Month: June 2011

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

COKE ZERO 400

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 30, 2011

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER FOLDS OF HONOR CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway and discussed the two-car draft at Daytona, his special paint scheme here this weekend, sponsorship and other topics. Full transcript:

TALK ABOUT THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE BUDWEISER CHEVROLET YOU WILL BE DRIVING HERE AT DAYTONA: “It is great to have a sponsor that is so in to supporting our military and we have the Folds of Honor on the back of the car this week which is a foundation driving to draw awareness and trying to raise some money. The fans got to chose the car paint scheme that we are racing this weekend. It is very patriotic. I like the way it looks. It is red, white and blue with some stars all over it. It is a cool car and it is cool to have a sponsor like Budweiser that supports everything.

“This race track is obviously a big part of our sport and the things that we do. We’ve been fortunate to win some races here. This is one of those races where you have to keep your car rolling and be around at the end. The way that it has become now, you have to have partners. You have to be in the right place at the right time. We didn’t have much of a chance to race in the Daytona 500; we had an engine failure there. Excited to come back and looking forward to the weekend.”

CAN YOU ASSESS YOUR TEAM’S CHANCES WITH FOUR CARS IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE HERE TOMORROW NIGHT AND SECONDLY, ONLY FIVE GUYS IN THE 52 YEAR HISTORY OF THE 400 HAVE WON CONSECUTIVELY, WHAT MAKES THIS RACE SO HARD TO WIN? “To your first question on the Nationwide stuff, really the reason for entering the cars is the way the races is now. We probably only needed to enter one. We could have just let (Tony) Stewart handle the whole process and he could probably handle it by himself with the success he has had in the cars here at Daytona. We’ll put the four cars together and see where they fall in the end. These races are just hard to win because there’s just so many things happening. It’s kind of the great equalizer. Anybody can win from any given spot at any particular time. You just have to try and put yourself in the right position to A. be around at the end and, B. be in position to capitalize at the end of the race on the last lap because that’s when it all happens. It is just all about trying to put yourself in the right spot. Sometimes you can’t even get there. But you do the best you can to try and do that.”

WHERE DO YOU STAND WITH THE TANDEM-RACING SCENARIO-THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN OR IT IS WHAT IT IS? “It is what it is for me. I honestly think if the track would have been paved 15 years ago. Everybody just figured it out and I think if everybody would have figured it out 15 years ago, you could have done it with the cars then. It is just a matter of one guy figuring it out and it has just kind of stuck. Now that there is new asphalt, you can do whatever you want because the grip is really high. As a driver you race whatever gives you the best opportunity to win the race and if you don’t do that, you aren’t even to come close. That’s what gives us the best opportunity and that’s what we’ll do.”

DO YOU PREFER THE BIG CLUSTERS OF CARS WE SAW A FEW YEARS AGO? “I’m not really going to prefer one way or another. For me as a driver, it is just all about whatever is the fastest way.”

YOU HAVE DEVELOPED A REPUTATION OF PULLING OUR WINS AT THE LAST MINUTE, ARE YOU JUST IN THE RIGHT PLACE IN THE RIGHT TIME? “We have always been better at the end of the races than we have been at the beginning. Over the last little bit it has been more dramatic than it needs to be, for sure. Hey, whatever we’ve got to do, if it is leading one lap, or a half of a lap or a quarter of a lap, as long as we are winning, that is the main thing.”

KYLE BUSCH CAME UP AND SHOOK YOU HAND LAST WEEK AFTER INFINEON, IS THAT ALL OVER WITH AND YOU GUYS ARE GOOD TO GO? “I wouldn’t call it good to go on that. I mean we raced together for a lap and a half. I was as confused about all that as everybody else.”

