Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Pocono Advance | Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Chase Buescher, driver of the No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang, captured his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Pocono Raceway in 2016. As the series prepares to return to that facility this weekend, Buescher took some time today to answer questions from the media about his expectations.

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang – WHAT DO YOU RECALL ABOUT THAT WIN AT POCONO AND THE LONG WAIT UNTIL THE RACE WAS CALLED? “It means a lot going back to Pocono. We’ve got that trophy at home that is a pretty big centerpiece for us. I definitely look back on the day and a win is always a win. It’s always big and important to you, but it was unfortunate that we didn’t get to celebrate properly. Pocono has such a unique victory lane there and weren’t able to celebrate with the team on the frontstretch. It really was a very strange hour-and-a-half waiting it out, seeing pit road completely empty, tool boxes all folded up and covered up, half of the haulers were already out by the time we left victory lane. It was very strange to me, especially looking at the radar. We knew it was over about an hour before it was actually called, so just a long day and definitely made it to where having to take shelter in the alternate victory lane in the garage is definitely a different experience, but still a big win in our rookie season and it put us in the playoffs, which was big for Front Row Motorsports and everybody that year. I had a lot of fun that season. You go back to Pocono and it’s a track that’s just very unique with three different corners and we focus on different things. For us, that’s a big challenge and one of the reasons I like it is it’s kind of like road racing to me. It’s different and it makes you focus on different things. Hopefully, we can be competitive when we get there. We were pretty good last year. I made a mistake and was one of the several that spun off turn four. I didn’t hit anything, but just spun late in the day and it really got us behind, but didn’t need to, so looking to be a little better this go-round.”

DO YOU BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF IF A PREVIOUS WINNER WINS AGAIN? WHAT’S IT LIKE WITH THE POINTS POSITION YOU’RE IN RIGHT NOW? “I hate points racing. I hate it so bad. I hate to sit there and think about what do we do about our point scenario during a race when you want to figure out how to win it, and want to take that chance. My mindset has always been if you go and have a successful weekend, that’s gonna come with stage points, that’s gonna come with end of race points. It takes care of itself. That being said, we weren’t quite good to capture stage points, so come down to the end of the race and get flustered with one of the cautions and losing a bunch of spots under caution yet again for the third week in a row and get done at the end of the race and kind of upset for other reasons and then you look up and realize that it is a repeat winner. In a way, it does help you get that little bit of a sigh that you’re not in a different kind of hole as we head into these last handful of races. It’s inevitable. We’re gonna have some new winners before we get to the playoffs, we just have to make sure that one or two of them is us.”

IF YOU OR BRAD MAKE THE PLAYOFFS WOULD YOU CONSIDER THAT A SUCCESSFUL SEASON NO MATTER WHAT ELSE HAPPENS? “No, not no matter what. I think that we’re in a good spot in points and as of right now would be in the playoffs. That’s one of the goals on the season, but the goals were to win races, make the playoffs and drive through the playoffs. Realizing that we’ve got some work to do to sit here and say that we’ll be lifting a trophy in Phoenix. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re definitely making good progress, but also understanding that we’re not just trying to get there to fill a spot. We need to be competitive to be able to get through it. I feel like when we look at the schedule, there are a lot of really good racetracks for us as an organization once we do get into the playoffs, and even ones that we look at right now heading into them that we should be able to drive into the playoffs and work our way through it, so it’s a long-winded answer, but no, it’s not a ‘if we make the playoffs, check, we’re good’ and everyone is happy with the season. We’ve got to stay working and be able to show something in the playoffs as well.”

IS THERE A FEELING IF YOU MAKE THE PLAYOFFS YOU CAN DO SOMETHING IN IT? “Yeah, and that’s kind of what I was alluding to is we’ve got really good racetracks for us in the playoffs and coming up to them as well. I’m of the mindset that if we can keep what we’ve been doing and be solid. Obviously, we wanted to have a checkered flag by now and it surely would help a lot of our situation. We’re just trying to win and getting the points that come with that, then when we get in the playoffs and everything resets, yes, I look at the races that are there and definitely look at good opportunities for us to go win a race in the playoffs as well.”

CAN YOU SHINE SOME LIGHT ON HOW THE RELATIONSHIP WITH BRAD HAS GROWN? “Right now, it feels really good because you have a little bit of a warm fuzzy feeling on that side of things, but take away the cut line and everything coming up in the next couple of weeks and kind of take the season as a whole, we have been considerably more competitive this season every week. It doesn’t matter what kind of racetrack we’re at and, to me, that’s been a huge success story for us internally. It’s not completely there yet, but we’re not talking about RFK only at superspeedways. We’re able to go to short tracks. We’re able to go to superspeedways, road courses, our mile-and-a-half cars have come a long way. We’re competitive a lot of different styles of racetracks right now, looking for a little step yet to be even more competitive, but I think a lot of that comes down to the fact that a lot of what Brad’s come over here and really instilled within these walls. It’s been neat to see the people that have been at RFK a decade longer than I have at this point, to see them excited and rejuvenated and really enjoying the progression that we’ve had over the last 18 months as well. So, you take all of that into account we’re on a good upswing. We’re in a good place and I think we owe that to a lot of different things, but Brad has surely been a big part of it coming over. I’ve been really able to lean into him on some of these different styles of racetracks where I needed more help. Some of that is superspeedway racing and a little bit of how we go about it. A lot of it has been Richmond, Phoenix-style racetracks that haven’t been my strongest through the years that I’ve been able to get some direction and kind of refocus what my big effort or big complaints would be through a weekend to try and work on being better there. It’s really come a long way and it’s continuing to get better, but it’s been a really good thing and we’re definitely enjoying it. You can’t slow down now. Everybody has to keep going. Nobody else that we’re racing in this garage is sitting still. Even the ones that are winning aren’t content with where they’re at, so we just have to keep working hard.”

ELTON SAWYER SAID NASCAR WOULD BE SENDING OUT A STERN MESSAGE ABOUT LAYING BACK ON RESTARTS. HOW WILL THAT MESSAGE BE RECEIVED BY YOU? “I’m glad to hear that. I haven’t gotten that communication yet and I haven’t heard those rumblings, but it would surely be appreciated. I feel like it’s been such a gray area through the years and it seems like this conversation has come up every year at some point, that somebody is starting laying back more and setting up and dive bombing into turn one and it’s just creating messy restarts and it’s just not the sportsmanship that we’re after, so I would surely appreciate that coming about and getting cleaned up. It’s so frustrating to be getting ready for a restart and looking back and seeing three car lengths behind you knowing that you’re gonna have to figure out how to defend that and it’s going to ultimately not set you up for an opportunity to go forward because you’re gonna be on defense. It seems like we have a pretty decent group of repeat offenders and nothing really seems to come of it, other than we do get this little warning and it’ll get cleaned up for a while and by the end of the season we’ll probably need that talking to again. But, yeah, that surely is appreciated from where I’m sitting.”

IRONIC THAT THIS WARNING WILL COME UP GOING INTO POCONO WITH THE RESTARTS THEY HAVE THERE. HOW CHAOTIC ARE THE RESTARTS THERE? DOES IT FEEL LIKE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT WHEN YOU MAKE IT THROUGH TURN ONE? “Yeah, in a way. It’s really not much different from Michigan. Pocono is probably the worst offender for it, but it obviously makes moves and by statistics it looks like Pocono has some of the most movement on restarts, but a lot of it is from what happens in the restart zone or doesn’t happen with cars not closing up, so it’s just such a massive straightaway that it really leads to a lot of chaos down in turn one, which we want passing opportunities and if you get a good run legitimately, you hope to be able to use it. Typically, when somebody is pulling out right at the start-finish line it’s because they lag back and got a jump somewhere else. It is good timing because that is typically a track that it can be the worst and we’d go onto turn one five-wide. Your spotters are all the way down, almost off of turn three. You can’t really get a good visual looking at tail lights and it just makes it tough, so, like I said, we want good racing. We want hard restarts and you want opportunities to find different lanes, you just want it to come about the right way and you want it to come about from good moves or a little bit of drafting by the end of the straightaway.”

CAN YOU QUANTIFY FROM WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION OF HOW IT’S A DIFFERENT FEEL OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS? “We measure things a lot of the same ways. It’s, have we been a top-10 car by green flag average? Have we executed on pit road? Have we done a good job at picking the right lanes on restarts? We have more data than I can consume week in and week out, but what it does help us do is confirm the progression. There’s obviously the end results, which are a good comparison and is what means the most, but we’ve also had a lot of races too where we’ve been more competitive than we were in year’s past – maybe not always getting the finish, but for the most part finishing much better than where we have as well. So, there’s a very obvious progress report for us that everybody can look at. We have two large boards – one for each team – at our shop that everybody can see at any point. It hangs right over our setup plates, so we’re not trying to hide anything. We’re not trying to sugarcoat anything that we are measuring ourselves and that’s the only way to get better is to understand where we’re at and where we need to go. I would say that within the shop, I’ve been here – not quite consecutively – but 15 years essentially at RFK and have seen this place at some of it’s ultimate highs and I would say it’s ultimate low as well. The upswing and seeing the people that have been here much longer than me, seeing everybody’s attitude and kind of a little extra bounce in their step, seeing the progress, seeing where we’re heading, feeling like things are clicking, it means something to everybody, to the hundreds of people here. It means a lot to me to be here and be working alongside Brad to kind of get that gradual swing and get it back heading in the right direction as well, knowing that it’s been awhile since we’ve had a win anywhere other than superspeedways and being able to get that Bristol win last year was certainly special. For our goals, this season we have high goals and it was to win races, make it into the playoffs, but also drive through the playoffs. We haven’t met those yet and we don’t have a way to say yay or nay on in the playoffs or through them, but we don’t have that checkered flag yet, either. We’ve been close at times, but we have a couple things that just need to be cleaned up. Some of it is execution. Some of it I needed to make better decisions inside the race car. Sometimes we needed faster race cars . We’re all working really hard in this massive team sport to figure it out, but there is an obvious energy in the shop and very much inside into the fact that there has been massive progression in the last 18 months at this point.”

WHAT’S THE FEELING LIKE AS A COMPETITOR AND AN ORGANIZATION TO HAVE THAT CHANGE OR THE SENSE THAT YOU GO EVERY WEEK WITH AN EXPECTATION THAT YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN AND SHOULD BE COMPETITIVE? “It’s a huge confidence booster. I used to laugh at some of the momentum talks in our sport early on and now I mock myself for laughing because it’s a real thing and I’ve seen it more than not now. When we’re able to go to a Gateway and be competitive and then we’re able to go to Atlanta and be competitive and go to Sonoma and be competitive, it just helps build. It brings that momentum with us week in and week out knowing that we have a baseline that’s been solid for us, that we can be competitive at all these places, knowing that we won’t be in the hunt to win every week and understanding our sport really likes to kick you a little bit in that sense that our dominant seasons are 75-80 percent losing streak. Knowing that we are capable of taking that momentum week in and week out and knowing that we’re in the hunt, so it’s a momentum builder as much as anything, knowing that we don’t have to get through a race and look six weeks ahead and say, ‘this is the next one we have circled.’ We don’t have anything circled as a specific race anymore. We’re looking at every week as an opportunity for us to, one, win races, or, two, improve on the big progress that we’ve already made on that style of racetrack.”

