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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: ALERT TODAY FLORIDA 300February 21, 2015Seth BarbourRyan ReedJack RoushDAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: We've been joined by our race winning team. Ryan, I think you had one of the best Victory Lane interviews that I have ever seen, but a lot of emotion when you got out of the car. Talk a little bit about this win, what it truly means to not only win your first NASCAR XFINITY race, but to win it at Daytona. RYAN REED: First of all, thoughts and prayers go out to Kyle. I heard he was hurt in some way. Hope he's doing okay. But, yeah, I mean, it was amazing. Can't describe the emotions and the feelings that go into the first win. I mean, so much hard work and so much sacrifice, Seth, Jack, everyone who stood behind me. Like I said, to be standing in Victory Lane, to be diagnosed four years ago with Type I diabetes, to have Lilly, the American Diabetes Association, Ford, Roush, everyone who stood behind me through it all, to get our first win at Daytona, get the first XFINITY win, just a lot of firsts there and it's really exciting. THE MODERATOR: Seth, from your perspective, talk a little bit about the race itself, how it unfolded, coming home with the victory with Ryan. SETH BARBOUR: Our cars at Roush on the XFINITY side have been fast for a number of years now. It was fast again today. The goal was to get it up front and keep it up front. The pit crew did a nice job on the final stop coming out towards the front. Ryan did a great job on the restarts keeping it up front. Like I said, the goal was to get it out front and keep it up front all day. Ryan, the pit crew, and Joel Edmonds, the spotter, did a great job with that. THE MODERATOR: Jack, you stuck with Ryan last year through his rookie season. Talk about this win. JACK ROUSH: First of all, I can't say how excited I am to be here for the first. I'm going to sit down and make myself a list of all the firsts. I understand it's the first XFINITY race we won at Daytona with a car like this. So that means a lot. But to be here with Ryan and Seth, XFINITY, for their first event, is just a wonderful thing. The guys worked hard. Of course, everybody involved with NASCAR works hard all winter to get ready for the season. But we've had good speedway cars for a number of years, like Seth said. To be able to close the deal and finish 1‑2 tonight is really satisfying. It will be a happy shop in North Carolina on Monday when we're able to celebrate this as a crew. THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions. Q. After last year, the ups and downs, not only to win Daytona, but just to win and start the season, what confidence does that give you? Jack, what does it mean to you to be able to celebrate with him after what happened in 2014? RYAN REED: I mean, it's no secret. We had some challenges last year. My rookie year didn't go as smooth as we wanted it to. Some kids come out of the gate strong and win races, do great their rookie year. Others have challenges along the way. I'm perfectly fine with standing up and saying I struggled in some areas. I'm still probably going to struggle in some areas. Seth did a great job over the off‑season keeping me a lot more prepared, involved, being more organized. I think that's what it takes. Those little things at the shop go a long way. All the preparation that goes in before the race. We did a dozen little things that added up to a lot this week. I think we're going to see that throughout the year. I think also, too, we've made a lot of changes over at Roush Fenway. I can't thank everyone enough for the hard work because there was a ton of hard work the guys put in over at the shop. I can't thank them enough. Roush‑Yates, everyone who played a part in this deserves a lot of credit. JACK ROUSH: Ryan certainly deserves this. He's a role model for a whole generation of Americans that have got some kind of a health challenge, the Type I diabetes is something that he's overcome. He's extraordinarily talented. He demonstrated his ability the first time we put him in a racecar at Richmond a couple years ago. It's nice to be here with him when he realizes his first success on the racetrack, it's wonderful. I can't say enough how I empathize with the family for their sacrifice and their efforts to help Ryan get to where he could do what he did tonight. Q. Ryan, talk about what an inspiration Charlie Kimball has been to you in the past. He's actually won here as well. Talk about that and how much love you have to go around for the entire team. RYAN REED: Yeah, start off with Charlie. He was a big part of my, you know, first experience with diabetes when I got diagnosed. The doctor told me I wouldn't race anymore. Told me that diabetes was going to keep me from that. I didn't know what diabetes was. I didn't understand why it was going to keep me from racing. I went back and did some research on diabetes and athletes that were still competing with diabetes. Obviously I'm going to research more on the motorsports side of sports. I saw Charlie's story. Talked about his doctor. Anne Peters, who was in Southern California. Two hours away from where I grew up in Bakersfield, California. I called her. Right off the bat, Charlie was a part of my story right whenever I was diagnosed. It's pretty cool. To win here, and Charlie win here, I think it's a special place to motorsports, so it's always a great feeling to win here. You mentioned my love for the guys. I think over the radio I said, I love you, to all my guys 15 or 20 times just screaming. It was a lot of emotion. Yeah, I can't thank those guys enough. They pulled out a few backups last year, worked some extra hours for my wrongdoing, so I appreciate all the hard