INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, July 19, 2024) – Tyler Reddick led practice Friday for the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG, as the NASCAR Cup Series is back on the fabled oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time since 2020.

Reddick paced the 50-minute session with a top lap of 182.582 mph in the No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota fielded by 23XI Racing, co-owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR Cup Series star Denny Hamlin. Reddick won the Cup Series race on the IMS road course in 2022 and could become the first driver to win Cup Series events on the 2.5-mile oval and 2.439-mile road course at the Racing Capital of the World.

The NASCAR Cup Series raced on the IMS oval from 1994-2020 in the Brickyard 400 before three consecutive years on the 14-turn road course.

“I didn’t know what the sensation of speed was going to feel like (on the oval), but it just feels like the center corner speeds we carry in this car, you feel tense in the car,” Reddick said. “There’s such a fine line to hit here. A foot up or down could be the difference between a really good lap or having to check up and not hit the fence.

“The room for error here is very, very fine, even in a stock car.”

This is the first time the Next Gen car is competing on the IMS oval, as the new car was introduced to the Cup Series in 2022.

“It’s interesting how the draft works,” Reddick said. “There is some sort of tow out that you get out there, but also the dirty air that comes with it is a challenge. It was just a big learning session, I guess.”

Reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney was second at 181.928 in the No. 12 Menards/Atlas Ford fielded by Team Penske. Hamlin was third at 181.561 in the No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota of 23XI Racing.

Christopher Bell ended up fourth at 181.371 in the No. 20 Rheem Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing. Alex Bowman rounded out the top five at 180.930 in the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet fielded by Hendrick Motorsports, which has won a record 10 Brickyard 400s.

2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson was sixth at 180.774 in the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet. This is Larson’s second time competing this year on the IMS oval, as he also was named Rookie of the Year in the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in May after qualifying fifth and finishing 18th in a Hendrick Motorsports-Arrow McLaren entry.

Cup Series drivers will qualify at 1:05 p.m. ET Saturday, followed by the 160-lap Brickyard 400 presented by PPG at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday.

In NASCAR Xfinity Series action earlier in the sunny afternoon, Chandler Smith led the sole practice for the Pennzoil 250 presented by Advance Auto Parts race. Smith drove the No. 81 QuickTie Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing to a top lap of 166.756.

“It’s incredible,” Smith said. “This is where it all started for me, as far as where the interest came about. I’m from Georgia, so the first time I saw the (IMS) racetrack was when I was quarter-midget racing. They set up a little quarter-midget track in the infield. I always dreamed of racing here on the oval in a competitive car in one of the top three series in NASCAR, and here we are.”

Parker Kligerman was second at 166.571 in the No. 48 Spiked Lite Tropical Coolers Chevrolet fielded by Big Machine Racing, followed by Indianapolis 500 veteran and Indianapolis native Conor Daly at 164.995 in the No. 26 Polkadot Toyota of Sam Hunt Racing.

Brandon Jones was fourth at 164.781 in the No. 9 Menards/Pennington Chevrolet of JR Motorsports, with Riley Herbst rounding out the top five in the 38-car field at 164.736 in the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing.

Up next for the Xfinity Series is qualifying at 12:05 p.m. ET Saturday, followed by the 100-lap Pennzoil 250 presented by Advance Auto Parts race at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Visit IMS.com to buy tickets or for more information on Brickyard Weekend.

Toyota Racing – Indianapolis Post-Practice Quotes

NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

INDIANAPOLIS (July 19, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, along with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, were made available to the media on Friday after practice for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Was there dirty air out there today?

“Very dirty, very dingy. Very dirty, very air. It’ll be extremely difficult to pass (on Sunday).”

Where would a Brickyard 400 win rank on your accolades?

“I mean, I think probably, next to the Southern 500s, I would say. Obviously, it doesn’t have the prestige of the (Daytona) 500s, but I would say, the Southern 500 and the Brickyard 400 to me is kind of equal in its prestige. So, you know, we’ve got three of those Southern 500s, so it put its right there with that Coke 600 and Southern 500s.”

How frustrating was it to not have a chance to come back and win here after that incident in 2020?

“You know, I always thought we were going to come back here (oval) one day. Just never resigned to the fact that the road course here was going to be a permanent thing. But, I just didn’t know how long my career would go at that point, right? I was 40 (years-old) and so, I mean, I don’t have that many chances left. It’s less than what’s on my hand, I think. So, you just have to take advantage of every opportunity. Twenty-twenty was an enormous opportunity. Twenty-eighteen was a very underrated opportunity. Brad (Keselowski) caught a big yellow that was just untimely for us. Overall, I feel like I’ve always been in contention here, just never gotten it done.”

How much emphasis has your team put on to win this race?

“A lot. Certainly, from my standpoint, you know there’s only so many more opportunities I’ll have here at the oval. So, it’s a big emphasis because it’s a gaping hole on the résumé and would complete all the majors. But Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) wants it pretty bad, too. He’s a little hurt over 2020 and how that ended. I think, without a doubt, going into this weekend, he had spent a little extra time on this car making sure all the details were looked after and he brought me the fastest car he could.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Impressions from practice today?

“Yeah, it was interesting. Feel like the track is the same as it’s always been. Just trying to figure out how to get the Next Gen car around for the first time. Yeah, it was an interesting practice. We didn’t really have what we hoped for, but got a good direction for tomorrow and hopefully, we can make the changes we need and get going better.”

What’s your outlook on the racing for Sunday?

“I don’t know. This car’s not generally been good when there’s one preferred groove and that’s what we have here. Guess we’ll wait and see, see how the restarts will go and things. But it’s going to be huge challenge making passes. You’re going to have to be significantly faster than the guy in front of you to do that. So, yeah, we’ll see.”

What does it mean to have another opportunity at winning on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval?

“Yeah, it’s huge. The history here and what this track means for motorsports in general across the world. It’s very cool to get to come here. I wish we were a little bit faster today as qualifying and track position is going to be everything, so tomorrow is very, very important. But having a chance to win here is huge and special. Someone’s going to have a big day on Sunday.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

You’re nearing 600 laps led on the season. Do milestones like that mean something to you?

“Yeah, it is, and it’s definitely something that we’ve been focusing on this year. Being in position to lead laps. Hopefully we can keep building that number.”

How does it feel to be back on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval?

“Very refreshing. No matter how it turns out, I think it’s very important that we race on the oval.”

Why do you think that?

“It’s Indianapolis. You don’t (pause), whenever you think of Indianapolis, you don’t think of a road course. So, it’s the Brickyard 400 and it’s a marquee event and no matter how the race turns out, it’s the right thing.”

How was your car out there today?

“I was happy with it. It’s going to be hard to pass. The race is probably going to look similar to all the races we’ve had here in the past. But yeah, it’s you know what you’re going to get whenever you come here and it hasn’t changed.”

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

You seem to have a really fast car this weekend.

“That’s good! I mean, it seemed pretty solid. When
you come to a place like this, that’s always something you hope for. I’ve been fortunate, we’ve run the road course here, and we’ve been really, really strong. Obviously, it seemed like Denny (Hamlin) had a really good test and we were able to get some good data from him. Yeah, tracks like this, it’s always a question mark to some degree, you know? How close is your sim preparation going to be? But it seemed like everyone did a pretty good job. Yeah, pretty happy with how the car drives. Certainly, it’s interesting how the draft works. I do feel like there is some sort of tow you can get out there, but also, the dirty air that comes with it is a challenge. So, it was just a big learning session.”

