Category: NASCAR Cup PR

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Saturday, June 22, 2019
EVENT: Toyota Save Mart 350 Cup Qualifying

FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
3rd – Joey Logano
5th – Daniel Suarez
9th – Ryan Blaney
13th – Michael McDowell
14th – Clint Bowyer
15th – Aric Almirola
17th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18th – David Ragan
21st – Ryan Newman
22nd – Brad Keselowski
23rd – Kevin Harvick
24th – Paul Menard
27th – Corey LaJoie
28th – Matt Tifft

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang — Qualified 3rd

“I feel like my lap was pretty good, I was just a little loose. I feel like I got through it mainly pretty decent. I got a little loose off of 10. If I could find one spot, I got too loose off 10 trying to throttle up too aggressively and stuck half my left sides up in the dirt and got loose and knocked a few mile an hour off on the exit compared to what I would have been. Maybe that is a tenth, maybe a half a tenth. I don’t know. I have to go back and look. All I needed was nine-hundredths so that is probably the spot I am looking at.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang — QUALIFIED 13th

“I feel really good about our car in race trim. The Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang was good. To be that close to the second round, you always want more but I am proud of everybody at Front Row for the fast car. We need a little more to be with those top-five and top-eight guys but I feel like we can hold on for a long run and it is road racing, so anything can happen.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang — QUALIFIED 15th

“The car drove pretty good but the driver gave up some in too many different areas of the track. I have been here before and tried too hard and made too many mistakes and cost myself a good starting spot. Today I didn’t try hard enough. There is always a balance here. I feel like our Mustang was really good in race trim yesterday on the long run. I didn’t feel like we had the short run speed that some of the other cars have. This place is really bad on tires and wears them out and I feel like we have a really good Smithfield Ford Mustang after 10 laps or so. I thought we were good enough to make the top-12 but the driver gave up too much.”

DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 #ThanksDW Ford Mustang — QUALIFIED 18th

“In qualifying it is always a double edge sword. You want to be aggressive and get everything but you don’t want to be too aggressive and overrun a corner or two because that can really be bad. I feel like I over drove two corners and under drove two. We picked up some speed from yesterday in our Q run. We are 18th which isn’t exactly where we wanted to be. We would have liked to make the final round. Our Ford Mustang is good enough to where we can hold on to the track position and when you are in the top-15 or 20 you can play some strategy. It was a solid lap but I wish it could have been a little bit better.”

MATT TIFFT, No. 36 Acquire Investments Ford Mustang — QUALIFIED 28th

“Our first attempt out we just hit the splitter a little too much in the braking zones and caused some lock up which lost a little bit of time there. When we went back out we hit it a little bit more even. I feel like we are okay. I feel like we have a top-25 car and maybe with some attrition we can get a top-20 out of it. We are just trying to keep the consistency in there. This place is more about being smart and surviving the whole deal and trying to put yourself in a good spot.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 America’s Tire Ford — QUALIFIED 22nd

“This place is a lot different from qualifying to the race. I think we have seen it a lot the last few years that the pole sitter falls back quickly with the impound racing. It is just a lot different racing from qualifying. It isn’t as good as I had hoped we would be starting but we will have to make the most of it.”

COREY LAJOIE, No. 32 GMN Ford Mustang – QUALIFIED 27th

“It was hard 21 hours removed from practice yesterday, especially not being here before, just to get your brain in the mode of hitting your marks for one lap. That is all we got. You could go for two but as much as the tires fall off you won’t be any faster. You are trying to get all you can in one lap, especially being as green as I am. I was pretty happy with. I told my wife I was going to qualify 27th today and I qualified 27th. We are going to keep all the tires and fenders on it tomorrow and have a good day.”

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
SONOMA RACEWAY
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 21, 2019

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 met with media and discussed his previous poles at Sonoma, his views of running the Carousel, racing at his hometown track, and more. Full Transcript:

YOU HAVE CAPTURED THE BUSCH POLE AWARD THE LAST TWO YEARS AT SONOMA. THIS YEAR THEY THREW THE CAROUSEL AT YOU BUT YOU WERE STILL FAST IN PRACTICE AND WON THE T-MOBIL FASTEST PRACTICE AWARD TODAY. THAT DIDN’T SEEM TO BOTHER YOU AT ALL
“I don’t know. It’s just a few extra corners so it’s not a big deal I guess to any of us out there. So, yeah we ran a good lap in our mock run today in practice so I feel like I have a good shot at another pole tomorrow. I would like to be better in race trim, but yeah, if we can get another pole it would be pretty cool.”

HAS THERE BEEN ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION WITH YOU AND NASCAR ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT TALLADEGA AND WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS GOING INTO DAYTONA? DO YOU HAVE ANY FEAR THAT YOUR CAR COULD GO AIRBORNE AGAIN?
“I don’t know if they’ve made changes or what or not. So, I don’t really know how to answer the question. I don’t think about going airborne whenever I strap into a car. But, if it happens, it happens.”

WE HAVEN’T HAD THIS PACKAGE AT DAYTONA YET. HOW DO YOU FEEL THE CARS WILL HANDLE THERE?
“I don’t know. It’s a nighttime race so that usually helps the handling a little bit. I don’t know. I haven’t thought about Daytona yet. We’ve just got to get through here and Chicago.”

THIS IS LIKE YOUR HOME TRACK, JUST AROUND THE CORNER IN ELK GROVE, WHAT’S IT LIKE COMING HOME TO CALIFORNIA AND WHAT YOU GET A CHANCE TO SEE AND DO WHEN YOU’RE HERE
“it’s my home track so I love coming out here. But still, with it being close to home, I don’t really spend it at home. I spend it as a vacation, really, in the Napa Valley. I came out here a couple days earlier than I was scheduled to. With all the rain in Ohio, we decided to fly to California. I got here Tuesday night and spent the night at (wife) Katelyn’s parents house with the family and drove to Napa Wednesday and had some dinner. We went and wine-tasted yesterday and then I’m going to hang out tonight and get some good dinner somewhere. It’s just a normal weekend really. It doesn’t feel like a home race until Sunday rolls around and I get to see some of my friends and old fans and stuff that have watched me race growing up.”

ARE THERE PEOPLE THAT YOU NEVER SEE ALL YEAR UNTIL THIS RACE? OR, DO THEY COME TO SOME OF YOUR SPRINT CAR STUFF TOO?
“No, not really. As far as like fans go, there are lots of fans that I probably don’t really recognize that come up to me and say that the used to watch me race at Placerville and Silver Dollar and stuff like that. So yeah, I guess this would probably be the one race where maybe I’d see those types of people. But as far as my friends, my close friends will come to this and they might come to a couple others like Vegas or because the Outlaws are in town; Charlotte and things like that. But yeah, dirt track Sprint Car fans, a lot of them come up on Sunday. So, I definitely feel like I’ve got a good fan following here with it being my home race and getting to have my dirt track fans come watch me.”

REGARDING CHICAGOLAND, IT WAS A THRILLER WITH YOU AND KYLE BUSCH THERE LAST YEAR. WITH A YEAR REMOVED, WHAT STICKS OUT TO YOU ABOUT THAT DAY AND HOW DO YOU THINK THE RACING WILL BE THIS TIME?
“It will definitely be different this time. We’ll see how it is. I hear a lot of people talk about this package and it’s really good for nighttime races with high grip. Last year that weekend was extremely hot and the opposite of what this package might need. So, we’ll see how the racing will be. But yeah, that was a good and exciting finish to be a part of. I wish I would have been in Victory Lane for that one. But, it’s cool to be a part of an epic finish.”

