Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Jack Link’s 500 Qualifying
Saturday, April 26, 2025

ZANE SMITH CAPTURES FIRST NASCAR CUP SERIES POLE

• Zane Smith earned the first pole of his NASCAR Cup Series career today.
• Smith was also the fastest in the first round of qualifying.
• This marks the fourth straight Cup pole for Ford at Talladega Superspeedway and the third in a row for Front Row Motorsports after Michael McDowell swept last year.
• It’s also Ford’s second pole of the year to go with Ryan Blaney’s at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Ford Qualifying Results:

1st – Zane Smith
3rd – Joey Logano
4th – Ryan Preece
6th – Chris Buescher
7th – Austin Cindric
8th – Josh Berry
9th – Ryan Blaney
12th – Cole Custer
15th – Todd Gilliland
22nd – Brad Keselowski
27th – Noah Gragson
33rd – Cody Ware

POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE:

ZANE SMITH, No. 38 TitleMaxFord Mustang Dark Horse

TAKE US THROUGH YOUR LAP. “We obviously had a lot of speed in the TitleMax Ford. It wasn’t a whole lot of my doing, but just off of pit road making sure I hit my lights. I know my up to speed laps were pretty good, so that’s the main thing we focus on and just trying to be as smooth as possible. I’m just really proud of how our whole team has really been working together before our one week break, and I felt like that one week break was perfect for us to not really reset but digest and think about what we need to build on. We’re off to a great start for this next long stretch, so I’m proud of the speed and everything we’ve been doing. We just need to execute a little bit better, but I have a ton of speed this weekend. It’s a long race tomorrow and a lot of things are gonna happen and go on, but obviously we’ve got the speed to do it. We’ll see how it goes.”

DO YOU SHOW UP HERE WITH A HUGE AMOUNT OF CONFIDENCE OR MAYBE MORE HERE THAN OTHER PLACES? “Yeah. FRM has always brought a ton of speed and Fords are always fast on the superspeedways, so it makes you just maybe a little bit more excited to get to these style of races, knowing that your car is gonna be fast and it’s gonna race good. The Fords push and work really well together, so you look forward to those things, but with that said it’s still Talladega. A lot is gonna happen and go on, but you can only execute what you can control, so we can control trying to bring a fast car and we accomplished that and got a pole award out of it. It’s already off to a great weekend and something to check off of an accomplishment that I’ve always wanted. I’ve always wanted to race on Sunday and to be able to get a pole on Sunday now is really cool to say, so hopefully tomorrow I can say I’m a race winner in the Cup Series, but I know it’s gonna be a crazy day.”

HOW HAVE THINGS PROGRESSED OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS AT FRM? “I kind of expected those first eight or so races, whatever we had there, to use those races to build with this team, but I feel we’ve been able to hit the ground running. That’s something that’s really cool to say, but a lot of familiar faces and a lot of new faces at FRM, but it’s just been a lot of fun being back. It’s a little bit different than other teams I’ve been to, so I’ve just been having a lot of fun. When you can say that, you’re typically running well, so hopefully we keep that happening.”

DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO TOMORROW OR THE FACT YOU’RE DOING FUEL MILEAGE FOR TWO STAGES FRUSTRATING? “It’s frustrating and just a weird style of racing. I’m gonna have to go through and re-watch how the leader controls a lot of that. I expected to have speed, but didn’t really expect to have the pole there, so I’ve got to go study up on a few things overnight. All in all, a lot is gonna change. I’m not gonna lead every lap tomorrow, but if I can be around rolling at the end and hopefully in the first few rows and have a shot at it is all I can ask for.”

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO IF YOU HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY OR IS THIS STILL NEW TO YOU ON THE CUP SIDE? “I’m in my second year in the Cup Series so it’s all still kind of new to me, but I’m learning every race and I feel like I learn a lot. These speedway races are kind of weird how they play out sometimes to where it’s a little unpredictable and you just have to kind of roll with it, but that goes back to what I was saying. You’ve got to control the things you can control and we’ll study up on some of that tonight.”