So, there will be tow and dirty air out there?

“What it seemed like. I mean, if, you know, the car you’re running behind would miss the bottom a little, it was somewhat manageable from like 15 (car lengths) back. You can get a tow down the straightaway it seemed like. But yeah, if they hit the bottom, it was tough to manage. I don’t how that’s going to work as we were all pretty spread out. You know, we can all run some sort of a good pace. I think, I would expect a lot of mistakes in the race on Sunday once we’re all packed up on restarts.”

Was there any tire fall off you could tell from the session?

“It was really hard to figure that part out. A lot of times, you kind of get running a pace, you get a feel for the car. Someone would pull onto the track in front of you and you’d run down the car in front of you and just what dirty air is like in these cars at these fast tracks. It’s kind of hard to tell what’s dirty air. Did you just get your stuff hot running behind somebody? And what’s natural tire fall off.”

About Toyota

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Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million
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For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Brickyard 400 Media Availability | Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Friday, July 19, 2024

Brad Keselowski, dvier of the No. 6 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, met with media members at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of the first Cup Series practice session on the track Friday afternoon.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

YOU’RE ONE OF TWO GUYS RACING SUNDAY WHO REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO WIN HERE ON THE OVAL. SO MAYBE THE BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT IT MEANS FOR NASCAR TO BE BACK ON THE OVAL WITH THE CUP SERIES, AND THEN FOR YOU, WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? WHAT’S IT LIKE TO WIN AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ON THE OVAL?

“It’s a return of a crown jewel race, which is great. I don’t think anyone really considered the road course a crown jewel race, so it kind of returns back to that status. I think that’s huge for our sport and it means a lot to me as a driver and I’m assuming it does for the other drivers as well. So, a welcome return. It’s not going to be an easy race. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of drama on pit road and with respect to how the cars will draft and how they’ll run nose to tail around the track and all those pieces, and we’re still going to go back to some of those headaches, but I think we kind of learned that that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s part of what made Indy, Indy, right? And so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out with tires and all those things along the line, but I think it’s very meaningful to me to see it back on the, I guess you call this oval a quad-oval — is it a quad-oval? I don’t know what it’s called. Rectangle? Rectangle. So it’s good to see it back. For me, winning this race and having your name on that crown jewel list, it’s a really special feeling. It’s kind of a dream come true. It really sank in the best, I think, two years ago when we took the picture with all the drivers that have won here and you just think about how there’s no slouches on that list, right? It’s a lot of champions and the track just has a history for that of the people that win here with very few exceptions are our champions and it feels good to be on that list.”

THIS IS THE 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST ELIMINATION ROUNDS PLAYOFFS FOR NASCAR N 2014. YOU WERE A HUGE PART, EVEN THOUGH YOU DIDN’T MAKE THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND, YOU WERE A HUGE PART OF THE STORYLINES THROUGHOUT THOSE PLAYOFFS. LOOKING BACK ON THAT, WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER NOW ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO GO THROUGH 2014 PLAYOFFS AND WHAT HAS IT MEANT FOR NASCAR?

“I think the playoffs were an interesting change to our sport. There are people that like them and there are people that don’t like them. There’s parts I like personally and parts I don’t like personally and the first year was really kind of that 2014 season was everybody kind of getting to understand the system in real time. You read about it and you read the rules and all that, but you didn’t really fully understand how it would change the behaviors until you actually saw it. I think there were definitely some behavioral changes in the garage and in the sport that are due to the playoffs. We all needed a rep through it to see what that would be. It changed our sport. There’s no way of saying it didn’t. But the real effect of the playoffs to me was the next two or three seasons when people started to get comfortable with it. And then you started to see the playoffs actually have an effect on the rest of the season that wasn’t the playoffs, right? Because people had a better understanding for what that meant. So it’s definitely been a change for our sport.”

WITH THE TWO-WEEK BREAK COMING UP HERE, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MANAGE THAT AT RFK? DO YOU STILL HAVE PEOPLE COMING IN THE SHOP OR ARE YOU GOING TO SEND EVERYBODY HOME?

“Our strategy so far, has been to tell people, please go home, please take a vacation, but not force it. We kind of learned the hard way that forcing people to take vacations is sometimes not always good for them. Sometimes they get more mad at you than if you just told them we have to work. So everybody will kind of figure out their own thing with kind of a heavy nod of, please go take some time off and come back well rested. We’re very fortunate at RFK that this time we have both cars in the playoffs, one locked in and one not locked in but in the playoffs. We need to make the best run we can make through that stretch. It’s very much a people sport and we need those people to be energized and focused when that time comes and this is their best chance to catch their breath.”

WHO’S GOING TO RULE ON SUNDAY, A CREW CHIEF OR THE DRIVER ABOUT CHANGES BECAUSE YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE MAKING A LOT OF CHANGES IN THE RACE.

“With the NextGen car, I think first time for us on the track with it here, 50 minutes is not a lot. It’s interesting, you know, my time in the sport, it used to be if we changed a tire or if we changed a wicker, we had an extra four hours of practice and a test day or whatever it might be. Now it’s like, well, let’s just change the whole car and, yeah, we’ll give you 50 minutes.So it’s interesting how that’s changed over the years, the mentality has changed. Now it’s more about the engineers than it is about me. They’ll run all the simulations and they’ll come up with one little doodad that they’ll change by a couple thousandths of an inch and it will make all the difference in the world and I’ll just shake my head like I understand what they mean. That’s kind of what it is. You have to trust those guys at this level because what they have access to is far superior than what I have access to. It used to be I had access to the track time. That was my access. But they have access because we don’t have track time. They have access to really powerful simulation and digital tools as a whole that at some point you just kind of have to nod to as a driver and say, I’m not worthy, and let them kind of have their moment.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT, AFTER MISSING THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR, BEING BACK IN?

“Well, you know, 2022 was not a lot of fun. 2023 we absolutely made the most of it. Being back in 24, it just kind of feels like a redemption ride to be a part of turning around the organization and to some degree my own career. When I did the deal at RFK, you hated to resign to losing a year or two of your career, but the reality is that you knew that was what it was going to be. Now we’re in the third season. We’re having a slightly better year than we had last year in 2023 with having a win, where last year we didn’t have a win. I feel like we’re more competitive in some ways. More importantly, I feel like we’re a lot more prepared for the playoffs than we were last year. And I think we’ll have a better playoff run than we did last year. I can’t remember, we finished seventh and eighth in the points with our two cars last year. I think we realistically have a shot at getting both cars in that round of eight and one of the cars in the championship round. And from there, who knows what’s going to happen? So I’m excited about that progress. And I’m just eager to see it through.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS TO YOUR SUCCESS IN THE PLAYOFFS TO HAVE BOTH CARS IN THE FINAL TEN RACES?

