Bristol Motor Speedway
Sunday, March 28, 2021
.533-Mile Dirt Oval
3:30 PM ET
Location: Bristol, Tennessee
TV: Fox logo
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (7 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM logo PRN logo

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 28 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 2nd

No. 5 Freightliner Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

NOT SO ROCKY ON TOP: Courtesy of a victory (five playoff points) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this month and three stage wins (one playoff point each) in 2021, Kyle Larson has amassed eight NASCAR Cup Series playoff points – the most accumulated through six races. The driver of the No. 5 Freightliner Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE also leads the series in laps led (379) and average running position (5.89). Larson is tied for most wins (one), top-10 finishes (five) and laps completed (1,441).

TEN PERCENT: Larson has now led 3,592 laps in NASCAR’s premier series since his first start in 2013. Through six races as a Hendrick Motorsports driver, he has led 379 laps – 10% of his career total.

THE DIRT ON LARSON: In January, Larson collected two victories on dirt tracks: his second consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals victory, an annual event held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a win in a late model dirt car at All-Tech Raceway. In 2020, Larson had one of the most successful years in the history of dirt track racing, winning 46 total events across various series.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND: Larson led a race-high 269 laps in Sunday’s 325-lap race at Atlanta Motor Speedway but finished second after a late-race pass by Ryan Blaney. Larson won both stages during the 500-mile event and moved up to second in the NASCAR Cup Series driver point standings.

TRIPLE TWOS: It was a trio of second-place finishes for Larson last weekend. Along with his runner-up finish at Atlanta, the 28-year-old driver finished second in a pair of super late model events at the Bristol Dirt Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway. Larson drove his entry to second-place finishes in the preliminary event Friday and the main event Saturday.

DRIVE FOR 5: On Tuesday, Larson announced the launch of the Kyle Larson Foundation, which was established to better serve today’s youth, families and communities in need through hands-on support. The Sanneh Foundation and the Urban Youth Racing School are the primary beneficiaries of the foundation, which will also work closely with Hendrick Cares, the corporate social responsibility program of Hendrick Automotive Group. To kickstart the “Drive for 5,” Larson pledged a personal donation of $5 for every NASCAR Cup Series lap he completes this season and will contribute another $5,000 for every top-five finish he earns. Through just six races, he has already pledged more than $22,000. To learn more, please visit KyleLarsonFoundation.org.

TRUCKIN’: Larson, the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner on the dirt track at Eldora Speedway, will drive in Saturday night’s truck race on the Bristol dirt track. In 2013, Larson led 51 laps en route to a second-place finish in the inaugural truck event at Eldora.

TRUCKING: With its three-year contract extension through 2023, Freightliner will become a Hendrick Motorsports primary sponsor for the first time this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Since 2004, the team has trusted Freightliner’s efficient and reliable trucks to transport race cars and equipment to NASCAR events across the country, logging more than 4 million miles on the road. It is the leading brand of heavy-duty trucks in North America.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 10th

No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

SIX-RACE ROUNDUP: In the first six events of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chase Elliott has collected two top-five finishes – tied for the third-most among all drivers – and led a total of 73 laps. He has spent 269 laps inside the top five and 672 laps running in the top 10.

DOWN AND DIRTY: Elliott heads into the Bristol Motor Speedway race weekend with some dirt experience under his belt. Last week, the 25-year-old driver participated in the Bristol Dirt Nationals where he advanced to the super late model main event on Friday night. He was collected in an accident that ultimately ended his night. During the offseason, Elliott was behind the wheel of a midget dirt car at the Chili Bowl Nationals where he finished seventh in the F-Main.

BRISTOL STATS: Elliott has made 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway. In those 10 events held on the .533-mile concrete oval, the driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE garnered three top-five finishes, five top-10s and led 310 laps. In addition, Elliott also led 60 laps en route to winning the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race held at Bristol last July.

NAPA KNOW HOW: This weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, the No. 9 Chevrolet will don the familiar blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS paint scheme. The Atlanta-based company is serving as majority sponsor for Elliott and the No. 9 team for 25 NASCAR Cup Series races this season.

CHECK OUT THOSE HATS: During the month of March, the No. 9 team will wear special limited-edition NAPA hats at the track. The hats are part of NAPA AUTO PARTS’ March in-store promotion. Throughout the month when customers spend $25 in store, they will receive the No. 9 NAPA Racing/Chase Elliott hat while supplies last.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 8th

No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

24 UP FRONT: Six races into his fourth NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron is off to the best start of his career. So far, the 23-year-old driver has spent 1,065 laps running inside the top 10 – the third-highest amount in the Cup field. Of those 1,065 laps, 425 were inside the top-five running order, which is the seventh-most by a driver this season. Currently, the pilot of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE has led laps in three races and ranks fourth for most laps led this year with 129. In fact, Byron has the sixth-best average running position of 2021 at 10.29.

KEEPIN’ THE STREAK ALIVE: Despite issues in the first two races of the season, Byron and the No. 24 team have been on a hot streak. For the first time in his Cup career, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native is on a run of four consecutive top-10 finishes that date back to his Feb. 28 win at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

VIRTUAL VIRTUOSO: After its inception last year during the pandemic, the NASCAR Pro Invitational Series on iRacing returns Wednesday night for the first race of 10 in 2021. With a background in iRacing, Byron competed in six of the virtual racing events last year, capturing the checkered flag in three of them. He looks to continue his iRacing success while utilizing the extra practice time when the Pro Invitational Series kicks off on dirt at Bristol prior to this weekend’s real-world dirt event there.

SLINGIN’ DIRT: Sunday’s event at Bristol Motor Speedway will mark the first time the NASCAR Cup Series will race on dirt since 1970. While it’s not prevalent on Byron’s racing resumé, he does have one start on dirt at the national level of NASCAR. In 2016, the driver competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Eldora Speedway. After finishing fourth in his heat race, Byron went on to score a top-15 finish, crossing the finish line in 14th.

DIRT SPECIALIST: While this will be the first time racing dirt for modern-day Cup Series teams, Rudy Fugle has an extensive background in the dirt racing world. Growing up in Livonia, New York, the No. 24 team crew chief got his start on dirt, competing in a 600cc micro sprint and working on a friend’s dirt modified at the local track level. In his time as a crew chief, Fugle has six Camping World Truck Series starts at Eldora Speedway, collecting a track-best finish of fourth in 2015 with Erik Jones.

LIBERTY U IS BACK: When the Cup Series takes on the dirt at Bristol for the first time, Byron will have the new Liberty University paint scheme on board his No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Featuring a white base with navy flames and red accents, the Liberty University No. 24 will be sure to stand out on track, especially on the dirt. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in business communication, Byron is now in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s new Liberty University paint scheme, click here.

CLOSE TO HOME: Chris Burkey, the pit crew coach for the Nos. 9 and 24 teams, hails from Greeneville, Tennessee, which is only 47 miles southwest of Bristol Motor Speedway. Burkey has an extensive background in coaching, getting his start in football. He played football for Wingate University, where he eventually started his coaching career. Burkey coached college football from 1992-2005 for Wingate, East Tennessee and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2005, he joined the NFL’s Miami Dolphins as a scout. Looking for a new challenge, Burkey made the transition from football to NASCAR when he was hired as a developmental pit crew coach for Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. He moved up to the head coach position for the Nos. 5 and 24 teams in 2014.

48 Alex Bowman
Age: 27 (April 15, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 14th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE IN ATL: Alex Bowman captured his first Atlanta Motor Speedway top-five finish on Sunday after his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet crossed the line third at the end of the 325-lap event. The driver started 14th and quickly worked his way into the top 10. Bowman secured two top-10 stage results after finishing stage one in the sixth position and completing stage two in third. Bowman spent 321 laps inside the top 15 at the 1.5-mile facility, which is 98.8% of the total laps in the event.

DIRT RACING HISTORY: Bowman is no stranger to racing on dirt. The 27-year-old driver qualified on the pole for the 2012 ARCA Racing Series event at Illinois State Fairgrounds’ 1-mile dirt track. He led 20 of 100 laps during that event to bring home a second-place result. Bowman competed in the 2019 and 2020 Chili Bowl Nationals under his own banner of Alex Bowman Racing. In 2019, he earned a top-10 finish during his preliminary night and ultimately finished 12th in the B-Feature. Last year, the Tucson, Arizona, native finished third in his heat race in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, event, was second in the B-Feature, then placed 10th in the A-Main. In preparation for Sunday’s race on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway, Bowman has been practicing at Millbridge Speedway in a micro sprint car.

