Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona 500 Media Day
Wednesday, February 11, 2026

RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Kroger/Viva Towels Ford Mustang Dark Horse – BRAD SAID IF HE NEEDED ONE GUY TO USE A HACKSAW TO CUT OFF HIS LEG, IT WOULD BE YOU. COULD YOU DO THAT, IF HE ASKED? “If Brad asked me to as my owner and friend, yeah, I would do it for him. I don’t know if he’s ever seen the movie Saw, but I have and that would be very gruesome. I’m happy that we didn’t have to do that and I’m happy that he’s healing and he’s gonna be racing this Sunday. I told him, I’ll be Goose, he can be Maverick and we’ll find a way to the front.”

HE SAID YOU WOULDN’T GET SQUEAMISH. “I wouldn’t get squeamish. My wife, on the other hand, she doesn’t like blood. She might faint.”

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM YOUR FIRST DAYTONA 500? “I remember every single wreck I somehow made it through and ever since that day I have not made it through a wreck here, so we’re gonna try and get back to that 2019 energy of going to the apron, going everywhere and just getting absolutely every car going the way you need it to.”

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THIS RACE? “I think it’s just understanding the game and then playing the game and changing the way you play it throughout that race. For me, I race so much that it’s not something that I just think, ‘I need to do this at this point in time and if I’m not in that position, then we’re not gonna win.’ That’s not the way I feel like the game is. I think, for me, I try to put myself in the right position and I know kind of where I want to be at the end of stage three, so if we can go do that, we’ll have an opportunity, but I’m not a big over-thinker. I will say that I’ve learned a few things from Brad as far as prep goes and how I want to prep to have a better understanding of all these things, but when I put that helmet on, I’m ready to play the game.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW WHO YOU WERE BEFORE WINNING THE CLASH? “Here’s what I’ll say is I felt like New England knew who I was. You go to the region of the northeast of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, they knew me. But you go to the southeast and some, but you go west they didn’t. It’s just not their style of racing, and I think the more we can win, the more the story will get out there and understanding that if you’re a racer and you love it, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard enough and, for me, I feel like I’m an example of that. I’m not saying I’m not talented, but I’m not the guy that somebody would have picked out of a crowd. I have a face for radio here, so I’m just a hard worker that hasn’t quit and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to win.”

YOU HAVE BET ON YOURSELF MANY TIMES. WHAT MAKES YOU SO CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITY AS A RACE CAR DRIVER? “I don’t know how to explain it other than I’m pretty confident. I’m not cocky. I’m just confident in knowing that if you put me in certain situations that I can get the job done. What I can say is when I was driving at four or five in the morning on the way down on 95 to New Smyrna that I felt lighter. I don’t know why other than of what I can simply say is that I was carrying weight on my back or shoulders that I didn’t realize I was, and who I am as a person – everything about racing is who I am. I dictate my entire life around it. I’ve dedicated my entire life around it. My family has taken a backseat to my career, so going out and doing that, yeah, I am super blessed and really thankful to have been able to experience winning at the Cup Series level, but now I want to do it more.”

HOW DO YOU BALANCE RACING AND FAMILY? “I’m lucky. I’m luckier than most I’m able to bring them with me. I have a motorhome. I have a Newmar Dutch Star and I’ll tell you this, years ago when I was first getting in the Cup Series everybody has a motorhome, most people do. I didn’t because I didn’t think I needed one. I’d rather spend my money on race cars and things I can go racing with. The wreck happened in 2023 and my life changed. I had a two-week old daughter, so I bought a motorhome and ever since then it’s just made everything way easier, so, to answer your question, it’s extremely difficult and every day is a challenge. Every day is learning how to be a better father and how to balance what I need to do as a race car driver, what I need to be as a father and then what I need to be as a husband. That’s a really difficult balance because you want to provide and in order to provide I have to succeed, and in order to succeed I have to spend a lot of time doing what I do, so there’s not really a set answer on it other than I’m trying to be the best version of me every single day and make sure I’m able to watch my kids grow up and not look back 10-12 years from now saying, ‘Where did the time go?’”

“I don’t bring them all the time because I drive my motorhome. I enjoy driving it, so the first time, I’d have to look at the schedule, but I love seeing the smile on my daughter’s face. So, yesterday, on Tuesday she was able to go to DisneyWorld with my mother and my brother and my nieces and they dressed up like princesses and got makeup done. I got to see it through photos because I’m working, but, boy, seeing the smile on her face it’s just like, it’s no different than me winning the Clash. You love it. You live for it, so, yeah, going to the racetrack it’s difficult, but I go with the mindset of I want to be able to give her everything that my father, my parents, my mother gave me, and gave me the opportunities. I’m gonna work really hard and that’s gonna be my way that I’m making sure I’m being a great father.”

“My performance dictates how I feel and sometimes, like any athlete, takes it home. It’s so hard to just say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna put it back here and I’ll revisit it on Friday.’ If you care about what you do, that’s how you live. So, I’m sure that, yeah, there was a brief moment of time where we weren’t running good or whatever it may be that I probably wasn’t the easiest person to live with, but that’s the thing, Heather has been there with me through the highs and she’s been there with me through the lows, so it’s great that we’re able to share the fact that we have two great kids. I have a four month old and a two-and-a-half year old and I really look forward to them growing up and seeing the humans, the people that they turn out to be.”

WHAT WAS THEIR REACTION TO YOUR WIN? “My wife was on Facetime. She was home with the kids. They were sleeping, so the first thing I did when I got home is I put the trophy inside our house so that my daughter could see it in the morning and understand what her dad just did. That was special to me, so I think Heather, she knew. She knew how hard I’ve worked and all the things because she was the one who said it to me and made me realize that that entire week, going to the Clash, that’s one of my favorite races of the year because it’s a quarter-mile. It’s like SVG going to a road course. I’ve raced on quarter miles all my life and I’ve been really good at them, and when the format changed because of the weather and how we had to qualify I felt defeated before I even went there, so to go and win I felt like I conquered the world.”

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING THE FINAL COUPLE OF LAPS IN THE CLASH? “I was looking ahead about half a track because I saw the train of like seven to eight cars stacked up behind somebody and I was just sitting there thinking, ‘Do not spin him out or do not bring the caution out,’ and it didn’t. But as a race car driver when you’re leading, it’s no different than when I was racing New Smyrna last night and we had a 30-lap green flag run and I”m leading by half-a-track or whatever it might have been. We had half a straightaway. We had a really good car and you’re just sitting there thinking, ‘What happens if the caution comes out?’ Because that’s when the game resets and most people when a caution comes out you come down for four tires and fuel – the feel goods. You didn’t have that at the Clash. You’re restarting on wore out tires, so I feel like I have a good balance of how to take care of them and make sure I can get them to the end.”

WHEN THE DAY COMES YOU GET YOUR FIRST POINTS CUP WIN, WILL IT FEEL LIKE A FIRST CAREER WIN OVER THE CLASH? “Every win at this level is gonna feel like the first. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve worked too hard to get here for it not to. There’s been different wins in my career on different stages that have meant a lot to me and winning that first points series race is gonna be a big deal. I hope my kids are there. I hope my family is there when it happens, but that’s the goal for 2026 is win.”

