NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS RACE FOR HEROES 500
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 7, 2014
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway to discuss his showing in the Chase portion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule, the Rookie of the Year battle… FULL TRANSCRIPT:
TALK A LITTLE ABOUT COMING INTO PHOENIX THIS WEEKEND.
“Yeah, I’m excited to be here at Phoenix. I enjoy this track. I haven’t ran all that great here but I do enjoy it. Hopefully we can have a good weekend. I walked by the car; we have some camo on it so that’s pretty cool. I’d like to keep the top-10s going. We’ve been running really strong in the Chase. Had we been in the Chase, we’d be in this round right now and right in the thick of things to make it to Homestead. Even though we’re not in the chase, we’re still trying to treat it like we are and trying to do the best job to make it to the next round, even though we won’t. The last two races will be fun. Phoenix I enjoy and Homestead is my favorite. Hopefully we can finish off the year strong.”
ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE CHASE AS A TRIAL RUN FOR NEXT YEAR? DO YOU TAKE SOLACE THAT YOU’RE WINNING ROOKIE OF THE YEAR?
“Yeah, I guess we’re treating it as a trial for hopefully when we’re in it next year. We’d be in there right now had we not had a blow right-front at Michigan. Like I said, we treat every round like we’re in it so we can try to make it to the next round so we can go for a championship even though the best we can finish is 17th.
IS THAT A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT?
“It’s a little disappointing. But it’s not at the same time because we’re running good. We have to make sure we’re running strong to start the season next year and get a win early so we can focus on the Chase earlier in the year.”
WHEN CHIP GANASSI HIRED YOU TO DRIVE FULL-TIME, WHAT WERE YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND HAVE THEY BEEN FULFILLED?
“I feel like we’ve been doing a little bit better than what we expected going into the year. I thought top-15s each weekend would be great. Those top-15s turned into top-10s and now we’re hoping for top-5s. It’s been really good so far. We all expected to make the Chase – me and Jamie (McMurray) both. We were running strong but had a couple too many DNFs. But it’s been a great year. We should win Rookie of the Year. We’ve been running strong, had three second-place finish and were close to winning. I’d say it’s been a pretty solid season.”
THE ANNOUNCEMENT YESTERDAY THAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO SOME DIRT RACING AND SPRINT CARS … DID YOU HAVE TO CONVINCE CHIP OF ANY OF THAT? DID ANYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO TONY STEWART THE LAST TWO YEARS WEIGH ON YOUR MIND AT ALL?
“I don’t think it was very hard to get Chip to let me run these races. We didn’t want to run any during the Cup season so I always had it in my mind to run the races once we got after Homestead.
“As far as Tony goes over the last couple years, no… I love sprint car racing. It didn’t weigh in on my thoughts or my decision.”
YOU’VE ONLY HAD ONE SPRINT CUP RACE AT PHOENIX BUT YOU’VE HAD THREE NATIONWIDE RACES WITH A FOURTH-PLACE FINISH. TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU’VE LEARNED AND CHANCES OF WINNING THIS WEEKEND?
“Anytime you go to a track you get better, so I hope we do a lot better in a Cup car. I think we will. It’s such a long season since we’ve been here and we’ve gotten our cars faster. We’ll have to wait and see once practice starts. Last year in Nationwide I didn’t run very well but this year I finished fourth and I think we were a lot better than that. We had something happen where we lost a lot of track position. I enjoy Phoenix. I feel it suits me OK. I hope we can improve on our finishes.”
PEOPLE TALK ABOUT EARNING RESPECT ON THE TRACK BUT YOU SAW LAST WEEK THAT WHEN IT’S TIME TO GO FOR A WIN, YOU HAVE TO GO. CAN YOU COMPARE SPRINT CAR EXPERIENCES WITH SPRINT CUP?
“I don’t really know where Sprint cars relate to what happened last week. Anyone will go for a hole whether it’s at a go-kart track or a Cup race. Last week was exciting. Obviously it has shown how exciting the Chase has been so far and how this new format adds a lot of pressure to the Chase drivers. I think NASCAR has done a great job with the format. Phoenix this weekend should be spectacular. I’m looking forward to watching it.”
ARE YOU WILLING TO BE UNPOPULAR TO GET A WIN?
“I don’t know. I haven’t been in that position yet so I don’t know.”
YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT WHERE YOU WOULD BE IN THE CHASE HAD YOU QUALIFIED. COULD YOU TELL THERE WAS ANY LETDOWN WITH YOURSELF OR THE TEAM WHEN YOU DIDN’T MAKE THE CHASE, AND DID YOU SIT DOWN AND TALK ABOUT SEEING HOW HIGH UP YOU COULD FINISH?
“We didn’t sit down or anything. We were a little disappointed. When we both didn’t make it, we were excited about trying to be the guys to spoil the Chase a little bit and get wins. Me and Jamie have been about the highest-finishing, non-Chase guys up until the last couple weeks. I think every team, if they don’t make the Chase, is saying ‘If we aren’t in the Chase, let’s see how high up we can get.’ So they’re trying to run the best they can. I’m sure the Waltrip guys and whoever else are doing the same thing – taking a look at where they would be in the Chase. Hopefully next year we’re in the Chase and we’re not worrying about the what-ifs.”
ARE YOU LOOKING AHEAD TO 2015 AT ALL?
“I’m sure the team is. I don’t get too involved in that stuff. I know that when we’ve done testing the last two weeks, it was in 2015 package since there will not be any testing next year. So we’re trying to get it all in now. As far as at the race track on race weekends, I don’t know if you can learn a whole lot because of the rule changes that will be in place for next year.”
AS GOOD AS YOUR ROOKIE SEASON HAS BEEN, WHERE DO YOU SEE THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT FOR NEXT YEAR? AND WITH THE BAN ON TESTING NEXT YEAR, HOW DO YOU DO IT?
“Yeah, how do you it… I don’t know. I feel like I struggle the most on short tracks. Whatever I gotta do to get myself better at Martinsville, Richmond and even here at Phoenix, I have to work on that. I feel like Jamie runs really well at short tracks and that’s probably his strongest and my least strongest. I don’t know what I have to do as a driver to get better at them since there is no testing. But with time, I’m sure I will get better. I just have to keep trying hard.”
HOW MUCH FUN WAS THE BOB BONDURANT EXPERIENCE YESTERDAY?
“The Bondurant thing was a lot of fun. We were out there for Chevy. I got to go out there earlier in June to do it so I could memorize most of the corners. It’s fun to take the media out there who don’t get to get behind the wheel of a fast car like and see them have fun and see you guys getting a glimpse of what we deal with every week. It’s fun to see you guys have fun and we get to take you around and drive crazy and try to scare you, which is probably the most fun we get out of it. Anytime we can do something hands-on and active with you guys, sponsors and stuff, that’s the most fun we have outside of the race track.”
YOU’VE HAD A BUSY WEEK AT SEMA AND UNVEILED THE NEW K&N PRO SERIES CAR. COULD THAT COMPOSITE BODY COULD EVENTUALLY MAKE IT’S WAY TO CUP?
“I haven’t thought about that. It’s hard for me to answer. I hope not. I think teams can do a lot more with what we have right now. I think it’s a great thing for the East and West series. It’s supposed to cut costs and things like that. It looks very similar to what we have here. They have a front valance on it. I think it will help those kids who are getting their starts on bigger tracks like Dover and Iowa to understand the aerodynamics a little bit better.”
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE MIDGET AND SPRINT RACES YOU WERE GOING TO DO? WAS IT BIG EVENTS OR ANYTHING ABOUT THE TRACKS AND SAFETY CONCERNS?
“They’re all kind of within the same time. Turkey Night at Paris is a great race track. I was able to win there a couple years ago. They are big races and tough competition. Turkey Night is a USAC National midget race. The sprint car races in Yuma… I’ve never been to Yuma but have seen lots of video. It looks like a great facility and that event may be tougher than World of Outlaws race because you have all the Outlaw races plus they pay really well. You’ll have people there from Pennsylvania, Ohio, California… there will be a huge car count there. And Chili Bowl obviously is one of the biggest dirt races there is. They’re all within a month of each other, and that’s why I wanted to it.”
IS YOUR WHOLE TEAM DOING THE MOUSTACHE DEAL, AND WHAT’S THE INSPIRATION?
“Most of our team are doing it – more on Jamie’s team than mine. I think we have about 30 people. Mine’s looking pretty rough. I hope it gets better. I’ve never tried to grow a moustache before so I don’t know how it’s going to turn out. It’s cool to see our team doing it, and a lot of people in the NASCAR garage are getting into it. I hope it raises awareness for men’s health. Thanks to people who have donated already.”
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