NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
HIGHPOINT.COM 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 21, 2023

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media ahead doing double duty in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series at Pocono Raceway this weekend. Media Availability Quotes –

CURIOUS GOING BACK TO LAST YEAR. DID YOU GET TO KEEP THE TROPHY OR DID YOU LET DENNY (HAMLIN) HAVE IT?

“He actually gave me the trophy, but he kept the flag though because I think his little girl was pretty married to the flag. So, it was all good. I appreciate him sending me the trophy though we didn’t win it outright. I certainly would have rather won it the way he won it, but maybe this year.”

IT’S GOING TO BE DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO POINT YOUR WAY INTO THE PLAYOFFS. WHAT TRACK COMING UP IS GOING TO BE YOUR BEST CHANCE TO WIN AT?

“I hope here this weekend. My thought process since all this has happened is that we are going to have to win. That is kind of what everybody was saying until we had a few good weeks of points and then everybody was like ‘oh, he can point his way in’. So, the storylines can change pretty fast.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE DEFENDING WINNER OF THE RACE FROM LAST YEAR?

“Not at all.. not even close. We were credited with the win, but I don’t feel like we had a stellar run. We were decent, but certainly not like we came up here and dominated the race like you want to have happen. So, a little bit of a different vibe and I am not sure that I really….certainly not in the NASCAR time, I never remember being gifted a win like that. Any other time, maybe over the years somewhere, but certainly not since I have been doing this stuff.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN MORE OF A RHYTHM THAN YOU WERE A FEW WEEKS AGO?

“Yeah, I mean we had a couple of good runs that I thought were trending in the right direction. Loudon was terrible. We struggled all weekend really, which I was disappointed and I think as a team, we all were. We had a good test up there a couple of months ago and it hasn’t been a great track for me, so I was super excited to get some extra laps, and go up there and try to get better at a place that hasn’t been super good. I thought we did that and made a lot of gains, and went back and we were just horrendous. We didn’t really understand why – we came back in a very similar manner to when we left and we just missed. That stuff happens, unfortunately.

Yeah, didn’t have the run we wanted to have last weekend obviously, but I thought the prior three to four weeks to my recollection were certainly better and in the ballgame. That was good, and it’s in there, we just have to extract it.”

WHERE IS THE BALANCE OF THE TEAM, AS FAR AS GOING FOR WINS OR POINTS?

“We just have to go and do our jobs to the best of our ability, and show up every weekend and make sure we are prepared – thinking about the right things, talking about the right things and making sure that I am honing in on every piece of my craft and what I need to focus on that weekend from track-to-track. The road courses – everybody likes to talk about that, that I was this really good road racer two or three years ago, but now we haven’t won one and that has cooled off too. So, it’s just that narratives change really fast. The fun part of the position that I am in, and that our team is in, is we have the ability to change those narratives and we can make you’ll write about all kinds of stuff if we just go do our jobs. That is kind of how I look at it and I think that for us, as we look at the tracks coming up, this weekend I think is an opportunity. Has it been a phenomenal racetrack for me? No, it hasn’t, but it is an opportunity to get better. And you want to try to improve and that is where my head is at. I want to get better and I want to be fighting for wins each week and kind of get in the mix of those guys that when you walk in here after the race, you are not surprised to see have won an event. That is the group that I have always wanted to be in and just let the rest figure itself out. If I am up here and we are fighting for top fives and fighting for wins on a weekly basis, I am good. The rest of the stuff is going to work itself out eventually. That has always been my headspace, so it’s no different. No different today and I think we are very capable of doing that. Like I said, we just have to put the pieces together at the right time and extract our potential and we will be fine.”

LOOKING AT THE STATS, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE NOT THAT CLOSE..

“Like I said, I think last weekend certainly was not very good. The prior two or three weeks before that, I thought were. Did we lead any laps in those events? Probably not. But we were running up front and inside the top five and putting together solid races. So from that standpoint, I think that is a pretty good weekend, in my opinion. If you are in those front two or three rows on the final two or three restarts, I consider that going in the right direction. So, I think we just have to keep working hard, keep….as I said a few minutes ago, thinking about the right things, talking about the right things, and I think we are doing that.

