Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Pennzoil 400 | Saturday, March 4, 2023

FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
1st – Joey Logano
3rd – Ryan Blaney
7th – Brad Keselowski
9th – Austin Cindric
14th – Kevin Harvick
17th – Michael McDowell
18th – Chris Buescher
20th – Chase Briscoe
21st – Aric Almirola
28th – Todd Gilliland
29th – JJ Yeley
30th – Cody Ware
31st – Ryan Preece
35th – Harrison Burton

Joey Logano, No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang (Qualified 1st) – TELL US HOW THAT LAP WAS? “The car was wicked good. It really just handled well and obviously has really good speed which is what you hope for when you get here. You hope you make the right changes and adjustments from the fall when we were here last. Obviously, we were pretty good then but you have to keep evolving and trying things. It gets a little nerve-wracking when you try to make these changes that you are married to for the most part when practice starts. I think Paul (Wolfe) made some great changes there. Some good decisions. Gave me a really fast Pennzoil Mustang today that has good speed in it. Hopefully that transfers to the race tomorrow. I think it will. We have some fine-tuning to do in race trim which we will talk about tonight and try to make some adjustments tomorrow morning.”

AS QUALIFYING WAS PROGRESSING HOW CONFIDENT WERE YOU THAT YOU WOULD SIT ON THE POLE? “Well, we felt like we had a pretty good first round but there are a lot of cars that went quicker in the second round as the track was still cleaning up from practice and the temp actually went down a little bit. I felt like I had a little bit more in me and if we could tune the car a little maybe there is a little more there and maybe a little more with the track temp going down. You add those things up in your mind and you think you will be pretty close. I had my mind made up when I went out there that I was going to keep it pinned and whatever happens, happens. That was the mindset and Paul gave me a car that could do that. It worked out.”

YOU HAD YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE WIND OUT THERE. WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING FOR TOMORROW AND HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THAT? “The wind is always a challenge every time we come here. It is always windy here and Texas seems like it is always windy too for whatever reason. The steady-state wind is tough enough as it is. If you get a 20 mph constant wind, you can kind of at least know what is coming but it does separate end to end quite a bit, one and two to three and four. It is the gusts that get you in trouble. When you get a big gust of wind as you are turning down into the corner, into the center of the corner, it just blows you up the race track. It is like if you get a big gust of wind when you are driving your car down the highway. Your car may move a little bit, but we are going really fast and it moves us a little more and it isn’t real comfortable. It gets sketchy. There is no other way of saying it other than you can’t predict it and don’t know when it is coming. One lap you are good and the next you are blowing up the race track. Where it gets tricky is if you are two-wide with somebody. You can imagine how that can go bad quickly. Usually it is down in the middle of three and four and it is blowing at your left side door. That is not where you want wind. It affects the cars a lot. There is not much we can do about it other than just deal with it and have a good enough handling car that you don’t crash when the wind blows.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Pennzoil 400 | Saturday, March 4, 2023

FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
1st – Joey Logano
3rd – Ryan Blaney
7th – Brad Keselowski
9th – Austin Cindric
14th – Kevin Harvick
17th – Michael McDowell
18th – Chris Buescher
20th – Chase Briscoe
21st – Aric Almirola
28th – Todd Gilliland
29th – JJ Yeley
30th – Cody Ware
31st – Ryan Preece
35th – Harrison Burton

Joey Logano, No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang (Qualified 1st) – TELL US HOW THAT LAP WAS? “The car was wicked good. It really just handled well and obviously has really good speed which is what you hope for when you get here. You hope you make the right changes and adjustments from the fall when we were here last. Obviously, we were pretty good then but you have to keep evolving and trying things. It gets a little nerve-wracking when you try to make these changes that you are married to for the most part when practice starts. I think Paul (Wolfe) made some great changes there. Some good decisions. Gave me a really fast Pennzoil Mustang today that has good speed in it. Hopefully that transfers to the race tomorrow. I think it will. We have some fine-tuning to do in race trim which we will talk about tonight and try to make some adjustments tomorrow morning.”

AS QUALIFYING WAS PROGRESSING HOW CONFIDENT WERE YOU THAT YOU WOULD SIT ON THE POLE? “Well, we felt like we had a pretty good first round but there are a lot of cars that went quicker in the second round as the track was still cleaning up from practice and the temp actually went down a little bit. I felt like I had a little bit more in me and if we could tune the car a little maybe there is a little more there and maybe a little more with the track temp going down. You add those things up in your mind and you think you will be pretty close. I had my mind made up when I went out there that I was going to keep it pinned and whatever happens, happens. That was the mindset and Paul gave me a car that could do that. It worked out.”

YOU HAD YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE WIND OUT THERE. WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING FOR TOMORROW AND HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THAT? “The wind is always a challenge every time we come here. It is always windy here and Texas seems like it is always windy too for whatever reason. The steady-state wind is tough enough as it is. If you get a 20 mph constant wind, you can kind of at least know what is coming but it does separate end to end quite a bit, one and two to three and four. It is the gusts that get you in trouble. When you get a big gust of wind as you are turning down into the corner, into the center of the corner, it just blows you up the race track. It is like if you get a big gust of wind when you are driving your car down the highway. Your car may move a little bit, but we are going really fast and it moves us a little more and it isn’t real comfortable. It gets sketchy. There is no other way of saying it other than you can’t predict it and don’t know when it is coming. One lap you are good and the next you are blowing up the race track. Where it gets tricky is if you are two-wide with somebody. You can imagine how that can go bad quickly. Usually it is down in the middle of three and four and it is blowing at your left side door. That is not where you want wind. It affects the cars a lot. There is not much we can do about it other than just deal with it and have a good enough handling car that you don’t crash when the wind blows.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
PENNZOIL 400
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT
MARCH 4, 2023

WILLIAM BYRON POWERS CHEVROLET TO FRONT ROW STARTING SPOT AT LAS VEGAS
Four Camaro ZL1’s to Start in Top-10

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER
2nd William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1
5th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Camaro ZL1
6th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
8th Ross Chastain, No. 1 GlobalTranz Camaro ZL1
11th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
16th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Smith’s / Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Camaro ZL1
19th Corey LaJoie, No. 7 EnviroXstream Camaro ZL1
22nd Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1
23rd AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1
24th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1
25th Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Camaro ZL1
26th Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1
27th Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1
32nd Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
33rd Ty Dillon, No. 77 NationsGuard Camaro ZL1
36th BJ McLeod, No. 78 Circle B Diecast Camaro ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER
1st Joey Logano (Ford)
2nd William Byron (Chevrolet)
3rd Ryan Blaney (Ford)
4th Ty Gibbs (Toyota)
5th Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)

William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1

Qualified: 2nd

Byron on his qualifying lap:

“I felt good. That was a wide open lap there, so I’m not sure what I could have done different. Maybe cut a little bit of the track off (turn) four and I could have just let the car kind of wind out. I’m happy with the lap though. Being second is good. Not pumped to be second for the fact of not getting the pole, but at least it’s a good starting spot. I’m excited for that.

We just need a good, solid day tomorrow with the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevy. Hopefully we can get ourselves a win and move up the points standings.”

· Kyle Larson was the fastest overall in the NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, clocking-in a lap of 29.282 seconds, at 184.407 mph, in his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1.

· Of the 10 drivers that contested for the pole position in the final round of qualifying, four came from the Bowtie brigade: Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Kyle Larson; Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.

· In the final round of qualifying, Bryon drove his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 to a front row starting spot for tomorrow’s race, laying down a lap of 29.165 seconds at 185.153 mph.

· FOX will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker Pala Casino 400 on Sunday, March 5, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
PENNZOIL 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 4, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CHALLENGES ARE FOR CHASE (ELLIOTT) TO COME BACK FROM HIS INJURY?

“It depends on what and where the break was, obviously. If it’s a mid-leg break and you get a rod and screws, it’s not too terrible and not that bad. If it’s something more like knee- or ankle-located, that’s going to be a bigger issue of a joint that needs to move and bend. That’s the big piece of what’s unknown at this time, from my knowledge anyway. If it’s just a regular leg break like I had, it’s going to be at least four weeks, I would think, based off getting a rod and screws, then your bones starting to fuse and getting a little bit of fusion going. That’s about the length it takes to get something going. I’m sure he’s in good hands. I reached out to him last night and this morning to talk to him a little bit about my experience in it and (that I’d) be happy to help and talk to him and help him through all the things that I did that helped my recovery be speedy.”

INAUDIBLE.

“I just told him when he gets all settled to give me a call. It’s a memoir. I’m not going to type it.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO WORK ON YOURSELF AND REHAB WHILE EVERYONE IS OUT THERE RACING? HOW HARD IS THAT ON A DRIVER?

“It can be tough. Even as good of a support system as I had around me during my injury, there was a time when we were watching the races on Sunday and you kind of break down and miss that fact of being out there and being in your car and having a chance of going out there to compete. That’s what we live for and build on our whole lives to have success. Chase is plenty young and I’m sure plenty healthy enough that it’s not going to be anything too crazy to go through, but it’s just a situation that he’s in at this time. Anything I can do to kind of help that, I’m more than willing to give him a bit of advice.”

YOU GOT A BIG OVATION WHEN YOU WON AT CALIFORNIA. HOW WAS THAT, AND DO YOU SENSE THE REACTION FROM THE FANS ARE CHANGING FOR YOU?

“It’s awesome to hear everything. The way it’s kind of gone on this year with going to the Clash and running well out there, then getting spun but coming back through to have a good finish… all the finishes we’ve had and all the races that we’ve run, we’ve been right up front and we’ve been fast. It gives my legion, Rowdy Nation, a sense of pride to be cheering us on and having an interest in watching again and not dreading watching again. That’s what makes it fun for me, foremost. Then of course too to see adding to that legion of fans and having an opportunity to win here in my hometown, to win last week at California… I’ve raced a lot in Nevada, California, Arizona and Utah when I was a kid growing up, so it’s nice to come around these parts and still score victories. No matter where on the Cup series, you want to win. To do that last week at California and to hear the afterwards was really cool. It’s awesome to me to hear a little bit of a changing of the guard, which is fun. Hopefully it keeps going.”

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO GET OUT OF THE TEST NEXT WEEK WITH THE NEW SHORT-TRACK PACKAGE?

“I don’t know if you’re really going to get out there in a group and set up a simulated race or anything like that. We’re all just going to do our normal practice where we roll out together, we spread out a little bit and we go. I don’t think we’ll really get a chance to foresee what our cars will be like in traffic until we line up for the race and go. As far as practice goes, just trying to get a feel for what the pace is going to be, what the feel is, is it going to be way slower or is the car going to have a lot less grip, all that sort. That’s kind of the biggest thing you’ll set up for.”

ARE YOU ENCOURAGED BY THE CHANGES THAT WERE MADE TO THE CAR?

“Yeah, I would say so. I think there’s a couple of different things that I would have done. But I like direction and the things they did do, talking about diffuser strakes, reducing the underbody effects and things like that. I think we tried so hard on that with this car to design that into it, and I think we kind of created another two-headed monster, if you will, with the back of these cars needing to be down as low as they need to be. Last year we had tire issues for awhile, and it seemed like the teams got that squared away a little bit. We’re all still battling the same things of trying to get that car as low as you can because the underbody effects are just so huge?”

CAN YOU PREPARE FOR BRISTOL ON DIRT SINCE IT’S SUCH AN ANOMALY?

“No. Matter of fact, we have way too much practice when we go there. Two hours of practice on a dirt track that deteriorates is genius. If I could fix that, we would literally have a five-lap hot-lap in groups and then go right into heat races. That’s it.”

COULD YOU FEEL THE ENERGY FROM THE CROWD WHEN YOU WON LAST WEEK, AND ARE YOU AS COMFORTABLE WEARING A WHITE HAT AS A BLACK HAT?

“No. All my stuff is black for a reason. It’s fun to always kind of play up with the fans and stuff like that. My fans especially are awesome. I’ve got a lot that I wouldn’t say that I know personally, but whenever you see them at venues or at autograph sessions or KBM when we do Fan Day, you recognize these folks and you’ve seen them for 10 or 15 years. It’s interesting just to continue to build off of that with new fans. It’s a lot of fun. People get a different read on me as I’m getting older and getting wiser and all those great things. Hopefully that doesn’t mean I’m slowing down though.”

YOU SOUNDED FRUSTRATED WITH THE QUALITY OF THE RACING IN THE FIELD LAST NIGHT. COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS WHEN YOU WOULD RACE IN TRUCKS IF THEY NEED TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT?

“I don’t know if it’s just inexperience or what. Obviously it’s a learning series. But if you’re not learning coming out of ARCA how to not crash, then you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing well enough. Just a lot of crashes last night. I haven’t gone back and rewatched it to see some of the circumstances of some of those, but I’d imagine a few of those are probably avoidable. The other thing that’s frustrating too is with the Truck Series with as short as the stages are, why are we destroying our stuff in a 30-lap run when we can come back to the pits, recycle with pit stops and things like that, and shake and bake a little bit with how you get on and off pit road. The only thought I had to fix that… we had a caution four laps before a stage break was coming. Then we went green and then we had a caution for a stage break. If we want to go 30, 35, 40 laps or whatever it might be, let’s race 40 laps green and if we go 40 laps green and throw a yellow instead of throwing a yellow, four more laps and then another yellow because of a stage break. Just change it up. I don’t think anything is going to happen to that but that’s just been my thought.”

NOW THAT YOU AND YOUR BROTHER ARE THE WINNING BROTHER TANDEM AFTER AUTO CLUB AND NOW THAT YOU’RE BACK HOME, HAS THERE BEEN ANY TIME TO CELEBRATE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY?

“We have a small family. It’s just Kurt, my mom and dad. My grandmother moved from Vegas back east with us, but she’s since passed. My mom is out here and she has some friends she hangs out with. So she does the friends tour, if you will, when she gets back to Vegas. For myself, one of my buddies that I used to race RC cars with got on a road trip last week and went down to Florida for Bike Week this week. It’s a small-knit group that we have here in Vegas. It’ll be fun to focus on the racing here at the big track and also Brexton tonight at the Bullring. I’m excited to get him over there and see what he’s got tonight.”

WHAT’S YOUR EXPECTATIONS IN YOUR KAULIG RACING DEBUT?

“For what I felt yesterday, I’m hoping for a top-10. But if the adjustments that we did overnight go the way we hope they will, I feel like we have a shot to race in the top-five. That, I feel like, is doable. Last week, Austin had a great run in the car. He was really fast. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to run that car. It’s sort of the backup car. But I still feel like with RCR chassis and bodies and everything that it’s all really close. That’s not going to be the problem. It’s just going to be the main setup of the car is way different than I’m accustomed to feeling in Xfinity. I haven’t done it for awhile too, but that’s no excuse. We’ll give it everything we’ve got.”

AS A TEAM OWNER, DO YOU PUT ANY RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR TRUCK SERIES DRIVERS AS FAR AS WHAT THEY CAN DO OUTSIDE THE TRACK?

“No. As drivers and humans, we have to go live life. We can’t just be locked up in a room at home and wrapped in bubblewrap. Years ago when I was racing late models and a little bit of dirt cars, Joe (Gibbs) would always kind of warn me not to get hurt or whatever. Then I got hurt in his car doing something for him, so it was like ‘Any stipulations you ever had were out the window!’ I had free reign. It’s a part of it. You never know what’s going to happen. You just deal with it when it comes.”

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CHALLENGES ARE FOR CHASE (ELLIOTT) TO COME BACK FROM HIS INJURY?

“It depends on what and where the break was, obviously. If it’s a mid-leg break and you get a rod and screws, it’s not too terrible and not that bad. If it’s something more like knee- or ankle-located, that’s going to be a bigger issue of a joint that needs to move and bend. That’s the big piece of what’s unknown at this time, from my knowledge anyway. If it’s just a regular leg break like I had, it’s going to be at least four weeks, I would think, based off getting a rod and screws, then your bones starting to fuse and getting a little bit of fusion going. That’s about the length it takes to get something going. I’m sure he’s in good hands. I reached out to him last night and this morning to talk to him a little bit about my experience in it and (that I’d) be happy to help and talk to him and help him through all the things that I did that helped my recovery be speedy.”

