NASCAR CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 27, 2020
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the last race of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway, what it’s going to take for him to make the Playoffs, his confidence going into the Coke Zero Sugar 400 with his superspeedway experience, and more. Transcript:
RICKY, YOU’RE ONE OF THE FINEST SUPERSPEEDWAY RACERS THAT WE HAVE IN ALL OF NASCAR. HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY COMING UP THIS WEEKEND AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY?
“Yeah, we’re excited about it – the whole team is. Everybody has been working hard on our superspeedway car – been polishing on it, massaging on it, getting it ready to go. I know that I’ve got a lot of confidence in what they build, and what we brought to Daytona earlier in the season was obviously really good, really fast and drove good. We were up in the top-five and I made a mistake – went below the yellow line there on the back-straightaway. It really cost us a shot at winning the Daytona 500. But then we showed up to Talladega, put ourselves in position and just came up a couple inches short.”
LOOKING AT THE STARTING LINEUP FOR THIS WEEKEND, YOU HAVE A PRETTY GOOD GROUP OF CHEVY’S BACK THERE WHERE YOU’RE AT. ARE YOU LOOKING AT THAT LINEUP AND TALKING TO THESE GUYS BEFORE THE RACE GETS GOING OR ARE YOU LETTING THINGS JUST FALL INTO PLACE WHERE THEY DO? THERE’S A PRETTY GOOD GROUP OF DRIVERS BACK THERE ALL DRIVING CHEVY’S.
“Yeah, Jim Campbell and everybody at Chevrolet generally get with us and just kind of have a general talk of superspeedway strategy – trying to work with our partners at Chevrolet and our other teammates. But then also, we kind of let the cards kind of play where they fall. Sometimes you’ll find yourself in the mix. I’ve re-watched the Daytona race and there were a lot of times where I was the only Chevy in the top-10. At that point, you just have to pick and choose who you want to draft with. You run the whole race and kind of figure out who’s your drafting partner – who you draft well with, who you can keep track position with and who’s on the same strategy. Kind of let the cards fall where they fall, but also help your other Chevrolet teammates as well.”
DO YOU SEE DAYTONA RACING ANY DIFFERENTLY WITH A LITTLE LESS HORSEPOWER AND THE CHANGES THEY MADE GOING INTO TALLADEGA?
“Yeah, I’ve re-watched the 500 and I re-watched Talladega, just trying to see those differences. Obviously, both racetracks race a little different in itself. I don’t see a whole lot of difference. I think you’ll be able to keep your track position a little bit better if you’re at the front of the field. The runs won’t be as big and so you might be able to block a little bit easier and keep that track position with Daytona being a little bit narrower. The difficult thing at Talladega is that it’s so wide. You block one run and they can kind of go the other direction and have enough room to do that. Track position is more key at Daytona with as tight as it is.”
THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A SHOT AT THE PLAYOFFS. CAN YOU BE MORE AGGRESSIVE? DO YOU TAKE MORE RISKS SATURDAY NIGHT THAN YOU DO IN THE DAYTONA 500?
“For me, I race every speedway race the same. I felt like we had a good strategy going into the 500 – be up front in all the stages, get stage points and just put yourself in the right positions to keep track position when it comes down to the end of the race. You don’t want to start a stage in the back – I think you definitely need to be up front. If you’re in the back, it’s not a killer, but it’s definitely going to make it a little more challenging. We’ll try to keep our track position, race aggressive and just stay up front. I treat the stages similar to the end of the race – kind of practice my moves, especially if I’m in the top-five, what moves can I make to get to that green-checkered finish at the point of where I want to. Gain positions and see if I can practice that twice before we get down to the actual checkered flag.”
WITH YOUR SUPERSPEEDWAY EXPERIENCE, THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF TALK WITH YOU THIS WEEK THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY BE THE BIGGEST SPOILER WHEN IT COMES TO THE PLAYOFFS AT THE SUPERSPEEDWAY RACE. HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS REGULAR SEASON FINALE FOR YOU COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS REGULAR SEASON FINALES YOU RACED AT RICHMOND AND INDIANAPOLIS?
“Yeah, I think obviously we have a lot better shot to win here than we did at Indy or Richmond in those final regular season races. But, to me, I don’t really feel like I’m going into this race any different than I would if it was in July. I still feel like the July race is our opportunity to make it into the Playoffs. Yeah, it’s kind of a little more dramatic with it being the final race of the regular season and it’s super nerve-racking for those three that are trying to get in on points. So, they will be tiptoeing around and making sure they get to the end, but stage points are also critical for them. It’ll be kind of crazy, as far as that scenario goes – that playoff bubble. And then if somebody like ourselves or somebody outside of the playoffs get a win, I think that’s kind of the thing that’s exciting – makes it come down to the final lap in the last race of the regular season because there’s multiple people that can win and move somebody out of the playoffs.”
DO YOU THINK THIS REGULAR SEASON FINALE COULD BE THE MOST DRAMATIC ONE WE’VE EVER HAD SINCE THE START OF THE CHASE IN 2004?
“Yeah, I think so. There’s some big Richmond races that were pretty dramatic – I don’t know if we’ll top some of those, some controversies there. As far as throughout the race, who’s in and who’s out, I think that changes a lot. Especially with different leaders at different times and the points going back and forth with those three, it’s going to be crazy all the way down to the finish. I think it’s going to keep everybody on the edge of their seat, for sure.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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