NASCAR CUP SERIES
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 18, 2021
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript Highlights:
HOW CRAZY AND WILD DO YOU THINK DAYTONA WILL BE WITH DRIVERS. HAVING THEIR LAST SHOT TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS?
“I played a big part in that excitement in the last Daytona cutoff race. I think you’ll expect to see drivers that were as desperate as I was in that race to try and get up front and get control of the race and win for their team and all their partners. It’s just going to be a matter of trying to have an understanding in the back of your head or have a point that you kind of have within yourself. Like okay, this is my fun meter. If we can stay within, we’re good. If we go over here, etc. We’re trying to make the Playoffs, right? But we’re also trying to get tenth and get that extra point if we can, too. So, there are a lot of things around. We’re going to try and control what we can. Someone going in and winning that race in Daytona is something that we can’t really control unless we win that race. But it’s a tough spot to be in.”
LOOKING BACK AT LAST YEAR, WOULD YOU DO THE SAME THING AGAIN? KNOWING WHAT’ ON THE LINE, IS THERE REALLY ANY OTHER ALTERNATIVE?
“Well, the situation is a little bit different for us at the moment. I think we were 60 points behind the cutline at Daytona last year for that race. As of right now, going to Michigan, I think we’re up 23 points. So, the situation is a little bit different. We’re 11th in points. We’re looking at potentially, if we have a good two-race span, we might be able to get to tenth and get a Playoff point there, too. But in doing that, we could also maybe not even make the Playoffs all at the same time. Again, we’re just trying to control the things that we can. It is different because we are above the cutline, at the moment. If someone new wins at Michigan, yeah, then it’s all back to all of this stuff that we’ve been working for kind of goes out the window and then we need to come up with a new plan that we will bring and then have at Daytona for that race. At the moment, we’re just not really changing anything. At the moment, we’re just going to keep doing what we’ve done all year long. Once we get to Daytona after Michigan is in the rear-view mirror and seeing where we stack up in points, okay maybe we change our strategy if somebody new wins. Maybe not. We’ll just have to see after this weekend.”
IF YOU CAN THINK BACK TO A YEAR AGO, HOW NERVE-WRACKING WAS IT AND WAS IT LESS OR MORE THAN YOU EXPECTED?
“It was in its own way, but different than how it would be where we’re at looking at it now, in this position. Last year we kind of fell off of the end of that regular season stretch and just we were in a place where we had to just basically win Daytona and nothing else mattered. So, desperation, yeah, it sinks in and you’re trying everything you can at the end of that race. I think there are 15, 16, or 17 other drivers that are in the same boat as you behind you even further back in points. Yeah, it is stressful because it is something that is somewhat out of your hands. You can only control what you can. For us that’s our cars, our team, and how we perform over the next two weeks. We can’t even really control or predict or even waste the energy predicting how other teams are going to go into Daytona and how they’re going to run.”
WHAT DOES GETTING INTO THE PLAYOFFS MEAN TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM? WHAT IS ON THE LINE? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT?
“It’s extremely important as any driver I think would say. For me, last year it was a goal for our team. We had the trends, and the positives were there for us to get there. But some of the mistakes in that rookie season really took us just far enough behind that it was really difficult to overcome. Other drivers were surging late in the season, and it was a difficult time to make up points and we were losing them. This year, it’s even more important considering we were one of the first drivers to miss the Playoffs last year. And then also, for us, we’re sitting 11th in points and have a shot at getting to 10th. We’ve had a really good turnaround from five or six races in at Atlanta, I think it was, earlier this year. So, we’ve overcome a lot in points deficit. We’ve passed a lot of other teams and drivers in points. And furthermore, we’re ran really well for many months now in the season. Making the Playoffs is important for sure. When I think about it, the guys we’ll be racing around in these Playoffs I think we can outrun; where we are right now, we can out-perform and probably advance past some of these drivers. I think we’re running good enough to make it through the first round and have a really good shot at making it through the second round to round three, honestly. We’re right in that window. So that’s really important to make it into the Playoffs because we are going to have some Playoff points from the Stage wins if things go right, we’ll get some more from where we’re at in the regular season standings. So, a lot is on the line for us in that regard because it’s not a matter of just making the Playoffs. I think where we’re running right now and where our RCR team is going, and Austin (Dillon) as well. We are good enough to make it go deeper into the Playoffs than just make it a one and done.”
