NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 7, 2016
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kentucky Speedway and discussed the possibility of making the Chase, his past success at Kentucky, the new track surface and many other topics. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT HOW FUN IT’S BEEN TO RACE SO FAR THIS YEAR AND WHAT YOUR OUTLOOK IS FOR THIS WEEKEND:
“For us it’s an opportunity I think coming to a track that is freshly paved. The racing has been pretty solid this year. We look at this as an opportunity for us coming to a place that not anybody has a real true advantage. There are some guys that tested here, but as far as the banking and the layout of the track, I’ve been pretty fast here. I’m looking forward to this weekend’s race and the opportunities it brings. It was nice getting in the Xfinity car and kind of learning a little bit before we get in the Cup car. I think it will be interesting for sure come Saturday night.”
TALK ABOUT YOUR MEMORIES OF THE NATIONAL DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAME IN FLORENCE AND WHAT BILL HOLDER HAS DONE WITH THE FACILITY?
“I have raced a lot there. Actually, the first super late model like big time show was there. I remember showing up and I had done like a school beforehand with Dale and Shane McDowell and they were like ‘well you are doing pretty good at this school, let’s take you to this big race where you can get a little experience and see what it’s like. It’s a slick, slow track it’s really finesse, it’s not like a fast track.’ I was like okay. So, we got to line up and it rained the day before like a full solid day of rain. I remember pulling up to the gate and watching Josh Richards go through there and run like wide open and was like ‘whoa what am I doing here?’ We ended up running that race. I looked like a fish out of water. I came back the next race and I ran second or third. Florence has been good to me and I enjoy the track. You can learn a lot there because you can run low and high. It’s a fun facility to race on for sure.
“The Hall of Fame is a cool little area. I think they did get a door from us at some point. The best of the best are in there. It’s good the dirt late model racing has a Hall of Fame.”
I SAW ON TWITTER YOU WERE COLD CALLING FANS. CAN YOU GIVE US THE BACK STORY ON THAT? WHEN YOU ARE TALKING TO A FAN THAT DOESN’T KNOW IT’S YOU HOW MUCH FUN IS THAT?
“It was a lot of fun. The guys at NBC are doing a really good job. They had a list of names on there of fans of Austin Dillon and I just started calling them. I couldn’t disguise my voice it is so country. I have a pretty funny voice every now and then I just didn’t use it. It was fun though. I got to ask questions that were off the wall and tried to make a joke out of it. It worked out and I’m glad everybody got to see that video. My girlfriend kicked me pretty hard for it, but it was fun.”
WHAT WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE OUT OF IT?
“Just calling true fans of our sport. There are a lot of haters out there and to hear a real fan and talk to them on the phone and get the love from them it was pretty special. Just hearing fans that support you and are proud of what you are doing out there. And just excited to hear from you that is what’s fun about it and that is what makes our sport great.”
YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS ON THE OLD TRACK, HOW BIG OF A CHANGE IS THIS TRACK NOW WITH THE REPAVE? IS IT STILL UNIQUE? DOES IT STILL HAVE SOME THINGS THAT MAKE IT JUST KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY?
“Yeah, it is still very unique. The way the banking enters Turn 3 it’s a flat corner and in (Turns) 1 and 2 is very high banked. You run wide open getting through 1 and 2. In 3 and 4 you kind of have to back up your corner and figure out how to carry momentum and speed because of the banking. I think it’s still Kentucky. There are just not as many bumps and a lot of grip right now. I do think that the way it’s paved, eventually the higher line in 3 and 4 will come into play. I don’t know if it will happen this year. Hopefully, we can get some rubber laid down up there. I would like to go take some cones and move them up about a lane and have practice for about two hours above the groove, just to rubber it in just because we could use that rubber come Saturday night. Hopefully, the trucks do move around a little bit, but it is still Kentucky. I was complaining about entry into Turn 3. One and 2 I’m carrying a lot of speed and just complaining a little bit about 3, but seemed to have speed. We were fastest in Xfinity practice.”
WHERE YOU ARE SITTING RIGHT NOW IF TODAY WAS THE CUT OFF YOU WOULD MAKE THE CHASE ON POINTS. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CHANCES HOLDING ON TO THAT SPOT THROUGH RICHMOND?
“We feel pretty positive about our chances. We had a good meeting last week before Daytona with everybody in our organization. Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) pulled our team together and met with the core group of guys and kind of explained what we can accomplish. We can make the Chase, we are sitting in a really good spot and we have to take every race more serious than we ever have. Just take it one at a time, but really focus and do everything we can to get an advantage on everybody that is out there. Whether it’s me just working extra on trying to learn things and see things watching the races and it’s them trying to just get a little bit more out of the car. We have got tracks that we have circled to win at. We want to really win a race to lock ourselves in solid and then we have tracks that we know we’ve got to improve on, places that we haven’t run great in the past. We need to jump up five, 10 spots because the other guys are going to be good going to those places. This is a place we’ve got circled because everybody is on fresh pavement and hopefully we can make it happen.”