And I don’t see any reason why we can’t go and have a good run here this weekend and keep chipping away. That is all we can do. As I look back at last year, we had a really hot start or a hot summer stretch. We were decent at the start – had a good summer stretch and we struggled probably from about this time last year all the way through the end of the season and were just trying to get back on track and put some of those good runs together. So, I think it’s there. It’s just riding the wave. It’s like my dad has said over the years – you just have to ride the wave and continue to put the work in, and it will work itself out.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DIFFICUTLY AND ART OF QUALIFYING HERE AND HOW YOU LOOK AT IT?

“To Bob’s point, I am not the person to be asking about qualifying if you haven’t noticed. I used to qualify okay, but we just haven’t qualified well in a while. So, I guess we had a couple of good starts a few weeks ago. Heck, I don’t know from that standpoint. My philosophy on qualifying has always been dialing in where I feel like the car needs to drive from a race-based perspective. And when you put on four tires, it should go faster. And that has always been my approach – when you put on better tires, it should go better. Yes, the balance might need to shift a little here or there and you might try and find that trend and then hit it each week. But I think that all starts with a really solid setup from a race-based perspective and go from there. It’s always my philosophy and I am not going to change that. We are going to keep trucking in that direction and try to get better.”

HOW ABOUT QUALIFYING HERE AT POCONO?

“Yeah, I think qualifying in general has changed over the course of my career. When we first came in, we were having Friday practices that were dedicated strictly for qualifying and we had these really elaborate qualifying setups that we would have to make one fast lap with weight distributed in different parts of the car and everyone was doing it. The schedules changed some and you had less that you could do from a one lap type situation and now even less than then with not even being able to tape up and things for qualifying. So, I think that has changed the qualifying aspect a little bit more than anything. Again, I think it comes back to getting your car driving like you want it to from a long run perspective, and when you put on four tires, you should be able to extract more pace from it.”

HOW DIFFERENT IS IT INTERNALLY FOR THE NO. 9 TEAM IN BEING ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN?

“Yeah, it’s certainly different from last year, but I think it has been in some ways enjoyable to find new challenges and kind of push yourself in different areas. It doesn’t really feel a ton different I guess than like a Playoff run, like in the final 10. In those situations like in years past….like last year when we had a good year, we had a lot of Playoff points going into the post-season and I am glad we did because that got us to Phoenix (Raceway). But in years that we didn’t, it was about that you had to show up every week and really get it in those last 10 if you wanted to advance, and that is really kind of how it feels now. I have always enjoyed those final 10 weeks just because of that. You show up to the race track every week and there was something on the line. There always is, don’t take me wrong. It is to me, it’s a little more fun knowing that it’s kind of ‘make or break’. You either get in, or you don’t. It’s up to us to go and try to achieve that. So, it feels very similar to a Playoff situation without having many Playoff points.”

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS BEEN GOOD AT POCONO RACEWAY FOR YEARS, BUT OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A NEW CAR. WITH YOU AND ALEX’S (BOWMAN) TEAMS BOTH ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN RIGHT NOW, IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON POCONO THIS WEEKEND KNOWING THERE’S ONLY SIX MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE TWO OF YOU TO GET INTO THE PLAYOFFS AT THIS POINT?

“No.. they all matter. They all pay the same amount of points to win or whatever. It matters.. they all matter.”

WHAT HAS YOUR CREW CHIEF TALKED TO YOU ABOUT, AS FAR AS THE SUCCESS THIS YEAR, BECAUSE YOU HAVE SEVEN TOP-10’S IN THIS SEASON ALONE AND WITH THE PLAYOFFS COMING UP SOON. WHAT IS YOUR CREW CHIEF TALKING TO YOU ABOUT TO TRY AND MOTIVATE YOU TO GET THAT SUCCESS THAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR?

