NASCAR CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
August 28, 2020
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KCMG CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed his focus on winning at Daytona this weekend to make the Playoffs, what it would mean to win, how the season has gone thus far, Rookie of the Year battle, and more. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT YOUR MINDSET HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND AT DAYTONA
“Well, it’s very straight forward. There’s not a lot of distraction. I’ve got one going and that’s to win the race. So, there’s not a lot of cloudiness to it. It’s just very straight forward. I think 160 laps is the scheduled distance. We could see a couple of overtimes but hopefully the last lap is completed under green flag conditions and we take home the checkered flag.”
AS YOU FIELD WHAT COULD BE SORT OF A HAIL MARY PASS TO GET IN THE PLAYOFFS. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR AGGRESSIVE STYLE? DO YOU RAMP IT UP AND CAN YOU RAMP IT UP AT DAYTONA?
“Well, I think for me, it’s just to go out and treat this like a normal race. Obviously, we all know what’s at stake. We have to win this race in order to make the Playoffs. But, there’s really no other weird way I guess I could end up losing it, you know? I’m not going to lose it on points. I’ve got to just go win. And that’s very simple. So, for me I’m just going to go about this race how I normally would. I don’t feel like I have to hold back and lay back. I think from the very get-go, we just go and see what our car is capable of and start working with the different cars around us and hopefully finding friends and people that I want to work with. And be in that position most of the day and understand what it takes in our car and what it’s going to take, condition-wise, to put ourselves in the best spot to win.”
DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT A CRAPSHOOT IT IS? DOES THAT GO THROUGH YOUR MIND MUCH OR DO YOU JUST FLUSH THAT OUT AND GO DO WHAT YOU DO?
“I don’t think it’s a crapshoot at all. A lot of drivers and fans and teams and individuals all claim throughout the many years that this style of superspeedway racing has taken place, it’s all luck. When I go back and look through history and when I look at more recently, Denny Hamlin and his domination and ways he’s been able to go out and win races; and Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano; and even back to Dale Earnhardt and some of those greats, it’s not luck. They know what they’re doing, and they have a very thought-out way of going about winning this race and how they want to dictate the race the entire event long. So, for me, that gives me hope. It’s not a crapshoot for me, it’s what is the best strategy for me to go out and win this race; and with the conditions we’re faced with, it’s very straightforward. Just go compete all day as hard as we can.”
ALONG THOSE LINES, HOW RECKLESS CAN YOU BE TO GO FOR THE WIN WHEN IT COMES TO A PLAYOFFS SPOT? AND, IS IT ANY DIFFERENT THAN WHEN YOU’RE THERE IN FEBRUARY FOR THE DAYTONA 500?
“Honestly, it really shouldn’t be. The end result that you want is still the same. Granted, the Daytona 500 is very high-up in a lot of drivers’ lists for different reasons than this weekend. This weekend has always been a big race for drivers to win before it was put in the position that it is now with it being the regular season cutoff. So, I don’t think you approach either much differently. The conditions of the track will be different, and we’ll be racing at night. But I think you approach them pretty much exactly the same. The 500 is a little bit longer and it’s the first race of the year so there’s a sense of a new season and make sure we know how to race. But we’ve been back racing for a while now. So, all of us are not really concerned about that.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON AND DENNY HAMLIN SAID EARLIER TODAY THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME DISCUSSION AMONG DRIVERS ABOUT SOME SORT OF RESPONSE ON SOCIAL ISSUES AND KENOSHA. YOU HAVE BEEN PRETTY VOCAL IN THE PAST. HAVE YOU BEEN PART OF ANY OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS?
“I haven’t made any recommendations. But, as other drivers have noted, it’s very disturbing what has been taking place in Kenosha. It’s important for us to stay caught-up and continue to educate ourselves about what is going on in this world and, what can we do to make it a better place. As drivers in this position, we have a lot of people that look up to us and I feel like it will continue to be important for us to just press the importance in of educate yourselves and look into what’s going on around you. How can we all make this world, this country, a better place together.”
THE NO. 8 CAR HAS HAD SOME GOOD RESULTS AT DAYTONA. DO YOU THINK THE AURA OF THAT CAR AT DAYTONA AND YOU BEING IN IT IS SPECIAL? IS THAT SOME OF WHAT HAPPENS THIS WEEKEND OR IS IT JUST A GO-GET-IT ATTITUDE AND DON’T WORRY ABOUT THAT?
“Well, it would be very special for me to get my first win at Daytona. It’s a track where I got my first Truck Series win. I broke through in some really crazy fashion. I think we still have the closest finish in NASCAR history here, which was a lot of fun and really intense with my teammate at the time, Elliott Sadler. So, to me, I have a lot of motivational pieces that I can pull on at any time I want. One thing that’s always motivated me coming here, especially since getting into the Cup Series is I want to be the first driver to win in all three series at Daytona. That’s important to me. What’s also important for me is winning for my team and the No. 8 car. You know, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving this No. 8 car was a car and driver that I looked up to; I had hung on my walls in my bedroom as a kid. And so, driving that number and then driving for Richard (Childress) is another thing that just is a lot of motivation for me. So, a lot of things and I can continue to go down the list. But you get the idea. A lot of motivation going into this weekend and being in Daytona and being in a Cup car and being in the No. 8 Cup car and having a chance to win and get in the Playoffs, it’s got a lot of things I can really pull on if I need the motivation. But I’ve been pretty motivated all week.”
IS IT TRUE THAT YOU RENEWED YOUR CONTRACT WITH RCR FOR NEXT YEAR ALREADY?