INAUDIBLE.

“I just told him when he gets all settled to give me a call. It’s a memoir. I’m not going to type it.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO WORK ON YOURSELF AND REHAB WHILE EVERYONE IS OUT THERE RACING? HOW HARD IS THAT ON A DRIVER?

“It can be tough. Even as good of a support system as I had around me during my injury, there was a time when we were watching the races on Sunday and you kind of break down and miss that fact of being out there and being in your car and having a chance of going out there to compete. That’s what we live for and build on our whole lives to have success. Chase is plenty young and I’m sure plenty healthy enough that it’s not going to be anything too crazy to go through, but it’s just a situation that he’s in at this time. Anything I can do to kind of help that, I’m more than willing to give him a bit of advice.”

YOU GOT A BIG OVATION WHEN YOU WON AT CALIFORNIA. HOW WAS THAT, AND DO YOU SENSE THE REACTION FROM THE FANS ARE CHANGING FOR YOU?

“It’s awesome to hear everything. The way it’s kind of gone on this year with going to the Clash and running well out there, then getting spun but coming back through to have a good finish… all the finishes we’ve had and all the races that we’ve run, we’ve been right up front and we’ve been fast. It gives my legion, Rowdy Nation, a sense of pride to be cheering us on and having an interest in watching again and not dreading watching again. That’s what makes it fun for me, foremost. Then of course too to see adding to that legion of fans and having an opportunity to win here in my hometown, to win last week at California… I’ve raced a lot in Nevada, California, Arizona and Utah when I was a kid growing up, so it’s nice to come around these parts and still score victories. No matter where on the Cup series, you want to win. To do that last week at California and to hear the afterwards was really cool. It’s awesome to me to hear a little bit of a changing of the guard, which is fun. Hopefully it keeps going.”

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO GET OUT OF THE TEST NEXT WEEK WITH THE NEW SHORT-TRACK PACKAGE?

“I don’t know if you’re really going to get out there in a group and set up a simulated race or anything like that. We’re all just going to do our normal practice where we roll out together, we spread out a little bit and we go. I don’t think we’ll really get a chance to foresee what our cars will be like in traffic until we line up for the race and go. As far as practice goes, just trying to get a feel for what the pace is going to be, what the feel is, is it going to be way slower or is the car going to have a lot less grip, all that sort. That’s kind of the biggest thing you’ll set up for.”

ARE YOU ENCOURAGED BY THE CHANGES THAT WERE MADE TO THE CAR?

“Yeah, I would say so. I think there’s a couple of different things that I would have done. But I like direction and the things they did do, talking about diffuser strakes, reducing the underbody effects and things like that. I think we tried so hard on that with this car to design that into it, and I think we kind of created another two-headed monster, if you will, with the back of these cars needing to be down as low as they need to be. Last year we had tire issues for awhile, and it seemed like the teams got that squared away a little bit. We’re all still battling the same things of trying to get that car as low as you can because the underbody effects are just so huge?”

CAN YOU PREPARE FOR BRISTOL ON DIRT SINCE IT’S SUCH AN ANALOMY?

“No. Matter of fact, we have way too much practice when we go there. Two hours of practice on a dirt track that deteriorates is genius. If I could fix that, we would literally have a five-lap hot-lap in groups and then go right into heat races. That’s it.”

COULD YOU FEEL THE ENERGY FROM THE CROWD WHEN YOU WON LAST WEEK, AND ARE YOU AS COMFORTABLE WEARING A WHITE HAT AS A BLACK HAT?

“No. All my stuff is black for a reason. It’s fun to always kind of play up with the fans and stuff like that. My fans especially are awesome. I’ve got a lot that I wouldn’t say that I know personally, but whenever you see them at venues or at autograph sessions or KBM when we do Fan Day, you recognize these folks and you’ve seen them for 10 or 15 years. It’s interesting just to continue to build off of that with new fans. It’s a lot of fun. People get a different read on me as I’m getting older and getting wiser and all those great things. Hopefully that doesn’t mean I’m slowing down though.”

YOU SOUNDED FRUSTRATED WITH THE QUALITY OF THE RACING IN THE FIELD LAST NIGHT. COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS WHEN YOU WOULD RACE IN TRUCKS IF THEY NEED TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT?

“I don’t know if it’s just inexperience or what. Obviously it’s a learning series. But if you’re not learning coming out of ARCA how to not crash, then you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing well enough. Just a lot of crashes last night. I haven’t gone back and rewatched it to see some of the circumstances of some of those, but I’d imagine a few of those are probably avoidable. The other thing that’s frustrating too is with the Truck Series with as short as the stages are, why are we destroying our stuff in a 30-lap run when we can come back to the pits, recycle with pit stops and things like that, and shake and bake a little bit with how you get on and off pit road. The only thought I had to fix that… we had a caution four laps before a stage break was coming. Then we went green and then we had a caution for a stage break. If we want to go 30, 35, 40 laps or whatever it might be, let’s race 40 laps green and if we go 40 laps green and throw a yellow instead of throwing a yellow, four more laps and then another yellow because of a stage break. Just change it up. I don’t think anything is going to happen to that but that’s just been my thought.”

NOW THAT YOU AND YOUR BROTHER ARE THE WINNING BROTHER TANDEM AFTER AUTO CLUB AND NOW THAT YOU’RE BACK HOME, HAS THERE BEEN ANY TIME TO CELEBRATE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY?

