Month: June 2011

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Pretzel Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What’s your mindset to this weekend’s race? “It’s exciting to get back to the road courses here in 2011.  Looking forward to a good weekend for us.  We’ve run well here in the past.  We won this race in 2008.  No reason why we don’t expect to run well here.  We had a good test a few weeks ago with our road course cars trying to get our program back on course.  Last year it seemed like we struggled a little bit.   It’s just a matter of getting the right brake package setup with the right car and determining how aggressive you get with your setup and the heat with the way the track temp. is and stuff like that during the weekend.  It seems like it will be a particularly nice weekend here in Sonoma.  We look forward to the challenge here.”

Are we going to see short pitting this weekend? “I think the biggest thing that we’ll see here this weekend in regards to short pitting is how far guys can go on fuel.  With the new fuel this year, we’re all lower on our fuel mileage.  Determining how far that will put us in our window will determine all the pit stop strategy.  We’re trying to make it on two (stops), we’re not sure that we can yet, we’ll find out after our first couple runs in practice and seeing what our fuel mileage is.  We may end up seeing a few guys having to pit three times on Sunday.  That’ll throw it all for a loop.”

Can you talk about being in your fourth season with Joe Gibbs Racing? “As far as my fourth year with Joe Gibbs Racing, where our strengths are and everything.  I feel like there’s a lot of strengths at Joe Gibbs Racing, there’s also a couple weaknesses as well, too.  I think just being able to put the pieces of the puzzle together throughout the whole year may be a bit of a weakness and you can argue that all the teams sort of have that.  Jimmie (Johnson) may have that, the 99 (Carl Edwards) may have that sometimes, but when it comes to pressure time, whether it’s the team, whether it’s the driver — that seems to be our main challenge.  You can look back at 2008 and say that it was all team and driver as to why we failed there.  Our strengths are being able to build really good race cars.  The chassis guys and the body guys do a great job at Joe Gibbs Racing.  I’m looking towards the summer months here where we can bring out a couple new cars again and try to run strong, get them figured out before we get to the Chase and run real hard there.”

What is your strategy for this weekend and how important is qualifying? “There tends to be a little bit of a problem sometimes with us on restarts and everything — with the double-file restarts and everything for as tight as the racing gets here.  Certainly, there will be some bumping and banging on restarts and what have you.  I would say qualifying will definitely be a bigger help.  In helping you stay away from some of those instances.  If you can start up top-four or top-six, you tend to have a pretty clean day.  But, if you’re any farther back than that, it seems like it gets a little hairy.  Especially towards the end of the race — everybody is trying to get everything they can.  They don’t give any room, they don’t care who they’re racing with and they’ll push you off course and do whatever they have to do for themselves and it can really hurt your day.  You just have to be conscientious of all of that.”

Where did you road test and what is your goal when you go test prior to road course races? “Road Atlanta.  Well, when you go test at places, you try to find a place that really helps you at a track that you’re going to.   The biggest thing that I found was, we went to somewhere in South Carolina the year before and I didn’t like it at all.  It didn’t teach us anything.  Anything that we learned there, did nothing here.  I went to Road Atlanta a couple years ago.  I think it was in 2008 and that’s when we came here and won the race.  Hopefully that’s our biggest help.  I feel like that place is closer to Watkins Glen than it is Sonoma, but knowing what we run here at Sonoma versus what we run at Watkins Glen or what the difference is it takes in setup, you learn what you can to make your car better at Road Atlanta for Watkins Glen and then you make the changes that you know to make for Sonoma.  That’s kind of how we play it.”

Did you know you were the most frequently name discussed during the first 12 telecasts of the season? “I couldn’t tell you.  The announcers must really like me, I don’t know.  Or, I’m just good at what I do and I get TV time.  I think it was through the first 12 or 13 and that was the Fox broadcast.  We have run really well, we’ve been fast.  When you run up front and you run in contention to win the races, you typically are able to get TV time as well as just getting a lot of mentions and stuff like that due to running well or due to other circumstances.  To us, we’ve done a good job this year at getting a lot of coverage.  M&M’s is all happy with that.  We’ll just try to keep it going and get them the best coverage we can through the final 10 races and win this championship.”

What does it mean to this sport when a sponsor like Red Bull announces they are leaving at the end of the year? “Well, to us right now it means two less Toyota teams, which kind of hurts us a little bit.  It hurts R&D work, hurts a little bit of what we like to work on throughout the year.  It hurts the sport a little bit just because it keeps falling back into that demographic that we seem to not be able to hit — which is the 18-34.  It’s challenging, it’s challenging for anybody out there.  Ticket sales for major league baseball games are down and football games were down a little bit last year and stuff like that, too.  You can argue it all you want, but it’s just the way it is.” KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Pretzel Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Can you describe the passion you have for winning? “Well, I think your passion for winning stems from anything.  To me, it was whenever I was playing games as a family – Monopoly — I always wanted to win.  I was always a race car and felt like I could be the fastest one.  I always wanted to win.  When you get into the race weekend and you get into the race car and stuff like that, you’re just working towards making your car as fast as you can, hitting the marks and making some good moves on the race track and just trying to keep your car in one piece.  That’s going to be the first thing to get you to the checkered flag and then hopefully you can get their first.  To me, it’s just a passion that is like any other and you work as hard as you can to get it and there is no satisfaction like winning.”

