What are your thoughts on racing at Texas Motor Speedway?
“I’m excited. It’s a new surface that no one has run on, so it’s going to be a new challenge. It evens the playing field a bit. I think our team has shown a lot of speed in the last couple of weeks, so I think we’ll have a strong Haas Automation Ford Mustang.”
Your best result at Texas is a ninth-place finish in the fall 2016 Truck Series race. Being at Stewart-Haas Racing and driving a new Haas Automation Ford Mustang, what are your expectations?
“Well, we easily had a top-five car in Fontana. If we could run in the top-five this weekend, I think it’ll be a huge thing for us. We’re still focusing on having solid days and trying to see if we can get some consistency going, but we’re looking forward to getting some good runs. With the resources we have from Ford and the support they’ve given us, we’re confident going into Texas that we can place well.”
This is your second of four races with teammate Kevin Harvick. What are your thoughts on having a teammate on track?
“It will be huge having Kevin. He’s helped me immensely in the past few weeks with notes to have and things I need to think about going into each race. We’ll have another car to bounce things off since it’s a new track and he’s probably going to figure the place out fast because he’s one of the best.”
Tony Stewart holds the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying lap record at Texas and won Cup Series races there in 2006 and 2011. Will you also look to him for advice?
“I try to lean on Tony as much as I can. He’s been a huge help because he’s been at the track trying to give me advice, especially about communication. It’s been awesome having Tony around. He’s had a lot of success there, so I’m sure I’ll benefit from him.”
How will the new track surface affect the racing?
“I think everybody liked the old surface because it was so worn out, you could move around and tires were a big deal. This year, we’ll just have to figure out the track and try to see where we need to be and what we need to do. I’m sure it’s going to be an edgy track because of the new pavement. It’ll be a challenge, but I’m confident we can accomplish what we want.” |