work. This makes it all worth it. Q. Seth, what do you think is the biggest improvement Roush Fenway Racing has helped you achieve that made it possible for your driver to contend and win this race? SETH BARBOUR: Well, like I said in the beginning, our speedway program has always been great at Roush Fenway Racing. I worked as an engineer under Mike Kelley for eight years. He's always done a great job on the speedway program. I owe a lot to him for being here today. Like I said, the speedway cars have been great. That's a credit to everybody back in the shop. A lot of the guys in the shop have hands in it. Anytime you win a speedway race, it's hats off to the guys back in the shop. JACK ROUSH: We should give credit to Ford Motor Company because they've given us a lot of wind tunnel time and other things that have been beneficial to us with the dedication of resources from Dearborn. Q. I'm curious as to whether or not you're concerned about the lack of SAFER barriers both here and at other racetracks. JACK ROUSH: That sounds like a loaded question. Whenever somebody hits a barrier, a mound that's not a SAFER barrier, you always think an injury could have been avoided. NASCAR and the racetracks have done a great job with the research that was done with the university that was done out west to define the space for the racetracks that will limit injuries. It's unfortunate that Kyle hit an area. Probably the first time anybody ever wrecked in that particular space there. Certainly racetracks are not without risk. Drivers have to face the problem of having something happen that somebody hadn't planned for. It's unfortunate when that does occur. I can't speak for Ryan and the other drivers, but in terms of seeing the progress that's been made in making the racetracks safer, there's been tremendous progress made in the last 28 years that I've been involved. I certainly compliment NASCAR and the industry behind NASCAR that's accomplished those safety improvements. RYAN REED: I'll second that. I think Jack pretty much hit the nail on the head. NASCAR has done a lot to keep us safe. We've seen and improved safety. They'll go back and take a look at this. If there's an area that can be improved on, they'll improve on it. We hate to see anybody hurt. Like I said, thoughts and prayers go out. Q. Ryan, go into more depth on your diagnosis. Was it more than just research and a second opinion that made you realize you could get over it? What did you have to do to continue to race? RYAN REED: Definitely didn't get over it, per se. I found an amazing doctor, Anne Peters, who stood up and told me, We're going to make this happen. She worked closely with NASCAR. It wasn't an overnight process at all. She taught me a lot about diabetes. Helped me understand the disease, what goes a lot into managing the disease. This isn't something that the doctor can be around for 24/7. You have to manage on your own. It's awesome to have a doctor who cares that much and be involved. If I get sick at the racetrack, I can call her on the phone, she'll talk with me for hours to do what I need to do to get better, make sure my blood sugar is what it needs to be. Overall I contribute a lot to her. I thank my family for keeping me positive. Those were some of the darkest days in my life thinking I'd never be back in a racecar. So they were there to support me through it all. Also working with Lilly Diabetes and the American Diabetes Association, getting back with the Drive to Stop Diabetes program, I feel like if I wouldn't have had that diagnosis, wouldn't have been told I couldn't, I may not have taken it so seriously and gotten involved to the level I've gotten involved today. I try to look at the silver lining. I think we've accomplished a lot through a tough situation. Q. Several years ago you went to Martinsville and qualified at the end of the race and shocked a lot of people that were surprised because you weren't that fast in practice. How did that experience set you up to succeed in the pressure cooker situation you're in now in the XFINITY Series? RYAN REED: If you look at my stats, I didn't run a ton of late model races, K&N, ARCA. I didn't have some of the seat time that I feel some of the other guys had. You haven't been exposed to some of those situations. You talk about Martinsville. That was a really cool race for me. I went up to the top of the hauler, 80 cars trying to qualify. I watched Phil Morris. It clicked. If you can run 30, 40 races a year, great, things are going to click at one time or another. If you're running 12 races a year, it takes longer for those things to click. A lot clicked last year. I found speed. There were areas that I need to improve on. But things started to click at the end of the year. We found speed. I'm really confident. This sport is so much based on confidence. This is such a great way to do that, kickoff the season with a ton of confidence, get all the guys fired up. Just a great way to start the year. Like you mentioned, as a racecar driver, you have to instinctually know what to do when you get in situations, whether it's the backstretch at Daytona with a run on the leader at the white flag, or you're in a bad situation where you can see a wreck forming. Those things are just forming, those are instincts you have to develop. If you don't, you can't think in a situation. You can't think about it, you just have to react. A lot of things I never experienced last year, and I really think it's going to help me this year. THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, again, to all three of you on the victory today. Ryan, you officially lead the NASCAR XFINITY points by four points leading into Atlanta next weekend. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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