DO YOU FEEL MORE PRESSURE TO PROVE YOURSELF AT THE CUP LEVEL OR WHEN YOU RUN OTHER SERIES? “I actually put more pressure on myself when I’m racing locally or regionally in a modified or a late model because I feel like as a race car driver in the Cup Series when you go down to different levels – wherever it is – you’re expected to win and that’s because you’re supposed to be the best at this discipline. A lot of people don’t do it, but that’s the reason I own my race cars because, first off, I typically don’t like driving for people anymore because if I figure things out, I don’t want them to know it because I want to still have that advantage when I go back, but also I’ve got a lot of passion for it, so I don’t know how to explain it. I guess in the Cup Series I don’t attack a race weekend any different than I do when I go racing at New Smyrna because I know the amount of pressure I put on myself when I go do stuff like that it’s the most amount of pressure anybody can put on themselves.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Body Guard Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST DAYTONA 500? “I’ll answer it truthfully. I have a vivid memory of all the wall textures of the fence right in between turns one and two, and not a whole lot of memory after that. There was a lot of frustration and not a good year for superspeedway racing for me. My rookie season was tough on me in the Cup Series, which was difficult to stomach because we did really well on the Xfinity side through many years, so that was my first 500 experience and it was not good.”

HOW HAVE YOU GOTTEN SO GOOD AT THESE SPEEDWAY RACES? “There’s no one thing. I will say probably a lot because of that first year I came down here for many years hating superspeedway racing, just kind of trying to get through it and accepting it as this big luck race and I was smart enough to be able to take a step back and realize it was the same group of people that were maybe not always winning, but at least running up front and in contention to win races. Obviously, that can’t be luck every time. That’s not how that works, so while there is a high level of luck that goes into these races and I will die on that hill, there’s also a very specific skill set, so it’s evolved for me to just tolerating it to saying, ‘OK, I can accept this for what it is and we’re gonna figure it out,’ to a point now where I actually enjoy speedway racing. Some of that is accepting the amount of luck, the percentage of luck that goes into these things, but also appreciating the skill set that goes into it, appreciating the work that the teams put in this thing to try and make it more enjoyable for me behind the wheel, and having a teammate like Brad, who has been so successful speedway racing through the years and being able to learn from him on that front, that’s just continued to build my confidence in these things and make me say I am here to have fun, that we will be contenders, we will lead laps at some point, that we will have a chance to win this thing. We need a certain amount of luck on our side. We need a strong level of execution on our side and we need friendly fire whenever we can find it.”

IS THERE A CERTAIN PLACE ON THE TRACK YOU LIKE TO BE ON THE TRACK? “The front is good (laughing). I think you want to be as far forward as possible. I think it matters if you have friends around, ultimately. I think that if you say you’re the only one of your team left, then somewhere between third and sixth is probably a good spot. You can probably find somebody who needs a drafting partner and can try to make something happen. If you’re leading and we have an RFK Ford behind us, I’m gonna take the lead every single day, so I think it really comes down to do you have teammates around you and how do you work together to put yourself in the best chance to win. That changes the answer drastically.”

HOW MUCH TO YOU GAUGE THE OTHER CARS DURING THE WEEK? “A certain amount. You have an idea of who is quick and then who can probably lead lanes well, and trying to make sure – and maybe more importantly – who straight up cannot lead a lane because that is a momentum killer. When you know you have a car that cannot lead and you see them tuck up into a lane, you know that lane is dead, so then it forces you to move. That’s probably the bigger part of it. There have been moments which the 500 usually, handling is usually good enough with the weather that everyone is handling pretty good. The beginning of the race is a little hairy, but it seems like as it cools off it always becomes less of a handling race, and then you don’t worry so much about those that were out of control off of turn four earlier on, or they’ve already taken care of themselves at that point.”

WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF THIS WEEK FOR YOU? “There are probably a couple things to it because, yes, it’s busy but it’s nothing like it used to be. We used to come down here and felt like we had our tongue hanging out from the absolute get-go. You were just constantly running, so now this car has changed it, the rules have changed where you don’t have cherry pickers in front of every garage after practice today pulling motors and pulling gears. It’s not that insane. The hours are long. The garage is open a lot, but what that means is you do get a lot of time with the team to kind of start off the year building up those relationships with anybody that may be new or just kind of getting back in a rhythm on the road with your group. You’re around them at the shop during the offseason a decent amount and so it’s not like it’s a bunch of strangers, but when you come down it’s essentially a week of team building that is a lot of fun to dive off into knowing that you’re about to spend the next 10 months together.”

DO YOU THINK THE 500 HAS LOST SOME OF ITS PRESTIGE? “No, I don’t. I think that the week is different without a Clash down here ahead of it, but now we’re coming down here for the 500 solely. It’s a little less of a Speedweeks and a full marathon, but it’s Daytona 500 week and that certainly hasn’t changed.”

ALL OF THE RFK CARS HAVE THE FONT ON THEIR CAR NUMBERS TO HONOR GREG BIFFLE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SEE THAT HAPPEN? “I can’t speak to the process, but obviously Greg meant so much to RFK as a whole through the years. The ability to be able to pull this off for all of our partners signing off to say, ‘Hey, we would love to have this little bit of remembrance to somebody who meant so much to Jack and RFK as a whole.’ It was a really neat feat and Kaulig with the 16 as well. That’s a really neat way to honor Greg and the Biffle family after such a tragic event. It’s special to be able to do that for this week and to have him riding aboard for the year is big for us to be able to pull that off. Again, trying to say it in the right way, it feels small in a way. It’s just a small way we can show appreciation or a little bit of remembrance. Every time I say that I feel like it’s not coming out right, but it’s a really neat thing that our organization put together and was able to do.”

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE BACK AT DAYTONA FOR ANOTHER CUP SERIES SEASON? “It’s exciting. There are obviously a lot of positives out of last year that we spent the offseason looking at trying to find ways to build upon and it’s a new year and a new opportunity. It’s a lot of fun coming in here with the Wood Brothers and the history that they have and having the David Pearson iconic paint scheme adds to that. Hopefully, we can have a solid Speedweeks here and find ourselves having a shot at the thing at the end.”

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT THE NEXT GEN CAR HERE? “It’s really tough because we’re battling for track position, which is so important and managing that is so important and it’s so hard to get up front and stay up front that it makes all those moves when you’re up front so important. It’s so easy to make the wrong one, so it’s so important to be prepared and study and really have teammates around you and work with your teammates and your manufacturer at Ford – all those guys – as much as you can to just try to stay up front for what you can. In the 4 car in the summer race we were able to do that and you find yourself with a chance at it at the end. It’s definitely a balance for sure, but the biggest thing is you’ve got to be there at the end to have a chance.”

YOUR NAME IS ABOVE THE DOOR AND DAVID PEARSON’S IS BELOW THE DOOR. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO CLIMB IN AND SEE BOTH OF THOSE NAMES? “It’s a little different feeling seeing his name on there. It definitely adds some pressure to all of us to maybe not necessarily win this race on Sunday, but we want to be up front. We want to put a good show on for it, so there’s definitely some additional pressure with that. It’s such a cool deal. We’ve done so many cool paint schemes over the last year and this is another one that just shows the history of the Wood Brothers. It’s game on to try to do all we can to keep it up front.”

THE PETTY-PEARSON FINISH IS 50 YEARS OLD. HOW MUCH WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO WIN ON SUNDAY? “It would be unbelievable. It’s the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race of the year. It’s one of the biggest races in the world, so winning it would truly be an amazing feeling and an amazing accomplishment, and then you add in the paint scheme and the history of the Wood Brothers in general, that adds a lot to it as well. They have a great history here at Daytona, especially in the 500, so to be able to add to that would be something special for sure.”

ERIK JONES IS IN THE 43 CAR. WHAT IF THE STARS ALIGNED AND IT CAME TO YOU TWO? “Well, they were a lot more spread out back in the day, so that made it feel a little different. It would be hard to get just the two of us out there with nobody else, but, sure, we could try I guess.”

