NASCAR CUP SERIES/CORVETTE RACING
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 5, 2020
TEAM CHEVY’S CHASE ELLIOTT, DRIVER OF THE NO. 9 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, AND CORVETTE RACING’S JORDAN TAYLOR, DRIVER OF THE NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R, met with media via teleconference to discuss the anticipation going into the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader this weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, the sharing of technology and information across multiple programs within Chevrolet to prepare, and more. Full Transcript
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE:
OBVIOUSLY, YOU’VE ALREADY HAD SOME SUCCESS ON THE ROAD COURSE THIS YEAR AT DAYTONA, WHERE YOU RECEIVED SOME HELP AND FEEDBACK FROM JORDAN (TAYLOR) AHEAD OF THAT AT THE CHEVROLET SIMULATOR IN CHARLOTTE. HOW HELPFUL WERE THOSE SESSIONS TO YOU AHEAD OF THAT RACE?
Chase Elliott: “Yeah, it was a big help for us and for me, personally. That was obviously a very unique thing, with not having any practice and then going into a race like that. I talked to Jordan (Taylor) a lot. He was kind enough to share a lot of his notes and things from his past experience at the track, which I found to be helpful. He shared a lot of rain insight too, which I’m kind of glad we didn’t have to tackle that hurdle during that weekend for the first time. But, nonetheless, it worked out. I really appreciated the help from him and everybody that contributed. Obviously, there was a lot of effort that went into that, being such a green situation for most drivers in the field. It was a fun challenge. I enjoyed it and glad it worked out the way it did. Definitely a lot of prep work went into it and I think that showed.”
WITH THE ROVAL COMING UP THIS WEEK, I WAS JUST CURIOUS TO GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW YOU ATTACK A ROVAL-STYLE COURSE VERSUS A TRADITIONAL-BUILT ROAD COURSE, SAY LIKE WATKINS GLEN OR SONOMA. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES THAT YOU NOTICE FROM THE SEAT?
Chase Elliott: “Yeah, I think Jordan (Taylor) touched on it. I think what makes the Roval really unique is it’s kind of like trying to fit a whole bunch of stuff in a very small area, I feel like. The place just does not flow very good. That thing probably wasn’t meant to be a road course, I would say, when they built it. It’s just unique and there’s just a lot of places around the racetrack that are really tight with not a lot of flow. I feel like most road courses around the country, that I’ve been to at least, have a flow to them. You kind of get in a groove and it’s really hard to find that groove, I feel like, at the Roval. I even think going back there this time, it’s going to be a challenge to find it. I felt like last year, throughout practice and throughout the weekend, I never felt like I got into a flow very well. I felt like our car was driving pretty good, but I just could never find a groove to get in and find any consistency. It really wasn’t until that very last run in practice and then when the race started, I felt like I found some consistency to be able to back things up and do it over and over again. So, I think to me, the key for myself personally is going to be finding that and trying to get that dialed in. Hopefully, it’s good enough.”
IN THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE RACE THIS YEAR, YOU PROVED THAT IF YOU’RE FAST ENOUGH, IT IS POSSIBLE TO COMPETE FOR BOTH STAGE WINS AND THE OVERALL RACE WIN. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT IS A DUAL-FOCUS, SOMETHING THAT OTHER PLAYOFF TEAMS ARE GOING TO ATTEMPT TO REPLICATE THIS WEEKEND OR DO YOU THINK THAT WAS SOMETHING ISOLATED TO THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE?
Chase Elliott: “That’s such a tough thing – I don’t really know that you can ever plan for that or know exactly how to attack it. I think once the race starts, you kind of have to feel out who the players are and how fast or slow you are, kind of compared to the competition, and figure it out from there. And two, I think it depends on what position you’re in from a points-perspective on how you want to approach the race. It’s tough and like I said, I don’t really know that you can plan for that ahead of time until you start the race, kind of see where you stack up, and get a first-look at what your day is looking like. And then, make that decision, as far as how you want to attack it from there.”
