Saturday, September 12, 2020

Hendrick Motorsports quotes for Richmond Raceway

Driver Chase Elliott on the pressure of the playoffs:
“I think the pressure of being in the playoffs is a good thing. You just have to embrace it and recognize that you’d much rather be in the position of having a chance than not. It’s a good opportunity and we can turn that into motivation to try to do better.”

Elliott on the Round of 16:
“It is great that we are going to short tracks to kick off the playoffs. I think this first round is three exciting tracks. Darlington didn’t end like we had hoped, but we will move on to Richmond and Bristol. Richmond hasn’t been the best for me and the No. 9 team but hopefully this go around will be a little bit better.”

Crew chief Alan Gustafson on the playoffs:
“Our team is going to focus on doing everything that we can do. In the playoffs, it’s a lot of late hours and you just do everything that you can do to make sure you’re in the best position you can possibly be in. In the playoffs, every race could be your last so you have to treat it that way and that’s how we go about it. Just try to get everything out of the team and the cars. If we do that, I think we will be successful. Ultimately, you can’t be too over-concerned or you can’t let fear paralyze you. You can’t let the pressure get to you or impact your decision-making process of what you are going to do. You still have races to win. You bring your A-game and put as much effort into the 10 races as you can and put yourself in the best position that you can.”


Driver William Byron on the challenges at Richmond:
“Richmond is a difficult track. It’s pretty slow in the middle of the corner and that’s what makes it interesting and a challenge at the same time. You’re fighting for front grip and also rear grip on the exit of the corners. It’s all about getting the car pointed in the right direction and driving straight off the corner. Richmond has very normal characteristics for a short track, but at the same time it’s a lot slicker than a lot of places we go. I think with the race being at night, the biggest thing will be keeping up with the track changes.”


Driver Jimmie Johnson on racing at Richmond:
“I’ve kind of had a love-hate relationship with Richmond over the years. Yes, we have three wins, but I just remember the pressure of that race every year. Richmond was historically the transfer race into the playoffs and I just remember always being super nervous there. It never was one of my better tracks – it’s always been just a scrappy, tough track to figure out. We have shown improvement there lately, so I am looking forward to Saturday night under the lights.”


Driver Alex Bowman on keeping the No. 88 team’s momentum going at Richmond:

“We have struggled at Richmond in the past. The last three weeks have been pretty good to us and we have some momentum going into this weekend’s race. We had as strong run in Darlington last weekend and are sitting in a good spot in the playoff standings. As a team, we have to go into Richmond and capitalize on stage points and keeping the car clean. This ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero team have been working hard on our short-track program and I know that we are capable of having a strong race on Saturday night.”

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