WHAT MADE THIS DIFFERENT FOR YOU AS A DRIVER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL TODAY? “Not much than it’s cool to say that you’ve gotten a pole in the Cup Series, but I feel like this more so is really rewarding to the whole team. It just shows that it’s not easy to get a pole on Sunday by a tenth, so I’m just really proud of them and the speed that they bring. I know I’m gonna have a fast car tomorrow and look forward to seeing how it handles and how it races and the moves we can make.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Travel Centers of America Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That’s a really solid start. I’m proud of this group. This Travel Centers of America Ford Mustang is gonna be strong. We know our RFK Fords are always good at these things and we’re gonna be able to work together quite well. We’ll get into this race and find each other and go to work. We know what Talladega is. You’ve got to be fast and make good decisions and have good strategy and execution on pit road to be there at the end. I know that always doesn’t get it done either, so we’ve got to do all we can to control what we can and if we do that, we’re gonna have a shot at this thing.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – NASCAR IS WORKING ON A FLAP FOR THE A-POST AT SPEEDWAY RACES FOR DAYTONA AND TALLADEGA. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? “Yeah. You got the same info we got. They have a plan. Time tells on all of that stuff. They’re working on something and it takes a minute to implement it all. How effective it is? I don’t think you know until you’re on the racetrack because there are a lot of things in the wind tunnel that says it’s gonna be better and then you get to the racetrack and there are just so many other variables that the wind tunnel can’t show. We see that as race teams all the time and as a sanctioning body trying to do all of that it’s a little bit different for them, and the things they’re looking for to try to keep the cars on the ground, but hopefully the A-post flap that comes up – the numbers look good. We’ll see if it really works on the racetrack. You don’t know until you put it on there. Surely, it won’t hurt.”

HOW TOUGH IS TO BALANCE THINGS WHEN LATELY YOU HAVE LED A LOT OF LAPS AND HAVEN’T GOTTEN THE FINISHES? “There’s been a lot of wrecks lately on speedways and they’ve been big. Unfortunately, when you look at some of the best speedway racers, you can probably count six or seven that stand out, they don’t win that often. They may win stages and they score a lot of points and they lead a lot of laps, but they don’t always win because everybody wrecks and the get caught up in them. It’s just the nature of the beast right now. The pushing is so aggressive with the cars and the bumpers are round and the cars don’t take the pushes very well with the way everyone is sitting on the stops these days, and everyone is gonna get more and more aggressive because the cars handle so well you can get there and it’s a recipe for disaster. It’s gonna happen again. You just hope you’re in the right place and you get through it.”

DO YOU HAVE A PLAN WITH THE WRECKS ON HOW TO GET YOUR CAR TOWED FIRST BACK TO THE WORK AREA? (Laughing) “I don’t know. How are you gonna convince them to hook you first? I don’t know. That’s a sensitive subject for me and tow trucks (laughing). I’m just hoping they hook me up at some point. That’s all. I know the process of what’s going to happen.”

THE PROCESS IS MOSTLY WHO THEY CAN GET TO FIRST AND TOW, RIGHT? “Yeah, so if there are that many. I can’t remember what there was last time here, but they wrecked a ton of cars and that could happen. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen and there’s not that many cars that need to be towed, but you’ve got the air jack system and you hope that pumps it up enough to where you can get back. If not, what am I supposed to do? I can yell and scream, but that doesn’t help. I tried that. It doesn’t work (laughing). I guess we just have to be patient, which I don’t have either. I can’t get out, so what am I supposed to do? I’m in a tough spot.”

YOU’VE GOT A MEMORIAL DECAL FOR MIKE CHASE ON YOUR CAR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHY YOUR TEAM PUT THAT DECAL ON THE CAR AND WHAT HE MEANT TO THE ORGANIZATION? “You think about how big our teams are these days. There are so many people and unfortunately sometimes things happen and it’s important for us to recognize the team members that we’ve had on our team. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a couple here in the last year or so, and I think that means a lot to their family to see their legacy carried on, especially on the racetrack in a public way as we’re talking about them. Those things matter a lot because we’ve all seen it so many times in our sport. We all talk about how big our teams are. There are 400 people or 500 people and some places even more. It takes everybody to get to the racetrack and sometimes it’s the people that you don’t see. They may not come to the racetrack every week, but they had a big part of winning and the success of our company.”

ARE YOU GOING TO WATCH THE NETFLIX SERIES? “I did. I watched it. I have special privileges. I got to see it. I watched it over the off weekend. We watched it down at the beach at night with the kids and it was fun. It was actually really good. It’s way better than last year and I say that from a very selfish standpoint because I got to actually watch us win, where the year before I watched us get knocked out in the first round, so it’s much better. They’re much better episodes (laughing). They did a good job of telling the story of the playoffs. I thought what they did well is the first episode is very educational to the non-race fan, which is part of the goal of the doc – to try to educate or create new NASCAR fans, and then it gets a little bit more into the nitty gritty of what the playoffs are and NASCAR is, so I think that’s good. It kind of starts a little elementary and then it gets into the deeper levels, so they did a good job of that.”

