THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by crew chief Greg Ives of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet.
You're no stranger to qualifying on the pole here and good runs qualifying. Just walk us through your mindset heading into today.
GREG IVES: Well, you know, we definitely focused a lot on qualifying. We felt like that going into tomorrow's race that the track was going to have a lot of grip so we could trim out the car a little bit more than normal. And securing that front row starting spot is a big deal. You get yourself in a bad position tomorrow night and you're able to kind of back off a little bit. That's kind of what our focus was.
Executing is a whole 'nother thing. So we were able to do that. And the common denominator is Hendrick Motorsports. I'm just fortunate to be able to get paired up with great guys like Alex and the team that we have and get to talk to you guys about it.
Q. It's no secret that you guys seem to be fast when it comes to superspeedway qualifying, as the record speaks for itself. But everybody has to wonder, what is the secret that you guys have when it comes to these tracks?
GREG IVES: Well, I think with the impound qualifying, it's a decision. It's a decision whether or not to put your car in race trim and have some type of focus more on how the car is going to be balanced and handle in the draft.
For the Daytona 500 for us it's a marquee race that you want to get the pole. There's obviously a special reason why first and second are locked into the race and don't have to -- I wouldn't say necessarily worry about the 150s, but you have your starting spot, you understand where your pit stall is going to be, you can kind of perfect and get a calm and understanding of where you have to get in the box, get out, and maybe that tenth of a mile per hour better down pit road is going to help you come out first.
For us that was a focus, and I'm sure several people are saying, hey, that wasn't our focus. Our focus was to have a car capable of racing three wide in a situation that your tires are going to fall off.
Like I said, I felt like we're going to have plenty of grip tomorrow night. That's going to -- time will tell, right? For us, accomplished the goal that we set out to do, and like I said, that was our focus.
Q. We've seen you guys in past years play it conservative in the Duels. What's the strategy going into tomorrow knowing that you guys are locked on the front row with the pole?
GREG IVES: Yeah, last year we were locked in, as well, and I think we led a lot of our Chevy train, or at least on the back bumper of the 9 car. We came off pit road and came up behind them and there was a three-wide situation that Alex felt not comfortable with, especially with the race car we had, and we lifted.
Like I said, we're going to put ourselves in a situation to lead our Chevy teammates, our Hendrick teammates, whoever is in our Duel, I'm not sure which one, I haven't seen the results exactly yet, but that's the goal is to lead that pack. I'm sure we have the speed to do it, we just have to understand the handling.
At some point, your car is not going to drive good, and you've got to understand that situation and how you're going to counter it, whether it's something that Alex will do in the car or some feedback that I can put in the race car to make him better on Sunday.
Q. Alex was saying that qualifying here means so much to you, you take pride in having these cars in the front row. What's your motivation?
GREG IVES: Yeah, first off, great seeing you. It's been a while.
Yeah, our motivation is just we put a lot of time and effort into our speedway program. For us, it's a showcase of -- it's a show car. It's the pinnacle of the hotrods that we bring out of our race shop, and I know there's a lot of pride in every piece, every car, just from the paint job all the way down to the last nut and bolt.
What Alex talked about earlier, it's that pride that each shop member has. It's hard to explain. Obviously I'm mumbling up here about it, but there's something special about Daytona, something special about the 500 and qualifying on the front row.
Q. To be so much faster than the 24 and the rest of the field, is that you? Is that Alex? Is it the engine?
GREG IVES: It's a combination of everybody. So like I said, our focus was 100 percent on qualifying. That showed. You're going to have some comments made that, hey, we're not going to race well, and so be it, but we accomplished the goal we set out to do.
Everybody makes that choice. As a crew chief I made that choice for this team. And there's a lot of pride in qualifying on the pole for the 500 that I'm definitely feeling right now.
Q. I've seen the picture of you putting the decal on the front of the car honoring Rowdy Harrell. I can tell from the social media stuff I've seen it's really had a huge impact on you and the team. How have you guys sort of navigated those emotions coming into the start of the new season? How do you work through it with your guys?
