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MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: AXALTA PRESENTS THE POCONO 400June 11, 2017Ryan BlaneyJeremy BullinsLen WoodEddie WoodLong Pond, Pennsylvania THE MODERATOR: If I could have your attention here in the media center, we'll begin our winner's press conference here for the Axalta Presents the Pocono 400 here at Pocono Raceway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and we're joined by the race winning team, driver Ryan Blaney of the No.21 Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford for Wood Brothers Racing, crew chief Jeremy Bullins, and car owners Len and Eddie Wood. Just a few notes here, this is win No.99 for the iconic Wood Brothers Racing team and the first since 2011. Wood Brothers have now won at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in each of the last six decades, and the win clinches a spot in the 2017 NASCAR playoffs for Ryan Blaney. Ryan, youth over power and experience today. Please walk us through the pass of Kyle Busch and holding off Kevin Harvick for the win. RYAN BLANEY: Yeah, so we did a great job‑‑ I say we. Jeremy Bullins and everybody did a great job of positioning ourselves to start towards the front on tires. When the 18 stayed out, he looked to be the best car all day, and it's almost a curse when you're that good. Everyone just kind of does the opposite of what you do in that situation. We've been on the bad side of that before. Once we got to second, I knew he was going to fall off pretty hard, and it was just a matter of getting by him before everyone else. All the other really fast cars on our strategy got to second, as well, or got to us. And it was a pretty good race to get by Kyle there at the end of the race, and then having to hold Kevin off was really tough. He was fast all day, and you just got to not mess up and hit your marks and take airway and props to him, he drove me really clean, and I have the utmost respect for him doing that, and I've seen him win countless races passing cars within the last 10 laps, and he does a great job with that. But thank you to him again for racing me clean. But it was exciting in the car for sure. Hopefully it's exciting for the fans, and like we said, we just put ourselves in a spot to capitalize on it like we did today. THE MODERATOR: Jeremy, this 21 team has had speed the whole season, consistent speed. You guys have been so close; what has been the key to really getting this 21 car up front and in position to win week in and week out? JEREMY BULLINS: Just experience. I mean, we started this thing part‑time in 2015, built a team, put people together, made changes here and there throughout, and have a group of people now that I feel like can compete as a team with anybody. We've had good cars all year. We've had good speed all year. The last few weeks we've been really fast and just had some unfortunate things happen but felt like we were in a position a couple times to take advantage of that, and today we put it all together and overcame some stuff, and it all worked out. THE MODERATOR: Len and Eddie, this question is for the both of you. You've had so many legendary drivers in the seat of that 21 car; what makes this guy sitting to your left so special? EDDIE WOOD: He's special all right. Like Jeremy said, we put the deal together in 2015, and right away you knew you had‑‑ Ryan was going to be special because he just had speed, you know, everywhere we went he had speed, and that's something that doesn't come easily. We were on a brand new team, everybody was new, young, and it just‑‑ every week he had fast cars, and a lot of it is due to the driver. You know, given our alliance with Team Penske that is second to none, that just really makes a big difference, and Jeremy came over to be a crew chief, and it just all worked out. Blaney is on his way now. He outrun two guys today that are champions, and they're at the top of their game, and to outrun them to win a race here, this is one of the toughest tracks that we go to. Always has been. And I'm really, really proud of him, and he's here. He's arrived now. LEN WOOD: You know, I think when he pulled those rookie stripes off in Daytona, it made a difference in him. I won't call it more aggressive, but it's kind of, and it shows every week. We've been fast everywhere we've been. We've had issues. We were very close to a win at Texas, very close at Kansas, and it kind of dawned on me, I said, we're not going to win a race where it's expected that day. We'll win somewhere that we don't expect it, and it was here today. Q. Ryan, you have had other opportunities where you were out front or something came up; did it help not having the communication back with the pits because I know of the radio issues. Were you able‑‑ RYAN BLANEY: Yes. (Laughter.) Q. Did that put you kind of in only your own head, so to speak, and did you drive any differently this time, like this is not going to happen again, I'm going to win this race? RYAN BLANEY: Thanks for that. I appreciate it. I was saying we should just unplug my microphone more so I'm not complaining as much throughout the race. But that was‑‑ just one of the problems that we had, we had a loose wheel early and had to come back down after that, and we didn't have track position after that, and there was such little cautions here that you couldn't drive your way back up there unless you were just lights out better than everybody else. That's where they did a great job of putting us in