NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
MEDIA DAY
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 16, 2016

TY DILLON, NO. 95 CHEERIOS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Media Day at Daytona International Speedway. Full transcript:

ON RUMORS HE WILL DRIVE THE NO. 14 CHEVROLET SS FOR STEWART-HAAS RACING:
“Obviously it is something that has been talked about a lot, but nothing has been finalized. Unfortunately, it kind of stinks that we are even talking about that down here. I think everybody including myself want to Tony (Stewart) go out the right way and to able to run every single race. To get back to the question – it would be an honor for me to drive Tony’s car in his last year, and hopefully do good for those guys. Nothing has been announced yet. I haven’t signed anything yet. We’ve been in talks. Hopefully we will have some news sooner or later, but nothing is finalized yet. But, if the opportunity were to come about, I would be honored to drive the No. 14 car and represent Tony in his last year.”

IS THERE A HOLD-UP?
“There have been a lot of stories that have come out premature. It is a slow process. There are a lot of different things that are going on. Hopefully we will have some announcement or news later on. Nothing is set in stone. I don’t like to say anything until pen hits paper. Hopefully it turns out good, and like I said, it would be an honor for me to drive the No. 14 car if the opportunity comes about. Hopefully we will have some news sooner or later.”

YOU WERE ALREADY GOING TO DO A FEW CUP RACES THIS SEASON, WOULD YOU WELCOME THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO MORE?
“Yes, definitely. As many races as I can run, bring them on. I like to be in as many cars, and especially Sprint Cup Series. It is the highest level of motorsports racing and that is where I want to be. To run it full-time this year was obviously my goal, and it didn’t quite work out that way. So the opportunities I get especially with Leavine and Circle Sport Racing to go out there and build my resume and build my notebook for hopefully a next year running full-time is always something I welcome and want to bring on. So anytime any kind of opportunity comes to me to get more laps, more racing in the Sprint Cup Series, I want to take it.”

ABOUT OPPORTUNITY IN THE NO. 95 CAR:
“It is awesome. And, to be able to represent the Leavine Family and Circle Sport Racing with Joe Faulk and the dedication they put in as team owners, and they have a charter or a medallion, whatever they are calling it out, to be locked into the race is one thing, and to be able to give them an opportunity to run well. I believe we have a shot at. We are in the Daytona 500 and have a chance to win it. For them to bring me on board to run the races I am running I take it as an honor and go out there and show everybody what we are made.”

WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN LAST YEAR AND THIS YEAR? YOU WERE PRETTY CONFIDENT YOU WERE GOING TO GET A RIDE IN SPRINT CUP:
“I am a confident person to begin with. There’s no shame in my game, and I am a firm believer that if you throw things out there, usually they happen. It just didn’t work out this off-season as far as getting a full-time ride down. We pushed. I had opportunities. There were definitely lots of opportunities to be in a full-time ride. I just want to do it right. I want to be able to come into this sport and be able to win races right way. There were definitely those opportunities where it was looking like I was going to be in a full-time ride. It has always been a dream to run for my Grandpa (Richard Childress) and I wanted to do that for a long time. It just didn’t work out. It wasn’t the right timing this year. But I am so blessed to run a certain amount of races this year and hopefully more with sponsor pending and kind of build up to hopefully maybe next year running full time hopefully next year. And I will say it again – hopefully I will be running full-time next year. I’ll say it every year until it happens. I feel like it is going to happen soon enough. I’ve had great opportunities. We’ll just continue on down the road and take what is given.”

EXACTLY WHERE ARE YOU IN THE NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT YOU DRIVING THE NO. 14 CAR?
“There’s been conversations. There’s been lots of conversation and hopefully we’ll have something finalized soon. But, like I said, I hate to be even talking about it because this is supposed to be Tony’s day. The fact that he has had such bad luck and hate that he isn’t here talking about him running his last 500 and his last year. He is a legend in our sport and unfortunately if I had the opportunity to drive, it would be an honor to drive his car and hopefully it comes along.”

DO YOU EXPECT TO BE IN THE NO. 14 IN ATLANTA?
“I don’t know, we will see.”

