Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Daytona Media Day
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
DARRELL WALLACE JR., No. 6 Selfio Ford Mustang – WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE THIS SEASON? “Our biggest challenge I think is tough. On the competition side the JGR cars will be fast. Those guys have speed but I think we have made a lot of improvements over at Roush through the off season and we are still continuing to do that. I think for us, it is just getting on a consistent roll. We didn’t have that last year. We definitely learned a lot and were putting people and ideas in certain spots that we need to focus on to have that breakout year. I think this is our year to really get people to look and jump on board and be a part of our program. I think we have to make sure we are not missing any key elements of that.”
WHAT IS IT LIKE BEING A PART OF A TEAM THAT HAS SO MANY GOOD YOUNG GUYS? “I think with Biffle leading that youth movement at Roush I think it is actually a lot of fun having him as the older statesman of the group. It gives you kind of some spotlights on key areas that he has been a part of and you can utilize that. Having Ryan Reed and Ricky and Trevor as teammates, it is all a good group of guys and we all get along with each other and still can be successful and be competitive on the track. It is kind of another youth movement inside of NASCAR and we are all trying to get to that next level and be successful.”
IS IT FUNNY HAVING GUYS THAT ARE ALL ABOUT THE SAME AGE BUT YOU HAVE TREVOR WHO HAS WON HERE AND CHRIS WITH HIS XFINITY CHAMPIONSHIP. YOU GUYS ARE ALL ABOUT THE SAME AGE BUT AT DIFFERENT STAGES. “It is cool to see or hear everybody’s story of where they started and where they are now. With Trevor winning the 500 and Biffle being here since the sport started (laughter) it gives you a lot of insight on what to hit on.”
HOW DO YOU MOST LIKE TO CONNECT WITH FANS? IS IT SOCIAL MEDIA? “Yeah, I think it is social media. I have had Snap Chat for a couple years now and you start to see more drivers and other friends of mine in different industries that are using it more and they are getting a lot of love on that. I know what it is and how to use it but I am new to the surface of it so I am trying to get more people involved with that. Twitter has been big for me no matter what time of day I am always on Twitter bouncing ideas. Some people hate it and some love it. I try to be in tune with what is going on and interact with the fans. They are the ones that bring us back to the race track every year. Making them feel like they are a part of our program is something we strive for. To show them that I am a normal guy that happens to drive a race car is the message that I want to let them know.”
DO SPONSORS LIKE ALL THE MUSIC STUFF YOU HAVE BEEN DOING? “My music is turning people on. I know what you mean though. We are always mindful of what we post and what we say because our messages can get misconstrued and thrown out to left field. We have to constantly watch what is put out there. For me it is my music and what pushes me through life. I am a huge music fan and use that stuff to get through every day so posting something that is part of my life so heavily, if they want to bash it then they are not the right one for me.”
WHAT GOES INTO YOUR PREPARATION FOR THIS RACE WEEKEND? “It has been such a long off season. I have been so bored. I have been in the gym a lot more and in the shop a lot more. It is hard to get things rolling. We have made so many changes at Roush and the cars are still being pushed around and people put in place. My team is set and ready to go but it is hard to go over things with guys when we haven’t had that first race yet, had any mistakes yet. We don’t want to have any but the ones we do have we haven’t had that chance to sit down and figure out what to do better for next week. I am just trying to be physically and mentally prepared.”
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO MOST THIS WEEK? “Media day. Coming and talking to you guys. Waking up early. I am having fun. I love doing this stuff. We still have three days until we are on track. I am just biting my nails, biting my tongue, ready to roll.”
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THE END OF THAT K&N RACE THE OTHER NIGHT? “No, that was a new thing to me. I have seen the way that people have won that race, jumping down on the apron and sliding up and wrecking the others guys. I might have been a part of that once or twice but no I have not seen running too many laps. We are still questioning it. Blaney and I were looking at the run down yesterday and trying to figure out how the heck you run an extra lap. Hey, it is NASCAR. It is always something.”
