NASCAR CUP SERIES
PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1, 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day – Media Availability Highlights:

CAN THIS TEAM WIN THE TROPHY FROM WHERE IT STARTS THE PLAYOFFS?

“Why not? I’m confident at the tracks in the playoffs. RCR has shown speed at every type of track with Tyler (Reddick) winning the road courses, us winning the speedway. Martinsville, I finished third but was probably the second-best car there. And we probably should have won the 600 at Charlotte; I was really close there when you got down to it. I’m happy to be in this spot and I think we’re the dog. Some people are already putting us out, which is just fine with me because it takes pressure off and we’ll go have fun and try to upset some of these guys, and take it as survive and advance mode from here on out.”

ARE YOU PLAYING WITH HOUSE MONEY?

“We’ve been strong in a lot of race this year and have had opportunities to win more races than in years past – Martinsville, Fontana and Talladega. Those three – second, second and third – and Charlotte was the other one where I lost sleep over at the 600. And two of the first three races are 500 milers and long races have statistically been my better races.”

DO YOU FEEL DISRESPECTED A LITTLE BIT?

“No. I look at social media and we’re not usually the most popular guy and I’m cool with that. I want to go out there and do what I’ve done in the past in the playoffs and make it to the next round. One round that really sticks out to me a couple years back is I was two away from transferring to the third round at Talladega. Denny (Hamlin) got me by like a point, so I know how much every position matters in this deal. I want to take advantage of this opportunity, and the Next Gen car has created a lot of opportunities with 15 winners this season. Good tracks coming up for us.”

IS THERE ANY PROBLEM FLIPPING THE SWITCH FOR THE PLAYOFFS?

“If anything, I’ve learned with 15 winners is you need to stay aggressive. I talked to the guys about it the other day (that) some of the strategy calls we made over the last couple of weeks we probably wouldn’t have done it if we were racing for points. We maximize more points by doing other things; by being aggressive on strategy, putting ourselves in better position. So, I don’t think a whole lot is going to change. We’ll monitor where everybody is running during the race and go from there. I believe we should stay on the same strategy path that we’ve been on.”

HOW DOES YOUR PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE HELP YOU GOING INTO THIS?

“Just knowing how every position matters. Looking back at a couple of times when you’re outside looking in and it came down to a point or two points, knowing that you have to get it at all cost.”

HOW DID YOU NOT GET INVOLVED IN THE WRECK AT DAYTONA?

“As soon as I saw the 99 go up the track, I tried to get to the apron as soon as possible. A lot of things happened in between there. I call it the good Lord looking out for me. The backside of that, the toughest thing I had to do is get slowed up to miss the 21 car that was coming down the track because I had to gas up for a car that I saw in my peripheral that was coming down the track. It was square to gas, hard brake, downshift, move left and then everything opened up after that.”

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST REACTION WHEN YOU SAW THE REPLAY?

“It’s so cool. It’s what’s great about being a race car driver is I’ll have those memories in the back of my head for the rest of my life. The in-car camera makes it very special for other people to see it, too. What people didn’t see probably or remember is the wreck before that. I was in a wreck going 180 down pit road with damage, blew a tire, went a lap down. So, the big wreck was one thing, but my heartrate was already up from the previous wreck when I thought we were in a good position at that point. I think we were third or fourth on the outside and we had come from 25th or 30th, and that wreck happens. Somehow it barely hits and nose on the right side, spin and I thought for sure I’m hitting inside wall of pit lane. The spotter does a good job of telling me to release the brake. I’m going backward, push the clutch in and cars are coming at me, so that in-car footage is what’s pretty wild actually.”

THE COOL FACTOR WILL NEVER LEAVE THAT SITUATION?

“We went through a lot of things in that race that made it special, and I won’t forget any of it.”

HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR PROSPECTS AT DARLINGTON?

“I love that track. People ask me what’s my favorite track and I’ve gone to saying the places you win, so Daytona and Charlotte. But Darlington is my favorite. It’s like driving back in time. It’s a driver’s track. Tire management comes into play. It’s a long race and you’re racing the racetrack. Historically, that’s been good for me.”

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
PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1, 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day – Media Availability Highlights:

INAUDIBLE QUESTION

“No, I feel like we have a good shot. Our team has been trending in a better direction and our race cars have been fast all year. I think they are even faster now than they were, and now we just have to execute to match the speed in our car. That has been the area where really all teams have struggled this year is the execution. I feel like we have been getting better at that here lately and have been able to contend a little bit more, and in the playoffs I feel like there are a lot of my best tracks. So, definitely confident and look forward to the challenge.”

DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHERE YOU GUYS ARE HEADING INTO THE PLAYOFFS BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T WON AS MANY RACES AS YOU DID LAST YEAR?

“Yeah, I feel good about it and we have contended often, we just haven’t executed well enough to win. There have been plenty of times this year where the guy that won the race, we were faster than them. Their team just did a really good job. I feel like lately. we have been executing our races good and we have been contending a little more. We won at Watkins Glen because we executed a good race. So, I think we are in a good spot. And like I said, there are a lot of good tracks for me, and I think we can contend and go get some wins.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE A FAVORITE GOING IN THIS YEAR AS THE REIGNING CHAMPION?

“I don’t know. Maybe that is a better question for other people. I don’t know how to compare myself. I feel confident and I’m confident that we can go out there and win another championship. We have a championship team and we proved that last year. So, I don’t see why we couldn’t if we execute right and don’t have any DNFs or things like that.”

REGARDING DARLINGTON, ARE YOU CONFIDENT OF WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THIS CAR KNOWING HOW YOU LIKE TO RACE?

“I don’t know. We ran at Darlington earlier this year and we blew up, but we had a fast car. Everybody looks at me as a guy that runs the wall, which in most cases is true. But at Darlington, at least in (turns) three and four, I tend to stay away from it.. slightly. I still run the top, but I give myself some room. But, I don’t know, it depends on how you hit the wall I think. You could graze the wall a lot better with the other car I think; but when you hit the wall, the car with the toe links and all are a little flimsy. Honestly, just try and stay out of the wall. That is the best case.”

WHAT DOES IT SAY THAT FOUR ROOKIES ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS?

“I don’t really think too much in it. Even though they are playoff rookies.. yeah (Austin) Cindric might be the only rookie, but playoff rookies, they are all professional drivers and they have all been in championship situations in their career that they have learned from. So, I don’t read too much into it, but I am not going to say they won’t race different or react differently than someone that has had experience in the playoffs.”

IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE SOMEBODY WON BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONSHIPS. DO YOU HAVE THAT AT ALL IN YOUR HEAD?

“I mean, I ultimately want to win the championship and I guess with that, you would be the first back-to-back winner since Jimmie Johnson. But I don’t let that add any more pressure on me. I think that also shows just how difficult this playoff format is to when Jimmie was winning. Him and his team were so good that it seemed like they could just stretch out in points to where now you can’t do that and you have to be.. . it’s like three mini race series. You can’t really stretch yourself out from anyone really.”

FOR HENDRICK, AS YOU APPROACH THE PLAYOFFS, IS IT ALL TOGETHER OR EACH TEAM A LITTLE MORE FOR ITSELF?

“If I am being honest, I feel like everyone works better together in the playoffs. I think because Rick (Hendrick) has four opportunities to win and we want to give him 100% opportunity to win once we get to Phoenix. I feel like we all work together closer, just the way I experienced it last year in the competition meetings and stuff like that. It’s no different, if not, better.”

WHAT WOULD A WIN AT THE SOUTHERN 500 MEAN TO YOU SINCE YOU HAVE BEEN SO CLOSE?

“That one is the next one on my list that I haven’t won. I really want to win and have been close so many times. I have been third at least once, second a couple of times. I’ve had the dominant car in that race a couple of times. I remember we had a great shot to win one year and (Brad) Keselowski beat me off pit road by like two inches and that was it.. that was the race. Lost control of the restart and lost the race. I know our car should be fast there this weekend and hopefully we can just put it all together and get that win we have been fighting for.”

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

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Sept. 1, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media during NASCAR’s Playoff Media Day. Below are highlight quotes from his session:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

The lowest seed to come out of the Playoffs and win a championship is seventh, can you and your team do it from the 11th position this season?

“I would say so, yeah. Points are really tight. There’s no real clear runaway, Chase (Elliott) has got a bit of a lead, but the rest of us are all pretty close, especially fourth on back. I would like to think this year is going to be different for a lot of reasons. I think the car is obviously a huge piece of that with the parody.”

TRD’s David Wilson mentioned this morning that a decision on your future is expected possibly within the next seven to 10 days, is that accurate?

“I was hoping yesterday. Needs to be. Again, I’m not going to put a timeline on it, but time is ticking and there are a lot of other options and a lot of other dominoes that need to fall. Just talking amongst others, I’m the first one that needs to go.”

Is returning to Joe Gibbs Racing an option for you?

“Yes.”

How are not cracking through all of this?

“Do it at home. Trust me, my gut doesn’t feel good and that’s not just for decisions being made, but more so decisions being weighed and perception and how you come across to all of those that you’re going to disappoint. There’s going to be one winner and the rest are not winners if you look at it in that regard. Good for me, but I definitely don’t want to come across as a lead on or a liar so that’s why it’s been touch and go and trying to tread lightly.”

Is it tough to go through this and still be the persona in the uniform or the person everyone expects you to be?

“Sure, it is tough. I think I said it at Watkins Glen that this is one of the toughest things I’ve had to do and either dwell on or look forward to, one or the other, for the last 15 years. You don’t want to have to do this again. I’m getting too old for this. A lot more gray hair this week or this year.”

Is there more than one option for you right now or more than one team?

“More than one that has paper in front of me, yes.”

Does this decision weigh on you during Sunday’s race?

“It weighs on you every time, every day of the week. The best thing I have for me is experience in being able to go race on Sunday. I’m a racer, that’s all I know so when I get to the race track every weekend, I put my helmet on and that’s what I focus on is just being by myself. I do my best work inside that car and I don’t have to think about anything other than making that car go fast. During the week, I probably have way more things going on than I would like to be able to focus on making that car go fast on Sunday. Hopefully soon, as you said, seven to 10 days be put to rest.”

Can you win a championship this season?

“Sure. We’re a top-five, top-six team right now with myself, Ben (Beshore, crew chief) and my team and where we’re at, we just need to clean up some of our mistakes. Speeding on pit road, that’s on me, running over the air hose or whatever, things. But some of the things we’ve had happen to us, we can’t really clean up because it’s not of our doing and it’s just getting caught up in wrecks and stuff like that. I do feel like we’re a top-five, top-six team and I don’t think that the ones that are all in front of us are going to be perfect when it comes to making the Round of 8. We can surprise, I wouldn’t say we would surprise ourselves, but we could put ourselves in the top four.”

Do people think you’re ruthless both on and off the race track?

“You have to be on the race track, but you are a human and you are still a person when it comes down to during the week and through all of this talk. You still want to come out of it with meeting all of these people and talking to all of these people that you’re human and you have to make a decision that’s best for you and your family and what that looks like going forward.”

Your two previous Cup Series championships have come during some stressful situations for you in 2015 and 2019, is there a correlation between going through these things that could lead to a third championship?

“Boy, that would be nice. I think (Kevin) Harvick said it a few years ago, didn’t he say that the lifespan of a driver was going to be much shorter now with this format? Just with all the stress of it and all that it takes. The stress of the last two or three months is like going through the Round of 8 so I’m already living it. I’m already there. These bozos haven’t been there yet. They’re only going to feel it for three weeks, I’ve dealt with it for three months, bring it on.”

Does the alignment you have with Toyota in Kyle Busch Motorsports weigh on your decision when it comes to your potential decisions for next season?

“I would say that the Truck Series option with Kyle Busch Motorsports has probably made this situation 80 to 85 percent harder than if it was just me. I would have been done by now if it was just me.”

Are other manufacturers as receptive to the Truck Series program as Toyota has been?

“Yes.”

Is there a peace that you get from being behind the wheel of the race car?

“Trust me, it’s not peaceful in that race car. But I understand where you’re going. That’s the aspect that I’m getting at is just being ability to get in the car and perform and do what you feel like you know how to do. Whether that’s what I was born to do or not, that’s what my career has been made of is being able to get out there and perform on Sundays.”

Do you feel like your personality has impacted the ability for sponsorship to be sold around you?

