NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AXALTA ‘WE PAINT WINNERS’ 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 3, 2016
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the kid’s autograph session at Charlotte, the New Hampshire tire test, his thoughts on winning and making the Chase, making gains on the other teams, and more. Full Transcript:
YOUR SPONSOR, AND THE RACE ENTITLEMENT SPONSOR FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, AXALTA, IS CELEBRATING THEIR 150TH ANNIVERSARY. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT?
“Yeah, you took all my bullet points (laughter). They are celebrating their 150th anniversary and bringing a lot of employees to the race this weekend. Obviously they’re the sponsor for the event. They’ve been a big part of Hendrick Motorsports for so many years working with Jeff (Gordon) and now this year with our car, so we’d love to take them to Victory Lane. It would be great for them and great for our team as well, with the position we’re in. I feel like the summer is going to be a great opportunity for us to start to get some direction and regain some of our performance and maybe it’s starts this weekend. This is a track where I really enjoy racing at and have had some good success here of late. It’s seems to be a track where we’ve been pretty consistent each time we show up. And the car felt pretty good in the first practice, even though we only got a few laps there. But, it was pretty much in the ballpark as far as the balance goes. Hopefully we’ll get some good practice tomorrow so we can see what the rest of the field has got and kind of understand exactly where we are in comparison to everyone else and go from there.”
IT WAS JIMMY MEANS BIRTHDAY THIS PAST WEEKEND. HOW MUCH DID HE MEAN TO YOUR CHILDHOOD AND HOW DID HE SHAPE YOU AS YOU STARTED RACING YOURSELF?
“I went to North Wilkesboro on a Friday or Saturday with my dad. This was probably 1985. They didn’t have a garage, so everybody was parked on pit road and Jimmy was beside Dad. Dad introduced me to Jimmy. I was very little. But, it just so happened that Jimmy was parked there and I was really kind of new to the sport. I’d been coming to races as a kid, but I was starting to get to the age where I was starting to understand who the drivers were. But it was just circumstances that Jimmy was parked next to Dad and Dad was very conversational with Jimmy and I thought he must have been a good guy if Dad was so laid back with him. I got introduced shortly thereafter to Brad, Jimmy’s son. And me and Brad became best friends. Every time I went to the race track I looked for Brad; and every time Brad went to the race track, he looked for me. We’d spend the entire day at the track running around together just trying to get in trouble. There were a couple of other guys that ran I that circle: Doug Williams’s son, Scotty; Mike Witcomb, Bob Whitcomb’s son, and a few others. But me and Brad, we still talk today. Brad’s a fabricator at Gibbs and still one of my best friends. He comes over at least once a week and we stay pretty current on what’s going on in each other’s lives and that keeps me in contact with Jimmy even to this day. One of the biggest honors I ever had was when Jimmy wrecked his car at Daytona during SpeedWeeks, was loaning him one of our cars out of our haulers. We had four teams there with four back-up cars sitting in all those trailers. So to be able to give him a car to be able to compete that week was probably one of my proudest moments. I think a lot of Jimmy. There’s a lot of guys like Jimmy in the history of the sport, but he’s been a fun guy to know. When you watch him do what he does with all the stuff he has or the limited budget he has, it definitely keeps things in perspective and makes you appreciate how fortunate you are to have the resources we have and have all the access to great equipment and great people. So, it certainly has helped keep me, I think, a little more grounded.”
WOULD YOU MIND SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SITUATION WITH KERRY (EARNHARDT) AND TERESA (EARNHARDT) AND ELABORATE ON THAT A LITTLE BIT?
“I think I said what I needed to say last week. I don’t need to elaborate anymore on it. I thought I was pretty clear.”
AT CHARLOTTE, THERE WAS A SECTION ON THE RED CARPET AT THE DRIVERS MEETING WITH KIDS ONLY GETTING AUTOGRAPHS AND I UNDERSTAND THAT WAS MAYBE AN INITIATIVE FROM THE DRIVERS COUNCIL. DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT? HOW DOES THAT FIT INTO THE GREATER CONVERSATION ABOUT GETTING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FANS TO THE TRACK?
“Yes, that wasn’t an idea solely that came from the drivers. You’ve got to give the tracks and some other people from NASCAR involved in it some of the credit for putting that together. But that, to us, is a lot more enjoyable than if you know what the walk is like at Indy, where there are people on both sides sort of hollering at you and you’re doing one side and the other side is just getting more and more pissed off and you can’t get everybody. We feel, as drivers, that even though we sign as many as we can, a lot of people leave very disappointed in the experience. But I have felt like that having the kids there and taking care of them has changed that experience for the better in some ways. But I can’t say that was the Drivers Council’s idea solely. We just talked to them about how we feel like that it sets the fan up for disappointment when we’re all kind of walking down this long line. Vegas is another place. We stop and sign as many as we can, but we feel like we only make a small dent. And everybody else leaves upset that they were missed or walked past or what have you.”
DO YOU HAVE PLANS FOR COLE CUSTER FOR NEXT YEAR YET? HAS ANYTHING BEEN LOCKED DOWN YET?