“Well it certainly helps. Having both cars in the playoffs is a really big deal for us on a number of levels. Whether it’s the partnership side and being able to keep that side going, which is obviously really important for us to be able to pay the bills. The recruiting side, you know, we’re always, it’s always going to be turnover in our sport. We don’t, we don’t like it, but it’s a reality. People come and they go and, you know, you want to, anytime somebody leaves, you want to be able to replace them with someone that’s, you know, of equal or greater talent. And when you’re a car that’s got a pedigree of playoffs, whether it be consecutive playoff runs or just even success in the playoffs, that’s so huge for us with recruiting talent. I look at it probably even more impactful for us is at the OEM level. At the OEM level, generally, the next season’s testing schedule is based off of your performance in the season prior. And the more success you have, the higher impact, higher quality kind of test you get. So it can really kind of parlay to that degree. I think understanding that and maximizing that is really important to us.”

WHEN YOU SEE WHAT KYLE BUSCH IS GOING THROUGH AND WHAT YOU’VE EXPERIENCED IN YOUR CAREER, WHAT DO YOU SEE AND CAN YOU RELATE IN ANY WAY AND WHAT IS IT LIKE TO GO THROUGH SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHERE A LOT OF IT IS PROBABLY OUT OF YOUR CONTROL?

“Yeah it’s obviously not a fun thing to experience yourself, so you do look out and recognize that it’s probably not a lot of fun for him, too. The series and sports in general are always full of ebbs and flows. For the most part of his career, Kyle has done a fantastic job, at least in the Cup series, of avoiding those down years. The law of averages eventually hits you to some degree and he’s going through that now. I was actually surprised last year with how well they ran. I thought their year last year would look more like this year and their year last year would be like this year. It would be this year where they won multiple races. So I don’t know, I don’t have my finger on the pulse of what’s going on with his team or with that organization, but I know that’s not a fun experience. It’s a true test of character of how you come through that.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Brickyard 400 Media Availability | Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Friday, July 19, 2024

Chase Briscoe, the Indiana native and driver of the No. 14 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, spoke with media members Friday afternoon ahead of on-track action at his iconic hometown track.

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT IT IS LIKE RACING HERE FOR YOU, BEING AN INDIANA NATIVE?

“I am excited to be back home again in Indiana. It’s been nice every year to be able to come up here a couple days early and spend time with my grandparents, family and friends that I don’t get to see a whole lot, so it’s been a fun week, Excited to be back on the oval. Every racecar driver dreams of getting to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when you grow up in Indiana, it’s just that much more special. I’ve always said I don’t care what we’re racing on, I just want to race at IMS, whether it’s the road course or the oval, the dirt track over there in the parking lot. But I would be lying if I said there wasn’t more significance in history and just meaning running the oval. So yeah, truthfully, when I came into the Cup Series, we were already running on the road course and I didn’t know if I would ever get a chance to run a Brickyard 400. So to be able to do that this year is something that’s really, really special. It means a lot to me. To be able to do it even in the 14 car and driving for my hero Tony. At least getting to do that one time with the team shut down, this means a lot. So, excited to experience my first Brickyard 400 and a race that I came to a lot as a kid and obviously watched when I wasn’t here. So yeah, special weekend for sure.”

HOW DIFFERENT DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT MIGHT BE CELEBRATING A WIN HERE AT THE OVAL? KNOWING YOU WERE REALLY CLOSE TO WINNING THE ROAD COURSE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.

“For me, just getting to race here was special no matter what the configuration was. Even when I won here in 2020, it was on the road course and to me, I still kissed the same bricks, I still climbed the same fence. I was still inside Indianapolis Motor Speedway and I was a winner here. But I mean, it certainly means a little bit more, when it’s on the oval. When you think about the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the history is on the oval. It’s not on the road course, but still winning here in general is very, very special. So for me, if I was able to win on the oval, it would mean a little bit more, but it’s going to mean more than any other racetrack I could win at, regardless. That’s something that’s been a tough pill to swallow. When I won here, it was during COVID. I got to do all those things, but I was by myself. I mean my family was literally 10 minutes down the road at my cousin’s house watching the race, celebrating as a family there, and they weren’t here to celebrate that. So I just want to win at Indianapolis with my friends and with my family all here, and if I could do it on the oval, especially at the Brickyard 400, which to me is a hundred percent a crown jewel, would be pretty special.”

YOU’VE NEVER RACED HERE ON THE OVAL, EVEN XFINITY, RIGHT?

“I raced here twice. 2018 and 19.”

YOU’RE ONE OF 10 CUP FULL-TIMERS, WHO HAVE NEVER RACED THE OVAL IN CUP. SO YOU’VE GOT SOME EXPERIENCE AND KNOW THE REFERENCE POINTS FROM THOSE RACES IN XFINITY, BUT HOW MUCH OF A DISADVANTAGE IS THAT TO THE VETERANS AND HOW MUCH IS MAYBE THOUGH THE NEXTGEN A LITTLE BIT OF AN EQUALIZER BECAUSE NOBODY’S RACED THAT ON THE OVAL HERE?

“I think just having laps on the oval is critical for sure from an experience standpoint, just little things here that kind of stand out. I do think there’s some merit to having laps here just with how unique it is and things like that But I do think that it is going to be a pretty big equalizer just for the NextGen car. It’s going to drive very different I would imagine. I never drove the old cup car here but the NextGen car just everywhere we go drives totally different than anything else we normally would do in old cars. So I do think that it is going to be a pretty equal playing field, but there’s still something to be said about having a lot of laps here. You think of guys like Denny and Truex and those guys that have a ton of experience in the Cup Series, they have a lot of laps here. Fortunately for me, I was able to come here a year ago and do the Goodyear test, so that was nice, just to be able to kind of have a full day just to run laps at IMS on the oval and find little things on the racetrack. I definitely think it’s an equalizer with the NextGen car, but there’s still something to having a lot of laps here for sure.”

WHERE WOULD YOU TYPICALLY SIT WHEN YOU CAME AS A FAN FOR A BRICKYARD 400? AND WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR STANDOUT MEMORIES WHEN YOU WERE WATCHING THE RACE?

“We had a sponsor actually in the sprint car. My dad was a crew chief for Damien Gardner in the USAC Sprint Car Series, and their sponsor was Pace Lighting. The guy’s name was Pat Kehoe, and he had a suite in Turn 2. So I remember we would always get to go over there, and it was just a wild experience between Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 going over there and being that close to the racetrack there in Turn 2. But then I remember sitting up here on top one time. I used to sneak into the garage area and I remember walking on pit road. I definitely wasn’t supposed to be out there. I didn’t have a hot pass or anything but I somehow snuck my way out there and was shaking hands with people trying to get just an opportunity down here. So a lot of memories of this place and even my first ever race uniform. I literally got it the brick building when you drive out of Turn 1 and 2, there’s a brick building straight across. That’s where I got my first ever race uniform. So this place has just a lot of meaning to, to obviously me, just how close it is to home. I definitely have a lot of memories. I remember watching Tony win his, his two Brickyards here. I wasn’t here for those. I was watching on TV, but just remember vividly watching those races and just how much it meant to Tony.”

THE BRISTOL TEST, DID THE TIRES REACT THE SAME AS THEY DID IN THE SPRING, OR WAS THERE ANY CHANGE?

“Yeah, it was weird. Like, the first race there, everybody said it was the temperature. And when we tested the other day, it was 90 degrees, and we still corded tires after 40 laps. But at the same time, there’s only six cars there so it never really put any rubber down truthfully, which was kind of weird. That’s the one thing I can’t quite understand I guess is just how we’d raced three or four, I guess two other races with the NextGen car and we never had that problem of putting rubber down or anything and now we just can’t seem to do it. I don’t know, we definitely had tire wear but I think if we had 40-something cars out there it would have been a little bit different too, but definitely was kind of the same characteristics that we had at the race.”

