NASCAR CUP SERIES
NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY
ALLY 400
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT
JUNE 24, 2023

Chastain, Trackhouse Claims First NASCAR Cup Series Pole at Nashville
Team Chevy’s Sixth NCS Pole of 2023

• Ross Chastain (No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1) posted a lap of 29.797 seconds, at 160.687 mph, in the final round of qualifying to capture the pole position for tomorrow’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway – the first pole win feat for Trackhouse Racing.
• The pole win is Chastain’s first career pole in 168 starts in NASCAR’s premier series
• This marks Chevrolet’s sixth NASCAR Cup Series pole of the season; the manufacturer’s first NCS pole at Nashville Superspeedway; and its 740th all-time in NASCAR’s premier series.
• Three drivers from three different Chevrolet teams posted a top-five qualifying effort including pole winner Chastain (Trackhouse Racing), Justin Haley in third (Kaulig Racing) and William Byron in fifth (Hendrick Motorsports).
• Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to have a NASCAR Cup Series win at Nashville Superspeedway – taking the win in the inaugural event in 2021 (Kyle Larson), and most recently in 2022 (Chase Elliott).

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

1st Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1

3rd Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

5th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1

7th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1

10th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:

POS. DRIVER

1. Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
2. Tyler Reddick (Toyota)
3. Justin Haley (Chevrolet)
4. Joey Logano (Ford)
5. William Byron (Chevrolet)

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Winner

TAKE US THROUGH THAT QUALIFYING LAP. YOU TALKED EARLIER TODAY ABOUT HOW STRONG YOU FELT YOUR CAR WAS AND YOU GUYS WERE ABLE TO BACK THAT UP DURING QUALIFYING.

“Yes, ma’am. In round one for us over the last two years with the new car has been relatively, at times, strong. Definitely qualifying as a whole has not been my strong suit in my life, so a lot of work has went into it and not a lot of payoff.. not a lot of reward. Even the times that we do tie together round one, I’ve never been able to put round two together in a way that I’m proud of and that I feel like I’ve done right. I usually overdrive and when I should just go the same speed, or a little slower even and be fine, I usually slow down even more because I try to go faster. Today was all about minimizing the loss. Round one, I felt pretty good. I over slowed turn one – basically slowed down too fast in turn one. I wanted to make that better – I have no idea if I actually did, I haven’t looked at any of the information or data yet.

We’re pretty pumped up that we got this pole. I know that I didn’t mess it up too bad, obviously. I ran basically the same lap time, which was really challenging with it getting hotter and the second lap on tires.”

YOU HAD A REALLY GOOD LAP. COULD YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS FOR TRACKHOUSE – THIS BEING THE FIRST POLE FOR THEM AND IT BENIG THE FIRST POLE FOR YOU?

“Yeah, I mean look – we’re in Nashville. This is where Trackhouse was formed. It was started here with Justin (Marks) living here. We are Nashville’s team. With the Tootsies group with Steve and everybody, it’s incredible to have it happen here. It’s amazing. For me, personally, it’s amazing that it hasn’t happened before with how strong Daniel (Suarez) is at qualifying. Since I’ve become teammates with him, at road courses, my margin is two-tenths. If I’m within two-tenths of Daniel, I’m pretty happy. At intermediates and stuff, we’re kind of 100th for 100th with each other, and we saw that in round one. So for me, it’s been a labor of a lot of work and schooling, personally, to try to be better. We did a mock run yesterday just to keep working on it. It’s not necessarily the best thing to do for race-wise, but my team has put a lot of work into me. My engineers have done a really good job of explaining where I’ve went wrong in the past, even in times that I wasn’t driving the No. 1 car but with other teams. They’ve looked at that and tried to understand my philosophy when we go to qualifying – which has generally been more gas, less brake, go faster. That doesn’t always work… most of the time it doesn’t work. So they’ve been on me to literally, as simple as it sounds – less gas, more brake, earlier brake, later on throttle and let the car work. I’ve struggled with this single-lap qualifying. If we have two laps, I would say my numbers are a whole lot better. Group qualifying when we had minutes to go, I could take a couple of laps and I’d be really good. One lap, coming to the green and checkered, has been so frustrating for me for my entire career.. definitely in NASCAR.

