NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AXALTA ‘WE PAINT WINNERS’ 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 5, 2015
TY DILLON, NO. 33 YUENGLING CHEVROLET SS, met with media and discussed going back & for the between the Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series, his goals, the hunt for sponsorship, and more. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT THE CUP SERIES AND HOW THINGS ARE GOING FOR YOU
“This is my third one (Cup race) this year. I did two last year. So, I still have a lot to learn. These guys are definitely on another level and I’m still learning these cars and every track is new to me. But, it’s been going fairly well. I’ve learned, every time I get out of the car, I feel like I could go back to that race track and really run a lot better. And hopefully this week, a ‘win’ for me would be a top-20, for sure. I really like this race track. I feel like we can do really good. But you never know. I’m always going to go with the mindset of going to win, but also to just try to learn and gain as much experience that will help in the future.”
WHAT HAS BEEN THE HARDEST PART FOR YOU BETWEEN THE XFINITY CARS AND THE CUP CARS?
“Obviously, the power of the cars and the difference in the way they handle and the downforce and stuff. But, I think the thing that you’re not really used to is the completion level. You have to be so perfect every single lap in a Cup car because the competition is so much higher than in an XFINITY car. I’m not saying XFINITY is not great competition, but throughout the whole field in the Cup Series you have to be ‘on-point’ or else you’re going to lose positions. So, I think you learn so much from being perfect every single lap in the Sprint Cup Series. And when you go back to the XFINITY Series, you feel with the power reduction and racing at a higher level, you feel like Superman when you get back to the XFINITY cars. So, it definitely helps me going back and forth, and hopefully it will help me in going for that championship in the XFINITY Series.”
A LOT OF ROOKIES DON’T COME TO POCONO FIRST TIME AROUND. IS THIS MORE SPONSOR-DRIVEN WITH YUENGLING ON-BOARD?
“Yeah, definitely. This is kind of their hometown track. But Pocono is a place I really like and I ran really well here in the ARCA Series and that Truck series. It’s a place I’m definitely not afraid of. I’m excited to get out there on the race track in the Sprint Cup Series and hopefully surprise some people and do really well for Yuengling. We have an awesome looking race car. It’s probably one of the coolest ones that has been out on the race track in a long time.”
YOU WERE A SHAGGY-HAIRED LITTLE KID IN THE ARCA SERIES WHEN THAT WIN OCCURRED. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE COMING BACK HERE NOW IN A CUP CAR?
“Yeah, I’m married. I’ve got less hair. Maybe I’m a little wiser and have a little more experience. But, I’m still young and learning in NASCAR. I still have a lot to learn in all the series, really. But I’m glad to be back in the ultimate Sprint Cup Series and getting the experience that I’ve always wanted to here at Pocono. Hopefully this is just the first start of many here.”
I UNDERSTAND THERE IS A LARGE CONTINGENT OF PEOPLE COMING FROM YUENGLING. THAT MIGHT MAKE YOU ONE OF THE FAN-FAVORITES ON SUNDAY
“Yeah, I know. That’s very exciting. Yuengling is such a great sponsor. Our partnership has grown and just gotten better every single year. I love working with those guys. I’m glad that they’re going to have such a big group of people out here this weekend. Hopefully we put on a great show for them.”
HAS ANYTHING PROGRESSED IN THE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT NEXT SEASON AND THE CUP SERIES? IS THERE ANYTHING MORE CONCRETE ALONG THOSE LINES?
“No, nothing real concrete. We had talks, actually starting last year that going into this year we were going to start searching for an opportunity for me to run full-time in the Sprint Cup Series, like my brother, after his second year in the XFINITY Series. But it’s a slow process. We’re doing a lot of different things and working with a lot of different people. It’s not really our main focus. It’s kind of on the back burner at this point. But, if we could get something nailed down early, it would only help our effort for next year. But right now, my main focus as a driver is getting experience. When I do get to run the Sprint Cup Series this year, if something were to happen for next year; and also, getting experience so I can go win the XFINITY championship this year.”