CAN YOU GIVE ME A SENSE OF WHAT YOU THINK RESTARTS WILL BE LIKE AND ALSO THE CHALLENGE SINCE IT’S BEEN FOUR YEARS SINCE YOU GUYS HAVE BARRELED INTO TURN ONE AND THE CHALLENGE ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK TRYING TO FIND YOUR SPOTS, THE SIGHT LINES AND EVERYTHING ELSE, BECAUSE YOU’VE GOT SO MUCH TRAFFIC AROUND YOU IN SUCH A TIGHT SPACE. WHAT IS THAT GOING TO BE LIKE AND HOW CHALLENGING IS IT THE DEEPER IN THE FIELD BECAUSE OF THE LOSS OF SIGHT LINES?

“Yeah, this car is going to be totally different than anything any of us have experienced here from that standpoint. The old car, if you were on the inside, you’d be really loose with guys right on your door and it was just hard to run side by side anywhere, so we struggled to run side by side in the corner where when you come to a racetrack like this, it was extremely hard, just on a restart, you’d have to get single file as soon as you can. With the Next Gen car, that’s the one thing it does really well. We can run side by side for five, six laps sometimes, literally door to door with each other and the car side drafts so extremely and I definitely think that restarts are going to be unlike anything we’ve experienced at IMS, especially in the Cup era. Even just the racing here I think is going to be totally different because of that. We can run side by side now, the runs that we’re going to get down the straightaway and even just how this car reacts side by side. You know that the outside guy is going to be able to pull ahead but then as soon as you get on the guy’s left rear it makes him super tight and it’s just going to be back and forth, back and forth. We’ve seen that at other racetracks where we just can’t break away from each other and I do think it’s going to be like that here to a certain extent. Being deep in the pack is obviously going to be hard, just not having experience of where those lift points are those first couple times. And visibility is definitely a struggle. But we don’t have that huge tall spoiler on or something like that, so it’ll be a little bit easier to see, but that dirty air in the middle of the pack is definitely going to be a struggle for sure.”

IS THERE ANYTHING IN PRACTICE THAT YOU’RE GOING TO WANT TO DO BESIDES JUST TRY TO GET A FAST LAP IN TERMS OF TRYING TO SEE HOW YOU RACE AROUND CARS, OR IS THAT THE SIDE-BY-SIDE AND WHAT YOU CAN DO THERE JUST GOING TO BE BASED OFF OF HISTORY AND WHAT YOU LEARN ONCE YOU GET INTO THE RACE?

“I think everybody’s different. For me I definitely want to get my car driving good and have as much speed in it as we can because this is a place where you just have to have that raw speed. I want to try in this hour practice or whatever it is, to get behind other cars because we’re not gonna really be in 100% clean air at any point in race unless you’re the leader So you need to figure out what your car is gonna do in traffic thinat transition and that’ll be something I think you’re seeing honestly a large majority of the field do just because if your car will drive good you know behind somebody it’s probably gonna drive pretty good by itself so you’re definitely gonna put yourself in in different spots and just trying to figure out what you have to do to set yourself up to pass people, how you build a run, how you do things like that. I definitely think that you’ll see a lot of guys putting themselves in traffic today.”

TO BE ABLE TO DRIVE THE 14 AROUND HERE WITH TONY BEING YOUR HERO, COME SUNDAY IS IT GOING TO REALLY START TO SET IN THAT THIS IS THE END OF THE RIDE FOR YOU AT STEWART-HAAS RACING

“It’s gonna be emotional for me. Full transparency, I cry every year just on the ride around deal. With it being on the oval and doing it in the 14, all that, it’s going to be definitely probably be emotional for me. It’s something that I honestly hadn’t even thought about until a couple weeks ago. We were actually doing an interview with IMS for the program. He had asked me, what do you think about this being your only time getting around the 14 at the Brickyard? I didn’t even think about it until that point. It’s definitely gonna be emotional, but for seven or ten year old Chase, if you would have told him that he was gonna get around one Brickyard 400 in the 14 car for Tony Stewart, I don’t think I would ever believe you. I’m glad you know how it all played out with SHR closing down this year. It would have been a bummer if we would ran the road course this year and then next year would have moved to oval and I would have never got that opportunity. The only thing that would make this weekend cooler is if Tony was allowed to be here. It’s obviously an NHRA weekend so he won’t be able to be here but we’ll for sure try to get the 14 back in victory lane like it’s been here. Well, I guess the 14 with Tony hasn’t been in victory lane before but it would be pretty cool to get Stewart-Haas back in victory lane here for sure.”

WITH FIVE RACES TO GO, YOU’RE KIND OF FLOATING IN BUBBLE LAND. WHAT ARE YOU AND THE 14 TEAM LOOKING AT TO TRY TO GET THAT WIN WITH, YOU KNOW, FOUR SPOTS LEFT IN THE PLAYOFFS?

“We’ve got to be better, right? We’ve had a couple opportunities at New Hampshire and Nashville to win and came up a little bit short. We’re in that weird spot where we could maybe potentially point our way in, but realistically, we probably have to win, which, at a place like this I think is nice to know that you’re in that must-win situation because you can just get super aggressive with strategy where if we were 20 points out of the cut line or something we would probably have to play it a little more conservative. Where we’re at right now, we can be really aggressive with strategy. That’s what Boswell and all the guys will try to do. We definitely feel like we’re in a must-win territory with how we kind of ran and the stage points and things like that. It’s probably going to be hard to point our way in.”

HOW MANY FRIENDS AND FAMILY DID YOU HAVE TO GET TICKETS FOR TO BE HERE THIS WEEKEND?

“Quite a bit. Saturday, tomorrow, we got 500 tickets. Back in December, with the Gene Haas Foundation, actually, we donated a bike for every kid from my hometown, from kindergarten to fifth grade. A lot of the high schoolers at my school helped build those bikes. So every kid that helped build the bikes got two tickets to come to tomorrow’s race. So we’re gonna have 500 tickets that we pass out for tomorrow, just for the whole town of Mitchell. They have a spot over in the corner, so I’m gonna try to sneak over there and surprise them after qualifying. Then for the race, there’s a lot. I think I sent in like 40-something pit passes. So I’m pretty much out for the entire season now. I’ve got a ton of people coming. Every time we come here, I have a ton of people just from Lawrence County even that come that never go to another race the rest of the year. They’re not even necessarily NASCAR fans, but they come up here to support me. So it’s always just a really special weekend. Being a Hoosier driver at IMS, it’s always special. Just the whole place kind of rallies around you. So I feel like every time I come here, I can find this other gear, just because I know how many people are here watching me. And hopefully it’ll be the same this weekend.”

YOUR TEAMMATE JOSH BERRY HAS CAITLIN CLARK ON HIS CAR. HOW COOL IS THAT TO SEE SUCH AN ICONIC FIGURE FOR ALL OF SPORTS, BUT ALSO FOR RIGHT HERE IN INDIANA, BE REPRESENTED AND ON A NASCAR CAR THIS WEEKEND?

