Toyota Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 11, 2024) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media after winning the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday.

It is Reddick’s seventh career pole, and third pole with Toyota. It is his first pole of the season and first pole at Darlington Raceway.

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

What is it about Tim Richmond’s career that you chose to honor him on NASCAR Throwback weekend?

“It was actually an Old Milwaukee scheme, but yeah. I think for me – he is a driver, in my opinion, whether he was at the track or away from the track, he was always living life to the fullest and was happy living the life he was. There is a lot of truth to that. If you are, throughout your week, just dreading whatever it is – it bleeds in what happens and what you take to the race track. I think in my opinion, Tim (Richmond) was always happy doing whatever he was doing. How he lived his life during the week, what he would do – he was having fun, enjoying himself and that crept over into the race weekend and allowed him to get in the car with a great mindset and allowed him to drive the daylights out of it, so for me I think that’s a big part of it, and then what he could do inside of a racecar is also something I always extremely appreciated about him.”

Is this a statement after last week?

“Yeah, we did for sure. We never really gave ourselves a chance. I made some pretty big mistakes early in the race and tore the car up pretty bad. We were still able to get back up to fifth with a pretty damaged race car, but yeah, finishing 20th and running where we did in stage three was not what we wanted. It is okay – it happens, so we just were extra motivated back at the shop this week, and it got us motivated and got our mindset right. We brought a really fast Toyota Camry. We did a good job in practice understanding what our car needed for qualifying and we just maximized qualifying well.”

What do you think you were missing last week?

“It seemed like – to some extend – the speed was there. We were missing some other things but knowing the speed that the 11 (Denny Hamlin) had and the other Toyotas had. It hurt, but these things happen in racing. We certainly learned a lot, and we definitely had a lot of takeaways from it. You never want to go to a track that you have a good track record at, and run that bad, but we learned a lot and when we go back, when it matters a lot in the Playoffs, we will have a lot to go off of.”

What is it about Darlington that suits you?

“I think I have a lot of fun racing here. I have a lot of fun racing other competitors, but I also have a lot of fun racing the track as well. My first ever laps in the Next Gen – the NASCAR Next Gen version three car was here – we had a test, and it was a handful to drive. We had a lot of fun in it. We had other rookie tests here as well. I learned a lot about a Xfinity car and the new Cup car at a place like this and that is challenging to do. I’ve had some unique experiences that have probably helped me get better here, but I think the biggest thing is just how the tires wear and the amount you have to move around. The amount of risk that you have to take every single lap and manage that for a whole race is kind of benefitted me and how I drive a race car.”

What do you think about the option tire for the North Wilkesboro race next weekend?

“To be honest, I haven’t given it a whole lot of thought yet. Seeing how those tires perform up to the standard benchmark tire that we are going to run as well – that will really open up the options depending on the differences between the two, but I think with the place being repaved – a new surface – it is just going to be a lot different than what we saw last year, and so you just have to go in there with a new mindset, but I’m excited for it. I’m hoping that the option tires gives fans, drivers and teams what they are looking for.”

Can you talk about the experience from last year?

“Last year was a lot of fun. It was unfortunate that we had to patch and seam as much as we did, and then Kyle (Larson) figured out the concrete on the bottom of (turns) three and four too. It was a very interesting experience. I certainly had a lot of fun, last year. It was so cool to see that place brought back to life. I’m excited to get back there again and experience it one more time.”

Is your biggest concern that the option tire will fall off so much that everyone goes back to the traditional tire?

“I guess in some ways – yes. If the option tire isn’t substantially faster on the front end, I think, yes that would be a concern. We will just see what it is like. If it is considerably faster for seven, eight laps at the beginning of a run, and falls off, a little bit more, 20 plus in – then I think that is what you are looking for. What you don’t want to see, what it will make it more difficult to use is if the tire is faster taking off, but after 10 it really starts going the wrong way, but we will just see when we get there.”

Could you tell any difference about the tire this weekend?

“It’s hard to really say at a place like this. It seemed like the rubber going down made it a little more slick than it normally has been, but that was the first practice on the day. The track could set all night – it is sometimes hard to get a good read on that. It really starts to show itself, more so, during the race. We will go back and look at everything – between all of the other Toyotas – but it definitely seemed a little bit different with how the tire wears – lap 15 and on – or how the car changes – lap 15 and on.”

How long is Alexa (DeLeon, Tyler Reddick’s fiancé) going to let you keep that mustache?

“We will see. I don’t think it will be long, but if I win tomorrow, I’m just going to have to keep it around. Hopefully we win, and we will cross that bridge when we get there.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 26 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Goodyear 400 Qualifying | Saturday, May 11, 2024

Ford Performance Results:
2nd – Brad Keselowski
3rd – Chris Buescher
13th – Chase Briscoe
14th – Joey Logano
15th – Todd Gilliland
16th – Michael McDowell
17th – Ryan Blaney
25th – Austin Cindric
26th – Ryan Preece
28th – Justin Haley
33rd – Josh Berry
34th – Kaz Grala
35th – Harrison Burton
36th – Noah Gragson

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Castrol Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Qualifying has been a really weak spot for us this year and we knocked on the door right there of being able to have the pole. I wish we would have gotten it, but it was super close. It’s still really good to see and it bodes well for us tomorrow with pit stall selection and so forth, but ultimately tomorrow is a really long race. Whether you’re starting in the front or starting in the back you’ve got a lot of work to do. Darlington is a tough track. I’m excited with how we finished last week with a lot of speed and the car driving really well. We didn’t get the finish we wanted, but we’re carrying some of that momentum to this week and I’m very optimistic.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That’s a strong start to the weekend for us. I’m really proud of that because everybody works hard. We’ve obviously had a crazy week with plenty to talk about and what we took out of that was, ‘Let’s bring speed to Darlington and go win it there and put that one behind us.’ It’s really close. I’m really proud of that for both of our RFK Fords.”

WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROUND ONE AND TWO? “I just lost a little bit of grip out here and I missed three and four a touch. We were really good down in one and two, but just missed three and four a little bit.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 11, 2024

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Darlington Raceway.

Media Availability Quotes:

Can you take us through your win last year at North Wilkesboro; what it meant to win at such a historical place?

