Toyota Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

CONCORD, N.C. (October 7, 2023) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to media after earning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday:

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

Tell us about your team’s outlook heading into tomorrow after that pole today?

“Yeah, this is what we needed to do. We had hoped and put a lot of effort into this, as all the playoff teams do for this race. For the most part, this is as good of an outcome as possible for the No. 45 team today. Bubba (Wallace) had a solid day as well, even though he wanted to qualify better in the second round there. When you look at what both of us need to do tomorrow, we’re taking the right steps.”

With you on the pole and Bubba Wallace starting fourth, along with the RFK Racing cars a little farther back, how conscious will you be of them tomorrow?

“Billy (Scott, crew chief) would be better to talk to about that than me. For me, my job is very simple, to go out and try to put together the best lap in practice and get a read on the car – to see what it’s like in the long run and go from there to get ready for qualifying. So, for me, no matter how the race plays out, I go out there and try to nail every corner and lap. And if I make a mistake, try to minimize the time loss. These are the things that us and all of the other teams will be focusing on. No matter if the strategy changes, my job doesn’t.”

It seems like you and the 45 team have had a great deal of confidence coming into this weekend. Where does that stem from?

“It’s been there all year. I noticed it right at the beginning of the year coming over to Toyota. Obviously, they weren’t happy with their road course results last year, and they’ve made some huge improvements this year, starting off with our victory at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in the spring. For me, we got the speed. The team has been working great. Everyone’s efforts at TRD, and our alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing has been huge. Everyone is doing a great job right now and all the Toyota Camrys have the speed. It’s great to see. Now, we have to manage this race tomorrow. If I just stick to the simple approach, we’ll be in good shape.”

Are stage points critical for you to get tomorrow? Do you try to get as many as you can in case something happens around you?

“Yeah, this is a scenario that could play out. But I’m going to leave that up to Billy and the team to figure it out. We’ve seen it before, with last year’s race. It was going to end a lot different and the playoffs would’ve been different on the points before that last caution came out. I’m going to stay in my lane and see where I can improve as a driver and leave that decision up to the team.”

Does the restart zone give you as the leader more opportunities to pull further ahead of people?

“I think upfront it should, right? When you look at Indy, obviously the conditions in Chicago played a factor in that. Yeah, with the different restart zones it’s more worrying about one, maybe two cars, not like 10 trying to fill the space of two. So, that’s the expectation, right? We’re going to watch this race (Xfinity Series) here in a little bit and we’re going to learn quite a bit. Obviously, the Xfinity car is a bit more grip limited, but the struggles that they’ll face will be similar to what we’ll face on Sunday. This race will be pretty telling. More than anything, I kind of got the feeling that the control car is going to have a bigger advantage than it’s had in year’s past here for sure.”

What concerns will you have if you’re restarting further back in the field?

“It’s unknown, right? When you think about it, it could be as simple as vision right – visuals. The first car and the first row is going to know where they’re at with the chicane. The second row is going to have a little bit harder time. The third or fourth row it’s going to get to a point – I remember this at the Daytona Road Course when we were going through the back chicane – you just get to a point where you’re in a line of cars so deep, you don’t know where track limits are left or right. Going to be interesting to see how that plays out. Obviously, we don’t have to worry about it as much as the Xfinity cars, but the Xfinity guys have to be really careful of the stack ups, knocking radiators out before they make it they take the first lap. I think obviously as we’ve seen with this car, it’s a little more resilient front and back, but still, you can’t do damage to the front of the car or back of the car. Wheel to wheel contact. I think the Xfinity cars are a little tougher, a little more flex and things. The Cup cars, they’re strong, but little contact can have an effect. Those are the things you’ve got to be aware of – just spatially aware. It’s going to be a difficult thing but I think you’re just going to have to be smart because once you leave the restart zone, it’s fair game. People are going to be going for holes and gaps. Just going into it with an open mind as a spectator today to see how this plays out to give us some insight into tomorrow’s race.”