Is winning an obsession? “Yeah, you could say you’re obsessed with it, sure.  I’d like to see us be able to win more often in the Cup Series.  People aren’t quite complimentary about all that and how I can win Nationwide and Truck Series races all day long, but Cup it seems like I don’t win as often.  Three or four or five wins in the Cup Series is a pretty good year for anybody.  So, I feel like that’s pretty close.”

Do you focus on setting up your car for a specific part of the Infineon Raceway track? “You definitely have to be a lot more forgiving in different corners.  You’re going to have to give up this corner in order to make your car better in that corner, or something like that.  A lot of the guys really look towards making their car good through turn four, through and off turn seven, and then again getting in and off turn 11.  Those are the passing zones.  So, you try to make your car as best as you can right there.  The rest of the track, you’re going to run it as best you can, but you might give up a little bit here or there.  Like for us, you tend to give up a little bit through the ‘esses,’ if it makes for better handling somewhere else because you can’t pass in the ‘esses.’  You’re not going to get someone who drives up around your outside and passes you through there if you are going to slow.  Certainly, it’s an area where those guys can catch up to you and cut a little bit of time off, but if you’re exceptionally better than them in the other areas you’ll be able to drive back away from them.  So, there’s a little bit of give and take out there certainly in different areas and on particular points on the race track.”

What’s the best advice you received from your brother Kurt about racing? “That’s been a long time ago.  I haven’t gotten much lately.  He kind of told me, ‘You’re getting this on your own now, so you’re pretty much all set.  Don’t worry about asking me any more questions.’  That was a couple years ago.  We talk a little bit here and there.  I think the best advice he ever gave me was just always about different race tracks.  Not necessarily about particular things about racing, but more about helping me get around the race track.  We’re both different people and he lets me do my thing and I let him do his thing, but we try to help each other out on the race track to make each other go faster.”

Do you have any advice for your brother Kurt? “No.  I actually need to ask him a couple questions about qualifying because he seems to have figured that out here the last three weeks.  So, that would help me out, especially coming to Sonoma.  We’d like to qualify well like I said earlier and try to stay up front and out of trouble.”

Are you happy with the Chase playoff format? “I think the end of the year — the final 10 races — may be a little bit short.  It seems like you get yourself in trouble in a race or something like that where you know you have a bad race and you’re pretty much eliminated almost.  With this new points format, it seems like that’s even more the case than it was before.  It’s a challenge.  There’s other sports that want to have shorter pre-seasons and longer seasons, or whatever.  I think our season is already pretty long — we go from the Super Bowl to Thanksgiving.  Some of the other drivers might agree with me that we’re on the road quite a bit.  But, we love to do it and that’s what we’re here to do.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 17 Crown Royal Ford LOOKING AHEAD TO DAYTONA, THE SECOND RACE UNDER LIGHTS. IS YOUR CAR SET UP SIMILAR TO THE SHOOT OUT?  “I don’t think your car set up will be a lot different, I think the biggest difference going there this time than if February is the weather. The track should be more slick than February. I don’t know if that will make much difference or not with the way we are racing there. It should be maybe a little bit different.”

WE HAVE HAD A COUPLE RACES WITH THE TWO CAR DRAFT. DO YOU LIKE IT?  “No, I don’t like it but there isn’t a lot you can do about it because two cars shoving each other is so much faster than the normal style of draft or anything else that is going on. Unless the rules or cars change I don’t see it changing.”

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNED FROM THE 500 THAT YOU CAN TAKE TO NEXT WEEKEND?  “Man, just to try not to have a wreck. I have been wrecked at both speedway races so far. I need to avoid that. Pushing and getting pushed is difficult. I don’t know how it will be. If it is real hot it might be easier to get spun out or spin somebody out. I think it will be a challenge.”

LOOKING AT YOUR CAREER HERE AT SONOMA, YOU HAVE ONE TOP-10 FINISH HERE AT THIS TRACK. WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE HERE FOR YOU?  “The whole thing. Obviously this has been one of my worst tracks. I guess I am not very good at it. I guess the biggest challenge for me is to help these guys get in the car what I need to run fast laps and for me not to make mistakes. We have had some fast laps here and qualified really well here a few times but I have a hard time giving them information or suggestions sometimes to make the car drive how I need it to drive.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO GET BETTER AT ROAD RACING?  “It is kind of the same for everybody. You can’t test here and you only come here once a year, so it is kind of the same for everybody and you just need to be able to figure it out better.”

KURT BUSCH INSIDE MENTIONED GUYS GET MORE AGGRESSIVE ON ROAD COURSES BECAUSE THE CAR CAN TAKE MORE OF A BEATING. HAVE YOU SEEN THAT?  “Yeah, I think some of that is this car. I think the biggest thing is two-wide restarts. It used to be on road courses that there were only two passing zone and nobody would dare try, I don’t know why, you just didn’t. There wasn’t room. That pretty much all went out the window with the two-wide restarts. Everyone is fighting for spots and you run side by side on corners you would never dream of doing that a couple of years ago. It has really changed a lot. It is like going to Martinsville, only worse. There is a lot of beating and banging.”

