NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
COCA-COLA 600TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 27, 2023

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 – Media Availability at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

A FEW WEEKS AGO, YOU SAID YOU HAVEN’T BEEN LOOKING AT POINTS. NOW THAT YOU’RE GETTING A LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO THE CUTOFF, I’M CURIOUS IF YOU’VE TAKEN ANY MORE OF A LOOK AT IT IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS?

“I haven’t, really. I hear people talking about it.. that we were I guess somewhere closer and within reach of pointing our way in. But no, I haven’t been paying much attention to it. Really just trying to run better and get some stage points. To me, that’s probably been the biggest thing that we haven’t done, aside from winning. But we haven’t been getting a lot of stage points. We got some at Talladega and a pretty big chunk, but that’s really been about it. We’ve had some decent finishes, but not a lot of stage points.

What did you say.. 63 points?”

YES, 63 POINTS BEHIND 16TH RIGHT NOW WITH 13 RACES TO GO.

“Obviously there’s still some stuff going on there right because you have Alex (Bowman), who’s been out, and opportunities for new winners, too. It sounds like 63 points is attainable in 13 weeks, but I think a lot can happen. My goals don’t really change either way. Your best chance of having a shot at the championship is to go and put yourself in position to win races, and same for gaining the most amount of points you can have. If you’re running up front and in the mix of winning, those are the guys that are getting the most points every week. So to me, it’s all one in the same.”

IT’S BEEN SIX RACES, INCLUDING THE ALL-STAR RACE, THAT YOU’VE BEEN BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL. HOW DO YOU FEEL PHYSICALLY GETTING BACK INTO THE SWING OF THINGS? DO YOU FEEL MORE CAUGHT UP TO SPEED, SO TO SPEAK, WITH THE PACK?

“Yeah, I do. I don’t feel any different, honestly. I don’t even really feel like I missed any time, just from driving. I think the things that I haven’t done well, I wasn’t doing well before I got hurt, too. I think all that stuff is very much back on pace.

In the car, physically driving, I don’t feel any bit different than I did last season or the beginning of this year. I feel like all of that is very normal. Certainly outside of the car and just getting back to being 100 percent physically, it’s a long recovery. If I was playing a stick-and-ball sport, it would still be months from doing those things. So fortunately we’re in a position in these cars that – and I’ve said this – your leg is in a pretty good spot and it’s pretty secure, too. You could be in a much more compromised situation, for sure. Just lucky that’s the reality for us and in what we do, and I could get back to work.”

WHERE IS THE NO. 9 TEAM, IN TERMS OF PERFORMANCE? WHAT’S THE BIGGEST THING YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FOCUS ON?

“Well, stage points being one. And I think some of that comes with how you qualify. So yeah, qualifying has been really pour for me for probably six months or more. Unfortunately that trend has continued. I think that’s the big one, for sure. That impacts your pit pick – your pit pick you have to live with throughout the entire race. But yeah, qualifying a little better and stage points. And certainly want to run better in the races, too. I feel like some of the components have been there. Our pit stops have been really good this year. I feel like Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and everybody has called good races. I think it’s really just on me to do a better job and make sure I’m giving those guys the information that they need to make our car better, and then ultimately to go put down a faster lap in qualifying. Just trying to fine tune all of those little pieces. I think the pieces of the puzzle are there and our team has been performing really well in all of the areas that don’t necessarily pertain to me. So I’ve been super pleased with all of that and just trying to push and get a little better on my end to make sure I’m bringing my part to the table.”

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS LED THE MOST LAPS. AT THIS RACE TRACK, HMS IS SO GOOD. IS THERE ANY REASON TO THINK THIS ISN’T A TYPICAL YEAR WHERE ONE OF THE HMS CARS WOULD WIN AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN THE COCA-COLA 600?

“Yeah, I certainly would like to think so, right? That betters my chances. Yeah, it’s been a really good track for Hendrick Motorsports over the years, even before I was around. I hope that those trends continue. Obviously I think you have to look at more recent history now to gauge where things are, especially since the Next Gen car has been implemented. And then even more recent than that, looking at this season – I feel like the 1.5-mile program has been solid as a whole for Chevrolet, which is a good thing, and also very solid for Hendrick Motorsports, in particular with William (Byron), Kyle (Larson) and Alex (Bowman), as well, before he got hurt. I think that’s been a strong suit, so would love to capitalize on that. I think it’s a place where we can come and run well at. I know one of our cars did the test here a couple of months ago or whenever they had it, so have some notes and information to look back on from that, so that’s always a help coming into the weekend. Just try to put together 600 miles and be around there for those last 100 to have a shot.”

YOU’VE SAID IT’S THE LONGEST RACE OF THE SEASON, BUT IT DOESN’T FEEL THAT WAY TO YOU? IS THAT TRUE WHEN YOU’RE RACING IT.. THAT IT DOESN’T FEEL THAT LONG?

“It really doesn’t. It is a long race, for sure. But I don’t know.. from the driver’s seat, I just feel like a lot of times when you’re running this race – which I feel like I’ve crashed out of quite a few of them. I did last year.. I think I was out before halfway last year. I guess it’s been a couple of years since I’ve finished one. But the couple that I have finished, I just feel like – it might seem a little longer, but you’re just so honed in on what’s going on right now, that next pit stop and just focused on that next task, so it makes it go by pretty fast from the driver’s seat, in my experience. Hopefully that’s the case again. Typically if things are going good, it goes by quicker. If you’re really struggling and having a hard time, it can make it go by slower. Hopefully we’re on the good end of that.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE THE WHOLE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS’ CAMP BACK FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY?

“Yeah, it’s just nice to be back to normal. I feel like everything at our campus over there has just been a little chaotic in one way or another right – with me getting hurt and just kind of not knowing when I was going to be able to come back and talking through all of that stuff. I feel like everybody over there did a great job handling it and same for Alex’s (Bowman) injury, too. But it’s just extra work, you know, that you don’t want to have to do – more questions to answer and I think a little bit of just a distraction more than anything. But fortunately or unfortunately, we’ve gotten well-versed in this category this year. Hopefully that’s the end of it, at least for this season. The good news is that there’s a lot of racing left. You have the entire summer stretch into early fall before the playoffs start, so plenty of time to get done what you’re going to get done and to figure out how you’re going to run and whether or not you’re going to be a contender or not. Those things don’t just change overnight, so plenty of time to get back on track if that’s what we’re going to do. I certainly feel like we can as a group and as a company and particularly in the No. 9 camp, too.”

