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NASCAR CUP SERIES: AUTOTRADER ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE 500October 28, 2020Adam SaalFort Worth, Texas THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by our race‑winning crew chief, Adam Stevens. How does it feel to finally get that win this season? ADAM STEVENS: Good. I had to get directions to get over here. I forgot where it was. But yeah, it's a big relief. It's been a bit of a struggle this year, and have had some good runs but just haven't been able to capitalize and finally were able to do that tonight. Q. We've heard a lot from Kyle about what winning means to him and the frustrations he's had this season. For you leading this team, what's it been like for you going through this? ADAM STEVENS: It hasn't been a lot of fun, to be honest with you. Like I mentioned, just seems like whenever we do have a good car or have a chance to be in the mix, we just haven't been able to capitalize at all, just issues on top of issues, and after a while it'll wear you down, knowing that the potential of the team is always there. We've certainly had some bad runs, but we haven't had as many as the record would show. We've had a lot of DNFs for various reasons, and just when we get those good cars we just haven't been able to capitalize, and just an odd year in that regard. You know, you don't want to break a streak like KB has got going, certainly not on my watch. And especially when we have all the tools to do what we need to do and have been so close so many times. It's nice to finally kind of dot that I and cross that T and make it happen. Q. What have the conversations been like with Kyle through this? ADAM STEVENS: Depends on the week. You know, just trying to identify our deficiencies and build on the improvements that we have made. So you know, some of them have been pleasant, some of them haven't been as pleasant as the conversation you and I are having right now, but they all need to happen. It's been fair, and they've all been factual, and I think we've done a good job of really keeping our focus through this year that's been a little bit more trying than what we're used to. But maybe this is a sign of better things to come. Q. Just kind of curious, how much has the 18 team been hurt by not being able to practice, because that really seemed throughout the course of your history with Kyle has been where you guys have been able to dial it in. You haven't always been 100 percent off the truck, but it seems like at least by Sunday when Sunday rolls around you guys are on top of things? ADAM STEVENS: I mean, I think certainly early in the season that was a major factor. As the season has progressed, it's become less and less of a factor, but it's because we've had to adjust how we do business. Like you mentioned, that was a big part of our program, getting an intimate understanding of the car through practice. I'm not saying it's not a big part of everybody's program, but that was certainly a leg on our stool, and that was taken away from us. We probably didn't do the best job adjusting to that right off the bat, and on top of that, I think our program was a little behind to start the year and kind of just got off on the wrong foot with those two things, and slowly kind of righted the ship, getting our cars better, and internally adjusting our program to this new reality. I think it was certainly a factor. Probably more for us at the beginning of the year. As the weeks and months went by, it was less and less of a factor. Certainly at this point in time it has no bearing on the weekends. Q. Kyle also questioned whether or not your simulation was as solid as what Ford has been using because it doesn't seem like Kevin Harvick ‑‑ I mean, tonight wasn't a great night for them, but he had damage going into today. He just seemed to indicate in other discussions with us that perhaps simulation isn't where it needs to be for you guys to be able to‑‑ you talk about tools, that that might be something that's missing in your arsenal. ADAM STEVENS: I wouldn't say that I would necessarily agree with that. For one, I don't know what any other manufacturer has. All simulations inherently have their limitations. They're only as good as the data that you feed into them, and there's certainly been weekends where some of the assumptions we've made have been further off than maybe reality, and that's factored into some sub‑par decisions, but that's no different than any other race team has. I think that the capability of the tools is no question as good as anybody else's, if not better, so it's up to us to use them in the right way. But if you would lump that into saying that we're behind, I think that's a bit of a disservice to the facts. Q. How much do you feel like you and Kyle have needed this type of win, one where maybe you both had to work together to get it done? ADAM STEVENS: Well, I think we needed any type of win. I take them as they come, that's for sure. But I do feel like we had the best car today, looking at the lap times as a whole. Once we broke free from traffic‑‑ I don't remember when it was, before halfway, we definitely really picked up the lap times. We had the speed that we needed. We did have to adjust a little bit but not much. So you know, we were close off the truck, which is good, and adjusting to these ever‑changing