Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 28, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media after winning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday. It is the eighth pole for Toyota in nine Playoff races, while Toyota placed five drivers inside the top-seven starters for the first time since Charlotte’s 600-mile race in May of 2022.

Truex’s teammate, Ty Gibbs, will join him on the front row with a career-best starting position.

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

What kind of emotional roller coaster do you feel like you are on?

“Just kind of par for the course here lately, so just trying to keep your head on straight and go out and do your job. That’s how I came in here thinking about doing, and it went the way we hoped it would, so thanks to the guys for bringing a fast Auto-Owners Camry. First pit stall is a huge deal here, so hopefully we can use it to our advantage tomorrow.”

Now that you have the pole, do you wait for the other shoe to drop?

“No, not really. I feel good about how today went. I think we need to work on our car a little bit for tomorrow. It wasn’t quite what I think we needed for the long runs. We have a direction there. I think today – practice was a really good indicator there – sometimes we come here and it’s cold and not a lot of rubber grip down and it could change a lot for today – but today I feel like was a good indicator and we learned a lot. I know what we need to do, and now we have to go do it. We will see what happens. We are ready to go.”

With the possibility of good stage points, do you think you still need to win?

“I think 17 is a long ways out. Maybe if we could win both stages, it might change things around, but we will just wait and see. I don’t think stages are really on my radar right now, but we were certainly take them if we can get them.”

Where do you think you picked up that eight-thousandths of a second on your teammate?

“Just made a little adjustment to my car. The first round – I wasn’t real sure exactly how hard to go, how hard to push it or what the balance was going to be like. Last time, we were here – the tires were different, the weather was different and our car was pretty free in practice, so I was a little concerned about that, but the guys made good adjustments and the car was really close. I think for round two we just made a small adjustment and made the car more comfortable, gave me a lot more confidence on throttle and that was where the difference was.”

Was it a huge leap in practice in qualifying?

“We were in group two in practice, and we were fastest. The track slowed down a little bit for group two. Overall, we just put our qualifying setup in, got the balance right – and they did that. That’s typically what we try to do. It is always tough. Back in the day, we used to make qualifying runs in practice, and now you kind of guess. They guessed really well today.”

Could you tell any difference with the tire?

“It’s so hard to tell because of the conditions. There was definitely a lot of rubber down today, which I think is great. It is going to help us race well tomorrow, move around and make some passes. I thought the bottom groove really got rubbered in and got slick, which is typically what happens when the race is really good, so I think that is a good sign. As far as how different it is, it’s so hard to tell. A lot was different today.”

When you go back and see how the Playoff have gone, if you make the Championship 4 are you living on the edge?

“We’ve been living on the edge that’s for sure. We barely made it through the first two rounds, so that’s been tough for sure – but tomorrow is a new day, and a new opportunity. We are in a position where I think we can go and win the race and we will see what happens. I try not to over think it – just go out and race and that is my plan for tomorrow.”

How many confidence do you have at Martinsville?

“I think we got to a point with the old car that we had some things that really worked for me. We used to have it for a long time, and just did some fine tuning, tweaking here and there. Learning how to race and learning how to win here, you learn a lot about the track and what it takes. Then they switched the car and that’s been a challenge for us. Last year, we were in trouble here and then in the spring, we were kind of hit and miss throughout the day. I feel like we are still learning some things here about this car – what do I need here, what are things that kind of turn that switch for me here at this race track and do the things that I want it to. I don’t know if we are quite there yet, but hopefully tonight we can make some good adjustments and be in the mix all day tomorrow and then at the end, you really need to be upfront and be dialed in, so hopefully we can make that happen.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Xfinity 500 Qualifying | Saturday, October 28, 2023

Ford Qualifying Results:
3rd – Chase Briscoe
8th – Kevin Harvick
9th – Ryan Preece
10th – Brad Keselowski
11th – Ryan Blaney
12th – Aric Almirola
15th – Joey Logano
17th – Todd Gilliland
18th – Chris Buescher
21st – Austin Cindric
23rd – Michael McDowell
28th – Harrison Burton
33rd – Ryan Newman
35th – JJ Yeley

Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 Nexletol Mustang for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, finds himself 43 points below the cut line going into tomorrow’s elimination race. He spoke about most likely needing a win in order to advance to the Championship 4 earlier today at Martinsville Speedway.

