NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 16, 2023
JUSTIN MARKS, OWNER AND FOUNDER OF TRACKHOUSE RACING; BILL ANTHONY, PRESIDENT OF SPIRE MOTORSPORTS; and ZANE SMITH met with the media at Bristol Motor Speedway to announce that Trackhouse Racing has made a multi-year driving agreement with Zane Smith, beginning in January of 2024. Press Conference Quotes:
Justin Marks: “This is a really, really exciting moment for us at Trackhouse. Expansion is something that has been important to us since we first got on the racetrack, getting to a place where we felt like we could be the most competitive organization as possible. Expansion can look a lot of different ways. With our alliance with Spire and the opportunity to have Zane drive over there next year gives us the ability to grow in 2024 to an organization where we can put three cars on the racetrack full-time in 2025 and beyond. As that conversation started happening and conversations around the garage area about what growth looks like for Trackhouse, there was a short list of names and Zane was pretty much at the top of that list the whole time. Huge fan of him, what he’s accomplished in the racecar, his talent and his grind. Probably most importantly and a core tenant of what we do at Trackhouse is he’s a good human and a good person. We try to have good people in our company no matter what they’re capable or not capable of doing. Zane proved that to us really, really quickly in our early conversations. I’m really excited to facilitate a Cup ride for him in 2024 and then go to work as Trackhouse Racing to expand and put three racecars on the racetrack in ’25 and beyond and have Zane be a part of that for a while.”
ZANE, TELL US WHAT THIS DAY MEANS TO YOU.
“Obviously it’s a huge day. I can’t thank both you guys enough. It’s been a crazy road… I had held it together during the championship speech but I thought I was all good today. This just means the world to me. I almost didn’t have anything a couple of years ago. This is the place I want to be. Three hundred sixty-five days ago, I sat at Bob Evans with a very close friend, and he had asked me where I want to race someday. I think he expected maybe some different answer, but my answer was Trackhouse. Almost 365 days later, I’ve signed a contract with them. It means the world to me. It’s all I’ve ever wanted do to. The sacrifices that have been made are where the emotion comes from and how bad I want it… I’ll do whatever it takes to win on Sunday and I have that chance thanks to Justin Marks. I’m just so, so thankful for the people that are around me. I’m ready to go compete on Sunday. It’s crazy to say.”
BILL, TALK ABOUT THE EXPANSION FOR YOU AS WELL.
“There are a lot of ties. It’s actually pretty interesting how close we’ve been over the years, and that makes this a special moment. When Justin was a driver, we had a close relationship with him as a management agency. Ty (Norris) actually worked with us for a couple of years. We also had a connection through Ross (Chastain). You think of all those connections and ties and being members of the Chevy family, a lot of this made sense. It’s unique in many regards. You don’t see this type of alliance and collaboration. We’ve had the great fortune of being affiliated with some pretty special companies and people over the years. Hendrick Motorsports and all they’ve done for us… We really relish this opportunity to offer support to someone in the garage that is important. Our ability to offer support tells a lot about our organization. TJ (Puchyr) and Jeff (Dickerson) have made some bold decisions to stay the least. They’ve taken some big swings. I think that they’ve proven step after step that they are willing to take the chances and make the decisions that you need to progress in this sport. This collaboration and affiliation shows everybody’s commitment to the sport. It shows that we’re optimistic about the future of NASCAR and what it can be and what we can be in it. There’s no doubt that Trackhouse has set the standard for coming out of the block as a new competitive team. It challenges people like us, and we accept that challenge and we embrace that challenge. In fact, we want to be a part of that challenge as well. It speaks very well to our ownership, the willingness and transparency to do that. I will say that the ties for Spire also really go back to their driver management days. It means a lot to help very talented drivers and to help them progress in the sport and do things that help push the sport forward. Part of this also is giving a little bit of a nod to Zane and allowing him to move up and achieve his dream. I know that’s important to us as well.”