YOU HAD A REMARKABLE SEASON LAST YEAR WITH FIVE WINS, BUT WE KIND OF EXPECT YOU TO BE THIS ROAD COURSE WARRIOR ONCE WE GET TO THOSE TYPES OF TRACKS JUST GIVEN YOUR SUCCESS THERE IN THE PAST. DID THE NEW CAR HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH NOT GETTING THE WINS ON THE ROAD COURSES LIKE YOU HAD IN THE PAST?

“No, we talked about this some last year and I feel like I answered this question then, too. I told y’all when we were winning all those road course races that I didn’t feel like I was doing anything special. We had a good package that worked out and it just suited me at the time. I don’t think I did anything special or spectacular. I tried to make sure everyone understood that. I just think as time goes on, everybody gets better and improves. Certainly coming in with a new car, you kind of have to re-baseline on some of those things – those thoughts and ideas that were working for us. You just can’t copy and paste those things, and all the little small details that I feel like we did a good of exceling at. So yeah, it’s just different. It’s definitely different everywhere, but certainly the road courses are no different in that regard.

I guess to answer your question – yes, I would say the new car and all the changes that came along with that, and then combining that with everyone just getting better in the garage, too.”

DID THE CAR FEEL CONSIDERABLY DIFFERENT WHEN YOU WERE AT SONOMA RACEWAY?

“Yeah, the car feels pretty different everywhere that I remember last year. To me, it was a complete departure from anything we had driven in the past in the NASCAR world. It’s just a different animal. The thing is just different, for sure, good or bad. It kind of has its own way now.”

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO GET BACK INTO A CONDITION WHERE YOU KIND OF FEEL LIKE YOU’RE AT 100 PERCENT?

“Well I think racing is the biggest piece of that puzzle, right? I sat around for six weeks or better there before Martinsville and I was hurting for sure after that. But even when you’re in good shape and you have good weeks of preparation, you can still go through a race weekend and certain events, temperatures or whatever can fatigue you more than others. I think it depends on the weekend. The good news is for Alex (Bowman) and probably me too with still trying to get back in the groove of things – it’s kind of cool here this weekend and obviously the rain coming through can impact that, as well. The summer stretch is going to be tough.. it always is. But Alex is in good shape and he hasn’t really been out that long. It’s only been four weeks, so I think he’s going to be fine. Like I said, he’s in good shape, so I don’t think he’s going to have a problem.”

About Chevrolet
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Coca-Cola 600 Media Availability | Saturday, May 27, 2023

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, held a Q&A session in the infield media center at Charlotte Motor Speedway after NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying was canceled.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – HOW WAS IT IN THE BOOTH AND WHAT IS YOUR OUTLOOK FOR THE RACE? “The booth today was a lot of just hanging out and eating probably too much junk food before a 600-mile race. We were just chilling and talking to our fans. Kevin graduated from the Driver’s Only, so that was a big news event for you guys today. I don’t know if you want to write all that down, but that was huge. Outside of that, we just had some fun and unfortunately the weather got the best of us. I’m looking forward to the race. The Coke 600, a crown jewel event and one that has haunted me for a while and one that I really, really want to win. Obviously, nobody knows what they’ve got as far as their race car without practice or qualifying, but we’ve got 600 miles to figure some stuff out.”

WHAT HAS CAUSED FORD’S INCONSISTENCY THIS YEAR? “I think you’re going down the right road to understand what’s going on. Everyone had the ability to adjust their front ends, cooling packages, and we didn’t maximize as well as we needed to. I think that’s the bottom line. There’s no other way around it, so we’re constantly looking for improvements and how we can make our cars better, just like everybody else is, but we’re starting a little bit behind. That doesn’t mean we can’t win races. It just means we have to be perfect, and that means the teams are gonna have to do their jobs to really overcome some of the issues. There’s still a long season. There are still plenty of races to win and plenty of time to turn the ship around a little bit, but it’s tough right now. It’s probably gonna be tough for the foreseeable future until we can make some adjustments, but we’re still in the hunt. When I look at the races that we’re executing perfectly from a car setup perspective, pit road perspective, strategy, restarts, if we nail all of those, we can win. If we miss one of those, we can’t win. So that’s just what it’s come down to right now is we have to strive for perfection, which we do anyways, but it really matters now in how we execute.”

IT SEEMS THE SUPERSPEEDWAYS HAVE BEEN SOLID, BUT THE ISSUES ARE SHORT TRACKS AND INTERMEDIATES. “Yeah. We’re lacking downforce. That’s where we’re lacking. There was a compare done a few weeks ago and everybody got to see it, so that’s the situation. It doesn’t mean we can’t make up that difference on car setup and maximizing what we have. If we do a better job than everybody else, we can make up that difference.”

HOW MUCH OF A CHALLENGE IS THIS WEEKEND WHEN NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THEY’VE GOT. IS 400 LAPS A LUXURY IN THAT REGARD? “No, it’s hard to say it’s a luxury. If you asked us this before COVID – what was this like starting a race without practice, we never did that. We always would have practice before the race. Now, we are kind of used to it. It’s like, ‘OK, there’s no practice, no qualifying all right. We’ll just start the race and see what we’ve got,’ so it doesn’t seem as crazy as it used to be and, like I said, we’ll figure it out. You just hope you get your heights right. Really, these days with practice you can’t change a whole bunch anyway. You can adjust your heights, some wedge, swaybar arms and toe. That’s what you got, so there’s not a whole bunch of room for adjustment anyways, so it’s not as big of a deal as it used to be.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE UPDATES THAT WERE MADE THIS WEEK WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR? “I don’t think any of us are satisfied until we see that it’s better, and I think that’s kind of the situation we’re in. We’ve seen how we got to this spot that we’re in now as far as safety with developing the Next Gen car, and it’s frustrating. That was frustrating, but I feel like now there’s some pretty clear data on where we’re at and at least we can understand that, and there are steps being made to move forward and make it better. So, when you think about the rear clips, OK, that seems to be better. There’s been a few rear impacts and everyone seems like they’re doing OK. It stinks that it got to the point where it’s hurt a few drivers last year, and then you see Larson and Preece’s wreck in Talladega and you’re like, ‘OK, the front is too stiff, too.’ We can’t forget about that, so then next steps are made for that. The frustrating part is that we had to wait until some big wrecks happened to make changes. That was the frustrating part, but changes are being made now and that’s good.”

IS IT EASIER TO GO AND UNLOAD WITH THIS NEXT GEN CAR COMPARED TO OTHERS? “No, I don’t think it’s any easier. If anything, it’s harder because we understand the old car probably even better than we still understand this car, but it’s the same for everybody. Nobody had any laps. It’s all going off the setups that the engineers and crew chiefs and drivers have come up with. You’re looking at sim, other races at that track or other tracks like it, and the best decisions you can make. That’s what you’ve got and we’ll see what we’ve got tomorrow. It’s kind of exciting in some ways. It’s like, ‘How good did we do?’ So, I’m kind of excited about that part.”

