NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DRYDENE 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 16, 2021
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
2nd KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE
3rd CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
4th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
8th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT LINKAGE PINS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
9th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)
2nd Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
3rd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
4th William Byron (Chevrolet)
5th Joey Logano (Ford)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Circuit of the Americas for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix on Sunday, May 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – RACE WINNER
ALEX BOWMAN WINS AT DOVER AND HE GETS HIS CREW CHIEF’S (GREG IVE) FIRST OFFICIAL VICTORY AS A CREW CHIEF AT THIS RACETRACK. ALEX, YOU JUST SAID IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PIT CREW. WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY OF THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW AND WHAT YOU’RE ABLE TO DO?
“We won Richmond (Raceway) and then had a really rough couple of weeks there. We went to some really good racetracks for us and struggled. I told the guys last week, ‘we’re still the same team that did it at Richmond’. This is another really good place for us. I’m just so pumped for Ally. It feels right to put the 48 back in victory lane here after how many races that this car has won here.”
“Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) is here. I don’t think I’ve won with him here before, so that’s really cool. Just so proud of this pit crew. It was obviously a rough off season for us and a big void to fill. Not that we’re ever going to fill the void that Rowdy left, but Allen is doing a really good job and the whole pit crew is doing a really good job. Thanks to my spotter, Kevin Hamlin, for couching me there at the end. It was fun racing Kyle (Larson) and glad to get Hendrick Motorsports another win.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2nd
IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET BACK TO BATTLE FOR THE LEAD. WHAT DID YOU LACK THERE AT THE END?
“Yeah, I just felt like all of us HMS guys were pretty equal, so I felt like whoever got out to the lead was going to be hard to beat. Their team (No. 48 Chevy) just did a really good job on that pit stop and gained control of the race. I never really had a shot after that. That one restart, I got to his bumper and got him loose, but the 4 (Kevin Harvick) was coming so we just had to let each other go. Hard to be disappointed with a second, because like I said, I felt like I did everything I could. We led a lot of laps and won both Stages there, so it was good points, but we would have liked to be one spot better.”
“But all in all, a good day for our NationsGuard Chevy and what a day for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet. Thanks to everyone back at the shop, the engine shop. It’s pretty amazing because I don’t know the last time Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) had all four of his cars in the top-four, but that is a pretty special day, for sure.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 3rd
“I really felt like we were pretty close, balance-wise. It was just kind of a matter of how your restart went and where you fell in line, unfortunately for us. But I’m happy for Hendrick Motorsports. I don’t know when the last time that finish has happened. It’s probably been a while for any team.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4th
FINISHING 1-2-3-4 FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS WAS A DOMINATE DAY FOR THE ORGANIZATION.
“Yeah, that was awesome. For us to finish 1-2-3-4 is just a credit to a lot of great people at the shop, Chevrolet, Axalta, and all the people that support us to get us the resources; and then our teams, the crew chiefs, drivers and pit crews executing really good races. For us, it’s been going for a while. We’ve just got to get a little bit. It sucks to be fourth, but I think we’re close. We just have to work on some things on our car, get the right feels, but we’re getting really close. So, we keep chipping away. We’ve had two fourth-place finishes in a row. We’ll take it and move on.”
RICK HENDRICK, OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
TO GET A FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH PLACE FINISH TODAY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU IN THE LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
“I can guarantee you this has been the most nervous I’ve been in a race. It was a great day for the organization. Alex (Bowman), congratulations to him. This is a sign of the guys working together and bringing good stuff to the track. I don’t think it’ll hit me maybe until tomorrow that we were able to finish 1-2-3-4. That’s pretty hard to do. Things can happen; pit stops, tires, anything. But that’s a first and we’ll take it. It was a great day for us.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT LINKAGE PINS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th
“I’m very proud of my No. 8 Cat Linkage Pins Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team today. We really had to fight hard today for our eighth-place finish at Dover, especially after the speeding penalty on pit road after our first stop of the day. Entry seemed to be the biggest issue for us during the first half of the race. I just needed better rotation to get through that portion of both ends of the track quicker. My crew chief, Randall Burnett, and the team did a good job of keeping after the track with our adjustments today and giving me feedback based on our SMT data. We really hit on something towards the end of Stage 2, which allowed me to get up in the top 10 for the start of Stage 3. Track position was key today, even more so than fresh tires for us, so once we got up in the top 10, we did everything we could to say there, even though that meant staying out and making it a much longer final run for us on tires when those mid-stage cautions came out in Stage 3. It was a battle to hang on during that last run, but it paid off for us today with our fifth top-10 finish in the last seven races.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th
BEFORE THIS RACE, YOU SAID YOU’D BE HAPPY WITH A TOP 10. YOU CALLED IT. HOW GOOD WAS THIS RACE FOR YOU?