“We’re all motivated, and we’re always motivated. I’m hired to go and do a job, and my job is no different than any one person on our team, at the shop or wherever it may be. We all have an objective and an assignment, and we all want to deliver, no matter what your obligation is. The motivation is always there for that reason alone. I want to go do a good job. I want to do my part and make sure I’m holding up my end of the bargain. We’re not talking about motivating one another.. we’re talking about how we can be better at the upcoming track – what kind of balance trends we’ve had in years past; what kind of trends we’ve fought or had over the last few weeks; where have we made improvements; what have we not improved upon. So it’s really all performance-related in our conversations, honestly. He knows that when I show up to the race track, I’m going to give him my all. And I know when I show up to the race track, he’s going to give me his, and we’ve had that agreement since day one. I’ll never question that and he won’t either.”

WHERE WERE YOU AND HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THE WIN AT POCONO RACEWAY LAST YEAR, AND WAS THERE ANY KIND OF CELEBRATION AT THE SHOP THAT WEEK?

“No, there was no celebration. I didn’t want to celebrate it, personally. That’s not how I want to win a race, personally. I don’t think anyone at Hendrick Motorsports or on the No. 9 team in particular wants to win that way. We all want to go win them out-right and make sure we feel like we earned it. We want to earn it every week.

So no, there was really no celebration. Heck, I was on the way home so when I landed, I had a couple text messages saying ‘hey, you won the race’. And I was like ‘we won the race.. no, we ran third’. Yeah, so that’s how I found out. It was just weird.. the whole deal was kind of odd. But it is what it is – it wasn’t anything I did, it just worked out, I guess.”

TALK ABOUT RUNNING THE XFINITY RACE HERE THIS WEEKEND. IS IT JUST TO GET SOME SEAT TIME? IS IT TO LEARN SOME THINGS FOR THE CUP SERIES RACE ON SUNDAY?

“Yeah, the opportunity – Jeff Andrews, Chad (Knaus), Alan (Gustafson) and that whole group at Hendrick Motorsports asked me if I was interested in doing it. I guess the schedule for the car has kind of changed a little bit with HMS entering a Xfinity car. They’ve predominately been doing road courses, and they’ve been tossing around the idea of maybe doing an oval or something here or there. So yeah, I threw my name in the hat and said – hey, if an opportunity comes up, I’d love to drive and this is one of the tracks that I would love to have some more time at. And just the way the schedule worked out and the timing of them getting the car built and things, it just landed here. I was super interested in doing it and would love to maybe do some more. I’m not sure – I don’t think anyone really knows what the schedule for this car is, internally or externally. So we’re just kind of going with the flow and making sure that whenever we do decide to go race, we do it the right way – everybody is prepared and we have the car built like we want to have it built and things inside of Hendrick Motorsports.

Just appreciate them letting me drive it and would love to have a good run this weekend for that reason alone. HENDRICKCARS.COM has been a part of my career for a long time. Obviously with my relationship there and obviously the number and the car is very special to Mr. Hendrick and Linda, so would love to put a good run together for them. And also for me, just try to help myself for Sunday.”

A LOT OF GUYS THAT ARE ON THE CUTLINE HAVE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES – PITTING AT DIFFERENT TIMES TO HOPEFULLY CATCH LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU’RE ALREADY CONSIDERING IN DOING OR IS THAT MORE DOWN THE STRETCH?

“I think that’s more down the stretch. A lot of those decisions are made based on how you’re running, really. If you’re out front and have the race under control, I think your call would be different than it would be if you were struggling. You look at like last weekend as an example – as bad as we were running, Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) is going to call a race differently versus how the No. 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) was running, right? Those guys had a nice lead and you can just call a race a little differently in that position versus needing to try to make something happen, or taking a chance even though you know it’s going to net out slower to maybe try and catch a caution or something. So I think all of those decisions are really made kind of on the spot and really based on how you’re running at the time.”

