MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 29, 2017
AUSTIN DILLON TAKES NO. 3 CHEVY TO VICTORY LANE AT CHARLOTTE
Three Chevy SS Drivers Finish in Top 10
CONCORD, N.C. – May 29, 2017 – Six hundred miles and 400 laps around Charlotte Motor Speedway was a marathon, not a sprint, for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet SS team throughout the Coca-Cola 600 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, the sports longest test of man and machine. This was Dillon’s first career victory in 133 NASCAR Cup Series starts and the first time the iconic No. 3 made its way back to Winner’s Circle since Dale Earnhardt, Sr. won at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall of 2000.
The run marks Dillon’s second top 10 finish of the year and second top 10 finish in 27 events at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The win was also Chevrolet’s 770th Cup Series victory. Team Chevy has now hoisted the trophy in the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 24 times since the brand earned the first 600-mile triumph in the inaugural race in 1960. Chevrolet has now powered 13 different drivers to victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600.
Stock car racing’s longest night proved to be even longer when a thunderstorm delayed the action for an hour and 40 minutes, but in the end, it came down to a fuel mileage.
Seven-time Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, was leading for the third time in the waning laps when the team decided not to come to pit road with the rest of the leaders. Johnson and the team gambled staying on the track pushing the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS machine to the max, but came up two laps shy of winning his fifth career Coca-Cola 600. Johnson ended the day in the 17th position.
It was a solid day for Dillon’s teammate Ryan Newman, already a winner in 2017 at Phoenix International Raceway. Newman piloted the No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet SS home in the ninth spot.
In his final Coca-Cola 600, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., consistently ran in the top 10 throughout the race which transitioned from day into night. The driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet SS ended his final attempt at winning one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races in the 10th finishing position, giving Team Chevy three of the top 10 overall.
Kyle Busch (Toyota) was second, Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota) was third, Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was fourth and Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was fifth to round out the top five finishers.
Next week the series heads north to Dover International Speedway for 400 miles of racing around the ‘Monster Mile’.
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW SALUTES VETERANS CHEVROLET SS
RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER AND JUSTIN ALEXANDER, CREW CHIEF
THE MODERATOR: We’ll kick off our post race Coca‑Cola 600 press conference with our winning team. Owner Richard Childress, and crew chief Justin Alexander.
Obviously pretty emotional and exciting, historic win for you. Richard, first win in the No. 3 car since October 15th, 2000, with the Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt. Kick off with the obvious. How does it feel to get the 3 back into Victory Lane?
RICHARD CHILDRESS: I’m so proud. We didn’t even run the 3 for many years. I think to bring it back three years ago here at Charlotte and did our announcement, I think this is going into our fourth year with the 3. It’s just unbelievable.
Having my grandson just made it that much more special. I know Dale is up there smiling down because he would want this win, he’d want to see it with Austin.
I didn’t want to put just anyone in the 3 car. I probably never would have brought it back. We kept the number with NASCAR throughout the whole time. We ended up, when the opportunity was there, to put Austin back in it. He started in the Truck Series. He won races there. He won races in the XFINITY with it. Ty has won with it.
Today is special. Here in Charlotte, on Memorial Day, such a special day for all the people that have gave so much to this country for us all to be here tonight. To be able to enjoy what we’re doing, I’m just honored to be here.
Can you believe this, the Coke 600, Austin Dillon, the 3. When I got emotional, I looked up, when I looked up and seen the 3 on top of the board, I was standing there doing an interview, that’s when I got emotional.
It’s so special to see that 3 in winner’s circle again.
THE MODERATOR: Justin, I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday that it came out you would be joining the No. 3 team. You’re here immediately. One for one. Congratulations. A big strategy call at the end. Maybe talk about the closing laps there.
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: Yeah, thank you. We had a good car all race. We run top 10 all race. Austin did a heck of a job, the whole team did. We were right there in position on that last stop when the caution came out. We were two or three laps short. Just right in that window where you have the option to stretch it, but there’s a risk with that. You give up a little track position early on trying to stretch it on fuel.
