Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
eero 250
Friday, August 15, 2025

FOUR FORD F-150 DRIVERS QUALIFY FOR NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES PLAYOFFS

• Four Ford F-150 drivers made the 10-driver playoff field: Defending champion Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith, Layne Riggs and Jake Garcia.
• This marks the third straight season Majeski has qualified for the playoffs with Ford and the fourth time overall.
• Smith, who has two wins this season, is in the postseason for the third time in his Truck Series career.
• Riggs, who won at Pocono and IRP, and Garcia each earned their first playoff berth.
• The playoffs begin on Aug. 30 at Darlington Raceway.

Ford Finishing Results:

2nd – Ty Majeski
3rd – Layne Riggs
7th – Jake Garcia
8th – Ben Rhodes
9th – Chandler Smith
22nd – Luke Fenhaus
26th – Matt Crafton
32nd – Frankie Muniz

TY MAJESKI, No. 98 Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford F-150 – “You always want to win. When we got spun there when there was oil on the racetrack, there’s a pretty big wicker on that right-rear. My balance just went away a little bit. Even though it was probably good for aero, it was a little bit too good and just made me a little bit too tight that last run. Once I lost control of the race, the 17 is obviously pretty desperate. He moved me a couple times and I lost control. By the time I got to second I was pretty much done there. I’m very disappointed. We had a fast Soda Sense Ford F-150. I’m really proud of everybody at ThorSport. We have a lot of momentum going into the playoffs with a seventh last week and a second at Lime Rock. We’re in the game right now, so we just need to do our deal, step our way through the playoffs and anything could happen.”

LAYNE RIGGS, No. 38 Love’s RV Stop Ford F-150 – “It’s very exciting. It was a strong night for us. I didn’t think we were that great in practice, so to turn around and have a strong performance like that and even at some glimpses in the race feel like I was the best on the racetrack. We had just a good overall day and, in my opinion, that’s what champions are made of. The strategy was so crazy there that it’s really fun as a driver getting put in situations if you’re on old tires or new tires and going forward and falling back. It’s kind of crazy. The 98 spun out and somehow lined up in front of us still, which amazes me, but hat’s off to everybody at Front Row Motorsports. This Love’s Travel Stops Ford F-150 was a good truck, but not a winning truck, so we’ve got to do a little bit of work. It was a good, solid night. We finished second in regular season points. That was really our goal coming into today was to do that and get as many playoff points as we could, so we accomplished that and I’m really happy about that.” HOW DOES IT FEEL TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME? “That’s what our goal was, and I feel like if we weren’t in the playoffs this year that something drastically went wrong with as fast as we’ve been. Hat’s off to everybody at Front Row. I feel like I’ve just gotten so much better as a driver over the past year and a half, and I think we’re gonna be a force to be reckoned with in this championship. I know that the two guys that finished in front of me are fierce competitors and really strong at Phoenix, but I think we’ve got something for them.”

JAKE GARCIA, No. 13 Quanta Services Ford F-150 – HOW MUCH WERE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO WHERE BEN WAS RUNNING? “I was paying attention to that, especially after we had two good first stages and built a cushion. At that point, it was just a matter of managing our gap and making sure there was no possible way we could crash. I think we did a good job of that, and I tried my best to run a smart race after we had a little bit of a cushion and just get this thing in the playoffs.” HOW DO YOU TAKE THIS CONFIDENCE INTO THE PLAYOFFS? “I think part of the confidence is how fast our truck was today. I know we finished seventh, but I certainly think we were a top three to five truck. We saw that in stage two with how quickly we passed some of those guys. I think we were even catching the 98 a little bit there at the end, so, overall, I’m just really proud of how fast our truck was and the speed we brought. If we can continue to bring that speed into the playoffs, I think we’ll be alright.” SMILE. YOU’RE IN THE PLAYOFFS. “I appreciate it. It’s definitely exciting and I’m just proud of the effort and glad these guys got a little reward and be able to reward them for all of their hard work this year.”

