Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Quaker State 400 Qualifying | Atlanta Motor Speedway
Saturday, September 7, 2024

FORD DOMINATES ATLANTA CUP QUALIFYING FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT RACE

• Ford has had at least seven drivers qualify in the top 10 in each of the last four Atlanta Cup races.
• Ford has won the last four NASCAR Cup Series poles at AMS (Logano, Almirola and McDowell twice).
• Ford has swept the front row in four straight AMS qualifying sessions (McDowell/Blaney (2024-2), McDowell/Logano (2024-1), Almirola/Blaney (2023-2), Logano/Cindric (2023-1).
• Ford swept the top eight spots in the 2023 spring race.
• Ford swept the top six spots in the 2023 summer race.
• Ford swept the top five spots in today’s qualifying session.
• All three Team Penske drivers have qualified in the top 10 in each of the last four races, including a sweep of the top three spots in the 2023 spring race.
• Team Penske has had at least one driver start on the front row in each of the last four Atlanta Cup races (Blaney, 2024-2; Logano, 2024-1; Blaney, 2023-2; Logano and Cindric, 2023-1)

Ford Performance Results:
1st – Michael McDowell
2nd – Ryan Blaney
3rd – Todd Gilliland
4th – Josh Berry
5th – Austin Cindric
7th – Joey Logano
10th – Chase Briscoe
12th – Harrison Burton
13th – Noah Gragson
17th – Chris Buescher
19th – Brad Keselowski
21st – Ryan Preece
29th – Justin Haley
31st – Cody Ware

POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 3 B’laster Work It Like A Pro Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY? “I think coming in to this weekend we sat on the pole in the spring race early in the season and felt that pressure to come back here and have another shot at it, so we executed our plan well today. As far as what it gives you as an indication for tomorrow, I don’t think it’s a huge indicator of anything other than we have the same speed we did here last time. The good thing for us was in the race our car raced really well and sometimes you trim them out and you get a lot of speed and you’ll get into the race and it’ll just be a handful, but we led a lot of laps, had a really fast car. I thought we had one of the better driving cars, so I don’t feel like we’re compromising anything going into the race with the speed that we have, and it was the same a couple weeks ago in Daytona. I felt like we had one of the fastest cars there, so it’s just about executing and being there at the end and giving yourself a shot at trying to win the race.”

IF SOMEONE TOLD YOU THAT YOU WOULD BE TIED FOR THE SERIES LEAD IN POLES ENTERING THE PLAYOFFS HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND TO THAT? “I would have told you you’re lying. One of the goals for this year, you always set goals and some are super lofty and some are more of just personal achievements that you want to achieve. One of our goals this year was to get a pole. Last year, we had a lot of speed and I don’t know how many times we qualified third and fourth and second. A bunch of times and even led a lot of the first round qualifying, and then would get beat by a little bit going into the second round, so it was a personal thing going into this offseason of really focusing on qualifying and trying to get a pole. It’s an important part of a career and stats and we’ve been close. So, I think that more than anything is when we went to Daytona and we sat on the front row and saw how close we were, that was like, ‘Alright, we’re right there. We just have to do everything we can.’ And then we came to Atlanta and obviously got our first one and it’s kind of spiraled since then. Obviously, predominantly it’s been superspeedways. I did get the pole at Gateway, but what I’m probably most proud of our overall qualifying effort. I don’t know if it’s still the case because Darlington was so bad, but going into Darlington we had the best qualifying average of any Ford team for the season, not just for superspeedways. I think we’ve made it to the second round 12 or 14 times, so I’m proud of the speed that we’re bringing to the racetrack. On the flip side, it’s a little bit of a gut check too because we haven’t got to Victory Lane and we’ve had a decent amount of speed, but it’s hard. It’s hard winning races in the Cup Series. We’ve put ourselves in position several times and haven’t got it done, so we’ve still got 10 more shots at it and that’s how we’re looking at tomorrow and how we’re looking at Watkins Glen coming up. We have really good racetracks in front of us.”

