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NASCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2016

Shane Huffman

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and continue on with our teleconference this afternoon. We are now joined by Shane Huffman, crew chief for the No.17 Red Horse Racing Toyota of Timothy Peters. Shane, thanks for joining us today.
SHANE HUFFMAN: Thank you guys for having me.
THE MODERATOR: This was your first year calling the shots for Timothy Peters. Talk about transitioning into Red Horse Racing and working with Timothy as you head into the inaugural Championship Four race at Homestead‑Miami Speedway.
SHANE HUFFMAN: Well, it's been a good transition. Timothy and I have known each other for a long time. We actually kind of started in the XFINITY Series in the exact same year, and he was driving for Childress and I was driving for Dale Jr., so we got to know each other fairly well through that, and then he's been able to continue his driving career, and I kind of went on a little different path as a mechanic and then as a car chief, and then worked my way up to a crew chief position.
And then I came to Red Horse Racing at the beginning of this year. Timothy, like I said, he and I share a lot of the same goals and visions on the way we feel like things should be, so it's just really clicked really well right off the bat.

Q. I noticed on most of the practice time is going to be during the day, but it's a night race. How does that affect how you prepare for such an important race?
SHANE HUFFMAN: Well, it is tough. Homestead Speedway is one of the toughest places we go to just for tire wear alone and trying to get a gauge on your vehicle and where you're at on lap time and your driver feel, as well. Our first practice is at 8:30 in the morning I think it is, and that'll probably be the closest we are to race conditions, albeit there won't be any rubber on the track or anything like that, so I think you just really have to rely on what you know and you have to go off the driver feel and the driver feedback and make the correct changes because when it gets‑‑ when the sun goes down, it's certainly going to gain a little bit of grip back and it's going to change a little bit, but not tremendously. I mean, Homestead Speedway is wore out, and that's what makes the racing so good there.
You know, but it does present a big challenge for us in practice.

Q. I'm also curious, what's the feeling like at your shop this week? Is everyone excited? Is there some nervousness, pressure?
SHANE HUFFMAN: I think everybody is excited. I think there's no‑‑ I don't sense any nervousness from anybody. I don't think that‑‑ I think that the nervous part was last week, just trying to get to this point, and I think that once we're here, everybody is on an even keel, everybody is on a level playing field. We all go into Homestead with the same amount of points, so I think that it's just anticipation and excitement now. It just comes down to one race, and whoever runs the best out of us four teams is going to be crowned the champion.
I think there's a lot of excitement in just feeling like we can be that team.

Q. With Crafton's success on 1.5 miles and Sauter the last few weeks, do you feel like you have to win this race in order to win the championship, or will it play out where you just have to finish ahead of those three?
SHANE HUFFMAN: I think it can go either way. I think that with guys like Kyle Larson in the race that is obviously very, very good there, it could play out to a scenario where we just have to run second to win the deal, or hopefully we'll be good enough to contend for the win. Johnny and his group have hit on something a little bit here lately, and Crafton and his guys have been really good on the mile‑and‑a‑halfs forever. But we also, we've got one finish outside the top 10 on the mile‑and‑a‑halfs this year, and so we're pretty proud of that. That's been our‑‑ it's kind of been our strong suit this year, if you will, and we feel like that we can go‑‑ we feel like we can go down there and compete with them and beat them. Honestly we're very confident in that.

Q. How do you call this race from the box to beat those other three competitors? Also, it seems like everyone is sitting around a campfire singing kumbaya. No one is sending emails or texts.
SHANE HUFFMAN: Well, I lost your last question there, but for the first part of it‑‑ I think I know your last question, but for the first part there, it was for once we feel like we've got enough tires to run the race and make the pit calls we can make. The Red Horse Racing guys have been stellar on pit road all year. We've won the battle on pit road. I feel like throughout the year our pit crew has been solid.
You know, so I think that if we come down pit road and we're neck‑and‑neck with those guys, I feel like we can beat them out there, but I do feel like we're going to have to race them on the track no matter what. We're going to have to have a truck capable of outrunning those three guys, and you've got Matt, who won the race down there last year, and Johnny, who has won there before, and then you've got a rookie in Christopher who's pretty strong, as well.
You know, so I think that the race is going to be fairly straightforward to call because I think that if you've got 10 laps on your tires and you come‑‑ and it comes down to inside five laps to go or even a green‑white‑checker and you've got four tires sitting there, in my opinion you've got to come get them. I don't think there's any question about it. I think that tires are that important at Homestead, and I don't think there will be any trickery that wins this deal. I think it'll be pretty straightforward, and that'll be the‑‑ that'll make it probably way easier to call from our standpoint anyway, from a crew chief standpoint.
I think your second question was about being in contact with some other crew chiefs. I may be wrong on that. Junior Joiner and I, we've been in touch a little bit, and I know he and Baxter talk a lot. You know, I mean, we're all buddies, but at the end of the day, that don't mean that we don't want to outrun each other and beat each other. We wish each other the best, and I think that we really couldn't be running against a better group of crew chiefs and drivers. I think that at the end of the day, we've got about the strongest four teams that you can have in this deal, maybe with the exception of Byron as far as the drivers' championship goes. But I think that‑‑ I think we all are very competitive. We all want to beat each other, and that's what makes it fun. Junior and I have a very open relationship. We talk about a lot of different things outside of racing, and that's what makes us buddies.
At the end of the day, we all wish each other well. I've known Jay Baxter for a long time and Joe Shear Jr., as well.
All those guys are competitors, and we're all buddies, but at the end of the day, it's all about the 17 team and whatever we've got to do to win this deal.
THE MODERATOR: Shane, thanks for joining us today, and good luck on Friday.

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