NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 20, 2022

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 Guaranteed Rate CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

WHEN WE LOOK AT THE DEVELOPMENT, THE SIMULATION DEVELOPMENT, OF NASCAR, THE NEW CAR AND EVERYTHING YOU GUYS HAVE RAN SIMULATION ON THIS RACE I’M ASSUMING AS YOU DO EVERY RACE. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT WHEN WE COME BACK IN THE FALL TO HAVE THIS WEEKEND’S DATA, TO HAVE REAL TRACK DATA ON THE CARS? HOW DOES THAT ALL WORK JUST THE TAKING FROM ONE RACE TO THE OTHER AND THEN HOW IMPORTANT WILL IT BE TO GET GOOD DATA THIS WEEK KNOWING THAT IT’S A PLAYOFF RACE LATER ON THIS YEAR?

“I think it’s more important than ever before. This car is so new. We’ve really only in a lot of aspects been able to gain information through tire tests and some of the wheel force data that we have been given so that we can go to the simulator and work on our cars. Seeing how that matches up and seeing how well we did at bringing cars this time around for this weekend is really important for any of the events that we go back to for a second time, but especially those that we return to in the playoffs.”

YOU’VE HAD UPS AND DOWNS THIS SEASON, BUT YOU’RE FAST. YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR SEASON SO FAR? THEN NEXT WEEKEND GOING INTO THE 600, IS THERE EVER A POINT IN THAT RACE WHERE YOU’RE LIKE OH MY GOD HOW MANY MORE LAPS DO I HAVE OR READY FOR IT TO JUST BE OVER?

“Preparing for that race is really important. I guess more the second question you had there my memory’s not the greatest at times. I have been forgetting everything all day today. The second part of the question on like rough days or the way that last year’s race kind of played out where the track didn’t really move around a lot and you kind of just get stuck in behind whoever it was, like it was last year that was frustrating. You wanted it to just be over with, because you’re pretty much running 100 laps hoping for a good pit stop, (inaudible) under green. You would pretty much be done after the restart. I don’t think it will be when we go back with this car. It has shown that there’s going to be a lot of getting the car right mechanically speaking. Balance of the car is going to be really important at the bumpy, wore out Charlotte racetrack.”

WITH 600-MILES ON THIS CAR, WILL THAT BE LIKE ANOTHER TEST FOR THE NEW CAR? DO YOU LOOK AT IT LIKE THAT?

“It certainly can. It’s more of can the drivers, can the teams endure it. I think the team side certainly, but us as drivers in the car when it’s not driving great it’s really difficult to manage at times, especially if you’re on the looser side of things. If at any point in that race you, over 600-miles it’s very reasonable that the car isn’t going to handle the way it should and you’re going to have to make adjustments on it. So, it’s going to be important to survive those rough patches of the race and hopefully not loose too much track position. Even more importantly, not making a mistake and crash. 600-miles is a lot of opportunities to do that, so it’ll be a very difficult race, but that car is up for that challenge. The car can handle it.”

THE FIRST PART OF THAT QUESTION WAS YOUR SELF EVALUATION OF YOUR PERFORMANCE SO FAR.

“Oh, yeah. (laughing) We’ve ran good, but I can see why I didn’t want to talk about that one or forgot about it. It’s been a tough year, at times. We’ve certainly had the speed. We’ve been leading laps. We’ve been in the top-five a lot, but also at the same time we’ve finished outside the top-30 quite a lot too which is out of character for us as well. Not necessarily ideal, but the speed’s there. A lot of the right things are where they need to be. The pit crew’s executing on a high level and we’re making good adjustments to our car during the race to make it a little bit better as we go. The outright speed in our cars is there, just a lot of the details where they need to be. One of these days when we are able to put it all together, we’re going to be running the top-five like we have been on some of those days.”

YOU HAD THE TIRE ISSUE LAST WEEK AT KANSAS, IS THERE ANY CONCERN THIS WEEK WITH THE SAME TIRE, SIMILAR TRACK?

“My tire issue was related to wall contact. It wasn’t really anyway related to being too aggressive with setup or air pressure. In a place like Kansas seeing the issues that we did, didn’t really surprise me because there’s just so many different lane choices that you have and with the progressive banking that that track has you have a lot of opportunities two or three places on the racetrack in each corner. Whether it’s the first seam, the second seam or crossing the front straightaway, going to the flat on the front straightaway there’s a lot of places where you can put a lot of force on that left rear tire in the beginning of a run on low air when you’re really having to be aggressive on restarts. To see that happen and play out that way wasn’t surprising, I guess. Being that we learned a lot about this tire, and we all think that we’re safe enough and not going to make those mistakes while we go out there and practice by ourselves, we’re not making those crazy, daring moves. I think once we got to racing, we had to get more aggressive battling restarts and I’m thinking that’s where that came from. Again, that all comes back to how aggressive you are with what you bring to the racetrack.”

