THE MODERATOR: We\u2019re now joined by our race-winning crew chief, James Small, and our owner, Coach Gibbs.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll open it up for questions.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0James, we know about Martin Truex\u2019s futility on superspeedway races. We know about Chase\u2019s. You as a crew chief have never won one of these races either. What is it like to check that box?<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: Yeah, absolutely amazing. To do it in the Round of 8, check our ticket to Phoenix, is just amazing.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve had fast cars in the past, but usually luck has evaded us. Today everything kind of came together. Kind of stepped on our pee-pees there at the end of stage one. Bounced back and won that stage, and just amazing.<\/p>\n
Couldn\u2019t do this without your teammates, like Ty at the end was just incredible, what he did to help us. So thankful to him.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0What did you step on?<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: I didn\u2019t step on it. Chase did (smiling).<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0Now you\u2019re going to Phoenix. What does that feel like, to make that statement?<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: No, really good \u2019cause guys like Bob over there still don\u2019t give us credit (smiling).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a hell of a year. Every week I think we\u2019re still just getting better and better. Chase has grown a lot. He had a lot of pressure on him. We asked a lot of him.<\/p>\n
As I said a million times before, he\u2019s done everything we\u2019ve asked and then some. Credit to him for pushing himself. But yeah, we just got such great people. Had new people on the team as well. Everybody has gelled really well. This is the most fun I\u2019ve ever had racing. Just a great group of people. Just very thankful.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0Coach, when you guys make all the changes at the organizational level you\u2019ve made this year, typically there\u2019s a patience period. To have possibly three cars in the final four, if it shakes out that way, are you surprised?<\/p>\n
JOE GIBBS: I think definitely. I mean, if you think about Chase and James getting together, first year together, you just don\u2019t think about that or think that that could happen.<\/p>\n
All the poles, the fact they\u2019ve run so well. To be here, have a chance to win\u2026 James deserves credit and Chase deserves a ton of credit. Then the team. James would be the first to tell you he\u2019s got a great team. Really put together. Pit crew. I mean, we got great people.<\/p>\n
You win with people. I\u2019m so happy for everybody back at our race shop. I wish they could have been here today. Hey, it\u2019s just a thrill for us to be in Talladega. We love this place. Love to get a chance to come here and race. It\u2019s just a big deal for us all the way around.<\/p>\n
For our organization, today was just a huge day. I appreciated the fact that Christopher was able to get everything done that he needed to get done there. Ty helping Chase was a big deal. Toyota, our partner, you just can\u2019t say enough about them and what we\u2019ve done together. Just really appreciate it. It\u2019s a total team effort.<\/p>\n
As you know, in this sport it takes a lot. You got Toyota, everybody back home, the sponsors that work together. Johnny Morris being in the winner\u2019s circle, I can\u2019t tell you what that means to us.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0James, I was talking to Gabehart, and he said obviously Chase insinuated that if I can\u2019t win and race for a championship with JGR, I need to find something else to do. He said you felt up against the wall, too. Did you feel that way about yourself, that you had something to prove this year with Chase?<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: Yeah, big-time. I know I\u2019m not immune to the fact that people like to question. When we have years like last year, so close to winning many races, but we didn\u2019t win any. People have very short memories of the success we had before. It was a little bit of a roller coaster when you look through \u201921 to \u201922 to \u201923 to \u201924.<\/p>\n
I never lost belief in myself or my team. I always had the support of everybody back at JGR. I knew if we had this opportunity, it was going to take a little bit, but we were going to be a force to be reckoned with. I think you\u2019ve seen that since Kansas, Charlotte. We\u2019re consistently, in my opinion, the best team in the series. We scored more points than anybody, more poles, had the most points in the Playoffs here. Now we\u2019re going to Phoenix.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thankful, we have the best people working on our team. We have the greatest people back at JGR. It\u2019s just a pleasure to be able to represent them.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0James, you mentioned the pressure that Chase Briscoe was under stepping into the 19 car. As Chase has responded to that pressure and developed into a Championship 4 driver, how have you noticed he\u2019s similar to Martin Truex Jr., and how is he different than Martin was?<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: They couldn\u2019t be more different if they tried (smiling). Just very, very different people. Very different demeanors.<\/p>\n
The closest thing is they both like fishing and hunting. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0Today was special winning it, but what makes Talladega so special even off the track, in your experience?<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: To me this is the most NASCAR race, especially coming from a long way away, coming here. I always say to everybody, You\u2019ve got to go to Talladega. Like the Boulevard, the fans here, the atmosphere. The American flag is just unbelievable. It\u2019s just a special place.<\/p>\n
This place especially means a lot to somebody like Johnny Morris. He loves coming here. It\u2019s his favorite track. To win here and have him in Victory Lane is incredible.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0Coach, about a month ago you had some controversy internally with how Denny and Christopher didn\u2019t like the way Ty was racing them at New Hampshire. Some internal discussions had to be had. Today you had Ty push Chase to this victory. Chase credited Ty for it. What did you need to do as the team leader to step in and say, Hey, these are my expectations?<\/p>\n
JOE GIBBS: It\u2019s such a competitive world, kind of used to it in football, you get it, but over here we got four teams. The challenge is always trying to get them to work together. If you think about it, each driver has their own career, they got their own sponsor. It becomes extremely competitive.<\/p>\n
Sometimes you wind up with issues like that. The bottom line is we\u2019re pretty good here I think about working our way through \u2019em. That\u2019s part of sports. Guys are very competitive and want to make it happen. At different times you may have issues that you got to deal with.<\/p>\n