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 48,000 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 22 electrified options.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE
BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 7, 2023

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HP CAMARO ZL1, met with the media ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Media Availability Quotes:

Have you and Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) had conversations about whether you’re going to try to flip the stages or stay out and try to get points, especially with how chaotic the final stage was last year?

“For sure. I think the strategy has been a big topic this week. Switching back to the stage breaks, I think that’s going to bring in a new element and we’ve got to see what this tire wear is like with this tire at this race track. Definitely some questions on that, but I know that our goal is just to obviously win the race, and then if we can get a stage win or two, would be nice. You’re really looking at a 40-point day as a max here.”

You’ve had success at Atlanta (Motor Speedway). With Atlanta being added to the playoffs next year, do you kind of embrace the unpredictability of the first round, or is that something you feel a little tenuous about?

“Yeah, definitely nervous about it. I’ve won two races there and I’ve crashed out the other two. So it’s very hit-or-miss and hopefully next year we can have two good races. Obviously there will be more emphasis going into those races next year. This year when you went to Atlanta (Motor Speedway), it was a great chance to get some points, but not really planning outside of that. It definitely throws a wrench into the playoff format. I think that having two road courses as well, it’s going to really put an emphasis on, to me, the special teams races of our season. Road courses have typically been kind of an afterthought outside of this track, the ROVAL. I think it’s going to put an emphasis on those and obviously an emphasis on being good at Atlanta, which we already are, but we need to limit those DNF’s.”

To your point that there’s no pressure on the line for qualifying, sometimes you can qualify better because for some reason with the stress relieved just a little bit? What makes qualifying here hard?

“For us, it’s definitely going to be less stress. But once we get to the race track, we’re trying to win the race, so it’ll be stressful because of that. Qualifying here is tough because you can lock-up tires and miss corners. There’s a lot of shifting, so it’s tough to get it all right. I feel like you can hit 90 percent of the track right and miss 10 percent, and that can be worth two or three-tenths. Last year, I looked at my qualifying and I qualified second here. I just missed a little bit in (corners) seven, eight and nine, the back chicane, and that was worth two-and-a-half tenths. Had a great lap going up until that point. It’s definitely a tough place.”

Having won at Texas Motor Speedway, how much confidence does that give you going into Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which could be the pivotal race in the next round?

“Yeah, it’s definitely the pivotal race because as we’ve seen – if you can win that race and advance, you give yourself a good chance to prepare for Phoenix (Raceway). So with winning Texas (Motor Speedway), we’ve given ourselves a couple of weeks to prepare for Las Vegas (Motor Speedway). I feel like all of that stuff has checked-out pretty good. I think our setup is strong there. We’ve made some good decisions and we’ve had time to really decide; go to the simulator and figure out what we want to race there. We’ll get a chance to make sure we’re on the right track when we run this week and kind of run through our teammates’ setups, but so far so good there. The history there has been good for us with winning the race there earlier this year. It would be great to win there just because you won’t have to stress near as much.”

Paul Wolfe said that was ‘the’ race because, as you said, you’ll have plenty of time to prepare for Phoenix Raceway. Is there somebody who’s like a (Joey) Logano that’s waiting in the weeds that could just pull out that win and advance that we might not be thinking of?

“I don’t know – I’m not really worried too much about the other people in the playoffs. I think for us, it’s just trying to focus on what we do best. I’m not trying to rank guys or try to figure out who’s got what. But we’ll certainly see when everyone unloads off the truck at Las Vegas (Motor Speedway); what they have and you kind of adjust from there. Typically, you can see with lap averages and then it’s all about pit crew execution and driver execution. Unloading fast off the truck with good balance is one of the three, and then I think you really test the race team to figure out the other two – how the driver contributes and how the pit crew contributes.

Last year was very unpredictable. I feel like this year, it’s a little more set and stone with who’s fast, but I would say any of the eight that make it are probably well qualified to win there.”

