NASCAR CUP SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY R.C.
VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD
TEAM CHEVY POLE WIN REPORT
AUGUST 12, 2023

Suarez, Chevrolet Takes NASCAR Cup Series Pole at Indianapolis
Camaro ZL1’s Eighth NCS Pole of 2023

• Daniel Suarez posted a best lap of 87.968 seconds, at 99.814 mph, in the final round of qualifying to capture the pole position for tomorrow’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
• The feat marks Suarez’s first NASCAR Cup Series pole win of the season; and his third career pole win in 239 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.
• This is Chevrolet’s eighth NASCAR Cup Series pole of the season; the manufacturer’s third NCS pole at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course; and its 742nd all-time pole in NASCAR’s premier series.
• Chevrolet drivers swept the pole wins across both of NASCAR’s top two series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course with AJ Allmendinger (No. 10 Kaulig Racing Camaro SS) taking the pole for today’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Parts.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER

1st Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway.com Camaro ZL1
3rd Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
5th Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1
6th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
8th Shane van Gisbergen, No. 91 Enhance Health Camaro ZL1
9th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER

1. Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)
2. Tyler Reddick (Toyota)
3. Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
4. Michael McDowell (Ford)
5. Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Aug. 12, 2023) – For the third consecutive year, a Chevrolet will lead the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) field to the green flag at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Posting a best-lap of 87.968 seconds, at 99.814 mph, in the final round of qualifying; Daniel Suarez took his No. 99 Freeway.com Camaro ZL1 to the top of the speed chart to claim his first pole win of the season. The 31-year-old Monterrey, Mexico, native has proven his prowess in road course racing as a winner in NASCAR’s top series (Sonoma Raceway – June 2022), but the feat marks Suarez’s first career NCS pole win on a road course circuit.

“Today is a tribute to all the men and women at Trackhouse Racing,” said Suarez. “They gave me a rocket ship today and it feels really good to be at the front of the field. It’s good to be out front and hopefully we can stay there tomorrow.”

Already with a storied history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Chevrolet has continued to build its legacy at the “racing capital of the world” – taking the win in the series’ two appearances on the venue’s road course. As the manufacturer looks to make it three-in-a-row at the circuit, six drivers from three different Chevrolet teams will lead the field to the green from the top-nine positions in the starting lineup. Suarez’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen (No. 91 Enhance Health Camaro ZL1) will take the green flag for his second career NCS start from the eighth position. Three Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1’s posted a top-10 qualifying effort, led by Chase Elliott (No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1) in third, Kyle Larson (No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1) in sixth and Alex Bowman (No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1) in ninth. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1) rounded out the top-five.

 
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Win Media Availability Quotes

(NO MIC.)

“I think the mentality of the No. 99 team hasn’t changed in the last couple of months. We have to continue to focus on one race at a time – try to maximize the potential of the race car and try to win a race. We had a couple of weeks that were pretty rough on us, and then we had Michigan (International Speedway) and I was pretty happy with that result, especially with the car that my team was able to bring to the track. I told my team last week – this was exactly what we needed. Just a little bit of momentum heading into road course season because we have two in a row, and here we are right now. The energy has been great. The guys have been working very hard. I’ve been working very hard and it shows. We have to continue to work and execute tomorrow.”

(NO MIC.)

“We spent a little bit of time in the simulator working together, but honestly, we didn’t spend as much time together working as we did for Chicago. But we did spend some time together in the simulator. It was good. I think that – between the No.1, 91 and the 99 teams – they work together to bring similar setups to the race track based on what we learn in the simulator. It was good, it was very helpful. For Shane (van Gisbergen), he’s new at this race track, so I feel like he’s been learning a lot. We’ve been here before, so he’s been learning a lot – understanding what he needs from his car to be able to go fast.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO WIN A POLE AT A PLACE LIKE HERE WHERE TRACK POSITION WILL BE KEY?

“Yeah, you know I was rewatching the race again actually last night and track position was unbelievably important. So you have to get it anytime you can and try to keep it. I knew that Saturday was going to be extremely important for this race, and I’m glad we were able to show up with a good balanced race car and have good speed. I’m happy for that.

With that being said, we still have some work to do. I feel like our race pace actually was pretty good. I was pretty happy with the race pace. I have to meet with my team right after here and talk about what we’re going to adjust for tomorrow, but overall, I feel like the potential for our race car is pretty good. I’m happy for where we’re at and we just have to make sure we make the right adjustments and we execute tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be about execution.”

HOW DID TRACK CONDITIONS TODAY FAVOR YOUR SETUP – WERE THEY WHAT YOU EXPECTED?

“Yeah know, I thought the race track was getting faster and faster. I noticed that in practice when I went out, the race track was actually getting a little bit better. But I wasn’t 100 percent sure because also the tires were getting some temperature and wear. And then the second group went a good amount faster than the first group; I was in the first group. And then at that point, I realized – you know what, maybe we’re at a little bit of a disadvantage because the race track is going to continue to get better and better.

And then we went to qualify in the first round – I put down what I thought was an OK lap. It wasn’t great, but it was good. And then in the second round, everyone was faster than that. The second round was so much faster, so I knew that the second group was just getting more speed for track positions. But then in the last round, once everyone went at the same time, I felt like that was an even field for everyone and I felt like at that point, we were able to show up in the same circumstances as everyone else and that benefited us a little bit.”

TOMORROW, THE THREE GUYS THAT ARE RIGHT AROUND THE BUBBLE ARE ALL GOING TO BE STARTING IN THE TOP-10. ARE YOU GOING TO WANT TO KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING THROUGHOUT THE RACE?

“I don’t care (laughs).. they have to worry about the No. 99.

I mean I say I don’t care, but in reality, I care like .5 percent (laughs), so I care very little. I knew that we were going to be good. (Michael) McDowell is a great road course driver. (Ty) Gibbs, I think he’s pretty good. He’s still learning, but he’s pretty good. I’m actually surprised AJ (Allmendinger) is not up there, as well. But no, in reality, once the race starts, I have to make sure I don’t care because I cannot control what they do or don’t do. I can only control one car, and that’s the No. 99 car. I have to put all my energy and focus into the No. 99 car, and everything else has to take care of itself. Obviously if I’m racing with them at one point in the race, I have to make sure I get them because I know one point can be a difference when we go to Daytona (International Speedway). But hopefully I can stay away from them.”

YOU HAD A TREMENDOUSLY FAST CAR LAST WEEK. IT WAS FUN WATCHING YOU, AND YOU COULD DO REALLY AMAZING THINGS. JUST CURIOUS, HAS IT PULLED YOUR TEAM TOGETHER? HAS IT MADE YOU STRONGER BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN FACING ADVERSITY OF LATE TO KIND OF BATTLE THROUGH THIS AND GET TO THE OTHER SIDE SO YOU CAN GET BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE?

“You know, I think that my racing has come through a lot of adversity this year. We have had a few mistakes on execution. I have made some mistakes. In the first quarter of the year, we were extremely fast, but we were making a lot of mistakes – in execution and myself. We were not having clean weekends. And then we started getting cleaner and then the speed wasn’t there anymore. You have to have everything together and it’s not easy. It’s not easy to put everything together. I can tell you in the last few weeks, it’s been tough at Trackhouse. I say that they’ve been tough because we’ve had long meetings – we’ve had difficult conversations to be better because we showed up a few weekends and we were not good at all. Pretty much after Nashville (Superspeedway), if you look at our results, they were not very good.. besides Atlanta (Motor Speedway) where we finished second. But overall, we needed more speed. We were lacking some speed, so we had to go to work and we had to get out of our comfortable zone. We had to get out of that box. I’m really proud of how we’ve been reacting to that and it’s definitely showing the last couple of weeks.”