We got good fuel mileage all day. It really didn’t make much sense to do anything but that. He didn’t really have to back off that much. We didn’t give up that many spots on the racetrack doing it. I think we were around 10th when we started saving.
Austin did a heck of a job. Everyone on this team. I was surprised more guys didn’t do it, honestly. Everything just worked out. Couldn’t be prouder of everybody.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.
Q. Richard, do you feel like this justifies your putting Austin in the 3?
RICHARD CHILDRESS: I think it shows that he deserved to be in the 3. Like I said, I was just not going to put anyone in it. Had to have been one of the Childress family or one of the Earnhardts. It just worked out that Austin ran the 3 when he ran his first bandolero race here. He’s always run the 3 in everything he’s ran.
It’s just unbelievable to have it in the winner’s circle tonight. He doesn’t show emotion and pressure, but I can tell you away from the track and all, talks and stuff, he knew how much he wanted to win for the 3 fans. He knew how much he wanted to win for our family and everybody involved, all of our sponsors.
Just really proud of him. And, Justin, you made a hell of a call, buddy.
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: Thank you.
Q. Richard, I don’t want to say did you ever think it was a mistake, but did you ever question whether you should have brought the 3 back or not, even before Austin got into it? Did you second guess yourself?
RICHARD CHILDRESS: You know, I never second guessed myself bringing it back. I did have a lot of thoughts about bringing it back and the pressure it would be on whoever got in the car.
Dale Jr. won the race for us, he’s won a couple races in the 3, RCR. To see him win, that was one of the big healing moments in 2002 when he won in Daytona in the 3.
I wanted to bring it back, but it had to be something special to bring it back. To have my grandson, to put him in it, was unbelievable.
Q. At what point in those closing laps did you allow yourself to believe that gamble would work? Where in the Richard Childress museum is this car going to go?
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: First, I don’t know if I want him to put it away. This is a brand‑new car we brought this week, chassis number 600, believe it or not. Kind of ironic.
I don’t know. Man, I really thought more guys were going to do this strategy, play this out. The 78 was catching us fast. They pitted, put tires on. They were catching us about a second a lap. They were really on pace to catch us and pass us. I knew it was going to be tough at the end. I knew we were going to have to run hard at some point to stay ahead of them.
With Jimmie out there, he was out there ahead of us trying to save fuel as well. I can’t say enough about Austin, doing what he had to do to save the fuel we needed to bring it home.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: I came on there and asked them, Do you think we can make it? One of our engineers said, We’re going to make it. I was pretty solid at the end. When a light comes on, that gives you a certain amount, tells you you got so many laps. Justin came on there with three to go and said, Turn the switch on and go hard. I knew we had a shot at the end. When he came with two to go, I felt we had a shot.
THE MODERATOR: We now welcome in the winning driver of the Coca‑Cola 600, driver of the No. Dow Salute Veterans Chevrolet. That is Austin Dillon.
Austin, you are the 10th different driver to have posted their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Charlotte, joining such legends as David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth. Obviously I think you’re a little bit happy. Talk about the feelings right now.
AUSTIN DILLON: Well, they haven’t sunk in, by no means. I did know a lot of winners come from the Coke 600 for the first time. I talked about it today in an interview.
It hasn’t sunk in truthfully. I’m just so proud of all the effort that all these guys put in. I really feel like I have the best team and the best pit crew. I have no doubt in them.
My grandfather has done everything he can to give us the best we can get. Sometimes I feel like we’re the small team out there trying to get everything we can. Tonight proved that 600‑mile race, when it came down to it, we had everything we needed. It just feels amazing.
The good Lord above definitely blessed us. In my car Whitney always writes a verse before the race. It said, If you put God first, He can take you places you never imagined.
I wouldn’t have imagined to be at my home track in Victory Lane tonight. We had an angel onboard on the windshield with Joshua Harris. It’s pretty cool to take a hero to Victory Lane, a Navy SEAL, a true hero in this country. A lot of special things going on. Just happy.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll continue with questions.
Q. Austin, talk a little bit about the pressure that came with being in the 3, how you made it through three years plus without ever despairing you would get to this moment again.
AUSTIN DILLON: I attribute that to my family. From the very beginning, my grandfather has challenged us with everything. He’s a true hero also, starting with nothing, and making RCR into what it is today.
