Toyota Racing – Pre-Race Media Availability
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
WATKINS GLEN, NY (August 8, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell and 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace were made available to media prior to the Watkins Glen race today:
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does it mean to be back at Watkins Glen?
“It’s great, love the racetrack, love the atmosphere here. It’s good. Rolling in here, it doesn’t seem like a couple years, but I guess it has. Looking forward to today.”
What do you remember from your win here in 2016?
“We just overcame some adversity and had a couple good restarts and won it. Really, just trying to improve overall the road course techniques that I’m using and hopefully we can take that next step and get another win today.”
What do you love about social media?
“I love it for the informational purposes. I never was someone before Twitter or anything to pick up a newspaper and read it for information purposes, so it keeps you in tune with everything going on.”
How do you feel about Bubba Wallace’s Playoff chances with four races remaining?
“His biggest chance is probably going to come at Daytona. That’s where he’s going to be the most competitive. As good of a shot as any really. It’s going to be a wild and crazy race and it always turns into some drama at the end figuring out who is going to get that last Playoff spot. We just hope it’s us.”
How do you feel 23XI Racing is progressing?
“Satisfied, so-so. Really, I think we need – I look at the finishes and they are trending downwards, I’m impatient like everyone else would be who’s competitive. I want to get those guys more competitive and get Bubba’s (Wallace) confidence back up. I think confidence is a big thing with him. He really hits highs and lows pretty often. How can we keep him a little bit more steady with his emotions and I think he’ll continue that trend in a good direction.”
Does it worry you that you are not technically locked into the Playoffs yet?
“Not really. It doesn’t worry me or anything like that, but really it’s just the battle with (Kyle) Larson that I’m focused on.”
What is the difference with your team this year compared to last year?
“I think our FedEx team has been good, we just have had the crazy stuff happen to us. Lugnut flying in the air at Loudon and taking us out of contention where I thought we probably had the best car. Crazy stuff has happened, but we’re still consistent and we’re up front every week. We’re top-three or four every week, it doesn’t matter what kind of race track we go to. Yeah, it’s agitating that we haven’t gotten a win still, but we’re in a good position in points and I want to keep that point lead for the regular season. If we can do that, I think that’s just as big as one or two wins we could get over the next four weeks.”
What are your thoughts on the Playoff format?
“I don’t know how you change it really. This is what we signed up for or this is what NASCAR wanted was a one-race, winner take all. It used to be a season, then it was 10 drivers then 12 drivers and then 16 drivers. It just kept getting bigger and bigger and the sample size kept getting smaller and smaller. It is what it is. I think you really gauge yourself off of race wins more so than anything right now. I think race win is what we go after every year is to get a handful of them and get yourself to the final four. Then hopefully your fast enough to win it. It’s so hard because the best car over the course of the season like Kevin Harvick last year didn’t make it. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s fair.”
Is Indy the same Indy without running the oval?
“We lost a crown jewel. People hated the racing. I don’t know. Are they really going to get more people out to the road course than what they did for the Brickyard 400? I’m not sure. I don’t love it; I don’t love the move. It took away a crown jewel. I don’t think anyone will consider the Indy road course any sort of crown jewel race. Indy, because of the oval track, that’ what makes Indy so special. I don’t think it’s the last time we’ll be back on the Brickyard on the oval. We can’t just keep adding road courses and just keep adding road courses, everything is cool the first time. The second time…although we might have a good crowd next weekend for the road course, year two, I think it’s going to be back to, where’s all the people? Maybe alternate or something, but certainly I think the Brickyard is special and Indy is special because of the oval, not because of the road course.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does it mean to be back at Watkins Glen?
“It’s good. One of my favorite courses here at Watkins Glen. Enjoy this place every year. Kind of bittersweet missing it last year. Nice to be back this year. Hopefully, we can have a good, solid run today.”
Are you able to take in the surroundings at this track?
“Obviously, every year we try to head over to the waterfall and do the hike over there at the gorge, but other than that, it’s just laying back. A lot of guys just showed up today, they’re in and out today. We’re on a whirlwind tour these two weeks of racing with Brexton (Busch, son) so we ran up here in Syracuse with the quarter midget club so that was really fun. He had a good time up there playing with the kids. We’ll be back in the Midwest tomorrow doing some more racing with him.”
