Category: NASCAR Cup PR

TALLADEGA, AL (JUNE 21, 2020) – Due to inclement weather, the NASCAR Cup Series was forced to postpone today’s GEICO 500 until tomorrow, June 22nd, at 3:00 p.m. ET.

You can view the live competition tomorrow, June 22nd, at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX. Live coverage of the 188-lap, 500-mile race can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

TALLADEGA, Alabama (June 21, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media via videoconference on Sunday in advance of next week’s race at Pocono Raceway:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What is it about you and your team that make you so good at Pocono Raceway?

“There’s certainly a lot of things over the years that we’ve worked on and there’s definitely things we’ve fine-tuned on gotten a lot better at. I think starting in 2013 or 2014 and then it’s evolved with Adam Stevens being the crew chief since 2015 as well, too. We’ve run really well there. It’s a good track for us. I’ve learned a lot from my teammate, Denny Hamlin, who’s won there and certainly working with the Furniture Row guys with Martin (Truex Jr.) has also brought on some new, fresh ideas which help. It’s been a good track for us and hopefully we can carry our M&M’s Minis colors to victory lane there next weekend. Looking forward to having them onboard for the first time with ourselves and our No. 18 Toyota.”

How do you learn to get better at a track, like you have at Pocono?

“There’s so many different ways you can do it. You can look at data, you can look at the driving technique. Talking is kind of the best resource, just being able to ask the guy, ‘Hey, when you do this, why do you do this, or what do you expect when you get into a run and you’re going this far and tire wear and how do you get around turn two.’ Whatever it might be. Lots of different things there, being teammates with Denny (Hamlin) for this long, it’s lended itself to myself improving at Pocono and Martinsville, places like that and him improving at places like Bristol and Charlotte from myself. It’s a good take there and then having Martin (Truex Jr.) now, having him on board who is really good everywhere as well has definitely brought a good basis to our team as well as having our past teammates like Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards – so it’s been good.”

You make Pocono look easy, but what is still tough about Pocono even for you?

“Every time you go there, it’s a bit different. The bumps change, the characteristics change. Where the bumps are. Are they getting bigger? Are they getting worse? Is there more adding? That turn two tunnel turn is always a culprit for the bumps and for the harsh winters up there really changing the race track. Then, what happens in turn three, where the wind is blowing and stuff like that is always kind of a convoluted piece to Pocono and how you get through turn three versus turn one versus two. There’s three distinctly different corners, there’s definitely going to be compromise.”

Do you see race two is the same as race one since they are on the same weekend, or will they be different?

“I think you will have to make some changes to your stuff. The first race, there’s only going to be the Truck Series rubber, it’s only 60 laps, so there’s just going to be a little rubber down. Then, we’re going to put a lot of rubber down with our race. Then you’ll have the Xfinity race the next day and then you’ll have our race. Over the course of all those miles, I think the main similarities between the two days is going to be just that – they’re a day apart rather than a month apart. There’s a difference between the Pocono racetrack when it’s a month apart, but when it’s day one to day two, there’s going to be big differences in day one to day two, so you have to take a lot of different things into account.”

Are you doing the Xfinity or Truck race at Pocono, or just the two Cup races?

“Just the two Cup races.”

What are the most critical adjustments you can make between each race at Pocono?

“Obviously springs, shocks, bars, whatever you can change all that sort of stuff. Making some adjustments. Knowing how much that track changes in that first race will give you a basis to how much you expect it to change in the second race barring any weather or the track. It’s a 68 degree one day and a 90 degree day another, there’s going to be some big differences you’re going to want to adjust for and compensate for. Having a good notebook is certainly I think help with us and our team and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) being on board since 2015 since we started running good there. I think we could have a good idea of what to do.”

Are you trying to conserve yourself at all in Saturday’s Pocono race to be ready for Sunday?

“That and you have an invert, right? Kind of depends on what’s going on and what’s happening. If you’re struggling along or pit strategy throws you off and there’s three to go and you’re back in 15th, maybe you want the pole for the next day. We’ll see what happens with that. Obviously you want as many points as you can possibly get. We’ve run real well there the last few years there. We definitely want to keep that going and try to get a win. If you’re up in the front or up in the top five or whatever, you’re going to try to get as much as you can get there and not worry about the next day, you’ll just refocus the next day.”

What do you have to do to beat your brother at Kentucky?

“I’m not sure. There’s going to be other guys who have shown speed this year that we’re going to have to contend with. Looking back at last year, the 1 (Kurt Busch) was really fast, they were good. They showed good speed on the front side and the long run, so they not only had a good car that was trimmed out for the long run, but they also were good for the short runs, too. The 22 (Joey Logano) was really, really fast so I think he had the field covered and had the race won barring that late caution that came out, which did come out then on the restart Kurt was able to attack really hard and shuffled the 22 and get him out of there and then he and I raced for the win. Those same principals are going to apply. It’s just going to come down to the right situation at the right time. I think we kind of saw last year the outside was pretty gripped up with all the PJ1 and everything that was sprayed down, so it seemed like it had some good grip and I would expect it to be somewhat similar this time around.”

How has Martin Truex Jr. helped you, or built himself into the Joe Gibbs Racing team?

“Ever since Furniture Row joined with Toyota, he’s always been in our team meetings, so he’s always felt like a teammate from that front. Nothing really changed. He’s just brought in a new dynamic, him and Cole (Pearn, former crew chief) obviously had a great relationship and dynamic that was very good at executing, especially at mile-and-a-halves and things like that and getting the most out of their cars, building speed into their cars. We were able to learn some of the things from them on that front. As he transitioned full-time into Joe Gibbs Racing and having Cole on board again, that obviously helped and further developed the relationship between the crew chiefs I believe. As far as the driver stuff goes, he’s one of those guys – he doesn’t work out, he likes to go home, he likes to go fishing, he likes to chill, he doesn’t like to do a whole lot of stuff as far as physical exertion I guess you could say, the most you can get out of him is racing on Sundays. That just goes to show you there’s different mindsets and different ways of being successful in this and when you have good people around you, and good cars to drive, you don’t have to be a Carl Edwards type or a Tony Stewart type, you can be anybody and go fast. He’s done a really good job as executing as a leader and doing good with being able to help us as a whole in not only making our cars better, but making our teammate communication a lot better, too.”

Can you carry anything over from Pocono to Indy since there’s no practice now?

“That’s definitely a question for Adam (Stevens, crew chief). I can do my best here, but I would think there’s definitely some similarities in setup you can kind of look at and we’ll definitely take notice of those from day one to day two. Is Indy typically closer to our first Pocono race or our second Pocono race that’s on the schedule, I’m not sure. Do we take some of those setup concepts from the first one to the second, again I’m not sure. As far as the overall skeptic of it, you would think whatever you have or some ideas you have that are good at Pocono can transfer to Indy and having back to back weeks could act as somewhat of a simulation to where you’re fine tuning our stuff from the simulator to the real thing at Pocono and then having someone go back and redoing the simulator to make sure it’s right and then the data that they are looking at to get ready for Indy is the exact stuff that you want.”

Do you have aspirations for what your team is capable of achieving at upcoming tracks like Pocono and Indy?

“Certainly, going to Pocono has been a good place for us, Indy has been a good place for us. Although last year when we were at Indy, we struggled. We didn’t have the practice, we got rained out on practice, so we just got in and raced. We were eighth to 11th most of the day, that was the best we could do. We couldn’t muster up much more than that. Our teammate in the 11, Denny (Hamlin) was really good and probably had the shot to win the race. We have to look at some of that stuff and as to why and try to figure out a way to get ourselves where we belong and that’s leading laps and running up front.”

How will the heat and humidity at Talladega play a role in the race day environment?

“Thankfully I have plenty of hydration going on, so I’ll be alright. That’s part of it, it’s getting warmer. We’re going to tracks that we’re not accustomed to going to when it’s hotter out. I look at Indy, typically we go there July or August, it’s going to be July 4th so it will be pretty similar, but you have back to back days at Pocono, you’re going to have back to back Dovers, back to back Michigans. Some of these places the weather is typically warm this time of year will affect its toll on the cars, the drivers, the handling, things like that. I think being in the gym and working to do all you can do for myself then also staying hydrated throughout the week is the best I can do to get ready for these races. So far, of all of them that we’ve had, Atlanta was a little warm. Martinsville was probably the worst conditions because there’s not a lot of airflow in the car or circulation in the car because the right side windows are in and it just feels like you’re in a steam bath. That one was probably the worst one. Some of these bigger places you have a little bit of time to breath during the straightaway, so hopefully it won’t be too bad.”

