|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NASCAR CUP SERIES: BLUEGREEN VACATIONS DUEL 2 AT DAYTONAFebruary 13, 2020William ByronChad KnausDaytona Beach, Florida THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the crew chief of the race‑winning car, which was the No.24 Axalta Color of the Year Chevrolet. We have Chad Knaus here. We'll open it up to questions. Q. How does it feel to be in here with a victory with somebody other than Jimmie for the first time? CHAD KNAUS: Man, it just feels good to be in here again, how about that? That's a unique situation. He did it last year, right, Jimmie without me. It's good to be here. Obviously very, very proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. For me emotionally, it's pretty cool for sure. Q. What has it been like for you working with William and developing him compared to where you and Jimmie started your relationship? CHAD KNAUS: Oh, gosh. That's a completely different‑‑ we couldn't be much different, right, obviously. Jimmie and I were coming up trying to prove ourselves at the same time. We both knew that was our opportunity. If we blew it, we probably weren't going to be in racing too much longer, at least doing those respective roles. To be working here with William, watching him mature, watching him just get the experience and everything that he's got going on, the confidence to go out there and race with those guys, it's been a pleasure, to be honest with you. With Jimmie, we were just digging and clawing and scratching for everything we could. This has been a lot of fun. It's been a very calculated path. Hopefully we can continue to go down this road. THE MODERATOR: We're also joined by the race‑winning driver, William Byron. We'll continue with questions. CHAD KNAUS: Good job, William (laughter). You don't clap in the media center (smiling)? Guys, you guys need to lighten up. Q. Chad, as he pulled out with two laps to go, were you nervous? Did you make that call? What was the strategy? CHAD KNAUS: No, oddly enough William and I had a discussion prerace. He basically told me where he wanted to be at the end of the race. He kind of ended up right about there. He knew what he felt like he needed to do. That was all on him. He doesn't need me in his ear to teach him how to do that stuff. He knows what he's got going on. Q. William, you get points for this race, but not technically an official win. Still feel good to be in Victory Lane? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, we're going to use this momentum as it should be. I feel like we didn't luck into this. We've built something over the last year working with Chad. He's allowed me to grow up a lot. I think he's held me accountable for a lot of things that are really good. I just feel comfortable walking into the shop. I think that took me really till this year, this off‑season, to walk in and just feel like a racecar driver and comfortable. That's a lot of credit to him and Tyler, Brandon, all the guys on the team. Yeah, we just went out there and raced. That's what he told me to do before the race. He said, Race it, so... Q. Chad, when he won, came across the line, you weren't exuberant. Was that more like a validation of what you've been waiting to see him do? CHAD KNAUS: Well, no, man. Whenever you win, you're excited, right? I don't know if it's validation. I think validation will be when we go out there and we're battling consistently for wins and top fives. That's what we're after, right? It's real easy to make the checkered flag the goal in this sport. That's just a part of the journey, right? The goal is to really get the team working correctly, give William the confidence level, performing where he needs to. That there, that was a little bit of happiness we got a flag. Q. William, in 1993, just as you did tonight by getting your first win in the Daytona qualifying race, Jeff Gordon's first win came in one of the qualifying races. WILLIAM BYRON: I guess I just need to win 93 more races probably (smiling). CHAD KNAUS: Time is on your side, for sure. Mine, not so much. WILLIAM BYRON: You have to stick around (laughter). Q. William, you're big in the iRacing community. With all the changes in NASCAR, we're seeing a lot of iRacing coming up. Does this add any more pressure on you to get a win for the community to show young drivers it's definitely possible? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, my idea with iRacing, I love having something to do during the week that involves what I try to work on. It's just fun. It's fun to get on there with your buddies and race. Ironically I was telling Chad I crashed out of every Daytona race this week. Law of averages kind of worked out tonight. It's fun to race on there. I meet a lot of good racecar drivers. There's definitely a difference in racing a real car. There's a lot of adrenaline that goes into it. I think that Chad has helped me with that, kind of channeling that throughout a race. Q. Chad, since you've been around with Hendrick for a long time, how does it feel to be a part of the winning 24 team? CHAD KNAUS: I've spoken about that a lot. The 24 is something, when they started the 24 team in Atlanta in '92, I was