Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona NCS Post Race | Sunday, August 28, 2022

FORD FINISHING RESULTS

3rd – Austin Cindric

6th – Cody Ware

7th – BJ McLeod

9th – David Ragan

12th – Joey Logano

15th – Ryan Blaney

16th – Cole Custer

19th – Harrison Burton

20th – Kevin Harvick

21st – Aric Almirola

23rd – Todd Gilliland

27th – Chris Buescher

31st – Chase Briscoe

32nd – Michael McDowell

35th – Brad Keselowski

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang – YOD DID WHAT YOU HAD TO DO. “It definitely didn’t start our very good. We had to battle through adversity all day, but props to the whole 12 group for continuing to work on it and fix it and just trying to keep it in the game. After that wreck everything was kind of out of our hands and we were just trying to do the best we could to try and complete all the laps. You never know what can happen, so props to them. Fortunately, we were able to gain some points there at the end and locked us in. It was definitely nerve racking, but a lot of props to the 12 team.”

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU GOT THE DAMAGE AND FELL LAPS DOWN? “It was hurt pretty badly. We couldn’t keep up with the draft for a while because we just had so much damage. By the time we got five or six laps down you try to stay optimistic about these things. It’s easy to kind of get down on it and you just try to stay positive. Luckily, that positivity worked out for us, but definitely not an ideal start to the day. Luckily, all of our hard work by staying in it paid off at the end.”

WHAT ABOUT THE END OF THE RACE AND YOUR THOUGHTS? “We weren’t a part of the lead pack. Even if I was I couldn’t do anything. I wasn’t racing for position. You just hope that everything gets wild and it looks like the 19 kind of got shucked out there and lost some spots and wasn’t able to get them back. There really wasn’t anything I could do. You’re just riding around trying to complete the laps and whatever happens happens. It’s out of your control.”

WERE YOU WORRIED TRUEX WAS COMING FOR A WHILE THERE? “Oh, yeah. You know you’re behind him and things like that. It is what it is. You’re always aware of where he’s at, but it definitely goes through your head.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE IN THE PLAYOFFS? “It means a lot. Honestly, it’s been a good year for us, but the wins haven’t come. I feel like we can be a big threat in the playoffs, it’s just a matter of putting races together. It’s been a good year, but a great year would be wins and I feel like this team can do it if we just continue to do what we know and we improve on the things that we can get better at.”

CAN YOU IMPROVE DURING THE PLAYOFFS? “For sure. You can definitely improve during the playoffs. You go in understanding what you need to do and what you want to get better at and hopefully you can apply them.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Maytag Ford Mustang – “I got hit by another race car going 190, 200 miles an hour. I’m glad I saved it and glad I had a shot to come back through the field. He is racing for a playoff spot and totally expected to get drove through. It was just a matter of time. I’m pretty bummed. We had a shot to win today. The Maytag/Menard Ford Mustang was obviously quick. We put ourselves in position. Not a scratch on it. Dang it.”

HOW TOUGH WAS THAT WITH ALL THOSE CHEVYS BEHIND YOU? “I knew I was a sitting duck. I felt like it was an Xfinity race again as the only Ford out there. Honestly, Ragan saved me a little bit there and we were able to work with both the RWR cars there to get back up through. One lap longer and I might have had a shot, I don’t know. It’s frustrating to be that close. You know it’s gonna come down to when they’re gonna take the run. I was lifting all the way into the tri-oval trying not to leave the gap that big, and they were just backing up to each other together as they should. I’m kind of pissed about it, but can’t be too upset. In the playoffs and have a lot to fight for. Great opportunity.”

AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU HELPED YOUR TEAMMATE MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. “I’m over the moon that the 12 car is in the playoffs. They deserve it. Ryan deserves it. I was sick to my stomach the entire rain delay, honestly. I care that much about this team, forget who is driving the car, but that group deserves to be in the playoffs and deserves to fight for a championship.”

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AS A ROOKIE? “It’s an amazing opportunity, but at the same time it’s what I expect out of myself and it’s certainly what the team expects – to have all of these cars in the playoffs – so I’m pretty motivated to make the most of the opportunity. I don’t think anybody expects much out of us, but I expect a lot, so I’m looking forward to it.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – ALL THREE TEAM PENSKE CARS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS. THAT MUST FEEL GOOD FOR EVERYONE. “It seems like everything worked out the way it needed to. We got a stage win, which is great, some more points there. We got the 12 in. Everything worked out as good as we could hope and now we move forward and try to win a championship.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL WITH THINGS RESETTING FOR THE PLAYOFFS? “I think we’re in great shape. I look at the last month-and-a-half and I can’t say this with confidence, but I’m pretty sure we’ve scored more points than anybody. We scored a lot of points the last few weeks, so we’re doing a lot of really good things here recently. We just have to keep pushing and trying to figure out where a little bit more speed is, but we just have to keep executing with what we’ve got. We’ve got great execution, a great pit crew, great calls on the box. We’ve got to keep that going.”

CODY WARE, No. 51 Nurtec Ford Mustang – “I’m just super proud of everyone with the No. 51 team. I just want to thank Nurtec ODT and Ford Performance and everybody who has made this possible. There’s a lot more downs and ups in NASCAR, but to be here and to get my first top 10 and have both RWR cars in the top 10 this weekend is really phenomenal. I can’t think Steve Barkdoll and my crew and everyone who was involved in making this happen today.”

HOW DID YOU SURVIVE ALL OF THE CARNAGE? “I think the big thing was just perseverance. There was a lot of attrition in this race and we made sure to be cautiously aggressive in the first part of this race, so to walk away from it and get the chance to race with the leaders and battle all the way up to third and try to fight for the win was really an awesome day. I think this will give us a lot of positive energy and momentum heading into Darlington next weekend, another track where we’ve had some success this year already, so being sixth is a good day. I wish we could have got more. I think it just shows how good of a day we had and I”m definitely gonna go to sleep tonight happy.”