“We have a small family. It’s just Kurt, my mom and dad. My grandmother moved from Vegas back east with us, but she’s since passed. My mom is out here and she has some friends she hangs out with. So she does the friends tour, if you will, when she gets back to Vegas. For myself, one of my buddies that I used to race RC cars with got on a road trip last week and went down to Florida for Bike Week this week. It’s a small-knit group that we have here in Vegas. It’ll be fun to focus on the racing here at the big track and also Brexton tonight at the Bullring. I’m excited to get him over there and see what he’s got tonight.”

WHAT’S YOUR EXPECTATIONS IN YOUR KAULIG RACING DEBUT?

“For what I felt yesterday, I’m hoping for a top-10. But if the adjustments that we did overnight go the way we hope they will, I feel like we have a shot to race in the top-five. That, I feel like, is doable. Last week, Austin had a great run in the car. He was really fast. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to run that car. It’s sort of the backup car. But I still feel like with RCR chassis and bodies and everything that it’s all really close. That’s not going to be the problem. It’s just going to be the main setup of the car is way different than I’m accustomed to feeling in Xfinity. I haven’t done it for awhile too, but that’s no excuse. We’ll give it everything we’ve got.”

AS A TEAM OWNER, DO YOU PUT ANY RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR TRUCK SERIES DRIVERS AS FAR AS WHAT THEY CAN DO OUTSIDE THE TRACK?

“No. As drivers and humans, we have to go live life. We can’t just be locked up in a room at home and wrapped in bubblewrap. Years ago when I was racing late models and a little bit of dirt cars, Joe (Gibbs) would always kind of warn me not to get hurt or whatever. Then I got hurt in his car doing something for him, so it was like ‘Any stipulations you ever had were out the window!’ I had free reign. It’s a part of it. You never know what’s going to happen. You just deal with it when it comes.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
PENNZOIL 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 4, 2023

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

MODERATOR: You won this race (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) one year ago. Talk about what you’re looking forward to coming back to Las Vegas this weekend.

“Yeah, for sure. I really enjoy this race track (Las Vegas Motor Speedway). The results may not show it over the years, but it’s definitely been one of my best places. Probably coulda-shoulda-woulda won two or three of them here; backed into one last year. Glad it worked out well and hopefully bring home another trophy like that.”

With what happened to Chase (Elliott), will that make you reevaluate anything that you do outside the racetrack?

“No – I think obviously really unfortunate what happened to Chase (Elliott) and hoping he heals up as quickly as possible. Thinking about him, for sure.

But yeah, until somebody tells me any different, I’m just going to keep doing my thing.”

Did you text or send a message to Chase (Elliott)? A lot of conversations with drivers – you can’t stop living your life, yet you guys have big, important, high-paying jobs. How do you look at that? Hendrick Motorsports says they’re not going to reevaluate what you guys are allowed to do, but how do you think he feels?

“Yeah – I shot him a text, but it’s hard for me to say how he’s feeling. I know what it’s like to miss races; obviously from a little bit different of a situation. But it’s a bummer, for sure, and we all want him back as quickly as possible.

I think – on my side of things – obviously, I race other stuff throughout the year quite a bit and stay pretty busy with that. I really enjoy doing that stuff. I think for me, driving other racecars helps me on Sunday’s. I think that’s something that’s important to me and I plan to keep doing that until somebody says I can’t.”

Watching somebody else drive your race car – what are the emotions with that when you’re watching on T.V. or wherever you are? Do you watch it or do you have to tune it out? How does that process work when you’re not in the car?

“Yeah, for sure it’s definitely not fun, especially since Noah (Gragson) threw up in it like every week (laughs).

But I feel for Chase (Elliott). It’s a really uncomfortable situation. You almost feel like forgotten because obviously everything keeps going, except for you. That’s kind of what it was like for me. I watched every race, with the exception of one, I went to an NFL game. Just something my doctor wanted me to do. Other than that, I watched every week. And yeah, it’s not fun. Obviously went to Martinsville (Speedway) and sat on the pit box for that one. It’s just a weird feeling to be in the racecar every week for so long and be a part of this deal every week for so long, and then realize it goes on even if you don’t. So it’s definitely uncomfortable.”

To kind of turn the tables on that – you know what it’s like to be in Josh’s (Berry) position because you got that shot when Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to be sidelined. What do you think about going in? You are on a major stage being with Hendrick Motorsports and there are no excuses.. is that a fair assessment?

“Yeah, I mean I think it’s a hard situation to step into. Obviously we had some success when I filled in, but it’s really hard. It think it’s only gotten harder with the Next Gen car coming in. The Xfinity car used to be so similar to a Cup car, and now they couldn’t be more different in how they drive and how you can approach how to aggressively drive them. Plus, when I came in, I had a couple years of Cup experience already.

So it’s definitely different, but I think it is a good opportunity for Josh (Berry) to learn and see how Hendrick Motorsports operates; the things that we do and to be part of an organization like that. Even though it’s through a situation that nobody wants, I think it’s something that you can grow as a racecar driver from; learn and show everybody what you’ve got.”

We’re going to your home track next week. What kind of pressure is there and why haven’t more drivers come out of Arizona to run in the top NASCAR series?

“Yeah, a lot of pressure. I feel like I’ve ran poorly at that track (Phoenix Raceway) quite a bit, so I would like just a good, solid day, honestly. If we went and just ran top-10 all day, I’d be pretty happy with how the last five years have gone there.