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT HOW JEFF GORDON RAN HERE LAST YEAR?  “I didn’t really see any of that. Usually Jeff is in the front of the road courses and I am in the back, so I didn’t see any of what he did last year.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

SAVE MART 350

INFINEON RACEWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 24, 2011

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION CHEVROLETmet with members of the media at Infineon Raceway and discussed road course racing, points position and other topics.  Full transcript:

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS RACE WITH THE JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION ON THE CAR?:  “Once again we have the Helmet of Hope that is taking place and just to touch on the fact that we’re in the Jimmie Johnson Foundation car this weekend.  Very excited about this race and very thankful to everyone that’s participated and helped support the foundation.  We’ve raised over $650,000 this weekend in the San Diego area through our dinner and our golf tournament.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE THE DEFENDING CHAMPION OF THIS RACE?:  “We had a great race here last year.  Qualified well – led a lot of laps and had a little bit of fortune come our way with Marcos’ (Ambrose) mistake there in turn one going up the hill.  I look forward to another great race.  We want to expand on what we did here last year.  I feel that I’m a better road course racer and we know a little bit more about the setup that we want under the car.  Excited about the race.”

WHERE IS YOUR TEAM THIS YEAR COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS?:  “I feel good about things.  We had a few more opportunities to win at the start of the year.  I did win at Talladega.  We’ve been working through some new stuff on the mile and a half and two-mile tracks and getting closer.  Last weekend with the spin and the issue that we had there and going down two laps and not being able to get it back, I feel that we would have maybe made up a point or two on Carl (Edwards).  I think we had a really good car and we’d have a different tone in the media center today if I didn’t spin out and lose some points there.  We’re doing well.  I see a lot of progress with the over-the-wall group of guys on the team and I feel that we’re now seeing some consistency in our cars on the big tracks.  Adjustments are making sense and we’re going down the road and getting stronger.  I wouldn’t say this is our worst year to this point, I still think that probably 2008 was our toughest opening half of the season that we’ve had to date.  We know we need to be better and we want to be better.  We’re working hard to get there.”

WAS LAST WEEKEND A SIMPLE SPIN?:  “Yeah, nothing broke.  I think it was an aero situation that I was in traffic and had someone close to the bumper and the way the car rotated around and how fast it rotated around, I thought there was contact.  The sway bar was ground off so it was from the flat tires and why the sway bar arm was off – it wasn’t like it was broke or anything.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO TEST FOR INFINEON?:  “The 24 (Jeff Gordon) tested and Boris Said has been in the Finch car and tested some.  I was just talking with Boris about the two tracks that he went to.  He left Road Atlanta and thought that they found some things that made sense and then went to Mid-Ohio and none of it really applied to Mid-Ohio so now they’re coming here with two test sessions under their belts and not sure what’s going to work.  And more confused.  We’ve been through that song and dance year after year.  This time, with the success of last year’s race and qualifying we felt like we could come back and just work from that baseline of where we were last year.  No doubt that I am going to need a few laps to kind of get my rhythm of road course racing again, but at least we’re not chasing the setup, we’ll just be getting me reps.”

ARE THERE ANY ADVANTAGES TO BEING THE POINTS LEADER UNTIL THE CHASE STARTS?:  “From my standpoint, I think that it’s still the way you judge where teams are and whose going to be a contender in the Chase.  We haven’t entered into the Chase as the point’s leader often in these five championships that we’ve won, but I still think that it’s something that everybody in the garage area wants to do.  They want to lead the points.  There’s also a level of experience you get by leading the points.  Confidence that it builds within the team, your setups, what’s going on pit road, the attitude of the driver – there are a lot of things to it that you maybe can’t measure, but they are very important things to a race team.  I think it’s important, but one other piece to it I think coming into the Chase with a good four or five race stretch is a similar confidence boost as leading the points would be.  I still think it’s important, I guess I might be kind of babbling now, but I want to be leading the points.  That is my goal is to lead the points every single weekend that I can and I wish that we were right now.”

DO YOU THINK DAYTONA WILL BE ANY DIFFERENT THAN IT WAS IN FEBRUARY REGARDING THE TWO-CAR DRAFT?:  “I think we have more options as competitors to make passes for the lead or to work your way through traffic and play some strategy and different things there.  I feel as a group we’re all smarter and will be a more competitive race with the push draft, but I don’t see any reason why we’d be in a big pack.  Until we have to lift and we can’t run nose to tail, I don’t see us getting away from what we’re doing.  Certainly it’s been a year now since it’s been repaved.  Maybe there’s a little bit of a loss in grip.  If it was a day race, I think you might not be able to push each other around, but the fact that it’s still a night race, I think when the race comes, we’ll be pushing.”

DO YOU EXPECT SUNDAY’S RACE TO BE A BARE KNUCKLE RACE LIKE LAST YEAR?:  “I just heard Kurt (Busch) mention a few things about starting up front and running up front and how it’s a different race and it’s so true.  When you’re in the center of the pack, it’s just an energy that exists when somebody makes a questionable move on you and you’re excitement level goes up and now you make a move on a guy and it just kind of breeds this style of racing and we’re going to see it.  Anymore, the passing zones, drivers are so aggressive in defending the passing zones and braking zones that you have to find a different way by or just bomb it in there and eight tires are better than four mentality and hope that you make it.  I think there’s a very good chance of a lot of action taking place.”