2021 OVERVIEW: So far during the 2021 Cup Series season, Bowman has one top-five finish, three top-10s and one pole award (the DAYTONA 500). The driver of the No. 48 Ally Camaro has run 286 laps inside the top five and 673 laps inside the top 10 this year. He has the 13th-best average running position (14.03) among active drivers in the series and is tied for sixth when it comes to the most top-10 results in 2021.

IVES HAS DIRT EXPERIENCE: No. 48 crew chief Greg Ives is no stranger to guiding young drivers at dirt tracks. The Bark River, Michigan, native currently calls the shots for his children, son Parker (6 years old) and daughter Taylor (8) at Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, North Carolina. Both run beginner box stocks at the local dirt track while also racing karts at GoPro Motorplex in Mooresville, North Carolina.

IRACING PREP: The No. 48 Ally team has been utilizing the iRacing program to get ready for the real-world dirt event at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. Both Bowman and Ives have laid down laps at the virtual .533-mile venue to get a better idea of what the track will do over the course of the weekend. Both Ives and his team of engineers used iRacing to test changes to the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to see how it will handle on the track.

SPEEDY ON PIT ROAD: The No. 48 Ally pit crew ranks first among all teams in the NASCAR Cup Series with an average four-tire pit stop of 13.54 seconds. During the event at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, the five-man team gained four positions during the first pit stop of the day. The team includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.

NEW TRACK SUCCESS: Sunday’s much-anticipated dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway will mark the 11th new track configuration the NASCAR Cup Series has competed on since 1994. In the previous 10 inaugural races, Hendrick Motorsports has gone to victory lane four times – twice the total of any other team. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon won the debut events at Indianapolis in 1994, California in 1997 and Kansas in 2001. Chase Elliott won the most recent new addition at the DAYTONA Road Course in August 2020. The six other venues to hold first-time Cup Series races since 1994: Texas in 1997, Las Vegas in 1998, Homestead in 1999, Chicagoland in 2001, Kentucky in 2011, and the Charlotte ROVAL in 2018.

FOLLOW THE LEADER: Through six 2021 NASCAR Cup Series races, Hendrick Motorsports has led a league-best 582 total laps, which is 39% more than both Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing, who are tied for second with 354 laps led. It is the most laps Hendrick Motorsports has led at this point in the season since 2014 when the organization had 668 through the first six points events.

BRISTOL HISTORY: Although not on dirt, Hendrick Motorsports has posted 11 points-paying Cup Series wins at the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway oval. Most recently, Elliott won the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race held there last July. The eventual 2020 NASCAR champion led 60 laps en route to the victory.

THE NEXT FOUR: After Sunday’s dirt race at Bristol, the Cup Series will take its annual Easter break before resuming the 2021 schedule. At the four tracks following the holiday, Hendrick Motorsports has 55 total wins: 25 at Martinsville Speedway, 10 at Richmond Raceway, 13 at Talladega Superspeedway and seven at Kansas Speedway.

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what comes to mind in advance of first Cup Series dirt race at Bristol: “Anticipation and the unknown. Even me being a dirt racer, I really don’t know what to expect. These (NASCAR Cup Series) cars are way different than what I’m used to racing on dirt. They are way heavier with a lot less power than I’m used to. I think the only thing that transfers from my previous dirt experience to this weekend is how to read the surface and how it changes and evolves throughout the weekend and the race. I may be able to adapt to that quicker than a pavement racer.”

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on preparation for the Bristol dirt race: “We have watched a lot of Eldora races, especially the race that Kyle won and others he was close to winning. We’ve talked to (No. 24 crew chief) Rudy (Fugle) a lot and to a lot of friends and contacts in the dirt racing world. We’ve studied everything we can possibly study to make good decisions. We’ve talked with Kyle a lot since he ran the super late model last weekend to see what he would predict or expect – and that is still a bit of an unknown. But we’ll still have to react quickly to whatever challenges are thrown at us this weekend.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on potential challenges at Bristol: “The track surface, to me, is the biggest question and just how the event is going to look from the beginning of the weekend to the end. The racetrack is going to change a lot throughout the week. Weather can play a factor into that (and) how they water and keep up the track, if they do any track prep. That, to me, is probably the biggest question mark in just how they’re going to go about that. Two hundred fifty laps in the sun is a lot on a dirt track. What little bit of experience I have, those tracks lose their moisture very fast when the sun’s out, so if it’s sunny and you’re racing with that many heavy cars on it, I can see the track degrading very quickly.”

Elliott on who he’s been leaning on for advice for Bristol dirt race: “I just think the really tough thing is no one knows a ton about our cars on dirt. To me, it’s going to be very different from your average dirt event that you see on a Friday or Saturday night across the country because these cars aren’t really made for that. It’s just going to be different. Dustin (Shoulders, No. 9 team engineer) has a dirt racing background. Kyle (Larson) and Rudy Fugle both having experience with the truck event up in Eldora, which is probably the most similar thing you can go off of.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what he’s expecting at Bristol: “We don’t know what to expect this weekend. Rudy (Fugle) has a lot of experience. He’s really good at it, had some success – and he doesn’t know either. It’s just a different animal. I think we’re all learning a little bit together and just trying to use Rudy’s experience and the experience of the guys at the shop that have run on dirt. The biggest thing is that you can’t just take our car and go race it at a dirt track. You have to do a lot of different things to it and we are just continuously looking through all the different possibilities. This will be something that we will learn from, I’m sure, and take away some good experience.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the challenges he expects racing on dirt: “This weekend is going to be such a challenge. I’m looking forward to it and I think it will be fun. I just don’t know what to expect, honestly. Luckily, iRacing scanned it and we will race virtually Wednesday night. Hopefully, that will help a bit. I think the guys who run dirt normally will have an advantage. Someone like Kyle Larson is going to be fast. It’s going to be a challenge for us asphalt guys. You’ll have to have your elbows up every lap. It’s going to be challenging physically, too, because you’re going to be driving your car hard constantly. There is no saving equipment in dirt racing.”

Byron on how he plans to prepare for Sunday’s dirt race: “I didn’t do the best at Eldora (Speedway) but Bristol has more banking, which will give it a different feeling. I’m excited to get there and see what it’s like though. I’m obviously going to talk with Kyle (Larson) some beforehand, but he also doesn’t know what to fully expect in a Cup car there. The biggest thing when it comes to dirt is getting to experience it yourself and watching what everyone else is doing and where they are making speed. I plan to really do that during practice on Friday to see what I can learn and apply to the race on Sunday.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway: “This weekend’s race will be unlike any other that we’re used to. Just about every way the car is set up is the opposite of what we would normally run. You want the car raised up higher to account for the dirt and bumps but also to allow the right side to really roll over and get the rear tire to catch and grip the track. The main thing is we don’t have any notes on what to expect from the track, but at least we do have practice sessions on Friday to help get acclimated. We’ve also been watching the other races that have been taking place there the last few days to try judge some characteristics of the track as runs go on. The good thing is that we’re really all on the same page going into the event.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his dirt experience: “I’m excited. I may not be a dirt guy, per se, but I probably have more dirt starts than most going into Bristol. I ran a couple different midget series for a couple years. While I ran pavement more than dirt, I did run some dirt stuff. I’m going to race my sprint car this year as well. I definitely enjoy the dirt thing. I’m ready to go. I ran the ARCA race on dirt. I feel like that was somewhat similar. I don’t know what to expect. You saw the track get pretty rough over the last couple nights. But those late models make a lot of grip and do some crazy stuff with the rear suspension that, I think, probably tends to dig the racetrack up a little bit. Our cars are heavy. We’ll see if they do the same thing or not.”

Bowman on racing on dirt for the first time for a Cup Series race: “I’m just excited. I love new and different things. I think going somewhere completely different than what we’ve done in the Cup Series for forever is pretty awesome. Who knows if it’s going to be amazing, not great, what the racetrack is going to do or what’s going to happen? I think the fact that it’s new, different and exciting is really cool to be a part of.”

Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on Bowman’s dirt experience: “It’s actually really nice that Alex has some dirt experience racing in the midgets and his love for it. His background and experience really bring an added bonus to not only myself, but the rest of the race team. I grew up having a little bit of dirt experience but most of my stuff was on asphalt. I am definitely looking forward to the challenge of not only the new track configuration, but also the challenge of getting back into the routine of practice. I know qualifying is a heat race but you are just going to have a lot more track time.”

