THE MODERATOR: We've now been joined by our winning crew chief for today's event, which is Adam Stevens.
Congratulations on the win. A little bit of a walk-off win there for your team.
We'll go ahead and roll into questions.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the decision to make that stop for tires there at the end. Was that like your do-or-die moment?
ADAM STEVENS: Sure. I mean, really if you look at it, the weekend as a whole, our road course stuff hasn't been where we needed it to be. We felt like we could come here and run fifth to eighth. That's kind of the little gap we were in. We needed a caution at the end.
We had to do something different than the cars in front of us. At the point that we couldn't restart on the front row, the motivation to stay was pretty small. We needed a win. We had to do the opposite of what those guys were going to do.
Had they come and got tires, we would have had to stay. We weren't going to pass 'em on equal tires. Thankfully we didn't start too deep in the field, and Bell was able to get a tremendous restart and pass a bunch of cars before we got to the backstretch.
It was kind of a do-or-die moment.
Q. Can you talk about his level of heart? You worked a long time with Kyle, but how much blue sky does this kid have ahead of him?
ADAM STEVENS: Well, that's a hard question to answer because if it's just on pure talent and ambition and dedication, he can win as many races as he runs because he has so much skill.
There's not a place we go that he's not capable of winning. There's nothing that you ask of him that is delayed or out of reach or something that he doesn't want to do if it means getting better.
The sky is definitely the limit. He's young. He's getting better at a tremendous rate. He's already extremely good. You can't hide the talent that he has.
I think just race reps and understanding who he's racing and race craft, then frankly us getting our program better, strengthening our weaknesses as a company and as a team. Just us getting more reps and communicating more together. I think that's a large part why we've been wholesale better this year is because we have some experience with each other, we figured out what he needs in his cars, figured out magnitudes of those changes just by blunt force and doing it.
Q. Even though it's a road course win, going into the next round, what do you feel momentum-wise? Where do you feel you may have strength and weaknesses to try to move on to the championship round?
ADAM STEVENS: There's a tremendous amount of momentum. We were dead in the water until a few laps to go there. We did everything that we needed to do and planned to do today and performed to the ability of our equipment and our setup.
As a team, we did a good job. Bell did an exceptional job staying under his tires and just getting what the car had in it, then getting up on the wheel when we had a tire advantage.
We feel really good about that. Those five bonus points are good. I haven't had a chance to look at who's in and who's out, where they stand, all of that.
But our intermediate stuff has been really strong. There is no reason we can't go to Vegas and win. Homestead is the best thing we have to compare, probably Darlington. Bell got some laps there testing. They were halfway decent. We should have something decent to unload with. I think we can make that better and run well there.
Martinsville, that will be the struggle point for sure. If we can go run solid top five and get stage points, threaten for a win in the first two, I think we can be enough of a factor to squeak through this round.
Q. Your previous experience in championships, you've gone through struggles and challenges. Not necessarily compare with that, but what you had to go through this season, what the journey to this point has been like this season.
ADAM STEVENS: Yeah, it's been something. The first part of the year there, we fell all the way back to like 32nd in points. It wasn't because we weren't running well. We just weren't finishing well. That was quite a hole to climb out of, which started at COTA. COTA we had all those steering issues and still came back to finish third.
It's been a lot of overcoming adversity this year. You mentioned some struggles over the wall, and we've done our best as a company to improve that. We still have a ways to go, but it's a point of focus. Those guys we have are super dedicated, working hard to be their best.
They had a good day today, especially the last two stops. I told Bell this week, all of these championships, every one that I've been in, making a run to get to that final race, you always have your skin-of-the-teeth moment.
I haven't had one like we had today. There's been multiple times with KB and I, gosh, I think we made it to the final race four, five, six times in a row, I don't even know, but two or three of those years, we barely got through one of the rounds.
I remember Dover came down to a point one year. Martinsville came down to a couple points. So you always have those moments. I think we just had ours. Hopefully this next round will set up well for us and we can be a factor.
Q. How was it to get through today with the challenges? Didn't look good, but you run the full distance because you never know. What was it like getting to that point and how desperate it looked?
ADAM STEVENS: It was pure desperation. We came in here knowing we needed to win, knowing we probably weren't going to have the speed to drive by everybody and do it.
We talked about it. If we do our jobs to the best of our abilities, we can run fourth to seventh. What we need to do is put ourself in the first couple rows on a late-race restart. Anything can happen going into that first turn.
It was looking like we weren't going to get a caution, we were just going to finish seventh, wherever we were running. That would have been about what we would have expected. We did get that caution, and it got a little crazy, and we were forced to do something different than those leaders.
Bell, to his credit, just got up on the wheel and took advantage of those tires on that restart.
THE MODERATOR: We have been joined by our race-winning owner, Coach Joe Gibbs.
We'll continue with questions for Adam and Coach.
Q. Adam, obviously it's hard to pass here. Christopher made it look pretty easy there at the end. Obviously the tires were a big factor. What did you see from him over those last couple laps that wasn't there before?