“You feel bad but he got a second place out of it so points wise if they are running full season they are still okay. I talked with Lauren yesterday and I was asking how bad the car was and he said they could get it fixed, get it turned around. There was good and bad out of that. It could have been a lot worse. They could have been 20th in points with a destroyed race car, instead second in points with a destroyed race car which is bizarre to think about.”
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THE FORMAT CHANGES FOR THE XFINITY SERIES? “I am excited about it. With XFINITY coming on board last year and bringing back the Dash 4 Cash, major props to them. With the new Chase format this year it will definitely add excitement. It is going to be – I don’t know if it will be more about consistency or consistently a top-two race car. You have to show everyone that you have a legitimate shot to win it. We struggled with consistency last year. We would have a couple back to back that were okay and then a spurt where it was bad. We have to minimize the bad races and put ourselves in the position to win early and then relax and go through a game plan to set us up for the Chase part. Once that Chase rolls around we need everything buttoned up to get this championship.”
IT WILL BE PRETTY INTERESTING TO HAVE THE FIRST DASH 4 CASH EVEN WITH TWO HEAT RACES AND THE MAIN AT BRISTOL. “Yeah, I am still trying to figure that out. It is great to be in a spot to win the Dash 4 Cash. With the heat races I still have to be in mind that there is the bigger race after that and that is the one that pays the big bucks and where our points come from. We have to be mindful but put on a good challenge. I think from last year if we were fifth trying to get into a top-two spot we would do anything to get there. If we are fifth in a heat race we will finish fifth, I am not going to force any issues.”
IN THAT FORMAT YOU CAN’T TAKE A BIG RISK. “You can’t because you are only jeopardizing yourself. I have started to pick up on that. It has been a little bit of a steep learning curve but it is all coming to me.”
HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THIS YEAR? POSITIVE? “Yeah, absolutely. With everything going on at Roush and moving into one consolidated shop and hiring key people to make the organization better, I am excited to get back. I am more in tune with my craft and trying to be more mentally focused, more mentally prepared, studying notes and figuring out what it takes to make these race cars go faster. I have been in the gym a lot more. Having Selfio on our car for this race, I think that kind of relieves that pressure of having no sponsor but we still, it is only a one race deal but we have the potential to make it a multi-race deal.”
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE DIFFERENT IN YOUR WORKOUT PROGRAM. “Just actually getting up and going to the guy instead of saying I would go tomorrow. I bought a house and it has a gym in it so all I have to do is walk down the steps. I don’t have to drive anywhere.”
WHAT IS YOUR PROGRAM LIKE? “Right now I have elliptical in there and a little weight machine. I went and bought a weight race and some dumbbell stuff. I need to win some races to update the gym inventory.”
RYAN REED, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang – ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEW SEASON? “It is exciting. There are a ton of changes coming into this year. The heat race is something I think every driver is excited about. Most of us grew up doing some sort of heat race, either in go-kart or late models. It will be cool. From the fan perspective it will really break it up and give you two really dramatic finishes and obviously putting the Dash 4 Cash in it will make it even that much more important and then if you win two Dash 4 Cash races you are locked in the Chase. There is so much going into it that puts a premium on performing well in those races. Then you have the whole Chase format which will be its own entity form the Sprint Cup side. I think it will be different because you have a lot fewer different drivers with wins so I feel like you are going to see a mixture of having to go for wins and obviously if you win you are locked in but at the same time you will have a lot of drivers locked in on points so you will have to be consistent and smart and not tear up your equipment.”
WITH THE DASH 4 CASH, HOW DO YOU BALANCE THAT? “I think you manage it the same way you did when you were 16 and racing late models. You have to make a judgement call. I think it is a group of very talented race car drivers and it wouldn’t surprise me if we see some torn up equipment in a heat race. You don’t want that but at the same time you have to make that decision when you are racing on lap 100 of 300 anyway. It is that balancing act of being aggressive at the beginning of these things, whether it is a heat race or not. It will be a similar feel. If you are in the opportunity to get locked into the Dash 4 Cash it is important to do it so I think you will see a lot of guys put a lot of effort into making that happen.”