a spot to where we have a shot at it at the end. You know, the old hand on the door for‑‑ was it tight, hand on the door? Door is tight, roof was loose, thumb up, thumb down if it was good or not or keyed the mic ‑‑ because they could hear the mic key, they just couldn't hear me. JEREMY BULLINS: There was a lot of Morse code. RYAN BLANEY: I could say it put you in your own head a little bit more if you're not talking as much. No, I would still key the radio and I actually forgot the radio was broken after the last pit stop. I was trying to talk, and they're like, yeah, we still can't hear you. I completely forgot it was still broken. It's definitely something I've never had happen before, but luckily I could hear them and we were able to work something out. Q. Did you drive those last few laps any differently than you had‑‑ you've been in position to possibly win before, but were you any more determined? RYAN BLANEY: I didn't really drive any differently than I would have before. You just try not to make mistakes. One little mistake and he was going to get by us pretty easy. You just try to hit your marks like you do all day, and I think what really was able to hold him off is I started downshifting in the tunnel turn, and he was doing that when laps got on our tires and I was able to keep our rpms up and get runs off that corner. I thought that was the game changer that brought us to kind of even with him or at least closer to him. But no, I didn't really drive anything different. You just try the best you can to focus and do what you do all day, which is hit your marks and try not to make mistakes. Q. I want to talk first about this weekend, but this weekend I know was special for you, especially seeing Bubba make his first start here, getting the picture before this race. And also being able to hold off champions like Harvick and Kyle Busch there, how special was this victory for you personally? RYAN BLANEY: Yeah, we need Bubba in the Cup Series more. The one start he makes, I win the damn race. He needs to keep running. No, it was cool to have him. I don't know where he finished. I know they had problems on pit road or something like that. But I was behind him a little bit and he seemed to be doing a really great job. But that's special for him. But to me, obviously your first win is special, and to do it with the Wood Brothers and at a place where I vividly remember coming and watching my dad race here so much is really special, as well. And this is a hard racetrack. This is one of the toughest racetracks we go to, of playing with where to shift, how to shift, what your car needs. It's three completely different corners, and I felt like we were super strong through 1 and the tunnel and struggled in 3, and you're going to have that. It's just really neat to be able to get these guys their 99th win and hopefully we can go for 100 here. Q. Have you talked to Dave yet? RYAN BLANEY: I haven't had my phone. No, I'm excited to get back and talk to him. They had a big night last night up at Sharon Speedway. My dad's racetrack and Motorcraft actually sponsored that night, Ford and Motorcraft. That was a big deal for them to put that fan appreciation night on. Good fortune, I guess, they do something like that and we go win the race. That's pretty cool. But I haven't talked to him yet. Q. You sent me a copy of your lottery ticket last night and obviously you're here because you didn't win the lottery. Is this better than winning the lottery, having your protege in Victory Lane? EDDIE WOOD: Yeah, this is way better. This will last forever. Every win you get is very, very special, and especially when you get like Ryan's first win, and we've had a number of kids that come through our car that won their first race in our car. Dale Jarrett did, Kyle did, and to be part of that, that now he's‑‑ we can always say he won his first race with us, and it'll always be that way. But it was a great day, and like the radio thing, and I mean, it was just like us going back to the old days with no radios. You asked about which it was; we used to have a piece of gray tape on the dash that would have roof loose, door push, and that's what you went by. It just kind of took me back, and then right there at the end, the way he was trying to get away from Harvick and dropping down to the inside like that, Neil Bonnett did that in 1980 here, and went on to win the race. I don't know, it was just like I had flashbacks. It was really cool. LEN WOOD: He's like the 21st driver to win in our car, too. RYAN BLANEY: Really? That's awesome. Q. Ryan, I had an interview with your dad here 10 years ago actually in the late race, and what we talked about was trying to stay in the top 35, you know, just so he was guaranteed a start the next week. And now here you are not very far from where your dad grew up in Victory Lane. What does it feel like to put the Blaney name in Victory Lane in the pinnacle of the sport? RYAN BLANEY: Yeah, my dad grew up not too far from here. He was kind of on the Ohio‑Pennsylvania border in Hartford, but to do it so close to where he grew up, and I remember this place so much. We always had a bunch of family come out here and watch this race because he's from right down the road. But yeah, actually he just dawned that on me that my dad never unfortunately won in the Cup Series, and even though I felt like if he would have got the right opportunities, he would have done very well, and that's something that just dawned on me. Thanks for reminding me of that. That's