NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BUDWEISER DUEL AT DAYTONA QUALIFYING RACES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS
FEBRUARY 19, 2015

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – DUEL #2 RACE WINNER
CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS

THE MODERATOR: We’ve been joined by Chad Knaus.
Chad, another strong performance by the team tonight to earn the victory. Strong night for Hendrick Motorsports. I believe on Sunday they will wind up first, second and third. Talk a little bit about the race tonight and really your outlook for Sunday.

CHAD KNAUS: Yeah, we’re really excited, obviously. Great performance from Hendrick Motorsports ever since we unloaded down here in Daytona.
Obviously Jeff qualifying on the pole, that’s just awesome for his last Daytona 500. That’s pretty cool from that standpoint. Really proud of the guys in the 48, 88 shop to capture the victory in both 150s here tonight. That means an awful lot. We have a group of guys that focus primarily on our superspeedway stuff. They really pay attention to the details, do a good job. Definitely showed tonight.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions for Chad.

Q. You got 1‑2‑3 for Hendrick Motorsports. How does that make you feel for the race?
CHAD KNAUS: Clearly it gives us a lot of confidence. I think all the Hendrick Motorsports cars are really strong. I think we saw at different times tonight those Gibbs guys were strong as well. The 20 was fast. The 19 was super aggressive, trying to create a lot of different situations where he could capitalize on.
500 miles is completely different. The thing that people don’t understand, sitting in the stands, watching in here, what you had tonight is not what you’re going to have on Sunday. It’s going to be middle 70s on Sunday, sunny, the grip is going to go away, the track is going to be really slick, handling will be more of a premium.
Obviously tonight guys took no tires, fuel only on the pit stops. I think when you roll around to Sunday, that strategy is going to change a little bit.

Q. Having won the race and having survived without getting your car torn up, does your strategy change at all for the next two days? What is that strategy?
CHAD KNAUS: It’s been developing. Obviously it was going to be dependent on what happened tonight. We have a couple things we’re considering trying in single‑car runs to see if we can extract a little bit more speed out of the car.
As a whole, I think we’re pretty settled on what we’re going to be racing for in the Daytona 500.
We’ll start tonight changing the engine, getting it prepared for practice and ready for the 500. We’ll probably run one practice tomorrow, maybe just a quick shake‑down on Saturday and that will be about it.

Q. There’s an early practice on Saturday. The temperatures may not warm up. What do you do?
CHAD KNAUS: You have to fall back on past experience and notes. That’s kind of what you do.
The thing about superspeedway racing is it’s so dependent on where you are with other cars. When you’re out there in a small group, eight, ten cars, you never had the energy and the handling problems that you will in a group of 20 or 25.
To simulate that in practice is almost impossible anyhow. We have to go off of past experience.
THE MODERATOR: Chad, congratulations and thank you for your time tonight.
CHAD KNAUS: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: We’ve now been joined by Jimmie Johnson.
Jimmie, a really strong performance tonight by Hendrick Motorsports with Dale taking home the first victory, you taking home the second victory. Talk about the race tonight and your outlook on Sunday.
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, just really proud of the effort that HMS has put into our speedway cars, says a lot about how prepared we were coming down here. I think all four of us Hendrick drivers knew it was really in our hands. The guys did their job at the shop and sent us down here with some really good hotrods.
It was up to me in the end. There was the caution in the end. Making sure I had a good restart, getting control of the layups was vital. I feel like I got a lot of good experience tonight, understanding the draft, how to protect. It’s so difficult when you’re leading trying to control those two lanes.
A lot of experience gained tonight. Kind of dusted off my restrictor plate skills a little bit. Nice to be the winner of the second Duel.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions for Jimmie.

Q. In years past it seemed like the leader of these races always gets freight trained at the end. Tonight in both races it seemed like whoever was out front could move both back and forth across the lanes to block a little bit more and maintain the lead. Is it different now?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I think what’s different is the side draft is much more effective with this car. When they’re two‑by‑two behind you, their run just isn’t very big.
In my race, especially, I was fortunate they were two‑by‑two behind me. There never was a run strong enough to really worry about.
Prior to the caution coming out, the 18 and I kind of broke away. I felt like it was a matter of time before he did what he needed to to get some energy and put a run on me. I was trying to prepare for that and trying to control him and control the gap from my bumper to his bumper.
That never materialized. But when the final restart happened, they were two‑by‑two, I felt pretty good about my situation just because the side draft is so effective right now.

