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NASCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2016

Scott Graves

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Scott Graves, crew chief for Daniel Suarez and the No. 19 ARRIS Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing. Scott, thank for joining us.
You joined Joe Gibbs Racing this year after leading Chris Buescher to last year's NASCAR XFINITY Series title. Talk about working with Daniel Suarez and the No.19 team as you find yourself in contention for yet another XFINITY Series championship.
SCOTT GRAVES: Really working with Daniel this year, it's obviously gone really well from the start of the season. We really started off it seemed like with a good set of finishes right from the beginning. We seemed to click right from the start. The whole team obviously was a team that has been in place there, really well‑rounded group of guys, so we've all really worked well together, and I think when you look at the season we've had altogether, a number of top 5s, top 10s, wins, everything like that, I couldn't have asked for it to go any smoother on my end for sure.

Q. I guess this is the obvious, but how ready do you feel for this new format and the way this is going to go down?
SCOTT GRAVES: Well, you know, it's new for all of us for sure. We spent time watching previous seasons on the Cup side to see how things play out and feel we can learn from that. But we feel like we're ready for it based on our performance up to this point. Daniel has done a great job. He hasn't shown the nerves in any of our previous races. Like I say, he's been steady and smooth the whole time. The team has been steady. We feel like we're in a good spot. We know we've got fast cars, and I know we're really excited and looking forward to this weekend.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Daniel; you said he seems fine, but is there any sort of little edge that you sense this week or any difference, I guess, in his demeanor because this is such a much more intense way to finish the year?
SCOTT GRAVES: Yeah, it's funny because I went and we had lunch earlier this week. We'll usually eat once or twice a week to talk about the previous week and look forward to what's ahead. I almost felt like he was more relaxed than ever. He's got a lot of confidence going into this weekend and feels good about it himself. That was really good to see. Like I say, I was really impressed by his mental state right now, and just I think how confident he feels going into this weekend.

Q. Winning back‑to‑back XFINITY Series championships for you, how cool would that be for you? Obviously it's a huge résumé booster, but also, Daniel is sort of carrying the weight of a country on his shoulders and he could really make history if you could pull that off. Have you guys talked about that, or do you think he's‑‑ obviously he's aware of it, but do you think that he thinks about that and all the support that he's getting from his fans?
SCOTT GRAVES: Yeah, I'm sure that the pride he would feel to win that for his country and be able to represent México like that‑‑ you know, we haven't talked about it a lot, but I know it's there. This weekend he's going to have a bunch of family and friends there. There's going to be a lot of people there.
I'm sure for him to be able to do that, not only win a championship for himself but for his country I think would be really big for him and really big for the sport in general.
You know, and for myself, to win two in a row would be great. I've thought about it, but obviously it would be‑‑ especially from switching teams and joining Joe Gibbs Racing this year, this would be a great thing to be able to do my first year here. I would love to bring that back for the company.

Q. On the Cup side the last couple years, we've seen some mistakes in the championship race by the over‑the‑wall crew. How do you go about keeping everyone on the team calm and with their eyes on the prize?
SCOTT GRAVES: Yeah, I mean, you never know. It's such a high‑stress environment, the race itself and everything that's going on. Mistakes happen, so really it's just trying to keep everybody focused on the basics, the fundamentals that got them there. You know, the teams that are‑‑ the team that makes the fewest mistakes in this race and has the fastest car is probably going to be the one that comes away with the win.
My guys are really strong. They've done really well all year, and I've got a lot of confidence in them. I think they feel pretty good and relaxed. Talking to them about it this week, they've even said they feel like they perform best when they're under pressure. I feel really good about what we've got going into this weekend.

Q. You did this last year, but it was under a different format. With this being the first time we have this elimination, winner take all, so to speak, what strategy do you play into going into the race this weekend? Have you thought about how you will compete against the other guys on the track, and what experience can you bring from last year's format into this?
SCOTT GRAVES: It's a lot different, really. Last year it was all about being conservative at this point. We had enough of a points lead to where we knew we just had to‑‑ really had to just finish. No failures, really conservative strategy, conservative on track, not getting into any trouble.
Can't be like that this year. It's totally different. From our end, we know we've got to be a lot more aggressive with everything we do throughout the weekend. How it's going to play out, I don't know. We'll see how the race goes. But definitely in my mind and in the team's mind, we know we have to be more aggressive.
THE MODERATOR: Scott, thanks for joining us, and good luck this weekend.

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