Category: NASCAR Cup PR

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA DAY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 12, 2020

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Daytona 500 Media Day Highlights:

Q. How much fun has this week been for you so far?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: It’s been really neat so far. As soon as I won the pole, we were like, hey, we’re going to fly out at 6:00 p.m. to go to New York and they were gracious enough to let me push that time back so I could go to the dirt track and watch my sprint car team run, and then we headed to New York. But getting there, getting up in the morning and going to FOX and doing all the shows and then all the interviews in between is just pretty cool, to see everybody talking about our race team and what we were able to accomplish on Sunday.

You know, a lot of hard work went into that this off-season, a lot of Saturdays, long nights in the shop, long days in the wind tunnel, and to see it all kind of come together and pay off and get to see all the media that our team was able to get is pretty special. I got to enjoy it for a week, or we get to enjoy that for a week before the race on Sunday, so it is a big deal for our team.

Q. How late did they have to push the plane back?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Four hours. Yeah, we left at 10:00. The dirt race ended at about 10 after 9:00, so we actually left maybe 10 minutes early.

Q. You tweeted from the makeup seat it was like the guy had never seen a mullet before.
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, the lady was doing my makeup and the guy was in the back, and she said, hey, do you want to do some hair, and he goes, I don’t know what to do with that. I was like, well, it’s a little frizzy; maybe put something in it. He was like, how do you normally wear it. I was like, I got up this morning and I fixed my hair; this is how I wear it. It was funny, we all laughed, and he was having fun with it.

Q. Where was that?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: That was at FOX when I was in the makeup room. Yeah, it was good.

Q. You posted a photo, an autographed picture —
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Oh, yeah, so our golf guys went down to Michael Jordan’s new course in Jupiter and played golf Monday and Tuesday, and they got Michael to sign a bottle of his tequila for me for getting the pole. So that was pretty cool. The guys surprised me with that late last night when I got back. I didn’t get to make the trip down there, so it was pretty cool to have that.

Q. Did you ask to play with Rickie Fowler?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: No, that was down there in Jupiter, so I wasn’t there. I have before. He’s cool.

Q. Before you started racing cars, what kind of weird jobs would you have over the years as a kid growing up?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, I didn’t have any weird jobs. I just worked for my dad in his engine shop, so I guess I never really had to go get a real job because I was always working on race cars. I worked for a race team that I ended up driving for in the Silver Crown series. I worked at their shop to be able to race their car, and we got their first USAC win out in Manzanita in 2007. But yeah, just worked in the engine shop with dad, and I worked for that race team there.

Q. Anything that you did that you didn’t really enjoy doing?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, working at dad’s shop, the worst thing I ever did was he got a pretty big ladder and a pretty long broomstick, and I had to clean the cobwebs out of the ceiling of his shop. It was so dirty. It’s an engine shop. It’s just a race shop, and it was so dirty, I was black from head to toe, and my shoulders were burning. It took a long time to clean that. And I waxed the truck and trailer one time. That took forever.

Q. There should be more people around here. You’re the Daytona 500 pole winner. What’s going on?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I don’t know, sure. I’ve talked all week. They’ve probably got everything. Everything has been good. I finally got to relax yesterday, which was nice. I hung out on the beach with some buddies and chilled out, and now we’re here, and race tomorrow.

Q. Do you feel like people are like, oh, yeah, they won pole but are they really going to be a factor?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: We’re going to be a factor for sure. I feel like last time we won a pole at a speedway, we were able to win from the pole at Talladega, and I feel really confident about obviously the speed that’s in our race car and what my guys were able to accomplish all off-season and make a jump to have a chance at winning the pole and then doing it.

My car, Pattie feels like it’ll drive good. He’s confident that it’ll drive good in the Duels. We’ve been talking all week about the adjustments that we need to make, trying to figure out what we’re going to do — we need to run Thursday so that we have an idea of what we need to change for Friday, Saturday, going into Sunday, but we feel really confident, and I think I’m ready for Sunday.

Q. You’re going to race on Thursday?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, I plan on racing unless Pattie tells me otherwise. But there’s points on the line. There’s things that I need to learn about the Camaro that I feel like I’ve ran so many speedway races not in a Camaro, and there’s definitely different characteristics that the car has just from the little drafting that I did in practice on Saturday.

So, I was talking to Pattie, I had a few concerns about the way our car was driving, and he’s got some ideas of adjustments to make going into Thursday night, the adjustments that you’re allowed to do to the race car after qualifying. He feels confident that he’ll get it driving the way I need to.

Q. We’ve seen in other sports players traded to other teams. Do you feel you have something to prove? Do you have a little extra —
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I’ve got a lot of motivation. I’ve got a lot of motivation. Brian Pattie has got a lot of motivation. Mike Kelley, they’ve been in the shop all hands-on deck with our race cars this off-season. Put a lot of effort into our 500 car, but we also put that same amount of effort into our Las Vegas car, our mile-and-a-half program. They went back to the shop. They were starting working Monday, Tuesday, in the wind tunnel and figuring out what we need in those race cars for the rest of the season. But I think the guys in the shop definitely proved that they know how to make cars so fast, and I was excited for Brian and Mike and everybody else that obviously worked on these race cars. To be able to come down and knock a Hendrick car off the pole after they’ve won it so often and then obviously to, like you said, we’ve got something to prove, and I think we’re going to.

Q. How does that extra motivation help you or what does it do for you behind the wheel?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Well, for me, I think it’s just kind of got my mindset back in the game. You know, you get kind of stuck in a rut for a while at the same place, doing the same things and getting the same results. You know, now having a fresh start, me as a driver, kind of opening my eyes a little bit more to maybe doing things a little bit different behind the wheel, and then being at a race team that is pretty open to doing whatever we need to do to make our cars fast, whether that be going to the wind tunnel, calling the shop and saying, hey, quit building race cars because we’ve got to change something, and you get done and you end up cutting a part of the race car off and redoing it.

You know, so I feel like the race team is open to different ideas, and that’s been a cool part of the off-season, hanging out in the shop as Ernie — the way he runs the shop is really, I think, kind of a special place, and we’ve got resources. For me, I think that it’s just a whole different mindset from top to bottom.

Q. Before the Daytona 500 pole, there were people that told me you seemed rejuvenated. As you look at you now, a little different look on your face, a little bit brighter. Do you feel rejuvenated?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I do. I feel like the culture at JTG Daugherty Racing is something that I have missed. It’s a family atmosphere. It’s whatever you need, we’ll help you get it accomplished. From top to bottom with Tad and Jodi and Ernie kind of being the main focal points at the shop, the way they run the race team, the way they care about the employees, and they’re just racers, and that’s been fun to be around this off-season. Going to their Christmas party, that was kind of the first big thing that I did with the team, and then Ryan and I bought the team lunch on Tuesday before we both headed down here on Wednesday. Just the atmosphere is different. Like you said, my mindset has been different this off-season just because I know that I’ve got a different opportunity, another opportunity if you want to say, and I feel really good about the people around me.

Q. Would it be an upset if you won the 500?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I don’t know about an upset. I feel like we’ve — Brian and I together have shown what we can do on speedways. I think it shows the work that the team put in and the resources that we have to come down here and be the fastest car, Daytona 500 pole qualifying on Sunday. I wouldn’t say it would be an upset. It would definitely be — I don’t know. I don’t know how you’d put it, but I feel confident. Maybe an eye-opener, but I am confident in what our ability is and our race car, especially here at Daytona.

Q. Ryan said that he could use a little help still learning how to draft, especially the way you do, that you’re so masterful at it. Is it kind of a win-lose proposition if you do spend time with him because he is still kind of young to the drafting game, and it could either help you or hurt you?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: No, I think it’ll be great. Obviously, Ryan and I are both in the first duel together. You know, and we haven’t sat down yet, but I plan on it tomorrow and just kind of go over, one, a little bit of a game plan, and then also the things that I learned in the race car on Thursday — I mean, on Saturday drafting the little bit I did. We talked all off-season in the shop about what he thought the race car did at the speedways, and then I was like, man, when I drove our cars at the speedways, I was able to do this, this and this, and he’s like, well, I wasn’t able to do that. I felt like our car needed a little bit of work to be able to be that comfortable to make moves like that, and so I’m just going to talk to him and see if we can’t get a really good game plan together to make sure that we work well together and that I have confidence if he’s in front of me or I’m in front of him to make sure that we know kind of what we’re going to do.

Q. You’ve won championships and races and things like that. Have you been at all surprised by the attention and the celebration of winning the pole?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, it’s definitely bigger than I thought. It’s awesome for myself. I’m the one that gets to go do all the interviews and kind of be in the spotlight, but I think obviously all the drivers here know that it just shows how hard everybody at the shop worked. This is all like their work, their doing, their effort. So, I’ve got to make sure that I always put the plug in for how much they worked and how much effort they put in. Like I told them, it’s cool to see, I’m new to the shop, I’m new to the organization, but to see them putting in extra hours for somebody they just met, even though I know it’s their job, but it’s cool to see their hard work pay off, and I think it’s just going to keep pushing momentum into the season, knowing that, hey, we worked all off-season obviously on the right things to make our car fast for Daytona, so they’re going to continue to put that effort in for all our other racetracks. But I was definitely surprised how big this was. It was great for Kroger and our whole team.

Q. Thoughts on Sheldon this year?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, I was glad I was able to stick around Sunday night and watch. We ran 11th from 23rd on Friday. We finished eighth on Saturday. Kind of mediocre. We’ve still got to get better qualifying. We got two hard chargers over the course of the weekend and then Sunday night. We started 18th and ran up to fourth and felt like we had one of the best race cars. So, the guys are clicking well. We’ve got a new crew chief and a new crew guys over there.

Q. Who’s the new crew chief?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Kyle. We call him Ripper. He’s been in the sport a long time. Him and Sheldon worked together in the past when Sheldon was first getting going in sprint car racing, and so they kind of got their band back together and feel really confident about the chemistry that we have in our team right now.

Q. Do you realize that the pole you won on Sunday is only the third pole for JTG in its history? That’s —
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: That’s pretty special, and that’s really cool. To me it’s even more special knowing that the car makes up 99 percent of what a pole run here is at Daytona. The car is everything, and knowing that that shop produced that race car, like I’ve said this all season, Brian Pattie came in, I went into the shop and looked at the resources they have, and I think we were both surprised at the craftsmanship in their cars, how nice they are, and the resources that they have. Brian feels we got everything there that we need to succeed, and that’s pretty cool knowing that Brian has worked at a lot of different places, crew chiefed at all different organizations, and he feels confident with what we’ve got.

Q. You’ve had success on a lot of the big tracks. Does starting from the pole, does it make your strategy for the Daytona 500 any different?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: No, because you end up getting shuffled back at some point and then you basically just restart from the tail end at some point in the race. You know, the strategy is going to be as it always is, keep track position, stay up front. Even though it seems like wrecks happen at the front of the field now, you still feel a little bit safer and more in control, obviously, in the first couple lanes of a race. It’s either there or at the very back. You feel a little bit uncomfortable when you’re coming up through the field, but now the strategies will still be the same. You set yourself up. We work these speedway races different. You’re always looking for that last run, when you’re going to put that last set of tires on, and you play your race backwards from there.

Q. Away from the racetrack, maybe growing up or something like that, what were some of the wildest or maybe dumbest things that you did growing up that you survived, obviously?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I mean, I just rode dirt bikes and four-wheelers constantly outside of the racetrack.

Q. Did you ever ride a bull?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I did ride a bull once.

Q. How long?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Like four or five seconds. And back it down, it wasn’t — like you watch PBR bull riding on TV, it’s not — it wasn’t a bull that was going to go compete at the PBR level.

Q. Was it like a cow?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, pretty — it probably went to McDonald’s when I got done. It was old. I rode it to its death. No. No, it was fun. J.B. Mooney and Shane Proctor put me on one, and I’m a fan of bull riding and the PBR, and I had a lot more respect after I got done with that because I felt like my arm was pulled out of socket, I was bruised under my thighs, and I felt like I pulled my groin I was trying to hold on so tight, and again, this was not one that was like bucking way up in the air. That was fun, though.

Q. What’s your favorite track to race on?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I enjoy the superspeedways, Daytona, Talladega, but by far my favorite racetrack is Bristol.

Q. Why Bristol?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I just feel like as a race car driver at Bristol, you can do things with your car that I feel like on a lot of asphalt racetracks you can’t do, and you can drive it harder, you can use the brakes different, and you can kind of manipulate your car, and it seems like no matter what year that we’ve been at Bristol, no matter how our car has driven, we’ve always found a way to find ourselves in the top 10, top 5 competing for a win. It’s just been one of those racetracks that I’ve enjoyed ever since I went there the first time.

Q. Can you talk about the West Coast Swing, just leaving there and stacking those three races up?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, I enjoy the West Coast Swing. I love Las Vegas. Fontana I feel like is a great underrated racetrack. Phoenix I’ve had success there and ran well, but as of late, we haven’t been that good at Phoenix. But I enjoy just being in the sun of California and Phoenix. Vegas can be a little windy and chilly at times, but you never know.

Q. Are you excited that NASCAR changed the package for Phoenix?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: I am. I do think that being able to have a little bit less downforce, the corner speeds will be a little bit slower, the straightaway speeds will be a little bit faster, I feel like all that combination, having to get on the brake a little bit harder, a little bit longer, creates better racing, especially at the short tracks. I think they did a fantastic job of taking a package. We were pretty set, obviously, before we go into 2021, but I think that’s the commitment NASCAR has to continuing to make sure that we’re going to put the best product on the racetrack. Even though our rules were kind of set for our race cars, they made a change that collectively we all felt like was a move in the right direction.