IT FEELS YOU’VE ESTABLISHED YOURSELF AS A REGULAR AT THIS LEVEL OF THE SPORT. HOW DOES THAT FEEL GOING INTO THE SEASON? “A lot has happened in these couple of years and I’ve always heard people talk about 100 starts as kind of their point. I don’t think I’m there yet, but I’m getting pretty close to that number. You hear so much about that that it takes that time to adapt, so I feel like I’m in a great spot. Looking at last year, it’s so easy to focus on the negatives when you look at the playoffs and all the events that happened in those three weeks that were kind of unprecedented, but there are a lot of positives there. We shook off those three bad races and then nearly won New Hampshire the next week. We know what we’re capable of. It’s just about establishing that consistency and just not making those mistakes is what it comes down to. We’ve got to limit our mistakes. Pit road issues and mechanical stuff, we have to limit that stuff and we’re most definitely a team that can be in the Chase. I’ve still got a ways to go before I get to 100. It feels like more than that and then obviously the 4 car and that situation and the 21, but even time at HMS and those races, I still in a way feel like I’m ahead of schedule from what a lot of people say of winning a race. There are a number of races where I’ve spent a lot of time up front battling for it and that’s hard to do in this sport.”

WERE THOSE FIRST THREE PLAYOFF RACES THE WORST STRETCH IN YOUR CAREER? “It was the worst finishes, but when you look back on it each one was for different reasons. It was like you almost laughed at it at the end, but it wasn’t performance based. To me, when I go home and I’m down and upset about a race, it’s the races where you just run bad. For us, each one of those – we qualified great at Darlington. The car bottomed out. We wreck and then you take Bristol with the first. I mean, we’re running in the top five. Speed-wise, we were more than capable of advancing out of that first round, but things just didn’t work out.”

A YEAR AGO WE WERE HERE TALKING ABOUT HOW YOU AND THE WOODS SEEM LIKE A PERFECT MATCH. DO YOU STILL FEEL THAT WAY? “Yeah. I most definitely feel at home so well with the Wood Brothers. They’ve just been so great to work with and they’re such great people. I think I fit a lot of their brand and how they come to this sport. I think looking back on last year, like I said, there were a lot of positives to come out of it, a lot of things that we did really well and a lot to build on and look forward to this year that I think we can go out and accomplish and up our level and find ourselves up front more and more. I think at this point I love driving for them and hope I can do it for many years. The biggest thing is I want to keep putting them up front and keep giving ourselves the opportunity to take them to Victory Lane because it’s a lot of fun and they most certainly deserve it.”

TODD GILLILAND, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT ARE THOSE PRE-RACE MOMENTS FOR THIS RACE LIKE WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO GET READY FOR THE RACE? “It’s kind of what we’re used to most weeks, but obviously this is just a massive scale. Pretty much all morning, the garage opens earlier and we’re pretty much doing stuff non-stop for what feels like four hours straight and it just flies by, but then about one hour before the race you get to the driver’s meeting, the red carpet, the driver intros, all of that stuff is where it kind of starts to slow down a little bit, kind of chill out a little bit more. It’s crazy because you’re going into the race, but I think once you get to the car it’s kind of business as usual even though there like a million people around you, which makes it even cooler and just gets you hyped up to get in and get racing.”

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF THIS WEEK FOR YOU AS A DRIVER? “That’s a tough one. I enjoy every single part of it. Tonight, qualifying under the lights is really special and cool. Thursday night, the Duels. Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure because there’s a lot to gain in experience, but more to lose if you wreck your car and can really put yourself and your team behind for the rest of the week. Friday and Saturday are pretty chill days for the most part because you’ve already gone through a race with your car and it’s more so just kind of getting the car ready for 500 miles. And then Sunday has to be my favorite. The whole day is so hectic, but extremely fun and it’s not like any other sport I’ve been to and that makes it really special.”

WHAT DO YOU RECALL ABOUT YOUR FIRST DAYTONA 500? “I remember getting to Sunday morning and waking up and just being so worn out, and I couldn’t believe that there’s still 36 more races ahead of me. I was excited, obviously, but it’s just crazy with the week leading up to it and the whole offseason with all the work, so I was super excited and couldn’t wait to get out there. Once I got on my helmet, I was almost a little bit emotional because I was super excited and couldn’t believe I was doing it, but now it’s more business as usual and enjoying it along the way.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU SAVOR THE PACE LAPS RIGHT BEFORE THE START? “Even at my first test here in an ARCA car, that first time you come off turn four there is no missing the grandstands. And then for the first Daytona 500 seeing a person in every single one of those seats in those grandstands is insane, so, for me, it’s kind of the driver intros when you’re coming off turn four and you’re out in the air and you can see and hear everyone all the way around the racetrack. It’s amazing and it’s definitely something you don’t take for granted at all, and then once you get racing it’s kind of one of those things that you block out and it’s more natural as a diver. I think you kind of forget about it and then with red flags and stuff is when you start to see and hear the fans again and you probably hear them more than you think, so it’s a lot of fun.”

WHAT DOES COTA MEAN TO YOU, A PLACE WHERE YOU WON A TRUCK RACE? “I think it’s a place that I have a lot of confidence at just because we were able to win there in the truck. We’ve had a lot of good runs there in the Cup car too, so it’s one of those places almost like Martinsville for me, where I feel like I know what I’m trying to achieve in the feel of my car and what I need to be successful there, so it gives me more confidence going in there. I’m excited and believe that we can have a really good run there.”

WHY DIDN’T YOU PRACTICE TODAY? “For us, we were just planning on getting through tech a few more times. We had some issues in tech last year. My crew chief got thrown out. It’s not related to that, but we were just making sure all of our t’s were crossed and i’s were dotted. Obviously, when you go out there you kind of scrape up the bottom of the car and just random things, so they felt confident enough that everything was gonna work out fine and just nailed tech the first time.”

WHAT TRACKS ARE THE MOST CHALLENGING FOR YOU? “For me, I’ve just never been great on the concrete tracks for whatever reason. I don’t know if it’s just in my head at this point, but Dover for sure. I’ve always run horrible there, but I’m still trying to figure it out. I get a clear mind every time I go there and it just hasn’t worked out yet for me, but hopefully in the future. And Bristol, too. I just have never had a great feel for it when it’s mostly around the bottom of the racetrack for whatever reason, so those are probably the things we’re working on the most. And then week in and week out I’d say mile-and-a-halves are our weakest suit compared to short tracks and road courses.”

ANY TALK OF BRINGING YOUR DAD OUT OF RETIREMENT TO HELP YOU GUYS OUT? “He’s got a lot of his own stuff going on. I think he’s honestly busier than he’s ever been with his Truck team. It’s obviously a different manufacturer, but it’s getting more and more challenging every single year, it seems like, but I’m very fortunate to have raced with him a few times at superspeedways. We had a lot of good runs together, and I think that’s why I’ve always loved superspeedways in general. It’s because I always watched him do fairly well at them. It’s a lot of fun and that would be great. To race a Cup race together would be really cool.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEW FORMAT? “To be honest, I feel like for a team like ours the win and you’re in type situation was potentially probably our best way to the playoffs, but, for us, the last four or five years I’ve been in the Cup Series I’ve never made the playoffs, so I’ve pretty much just ran the full season anyway of points. I definitely think it does reward consistency and that’s a place we need to be a lot better at – running better throughout the middle of the races, getting more stage points throughout the year – so I think, for me, we always finish the race well and capitalize on other people’s mistakes, but I think running better throughout the middle of races is what’s gonna really help us out the most.”

ANY PLANS TO RACE OTHER DISCIPLINES? “The Truck race is stacked full of people, so that will be fun to watch. I would love to make more starts in other series in late models or trucks. I’ve never made an O’Reilly start, so that would be fun. I would love to race more. We’re definitely getting to a point where I feel like I have a good handle on the schedule and could really do a lot more racing, so we’ll keep working on that. I don’t have anything really planned right now, but hopefully things will pop up in the year.”

ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW WOULD IT BE IF CHANDLER COULD MAKE THE RACE AND THERE WERE FOUR FRONT ROW MUSTANGS IN THE 500? “Certainly, there’s an advantage just in numbers in superspeedway racing, not only us but all the Fords out there would love to see him get in. If it’s not him, we certainly do want another Ford to get in. Hopefully, they can lock in both of those spots and we get to all go team up on Sunday. With that said, I know Chandler and I battled in 2022 for a spot in the Duels, so I don’t know what 500 this is, but hopefully this is the year he can lock in and get in and we can all battle it out on Sunday.”

DO YOU LIKE THE NEW CHASE FORMAT? DOES IT BENEFIT YOU AS A DRIVER? “I think it’s only positive for everything with me. I feel like it should reward the guys that are consistent week in and week out, and I feel like with the old format we lost I think three or four spots to where we should have been in points. I feel like it’s only good for us and our team, so I love the change and I’m excited to see what this year brings with it.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY NOTES OR THINGS YOU’VE LEARNED THAT WILL HELP YOU IN THIS YEAR’S 500? “It’s definitely unique racing. I mean, what kind of comes to mind is this will be my fifth Daytona 500, so I’ve been fortunate enough to experience this week multiple times now, which I feel like that goes a long way. And then there’s takeaways from Atlanta and how things play out, maybe not quite the same because everything just happens faster at Atlanta, but I had nothing to take from last year’s Daytonas because they were both terrible for me, but both of our Talladega’s were actually pretty good and had a shot of winning the second Talladega, so I had some takeaways from that late last year to hopefully apply to this week, the Duels and the 500. Hopefully, we can definitely have a better Speedweeks than we had last year.”

YOU HAVE TWO TRUCK SERIES WINS AT DAYTONA, SO DOES THAT JUST GIVE YOU A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS PLACE? “I’ve always loved coming here. I’ve raced go-karts here right after Christmas and won the Speedweeks then. I got a couple Truck wins here in the Friday night race, and then I’ve won here in the IMSA Roar in the Mustang with Harrison (Burton) and that was really cool, so this place has been really good to me. We don’t have any trophies yet that have the Cup Series on it, so hopefully we can change that.”

YOUR SECOND HALF OF 2025 WAS PRETTY CONSISTENT. CAN YOU CARRY THAT MOMENTUM INTO THE START OF THIS SEASON? “I feel like we had areas that were circled of where we need to be stronger. We’re in that top 15-17 pretty much every weekend it seems like. We want to be a top 10 guy, a top 12 guy, and I feel like that is very doable for us and we just have different things that we needed to clean up. I feel like we accomplished a lot of that throughout the offseason, so that’s where a lot of excitement comes from going into this year. Hopefully, it’s true or else there will definitely be some head scratching, but time will tell.”

NOAH MENTIONED HOW THE FIRST FIVE RACES ARE KEY AS FAR AS EARNING POINTS AND BEING ABLE TO QUALIFY IN THE SECOND GROUP. HOW KEY DO YOU VIEW THE START OF THIS YEAR? “A good start is super important, especially when there are 41 cars here. You don’t want to have a bad week, and then on top of that, this is all throughout the year, when you have one bad week it instantly goes into the next, where you have to be in Group 1 and have to go out early in qualifying. When you get to go out later good weeks make another good week, so I learned that the hard way in my rookie year, but I feel like I cleaned up a lot of that last year. Hopefully, we can continue that trend this year.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2026

Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes:

Thoughts on Daytona this year?

“Yeah anytime we can get back to racing, it’s always exciting. There is always a lot of chaos and uncertainty that goes into the 500 but I think the focus is to continue to build the relationship we have started with RCR and Chevrolet and my team, Billy Plourde and Dave Jones, my crew chief and car chief, they’ve done an awesome job prepping during the offseason. I think the fruits of that are starting to show between the little bit of track time we’ve had here and at Bowman Grey.”

There are drivers down here who were underdogs that have won. Is this a race that anyone can win?

“I think what that shows is that it is anyone’s race. You have guys like Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell, guys that I’ve had good relationships with over the years when the stars fall and everything aligns, it really is anybody’s race. I think the biggest thing for me is to take what I’ve learned from leading laps last year in the fall race to building a program where we have the cars that are capable of winning and I still need to work on myself to make sure were in contention. But I think it is anyone race and I think it’s going to be an exciting year.”

Talk about the move to Chevrolet and the relationship with RCR:

“From my personal experience having spent a lot of time at RCR and the GM Tech Center, there are a lot of tools that are available not just to the race team but also myself as a driver are invaluable. RCR has a static SIM rig that I have access too pretty much 24/7 with their engineers as well as the GM Tech Center using their full motion rig and static rig. So to be able to work with RCR and their engineers has been good not just for the team, but for myself as a driver to continue to improve and make myself better because I don’t want to fall behind as our equipment and our expectations and performance is getting better, I need to make sure that I am improving as well. I think all in all I’ve seen just an across the board improvement but it’s still very very early because we haven’t had a points race yet, but I’m super optimistic with the alliance and switching manufacturers.”

You led 23 laps last year at Daytona. Can you recreate that magic?

“I think confidence has a lot to do with it. Having the confidence to go out there and lead and learning what it takes to lead and modulate a line in a draft pack like that. And just to continue to learn on that and not do it for a flash-in-the-pan moment but being able to consistently do it and also extract more speed out of the cars. Also fuel milage is also an important part and one of the things is we burned a lot of fuel doing that so knowing the time and the place to do that versus burning up fuel and creating a bad pit strategy for the team as well. But I’m excited to about Daytona especially after last fall and the new alliance with Chevrolet and RCR.”

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
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2026

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes:

Ricky, how great is it to be sharing a track with Tony Stewart?

“Yeah, it’s cool. I mean, I’ve got to race Tony in my first Daytona 500 in 2012. I believe I crashed him on accident in the tri-oval in 2012. No, as soon as he announced he was running, I texted him and said, hey, you got a drafting partner. At that time, we hadn’t announced that I was running, so he didn’t know. No, it will be awesome. Looking forward to getting out there. I think the Truck race is going to be one of those that a lot of people are going to want to watch. We got a lot of good Cup guys running, a lot of great talent. I got Pastrana and Cleetus as my teammates. Hopefully we can keep our band of brothers up there up front along with Perez. Should be a good week. Looking forward to Friday. But also looking forward to just racing more. Get the Duels on Thursday, Truck race on Friday. Hopefully a smooth, quiet Saturday to get ready for the 500 on Sunday.”

How much have you interacted with Cleetus and Travis?

“I’ve known Travis for a long time. He and I are good friends. Cleetus I’ve talked to a decent amount of times. Respect everything that he’s been able to do. I’ve watched his ARCA races. They said his truck test went good. Yeah, just really cool to have him. I know this weekend means a lot to him with how tight him and Greg were, especially late in that. Yeah, it will be cool to be a teammate with him.”

As somebody who was a teammate with Greg for a few years, do you have a fond memory of him?

“I just loved the way Greg talked about his race cars. It was very animated. You thought he was a little crazy. When he got to the end of what he was talking about, you knew exactly what his car was doing. I feel like I learned a lot from him in that. Any little thing that you can say about a car, no matter how you say it, could spark something in your engineers or crew chiefs. I think that helps me explain how my race cars are and helped me from then on. I used to sit on his pit box when I raced the Nationwide Series. I sat on his pit box every Sunday. I listened to him and Greg Erwin constantly talk about his race car. I learned a lot from Greg.

You talked over the summer how you wanted to do a Truck race. Here we are.

“It’s wild (laughter). I’m looking forward to it. Everybody at Niece builds great race trucks. Going there in the off-season has been fun, just figuring out everything that’s going on in the Truck Series, sitting in the trucks, having them walk around the Trucks to show me where the nose is because I’ve never been in one. It seems like the noses are pretty far out.

