Toyota Racing – Bubba Wallace
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DARLINGTON, S.C. (August 31, 2024) – 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace was made available to the media on Saturday after winning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Southern 500 race at Darlington Raceway.

BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

How much confidence do you have for tomorrow’s race after getting the pole for Sunday’s Southern 500?

“Yeah, you look at us coming in and being on the bubble – 21 points out with a ton of pressure and I think the pressure just switched. We’re not here to mess around. I showed up with a more open and calmer demeanor – more free and relaxing demeanor, but at the same time I don’t want to be messed with. So, it’s a fine balance you’re got to walk. I appreciate the team. We unloaded – we did some changes to the car in the spring race, and it just wouldn’t give me the right read going into qualifying. So, I told Booty (Barker, crew chief), ‘Hey, I need to be this to have a good qualifying run’ and here we are. Just everybody on the 23 car and everybody back at AirSpeed. Both cars just showing up with speed at Darlington for the Southern 500 is super cool. I’ve been close here I think once or twice in qualifying, so to finally pull it out, it’s like ‘Wow! We’ve got it!’ With all that being said, the elephant in the room — tomorrow is a whole different day and I’m excited to see what tomorrow offers.”

What kind of confidence does checking the first box give you to having a good run to make the Playoffs?

“Yeah, for sure. To be honest with you, I was pretty mad after practice and not being on top. I set the expectations pretty high, and we were sixth and I was like ‘God almighty! Alright, I wanted to make a statement,’ and I didn’t do that. So, I had to make that up in qualifying. It’s good to be where we’re at. It’s so hard at this level, right? 17, I don’t know where he qualified – he’s top 10. But there’s no free lunch. That’s one of Bootie’s (Barker, crew chief) many sayings – one of his favorites. Everything you do, there’s no free lunch. There’s nothing guaranteed on the other side. I’ve said this a couple weeks ago after Richmond, it’s going to be a dog fight to the very end. And I think that’s what makes us drivers all great is we’re excited to show up and compete and put it all on the line for our team, our sponsors, our people that work on these cars. We get to do that tomorrow here in Darlington. Yeah, the confidence is there. I get to get humbled here in next few hours going back to racing Legends cars here against Keelan (Harvick). So, yeah, I’ll tell him I got a Southern 500 pole, and he doesn’t.”

Is there a rhythm here that you’ve started to pick-up on here?

“Hell no. I pounded it off the fence in round one and two. It just so happened to work. Where we’re at now is so data driven. Denny (Hamlin) talks about that a lot. How much we dive into data. It took me a while just to get onboard with that, but knowing how much vital information there is inside of all that data – now you can get a little too much into the weeds and so you’ve got to pick and choose. We’ve been really good here in qualifying and we’ve also given up a really good race car trying too hard from what I’m hearing from data and just not getting back to the basics. So today, I’ve determined that Darlington is probably one of the, if not the hardest places to qualify. Just the way you have to approach practice to the qualifying trim, it’s totally different. For example, Kansas the first couple laps in practice you’re damn near wide open. In qualifying, you’re wide open, so it’s close. Here you’re finessing and practicing and then hey, good luck. It all goes back to JR and our analytics group. They do a really good job of feeding us the right information that translates to on-track performance.”

What was the battle between the head and the throttle pedal there?

“So, I’m sitting there, and I remember coming here a year ago, right and we were pretty good in practice and JR is like, ‘Hey, you need to be deeper on entry.’ And I’m like, okay, and I went out in qualifying, and I said, ‘Here’s deeper’ and we were 18th or whatever and that’s not what I meant. You have to understand, and you have to dive into what that actually means. We came here in the spring and my car was okay and I made a move to the bottom in (turns) three and four – not the bottom but the middle and that gave up our pole time. So, here we had a goal to make sure you run the fence in (turns) three and four and right before qualifying I looked over an email with our analytics stuff and I said, ‘Okay, I got on the gas right here in the spring so I’m going to do that.’ It’s a little bit hotter. Track temps up, grip’s not like it is in the spring, and it caught me by surprise. It’s tough. It’s tough to go out – I mean, (Kyle) Larson ran a 43 or 44. I don’t know – it was close. And so, I thought I definitely gave some up especially through (turns) one and two in the second round, but the first round was just perfect.”

Do you think you’ll gain enough stage points to make it a battle on points?