WAS THAT THE LONGEST BROADCAST YOU WERE A PART OF TODAY? “That was the longest time I sat in the booth not doing anything, yes. I think you were there the whole time to see it.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE? “It’s just hanging out. At that point, you’re just kind of bs-ing and having a little fun. We just tried to figure out what was going on and what was next as far as next hits that come up. We’ve got to do those and just wait it out like everybody else. It’s really not any different. We’re just waiting to hear the answers. You’d think that we would know the answers before everybody else up there in the TV booth, but that was not the case. We found out right at the same time as everybody else did.”

HAVE YOU DONE ANY iRACING OR SIM WORK FOR CHICAGO? “No.”

WILL THAT START THE WEEK BEFORE? “Yeah, probably something like that. I did some of the iRacing stuff when we did that during COVID. Actually, I take that back. I did do it one other time, but outside of that not right yet, but we’ll do some Ford sim stuff I’m sure and try to figure some stuff out there.”

CAN YOU IMAGINE GETTING IN A CAR A MONTH AFTER YOU BROKE YOUR BACK? “With no practice. That’s really hard, I would assume. It’s gotta be hard. Alex is a professional, though. He’s been racing his whole life. He’s a good driver. I’m sure it’s gonna feel a little weird at first because you’re getting back in something going really fast and it takes a few laps to get used to it again, which I would assume that’s what it’s gonna be. You can think of the offseason most of the time and you get back in the car at Daytona and you’re like, ‘Whoa. I haven’t driven a car since Thanksgiving’, and it feels a little odd. I’m sure it’s gonna be like that. Usually, we have practice to kind of work out those things and knock the rust off, but I’m sure with Alex it’s not gonna take long – a couple laps before he’s right back at it.”

HOW WILL KEVIN DO IN THE BOOTH NEXT YEAR? “I think Kevin will do fine. The one thing that all of us sitting in this room and everyone in this industry are very blessed to have is Kevin Harvick and the fact that Kevin Harvick isn’t going away. Kevin cares about this sport. He cares about the people in this sport. Hearing him talk about the guys in the garage a lot. He talks about the guys in the garage as much as the drivers or the fans. He cares about the sport is what I’m trying to say and that is shown in so many ways that you guys don’t see. I get to see, but also in ways that the world is gonna see in the Fox booth next year, and I think that’s something that we all should be pretty grateful for because, obviously, he has a great fan following, but he also has a very loud voice within the industry that is very well respected and the fact that he’s not just taking and leaving, meaning he had a great career and he left and he says, ‘Thanks. I’m out.’ He has decided to stay involved and continue to build the sport for the next generation. That says a lot about a person to me. If it wasn’t for people like that, I wouldn’t be sitting here today talking to you and you wouldn’t be sitting here watching the sport either or writing about the sport. This, to me, is a true hall of fame move that’s probably even bigger than a few race wins that he’s had. The fact that he cares enough to continue means a lot to me.”

DO YOU GET BETTER IN PRACTICE, IN THE RACES, OR IN THE SIMULATOR? HOW DO YOU DO IT? “It’s never one thing. It takes everything, every little piece to make it better. You’re talking just speed, at least the things you just brought up are speed knob type of things. That’s usually downforce, drag and horsepower. When you’re off, that’s usually the things that will bring the speed in and, really, these days that’s all you’ve got. There’s not gonna be a new spindle or something like that. You can’t make those anymore. What you’ve got is what you’ve got for parts, so if you’re off on speed, there’s only three things you can look at to get faster, and we need to maximize our setups and stuff like that, and understand the balance of mechanical grip versus aero grip and platform, and I feel like we’re doing a pretty good job at a lot of that stuff. We just have to continue to look for the little things. It’s just gonna take some time. It’s gonna be kind of grind it out type races and it doesn’t mean that when the playoffs come around we ain’t gonna be in the hunt. We are every year and I expect to be in the hunt again this year. I’ve been through these situations before and 2018 always comes to my mind when I ended up pretty damn well. My mind is kind of set on that, that we understand where we’re off and we’re working on it and we’ve got a little bit of time before the playoffs start. We may not go into the playoffs with the most playoff points, but it doesn’t mean we can’t win the championship. That’s our situation and until then we have to be perfect all the time.”

HOW MUCH OF A FACTOR IS THAT FOURTH STAGE TOMORROW? “It’s a very important race for that reason. When you add another 10 possible points and another playoff point sitting there, it’s one of those days that if you have a good car and you’re fast, boy, you can stack in some points. You can have an amazing day, so hopefully we have that, but that’s what makes the 600 different and special and you have that added stage to it, and, really, if it goes green stage to stage, there’s not a whole bunch of opportunity on strategy. You can split it down the center. There might be few people that go long, a few people go short if it goes green, but it’s not like there’s a caution and half the cars take two or stay out or whatever. If there is a caution, it may change some things up, but if there’s no cautions, a fast car is just gonna get a lot of points, and if there is a car up front and they execute the day, they’re gonna come walking out of here with a boat load of points.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR VISIT TO THE NAVAL STATION NORFOLK? “I was blessed enough to go for Mission 600 to go to Norfolk, Virginia, to visit the Navy Station out there. I got on a Destroyer and they gave me a tour of the whole ship and the tour was special. It was cool, but meeting the people was what really felt special to me and hearing their stories. I guess the thing that stood out to me the most is they just got back from an eight month tour and there were 14 members on that ship that have not met their kid, not met their baby yet. I guess that, to me, it gives me chills thinking about it right now. I couldn’t imagine the commitment that not only that soldier is making, but their family is making in just everyday living. That’s the way they live. They’re gone for eight months. They’re home for a couple weeks and then they’re leaving again for another three months in two weeks. So they’re going home to meet their kid for the first time. I just couldn’t imagine. I get antsy to go home after a rain delay and I’m home on Monday instead of Sunday night. Can you imagine being gone that long and you miss all of that as you fight for strangers that you have not met? Think about that commitment that these men and women do for us in this country. I guess every time I do something with the military it’s a good refresher, and I wish everybody in our country got to see what I got to see because I think that would change our culture and our perspective a lot because it is unreal. Weekends like this are great because it is in the front of everything. We’re stopping the race. We do all these things before pre-race. These things are key for us to do to be able to show our military the appreciation they deserve and it’s so easy for us to not think about that stuff because we live in our little world as we all do and everything is always great in our little world, but that’s because somebody is out there making a ridiculous commitment for us that we’ll never understand. Think about that. That was just a normal trip. Imagine going into battle and then paying the ultimate sacrifice that so many people have paid for us and a lot of them on the windshields of our cars this weekend. To me, that is unreal – that type of commitment people are willing to make for us. This weekend is special for that reason – to just show some appreciation, shake a hand, say thank you. It’s literally the least we can do. It never feels like enough. I always leave these places thinking, ‘Man, I’m not worthy.’ It’s just a special thing. I wish everyone got to see it.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
COCA-COLA 600
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 27, 2023

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Media Availability at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

WHEN YOU GUYS WERE THINKING ABOUT WHEN YOU MIGHT COME BACK, DID THE EXTRA MILEAGE OF THIS RACE COME INTO PLAY AT ALL?

