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NASCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2016

Chris Gabehart

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Chris Gabehart, crew chief for Sunoco Rookie of the Year Erik Jones and the No.20 GameStop/Power A Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing. Thanks for joining us today.
CHRIS GABEHART: Yeah, thank you for having me.
THE MODERATOR: Now, this was your first year as a crew chief after serving as an engineer on the 11 Sprint Cup Series team in the past. What has this season been like for you at the helm of the 20 team with Erik and also navigating the NASCAR XFINITY Series inaugural Chase?
CHRIS GABEHART: Well, there's been a lot of learning and a lot of firsts for both Erik and I. It's been a great season, truthfully. Erik and I would both like to be better. There's been a ton of potential and chances to win races that have just kind of slipped through our fingers, but that's all part of being young and doing it for the first time for both he and I, but all in all, it's been a great season, and I think we'll have a shot to do well this weekend in Homestead.

Q. I just wanted to ask a little bit how you see the weekend going down with Erik in terms of the season that he's had. Obviously coming in being a huge championship favorite, having things happen with his family that were very sad, to then getting the Cup ride announced. It's really been a very busy season for him. Could you talk about maybe how he is going into the race and what your expectations are of him and the way he's handled it all so graciously?
CHRIS GABEHART: Yeah, I think Erik does a great job each and every weekend of showing up and knowing what the task is at hand and staying focused on that task. It's obviously been a huge learning curve for him, really the last three or four years. I mean, if you think where he's came from to where he is now at a young age of 20, it's been a rapid learning curve for him, and then obviously hit a few bumps in the road this year. But he's handled them all great. I think he'd tell you each and every year or each and every week he's been learning a lot and having to change things as he goes, but he's really been doing a great job.
I really think his learning curve is nowhere near complete. I think he's still on a very steep slope, and one year from now, two years from now, three years from now, Erik Jones is going to continue to blossom into one of the sport's best.

Q. I was talking to Erik recently, and he said that this year is not the first time that he's actually met and worked with you. He mentioned in 2012 I believe it was, he got to test a late model for Kyle even before he raced him in the Snowball Derby. I think it was at Nashville, I believe. What was your first impression of him because at the time I believe he was 16 years old. What was your first impression of this kid getting to shake down Kyle Busch's late model?
CHRIS GABEHART: Yeah, that's actually a really neat story, the way timing in life can be so critical, right. I actually knew Erik even before that and knew him very‑‑ knew him through a really good friend of mine who helped me with my racing many years ago, Branden Lines, who spotted for Erik and does some spotting in the NASCAR scene.
Kyle and I were going to be flying back and forth from Talladega to run that race at Nashville, the All‑American 400. Of course Kyle wants‑‑ he loves racing late models and wants to win all the big ones, and that's one he hadn't won yet. But we had to be in Talladega. We were knocked out of the Chase, so we needed somebody to practice the car, and we had actually went through a few different names, names I think you all would probably know, and finally got to Erik as one who could do it, be willing to do it, and Erik will tell you the story now that he had driven very few super late models, never been to that track before, and was a 16‑year‑old kid getting to drive Kyle Busch's late model.
It was a lot of pressure on him, but he handled it great. The cars were actually a fair amount different than any kind of car he had ever driven just because of all the different brands and parts and pieces and all, but he handled it great, was actually really fast and dialed the car in well. Just handled himself great.
And truthfully, that weekend, while he didn't get to race, was really the building block for the Snowball Derby. I think Kyle and Erik or anybody would tell you, it allowed Erik and Kyle to get to know each other, and Erik did such a good job for us that when we got to the Snowball Derby and Erik put up such a battle, David kind of beating Goliath there with 20 to go in a shootout, the foundation was already laid, and at that point Kyle was like, wow, this kid has got something.
It was really neat to be a part of all of that. I think without any one of those little things going the way they did, Erik Jones‑‑ there's a good chance Erik Jones wouldn't be where he is today, and that's pretty special to be a part of.