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON BLOCKING AND ALSO BLOCKING HERE AT DAYTONA? “Oh yes, you have to block here for sure. The hardest thing about the road race stuff is you have to race with a different style. As everybody has seen over the last several years, those races are rough and have become probably the most exciting races on the schedule because they are so rough. You have to take chances and sometimes you can put a block on. As the blocker, you know that after you have put a couple of them on, if you put one on every once in a while, if you make a mistake to try to keep your position, but when you do it lap after lap, it tends to frustrate people. The road race guys are the worst about it. They will do it lap after lap and you usually just have to run over them to get by them. If it is a lap after lap thing, it gets on your nerves pretty fast.”

ARE YOU GOING TO BLOCK HERE? “Oh, you are going to block here. You have to. It all depends on where you are in the race. How many laps are left.”

DO YOU FIND WITH THIS STYLE OF RACING HERE THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE TO BE FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE YOU WOULDN’T BE ANYWHERE ELSE? “Absolutely. As a team as a whole with RCR, we have to try to put our team first. But when you wind up with people having accidents or just problems in general or bad pit stops, or whatever the case may be. You wind up with some odd partners. This weekend you just expect it. You know that you are going to have to work with people you don’t want to or you wouldn’t even necessarily even think about cooperating with on a normal race track. But on this particular weekend you work with whoever, whenever and you do what you have to do. First and foremost, you put your team first and you try to take those four cars and make that work.”

HOW DO YOU THINK TREVOR BAYNE IS FEELING WALKING BACK INTO DAYTONA? “It’s got to be pretty special, well, I know it is. I think with everything that he has been through this year, I think just getting in the car every week is pretty exciting for him and just being around the race track and being around all the people he likes being around. His friends, his family and everybody at the race track pretty much becomes your family. So, when you can just be around the people that you like being around, sometimes that is more important than winning any dumb race. It is really more about living an everyday life than it is winning a race. He’s winning the big race.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF THE TANDEM DRAFTING AND DO YOU SEE A TIME WHEN IT GOES AWAY? “I really think if you think you way back, you can think way back and you can remember at Talladega before the race track was paved, and I remember this conversation on the radio about Jeff Gordon just screaming and yelling on the radio with Dale, Jr. (Earnhardt) hitting him and pushing him through the corners. That is really where it all started was Dale, Jr. pushing people all the way around the race track and that was before the track was even paved at Talladega. I just remember that day and going home and watching the race and Jeff Gordon just raising hell about Dale, Jr. pushing him through the corners. Ever since that time, everybody saw that and it has evolved into what it is today. Then they paved the race tracks and it became easy. I don’t remember what year that was, but, it was several years ago before the race track was paved.”

IS THERE LESS BLOCKING HERE WITH THE CARS TWO-BY-TWO AND CARS ARE A LITTLE MORE SPREAD OUT, DOES IT LESSEN THE CHANCE OF ANGER ISSUES ON THE TRACK? “It just depends, you just have to judge on how fast that group is coming up. The blocking just becomes one of those deals if you feel like you made a mistake and you need to guard the position because you’ve already passed the cars behind you, or whatever the case may be, you know you are going to get passed and you know there is going to be some blocks. If you can break that two-car tandem up, it is going to benefit you to keep going. It is all circumstances as to how much you block and there is going to be blocking.”

IS IT BECAUSE YOU DO SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS TO SUPPORT YOUR SPONSORS THE REASON YOU ARE ABLE TO HAVE SPONSORS FOR YOUR TEAMS AT KHI WHEN OTHERS ARE SEEMINGLY HAVING A TOUGH TIME? “We work had it and we think outside the box. When you have a sponsor, you have to take care of them and treat them like they belong. They have to have fun and they have to do the things at the race track that work for them as a sponsorship. We take a lot of chances on certain things and try to bring new people into the sport. Sometimes it’s successful, sometimes it’s not. But we work hard and we’re always on the look-out to try to do something different. If you try to do it the same old way, you are going to wind up with the same old result and it’s not very good right now. You just have to think outside the box.”

WOULD YOU RATHER BE THE CAR IN FRONT OR CAR IN BACK? “To be honest with you, I would rather be the pusher. It’s just easier. It is less work. You can just hold it on the floor and keep your car cool. In the front, it is one of those things where you have to pay a lot of attention as to cars coming up the side of you and keeping the guy attached to you from behind. The front car has to do more work in my opinion.”