SINCE THE CUP SERIES CAME HERE KYLE BUSH AND BRAD KESELOWSKI HAVE LED THE MAJORITY OF THE LAPS. DOES THIS REPAVE BRING THEM BACK AND IS EVERYBODY ON EQUAL FOOTING OR ARE THEY STILL THE GUYS TO BEAT?
“Well it’s tough. Those guys have been in fast Cup cars lately. Those cars are running really well and you’ve got to show that speed early. When you come to these paved tracks where wide open is pretty much the key, there are still some speed in the aerodynamics of the car. I think it will bring some guys closer because you will see other guys that run good at Kansas and places like that where there is a lot of throttle time will gain some positions. I think hopefully, but those are two really good race car drivers you named there and really good organizations. To knock those two off it’s going to be tough, but it can be done.”
WHAT AFFECT IF ANY DO YOU THINK THE LOW DOWNFORCE PACKAGE WILL HAVE ON THE RACE SATURDAY?
“I think you will see similar racing that you saw at Michigan. I think getting underneath a car is going to be the hardest part. I think you will be able to run closer to guys, but exit of the corner will be tough. Carrying speed off of Turn 4 is going to be tough like Brad (Keselowski) was saying. Entering (Turns) 3 and 4 will be a challenge and then exiting beside somebody. But, with all the grip I think it will be very similar to any package that is out there because you have a lot of grip right now. Hopefully, it does present some passing lanes as we move throughout the weekend and create a strong race for us.”
ARE YOU STILL WORKING WITH A DRIVER COACH?
“Oh yeah, he’s an engineer, but everybody calls him my driver coach. He has done a great job this year just working with me. It’s hard to be approached by certain people about driving. For example my Dad, does a very bad job of approaching me telling me how to drive. His approach is very stern and to the point. Sometimes you just got to talk around certain things. More than anything Xavi (Marcos, engineer, driver coach) does a good job of approaching me the right way and speaking to me the right way. We just try to work and get better on everything we can looking and comparing to other drivers if they are faster. If I’m the fastest in the group of data that we have we will try and improve on that. He is never satisfied, which is really good to make me better. Even if we are on top of the board, we sat on the pole at California he felt like we missed a little bit. It’s nice to have someone that really pushes you and takes you to the next level. Hopefully, I can keep him there.”
LATELY IT SEEMS LIKE YOUR DAD AND GRANDFATHER ARE ON YOUR RADIO A LITTLE MORE THAN USUAL ARE THEY STARTING TO FEEL THE PRESSURE FOR YOU INTERNALLY? IS IT A PAIN HAVING THOSE TWO ON YOU LIKE THAT?
“I’m a little bit more than just a racecar driver I feel like. I drive for my family, so there is a lot of ties there that people that drive in this garage don’t understand as far as, it’s not just as easy as getting in the car and driving and focusing on that and not worrying about those pit crew guys that are on your team or all the crew guys. My job goes a little bit beyond that. We have taken a lot of those things out, but it’s still hard because when we go home we are really focused on that. It’s not just driving it’s our whole organization as a family. There is nobody else in my back pocket better than my Grandfather and my Dad when it comes to family having them there and balancing the two. My Grandfather does a great job. My Dad though, when it’s a tough situation I go to him because I know he is going to give me honest things it’s just sometimes the approach isn’t always right. That happens with most father/son combos, but as we grow and success comes, as it’s came in the past they go away. It goes like this in racing. It’s hard to have that, but the good thing is I have a family that cares. I’m thankful for that. But, my brother and I both want to see RCR and Welcome, North Carolina be the number one race team. We have a lot invested in that. We push hard and you hear a lot of effort out of our radio. I call it effort. Sometimes it sounds like frustration, but we want the best and I think that comes from everything we deal with during the week. We don’t just show up to the track and drive most of the time. I’m not saying other guys do. A lot of guys put in a lot of effort and they do it, but they are worried about one thing. We have to focus that and that is what I need to do a better job of is just driving most of the time.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT IS AN ADVANTAGE COMPETING IN THE XFINITY SERIES RACE THIS WEEKEND?
“I definitely do. When you get in a car and can get used to running fast right off the bat, because Turn 1 is really fast right now with all that grip you are carrying a ton of speed and running through the center of the corner with a lot of momentum. So, that will help me once I run that Xfinity car to know what I can do in my Cup car. It might take the guys that haven’t seen it or haven’t tested 30 extra minutes or 45 minutes to get comfortable with that corner, where I will be able to go to work and maybe have that 25/30 minute advantage on them and hopefully be able to carry that throughout the weekend. Definitely hope it’s the advantage I think it is. Not only that it’s just good for me to be prepared when I get in that Cup car to be ready to go.”
IS THERE ANY ASPIRATION OR ANY INTENT TO MEET UP WITH ONE OF THE FANS YOU CALLED THIS WEEK?
“Yeah, they cut some of it out because I had talked about… he was from North Dakota or South Dakota and I had talked about races that he had been to. But, he was talking about coming to New Hampshire and I was going to try and hook up with him there. I think we got contact information. We are going to try and meet and say hello. He was a big dirt race fan too. He had been to Eldora I think. Yeah, that was a really cool deal and just shows what kind of sport that we have. We’ve got to cherish that.”