IS THIS A MASTERCLASS OF HOW TO BUILD A TEAM AND GO FROM BUILDING TO WINNING POLES AND RACES? “It’s incredible. Sometimes I think it’s undervalued what Front Row has done and where they’ve come from in the last three or four years to what we’re doing week in and week out. At the other side of it, it’s a compliment that people aren’t really that shocked when we run well or challenge for wins, so it’s going in a good direction. It’s a tremendous amount of work. It’s a tremendous effort by everybody, but we’re still, I don’t want to say small. Bob doesn’t like it when I say small, but we’re still a medium-size team, so to do what we’re doing – not just here, but week in and week out – is a real testament to what hard work and dedication and being resourceful and being efficient can do because I promise you we’re not spending the most and we don’t have the most people, but we have a great group of men and women who fight really hard and this Next Gen car has given us the platform to do what we’re doing. Without that, it would have been a really tough road, but from that point forward we’ve been in the game and I think we’ve done a good job of trying to stay in the game. It’s getting harder and harder. It always does, like when you have the big powerhouse teams they always figure it out a little bit better as time goes on and you see that with Hendrick and with Gibbs and some of the other teams that are consistently fighting for those wins week in and week out. They’ve separated themselves a little bit, but we’re still in the game and this car has given us that opportunity.”

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THE START OF QUALIFYING? HOW DO YOU FOCUS ON THOSE LAPS? “Two parts. For these weekends that do not have any practice, you do a lot of preparation as silly as it sounds because you’re just going around holding it wide-open and hitting your marks and your shifts, but because you don’t have that warm-up, so to speak, you have to get everything right the first time, so there is a lot of pressure to do that. You study and you execute your plan, and then on race day, more than anything, the preparation that you do during the week of which line you’re going to choose if you do get the pole, which lanes had momentum and what the handling and the balance did and how you have to move around. You do all of that leading up to it and then when you get in you just get laser focused on the task in front of you and you switch gears. The switching gears part is pretty fun because all the way up to the race you’re signing autographs and you’re doing interviews and it’s not that you’re not in the game, but you can’t be. You’re not locked in and then you get in the car and you click the belts and then all of a sudden it’s like a switch, it’s like a mode and you just get laser focused and locked in. It’s a cool feeling. It’s an adrenaline rush. I don’t know if it’s the same for everybody. Some guys will probably hear that and be like, ‘What? This guy is taking his job way too serious,’ but, to me, it’s awesome when you get in that locked in zone and you’re ready to go.”

WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE TO BE UP FRONT TOMORROW AND CONTEND FOR THE WIN? “It’s tough when you’re the pole-sitter because you’re trying to control the race and you’re trying to control the runs, but you’re also the sitting duck that people are building runs on and dragging back and building momentum. The last time here, I kind of let the first part of that race play out, but wanted to stay near the front in those first two rows, but you need to learn what your car is gonna do and balance and all that. We were able to win the first stage here in the spring race, so I felt like our car drove well and we did what we needed to do, so, to me, it’s more about just keeping yourself in position. It’s not do or die. It’s not a lap one, lap two, lap 10 and you’ve got to block every lane and every run that’s coming, but ideally you want to keep control of the race as long as you can. We all know that’s hard for the pole-sitter. It’s a great idea, but it’s hard to do without making big moves all the time and you kind of run out of those big moves eventually, so you try to save them for the end or at least try to take that approach. This is one of those races though where handling will matter. It will matter more so than Talladega and Daytona. We saw that in the first race here. If you’re able to take a run and stay wide-open and stay committed, you could clear a car and get back in line, where Daytona and Talladega it’s hard to actually clear somebody like that. I think there’s an extra emphasis on your car driving well and then when you get down to the end it’s just being in the right spot at the right time with the right push and hope nothing around you goes too far sideways.”

HOW CONFIDENT WERE YOU ON GETTING THE POLE? “Not super confident. I don’t think you ever go into it like, ‘Oh, we’ve got this.’ I knew that we would have a shot at it, but I knew when Blaney went faster than us that first round, even though it was only by a few hundredths, you know that it’s gonna come down to executing everything perfectly, where if you’re talking about a tenth, it’s hard to make up a tenth. But it’s easy to mess up a couple hundredths, so you’re nervous about doing your job well to make sure you give yourself the best chance. I think Daytona a few weeks ago we had everybody covered by more than a tenth and so it was less nerve racking and then this one I felt like it was gonna take everything being done perfect to have a shot at it.”

