NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA AVAIL. QUOTES
AUGUST 23, 2024
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 47 Kroger/BIGGIE Muffins/CapriSun Camaro ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway.
Media Availability Quotes:
Given that you only have one option to get into the playoffs and that’s winning.. For the first few stages at least, do you guys just try to go all out and race, or do you still have to do the fuel saving as everyone else will probably do?
“Yeah, no for us, it obviously doesn’t matter if you win the first or second stage. So we’ll be just making sure we can do whatever we can do to make sure we have our car at the end of the race and be capable of running basically that last stint after you pit for fuel. You’re going to run the whole race managing your fuel and trying to make that last pit stop as fast as possible so that you can get your track position then and see how it plays out. I think everybody’s in the same boat for the most part.. like your options on trying to win the race. Nobody is going to come up with a crazy option to win the race, but you’re going to have to make your pit stops as minimal as possible and see if you can just keep your track position. Getting on and off pit road, especially if it’s a green flag pit stop, will be super important. And doing it with a group of cars that can leave pit road with you and get up to speed as quick as possible to keep that track position. That will be all the things that we’re looking at throughout the whole race tomorrow.”
What are the differences between the two Cup races here, and how much does the temperature and stuff like that play into the race?
“Yeah, Daytona is always a racetrack that can be temperature sensitive, for sure. I would say more with our older cars versus now. I feel like this car is really similar everywhere we go, especially coming back to a speedway race. I feel like there’s more difference in Atlanta’s two races than probably Daytona. Talladega is obviously really similar, but you get a little different handling aspects of the car sliding around a little bit more. I would say more so now than February, you would kind of want tires more often. I think all of us would rather have no tires and track position versus tires and having to run through the field. I would say the biggest issues are always off turn four here; getting tight and making sure your car is still kind of rotating, especially if you’re stuck on the bottom lane. But I don’t see it being too big of a difference from February.”
On one hand, this is an opportunity race for you guys. It’s a chance for you to win your way into the playoffs and a chance to win at Daytona again. On the other hand, there’s probably a 75 percent chance you’re going to end up in a crash, too. I’m curious, how do you balance those two things? Do you get excited to come here? Are you nervous to come here? What are the vibes when you drive through the tunnel?
“I don’t get nervous. I think excited is probably the way I go into it. I feel like, throughout a lot of my career, especially in the Xfinity Series, I didn’t really like speedway racing very much. I felt like you never knew what was going to happen. I didn’t feel like I knew enough about it to enjoy it. I was just kind of out there in the draft. If I got a good finish, it was just because I got a good finish. And then throughout my Cup career, I felt like I started learning more; how to draft, the way to use the side draft, use the pushes, getting better at blocking, pulling up in front of lanes and having a better game plan. That’s kind of when my aspect of speedway racing kind of changed and I started enjoying it. And then when I started enjoying it, I started running better at them. I’m definitely excited; optimistic at our chances here. I think there’s a lot of people in the same boat, but we sat down this week in the shop and said that the only thing that we’re focused on is winning the race. We know that there’s a high possibility of getting no stage points and getting in a wreck, but we feel like that’s the best option that we have right now going forward, knowing that there will be a handful of people that are looking for stage points to move themselves up in the standings or whatnot. We know that we can leave out of here with one or two points, but we’re going to give ourselves an option in going to win the race.”
I know it’s not something you can control or influence at all, but a veteran like you, who knows the business side, do you monitor the charter negotiation conversations? Do you reach out to ownership, just to say – hey, what’s the status here? What are your thoughts on all that?
“I mean I think, obviously I’m not near as involved as a Denny (Hamlin) or a Brad (Keselowski). But as a driver, you’re definitely I would say concerned, a little bit about it.. thinking it would already be done by now. But as far as getting into the details.. no, I don’t really get into the specifics. I get a little information from my owners. And then obviously I play a lot of golf with Denny.. him and I are good friends. Obviously I think they’ll come to an agreement at some point. Hopefully it’s in a good spot for everybody. I know that, from our team, our ownership side is super committed to this sport and they love this sport. So for me, that’s all that really matters going forward. Yeah, hopefully they get something that works for everybody.”
I’ve heard some drivers say that becoming a parent has had an impact on, maybe not the way they race, but the way they look at racing… maybe some of the moves they make. As you come to a track like Daytona, now that you come here as a dad, does that have any impact on how you’re going about Saturday’s race?
“No, I think for me, I’m just super excited. I’d love to get him to victory lane. I think that would be the coolest thing.