Yeah, just crazy that it took this long to get my first one. But looking forward to back-to-back starts, maybe a couple more throughout the season. Working on that with the Niece guys now.

Super pumped about Friday, but also really looking forward to Atlanta, as well.”

Truck Night America has been a big thing for a while.

“Everybody is going to be glued in watching. I mean, you got Pastrana, McFarland, then all the Cup guys. Just all in all I think it will be a really good race. I think a lot of times you get the Truck races where they get kind of single-filed out, not a lot of moving and passing. I mean, I think all of us will be, you know, trying to get to the front and see what happens. I’m going to use the first half of the race to figure out what these things do, how they draft, how they push, kind of how they feel when you get beside each other. I’m much looking forward to it.”

Could the Truck race be an opportunity in the Cup season, where if there are any drivers who you may have a score to settle?

“No, I would never settle a score in a superspeedway race.”

Not giving them the run they’re looking for or something.

“No. I mean, I think if it’s going to benefit you in a superspeedway race, you’ll definitely take the opportunity to take a run, no matter who it’s with. Again, I would say in superspeedway racing you’re always looking out for yourself, no matter what. But it’s just going to be wild. Again, I’ve never ran one. We got a lot of great talent in the Truck Series full-time, then you got a lot of us coming in that’s got a lot of experience, especially drafting. It will be kind of cool to see how it all shakes out.”

You’re doing double duty this weekend. Do you feel like the preparation of not doing one race but two, is there any tradeoff doing Trucks?

“No, I don’t think there’s any tradeoff. I’m excited to just race more. You come down here. You qualify tonight. You run the Duel race on Thursday. You might practice Friday or Saturday. Probably not both. Kind of sit around a lot. It will be nice to be in a race car, just get back behind the wheel, get in the flow of things.

What is your favorite part of just the Daytona 500 experience?

“Yeah, I just love Daytona 500 week. After the Super Bowl on Sunday, it’s all about us. Every household in America is probably going to have a TV on and watching the race, right? It’s big numbers that tune into our race on FOX. They announced another sellout for the 11th year in a row. 31-plus million-dollar purse. I enjoy coming down and doing stuff all week. Like my schedule is slammed, but I love it. We haven’t been doing a whole lot. You put this race in the three-quarter mark of the season, I might not like as much media as we have. But right now, at the time it’s fresh and kind of reviving. Yeah, looking forward to the whole week. Great weather compared to Charlotte. Palm trees and race cars. If you want to take your kids to the beach, you can. Just kind of a relaxing week, even though you got a lot to do.

This part of your career, what is the driving force for you?

“That’s a great question. This is my 15th Daytona 500 Media Day, so… It feels like yesterday was the first one. I think just keeping in shape and feeling young. I still feel young. I was up at 6:30 this morning working out in the gym. When we go on vacation, my wife and I, we just got back from Mexico, and we got up between 6:00 and 6:15 every day, worked out for an hour, then started our day. I just feel really good. I’m eating well. Feel like I’m in really good shape that keeps me going. Also, kind of a point in my career where I feel like I’m blessed to continue to do what I do. I’ve been in this sport for a long time, had some success. There’s still success that I feel like I can have. So, I think that’s what keeps me striving and enjoying it. I just still feel like I got a lot left to prove, a lot of things to accomplish. One of those things to accomplish is being in the sport for six, seven more years. I want to win a race with my son there. There’s different things that I still want to accomplish. Yeah, I feel good. I’m blessed to be able to do it. I think that’s one of the things I’ve really kind of honed in on since my Roush career ended and my Hyak career started. I’ve just been super fortunate.

(Question about family and being a NASCAR driver.)

“Leaving the family at home is tough, but also think about it in different ways. Also think we’re very fortunate that my work schedule is going to be a Saturday-Sunday. I don’t have to work Monday through Friday. I get to spend a massive amount of time with my family. Yes, leaving them on the weekend is tough, but I know that if I had a 9:00 to 5:00, there’s a big portion of my time that I definitely wouldn’t get to see my family, right? I look at it a couple different ways. At least that helps it settle with me a little bit more. And I get to bring them a lot. I bring them to more than half the races. It is tough leaving, especially for the first time. I remember just leaving. You’re like, Dang. Then you’re calling to check in all the time. Especially now that Stetson is a little bit older, it’s awesome when you get home because they watched you race, they figure out what’s going on, they kiss you bye, then as soon as you get home, they are pumped to see you. That makes it okay.

The new Chevy body, do you know what to expect yet as far as what it’s going to be like pushing on the track, any of that stuff?

“I think it’s going to be easier for the Chevys to push. I never felt like I had an issue pushing or being pushed by other Chevys. I assume it’s going to be better. I mean, I think overall I just want it to be faster. The Ford obviously seems pretty fast in qualifying. There’s a couple Chevys that will lay down some laps. If I could just have a little bit more raw speed, I think it would be better. We’ll find out where we stack up here in a minute. I think pushing and stuff should be easier. I don’t really see it being that big of a difference.

(No microphone.)

“I’ve kind of put myself in bad spots, like speed on pit road.”

Regarding The CrossFit Open

“Thought you were talking about the Duels tomorrow. I haven’t been doing strictly CrossFit. I love watching it. If it’s a workout where I’m like, okay, not long ago, maybe not last year, the year before, they had the alternating snatches, burpee over the box. I can do 50-pound dumbbell snatches all day long. The weight wasn’t too outrageous, so I got to do exactly what they were doing. I love that.”

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
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2026

Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes:

Daytona is a place you’ve won at before. Does it feel any different coming back every year? Does it change at all for you? Do you get any more excited?

“I think ever since I won the Daytona 500, I just enjoy coming through the tunnel. The opportunity to go back to victory lane here because you’ve done it before, it just feels obtainable. If you put yourself in good positions, it usually pays off. So we try and make the right decisions at the right time. It’s high-speed chess out there.”

Inaudible.

“Yeah, I think we’re in cleanup mode. I think we’re cleaning up the shop. We’re doing a good job doing the things we’ve needed to do. I think we straightened up, I guess is the best thing. But now we’re cleaning up; we’re doing a good job of turning everything over and making sure that we’re getting the best out of our cars. I think you’ll see that this year. I’m excited about the new Chevy body, looking forward to tonight, see how we qualify and then go race in the Duals.”

Inaudible.

“You just feel blessed by the opportunity and you are overwhelmed at times. That first time here and driving the No. 3. It was a heck of an experience. I had a lot of media around me. It’s a little different than today. I remember walking to the car and barely having enough oxygen. Just trying to get people to back up when we drove the 3 car that first year.”

You’re one of the handful of people that’s experienced what it’s like to win a 500. What’s the difference for the team by coming out of week one of the season with that win?

“Words can’t explain how big it is for your race shop and how much it can carry you for a long time. Especially in the old format. Now you got to go right back to work. You can’t take a weekend off. It’s hard to enjoy it. You do because it’s the biggest race of the year. But it’s a little different.”

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
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2026

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes:

Regarding Greg Biffle and memories with him, and the special number font on your car

“Yeah, first and foremost it’s sad that we have to run it. Greg was somebody that I had many battles with on the racetrack and there were some competition meetings that we had some battles with as well. All fun memories, but the impact that he had in the community after he retired and obviously the floods and the everything that he did for that stand out. Then you start hearing the trickle-down effect of everything he was doing. He was just a great person, and I enjoyed him and when he would come back to the racetrack and pick up conversations that we probably hadn’t had in a couple of years like they were five minutes ago. So I am sure there was a process of checking with Roush and making sure it was okay, but to us, it was a no brainer to do it if they allowed it. And hopefully this race is special for so many reasons, but if we were able to pull into victory lane on Sunday night it would be just a little bit more knowing that the font on the side of the car and what it means.”