I KNOW YOUR ROOTS ARE DIRT LATE MODELS, BUT YOU’RE A CALIFORNIA GUY. DID YOU EVER HAVE INTEREST IN THE INDY 500? DID YOU EVERY PURSUE ANY SORT OF OPEN WHEEL PATH AND IF SO WITH THIS WEEK DO YOU EVER WONDER WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN?

“I don’t say I wonder what could have been, I wonder what it could still be. I’m young. I never really went that path. I grew up racing a lot of dirt and open wheel cars, but the Indy 500 is always a really exciting time it being around the same time the 600 is. Just how excited that whole city of Indy is and how big of an event it is for open wheel racing has always been really cool for me to follow. I’ve always followed it from the outside looking in. Just really have a huge amount of respect and admiration for the high level commitment that those drivers have every single lap, how physical those cars are to drive, the mental barriers they pretty much have to break past and just push through to wheel those cars that are no power steering, very physical, a lot of wear and tear on the driver. I had a lot of respect for them, and I still do. Yeah, I’m racing asphalt and racing NASCAR right now, but I love racing of all kinds and I would love to hopefully find myself in the seat of something like that if the opportunity ever presents itself. I definitely wouldn’t want to do it if I’m not competitive, so I know myself if I am going to go do it, I’d want to put a lot of work into it. It would be hard to do while racing in the Cup Series.”

YOU HAD A BIG SPONSOR THING WITH CHEDDAR’S YESTERDAY. HOW DID THAT GO?

“Yeah! Oh my gosh, it was great. Cheddar’s put together and All-Star meet and greet at the location in Irving and Tony Dorsett joined us. As really cool as it was for all the staff and the fans that showed up for autographs, it was really cool for me too. I got to spend a number of hours with just a huge icon of the Cowboys, of football. To be a Heisman winner and be in the Hall of Fame, what he did for the size that he was too that for me was really cool. He’s not too much taller than me. He was out there going up against the big boys, knocking out yards, getting touchdowns and winning games. Getting to spend time with him and talk about what he did as a football player and what he’s doing now was a lot of fun. The craziest part to me is he was just his genuine excitement and curiosity about racing, what I do, what my life as a young kid growing up, how I got into it, just asking all these questions. He just has a huge interest in racing. It was really cool to be able to spend that time with him and kind of connect the two worlds a little bit and share stories and get to know each other was a lot of fun.”

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
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 20, 2022

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1, met with the media in advance of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

YOU HAD THE TIRE ISSUE LAST WEEK AT KANSAS. WAS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU LEARNED THIS WEEK ABOUT WHAT OCCURRED; AND IS THERE ANY CONCERN THIS WEEK WITH ANOTHER 1.5-MILE TRACK AND THE SAME LEFT SIDE TIRE?

“Yeah, that’s a good point about the tire being the same. I leave it up to the engineers. There’s nothing that I could do different. That was definitely the cleanest run that we had; probably the fastest pace that we had, being in the lead and running up front. But I don’t know if any of that really contributed to it. I think it’s just one of those things that everyone seemed to go through last weekend at some point in time.

Just fortunate that I could drive it back to pit road and not have any body damage, but we certainly had a lot of underbody damage that caused a loss of speed over the race. That was unfortunate. We didn’t do a great job keeping up with the track after we had our issues there with the left rear because it definitely took away a lot of downforce.”

NEXT WEEKEND IS THE COCA-COLA 600. IS THERE EVER A POINT IN THAT RACE WHERE YOU’RE LIKE ‘I WISH THIS RACE WAS OVER’ WHEN YOU’RE BEHIND THE WHEEL; AND HOW DO YOU HANDLE THAT AND STAY FOCUSED IN THE RACE?

“Honestly, not last year. I felt like last year was a game of runs. Obviously the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) was great all night and I felt like we were inching up on him each run; inching up and then we did take the lead at one point in Stage Three. So at that point, I thought the race was going pretty fast because I felt like we were constantly just trying to get a little bit better as the race went on. As soon as we took the lead, it was like ‘alright, we’ve got control of the race’. So, you’re trying to think about all of those things.

To answer your question, it goes by faster when you’re running well. If you’re not running well in that race, it’s definitely a really long race.”

THE CUP SERIES IS GOING TO GO TO GATEWAY. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CUP CARS BEING THERE AND IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN TAKE AWAY FROM WAY BACK WHEN?

