Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Southern 500 Qualifying | Saturday, September 3, 2022

Ford Qualifying Results:
1st – Joey Logano
6th – Austin Cindric
9th – Ryan Blaney
10th – Michael McDowell
18th – Kevin Harvick
19th – Chase Briscoe
22nd – Aric Almirola
25th – Brad Keselowski
27th – Chris Buescher
28th – Harrison Burton
30th – Cole Custer
31st – Todd Gilliland
32nd – Cody Ware
33rd – JJ Yeley
35th – BJ McLeod

JOEY LOGANO POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – THOUGHTS ON WINNING THE POLE. “It’s obviously nice to start up front. We got a taste of what that first pit stall means here at Darlington and it’s nice, for sure. It’s definitely really close to that pit out line and you don’t have to get all the way back up to speed, so there are definitely spots available in the pit stall. You can let the pit stall do the work and feel really good about that. It’s nice to be able to get that, but it’s just a start. We still have a full 500 miles to go, but, like I said, that first pit stall will pay a dividend throughout the whole race, so we’ll fire off and see what we’ve got tomorrow. Going off of practice from the spring to the race the first time, the track was much different in the race than it was in the practice. You’ve got to kind of assume some of it is gonna happen again tomorrow, so we’ll try to adjust on our car a little bit for race trim. I think we need a little bit there, but I don’t think we’re that far off. If we get a little bit more turn in our car, we’ll be right there.”

BYRON IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU. HAS THERE BEEN ANY DISCUSSION WITH HIM AND DOES IT EVEN CROSS YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW? “I don’t think there really needs to be a discussion. I thought everything that went down here in the spring was done and over with. It’s tit-for-tat, one for the other. I said it before, I’ll say it again – you don’t want to mess with me because I’m not gonna get pushed around. I’ve done that plenty in my career and it doesn’t work like that for me anymore, so I think it’s for everyone’s best interests that we just focus on racing in the playoffs and trying to win championships. He’s got a great car. He’s a good driver. He’s capable of being up there the whole time too, so I think that it’s best for probably both of us to move forward and go racing. The score is equal in my mind.”

IS A COCKY, CONFIDENT JOEY LOGANO SOMEBODY TO BE AFRAID OF IN THE REST OF THE FIELD? “I don’t know if cocky is the right word, but confident is something that I think is so important going into the playoffs when the pressure is on. I need to feel like I’m the best and I need to have reason to feel that way as well and, like I said, through the last five or six races we have all the reason in the world to be confident right now and to continue what we’re doing. Like I said, we’ve scored more points than anyone over the last five races by 44 points, so we’re doing it right now. We just have to continue that. It’s not just the driver that’s confident, it’s the whole team. Everyone is firing away right now and doing the right things, so we just have to continue that.”

IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT DRIVERS WANTING TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE REST OF THE FIELD RIGHT OFF THE START IN THE FIRST RACE? “I do. You want to win anytime that you can. This sport is so hard to get wins. Look at how many winners there were this year. It’s hard to get one. It’s hard to stack up five or six of these things. It’s tough, so anytime you can be up front you want to do it. Does it send a statement? Absolutely. It sends a statement that you’re coming out of the gates swinging, but 10 weeks is also a long time. A lot of things happen throughout the next 10 weeks, so you just have to be that ultra-level of intensity and performance that you can bring has got to last for 10 weeks. That’s a long time, but there’s no reason why we can’t do it. We’ve done it plenty of times before. That’s what makes this part of the season so great, but to your point about confidence, this is a big boost that kind of keeps you rolling through the 10 weeks. Once you start getting beat down, then it gets a little tougher and tougher, but right now we’re on that roll and we’re gonna try to continue that.”

