Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Night Race Qualifying | Friday, September 16, 2022

Ford Qualifying Results
1st – Aric Almirola
2nd – Chase Briscoe
6th – Ryan Blaney
7th – Kevin Harvick
9th – Austin Cindric
10th – Brad Keselowski
11th – Cole Custer
15th – Joey Logano
18th – Michael McDowell
20th – Chris Buescher
27th – Harrison Burton
30th – Todd Gilliland
32nd – Cody Ware
33rd – BJ McLeod
36th – JJ Yeley

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 BlueOval City Ford Mustang – HOW WAS IT WAITING TO SEE IF THAT LAP WOULD HOLD UP? “It was tough. It’s a lot of waiting around to see where you’re gonna end up. I’m just really proud of this group. We’ve been busting our tail trying to get speed in our cars and trying to figure out what we need, so it just feels really good. To run a sub-15 second lap time at Bristol, that is wild. That is a fun ride.”

HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THE SPEED OF THIS NEXT GEN CAR? “It’s just crazy. I mean, it really is crazy. I’m just really proud of this team and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. We’re working really hard and feel good about it.”

THIS MUST FEEL GOOD. “It absolutely feels good. Man, what a ride to rip around here in less than 15 seconds. It’s pretty crazy how fast these cars are at this racetrack, but I’m just proud of my team, proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. They brought me a really fast BlueOval City Ford Mustang. We were good in race trim and obviously had a lot of speed in qualifying trim, so now we’ve got to go do it for 500 laps tomorrow night.”

WERE YOU ABLE TO TAKE MORE FROM THIS QUALIFYING RUN? “Just that the track has a lot of grip and it’s really fast.”

ALMIROLA POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT LAP? “It was exciting. To run sub-15 seconds around Bristol, wow, what a ride. It is the most intense, most exciting qualifying lap of the year. Everything happens so fast. There’s no margin for error and to run around here at a 14.94, you can’t blink, you can’t breathe, you can’t do anything, you have to do everything perfectly and you see how tight the grid is. I think the top 10 cars are separated within a tenth of a second, so there’s just no margin for error and every little bobble or twitch of the wheel counts and matters, so to put a good lap up and represent our team for all the hard work that they’ve done and get something good to happen to us just feels good. I’m just proud of my team, really. They’ve been working so hard to bring better and better race cars to the racetrack each and every weekend and this has been a great start to the weekend for us. We were fast in practice and obviously had a lot of speed in qualifying.”

ARE THE NON-PLAYOFF GUYS JUST AS HUNGRY AS THE PLAYOFF DRIVERS? “Absolutely. I think from a team aspect we talked to all the guys after Daytona and we missed the playoffs. I told Drew and my engineers and the guys on the team I was like, ‘Man, I remember a handful of years ago the 22 car missed the playoffs and they came back the next year and won the championship and there’s no reason we can’t do that,’ so let’s use these next 10 weeks, we don’t have any pressure on us, we’re not racing for a championship, so it gives us a little bit of liberty to be loose and not so uptight and try things. We’ve kind of gotten outside of the box on our thinking about this new car and some of the stuff we’ve hit on has shown a lot of promise and had speed, so this is a prime example of that, where we showed up and had a lot of speed in our car. I feel good about that and I do feel like anybody on any given weekend in the top 25 in points can win. I mean, it’s proven and these cars and everything is so close and the field is so competitive that I think you can’t count anybody out.”

WERE YOU RUNNING AN EXPERIMENTAL SETUP TONIGHT? “We’re still continuing to learn. I think as we were going through the summer we felt like we hit on a package that was good and we could run top 10, top 12 and we were kind of being consistent and trying to point our way in. We felt like we were in a decent situation to do that and then new winners kept happening that were below us in points, and the next thing you know we found ourselves out and we had kind of just been fine-tuning and massaging on a car build and setup, and so now that we’re not in the playoffs we kind of have that liberty to try things that we wouldn’t have otherwise tried when we were just trying to be consistent. Now, we’re kind of taking that approach of swing for the fences, who really cares where we finish in the points – up or down, one or two spots doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but what matters is learning as much as we can to be better next year and that’s the approach we’re taking.”

WHAT CAN THIS EFFORT DO FOR SHR BECAUSE ALL FOUR CARS WERE IN THE TOP 11 FOR QUALIFYING? “It’s huge. To finish off the year strong and to have that kind of momentum into the offseason is a big deal because the offseason for, I’d say it’s maybe six or eight weeks until we’re building cars and trying to hustle to get ready for the Clash and Daytona – those first few weeks if you run bad to finish out the year the mood in the shop, because you don’t have another opportunity to go to the racetrack and try to rebound and redeem yourself, the mood in the shop is kind of ho-hum and so to finish out the year strong, to run good and to show signs of promise for next year because everybody, it doesn’t matter if you’re doing your job or just in life in general – we all need hope. You don’t want to go into the offseason being like, ‘Man, this year was not the greatest of years and we don’t really have a direction on how to get better.’ So, finding things throughout these next 10 weeks or 8 weeks now to where we feel like we’re hitting on some things, we’re learning, it just gives us some hope and gives us some encouragement as we approach the end of the season that going into next year we will be better.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Press Conference Highlights:

HAVE YOU TALKED TO TYLER REDDICK AT ALL SINCE THE DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT?

“Tyler’s a beast, man. He puts in a ton of work during the week. I know he’s super-focused on this race, just like myself. He does a really good job of tuning stuff out and just going to work. You can’t deny Tyler Reddick’s speed each and every weekend this year. I’m sure he’s going to fast today and he’ll be just fine. I talked to him. We were at the Catwalk for a Cause together so we had a little bit of fun there, and it was for a great cause. Now it’s time to qualify and practice. For us and the 3 team, we gotta gain as many points as possible this weekend to put us in a good position at the end of this race. So today’s very important when it comes to qualifying.”

YOUR GRANDFATHER SAID YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED YOU HIRE KYLE BUSCH. WHAT DID THAT CONVERSATION ENTAIL?

