NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
WISE POWER 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 26, 2022

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Auto Club Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

WHAT ARE YOUR INITIAL THOUGHTS OF THE NEXT GEN CAR? WE’VE HAD IT ON THE SHORTEST TRACK AND THE LONGEST TRACK; OBVIOUSLY TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCENARIOS. HERE, WE’RE KIND OF GOING INTO THE MORE NATURAL FLOW OF THINGS WITH THE PACKAGE THAT WE’RE GOING TO BE RUNNING FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. DO YOU HAVE ANY EXPECTATIONS; OR IS WHEN THE GREEN FLAG WAVES, IT’S PUTTING ON THE LEARNERS HAT AND LEARNING AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AS QUICK AS YOU CAN?
“I don’t know what to expect. I didn’t have much experience in the car this off season, so I was learning a lot when I got to the Clash and even Daytona. I thought it was a fairly similar feeling to the other cars. It has its little bit of differences, but those tracks are so unique that I don’t think we’re really getting an idea of what the differences are and what stands out until we get out on track today and really through this west coast swing. I think it’s a good test for what we’ll feel and what it’ll be like throughout the rest of the year. We’re at a 2-mile track this week, 1.5-mile next and a short track following that. So, once we get through the west coast swing, I think we’ll have a good idea of the differences and who’s learning quickly and who’s not.”

DAYTONA IS A WILD CARD FACTOR, BUT HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET BACK ON TRACK AND PUT UP GOOD FINISHES RIGHT AFTER?
“Yeah, definitely. We had a DNF, so we need to come here, have a good run and makeup on the points that we lost out on there. It’s definitely an important weekend to go out there, qualify good and race well tomorrow. I’m excited about it. I love this place. I’ve had some good runs here in the past, so we’ll try and get another one tomorrow.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE IF YOU’LL BE ABLE TO RUN THE HIGH LINE HERE?
“Yeah, I’m not sure. Watching a little bit of the Xfinity practice, it doesn’t look way different. Guys are still moving around; the pace falls off a lot. So, it doesn’t seem too different. I haven’t talked to anybody if the grip feels different or whatnot with the resin anyways. With the new car, I don’t know if we’ll be able to run the fence like we did before. I guarantee (Tyler) Reddick will probably be one of the first ones to try it, so we’ll all keep an eye on him. If he’s making speed up there, then yeah, we’ll try it. I just feel like with the aerodynamics of this car, it might be a little tougher to pack air against it and go really fast. But hopefully our car is good enough that we don’t have to rely on that.”

WE’RE HERE BACK IN CALIFORNIA, YOUR HOME STATE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE HERE IN FRONT OF A HOME STATE CROWD?
“Yeah, it’s great. I feel like we’re spending a lot of time out here in California to start the year, so that’s good. It’s just a fun place. It doesn’t matter to me I guess that it’s in California or not, I just love this race track and love coming here. I’m probably biased to it for sure, but I feel like the west coast fans are the best. This infield, to me, is the best in the sport. Just a lot of fun throughout there. Everybody riding their bicycles around with their wheels lit up; parties throughout different campsites and stuff. They enjoy it and it helps us all enjoy it too. And then you get to go out there and compete on a really fun, worn out racetrack.

“I love being out there. Southern California is a lot different, so it doesn’t feel like home to me like Northern California. But either way, you get to come out here, eat some good food and enjoy some great weather.”

THIS WEEK, IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT YOU’RE PROMOTING AN EVENT AT BULLS GAP SPEEDWAY PRIOR TO BRISTOL. HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT? WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS? HOW DOES THIS FIT INTO THE EMPIRE, IF YOU WILL?
“It kind of came together late. Just through my relationship with Flo Racing – initially the idea of it started because I want to someday, somehow, bring back something similar to the Prelude to the Dream. So, I got talking with Michael Rigsby about that. That kind of turned into – well there’s no race at Bristol leading up to the Cup race like they had last year where a lot of the Cup guys went and ran. So then, Bulls Gap kind of got thrown around and we ended up putting on that event. It should be a lot of fun.

“For me, I just hope people pay attention to it; a lot of fans come out and experience a new style of racing that maybe they’ve never seen in person. It’s only 45 minutes or so from Bristol and it’s the night before we’re on track there. So hopefully, we get a lot of fans there. But then, in the future, I would love to get an event going like Tony (Stewart) and Eldora (Speedway) had with the Prelude. There’s obviously a totally new generation of drivers out there. I never got to compete in the Prelude to the Dream. It ended right when I got to NASCAR, so I would love to do that and would love to bring it back someday. To me, this is kind of the beginning of that or moving towards that. Like I said, hopefully someday we can do it.”

YOU SAID YOU REALLY ENJOY THIS TRACK AND YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS HERE. WHILE THE POTENTIAL FOR THIS TRACK GETTING CONVERTED TO A HALF-MILE IS ALWAYS STILL THERE, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? IF IT WERE CONVERTED, WOULD YOU MISS THE WAY THE TRACK IS RIGHT NOW?
“Yeah, I mean I would miss it. I love this style of track and the way the surface is wore out. But as much as I love these intermediate-style tracks – and we saw it at the Clash – that short tracks are what makes this sport, to me, exciting. I’m for more short tracks. They don’t suit me very well, but I still think for the betterment of the sport, that we need more of them. I would like to see it. I know that it’s a big undertaking and I’m sure budgets and stuff have changed since COVID. So, that may be why it hasn’t happened to this point yet. But yeah, I think it would get a lot of people even more excited about this event.”

WITH THE REINTRODUCTION TO QUALIFYING AND A VERY CONDENSED VERSION OF PRACTICE, LAST YEAR IT WAS A SOLID YEAR FOR YOU. YOU WERE STARTING UPFRONT BECAUSE YOU WERE FINISHING GREAT. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE ALL OF THIS COMING BACK THIS YEAR?
“Yeah, I think it’ll be interesting. There’s really no time to work on your car. Especially here in the early portions of the season, with me, I don’t know what to expect when I got into turn one at any of these racetracks until we get a few races in and all that. I don’t know – it’s a cool opportunity to get some track time and kind of shake the order of the starting lineup up a little bit. Last year, we started upfront a lot because we were upfront in points, were running fast laps and finished up front. Which was awesome and I think our car was fast enough that we probably could have qualified on the pole as often as we earned the pole with the criteria that they had.

“But yeah, at least we’ll get some sort of competitiveness to try and go out there and help our weekends out. Especially too, like for us, with last week at Daytona and having a bad race, we would have started in the 30’s here. So, now we have an opportunity to go out there and start on the pole, which is great. Not a lot of track time to learn and really get an idea, but it should be fun.”

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO GET OUT OF THESE 15-MINUTES OF PRACTICE?
“Just get comfortable with the car, really. Like I said, I don’t think there’s enough time to adjust on your car at all. And two, with the surface and how quickly it wears your tires out, I think making two or three-lap runs and coming in and trying to make an adjustment – unless your car is way off – will only hurt you. We’ll try and go out there; run as long as I can and just get familiar with things. Just get comfortable. We haven’t been here in a couple of years. I haven’t run this car on a track like this, so just try and get comfortable and confidence before qualifying.”

DENNY HAMLIN’S CREW CHIEF SAID THIS TRACK IS PROBABLY THE HARDEST TRACK FOR ROOKIES OR FOR YOUNG DRIVERS. DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT AND DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE THE VETERANS EXCELING HERE BECAUSE IT’S JUST SUCH A TOUGH TRACK FOR THE YOUNG, TALENTED DRIVERS?
“It’s definitely a tough track, but I think everybody is really talented. And for like Chase Briscoe, for instance, I feel like he does really well on tracks like this. This place kind of reminds me of a dirt track, just because of the seams, patches and little marks that you have to try and hit to get grip.

“Yeah, I mean I think there’s that part where the veterans know those areas that allow their car to go a little bit faster. I think veterans will have the edge for a little while; but like I said, everybody’s talented, so they’ll figure it out. If your car is good, your car is good and you’ll go fast.”

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Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

FONTANA, Calif. (February 26, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media prior to the Auto Club Speedway race this Saturday:

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

What are you anticipating taking to the track for the first time in almost two years?

“Just really the biggest difference I feel like is the new car. The track is very similar – not much difference on that. It’s still California Speedway, but the biggest thing is the new car and how this thing drives. When it feels good and everything is right, it drives similar to the old car but there is a lot of different things on it that makes it different. The feel is going to be different, just finding all of what that is in a short 15-minute practice to get ready for qualifying is what is first and foremost here.”

Have the drivers been told anything more about Harrison Burton’s flip in Daytona?

“Just looking at it, watching some of the replay – the 24 (William Bryon) was spun to the left. I was spun to left. We were actually sliding faster MPH than what the 21 (Harrison Burton) was when the 21 got hit. That’s when it kind of raised it up a little and got him lifted and so I don’t know. When you’re playing ping pong balls at 180 mph, while sliding, I’m not sure you’re going to be able to keep them on the ground. It’s fact of the matter, but the cars that did slide, it seemed as though they were just fine, I wouldn’t say there is an issue.”

Do you have your thoughts on what you expect with this new package?

