MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 17, 2018
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW NORKOOL CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway and discussed his strong run last weekend at Michigan, racing at Bristol and many other topics. Full Transcript:
YOUR PERFORMANCE LAST WEEK WAS PRETTY GREAT FOR YOU GUYS AS A WHOLE. DO YOU GUYS HAVE MORE OF THAT AND IS THAT THE FIRST OF WHAT YOU WILL SEE FROM YOU GUYS IN THE PLAYOFFS?
“Yeah, you know, obviously that was a big run for our team there at RCR and ECR. Everybody back at the shop has been working really hard to turn the Camaro around for our side of things. We have seen some speed from other guys throughout the year and we have been close. We have had some qualifying runs that were positive, but we weren’t able to relate it to the race. I think last week we proved that we could relate the speed in qualifying to the race and that is huge. Great momentum coming up to some good tracks for us with Bristol, Darlington, finishing with Indy leading into the Playoffs. I definitely think if we carry this speed into the Playoffs we are going to be in a good spot.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE FRUSTRATION LEVEL OF WHAT A TEAM GOES THROUGH WHEN YOU START THE YEAR ON SUCH A HIGH? CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE GONE THROUGH TO GET TO HERE?
“We built a team that is very competitive as racers go on our team every one of them is a racer. Yeah, it’s frustrating when you start it at such a high at Daytona and then you have some struggles. We actually had a good run at Fontana like two weeks after Daytona. So then, momentum is still pretty good there and then you have a slump where we weren’t as competitive as we need to be. We found kind of where we were at compared to where we needed to be as far as the cars went and we went to work on them. We weren’t as good as we needed to be on some things and we got them better and it’s showing up late in the season and I think it should carry to the end of the season at this point. You’ve got to continue working in the areas that matter and that is what we are doing.”
DID YOU GUYS DEFINITIVELY DETERMINE WHAT COST YOU THE TWO SPOTS AT THE END OF MICHIGAN AND I KNOW YOUR CAR AND SOME OTHERS WENT TO THE WIND TUNNEL DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF HOW YOU STACKED UP?
“The first answer is yeah, we did a lot of work to figure out what happened the last lap and we took the tire down and we broke a left front belt. I’ve got a picture of it, we got lucky that it made it back around, so I was at the Goodyear Tire Test (in Texas) and they saw the picture and they just kind of put it on fatigue because we had 77 laps on our tires. I don’t know. That is just kind of frustrating, but it is part of the game I guess. Glad we made it back around and only lost two spots from it. But that was that reason.
“Wind tunnel, yeah, I don’t get any of those numbers yet. I don’t know when they will be released, but our guys felt like we were better than the last time they took the cars to the wind tunnel as far as stacking up against people is what they felt, I hope.”
ON RACING AT BRISTOL:
“Man, I love it. I think it definitely puts some more… throws another wrench into the fold as far as like the ability to move your race car around as passing. I really didn’t enjoy when everybody was stacked against the top and you had to force your way to the top. Now, there is at least another place to go. Off the bottom though has been preferred halfway through the race and then it seems to move up and then you see some other good racing where people are just everywhere on the track because some of that VHT gets tossed to the middle and there is some grip there for a little while. It’s very similar to a dirt race in my opinion. You are just driving an asphalt car carrying a lot more front grip than you do at a dirt track. I love chasing that rubber around and that grip. It’s a lot of fun here.”
IT WAS ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK THAT YOUR WIFE WHITNEY IS TAKING PART IN THIS REALITY SHOW. DID YOU AND THE TEAM HAVE TO SIGN OFF ON THAT? ARE YOU CONCERNED AT ALL IF THAT COULD BE A DISTRACTION?
“I haven’t really done much in it. I’m just kind of letting her do her thing and they are having fun with it. It hasn’t affected me at all. I’m not really in on it. So, just kind of letting her do her thing.”
YOUR TWO CUP SERIES WINS HAVE COME AT TWO OF THE BIGGEST RACES IN OUR SPORT. WHAT HAS THAT EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE? WHAT RACE OR RACES ARE NOW ATOP YOUR BUCKET LIST?
“It’s very special the two wins that we do have. Like you said, they are amazing wins, couldn’t ask for any better wins. As far as the next win, I mean, any track truthfully. I cherish all of them, but I truly love coming here, Bristol and then the next one, Darlington and Indy. So, these next three are some great tracks. So, you have the night race at Bristol, the Southern 500 and Indy, so these next three are three of the top in the sport. I love this little run right here before the Playoffs start. So, those would be the next ones. That would be a big one on my bucket list. Just want to improve each and every week. Michigan would have been a huge win if we could have pulled that off and going to Victory Lane is good anywhere.”
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