HOW INTERESTING IS IT THAT THE FIRST ONE IS BRISTOL? “It will be really interesting. We will be getting fed to the wolves a little bit but it should be great. It is something I think everyone is going to really enjoy and probably do more of them I would think.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR PROGRAM THIS YEAR? “You have heard every driver at Roush talk about it. This is the most excited I have seen everybody at Roush Fenway and the most unified since I have been there. It is only three or four years but still in my time there I haven’t seen this much excitement. It is top down too. Everyone from Steve Newmark and Jack Roush down to me. On the 16 side we have a lot of changes with a new crew chief with Phil Gould and it is an exciting time. Everyone says that when you make changes and if you aren’t excited that is a much bigger problem. After Atlanta is when you will see how these changes have helped or not helped. I am ready to get going and find out for myself.”
WHAT IS IT LIKE BEING A PART OF A TEAM WITH SO MANY GOOD YOUNG DRIVERS? “I think you definitely have a lot of competition within the organization but it is good competition. Me and Bubba get along great and have a lot of information sharing between the two of us which is really nice. Having that open line of communication definitely makes it to where you feel like you do have a team. It is hard when you are competing against each other because I think you can get to a point where you don’t want to share that information but Roush Fenway has done a great job of keeping us all tied together and make sure we are all pulling in the same direction.”
“I had Trevor as a teammate in the XFINITY series two years ago and he helped me out a lot when we were coming here for my first time and I definitely have learned a lot from Trevor on the speedway stuff and everywhere. Ricky Stenhouse has been one of my biggest helpers as I have kind of progressed through Roush Fenway. All those guys have been a huge help.”
YOU ARE RUNNING THE TRUCK RACE FRIDAY NIGHT. TALK ABOUT HOW THAT CAME TOGETHER AND ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT NOT BEING LOCKED INTO THAT RACE? “Well, obviously we raced some ARCA races last year with them and had some success and I have a lot of respect for Carlos and the team he has put together over there. He has pulled out all the stops with his Truck and ARCA programs. It was a great opportunity for us to go get some extra seat time. I love racing at Daytona and I really want to get them their first Truck series win. Speedway qualifying is so much different but I am not worried. Anything can happen but I am not losing sleep over it. I know those guys have put together a fast truck. I am ready to get qualified in and once we are in the show – whether we start 30th or on the pole – I feel like we can run well and hopefully get my first Truck series win and them theirs as well.”
ANY PLANS FOR CUP RACES IN YOUR IMMEDIATE FUTURE? “It is something that I definitely would like to do. It is going to be my third year in the XFINITY series and I am looking toward the future and what that has in store for me. The priority is on the XFINITY series championship and winning races on that side of things. When the timing is right – there are so many different pieces of that puzzle to go Cup racing. Hopefully we can put all those together and do some stuff this year and if not we will focus on 2017. I am hopeful, we will see. It is something you talk about – something everyone is excited about and I am super excited about but you just don’t know when or where it will happen.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CHASE FORMAT COMING TO THE XFINIITY SERIES? “It is definitely going to put a premium on winning, that is obvious, but I feel you are going to have a lot of guys that still get locked in on points. I think it is different in the Sprint Cup series because you will have a lot more XFINITY drivers get in on points. There were only four or five XFINITY regulars that won races last year. Consistency in points will still be a huge part of it to make it into the Chase. What will really be interesting will be toward the end when you have guys that are probably going to miss the Chase but they start gambling to win. I think you will see more gambling toward the Chase deadline. I think it will be really fun. From a fan perspective it will make it more exciting. It has added a lot on the Sprint Cup side and I am excited to be a part of it. I am sure there will be some drama along the way and I hope I can stay out of that and keep my head down and hopefully go for a championship.”
SO AT SOME POINT YOU FEEL YOU WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN GOING FOR A WIN AND NOT? “That is a decision you make as a driver. If you have a winning race car you will go for the win and if you have a 10th place race car but your crew chief fells he can do things to get you there, those are decisions you make. Every team takes into account where they are in points. Sitting here before the season starts I couldn’t tell you what we would do in what scenario. For us we go to the race track and me and Phil have the same mindset to win races. That is what we show up to do, not to finish second. There is a bigger picture but you want to win races.”