BJ MCLEOD, No. 78 NASCAR Rivals Ford Mustang – “First off, it was a crazy day but it was fun executing our plan and getting it to work in our favor because we’ve been doing this a lot, but it’s still hard to pull off. We’ve had small wrecks in the back take us out. There’s really no safe spot, other than the front row or really conservative and today we were able to put it all together and not lose a lap under that first green flag stop and just made things work. There at the end we had a couple cars behind us to help. Logano helped us for a second and when they were helping me I had a shot, but coming to three and four on the last lap I tried to get the right of the 62 and it stalled out a little bit and the 62 pulled up. When he pulled up, I had to wait until he went back down to even try to get another run and it was just too late. Still, an awesome day for a small team.”

DOES IT MAKE ALL THE STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES A SMALL TEAM FACES WORTH IT ON DAYS LIKE THIS? “Absolutely. I’m always thankful and always driven, but this series is tough. It can beat you up running every week and having an average of 34th place speed in a series that rightfully so we’re still good, it’s just we’re 34th. There are 33 other better people out there. It gets hard and these finishes, like today we did earn it. It’s a superspeedway and, yes, we’ve got to work on our team a lot to be competitive at mile-and-a-half tracks and short tracks, but right now we raced today. We put a plan together as a team. We built a car together as a team and we come here and we got a top 10 finish. That’s what is so big for my guys because we’re away from people a lot and on the road a lot and it just means a lot to get them a good finish.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang – “That was a long day but I appreciate the guys sticking it out and giving me a chance to make it to the end. Our Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang doesn’t look as nice as it did to start this morning but we gained 10 or 11 spots just by putting in the work to make it drivable after the wreck. I’m ready to get to Darlington and see what we’ve got next weekend.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – PIT ROAD RADIO INTERVIEW IMMEDIATELY AFTER RED FLAG WAS DISPLAYED FOR RAIN. WHAT WAS THE INTENSITY LIKE OUT THERE WITH RAIN ON THE WAY? “It just raised the intensity to a pretty high level just because of the fact that you didn’t know when the rain was going to come. It was definitely a high intensity, but that’s what we expected today.”

TV INTERVIEW DURING RED FLAG PERIOD: YOU WERE IN GOOD POSITION. WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW? “It was raining. We made it through the first part of the wreck there and obviously there was a lot of carnage. I saw the bottom two cars starting to come back up the racetrack so I gassed it up and, so close, but the car maintained plenty of speed. You can see it come out of there, so I guess that’s all subjective. You have to be subjective to what is minimum speed because when the caution comes out we are the leader – when the light comes on. I don’t know.”

IS THIS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DISCUSS WITH NASCAR ON HOW THEY MAKE THAT DECISION? “Well, I think they’re making it up as they go. It’s just one of those deals.”

HOW DID YOU GET INTO POSITION? “We had a good Mobil 1 Ford Mustang and just were able to push really well. I think when we missed part of the fender there and the splitter got separated from the nose it kind of took the ability to lead well away from the car, but our car would still push and they did a great job of fixing everything. All you have to do is keep it rolling and give yourself a chance.”

ARE YOU PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME FOR THE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah. The best thing with our team is we’ve had some good luck. I think just having some things go your way is important because fast cars or slow cars, you have to have momentum and things on your side a little bit to be able to go through all 10 weeks. Our guys are doing a good job. The cars have been running well and we’ve been able to do the things that we need to do. If we can keep that up, you never know. It seems like such a wide-open championship picture because it’s just a wide variety of racetracks and it seems like you can hit or miss, and momentum swings come with different teams at different times, so hopefully it’s the right time to be running good and we can keep it up.”

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TRACKS FOR THE PLAYOFFS? “I have no idea. Richmond and Michigan are obviously very different, but I learned early in the season that going to the racetrack you have to have a very open mind as to how the weekend might go because you just really don’t have any idea. We went back to Richmond thinking it was gonna kind of be a terrible race and the next thing you know there are cars running around the wall, in the middle of the racetrack, all over the place, so you really can’t read into anything how you think it’s gonna go and what you think is gonna happen because it just seems to be so different every time we go somewhere.”

WHAT DID THAT WIN DO FOR YOUR TEAM? “I’m pretty confident in our ability to win. I’ve been through longer dry spells than that one and I think as you look at the guys on the team, they all do a really good job and have all been in position and won races and championships. Nobody ever pointed fingers. Nobody ever said, ‘You’re the problem or you’re the problem.’ It’s like, ‘OK, what do we need to do to fix the problem.’ I think that’s really the most productive way to get through losing streaks is to figure out what’s wrong and try to address one problem at a time because it’s so hard to diagnose and try to give the right direction from the driver’s seat and you have to be part of that process. You can make two or three bad decisions and push for those decisions and the next thing you know you’re way down a road that you can’t get back from and you have to start undoing things. It just takes time and we made a lot of good decisions and the cars having been running better.”

SPEED MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER, RIGHT? “It makes it so much easier because now you’re racing on offense and when you can race on offense it’s much easier to race that way than it is to be on defense and back pedaling and trying to trick them with pit strategy and things like that. When your car has the right amount of speed you can go do the things that you need to do and be aggressive going forward.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Castrol Ford Mustang – “Somebody wrecked in front of me. I’m not really sure exactly what happened, but there were just a bunch of cars wrecking in front of me. I didn’t have anywhere to go and couldn’t slow down in time, so I hate it for our team. We had a really fast race car. We were working our way to the front, but we’ll cheer on Chris Buescher now, I guess.”

DID THE ACCIDENT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE TIME OF THE RACE? WAS THE TRACK SLICKER THAN USUAL? “Maybe, maybe not. I didn’t actually see what happened. I just know that they wrecked in front of me and I could slow down and ran into it. We beat the front end up and weren’t able to get it fixed. It’s a bummer for everybody on the RFK No. 6 with Castrol on board. We had a good car and a shot to win today if we could just not get wrecked and to get wrecked so early on in the race, we never had a chance to show it. It’s a big bummer.”

WHAT’S THE MISSION THE NEXT 10 WEEKS? “To win a race.”

SO YOU FELT CONFIDENT IN YOUR CAR? “Yeah, we were pretty good. We had a shot to run for it today and never got a chance to show it.”

