Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Xfinity 500 Qualifying — Martinsville Speedway
Saturday, October 31, 2026

Ford Qualifying Results:

4th – Austin Cindric

5th – Joey Logano

6th – Ryan Preece

10th – Josh Berry

13th – Ryan Blaney

18th – Chris Buescher

22nd – Todd Gilliland

23rd – Brad Keselowski

31st – Noah Gragson

33rd – Zane Smith

36th – Josh Bilicki

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Delta Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I think this is a track where you definitely need a good qualifying run because of pit selection. It’s a tough one maybe not to manage from midpack, but if you have a bad qualifying effort, especially with how long the first stage is, you’re in big trouble. It’s a critical hurdle for us to get right, especially after kind of a weird practice session for us, so I’m happy to obviously have some pace in the Menards/Delta Ford Mustang.”

HOW BIG OF A HELP HAVE BLANEY AND LOGANO BEEN FOR YOU HERE? “When I re-watched the race from the spring, there was some absurd stat that Logano has had consecutive top 10 finished out the wazoo at Martinsville. Between him and obviously Ryan has been stellar here the last several years, so I think having some good gauges. We’ve been bringing fast race cars and this statistically is probably one of my better tracks as well, so I think it’s been a good fit for us, but having some quality guys to lean on is a great advantage for us, for sure.”

A LOT HAS GONE INTO TRYING TO GET THIS CAR TO RUN LIKE THE PREVIOUS GENERATION. ARE THEY GETTING CLOSER TO HOW THE O’REILLY CARS RUN HERE WITH THE NEXT GEN? “It’s certainly become its own thing. I think the O’Reilly race and the Truck Series race are so much shorter. The amount of rear tire fall off that we have in these cars and how difficult they are to drive after 20-30 laps is way different than the other two lower series. I do feel like this is a track where the tire really drives what happens in the race, but the temperature also does just like any concrete track. I think the combination of those two things, and I feel like this track more than any other track, I know there are two or three at least Goodyear tire tests since I’ve been in the series, and I feel like that’s more than most tracks and I think because we all recognize how much the tire does drive things. It’s been different, but at the same time lane manipulation and different lanes you can run, I feel like it happens super early. We’ve been able to have tires that lay down a boatload of rubber, so I feel like Goodyear has definitely done their part to enhance what happens during the race and the options we have as a driver. As far as what a 500-lap race used to look like, I don’t think my experience from those other series paint the picture well enough to comment further.”

DO WE NEED TO HAVE THE SOFTER BUMPERS HERE? “I’m definitely interested to see how tomorrow goes. I don’t think we’ve done a Martinsville race with the softer bumpers and I think this is the track everyone had in mind as far as what that would look like. I think it’s yet to be seen from that standpoint. From a spotter’s standpoint, I want to know stacks. I want to know what’s happening because although I don’t think it’s gonna be catastrophic what happens to your car, I think you can easily reduce the power by crunching the snorkel and doing those things. If you look at the structure that’s gonna crush first, it’ll definitely hurt your day.”

TOYOTA RACING – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 31, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Martinsville Speedway.

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

How do you balance everything you have gone through this year?

“I think has a whole, our season has been really good. Four months ago, I don’t think any of us thought we were going to be in the position we were in. Obviously last weekend was disappointing, I think in one way it makes to where our mentality going into these next two races is a lot different. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Just going to go out there with max aggression and have two good weeks.”

Was the wrist injury the first time you’ve been hurt in racing and what did you learn about yourself in trying to battle through that?

“It was the first time I’d every broke a bone in my life and certainly the first time I’ve been injured driving a racecar aside from mild concussions here and there. I don’t really know that I learned anything about myself, but it was fun to learn to persevere and push through it. I’m proud of how I handled it.”

How do you handle the disappointment of last week?

“Our team has team has really good chemistry right now and were having a good time working together. We have great comradery between our mechanics, our engineers, Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and myself. Last week was a trying moment for our team. I was really happy with how we all came together. It would have been really easy to tear each other down in that moment and none of us did. I was really proud of our group for last week and how we handled it.”

How did you go home and process all that happened last week after Talladega?

“It’s certainly a mentality shift. Where we are at now, we know that the only way forward is to go out here and win two stages and a race and go to Homestead and win two stages and a race. In reality, we have nothing to lose, so now the pressure is off. It’s just a matter of going out there and throwing hail mary’s. We’re to that point now, so that’s what we are going to do.”

How easy is it to make that mistake coming to pit road when you have no experience with that package?

“There’s a lot of things that go into it. Nobody in the field had any data on where your car needed to be and where your brake marks needed to be or anything like that. It was a guessing game for all of us, we’ve had many conversations leading into Daytona when we first tried the low downforce package. Where we tried to get to pit road was going to entail. Then there wasn’t any green flag pit stops at Daytona, so we had no data on what was going to happen or what we needed. When I went to pit road last week I just had nowhere near enough front brake bias in it and the minute I touched the brake the rear tires locked up and it was game over. I think it was just a matter of not having any data on it and we guessed wrong.”

How have you dealt with the pressure for the last eight weeks?

“I hope that our results will speak to how we handled the pressure. We did good all the way until last week, so I guess that maybe we didn’t handle the pressure well, so I don’t know. We had a great run of consistent cars and consistent performance. Maybe we could have won more races there, Gateway, where I crashed out and then the power steering issue at Las Vegas hindered a lot of points there. Aside from that, the performance was really strong all the way through. My team does really good in these pressure moments. Just looking back on the history of our postseason performances, I think we’ve been one of the top guys.”

What are your thoughts on racing at Homestead?

“I think Homestead is a great place to go and cap our season. It’s a super fun and challenging track, and something that really rewards drivers, it’s a drivers track. It’s similar to Darlington in that Darlington is slippery, you have to change your line around and you have to change your driving style as the tires wear. It’s a drivers track and certainly a track where the good drivers and good teams succeed at.”

Would it be beneficial for NASCAR to do a pit road practice at Talladega with the change in package?

“I promise you if we would have had some sort of practice every team would have come to pit road to see how their car would handle getting on to pit road and the decel. It would have been beneficial to all of us. With that being said, it was the same for everybody and however many cars there were in the race with 36 of us in the race and I was the only one who crashed out on pit road and a few guys got speeding penalties. All of us had the same opportunity, but practice would have helped a lot. But I will say it’s the same for everybody.”

Does adversity pull you and your team together even more than before?

“Just the way we all handled it was remarkable. All of us knew that Talladega was going to be a turning point for better or for worse. When it all happened, I ended up driving the car back to the hauler. Instead of leaving, I said I would just stay here and see Adam and my guys and see how they react and we all were accountable. We all pulled the rope in the same direction and nobody was finger pointing and saying this was on you. We all screwed up, I could have lifted earlier. We all held each other accountable and moved forward.”

The bumpers give more than they used to. How much will you pay attention to that tomorrow?

“That’s a great question. I owe you a thank you for the reminder. I’m going to have my spotter remind me of that all day tomorrow. That is a super critical thing that has the potential to be a really big change for Martinsville. The way the restarts happen and the stack ups, it’s going to have a really big impact on the race. Making sure that you’re mindful of that is going to be mission critical. I think it’s going to be a talking point for sure.”