I EXPECT YOU TO BE FAST. YOU EXPECT TO BE FAST IN THE NEXT TWO RACES ON ROAD COURSES. YOU HAD A CAREER-BEST SEVENTH-PLACE FINISH AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TO KICK-OFF THE SEASON. CAN YOU KIND OF REPEAT THAT TYPE OF PERFORMANCE, OR DO YOU THINK THAT RACE BEING THE CUT-OFF WILL BE SO CHAOTIC THAT IT’S GOING TO BE EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF?

“Honestly, I’m not thinking that far ahead. But I think Daytona (International Speedway) is going to be a little bit more crazy than before because there’s so many good drivers, good teams, good cars that are on that bubble. I mean you have the No. 48 (Alex Bowman), the No. 9 (Chase Elliott), myself, the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) – you just have too many. We talk a lot about manufacturers working together, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to work together. But if I can beat the No. 9 and the No. 48, that would be nice too because they’re right there in the fight. It’s one of those things where we’re going to have to wait and see. Hopefully, knock-on-wood, we execute tomorrow and we don’t have to worry about it. That would be the plan. I would love to kiss those bricks downstairs.”

YOU LEAD THE FIELD TO THE GREEN ON THE FIRST START WITH THE NEW ZONE AND THE RULES OF WHERE PEOPLE CAN CHANGE LANES AFTER YOU EXIT THE ZONES. DO YOU HAVE A GOOD FEELING OF WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN, OR IS IT STILL A LITTLE BIT OF A MYSTERY?

“I think I have an idea of what is going to happen, but the reality is that I’m really looking forward to watching the Xfinity Series race and see how that works. That’s going to give me a better idea of how things are going to work, even though the cars are very different. We’ll see.. we’ll see how things work. I can tell you that there’s one place to be to try to figure it out and it’s in the front, so I think I’m in a good position to be able to go out there and try to take advantage of things. Hopefully we can learn and adapt as quick as possible of that new restart zone.”

THIS RACE OFTEN COMES DOWN TO THE RESTARTS AT THE END. HOW DO YOU REALLY GET PREPARED FOR THAT AND ALL THE CONTACT THAT USUALLY HAPPENS WITH THAT HARD RIGHT-HANDER INTO TURN ONE?

“Yeah, I mean it’s difficult because I feel like in the past, in my opinion, we’ve done too much of that. I was rewatching the race last night and like I said, it was a little bit too much – too much contact, too much bumping cars, in my opinion. That’s why we had some good conversations with NASCAR, and we were able to together come up with the idea of moving the restart zone to provide better racing. The fans – they love action and they love excitement, but there is a line, too. I felt like last year, in the last couple of races, we crossed the line. It was a little bit too much.. it wasn’t real anymore. But I’m glad we did it and we’ll find out how things work out. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be much cleaner than what we’ve seen in the past. How much? We’re going to find out, but I think it’s going to be much cleaner.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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 tech

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Verizon 200 at The Brickyard Media Availability | Saturday, August 12, 2023

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, spoke with members of the media ahead of his highly-anticipated final NASCAR Cup Series start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – YOU HAVE THREE BRICKYARD 400 WINS (TWO WITH FORD). WITH THIS WEEKEND MOST LIKELY BEING YOUR FINAL CUP SERIES APPEARANCE HERE, WHAT DOES IMS MEAN TO YOU? “There’s no ‘most likely’ – it is. Maybe not my last visit, but my last time on the surface as far as that goes. But, I think for me, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been just a great place in my racing career. Grew up a kid in Bakersfield, Calif., wanting to race in the Indy 500 like Rick Mears, and to be able to come close to living out that childhood dream of winning races at The Brickyard and having some success here has been pretty special to me. It’s fun to have celebrated that, and to come back and be able to be here one last time is something that I’ll enjoy.”

FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS, INDYCAR AND NASCAR HAVE SHARED A WEEKEND ON THE IMS ROAD COURSE. HOW DO YOU THINK IT’S GONE? “Well, I think for me, I would prefer to be on the oval. But, there are just so many things that probably are ingrained in the background of why we did it and why we race together. As a competitor, it’s neat because you get to see people that you typically don’t see on a race weekend with the IndyCar guys here. I’m not going to get into the reasons of what I think is good or bad. I personally would prefer the oval, but I think for me and everything that I’ve learned about this, there’s way more to it than my opinion. So, it’s been a unique experience to have the two groups together and to function, because racers are racers. We just race something different.”

NASCAR WILL LIKELY BE ON THE OVAL NEXT YEAR, WHILE INDYCAR WILL GO ELSEWHERE. BUT, IS THIS SORT OF EVENT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE PURSUED AT ANOTHER VENUE? “I’m always of the opinion that you should do something, and then move on to something else. I think it’s a unique experience and it’s much like the Clash or street courses… I think there’s always something newer and fresher to go out and try. Now, if there was 300,000 people. That’d be a different conversation.”

YOU CAN POTENTIAL CLINCH A PLAYOFF SPOT THIS WEEKEND. IS ADVANCING TO THE PLAYOFFS EVEN A CHECKLIST ITEM FOR THE SEASON? “Well, it’s definitely part of the checklist, because you have to be in it, to win it. I think that is definitely on everybody’s checklist, is to try to make the playoffs. It’s been an interesting year as far as how things have worked out. We feel like we performed okay with what we have, and the guys have done a great job in making something out of it. We’ve put ourselves in position to have a chance to win a couple races – had some bad ones, had some good ones. Kind of fought and scraped, worked through an injury after the break to over the next six weeks. We just have fought one battle after another. It’s been typical No. 4 car stuff that we’ve worked through. We’ll just keep grinding away for 13 more weeks.”

RICK MEARS HAS FOLLOWED AND COMPLIMENTED YOUR CAREER. HOW DOES IT MEAN TO YOU, COMING FROM ONE OF YOUR HEROES GROWING UP? “When I was growing up, Rick was around. I raced with Clint and Casey, but Clint mostly on the go-kart side. So anytime he would show up at the racetrack, it was pretty neat to just see him somewhere besides on TV. The Mears family in general, around the town of Bakersfield, was kind of the pinnacle of racing whether it was off-road, IndyCars or when they’d come race stock cars at Mesa Marin [Raceway] for special events. To have the guy that you idolized and have him be around to watch you race, having always some sort of connection, those are always special things to deal with. So, it’s been pretty neat. I’ve been able to interview him a couple times with the radio shows and things of that nature, so it’s always fun. He always has a great story and has been around this long enough to ‘been there, done that,’ so it’s always fun to listen to that wisdom.”

HOW MUCH PRIDE DO YOU HOLD AS THE LAST BRICKYARD 400 WINNER? “That’s good because for me, my last race on the oval I will have won. So, I feel pretty good about that. It just kind of ended up that way.”

DID YOU MENTION THAT YOU WERE INJURED EARLIER? “Oh, yeah. I fell down a flight of steps in Italy. I had a stack of busted ribs for several weeks.”

AFTER SHANE VAN GISBERGEN WON CHICAGO, THE FOCUS HAS BEEN ON THE HEEL-TO-TOE TECHNIQUE. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THAT TECHNIQUE? “They taught me how to heel-toe, but I never used it. I think the interesting thing that those guys can do is modulate the brake with the clutch, and be able to just do so much more in the braking zone. Marcos Ambrose was the last one who was that good at it. I think when you look at a Montoya or someone like that, it’s just a pure bravery – ‘I’ll drive him in deeper than you’ – type situation. Those guys are finessing the thing deeper into the brake zone, and just have a more efficient technique to do that. I think when you look at Shane, if Marcos Ambrose would have been in the type of car that he’s driving, he would have shined. He shined pretty bright on the road courses, but he would have been a much brighter star if he would have had the equipment to drive what Shane has. Both seem very similar in their skill levels and success in the things they’ve done. It’s fun to watch, especially when it’s not something that I’ve ever been a part of – to have a really concentrated road racing background. Mine has always been on the ovals. But whether they do it in the rain or in the dry – whatever that is – it’s an art. They’re good at it.”

