NASCAR CUP SERIES
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
SOUTH POINT 400
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT
OCTOBER 14, 2023

Larson Puts Chevrolet on Front-Row at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Four Camaro ZL1’s Qualify in Top-10

• Team Chevy playoff contender Kyle Larson drove his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to a runner-up qualifying effort at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – posting a best lap that was just 0.010 seconds shy of the pole position at 28.990 seconds, 186.271 mph.
• Fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate and Team Chevy playoff contender William Byron posted his 21st top-10 qualifying result in the NASAR Cup Series this season – clocking-in a best lap of 29.004 seconds, 186.181 mph, to take the third position in the starting lineup for tomorrow’s South Point 400.
• Four drivers from three different Chevrolet teams will lineup in the top-10 for the Round of Eight opening race at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval. Joining Larson and Byron includes Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch in sixth and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain rounding out the Team Chevy top-10.

 TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER
2nd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
3rd William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL1
6th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Morgan & Morgan Camaro ZL1
10th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 – Qualified 2nd

“Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) is a good track for the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy team. I felt really good in practice. I was able to get lucky in avoiding a tire failure, so I feel good about that. And then in qualifying, getting on the front-row is good, as well. We’re off to a good start. We just have to piece it all together tomorrow.”

Did you feel a vibration in practice?

“I did, yeah. I felt a vibration and I felt like my car yawed out a little more off of (turn) two. I just pulled in and thankfully we did because it wouldn’t have made it through three and four.”

How comfortable do you feel in this round?

“Yeah, it’s a good round of tracks for us. With Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) and Homestead (Miami Speedway), I would love to get off to a good start; get some solid points. If you can get a win, obviously that would be amazing. But just want to put in some solid races and try to give ourselves a good opportunity when we get to Martinsville (Speedway).”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1 – Practice Accident Quote

Are you OK, and did you and your crew chief Travis Mack talk about what you had seen earlier and what you were going to do differently?

“We did. We saw what happened to the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) and we saw what happened with the No. 9 (Chase Elliott). We were adjusting a little bit based on that, but it looks like it didn’t matter. We ended up having a tire issue anyways. I felt like our No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevy was good. I wasn’t pushing too hard; I was just trying to get into a rhythm with the car. We were running long there, so we were just trying to get a rhythm. Right in the center of (turns) one and two, I had a big vibration. I didn’t even have a warning. I had a big vibration and I already knew what it was. The next thing you know, just a split second after that, it just blew.”

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 – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

LAS VEGAS (October 14, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media after winning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday. This is Toyota’s sixth pole in seven NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races, and 499th pole overall (147 NCS, 179 NXS, 173 NCTS) for Toyota in NASCAR national series competition.

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Can you talk about all of the success you’ve had in qualifying this season and earning the 499th pole for Toyota?

“Yeah, setting up somebody to bring in 500. It is really cool. Qualifying has been so much fun, really since the introduce of the Next Gen car on the intermediate stuff, because it is right on the verge of holding your foot down and going wide open – it is right on the edge and that is what I live for.”

You have the most poles in the Next Gen era. Why do you think that is?

“I would say that it is more so my team giving me what I need in qualifying. We’ve done really well. Toyota came out with a different body at the start of 2023 and we kind of lost the handle on our qualifying balance at the beginning of the year, but then in June, July, that midseason, we were able to pick back up on it and we have been qualifying really well ever since. My engineers and crew chief do a great job of getting my balance close, and when my balance is close, I feel good to be able to drive the cars as hard as I can.”

Did you have any tire issues, and do you have confidence in the tires tomorrow?

“I have no idea. It is alarming whenever you see the 9 (Chase Elliott) car blow a tire, the 5 (Kyle Larson) have that issue that they showed on TV, but as far as I know our camp was all good. I was trusting them that we weren’t going to have any issues.”

With four Toyotas in the Round of 8, how much of an advantage is that for the manufacturer?