“Yeah, it’s cool. Caitlin obviously has done a ton for the sport of basketball, right? But then especially, you know, Indiana Fever games are sold out every single night now. So yeah, I’m jealous. I don’t think she’s coming. I was trying to make sure that I could meet her. I think a couple of the Colts guys are coming, which is going to be really cool. I’m obviously a big Colts fan, so I think a couple of them I’ll get to meet and hang out with. It’s a cool weekend to have some type of Indiana sports in the race, and having Caitlin on the hood of that car is really cool. So hopefully they can give her a good run. Hopefully, he runs second and I win and it’s a good weekend.”

CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THIS YEAR WITH THE CHANGES THERE AT STEWART-HAAS RACING. THE APPREHENSION THAT KIND OF WAS GOING ON, AND THEN THE FACT THAT YOU DID FIND A RIDE FOR 2025, AND HOW BIG A RELIEF THAT IS.

“It’s definitely been a tough year. Truthfully, as crazy as it sounds, I really thought I would retire in the 14 car. I thought that was just gonna be something that I was gonna be in for my entire career. We knew that there were rumors going around about the team potentially shutting down or changing what it looked like. I think we all knew that there was gonna be a change. We just weren’t sure what it was. I didn’t know if the 14 was gonna stay and maybe one of the other cars and I would still have a place at SHR or what it was gonna look like. Then when Tony came and told us that all four of them are going away, it was a little bit of a surprise. I think we all knew that there was going to be change, we just didn’t think it was going to be all four. So then everything started changing in my world really, really quickly. I literally found out on Tuesday that I wasn’t going to have a ride the following year. Then literally a week later being signed with Joe Gibbs was definitely a crazy whirlwind. It’s kind of ironic going like the reverse Tony Stewart path, going from JGR to SHR instead I went from SHR to JGR. So yeah, it’s definitely been a crazy season in my life even. Not even on the racetrack, but off the racetrack, having twins coming in October and having a 2-and-a-half-year-old at home already. Then finding out you’re not going to have a job, you’re going to have three kids soon. It’s been a lot going on in my life. I’m glad that it all obviously worked out and I’m having an incredible opportunity next year. But right now the main focus is obviously trying to get the 14 car back in victory lane and going out on top like it deserves.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA AVAILABILITY QUOTES
JULY 19, 2024

 Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Media Availability Quotes:

How do you see the regular season title playing out with four drivers still in the hunt?

“Yeah, I mean obviously it’s really tight between Kyle (Larson) and I, and Denny (Hamlin) and Tyler (Reddick). And William (Byron) isn’t really far out either. There’s still a lot of racing left, is kind of how I look at it. A lot can happen in that period of time. It’s going to force all of us to be really good. You’re going to have to be really solid. You’re probably going to have to win a race or two between now and the end of it to have a legitimate chance without other guys having problems, which I don’t really see four or five guys having a ton of issues between now and then.. not all of them at least.”

Have you and Alan (Gustafson) discussed a strategy? There are 15 bonus points on the line.

“Oh yeah, we’re trying to win it. We’re trying to run as good as we can to accumulate as many points as possible to win the 15 points. I mean, that’s all that matters. The regular season championship is really meaningless.. it’s just the points. They could really just call it ’15 points’ and it would be the exact same as what it is now.”

You mentioned a couple of years ago, when you did win the regular season championship, it did carry you through a couple of the rounds. So how important is it to win it and get those points?

“Yeah, I mean it carried us the whole way, honestly. There was no shot we were ever making the final four without the amount of points that we accumulated. We fortunately had a really good first-half of the year. That was the same year, right? In 2022?

Yeah, we just had a really good first-half of the year. And then we ran really bad those last eight-and-a-half weeks. Without those points, we would have been long out of it, in my view. Mathematically, I’m not exactly sure where we would have been, obviously. Judging off the way we ran, we needed to be a lot better and that certainly helped to have some points to lean on because it would have been really, really tough without that. So they can mean a lot. You hope that you’re running good enough that you don’t need them, is the goal that everyone has. But you know, to have eight-straight weeks that nothing goes wrong, is probably not realistic.”

Knowing that this track has so much history with your family and your dad having won here. What’s it like to have NASCAR back on the oval and for you to have this second chance to maybe win it?

“Yeah, for sure. When we left the oval, I didn’t really think a ton of it. But I do feel like coming back, it does mean more being on the oval, for me personally. This race has always been important because it was one of the few races that I was old enough to be around that dad had one, so I think because of that, it’s always been just a little more special than the rest. And certainly, one of the few wins that I was around for. But more than that, one of the few – it was the only marquee, major if you will, win that I was around for. So it’s always been really special. I always knew how much that race meant to him. And you know because of that, I’ve always had a lot of admiration for the event. It’s always been something in my mind that I would love to match and be able to share that moment with the shoe on the other foot. I feel like that would be really, really cool. Personally, that’s been a goal of mine ever since I started racing in the NASCAR deal. When we left, I didn’t really think as much about it. But certainly coming back, I’m like, yeah – if I were to ever win this race, this is definitely how I’d want to do it, if I had a choice, for sure. Being here was great regardless, whether we raced on the road course or the oval. But I’m excited that we’re back on the oval. The race probably isn’t going to be great, from a passing standpoint. But that’s OK.. I don’t know that it ever has been super stellar in the past 10 years or so. But I think being here is a big deal. It just puts a challenge into a different bucket. You’re going to have to be really on top of things from the beginning of the weekend; have a good qualifying effort and a really good strategy. Find ways to get out front and try to control the event.”

Your dad’s 2002 victory, you didn’t kiss the bricks that day? What was the reason for not kissing the bricks?

“I don’t know.. I was six (years old). (Laughs) You tell me.. I have no idea why I was uninterested. But yeah, I was uninterested. I don’t really know why, I just didn’t want to do it. I don’t know if I thought it was weird or what, but I was anti-kissing the bricks that day. I just did not want to do it. If I could ask myself why six-year-old me didn’t want to do that, I’d ask and give you a better answer. I really don’t know, but I didn’t. I’d certainly be alright with it now, for sure. I’d be plenty OK with it today, so maybe we can make it happen.”

A very rare speeding penalty for you last week. I’m curious if you dissected it at all, especially with the questions of whether there were any mess up with the zone?

“I still don’t know, to be honest with you. I haven’t gotten a straight answer. You’re not going to get a straight answer from the NASCAR front, which is fine. But yeah, it was a bummer. I mean whether the zone was too short or the zone wasn’t short enough, we had made ‘X’ amount of pit stops throughout the day that I wasn’t speeding. And everybody else, aside from the handful of guys that got caught, didn’t speed either. So I just kind of chalk it up to mistake on my part, really at the end of the day. There’s nothing I can do about it, so what does it matter now, really? Just try not to make that mistake again. But it was certainly – from how we would typically set our pit road, that had us in a different box than what we would typically be each weekend. I just didn’t do a great job of keeping that in mind throughout the race, and ultimately it flashed red in the zone on their screen. I didn’t feel like I did anything different.. I’m not talking about my bubbles. I didn’t feel like I did anything different on my end than I had done all day. But just the timing of it and everything else, certainly sped in their book. They make the rules, right? So off we went.”

This two-week break coming up. Every season is always a grind. For your crew guys, people in the shop, how important is it for the industry to be able to get away at this point in the year?