When you look at that next round, not only Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but also Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway – those three tracks, you’ve had success on and been pretty consistently fast on. How are you feeling entering the Round of Eight?

“I would say, good. I would say the best about the beginning of the round because we obviously had a dominate race there (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) – scored max points in the spring and we were a top-two car.. us and the No. 5 (Kyle Larson). And then I think as the round trickles down, I think the end of the round, I’m a little more apprehensive about because of how we ran in the spring at Martinsville (Speedway). We had an issue there with the clutch, but we were not super competitive there. We were great in practice, but not in the race. I feel confident at all of the tracks, but I would say less confident as the round goes. So hopefully over the course of the next two or three weeks, I can kind of gain some confidence and gain some certainty in what we have there. I would say Vegas and Homestead are definitely really good tracks for us.”

When you look at how you guys have ran and kind of assuming that you’re going to run well – looking at the fact that you’ve got all of these bonus points and you’re going to have a little bit more of a safety net than some other guys.. is your path to Phoenix Raceway and the Championship Four relatively straightforward in your mind?

“It’s definitely us against ourselves. I feel like it’s us executing races. It’s us putting together good performances.. top-five performances that we know that we’re capable of. But yeah, with that being said, the points are really close.

Yeah, to be honest with you, I haven’t really looked a lot past Las Vegas. I think, honestly, I’ve thought a lot about this weekend right now. And then Vegas has really been a focus for us and then we’ve got a little bit of Homestead trickling in as we get prepared for that. It’s really hard with this deal to really not just think week-to-week.”

Anytime you get to a cut-off race, there’s going to be some aggressive drivers that need to race their way in or point their way in. In any point of the race, are you concerned that their aggression level may be up and that it could take out somebody that’s not even involved in the situation?

“No.. I mean I just match the aggression. I’m just going out there to race and try to win. If they try to move me, they’ll probably get it back.”

Looking ahead to next year, there will be two road courses in the playoffs. How do you feel about that?

“You know, I think selfishly for us, those road courses have been good for us. I’m kind of excited to see Watkins Glen (International) in there after this year, and I think that will translate into next year.

But yeah, I mean I think it’s definitely different. I feel like road courses have been important for us for awhile and they’re just gaining more and more importance as we get them later in the season. There was talk about this going back to the oval. Having another ROVAL I think will just put more importance on your road course programs.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bank of America Roval 400 Qualifying | Saturday, October 7, 2023

Ford Qualifying Results:

7th – Joey Logano

13th – Michael McDowell

17th – Ryan Blaney

18th – Ryan Preece

19th – Brad Keselowski

20th – Chris Buescher

21st – Aric Almirola

22nd – Kevin Harvick

29th – Austin Cindric

30th – Chase Briscoe

31st – Harrison Burton

32nd – Todd Gilliland

34th – Zane Smith

35th – Andy Lally

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – “It’s nice to get something solid that we’ve developed over the last couple of weeks, so that felt good. We’ve just got to get a little bit faster. The 45 is in a different league right now, not that we can change a whole bunch, but there are enough things and enough knobs that we can tune on to try to get a little bit better for tomorrow. We’ll call the race the best that we know how to and try to maximize our finish,.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE
BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 7, 2023

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Media Availability Quotes:

THE ROVAL IS UNIQUE. IS THE DRIVING STYLE MORE SIMILAR TO A STREET RACE?

“Aside from Chicago, I haven’t really done any street racing. It’s much different than Chicago. This place, it’s a lot crammed into not a lot of space is how it feels. It’s like you’re racing in a parking lot or something. This is just tight and it’s hard to find a rhythm. It’s definitely unique. But we’ve been coming here for a few years now, so there is a little bit of normalcy in the track and the course. It’s a challenge. With road-racing it’s extremely important to find a rhythm in, and this is a hard place to do that.”

ON ADDING ANOTHER WILD-CARD ROUND NEXT YEAR IN THE PLAYOFFS.