ARE YOU TRYING TO LEARN ANY SPANISH FOR THE MEXICO RACE? “No. (That’s Spanish). OK, then I got that word figured out. I don’t have much figured out there, so I’m gonna stay around the people I know.”

IS THERE ANYTHING NASCAR CAN DO TO MITIGATE SOME OF THE CHAOS THAT HAPPENS IN THESE SPEEDWAY RACES? “Every action has a reaction and we may not know exactly what that is. There was a point in time where the bubble behind the car was bigger. You take drag off the cars and that creates a little bit more distance in the cars. I think probably, if I was looking to do one thing to superspeedways, I’d probably look in that direction – to try to separate the cars and not make it so easy to get up there and push. You still can, but have it like it used to be, where it was a little bit harder to actually pop that bubble to get to the rear bumper of a car. Now, it’s on command. If you’re not in the top three cars, everyone is running half-throttle and can bump the car in front of them on command whenever you want to. It wasn’t like that before with the older cars, so maybe I would go in that direction. Maybe that would be one thing.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
APRIL 26, 2025

 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway.

DO YOU HAVE A MOMENT THAT STANDS OUT AS THAT DEFINING MOMENT IN YOUR MEMORY OF AVOIDING THE BIG CRASH OR MAKING THE RACE-WINNING MOVE?

“Honestly, I haven’t gone back and watched the 2017 one in a while. Saw some highlights that Roush posted the other day. But yeah, missing a wreck is very vital in that. I think in 2017 we got some damage and went to the back and ended up missing the big wreck, which was obviously key. I would say the race in the fall here, the biggest thing we did was that we were one of the best as saving fuel. So that made our green flag pit stop faster, and got onto and off of pit road and into the lead, which ultimately put us in position to miss the last wreck again. We got some damage from it, but we were in the best place possible when that wreck happened. I would say that was definitely the defining moment. Us executing on pit road as well as we did and that is the name of the game now, especially when it comes to speedway racing. How can you spend less time on pit road on the last stop. That is the easiest way to jump track position. I felt like we nailed it then and hopefully we can do that again.”

YOU STARTED ON THE POLE IN 2017 AND SIXTH IN THE OTHER, BUT YOUR TWO WINS AT DAYTONA YOU STARTED OUTSIDE THE TOP 30. IS THAT PUR COINCIDENCE OR IS THAT SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE WAY THIS CAR RACES?

“It’s not coincidence. At Roush we worked really hard to find speed in our speedway cars over the years from like 2014, 2015, 2016. We felt like those were our best opportunities to win and we put a lot of effort into that. Jimmy Fenning kind of ran that program and then obviously Brian Pattie brought a lot of info over and made our cars really fast. The car we sat on the pole with here, I think we were like two-tenths faster than Dale Jr., who was second. So, that car was really fast, and we qualified well. And then in the Next Gen cars since we have been coming to the superspeedways, we have put every kind of different set up that we could to try and qualify better. We feel like we do have a really good race package, so we don’t want to jeopardize that, especially at Daytona and Atlanta where I feel handling matters a little bit more than Talladega. We have tried to get a little more aggressive in qualifying here at Talladega, but just can’t seem to find something that works for speed for us. So, we got another shot at it today and my guys are getting aggressive and where we are qualifying today, we haven’t qualified before. So, we will see if that helps. We would like to qualify better and if you look at our average running position throughout the races, in the Next Gen, at the superspeedways, obviously in the first Stage we are kind of mired in the back and we are trying to figure out how to get track position. It’s not always it, because it’s easier to save fuel back there. Once you get to about 20th or 25th, it’s the best place to save fuel and be most efficient. So, we don’t feel like we have to qualify on the pole to win for sure.”

WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR, HAVE YOU HAD TO CHANGE YOUR MINDSET OF HOW YOU APPROACH SPEEDWAY RACING?

“Yeah, but I don’t feel like that has…..if the teams had learned quicker that we needed to save more fuel and have a quicker pit stop, then I think we would have been doing this a long time ago. I think everybody just has the same information now and all the same people are working on it at the shop so yeah, I think the mindset is different than back in the day when I first started speedway racing when you just tried to stay up front. Now it’s like if you are somewhere in the top 15 or 15th to 20th, you can leapfrog a lot of people and put yourself in a position to win. So for me, my guys are continually giving me updates of where I am at and saving fuel relative to everybody else in the field on every run that we have. I am taking that information and trying to position myself as far forward as I can without using fuel. And so that is a totally different mindset now in my opinion. I don’t really think its car related, but it’s a strategy. And it’s different plays and sometimes its not the most fun.”

