RICK WARE RACING
FireKeepers Casino 400
Date: June 8, 2025
Event: FireKeepers Casino 400 (Round 15 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (2-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/75 laps/80 laps)

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Chris Buescher of RFK Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

RWR Finish:

● Cody Ware (Started 36th, Finished 26th / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)

RWR Points:

● Cody Ware (36th with 95 points)

Race Notes:

● Denny Hamlin won the FireKeepers Casino 400 to score his 57th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his third at Michigan. His margin over second-place Chris Buescher was 1.099 seconds.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 33 laps.
● Twenty-eight of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● William Byron remains the championship leader after Michigan with a 41-point advantage over second-place Kyle Larson.

Sound Bites:

“We dealt with a lot of aero wash, a lot of issues in the pack, and dirty air today, so definitely want to just keep working on the car. We’ll just keep digging and head to Mexico.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Jacob Construction Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the inaugural Viva Mexico 250 on Sunday, June 15 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by Prime Video and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 8, 2025) – The NASCAR Cup Series visited the Irish Hills and Michigan International Speedway for a Sunday matinée. LEGACY MC teammates, John Hunter Nemechek piloting the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE and Michigan-native Erik Jones in the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE started side-by-side for the FireKeepers Casino 400 in row 11. It was Chase Briscoe leading the field to the green flag. At the end of the race, it was Denny Hamlin who captured the victory.

Below is a look at how the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries fared:

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 PYE-BARKER TOYOTA CAMRY XSE RACE RECAP:
START: 21ST | FINISH: 34TH | POINTS: 25TH
During the opening stage of the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, John Hunter Nemechek took the green flag from the 21st position. At the initial start, the 27-year-old driver got caught in the bottom lane and lost several spots, dropping back to 32nd early in the run.

Despite the setback, Saturday’s practice had shown promise, with the No. 42 Pye-Barker team posting some of the best long-run speeds, a factor that came into play as Stage 1 went caution-free for all 45 laps. Nemechek steadily worked his way forward and climbed back up to 19th at the end of the first stage. He relayed to the team that the car felt neutral, prompting crew chief Travis Mack to call for no adjustments during the first pit stop.

Nemechek restarted Stage 2 from 15th. He initially moved forward but lost a couple of spots before once again regaining momentum. On lap 60, while running in traffic, Nemechek’s car got loose and snapped around, making contact with the outside backstretch wall. He was able to bring the car to pit road for the crew to assess the damage.

With limited time to make repairs, the No. 42 team got him back on track quickly. Nemechek reported that the car felt okay, though there was damage to the splitter. Just a few laps later, a multi-car accident brought out the red flag, giving the team an opportunity to further strategize repairs.

Unfortunately, while running at the tail end of the field, Nemechek’s car snapped loose again and made additional contact with the outside wall. This time the damage was more severe, and the No. 42 was towed to the garage. The team tried to make extensive repairs but wasn’t able to make it back out on the track.

In a disappointing end to a promising weekend, Nemechek and the No. 42 Pye-Barker team were credited with a 34th-place finish, as the team took its first DNF of the season.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTABLE:

“Unfortunately, it was a tough day. Not really sure what happened, our car just snapped around on me without warning. I hate this for all the men and women who work very hard to give us fast race cars. We’ll regroup and try to get this monkey off our back.”

ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE RACE RECAP:
START: 22ND | FINISH: 11TH | POINTS: 21ST
Erik Jones was excited for his return to his home track at Michigan International Speedway for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400. After starting the race in 22nd, Jones found speed in the initial laps as he worked his way up to 16th by lap 10. As the stage continued green, the Michigan-native told the team that his car was good, and he just needed a bit of assistance with his entrance to the corners. The entire first stage of 45 laps went green, and Jones ended up finishing 16th.

During the stage break, his team opted not to make an adjustment as the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE started to come to Jones on the long run. They pitted for four tires and fuel to restart Stage 2 in 18th.

Jones found speed from the drop of the green flag for Stage 2. Despite starting 18th on lap 53, he entered the top-10 by lap 59. He lost some handling in the next few laps to fall back to 19th when a wreck brought out the red flag on lap 61. When the red flag was lifted to yellow, the No. 43 team pitted for right side tires and fuel to make it to the end of the stage. He restarted 20th.

