Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Clash at the Coliseum Advance| Saturday, February 5, 2022

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Great Lakes Flooring Ford Mustang — YOU WERE NEXT TO LAST IN THE FIRST SESSION AND JUMPED UP TO SECOND IN THE SECOND SESSION. IS THERE THAT MUCH ADJUSTABILITY IN THE CAR OR WERE YOU JUST GETTING USED TO THINGS? “We found a lot. We changed a whole lot between the first and second practice. We were really bad the first run and just really loose. The corners are so tight here that the moment your rear slips out from under you it takes forever to catch it and you lose tons of time. we came in and put tons of wedge in it and changed the right front spring and rear springs. There is a lot of adjustability in these cars with rear and front bar and stiffness on the arms on them, you can change a lot. We did a good job of getting on top of it and taking a huge swing at it. We were so far off. The adjustability on these cars is a lot though. On any other practice weekend I don’t know if you would make as much changes as that in the short time frame we will have on other weekends but you can change a bunch on these cars in not a ton of time. It is nice to have so many options where you can tweak on things.”

DID YOU FIND IT EASIER TO TURN FROM THE PREVIOUS CAR? “Yeah. I feel like this new car has more grip than the old car. The tires are wider and it just has more grip on the track and it feels like you are going faster than you would have with the old car here. There are things that are similar and other things that are different. The steering is so quick here, when you get loose with the power steering system we have in these cars is not as smooth. It can kind of catch and be harder to correct and turn but I feel like these cars have more grip so you can really lay on the wheel and the tires will take it and not just chatter. The old car you had a lot of chatter with tires but these ones feel like they will take it a little bit more.”

WHAT IS IT LIKE DRIVING ON WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A TEMPORARY TRACK? “Honestly, I think everyone kind of didn’t know what to expect when we announced this. When we got here yesterday and were able to walk around and now sitting up here, this is awesome. What a cool venue. A great event, I think. I think the fans coming to watch it tomorrow night are going to be really pleased and put on a great event for everybody. I think it is really neat that we are out here and doing this and getting the first laps on the track were tough because you are trying to find the limits and things like that. The track was really slick getting going this morning, that is for sure. But it got grip by the end of it and everyone learns pretty quickly here. I couldn’t tell it was a temporary track. It is asphalt. You can run on it.”

YOU HAVE A NEW CREW CHIEF AND BRAD (KESELOWSKI) ISN’T THERE ANYMORE. HAS YOUR ROLE CHANGED WITHIN THE TEAM AT ALL? “You go through changes all the time with Austin and Harrison (Burton) coming in, it is cool to get some new minds in there. Everyone thinks differently and it is cool to get some fresh blood in there that brings up some points that maybe you haven’t thought of that way before. It is good to get all these different collective minds working. Working with Jonathan Hassler has been really good and it has been nice to have some tests with him in the offseason and be able to get down each others languages and things like that and how we go about things. It has been great. He has been a part of Penske for a long time and I was really impressed with the job he did the second half of last year on the 21 car and I am happy to be working with him and see how we do. Yeah, a little different but we are strongest when we all work together, all the team and drivers, and we do a great job of that as a group at Penske. It is a matter of getting the season going and that kind of comes naturally. It is a little different look but the same objective, really.”

WHAT KIND OF OPPORTUNITY DOES THIS EVENT REPRESENT IN THE QUEST THAT YOU HAVE HAD THE LAST FEW YEARS TO TRY TO HELP GROW THIS SPORT? “I think it is great. You always want to get new fans and at the same time please your fans that have been around forever. That is hard to do. YOu always want to do your best at growing the sport in general and keeping people happy who have been a part of it for a long time and attracting new eyes. I thought I read somewhere that 70% of the people coming here tomorrow it is their first time coming to a NASCAR race or watching NASCAR. That is great. Where else are you going to get something like that? This venue, I am jealous that you guys get to look at the backdrop while we are talking. It is nice. And the George Lucas museum. You know, what I was doing, I was just doing those things because they were fun to me and I thought it would help grow myself and the sport of NASCAR as well. If I drove cars and people liked something I was in or they saw me in a show or something then maybe they would check out NASCAR and get hooked because they liked me on something else. It was never my main goal. I just thought it would help everybody, myself and NASCAR included. I think it is really great and honestly, staying at the hotel, a lot of people know what is going on this weekend here. It is not a secret. They have done a great job of branding it and putting it out there that the Clash is here at the LA Coliseum. That is the first part. You have to get the word out. I have tons of friends I have made over the years who are actors and artists who are coming out to this race tomorrow and a lot of them it is their first time. It is something new and it is right here and it should be exciting. I would love to be here as a fan. If I was a fan of the sport and a spectator, I would love to watch this race for the excitement that it is going to bring. Ask me this tomorrow night if I am pissed off after getting wrecked, but as a fan it is going to be a lot of fun to watch. I never would have thought I would be able to drive in the LA Coliseum. It is really cool.”

YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW YOU FELT THE TRACK GETTING MORE GRIP. YOU PRACTICED IN THE MORNING AND YOU CAN FEEL THE HEAT COMING UP. WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND WHEN IT GETS MORE GRIP TO YOU GET MORE AGGRESSIVE? “Yeah, Austin had the fun one. He as in the first session this morning. We got to run last night for the NBC Super Bowl thing and we were kind of putting around then but you could feel how slick it was and how dirty it was. You get that with any new asphalt especially when it is cool outside. It just got better and better as rubber got laid down and temps got up a little and drivers got more confident at knowing what to do. Just speeds pick up. Everything gets better and better as you get running on it and you saw that with speeds getting faster and faster as the day went on.”

WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THIS CAR VERSUS LAST YEAR’S MODEL? “I think I can compare it to the tracks we have been testing it on like Phoenix and the Charlotte Roval and things like that. There are certain things about it that are like more grip in the corner, you feel like you can drive it harder. I feel like it is a double-edged sword. You can drive it harder but the price you pay for driving it too hard and slipping is worse than what the old car was. So that is going to make it tough. It is easier to mess up in this new car I feel like. You will pay a bigger penalty when you do mess up. that part is really neat for me as a driver and makes it more challenging and will put more of an emphasis on being perfect throughout the race. That part is something really big that I have learned just running them at the tests right now. They handle different. It is hard to tell you what your butt feels when you are in the car, just the way it moves around and slides around. It is a different feel from that old car. We will get a better idea when we get in races and traffic and stuff and get 40 cars out there but there are a lot of things different and it will challenge drivers and teams to really be on top of their game at the start of the year. You will see who is on top of their game right away and you just hope to be one of those teams.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 eCascadia Ford Mustang — FOLKS WERE SAYING THAT IT WAS EASIER TO TURN INTO THESE CORNERS WAS EASIER WITH THIS NEW CAR AND THAT YOUR ROAD COURSE BACKGROUND MIGHT HELP. IS THAT WHAT YOU FOUND WITH THIS NEW CAR? “I certainly felt like the track, once you got out there, it didn’t feel as tight as what I probably thought they were going to be beforehand. Even turning into the infield. I had a big concern trying to pull off early in the session if you could even make the turn into the corner. I think the track is fine and the cars can handle it fairly well. Just trying to understand how to make it work the best. I think you almost erase all your concerns beforehand after you make the first three laps. YOu are like, okay, this is a race track and there is a car on it, so lets make it go fast.”

