THE MODERATOR: We'll begin our post-race Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series media availability for the 59th annual Daytona 500. We are joined by second-place finisher Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft Quick Lane Tire and Auto Center Ford, and third place driver AJ Allmendinger, driver of the No. 47 Kroger Clicklist Chevrolet for JTG Daugherty Racing.
Gentlemen, incredible show out there. Ryan, please walk us through the final laps from your perspective.
RYAN BLANEY: Yeah, I thought we had a good car all day to start off. We showed that definitely in the first half of the race. Then we got some damage there in one of those big wrecks about middle of the race. Kind of hurt our car a little bit.
Me and AJ was just talking. Looks like everyone ran a race at Martinsville. Everyone's stuff was tore up. Only a handful of cars left at the end.
We all got single file with 15 to go, something like that. I tried to make a move with 10 to go to see what would happen. No one really went with me. The 22 tried to. It really wasn't happening. I was kind of worried it was just going to end that way.
Luckily I got Joey behind me there down the frontstretch, and we were able to lay back to him and get a huge run into one. At that same moment, the 41 went to go past the 42, and it kept my run going, all the way up to second.
Down the back, I look in my mirror, I see the 47 car. I'll just lay back to him, we'll get a big run.
AJ ALLMENDINGER: I just wasn't very fast. I was still wide open.
RYAN BLANEY: Thought you ran out of gas.
AJ ALLMENDINGER: No, that was all we had.
RYAN BLANEY: I started kind of running out the gas there into three. We started sputtering pretty bad. Luckily made it back to the line.
A good showing for us. It was a good way to start off the year. Stinks to be so close. But I think that's good momentum for our team, to be good at the beginning of the day, get some damage and be able to rally for a good finish.
THE MODERATOR: AJ, it seemed like you came out of nowhere there in the final lap. Walk through the final laps from your perspective.
AJ ALLMENDINGER: Yeah, you know, we had a great-handling car the whole time here. We just didn't have a lot of outright speed. I kept seeing Ryan and Joey keep making moves. I just knew my car wasn't very good on the bottom.
I knew my best effort was going to be kind of the last 10, 12 laps, when I kind of got up to wherever I was, running seventh or eighth, to be up top. I started saving fuel. I knew everybody was close. I knew my best chance to have a good result was to sit there and try to run half throttle. Stay in line and not let anybody kind of slide up.
Every time Ryan and Joey would make a move, I tried to keep the gap close. I was just kind of holding half throttle there. And knowing this would probably come down to fuel or if somebody tried to check up in front of us, who could miss it.
So white flag there. I saw as Ryan said they were getting a run on the bottom. I said, All right, I'm going to ride it out up top there, see what happens.
I think the 5 and 27 kind of right in front of me, it looked like they just checked up a little bit. Right there I thought, All right, they're starting to run out of fuel. I ducked right in the middle. The 42 was out of fuel, which I think checked up the 22, which was next to me. That's kind of how I got through the pack.
Just solid. We didn't have the best speed outright since we've been here. We put a great effort. The Duels we got a good finish. Unfortunately had the penalty. To come out with a top-five finish, I think this is the first time since I've been with the 47 team we've raced our primary car at the 500. That's a start.
Overall, Kroger sponsoring this event, being a part of this event for 10 years now, to be on our racecar full-time, all the guests, all the activation they've done, it was fun to have a great run for them and to be able to kind of put them in the top three and give them a chance to win this race.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open the floor up for questions.
Q. What did you make of all the wrecks? Half the field didn't finish. Was it the five-minute clock, too much aggression, the stages? What happened today?
AJ ALLMENDINGER: Yes, yes (laughter).
I mean, to me it seemed like you get five laps to go in the stage, everything would kind of amp back up there. We were running single file in the second stage. Three to go everybody kind of starts getting racing.
I think really the last couple years here, for me I've noticed because I've always tried to hang in the back, pick a time to make a run. Everybody just gets three-wide now. It's hard to make any moves happen.
I think that anticipation level, instead of waiting 20 or 30 to go, you have to go with a hundred to go. You have to get your track position. If you lose it, it's hard to get it back.
To me that's the bigger deal. Over the last couple years it's kind of hard to make moves through the middle of the pack through the field with 20 to go. Everybody was trying to get up there and make sure they got the track position. That's what happens here.
Q. Anything, Ryan?
RYAN BLANEY: I agree with that. Once we get three-wide and you're 20th, you can't go anywhere. There is no room to make any ground. With the leader blocking every lane it kind of stalls everybody out.
So really what AJ said. Everyone tries to get their track position with a hundred to go, something like that, just so they can stay up front for the end.
Q. Ryan, I remember 2015, Talladega, you had a very strong car but couldn't get anybody to work with you at the end. Has that changed for you? When you pulled out of line today was it déjà vu?
RYAN BLANEY: I think it's helped a little bit. The yellow things on the back bumper helped. Not being there any more, that seems to help out a little bit.