“I can go a lot of different ways with this answer, but I’ll state the obvious that obviously the perception is that it’s probably tougher being who I am to sell a sponsor, but I’m going to argue that fact too. Name me the last big five to 10 million dollar sponsor that’s come in our sport lately. Give me one (to media). So is that a Kyle problem or a sport problem?”

Do you feel you may have to change moving forward with a new corporate sponsor or partner?

“I would agree with that. I feel like having the freedom of being able to act or react to certain situations the way that I could through the support of M&M’s allowed me to be as successful as I was on Sunday, 1000 percent. So will that have to change? Most likely. How much? 10 percent, 15 percent, I don’t know. Maybe it’s 18 percent that you have to change, but I don’t know what that is or what that looks like. So obviously, that’s still to be determined.”

Do you focus more or dig in more when you’re faced with chaos as you were around your 2015 and 2019 championships?

“I mean, you have to, but you don’t really change a whole lot from what you’ve done a majority of the season you just have to have things go more your way. Do you have less run-ins with other drivers because everyone is taking it a little easier because Playoffs are on the line? Maybe, but I think you’re going to have some of those guys that get into desperation type situations like (Kevin) Harvick at Martinsville when he spun me out trying to make it. You might have some of those things that pop in there, but you hope it’s not affecting you and you’re able to make it through how you need to make it through.”

Are you more forgiving when other drivers like Kevin Harvick do things like that due to desperation?

“Yes. Is he still owed? Yeah. Do you give some benefit of the doubt to the situation? Yeah, I think I was already out by then so I wasn’t racing for anything and he was. Maybe I let that one slide, but there’s maybe a 12 percent chance I let that slide. If I’m going for one point, one spot and Kevin is that guy and he’s still in it then he might get it, I don’t know.”

What are your thoughts on the discussion around the safety of the Next Gen car and NASCAR stating that it has to do with the speeds and the angles these cars are hitting?

“I don’t believe that, no way. We have had 30 years with that design of that older car, 40 year, whatever it is and how many crashes have there been recorded or whatever else and now you’re telling me about different speeds at different angles? No way, no way. The crash that I was in, which was that same crash (Daytona), I got up on the wall and then was brushing it basically and then I hit the car in front of me and got hit by another car, I felt it way more than I would have in the old car. You can see that because the car crinkled or crushes a little bit and people are like, ‘oh, he can continue on, it’s not that bad.’ In a Gen 6 crash, I would have been done for the day. The radiator would have been knocked out of it, the rear bumper cover would have been knocked off of it. The wrecks just don’t look as bad because the drivers are carrying the brunt of it.”

What is the process now if you all are feeling these wrecks more as previously you would work within your own race team to make changes? Do you now tell NASCAR?

“We talk to those that are involved in the driver’s council and let them relay the messages.”

Do you feel NASCAR is receptive to the changes being requested?

“I’m not bringing issues to NASCAR, I’m bringing them to the driver’s council so I don’t know who to ask on that.”

Is there a frustration that nothing has been done to this point and we’re 26 races into the season?

“You don’t really learn these things until you put them in race situations. Could they have done more crash testing, probably, but you’re not going to learn, they didn’t have the pieces to do it so they had to get it all out there to get it on the race track to get going. Now we’re learning more about it as we’re in the line of fire if you will. It’s going to be a learn as you go, but the only problem with that is that all the parts and pieces and components are all built and bought and designed and everything else. Now if we’re making changes, what does that go back on? It goes back on the owners. It makes it more expensive for them to buy stuff that gets redesigned to make crashing easier.”

Is there anything you do in this race car to prepare for an impact differently than you did with the previous car?

“I didn’t in this past weekend’s situation and it hurt a little more than I expected it to. I laid up against the wall and thought I was just going to kind of run into the car in front of me and that it was going to be okay, but I slammed against the seat belts and everything else. I thought, ‘that hurt more than I expected it to.’ I didn’t think I needed to brace for what I saw happening versus a couple years ago the finish of a Daytona race, I can’t remember if it was February or July, but (Brad) Keselowski wrecked coming off of (turn) three and I just KO’d him and I braced for that one. I got ready for it because there was nowhere for me to go. And that one hurt too, but it would have been worse with this car than it was with that last car. I’ll admit that.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1, 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day – Media Availability Highlights:

KYLE LARSON WAS SAYING THAT HE FEELS LIKE YOU ARE MAYBE A LITTLE UNDERESTIMATED COMING INTO THE PLAYOFFS BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T HAD SOME OF THE RESULTS, BUT THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SO STRONG THIS YEAR. IS THAT A FAIR STATEMENT TO SAY, THAT THIS YEAR IS MUCH BETTER THAN ANY OF THE OTHER PREVIOUS YEARS.

“Yeah, we definitely haven’t had the results to show the speed and performance that we’ve had. But I would like to think so. I think our team is capable of doing what we need to do, it’s just been a rough period of time, I feel like, to put races together for us.”

HAVING SAID THAT, YOU HAVE SOME GOOD TRACKS COMING UP. DO YOU GO SO FAR AS TO CIRCLE THEM OR ARE YOU MORE OF THE ‘ONE WEEK AT A TIME’ TYPE OF GUYS?

“Certainly, there are certain places where you kind of highlight and you’re like ‘OK, I feel like I can have a good run there regardless of the circumstances, regardless of how the rest of the season has gone’ and things like that. Darlington is definitely one of those that – based on our last few runs there – I’m like OK, this could be a good track for us. Even last year in the Playoffs, we got into Alex (Bowman) early when he had a flat tire, knocked the whole right side off the car and still was running like sixth before we had a tire issue. So it’s like, if we can have a car that’s together with all four tires and all four fenders rolling; I feel like Darlington is one of those tracks for us that’s good.”

HOW MUCH ARE YOU AWARE OF THE FOUR FIRST-TIME PLAYOFF DRIVERS? IS IT A FACT THAT YOU’VE RACED WITH THEM ALREADY FOR 26 WEEKS AND IS IT REALLY A BIG DEAL?

“Yeah, some of them the way that they are, you just know what to expect. You know that there are guys that kind of toss it in there and see what happens.. sometimes they don’t come out the other side and sometimes the guy they are racing doesn’t come out the other side.