WHAT IS THE GAME PLAN NOT JUST FOR QUALIFYING, BUT TO GET YOU THAT ELUSIVE WIN AT SONOMA?
“I don’t know. We don’t ever come here and set up to get a pole. We come here to try and win the race and have the set-up capable of winning the race. So, it just happens to work out where I’ve been good for short run-kind-of-stuff here my whole career. It seems like it’s kind of the same thing again this weekend. So, I don’t know. We’ve tried all sorts of different stuff so maybe it’s just my fault why I’m only good at qualifying.”

THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF RACING LEFT, BUT WHERE WOULD YOU RATE YOUR LEVEL OF FRUSTRATION AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON?
“I guess not too frustrating with how our cars are running because I feel like our cars have been pretty good. But as far as just bad luck or mistakes and things like that, that’s what’s been frustrating. But, having a decently fast race car helps relieve some of that frustration. Kurt (Busch) has been running really good. I run pretty good most of the race and then kind of something seems to happen towards the end. We’ve just got to clean up come things still and hopefully we can make the Playoffs and be hitting on all eight cylinders at the right time.”

WITH YOU AND KURT BUSCH BEING SECOND AND FIRST ON THE SPEED CHART, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU GUYS HAVE A LOT OF THINGS PERHAPS IN COMMON. HOW MUCH TIME HAVE YOU SPENT CONFERRING WITH EACH OTHER LEADING INTO THIS RACE, OR IS THIS JUST A FLUKE THING?
“We didn’t spend any time together before this race. I wouldn’t say it’s a fluke either. You can look at myself and (Jamie) McMurray, we were always at the top of the speed charts here as well. I think our cars are pretty good, at least for short run stuff here. So, I guess I really don’t know how to answer this question.”

PICK A TURN. WHAT’S THE WORST TURN FOR YOU AT THIS TRACK?
‘Probably Turn 7. It definitely used to be 7. And then the new 7 is still probably my worst corner. But probably not as bad. Turn 7 is just tough because it’s hard to get grip exiting that corner.”

CAN YOU COMPARE THE CAROUSEL TO ANY OTHER TURN YOU’VE EVER RACED IN YOUR CAREER?
“Probably. I guess it’s similar to Watkins Glen in a way but it’s still different. I actually feel like it’s kind of an odd corner just because I feel like I have a lot of grip for the first two-thirds of the corner. And then, like as we get back on the drag strip I lose all sorts of grip. So, that’s been tricky. It’s been a tricky corner. But, it is what it is. You can’t really pass there anyway.”

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR BEST TURN OR YOUR BEST PORTION OF THIS TRACK?
“Honestly today, I feel like the new sections have been…. At least (Turns) 4 or 5 and most of 6 have probably been my best corners. I don’t know. I haven’t really seen if I’m gaining time there or not or losing or whatever. But I feel best there. I feel like I have my most grip through there. So, yeah that little section would probably be my best, I think.”
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, June 21, 2019
EVENT: Toyota Save Mart 350 Media Availability

Joey Logano Media Availability

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang — HOW DID THE CAROUSEL EFFECT THE PRACTICES FOR YOU? “I think it affected us before we got here trying to figure out what it was going to take to go fast through the carousel but still have the control you need through the rest of the race track. You have a few laps trying to figure out where you are going and what you need in your car and then start working on it. We all have plenty of time to work on it and figure it out. The thing that is still an unknown is how it races. We got behind some cars in traffic in practice to see what effect it has to your car and those little things. There are a lot of unknowns until we race in all honesty.”

WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE TO ROSS CHASTAIN AFTER HIS TRUCK RACE DQ BEING THAT YOU HAD AN ENCUMBERED WIN? IS THER ANYTHING YOU LEARNED THAT CAN HELP ROSS? “You just keep going. There is not much you can do. Maybe I am not the best one to give the advice. It took us a year and a half to recover. Maybe I am not the best to answer that. I don’t know. It stinks. It stinks for everybody. It is not great for the sport, not great for their race team in particular or Ross or anyone. You take your hits and you keep on going. You don’t quit. You keep on pushing and try to figure it out. You move on from there. I don’t think he needs much advice. I am pretty sure he will be just fine. He is a pretty good race car driver and he is showing that lately. I am sure he will get through this and the way that truck runs I wouldn’t be surprised if they get another win.”

WITH THE WISDOM AND EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE GAINED THE LAST FEW YEARS, ARE YOU A BETTER DRIVER NOW THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN? “Oh yeah. For sure. You always get better. That is why in this sport and in a lot of sports it is hard for the youth to compete with the old veterans, the guys that have been around a long time and been through things. You have been through all the stuff, been here and done that in a lot of situations. Nothing is new to you. You know how to prepare, handle pressure and adversity and drama. You have been through it. You have been there. Until you go through this stuff, a lot of times you just don’t know. You can lean on as many retired race car drivers as you want but you have to figure out what works for you. What works for somebody else doesn’t typically work for you a lot of times. You have to find your grove and who you are as a racer and a person and how you want to handle situations. You can kind of keep going from there. That is why you get drivers in the sport that find a home and they keep going for a long time because they just keep getting better. Look at Kevin (Harvick) and Jimmie (Johnson). These guys have been out here a long time and they are not falling off. They are still really good and using their wisdom to their advantage. If there is any way you fall off from age, and I don’t know if there is or not, they are able to overcome it with their wisdom.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT NEXT WEEK AT CHICAGOLAND? “You will have cars, I think, right up against the wall and on the bottom of the race track. I always thought Chicago was like a mini Fontana. I always looked at it that way. There is some tire wear, so bumps, fairly flat, just smaller. There are different lanes on the race track and the way the seams are on the race track it looks to me just like Auto Club. When I see Chicagoland that is what I think of, so I don’t think the race will look much different than that.”

SOME FOLKS SAY DRIVING THROUGH THE CAROUSEL CAN MAKE YOU FEEL QUEASY. HAVE YOU FELT ANYTHING LIKE THAT? “No. There is a little bit of a jump and then you kind of go up and you crest the hill and go down for awhile. You obviously feel those forces on your body but nothing that is unexpected. You can see the incline and you know that will create some pressure and create some grip right before you have no grip when you get to the top of the hill. I call it the jump. I think it is a jump. If you go fast enough you can probably jump it. I will let somebody else try that first. That is where wisdom comes in, you let somebody else jump it first.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS WEEKEND THAT MAKES EVERYONE IN SUCH A GOOD MODE COMPARED TO THE TYPICAL RACE WEEKEND? “Wait til Sunday afternoon. There will be only one person in a good mood. This place can piss me off like no other, believe me. There haven’t been many times I am smiling leaving Sonoma. No, it does have a different vibe. The scenery is different, you are road racing. To me the intensity level is just as high. I want to win here as bad as anybody to try to get something and make something happen here. I think our two toughest race tracks for Team Penske is Sonoma and Dover. We just really want to figure it out. There is a lot of effort that gets put into this race track from back at the shop and the way we prepare to when we get here. We keep trying different things. HOpefully we hit on something. It seems there are teams and drivers that hit on something here and it goes forever. It seems like the same cars go fast here, no matter what the rules package is and what the track layout is. it seems like it is the same cars that go fast here. They figure out how to make the tires last on the car. You aren’t going to see anything different when it comes around to Sunday. You will see the same cars that have been fast here the last four or five years be fast again. it already looks like it based on practice. They might be sleeping easy and drinking wine but I won’t be doing that.”