IS IT STARTING TO SINK IN THAT THE RACES ARE RUNNING DOWN WITH YOUR TIME AT FRONT ROW? “No, not yet. I haven’t let it creep in. I kept telling everyone we’re just focused on winning a race to get in the Playoffs. Now we’re here. The Playoffs are happening and I’ve just redirected that focus on winning a race before the season is over, so I haven’t really allowed myself to get to that place yet. It’s gonna be tough. There’s no doubt about it. This is home for me. It’s been home for me. It wasn’t an easy decision. As weird as it might sound, I feel like I’ve already mourned that decision if that makes sense – when it first happened of ‘do I really want to do this? This is where you’ve been and potentially where you could be and could finish’ and all those things. So, it was a tough decision. It wasn’t like I went into it like, ‘Here we go.’ It wasn’t a fun decision. It’s hard when you’re that close with people and your team and you felt like you’re a part of it, so I feel good about my decision though. I don’t have any regrets, but I know Phoenix is gonna be tough. It will be tough for sure because of what we’ve done and what we’ve built here. It’s a different atmosphere than any other race team that I’ve been to and we’ve accomplished a lot together. Obviously, they’ll continue to go on and accomplish a lot. They have a great program and great drivers coming into it, but I’ll wait until Phoenix to really start thinking about it.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN FOUR STRAIGHT SPEEDWAY POLES? “I don’t want this to come off as saying this wrong, but I think it means a whole lot more to the team, just that we’re bringing the fastest car to the racetrack and it’s hard to do. I know some people will sit there and be like, ‘Oh, it’s just a superspeedway,’ but the amount of detail and the amount of hours that go into making a superspeedway car fast, and the fact that we’re doing it better than everyone else right now is a huge testament to what the team is doing and how hard they’re working. These are hard. They’re hard to get. It’s not easy, so to get four in a row is remarkable and so, for me, what’s gratifying is just seeing my guys hard work pay off and seeing how excited they are, and I know that I have the fastest race car to compete with tomorrow in the race. It gives me confidence going in there to do my job and try to win the race. But, I’m really proud. It’s a proud moment. I think it was a huge moment in Daytona when both of our cars were on the front row. We were almost there again today and it’s an accomplishment that is not the end all, be all. It’s not the greatest thing. Winning tomorrow would be better, but it’s still something to be celebrated because of how hard it is to do at the top level of our sport.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WAS THERE ANY PART OF THE TRACK YOU WANTED A BIT MORE? “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell here. We just slowed down a little bit on our second run and I think the 34 picked up a little bit, but, overall, it’s a good day. We have good speed. We’re starting on the front row, so I’m proud of the effort and excited for tomorrow.”

ANYTHING YOU WANT TO CHANGE ON YOUR CAR? “You can do little changes for the race tomorrow, just kind of air-pressures and stuff like that, but I don’t know. I felt pretty decent in qualifying handling-wise, but getting in the pack is a whole different thing. It’s nice that we have the track position and I think the speed is good to hopefully control a lane, and I’m sure we’ll get back in the pack tomorrow at some point and we’ll see how I am in traffic. It’s all good right now. It’s a solid starting spot and I’m looking forward to hopefully being able to control the first part of the race, especially the first stage, and then see how it shakes out from there.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards Quaker State Mustang Dark Horse – “I think once again the Fords at speedways are really, really strong. I felt like our car handled extremely well in qualifying, which it’s not something you necessarily have to worry about here, but I think it just bodes well for us for the race tomorrow. I’m excited about it and feel like we can have a shot at the win.”

TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Our cars have been really fast at all the superspeedways and it feels like we actually have cars very, very capable of winning every single superspeedway at this point and that doesn’t last forever. It always goes in waves, so, to me, even Daytona felt like a little bit of a missed opportunity with how fast my car was. I felt like even when I was in the back I could go to whatever line I felt like it would really move the line forward and those are hard to come by in these type of races when everyone is so close. I’m excited about it. I think we definitely need to take advantage of it while our cars are this fast.”