“Yeah, it was awesome. I got to compete in the truck race, as well. I had a great race. It was great to win there in the truck. And then for the Cup race that weekend, I think it was extra special just to win there. But for how our weekend was before the race, we made it even more special because we were not competitive, I didn’t think, at all. We were really, really bad. We didn’t practice well. I think we were quickest on lap time, but over the course of a run, we were really bad. So, practice wasn’t good. We didn’t do great in the pit crew challenge. In the heat race, we backed it up; fell back and really was just kind of frustrated with how the weekend was going. But the team was working hard; recognized that we were really bad and threw a bunch of changes to it for Sunday’s race. I could feel pretty early on that we had a competitive car. And then yeah, cruised up through the field and dominated the race. To win was great; win a million bucks was awesome. But then to win at a historic racetrack that I never envisioned myself racing at was pretty neat. To sweep that weekend was cool.”

Despite your crazy schedule for that weekend, how will this race be different with the repave and the tire situation?

“Yeah, I mean I wasn’t a part of that test, but I think William (Bryon) was and they just said how fast it was. So, I imagine that it would be harder to pass, for sure, which it’s always difficult to pass on a repave. But I feel like repaves open up opportunities because the groove is so narrow, and typically when you get out of the groove, it’s very slick so there could be a lot of mistakes made, which opens up opportunity. But we’ll see.. I don’t know what to expect yet.”

I hate to bring up a worst-case scenario, but I need to ask you – if the Indy 500 starts on time and you’re well into it and it rains briefly, who makes the call on whether you stay in Indy or come to Charlotte?

“Yeah, hopefully that doesn’t arise. But I’m not sure who the one is to make that call. I’m sure there’s a window of time that when it gets to a certain point I have to leave because the Coca-Cola 600 is the priority that weekend and chasing another NASCAR Cup Series championship is the priority.

Yeah, I just hope that doesn’t come about (laughs). Tony Kanaan is there for reserve, if something like that does happen, to fill in for the (Indy) 500. But yeah, just pray that doesn’t happen.”

There’s a lot of focus these days on mental health and everything. With your schedule getting busier and busier with the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 prep and Kevin Harvick helping out the team next weekend a little bit – how are you staying mentally strong and sharp during the month of May?

“I don’t know.. I think I stay prepared for things like this because I race all the time. These next two weeks, honestly, I feel like are simpler than most of my weeks. I’m in Indiana for a full week, and I’m behind one certain type of car for the majority of that week. A lot of times, my schedule in the summer will get crazy, where I’m racing on a Sunday and then I’m flying to go race a sprint car one day. And then I’m driving three hours to go race a dirt late model and then something else that weekend. So, I think times like that probably prepare me for the month of May more than anything. I think having good people around you too; having good, organized logistics help, as well.”

You mentioned Tony Kanaan is the reserve driver for the Indy 500. We know that Kevin Harvick is going to be in the car for practice for the All-Star Race. Do you have a backup driver in case something happens and you can’t make it for the All-Star Race or you can’t make it for the Coca-Cola 600, who’s going to be in that car and racing?

“No, I haven’t heard that yet. No.. I don’t know, I’m not sure. I guess maybe those are all last-minute calls I think, or we’ll probably just like try to manifest a perfect weekend in our minds (laughs). Maybe behind the scenes, they’ve been working on that. I think it all depends on weather and stuff; kind of forecasting what that might look like and maybe plans will change. But no, I don’t know.”

Obviously we have the option tire next weekend at North Wilkesboro. Is that something you’d like to see on a regular basis in the Cup Series on ovals and road courses, where teams have an option to go hard or soft compounds?

“Well, I think it just depends on how it goes next week. Yeah, assuming it goes well, I don’t know because I don’t know what ‘well’ looks like. I’m not sure. I mean if it’s great, then yeah, maybe we can utilize it. But I really don’t know until I get some experience on it.

I remember we ran – I guess was it the All-Star Race, however many years ago, I think we had an option tire. I don’t know if we all had it on during the same run or even how it works next week, but I don’t remember it being any different. I think it has to be drastically different for you to notice a difference on the racetrack. We’ll see. Hopefully that’s what it is next week.”

Being able to do something that not many people get to do here the next few weeks, what are you looking most forward to, or even intrigued about what these next couple of weeks might be like?

“I don’t know.. I think for me, I don’t think about that a whole lot. I think more about – I get excited about learning new things and being presented a new challenge, which an IndyCar is a new challenge. Learning that style of racing a little bit and seeing what translates some. Racing against other drivers that I’ve watched on TV for quite a while or whatever – like that’s kind of what I get most excited about. But mostly, just learning and seeing how quickly you can learn and if you can be competitive. I think if you can do a good job with all of that, then all the other stuff that would be seen as more important on the result end of things would be great.

But yeah, I think I’m just excited to learn something new.”

Going back to the finish last week, when Chris (Buescher) made his move into turn three that allowed you to have the outside, did you feel like at that point – OK this is perfect because now I’m going to win it because I’m on the outside like that? Or even if he had gone on the outside, I guess you could have gone down and done a slide job type of pass. Did that change how you looked at it when he essentially took middle?

“I was planning to go to the outside no matter what. I honestly thought that he would just run low and fast; kind of run the shorter distance. So, when he kind of ran the middle, I was like – oh yeah, like wow.. here we go! But it wasn’t until l got exited off of the corner, like to the straightaway, that I thought we still had a shot here. Like when I had initially got there, I thought he was going to throttle up and kind of like – not move me up, just like I wasn’t quite there enough I thought.

It’s weird.. like when you watch a replay, it looks different than what you see in the helmet. I remember when I kind of throttled up to try to get to his quarter, I thought he was going to be able to throttle up; get clear in front of me and then I would get aero-tight. But then when I stayed there, I still was like – alright, now I’m crashing because I’m just in an awkward spot here with aero and the way that turn four kind of sharpens up on exit. I just thought I was going to run out of space.. not even like him doing anything dirty or anything like that. He left me enough room and all that. Yeah, we got off the corner and then it was just about how the run was going to work out, and thankfully it barely worked out.”

