BUSCH SCORES THE VICTORY AT POCONO
Kyle Busch and team prove to have the winning strategy to earn second win of the season

LONG POND, Pa. (June 27, 2021) – Kyle Busch drove to the victory with an excellent fuel mileage strategy in the closing laps at Pocono Raceway. Busch took the lead coming to the white flag and had enough fuel to score the win. His Toyota teammate, Bubba Wallace (fifth), scored his first top-five finish of the season and the best finish for the new team, 23XI Racing.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Pocono Raceway
Race 19 of 36 – 140 laps, 350 miles

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, Kyle Larson*
3rd, Brad Keselowski*
4th, Kevin Harvick*
5th, BUBBA WALLACE
11th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
14th, DENNY HAMLIN
32nd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
37th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Mini’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st

I don’t know where to start with this one. Kyle Busch winning at Pocono. Have you ever had a more bizarre win in your life? Stuck in fourth gear for a hundred some laps.

“Yeah, stuck in fourth gear. About out of gas (laughter). Just saving, just riding, playing the strategy the best, we could with what was given to us. Just can’t say enough about everybody on my team, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, TRD, all the work they’re putting in. Sometimes these races aren’t always won by the fastest car, but I felt we had the fastest car. Even though we were in the back and behind and having to come through and persevere through being stuck in fourth gear, no clutch, all that stuff. It’s all burned out. Nothing left in this M&M’s Minis Camry. It was awesome today. Thanks to Rowdy Energy, Interstate Batteries, Stanley, Rheem, everybody that works on this car. A lot of our M&M’s friends are here today, so it’s really cool to have them here back at the track. Thanks to Rowdy Nation, all the Kyle Busch fans up there supporting and pulling for us. Really great to pull off another win here at Pocono. Feels good.”

At one point you were like, should we pack it up and head home today? At what point did that switch for you?

“You know, I don’t know. You don’t know, you know? The biggest thing was trying to time the restart right. Leave pit road, come back around, be at full speed by the time the field takes the start/finish line. We were a little bit off on that. We were from here to pit road off on that. That’s about all we could do. That’s all you could think about doing in that situation, just thinking through any opportunity and obstacle that’s on you. That’s just what we did. Again, great job to my team. Thanks to Ben Beshore (crew chief). Thanks to Matt (Tyrrell), the fuel guy for getting it full. That’s a big important one today. Really great to take home another checkered flag.”

What a day, team effort. You’ve overcome some obstacles in your day, but anything you overcame today?

“No, I don’t’ think so. Sometimes you have to have a little bit of luck on your side, and today, we had some luck on our side. It felt good. I think the biggest thing this week – everything was second, and if that was all we had for today, we will take it. It’s pretty cool to win up here at Pocono. It’s such a tough racetrack and all of the guys and everyone in this package, it’s so hard to pass sometimes. We had to fuel save that whole last run to be able to get everything we could out of that gas tank. No clutch, no leaving pit road, extended time on pit road – to come back and be at full song by the time the field went green, that was an ordeal. I don’t know. Thanks to M&M’s Minis, Rowdy Energy drink, Interstate Batteries, Toyota, Stanley, Sport Clips, the fans of course – Rowdy Nation – all of those guys up there. My family, (son) Brexton, (wife) Samantha – they are here too, so I will celebrate with them.”

When did you knew that you had a shot?
“I knew that we had a shot when they let me go. In chasing Denny (Hamlin), I was trying to figure out – well, I saw the 24 (William Bryon) pit, and I’m like okay – it’s now a race between the 11 and I. I was running him hard just to try to get him short and get him to run out. When he pitted, we were coming to the light. I’m like it’s going to be close, it’s going to be really close. I fuel saved the whole rest of the end – the last lap – and was able to make it. It never stumbled on the cool down lap.”

Talk about the effort you and the team have put in to bring good racecars to the track.