GREG IVES: Yeah, I mean, 100 percent. That's probably -- this off-season is probably one of the toughest ones I've been through. Not only with the loss of my buddy Bryce but also Rowdy and Blakely. It's been a tough deal. I don't build a team to wrench on cars. I build a team to be a family. I build a team to have heart.
I think a lot of heart goes into what we do every week. Why? Because we do it 39 weeks out of the year, and then we have an off-season that we do it again.
You know, for me I know when the birthdays are of every person on my team. I know their addresses, names, I know who they are personally. You know, and that's what matters most to me. Like I said, they're not just a front-end mechanic, they're not just a tire carrier, they're people that I want to mentor and grow to be humans that impact life in a greater way than sports and NASCAR.
I think that's one thing that Rowdy was able to do. Not too many people in the garage he probably hasn't talked to, hasn't inspired to maybe laugh that day.
Like I said, it's been a tough off-season. If it wasn't for the rest of my teammates around me, Mr. H. He's incredible, the way he supports the teams, not only in triumph but also in tragedy. He was gracious enough to be there not only by the family's side but by our side every step of the way and give us meaning to maybe something we wanted to ask questions why.
Rowdy is still a big part of our team, a big inspiration. Yeah, it gets emotional. It definitely does. But in this sport you have to have that emotion to succeed.
Q. Can you tell any changes yet with Chad and the role that he's in, either off the track or at the track this weekend?
GREG IVES: Oh, yeah. You know, Chad has made me the crew chief I am today, so I owe a lot -- I wouldn't be sitting here without -- I don't know what else to say. I wouldn't be sitting here without his mentorship.
What Jimmie and Chad have not only meant to my career, wow, like being an engineer for them and winning races and championships, opening doors that I've never dreamed of having the opportunity of, sitting here talking to the media about just collecting his second Daytona 500 pole.
I think one thing that Chad always brings to any situation is intensity, and I knew when I came to Hendrick Motorsports as a crew chief I needed to bring the same intensity as him. Occasionally I kind of had to look out of the corner of my eye and see what he's doing because he's just as much about beating me as I am him. He brings that intensity to all four teams now.
Not that he didn't before, but the primary focus was either the 48 or the 24. Now his knowledge, his excitement, his dedication to just racing is second to none, and he's able to bring that to all of Hendrick Motorsports, not just on an individual team basis.
Man, I mean, you probably can -- I can sit here and talk about Chad and his influence on my life and what he does for Hendrick Motorsports all night long. Him and I have such a great relationship. We can go to each other with tough questions and give tough answers when they're needed, as well.
It's a great role to be in. I know he's just as proud as I am of the 500 pole. Yeah, he has a big impact in NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports.
Q. How anxious are you to see how this season kind of plays out, rolls out for this team? It seems to me as I look at it the team that you've been building, the continuity, Alex gaining experience, you're about to hit that intersection, that sweet spot where good equipment, good teammate, experienced driver all meet at the same intersection and big things happen. Do you feel that's the case, and how anxious are you to see how it kind of plays out this year?
GREG IVES: Yeah, I mean, man, I'm super excited about what we have going on with this team. I know our performance of seventh finish last night probably wasn't too exciting for y'all, but for us I think we had a really fast race car. He was able to pass cars. We got mixed up on strategies there for a second just with how the cautions fell, and I thought everything was going to work out well.
But we were in a position before we got in that crash, in front of the 18 car, not knowing what the leaders were going to do, to potentially win that race.
That's a big tell of where Alex has come, that confidence that he brought into that race. How we ended last year, you never know what does the off-season do to you, what does the off-season -- do you keep on working to improve, or do you fall back and say, hey, wow, we had a good playoff run, we should be good to go. I think the latter is not where we're at, it's the previous. We've worked hard. Alex has worked extremely hard to pick up where he left off, and that's what I'm most excited about. We have consistency in our team.
Yeah, we don't always hit our stride right all the time. We have bumps in the road. But the nice thing is we're brothers in arms, and we're able to work through them and know that improving is the ultimate goal, and to improve sometimes you need that constructive criticism and that honest voice, whether it's my car chief to myself or myself to the car chief or whoever else on the team.
Really excited. Happy to be with Ally, happy to be on the 48 team. That number is really special to me, and like I said, helped open doors that I never dreamed would ever open.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports