FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES NASCAR Media Day,
February 10, 2011 Daytona International Speedway
TREVOR BAYNE – No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion – YOU’LL BE RUNNING BOTH
SERIES THIS YEAR. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? “We’re really excited for
the upcoming year. We checked the box for the Nationwide Series, so
to be able to run for that championship, I think we’re gonna be really
competitive. They’ve built a really solid team around me. I’m gonna
be in the 16 this year, which is one of the primary cars, whereas last
year I was kind of a fifth team that was just thrown in there, so I
know our Nationwide deal is gonna be strong. The way this Cup deal
came about was just being there in the Nationwide Series and running
strong there and showing some potential. Then when I made the switch
over to Ford Racing and Roush last year, the opportunity came about
with the Wood Brothers because Roush was working on supporting them a
little bit and Donnie Wingo had just switched over and Bill Elliott
was the driver at the time and they just said, ‘Hey, if you want to
come over here and drive this thing one race, come on over.’ So the
reason I went there to run Texas was to get approved for Daytona and
this race we’re gonna run now. At the time, I thought it might be a
fifth Roush car or something, but it ended up going really well at
Texas and the Wood Brothers were like, ‘Hey, we’ll keep moving forward
here.’ So it’s a really awesome opportunity and I love the Wood
Brothers team. If I could just drive there forever I would be happy
because they’re just racers. Eddie and Len Wood, they like to hang
out at the shop and be a part of it. Leonard is always there working
on projects. I always tell Leonard, ‘It’s no wonder you guys won so
many races.’ This guy is smart. He’s in there building carbon fiber
R/C cars and all kinds of stuff, so it’s just a racer’s dream to drive
for the Wood Brothers. It’s a famous car and to make my debut here at
Daytona with them, I couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT THE RULE TO RUN FOR ONLY ONE
TITLE? “I love it. I was hoping they didn’t take away the Cup
drivers altogether because that’s just competition. We want to race
against the best and that’s the only way we’re gonna become the best
is if we’re racing against them and bettering ourselves all the time.
But I also like the point that we’re gonna be able to shine as
champions now. One Nationwide regular is gonna win the championship
this year and I think that’s really cool and gives us something to
look forward to, and it just gives us some credibility moving forward.
It’s gonna help us build a brand as we’re moving up to Cup because
you can sell a champion. I think that’s really important, but I love
that the Cup drivers are still around because it’s the best of both
worlds.”
HAS DAVID PEARSON GIVEN YOU ANY ADVICE YET, PARTICULARLY
ABOUT HOW TO RUN AT DAYTONA? “I haven’t got the chance to talk to
David much yet. I was actually testing during media tour and that was
the first time he kind of came back around, so hopefully he’s gonna be
down here and I can talk to him because that’s a smart guy. I got to
talk to Bill Elliott a little bit last year when I was in Texas about
even this race and those guys have a lot of knowledge. They just know
so much about it. Obviously, it’s a little bit different now but the
rules of physics in racing still apply, so everything that they tell
you is true. But I think the best learning tool is experience, so
some of the stuff they were telling me I was trying to be as big of a
sponge as I could, but I didn’t have enough pores to soak it in
because they were feeding me so much, so I think once I get out on the
race track and I know what to expect, then I can go back to them and
even learn more and ask more questions.”
YOU DON’T SEEM TO HAVE ANY
JITTERS ABOUT BEING ON THIS BIG STAGE. “I don’t know. When you set
your expectations and you finally get there, it doesn’t come as a
surprise, I guess. Since I was five years old I wanted to be here at
this point, so now that we’re here, this is where I wanted to be so we
belong here and I think we’re gonna try to make that statement that
we’re not just here to run a race, we’re here to stay. I know that’s
a strong statement because we haven’t been on the race track yet, but
I think we can. I think we’ve got the opportunity to do it. I’ve got
all the support around me with Ford Racing and Wood Brothers and Roush
on the Nationwide side, and getting double seat time this weekend, I’m
really looking forward to that because I like to stay busy all the
time.”
TREVOR BAYNE CONTINUED — DALE EARNHARDT CAME HERE LIKE HE OWNED THE
PLACE IN ’79 AND DROVE IT LIKE HE DID. “I think as a race car driver
that’s the mentality you have to have. Sometimes it gets me in
trouble because I’m so worried about performance and being the fastest
in practice and qualifying on the pole that you set unreal
expectations and that sets you up for disappointment, but I think as
long as we set those real expectations, kind of like we did at Texas,
and you meet those expectations, you’re just gonna get better and
better. I think you have to set those expectations so you can meet
them and keep bettering yourself all the time.”
