Iconic Sunglasses Brand to Outfit RFK Team

CONCORD, N.C. (Feb. 16, 2022) – RFK Racing rolls into the 2022 season in style as the organization and global eyewear leader, Maui Jim, have announced a partnership that will see the iconic sunglasses brand outfit all of RFK’s personnel both at the shop and at the racetrack.

As part of the partnership, Brad Keselowski – in his first year as driver and co-owner for the team – will represent the brand throughout the season as Maui Jim becomes the official sunglasses partner of RFK Racing.

Maui Jim is known as one of the largest independent sunglass brands in the world, with a home office in Lahaina, HI. Inspired by the beauty and culture of Maui, the brand’s mission is to spread the aloha spirit through vivid color, clarity, and detail, with all sunglasses featuring the brands patented PolarizedPlus2® lens technology, which helps eliminate both glare and harmful UV.

“Maui Jim is excited to welcome RFK Racing into our ‘Ohana and to help provide eye protection to everyone on the team, both on and off the track,” said Jay Black, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Maui Jim. “Eliminating glare while driving allows for greater visibility and safety, so we’re pleased to work with RFK and equip their team with Maui Jim’s polarized sunglasses.”

RFK opens the 2022 campaign this week at Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona 500 is set for Feb. 20 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).

About Maui Jim
Maui Jim sunglasses were born on the beaches of Maui; designed to protect eyes from the harsh rays of the island sun. Today, Maui Jim is the world’s fastest-growing premium eyewear company and is sold in more than 100 countries. Maui Jim is recognized for its unparalleled “Aloha Spirit”, customer service, and advanced, patented PolarizedPlus2® lens technology. All Maui Jim sunglasses block 100 percent of harmful UV rays and eliminate glare, while enhancing color, clarity and detail. Maui Jim sunglasses have earned the Skin Cancer Foundation Seal of Recommendation as an effective UV filter for the eyes and surrounding skin.

In 2018, Maui Jim expanded further into the eyewear space, offering eyeglasses structurally and stylistically engineered to balance aesthetics with fit and integrity. Maui Jim offers two proprietary clear lenses: Maui Blue Light Protect™, to shield eyes from harmful blue light coming from digital screens, and Maui High Contrast™, which offers better resolution and crisper details. Frames for both sunglasses and eyeglasses utilize the highest-quality materials such as durable titanium, lightweight nylon, and richly-colored acetate, all manufactured in Italy or Japan. For more information, visit mauijim.com or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @OfficialMauiJim.

About Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
RFK Racing, in its 35th season of competition in 2022, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner himself in the NASCAR Truck Series, joins the ownership fold while piloting the iconic No. 6 Ford, and brings to the team a championship mindset himself having won the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Championship. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox and English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com, and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.

The Daytona 500
Daytona International Speedway
NASCAR Cup Series
Sunday, February 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX

• The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) heads to Daytona International Speedway for the 64th running of the Daytona 500.
• Both Daniel Hemric and Justin Haley will compete for Kaulig Racing in NASCAR’s pinnacle event.
• Kaulig Racing has led 10 laps at Daytona, all of which came during the 2021 Daytona 500

Daniel Hemric, No. 16 Heritage Pool Supply Group, Inc. Camaro ZL1

Hemric has made one Daytona 500 start in 2019, where he led one lap

Daniel Hemric on Daytona:

“I’ve been fortunate to have experience at Daytona over the last handful of years in many different series, but this year, I’m going into it with my new home, Kaulig Racing. We’ve been spending time preparing as a team during the offseason and building on relationships that attribute to the culture at this team. This is our first opportunity to officially do that, and given the history of Kaulig Racing’s success, especially at super speedways, makes it even more exciting. I look forward to the chance to being part of this Kaulig Racing family, working with my teammates on the Xfinity side, as well as the cup side, and continue building towards the vision that Matt Kaulig, Chris rice and everyone at Kaulig Racing has built prior to me being here.”

Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

Haley has made one Daytona 500 start in 2020 with Kaulig Racing
He has won at Daytona (2018) across three total starts and has an average finish of 6.667 at Daytona in the NCS

Justin Haley on Daytona:

“This is an exciting weekend for myself and Kaulig Racing. I was fortunate enough to run both my first and Kaulig Racing’s first Daytona 500 together a couple years ago. To be entering our second Daytona 500 together, but this time to kick off our first, full Cup Series season together, is truly special. Kaulig Racing has been a huge part of my growth as a driver, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do together this year starting at the biggest race in motorsports.”

Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. 300

Daytona International Speedway

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Saturday, February 19 at 5 p.m. ET on FS1

Kaulig Racing has led 260 laps at Daytona International Speedway, more than any other track it has competed at in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Kaulig Racing has three wins at Daytona — the first coming in 2019, the second in 2020, and the third in 2021.
Kaulig Racing has five top-five finishes across the last six starts at Daytona International Speedway.
Dating back to the 2020 season opener, Kaulig Racing has finished at least one car in the top 10 in 65 of the last 66 NXS races.

Landon Cassill, No. 10 Voyager Digital Chevrolet

Cassill has made a total of nine starts at Daytona in the NXS and has earned one top-five finish

Landon Cassill on Daytona:

“I’m excited for Daytona, because I know I’ll be racing from a perspective that I haven’t had in a long time there. The speed of my car, the way I’ll be working with my Kaulig Racing teammates, and the way I’ll work the draft will be much different than in year’s past for me. As much as experience has gotten me this far, I’m very open minded, because I know I’ll be seeing a lot of new things. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do as a team this weekend”

Daniel Hemric, No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet

Hemric will begin the 2022 NXS season as the reigning champion
He has earned one top five and three top-10 finishes in his last four starts at Daytona in the NXS
He has led a total of seven laps at Daytona in the NXS

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AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet

Allmendinger has led 120 Laps at Daytona in the NXS
He has eared two, top-five finishes, including a runner-up finish to teammate, Justin Haley, in 2021

AJ Allmendinger on Daytona:

“I’m looking forward to going back to Daytona and starting my second, full season with Kaulig Racing. Our last finish at Daytona was almost perfectly executed at the finish line, and my teammates at Kaulig Racing always do a fantastic job of working together throughout the entire race. Daytona is a special place for Matt Kaulig — it’s where Kaulig Racing got it’s first win, so hopefully we can make him proud this weekend.”

About Kaulig Racing™

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and made the Championship 4 round in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. They will continue fielding three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by Landon Cassill, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by AJ Allmendinger. With multiple wins, Kaulig Racing has come to be one of the top competitors on track each weekend. The team made multiple starts in the NCS in 2021 and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The young team has acquired two charters for the 2022 NCS season, with Justin Haley competing as its first, full-time driver in the series. The team’s second entry will be shared by part-time teammates AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – HOW MUCH IMPORTANCE DOES YOUR TEAM PUT ON QUALIFYING TONIGHT? “You have to put some importance in single-car speed. Everybody works really hard building the cars at the shop to put all of the speed into the car before it leaves the shop, so it’s really hard. Once you get here, you just really work on driveability. There’s not a whole lot you can do for speed, at least that I know of. The crew chief probably has a different opinion, but usually what you show up with is what you have, so at this point you get an idea of where you stack up and it’s really hard to tell in practice just where you stack up because you don’t know how much of a help guys are getting from a draft from the cars in front of them or not, and nobody has gone through tech like you do before you go to qualify. We’ll have to wait and see tonight.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang – HOW MUCH IMPORTANCE DOES YOUR TEAM PUT ON QUALIFYING TONIGHT? “I think more than anything it’s just the pride we have at the shop. They work all off-season trying to get ready and you don’t know where you stack up until you go to qualify because of all those variables in practice. I think you put a little bit of stock in it, but at the end of the day you’re racing the pack, you’re not racing by yourself, but the faster your car can be by yourself, typically the better it’s gonna be in the pack. I don’t think there’s a ton, especially on these cars, that you can do to find speed. What you’ve got is kind of what you’ve got. I know for us, we haven’t put a ton into qualifying just because you have the Duels to kind of dictate where you’re gonna start anyway.”