So yeah, you just know each guy and how they race. Also, the way they race other people might not be the way they race you. Like it may be more aggressive or it might be less aggressive, so it just depends.”

ARE YOU OVER WHAT HAPPENED AT DARLINGTON THE FIRST TIME AROUND?

“I think you just put those kind of in your memory bank. I don’t think you’re ever ‘over it’, per say. If the situation presents itself where the shoe is on the other foot, then I’d like to think that I know what to do.”

DO YOU KEEP A MENTAL CHECKLIST, AS FAR AS THAT GOES? IF YOU’RE IN A POSITION WHERE THE SHOE IS ON THE OTHER FOOT AND YOU HAVE TO BUMP THE NO. 22 OUT OF THE WAY, ARE YOU GAME?

“I’m going to handle things the way I’ve always handled things. I’ve had run-ins with people in the past, handled it and they never messed with me again. It will sort itself out, for sure.”

IT SEEMS LIKE THAT RACE WAS A TURNING POINT FOR YOUR TEAM. YOU GUYS HAVE HAD CHALLENGES THIS SUMMER. I DON’T KNOW IF IT’S JUST A COINCIDENCE THAT RACE KIND OF STARTED IT ALL.

“Yeah, it’s definitely a coincidence. I wish we knew what happened or why things have gone the way that they’ve gone. But yeah, it’s definitely just a coincidence. I think we had a lot of really good tracks in the beginning of the year. As we started to chase some speed and chase some things, we got off a little bit throughout the summer.. just the way the car drove and things like that. I think we’re getting back to where we need to be now. We know what works; we know what doesn’t work. We definitely know what doesn’t work after the last month or so, so that’s a good thing.”

GIVEN THAT, WHERE’S YOUR CONFIDENCE AND MENTAL MINDSPACE? WHERE’S THE TEAM AT STARTING THE PLAYOFFS?

“I think the team is in a really good space. Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) is very strong minded. He kind of has the football coach mentality when it comes to the playoffs. He’s really good at gathering all the troops and getting us all ready to go. I’m included in that mix and he’s got me fired up. I’m ready to go. I believe in my team. I believe every person on our team is capable. It’s just a matter of extracting that and I think this year could be the year.”

DO YOU LIKE BEING UNDER THE RADAR?

“Yeah, that’s just my personality. I don’t really like to be flashy or do anything that’s going to draw attention. I love racing cars. I’ve absolutely loved it since I was a little kid. This is what I want to do. These are the situations that you want to be in, so it’s nice to come in here. Being here for the fourth time in a row is great and hopefully we can make that next step.”

WILL THE PLAYOFFS BE AS WIDE-OPEN AS THE REGULAR SEASON WAS?

“With this car, we’re going to tracks for a second time now, but there are still so many unknowns. Like Bristol, we don’t have any notes on Bristol. Nobody knows – like is the car going to bottom out when we go to the race track for the first time? There’s a lot of unknowns with this car still.”

DARLINGTON, YOU WERE SO CLOSE YOU COULD TASTE IT LAST TIME. EVEN THE WAY IT ENDED UP, DO YOU STILL HAVE A LOT OF CONFIDENCE WITH JUST WHAT YOU LEARNED AND HOW YOU WERE ABLE TO WORK THAT CAR?

“Yeah, like Darlington and Martinsville – those are tracks where I really struggled at my first year in Cup. Darlington, not so much, but definitely Martinsville. But it seems like now, as I’m getting older and more experienced, those are some of my best tracks.

Darlington, I finished top-five there the previous year. Had a few issues that kept me out of the fall race, but I feel like Darlington is one of those tracks that I really excel at.”

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
PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1, 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day – Media Availability Highlights:

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN THE PLACE YOU WANT TO BE HEADING INTO THE PLAYOFFS?

“I feel like we’re in a good place. I think we could be better for sure. But I think we’re in a solid spot mentally and in a position where we’ve learned some lessons that we can apply going forward.”

ARE YOU THE FAVORITE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP?

“For me, there’s never a good answer, but I try to give an honest take on it. There’s been too many people good at different times. Just because we have a win more than other people doesn’t mean other people aren’t capable of winning or having a really good day. You have to respect the whole field. There are a lot of really talented drivers and a lot of really smart people working at these teams.”

IS 40 PLAYOFF POINTS ENOUGH TO FEEL A LITTLE COMFORTABLE IN THE FIRST ROUND?

“I don’t think anybody is safe at any point in time. You have to respect this format from Week One all the way to Week 10. I don’t think there is ever a period of time where you should think anything is taken for granted. No amount of playoff points is ever safe. Each round is so short. You could have two bad weeks back-to-back and do nothing wrong. Next thing you know, you’re in a position where you have to win the last race. That can happen to the guy who is first in points or the guy that is last. No one is safe from that.”

THIS IS AN UNFAMILIAR POSITION HAVING SO MANY PLAYOFF POINTS.

“It is. We talked about that a lot. We’ve never been in that position before. This is a good thing. I’d love us to put ourselves in that position more often year after year. It means you’ve probably had more fun that year. It also means you’re trying to hedge your bet. Nothing is guaranteed but it can certainly help. That’s the big one… we want to hedge that bet and better our odds as much as possible.”

NO ONE IS GOING TO HAVE ANY DATA ON BRISTOL BECAUSE IT WAS DIRT EARLIER THIS YEAR.

“That one is really interesting in my opinion. I’m excited to get to Bristol. It’s a really iconic event on our schedule. That fall night race is one that I always look forward to going to. I’m excited about that. Hopefully get it right because it will be a bit of a guess for everyone.”

ARE YOU ENJOYING YOU’RE RACING AND HAVING A GOOD TIME?

“Yeah, if things are going good then I probably have more fun than I do when they’re not. But that’s just how it is. If you’re having good runs and putting yourself in position to win or being fortunate enough to win a race, the fun meter is certainly going to naturally be higher than it would if the roles were not that way. We’ve been fortunate to have some good weeks over the course of the first 26. I want to be and I truly think we can be better for these last 10. That’s what it’s all about right now.”

YOU HAVE HALF THE FIELD FEELING LIKE THEY NEED TO GET BACK ON AND OTHER AGENDAS. DOES THAT COME INTO YOUR THINKING?

