Dover International Speedway
Sunday, May 16, 2021
1-Mile Oval
2:00 PM ET
Location: Dover, Delaware
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (13 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM, PRN

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 28 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 6th

No. 5 NationsGuard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

MONSTER AT DOVER: In 12 starts at Dover International Speedway, Kyle Larson has 11 top-12 finishes with 617 laps led. In his last start at the 1-mile venue in October 2019, the Elk Grove, California, native led 154 laps en route to his lone victory at the concrete track.

NOT YOUR AVERAGE DRIVER: Larson’s average finish of 7.42 is the best all-time of any driver with more than two Dover starts. David Pearson (8), Bobby Allison (9.26) and former Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson (9.66) are the only other drivers to post a single-digit average finish at the Delaware venue.

SECOND BEST: Based on average finishes at active tracks, Larson’s 7.42 average at Dover is only his second best. Last Sunday at Darlington Raceway, the 28-year-old finished second to improve his average finish at the 1.366-mile track to 6.

SECOND TIER: In six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Dover, Larson has one win, three top-five finishes and six top-10s. In June 2017, Larson led 137 laps from the pole to capture the victory at “the Monster Mile.”

ONE QUARTER: Through 12 races in 2021, Larson has finished first or second in one-quarter of the races. The 2014 rookie of the year won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and posted second-place finishes at Darlington Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

ON GUARD: NationsGuard, a program that gives car dealers control of their F&I products and customer experience, will adorn the No. 5 Chevrolet this Sunday at Dover International Speedway. It also appeared as the primary sponsor on the car in the first three events of the season. For more information about NationsGuard, click here.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 8th

No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

MASTERING THE MONSTER: Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, has seven top-five finishes at Dover International Speedway, which are his most at a single track in his NASCAR Cup Series career. The sixth-year driver has also led 321 laps at “the Monster Mile,” the third-most at any track in the series for Elliott – behind only Martinsville (429) and Phoenix (402).

‘MONSTER MILE’ STATS: At Dover, Elliott has posted seven top-five finishes in 10 starts, four of which were top-three results. Among those was his overtime win in October 2018 and a runner-up performance in 2017. Elliott finished in the top three in both of his rookie appearances at Dover in 2016 – something only Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Davey Allison accomplished in their rookie seasons. The 25-year-old driver also has four starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the track. He didn’t finish outside the top 10 in either series.

NOT AVERAGE: Elliott currently averages a finish of 11.3 at Dover, the second-best by an active driver at the venue behind teammate Kyle Larson (7.42). His average finish is also the sixth-best of all time of drivers with more than two starts at the 1-mile track.

GUSTAFSON AT DOVER: No. 9 crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 33rd “Monster Mile” Cup Series race from atop the pit box on Sunday. In his previous 32 races calling the shots for five different drivers (Elliott, Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon) at Dover, he has collected two wins, with his most recent victory in 2018 with Elliott. He also has 16 top-five finishes – five of which were runner-up results – 18 top-10s and 592 laps led at the track.

DOVER DOUBLE: Last year at Dover, the NASCAR Cup Series hosted a doubleheader weekend at the 1-mile track. During the Saturday afternoon race on Aug. 22, Elliott started from the pole position and led 27 laps en route to a fifth-place finish. On Sunday, Aug. 23, the No. 9 team started 17th after the top-20 finishers from Saturday’s race were inverted. Unfortunately, in the opening laps, Elliott suffered damage from a competitor checking up to avoid a multi-car accident on the front stretch. The damage was terminal and ultimately ended the No. 9 team’s day with a 39th-place finish after only six laps.

SEASON RUNDOWN: The NASCAR Cup Series season has completed 12 races in the 2021 season. Elliott has posted four top-five finishes – two of which are runner-up results – six top-10s and has led a total of 76 laps. He has one stage win and has spent 669 laps inside the top five and 1,809 laps running in the top 10.

NAPA IS BACK: The No. 9 Chevrolet will return to the familiar blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS paint scheme this weekend at Dover. The Atlanta-based company is serving as majority sponsor for Elliott and the No. 9 team for 25 NASCAR Cup Series races this season.

PIT ROAD POWER: The No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS team owns the fifth-best average time for four-tire pit stops at 13.85 seconds through 12 races in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The team is comprised of jackman T.J. Semke, gasman John Gianninoto, tire carrier Jared Erspamer and tire changers Chad Avrit and Nick O’Dell.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 3rd

No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

10-FOR-10: After another strong showing during Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway, William Byron extended his consecutive top-10 finishes to 10 races. Dating back to his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 28, the 23-year-old driver’s top-10 streak is the longest active streak in the NASCAR Cup Series and is the most top-10 results by a Cup driver so far this season. Not only is Byron the youngest driver to hold a top-10 streak of 10 races or more, but he now joins Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon as the only Hendrick Motorsports drivers to have 10 or more consecutive top-10 finishes with the organization. Gordon has accomplished this three separate times and was the most recent Hendrick Motorsports driver to do so in 2007.

ONE-THIRD MARK: With a third of the 2021 Cup Series season in the books, Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE continue to be consistent every week. After 12 races, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has collected one win, four top-five finishes and 10 top-10s all while leading 150 laps. With the third-best average running position throughout the Cup field of 8.85 and an average finishing position of 9.67, Byron is sitting third in the driver points standings – the highest ranking of his Cup career.

DOVER DIGEST: With six Cup Series starts under his belt at Dover International Speedway, Byron will be making his seventh start at the track Sunday. He has a track-best starting position of second from May 2019 when Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott edged him out for the pole. With one top-five finish and two top-10s at “the Monster Mile,” Byron’s track-best finish of fourth came in the second race of the August doubleheader last season.

‘MONSTER MILE’ MINUTES: While this Sunday’s race will be crew chief Rudy Fugle’s first at the Cup Series level at Dover International Speedway, the Livonia, New York, native has eight starts at the 1-mile track in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In those eight races, Fugle has accumulated one win, two top-five finishes and two top-10s. One of those previous starts was with Byron in 2016, when the duo started on the pole and raced to an 11th-place result.

ALL ABOUT AXALTA: With their corporate headquarters located less than two hours away from “the Monster Mile,” Byron will have Axalta back on board his No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for this Sunday’s race at Dover. Now in its 29th year of partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, Axalta will return as primary partner on Byron’s No. 24 for 14 races in 2021. For a better look at Byron’s new No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, click here.

