Month: June 2011

Notes from TNT NASCAR Summer Series – Race #3

Infineon Raceway – SaveMart 350 (Sonoma)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Quote of the Day:

“If I were the other teams, I’d be switching over to his Racebuddy camera to see how he’s getting around the track because he’s in a totally different zone than these other cars.” – Kyle Petty on Kurt Busch during Lap 27 of 110

TNT NASCAR: Countdown to Green delivered by Pizza Hut

Lindsay Czarniak (host), Kyle Petty (analyst) and Larry McReynolds (analyst)

TNT analyst Larry McReynolds on the conditions at Sonoma: “The weatherman has been a great race fan all year long. You never have to worry about that when you come to Sonoma.”

TNT analyst Kyle Petty on open road racing at Infineon on why Infineon has become a course that unleashes volatile emotion: “There’s only a few passing zones on the course and the only other time you can pass is in pit road. When it gets down to the end, the last 10-15 laps, the only way around is knock somebody out of the way.”

McReynolds on what might happen in the end today if tempers flare in the race like in years past: “I promise you, if you go to the garage area after the race today, somebody will be hunting somebody. I promise you.”

McReyolds on the effect this race has on the Sprint Cup Series point standings: “This road course always tends to shakes up the points race. This is a place, I promise you, the points will move around a lot by the time the checker flag waves here today.”

TNT analyst Wally Dallenbach on passing on the road course at Infineon: “The easiest place to pass is probably Turn 11. The [most fun] way to pass is using the chrome horn.”

NASCAR driver Jimmy Johnson on his chance to repeat as a winner this year at Infineon: “What we learned last year is not working this year so we’ve had to kick the ball and start all over again. It’s been exciting and I’m not the only one [not sure about how his tires will react]. There’s only about four or five guys who have the set-up for this tire and the rest of the guys are all slipping and sliding.”

Johnson commenting on McReynolds’ observation about his lack of winning since last year at Infineon: “At the end of the day this sport is very, very tough. We made some big changes in the off-season and now we’re working through some of that now. There’s no one who wants to win more than me and we’re working very hard.”

Johnson on his preparation for this race: “This year we took a little different approach and didn’t do much. I have a lot of notes and video that I go through. I drive laps mentally. That’s something I picked up in high school on the swim team – knowing my swim, knowing my turn and I’ve crossed that over to motor sports. I really know my lap and reference points before I get on the track.”

Johnson on his humble beginnings in the sport of NASCAR racing: “It was very tough. My mom was a school bus driver and my dad was a heavy equipment operator and I’ve had a great problem driving for these great teams and big teams. The impression was that I came from a wealthy family, I wish that I did. My struggles. made me the guy I am today.”

Petty commenting on pit reporter Marty Snider’s interview of Marcos Ambrose about last year’s race in Sonoma where he was leading the race and made a mistake of stalling his engine that cost him the race: “In his mind he needs to make up for it to show he recovered from it. He said he put it behind him. You do put it behind you until about 3:30 in the morning when you wake up in a cold sweat and you remember that car sitting there on the hill. You never put things like that behind you. They come up 10 and 15 years later. Trust me, I know. That still bothers him on some level.”

TNT Pit Reporter Matt Yocum interviews 81-year-old Rex White, the oldest living NASCAR winner – 1960 Grand National winner – in ‘Pride of NASCAR’ segment: “I didn’t have enough money to buy a pit pass. If you didn’t take in some money [from the race] you didn’t have a way to get home. When you’re not sure you’re gonna eat when you’re on that path for your income, you gotta really like it. ”

White on the early days of NASCAR and drivers talking about designs of cars: “You could talk about a guy’s wife but you couldn’t talk about his car. A guy would fight you moreso over his car than his wife.”

Petty commenting on White as a NASCAR pioneer: “Rex White is a phenomenal guy.when you look at we did, like he said, ‘We raced to put food on the table.’

McReynolds interviewing Juan Pablo Montoya’s crew chief Brian Pattie about the keys to today’s race:

Pattie: “1) Fuel mileage. The key is making sure it [tank] is full. 2) Grip. Make sure you have plenty of this – tires. Lots of teams will be working with air pressure. You don’t have a lot of time to adjust. 3) Strategy. Depends on what fuel mileage you get. Do you pit two times? Or three? I don’t think a two-stop guy will win the race today.”

