MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 22, 2017
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at the annual Daytona 500 media day at Daytona International Speedway. Full Transcript:
YOU’VE HAD TOP 10’S AT RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACKS. WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET FROM REALLY GOOD, TO WINNING?
“To take it to the next level, I think I’ve watched a lot of tape seeing what it’s going to take and sat down with our engineers and crew chiefs. I think the biggest thing is just getting a little bit more aggressive in the side-drafting department. If you watched the Clash, I think I did a pretty good job. It’s probably one of the best drafting races I’ve ever had, I think, looking back at it. We put ourselves in a position against two different sets of teammates to have a shot to win. I’m looking forward to the opportunity in the 500. I don’t know what was wrong with our car. We didn’t have the qualifying run that we wanted. We will tune on it all we can for the Duels. And I think if I draft like I did in the Clash, we’ll be just fine.”
HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE DUELS GOING TO BE IN GETTING SET FOR THE 500?
“The Duels will be important. I’d like to start up front. Obviously being in front of any kind of wreck is nice. I think people are going to have handling issues. It seemed like our car handled really well in the Clash compared to most. I’d like a forward starting position because I think I’ll be able to keep it up there.”
DO YOU THINK GUYS ARE GOING TO BE MORE CONSERVATIVE NOW BECAUSE THEY CAN’T FIX THEIR CARS IF THEY GET IN A WRECK?
“Well, I don’t think in the Duels; I think the Duels are going to be really aggressive. At least that’s my plan. I’m going to do what I can to win the Duel. And in the race, I think you’ll still see people pretty aggressive at the end of these stages. So, it’s going to be a fine line there of how much you want to go. One thing we also talked about when you mentioned I had all the top 10’s at the speedways last year, I feel like I have a pretty good feel of when it’s time to go and when it’s time to let the guys do their work. Hopefully I can have that same feel of where I’m at in the pack and who I’m around when it’s time to maybe let the guys go at it for a little bit. I want to win the Daytona 500. Stage points matter, but to me, I’d like to win this race.”
YOU WANT TO START UP FRONT IN THE 500 AND THE POINTS ARE NICE AS WELL, BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO RIP UP YOUR CAR ON SUNDAY, RIGHT?
“Well, my car qualified 26th, so I’m going to be super aggressive and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. We’ll pull out a new one because it hasn’t been fast yet. Hopefully it shows some speed in the next practice and if not, we’re going to force it to in the Duel.”
DOES IT FEEL LIKE YOU ALMOST HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE IF YOU’RE NOT HAPPY WITH YOUR CAR AND YOU HAVE TO GO TO A BACKUP?
“Yeah, I actually like this situation. I’ve been in the one where you want to defend your car to the 500 and I wasn’t able to practice hard or race the Duel hard. You’re just kind of riding around because we already knew our car was fast. But we didn’t get drafting time on it. So, it kind of plays to what we wanted to accomplish this year and that was to be aggressive in the draft. The guys that are aggressive lead laps and run well. If you watched Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, they’ve been able to defend leads and side draft quite a bit to get to where they’re going. Denny Hamlin is very good at it also. It takes a fast car to do that, but our car was capable of doing it in the Clash so I think we’ll have something available to work with.”
WHAT’S AT STAKE THIS YEAR FOR THE RCR ORGANIZATION, ESPECIALLY WITH THE SUCCESS YOU IN GETTING AS FAR AS YOU HAVE? YOUR ORGANIZATION HASN’T WON IN THREE YEARS. WHAT’S AT STAKE THIS YEAR?
“You definitely don’t want to make it four. We’ve got a lot of great employees and a lot of great partners and we want to give them a trophy this year. We’re going to work hard to do that. It’s not going to be from lack of effort.”
OBVIOUSLY YOU WANT TO WIN FOR YOURSELF. AS YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE AND GET MORE EXPERIENCE AT THIS LEVEL, IS THERE A LITTLE MORE RESPONSIBILITY IN TRYING TO DO IT FOR YOUR GRANDFATHER FOR WHAT HE’S DONE?
“Yeah, I’ve seen the stat for three years now. It’s time. I look at myself as someone who can help lead the organization; so I definitely put the weight on my shoulders and want to capitalize on this opportunity and win for RCR.”
WHAT MORE CAN YOU DO? FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS, YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO GET SITUATED. NOW THAT YOU’VE GOT THAT EXPERIENCE, WHAT MORE CAN YOU DO TO PLAY A ROLE?
