Richard Childress Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway … In 177 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has scored nine wins, 34 top-five, and 70 top-10 finishes. The Welcome N.C. organization has also found success in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’, capturing nine wins, 37 top-five and 61 top-10 finishes.

NASCAR Playoffs … Austin Dillon is in the midst of his fourth NASCAR Playoffs appearance and currently ranks sixth among the 16 Playoff-eligible drivers following a couple strong top-five performances in the opening round of the NASCAR Playoffs (second at Darlington Raceway and fourth at Richmond Raceway). Dillon is 36 points above the cut line with only one race remaining (Bristol) in the Round of 16.

Catch the Action …The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Friday, September 18, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

The NASCAR Cup Series’ Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, September 19, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Bristol Motor Speedway … In 13 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Dillon has one top-five and three top-10 finishes, including a career-best fourth-place finish in August 2016. He finished sixth in his most recent Bristol Motor Speedway appearance in May. He is a former winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the track (August 2016).

Tracker Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.

Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit www.basspro.com/.

E-Z-GO … E-Z-GO is an iconic, world-renowned brand in golf cars and personal transportation vehicles. Products sold under the E-Z-GO brand include RXV® and TXT® fleet golf cars, Freedom® RXV and Freedom TXT personal golf cars, E-Z-GO Express™ personal utility vehicles, and the 2Five® street-legal low-speed vehicle. Known for innovation in electric-vehicle technology, E-Z-GO’s newest offerings include the ELiTE series of lithium-ion powered golf cars and PTVs, and the company’s exclusive 72-volt AC electric powertrain found in its latest Express series vehicles. Founded in 1954 in Augusta, Ga., E-Z-GO became part of Textron Inc. in 1960, and today operates as part of the company’s Textron Specialized Vehicles division.

NASCAR Playoffs … Dillon’s 2020 NASCAR Playoffs appearance was enhanced last Saturday at Richmond Raceway by a career day in which he led 55 laps, scored 18 Stage points and finished fourth despite two in-race penalties. Dillon now ranks sixth among the 16 Playoff-eligible drivers. The four-round postseason consists of eliminations after the Round of 16 (Darlington, Richmond, Bristol), the Round of 12 (Las Vegas, Talladega, Charlotte Roval) and the Round of 8 (Kansas, Texas, Martinsville). The Championship 4 will compete for the title at Phoenix.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
What are your thoughts on Bristol Motor Speedway?
“Anything can happen at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s a short track and you can get caught up in things fast. Our goal as a team is to be consistent and to try and score Stage points early. I think Stage points will play a big part of advancing out of each round in the NASCAR Playoffs, and with Bristol being the cutoff race there’s a lot on the line.”

What’s going to be your top priority for the Bristol race weekend? Just finishing or going for a win?
“I think you’ve got to keep going for wins. Darlington and Richmond were both good races for us, but we have just as much potential at Bristol. We had a solid run here back in May, and I really think this team has the capability to back that up.”

Did you feel like you were overlooked coming into the playoffs a little bit?
“I get overlooked some, probably more than most, and I don’t know why. I always feel like I perform pretty well in pressure situations, and RCR as a whole can step up. I have total belief in the 3 team and probably more belief this year than I’ve ever had because we’ve brought consistent speed to the track. We might not have gotten every finish that we should have gotten this year, but we’ve gotten a lot of good finishes. It’s been one of my best years statistically and just the ability behind the cars are better. Chevy has stepped up. Eric Warren, RCR, all of the mechanics and everybody that puts work in do a really good job. I think the smaller group has been good for us, with less distractions at the track. As a whole, our group really works together well.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Bristol Motor Speedway … Tyler Reddick has one previous NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway. Reddick also has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, winning last fall’s race with crew chief Randall Burnett, along with two top-five and four top-10 finishes. Reddick has two NASCAR Truck Series starts, with two top-five finishes at Bristol.

About Childress Vineyards … Childress Vineyards is a premier winery located at the southern gateway of the Yadkin Valley in Lexington, North Carolina. Owned by Richard Childress, NASCAR team owner and Hall of Fame member, Childress Vineyards has been producing award-winning wines with the expertise of Winemaker Mark Frizsolowski. Open daily for tours, tastings, and lunch in the Bistro. Information about Childress Vineyards can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/childresswines/, on Twitter at @ChildressWines and on Instagram at Instagram.com/childresswines.