YOU WERE ON THE POLE IN MAY. DO YOU FEEL THE CAR IS JUST AS GOOD? DOES IT FEEL THE SAME AS MAY OR IS IT MUCH DIFFERENT? “It feels different for sure. It’s hard to say why. I mean, the track temp is quite a bit different, so that’s one piece of it. The other part is we changed a lot to our car to try to make it better than what we had in the spring. We weren’t the fastest car in the spring. The 1 probably was and the 11 was good at times. The 18 was good at times and we raced consistent throughout the race. We were good that we could run top three the whole race and the best car kind of switched around at time and we capitalized at the end when it mattered. Parts of my car feel better. Parts of my car I feel like we need to work on the balance, so I think we’re in the ballpark. I said it earlier when I sat down here, the track changed so much in the spring race from practice to the race. I assume the same thing will happen tomorrow.”

FOUR MONTHS LATER DO YOU KNOW WHAT CHANGES TO MAKE WITH THIS CAR WHEN THE TRACK CHANGES THAN YOU DID IN MAY? “I’d like to think so. It’s so hard with this car to turn on. It’s so finicky. The field is so close that if you’re a little bit off it shows up a lot, and do you really know what areas to adjust on if you don’t practice it? When we used to come here we got three practices and you would change something to your car and run another 20-30 laps and get a feel for that change and what it did. Do you really know what wedge is gonna do? Do you really know what air-pressure is gonna do? Yeah, we have some idea from what happened in the spring, but I don’t feel as solid about changes or things yet. We’re still in the first year with this thing and the lack of practice it’s hard to feel solid about any changes you make right now.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 3, 2022

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA / CHILDREN’S CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Darlington Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:

TALK TO US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR DESI9N TO DRIVE PROGRAM AND THE SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME YOU HAVE THIS WEEKEND.

“Yeah, for sure. I think most of you guys are versed on everything that’s going on. It’s an initiative that we’ve been doing for the past five years and has grown a lot. NAPA was nice enough last year to take this program to the next level and actually have a patient help design our car; help with auction items, grow the program and grow the initiative.

Dani (Gamel) Cuevas, who’s a patient at Children’s, designed our car. A young lady that’s going to be coming out with her family tomorrow and I’m looking forward to hosting them. I’m excited to see her imagination come to life this weekend on our car; and obviously it’s a big time of year with Playoff things starting and the final 10 races getting going.”

WHEN IT COMES TO THE PLAYOFFS, ARE YOU SOMEONE THAT MINIMIZES OUTSIDE DISTRACTIONS, WHETHER IT’S HANGING OUT WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS, THAT KIND OF THING AND JUST FOCUS ON RACING; OR IS IT JUST BUSINESS AS NORMAL FOR YOU?

“I’m always focused on racing. Not a whole lot really changes for me.”

YOU’VE BEEN COMING HERE SINCE YOU WERE A KID, SO THIS PLACE MEANS A LOT TO YOU, WITH THE HISTORY OF THE SPORT, WATCHING YOUR DAD HERE AND NOW YOU RACING. WHAT’S IT LIKE COMING BACK TO SUCH AN OLD SCHOOL PLACE LIKE THIS?

“There are certain tracks that I remember going to more than others and this wasn’t really one of them. I don’t remember coming over here. I don’t have any memories at all being here prior to racing in 2014. I know I was, but nothing really stood out as a kid for whatever reason. Maybe I just didn’t spend much time here with the way the date was and how school worked. It could have been something as simple as that.

I’ve always enjoyed watching this race and I’ve always appreciated the Southern 500 for what it is, and being, I think, one of the iconic events on our schedule. I view it as one of those races that – I’m sure every driver is this way – when I get done racing or get told I’m done racing, I want to have this one on the list of race wins. It’s a big deal I think. Two of those events are in this round. I think the Bristol night race is one of those that everybody wants to have checked off, as well.

When people ask me about going to races, Bristol and Darlington are two of my top picks for them because I’ve enjoyed those races a lot as a fan. So I think because of that, it has extra – I don’t want to say significance because they’re all significant – but just a little different feel I guess for how cool the races are.”

HOW DOES THE NEXT GEN CAR CHANGE THE PLANNING OR STRATEGY THAT YOU GUYS DO COMPARED TO THE LAST TIME YOU WERE GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS?