A lot of times, you guys get more credit than maybe you deserve at times, and sometimes you get more of the blame than you deserve at times… I mean this is still a team sport. When you’re in a situation like that and obviously for Chris (Buescher), it’s easy to say he lost it. You guys always have to look at yourselves each week or the team is looking at things. How tough of a situation is it, even with all the self-critical thinking you have to have, if you feel like you’ve lost it, and how do you get through something like that? What would be the case where it’s lingered for you?

“Yeah, I mean I’ve definitely lost plenty of races late in the going, I feel like, than I’ve won. So yeah, it’s tough, especially in a finish like that. You think about it a lot. You overthink it. There are many different ways that you can think about running the last lap to have a different result where you win. And I think you just have to kind of process all of those different scenarios in your head; log it and then try to be better for the next time a situation, if it ever happens, occurs like that.

And then you just have to try and move on from it, which is difficult. But the best way to move on from things is just to get back behind the wheel. That’s what’s always been good for me. When I’ve had tough races, or good races, it seems like I’ve got a race a day or two later. I don’t kind of ride that wave too much, or the wave is quicker, I guess, which kind of steadies me out maybe a little bit.

Yeah, it’s tough. Losing like that is very difficult, but he seems like a very even keel guy that probably doesn’t let it linger too long.”

With Corey Day starting to dabble in the pavement world a little bit, what can you tell the NASCAR community about Corey as a racer? Are you involved, even in like in a just talking to him role, in getting him acclimated to maybe pursuing this?

“Yeah, I mean a little bit. But I feel like he’s kind of a lot like me in that sense, where like I’ve never really reached out to anybody like – hey man, I’m getting ready to run this. Even in IndyCar, like – hey, I’m getting ready to run an IndyCar.. what do I need to do? I’ve always just tried to figure things out on my own, and he seems to be the same way. So yeah, it was cool to see him have a good run at Hickory. Obviously the invert and all that kind of worked out for him, but it was cool to see him adapt to something new. I think that was his first time on pavement that weekend.

He’s just an extremely great race car driver. He’s only 18-years-old. He’s got a ton of experience. I’ve obviously paid a lot of attention to him now the last few years, and he’s just continued to get better and better each weekend. Watching his style, I feel like that’s what I look like a lot out there with how hard he runs. I was not that in control at 18, but he’s very in control with how hard he runs. He’s very calculated. I feel like he makes really smart, quick decisions out there on the track. Yeah, I hope he gets opportunities at this level to showcase his abilities, and I’m sure there’s a lot of teams, manufacturers and organizations that are after him. He’s in a great spot, so I’m excited to kind of see where his career ends up. Yeah, it would be fun getting to compete with him; not only on the sprint car side, but hopefully on the NASCAR side of things down the road.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Darlington Media Advance | Saturday, May 11, 2024

Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse, and Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang Dark Horse, both came into the media center and held Q&A sessions before today’s practice and qualifying session. Here’s a transcript of both interviews:

TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT YOUR THROWBACK SCHEME? “It’s always really cool, for me being one of the younger guys in the Cup Series still, I would say I’m still kind of seeing what the past is kind of like brought onto a present race car and all that stuff. For me, going back to my first late model win, it’s cool. That’s where it all started. It was my first CARS Tour race ever, kind of a cool tie-in there too. It definitely brings back a lot of memories, back when I was just trying to learn and doing a lot of stuff wrong and working really hard. I think all of that stuff is really cool to kind of revisit and rethink about.”

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THAT FIRST CARS TOUR RACE? “I don’t remember a whole lot. It’s kind of just a blur of how the night went. Looking back at stuff, it seemed like we had speed most of the day. I think we were the fastest in practice and I think we were pretty much third the whole race. I’ve watched the finish of it a million times and racing against Deac McCaskill, all bunch of those guys that are still racing on the CARS Tour and are kind of like the veterans that you have to beat. I think I kind of moved him out of the way on a restart and was able to just barely get away for those last few laps and win the race. That was an awesome finish.”

IS THERE OPTIMISM IN THE 38 CAMP THAT WITH A LITTLE LUCK GOOD FINISHES ARE COMING? “Yeah, I would definitely say that’s how we feel running-wise, but at the end of the day you only have results to go off of and they don’t look good, for sure. I definitely do feel like we’ve been running better. We’ve been starting the weekends much closer, faster in practice, all those things that are helping us set up better. On the plus side, we’re faster, but on the downside I feel like we had such a long ways to go at some of these mile-and-a-halves. We still have a long ways to go, but we’re in the race now, where before we had probably on average just three-tenths to get to the back of the racing pack. I feel like we’re there. We can race hard. I feel like Kansas was one of our best mile-and-a-halves yet, and it was nice to be able to get out of there with a good finish, whether it’s strategy, restarts or whatever. Our car was still pretty fast, so that was definitely a big confidence booster.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHETHER YOU’RE SURPRISED MCDOWELL IS LEAVING AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMPANY? “There are definitely two sides to that one. Part of me is surprised that he’s leaving, just because the same as what you guys see – he’s been there for a long time and really built the organization up to where it is today, in my opinion. He’s been a huge part of that, so, yes I am surprised he’s leaving, but at the same time he’s been doing so well you would have to think there are gonna be opportunities. I’m definitely sad to see him go, for sure, just based off how much he does, his leadership within the team. The day he told us was kind of the day they announced it that morning to our whole shop. We were talking about it after that. I did some interview or I said that hopefully one day I can take the torch of the leadership deal and I joked with him that I didn’t want it to be this soon – ‘you didn’t need to leave this early.’ But he’s been such a great teammate to me. I feel like he’s just been an open notebook when he doesn’t need to be. I really have nothing but great things to say about what he’s meant to me and meant to our race team.”