CAN YOU GET MORE AGGRESSIVE THE NEXT 10 WEEKS AND TRY SOME THINGS? “Not really. We’re doing all the same things. There’s no aggression left that we haven’t shown.”

HOW FRUSTRATING IS IT TO BE OUT SO EARLY? “It’s frustrating, but whenever your season is down to one race you’ve got a lot more going on than just that one race. Our team put a lot of effort into getting this car ready. They brought a great car, so I hurt for them that we didn’t get a chance to show it.”

THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2013 YOU WON’T BE IN CHAMPIONSHIP MODE. “I’m not thinking about it that way. I’m just focused on getting better with our own team every day.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang – “I’m not really sure what happened. Obviously, we were all racing pretty hard there knowing that there’s weather coming and we’re past halfway. I just have to go back and look at it. I don’t want to say anything silly, but felt like I had a good push from the 8 and had a run on the 22 and pulled out. I’m not sure if the 8 got me a little bit or if the 22 just blocked a little bit too hard. It’s superspeedway racing trying to get ourselves locked into the playoffs in our Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang. We were going for it. You can see the weather is right there, so it’s unfortunate. We fought so hard to put ourselves in position to have a shot at making the playoffs. I felt like that was our shot. We had to go for it and it didn’t work out, but if I’d have lifted and the rain would have came and finished second, I would have been pretty upset with myself.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang – “Down on the back straightaway off of two, Joey decided to go to the bottom, so I felt like following him was probably my best decision there. We got such a big run that I kind of shoved him out that I felt like if I could get up, I could maybe take the lead. Looking back on it, I should have just stayed behind and shoved him. He’s just really good around this place and is always there at the end. When I got up in front of the 48 he started shoving me pretty hard through three and four and was getting me loose. He got to my left-rear and that was a little bit on me just being lazy covering it and not knowing and whenever we lost the banking out of four it just spun me around. It’s unfortunate for my Mahindra Tractor guys. We kind of just rode around early in the race just trying to get to the end and then once we got our track position was just gonna try to maintain it. I don’t have a lot of experience leading races here and that’s what happens whenever you aren’t aggressive enough making moves, so I just have to put it in the notebook and go onto Darlington next week to start the playoffs and hopefully start a good run.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang – “We saw rain. Our Fifth Third Bank Mustang was really fast. Everybody did their jobs and I felt like I was doing mine fairly well up there and had a run. We were definitely in a good spot and it was raining when we got to turn one and we all wiped out. We wiped out all the lead cars, so whoever wins this race wasn’t even in contention. It’s just ridiculous from my point of view.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – “A few things didn’t work out. I was in position and there was maybe a move I could have made differently to try and get to the lead, but my help that was pushing me – the 17 – wasn’t clear, so I didn’t take the run. Looking back on it, maybe I wish I would have, but I would have just been in the lead and I would have been the first one to the rain, so I feel like I would have wrecked either way. I just hate it. I obviously wanted to win so we could get our team into the playoffs, but we’ve still got a lot of racing left to do this year and proud of everybody on our race team. I’m just thankful to Smithfield and Ford and everybody that supports this program. We’ll go race hard for 10 more weeks and get ready for next year then.”

TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 First Phase Ford Mustang – “Track conditions seemed fine, I guess, up until they weren’t right there. I was obviously at the back of that pack. I’ve never seen everyone spin out that quick, so I guess the track was probably pretty wet. That sucks, for sure. I felt like we had a good First Phase Ford Mustang today. We got sixth place in the second stage. We were racing up there with the guys that were supposed to be. Overall, I felt like our car was OK. That kind of sucks to end it like that, but it was typical Daytona,.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
AUGUST 28, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER

1st AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1

2nd TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1

4th LANDON CASSILL, NO. 77 VOYAGER: CRYPTO FOR ALL CAMARO ZL1

5th NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 62 BEARD MOTORSPORTS / SOUTHPOINT CAMARO ZL1

14th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

17th ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

18th TY DILLON, NO. 42 THORNTONS CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER

1st Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)

2nd Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)

3rd Austin Cindric (Ford)

4th Landon Cassill (Chevrolet)

5th Noah Gragson (Chevrolet)

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will get underway next Sunday, September 4, at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500 at 6 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner

Austin Dillon, welcome to the Playoffs. More gratifying to do it this way by racing for it versus the rain?

“100%. Crazy faith. My wife was in there. She was dancing in the rain. I got upset. I said, ‘Don’t be doing that’. She said, ‘Lord, when you have faith like me, you don’t have to worry about it.’ I was like, Okay, okay. I got you, baby.

But Ace was back there with me. We were watching Paw Patrol, watching the Carolina Cowboys winning the PBR event. They said, get ready.

We stayed ready. And I have to thank my teammate Tyler Reddick, BREZTRI, Bass Pro Shops, everybody that makes this thing happen. Dow, who has been with me since my start. We have so many great partners. Chevrolet, Chevrolet, Chevrolet.

Man, we’re in the Playoffs.”

Also what will be talked about is the move to get the lead. Walk me through going into turn one with Austin Cindric.

“There was a lot going on there. I knew that if we got to the white; I was afraid that if I waited too long, I was afraid somebody would wreck behind us, so I wanted to go ahead and get the lead. We were able to get it.

I had a big run to him and then I had my teammate, the 8 (Tyler Reddick), back there. I knew we were in good shape there to the end. He did a good job checking up any kind of run. Just a little too much push there and got him loose.”

How hard was it to stay patient there? I know Pop Pop told you on the radio, ‘Hey, don’t go until the white flag lap. I knew you wanted to go earlier.’

“I felt like I had good teammates and Chevrolet behind me. If I could get the lead, the 2 would not be able to hold onto the draft. We’ve done it in practice enough to know that you’ll lose the tail and it’s hard to get back to it.”

How crazy is it that a body of work of a season, Austin, comes down to getting back on the lead lap right before a rainstorm, dodging a wreck, and then making this happen in the final 21 laps?

“It’s crazy. You just never give up and have faith. We had some tough finishes this year, like Charlotte. I beat myself up over that. I made a good move and just didn’t finish it off. Today we finished it off.