“For me, if it’s not going to make you go faster then it’s not worth your time. That’s the truth of this sport and trying to be successful on Sunday’s. You have to get your priorities in order of what matters to you and what’s going to make a difference come Sunday afternoon and how you do.”

THESE AGENDAS CAN IMPACT INNOCENT BYSTANDERS.

“They could and I can’t control that. I’m going to try and control the things that are in my hands and do the best I can with that. The only way to control things like that is to be out front. If you’re out front, you don’t have to worry about the mess. That’s the best way to navigate all those things. Sometimes things are just going to be out your hands, and there’s not much you can do about it.”

IN THE PAST, PEOPLE WOULD SAVE STUFF AND THEIR BEST PIECES FOR THE CHASE OR THE PLAYOFF. IS THAT POSSIBLE TO DO THAT NOW WITH THE NEXT-GEN CAR?

“I don’t know if that’s as relevant today as it was before, especially with the limited number of cars we have now. In 2020, we didn’t know whether we were going to make the final four or not until seven days prior, and we were able to get one together good enough to go compete. I think these teams are good enough now where they can make it happen.”

IS THE PLAYOFF FIELD MORE COMPETITIVE THIS YEAR?

“I definitely think it’s competitive. Look at how many people have won. That’s never happened. I think that answers the question in itself. Any of the guys in this 16 and even those who didn’t make the 16 could go and win more than one race in the last 10. So yes, it’s very competitive.”

WHAT’S THE CHALLENGE OF DARLINGTON?

“For me, you have to find the balance of the fast lane being around the wall – which is a difficult place to live all night for 500 miles – and the sun sets in a really awkward place there in turn three right in your face. It becomes hard to see the corner entry. To me it becomes a tale of two races the more I’ve done it and the more I’ve been a part of the race. In my opinion, it almost feels longer than the 600 for some reason. It feels like you’ve been racing for two days. You start in the daytime and end late at night. Balancing the event is probably the most important piece of going to Darlington; then making sure you have a car that’s put together that you haven’t bounced off the wall a bunch for those last 100 miles.”

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

Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Sept. 1, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media during NASCAR’s Playoff Media Day. Below are highlight quotes from his session:

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

How are you feeling?

“Feeling better, getting there for sure. Everyday is just a little bit better. Just went through a period there on Monday and Tuesday where a lot of soreness started to set in and then yesterday started to get better for sure.”

Have your conversations with NASCAR changed at all with this being your first big accident with this race car?

“No, it’s too early in the process I think. They’re compiling all the data and the video that they see from the wreck and there were about 30 cars in that one wreck so there’s a lot to go through for sure, for them. We haven’t had any dialogue as far as what we could do to change anything. I would think that if we were going to implement any changes for next year that they would have already been started on, but I’m not really sure. I haven’t been briefed on any of that.”

How does it feel that this wreck happened going into the Playoffs?

“Well, it’s Daytona and you know you have a pretty good shot of getting crashed at one of those races, but I’ve been pretty lucky. Atlanta was the only one that I kind of had a little bit of a hit in this car, but certainly Daytona was on a whole other level for sure. But that’s part of the schedule and part of the risk you take.”

Do you know if you’ve had an accident similar to this with respect to the angle or speed that you hit the wall?

“I don’t know, that’s something that I will certainly ask. I’m sure they have a log of hits that I’ve taken over the years and so certainly from my standpoint, body-wise it was a much harder hit than what I’ve had in the past than any other wreck. I’ll have to look at the numbers and the numbers might say that my body is lying and I shouldn’t feel that way.”

Is it your back or your entire body that hurts because you’ve previously had back issues?

“The best way I can describe it is like I got beat up at a bar and somebody was kicking me in the ribs while I was on the ground. That’s really all I can equate it to is that the whole right side just felt smashed. It was one when I hit the wall for sure, that initial hit to the wall and then somebody came and hit me on the left side. That was another pretty heavy spike as well. I’m not really sure which one did the most damage.”

Previously, if you had an accident like this, the race team could look at the parts and pieces and make adjustments, but now with these race cars and parts coming from vendors, can you have conversations with the vendors to try to make safety enhancements?

“It’s all in the hands of NASCAR. It’s up to them to make sure that all of the drivers are safe and whatever the product they hand us, we didn’t design the Next Gen car. We left it in their hands to design it and they farmed it out to these companies to build and certainly in the old days, we would do things in our own race shop to make them a little better based off the feedback we have, but we just have to wait and see what they hand us.”

Do you feel like this race car is as safe as it could be?

“I’m not really sure. I think this car is a very general term of if you’re talking about the body, talking about the chassis, so many parts and pieces to it. Certainly it could be better, but anytime you build something that’s more rigid and built to last longer, the softest part, which is your body, is going to take the brunt of it. Right now, that’s where we’re getting beat up.”

How much does it smooth out the Playoffs when you can win Darlington right out of the gate?

“It doesn’t make it any easier this year because we’ve been pretty good at tracks like that. I felt like the first Darlington race, we were kind of hit or miss, but we actually drove from the back to the front. Last year’s results, last year’s car doesn’t give us anymore confidence this year. It really seems like our car is track specific on tracks that we seem to be good at and Darlington is just a hybrid in between that we’re good at.”

Where do you see yourself as a favorite for the championship this season?

“I’m really not sure. We’re just kind of one in the crowd this year. We’re somewhere in the middle. You’ve got probably three or four favorites that you talk about, but we’ve been too inconsistent to be in that conversation.”

Are you still sure of what your organization is capable of going into the Playoffs or are there more questions this year than previous years?

“I know what we’re capable of for sure, but the issue is can we fix it. We identified issues with our car and where we need to get better. Certainly on the road courses and short tracks, but can we do anything about it. We talked about it, this is an off-the-shelf car that we buy and we submitted all the parts for Toyota and can we go back and fix any of that, I’m not really sure. We just have to make sure we optimize and do the best we can to execute on those days that we’re probably going to run 15th or 20th.”

Would you say you have less control this season going into the Playoffs?

“Yes, I would say that you have less control this year. You can control your execution. There’s no excuse for us to have race-winning cars and blowing it through some other way, shape or form that you find a way to do, but we have to makes sure we do our best job to execute on our good days and our bad days. That’s what’s going to keep us going through these Playoffs. We don’t have enough Playoff points to have one or two bad races. We’re going to be out pretty soon if that happens.”

