February 14, 2024

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging team turned in a top-10 performance in Wednesday night’s pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 and are set to start fifth in the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel on Thursday night.

Burton was 10^th fastest in the opening round of qualifying on Wednesday with a lap around the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway at 180.350 miles per hour.

That advanced him to the second qualifying round where his Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Mustang Dark Horse was 10^th fastest again with a lap at 180.328 mph.

“That’s a decent start for us,” Burton told reporters at the track. “It’s exciting to be in the hunt and make the top 10.”

Burton said the Mustang Dark Horses are fast so far at Daytona. (Joey Logano and Michael McDowell swept the front row and Austin Cindric joined Burton among the top-10 qualifiers.)

“I’m excited to get out and see how [the Mustang Dark Horse] drives in the race,” Burton said. “It’s going to be interesting to see who gave up what for handling versus speed.
 
“I don’t think we gave up too much, so I’m excited to race and excited to carry that speed into the race as well…
 
“I’m proud of our guys. They brought me a fast race car, and I’m ready to go drive it well.”

Only the top two qualifiers earned starting spots on Wednesday. The rest of the Daytona 500 line-up will be determined during the two 150-mile Duel races on Thursday.
 
The first 60-lap Duel is set to get the green flag at 7 p.m., with the second race rolling off at approximately 8:45 p.m.
 
Two practice sessions are scheduled, the first on Friday at 5:35 p.m. and the second on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
 
The green flag for Sunday’s 200-lap Daytona 500 is set to fly just after 2:30 p.m., with Stage breaks planned for Laps 65 and 130.
 
FOX Sports 1 will televise the Duels and practices, with the coverage switching to FOX for the 500.   
 

CONCORD, NC (Feb. 14, 2024) – Nearly 50 of the best dirt Late Model drivers in the country gathered at Volusia Speedway Park for a tripleheader of DIRTcar Late Model action at Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Wednesday night.

The stout field was split into three 20-lap, $5,000-to-win, Features with World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model champions Bobby Pierce, Mike Marlar and Brandon Sheppard each taking home another gator trophy.

Here’s how each Feature played out:

FEATURE # 1: Redemption For Bobby Pierce
After a flat tire ended Bobby Pierce’s chance at victory Wednesday night, he left that memory in past by leading all 20 laps of the first DIRTcar Late Model Feature Wednesday night.

Pierce, of Oakwood, IL, set Quick Time in his group to claim the top starting spot in the Feature with multi-time national Late Model champion Tim McCreadie starting to his outside and Cade Dillard behind him.

Once the green flag was shown for the Feature, Pierce continued to act like he was making qualifying laps, pulling away by half a straightaway in two laps.

Seven cautions plagued the pace of the race, but never hindered Pierce’s drive. By the time he was through the first corner, the field was still racing to Turn 2 on every restart.

While he was on cruise control out front, the rest of the top five argued lap after lap for position.

Cade Dillard stole second from McCreadie on the Lap 4 restart, leaving the Late Model veteran to hold off attacks from division youngsters Ethan Dotson and Ashton Winger.

Doston, on the charge from fifth, followed Dillard by McCreadie to take third and then set his sights on the #97. He got within a car length, but a caution on Lap 14 negated the run. Then, when the race resumed, McCreadie slid in front of the #174 through the center of the corner. That took the air off Dotson’s front nose and caused him to push up the track, into the cushion, and spin around.

Fueled by frustration and determination, Dotson was able to driver back to sixth by the end of the Feature.

Winger moved up and down the running order throughout the night. In the first half of the race, he charged from eight to fourth, but then fell to sixth after a slip up at the halfway point. From there, he raced his way back to fourth by the checkered flag.

Max McLaughlin earned his career-best dirt Super Late Model finish, surviving the cautions and running a clean race to finish fifth.

For Pierce, the victory is his third at DIRTcar Nationals, giving him momentum for when the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model season continues Thursday.

“It feels like a rebound pretty good there,” Pierce said. “We’ve had a bad fast race car this whole time. It’s awesome to finally put it in Victory Lane where it belongs. I can’t thank my crew enough; they’ve been working hard.”

RESULTS:
Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[8]; 5. 22*-Max McLaughlin[13]; 6. 174-Ethan Dotson[5]; 7. 25B-Mike Benedum[6]; 8. 11B-Stacy Boles[12]; 9. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[16]; 10. 1Z-Logan Zarin[4]; 11. 14JR-Jason Fitzgerald[15]; 12. 11-Austin Smith[7]; 13. B1-Brent Larson[10]; 14. 76-Blair Nothdurft[9]; 15. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 16. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]

FEATURE #2: First Gator Since 2019 For Marlar
Taking notes from the Falcon 9 rocket that launched out of Florida Wednesday evening, Mike Marlar was a rocket in the second DIRTcar Late Model Feature, leading all 20 laps unchallenged.

When the race commenced, Marlar gapped the field by two car lengths into the first corner. Behind him, Nick Hoffman, who started on the outside pole, bounced over the cushion and fell from second to fifth.

Jordan Koehler benefited the most from Hoffman’s misfortune, sliding into second, hoping to battle for his first DIRTcar Nationals win.

However, a caution on Lap 11 changed the outcome for several drivers. When the race resumed, Hoffman built a strong enough run to power around the outside of Dylan Thompson and Koehler to go from fourth to second. And behind him, Erb also made the leap from fifth to third.

On Lap 14, Erb moved by Hoffman for second, but Marlar was untouchable, already seconds ahead of him. The 2018 World of Outlaws champion cruised around the high side and crossed the finish line with a 1.2 second lead.

It’s his first DIRTcar Nationals victory since 2019.

“Happy to win one,” Marlar said. “We’ve had kind of a hard speedweeks. I’ve been fast a lot, just can’t win anything. Tearing up a lot of stuff. Happy to win one for sure there. The car was really good.”

RESULTS:
Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[2]; 4. 111-Max Blair[8]; 5. 5-Mark Whitener[6]; 6. 99T-Dylan Thompson[5]; 7. 114-Jordan Koehler[3]; 8. 23-David Breazeale[13]; 9. 4-Amanda Robinson[11]; 10. 18-Chase Junghans[9]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 12. B2-Brian Booze[14]; 13. 14W-Dustin Walker[15]; 14. 17Z-Jimmy Zacharias[16]; 15. 17M-Dale McDowell[7]; 16. 6JR-Parker Martin[12]

FEATURE # 3: Sheppard Steals One
Devin Moran and Ricky Thornton Jr. gave Volusia Speedway Park fans the show of the night, throwing slider after slider for the win in the closing laps. However, their thrills led to Brandon Sheppard stealing the victory.

At the start of the race, Moran followed the trend of starting on the pole and then running away from the field like the fastest man alive.

Thornton and Sheppard settled into second and third, respectively, racing about a car length apart as Moran had over a second lead.

Their running order and distance apart remained the same by the halfway point, but two laps later Thornton found a head of steam. In one lap he cut Moran’s lead down from a second to half a second.

On Lap 15, Thornton jumped the cushion exiting Turn 2, costing him a few tenths to Moran.

After a lap to reset, he was back on Moran’s bumper. Running high through Turns 3 and 4, Thornton had a run to charge around the outside of Moran, but the white #99 swerved right to block Thornton’s run.

Not willing to lift, Thornton quickly swerved left to dive under Moran into Turn 1 and then cleared him for the lead off Turn 2. They ran in that order until the next time around when Moran pulled the same move and reclaimed the lead.

Their battle came to blows when Thornton stayed tight to Moran’s left rear off the corner and the two made contact. Thornton’s right front fender bent up, while Moran suffered a flat left rear, bringing out the first caution of the race.

With Moran having to pit, Thornton inherited the lead with Sheppard behind him. The #20RT shot ahead of the field into the first turn, looking strong enough to run away with the win. But as he entered the second turn, his damage turned worse than expected and shot him up the track.

Sheppard snuck by to take the lead and Ryan Gustin entered the picture, moving into second.

With only a lap to go, Sheppard piloted his #B5 Longhorn Chassis around the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” with ease and claimed his 11th DIRTcar Nationals victory.

“Probably didn’t have the fastest car there, those guys were a little better than we were,” Sheppard said. “You know, we were there when we needed to be and capitalized off of them guys’ bad luck. Super thankful to be standing up on (the Victory Lane stage).”

RESULTS:
Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[5]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 5. 1-Hudson O’Neal[9]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[7]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 10. 20-Jimmy Owens[10]; 11. 89-Mike Spatola[13]; 12. 93-Cory Lawler[14]; 13. 30-Todd Cooney[15]; 14. 97C-Cody Overton[12]; 15. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 16. 44-Chris Madden[16]

CONCORD, NC (Feb. 14, 2024) – Nearly 50 of the best dirt Late Model drivers in the country gathered at Volusia Speedway Park for a tripleheader of DIRTcar Late Model action at Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Wednesday night.

The stout field was split into three 20-lap, $5,000-to-win, Features with World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model champions Bobby Pierce, Mike Marlar and Brandon Sheppard each taking home another gator trophy.

Here’s how each Feature played out:

FEATURE # 1: Redemption For Bobby Pierce
After a flat tire ended Bobby Pierce’s chance at victory Wednesday night, he left that memory in past by leading all 20 laps of the first DIRTcar Late Model Feature Wednesday night.

Pierce, of Oakwood, IL, set Quick Time in his group to claim the top starting spot in the Feature with multi-time national Late Model champion Tim McCreadie starting to his outside and Cade Dillard behind him.

Once the green flag was shown for the Feature, Pierce continued to act like he was making qualifying laps, pulling away by half a straightaway in two laps.

Seven cautions plagued the pace of the race, but never hindered Pierce’s drive. By the time he was through the first corner, the field was still racing to Turn 2 on every restart.

While he was on cruise control out front, the rest of the top five argued lap after lap for position.

Cade Dillard stole second from McCreadie on the Lap 4 restart, leaving the Late Model veteran to hold off attacks from division youngsters Ethan Dotson and Ashton Winger.

Doston, on the charge from fifth, followed Dillard by McCreadie to take third and then set his sights on the #97. He got within a car length, but a caution on Lap 14 negated the run. Then, when the race resumed, McCreadie slid in front of the #174 through the center of the corner. That took the air off Dotson’s front nose and caused him to push up the track, into the cushion, and spin around.

Fueled by frustration and determination, Dotson was able to driver back to sixth by the end of the Feature.

Winger moved up and down the running order throughout the night. In the first half of the race, he charged from eight to fourth, but then fell to sixth after a slip up at the halfway point. From there, he raced his way back to fourth by the checkered flag.

Max McLaughlin earned his career-best dirt Super Late Model finish, surviving the cautions and running a clean race to finish fifth.

For Pierce, the victory is his third at DIRTcar Nationals, giving him momentum for when the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model season continues Thursday.

“It feels like a rebound pretty good there,” Pierce said. “We’ve had a bad fast race car this whole time. It’s awesome to finally put it in Victory Lane where it belongs. I can’t thank my crew enough; they’ve been working hard.”

RESULTS:
Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[8]; 5. 22*-Max McLaughlin[13]; 6. 174-Ethan Dotson[5]; 7. 25B-Mike Benedum[6]; 8. 11B-Stacy Boles[12]; 9. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[16]; 10. 1Z-Logan Zarin[4]; 11. 14JR-Jason Fitzgerald[15]; 12. 11-Austin Smith[7]; 13. B1-Brent Larson[10]; 14. 76-Blair Nothdurft[9]; 15. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 16. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]

FEATURE #2: First Gator Since 2019 For Marlar
Taking notes from the Falcon 9 rocket that launched out of Florida Wednesday evening, Mike Marlar was a rocket in the second DIRTcar Late Model Feature, leading all 20 laps unchallenged.

When the race commenced, Marlar gapped the field by two car lengths into the first corner. Behind him, Nick Hoffman, who started on the outside pole, bounced over the cushion and fell from second to fifth.

Jordan Koehler benefited the most from Hoffman’s misfortune, sliding into second, hoping to battle for his first DIRTcar Nationals win.

However, a caution on Lap 11 changed the outcome for several drivers. When the race resumed, Hoffman built a strong enough run to power around the outside of Dylan Thompson and Koehler to go from fourth to second. And behind him, Erb also made the leap from fifth to third.

On Lap 14, Erb moved by Hoffman for second, but Marlar was untouchable, already seconds ahead of him. The 2018 World of Outlaws champion cruised around the high side and crossed the finish line with a 1.2 second lead.

It’s his first DIRTcar Nationals victory since 2019.

“Happy to win one,” Marlar said. “We’ve had kind of a hard speedweeks. I’ve been fast a lot, just can’t win anything. Tearing up a lot of stuff. Happy to win one for sure there. The car was really good.”

RESULTS:
Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[2]; 4. 111-Max Blair[8]; 5. 5-Mark Whitener[6]; 6. 99T-Dylan Thompson[5]; 7. 114-Jordan Koehler[3]; 8. 23-David Breazeale[13]; 9. 4-Amanda Robinson[11]; 10. 18-Chase Junghans[9]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 12. B2-Brian Booze[14]; 13. 14W-Dustin Walker[15]; 14. 17Z-Jimmy Zacharias[16]; 15. 17M-Dale McDowell[7]; 16. 6JR-Parker Martin[12]

FEATURE # 3: Sheppard Steals One
Devin Moran and Ricky Thornton Jr. gave Volusia Speedway Park fans the show of the night, throwing slider after slider for the win in the closing laps. However, their thrills led to Brandon Sheppard stealing the victory.

At the start of the race, Moran followed the trend of starting on the pole and then running away from the field like the fastest man alive.

Thornton and Sheppard settled into second and third, respectively, racing about a car length apart as Moran had over a second lead.

Their running order and distance apart remained the same by the halfway point, but two laps later Thornton found a head of steam. In one lap he cut Moran’s lead down from a second to half a second.

On Lap 15, Thornton jumped the cushion exiting Turn 2, costing him a few tenths to Moran.