“I think (Denny Hamlin) was pretty spot-on. They don’t ask my opinion, and I don’t really want them to ask my opinion. I can get behind what Denny said about that because it does put you in a tough spot and there’s so much out of your control when you go to those speedway races. You can put the perfect day together and end up crashed or whatever it may be. Watkins Glen to me isn’t as much of a wild-card race, but certainly adding another speedway race… that Talladega round has always been the craziest round and the most unpredictable around. You don’t know what’s going to happen any week, but certainly that is a bigger question mark than others. I don’t necessarily love that personally, but it’s not my decision and we’re all going to have to deal with it when it comes time. It’s kind of just there.”

IS BEING IN THE OWNER CHAMPIONSHIP THE SAME KIND OF PRESSURE FOR YOU AS IF YOU WERE GOING FOR THE DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP?

“I’ve said this multiple times throughout the course of however many weeks we’ve been going at it, I really don’t feel any different. My approach each week has been just like as if I was part of the show from a driver’s standpoint. It’s just really not any different. There’s a lot on the line on the owners’ side to the teams. It’s a really big deal. Thankful that between Josh (Berry), Jordan (Taylor) and Corey (LaJoie) and myself, we were able to get the car in on the owners’ side. Like I said, that’s a meaningful thing. I’ve been just as motivated for that as I would have been if I had made the drivers’ side. We’ve enjoyed the challenge of the first few weeks and hope we can continue to advance through the rounds. It’s a good opportunity, and there’s still a lot of racing left this year. We’d like to continue to improve like we have been and get back up in the mix.”

WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ADDING STAGE BREAK CAUTIONS BACK FOR THIS RACE, AND IS THERE A WAY TO BALANCE GETTING ENOUGH STAGE POINTS WHILE NOT SACRIFICING TRACK POSITION?

“I wasn’t surprised to see them come back. We saw those races go caution-free. That’s not going to fly. That’s just part of the deal. Whether it’s TV or NASCAR or whatever it may be, we weren’t filling the quota so something’s gotta change and that was the easiest way to kind of fix it. To be honest, I’d rather do the stage cautions than have them throw some random cautions. I think that’s better and it’s a more fair way to go about it. That being said, I think it’s fine. This time of year, getting those stage points is such a crucial thing for those guys in the points that it really makes that decision extremely tough. It can make or break your day, right? If you have a shot to win the event, there’s no way you’re going to be able to take the points… certainly not in the second stage and probably not in the first stage with this car. If you think you have a shot to win and you short those stages and you give up all your stage points then you have a late-race caution or a restart doesn’t go your way and you lose the race and now you’ve got no stage points and you didn’t get the win, you could be in big trouble. It makes for tough decisions. Unless you’re in a must-win situation and for the guys who need points, I don’t see how you can give them up. Last year we saw guys who shorted stages that were up toward the front get some stage points because track position is so crucial and everyone feels like they have to do it. We’ll see. It’s always a big question mark. Fortunately I don’t have to make that call.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE RHYTHM YOU WERE LACKING EARLIER IN THE YEAR HAS BEEN FOUND, AND THAT’S THE REASON YOU’RE RUNNING BETTER?

“I definitely feel like we’ve been better. I think we’ve been working in the right direction, and I’ve been pushing in the right direction, maybe just not quite as much as we need to. But we’ve been putting together some good races and we’ve been executing some good events, which is a good thing. So I definitely feel like we have improved throughout the year. Looking back on it, I don’t think being out and my injury is the reason for that. As I learn more about my season and myself and how things have unfolded, I feel like my struggles and the things I’ve fought through this year I was starting to fight through last year, too. I kind of picked up where I left off last season, and I was going to have those things to work through regardless. Obviously that was another bump in the road that I would have rather not gone through. We’re working through it and trying to stay in the fight. We’ll keep doing that each week and try to make that happen.”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A MOMENT WHERE YOU FELT COMPELLED TO PUT IT ON YOUR SHOULDERS TO OVERCOME IT?