ARE YOU RUNNING FOR
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR IN CUP? “I would like to. I would love to be
able to say I was a Cup Rookie of the Year, but I don’t know what
they’re gonna do yet. I’ve been asking them and prying at them. I
think they are gonna build something to make it easy for somebody to
run for Rookie of the Year. Whether it’s this year or next year, I
don’t know. They may be more forgiving on how many races I can run,
or whether you’re designated to run that series for points or not then
you become a rookie. I don’t know what they’re gonna do, but I would
love to one day run for Rookie of the Year, whether it’s this year or
next year. I’ve got 17 Cup races scheduled so far, but if somebody
wants to come on for four more, we’ll do it. I think everything is
open-ended right now. Our Nationwide deal, our Cup deal. You’ll see
my styling Herbie the Lovebug-looking suit when I come out here. It’s
all solid white. I think David Pearson will have some respect for
that – a solid white car. I actually think Ford is on the car for
this week promoting the Mustang, and our Cup deal is really
open-ended. We’ve sold 17 so far with Ford Racing, Motorcraft, Ford
Parts.com and Quick Lane have all come on and kind of combined to help
us get those 17, but now we’re looking to build on that. As many as
we can run, I would be more than happy to get behind the wheel.”
JEFF GORDON SAID RACING TOOK HIM AWAY FROM A LOT. DID YOU MISS ANYTHING
DURING YOUR TEEN DAYS THAT YOU REGRET? “My birthday is on the 19th
and is on the day of the Nationwide race and I’ll be 20, so my teen
years are kind of over now and I definitely see what Jeff is saying.
It takes a lot of sacrifice, but that’s why only a few get to do this
every weekend. It’s missing birthday parties when you’re five years
old to go to the go kart track, but looking at it now, there’s nothing
I would rather do than be sitting here ready to run the 500. I don’t
count it as a loss for having to do those kind of things. At the
time, it may seem like the end of the world when I hang out with
friends, but this has been my dream, so to stay focused and stay
driven, I think it’s good for kids to have these kind of goals. Some
of the activities they do participate in they shouldn’t be (laughing),
so I think it’s good to have these kind of goals and get there.” HOW
DO YOU LIKE BEING HERE AT 8 AM? “Every Tuesday I get up and do that
Sirius radio show at 8:30, so I’m kind of used to getting myself
going. If I could sleep in until 12 every day, that would be the way
I would have it, but that’s not reality anymore. The problem is I
still stay up until two every night. I haven’t fixed the night part
yet, but I’ve fixed the morning, so, really, I just lose sleep instead
of going to bed earlier.”
HOW GOOD CAN YOU GUYS BE ON THE CUP SIDE?
“I want to be realistic, but I’m also an optimist, so I’m gonna say
that we’re gonna be really competitive. I think setting those high
expectations will make us perform better. I think we have all the
equipment. We have the support from Ford Racing. They’ve really
stepped up their game this year. They sat us all down and said, ‘Hey,
what is it gonna take to win races and championships?’ Just to see
that kind of support from a manufacturer is huge. To know Roush
Fenway is behind me as a driver on the Nationwide side and anything I
need is gonna really help me to move forward. The Wood Brothers,
they’ve poured their heart and soul into this. You can see a lot of
excitement going on and they said they haven’t felt this excited going
to Daytona in a long time, so to hear that it gives me a little boost
to see the confidence they already have in me after one race.
Hopefully, we can just build on that, but I think we can be
competitively a top 15 team. I don’t know that because we haven’t
been on the track yet, but given our run last year, if it’s anything
like Texas, then there’s no doubt in my mind that we can be a top 15
team every week.”