He pushed me and my brother to go on hunting trips that I don’t think most people would go on. So the toughness has always been there. It came from him and my dad and my mom, all my family members.
Now to be able to deliver a number that is legendary and has stats that are untouchable, just to add to those numbers is something that him and his best friend were able to create. It’s very special.
And to all those fans that have supported it, too, ’cause there’s always haters out there. There’s a lot of support, too. There’s a great support system. To deliver this to them, the people that are proud to see that No. 3 out on the track, it feels amazing.
Q. Richard, fair to say this is the most emotional race you’ve been at since the night we lost Dale? If it is, is it like what you thought it would be?
RICHARD CHILDRESS: Like Austin said, it hasn’t sank in, but I didn’t really getter incredibly emotional because I was still in shock, I think. When I looked up and seen the 3 at the top of the board, at the Coke 600, knowing my grandson was in it, how special it was for all the fans. What a special weekend here for everybody that’s gave so much to give every one of us the opportunity in this country we have. It makes it even more special.
I mean, I can’t just say really how I feel inside because it’s going pretty strong.
Q. Austin, before you came in here Richard was talking about how he wouldn’t have given this car to anybody but you, that he feels as if you have some special qualities that allow you to maybe internalize things and handle the pressure. Speak to that. Why do you feel you’re able to shoulder all of it and go?
AUSTIN DILLON: I put it on him, truthfully. Like I said, he’s taught me a lot. To be quite honest with you, this past week, we had an argument about our racecars performing, like face‑to‑face, full on argument with your grandfather.
We made it through it and we’re in Victory Lane this weekend. It feels damn good.
So just letting you know he’s not only my grandfather, he’s my boss, too. It feels amazing to be able to have a good conversation with him, for him to listen to me, and take what little advice I know, because he’s been doing this for so many years.
To give me enough respect to just hear me out, ’cause I’m a hardheaded man. I’m not going to lie. My fiancée can vouch for that. I’m going to dig until I get to Victory Lane. I’m competitive. The team that we built around me are the same way. My pit crew has been awesome all year long, so great. My team has given us everything they can get.
We add a piece with Justin. His demeanor, he had ice in his veins tonight. Make the call, let the guys go to work. Houston on top of the spotter’s stand. He never wavered. We’re racing one of the best of all time, tied with the top with all the champions, Jimmie Johnson. A place where I’ve watched him win many races here sitting in turn one. He could get through turn one better than anybody.
To come down and pass him off of turn two in a chess match of a race where it comes down to fuel mileage, it feels really good.
Q. What was the argument about?
AUSTIN DILLON: Just wanting more, man. I want to put the 3 car in Victory Lane. That’s what it was about.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: He’s won twice this week. I think he won that argument. I seen Eric Warren and Sammy Johns come in. They put so much in it. This sport is demanding. It’s demanding on your emotions. It’s demanding on what you want to do. When you get down, everybody wants to kick you. It’s tough.
We wasn’t down. I told someone the other day, I said, We’re not down, we’re just trying to figure out way to get back to know where I know we’re capable of running. I know we got the people. I know we got the equipment. Like Austin said, we may be the smaller of all the teams out there because of some of the resources. We have everything it takes to win with. We got great sponsors.
AUSTIN DILLON: That’s the truth.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: I’m not a billionaire, that’s the truth, like some of them.
AUSTIN DILLON: That’s the truth. He gives us everything you need. It’s frustrating when you suck. We had to get our stuff together. We still got work to do. We did our job tonight. We put ourselves in a top‑10 position throughout the entire night. We out‑raced them in the end.
My engineer Chavey (phonetic) talks to me about, even if we don’t have the fastest car, we need to take advantage of everything we can to be the best we can. It was cool seeing him in Victory Lane. The focus he’s given me, it’s helped me a lot in my career.
Q. A lot of people will talk about the fuel mileage gamble that won the race. You spent most of the race running in the top 10. Did you feel there was something about your team’s performance tonight?
AUSTIN DILLON: Yes. I felt like we did our jobs. We took a car that was capable of running fifth to eighth, and we took it to Victory Lane.