NOS IS YOUR PARTNER ON YOUR CAR THIS WEEKEND. HOW BIG OF A PARTNER HAVE THEY BEEN IN GENERAL FOR YOUR CAREER AS FAR BACK AS THE RELATIONSHIP GOES?

“Yeah, we have been together since 2012 and man, we have finished second so many times with them. Some really close ones here at Talladega. We have really been wanting to get them into victory lane. NOS Energy Drinks has been a huge partner of mine and in dirt racing as well. I feel like they have really elevated the sport of dirt racing since they came into the sport. They continued to evolve and do things different in dirt racing and all across the board. Very thankful for their partnership, and I think a lot of dirt racing teams are thankful for their partnership and for what they do in the series and throughout the community. It would be huge to get them a win and I am pumped to have them back here and racing our sprint car across the street. Got rained out last night, so hopefully we can get a win tonight and Sunday as well.”

REGARDING FUEL SAVINGS AND IF THIS IS SOMETHING WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO SEE MOVING FORWARD…

“Yeah, because tires don’t mean anything, for the most part, especially here at Talladega. The only thing that matters is how much fuel you have in your car. So I guess, no matter what, if you shorten the Stages and you can make it all the way on fuel, you are still trying to save so that your stop between the Stages is shorter. Because you can put four tires on it faster than you can fill it full of fuel. So, no matter what, people are still going to save fuel and try and make it through your pit stops as fast as possible. Yeah, I don’t see a way that you can drastically change it to not ride around and save fuel. I haven’t really thought about it either, I just play the game that we have.”

REGARDING THE SINGLE FILE LINES WE USED TO SEE AND DIFFERENCES IN SAVING FUEL NOW…

“Yeah, I mean that is kind of where the fuel savings started. I guess for the fans at least we are three and four wide here. Then you will have guys that want to make a run to the front and when you are three wide, it is more difficult to make that run to the front because you are gridlocked and nowhere to go. When we were single wide around the top, and you had a few guys that were impatient and wanted to go to the front, they could just drop down and really just drive to the front because we were all part throttle around the top. So yeah, I don’t mind the side-by-side and three wide, it puts on a show. Then you always get the top lane that if they want to go to the front, they can, and they generally do. Then they will drop down and start saving fuel on the bottom and kind of stack the bottom line up. So, there are ways to get to the front, and I do find that nice.”

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE DEBUT WITH THE WOOD BROTHERS AND THAT TIME OF YOUR CAREER?

“Yeah, that was huge. I was just talking to Leonard at Martinsville and talking about the year that they are having and he reminds me of that day. Its so cool, once you drive for the Wood Brothers, and I drove for them for one race and they act like I drove for them for a lifetime. They make you feel like family, and they made me feel like family as soon as I was told that I was going to drive their car. It was a huge opportunity and we ran well, qualified well, and that was a fuel mileage race and things were all shook up there at the end. It was a cool debut, and I was very honored to be able to drive the Wood Brothers No. 21 and see them at the racetrack. It’s cool to see them back in victory lane and the success that they are having. Leonard is pumped up and that is cool to see.”

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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
APRIL 26, 2025

 Justin Haley, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway.

Media Availability Quotes:

From your perspective, what were some of the reasons for the crew chief change and what’s the outlook going forward?

“For me, (it’s) showing up and doing my job to the best of my ability each week. Obviously, it’s an unexpected change and not something you ever want to do in the middle of a season but super proud to be with a race team and owner like Jeff Dickerson that’s not scared to make changes for maybe the better. It was a fit thing, I think. I think Jeff said in his interview with The Athletic, nothing super wrong that stood out. I think at the end of the day, we’re in the Cup Series to compete, and on a Sunday in the Cup Series, everything has to be right. If one little thing isn’t right, you’re not going to win races, and that’s what we’re trying to do. That’s what Spire (Motorsports) is trying to do. They’ve been putting some much time, effort and resources, money, ability, put people in the right places to try to win races. I don’t think they’re scared to do anything to win a race. Yeah, just thankful to be in a position (pause). I think about where I was this time last year, a year later, I don’t think I could imagine being in this position – having such fast race cars underneath me. I feel like our race cars are so fast, especially at Bristol (Motor Speedway) and some of the other races that we’ve gone to, our speed has just been amazing. Michael (McDowell) getting the pole at Las Vegas, and yeah, just working through the new team blues. We brought in so many new people in the offseason. We’re trying to grow. They’re (Spire) third car last year was a little different compared to this year with McDowell. We had to onload a lot of people, and through that, there’s going to be differences. Not direct Lego pieces that go together. I’m thankful for my time with Rodney (Childers) taught us a lot as an organization. He’s a super great person. I really enjoyed getting to know him and work with him. At the end of the day, it’s a business and just trying to be successful on Sundays.”