McReynolds: “My key is to stay on the race track. Dirt is bad. Asphalt is good. He [Montoya] starts 17th today. When Montoya won this race is 2007 he started 32nd.”

McReynolds prediction: “A month ago I wouldn’t have picked this driver to be in the Top 15. I think it’s about the double-deuce, Kurt Busch gets his first win on a Sprint Cup Series road race today.”

Comments on passing on the Infineon Course:

Pit reporter Chris Neville reporting from Turns 1-2: “You’re not going to see a lot passing here today.”

Pit reporter Ralph Sheheen reporting from Turn 4: “The problem is there are a lot of bumps here on Turn 4.”

Pit reporter Matt Yocum reporting from Turn 7: “This is where you’re going to see guys outbreak one another for a passing opportunity.”

Pit reporter Marty Snider reporting from Turn 11: “There are four places to pass at Sonoma, it’s not easy but it can be done.”

TNT analyst Wally Dallenbach on what it will take today to win the race: “It’s all about set- up [rigid vs. soft set-up]. What you have today, you can’t make too many adjustments in pit lane.”

Petty on what it will take to win today balancing patience and aggression: “You have to be really patient in the first half of the race. You have to keep your car on the race track. If I’m looking at balance here, it’s going to be 90-10. For 90% of the race you’re going to be patient and for 10% you’re going to be ungodly aggressive.”

TNT NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing: SaveMart 350 from Infineon Raceway

Adam Alexander (host), Kyle Petty (analyst), Wally Dallenbach (analyst)

Pit Repeorters: Chris Neville, Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider, Matt Yocum

Dallenbach on how difficult the race course will be: “If you can pass seven or eight cars, you’re a big mover..”

Petty on the race strategy: “This is not a place where you have a lot of pit stops today. You have what you have.”*

* Winner Kurt Busch made two pits stop on the day.

Dallenbach on the new tires drivers are using today: “When you change tires on these cars it’s a totally different set-up. You start from scratch.”

Kyle Petty on Kurt Busch during Lap 27 of 110: “If I were the other teams, I’d be switching over to his Racebuddy camera to see how he’s getting around the track because he’s in a totally different zone than these other cars.”

Petty on the heat inside the race car on the floorboard: “The temperature on the floorboard can get to 220-230 [degrees] and it’s a slow bake. It’s like a turkey in the oven, man, you’re just baking all day long. You leave the race track and your foot is burnt but it’s really baked.”

TNT NASCAR Summer Series – Post-race remarks

Tony Stewart on his collision with Brian Vickers toward the end of the race claiming Vickers blocked him: “:I’m not going to tolerate it. He was blocking and I’m going to dump him.”

Winner Kurt Busch on his victory at Sonoma with a two-stop strategy: “It was an unbelievable set-up. I’m real proud of our team. We had to conserve our rear tires. That was our main thought and once we had our fuel mileage, I started to pick up my pace. I didn’t want guys to think they had a shot at us.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

SAVE MART 350

INFINEON RACEWAY

TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES

JUNE 26, 2011

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 39TH AFTER TWO-CAR INCIDENT ON LAP 87 THAT SENT HIM TO THE GARAGE FOR REPAIRS: WHAT HAPPENED? “I dumped him earlier for blocking and he got me back later on. If they block, they are going to get dumped. It is real simple. I mean I don’t blame him, I don’t blame him for dumping us back. But, I don’t race guys that way, I never have. If guys want to block then they are going to wrecked every time. Until NASCAR makes a rule against it, I am going to dump them every time for it. He did what he had to do, I don’t blame him, there is nothing wrong with it.”

WAS THAT ANYTHING OTHER THAN FLAT PAYBACK? “I probably had it coming because I dumped him earlier but I dumped him because he was blocking. If anybody wants to block all year that’s what I’m going to keep doing so they can handle it however they want. It was payback, but I dumped him first and I dumped him because he was blocking. I’ve been complaining about the way guys have been racing all year. I like Brian, I’m not holding it against him at all. I don’t care if it was Ryan Newman I would have dumped him too. If they want to block that’s what is going to happen to them every time for the rest of my career.”

IS THE LACK OF RESPECT MORE PREVELANT THAN EVER? “I don’t know if its lack of respect or guys just pushing the envelope and not working with each other. There wasn’t any reason at the point of the race where he started blocking in the first place. It didn’t make sense to do it and I’m not going to tolerate it. I don’t race guys that way and I’m not going to let anybody race me that way. So if they block they get dumped. Plain and simple.”.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO 48 LOWE’S/JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: HARD-FOUGHT SEVENTH PLACE FINISH: “Yes, it was. The strategy worked against us, but we still had a decent car and could get up there and get a top-10. So, we’ll take it.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM TANKLESS CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: ON HIS ROLLER COASTER OF A DAY: “It was all strategy. I mean, we got up to about 14th or 15th there and just kind of stalled. The car was really loose. Then we got in a little wreck and tore it up even worse. As the run would go on, we would just get so loose. The car has a lot of damage on it. A lot of credit to these guys for getting it fixed for the strategy. It was the best ninth place finish I can ever remember.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 COTTONELLE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 22ND AFTER LATE-RACE CONTACT RELEGATED HIM DEEP IN THE FIELD: YOU CAME IN FOR TIRES LATE AND YOU GAVE UP A LOT OF TRACK POSITION DOING THAT, DROVE AGGRESSIVE HAD CONTACT WITH THE NO. 2 AND NO. 4, WERE THE TIRES THE RIGHT CALL? “Yeah, tires were the right call. The No. 4 was the first car, I got beside him and he knocked me a couple of times and they just don’t give me any room so it was hard. The No. 2, I got on his bumper moved him a little bit, got beside him and passed him and he just plain and simple wrecked us. It’s hard when people don’t know how to race on road courses and think they do. It’s okay. We had fun, we have a good car. This Cottonelle Chevy was amazing today. It’s nice to run good here.”

ARE YOU GOING TO TALK TO THE NO. 2? “Ask him, he’s the one that wrecked me. We through the corner and I just got on his bumper a little bit and moved him a little. Got a good run and I guess he didn’t like it. I mean, it is just hard to run with people who have never run well on road courses or have no experience at it. It cost us a ton of points today. But no, you have to talk to smart people.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: OUTSIDE THE TOP 20 AT ONE POINT THE CAR WAS PLOWING, SIDEWAYS LOOSE WAS THIS A STATEMENT KIND OF DAY WHEN THE TEAM SALVAGED THEIR DAY? “It certainly was. It was as much a statement to us as anything else. You know a great effort by this DuPont Chevrolet team and Alan and everybody. It was a struggle. I’ve got to tell you we really missed the set up at the beginning of this race. I don’t know just the adjustments we made were that good or the track position or the track changing at the end. It looked like a lot of guys were really, really struggling with grip there at the end and our car was actually pretty good. We were fast and I think we were faster than the leaders. That felt awesome to start there with old tires and be able to work through traffic all the way up to second, man that was amazing.”

YOU’VE GOT JEFF GORVETTE ON THE CAR AND I GUESS KURT BUSCH MUST HAVE BEEN LIGHTNING MCQUEEN TODAY “I guess so. I tell you what, Jeff Gorvette came on there at the end and you know what, I’ve just got to say thanks to this team. I know we do that all the time. But if you guys were watching that No. 24 car, you know it was a struggle today. We were way in the back and not moving forward. We just missed the set-up at the beginning of this race. Alan and all the guys came together and made some good adjustments and that was a great call there at the end to stay out. We didn’t know. I thought really, even there at the end, that we were probably going to get beat up by some of the guys on newer tires. But the car just really stayed good there and we were able to even beat a lot of the guys in front of us and run them down. So that was a lot of fun. I was just so thankful the car finally came together there at the end. We were really, really struggling. So it was a great team effort.”

HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR PATIENCE WHEN YOU’RE DEALING WITH A ROUGH BEGINNING OF THE RACE? “It was hard. You’ve got to ride it out. You’ve got to keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble. There were a lot of guys doing some silly things that were wrecking and causing themselves a whole race instead of just trying to survive. When the car is like that you kind of have to give up the spots and not fight the guys off too much, which is just the toughest thing to do. You want to race. But we just didn’t have what it took there to do that and so we just were patient and that’s part of being old. I’m going to be 40 this year and I’m more patient nowadays than I used to be. So I just appreciate this team hanging in there. It was not fun for any of us to see that but boy to hang in there and to come back and fight for second there at the end with Carl (Edwards) and to get a second place out of this day, wow. It was a great effort by this DuPont Chevrolet team.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: ON HIS RACE: “Well, we didn’t really weather the storm but it was a lot of fun. Thank you guys for coming out here and enjoying this place. It is a hell of a place race. It was a lot of fun. It is always fun to race in front of a great crowd like this. Our Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet was pretty good all weekend long. It was about a second to fifth place car is where we were all weekend long. So, a good finish in fourth.”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET, FINISHED 21ST: ON HIS RACE: “We never were able to get ahold of the handling on the Cat Chevy today. Todd (Berrier, crew chief) made a number of changes to the setup and we would run well for a couple of laps but then rear grip would just disappear again.”

About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com ce5&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.chevrolet.com%2f> .

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Infineon Raceway

Dodge Motorsports PR

Save Mart 350

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Dodge Post-Race Quotes

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 1st “It was an unbelievable setup. Once we got into the groove with this car, it seemed to get better after lap five or six. Our cars have never done that before. I’m real proud of this Dodge team, everybody from Shell and Pennzoil. If that doesn’t inspire you to go get a SRT8 Dodge Charger, I don’t know what will. That was an awesome handling Dodge. I’m so proud of these guys for really stepping up after what we’ve been through. Man, we’ve been on a high these last few weeks.”

SOME DIDN’T THINK YOU COULD DO IT WITH A TWO-STOP STRATEGY? “We just had to conserve our rear tires. That was the main thought. Once we had enough fuel to make it, I started to pick up my pace. I didn’t want guys to think they had a shot at us and I was able to stretch it out.”

“It was an unbelievable day. The one thing I have been pushing hard for all year is when we win with this Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, 22-cents-a-gallon off for everybody that has the Shell Saver Card on Wednesday. So you’ve got to get a Shell Saver Card by Wednesday and save 22-cents a gallon. That’s awesome. So thank you Dodge, Sprint, Coca-Cola, you guys have been great, AAA, Lenox, Discount Tires, Snap-On Tools, a whole group of guys that help us out.”

IT WAS A TOTAL TEAM EFFORT TODAY. “This was an awesome Dodge Charger. My guys really stepped it up. Thanks to my crew, the guys at the shop building the cars and the guys testing for us. We logged a lot of miles in testing. It feels great to bring it home and put our Dodge on top.”

YOU GOT THE ROAD COURSE WIN TODAY; CAN YOU GET THAT RESTRICTOR-PLATE WIN AT DAYTONA NEXT WEEK? “That’s been big on my list over the years. I really want to get one of those plate wins. We had a good Speedweeks at Daytona, now I want to go there and get the big July 4th win. Thanks to the fans, this was an awesome ride today. That backward lap brought tears to me; I was all choked up because that’s something cool that deserves to be done.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE WIN? “It’s awesome to have that insurance package. We got a win, but we still need to run hard and we’ve been doing that of late with our fast Penske Dodge.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 10th “We brought home a 10th. We had a really good Miller Lite Dodge this whole week. I’m really proud of my guys. To finish 10th on a road course is nothing to be disappointed about. I thought for a minute there we were going to get a top five; we just fell off a little bit at the end. I got caught up with all the traffic but still came out of here with a top 10. It’s something I’m very proud of.”

WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE 42? “I don’t take any pride in all that stuff, but at some point you have to run your own deal. It was pretty obvious that it was eat or be eaten and I wasn’t going to be eaten.”