It’s so rewarding right now. This is a day I will never forget.”

FIRST POLE MEANS YOU’RE GOING TO GET THE COVETED P-1 PIT BOX. HOW BIG OF AN ADVANTAGE WILL THAT BE AT A PLACE LIKE NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY?

“I don’t know, I’ve never been there (laughs). I’ve never gotten it in Cup, so I have no idea. Trackhouse Racing has never had it either. We do our pit road studies every week; we know the numbers and the math. We’re going to have to go and whatever pit box is best – I’m assuming it’s going to be the first one, but that’s up to Phil Surgen and our group at Trackhouse Racing and GM to decide.

But yeah, I have no idea what it’s going to be like, but it feels pretty good right now.”

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT TOMORROW – BEING ON THE POLE OR BEING SECOND IN 10-LAP AVERAGE AND SPEED YESTERDAY?

“Yeah, long run speed, for sure. It’s nice that we’re not going to have to pass a bunch. Hopefully everything stays how it is and we get out to a lead there. But race trim-wise, it’s super strong. Really good balance. It doesn’t feel great. Going through the corners here, they always feel slow to me because there’s not a lot of banking and it’s concrete. But it shows really good. I would rather have good average speed than single lap, but we put a lot of work into single lap, for sure.”

YOU WERE REALLY EMOTIONAL WHEN YOU GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND WAITING FOR THE POLE TO BE DECIDED. TEARS OF JOY, TEARS OF RELIEF?

“The tears out there were of joy and satisfaction; just happiness that it’s paid off. All this comes down to speed; hundreds and thousandths of a second and that we were able to do it. So much work for years and it didn’t pay off, and it paid off. That’s what those were.

Everything else, I’ve learned at 30 years old to embrace this room. Embrace everybody that throws opinions and thoughts my way. I take them and I bounce them off my team, personally and professionally; with my family and my group both in Trackhouse and out. They help me walk through that. But mentally, I just form my own opinion. I take everybody’s little bits and I make my own thoughts.

Look, we’re all human. When people tell you that you’re slow, then it’s easy to think that you’re slow. I have a good support through and they like to remind me why we’re here; that we’re in the Cup Series and this is where we wanted to get to. We did not have a clear path here, but we got here and now we’re going to stay here.

Personally, I’m happy for my team and me. I mean I’m selfish – this was about the work that we’ve put in. How many times I’ve had cars capable of qualifying on the pole in the Cup Series, and then down through every rank from the very first pro truck division that I did at 12 years old. There were times, so many, that should have been pole laps and I messed them up. So this today, on this stage, we are able to do it. All that said, I could have very easily spun out. So glad I made it.”

IS THIS POLE A LITTLE BIT MORE SPECIAL KNOWING THAT IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE YOU’RE BACK IN THE POSITIVE LIGHT AND THE POSITIVE HEADLINES? HOW MUCH MOMENTUM DOES SOMETHING LIKE A FIRST POLE CARRY FOR YOU GOING INTO SUNDAY?

“Personally, it’s a day that I will truly never forget. No matter how the weekend goes or the rest of the year, I will always have a memory of today. We all have key, core memories within our lives and in our minds.

I don’t really know how this changes in the spotlight and things like that. I’m me. Trackhouse gets the good and the bad, and our sport as a whole gets me for who I am. Everybody expects me to just be like very repeatable and robotic, I feel like. That I should just be one way or the other. I’m human.. I’m going to do things different each time and try to be better. I’m not going to do the same thing over and over because if I want to do that, I’d be really good at failing and I don’t like failure. I don’t like crashing. I want to win. I will continue to evolve to do that. I’ve got a really good group around me that gets me through the bad days. We celebrate the good days and work through the bad ones, and keep working in the good ones, as well.”

AVERAGE FINISH HERE IS 3.5 IN THE CUP SERIES. WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU AND NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY THAT YOU SEEM TO ADAPT SO WELL?

“I’ve got a really good crew chief and engineers that give me rocket ships. This was our, really I would say, arrival to the fast club in the No. 42 car in 2021. The high power, low downforce package that year was definitely our stronger suit. But we unloaded here second quick – raced up in the top-10 all day and came home second. Last year, it was similar. Had a lot of speed. I thought we had a pole qualifying car and I just went 2.5 mph too fast through turns one and two; I got tight, slid up and lost two-tenths. I tried to go too fast. So today was all about keeping that speed down in the critical parts. Obviously going faster the whole lap, but giving up some to gain it back later. We’ve had speed all three years. I prepare just like any other track. I don’t put any track ahead of the others, but it starts with Phil Surgen and our support group at Trackhouse and GM. They’ve got a good handle on this place and it shows. You saw both Daniel (Suarez) and I were two of the fastest cars in round one.”

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified third, Haley’s first top-10 qualifying effort this season

“Just hats off to everyone at Kaulig Racing. They’ve just worked so hard to this point. Everyone at RCR has done a tremendous job in helping us. I feel like over the past month, we’ve really gotten our program into a spot where I feel better driving the car. The car reacts to what I’m doing.

Just super proud of everyone. It’s been an awesome weekend and hopefully we can stay up there. I feel like qualifying is the most important part with track position because passing is so difficult at this top level of motorsports. Excited for tomorrow.”

YOU’VE PRACTICED AND QUALIFIED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY. IT’S GOING TO BE DIFFERENT CONDITIONS TOMORROW NIGHT FOR THE RACE. ARE YOU EXPECTING THE RACE TRACK TO CHANGE DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU’VE EXPERIENCED SO FAR?

“Well hopefully our car is better in the nighttime. Last night it got a little bit cooler in practice, but you just don’t know. We’ll just have to go back through our notes and see what the track does. It’s a concrete track, so it’s a little bit different. I wish I could give you a better answer, but I just don’t know.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ally 400 Qualifying | Saturday, June 24, 2023

Ford Qualifying Results:

4th – Joey Logano

12th – Chris Buescher

13th – Ryan Blaney

17th – Kevin Harvick

18th – Chase Briscoe

20th – Brad Keselowski

21st – Aric Almirola

24th – Austin Cindric

25th – Ryan Preece

27th – Todd Gilliland

29th – JJ Yeley

31st – Harrison Burton

32nd – Brennan Poole

33rd – Michael McDowell

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang (Qualified 4th) – “It was pretty slick there in the second run, for sure. But hey, I think that’s a pretty decent qualifying effort for us – starting toward the front with a good pit stall. Being outside in the second row is probably a good place to be. We’ll try to have a good points day and put ourselves in the position to win. If we can call the right race and do the right things… The execution will be everything tomorrow. Tire fall-off isn’t really big, and as the sun goes down, it’ll probably be less. That will present a lot of opportunities for some different things, depending on how cautions play. It’s hot, which makes it worse (how slick track conditions are). Then that bump down there (Turn 3): Everyone has their cars so low, you hit the bump and it bottoms out, and then around you go. It’s a pretty sketchy lap for sure. I was shaking when I got out – probably still do a little bit. But, that’s how you know you got it all.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang (Qualified 20th) – “The track is actually in really good shape. We’re just looking to be a little faster. It’s a big track position race. Tires aren’t wearing if you get up front and can keep it there.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY
ALLY 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 24, 2023

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Nashville Superspeedway. Media availability quotes:

YOU’RE STILL LOOKING FOR YOUR FIRST WIN THIS YEAR. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SPEED IN YOUR NO. 1 CAR EACH WEEK?

“I feel really good. I feel the continued evolution of the car as the whole garage continues to find ways to take the same piece that we started with last year and make it faster, handle a little bit better and a little more forgiving. I feel like we’re on the leading edge of that and that showed yesterday. One of the few times we’re looking at a 50 minute practice, we go out and we plan making a nice 20 lap run if it’s good. If not, we’ll stop and work on it. We ran 20 and then we ran until the caution came out. We were going to run 30. That was a good sign that we didn’t have to change much. We’re unloading really close; it’s just those fine details and we’re tuning on it. I feel good.”