Q. Did you learn anything from watching the first Duel?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, I thought I learned a little something on restart selection, then it didn’t work for me on the first start.
I just saw the importance of controlling the lanes as the leader. That kind of became apparent. I thought Matt had the race well in control, then he got stuck in the middle and dropped. It was kind of Junior’s situation to control at that point. That’s what I took out of the first race that successfully worked in the second race.

Q. As aggressively as you had to drive in the Chase race at Talladega last year, did that sort of help you tonight and influence anything that you did today?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I definitely think I learned a lot in Talladega, so I applied that tonight. It was a little different tonight because only half the field and half the good cars to really deal with.
The 500 I think will be much more difficult to control than what we saw in these two races. When you have all the good cars there pushing and pulling, creating those runs, it will be a little more difficult.
But I did learn a lot in Talladega that I applied here.

Q. You spent a lot of time over the years racing alongside Jeff Gordon in the 500. Do you think this race is going to be substantively different when he’s not there, not up at the front?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I think so. I mean, when someone of his caliber isn’t on the track, it definitely is going to have a big effect. Not only in the 500 next year, but the entire season. Our sport is going to be different without him there.
I feel very good about Chase Elliott going into the car. We’ll all have fun watching him grow and mature as a driver, see what he’s capable of, kind of fill in that Jeff space that’s there.
I wasn’t around to watch the King step down and some of the other greats that have been in our sport, so I don’t know exactly how it’s going to go. If Jeff Gordon isn’t on the track, for 23 years he’s been such a force on the track. Our sport is not going to necessarily suffer from it, but it’s just not the same. It’s Jeff Gordon.

Q. You’ve joked about it a couple times, how cold it was. Are these the most miserable conditions you’ve been in at a racetrack? Does it really affect anything other than when you’re cracking beers in Victory Lane?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: It was miserable outside the car. Inside the car it was really nice. Took about five minutes for my hands to warm up, but from then on it was nice and toasty.
These cold conditions will all lull us into thinking our cars are driving great. As things heat up, we get to Sunday, it’s mid 70s and sunny, you have to be on your game and make sure you’re setting your car for prime conditions. Tonight was prime conditions. No slipping and sliding, cold track temps. Tonight it was hard to get your car to handle poorly.
Flipside, if it’s handling bad tonight, you got a ton of work to do for Sunday. You can look at it one of two ways.

Q. (No microphone.)
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Cold‑wise? I remember at Bristol was snowing once. Probably the top two or three as far as being cold. But Bristol comes to mind because it was actually snowing.

Q. What kind of threat are the Gibbs cars to your cars?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: They showed a ton of strength. I think all of their cars are very strong. The 11 came from the back and in no time at all was in the mirror. 18 had a penalty, rallied his way back. I really didn’t want him to have control of the race. That was my goal, was to stay ahead of him, because I don’t think I could have gotten by him. The 20 looked so strong in the first race.
I think the Gibbs cars are right there with us. Those guys know what they’re doing.

Q. It seems like the drafting, when you’re the leader, it’s harder to keep guys behind you, harder to anticipate moves. The fact that the rules have stayed static, everybody is getting more comfortable with the cars in year three, has everybody figured out everybody else’s game and tricks?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Leading’s really tough to manage, there’s no doubt about it. That thought’s crossed my mind a few times, all the tricks and little things that we work in the car, everybody in the field knows about now.
I think you’re right. Having this rules package stay the way it has, it doesn’t matter who you race with, they know the sweet spots to pull someone back, set up a pass, make things happen. Yeah, I would definitely agree with that.
But leading’s probably the hardest thing to do. At Junior pointed out, your spotter has to be on his game, letting you know where the energy is coming from, what lane is moving. Then you have to block and defend.

Q. I don’t know how much T.J. is talking to Dale, but does Earl talk nearly as much?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: I don’t think Earl does. I have him talking a lot. But I had the opportunity when we used to do the tandem drafting to hear T.J. when I’d get hooked up with the 88 car. Not in a bad way, but he doesn’t shut up. I mean, it’s non‑stop. That’s what you need.
Junior and T.J. have found great rhythm with that. T.J. gives a lot of great information. I guess I don’t want to hear as much. What Earl and I have worked out is exactly what I need.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Jimmie. We wish you the best of luck for the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – DUEL #2 – Finished 10th

THE MODERATOR: We’ve been joined by Danica Patrick, who earned her way into the Daytona 500.
Danica, a hard‑fought finish. Recap your race tonight.
DANICA PATRICK: It was all going pretty smooth until three to go, four to go. I thought that the car was really strong. I felt like made a couple moves here and there. If I got shuffled back to move back into sort of the top 10, maybe a little bit better at times.
So it seemed good. Racy. Then, you know, it went from there. I’m sure you all are going to ask questions about it, so I’ll just let you.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions for Danica.

