Category: NASCAR Cup PR

NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
FEBRUARY 28, 2020

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:

ON THE ‘KYLE BUSCH CHALLENGE’, WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT YOUR ‘CHERRIES TWEET’ SPARKED ALL THIS?
“Yeah, I guess. It was really a joke. I’m not offended with Kyle Busch wins Truck races. I actually like it a lot because I feel like it helps expose the guys that are good and the ones who aren’t. I think when he does win and he has to battle for the wins, I think it shows which kids are really good. So, I just dropped some cherries on there because when I do win dirt races, I do get a lot of that as well. It was more of a dig at the NASCAR fans and dirt fans who give me crap also, but in a different series. But, I guess it upset (Kevin) Harvick enough that he put a bounty up, which is cool. I think it’s great for the sport and great for the Truck Series. Hopefully the ratings are even better for these races coming up and hopefully it’s exciting, too.”

I GUESS YOU AND (KEVIN) HARVICK DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW IF YOU’RE BEING SERIOUS.
“Yeah, and I messaged Harvick after I read that article just to explain what I was thinking when I wrote that Tweet. He understood now. Yeah, but I was like I’m glad it did upset you enough to put the bounty up because it’s a good opportunity for us Cup guys. I wish that it would roll over to a Truck Series regular if they were to beat Kyle because it should be for the whole field, I think. When you’ve heard of bounties at your local Late Model race or whatever, it’s for the whole field; not just for one guy that might be in the field that night.”

IT SOUNDS LIKE IF CHASE ELLIOTT WINS IT AT ATLANTA, IT’S OVER. WILL YOU STILL RUN AT HOMESTEAD?
“Yeah, for sure. I’m going to run. I’m committed to run. I’d like to beat him and think that I could have $100,000 in my pocket, but yeah; it’s really not about the money to me. I think it’s a cool fun kind of challenge and I look forward to trying to beat him and if the money is still out there when I do get that chance, it’ll be a lot of fun. But, Kyle Busch is the best. It doesn’t matter what type of car he’s in. It’s not going to be easy. It never is, no matter what car or truck you’re in. But, it’ll be fun and I feel like Homestead is my best track and my best opportunity to do it.”

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE IMPORTANCE OF PHOENIX NEXT WEEK AS A CHANCE TO GO THERE BEFORE THE SEASON FINALE?
“I guess I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe we’ll all put more emphasis on it and focus a little more on trying to get better throughout the weekend. But we always do. But, I’ve never been a part of the Championship Four, so I don’t know what extra effort goes into it. But, I do think you’ll look at the weekend notes after we get through Phoenix much harder, to see where we can be better.”

YOU ARE BETTER AT HOMESTEAD THAN AT PHOENIX. WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU GUYS NEED TO WORK ON?
“I’ve gotten some good results at Phoenix. I’ve had a few so-so races, but other than that, I think I’m pretty competitive. I’ve been there and I feel like I’ve been close to winning once for sure, and maybe one other time. But I usually run around sixth to 10th, but that’s obviously not going to cut it if you’re in the Championship Four. The Gibbs cars are really good there. So, we’ve just got to figure out how to be better on the short, flatter tracks. We always work hard to be better, but whatever it is that the Gibbs cars have, we haven’t had. Hopefully we can hit on it.”

ON RACING IN CALIFORNIA
“It still feels like I’m in a different state. Northern California is a lot different than Southern California. But I get to see some friends and family while I’m here and get to enjoy some good weather and good food. It always makes me excited to get here to Fontana.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS TRACK THAT MAKES YOU PRETTY STRONG?
“It’s just a worn out surface and the pace falls off and it seems like at places where the pace falls off, I seem to do better at. So, I think it just falls into kind of my dirt background where you can search around for different lanes and find grip.”

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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Friday, February 28, 2020
EVENT: NASCAR Cup Series Media Availability

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang

IF GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO RACE A TRUCK FOR THIS BOUNTY THAT IS OUT THERE, WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED? “Yeah, whether it was with a bounty or without a bounty I would love to run Truck Series races. It just hasn’t presented itself with a feasible opportunity. I have been looking at it for the last two or three years since my team, I did have the team that competed in the series and was able to run a handful here and there. As far as I am aware there aren’t really any opportunities to get in a truck that is capable of winning so that hasn’t been a reality. I am glad to see the things that Kevin (Harvick) said and all that kind of spur into some good energy for the sport. That is a good thing for all of us and specifically that series.”

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE LEVEL OF NEXT WEEK’S RACE AT PHOENIX? “I think it is as important as it has ever been, probably the most important. There are a lot of questions I have about the PJ-1. They are putting it down, will the put it down in the fall? That could potentially make it not as important if they change what they are going to do there. That should be pretty interesting to see how it plays out. I think we would all like to believe that if you go out and win the Phoenix spring race that you will go out and win the fall race but a lot of things can change between now and then. Maybe less so than before though. There is a supposed technology freeze and you aren’t supposed to be able to make your cars any different throughout the season. I would say it is a pretty good tell tale.”

IF WHATEVER THEY DO WITH THE PJ-1, DO YOU WANT THEM TO FREEZE THAT AND HAVE IT THE SAME IN THE FALL? “I am not sure how I feel about it. Probably if I win, yeah (laughing). If I don’t, then they should definitely change that.”

YOU HAD A SECOND PLACE FINISH AT PHOENIX UNDER THE CONFIGURATION THAT IS PROBABLY CLOSEST TO WHAT WE ARE GOING TO RUN. DID THAT GIVE YOU ANY CONFIDENCE GOING THERE? “We ran really well there the last two times. Last fall we ran really strong and lost a cylinder and the spring race we ran really strong and got a flat tire. It has just kind of been a track where for whatever reason we have just been a little snakebit. Hopefully that will turn around.”

THEY ARE DOING A NEXTGEN TEST HERE MONDAY AND TUESDAY. ARE YOU ITCHING TO GET IN ONE OF THOSE CARS ARE DO YOU WANT IT CLOSER TO WHAT IT IS ACTUALLY GOING TO BE BEFORE YOU GET IN IT? “I want to drive it for sure but I would rather wait until it is a little more proven out. That opportunity will come in the late summer and fall and until then I will just kind of keep an eye on it, one eye on it, and see how it goes.”

ARE YOU KEEPING AN EYE ON WHAT NASCAR IS LEARNING FROM WHATEVER THEY ARE SEEING FROM THE NEWMAN CRASH? “Nobody has shared anything with us yet but I am looking forward to seeing whatever it is they have when they are ready.”