48 Alex Bowman
Age: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 14th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

DOVER SUCCESS: Alex Bowman has made 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover International Speedway. The Tucson, Arizona, native finished fifth in the second of two events at the venue last season. Bowman has three top-five finishes at Dover, which are the most top-five results at a single track for the Ally driver. Since the start of the 2019 season, Bowman has the third-most top-five results at the 1-mile facility among active drivers. The 28-year-old driver also has six Dover starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, earning two top-five finishes with JR Motorsports in 2016. He led 33 laps in the spring Xfinity Series event that year and crossed the finish line third.

12 COMPLETE: After 12 races this season, Bowman has one win, two top-five finishes, four top-10s and one pole award (DAYTONA 500). The No. 48 Ally team has spent 1,360 laps running inside the top 10. Out of those laps, 650 have been inside the top five. Bowman led the final 10 laps during the event at Richmond Raceway en route to his first short-track victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

MILES HOLDING ON: Fans who visit Dover this weekend can see the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet in the hand of “Miles the Monster” at Victory Plaza. Ally Financial remains the primary sponsor of Victory Plaza and the Monster Bridge Suites. The No. 48 machine that Miles holds is the paint scheme that Jimmie Johnson ran at the track in his final full-time season last year. Standing at 46-feet tall, the base of the monster notes all of the previous drivers who have won at the 1-mile facility.

IVES IN DOVER: Crew chief Greg Ives has 12 starts at Dover in the Cup Series. The Bark River, Michigan, native has four top-five results and six top-10s at the 1-mile venue, with his best finish of second coming the spring of 2019 with Bowman. The crew chief’s résumé also includes two top-five finishes and three top-10s at Dover in the Xfinity Series. Both top-five results came in 2014, when Ives led driver Chase Elliott to two second-place starting positions and 19 laps led before finishing inside the top five. Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 team at Hendrick Motorsports from 2006 until 2012 when he was a part of four wins, four pole awards and 10 top-10 finishes at Dover.

HOME-TRACK FEELS: No. 48 team rear-tire changer Devin DelRicco grew up 86 miles from Dover International Speedway in Marlboro, Maryland. The 30-year-old athlete visited “the Monster Mile” for the first time in 2005 for the NASCAR Cup Series event. DelRicco has been with Hendrick Motorsports for six years and has two NASCAR Xfinity Series championships with JR Motorsports.

PIT ROAD KNACK: After 12 races in the 2021 season, the No. 48 pit crew continues to be the fastest in the NASCAR Cup Series based on average four-tire stop times. The five-man over-the-wall crew has an average four-tire stop time of 13.65 seconds. The team includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and DelRicco.

30-FOR-30: At Darlington Raceway Sunday, Kyle Larson (second), William Byron (fourth) and Chase Elliott (seventh) each finished in the top 10, extending a streak of at least one Hendrick Motorsports driver posting a top-10 result to 30 straight races. Team Penske ranks second with nine consecutive top-10s.

BLACKJACK: Sitting on 20, Hendrick Motorsports is chasing a 21st victory at Dover International Speedway. Six drivers have won for the organization at “the Monster Mile:” Jimmie Johnson (11), Jeff Gordon (five), Elliott (one), Geoff Bodine (one), Ken Schrader (one) and Ricky Rudd (one). Hendrick Motorsports holds the record for most wins at a track by a team with 25 victories at Martinsville Speedway.

UNDEFEATED IN OVERTIME: Four races at Dover have ended past its scheduled distance with Hendrick Motorsports winning each time. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Johnson was victorious in three of those events – 2005, 2015 and 2017 – while Elliott won in overtime in 2018.

CHASE-ING HISTORY: Alex Bowman, Larson and Byron are under 30 years old and have each won a race for Hendrick Motorsports this season. No NASCAR Cup Series team has ever had four drivers under the age of 30 visit victory lane in the same season. Elliott, 25, is the defending Cup Series champion and most recent winner for Hendrick Motorsports at Dover (2018).

TWO TO TIE: Hendrick Motorsports entered the 2021 season within striking distance of one of stock car racing’s most enduring achievements: Petty Enterprises’ all-time team record for NASCAR Cup Series victories. The legendary Petty organization captured the wins record from Carl Kiekhafer Racing more than 60 years ago when Lee Petty took the checkered flag at Orange Speedway on May 29, 1960, for the team’s 53rd victory. Its 268th and most recent win was delivered by driver John Andretti on April 18, 1999. Hendrick Motorsports has earned 266 points-paying Cup Series wins since Rick Hendrick founded the team in 1984 and currently needs just three to break the record at NASCAR’s highest level. 

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on success at Dover: “Dover has always been a good track for me. I’ve led a lot of laps and finished in the top-10 a lot of times there. I’m definitely excited to race at Dover this weekend, and definitely excited to drive a Hendrick Motorsports car there. They’ve run well there for a long time now. It’s a fast track and you have to keep up with the changing track conditions during a run. It’s aggressive, so I like it.”

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on working with Johnson at Dover and now Larson: “There are a few things that Jimmie really looked for in a car at Dover. Comparing their driving styles, there are some things we can tweak for Kyle. Hendrick Motorsports has a great history at Dover. Assuming we do our homework correctly, we can run well there Sunday.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on success at Dover: “Last year was unfortunate. We got caught up in a wreck pretty early and were done for the day, but we have had some good runs at the track in the past. Hendrick has had fast cars at Dover, too, and I know I’ve said it before but I think Jimmie (Johnson) is one of the biggest reasons for that success. He was so good at Dover and gave all of us such a good baseline to start each race weekend. We look forward to getting back this weekend and, hopefully, having a good run.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at Dover: “I always look forward to going to Dover. I have always liked the track and like racing there. Outside of our win, we have a pretty good track record at Dover, so we are looking forward to seeing what we have for Sunday.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his outlook of racing at Dover: “Dover is just a tough, tough place. There are drastic shifts in the track and you have to be able to pick up on those trends early in a run. I feel like we have a good package prepared for Dover, though. It goes back to the Chad Knaus days with Jimmie (Johnson) while incorporating in some of Chase (Elliott’s) feedback with his success there. We’ve had really fast cars there and I feel like we’re able to take those setup notes and morph it into something that fits all of our driving styles. I think, because of that, we’ll be strong there again. I feel like there is no reason why we wouldn’t be. It’s going to be about making your car turn in the right spots and not get it too loose, because once it’s too loose, it’s just a real handful.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at Dover: “I think Dover is pretty unique. It’s got its own characteristics and they kind of apply to everything, no matter what you’re racing there. I think a lot of those characteristics and those thoughts can be applied to a Cup car, and I can use all these great notes from Hendrick Motorsports. Obviously, they’ve had a lot of success here in the past, so you add those things together and, hopefully, get a winning race car.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on why he loves racing at Dover: “This weekend, we are going to a track that has previously been pretty good for our team. Dover is one of my favorite places to go because it is a physically demanding race. It is demanding on both the driver and the car, so you really have to make sure that you take care of your stuff all day. We haven’t had the best of luck the past few weeks, but this Ally team is going into this week with a positive mindset and looking for a reset.”

Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on starting fresh at Dover: “Dover is a great place to get to with our Ally Chevrolet. We have some good notes to go off of, especially from last season. We are looking to go to Dover and continue to march forward. We are starting 16th, which is further back than we would have wanted but we have come from the back before. We have to go into this weekend with a positive mindset and put that last few weeks behind us.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DRYDENE 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 12, 2021

RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript:

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU THINK THE TEAM HAS DEVELOPED OVER THE BEGINNING OF THIS SEASON AND, THAT WILLIAM BYRON HAD ANOTHER TOP 10 FINISH THIS PAST WEEKEND. HOW ARE YOU SET TO APPROACH THIS SUMMER STRETCH?
“I think we’re growing here. Week by week we’re learning. I’m learning way more than they are learning and starting to get a feel for the cars and set-ups and everything different about the Cup series. The guys and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports are doing a great job helping me get to where we need to be. And then, William is doing an awesome job. Our feedback and communication are getting better weekly. All that stuff is going great.”

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE FOR YOU COMPARED TO THE TRUCK SERIES?
“There are two things, really. The first week-to-week thing is that we’d spend a whole lot of time on some small details. We’d go over just everything over and over and over; and just make sure we’re getting every kind of downforce and counting for everything. Sometimes you don’t have enough time or people to go over those things on the Truck-side of things. The other thing is just the racing every week like we’ve been doing. Once it’s Monday morning and we go through our debrief meeting, it’s lunchtime and it’s over and you’re fully focused on the next week. So, it’s just getting used to that grind of every single week a new task. It’s been fun.”

GOING TO COTA NEXT WEEK, NO CREW CHIEF HAS NOTES. SO, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WON’T BE BEHIND ANY OTHER CREW CHIEFS BECAUSE OF EXPERIENCE THERE?
“Yeah, I think we’re all in the same boat. At this point, I think. I’m caught up. Road Racing is different anyway. So, just have to get reacquainted to that side of things and how we’re going to do pit strategy and how the tire wear is going to be and some of those things. But yeah, there’s a lot of learning in 50 minutes that we’re going to have for one practice and trying to get caught up on what’s going on. Hopefully we can have a smooth weekend and learn and make a lot of laps and make some good adjustments overnight into Sunday to try to have a good race.”

ON BEHALF OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, COULD YOU SPEAK ABOUT GOING TO DOVER WITHOUT JIMMIE JOHNSON IN THE FIELD?
“Yeah, definitely Jimmie has set a lot of milestones at Dover. It’s his house. And then, I think Hendrick likes to think of it as their house. It was a team effort to win all those races. But we definitely don’t have the experienced guy to lean on and ask questions, like how did this happen and when the track rubbers up and it acts like this, what do you do, and those kinds of things. There is probably a little bit less experience to lean on but there are still tons and tons of notes. Chad Knaus is still here, and Greg Ives won a lot of those races with him as well. So, there are lots of people who have run well and to lean on and ask questions. I think we are very prepared, and the morale is high here. We’re running well and we’re trying to build good products and keep winning some more races.”

WITH TEN STRAIGHT TOP 10’S, A LOT HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT THANKS TO WILLIAM BYRON. HOW ABOUT ON THE CREW SIDE OF THE NO. 24? WHAT HAS BEEN THE MAIN POSITIVE AS YOU’VE LED THIS TEAM ON THE PIT BOX?
“We’re just getting better every single week at everything. Whether it is pit stops or getting a little bit better week in and week out and have been more consistent. We’ve had a stop here and there, but overall, way way better on pit road. The communication between Tab (Boyd, spotter) and William and myself is going well. We’re making good adjustments during the race. That’s engineering. That’s Chevrolet people. That’s everybody involved. And then all the mechanics have been building great race cars. We’re not having any mechanical problems. We’re not really having problems getting through tech. We’re having a lot of good things happen so, just no big mistakes. We haven’t had enough big splashes to run in the Top 5 as consistently as we want to, but we’re building on that and I think we’re getting there.”

WITH 10 STRAIGHT TOP 10’S, IS THERE SOMETHING IN THE RELATIONSHIP WITH WILLIAM BYRON THAT HAS DEVELOPED MORE OR SOMETHING THAT IS CONTRIBUTING TO THAT BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU? HOW HAS THAT IMPACTED THE RACING?
“First of all, I think everybody at Hendrick has given us a great race car to work with. So, our product, to start with, has been very good. So, we start with a good product and we tune on it and William has been very involved in all the set-ups and what wasn’t good before and going well and what we can do better. By bringing small pieces here and there, we’ve just made some really good decisions. We’ve had some good luck and we’ve capitalized.”

AT ONE POINT, WILLIAM SAID HE SORT OF HAND-SELECTED YOU TO BE HIS NEW CREW CHIEF AND WAS REALLY INVOLVED IN THAT DECISION. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT WAS? DID YOU HAVE ABOUT THAT EVEN BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED?
“Yeah, this goes back since we were racing Trucks together that we had a great relationship. We worked very well together. It was fun working together and we learned, and he progressed a ton. And then he had different crew chiefs through the way, and he’s always asked that he wanted me on the team. We just had to wait for the right time. And, this was the right time, so it worked out and it was proven to be the right time. So, it’s everybody at Hendrick making that decision and then William and myself being patient and waiting for the time to make the change.”

DOES THE TEN-WEEK STRETCH OF TOP 10’S PUT ANY PRESSURE ON THE TEAM WHILE PREPARING? OR DOES THE TEAM NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO IT AND JUST DOES ITS BEST?
“Well, we know it’s there. We think, at Hendrick Motorsports, that we should be achieving Top 10’s every week. It’s definitely what we’re shooting for no matter what. Every single week, no matter where we go, we think we should finish in the Top 10. So, there’s not really much extra pressure. That’s the pressure of working at Hendrick Motorsports. That makes it a little bit easier. But everybody is just digging hard and trying to do their job and execute. And then, we talk about it afterwards that we’re proud and that’s what’s going on and then, Monday comes around and it’s time to start over again.”
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 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. 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 www.chevrolet.com.

Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DOVER, Del. (May 12, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Dover race earlier today:

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What is it like competing on a team where everyone will be in victory lane this season?

“That’s something that I was definitely prepared for going into the 2021 season – I should say that I was prepared for having an all-star cast of teammates. You know that Denny (Hamlin), Martin (Truex Jr.) and Kyle (Busch) are all going to be racing for the wins and racing for championships. It’s up to you, you know you’ve got the equipment and all the pieces of the puzzle to do it. You have to go out there and get it done. It definitely made me happy whenever I was able to get the first win of the season for JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) because I knew that those guys weren’t going to be far behind me.”

What is it like being the most inexperienced driver in the group?

“I definitely don’t think I’m as equal to them. They’re all three championship caliber teams and drivers. I think that we still have a ways to go before we’re at the level of those guys and that’s to me as a driver and my group getting fit together. Adam Stevens, my crew chief is a championship caliber crew chief. He’s won two championships. The team themselves have been there with the championships with Kyle (Busch) as well. All the people in the group have been there and done that. Just me getting used to them and them getting used to me and of course me getting up to speed as a driver.”

What is it that you like so much about Dover or that fits your driving style?

“It’s a great race track for me. I’ve always run really well there in the Xfinity cars, even in the trucks too. I never did win, but I had a couple good runs. It’s just a track where you can drive really hard and attack really hard and that’s something that fits my driving style. Going into Dover this year, I’m super excited about it because I just ran really well at Darlington last week, but it was one of my worst race tracks last year in the 95 car. A little bit confused to why that was, but I think us running good this year with the 750 package and especially having a great showing last weekend with the same rules package at Darlington is going to help us.”

What has been your experience with PJ1?

“The PJ1, it’s tricky. Whenever it gets run in, it has a ton of grip and it does widen the race track out once it gets run in. The tricky part is trying to get it to activate and it’s definitely slick at first. Whenever they first spray it, it takes a little bit of time to get worked in to where it gains grip. If nobody is going to run it in and get it worked in, then it’s pretty tough to race on.”

How have you established your identity at Joe Gibbs Racing surrounded by three championship teammates?

“It’s going to take a little bit more consistency and being up front. We’ve been able to be fairly competitive and I feel like we’re regularly in the top-10 at any point in the race, but we have to be in the top-10 at all points of the race and in the top-five the majority of points in the race and winning the race every now and then. All three of my teammates, Kyle (Busch), Denny (Hamlin) and Martin (Truex Jr.) are championship caliber drivers. Two years ago, all three of them were in the final four. It’s going to be hard to keep up with them, there’s no doubt, but that’s the expectations and that’s the goals. The only way I don’t get left behind is if I start competing with them and beating them.”

What is the biggest lesson you took from your time at the 95?

“Probably just racing in the Cup Series, the experience that I got last year and it was very valuable. Just getting out there and competing with guys that you don’t compete with in the Xfinity Series. I think before in years past, the guys moving up from Xfinity to Cup, maybe the transition wasn’t as big because you had the top level Cup guys competing in the Xfinity Series fairly regularly. Nowadays, you don’t ever see the Cup guys expect for maybe a handful of them one or two times a year. Just getting the experience of racing with the veterans and racing with professional racers was really key. I’m very glad and grateful that I got the opportunity to get my Cup Series kicked off last year.”

Is running Dover and getting the top groove worked in similar to running a 410 sprint car?

“I don’t think it really relates to a sprint car unfortunately. Dover is a really unique place because on fresh tires and clean race track, you’re really, really glued to the bottom and it’s really hard to pass. It takes 10 to 20 or maybe 30 laps before the tires start to give up. I guess that’s similar to dirt track racing when the track’s really heavy, really fast and really tacky then as the night goes on, it gets slicker and slicker and it becomes easier to pass and you’re able to use different lines. I guess it is a little bit of race track, but it starts to lay rubber down and then the track changes throughout the course of a run. As soon as the yellow flies at Dover, you clean up all that rubber and you pick up all the rubber and then you’re starting from a fresh surface again and it takes time to lay the rubber back down.”

What has surprised you the most this season?

“I would say, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well we’re running with the 750 package. I think if you look at my races from last year in the 95 car, the 750 package was one of my, not one of, but my worst races last year. The 550 package was our strength. This year, it’s kind of flipped. The 550 package has been a little bit of a struggle and the 750 package has been really good. That’s been a little bit surprising, but definitely a pleasant surprise.”

What are your thoughts on the level of competition with so many different winners and names like Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott still chasing a victory?

“It’s been really cool to see the diversity in the NASCAR Cup Series and right now we’ve got a lot of different teams that are clicking and are all running really well. That includes all three of my teammates right now. Hopefully, I can keep building on it and getting better. I want to be in the same category as my three teammates.”

About Toyota

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Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 47,000 in North America. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.

Through its 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
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DRYDENE 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 12, 2021

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT LINKAGE PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript:

YOU’VE RACED A LITTLE BIT AT COTA IN I’M NOT SURE EXACTLY WHAT TYPE OF CAR IT WAS BACK IN DECEMBER, BUT I’M CURIOUS IF THERE WAS ANYTHING ABOUT THAT TRACK THAT YOU’RE LIKE THIS IS REALLY DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER ROAD COURSE I’VE EXPERIENCED.
“One thing in particular, that’s like ‘wow, I haven’t experienced that before’ – maybe aside from how after you exit turn nine and you’re going into ten, is you have a very important and slightly downhill hairpin right ahead of you. You can’t afford to underdrive it and you can’t, obviously, afford to blow through it. And then right after you get done doing that, one of the most important acceleration zones is after that hairpin. You pretty much follow it up with, yet again, another very critical, high-speed, really important braking zone into (turn) twelve. I don’t say we have a lot of tracks that I’ve ever experienced or I’ve ran in NASCAR that has two corners that are kind of back-to-back exactly like that. I think maybe at Road America, you have turn one that’s the high-speed, right-hander; you have that little short chute, if you will, into (turn) two. And then you haul back down into turn five – I can’t remember the nickname for that corner. That’s the only place that’s somewhat like that, that I’ve experienced.”

“This track, just for me, has a little bit of everything from other road courses that I’ve been to and experienced. The amount of run off that we do have, I was really excited about. The big turtles that we’re putting in – I think we’ll still be able to, if you can get over the turtles without destroying your race car, there’s a lot of track you can use to save it and get back going. But those turtles are definitely going to tear some stuff up. There’s a lot of room for error, if you do make a mistake. I think that will promote drivers to be aggressive and race hard with all the run off that this track does have.”

