NASCAR CUP SERIES
1000BLUBS.COM 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 12, 2018
DARRELL ‘BUBBA’ WALLACE, JR., NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK/PETTY’S GARAGE CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway and discussed his thoughts on the 2019 rules package, returning to his “home” track Talladega Superspeedway and many other topics.
Full Transcript:
THERE IS SOME INFORMATION FLOATING AROUND OUT THERE THAT YOU DON’T NEED TO GET IN ANY TROUBLE THIS WEEKEND BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE A BACK-UP CAR:
“Yeah, out of all the speedway races we have had we have run okay, but then the cars are totaled at the end. That is part of it. So, yeah, we are just going to go out and do our own deal until the race
starts. That was new news to me going into this weekend. I was like ‘oh alright’.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS OR WORRIES AFTER SEEING WHAT HAPPENED TO KASEY KAHNE IN THE SENSE THAT HE DOESN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING THOSE ISSUES? HAVE YOU TALKED TO HIM AT ALL?
“No, I haven’t thought about it. I texted him after that announcement was made and I told him I was praying for his future and hopefully everything gets a lot better with that. But, I am focused
on the next two years and trying to make the most of it and rebound from where we are at right now to put us in a lot better spot. With whatever obstacle comes in-between that you just have to have a strong faith to be able to get over it and get through it all. No matter what comes at you, you’ve got to be able to persevere, but when it’s stuff like that, it’s stuff you can’t help. Kudos to him for sticking up for his health and not being selfish. I would be selfish about it and be wanting to drive and you don’t know where you would end up at the long end of that road. I hate it for Kasey. I enjoyed racing around him, racing with him, but as of right now I’m worried about just coming out of here (Talladega) alive and in one piece.”
TALK ABOUT YOUR 90’S THEMED BIRTHDAY PARTY THIS PAST WEEK:
“It was a good time. My birthday was Monday and we were kind of trying to figure out who was working, who was not. Amanda (girlfriend) had Monday off and she took a half day off so we kind of prepared for Tuesday night. About a month out didn’t really know what we wanted to do. Her and I we don’t really go all out for our birthdays. I was like, ‘eh it’s a quarter of a century, the big 2-5’ and she just kind of ‘what about a 90’s party’ and I’m like sure, why not. So, she created the invitation, sent it out. I think 25 percent of those people read the invitation that said bring your best 90’s outfit. And then I had to text everybody else to make sure they were coming like ‘hey are you coming, you got your 90’s outfit’ and they are like ‘oh, yeah’, but I was actually surprised at how many people participated in the 90’s theme. (Daniel) Suarez was like ‘this is what happens when you just click yes and don’t read the invitation’ he just came in regular street clothes. He still had a good time, but all-in-all a great night, a long night. I think it was 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., I don’t know, but we brought it in right, good times.”
WITH THIS BEING KIND OF A HOME TRACK OF SORTS FOR YOU WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO COME BACK HERE TO TALLADEGA?
“Yeah, it’s good to be back. The weather is awesome. I walked out of the house this morning in shorts and a t-shirt and quickly went back inside and put on a pullover and these pants here. And then I get here and I’m like I need to do the opposite. It’s great. I feel good vibes already as soon as you step off the plane a whole crowd of fans right there at the doors of the hanger there to greet us for autographs and stuff. It’s shaping up to be a good weekend. I’m excited.”
WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE REMOVAL OF THE DRIVER TRACKBAR ADJUSTER FOR 2019?
“We have that adjustability right now? I didn’t know that, never used it. I came from the Xfinity side and I swear I didn’t use it for like the first four or five races, never touched it. It’s the crew chief and the crew’s job to get the car right. I don’t need any adjustments inside the car. It will be fine.”
WHAT DO YOU AND THE TEAM NEED TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE?
“Money. That is, it. Money is the root of all evil and success for us. We just need a partner and we have great partners right now with World Wide Technology for a brand-new sponsor to come on-board and to take a big leap with us is big. So, they have done a lot for us. STP, Air Force, Click N’ Close, and we have had a number of great partners throughout the year to get us to where we are at, but we still need more. We want more funding to help our speed, help all resources that go into making a race team successful. For us right now though we are ‘balling on a budget’ we will go out and finish out these next six races the best that we can. We have a new car coming here in a couple of weeks, so we have some good things coming it’s just a matter for having a little bit of luck on our side. I was just glad to be able to finish Dover last weekend and now we can kind of get through this weekend, hopefully unscathed and then get the last five I would say into a smooth consistent roll into the off season. And then get really prepared for when February comes around.”
DOES THE DAYTONA 500 AND ALL THE GOOD TIMES YOU HAD THERE SEEM LIKE A LONG TIME AGO?
“That was a long time ago. There is a lot of racing, this schedule first rookie year with the Cup schedule it’s a long schedule. I know that was a while ago, but we still relive those moments, those
little highlights of success I still relive and think about constantly. It’s kind of off in the distance, but it seems like you can just reach out and view it all over again.”
THOUGHTS ON THE 2019 PACKAGE:
“I don’t know. I think the changes going into next season is going to be interesting. Yeah, we got a taste of it at the All-Star weekend. We ran really strong with it, but it made it seem kind of easy
and so, I think NASCAR they definitely took that into initiative. We had the meeting we had for the Roval weekend with (Steve) O’Donnell and (Steve) Phelps and Ben Kennedy was in there we expressed our concerns about that. I said, I don’t know if I made a LeBron (James) reference again, but I said doesn’t feel like you have elite status of being at the Cup level and they said, they understood that 100 percent. The biggest thing that stood out to me, a lot of things stood out, but if it’s not the right way they can scrap it. It’s easy fix they can scrap it and go to something else. This is not like we are set in stone. We can get through two races and if it’s not the ticket we will go back to… I don’t know if we will go back to what we have this year or try something totally different. But, hats off to them for trying something different. Look at the stat that (Brad) Keselowski broke, I keep referencing this but since 2016 he was the first driver to win on a 1.5-mile at (Las) Vegas, right? This year? Since Harvick and Truex (Jr.) and Kyle Busch, so got to change up something.”
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