Ives on the speed of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet: “I feel like we have had speed all year. Incidents on the racetrack, whether it is a tire going down or contact with another car, have hampered that finishing position, which ultimately reveals your speed. If you look at when we have been running well and not having those issues, we are capable of top-10s and top-fives every week. Our third-place result last week kind of shows that. You can always talk the talk, but unless you walk the walk it doesn’t really matter, and we were able to do that this week. The pit crew was phenomenal, and Alex did a great job on green-flag cycles and managing restarts. Every time we came on pit road, we picked up spots.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FOOD CITY DIRT RACE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 24, 2021

RANDALL BURNETT, CREW CHIEF, NO. 8 BETMGM CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript:

CAN YOU GIVE US AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT IT’S BEEN LIKE THIS WEEK FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM AT RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING HEADING TO THE BRISTOL DIRT RACE?
“Yeah, it’s been a little different than normal. This is something new for all of us on the Cup side. It’s been a challenge. The rules are a little bit different with the cars; how we approach things. For instance, we normally run a splitter on the car that kind of keeps us off the ground a little bit and keeps us from traveling the car too much, because on the asphalt tracks, we run really close to the ground to try to make as much downforce as we can. We’re going with a little bit different approach this weekend. You are kind of going to be running the car up off the ground, so you don’t dig the nose in and tear it up. That’s been something we’ve had to work on. Just coming up with a set-up that we don’t really know much about the track. We don’t really know much about how these cars are going to react on the track. So, we’re trying to make our best guess, basically, is what it boils down to.”

YOU HAVE A DIRT BACKGROUND AND YOUR BROTHER OWNS MILLBRIDGE SPEEDWAY AND TYLER REDDICK HAS A DIRT BACKGROUND. IS THIS AN OPPORTUNITY WEEKEND? ARE YOU PUTTING MORE PRESSURE ON YOURSELVES TRYING TO GO OUT AND CAPITALIZE ON THIS WEEKEND?
“I think both of us, kind of having a little bit of a dirt background; I’ve never driven on dirt myself, really, except for at my brother’s track up at Millbridge and racing go karts and stuff like that. Tyler’s got quite a bit of experience on anything from Micro Sprints to dirt Late Models and everything else. That’s kind of what he grew up racing. He’s pumped up about this weekend. We don’t want to get our hopes up too much because we don’t know what to expect, you know? This is a completely different animal for us as far as having this heavy of a car to run on dirt. So, we’re both excited about the opportunity to go up there. And hopefully we can put a good package together and unload off the truck good. I think that’s going to be very important this weekend.”

WHERE IS THIS TEAM AT NOW? IT SEEMS LIKE THE SPEED IS THERE BUT THERE HAVE MAYBE BEEN A FEW THINGS THAT HAVE GONE WRONG. DO YOU HAVE TO REIGN TYLER IN A LITTLE BIT OR ARE YOU JUST LETTING HIM BE WHO HE IS WHEN HE MAKES A MISTAKE?
“We’ve shown signs of speed throughout all the races this year. We’ve just done a poor job of executing; whether it be calls on pit road or bad pit stops or driver errors or whatever. We’re all in it together and we’ve all made our fair share of mistakes this year. We’ve just got to really focus on cleaning that up. I think we saw that our RCR cars and our teammates all have good speed as well as us. We’ve just got to do a better job of executing and not trying to overcompensate for it. If you start trying too hard then you start making too many mistakes. So, we’ve just got to clean-up everything we’re doing and get back to doing the basics right.”

HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT DECIDING ALL THE THINGS THAT NASCAR IS ALLOWING THE TEAMS TO DO? DO YOU HAVE TO PICK AND CHOOSE?
“Well, I think we’ll get there, and we’ll see a wide variety of people’s approaches. None of us really know how to approach this. Some guys have been to the Eldora truck races, so we’ve got some notes from that. We’ve talked to people that have run well there; and just trying to get some ideas on things. Obviously, Bristol is probably going to be a little bit different animal than Eldora. So, there will be some things that you fight at Bristol that you didn’t see at Eldora. So, it’s basically just kind of getting back to your general knowledge of cars and getting back to kind of your roots and knowing what works for you and what doesn’t; and don’t put too much stuff on your car to get yourself in a bad place that something breaks. That’s the main thing. You’re going to have plenty of tire clearance and things like that, so you don’t put all this stuff on your car and end up cutting a tire with it. We’ve looked at things that we thought would help on our car and things that we’re allowed to do that we didn’t really need to do. It’s kind of been a mixed bag on some of that.”

SO, WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN? ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT DIRT GETTING INTO AREAS AND OVERHEATING AND CERTAIN PARTS & PIECES BREAKING AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TYPE OF PUNISHMENT IT’S GOING TO GET?
“Well, I think a little bit of both. I think the main thing is, to finish the race, you’ve got to keep oil and water in it and that’s going to be a big deal. We don’t know how the nose is going to hold up if you do get close and hit the track; or, getting into somebody. We’ve seen the damage that happens on a normal weekend with that. We’ve tried to take some precautions for that. But I definitely think keeping the motor cool for 250 laps without packing it up full of dirt and trying to protect your radiator and your cooling system as much as you can is definitely one of the big concerns we have. And then again, with parts fatigue, we don’t know if the track stays really hard and smooth and it doesn’t rut-up, you’re probably a little less likely to break something. If that stays the case, whether it starts pulling up and rutting up a little bit, and you are kind of bouncing through holes and stuff, you’re going to take a bigger chance of breaking something. So, that’s when you’ve kind of got to be concerned about part’s fatigue and things like that.”

IN TERMS OF WORK LOAD, IS IT MORE, LESS, OR THE SAME IN PREPARING A CAR FOR BRISTOL DIRT AS IT IS FOR A NORMAL BRISTOL RACE?
“Yeah, probably a little bit more work load because you’re doing a little bit of different things here. You’ve had to fabricate some new things that you don’t have to typically have to fabricate on a car; and trying to get the teams to agree on what they need and what they don’t so you’re not building three or four different cars. We also have to have a good back-up car that’s prepared too because you never know what’s going to happen. So, you’ve kind of got two cars that we don’t typically have in shop or in hand that we’re going to need on these cars. So, it’s been a little bit more of a strain on the fab shop to get that ready. And also, our road crews, just making sure they have everything they need in the way of spare parts they might need, and everything prepared for the back-up car. So, it’s been a little bit more workload this week, for sure.”

IS THE INCREASED WORK LOAD BECAUSE THIS IS A BRAND-NEW THING? OR, IF THERE IS A NEXT TIME, YOU WON’T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS MORE THAN ONCE?
‘I would like to say yeah because it would be easier to go through it again because you would know what you need for engine cooling and what worked and what didn’t, and what panels you made for protecting brake lines and things like that. All that stuff, you’d know what you need and what you don’t need. It’s definitely been a little bit of a process (with) lots of meeting about what we thought we needed to build and what kind of preventative plans we need to put in place to help with cooling and protecting parts and things like that. I would like to say it would be a lot easier to do again. We don’t have another one of these on the schedule. So, if we ever do it again, it looks like it would be with the Next Gen car, so I would think you would start all over.”

FROM A CREW CHIEF AND TEAM PERSPECTIVE, IS THIS SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN AGAIN?
“I like different things. It’s going to be interesting to see how the race place out and how the track and the cars hold up. I enjoy dirt racing. I’ve been around it my whole life. I think it’s going to be something new for the fans. It will be interesting to see how the cars race and how they race each other. The Eldora dirt race with the trucks has been an exciting one to watch. So, hopefully it pans out for the Cup cars and I think they’ll put on a good show. There’s a reason all these guys race on Sunday. It’s because they’re really good. There will be guys with some experience with it and there will be guys that don’t have any experience. But I would imagine they’ll pick it up pretty quick.”

WITH HAVING A THIRD TEAM IN THE SHOP THIS YEAR, HOW MUCH HAS THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE? HOW MUCH HAS IT HELPED? OR IS IT LIKE IT WAS LAST YEAR BUT INSTEAD OF GERMAIN IT’S TRACKHOUSE?
“Germain was in a separate shop last year, so they were a little bit more disconnected. With having TrackHouse in house, it’s basically like having a third team in-house. Travis (Mack) and Justin (Alexander) and myself have known each other for year. So, it’s nice that Travis is here. I think he’s doing a good job of getting that team rolling. It’s got a lot of really good guys on it. I think it’s helped. It’s brought in some new ideas for us and helped our processes, I think. And on the other side of that, it’s more cars to build and more to keep up with. So, it’s good and bad in ways; but I’m excited they’re here. I think you’ve seen speed. Like they had a lot of speed at Atlanta this past weekend as well as the No. 3 car. Unfortunately, we had our accident but overall, we had some pretty good speed in the race. I think you’re going to see both RCR and TrackHouse keep elevating their game.”

WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR, HOW MUCH HAVE YOU HAD YOUR HANDS ON IT? AT WHAT POINT DURING THE SEASON DOES YOUR FOCUS TURN TO THAT? HOW WILL YOU BALANCE THE REST OF THIS SEASON ALONG WITH WORKING ON THE NEW CAR FOR NEXT YEAR?
“It’s definitely going to be a little bit of a balancing act. I’ve been around. I’ve been looking at things and talking with the guys. We have our testing guys that go work on that and kind of keep up on that. I keep up with them and what they’re doing and how it’s developing and things like that. I haven’t had my hands on it a whole lot by any means; so, I’ve still got a pretty steep learning curve with it. Fortunately, we’ve got a good group of guys that go with it and are very educated about it. I think that’s going to be of benefit. But when we get all the cars, we’ll see how it works. The Next Gen car we’ve got, the first one they built, the actual cars that we’re getting, production-wise, are going to be a little bit different than that. So, there’s still going to be some learning curve. The body is a little bit different. They’ve kind of refined that. There’s still going to be a pretty steep learning curve. It’s going to be a challenge to remain focused on what we’re doing in developing our cars and trying to make our cars better each week, as well as going and testing with that when we start getting cars put together, when NASCAR allows that. So, it’s going to be a busy second half of the season, for sure.”

DID MOST TEAMS BUILD NEW CARS FOR THIS RACE OR ARE THEY BRINGING THE OLDEST CAR THAT THEY WEREN’T GOING TO TAKE TO ANY OTHER TRACK?
“You definitely have to build a car so the primary cars don’t come out of your inventory. NASCAR allows us to have so many cars a year. So, this car is kind of a throwaway car. It’s definitely a one-off car. A lot of teams, like ourselves, you build so many chassis over the years and then you kind of pick one that wasn’t in the litter for the whole year. That’s kind of the way we approached it. It’s not like it’s just a throwaway car, or anything like that. It’s just one that we’ve had sitting here that’s been used already and we kind of prioritized it to be our Bristol dirt car.”

ON TIRES, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ANTICIPATE WITH THE BIAS PLY TREADS?
“They’re bringing a little bit different tire it sounds like, from what they’ve raced at Eldora. We’ve looked at those. It’s definitely going to be different for us. We’re going to be focusing a little bit more on stagger and things like that. The radial tire, it’s a lot easier to get that; and they’re very consistent. The bias ply tire is going to bring a new element for us as far as keeping up with our stagger and making our sets consistent across and being able to change that. It’s definitely something that you can use as a tuning tool that doesn’t play into the radials quite as much. We have a very small window on the radial tires with stagger and rollout. So, that’s a very, very small window. This is a much bigger window. That’s something we’ve definitely got to keep up with. The tire guys are going to be pretty busy this weekend.”

DOES THE PIT CREW HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TO ADJUST? IS ONE TIRE A DIFFERENT SIZE THAN THEY’RE CURRENTLY USED TO CARRYING?
“Yeah, they’re definitely a little bit smaller, it looks like, overall. So, it’s not going to be a big deal for the pit crew guys. Our road guys are doing it. I’m bringing one of our pit crew guys that’s going to come with us and help us with that. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t think they’re going to have to make any big adjustments to what they do. It will certainly be a little bit different. But as far as that goes, I don’t foresee anything big on that.”
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.

Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Bristol Dirt

History will be made this weekend at ‘The World’s Fastest Half Mile,’ as the NASCAR Cup Series plays in the dirt for the first time since 1970. Bristol Motor Speedway has been revamped into a half-mile dirt facility, something that no one in the field has ever seen before in a Cup car. Jack Roush takes his 11 all-time Cup victories into the weekend, and 18 overall at the track, as Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher look to be the first to master the Bristol Dirt.

Qualifying Heat Races

Saturday, March 27 | 6 p.m. ET
FS1, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Food City Dirt Race
Sunday, March 28 | 3:30 p.m. ET
FOX, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
· Ryan Newman, No. 6 Oscar Mayer Cold Cuts Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang

Atlanta Recap, Bristol Dirt Preview

· Newman ran inside the top-15 for almost 80% of the laps in Sunday’s 400-mile event from Atlanta. He went on to finish 13th in the Kohler Generators machine, his second-best effort on the season.

· Buescher and the No. 17 put together their most impressive showing from start to finish on the young season, finishing inside the top-10 in both opening stages. Buescher went on to finish seventh for his first top-10 of 2021.

· Oscar Mayer returns as the primary partner on Newman’s Ford this weekend on the Bristol Dirt track for their second appearance of 2021. The last time they were on the car, Newman finished seventh at Homestead.

· Buescher will carry the familiar colors of Fastenal on his machine this weekend on the dirt.

Bristol Dirt Formats

The NCS will run practice sessions and qualifying heats that will determine the starting lineups for each main event. The lineup for each of the four qualifying heats per series will be determined by random draw.
Passing points – a common theme across weekly dirt track racing – will also play a role this weekend. Passing points are the amount of points collected based on how many cars drivers are able to pass during a qualifying heat. Those points will help determine the starting lineup for the main event.
As for the qualifying heat races, the Cup Series will run four 15-lap heats with 9-10 cars in each race.

Prior Dirt Experience

Both Newman and Buescher have experience on dirt entering this weekend, which should prove to be valuable when the field takes to the track for its first racing action Saturday with heat races. Buescher is fresh off running a 604 late model in last week’s Bristol Dirt Nationals, while Newman is entered into Saturday night’s Truck Race. Buescher is a former winner back in 2011 on dirt in the ARCA Series, while Newman most notably ran the Chili Bowl in Oklahoma for the second season in a row.

Runner Up

Roush Fenway’s storied history at Bristol began on April 10, 1988 with the No. 6 NCS car earning a second-place finish. Since that time, in addition to the organization’s 11 NCS wins at the track, Roush Fenway Fords have finished second at Bristol on 15 occasions (7 NCS, 4 NXS, 4 NCWTS).

One-Two Punch

Roush Fenway’s most recent victory at Bristol came after sweeping the top two positions in the March 2014 event with former driver Carl Edwards taking the victory and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. coming home in second. Edwards led the final 78 laps of the event to earn the victory.

History and Hot Streaks at “Thunder Valley”

Roush Fenway’s history at Bristol has been one of hot streaks, including trips to victory lane in nine of the last 19 seasons at the famed short track. Roush Fenway swept the track in 2003 and put a NCS car in victory lane at least once in every season from 2002-2008.

Thunder Rolls

Roush Fenway has earned five victories, 23 top-five finishes, 37 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 15.8 at Bristol in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Former Roush Fenway driver David Ragan earned the organization’s most recent Xfinity victory at the .533-mile short track in the Aug. 2009 event.

Tale of the Tape

Roush Fenway has started 215 NCS races at Bristol, recording 11 total wins with 50 top-five and 88 top-10 finishes. RFR Fords have an average finish of 15.9 with 3396 laps led all-time.

Roush Fenway Bristol Wins
1993-2 Martin Cup
1996-1 Martin NXS
1997-1 Burton NXS
1998-2 Martin Cup
2002-1 Busch Cup
2003-1 Busch Cup
2003-2 Busch Cup
2003-2 Busch Cup
2004-1 Busch Cup
2004 Edwards Truck
2005-2 Kenseth Cup
2006-2 Kenseth Cup
2006 Martin Truck
2006-2 Kenseth NXS
2007-1 Edwards NXS
2007-2 Edwards Cup
2008-2 Edwards Cup
2009-2 Ragan NXS

NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FOOD CITY DIRT RACE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 24, 2021

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 FREIGHTLINER CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript:

EVERYBODY HAS TALKED ABOUT YOU BEING A FAVORITE FOR THIS RACE. DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU’RE A FAVORITE? WHY OR WHY NOT?
“I don’t know; I think I’m considered a favorite probably at most race tracks right now. But I think with it being a dirt track, yes, I think people look at me with all the experience that I have on dirt as being even more of a favorite. But these cars are way different than what I typically race on dirt. They don’t drive anything like what I’m used to with a sprint car, midget or now a dirt late model. These cars are way heavier and have a lot less horsepower than I’m used to on a dirt track. I still think I’ve got a good shot, but I don’t really know if I have an advantage over anybody, other than just being able to kind of read the track surface; know kind of how that’s changing, where to find grip and things like that. Really, I think that’s probably the only advantage any of us dirt guys have over somebody who hasn’t had much dirt experience.”

OF ALL THE DIRT TRACK RACES YOU’VE EVER RAN; HAVE YOU EVER RAN ANYTHING REMOTELY CLOSE TO 250 LAPS IN A SINGLE RACE AND WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?
“I guess Eldora in the truck would be the only other thing and I don’t really remember how many laps it was; I think 150. But yeah, it’ll be long. The track will change a lot, so just have to stay on top of that and hopefully our Freightliner Chevy is good and we can stay out front for most of it.”