“After the Tyler announcement, it was about what’s the future of the RCR look and where to go from here. In my mind, there was one guy in free agency who anyone who would love to have when it comes to a driver standpoint. It’s something he can bring and elevate your competition side right off the bat. And he moves the needle when it comes to marketing. He really does. He has a huge fanbase. So for me, it was just talking to my grandfather and saying, ‘Hey, what do you think about Kyle?’ He came back with if he would want to drive for us. I was like, why not because we have fast cars and good equipment. Truthfully when it comes to Kyle, he wants to go fast and win races. So he said to let him think about it, and about 30 minutes later. So I texted Kyle and then gave him a call and we talked. It was the same kind of conversation with Kyle… ‘Do you really think he wants me to drive for him?’ And I was like, yeah that’s what I called. It’s a great opportunity for both of them. For me, especially as a teammate, I get to learn a lot from him. The people in our shop are really excited to have a guy with his kind of experience… a two-time champion with over 200 wins. It’s awesome and it’s great for RCR. In the end, that’s what makes me happy. We want to make the Welcome North Carolina race team compete at the top each week and be looked at as a competitor. We’re on an upward trajectory, so we need to keep that going.”

HAVE YOU REACHED A POINT WHERE YOU’RE EXPECTED TO HAVE MAJOR INPUT INTO DECISIONS LIKE THIS THAT CAN HELP RCR MOVE FORWARD?

“I was born across those railroad tracks, so I feel like it’s all I ever know. To me, everybody who works at RCR and all the faces that I see on a weekly basis… those decisions that my grandfather made for so many years, I’ve seen him have sleepless nights because he wants his people and his company to survive and do well. For me, it’s the same thing. I want the people at RCR to be happy and have jobs for a really long time. When it comes to helping him to make good decisions for the future, I think he takes my opinion. That’s cool, and I think I deserve that too from a competition standpoint, just being in this garage for a long time, seeing a lot and seeing how things work.”

THIS IS YOUR FIFTH APPEARANCE IN THE PLAYOFFS. IS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT THIS TIME?

“The biggest thing is that the first two races were races that we really could have really capitalized on. We haven’t had the pace we needed to do that, but we’ve survived. So for this race, I’m really hoping we unload right here in practice and have a strong car. I think we’ve done a good job of finishing the first two first races but we need to get some stage points and put ourselves in a little better position come Saturday. We’ve been in this survive-and-advance point, but this is the advance point. We have to step it up another notch than what we’ve had these first two races. I think we’re capable of that. I love that this is a long race, and a lot of things can happen during that timeframe. It would sure be nice to qualify up front, run up front and put the pressure on the guys that are around us.”

ALTHOUGH THE NEXT-GEN CAR HASN’T BEEN TO TEXAS, WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN AT THE MILE-AND-A-HALFS AND HOW THAT MAY TRANSLATE?

“The All-Star race was there earlier this season. It was surprisingly a pretty decent race. Texas has struggled a little bit from my standpoint since we’ve paved it. It seems like it’s getting a little bit better and getting a little racier. I saw some good racing since I was watching that one. I think every race we go to next year with this Next-Gen car, anything can happen. We’ve had 18 winners and that’s been special, so you might see a new winner.”

THIS IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT WITH THIS BEING THE FIRST RACE HERE WITH THE NEXT-GEN CAR. DO YOU BELIEVE IT’LL BE SUCH A DIFFERENT RACE THAT THINGS WILL GET SHAKEN UP?

“Bristol is a place where if your car does certain things well, you can make up ground and be a hero. It rewards you for being able to drive hard for a long period of time. If your car is bouncing all over the place and struggling, it’s a tough night and you kind of have to survive. I’m confident in the work that we’ve put in during the week that we can have a fast car this weekend. When we get it right, I’ve been good here before so I’m pretty confident when it comes to that.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE RACE TO BE LIKE WITH PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING GIVEN THAT WE HAVE A NEW CAR, OR WILL YOU GUYS FIGURE IT OUT BY THEN?

“I really don’t know the practice will give us a tell-tale sign about what we’re going to have. I didn’t get to do the test. Speaking to some of guys about the test, the track is pretty rough from the removal of the dirt and it’s a little different. In the simulator, it’s not that bad. It’ll be interesting to see what the difference is when we get out there and move around.”

THEY ARE DIFFERENT SPORTS BUT ARE THERE THINGS YOU CAN CARRY OVER FROM THE MANAGEMENT VIEW OF RCR AND PBR?

“For sure. The adrenaline-junky side of the athlete from both sides is very similar. On the team aspect, you can relate it to the pit crews and keeping the pit crews together. That’s another part of that. I don’t know if we announced it, but we signed our pit crew on the 3 team to a five-year deal – all of our guys. So they’ve signed up for the next five years. That’s really cool. They’ve been one of the best-performing pit crews on pit road. I’ll give credit to our pit coach for being forward-thinking on the youth that we have on that team and helping Andy Petree and myself getting into the boss man. For him, that’s a new way of thinking. He was receptive of that, and it’s important. It’s a culture-builder. That’s what we want to do at RCR, and that’s build the culture up.”

YOU SAID TUESDAY THAT YOU TOLD KYLE THAT THERE WON’T BE ANOTHER TEAM WHO WILL FIGHT FOR YOU. DOES THAT START WITH RICHARD CHILDRESS OR IS THAT BECAUSE HE KNOWS THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO HIRE?

“It’s a little bit of the short-track mentality of bringing your friends to the track. In Welcome, we’re away from everyone in Mooresville by a bit. That makes us different because there is mostly a drive from people coming to Mooresville or that live around there. We’re kind of our team, and I like it down there. I feel like we’re in a different state than everyone else in Mooresville. I like it that way, and I think Kyle will too. He’s that type of guy that is a fiery competition, and I think that gets along with what RC has built.”

AS FAR AS THE POINTS SPREAD TOMORROW, HOW WILL THAT AFFECT THE WAY GUYS APPROACH THE RACE GIVEN THIS IS A SHORT TRACK?