“There have been a lot of those. I feel like I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years. Here is a great example. I drove straight into the wall there on a restart. I was so mad. I felt like we had a really good car and a great shot at winning the race. At that point in time, I thought I had thrown it away. I wanted to do all I could do to try and get back up through there and make up for my mistake. Most of the time at this level of racing when you make a mistake, you don’t have an opportunity to make up for it. I was fortunate that day to have enough time to do something about. Most of the time you have to wait seven days, and that’s tough. That’s one of the toughest things about it is that you usually have to wait a week. But you always try to make up for any mistake you’ve made.”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO GIVE A TALK AND TELL THEM THAT YOU’LL MAKE SOMETHING UP?

“I’m sure there have been instances where that’s happened. But I feel like the best way to do that is to go and show them… I’m giving you 100 percent and I’m trying to make up for my mistake – to where they know you’re doing your part. That’s the most important thing. If they know I’m out there giving it my all, then to me that’s all you can ask for. That’s all I ask for out of them. We’re all going to mess up. You just try to be accountable for that when it does happen, and I feel our team does that. That’s a part of competing and everybody doing their jobs and making sure that we show up each week reset and ready to go and prepared for the next challenge.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bank of America Roval 400 Media Availabilities | Saturday, October 7, 2023

Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick visited the infield media center at Charlotte Motor Speedway before today’s practice and qualifying session to talk about this weekend’s Bank of America Roval 400. Following is a transcript of their comments.

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – HOW IMPORTANT IS LAS VEGAS TO DETERMINING YOUR POSTSEASON FUTURE? “It’s huge. I mean, just having that prep time for two weeks with nothing else on your mind. Joey was able to do it with that group last year and you saw what happened, so it’s a huge advantage. I think Larson did it the year before. I think he won the first race of the Round of 8 and it just gives you so much more prep time for that race. It’s just all you’re thinking about, so that’s a big one. Obviously, everyone is gunning to do it and try to win that one and move on, but it was massive for our group last year and it would be the same big advantage for any group if a playoff car was to win next week at Vegas.”

HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT TRACK? “I think Vegas has been a good place for us in the past. I feel like it’s been one of our best tracks as an organization. It’s something that whatever we do in general as a group kind of works for that place and hopefully applies this year.”

THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE YOU WILL BE IN THE BOTTOM HALF IN THE ROUND OF 8 WHEN IT STARTS BECAUSE OF YOUR FEWER STAGE POINTS. WILL THAT IMPACT DECISION-MAKING FOR THIS WEEKEND WITH STAGE BREAKS BACK? “It definitely makes it hard for us when we get to the next round by not having a ton of playoff points like the 24 group or the 19 or the 5 have. Yeah, that definitely makes it tough and it shows you that running well throughout the regular season pays dividends. We weren’t able to get very good points throughout those races through the year, but, still, at the end of the day you try to run as good as you can, try to win a race in that round and all that stuff kind of goes away, so it just puts you in a little bit worse spot than a couple guys, but you understand that even going into the playoffs, where your playoff points stand and how you stack up around the other cars that you’re racing and adjust accordingly. We don’t really dwell no that stuff too much because that stuff is what it is, but this weekend, obviously, in our spot can you win a stage? Yes, great. Stay out and win the stage, get a playoff point. If you’re gonna run second, just come in and flip it and try to set yourself up for the next stage or for the end of the race to try to win and get five playoff points. It makes calling this race a little bit easier for us and you try to take advantage of being able to call it that way to try to help your playoff points situation.”

YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT LAST YEAR’S ROUND OF 8 AND SOME OF THE MISTAKES YOU MADE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BACK IN THAT POSITION AND NOT HAVE THE SAME ISSUES THAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR HAPPEN AGAIN? “It definitely did. Driver-related mistakes last year in the Round of 8 cost a chance to go on there and you just hope to learn from that stuff and if you’re in the same position try to just think about it a little bit differently and what can you do to alter that outcome and not put yourself in a bind like that, and hopefully running well enough to be able to, like we were last year, to be in those spots again and having a shot to win at Vegas last year like we had, trying to think about the bigger picture and not get caught up in that moment and stuff like that. When you make mistakes like that you hope you learn from them. It’s important to move on from them, but you have to learn from them first and it’s nice to be able to have another go at it here in the Round of 8 and see if we can do a little bit better job this time.”