But you know, no – I mean I think once I strap into a race car, I’m all task at hand, and that’s to do the best job for our team, our partners and all our fans. There’s not a move I won’t make, if it gives us an opportunity to win. But no, I’m super thrilled to have him here at the race track, that’s for sure.”
What’s it been like the last few weeks without your family at the track and kind of being on your own the last five or so races?
“Yeah, there’s been more golf played on the weekends. But you know, I think for me, the off weeks came at a great time for us. I like staying up and watching dirt racing anyways, so I take the night shift. It’s all been working out. There’s been a lot of dirt racing on lately, so everything has been pretty smooth on that side of things. Yeah, definitely glad to kind of get back into the normal swing of things. First time at the racetrack for everyone, so it’ll be a fun weekend. We’ve got some great races close to home, which will be nice.”
Obviously anything can happen, any weekend. But do you look at this weekend as the true last chance to get into the playoffs, based on the challenges of Darlington?
“I would say, no. You know, yeah – this could potentially be maybe the easiest. But you know, I look at our races, really all year long, and there’s been a lot of opportunities that I feel like people have put themselves in, especially at like mile-and-a-half racetracks. If you catch a caution the right way and all of a sudden you find yourself starting on the front row, our speeds are so close with these race cars. When you go back and look at lap times and average lap times throughout a race, like at Michigan, a tenth is first to 20th. So theoretically, you could have a 20th place car; catch a caution the right way, your pit strategy works out and all of a sudden you’re starting on the front row with tires. Any of us can hang on for a win, if that happens. I mean, no pun intended, but there’s a lot of late-race cautions, so anything can happen. So I think we keep our options open all the way until the checkered flag falls at Darlington, for sure.”
You’ve had some great times here and some pretty rough times. You said awhile ago that there isn’t a move you won’t make to get the win this weekend. How aggressive are you willing to be, in light of what happened a few weeks ago, and things like that? What will you do to try and make the playoffs?
“Yeah, I mean I think you look at speedway racing a little bit differently. I mean we’re all beating, banging and pushing each other. I would say 98 percent of the time there’s a wreck on the last lap. I would assume they would look at it a little bit differently on speedways, but I don’t know.. I think you’re just going to be pushing, side drafting and trying to get all you can. I don’t think anybody really knows exactly what moves they’ll make until they’re put in those positions. And then you make them and figure it out after that. I definitely just hope we have a shot at it; put ourselves in that position to be able to make a move, one way or the other, and try to win the race.”
How important is conditioning for you to improve in the race car, and what kind of workouts are you doing during the season?
“Yeah, I think for the most part for myself, what’s really worked since I hired my trainer. Trainer Ryan, he was Kasey Kahnes trainer for a long time. Kasey was in great shape. Just really worked on heart rate stuff. I did a lot of cross fit back in the day, and now I kind of do a little bit of everything. We did a burpee-broad jump for a mile last week.. that was harder than I thought it was going to be, mentally. Physically it was OK, but mentally, it was draining after a quarter of a lap. On the first lap, I was really to call it quits. But that’s what we signed up for, so we did it and it took way longer than expected. So two hours and 17 minutes of burpees isn’t a lot of fun, but it was a cool test. I got some great buddies, as well, that we tend to just do dumb stuff. Like the most miles I had ran before this offseason was 11 at one time, and me and a buddy went out on a 30-miler this offseason. Now he wants to do 50 (laughs). But yeah, we just do random stuff all the time and just see how it goes. It’s a lot of fun, but I do feel like with my conditioning, I feel really good in the race car compared to where I was five or six years ago.”
Do you have a stance on ending under green versus ending under caution debate?
“Daytona 2023, I liked ending under caution (laughs). But I don’t know.. I think if you’re trying to end under green, we could be here for days. It seems like we all lose our minds at the end of the races; just hold the throttle down until we get to the front, it seems like. I think back to like a Nashville – yeah, I guess it did under green, but it took forever. I don’t know.. I think you’re just asking a lot because like at Nashville, you had guys that were running 25th to 30th have a shot at winning the race because they had enough fuel in the car, right? When you’re in the back, you’re constantly stopped to make sure you have enough fuel. And then the guys at the front can’t pit and just give up all their track position. But ultimately, you’re going to run out of laps that you can go. You know, so I look at a Nashville, and you almost have somebody win that race that had no other option, up until those late-race restarts when everyone started running out of gas. Ending under green could be pretty tricky.”
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