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NASCAR GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES: LUCAS OIL 150November 6, 2020Jeff StankiewiczAvondale, Arizona THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our championship‑winning crew chief, Jeff Stankiewicz. Our very first media center interview since March, very special one. Jeff, you want to kick us off with some opening comments winning the championship on the final overtime restart. JEFF STANKIEWICZ: Yeah, we struggled all day being just too loose. At one point we were tight in the middle, loose off. Felt like we made some pretty big swings the second segment. It wasn't enough. Brett was definitely better than us at that point. As we went on, it was looser and looser. At that point with probably 10 to go, I thought that this thing is over for us. At that point even if the caution came out when it did, I didn't know we could get back to where we were. When it did come out, we had no choice. We came in and put our four on. Luckily I'd say 80% of the guys came with us. So that was good. That helped us get that buffer. We had fallen off about a second and a half over the course of that run. I felt like tires were going to be better. I just didn't know if there was enough time to do it. When it comes to restarts, I wouldn't want anybody other than Sheldon Creed driving that thing. He gets after it. He's a maniac on restarts. He gets everything you can. We've won a couple races this year because of his restarts. To see that caution come out was a relief for us. We came in, put tires on, pumped the air pressure up, didn't put any gas in it, tightened it up some more for him. I knew we were back in the game at that point. That was a nerve‑wracking last two laps, for sure. It was a nerve‑wracking race for us all in general, just having to race our teammates like we did early in the race, not being that great. When he came out, I knew we had a chance. That's all we could do at that point was give him a fighting chance. I knew he could do it. I had all the confidence in the world he could do it. THE MODERATOR: We'll go to questions. Q. How different of a driver is Sheldon between when he won the ARCA championship and today? JEFF STANKIEWICZ: Yeah, he's definitely a lot more focused. When we first started working together in ARCA, he was fast. He had a lot of speed, bouncing off walls. We sat on several poles that year, leading races. Huge leads, run it into the wall, take us out of the race. It took him a while to understand what he needed to do to win an ARCA championship. In 2018 he got focused. He understood what he needed to do and did it. I think we ran 20 races that year. We finished in the top five 18 times. That was a big accomplishment for him to do that. Then to come back and go truck racing the next year, I think he was overly confident. He didn't quite understand that the Truck Series is a whole different ballgame than the ARCA Series when it comes to the competition and drivers. It took him a while to realize even though he is really good on restarts, nobody is going to give him anything. They're going to ride on his quarter panel, they're going to block. It is probably some of the hardest racing on restarts. I think he tried to overcompensate for that a lot, got him in a lot of bad positions last year. Last year he had to go through a huge learning curve. He had to finish races. Made some mistakes, wrecked some trucks. Over this off‑season, working with Josh Wise, Josh has been an amazing help to Sheldon. He's getting more and more better with his race craft through Josh. Just everything he does as far as his physical and mental aspect of the sport, what he has to do. As he gets older, he's getting more mature. I see that just away from the racetrack. He understands what it takes. He knows there's people watching him right now. He's focused. He's trying to do the best he can. Like I said, I wouldn't want anybody else driving this truck right now. He's on his game since his first win this year. He's been tough to beat. He's mentally focused. He's not laying down. He works out every week, meets with Josh. It's a complete opposite Sheldon Creed than when I first started working with him. He's always had the speed, it's just taming the speed, getting him to understand what he needs to finish these things. He's doing a great job right now. Q. How decisive was that final call to pit? Did Sheldon initiate that? He said he had some influence. JEFF STANKIEWICZ: Well, when the caution came out, I knew we were still in the top three or four. I knew being he's so good on restarts if we lined up on the bottom, I felt that he could go to the bottom on the apron and probably clear those guys, get a lead on restart. I didn't know if our truck was good enough to hold them off for two laps. I said that if you can get the lead here, are you able to hold them off or not? I said, I don't think you are but I want to know what