MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
PENNZOIL 400 PRESENTED BY JIFFY LUBE
TEAM CHEVY POST FINAL PRACTICE PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 2, 2019
DANNY STOCKMAN, CREW CHIEF, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media following the final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session where the No. 3 Camaro ZL1 was fastest on the speed charts. Full Transcript:
YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN REALLY FAST THIS WEEKEND:
“Yeah the car is pretty good. We had a good test here a month ago. There are a lot of other good, fast cars. It’s just so tough this Cup Series with all these great drivers and all these really good teams. It’s so close and getting the balance right is super important and that is what we worked on right here in Happy Hour. I think we are close. We need to be a little bit better. The speed is definitely there. We need to be a little bit better drive ability, but me and my engineers will work on it and we will get it right.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR TEAMMATE GOING TO BE THIS WEEKEND WITH DRAFTING COMING INTO PLAY?
“You know, I don’t know… nobody knows. I think what is going to be really important is how good your car drives and if you have a teammate there at the end you might be able to utilize him, but I feel like you better have a good driving car and if you don’t you are going to be in a world of hurt like we were last week at Atlanta. You are just going to have to have a good car and have speed to go along with it and be there at the end.”
DOES IT COME DOWN TO A DECISION ON QUALIFYING WELL OR RACING WELL OR CAN YOU FIND THAT BALANCE?
“No, I think everybody comes here in qualifying trim and really works on trimming speed out and all that stuff. You can walk through the garage area and definitely notice that. I think there is a balance between speed in qualifying and race trim and you’ve got to hit both. I feel like we are close on that this weekend.”
ON THE OPTIONS WITH THIS NEW PACKAGE:
“There is definitely an option. It’s important to have a really good driving car and it’s important to have a fast car when you only have 550 horsepower. There is a balance you’ve got to hit that balance and whoever hits that balance will be in Victory Lane on Sunday I feel.”
SO, YOU THINK ADAM STEVENS IS GOING TO HAVE HIS CAR TRIMMED OUT (DANNY STOCKMAN AND ADAM STEVENS (CREW CHIEF FOR KYLE BUSCH) DID POST PRACTICE MEDIA AVAILABILITY IN TANDEM):
“I don’t think he is trimmed out. I think he has a really good driving car, I think he’s got a really good driver and a bad ass team. Same goes with us. We’ve got a really good car this weekend. The Dow Chevrolet is fast, it drives pretty darn good and we’ve just got to hit the balance right.”
DO YOU HAVE TO THROW SPEEDS OUT THE WINDOW LIKE AT A RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACK?
“I’d like to add that it’s not as easy as it looks. These cars are so aero dependent right now that you get on somebody’s bumper, they get tighter than they ever have. It is super important for the driver to position himself right on corner exit to make sure that he doesn’t shove the nose. Your balance and your car have to suit that. It’s definitely not easy. There is a lot of thought process going into all this stuff this year. Rule changes make a lot of work for everybody, but it’s fun in the same sense.”
ON TIGHT QUARTERS IN PRACTICE:
“Yeah, I mean I think we are all learning. Every time we hit the race track, we are learning and as the weather changes things are going to change. The biggest thing in this sport that we can’t necessarily predict perfectly is the weather. It’s going to be tough. It’s not easy.”
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