Keselowski, Elliott, Chastain and Ty Dillon talk to us in Nashville
By Roy J. Akers – www.skyviewsports.net
Dublin, Ohio — As NASCAR starts the second half of the regular season, drivers are hoping both solid finishes or a big win will propel them into the playoffs or solidify if they are in the Top 16. Ross Chastain is in a much better position than Ty Dillon, but Dillon is happy with his regular season considering the speed has not been consistently there. So, what did they say? Drop the green flag.
Ross Chastain hopes for hometown back to back wins
Ross, talk about your week and the win at the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. Of course, all the media responsibilities heading into this week, including being here in your hometown for your race team in Nashville. Just talk about your week and just how busy it’s been leading into this weekend’s race.
“Yeah, we celebrated. We took Sunday night, took our sweet time in Victory Lane and just really soaked it in. It’s so rewarding when you get there because it’s so hard to accomplish it, and to do it at the Coca-Cola 600 was just something that I wanted to just enjoy. Then we stayed up all night and they took me out at the Charlotte Airport in the morning and sent me off to Milwaukee. We already had an appearance booked for the Moose. So I got up there and just to see their excitement — they were celebrating from the night before and we had a good time with them Monday and Tuesday. Then caught a flight back and got to celebrate with the team Tuesday afternoon. Part of Tuesday and Wednesday was all about prep for here, and then I was off Wednesday night back here to Nashville to start appearances Thursday morning and I’ve been here ever since.”
Ty Dillon on the first half of the regular season
How would you evaluate your 2025 season so far? What are your expectations for the second-half of the regular season?
“I would evaluate our season — I don’t know about putting a grade on it, but I’d say it’s been pretty good. I think we’ve been fast, and we’ve ran really well at some tracks. We’ve done a bit of a poor job executing finishes. I think we’ve ran up front more than we’ve finished up front. And I think that’s one of the positives is that we have the speed to do it. So, now it’s just executing some finishes. I mean, we ran out of gas two races in a row, which was pretty devastating for us. It was a difference of probably 35, 40 points over two weeks.
Chase Elliott on his teams consistency
Chase, consistency has been a key word for your season so far. It seemed like you really stepped it up and at Charlotte and Kansas. Are there any changes in the team or what have you all found here in the last few weeks?
“I think, yeah, Kansas (Speedway) and honestly North Wilkesboro (Speedway), too, I thought was a solid week for us. And then, yeah, I thought we had a really good car last week at Charlotte, as well. I think it’s a product of a lot of hard work and just a collective effort of trying to make some improvement. That’s always the goal, just keep chipping away. I think the team’s in a really good spot. We had a really good week on pit road. Really, they kept me in the game last week. They gained me two or three spots on every pit stop, and I’d give away five or six. So it was a frustrating night on my end, but I thought the car performed really well. All the pieces of the puzzle were really in place. I just need to continuously work on my craft and make sure that I’m doing my part.”
Keselowski on taking a strong Charlotte finish to Nashville
BRAD KESELOWSKI, driver of the No. 6 Solomon Plumbing RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse, was made available to the media ahead of the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Owner/Driver Keselowski is 32nd in the driver standings, -319 points to the leader. Nashville is the site of Keselowski’s first NASCAR win in 2008.
YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH SEASONS LIKE THIS BEFORE, HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO GET THE KIND OF FINISH YOU GOT AT CHARLOTTE? HOW HARD IS IT TO NOT TO TRY TOO HARD TO DIG OUT AND YOU CREATE NEW PROBLEMS? “That last part is what really stands out. You know, just trying not to do too much. We’re hitting our stride as an organization, in particular with the 6 team. The cars are developing more speed, our execution is getting better. It is an exciting time for us, outside of looking at where we are in the point standings. We need to build off of that and incrementally inch our way up to being able to win. I think we are really close to that right now. Trying not to jump the shark on that is important. But last week was a really positive moment for us. The last run of the race we passed at least a half dozen cars and ran the fastest laps and did a lot of positive things that would make you feel like you can go win.”
Roy J. Akers covers NASCAR for www.skyviewsports.net