DO YOU THINK THAT AREA NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED? YOU SEE RYAN WALK OUT BUT YOU SEE THAT DRIVER COMPARTMENT WHEN IT GETS HIT: “I could make a lot of guesses but I don’t really know what happened because nobody has told us. I could probably make some educated guesses but they are still guesses. I would like to know more before I form an option. I know as much as you do, or probably less. I think all the references I have had is a few pictures. NASCAR has been clear that they want to do the full deal and dive in before they share anything and I respect that as long as it is timely.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE HARVICK BOUNTY? “I think it is fun. I think it is healthy to generate some attention to that series. I think it is probably what the series needs to maybe respect a little more what Kyle has done as an owner. I can see that he has put millions of dollars in it, probably 10;s of millions of dollars in it. With respect to that, I think there are some people that want to downplay the success that he has had and maybe not give him credit for the investment he has made but I am not in that camp. I think it is interesting because I think he probably gets more credit than he deserves as a driver and less credit than he deserves as an owner which is a bit peculiar. I think this might be what he needs to get more credit as an owner.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Friday, February 28, 2020
EVENT: NASCAR Cup Series Media Availability

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 BodyArmor Ford Mustang

YOU ARE RUNNING A SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME TO HONOR KOBE BRYAN THIS WEEKEND, YOU GOT TO MEET HIM RIGHT? “Yeah,I got to meet him In 2018 and talked to him for 20 minutes or so at a dinner. I will never forget that experience. It was really, really cool. I grew up watching Kobe and adorning him and admiring what he did and his work ethic. It was really cool to talk to him about my sport and he was really interested in what I did and how it all worked. I definitely will never forget that. The paint scheme and the t-shirts and all that is going to the Mamba On 3 Foundation of his. It is something to honor him. He was a big part of BodyArmor. We were fortunate that they let us do it and the Bryant family and the families of those in the accident as well. It is a special tribute for someone who meant a lot to a lot of people and honoring his daughter and the other victims as well.”

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO GET OVER LAST SUNDAY? “About 10 minutes after the race.”

REALLY? “Yeah, it was over. Moving on. I went and stayed in a teepee and forgot about it.”

THAT EXPERIENCE OF STAYING IN THE TEEPEE AND WHAT COMPELLED YOU DO DO THAT? “I already had that planned no matter what happened. I like camping. I was out on a ranch in the middle of the desert for a couple days and just hanging out and all that stuff. It was fun. I enjoyed it. I was just myself. I met some interesting people in the town and got to talk to them for a little while and had a good time.”

WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AND NOBODY REALLY KNOW WHO YOU ARE, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT? DO YOU MEDITATE? FEEL THE FORCE? “I don’t meditate, no. Find stuff to do. Go hiking a little bit. Cook by the fire. Clear your head. It is just relaxing. I have always kind of been that way. It was nice to get out there. I was out there. I had to be out there for Tuesday night anyway and figured I would stay somewhere other than the strip. I can’t do the strip for very long. I wanted to stay somewhere opposite to the strip.”

AFTER DAYTONA A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT YOU. HOW ARE YOU DOING? “Good. Getting better. Obviously that Monday night was a tough situation. Nobody knew anything. That was a tough night for a lot of people I believe. Actually Tuesday I got to talk to Greg Newman, Ryan’s dad. I called him on the phone Tuesday night and talked to him a little bit. I told him I would love to talk to Ryan whenever he was up and feeling alright enough to do it. Ryan called me Wednesday night. That was really nice to talk to him. We only talked for five or 10 minutes but I really – that did a lot for me talking to him. There were no hard feelings or anything like that. I look forward to seeing him soon. It is amazing how fast he has recovered from that stuff. Like I said in my little post, I don’t think you will find anyone tougher than that guy. It is remarkable. As he progressed and got better it made me feel better as well.”

WHAT WAS THE REACTION LIKE FROM YOUR FRIENDS AND THE COMMUNITY? “I didn’t want to talk to many people at first. I just wanted to be by myself but my parents insisted. They met me at my house. They were in my house when I got home. That was nice for them to be there. Bubba (Wallace) came over on Tuesday and hung out for a few hours and we talked about some stuff. I stayed off social media and all that stuff. You have people that aren’t even involved and have never even watched the sport that have their own opinion on bad things. The outreach I got from the calls from former drivers and current drivers that week was pretty remarkable. Their support was good. Even though it is unintentional and it is racing it still takes a toll on you when it is off of your nose. You never wanna see anyone get hurt in this sport. We are all competitors but we are also a big family. Ryan and I have gotten along really well and that was just a bad circumstance and it is great that it worked out for the best. It was nice to have the friends and family and drivers and teams support. That really helped me out.”

WERE YOU SURPIRSED BY ANYONE IN PARTICULAR THAT REACHED OUT? “No, not really. I just had a bunch of people reach out. A couple of drivers called me. Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte called me, people that I looked up to a lot as a kid. It was neat that they called me and gave me their peace of mind. That was good. Nobody really surprised me, it was just nice to have that many people reach out. It just showed how many people cared.”

HAVE YOU SEEN A REPLAY OF IT YET OR HAVE YOU AVOIDED IT? “I saw it about two minutes after I got out of the car. I didn’t know how bad it was to be honest with you. That happens, you lose the race by a foot, you get out of the car and then you see a replay of that. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ It was a big, big range of emotions within 10 minutes. It is tough to watch it. I don’t want to see the in-car high speed camera. I don’t want to see that. Yeah, I did see the wreck and it is not comfortable to watch. I don’t think it is comfortable for anybody to watch. It is literally the worst place you can get hit with these cars. It proves a lot about the safety of them for that to happen and Ryan to be okay but there is still a lot we can do to keep these things on the ground and not get over and be in a position to get hit like that. It is definitely not comfortable to watch. I don’t try to watch it.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE STRENGTH OF YOUR 12 TEAM? “It has been a pretty decent start. Last week stunk. It is just kind of the way things go. You get to the lead and caution comes out. That is a tough call for Todd to make in that situation. We ran a lot of laps on tires and with two to go as the leader that is tough. A lot of people are going to do the opposite of what you do. The 88 and I did the same thing. That is just a tough spot. We did a great job of getting better throughout the race. I didn’t think we had a fast enough car to win that race early on and we worked on it a lot. The same today. We unloaded today and I don’t think we were very good but we got pretty decent there in the second practice. It has been good so far working with Todd and everyone on that group. They are great guys and I am proud of the speed in our cars currently. We have to keep that up. That is a big thing.”

