NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FORD ECOBOOST 400
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 14, 2014
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed the potential to wrap up the Rookie of the Year title, his conversation with Ryan Newman this week and many other topics. Full Transcript:
DO YOU WANT TO KICK RYAN NEWMAN’S BUTT AFTER LAST WEEK?
“No, I didn’t want to kick his butt. He called me this week and we talked. I told him I was upset for 10 minutes then I realized Ryan (Newman) knew what was on the line for him. I think there are a lot of people out here that probably would have done the same thing that he did. At least he is in the Chase; it would be a great move if he goes on to win the championship. Like I said, I get over things pretty quickly.”
WOULD YOU HAVE DONE THE SAME THING IF YOU WERE IN HIS POSITION?
“It’s hard to really say until you are in that position. I got a ton of criticism a couple of years ago when I did an even probably worse move at a late model race. Yeah, I don’t know, it’s hard to say, but there is a ton on the line at that point.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE STILL LEARNING WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE?
“Yeah, maybe a little bit. I think in the Cup series most people race with respect, so I think I’ve gotten a lot better with that throughout my career so far, last year in Nationwide and this year in Cup. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better with give and take and things like that. With this new format it kind of throws a little different curve into it, where in the Chase each race is so important, so you see people take chances like that. Yeah, it’s hard to say if you would do the same thing in that point in time.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WRAP UP THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR TITLE?
“Well I mean it’s not official yet I guess. I mean it feels awesome. I think everybody kind of picked Austin Dillon as a favorite going into the year and I don’t blame them. He has accomplished so much in his NASCAR career and even dirt career before that. I have only been in stock cars a couple of years, so it’s nice to prove some of the doubters wrong. It’s been a good rookie season. It would be nice to cap off the year with a win here at Homestead. So far I’ve got a really good Target Chevy. I’m excited about Sunday’s race.”
WHAT ABOUT JOINING THE LIKES OF DALE EARNHARDT, SR. AND OTHERS WHO HAVE WON THAT AWARD?
“It’s nice to see a lot of people who have won rookie of the year have gone on to win NASCAR Sprint Cup championships. I hope I’m another one of those guys that can do that. I feel like I’m with a great team that could win championships if we get ourselves in the Chase. I have enjoyed the whole season and like I said it would be nice to get a win the end of this weekend.”
TALK ABOUT YOUR SEASON WHAT KIND OF GRADE WOULD YOU GIVE IT AND WHY?
“I don’t know it’s tough to put a grade on it, maybe a ‘B’ I guess. Maybe an ‘A’ minus at some places, but overall probably a ‘B’. I think we have challenged for a handful of wins and I think a lot of the other veteran drivers have had their eye on me all season long and thought I have done a good job. I would say it has been pretty successful other than missing the Chase. But we will get into the Chase hopefully next year.”
WHAT AREA DO YOU FEEL LIKE AS A ROOKIE YOU REALLY NEEDED TO WORK ON AND YOU GOT BETTER AT? IS THERE AN AREA YOU STILL FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO MAKE PROGRESS IN?
“I think my patience has gotten better throughout the year. Then as a way of going back the other direction, but I think overall my patience has gotten better. They are longer races. Everything I grew up racing was 30 or 40 lap features. In the Nationwide stuff you have to learn more patience there and Cup races are almost twice as long as those. You have to get better at that. The place where I feel like I need to get a lot better, if I want to contend for more wins and championships are definitely on the short tracks. The Martinsville, Richmond, I felt pretty good at Phoenix last week, but Martinsville and Richmond are probably my two worst tracks. I felt like I was decent on the road courses during the races and stuff but the short track stuff is where I struggled the most.”
AFTER LAST WEEK WITH WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOU AND (RYAN) NEWMAN IN THE CLOSING LAPS ON SUNDAY IF YOU ARE RACING AROUND ONE OF THOSE FOUR WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I just race them how I have raced them all season long I think. Hopefully I don’t get into any of them. I got into Ty Dillon here a couple of years ago and he was going for a Truck championship and I felt horrible after that. I don’t want to go through that again. I’m going to try my best to get a win and if they are in front of me I’m definitely going to try and pass him, but not do anything stupid or crazy to ruin their chances of winning a championship. Because none of them have won a championship so I know how much it means to them.”
SHOULD WE EXPECT THEM TO BE EXTRA AGGRESSIVE EITHER TO EACH OTHER OR TO GUYS IN THEIR WAY ON SUNDAY?
“I don’t know it’s kind of hard to say. I guess we will all just have to wait and see how it goes this Sunday and then you kind of get an idea of how this final race will play out each year. I would say they are probably going to be more aggressive with the other three drivers that are in it, but with us they can’t do anything dumb around us to take them out of winning the championship. I don’t know it’s hard to kind of say until we see how it plays out.”
YOU TALKED TO RYAN VIA PHONE?
“Yeah, he called me Tuesday maybe.”
HOW DID THAT GO? WHAT WAS THE TONE LIKE?
“Oh it was fine. He said he was waiting for a coyote to stick it’s head out so he could shoot it. He said he was out there on his farm, but I mean like I said I was upset for 10 minutes and I was over it. I understood the situation and what was at stake for him. He just kind of explained himself. I was totally fine. I like (Ryan) Newman a lot. I think he’s a great driver. He came from an open wheel background so I have kind of always been a fan of his. Like I said I was over it pretty quick.”
WHERE DID THAT PICTURE SURFACE OF YOU AND NEWMAN? WHERE YOU WERE PROBABLY SIX OR SEVEN YEARS OLD?
“I think that was at Cal Expo Speedway for a dirt silver crown race. I guess I was a pretty weird kid, so I made weird faces with all the drivers. I think it’s a pretty funny picture considering my face is like that and then what happened last Sunday. I saw people making jokes about that.”
NOW THAT YOU HAVE HAD A FEW MONTHS TO SETTLE IN HOW IS THE NEW HOUSE WORKING OUT FOR YOU?
“Actually I haven’t settled in. We spent our first night in it Wednesday night. We got the downstairs remodeled so there was a lot of construction going on. We spent our first night in it earlier this week.”
HOW WAS THAT?
“Nothing is really in there yet, but a bed, so there is still a lot to put in there. The furniture and all that should be delivered this coming week. I bought a lot of TV’s so I’m excited to put those up.”
WITH THANKSGIVING COMING UP WHAT ARE SOME THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS IN YOUR FAMILY?
“Go to Turkey night. I’m going to go race the midget at Perris (Auto Speedway) this year. Usually in years past at least since I’ve been alive and been going to Turkey night it’s been at Irwindale Speedway and now they don’t go there anymore so they have been going to Perris the last handful of years. I’m going to go race the USAC midget at Perris. I’m so excited to do that.”
DO YOU GO TO GOLDEN CORRAL FOR TURKEY OR WHAT DO YOU DO?
“No, I will eat some Tacos at the pit shack there. They have good food in the infield.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE SKIPPING OVER THE LEARNING CURVES?
“I felt like the first half of the season it took me time to get over those little rookie curves and things. But then the second half I felt like I’m pretty comfortable in the Cup Series and ran really well. I feel like I belong here and I feel like the season has gone really well.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL FOR OTHER YOUNG GUYS?
“I hope so. Maybe more so to the dirt guys that are kind of trying to follow my path. I followed Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart’s paths and stuff like that and Kasey Kahne. Now maybe the younger kids that didn’t get to see those guys that I kind of modeled my career path after are now looking at the way I got to the Cup level and maybe I can be a role model to them.”
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