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MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: CAN-AM DUEL 2

February 15, 2018

Dayton Beach, Florida

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our runner‑up finisher, Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford for Stewart Haas Racing.
Kevin, what did you learn tonight you'll be able to apply on Sunday in the great American race?
KEVIN HARVICK: We got to make our car handle better. I wasn't very comfortable to pull on the wheel like I needed to, to be aggressive in making moves and blocking, all the things I needed. Luckily I had a fast car to kind of crutch that part of it, and a teammate behind me.
We definitely have a little bit to do on the handling side of it. I think if we can find a better balance between the speed and the handling of the car, we'll be in good shape.
I think the race in general was good for us. I knew I was going to have to make two moves in order to win the race. It kind of depended on how everything formed back up after I got by Denny. The 14 and 21 got side‑by‑side back there, weren't able to form up enough energy to push up beside the 9.
Made one, and the second one didn't quite get to finish it off. Still a good day.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. You said you didn't love the handling of your car. From a speed standpoint, the Fords seemed really strong, swept all four plate races last year. Is it looking like Ford has the best package so far?
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I mean, I definitely think we have the fastest cars down here from a manufacturer standpoint. That's definitely been the case over the last few years. I think, like you said, you look at the previous results, Brad doing so well, obviously the Penske guys have done well in both races they've run this week, Kurt winning the 500 last year for us. We led a lot of laps in this one last year and crashed in the final stage, didn't put the day together.
We'll have the speed. It's just a matter of getting the handling right, connecting all the dots, see how it all falls in the end. I think we'll be in good shape.

Q. Did the race play out tonight like what you would have expected?
KEVIN HARVICK: It was much more like in my mind what I expected. I was a lot more patient tonight than what I was in the Clash. At the beginning of the race, I didn't feel like the 9 was handling very well. Felt some urgency to get around him. I don't know if they made their car better, what they did. I think we saw a little bit more passing in our race than in the first race. I didn't see anybody just spin out like we saw in the first race.

Q. (No microphone.)
KEVIN HARVICK: I think from the time that Ryan started, he's been good on the superspeedways and done a good job. Those guys are different because they have such a knack and have watched so many of these races. It's not like they were racing on a computer, came through a different form of racing, whatever the case may be. Those guys had dads that were pretty darn good, what they were doing, heard the lingo, heard the talk, watched the action on the racetrack. They've seen as much of the progression of how all this works as I have. They may not have been in a car, but they've watched and learned.
I don't think the progression has been very good because they started good. I think Chase won this race last year, right? So they're doing fine.

Q. How twitchy does the rear of this car feel? In the first race, all the crashes appeared to be started when another driver took the air off the rear of the car in front of him.
KEVIN HARVICK: I mean, mine didn't seem as light as those guys were. There were several instances where it definitely got my attention with how light the back of the car was.
Like I say, we have to work on our car because you're constantly just chasing the car, mostly the back, can't pull on the wheel like you need to. When you get the runs, be able to do the things you need to do to be aggressive, to make passes and blocks.

Q. When you go to a backup car in a restrictor plate race, is there any concern or carryover? You know that piece of equipment is as good as your primary?
KEVIN HARVICK: I would say half of them would probably choose their Clash car, if it wasn't torn up bad.
The engineering and the time that is put into all these cars, everybody knows that you have to go into these qualifying races and race, in my opinion, because if you're going to give up‑‑ if you finish outside of the top 10, you gave up 10 points to the guy who won already. That hole keeps getting bigger.
That's what the new points system and stage racing has done. That's the way we should race. That's the way we've raced from the beginning, late model cars and short races. Alex Bowman didn't learn anything today, in my opinion. They'll go out and practice. Riding around starting on the pole is great, but not knowing what your car is going to do is a complete waste of time, in my opinion.