“It’s just a rough grind of a track and race. You don’t know the performance of the tire, either. There are a lot of things that can happen here in a very short period of time. First thing’s first and that’s qualify; qualify up front, try and get stage points and try to win the race, but don’t take yourself out of the race. A lot of things are going to happen. It’s very easy with this car to take yourself out of the race because you’re on edge very often. It’s very easy to get a little too much and put yourself in a bad situation. The moment you take yourself out of the fight, you’re probably out when it comes to points.”

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
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Press Conference Highlights Transcript:

WITH NORTH WILKESBORO COMING BACK NEXT YEAR FOR THE ALL-STAR RACE, YOU’RE THE ONLY ACTIVE DRIVER WITH A WIN THERE. GRANTED IT WAS ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO IN A LATE MODEL, BUT WHAT MEMORY DO YOU HAVE FROM THAT TRACK?

“Yeah, I remember going up there. I remember a lot about it. I remember thinking how cool it was at the time; being able to do the victory lane thing on the lift and all that stuff. It was a trip down a memory lane that I didn’t remember… that I wasn’t around for. Like I don’t remember any racing there, watching.

So for me, it was just this place that was kind of larger than life, in a way. You just hear all these great things; how historic the race track is. Watch videos of all these cool traditions and what not up there.

It was a great time. Fortunately, we were able to get the win and enjoy some of those traditions first-hand. But like you said, it’s been quite a while. I think that was in 2010 or 2011, so it’s been a few years, for sure. I remember a lot about it. I’m sure it’s probably changed some and some things probably haven’t. But looking forward to going back.”

IS ANY EXPERIENCE AT THE TRACK BETTER THAN NO EXPERIENCE?

“Winning anywhere is always a good thing. And at the time, it was a really big deal because they brought the track back and there was a lot of hype around the event. Not as much hype as there is right now, but there was a lot of hype around the event for that time period and what was going on. It was just fun to get the win and kind of be a part of some of those moments in bringing a racetrack back to life. In 2010 or 2011 – whatever year it was – it had been dormant for awhile then, too. Kind of similar, but just not quite as much hype around it. But it was still a big deal to me.”

NASCAR PUT OUT THE SCHEDULE ON WEDNESDAY AND YOU RETWEETED THEIR SCHEDULE TWEET AND SAID ‘LESS IS MORE’ AND THAT YOU LIKED NIGHT RACES. CAN YOU EXPAND ON BOTH OF THOSE?

“I think a more compact schedule, in my opinion. But look, I don’t make the rules and nobody asks my opinion that does. And that’s completely fine, I’m not asking for that job. I don’t want that job. But I’m a firm believer that less is more, in the sense of the timing of a schedule and when we could end our season to make the most for TV ratings and things of that nature. I think we could do better, personally.

And then as far as the night races go; there are a lot of Sunday afternoons that we spend in some really hot environments. Which is fine, I’m good with that. But if I was a fan sitting in the bleachers, I wouldn’t be. For 3 ½ hours in August, I would much rather do it at night and enjoy a night race, which number one I think is really cool. The environment is really neat. This is the best race of the year; here under the lights. I also understand that it’s cool because we don’t do it much. But I just think you see a lot of short tracks in places that run Saturday night shows and I think during the summer months, it’s something we should consider doing more of. That’s my opinion, but again, I don’t get asked. I don’t want to get asked and I don’t want that role. Just my humble opinion and that’s really about it.”

IS THERE AN IDEAL NUMBER OF NIGHT RACES OR A TRACK WE SHOULD HAVE ONE?

“I haven’t put that much thought into it. Just in general, I like them and I like the idea of them; when it’s hot for the spectators to have a more enjoyable environment to watch in.”

36 RACES, BUT WHAT WOULD BE THE TIME WHERE YOU’D WANT TO END? WOULD YOU WANT TO END IN SEPTEMBER OR AUGUST?

“36.. 45.. 50 – I don’t think it matters how many races we have. But I don’t see any reason in competing against NFL football when that starts. In my opinion, that’s not a battle we’re ever going to win. I think we should be smart about that.”

THIS IS A MUCH DIFFERENT TRACK THAN MARTINSVILLE, BUT IS THERE ANY APPREHENSION OF HOW THIS TRACK WILL RACE WITH THIS CAR COMPARED TO HOW IT HAS IN THE PAST?

“I honestly don’t know, I really don’t. I would say most people don’t. I think there’s been a handful of guys who have tested and maybe done a tire test here and things. I haven’t been on the track in this configuration this year in this car. I think there’s some challenges ahead today that’s going to make for a battle tomorrow night. Not even against your competitors.. I think it’s going to be a pretty big battle against yourself in just having your car balance close, being able to match the two ends, the shifting. There’s a lot of RPM difference between running the bottom lane versus running the top. So how they have the drop gear setup; how is that going to impact fourth and fifth gear. The chip can only be set at one location.

Just a lot of super interesting things that are normal for Bristol, but I think are going to be unique to this car. The bump off of turn two comes to mind. A very unique bump in turn one that I’m not sure we’ve really had this year. This place has a lot of vertical load and that bump over there is pretty aggressive. But a lot of times, you don’t see that until later in the event when it gets cool and you really start running the top part. Just a lot of challenges I think I could see on the horizon of just wanting to make sure you have your ducks in a row, personally, before you even start racing other people.”

YOU’RE UP 28-POINTS FROM THE CUTLINE. YOU’RE COMING TO BRISTOL WHERE YOU HAVE THREE TOP-FIVES AND FIVE TOP-10S. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE AT IN UNDERSTANDING BRISTOL?