“That’s definitely the number one priority – trying to be the fastest guy, trying to learn it the quickest, but also expectations – what do you expect? I think it’s going to be more similar to the 2018 cars when we were here with the smaller rear spoilers and the lesser downforce where you are going to be slipping and sliding a little bit. It’s not going to be locked down – great grip, almost wide open the last two times we ran here in 2019 and 2020 with the big, high downforce package and 550 horsepower package. Trying to just feel it out and see what it’s like. I think you are going to see a greater separation of the haves versus the have-nots just because who has this car figured out and who doesn’t yet. I think you will see some guys that really, really hit on it and they are going to be super-fast and some others where either their sim tools didn’t figure it out or they didn’t have sim tools to figure it out and they are going to be lost.”

What do you hope to get out of these 15-minute practice sessions?

“I don’t know really. You are just basically getting a gist of what your car is and an idea because even if you get 15-minutes of practice and you qualify terrible, you can’t take it to the garage and strip it apart and fix it. You’ve got what you’ve got. I think we are wasting a set of tires and gas with as short as it is and not being able to work on it. If we had the 15-minutes and then went straight into qualifying, great – no problem. I’m good with that, but if we all wanted to take it back to the garage and work on it overnight to fix our issues – me being able to talk to the crew chief (Ben Beshore), talk about what it is doing, not doing, what I need it to do better and all of that and then we sort of go through our simulation, go through ideas and concepts of what to do, what to try, what to better for the next day, you rebuild your car and you go to the tail of the field and you start the race where you start the race after rebuilding it overnight. That’s not the system we are in. That is not the sandbox that we are in. I’m in fantasyland.”

What are your thoughts on the potential track changes?

“This is a great drivers track. It’s very fun for us. It’s challenging. You are going really fast down the straightaways. You’re still going pretty fast through the turns, but you’ve got five lanes to work with – you’ve got bottom all the way to wall. Go back to 2013, I think was the last race in Michigan before they repaved that and then we came back in ’14 and Michigan has been terrible ever since. More banking at Michigan – it is different – but still a two-mile racetrack, but the racing has not been what this place has been able to produce. Being that it may go to a half-mile short track is completely different ballgame. We look at Atlanta – Atlanta went through a complete renovation, face-lift, all of that, and it’s going to be a superspeedway race. It’s going to be a completely different race than we’ve seen at Atlanta, but a half-mile here could be interesting, but they also have a great half-mile racetrack about 30-minutes from here too that I’ve seen some really good shows at, and we also put on a good show at the Coliseum, so I don’t know. It’s everybody’s interpretation and opinion really. Us drivers enjoy this place and like it the way it is. We liked Atlanta the way it was, but time for change – time for new. We all kind of learned. We saw that new can work with the Coliseum. I will 99% sell you that this place will get chopped up.”

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Media Availabilities | Saturday, February 26, 2022

Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway prior to practice and qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Below is a complete transcript.

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Rush/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford Mustang — WE’VE SEEN THE CAR ON THE SHORTEST AND BIGGEST TRACKS ON THE SCHEDULE SO FAR, WHAT ARE YOUR INITIAL THOUGHTS ON THIS CAR IN RACE ACTION: “I honestly like you can’t really gauge anything off of the Coliseum or Daytona as it relates to here or next week at Vegas. I think these are going to be more of our bread and butter type race tracks for the season and the ones we are going to have to be good at as we go through the season and you want to compete for a championship. You have to be good at the 1.5 mile and 2-mile race tracks. The downforce package is going to be the same all year whereas in years past we have had higher downforce and higher drag at the 1.5-mile and 2-mile race tracks and the lower drag, lower downforce package at the shorter tracks. Now we are going to have the same package with this new car at all the race tracks. How we run here, Vegas and Phoenix will really give us a good indicator of what we are in store for the season. Last week was essentially a superspeedway race like it always is. Daytona is only a really good indicator of what we will have at Talladega. I think even Atlanta is going to be different than what we had at Daytona.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang — “I would echo what Aric said. I feel like the short track deal, a lot of cars are going to drive similar on the short track and same as the superspeedway. I feel like they are all going to have that same look and feel to them. I think this weekend is definitely going to be the biggest test we have seen out of the Next Gen car, not only from a driving standpoint but durability and everything. I think this will be a hard test for the car with how hard this race track is on equipment and how slick it is and a lot of things. It will be interesting how this race plays out and then along with Vegas and then we have laps at Phoenix from testing. It will be interesting. Like Aric was saying, it will be nice to have the same package everywhere we go. I feel like we can finally learn some things.”

