NASCAR CUP SERIES
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO 301
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 30, 2020

RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 LOUISIANA HOT SAUCE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the challenges of racing during the COVID-19 pandemic, his aspirations for the rest of the season, the morale of the team, and more. Full Transcript:

HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO GET UP TO NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS WEEK?
“Oh, I’m definitely excited. New Hampshire is home, right? It’s a place that I would consider that I’ve had more laps than probably most that are in the field. And it’s a short track. So, I enjoy going there once a year and I’ve been racing at New Hampshire since 2007 with the Modifieds twice a year. So, it’s a place that I’m very comfortable with.”

THIS YEAR HAS NOT BEEN KIND TO YOU. ARE YOU FRUSTRATED TO THE POINT WHERE YOU JUST WANT TO GO AND RACE MODIFIEDS THE REST OF YOUR LIFE OR DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WANT TO KEEP DOING THIS?
“Ha! No! I want to keep doing this. I don’t think that anybody who gets to this level wants to just pack their bag and go home. You know, that’s interesting. But no. Definitely not. I’m frustrated because….you know, I’ve always been somebody who has been pretty honest or really honest with some things, and a lot of the things, whenever I hear people talk about bad luck or that, I’ve always been a believer of making your own luck. But this has probably been the first time in my career that I really, wrong place wrong time, things that were out of my control happening. I’m not one to make excuses, but it’s been frustrating for sure. The thing that’s even more frustrating is Kansas. I really don’t know what else I could have done. I don’t think there was anything else I could have done. But we had a fast race car right there, at that point in time when it needed to be and that’s kind of been the case. We’ve struggled at the beginning of the races and then gotten our car better as the Stages have gone on. The only thing you can do at this point is really go and gamble on things. I’ve got nothing else to lose. That’s all I have to say.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY SORENESS OVER THE WEEKEND FROM THE KANSAS CRASH AND ARE YOU OKAY NOW?
“I’m good. I was ready to go as soon as I got out of that race car.”

SOME DRIVERS SAY WHEN THEY’VE HAD A ROUGH STRETCH IN THE CUP SERIES THAT RACING IN OTHER SERIES’ AND TO GET THAT WINNING EXPERIENCE JUST WHEN THINGS ARE KIND OF ROUGH. HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ANYTHING LIKE THAT OR PLANNING TO?
“I think it’s hard right now with the way things are to do it and not know if you’re going to be forced into quarantine or whatever it may be. It’s something that I’d like to do. I love racing. I’m used to racing 60 to 80 times a year, but at the same time my focus is on the Cup series. And, as a racer, that winning feeling is what drives us all, right? It’s not something that I’ll ever forget. I wouldn’t say I need to get in a race car to want to remember what that feeling is. A thing that just popped-up in my timeline the other day was actually three years ago when I won Iowa with JGR, and I said that to my wife. You miss that feeling. You miss the feeling of winning because that’s why we do this. That’s why I do this anyway, is to win races.

“So, I feel like this year has been a trying year in the sense of we had four races where we were able to practice. And this is my first year working with Trent (Owens, crew chief) and every race has been a practice sent for us, right? At Darlington we got Stage points. We were fast. At Talladega we were contending for the lead with five (laps) to go and had to pit. We’ve had things that have been out of our control for the most part that just take us out of those runs that we’ve had; where they have been good. But, the thing that I look forward to the rest of the season is whatever we found at Kansas, toward the middle of that race, that balance; that’s a balance that I can go contend for races, we can have speed, we can run up-front. Like I said earlier, I’m not somebody who will sit here and say things just to say things. I mean them. So, if we can show up at Michigan and have that speed that we had right there at Kansas, I feel like we could be a threat for a top 10 and just execute. That’s really it. So, I look forward to the rest of the year. That’s all you can do at this point is be positive and turn things around because sitting here and talking about 2020 and how this season has gone isn’t going to do anything for us.”

YOU TALKED ABOUT WANTING TO RACE BUT DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE QUARANTINE SITUATION. SOME SPORTS HAVE GONE TO THE BUBBLE. NASCAR IS A DIFFERENT SITUATION WITH DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES. WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE LIKE FOR YOU AND HOW DO YOU TRY TO LIVE YOUR LIFE BUT ALSO BE UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU’RE OUT OF THE SEAT IF YOU CATCH THE VIRUS? HOW DO YOU MANAGE THAT AS THIS CONTINUES ON FOR MONTH AFTER MONTH?
“You don’t put yourself in those situations, I guess. That’s really it, I guess, to a certain extent because I want to race. And that’s it.”