Does Playoff experience matter?

“I think it matters and I’ve been doing this forever. And I know the anticipation and excitement that I had the first couple times is a lot different than what I have now 17 years later or whatever it is. I do think it matters, I think managing races matters, managing points and Playoffs standings, knowing what competition you’re racing against in a given day. It all matters in how you advance in these Playoffs. Sometimes you’re not racing to win, I hate to say it. You have to race to move on.”

You’ve been in this position to contend for the championship so many times, does it add pressure to you knowing how close you’ve been previously?

“I just try to control what I can control and not get too emotional with the things that I can’t. That doesn’t keep me from getting frustrated when things don’t go my way or we don’t have the speed that I know we should have. You just try to optimize and quietly sneak our way through this deal. I think that’s going to be the way that it works this year. We’re just going to have to quietly, under the radar, find a way to make it to the next round.”

Would it be ironic if you won this season by being under the radar and maybe not a favorite?

“For sure. Again, I think we’re going to have All-Star type races on the bigger tracks where we’re running really fast and those are the ones that we need to win to move onto the next round. It’s those other tracks, going by the data this year, that we haven’t been very good at. We just need to go and have a nice, solid day and finish eighth when we should have finished 15th.”

Can you explain the thinking behind the number adjustment to give Bubba Wallace a chance to contend for the owner’s championship and experience a Playoff scenario?

“So for the first time, an organization is going to be going for an owner’s championship and that’s 23XI. There’s no particular driver associated with that. We felt like the best odds for us to kind of stack the deck and put our best foot forward whether it be driver and pit crew and crew members. We’re going to try to do the best we can and we’ve seen it in year past. People remember when Jimmie Johnson’s team got kicked off pit road and they brought the 24 team in, that was the team coming in and saying that they were going to come in and put their best people forward to try to win a championship here. 23XI is doing the same thing only it’s including the driver and what not because with Kurt (Busch) out, it’s a lot of heavy lifting to ask Ty (Gibbs) at 19 years old to keep it off the fence for 500 miles at Darlington. It’s probably going to be a tough ask so we wanted to put our best and most experienced guy out there to give us a chance to continue to move on and up in the standings.”

How is Kurt Busch feeling and how is his recovery going?

“He’s (Kurt Busch) getting better and he’s kind of plateaued, which is something he wouldn’t think would happen. He’s gotten to about 80 percent and it’s kind of stayed there. I think the rest is just going to take quite a bit of time.”

Have you spoken with Kurt Busch about possibly sitting out the rest of the year?

“We leave it up to him. He’s welcome to come back next week or 10 weeks from now at the final race if he wants to. The 23 will be open for him whenever he wants to come back. But you know, he’ll have to weigh those decisions, not us.”

Do you expect there to be any impact on the Playoffs inside the Joe Gibbs Racing organization with the uncertainty of Kyle Busch and the No. 18 for 2023?

“I haven’t thought about that. I don’t think so. I think he’s (Kyle Busch) going to drive as hard as he possibly can. It’s in his DNA. I just don’t foresee anything changing with Kyle, especially in the last 10.”

Do you feel you’ll be okay for Sunday’s race?

“Yeah, certainly. If I had to do it (Saturday’s NXS race), I probably could, but there was just no reason, even if it takes five percent out of me for Sunday, there’s just no reason that I should do it. It just doesn’t make any sense. Especially since, we don’t have 40 bonus points like we’ve had in years past where we feel good about the first couple rounds no matter what. The 11 team really has to go out and perform at a top notch every single week so we just can’t take that risk.”

Will you change any of your safety equipment?

“No, I think we’ve done a really good job at Joe Gibbs Racing of making sure I’ve got a safe compartment to work in. I don’t know that really we could do anything different. I’ve got my head wedged into the headrest as it is. There’s no loose shaking around there. I know they want us wedged in there. They had us add foam for this year knowing that the hits were probably going to be more significant. I think we’re doing everything we can from the driver and team side.”

As someone who has been in the Playoffs so many times, do you still have the excitement level of thinking that you can be a champion in 10 weeks or do you look more day-by-day or week-by-week?

“I forward think a little bit when it comes to the Playoffs. Certainly I know that my biggest dream, my biggest goal of all time is to win a Cup championship and that can be achieved 10 weeks from now. I’ve done everything I can to align what I work on from now to the next 10 weeks to try to accomplish that goal because that’s the one I can achieve the soonest, the quickest. So it’s going to take all my concentration and focus to do that so I think that’s where I’ll be shifted here in the next few months.”

How do you juggle all of your responsibilities during this Playoff timeframe to ensure your focus is on winning the championship?

“It’s just part of what I do. I like staying busy. If I skip things, it’s not because I want to just sit out back and sip pina coladas, it’s because I would get bored. I need something to work on. But I will shift a heavy percentage of my time and focus to the on-track performance of the 11 here in the next 10 weeks to be sure I’m doing everything I can and that I’m not making any mistakes to hinder us from winning a championship.”

Can you describe why the crashes look different this season with the new car?
“What’s different is that this car is stiffer and anytime to hit the wall with the same rate of speed, the energy usually goes somewhere and right now, what I feel like, it’s coming through us.”

Is the safety of the Next Gen car a major concern right now?

“I mean, it’s a major concern for the drivers, but it needs to be a major concern for everyone to really get a big change.”

What do you think needs to be done to fix the safety issues drivers are feeling with the race car?

“I mean, really you would have to redesign the whole car I believe, I think, but I’m not an engineer that is smart enough to know that it needs fixing. We just know what we feel, that’s it.”

Is it frustrating that so much time was spent on the design of this new car and you might have to start over in some respects to correct some of these issues?

“Certainly, we would imagine that we wouldn’t be fighting this at this point. Anytime you have something new, you always hope that it’s better. I think it’s just different right now. You just hope that over time it continues to get better in certain areas, but we did have a lot of time to develop it. This is the product we’ve got right now.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1, 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day – Media Availability Highlights:

DO YOU FEEL LIKE GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS YOU HAVE A SENSE OF YOUR FULL CAPABILITIES OF YOUR TEAM OR ORGANIZATION THIS YEAR OR DO YOU THINK BECAUSE OF THE NEXT GEN CAR THAT YOU STILL ARE UNSURE?