How different do you think the atmosphere of this race will be since it’s not a last-ditch effort like it’s been in the past?

“This is new for everybody. I think it’s yet to be known exactly how the race is going to unfold tomorrow. But certainly the format is different and the lows can be a lot more penalizing knowing the points are going to carry over into Homestead as well. I think it’s yet to be told as to how it’s going to play. But the bumper structure is going to be a really big deal, you aren’t just going to plow through guys like you did in the past. It will be a interesting race.”

About Toyota

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For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Xfinity 500 Media Availability — Martinsville Speedway
Saturday, October 31, 2026

RFK Racing drivers Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece stopped by the infield media center this morning at Martinsville Speedway to answer questions from the media. Here is a transcript of that session.

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Kroger/Nerds Gummy Clusters Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT DOES 400 STARTS MEAN TO YOU? “It means I’m getting old at the end of the day. That’s what I keep realizing. To go this long, to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re in this garage and still kicking,’ still been able to win a good handful of races since I first started and trying to figure out how to win more yet. But, yeah, it’s pretty wild. The number itself doesn’t get my attention until you put it into years and you realize, ‘OK, that’s a lot of years of being around here since the beginning.’ Actually, I was talking to Massaro when he was talking about it being 400 starts. I was like, ‘Hold on, we need to make sure that this is accurate’ because Martinsville has not been my most favorite track through the years, even though the spring was going quite well. I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know that I want this to be Martinsville and be a big deal.’ You remember I missed one race when I got sick and they’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s in there.’ So, it’s true. This is number 400, so it snuck up, but it’s been an absolute blast and will continue to be from here. It’s neat to see. I joke about getting old and seeing some of the drivers come through here and feel like some don’t have driver’s licenses yet that get to come out there and run a truck around this place, so it’s all coming soon, but it’s been a blast.”

HAS THE VIBE CHANGED MUCH SINCE BRAD ANNOUNCED HE WOULD NOT BE BACK NEXT YEAR? “Right now, certainly there’s change with that news, but where we’re at we have been able to get in the Chase and trying to figure out how to drive forward through that. The Chase has not been as competitive as we would have liked. To be honest with you, that has been priority and that has been where we’ve been at, trying to make that part of it more successful right now and let the offseason stuff come around in the offseason, which is extremely close. So, there’s change and there always will be, but I think everybody has been able to stay pretty focused on what’s immediately ahead of us right now, especially as you look at it and saying we’ve got this weekend and one more to go. So, we’re trying to go with that at least for the time being.”

RYAN PREECE, No. 60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DO YOU FEEL LIKE ANY OF THE BRAD STUFF HAS IMPACTED PERFORMANCE OVER THE LAST EIGHT WEEKS? “I’ll be honest with you, I think right now Chris and I have been really in the trenches with our teams to make sure that in 2027 we’re not talking about being 15th or possibly 14th – in that 12th-16th range – we want to be in that top 10 contending range, so coming up with processes and being there like Brad, in what I believe, has been in part of those meetings, that’s what Chris and I are working towards doing. We’re looking forward right now, just like Talladega last week – that stage one deal. You can’t look behind.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE MOVE YOU GUYS MADE AT TALLADEGA LAST WEEK? HOW DID THAT COME TOGETHER AND WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH? CAN YOU BUILD ON THAT FOR THE FUTURE? “Well, Chris and I both probably haven’t stepped on a peloton, but I can tell you that we, in fact, like I know Chris your temperament and how you are is very calm. Inside the race car, I’m very high strung. That’s just how I operate. I like to know a much information as I can, so if you go back and listen to us versus listening to you guys, it was quite a bit different, but in the moment I would say that I didn’t realize what was truly happening.”

YOU DIDN’T HAVE THIS PLANNED AHEAD? “I don’t know. Did you?”

CHRIS BUESCHER CONTINUED – “I didn’t have this planned ahead, but, to your point, I just didn’t hit the button. I had all this going on in my mind, but I just didn’t hit the button. I thought we had evolved to that.”

RYAN PREECE CONTINUED – WHAT WAS THE MEANS TO THE END? “As far as when they saw the opportunity, I think really when I go back and re-watch the race, I was in a poor fuel position for our group, so I kept slowing the field down getting to less and less throttle percentage to the point we were running 57-whatever second laps, and I thought my dash just wasn’t working, but that was the case and we kept talking about fuel mileage and how I couldn’t do anymore because everybody behind me is slowing down. It’s kind of like when you relate to a short track. When you are saving tires and everybody else just follows suit. They play the game that you’re playing. Well, everybody played that game to the point that we were gonna be in a poor position and then we changed the game and nobody reacted. That’s why I said last week, I think they were just so focused on getting one can of fuel at the pit stop and saving three seconds that they lost 40. That will never happen again. I promise you. People, instead of being tunnel vision on the task at hand in the moment, will see things differently. I was proud of Scott, proud of Derrick, proud of Mike and everybody – the engineers and our strategy group because that’s forward-thinking. That’s looking outside of the box and not being tunnel visioned. In racing, that’s how you succeed.”

CHRIS BUESCHER CONTINUED – “It was a relief because for what the entire field was going through and in our heads behind the wheel, we weren’t having fun either. When you’re trying to save that much and talk about it, things are constantly evolving. We don’t have all that info in front of us. We have one dash screen that’s spitting out the same numbers it does every week, so in that moment it was nice to breakaway. I know for a fact that everybody that was behind us was sitting there trying to figure out if they could go or not, too. You know they wanted to and ultimately just stuck to the strategy they planned on ahead of that and it worked because nobody reacted.”

AS RFK GOES THROUGH THE PROCESS OF WHO WILL LEAD THE COMPETITION SIDE, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN THAT POSITION? “Just racers. That’s where we’re at. We’re trying to figure out if we can find that role and have somebody that’s in the trenches and has been around the garage, knows how to play the games that make speed and can really lead and push everybody to the best of their ability. I think that’s kind of the idea from where I’m at. I’m not the one signing the paperwork for anybody, but for us what we’ve kind of talked about is just trying to find somebody that can help us have faster race cars yet and can have that knowledge base of this car, too. We’re five years into Next Gen now and we’ve certainly found out the sensitivities to it and you need somebody that’s been around and has seen that and can continue to push whatever makes these things work. That’s a big part for us, I think, is finding somebody that’s in the trenches of the racing side of these things.”

RYAN PREECE CONTINUED – “To echo that, when I look at the photos on the walls, I’ve seen race cars change from the seventies to the nineties to 2010 to now. I want somebody that’s gonna help continue to give us the tools to progress and keep progressing, so whatever that may be, whether it’s a racer, whether it’s somebody that’s been in this role or not been in this role, I don’t know, but I want the same type of person that’s gonna give me fast race cars because giving me fast race cars is gonna help me win races.”