WHAT MAKES KYLE BUSCH SUCH A GREAT RACER?:  “I think the fact that he can adapt and really drive any vehicle like we’ve seen.  Something that he has and has used to his advantage and as the years go by I think he’s clearly been through some tough lessons here lately, but he’s only getting smarter and stronger and tougher as the years go by.  He’s got plenty of speed and once he figures out the other part of it and can put together a whole year at the Cup level, he’s going to be good.  I said this before, once he figured out how to win races, he was going to win a lot and I still feel this way about once he figures out how to win a championship, he has potential to win a lot.”

WHERE DO YOU STAND ON TOO MUCH DOWN FORCE IN THE CARS?:  “I know what he’s (Carl Edwards) saying.  I understand that the aero push and maybe not just the push, but the lack of grip as you’re further back in traffic, it’s due to aerodynamics and the lead car has a huge advantage when it’s on track.  I’m not saying we can’t improve it some, but I still think the majority of our problem in not being able to pass on some tracks will still be there.  The lead car, you cannot change the fact that they are in the most stable air possible.  Every position back, it gets worse and worse.  From my experience and what I’ve seen over the years, when we have a new rule book or new rules in general, there is a lot of disparity in speed and so you have a fair amount of passing.  We’ve been under the same rules for a long time and when you look at the qualifying and results and how tight the field is, you can’t just go out there and pass people at will because everybody is running the same speed.  Then you can say, well it’s aerodynamics and that’s a part of it, but in my opinion, I think it’s that the field is so equal that you need to be a half-a-second faster to pass someone and in any aero situation and any type of vehicle that you look at – F1, open-wheel, in general – all those things, you can’t pass.  You’ve got to be considerably faster to pass.  No one is considerably faster than another car right now.  We’re all running a very similar pace.”

IS THERE A ROAD COURSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN THE CHASE?:  “I think it would be a great idea and I think Montreal would be a great fit for our series.  We have a huge fan base in Canada and I think it would be an awesome, awesome place to go.  I’m not sure what the chances are, but I would certainly lobby for it.”

HOW MUCH OF A THREAT DO YOU SEE JEFF GORDON AS THIS WEEKEND?:  “I think anytime we come here, we have to think about the 24 (Jeff Gordon) and him being a factor.  He and Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) are clicking well, they spent some time testing to make sure they were kind of talking the same language when they got here for the road course race this weekend.  I think he’s going to be a serious threat.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RED BULL ANNOUNCEMENT THIS WEEK?:  “I hate to hear that news.  When I think about it from the sports vantage point and the big sponsor leaving, two seats going away – I really hate to hear that news.  Granted it’s a competitive beverage sponsor to what we deal with at HMS, but still the more corporate or international involvement – the more Fortune 500 companies and the more Fortune 50 companies we have involved in our sport, the better our sport is going to be.  Competition is good on the race track as we all know and it’s also good amongst the corporate environment that exists in the garage area.  I hate to see it and hopefully the team can find funding and still exist and operate at the high level like they have been.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE KEY TO WINNING ON SUNDAY?:  “In my opinion, it really boils down to – there’s two types of races that take place here – one is a fuel mileage race and we know what it takes to win there.  The other is qualifying well and having speed in the car.  Today in qualifying is so important to start up front, to stay out of the madness that takes place from fifth on back.  That’s the type of race we had last year.  We qualified second, got the lead early and went out there and just ran the pace we needed to and were a factor.  I don’t think anybody wants to see it boil down to fuel mileage.  It’s just so aggravating to worry about being the first guy on pit road and when that caution or if a cautions going to come out after that.  A lot of guys are pitting so early that you need two or three cautions after you take fuel to make it to the end.  So you’re pitting the car knowing that you’re going to run out if it stays green and it’s just a tough world to live in, especially when you’re concerned about being in the Chase and where you are in points.  I really hope it boils down to a straight up race and fuel mileage not an issue.”

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CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion

DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO RACING THIS WEEKEND?“I told my wife this week on Wednesday when we were driving around that I was really excited about going racing this weekend. With Road America and here, they are both really good tracks for me. We haven’t gotten a win here yet, but it is something different and changes the pace. We are in a good position, leading the points, and don’t have a lot of pressure right now, so it is about going out here and trying to get a win.”

DURING YOUR TIME IN CUP, COMING TO THIS TRACK SPECIFICALLY, HOW HAVE YOU NOTICED THE AGGRESSION RATCHET UP AMONG THE COMPETITORS?  “I think the aggression has ratcheted up across the board. I think in these road courses it has gone through the roof. If you leave anything open, guys dive in and door slam you and they are really going for it. If we don’t get that long green flag run at the end. If we get caution after caution with like two laps to go on the race, it is going to be insane. We could wear out the green-white-checker here for sure.”