WHAT IS IT LIKE DRIVING ON WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A TEMPORARY TRACK? “I have driven a lot of temporary tracks in my career. It reminds me a lot of street courses. I think a lot of these walls and fences are from Long Beach. Even the rallycross tracks, a lot of it is similar, even the transition of cleaning up the track and the dust coming off. As a sport it is kind of our first free trial run at doing it. I think for us as an industry, even as drivers and teams, it proves that we can do it on a much larger scale than inside the confines — we basically expanded as wide as we could before we got to the bleachers. I think there are other applications like street course racing that we can be even more creative with the track layout for sure.”

THIS HAS BEEN A TRANSITIONAL OFF-SEASON FOR YOU, WHAT HAS THE WELCOME TO THE 2 TEAM BEEN LIKE? “A lot of transition for me between the car and the race team. Staying with the same team but a completely new group of people. For me, it has been a lot of transition. Not new faces but new personalities and new ways to work around things and a new car that you are not sure of what the process should be in the first place. In some ways it makes it easier and some days I feel like I am learning three things when other guys are learning one. It has been more challenging probably personally than I had anticipated but it has been rewarding at times as well. Even today, our practice was pretty dismal at best. I felt like we went from every extreme of the adjustments we made or the feedback I gave and where we ended up. I do feel like we were able to be very productive in reviewing that and I am excited to see what it holds. I think I have to continually tell myself to be patient. I have certain expectations for myself that I want to hold up, but at the same time being patient with that process and not just blowing through some of the finer details of what is important and building those relationships with the team, Jeremy and the car. Making sure I am paying attention to all the details and not pushing too far ahead.”

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING THESE FANS THAT ARE COMING TO SEE NASCAR FOR THE FIRST TIME TAKE AWAY FROM THE EXPERIENCE? “I think everyone here can attest to the fact that you go to a NASCAR race or any motorsports event and you are able to experience it in person you usually walk away hooked. It isn’t often you get to see people driving cars this hard and racing near each other and the noise, sights and sounds. This is a very compact version of that, a concentrated version, which is why I think it will be very exciting. I think anyone sitting in the stands here tomorrow night will not be able to escape the energy. It will be loud. It wil be fun. It will be a party. Everyone around you is going to be having a good time and that is infectious. I think the more you can have that, the better. That is why I like events like this and why I always loved going to street courses because you brought the party to the people and we are the entertainers. That makes our job more fun and more rewarding to be able to do that. I think it is cool when you can bring it to fun venues and that attracts a following and then that attracts going to events outside of your own ecosystem. It is a great start, a great way to test that theory in a controlled environment for us as a sport.”

WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THIS CAR VERSUS LAST YEAR’S MODEL? “I think the mechanical components that on paper make this car seem so different are probably actually the things that aren’t so different as far as driving the car. You have the independent rear suspension, differential instead of rear end housing. You have rack and pinion steering and a whole lot of things that on paper are different about this car but doesn’t take away from the character. It is still definitely a NASCAR. We left Phoenix saying it felt like Phoenix. I think the things that are different is how you get the speed out of it and make the right adjustments with those new tools.

Toyota Racing – Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

LOS ANGELES (February 5, 2022) – 23XI Racing drivers Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch were made available to media after practice for to the LA Clash event today:

What is it like driving for a brand new race team this season?

KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, 23XI Racing

“It’s perfect for me in the setting that I’m in and with my career and different teams I’ve raced for and the timeline. The timing of all this was really choreographed by Toyota. And I’m very thankful that Monster Energy wanted to make this move and create this opportunity to come to a brand new team brand new car number and to work as a veteran driver to leave something behind. My time is starting to show its age, but I’m having so much fun and to be part of the Coliseum event like this, you know, if I was not racing, I would have tried to find a ride to be here. So again, Toyota, Monster Energy and a great group of guys. We’ll be off and running here soon.”

What is it like coming to a race track this small?

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

“It’s exciting. It reminds me a lot of Summer Shootout and racing Legend cars, so I’m glad I went back and ran out a couple years ago to knock the rust off. It’s cool to see it being pulled off and hats off to NASCAR and everybody here in LA to make this happen that it’s actually happening so I think we were expecting a lot different than we got on track actually this morning for some practice laps and it was like, ‘Alright, we can we can make a race out of this.”

How excited are you for Ice Cube and PitBull to perform tomorrow night?

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

“I’m excited. I got to talk again with Cube last night for soundcheck, so excited to have him back out in our sport and then PitBull, being around him, with him coming on board last year with Trackhouse. Super cool and super cool for our sport, for the fan base and he brings in a different perspective too. So they’ve done a lot of exciting things for the race team, but to have him back in his element as a performer is pretty dope.”

KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, 23XI Racing

“Just the whole atmosphere again. NASCAR built this for us to race, the entertainment value of everything that’s part of this. I mean, just walking up here and seeing this view. It’s something we’ve never done before. And so to have a concert right in the middle of the race, heck yeah. It’s all about having fun and doing something different.”

With the Netflix show coming out in two weeks, how significant was that series for you to make in order to show a glimpse into the last year of your career?

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

“Yeah, I’m excited for that. So for everybody to get a get the full glimpse of what we were able to capture last year. I went to Netflix and I was motivated from the F1 ‘Drive to Survive’ stuff. Hopefully, this will be somewhat close, hopefully in the same ballpark as that, but just I wanted to show them like what it takes to be successful. I’m a very raw and real person and, and I think that you often got to be buttoned up and not really show your true side the times, that’s where I get in trouble because I don’t listen to those rules. I’m always raw and real every time, but you get to see that every day. You get to see the ups and downs and what it takes to be successful at the top level of the sport. And, you know, you’re quickly humbled each and every day. Just because everybody at this level is great. Moving forward with Kurt (Busch), he’s a champion and just seeing how tough it is to win one race. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to win a championship. So this is, you got to have each and every day, each and every minute to be successful. And then with that comes a lot of pain, a lot of pressure, a lot of emotion and I think that captures that so we’ll get to see it.”