“Yeah, anything can happen we’ve seen. Look at last week, right. Anything can happen so we have to run our own race. It makes it a lot easier for us. Having that first pit stall and as long as long as we execute and make the right calls, be great on pit road then — all I want is every single person a part of this team, including myself, is to go to bed tomorrow night saying, ‘We did whatever we could. We did all we could.’ And maybe it was good enough, maybe it wasn’t so that’s the lottery ticket we’ll find out tomorrow after the race.”

Is racing a Legends car doing all that you can or just a distraction to keep your mind off Sunday’s race?

“Hell, I got my ass kicked. You were there. It was bad. I didn’t need you to confirm that. I love racing Legends cars. I haven’t been in one in over five years and it’s totally different now. It’s more frustrating not being able to jump back into it and being as competitive as I was, but on the other side of that I’m a competitor. I’ll make everything a competition, right. I bet I can write a better article than you. It’s just a competition thing – it’s kind of a joke but I’m going to make it a competition. But it’s just that side of it is just competing and having fun with it all and being around the kids there. It was funny, we were talking about qualifying in the Legend car and I said, ‘Y’all ain’t got nothing on qualifying at Darlington.’ And I was giving them just a little flavor of the difference between groups what you have to do in the car and I’m glad I told them somewhat of the truth because it ended up working out today. Just going over there and racing Legends cars and having fun. When is our writing competition (laughter)?”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 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 more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th 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 29 electrified options.

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

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Southern 500 Qualifying | Darlington
Saturday, August 31, 2024

FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
3rd – Chase Briscoe
7th – Ryan Blaney
10th – Chris Buescher
11th – Austin Cindric
12th – Brad Keselowski
15th – Josh Berry
21st – Justin Haley
23rd – Joey Logano
24th – Harrison Burton
29th – Noah Gragson
30th – Ryan Preece
31st – Michael McDowell
33rd – Todd Gilliland
35th – Kaz Grala
37th – Timmy Hill

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 3rd)

“It was a really good job by our guys. We were not that great in practice. We were really tight but we got on the other side of it. We are pretty free now, which is a little nerve-wracking for tomorrow. If we can get it somewhere in the middle, I will feel really good about it. I was surprised that lap was third. I am kind of kicking myself because I feel like I definitely could have put it on the pole, but we will see what we have for tomorrow.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 7th)

“The second round wasn’t as good as I had hoped for. I thought our race pace was really strong though, so that is something to look forward to. Starting in the top 10 tomorrow is not too bad. Like I said, I feel good about the race tomorrow, so we have that to look forward to and hopefully we can move forward come race time.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 10th)

“The first round I thought we did a good job, the team did a good job of making adjustments for the second round. We were working hard to try to make three and four better because we left a lot on the table there but then I ended up messing up turn one a little bit. It is still a good start for us.”

Toyota Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DARLINGTON, S.C. (August 31, 2024) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway.

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Upper Deck Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

What does the Southern 500 mean to you and what is your outlook?

“The regular season has kind of flown by – the whole year kind of has. The break, everything else, I don’t know, it feels like we just got going. Yeah, it’s been a nice climb out of the gutter for us as the year has went on. Just some really solid finishes have helped us close the gap and get to where we are currently today. But, yeah, really excited for this weekend. This is a race that means a lot to me. I feel like it means a lot to a lot of these drivers and it’s one that I’ve ran second and third a few times in to this guy over here (Kyle Larson) to the left. We’ll try and get one spot better this weekend, but we’ll probably be racing around each other a lot tomorrow night.”

Are you focused on racing your own race or how can you win the regular season championship?

“I feel like at a place like Darlington it’s hard to because I mean it’s just, you’re kind of racing the track, right? There might be an option to mix up the strategy in the stages, but I think we all have a pretty good idea of what the best strategy is going to be. It’s tough here. I feel like you go to some of these other tracks – Michigan is a perfect example – where you’re more worried about fuel than tires. I think it’s easier to do it, but here it’s just a race where you’re running against the track all night like. Certainly, it could go that way, but I feel like if we both have solid nights then we’re in a pretty good place unless we just have a disastrous night.”

Have you seen your car yet and what are your thoughts of having those iconic sports superstars on it? Are you old enough to know who Wayne Gretzky is?

“Yeah, Wayne Gretzky, man, that’s pretty crazy. I mean you don’t have to be very familiar with hockey to know about Wayne Gretzky. I remember seeing the car in the shop like last week and saw Michael (Jordan) on the hood and I quickly went to the gym or whatever and a couple days later I took a closer look at it, and I realized that Tiger (Woods) and Wayne (Gretzky) were on it too. Yeah, just adding to the pressure of the weekend so it’s find with me.”