FOR A WATERMELON FARMER, WHAT’S IT GOING TO BE LIKE TO DRIVE THROUGH THE CITY OF CHICAGO IN A RACE CAR?

“It’s going to be new. It’s new.. it’s totally different. Not like the roads in Alva, for sure. It’s a way to move the needle with our sport. I think over three-quarters of the tickets already sold are new fans, and I’m sure a lot of people are just going to walk-up when they hear the engines fire up. I think there’s signs all over town so they’ll at least know about it. And then when we go roaring down through there, there are going to be so many new fans. I’m bought-in. It doesn’t matter, for me, how my personal race goes or my weekend goes. I could very easily drive it into the tire barriers about every corner if I’m not careful. I’ve done that on the simulator quite a bit. You make the brake zone by just a few feet and there’s no run-off. Yes, I want points and I want to win, but I’m more looking at it from the big picture of us as a whole and if it elevates all of us, it’ll pay off for me in the long run.”

THIRD YEAR HERE AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY. PRACTICE YESTERDAY.. HOW DID THE TRACK FEEL AND HOW DID YOUR CAR FEEL? WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR GOING INTO QUALIFYING LATER THIS AFTERNOON?

“It felt just as unique as I remembered it. This place is unlike any other. When I go down the straightaways, I feel like I’m on a 1.5-mile track, and then I get to the corner and I brake like I’m at a short-track. Like I’m braking for the corner and overdriving. I have to consciously get myself to slow down early enough. Slower on entry really is faster.

I don’t feel great making laps. And then we’re quick – we show good in all measurable aspects. The car isn’t really doing anything too crazy, but it just doesn’t feel good because there is so little banking and such tight corners. It’s not pleasant to drive. I feel like I’m not hustling it because you’re on a flatter track, even though to me the way it’s laid out – the garages, media center – it’s a 1.5-mile foot print that’s shrunk. So every lap, I have to consciously remind myself of that. I’m ready to hustle it like I’m at Kansas (Speedway).”

JUSTIN (MARKS) MADE THOSE VERY PUBLIC REMARKS AFTER DARLINGTON. IS IT A COINCIDENCE THAT SINCE THEN, THERE SEEMS TO BE THE ROSS CHASTAIN THAT WAS PRE-DARLINGTON AND MAYBE, FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, YOU’VE BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE CONSERVATIVE SINCE THEN?

“Well I think it’s exactly that.. it is the outside and what we do at Trackhouse Racing – say, talk about and plan for is what’s so cool about sports is that we’re enclosed in our own world of 140 men and women, and it’s up to us to go about our business however we see fit. I’m definitely going to learn from Darlington (Raceway). I don’t want to wreck myself. I want to win races. Whatever I can do to wreck less and win more will definitely be top of mind and priority. I take what people say to heart though, especially my boss, my owner. The guy that hires me and guides me. He’s a racer himself, so we’ve talked as just racers and buddies just as much as we’ve talked as owner and driver. People can think what they want. I know what our path is, has been and is currently in what we’re planning, and I’m totally comfortable in the spot we’re in.”

CAN YOU SHARE WHAT IT’S BEEN LIKE THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS? ARE YOU TRYING TO FIND MAYBE A DIFFERENT RHYTHM OR A DIFFERENT WAY TO APPROACH THINGS ON THE RACE TRACK?

“I’m trying to find victory lane. I found it.. it’s right here. I was there last night with Carson Hocevar and I’ve got to get back myself.

Yep, that’s all we’re trying to find.”

YOU ARE HIGH UP IN POINTS. I UNDERSTAND YOU WANT TO WIN EVERY RACE YOU COMPETE IN, BUT YOU ARE HIGH UP ENOUGH IN POINTS. IS THERE A LITTLE BIT OF THAT GIVES YOU SOME COMFORT ANYWAYS? IF NOT, ARE THERE CERTAIN TRACKS THAT YOU REALLY FEEL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SCORING A WIN AT BETWEEN NOW AND THE PLAYOFFS?

“Chicago is a huge question mark, so I don’t really know where to rank that one, even though we’ve been really good on road courses.