YOU’VE HAD SOME GOOD RUNS ON THE 550HP TRACKS LIKE ATLANTA AND POCONO. DOES MICHIGAN BECOME ANY MORE IMPORTANT? IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DRAWN FROM ATLANTA AND POCONO OR ARE THEY SO DIFFERENT IT WON’T HELP YOU LATER AT LAS VEGAS IN THE PLAYOFFS?
“They’re similar, but they’re not. There’s something you can draw from, but I think the important thing is that a lot of these races you show up, you unload, you go through tech, and you hit the race track without ever really getting a chance to adjust on what you bring and what you think is going to be the best piece for that race that weekend. The one thing that does remain the same is you’re working lots of hours on the car and where you’re going to start with the balance and all that, all beforehand, and have that set in a pretty close box where you want it to be before you go to the race track. So, as we go from places like Michigan and Pocono and Atlanta, when we go to Vegas and some of these other one, it’s going to be the same type of deal. It’s going to be really important to have our homework done the right way. It’s very different to make big adjustments. So that aspect of it, yes, it’s going to be important to be able to take this car to Michigan and run good.”
WHAT MAKES THE SEASON A SUCCESS FOR YOU? IS IT MAKING THE PLAYOFFS OR WINNING A RACE OR SOMETHING MORE THAN THAT?
“There was definitely one point in time, even last year, we make the Playoffs in my rookie year would have been a success. We didn’t do that. It was very easy to kind of get down in the dumps. The goal that we had, we didn’t obtain it. And we kind of started the year off the same way. And as the year as gone on, still have that same thought and drive is we’ve got to make the Playoffs. But there are other ways to look at it too, I think. What would make the season a success is to continue to just improve like we have been for months and months now. We’re kind of in a spot where if Michigan and Daytona go smooth, we’re going to be in a great place. But we could get to Daytona. We could run fifth, get Stage points and have a great day. Somebody wins that’s behind the cutline, knock us out, and that’s kind of out of our control at that point. But, for us it’s just about that rate of improvement and continue to improve all year long and not losing that drive to improve. So even if the unthinkable happens and some crazy upset winner happens at Daytona, the season isn’t over. It’s not a bust. The drive and the motivation we have would probably only just increase as we try to really work on making everything better within our team and that aspect and how we do better as a team once we get thrown into a brand new car for next year. But we’ve been pushing really hard. Unfortunately, the one thing we needed to do to really take care of a lot of our problems was win a race. And we’ve had those opportunities. We just didn’t capitalize on them.”
WHAT HAS THE MOOD BEEN LIKE WITH YOU AND AUSTIN DILLON? IT’S LOOKING LIKE A BATTLE BETWEEN YOU TWO FOR THE FINAL PLAYOFF SPOT.
“It’s been really good. It’s just as good as it’s ever been. We’ve been working really hard. The last four weeks were really good because we had those two off-weekends and both of us worked really hard on the cars and the set-ups, which were really close together, that we took to those road courses. Things are really good for us. We’re really on the same page. As much as it seems like the doors would shut at this point in time when it’s the No. 3 and the No. 8 fighting for 16th and 17th, the doors have never been more open. There’s lots of sharing going on. We both know that if we want to do well in the Playoffs or make the Playoffs, we each need to keep pushing the other along the way. And we’ve been doing a great job of that this year. Going into Michigan, the same thing. It’s happening this week, too.”
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