Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona 500 Media Day | Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Ford Performance drivers visited the Daytona International Speedway media center as part of 2022 media day festivities. Below are transcripts from their Q&A sessions with the media.
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang –WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO COME HERE AS A DAYTONA 500 WINNER? “It is awesome. It really is. The last few weeks with getting ready for the 500 and all the media and all the preseason stuff, it is fun. It is fun being the Daytona 500 champion coming to Daytona. It has been a cool experience. I feel like there are times in the season last year where, not like you forget, but you just get back into the grind and things aren’t going all that great and you are kind of riding that season wave. Then in the off-season, and getting ready for this, it was a lot of fun because everyone wants to talk about winning the Daytona 500 and it brings back a lot of great memories. At the same time, we are focused on this year and trying to kick our season off right and go back-to-back if we can. It is a lot of fun. It has been a cool couple of weeks getting ready for this.”
YOUR NAME IS ON THAT TROPHY AND ALWAYS WILL BE. THAT HAS TO BE A COOL FEELING: “It is, definitely. The significance of this race and the history of it. Like you said, it just has more meaning than just your average NASCAR race. They are all important and they all have significance, but if there is one you are going to win, this is the one. It is special. It is cool to know that regardless of what happens this weekend or what happens this year you always have that Daytona 500 victory and being a Daytona 500 champion is pretty special.”
TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 First Phase Credit Card Ford Mustang – WHAT IS IT LIKE FOR YOU TO COME TO DAYTONA AND BE READY TO START YOUR ROOKIE CUP SERIES SEASON? “Every time I have driven through the Daytona tunnel, my first time here was for an ARCA test. My first laps on the race track. Every time you go through the tunnel it just gives you chills. The World Center of Racing is right there huge across the front stretch. It is definitely different coming here for the Daytona 500. Being here for five days. I feel like everything just adds to the significance of it and I am really excited to see the intensity pick up throughout the week.”
MCDOWELL CONTINUED — HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE AMOUNT OF RAIN AT COTA LAST YEAR TO JOE OR MARY RACE FAN? “It was a lot of rain. Let me take that back. It wasn’t the amount of rain, it was just our cars in particular the amount of spray and the way that spray came off our cars was different than other race cars that I have driven. I have driven in wet conditions in sports cars and open-wheel cars a lot in my past but the way that the water actually shoots out the back of those cars is quite different than ours. So the visibility was as hard as I have ever had it. It is probably as bad as it has ever been for me. It was really tough. There have been conditions I have had like that in the past but normally the races get stopped pretty quickly when it is like that. Visibility, in a sports car here at Daytona, usually goes hand in hand with the driveability of the track. I think COTA was drivable. It wasn’t too wet. The track does a good job of draining and there wasn’t massive amounts of standing water and puddles but the visibility made it a real challenge.”
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THAT TO A FAN THOUGH? “There were times where you just had a blindfold on, literally. It was like you had no idea what was in front of you. Like, completely no idea. You are coming in and out of seeing lights and seeing different objects but there are moments where you aren’t seeing anything. It was pretty daunting for sure. It was wild, it really was. The Bristol Dirt race had a little bit of that feel to it but shorter spurts of not being able to see. It was definitely a challenge. It is unfortunate too because it is such a cool race track and could have been a really awesome inaugural event – and I think it still was – but I think our cars this year will do much better in all those areas from a visibility standpoint and from a spray and mist standpoint. A lot of that is because of the diffuser. In sports cars and Indycar you have ground effects and diffusers that kick the moisture up and over the cars and so you always are affected by the mist. Our cars last year were just coming straight out of the back and right into the window. Like someone was holding a hose on you. It wasn’t shooting up in the air and creating a mist, it was shooting straight at you like someone had a pressure washer. I think this year if we do get those tough conditions, our cars will be a bit better for it.”