THIS FORMAT FOR PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING, HOW DO YOU APPROACH YOUR 15-MINUTES OF PRACTICE AND WHAT IS COMING UP HERE TODAY? “I think it is nice to have practice. We haven’t had that over the last year and a half. On the new car, you can’t really change anything. There are very minor adjustments. It is really just to kind of get a shakedown and have a general idea of what your car is going to do when it goes off into the corner on lap one of the race. I think qualifying was something that needed to come back. Doing the metric deal week in and week out, if you got buried in points you kind of just sucked for the whole year. It is nice to qualify but your strategy, I think with how hard it is to change anything, especially at a big track like this where you aren’t going to get a ton of laps because it is 40-second laps, you have to go run all the laps straight and hope there is not a caution to take away time. I think when you get to short tracks you might be able to come in and make one quick adjustment but outside of that it is going to be hard to change anything. It will be crucial for the teams to truly be on their game when they unload. It is hard to do that when we don’t really have any experience with this car. The simulators are going to get more and more use and it will be interesting to see what teams hit it right.”

ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED — “Yeah, I think here you are just not going to have enough time. By the time you roll out unless a car just drives awful on your first out lap and the travels are off or something like that, you are going to run all of practice. You just don’t have time. You don’t have time to roll down pit road, make a three or five-minute adjustment and go back out because practice will be over. From that aspect, yeah, every race track is going to be unique. When we go to Richmond, you don’t need to run all 15-minutes because that will be 45 or 50 laps, so you can go out there and run 15 or 20 laps and come down to make a quick adjustment and then go back out and run another 15 laps. It will be different from track to track for sure but I do think that bringing back qualifying is nice. The 15 minutes of practice, I don’t know how much that is really going to help us other than to give us an idea of what our car is going to drive like. Bringing qualifying back is nice and I was on both sides of it. Two years ago it seemed like we started in the top six or seven spots every week because we were up high enough in points and finishing good and running good and had fast laps during the race. It seemed like every week we started up front and it sure made it easier. You ran in the top-10 almost guaranteed the first stage of every race when you start up front and you scored stage points and you have a better selection on pit road which helps you. This past year I was on the opposite end of it where we finished last at Daytona and started the season off on speed and got buried in points and it seemed like we never started inside the top-20 except when we would qualify. We went to Nashville and qualified on the pole and it set the tone for our whole weekend and we had a good car and ran up front, all those things. Qualifying coming back is really nice just to be able to eliminate last weekend. Like, however you ran last weekend good or bad, that weekend is gone. The last couple of years that always seemed to kind of haunt you and carry over.”

IS THERE ANY EXTRA SENTIMENTALITY KNOWING THAT SOME OF THESE TRACKS IT IS THE LAST TIME YOU WILL BE HERE AS A FULL-TIME DRIVER? “Not really. Daytona was that way a little bit for me just because it is kind of home and it is the Daytona 500 but all these other race tracks as much as I enjoy coming and racing at all of them, I have done it long enough. I think this is maybe my 13th or 14th time here in a Cup car, even though it is a different kind of car. I have run a handful of Xfinity races here as well. It is business as usual. Fly out to Fontana, come here and go run a race. For me, it really is no different. I am focused on trying to maximize my weekend here and do everything we need to do in practice and qualifying today to set us up for tomorrow and try to win.”

CHASE BRISCOE CONTINUED — ANYTHING DIFFERENT FOR YOU BEING THIS IS YOUR FIRST RACE HERE AS A CUP DRIVER? “It will be different in terms of the guys I am racing against and the competition level. The good thing for me is that I don’t feel like I am at a disadvantage like I would typically be. Everybody hasn’t been here for over a year and their first laps in this car on this race track are going to be in practice. Last year in the old car, I felt like I would have been at a disadvantage jus showing up and racing and trying to figure it out but now I feel like I am on an equal playing field. I feel good about it. This is a slick, worn out race track and I feel like that has always done well for me in the past at race tracks like this. The Next Gen cars, who knows if you will be able to slip and slide it around like the old car but it will be fun to go out here and be on an equal playing field.”

ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED — HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SOME OF THE CHANGES AT STEWART HAAS RACING AS WE GET INTO THIS CRITICAL TIME OF THE YEAR? “I feel really good but we always do at this time of year. There is so much optimism starting the year. Nobody starts out the year going, ‘Man, we are going to be terrible this year.’ You don’t think that or feel that way until you realize it and usually, it is too late and you are scrambling and trying to figure out how to turn the ship around and that takes time. I feel good about it. I feel like Mike Bugarewicz is one of the smartest individuals in this entire garage and I felt that way when he was my crew chief as well. Moving him to a more leadership position in the organization and allowing him to focus on our entire organization versus just one car is going to be hugely beneficial. Just even after Daytona we came back and had meetings at the shop and his insight and his recommendations and the things that he sees and just his work ethic is already proving beneficial for our entire organization. I think it is going to be a huge bonus for our team to have him in that role. On the flip side, I think Drew is a great team leader and a great crew chief and has a proven track record with a lot of success when he was at Roush and has been at teams that haven’t had as much resources as he has now at SHR. I think he is going to be a great addition to our organization. I feel good abou tit and good about the direction we are headed on the shop floor and the way the whole engineering group and everybody is going about trying to maximize this new car. It is a new opportunity for everybody and it is really about who figures it out and sciences out all the nuances of this new car the fastest.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Subway Ford Mustang — WE’VE SEEN THE CAR ON THE SHORTEST AND BIGGEST TRACKS ON THE SCHEDULE SO FAR, WHAT ARE YOUR INITIAL THOUGHTS ON THIS CAR IN RACE ACTION AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND IN TERMS OF WHAT WILL BE TESTED WITH THE CAR? “I don’t really have any expectations. I feel like this is going to be trial and error as we go through several of these weekends. I don’t really have any expectations because I don’t have any real-life happenings that are relevant to what we are getting ready to do. I think as we drop the green flag and start the race, that is when you will really start to learn.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SOME OF THE CHANGES AT STEWART HAAS RACING AS WE GET INTO THIS CRITICAL TIME OF THE YEAR? “I think for our team it was probably our best year that we have had, last year, working through all the things that we did and wound up in the same spot we did winning nine races the year before. I think obviously Mike Bugarewicz is going to be a big key in the whole process and trying to speed that up and implement things and get the information to the crew chiefs and do the things that we need to do there. He has a great relationship with all the guys on the shop floor from his crew chief role and doing the things that he did. I feel like that is the biggest change. I think for our team it is to do exactly what we have done for the last eight years. I can’t speak for the others and what they think but I can speak on what I think of Mike and his position is ultra important because the process that we are going to go through with these cars as we go to these race tracks is going to be pretty rapid as far as the evolution of the car and understanding everything that comes with the car. Right now it is just a guess. It is a very well-educated guess but you truly have no idea until you put all the cars on the race track. Last week was a great example of that. The way you raced in the Duels was not the way you raced in the Daytona 500. They were two totally different situations. Everything at this particular point is somebody’s speculative guess, in my opinion.”

GIVEN WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH LAST SEASON, WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR GOING INTO THIS YEAR, DO YOU AND RODNEY LOOK AT IT AS A RESET? “No. That is what I just said. We are going to do the exact same thing that we have done for the last eight years. Last year is irrelevant. There is nothing to take from last year. It is all so much different. We could have a good week or a bad week and last week is irrelevant too. It is no different. In the end, you look at the box score and we finished fifth in the points both years. Top-10’s, top-fives we were about the same. We just didn’t get to victory lane but we had our chances to win a few of them and didn’t get to victory lane. It is just the way this works.”

YOUR SON KEELAN HAS GONE UP A LEVEL IN HIS RACING, I JUST WONDERED WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF HIS PROGRESSION SO FAR AND DOES HE SEEM TO ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS HE DID WHEN HE FIRST GOT STARTED? “His progression has been fine. He won his first national event in the upper class a couple of weeks ago, so that was sooner than expected. For him, as he gets older and matures and does things and sees and realizes the work that he puts in is rewarded with the results he gets out of it, I think that is starting to become a little bit different in the way that you can see him react when you tell him to do something and it isn’t the defensive, ‘I wanna go play’ look. Holding him accountable is important I think. A lot of drivers don’t get held accountable throughout their career and then you get here and get eaten up by the accountability that comes with your job and making those young kids realize, even at his age, that accountability is not only for racing but life in general of your actions and reactions and the things you do have accountability that goes with them. I think the speed hasn’t been a problem. Just teaching those types of things is as important as how fast he goes and how many races he wins.”

KYLE BUSCH SAID WITH HIS SON THAT HE IS STARTING TO PICK UP THINGS THAT HE IS COACHING HIM ON AND THEN WHEN HE GETS TO THE TRACK HE (KYLE) THINKS OF THE SAME THINGS. DOE THAT HAPPEN TO YOU? “Yeah, you know, we coach a lot of the same things. I think being repetitive with the things that you tell him and really implementing those basics of how to drive are important. For Keelan, I think his is a little bit different as we have brought other people in to try to create a little bit of a barrier between dad and son and just tried to coach through the coach and tried to have some sort of separation there. For him, it is received a little bit better. I think it just depends on what period of time you are in and one week they will do great and the next week show up and forget everything you’ve ever talked about and the next day they will remember everything. They are just young kids. At this point, you just want to get them as much experience as possible.”

