Month: June 2011

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

HELUVA GOOD! SOUR CREAM DIPS 400

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES

June 17, 2011

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed swapping cars with Lewis Hamilton at The Glen, repaving Michigan, the upcoming Sonoma race and other topics. Full transcript:

TALK ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE SESSION: “We ran through a couple different packages so it should be interesting. We got the next hour and a half to figure out what we want to end up with. But definitely working through some stuff for sure.”

TALK ABOUT THE CAR SWAP YOU HAD WITH LEWIS HAMILTON: “It was cool. I am still excited about it at night going to bed. I know it was only four laps but it was pretty cool opportunity and a lot of fun and it’s like I told Juan (Montoya) this morning when he came and asked me about it. I said I think I could run a 100% of what I could do and it was still not going to be a 100% of what the car is going to do. I think in a whole day you could kind of get an idea of what it is really about. It’s hard to learn it all in four laps but that was one of the coolest four lap runs of my life.”

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE TO YOU IN THE DIFFERENCE OF THE CARS? “I think the brakes really. I think the rest of it…..I never got a chance to run the IndyCars on the road courses so I was used to he downforce and was used to what it felt like in the high speed corners as opposed to low speed corners and getting slowed down. To have a car that had that kind of braking ability it was something. When we go back to Watkins Glen I will probably burn the brakes off in the first couple laps thinking it’s going to stop and it’s not.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF LEWIS HAMILTON AND WHAT DID YOU SEE IN HIM? “He is a class act. He is a really nice person and really enjoys racing and doesn’t matter what it is. Not just Formula One, he enjoys all of the motor racing. It was really cool because in a relatively short amount of time we developed a great relationship. He is one of those guys that you would feel comfortable with going anywhere with him and having a good time.”

HE LIKED YOUR CAR DIDN’T HE? “I was surprised. I thought he would be a little disappointed in it after being in an F1 car but he really liked the acceleration of the car and he thought it was fun. And like he said it was fun because he had a chance to slide the car around a little bit. He called it drifting but we call it sliding around but it was fun to watch him figure out what he was capable of doing with the car.”

TELL US ABOUT THE STEERING WHEEL AND ALL THE TECHNOLOGY BUILT INTO IT: “It amazed me about what all they can do on the steering wheel. We think about last week and the fact that we were shifting and thought that was a pretty big deal. These guys are changing differential settings and all kinds of programs that they can go through on the steering wheel and that is all on a

lap. So it was impressive to see what they are capable of and all the technology that is involved in it and I am grateful that NASCAR keeps us under control on the technology because it wouldn’t take long for us to get out of control and you would only have about five car owners that would be able to afford to go racing here.”

WAS THERE NERVOUSNESS OR EXCITEMENT BEFORE YOU GOT IN? “Fifty-fifty. I was both and I was real nervous because anytime you have never done anything you are nervous about it. Especially at the Glen where there is not a lot of runoff and a lot of room to make mistakes and then you throw wet conditions on top of that and that definitely didn’t play in to my hands either. It was a lot of new variables for sure.”

THEY SAID THEY SPOKE WITH YOU ABOUT THE REPAVING HERE. WHAT DID YOU TELL THEM? “I told them I was fine with the repaving I just wanted them to promise that they would build new garages. It’s one of the biggest tracks we go to, and Martinsville is the smallest track we go to and it’s got the best garages on the circuit for a half mile track. So I am good with them paving the track as long as they build garages next.”

WHAT DID THEY TELL YOU WHEN YOU ASKED THEM THAT? “Never heard a response on that for some reason. A lot of it was off of what happened at Daytona and they don’t want that situation happening here and you have to pat them on the back for being proactive and not reactive.”

ABOUT ASKING DRIVERS ABOUT PAVING: “Even if we told them no, they were going to do it anyway. It is nice that they care about our input and they don’t want to go and do it and we crucify them for it, so spending a little time with the drivers doesn’t hurt them.”