“Pocono, we just have a good package for. We built on something back in 2015, and we just kept building on it. The aero package has changed, everything changes, so you have to stay on top of it. The overall baseline stuff that we work off of is really, really close. We were fast, yeah, we had great speed. The car was good yesterday. The car was great today. We did some things to try help our corner speed and our longevity in the front tires. Not sure we really hit on that, but it was enough for today with the circumstances in the end. We started last there on that last run, and we won this thing.”

BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 DraftKings Toyota Camry, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 5th

How huge is a top-five finish for your group?

“It’s big. A lot of confidence for myself which is huge. It came down to fuel strategy there, but I appreciate Wheels (Mike Wheeler, crew chief), J.R. (Houston, engineer), Freddie (Kraft, spotter), telling me what to do – 80% there, 60% here, the whole time. It got so annoying, but it worked out. That’s what it takes. It takes a team effort to pull off this. Great day for us. Great day for DraftKings – their first race is the first top-five for our team. That makes you want to resign, but all-in-all, really good day. Really good weekend for us. We knew that we had the speed. Bossman was here – MJ (Michael Jordan) was here. We had the whole staff out, so it was a good day. Good weekend.”

How were you able to save enough fuel?
“Having the right people on top of the box. Freddie (Kraft, spotter), Wheels (Mike Wheeler, crew chief), J.R. (Houston, engineer). They were just telling me 80% here, match lap times with the other guys. I knew we were in a worse position than the 18 (Kyle Busch), so we were just racing our race and I was doing as best as I could. But all-in-all, really solid weekend. Great race for DraftKings in their first race on our Camry is the first top-five for our team. That’s a little pen to the paper action to get them to resign, but all-in-all, just happy with how the weekend went. Smooth sailing for the most part today. It was a little bit tricky. Perseverance. We got through it, and I’m proud of everybody.”

What can this finish do for you going forward?

“We wanted the Playoffs when we started the season. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We know that we are in a hole, but it’s finishes like that, that we have to capitalize on the speed in our cars. Today shows what we can do. We’ve got to keep up the momentum.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.

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 ToyotaNewsroom.com

NASCAR CUP SERIES
EXPLORE THE POCONO MOUNTAINS 350
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JUNE 27, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
7th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
8th RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 THOMAS’/KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE
9th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
12th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA COLOR OF THE YEAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Busch (Toyota)
2nd Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
3rd Brad Keselowski (Ford)
4th Kevin Harvick (Ford)
5th Bubba Wallace (Toyota)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Road America with the Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip on Sunday, July 4, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2nd
YOU SAVED ENOUGH TO GET HERE. HOW DID YOU DO IT?
“I don’t know. It’s surprising finish for us. Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really loose for a majority of the race, then we got a lot of nose damage there on one of the restarts. Was off on speed. I felt like after that.”
“Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and everybody did a really, really good job managing the race, coached me through saving fuel there at the end. Was hoping that the 18 (Kyle Busch) was going to run out. I saw the 11 (Denny Hamlin) running out. I was, Okay, they’re teammates, they got to be close to running out.”

“The 18 did pit a lap after us under caution. That actually probably won them the race. But, yeah, second-place finish, I thought we would be outside of the top-20. A lot of points throughout the race today; we’ll take it. Happy about the effort for sure all weekend.”

WITH THE DAMAGE ON THE CAR AND WHERE YOU SAW YOURSELF WITH FUEL, HOW MUCH OF A BELIEVER DID HE MAKE OUT OF YOU? DO YOU THINK HE COULD GET HERE?
“Not until we actually started saving fuel. Seemed like every point of the race, everything that happened in the race, nothing went my way. Restarts, just guys messing up in front of me, me getting shuffled out of the groove, bad lane choices on my part, everything didn’t go my way.”

“Cliff did a really good job keeping my head in it, coached me through saving fuel. Yeah, I mean, I had a lot of hope there at the end thinking that the 18 might run out.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 7th
“It was an OK day for the No. 48 Ally team. Strategy didn’t work out for us. We struggled in traffic; kind of knew we would have after yesterday. But we got out front for a bit and we were pretty decent. Onto Road America next weekend.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th
“My team definitely made some good changes to the No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE overnight. We were a lot better over the bumps today, which was one of my bigger issues on Saturday. I seemed to fire off too loose for each run but then build too tight, especially when I was in dirty air. The adjustments my team made all race long did help though. I just needed to get a little creative with the lines I was running since I had no grip when I would try to run the traction compound. We got a little off-sequence with our strategy today, but it ended up working for us in the long run when all those other cars ran out of gas during the last few laps. Our car had good speed all weekend long, so that’s great for us to build on as we head to Road America next weekend for some road racing.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA COLOR OF THE YEAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th
DID YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FUEL SAVE EARLIER ON?
“We definitely had the fastest car. The caution didn’t fit us perfectly. We had control of the race there and were right on our number to make it or not, but it just didn’t work out. We had a really fast car. The Axalta Chevrolet was awesome. It sucks to lose like that, but I feel like we had everything we needed in the car. We just couldn’t save enough fuel as far back as we were. It’s just part of it, but thanks to the guys.”

WHEN THE PLAN WAS FIRST PRESENTED TO YOU TO GO OUT AND RUN LIKE CRAZY AND GET A GAP THERE, DID THAT MAKE SENSE TO YOU?
“Yeah, I figured we were first on four tires. We can make it. I kind of thought we were closer on fuel than we were. I thought we could get up as far as we could, and a couple of guys would have to pit and we’d save and win. So that was kind of how it was looking to work out there with the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski) and then we had to go into max save. I thought for sure we’d make it because usually you’ve got a little bit of fudge factor there, but we ran out with three (laps) to go, so not even close.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 WORKRISE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th
“P-13; I think we had a little better car than that. We did everything we could to get track position all day. We ran out just there at the end of stage two on the backstretch; so close to getting top-10 and stage points there. That would have set us up for the end pretty good I think, as far as track position goes.”

“Have to thank everyone at Workrise. We’ll go to Road America. We gained points today, that’s all that matters. But we want some more – we want to win. We’ll keep working hard. Thanks to all the guys. Justin (Alexander, crew chief) and the pit crew; everybody did a good job today. This is a tough place. You really have to have your stuff together and no mistakes. Onto Road America.

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 26th
“We had to start in the back, so it took us a little while. But once we got up into the top-10, we had the balance in the car and the grip to stay there. With pit strategy, we restarted in the top-five a couple of times. I just got into the 20 (Christopher Bell) there. I drove into (turn) three and thought I could clear him. By the time I realized I couldn’t, it was too late. I tried to keep off of him, but ruined his day and mine. Sorry to Christopher. We cut our right front and I think got him into the wall.”

“I’m really proud of the 42 McDonald’s team for unloading a good backup car. We’re close – I just have to do a little better job.”

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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 27, 2021

JEFF GORDON, VICE CHAIRMAN AND CO-OWNER OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, Press Conference Highlights:

NOTE: On June 23, 2021, Jeff Gordon, the four-time NASCAR champion, television broadcaster and NASCAR Hall of Fame member, was named vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, which makes him the second-ranking team official to chairman and majority owner Rick Hendrick. Gordon will formally assume the strategic executive management role on Jan. 1, 2022.