Was it a relief that Chandler Smith made the Playoffs in NCWTS yesterday?
“Yes and no. Definitely making the Playoffs is a relief, but a lot of simple mistakes being made over there. We’ve got to clean that up and be better here for these final seven weeks. They’re in a hole, they’re starting in a hole and they’re behind, so they’ve got to do about everything perfect in order to get themselves where they need to be and score some stage points, try to get a couple wins and get themselves further up.”
What are the messages you’ve sent to John Hunter Nemechek regarding wins and championships?
“No doubt. That’s kind of the reason why we got John Hunter (Nemechek), he’s got good experience, but he’s also a good driver and does a good job behind the wheel. We’ve seen that so far this year. Looked like they were off a little bit yesterday, probably about a sixth-place truck or so and he got a second out of it. Good points day for those guys, but the wins are where it’s at with the bonus points and everything in order to get yourself to that final four. I think they’ll have a good shot at that.”
Is John Hunter Nemechek getting better as a driver or is the perception changing because he’s in better equipment?
“I would like to think he’s (John Hunter Nemechek) getting better. I would like to think that some of the help that I’ve been giving him and the talks that we’ve been having is certainly helping him in that regard. He is a good driver, he’s just in good stuff and he’s starting to get that recognition. When he was in his dad’s (Joe Nemechek) stuff, he was doing a good job for what his Dad’s stuff was, but it wasn’t quite the recognition as being with KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) and running up front each and every race and finishing top-five every week. That’s certainly been a big bonus for him and the look he’s getting now.”
Is Indy still Indy without running on the oval track?
“For my opinion and my perception, I don’t view it as Indy, no. Indy is the oval. That’s what makes the allure of Indy and that’s the prestige of the place and being around since 1900. It’s been there forever; it has a lot of history there. Spin and win with Sullivan and Mears and AJ Foyt and the Unser story and all that stuff for years. The Andretti story – all of that is IndyCar obviously, but then it all started in 1994 with NASCAR going there and Jeff Gordon winning five times and Earnhardt winning and Dale Jarrett winning, Bobby Labonte winning. It’s like the who’s who has won the Brickyard 400. I don’t foresee that being the same allure being on the road course.”
Does it make a difference that F1 raced on the road course at Indy?
“I don’t know, when the winner wins next week do, they get out and do a kiss on the bricks?”
How does Brexton’s Midwest tour get set?
“Day by day, just looking at it. We had a few of our friends that we raced with at Millbridge, they’re all up here with us. The Millers and Kyle Beaty and his kid, there’s seven of us I guess that are all kind of doing this. They told us all about it and how do you look at what the last race was in the Midwest and then I have to come to New York and there were two days of a break and two days of nothing so is there anything to do in those two days for Brexton. I looked up the Syracuse quarter midget club and a guy reached out to us and offered up his car so that was super nice of them. Really enjoyed being able to go out there and spend time with those guys. Owen King is the kid’s name of Brexton’s kart that he ran.”
What is it that you like about racing at Watkins Glen?
“Just enjoy road racing. You used to only have two a year and you kind of treated them like an off weekend – come in, have fun and try to run hard and what not. Now, there’s four, five, six of them or whatever it is so there’s a bit more work involved to it, but still feel as though it’s a fun track. Always enjoy coming here and I’ve always been fast here. It’s nice when you have a shot to come up to a track that you know you can guarantee yourself a top-three and go shoot for a race win.”
How big of a factor is it when you lose a crew chief hours before the race?
“It’s a big factor, right? If we didn’t need the crew chiefs then we wouldn’t come here with them. We come with them here for a reason and that’s for them to be able to orchestrate our team and kind of be the head coach of everything that’s going on and to make sure we’re getting all we need out of all our team members around the team. We’ve got, but I guess the 20 (Christopher Bell) and the 9 (Chase Elliott) have gotten a shift in today and maybe that will be a little bit different for their race program, but probably not a whole lot. I’m sure they’ll be somewhere on a cell phone or a radio anyway.”