Will there be a second season or is it all about the numbers once this one comes out?

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

“I think it’s all about numbers. I don’t know. Hopefully it’s good enough to have a second season. It was fun. The process was fun. We started back in like November of 2020 and shot all of last season and so yeah, I think they got some good stuff.”

How do you feel NASCAR is progressing to expand it’s footprint with different communities, especially through this race being here in Los Angeles?

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

“I think hopefully the on track success that this hopefully shows tomorrow will open up a new avenue for us because you know we’ve been going to the same tracks and same venues for numerous amounts of years. And so going somewhere different is big and changing it up for this, this is basically like a tryout for our sport just to see how much different and wild can we go, but also being in this demographic and this environment here in LA. I think the highest number we’ve seen, the 70% of all the race ticket sales are new fans coming out that have never seen a race before. And that’s massive. You can’t get that when you keep going to the same venues each and every weekend. And so venturing out, doing bigger things, diving into our communities and figuring out what it takes for them to come to a race and implementing that. It’s not going to suit everybody. But you know, the more we keep trying and learning and listening and understanding things, the better off we’ll be so it’s a never-ending process, but it’s fun to be a part of.”

What was it like to be a part of the Super Bowl commercial filming last night?

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

“Yeah, that was cool. The competition wasn’t happy, they had to handicap us. They gave us some older tires. Six laps guys, six laps. They didn’t want any leg up so I told my guys I was like, we can’t really look into the last night because it was so different. And jumping on track. It was night and day different from what we had, but super cool. A big deal for our sport, you know, Super Bowl is massive and so anytime you’re on there and getting our sport representation, it’s big. It’s getting those people that watch the Super Bowl that are huge NFL fans to be like, hey, you know I’m going to go out to a race this year. See what they’re doing out in LA, see what they’re doing as a whole as a sport and growing and becoming more diverse and inclusive is big. And so but it was fun. It was good.”

For Kurt Busch, how was your off-season and can we expect any more cryptic videos about retirement?

KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, 23XI Racing

“It was actually a great off-season with all the testing we were able to do. I was with NASCAR down in Atlanta. I went to Daytona. Charlotte twice, and then finished up in Phoenix where Bubba (Wallace) ran one day, I ran the other day and is again building the team. And I couldn’t have done this without Billy Scott (crew chief), a guy that I have won races with before he made 23XI Racing feel like home for the 45 car. And the group of guys that we have assembled from all different teams gave us this like rebel attitude. When I told them there was the video. I didn’t know I’d have arrived. I didn’t know I’d have a contract when I filmed that video down in Key West. I mean, doesn’t everybody drive down to Key West a party and say that it’s the end. So that’s what I did. And then the pieces all together. Again, it’s all timing. Great group of people with Toyota and Monster and with this team. We’ve been busy this off-season. And now it’s time to go and it’s time to build up towards being competitive every week and having shots to win for Denny (Hamlin) and for MJ (Michael Jordan) and to be part of the JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) group. Thee way I see this, there’s six cars that are as identical as I’ve ever seen, and it’s up to us to find little differences to get a car in victory lane.”

What’s it been like building this relationship with Kurt (Busch) over this offseason as and as you head into this weekend?

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

“It’s been spent a lot of fun getting to know Kurt and hopefully he’s forgotten about Darlington last year. I haven’t so I know he hasn’t. When we started having these talks of getting Kurt (Busch) on board, the dynamic really changed, and he’s been he’s been there to help me out through a lot and talk about racing and talk about culture at the shop. It’s conversations like that show why he is who he is. He’s fun to be around. He knows how to have a good time. At the racetrack he’s over after practice trying to help us get better and what we need to work on and just implementing those things and just being indirectly a part of his conversations. He wants little things that are different that I’ve never thought about, like having the DVR on, so you go back and watch practices. I’m like I’ve never thought about that and he’s like, I’m gonna fix that and I’m like, alright, you do that. You got more authority than me. But just little things like that is cool to figure out who Kurt Busch really is so proud to be a teammate with him.”

Do you feel like the sport would be as willing to make such a bold move to try this without the technology that’s available like for example, they can put it and model it on iRacing and see what it looks like firsthand?

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

“I think they’re willing to do anything that can. We just threw I don’t know how many tons of asphalt on top of a perfectly good football field to make a racetrack out of. They’re up for trying new things and they’re hearing the fans, they’re hearing the drivers, they’re hearing a lot of industry people talking about how we needed something new. Who knows what they have up their sleeve? You know, the whole sandbox story. It’s their sandbox. We’re playing on it. We’re here racing, so we’re having a good time.”

How important is being now a Jordan Brand athlete to you – having that associated with your brand and on your racecar?

KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, 23XI Racing

“It’s an incredible opportunity and to be in the fraternity of the athletes and to be chosen as one that’s going to represent the brand in NASCAR. It makes me drive in a different way. It really does. You feel it when you watch different athletes that are part of the Jordan Brand play, and you see that they play, and they race from their heart. That was what MJ (Michael Jordan) spoke to me when I first met him because he said your talent isn’t questioned. It’s your heart that I see in myself and that’s why I want you to be part of this team. It just blew me away – that’s the way I’ve always driven – and now to be part of that brand. It fits with Monster Energy’s lifestyle and Toyota on how we’re going places. I haven’t ventured out very much because of the brands that I’m with have been such incredible family style partners over the years. And that’s where it’s like I’m just gonna keep things as simple as I can. We’re blue-chip groups and it’s what has led me to 23 years here on the circuit.”

What were you struggling with on track adn do you think that your lack of track time this offseason recovering from your surgery had any impact to the struggles that you were dealing with?

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

“We are all figuring out this Next Gen car, and changes are very time consuming. So, when you’re only offered five minutes in the garage to debrief and figure out what you want to do – the change that we had in mind that we wanted to do – we would have missed the next practices. We were doing changes to figure out what the car needs, and it was crutching it, but we didn’t really get over the hump. I’m competitive and when you’re out there getting run over in practice, it’s not good, but we all share that same frustration across our board, and we’ve already made the changes we’re ready to go now. Qualifying will be interesting. Shoulder is no issue. Wish I had something to fall back onto, but I can’t.”