“We have to work hard. The No. 99 CommScope Chevy Camaro was strong. Most of the race, I felt like the entire race, we were probably a top-15 car. But, with good adjustments, we gained some track position and that gave us the opportunity to finish in the top-10. There is still a lot of work to do, definitely. Right there at the end, I was tight. I was against the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), the No. 41 (Cole Custer) and all these guys, but we were able to hold them off and get a decent finish. But we have to keep working and win a trophy.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 YORKTEL/CAREGILITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th
“Such a tough way to end an otherwise strong run for our team. We were able to pass a lot of cars and race from near the back to the top-10 by the beginning of Stage 2. The guys did a nice job on pit road today, we just had an issue with a malfunction on the jack for the final stop. That put us back at the tail-end of the lead lap cars. I hate if for the Yorktel and Caregility folks that were here to watch us race today. There is no quit in this team, so we will move-on and keep digging”.
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 HUK PERFORMANCE FISHING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 14th
“We had a decent Huk Fishing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today at Dover International Speedway. Overall, the balance of our RCR Chevy was pretty good to start the race. We found a line at the bottom of the track that worked well but I was worried about tire wear, so I didn’t move down there until closer to the end of the stage. We were pretty good in Stage 2 but handling was just sort of blah during the middle of the run when cloud cover cooled off the track and caused the Huk Chevy to become freer. It came back to us to end the Stage and we were able to secure a few stage points. At the end of the race, the cloud cover returned and that effected our handling. We just couldn’t keep up with the track. We’ll regroup as a team and head to the Circuit of the Americas next week.”
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MOOSE FRATERNITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th
“15th – What I would have given a few weeks ago to finish 15th. But today, we showed a lot more promise on this No. 42 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet. We had more speed than that, we just got really tight. The last set of tires, we made no adjustments. We were the best we were all day on our second-to-last run. On that set of tires, we ran a few laps. A caution came out, we did the opposite of the leaders. Didn’t do anything to the car, fired back off tight; very tight. I’m kind of baffled why that was. So, I just kind of had to hold on and not get into anyone’s way too much, and ran 15th there at the end. Man, it did feel good to run up towards tenth. We’ll keep building.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 22nd
“Just struggled all day with the Medallion Bank Chevy. Never could get the feel we were looking for. We fought all day to try and bring home a decent finish. Hopefully have some notes to make some changes when we come back again in the fall.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE, AND CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript:
THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our third-place finisher, Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet.
We’ll go straight to questions for Chase.
Q. What does it mean to be part of a day when Hendrick goes 1-2-3-4?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Really cool. Glad Mr. Hendrick was here. He has been at just a few races this year. He picked a good one today. Yeah, just proud of our whole team. Everybody, HMS, I feel like we have a really talented group of people that work really hard. It’s just nice to see their hard work awarded like that, in that manner, in that type of domination.
Those guys led, I guess Kyle and Alex, pretty much led the whole race. Really cool. Just really proud of everybody. Glad to be a part of the team.
Q. Halfway through the regular season, what do you think of your team’s performance at this point? How do you grade things out?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, I think we’re in a good place as far as where we ended the day today. I thought we were close. Just needed to do just a tick better. Needed to have a little better restarts, have just a tick more pace. I really thought we were pretty close. So happy with our run.
Q. Any races in the first half of the year that you’d like to have back that you thought maybe you could have won?
CHASE ELLIOTT: No. That’s why we race.
Q. Obviously to do as an organization what you did today, it’s not easy. 2005 the only other time it’s been done. Is there a way to characterize how difficult it is for one team to put a thrashing on the rest of the field?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, obviously, because of the significance of it, I guess you said it’s only been done one other time?
Q. Three times, once in the modern era, Roush in ’05.
CHASE ELLIOTT: There you go. It’s obviously really hard.