YOU HAVE YOUR FOUNDATION ON THE IRACING CAR TONIGHT. WAS IT DIFFICULT, AT ALL, TO DECIDE TO DO THAT BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT WOULD POTENTIALLY BRING LIGHT TO THE VENUE WHERE THE INCIDENT HAPPENED.
“No, I mean I’ve been on iRacing for awhile now. It was easy to get back on as soon as they unsuspended me on there towards the tail-end of last year. I’ve used iRacing quite a bit over the off season and even really to get ready for the road course race at Daytona; I used it a bunch. So, yeah, now to be able to have the opportunity to showcase my foundation, I think that’s exciting and hopefully it gets a lot of coverage.”

WITH YOU HAVING ALREADY BEEN TO PHOENIX THIS YEAR, WHICH YOU GUYS CALL A SHORT TRACK, BRISTOL IS GOING TO BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, IN TERMS OF SHORT TRACK, WITH THE DIRT. WILL IT BE MARTINSVILLE BEFORE YOU HAVE A REALLY GOOD HANDLE ON WHERE THINGS ARE WITH YOUR SHORT TRACK PROGRAM? AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT RACE?
“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean I felt really, really good at Phoenix. We had kind of an awkward set of tires there that last run that we think got us off. But if not for that, I felt like we had the first or second, maybe third, best car there that day. So, I would say judging off that, our short track program is good. But also, judging off of how they were last year as an organization, they were great.”
“Martinsville is a place that I struggle at, I think, more than my equipment that I’ve had in the past. So, I’m definitely curious to see how I’ll be there, being with a team who just won the last event there at Martinsville. Hopefully I’m better than normal. I’m pretty confident kind of going to any race track right now. I think our team has been doing a great job.”

YOU MENTIONED IN THE PAST THAT ELDORA WOULD GET SO SLICK, IT WOULD KIND OF BE LIKE A WORNOUT PAVEMENT TRACK. I’M CURIOUS, AFTER RUNNING AT BRISTOL LAST WEEK, DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT BEING THE CASE AT BRISTOL, WHERE IT BECOMES MORE LIKE THAT WORNOUT TRACK? IF SO, DOES THAT TAKE AWAY THE ADVANTAGE THE ADVANTAGE A DIRT GUY HAS OVER SOMEBODY WITH LESS EXPERIENCE?
“Yeah, I mean I don’t know how it’s going to be. But yes, I would assume that it’s going to be really slick; it’ll probably slow down a lot. I don’t think it’s going to drive like an aggressive-style dirt car that I’m used to. So yeah, I think that if anything, evens the playing field a lot for guys that don’t have dirt experience. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t know what to expect; I think I have a little bit more of an idea now after racing there last week. But still, there’s a lot of unknown because the cars are different; the tires are different than what I ran last week. So, we’ll see.”

CHRIS WINDOM SAID HE’S TALKED TO YOU LEADING INTO THIS EVENT TO KIND OF GET A LITTLE BIT OF EXPERIENCE AND AN IDEA ABOUT IT. HOW DO YOU THINK SOMEBODY LIKE HIM CAN DO AND WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU TO SEE SOME OF THE DIRT GUYS BE ABLE TO TAKE PART IN THIS EVENT WITH YOU?
“Yeah, I think it’s awesome. Chris (Windom) and (Shane) Golobic are two guys that I’ve raced with for a long time now. So, for them to have the opportunity to go out there and hopefully do a great job is something that I’m going to be paying attention to. I would love to see them run up front and battling for a win, but I think that will be really hard, just because even though it’s a dirt track and we’ve never done it, a team like Hendrick Motorsports has way more knowledge and experience of setting up a car to go to Bristol than the teams they’re racing for. I still think that they’ll be kind of fighting an uphill battle, but I think with their driving talents, hopefully they can crack inside the top-20 or if it is really even, maybe into the top-15 or 10 and have an awesome day.”

I’M SURE YOU GUYS HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO DEBRIEF OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS ABOUT ATLANTA. ANY TAKAWAYS FOR YOU, CLIFF (DANIELS) AND THE TEAM ABOUT HOW THE RACE WENT AND MAYBE HOW YOU WOULD HAVE HANDLED IT DIFFERENTLY IN THE FINAL RUN?
“First off, a lot of positives from the day. We had a dominating car and did a great job as a team really all race long. I think it just kind of falls in my lap of just playing out that last stage wrong. I think (Ryan) Blaney got a lot better; the track picked up a lot of pace with it cooling down and we had longer runs. That was probably as hard as I ran all race, just because I was trying to get out to that big-ish lead that I had before. I wasn’t getting that big lead, so I was still trying really hard to get out there and get away. I wish I would have just realized that I wasn’t getting away as quickly as I thought I could and kind of aborted that plan and went into tire save mode. That way, I still think maybe he would have caught me by the end of the race, but I would have had more tire to maybe hold him off and more tire to get by Joey (Logano). And just run my own pace there at the end, rather than try to fight off Ryan (Blaney) and work really hard to get by lap cars.”

THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION, KYLE, ABOUT WOULD IT HAVE HELPED YOU IF YOU WOULD HAVE HAD MORE INFORMATION ON WHERE (RYAN) BLANEY WAS RUNNING. OBVIOUSLY, HE WAS RUNNING A HIGHER LINE THAN YOU, ESPECIALLY IN A COUPLE OF THOSE TURNS. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THAT – WOULD IT HAVE HELPED YOU IF YOU WOULD HAVE HAD MORE INFORMATION? WERE YOU SURPRISED HE WAS ABLE TO GET THAT KIND OF MOMENTUM AND RUN YOU DOWN FROM THE HIGH-SIDE?
“Well, it wasn’t like he was running the high-side every lap. So, I could look in my mirror and I knew where he was running. I asked I think a couple of times where he was running, just to really know if he was running like a few feet different than me that I could maybe try and find some extra grip. He just did a really good job managing his stuff that last run and I didn’t, and he capitalized on my error in strategy for that final run to the end.”

YOU’VE ALREADY GOT A WIN HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND. HOW MUCH RELIEF IS IT THAT YOU’VE ALREADY GOT THAT WIN AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO WIN THIS RACE TO GET INTO THE PLAYOFFS?
“I mean I don’t think I would have viewed it any differently; I don’t think I view any weekend differently. I want to win every weekend. So, it doesn’t relax me any more; it wouldn’t have made me any more stressed going in there. It’s still early in the year and we’ve been running well. I’ve been confident that we were going to make the Playoffs no matter what, based off of just sheer speed and being with a great team. Had we started the year off badly or average and been around that bubble spot right now with no win going into Bristol – yeah, I would probably have a lot more pressure on me to go win. But we’ve been running well, so that doesn’t change my mindset now going into Bristol.”

YOU’RE A DIRT GUY, SO I CAN IMAGINE THERE’S GOING TO BE SOME DIFFERENT CHANGES AROUND THIS WEEKEND, EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE IN A STOCK CAR, THAT NASCAR FANS LIKE ME AREN’T USED TO. WHAT SHOULD WE REALLY LOOK OUT FOR? OBVIOUSLY, THERE ARE QUALIFYING RACES AND THERE’S A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT FORMAT CHANGES.
“Yeah, I think NASCAR has tried to adapt a short track, dirt track format into their event, which I think is pretty cool. With the random draw for where you start and then passing points, I think is cool. It’s still a different passing points format than say we would have at the Chili Bowl. Chili Bowl, you get penalized for going backwards. Where here at this event, to keep it simple so NASCAR fans who aren’t used to passing points can follow along, it’s just really you only get points for going forward; you don’t lose any for going backwards. Which is simpler for the fans to understand, but as a competitor from dirt tracks, I wish there would be a penalty for going backwards in the heats.”

“Other than the format, I don’t really know off the top of my head what’s different from a normal race. You still have stages; we don’t have live pit stops. It’ll be similar to kind of how Eldora was, aside from just the way they lined up the heats.”

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT YOU’RE ONE OF THE CLEAR FAVORITES FOR THE BRISTOL DIRT RACE THIS WEEKEND. BUT WHO DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BIGGEST OPPONENT THIS WEEKEND?
“I would not be shocked if a pavement guy went there and was fast right off the bat because I don’t think it’s going to be dirt like we’re used to. But it’s hard to also not look at the guys that have a lot of dirt experience as being a favorite. I think Christopher Bell; I think he’s obviously one of the most talented race car drivers I’ve ever watched, especially on dirt. So, I think for sure he’ll be one of the guys to beat. Austin Dillon is another one I look at. If anybody has more experience racing on this type of stuff, it’s him. I’ve got probably still under 10 dirt late model events under my belt, where he grew up racing modifieds and late models. So, he’s used to the heavier types of cars. He just raced a crate late model there, so he’s used to less horsepower and stuff in a full-body car. I think Austin, if anybody, probably has the most advantage. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if a guy like Kyle Busch, who’s so talented and can adapt to anything, can go there and win.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked either if the finishing results weren’t much different than a normal Bristol race.”

