Ty Majeski, driver of the No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150, is making his second Championship 4 appearance and first with Ford. He spoke to media members Thursday morning to discuss his chances.
TY MAJESKI, No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 – HOW DO YOU FEEL RACING FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP? “I’m excited. It’s good to be back. In 2023 it was a little weird not being here for the championship race, so it’s good to be back. I feel like we belong here and I feel like we deserve to be here, I really do. And I think the same can be said for the other three. I think the four that are here deserve to be here and with this format it doesn’t always go that way, so it’s good to have what I feel like are the best four in the series this year battling for the championship, so I’m excited for the opportunity. It’s been a great year and hopefully we can close it out.”
IT WOULD BE THE SECOND STRAIGHT TRUCK TITLE FOR FORD: “Ford has obviously done a lot of great work for us and they’ve been a great partner with Duke in the past, and now with our second tenure with them it’s been great. They give us all the tools that we need to compete week in and week out. Ford obviously closed last year on a really high note with all three championships, so to have all three you have to win the first one, so hopefully that’s us Friday night.”
ANY PRESSURE? “I’m excited for the opportunity to go and compete at a high-level Friday night. I feel like in 2022 I learned a lot just from a mindset of what this all means – being here on Media Day and going through the motions. I kind of know what to expect this time around and feel like that makes me that much more prepared.”
WHAT MAKES THIS RACE DIFFERENT? “You’re only racing three guys, so you’re not racing to necessarily win the race, even though that might be what it takes. You’re watching three other guys and that’s really all that matters to us – Friday night. We’re gonna maybe play our strategy a little differently to try and beat those guys relative to what they’re doing and how their races are going, so we need to be mindful of that and try to put ourselves in good position. We obviously want to win the race, but we want to be champion. That’s the goal we all have here this weekend, so it’s gonna be a great event. Phoenix always puts on a great race. It’s always exciting with how the frontstretch is and the restarts, so it’s gonna be a great show. I’m excited to go.”
YOU WERE FINED $12,500. WHAT HAS THE WEEK BEEN LIKE? “It’s obviously been a whirlwind for sure. Like I said, I’m really focused on the race Friday night. I felt like I needed to do my duty as a U.S. citizen to vote. My team owners and I, Duke, Rhonda and Allison, we all made the decision to exercise that right.”
WHERE DID YOU VOTE? “Wisconsin.”
THE TUESDAY CONTENT DAY WAS NEW. WAS IT SOMETHING YOU WERE AWARE OF AND HAD CONTACT WITH NASCAR AHEAD OF TIME? “Yeah, we certainly knew about it. I didn’t specifically have much communication with NASCAR prior. I let everybody internally at ThorSport handle those conversations prior to not being there on Tuesday, so I feel like they knew our position and it’s kind of unprecedented. This has never happened before. Election Day, everyone knew it was Election Day for a long time. It’s unfortunate circumstances for everybody. I don’t think anybody wants to be put in that position, but we have to have a free country to race in and that’s just part of being a U.S. citizen, so I wanted to exercise that right. I didn’t know I was gonna in the Championship 4 until a few days prior. I’ve always in my whole life been an election day vote guy. I’ve never done an absentee ballot. I wanted to make sure my vote was counted.”
WILL YOU APPEAL? “That is our intent, yes.”
WHEN WILL IT BE HEARD? “I have not heard that yet.”
HOW WOULD YOU APPROACH THE END OF THE RACE IF IT ENDS UP LIKE LAST YEAR WITH A LOT OF ACCIDENTS? “I think there’s a lot of different ways to approach it and a lot of different drivers have different codes. Not everybody races the same. I know where my line is and what I’d be willing to do and still be able to sleep at night and be proud of how I won. That might be a little less aggressive than what we’ve seen in some different scenarios over the past couple of years. Like I said, we all have a code and I want to lay my head down at night and be proud of how I won.”
HOW HAS THE TEAM AS A WHOLE GROWN SINCE YOUR LAST CHAMPIONSHIP 4 APPEARANCE? “My 98 team has been really good. We’ve been together three years now. Obviously, there are some moving pieces, but Joe, I, the truck chief have been three really solid people throughout our tenure at ThorSport. Tyler Shullick, my truck chief, Joe Shear, my crew chief, we have a great relationship. We work really, really hard in the shop. That’s what it takes. It’s all about attention to detail and understanding and taking accountability of when we’re off, when I’m off, when I make a mistake, when Joe makes a mistake we hold each other accountable, but we’re incredibly close and we push each other to be better. I think that’s one of the biggest reasons we’ve been able to put really good runs together each season.”