WERE YOU IN THE NASCAR BRIEFING THIS MORNING ABOUT THE FANS, THE MEDIA, ETC., WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT IT AND YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEXT FIVE YEARS IN NASCAR? “We’ve been a part of the same meetings. I think that everybody has the same goal in mind and it is no different than anything else. Things change. Perspective of younger audiences change. Everybody wants that 18 to 34 demographic. You want to keep the current fans and the old school fans happy too. It is a fine balance. It is hard to juggle all the pieces and figure out how it works.

There is just a lot of things that have changed and there is no way, just like I talked about the sponsorship thing a second ago, there is no way that as a sport that we can have the same strategy that we have had for 50-60 years. It is just not going to work. They are doing a lot of work to try and make it better and that is really all you can ask for is to have everybody be pulling the same direction and if everyone is understanding it and is on the same page, it is a lot easier to pull in the same direction. They have been very open as to what they want to do. If it doesn’t work, it’s not from a lack of effort.”

CAN YOU TELL IN THE CAR WHO YOU ARE SPEAKING TO ON THE RADIO IN YOUR CAR HERE? ARE THERE ANY LIGHTS ON THE DASH? “There shouldn’t be any lights, but there is a sticker with a knob that points to the car that your radio channel is on, that is pretty common. But, I don’t put it in my car, it is too confusing. Anything past five is hard for me because I can only take one hand off the wheel at a time.”

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE WITH ONE TO GO? “You would like to be the second car for sure. It is no different. You can pull out and drive right by them if you pull out at the right time. But the problem is, there is usually somebody right beside you and at that point you are stuck. If you pull out to pass the guy in front of you, the guys on the outside are going to drive right by you. If it’s like how Elliott Sadler and Michael Waltrip were in the truck race and you are out by yourself, they guy in front is a sitting duck unless you just drive him into the fence. Which is a good option (LAUGHS).”

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DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Are you looking forward to racing at Daytona on the Fourth of July weekend? “It’s pretty much become a tradition. I haven’t been around that long, but you always kind of relate Michigan with Father’s Day, Daytona with the Fourth of July and obviously the All-Star race with Memorial Day. It always seems to be a good race. Obviously, a little shorter in distance. The intensity is a little bit tougher than what the 500 is, so it always make s for a great race.”

What is it like to be on the losing end of having another driver win on the final laps of a race? “It’s frustrating, but that’s part of racing. Some guys don’t show their hands until the end of races. Sometimes races just kind of fall your way. Sometimes when they fall your way they fall out of the hands of somebody else. That’s just part of the racing and that’s why they don’t hand out checkered flags at halfway or mile 350. It’s a 400 or 500 mile race for a reason and that’s what a lot of these teams base their strategies off — being in the right place at the end of the race, not necessarily in the middle.”

Are you hoping for a better weekend at Daytona after having a tough time during ‘Speed Weeks’ in February? “Yeah. We actually had a great 500 up until three laps to go. We were in a position to win. Me and the 39 (Ryan Newman) hooked up again. We were leading with three (laps) to go and just got in a bad position and ended up getting in a wreck somehow. It was a crazy 500 in that sense and it always seems to be that way. We always seem to get a little bit better finishes when it comes to the 400 mile race here in July. Don’t know what it is, but yeah, I look forward to it. I love the type of racing that we have with superspeedway racing or the two-car drafts — either one is fine with me. And, I obviously look to improve my superspeedway record because obviously the finishes that we have on superspeedways is definitely not indicative of how strong we’ve been.”

Do you prefer the two-car racing or racing in packs at Daytona? “Somewhere in the middle. I like the two-car packs that we have now. Obviously, they provided for some unbelievable finishes. Talladega being one of them — when you have three (two-car) packs all together. The other is the packs makes for very exciting racing throughout the race. To me, I’m kind of indifferent about it.”