ARE YOU GOOD WITH THIS RACE STAYING ON THE ROVAL LONG-TERM AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TWO ROAD COURSES IN THE PLAYOFFS NEXT YEAR? “This race, I think it’s our fifth year doing it, and I feel like everyone has gotten a good idea of it. It’s kind of odd now because the oval has gotten so good. A handful of years ago this was probably one of the worst mile-and–a-halves we had on the schedule just as far as the track race-ability and now I feel like it’s one of the raciest of being able to use all the lanes. However it’s aged right now it’s kind of at it’s great point and we’ve seen it the last couple of years. It puts on good shows in the 600, so I think there are some big decisions that need to be made that are above my pay grade of what you want to do with this race. Do you go back to the oval here at some point, or do you keep this one? Two road courses in the playoffs, the Glen being in there I didn’t see that one coming, personally, but it is what it is. We have two superspeedways and now we have two road courses in the playoffs, so it’s just getting a little bit more unique racetracks that they keep throwing in here.”

HOW MUCH OF THE INFORMATION AT TALLADEGA IN THE FINAL FIVE LAPS WERE YOU ABLE TO PROCESS FROM JOSH WILLIAMS? “I might be biased, but I think Josh is one of the best guys out there, especially when it comes to speedway racing as far as giving me information and not only giving a lot of information, but giving useful information and stuff that matters and that I can apply, or just lets me know what’s around me. It’s a fine line of there’s occasions where he is relaying me stuff and we’ve worked together for so long I can tell maybe in the urgency of his voice that he’s telling me to do something without telling me to do it and I can apply that, or a lot of times he just leaves it up to me and just giving me information on what’s available and what’s coming at me. That was neat to see someone put that video out there because it shows how much work spotters do and how much communication goes on, especially at those tracks and really in those moments coming down to the end of those races. He was obviously big at getting us through there and figuring out a way to try to win the race. Josh does a great job and I feel like it’s almost like at those places you don’t have time to get the information, think about it, process it, and do it. You’re just doing it as it’s coming to you and you’re making your own decisions on what to do. Sometimes they’re they right decision and sometimes they’re not, but it’s just having that information that the driver can use. It’s almost like a little guy on your shoulder and it’s your subconscious just reeling through and your actions are going off of that. There’s just no time to think about all that stuff. You’re just doing it instinctually and the spotters up there are just giving you information that’s in the back of your head that you can apply or not.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ON DAYTONA AND ATLANTA TO START THE SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR? “I don’t think Atlanta is going to lose any of that superspeedway, two-by-two drafting sense. I could be wrong, but as long as you have low horsepower and tall spoilers on them it’s gonna be superspeedway racing with drafting and stuff like that. That was interesting that they fired off the playoffs like that, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We have no say in the matter, so I guess fans wanted to see pack racing and that’s what we’re going to give them.”

WHEN A DRIVER HAS A MISTAKE LIKE YOU HAD AT TEXAS, DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT THE FOLLOWING WEEK AS MORE MOTIVATION OF TRYING TO REDEEM YOURSELF? “When it’s a driver mistake and you are the only one responsible for that mistake you feel obligated to think, ‘Hey, I’ve got to make up for it.’ You don’t want to make these mistakes and then just have it dwell on you, so, yeah, I think that’s anything. If you make a mistake with something you’re like, ‘All right, I’m gonna make up for it.’ If you make your friend upset by doing something, missing their birthday party, ‘Hey, I’m gonna throw you another one,’ because you feel bad about it and you want to make up for it and be a good friend or be a good driver for your team. Those are the best ways to make up for it, but I wouldn’t say that motivated me. That didn’t motivate me any more than I would have going into Talladega, but, personally to me, it’s like, ‘Hey, you have an opportunity to make up for this mistake, and let’s apply it,’ but I wasn’t extra motivated like, ‘We have to go win this race. I have to show what I can do.’ You want to make up for that stuff, but at the same time you just do your job.”