Q&A’s:

HOW BIG OF A DECISION WAS IT FOR YOU TO LEAVE THE FOX GROUP AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO TAKE ON THIS ROLE OFFICIALLY?
“I’m excited. It’s been in discussion for a long time between Rick and myself. My presence has been there but now it gets ramped up to a whole other level. It wasn’t a choice about leaving Fox. It was really about the opportunity and the timing of moving into this role full time. That was tough. I really enjoyed working with Fox and I had a great team there. I learned a lot about and got a great perspective on entertainment and the TV side of the sport. And I think, forever it will help me in this new position to try to keep us connected to the TV partners in a bigger way. I had a lot of fun, especially this year working with (Clint) Bowyer and Mike (Joy) and those folks. This year was a lot of fun. I’m forever grateful, really, for that opportunity and appreciate Eric Shanks and his whole team for bringing me on board. Maybe it wasn’t a mutual decision, but it was one of those things where they understand. From the very beginning they knew that I had an equity position at Hendrick and that one day this could be home. So, this is more about coming home for me.”

DID YOU ALWAYS FEEL THAT YOU WERE GOING TO BE ON THIS OWNERSHIP PATH?
“You have to understand that I’ve been a part of this since 1999. I’ve been behind the scenes, understanding and learning the business side of it. Gradually, overtime, obviously my focus was on driving throughout all those years. But as I started getting closer to stepping away in 2015 from the driving role, my interest level in the business side, the culture that Rick has created and how he’s done that and how it impacts things far beyond just what I was doing as a driver, was interesting to me. So, each year, that ramped up more and more as I had pretty much half the season to dedicate my time to it. And the more I did that, whether it was coming to the track or being back at the shop on race day or just talking to the marketing department about sponsorship or talking to NASCAR about Next Gen or any business decisions that were going on there with other owners, I realized that this is where my true passion lies. I love the sport. I love racing. But the competition and being a partner with one of the best owners there will ever be in NASCAR, that’s really what I was getting excited about looking ahead.”

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LEARN WITH THIS NEW JOB NOW?
“Well, luckily right now, we’re in a great position and it’s about maintaining what we currently have. But that all got started so many years ago before I even got to Hendrick Motorsport with Rick, and the culture that he creates and how he treats people and how he finds talent and nurtures that and of course right now, we’ve learned a lot about how our teams are working together more than they ever have before. And we’re seeing the success because of that. Right now, it’s about maintaining it. But as we move forward, it’s just continuing to look at the business model and try to understand how we take care of our current partners and nurture those relationships and make sure that they’re excited about NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports. They certainly are right now, and we want to continue to see that grow. But also, what new partners can we potentially look at and bring in. I’ve got to say this. Coming into this race track today got me very, very excited again. This reminds me of the older days, or that period of time that we all talk about when the sport was super-hot, that’s the feeling of energy I feel this weekend here at the track. So that certainly makes it easier to look at what we’re going to do in the future with the sport. Of course, right now, a lot of attention, besides this year, in trying to keep that going this year is Next Gen. A lot of attention is being put on how we race. Where do we put our efforts for Next Gen and try to maintain some kind of competitive advantage? That’s going to get cut down dramatically, but we’re still going to be out there racing at a high level and we just want to make sure we’re doing it the right way.”

IS IT DIFFICULT TO SET EXPECTATIONS FOR THE NEXT GEN CAR RIGHT NOW, AT LEAST FROM THE ORGANIZATIONAL STANDPOINT SINCE THERE ARE SO MANY UNKNOWNS?
“Oh, there are so many unknowns. And it’s so hard to really even get deep into that conversation because we don’t really even have a chassis and a body and a car to go out there and test. Yes, we’ve been doing these group efforts with our OEM and with NASCAR, but it’s not been a full-fledged effort. So, we’re still in the development stage and we’re working hard to be ready to go in February, but there’s still a lot of work ahead of us. It’s progressing, though, and it’s exciting. You’re always going to put yourself in a position to where you want to fall back on your people and the strengths that you currently have, and I think those strengths are going to play out well for us next year. But until we get into it, we won’t know exactly how to take advantage of the areas of expertise that we have in the areas of engineering and dynamics and horsepower and all those things that are making us successful now will still be very important next year.”

