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MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: CAN-AM 500

November 11, 2018

Phoenix, Arizona

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by members of our race winning team. We've got crew chief Adam Stevens and team owner coach Joe Gibbs.

Q. Adam, with the tire problems during the race, I think Logano said he had no idea what exactly happened. Did you have a feeling something similar could happen to Kyle's car?
ADAM STEVENS: Yeah, there's always a concern, tire problems. Generally they're camber induced or low air pressure induced, and we knew we weren't pushing the limits on either of those two things, but you never know if you're going to run something over, especially with the way that they were using the dogleg on the restarts.
But you try not to worry too much about things that are outside of your control, and I felt like the setup we had on the car was going to be fine on the abuse of the tires, so I wasn't overly concerned.

Q. Adam, you guys go out there and not having to win, but as always, put on a show and get to Victory Lane. What does it say about your team and Kyle Busch going into the final playoff match?
ADAM STEVENS: Well, I think it's important to come into the last race firing on all cylinders, and it's hard to do that when you're just riding around trying to score points. It's not like we were throwing caution to the wind by any means. We couldn't go out there and crash on the first four or five laps and not make it to Homestead. We had kind of the best of both worlds today. We minded our business and played it safe there the first half of the race, and then we were essentially locked in at some point in time, and then the gloves came off.

Q. Coach, talk about how proud you are of this organization and for JGR going back and battling for a championship.
JOE GIBBS: Yeah, I always think of everybody back home, everybody that works at the shop, all the effort back there that everybody makes, everybody in the front office that gets us here, working with the sponsors. It's just a huge team effort. At the racetrack today, Adam led a great team effort today with pit crews. Kyle was awesome. From Coy, J.D., myself, just everybody, we're thankful because we've got great people at the race shop, and it's a real team effort.
This sport is different. You get to the racetrack, you've got four teams, but they've got to work together. And back at the shop, we're one big team. So it's a big deal for us. It's teamwork.
I do want to say, I think this facility getting here, awesome, so what a great job redoing the facility. I think the fans today were great. Packed house, and we do a lot of hospitality today. We did. A lot of our sponsors were here, and it's a huge deal for us, particularly when we get to come to Phoenix. It's a big deal for us and our sponsors.

Q. Adam, in light of the penalty talk this week, do you feel like‑‑ do you feel offended when fans use the word "cheater" in regards to crew chief, and do you feel like fans lack a certain education on what your job is as a crew chief?
ADAM STEVENS: Oh, wow. Yeah, you know, there's just so many rules. If anybody has ever seen the rule book, it would take you a week to read it. It's big, right?
Yeah, so you know, there's different levels of things, but it's our job to put the fastest car on the racetrack possible, and you're up against it all the time. It's not too hard to imagine to cross over that line in one area or another.
You know, if the measurement is one inch on something and you're an inch and 40 thousandths, are you a cheater? I would say probably not, but there's different levels of that, too. You know, it's a difficult situation to be in for sure.

Q. With that in mind, moving forward to next weekend, what is the challenge in balancing trying to be legal and not crossing that threshold because more than anything other race you have less of an affordability to cross that threshold because it is the championship race?
ADAM STEVENS: Yeah, we're still held to the same standard and the same tolerances, and they will tear every square inch of that car apart after the race, and if you upset them, you'll know about it. You know, that's how they keep the playing field level.
It's no different than any other weekend. You know, the Hawkeye has been a great equalizer. The bodies are all in a very, very, very tight box. You can't really fool that thing. All the things that make the car go fast, they have a way to check, so it'll be heads up when we get there.

Q. I have two for Adam. The first, when Almirola is second and you guys are first and if Almirola wins, that knocks Harvick out, is there any thought going through your mind like do you‑‑ that wouldn't be bad if Almirola won?
ADAM STEVENS: Yeah, I couldn't really drive my pit box out there and make anything happen. But we were aware of the situation, mathematically. We're not oblivious to it. But there were so many cars honestly that had just pitted and had four tires, and there were 15 or so laps to go. So it wasn't like we could freeze the race right there and make that situation happen, but it wouldn't have upset me if it didn't happen, but we weren't going to do anything to make it happen.

Q. Kyle told me a few weeks ago that this year he hasn't even watched Xfinity races that he hasn't run in, that he and Samantha go do something. Did you ever think you'd see the day where Kyle Busch would not pay attention to a NASCAR race?
ADAM STEVENS: No. I watch them because they're highly entertaining, regardless if I learn anything. This week there was plenty to learn with the track configuration and the restarts, and you always want to watch and see how tires wear and tire strategies and how the line moves around. What he didn't pick up by watching it, I watched and told him about this morning and last night. He gets the information one way or another.

Q. (No microphone.)
ADAM STEVENS: I mean, yeah, whatever Kyle thinks good for him, it's working. If that's what works for him, then absolutely.

Q. You're representing Toyota very successfully in American NASCAR racing. Can you let me know what's the reaction over at the headquarters in Japan? Is there any reaction, or did you feel something ‑‑
JOE GIBBS: Well, I have a picture on my wall. It's one of the prized possessions I have. It's Mr.Toyoda with his championship ring, and supposedly he was having a bad day that day, and everybody was giving him bad information, and all of a sudden Bob Carter presented him with that championship ring, and they said he freaked out, and he ran all over the building.
I think he's a race fan. We do get‑‑ honestly, with Toyota, what's great about Toyota, it's everybody all the way through, as you go up the ranks. Everybody cares about racing and they care about NASCAR, and it's great to be a part of that team. They've got a great team, and yeah, I think it goes all the way to Japan.

Q. And the second question, if necessary, can you get some technical engineering assistance from the headquarters in Japan?
JOE GIBBS: Well, mostly our engineering is pretty much set here in Charlotte for us, but I will say this: Toyota is a technical company, and at times they do assist at different times with engineering. But most of our engineers are all situated right here in Charlotte, and this is where they live.

Q. Coach, you have 157 career Cup wins. Kyle Busch has now scored 47 of them. What can you say about that kind of accomplishment, and where does‑‑ you've coached a lot of world‑class athletes. Where does he rank among them?
JOE GIBBS: Well, it's interesting you bring that up because last week we had a discussion, and we were talking about getting prepared for the playoffs and everything, and the thing that I've noticed both in the two sports I've been in, football and racing, there's great athletes, a lot of guys want to be a part of the team, some guys just being on the team is good enough, and then you have some people when they put the helmet on on game day, I've had it in football, and I'll say this: Kyle Busch over here when he puts the helmet on, I've never seen him once where it wasn't totally intent, and you guys have all watched him, every week he's after it. If something is in front of him, he's going for it.
It's just‑‑ I think you can have a lot of great athletes in a sport, but a few of them can stand out in that way, and I think Kyle is one of those that does.

Q. Adam, the 18 and the 4 have been the two best cars all season, eight wins. You guys go head to head next week for the championship. Does it mean anything to take that final step, to say, we're better than the 4 this year? Is that any sort of motivation?
ADAM STEVENS: No. I mean, there's really no measuring stick for me compared to other teams. You know, the job that we set out to do is to win the championship, and to do that you've got to beat them all. The 4 is certainly part of that group and part of the group next week, and that's what we intend to do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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