Terra Talks with Bayley Currey, Vol. 2

Bayley Currey is always appreciative of his partners that come aboard the No. 4. (Image: Molly Gastineau | The Podium Finish)

Four seems to be the magic number for Bayley Currey and the No. 4 JD Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series team. After eight races, Currey has logged four top-20 finishes, and four times, he has finished higher than his starting position. 

Having raced on all course styles in the opening stretch of the season, it seemed the perfect time to check in with the 25-year-old from Driftwood, Texas. A five-year veteran of the series, Currey is approximately a quarter of the way through his first full-time season with the JD Motorsports organization.

In this edition of “Terra Talks”, Currey opened up about being hands-on in the shop, race day food, and racing for an underdog team. Read on for all this and more from the driver fresh off of a frigid Martinsville weekend!

It’s time to speed into the latest installment of Terra Talks with Bayley Currey. (Image: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)

Terra Jones: I appreciate you being willing to catch up again! What a roller-coaster opening stretch to the season it’s been for you and the No. 4 team. We’ll look at some different on-track moments in just a minute. But first, I want to look at your finishes so far this season.

I know a few finishes have gotten away from you and your team, but through eight races, you have four top-20 finishes – a career-best start to your season. What do you feel are some of the contributing factors to this season’s start?

Bayley Currey: I really just feel like JD Motorsports has given me some really fast cars. I honestly feel like our average would be up quite a bit. We had some bad luck here and there. I think at Atlanta, we were up to ninth on one of those green-white-checkered restarts and then we lost fuel pressure.

At California, we had a really fast car but got into a little incident. And even Vegas. We still finished, I believe, 18th or 20th that weekend. I think we should have finished better than that. We got in a little scuff up on there on that last lap. 

But, yeah! I feel like JD Motorsports is giving me great cars. We’ve been having great partners on the cars. KSDT, we got Ghost on the car, which was really cool! Fort Worth Screen Printing is always helping us out. And then the past two weekends, we’ve had Jersey Mike’s and the Special Olympics America. So it’s been really, really cool. I’d like to be able to get a little bit more momentum on our side and elevate finishes a little bit more than that.

Jones: Hopefully after the break this weekend that’ll happen! I wanted to follow up on a question from last time. You mentioned that you’re hands-on at the shop. Would you elaborate on that?

Currey: Mostly interior work. I’m the guy that’s gonna sit in there for hours, so I like to do that myself and make things how I’d like them to be, you know? But I help in all aspects where I can. Wayne (Carroll, crew chief) and then Wayne’s son, they do a lot of the suspension stuff. I try to help out with setup where I can. Curtis Davis, he does all of our engine stuff, so I’m mostly doing interior. I might help with some decals, but honestly, I enjoy doing interiors. Like I said, I sit in there, so I notice every little thing! I like to make that stuff as nice as I can. And then obviously help with setup because I like to have my input where I can there.

Jones: Good deal! I enjoy hearing about drivers being hands-on with their cars. Let’s take a look at a few moments from races this season. I heard on your scanner at the beginning of Daytona that the plan was to play it smart, lay back, and be there at the end. How difficult is that for you personally, especially in the first race of the season?

Currey: Those plans are always in place and then it seems like half the time, you go out and you get comfortable and you just go. We had the same mentality in Atlanta really. With there only being two of us, only two JD cars, it’s a little bit harder to lay back and be comfortable because if you lay back too much, you’re gonna lose the draft. Then, you’ll lose a lap. 

When we had four cars, it was a lot easier to do that, like when I ran Talladega with them last year. When you have four cars, you know you’ll have teammates that can help you out. But I really ended up kind of being there, about a thousand feet off the lead pack, just kind of hanging out. 

And it’s kinda boring. (laughs) You’re trying to pay attention and watch the lead pack, make sure nothing gets messy up there.

Obviously, you’re really just hanging out for the first bit. You make it through the first couple of laps after a restart, then you’re just hanging out till the end of the stage. And then, with about five laps to go in the stage, you just make sure you start watching that lead pack again to make sure there are no guys shuffling around for stage points. 

But that’s just part of Speedway racing for me. It’s kind of always how I’ve had to do it. We’ve never really been in a position to tear up cars, so we try to play it safe and be smart about it.

Jones: That’s a lot to focus on!

Focus is the name of the NASCAR game. (Image: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)

Let’s shift to the new Atlanta. This will be a two-parter. First, what did you like? And then what, other than ending the race with fuel pressure issues, didn’t you like?

Currey: Oh! I don’t know. I mean, it was different. It was definitely cool. It was more fun than a standard Speedway race because it was a lot tighter and the handling of the car comes into play a whole lot more. 

I loved the old Atlanta. I love sliding around. I understand that had to change with the pavement getting to the point it was at, but I definitely miss that.