It’s one thing to have four fast cars. I think that happens fairly often. But have four fast cars with four really well-executed races. Yeah, it’s a cool thing. It’s very hard to do.
Q. Is that a case of teamwork? Have you been working closer together compared to previous years or everybody hitting on all cylinders at the right time?
CHASE ELLIOTT: I feel like our communication is good. I feel like it’s been good in the past, too. I wish I could say that or give you a really good reason as to why. I just think everybody in our company’s really motivated right now, working hard to provide fast cars. I feel like everybody is pulling the rope in the same direction. As good or better than it’s ever been since I’ve been there. I think that’s key.
But I think as far as our communication, how closely we work, I don’t really know that’s much different.
THE MODERATOR: We are also joined by our second-place finisher, Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Nations Guard Chevrolet.
If you have a question for either Kyle or Chase…
Q. Chase, did you have any of the brake issues that the 24 and the 48 experienced through the course of the race?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Fortunately no, I did not.
Q. Chase, how does a race like this build into next week going into the Circuit of the Americas road course where you’ve been pretty strong at those types of tracks the last couple years?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, honestly it really doesn’t. They’re all kind of new opportunities, in my opinion, new weeks. Obviously a much different track than what we raced on today. I don’t feel like there’s really any comparison at all.
Q. Chase, the Coke 600, Hendrick should be pretty fast again. You’ve come about as close as possible to winning it. Can you describe how tough it is to win a race like the Coke 600?
CHASE ELLIOTT: They’re all tough to win. I haven’t found an easy one to win personally. I think they’re all pretty difficult. I don’t think the Coke 600 is any different.
Q. Is that last hundred miles any more significant than in the past where it was about attrition? What does that do for a driver?
CHASE ELLIOTT: As much as you want me to say yes, the answer is no. I mean, it’s just not any different really. Just happens to be another hundred miles.
Q. Still a crown jewel for you?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, absolutely.
THE MODERATOR: Chase, thanks for joining us. We’ll let you move on. We’ll continue on with questions for Kyle Larson.
Q. Kyle, do you feel like you’re still learning some about the Hendrick cars as far as restarts and other things? Do you feel like you’re totally comfortable with the cars?
KYLE LARSON: No, I mean, it all seemed pretty normal to me today. I don’t know, do you think I could have did anything different on the restart?
Q. No, I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out if you feel like you I don’t want to say gave it away, but do you feel there’s still learning for you to do with these specific cars that potentially could help you be stronger down the road?
KYLE LARSON: Well, I mean, I think you learn. Every time you hit the racetrack, you learn something. I’m sure I learned something today. We’ll be better again in the future.
Q. This is the 267th win for Hendrick Motorsports. Not an opportunity every day you get to eclipse the King for a record. How meaningful is it to you to have contributed to that? Does having that record in front of you, do you feel like it will add even more motivation for you, or business as usual?
KYLE LARSON: I mean, I think it’s definitely business as usual. We all know that milestone is out in front of us. We know that it’s really important to Mr. H. He mentions it almost every time I feel like I talk to him. I hope we can get there quickly. I hope I’m the driver to do it and break that record whenever we get to it.
But, yeah, it’s definitely a cool, cool milestone that I think is obviously important to him. To have a day like we all had today with all four of us in the top four, that’s never been done at HMS. This year has been great so far for our organization and we look forward to adding to it.
Q. Compared to Kansas, your post race comments sounded like it was more magnanimous of being second. Was it a fact of having all four Hendrick cars, whoever had clean air simply with the edge today?
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, I honestly don’t know if there was anything I could have done differently to win the race after we came out second on pit road. I would choose the top behind him, get to second every time. Maybe I could have chose the bottom on restart, but I still don’t think I would have stayed with him till he was inside or anything like that. Probably would have fell back to third or so.
I feel like we maximized our day. We were all so equal. I think any of the four of us could have been out in the lead. That person probably would have won. Just, yeah, we were all equal.
Their pit crew did an awesome job. Our pit crew has been amazing all year, too. Like I said, I’m not disappointed or upset about this second because I feel like there wasn’t anything else I could do.
Q. Last year you were here obviously, there were no fans in the stands. This year it seemed like a decent crowd. What is it like to be racing now more regularly in front of fans?
KYLE LARSON: I didn’t get to experience it all last year, but I can imagine it was probably eerie not having any fans at these races.