Were you involved in the crew chief decision?

“I was not, no. I showed up on Tuesday. We had our normal Tuesday, 8am meeting with the No. 7 team to see how we’d come here (Talladega) and try to win the race. And then after my meetings on Tuesday, I was notified. Yeah, it was unexpected, but to be honest with you, I don’t think anything in this sport surprises me anymore, so you have to deal with adversity and change. Last year, (I) came to Spire Motorsports midway through the year and somehow was a way crazier thing that happened to me than this week. My life has been full of craziness the last six months. Yeah, hopefully we can find some consistency here with (Ryan) Sparks. Had a lot of fun working with the back half of the season. I think he’s the plan for now and I enjoy working him”

Is it nice to have someone you’ve worked with before?

“Yeah. I think the other thing is, I was at Spire long time before in my life, right? Like half of my lifetime ago, I was at Spire. The whole No. 77 team is still pretty much the core people of Spire. And Ryan Sparks is still one of those core guys that walks through Spire. The people that were there, in the Concord shop, are a lot of the same people. So, not only did I work with Ryan Sparks last year, but I worked with him when I was driving the No. 77 and he was crew chief on the No. 7 in 2019, or whenever that was. Yeah, I enjoy working with Ryan. He’s just fun and bubbly. He pushes me to be better and we had good communication at the end of the season. It was fun yesterday being in the garage and hauler with him and cutting it up. At least I have something I know to expect. We ran Talladega last year.”

Do you think this could be a wildcard weekend to show what you can do?

“I think I’ve been in a position to have a good crew and fast car since I’ve been at Spire, no matter who the crew chief was or team around me. I don’t think anything differently this weekend. Like I said, on Tuesday morning, I talked with the guys there. Wednesday morning, we had a different group of guys there. My mindset for this race hasn’t changed. I want to win, I want to run up front, get stage points like we did at Bristol. It doesn’t matter what number we run on the car, what manufacturer it is, what crew chief it is. I’m here to do my best for myself and my team and nothing is going to stop me from that. I’m excited to be at Talladega. It was a good off week – had a lot of fun with my life. Yeah, just trying to reset here, get this over with and go qualify. Going to the RC track later tonight and run my dirt car 10 minutes away from here, have a good time and try to win tomorrow.”

What is your perspective on your relationship with Michael McDowell?

“I don’t think there’s enough words to describe how good of a human Michael McDowell is and it’s so refreshing to have him as a teammate. I think you saw years ago, what me and AJ (Allmendinger) had, and he was the older figure in that race team. Similar with Michael, he’s been such a good person to bounce ideas off of and he’s such a reliable person off the track and that translates to knowing you can count on him at the race track. I think he’s a perfect fit for what we’re trying to do at Spire. I think the culture of the race team and respect of the race team and how we treat each other, I think he’s a big part of that and is the glue to get the loose ends figured up, different personalities. He’s just been awesome and I don’t have enough words. I enjoy working with him and glad we’ve been put together in this race team and hopefully we can do something food on Sunday.”

Does this week look like a hard reset for you and your team?

“I honestly don’t know if it is a hard reset. I think we’re trying to snowball of how we started the season and I think that’s what we were trying to get to before Talladega – trying to get some internal momentum. I think you always want to be better. We’ve had some good weeks, we’ve had some bad weeks, but I think we’re trying get that snowball rolling and I don’t think it did. I think that’s the biggest thing. I don’t necessarily look at it as a hard reset. I feel like we have great race cars and Hendrick supplies us with the best pit crews and motors in the business. It’s always reliable, fast and I can always count on that. It’s up to us to make the race cars fast and which I think we do and executing on Sundays is the hardest part of the sport, so yeah, hopefully the No. 7 team can be quiet for a while in a good way and click off some good finishes and some wins.”

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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
APRIL 26, 2025

 Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway.

Media Availability Quotes:

You and Travis (Peterson) have had a lot of success on superspeedways the last few years, but that was a different team and manufacturer. Is there any carryover from what happened a year ago and years before that to this year with this team, this organization, this manufacturer?

“Yes, there’s carryover. I do think there’s carryover. We’ve seen that what made our cars drive well and have speed last year work as well in the Chevy camp, as well. There hasn’t been as big of a transition for the superspeedways as maybe some of the other high downforce tracks and short tracks. So I think that this is the one area, actually, where it doesn’t transfer. We didn’t really get an opportunity to see that at Daytona because we had some fuel pump issues and were kind of behind the eight ball as the race unfolded. But I feel good about how the car drove and the speed that it had. Not quite the same speed, right? We weren’t sitting on the poles, but I think we have the speed that we need to contend. So yeah, we do feel good about it.