GIVE US YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON JEFF GORDON BEING TIED FOR THIRD MOST WINS OF ALL TIME AND ABOUT HIS CAREER: “I got a chance to watch him before I came here and you look at everything Jeff has done in his career..the wins, the championships and there probably won’t be anybody else other than somebody like Jimmie Johnson who might have a shot at it because of the championships but there is going to be very few people that accomplish what Jeff Gordon has. The thing is that he is a guy that works at it and nothing was given to him and he works hard for it and he has put in the time and effort to make that kind of record happen.”

REGARDING THE OIL PAN CONFISCATION BY NASCAR OF THE GIBBS CARS AND BEING AN OWNER AND ALL THE THINGS YOU HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR: “It makes you cringe a little bit. I mean you realize that NASCAR has to keep a tight fit on the rules and I don’t know exactly what it was so it’s hard to comment on it but you know that NASCAR has to make their stance on it and the teams have to make their stance on it, but at the end of the day I like to have a sanctioning body like NASCAR that is going to make sure that things go the way that they are supposed to be and that they aren’t pushing it too far.”

HOW ABOUT AS AN OWNER? “The good thing is that it comes from Hendrick. So we don’t have to worry about that part of the checklist. (LAUGHS)”

REGARDING THE PART OF WATKINS GLEN YOU GOT TO RIDE ON AND SHOULD THEY ADD THAT PART IN FOR A NASCAR RACE: “It would be nice to do a test there and see if that would happen because that is a fun section of the track and it’s kind of a shame that we haven’t been able to run that section of the course. You can see where it can be challenging and what I told Brett Bodine who was there from NASCAR was that was the one variable that would make it possibly not happen and not feasible. But from a driver’s standpoint, it was a lot of fun to run that section.”

TALK ABOUT GOING TO SONOMA NEXT WEEKEND: “I always like it. There is just something about Sonoma there that is awesome. It is a NASCAR weekend, but it gets us out of our box and it is almost half a vacation and half a race weekend for us. All the teams and the crew guys, the drivers, the girlfriends and wives, everybody has a good time out there.”

HOW BIG IS IT ON YOUR RESUME TO HAVE TO HAVE SEVEN ROAD COURSE WINS ON YOUR RESUME? “I enjoy it and I am proud of it. It is nice. I have always taken a lot of pride in hopefully trying to be good at a lot of different things. A road course is definitely something different for sure. Even if is in a stock car so having seven wins on a road course is something I am pretty proud of.”

HAS THE FUEL MILEAGE AND GETTING ALL THE FUEL IN THE CAR BEEN A BIG ISSUE FOR YOUR TEAM? “It kept us from winning a race at Kansas. It is part of it. All the teams are trying to learn it at the same time. We just have to figure out how not to make that mistake and keep ourselves from having that opportunity to win again.”

TALK ABOUT COMING TO SHARON SPEEDWAY FOR DAVE BLANEY: “I do it for Dave, that is exactly why. For Dave and his family. We have a lot of fun there. I love sprint car racing as much as I love anything. To get a chance to go have fun and drive cars that we love to drive and to do it for the Blaney family, Dave is a great guy and Dale and the rest of the family, they are awesome people. They have always been good to us. I just appreciate the fact that they want us to keep coming back.”

DOES HE HAVE AN ADVANTAGE BECAUSE HE OWNS THE TRACK? “(LAUGHS) I don’t know. There is something about having a race track that it is always home field advantage or home course advantage. He may not run it very much, but trust me, he knows his way around it.”

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> .

Friday, June 17, 2011

Michigan Int’l Speedway Dodge Motorsports PR HELUVA GOOD! Sour Cream Dips 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

http://twitter.com/teamdodge www.media.chrysler.com

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE GREAT THREE-RACE STRETCH YOU’VE HAD? “It’s been a good three-race stretch for us, even further back to Dover. Working through some of the ins-and-outs to make our team better and how we can perform better. Last week, we had a great shot at winning and finished second. The week before, we led the most laps at Kansas and were four laps shy on fuel and brought it home ninth. The week before that, it was a good run at Charlotte and were running in the top 10 most of the day and come home fourth on the fuel-strategy side. It’s just nice to get back to some of the basics. Earlier in the year, we were running around 25th-place. We were running around 20th at Texas most of the day. It’s good to be up there competing for those wins and putting ourselves in contention. That’s what Roger Penske always says and it’s a good feeling to run up front and lead laps.