No.. there’s none that I really put above the others. Gateway, we weren’t that good in the race, but I thought if we were slotted in 10th, we could run 10th. I just got kind of beat up on restarts and that’s just part of it.

There’s none that I really hold any higher than the others. With this car, it’s the same car every week. Like we literally change a few settings of the geometry and the body, but it’s so small that you can’t even see the difference. Where with the old car or any other race car, you bring it to a superspeedway, you can tell in the fenders, the body lines and the way the car sits that it’s built for Daytona (International Speedway). And then when you take it to Martinsville (Speedway), you can tell it’s a totally different built race car. Ours look the same, to me. I can’t see the differences. So with that, it shrunk the window for highs and lows of tracks that seem to be better or worse because we’re running truly the same car.

Yeah, I don’t have any higher or lower, really.”

(NO MIC)

“I want to grab, scrap and pickup any points anybody drops.. anytime and all the time. The most points will be better. But no, we want to win and that’s the focus. That’s the goal. That’s the objective and that’s where our sights are set.”

CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF PERSPECTIVE ON CHICAGO? YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE 50 MINUTES OF PRACTICE, BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE EXPECT THAT THERE WILL BE MULTIPLE CAUTIONS POTENTIALLY IN THE PRACTICE SESSION, SO YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE LIMITED TIME AND MAYBE GET TWO OR THREE RUNS, IF THAT. AND THEN WHEN YOU GO TO QUALIFY, YOU’LL HAVE TO BUST OUT A REALLY STRONG LAP BECAUSE TRACK POSITION IS GOING TO MATTER. WHEN YOU GET IN THE CAR FOR QUALIFYING NEXT WEEK, HOW NERVE-RACKING IS OR HOW MUCH DO YOU EMBRACE THAT OPPORTUNITY FOR A BIG MOMENT?

“That’s NASCAR racing.. that’s every week. That’s what’s so cool about this series and this level is that there’s so much pressure involved with everything. I do wish that we did focus more on the cool factor of driving the car and how on-edge we are. You see a champion of our sport spin out in practice yesterday. If you watch the in-car, it looks innocent all the way to the point that it snaps. We’re all on that edge and we’re fighting that every lap, especially with the bump down in turn four there at Nashville (Superspeedway). There’s one big bump here. We have no idea at Chicago. They’ve repaved some, but we’ve all driven on repaved roads – sometimes it’s worse than it used to be. So I have no idea what to expect, but yeah when we go out, it’s going to be who can learn the fastest. We’re all logging laps in our simulators, but until you actually get on the surface – we don’t even have the most accurate renderings in for the walls because it’s going to be evolving as they put them in. A big ask of the operations team building the track because they’re just figuring it out as they go.

A lot of times, I wish this room could ride with me physically in the car because it’s incredible what’s happening in there. And I remember growing up, just watching and viewing these drivers as these larger than life figures because if you can ever see the car wiggle, it’s crazy inside for the driver. And if you were in there, you could feel it. More two-seaters need to be available to give rides. When we do that, I’ll gladly signup to drive everybody in this room around these tracks.”

FIVE, SIX, SEVEN YEARS AGO AS YOU’RE TRYING TO WORK YOUR WAY UP INTO NASCAR – NOW A FEW YEARS LATER, YOU’VE DRIVEN INSIDE A STADIUM, A CUP CAR ON A DIRT TRACK, DRIVEN AT NORTH WILKESBORO AND NOW YOU’RE GOING TO BE DRIVING ON A STREET COURSE. THE IDEA, THAT CONCEPT AND HOW QUICKLY THINGS HAVE CHANGED – WHAT COMES TO MIND IN TERMS OF THAT YOU’RE IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ERA THAN WHAT YOU WERE FIVE YEARS AGO AND WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE IF YOU REACH THIS LEVEL?

“I’ll have to quote one of my guys, David, when I got in the No. 42 car in 2021. We were super excited and then we happened to be on the phone one day and we looked at the schedule together, and he’s like- ‘there’s seven road course races.. I didn’t know this. Why did we signup to drive a Cup car the first time that there’s seven when there was always two.’ And we were honestly a little scared and I had to go to school. I still go to school to learn. It is what it is. I wanted to be a Cup driver. I sacrificed a lot to get here, and whatever it means to be a Cup driver, I want to be that. This level, this garage – I want to be in there with the other teams and competing at this level. This is all I’ve wanted.