“Yeah, I think it’s extremely important. You know, so often I think we forget about that and just how much of a grind it is for everybody. For you guys, this is a long time on the road. I’m sure everybody is looking forward to a couple weeks of not having to travel on Thursday or Friday, and getting home late Sunday night and being tired all day Monday. It can certainly wear on you. People have families. They have homes and things to tend to, and certainly I think we all recognize the responsibility when we sign up to come do this. I’m not disregarding that in any way, but I think for everybody to have a good mental and physical reset is certainly healthy. And I think it keeps people in a really good headspace when you come back. I think the happier that everybody is inside the garage, the healthier the sport is as a whole. So I think that ultimately, it’s a good. I also believe that less is more, from a scheduling perspective. I think the more that we spend time away from the race track, the hungrier our fans are to have us come back. I think you see that with football and some other sports that have a little bit longer break. When it comes back, you’re fired up for it more. So I think some of those things can be exemplified here a little better, but extremely important to have a break for everybody involved. Just kind of hit that reset button and get ready for the second-half.”

A lot of discussion about NASCAR adding an international race next year.. Mexico or Canada. What are your thoughts on that.. racing international?

“I’m totally good with it. I think it would be a lot of fun, just to do something a little different. I do think – going back to Jeff’s question about the schedule – when you start racing internationally, you’re going to have potential travel logistics that we wouldn’t typically have. So I think just keeping those things in mind.. like are we going to have another weekend backed right up to that, right? Are we going to have to get everybody’s passports to get across the border and then turn around and get ready to go somewhere else in five or six days? I think those types of things need to be thought through. But I’m all for it.. I have no issues doing anything like that. I think anytime you can tap into a new market, or a market that hasn’t seen a NASCAR race very much.. I’m not exactly sure where they’re talking about going, but I think it has potential to be good. And also, too, maybe it’ll open up some opportunities to go to places that NASCAR has never been, which I think would really be even better.”

About Chevrolet

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Brickyard 400 Media Availability | Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Friday, July 19, 2024

Team Penske drivers Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric met with media members at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of on-track activities Friday afternoon. Below is a sampling of driver quotes from their media scrum sessions.

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

QUESTION INAUDIBLE:

“I feel like they do a great job at finding things that need to get better. And, you know, even though we won last week, we’re not complacent about where we’re at. We’re always trying to be better. So, it doesn’t doesn’t worry me one bit. It just makes me feel even better about when the playoffs come in a couple months.”

DO YOU ALMOST HATE TAKING OFF THIS TWO WEEKS BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE SO STRONG RIGHT NOW.”

“No, I need a break. I’m excited for a break.”

EVEN WITH HOW STRONG YOU GUYS HAVE RUN OVER THE LAST MONTH OR SO, YOU GAINED 40-SOMETHING POINTS ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD. DO YOU THINK YOU CAN EXTEND THAT INTO THE 70S?

“I don’t know if we can get there. I feel like I’d like to have a couple races back like New Hampshire running second got dumped and run 25th. Gateway we had a good shot to run top three and finish like 29th. You look at it, there’s like 50 points right there, but 70 plus is kind of far. You never know what’s gonna happen, but all we can do is just try to keep inching in on it. Like I said, it’s nice to kind of gain some of those, but that’s hard to gain. Those guys in front of you are super competitive, really, really good. I just don’t see all of them having bad days consecutively, so we’ll just try to keep inching in. We’ve done a good job so far.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE TIRES FOR RICHMOND?

“I think it’s good they’ve tried something. They tried it at Wilkesboro. I don’t think we really got the full option tire experience at Wilkesboro, just because of the new pavement, but I think Richmond will be a little bit more. It has to be two sides of the scale. It has to be half a second faster like the option tire has to be half second faster for like 10 laps and then fall off a second after that. So it has to be two ways and hopefully Richmond helps that out. I’m happy they’re doing something. We’ve done everything else with the race car to try to help the short track stuff, almost everything. The tire is kind of the last piece that we can touch, so hopefully that helps it out a little bit.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THEM GO FURTHER?

“Yeah, you just kind of see where it’s at, you know, just see what that tire does, how much it wears. You never want to kind of jump the ship, you know, and go way too far going into a weekend where you don’t know what’s going to happen and then you’re stuck with it. I think just little steps here to try to learn for the future I think is the right way. I mean, everyone beats the dead horse about the horsepower, but I just don’t know if that’s ever going to happen again, unfortunately, but those two things, keep working on tires and we’ll keep yelling for horsepower, even though we might not get it, but those are the two things we can try to do.”

YOU DROVE THE OLD CAR HERE. MICHAEL MCDOWELL JUST DESCRIBED THIS PACKAGE BECAUSE THE TECHNOLOGY AND STUFF THAT IT HAS IN IT, IT’S A LITTLE MORE NIMBLE BECAUSE THE TURNS HERE ARE SO PRECISE. HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THAT WILL CHANGE THE NATURE OF THE RACE HERE ON THE OLD?

“It’s hard to tell. I wasn’t part of the test here, so I don’t have a lot of knowledge I could confidently speak on about that. I hope it’s a good race. Gosh, I mean, this place definitely deserves a good showing and it’s nice to be back on the big track and that’s the Brickyard to me. The road course was fun for a few years but this is the Brickyard and so hopefully, this car is raceable. We all talk about it. You need more clean airspace to get anything with this car and here there’s just no other options, right? With the old car, you could kind of peek a headlight out and you’re good. This car, you need like half a car. Someone’s really going to have to miss the corner for you to get half a car. So we’ll see. But yeah, hopefully the runs are big enough to where you can kind of lay back, get a run on somebody down the straights and make moves but we’ll find out in a few hours.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

THE 2014 PLAYOFFS WERE THE FIRST PLAYOFFS WITH THE ELIMINATION STRUCTURE AND YOU MADE THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND THAT YEAR. WHEN YOU LOOK BACK ON THAT, NOT JUST THOSE 10 RACES, BUT KIND OF HOW IT’S IMPACTED EVERYTHING IN NASCAR SINCE, WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON IT?

“It was probably the biggest change in our sport from a sporting side of things. From how you win a championship, I think that we’ve ever seen, right? The introduction of the Chase, that was one piece that was pretty big, but I think when they started the playoff rounds, that’s equally as big, maybe bigger in the way it’s done. More do-or-die moments, right? More back up against the wall, gotta make it happen moments. Equally as big as the playoffs is how they did the playoff points and making every race more important. I think it works. I think it’s done really well. It has created a lot of drama in our sport. A lot more storylines for you guys to talk about. So to me, if it’s lasted this long, I don’t see anything about it that I would change at this point. I think it’s just like any other sport now. You can have an incredible regular season and still lose the first game of the playoffs and be out. Well, the same thing happens here. You still get seeded off of how you do, right? You get those playoff points throughout the regular season that help you get through the playoffs, but it’s no guarantee you’re going to win the championship. I think that’s what makes it critical.”

DO YOU HAVE MORE PRESSURE WITH ROGER OWNING THIS PLACE FOR THIS WEEKEND?

“We want to win. We want to win more, sure, absolutely. It’s been like that every time you come here, you want to win, but when Roger owns it, obviously he wants to see the success of his cars on this racetrack. He doesn’t specifically call us and say, hey, you’re coming to our track, you need to make sure you win and run well. But it doesn’t have to be said to know that all of our partners are here. This is a big race for Team Penske. All of our race car partners are partners with the racetrack most likely one way or another. It is one of the crown jewel events of the year. So yeah, it’s a little extra there.”