What are your first impressions in the car?

KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, 23XI Racing

“The Next Gen car fits in an arena like this. I don’t know if the old car would have done this and been able to put on as good a show. It’s just working on the car. Yes, things are a little bit different, and it takes a little longer to make changes but that’s where crews will find a rhythm. We’ll know what we need as we go into practices to have a better game plan. But this is first weekend out. My engineer said we put four slats of front bar in it. That’s a whole different style of lingo and that’s what this Next Gen car is going to teach everybody is new things to think about. There’s anti-dive, there’s anti-squat, pro-dive, pro-squat. We now have a sequential gearbox that I would have loved to have had gear choice on, but all the gears will be locked in, once we get to other road courses and things like that. The brakes – there’s so much to learn there because of how big they are. You have to be liquid and fluid with adapting to all new things as a driver. This car is no different than me jumping in a rally car or challenging myself to do Pro Stock a few years back. I was telling Bubba (Wallace) – what’s the slowest, meanest, nastiest track you’ve ever been to? Just put your mindset there. That’s what this Coliseum is going to challenge us with. It’s out of the box, but it’s a fun challenge. Look at this environment. It’s 77 and sunny and NASCAR built this for us to go and put on a show. Now it’s up to the drivers.”

What kind of confidence do you have knowing that you one of the guys that you report to has that level of confidence in you?

KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, 23XI Racing

“It’s humbling. Denny’s a three-time Daytona 500 champion. He has plenty of opportunities for more championships in this sport. To be racing with MJ (Michael Jordan), Bubba (Wallace), the whole group at Toyota. Let’s face it, I was a different person when I came into this sport as a blue-collar kid from Vegas that had to scrap and throw fits and to run up front to keep my ride. Then my years at Penske, I was trying to learn professionalism and that wasn’t going as smooth as I was hoping for. I raced for James Finch, who was one of the biggest partiers. That was the first time I’ve ever seen a bar inside the lounge of a hauler. Racing with Barney Visser, racing with him was a whole different life lesson with Barney and how much Christianity he had within him and his family. Gene Haas, everywhere I’ve been, there’s so many good growth stories. I’m in the right spot now with being able to give back to young crew members and different people that have helped me over the years. So, racing with Denny, it’s been fun already just telling stories of how Tony Stewart was a team owner and a driver. I’m like, I got you buddy. I’ve raced with Kyle (Busch) as well at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) as an owner driver. So, this is the right spot for me to be and I’m happy to be here.”

About Toyota

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Clash at the Coliseum Advance| Saturday, February 5, 2022

Ford drivers met with members of the media after practice sessions for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon.

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang — YOU WERE ONE OF THE GUYS THAT USED HIS BUMPER OUT THERE. WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE AFTER PRACTICE COMPARED TO WHAT THE OLD CAR WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE? “I didn’t even look. That’s not my job. My job is to use it, not fix it. That is the theory I am going with this week. I hit the wall, hit a car, and they haven’t said a word about it. So next time I will use it harder I guess.”

BEING FROM BAKERSFIELD, THIS IS ALMOST LIKE A HOME GAME FOR YOU. WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN THIS FIRST RACE AND ALSO HAVING IT KIND OF IN YOUR BACKYARD? “Well, first, just the guts that it took for NASCAR to take the leap and try an event like this and then seeing how practice went and how smooth everything has gone. The doors that are open have been blown wide open now. I think as you look at this particular facility, the thing that I remember most about it are Mickey Thompson off-road trucks jumping out of the top over there. Motorcycles and those off-road trucks were what I watched here. Obviously it is an iconic site and I think for me, being close to home and knowing that I have a lot of friends and family that are just intrigued by the event. The intrigue of the event is really the most valuable piece of the event, not only for what we do as teams but for our sponsors and new fans and for the sport in general. This is the type of event that you need to blow it out of the water at the start of the season to get the eyeballs and the people and you guys to all show up because it is different. That is the world that we live in. We live in different and trying new things and having the guts to do it is sometimes hard to do but the rewards are pretty big on the other side whe it works.”

IN TERMS OF BLOWING IT OUT OF THE WATER, WHAT RESPONSIBILITY IS ON THE DRIVERS TO DO THAT? “I don’t think you can screw it up at this point, personally. The event is here. The race track didn’t fly up. Practice went good. The cars all made the corners. People were passing each other and as our good friend Jim Hunter would say, ‘You have to have cars that pass, Kevin’ to make a good race. When you look at everything that has happened, the amount of tickets and media passes and all the things — you can’t screw it up at this point. That is my opinion.”

KNOCK ON WOOD? “You can’t, I am telling you. The race doesn’t even matter.”

WHAT IF WALLS GET KNOCKED DOWN OR? “Knock ‘em down. We will make them stronger next time. You already have everything in here and had practice and everything. You can not screw it up at this point. You can. You could screw it up, but we will just send you to all the haters on Twitter and they can lock your account down.”

WERE YOU JUST TRYING TO SEE HOW THESE CARS REACT WITH THE BUMPER CONSIDERING IT IS THE FIRST TIME IN THESE CARS? WERE YOU TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO TOMORROW IN THE RACE IF YOU NEED TO PASS? “I think all the sightlines and things are a little bit different. I think trying to figure out how to pass and how to almost create that little crossover move to cut below somebody and just cut it a little closer than it probably needed to be. If there is one thing I have learned by watching my son race and the way that all these kids have been taught to race is you better go out and freaking go in practice or you won’t learn what you need to do. So you just go out and treat it like it is a race and go from there.”

SO YOU ARE LEARNING FROM KEELAN? “I am learning to be more open-minded. I would never have done this. I would have said you were crazy. Then you get here and it is pretty fun, pretty cool. I am probably the only guy that has been here but I think it is way better than racing through the streets of LA that we did in the southwest tour car back in 1999 with the jump through the gutter and things like that. We have done some different things. This is over the top and looks great.”

ANYTHING SURPRISE YOU THAT YOU LEARNED OUT THERE ON THE TRACK TODAY? “I think that is one thing that I did learn, that our simulations did a pretty good job. From what we had (out there) to what we had in the simulation was really good. I think as you get in the car and kind of overcome those things, I had no expectations other than to come here and just wing it and have fun with it. That is really what this event is. The Clash has always been kind of a recap of the year before with people who have won and not won and this is a little bit different than that just because of the fact that everybody is here. Or all the charter cars are here. For me, I was not going to come here and have a bad time. You shouldn’t do that on the first race of the year. I can show up and have a bad time but it isn’t going to be the first race when it is nothing but having fun and learning on the line.”

