NASCAR Cup PR

WHY IS TEAM PENSKE SO GOOD AT LAS VEGAS? “That is a hard question to answer. It might be an easy question for you. I think there are a few things. I do think this track kind of fits into our wheelhouse. I think it fits into Ford’s wheelhouse as far as engines and the Roush Yates program. I think we have done a good job finding the balance to get through the bumps in 1 and 2 yet still have grip around the rest of the race track.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T COME DOWN TO PHOENIX THAT DETERMINES YOUR FATE AGAIN THIS YEAR? “I think last year we were really close to winning that race and being able to advance. Looking forward to this playoffs, it really is just about worrying about one week at a time. You can’t get too far ahead of yourself or worry about Phoenix. You have to run all of the races before you get there. I think we have got a great opportunity in front of us and we have to go out and maximize that opportunity and that means being at our best every single weekend.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CHANCES COMPARED TO HOW YOU FELT THIS TIME LAST YEAR? “I feel better about them this year than I did last year, for sure. Last year at this point, we didn’t have many playoff points. We didn’t have the speed that I felt like we needed to win and it seemed like we started picking it up here and getting a little more consistent and getting some solid runs and get through a round and then all of a sudden we were contending for wins."

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones was made available to media at Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day.

WAS THERE SOMETHING OFF WITH YOUR TEAM A LITTLE THIS YEAR? “Well, we have covered this a number of times but for us we had to make our cars a little better and had to get our arms wrapped around what we needed to do from the new rules package and things. We just made our cars better and started executing throughout the summer and we were able to finally start going to victory lane and find some consistency.”

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media at Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media at Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day.

WITH ALL THE OTHER STORIES OUT THERE, DO YOU LIKE THAT YOU CAN FLY UNDER THE RADAR? “It’s a little bit of an advantage to have that lack of pressure on our team. Our goal was obviously to make the Playoffs and to accomplish that has been really good. I feel like now we can focus more on executing the first three races and try to get through that round. So yeah, I don’t think it really matters either way but it does help that we don’t really have that pressure on us.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS COMPARED TO LAST YEAR? “I definitely feel more confident, and that comes from the speed that we’ve shown during the year. Even lately we’ve had great speed, we just haven’t really got anything to show for it. I think we have as good of a shot as anybody going in, and win a couple of races here and make a big statement here in the playoffs.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR TEAM’S PERFORMANCE SO FAR THIS SEASON? “Obviously we would like to have a better year. You always want to do better. There are some races I wish we could have back but at the end of the day it is nice to be a part of the playoffs. I think our team is plenty capable and I think we have a shot at making a good run. We just can’t have any mistakes and things like that. We have the team to do it, it is just a matter of maximizing your full potential and seeing what happens.”