SO WHEN JOSEPH NEWGARDEN BRINGS THE BORG WARNER TROPHY FROM BACK-TO-BACK INDY 500 WINS, TALK A LITTLE ABOUT THAT:

“It’s great. That’s what you want to see, right? He was able to come up here the last couple of years and collect the ultimate trophy. This is our opportunity to do the same, and we’ll try to do the same.”

GIVEN YOUR SUCCESS WITH THE OLD CAR AND THE NEW CAR AT RICHMOND, HOW ARE THE TWO TIRE COMPOUNDS GONNA AFFECT THE RACE THAT WE SEE IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS?

“It depends on the speed difference from compound to compound. I’m not 100% sure what that’s gonna be, right? And what does the fall-off look like? I don’t know, maybe you know, but I don’t know. So I think when we get out there and we practice, everyone’s gonna make a couple long runs most likely and say, okay, here’s the differences and that’s gonna affect the strategy a lot. I don’t think it will be like it was at Wilkesborough, where there wasn’t any tire fall-off, so just putting the softs on made sense. Or the option tire, whatever you want to call it. There’s a lot of fall off at Richmond. So if you can have a tire that lasts longer on a long haul, most likely there’s long runs there. You’re going to want that at some point. But we’ve seen Richmond also come down to where you have a green-white-checker or a 15-lap to go caution and you’re going to want the softs for that. So I don’t really know how it’s going to play out. It just depends on what the tire difference ends up being.”

WITH THE OLYMPICS IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, IF WE DID AN INTERNATIONAL RACE OF CHAMPIONS WHERE EVERYBODY BROUGHT THEIR BEST SEDAN, YOU KNOW, LIKE A NASCAR SITUATION, HOW INTERESTED WOULD YOU BE IN HAVING A NASCAR OLYMPICS?

“100%, all the way in. I would love it. That’d be the coolest thing. It’s just hard to figure out a fair way of doing that, because you can’t bring a Cup car. Uou can’t bring an F1 car. You can’t bring a rally car. It’s gotta be something that nobody drives. I think having an American team to go up against other countries would be like really, really neat. It’s just gotta be fair. There’s so many different elements that go into it versus playing hockey. You kind of know what’s going to be — there’s no big advantage from skating on a different sheet of ice somewhere. Is it really gonna be that different? No. But for us, there are so many different variables with a race car and being used to driving on a certain type of surface or car or speed, it’s just really hard to make that fair. I’m good with it. Bring your best street legal car. Let’s go.”

WHAT’S CLICKING SO WELL WITH THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW?

“It seems like things are going pretty well right now. Whether it’s the IndyCar side, sports car side, Cup side, it has been good. You know, hopefully we can keep that flow going for the rest of the year. It’s funny, you look, at least on the NASCAR side, you look back at 10 weeks ago, it didn’t look like that. It looked pretty ugly, actually. So, yeah, we’ve just kind of been able to work hard and it seems like some of the gains that we’ve made are starting to show their face a little bit. that we’ve made are starting to show their face a little bit. There’s probably some other variables in there too, but it seems to be working out here recently.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

A LOT OF PEOPLE MIGHT NOT REALIZE HOW YOU OBVIOUSLY DRIVE FOR THE OWNER OF THIE TRACK, BUT YOUR DAD, TIM, RUNS THE TEAM, EVEN YOUR GRANDFATHER, JIM TRUMAN, WON THIS RACE IN 1986 AS AN OWNER. WAS THIS TRACK THE ONLY TRACK YOU WERE THINKING OF AT THE DINNER TABLE GROWING UP?

“I think my earliest memories in racing only involved the Speedway and watching races here. The first time I didn’t go to an Indy 500 was the first year I raced the Coca-Cola 600. So if that tells you anything, this is racing to me. Other people might think of the short track they grew up going to or whatever else, this is it for me. So it’s very special to get to race here. It’s a special place for both sides of my family and obviously a special place for my race team.”

DESCRIBE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR THE SPORT FOR THIS RACE TO BE BACK ON THE OVAL.

“I’m probably not the best person to ask to be honest because I haven’t done too many Cup races on the oval. I haven’t done any. I think just listening to some of my peers, everyone’s really excited to have this as a race, as a Crown Jewel race back on the schedule. I know it’ll be very cool for me to head the correct direction across the yard of bricks.”

WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER DOING THE DOUBLE HERE?

“Absolutely. I don’t see a reason why not. I’m not in any rush to do it. But I have a love for that event. Yeah, I would love to find the right timing to do it.”

SO WHAT GOT THINGS GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR THIS TRIO HERE IN THE LAST 10 WEEKS OR SO?

“I think a number of things, but as a team, obviously we have all the resources we need to succeed, it’s just putting it together sometimes. It’s a super competitive series right now, probably more competitive than it’s ever been. I think it’s just a really good month, month and a half for our organization on a couple different types of tracks. It’s a long season and things can change quickly. You look at the beginning of the season and say, oh they’re off and now you look at us and oh they’re on. We have another month or two left of the season so we’ve got to keep it going.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Brickyard 400 Media Availability | Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Friday, July 19, 2024

Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports, met with media members at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Friday afternoon. The most recent Cup Series winner at Indianapolis spoke about the weekend ahead, returning to the oval at IMS and more.

Michael McDowell, No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse — TELL US ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO COME BACK HERE AND SWITCHING OVER TO THE OVAL.

“It’s been fun this morning just driving in and seeing your big face on the side of the racetrack. I think we came up with a name for it, Chick-fil-A Cheeks, is that right? We’re munching down some Chick-fil-A on the way in here, but it’s cool to be able to come back and take it in a little bit, because the last time I was sitting in this media center there was so much adrenaline, so much going on through your mind, right? It’s hard to really take in the moment because so much is happening. So even just walking back up here, it was just great memories of that day and what it meant. As you guys know, you go through an entire season and you sometimes forget how special of an event that this is until you get here and you see it and you look around and you walk through the garages. So yeah, it’s been fun.”

COMING HERE AS THE REIGNING INDIANAPOLIS WINNER AND BEING ONE OF THREE DRIVERS TO WIN A CUP RACE ON THE INDIANAPOLIS ROAD COURSE, WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO ADD A BRICKYARD 400 VICTORY TO YOUR RESUME?

“It would be awesome. I think that winning here is special. When you’re talking about the road courses versus the oval, the oval is prestigious. The Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 are prestigious events. Not to say that the road course isn’t prestigious because absolutely, anytime that you win at Indy, it’s prestigious, but to do it on the traditional yard of bricks, going the right direction, I think would probably one up the road course victory. It’s one of the races that, people asked me this week and last week about how I feel about us coming back to the oval, right? It’s so hard to answer because if you asked me today, what would I rather do, I’d rather race the road course because I would say our probability of winning is probably higher. But as a fan and as somebody that appreciates the sport, I think we should be racing on the oval because of what it means and the history of it. That’s the best way that I could describe it. Coming here and having an opportunity to do both, Reddick won, who won the first year? Allmendinger? So nobody’s won both, right? So there you go, so that opens up a category that if you could do it first, you’d be the first to do it both. Eventually, somebody will, so you might as well be the first one.”