I KNOW YOU SAID EVERY TRACK IS IMPORTANT FOR THE NEXT SIX WEEKS, BUT IS THERE ONE THAT YOU FEEL STICKS OUT WHERE YOU HAVE THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO GET A WIN AND LOCK YOURSELF INTO THE PLAYOFFS?

“I don’t think so. I’m sure everybody wants me to say a road course or something here or there, but no I don’t feel that way. Again, like I said, I want to have that opportunity every week. That’s where I want to be. That’s the position you need to be in to go and have a legitimate shot of winning the actual whole deal. You have one magic race track that gets you in the playoffs.. that’s not going to get you to Phoenix (Raceway). You’re not going to ride that one miracle all the way through. Yeah, we want to be good every week and we’re capable of being good every week. It’s not just that we want to, it’s that we’re capable of doing it. We need to go and make it happen. That’s where I want to get to and we’re going to keep working really hard to get there, and hopefully we can get in the show. And if we don’t, we’re going to continue to work really hard throughout the rest of the year – whether we get in or not – to try and win, improve and make ourselves better.”

THE ONLY TIME YOU’VE EVER BEEN TO POCONO RACEWAY IN A XFINITY CAR WAS 2018 AND YOU FINISHED SECOND IN THAT RACE. I KNOW IT WAS AWHILE AGO, BUT DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING AT ALL FROM THAT RACE THAT YOU CAN STILL APPLY FOR TOMORROW?

“I remember it now that you say that, but I totally forgot about that.. I kind of forgot that I’ve run one up here. Yeah, when I was running Xfinity full-time, we didn’t race here at that point the way the schedule was worked out.

Yeah, it’s been awhile. I remember the race, but I certainly don’t remember much about our car or all the little stuff. We’ll see today.”

THERE WAS A TIME WHERE WE SAW CUP DRIVERS NOT RACE AS MUCH IN THE OTHER SERIES BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T FEEL LIKE IT PAID A BENEFIT ON SUNDAY’S. BUT NOW THAT SHIFT IS CHANGING A LITTLE BIT, WE’RE SEEING MORE OF IT. IS IT MORE TOMORROW ABOUT ‘WIN OR BUST’, OR IS IT JUST EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES TO SEE IF THERE IS NOW A DIFEFRENCE SINCE THE CARS ARE CHANGING AGAIN AND THERE IS A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A COMPATIBILITY?

“Well I haven’t driven one in a while, so I don’t know if it is compatible or not. From the outside looking in, I feel like there’s really more differences than there are similarities when you really dive into the fine details of it all. But I think there are a lot of positives from having a Xfinity car in-house for a number of reasons. Sure – from a driver’s standpoint, if you can pick up something that weekend, but also from a crew member’s standpoint. Finding and making sure that road crew guys are experienced and also used to the culture of whatever race shop that they’re working in. Hendrick Motorsports, for us – I think it can be a really useful tool for all of us to get our feet wet in a series that’s not Cup. And potentially better prepare new hires, guys that are going over the wall, or whatever it may be of being on the road and working in that environment. Building a car at the level that we want to build them at HMS on the Cup side. So I think there’s more benefit to it than just from a driver’s perspective. I think company-wide, it can benefit all of us.”

(NO MIC.)

“Yeah, I think the whole piece. Just getting different faces, sometimes fresh faces, all in the same room together, all at the same race track, in the same garage area with the same goal in mind – I think is very useful, I guess is what I was trying to say.”

I KNOW YOU SAID AFTER THE CHICAGO STREET RACE THAT SVG’S WIN MADE CUP DRIVERS LOOK BAD. NOW LOOKING FURTHER AHEAD TO THE INDIANAPOLIS ROAD COURSE, YOU HAVE TO RACE HIM AND BRODIE KOSTECKI. YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?