HOW CAN YOU WORK AHEAD ON NEXT YEAR KNOWING YOU WILL HAVE A NEW FORD BODY AND WHAT YOU HAVE NOW MAY NOT APPLY? “I think that’s racing in general. Rules may change. Bodies change. That goes back to being quick to adapt. That’s why I pointed out those pictures. You’ve seen somebody get ahead of everybody and then they reap the benefits from that. I want to be that guy. Chris wants to be that guy. RFK wants to be that team and that’s the mindset of what it’s gonna take, so, yeah, the body is changing and how you get that information and how quickly you get that and decipher good, bad, do we need to make adjustments, you need to be quick to react. We as a company, like I said, Chris and I are the drivers. We talk about simulation. We talk about wind tunnels. We talk about attitudes and all these things, but we’re the validation tool. Simulators and all that are great tools, but, at the end of the day, it leads to us, so being part of those conversations to make sure that all the great adjustments and the collaboration that the teams have had with Ford to come with this new body, we want to go out and I’m sure there’s gonna be some sort of a learning curve as Chevrolet and Toyota had at one point in time, but we’re here to go out and put a huge effort into making sure that we’re competing every week.”

CHRIS BUESCHER CONTINUED – “We’ve known that was coming for a long time and our people are gonna really dive into the trenches on it, so I’m pretty excited for the new Mustang Dark Horse SC. I personally think that if we could get a loaner for the offseason of the production car, that would help us have a better idea of what we are gonna be racing.” PREECE INTERJECTS. “I agree. A couple set of rear tires, too.” BUESCHER CONTINUES: “We can cover the tire side. I’ll cover that, but it just seems like the right thing to do.”

RYAN PREECE CONTINUED – NASCAR MAY TRY TO CORRECT THE FUEL SAVING ISSUE. WHAT IS THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP? “Lap money. Did you guys ever hear about the Race of Champions back in the day at Oswego? For some of you that don’t know, they used to give cases of beer to those racers, and lap money, but it also came with cases of beer. So, incentivize. We have incentive to race, but it puts a whole different element into it. Now, I’m sure there are other ways. I’m just a driver. I like the idea of chasing something, so what do you think Chris? Maybe some Nerds?”

CHRIS BUESCHER CONTINUED – “Nerds. Every lap you lead you get another pound of Nerds. At the end of the day, there are too many smart people in this paperclip right now and back at our shops, no matter what the rules are, if there is an advantage to it, people will play to it and that will be part of the strategy and as drivers that will trickle down to what our game plan is. You’re sitting there in that pack last week and it crossed my mind that I could just go. I was like, ‘I could just take off down the middle. It’s wide open and I could just leave this behind.’ Where would it get you at the end. If I had taken off by myself, where would it have gotten us? And the answer is, buried in the back. So, it takes smart people to figure out what the best way to go about it is and that is minimizing time on pit road to set you up for positioning later in those races and the stage moves helped that at Talladega, but then you still don’t have enough handling issues to make the field have the big movement throughout it once you do get down to the end and everybody is wide-open. I think it still comes down to a car that has a very planted feel to it, even though they were freer than the last go-around, but not quite to the point where you had that separation of packs. You still have a wider tire under it than it’s ever had and I think it’s just the handling part of it is hard to bring back. And Talladega, you’re comparing it next to Daytona too, and it’s just so big. You don’t have the handling issues there even when this series was at its worst for handling, so it’s just a little different that way. We’ll try and adapt, but you start enticing us and that starts adding up, you start getting everybody on board with it and we’ll figure out ways to lead more laps and push harder every lap.”

RYAN PREECE CONTINUED – YOU ARE LOOKING TO RUN AN OPEN CAR NEXT YEAR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT? “I think that’s a question for Chip, to be honest with you. Their plans as far as the open charter that they’re running three cars.”

CHRIS BUESCHER CONTINUED – HOW DOES YOUR POSITION IN THE CHASE DICTATE YOUR STRATEGY FOR THIS WEEKEND? “We’re in the Chase, but we haven’t had the success through the Chase that we’d like to have, so, with that, it’s kind of a similar scenario of everything to gain and really nothing to lose right now. It opens up some ability to be aggressive at times if the situation presents itself. It seems like it’s always a little bit more difficult to come up with something off the wall here at Martinsville, but we will have that in our thought process is we have the ability to take some chances here tomorrow and into next week as well.”

RYAN PREECE CONTINUED – IS WHAT YOU DID AT TALLADEGA THE ANTIDOTE TO FUEL SAVING IF THEY KEEP THE SAME STAGE LENGTHS? “No, because I think everyone is just gonna ride as long as somebody else rides. Moving forward, I think whoever decides to go first is still gonna be in the worst fuel position, and if everybody is on the same strategy as you, they’re gonna save time when they come to pit road and then they’re gonna pass you that way. That’s kind of been the thought process of what it is before, so if there’s a team that decides to go before everybody else, well, everybody else is gonna react and then they’re just gonna still be able to kind of 75 percent throttle it while the other team is full throttle. You’re still gonna be at a detriment. If I’m wrong, I’ll buy you a nice steak, but I don’t think I’m wrong.”

YOU THINK FUEL SAVING WILL STILL BE THE MAIN ISSUE? “Yeah. You would say so, right?”

CHRIS BUESCHER CONTINUED – “Yeah. The physics of it essentially is like even fifth in line, you’re not even trying to save fuel but you are part throttle because you can’t just keep pushing through the car in front of you and you can’t take the run, so you just steadily save more gas the further you go through the field. I don’t know if this came around accidentally initially. I doubt it because like I said we have a lot of smart people and somebody figured out, ‘We’ll just jump them on the cycle.’ No matter what the package is, that will exist to some level. It’s just a matter of is coming down pit road first versus coming down pit road 28th is the time difference in the fuel stop is it enough to jump that many positions. That’s the hard part. I don’t have that answer, but you will always save more fuel if you’re not in the first three or four spots or the first two or three rows. And it’s not strictly to save fuel, it’s just how the pack works.”

RYAN PREECE CONTINUED – WHAT RESULTS WOULD MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD GOING INTO THE OFFSEASON? “I think next year is gonna change regardless. There are a lot of changes – body, whatever the rules potentially could be – so I think change is just inevitable. I think the momentum of how you approach it or build upon it from 2026 is important. Martinsville is one of my favorite racetracks. We were strong here last year. I drove up to third and everything didn’t work out in our favor, but we had a really, really good race car. I feel like today we’re gonna be the same, so, me personally, I want to come here and bring home a clock. That’s my goal every time I come here. This is my favorite racetrack on the schedule, so that’s the plan for here and then Homestead, continue to build on that momentum and have a great outing and try and keep climbing the point standings because the loser of our points deal between Chris and I, I believe somebody has to drive around a roundabout and do 500 laps around that while the other person sits in the center. So, I’d rather be the guy sitting in the center in a chair videotaping him doing it, so I’m gonna do my best to make sure that’s possible.”

CHRIS BUESCHER CONTINUED – “We had a jail and bail charity event last week and as we’re sitting in there calling on people we know to try and donate, it did dawn on me that Ryan might come up with something that would require real bail money, so I’m sitting there going through my contacts and was like, ‘I actually need to save that one for the real thing.’ That might be a call. I can’t ask twice in a couple weeks. That probably will make me the Boy Who Cried Wolf. It will seem like I’m just pocketing money, so it’s on our radar that this could end poorly. To Ryan’s point, this is a racetrack he’s loved and it’s helped me get better here, being able to learn from Ryan, especially this place and I feel like we’ve been a little bit better. The last race here was certainly one of our stronger Martinsvilles, I think the strongest Martinsville that we had and just had that freak deal – a bolt on track got caught in the caliper, so it didn’t end the way we would have liked at all, but it would be nice to pick up a little bit of momentum as we had into the offseason. I can’t help but wonder. If you did have a clock, would you stop showing up 30 minutes early to everything? Would you actually just decide to try and be on time?”