“I would have to imagine not much has changed, unless for some reason some type of damage or bumps were done to the track with bulldozers getting the dirt on and off the race track. Which I kind of doubt that much has changed, but that would be the only thing unique to anything we’ve seen here in the past. And then obviously the way that they apply the grippy stuff there on the bottom; it looks wider to me this year than it has been in years past. I don’t know that, but just watching the Truck race last night, it seemed like the last couple of trips, it was a more narrow line around the bottom. Maybe somebody in here can tell me yes or no, but it looked like a pretty narrow line in the past where really only your left-side tires could be in it. You might get a little bit of your rights in it, but it was mainly your lefts kind of pulling you around. Now they have it sprayed so wide that your right-side tires are in it. That’s going to extend the life of that stuff because you have two different tire tracks to work in it, rather than one. That’s going to impact the lanes quite a bit. I don’t know if it will double it, just because it’s double the width. But it’s certainly going to make a big difference.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT BRISTOL AND WHAT ARE YOU STILL SCRATCHING YOUR HEAD ABOUT AS A RACE CAR DRIVER?

“Yeah, I think Bristol is the one that kind of has that asterisk next to it for me, just because the environment here is so cool. This fall race, at night, 500-laps; this was one of the events that when I was a kid, it was larger than life. You couldn’t get a ticket for this thing for five years. It was just one of those events that everyone wanted to be at and if you weren’t there or you weren’t talking about it in the early 2000’s, you weren’t living is how I thought it was. I really think that was reality. When I look back at this event and what I remember of it; this was one of the races that made me want to be a race car driver, honestly. The environment here is unmatched and this event is special. I don’t see another date or track on our schedule that can rival what this environment is on Saturday night in August or September.”

YOU’RE WELL ABOVE THE CUTLINE, BUT IT’S NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO FALL OUT. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HEADING INTO TOMORROW RACE? ALSO, WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN HERE?

“I think even with what I just said, it would mean a lot. I think you look at this race and the spectacle that it is; that adds an element of the event that I think makes it really cool. So, yeah it would certainly mean a lot. This is a race that I certainly want to have checked off whenever I get done or get told I’m done. I think this is a special place.

As far as the cutline goes.. nobody is safe. The only guy safe I guess is whoever has locked themselves through. The No. 20 (Christopher Bell) locked himself in last week, so outside of him, nobody is. There’s some very capable guys that have had bad weeks over the last couple of weeks that could win here this weekend and that changes everything, as we all know.

I feel like racing yourself and making sure you have your own ducks in a row before you start racing other people is going to be vital to a successful 500 laps here tomorrow night.”

ARE YOU IN FAVOR OF THEM PUTTING PJ-1 DOWN HERE?

“Yeah, I think it’s been really nice in the past. The width of it here this weekend might be a tall tale on maybe what too much might be, not enough, or if it even matters. But I do think it’s been a good thing because it’s given an option. Here in the past, the top had become super dominate. It seems to me that it’s worked out more times than not over the last two or three years that we’ve come here, between the course of the three events throughout the weekend. I feel like 100 or 200 laps into the Cup race, we start having these two lanes magically and it’s worked out really nice. I don’t know if that was scienced out, if it was just luck or whatever, but it’s created a really nice event. It’s also created a dynamic in the event that something changes; a lane deteriorates and you have to search and get somewhere else to find something new. And then once you run off the top, there might be a little grip left on the bottom that you can go back down there and find it. I like that dynamic and I think it’s a good thing for this particular racetrack. I’m not sure that it’s good for all of them, but I think for here, it’s been a really good fit. It’s just a matter of how much and whether or not we’re going to wear this out this weekend. We’ll see.. it may not matter.”

DO DRIVER GIVE FEEDBACK OR ARE YOU GUYS CONSULTED ON HOW MUCH TO PUT DOWN OR ANYTHING; OR IS THAT STRICTLY A TRACK DECISION?

“I don’t go 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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Night Race | Friday, September 16, 2022

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, stopped by the Bristol Motor Speedway infield media center before practice and qualifying to talk about this weekend’s race and his position in the playoff standings.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – THIS WILL BE YOUR 500TH CUP START. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE THAT MANY AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RACE? “Some days it feels like it’s been a long 500 starts and others it feels like it goes by really quickly and kind of think it’s like probably having kids. Sometimes the days are long, but the years are short and it’s probably similar in this sport. It goes by in a blink of an eye at times and you kind of go back and it’s easy to kind of reminisce in the past a little bit and think about your first start in Loudon or that first pole here in Bristol and those type things and fast forward 14 years or so and here I am making my 500th start. I remember watching Truex and Kenseth and those guys start their 500th start and thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s a lot of starts. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that far into it.’ Now it feels like it really didn’t take that long. It’s a great accomplishment to say that you’ve had that many starts and it’s special, but it’s still always about the wins to me. I want to win a lot, but to be able to accomplish 500 starts at 32 years old is pretty cool.”

ANY GOAL FOR STARTS, LIKE 1000? “I’m already losing my hair. I don’t know if I’ll make it. I don’t have a start goal. I’ve looked into the Iron Man award. It’s definitely possible for me if I can keep consistently making the starts that I’ve been able to do. I’m probably one of the only ones that can really achieve that, so it’s there. I don’t know how much that means to me. I know where I am for the foreseeable future right now and I’m happy where I’m at. I just re-signed with Penske and Shell and I’m obviously in a great spot there, but you fast forward a few years down the road and who knows? You can’t call life. You don’t know where you’re gonna be and how competitive you’ll be. I know one thing, if I can’t win and I feel like I am holding back a race team, I probably don’t belong there anymore. When I feel like I’m not contributing to performance in our race team, that’s gonna be my cue. But right now, obviously, I still can and I have no thoughts of retirement anytime soon, so we’ll see. As we get closer, if I’m a year away maybe I’ll do it, I don’t know. It depends on life – your family and all that too.”