IS THERE A LANE YOU PREFER HERE ON RESTARTS? “It really depends on the scenario. I’ve watched the last two or three races back here multiple times. There doesn’t seem to be a right or wrong answer to that. I think it’s very situational. I don’t know that there’s a line I prefer. You really have to pay attention to who is in front of you and what strategy they’re on, how old their tires are – there’s a lot that will probably go into the decision on what line I choose going into one, but that could be a championship decision when you’re on a restart on a green-white-checker. You need to make a decision on where to go and where to place your truck. It happened last year. Ben had a couple great restarts at the end and put himself in position to come out with the lead off of turn two and from there it’s hard to pass, so that will be a championship moment and hopefully it comes down to that.”
SEEING BEN DO IT LAST YEAR, DOES THAT GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE YOU CAN DO IT THIS YEAR? “Yeah. I mean, regardless of what Ben did last year, I have confidence in our team. We’ve run really well on these types of racetracks throughout the year. I know that we have the equipment and we have what it takes to come here and compete for a championship. It’s up to us to execute that, whether that be on pit road, strategy, myself on restarts. It’s all the little things that go into winning a championship. You’re not gonna be able to afford a mistake because there’s gonna be one of these other three that are going to go mistake-free in the race, so you have to be that guy and put yourself in position at the end of the race.”
THIS RACE IS DIFFERENT IN THAT A MISTAKE CAN COST YOU THE CHAMPIONSHIP. “Yeah. I think there needs to be a balance of you need to up your game for this race, there’s no doubt about it, but you also have to take the mindset, ‘Hey, it is just another race,’ and we need to do what we do and try and win the race because, at the end of the day, if we win the race, we’re champions. There’s more preparation that goes into it. You look at the finer details because those fine details can be the difference, but, at the same time, it is another race. Joe and I went to the simulator and prepared as we normally do coming up with a package and a setup, so a lot of the things are the same, but maybe you do those things with a finer comb, so to speak.”
THIS RACE DEVOLVED INTO A CRASHFEST AT THE END. ANY CONCERN THAT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN? “Man, I hope not. You never want a championship race to turn into that. I feel like moving the restart zone back will help that. We were so bunched up with how late the restart zone was or how close it was to the start-finish line. Everybody was bumper to bumper and as soon as we hit the start-finish line you just fanned out and went wherever people weren’t. I think with us being able to build up some more speed, go through more shifts, that’s gonna create a little more separation where hopefully you won’t see what we did last year.”
WHY SHOULDN’T YOUR TEAM BE OVERLOOKED THIS WEEK? “I think this is our type of racetrack. Anytime Joe and I show up to a flat short track, I feel like we’re a threat to win. I feel like we’ve all kind of had our parts of the season where we’ve been dominant and I really feel like the Championship 4 that are here really are probably the four that deserve to be here the most. That doesn’t happen all the time with this format, so it’s good to see that. I think that’s good for the sport, good for everybody involved to have us four here. It’s gonna be an interesting race for sure. I feel like we have as good a chance as anybody. Like I said, being on a short track I feel really good about our chances.”
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE THIS CLOSE TO A CHAMPIONSHIP AND ACHIEVING YOUR GOAL? “I’m just glad that this is kind of my second time here and I’ve had that experience to lean on and understand what goes into it with media day and all the attention you’ll be getting. Just having gone through it one time before this makes it that much easier. I’m much more calm this time around and understanding of what to expect. I’m excited for the opportunity. These are the types of moments that you dream of being in as a race car driver, kind of the Game 7 moment. It’s winner take all and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
DO YOU FEEL THAT AS YOU GET INTO THE TRUCK? IT MUST FEEL A LITTLE DIFFERENT. “Once I get the helmet on, you’re really not thinking about any of it. You’re just executing what you know how to do in a race car. It doesn’t matter if it’s a late model, a truck, when you get behind the wheel and put your helmet on, I personally don’t really think of any of that. It’s just focusing on the job at hand and executing the best I can.”
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF ON HOW TO PREPARE? “I think the biggest thing is trying to treat this how we treat any other race. There’s more preparation that goes into it, but as far as the mental state of it, you have to treat it just like every other one. You can’t get caught up in the moment and have to sort of make the moment smaller and execute at a high level. There’s a lot that’s out of your control in the past rounds. There are different races and different types of tracks and you’re relying on other people not to win in certain scenarios, so there are really more variables that are out of your control in the previous rounds, so our perspective was all we can do is the best we can do. This race, you kind of control your own destiny a little bit. It’s winner take all. You have to execute at a high level and not make mistakes. You don’t want to do something that’s gonna take you out of it at the end of the race, so I have to be smart and I have to mindful. Stages don’t matter. To this point, stages are a huge deal getting those points, pointing our way to the next round as we did each of these rounds. This week it’s winner take all. Points don’t matter.”