But as far as why other drivers haven’t come out of Arizona – I think there have been a lot of really talented drivers come up from there, but yeah it’s tough. Coming from the west coast in particular is tougher than the east coast. There’s not as many race tracks there as there used to be. Obviously development has kind of stopped down there.

But yeah, hopefully that changes and we see more drivers come from that area soon.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
PENNZOIL 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 4, 2023

JEFF ANDREWS, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS; ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1; AND JOSH BERRY, FILL-IN DRIVER FOR THE NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:

JEFF ANDREWS: “First and foremost, thank you for gathering here this morning. I just want to say that on behalf of Mr. Hendrick; he wants to make sure that everyone knows that our concern at this time is the health and wellbeing – first and foremost – of Chase Elliott. I know there are a lot of questions about the injury, the timing and where we’re going with all of that. We will do our best to answer a lot of that for you. We don’t obviously have a lot of details with this being a little bit less than 24 hours old for us now.

Chase did go through a successful surgery last night that lasted about three hours. He’s doing well. The surgery was to repair a fractured tibia and that’s really the extent that we know. There is no timeline. At this point in time, we would expect this obviously to be several weeks. But beyond that, I don’t have a timeline to offer for you. We will obviously work with Chase and his doctors in the future to help determine that.

But again, I just can’t reiterate enough that for Mr. Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports, the most important thing is Chase’s health and his wellbeing. We will work with him on that timeline. We’re going to race a long time together with Chase Elliott and we’re going to win a lot more races together. It’s certainly a little bit of a setback and obviously Chase is very disappointed, but again, I want to reiterate that the most important thing is Chase’s health. We’ll have his seat ready for him when he’s healthy and ready to get back into a race car.”

Jeff, how did it work out to get Josh (Berry) into the car in place of Chase (Elliott)? Is he a long-term solution or as long as you need him type of solution?

JEFF ANDREWS: “Unfortunately we’ve had some other situations that we need to look at alternate drivers, and of course we look to our partners at JRM first. I do want to give a shoutout to Dale (Earnhardt Jr.), Kelley (Earnhardt Miller), L.W. (Miller) and everybody over there; Mike Bumgarner who was very accommodating yesterday when we reached out to see if Josh (Berry) would be available to drive today.

Really, the decision was made a lot around Josh’s driving style, and then of course the fit in the car. Trying to find someone close to Chase’s size given the timing and what we had to work with here in getting him fitted in the car last night. Those were really the two main decisions around why we wanted to go with Josh.”

Jeff, what are Hendrick Motorsports’ policies as far as what drivers can and can’t do in their free time, and will this force or make you want to reevaluate any of those policies?

JEFF ANDREWS: “It won’t force us to reevaluate any policies. These guys have to go out and live a life outside of the race track, and certainly what Chase (Elliott) was doing was not anything abnormal for him. He’s an experienced snowboarder. He’s been doing it most of his life and it was an accident. A similar injury could happen falling off a mountain bike or stepping off a curb while you’re jogging. It was an accident and Chase feels awful about it. But our stance is just that – it was an accident and our guys have to go out and live their lives. Obviously, both Alex (Bowman) and Kyle (Larson) drive sprint cars. Chase has been in a midget at various times last year. So I don’t anticipate a policy change at Hendrick Motorsports based around this.”

Can you talk about what you think is fair when it comes to the Playoffs and the waiver, and how it might effect your efforts in the next few weeks?

JEFF ANDREWS: “Yeah, for us, we have gone through the formal process that NASCAR has in place of applying for the waiver. Again, that happened a little over 12 hours ago, so I don’t really know where that goes from there. We’ll certainly let NASCAR go through their do process and we’ll respect their decision when they’re ready to make one on how that decision gets made.”

Alan, what’s your mindset now? How does this change the outlook for the team for the season going forward?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: “Yeah, I think our goals are still the same; our objectives are still the same. Certainly, things have changed, but we want to compete and compete at a high level. Right now, my focus is really making the transition as easy for Josh (Berry) as possible; trying to help him get acclimated to the car, feel comfortable and get to a position that he can use his talents and abilities to be successful.

I think moving forward past that, it’s still the same goal – to be as good as we possibly can when Chase (Elliott) gets back and win as many races as possible. We’re certainly still in the owner’s points and depending on how the waivers and all the rest of it goes; certainly if Chase can come back and we can compete at a high level and win, we can be where we want to be with the driver side, too.

There’s certainly a lot of changes that comes with this, but I think we all can learn and grow. Find ways to improve and be ready to go when the Playoffs come around.”

Jeff, can you say, is he still in the hospital in Colorado? Assuming he was treated in Colorado where the accident happened, is he still in the hospital there? Is the plan for him to go back to Georgia or to North Carolina for rehab?

JEFF ANDREWS: “What we know – I’ll just talk about the facts because a lot of this is obviously Chase’s (Elliott) personal situation and I don’t really want to get into that. But he did go through a successful surgery last night that went very well. We know that recovery is going very well and the expectation is that he would be released sometime this morning.”

Josh, just talk about the opportunity. I know this isn’t the way you wanted to get into an A-list car, but after driving two races for Spire Motorsports last year, this is like a night-and-day situation and gives you an opportunity to showcase your talent.

JOSH BERRY: “First and foremost, obviously we’re thinking about Chase (Elliott). This is his ride and his opportunity. I’m just thankful that these guys – Mr. Hendrick and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports – thought of me to come fill-in for him in this moment. Without a doubt, it’s going to be a great challenge for me. But a great challenge comes great opportunity for me to learn and grow as a driver, and work around a lot of really great, talented and smart people here at Hendrick Motorsports.