ROBBY GORDON (No. 7 SPEED Energy Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 18th “I just got wrecked by (Joey) Logano. It is what it is. We were on track for exactly what we wanted to do. There was a big difference in tires and that was disappointing. They brought two date codes and we got the wrong one for qualifying. We had a strong run. We lost track position, fought back, and then lost when the 20 punted us.”

Ford Sonoma Finishing Order

3rd Carl Edwards

5th Marcos Ambrose

12th David Gilliland

13th AJ Allmendinger

14th Matt Kenseth

23rd Greg Biffle

27th Chris Cook

29th David Ragan

32nd Terry Labonte

33rd Brian Simo

35th Andy Lally

 

CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Scotts Ortho Ford Fusion (Finished 3rd) “I am really proud of my team for the way we battled today. It was just a crazy race and for us to be able to work our way up to where we finished just says a ton about my Aflac crew and Bob and everyone. To be able to escape out of here with a top three is a good day with us, especially considering everything that went on out there.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion (Finished 5th) “I am so proud of my Stanley car and my Stanley team to get a top five out of what could have been a very tough day for me. Todd and the guys worked hard all day and got us into a good position there at the end. We weren’t able to get the million dollars for the Children’s Miracle Network kids, but thanks to Stanley they will get $100,000. I want to thank Stanley for putting me in the car and believing in me and I am looking forward to what we can do the rest of the way and when we get to the Glen.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Finished 13th) “That was crazy just like always. The car was pretty good and I think from about mid-race on we kind of got loose. The track, there was so much crap on the race track and we kept adjusting. Everybody was running into each other out there. I got into a couple guys and got them angry and then I had one guy dump me. I just tried to keep fighting. We are getting there. If we can get some luck on our side we might actually be up front where we deserve to finish. It could have been a lot worse and 13th isn’t great, but it could have been a lot worse with 20 to go. Now we can go have more fun at Daytona.”

DAVID RAGAN, No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Finished 29th) IS THIS ONE YOU’RE JUST HAPPY TO GET OUT OF THE WAY? “We struggled from the get-go. Goodyear brought a new tire here and we couldn’t get our UPS Ford to hook up from the first lap of the race. This was a brand-new car and we need to go back and revisit the things that we did differently than our teammates. We never gave up and I thought we were going to be okay during the mid-part of the race. We had that drive through penalty that hurt us a little bit, and this track is always one that we have to work hard at. We just have to look forward to the next couple of tracks that are pretty good for us.”

DAVID GILLILAND, No. 34 Taco Bell Ford (Finished 12th) “I am really proud of our team today. Peter (Sospenzo) and the guys gave me a really great Taco Bell Ford Fusion this weekend. We had an issue with second gear toward the end of the race there, so we lost a few spots, but I had a lot of fun running up front all day. I asked the guys on the radio during the race if there was an award for passing the most cars ’cause, man, it sure seemed like I was passing cars all day. Great day for our team and now we get to go back to Daytona.”

CARL EDWARDS PRESS CONFERENCE

DID YOU HAVE ANY CHANCE TO CATCH THE 22? “In the end on the restart they were telling me his lap times and he was kind of easing around there. Every once in awhile he would blister off a fast lap. His car was extremely good and he did a good job managing it. I think he had just a very fast car.”

IF YOU WERE BATTLING FOR THE POINTS IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES, WOULD YOU HAVE GONE TO WISCONSIN? “I think we would of but as it stands we were racing for the owners’ championship over there. There is also the fact that I committed to running all the races. That was the most important thing. Fastenal was okay with me staying here and they made it clear that they were a part of Roush Fenway racing and not just the 60 team. That was very cool. We are still fighting for the owners’ championship over there and I will race every race that I can.”

IS IT UNUSUAL TO SEE A TEAM AND ORGANIZATION TURN THINGS AROUND AS FAST AS THE 22 HAS? “I don’t know if it is unusual but they have definitely turned things around. Our team, one year ago, after this race really turned things around and got on a role. Now all I worry about is how long it will last and if we can keep it going. I am sure they are thinking the same thing and hoping they can keep this going through the whole season. It is amazing how the performance in this sport peaks and can fall quickly as well.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK STAYING YESTERDAY HELPED AND HOW TOUGH WAS IT TO WATCH THAT RACE ON TV? “It was very tough to watch the race from Road America but I think staying was the right decision. It paid off today. It worked out. It was a good call. We could have finished poorly here and ended up on the fence over there like Tony did or something. Anything can happen. It turned out to be the right call and it paid off, so it was a good move.”