“There’s really not a ton I can take from when I race there because they repaved the track. The engine package for us is obviously going to be a lot different than what I raced there in the trucks. I feel like for me, it’s going to be all kind of a clean slate. I look towards a Martinsville (Speedway) or a Phoenix (Raceway) to kind of understand how the track is going to drive in these Next Gen cars. Probably more so Phoenix, but with longer straightaways. So, it might be like Martinsville on corner entry, at least into turn one.

I’m excited for it. I think our short track program has been really good this year. That’s not a short track, but it definitely kind of races like one.”

DO YOU ROLL IN HERE WITH KIND OF A DIFFERENT FEELING BECAUSE IT’S BIG MONEY AND NO POINTS ON THE LINE? DO YOU GUYS FEEL THE WAY FANS LOOK AT THIS RACE?

“Yeah, it definitely is a little weirder preparation for the week. It’s probably the least that I know about this race of any race every week. I feel like you get in a rhythm when you go to certain race tracks. You know how the stages are going to play out. You know how long the race is and you kind of plan all that in your head of what’s important. And then you’re also kind of worried about getting a good finish. I think at this race, you’re not as worried about getting a solid finish. You’re kind of just worried about winning it. That definitely brings a different preparation leading up to the week, just to think about what’s it going to take to win, instead of what’s it going to take to get myself in a position to win. You’re really just thinking about the qualifying format; you’re thinking about how do I maximize that to get on the pole.”

HAVING THE ALL-STAR RACE HERE AND HAVING A RACE HERE LATER THIS YEAR THAT IS PART OF THE PLAYOFFS – I KNOW A LOT CHANGES, BUT FROM A SIMULATION STANDPOINT AND FROM A DATA STANDPOINT, HOW MUCH WILL TEAMS AND MANUFACTURERS USE THIS WEEKEND AS PREPARATION FOR FUTURE RACES HERE?

“Yeah, it depends a lot on the weather when we come back in the fall – is it going to be 45 degrees? I think that alters your simulation quite a bit. I feel like you can get a baseline for travels and get a baseline for what the track content is and things like that. But really nothing really simulates the change in weather. I feel like that’s the biggest variable in a lot of this – figuring out if it’s going to be similar weather. Luckily, Sunday is kind of cooler and that might simulate more of what the fall is going to be like.”

YOU’RE RUNNING YOUR FIRST XFINITY SERIES RACES TOMORROW SINCE YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2017. HOW DID THAT ALL COME TOGETHER WITH YOUR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS TEAMMATES AND WHY NOW AFTER FIVE YEARS?

“That’s a good question. It really came together just through Mr. Hendrick, Jeff (Gordon) and Chad (Knaus), and everyone at HendrickCars.com. They wanted to do this is and it was something that they saw was a benefit to us. They asked us who wanted to race and I was really adamant that I wanted to do as many as possible. I can only do five, but I’m going to do three as far as I know.

I think it’s good to get a feel for this place. I haven’t been here in awhile in a Xfinity car, like you said, and I feel like the Xfinity car is probably closer to the Cup car this year with the low downforce. So, maybe I can learn some things there; and ultimately just have some fun and try to go win a race. It’s going to be a scorcher, so hopefully I stay hydrated and don’t fall out of the seat.”

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.

Ty Dillon, No. 42 Ferris Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Wide Open Spaces: Ty Dillon will attempt to qualify for his first NASCAR All-Star Race by competing in the All-Star Open on Sunday evening. The qualifying race will run immediately prior to the main feature and will include three stages (20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps). The winner of each stage will earn a spot in the All-Star Race, along with the Fan Vote recipient.

Dillon has competed in four previous All-Star Open events – three at Charlotte Motor Speedway and one at Bristol Motor Speedway. In his two most recent races (2019 and 2020), the 30-year-old captured second and fifth-place results respectively.

• Dillon at Texas Motor Speedway: Dillon has competed in nine NASCAR Cup Series events at Texas Motor Speedway, posting four top-20 results and only finishing worse than 24th-place once. Running a limited schedule in 2021, the North Carolina native did not participate in any NASCAR event at the 1.5-mile oval last season. Dillon has also raced in 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the Fort Worth intermediate, earning one top-five and three top-10 finishes. In five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events, Dillon collected one win (2013), four top-five results and never finished outside of the seventh position.
• Mow Tyme: Ferris will serve as primary partner on Dillon’s Chevrolet Camaro for Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. Ferris, a brand of Briggs & Stratton, is a leading commercial and industrial turf care equipment provider. The red and black colors will adorn the No. 42 for a total of three races in the 2022 season: All-Star Open at Texas Motor Speedway on May 22, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on July 31, and Michigan International Speedway on August 7.

