NASCAR CUP SERIES
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE GRAND PRIX
TEAM CHEVY TELECONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 23, 2022

COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 SCHLUTER SYSTEMS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series weekend at Circuit of The Americas. Teleconference Transcript:

CONGRATS ON A GREAT RUN ON SUNDAY AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY. TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT AND KIND OF HOW FUN THAT WAS FOR YOUR TEAM.
“Yeah, I thought it was a great day for us. We talked about it in depth this week obviously on the podcast Stacking Pennies. I think I realized that the fans and everybody who has supported me to get me as far in this thing as I’ve gotten were more excited about it than I am. It was cool to deliver a good result for fans, for our partners Built Bar, Schluter, FOE that was on the car, Drydene, everybody that has been a part of my career who have believed in the abilities to deliver a result like that was cool to finally get the first top five for those guys and hopefully its not the last. For me, it’s not the end of the road. We’re just getting started. Starting the year with three top-15s here at Spire I think should be celebrated as well. We are doing a lunch here with the guys here shortly, so definitely means a lot to those guys. We’ve asked those guys to work more than they probably ever signed up to work. Couple of our guys actually worked all-nighters through the west coast swing to get cars turned around. To congratulate those guys and get those guys a solid run like that makes those guys feel like their work is not, just not lost. When you can deliver on the racetrack with the work they are doing off the racetrack certainly means a lot.”

SPIRE MOTORSPORTS HAS ONE TOP-FIVE FINISH THIS YEAR. JOE GIBBS RACING HAS ONE TOP-FIVE FINISH THIS YEAR. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?
“I mean that is a softball for me to insert my foot right into my mouth. Obviously saw Kyle Busch in contention late in Vegas, caution comes out and I think that might have been the only top-five they had. It is a little bit weird looking at the points. I don’t think it is going to stay like that for long because you can’t keep a guy like Denny (Hamlin) or Christopher Bell out of victory lane too long. Seeing the 11 car and the 20 car behind you in points five races into the year is a little bit unique, but we’re not racing those guys. Those guys will ultimately figure out (inaudible) to race and punch their ticket to the playoffs. We’re trying to race the other guys who we’re around to the couple we’re ahead of, to the couple that are right in front of us I think we can get in points. I think the next month or so through these couple road course and a couple short-tracks and then the dirt race, we’re going to try to gap ourselves and put a cushion between the guys who we feel like we can beat in points and hopefully we can finish in the top 25. There is not a Spire Motorsports comparison to the Joe Gibbs, but it is funny enough and they also have double the amount of cars we’ve got. We’ve got two cars; they’ve got four and considerably better funded. We’re going to continue to control what we can control and let everything else work out how it’s supposed to.”

THE LAST 11 RACES HAVE BEEN WON BY DRIVERS UNDER 30. DO YOU FEEL THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT OR IS THAT JUST YOU KNOW KYLE LARSON HAS WON SEVERAL OF THOSE RACES AND HE’S JUST REALLY GOOD OR IS THERE SOMETHING THAT YOU’VE SEEN FROM THE YOUNGER DRIVERS VERSUS THE OLDER DRIVERS?
“You know there are a lot of good guys, young guys driving for good teams. I think that however many of those races were won by Kyle Larson or just a Hendrick driver all together whether that be William (Byron), Chase (Elliott) and Alex (Bowman). Hendrick is probably carrying the flag in terms of young guys. Their driver line up is going to be set for the next decade probably because all of those guys can execute and deliver w’s. Then you lump in guys like Chase Briscoe. I think there’s something a little bit to younger guys or even guys new to the Cup Series that maybe are adapting to this next gen car slightly quicker. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of stock to be put into that, but you know there is obviously just studies done and it’s harder to adapt the older you get. It’s kind of hard to teach and old dog new tricks, but you know the experience and maturity level and speed of those older guys will definitely show up at points throughout the year. It’s definitely an interesting stat. Now, I’d like to figure out how to get to victory lane so they have to change it to 30 and under; not under 30.”

WITH TEMPERATUERES FORCASTED THIS WEEKEND IN THE 80S THIS WEEKEND, WHAT KIND OF CHALLENGES IS THE HEAT GOING TO PROVIDE? I KNOW IT IS LIKELY TO BE THE FIRST HOT WEEKEND OF THE SEASON.
“I’ll be honest I think the heat inside the car is less with the changes they made to the windshield NACA duct with the slots in the rearview around the rear window, the cockpit temperature five races in seems to be slightly cooler than the previous car. It’ll be the first true test to your point of this weekend being in the upper 80s and you’re working hard at a road course. You don’t really get a break aside from the straightaways and then you’re making you know 800-900 pounds of breaking force and you’re turning right, turning left working muscles that you generally don’t work at on an oval. You’re going to be winded, you’re heart rate is going to be up so this will definitely be the first test on heat, but I think my guys have done a good job keeping air circulating in the car well. The cool shirt systems are working well and helmet blowers as well. This will definitely be a good test to see how hot is real hot.”