Q. Kevin, will people be more brave the last 10, 20 laps?
KEVIN HARVICK: Heck yeah, man. It's the Daytona 500. Everybody is here to win it. Back her into the fence going for the lead. So be it this week.
THE MODERATOR: Kevin, thanks for joining us.
KEVIN HARVICK: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our third‑place finisher in tonight's race, Erik Jones, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Erik, what did you learn about your car tonight that will get you ready for Sunday's great American race.
ERIK JONES: I don't know, man. Where do I start?
I think we had some similar issues in the Clash of what we had tonight, starting the race off, obviously got spun out there early. Just a bad aero situation. You kind of get stuck in a guy's wake, you can't really do much about it. Fortunately we were able to fight back from this even with some damage, get a good finish out of this.
Still was able to learn a ton. Obviously having to race from the back, we got ourselves in a lot of different positions aero‑wise. Just really fought a lot of similar issues that we did in the Clash, a lot of tight on exit. We definitely have some work to do for Sunday to get to where I feel like I'm comfortable and happy with the car.
It was good to really feel like we learned something tonight.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for Erik.

Q. Did it feel any different driving a Gibbs car versus a Furniture Row car? How much more comfortable are you out there today than a year ago?
ERIK JONES: It's hard to tell if there's a difference or not, at least at this point in the year. Especially with the rules change here, it's made everything drive a ton different than what I've ever drove on a superspeedway.
Really kind of learning the whole superspeedway package, what we have for this weekend. For me, I'm way more comfortable. I feel like last year coming into this race, you know, I felt like I was out there kind of to earn guys' respect. Still I'm doing that, wanting to have the respect.
You definitely feel like you can race more. I feel like I have a much better idea of what these cars are situationally capable of in different positions, what you need to do to kind of pick up some positions in the draft, kind of how these lines roll.
I felt like I had a better idea of how things were going to play out throughout the race. Especially after the Clash Sunday, I felt like it got me reacquainted with some superspeedway racing, how it works in these Cup cars.
I was able to learn a lot from that. I think that comfort‑ability feeling is going to carry out throughout the year. I can remember going into Atlanta, I can remember being nervous in Daytona about Atlanta. I feel like I have a good idea of what to expect, how we're going to be handling‑wise when we get there.

Q. Several drivers have talked about giving up speed for handling or the opposite. Are you looking for a happy medium there? Do you want one more than the other?
ERIK JONES: I mean, yeah, you know, as a driver, you want both, right? It is a happy medium. We've definitely got the speed. I don't think the speed is an issue at all for us. I think it was just a track position thing really for us tonight to not have a shot at the win.
We do need to get some drivability in it. It's going to be a happy medium. We did some things that we thought would take some speed out of it tonight, what we can do with the impound race. It really didn't slow us down much. We had plenty of speed, gained a little bit of drivability. It's going to be more down that road of trying to get more drivability in the car, just continue to get it better.

Q. I saw on Twitter over the radio you said you are going to have take some big swings on Sunday. Elaborate the thought process.
ERIK JONES: Yeah, I mean, I just think we're not where we need to be handling‑wise for Sunday. I know as cool as it was tonight, handling is going to be the best it's going to be the rest of the weekend. It's going to be a solid probably 20 degrees hotter on Sunday. The way it deteriorated throughout the race, I know the Daytona 500 is 140 laps longer, the rubber that gets built up. The issues we have are going to be exaggerated more and more on Sunday.
I really don't think we're in a spot right now to be comfortable enough to make moves we're going to have to make on Sunday to put ourselves in a position to win.

Q. Talk quickly about the confidence that you had. To come back from having the incident, finish third in the race, is a pretty big deal.
ERIK JONES: Yeah, I mean, that's a big confidence boost. I would say superspeedway racing is not high on my list of racing styles that I'm good at. It's just something I haven't done a lot. It's something I'm trying to improve on consistently every time I get the chance to do it.
Tonight I just felt like it was a solid race for us. I felt personally for me, I was able to learn a lot kind of about how, like I said, the lines move, the situations you get in. I talked to Denny a little bit before the race actually. He was able to enlighten me on some different things that happened in these races. Actually that helped quite a bit. Really thought a lot of things we talked about paid off tonight.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the finish tonight. Good luck on Sunday in the Daytona 500.
ERIK JONES: Thank you.

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