As the stage continued, Jones found that his car went to the tight side in dirty air and fell back to 24th. He resurged as the stage had a long green flag run to work his way up inside the top-20 again by lap 96 and was running 16th when the caution came out again on lap 110. Jones reported at this time that he was happy with his car overall and felt like it continued to get better. During the caution, the team pitted for four tires and fuel to stay out at the stage break. Jones restarted 12th with seven laps to go in the stage.

While falling back on the initial restart, Jones raced his way three-wide to find himself in 10th with just four laps to go in the stage. He held off Kyle Busch in the closing laps of the stage to finish there and bring home one stage point. The No. 43 team kept Jones on the track during the stage break to restart eighth on lap 127.

When the final stage went green, Jones won a three-wide and four-wide battle to hold his eighth-place position on the restart. He was combating a loose racecar as he fell to ninth. The team hoped the cloud cover coming in would help tighten up the Toyota Camry XSE.

The caution came out again on lap 146 while Jones was running 10th. Crew chief Ben Beshore brought his driver down pit road for four tires and fuel during the caution as the team felt they could make it on fuel at that point. He restarted 15th as he waited to get some extra fuel on his pit stop.

As Jones struggled on the restart, he fell back to 22nd. He continued to battle though and worked his way back into the top-20 as his car started to come to him by lap 165. From there, he began his drive forward As the rest of the race went green, Jones steadily passed cars. He ultimately ran out of time though and finished just outside the top-10 in 11th.

ERIK JONES QUOTABLE:

“I mean overall it was a solid day for us. We had top-five speed all day but struggled back in traffic. Dirty air was not our friend and that really showed in the second stage. We were able to get some stage points today and would’ve gotten another top-10 with our No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE if we had just had a little more time at the end. LEGACY Motor Club is making good progress these past few weeks. Hopefully we can keep that trend going as we head to Mexico and some of the other races this summer.”

(Photo Credit: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB / NKP)
NEXT UP: Holding its first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is set for its debut on Sunday, June 15 for the Viva Mexico 250. The race will begin at 3:00 p.m. EDT with coverage on Amazon Prime, MAX, MRN and Sirius XM.

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmie Johnson and Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. Drawing from a rich tradition of success, LEGACY MC is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and setting new standards of excellence. The CLUB competes under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner in the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE piloted by Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE driven by John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson also races on a limited basis in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Richard Petty, “The King”, serving as CLUB Ambassador, LEGACY MC blends timeless racing traditions with a new forward-thinking vision. As an inclusive community for motorsport enthusiasts, LEGACY MC honors both its storied past and the promising future of its members, always striving for victory and championship glory at the pinnacle of NASCAR competition.

HAMLIN REACHES VICTORY LANE AT MICHIGAN FOR THIRD WIN OF 2025
Toyota takes home The Heritage Trophy for second consecutive year

BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 8, 2025) – Saving enough fuel to race at full throttle down the stretch, Denny Hamlin took the lead late to take home the victory on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway for his third win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Today’s result means Hamlin has now earned eight consecutive top-10 or better finishes at the two-mile oval, and his third overall win at the track.

Hamlin’s triumph also gives Toyota The Heritage Trophy for a second consecutive season, following Tyler Reddick’s victory at Michigan last season. Awarded to the winning manufacturer at the Michigan Cup Series race since 2013, Toyota has now captured the prestigious award three times – 2015, 2024 and 2025.

Joining Hamlin inside the top-10 on Sunday were Ty Gibbs (third) and Bubba Wallace (fourth). Gibbs’ third-place run ties his best finish of the 2025 season so far and for Wallace, it’s his third top-five of the season and second straight top-10.

Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Michigan International Speedway
Race 15 of 36 – 400 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, Chris Buescher*
3rd, TY GIBBS
4th, BUBBA WALLACE
5th, Kyle Larson*
11th, ERIK JONES
13th, TYLER REDDICK
16th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
23rd, CHASE BRISCOE
25th, RILEY HERBST
34th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: Winner

What does it mean to win in a fuel mileage situation there at the end?

