NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
ROUND OF 16: ELIMINATION RACE
TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING REPORT
SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

Allmendinger Puts Chevrolet on the Pole at Bristol Motor Speedway

• For the first time this season, AJ Allmendinger topped the NASCAR Cup Series’ qualifying leaderboard – posting a best-lap of 15.177 seconds, at 126.930 mph, in his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to claim the pole position for tomorrow’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• This marks Chevrolet’s 11th pole win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, with Allmendinger becoming the seventh driver from the fourth different Chevrolet organization to drive the manufacturer to a pole-winning lap in 2025.
• The feat – Allmendinger’s fifth all-time in his NASCAR Cup Series career – marks Kaulig Racing’s first-ever pole triumph on an oval configuration in the division.
• The top-10 of the starting lineup for tomorrow’s Round of 16 elimination race will see eight playoff contenders, including a pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron, who drove their Chevrolet-powered machines to fifth- and seventh-place qualifying efforts, respectively.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP
POS. DRIVER

1st – AJ Allmendinger
5th – Kyle Larson
7th – William Byron

Chevrolet’s season statistics heading into the 29th NASCAR Cup Series race of the season:

Wins: 12
Poles: 11
Top-Fives: 54
Top 10s: 115
Stage Wins: 22

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – Pole Winner Quotes

You told me a couple weeks ago that as long as you’re having fun and Matt Kaulig wants you to do this, you’re going to keep doing this for him in some capacity. Are days like this the reminder that it is still fun for you?

“Yeah, I know it’s Friday night qualifying and at the end of the day, that doesn’t pay any points or money, but it’s small victories like this for our race team that’s continually trying to grow. I’ve been super proud of all the men and women at Kaulig Racing this year. It’s tough in the Cup Series. Sometimes the results don’t show speed that you’re bringing to the racetrack and at a racetrack maybe that we ran 28th at last year, we run 15th this year, things like that.

So, yeah, days like today are enjoyable and gives me confidence because I feel like I can still do it. And at the end of the day, anybody that knows me knows I’m by far the hardest on myself and I’m always going to be like that. That’s never going to change. So, days like today are important to me, as well, because it proves that I can be here.

You talked about how much work has gone on behind the scenes. Do you feel like this team is making gains, even if it’s incremental to get closer to where you want to be?

“Yeah, I mean, you take Darlington two weeks ago; to go run top-five at Darlington, a racetrack that I’ve never been amazing at. The only thing that’s been tough this year is some of the races that we’ve had a lot of speed at, and a lot of teams can say this I’m sure, but the ones that we’ve been really quick at, we’ve had some bad things happen really out of our control. So, sometimes you don’t get those results and it’s hard to go back to the shop and smile about it and know that you’re making progress. But at the end of the day, we’ve made a lot of progress over the last two years of me driving the Cup car of the speed that we got. Matt Kaulig has put a lot more resources into it. Obviously, Chris (Rice) has got a lot of work on his plate between the Xfinity side of it and the Cup side of it. With Ty (Norris) here and then Mike Cook being here as our competition director. So, yeah, we’re making progress. We know we’ve got a long ways to go, but days like today show we can go do it.”

Was there much, if any, tire wear and or fall off? Do you think that’s indicative of what will happen tomorrow?

“We ran 60 laps today. They weren’t all consecutive. We made a couple of changes to make the car better. That’s what gave me confidence going into qualifying. Our last change, I felt like we had a lot of speed.

There is a little bit of fall off, but at least my car was good enough, so it never felt like there was a cliff there of the tires all of a sudden going to hit that cliff and basically unravel or start really falling off. Looking at the tires, they had wear on them, but they weren’t extreme.

It’s like one of those things — in the spring here, we ran 25 laps and it looked like the tires were falling apart. Then we ran 160 on them in the race. So, I’m not sure what to expect. I just think, like anything, if you’ve got a good balance, you can manage the tires.”

The plan is for them to put the PJ-1 back down or reapply it tomorrow early afternoon. Is that what you would want, or do you think you have any preference on what they do?