But today it felt close to normal. Was definitely happy to hear the crowd yelling and screaming before the race, and afterwards, too. Things are starting to feel like they’re getting back to normal. I think we all love not having to wear masks throughout the garage area and outside any more.
Yeah, it’s getting normal again. We’re getting fans back, which is great.
Q. For drivers, a crown jewel race for a driver like yourself, Daytona, the Coke 600. Do you think about those things in your career and on your trophy mantel, if you will?
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I haven’t thought about that race yet because we still have COTA, I don’t know, maybe something else after that. Yeah, I mean, we all want to win the big ones. I’ve been fortunate to win the All-Star Race, which is a crown jewel. But for sure you want to win all of them. You want to win honestly every race.
Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely one that’s up there that means a lot. I think the purse is really big, too. I think that adds some ambition for everybody to want to go out there and win.
Q. Can you describe how that race turns out with the day/night thing, the extra hundred miles?
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I’m curious and excited to get there in Hendrick equipment. Ganassi I would always run really well at the All-Star Race, then I would run pretty good the first third of the 600 or so, then I would always seem to lose the balance once it went to nighttime.
Yeah, I guess we’ll see what the difference is this year. Maybe it will be a lot different, too, because the All-Star Race, all the extra laps on the track. Maybe it will suit me a little bit better.
Q. Had it been anyone other than Bowman on the restart that had the lead, would you have been more aggressive? Clearly you don’t want to take your teammate out on a restart.
KYLE LARSON: No, I mean, I was really aggressive that one where I got to his bumper, pushed him through the middle of one and two, then again in the middle of three and four. At that point I didn’t really care it was a teammate in front of me or not. I wasn’t going to push him any harder than I was there because I already had him pretty sideways. Same would have went for anybody else. I’m not going to try and wreck anybody.
The 4 car was coming really fast up top, so I didn’t want to give him an advantage, smoke by all of us. You never know with him out front, it could be really, really fast. We didn’t want that to happen.
Q. Do you take any solace in winning stages, leading the most laps?
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, it all looks good for stats and stuff, laps led. Winning the two stages, getting those couple points for the Playoffs is obviously really important. Obviously we would have wanted five more with the win, but we’ll take what we can get and keep stacking ’em up as often as we can, just try and position ourselves to be in a good spot come Playoff time.
Yeah, if you can’t win the race, you definitely want to have a good points day.
Q. You mentioned it’s not what you wanted, but a big day for the organization as a whole. Chase said he hasn’t felt like communication has been too much different. You haven’t been at Hendrick Motorsports as long as the other guys. What have you noticed as far as all four cars running as well as they have? Is there anything specific you can attribute to how strong the team has been?
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I’m not sure. They’ve obviously had an amazing race team for a very, very long time. I have found it interesting, multiple times throughout this year Marshall Carlson at HMS, he’ll talk about how everybody in the shop is so excited to be working there, working on our race cars, never seen the organization happier and more excited to go racing than they are right now.
I find that crazy to think because you look at all the races that Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, they’ve had multiple, like, powerhouse drivers at one time on their team. For them to be saying this is the most excited they’ve ever been is pretty unreal to me when we’ve got four young guys in the sport who haven’t really won many races, when you really think about it, compared to the guys that used to be there before us.
I think maybe he’s saying a little bit of the future is what gets everybody really excited there. Yeah, just an awesome day for the organization. Glad I could be a part of it.
THE MODERATOR: Kyle, thanks for joining us today. Congratulations on the run with Hendrick today.
KYLE LARSON: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the owner of Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, whose cars finished 1-2-3-4 today. We are going to open it straight up to questions for Mr. Hendrick.
Q. Was this on a bucket list for you at all to see your cars go 1-2-3-4 in a race?
RICK HENDRICK: Every time you’re in a race, you like to see them run 1-2-3-4. The feeling is unbelievable. It was probably the longest last hundred laps that I’ve ever seen in a race just because I kind of wanted to see it so bad, so close. To be able to pull that off, that’s kind of one of those things in racing that you would say was on your bucket list.
I’m extremely happy and proud of all the guys. It was a great day for the organization.
Q. One away now from Richard Petty, Petty Enterprises. We just heard from Kyle Larson that he said you talk about this all the time with him, remind them how close you are. How big of a deal would it be for you to catch now and tie with just one away?