After a lap to reset, he was back on Moran’s bumper. Running high through Turns 3 and 4, Thornton had a run to charge around the outside of Moran, but the white #99 swerved right to block Thornton’s run.

Not willing to lift, Thornton quickly swerved left to dive under Moran into Turn 1 and then cleared him for the lead off Turn 2. They ran in that order until the next time around when Moran pulled the same move and reclaimed the lead.

Their battle came to blows when Thornton stayed tight to Moran’s left rear off the corner and the two made contact. Thornton’s right front fender bent up, while Moran suffered a flat left rear, bringing out the first caution of the race.

With Moran having to pit, Thornton inherited the lead with Sheppard behind him. The #20RT shot ahead of the field into the first turn, looking strong enough to run away with the win. But as he entered the second turn, his damage turned worse than expected and shot him up the track.

Sheppard snuck by to take the lead and Ryan Gustin entered the picture, moving into second.

With only a lap to go, Sheppard piloted his #B5 Longhorn Chassis around the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” with ease and claimed his 11th DIRTcar Nationals victory.

“Probably didn’t have the fastest car there, those guys were a little better than we were,” Sheppard said. “You know, we were there when we needed to be and capitalized off of them guys’ bad luck. Super thankful to be standing up on (the Victory Lane stage).”

RESULTS:
Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[5]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 5. 1-Hudson O’Neal[9]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[7]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 10. 20-Jimmy Owens[10]; 11. 89-Mike Spatola[13]; 12. 93-Cory Lawler[14]; 13. 30-Todd Cooney[15]; 14. 97C-Cody Overton[12]; 15. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 16. 44-Chris Madden[16]

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA 500 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT FEBRUARY 14, 2024

Six Team Chevy Drivers Post Top-10 Qualifying Results at Daytona

Team Chevy Top-10 Qualifying Results:3rd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL15th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL16th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL17th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Camaro ZL18th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Zone Camaro ZL19th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Busch Light Camaro ZL1

·       Six drivers from three different Chevrolet teams posted a top-10 qualifying lap in the first round of qualifying to vie for the pole position for the 66th running of the Daytona 500.  ·       In the final round of qualifying, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson laid down the fastest lap among the Chevrolet drivers, clocking-in a lap at 181.635 mph to land third on the speed chart.  ·       Anthony Alfredo and the No. 62 Death Wish Coffee Camaro ZL1 team was one of the two open entries to punch a ticket into Sunday’s event through qualifying, with this marking just his second career start in the crown jewel event.·       The two 60-lap, 150-mile, Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona will determine the remaining starting lineup for the 2024 Daytona 500. FS1 will telecast the Duels on Thursday, February 15, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

ANTHONY ALFREDO, NO. 62 DEATH WISH COFFEE CAMARO ZL1, Post-Qualifying Quote: What are these emotions like for you guys?“This is insane. We had just talked about any possible scenario we might find ourselves in today, tomorrow and obviously Sunday. But to make it to Sunday is such a challenge with such a competitive field of open cars and drivers behind the wheel, and I am just really thankful for the Beard family to give me this opportunity and for Death Wish Coffee coming on board. We clearly have a fast No. 62 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet Camaro.  To know we are in and to not have to race in tomorrow; to remove ourselves from some of the sketchy circumstances and focus on Sunday is just an amazing feeling.”

By Michael Gilmer) … After several years of hard work and success racing with the Hunt Wingless Tour, Jarrett Soares will be making a comeback to NARC 410 sprint car racing.

In fact, Jarrett and his father Steven were always one of the NARC series biggest supporters, not missing a single NARC-King of the West event from 2013-2016!  Steven feels a great connection and is very ready to rejoin the group.

“I really missed the NARC family the last few years,” admitted Steven. “We were going to come back sooner but then COVID hit, and nobody knew what was happening and everything got super expensive. I grew up watching guys like Brent Kaeding, Chuck Gurney and Tim Green. Then I later helped out Bobby McMahan. The quality of the drivers and teams is second to none. We are a small family team but I told Jarrett ‘I have a couple years left as an owner, and I want to run NARC to finish’”.

The driver out of Gilroy, California, competed at 20 events with the wingless tour in 2023.  His efforts produced 11 top ten finishes, including eight in the top five and a pair of hard-fought victories.

Jarrett is eager to get back to 410 sprint car racing and showcase his refined skills. With the race season just a few short weeks away, he’s definitely ready to go.  Even with his success with the non-wing tour, his decision to return to NARC King of The West was an easy one.

“The series and competition is second to none,” said Jarrett, “so it did not take much convincing. The team and I jumped on the opportunity to go back to King of The West as soon as the opportunity arose.”

So, will this newly found success translate over to a 410 sprint car? Jarrett seems to think so.

“Non wing racing has taught me patience with the car, learning when to be aggressive in a race, and has also helped me develop a better race craft that I hope will turn some heads.”

Jarrett isn’t one to shy away from tough competition and is looking to continue on his successful career path in a 900+ horsepower sprint car.  He is also excited to make a return to the Tulare Thunderbowl, the one-third mile steel-lined bull ring.

Jarrett’s comeback to 410 sprint car racing was not a task he accomplished on his own. He generously credits his team, his supporters, but most importantly, his father.

“My biggest supporter without a doubt has been my dad, Steven Soares,” said Jarrett.  “His passion and true grit for this sport is admirable. I feed off of his energy and we have made a great team throughout our racing career. He has a no quit, never say die attitude that has made my racing adventure beautiful.”

The feeling is mutual.  Steven has watched his son blossom into the driver he is today. Throughout Jarrett’s non-wing sprint car adventure, he has watched him improve all of the skill sets of his racing game.

“The biggest difference is that he has matured,” explained Steven.  “We ran NARC in 2014 to 2017 when Jarrett was only 15. He now understands how to put a night together and where to put the car.”

Collectively, they both feel the entire team has improved.  “We as a team learned how to run up front and be consistent,” Steven continued. “We also learned what Jarrett likes and how to give him the car he needs. We are building a new car and working hard to finish a good motor so we can run as many shows as our budget allows.”

Steven made it a point to thank Scott Martin, Brian Sperry, Anthony Horn and their families; Nick Larson, Mike Caldwell, Kaeding performance, FK Shocks, Blake, OGIO, and his daughters Kayla, Avery and Olivia. Without them, none of this would be possible without them.

Jarrett and Steven’s relationship and dynamic is amazing. They are not just two co-workers trying to succeed, but they are a team. They share the good times, and the bad. Jarrett expresses this when he refers to his racing experiences as, “our racing career”. They always work together, and they always hope to succeed.

So with NARC 65th Anniversary season on the horizon, keep a look out for the number 12 sprint car as it is sure to turn some heads.

ED NOTE:  Michael Gilmer is one of our guest columnist.  He is a 17-years-old high school student and resides in Diamond Springs, CA.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes  Q. Of everything you haven’t done, is there anything else on the bucket list besides this race? KYLE BUSCH: Winning a damn Bandolero race down the road, yeah. We finished second three days in a row, man. He led every lap today and finished second again. He’s close.  Anyways, yeah, the Daytona 500. It’s certainly the highest honor out there to be able to win a race in our sport. I have not done that yet, although I won the Daytona 500 last year under the yellow flag, not under the checkered flag.  Those damn technicalities keep coming up and getting me.  Q. Five drivers led the Daytona 500 (indiscernible) have not won it. Where does that rank on the pain scale? KYLE BUSCH: High. High. I don’t have the trophy or the ring. It just means that I could have, should have, would have if it was prior to 2005, right? That sucks. It is what it is. I guess 2005, I knew the rules coming in anyways. That’s when I first started in the Daytona 500 was 2005, so… It happens.  Q. You talk about the results here at the 500. Have you looked into the results, meaning luck for some miscalculation on your part? KYLE BUSCH: Not necessarily. I haven’t looked at that. I’ve kind of looked at like, Okay, I finished second, third, fourth, fifth. I think there might be five finishing positions that I haven’t finished in in this race, but I’ve gotten all the rest of them. Weird stat. Maybe somebody will look that up.  All in all, coming out of turn four in 2007, maybe I had a little bit of sentimental feeling for Mark, trying to push Mark to the win. I didn’t pull out on the backstretch to take the lead around the outside, then I spun out of four. That was the melee of Bowyer upside down and on fire in that race.  2016, I should have pulled out of line down the backstretch when Denny got the lead. He won. I finished third on that one.  There’s a lot that have stung that you still think about, Dammit, man, should have, could have, would have.  Q. Do you compartmentalize those instances going through a race? I should do this this year… KYLE BUSCH: You would think, but I’m not that good of a studier. I procrastinate too much. I watch the races, I just don’t study them.  Q. It seemed like on superspeedways last year, the finishes were a lot better. Something to that? KYLE BUSCH: I would agree. I don’t know why, no. Speaking of study, I feel like you can study and get all those things in your mind of what to do in certain situations, but damn, man, you’re going to get surprised of a new situation and not be ready for it, then try to run through the categories of, Where does this one fall? What should I do? By the time you think that long, it’s over. You know what I mean? You need to be a quick thinker on your feet and just go with reaction and what you feel in the moment.  Q. Last year you won early and often. How important is it to get that out of the way early, then concentrate on what’s next? KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, no, winning early, man, that’s huge for your season. It kind of sets the tone, gives you a chance to know you’re in the Playoffs. You just have to make sure you keep everything else in order. If you’re getting into the July, August months, and you don’t have a win yet, it gets stressful. That’s not going to be a place where you want to get to.  Q. You had two top 10s at Atlanta last year. You really took to that track quickly, the reconfiguration. Different car. What is it about it or are you just easy acclimation? KYLE BUSCH: I don’t know. I’m not a fan of it. I don’t really like it, but it is what it is. I don’t know. We got lucky last year in the fifth-place finish because we stayed out on fuel mileage and then the rain came and gave up that opportunity.  Track position is hard to get there. Hard to pass. Two lanes, two-wide… I felt really good about my car. I felt like I could go to the bottom and rip the bottom better than anybody, but then there was no room to get back in line on the top to get the straightaway speed you need. I kept getting sucked backwards every time I would try to pull out of line and try to make a move.  The confidence I had in my car was net hurting me. Just hard to be patient in those situations and sit and ride.  Q. I noticed the logo on your sleeve. A sports betting logo 10, 15 years ago would be unheard of. What do you see as the role of sports betting in sports? KYLE BUSCH: It’s huge. I think there’s a huge market for it. I grew up in Vegas obviously. A lot of betting happens there. A lot of gambling happens there. It feels like I’m the natural fit for that. Thanks to Bet MGM for being associated with a Vegas cat.  All in all, again, it’s a huge market. A lot more states are coming up with releasing the regulations and allowing sports betting to happen in their states. I feel like that’s only a good thing for the industry, just having that chance.  Q. What’s your responsibility as an athlete in all that? KYLE BUSCH: Well, I mean, obviously I feel like for us, keeping the integrity of the sport obviously. You’re not going to do anything that hurts the things that you’re supposed to do behind the wheel. You can’t change the outcome of events, right? That’s a big piece of it. That’s what our part is.  Also just making sure you deliver the message of safe betting as well, too. Not getting somebody too much into it, addicted to it, right?  Q. Should we bet on you to win this week? KYLE BUSCH: I would. Well, from what I’ve heard of a lot of other people around our industry this past week, there’s a lot of people that have good feelings on us this week. Maybe that’s a good omen.  Q. What do you remember of your first win at Las Vegas? Being in front of the home crowd, what did that mean to you? KYLE BUSCH: In ’09, the Cup win?  Q. Yes. KYLE BUSCH: It was huge. It was big. That was a cool deal. That to me felt like my Daytona 500. I’ve had some big wins. I’ve won Indy. I’ve won the Southern 500. I’ve won the Coke 600, All-Star Race, all that stuff. But the Vegas win, it was just like such a relief, such a monumental win for me because I remember I grew up right down the street watching that place be built.  It was pretty cool. I can only imagine what winning here at Daytona on Sunday night will feel like.  Q. Is there less pressure when you go back to Vegas? KYLE BUSCH: Because I’ve won there, yes, there’s less pressure. But I’ve never backed it up. You still want to win there every time you go, being the hometown. I think I have four or five third-place finishes there in the last six or seven races, whatever the hell it is. We’re right there, we just don’t get it.  Q. Of all the various places that you have finished here at Daytona, is it more frustrating to be high and just miss or to be in position and get collected, you’re down the list? KYLE BUSCH: I think last year probably hurt the worst. We led mile marker 500, then got crashed out and finished 19th. There’s other years I got beat towards the end, finished second or third.  Yeah, you’re pissed, but you also know that’s a good start to the year. Getting out of Daytona with some good points, a good go of it, I guess lends it to be a little easier on the feelings than coming out of here with 19th.  Q. All the championships, the wins, the majors, do you still feel that something would be missing until the Daytona 500 box is checked off? KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, I mean, it’s missing, right? There’s no checkmark there. Does it do anything to solidify your career, validate the things that you’ve done or accomplished here? I don’t think so. I mean, I look at Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart as some greats that have blue jackets that made it to the Hall of Fame that haven’t won this race.  It would certainly be nice to not have to worry about that going in and have this trophy at home.  Q. You’re about at the point where Earnhardt was when he won his first. KYLE BUSCH: Trust me, I’m well aware. Thank you very much. I hope we can talk about some of the same storylines on Sunday. That would be nice.  Q. How do you compare the level of parity in this series compared to when you first got up here? KYLE BUSCH: Way more now than it was. Way more. I mean, back in 2005, early 2000, 2005 when I was here, I mean, you had to be in good stuff. That was one of the most frustrating things that I had, too, was I knew I was in good stuff at Hendrick, and Jeff Gordon is winning around me, Jimmie Johnson is winning around me. They’re raking up championships, top threes in points. I’m spinning out, crashing, winning only one or two races a year. It got frustrating really quick.  Over the years at Gibbs, found my own, found my way. Now again just with the car and everything, it just feels like it’s so tough. Parity is so tight. You can go to races back in the mid 2000s and probably race against five, six, maybe eight guys. Now you go to races and you’re racing against 12 or 15 of team win. Here at restrictor plate races, I think it’s 30. You can literally look down the list and be, Yeah, there’s no reason why any of these guys wouldn’t win.  Q. Do you think Chevy will have an advantage, considering the new body styles on both the Ford and the Toyota, they’re going to have to work in and get used to it? KYLE BUSCH: No. I would think anytime you come out with a new body, you fine-tune on it and you make it better than what it was. Ours being the oldest, we haven’t had time or any opportunity to work on it to make it better than what it was.  Those guys I’m sure are going to be fast. With all the testing and the things that NASCAR does in the wind tunnel and whatnot, they say parity is tight, it’s close. Everybody is in the same corner of the box. You don’t know till you see it on the racetrack.  Q. (No microphone.) KYLE BUSCH: So getting called to the NASCAR hauler is like getting called to the principal’s office. You have your own reasons of why or what. You really want to tell them why or what. You are better off just keeping your mouth shut and taking the beating and walking on and seeing the light come up the next day. I’ve had some meetings in there where I knew I was in the right, I knew I had a point, and my point was the solid, valid point. Boy, did that bite me in the ass.  Q. It’s less haunting now than it was 15 or 20 years ago, right? KYLE BUSCH: I don’t know. Maybe a little bit. Trying to think. Who was one of my worst meetings?  Q. Helton. KYLE BUSCH: I think Helton is still probably going to be in those meetings, yeah. O’Donnell in there. Who was the director years ago, like ’05?  Q. Darby. KYLE BUSCH: Those three: Darby, Helton and O’Donnell. Those were the three worst. Now you have Moran that’s going to be in there. Maybe Helton. Fortunately I don’t know because I haven’t been in there in a while.  It’s not a comfortable situation.  Q. There’s been occasions where you take it to them. You’re going to them. What is that situation like? KYLE BUSCH: Way better. I mean, way easier, yeah.  Q. Other people are saying they walk in and they’re all excited and fired up, walk through the door, it’s a bad idea. KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, I’ve definitely had other times where I’ve wanted to walk in there and say my piece on other things, too. Me inviting myself, not being invited.  My guys get around me and they’re like, Yeah, I don’t think you should do that. You should let that go and don’t worry about it.  I mean, it just kind of depends on the situation. But I haven’t been in there in a while. I’m going to knock on wood on that.  Q. Jimmie Johnson talked about them making him wait. Him and Tony Stewart. This was in ’04. Did they ever make you wait? KYLE BUSCH: Oh, yeah. They take their sweet-ass time coming down, yeah. No question. I think the last time I was in there for a big issue was me and Harvick in ’11 at Darlington. I think that was the last time, so… They just take their time. They come down here and you’re all staring at each other. Nobody’s in a good mood.  Q. What is it like sitting across from a guy that you just had an incident with, you’re all fired up, hit each other, you have to sit there and twiddle your thumbs? KYLE BUSCH: That’s what you do, yeah. You just sit there and don’t say much, yeah.  Q. (No microphone.) KYLE BUSCH: He doesn’t know anything about that, no. He’s not on YouTube yet.  Q. Kyle Busch back in the day, what words come out of your mouth when Brexton is getting fired upped and hot to go after somebody? KYLE BUSCH: Just calm down, take a breath, think about it for a second. Trust me, there’s been a couple times. Last year we were at a racetrack, he got wrecked by the same kid three times, three days in a row. I don’t care, you have permission to go kick his ass because if you don’t do it, I’m going to do it. The kid is nine years old. I know I can’t do it.  Q. Did he? KYLE BUSCH: No, no. We went over there and talked to him. All right, enough is enough. One more time and the gloves are off. Actually the gloves are off now. We’re just forewarning you, if you get close, it’s going to happen.  Q. Do they know him because his last name is Busch? KYLE BUSCH: Yeah. He already has a little bit of a bullseye. But that happens. It will only make him tougher.  Q. Last year you were on a new team, new manufacturer, Next Gen car. Preparing for this year, has there been more things you’ve been able to do? Do you feel more prepared, more things you’ve been able to work on this off-season? KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, working with Randall going into year number two with him and all the guys, that’s obviously better. I feel like we’ve had a really good start to the year last year, then we cooled off a lot towards the end, which was not good.  We sat down and we talked about a lot of those things like, Okay, what made us strong, what made us good, what are the setup tendencies that we ran well at each track, what are some of them that we didn’t. We tried to go through all that stuff and pinpoint exactly. That’s always kind of hard to do.  We also relied a lot on the Team Chevy notes we have from the Hendrick bunch and Trackhouse bunch to fine-tune our stuff a little bit more to have a better idea of what direction to go this year.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

