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MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: STP 500March 24, 2019Walter CzarneckiBrad KeselowskiPaul WolfeRidgeway, Virginia THE MODERATOR: We are going to begin our post‑race press conference here with our winning crew chief and winning team owner here in the media center. We are joined by Paul Wolfe, the winning crew chief, second win of the season for your team. Paul, a dominating performance today. Can you just talk about that race we just saw. PAUL WOLFE: Yeah, it was a great race obviously for the 2 team. It was tough. The 9 was strong all day, and for us it was really trying to find that right balance between being good on the shorter run versus the long run. This is the first race back to Martinsville without the track bar adjusters, and I think some of the guys have gotten used to it over the last few years of using those as the track and cars take a swing throughout these long runs and being able to have that track bar adjuster there in the car. Not having that kind of ‑‑ you kind of had to find a nice compromise between the start of the run to the end of the run. We seemed pretty good at that at the start of the race. As the race went on, the track tightened up and we didn't seem to be quite fast enough on the short run, and as we got towards the closing couple runs, driver wanted me to free it up, he said he needed to be freer to be able to win this race, and you know, we made some small adjustments, but it's hard when you've run 300, 400 laps; you're afraid to go too big and get too far on the other side of it. So we made small adjustments. It was enough to hold the 9 off on the short run, and then I think the longer run it kind of started to level out. Tough day. It's hard to be good here for 500 laps. Pit road was a big part of it. The guys on pit road were flawless all day, were able to keep the lead when we came in, and then able to come off strong there that one run where the 9 led us down. THE MODERATOR: Walt, your team has now won three of the first six races of 2019. Talk about the strong start to the season. WALTER CZARNECKI: Well, great, it's really encouraging to do that, to win three out of the first six and be competitive for all of those races. So it's a great‑‑ number one, a great morale builder for everybody, but I think we all recognize, Brad and I just talked about it before I came in here, there's still 30 races to go, and we want to keep things in perspective. We recognize that the competition is upping their game. We saw that today. And I will say as far as Brad and our Reese/Draw Tite Ford Mustang today, he didn't put a wheel wrong all day in my view. Paul and the crew did a great job in the pits, but you saw a consummate professional. I hope people were taking notes. I was listening to Brad on the radio, it was interesting, he didn't say a whole lot. He was just focused on what he was doing, didn't put a wheel wrong, paid attention to what he had to do, had a good car, and he knew they were nipping at his heels. But he never wavered. Pretty strong. Q. Paul, what's it feel like to put an absolute butt whipping on the field like that? PAUL WOLFE: It was a stressful day to do that. Q. Really? PAUL WOLFE: It feels good, but it was stressful. Going into today, we didn't have a great practice yesterday. We were fair but didn't know what we were going to have, and as the race started obviously we were pretty strong. And then from there, you're just‑‑ you know you've got to adjust on the car, but you're afraid to do too much when you're that strong starting off. We made some small adjustments, and like I said, the pit crew being able to keep us out front, that's key, as well. Q. Walt, all the races so far have been won by Penske or Gibbs; do you feel like your two teams are just a little bit elevated above the group right now? WALTER CZARNECKI: Well, I think the results for the first six races demonstrate that. But I still believe that we're going to see the gap close between ourselves, Gibbs and the other teams as the season goes on. Chase had a great run today, strong run, and I think that was evidence of what they're doing. We're not taking anything for granted. Q. Paul, I know you won three consecutive races at one point last year, but this stretch, this start this year, how would you compare it to the best of Brad? PAUL WOLFE: It's been good. I think all the Fords have been very strong. All the Team Penske cars for sure starting the season. There was a lot of question marks going into the season with this new rules package. Obviously at the mile‑and‑a‑halfs where we have the high downforce and the drag package, we were able to come out of the gates pretty good with that. I think as we looked here to Martinsville, you don't feel like it's much of an aero track, so it's kind of the same ol', same ol' Martinsville as the years have gone by. I haven't seen rules changes with aero change what we do here a whole lot and the things you focus on. With that being said, it did catch me off guard a little bit in practice yesterday. We weren't as good as I thought we would be off the truck. We felt the effects of the aero changes even though this is one of the slower tracks we race at. So we scrambled a little bit during practice to get a little closer, and then like I said, I didn't really know what we were going to have today. We made some more adjustments going into the race, and we were‑‑ we weren't perfect today, but we were strong enough to be able to make small adjustments and continue to work on our car all day and lead a lot of laps. Q. Paul, just following up on that, I know this isn't considered an aero track, but some guys were saying afterward the big spoiler is creating a lot of wake for the trailing car. Is it more of an aero