NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
ORAL-B USA 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 29, 2014
TY DILLON, NO. 33 REALTREE/RHEEM CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway and discussed making his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Atlanta, what he likes about this track and many other topics. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT YOUR EXCITEMENT COMING INTO THIS WEEKEND AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
“This is a huge moment for me and my career. To make my first Sprint Cup Series start in a sport that I’ve been a part of my whole life. I have been going to races here in Atlanta for such a long time it is almost like a second home track to me. It’s so close to my house in North Carolina. This is a dream come true for me and I’m so honored to have Rheem and Realtree on board for this start. I’m looking forward to it. I was able to come test here a couple of weeks ago and the test went really well. Looking forward to hopefully a great debut.”
YOU ARE ALSO RUNNING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES TALK ABOUT HOW YOU ARE PREPARING FOR THIS WEEKEND AND HOW YOU ARE USING THE TIME IN THE CUP CAR TO HELP YOU PREPARE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP SIDE IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES:
“I think it’s only going to be a positive for my Nationwide program to be in the Cup race this year. It will slow everything down for me. I hadn’t been here in two years and the last time I was here I won. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grip on this race track. The way our Nationwide team is performing right now I think we have a great opportunity of winning a race and really piling on some points for this championship. Looking forward to what the experience in the Cup car is going to bring for the Nationwide car and maybe we can get the Yuengling Light Lager Chevy in Victory Lane on Saturday night and have a great Cup debut the next night.”
GIVEN WHERE YOU ARE IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES POINTS RIGHT NOW AT WHAT POINT DO YOU REALLY FEEL LIKE YOU’VE GOT TO BE A LITTLE BIT CLOSER?
“I think it’s from now on. I think we just have to continue to run in the top five and hope for some mistakes from those guys because that is what has put us behind. We were only 12 points out two weeks ago. We had a steering box go out at Mid-Ohio and that really knocked some points off of our gain that we kind of had going the second half. But our team and the way we have been running hasn’t changed. We have been fast everywhere we just had a couple of mechanical issues. We are going to continue to run up front and have opportunities to win the race like we did last week at Bristol and let those guys fold.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR. HAS THIS FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE GOING ON. YOU ARE IN IT. TELL US WHO YOUR FIRST PICK WAS, WHAT IS YOUR TEAM NAME AND WHO IS TALKING THE MOST TRASH?
“That was the first draft I did now I’m in like five different leagues. I think my first pick was – I was first overall so I took Adrian Peterson. He was my first pick. I had to do it. It’s hard to go against him.”
WHY?
“Because I have never had the first pick before and I’ve always wanted Adrian Peterson (laughs).”
NAME OF YOUR TEAM?
“I think it’s just Ty Dillon’s team on that league.”
DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY CUP RACES YOU WILL DO THIS YEAR AND KIND OF NEXT YEAR AS FAR AS WHAT IS THE PLAN FOR YOUR PROGRESSION?
“I know we were already planning on hopefully doing some stuff next year. This year is kind of an open book. This whole Atlanta first race didn’t come until a couple of weeks ago. I think it’s wherever my Grandfather feels like he can throw me in and we will have a great opportunity. It’s still open to running a couple of more hopefully this year and definitely planning on doing some next year also. Looking forward to the future opportunities and just trying to make the best out of this weekend.”
CAN YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT – YOU THIS DEAL DIDN’T COME TOGETHER UNTIL THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. WHICH CAME FIRST? YOUR GRANDFATHER SAYING ATLANTA IS THE PLACE FOR YOU TO BE, OR THE DEAL JUST HAPPENED TO FALL IN PLACE?
“It all came together at different times. At the beginning of the year, my grandfather sat down with me and wanted to look over the schedule. We picked out four or five tracks where I felt like I could make my first Cup start and do well. This was one of the tracks on the list. We didn’t really talk about it very much during most of the season, and then things kind of came together. Here recently we got the sponsorship to make things happen. So it all started off with me and him; he had a plan to run me in a Cup race. We sat down and picked a few tracks, and this was one of them. Then within the past couple of weeks, it all came together.”
WHAT DID THE TWO OF YOU LIKE ABOUT THIS RACE TRACK? DID IT JUST HAPPEN TO BE THIS ONE RATHER THAN TWO OR THREE OTHERS?
“It just happened to be this one. It’s kind of the right time for us and our whole RCR Cup program. We were able to get a test in – the whole team was able to come in and test. I came in two years ago and won a Truck race my first time out; I know there’s a big difference between Trucks and Nationwide, and then Nationwide to Cup. But I feel comfortable here, and I’ve done well at mile-and-a-half across my career. I feel like this is one my strong suits in racing, so why not make my first start somewhere where I feel comfortable?”
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU AND AUSTIN CHEER ON EACH OTHER, AND HOW DO YOU RACE AGAINST EACH OTHER?
“Indianapolis was a good example on how we cheer each other. We want to see each other win as badly as we want to win personally. Being in a different situation as brothers in this sport, we get to pull for each other because we’re racing for the same team, and we’re able to express our emotions about how well we want our brother to do. We’re always cheering for each other and pushing each other to be the best. Because of our competitive edge, we want to have more wins than the other one or more championships or more top fives or whatever else, we’re always going to compete whether it’s seeing who can get out of the car first, who can get in the car first, racing to the car on our feet – we’re going to compete. I think that’s just another edge that we bring to our team – that we can push each other to make RCR as a whole better.”
LOOKING AHEAD TO RICHMOND NEXT WEEK, WHAT YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE LAST SHORT TRACK ON THE NATIONWIDE SIDE?
“Coming off a strong run at Bristol, I’m looking forward to going to Bristol. I know they’re different tracks, but we have some things we’re working on as far our short track program that are going to get better. We’re going to go with a new theory of thinking on the way to Richmond and try something different. We weren’t too good there this year. I’m excited to get there, and I’m excited to continue racing in the Nationwide series. I feel like my team is coming together strong now. If we hadn’t had the mechanical problems we did in the past couple of weeks, we’d be right there for the championship. But we’re not going to give up. We’re going to win some more races by the end of the year and put the pressure on the leaders.”
WHEN YOU AND AUSTIN GO RACE MODIFIEDS OR LATE MODELS AT A DIRT TRACK, DO YOU FEEL LIKE THERE IS A TARGET ON YOUR BACK BECAUSE YOU ARE THE DILLON’S GOING TO RACE AT A DIRT TRACK?
“Yeah, I guess so. I guess people now that we’ve been successful in the higher NASCAR rankings; I feel people do put a small target on your backs. They want to show that they can do it too. It makes it fun. I love short track racing and competing in the ranks that gave me the experience to get to where I am now. I try to do as much dirt Late Model racing, Super Late Model and dirt Modified races as possible. I feel like it always helps our skills. You do things so quickly in a dirt car and things happen so far. Then you get in a Nationwide or Cup car, the decisions come to you quicker because your mind is working on a different level.”
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