WORKING WITH TODD NOW, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT STANDS OUT ABOUT HIM THAT MAYBE YOU NOTICE NOW THAT YOU HADN’T NOTICED IN THE PAST? “Yeah, you know all those guys from working at Penske but you don’t know them as well as your old group. I didn’t know Todd as well as I knew Jeremy because you don’t work with him every single weekend. Something that sticks out to me is that he is a very calm voice. Jeremy was the same way. Todd is very thoughtful with the way he goes about things. He and Miles Stanley, my engineer, work very closely together. Yeah, I just think he is really thoughtful with how he goes about things. Not saying that Jeremy wasn’t, it is just a different way they go about it. When you work with somebody you get their flow and how they enjoy doing things and certain changes that they like to do. I just like the way that he and Miles plan everything out. It is very good. We seem to get each others language already which is nice and that has really been showing. I know it is early but it has been good so far.”

LOGANO DESCRIBED NEXT WEEK’S RACE AS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE REGULAR SEASON WITH IT BEING THE SITE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP. DO YOU AGREE? “Yeah, it is obviously a huge race. Usually you only go to Homestead once, so you don’t have a chance to kind of get a race under your belt there in the spring. It is also important because we are back to the low downforce stuff there. That part is really important to try to get your car right and see where you stack up. I know they changed the PJ-1 a bit so that will change up how we run it. It is a really important race for multiple reasons, the championship and the low downforce stuff. It is really important to get some good notes from there and hopefully make it back there for the championship.”

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEW PACKAGE THERE? “Yeah, I am. It is pretty close to what it was in 2018. The spoiler is a little bit bigger, a tiny bit, an eight of an inch or quarter of an inch. I think it will help the racing on the short tracks a little bit. The high downforce stuff on the short tracks struggled at some places, we saw that. I think it will help it. At least we hope it does. We will see.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Friday, February 28, 2020
EVENT: NASCAR Cup Series Media Availability

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang

WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN THE SECOND PRACTICE? “We got the car even better. That is all you can ask for. It was good. We are figuring out what we need to be good in the race on the long run. The temperature is going to be way different. It was a much smoother couple of practices than Las Vegas because there a lot of people were way off on balance and everyone was really loose. We have it pretty close here. I think it is really competitive.”

YOU HAVE BEEN RAVING ABOUT BEING IN THE 21 CAR, SET ASIDE THE ICONIC NATURE OF IT, HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN INSIDE IT FOR A COUPLE RACES IN TERMS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CAR? “It is cool. It gives me a lot of confidence driving it as far as the speed, just the raw speed of the car and the performance of it. We were building our team last year and most of my career has been in underfunded equipment, so jumping into this level of equipment and car, the stuff that sticks out to me was like last weekend at Vegas we drove up to seventh and our car wasn’t perfect. We were racing around seventh and it was not the prettiest weekend. We had to make big changes in the race and all that stuff and I was like, ‘Eh, it is okay.’ But we ran seventh with a car that was okay. Knowing that if we had track position at the end and do the right things you can finish second. This weekend out here in practice on average it is pretty consistent. It has so much speed it is hard to not be in the top-10. The cars are just fast. They do a good job.”

YOU TALK ABOUT GOING FASTER. AT THIS RACETRACK, IS IT DIFFERENT WITH THE SEAMS AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT? DOES THE ADDITIONAL SPEED MAKE A DIFFERENCE HERE? “No, it is kind of the same as always. I think it is just funny, you drive the car just like you do any other time with any other team, any other car, anything. You drive it the same and your job is to just get the most out of it. But it is like you just look down at the lap times and they are pretty good. You aren’t driving any different. It isn’t really handling any different, it is just obviously a car with a lot of great backing behind it and great people and all that stuff so they just go fast and you run further up front. As a driver, I just make sure to race smart and do all the things I know I am good at to be the best I can and maximize what I’ve got. That is a different situation. It is fun. It is fun being fast.”

LAST YEAR THE BIGGER TRACKS WERE KIND OF YOUR WEAKNESS. YOU HAVE BEEN FAST IN PRACTICE HERE AFTER THE RUNNER UP LAST WEEK. WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR YOU MENTALLY? “It is a lot of confidence. It gives you confidence having that fast of a race car and that good of a team around you and stuff. It helps me to be better too. It is really a lot about those guys putting a fast car underneath me. Yeah, that was a weakness last year. I am sure there are things I can always improve on but us as a team we lacked speed at most the 1.5 mile tracks. It is kind of cool starting off the year already with a second place at Vegas on a mile and a half which was our weakness last year. Then going out here today on a 2 mile track and being fast, top five and top-10 car. It is neat having that good of a piece underneath you.”

HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE SEAMS HERE? “Don’t hit ‘em. You have to cross them at some point but for the majority of the corner you do not want to lay your right sides on them or else it feels terrible. You have to be so precise. It is inches of where you run your car here line wise. It is really sensitive.”

PHOENIX WILL BE THE SEASON FINALE, BUT YOU GET TO GO THERE NEXT WEEKEND. DO YOU FEEL THE NEW PACKAGE WILL SHOWCASE YOUR TALENT MORE? WHAT IS YOUR FEELING GOING THERE NEXT WEEK? “I am really excited. I am way more excited than last year even because I love short tracks and I love road courses and those places where you are sliding around. Getting back to the low downforce just makes me 100-times more excited going back to the track. I don’t know if fans realize how big a difference it is. It takes a ton of grip out of the cars and lets you get way closer to the car in front of you too. You get back to more old school, sliding around, short track racing.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
FEBRUARY 28, 2020

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW COATINGS CAMARO ZLI ILE MEDIA BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:

ABOUT RUNNING TRUCKS FOR GMS THIS YEAR: “I don’t have a relationship with GMS. I never ran one of their trucks. It would be fun to run five or six races this year but I don’t have the sponsorship it takes to run a truck and no one has come to me about it.”

HOW AGGRESSIVE CAN YOU BE HERE AT FONTANA?
“You can be very aggressive on restarts and really gain a lot, but you also can hurt yourself after a couple of laps it you used up your tires so you have to find the happy medium. You might let a guy go at the start of a run and then you can see him come backwards. That’s what makes it kind of fun with the older worn out surface.”

THOUGHTS ON CHANGES TO THE 2020 CAMARO:
“I think its pretty good. You saw more Chevys up front at Vegas. The Hendrick cars ran very well and we got going pretty good and are keying off of that. Today in practice you could see Chevys that are fast. These guys are just constantly working to get it better. It’s good to start the season off with some speed in the Camaro ZL1 1LE. But we are still working hard to keep it competitive.”

EARLY ON, YOU EXPRESSED SOME INTEREST IN THE BOUNTY, HOW IS THAT COMING ALONG?
“I’m still working on it. I’d like to build a chassis out of RCR and get to Texas or Kansas. I really wanted Homestead. That was my first choice, but we just can’t get it done by then. I’m still working on it. If the two that are going after it, Chase or Larson, then we will work on trying to sneak in and get to Texas or Kansas and see if we can get it done.”