BEN RHODES, No. 99 TSPORT Trucks Ford F-150 – IT SEEMED LIKE NO CAUTION FELL THE WAY YOU NEEDED IT TO. “Yeah, that’s a really good summary. I was about to say the same thing. I missed our pit box and, honestly, it wasn’t a terrible thing. It put us in position to capitalize on the first caution that came out. The problem was the second caution that came out after that. That really did us in. We had 10 lap older tires than the rest of the field at that point and I think we were going to finish anywhere from second, third or fourth to I don’t even know where we finished at that point. And then again the caution came out with the 88 truck. I think that was the last one of the night and I think we racked back out at like 27th place. It was somewhere way back in the pack. I don’t even know, but had those cautions fell a little differently, it would have been easier to get those 11 points we needed tonight. It stinks. Not good, but they play out like that sometimes. You get in these positions from the whole season. Obviously, our regular season didn’t go the way we wanted. There are a few races that come to mind right away. Rockingham, a power-steering failure right away. Homestead, we got caught up in a turn one, lap one wreck from having to go to the back after a mechanical issue in qualifying, so there is stuff like that we could clean up and I think it would have been a different story tonight, but that’s just part of it.” TWO YEARS SINCE YOUR TITLE AND IT’S BEEN A SLOG. WHAT IS THIS TEAM DOING BEHIND THE SCENES THAT WE DON’T SEE TO STAY RESILIENT? “They’re putting in as many hours as I’ve ever seen. They’re working as hard as I’ve ever seen, but it just seems like we need a little bit more pace right now. You can point your finger at anything, but, obviously, some of those low hanging fruit items – the mechanical issues that we had earlier on, that would have changed the story for tonight, but the pace, we’ve got to find that still. We’ve had moments of brilliance throughout the year, the same with my teammates, but we need that consistent speed that some of our competitors have, like, obviously, the 11 truck.” IS THE REST OF THE SEASON TRYING TO FIND THAT CONSISTENCY FOR NEXT SEASON? “I think so. If I know Duke Thorson, which I think I do now after running for Duke for so many years, he’s gonna say, ‘Absolutely.’ The rest of the season is R&D to him, which he’s probably bittersweet in that regard because now we get to kind of try things and do things we didn’t think we could do, so you’re no longer in a box. I don’t necessarily have to run for points and we can set ourselves up for the end of the race for wins. We weren’t able to do that at Watkins Glen last week and quite a few races now. I guess that’s the silver lining if there is one.” ARE YOU A TEAM PLAYER IN THAT SENSE? DO YOU BECOME THE GUY THAT TRIES THINGS FOR THEM? “I would like to be. Now, if they use that, that’s a different story (laughing). Crew chiefs and drivers, especially crew chiefs, are all pretty stubborn. They all really like what they like, so I might find something that could be five seconds faster than the field. I don’t know if somebody else would necessarily use it though. It’s just kind of the nature of this sport.”

CHANDLER SMITH, No. 38 The Pete Store Ford F-150 – “I’m definitely proud of the effort of everybody on this No. 38 team. It’s certainly not the day we wanted. Honestly, we’ve missed it since probably about Charlotte, just kind of slowly went downhill a little bit and haven’t been able to find our way back to where we were at the start of the year. We’re just trying to get our momentum back on our side going into the playoffs, going into Darlington and start off on the right foot.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Qualifying
Friday, August 15, 2025

PREECE PUTS HIS FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE ON THE RICHMOND POLE

Ryan Preece drove his No. 60 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the pole Friday at Richmond Raceway.
The pole is Preece’s second in the Cup Series with the other one coming at Martinsville in 2023.

Ford Qualifying Results:

1st – Ryan Preece

6th – Brad Keselowski

12th – Chris Buescher

13th – Austin Cindric

17th – Josh Berry

20th – Ryan Blaney

22nd – Noah Gragson

24th – Cole Custer

29th – Zane Smith

31st – Todd Gilliland

37th – Cody Ware

38th – Joey Logano

POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Kroger/Kleenex Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Being 37th or whatever we were in practice our objective was just to see where the tire fall off went and try to manage that pace. For me, going into qualifying and pushing the tire, pushing the grip level and all those things, you just don’t know what you’re gonna have going into turn one. As I’ve said over the past few months, just trust. Our communication as a team has grown. My trust level that I drive it in there is gonna stick has grown and what I can tell you is when I drove it off into turn one, I know I got it all because the amount of time I drove it in there versus the grip she potentially had was definitely on the limit. It felt really good and Derrick made great adjustments, along with the entire No. 60 RFK team and I’m just proud to have Kroger and Kleenex on the car this weekend.”

IS IT EASIER OR MORE DIFFICULT TO MANAGE TIRES FROM THE POLE IF YOU GET OUT FRONT? “I’d definitely, especially at a place like this, would rather be out front. I think there’s still some questions of how you want to do it, but I’d rather be the one leading rather than trying to have to pass people and potentially abusing the tire that way, so tomorrow it’s gonna be get out front, get clean air and set my pace and take care of them. I’d rather be out front right now.”

IF YOU WIN, WOULD YOU CLIMB ON TOP OF YOUR CAR? “I’d climb up on top and I potentially might even do a backflip, but I don’t think the backflip would go very well, but, I think I’ll still climb up.”

SOME DRIVERS SAID WITH THE AMOUNT OF FALL OFF IT MIGHT SHAKE UP THE ONE STOP, TWO STOP STRATEGY EVERYONE JUGGLES HERE. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON WHAT WE MIGHT SEE WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES? “I think that’s a great question, and I definitely think there is some truth to that, but when it comes to what strategy we choose to play, I’m gonna let Derrick make those decisions because at the end of the day he’s gonna be the guy that’s drilling the computer and trying to figure out what’s gonna be the best strategy. From there, I trust him and Brent and Matt to make the right decision and give us the best opportunity to be on the best strategy, have the best track position, have the best pit stops and execute a great race.”