THAT FIRST POLE IS SO CLOSE, BUT JUST OUT OF YOUR GRASP. “Overall, qualifying went great. That’s the tough part. You can’t be too disappointed with third. Honestly, I was more disappointed at Daytona because I actually thought that one was really within our grasp. This week, it was kind of unrealistic to pick up more than a tenth to those guys because those guys are picking up more, too. I wasn’t as heartbroken this time. At Daytona, I was heartbroken. Overall, we just have some really, really fast Ford Mustangs coming out of Front Row Motorsports.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We ended up 10th there and I’m not really sure how we slowed down in the second round. I guess we didn’t slow down, everybody else kind of sped up, but I’m not really sure what happened there. We have a good starting spot. We’re starting inside the top 10 and should have a good pit stall selection, but it’s really hard to say what you’ve got just running one lap around here, but so far so good. It’s a good start to the weekend. Starting 10th is a lot better than starting 30th, so we’ll just have to see what we can do with it tomorrow.”

Toyota Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

HAMPTON, Ga. (September 7, 2024) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

With how daunting the first round is, how helpful are those Playoff points are that you earned for winning the regular season championship?

“Well our approach doesn’t change for the Playoffs or for the opening round for the Playoffs, but certainly having those Playoff points helps in case it does get a little bit out of hand with these first three races. There is just a lot of uncertainty. I feel like that this is a track that races like a superspeedway – handling comes into play and people, drivers do have issues in the car and spin and crashes happen. If you look at Watkins Glen, just with what the tire could do there, there is uncertainty there, but when I go through these first three, I feel good about the speed that we had. Granted here in the Spring, we wrecked here on lap two and we didn’t learn from that previous race, but we’ve been solid here and just seeing how fast the Toyotas were in Bristol – even though again, we were in an early wreck – I feel good about that one as well. We should have speed here at the first three, so we will just keep the approach that we’ve been having all summer long – just trying to score as many points as possible and stay in the top-five all day, and if we do that, we also, as a bonus, will have a shot at winning a race at the end of the day.”

How much more prepared are you for your second Playoffs with 23XI Racing?

“I think our biggest thing is more so going into the Playoffs last year is just being more consistent. Last season, coming out of Charlotte, we were like 30 points out of the lead, and we gained a lot of ground and kind of had a really good early Spring into Summer push, we just had a lot of bad races over the course of the summer. I feel like we did we did a good job correcting that for the first and second round of the Playoffs, ultimately in the round of 8, we kind of lost a little speed and had some of our worst races of the year. I think that is the biggest thing – just work on being consistent. We’ve done a good job with that over the summer stretch. I don’t see any reason why that would change for us. I just feel like the more and more we get into this season, the more comfortable we get with how we’ve been running. The confidence is on our side I think.”

How are you feeling?

“Better, thankfully. It took until I think – Thursday was the really first normal day. It took a lot longer than I thought it would to run its course, but thankfully good to go and ready for this one.”

Is it frustrating as a driver with how much uncertainty is there in the first round?

“No, it is in our control. Maybe a wreck that happens in front of you is out of your control, but how you end up in that position is. Obviously, we know that qualifying is not our strength – we know that we will probably be starting back there in the mess a bit, but it is in our hands to get in front of it or get out of there, so it is very much in our control I feel like. We got to do the Watkins Glen tire test, so naturally we feel pretty good about the laps we got to have there. It is probably one of my worst road courses, of the ones we go to. The speed of the Toyotas in Bristol in the Spring helps with that. Our car was really torn up – we were damaged early on in that race, and I still felt like we if our car would have been 100 percent we would have been really strong. I’m feeling good about it.”

