MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 17, 2019
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights:
EVERY WEEK, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU GUYS ARE DEALING WITH A TRACK WITH A NEW RULE CHANGE AND THAT’S NOT GOING TO CHANGE THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE DEALING WITHOUT A NOTEBOOK WEEK AFTER WEEK?
“You just have to figure out how to find some consistency in all of it. We all still know what makes the cars go faster. There are only a few things you can do to make them faster, so that’s what we have to focus on. I do think it’s been more of handling track; a lot more people lifting and not running as wide open. The cars aren’t handling great, so you have to work on them and make them drive better. We did a lot of that today and a lot of other cars did too. It was nice to have some speed in practice.”
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN QUALIFYING TONIGHT?
“Giving my pit crew a chance to make a good pit stop. I think that’s the biggest thing. Everybody is separated by a couple tenths in qualifying, so the biggest thing is that I don’t want to screw it up and not let my pit crew beat all the other pit crews. I think that is where all the speed is made up. It is more about the pit crew in qualifying and I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself to get a ton of speed and take it out of their hands.”
IS IT FUN TO GO UP AGAINST SOME OF THE VETERANS IN THE ALL-STAR RACE?
“We race them every week. I think the biggest thing is cherishing the moment of being in the All-Star Race because the following year you could be out of it if you don’t get a win. I would like to go out there and try to win the million and lock myself in for life. I think Newman is in a really good spot. He didn’t win last year, but he’s won an All-Star Race so he’s locked ind and doesn’t have to run the Open Race. It’s good to win this one. It’s a big race for the year, even though it’s not a points race.”
OTHER SPORTS HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH PRIDE. WHAT’S YOUR SENSE OF PRIDE AND THE FACT THAT SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING THAT NASCAR DOES TO SHOW PATRIOTISM THROUGHOUT THE SEASON?
“For me, it’s meeting different military members from all different branches. They love when you stand and hold your hand over your heart for the flag. The only reason I’m allowed to do what I do on the weekends is because of the country that we live in and the people that have lost their lives defending our freedom. I’m proud to stand with my hand right over my heart in front of the flag every time. It’s important to me and my family and I’ve always felt like that was right.”
HOW DOES LAST YEAR’S ALL-STAR RACE COMPARE TO THIS YEAR?
“I think seeing what this package does. I thought last year’s All-Star Race was a success and we’ve developed a little bit away from the fact that we’ve added more power, we’ve done some different downforce things. Looking back at the race, I thought it was a success. With the hood scoops and the splitters, hopefully that is just a positive approach forward for us all to be able to make us race closer together.
ANY DIFFERENCE GOING FROM 10 TO 15 LAPS IN THE FINAL STAGE?
“Your tires really start to wear after 10 laps, so 15 laps is still the area where you have to worry about how they are handling. You have to have a car that handles good for 15 laps to win it.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL WHERE YOUR TEAM AND RCR IS AT?
“It’s nice to show speed each week. We have to figure out how to race better each week. The positive thing is that we haven’t had speed in the past, so now we have some speed and we have to figure out how to race with that speed. We do that and we can do some great things. The consistency is what frustrates me. I want to be able to run the top 10 each and every weekend. We haven’t been able to find that consistency. Last week, we were close. We were running 9th to 12th most of the race, but we were just a step behind. Really making smart decisions is key in these new package switches, trying not to be one extreme or the other. We need to have consistent cars so we can find the balance each week.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
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