IS IT SAFE TO SAY AFTER PRACTICE YOU WERE SURPRISED YOU GOT THE POLE? “Not necessarily surprised. I knew Brad put down a really good lap, which made me feel a lot more confident on what the potential was going to be, but, like I said, going into that practice I wanted to make sure I was managing the tires right away, that there was no questions going into tomorrow if I could have done a better job in practice or how I needed to do it. So, going into turn one, I leaned on what I drove with the modified and how hard I was pushing the pace there and I felt like a lot of that helped me somewhat going into today. Always a good thing to get those extra laps and run modifieds when I can, but that was one of those moments that I drove it off into turn one and said, ‘If she sticks, she sticks. If she doesn’t, probably not gonna have a great starting spot, but I’m not leaving anything on the table.’”

HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING UP FRONT WHEN PASSING HAS BEEN SO HARD HERE? “Yeah, for sure. That’s a great question. Passing is definitely not easy and then when you’re trying to come from 20th or 30th and having to pass people you’re just abusing the tire that much more, so I think having the opportunity to start from the pole is gonna make our job quite a bit easier as far as keeping control of the race, and then from there as far as managing tires I think with how my car drove in the modified race I know exactly what I don’t want, so when we go into our debrief I’m sure Brad, myself and Chris are gonna have some conversations of what our cars felt like and we’ll just try and make our best adjustments to make sure we take care of those tires.”

WHAT’S THE TRUST LEVEL WITH THE TEAM AND HOW NICE IS IT TO HAVE THAT KIND OF BOND WITH YOUR CREW CHIEF? “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had good relationships in the past, but I think the biggest thing was learning that sometimes, I don’t want to put this the wrong way, but I can be my own worst enemy because I know too much and then I start talking to myself or talking to my crew chief like a driver, but at the same time a driver that’s a crew chief and starting to make them not necessarily believe in what they’re doing. So, I’ve really focused and emphasized just driving the damn race car and it seems to be paying off pretty well, but I’ve really enjoyed my time working with Derrick, being teammates with Brad and Chris. I know I sound like a broken record when I say this, but I’m truthfully honest. I’m very honest when I say this. It’s been nice to have the knowledge and experience that Brad has had, as well as being teammates with Chris, who is super, super fast and raw talented. To be able to lean on two guys that have all that, I just feel like we’re in a really good spot at RFK right now.”

WHAT IS THE MINDSET BEING ON THE POLE AND KNOWING WHAT A WIN WOULD DO? “For me, it’s a great opportunity to go win the stage and get 10 points. As much as I hate talking about points, especially racing against my teammate, I think he’s starting 11th, so this is an opportunity to try and close back in on some of those points he put on us, but as well as an opportunity for us to execute tomorrow. There’s no better place than starting on the pole and with stage one being 70 laps, I don’t think you’re gonna have anybody pitting in that stage because there’s no way you can make it up. So my hope is that we don’t have any cautions and we run 70 straight laps. We can win that stage and then from there it’s everybody whoever came up with the best strategy and takes care of their tires best seems like that’s what it’s gonna be.”

I HAVEN’T HEARD A DRIVER THINK THEY CAN GO 70 LAPS ON THESE TIRES WITHOUT ONE BLOWING, SO IS THAT REALISTIC? “I don’t think you’re gonna see people pit 35 laps and then 35. I just don’t see that happening. I haven’t also looked at the tire wear, so maybe you have talked to some people they have looked at those wears, but my math would say that somebody coming in and pitting after 35 laps and splitting a 70-lap stage, where there is a lot of potential for cautions and putting you two laps down, the risk is too much. So, from what I see and what our job is gonna have to be if it does go green, is to manage those tires and do the best you can there. So, make it work.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It’s a decent spot. It’s an important race for track position, so being able to have that flexibility for strategy, I feel like I’m sitting in the exact same stuff from last week when I also qualified 13th. We’re at least starting in the ballgame, but the tire today was pretty interesting. It’s gonna take a lot for me to understand what I want out of my car for tomorrow. I feel like it’s one of the more difficult racetracks to really dial in on one thing that just needs to be better and that will improve our performance.” DIFFERENT CONDITIONS TOMORROW NIGHT. WILL THAT BE AN ADJUSTMENT? “Yeah, I think tomorrow you’ll experience a lot of change from today, so that just adds another factor on top of making those decisions for tomorrow.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We just had to go out there to attempt to qualify. Something went wrong earlier in the day, and I’m not sure why the tire went down, but it was messed up from lap one. That kind of showed its head a little bit more as the run went, so not good.”

Second Career Cup Pole for Preece, Eighth Overall for RFK at Richmond

RICHMOND, VA (August 15, 2025) – Ryan Preece will lead the field to green at Richmond Raceway after earning the pole in Friday night’s qualifying. Driving the No. 60 Kroger/Kleenex Ford for Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing, Preece posted the fastest time of the session, securing his second career NASCAR Cup Series pole—and his first since Martinsville in 2023, where he led a career-best 135 laps.

“When I drove it off into turn one, I know I got it all because the amount of time I drove it in there versus the grip she potentially had was definitely on the limit,” Preece said. “It felt really good and Derrick (Finley) made great adjustments, along with the entire No. 60 RFK team and I’m just proud to have Kroger and Kleenex on the car this weekend.”