If we get the track position, it’s probably better than that truthfully. Times in the race where we were the fastest car. Pit crew did an amazing job. I had a really good restart and an okay restart. That hurt us. But it also put us in a position where I could be smart and save fuel.
Track position is tough. Man, that’s what the 600 is about. There’s strategy, there’s staying in the race. It’s a lengthy one. You got to keep yourself in it to win it, and we did that.
Q. How good does it feel to finally deliver a victory to the younger fans of the 3 car, the newer fans of the 3? Do you feel this victory makes you look different in the eyes of the older fans of the 3 car?
AUSTIN DILLON: It feels awesome, like I said earlier, to all the supporters that have been behind us, the 3 car. Feels amazing.
To those that don’t, I feel sorry for them because I hope it just keeps going. I hope this feels good to them, though. It’s pretty cool to see the 3, like my grandfather said, on top of the pylon tonight.
Q. How does it feel to put two RCR cars in the Playoffs? How do you approach the rest of the regular season?
AUSTIN DILLON: Not going to lie. I was jealous of Newman getting the first win. I’ve been buddying up to him lately, really talking to him, picking his brain. He’s a really smart guy. I talked to him this week on the phone, just kind of talking and trying to get ourselves better together. Grown to really like Ryan. It feels amazing to join him. Now we can take two cars to the Chase and hopefully make some noise.
Q. Austin, with all the talk about some of the younger guys in the series, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, did you feel like you were aging out a little bit?
AUSTIN DILLON: I’m the coolest one (smiling).
Q. Did you feel like you were getting kind of lost?
AUSTIN DILLON: Lost in the sauce? I don’t know. It’s all about performance. They’re going to talk about you more when you’re performing well. Those guys have been performing well. I knew we could do it and run well, but we just got to do it more consistently. When I do, I think they’ll talk about us.
Q. Austin, we saw Jimmie Johnson run out of gas. What went through your mind? How did you keep your emotions in check? You addressed the Playoffs, but Richard, after you struggled the way you have the last few years, what does having two cars in the Playoffs mean to you?
AUSTIN DILLON: Seeing Jimmie, I mean, at that point I’m super focused. I’m eyes on what ‑‑ I’m not getting too anxious, Oh, my gosh, we’re going to win. I’m trying to stay focused on what we had to accomplish.
When I saw him run out off of two, it was back to conserve mode truthfully on fuel, which is scary because you’re like, you can think about pushing it harder and just coasting to the line, ’cause there’s only two to go. Just conserve as much as I could to make it to the point I needed to, stay on the path I was going.
I never changed the direction. Once I started saving, I was really smooth letting out of the gas, smooth back to the gas, no brake. Just tried to stay as smooth as I could. I knew the laps were counting down. I knew these guys wanted me to go past Jimmie, but I knew he was right there. If I had to make it in a lap, I felt like I could do it.
It worked out. That actually kind of took some pressure off me when he ran out truthfully. As soon as that happened, I went back to my mode. They had just kind of cut me loose. I went in, caught him a bunch, then he ran out. All right, back to the mode, you’re fine. Then bring it home.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: To have two cars in the Chase, it’s great. Like Austin said earlier, we got a lot of work to do. I said this, like Justin said, this new car tonight is a step up. We just know we got to get ’em for Paul and for Ryan. I think if we keep improving like we did with this car, some of the things I know Eric and his group are working on, I think we can show a different company when it comes to going into the Chase. We’re going to give it everything we got, for sure.
Q. Do you feel now you’ve earned the right to drive the 3?
AUSTIN DILLON: I don’t know. It feel goods to me. That was the best of all time. I’m just glad to add to the legacy of it. I want to keep adding to it as much as I can.
It does feel good. It takes pressure off. Off subject, I want to thank Eric Warren, too. He’s helped me a lot. Doing a lot of different things in our shop, then with the decision to take Justin to this position. He’s always had his eye on Justin, really believed in him.
He helped me ‑‑ helped me make this decision. I’m sure it feels really good to him.
Yeah, I feel good in the No. 2 [sic], Bob.