Do you make ‘friends’ with people at restrictor-plate races that you wouldn’t normally be friends with? “Yeah. It just seems to work out that way. Everytime I see guys from the 39 (Ryan Newman) crew they’re like, ‘What’s up teammate?’ It just seems that some cars work better than others and things like that. It’s tough to say. It seems like you really had to have your partner ironed out in the first 10 laps of the race of the Daytona 500, and those guys worked together all day no matter what. Even if someone got into trouble or got in a wreck, the other would just literally lose all of his track position just to get back to that person and that’s something that’s very unusual, especially when you’re not actual teammates. So, it is very, very different and you do find yourself racing with different guys that normally maybe you don’t even get along with on other tracks, that you think you all never really raced that well together. It seems like you have odd groups and when you have odd number teams such as ours at (Joe) Gibbs (Racing) and things like that, you have to find yourself looking for those guys.”

Do you think Kyle Busch’s handshake with Kevin Harvick after the race at Sonoma was genuine? “I didn’t even see it to be honest with you. They did? I would consider it genuine. I wouldn’t think that — Kyle (Busch) is just not a ‘head games’ type of guy, I don’t believe. I believe in 2008 when he was winning a lot of races, I remember a race throughout the season where a lot of emphasis was being put on Kyle and different things that he was doing and I remember a lot of teams going after them as far as trying to play ‘head games’ and stuff with them. But, Kyle never really kind of responds to that, I don’t feel like. He never really does anything on -track to instigate it. I feel like he’s one of the most fair racers really out there. Even though he’s aggressive at times, he does a pretty good job of keeping it relatively safe for the other drivers. I would consider it something that is sincere.”

What did you learn from dealing with some of Kevin Harvick’s mind games last season? “As far as (Kevin) Harvick, that’s just kind of the team’s make-up I believe. Whether it’s back to the old 3 car or anything like that, that team has always kind of been in those situations and stuff. When they’re racing for championships, that’s part of their game that they play. It’s different strokes for different folks. Some people respond to it, like I did with Kevin (Harvick) last year. Or some people just kind of wean away from it and things like that. Every team has its own make-up and drivers have their own personalities. A lot of times they don’t mesh well together and we saw that with the 29 (Kevin Harvick) and the 18 (Kyle Busch) this year. In general, everyone is going to work it out in time. Even though you consider yourself the toughest of rivals we still do a lot of things together that kind of patch that up at times.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Are you referring to the incident at Dover last year with you and Kevin Harvick? “Sometimes you’ll make a verbal jab back if a guy does that to you or you’ll do something on-track to aggravate him because he’s said or done something. Some people, like I said, respond back to it and some don’t. I think it’s just the make- up of the race team and the make-up of the driver that handles different situations.”

Do you think the FedEx sponsorship in NASCAR gives you an edge over other sponsorships in the sport? “I can tell you that I feel like FedEx’s sponsorship is a lot employee-driven in the sense that the employees love the racing program and if it wasn’t for the employees we probably wouldn’t have this racing program at FedEx. They love racing. Thank goodness for me they love racing, and they’re not out there trying to sell more packages or things like that. They do this for team moral, they do it for their employees and that says a big statement. Most of the hospitality and chalets that I go to every weekend carry big customers and employees. That’s the biggest thing — FedEx is such a tight family when it comes to them taking care of the employees. That’s why you see they’re one of the best companies to work for year in and year out, is that they take care of the needs of their employees and when they want a race team, they give it to them. So, hopefully that drive continues on for years and years.”

How will the new marketing initiatives that NASCAR has change your approach as a driver? “We just need to wait to hear back more specific detail of what they need and require of us and where they’re going to go with the sport. In my opinion, I think that they’re going to break us down into a little bit smaller groups and go to the direct teams and drivers and say, ‘Okay, this is what we need from you. This is what our fans are looking for.’ Really, we’re kind of at the mercy of NASCAR in the sense that they know all of the information at this point and until we’re informed fully of what our responsibilities are it’s going to be tough for us to change anything. Because, I feel like our on-track performance has been good, but there’s more to it than that. We’ve got to attract new, young fans and those are the people that are going to be coming to the races, bringing their families ten years from now. And, obviously, what little we’ve seen is that our fan base is aging a little bit and obviously we need to get a little bit younger.”

