Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona 500 Media Day
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DOES THE FEELING OF BEING A DAYTONA 500 WINNER EVER GET OLD? “It doesn’t get old, but the memories start to fade, so you’ve got to do it again. It’s been long enough to be ready for another one. We’ve obviously been close many other times since then, so hopefully we can pull it off.”
WHAT KIND OF DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE TO THE TEAM TO START THE YEAR OFF AT THE 500? “Yeah, just starting off with a solid run is great, but the Daytona 500, to me, I look at it as more than just a race – like starting the race season off with a win. It’s the Great American Race. It’s a little bit more than just a normal race, so I think everybody knows that here of what it’s about. Yeah, you want to kick off with some momentum, but, to me, it’s the first three or four races that kind of set the tone for the regular season.”
DO YOU THINK THE PRESTIGE OF THE DAYTONA 500 HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS? “Not to me, no. I think it’s still a big deal.”
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF CONNOR ZILISCH AND HOW QUICKLY HE’S RISEN TO CUP? “I get it. I think he’s gonna be fine. I really think he’s gonna run pretty well. I’m sure he’s gonna have quite the learning curve just racing around us and the way that we do things. I’ve watched him and it seems like he’s great. He seems like a good person from what I know. I haven’t really talked to him that much, but he seems like a good kid. I’m sure the second half of the year he’s gonna be quite a bit stronger than the first half of the year is my assumption, just because he’ll see things for the second time. I think he’ll be fine and he’ll pick right up on it. I think these cars are more like sports cars. It was a little different. When I first started the cars were really, really unique and just much different to drive than what we have now. These are very similar to what a sports car is, which I’m sure he’s probably a little bit more used to that. He did well in the Xfinity cars and figured that out, too, so he’ll be fine.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HIS SUCCESS WITH 10 WINS A YEAR AGO AND WON THE 24 HOURS IN HIS FIRST TRY? “He must be pretty good (laughing).”
YOU WERE HIGHLY TOUTED COMING IN. HOW DID THOSE MOMENTS EARLY IN YOUR CAREER SHAPE THE REST OF IT? “He’s coming in at a different day and age than when I did. To be honest with you, I came in kind of brash and a little bit arrogant. I got in some scuffles here and there that, to this day, still follow me. Fans don’t forget. They remember who you were when you were 19 and now that you’re 35 it’s like, yeah, everybody is a little different from when you were 19 years old, I would assume. I hope so at least, and so am I, but I think once you set that first impression to the fan that’s what it is forever, unfortunately. I’ve learned that one the hard way.”
NO ONE TOLD YOU THAT ONE. “No, know one, no. And I don’t even know if I would have done anything different because I didn’t know. I didn’t even know how to act. You’re 19 years old. You do stupid stuff. You say stupid things. How do you know? You learn the hard way and learn in front of everyone and everyone’s got good memories these days because they’ve got You Tube.”
WHAT ABOUT GETTING INTO THE DEALERSHIP SIDE OF THE AUTO BUSINESS? “I’m a car person in general and being around Roger and learning a little bit about the car industry has been educational and I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed seeing the other side of the world and I have this thing inside of me that says I want to be more than just a one-trick pony just to myself. I want to prove that to myself that I can do more than one thing. I’ve got a great opportunity with a partnership with the Krause organization and Huntersville Ford. Obviously, driving a Ford for as long as I have it’s like a natural partnership. It’s really been educational to see that side of the business. There are some amazing people on the Ford side that I would never have talked to if I didn’t have that opportunity, so I’ve really learned a lot and met a lot of really strong individuals that make up a great team. There’s a lot more to learn, a lot more things I want to do to make it bigger and better and do great things, we just can’t announce it yet. There’s been a Logano Trucking in the years. That was my dad though (laughing).”
WHAT ABOUT YOUR HAIR JOURNEY? “My hair journey. It don’t grow no more. I have, I don’t know what you call it, an autoimmune things called Alopecia, so randomly I get these spots where hair doesn’t grow and then it comes back, so I had another flair up and I was like, ‘Well, screw it. I’m just shaving it all off’ and I just did that. It’s just easier.”
ARE YOU USED TO SEEING YOURSELF LIKE THIS? “I am now. It’s very refreshing, I will say. You can do this haircut at home (laughing). I don’t know. I gave my son the clippers and said, ‘Have at it’ because I figured he would have fun doing that, my oldest. I just said, ‘Here, have fun.’ And then my wife came home and she’s like, ‘What happened.’ And I’m like, ‘I had to cut my hair.’ My wife said I needed to do that. She said I needed to and I said, ‘Whatever you want is what I do.’”
HAD YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT BEFORE ACTUALLY DOING IT? “I’ve thought about it and then, like I said, I had another flair up and I was just like, ‘The easiest thing to do here is just to cut it all off,’ so I just did it. I didn’t really think that much about it until I got a lot of messages of people asking if I was OK. I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ It’s just a haircut. What’s the big deal?”
IT’S BEEN ONE OF THE BIGGEST TALKING POINTS. “It has been. I tell you when I noticed it the most. I’ve got my shifter kart at home and I drive around my racetrack at home, and I got those air vents on the top and I never realized what those did until you cut your hair off and it’s like, ‘Wow, those are nice.’ Unless it’s been as cold as it’s been lately, so it’s not quite as nice. It’s a big difference. My beanie game has definitely come up. That’s a thing now.”