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Nexletol Ford Mustang – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TOMORROW? “It will be tricky, but I know we’re gonna work hard on this Nexletol Ford Mustang to get us in a good place. I felt like we made some decent adjustments from practice. We’re just really diving into notes now from the last race here and trying to figure out how to get better, so we’re close on time. We’re in the right tenth of a second bracket, but just on the wrong side of it. It’s not that we’re way off here, we just have to make some small changes and be ready to pass some cars.”

YOU HAVE PERFORMED BEYOND PREVIOUS RESULTS SO WHY NOT HERE AS WELL? “That’s accurate. Richmond wasn’t my best track and statistically Michigan wasn’t my best track and statistically there are ways to make numbers say whatever you want at the end of the day. I think with the pace that we’ve been able to pick up at RFK that a lot of previous stats, I won’t say irrelevant, but they don’t hold the same amount of weight that they did to two years ago. From that side of things, we’ve actually been fairly decent at this track in some regards and some of the ways that we pull it apart. We’ve had some penalties here. We’ve had some parts failures that we weren’t able to control, so those are some things that have happened that haven’t been on us. With some of that fixed, we could very well be looking at some very good days, so I do feel like this is a place we have more potential than we’ve shown and certainly as of late have been able to pick it up. We just need to tweak a little bit and get a little better.

DO YOU FEEL A DIFFERENCE IN THE TIRE FROM THE SPRING? “I didn’t do the test and so from my point of view it probably doesn’t feel a whole lot different than I remember. Obviously, that was a long time ago and it’s a lot warmer this time around to Martinsville, so it certainly looks like it’s laying a lot more rubber down, so later in the run it was getting a little slicker, maybe widening out a touch more quickly, but I think we would have said the same thing with the previous tire just with a little warmer weather. I’m not sure how to exactly dissect that right now.”

IT”S BEEN A GOOD YEAR REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW. HOW DOES THIS YEAR COMPARE TO EXPECTATIONS? “Jack said this two weeks ago. He said he wants to make sure that everybody takes this in and enjoys it because it has been a great year. We still have work to do and that all comes down to tomorrow. Obviously, this round hasn’t gone nearly as smooth as we had hoped so far, but it’s been a great season for RFK and for us on the 17 side. I’m very proud of everything up to this point and beyond, so we can certainly make it a lot better here tomorrow, but right now you look back on it and this was our expectation for ourselves. We knew it was gonna be hard to do that, and it was, but we’ve certainly been able to get to a place where we expected ourselves to be able to get to at the beginning of the season.”

DO YOU JUST GO IN SAYING YOU HAVE TO WIN THE RACE TOMORROW? “Yeah, in that way it’s a little easier because that’s it. It’s one scenario that gets us to the next line, but even if you go for the win and come up a little short it still sets you up for a fun day and a good shot at it, so that’s what we’re after. That’s what you’re always after is going for the win, but I guess in a way this does clean up our race strategy in the way that we don’t have to chase three points here, six points there. There are those couple of groups that are sitting and teetering on that cut line that it might make their strategy a little messier. I can’t really talk for them, but if we were in that scenario I think it would make us think about things a little differently. This simplifies our day tomorrow.”

SCOTT SAID TOMORROW IS ABOUT GOING DOWN FIGHTING. “That’s right. That kind of ties in to just go to win. That is the one scenario that gets us where we want to go and that’s Phoenix in the final four and give it all we’ve got. Don’t leave anything on the table at the end of the day. I’ll say that whatever happens say that that was our best effort and didn’t lay over, didn’t take it easy at any point and fight for trying to make that next group. He’s exactly right. It’s about making sure that we keep that fire that we’ve had all season long and being able to do something with it or basically putting in maximum effort to do our best to make something happen with it.”