HOW MUCH WILL QUALIFYING TELL US ABOUT THE NEXT GEN CAR? “I don’t know if I’m the guy to answer it, but I think that it’s gonna be hard to tell. There’s gonna be some teams, I think, and manufacturers that will probably be a little bit better by themselves than others. I don’t know how much you can really read into qualifying. I think the same top teams are still gonna be fast. I think there’s still gonna be that gap throughout the field, but that difference in first to 40th with this Next Gen car will probably be a little bit smaller than it was with the old car. Outside of that, I don’t think you’re gonna see a ton of differences.”

ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED – ARE YOU OPEN TO RUNNING THE 500 AGAIN IN THE FUTURE? “Potentially. I’d have to talk to my wife and kids about it and see if I could get a hall pass to do it. I don’t know. You never know what the future holds. I came down here before thinking that it could be my last in year’s past, like when you don’t have a contract going past that year. You never really know when it is gonna be your last Daytona 500. I got my eyes open to that. When I wrecked at Kansas and broke my back I wasn’t sure if that was gonna be the end of my career there as well. Every time I come down here it’s special and you never know when it’s gonna be your last Daytona 500. For me, growing up just a couple hours down the road this is home for me. I always get goosebumps when I drive through that tunnel and it’s the start of the season and a land of opportunity when you show up down here for the first race of the year. Everybody comes down here with a lot of positive vibes and thinking that they’ve got an opportunity to be the Daytona 500 champion.”

CHASE BRISCOE CONTINUED – WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS YEAR? “I feel like last year the first half of the season we were just learning each other as a team and I felt by the end of last year we were consistently a 10th-15th place team and were able to contend for wins occasionally, but not as often as we would obviously like. I think this year, in L.A. I felt like we were one of the top three cars and had a mechanical failure, but I think as a goal we want to make the playoffs and we want to do it by winning a race and not on points. And if we win one race why can’t we win more than one? So there’s no number. We would love to just win one, but I think to be more consistently in the top 10 and more consistently battling for wins, instead of the three or four times we did last year.”

ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED – DO YOU HAVE A BUNCH OF FAMILY COMING TO THIS RACE? “I do have a lot of people coming. We have a lot of family and a lot of friends coming, just to take it in. It’s the Daytona 500. I know the next race in August is the last race of the year in Daytona, but this is the only Daytona 500 of the year and so we have a lot of family and a lot of friends coming over. I’m sure it’ll be hectic. My wife, Janice, is managing all that so I don’t really have to worry about it, but we’ve got everybody asking for passes and a parking pass and everything else, so she’s managing all of that. I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited. It’s gonna be fun. That’s one of the things, flying down here yesterday morning and then driving through the tunnel I really reminded myself to just slow down. Our lives as race car drivers and just in the industry, you get on an airplane, you fly, you hurry up and get to the next place, you hurry up and do the next meeting, you hurry up and do the next practice, the next meet-and-greet. Whatever it is, you’re always in a hurry. My life is lived on a minute-by-minute schedule. I could show you my itinerary for the Daytona 500 Speedweek this week and literally, my schedule is broken down into a minute-by-minute schedule, so I just reminded myself driving through the tunnel yesterday morning like, ‘Slow down. Take it all in. Embrace it.’ What we get to do is incredible. I get to drive a race car for a living and I’m tremendously blessed to do that. It’s one thing to say it, but it’s another thing to kind of slow down and kind of embrace it and live it, and that’s kind of my goal for this week and going into this year.”

HAS THE BEEN ANY THOUGHT THIS WEEK ABOUT WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN IN 2018? “Yeah, but only because yesterday between practices they were showing it on TV and the TV was on in our hauler, so it reminded me. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, honestly. Would I love to be a Daytona 500 champion? Absolutely, and I would love to get it done this year. That would be fantastic, and if I never get it done that’s OK. I want to. I’m a competitor and I have a huge desire to win at any racetrack that we go to, but especially here. Winning in 2014 here I remember standing in victory lane, it was raining, and I remember looking up into the grandstands, and I know the grandstands have changed since then, but I remember being a boy and I remember sitting up there with my grandfather and my dad and my mom and my aunts and uncles. I remember watching races here, watching the Daytona 500, watching the Firecracker 400, sitting in those grandstands. I remember being in victory lane for the Duels last year. We won the Duels and, again, standing in victory lane and looking up there and just kind of in disbelief, like ‘I can’t believe it.’ I’ve won an Xfinity race here. I’ve not won a Daytona 500 here. I know where victory lane is. I’m very familiar with it, but I’ve not won a Daytona 500 and it would be very special, but at the end of the day trophies collect dust and I don’t put all my stock and all my weight in being a Daytona 500 champion.”

CHASE BRISCOE CONTINUED – WHERE DO YOU NEED TO GET BETTER? “I think looking back to last year in the Cup Series I learned really quickly that you can do everything right and still struggled to run 15th, so just trying to eliminate mistakes. I think I had more pit road penalties than anybody last year and just doing all the little things right. Maximizing green flag pit stops, getting on and off pit road, obviously on pit road doing all those things right. There’s just a lot of things that in Cup race if you’re gonna win these things, you’ve got to do everything perfect and I didn’t do a lot of those things last year. I felt like I made a lot of mistakes. In the lower series you can get away with those things and still win races. In the Cup Series, I don’t think you can do that. There are very few guys that can make mistakes and get big penalties and come back from it, so I think just doing that is kind of the biggest thing I feel I could do better, and then from a successful season this year if we can just make the playoffs I think that’s a big goal that we have. If we can be one of those top 16 teams and we went into the playoffs, I feel like that’s a big accomplishment, so that’s our goal. Like I said earlier, I’d love to get there by winning a race and not by points, so if we could do that, I would consider it a successful season.”

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GET THE ROOKIES THIS YEAR? “I think, for me, first off just enjoy it. You dream your whole career trying to get to the Cup Series and you get here and, like Aric was saying, and it gets to where you’re just in a rush. It’s minute by minute by minute and you don’t really savor the moment of being in the Cup Series and what a privilege it is. There are only 40 people that can say they’re a Cup Series driver, so, for me, I think I didn’t do the greatest job of that last year at times. You get so caught up in results and all these things and the pressure that comes with it, so just saying you’re a Cup Series driver. This is what you’ve dreamed of your whole life and really just appreciating that moment, so I think that’s the biggest thing for me to tell those guys is to just slow down at times. It’s so easy to get caught up in the lifestyle and caught up in the results and all these things and then outside of that it’s just you’re gonna get race really hard and just standing your ground to a certain extent. Racing for 20th in the Cup Series I think is the hardest racing you’ll ever do in your career and it’s so easy to let those guys push you around at times and I think you’ve got to eventually stand up for yourself to a certain extent and that goes a long way and guys start racing you differently after that. So that would be the biggest thing for me is first off just slow down and really appreciate the moment and second you’ve got to earn your respect, but at the same time you can’t just give, give, give all the time.”

ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED – “To expand on that something I think of differently and looking back to when I first got started in the Cup Series I wish somebody would have told me to be prepared to work harder than you’ve ever worked before. That’s one of the things I think about. When you make it to the Cup Series that’s not the end goal. You’ve made it, but you’re not done. The work ethic and the level of expectations and stress and everything just continues to ratchet up as you progress from series to series. When you make it to the highest level and you make it to the Cup Series, the expectations of you and of yourself need to be the highest they’ve ever been, and you’ve got to be prepared to work, whether that’s through making sure that you’re doing all the things you need to do from studying to being ready to go in the race car, being fit, making sure you pay attention to your hydration so you’re not cramping up inside the race car and all those things. I didn’t do the best of job at that as I entered into the Cup Series. I worked really hard at that through the process, but the work ethic and the guys even on the team and the crew chief and the engineers and everybody that supports you is so high that you need to have that expectation of yourself as well.”

CHASE BRISCOE CONTINUED – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR TRIP TO GET HERE? “What a couple days it’s been. Last Monday, I bought a fifth wheel. I drove it down myself on Sunday and I was going down 95 and the leaf springs fell out of it. It was sideways going down the road. Luckily, it didn’t flip over, so I sat on the side of the road for I think 10-11 hours. It’s still sitting there. They haven’t found anybody to come fix it or tow it, so it could have been really bad. It moved the axle back about 10-15 degrees and it was sideways going down the road. Luckily, it happened literally an eight-of-a-mile before an exit ramp and I was able to get off, but I had both dogs, had the baby, had the wife with me and it was eventful. We left Charlotte at 8 a.m. and we got to Daytona at 1 a.m. Still no fifth wheel, but it was quite the day, for sure.”

ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED – WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET COMING INTO THE 500 THIS YEAR? “That’s a deep question, to be honest. The car and the racing is still yet to be proven out. There’s still a lot of unknowns with the new car and how it’s gonna race and how it’s gonna be, and then to cap all that off like how aggressive are you gonna be and can you be throughout the week? There’s a limited supply of cars and parts and pieces and all those things, so that changes the dynamic for sure. It’s not like when we used to come down here and by the time we got ready to leave for Daytona we had eight race cars pretty much ready to go – two to three per car number for Daytona specifically and then your west coast cars were all but wrapped up and finished and ready to go before we left for Daytona. That’s not the case, so that changes things. I think we’ll still see the same dramatic Daytona 500 that we always see when it comes down to crunch time and the pay window opens because everybody wants to be the Daytona 500 champion and everybody wants to win the biggest race of the year and so as competitors and as race car drivers we’re going to shoot for every gap and put ourselves in whatever position we need to to try and win the race.”

CHASE BRISCOE CONTINUED – WHAT WAS IT LIKE FILMING YOUR MAHINDRA COMMERCIAL WITH TONY AND WAS THAT YOUR FIRST ONE? “Yeah, that was the first big one, for sure. It was cool. For me, everybody that knows me knows that I was a diehard Tony Stewart fan growing up, so to drive for him and now do commercials with him is cool. It’s a surreal moment every time. Any time I can be around Tony it’s crazy to think 15-20 years ago I was wearing that Home Depot uniform with helmet acting like I was him playing my video game, and now I’m doing all these things with him, so it was cool. It’s crazy how much goes into a 30-second commercial. I learned that really quickly. I think we did two full 9-10 hour days to do two 30-second commercials, so it was a lot, but it’s super cool to do and super cool to see and the fans love it so far, so it’s been a really neat thing to be a part of.”

HAS TONY GIVEN YOU ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO NAVIGATE THAT SIDE OF THE JOB? “Truthfully, no. I don’t know if you want to take his advice either way, but no, not really. Tony wasn’t even there the first one we did. They kind of had him do it at a separate time, so I was only around Tony a couple hours the one day. It was neat though to do and Mahindra, I think has proved pretty quickly how serious they are about the NASCAR thing. To be investing in the race team, my dirt racing and now also doing commercials all over the place it’s pretty special to be a part of it and be a part of that team. It’s been cool and it’s only gonna keep getting bigger and better, so it’s something to be really excited about, for sure.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang — YOU HAVE WON SIX TIMES AT TALLADEGA BUT YOU HAVEN’T CROSSED THE LINE HERE FIRST IN THE 500. IS THAT COINCIDENTAL OR ARE THE TWO TRACKS SO DIFFERENT THAT THEY DON’T RELATE IN THAT WAY? “I don’t know. I have probably won some race sat Talladega I didn’t deserve to win and probably lost some here I deserved to win. I imagine it evens itself out somehow, it just hasn’t evened itself out in the way I would like it to here. I feel like we were really close last year and trying to make the pass for the lead on the last lap and the last corner. It doesn’t get much closer than that. If I can just keep the thing with four wheels on the ground pointed the right way for a whole race I think I can have a pretty good shot at it. Then again there is a stat floating around that 75-80% of the field wrecks out of this thing. There is something about the Daytona 500 where we seem to get a lot of wrecks here late. I have a hard time missing all those. The key to me though is when you do somehow become one of the 10-20% that doesn’t wreck out that you capitalize on it and win those races. I think we are prepared for that and we have got good cars and had a great day yesterday on the track and I feel comfortable that we will be in the running. I am excited about it, not just for me but for both cars. We will have to see how the weekend plays out. If we can avoid those crashes we will be there and have a shot at it for sure.”

THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THE SPORT HAS SEEN SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY THAT HAS CREATED A LOT OF MOMENTUM. AS A TEAM OWNER, THOSE CHANGES HAVE COME AS EXPENSES TO TEAMS. AS THEY HAVE TAKEN PLACE, WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE MOVING FORWARD? CAN BIG MOVES STILL BE SUSTAINED OR DO THINGS HAVE TO BE THROTTLED BACK TO HELP TEAMS AFTER WHAT THEY HAVE DONE THE LAST COUPLE YEARS? “I think the moves on the schedule have been a huge success. You could maybe argue long overdue. I am really happy to see the changes we have made and eagerly anticipating changes we will make to the schedule for years to come. I think it drives an energy into our sport that is critical for our sustainability and success. If that comes with expense to the team along the way – and I think I can say this as a team owner now – we need to just suck it up and make it work. When you look at those costs, they aren’t nothing without a doubt, but they are nowhere close to even more than 1 or 2 percent of our budget. I try not to sweat it. NASCAR has done a great job I think of some givebacks along the way and they fought really hard on the schedule stuff with everybody to get it to where it is more tolerable. I think on its face it is hard to explain the real ROI but we had gotten to a point where just being in the garage areas was a miserable experience for a lot of people. By getting it down to two-day shows for a lot of these things we are able to make it more manageable for our people nad a big giveback to cut some costs and really improve the culture of the garage area and stop burning out people so fast. I think there have been some givebacks along the way to offset some of the challenges in the schedule. There are a lot of people that are probably frustrated over racing on Easter in the garage area but that is one of the biggest TV weekends for sports so it made sense to me from that perspective. I think we have a lot of good things going on, more good than bad than I have seen in my time at the Cup level which is 12 or 13 years now. There is a lot of reason for excitement and I think we are on an upward trend and a big part of that starts with schedule variability that we really hadn’t had five or six years ago. It isn’t the only thing we have to be excited about but it is certainly one of the high tides for sure.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang — YOUR THOUGHTS ON ATLANTA MAYBE TURNING INTO A SPEEDWAY RACE? “I got to run the test down there. Obviously, it was just three of us and new asphalt is always hard to get a good read but leaving there I did not feel like you are going to have a Daytona or Talladega race. Handling was very much a factor. Yes, the throttle time was wide open but there were still some pretty big moments with very few cars. The racing surface is very narrow with the added banking. I don’t think you are going to end up with the product we have here. I don’t know what it will look like. It will be some form of a hybrid. You get more cars out there and the track rubbers up and the grip goes up then maybe it will trend more towards a Daytona-style race but I left there thinking that it is not Daytona. It is not Talladega. There is going to be a lot that we are going to be focusing on to try to have some downforce in the cars and have drivability to move around. It is not going to be to see how fast you can go single-car. You are going to be trying to get handling into the race car.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI CONTINUED — “I think for a long time SMI wanted a plate track and so they made one. It will be interesting to see how it plays out because the other plate tracks are 2.5 miles where Atlanta is 1.5 miles. That mile shorter distance naturally makes the turns much tighter than they would be at a track like this and the straightaways shorter as well to make moves. It will definitely look different than Daytona and Talladega. I can’t say I know exactly how since I haven’t turned a lap around the track. I know it looks different between testing and racing. A lot of question marks for sure.”

AS A NEW OWNER, HOW MUCH DO YOU LOOK AT EMERGING DEMOGRAPHICS, YOUNGER DEMOGRAPHICS AND HOW THINGS LOOK AND WHO THEY SPEAK TO? “The sport is changing and we are trying to find new fans and try to grow with the world around us. I am probably not the fashion expert in the room by any means but there are all kinds of new opportunities for us as a sport to grow into new technologies and things that resonate with a younger fan base. It always comes at the risk of alienating an older fan base and it seems like we are always kind of dancing around that, and I understand that. I think it is important to have our eyes wide open, whether it is fashion trends or NFT’s or whatever it is next – crypto currency is the hot button now. You watch the Super Bowl and you would think the world is electric cars and crypto coins. I don’t know if that is what most of the real world sees but it is probably more what the next generation is going to see and we have to be prepared for that and I think that is driving a lot of our future looking for the sport.”

10 YEARS AGO WAS YOUR FAMOUS TWEET ON THE BACKSTRETCH HERE. LOOKING BACK ON THAT, WHAT DO YOU THINK IT DID FOR THE SPORT AND FOR YOU PERSONALLY? “It was an interesting time. I can tell you that a lot of people still to this day think there was a strategy behind that and I can assure you that I had no plans for a car to run into a jet dryer. That might be a shock to some but it was an interesting night for sure. A night I will never forget. It was a great year for me, going on to win the championship. I think it was a good moment for our sport. I hesitate to take too much credit for it because I think the sport would have gotten there. Maybe not then but sooner rather than later. It kind of helped set the stage for a rebrand of the sport and new marketing campaigns and really gave those a lot of energy to lift off. I am really hesitant to take too much credit for it because I think it was going to happen anyway whether it was me or somebody else. It was nice to be a part of it and one day I will try to explain it to my kids and they will think I am crazy. It was a good beginning for our sport in the digital media age.”

WOULD YOU BE OKAY WITH SEEING THE CLASH FORMAT COME TO A POINTS RACE OF SOME KIND? “Yeah, I think it was an interesting event. I thought the LA Coliseum and The Clash was a huge success for our sport. I think sometimes we have this habit of taking something that works and then just copy and pasting it until it doesn’t work anymore so I am super hesitant – one, I would convey that I thought the event was a huge success but I would hesitate to say we should do this 10 times a year for rive straight years because I think that kind of burns off. I think there are great opportunities for our sport to learn from it and apply it forward. I don’t know how you could say it was anything less than a success. All the fears we had went great. The track didn’t tear up and the cars didn’t fall apart mostly and the fans showed up. All the things that I think we were nervous about ended up going great. So clearly there is more we can do there. I think just as a whole, I have kind of seen this with events of similar nature in the NASCAR season, whether it is the Roval or dirt races where the first year is really strong and then years two and three kind of trail off and it gets overplayed real fast. I think we just have to be careful against doing that and allowing that to happen. I am conscientious about the rhetoric around it that we acknowledge the success but not oversaturate as well.”

QUESTION INAUDIBLE: “Yeah, I have given him some hard times about it. But he is having fun with it and doing his own thing. He has a gift for talking so you hate to see that not get used. Sometimes I think he should be in here but all of those spotters love that stuff. It is great that the fans like it too. It is a new way for them to engage. I can’t keep up with all the podcasts. I get a podcast request every day. God bless people that can listen to them and do these all day. I don’t know how you all do it but I am glad that the fans enjoy it and there is an authentic voice to it”

“He and I had a good banter back and forth on Denny Hamlin. That was probably the biggest. He said, ‘Well, I don’t know if Denny Hamlin has a Hall of Fame carer,’ and I was like, ‘C’mon man, you win the Daytona 500 twice you are going to the Hall of Fame.’ He and I bantered on that one a little bit. He and I like to get underneath each other a little bit and I think that is healthy.”

CHRIS BUESCHER CONTINUED — IS BRAD YOUR TEAMMATE OR THE OWNER AND DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE MOVING HIM TO WIN THE 500? “Ha. I think this question is coming more than not. Yeah, it is both. We are teammates and we were out there working together a lot yesterday trying to learn what we can with these new cars and it is helpful too because we can trust each other. I am sympathetic to his position as an owner in the current environment of shortages and the supply chain. I understand it. It kind of brings you back to racing growing up when you knew you had to race that car the next week and you better take care of it while still racing hard. I understand there is a thin line. Going out there to work together to also find out how we can best situation ourselves to try to win races. At the end of the day, for the 500, or for any race I think I have told him that I will take a shot but I am not going to wreck my teammate and I am definitely not going to wreck my boss. I think you have to race hard, right? You want to be running 1-2 and have the opportunity to put the cars 1-2 across the line. Obviously, you want to be selfish and be number one but if you can have them both there and have a shot at it, that is what we are really trying to get to here and be in that final 20% that survives it and then you are in a good spot. There is a balance but honestly, you just don’t want to wreck anybody. You want to have a good clean race to win it and get all the way to that checkered flag. “I haven’t had a whole lot of luck coming down the last lap of these speedway races”

BRAD KESELOWSKI CONTINUED — “There are not a whole lot of people that can say they don’t wreck a lot at Daytona, other than Denny (Hamlin).”

THE INVENTORY SITUATION FOR THIS WEEK. HOW GOOD OR BAD IS IT? “It can always be better but we are here and we have great cars to race with and we are a little bit living one week at a time, no doubt about it. I don’t think we can let that be an excuse for us to not go out and get the job done.”