And I think from the driver’s standpoint, this Next Gen car has drafted differently than the old car. And just having a season where you’re up front a lot, leading, controlling the lanes and doing those things, I think, helps give you that experience. Obviously, I have a lot of experience, but maybe not a ton of experience leading for long periods of time and controlling the race. So I felt like that was good for me. Obviously, I got it wrong, like right here where we’re sitting, the spring race here. But it felt like I gained a lot of experience and knowledge moving forward that helped me make better decisions when it comes down to the final 500 feet.”

Is there any reason to think that this will be any different than the last few Talladega races with fuel mileage early on and then hoping not to be in a 28-car wreck later on?

“That’s encouraging, Bob (laughs).

No, I think that the fuel mileage is here to stay. I mean, it is. There’s just no way around it. You can look at it a lot of different ways. But the fact of the matter is that if you can shorten up your pit stop, it’s going to gain you track position later. I mean, it just is. So it’s going to be a part of what we do. It always just depends on where those cautions fall. But you still go into it with the mindset of, I want track position. I want to be in control of the race. But I don’t want to use more fuel than everybody else. And so it’s this constant battle of, are you using too much or if you’re not. I’ve seen the plan burn you, where you just commit to — hey, I’m going to save fuel. Last year, actually, I got into a place where I lost track position. I said, I don’t care.. I just got to get back to the front. I was probably the only one wide open, but got back to the front. And then as soon as I got back to the front, I started saving.

So it is a part of what we do. I don’t see that changing. The only thing that changes that is when the cautions fall, where at the end of the race last year, the caution fell; we all got into the windows when the Toyota’s got together there. And then those last 25 laps, everybody was hammered down. Nobody’s saving. So I don’t think we’re going to get away from that.

And even if we did, to your second part, we’re all still going to be packed together. That’s not going to change. The four wide that we saw in the fall, I think, was unique and was wild to come back the next day and watch on TV of — wow, that’s crazy. So I hope it’s not like that all day long and everybody’s saving fuel. But the one thing about our sport and about these races is it’s constantly evolving. And I think the fuel mileage part of it is that… it’s an evolution of; we all knew it was important three years ago. Then we saw how important it was because it worked out for some that did it well. And now you study it, you examine it and you got to be really good at it to execute a perfect race. So it’s just the evolution of where we’re at.”

So you said a couple of weeks ago that one of the biggest parts of transitioning from Ford to Chevy was just the different types of data that you get. I’m just curious where that stands now, a couple weeks later, especially coming to Talladega, where it’s just straight into qualifying without practice.

“I think it’s not just the data, but it’s the tools…. tools and the processes. I think that it’s just like any tool, like tools that you guys use, whether it’s new programs or new apps or things like that. They all do somewhat the same thing, but there’s some nuances that you have to figure out. And I felt like that’s where we were at on the 71 team because we were so new. That group was so new of understanding the tools. And you get used to knowing — OK, I need a little bit. The tools are saying this, but I need to be a little bit freer, or I need to be a little tighter, or it won’t be that low onto the racetrack. And then you get new tools, and in some areas, they’re more accurate. In some areas, they give you a little bit different result. And so understanding that and being able to adapt to that is kind of that transition that we were in. And I’m sure there’ll be more circumstances that we are still in. But I feel like we got a good grasp on what we need to do and where we’ve missed it and where we haven’t, where we’ve done a good job with the tools. So I think that that’s all coming together, but it just takes time. Anytime that you have a whole lot more or new information and new tools to sort through it, it takes a little while to have that human factor of what’s what.”

Michael, what did you learn at Daytona and Atlanta in a draft with the Chevy now that you’re driving now? Do you feel more comfortable knowing what you got?

“Yeah, I do. That’s a great question.

We didn’t have great results from those races because we had two mechanical issues there that put us several laps down. But I was still able to go out there and race, race hard and put myself in situations; push, take pushes and all that. And I think that there was this stereotype that we had last year that the Chevy’s couldn’t take a push or they didn’t push well. And I think we all would talk about it… the nose is pointy and all those things. And so I went into Daytona white knuckled.. like I sure hope I’m not the one that figures out how bad this is. And I left Daytona like — oh man, it wasn’t anything like I expected. It was very similar how it took pushes and how it pushed.