HOW IS THE CHEVY APPROACH WORKING THROUGH THE NEW BODY? “It’s closer. It seems to be working better. We are in the wind tunnel together working hard. Trying to get the body better for all teams. It seems to be working better. We are closer than we have ever been. Obviously Daytona didn’t go as planned, so we need to get better at that. But the whole Chevy organization is working hard to get our cars faster.”

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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
FEBRUARY 28, 2020

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA 24 TRIBUTE CAMARO ZL1 1LE BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:

WOULD YOU EVER SLEEP IN A TEEPEE LIKE RYAN BLANEY, OR IS THAT NOT YOUR SCENE?
“No. That’s not my scene. I went back home. We’re testing the Next Gen car here on Monday and Tuesday. So, I’ll be out West the rest of next week.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS ON THAT CAR? DO YOU HAVE ANY FEEDBACK FROM ANYBODY WHO’S BEEN IN IT?
“Not really. I know they had some steering sensitivity or something the first test, so I’m not sure. I’ll be fun to run it. This place is just so drastically different. It’ll be kind of fun to make some laps here and see how much they let me run the wall and stuff. So, I don’t know how that’s going to work, but it should be fun.”

YOU WERE PRETTY GOOD IN THE TRUCK SERIES. ANY INTEREST IN THE BOUNTY? OR ARE YOU JUST GOING TO LET KYLE LARSON HAVE ALL THE FUN?
“If I could run a KBM truck against Kyle’s KBM truck I think it would be pretty fun, but that’s not possible for me. So, I don’t really have a relationship with GMS. I never really ran one of their trucks, so it would be fun to probably run five or six races this year, but I don’t have the sponsorship. Nobody has come to me and asked me about it. That’s kind of where I’m at with that.”

HOW DID PRACTICE GO TODAY? YOU ARE 18th ON THE LEADERBOARD, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN GOING INTO QUALIFYING TOMORROW?
“We were swinging for the fences. We were off the start, too tight, and then we ended first practice and then we freed it up a bunch and we were changing a bunch, I think. I don’t really know where we’re at, but we’re just going to have to kind of guess going into the race and hopefully guess right.”

ALEX BOWMAN LOOKED PRETTY SPORTY THOUGH. COULD YOU LEAN ON YOUR TEAMMATE FOR NOTES?
“Oh, yeah; for sure. We look at the data that we have. So, we kind of look at all that stuff and hopefully can gather something from that.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR PHOENIX NEXT WEEK?
“It’s going to be a lot different, I think, going there and kind of being the last test before we go there for the championship race. You’re going to be trying a lot of things, I think, throughout the weekend to see what you can hit on. But we kind of know the guys that have been good there the last couple of years and you’re going to probably have to beat the No. 18 (Kyle Busch), the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), and the No. 19 (Martin Truex, Jr.), so it should be the usual contenders, I guess; but it will be definitely different being the last race before you go back there.”

HOW MUCH IS THIS CAR GOING TO EVOLVE BEFORE YOU GET BACK TO PHOENIX IN 8 MONTHS?
“Oh yeah, a lot. Usually when you get back there in the Fall the car drives better because you’ve got more downforace and you’ve got a better idea on set-up. I feel like that’s the biggest thing is once you get back there, you’re in a better position to do well because you have a notebook. So, that’s the biggest thing.”

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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. NOTES & QUOTES
FEBRUARY 28, 2020

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO, 48 ALLY CAMARO ZLI ILE met with media and discussed racing at his hometown track and what his last year as a full-time Cup drivers means to him, what NASCAR and the state of California mean to each other, advice he would offer up & coming drivers, and more.

Auto Club Speedway president, Dave Allen, presented Johnson with a helmet by Troy Lee Designs, a moto 3 helmet with ‘Too Hip’ written on the back, thanking Johnson for the memories.

JOHNSON COMMENTS: “To give the back-story, we’re talking maybe 1982 or ’83, Rick Johnson was sponsored by Yamaha and then sponsored me on 50’s, 60’s, and 80’s; and I remember the helmet. I have a picture of me at Speedway 117 in Chula Vista, laying on my bike, and this helmet is somewhere in the photo. We used to have Wednesday night races there. That’s where we would go riding and racing on the weekdays. This is super-cool. Thank you!”

FULL TRANSCRIPT:
WAS YOUR DECISION TO STEP OUT OF CAR PAINFUL?
“I was looking for some feeling to backup which ever direction I went whether it was to extend and sign up with Ally at HMS or if I was going to move on. And the feeling of moving on just brought energy and excitement and I knew in my heart then it was time.”

ARE YOU GOING TO BE DRIVING IN OTHER SERIES POSSIBLY?
“This is really about balancing life. I’ve been in the NASCAR garage area for 20 years, this is my 21st year including my Xfinity days.. I feel really good in my heart of where I am and what I have accomplished and where I am at. I certainly have a lot I want to prove this year and certainly hope to have the ultimate happen. I do want to continue to race, and I am interested in other cars in other series. We will see where this year leads, and what comes around and what options I might have in ’21 and beyond. I wouldn’t rule out coming back for the right situation in Cup. I wouldn’t rule out road courses in IndyCar. I wouldn’t rule out IMSA or the WEC series. Off road racing. I really have a long bucket list of things I want to start checking some boxes on, even down to the New York City Marathon. I have some mountain bike races I want to do. I just want to balance some stuff out. I feel like I’ve got at least five more really good years. I feel very satisfied with what I have done on full-time basis here. I want to get out and explore and live a little bit.”

WHAT ABOUT FORMULA E?
“I would be open to it, but I don’t have any contacts there and haven’t had any conversations on that side, but if it has wheels on it, I’m interested. I’d even think about racing a boat maybe so guess it doesn’t have to have wheels. But I am definitely not going to race airplanes or helicopters, but I would consider a boat.”

TALK ABOUT HOW COOL IT IS THAT CHANDRA, GENEVIEVE AND LYDIA ARE WAVING THE GREEN FLAG SUNDAY:
“Just really excited for it. This year we are really trying hard to enjoy as much as we can and really take any opportunity that comes our way. This is certainly a different one for us and my family. I am very thankful that the track came to us with that suggestion to get my family up there in the stands. I think pre-race will be full of emotions. They will have a chance to come across the stage with me and be introduced with their responsibilities. Being a part of the five-wide salute at the front of the field, and then see those hands up there in that flag stand is going to be cool.”

WILL YOU WAVE AT THEM?
“Probably not, might be a little busy. But I will definitely be smiling though.”

IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND TELL JIMMIE JOHNSON ONE THING BEFORE HIS FIRST START, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
“It’s going to be okay. It’s going to turn out. I don’t know, I say that, and then I don’t know if I would tell myself anything because my own insecurities and wondering how I fit in the sport; wondering if I was going to survive in the sport, all those things led to my work ethic, my discipline and drive and helped create the opportunities that came for me. It’s interesting now later in my career, the connection I have with fans. That was something I lacked in my earlier years and certainly when I was winning championships in a row. So I don’t know how to really enjoy that piece of it more or have a deeper fan connection. But from the performance side, the competition side, and everything I’ve done behind the wheel, I wouldn’t change a thing. I think there is more of a fan piece that I wish would have gone a little different during my peak years, but who knows what this year and the future holds. Maybe that is all for a reason as well. I don’t know.”

WITH RETIREMENT IN THE WINGS COMING UP TO YOU, HAS YOUR INTEREST LEVEL GONE DOWN ANY? IF SO, WHEN YOU DO RETIRE ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT BEING A TEAM OWNER?
“No. Definitely not a team owner. As a kid, my dream was to take my helmet anywhere and drive anything. Tony Stewart’s and some of these other guys; Tony is hard to use as an example, but the other guys have always wanted to be a team owner and own their own equipment. And it’s just never been in the cards for me. My dream was to show up anywhere, anytime, and race anything. So, I want to do that as I move on into this next phase of life in racing.”

AND YOUR STRESS LEVEL?
“Oh, it’s higher, no doubt. Having a year to still race; I think the way Carl Edwards did it involved the least amount of stress and just show up at a press conference one day, it’s over, answer a few questions and you walk away. To have a full year to plan out and a full year to, in my opinion, enjoy; and I’m very thankful that I’ve chosen this path, but there’s a lot that goes into it and my office would say the same. Stress is higher than normal (laughs). Oh, and then the competition side is still there. That stress never goes away. We’ve just added other stress.”

GIVEN ALL THE SUCCESS AND ALL THE TRIBUTES GOING ON THIS WEEKEND, WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR YOU TO WIN HERE? WHERE WOULD ANOTHER FONTANA WIN RANK FOR YOU?
“It would be in sane. Home track, first win, you could just go down the list of meaningful talking points that could come out of it. The way last weekend went with the speed that we had in our Hendrick cars and the way mine drove, I’m very optimistic about this weekend and it would just be incredible to pull that off if we could.”

ON THE MOMENTUM OF LAST WEEK’S FINISH, HOW DO YOU TAKE THAT AND BUILD ON THAT FINISH?
“For me, I think we just take a deep breath after that performance. And it’s more than the finish. We ran in the top 10 and the top 5 most of the day. And the car, honestly, responded well to adjustments through the weekend. So, with all the new things we have that are going on, it was really just a deep breath. It’s like all right, we’re in a way better place than we were leaving Vegas last year at this time. So, it’s just a relief and we know we still have a ton of work ahead, but we’re not panicked or overly stressed about what we have in front of us. We can just be calm and relaxed and get to work.”

SINCE THIS IS YOUR HOME TRACK, DO YOU HAVE ANY HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS OR TEACHERS OR ANYBODY FROM YOUR YOUTH COMING THIS WEEKEND?
“Yeah, we have a bunch of friends coming this weekend from my hometown, L.A. friends, and people just on the West Coast. So, I have a big suite up above us, somewhere, that’s going to be socked full of friends and people having a good time.”

IT SEEMS LIKE DRIVERS WHO COME FROM THE SOUTHWEST REALLY ADMIRE THE PHOENIX RACEWAY AND IT WAS SOMETHING THAT THEY GREW UP KNOWING THAT IT WAS A GOAL TO ACHIEVE TO RACE IN THE COPPER WORLD CLASSIC? WHAT PHOENIX MEMORY STICKS OUT MOST IN YOUR CAREER?
“I think, when you go back through the years, it’s really stood the test of time and you had all forms of car racing through all the big divisions. So, as a kid, your memories still last. Those memories are still being made at that track. I didn’t attend races at a few other tracks, but most of them are gone and aren’t even around. So, I’m glad that Phoenix has stood the test of time and will be around for a long, long time. For me, my first time there was for an off-road race. My dad was a mechanic on an off-road buggy, and they used the infield to put on an off-road race. That was my first time there. I can recall going in the mid-90’s when I was a driver for Chevrolet in their off-road trucks. The NASCAR Truck Series was just coming along and I thought I had my big moment to drive one. I was giving rides in the morning prior to the race in a two-seat truck. So, I remember going there with great excitement and optimism to drive on asphalt for the first time. So, I do have some early memories going there and watching. The first time I ever raced there was in the Busch Series in 2000.”

SO MANY DRIVERS AND SO MANY OF YOUR PEERS HAVE NEVER WON HERE IN SPITE OF 12 OR 15 ATTEMPTS AND DO TO IT SIX TIMES, BESIDES YOUR SKILL, WHAT WOULD YOU ATTRIBUTE THAT TO?
“It is such a team sport and I think the last two years have proved to me more than anything just how important each individual is on the team, the manufacturers’ significance and then being at the peak of their performance and the organization you drive for. And, I came in as an unknown driver and my timing worked out where team, manufacturer, and organization was all at its peak, and I was able to ride that wave for a long time. So, I really attribute my success to the timing of those four key pieces being in the right spot. So, it’s timing and people, honestly.”

THE MURAL OUTSIDE, HOW COOL IS THAT AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
“It is super cool. I was just out there taking pictures with it and the artist did an amazing job. To come to my home track and see the effort that they put in to kind of honor me and my career means a lot to me. It really does. The things that are happening pre-race and there’s a ticket package that sold very well. I just feel a ton of support coming from my hometown track and the fans here in the area, so it’s really neat.”

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THAT DAY IN 2002 WHEN YOU CAME HERE AND WON YOUR FIRST CUP RACE? WHAT WAS THAT DAY LIKE FOR YOU? DO YOU REMEMBER IT AT ALL?
“Oh, yeah. That’s the day I knew I was going to be employed (laughter). Jeff Gordon handed me all of his championship equipment from the year before and they told me they’d be patient and I had time, but in my heart didn’t think that was the case and I knew I needed to win. So, to leave here with a trophy, mean that I’d have a job for a few years and I was pretty stoked about that.”

