NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA DAY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 12, 2020
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Daytona 500 Media Day Highlights:
YOU ARE NOT A SURPRISE ANYMORE, ESPECIALLY AT THIS RACE. WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS GOING INTO SUNDAY?
“Obviously, our team has a lot more speed than we’ve had from when I was here last year. There has been a lot of gains that have been made through the off season thanks to the new Chevrolet body that has been put into place this year. I’m really excited about it. But also because of JTG Daugherty’s hard work and guidance from everyone there. I’m really excited about going into the Daytona 500 knowing what we have and the speed that we have. It’s really exciting stuff.”
HOW BIG WAS IT FOR STENHOUSE JR. TO GO OUT AND GET THE POLE?
“It was good, that’s awesome. We knew that he had a lot of speed in practice and we felt really good about our car, too. It’s really exciting to know that you can play some offense for sure and all that hard work that went on during the off season is really paying off.”
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR 2020?
“I have high expectations all the time, especially what we saw there. A lot of people try to manage their expectations. I think if you aim low, you’re going to finish low. If you aim high, you’re going to finish high. Last year was a learning year, for sure. I’m really excited about being on the side with Trent Owens, the guidance of Trent and everybody over there. It’s exciting, so I have high expectations.”
WHEN IT COMES TO HIGH EXPECTATIONS, IS IT WINNING? IS IT TOP-FIVES?
“What you saw in qualifying, why couldn’t you win? Your team just qualified for the pole for the Daytona 500. We made a lot of gains from where we were last year in single-car speed. So, do I feel like if everything worked out, do I think we could win? Yeah, I feel like we could. When we go into Vegas, I’m excited to see the gains at the 1.5-mile program to really know where we’re at, what we’re dealing with and the gains we need to make. I feel like we could be a team that can definitely contend to make the Playoffs and win some races.”
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“Absolutely. I think it’s important to find speed at all the intermediate tracks. If you can be solid at one or two, you’re going to pretty much make that transition to most of them.”
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“I’m somebody who wants to win at the end of the day, obviously like most people do. I want to contend for a win and I feel like we have definitely been building towards that for what I need. We’re getting there. You just have to manage your expectations and know the victories at the end of the weekend of what your making. I’m definitely really excited about going into this year.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK IT’S GOING TO TAKE TO CONTINUE TO GROW THE CROWDS?
“The biggest thing I noticed at Volusia, what they do at the dirt track compared to some of the stuff they do at asphalt tracks, is that they keep the show moving. I think a lot of places can take note on how a show is done, a lot of people don’t want to be sitting at a race track at 11:00 p.m. at night; from 5:00 in the afternoon to 11:00 at night. They want to get in there at 6-6:30 p.m. and be out of there by 9-9:30 p.m. I think if that’s something we can do on that side, it will probably help the attendance a little bit. The shows are exciting, they are. That modified race, even though I wasn’t battling for the lead, the race is won in the last six laps. I think you just have to work on the show of being less than three or four hours.”
LAST YEAR YOU WERE ABLE TO DODGE THE CRASHES. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO TOP THAT THIS YEAR?
“Hopefully do the same thing as last year and maybe play out that last lap a little different. Really, all the holes were open at the right time, and hopefully we can do the same thing and have the same luck.”
RACING OVER AT VOLUSIA, DO YOU THINK THAT’S A GOOD CONNECTION FOR THE NASCAR FANS AND SHORT TRACK FANS?
“I think a lot of the people that are here, if they have nothing going on during a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday night, I think it’s a great opportunity for them to go see where some of us come from; how we grew up racing, fighting tooth-and-nail to get to where we are now. I think it’s always good if some of the fans here can go over there and enjoy that type of racing, and really see what we’ve all gone through to get here.”
HOW DOES RACING THE MODIFIED KEEP YOU SHARP ON THE NASCAR SIDE?
“When we’re winning, it’s great. Right now, we’ve just been on a struggle over there. The first night, we weren’t fantastic. We ended up fourth, probably was going to get third in a lap or two. Last night, we made a lot of changes. If it was a dirt track, it was a slick track and I was ready for a tacky track. So, it wasn’t very good. I’m hoping we can turn things around tonight and win. That’s what I really look for in racing; being competitive and winning.”
WHAT HAVE YOUR EARLY THOUGHTS BEEN ON WORKING WITH RICKY STENHOUSE JR.?
“Obviously, this is a totally different animal right now, just with how practice has been going. But the dynamic that him and Brian Pattie have, how they work together and how well they do together speed-wise, it’s great. I like Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.), I’ve known him quite a while. I haven’t really hung out with him or anything prior to this year, but I feel really excited about some of the stuff that I feel we’ve learned moving forward and the speed we have.”
AS INCREDIBLE AS HE IS AT RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACKS, DO YOU FEEL LIKE THERE ARE SKILLS THAT MAYBE HE CAN SHARE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU TWO TRY TO TANDEM LIKE MOST TEAMMATES DO AT DAYTONA?
“Yeah, I’ll have to talk to him about that. With our nose being a little pointier compared to others, I just don’t want to hook somebody into the fence. I don’t want to put anyone else in that position. When I go to do it, I’m going to be really smart about it. We’ll just see. I will talk to him because there are a lot of things, when it comes to the air, I get all that. I’m just a little bit not as impressive with that style of racing at the beginning or the middle of the race. I’ll tend to get more aggressive probably in the last 15 or 10-laps than most people do. There is a lot to learn.”
AFTER HAVING A YEAR UNDER YOUR BELT, DOES IT MAKE IT EASIER COMING IN HERE AND KNOWING YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH THIS, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DO, WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO GO? DOES IT HELP YOUR CONFIDENCE?
“There are a lot of things I do different at superspeedways in the last year. Even though we had a great day here at the Daytona 500, if I could have played the air a little different, we could have been even better. Last year was certainly a learning year, for sure. But I feel really excited about knowing the gains we’ve made and being with Trent (Owens) and those guys and the notebook they have.”
DO YOU THINK SUNDAY IS GOING TO BE A REPEAT OF THE CLASH?
“As far as the blocking goes, I think you’re going to have guys that are aggressively trying to block those runs. With the tandem, it’s going to be tough to do that. I would think there’s probably going to be a little bit more wrecking than normal. Being able to accumulate those runs and if they block them and somebody doesn’t lift, you’re going to have contact. I think it’s going to be exciting.”
DO YOU THINK THERE IS GOING TO BE MORE TANDEM?
“Seeing that it’s possible without getting somebody out of shape, I think it’s possible.”
THERE IS SO MUCH ATTENTION ABOUT DIRT TRACK GUYS BRINGING ATTENTION BACK TO THE DIRT TRACK AFTER THEY MAKE IT TO THIS LEVEL. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE CARRYING THE FLAG FOR MODIFIED RACING IN THE WAY THAT IT’S GOING TO DRAW MORE EYES TO IT IN GENERAL DOWN THE ROAD?
“I’m trying. I would say that dirt racing is really lucky to have guys like Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and some others carrying that flag for them to really push it. I’m from asphalt, I didn’t quite necessarily come from sprint car racing. So, I’m doing the best I can to really bring attention to asphalt racing, asphalt short track racing and asphalt modified racing. As long as people can help me do it, I’m all for it.”