“Yeah, I think so. I think it got talked a lot, for sure. But at the same time, I feel like I’m ready. I feel like kind of the little bit of pain that I’m going to be stuck with, I’m probably going to be stuck with it for quite a while. So this week, versus next week, versus the following week – it kind of is what it is. Yeah, I think we talked about it, but I was able to run a lot of laps at North Wilkesboro (Speedway) on Tuesday. I felt OK about things, so yeah I’m pretty confident that I’ll be just fine.”

YOU’RE IN AN UNIQUE SITUATION COMING BACK WITH THE POINTS AND STILL BEING AROUND THE PLAYOFF CUTLINE. WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR YOU COMING BACK – DOES THAT PUT YOU AT EASE KNOWING YOU CAN STILL GET IN ON POINTS, OR DOES THAT STILL HURT YOU A LITTLE BIT?

“I don’t think it puts us at ease with the situation we’re in, points-wise, by any means. A lot can happen – you can have a lot of winners and that can change really quickly. But I think what it does do is talks about the season we’ve had so far. Missed three points races, had a 60-point penalty and still be on the playoff cutline – it says how good of a season we were having before I did get hurt. Excited to be back and hopefully we can pickup where we left and be strong right out of the gate.”

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS HAD THE WHOLE CAMP TOGETHER SINCE AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE THE WHOLE CAMP BACK TOGETHER GIVEN THE SECOND-HALF OF THE SEASON STARTS ON SUNDAY?

“Yeah, I don’t know that they were missing much without me around (laughs). But it’s good to be back, for sure. It’s been an interesting year for all of us – whether it’s the crew chief deal, Chase (Elliott) getting hurt and me getting hurt. Glad to have us all back and hopefully we can keep it that way for the rest of the year.”

YOU WOULDN’T BE CLIMBING INTO THE CAR THIS WEEKEND IF YOU WEREN’T CLEARED. WHAT ARE YOU STILL DEALING WITH PHYSICALLY?

“Yeah, I mean I broke my back a month ago, so there’s definitely things that are going to come along with that for a long time. Shoot from everybody I’ve talked to, probably forever. There’s some discomfort here and there, and things that I do that don’t feel good. But that’s just part of it and stuff I’m going to have to deal with. It’s not too bad. For the most part, I’m back to normal. Kind of easing back to getting back into the gym and training hard. I didn’t want to kill myself training all week this week trying to be ready for the 600, and then show up tomorrow super sore and worn out already. Just trying to be smart with things. But yeah, twist the wrong way, sometimes it hurts or do different things and it hurts a little bit. In the racecar, at the end of a six hour race, I’m probably not going to feel the best. But as far as the 200 laps that I did at North Wilkesboro, I felt OK.”

INAUDIBLE..

“Yeah, I think so. Once I’m in the seat, it’s not too bad. There really hasn’t been anything that they could do at all, the whole time. As high as T3 is, it’s not like I had a brace or anything like that. Yeah, just been trying to do the best I can with it.”

BLAKE’S (HARRIS) FOCUS COMING INTO THIS SEASON WAS JUST OVERALL CONSISTENCY, WHICH YOU GUYS ACHIEVED EARLY. NOW THAT YOU’VE HAD A PROLONGED BREAK, HOW DO YOU KICKSTART THAT AGAIN?

“That’s a good question.. it would have been really nice to kickstart that again with some practice today. Really just try to understand where we’re going to pick up. Like I ran some laps myself at North Wilkesboro, but I haven’t raced. I haven’t competitively driven a racecar in a month, so just trying to understand where my rusty areas are going to be and where I’m still good. Lap time-wise, we were plenty competitive in our test, but that’s by yourself. Obviously North Wilkesboro is significantly different than Charlotte.. about as different as they get. So just trying to see where we stack up whenever I do get back into the car and kind of go from there.”

DEFINE ‘PAIN’.. THERE’S PAIN AND THERE’S PAIN THAT COMES AND GOES. WHAT’S YOUR TOLERANCE FOR PAIN AND HOW MUCH DOES IT HURT?

“Yeah, until I do it, I don’t know. That’s the biggest thing and that’s really the whole reason in testing. The doctor was like it’s healing and you can do it based on pain tolerance, but you can’t simulate what it’s going to be like without getting in a racecar. And even that, you can’t simulate Charlotte at North Wilkesboro, so I don’t have a clue. It’s going to hurt. I don’t know how much it’s going to hurt. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt very much because at North Wilkesboro it didn’t. All we did was make long runs there to try and simulate being here and how long the 600 is. But we had two sets of tires, two hours and a flat race track that is really slick and doesn’t give you any G-forces. We have five-and-a-half hours tomorrow night with a ton of G-forces and a ton of grip, so it’s about as different as it could possibly get. But yeah, I think I’ll be alright.”

IN THE PAST, HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR TOLERANCE FOR PAIN ON A SCALE OF ONE TO 10 PRIOR TO THIS?

“I don’t know, I think I’m a bit of a wimp, if we’re being honest. But no, I’ve raced through some things before and I feel like I’ll be OK. Honestly, it’s not that bad. I feel like a lot of people have had similar injuries that were so much worse. Obviously I got out of the car and walked away. It’s not too bad. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but I’ll be fine.”

WITH NO PRACTICE, WAS IT STILL NICE TO BE ABLE TO GET IN THE CAR THIS WEEK AT NORTH WILKSBORO INSTEAD OF GOING INTO TOMORROW WITH NOTHING?

“Yeah, for sure. And honestly, as much as it was for me to get my head wrapped around what it was actually going to feel like, I feel like that was a part of getting cleared – having a doctor there and kind of going through that. Glad we were able to do that. Obviously would have liked track time today to kind of know what I signed myself up for tomorrow, but yeah I think it was definitely good to be able to do that. Ran a lot of laps in the simulator, which doesn’t really do a whole lot, but hopefully that gives me an idea of what my racecar is going to be like. I think it was really good for me, mentally. Obviously it was a requirement to get cleared, but just mentally to know what to expect, feels good.”