track with this package and do you think Bristol in a couple weeks will be similar? PAUL WOLFE: Yeah, with it being one of the slower tracks, and like I said, we felt the effects of it when we unloaded yesterday in practice and Brad commented on it right away, how much more aggressive and harder he could drive the car than what he was used to last year. We had to work on our setup quite a bit from what had worked for us in the past. And we knew there would be a little difference, but it was probably more than I expected. So for sure going to Bristol, I think we're going to notice the effects of it, and all the short tracks as we move forward. We noticed it at Phoenix, but that's a mile racetrack. It's changed things for sure and keeps you on your toes. Q. Is it just turbulence? PAUL WOLFE: Yeah, yeah, basically, when you're in traffic, but as far as just single car by yourself balance of your race car, it's changed that, as well, too. Q. Paul, four‑tire pit stops every single time for every team. Is there a reason we didn't see more divergence in the strategies, two tires? PAUL WOLFE: Yeah, I don't think ‑‑ Martinsville has always been a four‑tire racetrack, and as we looked at tire wear and stuff this weekend, we didn't see a big difference from what we saw last year or the year before. With drive off the corner being so important, you can't give up those left‑side tires. You need those, as well. The right‑side tires, there's a lot of brake heat and a lot of abuse on the right front for sure, so it's kind of a no‑brainer that you're always going to do four tires when you come to Martinsville. Q. Paul, you mentioned the track bar adjuster and how that's been taken away this year. We've heard complaints over the last few years that drivers felt like they didn't make as much of a difference as they would like to. Do you think taking that away from them is kind of putting more of the driving back in the drivers' hands and forcing them to adjust as the runs go along and the fuel burns off? PAUL WOLFE: Absolutely. At the 750 tracks as we look at those, where you still don't have a lot of on‑throttle time and working on your balance from entry to exit, it makes a difference. You know, like I said before, we could crutch the car at the start of a run with the track bar, where now you can't do that. So now the drivers gotta carry the car a little more, if you will, whether it's the start of the run or the end of the run, to kind of keep your car decent throughout the run. I think it'll make a difference. It's not big, but as I looked back at history and what we've done the last few races when we've been good here, I mean, we have moved it some from the start of the run to the end and knew that was going to be a little different for us today, and some drivers use it more than others, and I think it'll change things a little bit as we go to these style racetracks. THE MODERATOR: We are going to continue with our winning driver, Brad Keselowski, driver of the No.2 Reese/Draw Tite Ford Mustang. Brad put on quite a clinic out there today, second win of the season, second win here at Martinsville. Talk about those 500 laps. BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, it was a good day. It was a real good day. You know, I think the stats maybe look a little bit more dominant than I think it really was. I thought Chase was probably the best car most of the day today, and he passed me there with 150 or so to go. I thought that might be the end of our day, but I was able to learn a few things from him and kind of dissect his strengths and weaknesses and make some adjustments of our own and come back out and be a little bit better for it. Pit crew did an excellent job gaining or retaining our track position all day, which is critical here at this racetrack. I feel like last fall we were probably even a little faster than we were today, and we lost some spots on that last stop and it cost us the win, where today it was the opposite of that. We were able to keep our track position, and that was so, so key to being able to win today because I think Chase if he'd have been out front that run, he would have drove away from the field with what I saw from his car. But overall good day. We really needed this, especially for Reese and Draw Tite who are on our car for two races. We're fighting so hard to keep sponsors on our car, and we have some gaps to fill there, so when we have those and we win with some of those partners, that's a really big deal for us. So we're working very hard on that, and I'm proud of them and happy for those guys. I'm just happy for Ford, as well. The Mustang is one of those things I think we started the season with a lot of question marks and a lot of people asking how the car would come out, and I felt really confident based off of some of the things I'd seen on the engineering side before the season started that the car would come out and be very strong, but you just don't know until you get on the racetrack. With kind of the curveball in the development cycle of the 2019 rules package, there were some big question marks, and I would say right now it's passing with flying colors. Big day for Ford, big day for our sponsors Reese and Draw Tite, big day for me personally to win twice here at Martinsville. It's a track that I feel like we probably could have won eight races here, so it's almost a little embarrassing to me to only have won twice, but I'm still very proud of today and glad to come home the winner. Q. Brad, you led over 380 laps a few years ago at Richmond. Did that one feel any different, similar, and if you could compare the two, which one was more fun? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, it felt very similar. I remember that entire race thinking that Jeff was probably the best car, but we had the track position and I was able to find a lane to hold Jeff off. You know, I remember that race very specifically. Maybe we were probably better on the short run that race and worse on the long run, where today we were better on the long run and worse on the short run. Other than that, it was a really good day. I feel bad I didn't lead the other 50 or 60 laps. But can't be greedy. Well, I can, but... Q. Brad, the way this team has started the year, we've had a lot of different style racetracks now, we're now moving into the short track season. Doesn't appear that your team or the Penske organization has a weak link as far as racetracks right now. Do you feel like you guys are going to be like this all season long, strong at whatever racetrack gets thrown at you? BRAD KESELOWSKI: I just‑‑ I don't think it's settled in. You know, I think that we're still very early in the season with brand new rules, brand new tech officials. I don't think we'll see the field really settle in until about Kansas. I think I said that at the start of the year, and I'm holding firm with that. We're on the West Coast for three weeks where it's‑‑ it's not impossible but it's damn near impossible to make engineering advancements on your cars with some of the things you learn, and then of course there's always pit crew members at the start of a year who are learning how to gel together. So I think it's way too early in the season to pick those things out. But that doesn't mean I'm complaining about our success. It's good. It's just good. We need those playoff points. I think we missed the cutoff last year and the playoffs by 10, 11 points, so today alone I think we got seven playoff points, and with our win at Atlanta, that was another five. So those are 12 key playoff points that are really critical come championship time. Other than that, it's just the fun of winning today at Martinsville. To those are big things that we don't know how important those are going to be come the fall time. But I think you have to assume you're going to need them, and so it's big to get these wins. Q. Given how important track position seemed that if you didn't make the move up front and then the first five to ten laps settled down for a little bit, one, did you expect a harder shove from Chase? He got into you in 3 and 4 early in the run, and then late in the run he moved up the track. How much were you aware of what he was doing and what was your plan to kind of mitigate that? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, my spotter kept me pretty aware. There wasn't much I could honestly do. I could say when you got behind cars you definitely lost speed, and it's not like you didn't lose speed before but maybe a little bit more speed than you would normally lose, and so being the leader, you obviously have to use that to your advantage. But once the field kind of catches up to the lap cars, then everybody is fighting the same air, and that can be an interesting time. But certainly I thought Chase did a great job. He raced as hard as he could, and just was able to pull the right moves to hold him back. Q. Brad, fighting to get those sponsors on the car, do you know how many races you're currently trying to fill this year? BRAD KESELOWSKI: I think we're okay for this year, but I know that we have some things to work on for next year. Q. And the sponsor that you have on your hat, I think that is one of your truck sponsors? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah. Q. Are they on the car more often this year? Are there others that are on the car ‑‑ BRAD KESELOWSKI: We have one more race with them this fall. I want to say Richmond in the fall. But I'm not sure of that. Q. Have you had to get more personally involved, knowing that you have relationships with these companies from the Truck Series? Does a win like this sort of help you next year? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Sure, the wins are huge. You have to win. It's a‑‑ the market loves winners, as it should. That's what you'd like it to be. You'd like it to be about winning and sponsors that are connected to that. I think that's‑‑ in my mind, that's the way it should be, and it's not always the way it is, but I didn't come into this sport with a name that was just going to give me sponsors or the biggest sponsors out of the gate. With that in mind, our team has to win, and Roger is great because he's so smart with these business to business deals and things like that. But even that, that's really hard on him, and he doesn't deserve that full burden. He's worked his butt off, and he shouldn't have to be in every board meeting and trying to solidify the deals, and I recognize that for him, and I'm proud of the efforts that he does put in, and the last thing I want to do is make him do more of them, right? So with that in mind, I hope that we can continue to attract the high‑level sponsors we need to be competitive at this level, and the best way I know how to do that is wins like today. Q. So are you involved‑‑ BRAD KESELOWSKI: More than I'd like to be. It would be a lot easier to just be the race car driver, but I accept the fact that if we want to have the funding we need to be able to compete with the Toyotas specifically who are certainly very high up on the funding level, we have to generate those revenues and those funds, and that's the way we're going to get back to Victory Lane. You need that to be able to afford the engineering, to be able to afford the pit crew and still pay me to drive. So winning is very, very important. Q. Brad, you talked about gelling with new crew members. You've got a new spotter in Coleman Pressley. You guys have really hit it off, and a lot of times spotters and drivers seems like there's a communication bridge you have to get across to get familiar with one another. Seems like y'all can hit the ground running. Talk about that a little bit, and does Coleman being a former racer help you any with that? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, I felt like Coleman was going to do pretty well to start the year, and I think he has. He's done really well. I think we can always be better no matter what the scenario is, but he did a superb job today, and his efforts were instrumental, as well, for us to be able to win. I'm happy for him. Q. Brad, what's it like racing a guy for the win who if he moves you for the win, the fans are going to go crazy and say it's great racing, and if you move him, then you're a dirty driver and get booed out of the place? BRAD KESELOWSKI: What's that like? Well, you know, no one said life was going to be fair. I remember that's what my mom told me when I was growing up. It just is what it is, so you make the most of your opportunities. You try to be thankful for the ones that you do have, and you try to move past the ones that you don't have any control over. Q. Brad, so up until Chase bumped you out of the way and took the lead, you actually had a shot at Fred Lorenzen's record for most laps led in a single Cup race here at Martinsville‑‑ BRAD KESELOWSKI: What was that, do you know? Q. 493 of 500, and up until that point you had a shot at 495. Short track racing is a lot of rough and tumble, but what goes into a dominant day like this? It just looked like nobody could touch you besides maybe the 9. BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, well, the 9 was definitely faster, like I said, but just overall team effort, ability to adjust, adapt and keep up with a track that's changing, pit road, spotter, driver, crew chief and all that stuff, it all comes together, and it's a special feeling when it does. It really is a team sport. I get probably 90 percent of the glory on days like today, but sometimes I feel like I only do 10 percent of the work. And that's okay. It's no different than an NFL team gives all the credit to the quarterback, and there's 40 some other players on the team. It's just part of it, and I'm glad to have the opportunity. Q. Brad, have you ever had a car as strong as you had today? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, I feel like our car in the fall of last year was stronger than this. We got penalties and things of that nature and then had a bad stop at the end of the race and all that came together and we finished fourth. That's part of how it goes sometimes. Q. FOX kind of alluded to it takes a while to get the click at Martinsville. Two wins under your belt now. What's really clicked with the No.2 team at Martinsville? BRAD KESELOWSKI: I mean, like I was saying earlier, I think when we opened, I feel like we probably should have won seven or eight races here, especially out of the last six. I think our team has really hit on a setup that I'm happy with. Very small changes to it. The rules haven't changed much. Obviously requires adjustments with the small car changes that were this year, but they've been able to put together a car that really suits my driving style, and I've been really able to tune that driving style in. I don't feel like until probably 2015 we had cars to win here, and I felt like since 2015 we've had the car to beat here or been in the top two or three, and then it's just a matter of execution, pit roads, penalties, restarts, things of that nature. Some of those things have gone our way, some of those things haven't, and I'm thankful today went our way. Q. Brad, two years ago in the fall, Chase moved you out of the way in what we thought could be a win for him. That was overshadowed a little bit when Denny moved him. How long is your memory in terms of that, and how hellbent were you on making sure that didn't happen again? BRAD KESELOWSKI: I can't say I put a lot of thought into it until probably the last lap. I just wanted to make sure I was far enough ahead, and thankfully we were. But yeah, you don't forget about it, but I also don't dwell on it, either. Q. With the added downforce and reduced horsepower at the tracks, does it mean more to you to win at a driver's track this year than it maybe did in the past? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, you know, this track still has more horsepower. It has the splitter and the spoiler and the yada‑yadas, but I think from a horsepower standpoint, there hasn't been any change there. And this track just is always going to mean more, going back to the history and legacy of our sport. I always struggle with defining what's a driver's track and what isn't a driver's track. That seems to be maybe used a little bit more conveniently, depending on who's winning. You know, when you win a race, you get out of the car and you say, "This is a driver's track." Of course. And then vice versa, it seems to be when a driver wins what was normally a driver's track who's maybe not considered one of the best drivers, then it's, "oh, his car was great all day." You know, I guess maybe I have a hard time‑‑ they're all in some way a driver's track. Some more than others, and this one has some unique flavors to it. I always tell people that being a Cup driver to me kind of feels like being like a Deion Sanders or some kind of football player like that because even though the field stays the same, the game stays the same, when we go to different tracks, it's like lining up in different positions on a football team. It's like lining up as a kick returner or cornerback or sometimes even a quarterback or wide receiver. With that in mind, what happens is you have to be good at all these different skill sets to be able to win at all the different tracks. So what makes a great wide receiver or cornerback or quarterback