“Yeah, I didn’t know he was coming back, so that’s awesome. I hope all of those guys come and run more races because I think it’ll make us better at the end of the day. That’s super cool and I’m glad to hear that he got another opportunity. I mean the guy went and won the race – he deserves to race however much he wants. But I think that’s great and I’m looking forward to having him and looking forward to racing with him again. As I alluded to up in Chicago, I thought his drive was not only impressive, but very classy. You didn’t see him running over people. He didn’t run over people to go win the race. I thought he did it the right way and that is very admirable, and I think people like that deserve great opportunities. Looking forward to having him back and racing against both of those guys.”

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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
HIGHPOINT.COM 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 21, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1, met with the media on Friday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. Media availability quotes:

WHERE WERE YOU AND HOW DID YOU FIND OUT LAST YEAR THAT YOU HAD BEEN DQ’D?

“Driving back to the airport after the race.”

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THAT?

“Yeah, it was a surprise that it happened for sure. Having no idea of anything about that, would come as a surprise – getting a second-place finish taken away from you, but it wasn’t as bad as a win.”

WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR ANY OF YOUR TRUCK SERIES DRIVERS TO SCORE KBM’S 100TH WIN TONIGHT?

“Yeah, it would certainly be nice. We have been talking about it for way too long. That would be good. Again, just having too many opportunities slip away for sure over the last three years, and to not have gotten to 100 by now. Only winning one race last year, only winning one race this year….you know, its been pretty lackluster. So, it would be nice to come out here and have a good, strong run with our Zariz Transport Silverado and get back in victory circle.”

HOW HUNGRY ARE YOU COMING TO A TRACK WHERE YOU HAVE WON FOUR TIMES SINCE 2017?

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say the hunger diminishes in any week more so than the next. Missed opportunity last week. I couldn’t carry it. I tried like hell to carry it, just couldn’t do it. You know, so, that hurt us last week in not finishing and at least score some points. Short track package has been our nemesis and still is. So many ideas have been thrown around and we have tried different ideas and concepts and none of them have hit it yet. Obviously, we haven’t found the golden ticket.”

REGARDING THE SECRET TO RECENT SUCCESS AT POCONO

“It was a lot of things. Definitely having a better understanding of how to attack the track and having a better set up that would allow me to be able to run the grooves and everything that I needed to run. When the repave happened here – I am terrible on repaves for a few years. Its finally getting to the point, the last five or six years, that the track has gotten some age on it and some character to it and stuff like that. Spraying the PJ1 allows you to widen it out and run different grooves. You don’t have to follow in the guy behind yours’ wake, because that’s the fastest way around. Not having that here this weekend will be interesting to see if we are back to square one with single groove or what happens in that. All-in-all, in 2014 we started to hit on something with Dave Rodgers and then right after that in 2015 with Adam (Stevens). It felt just super easy and just clicked. We have been fast here ever since that, so hoping that Randall (Burnett) and the boys have a good Lenovo Camaro for me to race this time around and to have some good success again being at RCR.”

AFTER SEVERAL RACES IN THE BOOKS WITH THE SHORT TRACK PACKAGE, HOW BIG OF A CONCERN IS THAT FOR YOU?

“It’s a big concern. You know, again, we are just trying to figure it out. How many things we have tried, I can’t even comprehend to tell you. Obviously, we haven’t hit on it yet. We have Richmond coming up next week, so we have to find something that is going to work for us there. Definitely some conceptual ideas that are going around again, on what to do. We will just have to play it out and see how it goes.”

WHAT EXACTLY WAS WRONG LAST WEEK? BECAUSE THERE WERE THREE SEPARATE INCIDENTS

“It was the same thing every time. Just loose, no grip. I can’t feel the rear or back of the car getting into the corners, on entry, especially getting into the turn. Just tiptoeing and just trying to hold the steering wheel straight and not give it wheel. And anytime you give it wheel and ask for it to pull the car through the corner, the rear just steps out and the rear can’t hold it. So, that was our biggest issue. That has been our biggest issue on all short tracks.”