WHAT DID THEY EXACTLY DO TO YOUR BACK – WAS IT A REST THING OR DID THEY PUT PINS IN IT? SECONDLY, ARE YOU GOING TO STICK TO JUST NASCAR RACING OR WILL YOU STILL GO BACK TO SOME OTHER STUFF LIKE YOU WERE DOING?

“Yeah, they walked in and said you broke your back.. come back and see us again in three weeks (laughs). Honestly there just wasn’t anything that they could do. It wasn’t something that required surgery or anything like that. It was too high to brace. So honestly, it was a lot of rest at first. I tried to keep myself busy. I felt like after a week or two, kind of the less I moved, the more I hurt. So I’d go to my shop and walk around, or go to HMS and walk around, and then I slowly worked my way into getting back to the gym. I walked a lot. Just trying to keep it loose and let it heal. Thankfully, it is healing. It was stable. I didn’t have any big complications. Obviously that similar crash and similar injury hurt a lot of others much worse, so just thankful it wasn’t worse for me.

As far as racing other stuff – someday, for sure. I want to get back into a sprint car and a midget. For me, I felt like we were just kind of getting rolling a little bit in a sprint car, and getting more and more competitive. That night, we were pretty fast. Definitely a bummer there.. that’s something I really want to conquer and at least be able to be competitive with like the World of Outlaws or at High Limit races. It would mean a lot to me. So someday I’ll get back to that, but as a guy that’s sat on the couch more in the last eight months than not, probably smart if I give my day job a little alone time for a bit.”

WHAT MAKES YOU SO CONFIDENT IN BEING ABLE TO RACE THIS WEEKEND?

“Well I’m not very smart, so that might be part of it (laughs). But no, just running laps in the car on Tuesday, it didn’t hurt. Like the physical act of driving the racecar, I was fine. It’s going to be a long night and I’m going to be pretty sore by the end of it, but yeah I’m confident. I wish we had practice. That would probably make me a little more confident. But I wouldn’t be back here if I wasn’t confident that I could run the whole race.”

DID YOU PRACTICE THEM DROPPING THE JACK AND HAVING THAT FEELING?

“Yeah, that was my biggest fear, by far. Obviously these cars are very stiff. We’ve seen with the Next Gen car how much stiffer it is and how much more it kind of shocks the driver’s body. Yeah, I was terrified to drop the jack. We did it and it didn’t hurt at all. The thing that I thought was going to hurt the most didn’t hurt at all, so that makes me feel good. I don’t think I would get away with 600 miles on one set of tires, so dropping the jack is going to be a requirement tomorrow night or Monday.”

DO YOU THINK SONOMA RACEWAY WILL REALLY BE THE NEXT CHALLENGE AFTER JUST GETTING THROUGH THIS 600 MILES BECAUSE YOU’RE GOING LEFT AND RIGHT?

“Yeah, for sure. I think I have a lot of challenges ahead of me, for sure. Sonoma (Raceway) isn’t going to feel good with how tall the curbs are and how stiff the racecars are. That race is physical, in general.

My challenges are going to be that. My challenges are going to be the fact that I sat on the couch for the last month and wasn’t able to train. There’s a lot of things that are going to be difficult to catch back up on. But yeah, I’m confident I’ll be fine. It may not be the most fun, but I’ll be fine.”

DO YOU GUYS HAVE A STRATEGY HOW TO ADVANCE TO THE PLAYOFFS?

“Yeah, I think for us, we just have to do what we were doing. We had the best average finish out of anybody at the time I got hurt. We had a massive points penalty, missed three points races and we’re still on the cutoff line. So if we can just go back to how we were running, I know we can do it. Obviously we want to go win races and I think that comes with how we were performing. But yeah, just have to go kick some butt.”

BOWMAN ON STARTING 31ST IN A 600-MILE RACE:

“I have one of the best crew chiefs on pit road, best race team on pit road, top-five best pit crew on pit road – there’s no reason why we can’t accomplish it. Honestly, if I can drive the racecar at the level that I think I’m capable of doing and we have a good car when we take off, there’s no reason we can’t win from 31st. I think for me, I want to make all the laps and I want to have a good, solid top-10 day coming back from breaking my back. But yeah, there’s no reason that with our race team and our capabilities that we can’t win from anywhere we start every week.”

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

Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

CONCORD, N.C. (May 27, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin was made available to media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday:

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

What did winning the Coke 600 mean to you and the experience you had honoring our fallen soldiers?

“It really is special for sure. I thanked Marcus (Smith) and his whole team for allowing me to go and experience it. It was a great experience and obviously, a very humbling experience to see the cemetery. It was an honor to see the changing of the guard there. Our sport does so much for the military, week-in and week-out. When we get to the Coke 600, the Department of the Defense thinks that this is their biggest event to honor their military. Certainly, very humbling for us to go out and put on a show for them.”

What is like for you to see cars that you own run not as well as you would expect?

“I think it is a little bit easier to assess when my team struggles because I know I have all the information on what our team is running and what we are doing, and so my first question is how far off the reservation are you guys when it comes to that. So, it is a little bit easier to assess when you have an alliance with a team like Joe Gibbs Racing that usually strong, week-in and week-out. It forces you to look in the mirror when you’re not performing, but if you do it on your own, there is a lot of questions and speculation about what could, or could not be wrong.”

Is there anything you can do with the radio to prevent what happened over Bubba Wallace’s radio last weekend?

“I know the team internally talked about it – about what they wanted to do to prevent it. We are working on stuff on our end to prevent it. I haven’t heard what the exact fix is for that.”

How did the strong runs for both 23XI Racing cars last weekend make you feel?

“It makes me feel good. It means our team is a high-level, elite team, and one that kind of carried the Toyota banner last week. It makes me feel good about it that they are taking the information and fitting it to their drivers, and the drivers are doing a good job. Bubba (Wallace), especially, in this past year has taken huge strides, and Tyler (Reddick) has been a proven winner. He has continued to work on his craft to get better as well. It really says a lot about that whole team, and what they have been doing on the competition side to get better, working on the small details that make a difference each week.”

Was there a fire at your parent’s house this week?

“A little attic fire, but everyone is okay. Just have some repairs to do.”

What does it mean to you have a fallen soldier on your car this weekend?

“Kevin (J. Smith) from Georgia was a victim in Baghdad back during the Iraqi Freedom Operation. I like listening to their parents or relatives to hear their story. You can read about them as much as you can, and you hear their stories through words on paper, but hearing from their relatives touches you in a bigger manner, especially for me. I will get to spend some time with his dad and stepmom this weekend and really understand his story and what he has done for our country and say thank you to them for making that sacrifice.”