HOW DO YOU BUILD MOMENTUM WITH THE TEAM WHEN YOU’RE ALWAYS ON A ONE-YEAR DEAL? “It’s definitely nerve racking throughout the years, but I feel like Front Row is making so many steps in so many areas. That’s another area we’re working in, whether that’s crew chiefs or personnel that are gonna be under longer term contracts. That’s really the next step. We’re getting to a point where we have a lot of great people and you have to really take care of your great people or else they’re gonna get other opportunities. I think we’re definitely working on that and working in a good direction, whether that’s with drivers, crew chiefs, anyone in the whole company. I think that’s going to continue to get better over the years.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW TEMPERAMENTAL THIS TRACK IS? “Like you said, I feel like I can do 10 laps in a row and feel like I’m doing good, and then slip up by like one tire width and you’re in really bad shape and stuffed in the wall. To me, it’s always a super fun place. You do have to be super technical, super on your game all day, whether it’s today during practice or qualifying. I think qualifying here is one of the craziest things we do. Even sitting on the end of pit road waiting for your turn to go out, you see other guys go out and it’s unbelievable the speed and the throttle that you carry into turn one up the hill. All you can see is that wall turning right in at you. It’s a lot of commitment, a lot of trust, but also these cars make a lot of grip nowadays and that’s what makes it so much more fun. I’m excited. Darlington is always a tough place. And then on the flip side it’s one of the most high commitment places, but then after 10 laps you’re just hanging on and trying to baby the thing around here to make it another 40 laps or so. I think just the multiple layers to it makes it super fun.”

SO YOU WILL BE THE NEW LEADER AT FRONT ROW? “That’s not what I said. I hope so. I don’t know. That’s definitely the goal for me, for sure. I definitely feel at home at Front Row Motorsports and they’ve been nothing but good to me, so we’ll see, but that’s definitely my plan.”

YOU SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS A DONE DEAL FOR NEXT YEAR. “I wish it was all done, but we’re working on it and I’m definitely excited for the future.”

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO TAKE AWAY FROM WORKING WITH MCDOWELL? “I think everything. I think a few moments that really stick out to me, I think at one of my first Next Gen tests, like from the very beginning, I think we were testing Phoenix and he had tested the whole first day. I hopped in the second day and we were relatively fast and we were laying down some really good laps, but then I spun and I nudged it into the wall. I was obviously super disappointed, but he’s just a guy. He’s been such a good role model and just kind of put his arm around me and said, ‘It’s gonna be alright. It’s not the end of anything.’ It’s just super nice to have somebody like that. I obviously have a great support system with my dad and my whole family, but I feel like MIchael is kind of that same figure, but almost like within the race team. He’s just way more involved in the day-to-day stuff, so I would really compare it to how I talk to my dad or how he talks to me. It’s maybe not a good comparison for him, but it’s definitely the kind of relationship that I feel.”

YOU’VE BEEN AROUND THE FRM SHOP FOR YEARS. WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE NOW DRIVING FOR THEM? “Yeah, that’s definitely true. I think one of my favorite pictures is there’s a picture of me on one of the Front Row pit boxes when I was probably 12 years old or something like that. I’ve been around the team for a long time, whether that’s a good relationship with Bob Jenkins, the owner, their whole family. It’s cool to have the roots for that, but at the same time the team has changed dramatically since my dad was there. They were struggling to maybe even get to the racetrack at times, where now we definitely feel like we can be a competitive race team in the Cup Series. It’s changed in a lot of ways, but at the same time it’s definitely great to have a good relationship with the whole team and kind of just build my own building blocks on top of that.”

YOU GET A LITTLE BETTER QUALIFYING POSITION THIS WEEK. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO BREAK OUT OF THAT WITH THE QUALIFYING? IS THIS STILL THE FAIREST WAY TO DO IT? “It definitely can snowball, for sure. If you have a bad race finish, you’re first out to qualify in Group A and then you’re probably gonna be in the back half of the field for the next Sunday. I feel like momentum, you could say it’s real or not, but that’s kind of our momentum is if you get a good finish and now the track is gonna be cleaner when I go out this week and I can get a good starting spot and you really just start rolling the ball in the right direction, but, at the same time, it can definitely go the other way. I do feel like the qualifying format is much better now that it’s the inside row and the outside row. You even look at last week. I think my lap time would have made the second round in Group A, but I was probably 12th or 13th in my group, so the track just changes so much with these cars for whatever reason that I think it’s definitely better off having the bottom lane and the top lane. I think that’s made it a lot more fair, but it definitely is tough. From our side of it, we get bad finishes and we’re legit the first ones out, where Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, those guys have enough points, have a fast enough lap that if they have a bad finish, it doesn’t hurt them as much. I think, to me, it just shows that we need to be more consistent and need to be better on our end and it won’t be as big of an issue.”

HOW QUICKLY WERE YOU THINKING ABOUT A BETTER QUALIFYING SITUATION FOR DARLINGTON AFTER LAST WEEK’S FINISH? “I don’t know that’s something you think about initially. You’re just kind of excited about the finish, but I will definitely say that Tuesday afternoons when the qualifying order comes out, I’m probably the first one to look at it, just because I don’t love being in Group A. I feel like there’s no advantage to that. It’s nice to be in Group B and see your teammate go out and get some data. You can look at the SMT for a long time, know what lap times are gonna be, and you can just be so much more prepared, but, at the same time, it’s the same thing really. I definitely feel I start the weekend off better when I’m in Group B.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DOES THIS TRACK CHANGE ON A YEAR TO YEAR BASIS? “There’s definitely a notebook to it. It has aged surprisingly fast since the repave, and then we’ve had a handful of patches put in. The patch in turn two is probably the bigger item that we’ve been trying to adjust to the past couple of years. There was a ton of grip the first time we came here with that really dark black patch, but still had really rough transitions in and off of it. The transitions are still there and they’re still pretty rough, but the grip has gone down significantly. We’ll learn little things about it, but I would say that’s the bigger item we look at. The rest of the track has been a pretty progressive aging of the asphalt. It’s not really getting a whole lot rougher as far as ride quality goes. We’re still chasing that last two or there inches right there at the fence, and maybe we’ve been able to get a little bit more aggressive with using that in the Xfinity and the Cup Series with composite bodies, so we’re able to not have as much consequence to find that last little bit. We’re still chasing grip like good old fashioned Darlington, but the patch has just been one of those little things that has definitely changed how we’ve gone about things. It is definitely the limit of what we can get away with for speed heights versus ride quality.”