really cool. It was really special a few weeks ago we won at Charlotte in the XFINITY Series where he won‑‑ it was Busch back then, that was his one Busch win, and now to do it this week, getting Blaney in the Cup Series in Victory Lane, that's really neat. I just figured that out. Thanks. I appreciate that. Q. How important is today with Bubba making his debut and you bringing the Wood Brothers back to Victory Lane? How big of a day is that for the next generation of racers? RYAN BLANEY: I think it's a great day. We've had a bunch of new winners this year. Ricky got his first win this year. I think there was another‑‑ who else? Austin won the 600. So it's a huge year for the rookies, and then Bubba making his first start this weekend. That's a big deal. Luckily we were able to get a picture before the race today with our cars. That was really neat. But it's nice to be part of kind of this younger group of drivers, and I think we're all kind of coming into our own. Erik Jones had a great day today. He run third. He had a super fast car all day. So I think it's pretty neat to just be part of the group. You always want to be part of the group, and luckily we're able to finally get in Victory Lane because I've been pretty jealous of Larson and Austin and Ricky for them getting to Victory Lane, them being young guys, as well, and now we can finally add our name to that group. Q. For Ryan and Jeremy, we're just past the midway point of the regular season, so I just wanted to get like an evaluation for the first half of the regular season versus what you're going to do for the second half. JEREMY BULLINS: More of the same. I mean, we're in the Chase now, and the reality of that is the way the points structure is, you have to win races to win a championship, and so there were some times like the Texas thing, I got questioned about going for stage points and all of that, but at the end of the day, all that stuff is going to add up at the end of the year. We went into the season thinking we could win a race and we could contend with these guys so that's the mindset we've had racing these races and trying to be aggressive at times. That's certainly not going to change. I feel like we've proven that we can do this. We beat some of the best today. We had a fast car. So I think for us, it's just more of the same, trying to carry on and build on this. We've said from the beginning that it's a process of trying to build a team that can do this week in and week out, and we're getting there, so we've just got to keep working hard and keep doing the things that have us here today. RYAN BLANEY: Pretty much what Jeremy said. I feel like our approach this year has been the right approach of going out there and trying to win races and win stages at the same time. To be honest with you, before today, without all the stage points we've gotten, we would be in big trouble. I think what kind of kept us alive here in the past month and a half when we've had our struggles. But I don't think we do anything different. We'll go out and this team obviously proved we're capable of winning today, and I think we can go do that most weeks, and you just always want to kind of build your playoff stock. I like the rules changes of you've got to race all year. You get a win and you're in, but you can't relax because that just sets you up for the end of the year. Q. I was going to ask about your father, also; have you spoken to anyone from your family yet? RYAN BLANEY: No, I leave my phone in the bus before intros. JEREMY BULLINS: He texted me so I'm sure he's texted him. RYAN BLANEY: He probably texted you before me. JEREMY BULLINS: "Congrats. About time." RYAN BLANEY: That's a typical Dave thing to say. Did he text you, I can't believe you didn't screw up, give the win away? Q. Was the communication issue, was that for the whole race or was it part way through? JEREMY BULLINS: About lap 40, about two thirds of the way through the first stage. Q. And when you realized what was going through your mind and what did you try to‑‑ JEREMY BULLINS: What happened was I kept hearing something key up, but there was no noise, and I knew right away that it was the mic in his helmet because that's why you didn't hear the car running, you didn't hear any background noise. I knew exactly what was wrong as soon as it happened, so I asked him, are you trying to talk to us and I heard it key up again, so I'm like, okay, there's no way to fix this without giving up a bunch of time, so we're just going to have to old‑school it and get through it, and it was pretty much that simple. Q. For the Wood Brothers, how has the relationship, the technical alliance been with Penske, and how worried are you that you might not have Ryan next year? EDDIE WOOD: I'm not going to worry about that today. The relationship‑‑ see, our relationship with Mr.Penske goes back to the early '70s. We actually met Roger in Riverside, California, the first race he showed up that we were there in '72 or '73 with Mark Donohue and a Matador, and they won that race, and we were parked beside those guys, and in those days we all wore white rental clothes, white shirt, white pants. Everybody did. Well, when the Penske crowd showed up, they had black pants and they had these white shirts with these things on the top. I don't know what they were. They were epaulets. I had never seen one, and I thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever saw, and they all had their shirt tails tucked and and they were all proper, and we looked like a