IN THESE TIMES WHEN YOU’VE HAD A HARD RUN OF IT, AND YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST RACER TO HAVE THAT HAPPEN. AND THEY COME BACK AROUND. WHO HAS HELPED YOU? WHO TALKS TO YOU AND SAYS YOU’RE GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS?
“Oh, my wife. That’s certainly somebody. She lives with me and so she has to deal with me every day of the week. But it’s funny. There was a point in time, probably four years ago, that I was in a similar rut. It was different but it was the same. And, it’s so easy to become negative and to just constantly get down. And then, I feel like life as you know it, just continues to follow that trend. I feel like I was starting to get into that negative place. I have a book that talks about positive thoughts and positive things and how when you have those positive thoughts, positive things are going to gravitate toward you. And I believe that. I was in that way in 2016 and I said you know what, I’m not going to live like this. I’m going to go home, and things changed in the snap of the fingers. I saw that book a few weeks ago or a month ago and it reminded me you know what? Things can turn around as quick as they can go bad.

“So, you’ve just got to be positive. It’s easier to say than it is to do, but I feel like over the past few weeks of just constantly living that way, things have become easier. My life has become much happier. I’m probably a lot better to be around. And you just put in the hard work, that’s it. Just sitting there hoping things are going to turn around….it doesn’t work like that. Life doesn’t work like that. So, I’m just going to continue fighting and hopefully we can finish 2020 better than we have. Like I said, I am proud of JTG. I’m proud of everything we have done. We’ve had moments of greatness. On our side, we just haven’t been able to finish it. And I feel like the rest of the season, if we can just go and do what we’ve been doing and all the things that we’ve learned, we can be talking two months from now, at the end of October, saying man I wish things went differently early on because the past eight weeks have been fantastic.”

THERE’S A BOOK CALLED ‘FAILING FORWARD’ AND IT SAYS THAT YOUR PARENTS TEACH YOU HOW TO SUCCEED BUT THEY DON’T TEACH YOU HOW TO FAIL. AND EVERY FAMOUS PERSON HAS FAILED BEFORE THEY GOT TO WHERE THEY’RE AT. IN RACING, YOU SAY NOW THAT YOU CAN TAKE CHANCES BUT YOU COULD LOOK AT IT TWO WAYS. YOU COULD TAKE THE CHANCES OR YOU COULD BE PRESSURED INTO HAVING EVEN MORE THINGS HAPPEN JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE FRETTING ABOUT IT. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT IN THE TIGHT SPOTS OF RACING?
“Well, there are pit calls that we can make. We can choose to stay out when others do. Or, choose to pit. And the way that races have been this year, track position means so much, right? And, between that and just other situations. Myself, putting myself in certain situations or even forcing the issues. And the way I’ve look at it, because week in and week out, I’ve watch races after they’re over and before I go to a track. And I’ve noticed that the aggressor seems to be the one making out in these situations. And you guys (media) sees that, too. The one who usually pushes the issue has been the one that keeps racing. Where the guys that tend to be a little bit more timid or err on the side of hey, I don’t want to wreck my car right now, end up wrecking. So, I think every situation is different, for sure. But at the same time, I told this to Trent a few weeks ago. Back in 2007, I wrecked quite a few race cars early on in my career. And I remember sitting in the infield and watching the race finish. And having to sit there the entire time is the worst feeling in the world for a racer like myself. I don’t want to feel that feeling anymore. I want to finish these races and I want to run good. So, I think New Hampshire would be a great place to start that momentum, and then moving on toward Michigan. I look forward to this 2-mile race track. I look forward to this intermediate because of what we had at Kansas. The only thing you can do is keep moving forward.”

