NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – MEDIA DAY
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Media Day at Daytona International Speedway. Full Transcript:
HOW ARE THINGS GOING WITH YOU AND CHAD JOHNSTON SO FAR?
“With Chad, things are going pretty good so far. He was pretty quiet when I first met him but once you get to know him he talks quite a bit and he is pretty funny too. So also, on the radio I thought he was very good the other night during the Unlimited in the way he talks. I don’t talk very much on the radio so it was nice to hear a different voice and kind of hear the differences between him and Chime. I think he has done a great job and everything I have heard about him is really good – even before he came here. So I am excited for it.”
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE NEXT GREAT SAFETY BREAKTHROUGH FOR NASCAR?
“I don’t know. I kind of think that all develops when the next sort of injury happens and it’s hard to see what kind of injuries come from other stuff, other changes. So I don’t know. Hopefully, we are at the point where, it’s as safe as we can get it, or not as safe as we can get it but to where no injuries happen anymore.”
HOW ABOUT OPEN WHEEL, YOU FEEL THE SAME THERE OR ARE THERE GAINS THAT CAN BE MADE THERE?
“There are definitely gains to be made everywhere but in sprint cars, it depends on what injuries arise. Then they work on it. So like now, I think there are lots of back injuries. So I would think that at this point they are working to do things to save people’s spines. But I am not an engineer, and I don’t know what it takes to make them safer, but I know there are people working hard at it.”
WHAT DID YOU TAKE OUT OF THE SAFETY MEETING?
“The safety meeting is pretty much the same every year where they just kind of inform you on what changes they have made. Each year they make gains on stuff and they have videos that back it up too, which is nice. They practice some hard wrecks too and the videos are crazy to watch. But yeah, NASCAR is always working hard to making the cars and the tracks safer. Each year we come into Daytona they show us the gains and they are always good.”
DO YOU THINK RICO (ABREU) CAN WIN A TRUCK RACE THIS YEAR?
“Yeah, I think Rico can win a Truck race this year. I think at the 1.5-mile stuff he will do really well at because I think Thorsport’s 1.5-mile stuff is pretty good and I think Rico will adapt well to that. It’s similar to winged Sprint car racing because he already understands dirty air and stuff like that. It will be a little bit different with side force and things that he has not experienced yet, but yeah, I think he can win.”
HAS HE COME TO YOU ABOUT ADVICE ON HOW TO RUN DAYTONA?
“He texted me the other day and said he wanted to watch some video and I told him I had never run a Truck race here but that I was sure it was the same as an Xfinity race, so I don’t know. Guess we will have to watch the race and see. I usually don’t watch the full Truck race, I just watch at the end when things get wild. It will be kind of fun to see how he progresses throughout the year, but here in Daytona will be different than anything he has done. So it will be fun to watch.”
I HEAR YOUR SON HAS BEGUN TO WALK:
“Yeah, he figured out how to walk in the off-season so he’s been pretty crazy to keep up with and is making race car noises all the time. We couldn’t even get him to go to sleep last night. He was just lying in bed making race car noises. I was just like ‘dude, chill out and go to sleep’. But no, he is really pretty funny and is a good kid. He has been teething this week so his diapers haven’t been very fun, but other than that, he has been pretty good.”
HAVE YOU FELT ANY INFLUENCE FROM ROB KAUFFMAN OVER AT GANASSI?
“It was cool just getting to hang out with him a little bit at the Rolex because that was a race that he really enjoys because he is a huge car person. So really we just had more conversations about some of the cars that he owns and his favorite cars to drive. He is a really good guy. I didn’t know him at all before he came to our team and he is a super, super nice guy. Which is good to have for our organization.”
REGARDING THE DRIVER’S COUNCIL AND YOUR ROLE:
“I don’t really know, it’s just that stuff comes up throughout the year and it’s just nice to have that communication with NASCAR. I feel like the council works great and we have already gotten stuff accomplished with it. So yeah, I think it’s going good and it’s only going to get better and better.”
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST THING YOU GUYS FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO SO FAR?
“That would probably be a better question for someone who has more experience in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. I am pretty new so I haven’t even noticed things really that are from the past that they have tried to change. It’s nice for me to just sit in the council and learn what other things people are thinking about at the race track outside of racing.”
WHEN WAS THE 2016 DRIVER COUNCIL FORMED?
“Probably about a month or so ago.”
HAVE YOU HAD TO REWORK YOUR CONTRACT WITH THE NEW CHARTER SYSTEM?
“I think that my agent is currently working through that, but from what he has said, our team has been pretty fair with us. You know the whole deal is kind of structured differently now but I think I am getting paid the same but in different ways now.”