WE NEED TO SEE BETTER OPPORTUNITIES TO PASS ON SHORT TRACKS OTHER THAN RESTARTS. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN THE SHORT TRACK PACKAGE THAT COULD HELP? WHAT IS MISSING? “I wish I had all of those answers. The obvious one, and I’ll say it just for the fact of saying it, is horsepower would be great. I don’t know if taking shifting out of it helps it or not. I feel like it probably would. Martinsville comes back to mind when you talk about shifting. It recovers any mistake made. You just downshift and drive back away and, in my mind, I feel like that’s where we’ve lost Martinsville in a pretty big way. Loudon this past weekend, I thought the racing was OK. I was able to pass a lot of cars early, but whenever that fourth lane came in, especially when we were in three and four, I’m assuming it was residual PJ1 because it had a tremendous amount of grip. To me, the racing just got ruined at that point. Everybody is fighting for that one lane up at the top and it just made the bottom to where it didn’t even have a chance in a lot of ways, so I know we didn’t apply anything as an industry this go-around at Loudon, so it had to be leftover and we don’t typically run that high, so it’s probably just got up to where there was something left and it just made a ton of grip. That’s not the ultimate answer to our short track package, but I felt like that was what hurt the second half of Loudon. The test that was supposed to be there this week, I think there’s a lot of opportunity for that to show up as progress for our package and unfortunately have to wait two more weeks to see it put in a real world test. I guess after that, I feel like I would have a better answer for you and maybe say that, ‘look, we’re on the right track or this isn’t gonna do it, we’re gonna need something different.’ I would say in two weeks I’ll tell you that hopefully yes this was great, now if you’ll just add 200 horsepower we’ll be even better, but I think that there’s a lot of potential in what’s coming and a lot of optimism that it can help us get a better product for everybody.”

DO YOU PAY MORE ATTENTION THE RINGERS WHO HAVE COME IN THIS YEAR AS OPPOSED TO THE PAST? WHAT KIND OF IMPACT ARE THEY MAKING? “I would say before Chicago it wouldn’t have changed much, if anything, knowing that we’ve had very good road course aces come into our sport and be competitive, but not be dominant. Shane coming into Chicago was probably an eye opener for a lot of people. Saying that, we had cars in the field that were very competitive with him still, so it’s not that it’s a complete reset. You took us to our first street race and everybody is trying to get their legs up under them, starting in the rain in this event with no run offs, and then obviously having the weepers over there in 10 and 11 the whole time, a lot of us are sitting here trying to figure out what in the world is going on for the first time still. That being said, they are obviously very talented. This car is more similar than it’s ever been to some other series and it seems like the V8 Supercars are probably one that is closer to anything else, maybe. Maybe somewhat close like a Trans-Am car, if I’m not mistaken there. The independent suspension. The braking. The weight of our cars is obviously way up there as well and I think that we’ve got to pay attention because it is a big (inaudible), but it’s also an opportunity for us to learn as well and we’re gonna keep working hard at it. We’ve been very fast at different style of road races and we’ve been able to outrun some of the ringers coming in at a lot of different styles of racetracks and I would argue that some of that is just our home field advantage at tracks that we’ve been to and know more, and we’re gonna keep after that. RFK as an organization was extremely fast at Indy last year. Neither of us got a checkered flag. We got a couple of fire extinguishers to the face, but it’s a track we’re very strong at and two of our cars had top-three lap times on the day, so we’re looking at those places as good opportunities still, regardless of who is coming in in whose cars.”

CAN YOU ADJUST YOUR BRAKING STYLE LIKE SHANE WAS GOING IT? “I’m not gonna try that, no. I’d say that we’ve actually done some Ford-sponsored events that all of the Ford drivers for several years drove Mustang GTs out in Utah and you had to do that. You had to heel-toe-clutch and we all looked like fish out of water. It was ugly. We had brake smoke and guys missing the brake pedal, taking off and blowing through corners. It was a whole other world. Now, granted, none of the pedal assembly is set up quite as nice as real race cars, but it was sloppy when we tried to do that. It’s definitely not something that I’ll be working on from my standpoint. I don’t know their situation, if in the V8 Supercars if they’re required to do that. I know it seems like a lot of guys that come from other series that’s just what they have to do, so they continue to and we don’t have to in our cars. I don’t know, just because it’s different doesn’t mean that was the key. Maybe it was just hard to really lean into a whole lot of data from that race just with some of the issues we had as an industry there to be able to dissect a lot of it, but I’m not about to change what I’m doing in a drastic way like that, but I will surely study and see what we can’t try and tune in while we’re at the racetrack for the weekend.”

WHAT DID YOU TAKE AWAY OUT OF WHAT SHANE DID? “I would say I’m not gonna take anything away from what he did. I’m not gonna sit here and say we have to blow it up and change everything we do. He showed up to the racetrack and was extremely competitive and just short of dominating the weekend. It was a very impressive feat, so it’s something that we have to sit here and take note of and study and try and understand maybe, like I said, tweak on a few things. I don’t think it requires just an up-and-over the top change of course. I think a decent amount of it comes from the fact that his experience level was higher in the environment. He was very good. He was very good. Like I said, I don’t want to take anything away from him because we were very impressed with what he was able to do that day, so it’s just about learning from it and seeing if there’s more carry over from that street course to other road courses or if we don’t feel like there will be as much as possible.”