“I honestly don’t know that it does, really. I think that the year has changed a lot, just from the competition aspect. I know we’ve talked about it a lot this week at Media Day, but just how tight the field has gotten over the last six months is pretty significant. At the beginning of the year, obviously you had cars that were superior. If your car was driving pretty good, you could kind of drive your way up through the field. It seems like as the year has gone, everybody has just gotten closer to together, which is expected and we kind of saw that coming, and that’s going to continue as time goes. So now you’re getting to these final 10; everybody is driving a similar car and now a similar balanced car, in a lot of ways, and it’s difficult to be different. That’s a tough thing to do when we’re all driving the same thing. As time goes on, it’ll probably get more and more in that direction. And as that happens, you’re going to start to put more pressure on the little details to find an advantage, such as a pit stop advantage and qualifying well. Like all those little things are going to end up mattering more and I think we’ve arrived to that point of time. It makes it competitive, tough and can be fun in some ways too.”

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
Southern 500 Advance | Saturday, September 3, 2022

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, held a Q&A session in the Darlington Raceway infield media center before today’s practice and qualifying session, where he discussed the playoff opener and other NASCAR issues.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – WHEN DOES YOUR PLAYOFF ATTITUDE KICK IN? “I think there’s a balance in there somewhere. I’d say the last three or four weeks before the playoffs start is when I feel like you’ve got to start putting everything together. Before that, don’t get me wrong, you’re out there trying to win, you’re trying to get every point because every point is really gonna matter all season long, but it seems like there’s a point with three or four weeks to go before the playoffs where the intensity ratchets up a little bit and you are more and more concerned about any weakness that could be shown on your race team. So, I think you kind of start getting that way a little sooner than Daytona, but I always say you’ve got to find a fifth gear. Now we have five gears in our cars, so you’ve got to find a sixth gear now and you’ve got to keep looking for that little bit. Find that one percent. Well, where is it? What’s the difference and those little things when it comes to playoff time in sports.”

DARLINGTON IS SO OLD SCHOOL. WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU DRIVE INTO THIS AREA? “I love it and it really fits the racetrack itself. I mean, this is the most challenging racetrack that we go to, hands down. Everybody would probably agree with that. As a driver, qualifying like these Xfinity guys are right now, it’s intense all the way around here and then you put 500 miles in the heat and add a little bit of pressure with what they call the playoffs on top of that, it’s a tough weekend for sure, but that’s what makes it so special. When you are able to achieve something that was a big challenge for everybody it means more, and then I feel like when you come to Darlington that’s why every driver wants to say they won the Southern 500 because it’s hard. The history and all that is special, too. You want to have your name on that list with all that, but, to me, it’s deeper than just the history, it’s the fact that it’s just really hard and that’s what means so much about this race.”

YOU MAY RACE A PENSKE TEAMMATE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP, BUT AT THIS POINT IS THERE ANY COMFORT HAVING SO MANY TEAMMATES INVOLVED? “It’s nice to accomplish that. We have all three of our cars in there. That’s a special thing. Does it change much? Not really. It doesn’t change for us as the 22 car that much. It’s nice to have more chances at a championship for Team Penske from a global view, but when you zoom into what I have to do behind the wheel or what my direct team has to do – pit crew and those type of things to make sure that we’re in the Championship 4 when we get to Phoenix – I don’t think it changes much depending on how many cars your team has in at that moment.”

INCONSISTENCY HAS BEEN A THEME THIS YEAR. WHAT IS YOUR THOUGHT ON THE PLAYOFFS AND EVERYBODY’S ISSUE WITH THAT? “This is the most close playoff battle we’ve had coming into the playoffs. When you look at where everybody is with points coming in, everyone’s got wins. Usually, there are drivers that come in with zero playoff points. Now, you’ve got some with wins, stage wins, some regular season points that switched over, so it’s pretty close and you look at the way it’s all seeded, I don’t think we’ve ever had it this close before and that’s because of the inconsistency. We finished second in regular season points and I’m not sure we had a second place season in other years. It just shows how inconsistent everybody has been, and it’s not a surprise. We kind of knew this would happen at the beginning of the year. When you have a brand new car the cycles happen quicker, whereas typically before a team will figure it out and know they’ve got two-and-a-half to three months of kicking butt before the next cycle comes. Now it’s like three weeks before the next team is the dominant team. We’ve seen this cycle happen four or five times already this year, so you just have to hope you cycle to the front when it matters the most.”