“I think now is just making sure I’m doing my job and showing everybody around me how hard I’m working and let it kind of bleed through to everyone around me, every employee and teammate, to show them the direction that RCR wants to go. That’s the biggest thing I think you can do is focus on your job, but also uplift people by how you do your job; and try to stay focused on that and not to intervene with other people and let them do what they’re supposed to do. And me staying in my lane and make sure I’m putting in 100 percent in my job.”
ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH CREW CHIEF RICHARD ‘SLUGGER’ LABBE
“I think he’s constantly giving me a little bit of a push, but it’s respectful. It’s not like a pump-you-up kind of push because he knows I’m already motivated. I think that’s where, when we first started, that’s where he thought he’d have to motivate me, but then he quickly learned I’m really motivated in everything I do. Now it’s more of just stating facts. And when he states a fact, I don’t have to come back with anything. So, it’s a lot less chatter on the radio because he’s just giving me the information he’s got. I’m kind of ‘black & white’ on that stuff. If I did something wrong, I want to know what it was and that’s it and let’s move on and I’ll correct it myself. So, I think just personality-wise, we’re learning each other and we know where to push each other’s buttons if we have to. Speedway racing has been something big for Slugger and we’ll be fast by the 500 I think.”
YOU SAID THE STAGES ARE NICE, BUT YOU REALLY WANT TO WIN THE DAYTONA 500. HOW DO YOU THINK THAT’S GOING TO PLAY OUT ON SUNDAY? THERE’S CONFLICTING STUFF THERE.
“Well, it should be interesting. I think there’s a whole new draft class of guys that I’ve raced with in the Xfinity Series that are moving up to the Cup Series. So, I’ll be really kind of focused in practice and the Duels to figure out the guys I’m comfortable around and the guys I trust because it’s a bunch of new guys that don’t know what it’s like to drive when it gets slick out here. I think that will be surprising for some people. But, I’ll be really trying to just study the next couple of days when we do draft. I’m going to take all the drafting time I can in practice and the Duel to figure out who I want to be around so I can be at the end of the 500. We did a good job last year of finishing in the top 10 in all these, so I think seeing the draft and knowing where you’re at in the draft and who you’re around is important in that. Then, I want to be aggressive at the end more than I have in the past.”
DO THE STAGES CHANGE YOUR APPROACH AT ALL TO THIS RACE?
“I’d love to get those points, obviously, at the end of each stage. But, I do feel like there’s going to be people that wreck at the end of the stages. So, I don’t know. If’ I’m running in the top 3 and I keep in my position, I probably won’t pull out of it. But, if I’m 15th or 14th, right in that area, fighting for 10th, it’s not worth wrecking in the Daytona 500. I’d rather take home the trophy than a stage win.”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY BEING MORE AGGRESSIVE?
“Cars are very important. To be able to make the moves I want to make, it’s got to be fast, obviously. And it’s got to handle well. If it’s a long run toward the end of 50 laps, I think it’ll really play into our hands. And when I mean aggressive, I mean aggressive from like 75 laps in instead of 10 laps in. You’ve got to get your position kind of early and then just really be aggressive in holding that position with a 40-car field depending on how many cars are still in the race. Last year we were sitting fifth, I think, toward the end and got shuffled to seventh. New tires prevailed a little bit there. We finished eighth. So, if I’m running fifth, I’m still in a good position, but I want to get to the lead to be able to block and work the lead. I’d like to lead laps early at some point in the 500.”
YOU SAID IF YOU’RE RUNNING 15TH IT MIGHT NOT BE WORTH THE RISK TO MAKE A RUN FOR 10TH
“If I can’t see it, you know what I mean? I really feel like it’s about the flow of the pack. If the flow is going good and I’m not seeing guys making moves that are stupid, that’s when you want to take advantage of something, you know? There are times where you watch the draft when it gets really amped-up and then it calms down. You can see as a fan they start wiggling and doing things that probably are a little stupid. So, if I can see the time where that lull happens, you want to take advantage of that.”
WHAT I MEANT IS IT JUST THIS RACE OR IS IT TRACK-BY-TRACK, RACE BY RACE?
“I think it’s just the speedways. But, for the 500 it’s a little bit more because this trophy means so much.”
DO YOU REALIZE YOU HAVE THE BEST AVERAGE FINISH AMONG THE DRIVERS HERE AT DAYTONA?
“Yeah, that’s pretty cool. We’ve been told that.”