RYAN PREECE CONTINUED – “No, I would have three.”

Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Xfinity 500 Media Availability — Martinsville Speedway
Saturday, October 31, 2026

Earlier today, Brad Keselewski held a press conference to announce his future plans after RFK Racing said he is free to continue his driving career with another organization.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 TravelCenters of America Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Thank you for your time. I appreciate you hearing me out here for a few minutes. About several weeks ago, as many of you are aware, RFK announced that I would not be with the team next year, and since then I’ve been asked by a number of media members for an update on my situation. Today felt like the right time to give just that and what has been going on behind the scenes specifically, which way I’m leaning or when I might be able to make any announcements on what I’ll be doing in 2027 and beyond. To date, I’ve been saying basically that when I was ready to give insights, I would and I’d provide that update at a later time. Well, this is that time.

Before I get into that, I just want to say thank you for being patient. Thank you for your interest. Thank you for all of those who have reached out to me, whether it be media, fans, or industry with support. It’s really flattering and I want to extend a sincere thank you for all those that have cared enough for that.

So, the reason for the media conference today, for me, is not to make an announcement. I know that might be disappointing to a few people, but more so just kind of an update, and I thought this was the appropriate time, specifically because a few things have changed – some very recently – and I did not want to do an announcement the weekend of the championship race out of respect to what that means for the industry and the sport, so this felt like the right weekend and thanks for your patience waiting for that. I hope I’m gonna answer a lot of your questions. I know I’m not gonna get everybody’s question, so bear with me. There will be more time to do that, but now is the time that I can get a lot more definitive on a number of things.

To back up. When I joined RFK Racing, which would have been about five years ago now, I joined with the idea that it would be my forever home. That would be where I finished my career, transcend into management and ownership for the rest of my professional career in life. That was really where my heart was and it didn’t play out the way that we hoped it would, but there were a lot of good things that did happen. I would say objectively I was able to be a part of taking this team up a level in every measurable way, and I’m proud of the people that I got to work with and that we did that together with. No matter where this goes from here, that doesn’t change.

As you guys may or may not know, my contract did go through the end of this season and we began the negotiations on extending it about 11 months ago after the season was over following 2025. The team and I got in some really deep discussions, and I think I’ve shared some of this with some people here in this room. I wanted to keep driving and to continue my role in the competition group for many years to come. I felt really strongly that my body of work was good and that I had what it takes to be a part of it, and there was more that I want to achieve and there still is more that I want to achieve behind the wheel, and I feel like even as recently as last week at Talladega proves that’s just the case and for not just one race, but for many years to come.

Unfortunately, what became very clear in the negotiation is my partners saw that differently, and we were not able to come to agreement. I will say that the interaction I had with my partners wasn’t adversarial. We just had a difference of opinion on how we best viewed the future of the company and the path forward for the team and myself. As a result, we reached a pretty strong impasse and in doing so the team repeatedly assured me that as we concluded our relationship and negotiations and decided to go our separate ways, they would not hold me up or restrict me from continuing my career in NASCAR with another Cup team, and promised that they would work cooperatively together with me, specifically around a buyout or sale of the 20 percent equity that I own in the team.

Very recently we came to a verbal agreement, hopefully soon a written agreement, to a release of my restrictions that would keep me from racing in the 2027 season in the Cup Series as a driver or as an owner and driver in the NASCAR Truck Series. I’m thankful that Roush and Fenway, the RFK management team, that we were all able to work through a number of hurdles to achieve that. That was not an easy lift. It’s been in the works for at least a month now, and I’m thankful for the time that we had together. This is kind of the road to the end of that time. I will say that in the time that we had together, I learned a tremendous amount and although I didn’t achieve all the goals that I wanted to achieve, I learned enough that I feel like I’m ready to be elite for the next opportunity that comes in front of me on all levels, whether that’s as a driver, owner or manager.

So, a little bit about those opportunities. That’s probably the thought that everybody has and I have those thoughts too. There are a number of opportunities in front of me in the Cup Series for 2027 and beyond. There’s no doubt about that. I’ve had a number of outreaches. I’m not going to get into the details of what those are at this time, but I’m eager and willing to execute one of them and to be part of the 2027 season as a manager in NASCAR and a driver.

As I said before, I truly believe I have what it takes to do that at the highest level with winning races and contending for championships, both as a driver and a team leader. So, I’m certainly not ready to retire or walk away in any means from this sport.

So what are the next steps for me? There are really three pivotal next steps for me that we’re working through very hard. The first one for me is, now that I’ve been granted the release, I can meaningful engage in the opportunities that exist. I was more or less taking phone calls and unable to do much with them until granted that release here just recently. Now I can engage them in a meaningful way. I can also go about the process of finding the right media and marketing partners to take on that challenge. As you guys know, this sport relies on a marketing partner and sponsorship relationship. It’s hard to achieve that when you don’t have any clarity on what your rights are, so now that those are certain I can go do that. And last but not least, I will begin the process of selling my 20 percent of RFK equity so I will have a full release for the rest of my career to do what I want.

That’s what’s in front of me right now. For my fans, the media and the industry that have supported me there are a couple of things I want you guys to know. All of the support you’ve given me over my entire career, I’m incredibly grateful for. Racing in the 2027 season is still not a guarantee for me, although it became a lot clearer and the path to get there is probably a little more visible recently. To not be able to race, though, would be devastating to me. This is my life. This is what I love to do. I’ve worked my whole career and done all the things that you would want to do, but I’m not ready to be done. I know that I have a lot of work to do to get a deal done for 2027 given that it’s so late in the year to land a ride, but we’re gonna go to work and now we can go hopefully achieve just that. The road is clear and it’s paved in front of us, so those are my goals. That’s the update that I have to give and with that I’ll stop and pause and open for questions.”

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION:

HOW RECENTLY DID YOU GAIN THIS RELEASE AND WHAT DID THIS LOOK LIKE IF WEREN’T ABLE TO DO SO? “About an hour ago, so very recently I would say. Without a release, it certainly would be a different day.”

YOU MADE AN OFFER TO PURCHASE RFK. I ASSUME THAT INCLUDED INVESTORS. ARE THEY INTERESTED IN OTHER TEAMS OR WHAT THAT SPECIFIC TO RFK? “I would say that I made a very serious offer to purchase RFK. I can’t go into the specifics of what it was. There’s a lot of interest in this sport right now, tremendous interest in this sport on the ownership front and it’s never been hotter. We didn’t necessarily get there as an industry the way I think we’d liked to have gotten there with the different lawsuits and all those things, but the closing of the lawsuit here in the last 12 months has dramatically affected the perception of the sport, in particular in New York City and where a lot of these big investment firms are. This sport is now viewed as an ownership asset that has certainty and it has a level of stability and the valuations have dramatically increased along with the interest. So, that’s not unique to my situation. I think there’s a couple announcements that are gonna come out here in the next few months in a similar vein, and the sport is going to feel the effect of that, I think, in a very positive way shortly. So, I’m not sure I’m fully answering your question, but there’s a lot of ownership interest right now, for sure.”