DO YOU REMEMBER BEING THAT WAY OF NOT WANTING ADVICE OR WERE YOU JUST SORT OF DIFFERENT? “I would say there are a lot of similarities in the reactions and his demeanor and the way he goes about reacting to some of the things that you say. He carries a lot of the same tendencies that I do as far as driving style and things like that. There are some similarities.”

HARRISON BURTON HAD HIS FLIP IN THE RACE LAST SUNDAY. I KNOW YOU CAN’T ALWAYS KEEP CARS ON THE GROUND BUT IS THERE ANY CONCERN ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND HAS NASCAR TOLD THE DRIVERS ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED? “I am of the opinion that you will never design a car that will stay on the ground on a superspeedway. I have said that in meetings and everybody looks at me like I have three eyes but if you just go back and look through time, I have seen guys flip over on their own in qualifying. YOu just create so many situations where there are cars sideways and backwards and cars on the door and I just don’t know that it is a solvable problem.”

WHAT IS THERE TO TAKE AWAY FROM A RACE LIKE THIS, KNOWING THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THIS TRACK COULD BE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT NEXT TIME WE COME HERE? “You guys all think about that a lot differently than we do. For us, it is one week at a time and it is just another race. If we come back next year and it is a short track then we will come back with a short track setup. This is a driver favorite as far as being able to move around the track and the surface and everything that comes with that but there is also the reality of the type of race that everybody wants to see and short tracks are obviously a focus and something that everybody enjoys. Whatever they do, we will support it.”

IS THAT SOMETHING YOU SUPPORT OR WANT TO SEE CHANGED? “It doesn’t matter to me either way. I don’t have real deep feelings about it as far as the shape of the race track. It is just another race track.”

Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway … Richard Childress Racing has made 92 overall NASCAR Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway and has tallied one win, a thrilling victory by Kevin Harvick in 2011. RCR has three pole awards at the California track, led by Austin (2016 and 2019) and Mike Skinner (2000), and has 12 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes.

Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Auto Club Speedway … In 61 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 2.0-mile speedway, RCR has captured two victories with drivers Jeff Burton (2007) and Austin Dillon (2016) and has won five pole positions. The Welcome, N.C., based organization has racked up 20 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes, led 272 laps and completed 8,871 of a possible 9,154 laps (96.90 percent).

All Aboard … This weekend, NASCAR Cup Series drivers Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick are bringing back two new partners on their Chevrolet ZL1’s. Dillon will pilot the No. 3 Dow Coatings Chevrolet while Reddick hits the track in the No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet. Both are longtime partners of RCR and the entire organization is excited to have them on track this weekend in Fontana.

NASCAR is Back in Fontana … The most recent visit by NASCAR to Auto Club Speedway was in February of 2020, making this the first race back in two years. RCR driver Anthony Alfredo piloted the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro SS to a respectable sixth-place finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race while Tyler Reddick led the NASCAR Cup Series effort with an 11th-place finish in our last NASCAR Xfinity Series appearance at the track.

Catch All of Saturday’s Action … The Production Alliance 300 will be televised live on Saturday, February 26 at 5 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Prior to the race, you can catch Xfinity Series practice at 12 p.m. ET followed by Xfinity Series qualifying at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track for the first time at 2 p.m. ET for practice and will qualify directly after that at 2:35 p.m. ET on FS1.

Tune-In Information for Sunday’s Action … The Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway will be televised live Sunday, February 27 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Dow Coatings Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Auto Club Speedway … Dillon has seven previous NASCAR Cup Series starts to his credit at Auto Club Speedway, earning back-to-back top-10 finishes in 2018 and 2019. He is a two-time pole award winner at the 2.0-mile track (2016 and 2019). Dillon is a former NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner at Auto Club Speedway.

Dow brings a science and engineering crew who is driven by limitless curiosity to the RCR Team … Austin Dillon and the RCR team are again supported by Dow’s materials science expertise and technologies this season. Backed by the power of data analysis and virtual modeling, Dow develops and manufactures high-performance components and materials custom-made for the No. 3 car. Dow and RCR’s partnership has expedited innovation and shortened testing time in the automotive industry by recreating in the lab one of the most extreme environments – the racetrack. After nine years of collaboration, Dow scientists and RCR engineers are continuing to work together to make the No. 3 car faster, safer and more precise. Stay up to date with Dow’s exciting developments at www.dow.com/sports and follow us on Twitter @DowSports & @DowNewsroom.