I’m so proud of these guys and I’m glad to be going to Victory Lane.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 2nd

YOU AND AUSTIN WENT 1-2 TODAY. WHAT WERE THOSE LAST 21 LAPS LIKE?

“Because we had to pit before pit road was open, before the rain came; I never got to line up behind all the lead lap cars when they started to pull up for the restart. I knew I was going to have to try really, really hard on that restart. Thankfully, the 18 and some of those cars let us go and we were able to get in the mix.

Just had to fight really, really hard when everyone singled out and there weren’t many cars left at the end there and tried to get to Austin (Dillon). I knew he was going to need some allies there at the end of the race to go make the move on the 2. As it just kind of turned out, he didn’t really use his teammates for that move, but after everything kind of happened with the second pack catching us, I was really glad to be on his rear bumper to pretty much keep anyone from really creating that energy to pass the lead car. A lot of energy comes from that second car and when you have a teammate in that position to be that car absorbing those runs, you can really kind of control what is happening in front of you.”

LANDON CASSILL, NO. 77 VOYAGER: CRYPTO FOR ALL CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th

You just said this is awesome; how awesome is it?

“It really is awesome. We were sitting in a good spot with the rain delay; and even if they would have called it, we would have been happy with that finish. But we wanted to race for it and earn the top-five finish at the end. We did have to survive. There were a lot of fast cars that weren’t in contention at the end, but it’s pretty cool to see the checkered flag that close.”

How were you able to stay clear?

“I don’t know. I have done a lot of these races, so I feel like I know where to be to try and stay out of trouble. Sometimes in superspeedway racing, you just never know. I missed a couple of really big wrecks, made some good decisions, and the team did a good job of putting together the whole strategy today.”

NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 62 BEARD MOTORSPORTS / SOUTHPOINT CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th

This was the little team that could and you found your way up into the top-five today. Tell us about that run.

“It was strong run for this team, considering that we have one employee at Beard Motorsports. To come home with a top-five, that is big for us. We were in a good spot running third there when the 2 was out front and the 3 was running second. It seemed like the 2 got loose and started down the racetrack and it was a hell of a save by Cindric, but that killed all our momentum. We were in a four-car breakaway; I thought I was going to set myself up to be in a pretty good spot and it just didn’t transpire. We had to regroup and come back for a fifth-place finish and we will take it.

Congrats to everybody at RCR and the ECR motor department. They help us out tremendously on this Beard Motorsports team and with one employee, this is a pretty big deal to go up against these organizations with 500-600 employees. So, for the goals that we have, the budget that we are on and the race team that we are; it’s pretty rewarding to be kicking yourself over a fifth-place finish in the Cup series. Very grateful for the opportunity and appreciate all the fan support and for NASCAR in letting us go to the end. I just want to say congratulations to Austin Dillon and his team. It was a lot of fun.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 17th

“We had a really fast FOCUSfactor Chevy today and were able to run up front, lead laps and thought we had a really good shot at winning. Unfortunately, we had damage from the caution that brought out the red flag and couldn’t make the repairs to meet minimum speed and finish the race. I hate we aren’t in the Playoffs this year, but proud of everyone on the 43 team and the hard work they’ve put in this year. We’ll keep building and use these next 10 weeks to continue to learn this car and try to get the FOCUSfactor Chevy in victory lane.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 137; Finished 24th

What do you do.. do you stop the race before it rains?

“We knew the rain was coming.. it was raining next door. It was just a matter of time. Why would we wait for that.. I don’t know. Maybe I’m a little biased because I was in the front, but there’s nothing you can do. Sometimes you are running 200 mph and you’re able to turn left. And then you see a few drops hard and you’re just spinning.”

Do you think they should have called cars to pit road earlier?

“I feel like they have a lot of technology to know that the rain is very, very close. I don’t think it’s hard to not put us in that position.”

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 CELSIUS CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 137; Finished 28th

As you went off into turn one, was there just no grip?

“Yeah, it was raining for a good lap before we got into turn one my spotter said. Coming out of (turn) two the previous lap, it was raining and we just lost traction. It’s pretty unacceptable.

I thought we did a good job all day with our Celsius Chevrolet and we put ourselves in position. Brett Griffin (spotter) and Trent Owens (crew chief) called that; we stayed out hoping for rain earlier. It’s just tough. I fight for my ride, fight for my life, every day. We take these small opportunities and try to make something of it.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 103; Finished 33rd

“I’m proud of the effort by our No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet team and Trackhouse Racing. It’s been an incredible 26 weeks. Now we can reset and be ready for 10 weeks of experiencing something I’ve never experienced with the Playoffs; my crew chief, my spotter and my team haven’t experienced.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 103; Finished 34th

“It just looked like they checked up in front of us. I don’t know exactly what happened in the front of the line. I hadn’t checked up and was just going to keep rolling straight through, but they came across me from the top.

It’s just unfortunate. We had just gotten our No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 a little bit better. I felt like we were in a good spot. I was happy with how the car was handling and it felt good to be in the mix.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1, was sidelined with engine issues during Stage One; Finished 37th.

We saw that issue where Kyle Larson pulled to the side and was talking about the engine and water temperatures. What were the issues here and did you have any indication that it was failing?

“I guess it was the timing belt maybe or something like that. I didn’t really have much of an indication. I’m sure they’ll dig through the data and see if it was happening earlier than when it really let go there.

Bummer. I’m sure we’ll drop a few spots in the points, so that will hurt for the playoffs. But I guess there’s one positive.. that I didn’t get caught up in a crash. We’re safe, good to go race next weekend and get our playoffs started.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES

Stage One:

· With inclement weather canceling qualifying; the lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series’ regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway was determined by the rulebook, with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott making an all-Chevrolet front row to lead the field to the green.

· From his front row starting spot, Elliott powered his No. 9 A SHOC Camaro ZL1 to the front of the pack to lead the opening lap of the 400-mile race.

· Early in the run, Larson pulled his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to the garage, with engine problems ending the day for the reigning NCS champion.

· Chevrolet led 34 of the 35 laps in Stage One, with Elliott leading 28 laps and Erik Jones leading 6 laps.

