NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 8, 2016
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS, met with media and discussed his visit to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the new track surface at Kentucky Speedway, the importance of a spotter, and more. Full Transcript:
ON HIS VISIT TO NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL IN COLUMBUS, OHIO YESTERDAY:
“I was really lucky to go up there and get a bit of a behind-the-scenes look and be brought in and introduced to several patients and get a bit of a tour of some of the facility. We’ve been up there for the last year or two to go through that and it’s a lot of fun. The patients are awesome to talk to and to get to know. And we donated a Victory Bell, much like we have at Hendrick Motorsports, yesterday; and two of the kids graduated today and rang it today. So, it’s awesome to know that thing is getting some use. But it’s a great treat for me to go there and I got to take Amy with me this week and she got to see a little bit of it. It’s a lot of fun. I look forward to going back.”
WE’RE AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE SEASON. GIVE US AN ASSESSMENT OF YOUR SEASON SO FAR AND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SECOND HALF:
“We obviously aren’t up in the points like we’re use to; and haven’t been getting the results that we expect from our team. But, we just keep working and keep going to the race track and keep showing up. It’s been a frustrating weekend so far. We kind of got recommended to scuff our Goodyear tires, so we did that all day yesterday and we haven’t really had a lot of time to practice and actually see what the car’s got. So, I’m very anxious to get back on the track.
“I appreciate NASCAR’s decision to cancel Qualifying to give us an opportunity to get more track time considering the situation that a lot of the teams are in. So, I think that was a great move, a real smart move. Plus, the track could use the rubber that we’ll be able to put down on it if we get the opportunity to practice later on today, more so than what Qualifying would do to the track. So, I’m just looking forward to getting on the track and that’s really the way it feels every week. I just need more time to work on my car. And we’ve had a lot of weather and a lot of unique situations week after week that seem to stymie our team’s ability to really set our car up and get it ready for the race. So, it’s been a bit frustrating every now and then. But, I’m still enjoying it. I’m still having fun. And I still believe in the group we’ve got and love being part of the crew I’m with and I know that we can do it because we’ve done it before. So, I’m anxious to get back to running how we should and I know I think we’ll do that before the end of this season.”
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THIS TRACK WITH THE NEW SURFACE AND WHAT DO YOU ALL NEED TO DO TO GET UP FRONT AND WIN THE RACE?
“Well, I think the tire is probably a pretty hard tire. Goodyear usually brings a real durable tire to the repaves, so what you can do in the race is really not take tires at all or take two tires. You probably won’t change left’s every time you come down pit road. That is a great way to get track position if everybody else isn’t doing that same thing. You can get off sequence and not pit at all. It just depends. It’s a one groove track, so passing is going to be really difficult. The Trucks raced pretty well yesterday. They got a little softer tire and they got the track pretty wide in (Turns) 3 and 4. I think that we might see some of that in our race, but (Turns) 1 and 2 doesn’t look like it’s going to get that wide and we don’t have the spoiler and all the grip and downforce that the Trucks have. That is why they were more comfortable running two-by-two, more comfortable than we will be anyways. So, it is going to present a lot of challenges as far as trying to get around the track and trying to pass. Going into Turn 1 and 2 side-by-side it’s going to be… somebody is going to have to make a decision to give up the spot. I don’t think you are going to see many guys challenge anybody on the outside there.”
A LOT OF TEAMS WERE REALLY FRUSTRATED YESTERDAY BECAUSE THEY WERE SCUFFING TIRES AND THEY WANTED TO LEARN. YOU SEEM LIKE YOU HAVE DEVELOPED AN ABILITY TO NOT BE AS FRUSTRATED WOULD YOU AGREE?
“I hope. I hate to get frustrated that doesn’t help Greg (Ives, crew chief) and you don’t want to show that kind of emotion in front of your guys. That doesn’t help them do their job and that doesn’t make their job more fun. It actually makes the job less fun, harder to do. You don’t want to be somebody that is hard to be around. So, trying to be positive and give good reinforcement is something I’m working on, you are always working on. And we do have more practice so we’ve got time to tune it up. Greg is going to change everything he can to help us. We made a lot of changes already after the first run we made today. I’m anxious to get out there and see what that did to the car. There are other races if this race don’t work out there is a race next week.”
TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SPOTTER AND THE DRIVER:
“Well, you need to be able to really trust the information he is giving you. He is going to tell you a lot of things that are going to be critical to keeping you out of trouble, clearing you particularly at some of the race tracks where we are running two and three wide all day long, like the plate race tracks. When you’ve got a great relationship with that guy and you know him personally it gives you a lot more comfort and trust and belief in what he is telling you. You are going to have communication with that person all the time so it doesn’t need to be somebody who gets under your skin or rubs you the wrong way. I got a great relationship with TJ (Majors). We are personally friends away from the race track. If we didn’t work another day together we would still be friends beyond racing. It just so happens that he is pretty good at spotting, one of the best I think, and I’m fortunate to be able to work with him on the race track.”