MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 11, 2018
KEVIN MEENDERING, CURRENT CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 1 CAMARO SS AT JR MOTORSPORTS AND 2019 CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 48 CAMARO ZL1, DRIVEN BY JIMMIE JOHNSON, ALONG WITH JEFF ANDREWS, VICE PRESIDENT OF COMPETITION FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, met with members of the media at the Hendrick Motorsports campus. Full Transcript:
SO HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE BACK IN THE BUILDING AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Oh, it’s great. I’m excited for this opportunity for sure. I mean I couldn’t think of a better situation to be in than to work with Jimmie, a seven-time champion, it’s a dream come true.”
ARE YOU A SPORTS FAN?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Yeah, absolutely.”
HOW DO YOU HOPE TO AVOID THE SCENARIO WE HAVE SEEN IN OTHER SPORTS KIND OF THAT COACHING TYPE DEAL?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “I think my background with the company, I have worked here for 16 years, I know a lot of the systems, I know a lot of the people. I think that is going to be a huge asset for me. Our goal is to hit the ground running. When we unload at Daytona we are going to be there to win the race and our ultimate goal is to get Jimmie that eighth championship.”
YOU WORKED A LOT WITH STEVE LETARTE. STEVE HAS TALKED A LOT ABOUT WHEN HE CAME JEFF GORDON’S CREW CHIEF, JEFF SAID LOOK YOU JUST HAVE TO TREAT ME LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE ON THE TEAM. STEVE SAID YEARS LATER THAT HE DIDN’T AND HE FELT LIKE THAT HELD HIM AND THE TEAM BACK. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN A SIMILAR SITUATION?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Jimmie his personality he is a natural leader. I think everybody looks up to him. I think just his personality, my personality, he is so easy to work with. He really is just one of the guys when you are talking to him. I think he’s just very easy to talk to. Our communication just this short time of us working together, talking, I don’t know he’s just so down to earth and so level-headed it’s just really easy to communicate with him.”
WHAT ABOUT WITH THE TEAM?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Obviously, they have a good foundation here with the team. I’m looking to come in and put my footprint on it. Obviously, I have a certain approach to things. I’m here to try to build the team and take it to that next level. I think a lot of it is establishing communication with Jimmie. I think that is probably the biggest thing we need to work on or establish early on is just understanding what Jimmie needs. I think with all the resources I think the company has made big strides here the last half of the season. We are just going to keep building on that and take it to that next level.”
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT YOU WANT FANS OF JIMMIE JOHNSON AND THE NO. 48 TEAM TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “I think I’m very hard working, very driven. I want to win races just like Jimmie does. We didn’t reach this level just being complacent. I feel like I’ve earned this position. I’ve worked hard and it’s my goal to take this team and take Jimmie and win that eighth championship for him. That is the biggest thing. It’s a little surreal to be put in this position, but I’m excited. There is a lot of history with Jimmie and this No. 48 team and just to be a part of it is exciting.”
ARE THERE ANY NERVES?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Oh yeah, for sure, but like I said, we’ve got such a strong organization here, so many smart, important people backing you and the resources are just phenomenal, so that definitely helps.”
WERE YOU MORE SHOCKED TO HEAR THAT JIMMIE AND CHAD WERE BREAKING UP OR MORE SHOCKED THAT THEY ASKED YOU TO CREW CHIEF THE NO. 48 CAR?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “(laughs) I have worked alongside Jimmie and Chad for a number of years when I was with the No. 88. We were in the same building and we all know they have had their times of disagreements and stuff. I mean, they have had a lot of success, they have been together a long time and I think over the last year and a half… they are both very competitive people, they want to win and when they are not seeing the results they want I think they both look at this change as an opportunity to make the organization better and themselves better.”
WAS THIS A GOAL FOR YOU TO GET BACK OVER HERE AND HAVE A CREW CHIEF ROLE WITH ONE OF THE CUP TEAMS?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Yeah, absolutely. When I started here in high school at 16 years old this was my goal. I’ve kind of worked my way up through the system. I went over to JR Motorsports and yeah, my intention all along were to get back here and be a crew chief.”
DID YOU EVER THINK YOU WOULD BE THE CREW CHIEF FOR A GUY WHO HAS SEVEN CHAMPIONSHIP, GOING FOR EIGHT AND CAN MAKE HISTORY?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “No, you never… obviously that is a dream come true. Yeah, I don’t think you ever see yourself in that situation, but man I’m excited. Like I said, it’s a great opportunity, I couldn’t think of a better person to work with than Jimmie. His level of professionalism and how he treats his guys and I’m just excited.”
HAVE YOU RUN A 5K BEFORE? HAS JIMMIE SET A TIME FOR YOU TO GET ON YOUR NEXT 5K?
KEVIN MEENDERING: (LAUGHING) “No, I’m sure that’s coming.”
ARE YOU ON STRAVA?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “No.”
IS IT INTIMIDATING TO BE PUT INTO THIS ROLE? DO YOU EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE IN THE FACT THAT THERE ISN’T GOING TO BE A LOT OF PATIENCE, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO EXPECT YOU AND JIMMIE TO WIN AND DO IT SOON?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “I by no means feel like 2019 is going to be a rebuilding year for the No. 48. We have full intentions to come out swinging and competing for wins. Obviously, yes, it’s a high-pressure situation, but I feel like with the preparation and resources we have here, that is a big help for reducing that. You just have so many people surrounding you that you don’t feel like it’s all on you. And then, I feel like Jimmie does a great job of, I don’t want to say carrying the team, but he steps up big time in those situations. I think it’s a good fit for me.”
