TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
SUPER START BATTERIES 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS
JULY 23, 2020

RACE #19: KANSAS
The annual spring NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race at Kansas Speedway was re-scheduled due to the ongoing COVID-10 pandemic, and now gets underway on Thursday, July 23rd at 7:30 p.m. with the Super Start Batteries 400 presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts. The 400-mile race on the Kansas 1.5-mile tri-oval now marks the 19th race on the 2020 tour.

Over the course of three days, Kansas Speedway will host five NASCAR races across four different series. While the NCS race kicks-off the summer event, the schedule includes a NASCAR Xfinity Series race (July 25), a pair of NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races (July 24 & 25), and an ARCA Menards Series race on July 24. Currently, all five races plan to run without fans in attendance.

PLAYOFF PICTURE:
With Austin Dillon’s recent victory at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19th, along with Chase Elliott’s win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 28th, and Alex Bowman’s victory at Auto Club Speedway on March 1st, three Team Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE drivers have now secured spots in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs that will determine the 2020 champion.

With the start of the NCS Playoffs just eight races away, Hendrick Motorsports teammates Elliott and Bowman are currently ranked fifth and 11th, respectively; and Richard Childress driver, Dillon, is 14th in the point standings.

BOWTIE BULLETS:
Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 12 wins and 11 pole awards in 28 races.

Victories by current Team Chevy drivers: Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE has three wins (2008, ’11, ’15), Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE has two wins (2012, ’13), and Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE has one win (2018).

Chase Elliott is the most recent winner at Kansas Speedway in 2018.

Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports sits atop the leaderboard in NCS wins by teams with seven victories at Kansas Speedway: Jeff Gordon (3), Jimmie Johnson (3), and Chase Elliott (1).

FLASHBACK:
The groundbreaking for Kansas Speedway was held 21 years ago on May 25, 1999 and the first NASCAR Cup Series race made its Kansas City debut on September 30, 2001. Team Chevy driver Jeff Gordon was the inaugural winner and followed that with a second victory in 2002 and a third in 2014, all in Chevrolet race cars.

WINNING WEEKEND:
The 1-2 finish by Richard Childress Racing drivers Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick at the NCS race at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19th capped a weekend of multiple wins for Chevy Racing in America’s premier racing series.

In the Iowa INDYCAR 250S Doubleheader, Team Penske Chevrolet drivers Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden swept the weekend with wins in Race 1 and Race 2, respectively. In both races two of the three podium positions were Chevy INDYCAR drivers. Rookie Oliver Askew finished third behind Pagenaud and Will Power finished behind Newgarden.

In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Sebring, Corvette Racing captured a 1-2 GT Le Mans (GTLM) finish with Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner scoring the win in the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, and Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia finishing second in the pole-winning No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Additionally, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPI.R team with drivers Felipe Nasr and Pepo Derani, won the July 18th running of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring DPI class and overall with the Konica Minolta Cadillac finishing second and the Mustang Sampling Cadillac coming in third to complete the podium sweep.

KANSAS STARTING LINEUP
The format for Thursday’s NCS event continues on as a one-day show with no practice and no qualifying. Owner points and a random draw have again set the starting lineup. Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:

6th Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Adam’s Polishes Camaro ZL1 1LE
9th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
11th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
14th Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDelivery Camaro ZL1 1LE
15th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Austin Dillon, No. 3 American Ethanol Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Victory Junction Camaro ZL1 1LE
20th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE

TUNE-IN
NBCSN will telecast the 267-lap race live at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 23rd. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 5th IN STANDINGS
“To me, Kansas feels like such a small mile and half compared to some of the other ones we go to. I just feel like the corners are sharper than some other places and with it being progressively banked, the top side is going to continue to become dominant. I think in a way, it’s going to turn into Homestead in some situations and as time goes on. The way the corners are shaped, it’s kind of small and that top groove having more banking than the other ones as you move down the track is going to make it a top-dominant racetrack. Typically, those tracks put on good shows, so I expect it to age really well. I look forward to racing there this weekend. It is a fun track.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/ADAM’S POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS
“I am definitely excited to get back to Kansas this week. That track was pretty good to us last year and I still think we should have gotten the win there in the spring. Kansas is pretty similar to Chicago, so I think it sort of fits my driving style. We have had some bad luck here lately and things just haven’t fallen into our hands. Hopefully we can turn that around on Thursday when we get to a track that I feel really does fit my driving style.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGS
TALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM YOU HAVE HEADING INTO KANSAS SPEEDWAY FOLLOWING A BIG WIN AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.
“Texas Motor Speedway is another mile‑and‑a‑half. Our cars have competed well on mile‑and‑a‑half’s. My teammate, Tyler Reddick, had a pretty good run at Kansas Speedway last year when he made his first NASCAR Cup Series start at the track. My current crew chief, Justin Alexander, was Tyler’s crew chief for that race so we have some good data from that run that we can utilize on Thursday night. I definitely feel like we have momentum, and we can take some chances and try some things now that maybe we wouldn’t have tried if we weren’t locked into the Playoffs.”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO WIN IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES?
“You have to execute. We’re doing that much better this year than last year. I’ve studied other drivers, such as Brad Keselowski, who don’t always have the best car but make it happen when it counts. They are constantly battling for track position even if they don’t have the best car. We’re trying to do more of that and put ourselves in more situations to run up front so that we’re comfortable running up there and can make your own race at the end. You have to be aggressive in this sport to win races. I’ve noticed that a lot of the great guys are doing it. We were aggressive with our call at Texas Motor Speedway, maintained our position and won the race.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 16th IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON KANSAS SPEEDWAY.
“I think Kansas is closer in relation to Charlotte with the amount of grooves it has and the ability you have to make the outside lane work. I think that outside lane is the preferred groove as the race goes along there. In terms of the track surface though, it’s similar to Texas with how smooth it is. It’s starting to get some grain to it and some character though the more we race there. It’s a great track though honestly. I think it’s one of the best mile-and-a-half tracks we have on the schedule to race at.”