CAN YOU COMMENT ON ROGER (PENSKE) BEING AWARDED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM? “Yeah, what an amazing honor for him. Those awards, you think about what Roger has been able to accomplish as an American and as a business owner and motorsports tycoon. The guy is amazing with what he has done. Indy 500 wins, championships, all racing different types of series’ across the world. To me that is incredible. The selflessness that he shows, which honestly doesn’t show but he is with the way he supports charitable initiatives and does it quietly. I think that says a lot about a person. I think it is much deserved. I am excited for him. You think of some of the awards he has won lately with the Hall of Fame and now this, it is something he should be very proud of. I am honored to know the guy. It is incredible to work for him.”

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON GOING BACK TO DAYTONA NEXT MONTH WITH HANDLING BEING SO IMPORTANT THERE AND THE HEAT? “You caught me off guard a little bit here, that is a few weeks out. You are right, Daytona always has more handling effect than Talladega and we haven’t brought this rules package there yet. It won’t have as much handling characteristics that are challenging as much as it used to be there. The downforce that is added to these cars will have significantly more grip than what we used to have although everyone just trims them out more and more to try to overcome that and get all the drag out and that takes all the handling back out. It still has more handling than they used to. The pack seems to be closer, the runs are harder to stop. That is how it was in Talladega and it won’t be any different. You have that big blade and being out front is pretty challenging. It is harder than it used to be because that bubble behind the car seems to be smaller.”

HOW ABOUT THE EXTRA HORSEPOWER? “We have a few hundred more pounds of drag on the car too if you look at it that way, so it kind of levels back out.”

DO YOU FEEL THE DQ FOR ROSS WAS MORE DEVASTATING THAN WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? DOES IT SEND A MESSAGE AT ALL TO THE CUP GARAGE THAT NASCAR IS WILLING TO GO THAT FAR? “No doubt. It definitely sends a message. We all watched it. Wherever we were, I think everyone had their TV on watching and at least hearing about it in the news this week. It was devastating for a lot of different reasons. First and foremost you think of points. You think of the benefits of the win, the playoff points, getting into the playoffs in their situation, it is as if they didn’t show up. That is a pretty big deal. But I think for that team in particular, you think of the money. Wasn’t there a $50,000 bonus for winning that? And there was a stage win. Yeah, that is a hit. A huge hit. Those truck teams aren’t necessarily rolling in sponsor dollars out there. It is tough for them. It is a big hit.”

DID THE ACTUAL DQ OF NOT BEING ABLE TO KEEP THE WIN RESONATE? “The stat and the trophy? If you are a stat guy I guess it does. If you are into stats and racking them up then I guess it does. Honestly, I think the points are the biggest thing. That is the biggest hit. For them, the cash is as big if not bigger.”

ARE YOU A STATS GUY? “Yeah, I like seeing where we are at and trying to move up through the win list and things like that. Yeah. I like looking at that stuff. Only when I am winning though. (laughter) That year we didn’t win much I didn’t look. Nothing was happening.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, June 21, 2019
EVENT: Toyota Save Mart 350 Media Availability

Ryan Newman Media Availability

RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang — THIS SEEMED LIKE A TOUGH SESSION FOR YOU. IS IT THE CAROUSEL OR JUST TRYING TO PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER? “I am not real sure. We didn’t do a qualifying run. I know we are off on speed but not the speed difference that you saw on the speed charts. I think our Wyndham Rewards Ford is competitive, just not a top-five car right now. We have some work to do to make it better. That is pretty much it. The carousel just took a little bit of learning for me and figuring out braking points and what the car balance is going to be like as it went through the corners. Other than that, I guess maybe a little bit of catch-up for me because I came in with a mindset of 18 or 19 years of what I used to do and it isn’t that anymore.”

WAS IT TOUGH BECAUSE THIS IS ALL BRAND NEW? “No. I got a chance to come out to the track yesterday and they let me drive the pace car around just to kind of get a feel for it. I couldn’t go fast because there were a bunch of people around the race track but I wanted to get an idea of what to expect. It is fine. It will be interesting to see how it races. It is another half mile of distance that hopefully will add some excitement and some passing zones that we kind of needed here.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE WHOLE FIELD GOES INTO THE CAROUSEL? “I don’t know. I think it is going to be a challenge when you crest the hill for the first time to see where the accordion effect happens going back toward Turn 3. You will be on the brakes in places you have never been on the brakes before. That will be the biggest challenge I think. Everything else will be kind of the same but that first big check up will be interesting to see how far back it goes back toward Turn 2.”

YOU ARE ON THE BORDERLINE ON POINTS. DO YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE DECISION MAKING OF IF YOU GO FOR STAGE POINTS OR RACE POINTS? “That is up to Graves. He has a better picture of what to expect and hears more of the radio chatter of what guys want to do or might do and has a better understanding of the past. For me it is about going as fast as I can without abusing the race car and having a car at the end that we are competitive enough to have a chance at our best finish. That might be first or 31st, I don’t know. It will be interesting to see how the strategy plays out and who goes for what because no matter what those points are very important. You have half as many points in two stages as you do to win the race. It is risk versus reward I guess.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT AT CHICAGO NEXT WEEK? “We got a chance to do the Goodyear tire test up there and we did a couple of mock races I guess you could say. 25 lap runs. We were off compared to the other cars that were there. It was a lot of wide open throttle time. As long as you have a fast car that is okay. If you are wide open and not going fast enough then it is miserable as a driver because you can’t do anything to make up for that. They frown on it when you cut across the infield. It is like having a slow go-kart at the go-kart track. You just want to restart the race and get in a different kart. I don’t know if it will be like that for the race but that is what was like at the test, wide open after 25 laps. A lot of people have learned a lot about that package since we tested there but it was more wide open throttle time than I expected for a track that usually loses quite a bit of grip like Chicago.”

ANY CONSIDERATION TO RUNNING ELDORA AGAIN? “I would like to do it if the situation was right and I had the right opportunity. It was fun last year and I don’t regret at all the opportunity that I had. I had a lot of fun, just got caught up in somebody else’s crash. If something fell in my lap, then yes, but I don’t want to take away from what I am doing here to focus on something outside of the Cup garage.”

DID YOU FEEL THE TIRES YOU WERE WORKING WITH AT CHICAGOLAND HELPED AT ALL WITH THE GRIP? “It is hard to say because everything is so different with the aero and horsepower package part of it. The tires felt fine. They didn’t feel anything crazy different than what we have had in the past which has been kind of the situation this year in my opinion. I think they will be fine.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS AT DAYTONA WITH THIS PACKAGE SINCE IT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN A BIG HANDLING TRACK? “I don’t know. I have been very vocal about keeping the cars on the race track and since Larson just walked in I think he has some answers for you on that one. That is my biggest pet peeve. Whatever we do needs to put on a good race but be safe for the drivers and safe for the fans. What Kyle’s (Larson) car did at Talladega was unacceptable. I don’t know what changes have been made, if any changes have been made, and what we will do to try to keep that from happening when we go back to Daytona but it needs to not happen. We will see. Whoever has the best drag, downforce package at Daytona, we will know at the end of the race.”

Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sonoma Raceway – June 21, 2019

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to the media in Sonoma:

Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Did you ever doubt that NASCAR would ever disqualify someone? Does that send a message to the garage?

“I really never thought about it. If they are going to take a win away, it’s pretty big. Yeah, they said they were going to do it and they did it. I am not surprised.”

You and Cole Pearn (crew chief) really figured out the playoff points and the stage wins when they got added to the point system. Now that everyone has figure it out, is your advantage gone?
“I think everyone knew it was a good deal. It happened to be the first year they brought in the playoff points we were really strong. Honestly, it was consequential. Everybody is always after those points. Even before those, you want to win practice, you want to get the pole, you wanted to be first all the time. At this level, that is what you are looking to do. We didn’t have any magical plan or special secret deal going on; we were just really fast that season.

Martin, you had the fastest speeds in the morning session. The carousel didn’t really affect you?