DOES THE NEXT GEN DURABILITY ALLOW YOU TO BE MORE PHYSICAL ON TRACK – MAYBE GET CLOSER TO THE WALL HERE? “It depends on what parts of the car you’re talking about. There are some things that are definitely more durable for sure. There are some things that may not be, but the body, obviously, being a composite body, it seems to bounce back pretty good if you just pancake the side of it. A little brush here and there is not the end of the world. The right side of the car is not sticking way out in the wind like it used to and when you push that back it’s not hurting you as much as it used to. But that being said, there is a limitation to it. I’d say we’ve seen more aggressive racing this year because the cars are more durable, for sure.”

HOW DIFFERENT IS YOUR CAR FROM THE SPRING AND HOW DIFFERENT IS YOUR APPROACH TO THE WAY TO DRIVE THESE THINGS THAN IT WAS A FEW MONTHS AGO? “We changed some things for sure. We changed things to our cars and we have to. What worked here in the spring is probably not gonna work in the fall and there are a lot of other things that have changed on the car itself, but also the weather is different and your competitors are always trying to find a little more, so we’ve changed a fair amount to our car. Hopefully, it’s all better. We think they are. We’ve convinced ourselves they are, but time will tell here in a second when we get out there.”

ARE YOU A LITTLE MORE APT TO BE CONSERVATIVE IN HOW YOU RACE THIS ROUND COMPARED TO OTHER ROUNDS BECAUSE OF THE GAP YOU HAVE ON THE GUYS NEAR THE CUTLINE? “I try not to be conservative because I think that’s when you kind of get in trouble a lot of times. Now, smart. I try to be smart about the risks that I take because this first round, I mean you’ve got to be 12th at the end of it. It’s still a challenge, don’t get me wrong, but it’s easier than being eighth or fourth as these rounds go on. You can afford to be a little smarter and get through these races because, really, the first three are just about not screwing up. It’s been like that for years. Just don’t screw it up and you usually can run good enough if you’re in the top 10 to get through, so that’s kind of the main goal. If you can win, though, you’ve got to take those playoff points because that helps you all year long the rest of the way.”

DISTRACTIONS IN THE PLAYOFFS. DO YOU MINIMIZE EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS, ETC? “No, the same stuff. I don’t change much. I’m wide-open every day from the moment I wake up to the second I go to sleep. That part doesn’t change. That’s just how I am. If you give me too much time to think about things, it’s probably not a good thing. I’ll overthink my way right out of this room. It’s important for me to stay busy and continue my routine. I’m a routine person. I do things the same all the time and being busy is one big piece of that, so I don’t change it. When we were racing in the Championship 4, I always to my appearance on Sunday morning like I typically do. I don’t take those away. Those things continue for me.”

BECAUSE OF THE INCONSISTENCY HOW HAS THAT CHALLENGED YOU THIS SEASON? “I feel like I’ve been through up and down seasons plenty, and it’s all about winning the most important ones. There has been times that I felt like we should win the championship. We had the most wins on the season, were in great shape and been consistent, scored a ton of points and we don’t make it to the Championship 4. And then I look at our championship year and it was an average year until we won two of the most important races of the year and the next thing you know we won the championship. You’ve got to just keep moving forward and something bad happens, ‘OK, learn from it, move on and forget about it.’ After you dissect it and learn from your mistakes you’ve got to just keep going. You’ve got to keep out the windshield and this year is probably more so like that than ever because there are more ups and downs than ever, but you’ve got to ride the waves. I ride the waves like crazy and some people say they don’t, but I ride the ups and the downs a fair amount and, like I said, you learn from them and you just keep going out the windshield.”