MORE ON ZANE SMITH JOINING TRACKHOUSE…
Justin Marks: It’s been an interesting story arc for Trackhouse from the beginning. It’s a reuniting of people. I think it shows that when you build something and you operate authentically and you stay committed to the vision and who you are, things just kind of work out. We’ve told the story ad nauseum about Ross buying his first racing seats for me when he moved up to North Carolina, the fact that I raced for Ganassi and the way the CGR thing went and we put Ross in the car and he won his first race for us and all that. It’s fascinating. This is another really interesting anecdote about this journey… the fact that we didn’t know Zane was under any kind of contract or anything with Chip. When I got the text I was like, ‘Oh… ok. We’re not in a spot right now to do anything.’ It was a moment that went on Ty’s world-famous whiteboard and sat there for a long time. It’s that kind of thing. It’s like when Ross texted me after we announced the CGR thing, and he said ‘I want this.’ When someone like Zane reaches out and says ‘How can I be a part of this, whatever you’re doing?’ at that stage of Trackhouse, it shows the drive that he has and the commitment that he’s got and how he’s constantly thinking about how to create opportunities for himself. It’s another element to a great story that we’re all writing together.”
ZANE, WHAT ABOUT THAT TEXT?
“Yeah. I haven’t recovered, now that I got it out. I mean, it’s crazy how this has all gone, and full circle. Not many years before that, I was walking through the gift shop getting (Chip Ganassi Racing) diecast cars, and now it was the gym, and I went there a couple of days ago. What attracted me to Trackhouse, obviously, I want to be a part of it. I feel like every driver is always winning a race on Sunday. It’s so dang hard to get there. I don’t know. I said it over and over again to the people that were around me of ‘Man, that’s a group I really want to be with and I don’t know how we’re going to make it happen, but I want to be there. I see the leadership Justin (Marks) has. I see the sponsors and the people; it’s such a people sport. I believe those are some of the best people at that race team. I just wanted to be a part of it. Unfortunately, it was a weird situation we were all in but truthfully, I don’t know if I was ready as a driver to take on Sunday now that I’ve got my feet wet in the Cup series. I truly do believe I’m ready now. I’m excited for next year with Spire to learn. Sunday is a whole different ball game, and I’m just ready to attack it and take advantage of the opportunity in front of me. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Just really believe what (Trackhouse) is doing and thankful it’s a big enough word to be a part of it.”
Bill Anthony: “Speaking of thankful, I’m not getting out of this room without thanking Shawn and Lucy Holt. Shawn Holt has been there since the spring when we started talking about things with Zane (Smith), and obviously he has relationship with Zane. Going to dinner, having conversations, keeping up with him, he’s been an huge part of keeping us up to date and being a part of this future. So Shawn, thank you for that.”
Justin Marks: “I just want to thank BJ McLeod and Matt Tifft, and everyone over at LiveFast and everyone working on this transaction with us. I appreciate everything they’ve done and what they’ve contributed to this sport, and are still involved in this sport, but I just wanted to put that out there that they’ve been really great to work with.”
JUSTIN, YOU’RE NOT AFRAID TO SWING FOR THE FENCES, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THE LAST COUPLE OF DECISIONS HAVE BEEN METHODICAL AND THOUGHT OUT. IT SHOWS THE PRECISE PLAN YOU HAVE. CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THAT?
“I think it depends on the opportunity and what we’re trying to do. Every project or development scenario within the company is unique, and the players and what we’re trying to do. Growth and expansion in this sport is difficult. There are a lot of moving pieces and there’s a lot of different ways to envision what growth looks like. I think it’s no small feat to grow to a third team. We have to be very methodical and cerebral about how we approach all of the elements to get something like this. All I know is we didn’t want to get all that stuff put together and then go, ‘Okay, who is our driver? Who’s at the end of a contract?’ To me, it’s the driver that has been the most important part of the puzzle. And at the end of the day, it’s always been about the 147 people working in the shop. It’s one guy holding a steering wheel at the end of the race. So that has to be the tip of the spear, and I wanted to make sure we started this journey knowing who our driver is going to be and then filling in kind of everything around it. We were able to do it with great friends at Spire (Motorsports), to be looking at experience next year as we work intelligently and methodically about growing the business.”