SCHEDULES PERMITTING, WOULD YOU WELCOME THE CHANCE TO JOIN CORVETTE RACING FOR AN ENDURANCE EVENT?
Chase Elliott: “Yeah, I think it would be a blast. I’ve always enjoyed watching the 24-hour race. I know that’s one of their bigger events every year and it kind of kicks off the racing season, so that’s always an exciting one. Yeah, I think it’d be fun to give it a shot sometime down the road. If the opportunity ever presented itself, I think I would enjoy the challenge, for sure.”
TAKE ME THROUGH LAST NIGHT. FIRST, YOU GETTING PENALIZED – YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FACT THAT NASCAR RESCINDED IT. SECOND, THE DIFFERENCE OF 17-POINTS GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND FOR YOU AFTER RESCINDED THAT PENALTY, I’D ASSUME, IS HUGE.
Chase Elliott: “Yeah, for sure. Obviously, that’s a huge deal for us. I credit Jay, NASCAR and those guys for taking another look at it. I think the tough thing, for me in that situation, is your kind of a put in a position where you either cause a wreck or don’t cause a wreck and that’s a tough spot to be in. I feel like we wrecked enough throughout the day – I’m not sure that I felt like we needed to wreck once more because that’s what was going to happen had I not driven where I did. So, I appreciate them looking at it from that point of view and understanding that. It’s so tough because everybody is put in such a tough situation racing in the guidelines we have and we had already crashed enough as it is, like I said. They’re in a tough spot – that’s a tough call to make on either side. But, like I said, I think just from my position, it was a big deal obviously to go from finishing 5th or 6th to the last car on the lead lap. That’s massive when you’re talking these three-race rounds and where we are in the points situation. So, to your point, yeah a very big deal and I do feel like they got it right. Obviously, it was me and I’m biased, but I do think that when you’re put into a position where you have to decide whether or not to cause a wreck, that’s a tough one to be in.”
WHEN IT COMES TO THE ROVAL, WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
Chase Elliott: “What Jordan (Taylor) and I touched on a few minutes ago, I just think the track is really kind of choppy, doesn’t flow very good and it’s a really hard thing to find a rhythm at that track. I feel like road racing is a lot about rhythm and a lot about consistency – finding your markers, pushing yourself to go to those markers each lap and things of that nature. So, when you have a hard time finding a flow, it’s hard to continue to repeat and repeat, and do things consistently lap after lap.”
LAST YEAR, YOU WON, BUT IN A BIT OF A DRAMATIC FASHION WITH GETTING INTO THE TIRE BARRIER THERE. TALK ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND AT THAT POINT AND THROUGH YOUR WAY BACK THROUGH.
Chase Elliott: “Yeah, just a crazy event, for sure. A lot of good fortune. Obviously, a big mistake on my end and we were fortunate that our car wasn’t tore up very bad, somehow, and was able to fight back up through there. We had just enough time to kind of get back to the front and have a shot at it. First off, I had a really fast car. And, secondly, I made a really big mistake. Third, our car wasn’t tore up as bad as I thought it should have been. So, just had a lot of things go in our favor with the way the rest of the race went – the cautions how they fell, a couple of good restarts, and things just went our way. I’m glad it did, for sure. I’d like to eliminate running into the tire barriers if we have a fast car like that again.”
IN YOUR CAR AROUND THE ROVAL, DO YOU FIND YOURSELF HAVING TO BABY THE BRAKES A LITTLE BIT TO MAKE IT LAST THROUGH THE ROVAL RACE? DO THEY FADE AS THE RACE PROCEEDS AND HOW DO YOU MANAGE THAT?