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NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
GEICO 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 19, 2020

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the upcoming race this weekend at Talladega, bow hunting, his CGR teammate, Matt Kenseth, and more. Full Transcript:

HOW HAS THE RACING CHANGED AT DAYTONA AND TALLADEGA OVER THE YEARS? GIVEN THAT YOU’VE BEEN RACING ON THESE TRACKS FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS, HOW HAS IT CHANGED FROM THEN TO NOW? DO YOU FEEL LIKE DRIVERS RACE MORE AGGRESSIVELY ON THESE TRACKS THAN THEY DID IN THE PAST?
“I think the way the drafts and the racing at restrictor plate tracks has evolved over the years, is around what the rules or what the package is giving the drivers as a feel. And sometimes you can bump draft aggressively, similar to the tandem drafting that happened in the early 2010’s; and then there was the handling aspect in the early 2000’s, where cars would rise to the top because they had speed, but they also had handling. As of late, it’s a lot about manufacturer control and positioning each manufacturer for the most amount of points that they can obtain with the stages and with the race win. So, there are plenty of different ways to say that it’s different and also that there are the different challenges, but it’s still restrictor plate racing. It hasn’t changed since they put a plate on, which means we’re not able to go wide-open and as fast as we want for the full 500 miles.”

HOW WILL SLIP TAPE ON THE BUMPER SURFACES AFFECT DRAFTING AT TALLADEGA? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?
“It’s a piece of protective film that we’ve been putting on the rear bumpers and it allows the car from behind to push and not get hung-up or directly get caught as easily. You can still get caught and end up pushing the guy in the wrong direction, whether it’s to the left or to the right or hooking the guy. So, the tape helps to at least mitigate the ability of hooking somebody. But, if you’re a guy that’s running up front and blocking a lot and you get hit a lot, it’s going to wear out. And it’s going to create tacky, sticky points. So, you’ve got to watch out for those.”

YOU HAVE 8 TOP-5’s AND 20 TOP-TEN’S AT TALLADEGA. WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING PART FOR YOU?
“To be able to block all these guys at the end and win it. I haven’t won at Talladega over the years. I’ve been in great positions and Top-5 finishes and coming from behind. But yet, even leading on the last lap and still not able to pull a win. That’s been the toughest. You’ve got to be in position to win, which I believe is leading, or second, looking for that slingshot, and that’s been the toughest part is to be able to complete the day to be able to win it.”

TELL US ABOUT YOUR TEXAS BOW HUNTING EXPERIENCE WITH (RETIRED MARINE STAFF SGT.) JOHNNY JONES. I DON’T SEE YOU AS A TED NUGENT OUT-IN-THE-WOODS-WITH-A BOW TYPE OF GUY.
“When people ask about the hidden talent or something that people don’t know about you, I always say I’m a bow hunter. Or, I can do archery. So, I love to get out and target practice. And then, to have a chance to go with a Marine friend of mine to a hunt, it was perfect. With him being a correspondent with Fox News and to have a great ranch with Circle Bar Ranch out in Texas to help with their problems with feral hogs, it all worked out. It was a nice combination of fun, comradery, skill, and just the overall adventure of the hunt. And so, that’s something I’ll do once, twice, every five years it seems like. It seems like the time in between to go and hunt is less and less.”

DO YOU THINK YOU AND KYLE (BUSCH) CAN REPEAT THAT ONE-TWO FINISH AT KENTUCKY WITH A LITTLE DIFFERENT OUTCOME THIS YEAR?
“Oh, with Kentucky, I hope it’s not as dramatic as it was because that was an epic finish; one that I’ll remember forever, especially with beating my little brother, it made it that much more special. And, I don’t have to tell a story about how I lost so close at Darlington over all these years. Now I get to tell a story where I won a close one. So, I’m looking forward to these next few weeks. I think we can do really well at Talladega, Kentucky, and Indianapolis. The way that this point of the season is coming together, a lot of these tracks are going to be hot. A lot of them are going to be slick. And that’s what we have to manage with out set-ups.”

IN TERMS OF RACING WITHOUT PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING, WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST EYE-OPENER FOR YOU AS FAR AS HOW PREPARED YOUR TEAM IS AND OTHER TEAMS ARE? THE VETERAN DRIVERS SEEM TO BE THE ONES THAT HAVE THE MOST KNOWLEDGE GOING IN. AND THEN, YOU’VE GOT GUYS LIKE CHASE ELLIOTT WHO IS NOT EXACTLY A VETERAN, WHO HAS HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS?
“I think the challenge of all this newness has really put a strategy or a re-thinking into how you approach all the races. I think with a team like Ganassi and myself, we’re doing a great job at finding the balance right away in the races. And then with the way the track is rubbering-in and taking the Goodyear tires and changing the handling characteristics, that’s what we’ve got to do a little bit better with to have more positive outcomes at the end. But man, the pit crew has got to be ready to go. You have your set-up balance right away. And then the energy and the vibe that isn’t there pre-race, from our race fans, and autograph sessions, the photos, the crowd, that’s something that’s been tough. You have to block that out because we are all missing that. That’s been one of the toughest parts. We miss our race fans.”

IN TERMS OF THE GANASSI TEAM SET-UPS, HOW VITAL HAS MATT KENSETH BEEN SINCE HIS ADDITION?
“With Matt Kenseth there, he brings that veteran leadership to the No. 42 and everybody on that No. 42 car is wanting more results, but they’re going through some of their checklist items that you would normally accomplish in practices or in a qualifying session. And so, they have to go through so much more de-brief and detail after these 400 and 500-mile races because they would normally get this on a Friday, with a practice session. Okay, let’s check out the steering box. Or, let’s work on that. And they have to do all of that during the race.”

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RACING AT TALLADEGA AND RACING AT DAYTONA?
“The biggest thing between the two tracks is that Daytona is much narrower. It’s hard to even go three-wide. Yes we will, but it comes with a lot of risk. Talladega can handle four-wide, even five, but there’s the risk as well because a driver and a spotter have to be in sync to know if you’re in lane two or lane four, and knowing where the guys are around you. And so Talladega is bigger. It’s more inviting for lane changes and more randomness, where Daytona keeps you kind of in a box and in your line. And you have to be more aggressive to make your moves at Daytona.”

GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND WITH A NEW RULES PACKAGE, UP UNTIL THE FIRST COMPETITION CAUTION, DO YOU PLAN TO BE REALLY AGGRESSIVE IN GETTING TO THE FRONT, OR ARE YOU GOING TO PLAY IT CONSERVATIVE UNTIL YOU GET TO THAT FIRST CAUTION IN SEEING WHAT YOUR CAR IS GOING TO DO?
“For me, with our group at Ganassi and the restrictor plate races that we have run together, our set-up balance has been really good in practice right off the truck. And so there haven’t been those challenges of where are we for balance? So, it allows go on offense right away. The problem with that is other teams. Are they just as good right off the truck? And we don’t need to be caught-up in a goofy situation early-on. And so there’s the competition yellow that will happen, and that’s been how we’ve been evaluating our races. It’s just ease our way towards that, and then go hard after that because it answers a lot of questions that are hard to really answer because of all the tangibles that we’re dealing with.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
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COREY LAJOIE, No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford Mustang – THIS IS YOUR FIRST YEAR AS A FATHER, SO WITH FATHER’S DAY ON SUNDAY HOW ARE YOU FEELING? “As anybody that has a kid would know it is a lot of work, and you don’t really know what you sign up for. You think you kind of know, but you don’t really know. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also so fulfilling just by seeing my little guy get older and start to recognize you, recognize his mom and start to interact with you. That’s when it gets really fun.”

YOU POSTED YOUR STATEMENT ABOUT DENNY ON TWITTER. HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING FROM DENNY? IF NOT, ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH WHERE THINGS STAND FOR NOW? “I can sleep at night. I think that it didn’t even get to a point where I still felt like I was in the wrong, per se, but it got to a point where I would listen to it back and I felt convicted about how I was handling it, whether or not it was tit-for-tat or whatever, and it just got to a point where I listened to myself back on what I was saying and how I was saying things that I was questioning who that guy was because that person that has been on the podcast the last week wasn’t who I was. That wasn’t how I treat people. That wasn’t what I call people. That wasn’t how I deal with issues, and I guess because I felt threatened or offended in a certain way, I felt like I had to act a certain way. Regardless of what was said by both sides, I finally got to a point where I was convicted to just stop it on my end. We didn’t come to a mutual agreement by any means. It was just a point where me personally I was over it. I was over carrying that burden of wanting to stick up for myself because I just want to drive a race car at the end of the day. When it changed from me sticking up for myself, when somebody else sub-tweeted all my stuff, when it morphed into me picking up stones and throwing them back, that’s when I had to listen to it back and I had to stop it.”