IF IT WERE TO HAPPEN, WOULD IT NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE WITH THE RCR TEAM, OR COULD IT PERHAPS BE WITH AN RCR-AFFILIATED TEAM?
“The plan is to be with RCR. And that’s definitely what I want to do and my grandfather (Richard Childress), so we’re working 100 percent. There might be options later down the road, but right now we’re 100 percent focused on getting sponsorship for full-time for RCR.”
REGARDING THE MEDIA TALK OF POSSIBILITY OF GOING WITH GERMAIN RACING?
“They’ve had a great relationship with RCR and I don’t really know the situation over there. So, it’s kind of tough for me to comment. But they’re a great team. But like I said, we’re fully focused on getting sponsorship for RCR and I think that’s all of our attention right now. Like I said, if something were to happen up, maybe it will open up our horizons a little bit on something like that.”
WOULD YOU GO BACK TO XFINITY NEXT YEAR ON A FULL-TIME BASIS OR A PART-TIME BASIS?
“I think in a perfect world, just to kind of put it out there, I would love to run both series full-time and compete for the Rookie-of-the-Year title in the Sprint Cup Series and do what my brother is kind of doing this year in the XFINITY Series, but run all the races if I could. I think it’s proven to do really well for Austin. He’s done really good in both series this year. He’s had some finishes that did not go his way, but his performance in the Cup Series has been a lot better this year. I think a lot of that is due to the confidence from being able to go back and forth. A lot of the drivers are doing that because the cars are getting more similar it seems like. So, I think that’s what our full intention is. But, right now, that’s all things that are kind of hypothetical and stuff that we’re working towards and maybe the second half of the season we’ll have some more news and hopefully have some things nailed down for next year. But right now I’m focused on getting that points lead back in the XFINITY Series and having a great run here this weekend and build some confidence.”
YOU’RE ABOUT A THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH THE XFINITY SEASON. WHERE DO YOU ASSESS WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?
“We’re in a good spot. We’re second in points. But, our team, we’re winners. And we want to be in Victory Lane. So, we’re a little down right now, obviously, with only being second in points but not getting in Victory Lane has kind of been tough on our team. But we’re really working hard to trying to get back to make sure we’re running in the top-5 and battling for wins. We haven’t really been able to do that but for a couple of tracks this year. We want to be able to do it every single weekend. So, we’re working hard. We’ve got a tough team and we know we can be consistent and win this championship, but we want to win the races, too. We’ve really been killing them with consistency this year, but we haven’t had as much speed as we need to have. Hopefully the next two-thirds of the year, we’ll kick it up and go start winning some races. I believe we can do that, one hundred percent.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU THAT INDY IS ON THE HORIZON?
“That is definitely a place I have circled on my agenda for sure. That’s why I like coming to Pocono, something about these weird race tracks with funky shapes that suits me right. And I’ve been very successful at. I’m looking forward to going back to Indianapolis. Y’all need to put some stuff out there. I want to run that race. So if there are some sponsors out there that want to put me in car for Indianapolis I would love to be in the Sprint Cup race there. I love that race track. I’ve been very successful there. I can’t wait to go back with my XFINITY car.”
THERE IS TALK YOU WILL RUN THIS PAINT SCHEME AGAIN THIS SEASON?
“Yeah we are talking about it. I think we are going to run it on our XFINITY car. I’m not real sure about Cup wise.”
ARE YOU DRIVING AT ELDORA?
“Yeah I am. I’m going to race Eldora. I’m going to run with Gallagher Motorsports in the No. 33 Truck. That is my last race with them in the Truck Series. I’m excited to go back. I’ve got a little revenge to get back. We should have probably won that race. We were really fast there last year. I spun out and then we had a couple of penalties and still finished fifth or sixth. I’m looking forward to it. That is a great time. It’s a fun week because you go there and then you go to Indianapolis. Two really unique cool places.”