· Team Chevy Stage One: Top-10

2nd Chase Elliott, No. 9 A SHOC Camaro ZL1

7th Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Built.com Camaro ZL1

8th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / NOS Camaro ZL1

9th Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1

Stage Two:

· Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-10

7th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1

9th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / NOS Camaro ZL1

10th Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1

Post-Race Notes:

· Entering the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway under the playoff cutline; Austin Dillon scored his first win of 2022 in the rain delayed Coke Zero Sugar 400.

· Dillon became the 15th new winner of 2022, securing a spot into the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field.

· This marks Dillon’s second NCS win at Daytona International Speedway; and his fourth career victory in 326 NASCAR Cup Series starts.

· In the 26-race NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 15 wins, recorded by eight drivers from three different Chevrolet teams.

· Becoming the eighth Chevrolet driver to win and secure a playoff spot; Chevrolet occupies 50 percent of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoff field.

· The winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history; Chevrolet now has 829 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

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
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
TEAM CHEVY RACE WINNER QUOTE & NOTES
AUGUST 28, 2022

AUSTIN DILLON TAKES THE WIN AND A PLAYOFF SPOT AT DAYTONA
Eight Chevrolet Drivers in the 2022 NCS Playoffs

· Entering the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway under the playoff cutline; Austin Dillon scored his first win of 2022 in the rain delayed Coke Zero Sugar 400.

· Dillon became the 15th new winner of 2022, securing a spot into the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field.

· This marks Dillon’s second NCS win at Daytona International Speedway; and his fourth career victory in 326 NASCAR Cup Series starts.

· In the 26-race NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 15 wins, recorded by eight drivers from three different Chevrolet teams.

· Becoming the eighth Chevrolet driver to win and secure a playoff spot; Chevrolet occupies 50 percent of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoff field.

· The winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history; Chevrolet now has 829 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1, Race Winner Quick Quote:

Q. Austin Dillon, welcome to the Playoffs. More gratifying to do it this way by racing for it versus the rain?

“100%. Crazy faith. My wife was in there. She was dancing in the rain. I got upset. I said, ‘Don’t be doing that’. She said, ‘Lord, when you have faith like me, you don’t have to worry about it.’ I was like, Okay, okay. I got you, baby.

But Ace was back there with me. We were watching Paw Patrol, watching the Carolina Cowboys winning the PBR event. They said, get ready.

We stayed ready. And I have to thank my teammate Tyler Reddick, BREZTRI, Bass Pro Shops, everybody that makes this thing happen. Dow, who has been with me since my start. We have so many great partners. Chevrolet, Chevrolet, Chevrolet.

Man, we’re in the Playoffs.”

Q. Also what will be talked about is the move to get the lead. Walk me through going into turn one with Austin Cindric.

“There was a lot going on there. I knew that if we got to the white; I was afraid that if I waited too long, I was afraid somebody would wreck behind us, so I wanted to go ahead and get the lead. We were able to get it.

I had a big run to him and then I had my teammate, the 8 (Tyler Reddick), back there. I knew we were in good shape there to the end. He did a good job checking up any kind of run. Just a little too much push there and got him loose.”

Q. How hard was it to stay patient there? I know Pop Pop told you on the radio, ‘Hey, don’t go until the white flag lap. I knew you wanted to go earlier.’

“I felt like I had good teammates and Chevrolet behind me. If I could get the lead, the 2 would not be able to hold onto the draft. We’ve done it in practice enough to know that you’ll lose the tail and it’s hard to get back to it.”

Q. How crazy is it that a body of work of a season, Austin, comes down to getting back on the lead lap right before a rainstorm, dodging a wreck, and then making this happen in the final 21 laps?

“It’s crazy. You just never give up and have faith. We had some tough finishes this year, like Charlotte. I beat myself up over that. I made a good move and just didn’t finish it off. Today we finished it off.

I’m so proud of these guys and I’m glad to be going to Victory Lane.”

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.

RAIN DELAYED DAYTONA RACE RESULTS IN TWO TOYOTA TOP-10s
Truex Misses Post-Season by Only Three Points

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 28, 2022) – Martin Truex Jr. (eighth) and Kyle Busch (10th) both scored top-10 finishes in Sunday’s rain-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Fellow Toyota drivers Bubba Wallace (11th) and Ty Gibbs (13th) also finished in the top-15 after a more than three-hour rain delay in a race that was already delayed by more than 12 hours. The outcome resulted in Truex missing the Playoffs by only three points.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Daytona International Speedway
Race 26 of 36 – 400 miles, 160 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Austin Dillon*

2nd, Tyler Reddick*

3rd, Austin Cindric*

4th, Landon Cassill*

5th, Noah Gragson*

8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

10th, KYLE BUSCH

11th, BUBBA WALLACE

13th, TY GIBBS

25th, DENNY HAMLIN

36th, CHRISTOPHER BELL

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 8th

What did you think of your chances on the initial restart?

“We got in a decent spot and just couldn’t keep up. I was wide open the whole last run there. It’s a shame, it stinks, but just too much damage to do what we needed to do.”

What kept you from being able to make it up front to advance to the Playoffs in the final 16 laps of this rain-postponed race?

“We just had too much damage at the end. We had a good spot on the restart and we got a good restart. We got the 2 (Austin Cindric) up front, which is what we were trying to do, but just couldn’t keep up. Just too much damage. It’s s shame. We knew it was going to be tough with so many cars out of the race and the distance between me and the 12 (Ryan Blaney). It was going to be hard to hang on to fourth or better with a car that torn up.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 10th

What happened in the accident before the red flag came out?

“Honestly, it was just the previous lap, there was nothing there and then that lap it was just – it just dropped. So what do you do? You can’t checkup that fast so you just have to try to drive through it. Thankfully, I was on the high side and I saw water and I saw everything and saw everybody wrecking in front of me and I got on the fence right there and started rolling right on the wall. Everybody was coming across the track in front of me. I was then just trying to figure out everybody to slide back down and get out of the way and for me to continue on my merry way. There’s really nothing you can do in that situation. It was way too late to call anything and overall I felt good about our car all day. Our Interstate Batteries Camry was fast and we had good speed. Ran up front, led some laps and won a stage.”

BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 DoorDash Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 11th

How did you feel about your race overall today?

“I didn’t have that feeling that I’ve had at previous speedway stuff. Our DoorDash Camry TRD was good, but it wasn’t great. Made the necessary moves to get us up to the front, but I didn’t do a good job of keeping it at the front. At the same time, you’re kind of focused on the big picture. Fell to the back a little bit and knew we could get back up there and we did. But then luck ran out. We did miss two wrecks and got caught up in the third and the fourth. We salvaged a good finish, but what we needed was a win. All in all, it’s Daytona and it’s a crapshoot.”

How would you evaluate your regular season of 2022?

“If we’re being honest, we did not do a good job. A lot of mistakes on my end. I admitted that over and over again. I didn’t do the best job for the team and overall we just didn’t execute at all levels and it put us in this spot. That’s sports and that’s life. We recognized the problems and we’ve made the necessary changes and improvements and that’s all you can ask for. With those changes and improvements have come better results. Just have to build off that and continue to push on through the last 10 races.”

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

Finishing Position: 25th

What happened going into turn one?

“We ran into rain in the middle of turn one and just lost it.

Is there anything that could have been done?

“Just throw the caution before the rain came. We had rain down the front. So about 10 seconds before we got into turn one, it was raining. I’m sure the fans felt it and then they watched us all pile in there.”

Are you okay after that impact?

“Just shook mostly. The hit was just massive. It was my first one in this Next Gen and it was legit.”

How was your race car today?

“We were super-fast. I thought I made the right moves at the right time and I got to the lead at the right time, but also a bad time because we were the first ones to get to the rain.”

What can be done moving forward to keep this from happening again?

“Better officiating, that’s all we can do. Like New Hampshire, we’ll learn from this for sure.”

Is there anything specific that hurts after that hit?

“No, just my whole body. My jaw hurts. I feel like my jaw is one of those boxers that gets their whole face demolished. It was certainly the first real big one I’ve had in this car and everything they’ve been telling us, all the other drivers, it’s legit.”

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

Finishing Position: 36th

What happened in the accident that ended your day?

“It looked like the 43 just got a little loose and after that we were all along for the ride. Just disappointed. Just a stack up – normal speedway racing. Disappointed for our group. This Rheem Camry was up front and we were running up front, but this is a product of Daytona and Talladega, ultimately speedway racing.”

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
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 27, 2022

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

THE NASCAR RACE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP DOCUMENTARY COMES OUT NEXT WEEK, WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE A PART OF THAT?

“Yeah, honestly, I haven’t had to do a whole lot with it. I think they came to my house one morning and followed us around to Millbridge (Speedway) one night. Other than that, I think they have been collecting stuff behind the scenes and like from a distance. So, it’s been nice that it hasn’t been like in our face all the time, so honestly, I don’t even know what they have captured. I am excited to see it next week and I think it will turn out really good and I hope all the fans will really enjoy it.”

HOW WAS TIME AWAY FROM THE TRACK WITH THE FAMILY?

“We always go to Disney in February and I have been gone so much and away from the family so much the last couple of months that I wanted to spend some time with them. I forgot how hot Florida is this time of year, so I think we were all dying yesterday. But I was happy that qualifying got rained out so I could stay there and spend more time with them. Had a really fun time but not sure I will go back ever again in August, but I look forward to getting back in February.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE FOR OTHER DRIVERS?

“I am not sure. The only way for those guys to make it in the playoffs that aren’t currently in the playoffs is to win. So, with that, I think the first couple of stages could be pretty tame. Just because a lot of those drivers are just trying to get to the end of the race to have a shot. But then it could be crazy and wild all race long. So, I am not really sure what to expect. No matter how it is, I hope we are in front of the craziness. I know at the end of the race, as it always does, whether it’s the cutoff race or not…..at Daytona or Talladega it always gets wild. We will see and it will be kind of interesting to follow along and see what guys are fast and if there are going to be a couple of big crashes to wipe out guys that could shake things up a lot. We will see.”

DO YOU TAKE A SPECIFIC APPROACH TO IT?

“Yeah, I think for us and in my position….we are second in the regular season points right now and I think there are maybe four of us that are really close to finishing second. Because of that, I feel like we need to go after stage points to do our part to finish second. Our plan is to race the whole time and just stay up front and get some points.”

IF YOU END UP NOT RACING TONIGHT AND YOU RACE TOMORROW AFTERNOON, HOW DOES IT CHANGE THE STYLE OF THIS RACE IF AT ALL?

“Yeah, good question, I am not sure. This place, the handling will be more of a factor for sure during the day than at night. I mean just the whole track is slicker, but I feel like turn four gets really tight. So, I don’t know and I don’t remember us being on track earlier this year with the sun out. In Talladega, handling is not a big deal there. The cars drove really good there gripped up. So, yeah, I am sure it will play a factor as it always does. As far as the race, I am not really sure.”

NOW THAT YOU HAVE HAD FOUR SUPERSPEEDWAY RACES WITH THIS CAR, WHAT KIND OF UNDERSTANDING DO YOU BRING HERE TONIGHT?

“I don’t know. I am not sure. I don’t think it feels way different than the other stuff. You have to hit your marks on stuff like green flag cycles getting on pit road and getting off pit road even more than the other car. When you are in a big pack, it is not as easy to lose the pack, but as soon as you get to shaking things up with green flag stops its kind of strung out for a lap or two and it seems really easy to lose the draft in that sense. You need to be on your game for that type of thing. Other than that, I don’t think it races way different.”

CAN YOU DESCRIBE A LAP AROUND DAYTONA AS FAR AS BEING IN THE PACK OR BEING IN OPEN AIR?

“Well, in open air, any of you could do it. In the middle of the pack it gets really hectic and your car doesn’t necessarily do its own thing, but you can feel the air more. The disturbance of the air. You can feel runs and you feel runs stall out a lot. When you get out to the lead you feel like you are going really slow, even though you are going just as fast as the guys behind you. When you are in the middle pack, you feel like you are going fast. It’s a lot quieter out front, but its just when you get out front your car obviously handles a lot better with clean air on it. You are not really looking out the windshield as much and you are looking in the rear view mirror a lot of the time. I haven’t seen the lead on a superspeedway very often but its definitely a little quieter and less going on out front and like I said, your car handles better.”