STATESVILLE, NC (July 19, 2023) — LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™, GMS Racing and Veterans Heart Group today hosted an event for veterans from Iredell and surrounding North Carolina counties. Over 100 veterans were present for the “Veterans Fill Your Cup” at the Statesville-based team’s race shop.

The “Veterans Fill Your Cup” initiative was designed to honor and support the nation’s veterans. The event provided a unique opportunity for veterans to engage with NASCAR legends and drivers. Among the veterans, notable attendees included NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Inman; LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Cup Series team owner Maury Gallagher, drivers Erik Jones and Noah Gragson; and GMS Racing’s NASCAR Truck Series drivers Grant Enfinger and Daniel Dye.

The event took place on the shop floor amongst racecars and trucks, and featured a continental breakfast with coffee products provided by Black Rifle Coffee Company; a partner featured on Gragson’s No. 42 Chevrolet.

The teams plan on hosting a second “Veterans Fill Your Cup” event later this year on Wednesday, October 25th. More information will become available closer to the scheduled date via the teams’ social media channels as well as from the Veterans Heart Group.

About Veterans Heart Group: The Veterans Heart Group consists of Veteran volunteers as well as the spouses of Veterans from all branches of military service and from various geographic locations. The mission of the Veterans Heart Group is to show honor to aging Veterans as well as veterans who are at the end of life. We do this by coming together and presenting our appreciation with military-related gifts as well as a military salute. The Veterans Heart Group is committed to serving those who served in the military in any capacity, regular military, National Guard, and reserves. For more information go to www.veteransheartgroup.org.

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for drivers Noah Gragson and Erik Jones, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty “The King” serves as team ambassador.

In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level.

Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.

To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow LEGACY MOTOR CLUB on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and at www.LEGACYMOTORCLUB.com.

Martin Truex Jr.
Pocono Advance
No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: HighPoint.com 400 (Round 21 of 36)

● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 23

● Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway

● Layout: 2.5-mile triangle

● Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 30 laps / Stage 2: 65 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps

● TV/Radio: USA Network / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Outrageously Dependable: Interstate Batteries – one of the most tenured team sponsors in NASCAR history – began its 32nd season as the founding sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) with an expanded presence that features the brand’s iconic green livery across all four of JGR’s NASCAR Cup Series entries. So far this season, Interstate has adorned the No. 20 of Christopher Bell three times, and the No. 54 of Ty Gibbs four times. Interstate rode along with Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota at Circuit of Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas and this weekend will be Truex’s one and only start in the green machine this season.

● Truex and the No. 19 team for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) set the tone for the season right out of the gate by winning the 150-lap feature in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Truex won his heat race, then went on to lead the final 25 laps of the feature en route to a victory that gave him and the team much-needed momentum heading into the 2023 season. While the team was knocking on the door over the first 10 points-paying races, the breakthrough win finally came at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway on May 1, and Truex has added two more points-paying victories – June 11 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and this past Monday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon – to give him four overall wins this season.

● 34 and Counting: Truex’s win at New Hampshire was the 34th of his Cup Series career, putting him in a tie with 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch for 25th on the all-time win list in NASCAR’s top series.

● Truex has two wins, six top-five finishes and 14 top-10s and has led a total of 237 laps in 33 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono. Truex’s average Pocono finish is 14.5.

● Truex notched his second and most recent Pocono win in June 2014 when he led 31 laps along the way. The New Jersey Native’s first win at Pocono came in June 2015, when he led a race-high 97 laps on his way to his maiden win at the “Tricky Triangle.”

● In addition to his three wins through 21 points-paying races this season, Truex has seven top-five finishes and 10-top10s and has led 743 laps. To put the laps-led number in perspective, he led 572 laps over the entire 36-race points-paying season in 2022.