YOU SAY YOU TRY TO REMAIN POSITIVE, BUT IT HASN’T BEEN OBVIOUSLY JUST SOME ROUGH MONTHS FOR YOU, BUT ALSO FOR (TEAMMATE) RICKY STENHOUSE, JR., TOO. WHAT IS THE TEAM MORALE LOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW AT JTG?
“I think it’s fine. You know, it is what it is, right? I think everybody is working hard and to sit there and really just talk about July, it’s one of those things where you’ve just got to pick up and move forward. I think at the end of the day, we’re all thinking positive. We’re all working toward the end goal and that’s all you can do. I think the major thing is to just remove any toxic things from your life, and just be happy.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with 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 at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Thursday, July 30, 2020

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang, has posted three top-10 finishes in the last four races, including his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory. He held a media availability session this afternoon with NASCAR to discuss Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

COLE CUSTER, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang – HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO GO TO NEW HAMPSHIRE? “I’m ready to go. It’s another short track race, so I’m looking forward to that and also it’s a track that I haven’t been before in a Cup car, so it’s obviously gonna be some learning involved and trying to figure out the track and the feel of the car and things like that, but, overall, I’m looking forward to try and keep going with our consistency and try to keep going with another solid run and try and build some momentum going into the playoffs.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE HEAT AND HOW HAS THE TRACK BEEN IN OTHER SERIES YOU’VE RACED? “Like what you said with the heat it’s obviously gonna be brutal for the drivers, just like a lot of races this year. It’s been really hot this summer for whatever reason, so it’ll make it really slipping and sliding a lot and the VHT that they have down there will probably wear out a little bit quicker, I would think. It’s gonna be different than what we usually have. You’re gonna have to change the setup in your car a tick and probably how you drive the track also. There’s gonna be a little bit of learning for all of us there, I think. Overall, the track with the VHT you’re able to move around a lot. A lot of it is gonna be trying to work that top lane good, but you have to be able to work the bottom also to pass and be good on restarts, so having a versatile car is pretty important. Being able to turn the center and be good on the long run also.”

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH MIKE SHIPLETT? “This is our second year together. We started last year in the XFINITY Series and now we’ve moved up together in the Cup Series and it’s been great. Mike has a lot of experience and a lot of success. He’s really level-headed, honestly. He really keeps us guided in the right direction, I think, is one of his biggest strongsuits, and then also we brought out lead engineer, Davin. He was our lead engineer in the XFINITY Series and we brought him up to the Cup Series with us, also.”

DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR TEAM HAS STARTED TO SET ASIDE CARS FOR THE PLAYOFFS? “I’m not too involved in that in picking the cars yet. Honestly, for me, I don’t pay attention too much to the chassis numbers and stuff like that. We have so many different cars that I feel like a lot of them are the same. I don’t know if you have one specific car that’s better than the other now. I think they build them so close now that it’s hard to really pick one favorite car. It’s more about trying to hit the setup right or having everything maxed out as much as you can.”

WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS WHEN YOU GO TO A TRACK YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO BEFORE? “I think I have a good rhythm for going to tracks I haven’t been before. It’s weird going to tracks that I have been before now, like when we went to Bristol for the second time it was strange kind of getting an idea of how I should attack that now. But going there for the first time, I think you just have to work into it that first run to the competition caution, make sure you keep yourself in a good spot, don’t put your car at risk, and then once you get to that first competition caution you pretty much go racing. You try and adapt to it as fast as you can and have as big as open eyes as you can to see what’s working and what’s not, and what you need to work on for after that competition caution because that’s, in my opinion, when the race starts is right after that caution.”

YOUR DAD DESCRIBES YOU AS BEING QUIET, BUT SOMEONE WHO HAS A RAGE INSIDE OF HIM TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND WIN AT THIS SPORT. DO YOU AGREE? “I guess so, a little bit. I am pretty quiet and I think there’s times where you’ve got to kind of be pushed into that situation where you have to have success and it’s a make-or-break kind of moment, so I think at some point you’ve got to make it happen. I think I’ve been lucky enough to have a team around me that has allowed me to do that and I think I’m in a very lucky place for sure, and I think we did show that we can do it at Kentucky and we just have to build that consistency.”

WITH A WIN CAN YOU ALREADY CALL YOUR ROOKIE SEASON A SUCCESS OR ARE THERE MORE GOALS YOU HAVE TO ACHIEVE THAT FEELING? “For a rookie season, if I look back on it I’d say, ‘Yeah, it was a successful rookie season,’ when you win a race and I feel like we’re starting to get to a point where we’re running competitively, but, at the same time, I’m not gonna be satisfied if we go into the playoffs and get knocked out in the first round and don’t run well. I want to be able to go into the playoffs and be competitive and make a run at it and not just be a part of it. I think these next eight or nine races we need to be on our game and be on the gas as hard as we can to try and figure everything out and get in a good rhythm and be able to do something once we get into the playoffs because after the season if you don’t have the end of the season work out, you’re not gonna be satisfied.”