THE LAST 20-30 LAPS OF THE 500, HOW DIFFERENT DOES IT GET INSIDE THE RACE CAR? “It’s the same feeling. You kind of feel the intensity ratcheting up. The storm is brewing. You know it and you start to realize where you are and what can and can’t happen. The worst, honestly, is if you’re fourth row back, kind of locked in on the bottom maybe, and you realize that I’m probably not gonna win from where I’m at and I’m probably gonna crash. You start to realize that. You’re right in the middle of where the wreck is gonna happen. It’s gonna be right there. You may make it through. You may not, and the further back you are, the more likely you are to get into that crash, so that’s why everything before that you’re trying to position yourself to where you have options. That’s what I try to do, at least in my mind, is how can I get to a point where I can make moves, break free, still have some kind of control in my hands because once you get to a certain point you’re locked in and that’s what you’ve got.”
A LOT OF THESE WRECKS ARE LATE IN THE RACE. “It’s gonna happen. It does every time. This year may be a little bit less considering a win means less, but it’s still the Daytona 500. Maybe not this race, but other speedway races could look a little different because of that, but let’s wait and see. It’s hard to say exactly how the field is gonna react to the new Chase.”
WHAT TRACKS DO YOU FIND THE MOST CHALLENGING AND DIFFICULT? “They all have their own challenges in their own ways. What’s cool about NASCAR racing is you have superspeedways that are very challenging in their own way. Then you have road courses and short tracks and mile-and-a-halves and everything in between and they’re all challenging in their own way because you’re competing against the best of the best in stock cars. You can take something that you may say is pretty simple, but we make it pretty complex because we’re going against the best trying to find the smallest advantage possible. It’s like that in every sport. Putting a ball in a hoop doesn’t sound that hard, but when you’re doing it against LeBron James, it’s pretty freaking hard. That’s kind of what it is, is just the level that we’re at.”
DO YOU FEEL THIS FORMAT CHANGE HELPS RETURN THE CROWN JEWEL RACES TO A BIGGER PRESTIGE? “No. I don’t think so. I think a win is always a win. It’s great. It just doesn’t have all the perks that it used to have, not as much of them. We still have some perks, especially this race. I see where you’re going with that. Maybe, but not enough to think about it that much.”
WITH EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE OFFSEASON IT FEELS LIKE A RESET FOR NASCAR. CAN YOU PUT THIS IN SOME CONTEXT OF WHERE THIS RACE FITS IN NASCAR HISTORY? “I think everyone is glad to be here. It is definitely the most storylines we’ve had in an offseason in a long time and, unfortunately, one of them being horrible. So, yeah, I think everyone comes down here and I can’t say reset. I mean, the loss is still there. You don’t reset from something like that. It’s something we all should be thinking about and making conscious decisions about, but it is nice to all be together and going out and racing. That’s great.”
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO MAKE YOURSELF MORE COMPETITIVE IN 2026? IT DIDN’T SEEM LIKE LAST YEAR WAS UP TO 22 TEAM STANDARDS. “I agree. We weren’t fast enough and that’s something we’re gonna have to continue to work on. We need to find speed when we need to execute races, but we need to execute races throughout the whole race, not just the end. I think if you look at us like we usually were able to come up with something by the end of the race and you finish well, that’s kind of the old-school way of doing it. You look at the 48 did it for years. That’s what they did, but you’ve got to score stage points, and the only way you score stage points is to just be fast. You’ve got to qualify up front. You’ve got to run up front. That’s where the stage points really come into play. At the end of the race things happen – attrition or strategy – things play out different and you can manufacture something, but stages are all about speed and that’s what we’ve got to continue to work on.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE ONCE YOU HAVE ENOUGH EXPERIENCE THAT YOU’RE ABLE TO BRING SOMETHING TO IT THAT MAYBE OTHERS AREN’T? MORE PEOPLE MIGHT BE WILLING TO GO WITH YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR RECORD IN THIS RACE? “Yeah, I think so. Reputation matters. It’s the same thing – look at what Shane does on road courses. People don’t race him hard because they know he’s just fast and he’s gonna go by you, so no one races him hard. It’s just his reputation, and the same thing happens on the speedways. If you have a reputation of going fast and going to the front, it can be good or bad for you. Yeah, you may have some cars go with you, but you also have cars jump up in front of you and then you kind of get trapped just as easily. So, is it good or bad? It probably just depends on the moment.”
HOW MUCH MORE MOTIVATION IS IT TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP WITH THIS NEW FORMAT? “There’s plenty. I told them this would be the sweetest moment to go get this one. All of them have been great, don’t get me wrong. All of the championships are special, but just to shut the haters up would be great. You know what I mean? I’m just sick of hearing it all, so that’s all I need to hear and if we can get this one, that would definitely mean a little bit more.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON’S RUN STARTED 20 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK. WHAT KIND OF ACCOMPLISHMENT WAS THAT? “I lived it and I know – not on the good side like he did. I lived on the bad end of getting beat by him. It was super impressive and I think he probably doesn’t get as much credit as he should. I mean, five in a row was ridiculous, and then he won in different formats, obviously. He did a great job. I mean, him and Chad had things really well figured out to where they always were there. To my point from earlier, they always figured out how to finish great even when they had an off day. They didn’t have many, but when they did, they still finished good.”