“Yeah, it was tight! They (the team) said I was right on the number and to go all out. I went all out and was able to battle for the lead, and when I got the lead, I was able to back it down a litte bit. I ran out of fuel (pause), I have some friends in (turns) three and four that I promised I’d do a burnout in front of their bus once this was over, so I ran out of fuel over there. Thanks to this whole No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team. They gave me a great race car. To restart 12th or so on that last restart and get to the front feels awesome.”

Take us through that battle with William Byron at the end.

“I was working him. I mean, just giving him all types of different looks. To catch him off guard at a surprise, I was able to get position on him there. Man, what a battle! Have to thank Yahoo!, TRD, Toyota, Progressive, Sport Clips, National Debt Relief, Kings Hawaiian, Jordan Brand, Shady Rays, Logitech. Lot of people make this happen. That was just a really fun one to drive.”

What does it mean to win this race giving Toyota the Heritage Trophy for a second straight year?

“Just means so much! They (Toyota) give so much back to the sport in such a huge way. Toyota, you’ll see them at your local dirt track up here in Michigan to Cup racing on Sundays. There’s no one who invests in our sport like Toyota does and we can’t thank them enough for that.”

TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

How critical was this finish today?

“It was. We had a very fast Monster Energy Toyota Camry. Wish we could’ve gone out and won, but it was not the option with the fuel spot we were in from the spot we were in. Unfortunate.”

How hard was it to not be able to chase the lead down while saving fuel?

“It’s just unfortunate because I believe we had the capability to go do it and we showed how fast enough to go do it. It’s frustrating, but it’s just part of it sometimes.”

BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

How much did your fuel mileage today help you strategize the race?

“Yeah, when Charles (Denike, crew chief) comes over the radio and says be on it the whole time, that’s all you want to hear. I was doing a little bit of technique stuff on that run to pick up some fuel. When it was time to go, it was time to go. When you weren’t really gaining anything, you have to be smart on what the situation is, and I feel like we’re getting there. All-in-all, a good day.”

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 spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.

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

NASCAR CUP SERIES
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
JUNE 8, 2025

Larson Leads Chevrolet with Top-Five Finish at Michigan

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER

5th – Kyle Larson
6th – Ross Chastain
8th – Kyle Busch

• In a race that came down to fuel mileage, it was Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team that led Chevrolet to the checkered-flag at Michigan International Speedway – earning a fifth-place finish in the FireKeepers 400. Struggling with the balance of his Chevrolet throughout much of the race, the combination of veteran leadership by crew chief, Cliff Daniels, and the experience of former Cup Series Champion, Kyle Larson, kept the team in the fight until the end to claim their series-leading ninth top-five finish of the 2025 season.
• A pair of Team Chevy teammates saw their race win contention end in heartbreak in the closing laps of the 400-mile race. Pacing the field at his home track, Michigan native, Carson Hocevar, saw the chances of his first career victory in NASCAR’s top division end when the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team suffered a flat left-rear tire. Sharing a disappointing end to the day was William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team. Running close on fuel mileage with the race hitting a single-digit lap count, Byron lost the top position to race winner, Denny Hamlin, with just three laps to go – ultimately having to bring his Chevrolet to pit road on the final lap for fuel to finish in the 28th position.
• Despite the finish, William Byron posted yet another strong points day – collecting a race-high 51 points to maintain the point lead by 41 points over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson.

Chevrolet’s all-time NASCAR Cup Series statistics at Michigan International Speedway:

Wins: 26
Poles: 27
Top-Fives: 187
Top-10s: 392

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 15 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 5
Poles: 7
Top-Fives: 30
Top 10s: 64
Stage Wins: 15

UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez with the Viva Mexico 250 on Sunday, June 15, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime Video, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 6th

“We saved fuel the whole second-half of the run, so we were fine there at the end and I was able to start pushing hard again. I couldn’t really make much more lap time. You’re off the gas for 20 laps and you think – oh, I’m giving up all this lap time, and you go and get a tenth back on a big track like this. I think we finished about where we should have. When the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) passed me on that last run, I was like, I don’t have that, so hats off to those guys. They’ve been impressive. We just haven’t been quite that good to drive up and pass those guys, but it was a solid sixth-place finish for the No. 1 Busch Light Apple Chevrolet team.”