BYRON ON MID-WEEK RACES.
“I’m definitely getting used to us having races coming rapidly around the corner and I really like it. It keeps my brain active and really myself in general. It doesn’t leave me too many days to sit and harp on the previous race or get lax waiting for the next one. I think it’s great to always have another race right around the corner so quickly like we’ve had.”

BYRON ON THE PLAYOFF BUBBLE:
“Right now, it’s all about points for us. We have to have a good week every week in terms of stage points and finishes. We need to work on getting back on the other side of the bubble and building back a buffer now. In my mind you want at least 50 points sitting between you and the cutoff to feel more secure and be able to be more aggressive. We were close to that point a couple weeks ago but the tire issue at Indianapolis and the wreck in Texas really hurt.”

CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
KNAUS ON KEITH RODDEN FILLING IN.
“The No. 24 car has been strong even when the results haven’t shown it. Every week we lay out a pretty in-depth plan of what we’re going to do before we even get to the racetrack, so Thursday will be no different. We have a lot of depth to pull from in this situation at Hendrick Motorsports and I know Keith (Rodden) is more than capable of getting the job done. Keith’s been working with the team the last few races in preparation of this situation and I have all the faith that it will be a solid race for him and the No. 24 team.”

KEITH RODDEN, FILLING IN AS CREW CHIEF FOR THE NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
RODDEN ON SUBBING FOR CHAD KNAUS AT KANSAS:
“I’m super pumped to get to the track again and help out Chad, William, and the No. 24 team. Being present for the birth of your child is important, especially in the world we are in now, that’s a moment you don’t want to take for granted. Myself – and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports – support Chad and his family 100% in whatever they need. I’ve known Chad for years and our communication with each other is great. I’ve also been working with William and the No. 24 team the last couple weeks in anticipation of this moment. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to step in and represent Axalta and Hendrick Motorsports. I want to get the best possible result, but the ultimate goal is to show up to win and bring a trophy back for Chad and his family.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 I AM SECOND CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS
“I think you can take a little bit from Texas Motor Speedway to Kansas this weekend. Honestly, I haven’t thought much about Kansas Speedway yet, but I’m really excited for the race. We have a lot to be excited about at RCR heading into this weekend following that 1-2 finish. All the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LEs are running really well this year, and we have a lot more speed on the intermediate tracks, so I have a lot of hope heading into this race. Kansas Speedway is a place that has been good for both myself and my crew chief, Randall Burnett. I got my first NASCAR Cup Series top-10 finish there last year during my second Cup Series start, and then we finished second in the Xfinity race there later that year. I’m really looking forward to how the race shakes out and how much the lanes will move around. I think a lot of drivers will try to figure out how to run up high on Thursday night, but I’ll be curious how that affects the tire fall-off and maintaining your speed during a run.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 23rd IN STANDINGS
“We’re ready to head to Kansas Speedway this Thursday night. With the way the starting draw has gone, while 25th may not seem like a great starting spot, it’s the best we could have drawn for our bracket so I’m thankful for that. I feel like our cars this year are better than I’ve had on intermediate tracks in the past, and last year at the Kansas night race we were able to lead laps and almost get a top-10 finish. I think a track like Kansas is one of those tracks where we run all over the track and feel comfortable moving around early when we had practice, so being the first cars on track for the weekend doesn’t overly worry me. It’ll be one of those races where your car is going to change throughout the run while the track is changing, and then going from day to night. We just need to keep up with the changes and Brian (Pattie) is great at that, so I’m confident in having a good run tomorrow night in our Kroger Chevrolet.”

RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 BUSH’S BEANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS
“Kansas Speedway Thursday night is a new racetrack on our schedule, and a new way for us to turn our 2020 season around. We’re in a hole, but a few solid races can change that and with Kansas this week, New Hampshire Motor Speedway (one of my favorite tracks) next weekend, I think we have some good tracks ahead of us to put together some strong runs. After the race at Texas Motor Speedway, we’ve been looking at our notes and talking to Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) and Brian (Pattie) to get a good setup in place to gain as many spots as we can before the competition caution at Kansas and then continue adjusting and moving forward. Our BUSH’S Beans copper Chevrolet looks awesome under the lights and I’m looking forward to having a good race Thursday night.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2019): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Drivers Championships:
Total (1949-2019): 31
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016

Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2020 STATISTICS:
Wins: 3
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 1,221
Top-five finishes: 24
Top-10 finishes: 60

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 789 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 717
Laps led to date: 235,527
Top-five finishes to date: 4,038
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,342

Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date

General Motors: 1,123
Chevrolet: 789
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65

Ford: 796
Ford: 696
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59

Toyota: 148
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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
SUPER START BATTERIES 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 22, 2020

RICKY STENHOUSE, JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the challenges of the year thus far, the strengths of the team, having to distance from his teammates during the pandemic, his expectations going forward, and more. Full Transcript:

TALK ABOUT YOUR EXCITEMENT HEADING INTO KANSAS THIS WEEKEND
“Obviously starting 25th, and losing a spot there, in points, was obviously the best we could start, so I’m thankful for that draw. We’ve got a lot of work to do as far as points go. Luckily, there are a lot that are close to us. And, Kansas can be one of those race tracks where I feel like we can get some Stage points and get a good finish. I was actually a couple of minutes jumping on here (the call) because I was watching the Kansas race from earlier last year when we ran that night race. And, we were really good. We took the lead and I feel like our cars this year are probably better on the 1.5-miles than what I’ve had in the past, and so I feel like we can have good strong run at Kansas. We learned some things at Kentucky that I felt like translated over to Texas and we were much better at Texas than we were at Kentucky. I got caught in that wreck on the front straightaway, but I felt like our speed in our Kroger Camaro was really good. So, I’m looking forward to getting to Kansas and trying to crawl our way back up in the points.”

HOW IS THE MOOD AT JTG DAUGHERTY RACING SINCE OBVIOUSLY IT’S BEEN A PRETTY FRUSTRATING MONTH OR TWO?
“Yeah, for sure. I was thinking back earlier today, Pocono was kind of uneventful for us and we were average. I felt like we learned things for Indy and then we never really got a shot to try that and see how our car was going to be at Indy with the pit road accident. Going to Kentucky, we were really loose and had our issues. And then at Texas I felt like we had a car capable of running around 10th to 12th. I think we were up to 14th and slowing getting our track position and then got caught in that wreck on the front straightaway; not to mention, both of us got caught in that wreck. At the Bristol All-Star race, we definitely weren’t as good as what we wanted to be, but looking back at the Bristol race earlier this year we were really good around the top of the race track, and that never really came in until very late into that All-Star race. I wasn’t there for the Open, but yeah, it’s been a little bit frustrating, but everybody is still working hard. I feel like we know what we’re capable of. We’ve just got to have things work out just a little bit better for us. I feel bad for Ryan (Preece) because this has kind of been his whole season of having good runs going and things happen. For us, we were both in that same wreck on pit road at Indy and then we were both in the wreck on the front straightaway at Texas. So, it’s pretty frustrating, but our speed is where we want it to be, and I’m looking forward to building on that speed at Kansas.”

THIS WEEKEND, CUP WILL BE THE FIRST CARS ON THE TRACK, SO YOU WON’T HAVE OTHER SERIES ON THERE TO CLEAN IT OFF. WHAT’S THE CHALLENGE IN THAT TYPE OF SITUATION AND HOW DOES THAT IMPACT THINGS EARLY IN A RACE?
“I think in places like Kansas that we run all over the race track and feel pretty comfortable moving around early-on like if I think back to practices and things like that. We all move around and are capable of getting the track kind of cleaned off. I think a lot of the drivers, we were watching the Kentucky race and a lot of the drivers voiced their opinions to everyone at NASCAR to make sure that they got the track cleaner because we all felt it was pretty dirty for the Xfinity guys, especially out of the groove on the bottom of the race track for whatever reason. So, I know NASCAR is probably going to be working hard to make sure that the track is clean and good to go. But, Kansas is one of those race tracks where I don’t feel like you’re worried about being the first cars on the race track, but that being said, I feel like your car will change from the very first run of the race to the end of the race.”