RICK HENDRICK: Well, Richard is a good friend. He’s the King of this sport. But any time there’s a record out there, you have an opportunity to break it or tie it. I think a few years back, I thought it would be impossible. If you told me in 19, what, 84 that you’re going to be here for this long or that you had an opportunity to win all these races and championships. I kind of pinch myself because it’s just really hard to do. The sport is so competitive right now.
But I think our guys, I know our guys, are working together better than they ever have in the shop with Chad and Jeff Andrews. We’ve got a lot of talented people. Good to see these young guys like William, 11 races in the top 10. When you look at that, now we have four wins this year. Chase has been so close. We got some great tracks for him coming up. I’m really proud of the folks. I just love to see guys like Cliff or Greg become star crew chiefs.
It’s all been really good for us. Good to have Rudy. Put Rudy and William together, it’s like magic. We just have to keep digging because everybody behind us, they’re going to be there every week.
I’m glad we got it done one time. I don’t know if we’ll ever do it again. I’ve seen Joe do it, I’ve seen Penske do it, I’ve seen Stewart-Haas maybe not win all four cars, but all three cars. To see them dominate a race like that…
We just got to get ready, do it again, show up, have a game face on, do the best we can.
Q. When did you start to think perhaps you could catch Petty? Did you get to 150 or 200? At what point did that become a goal?
RICK HENDRICK: One time I thought I’m not going to live long enough to do this (smiling). It was around 250. Then last year we clicked ’em off. Actually, I really tried not to think about it until this year. This year when everybody started talking about it, then I thought, Man, this is in reach.
I’m really proud of the organization. But I’ll say this about Richard: nobody in this sport has ever given as much as he has. To see him on pit road, see him signing every autograph. I’ve got one of his autographs when I couldn’t get in the garage area through the fence at Martinsville. I know what that feels like. He’s a tremendous ambassador for this sport.
If I get the record, somebody will break it behind me.
Q. We’ve seen a Hendrick team, mostly the 9 team, be dominant, win races. Now you have sustained success across the organization. Why do you think that is?
RICK HENDRICK: I think we’ve had superstars that win. We’ve won 17 races before in a year. One car was just dominant, maybe too dominant than the others, which is just so-so. The way we’ve kind of started back four, five years ago, putting all engineers in one place, putting all the crew chiefs in one place, taking our best folks like Ron Malec, they’re in charge of this part of the vehicle, Chad is in the shop, you have Jeff Andrews.
When I look at the way they’re working together, respect that the drivers have for each other. They want to beat each other. That’s what we pay ’em to do. I know we don’t, we’ve never had the focus on four. Maybe we wanted to, maybe we tried to, but when they all are in there together, you could give one of the other guys his car and they wouldn’t know the difference, you know, swap cars.
It’s rewarding to see. To see Marshall, Jeff Andrews, Chad, the crew chiefs, all of the folks working, and Chevrolet. GM has been a big supporter. Richard Childress and I now have aligned to do things together. Boy, that’s going to make a big difference and has made a difference. He’s a good friend. I respect him a ton.
So there’s a lot of things that have come together. But I think having these young guys that are all so young, having Kyle in the mix, he just drives the wheels off of it. I think they all make each other better. To see William blossom like he has, Alex, a guy that didn’t have a chance now have two wins this year, finish sixth in the points last year, I think the future is really bright for us.
There’s nothing that beats teamwork. You’re stronger together. That’s been my philosophy on the automobile side and the racing side. I was told early on that I’d never win a championship having multiple cars. It’s worked.
It’s all about people. I don’t care what kind of business you’re in, it doesn’t make any difference. It’s people. It’s people that make the difference.
Q. Alex Bowman’s future with your team, can you give an update on where you’re at?
RICK HENDRICK: We’ve already started. It should be done any time. We want Alex there. He wants to be there. It’s kind of at this point just a formality.
Q. Is it a multi-year deal?
RICK HENDRICK: Yes.
Q. You were talking about Alex. It’s one thing to get the opportunity to join Hendrick Motorsports in general. This year, with him taking over the 48 that made so much history, planting the car in Victory Lane at Dover, talk about how Alex has embraced this opportunity.
RICK HENDRICK: First of all, ally, the sponsor, we’re great partners in the car business and in racing. When you say you have to replace Jimmie Johnson, they were more than willing and wanted to let Alex have a chance.