“I don’t think it really matters with the style of racing we’ve got coming up at Vegas, Miami and Martinsville, but William (Bryon) – I think Denny (Hamlin) and Martin (Truex) have good points – but William has a lot of points. It is going to be tough to get all four of them in the final four, but hopefully, we can do our best and get as many as we can in.”

With your experience with the Championship 4 last season, does that help you as you try to make it this season?

“I think everything in your career and your life will help you further on down the road. Certainly, making the final four – it will be a big help if I get back there. I know that from last year, my round of 8 didn’t go well because I wrecked out here and didn’t have a good Miami, but I was still able to win at Martinsville. That will be in the back of my head that it can be done all the way to the last minute. Even on the flip side, Denny Hamlin was in on points at Martinsville, all of the way to the last corner, so fortunately for me, it worked the other way where I was out, and then I was in, in the very end, but you are never safe until that checkered flag falls at Martinsville.”

Do you not worry about points now and just worry about the wins?

“The Round of 8 – if you are going to make the final four – you are going to have to be racing for wins and winning races. Taking your points there is kind of gone at this point. Tomorrow – we need to go out there and try to win the race, and if it ends in a win, then we are transferred. Then if it doesn’t end in a win, you are looking for a solid points day, no matter what. Running eighth to tenth – your good points days are not going to get you there. You are going to have to be competing for the win and having a great points day.”

Is that because that’s just the nature of the Round of 8?

“I’m sure William (Bryon), Martin (Truex) and Denny (Hamlin) – they may be looking at it differently than I am, because I am below the cutline. It is a small gap between all of us, it is really up for grabs. After tomorrow, we will understand the picture a little bit more – if we have a Round of 8 winner, if we don’t have a Round of 8 winner, how many points the other guys scored, it changes, year-to-year, round-to-round. Some rounds – if everybody scores really good points, then you have to win if you start below the cutline, but if guys don’t score points, it is completely different. You learn more every race you go by.”

What would it mean to get the 500th pole for Toyota?

“It would be cool. I’m glad we are qualifying well, but I want to be up here starting on Sundays instead of Saturdays. It would be awesome. Qualifying well is a help every single week, but it is not a guarantee. I want to come in here on Sundays.”

What are your thoughts going into the final races; are you a favorite?

“Well, I definitely know I’m not the fan favorite (laughter). Honestly, we are not a favorite in any category right no, because we haven’t been running well enough to do it, but I know we are capable of performing like a favorite if we put it all together. We are close. We hit on it at times, and other times we are not close. We’ve got three races here, and fortunately, we are in the round – I’m excited to give it my all. I understand that we are not the favorite, and I know that we are capable of doing it and performing like we need to, to be a champion if it all comes together.”

How do you look tomorrow with different weather conditions?

“It looks as good as anybody. Certainly, the track conditions are going to be a lot different. It was crazy with the eclipse; how much colder it made it and the track was super-fast today because of the colder temperatures. It is going to be slicker tomorrow, which I’m okay with, and hopefully it will put more rubber down – the track will widen out. This is a place if you are faster than the guys in front of you – you can typically pass them, because you can move around, you can run the top, you can run the bottom, you can create momentum on guys, and the same thing can be said if you are bad, you can’t hold them off if they are faster than you.”

Is there a thought about not making mistakes in this round?

“If you make a mistake, you are pretty much done. It is what it is at that point, but you are going to have to put it all on the line and go for the win. If you go for a win, and you crash out, then your Playoffs is pretty much over, but if you don’t go for the win and you run 10th, your Playoffs is pretty much over too. You are going to have to be competing for wins and not worry about that.”

Do you think it will be tough to pass tomorrow?

“The Spring Vegas race was completely different than we have seen compared to the last couple of races here with this car. The Spring race was different, and I think that was due because of the colder ambient temperatures and no sun.”

Does anything translate from here to Miami next weekend?

“The only thing that is the same between Vegas and Homestead is the track length. Vegas has a ton of grip, probably the highest level of grip of any track that we go to. Homestead is the lowest grip intermediate that we go to. I don’t think anything will translate from this week to next week.”

Will you increase your belief as the favorite if you win tomorrow?