The pole is the third ever for the No. 60 car, and its first since July 2006 when Boris Said topped qualifying at Daytona. It’s also RFK Racing’s first pole since September 2022 (Keselowski at Texas), and their 92nd in Cup Series history. At Richmond specifically, it marks the team’s eighth pole overall and the first since Carl Edwards did so in 2010.

“Having the opportunity to start from the pole is going to make our job quite a bit easier as far as keeping control of the race,” Preece said. “I trust Derrick, Brent and Matt to make the right decision and give us the best opportunity to be on the best strategy, have the best track position, have the best pit stops and execute a great race.”

Preece’s strong qualifying run was backed up by solid efforts from his teammates: Brad Keselowski will roll off sixth, and Chris Buescher will start 12th in Saturday night’s 400-lap event.

Preece enters Saturday’s race with two top-five finishes across his last three starts and will start first in the 300-mile, 400-lap race. Race coverage is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on USA and can also be heard on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 38th season in 2025, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com, and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.

Toyota GAZOO Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

RICHMOND, Va. (August 15, 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 Richmond Raceway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
How much shifting play into this race?
“I think everyone probably uses it equally – like 100 percent of the time on restarts. The first couple of laps when you are side-by-side and trying to battle for position, you are trying to get the best run you can off. As it gets single filed out, it is kind of driver preference and car preference. I think each driver and car want something different at different times, so I think you will see guys that will probably be battling 30, 40 laps into the run – one might be shifting, one might not be. It is just a matter of what your car needs at the time, just because the lap time difference is very minimal between the two.”

Is the practice time enough time to figure out this tire?
“I’m not sure it is going to be quite enough. It will be close. Last year we were able to – when you put on this type of tire, and it is, again, not the same. The hardened the left side tire for some reason, but the right side tire – we don’t know. It could last 40, 50 laps. It could be longer than that. We don’t know. If you go out right away and try to run every single lap that you can, maybe you will start to see some of that fall off, but last year, we had enough set of tires to just change them, whenever the lap times started falling off. We saw it at Watkins Glen as well. Really all of the position changes happened at the end, and then when it happened, people pitted. With us having less tires this time around, it is going to force you to go longer on them, and I just think most of the passing will happen at the end of those runs.”

What can Richmond show that they should have two races on the schedule?
“I think I’m probably the worst person to ask. I’m very biased. I grew up with two races here. We always went to both, but the sport is in a different place now. The way to get it back is you have to come here and sell out – at least the one time you are here, or have a really strong showing during that time. That, and improve short track racing. If you can do those things with the car, so if you can do those things, then possibly it is going to be put more in the forefront of the schedule going forward as well. I think all of those things are fluid things that can change year to year, and if we can get our short track stuff back better where it was towards with these types of cars, I think you will have a better case to having two races here.”

Did you watch the last lap back and if so, did it bring back any emotions?
“I mean, yes. It is just disappointing from my stand point, but I wasn’t going to win the race anyway had it not. I had about a one second period where I was supposed to win, and the other time, I was not. It wasn’t like the race I had here in ’08 where we led the entire race and then you don’t end up winning. Those are a little harder than the ones where – I’m going to win, and well, I’m not. It is just wild. It is wild how things turned out when you hear all of the radio back, now looking back on it, it was just a wild moment.”

Do you expect the intensity to increase with the Playoffs looming?
“I don’t really see a big change. This is not really a big fashion forward track when it comes to strategy. It is pretty straightforward, especially with the amount of tires that we have, so I don’t really notice a big change in intensity. More desperation perhaps, you may see someone mid pack try to take a big swing with their setup trying something just totally out of the box, hoping to hit something, but other than that, I can’t really pinpoint anything, except for at the end of race. There is always going to be chatter when you are racing around those that have to win to get in the Playoffs at this point of the season. You just know that those group of drivers are going to be more intense around you and make more aggressive moves and put you in pretty tough spots. That is really where it changes – late race restarts where that is their last and only attempt.”

What is your response to Kyle Petty’s thoughts this week?
“He is right in that sense. It is not a stock car. Talking about – I definitely heard him talk about, how we used to bring a car off the street and turn it into a racecar – those days have obviously been gone for decades now. He is definitely partially right. The difference is that to address – we’ve had exciting moments in this car, and I don’t disagree with that. The issue is that it happened early in the Next Gen era, where there was so much disparity between the fast cars and the slower cars. Now – everyone over time, sense there has been no development for years and years now, nothing has really changed – the field has just tightened up. You can see it from the fastest to the slowest. The first time here in the Next Gen was on average lap time seven tenths or something in that range, and last time we came here, it was three and a half. The field is just now running the same speed, and at a track where you have to have three to three and a half tenths of speed to overtake the car in front of you, that mean that the first-place fastest car is going to struggle to pass the 25th if he just gets put behind him. That is the fundamental part that is going to be tough for us to overcome, unless we have some major changes with the tire – Goodyear is working on that. They are coming here with a more aggressive tire. You have to applaud that. They are willing to do it, and it came from tying it last year, but beyond that, you have to fix the attitude – I’ve said it a million times on my podcast – you have to get rid of the underbody downforce and put it on the over body so you have the ability, like you do in the Xfinity Series to drive up behind someone and get them off the bottom. That is when running the same speed will be okay, because you can at least get close to the car in front of you to manipulate them and slow them down, where now the leader has the 100 percent advantage over the second-place car. Xfinity is a little more even, a little more 50/50.”