IF YOU WANTED TO USE THAT ART IN A RACE, HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT’D TAKE? “That’d be like me trying to go race IndyCar. Not going to happen. That’s just something you need to do for years to be good at.”

JUST TO CONFIRM: IT’S YOUR LAST RACE ON THIS SURFACE – EVEN IF IT DOES SWITCH TO THE OVAL? “That’s right.”

WITH THAT SAID, DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT THE FUTURE OF NASCAR AT IMS? “I think, for me, I do care. I have a big stake in caring about where this all goes – sitting in the TV booth, drivers, sponsors and competitors. My role is not driving anymore, but it is still very much a part of this sport that has kind of shaped my life and given me all the things I have. I want to be involved and understand what will make it better as you go forward and do something different. I’m all about mixing things up, so I think it’s important to mix it up. It’s just a matter of what brings people to the grandstands, watches on TV and the amount of eyeballs you can move the needle with. We did that with the Clash, with the [Chicago] Street Course… there’s ways to do it. It’s just a matter of what it is. There’s so many things that go into the mixture of what’s right and what’s wrong for this sport, the track, the people, the sponsors… there are just a lot of elements that need to be talked through in order to make a good decision for everybody.”

IN 2004, RON FELLOWS WAS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE ORIGINAL ROAD COURSE RINGERS AT WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL. WHEN YOU COMPARE THEN TO NOW, HOW IMPRESSED ARE YOU BY RINGERS LIKE FELLOWS WHO DID NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITIES OF THE CURRENT CAR? “Ron was really everybody’s mentor on the Chevrolet side back then, and you had Boris Said that took a lot of these guys and myself. Both of those guys have had moments where they’ve helped and coached. The car leans much more toward people coming in and being able to be successful on the road course just because of what it is. Our cars were much different in that particular time as far as how you had to drive them, and how you’d have to control the wheel hop – everything that went with how the car handled. It was much more specialized as far as the car in those days. Ron was always good, and did great on the ovals as well in the Truck series, and had a short stint in that. But, definitely somebody everybody looked up to, to help kind of change the course of road course racing – how you looked at it and the things that went with it. Because when I started, the road courses were just, ‘Ah, we have to go to the road courses so we’ll just find a car, find a motor. We’ll go out there, make some laps, and then go home.’ Now, it’s very technical and I think a lot of the things that go with it – many of the things that they pushed then, but it wasn’t as competitive in the early-2000’s as it was in the mid-2000’s to now. It’s another level with a lot of guys who are just very good at what they do on the road courses… and able to come in here and adapt to the car.”

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
RACE: VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD DATE: AUGUST 12, 2023

AUSTIN CINDRIC
No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG
FINAL PRACTICE – 7TH
QUALIFYING – 20TH

RYAN BLANEY
No. 12 MENARDS/ATLAS FORD MUSTANG
FINAL PRACTICE – 18TH
QUALIFYING – 16TH

JOEY LOGANO
No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
FINAL PRACTICE – 22ND
QUALIFYING – 18TH

NOTES – Not only is Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosting the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, it’s also the site of an NTT INDYCAR Series race and a NASCAR Xfinity Series event on Saturday afternoon, setting motorsports enthusiasts up for an action-packed race weekend. Ahead of Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, Cup Series drivers took part in group practice and qualifying on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course circuit.

Austin Cindric, who finished in the runner-up position last year, led the way for Team Penske in practice with the seventh-fastest time on the speed charts. Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano finished with the 18th and 22nd fastest times, respectively. In qualifying at the Racing Capital of the World, Blaney qualified his Ford Mustang in the 16th position. Logano will roll off the grid 18th with teammate Cindric set to take the green flag from the 20th position.

Wood Brothers Racing’s Harrison Burton will start 24th in the No. 21 Ford Mustang.

WHAT’S NEXT – Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard begins at 2:30 p.m. ET with coverage on NBC, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Verizon 200 at The Brickyard Media Availability | Saturday, August 12, 2023

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing and Mitchell, Ind. native, spoke with members of the media about his homecoming to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the road course layout and more. Notably, Briscoe was the 2020 Xfinity Series winner on the road course.

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang – WELCOME HOME. WHAT’S YOUR WEEK BEEN LIKE SINCE COMING STRAIGHT HERE FROM MICHIGAN? “It’s been super nice just to be home. I feel like this is always my favorite week of the year, just knowing I get to come home and see my family. It kind of switched up on me – normally it’s Indy, then Michigan, and this year was Michigan, then Indy. So, came down and did Colts camp, which was super cool. I’ve always been a big Colts fan from just growing up here in the state of Indiana. Then I drove down to Mitchell, Ind., hung out with my grandparents and my parents for two days. Then I ran SRX Thursday night, then went to the Children’s Museum yesterday. Just hung out with family and friends, went to Eric Church last night with some buddies that I went to high school with. So, it’s been, honestly, nice to regroup because this season has definitely been a grind. I feel fresh again in a sense. So, looking forward to this weekend. This weekend is super significant to me. I feel like any race car driver in the field dreams of racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but when you grow up literally 60 miles down the road, it holds even more significance. Just super excited for this weekend, what this weekend always brings – the amount of fans that come out for this race and that come to support me, friends and family… it’s always just so humbling. I always try to put on a show for them, and I feel like I can always find that extra five or 10 percent every time we come here. Hopefully we can finally put one together. We’ve been close, but just haven’t been able to seal the deal.”

WHAT IS IT LIKE SEEING INDYCAR AND NASCAR TOGETHER AT IMS, AND WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS IF THIS IS THE FINAL YEAR? “I think this weekend and just the crossover is super cool. For me at least, growing up in Indiana, I was an IndyCar fan and you just kind of naturally are because you grew up here. So, for me, this weekend was cool just seeing the crossover. I feel like especially, prior to really this weekend when we started doing it two or three years ago, there was almost like this, ‘ You’re either an IndyCar fan or you’re a NASCAR fan.’ There wasn’t a ton of crossover. Where now, you see drivers from both disciplines coming and racing, and I feel like the fanbase has really kind of embraced each other. It’s just a great opportunity, and honestly, this Saturday ticket is one of the best in motorsports. You can come and watch an IndyCar race , you can watch an Xfinity race, you can watch the Cup cars practice and qualify – as a race fan, it’s a great opportunity and a great ticket to have. I don’t know if it’s going to go away, but if it does, it’s going to be a great ticket that will go away. I doubt they’d run the oval for IndyCar, but maybe they can still run if we do go back to the oval. The IndyCars could still run the road course while we run the oval. I don’t know how that’d work, but I think today is always cool from a race fan side of things. It’s getting to see three different disciplines, and three of the highest disciplines in North American motorsports all competing on the same track.”

HOW SURREAL WILL IT BE TO RACE A CUP CAR ON THE INDY OVAL? “I always tell everybody that for me, if you’re racing on the oval, the road course or the dirt track over there – even in the parking lot with quarter midgets, it’s special to get to race here. But I think it’s no secret that the prestige and history that the oval holds is definitely above the other disciplines that you could race here. So for me, I’ve been able to run two oval races in the Xfinity series and it was just the wildest feeling, truthfully, coming off Turn 4 every lap and seeing that front straightaway. I’m doing Cup test Monday and Tuesday, and it’s crazy to think that I’ll be one of three guys to drive this Next Gen car on the oval. So, if we get a race on it, the significance of what The Brickyard 400 is, it’s a crown-jewel. There’s no other way to say it. I think it’s the Daytona 500, then the Brickyard 400 is the second race that from a driver standpoint, everyone wants to win. So, I grew up coming to a lot of Brickyard 400s, and if we do come back, it would be super special. I’m just excited to see what this test holds Monday and Tuesday, and what it could mean for the future.”