DOES IT HELP OR HINDER YOU BOUNCING BETWEEN RACE TRACKS THIS WEEKEND?  “I am going to miss all the practice here tomorrow, so that is going to hurt our ability to finely tune the Aflac Fusion here. Initially I was going to run Road America and then we agreed it would be better for me to stay here and practice and miss Road America, then we talked more about it and in the end I think running that race helps me here. It helps me get in the road racing mode but I am going to miss practice here. We can lean on our teammates and get that final tire pressure and shock adjustment hopefully from them”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR PROGRESSION AS A ROAD RACER?  “The first time I went road racing with Boris (Said), about two minutes into it we were backwards in the grass. He helped me a lot. I still have a lot to learn. Coming here was one of the most humbling experiences my first time for a test. Kasey Kahne was out there running about a second-and-a-half faster than me and that was all I had. We have been able to come here a couple times and be very fast and sat on the pole at Watkins Glen last year which was huge for me. I won some Nationwide races, but I still have to get that Cup win on a road course. I want to be able to contend for the win every time we come here. That is the next hurdle for me, to get that much better.” DID YOU EVER THINK YOU WOULD GET TO THE POINT WHERE YOU LOOK FORWARD TO COMING HERE?  “These places used to scare me a little bit. I always thought I could lose a lot of points. Now I do look forward to them. They are a true test to your driving ability. You can’t make a mistake. You can’t miss a shift. You have to really temper your aggression. You can’t just go in there and dive under people and wreck them because if you don’t wreck them they will wreck you in the next corner and you will most likely wreck yourself. It is a really tough place to be fast and to not make mistakes. It is hard.”

THERE IS ALL MANNER OF RUMOR ABOUT YOU AND JOE GIBBS RACING. WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO THAT AND WHERE DOES YOUR CONTRACT STATUS STAND RIGHT NOW?  “As far as my contract status, it is the same as the beginning of the year. We are working hard on it and we do all that stuff behind closed doors. We are making progress and hopefully we will be able to tell you guys what my plan is soon.”

WHAT ABOUT THE GIBBS PART?  “What about it?”

ANY RESPONSE?  “No. I have heard rumors about all different teams for the last two years. The thing I am going to do is keep working on it and working on it privately. I think that is the best way for me.”

AS THE POINTS LEADER, THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE A CHAMPIONSHIP RUN FOR YOU. IS THERE A POINT WHERE YOU NEED YOUR CONTRACT DONE SO IT DOESN’T HIDER THAT POSSIBILITY?  “That is a really good point, but if it were up to me I would do it when the season is over and not talk about it with anyone. That isn’t the case though. We have to get it done. There is that feeling of hey, we would like to get this done before we get into the Chase. It will be whatever it is. I am not going to force anything or rush anything. I am going to go about it in a methodical way.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE RACING FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP AND WAITING TO DECEMBER OR DO YOU WANT IT DONE BEFORE THEN?  “I tell you what. I am not going to talk about it anymore. They are really good questions.  I have worked really hard in my career trying to minimize distractions. That is one thing I am very fortunate that with Bob Osborne, that guy is non-emotional about racing. He just goes about his business. I think that no matter how things go or how long we delay this or how long it takes, we aren’t delaying anything. I think we will race fine as a team. It is a difficult thing though because there are so many personalities that have to come together to get everything to work. We have to stay focused on our goal, to win the championship, no matter what.”

ARE YOU HAPPY AT ROUSH FENWAY RACING?  “Jack has done a lot for me and I am proud to drive for Jack and to drive a Ford. We have had 19 wins in the Cup series and 30-something in the Nationwide series. It is great. Like I said, I am working on all this stuff and when I know what is going to happen, I will let you guys know.”

NEXT WEEK IS A NIGHT RACE AT DAYTONA. YOU WON THE SHOOTOUT AT NIGHT. IS IT THE SAME CAR SETUP FOR YOU NEXT WEEK?  “I don’t know exactly what we have going at Daytona. It is such a different race now with the new surface that it is all about pure speed and partnering up with someone. Bob hasn’t told me the whole master plan yet. We will deal with that after we get out of here.”

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST THING YOU TOOK FROM THE 500 FOR NEXT WEEKEND?  “I do not want to finish second. I probably won’t be finishing second at Daytona. I will be doing everything I can to win that race. That was the closest I have been to Daytona in a Cup car and I really, really want to win there. That would be cool.”

JIMMIE SEEMS TO BE SITTING THERE IN THE WEEDS. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO KEEP BUILDING THAT CUSHION?  “Right now it doesn’t matter a lot. As long as we make the Chase, those guys are mentally strong enough that they will gather everything up and be fast for the final 10 races. If he made it into the Chase on wild card in 12th position I think he would be just as dangerous as if he were leading right now. I believe that to be true.”

IN 2008 YOU WON A LOT OF RACES. HOW WOULD YOU GUAGE YOUR CONFIDENCE PERSONALLY AND IN YOUR TEAM RIGHT NOW COMPARED TO THAT SEASON?  “In 2008 it was the first time we had a truly dominant team. A lot of that was because we had gotten ahead of the curve with the rear end housing and making more side force and down force. I knew other teams were catching us toward the end of the year. The other teams were building up steam and breathing down our necks. I feel this year is different. I feel more calm. I feel I have the same amount of confidence as then because we are fast for a number of reasons, not just one trick. I think with our team, we have better engines, better pit stops, better communication, better race cars, better management, we have everything right now. That gives me a much more calm feeling. I am not worried about guys overtaking us in one week.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY SIMPATHY FOR MARCOS HERE LAST YEAR?  “Yeah. It is a zero sum game. You don’t ever really have a lot of sympathy for other guys but boy; it was a lot like watching the Indy 500. Your heart just sinks because you know how hard it is to lose a race like that. I know Marcos; I saw somewhere this week where he wouldn’t even talk about it. He will win races though. He is really good. That was tough.”

DO YOU EXPECT HIM TO BE A RIGHT THERE THIS WEEK?  “One of our strategies this weekend is that if the car isn’t really fast today, and I have  to leave, we will take whatever Marcos figures out tomorrow and put it in our car. We believe in him and his abilities that much. That is one of our legitimate strategies for setting up the race car, just to copy him.”