IS IT EASIER TO KNOW YOU JUST HAVE TO DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO AND NOTHING ELSE? “Yeah, it does. You’re not worried about a survival aspect for the most part. Obviously, there’s the basics of it that to win you have to finish, but for us it means that we don’t have to worry about those stage points. It means we can go out there and be aggressive. We don’t have to worry about pushing fenders in and driving aggressive. That’s great for us and it will be a negative for some of the others in the group. It will make them have to think twice at certain times during the race and how hard do you want to try to throw a block or be aggressive on a restart if those scenarios arise for them. It does make it to where, for us, we’ve only got one thing on our minds, so we get to be the aggressor here tomorrow.”

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE NASCAR TRY NEXT TO FIX RACING ON THE SHORT TRACKS? “I don’t know. We haven’t even gotten through this one yet. We’ll see how it goes through it. I know there’s been a lot of talk about trying to cut shifting, trying to pull downforce off of it. I think if you can put power back to it, make it to where it’s easier to overpower the tire, then I think a lot of the stuff we’re trying to chase with tires kind of comes into play on its own. If you have to manage throttle on exit, you won’t shift and be able to run wide-open before you ever get close to straight on the wheel. If you have power, it just really takes away a lot of those options and makes you think long-term through a run. That’s my initial thought on it is think back to ARCA days. That’s the most power I’ve ever had in a race car. It was probably about 900 horsepower at that time and have not had that much power since. That’s a bummer for me. Every time we go to a different series we’re always cutting power. It’s always gotten restricted or spacered or whatever it may be, but those days were a lot of fun, short track racing especially when you had to manage that power throughout a run, and those were only 200 lap races typically. You had to have it on your mind from the drop of the green, so I think that’s my initial impression. There are probably a lot of people that don’t like that idea – I don’t think on the driver’s side. I think most of them would be on board, but on the industry side of things I don’t think that would go over terribly well.”

WHEN YOU LOOK BACK ON THIS ROUND, BRAD LED LAPS AND GOT STAGE POINTS. WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST CONTRAST IN TERMS OF EXECUTION BETWEEN THE 6 AND 17? “We just missed our balance a little bit and it’s taken us too long to get it. I think we talked last week that we found where we needed to be in that race, it was just too late. We found ourselves a lap down too quickly. We steadily got it better with each adjustment and each time we were on the track, so with that it did get us in the ballpark, but we didn’t get to show it. That’s basically last week. For us, that’s where we’ve got to be better. This week, fire off we’ve been pretty similar. Obviously, he made the final round there, so he did a better job for qualifying. I feel like I just needed to clean up a couple little things. Like I said, we’re in the right tenth bracket, but not in the right hundredth bracket. We’re splitting hairs here at Martinsville just like always. We’re gonna look back on it and wish there were a couple things different. There’s always gonna be moments through the season where I wish I did something different behind the wheel. At Vegas I didn’t have my cleanest day and didn’t do a great job on pit road and that’s my fault there. We’re gonna continuously look at things that could have been better and think about what-ifs, but, right now, it’s win Martinsville.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
XFINITY 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 28, 2023

 ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 MOOSE FRATERNITY CAMARO ZL1, met with the media at the Chevrolet Racing Display at Martinsville Speedway where the real No. 1 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1 responsible for the “Hail Melon” is on display throughout the race weekend.

Chastain Media Availability Quotes:

You got a piece of the wall back in the spring.. where is it now?

“Mr. (Clay) Campbell still has it here. We don’t have a place for it yet. We haven’t figured it out yet. There are a lot of options for what to do, we’ve just honestly been busy racing.. busy with life. This thing has been sitting kind of in the back corner of the shop. We moved it up near the front lobby recently where fans could see it. It’s front and center this weekend with help from Team Chevy.