THE RACE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP PREMIERED THIS WEEK ON USA AND YOU WERE A PART OF IT. WHEN DID THE ‘MY HOT ASS WIFE’ WAS MADE? “The day we got married (laughing) or probably fairly soon after. The contact for my wife has been My Hot Ass Wife for the last seven or eight years we’ve been married and that’s just what it is. It’s funny now because I use Siri to call her and I say, ‘Call my Hot Ass Wife’ and then my kids in the back say, ‘Are you calling mommy?’ It’s pretty funny. I feel like somewhere in there that should be changed, but I like it and now it’s kind of funny. Now we’re just playing off it. I didn’t think twice about it being on my screen when they were shooting, which just goes to show how real everything is. They did a really good job at taking what life is, like what is our life as far as how we prepare for races from a work standpoint, but also at home. They didn’t really edit much out of it. I think it was pretty good and entertaining. When I watched it, not just my stuff, but other competitors and seeing how they live and all that. That’s kind of cool to see. I liked it. I enjoyed it. I’m not sure I want cameras around me 24/7 all the time, but we didn’t change the way we live. You know how it is with kids, they’re gonna say what they want to say no matter if there’s a camera around or not and things happen. No matter what, they’re still kids, so it really showed our life in a real way and an authentic way and I think that’s what the fans wanted to see. And what they’re gonna see is that we’re all normal people. I’m no different than anybody else I just have a cool job that people watch on TV, but life is still the same.”

HOW HAS THE NEW CAR CHANGED HOW YOU APPROACH KANSAS SPEEDWAY? “I’m not sure. I mean it definitely changes the way you race there like it has everywhere else – like it has at Vegas, like it has here. Mainly restarts and stuff and which lanes are stronger and how that happens and what lanes you want to choose for those reasons. All of those things are different this year than what it’s been the last few years with the old car, so that part is different. How you work dirty air in general just after restarts is different, but it’s been that way since we started going to mile-and-a-halves and figuring that stuff out. Nothing really crazy outside the box besides the stuff that’s just different about the car everywhere.”

HOW IS YOUR CONFIDENCE KNOWING YOU’VE WON AT NINE OF THE 10 PLAYOFF TRACKS? “I guess I never really thought of that. That’s cool. That helps. Thanks for the confidence. It’s nice to know that you can win at any track that comes your way and even I guess the Roval is the one I haven’t won at and that really hasn’t been that bad of a track for me. Like I said the other day, our team is really firing on all eight right now. We’re in as good a shape as we’ve ever been as a team executing races and, like you said, if we just find a little bit more speed, there’s gonna be a lot of wins stacking up if we keep doing what we’re doing the last six weeks. I feel great about it. Even if we don’t have more speed in our cars, what we’ve done the last six races is good enough to get in the Championship 4, so we’ve just got to continue doing that.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 3, 2022

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BETMGM CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Darlington Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:

IT CAME OUT THIS WEEK THAT YOUR CREW CHIEF, JUSTIN ALEXANDER, IS LEAVING AT THE END OF THE YEAR. DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENT ON THAT?

“This sport is a grind. Speaking with Justin (Alexander, crew chief), it was about having some more time. Him and I actually – on the one off weekend we had this year – we spent it together in the Bahamas for our vacation. He just realizes to him what’s important and that’s family, and you have to respect and love that. At RCR, we want him to stay on in any capacity and I think we have a good shot of having him around. He’s a great person to have; as a crew chief, as a friend, as an engineer. All the great qualities that Justin brings to a team.

We’re going to do our best to keep him on at some sort of a capacity moving forward. I think he can help RCR for a long time. But for right now, he’s focused on his two babies and that’s where he should be focused.”

LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN YOUR NEXT CREW CHIEF?

“Just someone that brings something to the table when it comes to RCR. We’ve got a lot of positive momentum. Someone that gets along well with Randall (Burnett), the other crew chief that we have at RCR; just kind of working with him right now. Justin and him work so well together and I’d like to keep that going, if any way possible, with whoever comes in and crew chief’s me next year. Someone that has a good, positive attitude and willing to go work. Make me better, push me to be a better driver. All options are on the table right now.”