HOW IMPORTANT OR UNIQUE IS IT FOR THE WHOLE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGION? HOW IMPORTANT IS NASCAR FOR THE PEOPLE OF SOCAL AND THE FANS OF NASCAR?
“I think NASCAR is really important for Southern California. But, I’d even flip it and say that Southern California or California in general is really important for NASCAR. I think there are six drivers now from the state of California that are in the top division. I know at one point in time there were nine. Clearly it was much more of a regional sport. And if you didn’t grow up in stock cars in the south, you really didn’t get a chance in NASCAR. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart really kind of paved the way for the rest of us. And, as we all know, there is a ton of racing here in the area and a lot of talent in the car mechanics; the engineering side and all of it. There’s just a lot of racing around here. So, to see racing have it’s impact in the south and in NASCAR I think is super cool.”

COLE CUSTER WAS SITTING UP THERE IN THE MEDIA CENTER A FEW MINUTES AGO, A CALIFORNIAN, A ROOKIE. WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE AS A SEASONED VETERAN ABOUT TO RETIRE, TO A ROOKIE, ANOTHER CALIFORNIAN?
“Ironically, I was in the back of a pick-up truck with him in Vegas for the lap around before the race started after driver intros; and he kind of asked me that question. And, we were looking forward at the track and I pointed at the track and said this stuff out here is the easy part. It’s what you’ve been doing. Trust your instincts. Trust everything you’ve done to get here. That’s the easy part. It’s the rest. It’s the stuff out of the car that a young Cup driver just isn’t used to. There’s a lot of stress that comes with all the things outside of the car that honestly take a few years to adapt to and get ready. And, it just depends. It could be media, it could be friends, it could be family, it could be finances, it could be sponsors. There is just so much. And, when you’re a young, aspiring driver, all you do is worry about seat time and your race car, and the race tracks. When you get to this level, it’s a big business. There’s a lot of stuff outside of it that you just haven’t had a lot of reps with. And, some people can balance that well. Others, when you pull them away from the car and away from the competition-side, everybody reacts a little different to that. And that’s the hardest part, I felt, was transitioning from even just a Saturday show to a Sunday show. The amount of work that’s expected of you at the Cup level and the professionalism that’s required, the sponsors, the meet & greets, all the stuff that goes with it, its time. At least times five; if not times ten, what you experience on the Saturday shows.”

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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Friday, February 28, 2020
EVENT: NASCAR Cup Series Media Availability

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AAA Southern California Ford Mustang

WITH ALL THE CHANGES AT TEAM PENSKE, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT NOT ONLY FOR YOU AND PAUL TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER, BUT TO HOIST A TROPHY TOGETHER AND START THINGS OFF LIKE YOU DID LAST WEEK? “I think it is key. To be able to come out of the gates as strong as we have, winning a Duel, which is good, but then coming and winning a real points paying race in Vegas was nice. I look at all three Team Penske cars all being very strong out there which was great. It shows that this change, although yes it was a pretty big change internally, not everyone has to relearn the whole system at Team Penske. Everyone knows who answers to who and what department does what internally. The only thing they are learning is really their new driver. If you have a question, that guy sitting right next to you in that office used to be that drivers crew chief. The transition has gone pretty smooth and the speed in our cars last week showed that. I also think there is still a lot of room for improvement which makes me confident about the length of the runway ahead of us. It is nice to get the win, for sure, whether we have worked together 10 years or one year getting that win early builds confidence up. I think it is a big deal to build confidence in the team. It is all about collecting as many playoff points as we can at this point and set ourselves up as best we can for when the playoffs start.”

A LOT OF XFINITY DRIVERS SEEM WORRIED ABOUT THE SEAMS ON THIS TRACK. HOW DO YOU APPROACH THAT? “You better pick a lane and stick to it. That is how this place works. The seams here are very wide and have that sealer in there and that sealer isn’t very grippy at all. A lot of times cars get kind of stuck on the seams. Cars take a bit arc down in the corner and then get to that last seam they need to cross and it just stops and you don’t get there. That is where a lot of passes are made when someone misses the bottom and the car behind them is able to make the bottom and make a pass that way. You have to be smart when you cross them. Especially leaving (turn) 2, you cross over them so quickly that your car really just wants to take off. The seams are tough. They have been there awhile though and it gives this place plenty of character to try to work around. This place has more little details like that that a driver and team needs to overcome more than maybe any other track we go to when it comes to bumps, seams, the surface wearing out, different lines. It is really hard to practice here and know what you need for the race and what lanes you are going to be racing. It has definitely been one of those races that experience has played a key role in being good in the race.”

YOU HAVE NOT WON THIS RACE .WHY IS IT SO HARD TO WIN HERE? “Boy, I wish I knew. We have been so close and had solid runs. We are consistently in the top-five here the last few times. We have been close multiple times. We were leading on the last lap one time. We have been right there, we just haven’t crossed the line first yet. There are so many different things that go into it. I still look at it as one of our best tracks even if we don’t have a win. I still think it is a great racetrack for us. We have been very close. Everything has to line up perfectly. We have been close, we just haven’t cut it yet.”

BLANEY STAYED IN A TEEPEE THIS PAST WEEK. COULD YOU EVER SEE YOURSELF DOING THAT? “Blaney did what? He stayed in a teepee? No, I will never do that. I am a city slicker. I like a nice bed and air conditioning and a nice pillow. I like that. That is not for me. He can do whatever the heck he did, that is good. I am glad he had fun though. That is good.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO PUT A GOOD NOTEBOOK TOGETHER WITH PAUL NEXT WEEK AT PHOENIX SINCE THAT RACE WILL DECIDE THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “I think everyone looks at Phoenix 1 now being maybe the most important race early in the season because it will be where you are racing for a championship possible. You need to really learn as much as possible. You want to have a strong run there and learn from your mistakes there more than anywhere and make sure you are clear about everything when you are done with the race. It is one of those tracks that you will spend more time afterwards dissecting every little piece of it. That is what is going to be the biggest race of the year. Understanding where we have made mistakes will be important.”

WILL THE TRACK CONDITION CHANGE AT ALL FOR PHOENIX WITH IT SO EARLY IN THE YEAR AND THEN LATE IN THE YEAR FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “A little bit but there are so many things unknown there like what the track prep will look like. is there tire dragons or PJ-1? That will adjust the track quite a bit from that standpoint. The weather itself will affect the track some as well but I think more the track prep than anything will affect the way the race plays out.”

HOW DO YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT GOING INTO THE RACE NEXT WEEK IF NOBODY HAS TESTED THIS NEW SHORT TRACK PACKAGE? “That is a good question. I think, honestly, that a lot of it is just going back to 2018. Will it race like that? Probably. I would assume less downforce, less grip and promoting cars moving around the racetrack more. I think you will see on the long run cars running higher which we kind of saw a little bit of that with the track prep up there. I think you will see cars move around more. We have not restarted there with the small spoilers, I don’t believe we have. Wait, we did with the new start finish line. I will have to go back and rewatch that. You are getting ahead of me here. I think that is going to calm down some of the restarts a little bit but also make the racing throughout the run better. That is kind of my thoughts at least to start.”