“To be up here at Michigan with all the race fans and of course the auto manufacturer’s backyard, this is a big event weekend for Dodge. They had an employee appreciation day last Saturday and over 35,000 people came out to the headquarters to celebrate. A bunch of executives came out handing out hot dogs, serving drinks. It’s just great to see Dodge, Mopar and the Chrysler family on the rebound. Out on the race track, we’re doing our job and we need to continue to do that.”

WHAT IS YOUR SENSE OF THE NEW POINT SYSTEM? “I didn’t check it this week, but there’s websites out there that have the updated point system and have last year’s system. You can compare them. I checked it a few weeks back. The same guys that were in the top 10 are the same guys in the top 10 with the new system. It really doesn’t matter. I think the only interesting element that we have with the new system is the wildcard where, if you get a win and you’re in the top-20, you have a shot at making the Chase over guys who haven’t won races. I’m included in that group who hasn’t won races. Dale Jr. is in that group. There are quite a few guys. Right now, if Brad Keselowski gained 13 more points, he’d be locked into the Chase. That’s the element that we’re all fighting. It’s different in the fact that to get a win, you can do it off of fuel mileage, you can stay out on tires and try and hold track position. (There are) many different ways to win races, but primarily, if you’re going to stretch something, you’re going to stretch you’re fuel. Is that good or bad for the sport?”

SUNDAY IS FATHER’S DAY; WHAT IS THE BEST LESSON YOU DAD EVER GAVE YOU? “Dad taught Kyle and I everything about race cars, how to work on them, how to driver them, how to protect them. Even when we did things wrong racing them, he was there to pinpoint what was wrong. I think the No. 1 lesson was when I was seven-years old, I had a go-kart. It was just a little yard kart. It wasn’t meant to go racing. It was just meant to be a fun toy. Well, I didn’t treat it like a toy. He treated it like a tool with me. Every Sunday after we watched the Cup race, we would load it up in the back of the truck, take it over to the bank parking lot – banks are closed on Sunday’s – smash a couple Coke cans, throw them out (there) and (he would) tell me to drive. He would have a stopwatch and keep track of me. He’d tell me to go left, go right, and do a figure-eight. He would teach me what to do…change air pressures on it. Then the go-kart would go back in the truck, back in the shed and I wouldn’t touch it throughout the week.

“Even when one of my buddies would come over and say, ‘hey, let’s take the go-kart out and find trouble, find mischief’, I’d say no and that I don’t do that. I don’t take my go-kart out without my dad. That’s probably the best lesson that he ever taught me.”

LAST YEAR, BEING THE ONLY DODGE TEAM IN THE FIELD, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WERE ON AN ISLAND OF YOUR OWN. DURING YOU STRUGGLES EARLIER THIS YEAR, BEING THE ONLY DODGE TEAM, DID THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THAT STRUGGLE AT ALL? “I don’t think so. I think that it gets back to just the procedures and how we’re doing things internally. I think we get sufficient support from Dodge and that group. Meeting with some of the top engineers yesterday and seeing the Pennzoil people there and meeting with the engine developers. It was a great day to see those three groups – the (Penske) South engine builders, the North (Dodge) designers and the group out of Houston, Texas from Pennzoil there to show them the lubricants they can bring in and help us develop the power we need, the cooling and everything that we need under the hood. It was great. There are aerodynamicists working right now on the 2013 car and what we’re going to bring to the table. It’s great just to see everybody working in-tune with one another to expose myself and Brad and even Robby Gordon, we see the support from the manufacturer. It’s great.”