HOW DO YOU MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AS FAR AS BALANCING FOCUS AND EMOTION IN THE PLAYOFF SEASON?

“For a superspeedway race…..I don’t really get too emotional anyway, so that’s not a problem for me. Staying focused sometimes and making sure you are trying to make the right moves is tough to do a lot of times because runs are happening quick. The gaps are really small that you are trying to get into. Trying to stay focused on risk versus reward but also trying to position yourself for the end of the race is important. I mean a little bit of that goes into each race and race by race. Especially in the playoffs in putting yourself in the right spot at the right time and weighing risk versus reward. Just trying to maximize your day and trying to get as many points as you can like you would at any other speedway race.”

AT THIS POINT LAST YEAR YOU HAD ALREADY HAD FIVE WINS AND IT WAS A DOMINANT SEASON, THIS YEAR YOU HAVE TWO. DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THAT TO THE NEXT GEN CAR AND MORE PARITY?

“I think definitely a little bit of parity, but you still see a lot of the same good guys running up front. With us, its really just been a lack of execution I would say most weekends. We have really only had a few, like less than five, really clean races where nothing happened and we finished where we deserved. Whether it be just bad restarts or bad pit stops or a missed call for strategy…..something that we just haven’t executed the best. Last year we had a fast car and that makes everything execution wise a lot easier with pit calls, pits stops, and restarts and all that. Yeah, the parity probably pays a big role in it but just us as a team, until recently, haven’t done the best jobs a lot of time. And that is an area where we have tried really hard all season long. Its just hard to do sometimes. But like I said, I feel like lately we have been getting out stuff together. Last week was a great week to get a win and roll on into the playoffs with some momentum hopefully.”

WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO HAVE A BETTER PERFORMANCE AT DARLINGTON THIS TIME AROUND?

“Yeah, we had a really fast car last time before we blew up. So the first round has a lot of really good tracks for us. I think it is Darlington, Kansas and Bristol maybe. So those are honestly three of my best racetracks. I really like that round and hopefully we can do well in it and get some wins and get some bonus points would be nice. I have always run really well at Darlington, but have not gotten a win there yet. I finished second three times in a row before we blew up this year, so would love to be one spot better there and finally get that Darlington win that I have been close to getting.”

TALLADEGA IN THE SPRING WAS A REALLY CLEAN RACE FOR YOU. DOES ANYTHING STAND OUT FROM THE RACE IN THE SPRING THAT YOU CAN USE HERE?

“Not really anything happened. We had great track position the whole race and I never once left the bottom lane. I think that if there is anything that I learned is that you can’t go into any superspeedway race with the mindset and say you are going to be patient, but with us being up front the whole time at Talladega, I stayed patient the whole time. And I literally did not move off the bottom the whole time until I did and that is what lost me the race. So yes, I guess I have that same mindset in going into tonight’s race, but like I said it could be way different. This track is narrower, the importance of this race for a lot of other drivers is way different compared to Talladega earlier this year. You can’t show up to every race with the same mindset and have the same results throughout the whole race. But I will say, since it worked last time, that is my mindset right now. But it could change early on.”

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.

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 26, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media prior to the Daytona International Speedway race this Saturday:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

“Hold on, first I have an announcement to make. Everybody ready? Ok, there is no announcement. Good? We all good, we clear? Moving on.”

How was your experience to be part of this new NASCAR documentary and what do you hope is the result of the piece coming out?

“Yeah, I mean, to me, I feel like it’s just another level of humanizing us. Athletes, drivers, families, things like that of what we do outside the sport. Obviously, there’s a lot to be filmed and a lot of things that go on behind the scenes and the things that aren’t on broadcast television each and every week. And so, to kind of showcase a little bit of that, obviously, there’s a storyline, a huge development of lives and situations that are outside of just the broadcast. And so I feel like they’re trying to do the best they can and showcase some of that and get some of those storylines out there. You know, one with us is just our family life and racing and Brexton racing and that sort of stuff, where how hectic it kind of is and what we do, outside of just being here every Saturday and Sunday.”

At any point in contract negotiations, did Joe Gibbs Racing offer you a contract that you turned down?

“What did I just say? I said there was no update. This is not the place to start airing any dirty laundry. Just trust me, in time things will work out. And what happens, happens. Again, answering that question could either be positive for me or detrimental for me. So it’s fair to say I cannot answer those sorts of questions in your apologize. Or I don’t, not sure which.”

Is there any one thing you hope people take away about Kyle Busch from the documentary?

“Yeah, I mean, to me, I guess the humanizing the villian, let’s say, okay, so I’d like to be known by a heck of a lot more than just what is on broadcast television each weekend or not on broadcast television, but to me, you know, I’m a husband, I’m a father, I’m a racer. And that’s all I’ve really known. I’ve grown up doing that. I’ve come from a blue collar family from Las Vegas where my dad was a Mac Tool, man and didn’t come up from a lot but obviously trying to instill those same traits into my kids and how we go about what we do each and every week to go to the race track. So, for me, I would like to think that just, you know, again, showing the human side, humanizing myself and what is important to me, not just at the race track, but away from the race track.”

What do you expect from tonight’s race?

“So yes, if somebody wins to knock themselves in, right, so that to me is where the storyline is so you’re going to have legit, you know, the rest of the guys that want to go race for a win as well too. All of us we want to go race for a win and with the unknown predictability of Daytona and what all of that is here just lends itself into the perfect storm of opportunity of guys to win and knock themselves in. So you know, I think there’s going to be a big race up front. And, you know, I’d love to be in that. I need bonus points just as the other guys do. I need regular points. You know, we’ve fallen far enough it’d be nice to I think we have a legit shot for getting one or two spots back where we’re at right now. So that’s two more Playoff points that we have a shot for. So it’d be nice to not lose those. But you also I do know, at the end of the day, you got to be in it to win it. And so if you’re not there at the end of this race, then you don’t have a shot to win. So you know that that obviously plays a role as well.”

How do you approach this race for yourself?

