MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FOOD CITY 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 5, 2019
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 BLUE-EMU CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway. Selected questions and answers.
WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM IS AT THIS POINT IN THE YEAR? “We are kind of behind. I think the biggest thing is dollar signs and over the years we have kind of tip-toed around that, but that’s enough of that. We are kind of behind on money. It’s all about being up front and being blunt. It’s coming down to a crucial time. I mean we just have to start running better. I have asked why would new companies want to come in and sponsor the No. 43? You can play the racecar number all you want. You will get a lot of attention, sure. But, for me, I’m competitive and look at results and new companies don’t understand that. The more money you spend, the better you do. It is hard to get their heads wrapped around that. Certainly not knocking the partners we have now. We are very thankful for every opportunity that comes our way. World Wide Technology jumping on for most of the season. The Air Force is there, so that’s nice. I keep saying we are doing a lot with a little. We look at practice speeds, and we are bottom half of the 20’s. It doesn’t look good at all for sure. It drives me up a wall. But we have to look at who we are around, and we are around the cars we are racing with in the points.
“Will we ever have the speed of the big teams? Yes, when we go to Talladega and Daytona where we are all equal. Other than that we just have to keep doing what we can. We are all working hard. I’ll keep working hard.”
HOW HARD IS IT TO STAY POSITIVE? “I just have to carry a positive light. I have to go back what my Mom always said, ‘Don’t give the media anything negative to talk about.’ So I keep putting a smile on my face no matter how mad I am.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THE NEW PACKAGE AT TALLADEGA?
“Who the heck knows? We had three Chevrolets test at Daytona, and we were stupid fast around there. I know we are getting a new car for that race just because of all the new packages and changes that are going into it. But just like this weekend, we don’t know what to expect from it. Nobody went out on the bottom lane just because it was so bad. Qualifying will be different. I don’t know if Xfiniity cars got down on the bottom, I didn’t watch. But if they brought the groove in, then it will be a totally different game from first practice for us.”
IS THE COMPOUND MORE FRICTION BASED? OR DOES THE SUN HELP IT TOO? “I think a little bit of both. Any kind of heat, and then you start wearing it in with friction and getting the tires mixed in with it will definitely help. There are a lot of variables.
“This track was good for me last year. It was the highlight of my season. Not sure where we were in practice, but we have a good race car. Qualifying is qualifying. I’m not the best at qualifying. For the race we will get it dialed in tomorrow. So it is hard to talk about what we think about the race because we haven’t been in race runs yet. We will get it dialed in tomorrow. So like I said. Get the balance dialed in and go have some fun on Sunday. And see if we kind of inch up in points.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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