MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWDAY
1000BULBS.COM 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 11, 2019
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1, Media Breakout Session Highlights:
YOU HAVE A STRONG SUPERSPEEDWAY PROGRAM. TALK ABOUT YOUR OVERALL THOUGHTS COMING IN HERE?
“Yeah, we’re kind of in a points position where we have 48 or so points to the one in front of us and 80 or so behind us. So, we can kind of do what we want to do in a sense. But you look back at our races, we’ve really ran well at superspeedways and our average finishes are good here. That’s all been with the same mindset; not an overly-aggressive mindset, but finishing the race. We have a really fast car that I’m really happy with. Our GEICO Camaro was doing everything I could ask for, and a little more, in practice. I’m pumped for that. I never have a plan for these places, I just kind of go off of my feel and instinct. I’m very much of an instinctive driver, so I just kind of let it go how it goes on Sunday.”
YOU’VE ALSO DONE A GOOD JOB OF COMPLETING ALL THE RACES ALL SEASON. HOW BIG IS THAT FOR YOUR TEAM AND ORGANIZATION?
“Michael McDowell and I were talking about that last. When we have 50 employees compared to 400 that these top teams have and we don’t have quite the money the other teams have, it is important that you aren’t putting your team behind. If you’re a young gun going out and crashing a bunch of cars for a team that needs to continue to build, you’re not going to build a program. You’re going to be put behind and you aren’t going to be able to put a good product out there consistently. The more consistently I can bring home clean cars, the more we can make them faster week by week. It’s definitely a slower process for our team than it is for other teams just because of the dollar number and the number of employees in general. When we can have a year where we can complete 99% of the laps, we get better and we’ve done that.”
TALK ABOUT YOUR PAINT SCHEME THIS WEEKEND.
“Yeah, it’s the 50th anniversary for this car. I asked my grandfather, “Why the green? Why 13?”. He said my luck was so bad in my career at that point that I needed to do everything that was superstitious to see if it would turn it around. He said it did from that point on. So, this is the car that turned it around for him. I think the green is so ugly that it looks cool (laughs) is the way I would explain it. I think it looks really cool out on the track, with just the throwback. It’s pretty fast today. If we win the race, we might be green for a lot longer.”
HOW DO YOU LOOK AT KANSAS?
“I see it as a track that, when we were there the first time, we were still exploring this package and what we needed as far as more grip and more speed. I think we kind of landed on a good idea of what we need for our program to be good at the 1.5-mile tracks moving forward. We finished 11th at Michigan, we ran good in Vegas and we are starting to build some momentum. I think Kansas is going to be a good place for us.”
DID YOU GET A CHANCE TO DEBRIEF WITH AUSTIN (DILLON) AFTER THE RICHMOND TEST?
“Yeah, I just talked to him right before first practice for about 20 minutes. He is really excited about that car. It’s totally different, there are so many things different about it that I’m like, ‘That’s going to happen? They are going to do this with that car?’. I would have no clue what that look or feels like. He said it was crazy and a whole lot different. It’s exciting for our sport. Our sport needs to continue to grow and evolve. That is the kind of steps we need to take in all aspects of the sport. I think the tracks need to take that kind of growth step. I think television needs to take that step in growth. I think the teams and NASCAR, in general, need to continue to move in that direction for the sport to continue to thrive.”
“All he told me is that it stops really good, it turns really good, it feels lighter and faster. Just some different little things and some new unique aspects that I didn’t even know were things on the car they are working on trying. It’s all still in a development stage of a car, but it sounds exciting. I think it’s going to be a lot of good things for the sport.”
I HEARD AUSTIN (DILLON) SAY IT DRIVES LIKE A RACE CAR. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO A RACER?
“I think just where the car reacts more to driver input and driver ability. If the car when you get there is at a certain speed, your chances are minimized hugely. I think what he means by that is when it’s in the driver’s hands, it gives the driver more opportunity to show what he can showcase. That’s exciting for all of us.”
THE WAY CHEVROLET REALLY DOMINATED HERE IN THE SPRING USNIG THE MANUFACTURER ALLIANCE, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU GUYS WERE DOING IT AGAIN IN PRACTICE. IS THAT HARD TO DO OR HARD TO PLAN?
“Yeah, we’ve had great leadership kind of leading the charge on this, from Chevrolet and Jim Campbell. I think the first time around was going to be the easiest time to make it all work. I think the more we do it, the harder and harder it is to get everyone cooperating in the same way because everyone starts getting a little bit selfish sometimes and wants to peak out to see what they can do leading the pack. Maybe it didn’t perfectly work for their situation the first time around, maybe they were the car at the back of the pack that dropped off and had to battle the guys behind him the whole time. But when we can stay committed as a group is when it really works. I give us a ‘B’ for what we were trying to accomplish in first practice, but we are going to have a meeting again and hopefully get some things straightened out and be strong again. Like I said, we have great leadership from Chevrolet and hopefully all the teams will be on board to make the right calls and do it again.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