HAVING THE EARLY SUCCESS, HAS IT MADE THE TRANSITION TO A NEW CREW CHIEF ANY EASIER OR LESS STRESSFUL FOR YOU? “I think the bottom line is that we have both had success at Team Penske in different ways. We have won different races but we have both won championships, we have both run a good amount of races. It is kind of taking the best from each and trying to figure out what makes us strongest from there. That has been the fun part. We look at our weaknesses and how to make those better but more than anything right now, it is about finding the three things that I am really good at and the three things that Paul is really good at and trying to mold those together to make a powerhouse team that we are trying to produce right now.”

WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT ABOUT NEXT WEEK, THE FACT IT IS THE FIRST RACE WITH THE REVISED SHORT TRACK PACKAGE OR THE FACT IT IS THE RACE WHERE THE CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE DECIDED? “Probably the race where the championship will be decided. There will be plenty to learn about the short track package and we will take that into the equation but the facts are if you think about the way Miami was we only got to race there once a year. Imagine if you got to race there in the spring what it would be like when you got there in the fall, how much more preparation you would have and thoughts you would have after running that race. In this case, we kind of get, I wouldn’t call it a warm-up race because it is still very important, but it is something where you can try something thinking about the future quite a bit. The only thing about it is there is so much time between races. You have a long way until we get back there in November. Yeah, we will learn a lot about the race but our cars will change a lot by the time we come back. To the point that some things won’t apply as much but there will definitely be a lot that transfers still.”

IN LIGHT OF EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WITH THE BOUNTY THAT KEVIN PUT OUT ON KYLE. WE HAVE TWO CHEVY DRIVERS THAT HAVE STEPPED UP AND AGREED TO RACE KYLE. HAS FORD PERFORMANCE GOTTEN TOGETHER TO DECIDE WHO IS GOING TO THROW THEIR HAT IN THE RING MAYBE WITH THORSPORT OR DGR-CROSLEY PREPARED TRUCKS TO GO AGAINST KYLE? “I haven’t heard much talk about it. I have been focused on winning Cup races and beating him over here. Those ones seem to pay the most so we try to focus over here.”

IF THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED ITSELF THOUGH? “I would be interested in it, yeah. If the opportunity was sitting in front of me I would think about doing it. You want to make sure you have the best change possible to go out there and have a fair shake at it, but like I said, right now with the change that we have had there has been a lot of time focused on getting used to our new teams over here at Team Penske and trying to align all that so our focus has been over there. I love the idea though. I love the idea that Kevin threw out there to do this. It gets everyone talking about the Truck Series and what that is about and you get the best of the best out there with them and it will be fun to watch. It draws so much attention to it right? You would never ask me a question about a Truck race if that didn’t happen. Kudos to Kevin for doing that and doing it for charity is even better. If the opportunity was there I would probably take a look at it but I haven’t been searching at this point.”

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A SUPERSTAR? “I don’t know that I am a superstar. I am just a race car driver that a few people in this room want to talk to. Which is good. I want to keep it that way, but I don’t feel like I am a superstar by any measure.”

CAN YOU EAT IN PEACE WHEN YOU GO OUT? “Yeah. I went to Red Robin last night and everything was smooth. I sat in traffic for two hours from LA to here and I was hungry and that was the only place we found.”

WHY DOES SUCH A SMALL PORTION OF THE TRACK HERE WITH THE SEAMS IN THE CORNERS CREATE SUCH ISSUES? “It is a good question. The seams are four inches or so wide, maybe even wider in a lot of cases. Our tires aren’t that wide, so you think about how you are losing a lot of your grip. I don’t know if you guys have ever walked on the race track here but if you find the seams you can stick your finger right through the sealer. It is really soft and squishy and I don’t know how it even works but I guess it does. You can tell that there is going to be way less grip on those just by touching it. So when you have a fairly narrow tire going across something that is four or six inches long, you are losing the majority of your grip and you kind of get stuck on them to where you can’t get lower in the corner and you almost just have to bail and get above it to where you can get your right sides back on asphalt. That is usually what it is. There is just so much of it. We talk about the seams and the sealer in between each lane but if you look at three and four in the second and third lanes, there is a lot of sealer going across the race track which makes those very challenging as well. The experience of knowing how to deal with that stuff and knowing what you can and can’t do because of what is coming up ahead of you is the important part here.”

YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THAT WHEN YOU GO BACK TO PHOENIX IN NOVEMBER THE CARS WILL BE DIFFERENCE. WHY IS THAT? “Just how we evolve as a race team. What wins there in the spring will not win in the fall because everyone got better. You have to be willing to change. You think about all the 750 rules package races that will be in between the first and second Phoenix races and we are going to learn a lot. We are going to get better. Every other team will too. So it is just evolving like anything else in this world right now. You just kind of figure more out. You learn something new every day.”

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

FONTANA, Calif. (February 28, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media at Auto Club Speedway:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How do you look at going to Phoenix next weekend and translating it to the championship race?

“I look forward to Phoenix, it’s always fun and a good place for us. Lately, we’ve been able to really pick up on some things that help us there that have made us better there the last few times and now this package is different. I think that will lend itself back into a couple years ago I guess. Felt like we were just kind of hitting on something there and was a big racier through traffic and such. We’ll see how all that goes. Next week is a big week on trying to formulate that notebook and try some things and have some ideas, some concepts maybe that you wouldn’t normally do to just get out of the way and utilize your time as much as you can for the championship when you come back.”

Were there any NASCAR meetings after the Daytona accident regarding safety?

“I was not a part of any internal meetings.”

Did you get any answers regarding what happened last weekend?

“If you look at last year, look at Vegas as a trend over the last few years, besides Martin (Truex Jr.) kind of being the anomaly, JGR cars haven’t really run very well at Vegas for a while. When you come to California here, we’re always one of the guys that are up front – cars that are to beat. I don’t look at this week as being too worrisome for us. It’s going to be nice to hopefully come out of here with a good run, be able to run up front, maybe win like we did last year. That would certainly be really good for then getting into Phoenix with the different package.”

What are your thoughts on the bounty now that Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have secured rides?

“It’s all good. It’s going to be interesting, exciting, whatever you want to term it. I guess Cup drivers in Truck Series do sell tickets so take that for what it’s worth. I think it’s a unique opportunity for more attention on the series, which is good. Maybe if more drivers had more teams then had rides then there would be something else there than just myself. I don’t remember who I told, but once (Kevin) Harvick kind of put the idea out there, I thought the guy that really has a shot is (Kyle) Larson at Homestead. Bring it on.”