We’re just taking it one lap at a time, one day at a time. We don’t really have any expectations at this point. We’re going to try and get through this practice and qualifying session. I’m going to race my Xfinity car, and then we’ll meet some more, talk about it and make a plan for tomorrow. But it’s definitely a great honor to drive for Hendrick Motorsports, regardless of the situation, so I’m going to try and do the best I can for these guys.”

Josh, what was your initial reaction when you got the word? The fact that you’ve had success here (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway), does that help as far as making the transition?

JOSH BERRY: “Yeah, a lot happened really fast. It’s just crazy how quick something like that can happen. But yeah the fact that I’ve won here (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) twice in the Xfinity car definitely makes it a lot easier. I’m going to be learning a new car here in an hour or so. At least having some success at the track I think will definitely give me some confidence; some more confidence in what I’m doing.

It’s been a wild couple of days. You never know what can happen when you wake up.”

Alan, can you walk us through all the changes that had to be made and how long it took the team to get everything swapped over?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: “Yeah, the interiors are super intricate. Everybody has a different body type, so we went through a lot of the processes. Josh’s (Berry) bucket is the same as Alex’s (Bowman), but different from Chase’s (Elliott). We went through trying to get those to work out and had some issues with that. I could probably sit here for two hours and explain to you all the details that would be really boring for you. It’s not an easy thing to do. Certainly I think we got Josh into a safe situation, which is first and foremost our concern with the interior. Secondly, a fairly comfortable situation. He needs to get on the track and run and see how he feels, and we’ll certainly make some adjustments from there.

But yeah, that transition is always a difficult thing. With Chase, obviously we’ve had years and years and years to refine the interior package; his seat, leg braces, headrest, etc., for him. We had to do the best we could to get it into a suitable position for Josh, which I feel good about.”

Jeff, can you talk a little bit about how Chase (Elliott) is feel? Not physically, but in his head?

JEFF ANDREWS: “I think we all know Chase (Elliott). He cares an awful lot about his race team and Mr. Hendrick. And I think at the top of his mind, he’s worried and concerned that he let – first and foremost – Mr. Hendrick down and his race team down. Texting with him this morning, he was asking how late his guys had to work and things like that, just on the swap over. That’s just pretty typical Chase Elliott. He’s a great kid; has a huge heart and can only imagine how hard this is (for him). He’s worried about how hard this is on us, and we’re worried about how hard it is on him. So again, first and foremost, let’s get him better and we’ll get him back in his seat as soon as he’s ready and his doctors say so.”

Josh, do you have any experience driving a Next Gen car at all?

JOSH BERRY: “Yeah, I will in about an hour (laughs).

Obviously, like I said, these guys – we’ve already worked some. We know it’s going to be a challenge, but kind of to reiterate like I said before; I’ve been here and won here, so that will help the growing pains a little bit. Obviously the car is a lot different, but these guys have some great tools to look at and things to prepare for. I’m going to just try to not overthink it, and like I said, just take it one lap at a time. Just try to run all the laps and be there at the end of the race tomorrow.”

Josh, going back to what you said about this opportunity – how do you balance the focus of racing for wins and a championship in the Xfinity Series and trying to do the job here and show yourself well?

JOSH BERRY: “Yeah, I mean I think you just have to look at it as – like I said, it’s going to be a great challenge, but that comes with a lot of opportunity in there, as well. We’ve talked – I don’t think we have a lot of expectations for how this is going to go. Obviously my focus is winning a Xfinity Series Championship this year, but to get this opportunity to get some experience in a Cup car is great for me. Obviously I want to be in the Cup Series one day, so you never know what could happen. We’re just trying to be realistic. As for this, I’ll be available for these guys whenever they need me and hopefully I can do a good job for them.”

Josh, have you texted or talked with Chase (Elliott) at all; and if so, can you tell us anything about those conversations?

JOSH BERRY: “Yeah, he shot me a text and just thanked me for helping out, and I thanked him for thinking of me and considering me for this fill-in position. Like I said, Chase (Elliott) has been a good friend to me over years. Even dating back to when I would make a couple of Xfinity Series starts years ago at JR Motorsports; he was always one of the first ones to help me whenever I needed it.

Like I said, I’m thankful for these guys for giving me this opportunity. I obviously wish him well and going forward, I’ll do whatever these guys need me for and we’ll take it from there.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
PENNZOIL 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 4, 2023

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 GLOBALTRANZ CAMARO ZL1 met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

WHAT’S THE INSIGHT ON WHY THE TEAM HAS BEEN SO STRONG SO FAR THIS SEASON?

“It starts with this car. I can’t overlook what this new car – not-so-new anymore – has done for the series and our team in particular. We’ve been able to build off the foundation that was CGR and grow it into what we are now. It’s wild. Rolling into this year, we’re not resting on what we accomplished last year. Nothing is guaranteed in this sport and in life, so there’s nothing more clear than 235 feet painted in front of Trackhouse where Justin (Marks) wanted to remind us daily how close we were. We’re working – all of us – in our respective jobs to close that 235 feet to zero.”

CONOR DALY MENTIONED THAT YOU HAD ABOUT BEING INTERESTED IN OPEN-WHEEL. WAS THAT A SERIOUS CONVERSATION?