Q. If they kept the intermediates for the low downforce, the spoiler, everything the same, will the racing be better than it was last year on the mile-and-a-half’s?
RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Yeah, I think we all learned what we needed in our race cars to run better and to run closer to the cars in front of you and to compete at a higher level, and I think all that kind of evolved over the course of the season, and now that we’re going into year two with kind of the same package, I feel like that the racing is going to continue to get better on those.

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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
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA DAY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 12, 2020

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA ‘COLOR OF THE YEAR’ CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Daytona 500 Media Day Highlights:

Q. IRacing, how is it going so far?
WILLIAM BYRON: It’s going well. I think first in the owner points right now, so that is good. Obviously, a small sample set with one race. I’m excited. I think they’re doing a great job, Nick and John, John winning the Clash last week, finishing sixth in the 500, then Nick finishing second barely last night. I think it’s great. Kind of gives me something to look forward to during the week.

Q. Is it humbling to give back to iRacing?
WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, it’s a big deal for me because I feel like, A, I still use it. Whether right or wrong, that’s what I do. That’s what I kind of use as preparation. B, because it’s what I grew up doing. I want to give back to something that is important to me. I think that’s really important to me.

Q. (Question about the yellow line.)
WILLIAM BYRON: That’s always good. There’s controversy. That means people are covering the sport, covering whatever it is. It’s good that people are watching, actually care about what’s going on. I don’t know. I think, I mean, my instincts would never tell me to do that because obviously there’s a rule in the racing that I do. Yeah, I think hopefully there’s plenty of races we can win this year, and that one won’t come back to haunt us.

Q. What is your best Chase Elliott story?
WILLIAM BYRON: I got to know Chase through racing in late models. What’s funny about that is the first race we did, I think we qualified 1-2. I don’t remember whether he was first or I was first, whatever. We ended up racing. I was really bad at shifting at the time. I did not understand how to shift. Could barely use a clutch, things like that. I was kind of not sure what to do. I missed a shift on a restart and cost him his whole race. That was very embarrassing because Chase was somebody I looked up to at the time. He was kind of where I wanted to be. He was in the Xfinity Series at the time. I went over to his bus and apologized. I sometimes wonder if he’s behind me on a restart whether or not he thinks of that. I don’t know. I’ll have to ask him sometime.

Q. What is it like being his teammate?
WILLIAM BYRON: That was 2015. I think with Chase what I appreciate about him is how simple he keeps things, how successful he is by doing that. I think there’s a lot to admire about how he goes about his business. He really just proves it on the track. He doesn’t really talk or say how he’s going to do it, he just proves it.

Q. With Jimmie leaving, Chase being the longest tenured Hendrick guy, do you think he’s someone who kind of steps into that role as being the leader and face of the organization?
WILLIAM BYRON: I don’t know. I think it takes time. I think Jeff Gordon has been a really vital asset for us because of the youth that we have within our team. I don’t think you can really expect, I don’t know how old Chase is, 24, 25, I don’t think you can really expect someone of our age to really assume that role. I don’t think that’s really necessary. But I think other people, or all of us, can really contribute. I think the best sign of an organization, as you see with Kyle and Denny, Martin, Erik, how well they do of all four of them contributing. I think that’s what has to happen. All four guys have to contribute at a high level so that everyone is better.

Q. Alex mentioned Jeff Gordon also being a huge part of your organization. Jeff behind closed doors, even though a broadcaster, he still has a role?
WILLIAM BYRON: What I like about Jeff the most is that he’s honest and open. At the same time, he has a witty side of him, a funny side. He can cut up. What I also like is that he is aware of a lot of different things that are going on. We were on the plane today flying down here commercially, and he was talking to me about iRacing. He was talking to me about what I do in my free time. He knows a lot about me. He only knows because he’s asked questions. I think I really like that quality.

Q. You still use iRacing. Do you plan on testing with your drivers at all?
WILLIAM BYRON: No, I don’t really have time to test and things like that. I definitely try to keep up to date with what they’re doing, just try to understand what’s going on.

Q. How big is the Logitech sponsorship?
WILLIAM BYRON: Huge. I think it’s really big and important. I’m really excited about that sponsorship and partnership, really a partnership with Logitech, because I always grew up racing with their equipment. Now to have them as a supporter of our team, it just really is cool because it kind of brings it full circle.

Q. You said Chase is a quiet guy. He’s been voted the most popular racecar driver the last couple years. Have you seen instances of that popularity off the track?
WILLIAM BYRON: He’s really personable. I think when it comes to hanging out, he’s just that kind of person everyone is going to gravitate towards someone like that because they’re personable, they just have that ability to walk up to a stranger and talk. Honestly what I respect is what he does on the track mostly. But, yeah, he’s a cool guy.

Q. (Question about iRacing.)
WILLIAM BYRON: I think it was kind of the way it looked. I don’t think they were as extreme as what it looked like. Definitely it’s a lot different, a lot of different philosophies out there. Yeah, I’m excited to kind of see how the season goes moving forward.

Q. (Question about iRacing.)
WILLIAM BYRON: I think there’s some work to be done there. I don’t know if there’s a right or wrong way in terms of how it should feel. I think there’s some work to be done there. I wasn’t super impressed with it right off the bat because I feel like saving tires is not something that you really do in NASCAR. You kind of go as hard as you can pretty much, reap the repercussions of that over a long run, but it’s not critical.

Q. When we talk about Jimmie being a mentor to you, you haven’t raced that much.
WILLIAM BYRON: He’s been a huge mentor for me, kind of given me a lot of support. Just kind of grown the off-track relationship, being at the karting track, working with him on a personal level with fitness, understanding how my body works and things like that. He’s been a huge mentor in those areas. I grew up being a big Jimmie Johnson fan and that feels cool.

Q. Will it be weird not having him there?
WILLIAM BYRON: I think just the mentor side he has for us, what he brings to the table in that area is going to be missed.

Q. This is your third year of being part of this sport. People feel like this is your year to burst onto the scene. What is the feeling you have this year? Is it different than the last couple years?
WILLIAM BYRON: I think so. It’s more normal for me because I feel like there’s just less new things. I feel like that’s going to really help me grow because, yeah, I don’t have to worry about what all of the different things I have to get used to are. Working with Chad, he’s actually the first crew chief I’ve worked with since legend cars, to work with for a second time. I’m just really excited about that, having some consistency there. It’s going to be fun. If we can start the year off fast-paced, I think it’s going to make things fall in line a lot easier.

Q. IRacing, what kind of tips would you give to a lot of the other iRacing folks?
WILLIAM BYRON: As far as after the 500?

Q. Getting ready for the 500.
WILLIAM BYRON: I don’t know. I mean, I think the 500 is a difficult race because you just have to survive, kind of get to the end. It’s kind of an attrition. At the same time, you have to have the right strategy. It’s a fine line being too aggressive and not aggressive enough. It’s tough. I’m hoping to figure it out this year.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports
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.

Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Express Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Race Info:
Race: Daytona 500
Date/Time: Feb. 16/2:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 200 laps/500 miles
Track Length: 2.5 miles
Track Shape: Tri-Oval
Banking: 31 degrees
2019 Winner: Denny Hamlin

Express Notes:

Busch Clash Recap: Denny Hamlin finished sixth in the #11 FedEx Toyota in Sunday’s Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway after pushing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones to victory. Hamlin started 18th in the 18-car field following a random draw to determine starting positions. But, starting in the back didn’t deter the driver of the FedEx Camry, who rocketed up to sixth after just five laps of racing on the high banks. The FedEx car was clipped in the right rear and received minor damage after Joey Logano and Kyle Busch got tangled up with eight laps to go. Two more cautions would claim most of the field, and just five cars were running the final laps to the checkers. As the five cars jockeyed down the backstretch for the final time, Hamlin, now one lap down, tucked his FedEx Toyota under the rear of JGR teammate Jones and pushed him from fourth to first through the final turn and to the checkered flag.

Daytona Outlook: The Series kicks off its regular season this Sunday with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Returning as the defending race champion, Hamlin will look to secure his third win at Daytona in the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team will first participate in Thursday’s qualifying “Duel” races, which will determine the full starting grid for Sunday’s main event. Last weekend’s time trials determined that Hamlin will race in Duel 1, lining up third behind pole-sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Hamlin Statistics:
Track: Daytona International Speedway
Races: 28
Wins: 2
Top-5: 8
Top-10: 9
Laps Led: 442
Avg. Start: 16.4
Avg. Finish: 17.4

Hamlin Conversation – Daytona:

How did it feel to be back in the car out on the track during the Clash?

“It was fun. I mean my car was so, so fast. I’m proud of the effort by my FedEx team, and I’m glad we got a JGR team win, too. Our 500 car was fast in practice, too, so I feel good about how we can race on Sunday.”

What did you learn from Sunday’s Clash that you can apply to the Daytona 500 this Sunday?

“We just need to stay focused, be patient and make sure that we keep our car on the track and in the race. We did try staying out under a caution during the Clash, and lost a tire after some contact, so that will be in the back of our minds come Sunday.”

FedEx Express Freight Along for the Ride at Daytona: For the Daytona 500, the iconic 500-mile NASACR Series season opener, the FedEx #11 will feature the letters CLT on its B-Post to recognize the AGFS and U.S. Operations team members for their outstanding performance. The teamwork between the local stations and ramp has resulted in the highest ever Money Back Guarantee FedEx Priority Overnight (MBG PO) service level to date for the CLT market and improved PM Flight On Time Performance with zero Market Delays. FedEx Express is honored to recognize its teams in the Charlotte Market for outstanding performance.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA DAY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 12, 2020

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Daytona 500 Media Day Highlights:

WITH JIMMIE (JOHNSON) LEAVING, DO YOU GUYS GET A SENSE OF SOMEONE WHO CAN FILL THAT LEADERSHIP ROLE AT HENDRICK?
“That really hasn’t got brought up a whole lot. Obviously, from the driver role, I feel like all four of us bring something different to the table, are able to look at things differently and help each other. At the same time, I feel like Jeff Gordon does a really good job of being really involved and having a driving background helps from our side of things. But we haven’t really talked about it, so it will be interesting to see.”

BEING THAT LEADER, DOES THAT JUST HAPPEN ORGANICALLY?
“Yeah, I think so, for sure. You can’t just walk in and say, ‘hey, I’m going to be the leader of this deal’. It definitely has to happen organically over time. We’ll have to wait and see how that happens, who it is and all that.”

INAUDIBLE
“Not really, most of the time we’re around each other is at the race track. Obviously, you see in driver intros, he (Chase Elliott) gets a lot of cheers. He’s a really popular guy and it’s really cool to see. He’s a really good guy and a big asset to HMS.”

“I think he handles it great. From my side of things, I’m not a huge fan of a ton of attention. So, I don’t envy that by any means with all the attention he gets. But I think he does a good job at it.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR 2020?
“We have to go win more races, be more consistent, just be a little more competitive than we were last year. Last year, we had a lot of hot streaks that were really strong and then I kind of fell off at the wrong times and had some bad days that we didn’t need. If we can just go be more consistent and more competitive consistently, I think that’s what we need to go do.”

INAUDIBLE
“Jeff (Gordon) still spends a ton of time with the race team. I had dinner with him the other night; he’s a huge asset to HMS. Obviously, he’s super involved and that’s been great to get to learn from him and lean on him. Obviously, Jimmie (Johnson) has a ton of experience and he’s a little bit more immediately accessible at times to lean on. But Jeff, is really good to have as well.”

DO YOU ANTICIPATE JIMMIE (JOHNSON) GOING INTO THAT SAME ROLE STARTING NEXT YEAR?
“I think he has other things he wants to do and other things he wants to race. I think you’re going to see him race other stuff, and I’m excited to see what that is and how successful he is at it. He’s a super talented race car driver no matter what you put him in and I think he’s going to be really successful.”

THOUGHTS ON TANDEM OCCURING IN THE RACE.
“I think we’ve seen some guys try it in practice and it not really work, specifically with the Chevy’s. It doesn’t seem to work. The Fords seem to be able to push a little stronger and, obviously the Toyotas with a bunch of damage, it worked. But who knows how much of that was caused by the damage and how much it wasn’t. So, it’s hard to say. I don’t know how much we’ll attempt it any more than we already have in practice. The Duel, for us, is about not tearing something up. I’m not going to go attempt it in the Duel in any means.”

“I don’t think you do have to tandem. I think if the tandem was the way to go, you would immediately see it pop up like it did a couple years ago, and in the Trucks and Xfinity cars. I think it’s just not as doable without damage or a situation that causes it. It’s not something you’re just going to look for somebody and go tandem with them. I think you actually almost slow yourself down if you do that. I think there’s definitely some bump-drafting that you’re going to have to do. But I don’t think the lock-up, three laps together tandem is going to happen.”

“I think you can get away with a straightaway, for sure. Pushing in the corners becomes really, really difficult once you’re all the way up to speed. On restarts, I think it’s doable.”

WHAT ROLE DOES HANDLING PLAY AT THIS TRACK?
“I think handling is really important at the speedway races, I think more than a lot of people give it credit for. Just so you’re able to be aggressive and not hesitant to add wheel to the car or put yourself in aggressive situations. Sometimes, the cars get pretty out of shape. At the end of runs, if you can be more aggressive than other guys, I think that’s a big advantage. For the first ten laps, I think everyone’s stuff drives pretty well. Once the tires fall off, I think handling is really key. I think that’s why you look at a lot of people kind of getting away from chasing Daytona 500 qualifying to just build more handling into their car. You look at us, we’ll change a lot after the Duel to get more handling back in the car. I think it’s really important.”

THE TOYOTA’S WERE SHOWING MORE SPEED THIS YEAR IN QUALIFYING. IS THAT A LITTLE BIT OF A CONCERN OR EYE-OPENER?
“I don’t really think so. I think it’s kind of business as usual. Speedways, it’s so situational. All three manufacturers have cars that have a shot. I think it’s really situational, how your race plays out and how you manage your race. When I was on the pole for the 500 a couple of years ago, I think the 11 car was on the outside pole. They’ve definitely had speed before. So, we’ll just have to wait to see how the race plays out.”

