Toyota Racing – Indianapolis Post-Practice Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
INDIANAPOLIS (July 19, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, along with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, were made available to the media on Friday after practice for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Was there dirty air out there today?
“Very dirty, very dingy. Very dirty, very air. It’ll be extremely difficult to pass (on Sunday).”
Where would a Brickyard 400 win rank on your accolades?
“I mean, I think probably, next to the Southern 500s, I would say. Obviously, it doesn’t have the prestige of the (Daytona) 500s, but I would say, the Southern 500 and the Brickyard 400 to me is kind of equal in its prestige. So, you know, we’ve got three of those Southern 500s, so it put its right there with that Coke 600 and Southern 500s.”
How frustrating was it to not have a chance to come back and win here after that incident in 2020?
“You know, I always thought we were going to come back here (oval) one day. Just never resigned to the fact that the road course here was going to be a permanent thing. But, I just didn’t know how long my career would go at that point, right? I was 40 (years-old) and so, I mean, I don’t have that many chances left. It’s less than what’s on my hand, I think. So, you just have to take advantage of every opportunity. Twenty-twenty was an enormous opportunity. Twenty-eighteen was a very underrated opportunity. Brad (Keselowski) caught a big yellow that was just untimely for us. Overall, I feel like I’ve always been in contention here, just never gotten it done.”
How much emphasis has your team put on to win this race?
“A lot. Certainly, from my standpoint, you know there’s only so many more opportunities I’ll have here at the oval. So, it’s a big emphasis because it’s a gaping hole on the résumé and would complete all the majors. But Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) wants it pretty bad, too. He’s a little hurt over 2020 and how that ended. I think, without a doubt, going into this weekend, he had spent a little extra time on this car making sure all the details were looked after and he brought me the fastest car he could.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Impressions from practice today?
“Yeah, it was interesting. Feel like the track is the same as it’s always been. Just trying to figure out how to get the Next Gen car around for the first time. Yeah, it was an interesting practice. We didn’t really have what we hoped for, but got a good direction for tomorrow and hopefully, we can make the changes we need and get going better.”
What’s your outlook on the racing for Sunday?
“I don’t know. This car’s not generally been good when there’s one preferred groove and that’s what we have here. Guess we’ll wait and see, see how the restarts will go and things. But it’s going to be huge challenge making passes. You’re going to have to be significantly faster than the guy in front of you to do that. So, yeah, we’ll see.”
What does it mean to have another opportunity at winning on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval?
“Yeah, it’s huge. The history here and what this track means for motorsports in general across the world. It’s very cool to get to come here. I wish we were a little bit faster today as qualifying and track position is going to be everything, so tomorrow is very, very important. But having a chance to win here is huge and special. Someone’s going to have a big day on Sunday.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
You’re nearing 600 laps led on the season. Do milestones like that mean something to you?
“Yeah, it is, and it’s definitely something that we’ve been focusing on this year. Being in position to lead laps. Hopefully we can keep building that number.”
How does it feel to be back on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval?
“Very refreshing. No matter how it turns out, I think it’s very important that we race on the oval.”
Why do you think that?
“It’s Indianapolis. You don’t (pause), whenever you think of Indianapolis, you don’t think of a road course. So, it’s the Brickyard 400 and it’s a marquee event and no matter how the race turns out, it’s the right thing.”
How was your car out there today?
“I was happy with it. It’s going to be hard to pass. The race is probably going to look similar to all the races we’ve had here in the past. But yeah, it’s you know what you’re going to get whenever you come here and it hasn’t changed.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
You seem to have a really fast car this weekend.
“That’s good! I mean, it seemed pretty solid. When
you come to a place like this, that’s always something you hope for. I’ve been fortunate, we’ve run the road course here, and we’ve been really, really strong. Obviously, it seemed like Denny (Hamlin) had a really good test and we were able to get some good data from him. Yeah, tracks like this, it’s always a question mark to some degree, you know? How close is your sim preparation going to be? But it seemed like everyone did a pretty good job. Yeah, pretty happy with how the car drives. Certainly, it’s interesting how the draft works. I do feel like there is some sort of tow you can get out there, but also, the dirty air that comes with it is a challenge. So, it was just a big learning session.”
So, there will be tow and dirty air out there?
“What it seemed like. I mean, if, you know, the car you’re running behind would miss the bottom a little, it was somewhat manageable from like 15 (car lengths) back. You can get a tow down the straightaway it seemed like. But yeah, if they hit the bottom, it was tough to manage. I don’t how that’s going to work as we were all pretty spread out. You know, we can all run some sort of a good pace. I think, I would expect a lot of mistakes in the race on Sunday once we’re all packed up on restarts.”
Was there any tire fall off you could tell from the session?
“It was really hard to figure that part out. A lot of times, you kind of get running a pace, you get a feel for the car. Someone would pull onto the track in front of you and you’d run down the car in front of you and just what dirty air is like in these cars at these fast tracks. It’s kind of hard to tell what’s dirty air. Did you just get your stuff hot running behind somebody? And what’s natural tire fall off.”
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