FORD FAST FACTS:

. Ford has 30 all-time NSCS wins at DIS, including Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 triumph.

. Greg Biffle’s win in this event in 2003 was his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.

. Speaking of Bayne, he must qualify on time this weekend in order to make the field for Saturday’s race.

. Carl Edwards has led the point standings for 10 consecutive races since taking the lead at Texas.

. Matt Kenseth, Biffle and Bayne are the three active Ford NSCS drivers with wins at Daytona.

. Bill Elliott has the most Daytona victories for Ford with four.

. 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Glen Wood leads all car owners in NSCS wins at Daytona with 15.

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Affliction Clothing Ford Fusion, has two wins this season (Texas and Dover) and comes into this weekend’s race sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. Kenseth spoke about the news this week that sponsor Crown Royal will not be back next season, along with other issues during a press conference before today’s practice sessions.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Affliction Clothing Ford Fusion – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT RACING HERE? “It’s a lot different ever since the repave and the introduction of the cars getting locked together and pushing each other, it’s certainly a lot different than anything we’ve done until this February, so I’m curious to get out in the race and see what it’s like and see if there’s less grip than what there was in February and if the pushing and getting pushed is any more difficult than it was. There have only been two of these style of races so far and I got wrecked in both of them, so I’m hoping to turn that around and not have that happen on Saturday and somehow be up front toward the end.”

DID THE DECISION BY CROWN ROYAL CATCH YOU BY SURPRISE AND HOW DOES THAT AFFECT YOUR FUTURE? “I guess it caught me a little bit by surprise because we’ve been having a great season on-track and I figured they would be cutting back like most people are somewhat, but it caught me a little bit by surprise that they’re totally leaving everything, except for that Richmond race. What that does to us, I’m not really sure. I drive the car and I kind of leave that to the marketing people and the sales team to figure that out. I feel like it’s a great opportunity for a company to come into the sport. I think right now the on-track performance of the organization has been really good. It seems like everything is on the upswing in the sport as far as the on-track product and the TV ratings, and attendance is coming up a little bit, so I feel like it’s a great opportunity. I’ve been there for a long time at Roush Fenway Racing. I think I’ve been there about 14 years doing miscellaneous things here or there. We had our sponsor before Crown Royal, we had DeWalt for over a decade, so I think it’s a good, stable, competitive program and hopefully they can get something wrapped up there for the future.”

THE ONLY TWO PITFALLS IN YOUR SEASON HAVE BEEN THE PLATE RACES. ARE YOU GOING TO APPROACH THIS RACE ANY DIFFERENTLY? “That’s a good question. I’m not really sure. I’m gonna see how qualifying goes and everybody kind of gets their drafting or pushing partner figured out beforehand and tries to work on that, so I guess I’m gonna see how that goes. I think I’m gonna try to get hooked up with David Ragan. We worked pretty good at Talladega before he blew up there, so we’ll probably get going on that. Hopefully, we’ll get some practice tonight and then go from there. I think we’ll just start racing and then play it by ear. If it looks crazy up front or you’re not feeling comfortable, then maybe go to the back, but the problem is you can’t really do a lot different because if you’re not locked together with another car like what happened to us here in February. I can’t remember if it was in the 150 or not, but I think you get lapped in about 14 laps or something like that, so you have to be locked together with somebody, whether you like it or not. You just hopefully can stay away from the trouble and maybe try to find somewhere to hang out if there are some wrecks, but a lot of the wrecks that you’ve seen in these two races have been basically single-car wrecks.

“They might collect more people, but there are a lot of people that get spun out from getting pushed in the wrong spot. It makes it difficult. Your options are somewhat limited. I’m hoping to make it through this time and be there toward the end because those have been the two worst races of the year for us.”

CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE AGE DRIVERS RETIRE? MANY THOUGHT IT WOULD GO DOWN TO 37 or 38 BUT IT HASN’T. “I don’t remember that part coming out, so I think it depends what you base it on, but I would say that would probably be a little on the young side. But six or seven years ago it was a lot busier for all of us than what it is now. I mean, the testing rules were different to where we were gone a lot more testing and it seemed like for me I was a lot busier six or seven years ago than what I am now, so I don’t know. I don’t have any idea what I would do if I didn’t do this and who knows how long you’ll do it. I don’t think everybody will race as long as Mark Martin necessarily, but I think a lot of people probably think like I do, that if you’re competitive and you can still go out there and compete with the best of them and you’re having fun, I think you’re gonna see people race for quite a while.”

HOW DO YOU THINK TREVOR BAYNE IS FEELING THIS WEEKEND, COMING BACK AS THE DAYTONA 500 CHAMPION? YOU’VE DONE THAT BEFORE. “That’s hard for me to say because we’re obviously in two way different situations when we won that race. I mean, he’s not even running the Cup Series full-time and he’s obviously been away for a while with health issues and now he’s back. I can only guess how he’s feeling. I don’t really have much of an idea, but I think he would be happy to be coming back here because the rest of the year I don’t think has been a smashing success. So I’m sure he’s happy to come back and be the 500 winner and come back in July and get those good feelings back and hopefully get a good finish and get some momentum and kind of face the rest of the year, I would think. But only he knows how he feels about it.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE TANDEM DRAFTING? “From the driver’s seat, I’m not a big fan of it. There’s just not a lot we can do about it, unless the cars or the rules or something changes. There’s not really anything you’re gonna do about it because it’s so much faster, but driving I’m not a real big fan of it. When you’re the back guy, that’s kind of the easy person to be because you just kind of hold it wide open and follow the bumper in front of you, but you can’t see a thing. So if that guy drives straight into a wreck, if somebody doesn’t tell you on the radio, you’re gonna push him right into it. If I’m running 200 mph and not being able to see anything, and having all the faith on the guy in front of you and whatever is going on isn’t always a lot of fun. If there is a wreck and he sees it and slows up and you don’t know, you’re gonna spin him out. If you’re the front guy, it’s the other way around. He’s pushing and you know he can’t see anything, and if you see something that’s coming up and you need to take evasive action, somebody is pushing you so you’re gonna get wrecked. It’s kind of nervewracking. It’s different. If the fans like it and it’s exciting racing, that’s OK. But from the driver’s seat, I don’t know many people that think it’s a lot of fun.”

DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS SPONSOR SITUATION IMPACT THE TEAM? DO YOUR GUYS WORRY ABOUT WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN? “No, I don’t think so, especially not now. If we were in the middle of a season where the car hasn’t had a sponsor for half-a-season or something like that and you saw big cutbacks throughout the organization and stuff like that, then maybe you would be worried, but, right now, I think it’s really early for that. We’ve been doing everything we can to make the program really competitive and I feel like all the Roush cars have been real competitive and I think we have a lot there to sell, so I don’t think that’s any concern to the team guys or takes any focus off anything that we’re doing. Our goal every week is to go out and try to win races and try to race for a championship and that certainly hasn’t changed. I’ve been fortunate. I haven’t been through a lot of that through my Cup career. Like I said, DeWalt was there for over a decade and they’ve had different associates here or there, but that was it, and then Crown Royal had been there for a couple of years. They’ve been a great partner, not just to us but to NASCAR as well, doing the IROC Series and then moving into the Cup Series when they started allowing spirits on the side of the cars.

“They’ve been a great partner for us and NASCAR and we sure appreciate all of that. They were on our car in ’03 and ’04 with the Smirnoff Ice brand before moving up to do a Cup car through Kurt and Jamie and then myself, so we sure appreciate all of that.”

HOW DO YOU HAVE TO SELL YOURSELF OR ARE THERE ANY CHALLENGES WITH TRYING TO MEET THE IMAGE OF ANOTHER SPONSOR? “I haven’t really spent any time worrying about that, to be honest with you. I worry about, like I said, I’ve been really fortunate throughout my career. I’ve worried about driving the race car and trying to be competitive and win races and that’s really what Jack hired me to do, and that’s what I’m gonna continue to try to do. I probably can’t change who I am today, nor really would I want to, so certainly there are different things that are asked of you from different sponsors or endorsement deals you’ve had in the past that you get to do, which are usually fun, so I’m not really worried about that. I think I’m gonna keep concentrating on putting the numbers up on the track and not worry about the rest of that stuff.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THESE NEXT FOUR OR FIVE RACES? NOT MANY OF THEM ARE IN THE CHASE. “At least me, I look at the next few races and don’t really look at the chase at all or really think about that. All of the tracks are different, but we go every week with the idea of trying to win and gather as many points as you can and try to win races. Even if there were no points, you would still show up with the idea of winning, so I don’t think that really changes. Jimmy and I talk about some things as far as what cars we want to bring. If we’ve got one car we really like, and we’ve just been trying to bring out best stuff every week. We haven’t really been saving anything for that far down the road, and another thing is I think things change between now and then. I think if you have something that runs good at Kentucky and you run better than you did at Kansas, maybe that will apply to Kansas in the fall. So I think you’re always trying to learn things that you can learn and get better at tracks even if they’re not in the chase. Hopefully, those are things you can learn that will help you to make your cars better and faster everywhere, so that’s what we’re always looking for. But I’m looking forward to the weeks coming up. I’m really happy to be out of Sears Point for another 12 months. The speedway races have been tough for us, so I’m looking forward to hopefully getting a decent finish this weekend and not getting in an accident and then go race again at Kentucky and New Hampshire and Indy is always a huge race for us. That’s second to the Daytona 500 as far as our big races for the year. I think when everybody goes to the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard, I don’t think anybody has points anywhere near the front of their mind. You’re thinking about trying to go win that race, so that’s always fun.”

IS DRIVING AT THE LIMIT MORE DAUNTING AT SOME TRACKS THAN IT IS AT OTHERS? “Yeah. Driving on the edge at Martinsville you’re running 62.4 miles per hour in the middle of the corner and driving the edge at Atlanta you’re running 190-some miles an hour. Is that different? Yeah, of course it is. There are certain tracks where it’s a little bit harder. You always drive to the edge of what you feel your equipment and yourself together as a unit can handle without having an accident and certainly it’s difficult at all tracks, but at a slower track it’s different than driving like that at a faster track.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What do you think about this weekend at Daytona? “Daytona has always been kind of a fun place to come to in July when it gets a little bit slick out and car handling seems to go away. But, that’s all thrown out the window now with the new asphalt and everything here. So, we’ll see how it changes things. But, I predict it will be pretty similar to what we had here in February — just two-car drafts and find your partners that you can work well with, or your car works well with.”

How do you like the two-car draft at Daytona? “I’m not really for it. You’re too dependent on finding somebody for one. For two, if you’re the ‘pushee’ you feel really bad when you spin somebody out, or whe n you’re the ‘pusher’ just waiting to be spun out. It’s really more of an antagonizing race than it is a fun race and working your way through traffic and trying to find lanes to go in. It’s all about making sure you get a partner and if you don’t get a partner you’re kind of thrown out to the leads.”

Do you care who you have as a drafting partner? “You know, you just hook up with whoever you’re around. More times than not, it actually becomes more circumstantial than it does because it’s a partner you want to work with. Obviously, I think teammates would want to be one of your first priorities, but we only got three instead of four, so it’s an odd number and leaves at least one of us out. I’ve worked well with Joey (Logano). I’ve worked well with Denny (Hamlin). I’ve worked well with my brother and others. So, it doesn’t matter who it is.”

How would you feel about drafting with a ‘rival’? “Doesn’t matter who it is.”