What’s it like to have your bosses face on the hood of your car?

“Better take care of the hood. Better take care of it!”

What are your thoughts on starting the Playoffs at a track like Atlanta?

“Hopefully make it past lap two and it should be a better day (laughter). Yeah, it’s just one of those speedway races – again it’s one that you could see a mix-up on strategy and everything. Yeah, we’ll just cross the bridge when we get there. Certainly, that first round really has the opportunity to get out of hand for a number of teams. Just try to manage the race the best we can when we get there.”

Which races in the Playoffs do you consider ‘wild card’ races?

“Atlanta can be. We’ve seen some pretty chaotic finishes there. Just stack ups can happen at a bad time and take out a lot of cars. Watkins Glen, I feel like is a bit more straight forward. It seems like the tire we’re going to go with is going to be much different than we’re used to. So, I mean, it’s very possible with that it takes a little bit different formula than what you’ve seen in the past to win there so that has the potential. I think with a place like Bristol, if it remains like it did in the spring then yeah it could just be totally wide open there as well. It has all the potential to be a real disaster if you’re not careful.”

What are your thoughts on NASCAR returning to Rockingham?

“Yeah, I feel like it if it wasn’t for my first start K&N start at Rockingham, I don’t know if I’d be here, honestly. So, yeah, the track has been good to me, well was good to me in the K&N car. My truck start was a little less than desirable. I think we got spun out on like lap three or so. It’s always been a fun track. I’ve got a good understanding of faster races tracks are kind of like racing there way back when. It’s cool to see it back on the schedule, for me, it’s a place that kind of changed my life. It’s great to see it back.”

Will you be thinking about manufacturer-specific drivers coming down to end of tomorrow’s race with the Playoffs on the line?

“I mean, places like this you’re just running your own race. You’re thinking about yourself, you’re being selfish and not really thinking of anybody else. A speedway, that’s where it gets a little more complicated. But, yeah, at a place like this you’re just trying to win the race. For us, we’re in the Playoffs right, so if we go out there and win it keeps anything crazy from happening. But, yeah, it can get a little tricky as we saw.”

Do you look closely at the schedules when NASCAR first releases them?

“I’m just excited for another road course. I finally get to go to Mexico too so that will be cool. Yeah, I think I’ve been like to Cancun or something I don’t know, it doesn’t really count. Real Mexico, I’ve never been to so I’m excited about that. Outside of that, I mean we try to just think ahead, look ahead at what we need to be focused on for the Playoffs next year. Outside of that, other than seeing only one off-weekend, that’s the only thing I think we really think about.”

Is there more calmness heading into Darlington as the regular season finale compared to Daytona that is more of a wild card race?

“I mean, yeah, I was kind of hoping that Daytona was going to go a little better. Coming to a place like this, I’d say it’s pretty much in our control. It’s in mine and it’s in his (Kyle Larson) right? That’s how we go out and run our race will decide it. A place like Daytona, it’s just when you’re fighting the cutoff or if you’re fighting for that regular season championship, it’s so stressful because there’s so many things that can happen out of your control.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 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 more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th 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 29 electrified options.

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

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 31, 2024

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Morgan & Morgan Camaro ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Darlington Raceway.

Media Availability Quotes:

A lot of speed on Richard Childress Racing the last few weeks, really since the Olympic break. What do you attribute that to?

“Just a lot of hard work and everybody really pulling together, and you know, a few changes personnel-wise behind the scenes, but really just, you know, great effort and great work really coming together. A lot of that’s been from April to May timeframe of just conversations of processes and procedures that we need to improve on and work on and we’re starting to see the fruits of that labor now.”

Do you see this weekend as one where you may have to just take chances or do a crazy strategy if you don’t have the flat-out speed?

“Yes and no. I don’t know that you can really get a whole lot done here because of all the fall off and tire wear and things like that. If you have a three-lap run, do you stay out? I don’t predict you’re gonna be able to hold them off very long so unless it’s a green-white-checker which in that case you’re probably gonna get a few as we tend to do this day and age so I don’t know that you’ll be able to see a whole lot of different strategy play. We’ll just have to have some outright raw speed and go get ‘em.”

Does Parker Retzlaff owe you or anybody at your organization either an explanation or an apology for maybe not doing enough in other people’s eyes last week for you?