TREVOR BAYNE CONTINUED — YOU HAD A ROUGH STRETCH IN NATIONWIDE LAST
YEAR WITH ACCIDENTS. DO YOU FEAR THAT CAN HAPPEN IN CUP AND YOU’LL GO
THROUGH A LEARNING PROCESS? “It was tough in the Nationwide Series
last year. It started here on lap four or seven and we were already
wrecked. I don’t want to say that’s part of it because it’s not, it
doesn’t always happen, but I definitely think there’s a learning
curve. You look at guys like Joey Logano and now look at what he’s
doing, so there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s gonna be a learning
curve, so to have those 17 races this year to prepare for hopefully a
full season next year, that’s a perfect scenario to learn. But I
think we can avoid some of that, too, by running good. If you stay up
front, then you’re generally out of trouble, especially on the
Nationwide side. When you’re running 15th-20th, you’re probably gonna
get crashed just because that’s where you’re around, so as long as we
stay competitive and stay up front, I think we should be OK this year.
On the Cup side, I’ve already gotten to know a lot of the drivers, so
I don’t really see it being a problem of them looking down at me and
saying, ‘Hey, I need a caution, let’s find the 21 car.’ I’ve been
there before, but I think running the Nationwide Series and having
them run with me has really built a lot of confidence and respect
between us.”
ANY CUP GUYS YOU GO TO FOR ADVICE? “There are a lot.
Jimmie Johnson has always been out-of-his-way-nice to me, and that’s
something you wouldn’t expect a five-time champion to do, but
everytime I see him, whether I’m walking down pit road and he’s on the
other side, he always comes to me. Even at Texas, I was standing
there before qualifying and he’s like, ‘Hey, just keep your blinders
on and stay focused on your goals.’ He’s incredible at being able to
block out everything, so I’ve got to take that advice and run with it.
Kevin Harvick, believe it or not, has played an instrumental role. A
lot of younger guys think he pushes them around, but, for some reason,
we’ve clicked. He called me over to his trailer at the first Dover
and he’s like, ‘Man, I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel like I
want to help you.’ He was talking about setting a pace for myself
and not racing every lap like it’s the last lap. That’s my
competitive nature. I want to lead every lap. I want to be the
fastest every lap, so to have a guy like that kind of tell me, ‘It’s
OK not to be the fastest every lap, just be the fastest on the last
lap.’ That’s the kind of stuff that helps. And obviously Carl now
that he’s my teammate. As soon as I started talking to Roush he
called me up. He was like, ‘Man, we would love to have you.’ It’s
almost like he was talking to me as Jack would. He’s like, ‘Come on
over. We want to have you and help you.’ So he’s just been really
awesome about it so far.”
DOES IT KIND OF SURPRISE YOU WHEN YOU
ANSWER THE PHONE AND IT’S CARL EDWARDS ON THE OTHER END? “I’m not
gonna lie it does, but getting to know these guys they’re really
personable people. They’re awesome. They treat me just like my
buddies do at home, so it’s really cool to see that and it’s weird
because my buddies at home are like, ‘Dude, you were just on the phone
with Carl Edwards? What’s that?’ I just lost that kind of
perspective of it because I’m in it everyday. I’m in Mooresville a
lot and I’m around the shop and I’m just used to it, but when you get
outside of that immune system, everybody is like, ‘Whoa, this is a big
deal.’ So it’s cool to see that people still think NASCAR is big deal
because it is and it’s awesome.”
TREVOR BAYNE CONTINUED — ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR EXPECTATIONS
OR WOULD YOU RATHER BE UNDER THE RADAR MORE? “The best thing about
the Wood Brothers team is that you would never think the 21 team would
be an underdog team, but in a sense it is because it’s not a four-car
powerhouse team like Hendrick or Roush or Joe Gibbs even with their
three cars. So I love the opportunity that I’m getting there. I’m
not expected to go out and light the world on fire as if I jumped in
the 99 car next week, then that’s what people would expect. Like the
Kevin Harvick situation when he took over for Dale Earnhardt. I heard
him talking about this when we were down here for the test. People
just expected him to do good, whereas me, I get to kind of start at
the ground level and work my way up. There is a lot of opportunity to
keep bettering ourselves and moving up to those powerhouse teams, but,
like I said, I’d like to stay at the Wood Brothers forever. I think
top 15, that might be setting the bar a little high at first and that
may set us up for failure, but I want to have high goals so I can get
to them and not be satisfied if we run 25th. I always want to be
pushing for more, but I definitely think I’m in the perfect situation
to be with the Wood Brothers and great support. I couldn’t ask for a
better time to be a part of Ford Racing. The Roush Yates engines are
really strong. The chassis side from Roush last year was really
stepping it up with Carl winning the last two races, so I think it’s
perfect timing.”