WHY APOLOGIZE? “The thing that I really wanted to apologize for was calling the guy names. I don’t want anybody calling me names and I think that was childish, whether people can listen to the podcast and hear what I said, whether it be I called him two different things that I was disappointed in myself. I wasn’t apologizing for anything else. (Remainder of comments had audio issues)”

NASCAR IS ALLOWING TO HAVE ONE SIGNIFICANT OTHER AT THE TRACK THIS WEEKEND. IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU? “I know it’s important for drivers as a whole. For me in particular, my wife is just gonna stay home with the kid because he’s three months and it’s a little bit of a hassle to lug the motorhome down to wherever the race is. It’s really just easy to fly in and fly out the day of for me. Do I miss them there? Yeah, but they’ll be there when I get home, but I know with guys that have younger kids that like being at the racetrack and seeing the other kids hanging out in the driver/owner lot, I know it’ll be well-received being able to bring your spouse or wife or kids to the track for sure.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THE NEW RULES WILL CHANGE THE RACING AND HOW DO YOU THINK THE MEMORY OF THE ACCIDENT AT DAYTONA WILL ALTER THE WAY DRIVERS RACE, IF AT ALL? “It won’t. In some cases drivers are like elephants and they don’t forget, and in some instances drivers can forget what they had for lunch. When it comes to an incident like what happened at Daytona, you don’t let that change any move you’re gonna make, especially when you’re getting down to it and you’re racing for the win. You kind of leave the safety of the cars up to NASCAR and John Patalak and those guys, Probst, do a great job with evaluating the data they have at hand and making our cars safer as well as the competition as close as they reasonably can. I think looking at it with a little bit less horsepower, a little bit less drag with the nose ducts, I think the closing rates will be less, the ability to push somebody will probably be less because that bubble that everybody talks about will be between the cars a little bit more relative to it had been with the nose ducts that could escape that pocket. And I think when you get down to it and have to start positioning yourself in different gaps it’s gonna be a little bit more technical because you won’t have that horsepower to overcome any sort of misjudgment, I guess. So guys that are gonna be racing for wins, hopefully it doesn’t get to where the leader can control the lines as easy as he was before this previous package because I do like the fact that the lanes can have big momentum runs without the leader controlling back and forth the top and the bottom. I think you might be able to do that a little bit easier, but I think with the big spoiler and the cars poking such a big hole in the ground the lines are still gonna build momentum and it will be tough for those leaders to control it.”

IS TALLADEGA A RACE YOU CAN’T OVERTHINK? “That’s a good question. You don’t have really time to overthink it. You can try to play out different scenarios in your head and, granted, I’ve never been in a situation where – I’ve been close to the front on the speedways. I’ve been to where coming out to the white of the 500 I was running third and then things shake up, so every situation is different and you can try to play something through your head, but it is split-second decisions and your outcome, really, is related to other guys’ decisions around you a lot of the times, where somebody in front of you makes a move and you choose to go with him or you choose not to and there are thousands of moves throughout the course of the race that you can position your car. You can choose one or the other, or there are one of three options you can do usually and you hope that the combination of all those choices throughout the race can position you and you made enough friends throughout the race or you show what your car is able to do and somebody will work with you on the last lap or two to push you to the win or push you to a good finish. You don’t get to the front without some help and you also don’t stay in the front for a long period of time without somebody working with you.”

HAS THERE EVER BEEN A FEELING IN THE GARAGE WHERE THE GUYS ON TOP OF THE SPORT FEEL THOSE THAT ARE LOWER IN THE FIELD SHOULDN’T SPEAK UP? “I do think there’s a little bit of that, but I don’t want to assume. I don’t want to assume what people think. The only person I control is me and I made some decisions over the past 10 days that I didn’t like. It was like this realization where what I thought was tit-for-tat going upwards, it was tit-for-tat digging each other into a hole. For me, I don’t speak for anybody else, but, for me, the only way that I saw ending the deal with any sort of integrity left or character that I would like to uphold myself to was to issue that and apologize for things that I was truly sorry for. I wasn’t sorry for sticking up for myself and I wasn’t sorry for saying some of the things I said in my podcast, but there were a couple things with names that I called him that I truly was sorry about because I don’t like calling people names. I was raised not to do that. I got caught up in the emotion and, like I said in the statement, it was the energy of the fans. You kind of feel like you’re pumped up a little bit and when it morphed from being sub-tweeted at sticking up for myself per fact, then when your other competitors are texting you, ‘Stick up for yourself. Show him. Post those things. Say those things.’ All of a sudden you think you’re fighting this fight for everybody else and that’s not my fight, and once I realized that I was like, ‘You know what? I’m done.’ He might not be done. He might not consider it done. He might consider I’ve got to pay for things that I’ve done or whatever, which might be the case, but as far as I’m concerned I’m worried about Talladega and I’m worried about trying to get a good result going forward.”

DENNY SAID “I THINK WE’RE OKAY NOW.” ARE YOU AT A POINT NOW WHERE YOU AND HE WILL OR SHOULD GET TOGETHER BEFORE THE RACE AND TALK IT OUT IN PERSON? “I don’t know. Did I run my mouth a little bit more than what I probably should have? Yes. Did he do things that he probably regretted. Yes. That’s how we got into this situation. We are both grown-ups. We both have kids. We both have jobs and livelihoods that are bigger than this little tiff we have going on. We might think it’s bigger because there’s pride and ego involved, but at the end of the day he’s got his people he’s got to answer to and he’s got his mission of trying to win races and championships and I’ve got my mission of trying to do a good job for my team and eventually hopefully get a more competitive car and keep working my way up the ladder and everybody is on that same page. I personally learned a lot through what I went through. I learned a lot about myself. I’ve never been in this situation. I’ve never really had to stick up for myself at a level like this. When I realized I was using the platforms that MRN and NASCAR in a sense, since they own MRN, they afford me the opportunity to have a podcast, which I love and I love to talk about this sport. I love talking about the ins-and-outs of it, the business of it, because I’ve grown up in it and I love it, but when I realized, and whether or not some people on my side can say I still have the right to say my side, but it turned into something where I didn’t feel like I was using my platform for positivity. There’s enough negativity in the world going on as we all can agree on, I certainly don’t want to aid any negativity, especially on my platforms, whether it be social media or SiriusXM radio or my podcast because that’s not who I am. I’m a fierce competitor. I stick up for what I believe in. I’m a friend to people who want to be friends with me and I’m trying to be a good dad and a good husband. That’s just what it is.”

HAS NASCAR STEPPED IN AND TALKED TO YOU ABOUT THIS AT ALL? “Yes. Last week we had a meeting when there was some things that came to a head that they had to address. Should I have let it die after that meeting? Probably so, but I didn’t. I felt like I was trying to breeze over it, trying to say there were some private messages exchanged, NASCAR had to get in the middle of it, we talked about it and moved on, and that’s kind of how I was trying to frame it up in my podcast, but then I, for whatever reason I elaborated more on it than I should have and it ended up making a story. I think Denny and I can both agree that we were both in the wrong and I finally just had to eat it, whether or not I still had a leg to stand on in the argument. We moved on from what the original points of the argument was and that’s when I was like, ‘What in the hell are we doing here?’ But it’s easy to get caught up in it. It’s easy to get caught up in the emotion. It’s easy to get from one point to the next point and not know how you got there in-between and be like, ‘Oh, shoot. Now I’m in a hole I can’t really get out of.’ NASCAR doesn’t patrol Twitter and they don’t call meetings because two people are beefing in their sub-tweets section. Stuff has to escalate to a point where if they were worried about it bleeding over onto the racetrack, and let’s hope it doesn’t. I’m probably talking about it more than I would be recommended to, but I just wanted to say my peace with it because as far as I’m concerned I said what I’ve said. I’ve apologized for what I feel bad for and now I just want to go to the racetrack and go racing.”