“I say that I’m not the favorite, but that is just the general population or whatever. I know that if we do our jobs, do what we are capable of, there is no reason that the 20 car can’t be a champion. Win tomorrow and win at Phoenix and win at Miami and Martinsville too. I know we have everything that we need to go out there and do it. It is just a matter of putting it together. I do think we are capable of winning tomorrow, and I think we are capable of winning every race between now and Phoenix.”

Have you and Daniel Suarez been able to talk yet and how important is it to not make enemies these next few races?

“You definitely want to try and have as many guys race you clean that you can. I made a mistake last week in Charlotte. I got into Daniel (Suarez) and unfortunately, ruined his race. I reached out to him and apologized, and I told him that it wasn’t my intentions to wreck him. I’m sure that he is upset. He has a right to be upset. It is what it is.”

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
South Point 400 Qualifying | Saturday, October 14, 2023

Ford Qualifying Results:
5th – Chris Buescher
9th – Joey Logano
12th – Ryan Blaney
13th – Aric Almirola
17th – Chase Briscoe
18th – Michael McDowell
19th – Austin Cindric
21st – Brad Keselowski
24th – Kevin Harvick
26th – JJ Yeley
29th – Todd Gillilland
32nd – Ryan Preece
33rd – Harrison Burton
34th – Brennan Poole

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Travel Centers of America Ford Mustang – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT STARTING FIFTH? “Pretty good. That was certainly strong for us. We were wide-open there, so as far as trying to figure out how to get a little bit more it’s gonna be tricky, but it’s a heck of a start for us. I’m proud to take TA to a good starting spot. I’m looking forward to a great race tomorrow as well.”

DID YOU SEE ANYTHING IN PRACTICE THAT BODES WELL FOR TOMORROW? “Our speed and driveability is great. We’re working on some of the longer run stuff, but we’ve got a great spot to start. On the not-so-great side, we’re looking at a couple of tire failures in practice and that certainly got our attention. What we can do at this point to prevent any of that we don’t know, but it’s a really strong start for us.”

YOU SAID EARLIER THAT YOU FEEL THESE TRACKS HAVE GOTTEN BETTER FOR YOU OF LATE. DID TODAY REINFORCE THAT? “This place has been a little hard on us, these mile-and-a-halves, but I haven’t felt like we’ve been that bad at them. We’ve certainly been better than we have been the last year, so I felt like we were capable of being much better for these things, but also didn’t always have the results. Some of that was out of our control, but I thought internally we felt like we were stronger at these things than what we got credit for and I think this is showing that right now.”

HOW DO YOU VIEW TOMORROW AS FAR AS TRYING TO RACE HARD BUT HAVE THE BIG PICTURE IN MIND AS WELL? “Just go race. There’s something that can happen every week and there’s always something on the line whether you realize it or not, but those points matter just as much when we were here the first time and things happen in a hurry. For us, it’s a great starting spot. Typically, you get up there and the racing is better, it’s cleaner, you actually feel like you’re in a better spot. For us, that’s a great place to start and gives us a lot of confidence going in that we’ll be in a place where we can go grab some good stage finishes, too. That’s obviously high on the list and go fight for a chance to win this thing.”

Toyota Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

LAS VEGAS (October 14, 2023) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to media before practice for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday:

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Is it surreal or have you gotten used to the Jordan Brand logo on your hood?

“I mean it is still really cool. It’s been nice to do the schemes that we have, especially the last month or two. I really enjoyed the one that we ran at the 600 but mixing it up like we have and putting it to work like we have has been really, really cool. This car is really exciting too. I think doing the aid and all of the things around that shoe and everything is really exciting this weekend.”

You have been to the Championship 4 before and neither has 23XI, what makes you think you can do it this season?