YOU’VE HAD SUCCESS ON THE ROAD COURSE, ESPECIALLY IN THE XFINITY SERIES. DO YOU HAVE MIXED EMOTIONS BECAUSE YOU HAVE SUCCESS ON THE ROAD COURSE LAYOUT? “Every time we talk about going to the oval, I always tell people, from a history and significance standpoint, I want to go back. But, I do feel like from a winning standpoint, I have a little bit better of a shot on the road course. So yeah, for me, I’d still much rather run the oval. If I were going to win one or the other: For sure, for me and my career, I’d love to be able to say I’ve run a Brickyard 400. The road course wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we ran twice a year – once on the oval and once on the road course. I don’t think that’s going to happen. It’s a little bit of mixed feelings, but truthfully, if everything comes together we can win on the oval too. But, I have had success in the past on the road course. So, you at least come here with confidence, where on the oval, you don’t have a ton of laps compared to a lot of guys. So, it is a little bit harder to be confident going into those.”

WHAT ABOUT ALTERNATING YEARS OF THE OVAL AND ROAD COURSE? “I mean, I do think that it’s no secret: The oval, The Brickyard 400, started out as packed, sold-out practically. Towards the end, it wasn’t really that. So, I think we had to do something to switch it up as a sport to kind of get it back. Obviously, we lost a crown-jewel doing that, but I do think that maybe that’s a possibility. You run the road course every two or three years in a row and then bring back the oval for the fourth year, because it definitely seemed like when you ran the oval every year, it did lose a little bit. But truthfully with this Next Gen car and how it’s raced on the oval, it might be this incredible race. I don’t know. I wouldn’t be against running the oval for the next three or four years But at the same time, I wouldn’t be against switching back and forth. I do think it’s hard to have a crown-jewel on the schedule, then take it away – bring it back, take it away. I think if we’re going to do it, I’d love to see it been a mainstay for at least a couple years.”

WILL THE TIRE TEST BE THE FIRST CHANCE YOU GET TO ACTUALLY RUN THE OVAL? “I ran two Xfinity races, but I think both of them were actually on Monday – or one was on Tuesday (rain postponement). So it was practically like a test day. There was nobody here.”

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT YOUR WIN HERE, AND HOW SIGNIFICANT IS IT STILL IN YOUR CAREER? “It definitely meant the world. I was crying in the car after. It just meant a ton. That day just in general… not that I was unknown, but I don’t think people even knew that I could be in the Cup series up to that point. Whenever I went and beat A.J. (Allmendinger) kind of straight-up, I feel like that really changed the conversation quickly as far as what my next year was going to look like. Up until that point, nobody even talked to me about Cup racing or anything. After that win, all the sudden the talks started to happen. That day was a super special day. I about threw the race away just being so nervous, knowing I was leading with a couple to go. That day, at the same time, is such a bummer day for me just knowing that there was absolutely nobody here. It burns me up to this day. I think that’s why I’ve put even more pressure on myself to be able to win here again, because I want to experience that with the fans, my friends, my family… I want to climb the fence and have people going crazy like Tony did. But when I did it, it was empty grandstands. Winning here regardless is special. But winning here during COVID did make it a little bit more of a bummer from a personal standpoint just with how much it meant to me, and everything else – not being able to experience it with everyone else.”

WE’RE GETTING CLOSE TO THE FINAL THIRD OF THE SEASON AND THE FINAL RACES FOR KEVIN HARVICK. WHAT DOES THIS TIME MEAN TO YOU AND BEING ABLE TO SHARE IT WITH YOUR TEAMMATE? “I’m just trying to maximize it, truthfully. Seeing a guy that’s done it at the level he’s done it, and having him as a resource… I only have 13 more weeks to use him as a resource. These past two or three weeks, I’ve been going to the simulator two hours early and watching him, asking him questions at the end – just trying to use as much as I can, and milk it as much as I can for as long as I can. Truthfully, I haven’t done a very good job once I got to the Cup series of using Kevin. In the Xfinity series, I feel like I used him a lot, and when I got to the Cup series, I just didn’t really use him anymore for whatever reason. These last couple of weeks, especially with how much I’ve been struggling here lately, I’ve been trying to get back to using him by asking him more questions. I wish I would have done it a lot more in these last couple of years. Especially now, as I’ve done it more these last couple of weeks, seeing how smart he is and how he approaches the weekends. There’s a reason why he’s going to be a first ballot hall-of-famer. For me not to use him week-in and week-out like I have these last couple of weeks has been ignorant on my part, truthfully. Kind of kicking myself for not doing that, but certainly going to try to use him these last 13 weeks to the best of my ability.”

DAYTONA IS CONSIDERED A “HAIL MARY” FOR DRIVERS LOOKING TO ADVANCE TO THE PLAYOFFS. WHAT IS THE LEVEL OF AGGRESSION THERE, COMPARED TO THE OTHER REMAINING TRACKS? “Truthfully, if I’m in position, I’m definitely going to be aggressive just knowing that it’s going to be probably our only opportunity. Especially, if it happens just once these next three weeks. The odds of it happening again may not be there. I’ll be pretty aggressive. But truthfully, we just haven’t had the speed in the cars lately to even be aggressive – whether it’s on pit calls, on the racetrack or anything. So, I do think that this weekend’s probably my best opportunity to be up in the mix. Daytona’s kind of what it is. At this point, it’s hard to say. I’ve not been great there, unless it rains. So, hopefully if I’m up in the mix, I’ll definitely be aggressive. I feel like the aggression level has been there all year, but I just haven’t had the opportunity to show it. Hopefully, this weekend I can show that.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Verizon 200 at The Brickyard Qualifying | Saturday, August 12, 2023

Ford Qualifying Results:

4th – Michael McDowell

13th – Chase Briscoe

16th – Ryan Blaney

17th – Chris Buescher

18th – Joey Logano

20th – Austin Cindric

22nd – Brad Keselowski

23rd – Todd Gilliland

24th – Harrison Burton

29th – Andy Lally

30th – Ryan Preece

31st – Jenson Button

33rd – Aric Almirola

38th – Kevin Harvick

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang – “It was a great practice and good first round. Really happy with the Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang. Started out that final round getting a little bit loose going into Turn 12 – hurt the start of that lap. Gave it all I could, but it just wasn’t enough. But, it was a great day. That’s what we needed to do – qualify in the top five and now race in the top five, score stage points and be there in the end to steal the win. Let’s see what happens. You don’t know until you get out there and get to race pace. Our long run speed was good in practice – as long as you could run in 10 laps. But, we’ll see what happens when we get into a 20-lap run and we stack up. But, I feel good where we are.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang – “Just kind of kicking myself. I felt like the first round, on the first lap, I over-drove one corner and it cost me, honestly. The problem was that we had to run again… we had to go back out, and I under-drove that one – not trying to do what I did the first time. If I could’ve just put a lap together we would have pretty easily been in that final round. Our HighPoint.com Ford Mustang is really good. It didn’t necessarily start there, but the crew did a really good job of making it better. Got a piece that I think can go and compete. We just made it a little bit harder, now starting 13th. So, I wish we would have been in the final round. We have speed – the second-fastest Ford. I felt like we could have been the best one, but it’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY R.C.
VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 12, 2023

 KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Media Availability Quotes:

THE LAST THREE YEARS, INDYCAR AND NASCAR HAVE BEEN AT THE SAME TRACK RACING AT THE SAME TIME. ARE YOU A FAN OF THAT WEEKEND.. HAVE YOU ENJOYED IT?

“Yeah, I would say so. I think it’s pretty cool – kind of unique. But you know, if I’m being selfish, I think many of us drivers, crews and everything else, we’d rather be coming here and racing around the oval with the prestige and the history of what the oval is. Even though we’re at Indy, it just doesn’t really feel like it’s the same thing going the wrong way.”