Any memories that you can share about Greg Biffle, that stand out?

“Yeah, I have got one in the competition meeting where we had a little bit of an argument after and what I laugh about is the argument was quite heated, and it was very heated. I think we were both raging at each other and then I went into my spiel about my racecar and then literally like two minutes later he was like, ‘man, your car was doing the same thing?’ and I was like, ‘yeah I had the same issue’ and it was like 20 minutes that just happened didn’t happen. I remember I walked out of the meeting, and I just started laughing about it. Because that was the type of person he was and how we both are. Its like one minute we were about to get in each other’s face and then we were like ‘yeah, yeah, our cars are doing the same thing’, and it never happened. So, the battles on the racetrack were a lot of fun, but that one, the competition meeting will always stand out to me.”

What do you remember about your first Daytona 500?

“The first one I made, or the first two I attended and didn’t make? Because the first two years were gut-wrenching and just absolute sadness. Because I got wrecked in lap seven of my first attempt at it in the Duels, when they had 68 cars here and I was at another race team that I will not mention. Then the next year, I was like a half of a car length from making it and didn’t make it. So, the first two years here were gut-wrenching and the third year here, I had to race my way in and honestly had a shot to win it. It was rain-shortened that year and finished third and that, in a way, is what kept me going in the sport. So, without finishing third there, I don’t know if I would have had a continued career in NASCAR.”

Regarding having the same teammate heading into this year

“The situation that I just talked about, in trying to keep at least some things together. You know, I think there is a little bit of change on the crew side of it but for the most part with Ty (Dillon) and myself, and the crew chiefs, and some of the engineers….I think we have brought in some good people, building our own bodies and we have to bring in some people and its strengthened the race team on that. But on the Ty side of it, I have known Ty for a long time but I have never generally worked with him till last year and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like we kind of have the same personalities of the way we work together. So, to have him back is huge for our race team to just keep that together. Really that helps too in just going off a notebook and not having any data, knowing the stuff that we felt last year so that we can kind of work on that this year maybe when we are off a little bit on a race weekend and just go back to using the notes that we had last year, because that is all we got.”

How are you approaching the Daytona 500 this year?

“I approach it like I always do. First you want to finish, but you just go through the process of the week. And I feel like we will have fast race cars – we typically do at the superspeedways. But, a lot of guys will have fast race cars, so I kind of more judge it after the Duel. Qualifying, unless you are on the front row, doesn’t mean anything. I judge it after the Duel and see what kind of car you got as far as handling-wise, drafting-wise, and then you go from there. You just try to make the right moves on Sunday. I feel like it’s always the same thing, you don’t want to be in the big one and you definitely don’t want to be the cause of it. That is the first goal. Hopefully you make the right moves, and you have a shot at the end of the race.”

What is the scariest moment you have had at this racetrack, where you have been like you will never forget it?

“All of them. We are all psycho out there. Generally, I think we are all pretty calm and then we strap the helmet on and it cuts off the oxygen to our heads, and we become morons out there. So they are all hairy. There are many wrecks that I should have been in, the ones that I have been in hurt, and you are out there and you are four-wide on lap 12 and you are like, ‘this is stupid, what are we doing?’. Then you are, ‘I am just going to lay back’, and then no, I am like ‘I am just going to run and why not stick it up in there?’. So, yeah, it’s all crazy.”

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
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2026

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes:

Thoughts on Daytona this year?

“Yeah I feel there was a lot that I learned in those two races last year. Especially being so close to winning last year at Daytona. The first one was tough because I hadn’t been in a Next Gen car in two years so figuring out when to make the moves and how aggressive you can be, I think I learned a lot from that. The second Daytona I think you just try to keep knocking at the door as much as you can to try to win one of these things and eventually it’s going to be your day.”

How many friends do you have out there?

“I hope a lot (laughs). At the end of the day, I think everyone is out for themselves everyone wants to win that trophy over there. For us as a single car team, we’re going to be looking at ourselves.”

Do you have drivers that you work with or is there planning?

“Everyone kind of talks a big game before the race that they are going to work together and then lap one happens and no one works together (laughs). But I feel like at the end of the day it’s different every year and for us, switching to Chevrolet this year, we’re trying to understand that dynamic. How everyone at Chevrolet works together and how they want to attack this race.”

William Byron has won this race they last two years, does it help having an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports?

“It’s huge, they are the champions from last year and having an alliance with Hendrick and they also are the champions from last year. So, if there are some little things we can learn throughout the year and build that relationship to get better and better as a team and also help each other, that is the goal.

Thoughts on the new playoff format:

“I’m excited about it. I’ve always kind of liked points racing honestly because I’m kind of consistent and this is what it is going to take. Not having the DNFs and the wrecks that get you no points. If you can keep yourself in the game week after week, that’s going to mean a lot in this format.”

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.

TOYOTA RACING – Ty Gibbs
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 11, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs was made available to the media on Wednesday prior to the Daytona 500.

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

Why do you think Dale Earnhardt Sr. still has the reputation he has to this day?

“Well, I think it’s that way because he was one of the best to ever do it, statistically, right? I think that Dale had a lot of fans and a lot of people rooting for him, as well as people booing him, but everybody respected him. I think the older generation (pause), the sport was at its peak, he was the biggest name in the whole deal. But I also think old-school racers like him are awesome – A.J Foyt, Mario Andretti, Ayrton Senna, there’s a lot of great guys that were racers back then. I just think their names were big in the sport, and the sport was at its biggest at that time.”

What advice would you give to a rookie after your experiences so far in the Cup Series?

“I don’t know. You’re young and have to look at the big picture, right? I’m only 23. People in life don’t have it figured out until they’re maybe in their 30s, mid-30s. So, you’re young, just have to look at the big picture and take it all in.”

What’s your relationship with superspeedway racing now?

“I’ve had some good and bad runs here (Daytona International Speedway). But I think on average, our superspeedway stuff was pretty decent last year with some decent finishes. You can see that anyone can win this race, and if you’re in the right spot at the end of the race, I think you can (win it). Just have to work well with my teammates and the other Toyota guys to see where we end up towards the end of the race. Hopefully we’re all up front and have a chance to win.”

What would it mean to you to win the Daytona 500 on Sunday?

“It’d be really cool. As a family business, it’d be really awesome to share that success with them. Would love to do that. I’ve been able to do it before with the (O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) championship and stuff like that, but to have my name in there and know that was me, would be super cool. I’ve grown up in the shop, looking at all the banners on the ceiling and having some of my own in there is super cool, and (I) have been very blessed in life. Just work hard and do the best I can, and very fortunate to win some races and win a championship, but to win for your family is really cool. Blessed to have a family business and have great role models in my life in my family.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 48,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 35 million cars and trucks at our 11 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

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

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2026

Justin Allgaier, No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes:

No Mic…

“JR Motorsports is jumping in both feet first trying to understand what this looks like. It wasn’t easy. I look back all the way until Thursday night. I can remember the emotions of Thursday night probably, they haunt my sleep, right? It was up and down and up and down.

Going back 365 days later, it’s not any different. There’s still that stress, there’s still that want. But it’s more so now, how do we do better? How do we qualify tonight and not have to worry about tomorrow? How do we finish better in the Daytona 500?

All these things last year, we just wanted to make it in, we just wanted to finish. We didn’t necessarily have a set goal. I feel like this year we’ve just elevated our game and want to be better. So far so good.”

No Mic…

“I’m going to smile a lot because I actually went around and I saw Jim (Pohlman) today in the Cup Garage. I gave him a big hug, told him proud of him I was.

He’s been in the sport for a long time. He’s been so understated. I’m so glad that we had the opportunity to work together, just really show that I’ve known about Jim for the last 25 years of my life, right, known who he was.