Do you think you’re gaining on it?

“Oh yes, for sure. It’s good times at Trackhouse Racing right now.

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 5th

The race came down to fuel saving. How difficult is it to maintain saving fuel, but you’ve got guys with a little bit more fuel running you down?

“Early in the run, I was actually surprised with how easy it was to save fuel and kind of stay attached to the No. 77 (Carson Hocevar) and the No. 24 (William Byron). I thought I was in good shape there and I was hopeful that I had a big enough gap from the group behind us that maybe we could maintain that gap; those guys would run out of fuel in front of me and we could win. But they were charging hard and my balance wasn’t very good. I really faded there with 12 laps or so to go, so because of the balance being bad, I could save more fuel naturally. I just kind of had to nurse it home from there.

We didn’t have a good No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet today, but we still got a top-five finish out of it. I’m happy about the effort and hopefully we can have some more speed these next coming weeks and just run in the top-five more often. Days like today aren’t the most fun, but they feel really good, too. Proud of the whole team. Wish we could have gotten a win for Chevrolet today, but we’ll have to try again next year.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 17th

“Just a hard fought day for our No. 16 group. I needed to be a little bit better, definitely made some mistakes for our race team and tried to get them back on the final restart. I felt like we got pretty close to where we probably should have been running, just more disappointed in myself today. I need to be a little bit better, but we fought hard and got everything out of it at the end there. We had to save a little bit of fuel, probably lost two spots in doing that, but at the end of the day, I think about 14th to 17th was about all we had. We did a fairly good job of maximizing our day and we’ll go to Mexico City and try to win the race.”

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two.

Finished: 36th

Bowman on the accident that ended the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team’s day early at Michigan International Speedway:

“It just looked like the No. 2 (Austin Cindric) got into the No. 41 (Cole Custer) or he was in a bad aero spot, something like that. The No. 41 got loose and at that point, being on the outside, when they get into you, you’re just along for the ride. Really quickly turned the car into the outside wall and it was a massive crash. Hate it for our No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. We just have to keep digging. It’s been a really bad two months for us, but we just have to keep working hard.”

How do you find the positives when we have a new racetrack next weekend in Mexico City and another couple of road courses in the next five weeks, with this group and speed you guys have had?

“We’ve had a lot of speed and a lot of good race cars. Obviously today, we were off from where we needed to be. But just the support that we have from Rick (Hendrick), Jeff (Gordon) and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, they’ll give us the tools we need to get turned back around. We just needed to get pointed back in the right direction. We’re a much better race team than this.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 30th

“It was a rough day across the board for the No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet team. We got some track position about midway through. We made some improvements, but we just didn’t have it for you. And then right there at the end with five laps to go, we ran out of fuel. We went from a top-15 day to a 30th-place finish. That’s no fun, but we’ve got Mexico City next weekend and we’re looking forward to that.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 14th

“It was an OK day for the No. 99 Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet team. We had speed on the long run, but on the short runs, we were getting destroyed. We were not super-fast on the straights… we struggled a lot on the straights, more than I was expecting. Overall, we rescued an OK day, but we need more.”

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 Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
FireKeepers Casino 400
Sunday, June 8, 2025

Ford Unofficial Finishing Results

2nd – Chris Buescher

7th – Zane Smith

9th – Ryan Preece

10th – Brad Keselowski

12th – Josh Berry

22nd – Joey Logano

26th – Cody Ware

27th – Noah Gragson

31st – Austin Cindric

32nd – Ryan Blaney

33rd – Todd Gilliland

35th – Cole Custer

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Kroger/Kraft/Artesano Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That was such a fast Kroger/Heinz Ford Mustang. I really appreciate everybody on this team working so hard to put us in this situation and to have a chance to win. I’m disappointed I didn’t get it done. It’s on me. I had a couple different decisions I would love to go back and make and ultimately should have had us ahead of the 11. We were faster on the day and I didn’t do a good enough job. We’ll certainly take the good with it. We certainly need a little bit of good luck or fortune on our side. This is a day where we kind of made our own. We were really fast and worked hard to be there and just didn’t have any bad luck, so that put us with a shot to win. After the last handful of weeks with having speed in the first stage and qualifying and not being able to get the race finish that was certainly big, but it’s frustrating to be that close and to know that we had a car that was capable of winning. I just needed to do a better job.”