ADAM STEVENS: Well, I think that it's hard to describe how much of a grip advantage you have with 30 laps' difference on tires. It's exceptional.
We were able to make time when we had tires earlier in the race. You can just press the braking zone so much harder. Your minimum speeds are so much higher. Really, the guys in front of you don't have a chance when that happens. You can get bottled up, too. Two-wide or three-wide in front of you, you're not going anywhere.
You have to be aggressive, make the aggressive moves, get through there. I think his dirt racing experience probably really helped on that first restart with the tires. There's just people everywhere. You got to put your car where they're not. You got to be aggressive.
That just suits him. It suits him to be coming from behind like that rather than trying to fend them off with old tires.
Q. Once the caution happened, what is it like as a leader for that mental shift to switch from accepting your fate and then having something like that completely flip the switch to you having a shot?
ADAM STEVENS: I mean, that switch doesn't go off until the checkered flag really falls, to be honest. You're always asking yourself what's the right move if this situation happens. That's what you're doing the entire time you're sitting there, is prepping for the next situation that might unfold.
Quite frankly, I think the field expected some more cautions today, different opportunities for strategy. It just didn't shake out there till at the end. We were certainly ready, talked about these types of scenarios prior to the race unfolding.
Lo and behold, it just happened right there in front of us. We weren't going to win, transfer from seventh or eighth with four or five to go with old tires and old tires in front of us. It just wasn't going to happen.
Thankfully we got that caution and were able to make something happen.
Q. After you put the tires on, two restarts, you are just a spectator. What is it like to know it's in his hands and watch how those final two restarts played out?
ADAM STEVENS: Yeah, I mean, that's what you are at that point. You're just watching. You're not chitchatting on the radio. You're letting him focus, letting the spotters do their jobs.
Yeah, you're anxious to see how the first couple corners go. We saw a bunch of them in the wall down there, in chaos corner, turn one, whatever they call it (smiling).
It was pretty crazy. You know he has to get through there. You know there's nothing you can do to help him get through there. You're just watching and hoping for the best.
With Christopher on a restart like that, with his experience and his skill level, that's the situations that he thrives in. He's looking for those types of opportunities.
Q. After having an average finish of 4.0 in the first round, to be in this position with how this round has gone, what has the highs to the lows then highs been like?
ADAM STEVENS: The low was Texas not going our way. We felt like we could go to Texas and be a factor for the win. We didn't have a great practice day. Really righted the ship with our race setup. We felt like we had good speed and balance to get up there and race for it. Just started blowing tires.
When that ended our day, we got out of there with two or three points, we knew we were in bad shape. Speedways haven't been too kind to us. Talladega wasn't too kind to us. We felt like being behind going into Talladega we had to go down there and race for points, try to close that gap. It just didn't work out for us. We've struggled to finish as well. Even though we started on the pole, had the number one stall, we couldn't turn that into any points either.
This round was going to be the hard round for us. We knew it. We probably made it a little bit harder than it could have been. If we had a Texas like we expected, were certainly capable of, we would have just had to come here and have a solid day. We did have that solid day going.
We dropped the ball as a team at Texas. Were able to pick it back up and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer today.
Q. What is going on with these toe links? Is there something inherently weaker in this?
ADAM STEVENS: I mean, I don't know how hard the 5 car hit today, if that's what you're referencing. I don't know specifically.
But the toe links are made to be the weakest link of the suspension. So you don't break everything else in the suspension. The toe links are cheap, 'cheap' meaning they're the least expensive part.
We have had a design revision to the fronts or the rears. They made them a little bit thicker and a little bit stronger cross-section midway through the year.
Maybe they need to make 'em a little bit stronger. But if you have a direct hit on the wheel, something's going to bend. It's been that way for years. We just haven't had a toe link in the rear with a solid axle car. We have independent suspension on all four wheels now.
You see the rears bend more because the fronts are connected to the steering wheel. If you take a shot in the wheel, it jerks the wheel out of your hands.
And the rears are connected solidly, and if you take a shot in the wheel, it's going to bend something, and it bends the toe link.
Q. Coach, talk about your emotions. What was it like watching the final laps, especially seeing Chris come up from nothing to winning?
JOE GIBBS: The amazing thing was about the day. If you had picked a cutoff race for us that would have been the worst cutoff race, it would have been a road race. All of you guys know that. We've been off.
We worked extremely hard after every single one of them. You would probably say for us the Toyota camp, that would be the toughest thing for us to overcome.
I just think if there was a race that I've been a part of that was a total team effort, this certainly was it. The call that Adam made was just a great call. Took guts. The pit crew, the young guys on that car, they were after it. I always feel bad for everybody back at the shop, Coy, everybody that leads the operation group, because they don't get to experience the winner's circle.
I would say it's just one of those things I love about sports. God blessed us with a great day. You wouldn't think that would play out the way it played out. But I sure appreciate everybody, the teamwork, everything. I think it really showed that this sport is total teamwork. It takes everybody working together.