ZANE SMITH, NO. 71 SPIRE MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes   Would this step have been possible without all the work Justin Marks has put in? “It’s been very busy since Bristol and our announcement. What’s been awesome is Trackhouse is doing so much in this sport and so is Spire. For me, landing at Spire for this year and getting this Cup experience I think will go a very long way. I just have a great group of people around me and the people that Spire is acquiring from their management side and the people who put in the work behind the scenes is very high. I’m excited to see what we can do.” When did conversations start on this deal?“It definitely came out of nowhere. Justin and I have stayed in touch from when I was possibly going to end up at Ganassi and he had taken that over. He has always been so down to earth and so cool to talk to. My racecar is not out of that building but I do have meetings and it’s great to be back. It’s cool to see all the Trackhouse touches on that building.” Has this hit the timeline you expected, or has it been a bit of a whirlwind?“It has hit the timeline, but it’s definitely been a crazy path to get here. There have been so many times where I didn’t think I would see a racetrack again, and to make it to Sunday is what every racer dreams of and is so special. I want to make the most of this opportunity and be here for a while.” What are the expectations given the gains that Spire has made?“They’ve accomplished a lot in just this offseason. Their goals are to perform and nothing short of that. For Carson (Hocevar) and I, this is our rookie season, and we hope to learn and progress throughout the year. We know how crazy rookie seasons can be, but that’s where we’re at. On Corey (Lajoie) side, I know he’s looking for his first win as Carson and I are, but he’s had a lot more experience and have seen the old Spire days so it’s cool to hear him and Ryan Sparks’ stories of where it once was and to see it now. I’ve just experienced all the stuff that they’ve gotten through this offseason, and it’s been a lot. It’s cool to be a part of.” What does it mean to you to know this is the start of a 36-race process?“That’s the most exciting part. Last year I got to race in the Daytona 500 and didn’t get to sit in it for a few weeks and then would race and would wait a couple months and back in one, so to be able to race week in and week out is awesome. I feel as if I’m going to learn so much. I learned so much in just one Cup race last year. It’s been crazy the path to this point but excited for this year.” What’s it been like this offseason working with both teams?“It’s been a lot throughout this offseason just with me doing double everything. Double competition meetings, double pre-race meetings not only the Trackhouse side but the Spire side. My racecar is out of Spire, so I’d say I’m there a little bit more, but it’s just been a lot of trying to soak it all in learning every bit I can. It’s been great so far but ready to get this year going.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes   Last year was tough, physically, and some disappointments along the way. Were you 100% after that? “Yeah, I was fine. My injuries were not why we struggled, for sure.”  Can you pinpoint some reasons and some things from the offseason you looked into to move past that? “I just think I have some bad habits that this car doesn’t like, and I have to address it ultimately.” As in…“Things we talk about behind closed doors.” In the Duels tomorrow night, do you expect some to step over the line? If Fords are coming up behind you, are you expecting when pushed by a Ford or Toyota, do you know what the new car is going to do?“I don’t think so. Both of the noses they have designed are pretty flat. Our back bumpers are pretty flat, so I don’t think it’ll be anything super out of the ordinary, so we’ll see. I don’t think people will push too hard tomorrow night, but we’ll see.” Is that something where you expect those teams (Ford, Toyota) to practice?“I don’t know. I’m on Team Chevy. We’ll worry about Team Chevy.” It’s been 20 years since the inception of the Playoffs. From your point of view, do you think it’s the best way to find out who has been the best driver all year?“I think 2014 was when we started having the rounds, right? That, to me, is when things really changed because at least with the other way, you had 10 weeks and I feel like it all kind of came out in the wash in those 10 weeks, really. I’m not sure at the end of those 10 weeks if it would have looked a ton different versus a full season. Seemingly, the guys that ran good all year over the course of 10 weeks, that amount of races inside the Playoffs gave it enough time for things to come out in the wash. The people that belonged up front stayed up front. They got there. One bad race didn’t take someone out of ruining a really good year. That’s the only bad thing I see with the way we have it is, you know, whether it’s me or someone else. I’d just hate for somebody to win 10 races and not win the championship. To me, that would be a little bit of a black eye for the integrity of our sport.”  Would you put wins above championships at this point?“No. I think at this point, when you get a number of championships, it’s going to trump that. Certainly, winning more is going to mean you had probably more fun over the course of the entirety of your career. It means you had some good weeks. More often, having good weeks is a good thing.”  What’s one of your fondest memories here?“We ran second here one time, so that was kind of cool, I guess. I would have liked to have won, but that was a decent finish. The rest of them we’ve pretty much crashed, so there hasn’t been really a lot of good outside of that day, unfortunately.”  How do you feel about the changes that have been made to your home track of Atlanta?“Heck, we’ve had two years of what it is now. I don’t think it’s going to change much from what it’s been to what you’ve seen. I do think it’s going to age a bit at some point. It’s hot summers and can be kind of cold in the winter, so that’s typically tough on a track surface. I think the track aging is a good thing, and we’ll just see what happens when it does.” How have you adapted to changes to the track (Atlanta) over the past few years?“I’m in the middle of the road. I understand why they did it. The old track had a lot of character, and it was a lot of fun from a drivers’ perspective. I think it was time for a change. We had rode that horse for a long time, and sold the narrative with how hard it was to drive and people weren’t just on board with it anymore. They wanted to try something else and I applaud them for trying it. It’s got a new look. It’s produced some pretty good racing. People that have gone down there that I’ve talked to personally, spectators really enjoy it and they really enjoy the drafting aspect of Atlanta. If they’re having fun with it at the end of the day, that’s kind of all that matters, truthfully. Folks that come and support us and support this sport are what drives it.” Do you like this style of racing that it is now? “I don’t love… I think we really had a good speedway package with the old car, kind of worked out towards the end where you could have some big runs. It seemed like there was more energy transfer, and the cars weren’t so draggy as to what the cars are now. I just think we had a pretty good situation going on. It has changed quite a lot, and I think you’ve guy have seen the way races look, it’s changed a lot. They’re always adjusting little things here and there, getting back to what it was. It might take some time. Things certainly don’t happen overnight. Some stuff takes a little effort to get it perfect.”   Winning the Daytona 500 is a huge accomplishment regardless of the year, but especially this year being Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary. What’s the mindset coming in here?“Obviously, it’s a big year, a 40th year for HMS is a big deal. I’m super proud to be a very small piece of that puzzle. I think it’s a great honor. Look, (Mr. Hendrick) always wants to win. I don’t think it would matter if it were the second anniversary or whatever. He wants to win, and we do too. I don’t necessarily think just because it’s the 40th year of HMS, that doesn’t make me want to win the race any more. I wanted to win it pretty bad before. I don’t think it changes it from that standpoint.”  Did you and Ryan (Blaney) come up in the garage growing up?“We did. Ryan’s kind of a few years older than me. I saw him around the garage as a kid. We never really hung out when we were super young, like that age when our dads were racing. We both took a similar path through grass roots short-track racing. So, we started seeing more of each other then. That’s when we became good friends.” Regarding Ryan (Blaney), winning the championship, it’s an opportunity to have their voice amplified. When you won the championship, what were the opportunities the things you could do or opportunities presented to you?“I can’t really think off the top of my head. There are certain traditions that come with winning a championship that I think are really cool – the champions’ book, all of those things that last forever. That is what makes it really special, the tradition, and that it lives on forever. I think that it should at least earn you an opportunity to be heard a little more behind closed doors by people who make decisions. I do think that does earn you that right slightly a little more than it would otherwise. There is also guys who haven’t won a championship that I feel have been around long enough and enough success to have that type of voice, too.”  Do you spend more time at the shop in the offseason to try to “rally the troops” before coming down here to Daytona?“I spent a good bit of time at the shop. Obviously, we had a lot of prep and whatnot before the Clash, too. I feel like our team is in a good place. When you have a year like last year, it is really easy for a team to blow up from the inside. Really easy. You don’t know how easy. When I look at where our team is at mentally, our drive and our will, and our willingness to fight and not quit, I think it’s at an all-time high to be honest with you. My relationship with Alan (Gustafson) is as good as it’s ever been. I’m just super proud of those things regardless of how the season goes, because I work with a group of guys who don’t want to give up on me. I don’t want to give up on them. That, to me, means a lot when you go to war every week that have no desire to quit. It speaks volumes. That, in my opinion, is a huge hurdle in trying to get back to where we think we can be and where I feel where we belong.” Do you feel you’ve grown more into the role of cheerleader or the quarterback?“I definitely think as I’ve gotten older, Alan (Gustafson) and I share more of that. I think when I started, he probably had most of that role, because I kind of stepped into his team. I do think as I’ve got older, there is a responsibility there to at least try and make our team better through the experiences that I’ve had.” When you were going through that, did you truly fear it would blow up?“No, I truly didn’t. I’ve just watched enough of that happen over the years, and people jump ship on each other, and think the grass is greener elsewhere, I’ve seen enough of that to know how it works. But, no, that was not the case for us and has not been through the winter.” “We always want to do good. Our fire shouldn’t be in question. We might be frustrated or in a bad mood some days, but it’s because we want to do well, not for another reason.”  What responsibilities did you feel as champion in the 2021 season after winning in 2020? “Mine had such a different feel because it was COVID year. We didn’t do a banquet and some of those traditional things that the champion would typically do. It just had a little bit different of a vibe. When we fired off in 2021, everybody had kind of regrouped, and all the win stickers were off the car, and they were making a trophy for that year. You’ve just got to reset and get ready to go again, that’s how I looked at it.”  LA was kind of a weather nightmare, and this weekend looks to be a high chance of rain. What does that do to your psyche?“it doesn’t do anything to my psyche. I don’t know what it does to anybody else’s other than just being here for another day or two. It’s Wednesday, and we’re in Florida. So, I think, the biggest things it changes are the spectators based on who wants to come and whether or not they want to sit in the rain. For me, I don’t think it changes a whole lot, really at all. I’m here until we get this thing done whenever that is.”  All four Hendrick drivers have won the pole at least once for this race. How do you balance, and has that balance changed in the NextGen with the race and how it takes to be successful tonight compared to Sunday? “I don’t think so. I think that’s a pretty similar approach than with the old car too.” Do you feel you have to give something up for the race in order to qualify for the pole here in Daytona?“No, because you have practice after the Duels, so you can adjust after that.” But how much pride is there in qualifying on the front row for the Daytona 500?“To me, it’s a testament to the guys at the shop in the engine department, and to all of the staff for the work put in more so than what the drivers are doing. We’re not really doing a whole lot to contribute to that. That, to me, is where the recognition deserves to be, and that’s where I’ve always tried to lead it when it was me that had won a couple of poles. But listen, I want to win the race. Poles are great, but I want to be good on Sunday. I think we can do both.” Are you surprised it’s been 10 years since a Hendrick car won this race?“Nope. I’m not surprised by a whole lot. To be candid, that’s just the way it goes sometimes. It’s a hard race to win. You have to quite a few things go your way. Unfortunately for HMS, it’s just been a while, but I think it’ll come back around.”  With Fords and Toyotas having new bodies, do you expect anyone to be any more aggressive to figure out if a move works or how it reacts?“The races have been so calm the last couple of years, I just don’t see that changing a whole lot. I think everybody wants to race the car that they unload with down here on Sunday. So, no. You might get a little pushing here or there, but it’s not to the level it’ll be on Sunday.”  You’ve got Trey (Poole) coming in now as your spotter, and you race together in Legends cars. When you made the decision to go with him, what was that process and what type of comfort level does it give you?“I haven’t been missing any comfort, so I don’t want that narrative to get misunderstood. When we were looking at doing something different, Trey has been around our team, and he understands how we operate. He’s spotted at the Cup level for me before. He’s spotted quite a bit of short track racing events for me before, so we felt like it was the right fit. At the end of the day, you just want a team that has performance at the top of mind all the time, and genuinely wants what’s best for us. Trey is that way, just like Eddie (D’Hondt) was. I don’t want that to be misunderstood either. It was just the right fit for our group, and a guy I know very well, and someone I think will contribute at a high level.”  Now that we’re in February, how does it feel that now you’ve been able to reset after last year?“There is a sense of a new opportunity and I’m appreciative of that. There’s also realistic understanding that your problems don’t disappear because of the calendar change from ’23 to ’24. We know that we need to be better, and I need to be better, and intend on continuing to build on what we were working on at the end of last year, and just keep our heads down and keep pushing.”  Are you a guy who looks through a bunch of analytics and data? What works for you?“I look at a little bit of everything. It’s probably not as much data for speedways as I would for a downforce track. Certainly, tendencies, watching old races in the past, a little bit of everything.”  When you say tendencies, what do you mean?