TONY STEWART WILL BE IN A TRUCK FRIDAY NIGHT. DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT? “He’s gonna realize how much the world has changed since he was here last because what used to happen on the racetrack compared to what it is now has just changed a lot, just the level of aggression, the moves that are made are just different than what they used to be. I’m interested to see what he thinks. I’m excited to watch him. I think it’s a huge story. I’m up in the booth for it, so I’m excited to watch it.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU HAD A FAST MUSTANG LAST YEAR. WHAT IS YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL THIS YEAR? “Our Speedweeks last year was about as good as you could ever ask for without getting the race finish that we were in position for, but past that, it’s a new year and new opportunities, but our cars are strong and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what we can do in qualifying and try to start things off and give ourselves as many options as we can like we did last year.”
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE WITH THIS RACE. A WIN DOESN’T GET YOU IN THE PLAYOFFS, BUT IT’S STILL THE DAYTONA 500. “I think this is one of the few races that you could easily look at, because I can’t sit here and tell you what the intensity level is going to be or not going to be in regards to racing with the new points system, but if there’s one race that the intensity is still gonna match and nobody is gonna care about full season points it’s the Daytona 500.”
YOU’VE ONLY KNOWN THE PLAYOFF SYSTEM SINCE ENTERING NASCAR. HOW DO YOU ANTICIPATE IT BEING DIFFERENT THAN YEAR’S PAST? “I don’t necessarily anticipate it being a whole lot different the first part of the year, but, if anything, probably a little tamer in the last summer stretch just without the win and you’re in. I think the race here in the summer is definitely gonna look a lot different, but it’ll be interesting to watch. I want to sit back and pay attention myself because I don’t necessarily have a different strategy. I mean, every race week I try and win or run as well as we can or stay out of trouble but be aggressive. I don’t see any of that changing for myself and I would say that would be the same for my competitors until there’s a reason to change.”
ARE YOU A FAN OF THIS CHANGE? “I think the only opinion I ever had from a format perspective is if we were to make changes, make it easier to follow and I feel like we have that with this, and I feel like that change also seems to satisfy the criticism from many different areas as far as competitors, fans, partners, whatever else it might be, or people that obviously liked the playoff format and liked the excitement that came with that. So, I think that it’s a happy balance for most and I think that’s why the feedback has been positive, and I’m definitely interested to see, along with everybody else, how that affects how we race for the next couple of years.”
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM YOUR FIRST DAYTONA 500? “Having to qualify in. I definitely have a level of sympathy towards those that have to qualify in and race their way in today and tomorrow. There’s a lot that goes into making this happen for a lot of folks. I think having a practice today probably calmed some of the nerves for a lot of those. Even like during your first hot green flag pit entry and some of these drivers it’s their first time in a speedway Cup car, so I think that’s a lot of it and then past that after making it through by the skin of our teeth, just happy to be part of it really. I mean, starting on the last row, I thought one of my coolest Daytona 500 memories from that race was leading it off the front bumper of Joey. I thought that was gonna be my coolest Daytona memory for a while. That obviously didn’t last long to change, but it’s every racer’s dream to come here and let alone just be a part of it.”
HOW DID YOUR AUSTRALIA OPPORTUNITY COME ABOUT? “It’s something I’ve really always wanted to, long before I raced in NASCAR there were a few events I did down there. I raced the Bathurst 12 Hour a few times and had a few rookie tests in some Supercars long before I ever raced in NASCAR. It’s always something I’ve had my eye on. Obviously, there are some similarities and the relevancy of Shane coming over and racing here now, but even Ambrose in the past and so on. It’s a competitive series and I think there are always things you can by doing things different and stepping outside of your comfort zone. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do something very new and very different. I used to be able to do that often in the younger days of my career and I miss doing that, whether I’m good at it or not. Obviously, I was jumping in the deep end there going to one of their toughest street courses, but I’m glad I did it. I’d love to go back and pick up on that experience, but it was a ton of fun. I was down there for a long time, so it zapped a majority of my offseason, but I can’t think of a better way to spend it.”
HOW LONG WERE YOU THERE? “About a month. Pretty much from the time we got done in Phoenix, I was home for the first time the first week of December.”
HOW MANY RACES WERE YOU IN THERE? “One race event with three individual races. There was one sprint race and two longer races.”
HOW WAS IT ADJUSTING TO THAT TIME CHANGE? “It had been a long time since I’d had that type of travel. That’s about a 17-hour flight and I dialed in a pretty good process when I was a kid as far as, or at least younger as a teenager, of how to kind of cheat the code as far as tricking your body in believing what time it is. I was proud that all of my tactics still work, so that was kind of fun to relive as well.”
WHAT ARE YOUR OVERALL THOUGHTS ABOUT 2026? “It feels normal now. It feels at home. I mean, even walking into the D/O lot you kind of look around and you’re like, ‘This is Daytona. This is where I’m supposed to be right now.’ Honestly, before traveling here yesterday it felt way too soon to be going out here, and then I get here and it’s like, ‘Nope, this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.’ It’s funny, the offseason you usually find yourself making yourself busy with things that you don’t want to do, so I’d much rather be busy doing things I want to do, which is going out here and driving the 2 car.”