INAUDIBLE
“Every year is pivotal. Nobody is ever safe; it doesn’t matter what a piece of paper says. If somebody doesn’t want you to drive their race car anymore, you’re not going to drive their race car anymore. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at a year and been like it doesn’t matter. I think every year is really, really important. I feel like everyone at HMS has a lot of faith in me to go run really strong. I think if they didn’t, I wouldn’t be here to do my job. Every year is important and we definitely need to go run well.”

YOU MENTIONED THE BUMPERS LINING UP AND THE NEW MODIFICATIONS TO THE CAR. HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE HAS THAT MADE VERSUS LAST YEAR?
“I don’t really feel like we have a great grasp on how different it is or isn’t. Obviously, there was a lot of fuel strategy going on in the Clash. It’s hard to say how that was going to play out. For myself, right when we were about to go racing again, we got crashed on that restart. So, I don’t really have a clue what it’s going to be like. I think the new Camaro’s look really strong so far and I think everything is looking really positive for it.”

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE JIMMIE JOHNSON STORY?
“In 2014, when I was driving my first year in Cup for a low-budget team, he was like the first guys to come up to me and be like, ‘you’re doing a really good job with that car’. I think we had just run Vegas or something and he was like, ‘man, that thing looked terrible, but you’re doing a really good job’. So, he was like the first guy to come up and say that. I thought that was really cool because I didn’t know him at all before that. But just really being able to be around him, see the type of person that he is and just try to be a sponge when he’s around. He’s more successful than anyone that is racing right now and he’s also the most humble guy in the garage. He’s just a great human-being and the way he carries himself has been really cool to learn from.”

“That was a big confidence booster. It’s hard to have a lot of confidence when a good day is 25th. When a guy like Jimmie comes up and says something, it’s just really neat and I really appreciate it.”

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CONCERN YOU WANT NASCAR TO ADDRESS THE MOST?
“To be honest with you, I’m more focused on me, my success, how I run on the race track than really anything else. So, I spend my time thinking about that. You have guys that have big ideas on what they see as the future of the sport and what they do or don’t want for the sport. For me, I’m just focused on running the best I can each and every week.”

IN THIS ROOM TODAY, I’VE HEARD THE WORD ‘MANUFACTURERS’ SAID A LOT MORE THAN I HAVE IN RECENT YEARS HERE. FROM A DRIVER’S STANDPOINT, IS THERE ANY COMMUNICATION FROM CHEVROLET OR A TIME WHERE CHEVROLET DRIVERS BEYOND YOUR TEAMMATES GET TOGETHER? WHAT’S THE MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATION LIKE?
“Yeah, I think you’ve kind of seen the speedway races kind of morph into manufacturers working together throughout the last couple of years. Last year, we did it a lot with the Chevrolet’s. But I think some of the other manufacturers definitely started it and we just tried to tweak it to make it a little better. At the end of the day, it’s hard to make it work at times. Last year, there were definitely meetings that we all sat in together and talked about trying to work together. It’s hard to line it all up and make it all work. If we can push other Chevy’s and work together, we’re going to do it.”

Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 12, 2020) – Leavine Family Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media at Daytona 500 Media Day:

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No.95 Procore Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing

What is it like to have that big spoiler?

“Well, I don’t have a ton of experience with it. We’ve got into, like, a little six‑car draft. I’ll be honest, I have not slipped one time yet. Grip does not seem to be an issue yet. I’m sure that will change whenever we get 40 of us out there. It’s definitely a lot different than what I’ve had in the past.”

In the Xfinity Series, you couldn’t lock bumpers. How much of an adjustment is that? How much of a challenge might that be?

“It’s definitely going to be an adjustment. The trucks, though, I remember it was a really similar feel to what I had on I guess it would have been Saturday in practice. The trucks have more horsepower, a lot more downforce, which is kind of similar to what we have with the big spoilers, bigger motors here. Just watching film, the cars definitely hook up nice. They can get some speed going whenever they get together. It’s going to be really interesting to see how that plays out in the Duels. The Duels will be an excellent practice session for us for Sunday as long as we don’t crash.”

Can you also give a perspective, people talk about the closing speed of these cars with the spoiler, how different is it from what you’re used to?

“It’s huge. I remember whenever I got into the Xfinity cars two years ago here, I was blown away by how just slow everything was. Obviously you draft at Daytona, but the draft was so minute compared to the trucks. All of a sudden you go from Xfinity to Cup, you’re back to these huge runs you get because the spoilers are so big, the air pocket is so big. It definitely makes it really exciting because it’s what you want. You want to be able to have runs and make runs and make moves. I think we’re going to get that on Sunday.”

How excited are you about competing with the rookies?

“It’s going to be really cool to see how we all fare out. How many rookies? There’s four rookies?”

Six rookies.

“Just speaking for myself, Cole (Custer), Tyler (Reddick) and John Hunter (Nemechek), I think we all are going to have our moments where each of us are better than each other. I think you saw that from the Xfinity races. One time one guy will be better, the next week the next guy will be better. I think we’ll all have our moments. It will be interesting to see who has more moments.”

Was it a point of pride to be the top rookie in the qualifying?

“I mean, Daytona qualifying has nothing to do with me. I was really, really proud for my team. My car chief, my crew chief, (Mike Wheeler) “Wheels”, everyone at LFR (Leavine Family Racing), they’ve done a great job preparing a really great racecar here. You don’t learn anything from the driver’s side on qualifying.”

What is your relationship with John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer?

“I probably have the least relationship with Cole. I raced in micro sprints against Tyler a couple times. He was from California, I was from Oklahoma. He traveled a lot. He actually came to my home track, we raced against each other a couple times. John Hunter was actually the first guy that I guess kind of taught me how to be a pavement racer whenever I ran a pavement late model for the first time. John was out there kind of driver coaching me.”

Where was that?

“Hickory, North Carolina.”

You and Kyle Larson have been battling for many years. How is it to be at the highest level of NASCAR competing with him?

“It’s going to be a lot of fun. I hope I can whoop his butt at some time. I’m sure he has the upper hand right now. Ultimately, it’s going to be great to perform up to his level. My goal is to speed up that learning curve to where I get to compete with him and all the Cup regulars week in, week out.”

You talked about it in the past, a kid growing up from Oklahoma, Daytona 500. How has the experience been this week getting ready for your first Daytona 500 compared to the first time you went to the Chili Bowl?

“It’s totally different. I mean, the biggest thing is, whenever you’re a kid growing up in Oklahoma, really anywhere, competing in the Daytona 500 just seems so far out there. How do you ever even get there? Now that you’re here, it’s a worldwide event. I have all of my friends from Australia and New Zealand texting me saying, Holy smokes, I can’t believe you’re competing in the Daytona 500. It’s just a worldwide event. Even people that don’t like racing watch the Daytona 500. It’s a really big deal.”

Did you think you’d be here sooner? Did that happen faster?

“I wouldn’t say it’s happened faster just for the fact that once I got into NASCAR, my career has been I’m not going to say drawn out, I spent a lot of time, two and a half years in trucks, two years in Xfinity. I’ve seen it coming for a while now.”

Was it tough being a spectator on Sunday night?

“At Volusia? Yeah, part of my schedule was originally to be that Sunday, East Bay Tuesday. I’m so much of a fan of the sport, it was a great race. I got to see a great race. That kind of filled my satisfaction a little bit.”

Did you ride East Bay or go over there?

“No, I didn’t. After I crashed in New Zealand, I decided to put my dirt racing on hold for a minute.”

You love the dirt. You also have some experience on the pavement side. The asphalt side has struggled a little bit. Anything you see from your experience that maybe the asphalt side of things can take from the dirt community?

“That’s a great question. I think my best answer for you, coming from the dirt side and seeing the pavement side, is that they need more Bubba Pollards, maybe Matt Hirschmans, stuff like that, professional racecar drivers that compete with those guys week in, week out. On the dirt side, you have a solid group of professional racers that race. Those professional racers have their fan bases. On the pavement side, it just doesn’t seem that way. Maybe if you get guys like Kyle who grew up late model racing, Erik Jones, if they would go back and compete more, it would bring more of a fan base back to the pavement side of things. But, yeah, I guess that’s my biggest thing looking at asphalt late model racing versus sprints and midgets.”

The accident Down Under, dirt track racing, is that a momentary pause, something that’s going to be a lot longer?

“No, I mean, really it’s just a scheduling conflict. For me, I was originally planning on running Volusia, East Bay, East Bay. When I started looking at the details of it, I’m like, Man, this is my first Cup race weekend. I really need to focus on that. I just decided to skip Florida. Unfortunately the dirt racing doesn’t really start again until later on in the year. You’ll be able to hopefully catch me in a car Easter weekend.”

Have you wrecked as viciously as you did in New Zealand? I’ve never seen you get out of a car and slump by the door. We were concerned for you.

“Yeah, I’ve crashed a couple times that hard. Not very many, but a couple times.”

Would it have been here in the trucks?

“Honestly the truck crash here, I guess just because there’s so much material around you, the material absorbs the impact, whereas open‑wheel cars, your body has to absorb the impact. Yeah, that definitely hurt a lot worse than my Daytona truck flip.”

How important is it for drivers to be versatile?

“I think it’s huge. The biggest thing is being able to compete at all the different racetracks. They’re all extremely different. Being able to be versatile and good anywhere is a very big part of being successful in our sport.”

Having been through practice, qualifying, work a little bit in the draft, how do you feel going into Thursday and Sunday? Do you feel you are going to have a legitimate shot to win if you can survive till the end?

“Absolutely, I think we have a legitimate shot. Unfortunately at Daytona, you can ask anybody in the garage area, they all do have a legitimate shot if they don’t crash. That’s what makes Daytona special, though, is you never know who is going to win. I think our car is wonderful. To be able to go out there and qualify ninth, even more so than that, whenever we were all drafting together, we were really good. Seems like all the Toyotas have really good speed this week. It’s giving me butterflies to realize I’m racing in the Daytona 500, I do have a shot at winning.”

Is there a Toyota game plan for the 500 the way there has been in the past?

“I’m sure we’ll talk about that later on in the week. But it’s tough because we’re outnumbered so bad, it’s hard to think all the Toyotas are going to be able to compete against all that Ford and Chevrolet have. Whenever you get down to the end of it, it’s totally different. Typically a lot of crashes have taken a lot of cars out. You have to look around and see what’s left. Yeah, I would imagine we’re going to do everything we can to help each other.”

Is concentrating on the Daytona 500 for yourself or to send a message to your team that this is my number one priority?

“That’s a good question. I mean, I haven’t even talked ‑‑ the last that I talked to the team about it, they were giving me approval to go do it. But I felt like I owed it to them to show them that this is my job and I am solely focused on the Daytona 500, starting my Cup season out right.”

Do you have any idea how much focus you’re going to need to go Cup racing? It could be a lot more intense than what you’ve been doing.

“I don’t know. It’s tough because even whenever you’re Xfinity racing or truck racing, it’s similar. We got to get a couple races in here to where whenever we go to the racetrack we understand if we’re fast enough to compete for top fives or if we’re running 25th. I guess I would be able to give you a better answer to that later on in the season after we get a couple races under our belt.”

Do you have any sprint car races scheduled or waiting to see how the Cup stuff goes?

“I would imagine you’ll be able to see me somewhere Easter weekend. I haven’t pinpointed a race yet. Easter weekend I’ll probably be back somewhere.”

Have you done anything at all to prepare for the fact that you’re going to be running 500 miles?

“Yeah, it’s definitely the longest race I’ve ever run. Yeah, I mean, I feel like I’m in the best shape now that I’ve ever been in in my life. It’s definitely worried me, but everyone else does it, so I’ve got to be able to do it, too. It all starts on Sunday, getting through that first one. We’ll go to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is a 400‑mile race, a little bit shorter. But just getting acclimated week in, week out.”

You had a lot of success in Xfinity at Bristol, how excited are you to race Cup there?

“It’s going to be a blast. With the new package, the lower downforce package is going to resemble what we’ve raced there the last I guess four times that I’ve been there. It’s one of the races I have circled on my calendar, that’s for sure.”

# # #

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COREY LAJOIE, No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford Mustang – HOW MUCH HAS YOUR DAD HELPED IN TERMS OF ADVICE ON THE TRACK? “Dad has always made me kind of go learn it for myself and form relationships with guys because he’s always gonna be there, and I can always rely on him for advice. His advice is usually just don’t wreck or don’t hit anything, which is the obvious, right? But drafting and racing has changed a lot since the late nineties when he did it, so he’s aware of that as well. He is certainly the first to give me any criticism, I can promise you that.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU LEARNED FROM WATCHING THE CLASH ON SUNDAY? “I think if anything it’s just gonna make those guys that ran the Clash and the guys who watched it, I think, be a little bit more conservative because you can’t race like that for 500 miles and have any cars left. So I think you’re gonna see guys single-file out pretty quick and you’re gonna see manufacturers jump in groups and work together for three-quarters of the race, and then however many cars are left with 40 to go it’s gonna get really crazy.”

YOU HAVE A NICE SUIT THIS YEAR? HOW MUCH INFLUENCE DO YOU HAVE ON THIS FLAME PAINT SCHEME? “I had a lot of input on it. There are some bad flame schemes, like Kevin Harvick’s flame scheme is not a good flame scheme. Our Schluter flame scheme for Vegas next week is sweet. It’s a fine line. Flames can be really corny or they can be pretty cool, and I think we jumped over the line of corny and we made it cool.”

BLACK AND ORANGE LOOKS GOOD TO. “Yeah, it’s like Halloween.”