WHAT DIFFERENCE IS THERE IN A RACE AT TALLADEGA COMPARED TO DAYTONA? “It’s crazy to think that the extra .16 miles that Talladega is versus Daytona might as well be an extra half-mile because it’s so much more wide than Daytona is. It’s not quite as temperature sensitive because the banking, I think, is a little bit more at Talladega. The overall racing groove is wider at Talladega, so it feels like there’s more weight in actual drafting strategy as opposed to mechanical handling like we see at Daytona sometimes. So that’s why it is so unique. Daytona sometimes when it’s hot and greasy and it’s slick like we had in the July race, now in August or September, whenever it is, handling comes into play and guys will start lifting, but the only time you’re lifting really at Talladega is because you’re trying to create some momentum, trying to create a run, trying to back yourself up from the guy in front of you and trying to get your line moving. Daytona and Talladega are relatively similar to the eye test on TV, but in terms of driving, in terms of strategy it is a little bit different.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Friday, June 19, 2020
EVENT: Geico 500 Talladega Media Availability

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang, has two wins this season and leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drives with five career triumphs at Talladega Superspeedway. Keselowski held a media availability earlier this afternoon to talk about his success and other topics with members of the media.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang – YOUR NAME COMES UP AS ONE OF THE BEST SUPERSPEEDWAY DRIVERS IN THE SPORT TODAY. HOW DOES THAT FEEL AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS KIND OF RACING? “Talladega is one of those love-hate racetracks. I love it when we win and hate it when we wreck. I think you look at that and it’s been really frustrating for me as of late because it seems like we’ve been in great position and keep getting wrecked. I was re-watching the fall race. Kansas didn’t go well for us in the playoffs, so the fall race probably took me out of a shot to continuing in the playoffs. I was in the high line, drafting with Brendan Gaughan pushed him from 20th and we were taking the lead, I mean literally taking the lead when we wrecked. I was thinking to myself halfway down the backstretch, ‘I’m gonna push Brendan. We’re gonna get into turn three. I’m gonna move high. I’m gonna pass him. I’m gonna take the lead. This race is over.’ And in the two or three seconds I had – the time between then and when we wrecked our entire world changed. The 18, 17 came up and hit us. Brendan was upside-down and I was wrecked out of the race. That just tells you that Talladega is still Talladega. You can make all the right moves, be in the right place and end up in the trash heap. It seems like that’s been worse as of late. I don’t know why that is. Well, I do know why that is, but I don’t agree with why that is, but we’ll just try to survive if you can survive. Certainly, I feel like we have as good a chance as anyone else to win, if not better.”

DO YOU THINK THESE NEW RULES WILL ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BLOCK MORE IF THE RUNS AREN’T COMING AS FAST OR DO YOU THINK IT DOESN’T MATTER? “I’m not sure what to expect. I think the list of changes was so big that I’m having a hard time anticipating how the cars are gonna drive. Small variations in how the car drives can make a big difference as to how they draft, so it’s gonna be a lot of learning as we go in the race with having the stages and all that I’m sure everyone will adjust quite rapidly, but with respect to that I’m not sure what to expect enough to give it a real articulate answer, but I do know one thing, we don’t have to run over each other and wreck each other. The gas pedal still does have – it’s not digital, it’s not like zero and 100, it’s got all these spots in-between there and some people have figured that out and some people haven’t.”

HOW HAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TALLADEGA CHANGED THROUGH THE YEARS? “I don’t think you ever feel comfortable at Talladega. The rules change so much there. I mean, it changes almost every two or three years to where, quite honestly, your techniques and tactics have to completely evolve. If you go back, you look at the plate races even three years ago, it’s completely different. I think you go back and look at the plate races from 20 years ago and, my goodness, those guys wouldn’t even know what they were looking at. I watch some of those races just because I think they’re really cool and fun, and I can’t even comprehend what’s going on because the racing was so much different, and the moves that worked or didn’t work were completely different. You have to keep evolving at Talladega. I don’t know if there’s a track on the circuit where the tactics evolve more rapidly and drastically year over year than Talladega, so you’ve just got to really try to stay on top of that and it’s a hard thing to do. Sometimes you can stay on top of the tactics and it doesn’t matter and you end up getting wrecked anyway, but it certainly is a challenging challenging place.”

THEY SAY YOU CAN’T OVERTHINK TALLADEGA. DO YOU HAVE TO FORCE YOURSELF NOT TO PRE-THINK A PLACE LIKE TALLADEGA EVEN WITH ALL THE CHANGES? “Talladega is a really easy place to psych yourself out. Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right. That’s the Henry Ford saying and it really applies to being a race car driver at Talladega.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK IN THE EARLY PART OF THE RACE CONSIDERING YOU JUST SAID A LOT OF LEARNING IS GOING TO TAKE PLACE ON WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T DO? “Yeah, it’s a little bit like learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. You hope everybody is smart and that they take chances, you have to take chances to learn. That’s how you learn, but by the same token you hope they don’t take chances that are potentially lethal to everyone else’s day and causes big wrecks, but I can’t speak for everyone. Everybody has a different approach. It’s one of the great things about life is that we’re all different and on the racetrack it plays out. Everybody has different motivations, challenges, goals and they all kind of get thrown into this big pot at Talladega with no practice. We’ll see what happens.”

SUNDAY WOULD HAVE ORIGINALLY BEEN RACED AT CHICAGOLAND. DO YOU THINK IT’S MISSED THIS SEASON NOT HAVING IT ON THE SCHEDULE? “Yeah, I think it is thought of being one of the better mile-and-a-halves. I’m not exactly sure why that is. I enjoy it a lot. It probably has something to do with the fact it’s so bumpy, and that makes the race spread out in multiple lanes and multiple lanes are good for passing and good for action. Maybe I’m completely wrong, but some tracks, mile-and-a-halves lend themselves to better racing than others, but I think our sport will certainly miss the market. The Chicago market, even though it’s not too close to the city of Chicago, it’s still in the area, hence the Chicagoland term, but it’s hard to quantify. I think everybody is just so head down just trying to get through everything that’s been thrown at us every day and every week. It’s so hard to have any perspective right now. I think that whether it’s virus or protests and that’s happening globally, then we have our own little focus world of at the racetrack and trying to win and trying to overcome no practice, by the way I’ve got to do a health screening every other day, I don’t know where I’m supposed to be, I don’t have any help at the racetrack. It’s a complete mess and we’re all just trying to kind of live through the days, and I don’t know if we’re really thinking about or having the perspective of months and years and the broader context. I think somebody brought up on Twitter about not going to Sonoma. At this time of year we would normally be at Sonoma and that hadn’t even crossed my mind, not even in the faintest. People ask me what day it is and I have no idea what day it is. Somebody told me the other day, on Wednesday, ‘Aren’t you supposed to be racing today?’ I hadn’t checked my calendar and I’m like, ‘Shoot, did I miss something?’ So it’s really hard, I guess what I’m trying to say here is to have any context to a lot of what’s going on, I’m trying, we’re all trying, but when it comes to things like trying to put missing Chicago in perspective it’s like, ‘I’m just trying to make it to Talladega.’ I hesitate to speak for everyone else or pretend that I speak for everyone else that is on the weekly tour here, or bi-weekly tour, whatever this tour is, but I would assume that many of them feel the same way.”

THE 2021 SCHEDULE IS SOMETHING PEOPLE ARE BARELY THINKING ABOUT, BUT NASCAR HAS TO BE ATTUNED TO THAT. THERE’S AN UNCERTAIN SENSE ABOUT CHICAGOLAND’S FUTURE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THAT TRACK BE A PART OF NASCAR’S FUTURE BEYOND THIS YEAR? “Sure. I mean, if it makes sense. They know if it makes sense way more than I do. I don’t have the P&L statement for Chicagoland Speedway sitting in front of me to say, ‘All right, we’ve got to keep doing this or not doing it.’ But I will say I do like the track. I enjoy going there. Is it the end of the world if we can’t run there again? No, but I do enjoy things about that racing area and that track. I think there’s a lot of opportunities that are opening up for us as a sport. I mean, we’re seeing that with Nashville and probably some other sites that I’ve been reading about – Road America and I’m sure more than that. Don’t hold me to just those two, and I think we’re proving to ourselves that we can do more with less by running these midweek races and half the amount of people here at the races that used to be, whether it’s the team side or everything else. We’re proving to ourselves we can do more with less because we have no other choice. Certainly, the ramifications of that are going to be, or should be, long-lasting because there are efficiencies that have been gained and I hope those get applied. I know hope is not a plan, but I don’t get to make the decisions either. I hope that what we’re learning from all this is that weekday races are awesome and that we should roll forward with them next year. They’re showing significant potential for ratings and overall engagement. It’s just a great thing, a tremendous thing and I hope that’s one of the key lessons, but whether it’s different tracks, different venues, different schedules, setups, rosters, I’m all ears. I just want what’s best for this sport and without being able to see all the data to speak to 100 percent knowledge base, I would say that the knowledge base that I do have there are a lot of things I like and one of them is Chicago.”