DID YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT DURING THE OFFSEASON AS FAR AS PREP? “I mean, same but different. A lot of the process that I’ve developed over the handful of years and with my race team as well, a lot of those things I think there’s some good, but you always have to audit yourself and understand what can be done differently or what are you doing that’s really not making an impact that you don’t have to use because we have such little time throughout the weeks to be prepared and understand what’s going on. You have to efficient with that time that you have, that time that you have with others, so I did some of that, but past that, I definitely put the maximum in every week, so it’s just what are you applying the maximum for.”
WHO DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO BE TOUGH ON SUNDAY? “I think anyone driving a Ford has the best shot to win this race.”
YOU WON THE 500 AS A ROOKIE. DOES THIS RACE SEEM HARDER NOW AFTER THAT? “I’ll just say the closer calls are more motivation than saying that I’ve won twice, so both make it good, but you’ve obviously got to get there. I say you always remember the losses more than the wins, but there’s been a lot of guys who have come close and not done it, so I’m not gonna expect any sympathy for that, but the last couple of years have been close for us and I look to try and put ourselves in the same position.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET OFF TO A GOOD START AND MAXIMIZE YOUR SUPERSPEEDWAY EXPERTISE? “For the season, I think there are two great opportunity races for our company and obviously our car, but I think more from a points standpoint just to not feel already rushed or in a panic to continue to progress, but, otherwise, there’s only six of these throughout the year and you want to maximize them. Five out of the six from last year we got wrecked in and we won the other one, so I’m not saying if we would have been around, but I’d like to hope that we’d have a say in the matter, but several of those very early, so nothing is ever guaranteed in those races. If I ever get impatient in races like this or get frustrated with results, I always remind myself of the Law of Averages. You flip a coin enough times, and I’m not saying that racing is a coin flip, but if you do it enough times, you’ll have the opportunity.”
WHAT ARE YOUR TEAM NEEDS COMPARED TO LAST YEAR? “Just finishing races out. The speed has been there. We’ve been able to qualify well, start races well independent of one another. Even in the stage twos or so on, but whether if it’s mistakes, whether if that’s keeping up with the track, whether if that’s execution or making our cars better or things that I can do better, I think looking at a list of issues we had throughout the year, several categories are highlighted as far as why. Several of those races didn’t pan out our way to get finishes that we wanted, but we got a ton of stage points and I actually even remember Briscoe he’s like, ‘How are you so high in points with no top 10s,’ and I’m like, ‘It’s because we run well. We just don’t finish well.’ So, that’s kind of the story of our year, but it’s critical to be able to finish out races. That’s what we’re here for is for the race finish, so that’s where I look to have the most focus for us and I think the team is on the same path.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO WIN AN INAUGURAL RACE LIKE SAN DIEGO THIS YEAR? “I don’t know about the inaugural portion of the race as far as it being the first time run there, but you definitely put in a ton of emphasis in something new because there are so many new things to learn and understand, but past that, I think that definitely adds some excitement to the entire weekend just because you’re having to apply yourself in so many different ways. I think it’s gonna be an awesome event. I think everyone in the industry is excited for it and I think race fans should be too.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Castrol Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WAS IT YOUR IDEA TO HAVE YOUR CANE BRANDED? “Yeah, I knew I was probably gonna get picked on a little bit, so you might as well at some point own it. I won’t say it was my idea, but I thought it was a good one.”
HOW DID YOU FEEL IN THE CAR TODAY? “Good. When I’m in the car I know I’ve got an injury, don’t get me wrong, but I feel the best in the car. The seat is molded to me really well and you get a little adrenaline flowing, so I felt pretty good.”
DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK TO GET OUT OF THE CAR? DID THEY TIME YOU? “They didn’t time me, but we kind of have a pretty good sense for what I could do before and what I can do now and it’s a very small difference. I feel good about that.”
HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM YOUR POCONO EXPERIENCE? “This is way more serious. When I broke my ankle that sucked. Don’t get me wrong, it was very painful, but in a couple weeks I was fairly mobile. This is a much more significant injury, unfortunately. It’s hard to explain to people that have never broken their femur before what it’s like. It’s not the same as breaking your leg below the knee. Your femur is the biggest bone in your body. It’s got a lot of things running through it and it has to heal. You can’t really cast it. You can’t do any of those things, so you just kind of have to tough it out. A normal broken leg is eight to 12 weeks. This is more like six months, so it’s just totally different.”
DID YOU HAVE THE HACKSAW READY IF THE DOCTOR GAVE YOU APPROVAL? “When I was laying on the ground and I was completely immobile immediately after I broke my leg, what was going through my mind was like, ‘Oh my God. Think about the soldiers in the Civil War.’ They would just cut their leg off right here and I understood why they would do it because it hurt so bad. It was by far the worst pain I ever went through. I get why they would bring out the hacksaw. There was part of me that’s like, ‘That might actually feel better.’”
OF ALL THE DRIVERS HERE. WHO WOULD YOU TRUST MOST WITH THE HACKSAW? “That’s a terrible question to ask (laughing). I don’t know, maybe my teammates – probably Preece. He’s a hard worker and he doesn’t seem like the type of guy that gets squeamish.”