CAN YOU DRIVE FOR ANY CUP TEAM OF ANY OEM CURRENT OR INCOMING? “Yes.”

ARE ANY OF THE CURRENT RFK SPONSORS AVAILABLE TO YOU FOR YOUR NEXT MOVE? “I have a very specific agreement with RFK that although I was instrumental in bringing partners to the team, once they were with the team they are now a team asset and will be so.”

WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF THIS NEXT OPPORTUNITY WHATEVER THAT MAY BE? “I want to contend for wins. I want to be a part of contending for wins as a driver, an owner, an operator, a manager, all of the above. I want to be a part of seeing people be successful. I want to be a part of writing the script that is the future of this sport, so that it can endure hopefully for decades and generations to come. That’s probably what I value the most. I’ve given a big part of my life to this sport, and I have a love for it and its fans and everything that makes it go, and I want to be a part of that lifestyle and that privilege for many years to come.”

IS THE TRUCK SERIES AN OPTION B IF YOU CAN’T GET A CUP RIDE FOR 2027? “I would not say option B. I would not say option A. I don’t know that I have enough clarity on that. I’m obviously very interested in remaining a part of the Cup Series in a really meaningful way. I have a lot of interest in the triple crown. I think we’ll see how it plays out and what the opportunities cement themselves to be and go from there.”

IS THERE A CHANCE THAT EVEN IF YOU DON’T RACE TRUCKS NEXT YEAR THAT WE COULD SEE BRAD KESELOWSKI RACING RETURN TO THAT SERIES IN SOME CAPACITY? “I would say there’s a strong chance with no certainty. I have all the assets to do a truck team right now and it is certainly something that interests me, but I’m not ready to commit to anything of that level. Again, I’m gonna wait and see what all the opportunities present themselves to be fully. Right now, they’re kind of on the peripheral and I can now engage in meaningful discussions that I couldn’t before. I think I’ll weigh all of those options here very shortly.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT NEXT YEAR? “I am confident that something is going to work out. I don’t know what it is right now, so there is a level of uncertainty, for sure. I know that nothing comes easy in this sport, nor should it, and we’re gonna have to grind really hard to get a deal done for next year. I know that, and I’m committed to doing that. I don’t have a deal done right now, but there are some really good opportunities, but nothing is ever done until it’s done.”

IS THERE A DEADLINE TO ANY OF THIS? “I think now is kind of let’s call this what it is, this is me signaling to the industry the three action steps that I have and seeing what the industry says back to me. I don’t know 100 percent how the industry is gonna respond. Hopefully positively, but it’s a very fluid sport and things can change very quickly and today’s truths are yesterday’s fiction, so that’s what always makes it so hard when we talk to a lot of media members. Somebody will ask us a question, ‘Are you gonna do x?’ And you’re like, ‘No.’ But maybe a day from now a circumstance will change where x will be the truth or the best opportunity that we do, and it’s not that we’re trying to mislead you or any of that nature, but circumstances change so rapidly. That said, one of the things that is really appealing to me, and I think to the market, is given the limited eligibility for next year’s Clash and All-Star Race, clearly I’m one of the drivers that is eligible for those two events, so that’s exciting. There are some different circumstances in the Cup Series garage that some people do or don’t know about that if you have to work out, and I could see a scenario that doesn’t develop until literally February of ‘27. Hopefully, we’ll have answers before then, but I don’t want to make any promises I can’t live up to.”

DOES OWNERSHIP OR MANAGEMENT NEED TO BE PART OF YOUR IMMEDIATE NEXT STEP? “I would say it does not have to be, no. That’s not like a prerequisite, and I certainly don’t want to limit the opportunities to if I don’t own the team or control the different aspects I wouldn’t do it, but I would say that it is something I do value, for sure.”

DO YOU FEEL THAT RFK TREATED YOU FAIRLY AND PROFESSIONALLY THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS AND PARTICULARLY THE LAST FEW MONTHS? “I’m glad that we got the deal done that we got done here very recently. I think that was not, I’m gonna use my golf pun, that was not a short putt. That was a long putt. We certainly had our differences along the way on a number of topics. Reasonable people can disagree on things. I don’t really want to get into the different dynamics of fair or unfair. It was a journey. I learned a lot along the way. I’m better for it, without a doubt. I didn’t achieve all of the things I wanted to achieve and I’m willing to admit that, but I think that the journey, I understand that there’s a lot of people, and I hear it in a lot of fan sentiment when I have different events with fans or even though social media of, ‘Brad, you left Penske to go with RFK and then Penske went on and won three championships and clearly is a great team. You could have stayed there and done that.’ And people are right. I could have stayed there and done that and not done this thing here with RFK over the last five years. Ultimately, even though it’s coming to an end and it didn’t play out exactly the way I wanted it to, I’m not really looking back at that with a regret and, specifically, I got to try and be a part of something where I got to see other people be successful, where I grew myself. Did it probably cost me some wins? Yeah, it probably did. Did it maybe cost me a shot at another championship? We could probably argue that one either way, but I grew as a person. I got to be a part of seeing other people grow and I’m gonna take that with me for the rest of my life and for the opportunities that come in the future and I’m really thankful for that.”

YOU MENTIONED THE CLASH AND YOU HAVEN’T WON THE DAYTONA 500. IS THE DOOR COMPLETELY CLOSED ON YOU DOING EITHER OF THOSE RACES FOR RFK? “I’m really careful not to speak for other people, including RFK. From my perspective, no door is closed, but I can’t speak from other perspectives.”

YOU MENTIONED YOU GOT YOUR RELEASE AN HOUR AGO. THIS PRESS CONFERENCE WAS SCHEDULED A WHILE AGO. DID THIS BEING SCHEDULED TODAY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS DEAL COMING TO FRUITION FOR YOU? “I don’t want to speak for other people. Clearly, I was gonna have this press conference regardless. Would the topic have been different without the release? Probably. Yes, it would have, but I’m thankful that this is the topic and that we’re forging a path forward.”

HOW DID THINGS GET TO THIS POINT? “I can’t necessarily answer for other people. I can only answer for myself and my partners made the decision that they made and they have the right to make that decision. Their own rationale or reasoning is best left to them.”

DO YOU SEE AS MUCH INTEREST IN SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AS OWNERSHIP? “I would say that NASCAR as a property went through, just to be transparent, went through a downturn here the last 8-10 years and it’s having a good moment right now. There’s always a metric you can point to that is unfavorable, whether that’s in attendance or TV viewership metric, but there are a lot of very favorable metrics inside the garage area and one of those is clearly the team ownership model has a level of sustainability that it didn’t have before. It doesn’t mean it’s necessarily profitable, but it’s sustainable and that’s a win. On the partnership level, very specifically a number of things have happened that I think are positive to NASCAR as a space for sports. As a whole, the space you continue to see the fragmentation of the media model outside of live sports. Live sports have kind of turned into this last bastion of advertising outside of buying an ad on Facebook or Google, and I think a lot of Fortune 500 companies or a lot of companies that are marketing and have the wherewithal to be involved in NASCAR are starting to have fatigue over the Googles and the Facebooks and so forth, so that brings them live sports and a way to tell their story that is unique. Those two things as a whole are driving a success story in NASCAR and a narrative that I think is different than what it was 10 years ago.”

