NASCAR CUP SERIES
BIG MACHINE HAND SANITIZER 400
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 1, 2020
TONY LUNDERS, TEAM MANAGER FOR CHIP GANASSI RACING, met with media via teleconference to reflect NASCAR’s first doubleheader race weekend at Pocono, the expectations going into Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and more. Transcript:
REFLECT A LITTLE BIT ON THIS PAST WEEKEND GOING TO POCONO, THE FIRST EVER NASCAR CUP SERIES DOUBLEHEADER. HOW DID YOUR TEAM PREPARE FOR THAT AND WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
“We were looking forward to a double, especially with the lack of practice that we’ve been able to have since the Covid-19 pandemic started. So, we were looking forward to having an opportunity to race, and then put our heads together, talk with the drivers and then be able to adjust and see what types of changes we could make on our cars. It was good to have that. We didn’t know quite what to expect. We haven’t done that with using the same car back-to-back yet – we still have a couple more of those to go. So, I think we learned some things that we can apply going forward and we were happy to be able to do that.”
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, TONY, AT INDIANAPOLIS, IN GENERAL? IF YOU LOOK AT THE WEEKEND AND THEN LOOK AT WHAT NASCAR MIGHT DO THERE, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SUCH A BIG WEEKEND FOR THE FANS.
“For sure. First off, Indy is an important place for our team. There’s a lot of history there with our IndyCar group, Chip (Ganassi), and we’ve had some success there in the past. We take it like we would most other races, as far as the prep and all that stuff. Obviously having the IndyCar group there before we get there, that’s exciting for us. It’s been a long time – I think back in the early 2000s we did some companion races with Trucks and IndyCar, and that was fun to do. So, we’re looking forward to it from the sense of one, in our team, we have both groups going up there. We wish were able to interact with those guys a little bit more and be there on the same day. But for our Cup guys, it will be somewhat business-as-usual as we’ve had these one-day shows. I think from that aspect, it won’t be anything different. We’ll show up the morning of – we’re actually flying out Sunday morning. So, our day will look similar to some of these one-day shows that we’ve been doing.”
WHAT’S YOUR OUTLOOK FOR YOUR TEAMS ON THE CUP SIDE OF THINGS AT INDY?
“Indy is a unique place. Some people relate it to some of the other stuff, maybe even some aspects from Pocono where we were just at. We need to run a little bit better there. We didn’t have as good of performance that we wanted at Pocono. I think we took some steps forward and did learn some things. But we’re optimistic. Indy is sort of a unique place. We’re optimistic and we look forward to getting out there.”
HAVING GONE THROUGH THE POCONO WEEKEND, OBVIOUSLY THERE SEEMS TO BE AT THIS POINT, THE EXPECTATION THAT THERE COULD BE ANOTHER ONE OR TWO DOUBLEHEADER WEEKENDS EVEN THIS YEAR. WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WERE LEARNED FROM THIS PAST WEEKEND’S EXPERIENCE TO MAYBE CONSIDER FOR ANY OF THE OTHER ONES?
“When you have a weekend or a race, you’re trying to makeup for practice time and the ability to throw some changes into. So, you come into it and put your best effort forward for the first race. But it gives you an opportunity to turn right back around and make changes. Not only the good stuff that you come across, but you’re also going to make some mistakes. I think in hindsight, you get a chance to digest and look at what happened throughout the weekend, what you think you did well and what you think you could improve on. And you can apply that same type of thing going forward. It’s a little bit difficult with the protocol stuff that we’re going through now at the track. The way our team operates as a two-car unit and using the other team and information you can get from them – having our groups split up at the race track presents some unique challenges for us. So, a big part of this for us is just trying to overcome some of the communication stuff and how to apply stuff that your teammate is learning. One of the strengths, luckily for us, we have two drivers that are similar in maybe their styles. They both know each other well and have experience with each other in the past. Their communication was really high from the beginning. They have a friendship and a mutual respect for each other that has definitely helped us through this.”
