NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
GOODYEAR 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 6, 2021
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Highlights:
YOU ARE RUNNING A SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME AT DARLINGTON, WHICH IS A THROWBACK HONOR OF YOUR CAREER AS A DRIVER. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
“It’s obviously definitely special for me. I was young in my career, 18 years old, and just starting in my second year of actually driving a super late model. I was pretty young and naive and didn’t know a whole lot. I probably still don’t. But I’ve aged a little bit. Of course, as you grow older, you achieve new things and you don’t really think about what you’re doing in the current moment at the time, or really if it’s even right to get you to where you want to be. So, looking over the scheme the last few weeks, it’s been a great reflection of that and a great reminder for all of us who probably have been in a job or have been pursuing a dream as long as I have been in this sport. You sometimes question the initial reason why and this has kind of sparked some great emotion about how young and crazy it was to have a dream and eventually follow it through. Ultimately, this paint scheme meant a lot at the time and it really took time for me to really appreciate it just because of how it came about and how the paint scheme kind of chose me; and ultimately the sacrifice Jim Pagel gave. I eventually ran that same color as he did in 1993.”
WHAT DOES THAT PAINT SCHEME MEAN TO YOU?
“Personally, I was pretty shocked. I’m not one that really likes to be in the spotlight. I try to elevate others around me versus doing that to myself. I was a little embarrassed when it was unveiled to me. Alex (Bowman) had that surprise for me. But ultimately, it brought back a lot of great memories of just being young and not knowing a whole lot and setting your sights and goals on something that maybe wasn’t achievable. But in the end, I knew if I put enough hard work behind it, and passion, eventually people would believe in me. I had great family members around me that supported me along the way, and eventually friends that became pit crew members. Hopefully they can look at this paint scheme and enjoy it along the way as well. So, just a lot of pride in where I started and how I came about through the super late model grassroots type of racing and probably not with a lot of money or driving talent, but I persevered because of my interest and my love for cars and the math and physics behind them all. Ultimately, I think that’s what, as I work on the car today, I kind of feel all those same emotions. The work is never done. But you’ve just got to get them loaded and ready to go.”
WORKING ON THE CAR FOR DARLINGTON, ARE YOU LOOKING AT LAST YEAR BECAUSE THE TIRE IS THE SAME, OR AT 2018 BECAUSE THE PACKAGE IS MORE SIMILAR?
“I think I take it all in. In 2018, the package was very similar. The tire has changed. Our performance as a company as changed. Some of that stuff that we were maybe trying to overcome some deficits in either aero or mechanical grip setting for the tires that we had. So, we’re just trying to be smart about it and look at some other races where we may have done that downforce change and maybe not the engine package, but kind of just to understand all of it and put our best foot forward when we get to Darlington on Sunday.”
YOU HAVE WHAT IS THE FAST PIT CREW IN THE SERIES RIGHT NOW. WAS ALL OF THIS A DESIGN TO MAKE THIS YOUR TEAM’S IDENTITY? DO YOU THINK THAT’S A BIG ENOUGH STRENGTH ON ITS OWN TO POTENTIALLY CARRY YOU THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR?
“I kind of live by the fact that strategy in getting on and off of pit road as cleanly and efficiently as possible is a great way to make up time and spots. I’ve spent a lot of time working with the pit crew and driver and even the engineers behind it to maximize points, the positions, and also the time. Ultimately, as you are doing that, you can also hurt yourself. You get a little greedy, you can cost yourself more time by speeding or getting on pit road and missing the commitment cone or having a mistake with the pit crew. That all comes from allowing all the people involved to work within their own strengths and capabilities and not applying the pressure and say hey, we need to continuously need to be better, but we don’t need to continuously jump half the line. Keep pushing that threshold of comfort, that threshold of chaos we can probably call it, and then be comfortable there. There’s always anxiety when you short pit or if you run long. Our pit crew has been really solid. I think its consistency. Not home runs or mistakes all the time. As far as Alex, if you continue to study his driver data, continues to get better. It’s a big focus just because there’s time to be had. Performance and lap time is definitely important.”
GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE OF MARTINSVILLE AND PHOENIX, GIVEN WHERE THEY ARE ON THE SCHEDULE, DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR TEAM IS ALREADY WELL-SUITED FOR THOSE TRACKS? IF NOT, WHERE IS YOUR ROOM FOR GROWTH?
“If you would have asked me that at the beginning of the year, I’d say absolutely not. At Phoenix we struggled after having a lot of success there. We always know the mark was there. We always knew the potential was there for our team to excel at that type of track, but it’s kind of a what have you done for me lately type of thing, and we struggled. That’s been an issue for us. Same with Martinsville. We continuously haven’t had the best finishes there. Not bad, obviously, but to contend as the champion last year did, he won at both of those races. We definitely need to improve at Phoenix if we want to have a chance or a battle at this championship. But Martinsville, I felt like we were in position at the end of the race as far as our strategy and the speed in the car, and ultimately could have won that race. We had a mistake on pit road. So, we have a way to go at Phoenix but at Martinsville we’re feeling a lot better.”
HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE NEXT GEN TOWARD THE END OF THE SEASON WHEN THERE WILL BE SOME OPEN TESTING AROUND THE PLAYOFFS WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP?