AFTER LAST YEAR’S ROAD COURSE RACES, WHERE DO YOU EVALUATE YOURESELF ON THOSE TYPES OF TRACKS AND WHAT ARE YOU CONSIDERING A GOOD DAY ON A ROAD COURSE FOR YOURSELF?
“Every single road course in my entire life has been in a Cup car. I haven’t raced K&N, Late Model, like nothing. Every single time I’ve been on a road course has been not a test session, not anywhere else, it’s been on live television in a Cup car. When you’re racing against guys like A.J. Allmendinger and guys that have been doing this their whole life, it’s a pretty big gap to close and you’ve got to close it quickly and adapt because you will get passed over for the next guy that can get the job done. I’ve had to really put in a lot of work with the shifter cart and a little bit of iRacing and we don’t get the OEM simulator to jump on there to knock the rust off, so you really just have to figure out what your weaknesses are and address them really quick. I think generally speaking Chase dumped me at the Daytona Road Course last year when we were looking at, we could have been in the top 20 at all of the road courses last year. That was my goal last year and I’m going to try to carry that over to this year to try to get a top-20 in all the road courses, which would be a tough feat just for my lack of experience on it. I wish I had the opportunity to race in trucks or Xfinity cars like a lot of these guys are plugging their drivers in to get some laps on Saturday before Sunday with limited amount of practice, but I don’t have those resources or tools to be able to do that, so I have to figure out how to bear down and get after it and have a good day on Sunday.”

WHAT WERE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THE TRACK, PARTICULAR CHALLENGES OF THE TRACK AND THINGS THAT YOU LIKED AND MAYBE DISLIKED ABOUT IT?
“Yeah, I think what’s not taken into consideration over this winter they repaved the majority of the track so the abrasiveness there was an element of tire conservation in the dry that you had to keep in mind, but I think that’s going to be gone because most of the slow speed sections and the esses they repaved. It’s going to be hammer down, super aggressive the entire time and also all the marks and brake markers and visual cues that you were trying to figure out in the rain. For example, you couldn’t see a car length in front of you so my brake marker into 11 or 12 at the end of the long back straightaway, there is a walkway over it, so I knew once I passed the walkway it was a three Mississippi before I had to brake as hard as I possibly could and by then the mist would kind of die down and you could make the corner. I believe I should have a little bit more finer marks than a three Mississippi after a walkway bridge this year but I will have to figure those out in practice and figure it out pretty quick.”

WITH THIS NEW CAR DO YOU EXPECT THE TIRE WEAR TO BE ANY MORE, ANY LESS OR ABOUT THE SAME?
“I think you’ll see the delta from new tires to old tires be more, just because you rely so much on the extra, I believe it’s an inch and a half wider tire patch to make speed early in the run and then if you’re relying that much more on the tires for short run speed then you’re going to give up more on the backend of the run and you’re going to be pedaling. Richmond is a place where you can’t even get wide open on the front straightaway later in the run. I think that’s what the drivers enjoy. I think the Goodyears have been taken to all of these tracks, especially Phoenix and Vegas we’re starting to actually see some marbles like we haven’t seen in a couple years. We’ve seen more rubber dust as opposed to marbles. Hopefully that will kind of lay some rubber down on the racetrack and it makes it wide as opposed to just a one lane racetrack. I generally like going to Richmond, but I think tire conservation and durability will be more of a factor with this Next Gen car and I think you’ll see a lot more commers and goers, guys better on the short runs and versus guys that had your bet to be soft and compliant and be there at the end of the run.”

EVEN WITH THE OLD CAR, THE GAP BETWEEN THE BIGGER TEAMS AND SMALLER TEAMS WAS OBVIOUSLY SMALLER AT SHORT-TRACKS WITH LESS AERO INVOLVED. WITH THIS NEW CAR IS THAT GAP AT SHORT-TRACKS SHRINK ANYMORE?
“I think so, but even though the gap shrinks the amount of time from the first place car to the 30th place car will be less. Whether that is a couple tenths, whatever than number is that gap is less but the percentage of you’re off to the leader is still equally as hard to overcome. If you’re off now two percent in a couple areas, downforce or mechanical grip or dampers or whatever the case may be that you’re a little bit off, it’s going to be that much harder to overcome because there’s guys that are closer to you. If you’re a 20th place car you’re going to have the guys that are 24th or 25th nipping at your heels just the same. Hopefully we can have another good day there. I’m always, I cut my teeth on short-tracks. Had some good runs there in the K&N car at Richmond, so I think I got a decent feel for it. I haven’t run great there in a Cup car so hopefully this current Cup car should change that.”