How are you approaching this race knowing you only have one shot to win at Richmond this year?
“It is an important short track for us. We certainly have a lot of race tracks where this place kind of plays into that. Certainly, there is some similarities to Loudon that you can draw. Iowa is a hybrid of it. It is important in that sense, but it is important to me because it is my home town track. You have to take advantage. I only have one shot.”

Do you know where the line is because of what happened here last year?
“I think NASCAR drew a line in the sand and said that was too far. I think that they have been better about drawing the line in the sand on certain things, like the right rear hooks we have seen over the last year, them kind of drawing the line in the sand. They are not afraid to make hard decisions, and I think that is very, very important with the governing of the sport in general, so it is not a circus. I do feel a little bit better about it than we did 12 months ago; I just feel that I think certainly, that was the first time we’ve seen something like that happen and then NASCAR had a precedence to set in the sense that – what do you from here. If you let that go, then you open up a floodgate of crazy things that could happen that would be bad for the relevance and the legitimacy of the sport, and so I think everyone probably has a little better understanding now, because of the ruling. I’m not saying I agree or disagree with it, but you certainly have a better understanding.”

Will Corey Heim be a contracted 23XI driver next year?
“Yeah, he is our development driver for the foreseeable future, so he has plenty of races ahead of him with us.”

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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Media Availability
Friday, August 15, 2025

Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 60 Kroger/Kleenex Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, is 34 points behind teammate Chris Buescher for the final transfer position into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Preece spoke about his situation, along with being named one of the 40 Greatest Modern-Era NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers earlier this week.

RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Kroger/Kleenex Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING NAMED TO THAT IMPRESSIVE GROUP EARLIER THIS WEEK? “That was years and years of hard work, so it was nice to be a part of that and being on that list. It’s certainly one of the highlights of yesterday since it didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to, but a lot of my accomplishments and who I am as a racer and person was groomed through the Whelan Modified Tour. That had a huge impact on me, so really reflecting on it, along with Justin Bonsignore, Jaime Tomaino and many others that are on that list. It’s a great accomplishment and something to be proud of.”

WHAT KEEPS BRINGING YOU BACK TO THE MODIFIED EVENTS AND HOW FUN WAS IT TO RACE WITH YOUR DAD? “I think that’s the real reason why I truly do it. There are a couple things. My passion for modifieds. There are a lot of great people in that pit area as well as loving to drive those race cars, and then racing with my father. The challenge of it can be all the work that comes along with it. I have to explain this to race fans all the time that ask me why I don’t do it more, I’m not like Kyle Larson with Paul Silva, where he shows up and he’s racing. If I’m not working on that race car, it’s not really coming. My father does a lot, but when it comes to setup stuff and coming up with strategies and all that, I’m a huge piece in that, so it’s really fun. It’s great in that aspect because there’s nobody else to blame except myself, so if we’re terrible, I can just yell at myself all day long. I enjoy doing it and I enjoy the passion of people that love modified racing.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY INDICATION WHAT TIRE WEAR WILL BE LIKE TOMORROW NIGHT? “It’s hard to say just yet. I think we all kind of saw some of it last year when we put the option tire on, and I think all of us are kind of anticipating the same thing. When we weren’t handling very well yesterday I was just kind of searching around for grip, trying to figure out if your car is not handling well, what can I do to make it better? But as far a tire wear and what we’re all projecting, I think we’re gonna have a lot better idea in about an hour.”

WHAT ARE THE TEAM MEETINGS LIKE AT RFK WITH YOU AND CHRIS BATTLING EACH OTHER ON THAT CUT LINE? “I would agree with what Chris said last week because I actually watched his media availability, which is that nobody is hiding anything from anybody. That’s the truth. I was talking about the blacktop here today in turns one and two. I don’t think a lot of us really knew about it, and I didn’t even know about it until I went out in modified practice yesterday and noticed it, so I just communicated some of the thoughts I had on that. Scott, Jeremy, Derrick, they work really well together just like all of us drivers do, so I think the environment that we have at RFK right now is a really good one and I don’t hide anything from them, they don’t hide anything from me and that’s what’s nice about being there.”