“I don’t mind it if they reapply it, just more for a consistency’s sake. I think in the past, when they don’t reapply it, you get the Xfinity rubber out there and it starts clumping. You start hitting patches that have grip and then don’t have grip, which makes it real difficult. So, I don’t mind them reapplying it. I think it’s more, just like anything, 500 laps around here, eventually, we’ll get the top rolling. I know we tried in practice there and never could get enough rubber laid down to make a huge difference. But I think the Xfinity cars will get up there pretty quick. I think that’s more important for the racing, is if we get the top line going. I do think, it may not at the beginning of the race, but I do think eventually we’ll get the top lane rolling.”

Do you have a sense of when that top lane will start opening up?

“That’s a good question. I think in that first stage, as the tires start falling off.

I’ve always looked at it — you need the pace to get to a 15.8, 15.9 to start making the top work and make a difference. Anything other than that, it’s tough to get the top rolling fast enough. The first stage, I think it’s 125 laps, 130 laps around there. I would assume that you start getting 70, 80, 90 laps in the run, if you catch traffic or if you just get stuck behind somebody; eventually you have to get up there. As you get more rubber laid down, then it stays consistent up there. I would be shocked if we don’t have guys running the top lane by the end of the first stage and the good cars making it work.”

When you were talking to TV, you made a big point to explain how it’s awesome to get the pole here at Bristol. I was just curious, in your own words, can you expand upon that a little bit?

“I haven’t had a pole in 10 years, I guess. I got told about that (laughs). It’s pretty cool. It’s Kaulig Racing’s first-ever pole on an oval in the Cup Series, I think. It’s a big deal.

Like I said, it’s not something to get — we haven’t won the race. We’re not going to go party tonight and celebrate that we’re on pole. You also can’t just gloss it over and say, it’s just a pole, it doesn’t mean anything. To me, it shows that, on a confidence side of it, on a self-confidence, like, hey, you can still go out there and wheel for a lap and make it happen with the best of them. And then as a race team, it shows like, hey, we can build fast Chevy’s and we can go get it right and we can qualify up front. We got 500 laps and that’s a completely different ball game tomorrow night. We’ll be refocused, but we at least got to celebrate a little bit in the sense of have pride for ourselves. And all the men and women back at the shop, it’s tough to do, and at a place like this especially. So, yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

I know you just talked about Kaulig Racing a little bit and how much it means for you and the organization, but could you talk about how much this means for the future a little bit more, and then also, would you have ever guessed that it was at Bristol?

“To answer the second part of that question — I guess a little bit because we qualified eighth here in the spring, and we had a horrible practice and only ran a couple of laps. So, the speed is there. Now, if you just said Darlington, that would probably be the shocking one to me in qualifying. I’m not a great qualifier at Darlington.

But at the end of the day, like I said, there’s a happy medium. You don’t want to make too much of it because it’s just a pole on a Friday night. But you also don’t want to demote it and say that it doesn’t mean anything because it does. I can tell you the people at the racetrack, the men and women here, were pumped up about it, and I can tell you at the shop, they’re probably over the top about it. So, yes, it means a lot. It’d be even cooler if we could go run inside the top-10 all night, tomorrow night, and maybe have a chance to win.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Night Race Qualifying — Bristol Motor Speedway
Friday, September 12, 2025

Ford Qualifying Results:

2nd – Ryan Blaney
3rd – Austin Cindric
10th – Josh Berry
18th – Brad Keselowski
20th – Ryan Preece
21st – Chris Buescher
22nd – Joey Logano
24th – Zane Smith
26th – Cole Custer
30th – Noah Gragson
34th – Cody Ware
36th – Todd Gilliland
39th – Chad Finchum