Certainly was proud of Ty today pushing Chase. That was great.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0James, Briscoe was the only driver among the eight who hadn\u2019t been to the Championship 4 before. Does he handle himself like a Championship 4 driver, or is there \u2014 I don\u2019t want to say naivete, but just more joy in him because he hasn\u2019t done this before until today?<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: I think Chase, nothing fazes him. His personality. He\u2019s cool under pressure. He\u2019s a weird dude. I\u2019ve never met anybody like him.<\/p>\n
To be a race car driver, that\u2019s a great quality to have. For him, it\u2019s going to be a great experience.<\/p>\n
I just expect him to treat it like another race. There\u2019s not really any added extra pressure, in my opinion. We just got to go out there and try to win the race. Try to do the same thing we do every week. It\u2019s all going to be about the preparation, putting the work in, making sure we go there with all our ducks in a row.<\/p>\n
I have full faith that he has the ability to do it, and the occasion won\u2019t be too much for him at all.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0Martin is a weirdo, too. Do they just give you the weirdos?<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: I guess. But they\u2019re both differently weird (smiling).<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0After the problem at New Hampshire, obviously Ty, his team cred must really be there. It must be a good team meeting tomorrow. You have two drivers in the Finals. What is that meeting going to be like tomorrow? Got to be a good one.<\/p>\n
JOE GIBBS: I sure hope it\u2019s going to be a good one. You\u2019re right, our sport, it\u2019s very challenging. One of the things I love about it, normal football, basketball and baseball, you get one team to deal with. Over here, the challenge is you got four.<\/p>\n
Back at our complex, we try to work together to solve problems. But obviously when you get to the racetrack, it is really hard. It\u2019s hard to get four drivers, four crew chiefs, all are after it wanting to win. So it\u2019s hard to get them to work together.<\/p>\n
Sometimes you see the great part of teamwork, somebody really working to help somebody else have a chance to win.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0Coach, Gabehart, obviously Denny was not pleased when he was moved. You did it for the good of the organization. Do you feel this year has shown why you did that? Is that working out as well as you intended?<\/p>\n
JOE GIBBS: Yeah, I think for us, it\u2019s interesting, it\u2019s not one person ever doing it. It\u2019s a group. All of our people that are our management group make decisions. That was a tough one. There was a lot to go through there.<\/p>\n
Chris was in that, too, because he had opportunities to go other places. Could he go to the 11, and would Denny be happy with that? Could they work together? That couldn\u2019t have worked out better.<\/p>\n
It was \u2014 again, I just emphasize, it was great people working through that. Denny, that was not something that was easy for him, but he worked his way through it. Chris did the same thing.<\/p>\n
Then Chris Gabehart moving up also has filled that role for us. It was people, you know, looking at it. A group made the decision. Then people followed through. It\u2019s one of those things in an organization.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t easy, I\u2019ll put it that way. But I couldn\u2019t be more pleased with what\u2019s happened.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0You didn\u2019t know you were getting Chase Briscoe, Final 4 driver, multi-race winner. Maybe you thought the potential was there, but nobody really knew yet. He had to prove himself. At what point had you seen enough from him that he was going to be able to keep his job going forward?<\/p>\n
JOE GIBBS: I think when you start showing that you\u2019re on the pole a bunch and you got real speed, okay? He was kind of getting a lot out of the car, he and James. I just think it was gradual. You start seeing it. After a while I know everybody here, the thing that you look for in drivers is speed. Certainly he\u2019s got it.<\/p>\n
Yeah, I think it was just a process of working through it. But you start to see a pole, second pole, third, fourth, fifth. After a while you start to say, Hey, this is something special.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0Coach, Briscoe still races and admits he feels like he\u2019s still auditioning on a weekly basis. Do you reassure him now and give him a 10-year contract or\u2026<\/p>\n
JOE GIBBS: You shouldn\u2019t have brought that up. Okay? Do not suggest 10-year contracts (laughter).<\/p>\n
I think right now he can get anything he wants. I\u2019ll put it that way.<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: You have to keep him on the edge. You got to keep him hungry.<\/p>\n
JOE GIBBS: Anyway, look, I think when you see something like this, James and Chase, you just say to yourself, This is hard to do, so ride this. This is what we want to do going forward for a long time. I\u2019ll just put it that way.<\/p>\n
Q.\u00a0James, yesterday Chase said he\u2019s not driving any differently this year, doing anything differently. Maybe it looks like that way because the cars are faster. From your point of view, what do you see from him as a driver? How reassured are you that you know you\u2019re going to get what you need from him on the racetrack? I\u2019m assuming there\u2019s no questioning that he\u2019s doing everything he needs to do.<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: It\u2019s still a weekly process. I disagree with him that he\u2019s driving the same, but\u2026<\/p>\n
There\u2019s things we work on every week to just try and get him out of bad habits, help him be better. Just many things I don\u2019t think people have focused on him before on how to make speed.<\/p>\n
He listens to everything. He\u2019s done an exceptional job of taking it all on board and getting better. A lot of it is also him getting accustomed to our cars, getting more of a feel, especially on the bigger tracks. That took some time.<\/p>\n
I think he feels at home now in the cockpit. He knows what we\u2019re after, what we need him to drive like, all of that. Yeah, it\u2019s finally started to mesh. We\u2019re still not at our full potential I don\u2019t think.<\/p>\n
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you for your time.<\/p>\n
JOE GIBBS: Thank y\u2019all. Appreciate it.<\/p>\n
JAMES SMALL: Thank you.<\/p>\n
NASCAR PR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE MODERATOR: We\u2019re now joined by our race-winning crew chief, James Small, and our owner, Coach Gibbs. We\u2019ll…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,717,10660,13157,634,36714,582,721,1704,82,926],"class_list":{"0":"post-226185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-charlotte","11":"tag-chase","12":"tag-group","13":"tag-nascar","14":"tag-race-car","15":"tag-racing","16":"tag-series","17":"tag-speed","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-toyota"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}