“It took a little getting used to. The only thing I did in preparation of coming here was to go to the simulator a little bit. You only get so much out of that. All the visual cues are there, but you don’t have the feel, the sensation of speed, the g-forces, the rises and the falls, all of that. So to go out there, cold turkey this morning, it was a little bit weird. It was a little bit hairy. I was trying to figure it out, and the track was a little dirty. It took a while to get it figured out, but once we were done with practice, I was really comfortable with the track. With the changes we made to my car, I am looking forward to hopefully laying down a good qualifying lap tomorrow.”

Compare the first practice to the second practice.

“Conditions here, the track is pretty sensitive. The biggest deal here is every time we show up here, we are the first cars on track. The track is really dirty. We fought that for quite a while. We saw the speeds pick up a lot in the second practice. The race starts a little earlier on Sunday than we ran that second practice today. But that is probably the best gauge on what we are going to have.”

Did you learn anything more about the carousel today?

“We definitely learned a lot about it. I’d never been on it so it was quite a learning experience for me. As far as the race being shorter, I think we let the crew chiefs worry about all that strategy stuff and the engineers. There’s less laps and it’s a longer course. I don’t know how that plays into the fuel strategy, pit strategy and how you’ll have to run this race. We’ve been doing the same thing here for a long time and it’s always do you do one stop that last stage or two stop it because tires are faster. Tires wear out here so I leave that all completely to the crew. I’m glad we were able to come here, figure out the track, figure out the race car and how to adapt our setup that we’ve been running here the last couple seasons over to the new turns and definitely felt like it worked out pretty well for us.”

Is Chicago the type of track that his package favors?

“I would say yes for me personally, I like the hot, slick tracks that we go to. It seems to be best for us. I’m hoping it’s not as hot as last year. Every time I think about Chicago, I think, ‘Gosh, that’s the hottest race car I’ve ever been in my entire life.’ I really don’t want to do that again so let’s hope it’s now quite as hot. I think it feels like to me or at least the races I’ve enjoyed the most or have put on the best show are the tracks where you can run all over them, where tires wear out and all that stuff. Some people disagree with me and my theory of what’s good racing and everybody has a little different opinion of what is good racing. I think it’s going to be a great place for us to put on a good show and hopefully it’s not 120 degrees.”

Are you concerned that your average starting spot isn’t in the top-10 this season?

“It’s kind of concerning, but not really at the same time. We know it’s there and we really don’t know how to fix it is what I’m saying. With the rules that we have and the impound and qualifying procedure, you kind of have to qualify what you’re going to race. You’re main goal is to race well and you just take qualifying as it comes. Well, we’re off a little bit – so be it. We just do whatever we have to do to race good and that’s hurt us a little bit in qualifying.”

Do you have a good notebook on intermediates with this package going into Chicago?

“No question for us, especially on the 19. I think JGR, all of our cars are running good at places throughout the season, but for us personally on the 19 the last couple mile-and-a-halves, we’ve really turned a corner. Michigan was a great run for us, Charlotte obviously, winning there was big. We started out the year kind of searching a bit on the mile-and-a-halves and the bigger tracks with the 550 package. For us, I definitely feel like we’ve learned a lot the past month and a half or so and really turned a corner there. Given us a lot of confidence and we feel like Chicago will be a good race for us.”

How do you expect to handle in Daytona?

“Daytona will be really interesting. I believe as with every other track we’ve been to with this 550 package this year, there are a lot of unknowns because we’ve never done it and they’re all so different. It’s really just, there’s a lot of question marks. We know what we know from Talladega because we ran that there and that will give you an idea of where to start. We’ve been surprised every time we went to a track with this package. We’re just trying to figure it out and I just leave it up to the engineers and the crew chiefs and all that. When we get to the track, I try to give them all the info I can give them. I think we’ll be surprised and if it’s really hot like normal in Daytona, that track just keeps getting older and older and older every time we go back and losing grip. How is that going to play into it with 550 horsepower, which is going to be a lot more than we’ve ever had there.”

Toyota Racing – Matt DiBenedetto
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sonoma Raceway – June 21, 2019

Leavine Family Racing driver Matt DiBenedetto was made available to the media in Sonoma:

Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Procore Thanks DW Throwback Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing

Tell us your thoughts on the carousel.

“It’s pretty fun. It’s a cool course. I like it, and we have a lot of the same old characteristics of Sonoma where you fight forward drive and grip. That’s what we love. The carousel is cool. It’s going to be an important corner. It’s going to be where you are going to need to pass going into turn seven. It’s a different corner for us now, but it’s going to be one of our main passing zones. It could be a pretty critical corner.”

Did you spend most of your practice session working on that?

“I spent a lot of practice working on the same old characteristics of Sonoma, which is nice. We are doing some work to make sure it drives off the corner as well as you are going to need. I did spend a good deal of practice making sure too emphasis that we need to get through that corner, well, mostly you need to get off of that corner really well. It needs to turn okay, and you need to be able to throttle down so you can set them up and stay close to their bumper to pull off a pass in turn seven.”

Did you have any problems in turn four?
“Not so much. With some of the corners like that one, you have to weigh out risk versus reward. There’s not much to be gained, but there’s a lot to be lost if you drive it in there too hard. It’s really not worth it. There’s really not that much to be gained there, so you are better off just to drive in there normal and making the corner, completing it and getting off the corner better.”

We are about the halfway point of the season. How have things been going at LFR (Leavine Family Racing)?

“We’ve been working together great. We’ve had fast cars, but have not had the results we’ve deserved. Fast cars, just things have not gone our way. Charlotte, we had a car that could have easily finished in the top 10, but we had a right front tire issue. Phoenix, we had a really good run going, but we had a pit road miscue. It is just some little things. Daytona, led the most laps and we got crashed. Just a few things flipped that went our way, I think it could be tremendous. But we’ve got a lot of season left and we’ve got fast cars, which is the best part.”

Can you talk about mentally and physically preparing for a race like this?
“These ones are a lot tougher. Mentally, you can’t make any mistakes. You can’t get lazy. You have to pay attention all day and be really precise with your shifts. Just little things you have to stay on top of. You’ve got to be patient. If you’re knocking the fenders off of the car, it causes problems. And you’re working a lot harder inside the car at Sonoma than you would be a mile-and-a-half. You’ve got to be hydrated, sleep well. All of the basic things to feel really good.”

Did you spend a lot of time on the simulator to prepare?

“Oh yeah. Especially with the track being different. This one was important. We wanted all the time we could get to get acclimated to the new course.”

Can you talk about the relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and how it has evolved over the season?

“It has been really great. It makes it easier when we have Wheels (Mike Wheeler, crew chief); he has been at JGR for so long. They are comfortable working with him. The relationship is already there. Toyota is already comfortable with all of us as well and that’s kind of home for me. The relationship has been great. We don’t have the information like the 78 team did. We are not at that level yet. We get nice race cars and it’s kind of up to us to figure it out.”

Tell us about your paint scheme for this weekend.

“It is neat and exciting. DW (Darrell Waltrip) has meant a lot to me. He helped me out last year sponsoring my race car last year in Phoenix. His name was on my car. He has been just a really good person. We talked to our sponsor, Procore, and they were totally on board with us running a scheme throwing back to when DW ran the no.95 car.”

How is the higher downforce going to affect the racing?

“I think it shouldn’t affect it too bad here. Just because the speeds are so slow in a lot of the corners, where it doesn’t matter much. The only thing, I followed behind the 3 car (Austin Dillon) and you do get a little aero tight. There might be a little in traffic in the carousel. You’re carrying some speed through there, so you might notice a little bit of those conditions.”