DO YOU LIKE THE WAY THE LINEUPS ARE BEING SET WITH NO QUALIFYING, NO PRACTICE AND YOU GO TO TALLADEGA KIND OF LIKE THROWNG DARTS, NO? “It hasn’t been as big a deal as I thought it would be. I was nervous starting on the pole for Darlington. I was just gonna go down in the corner in turn one and be like ‘Oh, I forgot how to drive.’ It seems like I have that moment once a year. You sit all off-season and when you sit and you’re just being normal all off-season and you get ready to get in that car at Daytona for that first practice and you pull the belts tight and you put the steering wheel on there’s always that quick moment of like, ‘I hope I remember how to do this because I’m about to go in that corner at 200 miles an hour and I just hope that my brain and hand and feet are all still connected like they were before.’ So far, that’s worked out okay for me. So try to shrug those off as just being those silly insecurities, but they really rear their head when you have no practice and you lead the field into turn one, you just want to make sure you don’t make a fool of yourself. There have been some small issues. You look at weights falling out of a couple cars and I’m sure some setups have been missed where guys just kind of overpredicted certain features, but, for the most part, I think it’s been really, really smooth. I really liked, to that point, when we were running races back-to-back at Darlington and Charlotte, those doubleheaders Sundays and Wednesdays, I really like the idea of taking the top 20 in finishing and inverting them for the next race for starting position. I thought that created some great racing. I understand you can’t do that when you’re going to different tracks, but, so far, I’ve really liked how it’s played out.”

IT WAS MENTIONED EARLIER HOW YOU ARE IN THE CONVERSATION FOR ONE OF THE BEST SUPERSPEEDWAY RACERS OF ALL TIME. WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN A SIXTH CAREER RACE AT TALLADEGA? “Well, without having a Daytona 500 win I think it pretty much kicks me right in between the legs on being able to lay any kind of claim to that, but I’m hopeful we can get that. Winning the Coke 600 was awesome and I don’t want anyone to take this any other way than that, but in some ways it was also like a huge moment of anxiety for me because I know that all I’m missing off kind of the crown jewel resume now is a Daytona 500. I know how close we’ve been and it just makes me want to explode inside. Somebody once told me that if you go to the Olympics and you score a silver medal that’s the worst thing that can ever happen to you. The guys that scores the bronze is thrilled because he got a medal. The guy who won the gold is obviously thrilled because he won it all, but the guy or girl who got the silver, that’s the one who is really frustrated because they medaled, but they were this close to winning the gold. I feel a little bit like a silver medal winner right now on the plate tracks, and I know that not having the Daytona 500 is a huge miss and until you have that I don’t think you can be in those discussions.”

Matt DiBenedetto said he and the No. 21 Quick Lane team are headed into Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with one main goal in mind.

“I hope not to crash,” he said. “That’s Plan A.

“It seems like most of the time if you survive the race without crashing that’s a good day in itself.”

Assuming he achieves Goal No. 1, there are other factors he and the team will focus on throughout the race.

“Hopefully we will have a good strategy and make smart decisions throughout the day,” he said.

And there will be an emphasis on scoring as many points as possible.

“Stage points are important, and I’d like to get some of those,” DiBenedetto said.

“Talladega can result in some big points swings, and we want to be on the good side of that.”

DiBenedetto has run just 10 Cup races at Talladega, most of them with underdog teams, but he has put a lot of emphasis on perfecting his skills and tactics in the style of racing that occurs at Talladega and its sister track, Daytona International Speedway.

“I’ve worked on that a lot,” he said. “I’ve studied it more than any other form of racing we do. There are lots of decisions you make as a driver that can affect the outcome.

“I try to be a smart racer and someone people will want to work with, especially when it comes down to the finish.”

This week, for the first time at Talladega, he’ll be driving a potent Ford Mustang and be a part of a Ford team that has won eight of the past nine Cup races at the 2.66-mile Alabama track.

“Fords always fast at Talladega,” DiBenedetto said. “The engines are always good, super strong.

“Our car raced well at Daytona, and I’m fortunate to be a part of the Ford team.

“It’s nice to have other Ford drivers with fast cars to work with.”

There will be no qualifying or practice prior to the start of Sunday’s GEICO 500, which is set to start just after 3 p.m. Eastern Time with TV coverage on FOX.

###

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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 200,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TALLADEGA, ALABAMA
JUNE 21, 2020

RACE #13: TALLADEGA
Originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) will make its first appearance of the 2020 season at Talladega Superspeedway with the GEICO 500 on Sunday, June 21st. The 188-lap, 500-mile race around NASCAR’s longest oval will be the 13th race on the revised NCS schedule.

NASCAR’s June 9th announcement of gradually introducing fans back to events will include this weekend’s visit to the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Up to 5,000 fans will be on hand to watch the drop of the green flag from the track’s front stretch seating. Previous eligible ticketholders were given the first opportunity to purchase tickets, followed by a limited number available on a first come, first served basis to those who reside within 150-miles from the track.

BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 41 all-time wins and 37 poles in 101 NCS races at the superspeedway, more than any other brand. Other statistics of note include 191 top-five’s, 366 top-10’s, and 7,903 laps led.

· Victories by active Team Chevy drivers include:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE has two wins (May 2006, April 2001)
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Mountain Dew-Little Caesars Camaro ZL1 1LE has one win (April 2019)
Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE has one win (October 2012)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Camaro ZL1 1LE has one win (May 2017)

· The most recent Chevy pole winner is Chase Elliott, No. 9 Mountain Dew-Little Caesars Camaro ZL1 1LE, (October ’19). Elliott leads all active drivers in Busch Pole Awards at Talladega with two and, in eight career starts, has an average starting position of 4.6. His first pole in 2016 makes him the youngest pole winner at the superspeedway to-date (20 years, 5 months, 3 days).

· Hendrick Motorsports has the most victories at Talladega of any team with 13, all celebrated with the Bowtie brand.

· Longtime Chevrolet ambassador Dale Earnhardt holds Talladega Superspeedway records for wins (10), top-five finishes (23), top-10s (27) and laps led (1,377) in 44 starts. Career Chevrolet drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon are next on list with six wins at the track.

LEADING THE STAGES
With 12 races in the books, Chase Elliott leads the field with 141 stage points, which includes five stage wins, 13 top-5’s and 22 top-10’s in stages. Fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate and Team Chevy driver Alex Bowman currently sits second on the list with four stage wins, including 12 top-five and 18 top-10 stage finishes for 126 points. William Byron (1) and Jimmie Johnson (1) have also contributed to stage wins thus far this season.

With Chase Elliott’s recent victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Alex Bowman’s win at Auto Club Speedway earlier this season, two Team Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE drivers have secured their spots in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Elliott and Bowman, are currently ranked second and eighth, respectively, in the point standings.

AT THE DROP OF THE GREEN
The race weekend format continues on as a one-day show with no practice or qualifying. The starting lineup will be set by virtue of owners points and a random draw. Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:

4th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
7th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
8th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 1LE
11th Chase Elliott, No. 9 Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Camaro ZL1 1LE
13th Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Realtree Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE
19th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
20th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Camaro ZL1 1LE

TUNE-IN
FOX will telecast the 188-lap, 500-mile race live at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 21st. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

QUOTABLE QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 MOUNTAIN DEW/LITTLE CAESARS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 2nd IN STANDINGS
ELLIOTT ON RACING AT TALLADEGA
“Last year worked out really well for us. It was kind of one of those races where things just kind of just fell in our lap there towards the end of the race. We were super patient and just very disciplined as a group. I’m looking forward to getting back to Talladega this weekend with the Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Chevy and trying to do it all again.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGS
“Talladega is a track where we have been pretty good at in the past. I feel like anytime Hendrick Motorsports goes to a superspeedway, we are solid. Last year in the spring we were really fast and had a great car. We came up short by one spot to Chase (Elliott), but that just shows how great these Hendrick cars are at Talladega.”