“We are still learning about this car every weekend it seems. But I don’t know, what comes to mind when you ask that is that you still don’t know to a degree what might happen. Mainly because it’s a new car and weird, one-off things seem to happen. Whether its like the failure we fought at Michigan or the tire stuff that we had earlier in the year that seemed to go away. So, you can’t just blindly overstate or say, ‘oh, we will be fine, and we won’t have any of these issues’, because it is still a completely new car. I don’t know, I feel like we have hit it pretty good on two days and the way that we did it, yeah, it was road course racing, but I feel like we can keep it going on the ovals too. If our peak potential is winning races, I feel like that’s (inaudible).”

LIKE DENNY HAMLIN SAYS, THERE ARE THINGS YOU CAN FIX AND THINGS YOU CAN’T FIX.

“With in-race adjustments you are certainly boxed in a bit more than I think you would have been for a Xfinity car or the Cup car the two years that I drove that thing. You were similarly boxed with just how the aerodynamics and mechanical was kind of tied into one another. I mean its not new from that side but it’s obvious there are differences in going to this car there are differences between one team and the other or one manufacturer or the other really seem to show up.”

DO YOU THINK THERE ARE TANGIBLE DIFFERENCES TO HAVING YOUR TEAMMATE IN THE PLAYOFFS?

“Absolutely. I guess I could elaborate on that, but both of us being in the same situation is great and we are both going after the same thing. I mean even if one of us wasn’t, we are still chasing the same thing in winning races. One race at a time. But for both of us to feel that same pressure together, the whole organization is pulling together. I think it gives us a great template for what we have got. We have had two cars strong at the same time, but its like you said, you have to execute and put it all together at the same time.”

DOES EXPERIENCE MATTER IN THE PLAYOFFS AND DOES THAT WORRY YOU AT ALL?

“I have been experienced at it, just not on the Cup level. Certainly, the experiences of failing last year, I learned a lot from that. But the experience of being in these pressure-filled moments on the Xfinity level, and getting it done two years in a row, also has its benefits too. So, certainly I don’t have the experience of a Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and guys like that have; but every race is one of those pressure-filled moments. Every point in every race has that Game 7 moment in every single race and it’s really important not to misstep when that moment happens.”

DO YOU AND THE CREW CHIEF DO A BREAKDOWN OF THE POINTS YOU NEED TO GET IN THE FIRST ROUND AND ALL THAT STUFF?

“We just go out there and do the best that we can. If you start focusing on all these numbers and that sort of thing, we could easily box ourselves in a little bit and be desperate. It’s going to be executing and getting the most out of your car it seems. If it’s a fifth-place car, you better finish fifth. If it’s a 15th place car, don’t screw up and crash it trying to get more.”

IS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR THAT WORRIES YOU ABOUT ROUND ONE?

“No.”

THE LOWEST SEED IN THIS PLAYOFF AREA CAME FROM SEVENTH AND YOU ARE EIGHTH. CAN YOU DO IT FROM EIGHTH?

“Certainly. The way this year has been and how the competition has been, I don’t know why we would rule ourselves out before we get started honestly. The way this car has raced, less and less you see the dominant car win. It’s just about executing all day long, so I think we can. Why not? Eighth seed is not a bad number.”

YOU GUYS PROBABLY FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION COMING INTO THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR THAN YOU DID LAST YEAR?

“Honestly, not really, as weird as that sounds. We were really good at Darlington in the spring of last year. Bristol is a good track for us too. Richmond is the only one that was in there where we struggled a little bit, but it’s not now. Last year in talking about it too, we just didn’t execute, and we were off a little. It was a strange way for us to have that first round go. I feel good about it, really good.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL COMING INTO THE PLAYOFFS WITH MOMENTUM AFTER THAT SECOND PLACE FINISH LAST WEEK?

“I finally finished a superspeedway race. That was nice. I haven’t finished one yet with this car and hadn’t gotten a lot of experience or laps. So that was really big not just for me at Daytona, but learning what I can for Talladega; what I can get away with and just expand on the experience and knowledge that I have. I had a little, but now I have a lot more. It helped get the job done and get Austin (Dillon) in the playoffs. I learned a lot about what we are going to need to do and bring back to Talladega later on.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE BRISTOL IN THE FIRST ROUND IS YOUR BEST SHOT TO ADVANCE?

“I don’t know. I look at all three tracks and I think they are pretty good for us. There’s not one that I am concerned or worried about in this first round. We have run really well at a lot of these tracks. Darlington, we have been strong at ever since I have been in the Xfinity Series and I feel like Bristol is always a track that seems to click. I am not really thinking one will be better than the other, but I think our odds will be good at all these tracks.”

WAS THERE A RELIEF OR LIFTING OF THE SPIRITS AT RCR AFTER GETTING BOTH CARS IN?

“Yeah, there certainly was. We have been able to win twice and get out of that dangerous bubble that was forming, especially the weeks after we won. So, to get the win that we did put all the pressure on the 3 and those guys. To be able to capitalize on the day and the situation and close it out 1-2 was huge for them and a lot of the shop was happy. I just know that from the little bit of time I spent there this week; when you have both cars in there, everyone is about as happy as they can be for the meantime obviously. Then we celebrate and we go back to work and try and get through these first three races.”

DOES THIS TEAM HAVE ANY WEAKNESSES?

“I think the things that this team has shown to be our weaknesses throughout the year, we have worked on. I still feel like we struggle in dirty air somewhat more than others. But hey, you solve that by track position, qualifying good and good pit stops. So, other than that, I think we worked through things that bit us a lot throughout the year and I am glad we went through them because there were some weird things that could have happened during the playoffs that would have been very detrimental.”

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
PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 TRACKHOUSE RACING CAMARO ZL1, 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day – Media Availability Highlights:

WHAT’S YOUR APPROACH TO THE PLAYOFFS, GENERALLY SPEAKING?

“This is the exact spot that I’ve worked really my entire racing career toward… 11 years of wanting to be, as silly as it sounds, at playoff media day in the Cup Series. I don’t know what to expect.”

AS WIDE OPEN AS THIS SEASON HAS BEEN, IS THERE A TRUE FRONT-RUNNER?