weather conditions. When all of us loaded our cars on Wednesday or Thursday or whatever day we loaded, Friday morning, the forecast was entirely different than the conditions that we were racing in. We all had to probably scramble a little bit, all the teams did, trying to adjust from what we thought was going to be 70 plus degrees and then actually racing in barely 40 degrees out there. So yeah, it was a fun weekend, and lots of bonding time with the fellows, lots of downtime. That was kind of funny. But it was good to feel like we put the best car on the track and then brought the trophy home. Q. You know how this industry is. If Kyle Busch doesn't win in 33 races, people are wondering is he starting to tune out his crew chief and are they as effective as possible. I'm curious if you have had any doubts of yourself and your effectiveness continuing on with Kyle. ADAM STEVENS: I mean, I don't feel like I'm being honest if I say no. So you know, there are things that you think about certainly when you're not performing at the level that you expect yourself to perform and expect your team to perform, and you question those things. You know, that stuff creeps in there, but you have to go back and look at all the pieces of the puzzle, and when you realize that you have the pieces, you know what the pieces should be, and that you are doing the right things, and you can point to it when it goes right and you can point to it when it goes wrong. I think it's a little bit easier to swallow, you just have to keep your wits about you and keep focused on doing the right stuff. Q. Can you give me a sense of perspective, please. Obviously you played a big role in today's race, and I'm just curious looking at the next two races what kind of an impact can a crew chief realistically have in determining the race, especially when you look at the playoff teams? Obviously there's some teams that need to win, desperate situations, obviously, then Phoenix; there's a lot there. I'm curious how much of an impact a crew chief can make in any of the last two races, and can a crew chief have more impact at Phoenix than they did at Homestead or not as much? ADAM STEVENS: Ooh, well, I think the thing about Homestead is that the tire degradation is so high, it really takes tire strategy out of the equation, other than burning through your sets too quick if you get a bunch of cautions. But generally anytime you pit you're going to want to put four tires on it. And Phoenix maybe not that way. As the cautions fall, you can see some people do some tricky things with pit strategy. We've only seen this rules package with this tire combination once at Phoenix, so we're all still trying to learn that. To feel like we know how that race is going to play out is probably pretty foolish at this time, but there's definitely more opportunities for pit strategy there than there would be at a Martinsville or a Homestead. Q. So what kind of a role can a crew chief have at Martinsville then this weekend? ADAM STEVENS: Well, we're responsible for the preparation and performance of the car and the team, so just as big of an effect as any other place. You know, that's where we do our work, that's what we get paid to do, so we're in charge, and we're going to see how it goes. Q. Obviously Kyle had mentioned a few weeks ago that there's going to have to be changes on the 18 team; do you think that you'll return next year with the 18? ADAM STEVENS: I don't know, we haven't really had those discussions. You know, I'm sure that we will have those type of discussions in the near future and see how it plays out. I know that I have a home at Joe Gibbs Racing and that's most important, but this is a performance business, and we need a lot more nights like tonight, a lot more like what we're used to having. We'll have those conversations here shortly I'm sure. Q. We saw there after Kyle took the checkers you on the pit box just kind of lean back almost like a weight‑off‑your‑shoulders sigh of relief. Was that more the fact that he was able to make it on fuel or the fact that you ended this losing streak and finally got him back to Victory Lane, and have you ever had a situation in your career where you felt that much pressure and trying to get him to win? ADAM STEVENS: You know, I didn't really feel the pressure. You know, we have the tools to win at our disposal every single week. But having said that, I wanted to win, and I feel horrible when we don't win last week and I'll feel horrible if we don't win next week. It was just a matter of everything coming together this time and everybody doing a good job. I think the relief largely that you saw probably was the fuel situation because when we chose not to pit at the stage, the situation looked a lot better than what it ended up being as the lap times picked up. We had to probably work a lot harder to save some fuel when we didn't think we were going to have to work at all, but the race pace just picked up so much that everybody was burning a lot more fuel. We were cutting it a lot closer. It was more and more evident as the race was unfolding that we were cutting that closer than what we originally intended. THE MODERATOR: Adam, thank you so much for taking the time to join us, and congratulations on the win. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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