WITH THE 42 TEAM HAVING A LITTLE BIT BETTER PERFORMANCE THIS PAST WEEKEND THAN WHAT IT’S HAD, WHAT HAS BEEN THE CHALLENGE THERE AND WHERE THAT TEAM IS AND WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO TO HAVE EVEN STRONGER PERFORMANCES?
“I think a couple of things – across the board, obviously nobody has been able to practice and that hurts most teams equally. I think for us, it’s even a little bit more of a challenge with plugging that in there. Obviously he’s a champion and has won a ton of races, there’s a lot of respect there. But just getting plugged into our system, it’s taken a little bit of time. And I think in any situation, when you put a new driver with a new team, you go through that learning phase. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get a lot of that done in practice. In a normal practice, you can run through six to ten changes and get a leg up on that stuff. So, that’s been a little bit of a challenge where we’re starting a race many times and having to learn things throughout the race, where I feel like that would have been accelerated quite a bit given some practice with that group. We’ve had a couple better finishes, which is good. So, we’re just going to try and build on that going forward.”
OBVIOUSLY, INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY IS A SPECIAL PLACE FOR CHIP. I’M WONDERING IF THERE REALLY ARE ANY SORT OF THINGS THAT YOU NOTICE IN A TEAM AND THE DRIVERS THAT MAKE IT, WHEN YOU GO THERE, SOME PLACE THAT THEY FEEL EITHER MORE OPTIMISTIC IN WINNING OR CERTAINLTLY MORE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT DOING SO.
“One exciting thing is Kurt (Busch)’s 700th start this weekend, so that’s pretty cool. I had the opportunity to work with Kurt when he first got into the Truck Series and it’s been fun to watch him throughout the last 20 years or so. Like you mentioned, the history with Chip Ganassi Racing, Chip, Indy, the Indy 500, the Brickyard – there’s just a long history of respect for that place and what it is. Teams always circle that race as a big one in their year as one of their goals, one of the top races you want to put a lot of effort towards winning and having success there. I think as the year goes, you have realistic expectations of where you’re at and what you think you can do. Like I said, that’s a unique place and you lean on some past experience there in what has worked and what hasn’t worked. A lot of it is confidence in how the team’s working. I think we’re in a good spot going in there. The teams are working really well together – jellying on pitstops, the pit crew and the road crews. It’s just different. It will be different showing up there without a huge fan base. It’s nice to be able to see some of these tracks moving towards having some fans there because it definitely adds to the environment when we’re there. Having the empty garages – when I say empty, just a lot less people – it’s just a different feel to it, for sure. But the teams, none the less, have put a lot of effort into winning that race.”
WHAT ARE YOUR LONGTERM PLANS FOR THE 42 TEAM? DO YOU SEE MATT AS THE LONGTERM SOLUTION FOR THAT TEAM OR ARE YOU JUST LOOKING TO GET THROUGH 2020?
“We wanted to get some races with Matt (Kenseth) under us, kind of build that effort there and see where it took us. If Matt decided at some point that he’s enjoying what’s going on and we’re having some success, maybe there’s something more there. But I think the team is more focused on now, being mid-season, and what we need to do to get that car into the playoffs. We’re back in the points a little bit and we need to win a race. So, I think our focus is how do we build that group now to try to get towards the playoffs, win a race, and we’ll let the next year stuff take care of itself as the year goes on. Hopefully, the success is there. Certainly, there are others that know that seat is open and would contact us. And that’s all good, but I think our main focus now is just to get the performance and let the rest take care of itself.”
SPEAKING OF PERFORMANCE, ARE YOU CONTENT OR SATISFIED WITH THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MATT MCCALL AND KURT BUSCH AS IT STANDS RIGHT NOW?
“Yeah, those two work really good together. That relationship has just gotten better as time has gone by. Kurt has a lot of confidence in Matt and that shows. And likewise, Matt’s communication to Kurt is working really well. We’ve got Kentucky circled coming up here. We got into victory lane there last year and that was really cool. So, we’re just trying to build on that and those guys are doing well together. I think that helps keep us as a company moving forward.”
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