HE MODERATOR: We are joined by representatives of our race-winning team, the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. We have Jonathan Hassler, crew chief; also Michael Nelson, the president of NASCAR operations for Team Penske.
We will go straight to questions.
Q. Jonathan, how big was it to get a win? Was it important to get it soon after Gateway?
JONATHAN HASSLER: Yeah, it’s nice to get the win. I’ve had flashbacks honestly to 2022 here over the last couple weeks looking at our situation, knowing that we’re towards the cut on points. It puts us in a really tough spot where you got to make decisions in some of these strategy races where do you want to give up points to put yourself in a position to win or not. Definitely getting a win makes that a lot easier.
Q. Jonathan, is it surprising that it’s taken till June 16th to get the win out of the way?
JONATHAN HASSLER: Yeah, it’s definitely not what we wanted. Obviously you want to win every week.
But we just continue to focus, regardless of what happens, try to learn from it, be better the next week. I think with that mentality we continue to put ourselves in position.
Q. After the checkered flag, on the radio you talked about wanting to be a team of the summer. Can you explain what that means for this team.
JONATHAN HASSLER: Yeah, I think if you look back to last year, we won the Coke 600, had a decent run at Gateway, then I think we had a month, month and a half of kind of struggling to find our way.
It wasn’t until early in the middle of the first round of the Playoffs, somewhere in there, where we really got things rolling again. We wanted to be better earlier in the year. We wanted to improve our road course program. You look last week at Sonoma, we’ve done that. That’s a big part of the summer.
Yeah, I’m excited with where we’re at.
Q. With a handful of laps to go, seems like victory is in hand. Considering recent events, were you thinking what is going to go wrong?
MICHAEL NELSON: Yeah, I told somebody in Victory Lane that’s the most nervous I’d been with 35 laps to go in a long time. We’ve been racing for a long time, too. Definitely counted down each lap on the way down to the end.
JONATHAN HASSLER: For me, definitely nervous. To go out there on two tires, really not have a lot of guys that are on two tires, you know at some point those guys are going to be a little bit better than you are.
I was just hoping that it was really late in the run. Yeah, very nervous.
Q. Does Ryan handle things a little bit more in stride after the championship run? Would you say that is accurate?
JONATHAN HASSLER: I think that’s entirely accurate. I think if you look last round of the Playoffs last year, getting the win at Martinsville. I think it started at the Coke 600. I think we had a lot of trouble in 2022 finishing out races. For him to go and excel through the whole 600-mile race proved to him what he was capable of.
His confidence level in the last round of the Playoffs last year went through the roof. I think it’s continued into the year.
MICHAEL NELSON: I agree with Jonathan. He’s been confident this year. You look at how many laps he led tonight, that’s a big deal for him, as well.
He’s ready. We just got to put him in the right spot.
Q. You came on the radio 10 laps to go, I heard you say you’re good on fuel. Is that as much for you and the team as Ryan?
JONATHAN HASSLER: Just want to make sure he knows the whole situation. Sometimes I forget that he doesn’t know what I know. Just try to communicate as much as I can so he knows what’s going on.
Q. How did you know that two tires was going to work out? Seemed easily over a hundred laps on those.
JONATHAN HASSLER: Watching the tire wear all through the event. Like I said, tires weren’t really wearing a whole lot. I certainly felt like we weren’t in jeopardy of failing a tire by doing two. I know maybe we left a little bit of speed on the table.
I was confident we’d be able to get the lead. That obviously outweighed in terms of speed.
Q. Do you know how many laps there were on those tires?
JONATHAN HASSLER: I think 120, 130.
Q. Regardless of the results, speed-wise you’re probably a top-two car at Gateway and here. Phoenix-ish kind of tracks in a way. How do you feel about the way you are set up for that?
JONATHAN HASSLER: Yeah, I think we’ve continued to make gains with this package, this short track aero package, all throughout the year. Obviously it’s what we’re going to race at Phoenix. Excited with where we’re at.
We obviously can’t rest on it. Loudon will be another opportunity for us to improve. We’ll try to make sure we’re continuing to get better.
Q. Were you surprised that two tires lasted on the final pit stop?
JONATHAN HASSLER: I was certainly a little bit concerned that there weren’t more cars that took two. I expected probably a handful more cars to do the same thing.
When you have four tires so close behind you, at some point, like I said before, those four tires are going to have a little bit more grip than your two.
But I wasn’t surprised that it held on as long as it did, no.
Q. The first Cup race here at Iowa. What can NASCAR do, if anything, to improve the racing here?
JONATHAN HASSLER: Honestly, I think they did a great job. The track had a couple different grooves. I think they did a wonderful job and put on a pretty good race.
Q. When they came in and put the new pavement in the turns, how hard is it for you to set up a car? Would you like to see the whole thing redone when we come back?
JONATHAN HASSLER: Yeah, I think the partial repave maybe isn’t ideal. It certainly gives it some character, which we need. We don’t need all the tracks to be the same. Like I said, still was able to have two grooves.
Sure, it presents some setup challenges. At the end of the day, like I said, it put on a good race.
Q. Now that you have completed your first Cup Series weekend at Iowa, what were your overall impressions? Would you like to continue to come back?
MICHAEL NELSON: Yeah, sure. We’d like to race here next week after tonight (smiling).
No, it’s really nice. We like coming here. I remember when this track was built quite a few years ago. It’s nice to have a Cup race here, enjoy being in Victory Lane for the first. Look forward to many more here hopefully.
Q. What are some of the areas to make the short track package even better? What can you build upon the improvements already made?
JONATHAN HASSLER: That’s a great question.
I certainly think we can continue to work in the tire area. I think we saw with what we did at North Wilkesboro, there’s certainly some opportunities there.
I talked about this track having two grooves. That’s a reason it put on a pretty decent show. I think we need to continue to make sure the cars can run nose to tail a little bit better. That’s the key to great racing at some of these one-groove tracks.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us tonight.
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