NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA ROAD COURSE
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 253 AT DAYTONA
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 18, 2021
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 NETFLIX CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript:
GIVE US A RECAP OF BRINGING HOME A TOP-10 FINISH IN THE DAYTONA 500
“It was a busy week with a bunch of stuff going on down there at Daytona. And then a new team, new procedures with (crew chief) Ryan Sparks still leading our unit; to have two cars down there in the Top 10 after it was all said and done with Spire Motorsports means a lot. I think it means a lot to (co-owners) TJ. Puchyr and Jeff Dickerson, too. Financially, obviously the Daytona 500 is a big one. It certainly started us off on the right foot. And I think it builds some momentum. We have a great starting position this weekend. We’re starting seventh. So, I’ll have at least six people in front of me to slow me down before I get to Turn 1. I’m certainly not a road course ringer. I have a little work to do on that. But it would be good to learn from the guys in front of me and to see what we can do this weekend.”
IN THE LAST FIVE DAYTONA 500 RACES, ABOUT 80 PERCENT OF THE FIELD HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN A CRASH. FIVE YEARS BEFORE THAT, IT WAS ABOUT 45 PERCENT. AT WHAT POINT DOES A TREND BECOME TROUBLING AND IS THERE A SOLUTION TO THIS? OR THE CARS ARE BUILT TO PROTECT THE DRIVERS AND THIS SHOULDN’T’ BE A WORRY?
“That’s a good question. I think it’s a product of a couple of different things. One, all the drivers are starting to study speedway racing and actually take it a little more serious. It’s kind of the same way as road course racing where people are like we’re going to Watkins Glen or Sonoma so I’m not going to really concentrate on it because it’s only two races. Well now that you have a chance to win a speedway race and qualify your way into the Playoffs, guys really study it and figure out where to put their cars. So you’ll see guys making runs or throwing blocks because they know, to protect their track position, they’ve got to be aggressive with those blocks. I think that’s where some of the speedway racing, the product of it has changed over the past couple of years just because the cars are tighter, the drivers are being a little more aggressive. And, that’s a heck of a lot more wrecks, though, when you look at the last five years compared to the others. I’m not sure what you can blame it on. I think obviously you can point to some of the packets that keep the cars closer together with the two tandem stops that we got away from and then the high-downforce stuff that we have right now. It certainly keeps the cars closer together and you have to be aggressive to keep your track position.”
AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU CAN MAKE THE DECISION WHETHER YOU RACE OR NOT; AND OBVIOUSLY YOU CONTINUE TO RACE. AS SOMEBODY WHO HAS HAD SUCCESS, BUT WHO ALSO WENT THROUGH THAT BIG CRASH LAST YEAR, HOW DO YOU MANAGE THAT WITH WHAT CAN HAPPEN? OR YOU’RE A DRIVER AND YOU’RE SUPERHUMAN AND THAT CAN’T BE A PART OF YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS?
“It’s certainly in there. I know that I definitely tug on the belts a little bit harder at Daytona and Talladega more so than I do at Martinsville. I can promise you that. It’s just part of the deal, man. It’s part of the job. That’s why we make good money because we are risking our lives each and every week for entertainment. But on the flip side of that, I know John Patalak just from working with him through the development with some of Dad’s seats over at the R&D Center. He is one of the sharpest guys that I know. And he’s trying to make these race cars as safe as possible and we’re looking forward to the Next Gen car which is considerably more safe than what we have now. So, when you get in, you know that NASCAR is doing everything they can to keep the cars as safe as possible. But at the end of the day, you’ve just got to get in and put the helmet on and forget about it.”
YOU SAID THIS WEEK THAT THE EQUIPMENT IS BETTER THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE HEADING INTO THE SEASON WITH CHIP GANASSI RACING CHASSIS AND HENDRICK MOTORS. CONSIDERING THERE IS GOING TO BE MORE 750 HP RACES THIS YEAR, DO YOU FEEL LIKE THAT’S A BETTER CHANCE TO SHOW YOUR ABILITY BEHIND THE WHEEL?
“I think every week is going to be a better opportunity for me to show what I’m capable of doing behind the wheel just because we have some up-to-date, current cars; and our motor package is on the same platform as some of the other guys. I want to get through the road course unscathed. A goal of mine is a Top 20 on all the road courses because I think I only have four or five road courses under my belt in my whole life. I’m trying to mitigate the losses there but I’m excited to get to Vegas, Homestead, Phoenix, and Martinsville; and some other places that I’m familiar with and really see how we stack up because I think that with all that we learned last year working with Ryan Sparks, he kind of knows what to look for in these race cars, We can add it to a lighter car; make some more downforce with some better motors, and I think we’re going to be a force to reckon with.”
WITH RYAN SPARKS ON THE PIT BOX, HOW CRITICAL WAS IT THAT HE CAME WITH YOU TO SPIRE MOTORSPORTS? WHAT CAN HE BRING IN TERMS OF SUCCESS TO THE TEAM THIS YEAR?
“We didn’t come as a package per se. I jumped on with Spire and they were like man, who do you want to crew chief? And I knew, with working with Ryan and the work ethic he has and how motivated he is. There were some guys that they interviewed but Ryan was certainly the most qualified guy. And the fact that we worked together was just an added bonus. I’m excited to have him back because he’s got some more tools to work with the simulation seat from Ganassi. He’s got a Hawk-Eye over there at Spire Motorsports. So he’s been working really hard to maximize every angle of our car and I think that’s what showed at Daytona with both Spire’s cars running the two fastest laps of the weekend.”
JEFF DICKERSON PUT OUT A STATEMENT AFTER THE DAYTONA 500. DID IT FEEL LIKE A WIN? DID YOU SENSE THAT THEY THOUGHT THE PERFORMANCE WAS LIKE A WIN?