WHICH WAS COOLER, GOING BACKWARDS THROUGH THE AIR OR GETTING THE TOP FIVE FINISH?
“I could assure you finishing fifth is a hell of a lot cooler than flying backwards not knowing where you’re going to end up. I think the whole event was cool, I’m sure my owners did not appreciate a $300,000 racecar sliding backwards through the grass at 180. Luckily these Next Gen cars are durable, they are able to take some cosmetic damage and not knock a whole lot of speed out of it. You know we saw some guys like Kurt Busch finish fourth with a busted up nose, Kyle Larson was fighting for the lead with a busted up nose. We got lucky man. It’s not often you get to take a ride like that and then turn around and finish top five. We had a fast car. I mean that makes my job easier and when you can be on the offensive, when you can put your car in holes it’s able to maintain and go pass some guys.”

ONE OF THINGS THAT I THINK YOU SAID AFTER YOU GOT OUT OF THE CAR WAS THAT IT WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST HITS YOU’VE HAD. BUBBA WALLACE ALSO SAID THAT HIS WRECK WAS THE HARD HIT. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CAUSE OF THAT IS AND IS THAT ANY CONCERN GOING FORWARD?
“I mean I didn’t say it was the hardest hit I’ve ever had. I wrecked last week at Phoenix when the wheel fell off and I actually asked NASCAR and John Patalak to pull the crash data. I wrecked there my first Cup year, I got wrecked in the tri-oval and relatively the same angle, same spot and pretty much the data laid over top of each other and actually the old car had a higher peak g load and acceleration than this Next Gen did. Now I don’t think that these things are a little bit stiffer, but with the big front bumpers and rear bumpers and the crash foam in the front, it does absorb a little bit more than the previous car. We’re sitting in 30 600 pounds of steel going 180 miles an hour, like when you hit something it’s going to hurt. you could make the car as safe as you want to but you’re body’s not made to go from 180 to 100 miles an hour in a split second and that’s what we are asking to do. It’s almost an impossible task, but it’s also you know hey, we know what we signed up for. That’s why we get paid a lot of money for a short period of time to do something a lot of other people won’t.”

YOU PARTICIPATED IN LAST FALL TEST IN CHARLOTTE, WHICH WAS THE FIRST TIME YOU GET TO TEST THE NEW CARS ON THE ROAD COURSE. DO YOU THINK YOU WILL HAVE AN ADVANTAGE THIS WEEKEND OR WAS IT TOO LONG AGO AND THE TWO TRACKS ARE TOO DIFFERENT?
“It’s definitely not a disadvantage. You know getting an understanding of how aggressive you can be on the down shifts, how much better braking potential with bigger brake rotors and overall package, has I think the Next Gen car was designed for many different reasons, but I feel like it’s best suited for road courses with wider tires with narrower side walls and that sequential box and bigger brakes. It is going to handle and be a more fun car to drive as opposed to the taxi cabs that we had that wouldn’t turn, wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t go and they had really narrow tires. I think 15-20 minutes of practice, everybody will be up to speed generally by the end of it once you figure out what your markers are. It’s definitely not going to hurt to have some laps of a couple days here at the ROVAL to transfer but the ROVAL across the street from Spire is really not a road course. It’s a bunch of access roads inside of an oval. COTA is a road course designed to F1 specs where there’s some fast, flowy corners, there’s some real slow, technical corners and some heavy braking zones when you’re going almost 190 miles an hour down to probably 35 or 40. So, that’s a road course and that will be the first true test of these cars here this weekend.”
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.

Roush Fenway Keselowski Weekly Advance | COTA

The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) heads to its first of six road courses races this season, and second-ever trip to Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Last season, weather was the story of the weekend in Austin at the 3.41-mile track, as Chris Buescher again returns to his home state, while Brad Keselowski is in search of his first Cup win on a road course.

NASCAR Cup Series Race at Circuit of the Americas
Sunday, March 27 | 3:30 p.m. ET
FOX, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

· Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang

RFK to Honor Employee on COTA Cars

RFK unexpectedly lost a dedicated member of its family last week. Tim Duncan, a Maintenance Facilities Technician at RFK, passed away on the job on March 16 of natural causes. Duncan, originally from Spartanburg, S.C., was a valued member of the RFK team. He was known as a walking encyclopedia of knowledge who had a soft spot for animals, and at one time was a certified Journeyman in the state of South Carolina.

RFK will run decals in his honor on the c-post of its Ford Mustangs this weekend in Texas. Duncan was 55.

Road Racing Success

As an organization, RFK has made 370 starts on road courses across NASCAR’s major touring series and has recorded 15 wins, 70 top-fives, 136 top-10s, 11 poles and 880 laps led.

Martin Goes Three-Straight in N.Y.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin is responsible for four of Jack Roush’s road course wins all-time, including three-straight at Watkins Glen from 1993-95. Martin dominated the three years, leading a combined 183 laps, and won all three from the pole. He also won once in Sonoma, in 1997, after also starting from the point to lead 69 of the 74 laps.

Edwards Victorious Four Times, at Four Different Courses

Carl Edwards also visited victory lane for Jack Roush at Sonoma, driving to the win in 2014 after starting fourth. In Xfinity action, Edwards was victorious at WGI in 2012, Road America in 2010, and Montreal in 2009. In the 2012 event in New York, current crew chief Scott Graves was atop the box for one of his two Xfinity wins all-time on road courses.