“A little bit of (other drivers’ tendencies) or how a late-race restart might unfold, which lane might be the better lane to be in, who gave a good push when. Was there a third lane involved? Why was there a third lane involved? Was it two lanes? Did people who rode around in the back have good finishes? All of the above, we’re thinking of all of it.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes  If a Ford or Toyota is behind you in the Duels, are you going to get nervous because they have a new car? “Yeah, I think those are just situations we have to learn from. Talladega (Superspeedway), for example – I could accept pushes really well from Chevrolet’s, and then when I tried to lead the top lane and accept pushes from the No. 4, I was out of control. So it’s kind of the opposite of what you would think with how flat that nose was versus ours.  I think with new cars from other manufacturers, you just have to get pushed to learn and know how our cars are going to react. So it’s just things we’re going to have to learn through the Duels, through practice and then through the Daytona 500.” Obviously winning the pole is a big thing here and you have several of them. Do you guys have any internal bets or fun stuff going on that we don’t know about on who gets the next one? “Obviously it’s really important for Mr. Hendrick and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. It’s bragging rights, right? They can show who built the fastest car coming down here. So yeah, looking forward to hopefully having a shot at it. Obviously have no clue what to expect, but we want the pole for Mr. H and everybody at Chevrolet.” You talk about how important that is, as far as the process of switching over from the qualifying to the race. With standardized parts with the Next Gen car, do you have to give up something for the race in order to maximize qualifying, or is it case where practice afterwards lends you to make the changes that you need to make? “Yeah, I don’t think you give up anything for the 500, but you do give up things for the Duel, for sure. I think last year, I thought my car was going to drive OK. I made it to like turn four on the first lap before I realized my car was not going to drive OK. You definitely give things up for the Duel, but you can get that all back out of it for the 500. Hopefully we’re on the front-row tonight, but if not, we’ll go from there.” It’s been quite a while that a Hendrick Motorsports car has gone to victory lane in the Daytona 500. How much have you heard about that, if at all, within the organization? “It’s been 10 years, right? So definitely want to change that. I want to be the guy that changes that, but want to put Hendrick Motorsports in the best position with all four of our cars to get there. The Daytona 500 is a huge deal and we want to go get a trophy.” With this being Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary, obviously every season you want to win and do the best you can, but how especially important would it be to go out and have a great season this year? “Yeah, I think after last year, I selfishly want to go run well for me. The 40th anniversary season, it’s awesome to be a small part of it and I know it means a lot to Mr. Hendrick, Jeff (Gordon) and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. But for me, I just want to go win races and run well for me and my team.” Joey Logano just said – what’s good about this sport is that there’s an end point and a start point, so if things didn’t go well, you have to stop and try to regroup and come back. Is that the benefit of being able to sweep away last year and hope improves this year? “Yeah, for sure. We had a lot go on last year throughout the year, so kind of being able to reset from that I think is good for us. I think our team is in a great spot – a couple of changes and I’m in a really good spot heading into this year. Looking forward to getting to work. These first two races are a bit interesting – a lot can happen that’s outside of your control. But we’re going to go control the things we can and try to make the most of those things and move on.” Did your accident change your perspective – are we going to see you, at least for a while, be away from racing your dirt cars and focus on being a team owner? “Yeah, for me, it just came down to – sprint car racing was kind of a hobby for me and something that I really enjoy. I love winged sprint car racing, non-wing sprint car racing, midget racing.. all of it is great and obviously have great support from Ally on that. My hobby started to get in the way of my job, which was not optimal. So for me, I can’t just sprint car race – financially, it doesn’t make any sense to do something that is getting in the way of your job. So just trying to be smart about it. Obviously I want to be a part of sprint car racing for a long time, just not driving them right now.” Do you physically feel fresher and better than you did, say, at the end of the year last year? “Yeah, I think so. With how my injury worked, it’s still something I’m going to feel forever. But I think the reset was good. I think being able to kind of catch back up on things was good. Get back into the gym and kind of physically catchup to where I was at pre-injury was super important. I feel really good. I worked super hard this offseason and overcame some things throughout the offseason even and I feel like I’m in a really good spot.” You’re entering your second year with Blake Harris (crew chief). What are the things that you feel like you learned from him in year one and what are you looking forward to doing with him in year two? “Yeah, I think just knowing that we were able to continue to work well together through a lot of adversity and work through all of those things were really important. I’m looking forward to just having a complete, full, clean season with him this year in our second season together.” Is there any one specific track that kind of stands out to you as a place where you’re looking to make a mark? “I think going back to Las Vegas is really important for us. It’s been one of my better racetracks throughout the course of the years, and just looking forward to trying to make up for last fall, for sure.” What do you hope to learn in the Duels tomorrow night? “Last year, Blake (Harris) said my car would probably drive pretty good in the Duel and I made it to turn four before I realized it was not driving pretty good.. it was driving pretty terrible (laughs). And it is the No. 48 car down here in Daytona on qualifying night, so I kind of have an idea of what tomorrow night could be like if we’re not on the front-row. Hopefully we end up on the front-row and don’t have to worry about it much because I don’t think it’s setup for tomorrow night, but we’ll get it dialed in for Sunday. Honestly, if we’re not on the front-row, we’re going to do all we can throughout the race to start as far up as we possibly can.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 TRACKHOUSE RACING CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes   I don’t know if you’ve seen it yet, but as someone who has been coming here since a kid, what’s it’s like to have a giant picture of yourself in the Fanzone?“I’ve looked up at that banner for so long. We would get the Fanzone access pass added on to our ticket. We did it a couple of times when we were kids. My parents would take us down in there and I remember ordering a Shirley Temple or something at the bistro there. I’ve never looked at it other than just as a place where you walk by. Now today I walk by and I see it… it’s stuff I’ve seen for so long but now it has more meaning. That big ol’ banner with my face on it is wild.” You’re up to four Cup victories now and have contended for a championship. Is the next step this year to add one of the big races to get you into that next phase?“I don’t know what the next step is. Competing is top of mind for me. It’s really all I focus on. I focus just as much for the Daytona 500 as I do any track in Cup. They are all so important and so pivotal. I never know when the last one is going to be. That’s just the way the world works. One of these will be my last win. I’m fortunate to have a couple now but we’ll see. Obviously the World 600, Southern 500, Daytona 500… those are big ones but I can’t prepare any more than I do for them because I’m preparing as much as I can, or as much as I know how. There’s probably always more I can do but it’s as much as I know how to do.” What’s your reaction to your role in the Netflix series?“It’s cool to show me, and that’s what I told Justin (Marks) and that’s what I told Trackhouse when we were negotiating my contract… and the Netflix group. I told them ‘Hey, I’m not going to give you the soundbites that you’re looking for.’ There were times when we would be talking with the producers and the cameras would be rolling and they’re asking me questions and they’d say ‘Is that all you want to say?’ and I’m like ‘Yes that’s my honest answer. I’m me.’ So when we were planning out stuff for them to capture, I told them I’d be out at the farm if they wanted to come see it, and they did. I’m glad they showed that because it’s really me.” How would you look at the racing at Atlanta since the reconfiguration?“I think the track knows what it wants to be, and it wants to be different. Because it is. As the pavement wears out, it’s getting wild. The first race we went to with the Gen Seven car and the repave, it all lined up together. I couldn’t even make laps in practice by myself. They were out there drafting and pushing each other. We were so loose and out of control that we had to make a ton of adjustments and ended up second in that race. Then as it’s evolved, we’ve gotten our car better but the track is losing grip. So last year in the second race, I couldn’t be aggressive. I was just trying not to crash by myself. We’ve had to put some work into it, so we’ll see. And that was only two years’ worth of racing. If in five years or 10 years.. we’d never think about repaving a track in 10 years if everything is ok with it. If they want superspeedway racing in 10 years, they’ll have to repave it again. With the current horsepower and aero package, we’re going too fast and sliding. At least I am. We gotta get some more grip built in the 1 car.” When we were here last year, the talk at Trackhouse was managing expectations with how you finished the 2022 season. What is the expectation level now?“Keep working. We definitely took some time and took some days, weeks and better part of a month to unplug, then we came back in January and it’s full speed ahead working as hard as ever and doing everything we know to do. We’re not going the same prep that we did for ’23 or ’22 and definitely not for ’21. As we’ve evolved and learned, we keep growing. What are the expectations? I don’t have any number-based ones or anything. Just go compete. Whatever we learn after the first two and the superspeedway stuff here and in Atlanta and then go out west and we evolve our packages for springs and shocks, that’s what gets me excited.” As a kid from Florida, what does the Daytona 500 mean to you and what would it mean to win it?“Why not us? I have to think that. Why can’t we win? There are no reasons why we can’t. From there, indescribable… I don’t know what it would mean. If it happens, you’ll get to watch us experience it for the first time together.” Not to suggest anything, but how do you normally spend a rain delay?“Trying not to eat. Even if I’ve eaten and prepared, and we go out and run 10 laps in the race and we get out, I’m looking for food. It’s just my natural nervous instinct. So I’ll eat more. Even though we aren’t racing, we’re still burning calories. The nerves and the adrenaline and the heart rate is up. It’s impossible not to need to take in more calories during these events.” When the forecast looks bad, do you dwell on that or do you plan that everything is going to run according to schedule?“We plan accordingly. We have rooms booked in case we need them. That’s a necessary insurance plan. I don’t dwell. I’d rather the rain be here than at the farm. We don’t need any more rain. A little bit is OK but not the two days of steady rain like they’re talking here. Farmer at heart here has been looking at different weather apps my entire life and listening to forecasts and meteorologists. We’ll see.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes   Regarding the Daytona 500 pole – Is there an internal battle to try and get this next one? “It’s one of those poles that you would like to have. I would say the Phoenix (Raceway) pole is really important as well, but this one is up there. So, it would be nice to get this one tonight to start the season off on a good foot and to just give you some momentum, really.” Do you have inside bets with Larson or Bowman or anybody? “No, I don’t, and honestly don’t know what their mindset is. We will just try to go out there and do the best we can to see who has the fastest car, basically. As long as I do my job and get through the gears and everything, then its just up to that.” Did you have a good offseason and are you ready for this one?“I feel like this offseason, I took more time just away from racing and I feel like I came back more energized, and I feel like I am more excited for what is ahead now.” You had a great season last year and made it to the Final Four, but are there some areas you would like to see the team improve in or are there certain types of tracks that you would like to feel a little more comfortable with?“I don’t know – just try to get a little better at short tracks. That has been the goal for us for about a year. We started to struggle at the shorter tracks in 2022, and I feel like going into this year, that has been the big emphasis – to try and get better at Martinsville in particular, but a lot of those places.”  Were you surprised last year, especially what happened in the fall race, when you went there thinking you were ready for Martinsville and it just didn’t happen?“Yeah, I mean I was surprised. I thought we could easily run top-five or top-seven. I was anxious, though, because of our past performance, but I thought we would improve. But yeah – definitely surprised, but hopefully its different this year.” Did NASCAR go in the right direction with some of the changes that came out of Phoenix?“Yeah, I think so. We will see. I don’t really know because I didn’t do any of the testing, but hopefully so, yeah.” Daniel Suarez was talking earlier today about your six wins, and he said that he brought three cars to the track that were capable of winning and you brought 20. As far as preparation, how does that translate from the race shop to get those cars to the track to get you those numbers?“I mean, I really don’t look at it that way. I look at it that every time the guys bring a car to the track, it has a chance to win. That is the confidence I have in my team, and I never look at weekends and say – ‘man, this car sucks’, or ‘this car doesn’t have a chance to win’. It’s just fine-tuning and sometimes you win races with a third-place car and sometimes you win by being the best car all weekend. I think we had maybe two races last year where we had the best car all weekend and that was Vegas and Watkins Glen. So, yeah, it just depends, and they all come in differently.” Did you have a lot of fun in doing the documentary on Netflix and the behind-the-scenes stuff? “It was really cool, and I liked it a lot. I thought they did a good job editing it and really making everyone look good. It was good. I was skeptical going in of what it was going to look like, but it turned out better than I thought.” What about Iowa Speedway? Do you like having a new track every season, like Chicago last year?“Yeah, I do. We continue to spice it up and do new and interesting things that I think is good. Iowa is a known commodity for us; we have been there. It hasn’t been in the Cup Series, so I am excited to see how it goes.” Ford and Toyota have new noses this year. Do you feel like you are a little bit on your back foot at an aero track like this?“Yeah, I mean our car was good last year, so sometimes you don’t want to mess with something that is already proven and competitive. So, hopefully our car is really good this year.”