HOW MANY PASSING AREAS ARE THERE?
“In my opinion, I could be wrong, obviously I’ve never won a road course race or ran very well on them besides the Clash at the beginning of the year, but I think you have some options when you go into this race. You can kind of pick and choose between where you can make your car stronger. But it’s tough because you really want to be fast if you have the track position through the ‘S’s. That’s a very important part of the lap and if you nail that right, it’s going to be a great lap. If you miss it, you’re going to have a terrible lap. So, you want a car that can get through the ‘S’s good, but it’s really hard to pass going through that section of the race track. The easier places to pass are the heavy braking zones, obviously, and some of the slower areas on the back side of the track by the carousel in that stadium section. I think drivers will be debating with their crew chiefs and themselves, ‘what do we do here’: Do we try to try to be pretty good everywhere? Are we going to give up some in the areas where it’s hard to pass and try to push to have a better car that can attack and pass in those areas where I think you’ll see more of that action?”

AS A YOUNG DRIVER, WHAT ARE THE REALLY HARD PARTS OF DOVER FOR YOU?
“There’s things that really separate it from the others; but to me, those features are things that weren’t, I guess, new to me coming from dirt racing and seeing a lot of different tracks. That sensation you have driving off of the banking down into the corner is a lot more than a lot of the tracks that we do go to. But I’ve raced a lot of different tracks at a lot of different places, so those sensations that you have at Dover, they never really jumped out at me when I first went there. Probably the biggest one is I feel like you have to be aggressive to make some good lap times, but you can burn your tires up. But at the same time, if you do make that mistake off of turn two or turn four and over correct it or bounce off the fence, it’s very easy once you’ve lost control to find yourself spun around backwards or heading towards the inside wall. There’s no room for error here. It’s not like a Daytona, Talladega, Kansas or any of those tracks where you have all that room to save the race car and get your day going back in a better direction. You bounce off that inside wall and, more times than not, that’ll end your day.”

IF IT DIDN’T STRIKE YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR BACKGROUND LIKE IT DID OTHERS, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE AN ADVANTAGE AT DOVER, RIGHT? BECAUSE OF YOUR BACKGROUND, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE THAT ADVANTAGE?
“There’s definitely been times when I’ve had cars that drive really good there, I’ve been really lean on my past dirt racing experience or maybe just the way I like to attack and drive a corner that it’s not very straightforward in the asphalt, paved NASCAR-racing world. And definitely when I won the Truck race there years and years ago now, with Doug Randolph and BKR, my approach to getting around the corner was good, but different, than what I think the normal approach was there at the time that I had before that race got going. I think for me, if I can find that feel even in a Cup car and make it work to get around the bottom, stay low, and in the cleanest air possible throughout the race, I think that’s the right direction, even with this car. Other than that, you just have to know when to push and when to hold back a little bit, save some tire and not burn your stuff up.”

YOU WON AT DOVER IN A TRUCK IN 2015. WHAT ARE THE MAIN KEYS WHEN IT COMES TO A DRIVER AT DOVER IN ORDER TO GET TO VICTORY LANE?
“It’s maybe not necessarily the answer you were hoping for, but first and foremost, it’s a mistake-free day. I think you can apply that to about anywhere. But you really have to be able to put the whole race together. It’s very difficult to go out there and pass a bunch of cars at the beginning of a run because the bottom is just the place to be for a very long time into the tire run. So, you have to be smart and make the right adjustments on your car. It’s tough – if you’re spending the first half of the race trying to get your car right, you’re not really giving your team or your pit crew an opportunity to bust out a fast stop and try to pass cars on pit road. So, you’re putting yourself behind every stop. You can have a car that has speed, but once everyone else had a chance to work on their stuff too, it’s kind of hard to get from 20th to the lead. You just have to get a little bit every single time as you can and that means staying on top of the car, but not losing a lot of track position on pit road. That’s probably the biggest thing. If you can be in the top-five or on the front row on the last restart, you can hopefully have some clean air and help manage your front tires. If you do get a long run, then it falls in the driver’s hands. You can move around, get creative with your line and hopefully start creating that lap time that you need to go catch the leader or maintain that lead.”

YOU DROVE THE NEXT GEN CAR LAST MONTH IN THAT GOODYEAR TIRE TEST. WHAT WERE THE POSITIVE TAKEAWAYS YOU HAD FROM IT?
“Oh man, how much time do you have (laughs)? It was an absolute blast to drive. It had a lot of mechanical grip in it and you can really feel that on the sticker tires. We went through a lot of tire combinations, but the one I liked the most, I was having trouble keeping up with just how aggressive and abrasive Darlington is. Even for the tire we raced Sunday there, if you would have shown up today after it got done raining and gone out there, that tire isn’t going to make it but eight or nine laps. It just really lays down a lot of rubber. That means that when you go out there on a clean track, it’s going to eat your tires up.”

“But what I enjoyed about that Next Gen car is, like I said, the sideforce is not there like the current car. You’re still driving it extremely hard, but you don’t have near the assist that you do with our current car. Even the low downforce package that we ran at Darlington Sunday, you don’t have the sideforce there to catch you when you overstep the limit of the rear times. It makes it very challenging and the car is not very forgiving. Like what we have right now, if you overstep it, you’re going to pay that penalty in the tire and potentially pay that penalty in the cost of a race car. That’s what makes it fun to drive; it’s challenging. We saw a lot of fall off in the Goodyear tires, more so than what we even had this weekend with the Xfinity package or the Cup package. It had even more fall off. It was very fun to drive, but very challenging, and I think that’s the direction we need to take it. I’d like to see that.”

AS WE APPROACH THE HALFWAY POINT OF THE REGULAR SEASON, WHAT HAS SURPRISED YOU THE MOST THIS SEASON?
“I try to prepare the best that I can for the year that we have ahead when we’re in the off season. So far, what I’ve seen out of our competition hasn’t really been a surprise. I really think that the guys you have seen win are all very capable of doing that. So, from that aspect, I guess I haven’t been too surprised. Our biggest surprise for our team, personally, was just getting off to a bad start and not getting any stage points I believe until we got to Kansas two weeks ago. So, we just got off to a bad start. But, other than that, what I’ve seen out of our competition has been what I expected. You always know when you go to the (Daytona) 500, you have a chance of somebody that shouldn’t necessarily be competing up front and battling for wins all year winning that race. So, you always keep that in the back of your mind before the year starts, that these speedway races are always very interesting and can play out a million ways.”

