Joey, congratulations on winning LM GTE Pro! It’s a great achievement for only your fourth attempt at Le Mans. Tell us how you felt at the finish, when Dirk crossed the line.

“The last couple hours of a race like that are very nerve-wracking, because you know anything can happen. You don’t want to be thinking you have it won and you don’t. For me, when he crossed the finish line, it was a relief. Just a lot of relief we had made it all the way, because we had such a good car throughout the race, really had no mistakes. We had a flawless race, so we wanted to get through those last few hours. Then I could finally breathe again.”      

You were the only American driver in the car and you were up against an American team (Risi Competizione). Was it like racing in the IMSA?

“Yeah, it’s funny to go all the way across to Europe and end up racing the guys you race every week here in the U.S. It just goes to show how good of a team that is. I had a really good fight with Toni Vilander in the early hours of the race, which made it feel like it was even longer. Than to be able to make the pass for the lead later in the race against that team again was very, very cool. It just goes to show what kind of competition is in the IMSA WeatherTech Series, to go across to Europe and see the top three cars be three of our American teams. It was pretty cool.”    

It was a tough battle. You were behind the wheel when the #68 took the lead and you swapped positions during the race with the Ferrari on three occasions. Did you question your engineer a lot? Was it a stressful race? More than usual?  

“I’m one of those drivers that always wants to know a lot about going on when you’re going to pass somebody. I like to know who’s in the car because different people have different styles, and you have to know how it’ll be best to handle it. Fortunately, I had some knowledge on the driver in the car because it’s someone I race against regularly, so once I knew I was catching him, I wanted to make sure I knew what to do once we got past. You’re always trying to find that out. My guy on the radio is Mike O’Gara (team manager), and he’s always really good at telling me what to do. There’s always a lot of information being passed back and forth across the radio.”    

Is there a key moment in the race, a precise moment when you were behind the wheel that you’ll always remember?

“For me, the moment that will stand out is that last pass with Ferrari. Seeing as how this race was so much about the 50th anniversary of Ford winning the first time in 1966 against the Ferrari mainly, that historic rivalry, to be able to make the pass ultimately for the lead that we never gave back on a Ferrari was also historic. I knew everyone who was at the track for Ford would be watching anxiously to see if I could make the move. When it comes down to it, it was my favourite thing for a lot of reasons. I’m a racer. I love the race. I love the thrill of the fight and I love to put on a show for the fans. I think everything about that pass summed up the spirit of the race and the sport of racing.”       

You already drove with Dirk with BMW at Le Mans 2011, and you delivered a strong race. Are there any similarities between the two races?

“Dirk and I were lucky we were there in 2011 to have our first podium at Le Mans in my first try. I think what was similar this year is that back then, we led a lot of the race, we had very few mistakes. We did a lot of the same things. As drivers, we did our jobs. We had a fast race car then and a fast race car this year. We had not just a fast car, but a comfortable car we could drive a lot time. In 2011, it felt like the race went on forever. This year, the smoothness of the race we had made it feel like it went a lot quicker. At Le Mans, you have to have a very smooth, uneventful race in the pits and on the race track, and that’s what we have. We did what Chip says all the time, we did the obvious things right. Ultimately that’s why we won.”       

You’ve raced at Le Mans twice and finished on the podium both times. How do you like the view?

“It’s awesome, as we say in California. In 2011, it was raining, so it kind of kept some people away. This year, with the sunshine, I could have crowd-surfed all the way to Turn 1. I might have been able to set the world record for crowd-surfing if I’d had the courage to try it.”  

After Le Mans, you have no time to relax, with a Nascar race coming up. Do you plan to take a few days off to enjoy this success with your family?

“I’m lucky I get to come home from races and be with my family when I’m home. My kids are out of school, so I get to spend a lot of time with them karting, playing baseball. We’ve been practicing golf lately. My wife’s planned a nice tropical vacation for us, but we have three IMSA races to go before we leave. We’re a racing family, though. My kids and my wife know how racing works. Nobody is complaining around here. We love what we get to do and I have a lot of support for what I do.”