“I don’t think I can apply anything from my virtual win at Talladega earlier this year to this weekend’s race. It is a completely different style of racing, but we typically bring fast cars to Dega. It does not hurt to crash at the virtual Talladega and I definitely used a reset in that race. So that is not going to work on Sunday.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 15th IN STANDINGS
“I’m excited to get to Talladega. We always have fast cars as an organization. Talladega last year was really good for us as a team. We were leading and got pushed sideways which ended our day. I think though that this weekend will be a good opportunity for us to do well. It is unpredictable but you have to do what you can to try stay in contention and be there at the end. You really look past your windshield during the race so to speak. You mainly watch the car running two spots ahead of you more than anything. This weekend will be no different. You have to watch the cars ahead to try spot potential wrecks before they happen to give yourself more reaction time. If we can do that and keep our nose clean, we’ll be in a really good spot to grab the win.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 16th IN STANDINGS
LOOKING AHEAD TO TALLADEGA, HOW DO YOU THINK THE CHANGES IN HORSEPOWER AND NO AIR DUCTS WILL IMPACT THE RACE?
“I don’t really know how the air ducts will do. We’ve obviously raced in the past without aero ducts, so that’s one thing I just don’t really know. I’d have to really go back in time and look at what our cars did differently, but there was probably somewhere you could match them up to. I don’t know what the closest year that we ran a package like this would be, but we feel like the racing is going to be different from the way it was at Daytona. It’s always different from Daytona to Talladega, so I’d say the first stage of the race will definitely be a learning curve for just about all of us. Set-up wise should not be a problem – I hope not. But just the way we race and the runs you get, we’ll be learning that first stage. You want to be aggressive because every point matters throughout the year.”

“Just trying to play the chess match that’s ahead of us this weekend is going to be the key. Just knowing when to go. I’ve done a lot of different strategies when it comes to speedway racing, but my favorite is just going out there, racing and kind of throwing caution to the wind. I feel like that usually plays out better for us. I won the Daytona 500 being a little more cautious, but it’s just more fun that way when you go out there and race. So, we’ll see. We’ll make a decision quite early in the race to kind of figure out how everything is going. Hopefully all of our Chevys will run up-front together and work hard together to do what we need to do to bring home the win for Chevrolet.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 REALTREE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS
“It’ll be interesting to see how this weekend goes at Talladega Superspeedway. They’ve made some changes to the cars since we raced our last restrictor-plate race at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year. We were at one point going to have practice this weekend, and now we’re not. I’m really not sure if we would have utilized the practice session or not because we don’t want to be in a situation where we would damage our No. 8 Realtree Chevy before the race. Regardless, we’re now going to be on track for the race with no real feel for these cars or how this new rules package will run, so it’s going to be intense. Talladega is a wider track than Daytona though, and it’s going to be a lot warmer. I’m excited. I really like racing at Talladega, and I hope we put on a good race. Normally it does, there are just a lot of unknowns entering this weekend. As a team, we need to survive the race and continue to capitalize on as many points as we can. We’re now two points out of a Playoff spot, so I know we can get there.”

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 20th IN STANDINGS
TALLADEGA IS CONSIDERED A WILD CARD WHEN IT COMES TO FINISHES. WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO BRING HOME A WIN?
“Surviving; that’s the name of the game for speedway races. Talladega Superspeedway is a lot of fun. We were so fast there last year. Our Richard Petty Motorsports team didn’t qualify well, but we were inside the top-five and then we were involved in an incident. That one stung; it still does.

“Richard Petty Motorsports always has good speedway packages. Our Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was fast at the DAYONTA 500 this year. We have to bring back that same package and be a little bit better. We have to show other teams that we are fast and I am capable of hanging one if we are getting pushed. A lot of speedway races, we just get left-out hanging. We could be leading a line and get shuffled out of the lead. We just have to build trust into the other guys. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen and that’s fine. But we just have to figure out how to manage our own race and be there at the end at the last ten laps really is what’s important.”

JERRY BAXTER, CREW CHIEF FOR THE NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 1LE
“This weekend is the GEICO 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway. We are taking the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Bubba (Wallace) does a pretty good job of drafting on the superspeedway tracks, so we are all definitely looking forward to that. It is the same car that we ran at the Daytona International Speedway – we redid it with a fresh body. The car seems to draft really well. It appeared we were going to get a solid top-10 finish until the last lap incident that moved us to 15th-place in the finishing order. Hopefully, we will be better this week.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 NOS ENERGY DRINK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 21st IN STANDINGS
“Talladega Superspeedway is always a track that I have circled on my list. Obviously getting my first win there was really special, but I always enjoy racing at the big tracks like Daytona and Talladega. We had really good speed in the DAYTONA 500 earlier this season and were able to get the pole and lead laps. We won’t have the opportunity for the pole this week, but Brian Pattie and the team at the shop have worked really hard to keep that same speed and more in our No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet for this weekend. We struggled a little bit the last two races at Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, but if there’s a track that can turn that around for us, it’s Talladega.”

RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 29th IN STANDINGS
“I think racing at Talladega Superspeedway with no practice and qualifying this weekend will be awesome. Right now, everyone is super close in the field with no practice because that’s what you have. I think the racing has been better and created opportunities for teams like ours to go out and contend for top-five and top-10 runs consistently. The random draw has been a little more difficult for us, but at Talladega, anything can happen no matter where you start. The package we have now allows you to get better runs and the leader doesn’t have quite the advantage they once did in clean air. My approach is to just keep our No. 37 Kroger Chevrolet clean and make it to the end. It’ll be nice to have fans back, and there’s no place better than Talladega.”

MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS
“Racing at Talladega and Daytona is different than any racing we do all year. With restrictor plates, handling doesn’t really come into play very much. It’s all about positioning and drafting and being in the right place at the right time, and not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You feel like it’s a ticking time bomb and you don’t want to get caught up in it when it blows. There’s always a lot of strategy to try to make sure you’re around at the end. But also, you have to be careful about hanging back waiting for the wreck, because there’s always a possibility of not having the wreck, and then you aren’t close enough to the front to have a chance to win. It’s a balancing act of surviving all day and being in position to capitalize for a good finish or even a win at the end.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2019): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Drivers Championships:
Total (1949-2019): 31
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016

Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2020 STATISTICS:
Wins: 2
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 1,039
Top-five finishes: 18
Top-10 finishes: 46

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 788 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 717
Laps led to date: 235,345
Top-five finishes to date: 4,032
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,328

Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date

General Motors: 1,122
Chevrolet: 788
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65

Ford: 792
Ford: 692
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59

Toyota: 147

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Richard Childress Racing at Talladega Superspeedway … Richard Childress began his driving career at Talladega Superspeedway in 1969 and is in a tie for the most all-time car owner victories at the storied Alabama-based race track with 12 NASCAR Cup Series wins. Among those wins include Dale Earnhardt’s final career win in the Winston 500 on October 15, 2000. Earnhardt won nine times, Clint Bowyer had two wins (2010 & 2011), and Kevin Harvick scored one victory (2010) at the superspeedway.

Childress’ most recent win at Talladega Superspeedway came last year when Tyler Reddick claimed the victory en route to his second consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. Reddick will be the 24th Cup Series driver to make a start at Talladega under the RCR banner this Sunday.

COVID-19 Relief … Own a piece of history by participating in an auction and sale of Richard Childress’ personal collection of memorabilia. All proceeds will assist COVID-19 relief efforts. Thousands of rare, hard-to-find and exclusive items from Richard Childress’ 50+ years in NASCAR are up for bid or sale. Visit https://www.ebay.com/str/RichardChildresscollection

Catch the Action … The NASCAR Xfinity Series Unhinged 300 at Talladega Superspeedway will be televised live Saturday, June 20, beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports One and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will be televised live Sunday, June 21, beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Talladega Superspeedway … In 13 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Dillon’s best finish at the track is third (April 2016). He is also a former pole winner at the track (2019).

Tracker Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.

Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit

E-Z-GO…E-Z-GO is an iconic, world-renowned brand in golf cars and personal transportation vehicles. Products sold under the E-Z-GO brand include RXV® and TXT® fleet golf cars, Freedom® RXV and Freedom TXT personal golf cars, E-Z-GO Express™ personal utility vehicles, and the 2Five® street-legal low-speed vehicle. Known for innovation in electric-vehicle technology, E-Z-GO’s newest offerings include the ELiTE series of lithium-ion powered golf cars and PTVs, and the company’s exclusive 72-volt AC electric powertrain found in its latest Express series vehicles. Founded in 1954 in Augusta, Ga., E-Z-GO became part of Textron Inc. in 1960, and today operates as part of the company’s Textron Specialized Vehicles division.