Q. My Twitter feed after the crew chief change was all about how it’s not the crew chief problem, it’s a driver problem. This guy just whines, he doesn’t deserve the ride. Did you see any of that stuff? Does it fuel you? Does it roll off your shoulders?
AUSTIN DILLON: Haters gonna hey. They keep sipping that Hater‑Ade.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: I was on Twitter for a while. I had to get off of it because I wanted to invite them down to the Wal‑Mart parking lot. I figured it was better.
AUSTIN DILLON: Twitter trolls, you know.
No, I didn’t look at that. I’m just glad we proved ’em wrong. Feels pretty dang good. Feels good.
The only thing about Justin is I never worked with an engineer, a calm guy. He’s totally different background than what I’m used to, working with. He fits. It’s cool. This week was relatively just smooth. We didn’t argue. We talked about the racecar. That’s what I needed. I needed someone that wanted to teach me, talk about it, not tell me what was wrong with it. Felt good to actually work together and get to the point we are now.
Q. Justin, you realize you set the bar pretty high now. Going to be a lot of expectations. How familiar were you with that group when they asked you to come over?
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: With the 3 team?
Q. Yes.
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: I’ve worked with most of those guys. Being on the 27, being on the 2 XFINITY car, I worked with a lot of the guys, engineers I worked with throughout the years, just being teammates with them. I’ve worked with the pit crew. The pit crew was our pit crew on the 2 XFINITY car. I know those guys inside and out. Some of those guys were my pit crew on the 27 car.
There’s a few guys on there that I hadn’t spent a lot of time with. For the majority of the guys, I knew. I’m continuing to get to know them better. Just, yeah, I don’t know.
Q. Austin, all the talk about the 3 car being back in Victory Lane. The last time it won, 2000, you were 10 years old. Were you at that race? Do you remember anything about it?
AUSTIN DILLON: I don’t know if I was at it. I was probably playing baseball, truthfully, at that point in time. Playing other sports.
That’s a testament to my family wanting me to do other things, try things. Heck, I still ended up in a racecar. Baseball bats were a lot cheaper, I know that (smiling).
Q. Richard, you used to drive the 3 car before much anybody else did. When did you first acquire that number? Justin made the great call. Were you nervous about that or did you have full confidence?
AUSTIN DILLON: Hold on. His confidence is really funny, okay? Because he’s always got to be right on the call. So it’s a 50/50. I don’t think I would have done that after the race, but it worked out. I knew that was the right call.
He knew it was the right call Justin made, before we get this going.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: I knew it was going to work out when the engineer told me it was going to work out. That’s the reason I asked him if he was going to do it.
Yeah, I drove the 3. I got the 3 I think in, like, ’76 maybe, ’75, ’76, along there somewhere. Ray Fox, a lot of my heroes drove the 3 back then. It was a lot cheaper. Back then we had to paint the numbers on the car. I wanted a single digit. I knew Junior Johnson had driven it. He was a great friend of mine. It was a lot cheaper to put one digit on than two.
Q. How gratifying to get it 3 back at your home track?
RICHARD CHILDRESS: Yeah, it is. To have Austin in the car, have our whole family here tonight, Ty went home after he had a problem. But he called Austin in winner’s circle. That’s how close our family is. To see them all here tonight, be with him, I know how special this was to all the 3 fans out there. I’d say it was 98% of the people wanted to see us bring it back. You can’t believe how many people come up to me and tell me over the last three years how happy they are to see the 3 car back out there, to see Austin in it. It’s great.
Q. Austin, you’ve won NASCAR races before. You won at this track before. When you’re standing out on the frontstretch with your team, did being a Cup winner feel the way you expected it to?
AUSTIN DILLON: I mean, not yet, man. I thought I was going to be bawling crying. I’m making through it so far. I think tomorrow it’s going to sink in a lot, and tonight.
Truthfully, it’s a testament to God. He gave me this opportunity, put us in this situation to win. It’s unimaginable for me to be here. The great team, great guys. I love ’em all. It’s very special. Can’t believe it, man. It hasn’t sunk in. Feels really good. I can’t wait to see. I think I get to park my motorhome in a different lot now. That’s kind of cool.