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I’m proud of our lap and proud to be starting on the front row. I wish I could have had it back and I’m sure a lot of guys say that. I just got tight in three and four. I feel like my first lap I got through one and two pretty good, and probably got a little greedy into three, a little too high of an arc, a little too much speed and then I tried to jump back to the gas quick and I got tight and I kind of had to burp it for a second. I probably lost a little bit there, but, overall, it was a good day. I think our race car is really good, too, over the long haul and I’m just looking forward to tomorrow night. Hopefully, we can run a good 500 laps and keep up with the racetrack and see what we can do.” HOW COMMITTED DO YOU HAVE TO BE FOR A 15-SECOND LAP AROUND HERE? “It’s wild. You think qualifying, you are pretty much holding your breath the whole lap. There’s a lot of commitment, but it is fun, that’s for sure. Little, tiny points in the racetrack kind of where you place your car on entry and your speed, it can really make or break you. I was just a little off. I was like a foot higher into three than I should have been and lifted probably half-a-car length too late and that’s what it is, but, overall, I’m proud of the effort. To be that close to the pole, it’s a good day.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Bristol has been a pretty difficult qualifying track for me in the Cup Series. However it shakes out, that sets us up with a reasonable shot to continue to execute well for tomorrow night and that’s what’s gonna matter.” STARTING UP FRONT IS A GOOD CHANCE TO GET POINTS IN STAGE ONE, SO THAT’S THE IMMEDIATE GOAL TOMORROW? “Yeah, I think points in both stages are gonna need to be a must for us to really control our destiny and control that gap that we have and any craziness that happens at the end of the race. It’s the first box checked, but nothing is guaranteed from here on out. Still, we’ve done a good job today.” HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO TOMORROW? “I feel like we’ve done our job for Friday. Whatever that means for Saturday is still yet to be seen, but this sets us up well to try and continue to control our destiny for the end of the race.” HOW SOFT OF A CUSHION IS 11 POINTS? “Not really. Essentially, you think of it like 10 spots, so it’s not anything that’s out of the question if you have a problem or have a mistake or something happens or one of the other cars has a really good night or if somebody else wins. That’s the other thing too is you could easily think of the 48 or the 21 or even the 3 car going out and having an excellent day and we’ve got to be prepared for that. We’re close to the guys that are just ahead of us, so we need to go out and have a really great day.” WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE THE BUBBLE GUY GOING INTO AN ELIMINATION RACE? “Call me bubble boy, that’s fine. It’s no different than any other day, really. My job is still the same, just the emphasis on doing it well is more, but it doesn’t mean I can try any harder to change the outcome.” WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THE LACK OF TIRE FALL OFF? “Not at all, no. The temperature in the track, I think tomorrow night will be interesting if it gets really cold out, but, overall, not really. The pace increase and I’d say that’s probably it from today. I think there might be some fall off towards the end of the stints, but nothing like we had here last spring, I don’t think.”

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I thought it was a big improvement from practice. I didn’t feel very comfortable at the start of practice because I was struggling being pretty free, but the guys made some really good adjustments there. I thought we hit a solid lap there, probably left a touch out there with how far we were off to start, but, overall, the guys did a really good job. We should be in the top 15, hopefully, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET FOR TOMORROW? “It really hasn’t changed. Every week we come out here and try to win. We try to do the best job we can every time we’re on the racetrack and that’s gonna be the same tomorrow. We just need to be able to move forward through the race and execute, have good pit stops and just see what happens.”

Toyota GAZOO Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 12, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Friday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Can you try anything in this practice differently since you are locked in to the next round?

“I don’t think so. I think everyone is kind of racing for themselves and their own agendas. Everyone within the teams probably has a little bit of a different agenda if you look at the points positions. Not really. We will just focus on trying to win for us.”

What can you take from this practice if anything? When do you think we will know what the tire will do?

“Well, I think the track has some rubber already. I don’t think there has been any rain since last night, so we have some truck rubber up there. Xfinity in practice, I noticed a few guys starting to run it in. I think if it wears in these conditions, then it probably will wear tomorrow. Your guess is as good as mine. I don’t know. We will kind of wait and see. We will be highly anticipating what that first session does. It could close to the same or entirely different – we just don’t know, but I think whatever you have today – I don’t see a dramatic shift and it changing for tomorrow.”

Does having a win change your approach to this weekend?

“Not really. I think the risks probably changes from inside the car. I don’t know that it changes a whole lot when it comes from set-up, certainly, it kind of depends on what happens with practice, right? If there is dramatic tire wear, certainly, there is some set-up things you can do to make that better, but ultimately, you are just trying to get to lap 500 up front, and with a shot, and I don’t know that changes a whole lot if you have a win or not. I think everyone is going to try to make their cars as fast as they can, and then you make setup decisions based on the tire wear you see to try to make it last that long.”

Is it exciting to you coming into Bristol with the unknowns about the tires?

“It certainly does. None of the teams have tested this tire, that I know of, so there has been no tire test. We are all coming in here pretty cold, and so, I definitely think there is an opportunity to create comers and goers. People that nail the tire setup and those that didn’t. I think there is a higher level of anticipation because of that. “

Do you come in thinking if you run well this weekend that every track is a Joe Gibbs Racing track?