About Food City … Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 134 retail supermarkets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, Chattanooga and north Georgia, including 109 pharmacies and 108 fuel/convenience stores. The company also owns and operates their own 1.2 million square-foot distribution center in Abingdon, VA. Food City offers a wide variety of services and conveniences, including in-store bakery/delis, floral boutiques, full-service meat and seafood departments with in-house butchers, locally grown produce, full service pharmacies, fuel centers, GoCart curbside pick-up, and home delivery. The Food City name is also synonymous with NASCAR racing through their title sponsorship of two of the sport’s most popular events, the Food City 500 and Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. Food City is Bristol Motor Speedway’s longest running sponsor and the second longest in NASCAR.Learn more by visiting FoodCity.com.

TYLER REDDICK QUOTE:
Over the course of these final eight races, we return to a couple tracks you’ve now been able to make a Cup start at, including this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. How are you and the team looking to improve from your last race at Bristol?
“We had a really good Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE during the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway. We started near the back of the field due to how line-ups were determined at the time, but we were making some good adjustments on our car and starting to pick our way up through the field. Unfortunately, it was just a wrong place-wrong time situation when we got caught up in the wreck with the No. 47 car and a few others during the first part of that race. Bristol is a tough track and one where you have to be aware of those moves people will make entering the backstretch, especially since that seems to be where a lot of the wrecks happen. So that is something I’ll be paying attention to, but we had a solid piece entering that race and were making good adjustments before our day ended early. We’ll definitely be looking back at our notes from that time to get a feel for what we want to do entering this weekend’s event with our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet.”

Anthony Alfredo and the No. 21 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet Camaro at Bristol Motor Speedway …
Anthony Alfredo returns to the seat of the No. 21 NASCAR Xfinity Series entry for Richard Childress Racing this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Friday night will mark Alfredo’s first short track appearance of the 2020 season; however, Alfredo is familiar with ‘The Last Great Colosseum’ after competing in the short track nationals behind the wheel of a late model stock car early in his career.

About Death Wish Coffee … In 2012, Death Wish Coffee Co. started a small coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, NY. Founder Mike Brown saw a need for coffee that was both strong and delicious to serve his groggy morning customers. After creating the perfect blend of beans and combining it with his unique roasting technique, the ‘World’s Strongest Coffee’ was born. Today, thousands of people trust Death Wish Coffee to wake them up and keep them going every day. For more information visit deathwishcoffee.com.

Fast Start for Fast Pasta … Running a limited schedule in the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, Alfredo has secured six top-10 finishes. He also won an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Saturday Night Thunder Race at Dover International Speedway during NASCAR’s hiatus from on-track competition.

ANTHONY ALFREDO QUOTES:
How do you feel about making your first short track appearance of the season at a place like Bristol Motor Speedway?
“I’m pumped to finally go short track racing in the NASCAR Xfinity series, especially at Bristol where RCR has had a lot of success. Short track racing is where I started my career, so it’s exciting to go back to my roots and be racing at this level. I even have a little history at Bristol from when I competed in the short track nationals in a late model stock car. I’m looking forward to putting together a strong performance in our Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet, and hopefully we will have a shot at the win under the lights on Friday night!”

What are going to be the keys to a successful night at Bristol Motor Speedway?
“I think patience will be key on Friday night, especially with us starting further towards the back of the field. With that being said, I know we will have a very fast Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet. There will also be times where I will need to be aggressive behind the wheel to capitalize on opportunities since track position is very important. If we can have a smooth night and not make any mistakes, I am confident we can be in contention at the end.”

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang — ARE THE NERVES SIMILAR AS DAYTONA OR DIFFERENT? “No, I would say different than Daytona. Daytona was really hard. Our primary, number one goal of the season was we’ve got to make the playoffs and then everything after that is opportunity, so that was extremely stressful and something I don’t want to go through again. This is still, I mean this first round of the playoffs our first two races have been terrible and things haven’t fallen our way. Darlington was just tough. Richmond, we just didn’t have an opportunity to recover because of no cautions. Going into Bristol this weekend just kind of being in a hole, I still look at it as opportunity going to my personal favorite racetrack, a track where I know we can perform really well at. Yeah, it’s pressure for sure, but I still look at it as opportunity for us and there’s no other track I would choose other than Bristol to be in this situation and to go out there and perform at our very highest.”