Do you think you’ll have to knock the rust off the first few laps after not racing here since 2019?
“A little bit, yeah, but the simulator and everything everybody does these days, that’s kind of the way of knocking the rust off. I did that earlier last week and was able to do some of that stuff to run some laps and just familiarize myself again with the line that you run around here, and the braking points you do. It’s embedded in my mind anyway from running here for so many years. It’s a good opportunity to get going again with the sim.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does it mean to be back at Watkins Glen?
“It means a lot and feels good. I’m excited about it and have a great crowd here today. Excited about the opportunity to go win another race at this place.”
Do you see yourself as a stronger contender this weekend with the package?
“I’m not sure. We ran second with both the low and high downforce last two times we were here so just have to wait and see how it goes. No practice is always a challenge, but hopefully we showed up with the right stuff and we can drive forward from ninth.”
What have been the big strengths in your career when it comes to road course racing?
“I don’t know, just having experience and having confidence and having great race cars. I think those are the three keys. This place has been good to us, and we’ll see what we can do today.”
What can you say about Ty Gibbs’ success and his win here yesterday?
“Very impressive. Obviously, everything he’s (Ty Gibbs) done this year has been crazy impressive at 18 without having a lot of experience and new tracks, no practice. It’s pretty impressive. He’s on his way.”
How do you compare Watkins Glen to other road courses like Sonoma or Road America?
“It’s definitely its own kind of place. It’s high grip and repaved not long ago so high traction and really fast. This is a fast momentum road course that we go to so it’s own unique challenge and it’s a fun one to drive on.”
What are your thoughts on going to the road course at Indy next weekend?
“No idea. All I know about is what I’ve seen on TV so got a lot of homework to do this week obviously to get prepared and ready for practice on Saturday there. It will be fun. Exciting to go to new tracks and I like road courses as well so it should be good.”
Do you do much simulator work?
“Oh yeah, if you don’t today, you might as well stay home. It’s just the way it is. Especially with no practice and a new track coming up. I think everybody does and there’s so many tools available today, it’s almost like we’re becoming robots. If you don’t use those things and the tools available, you’re going to be behind.”
How does it impact you to have a new tire changer on the car today?
“We hope it doesn’t impact things. Honestly, at the end of the day you hope he’s ready to go. Tough circumstances the way it all worked out because he didn’t even test positive, he was around somebody who did. It’s kind of weird times as we all know, but hopefully it doesn’t affect us.”
How do you feel about where your team is currently with the Playoffs coming up?
“I think somewhere in the summer we hit a speed bump and started having some bad luck and crashes and crazy things. Loudon, it started raining and we crashed and still came back and finished 12th. It’s been a battle but feeling really good about the team and where we’re at and what we can do. Obviously, this place has been really good to us and hopefully we can have a good day today.”
Is your mental health important and do you get down when the performance isn’t on target?
“I think you have to be pretty mentally strong to be a race car driver. We’re having a great season and we’ve won three races; we’ve lost a lot. I guess maybe our sport is different in that we get trained to lose more than we win no matter how good you are. You have to have pretty thick skin and pretty tough mental attitude to do this stuff.”
Do you expect to have to knock off rust these first few laps at Watkins Glen?
“I don’t think so. For the first two or three laps, everywhere you go, it’s always on a road course like this you’re trying to feel things out and not make a big mistake or go off track or whatever. I know my marks, I know where I need to be and just tying, starting ninth to work through that a little bit. Not really rust, just re-acclimation. It always takes a lap or two, particularly here because it’s so fast to hit your marks exactly.”
Where does Watkins Glen rank for you in favorite tracks?
“I don’t know. It’s up there for sure. I have a hard time ranking favorite tracks. You’re favorite one is your next win, I guess. Hopefully that will be us here today.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How does it feel to be back at Watkins Glen?
“Yeah, finally. It feels like it’s been a while. It’s been since ’19, right? I’m excited. It’s been a place that I’ve run decent at. I don’t have a ton of laps here, but I’m excited about road course racing today. It’s obviously been good for us this year so I think we can potentially have a great run.”
What is your mindset with the penalty and your crew chief being ejected?