JUSTIN, YOU HAVE FOUR DRIVERS NOW WITH SHANE (VAN GISBERGEN) CAN YOU EXPAND ON BEING FOUR, OR DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE THREE FOR 2025?
“Shane’s (van Gisbergen) program is about 2024. There’s a lot of unknowns around Shane and how he’s going to do on the ovals, if he’s even going to enjoy it. There’s so many unknowns around him, but I’m really excited about that program but that’s one where we’re going to have to see how things play out and see how things go. We’ll be able to make some more announcements and talk about that, but I’m just really excited about what we’ve got with Zane (Smith).”
JUSTIN, TRYING TO CONNECT DOTS, WITH SPIRE ACQUIRING THIS CHARTER, WAS THERE EVER A THOUGHT IN YOUR MIND TO LEASE THE CHARTER AND RUN IT UNDER THE TRACKHOUSE BANNER? WHY PUT ZANE (SMITH) IN A TRACKHOUSE CAR?
“Because of where we are at, with expanding to a third team, it takes time and a lot of money. We have to be strategic in how we capitalize that third team. It sounds stupid, but Featherlite Trailers are eight months out and there’s none in the used market. We have to take our time in doing this stuff. Where it makes sense for us, is putting Zane (Smith) in an established team where he can focus on the driving and we can focus on everything we can to support him and that car over there while we expand over the course of the year. We can’t rush it, and we didn’t want to throw it together late. It’s a process that’s going to have to take course over time.”
JUSTIN, THIS ALLIANCE WITH SPIRE, IS THIS JUST WITH ZANE’S CAR OR IS THIS MORE ORGANIZATIONAL TYPE OF THING INCLUDING INFORMATION FROM THE NO. 7 AND NO. 77?
“This is just mainly focused on Zane (Smith). Zane has signed a contract with Trackhouse. Zane will have a presence in our shop and in our systems, meetings. Zane is a driver we have placed with the help of Spire in another car that we’re going to be supporting. It’s really to make sure all of Zane’s opportunities develop in experiences. Everything next year is in the context of him learning in the first year in the Cup series and becoming a Trackhouse driver under our roof.”
BILL, SPIRE HAS BEEN A PLAYER THROUGH THE YEARS WITH THE CHARTER SYSTEM. SOME TEAM OWNERS WERE HESITANT MOVING FORWARD ON THIS AGREEMENT WITH THE TEAMS. WHAT LED TO GOING OUT AND PURCHASING THIS, AND MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT NUMBER THAN FIVE, SIX YEARS AGO?
“I was just talking to Justin (Marks) about this on our walk over. I think if you look down the list of organizations in the Cup series, you’d be hard pressed to find any that are more transparent about their ambitions and intentions than these two organizations. Jeff and TJ have consistently, I think this move is consistent with their prior ambitions and intentions. People question, there was cynicism when there was one charter, and there was cynicism when there were two charters. Corey (LaJoie) signing and re-signing. We’ve proven and come through in each of those circumstances; that is certainly a double-down on the future of the sport. My guess is it’s a triple-down now and a showing of belief in the sport. That’s not to say there isn’t work to be done with NASCAR and the charter agreement, but I think we believe in all the people in the garage and all the people in the NASCAR.”
ZANE, WITH BEING SO CLOSE TO THE CUP SERIES FOR SO LONG NOW, TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE FOR SURE COMING TO A CUP SERIES RIDE IN 2024, HOW MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT DOES THAT MAKE TODAY FOR YOU?
“I mean, yeah, for me it’s all I’ve ever wanted, but to have that weight lifted off my shoulders and knowing that I’m doing next year is huge. I feel like it’s just so nice to have clarity in this industry. But then again, it’s another weight added on my shoulders because these are my final three races left in a Truck, and I want to make those the best races I’ve ever had and hopefully get into this Final Four, and walk off into the sunset with a back-to-back championship.”
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. 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 at www.chevrolet.com.