How have you seen the growth of 23XI?
“It is just little steps, just working on the process that we have, our preparation – fine tuning it every single step of the way. There is not one big thing, right? Just a lot of good people working together on the road and back at Airspeed to help achieve those goals. It has been really cool to just see that continued path – we really haven’t hit a spot where we leveled off and sat there for a while. It seems like we continue to gradually climb and improve and as the year goes on. I’m really excited about that, but it is what we need to contend with some of the top teams and drivers that have been around for a long time. We will keep after it.”

How did being able to run last season with 23XI help you set up the foundation to have the on-track success you have had?

“It definitely played a huge factor in it. I have all the faith in the world that the cars would have been as fast but seeing that we just have great people and smart people at Joe Gibbs Racing as well that play a big role in where our cars are at on the race track too. They would have had the speed and potential, with or without me, but certainly, some of the things that me and Billy (Scott, crew chief) have been able to work on, some of the things we got to work on a year on back at the COTA tire test to just make the road course program better. Those things were really beneficial, certainly, just for the team chemistry side of it. That extra year has really helped us hit our stride this year.”

What did you have to go through with Billy Scott to build that relationship and chemistry?

“We just had to go through races. The more time we’ve had together – we’ve got to experience the highs and the lows – and understand how to navigate them as a team. I think that just experience can be invaluable as a team, the more we know each other the more instinctively we know what’s going to happen next without really having to talk about it or letting it play out. I think that experience for both of us has really helped us a lot. We brought in Nick Payne (spotter), who is kind of new to the sport – was doing Xfinity and Trucks, no full time Cup gig, and starting fresh with him. Just having the consistency across the board with the team really helps.”

How important is it to stay even in the car and not let the emotions get the best of you?

“Very important. If emotions get the best of you, it’s easy to make some poor decisions right? That more times than not just make your day worse. Just have to keep a level head and think what the next restart, the next lap – what the future scenario is. You try to respond more than react, but it is tough when you are strapped in the car, it is hot, not having a good day, it is easy to get frustrated and certain times, it is probably good to let it out, but it is definitely easy to do – and it is something that I’ve had to learn – to figure out how to digest the bad and the good and move on from it, and approach the next scenario with as level head as possible.”

Did you ever imagine growing up racing Kyle Larson that you would be amongst the top drivers in NASCAR?

“I mean Kyle (Larson) – definitely when he left the outlaw kart stuff and started running midgets and sprint cars – it was very automatic. I could tell watching from a far that he was going to go wherever he wanted to go. On my end, I didn’t know if it was going to work out. It kind of looked like the door was coming to a close, and then I got a break – started working with (Ken) Schrader, won a race. I definitely saw Kyle getting here, but I didn’t, at times, think it was going to work out for myself, but thankful it did. It is really cool that two kids that grew up racing at Cycleland Speedway in go karts, all those years ago, are doing that on the Cup side now. “

About Toyota

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

NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
QUAKER STATE 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 7, 2024

 William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Media Availability Quotes:

I know it’s been talked about extensively – you guys started off really hot and slowed during the summer, just like last year. How do you recapture the early season momentum at the start of these playoffs? How much of the summer was you guys trying things and preparing for what you need for the playoffs?

“Well I mean, yeah, we finished second two-and-a-half weeks ago at Michigan, so I feel like we’ve been pretty good; hit or miss, though. Some of those tracks during the summer aren’t as good for us as a team, but we’ve really circled all of the playoff tracks and worked really hard to have our best at the end of the year. So yeah, I think once you win two or three races early in the season, like I said this week, the goal is to try and stack playoff points. If you can’t do that, then the goal is to try and position yourself well for the fall and all the tracks in the playoffs. So, I feel good about that. We’ve had success here at Atlanta. Although it can be unpredictable, I feel like as I’ve studied and watched it back; a lot of times if you’re up in the front and making good decisions, you can kind of control your destiny here. I think that’s the goal for us.. try to have a good day today in qualifying. Not quite sure what kind of speed we’re going to have in qualifying because you want to be able to have enough pace in the pack and everything like that; enough grip. Hopefully we can make the top-10 and go from there.”

How much more do you feel like is in the driver’s hands here at Atlanta, compared to the traditional superspeedway like Daytona and Talladega?