WHAT WAS YOUR CONVERSATION LIKE WITH HIM AFTER THE CLASH WIN? “I just told him, ‘Hey, we believed in you. Thanks for riding this out. I’m really happy to see that for you.’ He certainly earned it. It wasn’t a fluke and we’re all just super proud of him.”
HOW WILL YOU KNOW FROM A PAIN TOLERANCE STANDPOINT THAT YOU’LL BE ABLE TO MAKE THE WHOLE RACE? “We’ll have the Duel Thursday. I felt good enough today to easily do the Duel. The Duel is a 50 or 60 laps, which is roughly just over a quarter of the race, probably 27-28 percent of the race. It’ll be a tremendous indicator of what I’ll have for Sunday. Thankfully, the way this race week works you get these little bites and doses and each one of them a little more intense and we can get a good feel for it.”
HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY RIBBING ABOUT THE CANE? “Not yet, but there’s still time.”
ANY WORRY THAT YOU WOULDN’T BE CLEARED AND HOW DID YOU HAVE TO PROVE YOU WERE? “I’m eight weeks in and I’ll tell you until about three to five weeks in there was a question of if I was gonna walk again let alone drive a race car. Those were the thoughts that were going through my mind. I was confident I was gonna put the work in and I was gonna own whatever result there was. There was certainly a lot of moments where you’re like, ‘Oooh, this isn’t a layup.’ About that week four, week five, I made some pretty big steps and progress quite literally, but, again, I didn’t know until I got in the car what it was gonna be. Until you get in a race car going 190 miles an hour, you don’t know. You don’t know how it’s gonna feel.”
IS COTA A CONCERN? “COTA is a big concern for me. I’ve got two-and-a-half weeks to COTA. If I had to run the full race today, I’m not 100 percent sure I could do it, but I’ll have another two weeks of reps and rehab to continue to gain and hopefully I can get there.”
WHO WOULD STAND BY FOR COTA? “Joey Hand, at this time, is the reserve driver for RFK at COTA.”
COREY LAJOIE IS IN THE 99 FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION. WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE FOR HIM TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY DOWN THE STRETCH TO WIN THE RACE? “I can’t put myself in Corey’s head. Only one person lives there and that’s Corey. I can tell you that Corey ran a tremendous Daytona 500 last year and that earned him this opportunity this weekend. If Corey has a good race here in the Daytona 500, there’s a good chance we’ll run more races with him and he’ll have an abundance of opportunities. That’s really what we hope for for him. We have to sell sponsors. We’d like to sell the sponsorship to run a few more races with Corey this year, but until that’s happened, I’m certainly not announcing anything, but we’d like to and if he has a great Daytona 500, those conversations with the partners that we need to have to be able to make that program get on the track at the level we’d want it to get at, there’s a good chance they’ll happen.”
WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO DO THE TRIBUTE TO GREG BIFFLE WITH THE CAR NUMBERS? “I don’t know exactly who owns that. There seemed to be an ah-ha moment where we all got in the room and said it, but I don’t remember who ideated it. I’m glad we’re doing it. It’s a fun way to honor and remember Greg and his legacy. I hope some fans enjoy it as well and we’ll have some more things that we’ll do throughout the season, but that seemed to be the most fitting. I’m glad that Kaulig Racing, who has the 16, participated in it as well. They deserve credit for that, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.”
HAVE YOU EVER MISSED A POINTS RACE IN YOUR CUP CAREER? “I’ve never missed a points race in my Cup career. The Clash, I’ve been ineligible for it a few times. I was ineligible for it the year after I won the championship. I don’t have an affinity for that race as a whole if that makes sense, but that said it’s a race and when there’s a race you want to be in it. There were moments where I was super disappointed not to be there. At the halfway break when it started raining and sleeting, that was not one of them (laughing). That said, seeing Ryan win was really awesome and I wish I could have been there to celebrate that with him. You could see how pumped he was and how much it meant to him, and I’m hopefully I’ll get that opportunity in a points paying race.”
DID YOU WATCH FROM HOME? “I did. The HBO Max coverage is freaking amazing. I was a little bit jealous of our fans that they get that experience during the race. That was awesome. It’s really good and so I was on board with Ryan whether he knew it or not.”
DID YOU TRY TO JUMP UP AND DOWN? “I get nervous. I’ll be honest. I’d rather just be doing something than watching it, so I was watching Ryan and when I get nervous I turn away. They had the spotter audio and I think HBO Max’s spotter audio is way ahead of the video. Is that right? So, it’s like maybe a lap ahead and so the spotter was calling the win when he was like a lap ahead, so then I was able to turn back and watch the last lap and feel good about it. I was just thinking that of course somebody is gonna wreck with two to go. You’re coaching yourself through it like, ‘What’s about to happen,’ and I was so glad for him that it didn’t.”
IS THERE A TRACK THAT CHALLENGES YOU THE MOST? “Most of the road courses, for me. I don’t know. Sonoma has always been really hard, but Sonoma got a lot easier when they repaved it. Right now, I’d say COTA is probably one of the hardest tracks.”
DID YOU DO ANYTHING IN THE CAR FOR YOUR LEG? “There’s not a lot you can do. We put a little bit of soft padding in one section, but ultimately it is what it is.”