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN FOR SATURDAY? DOING TOO MUCH TOO SOON? “I don’t know. I guess I really don’t have any major concerns. That might be a boring answer, but, no, I think everything is mostly just looking at our team and making sure to do the best job possible as far as I know my ability behind the wheel in driving Bristol. I think we all know that. I love that place and take well to it. It’s my favorite, but what I look at is I wouldn’t call it concerns, but the things I look at and put the most emphasis on is my communication with the team. Us making the right adjustments and calls throughout the race because that’s gonna be everything. Us doing a good job of pit road and not only the pit crew but myself also because it’s kind of a tricky pit road, so maximizing your in and out because every single spot gained or lost will dictate the outcome of your race, so I wouldn’t call them concerns, but those would be what I’m looking at the most going into Bristol that’s gonna be the biggest player into us preferably having a shot to win the race.”

DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOURSELF MORE AGGRESSIVE IN THIS TYPE OF SITUATION AND HOW DO YOU TURN IT ON AND OFF? “Yes, I would say we do have to be more aggressive in this situation knowing what’s on the line and what we need and that we have to perform at the very highest and, really, for the most part, it’s not necessarily a must-win, but we really, probably have to go out there and win the race, and it’s our best shot I would say all year. Yeah, to answer your question, it’s a little bit maybe to a slightly lesser extent, but very similar to how I approached the Open race when I was trying to make it in the All-Star. We got damage early, had to go to the back, and we drove from the back to the front and won the Open. It took us a little bit, but I was impatient going through the field and I knew I had to be, and it’s kind of that same case. I would reiterate what Blaney said. If I’m faster than the people in front of you, you can’t just sit. You’re not gonna be crashing people. You’re not gonna do anything stupid, but you can’t sit and wait behind them. I was very aggressive getting through the field in the Open. I did have to bump a couple of people out of the way. There was some aggressive driving, not dirty driving, but it was aggressive to get through the field because you don’t have time to waste at a track like Bristol, where every single lap, every bit of your position, everything is setting you up for the end of the race. Every stage point matters. All that, so we’re definitely gonna have to get all we can get.”

HOW DO YOU DEFINE AGGRESSIVE DRIVING AND DIRTY DRIVING? “I think it’s always kind of a little bit of a moving target, just depending on the situations. Some of the moves that I made in the Open race were aggressive to get through the field and everything’s on the line and you’re trying to make the All-Star Race and it’s a very short race. Some of the moves that I made in the Open race if it were a regular points race and we’re at the beginning of the race or something, some of those moves probably at that time were just considered aggressive because everyone knows what we’re doing and what’s at stake. In other situations, they could have been dirty because I moved some people out of the way. That’s a little bit of a moving target, so it’s hard to answer that question. I would say for this weekend that everyone usually knows what’s on the line for different people. Everybody pays attention, so as long as you’re not out there crashing people and just sending them right out of the way in the first corner that you get to them or any nonsense like that. If you’re knocking on somebody’s door or you have a little position and you have to get to the bumper and give them a little nudge, it’s really whatever you have to do and it will be a little bit of a moving target as to how aggressive you’ll be based on the situation. If it’s real early in a run or you just got to the guys bumper, or you’ve been stuck behind this guy for four laps and you’re faster and you just can’t waste anymore time, it’s a little bit of a moving target as to how aggressive that you are with people.”

HOW DISAPPOINTED ARE YOU TO BE IN THIS POSITION? “We’ve dug ourselves a hole, for sure. It’s not optimal. As competitors, that’s frustrating for Blaney and I, but it just shows how tough the playoffs are and how crucial every single race is. You just can’t have a couple of bomb races and it just makes it really hard to recover, not that it’s impossible, for sure. I would look at it, yeah, it’s frustrating but we also have opportunity and I still look at it as we’re going to my favorite racetrack in Bristol and we still have opportunities. I definitely haven’t given up or I’m not that level of frustrated. I’m bummed about the first two races, but I can’t sit and we can’t sit and dwell upon those races. As much as I can say I’m happy that we made the playoffs, I am. I know the team is happy, but you instantly as a competitor turn the page the next day and you’re like, ‘All right, now how do we make the next round?’ We as drivers and competitors are never gonna be satisfied unless we can win the championship.”