CONCORD, NC (Feb. 14, 2024) – It will now pay to be the fastest in Hot Laps at every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models race in 2024 with Dirt King Simulator’s Hottest Hot Lap of The Night.

Dirt King Simulator has partnered with the World of Outlaws Late Models this year to provide a $100 bonus to the driver that sets the quickest time in Hot Laps at every event. Also, the driver with the most Hottest Hot Lap of The Night awards at the end of the 2024 season will receive a $500 bonus.

Dirt King Simulator’s racing simulators will be set up in the midway of every World of Outlaws Late Model event, giving fans the chance to see if they can beat their favorite driver’s best Hot Lap time.

The Dirt King Simulators Hottest Hot Lap of The Night award will debut with the World of Outlaws at Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Feb. 15-17. Tickets are available at DIRTcarNationals.com.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 JTG DAUGHERTY RACING CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes   The purse this year for the Daytona 500 is a record. How transformative can that be to you and your race team?“Yeah it’s definitely beneficial for both. Monday aside, we’re here to get into Victory Lane and get the trophy and all the accolades that go with it. On the money side, it takes a lot of money to make this sport go round and this race team. My wife and I are redoing our bathroom, our bedroom and now the nursery. So it would go a long way. It’s kind of already spent! I hope we win.” After winning this race last year, what were the emotions like coming back through the tunnel? Does that win take away pressure or does it add to it?“It’s really cool coming back to defend. Not many people get the opportunity to come back here as the defending champion of the Daytona 500. It’s something that I definitely recognize and definitely appreciate and look forward to that challenge of defending it. On the other hand it probably takes a little pressure off. We all put so much pressure on this race from the time we start. I ran my first Daytona 500 in 2012 and had been trying ever since then. Once you finally get it, I feel like you’re a bit more relaxed on the racetrack. You’ve already got one accomplished. Over time, it does seem like it makes it easier… not just the Daytona 500 but if you look at other races in other motorsports… for me the Chili Bowl Nationals, the Knoxville Nationals, the Kings Royal… it seems like once somebody wins that once, it seems like it is a trickle effect and you’re able to win it multiple times. I’m hoping we can make that happen this weekend.” With your history in the race, what does this Daytona 500 mean to you?“It’s our biggest race of the year. I’ve started this race every year since 2012 and as a full-time Cup Series driver since 2013. You want to kick your season off on the right foot. I’ve had really good runs, and even if you don’t win there are ways to kick off your season really strong down here. Winning last year changed our whole outlook of our season and our perspective. Then just the race itself, last year being the 65th running of the Daytona 500 and looking at the list of names that have won this race, and then talking to past champions that never won this race who would trade a championship for a Daytona 500. That kind of puts in perspective of how big this race is. Trying to win it is very difficult. It means a lot and it’s meant a lot to my career in the last year, and I look forward to hopefully adding to that.” Going into 2024, what has changed in your mindset compared to when you stepped into this building a year ago?“A lot has changed. 2022, there were a lot of issues; speed being one of them throughout the 2022 season. Coming into 2023 and Media Day at the 500, I was pretty upbeat and pretty positive and liked the direction of our program. It was mine and (crew chief) Mike (Kelley)’s first race back together and first season back together in a long time. So I felt really strong about that. But you don’t ever really know until you get out on the racetrack and see those changes. We made a lot of changes that offseason to our racecars and felt we were going to be better. We set out goals to start the season last year, and we accomplished all those. We set more goals this offseason. It’s definitely coming back as a champion, and this Media Day is totally different. I felt really strong about where our race team is. We made big strides from 2022 to ’23; it’s going to be tough to make those big strides again but it’s all about taking steps forward, and we’re prepared to do that.” You mentioned new goals for this year. Can you elaborate on those?“Our sport, to make the playoffs, is all about points. Obviously wins are wins and lock you right in. We have an idea of how many points we’d need per race and what we need to average over the first 26 races to make the playoffs. Those are the goals that we are setting. Last year we set a goal, and we accomplished that. Even without our win, we felt that if we did X amount of points per race, we’ll be in the playoffs, and we were able to accomplish that. This year we set a different goal of more points than we did last year per race, and that’s what we are looking at.” If you had to sell yourself to someone who is picking guys to make the playoffs, what would you say the strong points are for the season looking ahead?“Luckily I don’t really care if they pick us or not. In all honesty, I just feel like we are making strides in the right direction. In ’22, we were the 32nd-placed car at Gateway. We really focused on those types of tracks, and we went back there last year and ran in the top-six to top-seven the whole race but got crashed there late at the end. So we picked a few races this offseason to really focus on. I feel like we had enough speed at a lot of races last year to get the job done that we needed to do to make the playoffs. Some mistakes on the team side and my side of just not being clean enough throughout the race, whether it be pit road, speeding, restarts, you name it. Especially toward the end of the season. I feel like at the end of the season we had better speed than where we finished. I think I’d rather surprise people and bust their playoff bracket that they made today.” Inaudible.“Obviously the speedways are where I always feel comfortable. There will be some mile-and-a-half tracks that I think we’ll perform better on and we’ve always performed decently on. Bristol… I want to win Bristol so bad. We get two shots at the concrete now this year. That’s one that I definitely have circled. The way these races are, any of us can win at any given moment. These cars are getting closer. If you look throughout the qualifying sessions last year, the field just kept getting tighter. It was kind of frustrating for us in some aspects because we would close the gap to the leader but would stay in the same position. That’s just everyone getting tighter and tighter. Give any of us some track position, and we have a shot at winning. It’ll be about executing and coming up with the right gameplan throughout the race.” What are you curious to see tomorrow in the Duels?“I’m curious to see if I speed on pit road because I think I’ve sped on pit road the last three years in the Duel. We had our last meeting yesterday, and they all looked at me. For a lot of people, I think you saw the 48 last year was super aggressive in their qualifying package and qualified on the pole but was unable to really race it. For us, we were able to race but you only have half the field. It’s tough to get double-file. It’s more about executing on and off pit road with your groups of people and your manufacturers. So I think it’s a really good practice session for the 500 in that aspect. Knowing that normally you get one other drafting session from practice that you’ll have maybe one big drafting session and then all of a sudden you’ll have just five or six cars. For me it’s a good opportunity to get back in the groove of speedway racing and figure out what your car is doing. I’m assuming that everyone else has made changes as well to qualify better. So I’m interested to see how those changes affect our racecar in the draft and what changes we’re going to need for the 500. We know where we were last year in the Duels and what changes we made to go into the 500. Then we know what we did for qualifying this year. That’s one of your best scenarios to figure out how your car is going to be Sunday.” What is the challenge of remaining a playoff team as a single-car operation?“The old-style cars and the rules changes that would be made in the offseason definitely affected the smaller teams like ourselves, especially over a period of time. Now I feel like the parts and pieces as a whole really aren’t changing. We’ve got some underneath stuff that it’s not drastic for anybody by any means. We started 2022 with this car, and I felt like we were comparable to a lot of good race teams. But you saw a lot of mistakes, a lot of people were trying to figure things out, you saw a lot of blown tires… there were all these different issues that people were struggling with. As the season went on in ’22 is when we kind of started slipping away and is ultimately what made us feel like 2022 was a fail because by the end of the season we were really scratching our heads trying to figure out how they’re going so much faster. In ’23, we got more aligned with Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet and felt like we took a huge step forward. Now I feel like a lot of the info we have and the information that we’re gathering and not many rule changes… there’s no major parts or pieces that you’re going to bolt on your car or build or design yourself to go faster. Now that we know that these are the parts in the toolbox, it’s all about continuing to put them together the right way. I think we have enough data points now, and everybody is just closing in. I think we closed five-tenths away from the pole here in the second race, and position-wise I don’t think we were any different than we were at the 500. But we were eight-tenths off at the 500, so we’ve closed that gap but everyone is getting faster. I don’t think the leaders are getting further away. I think everyone is just getting closer. You see it within the organization. If you hit it this much better than your teammate, it seems like it shows really big on the racetrack. We’re all just looking for those little things. I think this car overall is better for us smaller teams in the grand scheme of things as far as trying to catch up. We’re not trying to design anything ourselves. We’re focused on the tools in the toolbox and the parts that they give us.” How much confidence does it give you in your career that you’ll always be a Daytona 500 champion?“It’s nice. The only way to make it better is to win another one and win a championship. For me it was definitely a huge accomplishment for our race team. There are a lot of people at our race team that have been in this sport for a long time and some never had a win in their whole career. It was really cool to bring that back to our race team and all our partners. We had a big blow-out summer party at the house and brought the families over and their kids and just enjoyed it and soaked it up last year. 2024 is a new season. We’ll remember those good times, but we have to make some more.” What can you guys in the Chevy camp learn throughout the Duels just in terms of how each car reacts to pushes or takes pushes?“The good news is the other manufacturers have made theirs easier to push people, so if they’re behind you I guess you feel a little more comfortable about that. I’m sure they’re probably a little nervous. Everyone is so equal when it comes to getting four or five cars in line. I feel like speed-wise is already really close. To me, there’s a lot of differences made in the drivers who are driving the racecars… when to push, how to push and what your line is doing. I’ve got friends in different manufacturers that I’ve worked really well with over the years and a lot in the Chevy camp that I’ve worked well with. For me on the Chevy side, we’re focused on what we need to do to make our Camaros fast. I feel really good about where we’re at. I think we’ll have more speed than what we had last year, which is never a bad thing.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 SPIRE MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes   Going back to Atlanta last year, and the showings you’ve had in drafting style and superspeedways, to come here with a major sponsor and a big week. Do you feel this the best position you’ve walked in here this week?“For sure. The bar has been very low, and we keep continuing to creep that bar up each year. I remember sitting here in such a difference in perspective my first Daytona 500 we made in the No. 83 car. Marty Smith asked me a question and I started crying. I said I’d wreck my grandmother to make the Daytona 500. If I didn’t make that one, I promise you I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.                We continue to understand what we need to do to put ourselves in the right spots. Someone told me this week that I’m second in average finishes here at Daytona behind the guy that just walked out, and that guy is pretty good. We know what to do. We know how to put ourselves in position to be in the hunt to contend for these races. I think we’re going to continue to refine that and do an even better job this year.”  A lot of talk about Spire (Motorsports) this offseason – the moves you’ve made. Do you feel like there’s pressure to perform, and what do you have to do this year to show you can handle this responsibility?“I’ve always had pressure. Pressure is different than expectations. I think that pressure, as a competitor, to continue to get better and you want to win. I’ve been successful and I’ve won at everything I’ve ever done in my life. Then you get here, you’re really aligned on opportunities and strength of teams, and that’s why that success in black and white on paper in terms of adding trophies to your trophy case, has really slowed down the last five years. The pressure I put on myself to get better is something I wake up with every day. That hasn’t change. Now, it’s just, having more potential to do that. Ryan Sparks has more tools at his disposal. The team has more resources coming in from super recognizable brands on my fire suit right now, like Chili’s. To be able to get our race team to a point where we can represent brands like this and start attracting talent from other race teams to our team, whether it’s on the floor or on a pit box, I take a lot of pride in having a part of that. The pressure is no different than what it was my first Cup race because you want to do good, and you want to be successful and win, but the expectations are what you really want to manage. That’s what really starts bogging a team down, when you try to start to reach and setting unrealistic expectations. The pressure is part of the job. You deal with it.”  Spire has made all these moves. Was there something that jumped out to you saying, ‘Wow. We’ve made this leap?’“Everything. The purchase of (Kyle Busch Motorsports), that was unbeknownst to me. I was told by Dickerson about a week before it happened. I’m like, “holy cow, man. We’re going to have to have a hell of a bake sale to pay for this building.’ Then you get the Truck team, those guys. I think the biggest thing I talked about in our team kickoff lunch last week was all the empty trophy cases. The guy that was in that shop before, they had trophies in the rafters of that place that had dust on them because they had no other place to put them. With all of Kyle’s (Busch) success, all of the Truck series wins, that place was full of trophies. Now, there are a couple of pictures and my kickball trophy in the trophy case. So that’s part of the expectations. We need to continue to build to a place where we can start filling these trophy cases up with legitimate trophies. I’m super hopeful of getting Ryan Sparks more depth in engineering, whether it’s some help from GM, help from Hendrick with their engines and pit crews. I’m set up for success more than I’ve ever been in the last seven years of my Cup career. Also, on the flip side, you talk and hear how Ryan Blaney approaches the sport and his preparation. You’re also racing against 30 of those guys with very high IQ’s, high level of high caliber teams. To be able to gain five spots, that means you have to outwit five of those teams, or five of those pairings. It doesn’t make my job any easier. It does make everyone’s job a little more equipped, so that’s what we’re going to do heading into the season.” With expectations lifted some more this year, with a last lap scenario sitting out there, do you take a little more of a chance than you did two or three years ago? Do you go to the edge more or not?“I think that winning the Daytona 500 can change your life. You will do everything you possibly can to do that. Now, there are moves you can make that are ill-advised and dumb, and I’ve made several of those. On the flip side, I know what I did back to Atlanta, which is a similar drafting track, and it didn’t work out for me there. I figured out how to lose one of these speedway races, so I’m going to figure out how to be on the other side of this come Sunday.”  A Chili’s executive has said that 60% of NASCAR fans have dined at a casual restaurant which is part of the reason why they’ve decided to get into motorsports. Is there an opportunity for this to expand?“I think there are always opportunities to grow a partner. I think this is that they are jumping into the deep end with the biggest race of the year, the (Daytona) 500. We did about a 14-hour production day with a couple of TV spots that are going to air. You saw the one on social media with me covering up the QR codes, but there is another one coming that’s going to play during the broadcast that’s pretty funny. For them to spend the money and budget and activate, as well as being on our car, I think really sets us up to really be able to start growing that partnership. They’re going to be an associate for four or five races, and I think their NASCAR-span is going to lead all the way up to COTA in March. They’re associate in Vegas, Atlanta, some other places, and then end of the program ends at COTA, but they’ve been pretty excited so far, and we haven’t even hit the racetrack yet. That’s when people really get excited. We’re going to get them on TV, get them in the mix, and try to get us a good starting spot in the Duels and kick off Sunday with a bang.”  You talked earlier about the challenge of gaining five more spots. As the perception of the team changes, how do you change the mindset? “That’s a great question. I think I may have talked about that on the podcast. It is a big adjustment. When we first started here, the reins were pulled so tight that you don’t engage. Don’t look at the front, don’t even think about going up there. You just need to have this car cross the start, finish line at the end. That sentiment has really changed and adjusted. For me, as a driver, it certainly has changed in how you approach the race, how you prepare, and how you make moves in the race with the intention of a changing goal as we progress the team. As we get more partners, you can afford to stick it up in the mix to try and punch your ticket to the Playoffs, because you can justify it. I think, for (Ryan) Sparks and I, this is our fifth year working together, and our relationship is now like a marriage. The first day you say I do, it’s not going to look the same in five, 10, or 15 years. Our relationship has definitely changed on what we expect out of each other. I’ve had kids since we’ve started working together, and that whole navigating, making the most of what he had, and where we’re starting to build towards a team with some assets to work together with, we’re helping each other grow up in a way. Him coming from (Richard Childress Racing), not working anywhere else, me coming from a lot of bottom-feeding teams to where we build now. As people continue to look toward the No. 7 car to be a contender at a speedway, that’s a big change. But, for me, I’ve always had the go get it, do whatever it takes mindset, that’s never changed for me. So to have that brindle in your mouth, the reins pulled back, that was so counterintuitive in how I’ve been growing up. I’ve started to have the reins loosened up a bit to go and attack the race how I see fit, I think it’ll start to pay dividends.” The trophy case you’ve mentioned, there’s no escaping it at the Spire shop. It’s built there. How do you keep that as a motivating factor and not something that becomes overwhelming?“We’re not going to take that step in a day. We haven’t taken that step to where we are currently in a week. It’s taken four years, three-and-a-half years to get to where it is currently. It’s going to take a significant amount of time in the future to go to the racetrack with the expectation to go for a win. Our expectation is still, ‘Alright, let’s run for more top-15’s consistently.’ Last year, we brought cars with top-10 pace probably four or five times. My mindset going there when I realized we had some pace was ‘Okay, if I’m 10th, let me try to go win this thing.’ I probably made mistakes, or we’d call a bit different race then what we generally would have. We’d take a 10th place car and run 18th with it. We’ve got really good at taking a 25th place car and running 18th with it. We need to start making the 10th place cars run 10th first, then start taking advantage of mistakes. If we start taking cars with more pace more often, I think the rest will fall into place as we get settled in. The air is different on that side of the garage. The expectations are different. I think we have the right parts and pieces, especially with Doug Duchardt being the president of Spire Motorsports now. He has seen every aspect of this sport, helped build Hendrick (Motorsports) to what it is today. That guy brings a lot of knowledge, and I guess, culture. Positive culture, positive expectations for what we can build. Having him in addition to (Ryan) Sparks, and Luke (Lambert), and Steve and the drivers we have over there, it’s going to be really good in the future. I go in the back door so I don’t see the trophy cases anyway (laughs). When we start putting some in there… There’s a grandfather clock in there from the Truck win, and some other stuff, but I’m always a back door guy. I don’t walk in the front door. If you need me, I’m probably sliding in the back door.”  Your dad is a hero or yours, and he drove in the Cup series for 15 years including a stint at Hendrick Motorsports. Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, second generation drivers. Among some of those guys, were any of them your heroes growing up?“I grew up coming to the track a lot. I was a Saturday kid, running around with Coleman Pressley, Austin and Ty Dillon, Ryan Blaney. Those guys would stick around for Sunday because their dads were racing on Sunday. My dad was content being a Saturday guy and got a couple of stints in and out, but never wanted to pursue that. He wanted to be home with us on Sunday. I think there could be a whole story written up as I have this theory on a drivers’ son, some sort of obstacle you have to overcome. Listening to Ryan (Blaney) talk about it, whether it’s Chase (Elliot) or any other second-generation guy, I don’t think you’ll ever be as good as your dad because your dad is your idol and he hung the moon. Driver-son complex was the word I was trying to think of. For me, I’ve raced more Cup races than my dad has. Certainly, my dad has a lot of success in the Xfinity series, but I’ve grown up wanting to be a Cup series driver. I grew up wanting to be a Cup series winner. I’ve continued to work towards that. I don’t think I’ll ever get to a point where I feel I can be measured against my dad. I think that Ryan (Blaney) and Chase (Elliott) would say the same thing no matter how successful they are. But it’s so cool, to answer your question about guys I’ve followed, I wasn’t really following those guys so much. Late 80’s, early 80’s, I was a Ricky Rudd, Dale Earnhardt, I had a couple of my favorites. Dale Jr. was when I really started to understand the sport, in the early 2000’s, when I’m 10-14 years old. Especially some North Carolina guys, for sure.”

NASCAR CUP SERIESbDAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TRACKHOUSE RACING CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes   New season, what’s your mindset with the new year?“This year, to me, feels similar to 2021. The reason is because 2020 was a very difficult year for me personally, and then 2021, we started with Trackhouse and it was like a fresh start. A lot of energy, a lot of hype and excitement heading into the year. This year feels that way and the reason is last year, we had a few spikes of good runs. We had a pole position, had a few top fives, but it wasn’t the year we were hoping for. We worked very hard in the offseason to make our team better. Maybe from the outside the team looks very similar, but from the inside, the team is different. I like what I’m seeing and I think we’re going to be able to move in the right direction with everything we have done.” Is there any additional pressure on you with others in the pipeline at Trackhouse?“No. There is always pressure, but I don’t have any extra pressure because of them. I know what I’m capable of and I know what we were lacking last year. I feel like as a group we made some adjustments to be better and we’re going to be fine. We have to be better. Good or average isn’t good enough. To be able to change that mindset to shoot to be great has to be an across-the-board mindset. In the offseason, we have worked very hard on that, and I can’t wait to see how it is reflected on track.” How much influence did you have in choosing your crew chief?“It was a little bit of influence, but really the team needed a change and they talked to me about different options. At the time, I didn’t know Matt Swiderski very well. He was one of the options. He wasn’t the only option. Last year, we were a good top-15 team. The last few races of the season, we finished 10th, 11th, eighth, but we were not good enough to win. I feel like the entire year, we only had winning cars probably twice, so to be able to win races you have to have winning cars more than twice to execute everything. We needed something different and the team way higher than myself decided that we needed to make a change in the leadership of the team.” What will it take for Trackhouse to break through?“There are a lot of young teams like Trackhouse that are getting stronger every year. I truly believe that this year Trackhouse is really going to be stronger than last year. I can’t wait to see that reflected on track and hopefully we can give them a run for the money.” What did you do in the offseason to make Daniel Suarez stronger?“Well, I did a lot of work with Matt Swiderski and the rest of the engineers in the simulator and analyzing myself what can I be better at. This is not just ‘we changed the crew chief’ that’s the solution. No, it has to be way more than that and I think we all need to change a few things here and there. Myself, crew chief, engineering department, pit crew department. With these changes, I believe we’ll be in a different place this year.” Do you look at open-wheel and say maybe one day? Do you ever second-guess yourself?“No, I never second guess and the reason is because I really wanted to be the first in NASCAR. Formula One is amazing but there is always politics in sports – some more than others. Here, in NASCAR, there is also politics. But Formula One is a different world. This is a little bit tricky. I’m extremely happy here in NASACAR. I feel like it was meant to be for me to be here in NASCAR and bring the Latino community more close to NASCAR and be successful here in NASCAR. Would I want to go to Formula One? I don’t think I would take it. My journey is to be here. I would love to try it because I’m a very curious guy, but I am right now where I want to be.” Are there any venues you’d like to see added next year?“I think Mexico City. I think that’s a no-brainer. You have to go to Mexico City, the heart of the country. The question to me is road course or oval. They have both options. I think that would be very special. There have been a lot of conversations about having a race in Mexico for a couple of years now, and I would tell you I would be the happiest person on this planet if that actually happens.” You ran second in the second race at Atlanta last year. Drivers call that track a hybrid and why are you so good at it?“I have good cars. I have good execution from my team, and it’s a lot about being patient. It’s a lot like here in Daytona. I think things have worked out a few times for us in Atlanta, and every time we go to a road course we are competitive. If you ask William Byron last year how many times he had a car capable of winning a race – 15, 18? – and he won six. I had a car capable of winning a race maybe three times last year. You have to have more shots than that because a winning car doesn’t mean you’re going to win the race. You still have to execute; it has to play out. If you want to win a couple of races, you have to have eight to 10 winning cars. So that is what we were lacking – consistency. One weekend we can show up to a racetrack and we were top five and the next weekend we were 20th. I feel like the 99 team is the most prepared it has been in years.” Is the 1 and 99 working closely together?“Last year, I would say we were working together a little, not a lot. I think that right now, we’re working together a little bit more. In reality, we’ll find out as we go. The 1 team has done a great job. They have a good driver, good engineering and they have a great crew chief. They have a great package. I feel like something the 99 team failed to do last year was learn from them. I was pushing them very hard. We have to learn from those guys. We failed a couple of times to do so. I think the relationships will bring the teams more together.” Are you and Trackhouse in talks for an extension?“I think it’s too early for that. My focus is on winning races and making my team competitive. That’s all I care about. If I take care of my thing and you take care of yours, things are going to work out. I have to focus on that. I cannot have my mind on an extension, what is going to happen in two years or whatever with my next contract. My mind has to be in performance. My mind has to be with the sponsors. How are we going to be able to make this team a winning team. That’s what I’m thinking right now.” If NASCAR decides to go to Mexico next year, what would be your involvement?“It would be a huge role – not just for me but for the whole NASCAR Mexico Series. I’m looking forward to it because it would be not only huge for myself but for the sport and the fans in Mexico. The sport is so good and so big to do more international stuff.” Who was your favorite driver and what did you like about them?“Jeff Gordon, I like a lot. When I started understanding the sport more, I became a huge fan of Tony Stewart. Then I started liking Jimmie Johnson a lot. I like his style; how smart he was and how calm he was. I thought if I like all these guys, why not make a combination of all these three, right? I always thought if I take this from him, that from him, I can build myself from that.” Is now the right time to do the international race in Mexico City?“In my opinion, we are making good steps in that direction. Maybe two years ago, I would have said we’re making baby steps. Right now, we are making good steps in that direction with the Chicago Street Race and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Right now, it doesn’t seem like a big move. We’re already doing a lot of big moves. I’m very excited with everything NASCAR is doing. I’m glad they are thinking outside the box to continue to grow the sport.”