IS IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT AFTER ALL THESE WEEKS IT COMES DOWN TO YOU TEAMMATES? “I think ideally we would have all liked to have either won by now and kind of locked ourselves in, but when you looked at the past however many weeks, 24, to be right there with each other and both of us have penalties. It’s not like one of us had a penalty and all that, where we’ve been neck and neck. I’m just grateful to be a part of this opportunity or to have this opportunity because it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been a lot of fun for me as a racer who has put a lot into my career and really been able to finally put something together that is allowing me to go and contend and race again and feel like I’m racing again. I always used to have to go race my modified to feel like I’m racing because the biggest thought to me in the past was, ‘When is the leader coming to lap me?’ Not because I didn’t know how to drive, but you were fighting so many different things. It’s just nice to be on the other side of things to where you’re continuing to try and find grip to race for a top five or race for a win or race for a top 10 or whatever it is. There’s a lot of factors as race car drivers that come into that and I’m grateful to be on the one that I’m in.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE RACING CHRIS FOR THE FINAL SPOT OR ARE YOU ASSUMING THERE WILL BE A NEW WINNER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS? “It’s hard to say. I think we’re at two racetracks, superspeedway especially Daytona, anything can happen. We saw that last year. At Richmond, you don’t know who is gonna show up with the right package today for this option tire. We all, as you guys have already heard, how is the tire wear going to be. How impactful can that play into this race? I think there’s a lot of thoughts. Yeah, you’re gonna have to win to get in to really lock yourself in, unless you’re Tyler Reddick. I think Chris and I are both trying to figure out what’s the best strategy for us. I know Scott and Derrick are working hard on that. I have really fast race cars and go execute great races. If you’re in a position for a green-white-checkered and you have an opportunity to win, when it comes Monday don’t think about what I should have done different.”

YOU DO THAT EVEN AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR? “Well, I didn’t say wreck somebody. I think you need to be a racer and not leave anything on the table at the end of the day. You’ve got to do it with respect, but at the same time a half a lap can change your entire season.”

HAVE YOU SEEN THE A-POST FLAP AT ALL THAT THEY’RE PUTTING IN FOR NEXT WEEK? “I know about it, but I haven’t seen it in person.”

DO YOU LET DERRICK LEAD THE STRATEGY PROCESS? HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE TRENDS OF WHAT THE RACE IS DOING? “That’s a challenge. I’m very knowledgeable when it comes to racing race cars if I see the entire picture, but my job on Sundays is to drive that race car as fast as I possibly can. Derrick has all the information, along with Brent, or engineer, and Matt in the war room to see how the race is playing out and understanding what the best strategy is and that’s their job, so I don’t want to know. I want to focus on driving that race car as fast as I can and also have them communicate to me what my job is in that moment, so it’s really easy to get wrapped up in the whole picture and think that you need to make those decisions. I’ve just learned that if I want to make those decisions, I’m gonna bring my modified to the racetrack and figure out pretty quickly why I drive a race car fast for a living.”

HOW MUCH RACING DO YOU CONSUME AND WHERE ARE YOU WATCHING WHEN YOU WANT TO WATCH SOMEONE ELSE RACE? “It’s my life. I’ve never run a 410 sprint car, but I was watching the nationals last week. I’m a modified guy. I watch Stafford on Friday’s sometimes. If I’m not at RFK or kind of doing farm chores around with Heather, typically I’m in my shop working on my own race car and sometimes I’ll have Flo on. I think as a race car driver, at least me, I can appreciate all forms of racing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Whelen Modified Tour car in the northeast, a Super Late Model in the southeast, USAC, Midgets, Sprint Cars, Silver Crown race cars. I grew up being a huge fan of them. I actually thought I was gonna go that Bobby Santos route or dirt cars, so I just enjoy racing.”

HOW VALUABLE DO YOU FEEL STAGES LIKE THIS, RACING AT RICHMOND, NORTH WILKESBORO, AS PART OF THESE CUP WEEKENDS ARE FOR THE TOUR AND IN GENERAL HOW VALUABLE IS THE TOUR TO THE NASCAR ECOSYSTEM? “What I can tell you is a lot of the people that race in the Whelan Modified Tour, there’s a lot of passion there. A lot of them are volunteers and they do it because they love racing, so it’s, honestly, a real grind for some of them to take off work on Wednesday, come down here, race on Thursday and then probably drive through the night to be at work at 7 a.m. the next day, but they do it because they appreciate racing on a facility like this at Richmond that is top of the class. So, really, for them to have the opportunity to come here and race that, they love it and I appreciate racing with them for everything they do. I think as far as the Whelen Modified Tour goes and modified racing and all the people that do it, I can’t give them enough credit as far as all the teams and everything that they do to go to those races and do. I read a lot and it puts a lot on all of those people, so it’s great that we’re able to come out here and do that. They’re gonna be at New Hampshire in a few weeks, which is their big race as well as going to Martinsville, so it’s a great opportunity for them to bring home some awesome trophies.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE MOMENTUM YOUR TEAM HAS RIGHT NOW HEADING TO THE FINAL STRETCH? “I feel really good about it. I’m really anxious to get out here in about 45 minutes or an hour. There’s just been so many questions with this tire and really a lot of preparation. For me, it’s trying to figure out what can I do as a race car driver to make it last better than somebody else. I think that’s gonna be the key tomorrow night and then let Derrick and those guys work the strategy and figure out what we need to do from there. My goal tomorrow is to win. You want to lock yourself into the playoffs you need to win.”