HOW FRUSTRATING IS IT FOR SOMEONE WHO IS A MANUFACTURER TO NOT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE PARTS? YOU ARE SITTING THERE WITH THE CAPABILITY TO BUILD THESE PARTS AND CAN’T. HOW FRUSTRATING IS THAT FROM YOUR STANDPOINT? “The team guys are living that a lot more than I am. The guys that are on the floor are more frustrated because when a part comes in, it is now that they are working through the weekend because everything is coming just in time and we can’t lose that time. For me, it isn’t terribly frustrating, but I have a lot of empathy for the guys on all the teams when a part comes in on Friday and now they have to work through the weekend because we have to get this done now. It has really affected their lives the most and been a big challenge for our shop teams. That said, we have almost 200 people, just shy of that, and we try to use that manpower wisely to work around it but there is a lot of sacrifices they are making that aren’t sustainable. I suspect that we will get out of this by mid to late summer and get to a new normalcy and that will work its way out.”

IN YOUR NEW ROLE AS AN OWNER/DRIVER, HOW HAS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THESE STRATEGIES AND THOUGHT PROCESS OF HOW THESE NASCAR DRIVERS ARE MARKETED ON A NATIONAL LEVEL CHANGED? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS WORKING RIGHT NOW AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO IMPROVE UPON? “Well, I have made it a point to intentionally not sit in a lot of meetings of that nature because I have my hands — well I am probably more elbows deep on the competition side in turning this company around to where it can compete and win races. There is only so much I can do. When it comes to the more business nature aspects, Steve Newmark and the team are more into that world than I am. That said, there are incredible opportunities out there that are just coming at us from all directions and I think we would be foolish no to embrace them. We have a leadership team that I think is really engaged in doing just that at NASCAR. I think Steve Phelps is pushing really hard in that direction. It is going to happen. I think NASCAR does a better job than they have maybe in the last decade of integrating themselves into mainstream culture and the next big things as they come rather than kind of playing from behind we are playing from in front. I think there is good energy there and good energy in our sport. I feel good about my investment and time in being an owner because I think the sport is really on the cusp of a big upswing.”

Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH (February 16, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media prior to the Daytona 500 this Wednesday:

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

Where do things stand on your contract after 2022?

“We haven’t talked anything about it. I just got to Daytona for race one, so we’ll go down the road here and see how things go for a while and we’ll make that decision when we’re ready.”

Do you envision that the last lap or two will have the same drama with this new car?

“I’m not sure we really know that answer yet. I think there’s going to be a lot to be learned throughout this week. I certainly have literally no experience in this car on this track other than yesterday. I think there’s going to be a lot of learning and a lot of guys trying to figure things out throughout the week. For me, I hope I can make it to the last lap. It’s been difficult in years past. I think the last time I finished this race was 2016. Hopefully we have a little better luck this week. We’re just going to have to figure it out. I honestly have no idea what it’s going to be like. Typically, you need to be at the front no matter what. It’s going to be two, three-wide so it’s hard to get through a lot of cars. But aside from that how we do it and how the draft works, what’s going to be the best position to be in and all of those things are yet to be seen.”

Can you talk about what happened last year at COTA?

“For me it was the same situation. I hit the 34 (Michael McDowell) car. I guess he couldn’t see so he slowed down, and I was wide open, and I literally seen his brake light flash and he was on the hood at the same time. That’s it. I think that’s what happened with Cole. He came up behind and we were going slow because we were crashed, and he was wide open. Very difficult to see. Basically, he couldn’t see going flat out through the gears. Pretty crazy.”

What was the impact like?

“I thought I was flipping when Cole (Custer) hit me. I really did, but luckily, I didn’t. It honestly wasn’t that bad other than that.”

How long do you think it’s going to take for you to reprogram yourself with this new car or do you think your previous experience could affect you negatively?

“I hope not. I don’t know, honestly. So far with the running that we’ve done with this car there’s been a lot of learning and a lot of changing. I think a guy in my situation I’ve been around a while and been through a lot of different changes. There’s a lot of different cars and things like that. Obviously, this day and age it’s a lot easier to learn these things because you have all of the data, you have SMT and you can see what everybody’s doing. Back in the day when I started it was all a big mystery. You didn’t know. You had to figure it out. You could kind of watch a guy and think you know what he was doing, but you may not have known exactly what it was and now you can see all of that stuff. So, I think that just brings the field closer. It’s hard to have secrets, it’s hard to not see somebody’s driving style or a guy that’s faster than you – how’s he doing it? You can go look at it and then you just have to make yourself change. We’ve done this for years with setup changes and car changes and all of these different things. You have to drive the cars different when the tires are changed, etc. So, I think you learn to adapt over time, but does he have a point? Maybe. I don’t know. I just think it depends on the guy and how willing he is to do whatever it takes and listen to his team and look at the data and make those changes.”

If your career ends without a Daytona 500, is that going to leave a hole on your resumé?

“I would certainly like to win it. I’m the closest one to winning it that hasn’t, I guess. That really doesn’t mean a whole lot. It’s a big race. It’s the biggest race in our sport. It’s on that we’ve tried every year to win and been close. I don’t know I never have really thought about it. I think we’ve got a good opportunity this weekend. We have a great team, and we will take advantage of that and a new car with a lot of unknowns. We will see who figures it out. Just watching practice yesterday, everybody was on different agendas, trying to learn as much as possible. I think we will have a great chance, just have to make it to the end. It’s been a tough luck track for us over the years. Hopefully, we can change that this weekend.”

How big is the issue for all teams when it comes to part shortages?

“I think right now, it’s a problem for everyone. Everybody is probably planning on trying to make it through the Duels with this car that we showed up with. We’re in a little better shape than we were about a week ago. I think we have another car or two this week. James (Small, crew chief) thinks we are in a really good spot. If we can just make it through the Duels with this car, we will be in good shape for a while. It’s getting better, just going to take a little bit of time.”

How do you orchestrate the pit stops at this point?

“It’s going to – I’m sure – bite some people. I really have no ideas. Pit stops are all about timing. You kind of know when you stop, and the jack goes up how much time it will be. You kind of have a little bit of a routine with the gearing and the clutch and wear your feet are on the pedals trying to leave the box, so definitely a little bit different here. It’s just something we have to get used to. It’s going to be weird the first time I’m sure – the first couple times – just figuring it all out. Pedals are different, shifters are different. The timing is going to be all different for us.”

What do you expect out of the Duels?

“I don’t really know. I feel like it’s going to be long green flag runs – I think there is a chance that we go green the whole way, and that’s going to separate the fast cars from guys that are maybe a little bit slower, but I don’t even know if we know who those are going to be. I think the field is going to get separated some. There is going to be a big pack. There is going to be a fast pack and a slower pack. We are going to be separated. Hopefully, we are in the front where we are going to be safe and get through the race and get a good starting spot.”

How significant has it been to add Kurt Busch to the Toyota team?

“I think it’s going to be a good thing with his experience driving different teams and cars. He’s got a lot of insight about what goes on. Having another experienced guy is always good. He’s a champion and has won a lot of races. We’ve got a strong lineup, and everything is equal. The better we all run, the better it elevates all of us. We will have that internal competition as always. Everyone wants to be the top guy, right? But we all work really well together during the week, and I think we all have a lot of respect for Kurt (Busch) and what he brings to the table.”