DO YOU HAVE FULL CONFIDENCE THAT THE VERBAL AGREEMENT WILL BE WHAT MAKES IT ON PAPER? “Yeah, I think both sides have enough integrity to make sure that’s the case, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. So, yes.”

DO YOU COME HERE FEELING MORE SETTLED, MORE OPTIMISTIC OR IS YOUR WORLD SPINNING? “I feel like I control my own destiny and there’s a lot of power in that – for good or bad. Being able to control your own destiny, you hear it in other sports – give me the ball, coach. That’s where I am at a professional level right now. I now have the ball and if I fumble it, it’s on me and if I score with it, it’s on me but I have the ball. I think there’s a great sense of relief from that, but, to your point, there’s a pressure with that too. You’ve got to go deliver and we have to go deliver on several fronts and that burden is on us right now.”

DO YOU HAVE INTEREST IN HELPING DODGE HELP BUILD THEIR CUP PROGRAM? “I would say that everything is on the table. I have not had a meaningful discussion with Dodge or RAM. I’m certainly very open-minded to it, alongside all of the OEMs. I haven’t given up on a relationship with Ford in the future as well, along with the other two OEMs of Chevrolet and Toyota. Everything is on the table right now for me.”

IF A NEW OEM CAME IN AND CHARTERS WERE AWARDED TO THEM, THAT WOULD BE A BUILT-IN BONUS FOR YOU. “There is some, whether that’s true or not, speculation around some of those charters becoming available. I have not had that conversation with anyone. If it did come to fruition, I would be very interested in participating, but I don’t know how real that is.”

HOW DO THE PARTNERS THAT ARE AT RFK BECAUSE OF YOU FEEL NOW THAT YOU’RE LEAVING? “I haven’t had any discussions with the partners just to be transparent. I have in my agreement that I won’t take any of the partners with me, so I don’t want to speculate how they feel about something – good, bad or indifferent – but I’m proud that they’re there. One of the things I’m most proud of in my entire RFK experience is in the five years I was there the team doubled in value and doubled in sponsorship. I don’t think that was a coincidence. I don’t think that just happened. I’d like to think that I was a big part of that, and I’d like to think that I’ll bring that same opportunity to the next team I go to.”

THE WORD STUBBORNNESS CAN GO DIFFERENT WAYS. DO YOU FEEL THAT HAS PUT YOU IN THIS POSITION AND HOW DO YOU CONVINCE THE NEXT PERSON THAT IT WON’T BE AN ISSUE GOING FORWARD? “Stubborness is a word full of ambiguity. The ambiguity behind it is what stubbornness is good, what stubbornness is bad. I would argue that stubbornness is one of the most important things you can have in a person. When you have somebody who has morals and integrity, you want them to be stubborn about them. You look even at our country and see the United States Constitution. It’s a stubborn thing. I think it’s a good stubborn thing. That said, not every part of stubbornness is good and there are other things like new ways of learning and doing things that you need to adapt over time that stubbornness generally does not favor, so I think stubbornness, you have to pick your battles of when to be stubborn and when not to be. I’m certain there are times in my life where I haven’t chose those well. I think the body of work as a whole, I have or I wouldn’t be where I’m at. I don’t feel like the story of RFK and my participation really comes down to an argument over stubbornness, but that’s my opinion and my opinion only.”

RFK SAID YOU WILL CONTINUE TO BE A PASSIVE INVESTOR IN THE TEAM. WILL YOU CONTINUE TO BE AN INVESTOR IN THE TEAM IN SOME FORM? “A passive investor, I think, is the best way to articulate that. I think that’s written appropriately and I have no other plans beyond that at this time.”

HAS ANYTHING SURPRISED YOU THROUGH THIS PROCESS? “Yeah, the biggest surprise to me was how much interest there is in the team ownership model right now, significant interest and it’s really blown up over the last few months in particular.”

WILL YOU CONTINUE TO BE AN ASSET TO CHRIS AND RYAN AS THEIR CAREERS CONTINUE? “First of all, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ryan and Chris. Both of those guys are stand-up guys and phenomenal race car drivers. I feel incredibly fortunate to have those guys as teammates and as a part of RFK’s racing story. They’re going to do well for years to come. Their attitude and work ethic is underappreciated in my opinion by a lot of people, and their success is not a surprise to me. I feel grateful and thankful that I got to work with them and help them realize their potential, but, to be clear, they’ve done the work and they deserve the credit. As far as my future with those two go, as a passive investor by the very definition, there really isn’t one, but I clearly will always be rooting and cheering for their success.”

WHAT APPEALS TO YOU IN THE OWNERSHIP AND COMPETITION ROLES AND HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THE STRESS OF BALANCING THOSE ROLES? “I love it. I don’t view it, I guess, as more stress. I like having my hands in it. I love being a part of it. I love being part of a success story. In particular, what I really love as an owner and the role of the management that I’ve had over the last few years is knowing that we had three chances to win every weekend. When you’re just driving, you only have one chance to win. I loved the idea that I had three chances to win at the Cup level every weekend. That was pretty darn cool. I find that incredibly rewarding. I find other people’s success sometimes more rewarding than my own, and maybe that’s something to be studied one day by somebody smarter than me, but I do enjoy that. Being a driver is a lot of fun. There are some great aspects of it. There are points in time, particularly at this level, where it’s incredibly frustrating as well. I kind of would draw some kind of akin to it like having children. It’s the same feeling when you’re an owner and a manager. The good days you’re so proud of them and you get to see them grow and do things. It’s like, ‘Wow. That’s my kid.’ The bad days you want to pull your hair out and scream. What have I done with my life. But there are more good days than bad days and there’s a pride that comes from it that’s hard to describe. That’s how I’ve felt about it.”

STAGE ONE AT TALLADEGA LAST WEEKEND THE BALL WAS IN YOUR HAND. HOW MUCH OF THAT WAS A FINAL BLAZE OF GLORY? “We’re still giving our all. There are two races left in this season. I would like to think my effort level for the remainder of this season is the same as if I was coming back next year or not. Living in my own skin sometimes I can’t see that the same way as someone from the outside can, but I don’t think our move at Talladega had anything to do with whether I’m returning or not next year. I will say it had a lot to do with a team of people that was willing to make a move that was different and the culture that comes within that to not be afraid of the consequences if it didn’t succeed. I appreciate the gutsiness to do that. It didn’t happen just as a complete accident. There were a lot of really smart people studying a lot of data and analyzing the situation in real time and then having the guts to make a call. I saw some of the social media commentary about it which was like, ‘All you guys did was decide to go fast.’ Well, yes, but there was a lot more that went into it than that. I know that and I think the people involved with that decision know it, too.”

TOYOTA RACING – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 31, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Martinsville Speedway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

How is your shoulder and do you have surgery scheduled for the offseason?