So I don’t know, we’ll see. No idea what we’re going to do with it. I want the car and the wall to be together, somewhere publicly and easily accessible. We just have to find that spot.”

Inaudible..

“Yeah, absolutely. It’s over.. can’t do it. This car will never be raced again. The piece of wall we got will never be ran into again. There’s so many things about it that are done.”

The fact that NASCAR made a ‘Ross Chastain Rule’, you have to feel a little proud about the fact that you have a rule made after you.

“Well it’s not the first one.. it wasn’t even the first one last year after Indianapolis (Motor Speedway Road Course). After last weekend at Homestead (Miami Speedway).. with pit road and the timing lines of the start-finish line versus the end of pit road, I think we’ll get some clarification on that rule. So yeah, I did ask them after Indianapolis to implement the access road rule as like.. put a ‘RC’ in there somewhere. Now we’re just keeping track and we’re racking up rules (laughs).”

Chastain on how it feels watching back on the “Hail Melon” one year later:

“Just disbelief. I can’t believe what I’m watching, still, when I see it. To be able to stand by the car; touch the car and know everything that went into last year to get us to Martinsville (Speedway). And then to be out and then get back in to go fight for a championship – the move was one thing, but what it meant and the ripple effect it made for Trackhouse Racing to go fight for a championship was bigger than anything.. what that means for so many of us inside the team and our plans for the future. Touching this car, leaning up against it right now. Having the helmet for one race – I’ve never worn a helmet for one weekend and then been done with it. I’ve always used them over and over again. This one will just be used this weekend and then go on the shelf – something I can actually put in my house because I can’t put a car up on the wall.”

How often have you seen this car since last year?

“It’s been in the shop, kind of tucked away for a while. We finally got the suspension and the wheels, the actual wheels, back on it. I guess most of the suspension stayed, it was just kind of hanging there. The right-front upper is broken and a lot of stuff is bent – the front and rear clip are bent, the best we can tell. But yeah, it’s been there and then it finally got moved up to the front of the lobby recently. Yeah, it’s been there.. you see it.”

What about the piece of wall?

“We haven’t taken ownership of that, yet. We have to find a big enough space for it.. that thing was massive (laughs). I don’t have room for it right now in North Carolina. Whether or not Justin (Marks) gives us some space in the shop to put it, I’m not sure that’s in the plans either. I want them to be together though and I want people to be able to come and see it.”

One year later, is it still surreal?

“Unbelievable.. truly unbelievable. When I see a clip of it, video of it or the data on it, it doesn’t seem real. Looking at the car, it’s pretty wild to think what we accomplished in doing that.”

When you look at the car, what comes to mind?

“When I hit the wall into turn three, I actually hit it at more of an angle than I wanted to. I wanted to blend into it on the straightaway and never have a hard impact. The wall actually kicks-out to the right a few inches. But yeah, I didn’t know that – I hit it way too hard into turn three I thought and somehow it didn’t slow down. I think it was a combination of the body panels not being metal, not caving in on the tires and cutting them down. The tires still hold air – the same tires, same wheels.. they hold the same amount of air that they did before and for just as long. Everything about this car played into it, and leaning up against it right now, it brings back a lot of memories.”

When this “Hail Melon” went viral, how have you felt now that fans view you differently over the last year?

“It felt like a third win last year, really. The attention we got internally, and it’s really something that I just struggled to keep up with at the time. Same thing as COTA (Circuit of The Americas) and Talladega (Superspeedway), and then Nashville (Superspeedway) this year – so much gets thrown at you when you win in the Cup Series. It’s awesome.. it’s everything that I ever dreamed about and more, and the “Hail Melon” was another one of those. And then it went further than NASCAR – it went to places all around the world, and I got to do some really cool interviews and be on some platforms that I never would have gotten to with a win.”

