MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
PRE-SEASON MEDIA AVAILABILITY
JTG DAUGHERTY RACING
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 23, 2019

JTG DAUGHERTY RACING TEAM CO-OWNER TAD GESCHICKTER, CAMARO ZL1 DRIVER’S RYAN PREECE AND CHRIS BUESCHER, met with members of the media at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to discuss their new marketing plan for 2019, discuss the new aero package, talk about what 2019 holds for the team overall and many other topics. Selected Quotes from today’s press conference and media scrums:

TAD GESCHICKTER, TEAM CO-OWNER, JTG DAUGHERTY RACING:
“Nothing but good news here two fully funded teams. If there is one word, I hope you take away from this presentation it’s innovation. We know that innovation drives growth in all industries and I think it’s no different here. If you think about it, Kroger is innovating. Now fans across the country can shop thanks to Kroger’s new diversified delivery systems. This whole idea of putting themes on the hood of the car, that is new and different, but what is allows us to do is let brands partner together to speak with scale during times of the year when we know fans are most likely to be shopping for their products.

“Last, but not least I wanted to talk a little bit about this mobile technology that Adam Alexander alluded to. With this technology we can have a simple message to the race fans and that message will be ‘hey, text name the theme, grilling, simmer like a winner to 31279.’ They will immediately get a link back that allows them to engage with our brands more deeply. It takes them to Kroger.com where they can shop, save and win. I think that is really revolutionary.

“The last piece of it though I think is really important is now once and for all everything we do is absolutely measurable by the minute. We can see how well we are doing with the program to engage with the brands, how many people are turning into Kroger shoppers every minute, every race weekend. I think that is big news in the sponsorship industry. We are excited about it.

“Now we know there are millions of NASCAR fans out there. We all know that. Certainly, like other sports the way they engage with us is changing, the way they consume and view the sport continues to change and we felt like we had to change with it. Now, we have a single call to action and a single message. We can talk to them across all forms of media wherever they might be viewing the sport. You will see us advertising on the cars, you saw on the back bumper this call to action. You will see our FOX and NBC ad buys will have the same message. We will be doing paid digital and social media, we will be doing geo-fencing. You will also see through ISM vision at the race track as calling this to life. In addition to that obviously Kroger has a ton of advertising platforms they are making open to us to make sure we are advertising this everywhere where a race fan can see it. We really expect to drive the business with this in a new bigger and better way. We are really excited about it.

Ryan Preece, No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 – selected quotes
DO YOU THINK THE NEW AERO PACKAGE PUTS YOU ON A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD IN A WAY?
“I think it’s a reset button like I said, but there is always going to be that one team that is going to figure something out and you never know who it’s going to be. The new aero package is something I’m looking forward to. It’s going to be a little different, but I’m also looking forward to the road courses and short tracks. At the end of the day, there are 36 or 40 of us depending on where we go and we are all in the same package. I’m looking forward to it.”

ARE YOU GOING TO BE IN A MODIFIED FROM TIME TO TIME?
“I was just unloading my modified this morning at a shop. Absolutely. I’m going to be a New Smyrna, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, for the modified’s kicking off. I plan on the weekend we have off in April at Bowman Gray the 200-lapper, I plan on racing there. There are two tour shows that I have circled on my calendar. A mid-week show at Thompson that we are going to try and do some promoting for and obviously, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, I’m there already. That is a pretty big place for me. And then from there on it will just kind of be fill-in stuff. If it works out it can work out, if not, it doesn’t. I’m from the grassroots of racing and I don’t plan on leaving it very much.”

YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN SUCH A HANDS-ON GUY. NOW THAT YOU COME INTO THIS ENVIRONMENT IS IT GOING TO BE DIFFICULT TO LET OTHERS DO THE HANDS-ON STUFF?
“Yeah, one of the guys told me the other day ‘you better get used to standing around’ because I was fidgeting next to him. I was like ‘hey do you want me to help you…’ and he is like ‘no man, I want you to get used to standing there.’ I told him I didn’t think I could do that. It’s different, but being around the shop, being around the guys, me I’m a very visual person. I’m not a book person. I can’t read something… I need to be hands-on. Over time that is going to come and I’m sure I can work my way in there and they will let me tinker around a little bit. They already have somewhat, so it’s something I’m looking forward to. What I love about this team… I talk about when I went to visit that shop and how impressed I was. Now that I’m at that shop I see the passion. It’s not just a 9-5 job for a lot of these guys. There is passion behind it and they want to run good just like I do. It’s pretty motivating. Now we just have to get on the race track.”

WHAT HAS THE OFF SEASON BEEN LIKE FOR YOU?
“It’s been pretty busy. A lot of moving stuff, getting my race car down here. So, between getting ready with this and really just getting the modified stuff down here there really hasn’t been much of an off season.”

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU ARE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS SEASON?
“Right now, Vegas is circled on my calendar next week. I’m doing the Vegas test, so we are going to see where we stack up and kind of go through some changes, figure out what we like, what we don’t like and where we can be better. That is really going to kick off our season. Until you get on that race track and see where you stack up or even how your car drives… obviously, I’m very excited to get in the seat, but I’m a racer, I want to win, I want to be at that point where we are making gains. Right now, that is our plan.”

THE TEAM HAS MADE SOME CHANGES WITH ENGINES AND STUFF. DO YOU FEEL CONFIDENT YOU HAVE WHAT YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL?
“Absolutely. You guys were listening to Tad and everything he was saying. He does such a great job with the marketing side and Ernie (Cope) has been doing a great job. With all the changes they have been making it is not only the Hendrick power that has a great reputation for making lots of power, but also the chassis development that they have done. All brand-new, fresh stuff for this year. That is a huge part of it. Me coming from a short track background, something that gets overlooked by some people is having a fresh chassis and all those components to go along with it. That makes a huge deal. That is something I’m really looking forward to and getting off to Vegas to see where we are at.”

BENEFICIAL TO YOU TO HAVE A TEAMMATE AROUND THE SAME AGE?
“It’s so funny, Chris (Buescher) is a veteran, he has been doing this for quite a while, but I think I’m three years older than him. It’s taken me a little longer to get here, but Chris and I get along really well. He is a racer just like I am. He has had a different road than I have and I respect him coming to race with him. I think we are going to work really well and we can bounce ideas off each other. I feel like he thinks about things about a race car like I do. Once we get going in the season, we can really start making some gains.”

WOULD YOU TRADE THE PATH YOU TOOK TO GET HERE FOR AN EASIER PATH?
“No, absolutely not. I think I’m pretty biased when it comes to things like this, but I think the way I came up was the way … I mean it prepares you. I’ve been working and learning race cars and then winning. Learning to be a winner. I wouldn’t want to come up any other way. It’s gotten me, what I feel, prepared for where I am now to be ready for those restarts, be ready for situations that I’ve been in. I’m sure I’m going to be in different situations with the 1.5-miles. Air is going to be playing into it and Kyle Busch seems to be that guy who knows how to put you in those situations. He is a racer. I’m looking forward to that and getting out there.”

DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO NOT ALWAYS FEELING LIKE YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO WIN WHEN YOU ARE ON THE TRACK WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT?
“I think it’s really going to come down to hard work. They have got all the pieces of the puzzle, I feel, at this point. Just putting them together and getting … you’ve got to have goals, you’ve got to start off top 15’s, top 10’s, top fives and when you are consistently there that is when the wins will come. So as long as there is progression, forward progress, and I’m sure Ernie and Chris feel the same way, as long as we keep on seeing that forward progress of not getting stuck in that one group where you are running pretty much every week. It’s like ‘okay, well this didn’t work last week we need to figure something out, try something different, we will figure it out.’ If there is progression, I’m happy and we will keep on progressing and never fall behind.”

Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kleenex Wet Wipes Camaro ZL1 – selected quotes
HEADING INTO YEAR THREE AT JTG DAUGHERTY RACING WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE THE VETERAN NOW?
“I feel old (laughs). I turn 26 and now I feel old and Tad made sure of it when he told all of y’all I was the veteran this season, so that is nice. But I guess from that standpoint it is really nice to be able to have that relationship and be able to say that I’ve been in the same place and same car without a bunch of moving pieces for now the third year. For me, that is something that I haven’t had in a long time and can really appreciate. I feel like that can only help going forward to be able to build those relationships, not starting fresh every season. You know everybody. You know your team, you know what is going on in the shop and what is changed from the previous year to now. I know I can visually see the improvements and I can see what is going on. It just makes me feel more confident heading into it than coming in cold turkey.”

DO YOU FEEL ANY ADDED RESPONSIBILITY AS KIND OF THE ELDER STATESMAN?
“Yeah, I guess in a way there is. Excited to have Ryan (Preece) on board and I think that is going to be a good fit between us. I don’t know if I’m a veteran to the point where I can sit there and try and give someone a whole lot of advice because I’m learning at the same time, but I feel like it will be good for us to be able to go through our debrief meetings or at the race track after practice, be able to get together and compare notes and be able to figure out how to get better. I think that is something that communication should be good and we have been able to start talking about the season beforehand and I feel like it’s going to be really good.”

YOU ARE A RACE CAR DRIVER. YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE SEVEN DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS ON YOUR RACE CAR. HOW DO YOU GET YOUR ARMS AROUND A MARKETING PROGRAM AND HOW DO YOU BALANCE IT ALL?
“When you decide to do this. I was 13 (years old) in the living room in Texas and it was one of those times where we sat down on the couch with my family and it was like ‘alright is this going to be a hobby or a career?’ I said, well I would love for this to be a career. All I have to do is hold a steering wheel and go in circles, I was like, yeah that’s alright. And then all the other stuff that goes along with it happened and I’m just learning as I go. It’s actually been a lot of fun. A lot of it has been a really good time. Sometimes there are a lot of things you would rather be doing, but I’m actually, with the themes that we’ve got going this season and what we are doing with this program, I’m really excited about it because it actually simplifies it for me from where we have been. From the last two years we have had a different sponsor from week to week. Our paint scheme has changed completely week to week. It’s been hard for the spotter to keep up. For this to be able to go through stretches and for a month or a month and a half, two months, have the same paint scheme with the same brands and be able to try and focus on getting them better coverage in their key times of the year, I think it’s brilliant. And I’m really excited to be able to learn more about it and get a little more training on it as we go and understand more of the activation side and more of how to get people to really buy into it. Just something that I feel like is actually… I know it sounds complicated until you really see it and I want to be able to go through and actually experience it, but on the other hand it’s actually simpler for me than what it has been in previous years. So that has been really nice. Everything shows that it’s going to be a really good program. We are really excited to get it and put it into action.”

BASED ON WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE NEW RULES SO FAR DO YOU THINK THAT IS GOING TO PLAY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE OR ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT IT?
“I’m not concerned about it. We are all in the same boat on the rules package. I think it’s going to be good. I think it will be a little bit of an advantage for some of the… and we are not a small team… but to not be one of the super teams maybe close the gap a little bit and give us something to work towards and try and build on that package. I mean, the All-Star race last year, I know the package has changed a little bit from then, but we feel like it was something we did gain a little bit on some of the cars that we had been racing around. I know everybody has had all off-season to work on it and everybody has been in the tunnel and so have we. We get this thing fired off, I feel like it’s going to be something that gives us a good competitive edge. I think we are going to have good results with this package. I think a lot of the unknowns are going to be some of the low grip race tracks. We have been running it in sim as much as we can, I know the off season everybody kind of slows down for a little bit there, but there are a lot of these race tracks that are not going to behave the same way as Charlotte with this package. That is a lot of the unknowns. You look at Atlanta early in the season that is going to be one that we are going to learn a lot from. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”