“Certainly, we have a good shot at it. I think that the Gibbs team in general doesn’t have a weak track, but we had weak performances earlier in the year. If you look at Las Vegas, I don’t think any of our cars were fast at that race. I can think of one or two other races in the beginning of the season where we all kind of struggled, and they were all tracks where typically we are pretty strong. I think we’ve hemmed that up a little bit, where we’ve identified some of the philosophies that we did that weren’t right, and so now, certainly, every weekend we go there and one of the Gibbs cars should be in the top-three or so in speed and have a shot to win.”

What do you remember about the Loudon race from last year?

“I don’t have a great recollection of it. It is not part of my mindset totally, quite yet as far as going back and learning track history. Certainly, it is on the forefront of our team and what we are focused on. It is always an interesting track, but that was the first time I remember being on a higher speed oval, I guess we did at Richmond, but on a higher speed oval – with these rain tires and the wet conditions, it was very, very sketchy from my standpoint. I just hope it stays dry from my point.”

Do you anticipate the PJ1 reacting any differently than the past?

“No, it looks very similar to what we’ve had in the past here in races during practice. Probably as the race goes on, it will go through a transition where it actually goes darker, and then it goes lighter by the end of the race as we start picking it up. I will be looking at the Xfinity race to see how that transition is going, but NASCAR and the track has said they’ve applied it the same as they always have, and they always have applied it very similar, so I wouldn’t expect that to be one of the variables that we are chasing.”

Is there any difference on how you go into this race versus how you went into the race last year being below the cutline?

“It was definitely different. I tried to approach each week the same when it comes to my process, but now certainly, your mind plays games with you though. There is certainly a different mindset when you are locked in versus being below the cut or being near the cut, so without a doubt, I’m resting much, much easier this year in the Playoffs in general. I’m way more loose with it, whatever the results are, the results are. So that helps, and on top of that, winning – it just makes me even looser. Certainly, yes, anytime I go into a cut race and I’m close to the cut, I have to pull myself back to not think about the things that I don’t control, and that is typically what I think drivers would say when they get in these scenarios where they are facing elimination – they are worrying about all of the things they can’t control. It is certainly a different mindset.”

How challenging was that to you last year?

“I didn’t let it dominate me for sure, but I just knew that we were good enough. One of the variables if you make cutlines or not is that – are you fast enough? Just on merits or do you need someone to not be as good as they normally are, and then you avoid trouble. Well, when you are fast, you just have to worry about the avoiding trouble part of it – and not the, I also hope we have speed. It made it very easy for me to not have to worry about that last year, because I knew we were going to have one of those covered. The other part is the part you typically worry about. I would say for some that are near the cutline, I think some of them are probably thinking about I hope I have one of those two elements, and you need two to survive.”

What is the load on the car here at Bristol compared to other tracks?

“It does. When Next Gen was first introduced, this was one of the tracks where there was a lot of mechanical failures – mostly in the steering components, and some in the suspension components. A lot of it is because the car loads up so quickly and so hard at this track. It always has taken its toll, and I don’t know how many races we’ve run here, but it always seems like there is always one where the track or the conditions have taken its toll on the car, but beyond that – the driver as well. 1,000 corners you have to run around this place, and you don’t get a whole lot of a break on the straightaways because they are so short. For sure, it takes its toll on all of the above.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Media Availability Quotes:

I know there’s a lot on the line tomorrow night in general, but the Bristol Night Race, what is the atmosphere of this event and competing in it as a driver?

“Sunny, no clouds. Yeah, it’s incredible walking through the tunnel… it never gets old. For me, I equate it to driving through the tunnel at Daytona and driving down to Darlington. But here, it’s pulling up and seeing the stadium and then also walking through the turn three tunnel. It just never gets old. It’s so cool looking up at the banks and then the steepness of the grandstands.

I went up and watched truck practice yesterday in the grandstands and then I was up in the Food City suite for the race. It’s just amazing. Just being here, even if there was no racing, it’s cool and you don’t get that everywhere.”

You’re 19 points above the cutline. What does that do to add to the intensity of this weekend for you and the No. 1 team?

“I think it puts us in a spot where we are fast enough to stay above the cutline, but a failure or an error, it’s easy to hit the wall here. They’ve painted them back to their old all-black. They’re waiting on you if you make a mistake, so we’ve got 500 laps to get through.”