AFTER KANSAS YOU SAID THAT WAS A RACE YOU GUYS NEEDED. DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM NOW HAS A SOLID BASELINE FOR YOUR CARS AND SETUPS THAT YOU’RE GETTING MORE CONSISTENT? “I think so, for sure, especially on the 550 racetracks. I feel like we’ve hit a point where we kind of know what we want to bring to the racetrack. Some of the short tracks I feel like are still a little bit different and still trying to figure out exactly what we need because every single one is a little bit different than the other, but I think we’re starting to get better and better with it and figuring out how we should compare to other cars and how we should attack different racetracks. It gets better and better as it goes and the more laps and the more races you get, the more it’s all gonna come together.”

WHAT KIND OF INFLUENCE DID JIMMIE JOHNSON HAVE ON YOU GROWING UP, BEING FROM THE SAME AREA IN CALIFORNIA? “He pretty much set the tone for excellence or whatever you want to call it in NASCAR through the 2000s. For me, we were both from California and he was obviously one of the top ones in NASCAR at a time when I was younger, so seeing him win just week in and week out it was like everybody was to the point where it was like, ‘When is this guy gonna stop winning? He’s stinking up the show almost.’ So it was definitely cool to see that kind of dominance in that era and it’s an honor to get to run with him in his final year and see what that’s like, and all these guys. I’ve been watching them on TV since I was a little kid, so it’s pretty surreal to be able to get to race with those guys and be a part of the group.”

HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY TIPS FROM HIM OR HELPED YOU OUT AT ALL? “I talked with him a little bit. I actually got to ride in the truck with him on intros in Vegas, and one of the things that was interesting is that I think he said how you fit into everything when you’re a rookie and how you kind of get into the series and feel part of it as a rookie driver, he said he didn’t feel like he was part of it or really one of the guys and felt comfortable in the series until his third championship. So it’s weird how it all kind of evolves and how you feel comfortable at some time in this series.”

YOU HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE ON THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE. HOW MIGHT THAT HELP AND HOW ARE YOU PREPARING? “I’ve already run it in the Ford simulator, so it’s been a lot of figuring out what we’re taking to the racetrack first, just for gearing and stuff like that – what NASCAR is gonna come out with and if there’s a chicane on the frontstretch and stuff like that. I think it’s been a huge help and I think my experience there in some sports car stuff with Ford, they actually let us the last couple years run some Mustangs down there to try to gain some experience with road racing and it’s probably gonna be a huge help going there this year because I have some laps around the place, but, at the same time, it’s a whole different ball game. Obviously, I know where all the corners are and I kind of know what I want to do attacking them, but, at the same time, the brakes are totally different and how the car reacts is totally different, so it’s gonna be a lot of learning. Even though the playing field might be leveled a little bit because nobody has been there, I’ve never run a Cup car on a road course, so those guys might be able to adapt to the track faster than I can just because they have a really good feel for the cars.”

WILL YOU BE AS COMFORTABLE GOING INTO THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE RACE AS THE FIRST TIME YOU RAN THE ROVAL? “I will say I’m not gonna be as worried about this race as much as the first Roval race just because the Roval there’s so much that can go wrong and there’s so little room for error. When you spin out or something at the Roval, I mean, you’re hitting the wall and your day is done. At the Daytona road course, there are walls and there is stuff to hit, but it’s definitely more spread out than what the Roval is, so you can make a little mistake and still not wreck. So, you’re gonna see guys make mistakes and see guys wreck, but it’s not gonna be as dramatic as what the Roval was, but it’s gonna be interesting. Everybody is gonna be trying to figure it out as fast as they can. There are gonna be guys making mistakes, so it’s gonna be an event filled race. As if road course racing already wasn’t event filled enough, there’s gonna be a lot of stuff going on, especially in the early portions with guys trying to figure it out.”