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST HALF OF YOUR SEASON SO FAR THIS YEAR, THE FINISHES PROBABLY WEREN’T THE WAY YOU WANTED THEM TO BE. BUT IT SEEMS THE SECOND HALF, YOU HAVE STARTED TO TURN THINGS AROUND. WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE?
“I’d say the biggest difference is just staying in the race, not necessarily mentally, but still allowing ourselves to have a shot and rebound. We, unfortunately, didn’t get off to a good start, so we were starting back in 30th or worse at some of these races and it wasn’t really allowing us a chance to score stage points. It was a grind at a lot of these races just to get to 15th and then we would have something happen that would set us all the way. So, we just did a better job of taking some of those things out. And then, on top of that, when we have things do go wrong, we’re doing a better job right now of bouncing back from that and getting at least a 10th or a 12th out of it. That’s helped our points situation a lot. But definitely when you get on a good roll and finish top-10, top-10, top-10, you’re starting around 10th, 11th, 12th and, all of a sudden, stage points become a lot more realistic in stage one and stage two. Where, before in our races, they were pretty much out the window; it was going to be very difficult to get there.”

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Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DOVER, Del. (May 12, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Dover race earlier today:

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What areas at CoTA (Circuit of the Americas) do you feel will be best for passing and what areas do you feel will be the most difficult?

“I feel like there’s a handful of really good passing zones. Obviously, as usual, after the long straightaways and the front straightaway and back straightaway are both really long going into really hard braking zones that are low speed, first gear. Those are definitely good areas. There’s a little short chute on the back, about halfway around the track that should be pretty good. Then I think coming out of the last corner onto the front straightaway is a good one as well. I think there’s going to be plenty of opportunities there with it. Especially the fact that it’s got older pavement and it’s going to have pretty decent tire wear. That’s going to open up a lot of opportunities as well and should be fun.”

Is there anything at CoTA that feels very different from things you’ve done previously?

“I think in general the track has a little bit of that just because it’s so unique with high speed and low speed. It’s like Sonoma and Watkins Glen all pushed together. It’s a little different in that aspect. I think as far as road courses go, it’s a road course. I don’t think there’s anything that guys are going to be completely freaked out about or lost about.”

Would you ever enjoy the chance to practice and get behind the wheel of a F1 car?

“Possibly. Depending on the track. I think that’s a completely different world than driving a stock car. Be careful what you wish for I guess. It would be neat to just feel what it was like and maybe experience that in an open kind of deal like they did before with car swaps. I don’t know about going to try it in a real race. I’d be somewhere I probably didn’t belong. It would be cool to experience those cars and what they felt like and how much different it really is.”

Is it realistic to be able to reel in Denny Hamlin at 75 points out for the regular season championship and more bonus points?

“It’s doable for sure. It’s obviously going to take a little bit of rough luck on their part. We’ve had a couple bad races and that’s really the difference. Wrecked at Daytona, wrecked at Talladega and a flat tire on the last green-white-checkered at Bristol really hurt us. We’ve had a couple really bad finishes and that’s really the difference and they’re going to need to have a few of those I think for us to catch them. We’ll see how it plays out. Obviously, feeling great about where we are as a team and what we’re doing. If we can keep winning races, we’ll do what we need to do points-wise.”

Are points on your mind at all or do you just go to win races?

“I think when you talk about points, we’re thinking championship bonus, Playoff points. Winning races, winning stages that’s what we need to do and that’s what we did this past weekend. It would be great to win the regular season because that’s a chunk of those points as well. We’ll see how it goes. We’re in a good place and focused on what we’re doing. The team is doing a great job. Need to keep pushing and keep gathering those bonus points.”

How did it feel to have fans and people back at Darlington this past weekend?

“That’s been great to be getting back to where we should be and having fans there. Our sport runs off of that. We feed off of that as drivers. You feel that energy. I think we all talked last year when we came back and there was no one there, no practice, it just felt like we were at a test. It doesn’t feel like a real race. Definitely feels more normal to have everybody there and enjoying a great show. Definitely a lot more fun to celebrate after winning when they’re there, that’s for sure.”

How much confidence is there at Joe Gibbs Racing knowing you and Denny Hamlin are first and second in the points?

“It’s good. I think everybody is pleased with where we’re at. This sport changes quickly and it’s very difficult. We just need to keep pushing and working hard in the direction we’re going. I think the great part about it is we have a game plan. After last year weren’t happy with where we were and everybody went to work. Worked in a lot of key areas and did a lot of good things. Feeling good about it. I think all of our cars are running well consistently and that’s a good thing. We’ve all had chances to win or have won. It’s been good. Just keep pushing and try to win more and hopefully we stay on top of it.”

What is it about Dover that makes you so good?

“Just ever since I went there the first time, it’s a place I really enjoyed going to. It’s a unique track where you can use a lot of past history and I think for me when I go there, I don’t really worry a whole lot about how fast we are or exactly what the setup is or things like that. I really just kind of go by feel of the car and know what I’m looking for. That’s really a key for a lot of places is once you figure it out, if you can duplicate that feel or those certain little tendencies your car has to do well, you can carry that through the years and we’ve been able to do that there. Hopefully we’ll get it feeling the way I like this weekend and get up there and try to win another one.”

What is your relationship like with James Small and do you feel fully acclimated after a year-and-a-half together?

“It feels good. James (Small, crew chief) and I are on the same page and I think at the same time, a lot of this is just him doing a great job and making the right decisions, which is a tall order with no practice. There’s so many things that go into building a car and getting it prepared for a race and then putting a certain setup in there. You lean on past history, you lean on simulation and just really trying to nail it is so difficult. There’s so many assumptions and so many things that you have to guess on. I think he’s doing a really good job. He’s got a great understanding of what I need. Doing a great job of trusting his instincts and not being afraid to get aggressive on certain things in certain areas. He’s doing a great job and it’s been fun to have success. Last year he was stressed out a bit about only winning one race and trying to figure out how to deal with this no practice deal or situation. He’s doing a good job and hopefully we can keep it going.”

How tough was the race at Darlington for you?

“I think it was a very difficult race. I came on during the first long run of the race over the radio and said, I can’t believe how slick it is and just how slow it felt. You had to have a lot of discipline and our car was pretty good all day obviously. But it was still difficult to drive. It was a handful. Traffic was a real big problem. For me to make speed, I had to be right on the edge in three and four. Right on the fence and actually in the last 10 laps of the race, I think I scraped the right-rear six times and if you hit that just a little bit too hard, it will pull the right-front in the fence and then you can have a tire rub and the race could be gone. It was very difficult. It wasn’t easy at all by any means. Never is there at Darlington. It was a handful.”