“He might have. Obviously, he was excited enough to put out a release on Instagram. You know, I had more people reach out to me about that than I expected just that people were realizing Jeff’s character and the people in the relationship got him to where they are as a race team. Somebody texted me about that this morning and I was like man, that’s why Jeff is one of my favorite people. I had to re-phrase the text back and I’m like Jeff was one of my favorite people before I started driving for him. So, the fact that I get to drive for one of the guys I’ve looked up to in the garage for the past couple of years is really neat.”
YOU ARE ONLY ONE RACE IN, BUT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE A WINNING TEAM?
“Short answer: no. Not at the moment, But the people and the tools that are in place continue to build toward that and obviously Spire is really hedging their bets toward this Next Gen car. The goal is always to go to the race track and run the best way possible. But to try to win this year wasn’t necessarily the goal because still, the bottom of the well is infinite with the way the cars are now. The Next Gen car with a single source manufacturer, if we can get a couple more partners in the fold where we can have a comfortable racing budget with some of the teams like Hendrick and Stewart Haas, I really do think that we can compete for some races, short tracks, maybe every week. I think I have a little bit of things to learn just to learn the tricks the Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, what those guys do to close races out I’ll have to learn that stuff when time comes. But I’d like to think that if I’m in a Top 10 car I can make that thing just get up there and contend for wins one day.”
HAVE YOU SPENT ANY TIME WITH STEVE LETARTE? HAS HE TALKED TO YOU ABOUT COMING FROM A CHAMPIONSHIP ORGANIZATION LIKE HENDRICK AND WHAT YOU GUYS CAN DO IN THE SHORT TERM TO AIM TOWARD THAT GOAL?
“Steve has been way more involved than I expected him to be. He actually might be involved more than he expected to be, too. He’s in there almost every day of the week, really. He was sending me motivational text messages before the race and he actually sent me a really nice and supportive one after the race at 2 o’clock in the morning or whatever it was. He stayed up and listened to our radio communications and just reiterated that I’m the guy for the job and that he was impressed by me. Coming from a multi time Cup winning crew chief like Steve Letarte and to have him in our camp means a lot. For him, he’s obviously worked with a lot of great drivers, so for him to tell me that meant a lot. So, I’m going to certainly lean on him for some leadership qualities and things like that I haven’t been around in the past that I can continue to lean on off-the-track stuff with our team, I think that’s going to be just as important as what I can do on the race track.”
OTHER THAN SUPERSPEEDWAYS, WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOU DO HAVE YOUR BEST SHOT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND TO SHOW PEOPLE WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF DOING?
“I always have Daytona and Talladega circled because I’ve run fairly well there. But Martinsville is a place I’m really looking forward to. We’ve run really well there with a 2006 Roush car in the past. I’m looking forward to driving a car that was built in this decade to see what we can do. I really think we can run a Top 10 at Martinsville; and if we don’t, I’d be a little bit upset. And I think Ryan Sparks has that race circled as well at Martinsville as well to see how we stack up.”
SEEING SPIRE MOTORSPORTS GET THE TOP TWO FASTEST LAPS IN THE RACE, OBVIOUSLY IT’S A SUPERSPEEDWAY. BUT WHAT CAN THIS SHOW FOR THE CARS AND ENGINES HEADING INTO THE MEAT AND POTATOES OF THE SEASON?
“You’re making me hungry with the meat and potatoes now (laughs). I forgot where it was; whether it was the first media Zoom here before the 500 and people asked if they could take Spire seriously. And I was like check back in here in six months and we’ll see if they’re taking us seriously. We’re one weekend into the year and I would say that people should start taking us seriously. And I get that Daytona is Daytona. With certain circumstances you can pop off a fast lap like we did there. But you don’t luck into two Top 10 finishes in the 500 just because you’re out there riding around. So, like I said, I’m ready to get to Phoenix and Vegas and some intermediates too just to see where we stack-up speed wise and figure out those groups of four or five cars that we can race consistently and figure out how to beat them. I’m looking at cars like even RCR or JTG I feel like we can compete with those guys each and every week. And wherever that stacks up in points, we should be somewhere between 19th and 22nd. I feel like that’s where we should be running and getting better each and every week.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU IN SEEING A LOT OF PEOPLE INVESTING RECENTLY IN THIS SPORT FROM A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT ANGLES?
“Yeah, that’s a great question. When you have a guy like Pitbull come in as a co-owner for Trackhouse Racing and you obviously you have Denny Hamlin and the Michael Jordan team. And they are, from what I understand, four or five more heavily backed owners looking to try to get a charter to come into this sport. I think that just shows the level of excitement people have. And also, the business model that NASCAR is trying to push toward makes some financial sense for somebody to get into the fold with this Next Gen and be able to compete right off the bat. So, I think the trajectory of NASCAR is certainly looking up. We can talk about the Daytona 500 TV numbers all day, but you’ve got to take into consideration all the variables that they’ve dealt with. I think there’s more excitement behind NASCAR since the late ‘90’s, just with all the personalities coming in and stuff we’re doing off the race track as well as on the race track now and going into the future.”
LOOKING AT THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE THIS WEEKEND, WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
“Everything. The whole turn left, turn right, stop, go, all of that is fairly hard. You’ve got guys that have been doing it for a while with more road course experience than others and I’m probably at the bottom end of that experience line. So, I’m going to certainly learn as much as I can from those guys at the front of the pack this weekend with my seventh starting position, and just try to keep all four on the black stuff instead of the green stuff and try not to make any mistakes. I think keeping the brakes on this low downforce package will be important to be there at the end because it’ll be a lot longer than the Clash was.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. 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 www.chevrolet.com.