YOU COME HERE AS THE MOST RECENT WINNER. WHAT’S IT LIKE COMING TO A RACE THE WEEK AFTER A WIN AND AFTER HAVING MADE YOUR WAY INTO THE PLAYOFFS? THAT HAS TO BE A LOT OF MOTIVATION.

“Yeah, it feels really good, and coming to a track that I love. People ask me what my favorite tracks are – and that’s an often asked question – I usually say anywhere I’ve won and Darlington. Darlington is a place that I love pulling into the tunnel. I feel like it’s a throwback race. Obviously it is a throwback race, but it feels that way when you come here. The track, it eats away at those tires. And for me, the longer races statistically have been better, so I always love coming to Darlington. It does help having a win coming into it.”

YOU SAID YOU REALLY LIKE COMING TO DARLINGTON. WHAT IS IT ABOUT DARLINGTON THAT REALLY FAVORS YOUR STYLE OF RACING?

“I think it’s tire management, I would say is the biggest thing. This place, you get some long runs from time to time. Things have changed to where we have a lot of pit stops now during this race and I think that’s another key part. We’ve got a great pit crew, so that’s going to be something that we look forward to come Sunday night. It’s just a place where I love to be at.”

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

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

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 3, 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 Darlington Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU’RE COMING TO A PLAYOFF RACE ACTUALLY BEING IN THE PLAYOFFS. WHAT IS THE FEELING LIKE AND HOW DO YOU CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY, SO TO SPEAK, GOING FORWARD NOW THAT YOU’RE IN THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME.

“Yeah, it feels good. This week has surprisingly been normal. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all really just average days. Playoff Media Day was something that I’ve looked forward to for a long time. I know one year ago; I wasn’t in it and I wasn’t there. As silly as it sounds – and I know you get a lot of odd answers when you ask drivers what they think about it – that was a big, motivating factor for me for the entire year.. was to not miss that. I’ll work to make sure this is my first of many Playoff Media Days.

It’s business as usual for us. Now that we’re here at the track this morning, I don’t know what the emotions will be throughout the weekend. I know that in 10 weeks, I’ll be better through all of this. I learn every race, every lap, and I’ll do the same throughout all of this. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m ready to experience it.”

OBVIOUSLY YOU WANT TO WIN EVERY RACE, EVERY TIME, BUT HOW MUCH THINKING GOES INTO HOW AGGRESSIVE YOU CAN OR CAN’T BE IN THE PLAYOFFS? IF YOU CRASH THIS WEEKEND, YOU GET WAY BEHIND. DO YOU STRATEGIZE MUCH ABOUT THAT OR DO YOU JUST NOT THINK ABOUT IT A WHOLE LOT?

“You know, yeah it does for sure, right? Just the fact that, when I look back to the spring to prepare for this weekend; we had one of the fastest cars here and I spun out off of (turn) two on a restart with 100 to go in a 300-lap race. So, definitely don’t need that to happen. But I learned from it and I’ll be better from it. I don’t want to see the care center.. I’ve seen too many care centers this summer. I’ll do everything I can to stay out of there.”

ARE YOU DOING THE XFINITY RACE JUST TO HAVE A DISTRACTION FROM CUP OR DID YOU DO IT FOR EXTRA LAPS?

“I’m a racer, so I love to race, especially when it can be at the track on the weekend of my real focus of Cup. It’s not a distraction in my mind. It was a lot of extra preparation, which is awesome. It filled my weeks leading up to this. We had a plan with Chevy, Trackhouse and Big Machine Racing so that we could never feel like we were kind of a half step behind; we want to be a step ahead. I’ve done a lot of double duty and triple duty weekends, but we definitely put more emphasis in the planning of how all of this was going to go for the last two weeks leading up to today’s race.”

HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR ROUTINE OR PREPARATION, WHETHER THAT’S LIMITING DISTRACTIONS OR ANYTHING?