HAVE YOU HEARD THAT NASCAR CONFISCATED THE OIL PANS FROM THE GIBBS CARS TODAY? WHEN YOU HEAR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, DOES IT RAISE AN EYEBROW? “There’s always the fun time in the morning as a driver to go sign in, peek your head in the door and see what NASCAR has found on race weekends. It sits there right on that countertop through Friday morning. It’s always fun to peek in and see what that is. They put a tag on it from what car it came from and you analyze it and look at it. They leave it there for other teams to look at, feel it, touch it, and see what they’ve got going on. I saw the cross-member cut into the oil pan. I saw how heavy it was and you go back to your team and say, ‘this is what I saw’ and they say, ‘ yeah, we already saw it. We’ve got our engine guys on it. We know what they’re up too.’ It’s open. When you have an unapproved part like that, whether they submitted it or they didn’t (to NASCAR), it’s just open for everybody to see. And if you weren’t working on that internally, now we have an opportunity to do that.

“My evaluation is that we’re going to look at it. I’m not in-tuned enough to know where our engine department stands with this oil pan, whether it’s aerodynamically sensitive, whether it’s lowering the weight in the car or if it’s something else with horsepower – the way that the oil goes through the pan. You get to see it all. It’s exposed and it’s right there.”

HOW FINE OF A LINE ARE THE TEAMS TOEING WITH THE RULES? “It’s a tough line that’s drawn. There’s a rulebook. There’s the grey area. There’s the relationship that you have with NASCAR. There are the times that you were up against that limit for so long that when you do cross the line, it’s almost as if they were trying to tell you, but you did (cross the line) and now they really have to get on you hard. If you do an honest mistake, which sometimes happens, there’s a small penalty in that. Like Kyle’s (Busch) left front was just a little too low after Pocono, that’s a six-point penalty. Clint Bowyer’s deal last year was 150 points. That’s very large, a huge amount and that takes a full race of points. Maybe they’re up against that window for too long or maybe the tow truck beat it up? I don’t know. There are different reasons for different penalties and NASCAR has their reason for it. The best thing to do is just don’t put yourself in position to have them make a call on you. Whether an unapproved part or the way that you hung your body or speeding down pit road, you never know.”

HOW HAS THE NEW POINT SYSTEM CHANGED YOUR APPROACH TO THE RACE? “I think wins add insurance in your pocket. You feel real good about your position. Like Kevin Harvick, there’s no way he’s going to miss the Chase. He’s got three wins. That’s how I would feel if I were him. If I was Juan Pablo Montoya with zero wins, 14th in points, I’ve got to go win Sonoma. I’ve got to go try and get Watkins Glen, those are my two best chances. The same thing for (Marcos) Ambrose who I believe is in the top 20 in points. Then you have a Michigan race that could be a fuel mileage race. Then Kentucky, who knows what’s going to happen there? I think Kentucky will play into the hands of guys like Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards, guys who have run Nationwide there over the years. I think those are the guys that will run strong there and they’ll be tough to beat.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES HELUVA GOOD! SOUR CREAM DIPS 400

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 17, 2011

REGAN SMITH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed goal of getting to the top-20 in standings and other topics. Full transcript:

TALK YOUR MINDSET COMING INTO MICHIGAN KNOWING YOU HAVE TO GET INSIDE THE TOP-20 IN POINTS: “The obvious thing is that we have to get inside the top-20. We’ve been chipping away at it a little bit here as of late, but, certainly, we need to get our consistency a little bit better as a team. I think that at points in every race we’ve been running good enough to have chipped a lot more away at it, but maybe have had a problem here, an issue there, something. We have got to work hard to get in the top-20. This is a good week for us. This is a good track for us. Next week, for us as a team, is going to be kind of a wild card. Sonoma, going to that one, counting on as not gaining as many points as we might be able to at other places just because my road racing at that place isn’t as good. It is certainly reachable for us to get to the top-20 and then we will have to see where the wins shake out and hopefully we’ve gotten another one by then. I think if we do that, it certainly helps make you feel a little more comfortable.”