“I think when you look at our speed and what we are really good at – our ceiling is there – it’s just a matter of putting it together on the race track, one weekend at a time. If you do everything right, you can get there. I think the way that we’ve been scoring points here in the Playoffs – we’ve been strong in that aspect too. We have paths – we have two ways we can get there. I would like to get there the first way, so we can really focus on Phoenix, but I feel like we have options, so obviously, to win races, you have to run up front all day, if you do that, you are going to score points, so I think they kind of go hand in hand with one another. As we look at Vegas, Homestead and even Martinsville, all are good tracks. I would say the first two are good for me, and Martinsville is really good for the team and Toyota. I really upped my game when we went there in the Spring. I feel good about the tracks we have up ahead, and then Phoenix – at the end of that race, we were battling (Kyle) Larson and (William) Bryon there. I feel like we were really strong at these last remaining tracks.”

Toyota has four of the eight drivers in the Round of 8. What does that mean for Toyota and the drivers?

“I can imagine it means a lot to everyone at Toyota and TRD. They work really, really hard to give their drivers and teams all the resources that they can. They’ve been very beneficial to me as a driver and certainly, the team this year. I’m new to it – my first year with Toyota. I’ve just been extremely pleased about what they bring to the table, and how they operate. It has been a lot of fun. Personally, that would be really cool if the four Toyotas that are left can execute in this round of 8 and we can lock that thing out. That would be great. Obviously, I can’t do anything about the other three, but if we do our job and if Denny (Hamlin), Martin (Truex) and Christopher (Bell) execute as well – I think that is something that is very possible. I think it is going to take some wins, but we have the speed to go out there and win.”

How have you grown as a driver this season joining Toyota and TRD?
“I still race as hard as I always have, but it has been nice to have the cars as good as they are that I can think twice about taking the really risky choice or making the risky decision on the restart or battling for position. It has been nice to have that – knowing that if we can’t get it this lap, maybe in five laps or on the next restart or at the end of the race. It gives me options as a driver. I feel like for a long time in the Cup Series, I had to race really, really hard – even if it was on lap five. I still have that drive to do that, but it is nice to know that we have a car that is capable of overcoming track position loss at times. We did it a lot this year – in the Spring here actually, with the issues we had in warmups and not getting to practice and qualifying, getting boxed in on pit road all day. We’d lose about 10 spot every time on pit road, so that was a tough day here in the Spring, but going through those motions earlier this year, going through the motions of this race knowing that if that happens, I had to do it every single time we had a caution here in the Spring, so it makes me feel good that if something doesn’t go good at some point during the race, I know what to do to get back to the front too.”

Have you checked any of the setup for Formula 1 and will you come back for the race next month?

“I thought about it, but I’m sure as everyone knows it is going to be expensive. Maybe, if everything goes good this year, it maybe will be my present to myself. We will see. I didn’t get to see it like you did – walking through the main stretch area. I saw that photo you posted. When we landed, we drove right by it and the amount of construction is insane. You think how quick we had to be in and out of Chicago, and how much they’ve already dug in and changed the appearance of the Strip for this event is pretty wild to see. They are going to get some new roads out of it – that’s pretty cool. But the traffic – I should have known when we landed it was going to be a little crazier. I’ve heard about it from some friends who grew up here and still live here. I’m excited for the event. It has been crazy to see how the Strip has changed already.”

Did you get to check out the Sphere last night?

“That was really cool. I got to go hang out with some great friends and see one of my parents’ favorite bands growing up. I remember growing up as a kid busting into a door and finding a bunch of CDs. There was a bunch of U2 CDs in there, so I was really familiar with the band. I listened to them quite a bit when I was younger. I could only really find my parents music and I would pop it into the CD player. To see them perform was pretty wild, for those who haven’t been, I would say you have to go. It is quite the experience. It is hard to put into words. The whole venue is cutting edge – future feeling. Honestly, how they are able to project what they do on the inside, the outside and just the atmosphere and the stage is really wild. It was taxing on the eyes. By the time we were done there, I felt like I had watched 24 hours of television – but it was certainly worth it. I enjoyed it. It was quite the experience.”

Win the championship, and come back out here, right?

“I doubt they are going to roll the red carpet out like that, but I would find a way to make it happen. It is something that Kurt (Busch) has talked about, trying to figure something out to where all of us could go. It is a lot of money. At that point, if I’m looking at it right, you could go out to Europe and go to Silverstone and spend a fraction of the price and probably have a better experience. I feel like it is going to be a wild time. I guess that is a nice treat for myself later this year if things go well.”