Is it fair to say that this track is the least affected by the new package?
“I think so. I think here, and maybe Martinsville. Martinsville was affected more than I thought. This could be the least affected because the surface is old, and we always fight forward drive, which is nice. Those are the qualities that I miss a lot. I love slipping and sliding all over the place, and having very little grip. That’s what makes me and my driving ability be able to stand out the most and allows me to get the most out of my equipment, so that has been a tough mental struggle. Going to some of these places and just holding it wide open and playing more of a chess game than a driving ability, sliding around, making the most of your car game. This year, as a driver, is completely different and very mentally tough.”

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
SONOMA RACEWAY
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 21, 2019

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights:

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE CAROUSEL?
“I didn’t even get a chance to look at it before I spun out. I got out and went up Turn 3 and thought man, these tires are cold and I spun out. So now, that is now the top of the board for the most embarrassing moment because we were just cruising around. We were just kind of cruising. Putting stuff together and the next thing you know, I was looking at the dirt. And I was like all right. Here we go. We got it out of the way.

“But, it’s interesting. It’s almost going to be like kind of tiptoeing through the Roval. In watching all the races, it’s cool to watch Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt go at it there. But, it’s different now. So, we’ll see. We’ll just have to mind our P’s and Q’s and be on our toes the entire time. It’s a lot different attitude for me this year versus last year. I’m out here having fun.”

WHAT SIMILARITIES DO THE CAROUSEL AND THE ROVAL HAVE?
“They’re both kind of off-cambered once you get towards the exit a little bit so that definitely can translate over. It’s a little bit faster here and you don’t have a wall right next door like you do at the Roval. So, you can carry a little bit more speed there and you can carry a little bit more aggression through there. There will be some side-by-side and some beating and banging a little bit. But, meantime, you get really wide over the hill so it’s easy to lock-up rear tires and put yourself in a bad spot, which is just spinning out and losing a lot of track position. This is a real road course. You’ve got run-off room. If I would have spun out in the first four corners of the Roval, we’d be in a back-up. There’s no runoff at the Roval. Trust me, I’ve tested every corner (laughter)”.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE HEAT? DO YOU ENJOY RACING IN HOT WEATHER?
“I sweat when it’s 50 degrees out. I’ve always done that. For me, I’ve never done anything extra to take that extra step to make sure I’m hydrated for the hot races. But I do remember Chicago being the hottest race, by far. So, I will be watching the temperature and taking that extra step like I didn’t before.”

WAS THAT THE HOTTEST YOU’VE EVER BEEN IN A RACE CAR?
“Yeah, Chicago I think was the hottest. The 600 was hot, but it was just long and hot. But, I remember trying to take a shower right after the race and I turned it on cool and like my body went into shock and my feet felt like they were about to fall off from aching so bad. I was screaming. I didn’t know what was going on. So, we turned on hot water for about 10 minutes and I was grabbing towels and scraping skin off it was itching so bad. It was really weird. The skin didn’t come off but all-in-all, I will be more prepared so that won’t happen again.”

ON THE NEW SPONSORSHIP PARTICIPATION
‘If you look at the last month of racing, you would have thought it came at Charlotte but we didn’t announce until Pocono. It could even be a couple more weeks really. I think what we’ve been able to see is kind of like that weight lifted off our shoulders where we can go out and just go race and not have to worry so much about putting ourselves in a bad spot. Still, we want to be mindful about what the situation is, but for us it’s like okay, we’ve got an opportunity here. Let’s get through these four or five races since Charlotte, which all ended-up doing well. The two finishes we didn’t deserve was Michigan and the 600. Other than that, Pocono was solid and the All-Star weekend was really solid. We look back on those and we get pumped-up and excited about them. We could go to Chicago next weekend and have that same type of run. We’re not talking about Top 10 runs. We’re talking about Top 20 knocking on the door for Top 15 and that’s a good day for us. That’s nice. It’s a level story. I’ve adjusted my levels for the last couple of years and it’s those little victories that keep you coming back and I’m excited for the direction that we’re heading. We’re starting to get some more people on our car and more personnel back at the shop and that always helps. It’s all about putting those pieces together and coming up with a good platform.”

AFTER YOUR PERFORMANCE AT THE ALL-STAR, IS EVERYTHING STARTING TO CLICK?
“Yeah, I think so. We didn’t do anything special. We just showed up and had a good run. We had some momentum on our side. So, momentum carried over. And then we kind of went up and down. We had some internal issues for the 600 that we crossed-off Monday morning right after the race. We had a really good race at Pocono. We finished 20th or 21st or whatever and had a shot at a top 15 there, which is a good day. We look at those at where we should have ran, yes; but how we ran all day are the positive signs for us. At Michigan, I got in the wall there late and that put us behind. We could have finished 15th. It’s nice to have a shot at picking up a good amount of spots.”

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.

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
SONOMA RACEWAY
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 21, 2019

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights:

INAUDIBLE
“I feel like we’re OK. I think we need some better direction change in 7 a little bit, but we are getting there. First laps on the track were fast, which is nice. We just have to continue to improve. An hour and twenty minutes of practice is good to have because we don’t normally have that; it’s such a thrash. We have the chance to make some detailed changes.”

DID YOU TRY TO GET DICEY OUT THERE OR WAS IT MORE CONSERVATIVE?
“You try not to be around guys, but it seems like the same areas to pass that were there before are kind of there now. You could try to set up a pass in 7 or 11. The carousel is tough though. It’s really flat on exit, so you have to get your car to work there.”

CAN YOU SEE WHERE IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO MAKE A LOT OF PASSES IN THE CAROUSEL AREA?
“I think so. It’s so blind on entry, so it’s going to be hard to make much out of the entry. I’m sure there will be some passes there once we are all together and stuffed in there, but I don’t know. I think the biggest area to focus on will be exiting that carousel and trying to get that good so you can launch to the next corner.”

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE WHEN YOU WENT OUT THERE?
“It was wild. I was surprised how much grip the track has lost in some areas. It’s not as black as it was last year, for sure. I feel like it has less grip up the hill into Turn 1, which is kind of interesting. The track was really dirty to start, so it had to get cleaned up. Guys were throwing rocks into the grove too.”

DID YOU LIKE OR NOT LIKE THAT?
“It was different every lap. Some guy would go through there and throw a dust storm up, and you’d have to peak through to see where you were going. That’s part of it.”

YOU’VE LED LAPS FOR FIVE RACES IN A ROW; THAT’S THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE DONE THAT IN ANY SERIES. WHAT LESSONS ARE YOU LEARNING AT THE FRONT OF THE FIELD?
“All of the little details and things that it takes to win one of these or being in the top five. I feel like we are learning, the communication is getting better and more upfront. We got a chance to do this Spring Mountain trip yesterday with Chad (Knaus) and all the drivers and crew chiefs; that was a lot of fun. I got the chance to take Chad (Knaus) for a ride around the track. I think that’s going to help us this weekend; kind of help him better relate to what’s going on. We will continue to try and improve.”

DO YOU THINK THIS IS A DIFFICULT TRACK FOR YOU AS A YOUNG DRIVER?
“It’s tough because you have to be really patient and really confident. Usually you aren’t patient when you’re not confident in what you’re doing, like when you don’t know exactly how deep you should get into the braking zone or how hard you should get in the gas. You have to be really confident here to be successful and be really patient. It’s closer to a short track than any of the road courses that we run, so you have to be extremely good on the throttle and good at tire management.”

HOW BENFEICIAL WAS THE SIMULATOR?
“It was really beneficial. I feel like it helped right off the bat during the first couple of laps on the track. I think that really helped. I’m glad we did that because I think it was a good advantage for us to have going in here. It just allowed us to open up our practice and not be so worried about speed.”