Welcome, Dow Coating Materials … Dow Coating Materials is the most innovative coatings raw material supplier in the world; driving fundamental shifts in the coatings industry and moving the market as the expert’s expert in coatings solutions. Through its mission of collaboration, inspiration, innovation and growth, the business provides material products, science, technology, and manufacturing solutions to the architectural and industrial coatings industry worldwide. Dow Coating Materials manufacturing and R&D footprint spans across all major geographic markets where Dow does business. For more information, please visit https://www.dow.com/en-us/industries/consumer/paints-and-coatings.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
Describe the racing at Auto Club Speedway.
“Tire wear is the biggest part. You’re running all the way against the fence, and all the way against the bottom. There’s a good mixture. You have to have speed at the beginning of a run and then hold it for a long run. If you can’t take off you get beat on the restarts and if you can’t hold on they’re going to lap you at the end of a run. You have to have a good balance between the short and the long run. If you can do that, you’ll be pretty good. We’ve done pretty well in the past there, but it’s been a while since we’ve raced at Auto Club Speedway and there are quite a few unknowns this year heading into the race with the Next Gen for the first time. I love the track, though, and feel pretty good about it. The fans are amazing at Auto Club Speedway. Actually, the fans are amazing at all of the races during this west coast stretch so I’m looking forward to getting out there.”

Where does Auto Club Speedway rank for you among the West Coast swing races?
“I think my favorites now are between Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway. I like Phoenix Raceway, too, but between Vegas and Fontana it’s a tight race.

What stands out to you about the Next Gen race car?
“It’s very futuristic compared to what we’ve been driving. I think it’s going to be a breath of fresh air. We have a lot of kinks and things to work out right now. There are a lot of unknowns, but I think that change is good for the sport. I think a lot of the fans are going to love to see the different things we do with the car. We’ll figure a lot out as we go. We had so much time and effort put into the old cars. We’re still figuring out things to make the old cars faster, which is crazy to think about when you look at how long we’ve had them. With the Next Gen, I think the engineers in our sport are going to be learning at a very fast pace, and we’re going to have to try to keep up with them as drivers.”

Are you concerned about the inventory of cars?
“I think it goes back to short track racing. When you are coming up through the ranks short track racing you do not have the inventory of cars that we’ve always had in the NASCAR Cup Series. If you wrecked your car, you could be out the next weekend. I don’t know that the inventory situation with the Next Gen car is that serious, but a wreck early in the season definitely could put you behind and put your team in a bind early in the season. Until we get more inventory of these cars, you want to take care of your equipment, but you also want to win and put it all out on the line.”

This Week’s Lenovo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Auto Club Speedway … Tyler Reddick has one previous NASCAR Cup Series start at Auto Club Speedway under his belt. His first and only start came in 2020 for Richard Childress Racing, when he started 19th and finished 11th. Reddick also made two starts at the Fontana, California track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In 2018, Reddick started 16th and finished seventh and in 2019, he started from the pole position and finished fourth.

About Lenovo … Lenovo’s story has always been about shaping computing intelligence to create a better world. With the world’s widest portfolio of technology products, we deliver our vision of Smarter Technology for All through products, solutions, software, and services that individuals, communities, businesses, and entire populations need to fulfill their potential. We serve more than 180 markets, and we own the majority of our facilities, giving us unrivaled scale, efficiency, and control of our supply chain. Our global manufacturing allows tailored offerings to regional markets and includes more than 30 manufacturing facilities, including in-house, joint venture, original design manufacturer, and contract manufacturer sites in Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, and USA.

TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:
Describe what you think the racing is going to be like this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.
“Heading back to Auto Club Speedway for the first time in two years and with the new Next Gen car will bring a lot of unknowns. I’ve only been to Auto Club in the Cup Series once and it was in 2020. It’s just that type of racetrack, even when you’ve got the best car, it’s easy to make mistakes and step over the line. This car has already proved it’s unforgiving. You’ve got to drive the daylights out of it, but it will fight you if you don’t respect it. Maybe the drivers will play it safe, maybe I’m wrong, but I expect some mistakes. I’m expecting a tire management approach. You’re going to really have to keep the tires underneath you, especially because it hasn’t been run on in so long. All of it is going to play out really quickly in our warmup and leading into qualifying but it’s going to be an exciting start to this format that we have because you’re only going to really get maybe 10 to 12 laps, maybe 15 laps, in a practice session. That’s a good amount of time to kind of get an idea of what your comfort level is but it’s barely enough time to know if you have the right setup underneath you.”

Where does Auto Club Speedway rank for you among the West Coast swing races?
“Auto Club is my favorite track on the West Coast swing because of the many racing lanes.”