How long did it process the “Hail Melon” being forever because months after the fact, NASCAR was using it to promote its 75th Anniversary. Does that add an extra element of, ‘I can’t believe that happened’?

“That night, I walked up to turn three – had some friends up there in a motorhome. We were walking back over to our cars in the grass there outside of (turns) three and four. We stopped and looked from up on the hill down into three and four and just couldn’t believe it. My family was there, my mom and dad. And then we got out of here and we were riding down the road, we decided to stop at Waffle House. We were sitting there about two hours after by the time we got done with all the media – we got out of here, got down there and we were just laughing. Nobody in there knew who we were or what was going on. I grasped it there that it’s going to be forever. I’m going to get asked about this forever. I woke up the next day and just told myself – it’s OK.. it’s going to be forever. Win again, win some more, and then I’ll be able to deal with it. I didn’t want this to be my last thing. We come out strong and win.. we did the “Hail Melon” and then you never hear from Ross again. So to come back this year and win – I struggle to put into words how big that was. A lot of people thought – oh yeah, it was big. He only has one win this year.. not as fast as last year. The speed we had this year to stay relevant; win and pass the guys we passed in Nashville.. (inaudible).”

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.

Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 28, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media before practice for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday:

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Do you feel like you have lost everything you had before the Playoffs?

“I don’t know. It is hard to say. It’s been really tough, and nothing has really gone right. I thought we were sitting in a really good position last week. Things were going pretty well, and then we pit and the bottom falls out. Lose two laps, we get them back, get back on the lead lap and then the things blows up. It’s been an uphill battle. We really haven’t had much to be excited about other than the guys preparing fast cars to bring to the track the last few weeks. We will reset. We are ready to go again. This is a new week and a new opportunity, and we’ve been in this position before. Let’s just go see what we can do tomorrow.”

Did you follow the pit crew decision at all and what did you think of it?

“I wasn’t really that involved other than knowing our pit stops have been pretty bad here lately. I feel good about it. They said practice went good this week, and every is pretty fired up about that and they are feeling good, so we will see tomorrow how it plays out.”

How do you have to reset each week?

“That’s my job – that’s what I’m supposed to do and be fully engaged and do the best job that I can do. I’m ready to go. I’ve been talking to James (Small) the last couple of days. We have a good game plan, and I feel really good about things. You just have to forget about it – as hard as that sounds. That’s what you do, that’s at least what I do. That week is over, and we have a new opportunity. 500 laps is a long race, and a lot can happen. You have to stay focused, be ready to have a shot at this thing in the end.”

It’s easy from this side to say why would I go through this week after week. I would be like I’m going to go out on my boat with everybody and have a good time.

“It’s funny. It feels like that when it first happens, then a few minutes later you come to your senses – and you are like okay. It’s all going to be okay. Again, we could do something huge tomorrow and next week and we are going to all forget about the next eight races. That is what we are going to try to do. We still have a big opportunity ahead, and hopefully try to seize the moment.”

What are the some of the things NASCAR could do with the short track package?

“The tires are always a big thing on short tracks. This weekend, the tire is different than what we had, so we will see if that is something that takes it in the right direction. It’s a combination – downforce, aerodynamics, horsepower, tires – those are kind of the big ones. I think they are willing to keep trying stuff, they just haven’t hit on anything different.”

How important is qualifying here for tomorrow?

“It’s very important. All of the short tracks, qualifying has been huge from starting up front and having a good pit stall. You need both of those here to be successful. Track position is going to be everything.”

From an organization standpoint, how do you handle it knowing both of you can’t make it in?

“Nothing really changes. We race just like we do every other week. We will go with what got us here. Being in the Playoffs as teammates for so many years, we have that experience, and we know what got us here and things that make us strong as a group. Then you go on Sunday and race. You don’t hide things, you don’t try to do anything different. At least that has been my experience in the past on how we’ve handled it, and so far, nothing that I’ve seen has been different.”

If Ross Chastain’s move hadn’t been banned, do you have to think about doing it this weekend?