HOW MUCH TIME OVER THE LAST MONTH WOULD YOU SAY YOU SPENT ON THE SIMULATOR?
“We go every week. We go every Tuesday from 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM or 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM, depending on the day. We got to run Pocono, Michigan, Charlotte twice for the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600. I feel like there are areas that it helps me, but it also just helps us overall get a chance to practice and get our car right. I don’t think it hurts by any means.”

WHAT TYPE OF EXERCISES DID THE TEAMS WORK ON WHEN YOU WENT TO SPRING MOUNTAIN?
“Honestly, we just got out there and ran some laps. It was me, Jimmie (Johnson) and Alex (Bowman). We ran laps nose-to-tail. We were able to look at data so we were able to see what our throttle and brakes were doing. It was funny because we were all so close in lap times, so that was pretty neat to see. We just did that all day; we got a chance to run probably one hundred laps there.”

HOW DID IT COME ABOUT THAT CHAD (KNAUS) GOT IN THE CAR WITH YOU?
“He just texted me and said ‘Hey, I want to get out there’, so we stopped and he got in the passenger seat. Really, he just wants to learn what the car feels like, what I’m asking the car to do and where I want the car to work really well. I think it has helped us this weekend because we know exactly where we want our car to perform well.”

“I would run a lap or so with him and then we’d slow down and talk about it. Talk about each corner and go through exactly what I felt like I needed in each one. I thought it was really good for us to do that and I think it’s just going to help. It kind of makes it more relatable for him when we are talking about the car. He even admitted that it helped just understanding what makes speed and what’s going to make us successful.”

YOU PROBABLY HAVE EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE LIKE WORKING WITH CHAD (KNAUS) THIS SEASON. HOW HAVE THOSE CHANGED OR IS IT DIFFERENT THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE THIS FAR INTO THE SEASON?
“It’s been very similar to what I thought it would be. I’ve been around him for about a year now, in the debriefs and knowing how he works with Jimmie (Johnson) and his team. I feel like it wasn’t much of a surprise. Honestly, I feel like he’s very direct so you don’t have to worry about whether he’s trying to send you a message in a certain way or if he’s trying to blow you off. He’ll tell you if you’re doing something wrong.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR STYLE WORKS WELL WITH THAT APPROACH?
“I think so. I don’t really think there is any reason to be offended at the track when someone tells you what you’re doing wrong. You have to learn from it. He’s helped me with that by just being really direct and not having to worry about the emotional side of things at the track.”

YOU’RE GOING TO CHICAGO NEXT WEEK AND IT HASN’T BEEN YOUR BEST TRACK IN TRUCKS AND XFINITY. YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT THE SIMULATOR, BUT DO YOU THINK IT’S JUST GOING TO TAKE TIME FOR YOU TO GET GOOD THERE?
“I don’t know. It’s just been a rough go of it at that track. I’ve only ran there three or four times. Xfinity was going OK, but we had a transmission blow up and we just got the rest of the day to go out there and run laps. As weird as it sounds, I feel like Chicago helped us do as well as we did at Homestead in the Xfinity car. I blew a transmission and ran the rest of the race against the fence all day. We really didn’t care if we knocked the right side off of it because we could come back into the garage and fix it. We ran the whole race like that and I felt like that helped for Homestead later that year.”

ARE MICHIGAN AND POCONO YOUR TWO BEST SHOTS AT WINNING FOR THE PLAYOFFS?
“Probably. I haven’t really looked at the schedule, to be honest with you. Honestly, those two are pretty good and New Hampshire has always been a good track for me. I would say probably those three.”

CAN YOU POINT TO ANYTHING THAT HAS HELPED YOUR SUCCESS IN QUALIFYING?
“I’d like to say I’ve always been a pretty good qualifier, so I’d say it’s just confidence. Obviously, the car has to be good for a lap and you have to bust out a good lap. I don’t think it’s been one specific thing, but I don’t ever really get nervous for qualifying. I think that has helped.”

IF YOU AND JIMMIE (JOHNSON) ARE GOING DOWN THE LINE, IT’S RACE 26 AND YOU GUYS ARE ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE IN POINTS NOW, IS IT GOING TO BE EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AT THAT LAST RACE?
“Yeah, for sure. It always is. It’s that way every week. Jimmie (Johnson) and I are pretty close, but we race each other as hard as anybody. I don’t think we’ve ever really taken that personal. We had one little thing last year, where I kind of threw a block and he didn’t like it. We talked about it and I feel like we’ve been closer since then. It’s been good.”

GIVEN THE SPEED THE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS’ CARS HAVE HAD THIS YEAR AT DAYTONA, HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK THERE?
“Yeah, it’s going to be good. I think we’ve always had speed at the superspeedways ever since I’ve been with Hendrick Motorsports. It’s a credit to the engine side and some of the old school guys that we have at Hendrick and JRM. I think that has always helped and hopefully it continues.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, June 21, 2019
EVENT: Toyota Save Mart 350 Media Availability

Paul Menard Media Availability

PAUL MENARD, No. 21 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang — “It is a video game, so you have no consequences obviously. It gives you some sight-lines and gearing is probably the biggest thing. I feel like where I shifted in the iRacing thing was fairly close.”

ANYTHING ABOUT THE COURSE SURPRISE YOU? “No surprises but it is really good. I really like it. It adds a little more character to this track. The old track didn’t have as much character as it does now. It is a good thing.”

HOW ARE THE TURN FOUR MARKINGS? “Yeah, the track goes that way so you gotta go. If you are talking about braking points or something like that, there are really no braking marks for turn four. They have some really good ones for turn 7 though.”

DO YOU THINK THE TRACK GETS BETTER LATER IN THE DAY? “It is like any race track. As the track heats up and the day gets hotter the track gets more slippery. That is physics. This track is a pretty dark surface, so it is pretty sensitive to weather.”

YOU THINK TWO OR THREE LAPS ON TIRES STILL BEFORE THEY START TO GO AWAY A LITTLE? “Yeah, your first lap is still your best lap. It goes downhill pretty quickly after that. It seems like it held on for maybe five laps. The first lap was the best and it slowly declined until about lap five or six and then took a pretty big step.”

HOW DO YOU SET UP THE PASS COMING OFF OF 6 INTO TURN 7? “It is a pretty tricky corner in turn six. The exit of it is off-camber wide and you get push. If you can hug it a little tighter and get a run off you will be able to get inside of somebody for turn 7. It is a good passing zone.”

IS IT LIKE 11? “I think better than 11 from the standpoint that you have more time to figure it out to work on it, to do the setup. Turn 10 isn’t a real good corner for setting up somebody. It is a good corner but I think turn 6 is a better corner for setting up somebody.”

IS THAT WHAT YOU WORK ON DURING PRACTICE? FINDING SPOTS YOU CAN MAKE THOSE PASSES? “That is part of it. Trying to figure out what the car wants in every corner. There are some key places that you really have to get off the corner so you don’t get passed on the next corner. You make time or lose time anywhere here. If you have one bad corner but it is a corner that they can’t get to you because you have been better everywhere else then it doesn’t really matter.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PART OF THIS TRACK? “Honestly the whole thing is really good right now. I am glad they made this change. Every corner is fun.”

WILL THE NEW CONFIGURATION ALTER RACE STRATEGY? “I think so. The mileage is still the same. I think the overall race length might be like eight miles longer but as far as mileage for the stages you still need the same amount of fuel to complete each stage. It gives you an opportunity to maybe short-pit differently because you have 20 more second lap time where you don’t have to worry about the leader coming up behind you to lap you. You can be 20-seconds further behind the leader and still stay on the lead lap, which opens up some strategy.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE RUNNING THE CAROUSEL FOR THE FIRST TIME? “It was cool. I have watched it a bunch on TV with IndyCar and sportscars. It is smaller than what I thought. I thought it would be wider, a more opened up corner than it is. It is really pretty narrow and kind of a short corner. I was thinking it would be more like the carousel and Road America. This is a lot shorter and some pretty big elevation changes.”