HOW HAS YOUR IDENTITY AS A DRIVER CHANGED FROM THE START OF THE SEASON? “I think it’s been fun talking to people that have known me for the past 15-17 years. We talk about this year and how we’re running. We’re running really well. I even joke with the merchandise trailer that we’re selling t-shirts really well. For me, the past five or however many years it was, I think I’ve even persuaded a few media people that Ryan Preece can do this. Outside of putting ourselves in position to win, we’ve executed a pretty good season, a respectable season that it would be nice to make the playoffs and then really see what we can do in there. It’s been a lot of fun and I think as a race car driver that’s sacrificed a lot to get to this point, to have this opportunity and do all the things that we’ve done and been consistent and not just having that flash of speed and kind of disappearing, it’s been really nice. The next step is trying to win these races. It’s been a great opportunity, one that I can’t thank Brad enough for being a great teammate, a great owner, and somebody that I can really rely on throughout a race weekend, along with Chris. I’ve been good friends with him, great teammates with him, and it’s been really great to be a part of this opportunity. I couldn’t do it without great sponsors like Kroger, Mohawk Northeast, FIfth Third Bank, and the list really goes on and on – Fastenal and many others. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and hopefully we can cap off tomorrow with a win and don’t have to worry about the playoffs.”

DO YOU FEEL THE COMMUNICATION ON YOUR TEAM HAS EVOLVED AND THAT’S LED TO YOUR SUCCESS? “Yeah, it started off really well and it’s only gotten better. It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of and, honestly, our trailer is just something like I’ve never been a part of in my life. It’s been great and I think for having a spotter that’s never spotted in the Cup Series before as well as a bunch of people on our team that this is really their first year in Cup, it’s been a great group.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
RICHMOND RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 15, 2025

 Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Richmond Raceway.

Media Availability Quotes:

How would you compare your level of comfortability in the Cup car last year versus this year?

“Yeah, a lot higher. It’s been good; building up throughout the year and getting better and better. Certainly, we’d go like a month between races last year, so just really driving one car mainly as a focus, and same thing every week – same crew and same people – makes a huge difference, that’s for sure.”

Can you talk to me about what your preparation looks like kind of in the week leading up to this race? Are you on the simulator? Are you talking to the team? What does it look like for the week?

“Yeah, a lot of video study, mainly. I try and study as many drivers as I can. Yesterday, I had the race on; watched last year’s practice, qualifying and race, and then had SMT up at the same time. That’s probably what I get more out of. I find myself sort of doing less and less sim and more video stuff. I find that sort of helping me more these days.”

Do you have a message for your fans in Australia and New Zealand? Every press conference, they come out with a ton of comments. What does it mean to you for your long-time fans to still be following your career today?

“Yeah, it’s very humbling how many people have followed me over here and tune in every Monday morning and watch the races. It’ll be Sunday this weekend, so they’ll probably enjoy that a bit better. Yeah, it’s been really cool having the support. Even when it’s a bad weekend for me, I still get a lot of comments and support. So, yeah, it’s really nice.”

I just want to get your thoughts about what your mindset is coming into this race. You’re two more playoff points from taking over the top spot. How do you balance, I guess, trying to gain more points and trying to gain more information for the postseason and not trying to be caught up in a possible big wreck or big crash on Saturday night?

“Yeah, well, certainly on the ovals, it’s harder for us at the moment to get the playoff points, that’s for sure. But we’re definitely working at it and I feel like every week we’re making steps and getting better. The result at Iowa wasn’t great, but I was a lot more competitive and racing really well. Even after we had our spin, we still got into a good position before getting wrecked. So there’s lots of positives coming, and, yeah, I think we’re getting better. I feel like we are, so who knows? We can hopefully start getting further up, but, yeah, certainly not where we expected or probably where everyone thought we would be on the playoff point leaderboard, so nice way to surprise people, I guess.”

The last couple of months, you seem very happy, on the track and off the track. If you could just talk about, you know, kind of the general ‘it’s good to be you right now’ type of thing…

“Yeah, winning certainly helps, but I felt like I was really happy at the start of the year, but it’s hard to look happy, I guess, when you’re finishing 30th every week. But I felt like there was a lot of positives early in the year, and we’re just building and grinding. This series is a grind, especially when it’s not going well. You know, every week you’re working hard with your guys and girls to get better. So, yeah, I felt like I was still pretty happy in March, April, May before, but yeah, certainly I feel like everyone’s pretty stoked and riding on a high — not just the 88 crew, but the whole team. It’s really cool at the shop at the moment with how stoked everyone is, and I feel like we got some good momentum as a team, and we’re getting better and better with every week. So it’s really cool to be a part of it.”

What was it like after last weekend with all three Trackhouse cars in the top-10?

“Yeah, normally Kap (Houston) rides around on his bike when we get a top-10 handing out ice cream to everyone, so I was wondering what we’re going to do when all three cars got in the top-10.

But yeah, it was pretty cool. You know, that’s a pretty special moment for the team. It’s not easy to run up front, so to have all three cars in the top-10 and genuinely be competitive, it was a really cool step.”

What was your process early on trying to figure out the ins and outs of oval racing? Did you pick out a car in practice and try to follow that car to pick up on how they were doing things, or how did you work that process?

“Yeah, good question. It’s just time for me, and even this week, like I’ve never been around this track in a Cup car. You see the fall-off in practice; it’s very tough to get up to speed straight away, so this week, I’ve kind of been studying Denny(Hamlin) and Ross (Chastain) the most. Ross’s car’s probably most similar to how mine’s going to be, so trying to just see what they were doing with gears. You can change gear a lot here, and it changes the car balance quite a lot. I just try and study those two guys.

