Media Availability Quotes:
These contract negotiations can either go one of two ways, it seems like. Was it pretty straightforward and almost, I don’t want to say a foregone conclusion, but it seems like from the outside, that this would have been a pretty straightforward like ‘we’re just going to get this done, you’re happy, they’re happy, let’s just put a pen to paper’…“Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely like amicable, I feel like, the whole time, and just kind of working through it. But, you know, I definitely wanted to be here, and really for me, just want to focus on winning races. That’s what it’s all about at Hendrick Motorsports, and that’s what I personally enjoy and want to be here to do. So, for me personally, I try to just kind of keep my head down this year and focus. I’m just really happy that it’s done… it’s a bit of a relief, I guess you could say, just to be able to focus on what we’re doing here. We have a lot of goals to accomplish. So, yeah, we’ve had a couple really good years, but at the same time, I think that we all expect to continue to progress as a team and just kind of keep it going. So, yeah, I definitely felt like I was always going to be here. This is my home at Hendrick Motorsports, so it makes the most sense, for sure.” William, how have you seen yourself grown over the period of time that you’ve been at Hendrick Motorsports? Even though you had a really good foundation in Trucks and Xfinity, how have you seen yourself grow on the Cup side?“Yeah, I think I’ve really grown up a lot. I was 20 years old when I got into the Cup Series, and I did not realize how many different facets of the series there are off the track and on the track; performing with your team and the meetings throughout the week to kind of move the ball forward as a group to build faster cars. And yeah, I think that I was really young and raw when I got into the Cup Series. I had the talent, obviously, to do it, but had to have all the right pieces and really learn the cadence of everything. I would say when Chad (Knaus) took over the team, there was a lot of progression with the personnel that we had on the team. That’s really kind of that foundation that stayed there with a lot of the road crew. And then when Rudy (Fugle) came on board, the engineering side of things and the sort of the finishing touches of really putting this team together to be a consistent race-winning team. I think, honestly, when we got rolling in 2023, it just felt different. It felt like we had more speed. It felt like our cars were a lot closer. And then it just, I think, has continued these last couple of years. So, yeah, I think there’s still a lot of room to grow. There’s still room for me to improve my process and just continue to kind of get that system of how I want to do things on the weekend and during the week just to make sure that I’m as fresh as I can be and as prepared as I can be. So, yeah, in the past, we’ve had some periods of time throughout the season where we’ve struggled. I’d like for this year to not have that period at all and just continue to progress forward, and I think that’s what I’ve noticed this year. We’ve had a couple bad finishes or something like that, but I feel like we tend to show up the next week and have really fast cars and have speed. We just have to continue doing that and try to be kind of the standard of the series.” When you stepped into the No. 24 for the first time, obviously there’s big shoes to fill. With this extension through 2029, the expectation is to win races, a championship, maybe more. At what point does the No. 24 become your legacy and you can kind of step away from filling those shoes?“Well, I don’t think it ever changes in that sense because if you look at other sports like the Yankees, the Patriots or whoever, they’re always going to be known for their history, and that’s what you want. You just want to continue to add to that. So, for me, all I can do is try to continue to add to that and bring some new, I guess, flavor and excitement to the No. 24. We have a lot of the same sponsors, you know, like Axalta. The cars look new and different but similar and kind of carry that history, which I love. So, I love being part of a historic car number and being able to, you know, check my new kind of boxes off the list, like hopefully winning the Coca-Cola 600 would be awesome. I think somebody was saying that Jeff (Gordon) was the last one to win the DAYTONA 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same year. So, that would be awesome to kind of add to that legacy, for sure.” How is this contract negotiation different from, say, the first? Because obviously now you’re an unknown quantity then and now you’re an established star in the sport. Was the contract negotiations any different, or how would you describe them from the first contract to this one?“Yeah. So, I guess this is my third because I had sort of my rookie deal that was included in Xfinity, and then my second one was back in 2022. So, I think this one, we’ve definitely won a lot more races since then and sort of become a consistent threat at the front of the field. So, I think just kind of working through that, and all the conversations I think this time around were really positive. The last time around, I was just starting to kind of find my footing in the Cup Series. We had won a couple races that year to start. So, yeah, it’s just — I love being at Hendrick Motorsports. We have all the resources and with that comes a bit of pressure to perform. But I welcome that because I just feel like it’s a home and it’s a place that is just, you know, spotless and has a lot of great people. And so, for me, it’s just kind of business as usual and try to go into the shop, you know, every day that I’m there and continue to kind of move the ball forward as a team.” All four Hendrick Motorsports teams are now in the top-eight points, and it looks like you talk about the ups and falls of the season, but I imagine that you and the team must feel really good about where they’re at right now going into the playoffs and into the future…“Yeah, like Chad (Knaus) sent us some stats this week just of how well we’ve been running as a group. I think that’s true, but