IT CHANGES TURN 7 DRAMATICALLY RIGHT? “Yeah, we aren’t even on the same race track as we used to be. We used to run long and do a 160-degree corner and now we bypass that and do that double right a little tighter. It is a totally different corner now.”

IS THERE ANY WAY PEOPLE COULD GO TWO-WIDE IN THE CAROUSEL? “I think you could. It is wide enough. You could go two-wide through there and with it being off-camber the guy on the outside won’t have any fun but if it is a slower car you could really make a bold move if you can maintain and kind of pinch him down you will have position for turn 7. It is a possibility.”

CAN SOMEONE GO INTO THAT RUNOFF THERE AND SAVE IT? “I don’t know if I have seen the runoff. All I see is dirt and a big hill. I mean, we use all that up. I wouldn’t really call that runoff, that is part of the race track. It is tricky to try to hit your apex right for the exit of 6. If you don’t you have a lot of room to wash up but it isn’t the fast way. I wouldn’t want to be out there.”

HOW ABOUT THE CAROUSEL? “I think we have a pretty good understanding of where the car needs to be and where you need to position yourself to get a good run off. It kind of suckers you in to picking up the throttle too soon which just washes you up on exit and you don’t get the wide open throttle as quick that way. You have to have some patience for sure.”

IS IT FUN? “I love it. It is a good change. It is fun. It is a fun course for sure. I would say it is probably the most fun I have had driving a race car this year.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, June 21, 2019
EVENT: Toyota Save Mart 350 Media Availability

David Ragan Media Availability

DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 #ThanksDW Ford Mustang — “Our car was in the ballpark right out of the gate. The technology we have with our simulation and the effort that Ford puts in and getting the tires models right and track scans and everything is really amazing. It is amazing we can come out here with the new track layout that is a lot different than we have had in the past and everybody get up to speed quick. We built new cars to come out here. We didn’t feel like our road course cars were that great last year. My teammate, Michael McDowell, is a really good road course racer and I feel like I have ran okay out here through the years. We built some new cars and I feel like they have handled and have potential.”

HAS TURN 4 BEEN A PROBLEM? “It is a tough corner because you get off of Turn 3A and you want to throttle up and get down the hill and anytime you have a downhill right-hander where you are braking hard you can overshoot that corner a little bit. I have tried to be a little on the conservative side. I don’t want to make any highlights before Sunday.”

HAS IT HELPED YOU HAVING MICHAEL MCDOWELL AS A TEAMMATE? “Absolutely. Over the years I have had great teammates that run good out here. Having a teammate like Michael as we are coming to a track where he has raced on the carousel before, so he kind of knows where the passing zone is, where you can be aggressive and where you need to be conservative at. He gives you a few of those tips. Obviously he is racing against us so he isn’t going to tell us everything. It is good to have a teammate like that to help me as a driver but to also help the company to work on adjustments and gear ratios and what works good for him, I can usually adapt and make it work for me too.”

HOW MUCH MORE PHYSICALLY DEMANDING WILL IT BE FOR YOU GUYS WITH THE ADDITION OF THE CAROUSEL? “I don’t know. Ask me after the race on Sunday. I think they offset it by running 20 less laps. I don’t think it will be that much different.”

INAUDIBLE QUESTION: “It is a combination of like Charlotte and Atlanta. You are going to be on the throttle a lot and handling will come into play. These teams are really trying to figure out the fine line between as much downforce as they can. It is aldl about handling compared to trimming the cars out a little to have pure speed. I think that is why you see the discrepancy of guys that qualify really good but don’t seem to race very good. It is a very fine line. We are not easy wide open. We do have to lift and we do have to handle. We have another data point coming off of Michigan a couple weeks ago where we can look and I think some teams are smarter than others in how to trim their car out to go faster but still get it to handle. The Penske and Gibbs cars have won all those races and I think they are a little ahead of guys but we are slowly catching up. We are bringing another new car to Chicagoland out of our Front Row Motorsports stable. I feel like over the next three or four weeks you will see some different teams in victory lane.”

WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THAT FIRST DAYTONA WIN. “Confidence going back to the race track. You have to win your first one before you win your second one. I had won a couple of Xfinity races early on but it took me four years to win in the Cup Series. I was at a pivotal point in my career. UPS was going to leave eventually anyway but I had to win. You can only make so many excuses. We had a couple second place finishes and thirds and fourths. We were close but I couldn’t get that win. To lose it in the 500 but to come back in July was a good confidence boost for me and it was great for our team and everybody involved. That first win is sometimes the hardest.”

WILL THE LOWER SPEEDS YOU RUN HERE MAKE THIS TRACK THE LEAST AFFECTED OF ANY BY THE NEW RULES PACKAGE? “I haven’t thought about it but it feels a lot like it did in 2014 and 2015 when we had the big splitters and tall spoilers. We still had good horsepower. Looking back at some of my notes and even some setup stuff we have done, I feel like we are geared back toward that 2014-15 package. You can really go fast through the esses and have more rolling speed through the slow corners with the extra downforce. I don’t feel like you will have that dreaded aero instability and change when you are in dirty air like you would at some of the other tracks. Yeah, I think this could be one of those tracks where you won’t tell much difference. We can tell a little in the driver’s seat and I think we will adjust the setup some but I think this is a track where tire falloff is very bad, which is a good thing. We have a lot of tire falloff and anytime you have that you have discrepancy in speed and when guys run different speeds that is when you have passing. When you all run the same speed you don’t have much passing. Yes, by looking at the speed charts, there is a lot of variation from first to 25th and when you have that, that is when you have some passing.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, June 21, 2019
EVENT: Toyota Save Mart 350 Media Availability

Corey LaJoie Media Availability

COREY LAJOIE, No. 32 GMN Ford Mustang — WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL IMPACT ON YOU HAVING DOING A ROAD COURSE VERSUS AN OVAL? “Well, your neck isn’t used to going right. My one road course race at Watkins Glen the right side of my neck was falling out of the seat. I did more to prepare my body to go right, but a lot of it is just getting used to how the car drives. I have never done it before, especially here. I have hardly any road course experience. Every lap I am trying to learn something, pickup something to keep pace with these guys that have been doing it for 15 years.”

WHEN YOU CLIMB OUT OF THE CAR ON SUNDAY, WHAT WILL BE A SUCCESSFUL DAY FOR YOU? “All four tires pointed straight and all the fenders on it. If you can do that I think you end up somewhere between 15th and 20th. If we can get in better position and get in the back end of the top-10, that would be a win.”

WILL THAT 12TH PLACE FINISH YOU HAD AT CHARLOTTE GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE GOING INTO CHICAGOLAND? “Yeah, obviously all the cautions fell our way, all the pit sequences fell our way and we had just enough speed to take advantage of that. That doesn’t happen very often, maybe two or three times a year. If it happens at Chicago, then great. Otherwise, we are going to take a 28th place car and try to finish 24th with it. That is just our game we are trying to play. If we can outduel some of the Front Row guys or outduel the 43 or JTG cars and get one or two of those guys, then that is ultimately what we are trying to do.”

“You have to put yourself in the game. We are building a notebook and the cars are getting better and better suited to my driving style. I don’t drive any different the day I finished 12th at the 600 as I do when I finish 30th wherever else. It is just how the race plays out and how much speed there is in the car.”