WHY DO YOU THINK WE’VE SEEN A RASH OF DRIVER SIGNINGS RECENTLY? “Look at who has signed. Kyle Larson is a great race car driver. I think Rick is gonna be smart enough to try and lock him in as long as he can. If it’s something that’s working, you want to just continue to do it. I can’t speak for other race teams besides our own and that was part of my decision-making process as well and Roger’s as well. We’re in a great spot. We can win races. We can contend for championships every year. We’ve got a great partner in Shell that’s been on this race car for a long, long time and the partnership works on both sides. It’s just a perfect fit, so you don’t want to change it. I don’t want to start all over and go again. Now, if it wasn’t going great, then you’d probably start to look around or shop around, but I think when you look at the guys that are out there winning right now, it’s hard to just jump ship if everything is going well. If you’re able to compete for wins and championships, it’s really hard to just start all over. If you feel like your car is not as good as your talent, then you’re probably starting to look around because you want to win. So it probably just depends on a lot of things, but I think the ones that are re-signing right now are obvious deals that owners and drivers would want to have as a long-term contract.”

AFTER THE TRUCK RACE LAST NIGHT IS THERE ANY CONCERN OF A MARTINSVILLE REPEAT OR ARE OTHER VARIABLES AT HAND? “There are plenty of variables left in the situation right now. We’ve seen this happen before at Bristol. They put the PJ1 on the bottom. If it’s sprayed no a little too thick, it just becomes the dominant lane. If it’s cool out, it doesn’t really chunk up and take a bunch of rubber down there, which kind of takes the advantage away from the bottom, which forces you to move up and makes the top lane work and then you get a couple lanes working. So it wasn’t quite hot enough to really chunk the rubber up on the bottom. I think it’s kind of hard to say how our race is gonna be yet, especially until we get out there and get a lot of laps going. We have a wider tire than we’ve ever had here at Bristol. We run 500 laps pounding that rubber into the racetrack. I think it’s gonna chunk up eventually and you’re gonna be forced to move up the racetrack. I’m pretty certain about that at some point during the race. It might be 100 laps in. It might be 50 laps in. It might be 300 laps. I don’t know because we haven’t been here with this car yet and to know how it’s gonna be, but I think once you get an Xfinity race out there tonight, I think eventually it’s gonna move up, probably start to touch the top a little bit is my guess. That’s kind of how it’s been in the past. I’m not saying the bottom won’t be the preferred lane, but eventually that PJ1 wears off or it chunks up with rubber and it forces guys to move around. That’s probably what’s gonna happen.”

DO ALL THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS CAR AT THIS TRACK MAKE YOUR PREVIOUS SUCCESS HERE A MOOT POINT? “I don’t know. Bristol is Bristol. Once you have an idea of what it takes to go around this place at least you kind of know the feel and the way the race typically goes and trends that you may see throughout the race. I think a lot of those things will be similar. Now, with the Next Gen car, there are differences – maybe different lines on restarts, maybe the way your balance goes throughout a run. Those things can be different, so it is a bit of a new game. I’ve been saying it all year long. If you’re gonna be a rookie, this is the year to be a rookie because the guys with experience it’s not as big of an advantage as it has been in the past. I’d say continuing that theme will be like that, but it’s still 500 laps and experience helps you run 500 laps. You kind of know how long it can be and what you need to get out of it, but there are a lot of questions that will be answered here once practice starts as well.”

WHAT DO YOU KNOW FOR SURE ABOUT BRISTOL? “I can’t tell you at all. Like I said, you know it’s gonna be a tough, grueling race. You know there’s gonna be strategy that comes into play at some point if cautions kind of stack on top of each other. You know the rubber build up is gonna be different, whether you have 75-lap green flag runs or 30-lap green flag runs and trying to adjust to that or at least knowing where the track is gonna be. I think that stuff will continue to stay the same.”

PJ1 WAS APPLIED YESTERDAY. IS THERE SMI STILL NEEDS TO DO TO EACH TRACK BECAUSE IT DOESN’T SEEM TO WORK MORE OFTEN THAN NOT? “I don’t know if I would be so quick to say it doesn’t work more often that not. I don’t believe Bristol needs it, but everyone has a different opinion of what good racing is at Bristol. I thought Bristol was great before it ground the top. I thought it was great racing and everybody thought Bristol was great before they reconfigured it years back when everybody was stuck on the bottom and rooting everyone out of the way. That’s what they did with the PJ1is try to get it to where the only way you can pass someone is rooting them out of the way. Is that good racing? I don’t know. Everyone’s got an opinion and I don’t know who is right, but I think having options to race in different lanes is a good thing, especially with this car. I think that’s a good thing and I’m not sure that the PJ on the bottom really does that and, like I said, the other piece is how wide it is. Is it four feet wide or is it six feet wide? That seems to be a pretty big difference on how dominant the bottom lane is, which is pretty wide out there. You see a whole car is in the PJ, so it’s definitely spread pretty wide right now.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK TYLER REDDICK IS GOING THROUGH AND ARE YOU AWARE OF HIS SITUATION WHEN YOU’RE ON THE TRACK AND WHO HE MIGHT WORK WITH? “I think with Tyler it’s kind of obvious as far as who he is helping or not. He pushed Austin to a win in Daytona, so he was a great teammate there. I’m also very aware of where he’s going next and he’s got more teammates than anybody out there right now, so he’s in a unique situation for sure. I don’t know. He’s got to make his own decisions out there on what to do, but I’m sure it’s a little awkward for him. Who knows, I guess it will be awkward for next year too. I don’t know how that is all supposed to work, but, like I said, I’ve got to focus on my own stuff this weekend. We’ve got to get our 22 car through, but it’s definitely some interesting silly season type stuff going on out there.”

DOES STRATEGY CHANGE FOR THE GUYS IN THE PLAYOFFS KNOWING THAT THERE MIGHT BE BETTER CHANCES FOR NON-PLAYOFF GUYS TO WIN? “It definitely is. Imagine if the playoffs started a couple weeks later. Holy cow. What a crazy year, which is what we expected. We expected this year to just be very unpredictable and no one really being able to figure this car out, and it really seems like there are still so many questions and as we come to Bristol for the first time on concrete there is a lot of questions again, so can there be another first time winner? Absolutely. There are a couple drivers that are expected to win every year that haven’t won yet, so you’ve got to think that they’re probably gonna bust off a win at some point, but you just don’t know. I don’t know if it changes the way you go through the playoffs. You’re still focused in on just maximizing the day. If that’s a win or if that’s a fifth, you just have to get the most points you can possibly get and I don’t think that changes from year to year.”