“Yeah, it’s kind of an old school race, in a sense. But I mean, I think we’ve seen it get two and three wide here. I feel like as you get down to the end of the race, it’s going to be two and three wide, just like it is at any other plate race once everybody gets their stuff handling a little better. We just have to see what the offset is from spring to fall here with the track. It looks a little bit grayer walking in, but you never know until you get out there kind of what the handling is like. It seems like every time we watch the Xfinity race here, we get a little bit fooled because their package has less downforce. So just not completely sure what to learn from today, other than try to go out there and have a good qualifying lap.”

You’ve been in the playoffs enough times to kind of know how things go. But this year, we have Atlanta to start, another road course at Watkins Glen, and then another speedway and road course in the Round of 12. Given that change, how much more uncertainty and anxiety do you think there is among the playoff drivers, and how much validity do you think there is to the idea that we could see surprise drivers not advance through the first couple of rounds?

“Yeah, I mean it’s going to be crazy. You know, you’ve got two superspeedways and two road courses in the first two rounds, so it is crazy. It’s going to put an emphasis on being good at those places and being good at road courses, especially when there’s two of them now and not just the ROVAL anymore. You know, I think for us, it’s just race-by-race. Try to show up here; put a good effort in and see what we can get out of this weekend and then that really dictates the pace for the next weekend.

There are definitely a lot of elements of the first two rounds that are pretty unpredictable, but you’re going to see the teams that can handle the adversity and work through that really thrive.”

Projecting to 2025, Talladega is going to be in the Round of Eight next year. Do you think there’s value in having that wild card element that deep into the playoffs?

“Yeah, I mean I’m not a big fan of it, but I’m not really thinking about next year, yet. Really just thinking about Atlanta.”

A couple of weeks ago at Daytona, you said that following the 500 win, you’re more relaxed and more confident at that track. Is the mindset the same here, and has that changed at all with this now being a playoff race?

“Yeah, I mean I think we know what it takes to win here, for sure. It’s just constantly changing because the track is losing grip. It’s changing every time we come back here; the setups are evolving. We just have to continue to evolve with the ‘new’ Atlanta that it is. I don’t think until we get eight, nine, 10 years down the road, will we really know what this place takes and kind of what it evolves into. It could lose a lot of grip over the next three or four years and become spread out. It is different than Daytona, for sure. The reasons I felt relaxed there is just because we were coming back there after winning a big race.”

What was the game changer for you at Watkins Glen last year that allowed you to go on and win that race?

“I feel like it started two years before that when we had a test there. We tested in 2022 with the Next Gen car; had a really good two-day test. That really kind of contributed to a lot of the setup items for the company there and build a good baseline. Unfortunately we didn’t have a good weekend that weekend. I think we had a battery issue. We qualified fourth and had to start in the back. We didn’t quite have our balance the way we needed to get through traffic, so we didn’t have a great weekend. But I feel like that is where it started. I had the Xfinity race that year in 2022, as well. And then coming back in 2023, I just felt like I was well prepared; knew the place, knew what we needed to focus on. Fortunately the baseline setup we built had good benefits when we unloaded in 2023. We were really fast off the truck. In the race, we were a top-three car. It was just about trying to get out front and have good pit sequences under green.”

How much will the pits come into play at Watkins Glen?

“Oh, it’s going to be huge. If you pass one or two cars a run, that’s a really good run at Watkins Glen in the Next Gen car. It’s going to be huge. Strategy is going to be big. You’re just going to have to do a good job in qualifying to put yourself on the offensive side, where you’re ahead of everyone else. If you can qualify in the top five or six, you put yourself in a really good spot.”

Walk us through how you prepare mentally for a race? Is it different, mentally, coming to a track like this, as opposed to a road course race?

“Yeah, it’s a little different. The stress of what you can’t control is a little higher at a place like this, so you try to put that away; set that aside. I feel like when you go to a place like here, you’re preparing for what moves you need to make. And you’re also just making sure that you’re doing a good job executing the little things. Like when we go out here to qualifying, making sure that I’m getting through the shift points good; getting off pit road well. A lot of detail here with pit road and the change in speed under green and under caution. So, you’re thinking about how you can maximize your green flag rolling time and yellow flag rolling time.