YOUR BEST AVERAGE FINISHES ARE AT DAYTONA AND TALLADEGA. WITH DAYTONA COMING UP, DO YOU HAVE ANY PREFERENCE TO RUNNING THERE IN THE SUMMER OR FEBRUARY? “I think handling will be way more of a key. The Daytona race in July is always handling race but it will be that much more this year because the cars are already a handful to drive with the high downforce. You would think it would be easier but it isn’t because the cars are so stiff. Handling is a key and we gear toward that more anyway, to set the car up to drive well. If you can’t drive it you are just hanging on and can’t make moves. The speedways are tracks we go fast and try to keep our nose clean and be there at the end and jam it up there and try to get a good finish.”

WHAT WERE YOUR IMPRESSIONS AFTER GETTING OUT ON THE TRACK TODAY? “It was a ton of fun. I was smiling the entire time I was out there. It is different. You are just holding it down on the mat for an entire 15 lap run like you are on a mile-and-a-half now. The first time you do anything you are pretty much smiling from ear to ear. These are my first laps around Sonoma and I have a good car to drive. Hopefully I don’t mess it up. I am going to go about 80-percent and keep it all together.”

“This track is finesse. I would say Watkins Glen is the balls of steel track and this is finesse. A lot of flow. A lot of two-foot. You are always trying to position the car and get the weight of the car to be timed right. I still don’t have that figured out yet. That just comes from time.”

DID YOU DO MUCH SIMULATOR WORK TO PREPARE? “Yeah, I went to the Ford simulator last Monday for about five hours and picked up a legitimate second-and-a-half just from learning little nuances you would never think. That obviously helped because I definitely wouldn’t be 16th in practice if it wasn’t for that. iRacing was a big help too to get the edge knocked off that learning curve and knowing where the corners are at. I didn’t even know where the bathrooms are in the Cup garage because I have never been here before. I was having to ask where the flow of practice was. I had to figure out where to go after I drove off the race track. I feel like I am a tourist here but I am starting to figure it out.”

Paul Menard and the No. 21 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters team, like all the others on the Monster Energy Cup Series, have been thrown for a loop, so to speak, for this weekend’s race at Sonoma Raceway.

As part of the track’s 50th anniversary celebration, this weekend’s 350-kilometer race will see the “Carousel” added back. The Carousel turn, which begins at Turn Four and loops around before rejoining the course at the old Turn Seven, was part of the main course from 1968 through 1997, but hasn’t been used since.

Now it’s back, and will add about a half mile to the overall lap distance – from 1.99 miles to 2.52. Because of the added distance, the number of laps in the race will be reduced from 110 to 90.

Menard said the changes to the event won’t be just on the race track. He said the addition time needed to run the extra half mile – an estimated 25 seconds – will open up more pit strategy options.

“There will be more time to pit and not lose a lap,” he said, adding that there will be a learning curve for him and his fellow drivers. “I’ve never run the Carousel, but I have run it on the simulator. It’s a little confusing.”

Menard said he appreciates an occasional race in which he gets to turn both left and right. “I really enjoy road racing,” he said. “It breaks up the monotony of the ovals.”

Menard’s love of road racing can be traced to his childhood attending races at Road America.

“We used to go there to watch sports car races and Indy cars, and my dad raced there too in Showroom Stock cars,” he said. “I really enjoyed being there and getting to ride around on four-wheelers.”

Menard returned to Road America as a NASCAR driver and won a Midwest Series race in 2001 and the Xfinity Series race there in 2015. He also has road course wins in the Rolex Sports Car Series, with class victories at Fontana and Phoenix in 2002.

Qualifying at Sonoma is set for Saturday at 12:10 p.m. (3:10 p.m. Eastern Time) and the race is scheduled to start just after noon on Sunday (3 p.m. Eastern) with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.

Menards

A family owned company started in 1958, Menards is headquartered in Eau Claire, WI.  Menards has more than 300 retail stores located throughout the Midwest in the states of IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI and WY.  Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader.  It’s famous slogan “Save Big Money at Menards” is widely known and easy to remember.  For more information, visit Menards.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Wood Brothers Racing

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

New Partnership Expands Vet Tix’s Activation Across Sport 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 20, 2019) — International Speedway Corporation (“ISC”) announced today its Proud Partner status with the Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix), an organization providing event tickets through its Tickets for Troops program to all branches of currently serving military and veterans, including immediate family of troops killed in action. ISC’s Proud Partner designation spans across its 12 motorsports entertainment facilities throughout the U.S. that host NASCAR events.

“Patriotism in our sport runs deep and this is just another way that we can thank and honor our military members,” said Frank Kelleher, ISC VP, Sales and Marketing. “NASCAR embraces families and we look forward to helping military and veterans strengthen those family bonds with race experiences.”

ISC’s partnership includes hosting military service members and veterans and providing unique event experiences for them as well as at-track activation beginning with Chicagoland Speedway and its Camping World 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on June 30, and running through the DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February 2020.  Through the agreement, ISC tracks will participate in a social media campaign where fans may nominate a military member to win a race day experience.

“We are very excited for our military and veterans to experience NASCAR racing at ISC’s tracks,” said Mike Focareto, Founder and CEO, Vet Tix. “We have been connected to motorsports for many years and currently enjoy a great relationship with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch and his KB100 Ticket Giveaway. This is just another way we can further our mission to help service members and veterans to reduce stress, encourage community building and build life-long memories.”

Vet Tix is a national 501(c) (3) which has provided over six million event tickets to more than one million members. The nonprofit organization spends over 95 percent back on its programs, giving back to those who have given so much. To learn more or to donate, please visit VetTix.org or 1stTix.org.  

NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola, the NASCAR industry’s expression of respect, appreciation and reverence for members of the U.S. Armed Forces past and present, continues with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, June 30 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, July 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

About ISC

International Speedway Corporation is a leading promoter of motorsports activities, currently promoting more than 100 racing events annually as well as numerous other motorsports-related activities. The Company owns and/or operates 13 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities, including Daytona International Speedway® in Florida (home of the DAYTONA 500®); Talladega Superspeedway® in Alabama; Michigan International Speedway® located outside Detroit; Richmond Raceway® in Virginia; Auto Club Speedway of Southern California^SM near Los Angeles; Kansas Speedway® in Kansas City, Kansas; ISM Raceway near Phoenix, Arizona; Chicagoland Speedway® and Route 66 Raceway^SM near Chicago, Illinois; Homestead-Miami Speedway^SM in Florida; Martinsville Speedway® in Virginia; Darlington Raceway® in South Carolina; and Watkins Glen International® in New York.

The Company also owns and operates Motor Racing Network^SM, the nation’s largest independent sports radio network, Racing Electronics, the leader in motorsports communication technology and equipment and Americrown Service Corporation^SM, a subsidiary that provides catering services, and food and beverage concessions. In addition, the Company owns ONE DAYTONA, the retail, dining and entertainment development across from Daytona International Speedway, and has a 50.0 percent interest in the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. For more information, visit our website at www.internationalspeedwaycorporation.com.

About Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix)
Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix), a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit, provides free tickets to sporting events, concerts, performing arts and family activities to currently serving military, National Guard and Reserves, veterans of all eras, immediate family of those killed in action, and VetTixers’ caregivers. Since 2008, Vet Tix has provided approximately 6 million free event tickets to more than 1 million members. In 2018 Vet Tix launched 1st Tix, which provides the same service to our nation’s current and retired law enforcement officers, firefighters, and EMTs. These events help veterans and first responders reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, build lifelong memories, and encourage them to stay engaged with American life and their local communities. Vet Tix spends over 95 percent of its revenue on programs, ensuring that we give back to those who have given so much. Visit VetTix.org and 1stTix.org to learn more, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.