Yeah, wherever we go – we go across the world, it doesn’t really bother me. I signed up for this and I’m here for it.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR SUNDAY?

“After driving the rocket ship I had yesterday in practice, my expectations are high. We’ll have a shot. We’ll be able to go and wherever we qualify, we’ll be able to race throughout tomorrow night’s race and put ourselves in position.

Yeah, expectations are to go compete. We have fast cars. We have good support. Trying to tie up all the little loose ends. We just want a shot.. that’s it. It’s going to come down to restarts throughout the final stage and adjusting our car throughout the night. I feel like that’s been a bit where I struggled. I feel like when we’ve been better throughout the weekend or early in the race, I get kind of complacent because I’m not sure what to tell them. I’m pushing the car; I have good balance. And then somebody nails their balance – it’s been a little bit slower and they’ve nailed it because they kept firing changes at it. I’m a little more reserved in my desire – as long as it’s close, I’ll go get the rest. But at this level, at the end of these races, it has to be pretty darn perfect. I feel like we’ve been beat there, so I’ve worked on just mentally, how do I push myself past where I’m comfortable with the car. I feel like I’ve got everything I need to go win. There’s probably something else I could ask for to make it a little bit better. The risk is that it could be worse, but let’s work on it – whether it’s air pressure or wedge. Our options are pretty small in the race, so what I’m looking for is small, little crumbs at the end of the race to be able to go fight for it.”

WHAT TONY STEWART SAID HE’S LOOKING FOR IN A DRIVER IS WORK ETHIC. YOU REALLY DIDN’T GET YOUR FIRST SHOT UNTIL 28 WHEN YOU GOT WITH A BIG TEAM AND YOU’VE MADE THE MOST OF IT SINCE. DOES WORK ETHIC STILL MATTER IN THE GARAGE? DO YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY DUES AND SHOW THAT YOU’RE COMMITTED?

“I’m so happy for Josh (Berry). I hate that we’re going to lose him at GM. I’m not going to be able to go to the gym in the morning and see him next year. But gosh, being friends, its been so cool to see his emotion as it’s come through and got done. There were times where I could tell he was working out a little extra because that carrot was out there, and it’s everything he’s ever wanted and worked for professionally. And same with me – it’s my life, it’s what we wanted. I’m sad I’m going to have to race against him, but I’m happy for the guy and his family.

What the owners look at, I’m not sure. I’m not a race team owner, so I don’t even begin to think that I understand how their brains work. I don’t own race cars, I drive them. Everybody had to pay something.. everybody had to write a check. The amount might have been one or two zeros different, but it’s the dark side of our sport that not a lot of people like to talk about. Yes, I had to spend money, my family had to spend money, to get me into the sport. Somebody had to pay for every driver that’s racing a car anywhere – I don’t care if you’re running a rental go-cart race. The $20 for the 10 minutes you run in a rental go-cart, you have to pay for it.. somebody has to pay for it. Whether it’s that or to the Cup Series, yes – I don’t know everybody’s details, but I know mine. Yes, we had to spend money. I’m not going to hide from that. I’ve been able to pay that back now and I’m proud of that. The thought that people are here on zero dollars is not true. Whether it was truly you or your family or somebody that was like family – they had to be like family if they’re going to spend the money it takes to get into any kind of racing. If you race local late models these days, it’s a lot of money. It’s the dark side of our sport. I live in it; I work in it. I’m in the trenches on it for me and other people trying to figure out how to pay for this stuff. I’m not a sponsor finder.. I don’t want people to think that. I don’t find money for anybody. But the dark side is – everybody pays, it’s just a matter of if it pays off.”

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
NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY
ALLY 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 23, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 – Media Availability Quotes

HAVE YOU STARTED ANY PREPARATION FOR THE CHICAGO STREET COURSE, WHETHER IT’S SIM OR GOING OVER THINGS WITH THE TEAM?