“No sir. It’s wild.. I thought there would be differences. I thought I would feel different. I thought I would wake up and think different things or not be able to sleep. I’m really happy that it’s just been a normal week, minus Media Day on Thursday.”

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

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

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 3, 2022

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA / CHILDREN’S CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Darlington Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:

ALAN, YOUR TEAM WON THE REGULAR-SEASON AND YOU HAVE MOMENTUM HEADING INTO THE PLAYOFFS. HOW DO YOU KEEP THAT MOMENTUM UP? IS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT THAT YOU GUYS HAVE PLANNED FOR THE PLAYOFFS?

“You certainly want to keep performing at a high level. You just always try to find a little bit extra in the details when the playoffs come. It’s a long, 10-week push that you just go all in. Just a little bit more effort, a little bit more detail, and a little bit more focus. At least try to save some extra throughout the regular-season so you have that opportunity.

We’re ready to go and we certainly think we’re in a position to do that. But there’s a long way to go and a lot of races left.”

IN PAST YEARS, YOU’D PROBABLY HAVE ALL YOUR CARS SCHEDULED OUT FOR THE PLAYOFFS.. LIKE THIS CAR IS GOING TO THIS RACE TRACK, THIS CAR IS GOING TO THAT TRACK. DO YOU HAVE THAT AT ALL WITH THIS CAR?

“No.. what you’re describing, we typically would have our cars laid out and we would typically try to add some new cars into the fleet. INAUDIBLE..

All of that is kind of gone, really, with inventory and inventory restrictions. Basically schedule the cars so it’s most effective and efficient for shop flow, more so than performance.”

WITH A SEASON YOU’VE HAD, WHERE YOU’VE WON THE MOST RACES AND YOU WON THE REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE BY A MARGIN.. IF YOU DON’T GO ON A DEEP PLAYOFF RUN AND MAKE IT TO PHOENIX, DO YOU LOOK IT AS A DISAPPOINTMENT OR DO YOU JUST NOT LOOK AT THAT WITH JUST THE FORMAT AND THAT IT’S UNPREDICTABLE.

“If we don’t make it to Phoenix, I would be disappointed in any circumstances. That’s always the goal and there are steps along the way; things you want to achieve, benchmarks you want to make. Certainly we’ve checked quite a few of those boxes. But ultimately regardless, if we didn’t get bonus points from points positions and only made it in on points, been in Ryan Blaney’s position, Austin Dillon’s or whoever; if we were in that same position, our expectation would be to make it to Phoenix. The position we’re in now, that’s certainly the case.”

I’M DOING A STORY ON THE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS’ PIT CREW COMBINE AND HOW THEY PUT THE TEAMS TOGETHER. DO YOU EVER SEE THE COMBINE ITSELF AND WHAT THE CREW GUYS GO THROUGH TO BECOME A PART OF THE PIT CREW AT HMS?

“Yeah, I’ve seen that. Not in a while, but yes. It was kind of revolutionary.. the timeframe is hard for me to think about, but probably 10 years ago or so. We do a lot of recruiting from colleges; bring guys in that have really no car experience or racing experience whatsoever. When I started, everyone on the pit crew worked on the cars and had some shop job or road job. We started transitioning out of that and bringing more dedicated athletes. Kind of moved the opposite direction.. instead of having guys that knew how to work on cars and train them how to pit, we got guys that knew how to pit and trained them how to work on cars.

We’ve got some great pit crew members, team members, out of that program and it’s been pretty successful for us. It’s a good opportunity for people to get involved in the sport.”

THIS WEEK, NASCAR ANNOUCED THE DVP CLOCK IS GOING FROM SIX TO 10 MINUTES. WHAT DOES AN ADDITIONAL FOUR MINUTES MEAN AND WHAT KIND OF AN IMPACT CAN IT OR CAN IT NOT MAKE?