“I don’t have it scheduled right now, the plan was to scan right after the season to kind of see where it stood. Pain tolerance has been okay. Obviously, late in the season everything just gets a little worse. But generally I’ve been able to manage it inside the race car. I will see if it hasn’t progressed. Maybe if I can nurse it just for one more year and then then do it after that.”

Is there a point total you would like to get it to before Homestead to have a chance at the championship?

“There has to be a catastrophic weekend in there somewhere. It has to start here truthfully to have a chance, and then the chance is still limited, given obviously his track record there. The only thing at Homestead is that if you do have a fighting chance, it is a place where he’s been really good on the wall, and God forbid he scraped it a little too hard and cut a tire. So you just never know. Who knows where it all goes? But again, the chance is very, very slim. I think NASCAR put out all the chances and the odds, and even them acknowledging it’s likely low.”

You have such a long history here at Martinsville. How precarious or how I guess how careful are you going to have to be with your front bumper?

“Yeah, a little bit. Certainly, the structure change is a little different with obviously taking the front bumper out to try to soften some of the low blow stuff. But I don’t know. I think you still can use it a little bit. You have to be careful, though, in my mind, to not give someone an egregious bump because then they typically brake check you, and then that’s when you can really end up doing quite a bit of damage. So you just have to be as courteous as you can with your bumps I think.”

What is on your 23XI to do list in the postseason? And where have you seen the gains? What do you think that your organization has to work on?

“I mean, the list is long. I think that that the team definitely has room to improve. I mean, Tyler’s (Reddick) had a very good year from a win standpoint. Had really strong start to the year, but it’s still just got some little deficits here and there that we got to clean up with the team. And then the other two have just got to get better. Got to win more races and that’s certainly our priorities. Have all of our cars winning on a consistent basis and contending for a championship at season’s end. And I don’t think where we’re at that spot. They’re close. They’re very close. But I still think that it needs a little tweaking here and there to get there.”

Despite the points deficit, how do you approach the next two tracks here, both places you’ve had success at in the past?

“Well, I think it’s the first weekend where there’s truthfully little pressure because I think the expectations are just so low. I think that everyone believes that it’s you know kind of a foregone conclusion, and I’m not saying that they’re wrong by any means. I said so myself on Monday, but it’s just what he got to lose at this point. What is the difference being in second in points versus fifth? Doesn’t matter to me at this point in my career, so yeah, I think it’s a low pressure, high opportunity for the 11 team to go out there and do what we need to do this weekend.”

Given your relationship with Michael Jordan, obviously has a lot of championship success and clutch moments. What do you believe he expects from you as a championship contender? And do you ever worry about falling short of those expectations?

“No, I don’t think so because I think he knows me well enough, kind of off the racetrack, and he knows my competitive spirit. He knows I never go through a period of not putting in the work or not having the drive. I think that no matter what the on-track results may be week in, week out, he knows that that we’re the standard when it comes to preparation and work, and that’s what he was really big on.”

Do you consider yourself clutch?

“Yeah, I mean I think that we’ve performed great in in certain aspects, and I think that there’s been other times where we’ve kind of stubbed our toe when it was you know a big moment. Certainly, 2010 is one that really sticks out to me, where you know patience could have been a little bit more executed there. And there’s always been races here and there. The different difficult part is you don’t know when those key moments are until they afterwards, right? And because of the sport and the formats and things like that, you just never know when those key moments are. And if you know if we come up 18 points short, it’s going to be like a lot like Phoenix, you know. What can I do about flat tire? So, it’s there’s always moments that are clutch moments, but you just don’t know until the exact moment of when that is. And I felt that last year at Phoenix, we did what we had to do, and it didn’t work out in the end, but that was what the format asked us to do and we did it. It was just a unfortunate caution at the end that changed things, and that’s our sport, this is not a one vs one situation. This is a one versus 36, and driver number 18 that has nothing to do with anything in the championship can play a factor in what your result is, and so that’s what makes it a little different and hard to define exactly what a clutch moment is.”

As good as you guys were in the regular season, as strong as you were, and I know in the past you feel like championships have gotten away from you. Does this one feel like it got away from you? Like you lost this, or did Kyle Larson come out and win it?

“I think it’s a little bit of both. I truthfully believe it’s a little bit of both. I think about what we could have done different. I know in Las Vegas, I definitely could have done something different. I was certainly disappointed with the outcome in in Darlington when Michael (McDowell) got in the back of us and took us out of that one. And you know the flat tire. I mean, we can argue whose fault that is, but I think that it’s just one of those things. But you know you also can’t discredit what the five team has done in this eight races, right? And I think what we all under underestimated is that a greatness of eight races can really kind of change what the narrative is on your entire season, right? I think that even when you listen to Kyle and his team pre-Chase. They would have said, ‘Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think we got what it really takes.’ And all of a sudden, eight races later, where it’s like it’s just a dominating performance. I think they certainly deserve you know all the credit and all the accolades that you know they’re likely going to have in the next few weeks, and certainly shouldn’t be discredited because it’s been, as you guys say, a historic run when you when you look at the numbers, and so that matters and we just haven’t executed as good as what we did. I don’t know that our speed was off except for maybe two races in this Chase from the regular season, but our execution has not been as good, and that that is certainly a factor of why we’re talking about him locking up at this point.”

I’m wondering when we get to the regular season next year, is that going to change the way that you guys view the seeds that the people storylines talk about the seeds?

“Let me bring it back to like Larson. I think Larson is an anomaly in the sense that he’s so talented and their team is so good. If he started 10th in the chase. I think you still believe that they can get hot. I think, generally speaking, whoever’s 15th or 16th in points in the in the Chase or leads into the regular season. Likely not a team that is good enough to get hot and go on a run like Larson has gone on. So, I think you have to judge every team individually in that sense. Does it devalue the regular season? I think it just depends on who you are. And I think that when you’re as good as they are, then then I think you can you can mount you know a massive comeback no matter where you put yourself in the regular season and they broke what we thought the mold was, but even the mold and the models said that someone in sixth or seventh could do it you know no matter who they were. I just think that you have to add in the Larson factor. That’s always going to be the ceiling is going to be a little higher.”

Brad Keselowski has made it known that he’s open for business, looking for a ride for next year. You guys have run a fourth car at times, and especially over the last few years at Daytona. Is there a potential of pairing him with 23XI in the Daytona Clash and the Daytona 500 with how good he is there”

“I don’t know. We can. We’re definitely the old guys of the group. I think that you know what’s probably difficult, truthfully, about that is that I don’t think there’s a long-term there play for us. So then, do you let someone into your part-time program and see all the things and then goes and does something else? That probably would be the challenge for us. I think that he’ll land somewhere good and certainly got enough knowledge and skills still left in them that you know I think you can still be successful.”

About Toyota

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NASCAR Cup Series
Martinsville Speedway
Team Chevy Driver Quotes
October 31, 2026

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway. The defending champion enters the penultimate race of The Chase with a 73-point lead.

Media Availability Quotes:

Coming into this weekend, what is your mindset, where are your emotions at, understanding how close you are to possibly pulling off a championship-clinching performance?