HAS THE NEW CAR MADE IT HARDER TO PEAK LIKE GUYS NORMALLY USED TO DO THE LAST 10 RACES? “There are only certain areas you can develop and it’s not really many parts on the race car, so it’s smaller and it comes down to setups. We’re all playing with the same deck of cards when we start and it’s just how you play that hand. It varies from track to track and especially coming to Bristol for the first time someone can hit it that’s not really expected to. It’s hard to have just a clear advantage going in to where you can miss your setup a little bit and still be pretty good. That’s how it’s been in the past. If someone just has better cars, more capability in their car, they can miss the setup and still run fifth to 10th. Now, if you miss your setup, you’re probably running 15th to 20th, which it’s just a lot different now and because of that you have different winners because there are more capable cars out there and no one has a clear advantage in a lot of different ways. There are some tracks that certain manufacturers may have advantages over others, but it’s not huge like it used to be. There are teams that might have a little bit of an advantage here and there because they figured something out for a little bit. It just keeps changing. Everyone is trying to figure out not only the setups, but where is the low hanging fruit on this car when you’re developing it at the wind tunnel and those type of things. What can and can’t you do. The rules change as it goes along too here, so it definitely, like I said this before, you used to have teams that were strong for three to four months at a time. Now, it’s three to four weeks at a time, so it seems like that cycle just happens a lot quicker now.”

WAS KANSAS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT FOR YOU? “I think so. Yeah. Exactly, especially there because that’s one of those racetracks where a fast car goes fast. It’s really hard to make up for not having a fast car at a track like that.”

YOUR NEXT WIN WILL BE NO. 30. DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE THAT MANY AT THIS POINT IN YOUR CAREER? “It depends on when you asked me that. My rookie year, I would say I’d have a lot more. By the end of my rookie year I was just hoping I’d have a job. It has changed. You asked me when I first started at Penske that we’d win a championship four or five years later, I probably didn’t see that coming at the time and now I look at it and go, ‘Man, there was a lot of missed opportunities out there.’ There have been some great wins in those 500 starts. There has been a Daytona 500. There have been championships. The Dirt Race here. There have been some cool moments that don’t count as those 29 wins – the Clash and those type of things – but when you hear it like 29 out of 500, it’s kind of like I want a lot more than that. But when you look at the all-time win list, you’re kind of in contention with a lot of others that have been great in this sport. It’s just hard to win. It’s hard to stack up five or six wins every single year. Not many have done it, so it’s just a tough sport. It’s tough to have multiple wins in a season more than two or three every year. It’s really tough to get that many. You’ve got to have a really strong team to accomplish that.”

HOW MUCH WILL THE ALL-STAR RACE AT TEXAS HELP YOU WHEN YOU GO BACK THERE NEXT WEEK? “Better than not at all, but it’s gonna be the same for everyone. Everyone had the opportunity to go to Texas. Also, things have changed since we’ve been there as the car has developed and changed all those things. It’s gonna be different than where we were last time. Weather will be different. Resin and how it’s applied – those type of things – will be different. Indy Car has raced there since we’ve been there, so there is a lot of change that can happen, but this next round is a pretty tough one. When you think of Texas being maybe the most normal race and then you have the Roval and Talladega on top of that, it’s definitely gonna be a unique round for sure as it always has been.”

DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE A BETTER RACE AT TEXAS AS OPPOSED TO AN ALL-STAR RACE THIS TIME AROUND? “Maybe. Like I said, a lot depends on the track temperature it seems like a lot of times and what kind of fall off is in the car. Is the bottom lane worked on in one and two to where you can go down there and make passes or not? That will be one of the trickier things to kind of see when we get there. I can’t call the future on that one. I’m not sure.”

THERE IS ALWAYS SO MUCH BUILDUP FOR THIS RACE. IS THIS A DRAMA-FILLED RACE OR WILL IT BE MORE CONSERVATIVE? “What are people expecting? You look at Bristol the last few years it has been wild finishes and there is a lot on the line and there’s a lot of points and things like that where drivers have to be pretty smart, but I think maybe the expectations for Bristol is different than other racetracks. I think Bristol has the most entertaining racing of any track we go to, period. I don’t think there’s a track better than this one, but I also think everyone’s expectations are unrealistic of what things you can possibly get out of it. Whether it’s dirt or concrete, it’s been pretty intense lately and the end of the races have ended in fireworks in a lot of them. So, I don’t know what you would be expecting anything different than that. It’s been great.”

IS IT DUE TO THE BUILDUP? “Yeah, I think it might be unrealistic or people were expecting something different, but this is the best racetrack we come to.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

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

LAST WEEK WAS YOUR FIRST TOP-10 FINISH SINCE NEW HAMPSHIRE. IT SEEMED LIKE THINGS HAD – NOT TAKEN A NOSE DIVE – BUT KIND OF TAILED OFF IN AUGUST AFTER THE POCONO RACE. WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE GETTING IN THE TOP-10 TO AND HOW DO YOU FEEL THE PACE OF YOUR TEAM IS NOW COMPARED TO WHERE YOU WERE AT THE END OF THE REGULAR SEASON?

“I feel like the pace has not left us. There’s been a lot of mistakes on my part; and then just stuff that’s going to happen in racing, just all kind of piled on for two months in a row there. But the pace never left.. I never questioned that. It was just a matter of me not messing; not speeding on pit road, debris in the drive pin holes at Darlington, or just crashing. It’s just eliminating that.”

YOU CERTAINLY HAD IDEAS IN YOUR HEAD OF WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO BE IN THE PLAYOFFS BEFORE YOU GOT INTO THE PLAYOFFS. NOW, YOU’RE TWO RACES DEEP. DOES ANYTHING SURPRISE YOU ABOUT THE INTENSITY, FEELINGS OR DIFFERENT THINGS THAT YOU’VE GONE THROUGH DURING THESE FIRST TWO RACES?