“It’s definitely something that’s going to take away some focus, for sure. But at Hendrick Motorsports we have a lot of great resources and great people to keep you focused on the right areas. Part of my job as crew chief is to try to be at a little higher level and not totally into the microscope and all the details but understanding the ideas behind development and performance; and also give some guiding instruction and information to make us better. It’s definitely something I want to be involved with. I have learned over the years how to balance that quite well. Just looking back at the seasons when we used to test a lot; and yeah, it might have been development for that type of car or configuration. But it was maybe a different race track than what you actually went to that weekend. I’m just relying on my teammates. I’m putting a lot of trust and faith in their capabilities and their talents, but also giving my input when needed.”
WHAT IS IT GOING TO BE LIKE TO GO TO ALL THESE SINGLE SUPPLIERS? THAT SEEMS SO FOREIGN WHEN IN THE PAST YOU’RE ALWAYS TRYING TO DEVELOP YOUR OWN THING TO BEAT THE NEXT GUY.
“Yeah, I look back at grassroots racing. Yeah, they may be able to get different items from different areas. But ultimately that became the challenge. How do I take what is given to me, optimize it, and get to the next level? I think that’s what is going to be a great challenge. You’re going to be given this car and these parts and you’re going to be like, how can I make it better within the rules and understanding assembly and performance and how we can continuously test these items versus just bolting them together. That’s going to be a great challenge. It’s going to be different for sure. But you’ve just got to change your mind up a little bit and go back to maybe some of the things you used to do in the past.”
HOW MIGHT THE NEXT GEN CAR CHANGE THE ROLE OF THE CREW CHIEF? OR DOES IT REALLY HAVE ANY IMPACT?
“I think in any environment where you have a team and an assembly of people, keeping them going in the right direction is ultimately what my job is. I have a group of people underneath me that rely on my direction on a daily basis in either direction or discipline or just philosophies, those types of things. You need that leader on the team to go to. It’s definitely going to be different from the aspect from the aspect from hey, let’s take this part or piece and change it and increase or decrease the compliance or those types of things. I feel like it’s going to minimize some of the things that are obvious to change and the position that we’re in, we’re able to give direction to what we feel like is going have performance on the race track and get them focused on that area. It’s definitely going to be different, but I don’t see much of a change as far as the crew chief role.”
WHAT HAS CHANGED YOUR ROLE AS A CREW CHIEF OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS?
“As I’ve grown with Hendrick Motorsports, I’ve had a lot of different positions. I was very hands-on at the start as a post-race mechanic and a set-up place mechanic. And then engineering, it all became on the computer. It’s more about the virtual world and understanding how the simulation worked and the things that are behind the car versus just the mechanics of it. That’s how I became a crew chief. If I spent too much time on the computer, I wasn’t giving enough direction to the people that needed it around me. So, it’s really come down to a great management role of talent’; and, whether it’s pit crew, my engineers, my car chiefs, or assembling a great team of mechanics. It’s all intertwined and it’s not just the computer. It’s not just the mechanics. It’s ultimately all of it. It’s even more intense because there is no time to fine-tune it or develop it without practice or qualifying. And you’re just hitting the ground running and finding those avenues of making your team better and making the cars better and ultimately the whole thing work together as you want it to. It’s always changing, but the mindset is kind of always the same and it comes down to the performance on the race track and how to put your best team together.”
HOW WILL YOU APPROACH DARLINGTON THIS WEEKEND?
“Darlington is its own race track. It’s kind of narrow and with the characteristics that it has, the challenge is finding the ability to run somewhere different and to change lanes or to have the car be able to not just be a single-groove car. Obviously, all the time you’re going to want to end up in that lane and try to be fast. But our concentration for a few times has been hey, how can we be different than the next guy? When that happens, either they try to mimic you and are not prepared, or it allows you to make up time without trying to be the same. Following in somebody’s tracks is not always easy, especially if it is aerodynamically sensitive. Getting the difference of half a lane or being able to run the bottom in (Turns) 3 and 4 is a huge deal if it can work. Unique race tracks are fun and difficult. But ultimately, trying to work on things that are not necessarily what everybody is trying to do. I look at Kansas. That’s definitely a difficult race track. But it’s also a lot of fun because you have the bottom lane and the top lane. Some of the excitement in the driver is because it is unique. Some of the things I talk about we have in place and are able to execute on Sunday, but ultimately giving your driver the ability to race the race track in multiple areas and find a lane and find ways to pass when needed.”
WHAT IS IT ABOUT ALEX BOWMAN THAT IS UNIQUE COMPARED TO OTHER DRIVERS YOU’VE WORKED WITH?
“I feel like I have a great relationship with all the drivers I’ve had. But with Alex, he is just very open with me. He doesn’t really let things get to him. If he wants to pick on me, he picks on me, as you have probably seen, or he’s serious with me. It’s really just an open relationship where he has the ability to be honest. If the cars are running great, he lets me know. If they’re not, he lets me know in a way that it’s constructive and allows us to be better. I think it’s vice-versa. If I tell him he needs to click a front brake, he does it. And if I tell him he needs to work on his entry speed, he does it. I’m not doing it to put him down, I’m doing it so we’re better as a team. I think that’s the thing that we have most in common. Yeah, we’re kind of quiet people. We like to be on our own a little bit. We like working on our cars. We like having our own race teams and just working hard. There are a lot of similarities outside of racing that we have in common, as well. I kind of get his lifestyle and where he came from. I respect about how he came up and that he didn’t always have things handed to him but was given opportunities and made the best of them.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found www.chevrolet.com.