Do you feel like Miami is a good opportunity for you to win?

“I think all of the teams this weekend are wanting to win here. Others may feel like their backup plan is Martinsville or Homestead. I certainly feel like our back-up plan even if we have a solid day. It would be nice to win and give yourself some time to focus on Phoenix. For me, I’m excited about Homestead, but when I look at our speed this season, this one excites me more, as odd as that is to say for me. My first time on a mile-and-a-half with Toyota and this team was here. We had an up-and-down day due to circumstances, but still had a lot of speed. With all of that, I’m really excited about this one. I know that Homestead has been one that has been great for me too, but hopefully, things go well enough this weekend that we go into Homestead and we can just worry about having fun, but someone will get in on points, and we have done a good job with that in the Playoffs and this is a good track for me to score a lot of points. We scored a lot of points at Martinsville in the Spring, and I know that Homestead is a type of track for me that we can score a lot of points there too.”

Do you feel like everyone is overlooking you here?

“It doesn’t matter. We are focused on ourselves. Ultimately, that is what we can control. We’ve got to go race against these other seven drivers, but we just do our deal – kind of like we did at the ROVAL. It’s so tempting to go for the race win, but we had to focus on what was best for ourselves and our team and that is what we’ve been doing in the Playoffs. If we keep doing that, I’m excited to see for speed what we have in our car. I’m excited to see that. It will kind of be run to be on track around the same time as the eclipse too. It’s a pretty exciting day, honestly.”

Have you looked closely at your competition in the Round of 8?

“I think it goes back to what you would normally expect, who has been the fastest. I think throughout the year there has been some change on who has been the dominate car. Some guys have gotten better, some have fallen off a little bit. When you are in the race, especially this first race, when you get closer to more like Homestead or Martinsville, that is when you start paying attention to the pace of your competition. If you need to do something different with strategy, you implement it. I think for here, you just go out and run your race, and maximize your own day. If you feel like you have a really strong car, you will look to see who else has a really strong pace and where they have the speed as well. Nothing outside the normal that you would do on a mile-and-a-half for race. We are just going to operate as normal for us. I guess if opportunity presents itself, we will have to make that tough decision, I guess if there is like a caution with five to go in the stage, do you flip it? Do you want to give up the track position or do you take the stage points? I would say that is the only situation where you have to make that decision.”

How do you feel like you stack up in the mile-and-a-halves compared to the competition?

“I feel like we are really solid on mile-and-a-halves. We could kind of see it here in Vegas. Bubba (Wallace) was happy with the handling of his car. I felt like we needed to get a little bit better, and by the time we got to the World 600, as I like to call it, we were extremely good. (Ryan) Blaney was pretty solid, but I felt like I just needed to get around him. As funny as it may sound, I really wasn’t in a hurry to get around him, because I knew that we were quite a bit better. At some point during the race, we got damage. Our floor was destroyed on the car, and we lost a lot of downforce. That’s why we ended up finishing fifth-sixth, but when things were right, and we do our homework and the car has been dialed in setup wise when we’ve been on these tracks, I felt that way about Texas, Kansas, we were pretty good. Denny (Hamlin) was a little better there for sure. When we’ve had it dialed in at these mile-and-a-halves, it’s been really, really solid. Looking at the competition, in this moment coming to the weekend, we are not when you are approaching a weekend – you are just focused on your car and your team. I would say when practice is all said and done, if you are looking at, who is better where – I would say you are looking at it a little bit when you think about tomorrow’s race. You are not completely trying to hone in on teams or drivers at this point.”

You are the only driver to lead laps at all of the mile-and-a-halves this season. What about that style of track is good for you?