HOW VALUABLE WAS THE DAYTONA 500 WIN FOR FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS AND HOW HAS IT CONTINUED TO PAY DIVIDENDS FOR THE ORGANIZATION WITH SPONSORSHIP? “That is a long question and I will try to answer it the best I can. The value last year for our partners was significant just because of the amount of eyeballs watching the Daytona 500 and also too, beyond that, all the highlights and all the social engagement and all the commercials that NASCAR is running previewing. Like when Fox switched to NBC it had our win on that commercial. All those tidbits really add up to a lot at the end of the year in terms of exposure value and TV viewership for our partners. That was a huge thing. Not that it was unexpected but I didn’t realize how much value that added. Then from the short term, we have more races sold on the 34 car this year than we ever have. I don’t know officially but I think we may only have one race available at this point. From a sponsorship standpoint, it has helped significantly. That was growing each and every year and we were trending that direction but the 500 definitely sped that up for us and allowed us to just make new relationships and expand our current ones. From a sponsorship standpoint, it has helped a lot. Then overall, I don’t want to call it morale but the legitimacy of the race team and getting really quality people to come to Front Row as employees to help us grow the program helped a tremendous amount by running well and winning the Daytona 500. I think that five or six years ago we had a harder time getting people to buy in to sort of the mission and the vision at Front Row, especially if they are already at a big four or big five race team. Now it is a little easier to see that we can do it and we have the ability to do it and that is a great place for people to achieve some of their goals that they wouldn’t get to achieve otherwise.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRONT ROW AS AN ORGANIZATION AND HOW FAR THE TEAM HAS COME? WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE TEAM OWNERSHIP AND STRUCTURE OF THE TEAM THAT HAS CREATED THIS LEVEL OF OPERATION RIGHT NOW? “A lot of it started with this guys dad, David Gilliland and David Ragan. They are a big part of what Front Row is today. Since I have been here it has just been that slow progression. I think that when Bob Jenkins the owner and Jerry Freeze, when we look at it you want that instant success and it hasn’t been an instant success. It has been getting three or four spots better on average every year with how we perform. That is hard to do in our sport. That is tough to go from running low 20’s to running in the teens. When you are running teens in the Cup Series, you are beating the big teams consistently. At least one or two of their cars, not all of their cars. It has been a journey and a process. I think that Bob’s vision for the team and what he has allowed us to do. He is a very savvy businessman. He didn’t go broke the first year trying to get to where he wasn’t going to be able to get to. I think that has been the case for a lot of people that have come and gone in this sport. They come in and spend everything they have and take a run at it and two or three years later they are not in business anymore. So his process of growing slowly has built sustainability for the race team so that now we have the partnership and sustainability to keep going at the rate we are going. Even though it didn’t go as fast as we all hoped it is working out now to where we are very solid, secure and stable. Five, six or seven years ago it probably wasn’t that. He has also spent a significant amount of his own money to do it and it takes a big commitment to do that. It has definitely been a process.”
TODD GILLILAND CONTINUED — HAS THE NEW CAR CREATED A SITUATION WHERE THE NON-TOP-TIER TEAMS HAVE A CHANCE TO MAYBE START OFF THE SEASON-WINNING RACES AND WE SEE SOME SURPRISES THE FIRST PART OF THE YEAR? “Yeah, me and Michael have talked about it a little bit throughout th tests and I think our common sense is that it won’t make the gap bigger at least from the top teams throughout the whole field. You would like to think it will bring us closer but I think it definitely won’t bring us further away.”
MCDOWELL CONTINUED — “Yeah, I think you will have surprise winners this year. The best teams are always going to be the best. As you guys know with any industry it is all about people. The biggest and best teams typically have the best people. So, it is always going to be that case. You look at all different forms of motorsports and the top teams are always the top teams, even with rule changes. I always feel like and have felt like this model will work because even at Front Row we have really good people. So on a given day when we hit everything right. When I hit everything right and we hit the setup right and the strategy right, you should at least have an opportunity or be in a position to win. I grew up an open-wheel guy and I love watching Indycar and get a lot of satisfaction from seeing a guy like Dale Coyne win races because he hired a good engineer and a really good driver. When they hit it right and they get the strategy right they can win an Indycar race and beat Penske and Ganassi and Andretti and those big teams. I think the Next Gen car gives us and other teams the opportunity to do that in the Cup Series. When you get it right and hit everything right you will see guys win races that you don’t typically see because a lot of the parts and pieces are pretty close. The best teams are always going to be the best teams, there is no doubt about that.”