WAS THERE ANY COMMUNICATION WITH THE TEAM WITH YOU SAYING YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE UP FOR IT? “I think our group does a good job of just understanding the work that’s ahead of you in the spot that you’re in and going and accomplishing your goal and doing your job the best that you can. I think that’s anybody. If I make a mistake, if we make a mistake on pit road, whether it’s a slow hang, changer messes up, they own it and you support them no matter what it is. They did the same to me. They supported me and picked me up after it and accepted my apology and in their mind they said, ‘Things happen. Forget about it. Let’s go to work next week.’ That’s really all you can do, so I think that’s what makes a team well is if you all can band together like that. That’s what makes one team and I think our group does a really good job with that.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Rheem Chasing a Cure Ford Mustang – THE TRACK HAS A FAN DISPLAY FROM YOUR PERSONAL COLLECTION OUTSIDE. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT? “We wanted to do something different for the weekend and I think having my first truck that we built in our garage and the IROC car that we actually won the race championship with in the last race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We’ve got the All-Star win car out there, so just having a unique blend of vehicles and just when you look at them and you go through time you’re like, ‘Man, you really have done this for a long time.’ You look at the vehicles and they look archaic compared to what you race today, so we thought that would be a fun experience and everybody at the speedway and Marcus and really everybody has been a lot of fun to work with. We have a lot of people here this week. I think we’re entertaining 130 people and have our foundation golf tournament, so it’s kind of become a little bit of a home game for us in our events and fun to see the participation and just wanted to do something different this week.”

ARE YOU TRYING TO SAVOR EVERYTHING MORE IN THESE FINAL WEEKS? WHAT ARE YOUR EMOTIONS? ARE YOU CRYING YOURSELF TO SLEEP? “I’m excited for it to be over. I think as I go to each racetrack it’s fun to be able to celebrate and do the things that you need to do and I’m enjoying the time that I have with the guys and seeing and hearing what they’re going to do next and how things are going to shake out. It’s a very interesting process just because of going to the racetrack and competing, but everybody – a lot of the guys have been there for 10 years and some of them have been there for five years, so it’s just an interesting process to go through. I think you want to run well and do the things that you do on the racetrack and everybody is doing fine at that and it’s just a matter of getting through these next five weeks and enjoying it. That’s really, for me, what’s it’s about is enjoying each week for different reasons and we’re gonna be heavily involved in the sport and the industry for a long time to come with several different aspects of it, so you try to take the driving thing and do what you’ve done for the last however many years – 22 years at the Cup level – and enjoy that part of it, but I think in my mind there’s just a tremendous amount of stuff that’s already happening for what we do going forward, but I’m not crying myself to sleep.”

DID YOU THINK NASCAR’S DECISION TO DQ YOUR CAR AT TALLADEGA WAS JUST AND DID YOU HAVE ANY FEELINGS WHEN YOU HEARD? “Obviously, you don’t want to be in the middle of those situations, but I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other. I can see it both ways. I did my job. I don’t know any other way to say that. I did my job and the rest of it is open for debate as to who did what and the rule is good or bad, I don’t know. I don’t know all the scenarios from either side, so I hear it from both sides and can see it from both sides in some way, shape or form, but I didn’t dig deep into whether it was just or unjust. I just went home and heard the news like everybody else and I went on with my week.”