Sent on behalf of RVR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 14, 2024) – Ryan Varnes Racing LLC (RVR) is proud to announce thatCameron Smith will pilot the #34 Schaeffer’s Motorsports KTM 790 Duke in Mission SuperTwins competition for the 2024 Progressive American Flat Track season.  The Pennsylvanian is coming off an impressive ‘23 season in which he demonstrated his ability to compete with the world’s elite motorcycle dirt trackers in the premier class, logging a pair of late-season top tens, including a fifth-place finish at the Black Hills Half-Mile.  Smith has been racing since he was six years old, and the 2024 season will mark his tenth as a professional. During that time, he’s twice finished sixth in the championship standings – once apiece in the Mission Production Twins and Parts Unlimited AFT Singles  classes – while registering numerous top fives and multiple podiums along the way.  RVR is committed to campaigning the entire 2024 Progressive AFT season along with select test days and special events. The effort is backed by Rausch Fuel and Oil, Iowa City Brake, Dick Ford, Brian Willis, and Brush/Eaken Racing with Bart Addis.  Team Manager Kevin Varnes said, “We’re excited to have Cam aboard this season. Cam and my late son, Ryan, grew up racing together, and I was lucky to have the opportunity to watch Cam compete at every level throughout his career. He is a talented hard charger with the ability to ride anything he sits on to its fullest potential.”  Smith said, “Thanks to RVR, I feel like 2024 will be my time to show everyone what I’ve really got. The team gives 100% effort, and I’m ready to give them the same every time I ride. I’ve been training hard, eating right, and doing a lot of riding this winter to get ready. I can’t wait for Daytona.”  Stay up to date with RVR by following:  Instagram : 34cameronsmith Facebook :  Cameron Smith

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 RICHARD CHILDRESS CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes  Being a defending winner of the Daytona 500, how does it feel coming back for another Daytona 500?“The events I think about are 2021 and last year, so the ones you didn’t win. Probably the most dominant race car I had here would have been in 2021 when (Michael) McDowell won. Won the Duel, ran inside the top-five all day and just were very close to winning that race and we finished third. That one was one that was everything, man. That was a magical weekend – to run the Duel, running top-three and close to winning another one. And then you come back last year and Kyle (Busch) and I find ourselves first and second coming to the white flag when the caution falls, and then you know, mayhem ensues after that restart and trying to push him around the backstretch. And then I get hit, and those are the ones you think of that got away. There’s potential of having three Daytona 500 wins by now in my career, so that gives you even that much more confidence. You know how to find that way, to be in that position in this thing, so it gets you excited.” “Losing definitely hurts, but it also gives you the confidence that there is a pattern here. There’s a reason why I’m able to get to the end of these things and be in a position to win. You lean back on that confidence.. that pattern you’ve been able to create as a driver here. You use that to your advantage.”  What do you feel has been your strength, particularly in the NextGen car, on these superspeedways?“I’d say even before the Next Gen car, I thought RCR and ECR has a bigger advantage. The Next Gen has really tightened up the field, so you have to be strategic about not making a mistake and putting yourself in a good position. I think transitioning on pit stops strategy, that’s become such a big part of these things now. Getting on pit road cleanly; getting in line and getting up to speed fast. ECR horsepower, I think, is a big part of that. We’ve always had strong engines at the speedways, and then Kyle (Busch) is a good speedway racer. He hasn’t won here at the 500, but he’s a dang good speedway racer. He puts himself in good position, and I’ve worked with him in past in Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup even when we weren’t aligned. Now, I think last year, the Talladega win for Kyle – that was a lot on him saying ‘Hey, I’m not coming down pit road for fuel’, and then he drove his butt off. Last year, it was just kind of a weird 500 with how it worked out. We found ourselves in a really good position there at the end. We’re linked up, and Kyle gave me a hand signal with five or six to go – went outside of the two most dominant cars and were in that great position we were in.”  What did you glean from Kyle (Busch) last year during his first full year at RCR?“I think just his competitive nature. He truly eats, sleeps, and breathes racing. When he’s not at a NASCAR track, he’s at a dirt track with Brexton (his son) and racing when Brexton isn’t racing. He is just a competitor, and he’s very good at explaining what he wants in the racecar. What we need to do to get better. He’s one of those people that at all costs, he’s trying to make things better.” With the hybrid that is Atlanta now, what did you have to learn to be successful at that track given the change in the track and change in the car?“I haven’t been successful at Atlanta, so I’ve got to go to work on that one. Truthfully, since we’ve gone to Atlanta… in the first race, we were pretty good. I got turned at the end of the stage, and if we didn’t, we would’ve finished second or third. That was probably one of the best cars I’ve had there. Past that, Atlanta has been… I’ve had some massive hits there.  I think this time around, it’s coming up with a game plan. When you don’t have a game plan going into one of these races that you can’t truly commit to, you kind of get stuck in the middle and you don’t know what you’re doing, and it usually doesn’t turn out good. You’ve got to be committed to strategy and stick to that strategy. That’s a part of speedway racing. I’m not going to go all day and try and lead every lap or am I going to ride around and make a charge. But you can’t just be in the middle like I’m just going to figure it out. Sometimes that works, but I feel like being decisive on one of the two places you want to be.” “Atlanta has been really weird, and it’s still changing. I think the track with another winter on it, it could be slicker. But we’re going to be there when it’s probably cold and we’ll have grip. You’ll be in between trying to take as much downforce as you can and drag out, and we’ll try to choose a path. We just haven’t been great there yet, but we’ve just got to figure it out.”  On Atlanta, you talked about it being a hybrid and taking massive hits at Atlanta, but is the crashing the same? Meaning, there’s usually not a single-car crash at Daytona. Is it the same way at Atlanta?“If you’re involved in a wreck, it’s going to suck either way. Atlanta is similar crashing to Daytona. It did spread out on the long green flag run in the summertime, or whenever the second race was when pit stops started happening. But it seems to kind of yoyo back together.” The Chevy bodies have remained, but in figuring out how Ford and Toyota draft, is that something that will change how we see racing in the Duels tomorrow?“I tried to talk to some of the guys in the Ford camp when I was on RaceHub, and just say ‘Hey, what do you think of the new car? Is it going to change the way you guys have drafted?’. The only thing I got was that they felt the nose might be a little more pointed, not as rounded as it has been. That’s kind of been our Achilles’ Heel from the Chevrolet standpoint, is being to successfully push at all times, whereas the Fords can kind of push us and push themselves very well. We’ve always had to be a little more strategic in how we push and communicate to each other the best way to push with our car. If that brings that in to play for them, I think there will be a learning curve, first of all. They will probably wreck a couple of cars, if it’s a little more pointed. And then once they figure that out, it will be normal. It’s a little harder when the nose doesn’t line up great.”  If one (a Ford) is behind you in the Duels, is it something you don’t feel comfortable with?“It’s hard. I think you’re going to just have to take it at the start if they’ve got a run and that guy is being aggressive. You can probably feel it right off. If you catch it quick, and it’s in the backstretch or in the tri-oval, the backstretch can sometimes be as bad as the tri-oval depending upon your setup. Hopefully you’ve built the car that it will receive a push as good as possible. The Duel is the time to test it. The racing in the Duels have been kind of odd the last year or so. It’s hard to be aggressive in the Duel because you have the one pit stop that really matters, and I feel like everyone plans around that one pit stop. So if you get yourself out of position before that pit stop, you’re kind of screwed. It’s hard to make a big gain, where it used to be where you could make moves and get yourself back to position. Now, it starts from the drop of the green flag that you’re positioning yourself for the pit stop and how you leave pit road. Definitely got to figure that out because you want to know how good your car is handling. Whenever everyone is running around the bottom in one line or everyone is splitting up, you’re not really getting that handling sensation. I remember leaving the Duel last year thinking my car is good. I mentioned handling was going to be an issue, but it didn’t… But in Sunday it was a big issue compared to the Duel. You’re running at night, you’re not running two- or three-wide as much, so when you go to say ‘Hey, my car is this or that,’ it’s got to be double the effect, usually, for the (Daytona) 500 because of the heat and more cars on track.  Is the dynamic going to change with three additional Toyotas in that camp?“You’ll see them out there, and you’ll see it… It’ll probably take the first time when a guy that was a Chevy and is now a Toyota, would have probably stuck with you, but now… They’ll just be stronger. It definitely helps when you have numbers, but we all find each other out there and having to work with each other at certain times – Toyota, Ford and Chevy. But, Chevy is who I’m going to commit to when it comes down to it, and they know that.”  Where do you see yourself now in the sport, and where do you see yourself in five years?“I feel like I’m at a place where I need to step up and take that next step, to try and get to a multi-win season. Go further than I’ve ever gone in the Playoffs. My ultimate goal since I’ve got to the Cup level is to be the first guy to win a championship at all three levels. That is still where my head is at. I’ve been able to see a lot of changes throughout my career, starting when Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Dale Jr. were in the Cup level and I got to race against those guys. Now, we’re at a whole new change of the car, a new racecar, new style of racing, so I’m going to try and do my best to put myself and my name back in that top tier of guys. Last year was one of those years where you just got kicked and kicked, and I was wondering when it was going to end. This year is a fresh start. Everybody is excited to go, my family, everybody being at the track to support us, so it’s going to be a good year. Just want to put myself where I feel I can be, and that’s in that top tier. I’ve been there before, and I want to be a multi-win guy at the Cup level.” How much is having Kyle Busch in the building, helped you push to elevate yourself that much more?“Kyle always shows the capability of the racecars, and that’s big. He pushes it, and if it’s not there, he’s going to push it past that. It’s good to see that. It gives you confidence knowing where we stand as an organization, and what you can accomplish.” Does coming back here as a previous winner (in 2018) take any pressure off coming into this week?“Once you’ve won it, you put the pressure on yourself because you want to do it again. You know what that experience is like. I don’t feel pressure from the outside, because I’ve already become a Daytona 500 champion. But, it’s more for me, because I enjoy this place, everything that it is, the victory lane here and what comes with it. Once you win here, it’s a game-changer. Not very often do you get to live in your dream, because everybody dreams about winning something, and dreaming about winning the Daytona 500 was one of those dreams for a long time for me. Then, you go and accomplish it, and you get to live in it. You taste it. It’s something you crave after that.”  What’s the sense you get from Kyle (Busch), who has won just about everything but this? Is there extra incentive over this one?“I think everybody at our shop knows it for Kyle this is huge, and we’d like to give him that opportunity. Kyle puts extra on this race. He wants it. He’s so good at driving a racecar that this race will never define his career, but I know the competitor he his. He wants it bad, and he will be one to reckon with this weekend.” Have you talked through strategies if it comes down to the last final laps with you two what to do?“Yeah, we’ll probably try and figure out what we did wrong last year. (Laughs.) Last year came down to the perfect situation, and the caution comes out. The perfect situation ended up changing quick. Our cars just didn’t take off well because we couldn’t push great. Our cars were fast once you got them going, but we had to get through that first lap to really have the shot we needed. It was green, and we needed it to go green. This year, if that situation comes, we’ve made adjustments to our cars that hopefully they will handle better in that position where we really have to push super hard. On top of the fact that, maybe, we decide to change up our strategy, not be in a line, and split ourselves up, and try and get back together once we get going. We’ll have strategy, for sure, for that same situation because we’ve experienced it now.”  Does Richard (Childress) poke his head in there to give advice, being experienced?“He gives us advice on the radio during the moment, usually. His opinion is always wanted, and when he talks, he usually has very good points, because he tries to cover them all.”  What conversations did you have in the offseason when trying to figure out how or what was more necessary to make improvements?“I think just having a set schedule for to meet each and every weekend to talk about… We’ve already talked about the races, but to sit down and go over video together, eating lunch together, there’s not a whole lot we can do, just be better as a group. We’ve added a couple of guys, but most of the guys have stayed. The biggest thing, I think, I’ve said in our competition lunch, we went through the hardest thing you can as a team. Last year was a struggle. We hit the wall a lot, a lot of crashes. And then by the end of the year, we started having some pretty good runs. We started ticking off some pretty good runs that were acknowledgeable. For those guys to fight through that, and for them to not leave us… First of all, it’s hard to keep a group of guys together in this sport, because there are always other opportunities in this sport. We were able to retain everybody, and they wanted to be there, and that shows me they believe in what we’ve got as a group. Now, we just got to be smart about how we pick and choose our battles this year, and attack when we’re hot.”  Are there ways that the 3 and the 8 can work closer together and are there things like that, that can be done?“Yeah, for sure. You know, I think you saw some improvement from us when we started following on the 8 more last year. We just want to bring more to the 8 more often. Last year we used them a lot and we need to do our part and give something back to them from time to time. But yeah, we are definitely going to work on trying to work together the best we can.” Are there things you have changed over the years to be a better race car driver? “Yeah, you know, for me I think it is doing as much road racing as I can in the offseason and working with Josh Wise and his program has been big. I have improved a lot on the road racing thing a lot and that was big for me, but even looking for ways for me to be better on the ovals. I have always thought that ovals come more natural to me, so I haven’t put a lot of extra effort into becoming a better oval racer, but now I look at it a lot more differently when I am working with Josh and those guys. Just trying to take everything I can and use it.” The 1.5-mile tracks with the Next Gen car…how has that racing changed and how do you think it’s improved?“I think the racing on the 1.5-mile tracks is probably the best racing we have now with this new car. It really seems to put on a good show, and you find certain times and tracks that race really (inaudible). The restarts are really pretty wild.” In the year since Kyle (Busch) joined, what has changed and what has improved with RCR going into year two?“Yeah, I think everybody is just putting in a little extra effort. Kyle really demands that and does a good job of pushing everybody in the shop to give us the best we can. Our communication is good and we are learning more about the simulator together and what tools we have and can properly use.” Talk about Ty (Dillon) racing in the Trucks and if it is disappointing not to race against him?“I think he is excited about the opportunity to go out there and be competitive each and every weekend. Obviously, it’s a bummer not seeing him on Sunday’s as much, but I think he’s got some opportunities there as well. I am seeing him in the simulator because he has been taking on some simulator time for our team. So, communicating with him like that is a little different because we haven’t been teammates at that level and that type of capacity, so having him at the shop and simulator like that is cool.” With there being five different champions in this series the past five years, how have you seen the parity change?“For sure. I was in the years where Jimmie Johnson was dominating, and you couldn’t touch him. So, definitely the Next Gen brought something to our sport and that was very competitive calibration. What would you call it? Brought everybody together.” You won this race in 2021 and your teams were close last year. Does it matter to have to have a bad or good run in the Daytona 500 to make a difference and how long does that last?“Yeah, I mean a great run here can carry you for weeks. Just because there are extra points to get in the Dual and then, yes, it’s just a huge momentum boost because every one of your partners and fans are going to be watching it.” Are there ways that the 3 and the 8 can work closer together, and are there things like that, that can be done?“Yeah, for sure. You know, I think you saw some improvement from us when we started following on the 8 (Kyle Busch) more last year. We just want to bring more to the 8, more often. Last year, we used them a lot and we need to do our part and give something back to them from time to time. But yeah, we are definitely going to work on trying to work together the best we can.” Are there things you have changed over the years to be a better race car driver? “Yeah, you know, for me – I think it is doing as much road racing as I can in the offseason, and working with Josh Wise and his program has been big. I have improved a lot on the road racing thing a lot and that was big for me. But even looking for ways for me to be better on the ovals. I have always thought that ovals come more natural to me, so I haven’t put a lot of extra effort into becoming a better oval racer, but now I look at it a lot more differently when I am working with Josh and those guys. Just trying to take everything I can and use it.” The 1.5-mile tracks with the Next Gen car…how has that racing changed and how do you think it’s improved?“I think the racing on the 1.5-mile tracks is probably the best racing we have now with this new car. It really seems to put on a good show, and you find certain times and tracks that race really (inaudible). The restarts are really pretty wild.” In the year since Kyle Busch joined, what has changed and what has improved with RCR going into year two?“Yeah, I think everybody is just putting in a little extra effort. Kyle really demands that and does a good job of pushing everybody in the shop to give us the best we can. Our communication is good and we are learning more about the simulator together and what tools we have and can properly use.” Talk about Ty (Dillon) racing in the Trucks and if it is disappointing not to race against him?“I think he is excited about the opportunity to go out there and be competitive each and every weekend. Obviously, it’s a bummer not seeing him on Sunday’s as much, but I think he’s got some opportunities there, as well. I am seeing him in the simulator because he has been taking on some simulator time for our team. So, communicating with him like that is a little different because we haven’t been teammates at that level and that type of capacity, so having him at the shop and simulator like that is cool.” With there being five different champions in this series the past five years, how have you seen the parity change?“For sure. I was in the years where Jimmie Johnson was dominating, and you couldn’t touch him. So, definitely the Next Gen car brought something to our sport and that was very competitive calibration. What would you call it? Brought everybody together.” You won this race in 2021 and your teams were close last year. Does it matter to have to have a bad or good run in the Daytona 500 to make a difference and how long does that last?“Yeah, I mean a great run here can carry you for weeks, just because there are extra points to get in the Dual. And then, yes – it’s just a huge momentum boost because every one of your partners and fans are going to be watching it.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYS FEBRUARY 14, 2024