YOU WERE UP FRONT EARLY AND THEN WENT TO THE BACK. WHAT HAPPENED? “We had to put a little more fuel in it the first stop, so we lost a little bit of track position there and then I had a bad restart where I got jammed up behind some of the guys that had big moments and lost a ton of track position. That’s kind of what I was talking about when I said I need to do better. I need to make better decisions in those moments. Those were the times where we lost a ton of spots and put us behind, and then had to scratch and claw our way out the rest of the day. Ultimately, a couple of those little areas – a bobble or two here or there that cost us some spots at a couple key moments that fall directly on me.”

IS THERE SOME COMFORT KNOWING THIS 17 WAS FAST TODAY? “Yeah, definitely. It hurts right now, but certainly there’s a ton of positive out of today. Our car was so fast here from the time we unloaded off the truck yesterday. We’ve been fast at all these mile-and-a-halves and that’s a huge step for us. I’m certainly proud of that and excited for what we have to come, but there’s a little bit of a sting right now to be that close and miss out.”

ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “There’s a lot of positive from the speed and how my car drove today, especially when we made it better. We had positive restarts and just a lot of positives. I’m on two tires there trying to hold off guys that are on four. If I’m on four against four in the Cup Series that’s already hard enough, so I was trying my best at defending but ultimately we got beat there some. All in all, I’m proud to end up in the top 10 there with Long John Silver’s on board and everyone at FRM. I wish we could have gotten Ford a W here in their home state, but we’ll try again next year.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We had a really good car. I felt like we had a top two or three car and just didn’t get to see it through. I’m really disappointed. We kind of crushed ourselves on pit road with the speeding penalty and then having to go around the 45 and the 71. Every time we pitted we would lose a lot of spots. It wasn’t the pit crew’s fault, we just needed a better pit stall. I’m not really sure on the speeding penalty. I felt I was way slow, so getting called fast didn’t really add up, but we had the speed to do a lot more than we did today and I’m disappointed to not get that. Still, we’re reasonably happy with a top 10.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It seemed like one of those days that it wasn’t meant to be. We were just a little bit tight for the first run and that kind of took us by surprise, but we made the car a little better and took the strategy to stay out and try to win the stage on old tires. I felt more would stay, but we got passed there on the last lap. All in all, it was a good recovery from the back of the field and then we had a left-rear tire fail on that green flag run. I feel like we probably would have been able to make our way back up close to the top 10. Like I said, there was a lot of good, but a lot of bad, too. There’s plenty to clean up and ready for a new adventure in Mexico.”

TODD GILLILAND, No. 34 Martin Transportation Systems Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “There was zero warning at all. Obviously, everyone is kind of pushing it. We’ve seen some left-rears down in practice, but that was a very unfortunate place for mine to go out that’s for sure. It’s just wild that you have a long time to think about hitting the wall, but it’s all good. It honestly wasn’t even a bad hit at all, so I’m proud of my guys for making my car better throughout the day. It’s unfortunate.” WERE YOU LOW ON TIRE PRESSURES TRYING TO CREATE SPEED LIKE EVERYBODY DOES HERE? “To be honest, I don’t know what we were, but we can both imagine that I’m sure we were pushing it. Everyone pushes it. We pushed ours a little bit too far.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Michigan Media Availability
Saturday, June 7, 2025

Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Menards/Knauf Ford Mustang Dark Horse, is coming off his first victory of the season last week at Nashville Superspeedway. Blaney stopped by the infield media center at Michigan International Speedway this morning to talk about that win and his hopes for making it two straight this weekend.