HOW DISAPPOINTED WOULD YOU BE NOT TO MAKE IT TO THE SECOND ROUND? “I don’t know. I wouldn’t be satisfied. I’m glad that we made the playoffs, but it’s never enough. There have been a lot of variables that 2020 has thrown at us. We still have just barely scratched the surface as far as our 21 team. I think we have a long ways to go as far as progression. Hopefully we’ve built this team together for a long time to come because we’re barely getting started — 2020 has been quite crazy, so I’ve got to keep it in perspective. I couldn’t be too disappointed if we miss it, but I still look at it as a lot of opportunity for us this weekend to redeem ourselves. I think part of what will be a little disappointing is knowing that through the midpoint of the season we had speed like crazy. Every single week I was driving up in the top five and top 10, so it was like, ‘Man, if we make the playoffs, I really know we can make a good splash.’ And then we start the playoffs and we have two bad weeks. I know that we have the speed and the ability as a team to perform a lot better, but that’s part of the structure and you’ve got to be perfect every week.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THIS RACE WILL AFFECT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU IN 2021 CONTRACT-WISE? “I sure hope it doesn’t come down to just one race as far as my contract stuff for next year. I’ve said it before, I came over here and there was a lot of people involved. It’s a dream come true driving for the Wood Brothers. They’re not the only ones involved. We have a strong alliance with Team Penske, a big relationship with Ford, so there are a lot of folks involved in this and in the decision-making, but they heavily expressed they wanted this to a multi-year opportunity as far as my contract. They heavily expressed they wanted this to be a long-term relationship, something that we build for a long time to come. All those things, so that was very encouraging when I came over here. I do not want to go anywhere. I love driving for the Wood Brothers. It’s a dream come true. They are family and as far as my contract stuff, it has options for I think 2021, ‘22 and ‘23, if I’m not mistaken, so it’s a multi-year deal opportunity, but the team has to pick it up each year and the deadline for that is at the end of this month, so I guess I should know pretty soon. I wish I knew now because I don’t want to go anywhere and it would put me in a pretty bad situation if something were to change, but I don’t expect any changes. I’m just waiting to hear.. Hopefully, it works out. Hopefully, I’m not going anywhere. I love being the driver for our team.”

HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE AGGRESSION EARLY? “2020 has been really challenging for a lot of people. Not to pick on anybody or point out anyone, but Kyle Busch and guys that different teams — some have maybe excelled and some that have had some advantages or things taken away from them, man, it’s tough. You’ve got to hope that your starting setup is close, which the teams do a great job, but you’ve really got to hope that you start close and your race is so important from lap one because you think about, I’ll give Richmond as an example. We started Richmond and were tight. We were a little off because of no practice. If we had practice this wouldn’t have even been an issue. We would have been fast and competitive and ran great. We started the race and were too tight . We got to work on it. There are no cautions. We’re behind the eight-ball. We get trapped a lap down. We get our car better and we’re like, ‘We’re pretty fast now. We’re a decent car, probalby a top-10, top-12 car, could have a decent day,’ and you’re just stuck in the lucky dog position for an hour and you can’t recover. So your race from the very beginning is that important. Even though it’s a 500-lap race at Bristol, from the drop of the rag it is really, really important every move you make, every position you can get, staying up front, staying competitive, that’s the only way you can position yourself for the win to the end. It’s gonna be very important from the start of the race that we hopefully have the setup close, which I feel pretty confident in. This is our third time driving around Bristol this year, so I feel good about that. Our cars are fast. We won the Open race, so I have a lot of great things that give me a lot of confidence, but we have to be really good from start to finish in that 500-lap race.”

