NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
GEICO 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 18, 2020
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 REALTREE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the Homestead race, his expectations for this Sunday’s race at Talladega, the progress he’s made thus far, his view of the point standings mid-way through the regular season, and more. Full Transcript:
TELL US ABOUT LAST WEEK’S RACE IN HOMESTEAD
“We had a fairly uneventful day at Homestead. Going into that race that was a track that a lot of people on our team knew that if we got it pretty close, we’d have a pretty good shot at having a good day there. It’s just something about that race track that just clicks with me. I thought I used to need a little bit of practice just to get the high-side working, but apparently I really don’t even need that to get comfortable. It’s just a testament to the team and the effort they’ve been putting forth. This was a race we had circled and unfortunately we couldn’t really totally take advantage of this race track at this event and get a little more out of it. But, still we got a good finish. We got stages points. And, we had a good, solid night of not really making any major mistakes. That’s something we need to build on, and hopefully we do.”
COME SUNDAY, WE’RE HALFWAY THROUGH THE REGULAR SEASON. SINCE NASCAR’S RETURN, YOU’VE HOVERED BETWEEN 15th AND 20th IN POINTS. HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE POINTS RIGHT NOW?
“I would say Charlotte was going to kind of show the trend of where the points were kind of going to start heading, and after the 600 I was pretty happy with where things were going. We were tied for 15th with Jimmie (Johnson) and then Jimmie came to life and a couple of these other guys did, too. Unfortunately, we had two not-so-good races and lost some ground. We weren’t far from being in the top 12, which was what I was trying to strive for just to try and get in that first through 12th draw at these races where sometimes, a little bit of track position can help you if you don’t exactly have the car you need. Honestly, at Martinsville we weren’t terrible at the beginning of that race, but if we start 24th, I don’t know if we don’t go a lap down there at the beginning of that race. So, drawing as best you can is important. And all you can really do to control that is to try and be in that first to 12th draw for starting position. I was trying to get there. After the 600, it was within reach. We were only like 20 points out of it, or something. That’s what I told myself, anyway. But now, it’s obviously a lot different. So, I’m trying to pay attention to it just because it determines our starting position.”
AFTER THAT FABULOUS RUN YOU HAD AT HOMESTEAD, WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAST LAP?
“I don’t know (laughs). I guess I for some reason, going into Turn 1 with two to go, I thought it was the final lap. I must have seen an imaginary white flag waving above my head because I was just convinced that was my last shot to pass Ryan Blaney coming to the line. I just hoped he was going to make a mistake. As it turned out, we were coming to the one to go. Yeah, I wish I could blame somebody. I wish I could say something, but I don’t know. I just missed it. I thought it was the end of the race. I really don’t have an explanation. I’m just very thankful that all the men and women at RCR make really fast race cars. We were about six or seven, or whatever seconds it was, ahead of Aric Almirola so we didn’t lose a spot.”
AS SOLID AS AUSTIN DILLON HAS BEEN ON THE RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACKS, WHAT KIND OF ONE-TWO PUNCH DO YOU THINK YOU’LL HAVE THIS WEEKEND AT TALLADEGA?
“It’s hard to say. I like the direction that our cars seem to have started to trend. They had good speed at the superspeedway at Daytona. We’re going to rely on, we’re taking more power away again, with the bigger tapered spacer, smaller holes; so that’s going to change things. The air ducts. How the air comes through the nose and comes up the sides, that’ll kind of change the approach that we’ve had at the superspeedways a little bit, too. So, I don’t know. Obviously whoever can survive, I think is still going to be there at the end. But, it’s nice to know our cars have had speed. We can get a little bit of damage in certain areas and still be able to stay up in it. It’s just going to come down to decisions and just avoiding the big wrecks as they take place and just trying to make sure we’re in the correct position to do so. If me and Austin can get together at the end of that race, within 10 to go, and not have damage, that’s going to be really good for us.”
WHEN DID YOU REALIZE IT WASN’T THE LAST LAP AT HOMESTEAD? HAS IT BEEN A SOURCE OF COMEDY AROUND THE SHOP OR IN TEAM MEETINGS?
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been getting picked on quite a bit. But, it’s all good. Every time it gets posted on another page in social media or (other) media puts it out, I’m good with it. I’m fine with it. It’s funny. It was just good that we were running that high and something like that happens and it can be talked about.
“It was about the time I let off the button. I was thanking my crew for a great day. I was apologizing for not getting one or two more spots. And as soon as I let off the button, I think my eardrums almost blew out. It was just so loud. Yelling and then it clicked. And then I look up and I see the No. 10 (Almirola) coming up and I’m like oh my gosh, this is not happening. Fortunately I didn’t like drive it into the fence and wreck coming to the checkered flag. That would have made matters worse. But, we avoided that, for sure. It was pretty funny.”