But, you know, different tracks might be different people, who stands out, and just try and emulate what they’re doing, I guess. But for me, it’s just time. You know, I don’t know what it’s like when I’m out there, and no one knows what the patches are going to feel like at Turn One. Just try and do things by feel, I guess, too.”

What do you feel that you’ve perhaps grown on the most on short tracks? I know you mentioned Iowa. You didn’t get the results you want, but in terms of just this style from the start of the year as compared?

“Yeah, the short tracks, I feel sort of most competitive and feel most comfortable, I guess, to push, but the results haven’t shown that. I feel like my lap times and speed are good in sections of the race, I’ve just got to put it all together, and hopefully that starts to happen soon. But the short tracks, I feel like there’s a bit more driver manipulation you can do with the gear changes, the braking and how to phase sort of the tire wear. You can have a big influence on that, it seems.

So yeah, these kinds of tracks suit me. I did have a really good race at Martinville last year, but otherwise, the short tracks have been a disaster, so I’ve just got to put it together, I think.”

If you were to evaluate 2025, obviously all the road course wins, but what are you most proud of to this point in the year?

“Just how much we’ve enjoyed it. Every race weekend, even if it’s good or bad, I enjoy going into the shop on Monday and doing the meetings. It’s going to work every day, but it doesn’t really feel like a job. I’m loving every minute of it.”

With this track and all the different unknowns with the tires, the patches, all that stuff, does it give you time to dive into some of the other little details, like the number of people who get speeding penalties on pit road here?

“Yeah, it’s difficult here, especially with the two different speeds. You’re trying to be fast on the corners and maximize. I started the year bad with trying to push that. I think I had a stupid amount of penalties, and knock on wood, I haven’t had one for a while. I’ve been behaving and conservative on my speed. That’s another part of NASCAR that’s tough — every other series I’ve been in, you press a button and hold your foot flat and it does it itself. But it’s free lap time here, especially on a high fall-off track — you’re touring through the pits quite a lot under green, so it’s worth a lot of time and that’s where these guys are good, getting in and out of pit road without getting it wrong.”

Your Supercars career gets a lot of credit for your success on the road courses. Is there anything else that translates over from your experience in Supercars, whether it be just feel for the car, since they are similarly built? Have you talked to any other former Supercar drivers, like Scott McLaughlin… I know he’s in INDYCAR, but to get any additional help in terms of racing the ovals and that sort of thing?

“Marcus Ambrose is probably the guy lent on the most for just pure racing stuff out of Supercars land, I guess. Scotty was more, sort of, general living and how it is in America. But yeah, Marcus was a huge help, and if I do still need stuff this year, he’s been there for me, as well.”

What has been the biggest area of improvement for you and the crew this year?

“On ovals, it’s just general speed. It’s just taking time learning what I need from the car and understanding the car. When we go to a road course, I can tell exactly what area the car needs speed; which part to try and focus on. On an oval, I don’t fully know yet. I can describe what the car’s doing, but I don’t have that notebook of myself, whether it’s too stiff in springs, roll bars or cross weight. I don’t know what to ask for yet. Just trying to learn every week; trying to see what the setup is and what’s different to every other week. Just trying to help my crew point the car in the right direction, whereas on a road course this year, we’ve kind of trended one way on setup, and I feel like as a team and driver combination, it’s been really good and shown it’s made us better.”

How do you anticipate the racing to be with two races remaining before they set the playoff field? At Daytona, it’s kind of chaotic and hectic anyway, but even here on a short track, I mean, are you kind of prepared to know and be aware of this guy’s racing for his playoff hopes here?

“Yeah, for sure. I watched the race here last year and I can’t believe the lengths people go through to get in. It’s a desperate situation, and it means so much to get in the playoffs, so I’m certainly glad we’re not involved in it, and hopefully won’t be involved in it. But yeah, I think that’s an awesome part of this sport. It creates those storylines and that desperation to win when someone’s in that position. There’s a lot of people in the bubble and a lot of people needing a win, and hopefully that creates some good but safe racing for the next couple of weeks.”

You said you were looking at Denny’s (Hamlin) SMT data to learn here. Was that tough to follow? Because I’ve heard that his data is unlike most drivers, where he’s like stabbing at the throttle. It looks like a heart monitor when you’re looking at it. Was it tough to mimic that?

“Yeah, it’s just amazing when there’s different styles, right? His style’s very unique, the way he’s mainly using a different gear and stabbing at the throttle, and it’s just techniques I’ve never come across or needed to use before. But in NASCAR, there’s so many different ways to get the car around the track fast, and I’m trying to be as open-minded as possible in changing my style, especially for a track I’ve never been to before. I probably won’t try it today in practice, but if it gets stalled out in the race or in a moment where I’ve got time to try stuff, I’ll experiment a bit. All these top guys have such subtle little differences in the way they drive, and it’s really interesting trying to pick things up because I’m sort of like a clean sheet of paper with oval driving, so trying to find a style that works for me.”

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