YOU’RE GETTING SOME EQUIPMENT FROM SHR THIS YEAR, BUT YOU ONLY EXPECT TO IMPROVE A COUPLE OF SPOTS? “If you look at the grid, we finished behind one Front Row car and then I think maybe JTG, so those guys even with Front Row they’re budget is probably double ours and they’re on the A motor program and we’re not. We might have a little bit nicer cars, a little bit lighter cars, but at the end of the day we’re wide-open at 28 of the 36 tracks that we go to, so it’s gonna be a struggle to really leapfrog anybody solidly. I think we’re gonna be closer to the Front Row cars and I think we’ll be closer to some of the guys that are having bad days, but I don’t think it’s gonna be any more than two or three spots. We’ll need some help, but I think if we execute and do what we do well, and not make mistakes, we might be able to point some people by the end of the year if they make mistakes. It’s gonna be better, but it’s not gonna be five spots.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR PROFILE IN THIS SPORT AND YOUR OUTSPOKENNESS? HOW DO YOU WALK THAT LINE? “That’s what I deal with every week or every interview. I certainly want to be respectful to Archie and the opportunity he has given me. It’s a tryout for me every week, so he makes out because I’m giving him my best effort and my full attention to make his car run good, so we both collectively run good. Ultimately, manufacturer support and sponsors and all that is what makes these race cars go fast and it’s hard to compete and show your worth on the track when you don’t have some of those things. I’m looking at 2020 as a tryout year. That’s what it is. I’ve always looked at it like that because there are some guys obviously leaving. There are some good seats going to become available. I’m cheap relatively speaking to some of the other guys that are kind of sitting in seats that haven’t really had a lot of production over the last couple years, so I like to think my value is pretty high when it comes to what teams are looking for to fill their cars for 2021 and beyond.”

WHEN DID YOU START TALKING ABOUT 2021? IS IT NOW OR THE SPRING? “Three years ago. You’ve got to play chess. It’s not clear-cut. Everybody’s path is different. You’ve got to make sure you keep your sponsors happy like Schluter Systems and everybody who has supported me the past couple of years and put them in a situation where it works for them too because if it doesn’t work for them, it doesn’t work for me. Schluter has been a great supporter. They’re the easiest sponsor of all time and they like to have fun, so they’re really what kind of kept me in the fold, but now I feel like I’ve got enough value off the track as well as on track with the experience I’ve gained. I feel like I’m ready to go win races. I couldn’t jump in a race-winning car and win races the first probably 12-16 races of the year because you’ve got to figure out the tricks of the trade and the late-race restarts and all the games those guys play, but I feel like I’m not the limiting factor when it comes to making the race car go fast anymore.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE 2021 SCHEDULE? “It doesn’t really matter to me. If they tell me we’re racing at Disneyland, I’ll be at Disneyland. It doesn’t matter. If there’s a one-race schedule, I’ll be there. If it’s a 50-race schedule, I’ll be there. I love racing and I love paying my bills and providing for my wife and now my kid coming here in April, and NASCAR gives me a great opportunity to do that.”

IS THIS THE MOST PROACTIVE YOU’VE BEEN IN YOUR CAREER? “No, I’ve been proactive my whole life because I’ve had to be. If I wasn’t proactive, I would be welding seats or crew chiefing a K&N car, but proactive is what I’ve had to be out of necessity. I don’t think it’s talked a lot about because people just assume my dad is a two-time champion and the road was paved. If anything, the road was rockier than a lot of guys that had a direct path here, so I’m not gonna sit up here and tell you my whole life story, but anybody who cares to dig in knows.”

IS THERE ANY CONCERN ON YOUR END OF RACING TO TRY TO GET A RIDE VERSUS RACING TO GET THE BEST FINISH POSSIBLE – POTENTIALLY MAKE MISTAKES BECAUSE YOU’RE TRYING TO IMPRESS PEOPLE? “Yes and no. If I do a bad job, I’ve already been through the stage of trying too hard to impress. I did that when I was at Petty in that Biagi car that wasn’t capable of running 15th, trying to make it an eighth-place car and would stuff it in the fence every week, so I’ve learned from that. I think Archie and I can both benefit from me driving my heart out and trying to land somewhere on a decent contract that can set me up and a team can build around me for the next five to 10 years. It makes his team look good because he’s building a great team, a great group of guys. He’s got Ryan Sparks on board. He’s got the Stewart-Haas cars and he’s building it the right way, and it’s been fun to be a small part of that.”

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang – HOW COOL IS IT BEING AT DAYTONA WITH THE WOOD BROTHERS? “It feels pretty dang good. It’s been hard for me, my wife, my family to even sum up into words. It’s good. It feels good wearing it and it feels good being at the Daytona 500 driving a car that I’ve been a huge fan of since I was literally five.”

WHAT HAS THE FIRST FEW DAYS BEEN LIKE? “Really comfortable, I think just because I’ve known them for quite some time. I’ve known Len, Nancy and Keven Wood since I raced at Hickory Motor Speedway against Keven when I was a teenager, so I’ve known them and gone to the Wood Brothers for advice many times. They’re such good people, so the fact I’m driving for them is probably one of the most comfortable transitions I’ve ever made just because they’re such great people.”

WHAT IS AN ACCEPTABLE BLOCK ON A SUPERSPEEDWAY? “I don’t even know, I really don’t. You know what’s hard is with the rules package the way it is now with the 280-inch spoilers or whatever they are, you get such huge runs that it’s hard to even judge the closing rate and it makes the blocks tougher, makes it harder to manage lanes because people get such big runs. I don’t know what’s acceptable. I guess you just have to play it by ear depending on the point in the race. I mean, white flag pretty much anything is acceptable I guess. That’s why everybody gets wiped out of these things, and everyone feels so safe behind the wheel of these race cars because the safety is so great, so nobody really cares. It’s just whatever you’ve got to do to win and don’t really care about the consequences.”

WHO WILL YOU WORK WITH IN YOUR DUEL WITH THE OTHER PENSKE CARS IN RACE ONE? “There are some good Fords in the second Duel, so I’m sure we’ll try to line up with them and do the best that we can. We’ll have to see how it works out because the hard thing is you can only have so much planned going into these things because there are a lot of little things that can disrupt those plans throughout the race, so I try and not get too caught up in it.”

DO YOU KEEP A MENTAL NOTE OF THE DRIVER CHANGES THIS YEAR? “Honestly, I’ve been looking at that and trying to study and remember because it’s tough. There are so many different guys in the race cars that you’re so accustomed to seeing. I’ve been so accustomed to seeing Ricky Stenhouse in the 17 for example, and that’s changing to Buescher, and there are so many of those situations and you really are biased toward who you want to work with and who is good, who you think makes good decisions, so it’s actually gonna be hard trying to remember on the track. It’s like a dang quiz.”

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ON NEXT YEAR’S SCHEDULE? “Short tracks and road courses – as many of them as we could possibly ever have – ever. Fifty sounds good – short tracks, road courses, that is all we need. Love it.”

TWO A WEEK? “Seven a week. I don’t care. If it’s a short track or a road course I want to go to it as much as possible.”

IS A STREET COURSE FEASIBLE? “Yeah, I think it would be cool. That falls in the road course criteria, so I’m cool with is, but I think it would be neat. There’s a cool aspect to it and it’s cool that there’s been talk of that. There has been a lot of really neat things happening for the future of this sport like those kind of talks, like road courses, trying to get more short tracks, I’ve heard street course talk. Any of those things get us all so fired up as drivers because we love it and the fans, obviously, will love it.”

ONE WIN WILL BE THE 100TH FOR THE WOOD BROTHERS. “Yeah, it’s pretty special on top of just being able to drive for them. There is some pretty cool stuff that’s on the cusp of happening, and that 100th win hopefully we can get that and many more. It’s just an honor to be in the position of trying to get that. I’m not big on chasing certain things or chasing wins. I’m just big on doing my job to the best of my ability, but if hopefully that does happen, that’s the plan, it would be pretty special.”

HAS THERE BEEN ONE MOMENT THAT STICKS OUT TO YOU ABOUT THE WOOD FAMILY? “Yeah, there’s one thing that stuck out. When I went to Stuart, Virginia and visited the race shop and museum it was cool getting to meet Bernece and hang out and spend a little bit of time with her and the family, but the one thing that stood out over everything, over all the amazing accomplishments, achievements, all that was the pride and passion that the Wood Brothers have for every single one of those stories and the way that they tell it, that’s something that I could never explain to anybody unless they witnessed it because it was so cool and so heartwarming and it made it even all that much more special that I can drive this race car and hopefully make a lot more memories with them because the way they tell those stories and the pride they have for their team and every accomplishment they’ve done makes it so special.”

HOW DID YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH JIMIME JOHNSON DEVELOP? “I think what made it comfortable for me to be around Jimmie and race with him and chatting with him is I’ve raced with all three of the Johnson brothers, so I’ve raced with Jessie, Jarrett and Jimmie going back to the Hickory Motor Speedway days, things like that, and I’ve been friends with their dad, Gary, knowing him really well, so it shows what kind of a family they are because they’re the most great, genuine, humble, down-to-earth people and Jimmie is the same way. They’re just a great family, so you love being surrounded by people like that and Jimmie is the type of guy that’s level-headed, always has been, great guy, great human, also has jokes that people may not see and he’s a funny guy, but he’s been a comfortable, great guy to get to know him and his whole family.”

HOW HAS HE HELPED GUIDE YOU THROUGH THINGS? “He’s always been a good level-headed guy to go to and talk with and even just talking on basic, personal things just as a human being has always been good to get to know him, but as far as my career he’s always given really neat reinforcement of keep grinding. He’s understood my path to get here and how hard I’ve worked and for Jimmie Johnson, seven-time champion and great guy, to have always been so encouraging throughout my career has really meant a lot more than he’ll know.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE JIMMIE STORY? “Honestly, it literally was the other day because we were parked by him in the garage and we’re right next to him. He came up to me and said he was in Uptown Charlotte and saw a guy that looked just like me. He thought for sure it was me from the side view getting a pedicure with what looks like his wife or something and he was like, ‘Oh man, I’ve got him now. I’m gonna get this on video. I’m totally blackmailing him.’ He was gonna give me a hard time and then he saw the guy turn and look and was like, ‘Oh, it wasn’t Matt.’ But he had his phone out ready to fully get me and I was like, ‘Thanks, man. Appreciate it.’”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A PEDICURE? “No, I have not. I’m not totally opposed to it, but now that I know Jimmie Johnson would have exposed me on social media I apparently need to be pretty careful about where I go if I do it with my wife.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE WEST COAST SWING COMING RIGHT AFTER THIS RACE? “I think it’s cool, it’s busy. It’s a really busy first part of the year for the team. It’s a true test and a testament to them for preparing a lot of race cars and getting ready for a whole lot of traveling between Speedweeks here and going to the west coast, but I think it’s cool. I think it’s a good schedule change, good balance, good for the fans. I’m excited about it. I love going out to the west coast, so speeding it up and getting out there right away is fine with me.”

DO YOU HAVE SENSE OF WHERE YOU’RE AT AFTER THAT STRETCH? “I think so. Yeah, Daytona is unique. This is a unique race. These are unique circumstances. When you go to Vegas, Fontana and Phoenix those are more straightforward race tracks that will kind of give you a feel for how you’re firing off as far as performance of your race team, where you speed is and what you need, so going to a short track and a couple bigger race tracks I think it’s gonna be a good indicator.”

WHAT ABOUT THE PASSING AT VEGAS LAST YEAR? DO YOU EXPECT A BETTER RACE THIS TIME? “Yeah, you know what’s weird is it was so temperature sensitive. The two races were completely different, nothing even the same. The first race I was getting frustrated because we were holding it wide open through one and two every single lap, never lifting, and it was tough to pass and it was cool outside. We go to the second race and it’s 100 degrees and I felt like we were sliding all over the place and had zero grip, which was really weird and surprising to me and a completely different approach as far as how we set up the race cars, changed the racing a bunch and the groove was all spread out and we were not even close to wide open, so I’m like, ‘Wow, what do we expect this time? Check the weather? I don’t know.”

DO YOU THINK THE CHANGES TO THE PHOENIX PACKAGE WILL HELP? “Oh yeah. You aren’t gonna find anybody more excited than me. Thank goodness. Really. Honestly, I’m thankful that they did that and thankful that they put up with me being pretty vocal about it in a constructive way because I really, really love the lower downforce on those shorter race tracks because all it’s gonna allow us to do this year is slide around more, get to people’s bumpers and move people out of the way and pass way easier and not get stuck in that miserable dirty air bubble at a track like Phoenix or Richmond. We’re gonna get back to what we love and good old fashioned short track racing. It’ll make it so much better, so yes. I’m probably number one the most excited. I was about to throw a party when they made that announcement.”

DO OTHER DRIVERS COME TO YOU FOR ADVICE WITH THE WAY YOU HAVE COME UP TO THIS POINT? “Yeah, I’ve gotten some interesting and really neat things happen, where people have come to me for advice because they’ve looked up to my path or story to get here because it has been way out of the ordinary for sure. I’ve been so lucky. I don’t know if I’m a good one or a bad one to talk to because I’m an honest guy and I’ll tell the part of how hard I’ve worked and how lucky I’ve been, but the main thing when people tell me is I make sure to express that I want to reiterate, I don’t want to be a downer, but I want to express how lucky and fortunate I have been, like literally on top of pouring everything my whole life and risking everything I still so many times along the way, if I wasn’t in this place at this time exactly, if this one piece or one of these one thousand pieces was out of place that I couldn’t even control or would have known to do, I still wouldn’t be here even on top of it all. Paul Menard, that situation. I can go through every single one and I feel like one day hopefully write a book many years from now to help people understand because it’s been a tough journey – different than others.”