● With his race-high 254 laps led in his New Hampshire win on Monday, Truex eclipsed 12,000 laps led in his Cup Series career and now sits 17th on the all-time laps led list in NASCAR’s top series.

● Toyota Milestone: With Truex’s victory Monday at New Hampshire, Toyota now sits at 599 NASCAR national series victories (176 Cup, 196 Xfinity, 227 Trucks) with an eye on reaching the 600-win milestone this weekend at Pocono.

● Helpful Tips: An avid fisherman, Truex uses the marine battery line from Interstate in all his boats. Fans are advised to do the following before they head out on the water:

Make sure the battery has a charge by testing it before going out on the water.
Clean off any corrosion around battery terminals and ensure a proper connection.
Check the battery box seal and terminal boots. If a replacement deep cycle or cranking battery is needed, choose what the pros use and get an Interstate.
● Ahead at this Stage: With his two stage wins Monday at New Hampshire, Truex now has 59 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins since the beginning of the stage era in 2017, tops in the series. He is the only driver with 10 or more stage sweeps, as well, after sweeping both stages at New Hampshire and adding more valuable playoff points he will carry into and through the postseason. Truex also happens to lead the series all-time in stage points with 1,943.

● Monday’s victory at New Hampshire vaulted Truex back into the lead in the Cup Series driver standings. He has 667 points, 17 ahead of second-place William Byron. The regular-season champion will receive 15 important playoff points when the playoffs begin on Labor Day weekend in September. Between his stage points and playoff points for his three points-paying victories, Truex now has earned 18 important playoff points with six races remaining in the regular season.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry TRD

Are you looking forward to Pocono after having a strong run there last year, even though it didn’t work out in the end?

“Really looking forward to going to Pocono this weekend in our Interstate Batteries car. It’s one of our home tracks, as they say. I’ve won there a couple of times and kind of struggled there last year. But really excited to get back with the fast racecars James (Small, crew chief) and all the 19 guys have been bringing to the track lately. The team is doing a great job, and we’re fired up and hope we can get another win at Pocono, but this time with Interstate Batteries on board with us.”

With Interstate Batteries being a founding partner of JGR dating back to its inception in 1992, what does it mean to have Interstate on your car at Pocono this weekend, knowing what the company has meant to JGR all these years?

“It means a lot to be able to drive the Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry TRD. I’ve been watching Interstate cars go around the racetrack about my whole life. Since JGR started, I’ve been watching NASCAR, and Interstate has been an iconic paint scheme in the series, so it was an honor to drive for them last year for the first time, and we get to do it again this weekend at Pocono. I’ve been working with them the last couple of years on appearances and other things. A lot of great people and hard-working people who have treated me well, we almost got them a win at New Hampshire last year so it would be great to get those guys to victory lane at a place I’ve already won at a couple of times.”

With three wins so far this year, why do you think you and James have really clicked here in 2023?

“Just experience with this racecar, really. I think James and I have always had a great relationship, have always gelled and worked really well together, understand each other. Last year was just one of those years where we had a lot working against us. But we learned a lot, and now we’ve got better racecars. We have a better understanding of them, and that consistency that we’ve shown and the ability to lead laps and win races is proof of that. We never changed a thing with our team, our people, our process, the way we did things. We just have better cars, better understanding of our cars, and showing up to the racetrack ready to roll with a lot of speed this year, and we hope we can continue that this weekend at Pocono.”

Do you feel like there’s a separation now in terms of the championship favorites, and do you feel like you’re the favorite?

“It doesn’t matter what I think. We’ve got to execute. We’ve got to go win races. We’ve got to get points. I was thinking this week when I saw the points pop up the other day, and I was like, ‘All right, if we have a perfect weekend, we’ll be like one bonus point behind (William) Byron – wait, no, not quite, but close.’ But the regular-season championship is a big deal – 15 points for that. If we can keep knocking off bonus points, that’s going to be very, very important come playoff time. Just keep digging and keep doing what we’re doing. The two weeks before New Hampshire were tough with terrible finishes but really good racecars and really good runs. So we’re doing what we need to do, and just got to keep doing that and trying to keep gaining points.”

No. 19 Interstate Batteries Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Martin Truex Jr.