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Knauf Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE ATMOSPHERE TO BE LIKE IN MEXICO NEXT WEEK? “I think the atmosphere is gonna be fantastic. Myself, Chase, Suarez and C Bell went down there a couple months ago and that was one of the biggest things I noticed about it was every single media member that was there at the press conference, all the fans walking around, they were very excited for us to come this summer, so that part of it I’m really looking forward to. They were very welcoming. You never really know what kind of welcome you’re gonna get when you go to a new place anywhere in general, so I think seeing their excitement really makes us feel good about the fact they’re excited for us to come down and put on a good show. I think it’s gonna be a great hit. I’m really excited to get there next week and it should be a fun one. It should be good.”

DO YOU THINK THE SIMULATOR HAS BEEN ACCURATE FOR THAT TRACK? “Yeah, I think it’s been pretty accurate. I was in it a couple weeks ago. I’ll go in it again this upcoming week and walking around it, when we went down there, they were tearing down stuff from a big music festival they did, but everyone showing us around the track and saying, ‘this is how we’re gonna kind of lay it out,’ and, honestly, they asked us about some wall placements and things like that. The four of us just talked it out and gave them some suggestions, but I feel like when I was in the sim it was pretty accurate to what they told me it’s gonna be, so that part is nice. You never fully know, but they just do the best job they can with the info they get and applying it to the sim, so I feel like it’s gonna be pretty accurate. We’ll find out when we get there, but I think it’s gonna be pretty close.”

HOW WILL THE COURSE RACE? “I think it will race really well, honestly. I think there’s a lot of passing zones obviously into turn one. Down the long frontstretch is gonna be one. Into turn four. There’s like a flowy esses section that I don’t know if you’ll see a lot of passing there, just as a normal ess carrying speed, but then there’s another braking zone into the stadium, that right-hander that I think you’re gonna see some moves, and then in the stadium there’s a really, really tight left-hander. It’s super tight and it requires a big arc to run it properly, but you’re gonna have guys kind of short cut it and dive in there, almost like the new Roval turn. It’s kind of set up like that with that angle to me, where you saw a lot of guys short it and send it in there, so there’s at least four and then we always find funky ones through there to try to catch people by surprise, so I think it’s gonna race very well. I like the track layout. I think they did a really good job on it. It has all different aspects from high-speed straightaways, really heavy braking zones, flowy sections, and then like your really slow stadium section. I think it has all pieces of road courses that we run are kind of mashed into one, so I think it looks like a great racetrack.”

IS IT DIFFERENT NOW PREPARING FOR TRACKS LIKE MICHIGAN AND POCONO SINCE YOU ONLY GO THERE ONCE A YEAR AS OPPOSED TO BEFORE? “For me, it’s business as usual preparing for every week. You might not have a race or two more that you kind of used to get a couple shots at Pocono and a couple shots here at Michigan, like you said, and now it’s one, so the data you get when we go to Pocono in a couple weeks is gonna be pretty important because you get one shot at everyone, but we take pieces from everywhere and apply them the best that we can. Do I wish we went to Pocono twice and Michigan twice? I could go either way. I like both of them a lot. I personally thought the doubleheader weekend we had one year at Pocono was really good. I really liked it. It was a little bit shorter race, but you get two Cup races and I think they filled it up with Xfinity and Trucks and possibly even ARCA that weekend, so you could see five races. That’s just part of it. You plan as best you can and you gather intel the best you can for when you go to places that are fairly similar.”

HOW HAS THE STRATEGY CHANGED FOR YOU GUYS AFTER THE WIN? “It’s really nothing different. We approach every week trying to win the race and no matter what spot you’re in, whether you’re not locked in on wins or you are. We did a great job last week of finally closing one out and you just try to do it again. A lot of people talk about that. Is there a mindset change when you win and you get locked in? I’ve never really believed that. I’ve always, to me at least and our group, it’s just we prepare every week like you’re trying to win the race, whether you’ve won one, zero or five it’s the same thing. And I don’t think you lay up anymore if you don’t have a win or you have a win or you don’t get more aggressive in these situations, unless it’s like down to maybe a couple races at the end and you have to win to get in – maybe you change some stuff up – but our group we’ve just always kind of tried to be as consistent as we can and try to do the best thing for our team and make the best decisions at the time no matter what spot you’re in.”