HOW IS YOUR COMMUNICATION WITH THE TEAM? “Greg Erwin is a great guy and we’ve worked together well. This year has made it tougher on a new group working together and figuring each other out because there are a lot of things we’ve learned and figured out with each other and our communication and stuff in practice to be a lot better versus having to do things in the race and figure it out. So 2020 and the way it’s been had just made it so much tougher, so we haven’t maximized some races just because of having to learn together and these crazy circumstances that we’re not accustomed to being thrown at us. We work together well. It’s gotten better and better throughout the course of the season and continues to get better, so we’re in a must-win type situation or close to it. I wouldn’t choose any other time than now. We are definitely most prepared and I wouldn’t choose any other track than Bristol.”

WHY DO YOU AND BRISTOL SEEM TO MESH SO WELL TOGETHER? “I kind of asked the same thing to myself a lot. It’s funny. I think Bristol just is, I don’t want to say it’s an equalizer because your equipment is so important everywhere, but it’s just one of those racetracks where you’re really hustling the race car and kind of the older school principles matter the most, like just having good grip and a good balanced handling race car, and you’re hustling the car around the racetrack a lot, which suits my style. A place where you really have to drive super-hard from start to finish of the run, I feel like I’m pretty good at all kinds of different racetracks, but if I were choosing places that I love, Martinsville, Bristol, I love both of them a ton and I would say the thing that they have in common is that you’re hustling both of those types of racetracks and you’re just driving it really hard. You’re up on the wheel and it’s very opposite of a place like Richmond, which I’ve run well at, but Richmond is a short track that has a very slow feeling. Every movement that you do is very slow, very easy on the throttle. Bristol, you’re attacking the corners really hard and it’s just the most fun short track to go to, so it’s a place I’ve taken well to and I think I know what I need there very well, also, to be good in the race. I know exactly what my car needs. It’s just a place I have a lot of confidence at and it is a bit of a special place to me and has been to my career.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang — HOW NICE IS IT TO FEEL FAIRLY COMFORTABLE THAT YOU’RE GOING TO ADVANCE OR DOES IT STILL WEIGH IN YOUR HEAD THAT THERE IS STILL A MATHEMATICAL CHANCE YOU COULD GET KNOCKED OUT? “A little bit. You think about it, but I think we’ve done a pretty good job here the last couple of races with a couple of top-three finishes and getting some stage points at Richmond put us in a pretty solid place for Bristol, which every two weeks you’re gonna have this moment to where everyone is on pins and needles. There are drivers that are desperate that need to win. There are drivers that are just trying to get every point that’s possible there. We’re fortunate to be in a pretty good spot for Bristol this weekend.”

I’M SURE YOU HEARD ABOUT TJ SAYING THAT MAYBE SHOULD HAVE WRECKED THE 2 AT RICHMOND. DID YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT TO HIM? “That’s news to me. I’ll have to look into that.”

YOU AND BRAD START AT THE FRONT. IS THAT GOOD? WILL THAT HELP? “That’s better than starting at the back of the race. I think starting at the front is a great thing, so we’ll continue to hopefully stay at the front and try to get a stage win, try to get our race win most importantly. We’ve been pretty good there the last few races, both Brad and I, and Blaney has been good there, too. I think Team Penske should have some good cars there and, hopefully, myself and Paul and the guys are able to grow on what we had in the spring race there and the All-Star Race and have something. The interesting part about this weekend really is that this is the third time we’ve come to this racetrack this year. Even though we don’t have practice, the fact that you’re going back again kind of lets you take all those notes and everything that you’ve learned those first couple races and actually put it into use. Most of the time we go into a track that’s not even close to the same and you can never take what you learned and put it to use. Well, we have that opportunity now, so we’ll try some new things, some adjustments to our car from the last time we were there. We think it makes sense, but there’s no way of really verifying it until the race starts.”

HAVE YOU AND BRAD TALKED ABOUT HOW TO RACE EACH OTHER OR WHAT YOU THINK IS FAIR? “I think every teammate always has that conversation and what is acceptable and what isn’t. It’s always something that’s pretty confusing and hard to get around because the goal for each team is the same. The goal is you want to win and get through to the next round. It’s the same thing with Team Penske. We need to make sure one of us wins, for sure. That is the one thing that you can agree on no matter what is one of us better win this thing. It kind of matters at what point of the race it is, whether you’re coming down to the end of a stage or end of a race might be different than what it is 50 laps into a race or a few laps into a race. Every situation is different, so it’s hard to play out each scenario before it happens, but I think the biggest thing — just like any relationship that you’re in with your wife or your husband, your girlfriend, whoever, you need to communicate. You need to talk about it. That’s the biggest thing, and as soon as you talk about it you see that there are two sides to every story and until you know that other side you can really make the smallest little ant mound into a big old mess. We always talk about it. We’ve had those conversations tons of times.”