HOW AS THE WIN AND THE WILD CARD CHASE CHANGED YOUR TEAMS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT? “I don’t think it has negatively affected the development at all. If anything, it has shown us as a team what we are capable of and what we can do when we do things right all weekend all has shown me as a driver what I am capable of. When I don’t make any mistakes and don’t do anything stupid on the track. The main thing for us is that we have got to put that together every weekend. We’ve shown that we have speed pretty much everywhere we’ve gone this year at one point or another throughout the course of a weekend.  I think from a development standpoint, the one area we have had to work on has been translating qualifying speed into race speed. In particular, at the beginning of races. We don’t seem to fire off like we want to at the beginning of these races. Short of three or four races where we have raced forward instead of losing a couple of spots at the start, that’s kind of been our Achilles. By the end of the race, all of a sudden, now we’re as quick as anybody again and we are real happy with our laps times and where the cars at. But, we go through that lull early and in the middle of races. From a development standpoint, I don’t really think it has hurt us at all, I think, if anything, its given us more confidence as a team and as an organization. Certainly if there is more attention being paid to us, there is nothing wrong with that I don’t think.”

WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO ADD A DAYTONA TROPHY TO A DARLINGTON TROPHY WHEN WE GO BACK THERE IN TWO WEEKS? “Daytona is obviously a great place to win and it would be a huge deal to have both of those in the same year. For that matter, I would be happy covering all the parent holidays and win this weekend on Father’s Day weekend. Hit Mother’s Day and Father’s Day then I don’t have to spend money on gifts or anything. (LAUGHS) Daytona is a special place. The Daytona trophy that I would rather have is the one you get in the spring time there, not to take away from the summertime one, because they are both important, but obviously that is the big one down there. I don’t know that there is any race track on the circuit that you don’t win at and that you can’t make an argument that for some reason that it is a special place to win. You can always find that story and find that reason that it is special with the exception of the three or four races essentially. For me the other one that is important is Watkins Glen. I just talked about how good I am at road courses so that might be a little bit more of a stretch. Certainly that is one I’ll put extra emphasis on when we get to there.”

HOW BIG OF A CHALLENGE IS IT TO KEEP YOUR FOCUS WHEN THINGS DON’T HAPPEN AS YOU WANT? “That’s a good question because we’ve run into that a couple of times when we are running good and we have a problem and I maybe don’t do my job inside the car of keeping a calm as I need to. We’ve worked on that and I’ve gotten better at that. It seem that once or twice a year I always have those mental lapses where I just blow up and go off the deep end on the radio. I think it happens to every driver at some point or another. It happened to me a few weeks ago. I guess the main thing you have to understand is that there are certain things as a driver you can control and there are certain things you can’t control and as long as you are doing everything in your power to control your stuff, that is where your focus needs to stay and if other stuff happens around you, you have to block it out and keep your head in the game essentially.”

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.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

HELUVA GOOD! SOUR CREAM DIPS 400

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES

June 17, 2011

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET met with media and discussed fuel mileage and race strategy, long winless streaks, being off probation, track repaving, and more. Full Transcript:

ON THE MIS REPAVE ANNOUNCEMENT: “I’m not a big fan of repaving anywhere, to be honest with you. But I understand that obviously you get to a point with the asphalt where it becomes kind of a safety concern.”

WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN AT THIS TRACK THAT GIVES YOU A SIGN IT’S TIME TO REPAVE? “I honestly couldn’t answer you that. You’d have to talk to somebody from the race track. But, you hear that things are starting to shift and move and you can’t keep the asphalt attached to the ground, so you’ve got to do something. I’m not an expert on that so I couldn’t answer that one honestly.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOUR CAR AND YOUR TEAM THAT ENABLES YOU TO MAKE A CHARGE LATE IN THE RACES? “I think for us it’s just sometimes we don’t qualify great and that’s just kind of been a characteristic of mine, really throughout my whole career. And these races are long so there’s really a lot of time to get your car right and we’re able to do the things that we need to do to do that. So it’s a long race and no reason to get in a hurry.”

