MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
STP 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUESTION AND ANSWER
MARCH 30, 2017
TONY LUNDERS, TEAM MANAGER, CHIP GANASSI RACING, sat down with Team Chevy prior to Kyle Larson’s victory at Auto Club Speedway to discuss the season thus far, his role within the organization, the growth and success of Chip Ganassi Racing in 2017, the organizations relationship with Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and much more. Full Transcript:
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A PART OF CHIP GANASSI RACING?
“I have worked at Chip Ganassi Racing for a little over three years now.”
HOW DID YOU GET TO WHERE YOU CURRENTLY ARE?
“I started here in 2014 as a car chief on the No. 1 Chevy with Jamie McMurray. I had been car chief for eight or nine years previous to that. Throughout the 2014 season I started doing some things above and beyond, I guess, what my normal job duties were. Most of it was trying to implement speed related items, and some different ways of doing things, pushing certain projects, just kind of going a little bit outside my lane. There was no one in my current position at the time. I think they had been looking for the right fit, Max (Jones, General Manager) had and so the more I did the more I took on. When the Chase started that year, Max came to me and asked me to be the Competition Manager. So, I did that. I have been in that role for the last two seasons and then this winter we had a little bit of restructure. We brought Mark McArdle in as Competition Director and I’m now the Team Manager.”
WHAT ARE YOU DAY-TO-DAY RESPONSIBILITIES?
“The shop based group, meaning the fabrication shop, assembly, and related groups report up through me. Our traveling race teams do as well. I’m in the shop Monday through Wednesday and attend or hold a few meetings. I try and make the rounds in the shop to get caught up on what I’ve missed while at the racetrack every weekend. I have a lot of dealing with our manufacturer, Chevrolet, NASCAR, and with our contacts at Hendrick Motorsports and other partners.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHEVROLET AND HOW CLOSELY YOU WORK WITH THE MANUFACTURER?
“It’s been great working with Chevrolet. I’ve had opportunities in my career to work with all the different manufacturers, but I would say I’ve been a Chevrolet guy from the time I was a young kid. Most of my cars I’ve owned were Chevrolet so I have always been a ‘Chevy Guy’ at heart. So, personally I love being with Chevrolet, but from a professional level working with the manufacturer representatives, Alba (Colon), Pat (Suhy), Kevin (Bayless) and everybody has been seamless. We have a good relationship. I think Chevy gives us all the tools to succeed and build fast race cars.”
WHAT KINDS OF THINGS DID YOU WORK ON DURING THE OFF SEASON THAT YOU THINK MIGHT HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO CHIP GANASSI RACING’S FAST START IN 2017?
“I think a lot of the performance gains we’ve made were put into place mid-season last year and we’ve carried that through the off-season. We have improved on some things, but kind of carried it through. Last year, we started the season and we were in a hole for sure. The car performance wasn’t there and we just made a solid effort in the Spring to ramp up in every area, not one particular area. We focused on aerodynamics, making the cars lighter, putting the weight where we wanted, just a lot of different areas from the pit crew to team personnel.”
“A big push started last Spring after we realized where we were. We carried that through the Summer, I think, we had a little bit of a dip in the Chase, but we ended the Chase pretty strong. I don’t think we changed the way we did anything in the off-season, we just stayed kind of on the same trajectory and kept working more in the same areas that we had started last year. We upgraded and changed some people around and worked on the basic core stuff. I wouldn’t say we did anything different this year than what we have been doing.
“Until you start the season out, you can work all Winter long and not know where you stack up against your competitors until you get to Daytona, Atlanta, Las Vegas and that is the real test. We tested Las Vegas, we tested at Phoenix in the off-season. We felt those tests went well, but until you are at the track going up against everybody you don’t really know where you rank.”