“Yes.”

WHAT IS YOUR IMPRESSION OF THE CIRCUIT AND WHAT ARE YOUR TAKEAWAYS?

“It’s really rough. It’s bumpy. It’s slippery. There’s some corners that are very challenging.. some blind ones at that. When you’re going around the Bean on the left-hander, that’s really, really slippery and there’s a huge bump going through (turn) nine before you get into (turn) 10. The wall in (turn) eight before you go around the left-hander is, to me, really narrow over there. You’re barely trying to miss getting your right front ripped off; not bouncing off that and killing your car on the left side. So there could be more room given over there, I feel like. That’s probably a really tight spot that could use a little bit of help, just based off of what the simulator is telling us. But other than that, it’s going to be a tight street course. That’s what tight street courses are.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE RACE IS GOING TO BE LIKE?

“Survival.. it’s going to be a survival race. I feel like we had a couple of those – I can’t remember the last one that we had, but I want to say it’s like turn one at Indy (Road Course). If you start 20th, you might as well not even accelerate to get to turn one because it’s probably going to look like the (Charlotte) ROVAL restart that we had when we all went off into the barrier in turn one, you know what I mean. It’s survival.”

WHAT WILL MAKE A GOOD EVENT AT CHICAGO? DOES IT NEED TO BE A SPECTACULAR FINISH OR WHAT WILL MAKE IT A SUCCESSFUL RACE FROM A COMPETITOR’S STANDPOINT?

“To me, action – having a good race and story to tell about a street course. You know, I looked at the INDYCAR race from Nashville the first year they did it. They had that big pileup and about blocked the track.. things like that. It’s not action that us drivers want to see, but fans kind of sometimes enjoy calamity. And that then turns into a social moment where they’re like – hey, check this out. If we’re those guys, then so be it and that’s kind of where it’ll lay.

It’s a spectacle, right? It’s something that I don’t think NASCAR has ever done in a long, long time – the Cup Series, if ever, I’m not sure. I know the Southwest Tour ran the streets of LA a long, long time ago in 1998. I actually spotted for my brother there. But this will be my first time ever racing on a street course and something of this nature.”

HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THE MUFFLERS YOU’RE GOING TO BE USING AT CHICAGO, AND HAVE THEY DONE ANYTHING AS FAR AS THE HEAT COMPARED TO WHAT YOU WERE FEELING IN LA?

“I’m not sure. I can’t say… I don’t know. I know Jeff Burton was working on that for us – trying to reduce some of the in-car heat. We were all kind of talking about that because some guys kind of felt a little bit hot at the Coliseum. I felt fine at the Clash.. I didn’t even run my cool shirt. I predict it’s going to be warm, but wearing a cool shirt, you should be fine.”

WHEN YOU CAME TO RCR THIS YEAR, YOU EASILY COULD HAVE SAID – I CAN’T DO CERTAIN THINGS THAT YOU WANT ME TO DO.. I NEED TO DO IT MY WAY BECAUSE I’VE BEEN DOING IT SO MANY YEARS AND I’VE HAD SUCCESS. QUITE FRANKLY, THEY PROBABLY WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED ALONG WITH IT. THEY’VE TALKED ABOUT HOW YOU HAD BOUGHT ALL-IN AND SAID – LOOK, I’M GOING TO DO IT YOUR WAY. WE’RE NOT GOING TO MEET HALFWAY.. I’M GOING TO GO ALL THE WAY WITH YOU. HOW CHALLENGING WAS IT AND WHY DID YOU EVEN DO IT LIKE THAT?

“To me, yes – I came over to RCR wanting to buy-in and just kind of understand and get into the Chevy system; be a part of the key partner deal and understand the Hendrick Motorsports side, the Trackhouse Racing side and the RCR side. But also the RCR team, as well – the engineering department and everything they have going on over there.