“I would try it yeah, who wouldn’t for 10 spots or whatever it was – five spots?

Do you have to think about what you might have to do differently than how you normally race?

“I don’t like these questions because it’s so hypothetical. I don’t know – I honestly haven’t thought about it yet. I think it will just be like races here in the past. My goal and my plan are to try to win this race. I don’t know that I’ll do it completely different than the way I’ve always raced, so to answer your question, I don’t know exactly what it might look like, I guess we will just wait and see.”

Are you content to continue to go year-to-year contract wise?

“I think that’s the way it’s going to go. One at a time.”

How much do you want to know how the other drivers are doing?

“Not really a whole lot. Honestly, no matter what the situation is – I feel like if you have to get one point or you’re one point in – then maybe there is something you can do. But knowing who is running good and who is not, it really doesn’t matter. You are always going to be digging to get all that you can. I think just if it is really close, you need to know just in case you can do something crazy – Ross Chastain kind of move – if you are close. I don’t know if it’s really going to come into play with 17 points.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).

Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 28, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media before practice for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday:

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

If NASCAR hadn’t bailed the Hail Melon, would you consider doing it this weekend?

“You would almost have to do it, because others would. It kind of depends on your situation too. If you need a couple of points – which is what I think you are asking – yeah. It wouldn’t just be pretty, because everyone knows the big advantage that you get. You would just have 36 trashed cars at the end of the race. Maybe it would be exciting if everyone did it one time. But it needs to live in history and one year for sure.”

Is it worse to get eliminated by a mechanical issue or the Hail Melon move last season?

“I don’t know. They all feel about the same, honestly. It’s unfortunate – the circumstances are unfortunate, but I certainly would rather be in (Ryan) Blaney’s position, but also, I know, I can be on full offense for the full race this time around. I don’t have to play D. I don’t have to be a little more careful. It’s just one mode right from the get-go. It’s part of the format, that unfortunately is out of the driver’s hands when it comes to this type of racing. There is a lot of different factors that go into it, whether it is a Hail Melon move or a mechanical, or whatever it might be, it equally stings for sure.”

What are the some of the things NASCAR could do with the short track package?

“We probably need to be partners in everything, so when it comes to rule changes and things like that – I think it is a 50/50 things. It’s what I would like to see, we really didn’t fully design this car ourselves and if we have to go back and fix things, it certainly falls on us. I think the easiest lever, and I don’t know for sure why we haven’t done it – I think Doug Yates mentioned it – is we can go to 750 horsepower tomorrow. The parts and pieces won’t change if we just open up the tapered spacer to 750 like we had, year before last. I think that is the quickest thing and then work on the gearing – the gearing is not going to be an easy fix. I specifically harp on it quite a bit, but it’s not going to be an easy fix. NASCAR kind of presented us some options so we would not have shifting here at Martinsville, but there are too many other factors. There is always a cause and an effect. If you don’t shift our RPM’s would be so low in the middle of the corner. We would never wear out a tire. The horsepower and torque would be so low that by the time you got to the end of the straightaway and wound out the RPMs – that’s not an easy fix either. It’s not going to fix it by just dropping the gear. It would take time to figure it out, and certainly there is a lot of smart minds that are trying to figure it out. In my opinion, it’s not an aero situation. We are going to run quite a different tire this weekend that will undoubtably make it really hard to pass because of the speed it runs with the lack of fall off. I don’t know. It’s tough because we have cut 300 horsepower out and added grip. Anything that we do that, there is more on-throttle time. The key is to better short track racing is off-throttle time, and no one really has a great answer on how to do it.”

How great would it be to cross a win off the list here with Chris Gabehart?

“Short of the very first time we came here in the Next Gen car, Chris (Gabehart) has given me some really, really fast cars here at this track. Didn’t win for different circumstances that is so-called racing. That’s just part of racing. You can’t always dictate the outcome, but he’s done a great job of giving me cars and I would be more than happy to let him take that clock home and let him put it in his living room, bedroom – wherever he cares to put it. Absolutely.”