Q. Did you feel contact from behind or did you just feel the car get loose from you from him taking the aero off you?
DANICA PATRICK: It feels like the back gets lifted up and comes around. It didn’t feel quite as dramatic yesterday in practice. But the same sort of thing.
Yesterday when he went to pull down low, it just pulled my bumper around, but it tracked around, I was loose. Then it spun and wrecked, we go on to the next car. The same thing. Something similar happens tonight where I look in my rearview mirror and he’s tight up behind me. I can see he’s staggered to my left rear, the car gets really light and spins around. Same thing.
When we had a little chat afterwards, he told me my car was too loose, so…
That was his explanation for why the car spun.

Q. What was going through your head when you had the crash? Did you think you were out of the Daytona 500 at that point? Did you know going into this race that the situation was fairly dire, given a lot of guys ahead of you in points?
DANICA PATRICK: Holy crap, it felt dire. This whole scenario is crazy that the series has put us in. Actually I said yesterday, it’s horrible that it’s left up to other people and what they can do to you to whether or not you get in the race or not.
I was like, I just need to not get caught up in anything or have something like yesterday happen. And the exact same thing as yesterday happened.
So it’s a stressful situation. It’s fairly unfair, I feel like, based on how much is out of your hands at a track like this. I have no doubt I’m sure it was incredibly exciting but very stressful, and what I feel is unfair.
So I knew that I needed to just finish in the top 15. There was a million scenarios of like who does what in any race, who uses a provisional and who doesn’t. You can just drive yourself crazy thinking about all of them.
Instead of thinking about all of the stuff I need to do to just make the race, I really just wanted to focus on having a good race. In the race, like I said, I made a few moves here and there to make progress. I wanted to get further up to be in the thick of things. I’m sorry, not be in the thick of things, but get in front of it, get in front of the accidents. Luckily that paid off because a couple of them happened right behind me.
You never know when you are going to get that opportunity. Sometimes it’s double file and you have nowhere to go. I wanted to make progress. Everything was going fine till the end. I felt good about it.

Q. Denny said after your interview that was up here on the screen, Once I get close to her, her car gets out of control. Does that indicate to you that when he get close to you, there’s more of an issue he’s feeling for some reason?
DANICA PATRICK: I have no explanation for that. I am confident other cars get very close and things like that don’t happen.
Done thousands of miles of this speedway racing now and I haven’t found that to be a problem. So I just think that he’s wrong. I think that he’s too close. I think that he’s taking the air and getting it off the spoiler, and he’s not squared up either. That’s also part of the problem.
I don’t know. Maybe he likes my left rear.

Q. At any point tonight, maybe after the last wreck or whatever that you were involved in, did you ever think you were not going to make the Daytona 500?
DANICA PATRICK: Sure. Like I said, there’s a million scenarios. At the end when they told me I need four spots or you need to pass these two cars or you’re 18th right now, I was like, Okay, do I have to be desperate basically? Do I have to pass these cars? Nobody answered me. I just said, Screw it, I’m going to be desperate.
Luckily it shouldn’t go unsaid, Kurt was there for me. Without Kurt, I wouldn’t have finished where I did. So a big humongous thank you to Kurt for getting behind me and pushing me to the front.

Q. Did you feel more pressure coming into this race than any race you’ve ever felt pressure?
DANICA PATRICK: Yeah, that’s probably safe to say. I think it’s one thing when you’re in a race and you want to do your best and have a great result. I’ve by all means been nervous at times. Probably two years ago starting on the pole, I always get more nervous the further up I start.
But this is a whole different nervous. A lot of it has to do with the fact there’s so much out of our hands as drivers. That’s my frustration. It’s one thing if it’s qualifying and then you go race at a traditional track where, you know, you pass. But this is just big pack racing where you just hope you don’t get into a wreck or somebody doesn’t get into you, right place at the right time.
So there’s a lot of stressing out. But there’s not much you can do about it. You just have to hope and pray for the best, be as smart as you can out there. That’s all you can do.
I will say, obviously for my team and everybody, but mostly for Go Daddy, it made me nervous, too. This is the biggest race of the year and they need to be in it.
THE MODERATOR: Danica, thank you for your time this afternoon. Best of luck on Sunday.
DANICA PATRICK: Thank you.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – DUEL #1 RACE WINNER

GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by our race‑winning crew chief, Greg Ives. You’ve officially earned your first win with Dale Jr. and the 88 team. Talk a little bit about the Duel race and having an opportunity to celebrate in Victory Lane.