Really, you can talk all about people not going with young drivers or whoever. Really at the end of these things you're kind of forced to go with whoever wants to go.
Today luckily we had a teammate with Joey behind us who would go with us. It's kind of circumstance and timing, when you choose to go. If the person behind you thinks they can go with you...
Q. Is there a concern? Everyone knows at Daytona everybody gets amped up. Is there a concern given the new rules packages that you have with these stages, that this is going to be amped up and kind of what to expect, whether it's Daytona or short track or regular course?
AJ ALLMENDINGER: I mean, I think Daytona and Talladega are going to be the extreme because, you know, it comes down to trying to get your track position. You see people lay back. Now with the stages, there's points on the line. I think Daytona is the most amped up.
It kind of changes how people race. To me, I don't think any of the other 32 races that we're going to go to, we're all driving as hard as we can every lap anyway. Yeah, you get a caution with eight to go before the stage ends, there's going to be strategy. Maybe guys on old tires and that that might make some difference when it comes to the stages.
I think it's the extreme of the Daytona 500 and these plate races, the way we have to race. Now with stages, with points being on the line, things are going to happen like that.
Q. It seemed to me that the manufacturers, some of the teams had a strategy of running as a squadron. It bit the Toyotas early on. What have you learned from running together in plate races like this?
RYAN BLANEY: I thought the Fords had it made early. We had six or seven of us kind of lined up there. We were really fast. It seemed everything kind of was going our way.
Then I know a handful of them got taken out. Then all of a sudden it kind of seems like we're the underdogs. There were only two or three of us left with the 41, 22 and myself. The 43 was in there. Really not a lot of us left in there. Mostly Chevrolets.
You see the plans in the middle of the race kind of working well. At the end it never really seems to work that way.
I definitely think manufacturers are really working together a lot more in the past couple years, just because you can get so many of them to work together.
At Ford, we were lucky to get four more cars we could work with, which really allowed us to try to do that today, be strong with all those cars.
Q. I know it's hard to project the 'what ifs' and everything, but what if Chase doesn't run out of gas?
RYAN BLANEY: He ran out of gas, so... There's really no 'what ifs.' If wishes were fishes, the world would be an ocean.
AJ ALLMENDINGER: Is that Swedish fish? I love Swedish fish.
RYAN BLANEY: I like it too.
AJ ALLMENDINGER: You get those at your local Kroger, by the way, people.
RYAN BLANEY: You are good at these sponsor plugs.
Yeah, I don't know what would happen (laughter). You kind of play with the cards you're dealt. You never know if they would have made a run or not. Unfortunately he ran out. I was pulling for them there, but you never know.
Q. Speaking of Chase, AJ, you're one who takes losing difficult. Ryan, you know Chase a little bit. He left with his father without talking to any media. He's obviously very upset right now. Can you understand that?
AJ ALLMENDINGER: Yeah. I mean, it's the Daytona 500. Any race... He's going to win so many races. Ryan and Chase, all those young guys, they're going to win a ton of races. Kyle Larson, those types of guys.
It's hard to know how many chances you're really going to have at the Daytona 500. It's Ryan kind of with the Penske effort. Chase, you think, Okay, they're going to have a lot of chances to win. He had a dominant car. So I can understand it. It's hard.
At times, yes, it's our job. We got to go about it the right way. Sometimes we don't. In the end it's our passion, it's what we live off of. I can completely understand that. At that point, you're not going to say anything good. What are you going to say, Oh, shucks. Try it next time. Go to Atlanta?
No. So I understand.
Q. (No microphone.)
RYAN BLANEY: I mean, that's the way he is. He wants to do so well. He does do a great job and everything. You see him, he should have won two or three races last year. Things didn't work out. Nothing of his fault. You get down on yourself.
Like AJ said, he's going to win tons of races in his career. He's going to win a lot this year. He had a great shot to win that race. He was the best car that could control both lanes. You saw that in the Duels. You saw that today. He could really keep both lanes at bay. Not many other cars could do that today. No matter who was out front, the top would get a run. His or something like that, but his car was really, really good.
I can understand his disappointment, for sure. You're leading the race. Looks like you're going to win the Daytona 500. You know how he is, he's very hard on himself. But it wasn't his fault today at all. You can't help you run out of gas.
I can understand his frustration. Like I said, he's going to win a lot this year and throughout his career. It's easy to get frustrated right now. He's going to be okay.
Q. Another question about the stages. Danica was mentioning one of the issues was that you had guys out with new tires, old tires racing against each other. I don't know if that's what was causing some of the wrecks. Are you concerned going here, not just here, that these stages are going to create some carnage throughout the season?
AJ ALLMENDINGER: I mean, I guess I don't know really how to answer that. Maybe. Isn't that what we're trying to do, make some of these races more exciting throughout the middle of the race?