THE NEXT RACE FOR CIRCLE SPORT/LEAVINE IS TEXAS, CORRECT?
“Yes – Texas. I think it is Texas, Kansas and Kentucky, maybe one more. We are looking at Dover. I think second Dover. I’m not sure.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR CAREER AS PROGRESSED FAR ENOUGH TO BE IN THE CONVERSATION ABOUT TONY’S SEAT?
“It is definitely an honor. When the unfortunate situation with Tony … which no one wanted to see happen… but for my name to be thrown out there pretty soon and pretty quick was an honor for me, especially for me to fill in such a legendary seat. It’s Tony Stewart’s ride – a guy I’ve looked up to as a kid and watched him. He is a dirt race hero – I am a dirt race guy. For Stewart-Haas Racing to have interest in me to begin with is an honor and if we get everything done and I’m in the car at Atlanta, it would be great. But, I’m not going to jump the gun and say it is a done deal. But, it would be an honor to me is all I can say. It’s been really cool to even be in consideration to be in that seat for Tony.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE XFINITY SERIES AND IF YOU THINK YOU ARE SET UP TO MAKE A RUN FOR THE TITLE THIS YEAR?
“The last two years have been successful years. I’ve been in the hunt to win the championship and there have been a couple of races that have taken us out in the old style point’s format. I think this year if we run the same way we have in the past, we’ll have an awesome opportunity to win the championship because the second half of the season has been really strong for me the past two years. I think last year I don’t know how many top-fives we had coming down the stretch. If we can do that again this year, it is going to be very beneficial and we’ll be in that last race at Homestead to have a chance to win a championship.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CHASE FORMAT FOR THE XFINITY SERIES?
“I think it is cool especially with the series so young and full of drivers who are hoping like myself to go full-time Sprint Cup Series and race in the Sprint Cup Chase. To get that primed feeling what it is going to give it all. We’ve watched it the past couple of years and I think everybody has been chomping at the bit to be a part of that. Now that the Xfinity Series is doing that, I think that will be a huge boost for our series and that is just going to make things better.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW DASH FOR CASH FORMAT?
“The Dash for Cash thing is cool. The heat races are going to be fun. I think the coolest situation that could happen is if you have guys who have won races already when we get to these heat races and the Dash for Cash races that are locked in to the championship, those guys are going to be focused on one thing and that is going to be winning the Dash for Cash thing. So, they don’t care if they get beat up or banged around in the heat races as long as they get in that Dash for Cash spot where they can run for the $100,000. I know that is definitely the attitude I will have if I am locked in already to the Chase. I think it is going to build opportunity for some really exciting racing.”

IS IT GOING TO BE A DIFFICULT RISK VERSUS REWARD EQUATION?
“I think you actually can afford (to not make the main event) because this format with so much emphasis on winning, just like the Sprint Cup Series, you can go out there and give it all you have in the Dash for Cash heat races and try and win the money and try and do as good as you can. If I come out here and win Daytona this weekend, you better believe in those heat races Dash for Cash I am going to give it everything I have whether we win or lose, we’ll sit back and watch the feature from the pits drinking some beer if we have to because we are already in the championship and that is what really matters at the end of the day. So we will go out there and race as hard as we can for the money.”

HAVING FIRST ONE AT BRISTOL SHOULD BE INTERESTING:
“It will be. I think it is going to be exciting. Everybody gets a little more amped up when we get to Bristol.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT INTERACTING WITH FANS ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
“It is just another way to reach out to people who care a lot about you. Fans are the coolest thing about any sport and obviously in NASCAR we are so close for the fans. It is a cool way to reach out because you can’t always every question for every fan at the race track: you are always busy doing something. It gives you more opportunity on a different platform and a different setting to communicate with our fans and them know what kind of a person you are outside the race track and outside the hustle and bustle of race day. They only get to see a glimpse of you for a second. I think it is a really unique platform that allows you to connect to your fan base.”

YOUR DESIRE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE FANS, IS THAT PART OF YOUR CONTINUED DESIRE TO RACE DIRT TRACK?
“Definitely, I think it is a cool thing. Just being at the dirt track the past couple of nights and connecting with our dirt track fans, it’s different. It is a different group of people. Some people are just dirt track racing fans and not asphalt racing fans. To be able to connect with them and go back to your roots and do what you do that got you here is always fun too.”

IF YOU DRIVE THE NO, 14 WILL IT BE AWKWARD ABOUT INFORMATION GAINED BETWEEN RCR AND SHR?
“I don’t think it will be awkward at all. It will be an honor for me if it comes about.”