doesn't necessarily make a great athlete. It's the ability to be versatile and play multiple positions that's really, really impressive. And to be able to win at all the different genres of racetracks to me requires some unique disciplines, so it's something I take a lot of pride in. It's part of what irks me that I haven't won on a road course and I think I've finished second or third like five or six times at least. But I feel like we've been really close. I want to be at able to win at every racetrack because I think if you're going to define a great driver, great drivers in this sport win at all the different genres of tracks, and I don't really get caught up in such‑and‑such is a driver's track as much as I would say that I get caught up in can you win at every type of racetrack. That to me defines a great driver in this sport. Q. Earlier this year you scoffed at the media when they asked you about the possibility of Mustangs struggling in 2019. What did you know or what did you see that others didn't that made you believe that Mustangs would be fast out of the box? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Well, I mean, towards the fall of last year, I sat in the wind tunnel with the team and watched them work on the car for it would have probably been the last two or three months of the year and spent time talking to them about what I specifically thought the car should be and then saw the numbers compared to the Ford Fusion, and I knew they were exactly what I felt like we needed to be successful this year. I felt really confident when Tommy Joseph, who runs the Ford Performance development team, was able to put that to work, and John Moloney, who runs the Penske Technology group, I felt really confident when I saw them kind of‑‑ I don't want to say the first time, but kind of acknowledged the things that our team was asking for and put them together. Seems like when the Ford Fusion came out in 2013, there wasn't a lot of real‑‑ I don't know how to put it. There wasn't as much teamwork building that car, and I thought that car didn't come out of the gate as well as it should have. And the Mustang had a lot of teamwork between Ford Performance and the teams, all the way down to the driver and crew chief level, that I thought was really cool to see. And I thought they had some sound engineering, some sound practices, and felt really good about it accordingly. Q. Was it a blessing in disguise that Chase got by you on lap 325 and you were able to follow him for a while and study where he was good? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, a little bit. I hate to say being passed is a blessing, but he was definitely faster and definitely learned some things from it. There's no doubt. But he was super strong. He was in a great spot today to win the race and to make something happen, and we were just able to kind of hold him off. Q. Last year your team kind of peaked at the right time going into the playoffs. This year you guys are kind of peaking early. How do you keep your team from not becoming complacent over the next few races as the playoffs approach? BRAD KESELOWSKI: I think about that every day. Every day I wake up in the morning and say, am I better today than I was yesterday. And if I'm not, and if we're not, we're going to lose. That's the simple matter of this. The sport is very dynamic. Technology is changing every day. Somewhere out there right now someone is working on the next advancement that's going to be critical to winning the playoffs, and we don't know about it. Might be another team, might be someone in our own group. If we stay stagnant, it's guaranteed we will fall. So I think about it every day. I wish I had a great answer. The only thing I know to do is just be super annoying. That's really all I know. All I know is to go in and sit in on meetings and ask questions that make people squirm and watch them squirm and watch their face, and when they squirm, are they squirming because they should be squirming or are they squirming because they just don't want to work? And that's all I know. I wish I was smarter than that. I wish I was better than that. But all I know how to do is read their body language and see if they've got more than I think they've got or if this is all we've got and push those people. So it's a really tough question. It's a really tough thing to do. I would rather it be a lot simpler than that, and I just have the fastest car and not have to worry about it, but that's not how it's been for me at least in my career, and that's okay. It means I take more pride when we do win, and I feel like that's a good thing. Q. Yesterday you seemed very relaxed in here. Did you have any sort of sense that today could be this good? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, I knew when we qualified third that we were going to be really tough to beat. And then I saw this morning that you picked me to win the race in the tweet‑up, and I walked out on the grid like this, and then I just saw Nate Ryan picked me to win. You two are smart. FOX and NBC leading the charge over here. I felt pretty good about it. Yeah, I mean, sometimes what's strange is‑‑ I honestly thought‑‑ I don't know if this makes you feel better or makes me feel dumber, I honestly thought going into the race that the 9 car wasn't going to be very good. I kind of had my own little cheat sheet cars of who to watch for, and I had the 9 car wrote off, and I was wrong on that one. I don't know if that makes you feel any better. He was probably the best car out there. You win some, you lose some. Q. Brad, going back, you said you wanted to win on every genre of racetrack. I don't really feel like you're a guy who's really been all that out there about personal milestones and achievements of what you want other than a second championship. What are some of the things other than winning on racetracks that you want to put on your personal resume that you feel would fill out your resume other than just X number of wins? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Well, you know, I had some big ones. I think starting last year, it was I wanted to win some of the big races that I've never won, the Southern 500, never won the Brickyard, so it was nice to win those. I think looking at that, that was a nice milestone for me personally and for our team. I would like to hit the 30‑win mark before the season is over, which looks like we've got a great shot at that. I think I look at a few markers for the Hall of Fame, and one of the markers to me as a Cup driver is probably that 30‑win mark. Championship is one of them. Kind of adding a 30‑win mark in there, and I think that's kind of‑‑ you're there. I think anyone who has 30 wins on the Cup level is going to eventually be in the Hall of Fame. So that's a good mark for me. You know, winning at my home track and winning the Daytona 500, those are milestone marks for me that we haven't hit along with a road course. All of those we've been really close, and it hasn't come together. So those are probably the biggest ones on my mind. Q. We talked to Paul about it a little bit ago when he was in here. He brought up that they've taken away the track bar adjuster, and I asked him if he felt does that bring more driver ability into it than it used to have with the adjuster because you now have to kind of make up for some of the deficiencies that you used to be able to use the adjuster for as a crutch? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Sometimes I think yes, sometimes I think no. I thought before it was easier to play defense with the track bar adjuster because you could make your car‑‑ you could tune your car to be good middle to end of a run and then come back and trim it with the track bar adjuster for the short run, which prevented some comers and goers. So I think in general, it was a really good move to get rid of that, at least that's what I saw a lot, especially here. I feel like if we had probably last year's rules here, you would have seen a lot more comers and goers because of that. With this bigger spoiler and the splitter, that kind of neutralized the track bar adjuster, but in general, I think that was a big change. Q. Brad, given this is‑‑ with this package, what do you foresee for Bristol now speed‑wise, competition‑wise, being able to pass at those kind of higher speeds? You guys have talked before we got here about some of the speeds maybe being insane I think were some of the adjectives used for Bristol. What do you see happening now that you've got a taste of this package? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Pretty much exactly what I thought. The cars are going to be extremely fast. We're going to have a very difficult car time keeping the tires on them. The weather will make a big difference. If it's cool, it'll be hard for the track to take rubber and we'll probably see a lot of tire failures. Just the cars are going to be so, so fast at Bristol, and to run 500 laps at those speeds, it'll be kind of like World of Outlaws but a 500‑lap race. Very, very fast, normal racetracks I think we pull two and a half to three G's. Bristol is always a step up. With these rules I'm expecting it to be three and a half to four G's, which is just going to completely rip your arms apart, and if you're ripping your arms apart, you're ripping your car apart at the same time. The cars are kind of made to fit the drivers, so if the driver is getting worn out, the car is right there with it. We've had a lot of discussions and conversations about probably needing to build a special car for that race, but being that we're in a spot where we've won two races, I don't think we'll probably do that. I think we'll just probably run the race and try to survive. But it'll be a big, big test for the teams and for the drivers, for Goodyear, because the pace should be somewhat outlandish. Q. Do you have a spot chosen for where this grandfather clock is going to go? BRAD KESELOWSKI: I'm in negotiations. Q. With who? BRAD KESELOWSKI: Negotiations. So I had this conversation with my daughter before we got here because she helps me wind the clock‑‑ I do have one clock, and it's in our house, and she loves to help me wind it. It's one‑‑ when you have a three‑year‑old you get joy out of little things. She's gone from not being able to turn the handle and I would have to hold her hand, kind of like guide it to crank it, to now at three, she puts her hand in and like as fast as she can go, and she thinks it's so cool. It's like one of those senses of accomplishment. And so we do that probably once a week together. And I told her this week when we were winding the clock from 2017, I guess, I told her, you know, if we win this week, we'll get another clock, and she's just getting old enough to understand those things. And so when we won, I told her, "Remember I was telling you if we won we get a new clock?" And she said, "Well, where are we going to put it, Daddy?" And I said, "Well, I was thinking, right in your bedroom," and she did not like that idea. We're going to work on her negotiations. I think because the one I have at the house chimes. I've got the chime turned on, and I don't think she wants the chime in her bedroom. But it's a good problem to have. Those are winning problems. Those are winning problems. But I can tell you we'll do something special with it and I'll cherish it and enjoy it forever. I'm not going to put it in a box in storage, I can promise you that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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