WHAT’S IT MEAN TO BE THE GUY FROM WISCONSIN CARRYING THE FLAG FROM THAT STATE? “I love it. Wisconsin, it’s really a honey hole for short track racing. A lot of great race car drivers have come out of there and a lot of them have had success in NASCAR. Obviously, Johnny Sauter, aTruck Series champion. Matt Kenseth, Cup champion. Dick Trickle is a legend. The list goes on and on and it’s neat to sort of be that guy right now. I’m happy to have the opportunity to carry that Wisconsin flag. I’ll always be a Wisconsin guy. I’ll always go back to short track racing in Wisconsin whenever I can, so it’s an honor to carry that flag.”
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, is going for his second straight championship this weekend. He would become the ninth driver to achieve that feat and the second Ford driver to do it in back-to-back seasons (Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2011-12).
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DOES WINNING THIS LAST YEAR APPLY TO THIS YEAR?
“You definitely have some confidence with it but at the same time it doesn’t matter. I think this is a totally different year and we have to go out there and execute a whole weekend. I think our team does a really good job at executing weekends and maximizing, so we just have to go out there and do it one more time.”
YOU MENTIONED THAT AT THIS POINT LAST YEAR YOU HADN’T EVEN WON ON AN OVAL. IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE NOW: “Hopefully. We have definitely had good speed in our cars and this has been a solid place for us, Phoenix. I think it should be a place where we can go execute a good race and be towards the front. You never know. We are going to unload and practice tomorrow and see what we’ve got and go from there.”
ANY FEAR THAT CHANDLER SMITH WILL RETALIATE? “I don’t know. I am not really thinking about it that way. At the end of the day I am going to go run my race and see where we end up and try to maximize the day. You race how you get raced, and you go from there. At the end of the day, I am just going to focus on our weekend.”
HOW MUCH DO YOU TAKE FROM LAST YEAR AND APPLY IT TO THIS YEAR FOR THIS WEEKEND? “Definitely a lot. Just how you go about your weekend and when to be aggressive and when not to be. Just the whole flow of the weekend it definitely helps out. I think having a notebook with our cars helps too. It has been a solid place, Phoenix has for us, so hopefully, we keep building on that.”
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN BACK-TO-BACK TITLES BEFORE GOING BACK TO CUP? “It would be huge and from another standpoint, just having a shot to win a championship in NASCAR. You don’t get a ton of shots at that. You want to make every single opportunity count. We are going to try to make that happen and hopefully have that title again.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS QUALIFYING? “That is a toss-up. Qualifying definitely sets up your weekend good and gives you some confidence going into the race, but at the same time it doesn’t matter a ton. It comes down to that last run and where you end up there. Qualifying is just something that can give you a little confidence.”
WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT RACING HERE? “You are taking a 3,000-pound stock car and trying to make it go around a flat corner. It is very difficult to do that. The two ends are different and trying to get the car to work at every single point of this race track isn’t easy because it is so different. It is starting to get some age to it, so the tires are falling off throughout a run. You have to have a little bit of everything here.”
GIVEN THE START TIME OF THE RACE, DO YOU EXPECT THE TRACK TO CHANGE A LOT THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THE RACE? “A little bit. The race is starting later than it has the last couple of years, so that will make it a little more consistent throughout the night but at the same time, the practice we are running during the day will be a lot different than what the race is at night.”
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF THAT IS HELPING YOU MENTALLY PREPARE FOR THIS WEEKEND? “I think it is mainly just our team. I think we have done a great job executing all year and the process that we take throughout the week of checking all the boxes has worked really well for us and we just have to go out there and do it one more time. We know that we are a team that when we do things right we are going to be towards the front.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU TO BE THE ONE THAT IS CARRYING THE BANNER THIS WEEKEND FOR STEWART-HAAS RACING IN THEIR FINAL RACES? “It is huge. It would mean so much to everybody in that building, but at the same time I think it would be so cool to see Tony and Gene go out on top in a series in NASCAR. We are going to give everything we’ve got to try to do that and end this thing strong.”
WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE THIS WEEK KNOWING THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE BACK? “It is tough. We had a going away party on Tuesday and seeing all the people that have been there for so long and everybody has had a part in our team. We used a lot of notes from the Cup guys, and we have asked a lot of questions and a lot of guys have touched that car. It definitely means a ton for us to try to finish this thing out strong.”