Q. Adam, after 104 laps, were you beginning to wonder if we'd see a caution?
ADAM STEVENS: Yes, absolutely. I mean, honestly, when we got through the first two stages, the first stage and a half, without a caution, it really affected our strategy for the final stage. I mean, what we were thinking was going to need to happen to put ourselves in position.
Yeah, so we had to make a little bit of an audible early in stage three. It was wild. It was odd that we didn't get one. Usually you see somebody put a couple tires in the grass on the exit of four or five, get into the barrier, have an issue. But not today.
Kind of Talladega was strange that way, too. Just didn't see the cautions that we all have come to expect. I don't know if the tide is turning or those are just two anomalies. We'll have to see when we get to Vegas.
Q. Coach, was that a two-minute offense win in overtime or a Hail Mary?
JOE GIBBS: I think you got it. I think that's kind of what it was for me (smiling).
I always think, too, on a win like this, something like this that happens, I think back to J.D. spending his whole life building our race team. I always think about him. Our whole family does.
Big deal for us. Very emotional. We love being a part of all this and getting a chance to compete against the best race teams in the world. So it's a thrill when you get a chance to win something like this.
Q. Adam, now continuing as a contending team for the championship, the obvious is that you go for wins each week. Does the strategy change?
ADAM STEVENS: I think it's track to track. Certainly we came here thinking we weren't going to have race-winning speed and we needed some circumstance and some opportunities to take advantage of. Thankfully we got some late in the race.
We're going to go to Vegas and have race-winning speed. We are going to go to Homestead and have race-winning speed. You're not going to have to do anything that's out of your immediate power to have a good weekend. You're going to have to race the guys you're racing and maximize those weekends.
We'll sit down tomorrow and evaluate the points, evaluate who is still in, see what their strengths and weaknesses are, too, kind of predict what they can produce in these next three races, see how that lines up with what we think we can produce.
It might not take a win for us to get out of this round. It depends on everybody's points situation, how capable they are. But as a team, I know we're as capable as anyone at the first two races, and hopefully we can build enough of a gap where we can just go have a solid day at Martinsville.
Q. Coach Gibbs, with the transition now with veteran drivers exiting, younger drivers needing the direction, talk about what that process looks like moving into next year.
JOE GIBBS: I think that's kind of a process that pro teams go through. You see it in the NFL when I was there. You have the veteran guys that kind of lead. If they've won big games and big races for you, you certainly lean on them.
If you think about it, Christopher has been in our competition meetings with Martin Truex, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. I think that's a huge learning thing for him, has really helped him.
At some point you do have younger guys coming. I appreciate Toyota because they always have been a part of our game plan to really be looking in the future who's out there, who's coming.
Q. Joe, it's been a tough couple weeks for NASCAR. You've been involved in another sport. You had Dave Alpern represent you in the meeting this week. What's the path forward? Dave presented a pretty dire picture, saying that you guys are spending all your time fundraising instead of working on your business. How dire of a situation is it right now?
JOE GIBBS: Well, I think, which happens from time to time in sports, for sure, the ownership of the race teams are trying to look for a better way forward financially. NASCAR certainly has all the things they have to do financially, talking about tracks and everything they have to do as far as promotion.
There comes a point where it comes to a point sometimes where it's negotiating and working together, solving the problems. At some point you generally always reach a conclusion. I think that's kind of where we are.
Q. Is there a conclusion that can be reached that is favorable to the teams?
JOE GIBBS: I think there is. I think common sense on both sides and looking at a path forward financially. I think that definitely is something that we can do. I think it's people that really care, they care about the sport.
So hopefully both sides will go after it and talk our way through this and work our way through it.
Q. Adam, a win like this is very rare, a walk-off win, but you guys had to win this race. What does this do for the team? Is it a swagger thing, boost the confidence, or does it send a message to the garage that you're still legitimate contenders?
ADAM STEVENS: I think it might do a little bit more of that if we led all the laps and won both stages. We performed to the level of our setups in our car today and took advantage of an opportunity, which is what we had to do and what we talked about, our avenue to win.
I think what it does is, you know, it lets people know that we don't have any quit in us. We came here to do a job and perform to the level and capability of our stuff. We were able to do that.
Bell was able to get up on the wheel when it mattered. But I think the garage is seeing that out of Bell for a long period of time, so that doesn't surprise anyone.
I think the way that our cars have run and how we performed as a team at the intermediates really bodes well for us. There were probably a lot of people hoping we were out of that next round.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOE GIBBS: We talked to Kyle, just told him we're really pulling for him, Sam and the family. I want the rest of his racing career, this guy is going to win a bunch, we know that. He's a great competitor.
When you think about it with us, 15 years, that was awesome. Just really appreciate that so much. We know Mars is leaving, but it was a thrill to be with them for that amount of time.
I just think we worked hard trying to get everything done there. We couldn't. I think he's found a home. I'll be willing to bet he's going to be after it next year and he's going to want to win a bunch of races.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Joe, Adam, congratulations both on this win today. We wish you the best of luck next week in Vegas.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports