Posted on behalf of AFT Events  Daytona Beach, Fla. (February 21, 2025) – American Flat Track Events is thrilled to announce an exciting partnership with Jeep Beach for the Daytona Short Track II on Friday, March 7, 2025. This collaboration brings together two passionate communities—motorcycle enthusiasts and Jeep enthusiasts—both driven by a love for outdoor adventure, adrenaline, and horsepower. Held at Daytona International Speedway, the second night of the Daytona doubleheader will feature special Jeep Beach activations designed to enhance the fan experience and bring even more energy to the season opener. The event will offer exclusive “Jeep Parking” for Jeep Beach attendees, along with a special discount code for reserved grandstand tickets, making it easier than ever for Jeep Beach fans to experience the high-speed, bar-to-bar action of American Flat Track racing. The event will also showcase Jeep Beach branding featured prominently throughout the venue, including banners, stand-up signage, and promotional materials. Additionally, Jeep Beach representatives will take part in the Opening Ceremony, underscoring the shared passion for performance, adventure, and the thrill of the open road—whether it’s on two wheels or four. “This partnership is a perfect match,” said Bob Deislinger, Managing Director of AFTE. “As a longtime partner, we are excited for this relationship to continue to grow. Both Jeep Beach and Progressive American Flat Track fans are fueled by a love for outdoor adventure and rugged performance. Bringing these two powerhouse communities together at Daytona Short Track II is an incredible way to kick off our 2025 season.” Jeep Beach, one of the largest Jeep-exclusive events in the nation, attracts thousands of Jeep enthusiasts from across the country for a week-long celebration of off-road culture. As part of this collaboration, Jeep Beach will promote the Daytona Short Track II through its digital platforms, text/email communications, and Jeep Beach Radio, further connecting the off-road community with the world of professional flat track racing. Fans can also expect an exclusive AFT segment on Jeep Beach Radio, amplifying the excitement leading up to race day. With on-site activations, ticket promotions, and a shared passion for adventure, AFT and Jeep Beach are set to deliver an electrifying night of racing under the lights in Daytona. The 2025 Progressive American Flat Track season will launch with the Royal Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, March 6 and Friday, March 7.  To purchase Royal Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA I tickets, click HERE.  To purchase Royal Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA II tickets, click HERE.  And to save $10 by purchasing Thursday and Friday tickets together via the Multi-Day Discount for the Royal Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA I & II, click HERE.

CONCORD, NC (February 14, 2025) – Hayden Wise adds a new chapter to her rising career with an Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota Rookie of the Year campaign in 2025. 

The 14-year-old driver will race in a family-owned No. 94 Toyota-powered Midget for her first foray into national Midget racing. 

The Huntersville, NC driver got her start in Quarter Midgets, with championships in the NASCAR Youth Series and Dixie Shootout Series before stepping up the ladder to micro sprints. 

“I pretty much got comfortable in (the Quarter Midget) at a young age,” Wise said. “As soon I was done, I hopped right into the Micro and I’ve been going out to (Trackhouse Motorplex) since I was 10 to get some more seat time. It’s really all about getting comfortable and all these cars are pushing my limit to get that comfortable. I’m really excited for this year, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Wise knows the benchmark of family members who raced before her, as her uncle Josh Wise is a former NASCAR Cup Series competitor. Growing up in a racing family, she knows that the guidance in her rookie year will be second to none. 

“It’s gonna feel good knowing that I have the support of my family,” Wise said. “I’m very grateful that they take me out to race every week with them, so I can’t thank my dad and pop enough. It’s really cool to have that support from all of my family, my mom, my sisters, and my grandparents. It’s just awesome having them there for me to take me along the racing journey.” 

Wise can try her hand at multiple disciplines in 2025, as she will get to race the Midget, Micro Sprint, and Sprint Car for 94 Racing to craft her experience and familiarity in dirt racing. 

“This year is gonna be a lot of work because all of this year is gonna be lots of learning for me,” Wise said. “I really just have to get a lot of seat time between the Sprint Car, the Midget, and getting prepared for next year because we have a lot coming. This year is all about getting comfortable and being able to give my effort 100% every time.” 

Looking forward to the schedule ahead of her, Wise is interested in traveling to the Xtreme Appalachian Midget Week, California Sprint Car events, and the Xtreme World Championship at Millbridge Speedway – her home track. 

“Definitely the (Pennsylvania) tracks,” Wise said. “I’m really excited to check out some of those places. We’ll be going to California too, so that’ll be fun for me. 

“I’m excited for (Millbridge) too. It’s definitely gonna be a lot different from what I’ve been doing. There’s gonna be some really good drivers and that’s one I’m really focusing on giving my best for my family. When I hit the track, it’s really making sure I pay attention to how I’m driving and doing what I need to do to get better at it.” 

Wise begins her Rookie of the Year hunt with the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets at Farmer City Raceway for the World of Outlaws Illini 100, April 10-12. Tickets are available for purchase now: 

FARMER CITY TICKETS  

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVIsion – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App. 

BARBERVILLE, FL (February 13, 2025) – Three weeks removed from his first World of Outlaws Late Models victory, Garrett Alberson ran it back on Thursday night.

A dominant Feature showing allowed the Las Cruces, NM driver to double his win total with the Series and collect his first Gator from Volusia Speedway Park’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals.

After starting the Feature at the front thanks to a Heat Race win and a fortuitous Redraw that netted him the Bilstein Pole Award, Alberson immediately ripped away to the early lead. But due to a sequence of passing showers earlier in the afternoon that dumped some extra moisture on the track, he was taking on a much different version of Volusia than what he experienced earlier in the week.

“I felt like the overall speed and grip level was certainly up from the last couple days,” Alberson said. “The black felt really slick, I think just because you had so much speed when you got to it. So it made the slide jobs and stuff kind of wild. The car was not super comfortable to drive, but I didn’t want to give it up on not trying hard enough.”

Second-starting Mike Marlar rode behind Alberson for the first dozen laps, with the gap fluctuating between 1.5 seconds down to half a second once Alberson caught traffic. Marlar and the rest of the field got another shot at the No. 58 when Mark Whitener and Brent Larson slowed to bring out the caution on Lap 12, but Alberson prevailed once more.

A poor restart from Marlar sent him tumbling down the running order, opening the door for Ricky Thornton Jr. to slide into second place. Behind them, the fight was on for third between Brandon Sheppard and Bobby Pierce, with Pierce taking the spot at the halfway point.

Pierce wasn’t done there, as he took advantage of a mistake by Thornton in Turns 3 and 4 to move up to second and set sail towards Alberson. Half a dozen laps later, Pierce caught Alberson and crossed up in front of him exiting Turn 2, but the yellow flag was displayed for the stopped car of Nick Hoffman before the leaders could make it back around to complete the lap, sending Pierce back to second.

“I looked at the board and saw that the 32 was there, and there’s not a lot better on the cushion right there,” Alberson said. “I knew if I didn’t do my speed just right that I was going to be a sitting duck. That traffic was so tricky, if you slid in behind too close to a lap car right there, you jump the cushion really easily.

“Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. I feel like a lot of times it hasn’t gone my way, but tonight it did.”

Alberson nailed the ensuing restart to pull away from the pack once again. With no more interruptions over the final 10 laps, that was all he needed to win his second Feature in a row with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet.

Winning races at the highest level of dirt Late Model racing was always something Alberson knew he was capable of, but he admitted that scoring his first two World of Outlaws wins at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” was never on his radar.

“When we came here with Earl [Pearson Jr.] back in the day when I was crewing for him, I think we made one race in two years,” Alberson said. “So I was like ‘maybe I don’t know how to set up a car for this place.’ But we’ve got so many good people behind us, it just makes it a lot easier for your car to be close.

“I don’t know what it is about this place. It kind of fits our deal here. It kind of reminds me a little bit of one of my home tracks in El Paso, it’s got a sweeping D-shape with a lot of speed, and I always love that place.”

While Alberson was busy driving off to the checkers, Pierce and Thornton put on a show dueling for the second spot. That was until Thornton smacked the wall in Turn 4 and dropped out of contention, handing over the runner-up spot to Pierce.

While the “Smooth Operator” was happy to stand on the podium with the Outlaws for the first time in 2025, he couldn’t help but wonder what could have been had the yellow never flew after he got around Alberson.

“We were all going at it hard,” Pierce said. “I feel like in that instance there, we got the lead somehow and obviously an untimely caution. But you’ll have that. I knew it when we were coming around the corner, I saw [Hoffman] in the wall and I was like ‘well, we’re going back a lap.’ It is what it is.”

Thornton’s late error gave Devin Moran the chance to slide into third, continuing an impressive streak of 12 top fives in 14 Super Late Model starts so far in 2025.

“Last night with that format, we did a little testing and I felt like we got a lot better,” Moran said. “Tonight we struggled a little in Qualifying going out that early, so we’ve just got to keep working on that. If we can get in the Redraw, we have a good chance of winning races, we’ve just got to get to that point. All in all a good night.”

Ethan Dotson finished fourth to not only claim the MD3 Rookie of the Race Award, but also become the World of Outlaws points leader by four points over Pierce and Sheppard. Thornton recovered from his late contact and held on to fifth to maintain the Big Gator points lead, with the margin sitting at 43 points between him and Pierce with two nights to go.

RACE NOTES:

Brandon Overton laid down the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Ricky Thornton Jr. won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Bobby Pierce won STAKT Products Heat Two.

Brandon Sheppard won Keyser Manufacturing Heat Three.

Ricky Thornton Jr. won Jarrett Rifles Heat Four.

Ryan Gustin, Garrett Alberson and Mike Marlar won Heats One, Five and Six.

The three Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns went to Cody Overton, Nick Hoffman and Brian Shirley.

Garrett Alberson won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Drake Troutman drove from 29th to 18th to pick up the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Ethan Dotson finished fourth to claim the MD3 Rookie of the Race Award.

Max Blair was the Lifeline USA Lucky Ninth Place Finisher.

UP NEXT: Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals rolls on with another $12,000-to-win program for the World of Outlaws Late Models on Friday night. Get your tickets by clicking here.

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

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[5]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[11]; 4. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[6]; 8. 18D-Daulton Wilson[12]; 9. 111-Max Blair[7]; 10. 2-Cody Overton[19]; 11. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 12. 76-Brandon Overton[16]; 13. 9M-Tim McCreadie[14]; 14. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 15. 96-Tanner English[13]; 16. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[23]; 17. 3S-Brian Shirley[21]; 18. 22*-Drake Troutman[29]; 19. 97-Cade Dillard[25]; 20. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[8]; 21. 1T-Tyler Erb[24]; 22. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[17]; 23. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[27]; 24. 19-Dustin Sorensen[28]; 25. 16-Tyler Bruening[26]; 26. 49-Jake Timm[15]; 27. 114-Jordan Koehler[18]; 28. 9-Nick Hoffman[20]; 29. B1-Brent Larson[30]; 30. 5-Mark Whitener[22]

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DUELS AT DAYTONA – #2TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 13, 2025

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS (Duel #2)  POS.     DRIVER11th – Kyle Larson13th – Anthony Alfredo14th – Shane van Gisbergen17th – BJ McLeod21st – Daniel Suarez 22nd – Alex Bowman

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Post-Race Driver Quotes: Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained on the last-lap caution. Finished: 14th “I’m not really sure what happened. We were all getting a bit tight off of turn four. I was just kind of riding and got spun into the fence. I’m not sure if that was my fault with the car placement, but I felt like I was doing it right. I was learning a lot; saved a lot of fuel and jumped up a lot of spots at the start. I’m not sure what happened at the end. It’s not fun when we’re crashing at the end, that’s for sure.”   Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 48. Finished: 21st“I thought the No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevy team was doing a good job. Our Chevy felt very good. We actually did too good of a job on pit road in comparison to the people we pitted with. I felt like we were in a good position there. They were about to wreck in front of me and everyone checked up. It was kind of like a chain reaction. The No. 48 (Alex Bowman) pushed me, but the No. 48 was getting pushed by the No. 88 (Shane van Gisbergen) and I think someone else was pushing the No. 88. It was just a bad situation. I hate it for my guys. They’re going to have to work some extra hours, but I’m sure we’re going to be able to build another fast car for Sunday.”   Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 48. Finished: 22nd“I think I was just on the wrong side of an accordion, really. The No. 48 Ally Chevy team executed our race pretty well. We had an OK pit cycle. We didn’t make any mistakes on the pit cycle, which in the group of cars that we pitted with, there were a bunch of mistakes. We avoided that, but looking at what happened afterwards, I wish we would have sped or something because we would have been in a better spot with track position. The front of the field checked up – it was just an accordion and got spun. Once it locked up, I kept trying to get the wheels to unlock to get it to spin the other way to not hit the inside wall. Unfortunately they never did and hit the inside wall.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DUELS AT DAYTONA – #1TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 13, 2025

Byron Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Finish in Duel One; Allgaier Secures Spot in DAYTONA 500

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 FINISHERS (Duel #1)  POS.     DRIVER2nd – William Byron3rd – Ty Dillon4th – Ross Chastain6th – AJ Allmendinger7th – Austin Dillon8th – Chase Elliott 9th – Justin Allgaier10th – Kyle Busch

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Post-Race Driver Quotes: William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: Finished: 2nd“I felt like our No. 24 Axalta Chevy was pretty fast. We were just kind of struggling with handling a little bit. I felt like I could be more comfortable than I was. We just needed to get the back of the car a little bit more stable. But overall, I was able to work with Ty (Dillon) really well. Ross (Chastain) and I were kind of connected for awhile, and then we just kind of got spread apart, disconnected and that’s what ultimately got the bottom line back. Wish we could have been closer at the end, but still a good result.”  Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet: Finished: 3rd“The raw speed of our Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevy has been quite obvious all weekend already, so that’s a great thing and a great start for our team. Our goal is to let everyone know we are here early in the season and we’re happy about that finish. I think if we had been running in the back, we probably would have made a couple different moves to be a little bit smoother at the end. This is the first time working with the team here at Kaulig Racing and I’m really proud of what we accomplished tonight. We’ll go back, get in the notebook and get a little bit better. You can’t ask for a better start to the season. Our team is determined and focused, and in the second race of the year to get a top three is nice. We’ll go to the 500 and have some fun. The biggest thing on Sunday is to make it to the end and get our year started on the right track.”  Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet: Finished: 4th “The No. 1 Busch Light Chevy was really good in the draft, but we had some throttle issues with it sticking under caution. We pitted early before the race started trying to see what was wrong. It fixed itself, and then it came back. Then it fixed itself, and then it came back. The car drafted great; handled better than most I saw around me and handle the bumps better. It’s definitely a strong start there knowing this is probably the worst it’s going to drive from qualifying to now. We will get the throttle fixed, and I can push and get pushed with the best of them.”  Justin Allgaier, No. 40 JR Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 9th; Locks into the DAYTONA 500 “This just means so much to Dale (Earnhardt Jr.), Kelley (Earnhardt Miller) and L.W. (Miller) and everyone at JR Motorsports. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to come make this happen, and it seems like no matter what we’ve done, it hasn’t went the way we wanted it to go. We said anything worth having is worth working for and it’s going to be hard. We’ve proven it time and time again, whether it be last fall at Phoenix (Raceway) or here this weekend. Greg (Ives, crew chief) was pretty hard himself last night after qualifying, but this No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevy team rallied. This whole group is special. I can’t think everyone at Traveller Whiskey enough for coming onboard; everyone at Chevrolet, the Hendrick Engine Shop and all of our partners.  Dale told me before the race – if it’s meant to be, it will happen, and it did. Just really proud. This might seem like not that big of a deal to a lot of people, but when I think about our small team at JR Motorsports –- as big as it is, it really is a small family team. To see this happen tonight, it takes a lot of weight off my shoulders.”   Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Finished: 21st What exactly did you see out there? “I’ve never ridden a horse before, but I feel like I got bucked off one. I hit pretty hard. But yeah, I just tried to lift when Chandler (Smith) came across my nose there. He (Chandler) said in the infield care center that none of his digital mirrors worked and his spotter cleared him. But yeah, I tried to lift. It’s unfortunate. We’re going to have to go to Chili’s and have a margarita or two; sleep this one off and get ready for the DAYTONA 500.”  Helio Castroneves, No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Finished: 22nd You avoided the ‘big wreck’, but what happened? “In one of the wrecks, I got hit and ended up hitting the wall in turn two pretty hard and broke a toe link. I should have actually just brought it in slower. We went really fast trying to fix the car, and then obviously when I hit the banking, the car just snapped to the right. It’s disappointing because the No. 91 Wendy’s Chevy was really good. The boys on the PROJECT91 team did an amazing job. They have a little bit of work to do, unfortunately. It wasn’t the night that we wanted, but we’ll take the provisional. So many people have been talking about it, but we will take it and we will learn more for the race.” Before that, you sounded happy. It sounded like things we were going well. What did you learn? “There are so many little things that people don’t realize behind the TV and even the grandstands. There’s so much going on. It’s actually incredible. The way the package is, it’s impressive. There was a lot to learn.. no question about it. There was a lot of movement in the car; a lot of air flow and a lot of brake-checking that you need to be aware of. But as long as you hold steady, it’s pretty good. I wish we could have kept it going.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Justin Haley, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Do you feel any extra pressure coming to the Daytona 500?“Because you know it is possible and you know you can do it; you have that pressure of it’s a great opportunity and it’s a strength of ours. It’s a strength of mine and I know that. You feel that extra pressure coming here because you know you’ll be in the mix, and you’ll have a legitimate shot. So, it’s a bit of a mix. The confidence comes with it, but the pressure comes with it, too. I’m very fortunate to feel that pressure coming here. Every year is new challenges and new obstacles and new opportunities, and that’s what is exciting about kicking off the year. There are tremendous opportunities in front of us and the biggest opportunity of all being right here at the Daytona 500.” Can you explain the mindset of not going out for practice this morning?“It was planned. There’s not a tremendous amount that you can do to the cars, especially pre-qualifying to find more speed. You can go out there and leak check and all those things, which we would have liked to have done. But with inspection being very close to practice and the process, we took that extra time to run through LIS a few more times and just make sure we had everything where we needed it. Minimizing risk is one small variable of it, but it’s not the biggest variable of it. We felt we’ve had a process of unloading for qualifying and doing our deal and we kind of know where those targets are, so we didn’t want to confuse it much with race trim versus Q trim, draft, go bath, go forward. It was kind of a group decision, and we’ll see how it all plays out.” What have been the differences to you with this team?“Any time you walk into a new building, a new situation, there’s so much to take in from personnel and processes. All those things are different, but what is nice is these racecars are fairly common across the board. There are some nuances with manufacturers and how teams do things specifically. But, for the most part, all the parts and pieces are the same and you’re just trying to put them in the right location. I think the biggest thing is just getting in the routine and getting into the process because you just don’t jump in day one and everything is going smooth. And everyone does things a little differently and you’re trying to learn how everyone works, and just for me trying to learn the tools and trying to figure out some of those things I can do before hitting the racetrack. Once we get through the West Coast swing, things are going to be much more clear on what the difference are, what we need to work on, improvements we need to make, how I need to adapt, how our tools adapt. But right now, you don’t have a whole lot to go off of other than optimism and a lot of hours and hard work. But when we get back from the West Coast, we’ll know what we need do moving forward. Coming in, for me, a new team, new manufacturer, a lot of new, you add in all new personnel with that race team and it becomes very difficult because now you’re working on chemistry, you’re working on communication, you’re’ working on where everybody’s feelings are at – and I mean that not jokingly of how people communicate and how they respond and how you extract the most out of them and how they extract the most out of you. It takes time and having a lot of that core group stay with us is a big deal.” What’s it like at this stage of your career having to make that transition?“It’s nerve-racking and it’s exciting all at the same time. It’s a brand-new opportunity and there’s so much in front of you that is new. It feels that way and you feel that optimism and you feel that energy of we’re doing big things though we haven’t done anything yet. So that makes you nervous that we have to go perform now. It’s been fun to go through the process of how they do things and how they see things and learn people’s names and learn what they do. It takes time. You can’t walk in day one and be clicking with everyone.  The good thing is that there are a lot of familiar faces at Spire that I’ve worked with over my career at some point. It wasn’t totally daunting because I had those 10 or 20 faces that are familiar, and it’s cool to reconnect with people and have another shot at doing big things.” Is there any trepidation that you’re jumping into something new?“I haven’t been in this exact situation, but when I got let go in the 95, we were running pretty good. Good enough to get Kasey Kahne to come drive it. And I thought to myself we were finally running good and it’s all going to come together and then that happened. I was thinking there’s no way I’m going to land anything and there’s no way I can get back to where I am now. And that wasn’t winning, that was running decent. And I landed at Front Row and you fast forward and winning the Brickyard and you wouldn’t be able to convince anyone that year that it would be a possibility that Front Row would do that. So, I’ve seen it play out and I know it’s possible, so that’s why I have so much optimism coming into this because they’re so much further ahead of where we start. And that’s not a dig at Front Row. It’s just where we were. And the people we were able to get and the people they already have, we have the recipe to be very good. But it’s all got to click and that takes time. We’ll see if that’s five weeks, 10 weeks, 38 weeks, 50 weeks. Nobody can predict that, but we have the potential and the people in the building to do it.” What makes you excited for starting over now?“The same thing as timing. Nobody wants to start over and rebuild. It’s only exciting if you know the potential. The excitement comes from I’m thankful. I’m thankful to have a job. I’m thankful to be one of 40 that gets to start on Sunday, and I know that’s a tremendous privilege. That also comes with the pressure and the expectation of getting everything I can out of every area to make sure I do what I was hired to do.” What does the Daytona 500 mean to you?“The Daytona 500 to me is so much more than just a race. It is the biggest race. I don’t want to discredit that, but to me it was more of the 358 races that it took to get there. If you look at my rookie season, not that it went bad, but my trajectory of getting fired and getting replaced by Marcus Ambrose and being sort of an unknown in this sport – I went straight from ARCA to Cup – to be here to win 357 races later was miraculous. So, when I think about that win, I think about the 16 years and 357 starts that were an absolute grind. And hanging on for dear life to stay in the sport. That’s what makes it special.” How does that win fill your heart to cap your amazing story?“It really is amazing. The 500, there is nothing that will top that. I wish I had a better way of phrasing it, but the Brickyard was more – meaningful is not the right word – it was more rewarding. Personally, professionally the Brickyard. The reason is because of what we did as a team. We dominated the day, we led the most laps, we executed on pit road, it’s not a superspeedway, nobody can say it’s flukey. I went head-to-head with Chase Elliott for 30 laps and, to me, that is so awesome to get a win like that. Where Daytona there is a big crash, Brad and Joey, and I don’t find it controversial at all. It doesn’t take away from how I feel about winning the 500 because a lot of those races end like that. But the reward of that race of we did something really special today the Brickyard was one of those days.”

BARBERVILLE, FL – Three of the most successful drivers in dirt Late Model racing over the past half-decade added another Gator to their collections Wednesday night, as Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Davenport and Brandon Overton won a trio of DIRTcar Late Model Features at Volusia Speedway Park.

The victories established those competitors as the ones to beat in the race for the Big Gator as the Late Model portion of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals reached its halfway point. Thornton leads the way by 20 points over Davenport and 40 points over Overton with three nights of World of Outlaws Late Models competition on tap for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

FEATURE 1

By Nick Graziano

Ricky Thornton Jr. entered the 54th Annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals with two Gator trophies from 2022 and 2024. After Wednesday night, he’s doubled the size of his collection and is the current leading candidate for the Big Gator title.

Like déjà vu, Thornton mimicked his Tuesday night performance in the first DIRTcar Late Model Feature of the evening at Volusia Speedway Park. He started on the pole and kept the afterburners on all race long, keeping the field behind him by a second or more every lap.

Kyle Bronson got the closest to giving Thornton a challenge, however that was on the initial start, entering Turn 1 as the two drivers entered the corner side-by-side. Thornton high. Bronson low. The top lane prevailed for the No. 20RT car, catapulting Thornton ahead of the field.

Behind him, Bronson had to switch from offense to defense. Max Blair, who hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in his last three races at Volusia, crept closer to the orange No. 40B car every lap.

But before a battle could brew, the first caution of the night came out on Lap 8 for a wounded Carson Ferguson machine.

On the restart, Thornton continued his march out front. But it was a different story for Bronson. A poor launch to the green flag caused him to lose second to Blair and third to Cade Dillard. That proved to foreshadow his future as he slowed with an issue later in the race.

The second caution of the night on Lap 9 brought the field back together and, again, set up another rocket launch on the restart for Thornton. Behind him, Blair suffered a poor start this time, losing second to Dillard and third to Daulton Wilson.

But with the race going green for the final 11 laps, Blair was able to pull Wilson back in and resecure the final podium spot.

Thornton took the victory with a 1.4 second lead over Cade Dillard and padded his point lead in the hunt for his first Big Gator championship.

“We unload to win every night,” Thornton said. “If the driver does his job… my crew is doing their job. As Iong as I don’t screw up, we’ll have a good shot (at the Big Gator title). We’ve been really good the last couple days. I could run across the bottom and up top, kind of do whatever I needed to.

“I feel like I could run hard for two or three laps and then kind of slow my pace down and really just kind of saved my right rear.”

Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 3. 111-Max Blair[3]; 4. 18D-Daulton Wilson[10]; 5. 25-Shane Clanton[14]; 6. 17SS-Brenden Smith[15]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens[7]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs[13]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[11]; 10. 81-Jason Riggs[9]; 11. 12-Ashton Winger[12]; 12. 11B-Stacy Boles[17]; 13. 14R-Reid Millard[19]; 14. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 15. 22*-Drake Troutman[6]; 16. 93-Carson Ferguson[5]; 17. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[18]; 18. 114-Jordan Koehler[8]; 19. 000-Matt Nailor[16]; 20. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[20]; 21. 79-Kyle Bryant[21]

FEATURE 2

By Matt Skipper

Despite Jonathan Davenport’s finishing inside the top five in every Super Late Model race at Volusia Speedway Park in 2025, he had yet to park his car in Victory Lane.

That stat changed Wednesday night with the Blairsville, GA driver getting his first Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals golden Gator trophy since 2018.

Ethan Dotson and Davenport led the field to the green flag for the 20-lap Feature, with Dotson jumping out to the early lead, gaining 1.6 seconds over Davenport.

“Superman” flipped the script when Dotson got caught in lap traffic that blocked both lanes and helped him get back into contention for the lead at the halfway mark.

With Dotson’s No. 74X ASD Motorsports entering loose conditions in Turn 3, Davenport ripped his No. 49 up to the cushion to pass by the Bakersfield, CA driver with seven laps remaining.

Davenport managed to get by the lap traffic while Dotson was mired in competition with Devin Moran for his position. The Dresden, OH driver took the opposite route of passing Dotson by using the bottom of Turns 1 and 2 for his chance to chase down Davenport.

Before Davenport crossed the line with the checkered flag waiting, a caution for Jake Timm gave Moran and Dotson one final effort to steal the win.

The last restart saw Davenport hit his marks to perfection by extending to a half-second lead that prevented Moran from performing a “Hail Mary” slide job and winning his second-careerDIRTcar Nationals Feature.

“I was like, ‘Dang it,’” Davenport said. “That was on a harder tire on the front, and I think we made a mistake on the car. We tightened it up and running on a hard tire, then it was too tight really for how fast it was, and then it was on the wrong tire.

“We had two wrongs make a right on that deal, but lap traffic worked in my hand. Ethan got a little loose off (Turn 4) and I had a run off the top. I just happened to go to the top that lap, so it was time to just drive, it never did slow down at all.”

Moran finished second, and Winfield, TN driver Mike Marlar passed Dotson on the restart for the final step on the podium.

Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[5]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 4. 74X-Ethan Dotson[1]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[7]; 7. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 8. 1-Brandon Sheppard[9]; 9. 19-Dustin Sorensen[13]; 10. 19R-Ryan Gustin[6]; 11. 44-Chris Madden[10]; 12. 09-Michael Leach[8]; 13. 16-Tyler Bruening[12]; 14. 18-Chase Junghans[16]; 15. 6-Michael Chilton[15]; 16. 59-Trey Mills[18]; 17. 14W-Dustin Walker[19]; 18. 75-Daniel Adam[14]; 19. 49-Jake Timm[17]; 20. 57-Michael Norris[20]

FEATURE 3

By Spence Smithback

Entering Wednesday’s portion of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Brandon Overton had done everything except win a race so far in 2025.

But after six top fives, “Big Sexy” finally parked his No. 76 car in Victory Lane in the third Feature of the night at Volusia Speedway Park.

After setting Quick Time in his group, Overton started on the pole and quickly broke away from second-starting Garrett Alberson to take the early lead.

The gap quickly got up to a second and a half before Overton caught the tail of the field prior to the halfway mark. The traffic did not turn out to be a serious hindrance though, as a slowing Tyler Wyant brought out the caution flag.

The restart was a replay of the initial start, as Overton immediately powered away from the pack. He only got to enjoy the advantage for two laps as Nick Hoffman blew his right-rear tire with seven to go to rerack the field once again.

One more solid jump was all Overton needed, as he drove away to victory by half a straightaway over brother Cody Overton, who got around Alberson in the final dash to the finish for second.

“We’re just steadily working on it,” Overton said. “I feel like I’ve got the best crew in the pits. They just keep putting their heads together and working on it and giving me a better piece night in and night out.”

Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 2-Cody Overton[8]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 4. 96-Tanner English[3]; 5. 9M-Tim McCreadie[10]; 6. 5-Mark Whitener[5]; 7. 60-Dan Ebert[6]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[11]; 9. 8M-Dillon McCowan[13]; 10. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 11. 81J-Jack Riggs[16]; 12. B1-Brent Larson[15]; 13. 43-Derrick Stewart[7]; 14. 11-Austin Smith[19]; 15. 93L-Cory Lawler[18]; 16. 24-Tyler Wyant[17]; 17. 8-Kyle Strickler[14]; 18. 9-Nick Hoffman[12]; 19. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[20]; 20. 71-Hudson O’Neal[9]

The final three nights of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals will see the World of Outlaws Late Models hit the track for three nights of racing on Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 13-15. Get your tickets by clicking here.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

HOW HAS YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THIS RACE SHIFTED FOR YOU SINCE WINNING THIS RACE IN 2021? “Yeah, its definitely mixed because you come back with confidence for sure after you have won it. One because you know that it is possible and you know that you can do it, but you also still have that pressure. Right? You have that pressure that it’s a great opportunity, and it’s a strength of ours and it’s a strength of mine and I know that. And so you feel that extra pressure coming here because you know you will be in the mix and you will have a legitimate shot and what it means. So it’s a bit of a mix. The confidence comes with it, but the pressure comes with it too. Joey says pressure is privilege, and so I am very fortunate to feel that pressure coming here. But every year is new challenges, new obstacles, and new opportunities. That is what is exciting about kicking off a new year is that there are tremendous opportunities in front of us, and the biggest opportunity of all is being right here at the Daytona 500.” WHAT WAS THE LOGIC IN NOT GOING OUT FOR PRACTICE THIS MORNING? IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT WAS PLANNED? “Yeah, it was planned. I think there was a lot to it. There is not a tremendous amount that you can do to the cars, especially pre-qualifying to find more speed. You can go out there and leak check and all those things, which we probably would have liked to done. But with inspection being so close to practice, we took that extra time to run through LIS a few more times and make sure we had everything where we needed it. Minimizing risk is one small variable of it, but its not the biggest variable of it. But we have just felt like we have had a process of unloading for qualifying being our deal and knowing where those targets are. So we didn’t want to confuse it too much with race trim and draft, go back, go forth. So yeah, it was kind of a group decision that we all made and yeah, we will see how it all plays out.” WHAT IS IT LIKE AT THIS STAGE OF YOUR CAREER TO GET USED TO A NEW TEAM AND PROCESS? “Its nerve wracking and exciting all at the same time. It’s a brand new opportunity and there is so much in front of you that is new and it feels that way, right? You feel that optimism and you feel that energy of like wow, we are doing big things.  But we haven’t done anything yet and that makes you nervous because you are like, we have to go perform now. And so that part of it has been fun and that is what I would say, its been fun.   It has been fun to go through the process of how they do things, how they see things, and learn people’s names, who they are, and what they do. I was doing a FOX interview today and got there a little early and I was hanging out with my PR guy and figuring out how he got into racing.  Having those conversations is fun. It’s fun to get to know people and hear people’s stories. But it takes time.  You can’t walk in day one and just be clicking with everybody.  The cool thing is that there are a lot of familiar faces at Spire that I have worked with over my career at some point and I have a lot of funny stories with that.  Like with my very first car chief, Greg Osborne, is the shop manager at Spire. My rookie year, he was there.  Peter Sospenzo was my crew chief my rookie year.  I can go down the list and tell you all these guys that I have worked with. So, its cool to reconnect with people and have a shot at doing big things.” REGARDING WINNING AT THE BRICKYARD AND THE DAYTONA 500 “The 500, there is nothing that will top that. I wish I had a better way of phrasing it, but the Brickyard was more rewarding personally and professionally. The reason that is because of what we did as a team. We dominated, we led the most laps, we executed on pit road, and it’s not a superspeedway and nobody can say it’s fluky. And I went head-to-head with Chase Elliott for 30 laps. And to me, that is like so awesome to get a win like that. Right? Where at Daytona there was a big crash with Brad and Joey, and I don’t find it controversial at all in winning the 500 because a lot of those races end like that.  That is part of it, but the reward is just feeling like man, we did something special. Brickyard was one of those days.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Justin Haley, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Do you feel any extra pressure coming to the Daytona 500?“Because you know it is possible and you know you can do it; you have that pressure of it’s a great opportunity and it’s a strength of ours. It’s a strength of mine and I know that. You feel that extra pressure coming here because you know you’ll be in the mix, and you’ll have a legitimate shot. So, it’s a bit of a mix. The confidence comes with it, but the pressure comes with it, too. I’m very fortunate to feel that pressure coming here. Every year is new challenges and new obstacles and new opportunities, and that’s what is exciting about kicking off the year. There are tremendous opportunities in front of us and the biggest opportunity of all being right here at the Daytona 500.” Can you explain the mindset of not going out for practice this morning?“It was planned. There’s not a tremendous amount that you can do to the cars, especially pre-qualifying to find more speed. You can go out there and leak check and all those things, which we would have liked to have done. But with inspection being very close to practice and the process, we took that extra time to run through LIS a few more times and just make sure we had everything where we needed it. Minimizing risk is one small variable of it, but it’s not the biggest variable of it. We felt we’ve had a process of unloading for qualifying and doing our deal and we kind of know where those targets are, so we didn’t want to confuse it much with race trim versus Q trim, draft, go bath, go forward. It was kind of a group decision, and we’ll see how it all plays out.” What have been the differences to you with this team?“Any time you walk into a new building, a new situation, there’s so much to take in from personnel and processes. All those things are different, but what is nice is these racecars are fairly common across the board. There are some nuances with manufacturers and how teams do things specifically. But, for the most part, all the parts and pieces are the same and you’re just trying to put them in the right location. I think the biggest thing is just getting in the routine and getting into the process because you just don’t jump in day one and everything is going smooth. And everyone does things a little differently and you’re trying to learn how everyone works, and just for me trying to learn the tools and trying to figure out some of those things I can do before hitting the racetrack. Once we get through the West Coast swing, things are going to be much more clear on what the difference are, what we need to work on, improvements we need to make, how I need to adapt, how our tools adapt. But right now, you don’t have a whole lot to go off of other than optimism and a lot of hours and hard work. But when we get back from the West Coast, we’ll know what we need do moving forward. Coming in, for me, a new team, new manufacturer, a lot of new, you add in all new personnel with that race team and it becomes very difficult because now you’re working on chemistry, you’re working on communication, you’re’ working on where everybody’s feelings are at – and I mean that not jokingly of how people communicate and how they respond and how you extract the most out of them and how they extract the most out of you. It takes time and having a lot of that core group stay with us is a big deal.” What’s it like at this stage of your career having to make that transition?“It’s nerve-racking and it’s exciting all at the same time. It’s a brand-new opportunity and there’s so much in front of you that is new. It feels that way and you feel that optimism and you feel that energy of we’re doing big things though we haven’t done anything yet. So that makes you nervous that we have to go perform now. It’s been fun to go through the process of how they do things and how they see things and learn people’s names and learn what they do. It takes time. You can’t walk in day one and be clicking with everyone.  The good thing is that there are a lot of familiar faces at Spire that I’ve worked with over my career at some point. It wasn’t totally daunting because I had those 10 or 20 faces that are familiar, and it’s cool to reconnect with people and have another shot at doing big things.” Is there any trepidation that you’re jumping into something new?“I haven’t been in this exact situation, but when I got let go in the 95, we were running pretty good. Good enough to get Kasey Kahne to come drive it. And I thought to myself we were finally running good and it’s all going to come together and then that happened. I was thinking there’s no way I’m going to land anything and there’s no way I can get back to where I am now. And that wasn’t winning, that was running decent. And I landed at Front Row and you fast forward and winning the Brickyard and you wouldn’t be able to convince anyone that year that it would be a possibility that Front Row would do that. So, I’ve seen it play out and I know it’s possible, so that’s why I have so much optimism coming into this because they’re so much further ahead of where we start. And that’s not a dig at Front Row. It’s just where we were. And the people we were able to get and the people they already have, we have the recipe to be very good. But it’s all got to click and that takes time. We’ll see if that’s five weeks, 10 weeks, 38 weeks, 50 weeks. Nobody can predict that, but we have the potential and the people in the building to do it.” What makes you excited for starting over now?“The same thing as timing. Nobody wants to start over and rebuild. It’s only exciting if you know the potential. The excitement comes from I’m thankful. I’m thankful to have a job. I’m thankful to be one of 40 that gets to start on Sunday, and I know that’s a tremendous privilege. That also comes with the pressure and the expectation of getting everything I can out of every area to make sure I do what I was hired to do.” What does the Daytona 500 mean to you?“The Daytona 500 to me is so much more than just a race. It is the biggest race. I don’t want to discredit that, but to me it was more of the 358 races that it took to get there. If you look at my rookie season, not that it went bad, but my trajectory of getting fired and getting replaced by Marcus Ambrose and being sort of an unknown in this sport – I went straight from ARCA to Cup – to be here to win 357 races later was miraculous. So, when I think about that win, I think about the 16 years and 357 starts that were an absolute grind. And hanging on for dear life to stay in the sport. That’s what makes it special.” How does that win fill your heart to cap your amazing story?“It really is amazing. The 500, there is nothing that will top that. I wish I had a better way of phrasing it, but the Brickyard was more – meaningful is not the right word – it was more rewarding. Personally, professionally the Brickyard. The reason is because of what we did as a team. We dominated the day, we led the most laps, we executed on pit road, it’s not a superspeedway, nobody can say it’s flukey. I went head-to-head with Chase Elliott for 30 laps and, to me, that is so awesome to get a win like that. Where Daytona there is a big crash, Brad and Joey, and I don’t find it controversial at all. It doesn’t take away from how I feel about winning the 500 because a lot of those races end like that. But the reward of that race of we did something really special today the Brickyard was one of those days.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Q. What has the first part of this experience been like so far? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: It’s been amazing. When you look at JR Motorsports as a whole, what they’ve accomplished in this sport, then to see Dale Jr. in the garage this morning at 6 a.m. with a smile on his face, I think it puts it into perspective how big of a moment this was, not only for Dale and Kelley and LW, but for our company as a whole.   I think even furthermore, when I look at the men and women we’ve assembled to be here and be a part of this team, see their smiles today, most of which have never worked in a Cup Series garage or worked on a Cup Series car in their lives, get the opportunity to come here to the biggest race of the year and to have an opportunity to try to qualify, it’s a big deal.   I think for me, there’s a lot of stress, a lot of pressure that goes along with that. I’ve put in a lot of sleepless nights to try to get ready for this and understand what I can do to be my best, at the same time also being very proud of what we’ve accomplished in building a beautiful race car.   Chris Stapleton, Traveller Whiskey, how excited they are. Just the whole process, it’s been really, really special and surreal to even get to this point, regardless of how the rest of the weekend goes.  Q. How do you approach getting into the race? You have a crew chief who is brilliant at qualifying.  JUSTIN ALLGAIER: I think obviously if you can qualify in and make speed today, it makes life a lot easier.   On the other side of that, the experience that I have, the experience that Greg has, my spotter Joey, what he was able to do on top of the spotter stand, those are things I think are very important.  As Chevrolet, we got a lot of cars in the field that are Chevys. You cannot do this alone. There is no way to superspeedway race by yourself.   We’re hopeful that that all plays into our favor, but we also know that this is arguably one of the toughest open fields of the last couple years. We picked a heck of a year to try to make this attempt.   There’s a lot that goes into it. I would say that as the Next Gen car has kind of come in, you focus on things a little bit differently for qualifying than maybe what you would have in the past. I don’t know that there’s any magic, per se, but at the same time I know we’ve prepared a really, really nice race car. If that helps in any way, we’re going to qualify great this evening.   But we’re going to do what we can regardless and have the best opportunity we can to lock our way into the field.  Q. How have you been dealing with the stress and pressure? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: I mean, I think that’s part of the sport, right? I think we wouldn’t do this if weirdly we didn’t all enjoy the stress of this a little bit.   I think for me, I definitely operate on those feelings. I’m at my best when the pressure is the highest. Last year we went on this pressure makes diamonds. It’s really true. If it didn’t mean anything, there would be no pressure, right?   If you could go through life, there was no meaning, you would just kind of live every day and just kind of be bland. I think sometimes the peaks and the valleys define how we feel, who we are, how we operate.  I’ve been blessed to be around great people and great opportunities. This is just another addition to what I’ve been able to accomplish through my career.   Knowing all of these people around me are wanting to complete this task and be a part of it, it makes me just proud to even have my name as a part of it.   It’s a way bigger experience than just me driving the race car, that’s for sure.  Q. (No microphone.) JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Reddit feels the same way, just so you know.  Q. Did you ever anticipate making another Daytona 500 start? What are the emotions that come along with that? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Let me start by saying I don’t know that I’ve — hard to explain how I’m going to say this.   I’ve never not wanted to be in the Cup Series. Still to this day, if the opportunity was there to go Cup racing at a high level, I would still have a lot of interest in that.   With that being said, though, I think you have to be in the right situation, the right opportunity with the right team and the right car.   I don’t want to just go to the Cup level just to go compete, right? I want to be able to go out and run good and run up front.   I think last year running the 5 car for Kyle Larson and the whole team made me know how much I really enjoy the Cup side knowing we were able to go up there and be successful.   Adversely, too, I have a great team, a great group of people that are around me. I have an opportunity to go win the Xfinity Series championship as we did last year and have another great shot at doing again this year.   I’m at two points where both are fantastic. I love what I do. I wouldn’t change that side of it for the world. Would I love to be Cup racing again? Absolutely. You’re always fighting that internal battle.  What I will say is it’s allowed me to do things being in the Xfinity Series that I never would have gotten to do had I been in the Cup Series.   Right, wrong, indifferent, I know there’s a lot of difference of opinion on what that looks like. Winning a championship last year was probably one of the most meaningful moments of my career. Had I not gone back down to the Xfinity Series, I don’t know if I ever would have experienced that.  I feel like it’s definitely been the right choice. I’m having a fun being able to be a part of a really cool experience with JR Motorsports that in my wildest dreams I never saw coming to fruition.   Q. (Question about Dale.)  JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Dale is the same Dale. I think it put a lot of things in perspective for me this morning watching his excitement, watching him be in the garage, overseeing kind of all of this.   The amount of effort and time he’s put into this program, understanding the car, what it needs to do to be fast, checking in on the progress daily. I mean, we’re not talking about somebody that’s just, Hey, how’s the car doing once a week or once a month. It’s daily looking at the car, making sure that he’s understanding where we’re going with everything. Those are big steps for our race team.   I also equally think it’s good for our sport. Dale is an icon of the sport. He has amassed a fan base that goes well beyond the walls of the racetrack. He’s done it because he’s Dale, right? His persona and who he is, that’s Dale, right? We all know Dale Jr. He’s the same outside the car as he was inside the car. He’s accomplished a lot of great things on the racetrack.   But as a sport, to see Dale’s excitement for this, I think it makes me excited for it. Whether I’m involved in it or not, it makes my excited for it seeing his excitement. I think that’s bled through into all of our employees. It’s really bled into the garage.   There’s a lot of employees from other race teams that have come over, drivers that have texted myself or Dale personally, that have been super pumped on this. That says a lot in my mind about what that truly means, how special this really is.  Q. So no pressure to make it? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: None, zero (laughter).  Listen, I have seen a lot of social media that I’m pretty confident that I need not to show my face ever again if we don’t make the field. I will do my best job that I possibly can.   But I think that this exercise of getting here has been significant of what it takes, the time, the energy, the financial side of it. Whether this is the first and only or first of many, I couldn’t tell you. Five years ago, I would have said that this day would never come. It finally came. It’s everything that I thought it would be and then some.   I think that everybody at our shop feels the same way. So I’m excited to see the speed we can have tonight, but I’m excited to see how the rest of the weekend goes. I’m very hopeful.   Anything can and will happen in the Duels. We’ve seen it all time and time again. You can have the fastest race car here and it winds up in a box of parts or you can sneak your way in on the last lap. I think Jimmie got in on one of the last laps of the Duels. You never know what to expect.   I’m proud of the effort just to get to this point. We’re going to do everything we can to make it into the 500.   Q. Given Hendrick’s front rows, is the front row something for you? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Listen, if we qualify on the front row, I’ll do backflips. I don’t know that I can, but I’ll at least attempt it.   I don’t know. I think the one thing about this is while Hendrick has had a lot of success here, when you look at the, like I said earlier, employees that are down there working on this race car, a lot of them have never been on the Cup side. Just the understanding of going through tech, getting the car into pit road, all of that, there’s all these new experiences, right?   While there’s no magic, per se, just understanding the processes. Sometimes you have to focus on little things that you maybe could put that time or energy into the car that now you’re focusing on just kind of learning it and growing it. Those are efforts that probably hinder us a little bit in this qualifying effort.  I wouldn’t change that. We could have assembled a group of people, got a bunch of people from another race team, had them come and be a part of it. That’s not what this has been about. This has been about JR Motorsports going Cup racing and we’ve done that.   I think for me, watching their effort, regardless of what happens, I just want to lay down the best lap I can for them to see it make them happy and proud.  Q. What was the challenge with practice today? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Time. Challenge at practice is getting a clean lap. We focused on a clean lap, what it would take to do that.   When you have the chartered cars able to go out there and really focus, a lot of them drafted, some guys just went out and made long runs, just making sure everything got up to temperature.   For us, while that would be great, we would love to do that, we needed to go out and get clean laps and understand what is our car going to do this evening, what do we have to do to go the fastest we can for a lap.   I saw a bunch of open cars, I don’t know if it was working with different spotters, maybe a different thought process, but a lot of the open cars were able to go out there. I saw one was literally on the bumper on the car in front of them making laps. I don’t know if I quite understand that if you’re trying to qualify your way into the Daytona 500.   There’s a lot of schools of thought when it comes to qualifying here. Greg did a great job of coming up with a game plan. If we had more time, you make more qualifying attempts. For what we needed to do, today was everything we needed to do and then some.  Q. When you’ve been at place for 10 years, you’re going to bond with people. Certainly there’s been a bond with Dale. How has the relationship with him developed over the years?  JUSTIN ALLGAIER: It’s funny because, again, Dale has accomplished everything you want to accomplish in the sport. He doesn’t need me, right? Let’s be honest, he doesn’t need me. But it’s been fun to watch his excitement for what I’ve accomplished on the racetrack.   Look, I’ve been at JR Motorsports longer than any other part of my career of any other race team. There’s a good reason for that, right? I love where I’m at. I love the people that I’m around.  Dale has been somebody that I look up to and I aspire to be, not only on the racetrack but off the racetrack, right? What he’s like as a dad, how he’s a husband. I mean, the guy is involved in everything, and he still somehow manages to handle all of it and do it well. Those are all things that I think for me are important. I’ve leaned on Dale a lot.   We had a moment three years ago when we didn’t win the championship that was probably the turning point in he and I’s relationship. We couldn’t explain it. I felt like I let everybody down. We didn’t win a championship. He felt the same way on the other side of it as a team.   Probably the coolest thing for me is I’ve been at JR Motorsports long enough to have watched Dale go from full-time Cup Series driver to TV personality to car owner to all these different things and facets of his career. The Dale Jr. of today is not the Dale Jr. of five years ago, especially not the Dale Jr. of 10 years ago.   As he’s gotten older and has had kids, has stepped back from the driving seat, it’s been amazing to watch his sentimental side of this sport and what it means to him. I think that’s where this has been the coolest moment, is seeing him being sentimental about the sport. It’s drawn us closer together.   I think regardless of how the outcome is, these are the moments that I’m enjoying, right? These are the moments that are going to go down in my mind as we go on as the coolest moments.  Q. (No microphone.) JUSTIN ALLGAIER: He’s given Dale Jr. a championship in the Xfinity Series, right? Really, I mean, he’s been a guy that has done a lot for our team.   That’s amazing and it’s really, really cool, but it’s a lot of pressure. Dale Jr. is not going to accomplish a lot of things more in his career. He’s done it all. He’s seen it all. He’s been a part of all of it.  I wish I could explain the pressure to you because it’s a different pressure than I’ve ever felt. It’s not a harder pressure, it’s just a different pressure than I’ve ever felt.   It’s not even coming from Dale. That’s the funniest part of this, it’s not directed from Dale. Dale has become family. You don’t ever want to let family down, right? That’s where this whole process has kind of come into play.   You are relying on so many people in these moments. Greg feels the weight of all of this pressure. I feel the weight of all of this pressure. All the men and women that are part of this organization, they all feel the weight of this pressure. They all still are equally excited and joyful of this moment. It’s been a lot.  But I’m going to tell you, if we can qualify our way into the Daytona 500, the weight of the world will be lifted off the shoulders, will be of massive proportions, right? Whether that’s in single car or in the Duels, it will be a lift of massive proportions.   I’ve been in this race, qualified for this race. It’s a surreal experience. On the other side of it, I’ve also watched many, many men and women that should have had the cars, had the teams to do this, walk out of this racetrack with their heads held low because they didn’t qualify.   I look at the list of cars that are attempting this year. I go, Man, there’s some guys and gals that are going to be really sad when they walk out of here. I just hope we’re not one of them. Q. How do negotiations work with it comes to running the Daytona 500? Is that you? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: No, that was me sitting in a meeting, them telling me what their plan was, and somehow me thinking that they were just telling me what their plan was.   I didn’t expect them to tell me where they’re going to dinner tonight. I don’t know why they would tell me their plans without me being involved. They asked if I would drive. My only thing was being family, I said, I need to discuss this with my wife, right?  I called my wife. We had the discussion on the phone. About five minutes later I called back and said, Yeah, I’m in.   There really weren’t a lot of discussions. This is what we’re attempting, what we are planning, what we want to do. Are you (indiscernible)? I think the easy answer is yes.   This is a big moment. This is a big play. Not only for myself, not only for Chris Stapleton, JR Motorsports, this is a big deal for what we’re trying to accomplish in this sport. It’s been really, really cool.   Q. You have had the opportunity the last couple years, again this year, to take your dirt model bike down the road and race the week before Daytona. What is about that that you have continued to enjoy? How do you feel it benefits you keeping your skills sharp? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Christopher and Kyle did a lot better than I did. I got crashed, spent all week trying to chop, cut, rebuild (smiling).   Dirt racing for me has and always and will always be where I grew up, how I grew up, what I grew up doing.   I love this sport, right? This sport as a whole is just so cool, whether you’re at Volusia, New Smyrna, any one of the hundreds of short tracks around the country. There’s so many racers that you just go, Man, if they ever would have had the right opportunity, they could be Cup Series champions because they’re that good.   Some don’t aspire to that. You know what, I can respect that wholeheartedly. For me, I do it because, number one, it keeps me sharp. It gives you that hand-eye coordination, skills.   Number two, I just enjoy being around the people, the fans. I’m an extrovert. I love being around people. Going to the racetrack and being a part of it, it’s really, really cool.   Volusia does a great job. It’s right down the road. If there was ever a year that I shouldn’t have gone dirt racing, it was this year because it put me behind schedule by a lot. At the same time I wouldn’t trade it. It’s pretty special.  Q. Is the stress higher than you had thought last week? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Yeah, way higher. I was secretly thinking for practice, I think I was hoping we’d maybe go a second faster than the rest of the field, I wouldn’t have to worry about qualifying this evening.   The pressure is high. 99.9% of that pressure that is being high is self-induced, right? It’s me wanting something that I really have no control over. I think that’s the hardest part, right? I do have control. I guess I can go out there and make a mistake qualifying, not put ourselves in position.   If I go out and do my job, it’s going to be difficult, but it’s going to be rewarding when we hopefully go faster than all the rest of them. That’s just what we have to go try and accomplish. If we do that, I think we’re in great shape.  Q. Dissecting single-car speed in practice, how did you feel? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: I don’t know. I mean, there’s four or five us that are really, really, really, really, really close on speed.  You look at, Did that person have a tow? Maybe. Did they leave a little early on pit road to get a little extra speed? Maybe. Did they maybe not abide by the line they were supposed to run for qualifying practice? Maybe. Those are all things that you go, Man, does it account for this much or for a lot?  I don’t know. This team has put a lot of effort into it. I would say as the Next Gen era has come around, everybody’s in the same box, right? Used to be with the Gen-6 car, you could manipulate the bodies around where the tolerances would allow you to have a bigger window of where things could be at. The manufacturers were probably a little bit more apart on the aero, the target box, right? There were more discrepancies there. Even without bending the rules, right, you could have a significantly driving race car from two different manufacturers or two different teams. I think there was magic there, right?   Now, with the parity we have in the sport, in the cars, anybody can show up at Daytona and have pretty good speed, right?   It’s just a matter of all the little details, making sure as a driver you do all the right things. As a team the air pressure is so much more important. Hendrick engine shop is a class act. They have given me everything they can give me. When you’re building multiple engines that are going to the racetrack on any given weekend, you are putting the best in all of them to make sure you have the highest probability of winning.   A lot of my friends are in Chevrolets which helps significantly. That doesn’t fix anything. That doesn’t give you guarantees. We just have to go out there, manage the day the best as possible, and hopefully we do the best job of anybody.   Q. Do you let your mind wander what it’s going to be like on Sunday with this team? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Yes, I have, because I have the confidence in our program to know that I have a lot of confidence that we’re going to be able to go do that.   Now, if we don’t, it will be really, really disappointing because I think when you allow yourself to kind of think about what the future could hold, you sometimes make that pain even bigger and greater, right?  That being said, Dale and Chris, the excitement that they’ve already had, I can’t even imagine what Sunday would be like. It would be really, really special.   But at the same time I’m going to do what I got to do and go out there and race hard. My only goal is to make them proud. Sometimes making them proud doesn’t necessarily mean making the race. Making them proud means you left it all out on the table. When I walk out of here Thursday night, I will know 100% was given. If I am lucky enough to race on Sunday, I will walk out of here on Sunday night knowing that I gave 100%. That’s all you can give.   Q. There’s been a lot of different broadcast partners this year. You’re at the front of it with The CW with the Xfinity Series. Are there any changes that you’ve noticed significantly from The CW so far? Stuff you want to see more as a driver? JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s been very interesting, right? This sport has evolved over the last 10, 15 years significantly, right? We’ve had so many great broadcast partners through the years. The personalities that come through, to be part of those broadcast partners, we’re very lucky in how they promote our sport both on and off the racetrack.   It becomes very unique, right? When you have a broadcast partner change a lot of times you have a talent change. We’re seeing more crossover than we’ve ever seen.   I was excited last year that The CW was able to get in and really be a part of the Playoffs for us, understand the challenges that they were going to see, right? Understand the challenges our fans were going to endure. We had some. It wasn’t an easy transition, right?   But what I loved about it was they put their head down and they went to work, tried to understand everything better. Look at the talent they’ve brought on for 2025 not only in the booth but at the track. I’m excited for that.   I think the one thing that our sport is unique in is how difficult the sport is to live out daily. I don’t know that’s always portrayed sometimes from the broadcast side because you’re in that moment, that race, that day, how it’s going.   If I could have one thing that I would love to see is just being down in the trenches of what goes on day to day and how it operates.   But I’m really excited about The CW, what they’re coming in with. Basically every home that has a TV in America will have access to our Xfinity Series races. That’s a big deal, right? You look at the Cup Series side. They’ve changed that around significantly. It’s a lot of streaming-based things that are going on.  There’s a lot of things that really are differing now between the different series, the Trucks, Xfinity and Cup. I’m excited to see where this lands, where it goes, what it comes into.   Look, racing as a whole has a lot of momentum, INDYCAR, NASCAR, road racing, we are all doing a fantastic job of trying to be better and get better for our fans. That just means there’s more competition. We have to go out and work harder for it.   I think the sport has done that. We’re going to keep pushing, trying. Whatever happens, happens. I’m proud of the effort that The CW has put in, really all of the broadcast partners, what that looks like.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Ty Dillon, driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

REGARDING GETTING INTO IT WITH BROTHER AUSTIN DILLON AT BOWMAN GRAY “There was a lot made of that on Monday and Tuesday and a lot of people were talking about it. He and I saw each other Monday and never even talked about it. I called him on Wednesday and I was like, ‘dude, do we have a problem?’. He said, ‘no it was fine and we were just racing hard’. It was just racing and he and I have an understanding with each other, a respect for each other, we are brothers and we understand what racing is. I think if you go back and break that down, it was just a couple of things, and we are racing at Bowman Gray and there is no room. He is trying to do his job, and I am trying to do my job. It’s an exhibition race.  Now if we are at Vegas, a bigger track, or something like that, then that would not be acceptable and neither one of us would want that. If you go back over time, he and I have respectively raced each other probably cleaner than anybody in this sport.  People made a lot of comments about that and I think people want to egg on the Dillon brother feud, but its not a thing. So, we trust each other and we work together and we also respect each other. But we have a job to do and winning races and that night our job was to finish in the top two. I knew that was what he was trying to do and I was too.” WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN AS A DRIVER YOU FEEL THE TEAM IS BEHIND YOU FULLY, TOP TO BOTTOM? “Its everything. Confidence in the driver it is everything and you build that confidence with trust.  I feel like I have gone into places where you feel like, you know, I bring my own confidence in this. But when you know a team owner, a team president, a crew chief, a technical director….when everyone is giving you that authentic confidence, and they are not just pumping your head full of things, but they are being honest with you. I think transparency is the best way to build confidence in each other.  And that is what I felt ever since the few races I ran last year with Kaulig and in the offseason. No one is afraid to say what you need to work on, but they are also not afraid to say what you have done good and excel on. That is what you crave as a person, and you just want transparency within that. I have been to places where they don’t say anything to you.  You don’t know whether you had a good day or a bad day. I am a pretty active brain person, and I can drive myself in a tizzy when nobody talks to me and those are the dark places to be in. And you want to be in a place where communication is clear and honest. It has been very apparent from the offseason to the start of the season and now so to speak that the bullets are beginning to fly, we will see how that continues, and I believe it will and that is what is going to make us a good team.” WHAT IS IT LIKE TO KIND OF BE BACK IN YOUR OWN WORLD AS TO SAY? “I saw that on Dale’s (Junior) podcast and was pretty perplexed. It wasn’t that I left to do my own thing. Sometimes in life there are no more doors to open and you have to open your own doors. It’s not like I left to try and figure it out on my own, I had to.  If I wanted to provide for my family and continue the career that I have wanted my whole life, then I had to go find something. There was nothing there for me and I am lucky that things have come back together in my career, and I have worked very hard. I know it just now seems like I have come back to the fold at RCR, and I wish they had expounded on that more but for the last two and a half years I have been with my grandfather sitting in meeting not only at RCR but at his other businesses and being right beside him and its been some of the greatest moments of my life being just to see how he operates and works. He is such a special businessperson and I am also getting to have those special moments with him as a grandson. But my career and my life, I wouldn’t change the fact that I had to go out and fight for what I wanted. It has made me a better person and its made me have more gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity that I have today to be with Kaulig Racing and to be back associated with RCR with our technical alliance. It wasn’t that I left, but that I had to fight for what I wanted and had to go out and find it. Sometimes the path comes back home to where you belong.” A LOT OF PERSONALITY IN THAT BUILDING. HOW HAVE YOU FOUND THAT YOUR OWN PERSONALITY BLENDS IN THERE? “I have always found that just being me is enough. If I am me consistently, then everybody will understand me for that.   We have some awesome personalities like you mentioned and AJ (Allmendinger) is one of the most determined people you can know, and you can use those personalities to make yourself better. I am so excited to work with AJ this year and I love his fight that he has had not only in the race car but for his career. Then you have Chris Rice who is a gregarious guy and always having fun, but there is always this underlying that he wants to win. And that is no B.S. and that runs through Kaulig and everyone wants to win.  Matt Kaulig is a winner and he has won in everything that he has done away from the racing and he expects nothing less from us at the track. So, I love that man. I love being around the team, I love being around the guys which is important. It’s all about racing and winning races and we are going to do what it takes to make that happen.” ARE THERE HARD FEELINGS STILL THERE? “For the other teams?” YES “I have a unique perspective as a driver and my grandfather is an owner in NASCAR. So, I understand there are certain needs that need to be fulfilled than others. And there are certain things that have to play out and that is just business. And sometimes it is just business whether it works or not and you have to make the best decision as an owner for your company. And I know in some of those situations, I just got caught up in those decisions and you just can’t have hard feelings. I don’t have hard feelings towards anybody in my career. I have taken those ups and downs and was it a disappointment? Absolutely. Nobody wants to be let go from a job and moved on from. But you just take what you learn, and you don’t have a bad attitude about it. I don’t think I lost any friends over it at places I have left from or not been at. So, you just take what you learn, and you bring it to your next opportunity. If I were still bitter about that, I wouldn’t be able to perform here.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Q. Four of you representing four different countries. What has that been like, the diversity of teammates? What language do you speak?  DANIEL SUAREZ: So far English. So far we speak in English (laughter).  Actually I have a lot of people don’t know this, but I have a very hard time understanding Shane. His English, I don’t know. I don’t know if you guys do the same or not, but my English clearly is way more limited than most of you guys. Every time he’s talking to me, I really have to pay attention. 80% of the time I have to have him repeat something because his accent is just way different than what I’m used to, I guess.   Q. Does he understand you? DANIEL SUAREZ: I hope. He hasn’t complained. I hope (laughter).  No, it’s been great. Obviously Trackhouse has been known for the last several years to do things like this. So I’m not surprised having a teammate from New Zealand and another one from Brazil and myself. I guess Ross is the outlier right now.   It’s been a lot of fun. Hopefully we can translate that to good results on Sunday.  Q. What has it been like having Helio around this program? What advice have you given to him? DANIEL SUAREZ: I mean, Helio, he doesn’t have experience in NASCAR, but he has so much experience in life and in racing in general. Really I’ve been talking to him quite a bit about the car, what to expect on the car, what to do, what not to do.   When it comes to the racing stuff, it’s no different than learning anything else new. Like, he’s been in these situations in the past. He’s a world-class driver. He’s going to get it. I’m not concerned about if he’s going to get it, the question is when. Is that going to happen on Thursday or on Sunday?   He’s going to be fine. He’s going to become a fast learner when we get to the draft.   Q. Can you take me through the final laps of your win in Atlanta. Kyle and Blaney were second-guessing what they should have done. What gave you the confidence to do what you did? DANIEL SUAREZ: Honestly, I didn’t have many options because Austin Cindric was the driver that was behind me. He was lifting a lot, just trying not to help me. Obviously his teammate was leading the race at that time. My options were very limited when it comes to the second lane, trying to create a run.  The 47 of Ricky, he was being very aggressive on the rear bumper of the 2. Even with that, I can see it, I can feel it. I was able to see it on Monday on SMT. He was doing everything possible not to help me, which is okay, right? That’s part of the game.   I knew the run was not going to come from me, it was going to come from the inside. My job at that point was to try to slow down the 8 as much as possible for the 23 to get to him – it’s a chess match a chess game – to get to him and build the run. Hopefully I was going to be right there to take advantage of that run. Luckily it work out like that. The timing of things…   Any of us could have won that race. It was a matter of inches. It was just a matter of timing. Fortunately the timing work out good for me.  Q. Is it good to sit down with those other guys and rewatch this recently? Was it fun? DANIEL SUAREZ: It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. Even more fun for me, right, because I was the one that won the race. Probably wouldn’t have been that much fun if I finished second or third.   In general it was a lot of fun because it was the first time we got to sit down and actually see it together and talk about it, talk about what was on Blaney’s mind, what was in Busch’s mind, in my mind. Obviously everyone had a different mindset of what to do, what not to do.   Blaney, he said, Man, I should have covered the middle. I covered the bottom. That create two of you instead of one of you.   A lot of the ‘I should have, I should have done that, I should have done that.’ Yeah, at the same time probably I really wanted to be on the outside. Once I got in front of the 19 and I passed the 19, I said, Man, I’m in the perfect spot here. I realized the 2 was behind me. I was like, Dammit, he’s not going to help me.   It’s kind of tricky. Is not very easy to plan everything perfectly because things change very quickly.  Q. Where do you feel the team is at right now knowing there’s a lot of eyeballs with Helio and Shane? What is going to be key this season to get to the next step? DANIEL SUAREZ: We have to be realistic, right? Shane, he has a long way to go when it comes to ovals. We know that. He has a lot of things that he has to learn and to continue to get better at in ovals. He’s going to rely on Ross and myself a lot when it comes to that.   Helio, he’s just trying to learn as much as quickly as possible because this is his opportunity, right? This is his opportunity to have a good day, to have a strong race. I mean, if he finish somewhere close to the top 10, that would be like a win for him. That would be amazing for Project 91.   Ross and myself, we want to continue to grow from everything we built from last year. There were a lot of internal changes within Trackhouse. We are hoping that we see more consistent results throughout the year.   Q. (Question about future racing contracts.)  DANIEL SUAREZ: No, I mean, at the time when we made this deal, there were a lot of unknowns on performance mainly. There were a lot of things that I was not happy about. There were a lot of things, a lot of question marks.   I feel like right now we are a little bit in a different position. I feel like right now we have a little better direction. I feel good about it honestly. I’m not too concerned about it.   I mean, my main thing is to continue to perform. I have to continue to get better because I have said this in the past, I’m going to say it again: My goal is not to win one race a year. If this is what the goal is going to be, we’re in two different agendas.   I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page that, Okay, how can we bring Trackhouse to the next level? How can we bring Trackhouse to give a real fight to Penske, to Hendrick, to Joe Gibbs Racing, to the big teams that they are every single year up front? How can we do that?   I feel like 2022 we were right there. 2023 we did one step down. 2024, another step down. We need to change something. We went to work. Hopefully we can see something reflected in all the off-season work that we did for 2025.  Q. Trackhouse has a lot of drivers signed. Do you ever worry that your job is in jeopardy, your seat is on the line? DANIEL SUAREZ: No, because there is a lot of things. There is a lot of things involved. It’s not just the perform thing. There’s a lot of things that we have to do to be able to perform.   It not only depends on me. Yes, I’m a very important factor of it. But we have to continue to get better as group. I think Trackhouse does an amazing job with Project 91, getting this driver young, do all these different things.   At the end of the day I’m only worried about myself. I’m worried about how can I bring myself to have the best opportunity to win multiple races a year? That’s my main goal.   Really Trackhouse has been nothing but great to me. We’ve been working together very hard to be able to bring Trackhouse to the next level. That has been my goal.   I would say a year ago right now it was a little cloudy. We didn’t really know where we were going. In the off-season we really made a lot of progress to what I think heading into the direction that we believe is the best.   We see. We see how things play out. But yeah, I hope that we are heading in the right direction.  Q. Are drivers athletes? DANIEL SUAREZ: I don’t know. You tell me.   Q. I think you are. What is special about your training or skill or strength that separates you? DANIEL SUAREZ: The thing is that this is the part that is very difficult. Anyone here, anyone has play soccer. Anyone has play baseball. Anyone has played basketball. Anyone can go to the park and do it. It is very easy. In any park, anyone can play all these sports.   Racing is way more complicated. Racing, it requires a track. It requires tires, an engine, a car, all these things. It’s expensive. Unfortunately not a lot of people has the opportunity to actually experience what racing is.   But if you look at the heart rate monitors, if you look at the physical activity we’re having when we are driving these cars. The temperature? Right now, the day is nice, but in June, July, it’s a completely different game.   If you’re looking to all these things is when you actually realize all the wear and tear that we have inside the car.   But the problem is that not a lot of people knows or understand that because they don’t have an experience in racing. They do have an experience in soccer, baseball, basketball, everything else.  Yeah, in my opinion we’re high-performance athletes, especially because of the heat. The heat is something personally I train on the heat a lot to be 100% in the summer races.   So yeah, but I just wish every single person out there had an opportunity to drive a car and to feel what we feel so they understand and we don’t have to explain to everyone what it is.    Q. From a marketing perspective, what could the sport or NASCAR do to make the drivers look like superheroes but also recognize the stars on the rise compared to nostalgia-centric? DANIEL SUAREZ: That’s a great question, man. I don’t know if I have the perfect answer for that.  I think that every time that I think about a race car driver, I think about this person that works very hard and has this good leadership within his race team or her race team. This role model is this hero, right? It’s like this warrior that is ready to battle. That’s great. I enjoy that.   I wish we can show racing drivers that way, show the personality, but show them as heroes, as warriors out there ready to battle.   I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like we look more funny than the cool factor and the warrior factor. I don’t know. I think a lot has changed.   I don’t really know. I don’t think I have the right answer. I just wish it was more of a cool hero factor than just the funny factor.   Q. You aren’t afraid of speed. What are you afraid of? DANIEL SUAREZ: I don’t know, man. I don’t know. I don’t know what is the fear. I don’t know what is the fear, man. I don’t know, man. Honestly I’m trying to think. That’s a great question. Something I have fear of?   I don’t know. I don’t want to say that I’m fearless because that’s not. But I don’t know what I have fear of, honestly.   Like, I work very hard to be the best version of myself and try to bring my A game every single day on everything I do. On the racetrack, going fast is amazing, I love that.   You don’t think about wrecks. You don’t think about accidents. You don’t think about getting hurt. You don’t think about those things. Those things happen sometimes. You don’t think about it.   I can tell you something. The day that I feel like I start thinking too much about it, maybe is the day that I have to decide to do something else because maybe I’m going to start attracting those things.  But today, I don’t think about it. I just do what I love to do.   Q. When you look at superspeedways, Daytona, the numbers you’ve struggled, but Atlanta next week, really good.  DANIEL SUAREZ: I don’t know.  Q. What are the differences there? DANIEL SUAREZ: I don’t know. Daytona is tricky, man. Man, it’s just very tricky. I have made a lot of mistakes myself here in Daytona. I’m telling you, man, 80% of the time I’ve been caught in wrecks, I’m not doing anything wrong. It just happens. Last time we were here I wrecked being maybe in the top five, so… You are just caught in those situations.   Yes, there is a few things I can do different, I can do better, but that’s not the reason why I wrecked.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

How important is it to get off to a good start this year?“I think it’s huge. For the 3 team, we have struggled the last two years getting off to a start. We had to dig ourselves out of holes and it just put us behind and we’re always playing catch-up. We were able to have some good runs, but they don’t amount to the points gain when we have them. So, for me, it’s huge to get off to a good start and that’s something we’re putting more focus on. These first two races, you can be a hole pretty quick with the way everything lines up. Just trying to get out there and run all the laps and put ourselves in good positions to hopefully win because you have to look at every race as an opportunity.” Richard and other management on board, how has that been for you?“The attention to detail that I see from our group as a whole is more focused that the last couple years. He’s very meticulous, the way he talks about things is going to really benefit us in the 3 team. He leaves no stone unturned, which is really good. I feel like the last couple years some stuff has been thrown on my shoulders and it’s kind of nice that I feel like I got somebody I can lean on more. We’ve made some great changes in the off-season bringing in some really good racers from other organizations and also keeping the guys that we have had and propping them up and giving them opportunities. I think that’s key for our organization going forward is giving guys opportunities. We’re all focused on this year and getting off to a fast start. When you get in the meat and potatoes of the season we’ll see where we stack up.” Are you getting a sense of the focus of the organization and how that relates to on-track?“I think the biggest thing I’ve noticed is the attention to detail, the aggressiveness not to turn over every stone. Sometimes you look at things and is that really worth the squeeze? I think the group that we have right now is squeezing everything they can. So, that’s a confidence-builder for me and I’m really excited about what we’ve got going on.” How important is it when you didn’t have the season you wanted to get off to a good start?“We’ve had two seasons that we haven’t gotten off in the direction we want. We had to battle the whole season to have some highlights, and you can never recover from a points standpoint. We’ve got to start off the season clean, get some finishes under our belt and sometimes you have to be happy with a 20th-place finish to get to the next week with a clean car because you get so far behind if you have wrecks. We want no wrecks to start the season would be nice, some clean races and go from there.” Is it part of your DNA that when you’re in the moment you can pull the trigger?“I want to pride myself on being clutch or having clutch moments and the times you get those opportunities being able to deliver for people because you know there’s a lot of effort and time put into it. I never want to go home saying I wish I wouldn’t have done this. I did it one time in my career, I finished second, and I was kind of gentle about it and looking back 10-15 years from now no one cares if I was gentle or not. It was more of the fact that the guy who won name is on the trophy and mine is not. Do what you can when you get those opportunities, and I think you got to be aggressive when those opportunities arise.” What are the emotions and experiences been like coming back here since you were the Daytona 500 champion versus what they were before you won the race?“I was close in ’21; we were third and had a dominant car that weekend. I thought for sure that was our race to win and it just ended a little before the start-finish line. I also thought that when. Kyle Busch and I were first and second and we were coming to the white that no one was going to get around the two of us and it was going to be a good shot that Kyle wins that one. And the 99 spins and everything breaks loose after that. I’ve had opportunities and would love to capitalize on those.” Does it take the pressure off once you win this race or add pressure to win again?“I think it takes some pressure off. You look at Kyle who has had 20 opportunities and he’s won everything he can. I know this race is what he wants more than everything. I know that having that feather in the cap definitely helped and it gives you a little confidence. And when you make a move late in the race you don’t feel as bad about it if it burns you.” If you don’t win this race Sunday, would there be almost as much satisfaction from a team standpoint if you could push Kyle to the win?“For sure. There’s only two people – my brother and Kyle.” What do you think of Atlanta now?“It’s definitely sped up. It used to be a place where you really had to control your right foot and take care of your tires. I really enjoyed that portion and this one it’s just a totally different animal. It’s a beast and you have to put yourself in some similar positions you do at speedways but is starting to lose some grip which is nice. It hasn’t been a great place for us. It has it’s spurts but never from a finish standpoint.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

AJ Allmendinger, driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

The Indy 500 and the Daytona 500. What is the difference between the two of them?“Where do you start? When it comes to the Daytona 500, just that pack racing. You’re constantly side by side. The Indy 500, the year I ran it, the way the aero was you’d make big runs and stuff, but you’re not side by side constantly. So, I think that to me is the bigger difference of the way you race those races. To me, you still have to be pinpoint accurate in either car. The consequences are really high in both cars if you make a mistake. I think the stress to a certain degree of not having to be side by side at the Indy 500 constantly is a little bit easier. But you’re also running 50 mph quicker.” Is the atmosphere similar?“It is. To me, we all love motorsports but there are a handful of races that you can say to somebody that’s not a motorsports person they know exactly what it is. These two races you could argue the four biggest races in the world you can put up Monaco, you could put up Le Mans maybe. The energy of this race is you build up to it and as you walk out and they announce you, at least for me, is the same emotion.” Were you Helio’s teammate?“I was.” How do you think he’s going to do here?“Helio is all time, right? He’s a legend. I know it’s bene a long time ago, but it’s not like he hasn’t done this before in IROC cars. I think the biggest thing is he’ll have to get used to the draft in the sense of how these cars move around, the runs you get, just trying to get up to speed in that sense. But driving around the racetrack and all that he’s completely fine. But you’re not going to really know that until you get in the Duel and especially in the 500 when you get 40-41 cars together.” Are you annoyed he’s shown up and you’re going head-to-head for best hair?“I can just tell you mine is not colored, so I don’t know who has more product in it but mine’s got less coloring in it.” What’s something that you’ve seen the team doing to try to rebound and get back to race-winning form?“There were certain reasons last year the Cup program had to take a step back. I don’t say that in the sense that we didn’t care about it or didn’t try. Everybody was still working as hard as they could, but there weren’t as many resources being put into to. The biggest difficulty I thought was for Daniel because he didn’t have a constant teammate every weekend. We were switching guys in the car, so it really hurt Daniel and that’s what I was most disappointed in to not be in the car. I felt that every time I got in the car, he ran a lot better, and we were able to work well off each other. More resources being put into it, Mike Cook is our technical director. It’s the first time we’ve had the competition technical director not be a crew chief. Just adding resources and Ty being here, I think it’s his best opportunity. He brings a lot of experience. I think it allows us to work with RCR even closer, which as a group – not just on our end but on RCR’s end – we have to do that to go against the big teams. We’ll find out 10 races in if it helps, but it’s definitely the most effort and most prepared I’ve seen our Cup program be.” Was that part of the agreement you got to bring resources to be running full time in a Cup car?“I’ve said it from day one, whatever Matt and Chris want me to do that’s what I’m going to do. I made it clear last year I wanted to be in the Cup car full time, but they wanted me in the Xfinity side of it. I said if we’re doing this, we’re doing this real and Matt and Chris have done a lot. The effort’s there, the resources, everything. We still have a lot of work to do. The ultimate goal is you’re going out to win every race, but I think there are certain racetracks that running inside the top 20 is a good run for us. You just have to make more good races than bad. I have to be better to keep making us better. It’s a group effort but I take pride in the sense of like Phoenix in the Xfinity race last year. I was so disappointed in myself because I didn’t know what to do to make us better, so I’m always going to put it on me.” How important is it to get off to a good start?“I think it’s important, but here and Atlanta are somewhat out of your control. I’m still in the racecar making the decisions of being aggressive, not be aggressive, things like that. You can get through the first races inside the top 10, top five in points, win a race. But with that said, even if you do well it doesn’t mean your season is going to be great. If it goes bad and you get caught up in wrecks, it doesn’t mean the rest of your season is going to go bad or you’re going to run bad every race. It’s the nature of the way the season starts off with two superspeedway races in a row.”

It’s time to fire up the engines and kick off another exciting season of racing! The 2025 NASCAR season is here, and all eyes are on Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 16th. Cited as one of Nielsen’s top-10 “can’t miss” American sporting events along with the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and the Olympics, the Daytona 500 is an iconic and distinctly different race that brings together millions of fans from all over the globe.

The 2025 NASCAR schedule is set to explore both new and familiar territories, highlighted by the Cup Series’ return to Mexico City at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on June 15th, marking the first international points race since 1958. For the first time in over a decade, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is making its highly anticipated return to Rockingham Speedway, bringing back the thrill of high-speed competition to one of NASCAR’s most iconic tracks. Known for its rich history and unique one-mile oval racing surface, “The Rock” has long been a favorite among drivers and fans alike.

Among the exciting changes this year, the schedule introduces a five-race streaming-only package on Prime Video, while TNT Sports makes its return to NASCAR coverage. FOX Sports and NBC Sports will continue to carry the majority of NASCAR Cup Series races with 14 events each. The FOX Sports portion of the Cup Series schedule kicks off the season while the NBC Sports’ coverage of the Cup Series will encompass the final 14 events of the season, including the Playoffs and Championship race. Both networks will feature a mix of broadcast and cable events, with five Cup events airing on FOX and four on NBC annually. The remaining events will air on FS1 and USA Network, respectively. In addition, the CW will provide network coverage for the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

This season, the Cup Series will see its inaugural in-season tournament — a new five-race, 32-driver contest with $1 million up for grabs. The tournament begins on June 28th at Atlanta Motor Speedway and concludes on July 27th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Brickyard 400, with stops at the Chicago Street Course, Sonoma Raceway and Dover Motor Speedway. Drivers will compete head-to-head throughout the tournament, with the field narrowing from 32 to 16, then eight, four, and finally two drivers battling for the grand prize.

Below are the NASCAR Cup Series teams that Roush Yates Engines is powering this season: •    RFK Racing  •    Team Penske •    Wood Brothers •    Haas Factory Team •    Front Row Motorsports •    Rick Ware Racing Below are the NASCAR Xfinity Series teams that Roush Yates Engines is powering this season: •    Haas Factory Team •    RSS Racing •    AM Racing

Below is the full-time driver lineup for this season:

At Roush Yates Engines, we’ve spent the off-season maximizing power, performance, and reliability. The competition will be fierce, but we’re ready to take on the challenge and chase another Championship! The green flag is about to drop, and we want YOU to be part of the excitement. We invite you to tune in as the green flag drops at Daytona on Saturday, February 15th for the Xfinity Series’ United Rentals 300 and on Sunday, February 16th for the Cup Series’ Daytona 500.  Let’s make this season one to remember!

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

QUALIFYING ALL THE WAY THROUGH RACE DAY, IS THERE EXTRA PRESSURE GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE SEASON KNOWING THE PAST SUCCESS THAT RICK HENDRICK AND HIS CARS HAVE HAD HERE? “I feel like there is extra pressure for the 500 because it’s the Daytona 500. It’s not an internal thing, it’s not from Mr. H or Jeff Gordon or anybody. Obviously, they want to win the race as well, but it’s just the Daytona 500. The magnitude of this race creates pressure more than anything.” “Its just a huge event and everybody knows what the Daytona 500 is and the amount of people here is insane. Gosh, I can remember there have been Sunday mornings here when we turn into zoo animals and kind of get carted around to our appearances and there have been so many people that we have been late to all our appearances because we can’t physically get to and from places quickly enough just from the amount of people. So, its just a crazy event and its our Super Bowl. We have been close, and maybe we can make it happen this year.” WHAT WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE IN WINNING AND BEING OH SO CLOSE? “A button push. I mean for me honestly it doesn’t change much, but I have continued to improve my racing stuff on the superspeedways. I feel like we have done a better job lately, our race cars have gotten better, so looking forward to another 500.” HOW MUCH SLEEP DID YOU LOSE OVER A BUTTON PUSH? “Not a lot. It’s kind one of those things where you can’t do anything about it situations and yeah, it was what it was. Like unfortunately we didn’t win, but at least a teammate won. 1-2 in the 500 is really cool for Hendrick Motorsports and hopefully this year we can be on the other side of it.” DOES IT KEEP YOUR CONFIDENCE UP THAT EVERY YEAR YOU HAVE BEEN THERE AND YOUR CAR HAS HAD THE SPEED IN IT? “Yeah, for sure. I don’t know what we do or don’t have for qualifying tonight, but we have definitely had a lot of good race cars for sure. So just trying to capitalize on that.” GOING INTO THIS ONE, WHAT IS YOUR GOAL AS FAR AS IF WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS, WE CAN AVOID THE WRECKS AND BE IN POSITION? “Capitalizing on the things you can control and maintaining track position has certainly changed with the fuel saving stuff.  With the Next Gen car, you can’t really go from the back to the front like you used to be able to. Lot of things have changed in how the race plays out, but yeah, we will just have to wait and see how the race flows. I think it is important to get stage points obviously, because it’s highly likely you are going to crash in the final stage. So, if you have zero stage points and you crash, it’s pretty sad. So hopefully we can avoid that.” DO YOU THINK IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER TO QUALIFY NEAR THE FRONT GIVEN YOU SAID ITS HARDER TO GO FROM THE BACK TO THE FRONT? “I do. For whatever reason, like when the pace gets wicked up, the third lane dies and its too far around for the Cup cars now.  So, for the bottom two lanes, they move around a little bit, but you don’t have that when it gets fast the three wide stuff. So that kind of eliminates opportunity for the most part.  There is a lot of opportunity at other times like when you are out there saving fuel and stuff like that. Its just different than it used to be and having track position is certainly key.” REGARDING GREG IVES WORKING WITH JUNIOR MOTORSPORTS AND SEEING THAT CAR COMPETE “Yeah, its super cool. Obviously with Greg, he was a big part of my career and so was Dale (Earnhardt Jr.).  Excited for Justin (Allgaier), and I know it’s not his first 500, but seeing him back in a Cup car at the Daytona 500 and Dale and Kelly having a Cup car, its pretty cool. Greg is going to bring a lot to that program, a lot of knowledge, experience and a lot of front rows at the Daytona 500. So, we know that thing will go fast.” LOOKING BACK AT LAST YEAR WITH TRIPS TO VICTORY LANE AND THE UPSWING, HOW DO YOU LOOK AHEAD TO THIS YEAR? “Yeah, we just need to keep that going. I feel like we are in a good spot, and I have a good group around me. Looking forward to the challenge this year and seeing where we stack up really. It’s how you get going and its really hard to say because this sport ebbs and flows so much. You never know who is going to have what when a season starts, but I am looking forward to seeing where we are at and going from there.” HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET OFF TO A GOOD START IN THE FIRST THREE, FOUR, FIVE RACES? “It’s definitely important.  You know last year we were obviously good in the 500 and then we went to Atlanta, and I don’t think we made a whole lap and crashed on lap one. We will just have to wait and see how things go and obviously focus on the things we can control and kind of go from there.” A COUPLE OF DRIVERS SAID YOU WERE ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED DRIVERS. HOW DO YOU REACT TO THAT? “I certainly appreciate people saying that and I think for me, I have had a lot of success, but I have also had down years where things haven’t gone how I want them to, and the team wants them to. So, I think I have been on both sides of it for sure and we ended it at a good point last year obviously through a lot of B.S.  Hopefully we are on the good side of that. I don’t want to call myself underrated, I just want to go out and win races and I would rather prove it than say it. But, yeah, just got to go do that.” WHAT IMPROVEMENTS DO YOU THINK THE 48 TEAM MADE IN THE OFFSEASON TO MAKE A DEEPER RUN IN THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR? “You know, honestly, I think we were streaky.  To start the year we had streaks of really good runs and then we fell off early summer and then we won. But when the Playoffs hit, we were able to step up and find another level and execute at another level for the rest of the year.  The last couple probably don’t look like it because we had a couple of issues. We were really as good as anybody in the Playoffs.  We were in contention to win right after that penalty which would have put us into the final round if we would have made that happen. We are capable of running at that level and I think we showed that. We need to continue to step up and we need to continue to evolve. We need to continue to run like that all year instead of the last ten. I thought we were definitely in a good place.” HOW LONG TILL YOU THINK TILL PEOPLE ASK ABOUT YOUR FUTURE? “It has started two months ago. It never ended. When is it going to end? That is never going to end and that has been my entire career. Yeah, just got to go win some races.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Q. Can you tell me the difference between you, A.J. and Jimmie Johnson, the three guys in this race that have raced both the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500? What are the differences between the two? KYLE LARSON: The car. Yeah, I think the car. I don’t know. Both atmospheres are really good, for sure. I don’t know. They’re still, like, very different.   I don’t know. I don’t really know. Like, it’s hard to answer that because they’re both the peak of the sport. They just have their differences.   The infield at Indy has the snake pit, but the infield here has all the campers, and that’s really cool. Driver intros sort of similar. The crowd feels closer to you at Indy, at least the grandstand crowd.  The frontstretch at Indy is swarmed with people. But pit road is also similar to that here. But it’s more race fans.   I don’t know. I feel like maybe Indy just has like a little bit more of the kind of history feel to it than the 500, Daytona 500. Other than that, I mean, they’re both great. The atmospheres at both of them were great.  Q. You were the rookie at Indy last year. Helio is the rookie at the Daytona 500 this year. Doesn’t have a week of practice like you did. What are going to be the biggest challenges for him? KYLE LARSON: I really don’t think he’s going to find it that challenging just because Daytona is Daytona. It’s not hard to make a lap at Daytona. When you’re in the draft, you’re kind of just stuck in the draft. You’re not making moves, getting your way to the front.   It turns into a lot of strategy, which I think he’s very used to in INDYCAR stuff, saving fuel, trying to manage that side of your race.   I think the challenging part potentially is just probably the weaker brakes. You don’t slow down as good as you would in INDYCAR for like a green-flag pit cycle. Maximizing time for the green-flag ins-and-outs, that’s where it’s going to be probably a challenge.   Too, at Indy, it’s so narrow, y’all just follow each other. Here it’s like you’re trying to pass people, braking and stuff. That’s probably where he’ll get a little bit maybe overwhelmed at times. But he’ll get the hang of it. It’s not a big deal. He’ll be fine.  Q. What does the Daytona 500 mean to you?  KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, it’s cool. It’s a big, big race. Everybody in here wants to win the big one.   I think this is like the last of the big ones that I have left. I think that adds a little bit more to it. Yeah, I’m not sure. Just get your season started, too, so it’s a lot of fun.   Q. You’ve had one of the most successful winters that you’ve ever had. You’ve been one to race as much as you can. Do you feel it’s an advantage that helps you stay sharp coming into the start of the NASCAR season? KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I’ve done it both ways. Last couple years I haven’t done much dirt racing in the off-season. Well, yeah, a couple years ago I didn’t do any really besides Turkey Night I think. Then I’ve had years where I raced a lot, even more than I ran this time.   I don’t know. I think it keeps me sharp, for sure. It’s not a big deal no matter one way or the other. I just like to race. I kind of like to stay in the rhythm of racing.   Obviously I wish the off-season was still longer so I could squeeze in some other racing, but also more time not at the racetrack.   Yeah, it’s fun. I feel like I’m just trying to continue to better my abilities.   Q. With Volusia, is there a fun factor for you here, too? KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I’ve never gone to Volusia and qualified well. We’ve qualified decent, but you can’t win from the seventh or eighth row. It was more fun to qualify good, giving ourselves an opportunity to win.   It was a fun week there, the best we’ve ever had at Volusia. Hopefully it can carry over to this week.  Q. Does not having won at Daytona mean the same thing to you it does for other drivers? KYLE LARSON: I don’t know. I’m not really sure. I don’t know how it feels to them. I would imagine Tony Stewart or Kyle Busch is still racing, but I imagine Tony Stewart who doesn’t have it doesn’t loose sleep.  I think when you look at the style of racing, especially nowadays, how it’s difficult to win because you do have a lot of good fortune where there’s a lot out of your control. I think that helps you sleep at night if you don’t win.   So I don’t think it does anything to Tony’s legacy whether he’s won the Daytona 500 or not. He’s in every Hall of Fame that he’s deserving of being in. I don’t think it does anything to his career.  Obviously he would love to have it. That’s probably the same as me. Like, I’m not going to lose sleep if I don’t ever win this race, but I still want to win the race and have that ring and that trophy and be a part of the names that have won it.   But again, I think there’s a lot else, a lot more that goes into winning and a lot of luck. It’s not a big deal.   Q. Is it frustrating as a driver that there is so much that is out of your control? KYLE LARSON: No, I mean, because it just kind of is what it is. It’s going to be on the schedule every year. We all show up with the same opportunity to win, so…  No, I mean, it’s not frustrating. I think obviously all of us drivers would want to be able to make our own moves, get to the front, there not be a wreck with 25 cars in it.  But it’s just also the style of racing. Like I said, it kind of is what it is. We all understand that when we come to places like Daytona or Talladega.  Q. (No microphone.) KYLE LARSON: I don’t know. I mean, I think it’s easy to agree with that because I haven’t won. But then I think if you go talk to the guys who consistently run up front at these, they would probably have a different opinion.   I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of strategy that goes into these races now in the Next Gen era that I do enjoy, fuel savings, the green-flag pit stops, working together with your teammates and others, I enjoy that.   I do think, like I said, there’s a group of drivers that are always up front at the ends of these races, so… There is skill, for sure. Whether that’s the driver or it’s just the team or manufacturer as a whole, yeah, I don’t know.   Q. (No microphone.) KYLE LARSON: I mean, I think it’s definitely a response to that, for sure, to protect them. But I don’t really think you’re ever going to see it come into play in that same exact scenario.   I think it’s definitely going to come into play more when drivers get suspended for making a mistake – not a mistake, but intentionally wrecking somebody or something like that. That’s where you’re going to see the rule come into place.   I’m sure they thought about that, as well. Maybe that’s what they wanted to have, to keep drivers from doing, like right hooking somebody.   But yeah, I don’t think you’re going to see that scenario kind of come into play as what happened last year.  Q. (No microphone.) KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I guess. I don’t know. It’s whatever. Try not to run into any of those issues.   Q. (Question about qualifying importance.)  KYLE LARSON: I don’t know. I mean, I don’t necessarily think that it’s that important. It’s always important to qualify good. I’m not saying it’s not important. I think it’s way more important at a short track to qualify good or an intermediate to qualify good.   When you come here, sure, you qualify bad, you sacrifice some stage one points, but you save enough fuel, then you cycle your way to the front to start the next stage or whenever the case may be. You just kind of chip your way at it. You can get big chunks if you’re saving fuel and executing your green-flag stops. Yeah, you’re probably in position. I’ve seen the Toyota guys do it. They never qualify good. They’re always in contention in the second stage.   Yeah, I don’t think it’s that important.   Q. Is it good to get back into the seat of a Cup car? KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it is. It’s just good to be back into, like, the normal routine or what I feel like is the normal routine of the racing season, getting to your scheduled Monday meetings, Thursday meetings, I know I’m flying out on this day, stuff like that. Being around my teammates, that’s all the stuff that you miss in the off-season. Even though I’m racing, I still just miss the routine of all that.   Yeah, glad to be back going again with all that. Yeah, just look forward to hopefully another successful season.  Q. (Question about Atlanta.) KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it’s definitely its own unique style. Different even than Daytona or Talladega. It’s just really, like, high intensity. It’s like a hybrid in a way of Daytona and Talladega, as well as maybe an intermediate style track.   Yeah, it’s intense, for sure. It’s unique. Your heart rate gets up.  Q. What makes it intense? KYLE LARSON: I mean, you’re drafting, you’re on top of each other. You feel like you’re on edge. The lap happens really quick. There’s some bumps. It’s really edgy.   Yeah, I think that’s what makes it feel intense.  Q. This is the first time since ’96 there hasn’t been a major NASCAR event in southern California. How important is it to be in California? How do you get back? KYLE LARSON: Yes, I do think it’s very important that we get out to that region. I think there’s some of the best race fans, very passionate race fans, in southern California and on the west coast in general.  As far as how you get back? I don’t know. Irwindale just shut down. We don’t go to the Coliseum anymore. They say Fontana is still going to convert. I don’t believe that. I don’t know.   I would love it. I don’t even know what tracks are out there. I would love for us to get back out to southern California.  Q. (No microphone.) KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, I wish we could race in every state, but we can’t, so…   Yeah, I mean, times change. I don’t know. I don’t run the schedule. I don’t run the sport, so… It’s not like NASCAR has forgotten about southern California. I’m sure they’re trying to figure out ways to get back there.   Yeah, I think hopefully in the future we can get back to southern California.  Q. (Question about the Clash.) KYLE LARSON: Where I set on that? Well, I love that it has moved around. I love that we’re not here racing the Clash. I love that we’ve built a track at the Coliseum. That was awesome, in a market that didn’t know what NASCAR might have been. I also loved going to Bowman Gray and getting back to the roots of our sport.   Yeah, I mean, I think you could say the L.A. sort of idea and move around to different markets and stuff, or I feel like it would be cool if you can revive some other grassroots style tracks that are close to the roots of NASCAR.   I think they’ve done a really great job with the Clash over the last four years or so.  Q. Denny Hamlin was talking about irrational confidence. I talked to him about Chris Gabehart not being his crew chief anymore. He said all drivers have irrational confidence, thinking that you can move and making it, if you didn’t have that, you wouldn’t be able to do that. Do you understand what he’s saying? We think of you guys as having a ton of confidence all the time.  KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I don’t know.   Q. Have you always been the kind that little things like a change in a crew chief, losing something on track, does it not affect your confidence? I mean, you’re Kyle Larson.  KYLE LARSON: Yeah, your confidence is always affected whether good results, bad results, changes in teams or personnel. Just uncertainty on that kind of thing.   Chris Gabehart is a phenomenal leader. When you lose a guy like that… I view it as like if Cliff was tomorrow to leave his role, for sure I would be devastated and very worried about my future. But you kind of have to get back after it and also use it as motivation probably.   I think, yeah, Denny is going to have a great year still. JGR has awesome stuff. Yeah, maybe Gabehart in his new role will be able to touch on the team organization as a group and make it overall better than it already was.   Yeah, change is change. There’s always uncertainty until you get racing.  Q. Is it more than the decisions on the track with a talented crew chief? You learn to lean on him, you’re so used to him, it makes you confident because you don’t have to try to figure out things, and that’s the hard part?  KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what Denny thinks. Like I said, I can only try to put myself in his shoes.   I feel like Gabehart and Cliff are very similar people, very similar leaders, very similar crew chiefs, especially like how Gabehart leads Denny or led Denny and how Cliff leads me.   Yeah, if I was to lose that, it would be super awkward at first. I’m sure it was just out of nowhere probably to him, as well.   Yeah, but he’s still got a great team. He was super fast at the Clash. He’s going to be just fine. Q. What about your confidence on superspeedways? Seems like you’re in the mix more frequently.  KYLE LARSON: Yeah, no, I do feel pretty confident when we come to these races. I feel like we have a great feel for the race and kind of how it works out, the strategy. I do feel like we’re up front quite often at the end of them.   We’ve not made it through some of the wrecks or I’ve made a bad move and got shuffled back real late, stuff like that. Talladega we missed a wreck finally, finished third or fourth.   I feel like we have a good understanding of these races. Just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing and hopefully things will work out.  Q. What do you think makes Denny so great here?  KYLE LARSON: He’s just a very calculated racer. I feel like it takes less of that now with the style of racing. I think his ability doesn’t shine maybe quite as much as it used to.   Yeah, he’s just a super smart racer. He stays calm. I feel like it’s not hard for him to stay focused.  Q. Was Jeff Gordon kind of a pioneer, his dirt track background? Are you aware? KYLE LARSON: Oh, yeah.  Q. What has been his impact? KYLE LARSON: Well, as far as like yeah, he’s being a pioneer. He was the first real dirt racer I feel like, young too, to make it to NASCAR. Yeah, he definitely paved the way for guys like myself. Especially coming from northern California, my career path really modeled his. Moving from northern California to Indiana, doing USAC stuff, coming to Charlotte. He kind of showed you the way to do it. A lot of people still try to do it that way.   Yeah, very thankful for that even from a long time ago. Now that he’s my boss, it’s really cool.   Q. What kind of respect do you have for Helio Castroneves? KYLE LARSON: Tons of respect for Helio. He’s won the Indy 500 four times. That’s pretty amazing to put yourself in contention to win four. He’s probably been close to winning a lot of others.   Yeah, he’s just a huge personality. He’s a really big name. So to have him here racing the Daytona 500 in a totally different car and series, it’s pretty awesome.   I hope he does well. I know he will do well. I don’t think it’s going to be too challenging for him. It’s not a big deal racing around here. The strategy is very similar to Indy 500. He’ll be just fine.   Q. Running so much in marquee dirt races as you do, what is the approach like for the Daytona 500 compared to these other races that you’ve won? KYLE LARSON: I don’t know. I mean, those are all shorter races, so… That’s a lot different.  I don’t know. Your mindset is similar probably in all of them. I feel like as I’ve gained more experience in racing in a lot of races, winning other big races. Your nerves aren’t they very high anymore. You’re pretty focused throughout the whole time.   Yeah, I think age and experience helps more than anything.  Q. (Question about bonus points.) KYLE LARSON: I don’t even know what you’re talking about.   Q. (No microphone.) KYLE LARSON: I have no clue. We get extra points now for fastest lap?   Q. Yes.  KYLE LARSON: Sorry, I had no idea. I literally had no idea. I don’t care. Whatever.   Q. (No microphone.) KYLE LARSON: How it’s going to affect it? I don’t know. I think it’s going to be — I’m not really sure. I’m not like a road racer, so I don’t know how it’s going to affect it.  I think you definitely lose one passing zone. I’m not sure if you gain any with this new section. I haven’t seen it, at least at ground level I haven’t seen it. Then you’re probably losing a heavy braking zone into whatever that is, 12.   But you get to go through turn one more often, stuff like that. So I think you do gain some. But I don’t know. I think it’s better for the crowd. They get to see us more. That’s important.   Q. Season opener at Las Vegas, are you looking forward to increasing the level of Cup drivers that might be interested in joining you? KYLE LARSON: I haven’t heard of any Cup guys running. Regardless, I think ticket sales sound like they’re really good. I think there’s going to be a big field of cars, too, which I’m pumped about because I wasn’t sure how that would be. I think a lot of California teams, west coast teams are coming, even teams from the Midwest.   Should be really good. Hopefully the track prep is right and we can put on some good racing for dirt fans and hopefully some NASCAR fans coming over, as well.   Q. Christopher Bell…  KYLE LARSON: Yeah, he’ll be fast. If he is in the 69K, he will be really fast. He should win a lot of races in that thing. That car is really fast.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Q. Are race car drivers athletes?  SHANE van GISBERGEN: I guess so. I don’t really know how to answer that.   Q. Aren’t you strong and built like an ox? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, but not compared to others.   Q. What do you have to work on specifically to be good at racing? SHANE van GISBERGEN: It’s probably like mental strength, I guess, focusing on something for a long period of time, consistency. We are in the car for a long period of time, but you don’t have to be particularly fit to do it or strong.   Yeah, again, I don’t…   Q. What about the endurance part? SHANE van GISBERGEN: It’s more mental. Some tracks are physical, but most aren’t. It’s normally just the heat, yeah.   Q. How fast do you drive on an interstate? SHANE van GISBERGEN: The speed limit.   Q. I feel like you guys aren’t telling the truth when you answer that way.  SHANE van GISBERGEN: Speed limit, yeah (laughter).   Q. Helio said you have been working with him. Do you feel comfortable he’s going to understand this style of racing? SHANE van GISBERGEN: I guess he’ll be good. He gets that practice in the Duels and he doesn’t have the pressure. He still wants to qualify in probably. He’s got that fallback plan I guess.  The hardest thing we talked about is the pit lane limiter. In other series we a press button, hold our foot flat, the speed works it out. Here you really have to concentrate on your braking on pit road, then you got to find the speed. It’s so hard to hold the speed. Then you’re looking for your pit box. That’s probably the most difficult part.   Yeah, I’m sure in the racing stuff he’ll be fine. It’s just all the procedures here are very, very different.  Q. You ran a lot of seasons in Supercars. What is it like preparing for a NASCAR Cup Series season full-time? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, it’s pretty similar, I guess. The pre-season buildup is kind of the same. Yeah, now that we’re going be racing every week, I’ve never done 36 weeks in the same series. I’ve done it in other series.   Yeah, it’s going to be full on, yeah.  Q. Compared to your rookie year in Supercars, how does your rookie year in Cup feel emotionally-wise? SHANE van GISBERGEN: That was a long time ago, man. It was 2007 that I did that. I don’t really know.  Yeah, I feel like a rookie. I feel like everything is new. I feel like I have a lot to learn and improve on and prove myself there. Probably similar to what I thought back then, yeah.  Q. Is it pretty cool to think about you’re going to be in the Daytona 500? Is that still a special thing for you? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, for sure. I found it difficult to answer that question today. The race is obviously still massive, but it’s not massive where I’m from. I guess it’s like the Bathurst, Le Mans 24. Watching the pre-race stuff last year, being here to spectate the race was awesome. You see the scale of it.   Yeah, I try mentally to treat it like another race, prepare like I would every other race. Try not to get too hyped and focus on doing my thing Sunday.  Q. The difference between the Supercars schedule and NASCAR schedule, how has it been adjusting to Speedweeks, six or seven days? SHANE van GISBERGEN: That’s what we do every week in Supercars. Wouldn’t be as big as this, the media, but so much more to do. It would be spread out. You’d end up pissed off at the world.  NASCAR, you turn up, a little bit of media, go racing. It’s all about the racing stuff. I personally enjoy that much more.   I guess you kind of have to, racing every week. You’re only there for two or three days. All about the racing, yeah.   Q. In a recent interview you compared speedway racing almost as being out like a lamb for slaughter. How do you prepare for something like this? SHANE van GISBERGEN: That was in reference I think the first Talladega I did. I was running good, then four or five laps to go got shuffled to the back. I was coming 30th or whatever. It doesn’t matter. Came around the last corner, and I was at the back with Kyle Busch. There was a crash out of four. Saw it happening. Backed down. He just stayed flat out, just drove into the crash carelessly. I’m like, What are you doing?   But they treat the cars here like they’re disposable. There’s another one back at the shop. Every point matters. I kind of slowed down, second, third gear, wabbled through the shunt, then came across the line. He’s still crashing and spinning. The car is completely destroyed. My thing is brand-new, ready to race next week. He gained three or four spots. Just the mentality for these races is so, so different to anything there is.   Yeah, I guess I just have to pull my belts tighter and get amongst it.  Q. Have you had enough time doing the full season in Xfinity to decide you like superspeedways or short tracks or road courses? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Again, it comes back to like this week. I don’t try and get caught up in the races that are good and bad. You don’t want to be, Oh, I’m excited for Daytona. Oh, we’re going to Dover. Something like that.   I try to be excited for every race, try and approach them with all the same amount of prep and focus.  Q. Do you feel like you’re used to this type of racing yet? SHANE van GISBERGEN: No, no.   Q. Do you think you ever will be used to it? SHANE van GISBERGEN: I certainly enjoyed it more. I used to watch it on TV. Did my first one, This is a bit boring. Just flat out the whole way. When you’re in the race, there’s so much going on.   Xfinity was pretty flat out and strung out. In this you’re jockeying for position, fuel saving, trying to place yourself in the right spots. There’s so much more to it. It’s fascinating as a driver learning these different skills, placing yourself right for the green-flag starts. Pretty cool learning.   I certainly feel like I can be in it now. I remember my first Talladega, I’d get in the battles, then people would put me four-wide on purpose just to single me out and send me to the back because they didn’t want me in there. I guess I was driving like an idiot. Now I feel like I can flow with the guys, have the right momentum, judge the runs a bit better.   The last Talladega I was pushed to the lead and held the lead for a while. Definitely feel like I’m part of it now. Happy that I don’t have yellow stripes on my car. I feel like I’m better at it now.  Q. You’ve been at this racetrack before. How are the emotions different coming here knowing this is the first of 36 as a full-time Cup driver? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, again, I don’t have that excitement. I just try and stay calm throughout the week and save it for the race.   Again, I remember first time at Rolex coming through the tunnel. The second time I come through I tried to get air off the top of it. It was pretty fun (laughter). That was Cooper MacNeil. A bad influence.  Yeah, it’s always cool flying into this track, coming and seeing how massive it is. Yeah, just staying calm, ready for Sunday.  Q. You talked in the past about learning the car, how it’s so much different. How does that compare with trying to understand the draft? Helio will try to do this without experience. Is this drafting harder?  SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, like driving out just then, the car is on the stops basically to try and get speed for a single car, it’s like driving a go-kart.   I was also driving one-handed easy flat. I hadn’t seen the track for a while. Grandma could jump in and do it, it feels like it’s so easy. We are doing 49s or 50s then. Then we get in the draft later on, we’ll be doing 47s.   Especially when you’re at the back and in the middle, hate being in the middle, there’s no air lift, the car feels like it’s out of the track, you’re basically drifting on corner entries. You got 35 other maniacs flat out as well pushing you around. It’s a rush. I think my heart rate barely got up on the single cars. I’m like at 150 in the pack. It’s a rush.   Q. Anybody else in the Supercars world you would like to see come out and try this race? SHANE van GISBERGEN: There’s a few of them. Cam Waters wants to do some more this year. He was pretty decent in the tracks. Will Brown. Brodie Kostecki. There are a few guys.  The Xfinity race I’m trying to get one of them to drive in the (indiscernible) car. It would be awesome. I’d love for more guys to come over afterward try it. There’s some good, talented drivers there. Love to see them come out here.  Q. Anybody from this side of the world in NASCAR you’d like to see try Supercars? SHANE van GISBERGEN: I would have loved to see how Kyle Busch went last year in the Supercar. It would have been very difficult, but I’m sure if he took it seriously, he would have done really well. Hopefully that happens this year. There’s talks actually Kyle Larson might go and do it.  Love to help them if they have any questions. I’d be really interested to see how they went.  Q. How important is it to get off to a good start this year? SHANE van GISBERGEN: It would be amazing. If you can just get ahead of the points, settle in. I always love to start championships being an accumulator sort of. That was my sort of strategy. Even in the weeks where you can’t be up front, get the best results you can, minimize mistakes.   If we start well, get in a good rhythm, everyone stays positive, that really gets you off to a good start for the year.   Q. Any difference in preparation for this year knowing you have every weekend? Different than a part-time stint? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, last year I’d never done it before. This year I wanted to have a routine, know what I’m doing every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, prep for the week, have my Thursday off as a day to do my own stuff outside of racing.   Yeah, it’s been pretty full on, especially with a whole new team. The 88 guys at Trackhouse, just learning them. Yeah, just trying to get in a routine, every week try and be refreshed for it.  Q. Ross said you guys kind of bounce things off each other in terms of learning. How has that worked for you? Do you feel like the communication has gotten stronger? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, for sure. I think that dynamic in Trackhouse has changed a little bit, which for me is good. Everyone works a lot closer together. The crew chiefs. It’s got to be a good thing.   But yeah, at the sim, all our driving notes are open now. Yeah, I obviously learn and lean on those guys as much as I can. Daniel and Ross are very, very different in the way they go about it, the way they think and describe things. Of course, I’ll be different again.   It’s paying back at the moment because I help them for road course stuff. Yeah, it’s a pretty cool dynamic at the moment. I’m enjoying that.  Q. With four drivers from four different countries for this race, the same team, does it add some importance in terms of having maybe some more worldwide attention on this race? SHANE van GISBERGEN: It’s just amazing what Justin and Trackhouse have achieved. Have such a diverse lineup at a race like this, it’s epic. Four different nationalities, we’re probably going to be talking about loose, tight, oversteer and understeer in different languages but probably meaning the same thing.  It’s been really cool having all four cars lined up at the shop on Monday. The workers, the mechanics, they all signed the cars. It’s a really cool moment.  Q. Are you a guys that sets goals for what you want to achieve, a successful season if we do X, Y and Z? SHANE van GISBERGEN: No, no, never. You always have ambitions. But I never really set goals and targets. I just try to prepare, do my best every week. As long as I keep moving forward, I’ll be happy.  Q. You raced the short course at COTA.  SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, but we’re doing a different one now. The one we did at Supercars was terrible. Had a really big bump in it. These cars wouldn’t be able to handle it. Would have been worse. What we had at the Roval last year, got taken out the last chicane. They’ve used another layout, so it should be better.  Q. (No microphone.) SHANE van GISBERGEN: It’s more passing zones. You only lose that back hairpin. Gain another passing zone out of it. I think it will be better for racing.  Q. If you can’t win, who is your pick for the 500? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Ross or Daniel or Helio. Trackhouse guys (smiling).   Q. You go 200 miles an hour. You’re not afraid of speed. Is there anything you are afraid of? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Snakes and spiders. Don’t really have them here, which is good. Australia wasn’t fun (smiling).   Q. If you could have a celebrity spotter for a race, who would it be and why? SHANE van GISBERGEN: I would not want a celebrity on my radio.   Q. How about the Daytona 500? Event when you think about making decisions in the Daytona 500, you’re an analytical guy, raced a lot, how do you balance being analytical versus committed and knowing that you have it without overthinking?  SHANE van GISBERGEN: I don’t know. I guess that’s what I’ve done all my life.   Q. Overthink? SHANE van GISBERGEN: No. It’s all in preparation, right? You got to have that clear mind when you’re racing, things become instinct. Obviously there’s a lot of teamwork, too, with the spotter. Spotter is going to be guiding me.   Spotters are probably the most important thing of the superspeedway racing. I just kind of trust his guidance or my crew chief will be telling me when we don’t need to save fuel, so…   Yeah, it’s very different this kind of racing.  Q. When you make the move, you have to be in your head 100% committed.  SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, but then you have to make sure you have friends in this kind of racing, make sure you got the right kind of cars behind you. I never really had to do that before. You have to make sure it’s a teammate or a Chevy. If you go three-wide, a Toyota is not going to push you.  Q. You’ve had to worry about that? SHANE van GISBERGEN: No, no. You just race in every other series in the world. It’s very, very different how it works here.  Q. How do you know who is in Chevys and who is not? SHANE van GISBERGEN: I’m still figuring that out, yeah (laughter). I don’t know who’s who yet.   Q. Are you old enough to remember the actual Thunderdome in Australia? SHANE van GISBERGEN: No.   Q. Did you ever watch any videos of that? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, yeah, I watched videos there. The old HQs they used to race.  I’ve driven at that track, the circuit next door. I also competed in drifting on the oval. It was pretty cool. But never saw the cars racing there.  Q. What is drifting on an oval like? SHANE van GISBERGEN: We kind of started on the tri-oval and ended up in the pit lane sort of area. Used the small oval.  Q. (Question about ice drifting.)  SHANE van GISBERGEN: I’ve always wanted to do that. My father-in-law, he was on snow drifting this week. Yeah, I was pretty jealous the pictures he was sending.  Q. Would it be hard? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, it would be difficult, but it would be so much fun.  Q. You would have an advantage.  SHANE van GISBERGEN: I hope so.   Q. You’re a pretty tall guy. What kind of adjustments do they have to make inside the car for you? SHANE van GISBERGEN: This is like one of the roomiest cars I’ve ever driven. I could get enough leg room. There’s a lot of head height in these cars. Actually, yeah, feel pretty good in these.  Q. More so than other cars? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, yeah. A single seater is obviously tight. The newest edition Supercar was terrible. It was really small. All the big guys struggled.   Yeah, this car is really comfortable for almost everyone.  Q. Do you like it like that? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, yeah. I could set this car up how I wanted. You can personalize it so much, so… It was really cool.   Q. If you need a relief driver, probably going to need some extra pillows.  SHANE van GISBERGEN: Need a baby seat for them, yeah (laughter).   Q. Is there any one track that’s going to provide a challenge that maybe you didn’t get a good enough taste on in the Xfinity ranks? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Probably Bristol will be tough, yeah.   Q. Why is that? SHANE van GISBERGEN: It’s just such an intense track. We only went there once. That’s pretty early on this calendar. It’s going to be difficult.   Q. What do you think about the changes to COTA? Is that going to change how you approach that track? SHANE van GISBERGEN: No. But I reckon it’s a good adjustment, shorter track, more laps, more times past the fans. We don’t lose any passing spots. I think it’s going to make good racing, the new corner.  Q. What about braking zones? Will it remove some you depend on? SHANE van GISBERGEN: Only one real braking zone, then it really shortens the other one off the back straight. I think there’s still going to be passing zones, yeah.  Q. They’re still going to have to catch you.  SHANE van GISBERGEN: Yeah, that would be nice.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Last year, the front-row for the DAYTONA 500 was swept by Ford. Was there a concern with the speed of the Chevrolet’s this year, or how did you feel after practice? “No concern, at least from my perspective. I’m not worried about it.. whether we qualify on the pole or not. The practice thing is really hard to know, just because – like I can look at the timing sheet, but I’m not sitting there watching who’s drafting and who’s not. I can’t keep up with all of that at one time. I don’t know.. I think until you get into qualifying tonight and everyone is on a level playing field with the cars being cold, going out for the first time and all that, you really just don’t know. I think it’s a hard thing to guess.” No Mic.. “It’s so frustrating sometimes because like we’re sitting down there in line, you know, and some people were trying to get a nice gap and then there were other people trying to fill the gap and are rushing. So there’s always that element to making single-car runs. Just getting impatient sitting down there and wanting to go. I understand that, but that’s the most confusing element. Outside of that, I think it’s pretty standard ops, really.” President Trump was at the Super Bowl last weekend. You were there and saw it. There’s rumors he’s going to be here on Sunday. How would you feel about having him in attendance? “Yeah, I wasn’t sitting next to him, but I saw that he was there at the game the other day. Yeah, I think having a sitting President come and be a part of one of our biggest days of the year – certainly what I would call our biggest event of the year, I think is special. It certainly brings a lot of eyes and a different perspective to what we do down here for this race. I always thought it was really cool — I remember, a long time ago now, the sitting president used to call the winner. I don’t know if you all remember that or not, but there was some stories of that happening. I’ve never won, so I don’t know if that still happens or not. But I just think that — it just goes to show you that it’s a big deal, right? I don’t care who the President is at that point.. that’s just a cool thing. I had heard stories of that happening and I hope that still goes on..” So you’d like to get a call from President Trump on Sunday?“That sounds like we would have won the race at that point, so that sounds like a good thing.” If you could redo a race from 2024, which race would that be? “Hmm.. that’s tough. There’s a lot of races that I would redo. You know, probably Indy, I would say sticks out to me the most. We had our violation there early in the race, which I kind of thought was our death sentence that day. And then the next thing you know, the way the race cycled out, we ended up being — we were actually the first car on the winning strategy at the end of that race. I just didn’t get through traffic very well. Kyle (Larson) and Tyler (Reddick) knifed their way up through there and both had a shot to win the race. I just felt like that was on me. I didn’t do a good job. We had a great car that weekend, and I needed to take better advantage of a good opportunity.” Christopher Bell said earlier today that he felt like the practice session this morning was unnecessary. Where do you stand on practice before qualifying here? “Yeah, I think that’s a fair statement for someone like him, or someone like me, who’s been here and who’s done it. But I look at it like this — from a weekly standpoint.. do we need practice at length, like we had in years past? Absolutely not. But for a race like this — we’re down here all week anyway. We have Media Day today. We qualify tonight. It’s not a big deal. It’s an hour practice and gives guys who have maybe not driven a Cup car before, rookies, people coming in to make at least a lap or two.. I don’t think that’s hurting anything. It’s not like we’re here extra early to do that.. days in advance or anything. I agree with him.. not necessary for people that have been here for a little while. But I could certainly see the argument for guys who haven’t, you know, so I get that. I don’t want it to be taken the wrong way, like it needs to be that way all the time, but just to be clear.” What does the DAYTONA 500 mean to you? “It means a great opportunity to submit your name into the history books of the sport, is kind of how I look at it. This race has always been, in my view, been kind of it’s own event. I understand it’s part of the season, the winner gets locked-in or kind of locked-in.. however you all want to say it. They’re locked-in when they leave here, right? And then it gets close to the playoffs and we’re promoting how many winners we have, right? It’s always important to remember that a win does not lock you in, if you get more winners than you have spots. I kind of don’t like that narrative, but I do think that — it’s just it’s own thing. It’s an opportunity to put your name on that big trophy over there; to finish your career and say you’ve won the DAYTONA 500. That’s what it is. It’s an opportunity to do that, which is a really big deal.”  It’s been 10 years since your first DAYTONA 500 start… (inaudible). “Yeah, it’s just honestly crazy that it’s been that long, to be honest. It’s just gone by so fast. Every year has felt so different to me. I think people look at careers and they think of just this one big storybook, with every year being a different chapter. And to me, it’s almost like every year is its own book. That’s how different the seasons feel to me. Just so much changes.. I mean, I was 20 or 21 years old my first year, and now I’m almost 30 and just like — for everyone standing here that is almost 30 years old or older than 30, how much did your life change from 20 to 30? How much different did you look at things from 20 to 30? That’s just a huge chunk of your life that just makes things feel different, you know? Every year has its own story and it’s own feel. I’ve enjoyed that ride. Some of its been really good.. some of it’s not been so good. But there’s a lot of experiences in all of that that I think can help shape you and mold you to be better, and the only thing you can control is today moving forward.” Was this off-season any different than past off-seasons. If that’s how seasons feel, did this one feel any different? “The off-season in particular? Not really. You know, I enjoy being around home; spending the holidays with family and all that sort of thing. And that’s pretty standard, I would say. But certainly from a competition standpoint and just kind of how we finished last year, the things we were focused on going into this year — the way I was looking at things at the end of last year versus how I was looking at things the year before are different. You hope that that they’re better, or I hope that it’s better. But from that standpoint, absolutely. From the off-season side of things, not really.” Good things on the horizon for your foundation this year? “We’re still working through that, but it will likely be more of a program that we’ve done with the ‘DESI9N TO DRIVE’. And we’re looking at kind of adjusting and changing things a little bit moving forward. I think this year will probably stay the same, and maybe after this year, we’ll kind of look at trying to find some other unique way to do something cool.” As you start getting older, do you start thinking about the future and what you’re going to do post-driving career? “I really haven’t. I don’t know what I would want to do. It’s a hard thing to — It’s kind of one of those things, I feel like.. I’ve watched other guys go through that. I’ve watched other guys leave and come back. I’ve kind of seen it all, I guess, depending upon who it is. But I think those feelings, those emotions, that timing or whatever’s next — you have to kind of assess those things when that time comes. As I said a second ago, so much can change. You could look at things a little differently. Your interest might be a little different or something. When those moments come, you’ll address them. You’ll assess it, address it and make those decisions and you’ll know that’s the right time to make those decisions I think. I think it’s just kind of a feeling thing, from what I’ve gathered. I don’t know.. I don’t want to go anywhere yet, so I hope I can stick around for a few more years.”  On Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports attempting to make the DAYTONA 500 as a former JRM driver: “I know it’s a big deal to him, and I hope that they’re successful and are able to get into the show and all that. I think to have a guy like him involved in any capacity I think is a good thing. He’s just passionate about it. He’s been very vocal about how much it means to him and to field a Cup car, especially here at the DAYTONA 500. I just think it’s healthy and it’s good. I’m glad that the system isn’t so complicated or has gotten so outrageously expensive that that couldn’t happen because it almost kind of felt that way, you know, there for a little while that he was kind of scared to get in a little bit was the vibe I got.. or kind of scared to make that commitment. So I’m just glad that it makes sense, you know, and he can come in and field a car and have fun with it and live a dream that he’s had.” From a team perspective, how much confidence did the Clash win give you?“Yeah, it was great. And really not just that, but the end of last year was really encouraging for us. I thought we ended on a really good note. We were just a little late to the party, you know, I think really and truly. We started to run better and lead some laps there at the end of the year, and we had a great shot there to win a couple of races in the last month. I thought all of that was really encouraging. To be able to build on those things; to come out and perform the way we did on Saturday. Yes, the race went well, but all of that start over the off-season, and the things we were focused on, talking about and thinking about and trying to make sure we executed properly. And then to go do that, I thought that was a nice boost for us. I don’t think it’s one of those things where it will make your year or even break your year if it didn’t go well, but certainly nice to know that the things we’ve been zoned in on and pushing were also reality at Bowman Gray, too.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Anthony Alfredo, driver of the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE, BUT WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS IN COMING BACK HERE AGAIN BECAUSE THESE OPPORTUNITIES CAN BE SO FLEETING? “Obviously just being here at Daytona and having a shot to run in the Great American Race is a blessing. I have been talking to a few people today about how many people would do anything to have an opportunity to be here and just say that they attempted it, let alone race. I have been blessed enough to run the race twice now and hope that third time is a charm. But its going to be pretty intense tonight and tomorrow, either way, but I look forward to it because its going to be that much more rewarding qualifying into the race just knowing the field of open cars that are here this time around.” DO YOU VIEW THESE OPPORTUNITIES AS SORT OF A PROVE IT SITUATION TO SEE YOURSELF IN THE CUP SERIES? “One hundred percent. Making this race isn’t just about being in it, to me it’s about winning it because that could be career defining.  And I am a young driver trying to make my way and I have been very fortunate to make it this far, but my ultimate goal would be to be the Cup Series champion one day. Maximizing the most out of these limited starts and a partial schedule is really important for that.  So, I am just really thankful to have these opportunities because of Beard Motorsports, our partners Fortified Building Solutions. Quite honestly, it has gone really well. The cars are really fast and we had a sixth place finish last year, and we are the fastest open car qualifying here for the Daytona 500. So, there are just a lot of great things to build on from last season and that momentum should help us execute at a higher level this year.” HOW MUCH DOES THE SPEED FROM LAST YEAR EASE THE MIND FOR TONIGHT? “That is a great question and honestly, I feel very confident because of it and I think we are even better than we were last year, but so does everybody else and there are a few more open cars than there were last year. More competitive ones at that. It’s going to be tougher and its going to be really tight. So, we will just do all we can as far as putting the speed in the car and its going to be up to me behind the wheel.  After that, it’s superspeedway qualifying and once you are up to speed you just have to hang on and hope the thing runs.  We have got a good power plant from ECR Engines and everyone at Beard Motorsports has done a great job in preparing the car. This is the same car we brought here last year. It didn’t run any of the other three races that we did, so this is our Daytona 500 piece, and our pride and joy. So, I hope it pays off.” IT’S AN EVEN BUSIER WEEK FOR YOU BECAUSE IN ADDITION TO ALL THE DAYTONA 500 OBLIGATIONS, YOU DO HAVE A FULL TIME XFINITY SEAT WITH TYLER YOUNG AND HIS FAMILY. DOES THE EXTRA TRACK TIME IN THE XFINITY CAR KEEP YOU SHARP? “I am really excited about it and Tyler Young is an awesome guy and everyone on his team takes a lot of pride in what they do. I think the small teams deserve respect, especially for how long he has been in the sport, whether the Truck Series and now the Xfinity Series. They have a vision that I want to help realize and that is to be in victory lane this season with that 42 car.  My goal is to win the season opener at Daytona and make the Playoffs. Maybe another regular season win would be great. That seems like a tall order to most, but that is what my mindset is on. I think not only is running the Cup race giving me confidence, but like you said, just being in and out of the car this week has given me some experience, especially racing on Saturday and trying to learn some things for Sunday.  It’s kind of weird. I had practice today, qualifying tonight, the Duels tomorrow night, so I will have a lot more seat time in the Cup car than anything and I think that is going to help me more with the Xfinity car than the Cup car will the Xfinity car if that makes sense.”