GREG IVES: Am I in the Chase now (laughter)?

THE MODERATOR: Not yet.

GREG IVES: Just a remarkable performance by Dale, all this Nationwide team, bringing strong racecars, Hendrick engines, Hendrick chassis. We got a 1‑2‑3 start coming on here. All the talent that we have at Hendrick Motorsports is a tribute to our finish tonight.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions for Greg.

Q. Your first race together, failing inspection, and your second one ends up in Victory Lane. Talk about what that means.

GREG IVES: Actually, the failed inspection was qualifying. The Unlimited was the first race together. We had a good race going, had some debris on the grille out front leading. Unfortunately we had debris tonight, but temperatures were optimum.

The relationship is gelling as quick as I knew it would. When you bring great attitude, have some fun at the racetrack, have good finishes like today, you’re going to gel pretty quickly.

We’re going to continue that going into this week and the 500.

Q. Greg, you hit on the relationship. Do you have any sort of feel for how much better or closer you guys can get as you get to know each other, spend more time?

GREG IVES: Yeah, definitely. I don’t think where even close to where we need to be. But we have a good start going. I feel like some of that start is just our friendship relationship. We’re building our working relationship.

I feel like there’s areas I’m going to have to improve big‑time. There are areas that Dale and I are slowly growing and continuing to make better. It’s just going to keep on flourishing from here. This is a great way to make that happen.

THE MODERATOR: We’ve been joined by our race winner of the first Duel, Dale Jr. Dale, talk a little bit about the race, how the car performed, and then obviously getting the victory.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: We knew the car was really fast when we got on the track Sunday with the car. I’ve had cars that have been real fast in the single‑car runs and not draft well, then I’ve had cars that run real slow by themselves and draft awesome.

It finishes a lot of moves. It kind of surprised me. It does a couple things that surprised me out there in the race. So I felt like the car made the job a lot easier.
Greg and those guys should be real proud of the effort and the work they done in the off‑season to bring such a good racecar here.

Wasn’t a whole lot else to it. Just trying to get up through there was a lot of fun. Holding the lead’s real hard to do. I think everybody’s pretty vulnerable out front to people getting runs. I was hoping I’d get up front and kind of tow the pack a little bit. We had to kind of breakaway a little bit. I was hoping to get the six‑, seven‑car train distance away from the track, but a caution came out.

Just a great car. Real proud of Greg. T.J. Majors did an awesome job as a spotter. Got to give him a ton of credit for being able to give me the information the last several laps to understand who I needed to be in front of to get the pushes and keep the momentum in my car going and allowing me to maintain the lead.

He did a real good job, especially the last lap. I had so many damn cars in the mirror; I couldn’t count them, especially on the last lap. Through (turns) three and four, it looked like they were all over the back of the car. T.J. did a good job of helping me understand where I needed to be.

GREG IVES: You can almost go back through the audio, everything looked so good. I was sitting back, enjoying listening to T.J. talk because he was doing a great job.

Q. Dale, how much confidence does this kind of give you going forward to Sunday?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, I don’t think it boosts our confidence a lot. Winning the Daytona 500 is a real challenge. The challenge didn’t get easier tonight.

One thing I am happy about is being able to get this car through the Duels without any trouble because it’s such a good racecar. We’ll be very careful throughout the rest of track activities the remainder of the week.

I’m just excited to be able to put this car on the grid for Sunday. I wouldn’t want to be driving anything else. The car’s so spectacular; it’s just going to be great. A proud moment to put it on the grid because I think it’s such a good racecar.

The one thing that I think it might help, when I have been down here and had really, really good cars, was able to show that in practice or a Duel or whatever, it does tend to let the field see that you do have a fast car, and if they do tend to draft with you, they might go somewhere.

When I come up on a car, there’s two things that I think about: I either think he’s an obstacle or slow, or I think maybe he’s a fast car, do I want to help that guy and work with him to get by somebody maybe he’s beside or somebody he’s racing.

When you’re able to kind of show the field, show your competitors that you got some speed, they can be confident if they get with you they’re going somewhere.

Tends to make Sunday a little easier where you might get more drafting help. I’ve been down here with cars that weren’t very good and they don’t give you confidence that you’re going anywhere.

Q. Dale, with such a good car, does it give you confidence that on Sunday if you are in the middle of a hairy situation, you can drop back and have the confidence to know you can get yourself back to the front quickly?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I suppose. I don’t want to have to drop back if I don’t have to. We got hung back in the middle on the early part of that race. When my car’s competitive, I don’t want to be in that bottom groove because I’m just going to sit there and be stuck.