bunch from no‑telling‑where. But at that point, we just made a friendship, and then when this opportunity came to team up with Jeremy and Ryan, it just all kind of fell into place, and a lot of people were involved in making all that happen. Our good friend Edsel Ford, he was part of that with Mr.Penske, and just things really happened. It's just a great relationship. I mean, as the results show. Everyone treats us like family over there. The people that work over there that Len and I raced against in the early '70s, they're still there. Like no one leaves. You go to work for Mr.Penske, you don't leave. You don't want to. That's just the kind of group they are, and we just love our relationship with them. Q. Eddie, you mentioned all the drivers who have won their first race with you, but the flipside of that those drivers eventually move on somewhere else, and I know Roger was saying last week, that third car possibility next year for Ryan next year at Penske. Is it just sort of understood that like you guys are a team where younger drivers are groomed and move on someplace else, and while you guys have that time together it's great, but maybe there's always a sense that it's not going to last long‑term? EDDIE WOOD: I mean, the relationship we have is great. Nobody can ever take this away. Just like with Trevor Bayne, nobody can ever take that win away. You know, when Ryan came to drive our car, it was actually kind of understood that he was going to be moving on probably the next year, and then it didn't happen, and whenever it happens, that's fine. Everybody will move on, and he'll go on to bigger and better and greater things. He's going to win a lot of races, and I think he's going to win some championships. Whatever we do from there, it'll be fine. I think you and I have had conversations like this before. Yeah, we're just excited to be where we are. It's a great place to be. Q. Do you have any thoughts on that, Ryan? RYAN BLANEY: What he said. I like where I'm at. Q. Ryan, you kind of touched on it earlier how difficult this place is. But you've had some experience here before, you got a truck win here. How much does that prior experience help you coming into a place like this and to conquer here today? RYAN BLANEY: Any race you have here before always helps. You always kind of put it in your memory bank, and that truck race in 2013 we won on restarts. We didn't have a ton of restarts, but that restart, the last one, put us in a spot to be in second and be the closest car to the front on tires. Yeah, there are some things that I learned in that truck race that you always just‑‑ whether you think about it or not, you just kind of subconsciously always just kind of becomes part of how you drive and how you do restarts and things like that. Yeah, I could say that probably somewhere embedded in your memory bank there's stuff you learn from back then when you're a kid to apply today in the Cup Series. Q. Ryan, growing up I'm sure you maybe dreamed about how your first win was going to ever play out. How close to that dream and reality kind of mix today? RYAN BLANEY: You know, yeah, you always dream about winning a Cup race. It's the ultimate‑‑ you know, it's one of your goals. It's right below a championship. Like I said, when I watched my dad race no matter where it was, forever, I always appreciated how these races played out, whether it was here or anywhere else. But that's what you always dream about. But don't really think about it too much. You're not like, okay, I've got to get this win this week. You just kind of go into each weekend and try to do the best you can. You can have confidence to run well, but I'm not like, oh, if I win this race I'm going to do this and this and this, and you just kind of focus on the task at hand. But it definitely is a little bit more surreal than I expected. It's so cool to do it and with a great team, as well. This is what I always watched and wanted to do as a kid, so I got lucky to get opportunities to make it happen. Q. Len and Edward, how tough has it been over the years for you guys to kind of survive and endure, and I'm sure days like this make it all worth it, maybe all the things you had to go through to kind of keep this thing going. EDDIE WOOD: Yeah, it's like that for everyone. You go through really low lows and the highs are really, really high, but there's just enough highs to level out the lows. There's probably a lot more lows than there are highs, but we've got a lot of in between that's okay, too. But you just take it one day at a time and one situation at a time and one crisis at a time, however you want to say it. There's always something going on or changing in racing, and you just have to adapt and figure out a way to make it work. We've always been fortunate enough to have good support from Ford Motor Company to help us through the hard times, and then you have a day like today, you don't even remember the tough times. Q. Brad interviewed you in Victory Lane. You did that to him yesterday, so how was it to reverse roles? RYAN BLANEY: Yeah, it was awesome. Yeah, so I was part of the FOX broadcast yesterday, and I just drew ‑‑ myself, Erik and Stenhouse drew whoever was going to go first, second or third, and I drew Victory Lane and Brad happened to win, and that was so cool to interview him in Victory Lane, and it was awesome to see him pretty much take the microphone from Jamie Little in Victory Lane and like, I'm going to interview you. That was cool to see his support. I wouldn't be here