So I left Daytona with a lot more confidence of being in those situations where you have to take a good push, which you know here if you’re going to win the race, you have to take a good push. You have to. So I feel really comfortable with that, actually. And I can’t really tell you why because I don’t have a lot of experience with it being bad. But watching it, we always thought that — oh, these are going to be really tough. But to me, it’s been OK. So I don’t know if that’s setup. I don’t know if that’s just how hard you push, how you setup for that; how straight you are or how aligned you are. So now that I’ll be more in the mix, hopefully, with no problems tomorrow, I’ll have more situations to really determine whether or not there’s a lot of differences.”

I know how important being a father is to you. And now that we’re a little bit into this season and you have a new team with younger drivers, how are you ‘fathering’ them or helping them, both in driving and in life beyond the track?

“That’s a great question. I mean, very early on, I told Justin Haley that he’s not allowed to call me dad because he started to call me dad and it sounded really weird. So that’s off the table now (laughs).

But no, to me, more than anything, I just try to do my thing and hopefully lead by example. And then we sit down and we have conversations; walk through anything that they want to walk through. But each one of those guys is so different. And so I’m not trying to project or interject on them… how they should be or what they should do. They’re going to figure that out on their own. But when they have issues or if they have concerns or if they come to me and say, ‘how would you handle this’ and ‘how would you walk through that’, I definitely help. And I like doing that. So it is a part of it, but it hasn’t been a focal point.

And so, yeah, I still have a lot that I have to work on and a lot in front of me too with the new team and a lot of new. I do enjoy that aspect of it and I take that part seriously, but there hasn’t been a lot of situations that have come up that I feel like I’ve had to be like — hey, buddy. But there’s times where that happens, for sure.”

Getting intermediate tracks back-to-back, does that give teams the opportunity to learn and kind of gain from one to the next, even though that they’re different?

“It does. It’s kind of interesting how the schedule — even though we’ve had changes, right? More changes over the last few years than the first decade that I drove. I mean, it used to be I knew every weekend where we were going.. it was the same weekend. And some of what you said has happened, where you’ll get back-to-backs. And the back-to-back is good for some aspects, but bad for others. So from a rhythm standpoint, it’s fun, right? Because you know that what you had, you’re going to kind of have something similar in how you approach it and all that. And so you feel like you kind of get into a rhythm. The hard part is that when you get done with Texas, your Kansas car is already built and most of the setup work has been done. Now you’ll make some changes, but there’s not enough time in there to go — oh man, we really got this wrong. We need to go this direction. And so it would actually be better from a team standpoint if there was a little bit of a gap, just so that you could prepare a little bit better.

On the flip side of that, if you go to Texas and it goes great, you’re like — ah, I cannot wait for Kansas and Charlotte, you have that momentum. But a little bit of a gap helps. When it comes to the short tracks, they’re all so different and the approaches are different that I feel like it’s not as important. But on the mile-and-a-halves where everything matters… downforce, setup, engine, it all matters. I think that it’s actually more challenging to go back-to-back.”

You talked a lot about pushing, getting pushed and we’ll talk about the big one a little bit. How much autonomy do you have with your spotter and your crew chief to make some of those calls to say — look, it’s time to push. How does that work? I mean, do you get full autonomy on that or are they telling you kind of in the armchair, this is what we’re seeing or is it a little of both?

“It’s definitely both. I mean, I hold all the keys to the car, right? So the decision ultimately comes down to me, and you know, whether I hit the gas, want to push or save fuel or whatever it is, get aggressive. But how I approach it is I’m taking that information that they’re giving me and trying to make, you know, the best decision based on what I’m feeling and seeing. The spotter has a huge role in that for sure because, you know, I can only see the two or three cars in front of me and then two or three cars behind me. But when you’re three wide in the middle, you can’t see all the lanes and you can’t see where the momentum’s coming from or it’s more difficult.

So you’re leaning heavily on your spotter and your crew chief in these races. But you also have, as a driver, you have that gut feeling of — you know, I need to go now or I’m going to lose too much track position or it’s getting a little too wild, something’s about to happen. So I think that you’re always sort of balancing that, taking that information and trying to make the best decision with it.”

Michael, can you evaluate your season thus far? I know it probably hasn’t gone as well as you’d hope, but how do you guys maximize going now, moving forward through now and the rest of the season without a break?

“Yeah, that’s a good question. I think that two weeks ago, I would have told you that we were probably on pace with what we had hoped or had expectations for. The last few weeks, we’ve kind of dipped down, which isn’t fun, but we know why. And it’s kind of a part of the learning curve. Unfortunately, we had to learn some things the hard way by having a couple of bad weekends. But overall with the program, I feel really good. I feel really good with our cars and the speed that our cars have had.

To be honest with you, not one of our cars has executed a perfect race and yet we still had a lot of speed and we’ve had some good results. So I think that we have the potential to go out there and really score a lot of points and put ourselves in position. So I feel good about that.