WITH YOUR DIRT BACKGROUND, CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT WE’VE SEEN KYLE LARSON DOING? IT SEEMS LIKE EVERY NIGHT HE’S RACING, HE’S WINNING A RACE, WHETHER IT’S OUTLAWS OR MIDGETS OR WHAT HAVE YOU. WHAT HE HAS DONE THIS SUMMER IN VARIOUS CARS AND LEVELS OF COMPETITION?
‘I think a lot of people look at it as oh, he’s going to a lower series and running and dominating. That’s not the case at all. These people, the teams and competitors that he’s racing against are the best of the best in those divisions. In the Midgets and USAC we battled hard and he came out on top. I look at watching him, he’s raced throughout Pennsylvania and raced against our Outlaw teams and what he’s doing is tough to do. It’s not only when you look at the feature wins. I’ve been racing Sprint Cars over the last few weeks and just thinking back to winning heat races, qualifying first, winning features, battling for wins; he ran second last night and had a really good shot to win. It’s impressive. And, I don’t think you’ll see many people be able to go do that in a USAC Midget, in Pennsylvania, with the Outlaws; there’s just so much that goes into Sprint Car racing and what him and Paul Silva have built together and the speed that they have is pretty fascinating to watch and kind of unreal.”

ARE THERE SURPRISES IN THIS SEASON? YOU HAD SUCH HIGH ASPIRATIONS BUT IT’S DEFINITELY BEEN A CHALLENGE FOR EVERYBODY. ALL THE DRIVERS ARE TALKING ABOUT IT. WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND?
“I think for us, going to a new team and just getting that chemistry down; I still haven’t seen all my guys on my team on a consistent basis because we don’t send everybody to the race track. A lot of our guys are staying back at the shop. I’ll go to the shop and sit in my car, but only when the road crew guys are there that I see on the weekends. And so, that’s been kind of a struggle. At the beginning of the year, I was at the shop a lot and able to kind of be around everybody, but when you’re doing things with limited people, I think we saw some struggles at the beginning of getting back racing that cost us some points and some good finishes. But I felt like we’ve rebounded well and had some strong runs. There’s times that you struggle when you get to a race track like Kentucky, I felt like we struggled a little bit. We were a little too loose and never could really get a handle on the race car in the race. That’s something that like during practice, we could have gotten a hold of and made our cars better. But everybody else has that opportunity that if you practice, to do that same thing. So, I don’t really know if your position really changes a lot but everybody gets that opportunity. So, it’s been interesting to just show up to the race track and go racing, but it’s also been kind of enjoyable because I’ve been able to run some Sprint Car races with my dad and our friends back home that help us on our cars and that’s been fun, too. I haven’t gotten to race with my dad in a long time with him being the crew chief and me racing. So I’ve had a lot of fun doing that and it looks like I’ll be able to do that a little bit more throughout the season.”

ARE THERE DAYS WHEN YOU FEEL VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE YOUR CREW CHIEF, BRIAN PATTIE WITH YOU? I CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE GOING TO A NEW TEAM WITH ALL OF THIS IF YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE CONSISTENCY OF A CREW CHIEF THAT YOU KNOW.
“Yeah, it’s been great having Brian. Obviously, he’s learning a new team and new cars as well. This time period that we’re in right now obviously would probably be a lot easier if we were still together at our former team just knowing the car over the last few years and kind of knowing all the ins and outs of it. Those are things that Brian, as a crew chief, had to learn kind of the hard way with a few things, and then myself also, having to learn some of those things. We know what balance trim that we like at these race tracks, but that was based off of our old race car. Now you’ve got a different one. Sometimes things don’t correlate and transition over as smoothly. But, I’m definitely glad to have him over in my corner. I think he’s one of the best out there and I know that the more time he has on the race cars, the better we’re going to be.”

YOU AND CHRIS BUESCHER HAVE HAD VERY SIMILAR SEASONS THUS FAR AT THE HALFWAY POINT REGARDING THE SEAT SWAP. WHAT ARE SOME NOTABLE DIFFERENCES YOU’VE SEEN DURING YOUR STAY AT JTG DAUGHERTY, AND WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR?
“For me, I see a lot of opportunity to get more top 5’s and top 10’s, especially on these 1.5-mile race tracks. I feel like our cars are really good there. Looking back at getting back to Bristol, I feel like we still have a shot to win at Bristol, a better shot that probably I would have had before. I feel like that car that I had there, earlier in the year was one of my best. We still have room for improvement on landing the balance that we want at some of these race tracks, but I definitely see a lot of opportunity to run more consistent and further to the front than what we have so far this year. And, I’m excited for it. I believe in everybody at JTG Daugherty Racing. They’re working hard and they’re pumped-up and excited for the speed that we’ve had so far. People probably thought we’d kind of struggle for speed given all the circumstances and switching seats and teams and all that, but I feel like we probably on one hand, a few times this year have probably exceeded expectations and kind of surprised people. And then on the other hand, we’ve got to get more consistent with that. So, I’m looking forward to the second half of the year, for sure.”

