NASCAR CUP SERIES: YELLAWOOD 500

October 25, 2026

Cliff Daniels

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Cliff Daniels, crew chief of our race-winning team.

First win on a speedway for both you and Kyle. Talk about how you finally got to this point.

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I didn't know this day was going to happen. We've had a lot of strong speedway runs in the past. We were talking this week that if we stick to the plan and do what we need to do to execute for stage points, try to get ourselves up front at the end, eventually sometime it was going to work out.

Never would have expected it to work out that way off of turn two. I was convincing myself to be okay with a 13th-place finish. Off of four, sixth won't be bad. Tri-oval, third would be okay. Then we brought it home.

Glad Kyle stayed with it there at the end. A lot of hard-working effort by our team. When the seas parted, we were there.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. How confident are you feeling holding a 73-point lead with two races to go, two of your better racetracks?

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I mean, the points can swing a lot. To me the confidence factor just comes from our team. I know the work that we're going to put in.

I don't know, we've discussed this at times, there's always been this question like what is a comfortable point gap. I don't know that the Chase so far has shown some volatility. You just never know what's going to lie ahead.

We've got two more weeks we have to put in the work. Be prepared. Hopefully it all works out.

Q. What is the approach going into next week?

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I think in a lot of ways we have to make sure we're still playing offense well. There's still stage points to go get, hopefully a good finish to go get. That's really been the case every week for us. Irregardless of where we are in points, we try to prepare well, understand what it would look like to call just an offensive-type race.

If I'm remembering correctly -- we reviewed it a little bit this week -- there have been some alternate things that have worked out at Martinsville, depending on when cautions fall, pitting to flip a stage, pitting at a stage, tires are not at the end.

So there's still a lot of things we have to be aware of for how our day is going to maximize it. I think that's the mission, yeah.

Q. With this new package, what were your impressions of it?

CLIFF DANIELS: I would be really curious to hear what our drivers say tomorrow in our debrief.

From my perspective, it seemed like cars that restarted towards the back, I think of stage two and stage three really, where you could just go hard the whole time, were able to move around and get to the front quicker maybe than what the other package was. That's my thought after just what I saw play out today. We'll have time tonight and tomorrow to review it, get everybody's thoughts on the package.

Honestly I applaud NASCAR for continuing to try to just provide more energy to the cars, to be able to move around more, with the big spoiler and what we had before, just get locked down. When the pace would pick up, it was really hard to advance.

It seemed like there was more opportunity today maybe than what we've had in the past. Again, would love to hear it from our drivers' perspective. I'm all in favor to shed drag off the cars, make it harder to drive, put it more in the driver's and team's hands for car setup strategy and the way you have to manage something with a little less grip.

Q. When the three cars took off, you stayed the course, normal strategy. What was going through your mind at that moment?

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, we had some conversations early about what a situation like that could look like, somebody pitting off early and going hard. Credit to those guys, they stuck to it. They nailed it. They did it really well.

We felt like in that hypothetical situation before the race that the field would stick to what we thought the field was going to do, which was going to be save and get to around that lap 50 and lap 60.

To do it all over again, we're certainly going to go back I'm sure tonight and tomorrow and look at how to have gotten on board with that sooner, how do you defend that. But in the moment, we really didn't want to panic and put ourselves in a spot where, knowing that the Fords typically get better mileage than us, that we were going to be too penalized on what our mileage was going to be to try to make pace with that.

We played it the way we had to. Ended up close on fuel at the end for us. But it worked out.

Q. Is there any part of you that looks to next week and says let's put it away? You only need three more points on everybody.

CLIFF DANIELS: Try to do that every week, and then Phoenix showed up (smiling).

Like I mentioned before, we've got to play offense. We've got to build a fast car, do our homework going into the race. There's a lot of different things that can play out at Martinsville.