DO YOU GIVE CREDIT TO (CREW CHIEF) GIL MARTIN FOR THE CHANGES DURING THE RACE? “Yeah, they do a really good job with the changes to the car to be able to get the handling where it needs to be. Usually by half-way we’re close to where we need to be on set-up and we can let our pit crew strategy do things that it needs to in order to get the rest of the way up there.”

HOW NICE IS IT TO BE OFF PROBATION? ARE YOU GOING TO RACE ANY DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU DID THE LAST FIVE RACES? “You know obviously the probation ties your hands a little bit on certain things, but you have to go out and you still go out and you race as hard as you can and do the things that you need to do. And I’m going to just keep doing most of the same things that we’ve been doing and just keep racing hard.”

LAST WEEK YOU SAID KYLE BUSCH HAS ONE COMING. DO YOU WANT TO GIVE US A PREDICTION OF WHEN THAT TIME WILL BE (LAUGHTER)? “A lot of these things, you go out on the race track and things happen and you do what you think is right at the right time.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR. HAS HAD A LONG WINLESS STREAK; YOU HAD A LONG WINDLESS STREAK. HOW MUCH DOES THAT WEIGH ON YOUR MIND AS IT CONTINUES TO BUILD? “I think when you’re running as good as those guys are running, I think you start to get a little bit antsy because you know that the win is right around the corner. You just want it to go away, honestly. And even though your car is running good every week, there is still something to be said about putting all that talk to bed because you just get tired of talking about it. And you get frustrated with not being able to just get it over with. But when you’re running that good, it gives you a lot of confidence in knowing that you’re competitive and then you can put it all into perspective. 2009 was a terrible year for us. I know he’s been through a year or two of stuff that wasn’t that much fun. So you can kind of balance the not-winning part of it when you’re running good with the running good part of it just for the fact that you’re competitive week-in and week-out and you’re in position to win races. And when you’re not in position to win and you don’t have a chance to do anything right and you’re tearing stuff up and you’re running in the middle of the pack, it’s just miserable. So you can balance the not-winning part of it somewhat, with being competitive every week.”

TWICE THIS YEAR YOU KIND OF APOLOGIZED TO HIM IN VICTORY LANE; AND EMPHASIZING WITH HIM A LITTLE BIT “Yeah, there’s not a person in this garage that doesn’t want to see Dale in victory lane. And for us, we’ve been through some scenarios like that but the one thing I’m glad that I personally don’t have to go through is the criticism and the things that he has to deal with on a weekly basis. I know he does a lot better job of dealing with them than I would; and part of that is probably because he’s been around it and in that position for so long. But you can’t even put into perspective what he has to deal with on a week-to-week basis as far as the criticism and the fans and answering these questions in a respectful way every week. So for that part, you have to give him a lot of credit.”

KYLE BUSCH SAID THAT HIS CAR BROKE A SPRING LAST WEEK AND THAT’S WHY THEY WERE TOO LOW IN THE LEFT FRONT (POST RACE INSPECTION). AS A RACER DO YOU BUY THAT? DO THINGS JUST HAPPEN TO CAUSE YOU TO BE TOO LOW? “A lot of times things happen. I heard Denny (Hamlin) after the race; I heard his interview talking about failed bump-stops. So I would venture to say it was a failed bump-stop more than a failed spring if I was a betting man. But that’s just my opinion.”

COMPARED TO THE GEAR PENALTY THAT RON HORNADAY HAD A FEW WEEKS AGO, IS IT APPROPRIATE THAT THERE IS THAT TYPE OF DISCREPANCY? “You know the penalty on the No. 33 truck in my opinion was something that you would relate to as an engine being too big or messing with the fuel or the tires. I think that’s a much bigger deal than dealing with a spring or a height issue. As long as the six points; it seems so little, but I guess when you put it into perspective I have a hard time knowing exactly what the penalties are supposed to be. But as long as they’re consistent, I don’t have an issue with it.”