IN THE OLD DAYS, NASCAR HELD TWO RACES A WEEK. DO DRIVERS LIKE TO SEE THAT?
“I liked the doubleheader that we ran a Pocono. I’m looking forward to doing that at Michigan and Dover as well. I like racing as much as I can. And, any time you give an athlete, a team, an opportunity to go back to the race track the next day and do things different, that’s what we all wish we could do. And now you kind of get that opportunity to turn around. At Pocono, we weren’t great. We were average at both races. And we did things totally different at both races just trying to learn. I felt like we did learn. And we tried to take that to Indy because Indy was somewhat similar as far as long straightaways and the flat corners. So, we were able to learn those two races. And then you have two people battling it out both days. One came out on top one day and the other did the next day and that was pretty cool to see. I hope we keep that when we look forward on to different schedules and things of that nature.”

IT SOUNDS LIKE NASCAR IS EXPERIMENTING TO TAKE SOMETHING GOOD OUT OF THIS COVID-19 PANDEMIC
“Yeah, I think NASCAR has done a great job with trying different things. No practice. Showing up and racing. It shows that we don’t need all the practice and the full three days that we used to always get. And NASCAR has been kind of shrinking that anyway. But now, I think it shows that we’re capable of doing it without it. I think some of us would still like a little bit of practice and qualifying, but nothing that you couldn’t do in the same day. And then also the back-to-back races, the Wednesday race, as long as the fans keep tuning in, obviously they can’t show up like we would want them to or be able to, but if they keep tuning in, who knows what it will hold for our schedules in years to come.”

YOU REALLY HAVEN’T GOTTEN TO SEE MOST OF THE TEAM WITH THE PANDEMIC, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THIS TEAM IS CAPABLE OF, SO ITS KIND OF LIKE THE ODDS ARE STACKED AGAINST YOU GUYS WHEN YOU GO TO A NEW TEAM WITH EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENED THIS YEAR. DO YOU CHALK THIS UP AS JUST A BUILDING YEAR TO TRY TO GET TO WHERE YOU KNOW YOU CAN BE? OR, IS THERE STILL A PRIORITY IN FOCUS ON TRYING TO WIN RACES AND BE IN THE PLAYOFFS?
“Yeah, we’re definitely building toward next year. When the news came out that we would still be running these cars, you’re still learning a lot and trying to make sure that going into next year you have your best foot forward since we’re not switching cars. So that, for one, we’re still learning and trying to get everything aligned for next year, but there’s still opportunities. When you look back at this weekend in Texas, I felt like we were a 10th or 12th place car. When my teammate and I got in that wreck, we landed; we flew back early, obviously, both out of the race; and we landed, and I heard the No. 3 team (Austin Dillon) won. And, I’m like dang. We out ran them all race. So, there’s opportunities. You’ve just got to keep fighting. You never know how these races are going to play out. You’ve just got to keep putting yourself in position. I feel like we have speed that we can run inside the top 10 at these 1.5-mile tracks. And if you’re inside the top 10, you never know what will happen (with) race strategies and different pit calls. We’ve still got Daytona there, looming in the future that it would be cool to win, and you’d put yourself in the Playoff there. So, we’re still working hard and looking for wins as well.”
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 – Erik Jones
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

KANSAS CITY (July 22, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones was made available to media via videoconference in advance of the race at Kansas Speedway:

ERIK JONES, No. 20 Reser’s ‘Thanks Employees’ Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What are you planning for your off-weekend during this pandemic?

“It’s a little different. I’m actually heading back to Michigan and it’s my best friend’s wedding so I’m the best man there. Going back to that. A little bit different wedding than what we all were planning on, but still going to get to do it. Little different, but it’s definitely nice to have this coming up. We’ve been working really hard between the doubleheader races and the Sunday and Wednesday races, it’s really been busy for everybody. For the drivers, for the teams – it’s nice to have an off-weekend coming up.”

Will you focus more on stage points to get one of the final Playoff spots or continue to focus on getting the race win?