“We don’t have anything in writing for a lot of stuff for next year (laughs). But that’s the environment for the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series. All your deals are (from) one year to the next. You might get a two-year contract every once in a while; a three-year deal is like the coolest thing in the world. We would love to keep working with him and I believe he has a good amount of talent. He showed some great potential in the Xfinity race at Charlotte. It really comes down to whether they want Cole to race at JR Motorsports, or if they want to develop an Xfinity program of their own. It really just comes down to that.”
ON THE NEW HAMPSHIRE TIRE TEST, DID YOU DO ANYTHING AS FAR AS THE CONFIGURATION OF THE CAR IN ADDITION TO FINDING A CONTROL TIRE, AND WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE COMPOUNDS THAT WERE SELECTED?
“They brought a tire; when we got there, they had a tire that they really wanted to work. So, they showed up with a tire that they wanted to race. We had the controls set and some lefts and rights that they just needed laps on just to get some information. The tire that they want to race is the tire we’re going to race and I liked it the most. It’s softer. It’s a little bit quick taking off, but it falls off more and I think it’ll give you a better chance on restarts to do some passing. A lot of guys will stay out on 20, 25, 30, 40-lap tires sometimes, just to get some track position. With the softer tire, the cars are going to take off right away and have grip initially, right at the re-start, and you’ll be able to really work pretty hard for about three or four corners with a bunch more grip or a lot more grip than the guys out there on the older tire. And with the tires that we’ve had there in the past, man, they would sheer and chatter and they didn’t come-in right away. It took two or three or four or five corners; and by the time they came in, you’d kind of lost the advantage of the new tire a little bit. And it also leveled off very early. It didn’t fall off as much. So basically a 20-lap tire and a 40-lap tire would run the same speed. So, you didn’t have an advantage even though you had 20-lap fresher tires, you ran the same speed as the next guy. Whereas, I think this softer may tend to fall off a little more and continue to fall off throughout the run. So, I was pretty happy. It’s just a small step in a good direction. I think going forward, the tire will continue to improve.”
INAUDIBLE
“No, we spent the most of the test working with Goodyear to get the laps they wanted on all these tires. We ran the Phoenix left side many, many laps and we ran a lot of different right-side compounds, getting 30 and 40-lap runs to get the information they needed for those particular tires they needed for whatever reason.”
IT’S BEEN A FEW WEEKS SINCE YOU SAID TO YOUR TEAM ‘HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM’ COMMENT. ARE YOU GAINING ON JOE GIBBS RACING? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE MADE SOME GAINS SINCE YOU SAID THAT THREE WEEKS AGO OR SO?
“Yeah, that is not a lot of time in this sport. Three weeks is such a small window. I wish I could answer that question for you maybe after the second Pocono or a couple more weeks. Jimmie (Johnson) obviously ran great in the (Coca-Cola) 600, which I think is a great sign. We had pretty good speed early in that race, but we struggled the rest of it. We ran okay in the All-Star race. I think that me and Greg (Ives, crew chief) we are communicating as well as we can. I am happy with our relationship and our communication. It takes effort on my part too. I told him during the 600 race weekend that I see some areas where I can be more accountable and more available. We are working really hard. I know that is sort of the company line every week, but we are. The guys are grinding and trying to find everything they can to get us a little more speed. This is going to be a great opportunity this weekend. Hopefully, we will get some time on the track. This is a place where we can learn and prepare of Indy and other tracks. You are going to go to Michigan that is going to give us a great idea of how we are doing. I like the way we tested at New Hampshire. The No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) car was there and I know everybody is on different tires and everybody has got a different agenda and working on different things for Goodyear, but I felt like we had the same speed if not a little more than we had last year. We always kind of ran good at New Hampshire and I have always liked that track. I didn’t think we were off or missing anything at the test. I felt pretty good about how competitive the car felt.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE XFINITY SERIES RACING AT POCONO THIS WEEKEND? ALL THREE JR MOTORSPORTS CARS WERE FAST YESTERDAY ALL IN THE TOP 11 IN BOTH PRACTICE SESSIONS:
“Well, I think our Xfinity program at JR Motorsports has had a great year. We’ve got some good things going; some confidence and I think they will just continue to get better. We’ve got a young group of crew chiefs that are all working really tight together. This is a fun race track. Brandon (Igdalsky, Pocono Raceway CEO) and his guys are racers and they put a lot into this place. You would think that he is here every single day and this is all he does is ‘how can I make racing and the experience for the fans better at this race track.’ He is always upgrading. It seems like whatever they get out of this place they put it right back in. He is a fun guy to want to work with and help. They have always treated me very well and it makes you want to do whatever you can to help them. I am glad the Xfinity Series is here. Hopefully, this is a home for them for many many years. It’s a unique track and presents some fun challenges and I think it’s fun for the fans and hopefully, I think, they will put on a good race.”
DURING THE TEST AT NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS WEEK YOU TWEETED A HUMUNGOUS JBL SPEAKER IN THE CAR. WHAT WERE YOU LISTENING TO? DID YOU HAVE IT ON WHEN YOU WERE ON THE TRACK?