ARE YOU SPENDING ANY TIME WITH YOUR SHR TEAMMATES DURING THIS TIME? HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY HELP FROM THEM? “Yeah, for sure. I think my teammates have been a huge part of getting me better throughout the year. I try and talk with Kevin about every single weekend and he’s been a huge help. I talked with him a lot in the XFINITY cars also when I was a rookie just trying to get an idea of what to expect going into the weekends and what he looks for and stuff like that. Any questions I’ve had he’s been extremely helpful and really an open notebook with me. And also Aric and Clint have been awesome to try to ask questions to whenever I have something that I don’t know and something I was feeling in the car and just being able to bounce ideas off all those guys has been huge. It’s nice to see how we all work together.”

IS THERE LESS OPPORTUNITY FOR THAT NOW? DO YOU TALK VIA ZOOM OR AT THE TRACK? YOU DON’T REALLY SEE THEM AT THE TRACK MUCH DO YOU? “There is an there isn’t. I think, for the most part, I already was calling Kevin before the races before all the COVID stuff, so I still kind of have the same regiment talking with him. You don’t get to see each other in the garage area and kind of bounce things off each other, so, yeah, there is less time to kind of work through things and any questions you have, but, at the same time, I think we all still have the communication with each other on our Zoom calls or other phone calls. It’s not like we’re not talking to each other enough, I don’t feel like.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO 301
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 30, 2020

RANDALL BURNETT, CREW CHIEF OF THE RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING NO. 8 CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the New Hampshire race weekend, the impact the change in stage lengths for the weekend might affect decision-making within the race, working with Tyler Reddick, and more. Transcript:

HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY, HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO GET THERE?
“I’m excited to getting back to doing some short track racing. We look forward to some of that. We’ve had some good runs this year. We ran really well at Phoenix – had an unfortunate tire failure late in the race. But competed up in the top-five all day long there. So, looking forward to getting to a track similar to that – Loudon, really flat one-mile track. We’ve been working hard on this one and we’ll see what happens.”

OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS, WE’VE GOTTEN SOME COOL INSIGHTS INTO THE RCR COMMAND CENTER, WHERE CALLS ARE MADE FOR THOSE STAPLE DECISIONS AT THE END OF THE KENTUCKY RACE. WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE WORKING WITH THOSE GUYS THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS? CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THIS PROCESS HAS BEEN THROUGH THE MOST UNUSUAL NASCAR SEASON, IN TERMS OF TEAM COMMUNICATION?
“I do think it’s helped a lot this year, for sure. Now that we have a limited roster and not near as many people at the track – we take less engineers, we take a lot less people to the race track in general – being able to have those guys at the shop, analyzing some of the data that we get from the SMT stuff, to our pit road calculations to help us with that. There’s so much information coming in. Having good guys and having people capable of being able to communicate with us what they’re seeing I feel like has certainly helped us, especially at the track when we’re limited on that and we don’t have as many people at the track looking at data as we’re used to.”

THE STAGE LENGTHS HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE COMPARED TO LAST YEAR – IT’S ANOTHER 35 LAPS IN THAT SECOND STAGE. HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THINGS OR HOW MIGHT THAT IMPACT THE DECISION-MAKING?
“It will definitely make it a little more interesting I think with the longer stage. You have tire wear, you’re going to have fuel mileage stuff to look at. It’s definitely going to change the strategy a little bit, which we’re going to have to stay on top of. You’re going to have a lap-30 competition caution, which should give you a good read on tires, as far as what kind of wear you’re going to be looking at throughout the race and the lap time fall off. So, I think that’s going to kind of dictate what you do in that second stage, for sure.”

ALSO, IT’S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT TIRE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE FROM LAST YEAR. LAST YEAR’S RACE, WE SAW THE WINNER AND TWO OF THE TOP-THREE FINISHERS RUN THE LAST 74 LAPS ON A SET OF TIRES. DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT BEING THE CASE?
“This is the same tire that we ran at Phoenix earlier this year. We kind of saw a little bit of that, as well. The tires don’t wear as much as they have in the past there, especially if you look back at 2018 with the low downforce package that they ran at Loudon. The tires wore out quite a bit. Last year, even with the high downforce stuff, they didn’t wear out as much and now there’s a different tire this year. Looking back at the wear and stuff at Phoenix, I don’t imagine you’re going to see as much wear here as we have in the past. But with that being said, Loudon has always been a huge track position race. It’s really hard to pass here. They put the VHT down, which has seemed to make it racier here the past year or two that they’ve been doing that. But it’s really hard to pass and keep your momentum up, just because you have to slow down so much to get underneath somebody in the corner that they are able to keep the momentum off the corner when they’re on the outside. It’s going to be about timing your passes right, making sure you can get a guy cleared and not give up another spot or two as well while you’re battling with somebody.”

THE RANDOM DRAW FOR STARTING POSITIONS – HOW MUCH HAS THAT IMPACTED HOW YOU AND THE TEAM APPROACH THE FIRST PORTION OF THE RACE, JUST TRYING TO GET SOME TRACK POSITION VERSUS HOW YOU’RE CALLING THE REST OF THE RACE IF AND WHEN YOU GET THAT TRACK POSITION? HOW MUCH HAS THAT RANDOM DRAW REALLY KIND OF HINDERED SOME OF YOUR PERFORMANCES AND FINISHES?
“I don’t know if you guys have noticed or not, but we’re really, really bad at qualifying in those random draws right now (laughs). We’ve been 23rd, 24th, 23rd, 24th. It certainly affects, I think more so the guys from 13th to 24th, when you’re in there and battling for the Playoff spots. We don’t have a win secured yet, so when it comes to getting stage points, that goes a long ways in that. The last couple of weeks, we’ve had to battle from 23rd and 24th place starting spots to even put ourselves in position to get some stage points. So, it certainly makes you call the race a little different. I’ve been a little more aggressive lately with some two-tire calls, staying out or whatever to try to put ourselves into position to get some stage points to help us. Yeah, I would definitely say it has a bigger affect, especially for the guys that are close to that cutoff line and the guys that are 13th to 24th in starting spots there in how they call the race.”

GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS, NASCAR HAS SAID THAT THEY ARE LOOKING AT CHANGING THE FORMAT ON HOW THE STARTING LINEUPS WILL BE DETERMINED. ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MIGHT BE OR HOW YOU WOULD PREFER IT TO BE DONE?
“There’s been a lot of talk about that. I feel like the guys that are going to be in the top-16 or the top-12 should be up front obviously. How they go about lining those guys up from that aspect, I think there’s a lot of ideas out there, a lot of options to choose from. I know the guys at NASCAR are trying to work all that stuff out. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.”

YOU’VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH TWO OF THE TOP DRIVERS TO COME OFF OF THE DIRT – KYLE LARSON AND TYLER REDDICK. WHAT ARE THE COMPARISONS, AS FAR AS CAR CONTROL AND SUCH, AND WHO’S THE BETTER OF THE TWO DRIVERS?
“Well, it’s hard to tell. I think Tyler (Reddick) has an incredible amount of car control and talent. I think he knows how to push the car to the extreme limit of it and can manage to make speed with it when the car’s not balanced right. I’ve been really impressed with his demeanor on the radio, too, as far as how he approaches the race. We try to keep it light-hearted, we try to work well together. On the flip side, Kyle Larson, he’s obviously an incredible talent. To see what he’s been doing in the dirt races and stuff like that. Even when he first came into running NASCAR, I was his race engineer for a few years and he has an incredible talent too. I don’t know – I like my man Tyler. He’s got me a championship and several race wins. I’ve really enjoyed working with him, for sure.”

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS HIS POTENTIAL? I THINK HE SURPRISED PEOPLE IN THE XFINITY SERIES. HE WENT IN THERE AND WAS NOT THE FAVORITE, NECESSARILY, THE FIRST OR EVEN PERHAPS THE SECOND YEAR AND JUST STOLE THE CHAMPIONSHIP BOTH TIMES.
“I wouldn’t say he necessarily stole it the second time. I feel like him, Christopher (Bell) and Cole (Custer) put on a great race there. Those three battled hard at the end of that race. The first year, I think Tyler – his first full-time year in the Xfinity Series – he’s come a long ways. If you watched the last couple of years, he’s come a long ways from when he first started in the Xfinity cars. He was always really fast, but sometimes he’d overstep his limits, tear up a lot of equipment and things like that. I think in the last year or two, you have kind of seen him grow out of that phase of his racing career and really focused on studying the races, understanding when to push the car and when not to. I think that’s one of the things that’s really helped him in the past year or two and I think you’re kind of seeing that roll over into the Cup Series this season.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with 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 at www.chevrolet.com.

Toyota Racing – Christopher. Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

LOUDON, New Hampshire (July 30, 2020) – Leavine Family Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media via videoconference in advance of the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 95 Rheem Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing

What makes you so strong at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

“New Hampshire is one of my best race tracks that we go to on the schedule for whatever reason. I don’t know why that is. I think I have to give a lot of thanks to Kyle Busch Motorsports because whenever I drove for them in the Truck Series, we actually used one of our rookie tests up there at Loudon in the 2016 season. That kind of kicked off my experience there. I’ve also run a Late Model race there back in 2015 so I had a lot of seat time before I started going there in the NASCAR Series and it’s just been a great race track for me with the second-place and the win and two truck races I’ve run there and then two wins in the Xfinity Series.”

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned this season with so many changes?

“Expect the unexpected, that’s for sure. 2020 has been absolutely crazy. It started off crazy with the President coming to the Daytona 500. That was a surreal moment and very cool experience to be a part of and then on top of that, it ended up getting rained out so then we didn’t race until Monday night for the Daytona 500. Then the pandemic hit and we had a huge break in the season. I’ve very thankful that NASCAR is allowing us to keep going to the race track. It’s been up and down for me since then. We’ve definitely made gains since the beginning of the year.”

What have you learned from Jason Ratcliff through this season?

“Jason’s (Ratcliff, crew chief) has kind of been our leader. We’ve definitely had ups and downs. Jason with all of his experience and expertise, he’s been able to guide us along the way. Very thankful to be able to drive for him.”

Have you started asking what your plans are for 2021 yet?

“The way that this season has gone with the big break in the middle, we’re kind of right in the thick of things right now. This is going to be a really good race track for me at Loudon so that’s not really on my mind at the moment.”

Do you ask a lot of questions about next season or rumors?

“I try and stay out of the business parts of it. I love driving the race cars so I try to stay out of the business part as much as I can and just focus on racing and doing as good of a job as I can do.”

How is the talent and competition of this rookie class going to help you as your career progresses?

“It’s been fun to be able to compete against all the rookies and I think all of us have kind of had our moments where we’ve done well. Pocono was definitely a highlight for me. Bristol was another one. I’m looking for more of those highlights and hopefully we’ve got another one coming this weekend. It’s been cool to see John Hunter (Nemechek) and Cole (Custer) and Tyler Reddick also up there. They’re all running good and I’m really proud of all of us rookies for competing well and hopefully we can continue to improve and maybe get a couple more rookie wins.”

How excited are you to be part of the next generation of NASCAR?

“It’s a dream come true. Being able to compete at NASCAR’s highest level is something that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to do that.”

Are you good at New Hampshire due to the short track design and similarities to tracks you grew up racing on?

“I don’t know, that’s a tough question. It’s really a flat, one-mile oval race track. For whatever reason, I don’t know what it is. I’ve had really good cars there. I got to run a Late Model race here in 2015 and then in 2016 before my first NASCAR Truck Series race, we actually came up and tested at Loudon. I think just having experience on the race track before competing in my first race and then every time I’ve been here, I’ve had great race cars so it’s made me look really good.”

Do you have more dirt races scheduled this season?

“I am going to be driving a midget for Tucker Boat on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. I’m going to go to the Pennsylvania Speedway midget races and then outside of that, I don’t really know.”

What is your outlook for the Daytona road course race?

“It’s going to be interesting to go to a road course that none of us have been to, I guess some of us have, but none of us have been to in Cup car anyway and not even the teams. That’s going to be a change of pace and then throw in no practice as well. It’s going to be very, very different and I’m excited for the challenge. It’s just fun to be able to go out to the races and you don’t know who’s going to be good and who’s going to be bad with no practice. You just have to go out there and figure it out.”

Do you feel the Daytona road course could be a race where you could potentially capitalize?

“Yes, absolutely. I’ve been able to do pretty good on the road courses the last couple years. I’ve been definitely putting in a lot of effort into the Daytona road course on the simulator and stuff. Hopefully, it will pay off.”

How important do you feel it was for NASCAR to come back after the pandemic?

“That was really, really big for NASCAR to be the first sport back on TV and I think we got the benefit of it from being watched on TV a lot. It was really cool and I’m really glad that NASCAR took that chance and took a hold of that opportunity to be the first sport back. I hope that we were able to build our fan base and we got some new fans watching and hopefully they continue to watch.”

How did you feel when NASCAR announced there would be no practice or qualifying the rest of the season?

“I think this no practice thing definitely fits my background. I think it’s up and down and if you look at our results, we’ve arguably ran a little bit better since they stopped practice. One thing that I do think it hinders me a little bit on is I just don’t have a feel for these cars and it takes a little bit to figure out where the limit is and especially at these race tracks where we’re going with new rules packages. It’s definitely a little bit different.”

Do you think it will make a difference when you return to some tracks for a second time?

“I’m looking forward to returning to race tracks for the second time. I think that will be a big advantage. Or not a big advantage for me, but definitely think we’ll be better the second time around.”

Did NASCAR send a rule to drivers for New Hampshire about different protocols?

“I did notice that this weekend we’re under a little different guidelines anyway. They want us to stay outside of the New Hampshire community you could say. We have to pretty much stay within our own confines. They don’t want us going out to restaurants or anything like that. It’s pretty much fly in and race and fly out anyway. They’re taking extra precautions this week.”

Do you feel the drivers and team members are being careful week-to-week?

“I’m just proud of NASCAR for stepping up and allowing us to participate under unforeseen circumstances. They do a really good job at making sure everyone in the industry is staying safe.”

How do you balance what you do and don’t do to ensure you’re in good health when you travel to dirt races or other activities?

“The biggest thing is just trying to use common sense and being as smart as I can about going to the races and making sure you keep your distance and instead of traveling up to Pennsylvania races on a plane, like I probably would. Instead, I’m going to be riding in the rig and isolating from the masses as much as I can anyway. I think it’s a matter of just doing your part. Wearing masks when you need to and making sure that you’re staying away from people and just using common sense.”

# # #

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are headed to New Hampshire Motor Speedway hoping to put some recent bad luck behind them in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301.

DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team ran in the top 10 – and often in the top five – throughout the month of July but the overall results of those four races don’t reflect that.

They did get a third-place finish at Kentucky Speedway but a wreck on the last lap at Indianapolis, contact with a driver trying to make a sudden move to pit road at Texas and being swept up in a multi-car crash at Kansas left DiBenedetto and the team thinking about what might have been had their luck been better.

DiBenedetto remains in contention to be one of the 16 drivers who start the Playoffs, which begin after seven more regular season races. That quest begins anew on Sunday at New Hampshire, where DiBenedetto finished fifth last year driving for his previous team.

Eddie Wood said he’s optimistic about the prospects for his family’s race team.

“We’ve had some unfortunate things happen the last couple of weeks,” he said. “We hope to turn that around beginning this weekend at Loudon.”

Wood said DiBenedetto and the team are in a good place when it comes to performance.

“They have speed, which is the most important thing,” he said. “Matt’s been doing a great job behind the wheel, especially on restarts where he really stands out.

“Greg [Erwin] has been making good calls from the pit box, and the crew has been solid on pit road.

“We just need to get to the end of these races, and we’ll wind up where we need to be in points.”

DiBenedetto is 13th in the points standings and 15th in the Playoff standings heading into Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, which is set to get the green flag just after 3 p.m. Eastern Time with TV coverage on NBCSN.

About Motorcraft:

Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to underhood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford and Lincoln Dealers, independent distributors and automotive parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.

About Omnicraft:

Omnicraft is part of the Ford lineup of parts brands: Ford Parts, Motorcraft and Omnicraft. Omnicraft is the exclusive non-Ford/Lincoln parts brand of premium aftermarket parts. With over a century of parts heritage to build upon, Omnicraft provides excellent quality and fit and is a preferred choice of professional automotive technicians. To find out more about Omnicraft, visitwww.omnicraftautoparts.com or contact your local Ford or Lincoln Dealership.

About Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center

Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine vehicle maintenance including tire repair and replacement with a Low Tire Price Guarantee and a full menu of automotive services including oil and filter, brakes, alignments, batteries, and shocks and struts on all vehicle makes and models. Service is performed by certified technicians at more than 1,000 locations worldwide while you wait, and no appointment is necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 200,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.