Yeah, I mean it’s just different. There’s probably not as much for Atlanta, really. But then for Watkins Glen, there’s a lot of physical prep; a lot of mental prep. It’s a tough place. I’m running double-duty next weekend, so I’ll have a lot of laps. I’ll try to take good notes and understand the track because there’s a lot of changes at Watkins Glen with the curbing.”

Is there any advantage to staying in the back of the pack a little bit early on to see how things are developing in the race, or do you want to race up front the whole time?

“Yeah, I mean a lot of the wrecks happen in the middle. So, if you’re in the back, you’re in a bad spot. But yeah, I mean if you’re going to ride – like let’s say you’re really trying to avoid a wreck, you’re going to get way back. But no, I don’t think you will here because track position is important and handling matters. It takes a long time to get back to the front, so you’re going to spend most of your time in this race up in the front, if you can. If you can’t, you might try to save fuel and jump the strategy.”

About Chevrolet

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Quaker State 400 | Atlanta Motor Speedway
Saturday, September 7, 2024

Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Decisely Insurance Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing, stopped by the infield media center at Atlanta Motor Speedway before qualifying to answer questions from the media.

JOSH BERRY, No. 4 Decisely Insurance Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU HAVE A NEW SPONSOR ON THE CAR. “We’re really excited to have Decisely Insurance on the car this weekend. It’s a really good-looking car. It’s purple and should really stand out on the racetrack, so we’re excited to welcome them to the sport. It’s the first race for them and the first race for us. It’s exciting to bring new partners in for us amidst everything that’s going on, so it’s a benefits-based company here in Georgia that is growing really fast and this is a home race for them. We’re gonna have a bunch of their employees and partners with us here this weekend, so we’re excited for it.”

DO YOU FEEL YOU CAN PLAY SPOILER THIS WEEKEND? “Yeah, I think so. Obviously, we had a really good car at Daytona with a lot of speed. We were in great position there until we weren’t, so we feel like we had a strong car here in the spring. I feel like I’ve grown and learned a lot since then. I put us in a hole speeding on pit road in the spring, so we’ve ironed all of that stuff out hopefully. Car handling does matter a lot here, just because how the draft is and how tight the track is. You can tell the cars that are comfortable and handling well, so if we can check those boxes at the beginning of the race and we stay out of trouble, I think we’ll have a shot at it at the end.”

HOW DO YOU BALANCE THESE LAST 10 RACES TO FINISH STRONG WITH SHR BUT ALSO TRYING TO TAKE SOME NOTES FOR NEXT YEAR WITH THE 21? “Nothing has really changed for us. Obviously, we would love to be in the Playoffs. We’ve been working all year trying to get better. It’s been a little up and down, but we’ve had a lot of great races. We’ve had a couple bad ones, but we’ve had a lot of great races in there too, so I think we just need to keep trying to be more consistent. That’s all we’re lacking. It’s pretty apparent when we have the speed and we might find ourselves to the front, we pass cars, we get up there. I think for us we’re trying to add a little bit more consistency and enjoy these last 10 races together. That’s a big part of it too, and obviously Chase being in the Playoffs is great for the company. He drove a fantastic race last week. He really did and I think between both of us, I think both of our cars were fast enough to win and he was able to get it done, so that was really cool for everybody at the company, too.”

HOW DO YOU STAY GROUNDED DURING EVERYTHING GOING ON? “I don’t know. To be honest, the last couple of years have been a whirlwind, and I think even sitting here today I never would have thought I would be in this situation and this would all happen like it has even this year. I don’t even know if I really know what to expect anymore. Obviously, I’m proud of the job we did this year amidst everything going on. To have landed the opportunity with the Wood Brothers and the 21 car is something I’m excited for. That’s a great group with a great legacy in the sport. There’s a ton of backing from Ford and Team Penske and everything that I think a group and being a part of that program is really gonna help me grow and work on some of the things that I need to do better on the track. Aside from everything else that’s been going on, I think none of us would have thought we’d be in this position that we have been in, but it is here and we’ve got 10 more weeks together to keep racing and enjoy our time together. Then we’ll all go our separate ways.”