at the same time, I think there’s a couple cars out there that are still the fastest every week. Usually one of us is in that mix… a lot of times it’s been Kyle (Larson), sometimes it’s been me, sometimes it’s been Chase (Elliott) or Alex (Bowman). So, yeah, I think for me personally, I still want to chase those couple cars that are, I would say, the standard at some of the different tracks. Like when we go to short tracks, it seems like the No. 20 car and the No. 22, the No. 12 or the No. 11 are really strong. So when we come to the bottom-half, I think Kyle’s been the standard and we’ve been kind of just a notch close to that. So, yeah, I think it’s good. We’re all running really consistent, which is great. That’s very difficult to do. We share notes really well, so I feel like all of our setups are probably really, really close. And in some ways, our driving styles are pretty close, too. This Next Gen era is just becoming all about execution. So, you know, pit road is becoming critical strategy. The difference in first and 10th is really small right now, so trying to figure out that next little notch to be a top-three car, which I feel like we’ve been on the No. 24. But we just got to keep pushing forward.” You opened up on the docuseries about going to the sports psychologist. I’m just curious in the sense of a long race like this, the tools that you’ve learned, does that help inside the car? Or is that more for outside the car and all the other things? And if it’s helped, how do you feel like it has helped you in particular with this race or other races?“Yeah, I think that my process within the car has stayed really similar the last two and a half years. There’s little tidbits, obviously, that I’ve learned about myself or how to communicate with my team or whatever it is. But I would say, yeah, it’s more probably off the track or out of the car, just sort of the preparation and the process there. So I feel like that’s been really good this week. It’s been a great week, really, just pretty calm and just been able to kind of make sure that I’m prepared for this weekend. There’s still going to be more prep that I have to do once I get in the Xfinity car here in a few minutes, and then run those laps and figure out the difference in the Cup car. There will be some studying overnight, as well. It’s a long weekend for sure, but I feel well prepared for it. I feel like it’s been pretty calm.” Looking forward to Nashville next week, how do you think the has evolved there since we started going to Nashville in 2021?“Well, the resin that they put down seems to really widen the groove. It’s not a super grippy resin when we start out on track, so it takes a little bit of time to kind of get worked in. And the track seems to be really, I would say just slick and greasy to start. And then it seems to kind of grip up a little bit as the rubber goes down. It’s kind of the opposite of Dover with the resin. I feel like Dover, being a concrete track, has a lot of grip to start and then slicks off. And then Nashville seems to kind of continue to move around and maybe gain some grip as you go, or stay the same, but just have more lane options. So, yeah, Nashville has been kind of OK for us. I feel like the first year, first couple of years we went there, we were super-fast. But then last year we weren’t so good, so just got to keep working on that. It seems like it has some mile-and-a-half characteristics, like the guys who are fast at mile-and-a-halves seem to be pretty strong at Nashville, even though it’s a shorter track. So we’ll see. I think we could run well there. Definitely, the expectation is obviously to go there and try to run top-five and try to compete for a win. So, yeah, I think it’s just a matter of looking at what we did last year and kind of where we need to be better.” I remember when you first started your Cup ride and I think the thing that stands out most is that I saw you walk up to the team and introduce yourself or hang out with the team the first time. I remember thinking — man, he’s really good at this, like he feels so comfortable and it’s so natural, and he’s a young guy going to lead the team. Now you sign this deal, right, several contracts later. But you have a strong crew chief and a strong leadership group. Are you more of a team leader now than you were then, and if you feel now after this contract that you can speak out more, that people would want to hear what you have to say? “Yeah, I was going to say I feel like I always had the sort of positive energy and a feeling around the team that was good and helped everyone stay motivated. But I feel like what I do better now is speaking my mind about the things that we can do as a team to be better and like not sugarcoating. And so just kind of being with the team and just being honest about where we can improve, I think that’s where I try to be better now and that’s what just feels natural. Like I want to, as much as I hold myself accountable for the things I need to do, I just want to be vocal about the things I feel like we could be better. That just goes throughout our whole team. So that’s what it takes to be good at this level, is kind of continue to work on the details and not let those things kind of go by the wayside.” Do you feel like you’re at the level now where you can speak up on things related to NASCAR? You’re becoming one of the drivers who’s been around a long time…“Yeah, I’m in the Drivers Council with Joey (Logano), Christopher (Bell) and Michael McDowell. So, yeah, I enjoy being on that board and kind of talking about some of the things. But when I get to the racetrack, I’m really focused on what I’m doing with my team. That’s kind of what occupies my brain space, is just kind of thinking about what can the No. 24 car do better. So when I get in between these, in between the garage, like I don’t think about that stuff too much, so you’re probably not going to hear me probably talk about issues, you know, when I’m here in the media center and things like that because it’s just not where my head is. But if I feel led to do that, I will. But most of the time, it’s just about how can the car go faster and how can I do better.”
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