there for that first race with Jeff. I wasn't part of the team. I was there. I was like, Man, I'd really like to be a part of that team. As a 20‑year‑old young man seeing that team grow, wanting to be crew chief of that car back then, to finally get the opportunity to work with William, all of our partners, be a part of the 24 car, it's really a dream come true. It's a lot of fun. I carry the 24 like a badge of honor, I really do. I think to be a part of this 24 team, the heritage it's had through the years with Ray Evernham, Brian Whitesell, Robbie Loomis, you talk to the people on the team, the sponsors we've had, obviously what Jeff was able to do with it, there's a lot of pride with that 2‑4. Q. William, although you personally have crashed out on iRacing this week, your team has been doing well. You're here in Victory Lane. Can you carry that momentum into Sunday? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I was pissed that my team finished second. That was a bummer. No, it's great momentum for us with this win tonight. I feel like honestly it just gives confidence to me to make those bold moves late in the race. I feel like you have to put yourself in those positions to really know what it's going to feel like. Chad and I talked a lot about that going down here for this week, just racing every lap of the week. We almost raced all the laps last weekend. This was a really critical race for me to learn and kind of perfect it a little bit. Still a long way to go. When you look at guys like Denny or Joey out there, I think they're very aggressive at these races. That's who you're going to have to beat. Q. What did you feel behind the wheel with the 550 tapered spacer than how it felt last year? How do you feel you compare now power‑wise to the Fords? WILLIAM BYRON: Two really good questions. I think first with the different package, we've had this one since Talladega last April. I feel like there are definitely a lot bigger runs. The cars are more fun to drive. You're not so worried about losing it on entry, kind of feeling lazy, washing around. They're kind of more in the track when you're making a move. I think that's fun as a driver. As far as our car goes, I think we learned a lot tonight about the speed of it. The conditions were really favorable. But what I also noticed being in the second Duel, there was a lot of rubber on the racetrack. I think that will be similar to the 500. Just felt really good about the car, especially the run we were able to generate to be able to get to I guess Kevin on the inside. That was pretty impressive. We'll see what happens. Q. William, you talked about finally feeling comfortable in the shop, working with the team. Now you have a trophy in your pocket. Do you feel like you're here in your third year at the Cup level, like you found a place? Is there still work to do? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, I think it's all about working with Chad and feeling like I can go to him with any question I have and give him an honest answer on any answer that he needs. That's a big step, is the relationship here. There's really no other relationship out there besides you and your guys and your crew chief. I think that's where the confidence for me comes from. What he said about it being a journey, we just don't stop here. This is kind of a result that we can put up on the board now in the shop and say, Okay, now we actually have something to show for what we think we've been able to do lately. Q. William, we saw Fords work together really well in the first race. Chevys worked well together in this race. Do you feel there's more pressure than ever heading into the 500 for manufacturers to stick together? WILLIAM BYRON: No. I mean, what you see is not forced. I think there were times last year when we were kind of figuring it out. We might have been a little bit too inline, too conservative with it. What you saw tonight was a matter of happening to work with guys that are your friends and guys that are of the same manufacturer towards the same goal. It's kind of like that little bit of confidence you have to not always look over your shoulder, think that guy is going to hang you out to dry. It's not forced, but it's going to happen because those guys are your teammates. Q. William, how does one know when to make their move late in the race? You had the line of Chevys behind you. Was it a case that you're instigating to pull out or you're waiting for the push, jumping in front of them? How do you manage that? Was that at the time you were thinking with three laps to go? WILLIAM BYRON: It's just based on when that run comes. In an ideal world, everyone would wait till one to go and fan out just because where we were was a good points position to finish the stage or the race. It would have been good to have six points or whatever it was. I had kind of not been paying attention, not been pushing as aggressively. Once the 18 got off the top lane and it was single file, I wasn't pushing the guy in front of me as hard to make that line go. A run just kind of luckily formed right there. I figured if I didn't take it, Kurt was going to. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|