TALK ABOUT HOW YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS WORKS:
“We’ve been getting our engines, transmissions and gears from Hendrick. Different players on their end that we will have to deal with. It’s been a pleasure from my standpoint. All my contacts over there, everybody I’ve come into contact with over there have been great to work with. I feel like we have a good relationship there. We use their stuff and the product is great, but we also have input as well to try to help them improve it. I think we have shared some things with them that maybe they could benefit from, as well as, us benefitting in return. As in any relationship it just takes a lot of effort on both sides to push that and make sure we are getting the best thing we can get.”
DO YOU THINK THE 2017 AERO PACKAGE HAS HELPED YOUR ORGANIZATION? DO YOU THINK IT FITS THE TWO DRIVERS YOU HAVE IN YOUR STABLE?
“It’s hard to say. I think we look at last year the couple of race tracks we ran it at, obviously, Michigan we had success, Kyle (Larson) won that race. But I wouldn’t point to that, I think it’s more the way our teams are working together, the focus our drivers have right now and the product the guys are building the quality of cars that they are bringing to the race track. I think that has more to do with it than the downforce that we took off the cars.”
WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN IN TYLER REDDICK THE NEWEST ADDITION TO YOUR XFINITY SERIES PROGRAM IN HIS FEW STARTS THAT HE HAS MADE THIS SEASON?
“I have been impressed. I thought he handled himself well at Daytona. They got crashed fairly early and that was the first time any of our groups had been under the new five-minute clock. I thought he handled himself well. They made repairs to the car and got him back on-track. As long as he was behind somebody he was fine, the car could keep up. I was impressed there and then at Phoenix they had tested out there, but there were a limited number of cars at the test. So, I didn’t know where we were going to stack up. I thought he gained a lot of speed in practice just from changing his line and that kind of stuff. When it came down to the race I was impressed. I thought he raced pretty smart, he raced hard, he moved forward and seemed like he was under control. For his first two Xfinity Series starts I thought he did pretty well. The cars drive so different than the trucks from what the guys tell me, so I was pleased to see him race towards the front with the top guys.
“I’m really excited about both our Xfinity Series teams and drivers. We have some great young talent in Tyler and Brennan (Poole). They both have bright futures in this business. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out.”
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THIS SEASON? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING THROUGHOUT THE SEASON?
“To me it’s just all about the people. We have put good people in place and they do a great job where they are at and that is how we have gotten to this point so far. So, we are not going to change that. It’s a group effort. If everybody does their individual part well, then we are going to have success. Obviously, it easy when morale is up and both cars are running in the top-five, top-10 every week, winning races and having shots to win races on a weekly basis, that helps. The true test comes when we get to places and have parts failures or pit road penalties or something that puts you in the back or you don’t have the finishes where the car is performing to keep everybody focused and in a good place.
“As far as goals go, last year we set goals to win races, make the Chase, we did that and I would say that this year, we are stepping that up again. We want to win multiple races with both cars, we want to get them both in the Chase, but I think the championship is in there as well if we continue to do the job we are doing now we have a serious shot at contending through the Chase and having a shot at the championship.”
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEAR’S BEING IN THE CHASE? WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THAT WILL HELP YOU MOVE FURTHER THROUGH THAT PROCESS?
“Well, I think it’s even more important now the first part of the season as far as gaining bonus points. We are leading the points right now with the No. 42. The regular season points leader carries 15 points into the Playoffs and that goes through the first three rounds. I think it will be really big for the teams that can carry a stack of points in there to get yourself some cushion when you have some misfortune at some of the first few tracks. Neither of our cars made it out of the first-round last year, which was disappointing because we felt we had cars that could move on. We had some mechanical failures and issues that kept us from getting out of Dover alive. I think just continuing to perform at a high level and the guys that are going to make it through the rounds will make the least number of mistakes and having the bonus points will help that a lot.”
HOW BIG WOULD IT BE FOR THIS ORGANIZATION TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP?
“It would be huge. I’m not sure I have the words to put that into perspective. It would be really big for a two-car team that has come from where we have been if you look at the last five to 10 years through the points and situations, to be able to pull that off… Like I said earlier I think we have the equipment and people to do so. We have all the necessary things. We just have to put ourselves in that position this year.”
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About Chevrolet:
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