Is it kind of best case scenario for you to need to win at Martinsville with all your previous success?

“The ball is in our court. We can decide our own fate if we just win the race. I wish it was that easy. I wish it was just based off of speed, and things like that, but there are a lot of other factors, but certainly I can’t think of a better race track that fits me and my style and my team.”

How do you separate Denny the team owner and Denny the driver this weekend?

“The way I see it is I’ve got two shots to get into the final four. I certainly would rather do it on the driver’s side, because there are going to be far less opportunities to do that, than what it would be on the owner’s side, but also really happy that, that team has worked itself into a position that if it performs well, it could get in as well. But this weekend, they are unfortunately competitors, and I will treat them as that.”

How impressed are you with 23XI and what they’ve put together?

“I’m very impressed and that whole competition group over there, and what Billy (Scott) and Bootie (Barker) do week-in and week-out with Dave Rogers and Wheels (Mike Wheeler) – they do a fantastic job. With a few of the meetings – I don’t get a whole lot of invites too – but have set in on a couple of times, I was very, very impressed with what they do and their preparation and how they prepare for each and every weekend. I’m really happy to see how that team is progressing, and certainly think they are on the right timeline that I set out for them.”

How do you reward a guy that has had a great season, but also have the excitement of always having a championship available at the last race of the season?

“It’s a tough balance for sure. Don’t get it twisted – that’s our goal, every year, is to make the final four. We want to win a championship, but you have to win a race to do that. You’ve got to have a good series of events happen through the first 26, and really these three race seasons, we have leading up to it. It is tough. I certainly know a championship will not change how I view my career and what I’ve accomplished. It will only change, and probably not, change what others view of me. That’s the only difference that trophy would bring. I actually saw this week where someone asked Kyle Larson on how does a championship change you? He’s like nothing at all. Changes nothing. Mark Martin – you haven’t won one – what does it change? Nothing. It is what it is. Even on the local short track level, I always said I didn’t care about the accomplishments, I just wanted to be a threat that the competition saw every week. If we were going to win, we are going to have to beat him, and when you hit the race track, people grabbed the stopwatches. That’s the respect amongst the competitors that I hoped to gain throughout my career, and I feel like we’ve gotten that. Sure, I would love to have the accolades – I really would – but certainly, I’m not going to get too down on it. Racing has afforded me a great life, and a great retirement plan with 23XI. I love this sport, and whatever the outcome is, it is. I’m certainly going to give it my all, and not regret any one thing and any result that has happened because I know I’ve given it my best effort for sure.”

How do you assess the opportunity this weekend?

“There is an opportunity here. We’ve had our backs against the wall when we needed to win or really needed to gain a lot of points to make it to the final four. Historically, we’ve done really well in these situations, with the exception of Ross’ (Chastain) move last year. We were behind, and dominated and were well on our way. 2019 winning at Phoenix to get in. We’ve done well. I love those opportunities for sure. I wouldn’t choose it – over being ahead – but certainly there is an opportunity to kind of show what you are made of.”

How do approach what you might have to do to get in this weekend with you and Tyler Reddick for the final spot?

“You think about all that stuff, but that is so many what-ifs, that I would be losing focus on what I can control. Those are split second decisions, when they happen – like Chase Elliott in 2017 – that was a split second, panic mode that this is my only shot to make it, I’ve got to do it now. Things change when you get in the moment for sure and you don’t always thinks 100 percent clearly, but if you come up with a plan beforehand, it helps your IQ in that moment, because you have thought through it. I understand it both ways. The 45 (Tyler Reddick) and the 11 – if we are racing each other – and he knocks me out of the way, it would be hard for me to say you shouldn’t have done that because he’s racing and the other way around. Certainly, I wouldn’t expect us to wreck each other, but we are competitors and competing for what would be dreams for both of us.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).