NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FIVE-HOUR ENERGY 301
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 18, 2015
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his past top finishes at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, how the season is going thus far, how he is looking forward to running at Indianapolis next week, and more. Full Transcript:
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TOMORROW TO GET TO THE FRONT OF THE FIELD?
“Last year we finished really well because our team called a really good race. We stayed out when a lot of people didn’t; which was the opposite of what a lot of people did as far as pit stops went. That gained us some track position and I was able to hold it throughout the races. Hopefully we can come back this year and do the same. We had a good car yesterday. I just made a mistake in qualifying, which got us behind on tires and then just qualified a little bit too bad. But, it should be all right. We’ll get some more practice today, depending on weather, and hopefully make the Target Chevy even faster.”
YOU’VE BEEN REALLY GOOD AT THIS TRACK. HOW MUCH HAVE YOU TARGETED THIS RACE AS ONE OF YOUR BEST CHANCES TO GET A WIN AND MAKE THE CHASE?
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about that. I would like to go to every track and have a shot at winning. This is our best statistical track, for sure; even going back to 2012 when I won the K&N race here and then I finished fourth in the Nationwide race and then had two top-3’s in the Cup Series last year. Yeah, I don’t know. Well see come tomorrow. I would like to win at every track and circle every track as one where we could get a win. But, this is the next one so it would be nice to get it here.”
DID YOU TRY TO GET IN A TRUCK FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT ELDORA OR ARE YOU JUST FOCUSING ON CUP?
“No, I didn’t try to get a ride, really. I told Tony (Stewart) if he could promise me it would be rough and hooked-up, I’d run. And he said he couldn’t promise me that and so I’m not running (laughs). But, now it looks like it’s going to rain on Tuesday, so the track will probably be hooked-up and rough on Wednesday. So, as it gets closer, I’m wishing I was racing it. But, it will be fun to watch on TV. It should be a good race.”
DID THE CHANGES COMING INTO THIS SEASON AS FAR AS THE HORSEPOWER AND DOWNFORCE CHANGES, IMPACT YOU PROGRAM TO THE POINT TO WHERE YOU GUYS ARE NOT RUNNING AS WELL AS YOU WERE LAST YEAR?
“I don’t know what it is. I feel like a lot of it is luck, where we ran decent. And then like last weekend, I get a flat left rear at the end of the race and finished 35th. So, we’ve had a handful of weekends like that. I definitely feel like our performance probably isn’t quite as good as it was at the end of last year. I don’t know if it’s a horsepower thing, or whatever it may be. But, we’re getting quicker and quicker every week. We just need to find bigger gains to getting more speed. Yeah, it’s been a little bit frustrating just how we haven’t had many good finishes. But it has been good to see that we’ve run around the top 10 for the majority of the races until the last run of the race, it seems like.”
IS IT HARDER TO DO THAT BECAUSE YOU’VE HAD AERO PACKAGE CHANGES?
“I feel like our team adjusts pretty well whenever NASCAR throws changes at us. We were quickest at most practices in Kentucky. Going back to Atlanta, me and Jamie (McMurray) were both fast to start the weekend. It just seems like maybe other teams have made bigger gains than we have, where last year I felt like we were making bigger gains than a lot of teams. So, I’m interested to go into next week, which is another kind of curveball for all the teams. That one will be a little bit different because we’ll be relying more on drafting probably, with other guys. But, I don’t know. I think our team, within our organization, does a really good job whenever NASCAR does throw changes. We’ve just got to keep making gains as we go.”
ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO RUNNING AT INDY NEXT WEEK? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
“I love going to Indy. I spent some time there in 2011 and 2012 racing USAC stuff. So, I’ve got a lot of friends and stuff in the area. It’s almost like a second or third home behind California and North Carolina, to me. So yeah, I enjoy going there. Indy is just cool in itself just because it’s got so much history at that race track and it’s just so different and it’s a really nice facility. So, yeah, I love going there. We ran pretty well there last year. I’d like to go back again this year and do good, but it’s way different aero and horsepower than last year, so we’ve got to wait and see. But yeah, I’m looking forward to getting there and hanging out with some friends and the people I used to live with there. It’ll be fun to go there and hang out with them. They haven’t met (son) Owen yet, so that will be fun to take him there to hang out with them. We usually light off fireworks in the backyard at like 3:00 in the morning when they’re sleeping (laughs); so we might do that some, too.”
WHO DID YOU LIVE WITH THERE?
“Well, in 2011, I lived in Columbus with Pete Willoughby, who owns part of Keith Kunz Motorsports. But then in 2012, I lived in Avon, Indiana with Davey and Michelle Jones. They worked on our Sprint Car stuff that year and I had a lot of fun living there. We became really good friends.”