AND IT’S BEEN CHALLENGING IN WAYS PEOPLE CAN’T IMAGINE. IS THERE ONE THING THAT STANDS OUT ALONG THE WAY? “My current one of all, actually, does stand out the most. There have been so many that I’m like, ‘How in the world did this happen? I couldn’t have even though this up or dreamed this up.’ But this one I felt like, for me and my family, was the craziest of the week of Bristol, learning I have nothing, and then looking and you’re kind of just trying to think, ‘what can I possibly even do?’ And I had nothing, like nothing even in mind like what’s even open, what’s gonna happen, what could come around? There’s no way and then when I got this phone call from the Wood Brothers I was like, ‘What can I possibly do for them?’ Paul is their driver, so it’s just crazy. I couldn’t have even thought it or dreamt it up any better than this one, so this one probably stands out as the craziest.”

WHAT WAS THAT RIDE HOME LIKE AFTER BRISTOL WITH YOUR WIFE? “A little bit of all the above. That’s the weirdest feeling I’ve ever had in my entire life, hands down, nothing even compares to that. I didn’t know, and still to this day didn’t even know what I was feeling. I couldn’t figure it out because I was dejected, it was an emotional week of my wife crying every single day and go home and just being so numb, I felt like a zombie and would just go to the track and do my job and keep grinding. But then after that being so dejected, but then having the fans, that reaction picked me up and be like break us down where we didn’t even had words. It was an emotional week that I literally couldn’t even express to people how tough it was, so to answer your question on the drive it was almost kind of quiet because I still couldn’t find the words to figure out how I was feeling. There was so much going on and still not knowing my situation and it was weird.”

SO THE SILENCE AFTER 500 LAPS WAS RATHER STARK. “I think my wife and my parents were probably a little more erred to the excited side of like, ‘wow, that was still an amazing accomplishment.’ I as a competitor was like ‘man, I don’t know, I’m still so bummed, but the crowd reaction was cool, but I still don’t have a ride.’ I mean, I went through it all. I don’t even know, man. And I think on top of all that more so that whole week wore on me a lot, just the emotion of trying to pick my wife up, my parents were in the roughest emotional state I’ve ever seen them in and I’m trying to hold it together myself and then go to the track and still be disciplined and do my job. It all kind of wore on me to where I didn’t feel like I had anything left after that race. I laid it all out on the line in the race and then after the race I was just drained.”

YOUR MOM WAS ALL EXCITED WHEN SHE CAME TO THE CAR AFTER THE RACE. “I got out of the car and I couldn’t say anything to my team. I wanted it so bad for them. I wanted it so bad for everybody that, yeah, my mom came over to the car and I remember that. I think my wife was a little bit more on my page where I don’t even know what to say. My mom was excited as a parent of ‘wow, you did a great job,’ but I just didn’t even have words to speak to anybody. The only time where I really felt the most emotion probably was the fan reaction. I still couldn’t get words out, but that had the biggest impact on me – the fans.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY BAD OR WEIRD JOBS BEFORE YOU STARTED IN RACING? “No, not any bad ones, but I did have some fun experiences or I would say a host at Texas Roadhouse. I worked at a restaurant and did that for a while when I was younger and I felt that gave me good work experience. It was fun. I grew up. My dad has been a hard worker his whole life, so doing that was fun. And then I worked for the little car business while I was racing in the XFINITY Series early, early on. I was working during the week still, so that stuff was cool. It taught me good principles.”

RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Koch Ford Mustang – WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TOMORROW? SANITY? “Yeah, I think there will be a lot more respect and a lot different mentality with just the fact that it is our 500 cars, and obviously a lot of people watched and learned and you get that preseason excitement out of the way of people that either thought they knew how to drive better than they do or forgot how to drive, which seemed to happen in both ways to the same person at times.”

WILL YOU NOT DO THINGS THURSDAY THAT YOU MIGHT DO ON SUNDAY IN THE 500 WITH 20 TO GO? “Without a doubt. That’s a factor of being cautious, being smart, and the problem is not everybody is racing for that. You’ve got three teams that are racing to not be in the 500, so those are the guys that you kind of have to keep an eye on. There’s more than that, but the end result is those three guys are gonna miss.”

WERE YOU SMART ENOUGH AT 25 TO THROTTLE BACK WHEN NECESSARY OR DID THAT COME WITH EXPERIENCE? “I don’t know about that. It’s different racing now than when I was 25. It’s not even really fair to compare. When I raced my first Daytona 500 I think I finished 13th, which was the last transfer in, and I don’t even know if we would have made it on anything else, but I remember it was a big race to me in the Gatorade 125s at the time. That was a different mentality than anything now, I think.”

THERE ARE 17 DRIVERS AND CARS THAT CHANGED. HOW DO YOU KEEP ABREAST OF WHO IS IN WHAT CAR SO YOU KNOW WHO YOU WANT TO DRAFT WITH OR BE AROUND? “I don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to that. The guys that you want to be around are the guys that didn’t change, so that, to me, seems a little bit easier to manage than it is trying to focus on the guys that did change. Those are typically not the guys that you have to worry about so much, knowing that that was me last year, I get it, but that’s just the facts of it.”

WHAT WILL YOU TALK TO CHRIS BUESCHER ABOUT AS FAR AS THE 500? “Just my advice as a teammate obviously that has an influence on how strongly ours and our organization I would think, but in the end we may not even be around each other for 500 miles, you just never know.”

YOU DIDN’T HAVE HELP AT THE END OF THE CLASH. “No, I didn’t have a lot of help there at the end. I watched the 14 car push the 3 car to the lead with two to go, so I wasn’t really sure what the m.o. was there, but we had a shot at it going into three on the last lap and just got out-drafted and out-teamed and the 20 and the 11 stuck around us.”

WOULD HAVING HIM IN THE FIELD HAVE HELPED? “Having anybody get to help you would be a benefit compared to what we had on Sunday.”

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE TO THE SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR? “I want there to be less time per weekend to have a race. We can have 50 races. Let’s just say that if we have 36 times two right now, that’s 72 plus another probably 20 days of extra, so let’s just say there are 100 days we spend at the race track, let’s make it 50 races where we spend two days at a race track and not 36 races we spend to make the 100 days. Let’s go to more places with less time.”

IS THERE A FAVORITE TRACK NOT ON THE SCHEDULE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE? “All of them. Dirt tracks are the most obvious to me. I’m such a proponent of short track racing and going over to Volusia or even other race tracks like Kokomo Speedway, Eldora, Knoxville, the Chili Bowl. Those places are special and those fans see that and know that and they are our core fans. In my opinion, those are the ones that we alienated in some respect years ago and we need to get that back and one of the best ways to do that is to go to their dance hall and play to their music.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON JIM FRANCE? “I think Jim is a great guy. He’s shown a lot of great leadership with respect to his role in our sport. He has the best interest of everybody from what I’ve seen, a huge improvement compared to some of the leadership of the past and I’m not afraid to say that. I think that we all learn from things we do right and we learn from things we do wrong.”

CAN HE TAKE NASCAR INTO THE FUTURE? “It doesn’t take just one guy, it takes a whole bunch of people. It takes a whole team with the sanctioning body and a team like this it’s not just on the weight of Jim France’s shoulders or Mike Helton’s shoulders or Ryan Newman’s shoulders, it’s a team sport, it really is, from a management standpoint, decision-making, the financial side of it, the track owners, the sponsors, it’s all those things and not just Jim France.”

WHAT DOES HIS STYLE MEAN TO YOU? “It’s good to be heard. The squeaky wheel doesn’t get the grease if it’s not heard.”

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR SHORT TRACK RACING? “Just enjoy it. I had the opportunity to run the Chili Bowl and the Gateway race before that, and plan on doing some more. I plan on doing a couple modified races, whatever makes sense. I just enjoy racing those short tracks and dirt tracks so much. I kind of wish I hadn’t forgot about them so much.”

HOW DID YOU FEEL GETTING BACK IN THOSE CARS? “I had a lot of fun at the Chili Bowl. We finally got rolling there. We got crashed in our A-Main on prelim night, which got us in the E-Main. We won the E-Main and started 16th and raced to seventh in nine laps they took five, so just had a lot of fun and ran out of time.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO IT AGAIN? “I’d love to do it again. It was a blast. A lot of good people. Aggressive Hydraulics sponsored us. A few other sponsors on our team, but Clauson-Marshall brought me a good race car. Coca-Cola was part of it. Brake Safe Technologies was a part of it. We just had a lot of fun.”

WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DID YOU HAVE WITH BUESCHER BEFORE HE CAME BACK TO ROUSH? “We went fishing one time. I think I out-fished him and I guess he doesn’t know any places to out-fish me, so we’ll have to figure that out this year.”

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch

NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 12, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media at Daytona 500 Media Day:

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

Could you just talk a little bit about your relationship with Joe Gibbs and what you thought of when you first knew the possibility existed that you could be one of his drivers?

“Just trying to remember. It’s a long time ago. Obviously just, I guess, we kind of went on the race shop tour, if you will, and went to go talk to everybody, but being able to talk to Joe was certainly very high on the list, and getting over there and being a part of Joe Gibbs Racing, being with Tony Stewart, being with Denny Hamlin and having an opportunity to work with those guys and the success that they’ve already had, and knowing that they’re a top‑flight organization, that was one of the highlights for me, but then just to be able to sit down with Joe and really talk with Joe firsthand, lay it all out there on the table, I’m not perfect, I made plenty of mistakes, this is kind of who I am, but obviously there’s a lot for me to learn and I could definitely lean on him for a lot of that guidance, and that’s what I’ve done over the course of my career, and he’s been there with me and for me every step of the way. We’ve kind of had this bond, this relationship that he and I have had the utmost respect for one another, and it’s turned into this.”

What did you think about the idea that an NFL coach would be a NASCAR owner?

“Yeah, I didn’t necessarily put all of two and two together when I was that age. I was only seven years old. I knew of Joe Gibbs on the football side and of being a head coach and winning Super Bowls, but then not really understanding the magnitude of what that meant at that age and then coming over here and being a NASCAR team owner and winning the Daytona 500, I thought that that was cool. I didn’t really put Dale Jarrett and Joe Gibbs together. I put Dale Jarrett and Ned Jarrett together, you know, father‑son, the announcer, calling the shot of Dale and Dale’s show. But it took a while for me to pick up on the Gibbs connection.”

What does it mean to you to be one of the all‑time greats?

“I mean, it’s not all important. It’s not life or death, but it would certainly be nice. There’s opportunities out there that all things considered and all the stars align, yeah, you can make it there. You’d better set your goals high, as I’ve always kind of looked at it, and try and go out there and achieve them and not be totally disappointed or let down if you’re not able to achieve those goals, but obviously you want to be able to go out there ‑‑ if you set it at one championship or two championships, well, hell, I’m already done, so why am I still here; know what I mean? We keep changing that and moving those targets a little bit. I had the 200‑win target years ago. I think it came up at Richmond with Kerry Tharp (President of Darlington Raceway) years ago, and we’ve now kind of pushed that number up. So obviously just continuing to go out there and succeed and doing well and pushing hard and trying to get the most out of myself and my equipment and my team and everybody.”

How do you think your 208 overall wins compares to the team’s 200?

“It’s not for me to decide.”

Especially at a track like this, how important is it for your spotter to be perfect?

“It’s pretty important. You know, I don’t ‑‑ it’s important for all of us to be perfect, essentially, otherwise you’d see misses like we had the other day. You know, the overall aspect of a spotter is very important at the speedway races because you can’t see everything that you want to see. In a perfect world, if you could drive the race car from outside the back of the car like you can on a video game, that’s where you want to be, know what I mean? Being able to see the runs coming from behind you and seeing what’s going on around you and knowing whether or not you are clear and the runs that you’re getting or the guys behind you, the runs that they’re getting, that’s what’s most important in the speedway racing.”

Could you describe your relationship with your spotter, Tony Hirschman?

“I wouldn’t have him as long as I’ve had him if it wasn’t somewhat good. Tony (Hirschman, spotter) has been great. The only other spotter that I’ve had that’s been as good as Tony was probably (Jeff) Dickerson. He was really, really good. He was very good at being able to explain ‑‑ the crew chief would never get any words in because he was always on the radio, but having information at speedway races like this is very important. Tony has definitely picked up on that more so I’d say the last two, three years even though we’ve been together for a while. I kind of got on him a little bit a couple years ago about needing more information, needing some better help and him being a part of this and helping me, because again, none of us are perfect, I’m not perfect, he’s not perfect, but to be able to work better, work harder and communicate is where it’s at.”

Denny said earlier today that Joe Gibbs can intimidate without meaning to do so. Can you give an example from your own experience what he means by that?

“Oh, we had a meeting one time where you could see the vein in the middle of his head start to pop out and he grabbed his pencil and he checked it across the room at a guy and he may or may not have said a swear word. That’s the most mad I think I’ve ever seen Joe Gibbs, and that was in 2009 or ’10 I think it was.”

He was getting on the engineers ‑‑

“We were getting on the engine guys. The engine guys were blowing up too much, so he got really mad. That was in the engineering meeting, yes. But it was ‑‑ that was pretty funny. But as far as Joe being intimidating, not really. To me, he’s not intimidating. He’s just very wise. He has a lot of wisdom, and he’s very smart in what he can do and how he can explain things and the way that he can use his words to encourage people to help develop into the successful race team that he has.”

When you were 16, you were going to drive on the circuit and they changed the rule? Do you remember what happened?

“Yeah, so I ran ‑‑ I ran six Truck Series races when I was 16, and then they made a ‑‑ what was the Homestead one, Bob (Pockrass)? Do you remember that one? That was trucks when I got kicked out in the seventh race, I got kicked out there, but I was going to run a Cup race ‑‑ oh, I was 18 already. I was 18 going to run Homestead in a Cup race, and my car apparently wasn’t legal, so I wasn’t allowed to run the season finale, unlike other people that get to run season finales that have no experience. Put two and two together on that one.”

