MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
OVERTON’S 301
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 14, 2017
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 GRAINGER CHEVROLET SS, met with media and discussed his success at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his thoughts on traction compound, what the team needs to do to prepare for the playoffs, and more. Full Transcript:
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT RACING AT NHMS IN MULTIPLE NASCAR SERIES’ AND GIVE US YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT COMING HERE THIS WEEKEND?
“First of all, it’s nice to get out of 95 degree weather and come up here. Even with a little bit of sprinkles, it’s much better. The area and the fans and every aspect of it I enjoy up here. The race track obviously is a little bit different with the VHT. And we tested up here, so it’s kind of ironic to come back and actually go a little bit slower in race trim with the added grip to the race track than what we tested up here. We’ve got ourselves scratching our heads a little bit. We’re more competitive than we were at the test; but speed-wise, the track seems to be a little bit off.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON WENT FOR A BIKE RIDE IN DETROIT. DALE EARNHARDT JR. WENT LAST WEEK. WHAT’S YOUR WORKOUT PLAN AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS WHOLE BIKE CRAZE?
“Yeah, I’m not sure about the whole bicycle deal. And, I don’t quite get those guys and the amount of money they spend on whatever it is 32-ounce bicycle, when all they’ve got to do is just go on Craig’s List and get a Schwinn or something like that and pedal half the distance and twice as hard and get better workouts (laughter). I offered back at Talladega weekend to get a Moped and cut the air for (Matt) Kenseth and those guys just to kind of give them a little draft, some drafting partners, you know? But, they haven’t taken me up on it. So, I’ve just been enjoying fishing and a little bit of the outdoors. My workouts consist more of doing physical activities and sweating than paying money for a bicycle just to coast downhill (laughter).”
WITH YOUR WIN ALREADY THIS SEASON, WHAT’S YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO THE REMAINING RACES UNTIL THE PLAYOFFS?
“We’re trying to get our train back on its tracks, so to speak, from where we were in Phoenix. Our 1.5-mile program has really struggled. Our short track program is not what we need it to be, even in Phoenix we didn’t lead the amount of laps we should have. We led the right one, but we haven’t dominated. We see the No. 78 (Martin Truex Jr) and the No. 42 (Klye Larson); at times the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) have been dominating; maybe not all leading the last lap, but in general we’re not leading enough laps to be as competitive as we need to be for those last 10 races. So, our focus is like it always is, to make the cars drive better and faster and to put ourselves in better contention for making our way easier, or a chance to be easily progressing through the playoffs.”
YOU ARE ONE OF FOUR GUYS WITH THREE WINS HERE AT NHMS. WAS THERE A COMMON COMPONENT TO ALL THOSE THREE WINS OR WERE THEY JUST THREE DISTINCT RACES?
“My first one, we had no brakes. The next two definitely had brakes. I don’t know. I think the biggest things, and I’ve always said it many times, is this is the birthplace of track position. We’ve always qualified well. I think if you look at my qualifying efforts for those wins, I bet the average is close to one, two, or three. And I think in general, it’s just a track that’s somewhat difficult to pass; if you have a fast race car you can keep it there all day the way the strategy works out, typically you don’t need a whole lot of fuel. If you’ve got a good car and you’re good on your tires and clean air is always a gain.”
CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT’S GOING ON WHEN THE CARS ARE IN THE VHT? AFTER LISTENING TO FIRST PRACTICE, THERE WERE VARYING REPORTS FROM THE DRIVERS. CAN YOU DESCRIBE IN LAYMAN’S TERMS WHAT’S GOING ON?
“In general, I think the toughest things is that VHT is a chemical. So, it reacts with heat. It reacts with our tires. It reacts with friction differently and different times. And at the same time, I do believe it does spread around a little bit. So, what we do up in that higher groove, we actually pull that rubber back down and carry it down the straightaways. There are different aspects of it instead of just the typical asphalt race track. I think from our standpoint there are more questions about how long does it take for it to come in? How do our tires react to it with the chemical reaction that happens here compared to a concrete track at Bristol or a different tire and asphalt combination at Charlotte? There’s a lot of hesitancy, I think, to just going out and going bonsai fast. We kind of work our way up to speed and you’re biggest question after that is, is it going to be there the next time? It’s like a dirt track looking for the cushion. If that cushion gets knocked down, then you’ve got to adjust. And right now, it’s kind of acting as a cushion for us.”
WHY ARE SOME GUYS SOMETIMES SAYING THEY ARE FASTER ON THE SECOND LAP THAN THE FIRST?
“Courage (laughter). Seriously. You just kind of get a feel for it like qualifying-wise, it was more second-lap quicker than first lap and the tires just seemed wanting to take a little bit more time to come in than they typically do here, for whatever reason.”