CAN YOU CHANGE ANYTHING AFTER THIS PRACTICE? “Not anything significant. Small knee-knocker type stuff, but it’s nothing that’s gonna make a big difference.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE A TOUGH GUY? YOU CUT YOUR HAND IN VICTORY LANE ONCE. “Probably just really stubborn. I don’t want to miss a race and this is what I do. I love it. Tough isn’t what you say, it’s what you do, so I guess we’ll find out how I make it through this whole process, but what matters to me is not a label. What matters to me is being able to run this race and having a shot to win. That’s what I care about.”
DO YOU FEEL YOU’LL BE ABLE TO TOUGH IT OUT? “I’m sure there are gonna be some moments, not just in the race but over the race weekends to come that are gonna be really difficult. I’m gonna have to manage it.”
HOW HARD IS IT GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE CAR? “Honestly, the hardest part is getting in and out of the car. You have to really turn your leg and your hips and there’s a lot of extra parts in me that aren’t quite ready for that, and I have to be intentional.”
HOW MUCH DOES THIS RACE MEAN TO YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOU TO HAVE TO GET OUT? “If I felt like I was holding the team back from giving my best effort and having a chance to win the race, I would get out.”
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 4 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SEASON LIKE LAST YEAR? “The first five races of the year we had solid speed and if we make it through those wrecks, then we’re in the second group of qualifying. I hate to say it, but a little bit of your year is decided in the first eight races. You have to get off on a good foot and establish points and that makes it really tough. My confidence was up last year, where I feel it would be buried in year’s past, but I just knew that we had fast race cars, which kept my confidence up week in and week out and we just didn’t know when that wheel was gonna turn. We didn’t know when things were gonna get better and it really didn’t, unfortunately. But, we had good speed and I think that’s what I’m carrying into this year. Having good, solid runs, establishing points, going out in the second group of qualifying and practice is important and we’ve got to do that this year.”
YOU’VE BEEN HERE AS AN OPEN DRIVER. AS A CHARTER DRIVER NOW, HOW DIFFERENT IS THE STRESS LEADING UP TO SUNDAY? “You’re just focused on Sunday. The Duel pays points and you want to finish good in the Duel, but it’s a 500-mile race at the end of the day. You want to race your primary car, so that’s my main focus is roll across the start-finish line with no damage in the Duel and start the Daytona 500 with a clean race car. You always get guys torn up, but at the same time it’s tough. For me, I want to be rolling across the start-finish line on Sunday, just for points and getting the year started off on the right foot and all that stuff, so, to me, I don’t really feel like starting position matters at all. I don’t care if I start last for this race. I know that’s probably not what people want to hear, but my best finish in Cup is third at Talladega and we qualified second-to-last. It’s kind of crazy, but it is what it is here.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR NEW CREW CHIEF, GRANT HUTCHENS, BEFORE THIS YEAR? “It’s brand new. They told me middle of December that he was gonna be coming in and I’ve been working hard to get to know him since then. It’s been a good relationship so far.”
HOW IS IT KNOWING DREW BLICKENSDERFER IS STILL WITH THE ORGANIZATION? DOES THAT HELP? “Yeah, he definitely is still there to bridge the gap in a sense on anything. If we’re struggling, Drew could say, ‘Hey, this is what he means.’ Our relationship is already very trustworthy and he understands my communication. It’s gonna take time to build that relationship with Grant. It’s just an investment in time. That’s the biggest thing to help expedite that, so Drew being there definitely helps. He’s our competition director now, so it’s good for him to be there to help bridge the gap. It’s cool because I could take everything I’ve learned from Drew, learn some new stuff from Grant, so I think we’re in a good spot.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL YOUR EXPERIENCE HELPS WITH THIS NEW CHAPTER? “It’s an important year for me and having some strong runs, it’s not always the easiest when you don’t know maybe what you’re doing next in your career or what not, so it’s important to have good, solid runs and earn my spot in the Cup Series again.”
HOW DO YOU ALLOW YOURSELF NOT GET CONSUMED BY THE PRESSURE? “Just by doing my best in every department, no matter if it’s what it is – just absolutely trying my best. If I can lay my head down on the pillow at night and say I did my best job, everything I did, you can’t do any better than your best, so leaving nothing on the table, working hard and just putting yourself in good positions is what I can control. That’s how I’ll be satisfied when I lay my head down on the pillow is if I do everything I can possible.”
DID YOU INTERACT MUCH WITH GREG BIFFLE? “A little bit, yeah. It’s super sad. We flew out yesterday from Statesville and I don’t ever really get scared flying or nervous at all, but we flew out of the same spot that he flew out of and took off and just thinking, man, that was right before his last moments, and his family and everybody else that was on board. It’s super, super sad and tragic, not only with Greg, but a lot of other families in the NASCAR world this offseason. It’s very, very sad. People that I knew or was close to having challenges in passing away is just tragic. It’s definitely tough.”
DO YOU HAVE A FOND MEMORY OF HIM? “I spend time with him down at the Freedom Factory racing with Pastrana and Greg was always awesome. He never knew me, but acted like he knew me forever. He was just a really laid back and cool guy. He was awesome and just remember racing as him on NASCAR Inside Line as a kid after a Legend car practice. We had an XBox and would race on there before the next qualifying and practice. Zane and I and Riley would play foot cup and beer pong with him at Talladega. He was just an awesome guy, and then Rette Jones Racing, the relationship that he had with Cletus McFarland. I also have a great relationship with Terry Jones and Mark Rette and that time, and got to spend some time around him there, so it’s just terrible. It definitely makes you appreciate every single moment.”