“Knowing all of that, I don’t know I’m still on the fence about it. I want to go out there and race because you know, when you go out there and race you’re around people at the front of the pack for much of the day, and they get a chance to be around you see how you run see how fast your car is if they can work well with you. But on the flip side of that is if you’re around them and then you’re wiped out or they’re wiped out and you weren’t there in the beginning of the race. There’s new contenders at the end of the race, so yeah, I don’t know. If I could guarantee myself a lead lap spot, stay on the lead lap by being a half a lap down the whole race, I would probably take that. And then what restart do you go on? Do you go on the restart ten to go do you go on the recent the third overtime restart, which one do you go on? I don’t know. And the other thing too is like once you get two wide, it’s going to be hard to make moves and go up the middle and get up towards the front so you kind of need to put yourself in a spot or get yourself worked into a good spot before that final pit stop. So if that answered any questions, I have no idea good luck. That’s how I feel like people are telling me tonight. I don’t know, good luck.”

Have you spoken to Kurt Busch and how is he doing after the news from this week?

“I’m not speaking for Kurt Busch. Same as though I’m not speaking for Kyle Busch either. So, a few of you got that, good work, all right. So yeah, he’s, I mean, he’s down right, like he wants to be here. He wants to go out there. He wants to race he wants to put a helmet on again and he wants to get back in that race car, as I would expect. I’ve been around him for all of my 37 years. And so, you know, he’s a talented and driven individual who wants to go out there and do what he loves to do. So, I respect his decision and his news that he gave earlier this week for relinquishing a Playoff spot. I think that’s mighty strong of him to do and obviously I feel like it’s also — he’s not he’s not sacrificing himself for a spot or taking a spot from the rest of the field. Right. Like he’s relinquishing that spot for others to be able to go out there and race with his unknown status at this time. So I think that was very strong with him. And yeah, I think that’s going to bode well.”

From the family side, are you worried about Kurt’s recovery?

“You’re always worried about your family, right? You know, certainly want the best for him and whatever that is, but obviously his health needs to be first and he’s going through the exercises and the things that he’s told to do in order to make sure that he can please the doctors to get back in that race car. So you know, this Kurt Busch not being in the race car is not Kurt Busch’s decision. It’s someone else’s. So that’s what stinks to but also that’s what keeps us from ourselves and going out there and racing hurt is those around the sport and the doctors in which he has to deal with. Yeah, it’s tough for sure. It’s not easy, but he’s fine. He’s I don’t know how to say this politely. But he’s not knocked himself stupid. He’s, he’s very well aware of the decisions and the repercussions of those that he’s making. So I give him full vote, or full credit for making those.”

How do you try to help your Toyota teammates tonight with the 19 holding a Playoff spot and the 23 trying to get into the Playoffs?

“If I’m coming off a turn four the 23 (Bubba Wallace) and the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) are side by side in front of me and I’m the next one, I’m lifting. So if I know I can’t win, I am out. Just give me the points. So yeah, that’s kind of how I look at it. Obviously, you don’t necessarily, again, the 13 other car numbers you’ve got to figure out that are in the picture that you don’t want to push to a win if Martin’s the last one on points. You know, same thing like you, you obviously, you know, if there’s the 9 (Chase Elliott) car is on the bottom, and there’s, name one, the 43 (Erik Jones) on the outside, and I’m following the 43 like, the 100% rule comes into effect, right? What do you do? You obviously don’t want to knock a teammate out.”

Do you need give-and-take to win a championship?

“Absolutely. Yes you do, you need give and take to win a championship.”

Will Ross Chastain get benefit of the doubt when it come to the Playoffs with other drivers?

“Absolutely not, no way, no chance. I don’t think people are paying him back yet, they’re waiting for the right time. Denny (Hamlin) got really tight off turn one in Pocono. I know how tight these cars can get.”

Have you had your Toyota meeting yet and have you talked about different scenarios?

“Yes. Just what I said before, if the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) and the 23 (Bubba Wallace) or side by side I’m out. That’s what I said. You know, like I said, obviously, it’s the 13 other car numbers that you don’t need to be behind pushing to the checkered flag to score a win. If you know the 19 is on the edge. So yeah, I mean all that’s been laid out.”

How will aggression with this new race car in the Playoffs impact the racing when everyone gets to Darlington?

“Yeah, I think the biggest thing with this car is people are seeing it take little hits a bit more racing hits, you know, knocking each other out of the way pushing on each other a little bit leaning on the bodies. The bodies are way, for sure, more durable in that aspect, but the chassis components still have a tick of weakness to them, you know, you can bump on the fence or somebody else and bend a front or rear tow rod. And so those are the things that that you’re cautious of or more cautious of is those wheel hits. But the body stuff, yeah, everybody’s taking full advantage of that and leaning on everybody a little bit more, which I think we all kind of saw was going to be an opportunity with this car with the composite body we see an opportunity a little bit. And you know, as you said the parity plays a piece in that too because these cars are more similar to the same speed. I mean, you look at Martinsville tests, they ran 300 and some laps and the whole field was within three tenths you know, so yeah, like passing at a road course. You know, you have to bomb it off in there and you know, you’re not going to make the corner you know, you’re going to lean on the guy and push him out of the groove in order to make a pass like that’s how it’s done now, just because there is, I don’t have any better breaks than the next guy because they’re all bought from the same place.”

Does it change how the 19 is viewed in the Playoffs if he can only compete for the driver’s championship and not the owner’s championship within the Joe Gibbs Racing organization?

“No, I don’t think it changes anything. I think Joe (Gibbs) looks at it as if it’s in. I don’t think there’s any difference, any separation in that. You want to talk about contracts, let’s talk about contracts. I don’t know what’s in his contract with Toyota and TRD or his sponsors if the car isn’t what the driver is, or if it’s even in there and spelled out, I don’t know. Mine would say that if I’m in, I get what I’m supposed to get, you know what I mean? So I don’t know how that works otherwise, but I probably gave you guys a whole other topic to go down the rabbit hole on. I’m sorry, Joe. So anyway, they won’t look any different than 19 car will still be a normal player for us as the Playoffs progress.”

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.