HOW CLOSE DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE TO REGAINING THE FORM YOU HAD TO START THE YEAR? “Apparently two spots away. We’re getting closer, which is great. A minute ago we touched on how we don’t practice anymore and coming back to a racetrack for a second and a third time you have some notes to go off of, and, for us this year as a new team working together, Paul Wolfe, myself and the team, they had to learn what I mean when I say certain things. What I’m looking for inside the car. When we had practice early in the year we were able to adjust on the car and get it there. When you take that practice away and just show up, it’s a bit of an unknown because you don’t know what’s gonna happen, so that made that growing process a little bit harder and even the communication barriers that we go through. Obviously, you guys see as we’re all on virtual calls every day that it’s not the same as being in person. It’s just not, and eventually if you go have practice, you run out of things to talk about. There’s only so much prep you can do to get ready and then after that it’s like, ‘Well, I guess we just go and see what happens.’ There’s not much to talk about eventually once you get your setup in place and your strategy in place. You just go. The weekends are short. There are things that are different and it just makes that growing curve a little bit harder than we thought it would be, but I feel like at this point in the season we’re really starting to get where we need to and starting to move forward.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THE ROUND 2 RACES? “The same way we do all the time is maximize the finish. Get as many points as possible, win — that would be great and that’s obviously the goal is to win the race, but if you can’t it’s get everything you possibly can, just like we have these first two races of the playoffs. That doesn’t change. Now, when you get to your third race and you see where you’re at, then you might have to change your plan at that point, but when you look at three races it’s hard to say there’s a strategy of it besides just go out there and pass the car in front of you. It’s pretty simple, but, like I said, this weekend when it’s a cutoff race and there are teams that have to win, well, you obviously change your strategy to that.”

THE FIRST TWO RACES OF THE NEXT ROUND ARE KEY SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE ROVAL AND TRYING TO DEFEND THE CUTOFF LINE, RIGHT? “It’s not a fun place to be. It’s a stressful place, but I’ve said this all the time, when you’re in the playoffs there is going to be a time you will have to win. Even if you run up towards the front, there’s going to be a point, especially if you get to Phoenix, you’re gonna have to win that thing. We’ve seen that happen every year during this championship format is you have to win the final race to win the championship. You’re gonna have to win at some point and the pressure is gonna be on one way or another, so you want to try to make the next two races be able to score as many points as possible to position yourself in a good spot, but at some point the pressure is gonna be there. Yeah, I don’t want to have my back against the wall at the Roval, but if it does, it does and we’ll handle it then.”

HOW HAS THE CHOOSE RULE IMPACTED THE PLAYOFFS IF IT HAS, AND IF NOT HOW MIGHT IT IMPACT THINGS GOING FORWARD? “I think it impacts the races. I don’t know if it’s changing much for the playoffs in general, but the race itself it has changed a lot and I love it. I think it’s great. It adds another piece of strategy to the races of what lanes you want to be in and a lot of it depends on some lanes get better driver. You look at Richmond last week and the bottom lane gets better drive, but being in the top lane after that wasn’t that bad of a place to be. How much are you willing to risk to be in the preferred lane or the non-preferred lane? What are the gains and the risks and reward is what you kind of have to look at with these decisions, and who is in front of you? Maybe it’s a car that you know doesn’t fire off well and you don’t want to be near that one or not behind that one that’s gonna trap you, so every racetrack is different. It’s a lot to look into compared to what it used to be because you it used to just kind of be where you rolled off of pit road and if you were in the right spot, you got lucky and if not, uh. Well, this takes the luck right out of it. To me, there’s a lot of science that goes behind which lane you want to be in that’s gonna put you in the best spot later.”

