Official Release

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA/MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at the Charlotte Media Tour and discussed the new race car, his first marathon, the age differences of drivers in the sport, and more. Full Transcript:

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Charlotte Media Tour and discussed his adventures at the Chili Bowl, the pressure he is feeling going into 2018, keeping JR Nation happy and many more topics. Full Transcript:

RYAN REED – No. 16 Ford Mustang – DO YOU LIKE PLATE RACING? “I certainly don’t hate it just because you’ve had good results. I think it’s easy to kind of get in slumps at superspeedways that aren’t even your fault. We just don’t seem to get in those. I think nowadays especially it takes having really strong race cars, especially at plate races, you have to make a lot happen. You have to be able to make moves and be aggressive. If you don’t, if your race cars aren’t as good, you just can’t make it happen. Fortunately, we don’t have that problem at Roush. I don’t know if I love them or hate them because so much is out of your control, but certainly having some success there helps you smile when you think of them rather than frown.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Ford Fusion - DOES IT SEEM LIKE A LITTLE BIT OF A DISCONNECT THAT ALL THE YOUNG GUYS ARE GETTING ALL THE PROMOTION FROM NASCAR RIGHT NOW AND YOU GUYS AREN’T? “Well, you know. I guess it depends on how you look at it. I have had all I can handle to do on all of that side of things with everything that we have going on from a promotional standpoint with sponsors and commercials and things like that."

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY/AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at the Charlotte media tour and discussed his outlook for his inaugural Cup season with Hendrick Motorsports, the new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the challenges he faces. Full transcript:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Did you bring in your shoes with a prospect of racing? "No. If we've got to work on our stuff, I'm sure we will. But with all the approval processes and everything else that's got to go on these days, you know, it's pretty self‑explanatory to where NASCAR wants everybody to be within all the same boxes and parameters, so I don't feel as though they're going to have that big of an advantage or anything that we've got to come from behind on."

ERIK JONES, No. 20 DeWALT Tools Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Do you think people are looking at you guys to win off the bat? "Yeah, I would agree with that. I think in the past, at least from what I can gather from how it was 10 or 15 years ago, you know, if you could kind of stay out of trouble and prove that you were a consistent guy, I think everybody thought the wins would come along with that. But as the times have evolved and changed, I think ‑‑ I can remember getting into my first year in the Truck Series part‑time, and the expectation was to kind of compete and win right off the bat even at that level, and that continued up through the ranks to XFINITY and now to the Cup Series."

HOW HAS THIS TRANSITION BEEN FOR YOU TO STEWART-HAAS? “Honestly it has been easy. The transition to Stewart-Haas Racing has been really easy. They have so many talented people that they just make the transition easy. Everybody from the marketing and PR side to the personnel on the shop floor and the guys on the team. It has been great. That transition has been fun. It has been easy, fun, all of the above. I have just been really looking forward to getting to the race track to go race. We go all off season and work on all the little things. Changing teams is a big undertaking. I would say that the most challenging thing has been learning 380 employees names and faces. That is one of the most challenging things. Besides that, just all the little things like getting your seat right and going and trying to work with a new team and new pedals and new seat and seat insert. All those things. Making sure I am comfortable when the season starts inside the race car.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL – No. 34 Ford Fusion – “To be here another year and to run full-time is not something that I take for granted because it’s something you have to fight for every year, so I’m thankful for the opportunity that Bob Jenkins and Front Row Motorsports has given to me and I’m excited about the potential of the race team. There are a lot of great things happening at Front Row right now, so I feel like my timing is good and timing is super-important in this sport as you know, so everything is lining up really well.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Ford Fusion -- DO YOU FEEL THIS IS A MAKE OR BREAK YEAR FOR YOU? “I have been doing this what, 12 years, and now it is make or break year? Every year is a make or break year. It doesn’t matter if it is your first year or your third year or your 12th year. It is always that pressure and it is always on. Nobody puts that on. We are competitors. I have raced since I was five years old."