He exceeded all expectations, right? I thought I knew how good he could be, and he exceeded that expectation. I just feel like for him, having the opportunity to go with Kyle, who is an amazing race car driver, try to elevate to a point of where they would like to get back to, I have no doubt that they can go be successful, have a lot of fun with it.

I’m pumped for him. It’s going to be tough, there’s no question. Andrew Overstreet has done an amazing job this off-season. We’ve jumped in and hit the ground running. I have no doubt that with the notes that we had, with his knowledge and success, we have all the tools that we need to go back, take another stab at it.

We’ve been close to winning a championship a lot. We got one. I’d love to have multiple. 2026 looks like a great opportunity to go do that again.”

What steps have been taken in the buildup to this to make sure you were in a position?

“Yeah, I mean, I think when you look back last year, we had a lot more calmness going into qualifying than what we should have. I think we all thought we were in a little bit better position, thought we were a little bit smarter, little bit more prepared, a little bit all the things, right?

When qualifying didn’t go the way we wanted it to, I think it caught all of us a little bit off guard, right? I think we had higher expectations.

Now that being said, I go into 2026. I go, the stakes are just as high. We are held to that same standard of we have to go execute. Qualifying is going to be tough. I feel like every year I look at the entry list and there’s more and more and more good cars.

I think we’ve done all the right work. We’ve put all the pieces of the puzzle together the best we can, with the knowledge we had last year. We just have to go execute.

If we do that, we’ll have a great opportunity at not only qualifying well but having a great Daytona 500. See what happens.”

Does that challenge get more difficult because it’s a different body than you had a year ago? “Well, I think one of the hardest parts about the Cup Series is while things may not change a lot, when they do change, it’s a big change, right?

All of your notes, everything we do, I’m not going to say you’re kind of guessing, because the engineering side is so incredible and how detailed they’re able to get anymore. You still don’t know what that could look like.

So while I don’t think the change on the Chevrolet side, on the body, is significant as far as it is a significant change, especially there’s some pretty big visual changes within the body, a lot of the stuff that we see is very similar to what we had last year.

Those are easier. Probably the biggest change is just not going in this garage for a year, right? All the processes and how the cars of bolted together, getting through inspection, all the little details that if you’re not doing it week in, week out, you just don’t know, right?

I think for us, we understood what we needed to do last year. We just have to tweak on that and fine-tune it, make sure we’re in a better position for this year’s qualifying.”

You’ve been asked a lot about the meaning of the Daytona 500. For you personally, what is the value and importance of having a Cup Series win?

“I mean, it would be amazing. I don’t know that you could put any better Cup Series win on your résumé than the Daytona 500. That would be pretty special.

But when I look at the field, this year there will be 40 other cars, that they equally want that win just as bad as I do. Everybody wants to take their car out to the Daytona Experience. Everybody wants that trophy that’s right behind me somewhere on the wall. There’s something about this event that everybody wants to be a part of it and win it.

Just having the opportunity. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, everybody that’s at JR Motorsports, they could have picked a lot of candidates to be the driver behind the wheel of this car. Last year when they told me, I was blown away they gave me the opportunity. To come back a year later and do it all again, it’s unbelievable.

Chris Stapleton, the Traveller Whiskey brand, they were all 100% invested. As soon as we left Daytona last year, they were 100% invested coming back this year. That’s special. That means a lot to a driver.

We’ll do everything we can. Last year we came out of here with a top 10. I’d love to do that better. You could just as easily be sitting on a flatbed on lap one. This race is so unique in how it plays out that you won’t know until the checkered flag falls.”

Were you expecting such a moment of catharsis once y’all qualified last year? It was really emotional. Were you expecting that?

“I think for us, what was interesting was the highest of highs need a low to judge them off of, right? And Wednesday night when qualifying ended, that valley was deeper than anything I can ever remember. Not only did we not qualify for the event, we were very underwhelming and missed our target by a lot.

I think what you saw on Thursday after the Duel was knowing the position we were in, knowing how close it was. Shoot, it was the last lap. I think coming to the white was when we finally made the pass for that spot. Super, super last second.

I think that lowest of low on Wednesday really transcended that highest of high on Thursday.

What was cool about it was it made Sunday fantastic because everybody was riding that high of emotion. Really, I don’t know that there was even a discussion of, like, what position we could finish or should finish. It was, Hey, we’ve done all the heavy lifting, let’s go have fun. I really believe that 2026 is the same.

I would love to make Wednesday exciting and Thursday boring, I really would. No offense to anybody. At the same time, I know I have the team behind me that can do it. You know what, if it’s the last lap to get in tomorrow night as well, I’m going to go make the most of it and do what we can.”

Back to the engineering aspect. From when you started in NASCAR to Sunday, how has it evolved?

“I don’t even know there’s enough paper in the world to describe the difference between what it was like whenever I started and what it is today.

It’s so interesting, right? I sit here and say that, and then I see pictures of cars that raced on the beach in the ’50s and the ’40s, just what those looked like.

I listen to the stories of Richard Petty. They put a two-by-eight, they bolted it to the seat so you would stop sliding across the bench seat. I never had to deal with those things. I came in, and technology had already well surpassed that.

I look at the engineering side, the safety, just what we’re able to do now. It’s so wild to see where the racing is at today.

Teams were able to make speed. I think about speed runs back in the day, qualifying runs back in the day, of being well over 200 miles an hour. We’re not there today, but really we are. If we were able to do whatever we wanted to do, we could probably get there.

The difference was we saw races that were won by two or three laps. Today you can throw a blanket over the top 30 at the finish of these races.

I think just the tolerances and how quickly everything has kind of evolved and the cars have become so close and the parity is so great, it’s just wild to watch.

But when you see these engineers, you see these crew chiefs, how smart they have to be, not just in one area, we’re asking them to be all-encompassing, to be great at all aspects of the sport. It’s unbelievable and really fun to watch.

It’s given me a better appreciation for all forms of motorsport, right? I watch F1, I watch INDYCAR, I watch IMSA, I watch Trucks. I watch all the dirt stuff. I grew up racing dirt, short tracks.

When you sit down and look at it, it’s crazy what it’s evolved to. It’s pretty special to be part of the sport all the way through that transition. I know it’s going to keep going long after I’m gone.”

A lot of these engineers are coming up so young, learning in schools, is there something you’ve learned from them over the years?

“Oh, my knowledge of engineering in this sport has grown so tremendously just from listening. When I listen to a lot of these young guys and gals that come in, we have so many great, smart engineers in our shop that are so far advanced than anything I could ever imagine. Then you hear some of how their schooling went, some of the job experiences they’ve had, kind of what has driven them to be who they are, it’s wild. It truly is wild.

I’m learning with them. They’re learning at a rate that is way faster than I could have ever learned at. I also think the tools we have today have helped them increase to learn, right? You’re seeing that with fuel strategy, car setups, simulation, right? We’re able to do things in the simulator that I never would have dreamed of 10 years ago or 15 years ago, that you’re able to simulate real live conditions that we never could have before. It’s just wild to see what they’ve been able to accomplish.

At the end of the day, technology of allowing multiple people put their heads together… Used to be you had one smart person or two smart people, you were pulling from a pool of a few smart individuals. Now we’re pulling from hundreds and thousands of smart individuals from this sport that really have elevated the game, have taken it to a place I never could have imagined.”

Dale was very active last year being around the car, being there for the experience. Is that translating this year, as well?

“He may not have shown up at 6:00 this morning, but he’s definitely hugely active in it. His appreciation for this event and for what we’re accomplishing is huge. I said it last year, I’ll say it again. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has accomplished everything in this sport that you could ever want. He could have walked away a long time ago and nobody would have ever batted an eye. He’s not done that. He stayed involved, he stayed invested, right, whether that be on the O’Reilly side, whether that be in the CARS Tour, whether that be on the Cup Series side.