I think we've seen of ourselves that we're a top 10 capable car, and yeah, we've got to put it all together and try to do better than that. Still know there's certainly a handful of guys, like Blaney, however many years in a row he's won the fall Martinsville race. Denny is going to be strong. There's going to be a lot of guys that are strong. We need to score stage points and maximize our day.

Q. Were you with Jimmie at all in some of these times where you were -- a lot of guys haven't played this points battle. Anything you can bring from your experience when you have this type of lead with two to go?

CLIFF DANIELS: I joined with the 48 right when we went to the Playoff format. My first year on the 48 was the first year we went to the Playoff format, that Harvick won. Maybe I'm missing a year.

I was not with Jimmie and Chad during the Chase days. But just by being with Jimmie and Chad for all those years, certainly was able to see a great example of just their mindset and their approach going into the NASCAR post-season, if you want to call it that, of how to build the camaraderie within the team, how to build the culture of the team, how to set the standard for preparation, and a lot of the things you have to grind out every week, forcing yourself to push the details, yeah, push the speed of the car.

Even though I didn't live that part with them, there was still a lot of that mindset I'm confident that they brought forward. Fortunate to learn from two of the best.

Q. What was your thought process during the final lap?

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, you never know how it's going to go. Knew that we had a lot of help lined up behind us. At the end of the day, you think you may have or are in a position to have the opportunity to get a good push.

I think we just got a little loose off of two, I believe. I think the 33 really was trying to push us and move our lane forward at that point. Yeah, once we got loose, we kind of got shucked out in the middle. I kind of assumed that any shot at a top five was going to be over at that point. I wasn't sure what we can recover to.

I was really surprised at how broken up everyone got, even through three and four, especially off of four. Nobody was really that formed together. I think we were with the 41, maybe the 34 again. I can't remember. Once we started building a run, then my optimism came back the other way that it may work out okay.

Q. Back to stage one, the success of RFK's strategy in that stage, how is that going to affect how teams approach those longer stages?

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, credit to those guys. They nailed it. They had obviously done their homework. They knew the numbers they had to hit to save up to that point. They knew how much fuel they had to get in their car to make it running hard through till the end.

A lot of that, to your point, we're going to study and understand what we have to do. Chevrolets typically get a little worse mileage than the Fords. I think they had a little bit in their favor for that scenario.

But we're still going to have to study it and do our homework and be prepared for it coming back. We don't know yet what the stage links are going to look like for next year, but yeah, we've got a bit of homework to do.

Q. Looking forward for a vibe check of what the last week was like in terms of who takes the leadership roles, what are the speeches, the rallying-the-troop moments like.

CLIFF DANIELS: Honestly, there isn't a whole lot, if you look at the life of the 5 that we haven't experienced in terms of the ups and the downs.

There is a general vibe of our team knowing how to put last week away and focus on the task of this week. Few more details to answer your question. I walked in Monday and owned it completely. It's on me for the setup we had in the car. I thought there was more that could translate from our good setup at Gateway to Phoenix than what reality shows for that tire and that track.

That really wasn't the team's fault. It wasn't Kyle's fault. There was still a lot throughout the weekend at Phoenix that from a team operation standpoint we did well. I know that sounds difficult to hear or maybe even to think that I could identify with that.

Our team process of executing practice and qualifying in the race with a car that did not have the right setup, the guys still did a great job being prepared for the things we needed to be prepared for even to make changes on pit road. We did that a lot faster than what we did at Vegas when we had to make front-end changes.

There were still a lot of healthy things our team could build on even after Phoenix of just how difficult that day was and working through it. Also just the realization that the points can swing so quickly, and everyone is kind of exposed as the races move along. There's no win in your end guarantee to bring you into the next round.

Once we kind of got through the disappointment we had on a Monday, we spent more time probably laughing and having fun preparing for Talladega this week than we've had in a long time. The spirit of the team was up. Everybody was positive.

I've said this quote a couple times after the race already, but a smooth sea does not make for a skilled sailor.