YOU ARE USED TO THE NOTION OF NO PRACTICE. HOW IMPACTFUL IS THAT ON A SUPERSPEEDWAY SINCE YOU USUALLY HAVE DRAFTING PRACTICE. HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT THIS WEEK THAN FOR A REGULAR RACE?
“Everyone has an idea of what a good speedway car for them has been. But, the different amount of power we’re going to have, no air ducts, is kind of a shift with no practice. We just are going off of simulated numbers and data points off of a car that was set up in a cooler condition and obviously, different circumstances. So, it’s going to be quite interesting. But, I think a lot of people will just bring what they know works. And normally you see people bring a good piece and they’ll try some things in practice, whether that’s drafting or a single car run; obviously, none of that. So, I think we’ve been pretty good at getting the cars on the money, but it just adds an extra layer of what-if’s. What if someone’s too loose that first run? It just opens the box for even more uncertainty. And I think it’s made the races interesting. It’s made all the folks at RCR work really, really hard to bring a really good starting point for our cars, which I think, we’ve had more times than not.”
WOULD YOU PREFER, AT A TRACK LIKE TALLADEGA, TO HAVE A PRACTICE?
“I’ve done a bit of plate racing throughout my career, but nothing compared to the veterans of our sport. But, everyone knows when it’s time to go and when they need to pull back, even though it doesn’t appear that way sometimes on our end, in the driver’s seat. But, I mean, it was originally planned, and when there’s one track just like that, they’re really doing everything they can to discourage using a back-up car. You’re probably not going to go out there an experiment in a practice session. Yeah, we’ve had all these rules changes, but honestly, we’ve been doing just fine without practicing everywhere else. That adds a little layer to it, like I said. So, I’m okay without having the practice. When you go to a place like Martinsville, and the first time you hit the brake, you don’t know if your brake vibe is set where it need to. You either know it’s your front tires that lock-up or if you have wheel-hop. So, it’s the same kind of level of uncertainty in a way.”
YOUR TEAMMATE (AUSTIN DILLON) BECAME A DAD OVER THE WEEKEND. HAS HE BEEN HITTING YOU UP FOR PARENTING ADVICE OR HAVE YOU HAD ANYTHING TO SHARE WITH HIM?
“We talked about it a little bit as it’s gotten closer and he’s asked me about just certain things that I would have thought to think about before Alexa and I had (a baby). I knew he was going to have his hands full with the whole day on Sunday with having Ace come into the world and then leaving the hospital and flying to the race track and racing; and then going home and getting thrown right back into daddy duty. So, we did our debrief over Zoom, like we are here on Monday. He was holding Ace for a little bit, and at the hospital, and jumping in and out of trying to help when needed with the nurses or whatever was going on. I texted him once or twice. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I knew how I felt a couple days in. I asked him how he was doing and I think he used the word I’m just absolutely delirious. And, I’m like, I get it. I was the same way. You’re used to sleeping normal hours. Every two hours, the baby is up or needs something or the doctor is coming in and out. It’s chaos. But they’re home. That for me, was one thing when I kind of calmed back down. You’re in your own home and can get back in your own routine. But for him, we’re going racing Sunday. So, it’s going to continue to be interesting.”
YOU ALLUDED TO THE RULES PACKAGE BEING DIFFERENT ON THE SUPERSPEEDWAYS NOW, AND OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF THAT WAS IN RESPONSE TO THE ACCIDENT AT THE END OF THE DAYTONA 500. DO YOU ANTICIPATE DRIVERS BEING A LITTLE MORE CAUTIOUS THAN THEY WERE AT THE DAYTONA 500 AND OTHERS IN THE PAST?
“No. I don’t think so. For possibly the worst-case scenario to happen to someone like Ryan Newman, and for him to be okay, just goes to show how safe these cars are and just how crazy we’re able to get into them and get away with it. But, granted, that was a scary situation. There was a lot of uncertainty around it. But, the car held up. He’s still with us. He’s still racing like the old fashioned Ryan Newman. So, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s going to change much. The cars themselves are going to be a little bit slower. I honestly think as crazy as this sounds, I think there’s going to be more aggression now that we have less power and the drag ducts are out. It’s going to change how the cars drive. I think the aggression is going to be even higher, actually.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE COMING INTO YOUR OWN IN THE CUP SERIES?
“I would like to say yes. But, I know how quickly you can fall out of that groove and how easy it is to get down. We had a couple races where we weren’t bad, but we wanted to run better than we were. And a lot of these races, since we’ve been back, we’ve been going to tracks that have been really good for me over the course of time that have been really good for me. And, we’re getting ready to go to tracks that I’ve had trouble with at times. The real test is coming, I think, in the second half of the regular season for us. But, I like what we saw at Homestead. It’s just going to drive our team to work that much harder. Hopefully we can continue to keep overcoming these challenges. But, it’s going to definitely be tougher the second half.”
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