DO YOU HAVE A DAYTONA 500 MEMORY AS A FAN? “The fondest memory was probably working on my late model with Grayson Raze up at Washington and Jefferson Pitts Racing in 2016. We were wrapping the hood or something of my late model and we were watching the 500, watching Truex and Denny race to the start-finish line. The most vivid memory is I remember them going through three and four and Matt Kenseth’s car, the roof number like flashes in the sun and that always sticks out to me. The 20, it looked reflective or something, but it flashes. He was at the top of three-wide and then coming to the line and I was like, ‘Man, Hamlin won that.’ And they’re like, ‘I don’t know.’ And then it came out that Hamlin won and I was like, ‘I knew it.’ And then we went back and worked on our late model. This race is so special and the aura that it has just because moments like that, working on our race cars growing up, watching the Daytona 500 and dreaming one day hopefully I can go watch that race in person, much less race there – even having an opportunity to have a shot at the win is special, so with that being said, it’s definitely a special race that is very important to a lot of people in this world.”
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE PART OF RACE DAY FOR DAYTONA? “My absolute favorite part is the 30-45 minutes leading up to the race. Going to the driver’s meeting and seeing all the celebrities, all the people that are here, all the partners. I meet with them all day, walking out to driver intros. You’re kind of the main character in that sense, at least 40 of us are, and it’s pretty awesome to just literally be surrounded. It’s kind of like when you played soccer as a kid and the parents would do the little tunnel that you’d run through as a kid. That’s the coolest part and I kind of feel that way when you walk out to driver intros. There are just people everywhere. I feed off the attention of people and the fans. I love the fans. It’s sick when they’re all out there. It’s super cool. A lot of pictures on pit road, but I would say the pre-race stuff and just seeing everyone you’re like, ‘Holy crap. I get to be one of these guys out here. This is awesome.”
DOES THAT HELP DISTRACT FROM THE PRESSURE OF THE RACE? “I don’t know. I kind of feel like you get those moments in the last couple laps where the intensity ramps up and you’re like, ‘Man, I’m racing for the Daytona 500.’ You know how important it is when the laps wind down, but not really. I try and take the mindset of it’s gonna be what it’s gonna be. If I prepare my best and I try my best, and I try to put myself in the best position to make the right decisions in the race, it’s gonna end up how it’s gonna end up. I just hope I can be the guy to win it.”
WHEN DOES THE INTENSITY RAMP UP? AFTER THE LAST PIT STOP? “A little bit after the last pit stop. After the end of the second stage to start the third stage you’re trying to have a good pit stop there, or maybe you’re staying out, but it’s like you know, ‘OK, it’s starting to become game time.’ A couple guys have probably wrecked, so it’s time to start establishing track position, at least for me. Then you usually get the final green flag pit stop and that’s pretty wild. That gets more intense and then as you start to establish track position, once we all get grouped up, now that’s when you see how it’s gonna play out. There’s usually a caution or two in there and you’re like, ‘Dammit, I worked so hard,’ but it is what it is. Every lap that clicks off is just getting closer and closer. It’s like that loading bar of intensity and like with five to go it gets to that 100 percent mark.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Peak Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST DAYTONA 500? “The first one I competed in was 2015. I was driving for the Wood Brothers. I remember the stress of trying to make the race because we weren’t locked in, and we didn’t qualify in on time, so the Duel is very stressful. But then I remember, I grew up coming to this race and watching my dad, but that was the first time I got to compete in it and as a driver go through the daily routine and through the week and all the Sunday morning stuff that goes on. I just remember that it was easy to get overwhelmed because you’re excited to just get going. I just wanted to get going. I wanted to get in the race car and go race, but it was just a fun week knowing what you’re about to run for and knowing I was running for the Wood Brothers, too. That was extra special, so there was a lot going on.”
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT GETTING READY FOR THE SEASON? “I personally love getting back into the swing of things. Like this week is special when we all know what we’re racing for, but to kick off the year and working with your guys through the week and working through practice and getting ready for the Duel. I love that type of stuff. It’s different than preparing at the shop during the week and having those meetings. Once we’re finally here and now we’re competing, and I just love the camaraderie that everyone has with each other, getting to joke around and work through things with the 15 people that go to battle with you every weekend. Personally, I love that part of it.”
SOME PEOPLE WERE SAYING A YEAR AGO THAT THIS RACE MAYBE HAD LOST SOME OF ITS LUSTER, BUT I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS RACE? “I’m with you. I don’t know why people say that. The racing has changed. Denny has talked about this a little bit with this car, and I agree with him, I feel like it’s a little harder to show your skills as a speedway racer with this car than what it used to be, and that’s just the way this car is, so maybe that has something to do with it, but I don’t think it’s lost any luster – at least to me it hasn’t. I don’t know where that perception came from. People started talking about that and I didn’t agree with it because it still means everything if you’re able to win it.”
HAVE YOU HAD ANY HIP ISSUES BEING CRAMPED IN THE CAR? “I’m more of a back issue type of guy. I don’t think I’ve ever had hip problems. I just have a bad back. Everybody does, right? Everybody has a bad back. I would say that mine has probably gotten worse over the years as opposed to gotten better, whether that’s the hits you take or whatever, but I’ve never had hip issues. Everything is a little bit different. There’s weird pinch points in the car that you might get circulation cut or something like that and you kind of have to work on it, but luckily for me no hip stuff, just back stuff that I work through.”
WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE COMING INTO THIS YEAR’S 500? “I always think of it as like can we just put ourselves in the spot to try to win the race and then we’ll go from there. That’s the start of it. We’ve been close a couple times and it’s easy to look back on those things and I do. Should I have made some different decisions here and there, and when you’re in those spots and they don’t work out for you it’s easy to go back and be like, ‘I should have done this different.’ Sometimes you feel you did everything right and it just didn’t work out, but I think that experience helps. I’d much rather have the experience and maybe the heartbreak of being in a spot to win two or three and not doing it and trying to learn from it than never being in a spot to win it because then you don’t have any experience when it comes down to the end of these things. I wouldn’t say that I’m more driven to win this race than I have in the past because we’ve been close. I’m always driven to win any race, but you just hope you find yourself in a spot and you hope you make the right decisions.”
DO YOU HAVE A LANE PREFERENCE ON WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN THE FINAL LAPS HERE? “No matter what lane it is, I don’t think I have a preference on lane, but one of the top two cars in a lane. I think then you have a realistic shot of winning. It’s hard to do anything from being the third car in the lane. If you’re the front two, whether you’re leading, obviously that’s great. If you’re second, maybe you can get pushed out and then you can make a move, so, yeah, any one of the top two in any lane I’d rather be.”
DO YOU LIKE BEING IN THE LEAD AND TRYING TO CONTROL THE LANES BEHIND YOU? ““I always like to be in control, or try to be at least. Like I said earlier, I’m happy to just be in any spot to win, whether that’s leading the pack, whether that’s running second because then you adapt to whatever position you’re in and try to do the best job you can. As long as we’re in a spot, then I’ll live with wherever we’re at as long as we’re in a spot to realistically have a say in trying to win.”
WHEN YOU PAY ATTENTION TO OTHER CARS? “I feel like you gauge it in the Duel and then you gauge it in early parts of the race. You notice stuff all the time out there. Like, ‘Hey, that guy is probably not handling very good, so can I be as aggressive as I want pushing him?’ Because his car is not great and could we cause a big wreck, like if I have to be aggressive and push him as opposed to if I see someone who is making great moves and is super stable like, ‘Alright, that guy is gonna be able to make pushes.’ “ That’s the stuff I notice and then you’re obviously looking for teammates, but you kind of grab whoever you can grab at the end of these things and you just hold on or hope they hold on if you’re pushing them, but you gauge that stuff starting Thursday and then through the first two-thirds of the race on Sunday.”
WHAT DOES SUNDAY RACE MORNING FEEL LIKE AS IT BUILDS TO THE START? “It never gets old. It’s always super neat. Sunday mornings here are always really fun to me. They’ve been fun ever since I was a kid waking up getting ready to watch dad race. There’s nothing like it. I try to explain this to people who have never been to the 500. I can’t explain to you the amount of people that are here, the atmosphere that is around the buildup to the start of the race. It’s unlike anything else personally in my mind, and it just blows people away. They have people that go to their first 500 and they’re like, ‘I can’t believe there are that many people there.’ They didn’t understand the scale of it and that’s hard to see on TV. Just like anything it’s hard to see on TV, but nothing ever gets old. The 7 a.m. Thunderbird flyover is always a nice wake-up call and it just gets you ready to go. I love the build-up to it. My first couple of 500s I didn’t really like it because there was just a lot going on and I just wanted to go race, but now I just appreciate it and I understand how cool it is to be part of it.”
WHEN DO YOU LOCK IN? “I feel like the last little bit of it is right before I get in the car, so the ride around and seeing all the fans in the pace truck is fun. You get a scope of that. Obviously, the grid is pandemonium before the race, but then once I get the helmet on I don’t notice anything under pace laps. I’m just focused on what I’m about to do and make sure all your ducks are in a row.”
THERE IS NO RACE LIKE THE BUILDUP TO THIS RACE IS THERE? “That’s the beautiful part of it is there is a buildup to it at the place. I look at any other sport, whether they have the World Series, the Super Bowl or NBA Finals, there’s not a week build up to it. I guess the NBA and World Series are different because it’s the best of seven, but the Super Bowl there is no at-location buildup like this with people camping all week and it just slowly ramps up over the course of five days, and then the top comes off of it come Sunday. There’s no other thing like it and as a competitor that’s awesome to be a part of and it’s fun to have seen it on both sides. When I was not competing in it as a kid I thought it was spectacular and I still think it’s just as neat now.”
YOU’VE BEEN CLOSE BUT HAVEN’T WON THE 500 YET. IS THERE AN URGENCY IN YOUR MIND? “No, I try not to think that way. I just try to go my best every year, whether we come up just short or you don’t even get to compete in it at all. I’ve come in second in this race a couple times and down to the wire, and I’ve made 20 laps a couple times and got wrecked and go home early. It’s just a bummer, but it’s not a lingering thing over my head that I haven’t won this one. You just try your best every year and if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. All you can do is continue to try and it might not ever happen, but I don’t really think about that. I just go try to do the best job I can every single year and try to put yourself in a spot to do it.”