“Just continuing to do what we have been doing here throughout The Chase. We are executing at a really good level and having a solid day from start to finish. That is the hope. You never know how it is going to go. Obviously, there are some really good drivers here, so I don’t anticipate clinching anything. I just want to have a good day and not give up too much before next week.”

I think it is hard to ignore the fact of where your potency is at. How do you reconcile that, and what do you think about that when you hear that you have a 73-point lead with two races to go?

“It is tough not to look at that and see what could be done this weekend, but I think what our team does really well is staying focused on what you have to do to prepare a good racecar, have good pit practice, and for myself, studying and being ready for the race. So, not being too relaxed, but also trying not to put too much pressure on yourself either. I really think that is what has pushed us through The Chase, through the season, and other seasons in the past. Just try to stay true to who we are and go have a good day like we have been having.”

What are your thoughts on racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway?

“I love Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is a great venue, a great track, a great area, and to have championship weekend back there is really exciting. Really, as long as I remember watching NASCAR, it has always been at Homestead, so glad to be back there. But then, also, just enjoy a fun racetrack, one where you can kind of run all over the racetrack, and for me, get to run against the wall and all that. So, yeah, I’m excited to get down there and excited to celebrate the season.”

A lot of the time during the stage breaks, Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) would detail kind of where your competition is compared to you guys. How much info do you want to know tomorrow?

“I don’t know. I mean, I think it just kind of naturally happens. Obviously, I sort of know the situation that I am in and all that. So, yeah, I can kind of run some numbers in my own head, maybe not to the accuracy that he’ll have on the screen. If things were tighter, I think that’s when it really becomes crucial to know. It’s still going to be crucial, I think, knowing what’s at stake and all that. But I think maybe it will be a little bit simpler than it has been in previous playoff formats when you’re coming down to points and trying to advance.”

I don’t even know if you allow yourself to think like this, but if you won back-to-back championships, you’d be the first person since Jimmie Johnson to do that. It’s just so incredibly difficult to do that. With the format changing, this would really be quite a big accomplishment for you. Do you have any thoughts on that?

“Yeah, I think it would definitely be an amazing accomplishment, for sure. I think with repeat champions, it was obviously really tough with the previous format, so I think you’ll see more of it now as we get back to The Chase. It’s just easier to put together 10 good races than one. But I think if we happen to go back-to-back with it being two different formats, I think that also just shows the resilience of this team. So, yeah, we’ll see. I just want to go race and try and do a good job.”

Last year when you won, it was almost like, I’m not saying you felt apologetic for the way you won, but you had to explain yourself a lot, defend the format, or be part of that conversation. Now, you come back and you have a chance to have one of the most emphatic statements that we’ve seen of this generation. Does that mean anything to you, the way that you could potentially win this?

“Well, yeah, I think it would be much simpler. I remember going to New York for post-championship stuff last year, and with every news outlet, you had to explain how I’m the champion when Denny Hamlin looked like the champion. So, yeah, this year, if we happen to win, it feels much better and just easier to explain. I think we’ll be remembered for good reasons rather than last year, I feel like everybody will remember it, but not for the right reasons because in a lot of people’s eyes, it looked like we got lucky. With this Chase, there hasn’t really been much luck. I mean, sure, Talladega could be viewed as luck, but so could win superspeedway win.

So, yeah, I mean, you think back to a lot of Jimmie Johnson’s good runs, Tony Stewart’s run; those were remembered for the right reasons. I hope that, if we happen to win, this would be in that same sort of category.”

What do you have to be better at this weekend than you were here in the spring?

“Yeah, I don’t completely remember the spring. I don’t remember qualifying as well as we typically do here, so we were kind of just mired back in that position for most of the race. Looking at notes, my balance was pretty loose-in, and then it was hard to manage rear grip off. Those are probably two areas that we’ve tried to attack to be better when we come back. I think just listening to Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) talk, I think we’ve gotten our short track package just better throughout the year, so hopefully that translates to the racetrack here being a different track than those other short tracks.

We’ll see. We have two sets of tires. I think having a longer practice session, it’ll benefit everybody, but hopefully benefit me for being a guy who needs laps to get in the rhythm here. So, yeah, we’ll see, but I don’t know. I expect your normal guys to be really good. The Penske guys will be fast. Denny (Hamlin) will be really fast. William (Byron) and Chase (Elliott) are always really good here. I feel like Bubba (Wallace), as well, is good. I kind of hover around behind that, so yeah, just trying to be a little bit better.”

When Cliff was in here a little bit ago, he was talking about your preparation and dedication this year, specifically, stood out to him. In your eyes, have you done anything different, as far as your routine, your regimen, that maybe has really shown off this year? “Yeah, I mean, not that I purposely didn’t dedicate time to the Cup Series in the past, but this year, I’ve tried to buy in a lot more to the sim. I’ve done that once a week for a while now. We have a new fitness facility at Hendrick Motorsports, so I’m there three or four times a week. And then, because of that, you’re in the shop more, so you get to be around the guys more. I’ve raced less dirt races this year, so I’m just in town more and naturally just able to spend more time around the NASCAR stuff. I don’t know if it’s benefited or not, but I don’t think it’s hurt by any means. I’ve just enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed having more time. I think cutting a lot of the dirt stuff out has just given me more time to be around my family. Just kind of shifting priorities; being around my family and being around the NASCAR stuff a bit more. I’ve enjoyed it, too.”

If you look at the 51-race drought you had, all of a sudden, it was just like something switched. It was like a light bulb came on. Is there anything you can point to directly that said, hey, that was the past and this particular thing happened and look at me now?

“Well, I mean, I don’t think it’s just one thing. I think there’s a number of things that stack to be ready for that point. I’ve said all along, even during the winless drought that we were on, I was like, our team is there. Our team is really, really good, and when things come together, we’re going to be ready, and I think we’ve proven that. We didn’t know exactly when that time was going to be, but we were going to be ready whenever it came. Thankfully, it came when The Chase started. So, I think just the process of building, and then also, our racecars got a little bit better. I did say kind of all along, as well, that I didn’t feel like we’re that far off on a lot of areas. And again, when it comes together, it’s going to be great and we’re going to be ready. And yeah, that’s just kind of how it’s been. I think it starts with Cliff (Daniels), for sure. He’s the guy that leads us all down the path.”

Looking from afar, Cliff (Daniels) seems like he’s the serious, head down person. And knowing you, you’re a little lighter. How does that relationship kind of vibe so that you have been as successful as you’ve been?

“Yeah, I think we complement each other well. I think Cliff (Daniels) has really progressed throughout his years as a crew chief, even probably before me, where he’s always kind of developing his style of leadership, especially. And then yeah, like I said, us balancing each other. I am a little bit lighter, and I think it allows him to be a little lighter. But then, he also like makes me be a little bit more serious, as well. You need good chemistry and we have that, as well as everybody on our race team. I feel like we just all vibe really well. I think when we made the pit crew swap last year, it brought a whole new level of energy to the whole group. We’ve had a lot of new mechanics and new engineers throughout the last couple years, as well. We’ve all just meshed well.

But again, it starts with Cliff and how he leads everybody. He could have neutered the pit crew, neutered everybody, to be serious and all this. But I think he’s developed and learned to understand that people need to be themselves, and it’s just brought a really good energy and vibe to the No. 5 team.”

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