INAUDIBLE
“I think this is where the decision to step away from TV and be 100 percent committed and dedicated to Hendrick Motorsports, where I can spend all my time nurturing those relationships. And it goes even deeper than the drivers. I have a good relationship with the crew chiefs and drivers. A lot of these guys I’ve worked with and the people that I’ve worked with, that’s an easy thing to do. But some of the newer relationships, you want to build. Alex (Bowman) would be one of those guys that came on with (Dale) Jr., and he and I did double-duty when Jr. was out there in ’16 – ’17, and so that was a fun way to get to know Alex. But yeah, it wasn’t one of those relationships that like (Kyle) Larson. I saw him at dirt tracks, and we had that background. William Byron drives the No. 24 car and he and I built a relationship with having that in common. And, of course Chase Elliott, he originally drove the No. 24 car and he’s been there the longest. So, I want to build a strong relationship with all these guys. But I will say that yeah, Alex, it probably took us a little while where we could bond and maybe at Chili Bowl, he and I spending some time there. But now that we’ve gotten him signed up, I look forward to getting even closer with him. And a lot of that relationship, besides Dale Jr., was also with Rick Hendrick. The car enthusiasts in both of them created a natural bond. And the Midgets and the Sprint Cars are the thing that’ll create the natural bond with Alex and me, moving forward.”

AS YOU BECAME MORE ENGRAINED WORKING IN THE HENDRICK SIDE OF THE ORGANIZATION, HOW DIFFICULT DID IT BECOME TO BALANCE THE HENDRICK WORK AND THE TV WORK?
“It was tough. As much as maybe there were some of those that criticize me, I think I worked extremely hard trying to separate those two, which is why I purposely didn’t come to the haulers and spend as much time with the crew chiefs and drivers the first half of the season. I tried to be respectful of what they were focused on and do my job in the booth the best I possibly could. But of course, it’s hard not to be biased when you have that kind of relationship. Even if I wasn’t still an equity owner at Hendrick, my entire career I drove for this organization. So, I know the people more than I know the people at any other organization. They’ve always been like family and no matter what role I’m in, that’s the case. So, up in the booth I tried to be as non-biased as I could and call it the way I see it, and I take a lot of pride in the effort I put into that.”

WHAT WERE YOUR WORK HOURS LIKE?
“That’s why I say, I really tried to minimize my hours at Hendrick Motorsports during that period of time; and stay as much as I could be focused on the TV side of it in that preparation. And that’s why this decision, this is why it’s the perfect timing because right now, I know that in order for me to do this job the way I want to do it and the way I think Rick wants me to do it and be the most beneficial to the organization, is to be there 100 percent of the time and dedicate all my time. Rick and I had all these conversations when I was stepping out of the car and looking at doing TV. And so, he was comfortable with that. I don’t want to say we had a plan that hey, in 2021…. It’s I want you in this role one day. Go do TV. That’ll be a good transition. And it was. He’s a smart guy and he gives great advice. And we’ve always stayed very close in those conversations. We all knew that one day this would hopefully come and now the day is finally here. Just this week, I’m spending more time already at the shop. And that usually would happen when my duties at Fox were over. But that’s going to be year-round now, and I’m excited about that because there’s a lot of excitement in our organization right ow. So, it makes a great time for me to get into this role.”

QUESTION REGARDING CHAD KNAUS
“Oh listen, we’ve got tremendous depth. There’s a reason why we’ve had the success over the years and Chad has played a big role in that as a crew chief and he’s playing a big role right now in his new position as VP of Competition. But our organization is working together more than we ever have. Again, that’s the vision that Rick and Marshall (Carlson) have set forth. Of course, I’ve been in those conversations to some degree throughout all the years. But to see that vision play out the way it’s playing out, and we’ve been behind up until the second half of last year. So, it’s exciting to see that vision playing out because of how they’ve been working together and because of the common goal and working with Chevrolet also created that with our race cars. And now that’s playing out each and every weekend. But now how do you maintain it? And the only way to do that is to have a lot of talent and bring all those great minds together like what’s happening right now.”