Does this team feel like the early championship favorite?

“I don’t know. I don’t think we really look at things that way. That’s more of the media approach of picking favorites and naming people and all this and that. I don’t know that we get too wrapped up in all that stuff. We focus on what we’re doing, where we’re at and where we feel like we need to be better all the time. I think we feel good, we feel good about three wins. In three or four weeks, somebody else could have three or four wins as well. This sport changes quickly. A lot going on and just focused on trying to keep it going. Really focused right now on Dover and trying to go there and do the best job we can. Been talking about CoTA and setups for there and what we’re looking at. Just looking ahead to how we can keep running well, winning races hopefully and we’ll let the others talk about who the favorites are and what they think we can accomplish. We know what we’re capable of, we just need to make sure we keep that up.”

How do you and your crew prepare mentally with no practice and no qualifying at Dover?

“There’s a lot of preparation around just the track setup and the car with where it’s at this year with the rules and trying to again use past history, use things we’ve done there before and then you make tweaks based on different things like the weather conditions. If they change the tire, which I don’t think they did this time around and all those factors and just try to come up with the best package you can. I think for me as a driver, mentally I just go back and in my brain and in my memory bank and think about the things we’ve been good at there in the past and the things we maybe need to work on to be better and try to visualize and do those things. There’s not a whole lot you can do as a driver to prepare for these races. Lean on your experience and your past history of what you felt there before and try to give the crew chief some insight on exactly what you need and explain it as well as possible. Then show up and let it all go. Looking forward to it, should be fun and always enjoy going up there.”

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NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DRYDENE 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 12, 2021

COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 DRYDENE PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Highlights:

HOW DO YOU FEEL THE SEASON HAS PLAYED OUT AND ARE YOU AT PAR OR, A PLUS OR MINUS?
“I think, on paper, we are probably a minus. But I think internally, we are better off. We had mechanical failures early. We had an engine break and a couple of things happen. We had a really good run at Martinsville. We should have probably had a Top 10 result there, but we got caught up on pit road. We’ve had four DNF’s, so if we clean those up, then we’re 24th or 25th in points, which I feel like really over-achieving for what we set out to do. But we’re sitting there in 30th or whatever it is in points, and still pretty bullish on what we’re capable of doing. It was a little bit more of a transition than I expected from the Ford Mustangs we ran last year and transferring the set-ups over to these Ganassi Camaros, the aero balance was a little bit different. They had a little bit more front downforce, so we had to adjust, and we probably threw away three or four weeks on intermediate tracks to get that balance figured out. But I think we’ve got a pretty good handle on what these cars need to make some speed and I was pretty happy with how we ran at Darlington. We were probably a 20th to 23rd place car, around 22nd, and I think for us, that’s checking the boxes and incrementally getting better and figuring out the things we need to do to get better throughout the year.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE SERVING IN A BIT OF A MENTOR ROLE TO JUSTIN HALEY AND WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP YOU’VE DEVELOPED AT SPIRE MOTORSPORTS?
“I’ve actually grown to kind of like it. It’s this weird phase in your career when you realize you’re not the young guy anymore. You were always the young guy looking up to Jimmie Johnson or all these guys you grew up idolizing. Now, you look in the mirror and you are 29 or 30 years old with a couple of years of Cup experience under your belt. Now you’ve got a 22-year-old kid behind you and you are offering advice and you’re almost mirroring stuff that people have told you along the way. I’ve enjoyed that. We don’t get a whole lot of time. His focus is primarily on a Xfinity car and trying to go for a championship there with Kaulig Racing, but it’s fun to interact and just get to see his perspective on things because his path to how he got where he is, is a little bit different than mine. So, to see and compare different racing experiences together. He can give me some pointers sometimes, too, from the Xfinity race the day before (like) what the tires do and how much grip the track gives up, or whatever the case might be. So, I lean on him probably just as much as he leans on me for advice because he’s getting more seat time every weekend than I am on the race track.”

FIVE OF THE NEXT 11 POINTS RACES ARE ON ROAD COURSES. WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS AT SPIRE DONE TO PREPARE, ESPECIALLY THAT WE DIDN’T RACE AT WATKINS GLEN OR SONOMA LAST YEAR?
“I do not like the fact that you reminded me there are five on road courses out of the next 11. I haven’t had a lot of experience on road courses growing up, for whatever reason. My first ever road course experience was in a Cup car at Watkins Glen. But I ran a car down at COTA earlier this year, in December, just to see the place and figure out the braking points and stuff like that. I feel like I’ll be able to pick-up fairly quick when we go to Austin, but I’ve never been to Road America. I’ve only got one of two races at Sonoma. That’s certainly my weak point. But I’ve been working hard on it. It’s totally different than what I grew up doing. I’ve got to put a little more weight into it since NASCAR is obviously going the way of a couple more road courses on the schedule and talking about street courses in the future. So, there’s no excuse to not work hard at it and I know my guys here at Spire Motorsports are going to do their best to give me a good car. I don’t want to be the weak link in the seat.”

WAS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT THE COTA TRACK THAT YOU FEEL IS UNIQUELY DIFFERENT FROM THE ROAD COURSES YOU’VE RUN AT PREVIOUSLY?
“There’s not a whole lot of elevation change besides that big uphill climb into Turn 1. I ran a BMW down there, which was a WRL race and there were about eight different classes. The speed discrepancy was big. So, I was right there in the middle. My point being if I’d gone off Turn 1 and there was a GT car behind me and he didn’t get around me through that right-hand sweeper, up until the esses, he was stuck behind me because the course is so slow and those esses tighten-up so much. I think if you are somebody who might not be as fast as somebody in front of you, if you can just maintain your position on a restart through (Turns) 1 and 2 and get to the esses, you can maintain that position all the way down into (Turn) 11 and into the hairpin and it’ll single out and you can probably maintain for a long time. There are only three passing zones, I think. Beyond that, there’s going to be a lot of sliding around because that track is pretty racy.”