HAVE YOU HAD ANY CONVERSATION WITH HARRISON ABOUT TAKING OVER THE 21 NEXT YEAR? “Not specifically. Obviously, I reached out to all of those guys after the Daytona win and congratulated them, but we’re all professionals. We’ve all been doing this stuff a long time and there’s no awkwardness or hard feelings there. Obviously, I’m cheering for those guys. They’re in the Playoffs. They’re focused. I’m staying out of everything they have going on. They’re focused on their Playoff run these next few weeks and I’m gonna let them do their thing.”

DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE AS GOOD A SHOT AS ANYBODY TO WIN THIS RACE TOMORROW? “Yeah, I think so, but I think these races ebb and flow. Some weeks you definitely have the races where it seems like if you just survive you get a good finish, but there are some times the cream really does rise to the top and stays up front the whole race. I think it’s really important to have your car handling good where you can race up front all night and then there is definitely some fate involved in being there at the end, but I feel like we have as good a shot as anybody coming here. We just have to execute and stay out of trouble.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT BRISCOE’S WIN MEANT TO SHR? “I think it was just a really cool moment for everybody there. There’s been a transition period ever since obviously it was announced they were closing down and selling charters. We lost some people initially and then now who is left are the people that are gonna ride this out – racers that aren’t gonna quit on us and keep building fast race cars and doing whatever they can to get in Victory Lane. I know that everybody has been working extremely hard all year, but especially recently trying to do everything we can to make that push to hopefully get a car into the Playoffs and go to Victory Lane, so it’s a big deal to win a race like that. Like I said, he did a great job. Who knows what’s gonna happen these next 10 weeks for them, but just getting there is a big deal and I think we all recognize that.”

YOU HAVE TIES TO THE LAST TWO WINNERS IN THE SPORT. WHAT IS THAT LIKE? “I think that obviously the Daytona win, that’s great for their program. It’s a huge deal for the Wood Brothers. I would have loved to win the 100th race, but it was Harrison’s day and he capitalized and won, but it’s great for that program and the Wood Brothers that I’m gonna benefit from next year. So, it’s exciting for them and the same with Chase. I think that was really exciting for everybody at Stewart-Haas to see that win and the job that those guys did. It was a big morale boost for everybody, but nothing really changes. Everybody has been working their guts out all year trying to win races, but it’s still cool to get a reward for all of their hard work and it was fun to see that for sure. I think the only thing that really sticks out to me through the whole thing is thinking about how important it is to win a race to make the Playoffs. I’m not 100 percent sure on this, but I would say some of those guys that missed it were probably 11th or 12th in points. It’s so important to win a race when you get the opportunity. I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve taken from it the last couple weeks going into next year is that if you want to make the Playoffs, you better plan on winning.”

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD DO OR HOW AGGRESSIVE THIS WILL MAKE YOU IN THE FUTURE? “I don’t know. If you get in those situations, capitalizing on it is incredibly important. We talk about points and we look at the points. Even as a team we look at them all year long and stage points and this and that, and then you come down to it and unless you’re in the top 10, you’re probably in danger. So, unless you’re in the top 10 or you’re racing for the regular season championship or something like that, then the points matter. They do matter, but it’s just such a unique scenario of what’s happened and how it’s played out the last few weeks, having those new winners. I don’t know that my mindset changes in any way, but if you’re gonna fall back on points, you better have a lot of them.”

SO DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND WITH THE TRACK CONTINUALLY AGING? “Yeah, it’s definitely changing. Every time we get here the asphalt color looks lighter and lighter, so it’s gonna continue to evolve. It’s warmer this time around. It’s not gonna be super hot, but it’s gonna be warmer, so handling should be a bigger deal than maybe what we had in February, but this place is kind of coming into its own. The next few years as it continues to age a little bit and lose some grip, it’ll be really interesting to see how it plays out and become kind of a hybrid between a superspeedway pack race and an intermediate track. I think handling is gonna be more important this time around than February, but we’ll have to see.”