HAVE YOU WATCHED THE FINISH FROM LAST WEEK OR NOT BARE TO WATCH IT? “Yeah, I’ve watched it. I’ve replayed it in my head no less than 100 times and that’s probably pretty conservative. I’ve got a list of things I would do different going back and I just need to be in that situation again. I’m taking a lot of good things out of it, a couple bad, but ultimately what I look at is that is the most competitive mile-and-a-half that we’ve had, ever in my career with RFK for sure as well. That was a better weekend than we had at Michigan when we won. I take that as the highlight of how it all went down and it kind of gets you through some of the bitterness of it as well. What we’re talking about it is how do we make that our baseline for mile-and-a-halves and see what we’re able to transfer here to Darlington. Obviously, they’re not the same racetrack whatsoever, but you still feel like we have things that we can apply. We’re all doing our best to try and laugh about it after the race and hung out and actually stayed and watched cars go through tech to make sure we were good and the 5 was good, obviously. Just trying to let it all unfold and take a breather. Our whole team stayed and was standing around the truck just trying to ultimately have some peace in the fact that we had a great day and try to laugh about the situation knowing that it was gonna be a tough one for the rest of every one or our careers.”

ARE YOU GOOD WITH HOW NASCAR DECIDES THE FINISH WITH THE CAMERAS? “I’ve certainly learned a lot and some things that I did not know about. We’ve had a couple ways to laugh, but obviously the wavy line across the finish line has been fun to pick at, but ultimately I understand that’s not what we go by. The transponder loops or camera, that’s some of the things I’ve learned is knowing that we use a camera system versus transponder loops. We’ve been, not in such a grand fashion, but a part of some of these races that have ended under a yellow all of a sudden and we’ve been chasing loops and cameras and never really understood how we ended up where we did on a couple of races the last couple of years and I think we have a better understanding now. It’s all good at the end of the day and we’re ready to make the next one easier to talk about as a win and not have to pull up that camera footage again.”

AS A DRIVER HOW DO YOU PUT THAT BEHIND YOU AND FOCUS ON HAVING THAT SAME LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE HERE? “It was bothersome for two days. There’s no way around that. I really just picked it apart. Ultimately, the way we see it is you need to be in those positions to know what you want to do better next time. Someone told me, not about this weekend, but a long time ago that you’ve got to lose some to win some and had a handful of scenarios throughout my career where I felt like we had a race that we were gonna win or finally had and something came up or a mistake being made here or there and got told that you just have to have that knowledge and until you do, you don’t know the right decision. Fortunately, we’ve been in these situations more to have that fight to the end. It’s good to be in that position and, like I said, that’s how we’re gonna learn and how we’re gonna put notes away and be more prepared for it when it happens, hopefully not this weekend. We want to make it a little easier on everybody to celebrate ahead of time, but it’s just a learning experience at this point. It’s something that we need to take in and just make sure our performance stays elevated to the point where we’re able to be in those conversations again.”

THAT’S THREE RUNNER-UP FINISHES FOR RFK IN THE LAST FOUR RACES. DO YOU FEEL THE ORGANIZATION IS CLOSER TO WHERE YOU WANT TO BE ON A WEEKLY BASIS? “Yes. We went through the offseason and obviously we had a really strong last third of the season. I was able to make a really good run in the playoffs and have real potential at tracks that I have not been good at in the past. To me, that was a good measure of the success we were having and the potential when you can take races that you used to try and stay optimistic about, but ultimately dread going into and turn those into opportunities to feel like you had a shot to win and run top five or whatever it may have been. That was big for the end of the season and our offseason was spent talking about, ‘How do we start off the season like that?’ Our first eight races of most every season have just been off. That was very important for us this year was to make sure that we started in a much better spot. We’ve got four runner-up finishes between the two of us on the year now. I guess that’s a really good useless stat for everybody in here. No one is gonna talk about that one except us, but it is a measure for us to say we’re inching up on it or we’re right there knocking on the door. It’s just about sealing the deal at this point.”

DO YOU FEEL ANYTHING NEEDS TO CHANGE ABOUT WHERE THE TRANSPONDERS ARE LOCATED? “No, I mean all of our chassis are built by Technique, so every transponder in every car is in the exact same spot. That’s actually as even as it’s ever been. When it was up to the teams, you’d always have those little gray areas being explored like we’re prone to do around here, but, right now, it’s all coming from single source suppliers, so there’s nothing that puts you in a position to be able to play those games. It is where it’s at, so I think the stuff on race cars is as equal as it’s ever been and really is ever gonna be. It’s where it’s at, so I don’t feel like there’s anything we can do to change that.”

SHOULD IT BE SOMEWHERE ELSE ON THE CAR FOR EVERYBODY? “It really doesn’t matter with the timing line being that offset back off the start-finish line, basically when the splitter trips that typically straight white line, the transponder should be right on the beacon. Just like the end of pit road. We used to have a thought and we’re smarter now and should have been back then, but we used to have a thought that, ‘OK, you have to get that transponder across that line to truly beat somebody,’ and a long time ago we figured out, ‘No, the transponder line is actually set back the exact whatever it may be – call it 15 feet – from that yellow line on the end of pit road, so that we are going off of the front edge of the splitter essentially. I think it’s the same that we use for pit road stuff, for speeds, for timing loops there. I don’t see where moving it is gonna change anything.”

A DIFFERENT RIGHT SIDE COMBINATION THIS WEEKEND AT DARLINGTON. HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL WORK OUT HERE? “I would say as much as I am not a proponent of change most weeks, I’m a little stubborn and set in my ways as I’ve gotten a little older. Yes, it’s different for Darlington, but it’s what we’ve used at all of these mile-and-a-halves. It seems to have been decent. It’s not something that we’re running into unknowns with. We’re not having issues. We’ve got notes on it that are leading us to be able to be confident in the decisions we’re making for setups going into weekends. I don’t have anything off the top of my head that says it’s gonna change much here for Darlington. It’s had fall off in it. It may be more stair-stepped than just that progressive loss of time, but it seems like it’s been a step in a good direction for us and our bigger track product.”