DID YOU CRY YOURSELF TO SLEEP OVER IT? “I didn’t cry myself to sleep over that either (laughing).”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HAILIE DEEGAN AND THE NEWS OF HER MOVING UP TO XFINITY? “I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t paid that much attention to give a fair opinion. I pay attention to our guys and our group and there’s eight of them, so trying to keep up with late model races and truck races and Xfinity races, I have paid no attention to the details of what come with that particular situation with Hailie. I’d be a terrible judge. I can be a pretty good critic of the guys that we have in our group and the three that race on our team at SHR, but outside of that it would be an unfair opinion.”

HOW DO YOU VIEW THE ROUND OF 8? ARE THERE A COUPLE DRIVERS THAT IF THEY DON’T GET TO PHOENIX THE FEELING IS GOING TO BE THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG? “I don’t think you can put it like that. You saw all the trouble that Martin got into with everything that happened to him and that can happen to anybody. I think as you go to any of these racetracks it can really go that way. It’s an interesting group of tracks in each round. It’s interesting in different ways and I think there are different guys that have different strengths at different racetracks, so, for me, that part is interesting because you go to Homestead and you look at the 5 and you’re like, ‘Well, there’s really no reason why he shouldn’t win that raced based on everything he’s done at that particular racetrack.’ That’s the only one that really sticks out to me that says, ‘OK, if there’s one racetrack and one driver that sticks out it’s Kyle Larson at Homestead.’ So, the rest of it can go a number of different ways.”

HOW DO YOU VIEW THE 2024 SCHEDULE NOW THAT YOU WILL BE AN ANALYST. DO YOU SEE IT FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE NOW? “I look at it as June 9th, what am I gonna do with my time? (Laughing). I’m gonna send Bob a text and say, ‘Hey, Bob. What’s going on this weekend?’ I like the fact that they keep mixing it up. I like the fact that the rounds are different. I like the fact that the racetracks are different. I really like the fact that we’re going to Iowa. I think as you look at that adding another short track and just a unique facility that you can go and race at, I think as you go and go to some of those different places and put things in different places, I don’t like things being the same. I know the first half of the season is a little bit different at the beginning, but a lot of it is the same, except for California Speedway not being in there and Atlanta being second. When you look at the playoffs and see another superspeedway race, what I would call as superspeedway race at Atlanta, and I think that’s interesting with the number – two of the 10 superspeedway races being in the playoffs, and the Roval still being in the playoffs and having two road courses. To me, you have four of the 10 races that are on non-traditional ovals or short tracks, so I think that’s a pretty high number, in my opinion. So, it’ll be fun to watch and see how it all plays out, but I love the fact that they keep mixing it up. I like that. I like change.”

WHAT TYPE OF ANALYST DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO BE? “I think a lot of the guys and gals that drive the cars and work in the garage know that I’m gonna give my opinion and I’m gonna tell them what I think and then if they want to talk about it, I have no problem talking about it either because I’m always open to hearing what somebody else sees because the way I see it is what I’m gonna say. I think as you listen and especially now sitting with some of the drivers and people they see it differently and I think that’s great to be able to listen to that, but it just comes out of my mouth with what I see and how it plays out. Sometimes that might be wrong, but I ‘m not gonna be afraid to say that. It just has to be sitting on the couch with your friends and watching a race and telling it like it is and I think that’s the best way to go about it and be honest about it, but I think that part will be interesting because I think as you watch it and see it and talk about it and watch it evolve and change and I think, to me, that part will be fun, but right is right and wrong is wrong, so there’s no reason to beat around the bush. I’m not smart enough to remember what I’m trying to cover up, so we’ll just get right to it.”

STAGE BREAKS ARE BACK AND THE RESTART ZONE HAS MOVED. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? “I think the restart stuff has helped the pile-ups in turn one on the restart, so I think that’s worked good at the places that we’ve been able to do that. I think with as much green flag racing as we had in all the previous events, I think the stages coming back, obviously, puts some cautions back into the race and not having the races get so strung out. I think all of that has worked out well and, once again, it’s not being shy about making changes when it’s not working for the fans. It has to be appealing to watch. That’s the bottom line.”