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 31 KAULIG RACING CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes  What’s it like having Josh Williams as a teammate and to see him get this opportunity?“It’s super cool for him to get a shot and to have a group of partners behind him that even led him to have a conversation with Kaulig Racing to get a deal done. That’s what it takes. So it’s cool to see him form those partners. He’s so much fun. He just brings a different feel, which is good. He fits right in, and it’s been good to see the respect he has for the race team, for the parts and pieces. I’ve known Josh for a long time, since we were kids. He’s had to work on his own stuff and build a lot of his own racecars, so he understands and appreciates every part of the dynamic that it takes to get a car ready for the racetrack and what it takes to fix and repair those cars. I feel like half that understanding gives you a sense of respect for the guys and girls that work on them. I’m looking forward to him having a really good year.” What’s it like coming back to this race having been away from the Cup Series for a full year from when you ran your first 500?“It’s something that you don’t take lightly. Once you’ve experienced this entire week of Daytona 500, it’s not like anything else. And once you experience it once and don’t know if you’ll experience it again, you learn not to take it for granted. Grateful to be here with Kaulig Racing. Excited to be part of the Great American Race one more time.” You saw it on the Xfinity side last year, but how do you feel like Kaulig has grown to be more competitive on the Cup side?“I think it kind of starts with the kind of moves that were made at the end of last year, into the offseason. We tried to build more depth in the company. Are we there yet? Time will tell. There’s always room for improvement and to grow, but I think we’ve taken the correct measures to give ourselves that chance to grow. You look at these huge organizations that have been around for 20, 30, 40 years and the depth that they have. They can pull from different parts. I feel like in the past we haven’t had that at Kaulig Racing and we’re super young. So we’ve been slowly but surely building that talent pool. There is a long way to go, for sure. But it’s cool to see them taking steps from the management side to gain that depth, give ourselves a chance to get better.” What’s a fair amount of time for you to get comfortable with this car and how it responds?“I feel like we prepare throughout the year to be ready when they drop the first green flag of the year. Even the limited starts I made when the Next Gen car came out, it was so new to everybody that everybody was sort of on a blank canvas starting off. Obviously, with me being away from these cars for a year changes the dynamic for myself. I think through this process of being in this car in ’22, not in it in ’23, the rules packages and stuff have changed pretty substantially. Obviously, the guys who ran this car last year have an advantage no doubt. But I feel like the car feel is so different that it’s something that you have to jump in and drive like a racecar. Your instincts will kind of take over and that’s the way I approached it when we all ran this car for the first time back in ’22 and it’s no different to me. I feel like we’ll go find the edge of the speed and work accordingly. The biggest thing for me is understanding as we go from a short track package to mile and a half to superspeedways just understanding what’s in the car, what are the rules, what’s different. It’s more of an adjustment from that side. I’d like to think that once we get through this first swing of races, we’ll have a good idea of where we stand.” What’s your favorite part of the Daytona experience?“Honestly, just the stage itself. Once you have the opportunity to run the Cup level and you’re out and about away from the racetrack, there’s a certain thing that comes with being a Cup driver. Even if you go on to win the Xfinity championship, a lot of the folks that know racing, they know NASCAR, they know the Cup Series, but when you start talking about lower series, they don’t really follow that part of it. You’re a driver and they ask what do you race and they look at you. When you say Cup Series, it gets their attention. It’s no different than a kid playing Pop Warner football and playing in the NFL one day. Just having that stage, that platform. And then this particular weekend — Daytona 500 weekend — there’s nothing else like this. There’s not another race; maybe Coke 600 for me that even gives you those feelings. This stage is super special.” When you look at the experience you gained and how your career has matured, do you think you came up to Cup a little too early the first time?“For me, it’s timing and it’s exactly what it’s supposed to be. I went through that season of life the exact time I was supposed to, and it sure brought its challenges. But I feel like how I grew through that whole process will kind of – and it did – define me as how I can handle those situations and I’m grateful for that time. Would I have been content to race another year in Xfinity in 2019? Possibly. But there were changes in the company that year and I got the call. End of the day, you want to be needed and wanted.” When you come up to Cup now, where do you think you’ve progressed as a driver?“For me, so much has changed. I think more has changed on the personal side of life that kind of changes you. I had my first Cup opportunity as myself and my wife, and we were kind of living this crazy thing of a racecar driver at the Cup level. And five years later, we have two kids. Just in life in general, I have a different perspective. But back in 2019, I came with so much expectation. You get a shot at Cup for the first time and you think you’re going to be there for a long time. And to see the way things turned out six months later – out of a job, a baby on the way, it for sure changes how you view things. I think through that process I’ve become a better person, better father, racer because of my mental state where I stand right now. I come into it with not maybe the expectation I had in 2019. Just come into it with a bit of a thankful kind of grace. Just come in here with a blank canvas and something to enjoy.” What does it mean to you to get a second chance?“I’m really trying to grasp and make the most of it. The story is to be told. Having a shot again is something I don’t take lightly. I just look forward to living in the moment of this opportunity.” What’s the hardest part of your daily life managing two kids?“I think it was time allocation. Whether it’s morning, lunch or dinner, once you’re with them you’re with them. Do I have it figured out yet? By no means. But, over time, you kind of develop some habits that help you manage that. In season between the training, having a really good plan I think has helped me. Learning how to say no is important. Certain things just don’t matter. Our kids need our attention and that’s where it’s at.” How did you work through going back to Xfinity?“No matter what your profession, there are people who will take that as a life loss and they may never find another win. For me, not finding another win was not an option. I’m just going to keep my legs moving and know that one particular bump in the road or life lesson as I like to call it was just that. What’s next? That’s all there was to it. Just continue to figure out how to make this work. I’m still trying to figure out how to make it work. Just because you’re back here doesn’t mean it’s going to work. In my mind, it was not proving people wrong, it was proving yourself right. Everything you put your life into, I’m doing it to prove myself right. That’, I think is a big motivator.” Where does that mindset come from?“There’s a lot to that. You feel defeated, for sure. You still have to figure out how to pay your bills. You still have to figure out how to eat. When I lost my deal, there was one point I flipped a house with a buddy to try to make some cash. My point is you just figure it out, keep things going. As a racecar driver, the best that we’ve seen do it lost 90 percent of the time. I think there is some lesson that comes with it that doesn’t come with other businesses in general. You go to school, get your degree and it doesn’t guarantee you anything, but you do that because you see there is a need for that profession. There isn’t necessarily a need for racecar drivers. There are hundreds of thousands that want to do this and only a select few get a chance to call it a living one day.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAYDAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYSFEBRUARY 14, 2024

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 KAULIG RACING CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes  You’ve won at Daytona in the Rolex 24 numerous times. As big as that is, can you imagine would it be like to have a Daytona 500 victory?“For sure. It’s the reason I’m doing this race, not being in Cup full-time. You want to be part of the biggest race in the sport… the prestige of it, the history. It’s such a tough race to win. There is so much luck that is involved with this type of racing and putting yourself in the right position. Heck, last year we led with nine to go and took the lead. We’ve had opportunities to be up front. I’d be lying to you if I said that during the offseason, you’re working out and stuff like that and you’re kind of letting your mind wander. My mind carries off to what it would be like to win this race. But you know there’s a lot that goes into it. You’re part of a legacy once you win this race, no matter what you’ve done.” It’s kind of the same thing when you won at Indianapolis on the road course. It wasn’t the Indianapolis 500 or the Brickyard 400, but it was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Reflecting on that, how big a deal was that?“Indy was my dream. I had always thought about drinking the milk but never thought I’d be in a Cup car to begin with and on the road course. But you’re still part of what that racetrack means to the motorsports world. I drive in there and at Turn One and Turn Two, my banner was hanging there. It gives me chills every time I drive by it. Daytona is the same thing.” What’s your mindset going into this year chasing the Xfinity championship this year. Does it feel any different when that’s your full-time goal?“My mentality going into every season is just trying to prove that I can drive a racecar to myself, first and foremost. You spend the offseason and you think maybe it’s disappeared or maybe I wake up and I get in the racecar and I can’t drive the racecar anymore. It’s probably not the most healthy way living in the offseason every year, but it’s what I do in that way and how I push myself. No matter if I’m full-time Xfinity, full-time Cup, part-time driving racecars, it’s still about trying to prove to myself that I’m at an elite level. If I’m not, then I have to make decisions in my own self. It doesn’t change anything.” You are still at an elite level, how frustrating does it get knowing you’re not full-time (in Cup)?“At the end of the day, my preference was to stay in Cup if we were going in the right direction. At the end of the day, what Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice and all the men and women of this race team have done for my life over the last six years and hopefully more years down the road of believing in me to drive their racecars – whether it’s Xfinity or Cup of if we ever go Truck racing… whatever it is that they believe in me to drive their racecars, that means the world to me. There’s no frustration at all. I’m still so fortunate in my life that they still want me to drive their racecars. They’re paying me to drive their racecars. At the end of the day, I told them ‘This is my preference but I’m going to live off what you want me to do.’ I keep hoping they want me to drive their racecars because they have really saved my happiness of my racing career with what we’ve been able to do over the last six years.” What can Kyle Larson expect doing The Double. What do you think the challenges will be for him at both?“How you celebrate both wins during that day in that amount of time! Seriously, Kyle Larson to me is the pinnacle of what we have as a racecar driver in the world – not just in NASCAR, not in IndyCar, not in North America… in the world. I haven’t experienced doing both in the same day, but I’m sure in the mental aspect of it. Physically, I think racing 340-something races during the year somehow in 365 days, he isn’t going to have to worry about stamina in that way. But the mental side of it of griding away for two to three weeks in that process and that timeline is going to probably be the most challenging part of it.” What about acclimating to the traffic and the aero portion of that?“You don’t really experience it until they drop the green and you’re three-wide on the start, you roll down in the corner and all of a sudden all that turbulent air becomes something completely different than what you knew in practice. But I keep going back to him being the most talented guy we have in motorsports when it comes to driving. He’ll figure it out real quick.”

February 13, 2024

After a disappointing outing in the non-points Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum a week ago, Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging team are fired up heading into this weekend’s Great American Race – the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

“The Clash is one thing, and I know it’s the first race on the schedule, but there’s something special about loading up to head to the Daytona 500,” said the team’s crew chief Jeremy Bullins, who won the 500 two years ago with Team Penske’s Austin Cindric as his driver and was runner-up in 2017 with Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.
 
“It’s the obvious race on the schedule that everyone wants to win,” Bullins said. “While it’s changed a lot over the years with different cars and rule packages, you never stop getting excited about it.”
  
“We can’t wait to see how competitive our Mustang Dark Horse is and look forward to having some practice sessions to get the handling dialed in and try to kick the season off with a great finish for this Wood Brothers Racing team.”
 
The Wood Brothers have a long and storied history in the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s biggest race. They have five 500 victories beginning with their win in the 1963 event with Tiny Lund at the wheel of the iconic No. 21 Ford. Trevor Bayne delivered the Woods their most recent 500 victory in 2011.
 
In between were 500 triumphs with three giants of the sport – Cale Yarborough in 1968, A.J. Foyt in 1972 and David Pearson in 1976.
 
Preliminary events prior to the start of Sunday’s 66^th-annual Daytona 500 kick off with pole qualifying on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 8:35 p.m. Only the top-two starting positions will be determined in this session.
 
The twin Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races that will determine the remainder of the 500 starting grid will be run Thursday evening, with the first 60-lap, 150-mile race getting the green flag at 7 p.m. The second race will start at approximately 8:45.
 
Two practice sessions are scheduled, the first on Friday at 5:35 p.m. and the second on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
 
The green flag for Sunday’s 200-lap Daytona 500 is set to fly just after 2:30 p.m., with Stage breaks planned for Laps 65 and 130.

FOX Sports 1 will televise the preliminary events, with the coverage switching to FOX for the 500.