When you pull the cars down pit road for the moment of silence, what is it for you as a driver?

“It’s definitely different. We’ve done moment of silences before for some stuff. It just seems like during that 600, we are all pumped full of adrenaline and then we are thinking about all of these things, but no matter how busy our minds are and what the crew chief is maybe thinking about, on which direction he needs to make the car better when we come down here and pit, everyone just stops. Myself personally, I stop everything. I stop my brain and sit there in silence and reflect. Hopefully, all the competitors, I’m sure, do as well. It is a moment where we need to stop the game for a moment and just say thank you.”

Are there any future plans to expand on Bubba Wallace’s documentary on Netflix?

“We would like to for sure. Obviously, that was really well put together. I’m proud for Bubba (Wallace) and the whole 23XI team, and the guys that helped put that whole deal together. They just did a phenomenal job with it. Certainly, I think it was a very good inside baseball type of thing where we get to educate fans beyond what you see with us going around in circles each and every weekend. It shows the work that goes on for the drivers and the teams do to make that show go on every weekend. I would love to see it expand and have another season or another version of it in NASCAR, we just have to keep working on it.”

Has anything internally changed with Bubba Wallace recently to allow him to seem more relaxed?

“I think the results, honestly. There was a turning point during the summer of last year where he started getting some really good runs and he started to believe in himself. I think he’s a guy that can definitely question his own abilities at times, but I think that he’s had enough sustained good runs that he now knows in his ability, and he knows when he puts in the work – he sees the results from it. I think this is the new Bubba Wallace that you are probably going to see as an upfront contender, week-in and week-out, more times than not.”

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
COCA-COLA 600
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 27, 2023

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1, media availability at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

THIS IS A HOME RACE FOR YOU. OBVIOUSLY YOU GREW UP IN CHARLOTTE AND VERY FEW DRIVERS CAN SAY THAT THEY ARE CONSIDERED A TRUE HOMETOWN FAVORITE, SO TO SPEAK, HERE WHEN WE ARE AT CHARLOTTE. TALK ABOUT THE COCA-COLA 600, CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND WHAT THIS TRACK MEANS TO YOU, BEING ABLE TO CELEBRATE THIS WEEKEND EVERY MAY?

“Yeah, it’s always good getting to May. I feel like it’s a time period that I look forward to, just coming to the Coca-Cola 600 and getting ready for the Charlotte (Motor Speedway) race. But also, just being back home and being able to see a lot of family. It’s a busy time, for sure, but I just always have great memories of Charlotte Motor Speedway and going to the 600-mile race and just being up in the stands. Every time I come back, it gives me a lot of excitement and I think my team thrives off of that. With Hendrick Motorsports being right across the street, certainly we look forward to Charlotte every year and that’s no different this year. I think honestly this year, this is probably the most we’ve looked forward to the 600. Looking forward to it.”

WHAT TYPE OF ADVANTAGE IS IT STARTING ON THE POLE?

“Yeah, I mean I try not to get too excited, one way or another, on the weekend. I think that we’ve done a lot of good work this week just in the simulator and talking about the race. Really, it started before Kansas (Speedway). When Kyle (Larson) tested here, we talked a lot about what we felt like we needed. We’ve carried some of that to the other 1.5-mile tracks. Darlington (Raceway) isn’t really a 1.5-mile track, but there’s similar traits in the car there. I thought we were really strong there from the beginning to the end of the run, and that’s what you’ll need at Charlotte. The runs are pretty long.. usually probably going to be 50 laps on tires, at least.

It’s certainly nice to get the pit selection. I think really the track position is not that big of a deal for a long race like this, but the pit stall selection is huge going into the race.”

YOU SAID 50 LAP RUNS ON TIRES. DO YOU EXPECT WITH CONSTRUCTION CHANGE THAT’S DIFFERENT FROM A YEAR AGO THAT YOU WON’T SEE DRIVERS JUST SPINNING OUT LIKE THEY DID LAST YEAR IN THIS RACE?

“Yeah, I think a lot of the issues that we saw last year – obviously the cars were a handful, but there was also just a lot of attrition for some reason and I think that guys were making contact. We weren’t used to the track changes. They might have been different than the old car. It was really hot outside. So I think the car just being kind of unpredictable and guys having more issues with kind of bottoming out and losing grip that way. I don’t think there was a ton of tire failures.. at least there wasn’t for us. But certainly we didn’t understand the tire fully to be able to maximize the whole run, so there was a lot of uncharacteristic kind of fall-off throughout the run. Hopefully we’ve worked on that a lot and we can run 40 or 50 laps on tires and still hold on well.”

I THINK IT’S BEEN SINCE WEEK TWO AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY THAT THE ENTIRE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMP HAS BEEN TOGETHER. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE EVERYONE TOGETHER GOING INTO THE SECOND-HALF OF THE REGULAR-SEASON?

“It’s really important for the morale of the shop and us be able to kind of pull the rope in the same direction. I think having Josh (Berry) in was great. He really did a good job subbing. But obviously we have notes from four or five years, or more, from working together as a group of four. I feel like we understand each other’s driving styles and that just really helps grow the group, in general, and grow the setups forward. I think having all of our feedback back together, it would be nice to see that kind of payoff with practice. But I think Monday, we’ll really be able to dissect what we all had in the race and it will be nice to have everyone back to do that.”

WITH THE CHANGE IN THE SHORT-TRACK PACKAGE, WHAT DID YOU NOTICE AT SONOMA (RACEWAY) LAST YEAR THAT WAS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER RACES AT SONOMA IN THE PAST?

“Yeah, I mean I don’t really remember Sonoma (Raceway) that well last year, but I do feel like as a group, we kind of struggled more than we thought we would. INAUDIBLE…. The No. 99 (Daniel Suarez) was really strong. I feel like those notes will still apply, but we’ve come a long way with our road course program and I think that will payoff at Sonoma. It’s such low grip. You really have to manage the tire falloff. I feel like COTA was that way and we were pretty strong there. Still some work to do to get to where the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) was, but hopefully at Sonoma we’ll make a lot more progress.”

THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, A LOT OF THE TALKING HEADS HAVE KIND OF CONSIDERED THE CHAMPIONSHIP WILL LIKELY COME DOWN BETWEEN HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND JOE GIBBS RACING. IS THERE ANYONE ELSE, OTHER THAN YOUR TEAMMATES, THAT YOU SEE AS DIRECT COMPETITION FOR YOU IN GETTING THAT FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP?

