MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
SONOMA RACEWAY
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 21, 2019
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights:
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE CAROUSEL?
“I didn’t even get a chance to look at it before I spun out. I got out and went up Turn 3 and thought man, these tires are cold and I spun out. So now, that is now the top of the board for the most embarrassing moment because we were just cruising around. We were just kind of cruising. Putting stuff together and the next thing you know, I was looking at the dirt. And I was like all right. Here we go. We got it out of the way.
“But, it’s interesting. It’s almost going to be like kind of tiptoeing through the Roval. In watching all the races, it’s cool to watch Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt go at it there. But, it’s different now. So, we’ll see. We’ll just have to mind our P’s and Q’s and be on our toes the entire time. It’s a lot different attitude for me this year versus last year. I’m out here having fun.”
WHAT SIMILARITIES DO THE CAROUSEL AND THE ROVAL HAVE?
“They’re both kind of off-cambered once you get towards the exit a little bit so that definitely can translate over. It’s a little bit faster here and you don’t have a wall right next door like you do at the Roval. So, you can carry a little bit more speed there and you can carry a little bit more aggression through there. There will be some side-by-side and some beating and banging a little bit. But, meantime, you get really wide over the hill so it’s easy to lock-up rear tires and put yourself in a bad spot, which is just spinning out and losing a lot of track position. This is a real road course. You’ve got run-off room. If I would have spun out in the first four corners of the Roval, we’d be in a back-up. There’s no runoff at the Roval. Trust me, I’ve tested every corner (laughter)”.
HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE HEAT? DO YOU ENJOY RACING IN HOT WEATHER?
“I sweat when it’s 50 degrees out. I’ve always done that. For me, I’ve never done anything extra to take that extra step to make sure I’m hydrated for the hot races. But I do remember Chicago being the hottest race, by far. So, I will be watching the temperature and taking that extra step like I didn’t before.”
WAS THAT THE HOTTEST YOU’VE EVER BEEN IN A RACE CAR?
“Yeah, Chicago I think was the hottest. The 600 was hot, but it was just long and hot. But, I remember trying to take a shower right after the race and I turned it on cool and like my body went into shock and my feet felt like they were about to fall off from aching so bad. I was screaming. I didn’t know what was going on. So, we turned on hot water for about 10 minutes and I was grabbing towels and scraping skin off it was itching so bad. It was really weird. The skin didn’t come off but all-in-all, I will be more prepared so that won’t happen again.”
ON THE NEW SPONSORSHIP PARTICIPATION
‘If you look at the last month of racing, you would have thought it came at Charlotte but we didn’t announce until Pocono. It could even be a couple more weeks really. I think what we’ve been able to see is kind of like that weight lifted off our shoulders where we can go out and just go race and not have to worry so much about putting ourselves in a bad spot. Still, we want to be mindful about what the situation is, but for us it’s like okay, we’ve got an opportunity here. Let’s get through these four or five races since Charlotte, which all ended-up doing well. The two finishes we didn’t deserve was Michigan and the 600. Other than that, Pocono was solid and the All-Star weekend was really solid. We look back on those and we get pumped-up and excited about them. We could go to Chicago next weekend and have that same type of run. We’re not talking about Top 10 runs. We’re talking about Top 20 knocking on the door for Top 15 and that’s a good day for us. That’s nice. It’s a level story. I’ve adjusted my levels for the last couple of years and it’s those little victories that keep you coming back and I’m excited for the direction that we’re heading. We’re starting to get some more people on our car and more personnel back at the shop and that always helps. It’s all about putting those pieces together and coming up with a good platform.”
AFTER YOUR PERFORMANCE AT THE ALL-STAR, IS EVERYTHING STARTING TO CLICK?
“Yeah, I think so. We didn’t do anything special. We just showed up and had a good run. We had some momentum on our side. So, momentum carried over. And then we kind of went up and down. We had some internal issues for the 600 that we crossed-off Monday morning right after the race. We had a really good race at Pocono. We finished 20th or 21st or whatever and had a shot at a top 15 there, which is a good day. We look at those at where we should have ran, yes; but how we ran all day are the positive signs for us. At Michigan, I got in the wall there late and that put us behind. We could have finished 15th. It’s nice to have a shot at picking up a good amount of spots.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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