NASCAR CUP SERIES: COOK OUT CLASH AT BOWMAN GRAY

February 2, 2025

Jeff Andrews

Alan Gustafson

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We'll now have Alan Gustafson and Jeff Andrews joining us from the race-winning team. We'll start with questions.

Q. Alan, what did you feel was the challenge of getting Chase's car to work on a very flat, tight quarter mile that the Cup Series doesn't run on?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: I think there's a lot of challenges. The first thing for us was the unknown. You really had no idea of the surface and how the cars would drive, the SAFER barriers that were added. Yeah, we hadn't been on a track like this ever with this car, for sure.

Yeah, the tire, we know the tire, but obviously we don't know it here. That's the biggest challenge right away, is just the unknowns, not having any track time or any experience. We just had to work back from that.

Super proud of everybody at HMS, being able to do the best job that we could simulating this place and trying to get as much information as we could and come here and unload well. Ultimately the sequence is really quick and short. If you weren't very good from the get-go, you're not going to have much chance to get there.

Yeah, a lot of work went on in the shop. Super happy with how it all turned out.

Q. Is there something fitting given that Hendrick Motorsports is the current era top team in NASCAR of being able to add Mr. Hendrick to the winner's list at a place like Bowman Gray?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I mean, maybe that's a better question for you guys. For me, anytime that we unload and our Hendrick Chevrolets, our focus is to win. I think we typically have the opportunity to do that. This is no different.

It's a place that's steeped in history in NASCAR, has been around for a long time, is really unique. There's nothing else like it. There's nothing else like it surface-wise, there's nothing else like it facility-wise, there's nothing else like it from the fan base.

Yeah, it's cool and it's something we feel real fortunate and blessed to win here. Yeah, definitely appreciate that opportunity.

Q. Alan, you look back to last year. Your team had the best average finish across the series. When you look back to last year, do you look at that as a success or the other numbers that maybe weren't to the level you want?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I mean, there's always something. Even if you win a race or you succeed like tonight, there's going to be some things when we go back and say, Hey, we could have done this better, should have done this better, shouldn't have got passed by Denny, et cetera, et cetera. I think you're always critiquing yourself, trying to get better, trying to improve.

I thought last year was a really good step for us to getting back to the form we want to be in, and that's winning championships and being in the Final 4. The Round of 8, I was super proud and pleased with that performance, where the team was, how we competed. Just didn't work out. That happens sometimes.

The average finish is nice, you want that consistency, but we want to win more races. All in all, I felt like last year was successful. I think as long as you're moving forward and continuously improving, if you can do that, you're going to get where you want to be. I felt like last year that was the case. We got better from the previous year, kind of got better throughout the whole season.

I would say in my opinion maybe not in all the metrics last year wasn't a success, but overall it was for me.

Q. Big picture this year, is there anything you pull from this, sets you up for success going forward?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty sure everyone wanted to win who was here (smiling). The fact is that we did, so we're pleased with that. Doesn't pay any points, doesn't pay any bonus points. We certainly understand that.

I think it's just some validation to we all tried to come here and win, we all tried to come here and be successful, and we were able to. Gives you validation in your process, validation in how your team is operating and working. Certainly I think it's going to give Chase some confidence and validation seeing he did an amazing job to win the race. Basically did everything right.

Those are all good things. How far is that going to carry you? Not till you get to Daytona, right, you unload and have to do it all over again.

Of all the things that could have happened for us this weekend, it all went well. Does that mean anything past that? No. I would rather have that than anything else.

Q. Jeff, from an organizational standpoint, how did the weekend go for you? Things that need to be improved on? Do you want to come back here again?

JEFF ANDREWS: Hats off to NASCAR, putting this together, the track, the facility, the fans. Thanks to our fans who came out. What a great venue in my opinion, our opinion. Certainly a lot of obstacles to overcome when you're trying to work in an area this small or much smaller than we're used to.

I think the teams and NASCAR did a great job here for the first time. Certainly we have some experience of going to some venues we've not been to before and trying different things for the sport.

Yeah, I think obviously we won the race, fortunate for that. As a team, this is a culmination of an off-season. Mr. Hendrick started us off this past Wednesday at our season kickoff luncheon with 'Thrive in '25. That is our motto. That's a great way to start 2025 off, thriving in '25, with the win here tonight.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for coming in.