WHAT CAR ARE YOU RUNNING THIS WEEKEND? “It is our Bristol car that we won with, so we have some confidence with this car. We will see where it gets us.”
SOME HAVE CALLED FOR THE FINAL RACE TO ROATATE TO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. AS A WEST COAST KID, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE THIS CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND HERE IN PHOENIX? “I think it is awesome. Phoenix, I have raced a lot here when I was younger. I am from southern California, so we used to drive out here a lot and race. It is cool to have your family able to come over a little easier for me, but I think it would be cool to rotate it around a little bit. I think it just kind of adds a little something to it if it rotates.”
KNOWING YOU PULLED THIS OFF LAST YEAR IN THIS RACE AT THIS TRACK, HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DO YOU HAVE? “Definitely a lot of confidence. I think it means that we know how to execute a weekend like this and we have a good notebook for here. So we just have to do it one more time and execute and see where that puts us.”
WHAT HAS YOUR WEEK BEEN LIKE SO FAR? PERSONALLY, HAVE YOU BEEN BUSY OR CHILLING OUT OR WHAT? “We raced on Saturday in Martinsville, and then Sunday, we went to the shop a little hit and tried to get ahead on things on Sunday. Our guys went in and worked and we went in and talked about the week we had coming up. Monday we went to the simulator and ran about five hours on the simulator to finalize what we had coming here. On Tuesday, the cars had to leave to get here because it is so far. We were pretty much finished up from there. I flew out Wednesday. It is a hectic week, so it is good to get ahead on things.”
YOU SAID YOU WERE HOPING TO COME HERE AND FIND A LITTLE EXTRA SOMETHING. WHAT IS THAT EXTRA SOMETHING? “I don’t know if we need to find something. At the end of the day we need to execute our weekend and go from there. This has been a solid place for us and hopefully we will have a fast car and be there at the end of this race because that is all that matters.”
WHAT ARE THE FEELINGS LIKE GOING INTO THIS WEEK KNOWING THAT THE STEWART-HAAS RACING YOU GREW UP WITH IS GOING IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION NEXT YEAR? “It is obviously bittersweet. We had a going away party this week and seeing all those people who have worked in the shop for so long and put so much into this team. Our team has used every single note we could take. So many people have had a part in this car that is showing up this weekend. It would mean so much to end this on a high note. It would be really cool to see Tony and Gene go out on top.”
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF GOING BACK TO THE XFINITY SERIES AND WINNING A CHAMPIONSHIP AND NOW BEING IN THIS POSITION YOU ARE FOR SATURDAY NIGHT? “A lot of confidence. I think having won a championship here before and building on that and coming back and winning races and being with a great team and build on things and learn how to work with your team and get the most out of everything. It has been a great experience, and hopefully we can use all that going back to Cup.”
HOW HAVE YOU MATURED? “I think I am definitely a lot different than a couple of years ago, just from having a wife and kid now and everything is a little different. I think just having confidence is the biggest thing. Knowing what to look for. Knowing when you are struggling a little bit, what are the things you need to focus on. Those are things you kind of build on.”
IF YOU CAN BE THE GUY TO GET BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONSHIPS, WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN? “It would be huge. That is such a big title. Anytime you win a championship in NASCAR, you don’t get that many shots at that, so you have to make the most of it, and I think we are going to do everything we can to finish it out strong.”
THE FOUR GUYS GOING FOR THIS CHAMPIONSHIP, IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS MUTUAL RESPECT AMONG YOU FOUR. HOW MUCH EASIER DOES IT MAKE THE RACE KNOWING THERE ISN’T A WILD CARD THAT IS GOING TO TRY TO WRECK YOU? “I think all four of us in this Championship 4 have a lot of respect for each other> We all race really hard, but clean. I feel like it is hard to beat this Championship 4. It is a great group.”
THEY FINED CHANDLER $10,000. DID YOU THINK THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PENALTY FOR THAT? “That is not really my concern. NASCAR is going to do whatever they have to do I guess. I don’t really care. It is what it is.”
WOULD YOU RATHER JUST BE ABLE TO HAVE FREE REIGN? “That is always a tough question. How ugly do we want it to get? Chandler’s was like, I could see it going either way, fined or not fined. I think they do want to hold reins in and not have absolute chaos, so you have to have a line somewhere, I guess. Chandler’s was definitely questionable on if you get a fine or not.”
Campbell Marketing and Communications PR