YOU MENTIONED NO LIVE PIT STOPS DURING THIS EVENT. JAMIE LITTLE WITH FOX SPORTS TWEETED OUT: TALKED TO A HENDRICK CREW CHIEF; SOME/MOST TEAMS AREN’T BRINGING THEIR PIT CREWS TO BRISTOL. ROSTER LIMITATIONS MEAN MECHANICS AND FABRICATORS ARE ESSENTIAL. WITHOUT GIVING TOO MUCH AWAY, WHAT KIND OF ADJUSTMENTS HAVE YOU AND YOUR TEAM HAD TO MAKE IN PREPARATION FOR THIS EVENT?
“I don’t know – I really couldn’t give you an honest answer because I haven’t talked to anybody about that. Obviously, I knew there was no live pit stops, so I assumed we wouldn’t have our pit crew there. But that’s really not a big deal. I don’t know what the amount of time is that they allow us on pit road for pit stops, but we won’t be in a rush if we don’t have damage and stuff like that. So, that’ll be good.”

“And two – as far as car stuff that they’ve had to change, I don’t know. I don’t ever get into that stuff. I just kind of show up, put the steering wheel on and hit the gas pedal.”

WITH THE VICTORY AT LAS VEGAS AND THE DOMINATE EFFORT AT ATLANTA LAST WEEKEND, DID YOU EXPECT TO BE THIS COMPETITIVE COMING BACK RIGHT NOW AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON WITH A NEW TEAM?
“I had hoped that we could start the year off this strong, or close to being this strong. I didn’t know and honestly expected that we wouldn’t start off this good with just me being out of the car for a long time, going to a new team and organization, and being with a whole new crew. I just didn’t know if things would be way different and I would have to have a lot of things to adapt to. But our cars have been really good, and fast, and it’s made things easier than I thought to come back in. I’ve also worked really hard to get up to speed as quickly as I’ve been; studying more than I’ve ever studied and just trying to prepare more than I’ve ever prepared. With no practice, you kind of have to put in that work during the week, which is fun as a driver.”

WE SAW YOU RACE ELDORA IN A TRUCK, SO WE CAN EXPECT WHAT WE SAW AT ELDORA ON HOW THE TRUCKS RACED TO BE KIND OF SIMILAR TO THE WAY THE CUP CARS WILL RACE AT BRISTOL? OR DO YOU THINK THE DIFFERENCE IN THE TRACK, THE BANKING, IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE THERE’S A CUSHION – WILL IT BE TOTALLY DIFFERENT?
“I think it will be similar, but different. Eldora didn’t really have a cushion either. I guess when I won it, it kind of had a cushion. Bristol, I don’t think will have a cushion; it’s just that type of surface doesn’t really pack up and build a cushion. I think it will be a similar style of race, but I think with Bristol having more banking, you’ll kind of have more grip than we had at Eldora. So, we’ll have the confidence probably in our cars to be able to move around. I actually think it’ll be a better race because of it. I watched the street stocks and stuff this past weekend and they were able to run like three or four- wide at times and it was fun racing. So, I think it will be similar to that, if you want to pull up some street stock highlights, Bob (Pockrass), and take a look. I think it’ll be similar to that style of racing.”

SO, IF I PULL UP THE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOU TEARING THE RIGHT SIDE OFF OF THE TRUCK, I SHOULDN’T EXPECT THAT ON SUNDAY?
“Well, the wall is a lot lower at Bristol. So, if I’m up that high, I’m cheese-grading the right side of my car probably with the catch fence. I hope to not have to lean on the wall like that to be fast.”

YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING AT DATA MORE NOW THAN YOU HAVE EVER OVER THE COURSE OF YOUR CAREER. WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT DATA FROM ATLANTA, IS THERE A PIECE OF DATA OR STAT THAT YOU’RE LOOKING AT AS EXTRA VALUABLE FOR MANAGING YOUR STUFF BETTER FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON? HOW VALUABLE IS THAT DATA TO LEARN MORE THINGS ABOUT BEING IN THOSE SITUATIONS?
“Honestly, I haven’t looked at any data after Atlanta, just because I’m pretty confident in knowing what I did wrong. I think Ryan (Blaney) was just more disciplined than I was and did a better job of not running one hundred percent and saving his stuff. As far as driving style, it’s hard to really look at that stuff. I ran all race a certain driving style way; throttle, brake, whatever steering inputs and stuff. If I look at Ryan’s stuff and he has less wheel input or something like that – I don’t know if it’s going to teach me a ton in that moment. But I think what teaches me is watching the race and kind of just how good he was on long runs; how he paced his lap times, didn’t slip a tire and took care of his stuff.”

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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
NASCAR Zoom Media Availability | Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Cup Series, has one NASCAR victory on dirt after winning the Eldora Dirt Derby in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2018. Briscoe was a guest today on a NASCAR Zoom media call to discuss his double duty efforts this weekend and expectations at Bristol Motor Speedway. A full transcript of his Q&A session with the media follows:

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang — HOW DID THE TIRE TEST GO IN NASHVILLE AND WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE TRACK? “Yesterday in Nashville was cool for me just to go to a new racetrack I’d never been to before and it’s definitely a different racetrack than anything I’ve ever ran. It kind of reminded me a little bit of Kentucky. It’s just very flat. One and two are pretty high speed and three and four are just really flat and kind of awkward, but I thought the tire test from a speed standpoint we were pretty good. I know there are a lot of questions about the tires. We kept cording tires it seemed like after 20-25 laps, so I don’t know how much of that is just rubber not getting put down because there wasn’t enough cars there. It was kind of cool, but they’re definitely doing a lot of work at that place trying to make the facility nicer. It’s obviously sat dormant for quite a while and the folks at Dover I know are gonna do a good job over there, but it was cool to go there. I don’t know what the racing is going to be like just because there were only three of us there. We never really got off the bottom, but it’s cool to go to a new place. There’s obviously a lot of motorsports fans in the Nashville area. I know they said they’re already talking about building extra grandstands to sell more seats because there’s such demand, so it should be a good time.”

DO YOU THINK RUNNING ON DIRT THIS WEEK WILL BE WHAT YOU NEED TO JUMP START YOUR ROOKIE SEASON? “I hope so. I definitely don’t think it can hurt. I feel like the first couple weeks, with the exception of last week, we’ve had good speed. Phoenix, I felt like we could have run seventh or eighth area and we had a 24-second green flag pit stop with 50 to go and it just kind of killed us, so I feel like from a speed standpoint we’ve been good up until last week, and hopefully this week will finally be the one week where we can just get the results because we haven’t really been able to show the results side of things. We’ve had the speed, just haven’t been able to execute, so hopefully this week we can turn it around. Obviously, we need to turn it around quick or we’re gonna be in a must-win situation fairly early. We’re almost already to that point, so we’ll see how this weekend goes. We’re gonna try to just go there and do the best we can. That’s all we can do.”

HOW WAS THE TRACK ITSELF IN NASHVILLE? “Truthfully, I was blown away by the grip level. It had way more grip than I ever thought it would. I was kind of like you, I figured with how long it sat that it was gonna take forever for us to even get any grip in it whatsoever, but we had a ton of grip right from the get-go. It seemed like the grip didn’t really change, no matter if we put softer tires on or harder tires on. Times only changed really a tenth or two, so it’s got a lot of grip in it. I want to say they ground the place, they said, so it’s pretty fresh in that sense. From a racetrack standpoint I know there’s a couple spots on the wall where there’s no SAFER barrier and I think that’s just because the place is pretty narrow, and it’s more just on the straightaway, so I don’t know what the plan is with that or if that’s how we would race it or not. They had re-black topped all the access roads and pit road, so they’re definitely doing a lot to get the facility ready. I know yesterday everytime you would go down the backstretch you would see a guy welding billboards. They were doing all the posts and making it where it looks like a normal racetrack, so I feel like by the time we go there it will definitely be ready to go racing. I know they said there was a lot of work to do, but they had a ton of people out there yesterday working on it.”

