MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
PRE-SEASON MEDIA AVAILABILITY
CHARLOTTE MEDIA TOUR
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 24, 2017
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Media tour and discussed his thoughts about his first full season, being a member of a single-car team, and competing on a limited schedule in his Modified program. Full transcript:
WHEN YOU SIT DOWN AND THINK ABOUT IT, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AT THIS LEVEL:
“It means a lot, obviously, growing up in this sport and being around all my heroes, who are all Cup drivers, all my whole life, and once I got into Cup racing and knowing this was my goal and where I wanted to be. That moment when the deal was done to be officially be driving for Germain Racing in the Geico 13 Chevy was surreal. I remember driving down the road and first called my wife and told her it was a done deal and just starting balling on the phone. And I called my mom and balled. Just to have this opportunity, I love this sport, and just to have the chance to be one of the top drivers and chase my dream. I know you say I’ve made it, which is obviously a big moment for me in my life, but I still have a lot to accomplish. My grandfather said the other night that he feels like he still hasn’t made it, and that’s how I kind of feel. I’m not going to be satisfied until I win races and championships, and then maybe be back here like he was.”
WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE TO BE ON A SINGLE-CAR TEAM: “It’s definitely going to be different. Growing up being around a multi-car team and program my whole life, you kind of learn the ins and outs of how that works. But I feel it’s going to be the best of both worlds for me because we are strongly connected with RCR Racing through a technical alliance, so we’ll still have that multi-car feel but also be able to separate ourselves and be Germain Racing – the one 13 team – so it will be nice to have a little bit of our own identity and me to have my own identity, too. I just think it will help the growth of both programs – myself and the team.”
I’M GUESSING WHEN YOU WANT TO RELAX YOU GO OUT TO VOLUSIA, GET IN ONE OF THOSE DIRT CARS AND THE WINNING CONTINUES. IS THAT YOUR RELAXATION:
“It has been for the past five or six years. It’s been the place where we’ve gone to kind of knock off the rust and start winning races and get that mindset going. This will be the first year that we’re not actually going to run our Modifieds at Volusia, so it is kind of bittersweet. We’ve kind of moved on with our dirt program. We’ve just so busy in our lives right now and our schedules are getting heavier. I think this season with the amount of Xfinity races I’m going to do, I have one off weekend, and I kind of need to extend this off-season a bit longer and make sure I make time for my family and other obligations.”
WILL YOU BE INVOLVED WITH THE TEAM IN A ROLE OTHER THAN A DRIVER:
“My whole career, being around racing my whole life, the great drivers always put themselves in more of a role than just a driver. I think you have to be a team leader, a motivator, and someone who keeps pushing the team in the right direction. All the great drivers who come to RCR have done that, so even being a rookie going to a new team I want to keep pushing and become a leader and a positive motivation to get better.”
FROM THE EXPERIENCE YOU’VE HAD SO FAR IN RACING, WHAT’S BEEN THE UNEXPECTED FUN. AND ON THE SAME TOKEN, WHAT’S BEEN THE UNEXPECTED CHALLENGES:“When you’re coming up in the sport and looking at where you want to be and the things that will happen to you once you get to the higher levels of racing – the media and sponsor obligations – it kind of gets cast on you at a younger age that you just have to get through them. But as I grew in the sport, it gets fun to interact with fans and I love that now. Being able to meet my fans through social media or at autograph sessions, I think that’s fun now. I knew racing was going to be fun, because that’s what I wanted to do. The interaction with the fans and the young kids I get to meet at the racetrack is great because it wasn’t that long ago that I was that young kid walking around the racetrack begging for attention from any of the drivers. When I get to see a kid in the garage, I can see me. When I can shake their hand or sign something for them, that spark that lit up in me as a kid I can see in them, and that’s what it’s all about for me.”
HOW DO YOU ASSESS THIS YEAR’S ROOKIE CLASS:
“It’s a great rookie class, and the thing is all three of us are similar in a lot of ways and the way we approach racing. We all have an understanding of each other on the racetrack. We go hard every lap and I think it’s going to be an exciting rookie race. I kind of feel people put us on the back burner – me and Germain Racing – and I think they’ll be surprised.”
WHAT’S EVEN COOLER NOW THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AT THIS LEVEL:
“I never knew how much it would help my career meeting the people who are dedicated to watching me. You always dream of having fans, but you don’t know the impact they’ll have on your life and your racing career, so that’s something I would have given myself a little heads-up on and be something to be excited about.”
YOU ONLY HAVE ONE WIN IN THE XFINITY SERIES AND WILLYOU BE DOING ANY RACING IN THE XFINITY SRIES THIS YEAR. WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL YOU’RE READY FOR THIS OCCASION AND THIS LEVEL:
“In my heart I feel like I’m the best driver. If I didn’t have that kind of confidence, I wouldn’t be driving a race car. I knew I was ready for this opportunity and I’ve proved in different situations. The wins weren’t what we wanted in the Xfinity Series the past couple of years, but we were growing as a team and changing as a team at RCR. We will win Xfinity races this year; I can guarantee you that. We have a lot of great things going on, a lot of great momentum with that side of the program. To answer the first part of the question, I’m going to be running 20 Xfinity races this year, so a pretty hefty schedule on that side, too. I think there are only six I can’t do.”
YOUR WIFE’S CAKES – HOW GOOD ARE THEY AND IS THAT SOMETHING THAT SHE WANTS TO DO:
It’s funny how that whole thing started. It was my mom’s birthday and my wife said she wanted to do a cake for my mom. She went out and bought the stuff and we did it and we laughed so hard at that first cake. It was two layers, but there were so wonky and off to the side. But she put some flowers around it and I said, ‘You made that look pretty.’ She was like, ‘I think I could do this.’ So she just started doing other cakes and people started asking her about them and then it kind of blew up pretty quick. I said, ‘I hope you enjoy making cakes because this might be a thing.’ I think she really wants to make something out of it because she’s enjoying doing it. It’s been really fun. I love that she has something going on and that I can support her, too.”
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