MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
PRE-SEASON MEDIA AVAILABILITY
CHARLOTTE MEDIA TOUR
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 23, 2018
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at the Charlotte Media Tour and discussed his expectations for the 2018 season, and more. Full Transcript:
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: There’s a lot of youth, for sure. Within that youth, there’s a lot of guys that have been doing it for a long time. I think the guys coming in will do just fine.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: He doesn’t drink, so… I might have beer while he has a water or something.
But, no, we have talked about it some. Actually there’s some similarities in how he got started. He finished second a lot before he won a race, too. Kind of weird. But I think I’ve run second almost as many times as he has before he won his first race. I think that’s probably the biggest similarity we’ve had so far. I’d have to start winning a lot and do really good before we can talk about any other similarities from this point forward.
Definitely a similar start, although he got started at an older age. That whole dynamic was different than how it is now. So yeah, a little bit.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I don’t know a ton about him. I was born at the end of ’95, then he died right there at the beginning of ’96. I don’t remember him by any stretch. Definitely have heard a lot of great stories and have always been appreciative of the kind of person and the reputation that he left with.
I think everybody always remembers him as being a great guy. I think that kind of speaks for how he was raised, and my family being a part of that, too. I think it’s pretty cool. Wish I’d had the chance to get to know him and whatnot. I think we probably would have been pretty good buddies from what it sounded like.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: On the championship year, heck, it was a great year. I don’t think any of us really expected to go out and win races that early and compete for a championship. But kind of the way all the stars aligned that year, it just worked out really well for us.
We ran really good at the beginning of the year. Didn’t run as well through the midsection of the season. But it was good enough to get the drivers championship. Wish we could have had the owners championship to go with it really. That’s really the last piece of the puzzle that year that I would have liked to have had, is to beat the other guys for the owners championship. That would have been a huge feat, I think, even bigger than what we accomplished just because you know you beat the guys, the Cup regulars that were coming to race each week, which is pretty cool.
Me going to do Dover again, I would love to go beat those guys. We outran them a few times, but not enough for the owners side.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Well, I mean, I certainly appreciate the kind words from him, for sure. He’s a guy I looked up to, a guy that’s helped me a lot. My time at JRM, he was there that same year. I spent a lot of time talking to Kevin. We’ve had our differences on track from time to time, but I still look up to him. I still appreciate his advice and support.
Definitely pretty cool and hope it’s genuine and not just words.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: I don’t really. I want to do well for all parties involved, not just for the sake of the sport. I want to do my thing, do the job that I think that I can do for my guys and my team, the job that they deserve.
I really don’t, to be honest with you.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Sure, I care about the sport, absolutely. I think it would be a great honor to have. I don’t necessarily think one person is. I think that the sport is a sport because there’s a lot of different names and faces that make for it. There’s guys that people like and there’s guys that people don’t like. That’s what makes the sport, not just one person that everybody likes.
As much as you may think, not everybody liked Dale. That’s just the facts. Most people did. The majority did. But a lot of other people have other drivers, too. It’s not just about one person.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Well, you never know what tomorrow brings, much less a couple years down the road. But I think I’m fortunate to be in a situation where Mr. Hendrick put a lot of trust in me to do well. He’s had a reputation, his company, of winning, winning championships, winning races. I haven’t really done that for him. I’d love to do my part. I don’t feel like I have to this point. Earn my place, earn my keep there at Hendrick Motorsports.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: No, I mean, definitely not. It is kind of strange, although I think people forget that Bowman has about as many starts as I do. He’s been around as long as I have, but a lot of people don’t remember it.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: No, Jimmie, there’s nothing you can give him a hard time about. The guy does everything great. He’s a good guy. He’s a great friend. I mean, I don’t know what you want to give Jimmie a hard time about.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: I don’t. I would say Uncle Jimmie is about as far as I’ll go. He’s a caring uncle.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: I haven’t been on it or run it. I really don’t know. I watched the test, watched some guys test there. Interesting to see that. But until you get out there and go run, I mean, I think it will be like any other road course, to be honest with you. It looks a little different than our average road course, but I think the racing will be pretty similar.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: This season? Heck, I think just the obvious: try to win a race. Starting year three, I think at this point I ought to know how to do that much at least. Think that I’m capable of doing it. I think we’ve had the speed and the ability to compete for wins. I think we’ve shown that on more than one occasion.
Just a matter of actually doing it. Sound like a broke record, but you just got to go do it. We’re capable. Just got to make it happen.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: I just think there kind of comes a point in time. I think there were times not just in that situation that I was a little taken advantage of, how I raced people, maybe with too much respect at times. I think that’s what he was getting at with that comment. I do think there was probably some truth to that.
At some point you either stand up for yourself or you continue to get taken advantage of. I’d rather choose option A over B.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: No, I don’t think so. I mean, the true supporters are going to be there and are going to be supportive. Some people might think, Oh, just a marketing scam, which was really not the case at all. It was just opportunity and a question that I was asked that I wasn’t going to turn down.
Heck, if I was outside looking in, I’d love to have a new hat just because I think it fits me better.
Q. What does the number on the side of the car mean?
CHASE ELLIOTT: It being what it is is special to me just because of the history I’ve had with it. Obviously I would have never chose that number to start racing if it wasn’t for my dad. I have a lot of history with it myself, with our championship in ’14, all my short track races, was all in that number.
There’s a lot of time I’ve spent with the number, a lot of photos and races and things that I’ve run with it. It’s just kind of home to me. Always been my favorite number. If you could choose your favorite number to race, I think everybody here would, wouldn’t you? So yeah.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: I hope it’s not a downgrade, for sure. The car looks better, so that’s an upgrade in itself.