LOOKING AT THE SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR, YOU GUYS ARE MORE THAN LIKELY GOING TO BE ON THE OVAL AND THIS WEEKEND IS PROBABLY GOING AWAY, AT LEAST HERE. IS THIS SOMETHING THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE INCORPORATED ELSEWHERE, WHATEVER TRACK THAT IS? IS IT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE CONTINUED GOING FORWARD, EVEN IF IT CAN’T BE HERE?

“Well that’s for way smarter people in higher powers than me to make that decision. If it works for INDYCAR and it works for NASCAR, then I would say sure.. why not. There’s plenty of places that we can do it – we can do it together, stuff like that. You could even do it at Watkins Glen (International) together if you wanted to – where all you have to do is move some cones and the INDYCAR guys can run the boot and we can run our normal course, but you can be on the same essential track during the weekend. So there’s definitely plenty of opportunities to continue the comradery between the paddocks and garage area to have an INDYCAR / NASCAR double.”

YOU’VE BEEN VERY OUTSPOKEN IN THE PAST ABOUT RESTARTS ON ROAD COURSES, INTO TURN ONE PARTICULARLY, WHETHER IT’S HERE OR COTA. WITH THE RESTART ZONE BEING BACKED UP BETWEEN (TURNS) 13 AND 14 THIS WEEKEND, IS THERE ANY OPTIMISM THAT WILL HELP AT ALL FOR TURN ONE?

“Possibly a little bit. I think the only other way to help it even more would just call it right now and just go single file, and make it single file starts going down the frontstretch into turn one. You have to separate these guys and give them some separation because they have absolutely no respect and they just drive over each other. We see it every week. We see it on ovals. (Ryan) Blaney wanted to be mad last week, and yet he crashed me and he almost crashed the No. 7 (Corey LaJoie) and he’s mad, so it makes no sense. The fact of the matter is – yeah, everybody goes down into turn one, they know you have to be on the inside and you just pile-drive through from the inside and push people off.”

ON THE SINGLE FILE RESTARTS, ELTON SAWYER HAD SAID ON SIRIUSXM RADIO EARLIER THIS WEEK THAT IS SOMETHING THEY WILL KEEP IN THEIR BACK POCKET FOR THIS WEEKEND – NOT JUST FOR WEATHER. SO YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO CONSIDER THAT MORE, MAYBE ON THESE ROAD COURSES IF IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S GETTING OUT OF CONTROL TO KIND OF SAVE YOU GUYS FROM YOURSELVES?

“1,000 percent, no question. Yep, got to make the call. Don’t be afraid to make the call.”

TO ADD ONTO THAT, IN ADDITION TO THE ROAD COURSES, ESPECIALLY THE ONES WITH A WIDE TURN ONE, ANY LATE-RACE CAUTION CAN OFTEN LEAD TO SOME PRETTY CHAOTIC RESULTS. YOU MENTIONED BEING IN SUPPORT OF SINGLE-FILE RESTARTS. IN THAT CASE, WOULD YOU BE SUPPORTIVE OF SINGLE-FILE RESTARTS REALLY UNDER 10 LAPS TO GO AT ANY RACE?

“No, no I don’t think so. Obviously, yes – it would be easier if you’re the leader, but it would probably diminish the show. We’re in an entertainment business, I’m learning. We want to be able to put on, whether it’s a good show or a bad show, it’s debatable between opinions, right? But we want to be able to put on the best possible show for the fans that we can. I think that would be a deterrent to many of the races that we go to, but like Kelly said, save us from ourselves to just now allow calamity to ensue.”

WHEN SVG WON AT CHICAGO, THERE WAS A LOT OF FOCUS ON HIS RIGHT FOOT, HEEL-TOE BRAKING TECHNIQUE. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO HEEL-TOE?

“No, not successfully. I know how to do it and I can do it, but it’s very clunky. I am not a smooth operator when it comes to having to do the heel-toe. I did it years ago when I first kind of came in – like I was learning from Boris Said, Ron Fellows and a couple of those guys, just talking with them. Wheel-hop issues with the old car, it would really kind of help subside that. But then we just went to work on the car, the braking and everything else. To me, every time I’m able to just maximize my left foot for brake, I’m way better off, so I’ve kind of gotten away from it.”

SO IT WOULDN’T EVEN REALLY BE WORTH THE TRADE OFF OF TRYING TO DO IT OR TRYING TO LEARN IT?

“Right, yeah. For me, no. The Chevy guys – thanks to Chevy for letting us come over here – we ran some street Camaro’s around here and I tried it. Like I tried to do the right foot over, brake, use the clutch, do the downshifts and stuff like that. I was like a half-second slower than just using the brake and matching the RPM’s for the downshifts.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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
Verizon 200 at The Brickyard Media Availability | Saturday, August 12, 2023

Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Purdue University Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, spoke with members of the media this morning about becoming a father, having a hometown sponsor and more ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

RYAN PREECE, No. 41 Purdue University Ford Mustang – YOU HAVE A SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME FOR THIS RACE, AND IT’S BEEN A BIG WEEK FOR YOU IN BECOMING A FATHER. TELL US ABOUT YOUR WEEK. “Obviously, becoming a father was awesome. Doing that with my wife, having my first daughter, it’s truly amazing. Going on the Purdue University motorsports program: Growing up a kid that spent a lot of time with race cars, working on race cars and really learning about them, it has created an opportunity for young kids that have always been intrigued by auto racing or motorsports. A fun little fact that I found out: 32 of 33 cars in the Indy 500 this year had Purdue graduates. That was really neat, and it’s a great way to create an opportunity for kids that don’t necessarily have family ties or some avenues to get into motorsports. So, it’s a great way to get started. Obviously, they have a really great program.”

CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH MONDAY MORNING WHEN YOU RECEIVED THE CALL FROM YOUR WIFE? “One thing that I am really lucky for is that my wife is very supportive of my racing. She raced herself. So, going into this journey, we hired a doula in case of the worst case scenario if I wasn’t home. But I got a call Monday morning at 2 a.m. – which I learned about a month ago to have my phone on ring just in case of a moment like that. She called me, and she was scared. Our doula came, brought her to the hospital. Unfortunately, I don’t have a private plane or anything like that. We didn’t anticipate having the baby that week. We actually had a c-section schedule for a week from then, so we really didn’t even think that it was something that could happen – not that it couldn’t happen, that was really planned to happen. But as our daughter kind of proved to us, is that she’s going to run the show. I was able to FaceTime my wife, and be present without actually being there. But definitely… really, really… thankful and happy that we have a healthy daughter. It’s awesome being a father.”

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF QUALIFYING, AND HOW IMPORTANT IS PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING? “Practice for a lot of us: I didn’t necessarily grow up road racing, so it’s really important. I was fortunate enough to have raced here back in 2021, so I have some laps. But, track position is always a topic, right? There were some things that we did with the Ford Performance sim to be able to prepare. But for a driver, it’s getting out there and doing it – the visuals and a lot of the braking marks that you tend to get. I mean when you think about it, how many laps are we really going to do in practice? I think nine, 10 laps maybe? Which kind of reminds me of the SRX race when we got five laps. The only difference was that I’ve raced Stafford all my life. I haven’t raced the Indy road course or anything like this. So, it’s going to be extremely important to get everything we have into this race car and qualify really well.”

HOW DOES THE BIRTH OF YOUR DAUGHTER THIS WEEK PUT RACING INTO PERSPECTIVE? “I need to provide. I need to do a very good job, so I can give my daughter every opportunity that she’s ever wanted. So, it’s driven me even more than ever. I’m a pretty determined person.”