Hometown: Mayetta, New Jersey

Crew Chief: James Small

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Car Chief: Chris Jones

Hometown: Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

Engineer: Nick Burton

Hometown: Arvada, California

Engineer: Jeff Curtis

Hometown: Fairfax Station, Virginia

Spotter: Drew Herring

Hometown: Benson, North Carolina

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Ryan Martin

Hometown: Mechanicsburg, Virgina

Mechanic: Todd Carmichael

Hometown: Redding, California

Interior/Tire Specialist: Tommy DiBlasi

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engine Tuner: Gregg Huls

Hometown: Beatrice, Nebraska

Transporter Driver: Kyle Bazzell

Hometown: Fairbury, Illinois

Transporter Driver: Eddie DeGroot

Hometown: Baldwinsville, New York

Over-The-Wall Crew Members

Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Jackman: Kellen Mills

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona

Tire Carrier: CJ Bailey

Hometown: Outer Banks, North Carolina

Front Tire Changer: Lee Cunningham

Hometown: Leaf River, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Danny Olszowy

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky

RYAN PREECE
Pocono Advance
No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: HighPoint.com 400 (Round 21 of 36)

● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 23
● Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway
● Layout: 2.5-mile triangle
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 30 laps / Stage 2: 65 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps
● TV/Radio: USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Staying Up North: Ryan Preece and the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will stay in the Northeast for the second race weekend in a row, this time at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The Cup Series action will take place at the 2.5-mile triangle Sunday at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

● By The Numbers: Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 will mark Preece’s seventh Cup Series start at Pocono. His previous six outings were with JTG-Daugherty Racing, beginning with the June 2019 race when he started 29th and finished 23rd. Preece started on the pole but finished 25th in the second race of the Pocono doubleheader weekend in 2020. In his most recent Pocono appearance, the second race of the June 2021 weekend doubleheader, Preece started 23rd and finished eighth, his best at the track. In two career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Preece has a best finish of fourth, which came in 2019 with JR Motorsports after starting eighth. Preece has also made two NASCAR Truck Series starts at Pocono, both with David Gilliland Racing. The first was in 2021, when he started eighth and finished ninth, and the second last season, when he started 22nd and finished second after leading six laps.

● SRX at Stafford: It was announced last week that Preece will be making his Camping World SRX Series debut Thursday at Stafford Speedway in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. The series will return for Thursday Night Thunder at Stafford for the second week in a row due to the flooding conditions at Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre, Vermont, where the series was originally scheduled to race Thursday. Preece is a local legend at Stafford, having grown up racing at the half-mile, semi-banked paved oval. He is one of the most successful drivers in the track’s history and SRX added him to its field as this week’s 13th driver. The race is set for 9 p.m. EDT with a live broadcast on ESPN.

● Welcome Back, Mohawk: This weekend marks the third race as the primary partner on the No. 41 SHR Ford Musting for Mohawk Northeast. A longtime supporter of Preece, Mohawk Northeast will bring its blue, white, and red colors to Pocono this weekend. Mohawk Northeast Inc., is one of the premier heavy-civil contractors in the Northeast. Since 1967 Mohawk has been providing the highest-quality construction services to a wide variety of clients. Specializing in heavy highway, railroad, movable and fixed bridges, and marine construction, Mohawk has completed countless projects within the industry safely, on time, and within budget. Mohawk has the ability to self-perform all phases of construction, including electrical, mechanical, structural steel repair and erection, deep foundations, pier and bulkheads, fabrication and coating (AISC & SSPC Certified), and a wide range of marine services. With an extensive fleet of cranes, barges, offshore tugboats, and many other pieces of heavy equipment, Mohawk is a well-established leader in Heavy Civil Construction. Clients include the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, USACE, General Dynamics – Electric Boat, Connecticut DOT, Massachusetts DOT, New York DOT, Metro North Railroad, Amtrak, and various private-sector clients.

● Looking Back: Monday, the No. 41 team took on Preece’s home track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. He qualified 21st for the race that was postponed to Monday due to rain. Preece and the team worked all race long to find the right adjustments to a tight-handling racecar. He finished 28th.