And you know how racers are, our expectations are always a little bit off, right? Your expectations are always high to go out there and win early on and build that momentum. And so the transition has been, I don’t want to say harder than I expected, but there’s probably been a few more challenges than I thought we would encounter. And so I feel like we’ve gotten over that hump now and now it’s time to go down to business and get some results and start stacking points. And this weekend isn’t about that. It’s about putting ourselves in position to win. We know that this is an important race for us to put ourselves in position to win. But the next few weeks is about building momentum and getting top-10s and top-fives and building towards that summer when you know that it’s getting down to crunch time, you know, heading into the playoffs.”

How tough is this stretch all week at the end?

“See, it’s really tough on y’all and crew members. For me, I love it. I don’t like weeks off. You know, I love my family and I love being with them and all that, but even last year with the Olympic break, I felt like you lose a little bit of that continuity and momentum that you had. And so I enjoy the week-to-week.

So I don’t mind that. I’m looking forward to it because when you get into the rhythm of things, it seems to go fast and it seems to go well. And so I don’t mind the straight through.”

Michael, I know there’s probably not a lot you can share from the manufacturer’s meetings that you’ll have. You’ve been part of the Ford meeting for years and years. You go to Daytona; you’re in a different classroom. What are some of the different differences between the way the two manufacturers are and, you know, even just sitting with new drivers that you haven’t sat with for years. You sat with the same drivers for years and years. What’s that been like?

“Yeah, it’s been interesting because just like we talked about, you know, with the car and fuel mileage and all that, it is a little bit of an evolution. You know, it sort of started out of like — hey, don’t crash each other, let’s try to help each other, into more elaborate of how we’re going to work together, how we’re going to execute pit stops, how we’re going to save fuel together, all those things. But now, I think we’re actually starting to go the other way a little bit because of the pressure from NASCAR to not, you know, manufacture races and not have the manufacturers influence too much of it. So I think the conversations have actually gone back down a little bit to where there’s more of a — hey, we know we’re supposed to help each other when we can, but we’re not going to try to plan too much. But I think the easiest way to understand how this has worked and why it’s worked this way — all of us are selfish and we all want to win the race. It doesn’t matter if it’s Carson (Hocevar) and I sitting here, I want to beat him, he wants to beat me, we want to win the race. Or if it’s your other Chevy partners or whatever it might be, you still want to win. But the best way for you to have a shot at doing that is working together; saving fuel together, pitting together, because it’s just your best speed that you can possibly make. And so it became like this, you know, we’re all working together, but we’re only working together to get to the last lap, right? I mean, that’s what it feels like. We’re only trying to get in position to have a shot at winning the race, and that’s the best way to get yourself in position. But it’s also had a dynamic to it that is challenging and fun if you execute it well. You know, like if you get a little off sequence and you come down pit road and you nail the execution of your pit stops and getting together and making speed and you get out in front of the other pack, you feel like you did something good. So it definitely has changed.”

What has the dynamic been between you two as teammates? Because you’re kind of the calm guy that’s been doing this for a while, and he’s kind of like ‘go, go, go, go, go’ all the time. I mean, what is that relationship?

“No, I think that’s a great question. I think that our personalities are very different, right? Like he’s always 20-something, right? So he’s a wild man, but he’s super talented behind the wheel, right? And he, I mean, he’s really fast and races really well. He’s aggressive. And so I think that for me, more than anything, it has been the off track stuff of like how to make our cars better and how to get the most out of our group and our people, and we’re a big part of that from an information standpoint. I mean, we’re the best data that that race car has. And so in order to make the whole team better and our cars better, what we need to communicate and how we need to communicate that and how we use the tools from the simulation and all that. So I think it’s more of that than it is the on-track. We haven’t had a lot of head-to-head battles, honestly. On the weekends that he’s had solid weekends, we’ve had some issues and vice versa. And so there hasn’t been any real battles on-track, which has probably helped, right? Because the off-track stuff has been going well, trying to push the program forward.

And I think that’s the biggest thing between all three drivers is — yes, we’re personality-wise very different, age-wise very different, right? And I mean, I have a son that’s almost as old as him, right (laughs)? So it’s a very different thing, but I’m not trying to take that role, right? I’m not treating Carson or Justin like I would treat my son because they’re not. They’re professional race car drivers that are at the highest level of motorsports. And so you don’t get here by being a child, right? You just don’t. You grow up fast in this sport. So I’m just trying to lead by example and kind of show them how do we make this whole team better together, and how are we a part of the solution and not part of the problem.”

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.