They changed the rule because of you?

“Yes and no. So the rule ‑‑”

Marlboro was the car sponsor ‑‑

“Marlboro was the sponsor of the CART Marlboro 500 weekend at California Speedway and the Truck Series was racing in Marlboro 500 weekend with a 16‑year‑old driving, and the state Attorney General saw it in the newspaper and said, hell no, this ain’t happening, and put a squash to that. So that’s the story. Whether or not that’s the truth, I don’t know.”

You were supposed to run that 2003 or ’04 Homestead ‑‑

“Yeah, it was ’03. ’03 finale.”

That was during inspection or something?

“Yeah. Yeah, you didn’t know that? Yeah. Where have you been? Yeah. It was the No. 60 Ditech car. It was after I ran six or seven Xfinity races and six or seven ARCA races, then they were going to put me in the Cup race season finale at Homestead, and the car didn’t make it through tech.”

With so many crew chiefs coming and going these days, what does it attest for you to have Adam Stevens this long, especially going in as the defending champion?

“It’s weird because you look at it and him and I haven’t really been together all that long, I think five seasons, and I think we’re the second longest pair besides (Kevin) Harvick and (Rodney) Childers. You’re used to talking about Chad (Knaus) and Jimmie (Johnson) being together for 15, 16 years, whatever it was, and Paul (Wolfe) and Brad (Keselowski) were obviously together a very long time. So it’s quite interesting now how the dynamic of crew chiefs has kind of changed, switching teams around and such like that. But I’m glad I’ve kind of found that connection with Adam and the relationship that he and I have developed and the success that we’ve had over the last few years has been really, really great, and him and I both having a little bit of a fiery drive together, we kind of elevate one another to be able to perform, and he’s very good at responding to my criticisms as well as me to his. So it works well.”

We talked a little bit about the move away from here to the West Coast Swing. The race at Vegas, the two races last year in Vegas, did the racing get better at Vegas from the start of the year to what we had, and how do you feel about the package now?

“You know, I don’t know. I didn’t go back and watch the races on television, so just from my seat, from my vantage point, I thought that they were pretty similar. To me it just seems, though, that when your car is really, really good, when it’s more perfect, you’re more gone; know what I mean? Like the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.), for instance, he ran down the 4 (Kevin Harvick) car, was able to catch him and then drove away to the finish, and when I got back in traffic early in the race, I started back in traffic, I was really, really loose and hit the wall and everything else and we got it repaired and got it where the car was really, really good and really good balance, and then I could drive up through the field and got all the way to fourth and was probably going to run about third, but there was like one ran we passed everybody, you know, and so I felt that same way I think it was the year before that when I drove through the field in one of the runs during the race, as well. To me it’s pretty similar. I don’t notice a whole lot different.”

Phoenix they’ve changed. No matter which way the track is configured, whatever the car combinations, you seemed to be locked into that place no matter what they throw at you?

“Yeah, I enjoy Phoenix. Phoenix was a cool place for me growing up. That was one of the first racetracks I went to as a kid to watch a race, so I’ve been there for a long, long time and just enjoy the West Coast and me being a desert rat from Las Vegas, Phoenix, California, Vegas, they all kind of fit within that for me. Enjoy getting out there. Have a lot of Rowdy Nation fans out there, so it’s cool to put on a good performance out there in front of the West Coast Swing.”

How do you think the new rules will affect the race in Phoenix?

“New rules, old rules. Joe Gibbs Racing, baby. That’s where it’s at.”

So far nobody has asked you about winning the Daytona 500; that’s been sort of the storyline. Do you get tired of ‑‑

“No, it’s fine. It’s attention to the sport, which is good for all of us. You know, me not being able to win the Daytona 500 isn’t something that’s going to kill me, but it’s certainly going to weigh on me in the late goings of a race to try to get out there and win this thing. We were so close last year. There was just a couple different instances that ‑‑ different circumstances could have made a whole different days, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion this year. But you know, it is what it is. We’ll go out there this year and see if we can’t give it the same shot we gave it last year.”

Do you take some solace in knowing some of the greats have never won it?

“Yeah, no, I certainly know some of the numbers, maybe not all of the numbers. I think Darrell (Waltrip) was 17, Dale was 20 (Earnhardt Sr.) ‑‑”

Tony Stewart never won ‑‑

“Tony Stewart never won, Mark Martin never won, Rusty (Wallace). There are a lot of greats that haven’t, but I would definitely not want to be on that list if I had my way, but you don’t always have your way, especially in restrictor plate racing with just how random it is. Years ago, I would say probably ‑‑ man, ’85, ’87 maybe or earlier, you know, it was way more skill, car, equipment, driver, that sort of stuff, but with the restrictor plate stuff, it’s been way more random and unexpected.”

Have you been invited to the White House?

“Have not heard that yet, no.”

Would you go if you were invited?

“Absolutely.”

Because?

“Because it’s the White House, man. Just go and take in celebration and having an opportunity to be able to meet a president. I met the last one. I wouldn’t mind meeting this one. It doesn’t matter what your beliefs are. It’s just a matter of being able to go and have the celebration and the accolades of winning a championship.”

When you think of Trump coming, apparently that’s on the burner, the president coming on Sunday ‑‑

“Rumors are rumors. I have a rumor that I’m not starting the Daytona 500, so how about that?”

Do you think your image has changed over the years?

“In what regard?”

You used to be the bad boy, and ‑‑

“Some still label it. Keep going.”

Do you like that image?

“It doesn’t bother me. It is what it is. I live my life just the same as you live yours, and mine is just a little different perceived than yours probably. It’s all fine. Just a matter of being able to go out there and do my job and whatever it takes to do my job is what I focus on, and a lot of who I’m known for and what I’m known for is obviously racetrack related, results related, competition related, so you know, away from the racetrack, those around me could say that, yeah, I still have that fire and that desire in some of my other outside businesses and such that I’m a fierce competitor but also a little demanding in the things that I expect my people to do, so that’s ‑‑ I guess that’s just a part of my nature and the way I was brought up.”

Dale Sr. was also known as sort of a bad boy on the track. Have you ever flipped anybody off?

“I’m sure I have, yeah.”

When you look at the 2021 schedule, are there any markets you’d like to visit or races you’d change?

“Less two events at places. How about that?”

Street courses, are you a fan of those?

“No, our cars are not made for street courses, no. Especially with the new car. From my understanding, I haven’t seen it, I haven’t looked at it, I haven’t heard a whole lot about it, the only thing I have heard is it’s heavier than the current car that we have now, and that is not a positive for going street course racing. In case people have forgotten, we wreck a lot, right? The cars that we’re trying to emulate are those of the 24‑hour car, the GTD car, which they crash, but they don’t crash a lot. Like they’re not all bunched up together, restrictor plate races and things like that, and we need all these safety bars and door bars for T‑bones and everything else around them, right. So when they had to implement all of that into this new car build, the car is heavy. It’s heavier I think than what we have right now. So there’s a problem in that. The other problem you’re going to have is I don’t think any of these owners realize that if they’re going to start spending $800,000 for a car, we’re going to be crashing the hell out of them. Right now they’re only $200,000 cars. So have fun, boys.”

Your outside business, Rowdy Energy, how long did it take you to come up with the concept, put things in motion, and how long are you willing to give it to mature to success?

“Yeah, Rowdy Energy drink is certainly something that’s passionate to me. It’s been in the thoughts for, I don’t know, three, four years, and finally was able to come to fruition with just being able to get hooked up with Jeff Church and some of the others around us right now. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a process, that’s for sure. It’s going to take a while. It’s going to take some expense, as well, to get it off the ground and running and to the notoriety that we’d like to see it get to. But you know, I do things not to fail. I do things to succeed. So hopefully I can do that.”

Can you learn much from the Clash? Did you guys learn much?

“I did. I hope the others out there did, too. Otherwise I think we’re going to see a lot more of the same staff. The runs are not the same as what they used to be. This aero package is different with the hole in the nose ‑‑ what are they called? The aero ducts? Okay. So the old package, like there used to be this bubble, right, you’d catch up to a guy and then half a car length away you’d start to push him back away. That bubble is less. So in case anybody didn’t figure that out when we were here during the Shootout, then you’d better go back and rewatch the film. There’s some differences, and I learned some things certainly. I felt like my car was driving really, really good, so I was pumped about that, so if we can have that same repeatability in our 500 car for next Sunday, I’m looking forward to it for us.”

So the leader can’t control the action behind him as much?

“No, not as well as you used to be able to do, no, so the leader has to be careful about what he’s doing, especially when you’re on however many older lap tires than those that are around you and such.”

What’s the competition been like with Jimmie Johnson over the years and what do you think he’s meant to the sport?

“Well, there’s two different questions there. So myself and Jimmie, ever since I came in with Hendrick Motorsports and him and I have worked together over the years, him and I have had the utmost respect for one another. I hope we can keep it that way for one more year because him and I, we’ve never laid a door or a fender or anything on one another. We’ve always raced each other really, really clean, have had great respect for one another. We’ve raced each other for wins cleanly, we’ve raced each other for championships cleanly. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around. I think two other guys I can say the same thing with that is probably (Matt) Kenseth and (Greg) Biffle, who are now gone, but overall I think he’s left a phenomenal footprint on this sport and what he’s been able to do, him and Chad (Knaus) both, and of course the relationship that he and Lowe’s had for many years. That car is just going to be iconic. As much as we don’t maybe see it right now, to me it looks like an Earnhardt Goodwrench car. Whenever I see Jimmie Johnson and a Lowe’s car, that’s what it reminds me of.”

Further down the line, but obviously with Bristol being a cutoff race, a night race, you’re the winningest driver there ‑‑

“Cut‑off for the first round; is that right?”

Yeah. Does that make it any more intense, any more exciting, or what’s the thought process going in?

“No, it shouldn’t, not for us. Hopefully with the results we have through the year, that should carry us through the first round just fine. I always look forward to Bristol, though. It’s a fun race. Winning that one would certainly be cool. It’s a cut‑off race, so it’ll just get you to next week, but hopefully you’re already into next week, know what I mean? I think the most interesting race of the year is probably going to be right back here for the regular season finale of just the last‑ditch efforts to try to make it into the playoffs and what that playoff board is going to look like with the guys that are down at the 16th spot or around the 16th spot, and even those that are around the 30th points spot that are in on points, they get a win, they’re in, know what I mean? So that one is going to be what’s most interesting with just the random of Daytona.”

Who do you think is the face of NASCAR right now?

“That’s not for me to decide, not for me. Your sport’s most popular driver is Chase Elliott, if that answers some of your questions.”

Who’s the best?

“You’re looking at him.”

Before you started racing, did you have any really crappy jobs growing up?

“I loved my jobs, man. I loved my jobs. I worked at Hobby Town USA when I was a kid from when I was like 14 to 16, and then once I got my license, then I could drive to work. I was riding my bike to work 14 to 16, but once I could drive to work, I worked with a decal shop out in Las Vegas, a guy that laid decals on race cars. We also did malls, we did signage and windows. We did all kinds of stuff. That’s where my passion was for making cars look good, making sure the decals looked good and all that sort of stuff, and that’s ‑‑ I’m a big proponent of looking at my stuff that I have today, too, and making sure the stuff looks right. A couple years ago my door numbers were a little too crooked, so I had to make sure we changed those and got them in the right way that I wanted them to look. So I’m always on the decal guys.”

# # #

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Wednesday, February 12, 2020

DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Ford Mustang

DID THE KOBE BRYANT TRAGEDY MAKE YOU RETHINK PRIVATE PLANS AND HELICOPTER TRAVEL THAT SO MANY ATHLETES USE NOWADAYS? “You know, life always gives us reminders and it is up to us to learn from them and pay attention to them or ignore them. It is unfortunate and very, very sad on so many levels. The sad thing is that those things happen all the time but it takes a superstar like Kobe for us to realize it and wake up. But again, it rings home when you are in a profession when you are constantly traveling, taking off and touching down almost daily sometimes. It definitely hits home and makes you think and appreciate every touchdown.”

WHAT WOULD CAUSE YOU TO STOP DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING? “Well, I can’t. It is how I make my living. That is how we make our living.”

YOU ARE 0-14 NOW IN THE DAYTONA 500. IS THE DAYTONA 500 YOUR WHITE WHALE? “Man, I just got here and that is the second question and you come with that? You couldn’t wait a little bit to punch me in the face? I don’t know the white whale thing. We didn’t have whales in Kansas. They didn’t offer that terminology in Kansas. That was a long ways from our reality. Maybe a horseshoe or something like that. You have to redneck it up a little bit for me. It is time, you know? Yes, you think about it. I didn’t think about it early in my career. Early on you just want to win it so bad but then the years click by and you think about how that opportunity only comes once a year and I want to win that race. That is the one that you want to win. The thing is, the prestige is still there and the skill set that it takes to win has changed. You talk about the years, think about the way it was when I first started and what you had to overcome with handling and slipping and sliding around and a gutsy move. Now it is survival. You have to find that hole that is a safe hole to survive and make it to the end. You have to get there. It literally is the hardest thing to do, to get to the end of that race with all four fenders on it so you have an opportunity.”