Tonight, though, the car was so strong, I felt like if I sat there and waited and waited and waited, eventually I was going to get in a situation aero‑wise that would help me get through there, and it did.

Hopefully I make good decisions on Sunday and we don’t get ourselves in any trouble or get ourselves in any situation where we feel like we got to back up. I feel anytime you go, I don’t want to get in the middle of this, I want to get out of here. It’s unnatural to do that as a driver.

Whenever you do that, you don’t have confidence in your car, you don’t have confidence in what you’re doing, the decisions you’re making. It just kind of goes downhill from there. You don’t really ever recover emotionally and mentally for the rest of the race.

We have a fast car. We can stay confident and keep moving forward in the race and stay on the offense.

Q. Going back to T.J. giving you that help, Jeff Gordon was in here a few minutes ago and said he feels like it’s getting more and more difficult to out‑maneuver people, especially when they’re behind you. With the cars and the rules the same over the last couple years, are the spotters becoming more important to help you guys anticipate all those moves?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I’m not sure, but I know ‑‑ I don’t like to give T.J. too many compliments (smiling). You know, he’s so good. I think our friendship, us knowing each other a long time, we’ve worked together a while, a lot of times, I mean, tonight obviously, looking in the mirror quite a bit.

But Michigan, these other racetracks we go to, I don’t even have to look in the mirror. I might go 60 laps without glancing at the mirror because the information is so good. I can almost see the image in my mind what’s happening behind me because of how good T.J. is at describing it.

He’s learned over the years how to understand when a run’s happening half a lap before it forms. He can see things sort of forming and understand this lane’s going to be coming, give me that information. So I’m ready, you know, before it’s happening. I’m not making a nasty block late in the game. I’m actually, you know, preemptive and moving in front of the line that’s going to be coming. I’m not really blocking these guys. I just hop in front of them, here they come, I get a shove, and keep my momentum going.

He’s just really, really good at it. Especially at the plate tracks. Particularly at the plate tracks he’s real good.

We’ve been working together a long time. So it’s enjoyable to have that trust in the guy on top of the building like that. I’ve worked with other spotters in the past that are good spotters, but I also know some of the guys up there that he’s working with. I know he’s miles better than half of them up there. I wouldn’t want to be working with anybody else when it comes to being in that situation we were in.

That last lap, I don’t know anybody else that could have done a better job than T.J.

Q. Now that you know for sure that you have a car that’s fast enough to win the race, how does that change your routine for tomorrow and Saturday and what will that routine be?

GREG IVES: Really, now that we have the car that we want to race in the 500, it’s not going to change in what I had in my mindset.

We’re going to go as planned. Like I was telling Dale after the race, we have a couple items I want to go through to try to find a little bit more speed in single‑car runs, go through those items and be done.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: We won the race. Standing in Victory Lane he’s giving me the rundown of what we’re going to do Friday and Saturday in practice (smiling).

GREG IVES: I was a little nervous.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: He’s giving me my schedule (laughter).

Q. Dale, can you describe the crossover move you made on Tony where you picked up Jeff Gordon and let him push you to the lead, towards the lead, on lap 14?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Yeah, I was trying to get that bottom groove. I was trying to get those guys off of the bottom because I wanted to pass them on the inside.

The top line was actually coming. T.J. told me it was forming up in turn three and four. I slid up there. Here they come. Once I moved up there, I think Tony and a couple guys started fading towards the top as well.

I started to pick up the draft from the guys behind me. My car just took off like a rocket. I had such an awesome run, I needed to do something with it. Typically I’d be working with Tony. But that run propelled me past him and another car. It was too good of a run to pass up.

Our car’s just been real strong. That surprised me, the way the car reacted to that. It surprised me. This car’s been surprising me left and right.

We’re side drafting guys. Typically we’ll side draft them, then they’ll side draft you as you’re trying to make that pass. This car is finishing the passes that other cars haven’t been able to finish. Real excited to see what we’ll be able to do Sunday.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations and we wish you the best of luck on Sunday.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – DUEL #1 FINISHED 2ND
LANDON CASSILL, NO. 40 CARSFORSALE.COM CHEVROLET SS – DUEL #1 FINISHED 9TH
TY DILLON, NO. 33 CHEERIOS CHEVROLET SS – DUEL #1 FINISHED 16TH
THE MODERATOR: We’ve been joined by Ty Dillon. Ty, you finished 16th, obviously raced your way into the Daytona 500. Talk about your emotion and what it will mean on Sunday to great in the Daytona 500.
TY DILLON: It means so much. I’ve been coming here since I was born with my family and watching my grandfather’s cars race. Always wanted to be a part of this.