YOU HAVE THREE WINS THIS YEAR SO FAR, MORE THAN ANYBODY. ARE YOU WILLING TO GAMBLE MAYBE A LITTLE MORE NOW? “We talk about it every week. We want to try to gain the most bonus points that we can and the only way you’re going to do that….  Very few times this year have you seen the dominant car win the race. And I couldn’t stand here and tell you the time that the dominant car actually won the race. So for me, these races are coming down to taking chances and strategy and in order to win these races you’re going to have to take those chances. So, for us it’s a weekly challenge to understand how far to push it. I think we have to be willing to do that. We talk about it every week.”

WHY IS TRACK POSITION SUDDENLY SO MORE IMPORTANT? “You know, and this is no knock on anybody or anything, I think the tires have been really good but it just seems like sometimes the tires dictate some of that as far as where the line is on the race track and where you can go. I think track position is also, that’s just one factor that could contribute to it. I’m not saying it is or isn’t. It could be a contributing factor. I don’t think anybody knows for sure but the other thing that comes to mind is just the fact that the cars are so competitive and close to each other it just makes it hard to pass when everybody is so competitive. So, those are the two things that just pop into my mind if I had to just pick two.”

ON GOING TO SONOMA NEXT WEEK, DOES IT BEING IN CALIFORNIA MAKE IT SEEM LIKE A HOME RACE TO YOU? “Oh, we definitely have a lot of friends and people that come to support us at the race track so it’s fun to see that. Road racing to me is a lot of fun. I think I ran my first race at Sonoma in the SouthWest Tour car in 1995. So it’s always fun to go back to a race track where you’ve had those experiences so early in your career. It’s a fun place to race and I really enjoy going out there.”

YOU MENTIONED THE BEST CAR NOT ALWAYS WINNING THE RACE. A LOT OF THE RACES SEEM TO BE COMING DOWN TO FUEL MILEAGE. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO GOING IN OR DO YOU JUST HAVE TO REACT? “I think you just kind of have to react as to how the race is playing out and where you’re at for that particular day as far as your fuel mileage and how competitive your car is on that particular day and you just have to make those decisions well before the last run. You have to put yourself in position with two or three runs to go in the race and have it on your mind. So you can kind of see the way the race is starting to play out and where everything is at. It’s interesting. Like I said earlier, you have to be willing to gamble to win these races right now and all the cars are so competitive. You look at Darlington and Dover and Charlotte and all these races where you still have to have a competitive car but it seems like so many cars are competitive that once they get to where they need to be, they can race for the wins too. You’ve got to be willing to take some chances.”

HOW BIG OF A FACTOR IS THE NEW GAS CAN? OR IS IT SOMETHING YOU’RE EVEN CONSCIOUS OF DURING A PIT STOP? “We have a couple of little things that really help the gasman. Our guys have done a great job from the beginning of making sure; they did their homework over the winter I guess you could say, in what they needed to do and the details that needed to be paid attention to. Our gasman has done a great job. But really, he’s the one who holds the keys to the whole pit stop and a lot of the day sometimes. You’ve seen a lot of races lost this year by the gasman not getting the car full of gas. It’s very easy to not get the car full and make a mistake.”

DOES THIS BACK & FORTH THING YOU’VE HAD WITH KYLE BUSCH HAVE TO END ONCE THE CHASE STARTS? YOU CAN RISK POINTS NOW COMPARED TO LATER. “I think for us, our main focus is racing for the championship. You have to do what’s right for your race team and sometimes it works that way and sometimes it doesn’t. So it’s all in what’s right for my team at that particular moment to try to put ourselves in the best position to try to be competitive for the championship.”