“Yeah, I think Charlotte would be the best example. We had minor damage.. we had a tie rod that was bent. The bolt was twisted in the mount and we didn’t get it out in time. I think in those situations, you’ll have an opportunity to make those repairs at least and be back in the race. I don’t know that, in extreme situations, it’s going to make a big difference, but I do think in some situations. That’s the best example that I have.. you have a car that basically has no damage be out of the race probably isn’t the best thing in the world. That was their point to rectify that. It’s not going to encompass all cases, but it certainly opens up some opportunity.”

A COUPLE THINGS IN REGARDS TO CAR INVENTORY. YOU TALKED ABOUT IT BEING EFFICIENT AND MORE FOR THE SHOP. OBVIOUSLY THIS CAR IS GOING TO GET BEAT UP THIS WEEKEND, BUT IF YOU GET THROUGH IT FINE, HOW QUICKLY COULD THIS CAR GET TURNED AROUND? IS THIS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE USED IN THE SECOND ROUND OR THIS CAR WOULDN’T BE READY UNTIL THE THIRD ROUND?

“It’s just based on your circumstances. If that was the only car we had, we could race it next week. It’s just how deep do you want to go into it, how far do you want to take it apart and what do you want to do. You don’t have to do those things. You could ultimately – if you don’t have damage – you could take it to the car wash, wash it off and race it again. It’s up to you and how deep you want to take it. Ultimately, we could turn it around as quick as we wanted to turn it. To me, we don’t do that because we don’t need to and it would make life more difficult.

I don’t know BJ’s (McLeod) situation, but I’ll just use BJ as an example. If you’re BJ and you probably don’t have the full allotment of inventory, then certainly his circumstances are much different and he’s handling it in different ways. For us and I’m sure every car in the playoffs; they have a full allotment of cars, so there’s really no reason to turn it fast. That’s just going to put more strain on your work load that you really don’t need.

Pick a race and we could have it ready, it’s just do you want to.”

IF YOU HAVE AN ACCIDENT AND YOU LOSE A CAR JUST FROM HAVING TO DO SIGNIFICANT REPAIRS TO A CAR AND IT KIND OF FALLS OUT OF THE ROTATION, HOW DOES THAT IMPACT A TEAM IN THE PLAYOFFS?

“We’re quickly approaching a number that it’s not going to matter because you’re going to have enough cars to make it with running each one of your cars a single race. So I don’t think it’s super significant at all right now. It was really more of a hindrance early in the season when you had less inventory. When you have inventory now, in a few races here, we’ll be able to run every race to the end with the cars we have. I don’t see where anybody should be in a bind. Yeah, if you go on a streak and wreck a car every one of those first three races, then your inventory is probably in trouble, but you’re going to be out anyway.”

YOU’VE ALWAYS HAD A WINNING STRATEGY BEFORE IN THESE PLAYOFFS. HOW DOES THE NEW CAR PLAY INTO THAT STRATEGY? DOES IT CHANGE IT OR DO YOU STILL DRAW ON THINGS THAT WERE SUCCESSFUL LAST TIME?

“I think just the biggest difference is we would always try to line up some technological advancements that made our cars run better or you’d want to unveil some upgrades throughout the playoffs throughout the different rounds so you could continuously get into a better position in comparison to your competition. Now, obviously that’s not happening. It’s still about refining the car to best operate for the track conditions and knowing how to take those same parts and pieces and make them a little better.

The difference now is, instead of coming out with something new or something you’ve evolved to, you’re just trying to find a little bit better way to put it together better than the competitors; try to get the balance of the car just a little better and get better every run.

It’s different, but similar.”

CHASE HAS A LOT MORE EMOTIONS IN THE RACE CAR THAN WE’VE EVER SEEN. HOW HARD DO YOU HAVE TO WORK TO KEEP THOSE IN CHECK OR IS IT A GOOD ENOUGH THING THAT YOU KIND OF LEAVE HIM ALONE?

“Maybe .001 percent of my time goes to trying to regulate him. He’s super easy and he handles himself really well. He’s a human being.. certainly there are things that affect him. As friends, we talk through some of those things; just try to be there either to listen or give my advice. But yeah, he’s by far the easiest driver I’ve ever been around. It’s not even close to comparison.”

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