I love NASCAR. I love our sport for the passion that it takes and the history and everything that’s made it. I always wanted to be a part of the highest level and racing in the biggest races. Tonight I was able to accomplish a goal I’ve wanted to accomplish for a long time.

The last couple days, my wife can attest to it, I’ve been pretty stressed and nervous. This just means so much to me. I love our sport and I love people that have come and won races and championships. I want to be a part of that one day. This is a start.

I can’t thank everybody enough for allowing me to fulfill my dream.

THE MODERATOR: We’re also joined by Landon Cassill, racing his way into the Daytona 500. Landon, talk about securing your spot in Sunday’s race.

LANDON CASSILL: It’s extremely emotional. My team works really hard on our superspeedway cars. I’ve talked to a lot of you guys over the last years. You’ve seen our performances at superspeedways. It’s really where we put all of our resources.

It’s exciting at the rest of the races, but when you come to the Daytona 500, we have to race our way in. It’s our second year in a row doing that. I’m extremely proud of it.

THE MODERATOR: Jeff Gordon, we spoke earlier today, and you pointed out you needed to survive tonight’s race to start on the pole. You did that. Talk about your run.

JEFF GORDON: I wish I could say that was an easy task tonight, but it wasn’t. I rode three‑wide there for many laps at the beginning. Didn’t quite get the start I wanted to on the outside. We fought hard and had a really good, strong, racecar, had a really nice gas‑and‑go. That number one pit stall was nice under caution.

Other than win the race, I think we did everything we would have liked to have set out to do and accomplish and learn for the 500. I know its a little cooler temperature, so the balance is slightly different. I felt like we got a good read on the balance and a good read on what it’s going to do in traffic, the speed on the car.

There were a couple guys, the 88 and 20, that looked really strong. Still some work to do, but we’re in great shape.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions.

Q. The conditions for the qualifying race and Sunday are going to be different. Is that going to have a dramatic effect?
JEFF GORDON: Yeah, it’s going to have an effect. I definitely think the cars are not going to drive as good as they did tonight. You probably can’t be as aggressive. It’s a much longer race. You would think people would be a little more patient for the first half of the race. There was anything but that tonight. I don’t know exactly what to expect on Sunday.

I know the track temp being warmer, being a day race; we’re definitely going to have to probably think a little bit more about having some grip. You can’t just trim the car out as much as you possibly can because that could bite you.

I think all the cars are going to drive pretty good up front. I think it’s when you get fifth, sixth on back, inevitably at some point in the race that’s going to happen.

That’s what we’re going to be working on. I thought Junior got some good pushing, the 20 as well. There’s that compromise between getting the car that really can get that big burst of speed and make those passes, but also handle decent. That’s what we’ll be working on.
Q. Jeff, as you go through each day, do you take mental notes of this is the last time you’ll do this, or is everything sort of routine for you?
JEFF GORDON: Yeah, right now it’s mainly routine. I mean, certainly when we were qualifying the other day, we came out of it with a pole, certainly that thought came into my mind.

On Sunday, when I get up that morning, think about that day that will come into my mind.

Other than that, everything has been pretty much routine. It hasn’t been completely like a different week or anything other than it’s going well and I’m enjoying it.

I think the biggest thing is that relaxed mindset. I’m a little bit more relaxed than I normally am for whatever reason. I guess because I’m looking at it as my last Daytona 500.

I should have had this mindset many years ago. Would have been a lot more relaxed through the years (laughter).
Q. Landon, aside from the ego and status of being in the Daytona 500, last year you had a really good finish. What does a $300,000 check mean to a team like yours or some of these other guys? What does this do for a season and a career?
LANDON CASSILL: I mean, to kind of put it in perspective on a weekly basis, you all know what the prize money looks like, and 75% of our budget is prize money. The way the prize money averages out in a regular race, the race on Sunday; it takes us three races to get that.

When a majority of your team’s budget is off the prize money, there’s a lot of things that have already been purchased that just haven’t been paid for yet. The check that’s coming after Sunday’s race is going to pay for that.

That’s just kind of how it works. It’s hard to dig out of that hole if you don’t make it. It really sets up your season. Then obviously points‑wise, it can swing 20, 30 points either way if you finish 10th or if you finish 30th.