I wanted to ask you about your thoughts on racing at Bristol. You’ve had two of your career three top-10s in the last two races. Do you feel like you’re really figuring out? Do you like this kind of racing, this style of racing?

“Yeah, I love it. I love the track. I love driving up here. I love driving on it, even when I’ve been slow and was really bummed. One of my early races here, I remember I think McDowell spun off of (turn) four and I was running last in the Premium Motorsports car. I piled into Truex and a couple of them. I was like, wait for me, I want to join the wreck. I remember I was so bummed, just because I wasn’t going to get to run a full night race here.

I don’t know if it’s coming together or not, but Phil Surgen (crew chief) has been giving me good race cars here and we need that next step to put us really in contention to try to win. We’ve taken the step to get to the top-10 and we want to keep that going and take the next one.”

You guys have did some behind-the-scenes competition changes not too long ago. Wondering if those are starting to bear fruit at all or is it still too soon?

“I don’t know. I mean, I think that the idea and the direction Justin (Marks) wants to go; appointing Todd Meredith to be boots on the ground every day… wake up, be on the shop floor, upstairs or downstairs at Trackhouse. But to actually execute it… if Justin Marks believes in it, then we’re going that direction. So, we’re going to go that direction.

Has it actually affected the cars? I wouldn’t know a right-front upper control arm if you sat it here on the table. So, I wouldn’t be able to tell. I look at them and I’m like — I mean, I could bolt it together. I could physically do it, but deciding where to bolt it, deciding what spring to put in the right-front, what shock clicks to put in the left-rear shock, what angle to run the diffuser… I don’t know that stuff. So, that’s for Todd to implement the right processes for then him to hire the right people to execute it.

I don’t know. I really don’t. I stay in my swim lane when it comes to that stuff.”

What’s your approach for tomorrow night, in terms of the balance versus being aggressive versus conservative? Because you guys are kind of in that sweet, mushy middle there where you’re smart and you can get through this, you’ll be okay, but you also have to be mindful of everybody else and what they’re potentially doing in terms of points…

“Yeah. Well, we have to finish the race. We have to be rolling at the end, for sure. That’s every race if you want to do good. I don’t want to walk out of here with a sore shoulder (laughs). So, yeah, we have to finish and see. Today will set the tone for how fast we are, right? Long run in practice. How can we qualify? We have actually qualified last here in a Trackhouse car. I hope no other Trackhouse driver ever has to endure that because that was terrible. So, we’ll try to be better than that. Tomorrow, we’ll see where we start and that kind of sets the attitude for how we’re going to approach the start of the race at least.”

From a competitor’s standpoint, when you come into a weekend where there’s unknowns about tires, all that stuff, do you prefer that or would you rather go into a weekend knowing, hey, it’s just a standard Bristol race?

“I don’t think there’s been a standard Bristol race since they built the place. So, yeah, I think it’s always been like this. I think drivers always come in here nervous. I think they were more nervous back in the day because the safety of the cars wasn’t there. We’ve seen that they could literally knock the fence down. I mean, they would punch holes in the gates or whatever, the guardrail. We are in such a better spot. These really are the good old days at Bristol, from a safety perspective, I believe. It’s my opinion. I think drivers have been nervous walking into Bristol since they built it.”

There was a little hubbub this week, not just about you and Shane van Gisbergen, but also some, I think, Chase Elliott and maybe Joey Logano, efforts post-race and then NASCAR making a ruling about those. Anything to say about how NASCAR has decided to enforce what drivers do post-race with the cars?

“No, sir. NASCAR sets the rules. I just ask for the rule book, the schedule and let me go race.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Night Race Media Availability — Bristol Motor Speedway
Friday, September 12, 2025

Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Racing, is in need of a victory tomorrow night to automatically qualify for the Round of 12. Berry is currently 16th in the playoff standings, 45 points below the final transfer spot.

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – ARE YOU HOPING FOR SIGNIFICANT TIRE WEAR TOMORROW NIGHT? “Yeah, I think it would be fun. Obviously, we hopefully, maybe not as drastic as we had the one time, but a little bit of tire wear would definitely make it interesting. I don’t really know what to expect, honestly. It’s a different tire. We don’t really have a lot of information on it. It’s just hard to tell what we’re gonna have, but, generally, I feel like the tire wear is more connected to the surface in the track. We had kind of a unique situation in the spring with not a lot of rubber on the track, cold. I don’t know if it’ll feel much different this weekend.”

WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THE PLAYOFFS SO FAR AND HOW CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE WORKED AGAINST YOU? “Yeah, it’s been disappointing to not get the results, but I feel like we’ve performed fairly well. We went to Darlington and qualified third and felt like we had a good car there. We bottomed out and wrecked on the first lap and then last week I felt like, again, we qualified 12th and felt like we had a solid car. We got into it with the 9 and I felt like each one of those could have been solid top 10s, which really would have been all we needed to be in a much better spot this weekend, so I’m frustrated with the results but I think the performance has been there. I think we’ve done a good job. There’s always room for improvement, but there are still positives to take out of it.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU FEEL LIKE THAT IF IT GOES YOUR WAY YOU CAN WIN TOMORROW NIGHT? “I think we’ve just got to qualify well and execute. We’ve got to do all of the basics. It’s hard to win these races. You don’t go into them expecting to win, but I expect to have a good car and hopefully be in contention and if we execute and give ourselves that opportunity, hopefully we can capitalize on it.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE ENDING LAST YEAR’S LOUDON RACE ON RAIN TIRES AND IN THE DARK WITH A SHOT TO WIN? “It was a lot of fun. I hadn’t really raced in the rain other than a couple times in the Xfinity car, but it was a lot of fun. The track raced well and I thought it put on a good show at the end and we were in the thick of the battle the last closing laps. I’m obviously excited to go back and watch that one this week a little bit more and study it, but it was a great opportunity for us last year. It was a lot of fun and I’m excited to go back there and see how we do.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE RACING IN THOSE CONDITIONS? “Obviously, the biggest thing is just figuring out where the grip is out on the track, which we kind of all split between the apron and the top lane. I think where it got difficult was trying to make passes just as the dry line kind of developed towards the end from what I remember, and trying to run as fast as you can without dipping into the damp part of the track too much. It was a blast. I would be fine if it rained again.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE RACE MOOD WILL BE LIKE TOMORROW WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE? “I don’t know. I think there’s a lot on the line for people. You’ve got people that are just trying to survive and you’ve got people just like us that have to win. It’s still Bristol though, so you never know what could happen. It’s just hard to say. I think it just depends on what we get for the track and how the tires wear, if we get anything like that. It’s hard to say. Ultimately, we need to be able to follow each other closer for it to look like it did a bunch of years ago.”

WHAT IS THE MOOD WITH THE TEAM RIGHT NOW? “It’s frustrating. I mean, everybody is disappointed for sure, but what can you do, really? I look at Darlington and that was a mistake on our part. That was kind of self-inflicted with how hard we hit the racetrack starting the race, but last week I feel like we did a solid job and just was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t know. All of us, a lot of us in this industry have been doing this stuff a long time. There’s highs and lows and you just have to be able to stay in-between and manage it the best you can. I try to do a pretty good job of that and at the end of the day, no matter where you run the week before, you go to work on Monday and get ready for the next race. Now, if we want to advance to the next round we need to win, but we could lead 400 laps Saturday night and blow an engine or have a flat tire and I don’t think any of us on Monday would be disappointed, but we wouldn’t be disappointed in how we ran. The biggest thing is we just need to run well and be in contention on Saturday night and see what happens from there.”

WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE LEARNING ABOUT THE TEAM PENSKE OPERATION AND WORKING WITH THOSE DRIVERS? “It’s all those things. I think just the structure of the organization and how strong that is and I just feel like we’ve gotten into a great routine as a race team with our week-to-week preparation, and obviously being able to lean on Ryan and Joey and Austin is really helpful because these are experienced guys that are very talented and champions of our sport, and being able to lean on them and learn from them and gel with all of those guys has been important to me. I feel like we all get along really well and work together well, so it’s been a lot of fun and I’m excited for these last handful of races. They’re going to be races that I’m going to for the second time with them and hopefully we can see that next step of progression because that’s the difference in where we’re at. These guys have been to these tracks numerous times with the NextGen car with the same crew chief, same team for the most part and for us, myself and Miles we’re still working through that. This is gonna be another one, probably Darlington would have been the only other one that’s an intermediate short track that we’ve been to before, so coming back for a second time we use our notes from the spring and hopefully that will help us continue to grow.”