“I feel like from day one for me in NASCAR racing. I don’t know if it’s because you don’t use brakes a whole lot being the dirt racer that I was. You don’t really use brakes – short tracks and road courses were certainly not my thing that naturally suited my driving style, but mile-and-a-halves were great for me from day one. That helps a lot. Last year, I had good speed on these tracks and good contend, and that has just continued this year with this team. When we go to these tracks, I’m always excited. You have lots of lanes to choose from. You can run the bottom, you can run the middle, you can run the top, you can split the seams. When you get up into the top-five, it is kind of a guessing game – a chess match, if you will, just trying to predict where the car ahead of you is going to go and racing in clean air so you can keep your momentum up. It is really fun to come to these tracks especially this one in particular. If the top gets rolling – you can make speed in the middle or the bottom, you have to be versatile. That is something our team does really well. We did well in Charlotte, Kansas and other tracks that we can move around and still have a lot of speed.”

Do you feel any expectations based on race odds?

“I’m only aware of it if I’m going through social media and I see it pop up. Outside of that, I wouldn’t say it affects the mindset of us as drivers. I guess it is a confidence booster if you are the favorite going into the weekend for you and your team. Typically, if we go somewhere and it seems like we are up there on the odds, I guess. We’ve been doing a lot of things right, but it is just a matter of putting it all together. We feel like we’ve been doing a good job with it this year. We will see how this race goes.”

What has changed with your team and limiting your mistakes?

“When you look back at the summer, we had won and we were locked in, but we were wanting to chase those regular season points and get some Playoff points for that, but I guess in the middle of the summer you have the sense – I feel like we had a sense of urgency to correct those issues – but we knew we had time before the Playoffs started, before Darlington, to resolve those issues and it seems like as the clock was running out, every time we would have a critical mistake, it would hurt more. It just seemed like when the Playoffs came, everyone was ready and locked in and we have been doing a good job ever since. Right as we got into the heat of this thing, we pulled it together. It would have been good to correct it earlier, but when the Playoffs came around, we locked in. Those first two races were really strong for us, and even though Texas and Talladega didn’t go great, I feel like those were days that things could have gone a lot worse, and we did a good job of managing the issues we had. It feels like it was definitely tough to have those races slip away in the Summer, but we learned from all of those mistakes along the way, and I feel like we are operating right where we need to right now.”

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).

NASCAR CUP SERIES
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
SOUTH POINT 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 14, 2023

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RELAY PAYMENTS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Media Availability Quotes:

What’s it like for you as a young many coming up through the sport and doing very well, to now being what I keep hearing over and over again as really the championship favorite? How’s that been for you and are you approaching things any differently?

“It’s been nice. We’ve put a lot of work into getting to this point. I feel like it’s just been a slow evolution and process to get to this spot. I don’t reflect a whole lot, but I am proud of the work that we’ve put in and the fact that we’ve got our race team to where it is. Now is a good chance to show all that we’ve done to this point. I’m excited for it. I still have a lot of years ahead of me. I feel like I’m really young in this sport and it’s just starting to really click, so that’s nice.”

There’s two 1.5-mile tracks in the Round of Eight. You’ve got the two wins and four top-fives on top of that. What’s been the difference maker for you at these styles of tracks?

“I feel like our simulation is good for these tracks. We’ve been able to lean pretty heavily on Chevy for advice and information on these tracks and I think that’s helped us. I feel like that’s probably where it started early in the year – back in January and February when we started working on Vegas. And then we just started to develop a consistent package for all of these tracks. I’d say we lost our way a little bit in the summer on some of the faster tracks, but I feel like after that, we kind of went right back into what we know, improved it slightly and here we are. You never know what to expect. Just kind of intrigued to see how we unload and how that balance is, and then we just have to fine tune from there. With this car, luckily you’re never really too far off, so you just have to fine tune those little details to get better.”

Do you feel like a championship favorite?

“I don’t know yet.. that’s for you guys to decide. I just go out there and drive. For me, it’s one step at a time, it really is. So for me, it’s all about practice here today. I don’t know what we’re going to unload with. I feel confident in how we’ve prepared and what it feels like. It feels great in the virtual world and hopefully that applies. It felt great here last time, so we just have to wait and see. Take it one step at a time in each race of this round. I’m not looking too far ahead, honestly.”