“It’s a fine balance. We obviously need to get some points and had two guys behind us in points jump us and get wins to get in the Playoffs. That makes things a little bit trickier and kind of put us in a worse spot. I think looking at it, if we can top-five it each week in the next eight races, I feel comfortable about pointing our way in. I don’t think we need anybody to have mistakes. The worst case would be having another person behind us in points win and jumping us again, that would put us in a pretty tough spot. Winning is the goal, but I think we do have to focus a little bit on stage points coming up, especially with some of the wild card races. We’ve got the Daytona road course, we’ve got the Daytona oval obviously as the regular season ender. Those are two races you kind of have to prepare for and try to stack some points up for so if things go wrong there, you have a cushion. Obviously, we would just love to win and I think we could do that tomorrow night. We definitely need to get some points heading in our direction too and some of that is going to have to be from stage points.”

What do you remember about your first career Cup Series start at Kansas Speedway in 2015 when you filled in for Kyle Busch?

“It was obviously a really cool experience. I think I had not been 18 very long and got the call that I was going to get to fill in at Kansas maybe a week and a half before that. It was an awesome experience for me. I had never really driven a Cup car much before I filled in at Bristol a little before that in the middle of the race in the 11 car and then getting the call to do that was cool. My first full Cup weekend, getting to practice and everything. I remember we were really fast. We led a practice and had a good qualifying run up in 12th and ran strong all day. I think we were up in the top-five when we crashed. It was a really cool day just to get out there and race with all those guys for the first time. I hadn’t raced with all the Cup guys other than the guys that had spent a lot of time in the Xfinity races. Getting out there and having the opportunity I had to race against Jeff (Gordon) and Tony (Stewart) and all those guys, that was really cool and just a weekend I’ll never forget. I was super busy that weekend. I was running trucks as well so it was a double-duty weekend for me and that was cool. I think my first double-duty weekend I really ran involved in the Cup Series. That was a cool experience as well.”

How do you feel about your chances at Kansas tomorrow night?

“I think I look at the next few races and Kansas is probably a great opportunity for us to win and it’s a place we’ve run really strong. Last year we ran really well there and had a shot I felt like to win, if the race had played out a little bit differently for us. I think it will be the same tomorrow. I really feel confident about the cars we’ve had at Kansas the last few years, especially in the night races that we’ve had there. Last year, the night race was our best race. I’m looking forward to it. It’s definitely been tough this year, the competition has really changed their game plan a lot and is doing similar things that I feel like JGR as done over the last year that made us really good wit this package. The competition has kind of caught onto that and done some similar things to really make their cars or building their cars a little bit different. It’s been tougher to race and tougher to pass. The opportunities for differences between speed and cars is less it seems like this year so it’s hard to make your way through the field. I think Kansas is a cool place just because it’s so wide and there’s so many options. That’s the thing this package needs, you need to be able to get clean air and go to different lanes. Kansas has that so that’s what I really enjoy about it.”

With these races stacked up and the heat in the Texas race, where are you physically in your recovery to get ready for Kansas?

“I feel good. I would say the Indianapolis wreck was definitely hard on the body. I was a little sore after that one, but feeling good now from that. I feel good. The Texas race was tough, it was hot. I didn’t feel bad during the race or even really after the race, but I definitely sweat a ton. I realized that after I got out of the car and got back home that night and was just trying to drink a bunch of fluids and even the next day I wasn’t totally rehydrated. It’s hard to keep up, especially when we go from the race Sunday to now racing again tomorrow night. It’s not easy to keep up with your hydration through that.”

What are the emotions when you see drivers behind you in points get race wins making your Playoff situation more dire?

“It’s frustrating when you see it because you know it’s worst case for our situation. Guys behind us in points, when they win, it just bumps us farther out and gives us a bigger deficit to make up. I was obviously really happy to see Cole (Custer) win, he’s a good buddy of mine and that was pretty cool. At the same time, it’s frustrating because he bumped us a little farther out. It’s tough. You try not to think about it too much, but when you get down to the situation, there’s eight races left to go in the regular season and we have some points to make up so you have to focus on it. It’s unfortunate because we were in a similar spot last year and we were able to go win Darlington there with a couple races left in the regular season, which was awesome, but it’s not fun having to be in that spot again. Hopefully, we can go out and continue to run. I felt like Texas was a good day for us and just having a smooth day and something where nothing went wrong, we didn’t have any crazy penalties or get in a wreck or blow a tire so that was nice. Just needed a smooth day and that’s what we had. I think if we can keep doing that, I see no reason why we can’t for sure top-10 all these next eight and even top-five a few here and contend for a win. I know some of these tracks are going to be really strong for us. It is frustrating though when you see those guys behind you jump you in points when they win.”

Is there more pressure or frustration when you’re in contract negotiations or does your resume speak for itself?

