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NASCAR CUP SERIES: FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500June 7, 2020Rodney ChildersHampton, Georgia THE MODERATOR: We've now been joined by our race winning crew chief, Rodney Childers. Thanks for joining us. RODNEY CHILDERS: Thanks for having me. THE MODERATOR: Just talk to us a little bit about kind of just the final couple laps there, and obviously you guys had a dominating performance today, but just tell us a little bit about what went through your mind as the race progressed. And happy birthday, too. RODNEY CHILDERS: Yeah, I appreciate that. It's been a pretty incredible day for sure. Turned 44 with the 4 car and ended up in Victory Lane, so that's pretty neat. I'm getting old, too. That's not good. But overall we had a great car. At the beginning of the race the car seemed really good and we were able to get up through there and was looking okay, and the car was too tight and the track was changing really, really fast, and we just made some bad adjustments and couldn't keep up with the racetrack and finally had to kind of take our lumps and do some bigger swings at things, and that's really what happened last year. You look back at the race last year, we had a great car then, and we just started getting behind every pit stop, and we weren't making big enough adjustments and got way too tight toward the end of the race and wasn't able to capitalize. This time we were bound and determined that that wasn't going to happen, and we just tried to work real hard and make a little bigger swings than what we normally would with and just tried to keep up with the racetrack. Q. How big is the No.1 pit stall at Martinsville thanks to this win today? RODNEY CHILDERS: Actually I hadn't thought about that yet, but it's a little bit there. The biggest thing at Martinsville is just having that clean out and having options, being able to not be blocked in and that kind of thing. So to be able to have that stall will be good for us. Martinsville is the place that has kind of been up and down for us. We haven't been able to get a victory there in the 4 car, and it seems like we try really hard but we've been getting a little bit better each time I would say, and hopefully we'll have a good car on Wednesday night. Q. I assume you've raced on your birthday before; have you ever won? RODNEY CHILDERS: You know, I'm really not sure. Probably have back when I raced. There was so many races back then, so many classes that you would run in go‑karts and stuff. I'm sure there's bound to have been a race at some point that I've won on my birthday. Just none of them stay in your mind like a big Cup race does. This is definitely a big deal. I was listening to Kevin talk a little bit, and this place is special. If you're a crew chief for Kevin Harvick and you come to Atlanta and you don't run good, then you're definitely not doing your job. He knows how to get around here. When we went to this package I was worried it was going to take some of that away from him, but the last two years we've had good cars, we've led laps, and able to capitalize today. Hopefully they won't put any new pavement on this place and we can keep it going for a while. Q. After the Darlington win, you mentioned how uncomfortable you had been with the protocol you were having to follow up until that time because of the lack of time you had had with the car. Has that protocol changed now, and are you in the shop more? Are you more comfortable with the way things are progressing? RODNEY CHILDERS: Well, you know, some of that is just my background. I've always been really hands‑on. I like being around the cars. I'll be in the fab shop at one point. I'll be in finish fab at one point, the body shop, in the Hawkeye, making a trip to the chassis shop every down and then, but overall I just like to be there and I like to have my eyes on it. I feel like we have a great group at the shop, and it's definitely not a trust thing there at all. I couldn't ask for a better group at the shop. But it's just me. You know, that's just me. I like to be there. But overall, it has got a little bit better. I try to stay away as much as I can. We're still working shifts at the shop. We still have a first shift and a second shift and keep the shop really separated and keep people apart. At first you say that's not going to work, there's no way we're going to make it to the racetrack, and somehow good people find ways of making things work. I feel like we've done that. I think this past week not having a Wednesday night race was amazing for me. Those first two weeks were just absolutely crazy with us turning around a car to race at the second Darlington race, and then at the 600 we weren't very good and decided to take a car that was sitting in the shop that was a bare frame and body on Monday, and we ended up at the racetrack on Wednesday night. Those are the things that wear you out. But overall, this week was peaceful. I wasn't there but maybe about‑‑ I went in there two days I think it was. But like I said, they've done a great job with the shifts. Tony Gibson has done a good job with the production side of it, and we're just trying to make the best out of it. Q. You were listening to your driver, he noted that he is not a fan of practice, but I wondered what you felt like how the lack of at‑track practice has affected your routine, and is it something that you think there's still a place for in Cup racing? RODNEY CHILDERS: Well, there will be a place, and there will be a time. Does it need to happen all the time? No. And it really depends on your team. If I was a team that I didn't have all the simulation tools that we have and the people