Even when you have those times of difficulty and the sea is rough, that's when you have a good group of people that are willing to dig in and work together and believe in each other and the process that we built, and the team exercise that we continue to build on every week, there's a lot of power in that. When you can unite and identify with that.

I'm proud of the 5 team doing that this week and showing up prepared for this weekend.

Q. William yesterday talked about how, to a certain degree, he intended to do what was reasonable to help out you guys, while also recognizing he has a goose egg in the win column. From a stage standpoint, he committed to you guys. How valuable was that?

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, it was a huge deal. Big thank you to William and Rudy and their whole team for that commitment of just sticking with us.

To your point, we need stage points really more than they do at this point. So to help bonus in that position.

And then we know at the end of the race that they still have a job to do for their team and their sponsors and their season. You never know how the lanes are going to go and the momentum is going to get broken up.

Those guys did a good job to stick with us. Very appreciative of them. I know that Alex and Chase and their respective teams were willing to help us as well at times throughout the race.

That's where it's important for us at Hendrick Motorsports to have the unity across the four teams that we have. Mr. Hendrick has led that a lot. Not only preached that message, but he's led that message to us where we help each other not because we have to but because we want to. I know William and Rudy wanted to be in a position to help us. Super grateful for that.

Q. What is the biggest decision that you made today that put Kyle in Victory Lane, and what did he do that made the difference?

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I mean, I would say one of the biggest decisions for us was staying out to try to get the stage points and the stage win at the end of stage two. Then when we pitted, we got it full of fuel, knowing if it went to a green-white-checkered finish, we'd have enough.

On his end, when things didn't work out on the white flag lap, he maintained his composure, figured out how to get hooked up with a couple other guys to get a good run, had a good run off of turn four that brought him home.

Q. I think a lot of what Kyle has done in the Chase kind of mirrors the way Jimmie Johnson succeeded in those championship years. Does that bring back that kind of memory for you?

CLIFF DANIELS: It does. I didn't live that Chase time period with Chad and Jimmie. Again, I was able to kind of be a student of them in the NASCAR post-season. There's a lot of discipline that you have to apply in these moments, but you also have to be willing to attack. There's that tradeoff of the mindset.

Kyle has leaned into that very well. He's been putting in a lot of work and a lot of prep every week in the sim, in our team meetings. He's been to the shop at least two if not three days a week, really stepping up his game and leading just the collective effort for the team to keep the energy behind our process and what we do just to be faithful to the grind and to what you have to do.

10 weeks is a long time. There's a lot of things that can change your energy, change your momentum. You've got to be very dedicated to the process. Kyle certainly brings that to the table right now. Grateful for that of him. Proud of him for all that he's done to get us to this point.

Q. I know you're very serious and workmanlike, but do you ever sit there and watch Kyle pull off things like he did today and think this is special, this is cool, and even I'm enjoying watching him?

CLIFF DANIELS: Of course, of course. All the time. In those situations I try really hard not to get too caught up in the momentum, in the fun of what the moment may bring like that, because it's still my job to make sure we're prepared for whatever comes.

Yeah, coming off of turn four, when I heard Tyler calling out, Keep going, knew that Kyle had worked himself into a really good run at that point, you have to smile.

We've all seen highlight reels of Kyle whether it's in a sprint car a stockcar. He's very special at what he does. That's why it's fun to work with him and it's fun to be a teammate with him, to lead our team that way.

Even when momentum may not always be on our side, you know he's capable of pulling off something really special. I definitely love and appreciate that of him.

Q. Either in real-time or taking a look at the replay, did you realize how close Kyle came to going below the yellow line?

CLIFF DANIELS: I had no idea of that until Victory Lane. He's like, I got to be honest with you, I started cheering before I was even close to the line. I took my hands off the wheel. That's why I almost went below the line.

I was like, Bro, are you serious right now (laughter)?

I have not seen that replay. I only heard him tell the story he told. I can't wait to see it. Debrief sheet this week. Don't celebrate too soon (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Cliff, thanks for your time.

CLIFF DANIELS: Thank you.