“It will be tough. It’s pretty tough to pass here, but throughout the last couple races at least, we’ve had to go to the back. It just puts us a little bit behind, but I’m not too concerned about it. I think we’ll work our way up.”
Do you concern yourself too much with what happens in inspection pre-race?
“It obviously caught me off guard, but it is what it is. Just have to start a little further back and not having Adam (Stevens, crew chief) on the pit box will be a little bit of a hinderance, but I have all the faith in the world that Joe Gibbs Racing is going to come through and we’re going to have really, really great Camrys and I think we’re going to be racing up front today.”
What do you have to do differently behind the wheel today?
“I was talking to Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and asked him if it affects our strategy at all and he said not really. Just I have to work a little bit harder to pass guys. It would have been nice to start up front at Watkins Glen, especially not having laps here in a Cup car ever and then only two Xfinity races. It would have been nice to start up front with the experienced guys and learn from them. On the other hand, starting in the back, the pace will be a lot slower, so I have a little more time to get up to speed.”
Are you able to rely on any information gained from the Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity teams?
“It will be a lot, especially with the way the rules packages are today, the Cup cars and the Xfinity cars are way more similar than what they’ve been in years past. I’m sure the crew chiefs are really looking at the data from yesterday.”
Who will be on the radio with you today?
“I believe Chris Sherwood, who is our car chief and he’s going to be substituting.”
What will you talk with Chris about today that you will need to inform him about?
“I don’t really think it changes too much. I don’t hear from Adam (Stevens, crew chief) very much on the radio during the races, so I think we’re in a pretty good spot where I don’t think it’s going to impact me or at least for me inside the car. I don’t know how much it’s going to affect the team because obviously I don’t see that side of it whenever I’m racing. I don’t hear from Adam very much on the radio.”
What are good passing zones here at Watkins Glen?
“Really your passing zones are where you have really fast mile per hour to really slow mile per hour. Turn one, turn six are really good. The bus stop is a great opportunity to pass, but unfortunately, it’s really hard to pass there just because it’s such a quick turn right, turn left that it’s really hard to be side-by-side there. One and six are really your safe passing zones without contact.”
Is the big challenge keeping the fenders clean?
“Yes, especially the Cup Series and these cars are so fragile. Starting in the back now, I’m going to have to be really careful to not cave a fender in and Watkins Glen is really high speed. It’s going to be very important to make sure that all four of the corners are nice and pretty.”
Will Indy still be Indy being on the road course and not the oval?
“I definitely think the feeling is going to be different for sure. We all grew up watching the oval at Indy so it’s definitely going to be a lot different.”
Have you done simulator work for Indy and what is the curbing like?
“Four and five has temporary curbing. I don’t know what the finished product is going to be, but I know what’s in our simulator and that’s definitely going to be a very key area because there’s a lot of area to be gained by manipulating the curbs and understanding how much you can run over and how much you can’t run over. It’s going to be really interesting to see what the final product is and you’re going to have to pay attention to that because that’s going to be a lot of time gained or lost.”
How much have you leaned on your teammates experience here to prepare?
“Kyle (Busch) is probably our benchmark going into Watkins Glen. You look at the racetracks and Sonoma is probably Martin’s (Truex Jr.) best track and Kyle’s definitely one of the best here at Watkins Glen. I got to race with him as a teammate a couple years ago in the Xfinity Series and he pretty much smoked us. I think he had a DNF that day, but his car was really fast. Really paying attention to his driving style and what he does to get around here. Hopefully I can mimic it.”
Did you talk to Ty Gibbs after his win yesterday?
“I haven’t got to talk to Ty (Gibbs), no.”
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Toyota Toyota Camry, 23XI Racing
How much do you feel like you needed this reset?
“The off-weeks were good. You obviously need that for mental and physical reset. It’s good to be back at the track though. You get kind of used to enjoying the off weeks, being lazy for a little bit, but we’ve got 14 races left. It’s time to really jump start our season here and finish off on a strong note.”
Road courses have kind of been a struggle throughout your career. What kind of work have you put in to making them better?