Q. Landon, over the last 10 laps, you were in, you were out, you were in, and you were out. How do you manage the emotions during that time?
LANDON CASSILL: That’s not the hardest time to manage the emotions. The hardest time to manage the emotions was the few days leading up to it. For some reason this year was a little harder on my mentally. I had to actually focus on my plan, what I had to do, how I wanted to race my way into this race.

I couldn’t have done it without my wife this week. She could see it in my eyes on Monday. She really helped me calm down and think about what I know I can do what I know my cars capable of.

In terms of the last 10 laps of the race, at that point you’re just in the zone. These guys know sometimes you get to that place where you don’t even feel your arms, your body, you’re just making decisions.

The one thing I knew I needed to do that I told myself before the race I needed to do and I told myself with five laps to go on that last restart I needed to do was I wanted to put myself in a position that the cars behind me, that I could control their decisions.

Fortunately with five to go, I had Matt Kenseth behind me, I was on the outside line. Because of the cars that were underneath us, I was in a position I could control his decisions. So he really didn’t want to be pushing me, I could tell. He wanted to go around me. Fortunately I had the upper hand on him. He’s the one that pushed me up into the top 10 and kept me in the field. So, thank you, Matt, even though you didn’t really intentionally do it. I helped you help me.

JEFF GORDON: Teach me how to do that. I’d like to know how to control Matt Kenseth’s decisions (laughter).

LANDON CASSILL: Maybe it was a one‑time deal; I don’t know (smiling).
Q. Ty, who at RCR helped you handle the stress going into the race? What was your most stressful moment in the race?
TY DILLON: I had a little bit of help from everybody. My wife helped me out a lot. She’s been there, my calming little angel on the side. She’s been keeping me strong.

I’ve been stressed out and nervous. This race means a lot to me. As I said earlier, I’ve watched it since I was a kid, watched my heroes race. To be in it meant a lot.

Missing getting in by speed by so much, I was nervous. I wanted to be in officially. It’s finally here that I’m officially in the Daytona 500. It’s awesome. My brother, my grandfather, they were so supportive the whole time, too, in keeping me with the right mindset.

But nothing was going to calm me down until I got behind the car and I shifted into fourth going into one.
Q. Jeff, Kenseth was really strong early. When you and Dale got by him, the outside line did whatever it did, you dusted him. How did that develop?
JEFF GORDON: Just circumstances. Like I said, Dale was getting some good runs. I think I got a big push from somebody that kind of gave Dale a big push. Then I went up and started blocking whoever was behind me. It just allowed Dale to go get a run around the bottom, and Matt sort of hedged toward the top. When he did, Dale just barely got to his quarter.

I came off with a pretty big run off of the top on four and had a gap on the inside. I could have either gone three‑wide or pushed Dale. I mean, at that point, with that choice, I saw where Dale was dragging Matt down, so I knew Matt was coming backwards, I didn’t want to go with him. I had to make that quick decision. I decided to go with Dale. Then the 2 got tucked in right behind me. We just blew right by him.

At that point he was kind of a sitting duck. He was going backwards in a hurry. Usually in that scenario, if a guy is coming that fast, people are going to start splitting him. I didn’t see what happened after that.
Q. When you’re the Daytona 500 pole winner, when you finish this race, do you go, Whew, got through that one, car is still starting on the pole? How important is that?
JEFF GORDON: The first thing was, man, I would have liked to have won that race. Wish I got a little bit bigger push. The second thing is a big sigh of relief. The reason I said that wasn’t necessarily an easy task, even coming to the white flag, I think it was the 4 car, he went up to the outside of me. I mean, it all but turned me sideways when he was side drafting me.

I was just kind of hanging on tight. As soon as he got to the outside, I didn’t spin out, I was looking up, who was coming, Tony was coming with a big head of steam. Is he going to split me or push me? Luckily he pushed me and took me back up to second almost with a run on Junior.

That’s the way your thought process is working, it’s that quick that things can look pretty bad then all of a sudden you have the momentum going forward and everything was looking really good. It was like that on those closing laps for quite a while.
Q. Jeff, on the final restart, Dale Jr. seemed nervous about what you were going to do. Logano appeared to lay back. With this being like the second year in a row with these rules, everybody more comfortable with this car at the plate tracks, is it becoming more difficult to out‑smart guys when they’re behind you?
JEFF GORDON: Yeah, I mean, I started on the front row on restarts three times tonight, and I don’t think any one of them I came out with the lead. Whatever I’m doing is not the right thing (smiling).

Yeah, it’s tough. You want that car pushing you from behind. But the back end is moving all over the place when they do that.

