NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
GOOD SAM 500
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 11, 2016
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed his fast start to the season, making gains throughout the off-season, his relationship with crew chief Slugger Labbe, the first practice session and many other topics. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT IMPROVING AS A RACE TEAM AND YOUR OUTLOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND AT PHOENIX:
“It’s been a good start to the year for our Dow team. We have just been plugging along trying to eliminate mistakes each and every week. Things have been going well for us. Hopefully, we can continue this streak and continue our run to the front of the field.”
SITTING TOP 10 IN POINTS WITH TWO TOP 10 FINISHES IN THREE RACES, WHAT DO YOU CREDIT TO YOUR TEAM’S FAST START?
“Hard work in the off season is one thing. I think if you look back to last year, we have kind of had this streak going to the end of last year. I really enjoy working with Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) and my group of engineers that are with me. We have just tried to eliminate mistakes and make me a better driver and our team better race cars. The work is paying off we just have to keep plugging along and never stop working.”
RATE YOUR PRACTICE THIS MORNING AND WHAT ARE YOU HOPING YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH IN QUALIFYING?
“This morning’s practice went pretty well off the truck, I thought. We were third on the board right there in race runs. Once everybody switched to qualifying runs we were probably about fifth and then we backed up to 14th at the very end. I think we have a little bit of speed we can get out of the car. These tires are quite a bit different, I feel like, than last years. Overall the balance has been looser for me the whole weekend long in Xfinity and Cup. Kind of working with that and seeing what we can figure out. I think as we have run here the track has gotten tighter like our rubber has laid down. I don’t know if the IndyCar rubber had something to do with why it was so free. But the track is definitely starting to rubber back to where I normally can run. We will see what we’ve got right here. Hopefully, we didn’t over tighten from this morning’s practice to qualifying. If we did our jobs we should be in the top 12. That is our goal every week is to make it to that final round and give ourselves a shot at a pole.”
DRIVERS OFTEN TALK ABOUT BEING ABLE TO FEEL THE TIRES IF THEY ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE LAST RACE. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THAT FROM THE LAYMAN’S PERSPECTIVE? DO YOU FEEL THAT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY OR IS IT HOW THE CAR ACTS IN THE TURN?
“For our car it’s just … and another thing I haven’t accounted for is the lack of downforce. I’m trying to get to the same braking points that I got to last year and it’s been difficult to get to those same braking points. I find myself struggling a little on entry. I’ve got to take into account that the spoiler is a lot smaller and just kind of getting used to that. But the tire on both sides seems to be freer and our overall balance. So, just working around it and as far as the differences I can help you a little bit. Last week we were at Charlotte doing a tire test all week. Every compound you chose if it was a softer one you went faster. If it was a harder one you went slower. Some tracks that is different, but most of the time you want the softest you can get and usually if you have a soft tire it falls off into a run. Soft means a lot of grip for a shorter period of time. Hard means not as much grip, but hold on for a long period of time.”
WHEN YOU HAVE AN ANIMATED EXCHANGE LIKE YOU DID WITH SLUGGER LAST WEEK AT LAS VEGAS HOW DO YOU GUYS GO ABOUT HASHING THAT OUT AFTER THE FACT? ALSO, WHAT WOULD YOU CHALK YOUR GAINS UP THIS YEAR TO? MORE OF A COMFORT WITH SLUGGER OR THE LOW DOWNFORCE PACKAGE BEING TO YOUR LIKING?
“Our best finish last year came on the high downforce package at Michigan. I wouldn’t account it to just the downforce switches or what not. I think it’s just better race cars overall and then also working better as a team. When it comes to communication with Slugger, I’ve been kind of answering this question all week; we are like two brothers a little bit. We are both very aggressive personalities. He is not afraid to tell me when he thinks I’ve messed up and I’m not afraid to tell him when I think he has messed up. The good thing about that is when you leave you can go home and drink a beer or Coke or whatever you wanted to after the race.
“It’s a part of being intense. I’ve been intense in all the different levels of racing I’ve come up through here. I felt like we lacked a little bit of that intensity that I’m used to when we got to the Cup Series. Slugger kind of brought that back to me. If you listen to Danny Stockman (Austin’s crew chief in the Truck and Xfinity Series) and me in our previous championship runs we were pretty aggressive with each other on the radio. We are not afraid to tell each other ‘hey this sucks’ or ‘we have to do something different.’ Slugger is really good at being blunt with things and I’ve learned to be able to take it and he can take it too. That is what I love about him. I can tell him right to his face, ‘hey this is no good’. He will go to work on it. Same with me, if he thinks I’m not driving right I will go to work too. We’ve got a pretty good understanding throughout our team that we are a family on and off the track. If we get into each other it’s like the big brother/little brother rule – you can mess with him all you want, but no one else can. When it comes down to it we’ve got each other’s backs. It’s just we want the best, we want to win.”
DO YOU THINK THE GAINS HAVE BEEN MADE ACROSS THE BOARD AT RCR? DO YOU THINK IT’S PRIMARILY YOU AND SLUGGER JUST HITTING IT OFF?
“I think it’s been across the board. Our team’s averages are pretty good right now. It’s still early in the season, but I like the speed that we are showing as a group. I think, obviously, our communication, Slugger and I’s have been pretty good so far. As a whole at RCR I think we are going to be better throughout the year because of the connection between all the crew chiefs and drivers. I think as a group RCR has gotten better in the off season. We still have areas that we have a lot of work to do in. I think as the year goes on we will get better. I really enjoyed the Charlotte test. I felt like we went about it, probably one of the best tests that we have had as a group as far as just trying to make our cars better through at test. Instead of just adjusting on what we had, I think we did some things that were kind of out of the box to try and see if there was anything there juice wise. Just trying to get our cars better.”