Will the bounty be good for the Truck Series?

“I don’t know how to term it any differently than what I just said. I think it’s going to be good for the series. It’s brought a whole new chatter to it, whether that’s excitement or just chatter, I’m not sure which. I think we’ll see when we get to Atlanta what the grandstands look like and how the race goes.”

What does it mean to get inducted into this track’s Walk of Fame?

“It’s pretty cool that they do that for all the former winners here every year. They do this deal out there where we put our hands or our feet, you do that into the concrete so it’s kind of cool. Fans get a chance to check that out over the years. It’s like a little bit of a memory lane if you will and it’s nice to be a part of it now for my fourth time.”

If Chase Elliott beats you in Atlanta, is the bounty over?

“Ask Kevin Harvick. I don’t know what the rules are. I don’t set the rules.”

Is next week at Phoenix more important with the new package or the site of the championship?

“I think that’s two-fold. Obviously, it’s because it’s the first race with that lower downforce package if that’s what we call it and people are going to want to know what to expect in the upcoming races with that. I also look at it as of course it’s important and everybody is going to feel like it’s important because everybody right now feels like they have a shot to make the final four because it’s so early in the season. There should be an added emphasis by people to go out there and learn a few things, try a few things and get themselves ready for the end of the year being at the final race.”

How do you expect this race to go on Sunday?

“I have no idea. I’d like it to be a cake walk for the 18 and nobody is within the vicinity, but that’s not always exciting. The Interstate Batteries Camry here last year was really, really fast and (Martin) Truex was a little better in the final run, but we had much of the guys covered throughout the race. There in the final run we were just as good, and we were able to hold everybody off. Can’t say what’s going to happen this time around, there’s been a year’s worth of development on everybody’s side to get to this point. Could be a completely different race, but I would like to hope not.”

# # #

About Toyota

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Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Friday, February 28, 2020
EVENT: NASCAR Cup Series Media Availability

COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Haas/ Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang

ARE YOU CURIOUS TO FIND OUT HOW A FORMULA 1 CAR DRIVES? “It is cool to have the Formula 1 team there. It is pretty different. It isn’t something on my radar now. I am pretty focused on NASCAR. What those guys do is pretty impressive. It might be cool to race one someday.”

WAS LAST WEEK SORT OF YOUR, “WELCOME TO THE CUP SERIES” MOMENT? HOW DID YOU DIGEST ALL THAT IN THE WEEK AFTERWARDS? “Yeah, we definitely want to run a lot better than that. I think we have cars that are capable of winning. It is just a matter of trying to figure out the differences in the cars and make your best guess and study as much as you can before the race. I guessed wrong. Going into it this week you are able to look at a lot of data and things. I have learned a ton since last week and it is just a matter of taking advantage of all that and trying to perfect everything as good as you can.”

WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE TO GO TO PHOENIX FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH THIS PACKAGE? “I am looking forward to the short tracks. I think the changes they made on the aero side will help the racing a lot from what it seems like from last year. At the same time it is still going to be a little new to me but closer to what the Xfinity cars were last year. I am really looking forward to that and seeing what the short track package is going to be like. It is something I think I can adapt to a little better because it will be a little more similar.”

WHAT HAVE YOU NOTICED IN YOUR TWO WEEKS RUNNING THE CUP SERIES? WHAT ARE THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES YOU HAVE SEEN BETWEEN THE CUP SERIES AND XFINITY SERIES WHERE YOU WERE ONE OF THE DOMINANT DRIVERS? “I think for me it is getting used to the cars. They are a lot different especially with the 550 package and how you work the throttle and everything, how you are going to do that is a lot different than Xfinity. At the same time, you make one little mistake and are a little off in one area you will lose a ton of spots. Everybody here is pushing it to the limit. Everyone in the top-25 is probably capable of winning races. It is a matter of trying to perfect every part of it.”

WHEN YOU SEE A WRECK LIKE RYAN NEWMAN HAD AT DAYTONA AND HE WALKS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL TWO DAYS LATER, CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE SAFETY FEATURES OF THESE CARS AND HOW IT MAKES YOU FEEL? “It is definitely pretty amazing that he was able to walk away after two days in the hospital. We are all very thankful for that. It is a testament to how far the safety has come in NASCAR. That is about as bad as it gets and to see him probably make a full recovery is pretty awesome. At the same time it awakened us again that it is a dangerous sport and things can happen and it is a matter of making sure that we are taking advantage of all the safety innovations we have had.”

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST COMEUPPANCE SINCE YOU HAVE COME TO THE CUP SERIES AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN LAST WEEK AT VEGAS THAT MIGHT TRANSFER TO ATLANTA? “Honestly, it is just this 550 package. That is probably what I have learned the most about and how you want to work the throttle and traffic. Just everything. I think you can look at so much data now with all the different stuff we have. Every single aspect of the race you can look at stuff. Coming back this weekend it is a matter of trying to perfect those areas. If you are a little off in one area you will get eaten up. It is a matter of trying to perfect all those.”

AND HOW ABOUT ATLANTA? “Some. It is the 550 package and 1.5 mile track but one is really worn out and one is not worn out. There are a good amount of differences but I think our package will be pretty similar from race to race.”

WHAT IS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND COMING TO YOUR HOME STATE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE CUP SERIES? “I guess for me, I just want to go out there and be competitive. That is all you want as a race car driver. At the same time, I don’t know. I won here last year. It is a track I have always felt really comfortable at. The worn out bigger race tracks are always better for me. At the same time, you have to put as much effort and preparation as you can into it. That is what we have done this week. It is just a matter of trying to perfect it while we are out there.”

WHAT DO YOU DO ON YOUR OFF TIME? “Just hanging out with friends is the biggest thing for me. I will go golf. I am not a good golfer but I go do it. I go to the lake. We have Lake Norman right there in Charlotte. Just being with friends and hanging out for a little bit I guess.”

WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF LEARNING FROM YOUR TEAMMATES LIKE? “In the past I have talked a lot with Kevin (Harvick) and he has run a good amount of Xfinity stuff. My rookie year in Xfinity I talked to him every single week trying to get an idea of what to expect going to the track. I was trying to do that this year also, trying to talk with him as much as I can. Clint (Bowyer) and Aric (Almirola) have been very helpful also. If I have any questions they have been extremely helpful. I have some of the best teammates out there. At the same time, if you ask four people you are probably going to get four different answers. So you filter through what everybody means. Sometimes they say things differently but mean the same thing. It is a matter of trying to understand all of it and see how it works for you.”