NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
M&M’S FAN APPRECIATION 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 23, 2022
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying at Pocono Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:
YOU ARE GOING TO RUN THE SRX RACE TONIGHT AT SHARON SPEEDWAY, ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THAT?
“I am looking forward to it. Nashville last year for me is going to be hard to top. I feel like that is about as cool as it gets as far as going and doing one of their races and the significance of that, the city, racing against my dad, all of that was cool. Tonight I think will be a lot of fun. I am looking forward to being a part of the event. Hopefully, it is a good show. I am excited to watch Ryan (Blaney) and Dave (Blaney) race too. That is going to be really neat and I am looking forward to that.”
AFTER WINNING IN ATLANTA YOU SAID YOU WERE TRYING TO FOCUS ON GETTING BETTER ON THE TRACKS YOU HADN’T BEEN GOOD AT, LIKE LOUDON AND POCONO. WHAT IS THE OPTIMISM LEVEL THIS WEEKEND SEEING HOW YOU IMPROVED LAST WEEK AT LOUDON?
“I was surprised that we ran as good as we did last week. I felt like I probably had a car that was capable of running that well in the past, I just think I do a poor job at that place. It was nice. We qualified better than I thought we were going to, even after that second round when I didn’t think my lap was all that good. Then we ended up being second and I was surprised by that. It felt like when the race started we were kind of bleeding a little bit. We had a loose wheel and had to come back in and fix that. I was able to get back up through the field and at that point, I thought we had helped the car and gotten into a favorable position. I was proud of that effort and would like to continue to do more of that this weekend.
I think we can go and be competitive. We were good here once. I think it was my rookie year. We were fast and had an opportunity there and I kind of threw that one away too. Hopefully, we can get back in that direction. I think it is there, we just have to extract it. This has been a difficult place for me.”
BEFORE YOUR FIRST WIN YOU WERE REALLY HARD ON YOURSELF. THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS YOU HAVE BEEN PRETTY HARD ON YOURSELF. WHERE DOES THE MINDSET COME FROM OF HOLDING YOURSELF TO SUCH A HIGH STANDARD?
“I am not hard on myself, I am just honest about the facts of the matter and what happened. There is no one that knows what goes on in the event more than myself and my team. Not y’all, not anyone watching at home. I appreciate the kind words here and there but the reality is what it was and I stated that. I made too many mistakes and felt like I took a chance to win away. That is really as simple as that. I have tried to state that when I feel that way, especially when it is in my hands.”
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR OPINION ON THE NEXT GEN CAR? YOU HAVE HAD TIME WITH IT NOW AND ARE LEADING THE POINTS. HOW HAS IT BEEN FOR YOU THIS SEASON? “Honestly I don’t really have much of an opinion. I don’t make the rules. My job is to make whatever it is go as fast as possible and go perform at a high level. Outside of that, I just have gotten to the point where it is someone else that makes those decisions and I will go on down the road. I don’t have much of one, honestly, not in a negative light, I just don’t. For me, I want to go do a good job and perform to my best and go and try to make my team better and get better every week. That opportunity is going to be there whether you are driving what we have now, what we had last year or whatever they decide to change to in a couple of years or whatever. I don’t think the racing is much different from the outside looking in. It has just been a lot of new obstacles for the teams to overcome.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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