HOW MANY CARS CAN YOU FIT IN SOME OF THOSE WIDER AREA TURNS?
“It’s a wide track but on the flipside, it’s only one fast groove, so you might be able to fit four cars, but the preferred lane is going to go. I’m not sure how it’s going to play out. I like the fact that it’s not quite as fast as Watkins Glen, so you’re not depending on aero so much up through the esses because Watkins Glen is an intermediate road course at this point in time with how much grip it’s got and how much downforce your car makes. So, I don’t think it’s going to be quite to that level. It’s going to be a little bit faster than Sonoma and kind of a good mix of both. I think it should be a good race. I’m just excited to go to a new market down there in Austin and see how the fans support it.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE IF YOU STAY ON THE RACE TRACKS AND MINIMIZE MISTAKES THAT A SMALLER TEAM LIKE YOURSELF THAT YOU CAN GET SOME ABOVE AVERAGE FINISHES IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS?
“I would like to think so. You can point to Jeremy Clements winning that Road America race a couple of years ago. Xfinity racing is so much different than Cup racing. There might be 10 guys who know what they’re doing on a Saturday afternoon. There are 32 or 35 guys on a Sunday who know what they’re doing. The odds of 15 guys missing the boat or having the wrong strategy is very slim. That’s why those guys are making a lot of money, whether it be on the pit road side, or behind the wheel. It’s just as hard to sneak a finish at a speedway race as a road course or short track race just because everybody is a professional. That’s why it’s the big time. It’s not the minor leagues. And I don’t think you’re going to see a deep-in-the-field guy sneak one out at a road course unless there’s just some absolutely crazy pit strategy and he can go long or whatever the case may be, but I just don’t think you’re going to see it because the simulation models are too good. They’ve got engineers at the track as well as a whole compound at the shop running the infinite possibilities of strategy outcomes. When you’re up against that sort of stuff, it’s hard to sneak a good finish in any given week, let alone a road course.”

HOW MUCH DOES RUNNING SHIFTER CARS ACTUALLY HELP?
“It doesn’t hurt. The only thing that hurts are your ribs if you hit a curb. Those things are just a person mover. I think the sensation of speed, braking technique are somewhat similar, but you have to have a lot of finesse wrestling a 3600-pound car around the track instead of just getting after it in a shifter car. I’ve learned a lot of things. I’ve picked up a lot of speed just forcing myself to learn different ways and different apexes into the corner just at a go-kart track. So, I think it’s not so much applying go karts to Cup cars as much as it is making your brain be flexible to constantly get better and make adjustments to trying to find speed. And I think that that side of it is what correlates the most.”

HOW ARE SOME OF THE COST CUTTING MEASURES FOR THE NEXT GEN CAR GOING TO HELP THE SMALLER TEAMS?
“I think short term, it’s probably going to be a wash or a push to what we have now because now we can lean on Ganassi and Hendrick to get some of their hand-me-down stuff instead of cutting a seven-figure check to get all new parts in the door. I think the long-term gain of the trickle down, affect behind a team like Hendrick or Ganassi or Penske or Gibbs or all those big guys not spending the money at R&D to develop new parts. The infinite amounts of things they can work on and find just morsels of speed is what’s going to trickle down and save everybody money. But at the end of the day, big teams are always going to spend a little bit more and have more people and spend more time in the wind tunnel and stuff like that. So hopefully we can pick-up where we’d like to. I don’t think it’s going to be even by any means like some people might think. But you’re not going to worried about getting beaten because you have a different left-front upper control arm, or your suspension is a little bit different than the next guy’s. You’ve got to stack the pennies.

“I think for the first half of the year the bigger teams are going to further separated from the smaller teams than they are right now just because we have notes we can lean on. I’m probably a little bit nervous because we’re doing all we can at Spire Motorsports to get our cars currently on the race track with all the notes and all the decades’ worth of set-ups we have. And then we throw a whole new mix into it where there’s all the other bigger teams, obviously the ones who are competing for championships, have a working group internally already figuring that Next Gen car out and figuring areas they can work on with the bodies and suspension like that to obviously get themselves a competitive advantage. So, if we’re running as lean as we are now just to get to the race track, we have no time to look into the future and work on that Next Gen car until after the year is over. So, that’s what I’m a little bit worried about just to hit the ground running. But I’m also confident on the other side of the coin, in Ryan Sparks’ abilities as an engineer and racer to figure that car out quick. And everybody underneath at Spire Motorsports will figure it out. We’re just going to have to get lean and mean and get after it and not make excuses.”

LOOKING AT DOVER THIS WEEKEND WITH STEEP BANKING ALL AROUND, HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE MILES THE MONSTER AT DOVER PRETTY MUCH IN REAL LIFE IN TERMS OF THAT STEEP BANKING?
“it’s probably one of the most unique places we go to because the rubber lays down really heavy and the track gets really wide, depending on what tire and downforce package we have. Obviously, we have the low downforce package. So, we’re going to get up the race track quite a bit searching for grip and trying to get a better run down the hill and put power down on the straightaways. I’ve had success there in a K&N car there in year’s past and have run well there in a Xfinity car, so I always have confidence going to the Monster Mile. But that’s a place, man, where it’s really car dependent. Your car has to get over the bumps. Your shocks have to be dialed in and you have to have a lot of downforce and a lot of motor. So, it’s one of the more-heavier-dependent car tracks that we go to on the circuit. And if you’re off a little bit, compared to those leaders, you’re in the way. This is the most excited I’ve been in my career going to Dover in a Cup car just because I know what we continue to build to. Our cars have more downforce, and we have good engines this year as well. So, judging by our performance last week at Darlington, where like I said, a 22nd place car, and if we can run there, then we can run 20th and when we start running there we can run on the back-end of the Top 15 and that’s kind of the trajectory that we’re trying to put ourselves on.”

WHAT HAS SURPRISED YOU THE MOST ABOUT THIS SEASON AS WE APPROACH THE HALF-WAY POINT?
“How many winners there have been; I think we talk about that every week in my podcasts. Granted, we’ve got Martin Truex Jr. winning three, but beyond that, everybody has only won one. And the fact we haven’t seen Kevin Harvick or Denny Hamlin find Victory Lane is a little bit surprising for me. I think competitively, this is probably one of the most competitive seasons in NASCAR of all time. So, I’m excited to see how that boils down by the end of the regular season because having Daytona, there are a couple of different factors into that. All the teams have a couple extra speedway cars left and there are only two more speedway races left and one can punch your ticket into the Playoff, potentially. I think everybody is going to be tightening the belts up and putting it in there and trying to contend for a win at Daytona and then that fall race at Talladega will be just tighten the belts and throw caution to the wind and bring home the steering wheel. So, there is a lot of stuff to look forward to if you’re a race fan as we continue to see the numbers on TV grow or stay consistent. Those are really optimistic numbers. I do think there’s still room to grow. There’s a lot of things to be excited about as both a competitor in the sport as well as a fan, right now.”
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