In the past you've seen a lot of single-file racing. Yeah, we got single file there. Everybody is trying to position themselves to win the race. I still go back to the speedway races are unique because it changes the way you race. It's not going to change the way we race any other racetrack. We're going to drive as hard as we can, the speedway races.
Yeah, you get a caution that falls at the right time, maybe some guys stay out and some guys pit trying to get that stage win or points. It might be. Isn't that what we want? Isn't that what we're trying to do, beef up the middle of the races so people stay entertained? That's what it's all about. Nobody's watching, doesn't matter.
Q. Now that you've had a chance to do it for real as opposed to talking about it, how did driving stages affect your team, working with your crew chief? Did it change anything at all? Was it more like a competition caution?
RYAN BLANEY: I don't really see it as a competition caution mainly because you're benefited for running in the top 10 at the end of the stage. So you saw some teams and cars group pit early just to try to maybe short pit and get out front before the end of the stage and get some points, if there was a caution that fell maybe 10 laps before or earlier.
I thought the communication, the strategy side from the drivers to the crew chiefs, were very important today. Honestly, I think it's going to be more important on other racetracks, not the speedways.
I enjoyed it. I thought it was good. It made for good racing before the stages were over, just to try to get some points to help you towards the Playoffs. It was definitely good strategy. I know my team, they did a great job of making sure we pitted when the time was right with our group to try to set us up to be up front at the time the stages were over.
Q. AJ, can you give us any insight into Kurt? You learned about him well over at Penske.
AJ ALLMENDINGER: What?
Q. As a driver.
AJ ALLMENDINGER: I mean, he likes long walks on the beach. Sometimes he goes to the symphony after he goes to a baseball game. His favorite flower is the dandelion (smiling).
I don't know. He's a hell of a racecar driver. I've always said that. I think he's no secret, kind of like myself. He's had ups and downs. It's just cool to see somebody like that, that puts all the effort into it. I mean, we all do.
Sometimes you don't want to be happy for the person because you're jealous that you weren't the one in it. In the end he did a great job, he deserved the win, and it's great for that team.
Actually, it's roses, not dandelions. I was just joking (smiling).
Q. Ryan, you had quite a showing this week in your Duel race, then here today, moving through the field, making aggressive moves, contending for the lead. Was that comfort in the strength of the car or do you feel like you're getting more comfortable at plate racing, knowing what you can and cannot do?
RYAN BLANEY: I think a little bit of both. I thought our car in the Duel race was spectacular. It's a shame it got tore up. Our backup car was honestly, I felt, like just as good. We came from the back really early and were able to drive up through the middle, and our car handled correctly where we could be up the middle and be aggressive when the time was right. We were able to stay up there.
I think our car had enough time to stay up there, too. We could never grab the lead at the time being the one car up front trying to block lanes. We could never get the right push at the right time. Probably something I was doing wrong not to get the right run.
It was definitely a little bit of both with the car and myself, and myself and Josh Williams up top, my spotter, getting a little bit more comfortable with each other and communicating really well. He's done a great job. He hasn't been spotting very long. He spotted for AJ a couple years ago. He only started a couple years before that.
He has a lot to learn, but he's done a great job. He's been a big part of it, as well.
Q. Plate racing is a different animal. Momentum is still a big part of this sport. Both of you are starting into your second full seasons with your crew chiefs. Do you feel like this is going to set you up for a strong run towards the Playoffs?
AJ ALLMENDINGER: Yeah, any time you have a good finish, it's going to help. Last year we had an okay 500. Went to Atlanta, had a fast car, but had a poor finish. Vegas, I think we ran okay. Next thing you know, you feel like you start pressing a little bit, trying to get a good finish in there, start gaining some points.
This race doesn't dictate that, Okay, our car for sure is going to be great at Atlanta. More than anything, it does help to know, All right, we got some good points, we don't have to press like we did last year, we don't have to do anything crazy, just go do our jobs.
You don't really know where you stand until about eight or nine races in. By that time we've went to every type of racetrack. You know, All right, where are we strong? Where are we weak? These races are hard to get great finishes in. Any time you get one, you take it. It helps a ton.
The Daytona 500, it's the biggest. It's at least a kickstart into Atlanta for our team knowing we don't have to do anything crazy. We just keep doing what our jobs are and see where we fall into place, see where that is.
RYAN BLANEY: Really same as AJ. Any time you get a good finish anywhere, no matter what track, it always propels you into the next week. Maybe it feels a little better it's the Daytona 500. Like he says, it doesn't mean your car is going to be great when you go to Atlanta, doesn't mean your car is going to be great when you go out west. Until you get 9 or 10 in, then you can kind of get a good judge of how your cars are and where your team stacks up. No matter where it is, if you get a good finish, it definitely helps your team confidence-wise for the next week and maybe a couple weeks after that.
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thanks again for the show tonight. Safe travels to Atlanta.
RYAN BLANEY: Thank you.
AJ ALLMENDINGER: Thank you.
