WITH THE TEAM AS THEY’RE SCRAMBLING TO TRY TO FIND THINGS. HOW DO YOU ADDRESS THAT?

“I definitely don’t feel like it’s chaos at all, being internally in it. I do get where the outside perception of it sometimes is chaos but I think from the inside, the guys that got taken off are obviously frustrated. I get it, but I think at the end of the day, they still want to see us win this championship because they are a part of this team. I think that’s the unique thing about our company right now is the total buy-in from top to bottom of everybody having this one goal of us going out as champions. The whole thing is super unfortunate, right? But the 4 car has probably been the most consistent pit crew on pit road. Consistency is what it takes right now, so I guess that’s the decision behind it, but from an internal standpoint, it doesn’t feel like chaos at all.”

IN 2016, YOU WON THE ARCA CHAMPIONSHIP, AND YESTERDAY THEY ANNOUNCED THEIR SEASON FOR 2025 YESTERDAY, AND ALSO THE SEASON OPENING EVENT ON FOX. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?

“I think it’s super cool for ARCA. That’s a series that means a lot to me. Without that series, I’m not sitting up here. That was the only reason I ever even got put on anybody’s map and one of the top three series. So for them to be able to race on Big Fox is really cool. I think that that Daytona ARCA race always has a ton of viewers. That’s kind of the kickoff to stock car racing in the U.S. For that to be on Big Fox is really, really cool. It’s a great opportunity for a lot of young up-and-coming drivers and even teams that just don’t get that normal spotlight to have the spotlight and try to sell different sponsors and different things. Just the opportunities that it comes with being on Big Fox. So I’m excited for everybody, obviously on the ARCA side. There’s a lot of just really great stories in that garage, and hopefully a couple of those will get highlighted.”

HOW’S BABY WATCH GOING? IS THERE A CONTINGENCY PLAN? WHAT’S GOING ON?

“I mean, I’m here. We were at the hospital last night, but everything was good. A couple contractions and they sent us home. It’s the most helpless feeling, truthfully, in the world. Even this morning, I left the house at 6 a.m. to get on the plane, and she was having contractions here and there, and just knowing that I gotta come, right? I can’t stay. I have to go to the racetrack. It’s tough. Once I landed, that was the first thing I was worried about it the whole plane ride. And she said that she hasn’t had one since. I just told her to literally lay down, don’t do anything until Monday. And then Monday, you can get on your yoga ball, bounce all around, we can walk miles, whatever you want to do. So far, so good. The doctor seemed to think that they weren’t gonna make it till October 8th, but we will see.”

SO WHAT IS THE CONTINGENCY?

“If I get a call, I told her the earliest I’ll probably be home is 7 o’clock by the time I would get on a plane. Coach has been super awesome about telling me I can use this plane if something happens. I have to practice. I have to qualify, and I have to race. So yeah, I mean, I’m here. We’re in the playoffs. Obviously, if I wasn’t in the playoffs, I would be home if something happened. The contingency plan is I’m here to race for championship. Marissa understands that. It obviously would get tricky if it comes at certain times but I even told Richard if it happens during the race don’t tell me. Just tell me as soon as we take the checker flag, hey look Marissa went into labor, so I can get out of the car and just go as fast as I can.”

DID YOU THINK IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN LAST NIGHT?

“I don’t know it was weird last night, so she finally had some contractions and with Brooks she never really had any contractions. We just kind of went there and then they ended up doing a c-section. So she wasn’t really sure what it felt like anyways and then we were supposed to have a doctor’s appointment yesterday and it got canceled because there was no power. So then they were like, well we need you to come in if you’re having these symptoms. So then we went and we were only there for like two or three hours and they sent us home and we went to Cook Out and went home.”

COACH GIBBS IS OFFERING HIS PLANE TO YOU?

“Yeah, so coach has been amazing. The last four or five weeks, he’s called me every single week and we’ve set up a plan, whether it’s the plane being here or a Bristol helicopter, whatever it was, just anything he can do to help. He’s called and texted Marissa telling her that you know he’s praying for her, so it’s just been a really amazing thing that coach is willing to do that for me so I can be there. Hopefully I don’t have to use it but even last week SHR didn’t have a plane at Bristol. Everybody drove. So I actually flew on the Gibbs team plane which was a little awkward after knocking some of their cars out, but yeah coach has been awesome in the whole process.”