Q. How much coaching went into those last 70 laps when you were going down, trying to run perfect lap times to make it on fuel?
AUSTIN DILLON: You know what the hardest thing in this whole deal is? It’s trust. Trust is a lot of it. Justin trusted me he with the skills that he thought I had to fuel save. I mean, there wasn’t a whole lot. They told me lap times that I needed to be running. They felt they were comfortable with them. They told me when guys were gaining or losing, we could save more.
Trust is the biggest thing. There wasn’t an abundance of over‑coaching. It was nice. That’s made us get to where we are.
Would you agree?
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: Definitely. Austin did a heck of a job. We told him what we needed to do, we knew how many laps we needed to make up. We told him what to do. He did it flawlessly. Honestly, it was perfect. He was able to maintain the gaps outback, not lose any track position.
Q. (No microphone.)
AUSTIN DILLON: Lucky number 3.
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: It was about 2.7.
AUSTIN DILLON: That’s my engineer (laughter).
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: We told him 3.
AUSTIN DILLON: Cool.
Q. (Question regarding being a native North Carolinian.)
AUSTIN DILLON: Feels great. There’s nowhere like home. Love North Carolina. Proud to be from North Carolina. There’s only a few of us left. I think me, my brother, Dale Jr., semi‑Ryan Blaney. He’s North Carolina, Ohio. Three, maybe four, might be wrong. Those are who I know from North Carolina.
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: I am, too, by the way. Four miles down the road.
AUSTIN DILLON: That’s right. North Carolina boys.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: Definitely proud to be. Every time you get home, it’s great. To be here and win this race with your own grandson and the 3 car is just incredible. Be a big party up at Childress Vineyards tomorrow, I will assure you. A lot of victory cuvet being drank. That is our champagne.
AUSTIN DILLON: He loves North Carolina, but we hope he spends more time in Montana (laughter). I’m just kidding. I don’t want you to go nowhere.
Q. A lot has been made of the number, the significance, all of that. Does this kind of bring it full circle from everything that happened, does it connect the circle from where Dale was to where you are?
RICHARD CHILDRESS: I’ll answer it, then you can, too.
Nothing will ever replace Dale Earnhardt and the things he accomplished in his racecar. All we wanted to do was go out and carry it on for the race fans that love to see that 3 and the Dale Earnhardt fans.
Like I said earlier, I know there’s pressure. It was hidden inside Austin, how bad he wanted to win. From the day he put the 3 on the car, I think you had the 3 on it when you played in the world series, it was on your jersey. He’s always had a 3. He’s been a big Dale fan.
It’s just special to be here. I don’t know about a connect, but it’s just so special for us to be here tonight and know what it means to everybody to have that 3 back in winner’s circle.
AUSTIN DILLON: I think he answered that perfectly truthfully. But for me and the full circle of bringing the 3 back, it started right here actually, in the room across the way. We announced we were going to do it. We had three key things happen. We had partners that wanted to support it, my grandfather wanted to put me in it, and it all worked out. Those partners that were here from the very beginning, Dow, American Ethanol, it feels so good to deliver. They had to believe in me no matter what. You can believe in somebody saying he’s good, but they believed in me.
They’ve been here every step of the way. It feels so good to get them in Victory Lane. It was a beautiful car tonight, too.
Q. I know it’s late, you’ll have the celebration tomorrow. What is the party going to be like tonight?
AUSTIN DILLON: It ain’t going to stop. Supposed to play basketball tomorrow at Hamlin’s, our All‑Star Game. He came into Victory Lane. I told him I might be a little late. I don’t know. They might have to take my place tomorrow. Could be a little upset.
Q. Richard, how much did the ECR Cadillac motor that won the Rolex 24 maybe force you out of your some success this year? How much has that helped the Cup program?
RICHARD CHILDRESS: It didn’t take anything away from our Cup program. That’s a total separate division that we work on Cadillac. We have won the last three races with it. We won Sebring, one other one, and the 24 Hours. It’s really a neat package. To get to work with Dallara, those guys over there, have Richey Gilmore, all his people involved, that didn’t take away from us.