“Well I think honestly, our goal is to make that final race and the Championship Four. I think as I see more talk about one guy or two guys or whatever – I think really you have to realize that it’s really just about getting to that final race with a chance. That’s been our goal all along.. every year it is, but I think realistically, the last two years that’s been the realistic goal.

I do think that teams are starting to emerge as strong players – the No. 19 (Martin Truex Jr.), the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), the No. 5 (Kyle Larson), the No. 1 (Ross Chastain). I think there’s quite a few guys out there. I think you’ll see an evolution throughout the summer and some other guys will come on really strong, as well. I try not to set too much on one guy or one team, but I certainly think our team is in that mix. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing to stay on top of that order.”

ARE YOU PROUD OF THE GAINS THAT YOU AND RUDY (FUGLE) HAVE MADE?

“Yeah, I think it’s really been a steady improvement. I think a lot of people look to us to make big waves and things like that. But we’ve really just kept gaining on it each year. I feel like now we’re in a place where the foundation of our team is strong and it’s going to continue this way. We didn’t make any major steps really quick. We just kind of continued to win one or two races a year, and now we’re at three races a year. Hopefully that just continues.”

YOU TALK ABOUT THE INCENTIVE OF GETTING THE POLE AND THE PIT BOX SELECTION, BUT THAT OBVIOUSLY MEANS YOU DON’T GET THE PRACTICE TIME. ARE YOU A GUY THAT’S OK WITH GETTING THAT POLE POSITION AND FIRST BOX AND IS COMFORTABLE ABOUT WHAT YOU HIT THE TRACK WITH WHEN IT COMES OFF THE TRUCK?

“Yeah, I think one of our strong suits is practice. So I think for us, we enjoy going out there – cutting some laps, getting ready for qualifying, adjusting the balance. We have really good notes on what to do for practice and qualifying, so I feel like anywhere we go, we’re a threat for a pole in that sense. But yeah, we’ll take it any way we can get it. I also do trust that they’re going to unload something that’s close. We have good tools with Chevrolet and our simulator program, so I feel confident about that. We also had a test with Kyle (Larson) here. I feel good that we can unload strong.

I guess I’m kind of impartial. I feel like we can excel either way. Obviously the easier way would be to have qualifying canceled, but yeah I think either way trying to get a strong pit stall and go to work from there.”

HOW MUCH DOES THE PIT STALL EFFECT YOUR STRATEGY FOR THE RACE, AND DOES CLEAN AIR SORT OF NEGATE ALL OF THE UNCERTAINTIES IF YOU SHOULD GET THE POLE WITH NOT KNOW WHAT YOUR CAR REALLY HAS OR DOESN’T HAVE?

“Yeah, I think the pit stall has a lot to do with your performance throughout the race, honestly. We talk a lot about qualifying each week and really that’s what I try to do – try to get into the top seven or eight, or seven to 10, to get yourself either an opening in or opening out of the pit box. Those are really the important things.. just not being boxed in all day throughout the race. I feel like for us, that’s why we focus so hard on qualifying – not really for the track position, but more so for pit road. Try to do a good job of that each week and see where we end up.”

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
Coca-Cola 600 Media Availability | Saturday, May 27, 2023

Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang, stopped by the infield media center at Charlotte Motor Speedway to answer questions about this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 and other issues.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang – WHAT’S IT LIKE TO FILL ON TV VERSUS BEING A DRIVER? “Honestly, I had a lot more fun rain-filling as a TV person than I usually do as a driver. As a driver, you cool off and you almost don’t want to do it anymore. You’re kind of over it. You’ve hyped yourself up and now I don’t get to do my job, so that’s what all those drivers are experiencing right now, especially for the entirety of today, but I tried to make the most of it.”

DO YOU APPROACH THIS RACE ANY DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE OF THE 600 MILES? “I don’t think so, to be honest. I think the biggest difference is having the extra stage. It’s an extra opportunity to earn points and the fact that all stages are the same length, 100 laps for all four stages, I think really, for me, that’s how I mentally separate the races as they go anyway. Even on my dash and with the feedback my team gives me it’s like, ‘OK, how many laps am I doing before we have a caution.’ Or, ‘How many laps am I doing before I get off these tires.’ So, for me, it’s actually a pretty simple race, other than the fact that it’s longer than the ones we do throughout the rest of the year. From that standpoint, it’s still the same intensity that we would see on a normal 400-mile race on a mile-and-a-half.”

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR CHICAGO? “I think the biggest challenge, just like any street course, is going to be track conditions and the ability to not necessarily pass, but it’s narrow quarters. A racetrack like Circuit of the Americas, the last road course we ran on, I could screw up and go 100-feet into the runoff and keep going. That was a race that went primarily all green until it didn’t, whereas Chicago or any street courses there’s zero room for error. We’ve seen how strong and robust these cars are, but at the same time that’s why I love street course racing, but whether it’s track blockages or guys making mistakes having cautions throughout the race, all types of those things, I think will be different and come into play differently than what they would on most of our road courses because a mistake is damage, it’s not lost time.”

WHAT WAS KEVIN’S REACTION TO THE TOILET PAPER IN HIS MOTORCOACH AND WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO THE INDY-CLT DOUBLE ONE YEAR? “As far as Kevin goes, I was very anti-tepeeing Kevin’s bus when they asked about it over the second intercom because I have to race against him 28 more times before he retires. It’s all funny for everybody else, but Tyler and I were like, ‘This probably is not a good idea,’ but I guess that ask came from above on doing that, so they were all in on the joke. Kevin has a really nice bus. I could spend some days in there. That was nice. I didn’t really want to leave, honestly, because we sat on pit road and got rained on the entire time, but from that standpoint it was fun. I don’t think it was too rough. I was more worried about the guy that was actually gonna have to clean it up. I don’t know Kevin’s coach driver’s name, but I asked him three times before we started like, ‘You’re good with this, right, because I know you’re gonna be the one cleaning it up.’ I don’t think Kevin’s gonna be the one cleaning it up. Let’s be honest, he pays the guy, so from that standpoint I wanted to make sure he was cool with it and he knew what we were doing. The fact it was raining outside, I thought it was gonna be a really bad idea if we did the outside of it because I don’t know if any of you all have teepeed anything, but water makes some stickage and creates a much more complicated clean-up process. As far as your Indy 500 question, there’s a lot when it comes to the Indy 500 of why that race is special to me, special to my family. I just came from up there yesterday. It’s certainly a race that I would want to do. I don’t really see a racing career complete for me without having an opportunity to do that race. Obviously, I’m 24 years old and hopefully the completion of my racing career doesn’t come any time soon, but I’m also very focused on what I’m doing in the Cup Series garage. I certainly want to get as good as I can and contend for championships and wins in this garage area. That’s where my focus is right now, but somewhere later down the road it’s something I would want to do, for sure.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT GATEWAY? “It was an interesting race last year with different strategy calls, whether it’s track position, two tires, no tires, four tires. We were one of the cars that ran up front most of the day and took four tires at the end and probably weren’t able to really utilize it, but it’s a fun racetrack. I think the racetrack itself has done an incredible job promoting the NASCAR events and the IndyCar events. Every time you see it, they’ve got a full crowd and the fan response was awesome last year. I look forward to coming back and seeing that and being a part of that. Something that probably makes that place really unique is how much shifting we’re doing throughout the lap, just because you have two completely different corners with the really long sweeping turn three and four, and a pretty tight turn one and two, but the restarts were crazy because track position was so important, whether that was for the lead of the race. Coming at the end I thought Joey and Kyle’s battle was a really classic finish to a NASCAR race, but even throughout the pack it’s pretty wild.”