DID YOU ACHIEVE THAT BY HAVING REALLY GOOD PEOPLE TO WATCH OVER THE YEARS IN YOUR GRANDDADDY’S CARS
“Yeah, I think drafting too is a lot about seeing what’s around you and knowing when it’s a good time to go and when not to. And then also, just finding the lanes that work for you; and moving when they move. It’s just putting yourself in the right position. There’s a lot of that. So, I think that and RCR and ECR do a pretty good job here with a pack of fast cars in the past. I like these speedways. They’ve been pretty nice to me, other than one bad crash.”
YOU STILL FINISHED SEVENTH; DO YOU THINK THIS PLACE WOULD GO NUTS IF THE NO. 3 ENDED UP IN VICTORY LANE?
“I do. I think it would be awesome and a lot of people would be happy. I know a lot of people at RCR would be.”
THERE’S BEEN A LITTLE BIT OF A DROUGHT THERE
“For sure. So, this would be a good one to end it with.”
YOU HAVE STOOD IN THAT AREA OF VOLUSIA WHERE THOSE CARS HAVE GONE OFF
“I stood exactly where that car, I think the first wreck, happened. Yeah. That’s where I always used to stand with my bike, like right on the other side of that fence. And I would sit there, me and Ty, on our 110’s and watch the race right there. I saw that and I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know why all of a sudden now they’re going out of the park over there. I don’t know if they’ve changed something on the track or if there’s a lip over there or what. But, I’ve never seen one come out of the park there.”
I GUESS THEY’VE ACTUALLY REMOVED ALL THOSE STANDS AFTER SUNDAY IN THAT AREA. AFTER SEEING THAT, WILL YOU HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS ON WHERE YOU STAND AND WATCH?
“I guess so because that is exactly where I was standing. If I was racing there, I would have been probably watching the Sprint Car race and checking the track right there. So, yeah; it makes you think about it. I don’t know why that thing left the park. It’s scary.”
WHAT DID YOU DO DURING THE OFF-SEASON?
“I went to Montana. I worked out. Not a whole lot. Hung out with family. It was a pretty simple off-season. It was nice.”
DO YOU HAVE A WEDDING DATE PLANNED?
“Yes, we do. In December. I’m looking forward to it this coming December.”
EVERYONE IS PICKING UP ON HOW WOMEN HAVE CHANGED SOME OF THE DRIVERS LIVES. DO YOU GET THAT FEELING THAT SHE GROUNDS YOU?
“Oh, she definitely grounds me and lets me know how big my head gets sometimes. So that’s nice. But, no; she stays after me and keeps me in line and definitely gets me thinking about other things and opens my mind up to things. It’s not just all about me and racing, so that’s nice.”
WHAT WOULD YOU THINK IF THEY INSTITUTED A ROAD COURSE IN THE FALL RACE AT CHARLOTTE? IS THAT SOMETHING YOU WOULD EMBRACE?
“I think I would probably embrace anything. But, I enjoy the ovals.”
DOES THAT MEAN KNOWING IT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BRING THE FANS BACK TO THAT RACE TRACK, DO YOU THINK IT’S AN INNOVATIVE WAY IN CHANGING IT UP TO BRING BACK THE FAN BASE?
“I think the fan base is going to come back. I do. It think if we put on good races at these ovals, which we are capable of doing; and we start rivalries and stuff like that, that’s what’s going to bring the fans back. I don’t think because we change the place we’re racing at is necessarily going to bring back the fans. I think we just have to race well and have a couple of people wreck and start fights and people will be back at the tracks. I think you’ve just got to start some of these rivalries and get people latched into it and get them excited and make sure some of these drivers are making it exciting. So, I think that’s where the fans are going to see. To me, when you change something, you come to see it for the first time and you might get a bump in the first time, but in the end it’s still got to be a good race. If the road course is not a good race, it’s going to be back to kind of where we were anyway. So, I just think we need to put on good racing until we get there and that will kind of fix itself.”
YOU TALK ABOUT RIVALRY. THERE’S NOTHING LIKE SIBLING RIVALRY. HOW IS IT CHANGING WITH TY DILLON RUNNING FULL TIME IN CUP?
“Well, it’s nice having my brother out here.”
YOU GUYS GET ALONG BETTER THAN MOST BROTHERS
“I think so. The biggest thing about having Ty out here is there’s another person that I need to lean on to try to get RCR to Victory Lane because I can see his data. So, it’s another driver that I can use to get myself better.”
IF THERE ARE BASICALLY ONLY TWO TURNS ON THE TRACK, WHY DO THEY SAY TURNS 1-2-3-4?