Hopefully in the future as NASCAR changes to different style engines, all of that will help us. We just got such a great development group down there that works on that separate from everything else.
Q. Austin, you were talking about the haters, drinking Hater‑Ade. When you got out of the car here in Victory Lane, I could feel the fans. Nothing you’ve ever heard. Could you feel that? Did that kind of take all that away ‑ ‑‑
AUSTIN DILLON: It does, man. That’s what it’s about. The best guys have been hated in this sport truthfully. If people don’t like you, you’re still doing something right, I feel like, because there’s just as many that do.
It feels amazing. If they say it was a fuel mileage race, they can kiss my ring, so…
Q. Richard, on Monday it was announced that you were putting Justin on the 3 team. What have you seen of the changes you could have made, maybe somebody else you could have plugged in there?
RICHARD CHILDRESS: Eric Warren and I had a lot of conversations. I think I was out of town. I was somewhere. Eric did most of the work doing the changeover.
I knew Justin could do it. He went right over to the 2 car and starting winning. He got Paul Menard in the Chase a couple years ago, I think two years ago.
AUSTIN DILLON: Do y’all know the first time he crew chiefed me XFINITY we won. Both series he’s come to me, we’ve won. Going to NHRA next. Y’all watch out.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: Just a lot of decisions had to be made. Nothing negative at all about Slugger. We always felt it was time for a change. Slugger helped us out throughout the years. Never say anything bad about Slugger. It was just time for a change. You could hear it in their voices. You could hear it in Austin’s.
I’ve made changes. I made a change. Probably one of the first crew chief changes in NASCAR that I know of when I changed for Dale Earnhardt and Mike Skinner back years ago, put Larry McReynolds back there. I made that back in the ’90s.
You just have to make those decisions that are not always easy decisions. When you have a great group of people around you, you work with the drivers, Austin called me, we talked about it. He told me he had made his mind up. He knew that was the right thing to do. He had been talking to Justin and Eric, Sammy Johns. All of us talked about it. It was a company decision. Proved tonight it was a good decision.
Q. (Question regarding the VHT.)
AUSTIN DILLON: I think it was pretty good to start the race like that. The middle groove had a lot of speed, took away from the bottom. That’s usually dominant here. The bottom got good again. After the rain, the bottom was pretty dominant. As the race went on, I could actually see the VHT leaving the track. It was getting clean higher and higher.
We’ve got something there as far as trying it. It’s not a bad thing. I really think we should try it more often.
I think the next thing you look into is the placement of it. I feel like we needed more on the very top because the middle was really dominant, but you couldn’t really get into the top of it like you needed to. That would be my next shot at it. It’s not a bad thing at all. I like it.
Q. Justin, three laps, whatever it was, at what lap total was it that you would make that call to decide to stretch it? Is there a number, a gut feeling?
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: We knew as soon as we pitted there with, I don’t know how many, 67 or something to go, we knew we were 2.7 short. When you figure that out, you have one of two choices. You can figure out how much you need to save, how many laps you need to save, or you can run hard and hope there’s a caution comes out.
A lot of those guys up front with the leaders, they just ran hard. We ran hard for the first 10 laps. We knew it was going to take about 50 laps of saving to get to where we needed to go. With 50 to go we told him what he needed. He did his job.
Q. Before today, where would you have expected to get your first win?
AUSTIN DILLON: Charlotte has been a really good place for us as far as winning the XFINITY Series. I feel like I can get around here pretty good. I don’t know. Pocono was really good for us last year. I felt good about this track, always have. Testing here one time I found something in the way I needed to run it.
This track has been really good to me. I don’t know if it’s ’cause I’m from here or what. Learned something a couple years back that helped me get around the track, as far as lift points, what I needed to know. I know what I want in the racecar. Try and give that information to Justin.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
AUSTIN DILLON: Thank you, guys, for staying here.
RICHARD CHILDRESS: Thank all the press for all you do for NASCAR.
JUSTIN ALEXANDER: Thank you.
Connect with Team Chevy on social media. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TeamChevy, follow us on Twitter @TeamChevy, and add +TeamChevy into your Google+ circles.
Team Chevy racing photos are available at:
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 115 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.