“It definitely was a serious conversation. Our Cup simulator is right next to the Chevy IndyCar simulator, so I pass those guys weekly now. I just had some genuine questions. I wouldn’t even know where to start. I didn’t know what to ask him. He gave me a lot of advice, some definitely probably turned me away from it but some was definitely attainable one day. But I’m focused on Cup racing. If something ever came about where I could explore other racing… if it’s sports cars, other race tracks, other ways of racing cars. Every series is different and every driver in those series has come up in a different way. I wish I could have raced 15 years ago in another country and could have gotten to experience that. I see some kids getting to do that now and they mainly come up through the open-wheel ladder. Us circle-track racers and Saturday night short track, we’re pretty much in the same box. I want to get outside of my comfort zone and get outside of the box.”

SO NOT IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE BUT MAYBE ONE DAY?

“With Justin Marks and Trackhouse, you never know. I would be open for it but no, no plans. I just had genuine questions.”

WHAT WAS IT THAT HE SAID THAT MIGHT HAVE TURNED YOU OFF IT?

“Just the business side.”

JUSTIN HASN’T DISCOUNTED NOT GOING INTO INDYCAR AT SOME POINT. THAT WOULD BE AN EASY TRANSITION OTHER THAN KYLE (BUSCH) AND KYLE (LARSON) TRYING TO FIND CHEVY RIDES IN INDY. WOULD THAT BE THE EASIEST PATH FOR YOU?

“I don’t know what the easiest path is, and there’s been no talks. This is by far the longest conversation right here today that I’ve had about it. I just want to race. If I can do that under the Trackhouse banner in various things… Justin and I have a love for racing. So if we can both go and enjoy it… you see him off running Trans-Am races, and is one electrical issue away from another race win last week. We share that love for driving cars to the limit. I don’t care if it has fenders or no fenders, if it has ABS or drum brakes. I want to go race the dirt track 30 miles from where I grew up that I never got to race at. I just want to race. I feel like right now I can put myself in more opportunities than I’ve ever been able to to race, whether it’s last night in the Truck race, some Xfinity races here and there. My goal is Cup racing and my goal is circle-track NASCAR racing. But exploring the horizons of other stuff is an inner desire I have. I love racing. I love the art of it.”

DAYTONA AND AUTO CLUB WERE BRUTAL TO YOU TO START LAST SEASON. THEN YOU HAD LUNCH WITH JUSTIN, CAME BACK AND START RIPPING OFF TOP-FIVES AND TOP-10s. WHAT WAS THE MESSAGE HE LEFT YOU WITH?

“It was not the most pleasant lunch, I’ll be honest. I did text him this week on Tuesday and said I was happy we weren’t having our second annual post-Auto Club lunch. I went and ate there by myself just to do it and for the reminder that it could be that again. It could be not as good as we have it right now and to enjoy the moment. The circumstances around eating on the Tuesday after Auto Club one year apart was a total 180. He did a lot of talking last year and I did a lot of listening. I didn’t have a lot of answers for him then, but we went back to work and started getting the ship righted. So I was really happy this year when I sat there alone and got to enjoy my lunch and then go back to work at the shop. It’s called Tacos for Life, just right by the shop. It’s an easy spot to eat.”

WHAT ABOUT THIS TRACK SEEMS TO SUIT YOU SO WELL?

“I have no idea. I feel like there are other tracks that I understand more and there are other tracks where I’ve had faster racecars at, but for some reason there have been some really high, bright moments here. I look at it like every other track. I study it like every other track, and I studied it harder this week leading into this race than I ever have before because I have more tools at my disposal than I ever have before. I don’t have answers. I really don’t know why. It doesn’t really feel any different when I’m on track. There’s not like a magic feeling I have where I know what I need in my racecar.”

INAUDIBLE.

“I don’t do a lot of anything else. Usually my weeks are built out starting from the Sunday Cup race back. So the end of my week is Sunday at the start of the Cup race. Immediately following the race starts the next week as soon as I get out of my car. It’s all built on being ready for the start of the next Cup race. So there’s a lot of driving. The Mooresville-to-Concord corridor for me back and forth and in the surrounding area is the bulk of my time. In the middle, I fit in calls for the business side of my life. That’s where all my hands-free calls are – driving back and forth up Highway 3. That’s the other side of actually not driving the car. When I get to where I’m going, phone calls are off. A lot of times I’ll leave my phone in the car. We have to virtually drive these tracks on simulators. If your mind is on something else, you’re not going to be applying yourself. When you’re in the car for practice… for me, I can’t think of anything else except driving the racecar because if I crash, it’s going to hurt. Simulators don’t hurt. It’s very easy to be distracted for me; it’s very easy to drive down the backstretch this week in the sim and think about something else. So I put my mind away to everything else and totally focus on this. The bigger picture of your question, I don’t know the hours and I’ve never really kept track. I have to carve out time away from prep. I don’t have a lot truly else going on. This is it for me right now.”

HIGH WINDS THIS WEEKEND…DOES THE SIMULATOR PREP YOU FOR THAT OR DO YOU GET TO THE TRACK AND HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT?

“No winds in the sim. I’m not even allowed to turn the driver comfort fan on in there if I get too hot. I have to sweat it out if it’s hot. You can adjust how fast you go and how much grip the track has, but it doesn’t account for wind. That’s where the cool part comes and that’s where racecar drivers get to come and put these cars on the limit. You catch a bad wind gust… and wind crashes racecars. It can be from dirty air from other cars a lot of times. If it gets that bad, then we’ll feel it inside the car.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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.