We’re going next weekend to Homestead-Miami Speedway and then to Martinsville Speedway. Talk about tackling Homestead – it’s a track that some drivers like to run really high at. I don’t know if that’s really your style, but your thoughts on going to Homestead.

“Yeah, I mean I’ve done it before, but I don’t think in the Cup car. It’s not maybe as comfortable for me, but I do feel like I’m capable of running well at Homestead. I’ve won a Cup race there and last year we qualified on the pole. It’s a place that is within our wheelhouse, it’s just a matter of how good we can be there. I think we can realistically have a chance to compete and fight for a win there, but we just have to kind of focus on that next week and see where we’re at after Vegas. I don’t know yet, but I feel like we can be pretty solid at Homestead, for sure.”

We’re in a stretch now where you’ve won at each of the next four tracks. What’s the confidence like for you personally? I know you’re not looking too far ahead, but does that help boost the hope to get the championship and where maybe a championship is kind of the only acceptable outcome for this No. 24 team?

“Yeah, I mean I think the blue print is there for success. But the thing I always caution is that things change and evolve, and teams and drivers improve. So we have to kind of take that next step at all of these race tracks coming up.

But yeah, it’s nice to have a blue print of – hey, we’ve been here before.. we’ve been fast. We kind of know what balance is achievable and what we want to have in our car, but getting there is definitely a different challenge. Yeah, I don’t maybe look at it that much, but it is nice to know and have that comfort that I know how to get around these tracks.”

Last year, obviously with the first year of the Next Gen car, the setups were changing so fast. Do you have any idea of the pace of how things are changing this year, setup-wise? If you guys brought back your winning setup from the spring race, would it still do OK here?

“Yeah, things have evolved, for sure. I don’t think it’s at the rate that it was last year by any means, but I think that it’s still definitely different. For us, we’re not bringing a similar car. I’m sure there are characteristics in the car that are similar or the same, but I’m sure there’s also a lot of things that are kind of different in their own right. So it’s probably more so little details and last year, it was more big things – kind of learning the aero balance of the car and all those things. But I think this year, it will be quite a bit different than the spring race because of the weather, too. It’s 86 degrees tomorrow and in the spring, I think it was around 65, so it’s going to be different.”

You won here in the spring, so are you basically starting from a blank slate this weekend?

“Yes and no. Obviously I know how to get around the race track and that’s nice. I know where I want to hit my marks and how I want the car to feel, but the grip in the track is probably going to be different. It’s probably going to be less and the bumps might be worse. All those things might factor in. It’s going to take something a little bit different. The groove might move up or move around. In the spring, it was middle in (turns) one and two, and bottom in three and four, mostly. So it could be different.. it could be bottom in one and two or top in three and four. So you just have to figure out what those lines are and what your car is going to need to have.”

With the bonus points and being the number one seed coming into the playoffs, the first two rounds obviously went really well for you guys. Were you 100 percent those two rounds, or because you had the bonus points, were you maybe 80 to 90 percent – not needing to hit homeruns, we just need to not shoot ourselves in the foot? How did you guys approach those two rounds?

“The first round, we were kind of finding our way a little bit with the setups and our car. I thought we definitely had potential and we were OK with that. I think we were OK with running seventh, eighth, ninth and getting a top-five here and there and just advancing. In the second round, we knew we needed to take it another step up and we did. I think this next round is the same thing. It’s going to take another step to be better. We’re going to have to be faster. We’re going to have to execute better races. It’s just going to take one more step of what we’ve already done. Although the last round was amazing, we can’t look back at that and say – oh we just need to do exactly like that. We probably need to do that and maybe a little bit better.”

Now with this round being make or break to make it into the championship race, does this round have to be 100 percent or 110 percent from here on out.. it has to be everything?

“Yeah, I mean it’s just all the details, right. I don’t push the car any harder. I don’t drive any differently, but it’s all the details that makeup the car in the race. Yeah, I mean we don’t want to show up today and over push or do anything that would make a mistake. But we just know that the details are that much more important.”

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