#

About Toyota

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Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 16, 2022

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1; and TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1 – Daytona 500 Media Availability Transcript:

BEFORE WE BEGIN, AUSTIN, WE KNOW YOU HAVE TEAMED UP WITH GM AND MARCUS BY GOLDMAN SACHS TO LAUNCH THE ALL-NEW GM MY REWARDS CARD. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THAT?

“Really pumped to be working with Marcus by Goldman Sachs and the GM My Rewards Card and I am a big Chevrolet fan and GM in general and to be able to be partnered with them this year is very cool and I am excited to push the card.”

AUSTIN, IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS AND CHANGE SINCE YOU WERE ONE OF THE FIRST DRIVERS TO TAKE THE NEXT GEN CAR ON TRACK AT RICHMOND. TWO YEARS AND CHANGE LATER, HOW FAR HAS THIS CAR COME FROM WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED AND WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL SENSE OF WHAT IT CAN DO AS A CAR AT THIS POINT?

“Well, I think since two years ago the car has really developed to something that you guys have been seeing this weekend. I think it’s a good piece and we are still developing it as we go. These guys in the garage are so good at what they do as far as the engineers and the mechanics, it’s hard to build things and take it to the track like we have been able to and not find big things wrong, and I feel like we are finding little things and making those better each and every week. NASCAR has done a good job of working with the teams and I feel like the ability that this car has that the old car didn’t are a lot different. I can turn in a circle a lot faster I feel like. (It has) the ability to take away the wheel hop and the things an independent rear suspension can do that we couldn’t get away with in the old car. It’s got a lot more ability than the old car.”

TYLER, I AM DOING A FEATURE ON THE RACE AT COTA AND YOU FINISHED EIGHTH IN THE COLD AND THE RAIN. HOW CRAZY WAS IT TO GET THROUGH THAT RACE AND DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU WERE LUCKY OR GRATEFUL TO SURVIVE IT?

“Yeah, there were some pretty wild moments in that race certainly. For me it kind of falls in line with a number of races we had last year where we were kind of defeating ourselves. In that particular race multiple times getting to the top ten and making mistakes, spinning out and going back to the mid-20s and then do it all over again. That was just one of those type of days. But certainly some of the chaos that was developing between turn 11 and turn 12 on that long back straightaway was some of the scariest stuff I have ever done in my life. I remember being wide open and seeing a car crash, stop and getting out and before I realized what had happened, I had already passed him. And I was like, ‘he was getting out of his race car’. And I am wide open and I can’t even see where I am going. So, it was a bit chaotic. We were in control of our cars for the most part, but the big issue was just seeing where we were going. Mostly with how the air came out from under the Gen 6 car, but hopefully with the diffuser on this car it’s a lot better, but we don’t know yet.”

TYLER, ANY LEFTOVER CONCERNS FROM THE CLASH? DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT THE CAR GOING INTO THIS WEEK?

“Yeah, it’s definitely something that when we get to bigger tracks, like speedways, where we run on harder tires. Just that alone is enough to really kind of ward off some of the concerns that were from the Clash. But NASCAR did a really good job right away from taking information from my car, (Chase) Briscoe’s car, and some of the other cars that had issues and going to work right away and kind of recreating the loads and situations in general. And then coming up with an updated part to beef it up a little bit. It seems like they were able to make it a lot better, so I was really happy to see how quick they were in getting something out there and getting something back to the teams. Us, I saw a cars and teams putting in the pieces here at the track before we got underway for practice. They did a really good job of tackling that issue and having it what they think is resolved and hopefully it is.”

WAS THERE ANY CONVERSATION BETWEEN YOU GUYS IN THE CAR SHORTAGE AND HOW YOU WANTED TO HANDLE PUTTING YOURSELVES IN PRECARIOUS SITUATIONS AND HAS THERE BEEN ANY DISCUSSION ON HOW YOU ARE GOING TO APPROACH THE DUELS?

TYLER “Yeah, we have, right? (laughs)”

AUSTIN “We have had some pretty extensive conversations between our teams and for myself and Tyler, we were talking last night. It’s very hard because you want to pick and approach and attack that approach, but for the situation we are in, what is right? You know what I mean? So when it comes to when the green flag drops, it’s a feel thing, but you are still going to have this mentality built into your head that, ‘okay, you really would like to get this car to the 500’. Because if you don’t, it definitely sets you back for the next three races after this and going to the west coast. I think it will be interesting to see how the Duels play out because I think there are definitely some guys that are going to go for it and there are some that aren’t. Then there are going to be some guys in the middle, and does the middle get you in trouble. It’s one of those things and our goal is to take these cars to the 500 and try and get there.”

AUSTIN, RCR HAS MADE SOME GREAT PERFORMANCE PROGRESS OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS. AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE THE NEW CAR, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CAR BEING RE-SET?

“Well, I think it’s good. I think change is good and everyone is on the same playing field right now and we are learning as fast as we can. I like the situation that RCR is in as a whole and truthfully, I think Tyler and I work really well together, and our teammate growth is growing. I think that is a great position to be in. He drives a certain way and I drive a certain way and we can kind of build off of that to elevate our team fast. So, I think it’s been, since I have been here, in the best position RCR has been in from our standpoint.”

AUSTIN, YOU AS MUCH AS ANYONE HAS EXPERIENCED THE HIGHS AND THE LOWS OF THE DAYTONA 500. WITH THAT SAID, WHAT HAS YOUR MINDSET COMING INTO THE RACE THIS WEEK?

“I try to take advantage of every Daytona 500 that you get to drive in. I have approached them a couple of different ways throughout my career and kind of feel like I have found a happy place that I feel after practice, qualifying, and going into the Duels, that if I have this car, then the ability is this and I know what my approach is going to be in the race. Obviously, there are a lot of things that happen during that timeframe, but I just try to control what I can control going into it. Then hopefully that leads to a solid finish and like you said we have had some solid ones and had some wild ones too. Its Daytona man, you just have to kind of live in it this week and take it all in because there is a different atmosphere when you get here for the 500.”

AUSTIN, WHY ARE YOU PART OF THE DRIVER’S ADVISORY COUNCIL?

“Well, I think Jeff Burton kind of reached out to me and felt that they could use me on the board, and I felt like I would be doing a disservice if I didn’t. I feel like the driver’s opinion is very important in this sport and trying to establish a relationship with NASCAR and the owners and connect it altogether. You know what I mean? You have seen what the owners have been able to do with the RTA and seeing other players associations around the different leagues, I think it could build into something great that all the drivers that put their lives on the line each and every weekend, that their voices should be heard as much as anyone’s. I think Jeff is the perfect person for that I feel. And he has built a good board around that in trying to get the drivers together as much as we can. There are small things that we have opinions on, and they don’t get expressed because we are all doing our own things throughout the week. I think that Jeff Burton is a great person for that, and he has already proven it with his ability to talk with TV, with NASCAR, and having a great relationship with a lot of people. He comes across well and I think it is a good start for the driver advisory board.”

TYLER, BASED OFF OF BEING ABLE TO DO THE TEST, DOES THAT FACTOR IN TO WHAT YOU MIGHT DO IN THE DUELS? OR IS THAT LIKE IT WAS A MONTH AGO AND YOU HAVE TO LEARN AS YOU GO?