WITH FIVE REGULAR SEASON RACES REMAINING ON THE SCHEDULE, WHAT’S THE APPROACH THAT YOU AND THE 34 TEAM LOOK AHEAD AS YOU TRY TO MAKE THE CUT FOR THE PLAYOFFS?

“Yeah, we just have to win. That’s the only thing we’ve been thinking about. Haven’t thought about anything else. We’ve known here for the last 10 weeks that it’s going to take a win for us to get in and we just keep that same approach that we’ve had so we just keep digging try to get it.”

WINNING HERE IN ANY CAPACITY IS ASTOUNDING, BUT DO YOU THINK IT WOULD MEAN EVEN MORE TO WIN HERE NOW ON THE OVAL, HAVING WON ON THE ROAD COURSE HERE? DO YOU THINK WHOEVER WINS SUNDAY WILL EXPERIENCE EVEN ANOTHER LEVEL OF EUPHORIA OR SOMETHING?

“I think that every win matters in the Cup Series, they’re all special. For me, it would be very rewarding to win on the oval because of my road course background, not that it’s expected, because it’s not expected, it’s hard to win these races, but it’s not a big surprise to win on the road course, for me at least, personally. So to do it at a place like this, that’s very hard. It’s very hard, this oval in particular, in our cars, you have to be perfect all day long. You have to execute all day long. Track position is so important that to put together a race here at the Brickyard and to win would be something that would be a career moment, I think. Even though winning on the race course was as well, it would mean more for sure.”

THERE ARE 10 FULL-TIME CUP DRIVERS WHO HAVE NEVER RACED HERE IN THE OVAL. HOW IS THAT ALL GOING TO FACTOR IN? IS IT GOING TO KIND OF BE EVENED OUT? WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR WITH THE NEXTGEN CAR, IN TERMS OF GETTING IT TO HANDLE AROUND HERE?

“Even though it was our first time here with the NextGen car, I do think that experience racing on the oval will still help. Not everything applies, but just the visual references that you have, the bumps, there are a few little things here that you do that you don’t do anywhere else. I think that they’ll still apply. I think there’s an advantage to running multiple races here. And then two, for most of those guys that have run races like myself, you’ve got to remember we’ve done it in every configuration. From old cars to COT, from high downforce to no downforce, from 1000 horsepower to 450 to 650, 550, and 750 in between tires, only lasting five laps to long green flag runs, the stages. So you have experience in a lot of different settings here over those 15 years. So even though the NextGen is different, I feel like that experience will still apply.”

THE NEXT GEN HAS A LOT OF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IMSA CAR. DOES THAT MAKE CORNERING HERE A LITTLE BETTER IN TERMS OF IT’S MORE PRECISE, YOU’VE GOT A LITTLE BIT MORE, YOU CAN BE A LITTLE BETTER GOING INTO THE TURNS THAN WITH THE PREVIOUS CAR?

“That’s a great question and this car responds quicker. Everything about this car is quicker in response as far as the car doesn’t travel as much, the sidewalls not deflecting as much, and the steering, everything is more responsive and it’s more nimble as far as that goes. But we have less downforce now than we did in most of those years that we were here. So yes, it does respond quicker but you’re still taking a 4,000 pound heavy stock car that doesn’t have a lot of downforce. So this is one of the tougher tracks for that. When you are in the car you don’t feel much banking at all here. It feels very flat and very fast getting into the corner. But what you said is right, this is a precision racetrack. When you make adjustments in the car, you are just trying to move 3 or 4 inches. You are not trying to move 3 or 4 feet. So here, I think it is going to be fun with this car because this car responds so well. So you should be able to race and dice it up a little bit more.”

BUT IF YOU GO INTO TURN ONE OR TURN THREE ON THE OUTSIDE, WILL YOU BE ABLE TO MAKE IT STICK WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO MAKE A PASS?

“I’ll let you know around lap 15. We all are thinking the same thing. Anytime you come here, and I wasn’t at the test, but anytime you come here and test, or even in practice today, it’s going to be one lane. We know it’s going to be one particular line. But as we get restarts in and as we get racing side by side, the track takes rubber and you normally can move around a little bit. I do think it will be the same. I thought about it last night. I’m like, what would make this car any different that the track wouldn’t widen out? And with the tires and the rubber that we’re putting down, I don’t see there being any trend with this NextGen car that would tell me that it’s going to be one lane versus when we were here last time and we could run two lanes. The preferred lane is still going to be the bottom, but you should be able to go through the corner side by side. I do think it will take a little bit. It won’t happen today, right? I think by the time Xfinity races and lays rubber down and then we go out, it should be at a good spot, I hope.”

OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE FOCUSED ON THIS YEAR AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT, WE KNOW, BUT YOU’RE MAKING A MOVE NEXT YEAR. ARE YOU HAVING CONVERSATIONS ALREADY AND KIND OF PLANNING THINGS OUT ON WHAT THAT’S GOING TO LOOK LIKE FOR YOU NEXT YEAR?

“There’s definitely conversations that are happening in regards to people. Finding people and as you guys know, Spire is expanding right now and they’ve added a lot of people and there’s more people to come. So those conversations I’m definitely involved in and having them. Besides that, no, I’m focusing on my race and my race team. Then also too, it’s a little bit tricky, right? When it comes to racing, they’re still the enemy right now. I mean, really, and I am to them, right? Until that transition actually happens. So when it comes to racing this year, we’re not talking about those things, we’re just talking about people for next year.”

LOOKING AT THE REMAINING EVENTS ON THE SCHEDULE BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS START, DO YOU HAVE ONE OR TWO DATE CIRCLES THAT YOU THINK MIGHT GIVE YOU THE BEST CHANCE TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS?

“Yes. The way that we look at it and the way that I approach it and the way that we’ve looked at it for the last couple of years is, and it’s evolved, is that it used to be super speedways and road courses, right? Those were our opportunities to win. Now I don’t feel like we’re in that tight of a box because we have had good speed at

other racetracks. Last week at Pocono wasn’t a great weekend for us, and that usually lends to this weekend as far as setup and overall performance. So I’m hoping that this week is the week that we can get back on track as far as that goes. But we have Daytona, that’s obviously a crapshoot, you never know, but that’s a place that I’ve won at before, and I was in a position to win Talladega on the last lap this year too. I don’t feel like it’s our last chance. I feel like even this weekend we’ll have a shot at putting ourselves in position. The outright speed that we’ve had this season I think has given me the confidence that we’re not locked to just two or three tracks to do it at. It’s no secret we’re running out of time, right? And we know that. Chicago was one of those races we had circled and we ran well, but we didn’t win. So we have a few more weeks to try to get it done.”

WITH THE OLYMPIC BREAK COMING UP, DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE OLYMPIC MEMORIES OR ANY OLYMPIC MOMENTS THAT HAVE REALLY STOOD OUT FOR YOU OVER THE YEARS?

”No, not any particulars, but just like everybody else, anytime the Olympics are on, everybody’s engaged and watching. I think that over my childhood and even as this year has actually been fun with my kids, because they’re sort of into it. I think probably because they know that we’re getting a break because it’s the Olympics. So it’s been a topic at our house. But it’s just the pride that comes in rooting for your country. And obviously, America’s done well when it comes to gold medals and things like that. There’s been a lot of those different seasons of the Olympics where we just dominate a category, and that’s always been fun. And it hasn’t always been the same category, right? So yeah, nothing in particular, but we always watched and it was always a fun time at our house.”