FROM YOUR TRUCK EXPERIENCE AT ELDORA WHAT CAN CUP DRIVERS EXPECT FROM A CAR THAT’S NOT DESIGNED TO RUN A DIRT TRACK? “It’s hard for me to really say because I think Bristol is gonna be quite a bit different from Eldora just from the standpoint of how the banking is, how tight the corners are. I think it’ll drive way different. Eldora, I think you can get away with driving the car pretty sideways, where Bristol I don’t know if you’re gonna do that at Bristol, truthfully. Until I go out there and do it, it’s hard for me to say it’s gonna be this way or that way. I will say from my Eldora experience I felt like you couldn’t run the car as sideways as you would as a typical dirt car, so I think for guys that have watched other dirt racing but have never raced it, you think you’re gonna be so hung out the whole time and all this stuff, instead of sideways and it’s not necessarily the case always in a Cup car or the stock car stuff. They just aren’t meant to be on dirt. They don’t drive very well on dirt, so I would say that would be the biggest thing is it’s hard for me to really say until we go do it just because I do think Bristol is gonna drive quite a bit different than Eldora.”

HAVE THE NEW INSPECTION RULES IMPACTED SHR? WHAT HAS THE CONVERSATION BEEN LIKE WITH THE TEAM? “It’s hard for me to really say because I don’t know what the thing drove like last year. It’s no secret, I feel like we’re off as a company a little bit right now and I don’t know if it’s because of that rule change or what, but it seems like our cars don’t have the raw speed of the other cars and they just don’t drive very good right now, either. I know there is definitely a concern. Our competition meetings have been very intense the last couple of weeks. We’re definitely gonna figure this deal out and try to figure out what’s going on and get another direction on it. I think you’re gonna see a difference here in the upcoming weeks, for sure, just because there are so many smart people here at SHR. I was talking to a couple guys the other day and this happened to our company before, where we kind of struggled, and we kind of had to reinvent the wheel and get back to something and figure it out, and I think that’s gonna be the same thing here. We’re just off right now. We have a lot of really smart people and a lot of real racers here, so they’re gonna dig down deep and figure it out. I think for me the encouraging thing is as a company we’ve struggled and, for me at least, it’s not encouraging that we’re struggling but for me to kind of struggle to even run inside the top 20 and then you look at my teammates and they’re kind of right there with me. So, for me at least, I feel like that’s good. It would be different if I was running 25th and Kevin was winning every race, but as a company we’re just off right now. Like I said, I know we’re gonna get it turned around and hopefully we can get it turned around soon.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT RUNNING FOR CORY ROPER THIS WEEKEND? “I’m excited to run with those guys. Obviously, it’s a smaller team and in the past I’d always ran with ThorSport, but with their switch it made it hard to even find a Ford in the field, so I actually had known somebody over at Cory Roper’s deal, Shane Whitbeck, he was at Brad Keselowski Racing and kind of runs Cory’s truck team, and I reached out to see if there was any interest in me maybe running the truck over there at Bristol. There was definitely interest they said, so we put it together I have not been to Texas. They actually brought the truck here last week and just let the SHR guys put a seat in it, instead of us sending a seat out there just because the SHR guys kind of knew how I wanted the seat in the truck. An hour ago I was sitting in the thing and as soon as this is over I’m gonna go back over there and try to sit in it and just figure out the final details, but I think it’s been cool to see them guys run good. Daytona, Cory almost won the thing, so it would be cool for us to get a win for them or just even have a good run. They’re a small team and it would be cool to get them up front, so that’s what we’ll try to do.”

IS THIS WEEKEND WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED FOR YOU WITH THE CUP SERIES ON DIRT? “Yeah, I hope so. I think it’s a great opportunity to go run good, just from an experience standpoint. I’ll be one of the guys in the field that probably has more dirt experience than a lot of them, so this is really gonna be the only week maybe outside of the Indy road course all year long where I actually have experience where the Cup field doesn’t, so being able to hopefully use that advantage. It could be a huge boost to our team, but it also could be a downfall if we go there and really struggle because there is such high hopes, so we’ve just got to go there. Nobody knows what to expect from a setup standpoint. Some teams could hit it. Some teams could miss it. Hopefully, we get it right. I think setup is still very important on the dirt side. Just because you have a dirt background still doesn’t mean you’re gonna win this race. There are a lot of variables that go into it, so I don’t know. Hopefully, we can have a good run because we definitely need it right now and it would be a good momentum booster into the couple weeks off.”

HOW MUCH IS THIS RACE A WILD CARD? HOW MUCH DOES IT LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD? “I think it’s hard to say until we get there and really see what it’s gonna be all about. It’s for sure a wild card. It’s one of those races that nobody going into it knows what’s gonna happen. Anybody could go win this race. Equipment is still gonna matter. I think it’s somewhere in the middle of a superspeedway and just a normal race. Equipment is still gonna matter a little more than it would at a superspeedway, but at the same time I feel like any team could go here and run better than they typically do, so until we get there and kind of see what happens I think it’s kind of hard to say, but I’m just looking forward to it. I think the Cup Series has needed a dirt race for a very long time and I can’t wait to be a part of the first one in over 50 years.”

HOW IS THE CHALLENGE ADJUSTING FROM DOMINANCE LAST YEAR IN XFINITY TO STRUGGLING IN CUP? “It’s tough. Like you said, it’s only been six races so trying to keep that in perspective, but the Cup Series is so hard. Everybody is so good. I just try to keep in perspective that Chase Elliott is last champion and it took him nearly 100 races to get a win, so just trying to remember it’s not gonna come right away. Every rookie I feel like struggles a little bit and it just takes time to get your feet underneath you. Obviously, it’s no secret right now that we’re kind of struggling as a company, so that’s not helping either, but I feel like we’ve had decent speed and we just haven’t been able to execute. I feel like I”ve learned so much over these first six races that I know I’m gonna be twice the race car driver in another six races and by the end of the year it’s gonna be incredible growth, so I just have to try and learn as much as I can here early, but it’s definitely frustrating to not even say we have a top 10 right now or even a top 15. I feel like we’ve been capable from a speed standpoint, but haven’t been able to put it all together. The Cup deal is just no joke. Everybody is so good from a driving standpoint. Everybody’s car is really good and I was telling Cindric a couple hours before the Atlanta race I said, ‘This is gonna be the most frustrating day of your life. You’re gonna race as hard as you can. You’re gonna run a great race and you’re gonna ask them at some point during this race what position you’re in and they’re gonna tell you you’re in 25th place and you’re not gonna believe it.’ And he came up to me right after the race and said, ‘Man, you weren’t kidding. I asked them about halfway through what position I was in and I was in 25th.’ It’s just crazy how you race so hard and you’re 20-25th place. It’s just really tough in the Cup Series for sure.”

WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU NOTICED IN TERMS OF THE ADJUSTMENT? “I think the biggest thing for me is you have to be 100 percent on. The XFINITY Series, I could make a mistake or as a team we could have a bad pit stop and you can recover no problem, for the most part, where in the Cup Series you make one mistake and you’re buried the rest of the day. You speed on pit road, you have a bad pit stop, just as a rookie especially we don’t have the raw speed as some of these other guys right now. We can’t go from the back to the front and you just have to be 100 percent on it. There’s so much information you need as a driver, trying to figure out, ‘OK, where are the other guys running? What am I doing wrong in this area?’ More gas, more brake, all these things, there’s just so much more information you need to know and just from an execution standpoint, like I said, if you make one little mistake it costs you so big in the Cup Series, where in the XFINITY stuff you can get away with mistakes and be able to recover fairly easy.”

HOW WAS THE NASHVILLE TEST? “It was good. We had some tire issues just from cording tires and it seemed like after 20-25 laps you would start cording tires, but it was good. They were definitely doing a lot of renovations on the facility. The racetrack was in really good shape as far as the track goes, so I think it’s gonna be a crazy race. I don’t know if there’s a plan to put PJ1 down or anything like that. It seemed like it was very bottom dominant yesterday, but I’m definitely looking forward to going there. They said they’re already talking about building more grandstands because there’s such a demand for tickets, so it should be a good time whenever we go back.”

IS THERE MORE PRESSURE THIS WEEKEND KNOWING THERE WILL BE MORE EYES ON YOU AND EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGH FOR YOU TO DO WELL? “No, not really. I feel like I’ve put quite a bit of pressure on myself week in and week out to go and perform. This week is obviously one that we feel like we can go run up front, but I feel like I can go run up front anywhere. I feel like you have to have that confidence in yourself and your ability to go do it. If you don’t, why are you doing it here? I think, for us, at least from my standpoint, I’m looking at it like any other race weekend. I’m just gonna go there and try to give it my all and if that’s enough, then it’s enough. If not, it’s not and we’ll go back to the drawing board and try to figure out what I need to do better. There’s definitely, I think, from the team side of things. Obviously, we’re not in the best points situation. We know that this is an opportunity where it’s not gonna be a race where I’m just going in blind and have no practice and have to figure it out from an experience standpoint. I do have more experience than a lot of the field, so trying to just take advantage of this week and try to score stage points and all those things and hopefully we can have a good day.”