“Because the turns are so long. Your entry is one section. I think it’s for breaking down the track, truthfully, for handling issues. So, when you enter Turn 1, if the car does something, you can tell them; and then when you’re exiting Turn 2, you can tell them. I guess you could say entering and exiting Turn 1. But, I think it’s just easier to comprehend where you’re at on the track when you have four corners.”
WHAT ABOUT LIKE MARTINSVILLE, WHERE BASICALLY YOU’RE JUST TURNING?
“There’s still a breakdown as to how the car drives on entry and exit. So, that gives you something to talk about for a reference into the corner.”
SO, ITS SORT OF LIKE A SHORTHAND TERM FOR EXIT?
“Right, it’s really just an entry/exit point. So, saying I’m tight off of 2, would be the exit of 2; that corner.”
WHAT IS MOTIVATIONAL AND/OR INSPIRATIONAL FOR YOU?
“Oh, that we haven’t won a race. That’s motivational. We need to do that. Oh, things to watch? The two TV shows I’m watching are Vikings and This is Us and they’re totally two different TV shows. We’ve got to have one for Whitney (fiancé) and one for me. But she actually likes Vikings.”
PEOPLE SAY THAT WINNING IS COMING ANY RACE NOW FOR YOU
“Well, I hope so. I hope they’re right. I feel pretty confident though, truthfully. I feel like probably the best drafting race I’ve had was in the Clash. I think I did a really good job with who I was around and how aggressive I was and putting myself in position. If Denny doesn’t hit Brad there, we’re sitting third to the line with a chance to make a move with 24 behind me. So, I didn’t get to the lead. I don’t think I would have been able to get to the lead which who I was racing around, with the Gibbs cars and Penske both in between. But, I did a good job of keeping people separated in where I needed to be. So, I’m excited. Now we qualified bad for the 500, which gives me this kind of different mentality that I’ve never had here, that I’m going to be really aggressive in practice and in the Duel because there hasn’t been anything special about this car yet. So, there’s a little bit of a go after it. And if it doesn’t work out, we’ll pull out the backup because it’s just as good. It can’t be any worse.”
ARE YOU AGGRESSIVE BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE CAR IS HANDLING TOMORROW NIGHT, OR BECAUSE THERE ARE POINTS ON THE LINE?
“Well, obviously my car really did handle well in the Clash. So, I think handling is a positive thing that our cars have right now. But, you’ve got to mix that with some speed to be really good. So, we’ll see. I’m definitely going to do what I can to grab the points in the Duel, too. But, more just to win the Duel. I’m going to try and win the Duel. I know there’s going to be guys; obviously you’ve got the No. 24 and the No. 88 that won’t be as aggressive as most. And some guys are probably pretty excited about their cars for the 500, where I’m just mediocre about my car for the 500 right now. I’m going to whip it like crazy the next two days to make me like it or force it to be good.”
DID YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO WATCH THE CLASH?
“I have not re-watched the entire Clash. I need to.”
DID YOU SEE WHAT BRAD KESELOWSKI DID? AND IF YOU WERE IN THAT SAME POSITION, WOULD YOU DO WHAT HE DID?
“Yeah, I think it looked a lot more aggressive than he was. He had the run to go down there. So, I thought he was actually clear. He was at the door of Hamlin so I thought he was fine on that move. I thought the move before that, and I was right behind him, when he kind of went bottom-middle-bottom; and that one was pretty wicked. That was a sweet move, I thought. He didn’t hit nobody so I thought his aggression was fine.”
ARE YOU LEARNING FROM THESE GUYS?
“Yeah, I mean him especially. He’s probably the best right now. There’s three guys right now that do a really good job of defending a lead and holding a lead. There’s Denny (Hamlin), Brad (Keselowski) and Joey (Logano). They’re very aggressive side-drafters. I really don’t want to talk about it because I don’t want other people getting too aggressive and doing it because it makes me mad when they do it to me and I hope I’m starting to make them mad when I do it to them. So, if everybody is doing it, it’s going to cause a lot of wrecks.”
CAN YOU TRY THAT IN THE XFINITY RACE AND APPLY THAT TO THE CUP RACE?
“You can, in the Xfinity race. The problem with the Xfinity race is the cars are quite a bit different. The side draft, it does work. But for some reason the third lanes never really work in the Xfinity race. I don’t know why; if there’s just not enough fast cars, or what. But, the third lane takes a while to get going in Xfinity.”
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