“I think it’s a little bit of both. It’s a performance industry and we’ve been able to make the Playoffs the last two years. I feel confident still that we’re going to make them this year. It’s frustrating when you’re in that spot and I don’t feel like all of what we’ve done to be in this spot is our own doing. We’ve had some bad races that things just didn’t go our way. Some of it has been our fault. I think it’s a combination of both. You feel the pressure and you want to get in the Playoffs and you want to perform for your team, for your sponsors and for everybody. But you hope that you can look over the course of your career and some of the things you’ve done over the last three years are going to add into that as well. I don’t think four or six races decide the fate of your career by any means and I’ve had a really good relationship with JGR for quite a few years now. I put probably the most pressure on myself. I wouldn’t say JGR ever comes to me and asks questions or questions why you’re in this spot. They see the same things we do and the same things we struggle each weekend and why we’re in this spot. People aren’t blind to that. The pressure I would say comes from me. I just want to run well, I want to content, I want to win races, I want to be in the Playoffs, I want to contend for championships. That’s the goal so that’s what we have to keep working towards.”

How difficult has the lack of practice and qualifying been to have to rely on the random draw and what are the challenges to get the setup right when you unload?

“Both are really tough. I think not qualifying has been a bummer because I know going to Kansas, we could start better than wherever we’re going to draw, which is going to be from 13th on back to 24th, or somewhere in there. That part is frustrating and you wish you could go out and qualify because I know we can qualify up in the top-10 at a lot of these places. We could qualify better than where we’ve been starting. That’s tough and then not having practice is tough too because you have to hit it so perfect off the truck. There are so many weekends when you do and we have. There’s some races where I feel like we’ve been really close at the start of the races, but the days where you unload and it’s tough, I can point to a couple – maybe Martinsville is one that really pops up in my head where we unloaded and we just weren’t good. We couldn’t fix it. You can’t fix it over the course of the race and you can’t come in and change shocks or springs or nose weight. It’s hard when you have a limited number of adjustments. You can only really change wedge and panhard bar. That makes it a pretty small box to work in when you’re trying to change things under a race condition. That’s the tough part to me. There’s been days in practice where we unload and I feel like we don’t change anything and we’re pretty good. Some days, you’re thankful you have that practice and have two 50-minute sessions to work through, get your car better and at the end, you can really come through a lot stronger and plus it gives you the opportunity, having practice, you know what the track is going to do from practice to the race. You can really adjust your car to get it driving the way you need to for the race and that’s an advantage as well. It has been tougher.”

How excited are you for the doubleheader in Michigan?

“I’m excited. Racing at Michigan is always cool and I just love having the opportunity to win at the home track. That place is only an hour-and-a-half from where I grew up so it would be an awesome place to win at. I can’t think of one much cooler, excluding crown jewel races. The double header was actually really smooth at Pocono. We had a tough weekend because we got wrecked on Saturday so we had to go to a backup car for Sunday and start from the back. That made our day a little longer. The double header I thought went really smooth. It was cool to go out there and race back-to-back days. I felt as a driver it was fun. I enjoyed it and I think Michigan will be the same thing. It’s going to be cool just to go out there and run back-to-back days. I’ll have two opportunities to win at my home track. It’s cool to have two opportunities to win on back-to-back days. We saw it in the Xfinity Series with back-to-back winner on both doubleheader races they had so that would be a cool opportunity and cool thing to do in the Cup Series.”

How weird will it be to not have family and friends at the track in Michigan?

“It’s kind of a bummer because I do get a lot of family out there and usually try to get a setup to where they can hang out and tailgate, that’s always really fun. We usually have 40 or 50 guests come out to that race and watch either from the grandstands or somewhere in the infield and it’s an opportunity for a lot of friends and family that I have to come out and watch a race because they all are from that area and they can’t travel to some of the races that we go to that are farther away. It’s a cool congregation and getting to usually spend the week up there ahead of time visiting friends and family is always a lot of fun and getting to catch up with everybody that I hadn’t seen through the year. When we’re in our season, it’s pretty crazy and we don’t have a lot of time to spend with friends and family so it’s cool to just have an opportunity to catch up with them. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to have as much this time. It’s definitely a bummer in a lot of ways, but I guess the other side of it, I understand why we don’t have fans there. I wish we could, but hopefully next year we can come back and have fans back in the stands.”

Do you think the lack of practice is hurting you after only four years in the series?

“I think you lose a little bit. Like I talked about, it’s just a thing where we go to a lot of these places and I know what the track is going to do through the weekend and going into the race. If it’s a night race, I know what to do in the daytime to have my car driving good at night and Chris (Gayle, crew chief) knows that as well. It definitely hurts it because you rely on so much on simulation now going into the weekend and hoping that you’re getting it right. Our simulation is good, don’t get me wrong and there’s times where we have hit it right on the head. It would just be nice to get some laps on the track. Even if you unload and you’re really close, there’s still things you can do to optimize. Whether it’s getting heights better, tuning on the car, trying different packages – there’s always something that you can improve on. I feel like there’s definitely been weekends it’s hurt us. I thought Texas it did hurt us a fair amount. I felt like we could have been a lot better. We ran decent. Sixth-place is good for us, but I felt like that’s been one of our stronger tracks and it’s because in practice we can really work and make our car a lot better. I know in practice what I need my car to do to be good in the race and it was lacking a lot of things I always really look for at Texas that makes us fast in the race. It does hurt. I think it’s hurt some more than others. I’m kind of right in the middle of the road. It’s what we’ve got and we’re dealing with it the rest of the year and everybody is on the same plan. We’ve got the continue to try to optimize it.”