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN DEALING WITH THIS NEW SYSTEM IN REGARDS TO YOUR FOUNDATION BECAUSE YOU CAN’T DO THINGS AT THE TRACK LIKE BEFORE? “Zoom calls. We’ve been doing some things through Zoom with the JL Kids Crew, which is only as good to a certain point. I’m such a fan of being in person with people, but this is what we have and we’re lucky to have this technology during these times, but with the foundation itself, outside of doing the JL Kids Crew, we obviously did the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund. That was a million dollars that we just dispersed throughout the country, helping with so many different areas with people that are struggling through this pandemic right now. And now we’re going back to what our roots are, which is giving second chances to children and young adults in times of crisis and in this moment it’s actually more important than ever because you think about everyone is going through their own struggles right now in their own world and usually when you’re struggling yourself you don’t think about others as much and it gets harder and harder for these organizations that help mentoring kids, foster families, group-type homes, all these things that these kids need, and it’s not their fault a lot of the times when they’re in this position and they just need someone to believe. They need some faith and someone to just support what they can be, so for the next eight weeks — the rest of the season — we’re gonna give $22,000 a week to organizations that help support that cause through the Joey Logano Foundation and our supporters.”

THERE HAVE BEEN RUMORS ABOUT DENNY HAMLIN RUNNING HIS OWN CUP TEAM. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT A DRIVER OWNING ANOTHER TEAM? “It’s not the first time it’s happened. You look at what Earnhardt did back in the day. Ricky Rudd, there were quite a few guys that owned their own race team and whether they drove it or had someone else drive it, I don’t know the ins-and-outs of all these details and what’s going on and what rumors are true and which ones aren’t. I have no idea. I know it’s one heck of a project if that’s the direction he’s going, which, all the power to him. Good luck. I hope it works well and it goes well for him, but that is a big project to take on, so I’ll be interested to see how it all goes and what happens and hope for the best, but I don’t know the details about the situation.”

WILL YOU BE RACING CHASE ELLIOTT ANY DIFFERENTLY THIS WEEK AFTER WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME AT BRISTOL GIVEN THE HIGH STAKES? “We race to win. That’s what we’ll continue to do. Race people the way they race you. That’s kind of the expectations that I’ve always had. If you race someone the way they race you, they’re gonna race you the way you race them. That, to me, is the driver code. As this sport has been brought up so many times and talked about what is code, what is code, to me, that’s what it is. You treat people how they treat you and that’s just the way I kind of move through on the racing side of things.”

DO YOU FEEL MOMENTUM AS A DRIVER GOING TO BRISTOL? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO KEEP IT GOING INTO THE NEXT ROUND? “It’s important, for sure. Momentum is confidence and I feel like we’re pretty close to where we were in the beginning of the year when we were able to click off those wins. I feel like our speed is in those positions to where with the right situations, the right decisions on strategy, things like that, we can put ourselves in a winning spot again, just like we were. So I feel good about that. I feel like we’re very confident as a race team right now and a lot of that is because how much we’ve grown over the last few months, and I’ve said this a few times to my guys is that when we won the championship in 2018, I remember telling my wife about four weeks before the playoffs started, I said, ‘There ain’t no way we get through the second round of this thing. We’re not fast enough.’ And the next thing you know a little bit of speed popped up and the next thing you know there’s this pretty tiny trophy behind me. You just don’t know how quick that happens, so with that in the back of my mind I always feel like we always have a shot, no matter what. With that on top of actually proving that we have some speed here the last few weeks and capable of winning makes us feel pretty good about where we’re at.”

DO YOU FEEL YOUR CARS AND THE TEAM ARE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP? “I think we’re there. Our pit crew is firing on all eight right now. They’re very fast. Paul and I are working together better than ever as we get to know each other better and better. We’re all working on each other individually to be better. We’re working with each other as a team to be better, and I think we just have to kind of figure out how do you race during Covid-19. That’s just what it is. This whole pandemic has changed the game for everybody and it was a little bit more challenging for us to kind of figure it out for whatever reasons. Believe me, we’ve got 15-20 different reasons, but I do feel like we’ve really overcome a lot of those hurdles at this point and put ourselves in position again to have speed and start to capitalize. Like I said, I feel pretty good about it.”