DID WORKING THE TV-SIDE GIVE YOU ANY PERSPECTIVE TOWARD THE BUSINESS SIDE THAT MAYBE YOU DIDN’T EXPECT?
“Oh yeah. That’s one of my goals is to really connect with our TV partners and make sure that our drivers and crew chiefs recognize that their personality, their performance, the show on the race track, that it means way more than you think. As a competitor, you get very narrowly focused on the competition. And this sport wouldn’t have the fans and wouldn’t be as big as it is if millions of people weren’t watching it on TV. And they want to see rivalries, right? They want to see personalities and frustrations and excitement. I think that my perspective, coming from the last six years doing TV, it is definitely going to be present at Hendrick Motorsports and how we move forward. And I think our guys do a great job with that, but there’s no doubt we can do more.”

REGARDING DIVERSITY, WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO DO IN YOUR NEW ROLE TO HELP THE SPORT?
“Well, diversity is important for every business and every company in every sport. We’ve already seen it take great leaps forward and just what’s happened in the last few years. I’ve got to get in there and really understand how that group works. And listen, I feel like I come from an interesting background in coming from California, where I grew up and the type of racing that I did before I got into NASCAR. So hopefully there is some small relatability there that I can bring to the table. But I’m more about listening and hearing. There are some incredible people on that committee and that board. I’m excited about joining it and continuing to bring more of that diversity to NASCAR on every facet, from the driver’s side, pit crew side, sponsorship side, and it only benefits all of us to do that.”

YOU HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE SPORT’S MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGURES FOR DECADES. WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN BRING FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE TO THIS ROLE?
“I think that’s where Rick and I share the passions. He’s done it from his own time behind the wheel, but more so than anything else, as an owner and as a business owner. That’s what I love about Rick. He does not like to finish second in anything that he does. And that’s the way I was as a race car driver. So, the experience behind the wheel as a race car driver, not just in NASCAR but going all that way back to being a kid, being with one team and seeing the way that Rick operates the team and his leadership and how he focuses on the people working together, as well as what I see that he does at Hendrick Automotive Group, he’s a hard-working guy, too. I’m sure if he was here right now, he would say I’m just going to get Jeff to work a little harder (laughter).

“And I plan on doing that. I’m really excited about this challenge and this role. I feel like I’m at the place in my life where I’m really, ready for it. And most importantly, I’m just fortunate to work side-by-side with a guy that’s shown us all how to do it right for so many years and will continue to do that for a number of years to come. Yeah, it’s the same old basics. That’s the thing about Rick. It’s common sense. It’s hard work. And it’s people. And all I want to do is continue to compliment that moving forward.”

RICK PROBABLY CONSIDERS YOU FAMILY. BUT IS THERE ANY AWKWARDNESS WHERE IT’S KIND OF LIKE RICK AND THEN YOU AND THEN MARSHALL?
“You know what? Marshall has been somebody I’ve worked side-by-side with for many years. He, Jeff Andrews, Chad Knaus, and so many people at Hendrick, and Marshall is 100 percent supportive with me in this role. We both have strengths that we bring. Some that I can’t bring that he does; and because I was a driver at one time that he never experienced. I can tell you we make a great team. To me, it’s not about titles. It’s about how we’re going to work together as an organization and Marshall is 100 percent on board with it and I’m 100 percent on board with the role that he plays, which Is very important.”

IS JIMMIE JOHNSON GOING TO BE INVOLVED?
“Well, he’s up there driving at Watkins Glen. Rick Hendrick is up there for that 6-hour race. Obviously Ally, one of our partners, is part of that and Rick Hendrick is a part of that. So, in some ways, yes. I don’t know. We’ll see. If he is ever wanting to step away from INDYCAR; hey listen. He’s been a tremendous asset to us over the years. We would love to have him on board in some way.”

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.