“I’ve done a lot of sim time, looking over a lot of SMT data, too, data from the sim, watching YouTube videos, just figuring out where everybody is faster. Our main topic when we go into these races is the 9 car (Chase Elliott), just figuring out where he is beating us and a lot of it is the braking zone and carrying speed through the bus stop. It seems like the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) can hang with him, but the 9 just has an advantage just a little bit to edge him out. Excited about today. I’ve always loved racing at Watkins Glen. The weather looks good. I wish it was raining. It would be a little bit more of an equalizer, but all-in-all, we will go out and utilize everything I’ve learned leading out to this point and see what I can do.”
What does it mean to be back in New York?
“It feels good. It’s been two years since we’ve been here. The track is a lot of fun. Fans are great, so it should be a good day.”
Is it hard to balance out all of the exciting life news with the racing?
“No, I think we obviously know the priorities. The engagement and the house stuff. That’s all-long-term stuff. We know that we have 14 races left. I’m focused. She was trying to have a conversation last night about some house plans and I’m just like ‘yep’ and she sees me watching YouTube videos of the race here. She got it very quickly. It’s all good.”
What do you need to do over these next four races to make the Playoffs?
“Win. Do our best here. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up points wise these next four races. I don’t think we can point our way in anymore with these last two wins from Kurt (Busch) and Aric (Almirola). That really put us behind. That’s the way the sport goes. We really got to win, but do our best here, come out of here on a positive note, come out of Indy in a positive note. I’m really excited for Michigan. Our mile-and-a-half stuff – that package is really good, and I’ve ran really strong there in the past. I’m excited for that, and then Daytona, we know our Toyota Camrys are strong, specifically at Speedweeks this year was really good, so we will just have to give it our all and survive.”
With the NASCAR schedule going to more tracks this year, does not having a second race at tracks hurt new teams?
“Yes and no. We have our notes from last year and what to expect and look at the JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) debriefs before each and every race. We are looking at the new one and learning as much as we can. We are shooting blind the first race, and then you will get it better the second time around. We pick and choose, but sometimes you show up and you hit it right. It’s just a matter of me giving the correct feedback and getting our packages where we want to be. Our mile-and-a-half stuff is really, really good, and it seems like when we show up to Michigan, I think we will have a good baseline, but that is from all of the mile-and-a-halves that we have. We have that package secure and where we want it – get it a little bit better and we will be alright.”
Do you see Daytona as your best chance to win to get into the Playoffs?
“I hate being reminded of the 400. That one still stings, way worse than the 500, three years ago. Daytona is obviously one that is circled and highlighted on the calendar. I know we can go out and do good things, we just have to not overtry and overstep our boundaries and be there at the end.”
How would you grade your season?
“Our progress is continuing to build. It’s really hard. We talked about no practice or showing up to these places for a second time – those are the races that you look forward to the most. It’s an unknown. Those guys are working hard, and I’m giving them the feedback that hey, I like this, I like that from the 43 car, let’s try to build that in there. All of these cars react differently. As similar as they are, they all react differently from driving styles and different drivers too. I’m excited to get to these tracks for a second time, but I’m also just excited to see what we have. The unknown of being excited about that, but I’m excited about our progress. I’m really looking forward to what the years have to come.”
What makes a good superspeedway driver?
“I don’t know. The races all play out so differently. If you go back and watch the 400 from last year, it’s like this happened, this happened, well, that’s not going to happen again. What’s the chances – again, very slim to none. You just have to be there and be smart and put yourself in smart situations to be there at the end. If you are there for the last lap – we always say, if you are there in the last five laps, man, we’ve had 10 cautions in the last five laps, so it’s setting ourselves up, making sure our teammates have some help, creating some allies on the racetrack to go out and execute and get a win. In the last lap at Daytona, I’ve came from 20th to fifth. Driving a little pissed off helps too.”
You’ve become one of the mainstream faces of the sport, does that come with any added pressure?
“If you let it. Obviously, I look different. I kind of act different than other drivers, and I accept that. I’m comfortable with my own skin and being who I am. I still focus on what we need to do on the racetrack, winning races and being competitive, going out and being the best that I can be on the track and letting everything else fall into place.”
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