As an industry leader, Ferris has built a reputation for accomplishing more work with ease, through innovation, uncompromising performance, and quality features. Ferris makes extremely durable equipment with patented full suspension systems and ergonomic controls and backs them up through world-class dealers.

- About Briggs & Stratton: Briggs & Stratton, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is focused on providing power to get work done and make people’s lives better. Briggs & Stratton is the world’s largest producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment, and is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of commercial lithium-ion batteries, power generation, pressure washer, lawn and garden, turf care and job site products through its Briggs & Stratton®, Simplicity®, Snapper®, Ferris®, Vanguard®, Allmand®, Billy Goat®, Murray®, Branco® and Victa® brands. Briggs & Stratton products are designed, manufactured, marketed, and serviced in over 100 countries on six continents. For additional information, please visit www.basco.com and www.briggsandstratton.com.

• From the Drivers Seat: Prior to Covid, Cup Series teams would have two or three hours of practice in one weekend. Does simulator time now play a factor in getting communication down with your crew chief and engineers?

“Yeah, absolutely. It gives you time to get the verbiage down with each other. Building the real relationship matters so much between driver and crew chief and engineers. It’s not always easy with everyone have their own personality, but you have to know where you fit, when to push, and when not to push. We don’t get that time in the physical, real action very often. The new practice format is such a grind in the moment – 15 minutes and then you turn over to qualifying. I’m studying SMT data, they are studying everything they see on the car, and it’s a super quick grind. When we get those precious moments and hours now in the simulator, they are so valuable and helping our team grow so much. When I can sit there and tell them what the car is doing and why I feel uncomfortable or comfortable with doing this motion, so they understand the background and my driving style, it grows our team. We have to use those sessions as much as we can and while it’s not the exact real thing, it’s the best we can do with what we have and we have to make the most of it.”

Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Ready for an All-Star Night: Since joining the NASCAR Cup Series full time in 2017, Erik Jones has made five attempts at competing in the All-Star Race. In 2019 and 2020, Jones competed in the All-Star race following wins in the previous season. His best finish came in 2020 with an 11th-place finish. In 2017, 2018 and 2021, Jones raced in the Open event, but came up short of making the big show. His best finish in an Open was second in 2018 when he narrowly missed qualifying for the All-Star event.
• Jones at Texas Motor Speedway: In the Cup Series, Jones has 10-career starts at Texas Motor Speedway with his best finish being fourth on three occasions (April 2018, November 2018, March 2019). He has six top-10 finishes and has led 112 laps.

In addition to the Cup Series, Jones has six starts in the Xfinity Series at Texas with three wins and all six finishes in the top four. He has two poles and has led 368 laps. On April 10, 2015, in just his ninth career start in the Xfinity Series, Jones earned the pole starting position and led 79 of 200 laps on the way to his first-career Xfinity Series victory. In the Truck Series, Jones has three starts with one win and 185 laps led.

• Focused on Winning: FOCUSfactor will serve as the primary partner on Jones’s Chevrolet Camaro for Sunday’s All-Star race at Texas Motor Speedway. - About FOCUSfactor: FOCUSfactor is sold at America’s leading retailers such as Costco, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, The Vitamin Shoppe and Amazon.com. FOCUSfactor, America’s leading brain health supplement, is a nutritional supplement that includes a proprietary blend of brain supporting vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients. In December 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 8,329,227 covering FOCUSfactor’s proprietary formulation “for enhanced mental function”. The issuance of the patent marked one of the few times a patent has been issued for a nationally branded nutritional supplement. FOCUSfactor is clinically tested with results demonstrating improvements in focus, concentration and memory in healthy adults.
• From the Drivers Seat: What are your thoughts on racing at Texas Motor Speedway and your chance for this weekend’s All-Star Race?

“I’m looking forward to the All-Star race. Texas has been a good place to me in general over the last four or five years. I hope to race our way in through the Open and if not, fallback hopefully on the fan vote. The goal obviously is to be in the All-Star race on Sunday night and be racing for that million. Looking forward to getting down there. I always have fun going to Texas and being in that area. I can’t wait to get there and have a chance on Sunday.”

ABOUT PETTY GMS:

Petty GMS competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, operating the No. 42 Chevrolet for Ty Dillon and the No. 43 Chevrolet for Erik Jones. The newly formed team brought together two storied organizations in December 2021. Over the last decade, owner Maury Gallagher built a victorious team, capturing two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championships, one ARCA Menards Series title, and two ARCA Menards Series East championships, as well as 65 wins and 235 top-five finishes across six series. Richard Petty, a member of the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2010, serves as Chairman of Petty GMS. Petty, known as “The King,” accumulated 200 wins and was the first of three drivers to win seven championships in the Cup Series. For more information, visit www.pettygms.com.

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