FORECAST IS FOR RAIN BOTH DAYS IN BRISTOL. WHAT WOULD THAT DO TO TRACK CONDITIONS? “It really just depends on how much rain we have. Obviously, there’s a good chance it rains out, but I don’t know. It just depends. The NASCAR stuff is in a tough box because we have a windshield, so typically the track could be way heavier and a typical dirt race you can go race because you don’t have a windshield, where, for us, with a windshield you kind of have to be careful because it gets so bad and we can’t see. The engines start overheating and all these things, so it really just depends on the amount of rain. I don’t know what equipment they have at Bristol from a drying standpoint with how much bank there is I don’t even know if you could get trucks on the track to pack it or grater or whatever. I think, for me, until I go there and see it, it’s hard to say. I think, naturally, that place the water should run down off the dirt fairly easy I would think. It’s just hard to say until I get there and see it, but if there’s a lot of rain it’s not like they can pull jet dryers out there or anything like that. It’s gonna take the sun to come out. There’s really no wind because of how the track is, but the sun to come out and dry it out. That’s all you can really do.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY RUN-INS WITH NOAH GRAGSON IN XFINITY AND WHAT IS HE LIKE AS A COMPETITOR? “I never had any run-ins with Noah. I always enjoyed racing with him. For me, I never pull over for anybody. I never complain about racing hard and Noah definitely races hard, so I always enjoyed it. I like when guys make it hard to pass you. That’s their job to do, just like it’s my job to make it really hard to pass me, so me and Noah have always raced great. I have no hard feelings against Noah. I get along fine with him and always had fun racing with him.”

HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO RETURNING TO YOUR ROOTS AND RACING ON THE DIRT AT BRISTOL? “I’m super excited. I feel like growing up all the race car drivers are either dirt guys, they’re short track guys or road course guys. We have a short track and we have a road course in the Cup Series, but we don’t have a dirt track to be able to see these guys challenge every discipline, so, for me, I feel like we’ve needed a dirt race in the Cup Series to see guys that aren’t dirt guys growing up challenge this discipline, just like dirt guys are challenged when they go to other disciplines. I’m excited. I’’m glad we’re doing it. It’s been over 50 years in the Cup Series, but I can’t wait to go there. Personally, I just can’t wait to see dirt on Bristol. The first time I walked in the place I was obviously a sprint car fan growing up and around sprint car racing and I remember watching the Bristol dirt race. I remember watching it on YouTube and playing it on pure video games and it just didn’t even seem fathomable that they could put dirt on a place like Bristol. The first time I walked in I remember calling my dad and being like, ‘I cannot imaging what dirt would look like on this place.’ And to finally be able to see that and be a part of that event is gonna be super special, so I can’t wait.”

ROGER PENSKE WAS ASKED ABOUT HAVING NASCAR AND INDY CAR ON A STREET COURSE . WOULD YOU WELCOME THAT WITH NASCAR? “Yeah, absolutely. I don’t care where we race, I just enjoy racing. I would love to see dirt thrown on a road course. I think that would be cool even, so a street course I think would be really neat just from an atmospheric standpoint. I think the electricity that would come behind a street course, I’ve never been to one in person, but I imagine it would be pretty cool here hearing the motors roaring and echoing off the buildings and everything else, so I would be all for a street course. I’d be all for wherever we want to go race, personally.”

WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM THE iRACING EVENT TONIGHT AND WHAT IMPACT HAS IT HAD ON THE SPORT AS A WHOLE? “I think it had a huge impact last year during COVID. For us to be able to still put on a show for our fans and our sponsors it was a huge thing for us. Our sport is in a unique situation where we’re really probably the only sport that can do the video game style event and it still be relative to what we actually do. A football player playing Madden on a controller does not show their athletic ability, where we still have a steering wheel and pedals. The car just isn’t real, it’s virtual, so I think you can learn a lot on iRacing. I think that’s the reason why all of these drivers use it as a teaching tool whenever they go to a new racetrack, a road course, whatever. I know when I was in the ARCA Series in 2016 I ran every track on iRacing just so I could learn the racetrack and little things about it, so you can definitely learn things from that standpoint, and then also just racing against your peers. Typically, the things they do in real life on restarts and different scenarios they do on iRacing as well, so you can learn and pick up little things, so there’s definitely a lot to learn and I’m looking forward to obviously racing on there tonight. It’s always fun to go in there and have some fun and I’m sure it’ll be exciting to watch.”

HAS YOUR DEVELOPMENT IN CUP BEEN STIFLED BY THE COVID PROTOCOLS? “Yeah. If you look at the fact there’s no practice, I feel like that would definitely help me right now, just being able to go get laps and without COVID I’m sure we would still be practicing. It would be normal race weekends, all these things, so I would say, yeah, it definitely affects performance in a sense of that side of things, just not being able to get that seat time that is so crucial, just being able to feel these cars out before my first lap is being in the race, so I feel like it definitely affects that side of things, but totally understand why we’re in that situation. At the same time, everybody is in the same boat as I am. They have past experience, but it’s just kind of the cards we’re dealt right now. We have to deal with it and go on and it just makes it even more satisfying if you do go and run good.”

KEVIN MENTIONED HE WOULD LEAN ON YOU. WHAT HAVE DISCUSSIONS BEEN LIKE LEADING UP TO THIS WEEKEND? “Yeah, it’s definitely been weird for me to be the guy that Kevin is coming to. Typically, it’s me going to Kevin. We actually talked on Monday for probably 20-30 minutes on the phone just going through the different things of what I felt like the car is gonna need to have, things that he can expect to see, feeling he can expect to feel and just kind of where he needs to try to get his car during practice. It’s definitely weird to have a guy like that coming to me, but it’s neat. Hopefully, I didn’t steer him in the wrong direction and hopefully he can have a good run. I told him that it would not surprise me at all for him to go run really, really good there, just the throttle control and all the things that it takes to go good on dirt is something that he’s really phenomenal at on pavement, so I think he’ll be just fine at it. Kevin is a phenomenal race car driver, so he’s gonna figure it out and who knows, by the end I might be going up to him and asking him for some help, too.”

WHAT SURPRISED YOU THE MOST ABOUT THE TRUCKS RACING AT ELDORA? “I think the biggest thing is you just can’t drive them like a typical dirt car, like a sprint car, something that you drive really, really hard and you’re really hung out sideways. You can’t do that in the trucks, especially just because they’re not really made to run that sideways. It seemed like the tires struggled to kind of hold the truck out at that much of an angle. There’s still tendencies that drive like a typical dirt car, but they’re just not made to go on dirt like a sprint car would be, so you have to drive them a little bit different. They’re obviously way heavier, less power than the sprint car, so they just race different and the track change is a little bit different, so I think that was probably the biggest thing for me.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE A CUP SERIES DRIVER NOW AFTER SIX RACES? “Every week I’m out on the grid and I’m still kind of speechless that I’m even out there in the Cup Series. It seems like something that would never have happened in a million years to be there and driving the car that I am for the team that I am. It’s just unbelievable still to this day. It just doesn’t feel necessarily real, so I’m still pinching myself every Sunday, even throughout the week it’s still crazy, even yesterday. If you would have told me five years ago or even two years ago that I was gonna be doing a tire test at Nashville in the 14 car, I would have told you you’re crazy, so it definitely still hasn’t sunk in yet.”

CHRIS BUESCHER MENTIONED HE HEARD SOME TEAMS WOULD DETUNE THEIR MOTORS TO MAKE LESS POWER. COULD THIS BE A CASE THIS WEEKEND EVEN THOUGH THE ENGINES ARE EFI? “I don’t know. Personally, I want the power. I think if maybe you’re a guy that hasn’t run dirt before and not used to that type of throttle control, I could see where you would want to do stuff like that, but, for me, I want all the power I can handle. I feel like my right foot is good enough to manage it when I need to, but I want that power when I need it, especially if it builds a cushion or gets really rough. I think you’re gonna want that power to be able to bust through all those holes. I think if you’re a dirt guy, you definitely want all the power, but if you’re not a dirt guy I can definitely see where guys would do it. I know when I ran in the Truck Series in 2017 for Brad’s team they asked me if I wanted to do something with the throttle stop to only get 70 percent throttle or whatever and I told them I wanted the full deal, so I don’t know. I guess you could do it with the EFI, I have no idea. I don’t really know how to answer that question other than I know for my sake I want all the power I can get.”