“Well, yeah it was a multi-year agreement, but it was one of those things where we got hey, you’re going to come back type of thing. So that was good to get. As we all know, this year has been very crazy in a lot of different ways for a lot of different people for racing. There’s a lot of uncertainty for next year you know, what’s going to happen with just the sport in general and what direction it’s going to take; the partners and everybody involved are all wondering, as they should be, what’s the future and what are we going to do going forward with NASCAR. So, once we got to that point where I knew I was coming back it just so happened I got asked about it and, it kind of turned into a bigger article that it probably should have been; but yes, I am coming back. It was just one of those things. You want to make sure you’re running good. You want to make sure you’re doing the right things. We have been doing that pretty well this year. So, we’ll get another shot at it next year.”
SO, WAS IT ORIGINALLY A SINGLE-YEAR WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO RENEW IF BOTH PARTIES AGREED ON THAT? IS THAT HOW IT WAS ARRANGED FOR YOU?
“Well, it was like a multi-year I guess with opts-out if things weren’t going right or stuff like that. So, that’s the best way to put it.”
HOW WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR FIRST YEAR HAS GONE SO FAR? WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF WANTING TO IMPROVE? WHERE DO YOU THINK THE COMPANY NEEDS TO PICK UP?
“I don’t think there’s, I guess, one area where I feel like we need to I guess, pick-up. It’s just (crew chief) Randall (Burnett) and I are just continuing to learn about these cars and trying to find our comfort zone. Obviously, the easy answer is to say well, if we just make our cars faster and handle better, we’re going to win more races or we’re going to run better. We’re always looking for ways to make our cars better. We’re always looking for ways to improve them. ECR is working very hard all the time to give us the best that they can under the hood. They’re always working to improve that. So, that’s kind of a given. But we’re going to keep working on it.
“I keep trying to hone-in on what my, I guess, little comfort zone is inside one of these Cup cars with the set-up too. So, it’s just been a learning process. For me personally, I’d say the biggest things I’ve needed to work on is maximizing pit road entry and maximizing pit road speed and getting in and out of the pit box. Opportunities to work on that have been all but removed with no practice. So, that’s been one area that has hurt me at times. But we’ll just keep pressing on all these things and keep going forward. I don’t think it’s anything that isn’t too hard to fix. I think it’s all very fixable and all very easy to continue moving in the right direction.”
AS AN ATHLETE, WHEN YOU SEE THE POWER OF ATHLETES AND WHAT THEY’VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS WEEK AND SPEAKING ABOUT SOCIAL INJUSTICES EVEN FURTHER THAN WHAT’S BEEN DISCUSSED THIS SUMMER, WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR YOU AS AN ATHLETE TO SEE THAT TYPE OF POWER? DOES THAT HELP YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN SPEAK OUT EVEN MORE ON THESE ISSUES?
“Yeah, it’s important for us, as athletes. It’s kind of like what Jimmie (Johnson) said earlier, some people feel like we just need to stick to sports and talk sports and live and breathe it, but we are human beings and it’s our right to share how we feel about certain things. And for me, these are things we need to keep improving upon. It’s great to see athletes and individuals come together like they have, and really take a stand for something like that. For us in NASCAR, I can’t speak for NASCAR I guess, but we will continue to search and figure out our way of continuing to go down that path. We really did a lot of good things to be more inclusive as we kind of got our year back rolling and we’ve continued to go down this path this year. We’ve taken a lot of steps that are good in the right direction. So, I’m encouraged that we’ve been going down that path and I’m excited to see where that path continues to take us. But it’s truly moving to see those athletes and individuals stand up for that and take that stand. And you know, there’s more to live than sports. There always will be. Life is life. And I think it’s really great to see them stand up for something like that and put their foot down. So, I’m looking ahead and am curious about what we will do, but we’ll do it in our own way just like NASCAR kind of does with everything.”
WITH EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENING AND WITH HOW AWARE THAT YOU ARE OF THESE ISSUES, IS IT DISTRACTING TO THINK ABOUT THIS AND STILL TRY TO LOOK AHEAD TO THE NEXT RACE AND TRYING TO GET IN THE PLAYOFFS? HOW ARE YOU DEALING WITH THESE THINGS THIS WEEK ON A PERSONAL LEVEL?
“Well, it is crazy. These things can happen to anybody. And it is very disturbing like we’ve all seen in Kenosha. Two different people getting treated in very different ways. It makes you always wonder how did we get to this spot. What’s good is the people responding and being avid and continuing to get the message out just like the individuals in sports have. Go out and educate yourself and learn more about it. I obviously spoke up, but I too need to continue to educate myself and learn more (like) how we can keep the ball rolling in the right direction and achieve that true equality for every human being that lives here in this country.”
YOU ARE A TWO-TIME XFINITY SERIES CHAMPION AND CAME INTO CUP THIS YEAR WITH A HERALDED ROOKIE CLASS WITH CHRISTOPHER BELL AND COLE CUSTER AND JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK. TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS SEASON HAS BEEN LIKE FOR YOU AND BEING A PART OF THIS ROOKIE CLASS AND ROOKIE OF THE YEAR RACE?
“It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve raced amongst each other in the Xfinity Series and Trucks, so we’ve raced around each other for a few years now. And we’ve all made it to Cup, which is the top level and that battle has continued on. But, Cole put the pressure on us by going out and winning at Kentucky and getting himself into the Playoffs and taking Rookie of the Year lead. We’re in a spot obviously, where we pretty much need to do the same thing he did. We can’t play out way into the Playoffs, so we need to win this race at Daytona and take the Rooke of the Year battle point lead back, and for other reasons too, to get into the Playoffs and keep this fight for the championship and Rookie of the Year battle alive.”
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