IS THERE ANY OTHER TRACK YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE NASCAR RACE ON? “I applaud NASCAR for getting bold and going to some places new, like trying the street course at Chicago, wanting to go international with Mexico. I was a big advocate for pushing like, ‘we’ve got to get international somewhere.’ Whether that was Mexico, Canada, wherever we could go. Where else would I like to see them go? I don’t know. They’ve proven that they can kind of do it anywhere if you put the resources and the time in it. You can make a street course. You can go to different road courses that are already existing. Maybe even some tracks that we used to go to that we don’t go to anymore like a Chicago – the Joliet racetrack. My name is in the bucket for that. I’d like to see that come back because I think it would be a great racetrack. It always was. They are God. They can choose where they go. They set the schedule. They can work with these cities and things like that to figure out where can we bring our show pretty much to a city near you. I think they can do it. I don’t know all of the technical insights. I’m sure it’s hell. I just go where they tell me to go and I race, but I’d love to personally, if we’re naming places, I’d love to see Joliet come back.”

IF YOU COULD STEAL A STAGE WIN AND GET THOSE PLAYOFF POINTS, ARE YOU FLEXIBILE ENOUGH TO DO THAT WITH YOUR SITUATION? “Yeah, it’s all situational. We’ve done that before in a spot that we’ve already won a race or not, and it kind of depends. We’ve always looked at it as, ‘OK, if you’re running 15th and it’s funky caution to where it’s gonna be a few laps to the end can you get the lead and can you get a stage point? You’re gonna start in the back, but I don’t know if we have a car to win, so let’s get all we can and get 10 points and get a playoff point.’ Or on the other side of that, if you think your car can win the race and you get one of those, maybe you just want to keep track position and cycle back to the lead after the caution. In the talks Jonathan and I have always had we talk extensively about the spot we’re in and do we think we can win the race or not, and that really weighs a big factor in it and your decision-making because sometimes you don’t want to get buried if you think you have the best car out there. Maybe you do flip the stage, but if you think the best you’re gonna do is 10th all day, ‘hey, maybe let’s grab all the points we can if that opportunity comes up.’ So, it’s a lot of situational things that he and I try to prepare for and make calls about in the moment.”

IS THERE A SENSE OF RELIEF AFTER WINNING LAST WEEK? “I think it was more of a weight off our shoulders just because we’ve been so good this year and feel like we just haven’t been able to get anything going our way. I feel like we’ve been in contention to win a few of them and a few of those that we thought we could be in contention to win we didn’t even finish, so I feel like that was a huge relief of like, ‘Man, we finally got over this hurdle of our cars are really good.’ It was nice to just finally put a whole night together. Nothing silly happened. It just played out normally and the fastest car won the race and we just happened to be that car, so I think just the ups and downs of the year that we had, it was definitely a huge sense of relief and my guys deserved it. I was happy for my guys because they didn’t change their attitude one bit through the down times of the year. They’ve just always prepared every single week like the people that they are and knowing that we can go win the race any week, so that was nice that it was like, ‘Alright, finally nothing happened.’ We did our job great. Nothing silly played out and we were able to bring it home, so that part was nice I think mainly for that reason – because of all the ups and downs that we’ve had throughout the year.”