HOW WOULD THE REPAVE AFFECT NORTH WILKESBORO? “In every way we can and can’t imagine, I’d say. The closest thing I’d ever been to North Wilkesboro last year was Berlin, Michigan in an ARCA car, which is probably still just as bad as North Wilkesboro was. I think we got wide-open two times, not even two laps, two times throughout an entire ARCA race there and that was a long time ago. You’re going from the absolute extreme of lack of grip to what’s ultimately gonna feel like infinite grip. I would say that you’re gonna be talking about exponentially more braking applied. You’re really gonna change up everything you do there. Speeds are obviously gonna be way, way faster. Throttle time is gonna be way more. You’re gonna turn it back into a horsepower war to some extent, and short track racing it’s not as big of a deal, but you’re gonna be wanting it. I hope that we have enough racetrack to be able to move around and be able to make passes. I hope the progressive banking that is in Wilkesboro that was supposed to stay in there and seems like it has, I haven’t seen it in person, but it looks similar from what I can tell right now, so if that comes in and we’re able to have good racing, it’s just going to be a whole lot faster this go-around. I know new paves have not been our friend typically as far as really good racing goes through the years, and I really kind of blame it on technology and new asphalt being too good. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not. I’m not educated enough to even have that argument, but it seems like everything nowadays is too good. It goes down too smoothly. People know what they’re doing and it can suck the character out of a lot of our racetracks for a period of time. I hope that we’re learning that we can have something that comes round and hopefully ages enough to where we’re able to put on some good racing.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 11, 2024

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 AND THE NO. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO SS, met with the media in advance of racing double duty in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway.

Media Availability Quotes:

It seems pretty rare anymore that you get an opportunity to jump back into a Xfinity car, but you have had a lot of success in them over the years. Do you enjoy a weekend like this, where you have the chance to run both races? I guess for the lack of a better way to put it, just go play and seek a trophy in the Xfinity race?

“Yeah, I mean I think we kind of strategically plan these races out to places that I wanted to come to, and just thankful that HENDRICKCARS.COM and Hendrick Motorsports was able to put that together and have me be able to choose which races I want to go do, so that’s great. I would love to race more, it’s just a matter of finding the right funding and the right teams to do it with.

Yeah, I’m excited. I think the laps will help me. The cars are very different, but I think with the racetrack and learning some nuances there will help for Sunday and just give me something fun to go do and try to go compete for a win. Try not to put too much pressure on ourselves with no practice, and just try to figure out what we have in the beginning of the race. But once we kind of get a feel for that, I think we’ll be able to march our way forward and see how we do.”

This weekend, there’s a new right-side tire for Darlington (Raceway), but it’s a familiar tire, the intermediate tire. What are your thoughts on that? How could it possibly change the racing?

“Yeah, I mean just my immediate thoughts are – for us as a team, just working through the balance and what that tire needs. I feel like we’ve had good speed this year, but just trying to work on what that tire needs because it is different than what we ran here and different than what we ran at some of the mile-and-a-half’s last year.

I think with the racing, you’ll see pretty similar stuff. I think this tire has been really good though. I would say this tire has a bit more feel to it.. like you can slide the car. You can manipulate the car a little bit more. I like that, but it’s not a huge difference. I think the falloff is similar and all those things.”

For next weekend, do you have a read on the option tire and the things it could provide with the racing? What would make it look successful?

“Yeah, I’ll have to look back through my notes from the test. I think that we definitely ran that tire. It had a lot of speed on the short run fire off. And then we were just kind of getting to the point where it was starting to wear and fall off in 25 laps. We did 50 laps run with the control tire. I think it’s going to be really quick on the short run, so hopefully that creates some comers and goers, where if you have a couple tenths on the guy in front of you, you can pass them.

So, I’m all for it. I think it’s a good idea. They did it a few years ago, but hopefully this is a more drastic difference between the two tires. We did that test and ran through a lot of different sets, and we tried to go as soft as what they felt comfortable with. Hopefully that’s a good things. The racetrack – the groove in (turns) one and two is fairly wide. The groove in (turns) three and four is pretty narrow. So hopefully we can kind of widen that out through lap cars and having to run inadvertently in the second lane when you’re trying to pass.”

You’ve been on the good and bad end of late-race moments the last two spring races at Darlington Raceway. How do you assess those situations, whether it’s an overtime restart, just a late restart or you’re in a tight battle for the lead?

“I don’t really think about it too much. I mean I don’t lose sleep over how the races end here. Really, if there’s any racetrack you’re not thinking about that, it’s here. You’re thinking about – how do I be good for 50 laps. That’s just what it takes all day long to be fast year. And then you might get that caution in the end and have to re-rack them and have a good restart. So, for sure, I pay attention to launches on restarts. I pay attention to lane selection, but I’m not losing sleep on what’s going to happen on a green-white-checkered here or late in the race. It’s just how I manage my tires and my equipment to make the best 40 -lap, 50-lap run I can do.”

This will mark the halfway point of the regular-season. You were the first guy to get to three wins. How would you assess your season, so far?

“Yeah, I mean Jeff Andrews and I were on the way up here and he was talking about the first 12, middle 12 and last 12. I’m always kind of looking for new ways to think of it, and I think that’s a great way to view it. I feel like – yeah, our first 12 (races) have been up-and-down, right? But our ups are very up, and we’ve had a lot of pace each weekend. Last weekend, we were fastest in practice; good averages. And then the issue in qualifying. We just kind of missed the balance in the race; going into a night race that we didn’t expect to happen and we couldn’t adjust enough.

We just have to be a little more consistent, but we have the pace. I feel like that’s what you’re really striving for – to have pace to win races. We have that, it’s just that we’re not consistently putting the weekends together, in terms of balance and execution. Our execution also – whether that’s me hitting the wall in qualifying and putting us in a bad pit stall. We get boxed in a few times and we’ll lose multiple stops. Or the week before, we had some issues on pit road; had a jack issue and lost several stops. So, it’s just kind of all around execution, but luckily it’s early in the season. I feel like I’m fresh. I feel super fresh this year and ready to attack the summer stretch and just start putting some of that consistency together.”

Looking ahead to North Wilkesboro, do you think it’s important for the sport to always have an All-Star Race? How much do you think that really always brings to the sport?