YOU ARE RUNNING A NEW CHASSIS THIS WEEK. WHEN YOU GO OUT FOR PRACTICE WHAT IS THE THING YOU REALLY WANT TO GET STRAIGHTENED OUT?
“I have no clue everything is new for me in the Sprint Cup series. A new chassis or not I’ve got a lot to learn every time I go out on the race track this weekend. It’s all about me gathering information and giving the best I can to my crew chief Slugger (Labbe) and us building a great platform for when we start the race.”
WHAT IS THE CHEMISTRY BEEN LIKE WITH SLUGGER?
“I’ve had a lot of crew chiefs and Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) has been – you know what I like about Slugger is that he gives me all the information possible. He forces me to learn and get better as a driver. He is really pushing me to better myself, which I really like. He has so much experience winning race in this series and vying for championships. He has helped me a lot just the few races that I have ran. He has been a great crew chief.”
THE SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT POCONO IS SO MUCH DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER RACES YOU HAVE COMPETED IN HERE. HOW DOES THAT WORK OUT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE ON THESE ‘WEIRD’ RACETRACKS AS YOU CALL THEM?
“Hopefully it works out well. I think this is a place where you really have to attack on restarts, which is something I really like to do. Be aggressive on restarts and get spots because it seems like it does get a little strung out and gets hard to pass at times. I think we are going to be strongly paying attention to gaining as much track position as possible whether it is on pit road or fuel mileage or restarts. I look forward to that.”
YOU HAVE A FAVORITE HORSE IN THE BELMONT THIS WEEK HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?
“That was awesome. We were doing a track advance for Kentucky Speedway the race is coming up here soon and got to meet up with those folks. I think it was just a unique opportunity. It worked out that American Pharaoh was still there and we met the assistant trainer. He let me go back there and feed him some carrots and watched him walk onto the hauler as he was leaving out to go to New York and hopefully win the triple crown. If he wins it I’m going to take all the credit.”
TALK ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT, JR. GOING FOR THREE IN A ROW AT POCONO:
“I don’t want him to win this week. I want to win. Dale, Jr. is an awesome guy, but I would like to see and RCR car in Victory Lane. That is really cool for him to go for three in a row, but I’m not a Hendrick guy, so I don’t want to see him win.”
JUST FROM A DRIVER’S PERSPECTIVE WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO HAVE THAT MUCH SUCCESS AT ONE TRACK?
“It takes a lot. You have to be perfect every time you show up to win a race throughout the whole weekend get your car right and unload strong. It’s a tall feat and if Junior can do it that is really awesome, but like I said I don’t want him to do it. He’s a great guy and I really look up to Dale, but I would like to see one of our cars in Victory Lane. I would like to get there.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WITH YUENGLING BEING SO CLOSE? IS THIS A BUSIER WEEK FOR YOU THAN MAYBE YOU NORMALLY WOULD HAVE?
“Yeah, definitely, but I love it. Yuengling has been such a great sponsor partner of ours. I love hanging out with those folks. We usually have a lot of fun. They are a great sponsor. The oldest American brewery and we are really promoting the Yuengling light lager very strong out here. They have a huge contingency of people and it is going to be a fun weekend for us.”
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO WIN AT POCONO?
“It is definitely a tricky course, but you have to be perfect all weekend. You have to get your car better throughout all these practice sessions. You have to qualify really well. I think restarts are very important here. It kind of gets strung out a little bit and you might be able to get one or two cars on a long run, but you are going to gain most of your spots on pit road and on restarts when everybody fans out three and four wide. You have to be aggressive and get your spots when you can.”
HOW MUCH OF AN ADVANTAGE IS IT FOR YOU TO HAVE SUCH A VETERAN CREW BEHIND YOU?
“I think it is a huge advantage for me being a rookie and having such a veteran crew behind me. They are letting me be the rookie. I’m the one that is supposed to go out there and make mistakes and learn as much as I can and I know I have a solid group of guys behind me that are going to support me and get me the best equipment and opportunity throughout this weekend. Hopefully, it will be a pretty potent combination.”