IN YOUR MIND WHAT IS THE LINE BETWEEN AGGRESSIVE, CLEAN DRIVING AND RECKLESS DRIVING. AND DO YOU THINK THE ATTENTION HOCEVAR HAS BEEN GETTING IS GOOD FOR THE SPORT? “Everyone’s line is different. I can’t really speak for anybody else. My father raised me. He raced for a long time, so I had that going for me that he was able to teach me the do’s and don’ts. I’ve been chewed out a lot when I was younger for doing the wrong thing – at being overly aggressive and costing somebody else. My dad chewed my ass out when I did that. I did it a few times in late models when I was like 13 and he said it right. He set the line. He said, ‘This is wrong. You do not race this way. This is just how it is.’ It was one of those situations where I’m racing someone hard and I made a mistake. I slipped up and I spun him out. It wasn’t intentional, but even those mistakes dad would really make me clean up right away. That’s just how his dad raised him. I guess in my mind, hard racing is fantastic. Everyone races hard. Contact is going to happen. I think it’s an issue if it happens repetitively, like a lot. I think that’s when it starts becoming an issue. It’s like, ‘Do you learn from your mistakes?’ You can say you’re sorry all you want, but if you don’t learn from them and make a change, then everyone thinks you’re lying and you don’t feel sorry about that. Two guys are racing and they’re bumping and whatever, but, to me, over the line is if you get run over in the rear bumper and you get spun out and wrecked, then you have a brake pedal. You ran into that guy. I’ve read some stuff this week and people are like, ‘Well, Stenhouse could have cut him a break.’ I’m like, ‘How can Stenhouse cut him a break?’ I don’t understand. I think the 77 could have cut him a break if you’re gonna talk about breaks. I don’t even think that situation was cutting somebody a break. That was just getting run over, so, hey, he’s a young guy. All of us have been young. We’ve all been aggressive. Everyone has a heavy right foot when they get going and that’s good. I think he’s a very, very talented race car driver. He’s one of the best guys out there. It’s hard to teach speed. I think he just has to refine a little bit of what he does. I don’t think he has to change who he is because this is what got him here, but I think he’s got to possibly think of some situations that he’s been in and just try to learn from them. That’s really all you can do, so I don’t really critique anybody. I’m not critiquing him at all. That’s just my stance on it is when guys keep spinning off the front of your bumper that becomes an issue. I’m not a huge fan of that. I’ve been a part of it. I got turned at Atlanta getting run into from behind. It’s like, ‘How many times are you gonna keep doing this until you learn?’ So, we’ll see.”

THE IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT IS GOING TO START SOON. DO YOU THINK GUYS WILL PAY ATTENTION TO THAT ONCE IT STARTS AND COULD IT DEVELOP INTO SOMETHING MORE? “It could. It definitely could. I think it’s a unique thing to have in the middle of the year. It’s definitely gonna be something on people’s minds starting this week. The qualifiers are this week and it goes for three weeks, and then we get going. I think it’s in the back of people’s minds. I wasn’t sitting around this week like, ‘It’s in-season tournament time.’ You just try to run the best you can and then when I think you get into that five-week stretch of the tournament, you’re gonna be aware of who you’re racing like, ‘Who am I up against this week?’ You’re definitely gonna be aware of that because there is a lot of money and pride if you win the thing. It’s like a five-week All-Star Race, so you’re always gonna be thinking about that. You could go the easy route and say, ‘If I just win all five races, I’m gonna beat everybody and win the deal.’ I guess that’s a mindset you can have for sure, but you’re gonna have teams thinking about it in the back of their head. Are they gonna jeopardize their race because of that? No, I don’t think so, but it’s definitely something we’re gonna think about through those five weeks and honestly these next three of seeding yourself. It’s like the March Madness bracket. You want to do well to seed yourself against an easier opponent, but it could be big. It could grow. I think it’s a great idea. Why not try it? You’re still gonna have racing, it’s just gonna be a race within the race between all the guys.”

YOU COULD SEE UPSETS AND HAVE LOWER SEEDS GO THROUGH. “You have that all the time. The first one is in Atlanta, so you’re gonna see some upsets there. You could see some big upsets. They knew what they were doing. And then Chicago, so you could see some big upsets in the first couple. I think that makes for drama and it makes for that, so you could see the Cinderella March Madness moments. That’s what we all grew up watching and you’re gonna have it here.”

THE SCHEDULE IS PRETTY DIVERSE THE NEXT SIX WEEKS. DO YOU LIKE THE DIVERSITY? “Yeah, I like it. It’s part of the schedule. You look at every week and understand that you’ve got some things coming up. I think the road courses are gonna be big. It’s gonna tell you a huge tale of where you’re sitting and you better be ready because there’s a lot of them coming up from road courses and street courses and things like that. We’ve only had one road course to start the year. What have teams learned from COTA and how are they gonna be better at Mexico and Chicago and Sonoma? You have a big variation of them, so it’s a fun part of the schedule where you’re going to very different places each week, and I think teams really enjoy that – at least I enjoy it because it really switches it up and keeps it fresh. It can also be frustrating if you’re not very good at those places. You could have a stretch of some bad weeks. Hopefully, we’re not on that boat, but I like this part of the schedule. There’s a lot of different things going on this summer.”