Buescher, Graves Former Road Course Winners

In Buescher’s first full-time Xfinity season in 2014, he and Graves found victory lane at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, which also fell on August 16. Buescher led 25 laps that day in the No. 60 entry for Roush.

RFK Road Course Wins

1993-1 Martin WGI-Cup

1994-1 Martin WGI-Cup

1995-1 Martin WGI-Cup

1997-1 Martin Son-Cup

2014-1 Edwards Son-Cup

2012-1 Edwards WGI-NXS

2010-1 Edwards RA-NXS

2009-1 Edwards Mon-NXS

2014-1 Buescher Mid-O NXS

1998-1 Ruttman WGI-Truck

2000-1 Biffle WGI-Truck

1997-1 Ruttman Top-Truck

1999-1 Bliss Top-Truck

1997-1 Ruttman Son-Truck

1999-1 Biffle Port-Truck

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Advance |Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 Boot Barn Ford Mustang, won last year’s inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas. Now in his first season at the NASCAR Cup Series level, Gilliland participated in a media call this morning to talk about this weekend’s event.

TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 Boot Barn Ford Mustang – HOW DID NOT HAVING YOUR CREW CHIEF IMPACT YOU LAST WEEK AND HOW SEVERE IS THE PENALTY? “It’s definitely never a good thing, especially being a rookie trying to work with my crew chief for the first time. It happened in our second race of the season, so I feel like we were just getting in a good flow of our rhythm every weekend and just to have that broken up now for four weeks is really really tough, but we have my Truck Series crew chief, Chris Lawson, calling the races, so we’re still down a guy throughout the whole tech process, throughout practice to make changes. Obviously, we can still be in communication with Seth as far as text messages and calling him after, but just that small communication gap that we have now where you don’t have time to have that gap. You have to make decisions faster than ever with limited practice and all this, so to answer the first part it’s really tough to have a communication gap. I mean, it gets frustrating at times just because you don’t get answers as fast as you would like to, and then as far as the severity of the penalty, obviously I think we’re kind of biased to it, but we think it’s a little bit too much for us, just because – at least my understanding and I’m probably getting one side of the story – but the rule was kind of created back when crew chiefs were the ones kind of making the call of how many lugnuts to put on and nowadays you’re not trying to get an advantage. I guess you’re trying to have a fast pit stop so that leads to mistakes, but the rule kind of came up within a different era of pit stops and lugnuts than we are in now.”

WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK AT ATLANTA? IT’S HARD TO TELL FROM THE VIDEO. “Atlanta, I definitely feel super super dumb about that. When we got in the first wreck we bent a right-rear toe link, so we were on pit road and went five laps down with that. We were just trying to get them back. We took one wave around, me and the 34 did at the same time, so we ended up pitting and coming back out we ended up together drafting. And then I guess it was a lack of communication and a lack of me asking what I should do. I’ve never really gotten lapped super quick like that, especially at a superspeedway type place. It’s probably the worst possible scenario, but just throughout practice and stuff I had seen guys getting out of the draft on top, so in my mind I had never really even thought twice that we were both just gonna go to the top once the pack was half a straightaway back and we were just gonna get out of the way that way, but then as soon as I moved up and I saw the 34 stay on the bottom I knew I had screwed up pretty big. I should have asked. I feel really really bad about making myself look dumb, first off, by making the pack split us. I’ve been on the other side of it and it’s super super frustrating when lapped cars do that, so I feel bad about it, but, like I said, I guess communication error. I should have asked, but then the wreck I feel like I just got too high. I was top of four-wide, three-wide and I was trying to get out of the way as fast as possible and then I got up into the dirt and kind of just spun out.”

YOU WON IN THE TRUCK SERIES AT COTA LAST YEAR. HOW MUCH DOES HAVING THAT EXPERIENCE HELP YOU HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND? “I think it gives me a lot of confidence, especially since we talk about the Next Gen car being an equalizer, and then COTA also. Everyone has only been there one time and I didn’t realize talking to my teammate Michael McDowell that they only ran like one lap in the dry all weekend, which was for qualifying I believe. We were able to practice in the dry the day before and even that I feel like I have more laps in the dry than anyone there, so I’m just really looking forward to it. It’s a beautiful racetrack. I love road course racing in general. It’s a lot of fun. It seems like you’re always busy inside the car, so, overall, I’d say I have a lot of confidence going to COTA and I’m just super excited about it in general.”

HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE YOUR SEASON SO FAR? “I think through the first five races I’m actually kind of happy with how it’s been going. It’s hard to set real expectations, but I’d say the first four races at least, obviously last week I feel it went really bad, probably as bad as possible for me, but before that I feel like we’ve been staying out of trouble and feel like I’ve been racing good cars, good drivers and I feel like gaining their respect for the most part. That’s hard to do over the course of 500 miles or 400 miles is be the one that doesn’t make the mistake, so I feel good about that. I think, overall, it’s been going really well.”