WHEN YOU WERE FIRST STARTING OUT AND HAVING TROUBLE WITH ROAD COURSES, DID YOU DO ANY OF THE I-RACING STUFF?  “I am glad you asked that because I spent about two hours this week on I-Racing and my brother races all the time on that. I spent time on Road America where they had an open practice last night. It was really cool. There were about 60 guys and it was just like a real practice session. One of the guys, his name is Mack, he sent a set-up over digitally and we put that in and talked to him a little bit and followed him around the track. It really helps I think. I have to get in that Road America car and jump in and qualify and that is it. I am relying on that I-Racing stuff to get me up to speed.”

DID YOU DO A LOT OF THAT ANYWAY?  “I didn’t do it on I-Racing, but it is the same physics model. Papyrus is the company and I have worked with them and they sent me all the tracks. I have a hot seat and my PC is set up and everything. I have worked a lot on that. I haven’t done that lately because there is a certain limit to how much it can help you here, but it can definitely help you with braking points and where the speed is on a road course, for sure.  It is really hard. I finished practice last night 13th on the board, about two-seconds slower than the fastest guys at Road America. Those guys are fast.”

DID YOU GET ANY FEEDBACK ON YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT DOWN FORCE LAST WEEK?  “No, not really.”

DO YOU THINK YOU WERE SPEAKING ON A SENTIMENT SHARED BY OTHER DRIVERS?   “I think so, although I wasn’t thinking about that at the time. I have talked to NASCAR and they understand what I am saying. I have talked about it in those open competition meetings. I think the consensus is that Carl doesn’t want down force and wants the cars sliding all over the place, and that is true. They aren’t really going to listen to me that much because they know that I think I would have an advantage. I do think, objectively, as objectively as I can be, the less we rely on down force the better the racing will be.”

IS THE RACE ON PIT ROAD TOO IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW?  “Yes, that is what I was saying.  I have won races like that too. I totally understand. I am not complaining because I didn’t win at Michigan. I understand that I am going to win by that and lose by that. I would rather win or lose by how fast I am that day, not by where my track position is. I know NASCAR wants that too. We are all on the same page. The cars drive really well right now. There are less wrecks, less cars running into each other and arguably maybe the show is better sometimes because of down force. It is just my opinion that NASCAR should take a look at it and I think they will. I was just saying that I hope everybody recognizes how much of a part down force plays, because it is big.”

PIT ROAD IS SO IMPORTANT. IF YOU GO IN FIRST AND COME OUT SIXTH, YOU ARE DONE WITHOUT A MIRACLE YOU WON’T PASS FIVE CARS.  “Exactly. Denny went in second and if he had come out fourth or fifth it would have been a lot different race. Look, Denny is awesome and those guys are good. That is why they won that race. Think of it this way. If the cars didn’t have any down force, the only thing that would happen if you were following a guy is you would benefit from less drag and the guy behind may potentially always have an advantage. You maybe would see a lot more passing for the lead and a lot more really hard racing for the lead, which I think would be awesome. That is what I was pointing out about the 2013 car. They are changing the car and I have gotten a look at it and they are really, really neat. I think it will change the perception of the sport and bring excitement. They have an opportunity there. I just hope they take it. The tires can be softer too. So now the tires can fall off more because you don’t have to worry about the tires giving up because of so much pressure.”

WHAT KIND OF RACING DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE IN KENTUCKY?  “I think everyone is in for a surprise with the fans. The fans there will be just insane. That is one of the neatest parts about going to Kentucky. Also the track has so many bumps and different lines you can run that I think it will be a lot better racing than we see at a lot of these 1.5 mile race tracks. I think it will be a great race and one that people look at on the calendar and think that anybody can win it. It is going to be cool.  I think we will have more passing there because of the bumps and you go through turns one and two and there are places with huge bumps and also really smooth lines. In the Nationwide race it was real hit and miss. If you go through a line perfect you would be fast. If you missed it you would be slow. In the Cup series the gap between cars is so small that if a guy misses a line one time, one or two guys might get by him. It is going to be neat and a little more old school.”

NOBODY WILL PRACTICE YOUR CAR TOMORROW?  “No. We talked about having Billy Johnson come back to practice it but then we figured the cost benefit that we might as well just let the car sit.”

SO AFTER QUALIFYING TODAY, WHAT YOU HAVE IS WHAT YOU HAVE?  “Yes, except like I was saying before, if Ambrose or Matt (Kenseth) figures something out, we will take that and put it in our car.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

SAVE MART 350

INFINEON RACEWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 24, 2011

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 COTTONELLE CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Infineon Raceway and discussed racing at Infineon, racing at Daytona next week, status of with talks with Ganassi and more. Full transcript.

SO IS THIS A MUST WIN THIS WEEKEND? “It’s a must win when it’s good weekend. I mean after last weekend. We had a great Pocono and I thought we were getting back on track and last week was hard. It was a shock for us. I thought we had a decent race base in practice and just decided to change the car a lot. We had 10th to 15th-place car in practice and we thought we could go better with our normal stuff and we kind of shoot ourselves in the foot there. I think this week, the Cottonelle car looks pretty good. We’ll just have to wait and see. This is a place I think we are in a really good position to either get a win or run up front at least and get a lot of points. I think we can still make the Chase by being in the top 10. We have a car that is capable of doing that. I think if we make good calls in the next few weeks we should be pretty good. If we get a win here, yeah I think it would be great. But two really clear chances of victory here or Watkins, it’s exciting.”