THERE SEEMED TO BE A TON OF ACTION ON TURN 11. WAS IT CRAZIER THAN NORMAL? “It looks like there is an opportunity with all that pavement out there to move turn 11 about 200 yards this way (laughs). They can call it the donut hole or something out there. You can go out there and spin around and do donuts when you get run off the race track. There is an awful lot of pavement there to put that corner at the end of it. You know what I mean?”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT RETRIBUTION IF SOMEONE GETS YOU EARLY IN A RACE? “I don’t know that I have ever gone out and tried to get somebody back. Have you Jeff? I think NASCAR with the “Have at It” mentality will be in the end better and safer for all of us. I know that if I go down in the corner and hit a guy that NASCAR will kind of let things be settled on the race track. So in a way, I think people respect each other a little more on the race track.”

WHEN SOMETHING GOES ON WITH TWO GUYS LIKE WITH TONY AND VICKERS TODAY, HOW DOES THAT AFFECT HOW YOU RACE THEM? “My spotter does a good job of letting me know who is mad at each other. Jason will say for me to watch guys because they are about to wreck each other. In general, you never really know what happened or if it started a lap before or what. It is hard to tell in real time who is mad at who and what is about to happen.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

SAVE MART 350

INFINEON RACEWAY

TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES

JUNE 26, 2011

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET, INVOLVED IN MULTI-CAR INCIDENT IN TURN 11 ON LAP 38, RETIRED FROM RACE AS A RESULT OF DAMAGE TO RADIATOR RESULTING IN ENGINE FAILURE: WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE? “We had made the car better during that first stop. They had a big ole mess getting into (turn) 11 and we jumped in there and got part of it and banged up the nose a little bit. It knocked a hole in the radiator and it ended up hurting the engine a little bit so I think the engine is done. It has a hole in the side of it so that usually isn’t good. I ran it a couple of laps and the temp was fine on the water so we thought maybe it was just a pinhole in the radiator and maybe we could just run around 10 or 20 laps and just fill it back up with qualifying cycle machine that we use to push water through the motors on qualifying day. But, I guess the motor didn’t like it and it knocked the side out the motor, so it’s done.”

WHAT WAS ISSUE? “We just got in a little bit of a bang up there in turn 11 with a bunch of guys and knocked a hole in the radiator and drained all the water out of it and hurt the engine. The engine is ruined so we won’t be able to get back out there. We had made the car better. It was a really rough race but it was fun though. It just sucks to be out this early.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE OUT THERE, WAS THERE A LOT OF BEATIN’ AND BANGIN’ OUT THERE? “I was seein’ beatin’ and bangin’ but that is just the way the road courses are. This place.it is the way these races here have been for awhile. You know what you sign up for when you show up on Friday. You kinda want to get up in the middle of it ya know. You want to get in the middle of it and have fun. Everybody is bangin’ around but your car can’t survive it. They just spun out in front of me in (turn) 11 and I just kinda ran into somebody with the front of my car. But the beatin’ and the bangin’ was kinda fun.”

YOU SAID ON FRIDAY YOU WANTED TO MAKE THIS YOUR FAVORITE TRACK EVENTUALLY HAVE YOU LEARNED TO LIKE IT ANY BETTER? “I’m not a big fan of the place, but, maybe one of these days. We were havin’ a pretty good time of it out there. We weren’t the worst car. There are some guys out there that have some real good speed. It should be interesting how this race plays out.”

ARE YOU KIND OF GLAD TO GET OUT OF THIS STRETCH OF RACES AND HEAD TO DAYTONA AND A FEW PLACES YOU LIKE? “I’m not looking forward to going to Daytona, not with the way the drafting is there. But, we’ll just have to see if we can get lucky out of there. What is after Daytona? Will be glad to go there. New Hampshire? I love that place. (LAUGHS).”

About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com ce5&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.chevrolet.com%2f> .