IF IT COMES DOWN TO JIMMIE AND WILLIAM AT HOMESTEAD WHO IS GOING TO WIN. CHAD KNAUS SAID HE WAS. ANY PRESSURE ON YOU TO BEST CHAD?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “I mean, I have worked with Chad a long time and I have a ton of respect for him. Obviously, we are teammates and I’m going to use him as a valuable resource. He has worked with Jimmie for 17 years, so I’m going to try and pull all of the information I can out of him. Yeah, but when it comes down to Homestead, yeah, we want to beat them.”
CHAD KNAUS WAS SAYING THIS ISN’T GOING TO BE LIKE THE NO. 24/NO. 88 SWAP IN 2011. HAVE YOU FIGURED OUT CREW WISE HOW MANY GUYS WILL BE HELD OVER OR HOW MANY GUYS YOU WANT TO BRING IN?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “No, I mean I don’t want to come in here and break up the foundation they have. I feel like they have a strong team. I just want to build on that. I think that is our goal. As far as the No. 24 team, Jeff can probably answer that.”
JEFF ANDREWS: “No, our goal, unlike the swap before that you mentioned is basically the crew chief is just going to go to a different hauler and the team and the driver and Kevin (Meendering) will be in the No. 48 and Chad (Knaus) and the No. 24 team will become the No. 24. That is the plan we are going forward at this time. As with any off-season, there are changing and this person or that person who desires to come off the road for this reason or that reason, so we expect the normal amount of movement within all of our teams as we continue to adjust and make tweaks, but for the most part on concept it is just different crew chief with the different team and driver.”
HOW IS WORKING WITH JR MOTORSPORTS HELPED YOU PREPARE FOR THIS?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “I think there are a lot less resources there. There are a lot less people. You have a lot more responsibility on you. You have a lot of different tasks. You become very well rounded. You have to deal with a lot of situations. Obviously, I have worked with Elliott (Sadler). He has been a great help for me, just furthering my career and he has taught me a lot for sure. He is a veteran. He has been in a lot of situations, so that has been a big help. I just think working with a veteran driver like that has probably been the biggest asset.”
JIMMIE TOLD US EARLIER TODAY THAT HE HAS HEARD FROM OTHER COMPETITORS THAT YOU ARE THE GUYS AND GAVE THEIR VOTE OF APPROVAL. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “That means a lot. I feel like I have always tried to let my actions speak louder than words. I am not very outspoken. I’m more of a put your head down and grind kind of guy. I think people respect you for that and that means a lot.”
HAVING BEEN AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS BEFORE DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO GET TO KNOW JIMMIE?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “I have been around him a lot. We haven’t had those personal one-on-one conversations a lot, but I mean, yeah, we are going to have to work on that, but really he is so down to earth and so easy to talk to that has come really easy so far in the short amount of time we have been talking.”
JEFF ANDREWS: “One of the first times we got these two (Jimmie and Kevin) together to start talking about their future together they started going down this trace back and they got all the way to Michigan and the fact that Jimmie actually stayed at a relative of Kevin’s house across the street from Berlin.
KEVIN MEENDERING: “I think Jimmie’s first ASA race; my uncle was the crew chief on it. So, it’s just funny how things come around.”
DID YOU UNCLE HAVE ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO DEAL WITH JIMMIE?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “No, at that time I think it was his first stock car, circle track. He has come a long way.”
WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU GOT THE CALL?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Just excited. It’s a dream come true. It’s something you always dream about and you hope for and it’s something you work hard for every day. It’s something I strive for. It’s just a dream come true. I’m excited.”
HOW DIFFERENT WAS IT WORKING AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS VERSUS THE RESOURCES AND PEOPLE AT JR MOTORSPORTS?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Obviously, you can’t discount the resources that Hendrick Motorsports gives them. It’s just from the day to day working it’s a smaller group. You’ve got five guys on your team. It’s just a tight knit group. You make your wind tunnel list, you take your car to the wind tunnel, it’s just you put yourself in a lot of situations where you wouldn’t necessarily have that at a big team. You just have a lot more on your shoulders. Obviously, these guys do a lot for us, but at the same time they are trying to win races too over here and that is their main focus. They are a big asset to us for sure.”
WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING ON YOUR SHOULDERS TO GET ELLIOTT SADLER A CHAMPIONSHIP IN HIS FINAL SEASON?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “That is 100 percent of my focus the rest of the year is on that No. 1 team trying to win that championship for Elliott. I mean there is nothing more that we would want to do than send him out on top. We have been so close the last two years and we want to get back there and be the champions. That is 100 percent my focus. Once that is done I will get to work over here.”
WHAT HAVE THE LAST TWO YEARS BEEN LIKE FOR YOU?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “Well, the first year I was suspended. So, it was a little different. Last year, just being so close it just makes you want to work that much harder. Seeing the disappointment in the guys on the team and Elliott you just want to get back there and do a little better. I don’t want to say try harder because you are putting everything you’ve got into it, but you just want to win that championship.”
WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE FOR YOU GUYS?
KEVIN MEENDERING: “No, those guys with the wins they have they have distanced themselves obviously, but we are also coming around to some very good tracks for Elliott. We kind of through that summer stretch with the road course and stuff that is not really our strong suit as a team, but now we get back to Kansas, Texas, those are really good tracks for Elliott and I don’t see any reason why we can’t make it to Homestead.”
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