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES AT COTA AND WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD ROAD COURSE RACER? “That’s a tough one. I feel like to be a good road course racer, I was joking with my team yesterday and said it’s pretty simple when you think about it, you just gas it as hard as you can and brake as late and as hard as you can into the next corner, so that’s what I’ve always just had a lot of fun with it – just drive as hard as you can every single lap. I think the Next Gen car is just gonna be challenging in general on the road course. Front Row Motorsports has never been to a test with it, so we’re just kind of putting our best guess out there, which I guess is kind of how it’s been all year going to the racetrack, but I think there’s just not much notes on the Next Gen car that’s gonna race on a road course, so we’re gonna be learning a lot every single lap, but I think the biggest thing that makes a road course racer good is just being really precise on where they hit every line every lap.”

DO YOU HAVE TO GO AND TALK TO CODY WARE OR DID HE REACH OUT TO YOU BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED? DID YOU TALK TO ANYBODY ELSE? “I texted Cody right after. He just started working out at the same place I do the week before, so I just talked to him for the first time and then I go and do that, so I texted him right away. I felt really bad. Like he said, he was running a really good race. It’s tough to stay on the lead lap for these things and he was doing a really good job of that. I always hate to take people out by dumb mistakes, but as far as everyone else, I didn’t even know where the start. Like you said, literally the whole field passed me and I knew we were in a bad spot, so I didn’t reach out to anyone else, but obviously I feel bad that I did it to everyone.”

WHAT HAVE YOU NOTICED WITH THIS NEW CAR AND ITS ABILITY TO TAKE DAMAGE AND CONTINUE RACING? “It is tough. I feel like I hit the wall decently hard with the right side the first time, and so it’s a little bit different. I feel like the right-rear bent easier than what it would have with last year’s car, but the difference is with the Next Gen car we were able to take the five laps and fix it to where I was actually just as competitive as before, whereas with the old car it might have not bent as much, but you definitely weren’t gonna be able to fix it during the race. I think there are kind of two sides to it. I think the Next Gen car, being able to fix the cars is awesome. I’ve kept saying we were going five laps down, but my team and I think we can get it to where we can change that part much faster during the race scenario, and then just seeing Ross Chastain. Before he hit the wall like that, with a steel body the right side is pancaked in and it’s not gonna be competitive. I think he finished in second place, but it’s not gonna be that competitive when you go back out, so I think that’s the biggest thing is the composite body is much nicer. It popped back out, pop off the tire, which is a huge thing, and then just being able to switch out a rear toe link or some parts during the race I think will be nicer, too.”

HOW MUCH WILL THE COMPOSITE BODY CHANGE THINGS? WILL THIS SPORT BECOME EVEN MORE PHYSICAL IF THE BODY CAN TAKE MORE BEATING AND BANGING? “I can definitely see it getting more physical. It almost just takes me back to watching the Xfinity cars. I feel like they don’t have a worry in their mind about the body. It’s gonna pop back out, so that’s a good thing for the fans and also kind of a bad thing and sometimes frustrating thing for the drivers, so I guess we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes. I think the Cup Series guys race with a lot of respect, but also you see it get really physical sometimes anyway, so I can definitely see it going that way.”

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON RICHMOND AND EXPECTATIONS GOING THERE IN A CUP CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME? “I’m expecting a tough race at Richmond. I had a tough time there in the truck, just the front straightaway you don’t have much grip at all. You’re always just trying to get the power down and then a really long Cup race with a lot more power, I think will just make that even that much harder, but my team and I have been working really hard and based off Phoenix stuff, like I said, we just don’t have many notes. So, we’re trying to compare Phoenix and Richmond and been in the simulator, so just trying to get our best foot forward. I feel like this is gonna be our first time of kind of having something to go off of, so part of me is really excited that I think we can put our best foot forward and unload fast at Richmond, but part of me knows I still have a lot to learn at Richmond also.”

DO YOU THINK NOT DOING THE TEST AT THE ROVAL PUTS YOU AT A DISADVANTAGE AT COTA? “I guess there are kind of two parts to it. I think it puts us at a bit of a disadvantage just not ever having one on the road course, just to know some little things, but also that test was so early on that so many different parts of the car have changes, so many different rules. I think not being there, we’re trying to say that it’s maybe not as big of a disadvantage because the rules have changed, but I think certainly going to the road course this weekend we’d all wish that Front Row would have been at that test back then to at least have a little bit of a notebook.”