YOU MADE A SPLASH ON SOCIAL MEDIA YESTERDAY FINDING THAT WALLET AT DISNEY: “Yeah, I didn’t mean to. I had that happen to me not long ago. We were at a sporting event over the winter and long story short, we were in an Uber that wasn’t ours. That guy got out and it was traffic jam city and I paid. The reason I knew where my wallet was is because I paid with it but I set it on my lap and we jumped out, a bunch of us in a hurry. I knew where my wallet was, I just didn’t know how to find it. Two days later that guy found me on social media and forever I will return that favor. Not only was it still there with all the money in it and everything. He asked how I wanted him to get it to me and I told him, ‘I think there is about $500 in it, you can take it all and ship to me or I will come get it and you can have half.’ He goes, ‘I will ship it to ya.’ That was the best thing that happened to me in a long time. Can you imagine being at Disney World with your kids and this is something people save for years for and here we are, we find this wallet that has his license in it, her license in it, both of their credit cards. I just knew we had to find this guy because he was super screwed. Literally the power of social media. I think it was 10 minutes. I will give you 12 minutes max and the guy was right in front of us. We found him.”

YOUR POOL GOT HIT BY LIGHTNING? “That was the craziest thing ever. We were home and it was flooding a lot and the lake behind our house was rising really fast. We were looking out the window and BOOM! It shook the house. It wasn’t like a thunder shake, it was like something hit the house. There was a really bright flash in the back windows, literally right where we were looking. The TV and lights went out and then came back on. That was a good sign from what I know about lightning strikes. I called my brother and said, ‘Man, I don’t know if this thing is on fire or what but we just got hit, I know we did. I am telling you that something around this house, close got hit.’ I got to looking and looked out the back and there is a slide that we have for the kids to slide in the pool and the water thing that sprays was shooting like a geiser up out of that. I was like, ‘Oh damn it hit the slide.’ I looked over by the pool equipment and there was smoke coming up and I saw the shrapnel over there and I found it man. Since then, my caretaker just called and said that the heat and air is out too. I think we have bigger problems. Lightning sucks.”

YOU HAVE A TEAM ON I-RACING: “I do. iRacing is something that has come a long way. Just think about what we just saw last night. That race. Who would ever have thought? YOu have commentators and sponsors wanting to get involved and drivers that are literally making a name for themselves sitting at home in front of a computer screen. It was a hell of a race. At the end of the day, you watch these races and you are like, ‘What did I just watch? That looked real, legitimate, like I was watching a race.’ And you were! I don’t know if you have ever been on iRacing or anything but I am telling you it is very challenging. The dirt races and late models are some of my favorites. Even those little midgets are a lot of fun to race around the chili bowl. That is what’s cool about it. You wanna go race the Rolex 24, we can race that. You wanna race Chili Bowl, we can race that. You wanna race the Daytona 500? We can race that. You can do it all on there in all different cars.”

HOW OFTEN DO YOU CHECK IN WITH YOUR DRIVERS? “We got two new drivers this year. They just started. He finished ninth last night. I don’t know if you have ever been at Disney World with two kids, let along your peers two kids and your other peers two kids and one of those is an infant. That is a lot. Then trying to take in the iRacing and everything else. My dirt late model guys were racing at Volusia last night and the rest of the week here. There is a lot going on. Speedweeks is very busy for racers.”

YOUR NEWEST COMMERCIAL DEBUTED TODAY, THERE WAS A LOT OF DANCING IN THERE. I AM CURIOUS HOW MUCH OF THAT IS ACTUALLY YOU? “I am curious why you would think that it wasn’t me. You just think that is magic? You don’t think the magic is within me? Well, this kid showed up didn’t even resemble me and I was like, ‘YOu are going to make him look like him or me look like him and do this rave thing you speak of?’ But they nailed it. Kevin and I were talking about it walking in here. That is the power of Hollywood. You land out there and that is what they can do. They can make a dancer out of even me. Little old me.”

YOU DIDN’T TRY ANY OF THOSE MOVES? “I had to try several of them. I had to attempt them because I had to lead into that but hell no, I can’t move that fast. I am 40 for crying out loud.”

THE DAYTONA 500 NEXT YEAR IS MOVING UP A WEEK TO VALENTINE’S DAY. HOW DO YOU ENVISION THAT AFFECTING SPEEDWEEKS? “I don’t think it does. I guess it gets me off the hook of a Valentine’s Day present and stuff like that. Valentine’s Day is always hard at Daytona anyway. It isn’t very heartfelt flowers when they arrive via your bus driver that had to go across the street to get them. I don’t know. You gotta get all that romance out of the way in the off-season that way you don’t get buried at Daytona on Valentine’s Day.”

YOU DON’T THINK SPEEDWEEKS WILL OR SHOULD CONDENSE? “No, I think if it was up to me, I would figure out a way to make speedweeks longer. I really would. I would figure out how to not have school cars on the race track anymore and actually have a race.”

WITH THE 500 MOVING UP A WEEK THOUGH, THE WEEK BEFORE IS THE SUPER BOWL WHICH WOULD MAKE THAT THE SAME DAY AS QUALIFYING AND THE CLASH. WOULD IT MAKE SENSE TO DO THOSE THINGS THE DAY OF THE SUPER BOWL? “No, I don’t think anybody should do that. It would be like them going up against the Daytona 500. We are all in this business together. It is an entertainment business and there is a footprint for all of them. That is a historic event which is America’s event. The Daytona 500 is a historic event that is also an American showcase. But I don’t think about TV all the time. I don’t think about ratings. I think about asses in the stands. I want to be able to go to the Super Bowl and if I am not in the car I want my ass in the stands of the Daytona 500 someday. I feel like we do owe enough respect to everybody and there is enough room for any venue to not be stepping on the toes of another and to respect that. And they do. We will figure that out. I think it will be plenty enough time to allow for the Chiefs hangover after they win their second Super Bowl to get prepared for our Super Bowl, the Daytona 500.”

“I don’t look at the Super Bowl as a game. It is an event. The Daytona 500 can’t be just a race, it has to be an event. The second that we lose sight of that and Chip Wile doesn’t host an event down here in Daytona, we have problems. It has to be the ARCA race that we watched here. The ARCA race that we just saw down at New Smyrna. The modified’s over there was super cool. The sprint cars and late models and modifieds racing over at Volusion and us over at East Bay. I even include that in Tampa as being part of Speedweeks. It takes all of that. For a race fan, that is why I always encourage people to come down here. First, the weather does not suck. It sucks in a lot of places in America right now but it does not suck right here and there is a lot of good racing going on down here.”

IF YOU COULD MAKE ONE CHANGE TO THE SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? “I haven’t seen next year’s schedule yet. I thought about shorter seasons but I just watched the NHRA kick off their season and I didn’t realize that they run the same as us, but they take those long breaks in between. I don’t like that either though. I feel like you need your splash, However you do it. Bang, bang, bang, bang and keep it going. Our later part of our year, unfortunately falls right in the sweet spot of opening another big sport in our country and that is a tricky thing for me. I feel like we have to get out from underneath that and get our program out of the way before football starts, like they do for us. That is the way it has always been. I don’t think that is by surprise that both of those things have always co-existed. Our schedule is so long that it is going to fall over somebody, whether it is football or baseball or whatever sport it is going to be. I feel like everybody has a spot in this country and we may have extended ours a little too far.”

IT SEEMS LIKE THIS YEAR THERE ARE MORE WINNING DRIVERS WHO HAVE CONTRACTS EXPIRING AT THE END OF THE SEASON: “It is all about the money and sponsorship, that is where that is driven. Unfortunately your days of being able to put together multi-year deals are in the past for now. If we can get the economics down a little bit and under control, I think you will slowly go back to putting down those multi-years together. That being said, I just read that NAPA is coming back to Chase (Elliott) for a multi-year dear. They are still out there, they are just few and far between.”

IS THIS COMING YEAR THE BIGGEST GAME OF MUSICAL CHAIRS IN THE SPORT IN THE YEARS YOU HAVE BEEN IN IT? “When you look at this, there are always rides available but there are usually limited amounts of very good rides and this year there are several of them but it is all driven off sponsorships and things like that. it isn’t a knock to any driver you see out there, and hell I am putting myself in that group. I think we all – we all know that you are only as good as your last race. You can’t go on a swing of bad races or have a bad year or whatever else. You have to be the total package and that is probably more so today’s day in age than ever. You have to be the total package in that race car and out of it as well.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA DAY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 12, 2020

TYLER REDDICK NO. 8 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Daytona 500 Media Day Highlights:

Q. Rookie Cup season for you. You went through this process last year…
TYLER REDDICK: It helps a little bit. The cars are totally different on the racetrack. Even going around the racetrack in qualifying trim, you can kind of feel that. You got more horsepower. It’s easier to mess up leaving pit road. I did a really bad job of that in qualifying. As we saw, when it’s time to go, there’s no restraint on the Cup drivers’ behalf. Everyone just wrecks. You have to watch out for that, try to figure out when that’s going to happen, try to avoid it if at all possible. Like we saw, there were five cars left for the most part at the end of the Clash. 18 drivers, but 18 of the best, and still only five left. I mean, you got to try to survive it. I don’t know what the answer is going to be. Seems like you can be running last, the guy behind you is going to run into the back of you, wreck everybody, too. There’s no secret answer to it. Me and Cole are right in the back, minding our own business, avoid the carnage.

Q. Is it a different mindset this year because it’s one of 36, as opposed to last year where it was one of two or three?
TYLER REDDICK: I mean, yeah, I still think it’s not quite 36. There’s going to be, in my head, probably 25. Here, you know, there’s probably 32, 33 cars that could win this race on Sunday. Week in, week out, it’s more realistically 25 to 30 if they line it up right. I mean, there’s reasons the same guys win all the time: they run good, they execute, do really well. It’s nice and refreshing, but probably frustrating at times having all the other drivers that are really good to kind of go against and race with. Kansas, when you’re running 15th, you’re still racing back there with some really good guys that are putting on good battles with you. That makes the races, even though they’re longer, more enjoyable, gives you something to work for.

Q. What is it like having that big spoiler?
TYLER REDDICK: Well, it seems like in the turbulent air, from what I’ve seen so far, it really affects cars in the line. As you go further and further back in that line, more guys are finding handling issues more than they’ve fought here before. That big spoiler, I’m not going to say what Dale Jr. calls it, but it’s massive. It really upsets and dictates what the car is going to do around a corner. When you start to lose downforce on the front of these cars, they’re not going to handle well in the corners. We saw it in the Clash. I’m sure we’ll see it in the Duel on Sunday. We’ll see what the weather is like. It’s funny, with all this downforce you have, you would think these cars would drive better on a racetrack like this. When these cars are used to having it by themselves, then they lose it, they’re going to drive that much worse when all that air is gobbled up and dirty and not very good, clean air for the cars to stick up to the racetrack.

Q. Austin said you haven’t seen the tandem draft into the Clash, texted him and said, I’ve never done that before. What kind of concerns or questions do you have? That may be something that plays a factor at some point.
TYLER REDDICK: If I’m pushing, I guess I don’t have much to worry about I if I mess up, it’s not me getting in a wreck. If we’re working together, obviously I don’t want to do that. It seems like the 20 didn’t have to hold the brake, I think it was because his car was pretty much wrecked. I think there’s a technique to it. Since they’re allowing drivers to do it again, the guys that have done it quite a few years ago probably remember how they did it. With these cars, probably a little different, but the same technique is kind of there. Never really did a lot of it. I’ve always had to keep in the back of my mind I can hit someone’s rear bumper, but if I get stuck to it, it’s a bad thing, you get penalized. I have to remember that’s kind of out of the picture now. You have to decide when it’s time to do it, when it’s time to pull back. That’s going to be the key, figuring out a time when it’s time it’s worth risking wrecking everything you got, try to tandem, get to the lead. Kind of weigh that all out in your head.

Q. How does a guy like you watch the Clash, knowing you’re coming in trying to figure stuff out?
TYLER REDDICK: I was laughing a lot throughout the whole thing. It was comical.

Q. You were laughing?
TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, I was laughing because I kind of felt bad. I know how good a lot of these drivers are. Just to watch that happen, it was almost like a comedy of sorts watching everyone wreck coming to the green.

Q. Was it entertaining?
TYLER REDDICK: It was very entertaining. I went up there to be serious, learn as much as I could. I couldn’t help but laugh at times. It was funny. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Seems like there were bananas all over the racetrack. Goes to show, with more horsepower, you can’t just mat the gas and accelerate like we used to, like we’ve done our entire lives here with restrictor plates. These guys with these giant spoilers, all this downforce on them, when they don’t have it any more, they don’t drive very good. That’s what we’re seeing.

Q. Two championships in the Xfinity Series. Do you feel like that puts more eyes on you? Does that change anything? Do you feel like it adds anything extra or a whole different ballgame?
TYLER REDDICK: I don’t know. I’m not really thinking about that. I know this is a whole different ballgame, if you will. A lot more competitive drivers. Racing probably in the Xfinity Series, when you come to superspeedways, you’re racing against three or four guys that probably know what they’re doing out there. Now you’re stepping up to realistically probably 25, 30 that are really good at superspeedway racing. Just makes it a lot more challenging to get back to the front. You got to really think out what you’re going to do. Every single time you decide to make a run on somebody, All right, are they going to go with me or stay with the guy that’s right in front of me? That’s just a decision you’re going to have to make. I would assume, being a rookie, how different these cars are from what I’ve driven in the past, they’re probably going to lean towards the guy with experience than me. That’s a process we’ll have to sort out in the 500 miles we have on Sunday, with the Duels on Thursday. Hopefully I can do some things to gain some trust in some of these guys that I want to go to the front when it’s time, try and make those moves when they’re important. As we’ve seen in the Clash, the other races here so far, I don’t know if you really want to be at the front if you’re being that aggressive. You can end your day really quick.