ARE YOU FLABBERGASTED ABOUT LAST WEEK OR DO YOU NEED WEEKS LIKE THAT WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE SHORT TRACK PACKAGE?

“Well, I would say that…..how many short track races have we had? Six? Five? Okay, enough is enough. I don’t think we need any more bad ones to prove that we are bad at them. We need to find what the answer is to be good at them. I know we are all working as hard as we can and I am at the simulator six hours a week, every week, trying to figure it out. We are doing different things and this week we tried some more stuff this week that kind of hit on what our issues were. We were trying to recreate the issues that we had at the track, in the sim. So we feel like we had a little bit of the right direction on that this time around. Again, we will see if that is the case in what we found, but it would certainly be nice if it was just as easy as copy and paste. Like if you could just copy the 5 or the 24, but the 24 ran terrible last week too. Both of those cars were arguably the fastest cars at Richmond the last time around. So, I don’t think it just comes that easy so we have to find out exactly what the right levers and buttons are to push and pull.”

WHAT IS YOUR SENSE OF HOW SHANE VAN GISBERGEN IS GOING TO BE AT INDIANAPOLIS ON THE ROAD COURSE?

“I would say he is the favorite going in. For sure. I would say that the gap will be closer from Chicago to the rest of the field that he had. He had us all beat by six to eight tenths of a second a lap. I would say going into Indy we should all be within two to three tenths, but he will still be the best guy.”

HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO RACE WITH BRODIE KOSTECKI AND HAVE YOU GIVEN HIM ANY ADVICE?

“Yeah, we tested together our V8 Supercar that we have at RCR earlier this year. So, he was there when we first went out and I think he had me covered by about two seconds a lap and then as the day kind of progressed, and by the end of the day, we actually ran times that were real comparable and right on top of his. It just took me a while to get used to those cars and what they are and how you can really attack corners. Just various driving techniques that those cars take, but I think those guys are all very good at what they do, and they really understand the heavy stock car feel and basis for these road courses. So, I would assume that he will be strong as well. Hopefully I can lean on him and learn a lot from him and have some time in the sim and stuff like that with him that will allow us to be better off when we get there as well and better prepared.”

HAS THERE BEEN ANY NOTICIBLE DIFFERENCE IN SWITCHING MANUFACTURERS IN YOUR TRUCK TEAM AS FAR AS PERFORMANCE?

“I would have said right after Vegas that it was seamless and we are actually better off, you know? We won Vegas in dominating fashion earlier this year and all of us qualified 1-2-3. It was really, really good and gave us high optimism for the year, but since then it just hasn’t quite gone that way. Kansas was a struggle for us and we were just super off on balance. We did not have a very good feel there for what we needed from sim. So for Pocono, I didn’t do any sim stuff for here. I just told them to rely on past notes because we have always been really, really fast here. Just look at what balances we need and go from there and we will see what happens again, with no PJ1 being sprayed down. I would like to think that our stuff is just fine and its just as good as it should be. Unfortunately, William (Byron) didn’t get any wins in his races that he was with us either. So that was another head scratcher and a bit unfortunate. We know we have to get better and there are some things that we are lacking on. I have tried to voice that, so hopefully we can remedy.”

WHAT HAVE YOU TOLD YOUR TEAM TO MAKE SURE YOU DON’T HAVE THE GEAR ISSUE AGAIN?

“Just make sure the clutch is bled and works good. And that is about it. No, that was kind of an ironic situation the way that all worked out. The clutch went out and I was stuck in high gear and the way that the fuel mileage race was, it was perfect fuel mileage for the end of the race and me being able to kind of save and conserve fuel. The rest of the pack was on a different fuel strategy so they had to pit or stop and that gave us the opportunity to get the lead.”

HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF TRYING TO WIN A TRUCK SERIES TITLE WHEN YOUR TIME IS DONE IN CUP?