“Not me, but I don’t really know him all that well so I don’t know what sort of business relationships there are behind the scenes. Once upon a time when I owned a Truck Series team, we had other teams that we helped and we supported and we gave parts and pieces and resources and different things too. I don’t know how all that stems for his relationship with Beard behind the scenes. So yeah, not to me. He didn’t owe me nothing.”

Why not?

“Well, we have our Chevrolet team meetings, our key meetings, key partner meetings before the race and he’s not in one of those. So if you’re not in one of those, then you should not be relied upon as a key partner to need to push and know the game that needs to be played. So that’s how I look at it.”

Flashing forward a little bit to the start of next year going to Bowman Gray for the Clash. Your boss man Richard has a long history there’s where you got his start. What do you think about going to Bowman Gray, such a historic place? Have you ever been over there?

“I have never been no, I’ve never been on the premises. I’ve seen a lot of highlight reels from over there so I will have to call upon a driver coach, probably Burt Myers, to give me some pointers about what to do and what to look out for and how to get around that place. Him and I are pretty close and been friends for a long time. He seems to be a champion over there and knows how to get around there well.”

Obviously you hope to win this weekend and make the playoffs but if you don’t do you feel better about being able to keep your consecutive season streak alive given that you’ve had the speed, you’ve been knocking on the door, do you feel more optimistic about that happening now between now and the end of the season?

“No, I mean, you want to go out there and contend every week, but getting wins is a whole different story. So, for us to be able to capitalize on our good runs, like last week, we just missed and didn’t execute well enough in those final moments to get the job done. Anything can happen. You’ve got to live it out until the end and we’ve got 11 more weeks to get it done. It would certainly be nice to get it done here in Darlington and put that story to rest but also put ourselves in the playoffs and have a shot to continue to build on this momentum that we’ve had with RCR and our stuff getting better to take our Chevrolets far into the playoffs.”

You haven’t been in this position on the outside of the playoffs at this point very often in your career. Has there been any frustration? How have you kind of kept your mindset moving forward to take advantage of every chance that you can?

“Yeah, the whole season’s been frustrating. Every week, it just kind of seems like, okay, what’s next? But that’s something that we can’t change. Chris Buescher just said it beforehand, you know, there’s a lot of things and a lot of questions that we have for ourselves and answers that we might not be able to answer exactly right now as to how our year has gone, but that’s in the past, and you know you can use that as a distraction or a motivation tool, and we’ll look to try to make that as a motivation tool. We did not run well here in the past. This race in the spring we did not run well, but we don’t come in this weekend holding our heads low and thinking that we’re gonna not run well again. We put our heads to paper and try to figure out why and said we’re gonna go there with the best piece we can and try to kick their butt and get a win.”

Looking at the recent talk with Kyle Larson and Max Verstappen, what’s your take on would it be harder for a good NASCAR driver to go to F1 and do well or harder for a good F1 driver to come here and do well?

“There once was a time when Lewis Hamilton and Kyle Busch were the dominant guys and this conversation never happened so I’m jealous, frankly. But maybe it didn’t happen because I didn’t bring on the conversation myself. I would say that you have seen guys do better going from our realm to the other one. I don’t know if it’s a pure downforce thing or not, but those guys seem to just drive pure beyond the limits of the car and the car will take it and they can stick. Over here you have to have a lot more finesse and so you just kind of see guys not understand the finesse part and where the grip is without just going over it. To answer your question in short, I would say Kyle’s probably got a better shot than Max.”

You just said that last Saturday you didn’t execute well at the end of the race. What could you have done differently?

“Nothing. That’s the terrible part about restrictor plate racing. The two guys behind me seemed to be a bit out of control and when you go back and look at SMT data they were dilly-dallying around off of turn two, getting squirrely and not holding their steering wheel straight, not holding their gas pedal down and they were slow. The guy that was on the outside with the run with Harrison and Parker, they were wide open, steering wheel straight and they drove right by us. So, I guess I was blamed for not pulling up in front of the 21 off of two, but the runs were equal when I was watching and re-watching, when I was watching in my mirror and remembering it as it happened. The 20 was getting to me as fast as the 21 was getting to me and when the 20 was bumping me, that’s when the momentum of the outside with the 21 and the 62 took off. If I would have turned to get in front of that, I would have wrecked. There’s no way in protecting that. So unless I come off a turn two and just go to the middle and block the 21’s lane, then who’s to say that we don’t get squirrely and the 20 goes right by us on the inside. Monday morning quarterbacking is the worst thing you can do. So it is what it is.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.