“Yeah, I mean I think it’s super important. I think it’s a sense of pride as a race team to be in the All-Star Race. I think our All-Star Race is more important than other sports. We actually put the same effort, same everything, into it. We race the same.. maybe even more aggressive than other sports.

I think for us, we actually take it seriously and there’s a lot on the line. It’s a chance to learn. You can’t just take a week off. If you just approach the All-Star Race like it’s a week off, you’re going to have some bummed out feelings after that race. We want to win it. Obviously there’s some money on the line, as well, so that would be nice.”

You’ve won at a lot of places, but does it feel any different coming back to Darlington Raceway as a winner at this place?

“No, not at all. It’s still a tough place. If anything, last fall would have felt that way. We had a bit of a tough weekend leading up to the race. So no, I mean it just feels good coming here. I feel like I have a pretty good history here. I enjoy getting around this place. I’m going to try to not read that much into it because the cars are different; the tire is different this week. I’m just thinking about those factors.”

Regarding the All-Star Race, growing up as a fan of the sport as you were, are there any All-Star Races that you’ve watched that stick out in your memory?

“Yeah, I mean I think the All-Star Race had a really good stretch there at Charlotte (Motor Speedway). You know, 2007 with Kyle and Kurt getting into it; and 2010 I believe, or 2009, when they were three-wide for the lead. There were quite a few good years there, and then it kind of dulled out with the Gen-6; just had a rough patch there where they were trying a lot of stuff and it was really single-file at the end, and it was basically about who the good launch on the restart with 10-to-go.

But yeah, it kind of ebbs-and-flows when the All-Star Races have been good. I would say those kind of 2007 to 2010 were some really good races. I also remember the one with Jimmie and Kevin. I think Kevin won.. yeah, I think that was 2007. So yeah, there were some good ones.”

About Chevrolet

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Toyota Racing – Erik Jones
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 11, 2024) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver Erik Jones was made available to the media prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday.

ERIK JONES, No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB

What makes you so good at this track?

“I don’t know. I think it is a combination of things. I don’t think it’s one thing. Through the years, I’ve had some good cars here, which obviously helps. I always feel comfortable here, and always have. I came here in the Xfinity Series in 2016 for the first time, and felt good, but first race here in Cup in ’17, I was just really comfortable with what the track was doing and how it changed and transitioned and how the tires fell off and how you need to manage your race. I feel like I have a good feel for that. I think that is a lot of it. It’s the feel of how the car transitions through the run, how these tires fall off. The track is changing every year as it is getting older. We have the patch off of (turn) two, which has changed things more than probably a lot of people thought, but overall, I think a lot of it is being able to manage through the run, and through the race – really racing the track too. You hear that term, less and less now, but being able to go out and race the track is something useful as well.”

Do you feel like it helps to come back at a place like Darlington?

“I think so. I think the schedule looking at it – kind of worked out well, knowing what my injury was, what the timeline looked like. There was probably a possibility coming back right away with the injury, but Dover was not a place where that was going to happen. Even Kansas was a place that was going to be challenging with high speed and a lot of risk being an incident – not of your own doing necessarily. Coming to Darlington, I feel like you can control your own destiny a bit. There is less risk for an accident like that. Also, three weeks in, I feel like we are on the safe side of 100 percent, and I feel 100 percent. It does make me feel comfortable though, about making laps today. When you are out of the car for a couple of weeks, it is tough in some ways, probably tougher than you realize until you hop back in and you are a couple of weeks behind everybody, but coming to a place like Darlington, where I feel like I get around well and know what I need to do as a driver to be strong and contention – it does ease your mind a bit.”

How do you evaluate where LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is?

“I thought Dover – Dover was a hard one, because Corey (Heim) – it was his first race in Cup, and he was trying to learn, drinking through a firehose a bit. I thought Kansas was kind of a better evaluation, and I thought all three of our cars were decent in Kansas. John Hunter (Nemechek) ended up having a good finish – he finished 13th. But our other two cars – Corey was capable of a top-15, except for that restart in the end. Jimmie (Johnson) was definitely top-15 without getting wrecked, maybe top-10. He was one of our best cars through the early part of the race there. I thought that was good. Our mile-and-a-half program has been more of a struggle than it has been, and in the last couple, that’s been our strong suit. I hope that bodes well for here – what we did at Kansas, and can transfer some over. It is a lot different, but there is some stuff that you can bring. We are getting there. We are making some big changes right now that are going to take some time to get into play. I think that everything is taking longer than we anticipated, but we are making the changes and taking the steps to get there now.”

How much time have you got to spend in the simulator, and did you have to change anything with your seat?

“I got back in last week before Kansas, and I felt good. I ran about an hour and a half, and actually ran a couple of tracks in there, just trying to pick tracks that it was going to move the sim a lot and put some bigger impact on my back and make sure everything was good – and I felt fine from the impact and also being in there that long. So that was good. I have changed a lot in the car. I changed my seat, and some belt angles – a handful of things that we found that could have been better before the wreck at Talladega. I think it has been a big learning experience, really, I think we have all learned a lot internally at what we can do better at with safety. There are all kinds of different opinions out there on what you can do, and we are always learning, but I feel like we are in a better spot – for me at least – and what I can do in the car. I haven’t made a lot of changes, frankly, in a lot of years. I’ve ran the same seat for about eight years. It was time to switch things up.”

How would classify your health?

“I would say 100 percent. Well maybe 95. I feel 100 percent, but I say 95 because I can’t go in the gym and lift weight. I can’t put that kind of load on my spine from a precautionary standpoint. I would say 95, just from that, but I feel 100 and ready to get back.”

What other restrictions do you have on yourself?

“Not much right now. Through this injury, it has kind of been a pain tolerance thing, more than anything. It is a stable fracture – there is not really a risk of it become unstable or anything like that – so it is mostly what I feel like I can take. Some of it has just been getting back outside, working at my house seeing what feels comfortable and what makes me sore and what doesn’t. I would say we are at three weeks tomorrow. Four weeks, next week, I feel like I will be able to get back in the gym and do my normal thing again, and at five weeks, be totally back to normal.”

What are you referring to when you say that you missed some things by being out of the car the last two weeks?