you think. He said, I don't think I can do it, I'm way too lose. At that point we had nothing to lose, had to pit. We were not going to win the race where we were. As soon as he said he didn't think he could hold them off, I said, Four tires. We pumped the air pressure up, didn't put any fuel in it. Tried to get him the best restart he could to get going. At that point I knew when we all had a set of tires in the pits left, I felt like half the field behind us would still come because at the same point they had nothing to lose. Not as big a buffer for the guys out front. I felt like the guys out front were going to get pretty aggressive with each other in the first corner. Once he said he didn't think he had the truck to hold them off, we had no choice but to pit. Q. Looking at the season that you and Sheldon had together, what is the most memorable moment that stands out for you? JEFF STANKIEWICZ: Well, obviously this is going to be. But leading up to this, I would say probably winning that Daytona road course. We won Kentucky a few weeks earlier due to a rain‑shortened race. We had speed in that race and put ourselves in position to win that race when the rain came. The Daytona road course is pretty special. The fact it was the first Daytona road course for us to run. It kind of put us in a position where now we've won on a mile‑and‑a‑half, we've won on a short track and we won on a road course. That makes it pretty special we've been able to win at all these tracks. That road course was pretty difficult for a lot of people. For Sheldon, he never hesitated on it from the first corner. He had speed. He knows what he's doing, it showed his patience. Really and truly just to know we beat Brett, our teammate, who is one of the best drivers in the series, he just went out there and beat Brett. Brett raced us clean. He had an opportunity to move us. The fact he beat Brett, it wasn't any type of rain‑shortened race, it was the first road course race at Daytona that for us made it very special. Q. After the final pit stop, when Sheldon could restart in either the seventh or eighth position, did you think it was going to be enough for Sheldon to gain all the spots on the final restart? JEFF STANKIEWICZ: I was thinking about a lot of things in my head. He asked, What do you think we should do here? I said, I think you need to take the bottom to open up the bottom line. I was afraid if he took the top, even if it was going to be a shorter lane for us, he was going to get trapped up top. I felt like the way he is on restarts, if he got a clear opening on the bottom, he can make some stuff happen. Yeah, I felt confident he could do it. I knew he could do it. I didn't know if there was enough time to do it. We fell off a second and a half on tires. I know it was going to be worth a lot, especially when Grant pitted earlier in the race, drove all the way back up to second. I know clean air is important, but that showed us tires are pretty important as well. The fact we had so many laps on our tires, I felt like we had the truck to beat there, but I didn't know if he had enough time to do it. I wasn't expecting him to be four, five, six wide on the bottom. I haven't seen a replay yet. I know he was on the bottom kicking up dust. I watched him go off into four at one time, the back end stepped out from under him, he was still passing people. I was confident we could do it, I just didn't know if we had enough time, but he made it happen. Q. On the subject of the tires call, the 98 had taken new tires earlier. He managed to make his way up through the field. Had you taken any note of what Enfinger's team had done? Did that influence your ultimate decision? JEFF STANKIEWICZ: Yeah, it did. I mean, I would say even if he didn't do that, we were still going to take tires at that point because we really had no choice. But, yes, my engineer and myself were talking about it when he pitted. I didn't realize he pitted at first until I saw a replay on TV of them working on something. I saw he restarted around 12th or 10th. I actually got off the box and went to the computer and highlighted his car number on our timing and scoring so we could monitor to see how fast he made it. At that point we were looking at if the stage had got split to where the caution come out with roughly 30 laps to go, was it going to be worth taking tires or better to keep the track position. We saw him get all the way up to fourth, fifth, passed everybody, got up to second, it's a no‑brainer now. If the caution come out with 20 or 15 to go, I felt like we were going to pit regardless. I feel like the whole field would have pitted at that point with that many laps left. Yes, we were monitoring what he did. THE MODERATOR: Jeff, congratulations again. Thanks for your time. Enjoy the rest of the night and the off‑season. JEFF STANKIEWICZ: Thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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