Chase Elliott: “I feel like the race last year, I don’t remember us having a ton of brake fade. A little bit – I felt like the worst spot was probably into that backstretch chicane. That was probably about as hard as we would brake in a straight line. The rest of the track is kind of just awkward. The turn four area coming into that little chicane on the frontstrech is kind of curved, so it’s hard to use max brake pressure through that section. The rest of the track is just really kind of slow, to be honest. So, that backstretch deal was the worst spot I remember. Best I recall, I don’t remember having a bunch of brake fade issues last year, so hopefully not.”
NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE POINTS BACK, YOU’RE PLUS 44 GOING INTO THIS RACE. HOW DO YOU VIEW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO? I KNOW YOU WANT TO WIN THE RACE, BUT PLUS 44, DOES THAT GIVE YOU A CUSHION TO BE AGGRESSIVE?
Chase Elliott: “Yeah, I don’t know. It’s such a tough thing. I feel like when you get in these rounds and whatnot, I feel like the worst thing you can do is just sit there and play the numbers game. It’s like I had a teacher tell me in high school one time – don’t come into my final exam just figuring out what you have to make to pass. I feel like that’s what I’m doing when I start sitting here and thinking about what to do on points. So, I’m going to take her advice and try not to do that this week and just focus on trying to run good. If you’re going to go out and beat the people that are champions and who’ve been running well – we see the same five or six people in the Final Four every year, so unless you want to run behind them like we have been doing, we need to focus on trying to beat them. To get there, you’ve got to be amongst them and put yourself in position to win because they are winning every week – one of just a handful it seems like. So, we need to be amongst them more often. I think we’re very capable of doing that. I think we’ve shown that this year, especially at times. We just need to do it more often and we don’t need to treat this week any different.”
AFTER YOU HAD THE SITUATION LAST YEAR WHEN YOU RAN INTO THE BARRIER, HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO FIGURE OUT THE CAR WASN’T HURT BAD? WERE YOU SURPRISED?
Chase Elliott: “Yeah, it was I don’t know, eight or 10 laps I guess after we went back green, and it was OK. It definitely hurt it, but it was still very good. So, just very fortunate there. I feel like a mistake of that magnitude, you deserve to not only destroy your car, but probably not keep going at the same time. I’m not sure what I did that week to earn that gift, but I certainly appreciated it.”
LET’S SAY THIS WEEKEND GOES ACCORDINGLY – WHAT TRACK IN THIS NEXT ROUND ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING TO?
Chase Elliott: “Heck, I don’t know. We need to focus on this week and I feel like much like the final exam example I used, I think worrying about next week is also a no-no. So, let’s just worry about Charlotte right now and we’ll see where we stack up after that.”
WHAT DO YOU VIEW ARE YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP CHANCES IN COMPARISON TO THE COMPETITION RIGHT NOW, KNOWING HOW YOU GUYS HAVE PERFORMED THIS YEAR?
Chase Elliott: “I feel like when we’ve been at our best, I feel like we run with the guys that have been winning a lot and are in great positions. So, I feel like when we bring our A-game and things are where they need to be, we’ve competed and I think that’s the main thing. I hope we can continue to bring that A-game all the time and try to get a little more consistent. I feel like the past four or five weeks have been a little more consistent for us. We’ve had some better runs and been doing a better job – having more pace in our cars and being up towards the front. I think if we can keep doing that, I feel confident that we can run with whoever.”
WITH YOU GUYS HAVING SO MANY MORE ROAD COURSES NEXT YEAR, WOULD YOU BE COMFORTABLE IF NASCAR STARTED USING LOCAL YELLOWS INSTEAD OF FULL-COURSE YELLOWS ON A ROAD COURSE?
Chase Elliott: “Yeah, that’s a really good question. I do feel like sometimes the full-courses are probably a little unnecessary. I know that’s a NASCAR thing versus a typical road race style. I don’t know – I don’t know what the right thing is to do there. I feel like there’s times in the past where it’s worked in my favor to have a full-course yellow. And there’s time in the past where I wish it would have just gone green. So, I feel like it can go either way. I’m not sure – I feel like it’s all discretionary, I guess, on how bad a wreck is and whether or not they have to put out a full-course or not. But, I don’t know – that’s a great question, but I’m not sure I’m the right person to answer it.”
WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE PLAYOFFS, HOW DOES THAT EXPERIENCE HELP AND WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED FROM YOUR PREVIOUS PLAYOFF EXPERIENCES IN THE POSITION YOUR IN AT THIS TIME?
Chase Elliott: “I definitely don’t think it hurts anything, you know as you go through these situations. I feel like we’ve been through some tough situations in the Playoffs over my first handful of years – been in some tight scenarios, been in some tough losses and I think all of those situations help you learn and kind of help you just keep a middle ground through a lot of it, which I think is really helpful. I definitely don’t think it hurts. I still think we’re going to be faced with challenges and things I’ve never seen before and, as you do that, you just have to be dynamic and learn through those as well. But I do think having a little experience in seeing some of those tough days in these final races can help you just have a better mindset and understand that anything can happen and nothing is really over until it’s over. I think that’s something you always have to keep in mind as we go through these last 10 races.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
YOU WERE PART OF A SINGLE-DAY TEST PROGRAM AT CHARLOTTE ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THE GTLM CARS HAVE BEEN ON THE TRACK THERE. HOW QUICKLY WERE YOU AND THE REST OF THE CORVETTE PROGRAM ABLE TO GET UP TO SPEED DURING TESTING? AND, DID THOSE FINDINGS FROM THE NASCAR SIDE OF THE HOUSE HELP YOU AS DRIVERS AND THE ENGINEERS IN GETTING TO A STARTING POINT?
Jordan Taylor: “Yeah, it definitely was a big help. We were able to do it in the simulator for one day before that test. So, Antonio and Tommy (Milner) and I were able to do some laps and got a feel for the track. It’s a very unique layout. Some sections don’t flow super-well. It’s just the way it kind of decreases at apex. So, the flow of it was kind of difficult to figure out. But, I think having a day at the simulator to kind of figure that out definitely sped up the learning process by the time we did get to the track; in understanding what kind of curbs you can and what curbs you can’t use and where you kind of want to line up and set up for other corners. So, it was definitely a big help. I think that’s kind of been a big part of our whole season this year is having the Chevy simulator to use. It’s a brand-new car. In going to a lot of these tracks that we’ve never been to for testing and having a shortened weekend with less practice really puts a lot of emphasis on preparation leading into these weekends well-prepared. The best case was this last race for us at Mid-Ohio, where we had not tested the car and rolled off the truck super-strong. We got the pole and won the race. So, it says a lot about the team, and I think leading into Charlotte and having that simulator usage is pretty crucial again.”
HOW HAS THE SIMULATOR BENEFITTED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE C8.R IN A YEAR WHERE ON-TRACK TESTING AND TRACK TIME IS MORE LIMITED THAN USUAL FOR OBVIOUS REASONS?
Jordan Taylor: “It’s been huge. I was kind of in a simulator through the development process of it through the C7.R. Then a lot of the C8.R was designed through simulation before the car hit the track. Having all that data and development from the simulator was pretty incredible. My first impressions of the C8.R came last year on the simulator leading into Daytona. We did some differential changes in the simulator and then I gave my feedback, and then a month later when we were at the track, we did those same exact changes. Obviously, I had forgotten what my feedback was the month prior, but my feedback was identical. So, the correlation between the two are extremely accurate, which is really nice now that we’re in the meat of the season where you aren’t getting that testing time that we’re used to getting and going to tracks we’re not used to being at, like the ROVAL and some of these other races that have popped up on our schedule where we can’t test. It’s been important from the engineering side, but also from the driver’s side just to get that feel and understanding what it’s going to take to be competitive at these tracks.”
WITH NASCAR INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ROAD COURSES ON THE CUP SCHEDULE TO SIX, DOES THAT LEND ITSELF ANY MORE TO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A GUY LIKE YOU TO PITCH RUNNING ALL SIX?