WHEN YOU HAVE BACK-TO-BACK ROAD COURSE WEEKENDS, HOW MUCH INFORMATION DO YOU TAKE FROM ONE TRACK TO THE NEXT? “Indy road course and Watkins Glen… it seems to me like going to a short track versus an intermediate track. Watkins Glen is very high-speed and it kind of flows, whereas here, it reminds me somewhat of COTA where it’s a lot of transitions and making your car change direction really quickly – stop and go. So from the short track style of racing that I’ve done – the heavy braking and a lot of those things – I’m comfortable with. But there are certainly things that I can do better as a race car driver to be a better road racer – when it comes to the downshifting and all those things that really, growing up racing at the short track level, what I did is different. There’s definitely a lot of training that a driver can do to continue to grow from a road racing perspective. We saw it at Chicago with Jenson (Button) in the Cup series – SVG (Shane van Gisbergen) and those guys. They grew up and lived it. There is just a lot of preparation to do for a road race.”

THERE ARE SIX DRIVERS OUTSIDE THE U.S. COMPETING THIS WEEKEND. FROM A DRIVER’S PERSPECTIVE, WHAT’S IT LIKE TO SEE ALL THESE RACERS FROM DIFFERENT DRIVING DISCIPLINES? “Exactly – disciplines. That’s something that I’ve always appreciated. Even from the North America side when I watch dirt racing or asphalt racing, road racing… you see guys from V8 Supercars, Formula 1 and all these different etiquettes and you see the different styles. I’m somebody who appreciates that.”

YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND TIME WITH GRAHAM RAHAL. HOW EXCITED WERE YOU TO SEE HIM WIN POLE FOR THIS WEEKEND’S INDYCAR RACE? “That was awesome. You can see the emotion he had. He said it: The pole was like a win for them, especially for some of the struggles they’ve been going through over the past few years. That’s what defines racers, defines people – hard work and being relentless. I’m pretty much going to say that I’m his lucky charm even though I haven’t been very lucky this year. But, certainly, really excited for Graham Rahal and their team, United Rentals and all our partners. Even going down on pit road and seeing the process – how their practices go and qualifying. It was an awesome opportunity to be able to be down there. Because usually, if I’m here. I’m walking around and I don’t really know anybody. So, I’m just walking down pit road. You don’t really experience it. You kind of see it, but my vantage point as a driver, I really didn’t get to experience it. Whereas yesterday, I did. I got to wear the headset and see how their intercom system works and how they run their practices. It’s just so different. It was really fascinating and a really great experience.”

Jenson Button, driver of the No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang, spoke with members of the media about his anticipations for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

JENSON BUTTON, No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – WHAT HAS THIS WEEK BEEN LIKE FOR YOU IN PREPARATION FOR INDIANAPOLIS? “Great. It’s a privilege to be here at the Indianapolis track. I’ve been here a few times before – in F1 actually, back in 2000. It was my first race when I was racing for Williams as a 20-year-old, and I think I qualified sixth. I had a great race, in these conditions actually – mixed conditions. I’ve really enjoyed coming here. The only problem with that race is the bricks at the start-finish line. They actually turned my car off that year. So, didn’t have a positive impact, but I’m excited to come back and hopefully have a better result than the one I had in F1. Good to be back. This is a great venue, and I love the idea of having so many different categories racing in one weekend. I think other series can really learn from this, having IndyCar racing today and the Cup series on Sunday. I think it works really well as a weekend package for the fans. I think it’s great. I’m looking forward to watching the IndyCar race. Obviously, more importantly, looking forward to getting out on-track with the Cup car.”

WHAT WAS THE CONVERSATION WITH KEELAN HARVICK LIKE? YOU SEEMED TO CALM HIM. “He’s a very grown-up 11-year-old. He obviously loves his racing. It’s funny when you look back, because I think he struggles to maybe listen to his dad. His dad has got so much information to give. He’s raced for years – decades in the sport. But when you’re that close to someone, sometimes it doesn’t work. It’s like you shouldn’t teach your kids how to drive on the road because you’re just going to cause arguments. So I think it’s a little bit close, and that’s why it causes some disruption. I basically just said, ‘Trust me. Your dad is the person that knows best. I remember learning from my dad as a young kid, and you’ll regret it if you don’t take his information on-board. At least listen to his comments.’ It was a really nice time with him. He has a long career ahead of him – lots of ups, lots of downs. It was actually pretty emotional as well, talking about his father being supportive and my father was always very supportive through my career. He’s the reason why I’m sitting here now. He’s got good times in-front of him. I have kids as well, so I think that also made it a little bit emotional for me, talking to him about his career and where he wants to go.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK AT QUALIFYING AND PRACTICE TODAY? “I’m in Group A once again. You guys have a very unusual qualifying system, where the quickest lap-time is where you end up on the grid, and you have two groups. Whereas, it should be A on one side of the grid and B on the other side. I think I said this in Chicago as well. It makes it very difficult when the circuit’s like this, because if the circuit is drying through qualifying, and you’re Group A, and you do a great job when you qualify sixth – you’re basically going to end up 13th on the grid if the circuit’s improving. It just means you need to get it done in qualifying. You have to be top-five, so you go into the shootout. These conditions are tricky because they’re always changing, which makes it fun for me. I like these kinds of conditions. I’m pretty good at adapting in cars that I know. I think I’ve come to grips with the Cup car now, so I have no excuses. I’m really looking forward to this. It’s nice to see that it’s a bit brighter out there, and I just can’t wait to get out on-track. It’s been many years since I’ve driven here. It’s also very different from when I last drove here. So yeah, I need to get some laps in. We only have 20 minutes. It’s not a lot.”

YOU MENTIONED YOU LIKE THESE PACKAGE RACES. WHAT CAN OTHER SERIES ADOPT FROM THIS EVENT FORMAT? “The fans just get more bang for their buck, I guess. Watching two great series, then you also have the feeder series, the junior series, IndyCar Next and obviously the Xfinity series. It’s a lot of racing over the course of a weekend, and it’s good to see. I’d love to see other categories doing the same thing. Seeing a NASCAR race on an F1 weekend for example. I think it brings in a different fanbase, and why not? I think the weekends need to be busier. Race weekends need to be busier for the fans. There is quite a lot of down time – always. It’s really cool. It’s a great idea.”

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES YOU SEE WITH THIS ROAD COURSE, COMPARED TO THE ONE FORMULA 1 COMPETED ON UNTIL 2007? “So after Turn 4, you have that little chicane onto the back straight. We had a sharp right turn and then a sharp left turn, and then a sharp right turn. It’s opened it up a little bit, and it’s a little bit faster there. But then at the end of the lap where we had the banking, and when we had issues with the banking, they added the two corners. I kind of wish they kept that banking in the corner for NASCAR and for IndyCar, because I think it would be more of a spectacle, I guess. It gives us another overtaking opportunity into the third to last corner. They just changed the dynamics and idea around the circuit. But it looks like a good circuit to race on. I watched the Cup race last year, and there was quite a bit of overtaking. Turn 1 is obviously very difficult – heavy braking. There are a couple of places around this track where you can line someone up from three corners back and make the move. So, I think it’s a good racetrack.”

WHEN JUAN PABLO MONTOYA JOINED NASCAR FROM FORMULA 1, HE LIKED THE ASPECT OF GETTING OUT THERE AND JUST RACING. HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED THAT “COOL” ASPECT OF JUST RACING? “I still think there are politics in NASCAR. But, for me, there isn’t. For me, it’s get out there and go racing. I need to send a massive ‘thank you’ to Mobil 1 for giving me this opportunity to do three races in Cup this year. I never expected that. It’s been very enjoyable. I hope this race is better than the last two. Qualifying went well in Chicago, but we had a messy race. But yeah, looking forward to it. Since I left F1, I’ve had loads of fun things. This is definitely up there for the most fun I’ve had in a race car.”