IF THIS CONCEPT CAN BE APPLIED ELSEWHERE, WHAT OTHER STADIUMS WOULD YOU LIKE TO RACE IN? “For me, I look at the NFL and what they do in London and I look at the things that they do. I think in order to really open doors, I think Wembley Stadium would be fun. I think everyone wants to do something but the weather has to be different. But this is something that you could put in the middle of the year and I think the All-Star race is definitely something that could learn something from this just because of the fact that it needs to be more like this instead of just at a 1.5-mile track that we go to all the time. It needs to have that intrigue and fun and atmosphere that goes along with an event that is different. I am of the opinion that I would never do this twice, but I know that I will probably get overruled after this happens. It is kind of like the Roval, the intrigue isn’t as much the second year. I would move it all over the place. If this goes like everyone thinks it will, it will just blow the doors open to opportunities and I would take them.”

A WEEK FROM TUESDAY WE WILL BE AT DAYTONA. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE ANTICIPATION BUILD UP TO GET THE SEASON REALLY KICKED OFF AND UNDERWAY WITH THE NEW CAR AND EVERYTHING? “Yeah, I think you have a kick-off leading into Daytona that you haven’t ever really had before with everything this weekend. Hopefully the weather cooperates all week and it isn’t freezing like it was last week. I will take freezing over rain though. I think as you go into the Daytona 500, this is a great event, but there is nothing like coming to the green flag of the Daytona 500 with all the anticipation and excitement from the off-season and everything that has happened over this last year with the new car. YOu have a lot of enthusiasm and this event and hearing about this event, it is a lot like it had been 20 years ago when every race was an event. You have that feeling and that excitement and enthusiasm that goes with that event. I think this will make that bigger than it was. The new car will make that bigger than it was. YOu see the reflection in ticket sales that come with the enthusiasm from the race fans and I think that is only going to grow as we get done here.”

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE OUT OF RYAN PREECE THIS YEAR STARTING TOMORROW? “I think just those opportunities he will have. I believe in Ryan and the ability he has. Having those few opportunities and already seeing the things that he has done for Stewart-Haas Racing and knowing what the plans are to be able to implement, there is so much you have to take in during the first half of the year from a learning standpoint. A lot of that is going to have to be done through sim and the simulator. From the test to the simulation. There are more pieces to put all that together than there is time from the guys that are racing on a week to week basis. Having him in the cars for the Xfinity races and Truck races and being able to stay sharp and do things that he needs to do, but there is a lot more to it than just those few races that he gets.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Violet Defense Ford Mustang — YOUR FIRST TRUE PRACTICE WITH THIS WHOLE NEW LIFE YOU HAVE, HOW DID THAT FEEL? ANY SPECIAL TALKS OR ANYTHING? “No, not any special pep talks. We know we have a long way to go. This team hasn’t won a race in four or five years and hasn’t won a non restrictor plate track in almost nine or 10 years. You aren’t going to get where you want to be overnight. It didn’t fall off to where it is overnight and we aren’t going to fix it overnight. But we are damn sure going to try. I am cognisant that there will be some rough moments and all those things along the way that we are working through. We didn’t have the greatest practice sessions but that is okay. This is a one-off deal and we will work through it and be better for it together. I am fairly optimistic about all the things we are doing and the direction we are going and feel it will pay dividends as we go.”

THE EXPECTATION BEFORE YOU GOT HERE AND THE REALITY OF THIS PLACE, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE FOR YOU? “It was hard to have an expectation to be honest. When I walked in on Thursday through one of those tunnels to take a look at it, it blew me away. Aesthetically this place is beautiful. To know that they did this in 30 days or less, I don’t know how they did it. It is funny because we have all these different things we try to do and then there is always a reason not to get them done. But when we really want to do them they get done. To build this right here in 30 days, as amazing as it looks, in this venue in probably not the most friendly of states to do it, is pretty impressive across all factions. I think the sport has a lot to be proud of. I won’t go so far as to say we can’t screw it up but we are certainly off to a great start. I am proud of our sport and proud of the stakeholders for getting us this far.”

YOU’VE GOT THE TEAM OWNER HAT BACK ON, IN TERMS OF SPONSORSHIP, WHAT LESSONS WERE YOU ABLE TO BRING FROM YOUR TRUCK TEAM DAYS TO THIS AND WERE THERE THINGS YOU LEARNED THAT BLEW YOU AWAY? HOW HAVE THE STRESS LEVELS BEEN? “It has honestly been a lot of fun. I am as happy as I have ever been. Head down, digging through a lot of things and solving a lot of challenges. I feel like we are moving the needle a lot and have a long way to go. I am really enjoying that whole process. The sponsorship side is always going to be a challenge. That is part of the race. It is the race before the race. Sponsorship funds the resources you have to be competitive and that is an ongoing challenge that will never go away. I know races like this help a lot. There was a lot of sponsor interest for this race and I applaud NASCAR for being willing to take chances to do things like this. It certainly helped us with those items. I can’t say there have been a ton of surprises. You get into the business side of things and get your hands dirty a little bit and you always find some things here and there that you maybe weren’t expecting. I am really proud of the things we have already done and the things we are going to do. I feel really good about this weekend helping to accent all those things. It has been a really exciting time for me.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH MATT MCCALL FOR THE FIRST TIME? WAS IT TRUE THE CLINCHER FOR HIM GETTING THE JOB WAS HIM SAYING THAT HE WANTED TO DO THIS BECAUSE YOU ARE THE DRIVER? “Well, I probably shouldn’t answer for him on what the clincher was. He has been great to work with and I am really excited to have him. Jack Roush put it best to me a couple of weeks ago when he said that we took most of the 1 team to become our team. If Chip was still in the sport he would have took a contract out on me, is what Jack said. Maybe that is true and maybe it is not. It is always nice to bring a team that had been in the playoffs and done a lot of great things over the last few years and has good experience. There are some really smart people that come over from there and a few other places. Certainly the things we need to compliment the other good people we had. He has been great to work with. He is a real racer and has raced himself as a race car driver and has a lot of similarities to me with Paul Wolfe who I have worked with in the past and has been nothing but first class. I think the sky’s the limit for him. I would probably give another comp to a guy like Rodney Childers and Kevin (Harvick) knows this better than anybody else. You get somebody that you can relate to and work with, and I have worked with some great people in the past, don’t get me wrong, but Matt is right up there with him and I think we can do a lot of good things.”