Even Ty and I were talking before the race, when I decided to choose that side, mainly you want that line to kind of all go together. It’s not that you necessarily want somebody pushing you, you just don’t want big gaps. You can’t control that three and four rows back. You have to go with it, stick with it.

Other than what Landon is going to teach me about control ling what other people are thinking and decision making.

LANDON CASSILL: Just controlling their decisions.

JEFF GORDON: I understand. You’re going about it the right way (smiling). But, yeah, I mean, every decision is very crucial. People can get such big runs. You can go backwards so quickly. I found out in the Unlimited that inside line just didn’t work well for me. I went backwards every single time.

I was glad I had some good people pushing me when I was on the inside. I never really fell back that much from the inside lane. Got a little bit different opinion on that standpoint.

But, yeah, it’s tough. I mean, it’s gotten tougher and tougher every year when you come down here. The competition, the cars are tighter and closer. Everybody has learned so much more.

There are guys that are real bold and aggressive, they go fast and look spectacular just before they hit something. They sometimes win this race, too.

I think it’s trying to figure out how to make that happen without wrecking your racecar.
Q. Jeff, you were talking about it being more difficult. How much more challenging is it in the sense of having these rules the same? How more is it pushing you? Is it that significantly different from last year?
JEFF GORDON: What’s funny is I watched the Duels from last year. The outside line took off. Everybody went into the outside line. Single file for like 10 cars back. I was like, Oh, man, this is going to be a nice, easy 150. I’ll be able to take the outside, get going, we’ll get single file, ride around till the end, everybody will start dicing it up. I’ll be out in front of everybody. It was anything but that.

I’m curious to see what happens this second duel. That was a dogfight the entire time. I was three‑wide. McMurray, he all but turned me down the back straightaway. I moved up, he nudged his way in there. I thought we were going to wreck on like the fifth lap. It was wild out there.

Everybody was pushing really hard. At the end you expect that, but you don’t expect it from lap one. That’s what I saw.

You know, for me, I’m just being aggressive to try to maintain some track position. Other guys look like they’re aggressive trying to make some big moves to get that track position. So everybody is thinking about it differently. Usually they’re a little more calm in the 150s before we get to the 500. That certainly wasn’t the case in that race.

The cars aren’t really any different this year from last year. Everything is really the same. It’s really maybe just experience or how people’s cars are driving or their mindset on how aggressive they want to be.
Q. Ty, when the shifter broke, how concerned were you knowing that you really needed to make your way into the Daytona 500?
TY DILLON: Yeah, I knew as soon as it broke, we were coming with one to go, we talked about fixing it. It was like, Let me see if I can reach down here and shift it. Luckily I could.

I knew if we would have had to wait, we would have risked not catching back up to the pack or going a lap down.

It’s the Daytona 500. I’m going to do whatever it takes. I was going to get it shifted.

JEFF GORDON: Happened right at the beginning?

TY DILLON: Last caution.
Q. Ty, how concerned were you when the 42 came across your nose when Trevor lost it?
TY DILLON: I didn’t really have too much time to be concerned. I was a little concerned afterwards. I could kind of feel a little bit of the air, like those guys were waving around. Next thing I know Larson is across my nose. He made a good save. I came close to wrecking his day, too.

Things happened quicker than, like I say, we’re used to or ready for. I’m just glad we didn’t crash our car along with it. Just part of the bumps that got us here, I guess.

Q. Ty, the emotions of making your first one, has it sunk in yet? Jeff, it being your last 500, can you appreciate the emotions of a guy making his first?
TY DILLON: It hasn’t totally sunken in yet. When I get back to the motorhome, watch my brother, be sitting on the couch, I can finally relax after a couple hours, maybe it will sink in. Kind of surreal. Like I said, I always wanted to be a part of this. It’s finally happened.

JEFF GORDON: I don’t think I can put it in perspective from his standpoint because he grew up in a family that came to Daytona ever since he was a baby. I didn’t really watch the Daytona 500 until I was in my teens. I was always focused on Indianapolis.

It’s taken me 20 years to get the appreciation for this sport, the greats, the history. Of course, winning it. I feel like the first year I won it in ’97, I didn’t have a full appreciation for the history of this sport.

That race meant a lot to me, but it didn’t mean near as much to me as after I won the second one and the third run. I don’t know, just a kid who grew up in open‑wheel racing in California. That’s not what we did back then.

But that has changed in a big way. Certainly Ty, growing up in his family, my gosh, the significance of this race, I can’t imagine what that must mean to him to know he’s been walking ‑‑ he probably was strolled around here (laughter).