WHAT EXPECTATIONS DO YOU SEE FROM CHASE ELLIOTT THIS SEASON?
“I am sure he has some high expectations, but he is at a really good team, has a really good car and he is a really good, mature driver. So he should be able to handle it all very well and do a great job.”
WHAT EXPECATIONS DO YOU HAVE?
“I would like to be consistent each week and be competitive. Last year I felt like we were up and down each week and this year I hope that we can be competitive, run a top-10 every race, definitely get a couple of wins and make the Chase obviously. Homestead is one of my best tracks so if I could just get to Homestead, I would feel like we would have a shot at winning the championship.”
REGARDING CHANGES IN THE CARS AND TEAM FROM YOUR FIRST SEASON AND IS GANASSI WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE NOW:
“Well, that first year……and if you look at the last 10 races of last year, we ran a lot better in that part of the season. That first year our 1.5-mile program was really good in 2014 and then at Martinsville, Phoenix and maybe Talladega, those were some of my best tracks. So that is why I ran well in the Chase. Then NASCAR made the change of killing horsepower and I think that didn’t suit my driving style very well at all. So this year with now kind of taking downforce off, maybe it can kind of go back to where it will suit me a little bit better and we can run up front more often.”
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DRIVE YOUR CAR?
“It was weird, was definitely weird. But in a way, it was a way for me to get a different aspect on learning. I was able to listen through NASCAR.com’s app or whatever. So just to listen to the way that Regan communicated it gave me a different perspective. When you are driving the car you are just focused on driving and you don’t really grasp what your crew chief and spotter are talking to you about. It was nice to kind of be able to listen to all those guys communicate.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE SOMEBODY ELSE DO GOOD IN YOUR CAR? HOW DO YOU HANDLE THAT?
“It was only one race, so not really. I was hoping they were going to do a great job and Martinsville is my worst track so I already knew he was going to do better than what I was going to do there. So I wasn’t too worried about it. So I was a fan, sitting in the hospital watching and rooting for him.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO SEE RICO (ABREU) BECOME SUCH A SUCCESS?
“It’s cool. I don’t know if a lot of people know, but he really didn’t start racing until just a handful of years ago. Everybody else in this room probably got their start between five to eight years old. I think Rico was 14 before he started racing, or may have been older than that like 15 or 16. He has learned a lot in a short amount of time and has done really good with it. His career path has been super-fast. So it’s cool when you grow up with him and now you are doing about the same thing.”
HOW DO YOU LOOK AT IT WHEN RICO COMES TO YOU FOR ADVICE LIKE A MENTOR?
“I really don’t look at it as being a mentor, but more as a friend. And I am not Rico’s only mentor/friend in the garage. He has a lot of other people that he can go to with way more experience than me to talk to. But it is cool that he will ask me questions whenever he can because I will help him as much as I can. I feel like we both have similar driving styles, which goes good. We also race for some of the same people, so we can communicate in a similar way. It feels good just to teach him anything.”
WHAT ADVICE IF ASKED, WOULD YOU GIVE CHASE ELLIOTT IN HANDLING A ROOKIE SEASON?
“I don’t know, I think his situation is a little bit different than mine. I think the difference from when I came in as a rookie, he has a lot of expectations and I didn’t have many expectations the first half of that year. But I guess for him would be to just try his best and block everything else out. I think Chase is pretty good about that so he will do a good job.”
DID YOU WATCH THE SONOMA INDYCAR RACE AND WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT WHOLE PLAN COMING TOGETHER FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I was actually in California that day on the lake, but I followed along on the timing and scoring that they had on the website and I knew what all they had to do to win the championship without watching TV. So following along on that was pretty fun to watch. It was a little delayed to update sometimes so I was just staring at the phone and hoping not to see Juan jumping up the list there. But yeah, Scott Dixon and that whole team are just really, really clutch. They proved it there at Sonoma and that was really cool to see.”
HOW CLOSE ARE YOU WITH SCOTT AND ARE YOU A BIG FAN OF HIS?
“Yeah, I have always been a big fan of Scott’s, even before I got to Chip Ganassi Racing. Now I get to hang out with him and Tony, like at the Rolex, is a really good time. They are really funny, good people and to get to see just how good of race car drivers they both are is just cool to see because you don’t get to see that side of racing very often.”
ARE YOU STILL TRYING TO TALK CHIP AND MIKE HULL INTO LETTING YOU DO THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND?
“I would love to, but I don’t see it happening this year. I would definitely love to someday.”
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