● ARCA Menards Series West Win: In June, Cup Series competitors took on Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway for the season’s second road-course race. Preece kicked off the weekend on the West Coast with a victory in the ARCA Menards Series West race Friday afternoon. He qualified his No. 9 Bonanza Ford on the pole. From there, he dominated the race by leading 55 of 64 laps and crossed the finish line 9.675 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Sammy Smith.

● Movin’ On Up: The No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang team has continued to improve in recent weeks and has seen more and more consistency, providing a heightened sense of motivation. Preece had a career weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April, earning his first Cup Series pole and leading a career-high 135 laps. In 19 points-paying events this season, Preece has six top-15 finishes – March 12 at Phoenix Raceway, April 16 at Marinsville (Va.) Speedway, May 14 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, June 11 at Sonoma and July 2 at the Chicago Street Course.

● Where He Stands: Preece heads to Pocono 26th in the driver standings with 335 points.

● Started Things Off: Preece kicked off the 2023 season with a strong showing in the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, leading a race-high 43 laps but ultimately finishing seventh after a fuel pump issue. He has a best points-paying finish of 12th this season, which came at Phoenix Raceway in March.

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Looking ahead to the next handful of races, how do you feel the No. 41 team will stack up?

“So when I look at these next seven races, these tracks fit under my wheelhouse. I kind of felt that the mile-and-a-half months, that spring run when you go to a lot of mile-and-a-halves, that was probably going to be our weaker point of the season. But when we got to the end of May, June, July and August, those are my strengths. New Hampshire is my strength. Pocono is a track where I enjoy racing. Richmond, that’s another one I enjoy. Watkins Glen. Daytona – I love superspeedway racing, and unfortunately, we got wrecked there in the final few laps, but we’ve been in contention, we’ve been aggressive and we’ve led laps. So, these final races of the regular season heading into the playoffs are certainly something I’m comfortable with, and every week is a new week.”

You have a good amount of experience at Pocono and some really good results there in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series. What is it about Pocono that you like?

“It just really fits my style of racing. I really enjoy the racing that Pocono provides. Our team has been really emphasizing a handful of tracks and this is one of them, just like New Hampshire was. New Hampshire just didn’t go our way last weekend, which was a bummer because I really hoped for a better result. We’ve been working really hard on the simulator and making sure our car is just right when it comes off the truck. That’s important for our team, and then qualifying well is key. We’ve seen how important qualifying at the front is at these tracks because you don’t know if you’ll be able to maneuver the track and make those passes necessary to get up there and contend. We’re consistently moving in the right direction and this weekend will be no different.”

It was announced last week that you’re running the SRX race at Stafford. Are you excited?

“Yeah, that was really unexpected. First and foremost, everything that’s going on up there in Vermont, my thoughts and prayers are with all the families that are losing a lot right now. Obviously, it’s not under the best conditions. I’m a huge fan of Thunder Road myself, but I’m excited for a great opportunity to race with those guys and have some fun at my home track. I think many people in the short-track-racing world know that I came from Stafford Speedway, and I’ve won championships and a lot of races there, and it’s a great opportunity for the hometown fans to see a hometown guy they can root for.”

No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Ryan Preece
Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Crew Chief: Chad Johnston

Hometown: Cayuga, Indiana

Car Chief: Tony Cardamone

Hometown: Bristol, Virginia

Engineer: Marc Hendricksen

Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey

Engineer: Scott Bingham

Hometown: Lawrenceville, Georgia

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Devin Lester

Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Rear Tire Changer: Kevin Teaf

Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida

Tire Carrier: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas

Jack Man: Kapil Fletcher

Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Fuel Man: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Joe Zanolini

Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania

Underneath & Interior Mechanic: Clint Leatherwood

Hometown: Rockmart, Georgia

Shock Specialist: Aaron Kuehn

Hometown: Kensington, Connecticut

Tire Specialist: Matt Ridgway

Hometown: Carrollton, Georgia

Engine Tuner: Jimmy Fife

Hometown: Orange, California

Transporter Co-Driver: David Rodrigues

Hometown: Santa Clarita, California

Transporter Co-Driver: Charlie Schleyer

Hometown: Youngsville, Pennsylvania