I think until we get racing and really see how we stack up when we get to racetracks and we get to consistently going. I think until you get to that point, it’s so hard to tell whether or not it’s better or worse. When you’re out there running by yourself at test sessions, it’s just a false representation of speed. We’ve gone to tests over my first two years, and we’ve been really good at tests. I’m like, I can’t wait to get back to this race. We come back, it sucks.
I don’t think that’s a fair judge because it’s just a false representation of what goes on.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: None that I’d tell any of y’all.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Heck, I think William is so far ahead of me, anything I’m going to tell him isn’t going to help that guy out. Heck, he’s gotten in everything. I don’t think he’s lost in anything he’s got in to this point. I don’t expect him to start losing now. I think he’s a very committed person in general, and he’s willing to work and do what it takes to be good.
Frankly, I don’t think there’s anything that he’s going to learn from me.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s awesome. I think the car looks great. NAPA has kind of changed up their look for 2018, which I think has a lot of excitement around it. I’m excited to kind of carry that flag for them the first time, have their look different and fresh with a new number. Great time to do it. Car looks good. Hopefully it’s fast.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Well, it’s not, but I guess it kind of looks like it. I’m still zero in how many ever races I’ve done. Unfortunately, those stats will always be there.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: No, I could see him saying that, but he’s never told me that personally.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: I haven’t talked to him. I see him around sometimes, around town, but I haven’t actually spoke to him in a little while.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: It was devastating. No, I wanted to. But, no, that was a bummer, for sure. I was there. I got to go. I was at the SEC Championship game. I thought, Man, this would be really cool. We test at Texas the next morning. I got in bed at 2:30 the night of the ballgame, I was up at 5:30 to go to Texas and test all day. It was a long day, unfortunately for nothing. I don’t know.
To have a chance to be there and watch them win the national championship would have been really cool. I don’t regret going or being there. I hate the way it ended up, but it could have been the coolest thing ever.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: I called in some backup that morning. I got some hours on the plane to sleep.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: She’s a big Alabama fan, I guess. For some reason she didn’t go to school there or anything. A lot of people like Alabama. I like winners, too. What do you do?
Q. Kevin Harvick talked about how the schedule needs some more diversity on the schedule. Are there certain kinds of places we need to go back to in the Cup Series?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean heck, yeah. There’s a lot of great tracks that the short track world goes to. The fairground to me in Nashville kind of stands out the most. I don’t know why that is. That track just stands out to me. I think it would be a great race.
There’s a lot of places that would be a great race. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will ever happen. But I do think it would be really cool. If the opportunity was ever there, I’d be as big of a pusher as anybody to get to some of those places.
But I don’t see it.
Q. The missing element to getting that first win, theories as to what it might be?
CHASE ELLIOTT: If I could fix it, buddy, I would. I’m going to keep trying. It’s not from a lack of effort in my mind. The results in the past haven’t made me want to give up any.
I’m going to keep trying as hard as I always have. Hopefully at one point, it will work out for us.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, that was definitely a bummer. I think what happened at the 500 kind of set the tone a little bit for what was going to happen I guess later on in the year.
That race was just so much fun, the closing laps, racing for a win down there, having a shot. Car was still rolling in one piece, which is hard to do down there at that race. Just try to get to the end obviously is tough. That’s goal number one.
But people say, You had it won, it was almost over, which was really not the truth. We still had a handful of laps left. We were kind of parading around the top at the time when I ran out of gas. That wasn’t going to last much longer.
Would have loved to have tried and see what would have happened. I was excited. Those laps were closing down, I had somehow talked everybody into riding up by the wall for a little while. The race had gone green there for a good minute. I knew it was fixing to get busy. Ran out of gas.
Hopefully we can be in that position again and have it work out for us.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, there’s nothing I can do about it now. There’s really no point in harping on it in my mind.
Definitely there were some bummers. I think the Dover race was probably the biggest bummer of all of them because I felt like I could have done more that day to change the result more than the rest of the days. A lot of people don’t understand, my frustration is the worst when I know I could have done something different to change the result.
I don’t know what I would have done any different at Martinsville. I don’t know what I would have done any different at Phoenix. I think we were kind of handed the cars that we had on those days. I don’t really know what me or my team would have done to change the result.
So, yes, there’s no point in continuing to harp on it. You just got to face it for what it is, get ready to try again.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Not a ton. I know her. I see her around, but I don’t personally work with her.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yes, she is. I think she’s been a good addition. Like you say, she’s got a lot of knowledge in the aero side of things. I think probably had a very big role in this new car. Excited to see how it plays out.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I think so. I think there’s definitely no more of replacing somebody or anything, any of those comments. I guess in a way. A little more comforting just knowing that was kind of the background I came from, kind of the area in which I feel the most home in a number. When it’s your favorite number, I guess you feel that way a little more than another one. I can see that a little bit.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: The steps to not letting that happen is just don’t let it happen. Whatever it is, every circumstance is going to be different. It could be something small. It could be a restart at a certain point in a race. You know the guy is going to try to take you three-wide or whatever just because of who you are. At some point in time, if you stop that from happening enough, he’s probably going to think twice about doing it to you.
I think that’s just what goes around comes around. I think if you stop somebody from taking advantage of you enough, they probably won’t do it any more.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I would say a little bit. There’s a fine line because you can’t be a rookie and do the wrong things and piss the wrong people off because the people you could potentially make mad by doing that have been around long enough where they don’t feel like you have the right to be that way. In some regard they’re correct.
I think any rookie that comes in anything will be the first one to tell you. My rookie year I probably did some things that were not quite correct. I haven’t been doing it forever, but in my next year or so I viewed some things differently than I did in my first year.
I think as you stand up for yourself as time goes, the rest of those guys will probably pay more attention to you than if you were a full blown rookie.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
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