WHERE IS THIS 2 TEAM AT NOW? “The last two months have been extremely frustrating. I think anything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong in our control or out of our control. Certainly, 20th in points is not where I want to be. My best finish in the last two months was on dirt. I don’t think anybody would have guessed that, so, for me, I don’t put the panic button down by any means. We’re certainly within a points range of contending for the playoffs and a win changes everything. I drive for a race team. I’m a driver that’s capable of winning races in the Cup Series, so, from that standpoint, I feel like there’s been a lot of off-track things that have really progressed nicely over the last two months for our team that you necessarily can’t see. Getting our pit crew back for this weekend, the longest race of the year, is very important. Obviously, we had a slip-up at Kansas and had a wheel come off. I feel really good about the guys over-the-wall on my car and a lot of things that haven’t quite gone right recently, but I trust the process and certainly driving for an incredible team. I’ve got a really strong group of guys, so that’s where we’re fortunate to have a long season. I talk about two months, we race every week and it’s easy to have all that compound and really weigh on you, but if look at the other side and the other forms of racing, that’s the majority of a season – that amount of races – so we’re fortunate we get to go to the racetrack every week and learn and continue to improve because it is an extremely long season. We are at the halfway point, I believe, but it still feels like we’ve got a long way to go and certainly a long enough time to let things average out.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO BE WINNING RACES EVERY YEAR REGARDLESS OF HOW LONG YOU’VE RACED? “I can promise you wholeheartedly that I plan on showing up at the racetrack every week with the capability of winning races. I drive the 2 car for Roger Penske. I feel like that’s somewhat of the expectation. Obviously, I haven’t been in the series for a very long time. I’m racing against guys that are the best at what they do and they’ve been the best at what they do for a long time, but that’s what makes this enjoyable for me is to be out and be able to compete with the best and on certain days to be the best.”

IS THE 600 ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT REGULAR SEASON RACES NOW? “Yeah, it’s certainly 10 more points that you wouldn’t be able to get on any other week, so being able to emphasize a good race is important. Just from a numbers side, yeah, I would say it could be one of the most important regular season races as far as an opportunity to get points or separate yourself or being able to maximize having a good day, a good car, good execution. That pays off 25 percent more than any other race we have.”

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWING HABITS FOR THE INDY 500 TOMORROW? “I was very lucky last week that our garage opening schedule was so long between our on-track schedule last week that I have not missed a single lap that they have done this month in May up in Indy. I got to go there yesterday for Carb Day. I had the first time in my life to be at the Coke 600 last year and I basically just got to the track as early as possible so I could watch the entire race and not be disturbed. The team knows me well enough to know to not schedule any appearances until the race is over, so they were good about that last year. Hopefully, the same this year. I love that race and it’s such a classic event and the fact that you get to have those three races – Monaco, Indy and Charlotte all on the same day, hopefully, weather permitting – but it’s been really cool to see how this side of the racing world views it. When I’ve been at Indy all my years as a kid, the Coke 600 is the after party. You’ve finished watching the 500 and you’re sunburned and you sit down and watch the Coke 600 and watch the sunset, but it’s kind of interesting being on the other side for the second time in my life.”

DO YOU WATCH MONACO AND FOR THE INDY 500 ARE YOU IN YOUR COACH OR WITH YOUR ENGINEERS WATCHING? “I think our NASCAR team, at least our core group, has benefitted from my presence with their IndyCar knowledge has definitely grown. Even last week, just having it on in the Penske bus or whatever else and talking to guys about the qualifying format and how practice has gone and this and that. Certainly, those guys are interesting, whether it’s Joey or Ryan or Harrison or some of the other crew chiefs and mechanics. They’ve started to come to me as far as asking questions, but it’s fun because we do have all of that under the same roof at Team Penske, but sometimes there isn’t enough crossover to really fully understand or appreciate what is so different, but so similar about what we get to do. It’s certainly something I’m passionate about and looking forward to watching the races Sunday.”

ARE YOU UP FOR MONACO? “If I’m up, I’m up. When I was a kid, we got in Roger’s police escort from downtown, which if we’re supposed to leave at 6:30 in the morning, we have to be there at 5:30 because if RP walks out at 6:15, you’re getting left. So, we were very early and all crammed in my dad’s car and so I would get to the track with plenty enough time, so Monaco is gonna be in all the garages and everything, so usually we would watch Monaco from inside the garage area because we’d be there way before the traffic would start. Those are really my only traditions watching Monaco. I’m not a diehard Formula 1 fan by any means, but I certainly enjoy watching it, so if it’s on, it’s on. If it’s not, I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it.”

WHAT IS THE GAME PLAN FOR YOU TOMORROW WITH RAIN A POSSIBILITY AGAIN? “The difficult part, and we’ve had it a number of times this year, is that we’re going on track for the first time. If practice gets rained out today, which it’s kind of looking likely, we’ll be on track for the first time and for a 600-mile race you’re kind of stuck with it, so that kind of looms over you. I try to be somewhat of a logical person in the sense that worrying about it isn’t gonna change anything. You’ve had all week to think about it. You’ve had all week to prepare, so why are you trying to study for a test that’s happening in five minutes or an hour. I’ve done all my prep work. My team has done all of our prep work and tried to show up with the best Duracell/Menards Ford Mustang as we possibly can and whenever the race happens it happens. I think actually having practice might add more stress for me because when you have practice you have the opportunity to go backwards as much as you do to go forwards, if not more of an opportunity to go backwards than you do to go forward, so you have more stress about ‘did I screw this up or not?’ It’s kind of easy going into it blind because you don’t know anything. You haven’t screwed anything up because you haven’t even started, so it is what it is and I just hope we can get it in tomorrow or at least in a time that everybody can enjoy it.”