“Yeah, I mean I kind of tried that back in the day. 2008, 2009, somewhere in there where I ran as many races as I possibly could. There were some races where it gets expensive trying to fly back and forth and the only way to do that is private air travel obviously. Then the rules all came about where you can’t run that and so whatever. Obviously, it’s kind of been an idea of mine you know and not necessarily why KBM is still going, but obviously we give back to the sport a lot by doing that and all the drivers that have come through there over the years. I would like to give back to me a little bit, or take from it, as I get closer to hanging it up. And then obviously turning it over the Brexton.”

WHAT WAS YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS IN RUNNING DOUBLE DUTY HERE AT POCONO RATHER THAN ANY OTHER TRACK?

“You want the truth? I am only allowed so many races to choose from on the truck side, so this was about one of the only ones that was left that I could choose. With all the limitations on the Cup drivers in being able to race in the lower divisions, I was out of options. So, that is just kind of why it was. I enjoy coming to Pocono, I don’t mind racing here, I have won a couple of times in the trucks. But it is nice to just get back out there and see what we have and work on our program at KBM and evaluate. So, it will be nice to kind of get my final shakedown of that for this year and a brand-new truck. I look forward to learning the most we can.”

DO YOU THINK DRIVERS SHOULD BE DISQUALIFIED OR DO YOU THINK THE WIN SHOULD STAND?

“I think we have had this debate for years. To me it depends on the severity of it, right? Like the piece of tape that was there, last year, for that infraction, I felt like it was a bit over the top. Obviously, it was a blatant thing that shouldn’t have been there, but honestly if it was something missed, then that is the price we have to pay as a team. We win and we lose together. So the cars have to be right, and more right now than ever because the rules and the infractions are just so stiff.”

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.

Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

POCONO, Penn. (July 21, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series event at the Pocono Raceway on Friday:

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

What do you look from last year’s results to help with this season?
“Pocono is one of the tracks that the notes from last year should corollate pretty well, because it is the second time here with the same package. That’s always rewarding. The Toyota cars got a slight body change over the offseason, so we will just have to compare notes to what we did at the other intermediates, but the intermediates have been good for us, so it is definitely a track that we can definitely perform well at. It’s always one that I look forward going to.”

How do you view the battle for the regular season championship after last weekend’s results?

“It’s definitely getting further out of sight that is for sure, but now it is just a matter of getting all we can. Whether that be second, third – whatever the case may be. We’ve had a couple of really – not a couple, several really poor finishes in a row here. It would be nice to get to the checkered flag without an incident. I think our performance is certainly capable of competing for it, but the way the last few weeks have gone, I don’t know if that is realistic anymore.”

On the accident last week, was that on you or something else?

“I was just trying to get too much and a mental mistake that cost me a bunch of points.”

Is doing the short-track test at Richmond going to provide any other information than it would have provided at New Hampshire?

“That’s a good question. Me, personally, I probably don’t care, but I know a lot of guys pushed against Richmond with the tracks that NASCAR brought up. In our meeting, a lot of guys said that Richmond probably isn’t the place to do it because tire wear is so big and there is a pretty big difference between good cars on long runs, and not good cars on long runs. They were worried that the cars would get a little more separated at Richmond than they would at a place with low tire derogation like a place like Loudon. It is interesting that Richmond was first on the list, and the driver’s kind of deterred against it and now that is where we are going.”

Does your previous success and test here give you more pressure going into this weekend?

“I would say yes, but looking at the last couple of races, Loudon is probably one of my best tracks and we didn’t get a good finish there. Certainly, I think every race track that we go to, we are capable of running well, and generally, we have been running well in the race – just not finishing well. Pocono is at least a place that typically gets a little more spread out. Restarts are always hectic here, but if we can just – I say we, but the last couple weeks have been on me, not we, it’s been on me – if I can just execute restarts and get in position to have a solid finish where I don’t have to overdrive the car, I think we will be alright. I’ve done a really bad job behind the wheel the last couple of weeks at the end of the races on closing them out.”

How do you feel about the Playoffs?