HOW ARE YOU GUYS MANAGING YOUR CAR FLEET FROM A DRIVER’S PERSPECTIVE? “Last week, I walked in the shop and I think it was the most I’ve ever seen is we had seven Next Gen car bodies on just sitting there. I don’t exactly how many are race ready, but it’s definitely kind of an interesting feeling going to the racetrack knowing you have one backup car for two teams, not that you ever want to use it or expect to, but it’s just a nice safety blanket to at least know you have a car in the hauler. So, I think it’s definitely in the back of your mind, but once you get to the race I’d say you race as hard as you can and really once you wreck, you’re still trying to salvage everything you can. It’s still a long season and you’ve got to get as many points and the best finish possible every week.”

WHICH ROAD COURSE SUITS YOUR STYLE THE MOST AND WHICH SUITS YOUR STYLE THE LEAST? “That’s a tough question. I think one that I’ve struggled with in the past is Sonoma, but I haven’t run there since the K&N West days in 2017, I think. I would like to think I’ve gotten a little bit better since then and hopefully I’ll not struggle as bad there, but I think I would just have to say COTA is probably my best one. I’ve ran one at Watkins Glen before in the trucks also, so I’m really looking forward to those two and Sonoma, I think I have a lot to learn and we’ll go to a couple new ones, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun. Hopefully, we can just get a good finish here and build some confidence going into those next ones.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THE TRACK HAS CHANGED BECAUSE OF THE PARTIAL REPAVE? HOW WILL YOU ADAPT TO THAT? “I hope the repave will help with a lot more grip. I think we’re going back with a little bit softer tire or even maybe the same as last year and last year we wore out tires like crazy fast in practice when it was in the dry, so hopefully that’s not as bad as the tire wear last year and hopefully it has a little bit more grip and maybe a little bit faster lap time, but I think it’s gonna be a good thing.”

TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE MID-EIGHTIES THIS WEEKEND. WHAT IS THAT GOING TO BE LIKE FOR YOU GUYS IN THE CAR? “I feel like the first one, no matter how much you prepare or not, will always be pretty warm and catch you off guard a little bit. I’m just really looking forward to it. It’s still a relatively short race. This might be a good way to ease into it. I think it’s only like 215-ish miles, 212 miles, so, like I said, a short race and we’re definitely working a lot more than normal, I would say. It’s gonna be tough. It’s gonna be the first one of the year and you just have to get through it. I think for some guys it might be tough and just in general the Next Gen car is hotter. We’ve heard that all throughout the off-season and everything. I’m lucky I got into it after they made all the changes, so I haven’t been too bad, but I’m sure this weekend it’s gonna be really hot in there. And then the obvious stuff like cool box and cool suit, you’ve got to make sure all that stuff is working right this weekend.”

BOOT BARN IS A NEW SPONSOR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT RELATIONSHIP? “It is really cool and it was kind of funny, me and Zane (Smith) went to the Boot Barn here in Concord yesterday and picked out a whole outfit. We actually have a photo shoot today at the shop, but I got some boots. I got a Texas-sized belt buckle that has a longhorn on it, so I’m fully kitted out to go to Texas this weekend. It’s really cool to have a national brand like Boot Barn on board, just really to represent hard-working people. It’s really cool.”

This Week in Motorsports: March 21-27, 2022

· NCS/NXS/NCWTS: Circuit of the Americas (Austin, Texas) – March 26-27

PLANO, Texas (March 23, 2022) – NASCAR goes left and right for the first time this season as it makes its second-ever stop at the Circuit of the Americas road course, just outside of Austin, Texas.

NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NCWTS

Stellar on the Road… Martin Truex Jr. is always one to watch on the road courses. He earned his second career victory in Sonoma in 2013 and since has added additional road course wins at Watkins Glen in 2017 and Sonoma in 2019.

Busch looks to add two more COTA wins… Kyle Busch is the defending winner of the Xfinity Series race at the Circuit of the Americas. He will not defend that title; however, he has two more chances to add Austin hardware this weekend as he competes in his second Truck Series race of the season aboard the No. 51 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, which went to victory lane on Saturday with Toyota development driver Corey Heim behind the wheel. Busch will also pilot his No. 18 Toyota Camry TRD in the Cup Series race on Sunday.

Bubba goes for two… Bubba Wallace will get extended time on track this weekend as he returns to the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing for the first time in nearly a decade. Wallace will pilot the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra. The Alabama-native made his first six career Xfinity Series starts for the team and earned his first pole and top-10 finish in 2012 and 2013. Wallace made one Xfinity Series start last season, guiding the No. 61 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota GR Supra to a top-10 finish in Michigan.

Gibbs continues to impress… Last season’s rookie of the year, Ty Gibbs, continues to impress in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Gibbs led just one lap in Atlanta, but it was the most important one, as he made a bold last lap move to score his second win of the season and sixth in just 23 career starts. He will make his track debut at COTA this weekend.

Chase debuts… Sam Hunt Racing (SHR) will introduce drivers to the Xfinity Series for two consecutive race weekends. In COTA, Texas-native Parker Chase will make his series debut. The road-course ace ran at COTA last season for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series, where he qualified in the top-10. He will compete for a team that has been impressive to start the season, as they sit inside the top-10 in the owner point standings.