“I think just being in that rhythm week-to-week. In the Cup Series, you are running nearly 38 straight weeks every year. Everybody has stayed in that rhythm the last couple of weeks, and they are hopping in today, and it’s a normal weekend for them. For me – it’s only been two weeks – but still you have to get your bearings again, recalibrate them when you strap back in. I don’t think it will take long. I would say I’m way behind, but you lose that rhythm of it being week-to-week, and communication with the crew. I’ve stayed talking to them a lot these last two weeks, but that was also two weeks of them with a different driver, different feedback, different work through the week, so getting back in that flow of normal things for everybody is going to take a second.”

Do you have a feel or an opinion on the option tire for the All-Star Race next weekend?

“I looked at it some. I don’t know how much that tire is going to be different. I know the compound difference, and you don’t know how that adds up on track. I remember the All-Star Race a few years ago with the option tire, and that was not what we wanted. The true win with the option tire would be for someone to come in, get the option tire – maybe one or two cars – and go to the back and drive straight to the front in 10 laps. I think that would be a win for the option tire. If it goes green and it falls off, so be it. That is kind of the box you are in with that tire. You are going to have to see a large variance in lap time with that tire for it to be a win – three tenths, probably, of track lap time at North Wilkesboro to really make it work and cut through the field and do what you want to do. I don’t know if that is possible. I don’t know if that is what it is going to be, but it would have to be that to be a win.”

Are there any merits to run the short track package at Darlington versus the intermediate package?

“I think it is too marginal. I think that we don’t have a proper tire for the short track package that would wear enough. Maybe here would be an exception – just with the surface. I think that is some of the problem at short tracks, just the tire doesn’t wear out and there is no load on the car either with the downforce that we have. I don’t know. I think we through messing with aero. I think the package on mile-and-a-halves has shown good. It is more challenging here than some, but you able to work around and move. I don’t think it would make a huge difference right now.”

How is a driver convinced to not get in the car the moment they’ve been cleared?

“It is tough because in one way – in that moment – when you get the all clear, you are thinking that I’m coming back and then you have more conversations and you realize that it is not going to happen, but I think at the end of the day, you are talking with multiple people through it, and figuring out the best options through it – it is for the best – and at that point, I think look – if I really pushed it – I could have been in the car last week, I think, if I really, really wanted to be, but if I make that call on my own, and overrule and go out and re-injure myself, I kind of look like an idiot in some ways, right? Barring anyone else’s words. I think sitting down, thinking about and getting past that first moment of you get cleared and you’re coming back, and then taking a moment to step back and say okay, yes, we are clear, you’ve done some things to make yourself feel good, but where are you really at? This was on Thursday morning. I was still sore. I still had soreness at that point, really until Sunday. Sunday of Kansas was really when I started feeling better, so to say that I could have gotten in last week and truly been at my full potential, and not – number one, be sore – and not, number two, be in the back of my mind saying, if I hit the wall right now, how is that going to go? I think I would have probably been lying to myself, so when you take those conversations and take a step back for a second, I feel like you get a broader picture and that’s kind of where I ended up on the weekend.”

How did you get to that point?
“I think the way that we really looked at it – at the end of the day – I’m 27, 28 this month, years old. I hope to race in NASCAR for a handful of more years, right? I hopefully have a more than a decade. That is a lot of races. That is 500 or something like that. You look back, and say what is the difference of one or two? We go to Kansas twice a year – 20 more times in my career, at least to go back there. There is so many more races down the road are really the conversations that we had, and those conversations that we want to have those races together, and be in this sport for a long time, and not do something right now that is going to put me in a spot where I would have an early in to my career, and we’ve seen it happen with drivers over the years with these nagging injuries – they add up and eventually guys are out of the seat sooner than they want to be, whether it is, head or body, along those lines. I think it was along those lines of those conversations that I really had with people to come to a peace with that decision that one more week out – we look back two years from now – it is just such a small blip on the radar.”

What is your team going to do to give you more comfort for the upcoming Coke 600?

“We’ve changed the seat a lot. This will be the first race on that seat. I’m sitting in a pretty different position than I’m used to for almost all of my racing career. Guys that have went through this similar injury have gone through the same transition to their seating position as well. Fortunately – it is not a short race, it’s 400 miles – but it feels short here, I feel like. It will be a good test here, and next week at (North) Wilkesboro – how does the seat feel, what can I change before the 600. I would say it is two good weeks of that, seeing how I feel, seeing what is bothering me – especially after Darlington tomorrow, and saying this what hurts, this is what we are going to change, and this is how we are going to more forward. Hopefully, hopping out after tomorrow, I feel great after the race. That is the ultimate goal, but with as much as we’ve changed there is going to be different things that are going to be bothering me, or that I’m going to want to move or do different. It is the first time in eight years that I’ve really moved a lot of things in the car, and how I’m sitting and how I’m positioned in there, it is definitely going to be different.”

What have they allowed you to do physical therapy wise? What did the doctors ask from you before you got cleared? Are you wearing a back brace?

“I didn’t have any back brace. My injury was on the minor side – just one vertebra – so with it being stable, there was really no brace required from the start. As far as what I did getting back in the gym, really it was right after I sat out that week of Dover. Right after Dover, I was back on Tuesday getting in the gym. Some of it was pain management, treatment stuff – hot, cold – everything we could to make it feel better, and then I just started with walking, walking on the treadmill, walking on a high incline. Got up, started jogging a little bit to see how the impact felt on my back, and that felt good. So right now, it is more body weight workouts. I can’t lift a lot of weight or it’s going to put pressure on my spine, downward, but I can do any kind of bodyweight movements – just a lot of stretching, trying to keep – when you have an injury like that in your back, your back is spasming a lot to try to support your spine, so trying to loosen that back up is mostly what I’ve been doing, so the physical therapy side, there wasn’t much. Unfortunately, I learned with this injury – there is not a lot that you can do to speed things up – it’s more of one that you have to rest and wait. It has to heal on its own. The bone doesn’t grow back. It’s just going to harden. You’ve lost that chunk of vertebra forever, so I guess, I’m a little shorter than before, but you just have to wait for it to harden back up and where it can support and feel good again.”

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