“Well, I just never turn it off, but you can’t hear it while you are out there running. When there are some long changes and you just don’t feel like getting out of the car it’s in there playing. I think the guys like it because they can hear while they are working on the car. I had it on ‘90’s alternative on Pandora.”
WHAT HAS MAYBE BEEN SOME OF THE REASONS WHY YOU HAVE LOST THAT PERFORMANCE AND NOW HALFWAY TO THE CHASE CUTOFF ARE YOU STARTING TO FEEL A LITTLE PRESSURE, A LITTLE ANXIETY TO GET THAT WIN TO LOCK INTO THE CHASE?
“No, I’m not feeling any anxiety, at 41 years old you kind of get over that stuff, I’m not going to worry about it. I spent the first 18 years worrying myself to death. I think we are a good enough team to make it whether we get a win or not we are a good enough team. That is not a guarantee, I just feel confident that we will get in. A win would be what we expect, not just to lock ourselves in the Chase, we just expect to win. We’ve got a couple of years now of multiple win seasons and we expect to go and win races. The plate racing this year has been frustrating. We’ve got some understanding and ideas on why things have gone the way they have went in several situations and you learn from your mistakes and move forward.
“I have been racing in this series a long time and I have been asked that question dozens and dozens of times like where do you need to improve, no matter what team I was racing for, no matter what year is was. Even if you knew you wouldn’t tell. I mean you can’t say ‘them guys in the body shop they need to get going’ you are not going to throw anybody under the bus. The majority of the time you don’t know. The majority of the time there is no way to really put your finger on the exact area where you are getting beat. You look at a car in the garage area, you look across at the guy that is really running well his car doesn’t look… nothing stands out. You are looking at everything they are doing. You watch a guy real close all weekend make changes and go through the process of the whole weekend and nothing really stands out. Their body doesn’t look better than my body. Their motor can’t be better than my motor. It’s just a combination of dozens of things doing everything right, preparing and working hard. Somebody’s got to win and somebody’s got to lose. You are not always going to be the fastest guy. You just keep coming up to the race track and showing up and trying to find that advantage that no one else has.
“I don’t doubt that Hendrick Motorsports will be as strong as they want to be at some point in this season. I feel pretty confident that we will be fine in the Chase. I look at the year Brad Keselowski won the championship Hendrick cars were really good all year long. Brad and his team worked all year to try and find what advantage we had and they found it. They took that idea in house and made it their own and made it better. They went into the Chase and were very strong. When Tony Stewart won the championship, they struggled all year. They found ideas that other teams were using and doing, took it in house made it their own, took that plan and made it even better and won the championship. Last year, halfway through the season the Gibbs guys were frustrated wondering how to get better, looking for speed. They saw something that they could improve and saw somethings in other teams. Took it home, made it better and came out in the Chase and won the championship.
“I can see us sort of in that situation where we are looking across the garage. Every team has enough smart people on it and if they figure out how somebody is making their mousetrap so well they will take it home and do it and make it even better. They will take those ideas that are great and improve on them and then bring it to the track and outrun that guy. That is just the nature of the sport. I’m not too worries about where we are right now. We are not running bad. We took off at the start of the year, had some second-place finishes, thought we were right on the verge of winning and we struggled this month. It’s been a rough month, but I think we can turn it around here. I think we should run great here. I’m not so much worried about end of the race results. I’m more concerned with consistent speed in the car and running up front throughout the day and having consistency on pit road and in the race car. I think we can do that this weekend and going forward.”
WHAT ARE THE AREAS THAT YOU CAN BE MORE ACCOUNTABLE?
“I think that I could call Greg (Ives, crew chief), reach out to Greg, be more available and more conversational with him about what we are doing, preparing specifically with the set-up and understanding. We ran some stuff in our set-up for the All-Star race and for the 600 that we had never ran before. When things are going good you might not plug in all the way and want to know everything your crew chief is doing. He is going to tell you what he thinks you need to know. You are going to get to the race track; I get to the race track early enough and I will sit in the hauler for 30 minutes to an hour before practice. Maybe we don’t talk a lot, maybe we talk a lot, but that is what I’ve done consistently over the years. He tells me whatever he thinks I need to know and I will go out there and drive the car and tell him how it drives. I can always ramp that up.
“I can always want to know everything and want to know every little detail and want to understand why we are moving every little part and why we are changing every spring or shock and why we are running this different sway bar. I can really bug him to death and pick his brain and try to be as knowledgeable about the car as he is so that while we are out there on the race track and I’m driving it and I’m feeling something I can kind of think to the set-up and give him some direction on the set-up aside from his own ideas and plans that he has had over the week. I’m there and I haven’t really dialed back anything that I’ve been doing over the last several years, but I can always be more conversational and just hang out over his shoulder.
“You never know when some idea might come out of that that works some conversation or something that one of us might say that spurs some speed into the car. We will just continue to communicate as much as we can until we start to see the speed coming in the car. I’m not too worried about it to be honest with you, but I don’t want to feel like I’m not accountable, not available. I’m there, but I want him to know that I’m plugged in. Whatever you need from me, tell me what you need from me.”