“Well, unfortunately I didn’t get to do any drafting while we were here. So, it’s really kind of opposite and I really want to learn what the car is capable of. I had Randall (Burnett, Crew Chief) all pissed off last night because I was dragging the brake and laying back into (Kevin) Harvick so he could push me around the racetrack. So, I am already being a little bit more aggressive than I should be, but what’s new. But kind of the same as Austin, we really want to get this car into the 500. I would really like to get this car through the whole 500 and maybe just replace a body panel or two and then go race on the west coast. So, it’s a weird spot to be in for our biggest race of the year but I am trying to navigate it as smart as possible.”

AUSTIN, GOING BACK TO THE DRIVER’S COUNCIL, DO YOU FEEL YOU ALSO BRING A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE OF THE THIRD GENERATION DRIVERS IN THE SPORT AND YOU HAVE SEEN IT FROM EVERY SIDE?

“Yeah, I think so. I think that is why Jeff talked to me from racing different, multiple ways around time. I have been around him when he was a teammate at RCR when I was in the Truck and Xfinity Series. I think he sees my perspective from driver, owner, and just being around the sport since I was a kid. So, hopefully I bring just and unbiased opinion to the group and hopefully try to bring some information to them that as drivers sometimes we don’t always see.”

AUSTIN, HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THE MULTIPLE SATELLITE TEAMS ON YOUR CAMPUS? DO YOU SEE THEM AS HELPING, OR CUSTOMERS, AND HOW DO THEY EFFECT RCR AS A WHOLE?

“Well, I think there are multiple ways to look at it. From a driving standpoint, I think that we get to bring in more minds to think about this new car. With Kaulig Racing and Petty GMS, I think it does elevate us as a whole. We are just bigger and better together, I think. I think that is the approach we have to take, especially with the new car and trying to learn as much as we can, as fast as we can. But Chevrolet as a whole is doing a lot right now. I think Chevrolet is where a lot of the focus should be, they are putting a huge campus together near Hendrick Motorsports and the ability to bring a lot of simulators in there and get us more time on the simulators. I know that Tyler and I are constantly fighting for time to get on the simulators and learn. And I feel like they are doing a really good job with that. That is an advantage where Chevrolet is taking the next step and I feel like in investing in our teams.”

NASCAR HAS PARTNERED WITH SEVERAL SPORTS BOOKS AND NOW THERE ARE ODDS AND SEVERAL THINGS BEING PLAYED OUT. AUSTIN YOU ARE 18 TO 1 ODDS AND TYLER YOU HAVE DROPPED FROM A 40 TO 1 TO 30 TO 1 ODDS TO WIN THE DAYTONA 500. HOW DO YOU GUYS LOOK AT THOSE AND HOW DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT WHEN YOU HAVE FANS OUT THERE THAT ARE TAKING SOME OF THESE NEW SPORTS BETTING OPTIONS?

AUSTIN “I am not allowed to look at those odds. No, I mean if you see them its cool to see and you want to see that you are the favorite going into these races like some guys have been able to accomplish in their career. I feel like in other sports, I know how good Vegas is, so when your line gets lower, they must think pretty good of you. And that is cool and all, but I do wonder how in NASCAR that there are more ways that betting should be used in NASCAR than other sports positions. I feel like there is only certain bets you can make in NASCAR, and I feel like Vegas needs to open that up to more competitive bets.”

TYLER “It is pretty cool. You will see it on your Twitter feed. Like, ‘hey, I got my money on Tyler, or I got my money on Austin’. It is kind of fun to see pick you for certain things. I have been the underdog or the dark horse or whatever for that race. So, it is kind of cool to see it, but it doesn’t really change anything for me. I am already going into the race wanting to do everything I can anyways. But it is fun to see fans engaging in it and taking part in it in a lot of different ways.”

YOU WILL HAVE SOME TEAMMATES POTENTIALLY THAT WILL BE TRYING TO GET INTO THE FIELD. ARE YOU MINDFUL OF THAT WITH SOME OF THE ECR ENGINES THAT ARE OUT THERE AND DO YOU GUYS TRY TO GET THOSE GUYS INTO THE FIELD FOR SUNDAY?

TYLER “Absolutely, but like what we were just talking about, at what cost to ourselves. That is where it gets challenging. We’d love for every car that has an ECR engine under the hood to make it, but again, it becomes a very difficult situation. Do we want to risk tearing our car up in going back there and helping or they may not be battling at the back, they may be one of the cars up near the front. So, it’s just a risk reward situation, but anything we can do to get more of our engines in the field is going to be a great thing for us. But again, helping get someone in and wrecking one of our own cars does us no good. So, just got to manage it.”

AUSTIN “I would say one of the best positions to be in is one of those guys trying to make it in for the Duel. They have the best Duel position as far as aggression goes. Because they have one speed. So they have less to think about than us, but it’s still not great, and I like that we are locked in. But as far as just the Duel, their mind is already set as far as what they have got to do.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Toyota Racing – Bubba Wallace
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH (February 16, 2022) – 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace was made available to media prior to the Daytona 500 this Wednesday:

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

How would you grade NASCAR’s diversity efforts from when you started to now?

“It’s kind of hard to say because I wasn’t really involved. I was just trying to get my feet under me when I first started in this sport in 2010. It’s just apples to oranges. I feel like we are trending upwards. There’s a lot of cool and exciting things happening in our sport. Go back to the Clash two weeks ago to see that demographic and environment – having some new faces out, having minorities out to experience this sport was super cool and just getting them to experience what race day is all about and what NASCAR is about is trending upwards. Representation matters. People at home watching on TV motivates them to come out and buy a ticket and watch.”

What are your thoughts on the new McDonald’s merchandise line?

“Did you see the pictures? Did you see the fiancé (Amanda Carter)? Dang, she was fine. She posted the photos, and I had some downtime on the way over here and I was like damn, who is that (to her). Hopefully it does well. McDonalds has done a lot for my career, and to have some fun away from the race track incorporating the racing line and that apparel line is super dope and super cool. We all had a lot of fun being involved. It was pretty cool.”

When are we going to stop hearing about the black drivers in NASCAR?

“It’s always the media asking that question. I’m never walking in and saying that. That’s always been my take. When will you stop hearing about me being the black driver? Whenever y’all stop saying it. Simple as that.”

Have your experiences changed the way you view that question?

“Where I’m at with the sport I’m in – I’m the only one at the top level right now so it’s fun walking that line and being confident in that and being comfortable. I’ve gotten here because of my talents and what I’ve been able to do. It creates a lot of excitement especially for Speedweeks this year just because of our superspeedway resume and what we’ve been able to do. But as far as a driver and going out there and competing, you get a new shot out there every weekend and I try to make the most of those opportunities every weekend.”

How is your growth with comfort talking about mental health?

“Just the mental health side of things – if things are not right at the top, it’s hard to carry on in life. Making sure your mentals are in check is very beneficial and very crucial to whatever you do. Being able to share my experiences and what I go through – what my mental mindset is – just that’s me being me. I had no idea it would reach such a new volume of people. I’m going to continue to help anyway that I can. That’s what it is about. Helping people understand themselves, be more comfortable with what they are saying. There is a stigma. I’m sure there is someone in this room that is struggling with depression or not in the right mental space, but I’m here to tell you that it is alright. It’s actually a strength that you can go out and voice your opinion and tell someone how you feel, so do it.”

Do you ever give Freddie Kraft a hard time about his podcast participation?