HOW CHALLENGING HAS IT BEEN WITH THE TIRE CONTINUING TO SOFTEN AND CHANGE? “It’s definitely different. The hardest thing is, like I said, just adapting to a new tire when you go back and knowing what you need from your car and balance. You get a race under your belt and then it’s different when you go back. You’re kind of starting over from scratch, but generally from the race car and how it drives and how it feels, directionally I feel like the way they’re going is improving things and making it feel more normal. I’m all for it and that’s another step in hopefully we’re in the right direction this weekend with the tire they brought and hopefully it races well.”

THE KIDS SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM HERE FOR THIS RACE. IS YOUR DAUGHTER PARTICIPATING? “She’ll be out there. She’s jacked up for it. I guess I’m gonna go watch it and then run and get in my car. I guess that’s the plan. It’s as simple as that, but she’s jacked up. She’s been practicing a little bit, so we’re trying to make sure she gets the words down. She’s excited for it and obviously she loves coming to the racetrack and being a part of MRO. They do a lot for us and she loves it, so she’s excited.”

WHAT’S THE APPROACH THIS TIME KNOWING YOU’RE COMING INTO A CHAOTIC RACE AND YOU BASICALLY HAVE TO WIN TO ADVANCE? “I think it goes back to what I said earlier. I don’t know that you can change that much of what you do. You just go out and try to prepare the best we can, which I feel like we’ve done, and try to execute today and make the right adjustments to our cars and get in the race tomorrow and race and see what happens. We go every week to go win, really. That’s what all work towards week in and week out is to be competitive and to win races, so just because of the situation that we’re in it’s not like we can try extra hard or do something different that we normally wouldn’t do. Maybe there’s a play strategy-wise that we could throw if we felt like we had to, but outside of that it’s about just doing all the little things right and executing a solid night and just giving ourselves the opportunity. That’s all it really amounts to.”

Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Night Race Media Availability — Bristol Motor Speedway
Friday, September 12, 2025

Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Racing, is in need of a victory tomorrow night to automatically qualify for the Round of 12. Berry is currently 16th in the playoff standings, 45 points below the final transfer spot.

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – ARE YOU HOPING FOR SIGNIFICANT TIRE WEAR TOMORROW NIGHT? “Yeah, I think it would be fun. Obviously, we hopefully, maybe not as drastic as we had the one time, but a little bit of tire wear would definitely make it interesting. I don’t really know what to expect, honestly. It’s a different tire. We don’t really have a lot of information on it. It’s just hard to tell what we’re gonna have, but, generally, I feel like the tire wear is more connected to the surface in the track. We had kind of a unique situation in the spring with not a lot of rubber on the track, cold. I don’t know if it’ll feel much different this weekend.”

WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THE PLAYOFFS SO FAR AND HOW CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE WORKED AGAINST YOU? “Yeah, it’s been disappointing to not get the results, but I feel like we’ve performed fairly well. We went to Darlington and qualified third and felt like we had a good car there. We bottomed out and wrecked on the first lap and then last week I felt like, again, we qualified 12th and felt like we had a solid car. We got into it with the 9 and I felt like each one of those could have been solid top 10s, which really would have been all we needed to be in a much better spot this weekend, so I’m frustrated with the results but I think the performance has been there. I think we’ve done a good job. There’s always room for improvement, but there are still positives to take out of it.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU FEEL LIKE THAT IF IT GOES YOUR WAY YOU CAN WIN TOMORROW NIGHT? “I think we’ve just got to qualify well and execute. We’ve got to do all of the basics. It’s hard to win these races. You don’t go into them expecting to win, but I expect to have a good car and hopefully be in contention and if we execute and give ourselves that opportunity, hopefully we can capitalize on it.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE ENDING LAST YEAR’S LOUDON RACE ON RAIN TIRES AND IN THE DARK WITH A SHOT TO WIN? “It was a lot of fun. I hadn’t really raced in the rain other than a couple times in the Xfinity car, but it was a lot of fun. The track raced well and I thought it put on a good show at the end and we were in the thick of the battle the last closing laps. I’m obviously excited to go back and watch that one this week a little bit more and study it, but it was a great opportunity for us last year. It was a lot of fun and I’m excited to go back there and see how we do.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE RACING IN THOSE CONDITIONS? “Obviously, the biggest thing is just figuring out where the grip is out on the track, which we kind of all split between the apron and the top lane. I think where it got difficult was trying to make passes just as the dry line kind of developed towards the end from what I remember, and trying to run as fast as you can without dipping into the damp part of the track too much. It was a blast. I would be fine if it rained again.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE RACE MOOD WILL BE LIKE TOMORROW WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE? “I don’t know. I think there’s a lot on the line for people. You’ve got people that are just trying to survive and you’ve got people just like us that have to win. It’s still Bristol though, so you never know what could happen. It’s just hard to say. I think it just depends on what we get for the track and how the tires wear, if we get anything like that. It’s hard to say. Ultimately, we need to be able to follow each other closer for it to look like it did a bunch of years ago.”