“A lot of surprises.. and I won’t sit up here and tell you that it feels like the rest of the season because it doesn’t. It’s different. I know that small mistakes can lead to ending our chance to run for a championship. So these races – three at a time, three rounds each – do mean more. I’m not immune to that.

But leaving Daytona and the Monday morning before Darlington, I was amazed about how normal it felt. I thought ‘well it’s going to come later in the week’.. and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all felt so normal. Race day morning, that was tough. I stayed down in Florence at a hotel. The drive over to the track, I just had a lot of nerves. Once I got into the rhythm of coming and doing stuff like this, meeting with sponsors, team meeting, dinner.. then it’s normal. These races are later in the day, so I’m curious to see how tomorrow feels. But the morning of Darlington, all the way until I got in the hauler and started my normal race day routine of meetings and appearances, it felt different. Looking back on it, it’s cool. But in the moment, it doesn’t feel good.”

DID YOU FEEL LIKE GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS, YOU COULD HANDLE IT LIKE ‘HEY, IT’S JUST ANOTHER RACE’ AND YOU FOUND OUT YOU COULDN’T? DID YOU FEEL LIKE GOING INTO IT, YOU KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT?

“I feel like once we got into the rhythm of Darlington and Kansas, we handled it. We did everything that we needed to do. You can look back and see things that could be done better, but we’re all experiencing this for the first time. Myself, my crew chief Phil Surgen and my spotter Brandon McReynolds – even just us three have never been in this position in our current roles. I expected the week leading up to it, the days leading up to the race, to be harder to get through. But they were actually more normal than I anticipated and I kind of calibrated to that. And then race day was like a flood of emotions.

At the end of the day, I’m right where I’ve always wanted to be and realizing that, it’s all kind of hit me on each race day. It’s really cool and I’m trying to experience all of this as much as I can, but it’s also scary at the same time.”

WITH THIS BEING BRISTOL, A SHORT TRACK AND THE FIRST CUT-OFF RACE OF THE PLAYOFFS; I’M WONDERING IF YOU’RE GOING TO ASK YOUR TEAM TO KEEP YOU MORE AWARE OF OTHER DRIVERS AROUND YOU TOMORROW NIGHT IN CASE THERE IS ANY FALLOUT FROM INCIDENTS FROM EARLIER THIS YEAR?

“If there is any fallout, I’ll be the first to know. They aren’t going to be able to tell me before it happens.”

IF YOU HAVE SOMEBODY BEHIND YOU THOUGH, ARE YOU GOING TO WANT TO BE AWARE OF THAT?

“I’m aware of everything going on around the No. 1 car at all times.. especially with these new rearview cameras. I tell Brandon McReynolds all the time; spotter union up there better put a petition to get these things out of here because they’re nice and you can see everything.

Yeah, I’m aware. We’ve went through all of the points situations of finishing positions through each stage. So we re-evaluate through each stage, but it doesn’t even need to be said. I have a good enough working knowledge, I feel like. If a caution comes out for a stage break, we’ll see who got points and I’m going to know a ballpark of how it’s updating. I don’t need a read-out every stage.”

YOU HAVE FIVE STARTS AT BRISTOL WITH ONE TOP-15 FINISH AND AN AVERAGE FINISH OF 26. 800. HOWEVER, WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR, YOU CAN KIND OF THROW SOME OF THE STATS OUT THE WINDOW BECAUSE A LOT OF THE TEAMS DON’T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT HERE. WE MIGHT SEE SOMEBODY WHO WE NEVER EXPECTED TO FINISH WELL, FINISH WELL. DO YOU WIPE THAT OUT OF YOUR MIND? WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OF THE CAR HERE?

“When I look back on my Cup races here.. this is a good example. With Premium Motorsports for most of those races, aside from last year with the No. 42, my goal was to finish a single digit number of laps down. So that’s nine laps down to the leader or less. That was the challenge, that was the goal; to keep it at nine or less. Don’t be double digits. The things I learned through those races are invaluable. I can never learn that in a fast car.. how to get lapped nine times, eight times, whatever. That’s hard to do. I wouldn’t trade those days, but also I’m in a totally different space now. So transitioning that has been hard.. you all have witnessed that first-hand, my transition from slow cars in the Cup Series to fast cars and you’ve seen my mistakes along the way. I take all of those past races, even though the finishes don’t show. There were times where I crashed on lap one because I was too close to the field and I piled into a wreck when someone turned off of (turn) four. And then there’s other times where I did the right thing, stayed back and I finished the race.

Finishes aside, a lot of times 29th was a win. That was our goal.. or 25th. You run 25th in the No. 15 car back then and you’ve done your job. I know a lot of people look at averages and my average now will always be skewed with those early years. Whether at the end of my career I go back to a car like that, I don’t know. But for right now, I’m going to keep upping my average to where it’s supposed to be. But it will always be skewed because of those. I wouldn’t trade that for the world.”

HOW LONG DO YOU THINK WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO GET THE FEEL OF THE NEXT GEN CAR ON THIS TRACK?

“I hope I can assess it faster than some people can turn off music on their phones (laughs).

Yeah, practice is going to be wild. Looking at what the wheel force cars did; all three manufacturers spun out and all three blew tires separate of each other. Separate of the tire blow outs to the spins, from what I was told.

I’m not going to be upset if we’re not the fastest because we’re probably not on the ragged edge of air pressure and tires blowing. We need solid runs.

And then driving with these shocks and the way they bottom out; you’re just spinning out kind of every practice. I could see that happening here. It’s going to be an experience. We haven’t run here on the concrete configuration in a year, so it really feels like to me – the unknowns of it – feel like the races early in the year when we went to each track for the first time. This is the first time with the new car coming to Bristol. You can’t count the dirt experience; it’s just going to drive so different.”

AT 26-POINTS ABOVE THE CUTLINE, DO YOU PLAY THIS A LITTLE BIT CONSERVATIVE BECAUSE OF THE UNKNOWNS?