KEVIN HARVICK INTERJECTS: “And you will never lose a fight”

BRAD KESELOWSKI CONTINUED: “Yeah, that is right. The guy will karate kick some people. I tell you what. He has it going on. He knows moves I have never heard of before.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL COLISEUM
BUSCH LIGHT CLASH AT THE COLISEUM
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 5, 2022

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1, AND CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1: PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

YOU’VE FINALLY HAD A CHANCE TO GET OUT ON THE TRACK. WHAT ARE YOUR OVERALL IMPRESSIONS?
KYLE LARSON: “I think it’s awesome; everything about it. Staging outside, driving through the tunnel, getting out there – it all kind of has that grassroots feel to it a little bit. I feel like NASCAR did an amazing job with the race track and, so far, I don’t really have any comments of concern. I think that’s something good because I feel like, a lot of the time, us drivers think we’re way smarter than NASCAR (laughs) and we could have done a better job than them with whatever they were doing. Hats off to NASCAR and what they’ve done to build a race track here. I look forward to the rest of the weekend. I know it’s going to be a great event.”

CHASE ELLIOTT: “I completely agree. I don’t have anything else to add. They’ve done a nice job. Great scene. Obviously, we’re sitting up here and this is a great view. I’m not sure that we could ask for much more. Really nice work in the job of putting the race track together. Everything is super nice and well done. Props to everybody involved.”

DRIVERS SEEM TO BE APPROACHING THE RUMBLE STRIPS DIFFERENTLY. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT? CAN YOU CROSS THOSE DURING THE RACE, OR PART OF THEM? HOW’S THAT GOING TO WORK?
KYLE LARSON: “Yeah, Chase (Elliott) and I were talking in the elevator – I think NASCAR accidently probably stumbled across something pretty good because I feel like you can use it to get position on people or us it to get in their mirror a little bit to upset them in front of you to be able to get inside of them for the next corner. When you think of Martinsville (Speedway), they have the curb there and you can only get as low as the curb. But here, I feel like it’s a little bit faster to be just above it or just touching the rumble strips. But if you need to get down there, you can. I think it’s good and yes; I think we were all probably playing around with it a little bit as each practice session went on.”

KYLE, YOU MENTIONED A GRASSROOTS FEEL. AS MUCH AS EVERYTHING IS NEW HERE AND THIS IS A WHOLE NEW EVENT AND WERE IN THE NEXT GEN ERA NOW, DO YOU FEEL KIND OF AN OLD SCHOOL FEEL HERE TOO? WE’VE GOT THE GARAGE IN THE PARKING LOT. YOU GUYS ARE GOING ON THE STREET TO GET ONTO THE RACE TRACK FOR PRACTICE. WHAT’S THAT FEELING LIKE BETWEEN OLD SCHOOL AND NEW SCHOOL TODAY?
KYLE LARSON: “I don’t know. I can’t speak of old school, but like I’ve ran the Gateway Dirt Nationals in St. Louis; similar to this. Or when I ran the Indy midget race, when they had that at the basketball arena. It was similar in the logistics of you have to drive outside the building to get fuel and then come back in and get in line; stuff like that. It’s a long hike to the grandstands if you wanted to go watch. I don’t know about old school, but maybe a little bit of the throwback I guess to our K&N days, when we were pitting out from behind our trailer and stuff like that.”

ESPECIALLY FOR YOU KYLE BECAUSE YOU’RE RUNNING A LOT OF SHORT TRACKS, ARE THERE ANY SURPRISES TODAY?
KYLE LARSON: “I would say the only really surprise to me was just the amount of grip it has. I thought it was going to take until the end of practice until we got some grip. But I feel like it only took a few minutes of each session to feel like you have some grip. Especially the grip on exit, I thought was really good. You could mat the throttle fine and get good grip down the straightway. That was honestly probably the only thing that surprised me.”

“The flow of practice was really fast, too. It was kind of hectic.”

IT’S BEEN A LONG OFF SEASON AND A LOT OF STUFF WITH TESTING THE CARS. ARE YOU GUYS HAPPY TO BE BACK IN THE CARS AND WHAT ARE YOU ALL ANTICIPATING GOING FORWARD? THIS WEEKEND, YOU’RE RACING FOR THE CLASH. BUT NEXT WEEKEND, WE GO TO DAYTONA AND THINGS REALLY KICK OFF.
CHASE ELLIOTT: “For me, it’s just good to be back going. I think we all were probably kind of getting to the point with the Clash in Daytona like we need to do something. That race was kind of just going on, I feel like, to go on. It added a week of being in Daytona and I feel like it was kind of becoming all for what. Let’s make it exciting and wherever this idea originated, obviously when this was first drawn up, I’m sure there were a lot of people that probably didn’t think it was possible. But I feel like it’s added a lot of excitement. It’s given our television partners something to promote differently than just us being at Daytona for another week. Also, it gives us an opportunity to not only have more eyes on this event, which is good; but also be able to promote the Daytona 500 through this event, which in my opinion, are two probably fairly major wins for everybody sitting here and that travel across the country doing this deal.”

CHASE, YOU WERE FASTEST IN PRACTICE. HOW MUCH ROOM DO YOU THINK THERE IS FOR MORE SPEED IN THE CAR FROM WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “I felt like we could be better, for sure. And I think to Kyle’s (Larson) point, the track does kind of change a little bit as you run. You gain some grip and it seems like everybody goes a little faster the longer you run in a session. That was interesting. We were able to go through the things we wanted to change session to session and now we just need to decide where we want to land; maybe in between some of those changes that we did. But just try to make the right decisions and get yourself in a good position and try to go qualify well. I think qualifying is going to be fairly important for whether or not this is fun for you the rest of the weekend. So, we’ll see.”

GUYS WERE USING THEIR BUMPERS TO MOVE GUYS OUT OF THE WAY. WITH THIS NEW CAR, HOW FORGIVING IS IT TO MAKE THAT KIND OF CONTACT? IF YOU’RE ON THE RECEIVING END, HOW EASY WAS IT TO GET BACK GOING?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “I don’t remember getting hit or hitting anyone yet (laughs).”

KYLE LARSON: “Yeah, same with me. I haven’t yet. But it looks like on TV, it seems the same as before.”

CHASE ELLIOTT: “Like a Martinsville-type impact. It looked a lot like that. But again, I’m not one hundred percent sure.”

