NASCAR Cup Series

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones was made available to the media in Daytona: ERIK JONES, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Were you surprised at how The Clash race played out? “I was somewhat surprised. It was a cool day, so I didn’t think the racing was going to be too crazy with everybody’s cars driving really good. It was odd that the bottom could never really get rolling. I was surprised that everybody got on the top so quick so it will be interesting to see how the Daytona 500 plays out.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Ford Mustang -- YOU ARE A CAR GUY AND A RACER. WITH THE GEN-7 CAR LOOMING, BALANCING THOSE TWO THINGS, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE? “More manufacturers. Is that an option? It will take a lot of work. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I haven’t been privy to anything on the car for whatever that thing is being called, Gen-7 or not. It is going to require a lot of creative thinking. When it comes to those things, I can pie-in-the-sky dream about it all I want but at the end of the day I don't have the knobs. There is one group holding the controls and it is all up to them at the end of the day which way they want to twist and turn them. I made a concerted effort going forward that I am not going to put that much thought into that stuff and let them figure it out.”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think the Supra is going to be that big of a difference from what the Camry was. With the composite bodies and all sorts of that stuff with the way the rules are and the overall shape of how the body has to be between all the makes, there’s really not a lot of differences from the old one. Just the nose is going to be the biggest thing. What the nose does and how it separates the air from the beginning and going over the car. That’ll be a learning car and then in and out of traffic will be a learning curve, but I think it will be okay.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Ford Mustang -- TALK ABOUT TOMORROW: “What is tomorrow? The twins? Well, I think tomorrow is qualifying races for the Daytona 500. I am looking forward to getting that car to the Daytona 500. That is the trickiest thing about the 150’s is that it is a race. We are race car drivers and anyone that competes wants to win. That is an opportunity to win a race and all the while there is a lot at stake and a lot on the line if you get your car wiped out. You are going to end up having to take your second best car to the big dance to try to win the Daytona 500. It is important but it isn’t the end of the world either.”

Last year’s dramatic last-lap win of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 produced one of the most talked about finishes in recent memory. Driving the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for his grandfather Richard Childress – the same car that the late Dale Earnhardt won the 500 with in 1998 – Austin Dillon maneuvered past final-lap contact to take the checkered flag.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How optimistic are you about the Daytona 500? “Pretty optimistic. I would say about the same as usual to be honest with you. I thought The Clash kind of gave us an indication that we were able to kind of get up front even starting last. We got up front in a timely manner. No surprises really from that, so there’s no reason to think otherwise that we can’t win.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang -- DO YOU FEEL THE NEED FOR REDEMPTION HERE AFTER WHAT HAPPENED IN THE JULY RACE? “From July redemption? The only issue I had with July is we didn’t win. I could care less what the perception of everybody else is. I’m gonna go out and run our race the way we normally run. We followed our next speedway up at Talladega with a top-five finish and battling for the win there, so I like our process, I like the aggressiveness that we have.

“Really good. It’s been a nice transition. Toyota is kind of home for me because that’s where I got my start in NASCAR with Toyota. Comfortable, good to be back working with a lot of the same folks there. New crew chief with Mike Wheeler coming over so pretty incredible leadership at the team. It’s all good, all the right people.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Ford Mustang -- DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS RACE MIGHT BE YOUR SHOT TO GET A WIN BEFORE THE SPEEDWAY RULES CHANGE? “Last year, as strong as we ran in both the 500 and the July race it gave us a lot of confidence. We led a lot of laps, ran up front. Daytona is our opportunity to try to win a race and there will be more opportunities this year with this rule package, for sure. This plays into our hands well. I hadn’t really thought about the rules changing for the superspeedways as well. This style of racing at Daytona and Talladega has been around for awhile, but this is a great opportunity for us and we need to make sure we capitalize on it.”

MATT TIFFT, No. 36 Ford Mustang -- WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO WIN THE DAYTONA 500? “It would be amazing. It would be awesome to be in position at the end of the race and have a shot. That is the first goal, to have a chance at the end. You have to be there to have a shot. I am going to try to be smart all day. It will be my first 500-mile race. We are trying to be strategic and smart with our strategy. You never know what might happen.”