without Brad to be honest with you. He's the one who gave me my start in 2012. I started driving his trucks then and led to the Penske deal, led to the Wood Brothers deal, and I would be nothing if it weren't for him and taking a chance on me. He's been a huge person I've looked up to, and for him to do that, it really, really makes me feel good. Really cool to see his support still as a great person. Q. Next stop is 100, so how big would that milestone be for the team? LEN WOOD: That would be unbelievable to come from where we've been the last few years. Our dad and uncles back in the '60s and '70s, they were almost unbeatable and built, built those wins up, and we've tried to maintain and do better, and I think with Ryan winning and obviously Trevor Bayne in 2011, hopefully we can get that win, No.100, out of the way soon. Q. Ryan, you talk about the young guys, how important it is to be part of that group. Well, Kyle Busch tweets out congratulations, Kurt Busch said you're going to be the next superstar, Mario Andretti tweets out what an exciting win, great young star. What is it like to have like all these drivers so early in your career give you that sort of respect and accolades? RYAN BLANEY: That means a lot, obviously. That's really cool that they showed their respect. It was so cool on the cool‑down lap to see everybody come up and give you a thumbs‑up. That to me is so cool, to show all the support that they have, whether it's your best friend or your worst enemy, people you've had run‑ins with, they were congratulating me, and that's cool. I grew up watching Kyle Busch win Tundra races, Kurt Busch, Mario Andretti. It's an honor to race with those guys today and to race with Kyle Busch at the end was really cool, and to race with someone I've looked up to a bunch when I was growing up, that's really neat to be racing with him. You try not to think of that when you're racing. He's just another competitor. But after the fact, you know, as a fan of those people growing up, I kind of try not to fan out a little bit. I looked up to those people as a kid, as I said, so that was really cool. I'm excited to see what they all have to say. Q. Along the lines with Kyle, he's not known to be light on anybody on the track, and he's never had a win here, so you were holding him‑‑ you passed him and kept him from getting his win, and you held Kevin Harvick off. Were you aware of any of the ancillary things going on? RYAN BLANEY: No, not really. You just try to‑‑ you see the leader and you want to pass him, and then you see whoever is behind you if they're closing on you or not, which he was, just trying to let them pass you. You don't really‑‑ like I said before, you don't really notice who it is. If it's Kevin or Kyle or Brad or Joey, you don't really care who it is. You just want to stay in front of that person or pass that person. So I don't really think of who it is. You just try to do your best no matter what. Q. Would it have mattered if it were Joey or Brad? RYAN BLANEY: No, they're going to race me just as hard as anybody. They want to win, too, and I'll say it again, Kevin was a really, really class act of not hitting me or getting me really loose, driving me really clean, and that was really cool of him. But it doesn't really matter who's back there. They want to win just as bad as you do, and you always have to think about that. Q. Ryan, now that you've won a race, what are some of your short‑term goals for upcoming weeks? RYAN BLANEY: Go try to win the next one. You know, Michigan is a huge race for us, having Ford and Motorcraft and Quick Lane on the car. They're right down the road. That is a huge race for us, and we always have Edsel sit on the box, and that would be really neat to get him in Victory Lane. So we want to try to do that. Edsel actually just called Eddie. But that was‑‑ like I said, our mindset doesn't change. We just want to go out and keep trying to win races and carry this momentum as long as you can and just try to keep building. I don't think we change up anything. Q. Jeremy, on the last caution there, how soon did you know you wanted to take the four tires? There's a lot of strategy going on there, and how much did Kyle's decision play into that? JEREMY BULLINS: It really didn't. I think we knew‑‑ I think we had 15, 16 laps on our tires and there were still 20 to go. Felt like we were not the best car. I felt like the 18 was the best car, so we needed another shot at adjusting it and we needed tires. The guys we were scanning, the guys we felt like we were racing around us were probably going to come, too. So honestly, as soon as the caution came out, it's like‑‑ I said, hey, I'm thinking about pitting, out the window, so it was like, okay, cool, here we come. Q. Ryan, the next time you meet Daisy Ridley, are you going to tell her what you do for a living? RYAN BLANEY: Maybe she watched the race today, and you never know. But you know‑‑ it could be the difference. You know, I don't know, if I ever meet her again. If I ever cross paths with her, I still won't tell her what I do. That's not cool. But you know, that was really neat. Maybe I'll run into her again. THE MODERATOR: Open invitation to the victory party? RYAN BLANEY: She'd better get on a plane right now. It'll actually be going on all night, so she's got plenty of time to get here. THE MODERATOR: I'll let you guys go so you can go get that victory party planned. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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