WHAT IS THE MOOD WITH THE TEAM RIGHT NOW? “It’s frustrating. I mean, everybody is disappointed for sure, but what can you do, really? I look at Darlington and that was a mistake on our part. That was kind of self-inflicted with how hard we hit the racetrack starting the race, but last week I feel like we did a solid job and just was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t know. All of us, a lot of us in this industry have been doing this stuff a long time. There’s highs and lows and you just have to be able to stay in-between and manage it the best you can. I try to do a pretty good job of that and at the end of the day, no matter where you run the week before, you go to work on Monday and get ready for the next race. Now, if we want to advance to the next round we need to win, but we could lead 400 laps Saturday night and blow an engine or have a flat tire and I don’t think any of us on Monday would be disappointed, but we wouldn’t be disappointed in how we ran. The biggest thing is we just need to run well and be in contention on Saturday night and see what happens from there.”

WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE LEARNING ABOUT THE TEAM PENSKE OPERATION AND WORKING WITH THOSE DRIVERS? “It’s all those things. I think just the structure of the organization and how strong that is and I just feel like we’ve gotten into a great routine as a race team with our week-to-week preparation, and obviously being able to lean on Ryan and Joey and Austin is really helpful because these are experienced guys that are very talented and champions of our sport, and being able to lean on them and learn from them and gel with all of those guys has been important to me. I feel like we all get along really well and work together well, so it’s been a lot of fun and I’m excited for these last handful of races. They’re going to be races that I’m going to for the second time with them and hopefully we can see that next step of progression because that’s the difference in where we’re at. These guys have been to these tracks numerous times with the NextGen car with the same crew chief, same team for the most part and for us, myself and Miles we’re still working through that. This is gonna be another one, probably Darlington would have been the only other one that’s an intermediate short track that we’ve been to before, so coming back for a second time we use our notes from the spring and hopefully that will help us continue to grow.”

HOW CHALLENGING HAS IT BEEN WITH THE TIRE CONTINUING TO SOFTEN AND CHANGE? “It’s definitely different. The hardest thing is, like I said, just adapting to a new tire when you go back and knowing what you need from your car and balance. You get a race under your belt and then it’s different when you go back. You’re kind of starting over from scratch, but generally from the race car and how it drives and how it feels, directionally I feel like the way they’re going is improving things and making it feel more normal. I’m all for it and that’s another step in hopefully we’re in the right direction this weekend with the tire they brought and hopefully it races well.”

THE KIDS SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM HERE FOR THIS RACE. IS YOUR DAUGHTER PARTICIPATING? “She’ll be out there. She’s jacked up for it. I guess I’m gonna go watch it and then run and get in my car. I guess that’s the plan. It’s as simple as that, but she’s jacked up. She’s been practicing a little bit, so we’re trying to make sure she gets the words down. She’s excited for it and obviously she loves coming to the racetrack and being a part of MRO. They do a lot for us and she loves it, so she’s excited.”

WHAT’S THE APPROACH THIS TIME KNOWING YOU’RE COMING INTO A CHAOTIC RACE AND YOU BASICALLY HAVE TO WIN TO ADVANCE? “I think it goes back to what I said earlier. I don’t know that you can change that much of what you do. You just go out and try to prepare the best we can, which I feel like we’ve done, and try to execute today and make the right adjustments to our cars and get in the race tomorrow and race and see what happens. We go every week to go win, really. That’s what all work towards week in and week out is to be competitive and to win races, so just because of the situation that we’re in it’s not like we can try extra hard or do something different that we normally wouldn’t do. Maybe there’s a play strategy-wise that we could throw if we felt like we had to, but outside of that it’s about just doing all the little things right and executing a solid night and just giving ourselves the opportunity. That’s all it really amounts to.”