ONCE YOU BUY THE THEORY THAT SOMEBODY CAN SWEEP THE ROAD COURSE RACES AND GET INTO THE CHASE, IS THAT POSSIBLE OR HOW FAR FETCHED IS THAT? “To tell you the truth I think if you are in the top 15 or 16 in points and you get a win you are going to be in the Chase.”

ONLY ONE? “Yeah, I think one will do it. I think the guys that got more wins are outside looking in, they are going to keep running better and push some people out of the points. It’s going to be interesting to see.”

WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN COMING INTO THIS PARTICULAR RACE AT THIS PARTICULAR TRACK? “We always struggle here putting the tire down. I know the tire changed this year and we changed the car a lot last year after we came here. Should be exciting. We haven’t done any testing this year on a road course. The first few laps are going to be just getting back in the car and getting the rhythm.”

HOW SPECIAL IS IT BECAUSE YOU GOT YOUR FIRST SPRINT CUP WIN HERE? “It’s a good place. We got our first win here. We won here and we won at Watkins, both road courses. I think it’s pretty good. We’ve just got to be smart all day and see what happens.”

FOUR OR FIVE GUYS ARE BETTER AT ROAD COURSES, IS IT OKAY THAT SOME OF THE DRIVERS ARE THAN NOT? “It’s simple. A lot of these guys here they grew up doing ovals all their lives. I grew up doing road courses. I think the really good guys will still perform okay like we’ve been doing at the ovals.”

WITH JEFF GORDON’S RECORD HERE AND THE WAY HE’S BEEN RUNNING SO FAR THIS YEAR, HOW MUCH OF A THREAT DO YOU SEE HIM THIS WEEK? “It depends on how good their car is. Last year Jimmie ran better than him. This is one of those places that if you have a good car you can run really well. If you do good in qualifying most of the time a guy on the pole is a guy that will surprise you and won’t run that well in the race. For us we’ve just got to make sure we’ve got a good car, get a decent qualifying position and go from there.”

LOTS OF GUYS WERE PRETTY CRITICAL OF JEFF GORDON LAST YEAR, WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE WAY HE RACED HERE LAST YEAR? “I have no problem with him. Here is a place where there is going to be contact and you’re going to be leaning on each other. The thing here in road racing, people because of the oval are so used to the give and take and people are used to running side-by-side. Any other form of racing if you’re inside of somebody when you come off the corner the guy better not be there because you are going to use all of the race track. So you’ve got to change how you approach the racing here a little bit.”

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WITH WHAT HAPPENED TO RED BULL, THERE WERE A LOT OF CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR NAME OUT THERE THAT YOU MIGHT BE GOING THERE? “Not really. You may know a lot of connections but I didn’t. A lot of people have asked me about it but I never really talked to anybody there so I don’t know.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE GARAGE TO SEE AN ORGANIZATION POSSBILY SHUT DOWN? “I don’t know. It is what it is. They came as a company and just wanted to have a lot of success like they did in Formula 1 and didn’t get it. It’s a lot harder than they though and I think they are probably going to do something different.”

YOU SAID YOU GUYS DIDN’T ROAD COURSE TEST, IS IT BECAUSE IT’S SO HARD TO GET ANYTHING USEFUL AT OTHER TRACKS TO BRING HERE? “It would have been good to just get a little bit to just get used to. Last time I was one of these cars in a road car and I ran on a normal race track was in Watkins, it’s been a while. But I do a little bit of karting here and there so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

WHEN YOU DO ROAD COURSE TEST SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN LIKE HERE IS IT TOUGH TO FIND ANYTHING USABLE? “A lot of times it’s hard. The places that you can go are not very, they are just very different. You don’t have a place similar to this somewhere close. Even if you could test here, to come all the way out here for a one-day test when its cooler, to me I think temperature dictates a lot of what happens.”

ARE YOU A BIGGER FAN OF INFINEON OR WATKINS GLEN? “I will tell you here at Infineon and I’ll tell you at Watkins (laughter).”

WITH ALL THE BEATING AND BANGING THAT WE’VE SEEN IN THE LAST COUPLE OF RACES HERE, DO YOU HAVE TO APPROACH THEM WITH A SIMILAR MENTALITY THAT YOU HAVE AT A SHORT TRACK? “I think it’s worse than a short track. A short track you can still spin around a lot easier. Here you can lean on people and people will lean on you a lot more and use you a lot more. So you’ve got to be prepared for that.”

WITH HOW AGGRESSIVE THE RACING IS, WILL YOU PROBABLY TAKE CHANCES HERE TO GET A WIN MORE THAN YOU WOULD AT A NORMAL TRACK? “I think when you have an opportunity to win you’ll take the gamble. Right now where we are in points and if you can get a win it would be huge. So yeah.”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT THE NIGHT RACE IN DAYTONA? “I think the easiest thing with the hotter conditions and the bump drafting there. If people were spinning around when we had 60 or 70 degrees track temperature, it’s going to be quite a challenge with the hotter conditions. It’s going to be interesting how people will approach the race. Because at the end of the race it’s going to be two-by-two-by-two with everybody pushing. The question is if you’re going to do it all night.”