The buy-in, yeah – Randall (Burnett) is a smart guy. We’ve got some really good people over there. I really enjoy working with Justin Alexander, as well as Keith Rodden. All of those guys are pretty sharp guys. Buying into their way and their system because that’s how they’ve done it for so long was me getting an understanding and just being like – let’s go to work. But also, to just say too that I’ve brought a lot to the table, as well – from where I’ve been and some of the ways that I’ve done things before, too. We talked about that and we’re intermixing a lot of that. Whether it’s 60/40 – their way, my way – or vice versa.. I don’t care, it doesn’t matter. It’s whatever works. So how we get through those things that work for them, and then the things that I always bring up that I’m still pushing for. There’s probably, I don’t know, how many items on my checklist, but at least five that are top priority that I’m really still forking them with and trying to get them to accomplish.”

(NO MIC)

“It’s a longer process. It takes a longer time. I wouldn’t call it short-staffed.. there’s plenty of people around. Those people have jobs right. I’m asking for engineering things.. I’m looking for data sheets and things like that. It’s not just coming either A – as fast as it should; or B – at all some weekends. So really just trying to be like – look guys, this is important and this stuff can help, and it’ll give us a good basis of what we need to work on overnight going into the race. And we’re just not getting that right now. I think that’s going to be an overall help for the whole Chevy team on being able to get some of that.”

YOU TWEETED ‘NOW IT’S HAMMERDOWN UNTIL PHOENIX’ WHEN YOU GOT BACK FROM VACATION. DO YOU HAVE TO PUT THE BINDERS ON AND JUST GO STRAIGHT THROUGH THE LAST 10 AND INTO THE PLAYOFFS?

“Well, yeah.. there’s no more off weeks. I think that’s basically what it meant.. we’re going straight through from now to Phoenix (Raceway). There’s 18 races left, so that means there’s eight and then the final 10. So we’ve got eight weeks to prepare ourselves, get ready and build our program stronger and as good as we can for the start of the playoffs. Once we get to Darlington (Raceway), it’s going to be no miss. We’ve kind of been a little bit dirty to start, if you will. We haven’t had clean races a lot, and then the last three or four, we’ve had some pretty clean races respectively. So keep that momentum going for the next eight and maybe tack on another win or two and be perfect by the time the playoffs come.”

AS YOU AND RANDALL (BURNETT) LOOK AT THIS PUSH TO THE PLAYOFFS – YOU JOKINGLY SAID AFTER SONOMA (RACEWAY) THAT MAYBE YOU DON’T WANT AN OFF-WEEKEND WITH THE STRETCH OF FOUR TOP-10 FINISHES. WHERE IS THIS TEAM IN TERMS OF HOW YOU STACK UP? HOW CLOSE ARE YOU TO A CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDING TEAM?

“Yeah, I mean looking at the last 10 weeks of the schedule, I would say that we feel pretty confident about how we can go about those weeks and those races. The only one that you kind of circle right now that’s a question mark, maybe two, is obviously Bristol (Motor Speedway) and Martinsville (Speedway) with the short-track package and us not being great with that. But the rest of the races, I’m looking forward to them. There’s an even slate there for us to be as good as we’ve been this year, and go out there and score some good, strong runs.

Championship-caliber team, I would say our guys are super good at building some really good cars. We’ve had some really clean stuff. The job that each member on the team has been doing has been top-notch. I get in the car, all my stuff is there – the windshield tear-offs are right, the black-out’s good.. like details. It comes down to the details. So to me, from what I can tell, it’s where we need to be. Praises to them and I’m looking forward to racing out the rest of the year with the way that we’ve had our start.”

AS WE GO INTO THE SECOND-HALF OF THE REGULAR-SEASON, HAS THERE BEEN ANYONE THAT’S SEPERATED THEMSELVES AS FAR AS WHO’S GOING TO BE THE CONTENDERS?

“No.. I mean honestly, last year the No. 22 (Joey Logano) won the championship out of nowhere. They were terrible through the summer and it kind of looks the same right now. So anything can happen.

It’s hard for me to answer that question. Like are you a championship-caliber team? Well yeah, but I think there’s probably 12 others, you know what I mean? It’s a lot more unknown with the Next Gen car, and how you go to these race tracks and how sporadic finishes can be. You think somebody is going to go out and win a race and they get wrecked, and then somebody else does that’s a surprise winner. So you just never know.. you just have to play it out.”

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.