“Yeah, I think of course. You never want to crash in practice, especially this year with this car. You don’t want to crash. I think that the simple answer is yes.. but I still want to go fast. I know I say I don’t want to be the fastest in practice, but I do. I want to be the fastest. I want to qualify on the pole and I want to lead 500 laps.

There are going to be certain situations where it’s going to be in my best interest to not insert myself.”

WE OFTEN HEAR THAT THIS IS THE TIME OF THE YEAR WHERE TEAMS STEP IT UP. BUT WHEN A NON-PLAYOFF DRIVER WON AT DARLINGTON, IT DOESN’T SEEM LIKE WE’VE SEEN AS MUCH DOMINANCE FROM THE PLAYOFF TEAMS THAT WE HAVE IN PAST YEARS. WHAT’S YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THAT?

“It’s different. This car has reset that whole thing. Like you can’t bring different headers here. You can’t bring a new aero-package. You’re trying to maximize everything, but we all have the same parts. You can’t build a new right-front spindle and save it for the playoffs. You can’t bring different brake pads that they’ve found in testing to be better and bring them now. There’s nothing else to bring. We all order the same stuff.

This has been the greatest reset that this sport has ever seen.. ever. From the very first race, you could build a better car. Now, you can only assemble a better car. We all build off the same control arms, chassis, body panels. We all scan them in our hawkeyes. We bring them here and try not to let the sun hit them. We get them through tech and then we race them. They are so equal and it’s been the greatest reset.

Really, there’s geometry and setups. But you’re just moving stuff around on the car, you can’t bring different materials because we all buy the same stuff.”

A LOT OF PEOPLE POINT TO BRISTOL OR MARTINSVILLE WHERE YOU MIGHT SEE PAYBACKS. ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE CURRENT POINTS SITUATION AND ONLY (CHRISTOPHER) BELL HAVING LOCKED INTO THE NEXT ROUND; WILL GUYS BE ON SO MANY DIFFERENT AGENDAS TOMORROW NIGHT THAT IT SORT OF LESSENS THE POTENTIAL FOR GUYS WORRYING ABOUT PAYBACK?

“I can’t speak for what other people are thinking. I just know that I hit the wall nice and hard at Pocono, so I don’t think track or speed matters.”

WHAT WAS YOUR PERSPECTIVE OF THE THING THAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK WITH BUBBA (WALLACE) AND (KEVIN) HARVICK, WHEN HARVICK ENDED UP HITTING THE WALL?

“Yeah, I got tight under Bubba (Wallace). We were super close to each other; didn’t lift in time, didn’t leave him enough room, forced him into the wall. We got off of each other right before he hit the wall, but it was still my fault.

I think on that part, Harvick, no.. I think that’s the air of these cars. I felt bad and I apologized on the radio. But when I watched it, I can’t control the cars behind us. But I feel terrible that happened. He’s one of my heroes.. I don’t want an action in the middle of (turns) three and four to cause a wreck on the exit. I could have given him more room, especially looking back at lap 30-something, for sure.”

WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS.. YOU DIDIN’T HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH HARVICK, BUT OF COURSE EVERYBODY DOESN’T GIVE YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT AT THIS POINT, SO YOU GET BLAMED FOR IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA. DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THAT?

“I do know. I do hear it and I do get it sent to me. But it does not bother me that a tweet will go out from somebody and it names Harvick and me and leaves Bubba out. It’s like, why.. why does it have to be skewed that way. But it doesn’t bother me. I just see it and I understand how that person views it. And that’s what’s so great about social media.. it’s that everybody’s opinions are instantly out there. Whether somebody has zero followers or 300,000 followers, it does not matter. Their tweet is going to go out and people can take it for how it is. All it takes is a free download of an app and it’s out there.

It doesn’t bother me, it’s just good to know. It’s good to have your head to the ground. As we all co-exist through this sport, it’s good to know where people stand and how they view things. A lot of times social media can tell you a lot about a person. I know a lot of people call it a highlight real. You can tell a lot about somebody with how they talk and the characters they use on there.”

EXPLAIN WHAT FACTORS GO INTO WHETHER YOU SHIFT AT A PLACE LIKE BRISTOL OR NOT; AND IF SO, IS THAT DIFFICULT?

“Super difficult. I tried it this week in the simulator. It’s possible, I think. I don’t think it’s going to be necessary, but I also didn’t think it would be necessary at Martinsville and it was every lap. I didn’t think it would be like it was at the Clash and it was. I don’t know that we slow down quite enough, but we’re not expecting a ton of tire falloff. But if it does slow down enough, I could see late in a run if we still have good forward drive, start trying it. Guys were doing it at Kansas that were really tight. It’s wild.. I never even thought about it at Kansas, but some guys are a little more openminded to that than me. I’m usually a little late to the game. They have to tell me they’re doing it and then I have to work up my confidence.”

DOES SHIFTING HELP WITH SPEED OR HANDLING?

“Yes… (laughs). It’s going to help the handling, which is going to help the speed. I don’t know how exactly, but it does. I don’t understand these transaxles yet enough to know.”

GOING BACK TO BEING CONSERVATIVE; THAT GIVES ME THE SENSE THAT EVEN AT 26-POINTS ABOVE THE CUTLINE, THERE’S NO FEEL OF BEING SAFE OR COMFORTABLE WITH THAT ADVANTAGE.

“No, it’s the Cup Series. These are the best driver and teams in the world. We all know the math and we know the points that need to be acquired. We just have to go race. I can’t ride around; I just have to go race. You can gain and lose points quick, for sure. Stuff happens so fast here that it can change in lap of the 500.”

DARLINGTON AND KANSAS – MULTIPLE PLAYOFF DRIVERS HAD PROBLEMS. IS THERE ANY REASON TO BELIEVE THAT BRISTOL COULD NOT BE JUST AS WILD TOMORROW NIGHT?

“No, there’s no reason to think it wouldn’t be. It’s on this spot on the schedule for a reason.”

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

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