Q. On the Cup side in the championship the last two years, the winner of the race has been the champion. Do you feel like it's going to be win or bust on Saturday, or is there a different strategy for staying in front of everyone?
CHRIS GABEHART: Well, I think the inaugural XFINITY Chase has provided a lot of great excitement and suspense, which is exactly what NASCAR is after and makes it fun each and every weekend. But it's proven to be quite a bit different Chase than the Cup Chases have been because you have the Kyle Busches and Kyle Larsons and Brad Keselowskis in there, and while two of the three I just mentioned won't be racing, Kyle Larson will be, and at Homestead he is going to be a force.
I think there is going to‑‑ my gut is there's going to be two races, one for the win, and that's probably going to have to go through Kyle Larson to get it, and then there's going to be one to win the points system.
It's been very difficult for us because racing all those Cup regulars, they're already so good at what they do, it's hard to beat them on an even playing field, but when you're racing them and they have nothing to lose, and Erik and Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez and Justin Allgaier and everybody else who's been in the drivers' Chase does have something to lose, they're racing for points, so they have to be even more conservative than the Cup counterparts that they're trying to compete with, and it makes it difficult.
I think this weekend will be no different. I think Kyle Larson is going to be hard to handle, but I think we're going to have a great shot at them, and if the opportunity presents itself to win the race, we're going to do so.

Q. You mentioned Kyle, and just speaking of him, he ran the high line last year pretty much on his way to victory. Is that something that you plan on testing out, or is that just something that suits Kyle's skill set where he's able to do that at Homestead?
CHRIS GABEHART: I think you'll definitely have to run the top at Homestead. The first maybe five, six, ten laps of a stint, the bottom and middle part of the racetrack can still make good ground while the tires are new, but as the tires wear out in a stint, the very fastest cars will be right up against the wall.
But you're going to have to play that ‑‑ as a Final Four points contender, Erik is going to have to play that game smart. There's a lot of risk running right up against the wall, too. Depending on where we're at and where our competition is at is going to determine how much risk we take I would say.

Q. You mentioned Erik's youth. Obviously that's not lost on many of us, but he takes a lot of chances and puts the car in places that surprises everybody, and from your perspective sitting on the box, what's his mindset to going out there and winning like that, and does he surprise you sometimes with such great performances on the track?
CHRIS GABEHART: I don't want to say he surprises me. I would instead throw a few names at you that did the exact same thing, I think, at the beginning stages of their NASCAR careers. I'll give you three...(audio interruption)... Tony Stewart, and the next is Kyle Busch. I think while all three of those guys had a tough going at their younger ages, probably tore up quite a few...(audio interruption)...if they'd ever find their way. I think all three of them have and are continuing to have outstanding NASCAR careers, and I don't think Erik will be any different.
It can be in the heat of the moment frustrating at times when he or I make a mistake. I always joke with him that he's cutting his teeth on my bones, so to speak, at times, but he's really doing a great job, and he's only going to continue to get better. He carries himself very well, and I can tell in the trenches with him every week just how much he has yet to learn. So to be this good and still have that much left to learn, I think you're going to hear about him for some time to come.

Q. With two JGR teams, I asked this of one of the other crew chiefs, as well, what ribbing in the garage and back at the shop and things have the teams done to one another, or just in play, obviously not serious, but that gets down to everybody is going for the win on Saturday night, but what have y'all done trading barbs back and forth leading up to this week?
CHRIS GABEHART: Well, I'll be honest with you. I think one of the real strengths of JGR is that the door numbers‑‑ Monday through Thursday the door numbers really don't mean anything. We've helped the 19 out. The 19 has helped us out. The 18 helps us out, vice versa, and it's really been no different this week. Leading up to Homestead obviously ramps up the intensity and you try to get every last detail just right, but we race together as a team 32 races out of the year, and the last one will be no different.
I think no matter if we win or the 19 wins, the other team is going to be disappointed. Of course as individual race teams we want to be the guys hoisting the trophy, but so long as it comes back to JGR, I don't think we're going to be disappointed.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us today, and good luck on Saturday.

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