Smith continues to lead… Chandler Smith continues to lead the overall NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings after another top-five finish in Atlanta. The Las Vegas winner leads the overall standings by 13 points. Seven of the top-10 drivers in the current point standings drive Toyota Tundra TRD Pros.

Majeski coming off career-best… Ty Majeski is coming off a career-best third place run in the Truck Series race at Atlanta. The Wisconsin-native is one of two drivers with top-10 finishes in the first three races and sits third in the overall point standings. The ThorSport Racing driver will make his track debut in Austin this weekend.

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FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS ADVANCE

For the second consecutive season, all three of NASCAR’s top touring series will be competing on the road course at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. This also marks the second straight weekend that the NASCAR Camping World Truck and NASCAR Xfinity Series will be part of a doubleheader on Saturday. The NASCAR Cup Series is scheduled to close out the two-day show on Sunday afternoon. Here’s a look at some of Ford’s road racing history as COTA hosts the first of six Cup road course events this year.

This Week’s Schedule:

Saturday, March 26 – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, 1 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, March 26 – NASCAR Xfinity Series, 4:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Sunday, March 27 – NASCAR Cup Series, 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX)

ONE YEAR AGO

Todd Gilliland became the first NASCAR driver to win a national series event at Circuit of the Americas when he captured the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race last season. In a weekend that was hampered by rain, Gilliland was able to manage the mixed conditions of dry and wet pavement to win by nearly eight seconds. Gilliland, who registered his second series win that day, will be looking for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory this weekend as he continues his rookie season driving for Front Row Motorsports.

FORD’S ACTIVE ROAD COURSE CUP WINNERS

There are three current drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series race on a road course with Ford. The most recent winner was Ryan Blaney, who captured the inaugural event at the Charlotte Roval in 2018. Kevin Harvick, who goes into this weekend with 23 career Ford victories in just over five years, got his first with the Blue Oval in 2017 when he won at Sonoma. Joey Logano scored his Cup victory at Watkins Glen International in 2015, which completed a weekend sweep after he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race one day earlier.

OTHER FORD ROAD COURSE WINNERS

Besides the drivers mentioned above, Ford has six other active Cup competitors who have won on a road course in either the NASCAR Cup, NASCAR Xfinity or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Brad Keselowski (Watkins Glen NXS with Ford, 2013); Chris Buescher (Mid-Ohio NXS with Ford, 2014); Michael McDowell (Road America NXS, 2016); Austin Cindric (NXS wins with Ford at Watkins Glen, 2019; Mid-Ohio, 2019; Road America, 2020, Daytona Road Course, 2020; and Indianapolis Road Course, 2021); Chase Briscoe (NXS wins with Ford at Charlotte Roval, 2018; and Indianapolis Road Course, 2020); and Todd Gilliland (Circuit of the Americas NCWTS with Ford, 2021).

FORD ROAD COURSE WINS IN THE MODERN ERA (1972-Present)

Circuit of the Americas is one of eight road courses the NASCAR Cup Series has competed on in the modern era, joining Riverside International Raceway (1958-88), Watkins Glen International (1957-Present), Sonoma Raceway (1989-Present), Charlotte Motor Speedway (2018-Present), Daytona International Speedway (2020-2021), Road America (2021-Present) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2021-Present). Ford has produced a total of 19 combined wins at those facilities from 1972-Present. Mark Martin leads the way with four victories, including three straight years at Watkins Glen, while Ricky Rudd, Marcos Ambrose and Geoffrey Bodine have two each.

CHASE BRISCOE
COTA Advance
No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 27
● Location: Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas
● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course
● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps
● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, for the sixth stop on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. The 27-year-old driver is fresh off a frustrating 15th-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Briscoe started on the pole and led five of the first six laps of the race before getting hung out of the pack and falling toward the back of the field. The No. 14 team worked its way back into the top-five before Briscoe and Ford Performance teammate Ryan Blaney got loose while making a run for the lead and made contact with the outside wall on the final lap.

● With five races complete, Briscoe currently holds a spot in the 16-driver playoff field by virtue of his win two weekends ago at Phoenix Raceway. He has two top-five finishes and sits third in points, 15 behind leader Chase Elliott.

● In last year’s inaugural event at COTA, Briscoe earned his first Cup Series top-10, finishing sixth after starting 27th. He went on to earn two additional top-10s, both coming at road course events – sixth at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and ninth at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. When the Cup Series took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in August, Briscoe qualified second and led 12 laps, nearly earning his first Cup Series victory before going off track with two laps to go and incurring a penalty that ended his bid.

● In addition to his top-10 performances in the Cup Series, two of Briscoe’s biggest wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series came on road courses. His first win, earned on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval in 2018, has been credited as the win that saved his career. In 2020, when the Xfinity Series debuted its stock cars on the Indianapolis road course, Briscoe led a race-high 30 of 62 laps to capture a dominating win in front of his hometown crowd.