“Certainly, the Playoff schedule is really good for us. I think all of the tracks – minus Talladega, and I think a lot of drivers would be scared of Talladega to, but all of the tracks are really good for us, and the performance has been extremely well, and the cars have been really fast, but execution has really lacked and that is something that really scares me going into the Playoffs. We’ve got a month and a half here, six races or so to get it cleaned up, but if the Playoffs would be starting tomorrow, I would be worried about it.”

Does running the Truck Series give you any benefit for the Cup Series race?

“Pocono is a unique track and one that we only go to once a year, so I would say it would be a little bit beneficial. The cars and trucks are now so entirely different, so there is not a bunch that you can take back and forth, but definitely getting track time is not going to be an hinderance for sure.”

What are the challenges that Shane Van Gisbergen going to face at Indianapolis that he didn’t face at Chicago?

“I would say just the fact that we have all been there – I say we as the Cup group – for a number of years now. Lap one of the race track we are going to know roughly where our brake markers are, what the grip level is going to be at the different turns, so he is going to have to play catch up a little bit on the track knowledge. I’m sure he is going to have a bunch of simulator time that will prepare him for the visuals of it. I would expect that, by the end of the weekend, for him to not really have a disadvantage, but I would think at the start of practice, he’s going to have to learn the track a little more than the regulars will.”

Why did Pocono end up on your Truck Series schedule?

“Honestly, none from my standpoint. Matt Lucas at HRE (Hattori Racing Enterprises) contacted me earlier on in the season about making a couple of starts, and I said yeah, if it works out and you are able to do it, I would. North Wilkesboro was one that they really wanted to do, and it was a good one for me too, because no one had track time there. After North Wilkesboro, he mentioned Pocono, so I would say it was more on the team than me.”

Is there anything from the Truck Series Tundra that helps in the Next Gen car?

“One thing that is going to be interesting is track treatment that has not been put on this year, but as we saw last week in Loudon, it is still there from years and years past. It is definitely an advantage to see if that stuff comes in during the Truck race, how grippy it is, how wide it is, and what that looks like. Truck to Cup car – nothing in the car is going to translate, but track time, track conditions – that stuff will.”

Can you talk about your experience with Hattori in the Truck Series at North Wilkesboro?

“Certainly, getting back in the truck was really enjoyable at a very historic track. I thought that it was a decent run. We qualified somewhere in the back half of the top-10, practiced around the same place, so it seemed like the fifth-to-10th range was kind of where we stacked up at North Wilkesboro. Hopefully, we are a little more competitive this week, and it is a place that I’ve won before, but Kyle Busch Motorsports has a hand on for a long time now, so we are going to have to be proper if we want to win this weekend for sure.”

What do you need to do to be successful at Pocono?

“Pocono is always the same challenges, no matter if you are here in Truck, Xfinity Car, Gen 6 Cup car or a Next Gen Cup car. The tunnel turn is really tough, and just the differences with turn one being really banked, turn three being really flat and then both of them leading to really long straightaways. It is a big compromise of trying to get your car to do what it needs to do for the driver to be comfortable. Last year, the JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) Camrys were really strong. I kind of found myself on the back half of the team with the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and the 18 (Kyle Busch) running really well, and I was a little bit behind them, but I think that, your car has to be really comfortable and stable at the speeds that you have here at Pocono, but it also has to turn really well, because if you are tight, you are not going to make any speed off of the corners. It’s a tough track that we generally see the guys who succeed here, they usually do well year-after-year and hopefully I can become one of those guys at some point.”

Do you view Pocono more as a road course or an oval from your perspective?

“Definitely the three corners being unique is nothing like any other oval that we have, but with the speeds being up, everyone classifies it as an intermediate. I think if you look at setup stuff, you are more looking at the mile-and-a-halves or a place like Michigan, Indianapolis oval – which we haven’t been yet in the Next Gen car – but those are the kind of tracks that relate more to Pocono than any road course, just because the speeds are down.”

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