that we have, then yeah, I would want to go out there and practice and try to tune my car in a little bit more. For us and the 4 car I feel like it's almost an advantage not to practice because I feel like that's what we're good at. From a preparation standpoint, we prep the same way. Our goal is always to be the fastest off the truck, whether it's practice, whether it's qualifying, whether it's the race. We do the same things. Our engineers work hard. They've probably got the same amount of sim runs they would if we were practicing. But the biggest thing is just that communication between those guys and myself and Kevin, talking about what we need and what we think is right. Sometimes what you think is right, it works out, and sometimes it doesn't, but so far so good from our standpoint, and it's not always going to be that way. You're going to have a race at some point that we miss it bad and we end up on pit road making big changes. You know, we've just got to keep our heads down, keep digging and stay focused, and hopefully we can keep doing what we're doing. Q. With everything that has transpired this season in the two‑month hiatus, it's probably difficult to get a handle on exactly what kind of team you have, but do you think enough races have gone by now where you kind of have an idea of if you're hitting your stride or not? RODNEY CHILDERS: You know, I would like to say that we're always hitting our stride, but obviously we're not. At the 600 we didn't have a good car at all. But we finished fifth. Everybody wants to look at the finish, but we got lucky. We just need to do better. This was one of the racetracks that was kind of middle of the road on what you needed for a car, and we made a lot of changes after Charlotte, and seemed like it was the right direction today. And then I think next week at Homestead will be a big key on what we have, if we take the right kind of car, the right kind of setup and all that stuff. We're still learning every single day, every week. We never quit learning and trying to be better. You know, every race that you mess up you seem to learn something and make the next one better. If we wouldn't have run bad at the 600 we would not have changed what we changed to come here and probably not won today. You've just got to take the lumps and keep learning every day. Q. Going into Martinsville, what do you feel like with this different package you're running compared to last time is going to pay dividends, especially on a weeknight racing where you have a quick turnaround? RODNEY CHILDERS: Well, I mean, overall I have to commend everybody that's been involved with the 750 package. Behind the scenes there was so much work over the winter from NASCAR and the teams and everybody collaborating on what they thought would work and what would work for the cars and not have to change too much. You know, and all that stuff, every time something would come up, somebody would find something wrong with it. Everybody just kept working together and figured it out. Obviously going to Phoenix, it was outstanding. I don't know if you can make it better. Maybe you can make the tires a little bit softer and wear a little bit more and it may be better, but overall you look at what we did at Phoenix as an industry, you look at what we did at Bristol, those are the two 750 tracks I have to judge off of, and I never heard the word aero tight the entire weekend at either place, and last year I did at those places. That's what you're looking for for a short track. You've got to have the guys where they can race, they can turn, they can make passes. Like I said, it was a huge effort for everybody in the industry, and it has worked. I think Martinsville will be that much better. We've got less downforce. They're putting softer tires on the cars, and it's going to be a cool night race under the lights. It's probably going to be one of the more exciting and better Martinsville races that we've had in a while. Q. Earlier this week there was an announcement that confirmed that the NASCAR Cup Series would go back to the Nashville Superspeedway. You seemed to have a positive response. You always seem to enjoy going to Music City. Do you mind giving us some thoughts on making that stop next season? RODNEY CHILDERS: Yeah, you know, for being a late model guy that grew up racing at the fairgrounds a little bit, or not all the time but running the All‑Pro Series there, the All‑American 400 was a big deal for me. Going to Nashville is a big deal. But overall you look back at the history of Nashville Superspeedway when it first started, that was one of the first Busch races I went to to try to get in a Busch ride. I remember Biffle winning that day. But all the races there have been good races. I always thought that Keselowski had a little bit of advantage there. He's like Kevin at Atlanta. But he seemed to get around there good. It's smaller than just the normal 1.5‑mile racetrack. It's concrete. You're going to be able to feel every crack in it, and it's a lot flatter and no banking. The type of car that you take is going to be different than the type of car that you're going to take to a place like Charlotte, and I think it's outstanding. Just to get back to Nashville, a place that obviously did a great job for us for the awards banquet and the excitement that was downtown, hopefully we can get that excitement back going at the racetrack and bring some new fans into the sport. THE MODERATOR: Thank you again for joining us today. Congrats on the win and the present for your birthday, and we'll see you again on Wednesday in Martinsville. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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