If I’m being honest, I’m sad that JR Motorsports doesn’t have a charter. I know we could do great things for the sport. That’s a big ask from a time management standpoint, from a money management standpoint. Those are all big things to kind of accomplish.

I just love what he’s done for the sport. I love what him and his sister both have done for the sport. I believe they truly are a big part of why this sport is in the position it’s in. It’s cool to have this opportunity to be able to come here with him.”

What do you remember from your first Daytona 500?

“Whew, I remember a lot. I think different scenario for me, very different scenario, very different opportunity. Wish I would have put more pressure on myself back then, right? I know that sounds crazy, but I was a lot younger than I am now, probably just didn’t understand the gravity of this race like I do now.

Probably would have done things a little bit differently. But at the end of the day, I think that’s what makes it all who we are, right? You don’t have all the knowledge when you start. That’s kind of why we become the people that we become.

This is, what, 12 years since my first 500. It feels like yesterday. I can remember it very well.

Cool to be back. Cool to be a part of it. BRANDT was on the car back then, and they’re still on my car in a capacity this year. That’s a big moment.”

If you flash forward to last year, being part of JR Motorsports’ first Cup race, this was Dale Jr.’s first Cup race as a team owner, what did you pick up from him in that time, knowing you had to race your way in?

“When Dale Jr. is nervous at a NASCAR race, you’re nervous, right? I feel like if anybody understands the gravity of it, it’s him.

When we didn’t have the qualifying we wanted, when we didn’t have the days go the way we wanted, it was hard. Because I’m watching him, I’m somewhat living vicariously through him. He’s doing somewhat the same with me.

But to see his eagerness to be a part of it, want to be there, be in the garage opening, I think it drove home the gravity of the event for me. I think that, look, JR Motorsports had an opportunity to put a lot of drivers behind the wheel of this 40 car. I’m so proud of the fact that they chose me, but also just trying to make sure that I make the most of every moment because they deserve that, right? I know that they’ve given me every detail and everything that I could ask for to have this opportunity. We just got to make the most of the opportunity in front of us.”

No Mic…

“If I put myself in Dale’s shoes, it’s a hard position to be in because I don’t know what the emotions are, right? He’s been very vocal about it. They had the documentary. He’s never been shy to not talk about it.

At the same time, I want it to be a big moment for him. I look at when he won here, the emotions that he had. I mean, I remember everything he had in that moment when Mike Helton flashed on the screen and had that conversation. It was one of the darkest days of our sport, right? Followed by some extremely bright moments in a young Dale Jr. that took the reins and really turned the sport into something that his dad would have loved to have seen where the sport’s at today.

So it would be special and it would be cool, but I don’t want that to tarnish or provoke the wrong emotion for Dale or for any Dale Earnhardt Sr. fans. At the end of the day, we want to make sure this is a good experience and everybody’s proud of what we’re accomplishing. I think Dale Sr. would be proud if he knew his son had a car in the 500 and was able to do this.”

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.

TOYOTA RACING – Riley Herbst
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 11, 2026) – 23XI Racing driver Riley Herbst was made available to the media on Wednesday prior to the Daytona 500.

RILEY HERBST, No. 35 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

Denny Hamlin talked about what his expectations were for you this year. Can you talk about the conversations you’ve had with the team?

“There’s no shying away from it, we want the results to be better on the 35 car. We had good enough racecars, we have good enough team members and I’m a good enough driver to have better results this year. It’s as simple as that. I think we are all on the same page with what we expect and what we want, and that’s to be better this year than last year.”

You’ve been competitive in the O’Reilly Series in the past, does that give you confidence heading into your second year in the Cup Series that you can keep improving?

“The narrative was really similar in my first year in the Xfinity Series and even into the second and third year. I’ve worked as hard as I can and surrounded myself with really good people and try to improve every day.”

What kind of conversations have you had with your team about running at a high level?

“Everyone at 23XI and Airspeed work a little bit different than most fundamental race shops. All three of us are pretty cohesive and work hand to hand together. There wasn’t much separation last year, nor will there be this year. We are all trying to run better on all three accounts. You can ask Tyler (Reddick) and Bubba (Wallace), that wasn’t the year they wanted last year either. I think all three of us and four this weekend want to succeed for Denny (Hamlin) and MJ (Michael Jordan) and everyone at Airspeed and how hard they work.”

From the outside looking in, what does everyone not see about team building with a race team?

“It’s always going to be difficult to make the jump from the O’Reilly Series to the Cup Series. And starting a new team, hiring people, and understanding the way 23XI and Airspeed handle things. Get everything right, get the fundamentals right. That’s just going to show and pay dividends this year as well. On top of that, I think I’m a way more experienced driver. I’ve grown mentally and physically in my racecraft so I’m excited for this year. I think everyone on the 35 has grown. More than anything we are all in it together, all of our teams, we work together cohesively me, Tyler, and Bubba each week. We study together and we review our races together and we want for each other to finish 1-2-3 each week. That hasn’t happened yet, but I think this weekend is a really good shot for that.”

What are your expectations for the season ahead?

“Specifically, I worked really hard this offseason. We’re way stronger mentally and physically. We’ve got some new faces to Airspeed to help the 35 team this year. Looking forward to it, that first year in the Cup Series is always rough. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t make big improvements this year and succeed pretty well.”

Have you been able to talk with Michael Jordan this offseason and what has been the message?

“The contact is always been consistent with ownership, Denny (Hamlin) and Michael (Jordan) are always at Airspeed encouraging us and giving us the tools we need to succeed at the highest level. Hopefully we can succeed, and that’s what all three of us want to do during the year and the fourth racing with us this weekend as well. Just give Denny and MJ a real big trophy and a lot of money to go along with it.”

What is the best part of Daytona 500 week?

“I love it. I’ve been telling everybody, this is one of my favorite weeks of the year. The anticipation, the excitement, the weather, Daytona is a really fun racetrack. The history that the 500 presents all of us and the challenges we will face for 500 miles on Sunday is really cool and I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great year for us on the 35 and the 45 and 23, all of us together. We are ready to go.”

What’s the coolest activation you’ve been able to do with Monster Energy?

“I’ve been with them for so long, they’ve been great partners. But the coolest on is the commercial we filmed at the end of the year last year called Dust of Smoke on YouTube. It’s a really video. We got to rent out right down the strip and drive the Cup car down the strip in Vegas and take the car down through the Valley of Fire, that was really fun. We had Vaughn (Gitten Jr.) join us for some drifting too. Monster Energy is top notch in everything they do and the activation to grow their brand and action sports is second to none.”

You seemed to hit your stride a few years into your O’Reilly Series career. Is that something you can take over here to the Cup Series?

“The belief in myself has never wavered. I’m confident in my ability, I’m confident in every single man and woman at Airspeed to provide us with really fast racecars. To answer your question, I knew it was going to be very difficult last year. People didn’t think so I guess, I don’t know. Yes, it’s difficult, it’s hard. These are the best stockcar drivers in the world and if it was easy, it would not be correct. I’m looking forward to this year. The gains we showed at a few tracks last year hopefully we can magnify it to every single track this year. The confidence is sky high, everyone over at Airspeed with all three cars to try and get more trophies, so that’s what we are looking to do.”

Do you think Daytona is one of your better tracks?

“I think I have a really good spotter and a good racecar, I’ve been fortunate to sit in really good racecars and that produces really good speed. You only need a couple of ingredients here at Daytona to have success and having great racecars is one of them. Hopefully we can have another solid run this year and we won’t be sliding through the grass.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 48,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 35 million cars and trucks at our 11 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

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