INAUDIBLE
KYLE LARSON: “I do feel like though, if you’re fast enough, you don’t really have to because you have room to pass people now. With the rumble strips, you don’t have to use it like you would at Martinsville. Which you don’t have to at Martinsville either, but I think you could honestly use it less here.”

WHAT SPEEDS DID YOU REACH DURING YOUR PRACTICE SESSIONS AND WHAT SPEEDS DO YOU EXPECT TO REACH TOMORROW DURING THE RACE?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “I think about 70 – 75 mph; somewhere in there. Probably top speed averaging probably 65 or something like that. Probably as slow as 40 or 35. I don’t know; pretty slow. But you don’t have to go fast to put on good racing either.”

DO YOU KNOW HOW YOU’RE GOING TO PASS SOMEBODY YET? CAN YOU GO INSIDE? DO YOU GO OUTSIDE?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “I don’t think you’re going outside (laughs), in my opinion. But maybe.”

CHASE, YOUR CAR AND SEVERAL OTHER CARS HAD SCRAPS ON THE WHEEL WELLS. DID THE CAR REACT ANY DIFFERENTLY WHEN YOU SCRAP THE WALL?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “Yeah, I got the wall a little bit there off of (turn) two I think and it was a super minor touch of the wall. If we did any damage with that, then we’re going to have a long year ahead. But I’m not sure. It was a super light scrap so I don’t know.”

INAUDIBLE
KYLE LARSON: “I think we all want to be part of an event. I don’t think any race is a race without it being an event. I think this is going to be an awesome event or show; whatever you want to call it with the concerts and stuff. And just the atmosphere of the crowd here and the close racing. We want to see our sport grow, so I think we’re all excited to be here and excited to be a part of the event.”

YOU GUYS HAVE OBVIOUSLY COMPETED IN A LOT OF BIG EVENTS IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS OF YOUR CAREERS. TOMORROW IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT BECAUSE THERE’S GOING TO BE TONS OF FANS HERE AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT THE LEAD UP SO FAR AND WHEN YOU GOT ON THE TRACK FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY – HOW HAS THE LEAD UP FELT COMPARED TO SOME OF THE OTHER BIGGER EVENTS YOU GUYS HAVE COMPETED IN?
KYLE LARSON: “For me, I think just the anticipation to get here and just get to look at everything in person is more than probably any other NASCAR race I can think of in my past. Maybe aside from my first few Cup races I got to run – just being excited to get to the track. You’re always excited, but this is something new, different and temporary. Yes, like Chase (Elliott) mentioned, moving the Clash from Daytona to here I think just added a whole bunch of excitement for everybody involved; me especially.”

YOU WERE JUST ASKED ABOUT THE LEAD UP. HOW ABOUT THE OUTCOME? I KNOW YOU’LL PROBABLY SAY ‘IT’S A RACE, I WANT TO WIN ANY RACE’. WHAT ARE THE STAKES OF THIS RACE PERSONALLY AND IS IT IMPORTANT TO WIN IT? WHAT LENGTHS MIGHT YOU GO TO BE THE CLASH WINNER AT THE COLISEUM?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “I think it would be super cool to be the first person to win this race. I don’t think anybody would tell you anything different. Yeah, I think it would be a huge deal. Not only that, but a great way to start your year off. This is something new and exciting. I think we’re all very fortunate and lucky to even be here and be a part of it. If you’re standing on top of the mountain at the end of the day for something like this, this type of location and this type of an event – I think it is special and it should be for whoever wins.”

EVERYONE’S TIMES ARE WITHIN .9 TO 1 MPH. HOW ROUGH AND TUMBLE DO YOU THINK IT MAY GET TOMORROW?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “I think that’s skewed because the track is so small. So, if you’re faster than someone by a tenth of a second, that’s a pretty large chunk and you can really see and feel that inside the car. If a guy has a tenth on you or a half of a tenth on you, he’s going to have a fairly significant advantage over you as he catches and likely passes you.”

THOUGHTS ON A FEW ON THE FINAL PRACTICE RESULTS: JUSTIN HALEY WAS FOURTH FASTEST. LANDON CASSILL WAS EIGHTH. CODY WARE WAS THIRTEENTH. DOES THAT KIND OF SURPRISE YOU AT ALL SEEING SOME OF THE NAMES THAT AREN’T USUALLY UP FRONT TO SEE THEM UP FRONT LIKE THAT? DO YOU FEEL LIKE THAT’S THE TRACK, THE CAR – WHAT’S YOUR THOUGHTS ON SEEING THE MIX OF NEW NAMES KIND OF SHUFFLING AROUND?
KYLE LARSON: “No – I wasn’t surprised. I think it’s just a combination of probably mostly the track just being as small as it is and it just allows other people to be closer and stuff in speed. I think the car being new, too, and the first weekend in it – I think there’s still a lot of good teams with a lot of resources still trying to figure things out. Everybody is.”

“I wasn’t too surprised. I think more surprised at guys who you would expect to be really fast that weren’t. I think those are the ones that stand out more than the teams that are maybe under funded that are up to speed.”

CHASE, YOU’RE A BIG SPORTS FAN. ANY OTHER STADIUMS THAT YOU’D REALLY LIKE TO RACE INSIDE IF YOU HAD YOUR WAY?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “That’s a good one. I haven’t really ever thought about that. Like a stadium in particular, I haven’t really thought about that. But I’ve always really admired Supercross and what they do. I feel like those guys being able to race indoors and in stadiums, their product is a little more logistical to make that happen regularly. Obviously, they have a season of doing it. But I’ve always admired that and I’ve always felt like that attracted a different fan base because of it. Because it’s in a big city and it’s easy to get to. Just a little different vibe and I’ve always thought that was a really nice feel for a motorsport event to go towards for the future. I wish four-wheel racing could do more of that. Yeah, there’s great stadiums across the country that would be great to race in. But this is just not a logistically practical thing to do every week for us. We have a great product elsewhere, too, that we can massage, make really good and make successful for a long time. It’s just different. Maybe we can do this again; I don’t know. But it’s a tough thing to do each week, I feel like.”

CHASE, YOU’VE BEEN TO SOME SPORTING EVENTS AND MAJOR EVENTS. OBVIOUSLY, THERE’S A FAN EXPERIENCE AT A NASCAR EVENT, BUT ALSO A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN SOME OF THESE OTHER EVENTS. YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND, WITH THE CONCERTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, HOW MUCH MORE OF THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED THAT THIS SPORT NEEDS TO LOOK AT?
CHASE ELLIOTT: “I guess it depends on what you’re into. Like I never go to an event for the half-time show. That’s just me. I don’t go to a major sporting event for what they have scheduled on the side. So, if I was coming to this event, it would be to watch a NASCAR race and to watch a really good short track race on asphalt. That’s why I would be here. But obviously there’s going to be different opinions on that as time goes.”