● This Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix serves as a home race for Mahindra Tractors, a brand of Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America. Part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, Mahindra Ag North America is the No. 1-selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners, and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort at a great value. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How are things behind the scenes with your new sponsors?

“It’s been really cool. I’ve been super fortunate my entire career. I’ve had really good relationships with all of the sponsors I’ve had and they are all incredible people. We’ve been able to build a lot of really cool things, but Mahindra Tractors is different in that it’s really the first time I’ve been aligned, with the exception of maybe one or two times, with an actual consumer brand. You look at HighPoint.com, for example, it’s not as much of a consumer play. It’s more of a B2B thing, whereas Mahindra is trying to sell tractors to fans and that’s something that I haven’t really had at the higher levels of NASCAR. It’s been cool to see the approach and what they’re trying to do to correlate that over to tractor sales, and it’s been a lot of fun. Anytime you can bring a new partner into the sport, it’s special, and to be able to do it in a way that we’ve been able to do it and make a big splash, it’s all because of them. They are obviously investing a lot, not only with the race team but with our broadcast partners and things like that. Not only are they seeing the success in all of this, but it’s also helping my brand to let people see my personality in these commercials and some of the other things we’re working on. We’re not done, yet. It’s just been a lot of fun for me to see how enthusiastic they are about this race team and it’s been a lot of fun.”

What are your thoughts about COTA based on last year’s race?

“From the racetrack standpoint, I feel like I’m kind of going there for the first time, just because last year I don’t think I ever ran a single lap in the dry. I think we practiced, qualified, everything in the wet, so it’s going to be like learning a whole new racetrack this week. I know from a facility standpoint it’s pretty remarkable. It’s super cool to go out there. Even last year in the rain, there were a ton of fans out there, so I’m excited to see what it looks like this year. I didn’t get to do a ton of exploring in the city last year, but I know Austin is a really cool town. I’m going to try to do a little bit more this year while we’re there, just because we’re there a little bit longer than usual. I’m super excited to get back. I’m really excited, truthfully, just to get this Next Gen car on a road course. Based on some of the testing we did on the (Charlotte) Roval, they’re a blast to run on the road course. I’m curious to see what the racing will be like. I think it will definitely change the landscape of these road-course races. I think you’re going to see a lot more guys that are competitive than in years past because you can drive this car so much harder. It does a lot of things a lot better than the old car, so it’ll be interesting to see how that works out and plays out. It looks like the weather is going to be really good and it should be a great show.”

What can we expect this weekend on a dry track, in comparison?

“I think it’ll definitely be different than what we saw last year. I mean, last year’s race will look way different than this year’s race with the weather. It was a different style of racing when it was that wet, but from a driver’s standpoint it’s a lot of fun, just the visibility is obviously tough. And then, from a fan’s standpoint, it’s tough to see what’s going on and a little more miserable than if it was a really nice day. I think this car on the road courses is where it’s really going to shine and, truthfully, on the oval stuff, it’s been a lot better than what people expected. I think the road course is probably going to blow it out of the park. It’s a really well-built racecar, especially for road-course racing. It’s going to be interesting to see with 40 of us out there going for it versus just a test session where only a couple of guys are on track, but I think COTA is a really good racetrack to unveil this thing on a road course and I’ve been really excited to get there, so I’m looking forward to it.”

You’ve had a chance to work with Joey Hand in preparation for the road-course races on the schedule. How has he helped you with your road-course development?

“It’s been huge. Joey is obviously an extremely good road-course racer. He has a little bit of a dirt background, so he can kind of relate to what I go through, but it’s been huge. Anytime you can have somebody come from a different discipline and different style driving cars and give input, it’s huge. We’ve seen that with other manufacturers kind of doing the same thing and, for me, I like criticism. I like people telling me what I’m doing wrong, and he literally just gave me a whole sheet of different things I could try. And I think the good thing about being at the simulator and having Joey there is just the fact that you can run laps, he can see it and come out and say, ‘Hey, try this, this and this,’ and you can apply it. You don’t have to wait until the weekend to try things. I know last year I was definitely able to find speed in places that he was telling me to try based on what we did in the simulator. Now we have to race against him. I’ve been telling him that I think he’s going to be really, really good this weekend. It’ll be interesting to see how those guys run. This thing, in a sense, is a lot like a sportscar, which is what he’s used to, so I’m excited to see him run this weekend and think he’ll be one of the guys to beat.”

No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Chase Briscoe
Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: John Klausmeier
Hometown: Perry Hall, Maryland

Car Chief: J.D. Frey
Hometown: Ferndale, California

Engineer: Mike Cook
Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engineer: Marc Hendricksen
Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey

Spotter: Joey Campbell
Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey
Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Chris Jackson
Hometown: Rock Hill, South Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Jack Man: Brandon Banks
Hometown: High Point, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Corey Coppola
Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams
Hometown: Naples, Florida

Tire Specialist: Keith Eads
Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips
Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri

Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Rob Fink
Hometown: Mocksville, North Carolina