“I think this new car that the France family and NASCAR rolled out got us 80 percent parity across the field. I don’t think you’ll get 100 percent, but I think it got us 80 percent farther than I’ve ever seen in the sport. Looking back at the history, I don’t know how you can call anyone a favorite.”

YOU SEEM PRETTY EMOTIONAL ABOUT THIS, THAT IT’S JUST STARTING TO SINK IN?

“It’s pretty wild. This week has felt almost awkwardly normal. I didn’t expect that. Sitting here, yes this is different. You go back one calendar year and the guys that I trained with were all here. I was the only one in the group not. That was humbling. I was out training and probably pushed myself too hard that day, but it was motivating. Not that pedaling the bike harder that day was going to make me get here. But it’s pretty wild to be here. I worked to get here but I just never thought I would get here, honestly.”

WHAT’S YOUR OUTLOOK GOING INTO YOUR FIRST PLAYOFFS AFTER A STRONG SEASON?

“I don’t think that question is ready to be answered. There are times this year where we did a really good job, and there are times this year where I did a really bad job behind the wheel. It’s about finding the middle ground. We don’t have to have 10 weeks of the best that I’ve ever driven, but it needs to be better than some of the weeks I’ve put out this year. I don’t have a number of races we’ll go and how far we’ll go in this run, but I wouldn’t want to be in any other position than where I’m at. It’s a great time to be in a Chevrolet and a great time to be at Trackhouse. It feels good.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU DO A GOOD JOB OF TUNING THINGS OUT?

“Off-track, yeah. Probably sometimes too much. I don’t actually keep up with what people are saying enough. On-track, yeah I know who’s around me and I obviously know every situation and every scenario that’s happened this year. You can tell right away if a car is being driven aggressively against me or not. On-track yes but off-track I probably don’t do a good enough job keeping up with words being said.”

YOU AND JUSTIN (MARKS) HAVE BOTH TALKED ABOUT NOT CHANGING ANYTHING AND ENJOYING THE RIDE. BUT YOU’VE ALSO SAID YOU’VE BEEN GETTING ADVICE AND FEEDBACK. HOW MUCH ARE YOU LISTENING?

“I’ve had a lot of opinions given to me and a lot of advice. I truly believe it’s all with the right intentions. There’s a lot that goes in one ear and out the other, for better or worse. But I do take everyone’s opinion and make my own thoughts. I’m human and make mistakes. I’ll do exactly the opposite of what someone says even though their way was better. Sometimes it’s on purpose and sometimes it’s not.”

DOES PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE MATTER AND HOW DO YOU MAKE UP FOR THAT?

“I definitely wish I had done this last year or for five years, selfishly. That means I had put myself in the playoffs year after year. This is an arrival of Trackhouse, so come back to me in 10 weeks and I’m going to be better for what has happened, no matter what happens. When we’re sitting here next year, I’m going to have 10 weeks of playoff knowledge for better or worse.”

IS HAVING THINGS GO IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER HOW YOU’VE HANDLED EVERYTHING THAT’S AROUND THE PLAYOFFS TO KEEP YOURSELF ON THE RIGHT PATH?

“Selfishly and humanly, I’ve taken this first little bit to enjoy this. Yeah, we were all here for the preseason media day but I remembered then how I wasn’t here last fall for Playoff Media Day. Now that we’re all here, I’m taking these moments… my name is on a board at Playoff Media Day. I’m not sorry that I’m going to enjoy it. Walking out of here and tomorrow morning, it’s back to regular preparation that I do no matter what. There’s some hoopla right now and I’m going to enjoy it. I’ll get back to work tomorrow.”

TAKE US THROUGH THE FIRST YEAR WITH TRACKHOUSE AND WHY THIS IS SO SPECIAL.

“It’s just exactly where I wanted to be – having owners who believed in me and put me in the car where we had 10 races of 38 sold and said ‘You’re good.’ I signed a multi-year contract that I had never done, and they said, ‘You’re good’. They let me keep my team that I wanted to keep and said, ‘Y’all are good. Go race.’ That was the building blocks of what you saw this year. The new car that NASCAR and the France family rolled out was the catalyst for Trackhouse, and it’s the main reason we’ve been able to take the group of people that we have and go compete. It’s exactly where I’ve wanted to be.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING PART OF SOMETHING THAT’S NOT RCR OR THE ESTABLISHED TEAMS… BEING THE DISRUPTERS IN THIS SPORT?

“I signed, going into 2021, with Chip Ganassi and thinking he’s been here for 20 years and he’ll be here 20 more… he’ll still be racing in the Cup Series and I’ll be retired. That just wasn’t the case. It was Chip’s time to step out. I bet on the long-term experience of CGR when I had options, and halfway through the year he sells it! As it turns out, it was the best thing that could have happened. It was his time to get out with this new car and Justin’s time to come in. It’s incredible.”

HOW HAS THE PHILOSPHY MANAGEMENT CHANGED SINCE JUSTIN TOOK OVER?

“Everybody is different, and there are strengths and weaknesses on all sides. It takes someone with strong belief in their thinking to get up in front of a shop and say that if you don’t believe in this new car and where NASCAR is going, we don’t need you here. That was blatantly said. For a lot of people, this was their time to step out. If had been at that point of my life, I may have made the same decision. You never know. For me and for Trackhouse, it was the perfect time to fully be in the sport.”

DO YOU KNOW HOW GIVING THIS CAR WILL BE AT DARLINGTON?

“I don’t ever feel like I know enough. The moments I thought I knew, I’ve crashed with other cars or I’ve crashed off Turn Two in the spring where I felt like I knew the potential of the car. Proximity to the wall is one thing but I don’t know how the grip changes from lap to lap. It’s constantly going down so that’s why I want to run both races (Cup and Xfinity) to build a notebook as best I can.”

WHAT’S THE THOUGHT OF THAT IN 10 WEEKS, YOU COULD BE A CHAMPION? HOW HARD IS IT NOT TOO LOOK AHEAD?

“I’m just here to hang on for the ride. However it goes in 10 weeks, I’ll have a better answer for you. It’s easy for me not to look ahead because I swear my memory is short enough! I have Darlington and Kanas on my mind. I know Bristol is the third race but no thoughts on Bristol yet. Darlington and Kansas is all the bandwidth I have. I literally can’t tell you what the fourth race is!”

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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.