I wish we could go there unrestricted and not have to do the whole restrictor-plate racing deal. I’m not a huge fan of that in general. But I know that we’d be going really, really fast. Which, I have no problem with, (laughs) but I’m sure there’s like insurance and other business things that NASCAR has to think about. I feel like we might be doing like 210, 215, 220 miles an hour into a corner with the new asphalt and all that banking. So that would be awesome! But we can’t do it.  

But, I enjoyed it. Like I said, it was better than a normal Speedway race. I don’t like having to worry about drafting, especially at a mile and a half. I don’t like having to be at the mercy of the next guy, you know? The guy in front of me and the guy behind me. It never really lets you just get in the rhythm and go, ’cause you’re always worried about what the guy behind you is doing.

Like I said, handling was a lot bigger issue there. It was all, “I can’t run that line. And then I got to worry about them getting a run on me, but I got to try to stay behind the car in front of me.” All that stuff!

I thought it was fun. I thought we had a pretty decent car in the pack. I feel like our single car speed kind of lacked a little bit, but as long as we had a good car behind us to push us, we could stay in that pack and I felt we could make moves.

Jones: And keep that all at the forefront going 200mph! No biggie.

Currey: Yeah!

Jones: Now, I don’t want to dwell on COTA. But, after a frustrating race like that (losing a cylinder, and having to end the race after only 13 laps), how do you and your team boost morale? I know the easy answer is, “It’s a racing deal,” but I’m sure it’s still frustrating, especially that one being a home race for you. 

Despite an early end to the race at his home track of COTA, Bayley Currey was able to find the positives heading into the next stretch of races. (Image: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)

Currey: One of the really positive takeaways from COTA was that this was a new road course car for us. And it was working well. I mean, we didn’t qualify the best, but once we got in the race, we had a really, really good car. And I think really that was just me getting back, used to the racetrack with minimal practice. So the main takeaway from that for us was that we had a really, really fast race car.

I think we were up to 19th and the engine started to go. You could hear it. I was losing power. But I think we had a car that could have driven up to 12th. Just naturally. No caution or anything. So, being able to know we brought a good piece to the racetrack, that’s really good. And, we know we’ll have something for them at Portland.

Jones: Definitely a positive! So, Martinsville was a wild night for the Xfinity Series! Your team helped you rebound after the turn 1 pileup to finish the night P17. Our Quarterly Question will center around that weekend. How many Martinsville Hot Dogs did you have?

Currey: (laughs) I only had four this weekend. I cut it back. I think the last time I was there, I had something like 12. I love them. I’m trying to be better at what I eat. So I was trying to hold off on them a little bit, but (laughs) they are just too darn good!

Jones: They really are! We have a bragging-rights poll going on at The Podium Finish as to who we think had the most among our quarterly drivers. So after I talk with Jesse Little and Todd Gilliland, we’ll know who was at The Hot Dog Stand most frequently! 

Currey: Oh ok!

Jones: And speaking of Martinsville and food, I saw a picture on social media during the rain delay. You were eating something that was decidedly not a Martinsville hot dog. What were you up to?

Fans were asking, and now we know! (Image: Bayley Currey Twitter)

Currey: Oh! I had a hamburger with some chili on it that came from one of the vendors over there. One that services the teams.

Jones: Too funny! Alright, last question for this interview. Now, know that when I ask this, I’m “Team Underdog.” But, the mid and lower-tier teams tend to catch a lot of flack. Obviously, fans of yours and of JD Motorsports will support you through the highs and lows. What do you wish fans of the sport knew and understood about racing for an underdog team? 

Currey: For what those big teams do, after being in the industry, it is so impressive that it is sustainable and that they can do that – how they do it and be able to spend the dollars that they do. And it is so hard to do. For a smaller team like us, we’re doing the best of what we can and we’re always trying to get better.

So I feel like some people just don’t really recognize the effort that goes in. It’s not from a lack of effort on any side here at JD Motorsports. I can tell you that. Everybody’s doing everything they can – from the marketing side to the building race car side, and even to me on the driving side. We’re all doing as much as we possibly can to run good.

And I feel like some of the guys we have on the team are some of the best in the industry, and it shifts the resources that we might not be able to get because of the cost of them. It simply costs so much. I feel like people should recognize that grind and realize that we’re doing as much as we possibly can.

And don’t be so quick to knock the little team. Especially, Ryan or I, or any of the drivers from smaller teams. People want to talk bad about them, but really, they don’t know half the story. If they would look into it a little more, I think they would understand.

Pride can be heard in Bayley Currey’s voice when he speaks of everyone’s hard work at JD Motorsports. (Image: Jonathan Huff | The Podium Finish)

Jones: Thank you for sharing all of that. That is one reason I pick drivers from the smaller teams for these recurring interviews. There are so many stories from the “other side” of the garage and they deserve to be heard just as much as those winning every week.

Currey: Absolutely! Thank you! 

A huge thank you once again to Bayley Currey for taking the time to talk. Also, thank you to his Public Relations Representative, Cindi Rivera for all her help in making these interviews happen. Make sure to give Bayley a follow on his social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for all the latest from the JD Motorsports driver.