Do you agree with Kyle Busch that the JGR cars don’t currently have enough speed?

“I think we’re behind a little bit maybe. Obviously, we’re not as dominant as we were last year. I think anybody can point that out. I don’t think we’ve lost any speed, I think the rest of the guys have just caught up and caught onto some of the stuff that we were doing last year that made us really fast. It’s harder. You have to run your car harder. I think last year we always had so much speed in reserve that we were able to go out and kind of take it easy through the day and put ourselves in position to have a chance to win it seemed like all the time. This year, it’s definitely a little bit different. You don’t have practice optimized so sometimes you’re kind of on a razors edge of really hitting it right and really missing it. That makes it tough, but everybody is so close on speed, its really hard to pass. Texas was really challenging to pass. Kentucky was really challenging to pass because everybody is running really similar speeds and the PJ1 has kind of made those places one groove and it’s definitely been more of a challenge to pass with the PJ1 down. You really have to get your car handling good in the bottom grooves. Sometimes the bottom groove doesn’t come in right away either. It’s definitely harder this year. I don’t know that we’ve lost speed, I think everybody else has gotten a little faster. I know we’re working and we’re trying to get stuff better. It’s definitely tough with everything going on right now. You can’t really do some of the same stuff you do to try to improve your car in a normal year so it’s kind of tough to work through all that.”

What do you need to improve on as the Playoffs approach?

“I think we’ve been working hard. I think some of it has been mistakes on our end. Some of it has just been things we can’t control. I think Texas was a good example of just having a smooth weekend. We’ve been making some changes with our pit crew to try to continue to improve there and I think we’ve been getting better each week. I think it’s just a matter of not making mistakes. Texas, we just went out and had a mistake-free day. We didn’t make any mistakes on pit road. I didn’t make any on the race track, no penalties and that’s what we need. If we can keep having smooth and consistent days like that, we’re going to run top-10, top-five every week and if you can run up there in the top-five, wins are going to come. We’ve seen it the last few races where the 41 (Cole Custer) and the 3 (Austin Dillon) win races and they were just up there at the end and had clean air and as good of a chance as anybody to win. We have to put ourselves in those positions and I think we’re adjusting strategy accordingly to what it’s going to take to get clean air because that seems to be what’s really important at the end of these races. We had four tires at the end, but I wasn’t really going anywhere with it. The guys up front took two tires or no tires. We have to adjust accordingly to that and play our races more on that side of things and take some more risks probably to get up front at the end and give ourselves a shot to be on the front row and have clean air for those late-race restart to see if you can hold them off.”

What do you think of the Daytona road course and Daytona oval as deciding factors for the final Playoff spots?

“It’s going to be interesting. I’ve never made any laps on the Daytona road course and it sounds like things are kind of changing daily with what we’re going to run there. Trying to figure all that out right now and with no practice there, it’s going to be really tough. We will have to do a lot of simulator time and get in with TRD and try to take advantage of that. Hopefully, that will get us enough of a footprint to be able to go out there and lean on when we make our first few laps around there. Then obviously the last race of the regular season being at the Daytona oval is going to be just wild with guys making last ditch efforts to get a win and put themselves in the Playoffs. Throwing big blocks and making crazy moves and seeing a lot of wrecks probably. I hope we’re in a good position by the time we get to that point because it’s going to be pretty wild.”

Looking forward, would you prefer to continue with two races in a week or revert back to one race per week?

“I really don’t mind the two races in a week as long as we can find a way to continue to make it not a killer on teams and travel and stuff, I think it’s been fine. I look at the season and what we’ve been able to do here over the last two or three months, squeezing the races that we’ve done proves we can do it. I think ending the season a little bit earlier in the year has been something we’re trying to kind of work towards anyways. If that’s what it takes to do it, I would be all for it. If we can end the season a few weeks earlier, it that means some doubleheaders or mid-week races, I think that would be fine. I haven’t had a problem with it. It’s definitely more strenuous and busy as a driver, but I think it’s fun to run that many races back-to-back, especially if you have a bad race on Sunday, it’s nice to get to go back Wednesday or Thursday and try it again and get that monkey off your back really quick.”

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