DO YOU LIKE THE NEW TWO-CAR STYLE OF RACING? “Yeah, I think it’s better because you can make something happen. You know when you are three-wide before at Daytona and you were fourth row you were stuck. Now with it this way you can pass people, you can make something happen. I think that is great for the sport.”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN AT THE DAYTONA 500 THAT YOU CAN APPLY NEXT WEEK? “When we were running in the second group going into the last lap and we left the door open for Carl (Edwards) on the bottom and I think we should have closed that door a little bit earlier. A lot of it goes on the lead guy. When you are pushing you go where the guy goes. So I think that was the harder thing.”

THERE’S TALK THAT YOU MIGHT BE SIGNED UP WITH CHIP AGAIN SOON, IS THAT TRUE? “We’re pretty close. I think we’re pretty close, yeah.”

NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS MAYBE? “We’ll see. When it’s ready you will know.”

BUT YOU EXPECT TO BE BACK THERE NEXT YEAR? “I would assume, yeah.”

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.

Rheem Tankless Water Heaters to be Featured on No. 29 Chevrolet

SONOMA, Calif. (June 24, 2011) —– For the first time since 2009, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and Rheem are teaming up on the race track and the partnership takes center stage this weekend in Sonoma, Calif., for the running of the Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. Rheem Tankless Water Heaters will take over as the primary sponsor for Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Chevrolet Team for the first of four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season. The relationship is an expansion of the existing program between Rheem and Kevin Harvick, Inc., which was established in 2007.

Rheem Manufacturing Company, based in Atlanta, Ga., produces Rheem Tankless Water Heaters, which have been featured in the Building Products Top 100 as one of the Top Green Products in the building industry today. The Top 100 list features new products and materials that are used by building professionals around the country.

In additional to the primary role on the No. 29 Chevrolet, Rheem has partnered with Infineon Raceway to create a strong presence at the facility with various track signage as well as hosting a number of the nation’s most influential contractors throughout the race weekend.

Rheem Tankless Water Heaters will be the primary for three additional events in 2011 with the Sept. 4 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway being the next event for the company. The Rheem Tankless Water Heater colors are also scheduled to adorn the No. 29 Chevrolet during the Oct. 2 event at Dover International Speedway and the Nov. 6 event at Texas Motor Speedway.

Prior to the 2011 NASCAR season, Rheem served as a major associate sponsor of RCR and the No. 29 team from 2007 to 2009.

# # # About Rheem:

Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is a privately held company with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. In its 81st year of operation, the company distributes throughout North America and world markets an award-winning line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating, cooling, water heating, whole-home standby generators, controls, pool and spa heaters, indoor air purification products and commercial boilers. The nation’s leading consumer products review magazine recently reported that Rheem products have been rated most reliable among all leading brands by tens of thousands of consumers. The premium brands of Rheem Manufacturing Company include Ruud, Raypak and Rheem.

Charlotte, NC (June 24, 2011) – Robby Gordon, known as one of the toughest contenders for any road course race event, and the No. 7 team have been preparing for this weekend’s race for weeks now.   The No. 7 SPEED Energy team has tested at Virginia International Raceway and has made improvements to the race car that they hope will bolster their chance at victory lane. 

This weekend’s Save Mart 350 marks Gordon’s 14th start at Infineon Raceway.   Winner of the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway, Gordon has also recorded three top-5 and four top-10 finishes at the 1.99-mile track.

“I’m really excited to come back to Sonoma where we’ve had a lot of success. Last year was a great race for our team finishing 2nd, and we look forward towards capitalizing on that. If everything goes well from qualifying to pit stops and strategy, you should find the SPEED Energy Dodge Charger R/T towards the front. We have GNC as a partner this weekend. They are a great retailer for SPEED Energy, and we hope to put them up front all weekend,” says Gordon.

Appearances – Robby will be signing autographs at the Robby Gordon Motorsports / SPEED Energy merchandise trailer on Sunday, June 26th at 8:30 a.m.    Race Coverage – NASCAR fans can watch the Save Mart 350 live on TNT on Sunday afternoon, June 26th, beginning at 12:00 p.m. PDT.  On Friday, June 24th, SPEED Channel will air the tape-delayed broadcast of qualifying from Infineon Raceway at 11:00 p.m. EDT.  For news and updates, please visit SPEEDENERGY.COM, PLANETROBBY.COM or follow SPEED Energy on Facebook and Twitter.

About SPEED Energy – SPEED Energy is available in three flavors: Unleaded, Fuel, and Octane, which provide the human machine with the fuel it needs to keep up with the SPEED of life.  Each drink contains a potent blend of B-vitamins, caffeine, taurine and ginseng.  SPEED, packaged in 12 ounce sleek cans with a stylish black top and sexy body, is available in singles, 4 packs, and cases.  SPEED Energy is available at major retailers, convenience stores, grocery stores, bars and nightclubs.  For a retailer near you, please visit www.speedenergy.com.

Career Notes

Gordon owns three NASCAR Sprint Cup victories: ·         Loudon on Nov. 23, 2001 ·         Infineon on June 22, 2003 ·         Watkins Glen on Aug. 10 2003

 Gordon owns one NASCAR Nationwide Series victory:

·         Richmond on Sept. 10 2004