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Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

LOS ANGELES (February 5, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were made available to media after practice for to the LA Clash event today:

Is it an advantage to come to a market like this from a team ownership standpoint? More advantages or opportunities?

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

“Well, typically the Clash in general is a hard race to sell sponsorship for just in general it’s a very short race. But certainly, this one, as much build up as it has enables you to put it on the schedule as a legit race that you know, you can, you could sell for what you would sell for a normal event. On the other side, the ownership side, I just want to know what it’s going to cost for us to do this. That’s really all I care about. Your costs cannot out, cannot exceed your expenses. No other way your revenue. It costs a lot, but it costs the same — if the race pays less and your sponsor pays less, it makes less sense.”

How did this car react when you scraped the wall compared to the previous car?

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

“It was similar, it didn’t stick to the wall quite as much. It really looked like they just could repair some decals on it. They didn’t have to beat anything out. So, it seems like obviously the material that we’re using that’s similar to the Xfinity car, you’ll be able to rub it a little bit more than before, for sure.”

What do you think of this setting and this event so far?

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

“I mean, I think it’s all good. It’s been fun so far. You know, definitely different and interesting. With the ability of what we’re all trying to accomplish and do here and put on a really good show, put on a really good race, I think that there’s an opportunity. Like Denny (Hamlin) said, with as much hype and everything that’s kind of built into this event, let’s make it one you know, so keep going so far so good, keep it going.”

Does this event make you feel like the sport is getting back to its roots with your garage in a parking lot and driving on side streets to get into the race track?

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

“Is grassroots a good thing? I mean, do F1 cars run through gravel street roads to get to the track? No. Yeah, I’m probably a little different than what the general public thinks, like, ‘let’s get back to the roots when it was much, much smaller sport.’ I think you’ve got to continue to grow, and you’ve got to continue to make the fan and the competitors experience better and better. That’s how you grow if you want to have a place where parking is good, traffic flows, good. great amenities, a great place to get a drink or food quickly at a race track. All those things are very underrated in our sport in the growth of it.”

For Kyle Busch, you were the first driver to get a win with the COT (Car of Tomorrow) and the first to get Toyota’s first win in the Cup Series in 2008. Do you have extra incentive to be the first to win with the Next Gen Camry TRD?

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

“I would say no. But of course, in the back of my mind, you would say yeah, you want to be the first guy, but I think many of us would argue that the first race for this vehicle will be the Daytona 500. You know, we’re here obviously, it is a race. Yes, they will pay somebody at the end of the day to win it. But this is more as we’ve kind of alluded a little bit where it’s a show, I mean that’s fine, and we’re going to do our best job of being able to put on a good show. There’s going to be a race involved. There’s going to be a checkered flag at the end of it. And I’ve been involved in the sport enough where there’s a lot of Asterix on the things that I’ve accomplished. So, I’m sure me winning this race, I did not win the first race of the new car. It would be whoever wins Daytona, that’s how it would go.”

Are you guys glad to be done with the offseason and moving forward and heading to Daytona next weekend to get the season underway?

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

“As a driver, yes. I’m excited. Our offseason is always very short. We get a couple of weeks in November. Personally, I get December and then at the turn of the new year we’re meeting with you guys and doing production days and whatnot. It’s really, you know, kind of about a seven-week window where we have off as a team. I wish we had a few more weeks. There’s a real concern over parts supplies for cars, and so I just wish we had a little bit more time to prepare for on that front. I know our team loaded up at 2:45 in the morning or something. It’s just that the hours on the guys is what’s tough right now. If we had more time, then we wouldn’t have to push them so hard.”

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

“Not being on the ownership side in the cup series, I don’t feel the stress that these guys do. Being a driver I’m like, ‘What are y’all waiting for?’ It’s nice to have a few off weeks get a few chances to kind of chill out and relax a little bit and then once it’s time to get going, like Denny said. It’s pretty much January that you start your year with production shoots, video shoots media stuff, whatever it might be to then get set for the year. Then starting here in LA and then one week I guess off again to start our season for real in Daytona.”

Does it being here make The Clash special again? Is it worth it to go out and try to win this race again?

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

“I think so. I mean, things get diluted for a lot of different reasons. Back then you had to, I think, you had to get a pole. I mean, that was the only way you get in and over time, if enough teams complain that they’re not a part of it, the rules get changed to make it to where more people can be included. Well, anytime you do that you dilute it. It’s not as special. It’s no different than the playoffs and have gone from 10 to 12 to 16. Making the playoffs in ’06 or ’07 it was hard. You had some legit guys that could win each and every week not make the playoffs and but that would that made the 10 rule really special, but as you dilute it a little bit more it certainly is not as special. This format is certainly where you have to get in on your own merit. There’s only one provisional there’s no inclusion for someone that’s got high in this for that. It’s back to being, in my opinion, it’s gonna be the best 23 cars on the racetrack or the best 20 cars this weekend anyway, so certainly in my mind, it makes it more prestigious than just getting in on one of the 10 things that you can get in on.”

Did the car practice how you thought it would?

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

“I think lap times were a little bit quicker than many of us expected or anticipated. The driving of the car was about as much as I’d expect it to be. I think some of the issue is just brakes on entry. You know, making sure you slow down fast enough for the tight confines to be able to make the turn that you have. The acceleration to me was better than I had anticipated. You know, better forward drive out of the turn. So not as much wheel spin as I had expected but the tight confines – when I got into practice a little bit and had some cars in front of me and around me and stuff like that – It definitely was like okay, it’s tight, like how are you going to find a way to pass you know, some guys kind of holding and protecting low. The only way to get them out of the way is push them out of the way so I think you’re gonna see some of that as it comes down towards some opportune times when more is on the line.”

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

“For my standpoint, I thought the car turned the corner just better than I thought. I mean, I think there was no way our old car was gonna make it around these corners. But this one, we talked about how it’s better for road course racing. These corners are very, very tight – tighter than anything that we have. It cornered quite a bit better than what I was anticipating. But other than that, everything was the same.”

Will the costs of the damage here be more cost effective than if the Clash was in Daytona?

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

“Yeah, if you like really crashed one, I think here you’re probably looking at $50,000 worth of stuff. That’s a guess. But yes, it’s not a total loss like a Daytona Clash would be.”

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