KEVIN HARVICK MENTIONED AT RICHMOND HOW KEELAN HAD TO LEARN HOW TO DO RESTARTS AGAINST EUROPEANS WHO WERE FURTHER AHEAD . DO YOU NOTICE A DIFFERENCE IN LAUNCHING ON RESTARTS BETWEEN RACERS FROM EUROPE TO THOSE IN THE U.S.? “In NASCAR, it’s very different. In NASCAR, I feel that it’s so competitive on restarts. They are way more ‘on it’ than any racing series that I’ve raced in. But in karting, racing in Italy is the best place to race. I know Keelan’s done some racing there. I think it was a bit of a shock initially, but he became very competitive there. It’s the best place to be, and it’s the best place to learn racecraft. You’re also racing against the best guys in the world, because everybody ends up going to Italy to race karts. But when you get higher up in categories, the Cup series for me, from the first lap to the last lap, they are on it – every single lap. There is no rest. You cannot breathe in a race in the Cup series. It’s impressive. It really is. I was shocked when I did my first race in Austin.”

WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO IMPROVE THE MOST HEADING INTO YOUR THIRD NASCAR CUP SERIES START? “I think in terms of one-lap pace, I can pretty much get the best out of the car. I think that’s something I can do. The race is just a different situation, you know? The pit-stops are just very different to what I’m used to. I’ve got better at them, but still. You lose a half of a second in the pits and it’s a couple of places. It’s very, very competitive. These guys do pit-stops every weekend – quite a few times, getting used to not having a speed limiter. So that’s the big thing. Probably the only thing in qualifying that I can improve is one-lap pace. Getting out, and getting the tires working for lap one. I know that Shane, even though he won the race in Chicago, that’s something he found difficult as well. The Cup guys are just so go at getting the tires working immediately and trusting in the car. Whereas, it takes us a little bit longer to trust in what a tire can do. Sometimes, you don’t have that time to wait for a lap to run the tires, because they’ve dropped off already. That’s the only area where I need to improve for this weekend.”

DO YOU HEEL-TOE OR HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT BASED ON SHANE VAN GISBERGEN’S SUCCESS? “I would put his success down to his heel and toeing. I think he’s an immense talent, but also, street circuits are his thing. He races on a street circuit every other week basically. I think that’s just his strength. It was new to everyone, and he’s very quickly learning that type of circuit. So, no. Heel and toeing is an art. When you look at kids growing up now, they’re never going to learn that, because all cars these days normally have a paddle shift on the steering wheel. You use the clutch to maybe pull away, and that’s it. It’s an art that I think everyone should learn. The problem is, for me, is that I haven’t heel-and-toed since 1999. Nothing I race uses heel and toe apart from when I raced Goodwood in the classic cars. So for me to go and jump right to brake, it would feel very strange. I just don’t have the power in that leg to hit the pedal as hard as you need to.”

Toyota Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (August 12, 2023) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to media prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday:

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 SiriusXM Radio Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Can you talk about what it means to win here?

“This is just an incredible venue. It has been around for so long. It has so much history. It is pretty crazy to roll up on this place. My son (Beau) pointed out that I’m on the grandstands over here. It’s pretty surreal. I remember so much of it – those memories will always stay with me.”

Are you sad to see the NASCAR/INDYCAR doubleheader weekend potentially go away?

“I hope if it does go from here, that we do find some other place to do it on the schedule going forward. Both series at the same place is a great opportunity for the drivers, crews and the fans to experience both.”

Does the rain make it more exciting?

“I feel like it’s always really exciting from the driver’s point of view. It feels like we’ve been battling a lot of weather that makes plans uncertain for some, but I think cars are on-track and I think the drivers in all of the series have become more acclimated to running on wet or damp conditions with wet tires. We will see how the track continues to dry, but it will probably be pretty dry, pretty soon, but I always really enjoy it. It works really well.”

What would be your thoughts on going back and forth with the road courses and oval?

“I think it’s just seeing how the test goes. I think a lot of folks in NASCAR, and even me, I enjoy being on the oval, but we need it to be a good race. We need to be able to race each other, and we kind of departed – the style of racing we had in here was really difficult to do anything, right? If we really can’t race each other well and pass, I don’t know if we should really run the oval. We will see shortly. If it works out that we can run both, I think a lot of the diehard NASCAR fans would be excited to see the oval. You will never hear me complain about road course racing.”

Can you talk about the changes to the restart zone?

“I think that is pretty fair honestly. You have to save us from ourselves. These cars are really resilient. The noses and tails are really strong. If we restart or start from where we started in the past, the two times that we have done this, it is just so tempting to try to out-brake the other car and then you are eight-wide and there is no room into turn one. I think it is the right move. I felt like at Chicago, it was damp, and it was single file – if you still had a good enough awareness of your braking zone was, you could still pass going into the corner going single file. You will still see plenty of racing on the restarts – just won’t be as chaotic, I guess. I think that is what we need. You see guys in there that are running top-five all day just getting wiped out because someone from 15th decides to jam it in there.”

Can you talk about the pit crew situation?

“It’s a part of the process. The team is young and building, and doing the things that they need to do. It’s just part of it. It can get frustrating at times for sure, as I’m sure that everyone heard, but we are working through it. We keep doing the difficult parts of it. It’s really difficult to win a race if you don’t bring fast race cars, and we’ve been bringing a lot of fast race cars – we will just keep putting ourselves in those positions and hopefully we will grow on pit road and continue to learn from our mistakes. That’s the biggest thing – learn from our mistakes and move forward, then it is all worth it.”

How chaotic do you expect Daytona to be?

“It will be really crazy for sure. There are a lot of good drivers that aren’t locked in that are capable of winning there. From my side of things, I’m safe for the most part, just trying to win as many stages and races between here and there. From Bubba’s (Wallace) point of view, it’s getting stage points and win a race before he gets there – I know he would love to do that too. They are doing their part. They are getting safer and safer from that danger zone. I’ve been in that position a few years ago, which was one of the most stressful three hours of my life – it’s never going to end, it feels like it could come apart at any moment.”

What does it mean to you to be alongside the incredible winner list here at Indianapolis?

“it’s pretty crazy, honestly. I never got to come experience a lot of racing here when I was younger – but I always watched, always paid attention. That Sunday earlier in the year when Monaco is on, Indy is on and then we go race the 600 is probably one of my favorite days of the year to be able to watch so much motorsports. I hope to be able, one day, to be here for it all on that Sunday in the future. I always enjoyed watching it. It feels like the racer’s holiday, but being on the walls in the museum here is pretty crazy. It didn’t seem real in the moment, when it happened last year, but the trophy is real. I hope to be able to do it again.”

How aggressive do you need to be on road courses?

“It all falls on where the pace of our car is. If it pace of our car is really good, I can kind of do our deal. If we need to find a little bit of speed, I just up the aggression until I find the limit and not step over it. Hopefully, we have really good pace here. At COTA, Sonoma and Chicago, we had plenty of pace – it just came down to execution. I’m excited to see once we get on track in a little bit on what track conditions are. It might take me a little bit longer to figure it out. I always felt like this track is pretty straight forward for me. I’ve always really enjoyed it. We will see where we stack up with the field and if we need to push more we will.”

Can you talk about the learnings you had in your post-race debrief after Michigan?

“That’s one of the difficult things about it. At Nashville a few while back, I felt like we had something similar happen, where we are waiting on fuel there. Obviously at Michigan, we were. It’s just something we’ve got to be better at. We just have to be on top of it. I’m not innocent either. I’ve made plenty of mistakes this year. I feel like I’ve cost our team two chances of winning from driver mistakes at Richmond and at Chicago Street Course. We all make mistakes. It’s part of it. We’ve got to learn from it and move on and we can’t repeat the mistakes.”

Do you look at what Shane van Gisbergen did braking wise in Chicago?

“I think it is definitely I’ll try to play around with but it’s not something that I’m good at by any means. I’ve never heel-to-toe braked in my life. I’m really bad at it, but I think there is always going to be certain conditions that will allow that to be an advantage potentially – having that extra little bit of control. In damp conditions here, it might be useful, but the sun is out. It is drying out. At a place like Chicago, where you don’t have a lot of room for error – it’s an extra way to try control your rear tires when you have something go wrong. Certainly, I feel like I was able to brake the way that he was able to brake, right foot brake the way that he was able to, in Chicago, I probably don’t crash into the tire barrier, but I wasn’t going to pick it up in 12 hours.”