Happy Father’s Day, Austin! … With three generations of racers among their ranks, NASCAR Cup Series races on Father’s Day weekend have always held special meaning to the Childress/Dillon family. This year, however, Father’s Day has even more meaning for Dillon, who became a first-time father on Sunday, June 14 when his wife, Whitney, gave birth to their son, Ace RC Dillon.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
RCR’s performance is notable so far in 2020. Talk us through that.
“It’s been an awesome year so far. I always want more, but compared to years past, I’m very optimistic of where we are. We made a big jump and those jumps are hard to come by. My teammate, Tyler Reddick, entered our NASCAR Cup Series program with a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and that brought some momentum. I think it fired up everybody. It fired up me to compete. He’s a good wheelman. It builds both teams to compete within and that comes with these good finishes we’re having. The competition is great at RCR. And you’ve got to have that. Chevrolet stepped-up their game in the off-season and really gave us something else to work with as far as the car goes. Our whole entire shop is working really hard. Obviously, it’s been tough on everybody with the quarantine, but I feel like we did a good job of keeping up with the work that we had ahead of us. It’s been a really good break for our team, if anything. And, the way we go to the race track now looks different. Less people go to the track and I think that’s a good thing for our guys. The core group on each team is strong, and that’s nice to see.”

How do you think the changes in horsepower and no air ducts will impact the race this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway?
“I don’t really know what type of impact the lack of air ducts will have. We’ve obviously raced in the past without air ducts. I’d have to go back in time and look at what our cars did differently. I don’t know what the closest year that we ran a package like this would be. We feel like the racing is going to be different from the way it was at Daytona. It always is different from Daytona to Talladega. The first stage of the race will definitely be a learning curve for all of us. Set-up wise should not be a problem. I hope not. But, just the way we race and the runs you get, we’ll be learning that first stage. And, you want to be aggressive because every point matters throughout the year.”

What is the key to having a solid performance this weekend at Talladega?
“It’s a chess match. You have to know when to go. I’ve played a lot of different strategies when it comes to speedway racing, but my favorite is just going out there, racing and throwing caution to the wind. I feel like that usually plays out better for us. I won the Daytona 500 being a little more cautious, but it’s more fun when you go out and race. We’ll make a decision quite early in the race to figure out our strategy based on how everything is going. Hopefully all of our Chevys will run up front together and work hard together to do what we need to do to bring home the win for Chevrolet.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Realtree Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Talladega Superspeedway … Coming off his first top-five finish in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Tyler Reddick is set to make his first Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. Reddick, who won last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 2.66-mile track with RCR, also has one additional top-10 finish in the Xfinity Series, as well as one pole award and two top-five finishes at the superspeedway in the NASCAR Truck Series.

RealtreeTimber… When it comes to hunting heritage, dedication and tradition, Realtree is at the forefront. So, when Realtree decided to create its next camouflage pattern, Bill Jordan and the design team met with some of the most legendary hunters, outdoor icons, and world-class guides to understand their vision for what makes an effective and versatile camouflage pattern for all of their outdoor pursuits. They took notes. They asked questions. They tested and tested again until they were sure they had something truly special. Built off the foundations of past Realtree camouflage patterns, they took advantage of new advances in technology and printing allowing them to create a revolutionary new pattern that truly meets the needs of hunters in numerous situations. New Realtree Timber is the result. It’s perfect for ducks in flooded timber, wooded turkey hunting scenarios, in any treestand setup, stalking the rocky terrain of the west, and so much more. Use Realtree Timber and become one with your surroundings!

TYLER REDDICK QUOTE:
Entering this weekend with a new rules package, what are your thoughts on returning to restrictor-plate racing?
“It’ll be interesting to see how this weekend goes at Talladega Superspeedway. They’ve made some changes to the cars since we raced our last restrictor-plate race at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year. We were at one point going to have practice this weekend, and now we’re not. I’m really not sure if we would have utilized the practice session or not because we don’t want to be in a situation where we would damage our No. 8 Realtree Chevy before the race. Regardless, we’re now going to be on track for the race with no real feel for these cars or how this new rules package will run, so it’s going to be intense. Talladega is a wider track than Daytona though, and it’s going to be a lot warmer. I’m excited. I really like racing at Talladega, and I hope we put on a good race. Normally it does, there are just a lot of unknowns entering this weekend. As a team, we need to survive the race and continue to capitalize on as many points as we can. We’re now two points out of a Playoff spot, so I know we can get there.”

This Week’s No. 21 DUDE Wipes Chevrolet Camaro at Talladega Superspeedway … Coming off his first career top-five finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Alfredo will make his first Xfinity Series start this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Alfredo has one career NASCAR Truck Series start at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, where he ran in the top-10 for the majority of the race.

Welcome, DUDE Wipes … The DUDE Wipes revolution was born one fateful day in our Chicago apartment, when we switched from toilet paper to baby wipes and were forever changed. Today we make self-care products for DUDES that get the job done and leave you feeling refreshed, from our original flushable DUDE Wipes to face & shower wipes, and deodorant body powders & body sprays to DUDE performance underwear.

Fast Start for Fast Pasta … In his first five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, Alfredo has secured three top-ten finishes and has an average finish of ninth. He also won an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Saturday Night Thunder Race at Dover International Speedway during NASCAR’s hiatus from on-track competition.

ANTHONY ALFREDO QUOTE:
You have one career Truck series start at Talladega. Is there anything you learned you might be able to apply this weekend or will it be completely different?
“I don’t think much will translate because the trucks punch such a bigger hole in the air and handle quite a bit differently. It is somewhat comforting knowing I’ve been to this track before though. We ran really well in my first and only superspeedway attempt last year, which was at Talladega. Even with some of the unknowns that you will inherently face at Talladega, I have a lot of confidence heading back now because I know my Richard Childress Racing team will have a fast No. 21 DUDE Wipes Chevrolet prepared for me. Things happen really quickly at superspeedways and a lot can happen in less than a lap. I’m hoping we can have a clean race and be there at the end when it matters most to get our first win of the year.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
GEICO 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 18, 2020

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, NO. 62 BEARD OIL DISTRIBUTING/SOUTH POINT HOTEL & CASINO CAMARO ZL1 1LE, spoke with media via teleconference to discuss his return to competition this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, returning to superspeedway racing after his seventh-place finish at this year’s Daytona 500, and more. Full Transcript:

TALK TO US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TALLADEGA THIS WEEKEND.
“Somebody asked me earlier if I feel like I’m rusty – I haven’t been in a car. I said ‘nobody has raced a superspeedway race since the last time I raced one’. So, I’m no rustier than anybody else. I’m excited – the Beard Oil team, we’re excited that we were able to stay in the top-40 in points. We were sweating that for a bit, especially after Bristol. I said earlier that I love Tommy Baldwin and B.J. McLeod – they’re my buddies and I like them a lot. After Bristol, I started to go ‘uh-oh’. But the great run at Daytona to get that top-10 is what enabled us to be able to make this race. Who would have thought we’d be sitting here in the world the way it is now and that seventh-place finish at Daytona for the No. 62 pays dividends yet again, and kept us locked in for Talladega.”

YOU’RE ON RECORD SAYING THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST YEAR OF NASCAR COMPETITION, MOSTLY BECAUSE OF THE NEXT-GEN CAR THAT’S COMING DOWN THE LINE. NOW THAT IT’S NOT COMING DOWN THE LINE FOR ANOTHER YEAR, IS THERE ANY CHANCE THAT BRENDAN GAUGHAN WILL GIVE IT ANOTHER GO IN 2021?
“I highly doubt it. Listen, the world is a different place than we started in January 2020. I’ve been so busy with business obligations and family obligations, I’m just afraid that I couldn’t give it enough time. It’s not like it takes a ton of time for me to do it now for the Beards’, but I don’t know. The Daytona 500 is always the carrot that dangles in front of you and that’s such an amazing, spectacular race that is hard to say no to. But as of right now, my answer is no. I’m still sticking to my guns and not going to be racing next year. If I did, it would probably only be the Daytona 500. Even then, it’s going to be a mighty-long stretch to get back there for the 500 next year.”

DO YOU HAVE PLANS TO HAVE ANY INVOLVEMENT WITH BEARD MOTORSPORTS IN ANY CAPACITY MOVING FORWARD?
“I would do anything that Darren Shaw, Mark Beard, Amy Beard, Linda Beard, Little Mark Beard need me for. Anything they ever need me for, I’m one thousand percent on board with the Beard family. Now that there’s going to be an extra year of this car, I was telling them that they didn’t need to go to the Next-Gen car – that it wasn’t something they needed to be a part of. But now that they have one more year of this race car, I might try to help them pick a driver better than the old guy they had and see if they can’t get a little bit of sponsorship money, even for some young gun out there. I’m not going to say it’s up to me, but if they gave it to me, I definitely know two names right off the top of my head that I would like to put in a race car for that family because I respect them a lot and I would only want very few people doing it for them.”

HAVE THEY TRIED CONVINCING YOU AT ALL TO COME BACK?
“Like I said, it’s very hard to say no to Mrs. Beard. Mrs. Beard is very, very inspirational. I want this printed word-for-word, she’s even offered to cook me chili (laughs). But right now, I’ll help them find a better replacement than what they had.”

HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT HAVE THEY HAD ON YOU RACING FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS?
“Most of you have been around the sport a very long time and know that my career has been interesting, to say the least. Some faults of my own – I gladly admit mine. But I’ve had the best time with these guys. I loved ending my career with Richard Childress. Everything that he ever said he tried to do for me, he did, and we worked hard. We competed for championships, we won races and I never thought I’d have this opportunity anyway in the Cup Series. The greatest couple of years of my Cup career have been with the Beard family. I’m honored to say that I’ve been a part of it. I’m honored to say they’ve allowed me to do this and this has, honestly, been the coolest way I could think to go out. Come on, my last Daytona 500, I got a seventh-place finish. The only thing better would be to win! But a seventh-place finish for this little team – our press release said ‘David versus Goliath’. And I said, us versus Front Row Motorsports is David versus Goliath. The fact that we can compete with the Penske’s, the Gibbs’ and the Childress’ of the world – that’s just unfathomable. I love the opportunity that they gave me. I appreciate every bit of it. I’ll try to squeeze in a race car a couple more times and do what I do best for them, which is be there at the end of superspeedway races.”

FIRST OFF, NOT HAVING PRACTICE THIS WEEKEND, DOES THAT AFFECT YOU GUYS AT ALL?
“It affects us probably more than most teams. Most teams at least have some sort of an engineering staff, at least have some sort of equipment to pull that race car down repeatedly to make sure they’re going to hit their travels. Our race team does not. It’s difficult, also, to get time in other peoples’ shops right now with the way NASCAR has the teams sequestered. So, we could not get all the time at RCR that we normally would have the luxury of being able to get thanks to Richard (Childress). I do know that it got pulled down, I do know they were able to get some time on the pull down rig. But not as much as others or other races we’ve had. So, for us, it is a disadvantage. But thankfully, for us, the equalizer is that there is going to be a competition caution and I have a feeling the No. 62 team will be very graciously looking forward to that competition caution if we happen to miss our travels, hit the splitter too hard or anything like that.”

THE CAR THAT YOU’RE RUNNING – HOW OLD IS THAT ONE? WHAT’S THE SITUATION? I KNOW LAST YEAR YOU ADDED SOME CARS.
“I also destroyed a couple of cars. This is the car that we raced at Daytona. It survived Daytona. It had a little bit of damage. Before all the world change after Daytona, we were able to get it to RCR to get some of the fluff and buff done on the body. Our race team is absolutely the greatest race team in the history of mankind at social distancing, so Darren was able to do all the work in the shop himself with the updates NASCAR required – the extra bars, plates, those sort of things. Darren was able to get those done. So, it’s the same car we had at Daytona.”

YOU FLIPPED AT TALLADEGA AND MADE A LOT OF JOKES AFTERWARD. YOU ARE DOING THIS PART-TIME. DID YOU HAVE ANY SECOND THOUGHTS AFTER SEEING THE RYAN NEWMAN WRECK?
“No – Look (Ryan) Newman’s wreck was horrific. If you remember after, the main thing I said was the main thing you don’t ever want is to get hit on that roof. That is the weakest part that we can get hit on. Ryan, of course, got hit there and Ryan walked out of that hospital two days later. NASCAR does what they do best – they took it back to the R&D Center, they analyzed, they put it in computer models and they have made this race car even safer than it was before the one that Ryan Newman survived that crash in. So, it didn’t really affect my thought process on this. It kind of re-affirmed that we are not invincible, we are not indestructible. But we are as safe as humanly possible. I’m still a race car driver and I’m willing to accept the risks that are involved. I do feel very, very safe with what NASCAR has put out there and what Darren has done for me with our Chevy.”

DO YOU THINK THE CHANGES TO THE CAR, AS FAR AS REDUCED HORSEPOWER, WILL HAVE A BIG IMPACT?
“All through the decades, NASCAR has had different race cars, different rules packages, different tires – I’ve liked some, I’ve disliked some. In the end, you race whatever they tell us to race. This is what they’ve told us to race, I’m racing it and I will do my best to drive it. Fortunately, for me, we have great ECR guys working on our engine package to make sure that the motor will do what it needs to do and we’ve had enough aero people looking at these to say ‘hey, they’ve been able to do what we need to do to get updates to be correct’. So, fortunately, we’re a little team that gets just enough help to be very, very competitive.”

CHASE BRISCOE SAID AFTER HE WON THE XFINITY RACE A WEEK, HE SAID THAT WHEN WE GO TO TALLADEGA WITHOUT PRACTICE, WE WILL NOT HAVE ANY OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE OUR MOVES. THEREFORE, WE’RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO GO FOR IT. I KNOW YOU’RE RACING IN A DIFFERENT DIVISION, BUT WHEN YOU HEAR THAT, CAN YOU KIND OF PUT SOME SENSE INTO THAT? IS THAT TRUE?
“Some of the younger guys maybe need to spend a little more time making sure they know where their race car is going to go. I kind of know some moves that I like. Every time you go, the race car handles a little different. But in the end, it still has the same characteristics that it’s going to have at Daytona, so I kind of know most of the moves that I want to make. I’ll spend the first half of that race practicing some of them. Everybody knows that we’ll try to get up there and be competitive during the race, but most of the time I’ll play a lot of it safe and I’ll be practicing. I’ll be side-drafting and seeing how far my race car will go. I’ll be letting people pin me down hard and seeing how it reacts. I’ll try to get a run on people and I’ll be using some of those laps as a test session early on in the race to figure out how our race car is going to handle for when it matters at the end.”

GIVEN THAT PHILOSOPHY, MAYBE MORE IN XFINITY AND LESS IN CUP, THOSE WHO ARE NOT VETERANS LIKE YOU WILL TRY THOSE MOVES AND WING IT WITHOUT PRACTICE?
“I think what you’ll see is a lot of guys doing what I do – you’re going to see a lot of people practicing. And the way this thing is now with the organizations that all work so well together, I think you’ll be able to see people probably practice those together, maybe even orchestrate some of them during the race if they get a calm setting to maybe say ‘hey, can I see what mine looks like in the front versus the back’. And maybe some teams will work with each other to do that. I think you’re going to see maybe a little bit of coordinated effort team-wise and some people will get it faster than others, just like anything else in life. You’ll have a lot of laps to be able to try and practice a few things if you put yourself in the right situation.”

AFTER THE END OF THE DAYTONA 500, THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK ABOUT IT BEING A WAKEUP CALL FOR SOME. YOU’VE BEEN RACING A LONG TIME NOW. HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE RACING AT DAYTONA AND TALLADEGA HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST 20 YEARS SINCE YOU’VE BEEN AROUND? DO YOU THINK DRIVERS WILL BE LESS AGGRESSIVE AND MORE CAUTIOUS THIS WEEKEND?
“No, drivers have short-term memory problems. When it’s bad, we forget, and when it’s great, we remember. You’ll have to ask the younger drivers that question if they feel that way. To me, I can only answer for me and I know how I feel in a race car. I know that I’ve never felt invincible in my life in a race car. I’ve also never raced with the word ‘no fear’ and I’ve known a few drivers that did. We have healthy fears, you need to use knowledge and intelligence to do some of these things. If people think the younger generation maybe feels invincible, you’ll have to ask them that. For me, all through the years, we’ve had aggressive drivers and non-aggressive drivers. It didn’t matter if it was an older guy, younger guy, you always have people that some are more aggressive and some less aggressive. And you have that today as you had 20 years ago. The style of racing is nothing the same. Look, the race cars have changed completely. The old drafting, the new drafting. We went through bump-drafting, the tandem-drafting. But we raced through all of them and you make the moves. Some people like it better than others and we just keep on digging with it.”

AS A NASCAR VETERAN AS YOURSELF, WE’VE SEEN A BIG CHANGE RECENTLY FROM NASCAR AS FAR AS THE CONFEDERATE FLAG GOES. YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO SIT BEHIND THE SCENES A LITTLE BIT BEING A PART-TIME DRIVER. HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS?
“Me and these sort of questions start 25-30 years ago. I’ve made statements in the past that can reflect my feelings on it. I think the flag, if you understand the history of it, you understand what the flag is and what it has become to stand for. NASCAR, five years ago, made a deal where they tried to get rid of it without overstepping too many bounds. But now the world has changed where you can kind of step over those bounds and make change, and they made a very positive one. It will work out great for our sport, as a whole. I think we’ll gain a lot of new fans and a lot of new people will be paying attention, and that’s great for all of us.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.