“As long as he can make sure I’m clear when I’m actually clear we’re good with it. Anything else he says, I don’t give a damn (laughter). That’s for him. I know he’s got calls to the NASCAR hauler and whatnot. As long as I’m not in the headlines, I’m good with it. Continue to be Freddie Kraft. He’s been enjoying that podcast too. He’s finally on full time. He was just part-time, start-and-park on the podcast and he’s full-time now – they got some funding, so he’s doing good. Proud of him.”

What are your thoughts on racing at Daytona and what do you think the racing in the Duels will be like?

“It’s an unknown. Erik (Jones) was talking about the limited number of resources we all have, so you have to kind of be smart. Things are kind of at a different pace, but our superspeedway resume, our Daytona resume has been really solid, so I don’t plan to change up much because when you start to change things that is when you get problems, so for us, we treat it as any other Speedweeks. Our Duel resume has been solid. Let’s keep that going and by our time in the race, just manage our race well on Sunday and just make sure we are there for the last two laps.”

Did you ever expect to be in this position when you came out with your thoughts on the confederate flag?

“I just thought it would be like starting out – where are we racing this week. We are going to show up and give it our all. If we win, we win. If we wreck, we wreck. We are going to come back again next week. There’s so much more obligations now that you are at the top level. It’s not just showing up and racing and having fun or whatnot. You still get to do that, but there are other things you have to fulfill first. It’s just different. It’s not something you can really go practice for or prepare yourself for because you don’t know until you get here. Even starting out 2013, I was racing and doing all of that and trying to be successful and with success comes a brand, comes then that pedestal that you’re on so you kind of have to navigate the way you want to, to be comfortable with that. It’s one of those things that whatever happens you deal with at that time and try to set yourself up for the future.”

Have there been internal discussions about goals at 23XI for this season?

“Obviously, we want to make the Playoffs and compete for a championship. That’s a given. For us, it’s just trying to be consistent. We had a lot of finishes where it was – win at Talladega, I think after that was the Roval next, so you were kind of back-and-forth. It’s smoothing out the graph on the result chart is important to us to bring that graph lower and lower. It’s something we are just going to fight for each and every week – be more competitive, be more consistent to get that speed up and figure out this new car. Everybody is figuring out this new car but making sure we are on the upper tier of those who figure it out first so we can have that advantage. It will take a lot of hard work from myself and my team, but Bootie (Barker, crew chief) and I know that what we have to do is go out and win races and be the best that we can be. Somedays we can go and show up and be a fifth-place car, sometimes we might show up and be a 15th-place car. We just have to take what we can give us and make the most of those days.”

What gives you that confidence that you can do that being a young team?

“I think Bootie (Barker, crew chief) brings a lot out in me that I appreciate him for. He may not even know it, but it’s just having that relationship. It’s not really the crew chief and driver relationship, talking about what springs and shocks we are going to run, what size steering wheel – it’s just about life. He’s a big bourbon collector, so we talk about that. It’s super cool and to have that personal relationship – he’s started me pretty slow with bourbon collecting. It’s ridiculous. It’s fun. It gets you away from the obvious, which is our job here and what we are doing this weekend, so anytime you can break that up and create a sense of a whole life – that trends upwards to me.”

How important is it for you to push into new fan base and how does this clothing line released this morning help with that?

“I think it takes it back – I think there are a lot of African American fans that are looking for like firesuits to wear on street wear. They are all about the fashion – they want the bomber jackets. It takes them back. I remember my sister – she may have had an M&M’s jacket in high school. I was in middle school at the time. I didn’t really follow that trend, because I had my own firesuit to wear on the weekends. That was so big to her and that generation, so to see them where they are at now – they are like we need that stuff back. I’m like if y’all want to rock a racing jacket in the middle of the summer, have at it. We will sell it for you guys. It’s important to them. They are big into fashion. That group is big into fashion. I think that generation, I should say. They want to see that new swag, that vintage hip swag stuff get back on the shelves, so we are doing it with McDonalds. Creating a lot of fun. I actually brought that bomber jacket that I was wearing in the photo shoot this weekend. I might pull it out for race day, because it is going to be a little bit chilly.”

Is it stressful dealing with wedding planning with the start of the season?

“Amanda (Carter) is handling that like a champ. We actually hired an everyday wedding planner that has been rock solid for us, but I’m just looking at the dollar signs continue to go up and up.”

What’s it been like working with Kurt Busch?

“Kurt (Busch) is fun. He has a lot of one-liners that he will throw out that will catch you off guard, but it is fun – it is cool in the heat of battle to try to figure out what it takes for our team to be successful. He’s providing a lot of insight and new perspective on how to look at things in a different angle to make sure we are crossing everything off of the list. I think it’s been good. It’s been fun to have Kurt, so now that we are diving into the start of the season, we are going to push each other to be the best that I can be.”

Can you lean on any of your past experience with this new car to make a run on Sunday?

“We will find out. The aero platform of this new car is a little bit different. There will be a lot to figure out. Hopefully, we will do a lot of that in the Duel to see what we can really do with this car and for what we need to work on when we go to Talladega and back here to Daytona. It’s a world of unknown that takes a lot of digesting and dissecting that makes us better than we were with last year’s car. We had a two-hour long aero meeting before we got on track to try to figure out where to position our car. Things are a little different, but at the end of the day it’s driving racecars. When you’ve got the run, make the most of it and utilize that. Put yourself in the right position.”

Did you feel like you learned enough in yesterday’s practice?

“We have. It was good to get our feet wet with the 23 team and our whole deal there together rolling – get the communication going. With the new car, I didn’t feel like it was too much different. Steering was a little bit different, the feel of the tires was a little bit different, but I think that is going to come for everybody. Just something to get used to. It will be fun.”

What has it been like experiencing that shift in losing rides due sponsorship to having brands want to grow with you?

“It’s never easy. You go through a lot of these times where you lose a ride, and you feel like everything is gone. To me, the on-track performance is what is important, but when the on-track performance is the best at the time – we still lost our ride. We were fourth in the points there – stringing together 36th-place finishes or sixth-place finishes – that was all we had that season. It was a tough time, and now you realize and appreciate where you are at in the sport and then when it kind of comes back around in a different way – it makes you appreciate it even more. It makes you appreciate those hard times because you have to do a lot of learning and self-understanding on what it takes for you to be successful as a human being. Take yourself out of the racing world. To have those hard times, it makes you grow – grow some gray hairs, but teaching a lot about self. A lot about life. Sometimes you may think it is unfair, but life doesn’t owe you anything. You have to go out and get it. You have to work at it each and every day.”

How different is the relationship dynamic between you and Kurt Busch versus your relationship with Denny Hamlin?

“For me, I’m not big on oh, that’s the boss. That’s just my teammate. That’s Denny (Hamlin) and that’s Kurt (Busch). I’m Bubba. We are all the same. Denny has a vision for our team, and we are trying to do our best to exceed that and push the boundaries and the limits each and every weekend. Be competitive and be successful. It’s fun navigating those avenues. You just have to continue to do what you do. You and I are the same. Me and Denny are the same. We are all the same.”

Do you feel any pressure on getting any deals done from the team?

“No, we just keep doing what we do. It seems like deals are coming in and money is flowing. We just have to not change a thing. Do better on the race track. I think the more on-track success, people will latch on more and make those deals longer and spend more money, because the TV side of things are getting their ROI’s and everything back for them. We start this year with a win at the 500, it would be pretty good. Watches will be coming in.”

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