What will be the biggest challenge in a Sprint Cup car at Kentucky Speedway? “I think the biggest challenge for all of us is just going to be how bumpy the track is and how much load can we distribute through the bump stops in the cars versus through the spring or hold it down with a shock and all that stuff. That’s where the biggest balance is going to come from. You know, we can pretty much predict who’s going to run well there. I think Joey (Logano) will do well — I expect him to run well there. And, I expect we can run well. Also, just have to put it all together and get everything the way you need to.”

Are the bumps a problem or do they add character to Kentucky Speedway? “I don’t know. I’ve never run there in a Cup car. So, I don’t know. It definitely adds character, sure. If they’re too harsh and you’re bouncing up the track or you can’t run in underneath somebody because you’re afraid you’re going to bounce up into them and hit them. Obviously, that’s an issue that we’re all faced with.”

Is there an advantage having previously run Nationwide races at Kentucky Speedway? “I think there’s a little bit there, but not much. We all go to new race tracks. Guys that haven’t ever won there or raced there sometimes win there. Like Jeff Gordon won at Kansas — I think it was, or Chicago or something when it was new. California when it was new. I don’t think it means much.”

Did you learn anything from the tire test at Kentucky Speedway? “The guys have just gone there and tried to work through some of those things — like the bump stuff and what all we can do to try to make our cars fast around there. We’ll have a whole day of testing when we get there so I’ll get my taste of it and be able to decipher through the differences from other mile-and-a-half race tracks.”

How long does it take to be comfortable when you go to a new track? “I don’t think it takes that long. Obviously, I’ve been there before so I’ve got laps. And, laps is experience. It won’t take long.”

Is Kentucky Speedway similar to any other track? “No. Not really. Kentucky’s its own — their all their own identity. Charlotte is it’s own versus Texas versus Atlanta. Everybody says they all look the same, they all drive the same — they’re not even close.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Why did you shake Kevin Harvick’s hand after last weekend’s race? “I felt like we had a really good race with each other. So, just wanted to let him know that.”

Did you feel like you gave each other room in last weekend’s race? “Yes. We gave each other great room and raced each other hard and clean. And, that’s all there is to it. You all are reading way too much into things.”

How does bad weather impact a race weekend? “It makes a pretty boring day to not know what to expect or when to expect to get on the race track. They could have the track all the way dry besides two more minutes worth and we could have another downpour. That’s Daytona.”

USN Commander and Astronaut Dominic ‘Tony’ Antonelli To Serve As Honorary Starter For The Mid-Summer Classic

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In honor of the final flight of the Space Shuttle program – STS-135 Space Shuttle Atlantis scheduled for July 8 – Daytona International Speedway will pay tribute to NASA’s Space Shuttle program during the 53rd annual Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday, July 2.

United States Navy Commander and Astronaut Dominic “Tony” Antonelli, who has served as pilot of both STS-119 Space Shuttle Discovery in 2009 and STS-132 Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2010, will serve as Honorary Starter for the mid-summer classic.

“The final launch of the Space Shuttle program is a historic moment.  We’re proud to pay tribute to NASA’s Space Shuttle program and welcome Astronaut Dominic “Tony” Antonelli as Honorary Starter,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “Having piloted the Space Shuttle twice, Tony will surely appreciate the thrill of speed from the flag stand as 43 stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series roar past him to start the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola.”

As Honorary Starter, Antonelli will be introduced at the driver’s meeting, participate in the driver introductions and wave the green flag for the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola.  Antonelli will also make appearances in the Coke Zero Club and 31 Degrees hospitality venues prior to the start of the race.

Antonelli has logged a total of 24 days, 3 hours, 57 minutes and 35 seconds in space. In his first mission as pilot of STS-119 Space Shuttle Discovery in March 2009, he was part of the crew that delivered the S6 Integrated Truss Segment and the final pair of power-generating solar array wings to the International Space Station.

Aboard STS-132 Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2010, Antonelli was part of the crew that delivered an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-build Mini Research Module to the Station.

In addition to Antonelli’s role as Honorary Starter, Daytona International Speedway will show a video tribute to NASA’s Space Shuttle program during pre-race ceremonies.

To purchase tickets for the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola, call 1-800-PITSHOP or visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).