NASCAR Cup Series

Jimmie Johnson sits sixth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. He’s tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most championships in NASCAR history. He’s never failed to qualify for the playoffs. There virtually no doubt that he’s a first-ballot hall of fame inductee when he decides to hang up his helmet.

Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced more than 490 major race wins, over 570 pole positions and 32 Championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports car racing competition. Over the course of its 52-year history, the team has also earned 17 Indianapolis 500 victories, two Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win and overall victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. For 2018, Team Penske will compete in the Verizon IndyCar Series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team also races in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, in a partnership with Dick Johnson Racing, as DJR Team Penske.

ERIK JONES, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Can you talk about getting to the playoffs for the first time? “It’s exciting to be in the Playoffs for the first time. In the Cup Series, you want to be in contention for a championship. This is our opportunity to do it this year. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be challenging. It’s going to be a new experience."

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Is a win at a premium right now? “I think wins are always important and I think the biggest thing now is that each round kind of has their own wildcard race if you look at it – you’ve got the Roval in the first round, Talladega in the second round and then Martinsville kind of turned into a crazy race in the third round. It’s all just going to be about trying to maintain and have a good day. If you can get top-five finishes, great, that’s going to propel us through with the amount of points we have and the point cushion we have, but wins are the ultimate. If you can get those then you’re automatically in and that’s what we all strive for.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What could you have done differently at Indianapolis? “Nothing. There was nothing that I could have done differently. What I did to lose the lead and there was just too much grip (Brad) Keselowski ran faster than us before the caution even came out. I wasn’t going to get there but that restart allowed him to be right on us. "

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - Do alliances work and is there a timeframe on how long they can be successful? “I don’t think in either situation, whether it was their (Stewart Haas Racing and Hendrick Motorsports) or ours, I don’t think that had anything really to do with how both of them changed – you get what I’m saying?"

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Playoff media day. Select Quotes: HOW DO YOU ATTACK RICHMOND? “Well, you know I always felt like Richmond was one of my worst places, but this year we had a really good run earlier this year there and we got our car pretty good at the test just a couple of weeks ago, so I’m pumped to get back to go to Richmond. Like you said, you can always get to somebody at Richmond, so payback is usual one of those places you circle Richmond is one of them. We will be aggressive when we get there.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Ford Fusion -- QUESTION INAUDIBLE: “It is really important to get started on the right foot here. I don't really care about the underdog thing. That has been my whole life. That is what everyone labels this team as, which is fine with us. We will do our own thing. I don't think it gives us any extra motivation. The motivation is there. We don't really want to be the life of the party, we just want to do our jobs and do the best we can. Whatever happens, happens.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media during Playoff Media Day. Select Quotes: YOU DRIVE FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND SO DOES JIMMIE JOHNSON. FOR WHATEVER REASON, HE DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME RESULTS AS YOU HAVE HAD THIS YEAR. WHY IS THAT? “As a whole, we’ve just been trying to get better as a team. We’ve been lucky and have had a couple of good runs. I don’t know. As we progress and get better, we’re all going to get better. We just keep pushing in that direction and see where we stack up.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 DC SOLAR/CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Playoff Media Day. Select Quotes: I BELIEVE YOU ARE THE ONLY DRIVER GETTING MARRIED DURING THE PLAYOFFS UNLESS SOMEONE ELOPES HERE IN VEGAS. USUALLY THAT IS AN OFFSEASON THING, BUT YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah, Kaitlyn wants a warm wedding, and I race during the off-season so I didn’t want to mess up my offseason plans. It happened to work out that we can do it right before the ROVAL there. So, it’s coming fast and I am ready to get it done.”