Do you have to have a conversation after things are said on the radio that are pushed out socially?

“I think the best thing you can do is let it go, let it out. Worse thing you can do is sit on it and let it fester, right? If you are frustrated, I think there is a time and place. That situation – it is better just to get it out. Move on, debrief about and get ready for a big week ahead in Indy. Obviously, can’t complain every week like that on the radio, and I try not to. Safe it for when it matters. You never want to lose your cool, but certainly, if you are hot about something, it’s best to let it go and move on. If you sit on it for weeks and weeks and weeks, and don’t let it out, it’s not helping the situation for sure.”

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 24 electrified options.

Toyota Racing – Kamui Kobayashi
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (August 12, 2023) – 23XI Racing driver Kamui Kobayashi was made available to media prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday:

KAMUI KOBAYASHI, No. 67 Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

How has this weekend played out for you so far?

“It’s been a long preparation for myself. I’ve been traveling from Japan three times from Europe to Charlotte and I was preparing being here at the Indy Road Course. I’m really happy to finally get here. I think the preparation was pretty good. I think 23XI helped me to get here and be pretty confident. Obviously, I think Toyota and TRD, USA have helped me a lot in the simulator sessions to be prepared for this road course. Honestly, I think with my preparation and everything that I’m 100% ready for this weekend.”

What have you learned so far about what the Next Gen car?

“I think I had a rookie test, so I knew the car and how it is heavier in terms of driving. Honestly, I think just concerns of 20 minutes of practice here and then straight to qualifying. Obviously, we need to prepare as much as we can but 20 minutes it’s not enough time, but this is how it is. I will say the car behavior is challenging for me because I’ve never driven such less downforce with the weight. I think weight transfer in the car is different than what I’m used to driving. When I did rookie test at VIR it was pretty good. Just after a couple laps I feel pretty confident. I think here after rookie test I would say it’s not too bad to be honest and with all the preparation helped my confidence level as well.”

Is there anything about this car that compares to something you have driven?

“No. You’re driving and even you’re fighting on the straight. Be on the straight before braking because that’s quite important. When we’re racing in my race car on the straight it’s just you’re relaxed, but this car you’re still fighting on the straight. Obviously, it’s a new challenge for me but it’s still the racing is good with this kind of car because it’s like the drivers are fighting all the way.”

Are you prepared for how aggressive the racing is in NASCAR?

“I think at the end of the day, yes, you need to fight if you’re racing but I think at the same time we need to manage the car because I think to finish the race here as competitive and be that yes, I think you’re fight all of the way but you need to protect your car to be ready in the last part (of the race). It’s not only to fight is the most important, but you have to manage all of the race. Any race is the same. When you’re doing an endurance race for example, you need to manage the car. It’s not only fighting for 24 hours, it’s just you manage yourself. Once you have a good opportunity, you just maintain the gap. You manage the car, be ready because I think after you get to the caution, because obviously the pack is down again and you have to restart. When you have the best car, you’re at an advantage. I use my previous experience as much as I can and I believe if there’s good speed myself, you need to manage the car. I think that’s how you fight in the racing here.”

Did you go to the truck race last night for fun or do learn about team communication?

“I think when you’re in the United States for example, when I have time I want to watch the racing as much as I can. Stock car race or the oval race, it’s really fun. I knew exactly what they do, but when you go to an oval track it’s something new for me and I really enjoy. I think honestly starting 9 o’clock (p.m.) and finishing at 11 something in my racing career. Green flag normally 9 a.m. and finishing at like 17. That’s the normal hour green flag time in the race track. Here has been different. I definitely enjoy and when I looked around at all the people I was like, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’ When I spoke to Jenson about NASCAR he said these guys are fighting all of the way and you have to be ready because when you do Formula 1 or endurance race. When you are in good position you manage the car, you handle to be when you are ready. You kind of managing the race control but here all the way you need to fight because guys fighting really tough. I think he reminded me that this is difference race but still I’m looking forward to this weekend especially my first race in NASCAR. I’ve been definitely looking forward to it. I will do my best. It’s hard to say what that will be but I think it will definitely be a challenging next two days.”

Did you listen to your spotter at all?

“When you talked to spotter people there’s always an earful. Honestly, I’m used to that when I did 24 hour of Daytona for example. The guys helped me. We’ll see how it goes.”

Is it feasible to take NASCAR over to Japan?

“Honestly, that’s not really the goal but I think there’s potential. The Japanese people are looking forward to more NASCAR because we don’t have any broadcasts for last couple years. Honestly, we have no information, but NASCAR does a really good race show. Why don’t we have this kind of race on the broadcast? The problem is the guys are doing really good job and a lot of good drivers and then if you come into Japan and you say NASCAR they will say “What is NASCAR?” Why? They should be more familiar with how NASCAR works because we have a lot of spectators in Japan when you go to Japanese motorsports – to Formula 1 and the Japanese Grand Prix for example. We’ve got such a lot of people but because there’s no broadcast stuff nobody knows about NASCAR. But, this time Japanese company is broadcasting and it’s quite positive and people are looking forward to watch this race. We’ll see how it goes. I think at least we need to have broadcast to see what NASCAR is and I think that’s going to make it better.”

How do you prepare for qualifying?

“I think the first time here I’ve been to the Indy road course so I think in the practice I need to run as much as I can. However, I think this is our job and we have to deal with any situation and do our best. Honestly, in qualifying, I think we need only one good lap. We have to prepare the tire condition for one good lap. I don’t really care the second lap because we just need one lap. That’s what we are doing when we arrive. Honestly, I think more concerning for me is how I run the track, how I feel the car on this track and then I think as soon as myself quite comfortable I think we’ll be fine. Feeling is the most important.”

How much does practice prepare you for this?

“Sometimes, racing is like this but honestly, I’m pretty confident because in this time we have high technology simulator and the guys helped me with how to drive and taking line. I think you have to run as much as you can and you need to work on it. For sure, it’s not the best way but at the end of this is how you fight as you’re a professional.”

Are you good with heel-toe braking?

“No. When I was 16 years old I had an H-button shift so actually I didn’t at all. But I don’t want to come back to this so I stick with NASCAR guys doing. Just I do left foot brake and right throttle. This shouldn’t be a problem. I think SVJ did a great job in Chicago but also I think road track in mixed conditions and the wet, that’s helped him to winning. Honestly, the way I think that can work but at the same time there’s downside as well so I just use my standard procedure. I use left foot brake usually. I think I’m just going to tell myself and focus more on this because I’m not really familiar this time. I think that can be a benefit but it’s a downside as well. There’s not like you’re going to benefit everything from that.”

Is that something that sports-car racing people do?

“No. I don’t think so. This time you have everything automatic so you don’t need it.”

Have you heard from Jimmie Johnson?

“He sent me a message two days ago. Are you coming? He said no. Okay, I don’t know why, but yeah.”

Who have you leaned on the most?

“Honestly, I think my teammates. Tyler (Reddick), I think he helped me to how you drive the NASCAR Cup car. Honestly, I think he is a good driver here especially he been winning last year and he won this year in Austin. I think he definitely will be the biggest help to me because he’s my teammate. He’s doing a lot of hard work behind the company. I have big respect for him. He helped me become teammates but how he helped me to get here and the guy is really nice. I have a big respect. Once you’re on track you’re fighting. It’s not only fighting, you have to respect each other when you’re driving the car. You fight in the speed. This is how we are as a driver. We always had a talk about how we take a line, how we driving the car. It’s not a lot of bullshit, it’s more the focus about the race car, how it drives fast. I think we had a good work to be honest.”

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 24 electrified options.