I told Alex, You’ve got to be your own guy. You can’t be Jimmie Johnson light. You got to be Alex Bowman, just do your deal. We are going to be there with you and you’re going to do great.
Greg is a great crew chief. I just didn’t want Alex to have too much pressure on him getting in that situation. That is some big shoes to fill. No different than going behind Dale or Jeff Gordon, all the championships he has.
But I think Alex has embraced it really well. He and Greg are very good together. And ally does a ton of promoting and they really like him. It’s all good.
Q. Chase has run up front most of the season but has yet to get into Victory Lane. Is there anything that stands out to you with him or is it mostly circumstances?
RICK HENDRICK: It’s just circumstances. I mean, he had a five-second lead at Daytona, the road course. We elected to pit, couldn’t get back to the front. So, he’s been in position to have a good day and win races, but it just hasn’t worked out.
He had a great run I think it was Kansas. Guy with new tires on the outside, got blocked there at the end. Those things are going to happen. But he’s too good. That team is too good. He’ll be there. He’s going to win some races and he’ll be there for the championship again.
Q. You mentioned some of the challenges building up. A few years ago there were some challenges with the organization, the car not able to win. Talk about this journey going from some relevance to dominance.
RICK HENDRICK: Well, I think we had to do some work on the car. I think we submitted a car that was probably a little too vanilla, too many character lines, too much like a stockcar when everybody else, Ford and Toyota, went more aggressive. We had to pay for it.
Then when the 1LE came out, all the teams worked together, it was Ganassi, Childress and us, and GM put a lot of effort into the car, we’re seeing the results. I feel like we’re even or as good as or better than a lot of the guys out there.
When you’ve been on top of the mountain, you stand there and watch somebody else win 15 races or whatever, you struggle, it just makes you work harder. I think our group of people have so much pride in what has been accomplished, that now they’re super excited. They see the youth in our camp. Nobody is going to retire any time soon.
I’ve seen too many drivers retire. I’ve been through it with Dale and Jeff and Jimmie and others. I think we are set for a really good run here for the next years, multiple years. I like where we are. This doesn’t mean a lot. This means we did it one time out of 40 years, I guess. We just got to stay sharp and not think that we’re ahead of anybody, but we just got to race to be there.
I think we got great momentum right now. I can’t believe William has 11 top 10s and run up front a lot, I mean, lead, and he’s won two races, last year and this year. I think we’re ahead of schedule with Alex. Chase showed what he can do last year. Having Kyle in the mix, his talent, just makes everybody better.
Q. I’m not trying to push you off to the side, but how much patience do you have, how has that changed, certainly you could be closer at any point to just retiring on a boat and enjoying your free time as opposed to being at the track as much. Is there less patience because of fewer opportunities to win races and championships?
RICK HENDRICK: Well, I do like to fish. I do like the boat. When I go to the doctor anyway, they ask me if I’m retired. I tell them I’ve got two jobs. I work every day and weekends. I love it. I mean, that’s what makes me get up in the morning. I’m competitive. I think the guys around me are very competitive. We want to win and we want to set records.
I’m not going to be every single week, two days a weekend, if we get back to it at the track. I’m there with the guys. I’m with them in the morning. I balance it. But I love it. I’ve raced all my life. That’s all I’ve done. The two things I love in my life other than my family is the car business and racing. I’ve been fortunate to be able to make a living doing both of them.
I don’t see retiring any time soon.
Q. You’ve seen a lot of Hall of Famers come through your stable. What are your feelings with this specific group that you have now, when you have a day like, this the momentum you do? How does it compare to the days past dominating and winning championships with Jimmie?
RICK HENDRICK: I kind of like it better in the old days where you had a points lead, you didn’t have to go to a Round of 4, Round of 8, have a little spread. If you had a really good year, you kind of had a lot. It’s hard to do it now. You could have a flat tire or anything can just take you out of it after you’ve had a banner year.
I think these guys, William at 23 has got so much ahead of him. Chase at his age. Alex and Kyle. They’re young guys. I mean, they’ve got a lot of runway ahead of them. We should just get better. They will get better. We will get better. I love the chemistry. I think we’re in good shape for a while.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Hendrick, congratulations on the fantastic day at Dover today. We appreciate your time.
RICK HENDRICK: Thank you. Good to see people without a mask.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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