Q. Cole joked about being excited.
TYLER REDDICK: Very excited. I think the three, four of us, I think we’re all going to push each other pretty hard to I guess shorten the learning curve, get to where we want to be faster. Every single race you’re learning. I think these first two months are really important, are going to set the tone how we run all year. But I think we’ll constantly most likely be looking at where the others are at in speed. It’s just kind of cool. We’re all kind of different manufacturers, different teams. But I think the three of us are going to be racing around each other a lot. I think we’re going to be pushing each other to move up. I don’t know where we’ll start running week in, week out at the speedways, mile-and-a-half’s. I can see us pushing along pretty fast.

Q. Does having others from Xfinity make the transition up to Cup a little easier at all?
TYLER REDDICK: I think it does. You don’t have a bar to set yourself up to. If you have the other two, other three, if one runs really good in one weekend, one practice, you’re going to be pissed off, try to figure out how can I get better. It’s just nice because we’ve raced against each other a lot, we know we can beat each other on certain weekends, we’re all very competitive. Just one more reason to run better.

Q. Are you excited to get to Las Vegas and see what the new Camaro drives like? This isn’t going to give you any indication as to the rest of the season, except for the other three tracks?
TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, very. I’m very excited and curious. I mean, it’s not just going to be magically fast. We’re going to get the balance right, figure out where we want to be, propped up, trimmed out, what have you. We got to figure out what that’s going to look like for us. It’s really hard even in practice these days to figure out what you have because so many people show up with so many different things. You just kind of have to wait till Sunday. We’re going to do everything we can when we get to Vegas to go with what we feel like is the best for us in the race.

Q. (Question about Jimmie.)
TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, what I can say about him, any time I’ve ever needed anything or had questions, he’s always been real quick to reply. If I ever had any questions racing related, bikes, whatever, he’s right there to help, give advice. Just speaks to who Jimmie. Everyone here for the most part knows what I’m talking about. He’s a standup guy. If you need help with something, he’s going to help you. That’s really cool.

Q. Do you feel like there is a face of NASCAR at this point or just a bunch of really competitive racers? Who is going to take that spot?
TYLER REDDICK: I don’t know. I mean, Kyle has always been very fast, he’s won a lot of races. He’s won two championships in the last five years now. He’s starting to pull it together on the Playoff side and put those runs together. I really don’t know. There’s a lot of good drivers in the Cup Series obviously. I mean, if anyone steps up to the plate, I think anyone in the top 15 could really take over in that role. But there really hasn’t been any strong just runaway contenders like that, like we’ve seen with Jimmie, in a long time. Everyone kind of goes on runs for maybe a year, then it kind of calms back down, they level out with everybody else. It’s just really hard to say.

Q. You won the last Bristol race in the Xfinity Series in August. How do you think it will translate to this car?
TYLER REDDICK: I don’t know. I mean, what’s cool is we’re going to have less downforce again when we go back to Bristol. Hopefully that kind of reminds me of what Bristol was for me. Can’t hit the fence, that kind of stuff. Have to be smarter. It’s a longer race. I don’t know. A lot better drivers that have put together and run a lot of 500-lap races there, and I’ve never ran one. I don’t know what it’s going to mean. It’s going to be a tough race. It seems like Bristol is always really tough when you’re a rookie. It’s a long race. But the 300-lap races seem to be pretty good. By the time we get to lap 300, I’m mad and wanting more laps unless I’m leading it. That’s only helped me once. Laps usually help me in a place like that where you have to get into a rhythm, start knocking off those laps.

Q. What sort of accomplishment would it take for you to be this rookie year’s best?
TYLER REDDICK: Got to win a race or two. That would be really good. Granted, it seems like a stretch. You should be able to put together one or two good, solid races where no mistakes are made, you put yourself in position. A lot of times throughout these races, you’ll have two or three drivers that are really, really good. They just take themselves out or attrition takes them out of it. You just have to capitalize on that. Hopefully those weekends when you’re a sixth- or seventh-place car, you get a good stop, get to fourth or fifth, a couple drivers have mistakes along the way, take themselves out, you’re sitting third and have a chance at winning. That’s a lot easier said than done, but I think we can do it. We just got to put it together, have a game plan for each and every weekend. Outside of that, I’ve won the championship last year over the other guys competing for this rookie battle. I’d like to win the Rookie of the Year over those guys at the end, or win something else. That would be something else to drive for. With that, if you win races, I think to win Rookie of the Year you have to win a race or two, make the Playoffs.

Q. As if you weren’t busy enough in the off-season, you also did the documentary series. What was that process like?
TYLER REDDICK: It’s been cool. It’s going to be insight to a side of me not a lot of people understand or know. Hopefully they just understand it, I guess. I can be serious at times. I’m hardly ever truly serious unless I’m being asked serious questions and giving serious answers. A different insight. Look to what Austin, Corey’s and my life is like at the shop, how hard we’re working, how we approach the Daytona 500.

Q. What is your first memory of the Daytona 500?
TYLER REDDICK: I’ve watched them for a long time growing up since before I can remember at home. I think my first one here, the year escapes me because the numbers of years have run away from me. The rain-shortened race when Matt Kenseth won, I feel like it was 2009 or something like that, that was the only race I attended as a fan I guess. I attended a couple after I’ve been racing the Xfinity Series. Before I was ever in NASCAR, I remember sitting on the backstretch for that race, watching the rain come in. Getting to see the race on a track that felt so massive at the time. It’s still a big racetrack, but it doesn’t feel as big as it was before. I’ve gotten used to these tracks. That’s my first memory being here, getting rain. In the caring, sitting in line for two and a half hours to get out of here after the rain came, not caring, just because I had such a good time.

Q. What is the best thing and worst thing you can eat before a race?
TYLER REDDICK: Just depends on how it’s prepped that day. I would say I love eating seafood. On top of that, I like eating sashimi. That could either be the best thing or worst thing before you get in the racecar.

Q. Is that what you usually eat?
TYLER REDDICK: I wish. I wish I had the ability to do that. I just keep it simple and light. A little bit of grilled chicken, a wrap or something like that. Maybe a salad. I like to eat, really eat good, during the week so I can get to the race weekend and then try and clean up what I eat so my body isn’t pissed off I ate too much of one thing, don’t have enough of another. I try to keep it simple and small.

Q. In a race like this, how much are you relying on your spotter to help you? It’s a little bit different than Xfinity races when you’ve done it before. How much are you relying on your spotter to guide you?
TYLER REDDICK: The entire time. I mean, you pretty much can see next to nothing out of the back of these cars with the giant rear spoilers they have, the reflections that catch it. There’s a little slot you can see through the spoiler if the sun is not shining on it in the right way. Other than that, you’re completely relying on your spotter. Talladega, in the spring last year, my mirror was loose. I couldn’t see out of it. I pretty much had to rely on my spotter for every little bit of that race. Totally comfortable with him the entire way. If he tells me I’m clear, unclear, I’m not going to think twice about it. I’ll be relying on him as much as ever before. I have the utmost confidence in him. If we make a mistake, we make a mistake. I mean, he normally doesn’t make them. I do the best that I can to listen to him. It’s worked out pretty good for us in the past.

Q. Are the giant spoilers blocking your mirror now?
TYLER REDDICK: Oh, yeah, a lot of it. Maybe it’s because I’m short and I sit low in the racecar. I pretty much can’t see anything out of it.

Q. Is it true you fly with the Thunderbirds this week?
TYLER REDDICK: I think we leave here to go into that at 1:00 or something like that.

Q. How did that come up?
TYLER REDDICK: Came up through Chip. I just happened to walk by him, ran into him, bumped into him. Would you and Cole want to go do Thunderbirds in Daytona? Who says no to that? I said, Absolutely, you bet I’ll do it. I’m really looking forward to that.

Q. Have you ever done something like that?
TYLER REDDICK: No. I didn’t know how long it was going to be, anything like that. I thought it was only going to be, like, five minutes. You do a few runs this way, that way. I didn’t know what it all entailed. I was blown away, beyond excited when I heard I’m probably going to be in the air for like an hour. I was really, really happy to hear that. I’m looking forward to it.

Q. Is that something in the Cup Series you’re looking forward to? Maybe it’s a tradition not taken for granted, but it’s not so common.
TYLER REDDICK: See who?

Q. Like the fly-over.
TYLER REDDICK: Oh, yeah. It is really cool when I stick around for a race on Sunday, some of these races, Daytona, there’s been some others, Homestead, getting to see the fly-overs. The atmosphere in the Xfinity Series is really cool. It’s like doubles, sometimes three times as many people. Pit road is a mess. So much going on. It’s just a really cool sight to take in.

Q. Doing that later today?
TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, today.

Q. Scared at all?
TYLER REDDICK: No, no. I don’t even care if I get sick, whatever. I don’t care. I won’t be getting sick because I’m scared, I’ll probably be getting sick because I’m having too much fun.

Q. Any pre-race traditions, superstitions?
TYLER REDDICK: Not really. I came from dirt racing, so you’re just thrashing everything last minute to get to the racetrack and go run. Not really any of any kind honestly. I just show up, make sure I’m hydrated, don’t do anything too volatile the night before. That’s about it. Keep it simple.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA DAY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 12, 2020

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Daytona 500 Media Day Highlights:

REGARDING THE 2021 SCHEUDLE, HAS NASCAR COME TO YOU GUYS, THE DRIVERS, FOR YOUR OPINION?
“Yeah, they have come to the drivers for sure and said some things and have given us updates. But I feel like it’s still their choice, it’s their sport, you know? If you go to too many drivers, you get too many opinions. Everybody wants something different that benefits them added to the schedule. I just said I wanted another short track, Iowa Speedway, that is a place I run good at so that is why I want to go there. It’s also a good market. I think they are doing a good job with just moving on and putting different markets in there. And with just changing it up. I think what Pocono is doing is good and they do a good job of selling that track out. They have taken their two dates and added it to one race weekend, and I think other tracks should do that and allow us to go to some other places. I think the two-day show is interesting for our sport.”

REGARDING IF ELDORA IS FEASIBLE FOR A CUP SERIES RACE
“I think it’s definitely feasible, but some of the guys surprise me that say they don’t want to run there. Which is odd to me, and even some of the dirt guys have said they don’t want to do it. I don’t know why, because it’s a dirt race and it’s a race. I am all about it and I was able to win that first Truck Series race at Eldora, so you know I would be pumped for it. I think as far as capabilities of hosting a Cup race, you might have to go vertical with the stands and pull them all the way around the backstretch. I don’t know if there is room because I think it drops off pretty fast on the backstretch. You have to go vertical and I think Smoke (Tony Stewart) is the guy to do it. Smoke would make it happen if we could get a Cup race there.”

AFTER WINNING THIS RACE ONCE, DOES IT MAKE IT EASIER COMING BACK HERE OR DOES IT PUT MORE PRESSURE ON YOU?
“I think as far as knowing you won one, definitely helps. Especially for me. I enjoy this Sunday more than any other Sunday of the year. Waking up and just breathing the air on Sunday morning is my favorite race because of the hype that goes into it and the build-up. It feels like that Super Bowl moment, it feels like Masters, because everybody’s eyes are on you and its our sport’s day. I can’t wait every year for this and I cherish that and try to have a good race.”

REGARDING IF THERE ARE RULES TO DRAFTING
“Well, there are no specific written rules in this sport when you are out there driving. I can tell you that, they don’t hand you a book when you go out there. No one is really in the wrong when they screw up and wreck the field, but it is frowned upon in this establishment. I just go get it and try and make my car live to
the end. Some people put their stuff in bad positions. At the end of the race this past July, I think I blocked really hard and aggressive because the rain was coming. I see red. I admit it and I have done it….in the (Daytona) 500 when we won it. You shut off your brain and know you are going to put yourself in awkward positions. But you have got to do it. You are racing for your team and trying to win the race. It does suck when you get wrecked out early and that is not what we are here to do, but it’s part of the race. People are trying hard early and that is not what really pays. The last lap pays.”

ARE YOU EXCITED TO SEE HOW THE CAMARO PERFORMS ONCE YOU GET TO LAS VEGAS?
“I am very excited. I think the ZL1 1LE looks better than our Camaro last year. The first time on the track with it, the view from the back of the car, watching someone in front of you just looks a lot different. So, I think the additions that they made to it should help us moving forward.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK TYLER REDDICK BRINGS TO RCR?
“Just a positive attitude. He is not rattled by anything and is an exciting driver. I think he will bring more fans to RCR because of that and that is good for us. I enjoy working with him and he is already a bright spot for me because he doesn’t get rattled by anything and doesn’t let things bother him. I think Tyler is going to be good for our team.”

DO YOU SEE YOURSELF ONE DAY RUNNING RCR?
“Yeah, I would like to. I feel like when that time comes, and I am no longer helping as a driver, that I want to help in some way because its my family’s company. I have put a lot of love and effort into that already and would love to continue on the tradition of RCR.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE CHEVY IS AT A DISADVANTAGE AS FAR AS HOW YOU MARRY UP WITH OTHER MANUFACTURERS IN TANDEM DRAFTING?
“We have made some changes in the offseason to address that with our nose. Still a little worried about the tail in how it catches and stuff. We have some practice to do it before the 500 and we get one practice after the Duel, but you are going to see it in the Duels and some people are going to mess with it. We will just have to wait and see and see what happens.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE JIMMIE JOHNSON MEMORY?
“When I was in Xfinity and running for a championship in the first year, I reached out to him. I was running like second or third while running for that championship and just wanted his advice as a Chevy driver and
reached out. And he came back with everything he could give me as far as wisdom in racing for a championship. How he would race for a championship. He started texting me after each race and was coming back to me with something even through Homestead and practices. It was cool. Then in the second year in Xfinity when we won the championship, we were doing similar things. But this time he was actually asking me similar questions on what the track would do. Hearing that from a guy that won five championships at that time, I was just kind of mind blown that he was able to talk to someone that is in a lesser series and be able to learn from them. He was going to take anything he could take and apply it to his game. That is something that I will always remember from Jimmie, is the relentless effort and not afraid to get better in any way.”