Jordan Taylor: “I’d like to say yes but I think it’s going to be the same story as whether there’s one road course or 10 road courses. I think it’s going to be difficult to get in a car, especially a competitive one. But yeah, I’m going to keep trying. I think I’ve tried the last five or six years to get in a Xfinity ride at Road America or Mid-Ohio. Now they’re doing Daytona and COTA and Road America. They’re all great tracks that obviously we have a lot of history at. I’d love to get the opportunity but it’s going to take a good opportunity to get that chance.”
ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE THE CHANCE TO DO ANY SIMULATOR WORK BEFORE THE RACE AT CHARLOTTE THIS WEEKEND?
Jordan Taylor: “Yeah, we’ll be in there Thursday and Friday, I think. Antonio and I are there most of Thursday and then Oliver (Gavin) and Tommy will come in Friday and then we actually practice Friday night. It’s nice to get a little refresher course right before the weekend as a driver. And then as a team, I’m sure after our last on-track test, they’ve got a lot of items that we’re going to see how to properly optimize the setup; whether it’s geometry changes or springs, downforce levels, toes and camber. So, I’m sure there will be a lot of laps in the simulator, but hopefully it will all pay off in the weekend.”
CHASE MENTIONED THAT THE TWO OF YOU WERE TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND. WHAT WAS THE INTERACTION LIKE BETWEEN YOU TWO BEFORE TODAY AND ALSO GOING BACK TO AFTER THE DAYTONA RACE?
Jordan Taylor: “I don’t know if we’ve talked much between the events, but I think we talked a little bit about the ROVAL when I was there at the simulator working for Daytona just because their focus was all on Daytona that weekend. It was good, I’m sure. Chase had a big part in developing the ROVAL stuff on the simulator, which was a big help to us just getting the track grip level correct so that when we go there, everything is kind of in-tune and on-pace where it’s going to be in real life. So, I’m sure as the weekend unfolds for us, we’ll have some questions and maybe we can play on top of those guys and vice-versa.”
YOU TALKED ABOUT MAYBE WANTING TO FIND A NASCAR OPPORTUNITY. ONCE UPON A TIME, ROAD RACING SPECIALISTS COULD FIND HALFWAY DECENT RIDES IN THE CUP SERIES. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO FIND A COMPETITIVE RIDE ON THE XFINITY SERIES AND THEN MAYBE GET A CUP OPPORTUNITY?
Jordan Taylor: “Yeah, I just think it would be important to get in the right car and the right opportunity. I’ve spoken a lot with Jeff Gordon about it. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to do some of the road courses in the past, but he’s steered me away from it just from the equipment point of view just explaining how important it is and it might not be worth just jumping in to be in the race, but you want to be competitive and at the front to at least show well to have a second chance at it. We’ve had a long relationship with Childress. We used their engines in all my prototype career pretty much and we’ve won a couple of championships together and a lot of Rolex 24s. So, they’ve definitely been at the top of my list for Xfinity. I think Cup is a different animal completely. They guys there are definitely all switched on. They might not be like road course guys, but whenever they come over and do the Rolex 24, they are definitely competitive in anything they jump in. So, for sure, for Cup, you’re definitely going to want to be in the right equipment to be anywhere near the front, no matter how good you are.”
HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU THAT YOU COULD DO IT?
Jordan Taylor: “I’d like to think I’d do well. But, at the same time, I’ve never driven a stock car like that. The closest thing I’ve driven was a V8 Supercar. But I love that style of racing; and sport cars now are having so much development with traction control and such higher levels of downforce and the Michelin tires we use now are so impressive. I enjoy that kind of old-school driving style where it’s no ABS, no traction control, no driver aids; it’s all down to what you can do with the pedals and steering wheel. I think my driving style kind of suits that so I’d like to think that it would suit me somewhat well, but you never know until you get that opportunity.”