GILLILAND CONTINUED — WHERE ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SEASON AS A ROOKIE AND ALSO HITTING THE TRACK YESTERDAY FOR PRACTICE, WHAT WAS THAT MOMENT LIKE FOR YOU BEHIND THE WHEEL? “I was definitely happy to just get my first day here under my belt. It is kind of nerve-racking with not much inventory and you are in the draft trying to go as fast as you can but also be really smart about it. As far as expectations this year, it is really hard to set any hard expectations. I would say for me personally it is just to not take myself out of learning opportunities. I would like to be on the track making as many laps as possible this year. I would say I definitely have a ton to learn the first half of the season but the second half of the season I would like to be competitive compared to Michael. I would say the main goal is to just finish as many laps as possible this year.”
WHAT WAS THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE LIKE FOR YOU A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AT THE CLASH? WAS IT GOOD FOR YOU TO HAVE EXPOSURE TO SUCH A BIG SPECTACLE LIKE THAT TO HELP PREPARE YOU FOR WHAT YOU WILL EXPERIENCE THIS WEEKEND? “Yeah, I definitely think the Clash was really good for me to get a whole run-through of a whole weekend. Even at the Clash, it is a lot tougher there to manage practice times and when you have to be in the car. As far as all that stuff it is a lot more stressful just because of the huge unknowns of having never been there before. It was a good run-through with my team and a good practice. After practice, you normally have to sit down and make some hard decisions of what you are going to do during the race and to be able to go through all that was really good. As a rookie, I have been on the track with some of the stars of the Cup Series but it is different when you walk in the garage and the cars are all wrapped in the sponsors you see on TV every weekend. I think just running through every single one of those things was definitely a good thing.”
YOU ARE COMING FROM A SERIES THAT RUNS 23 RACES SPREAD OUT THROUGH THE YEAR AND NOW YOU ARE GOING TO EMBARK ON 37 RACES IN 38 WEEKS. IS THAT INTIMIDATING AT ALL? “I feel like it is intimidating just because I don’t know what it is really like. I am sure I can do it. Growing up, that is what I would rather do. I would rather race every single weekend. I am more excited about it than anything. It is weird. Normally the trucks come to Daytona and then you have two or three weeks off. I am excited to be able to keep racing.”
HOW COMFORTABLE TO YOU FEEL IN THIS NEXT GEN CAR? “I am really excited about coming in during the Next Gen era. I feel like it kind of puts me at the same level as some of these guys. I am learning at the same time as my crew chief and everyone on my crew. To be able to spend an extra hour in the shot and try to learn these cars a little better is a good opportunity for me. Especially the preseason testing. I feel like that is something that has been overlooked but is a huge advantage for a rookie this year than the three or four years in the past. I have more laps coming up to the Daytona 500 than I have ever had coming to Daytona before. I feel more comfortable in that than anything else.”
MCDOWELL CONTINUED — WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TODD WITH THE PERSPECTIVE OF BEING IN THIS SERIES FOR A LONG TIME? “I think that the timing for Todd is perfect because when we were at the Charlotte test together he was looking at me like, ‘What should I expect?’ and I had no ideas what to expect. I was as nervous as he was. Even though you have years of experience, this Next Gen car is completely different than anything we have driven before in the Cup Series. It is great for him because he isn’t starting at such a deficit. Is it still going to be hard? Is it still going to be overwhelming? Is he still going to be a rookie? Absolutely. That Cup Series is very challenging the first year but it would definitely be worse if he waited until next year when you take the best drivers and best teams and give them a year experience with this car, it will be harder for a rookie to make up that deficit. Now, even though he is at somewhat of a deficit he isn’t completely behind. For me, it is kind of that same rookie jitters in preseason testing because you don’t know what to expect. It is so different than what we have had in the past. Testing was definitely nice, like Todd said. We had some personnel changes at Front Row and some people move from one team to another and it is good to get into that rhythm and figure out what you need.”