Everything is different with this new car. What is the biggest thing you had to adapt to with the Next Gen car?
“For me, the biggest challenge is pit road. All aspects of pit road, but especially entering pit road. Exiting pit road at a speedway is about the same- you just hammer down and get through gears as fast as you can, but entering the box is certainly more challenging. Just as the car is more of a fine line and less forgiving on the racetrack, it’s less forgiving on pit road, too. Once you lock up the tires coming in, you want to lock them up when you get about one pit stall away, but it’s much easier to lock them up three or four pit stalls away and then you’re rolling too fast and you roll through the pit box. I actually had that happen to us on our last yellow flag stop at Daytona International Speedway before we were out of the race. Your marks, everything, are so different. It happened a lot throughout the Duels and throughout the race. Drivers were using their old marks from the old car and they’re not even close anymore. It’s been fun learning and getting up to speed on that, but I think it’s going to play a huge role in how the races play out in the first two months of our season. Whoever can clean up the details on pit road the best will find themselves in Victory Lane.”

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro SS at Auto Club Speedway… Hill will be making his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Auto Club Speedway. He claimed a 16th-place finish in the 2020 event.

A Pair of Firsts at Daytona … Hill scored his first-career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the season opening event on Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway. The driver of the Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro SS passed AJ Allmendinger on the last lap to claim the win in just his 16th career start. The Daytona event was also Hill’s first start at Richard Childress Racing.

Locked Into the Playoffs … With his Daytona victory, Hill has clinched a spot in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. He enters the event at Auto Club Speedway second in the series championship standings, four points behind leader Allmendinger.

About Bennett Family of Companies … McDonough-Ga. based Bennett Family of Companies is a woman-owned, Women’s Enterprise Business Council (WBENC) certified, diversified transportation and logistics company. Through its nine affiliated operating companies, the Bennett Family of Companies delivers integrated transportation and supply chain management solutions worldwide. The company will use race experiences to recruit and retain hundreds of truck drivers for their organization in 2022. For more information, visit www.Drive4Bennett.com.

AUSTIN HILL QUOTES:
You won at Daytona and you’re in the Playoffs. What does that feel like?
“It takes a lot of weight off your shoulders because now we can go to Auto Club Speedway this weekend and not feel like, man, I need to run really well this weekend and stack up points. Like I said on the radio right after the race, I came to RCR for one thing and one thing only, and that’s to win races. We got one under our belt, and we expect a lot more. I feel like Richard Childress Racing is the type of organization that I want to be around because they’re very family oriented and that’s what I love about this team. They’re always there for you. I think that’s why this organization just works for me, and hopefully we can work together for a lot of years to come.”

There hasn’t been a race at Auto Club Speedway in almost two years. How big of a factor is that?
“NASCAR does a really good job of cleaning the track off but it’s still a challenge. The first laps on the racetrack there’s dust flying everywhere and you just see a cloud of dust behind you. It’s going to be a worn out surface and managing tire wear is going to be crucial. Maybe start the run at the bottom for a little bit and if your car is really good and you’ll go up and be running the fence by the end of it.”

Sheldon Creed and The No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro SS at Auto Club Speedway … Creed will be making his first start in any NASCAR National Series this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. He scored a second-place finish in the Truck Series in 2019 at Michigan International Speedway, a track similar to the 2.0-mile oval in Fontana, California.

Home Sweet Home … Creed is a native of Alpine, California and will be competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the first time in his home state.

Solid RCR Debut at Daytona … Creed posted a sixth-place finish in the Xfinity Series season-opener last Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. He claimed his best finish in five series starts and second consecutive top 10. Creed is ninth in the series championship standings, 20 points behind leader AJ Allmendinger.

About Whelen … Whelen Engineering is a family-owned company with a pioneering spirit and a passion to protect the lives of those who protect and serve others. The company mission is to provide industry-defining safety solutions around the world, while creating a community of problem-solvers who are inspired to push boundaries and continue our legacy of delivering ground-breaking innovation. As a global leader in the emergency warning industry, Whelen has been trusted to perform since 1952, when George Whelen III invented the first rotating aviation beacon. Whelen now encompasses two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Connecticut and New Hampshire with over 750,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing space and the largest design staff in the industry. Every part of every Whelen product is proudly designed and manufactured in America. We embrace quality as our foundation, we celebrate innovative engineering in every product we produce.

SHELDON CREED QUOTE:
This is going to be your first time racing at Auto Club Speedway in NASCAR and it’s your home track. How excited are you to make your debut?
“This weekend will be special for me at Auto Club Speedway. I’ve never raced there so it’s going to be special because I consider it my home track. I grew up only a couple of hours south of Fontana. I really want to have a good run there in our Whelen Chevrolet Camaro. I’ve been putting in a lot of time doing my best to prepare, doing everything from watching video to iRacing to spending time in the Chevrolet simulator. I wanted to give myself the best chance and do everything I can to have a good run there. I just want to learn everything I can early in the season.”