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.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

HELUVA GOOD! SOUR CREAM DIPS 400

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES

June 17, 2011

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLETmet with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed his season to date, racing at Michigan, road course racing and other topics.  Full transcript:

HOW MUCH MOMENTUM DO YOU HAVE FOLLOWING YOUR WIN LAST WEEK?:  “It’s been a spectacular week to say the least.  A busy week, but certainly a fun one.  Pocono – that was incredible to get that win and it’s been an interesting year for us with the 24 team.  We get the win early on in Phoenix and have a lot of momentum early – a spectacular run there and then we just went through this streak of not performing well other than maybe the short tracks.  Then some crashes and some different things, but more importantly the bad runs – Texas and places like that where I was pretty disappointed in our mile and a half program.  Then we really start turning the corner looking at wind tunnel and seven-post and just trying to gather information.  Then we come to Pocono and we win.  We just had a solid weekend.  It was spectacular and definitely coming to a streak of tracks here that are really good for us, including here at Michigan, one of my favorite tracks.  We ran well here last year so I feel like we can follow up that great run at Pocono with another good one here.”

WOULD YOU PREFER TO HAVE WINS TO GET IN THE CHASE OR TO BE MORE CONSISTENT?:  “I want to be a contender for the championship – there is no doubt about that.  The one thing that I will say is that it’s still early.  We kind of had a goal coming into this season that we knew that it would take time to gel as a new team and the communication between me and Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the engineers and then also as an organization – if we were a little bit behind and we have been a little bit behind up to this point.  The Fords have been really strong, not only under the hood, but the Roush cars have really had the edge and so it’s made us really go to work.  I think us with the 24 and Alan and myself, we probably had to go to work a little bit more than the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) – those guys have been out-performing us.  It made us dig deep and work to find what we need.  To me the most important thing is having strong cars.  If we have strong cars then we can build the rest of it around that.  Our pit crew has actually been really solid and we showed that last week.  They’ve been solid.  They’ve been consistent and we haven’t with the car.  When we put the car out there, those guys stepped up and twice now we’ve had the car and they’ve stepped it up – Phoenix and in Pocono.  We don’t want to just squeak our way into the Chase – that’s not what it’s all about for us.  I think that we’ve got plenty of races left here to not only get ourselves in the top-10, but get some more wins and get ourselves really solid in the ranking when it comes to that Chase.  I think about a month ago or month and a half ago I was worried and nervous and thinking we don’t have a chance of getting into this thing, but the last couple weeks – running good at Kansas, running good at Pocono has gotten me really fired.  We’re going to do more than just squeak our way into the Chase.”

WILL YOU BE MORE CONSERVATIVE IN RACES TO GET INTO THE CHASE OR THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND ON THE FINAL PIT STOP AND GAMBLE FOR THE WIN?:  “I don’t feel like we’re safe.  I saw that at the end of the race, I saw some quotes and they were showing some clips for a show that I was doing and they were saying that this pretty much locks us in.  I don’t agree with that.  I think there’s too many races left, too many guys to me around us outside the top-10 in points that can win two or more races before the Chase starts.  I don’t think that we can really take these huge risks.  We’ll evaluate every risk out there and it’s like this, if you’re 10 laps short on fuel at the end of this race then that’s not a risk we’re taking.  You’re not going to make it.  You’re not going to save 10 laps.  Now if we’re five laps short, that could be a risk worth taking.  For any team out there.  Anybody in the Chase, in the top-10 or outside.  To me, it’s always risk versus reward and I don’t think a points system or our position with having two wins or where we’re at right now is going to make us take any more risk than we would any other way.  If we are in the championship and there’s one race to go and the only way we can win the championship is we have to win the race and we didn’t have the car to win the race then that’s worth taking because it’s kind of a win or nothing situation. We’re not in that situation right now.”

WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR NASCAR AND HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FOR DALE EARNHARDT JR TO WIN A RACE?:  “I find this very interesting because those guys are having a spectacular season.  I’ve been in that situation before where we’re having a great year, we’re up there leading the points or battling for the championship and we hadn’t won a race and that’s where the focus was.  That, to me is not right.  Those guys are knocking on the door and I know that’s just part of what comes along when you’re that popular and your name is Earnhardt and until he wins nobody is going lift the finger.  I think he recognizes that and Steve (Letarte, crew chief) recognizes that, but I hope it doesn’t affect what they’re doing out there because I think they’re doing amazing.  I wish the focus was, wow the year Dale Jr is having and he’s third in points and knocking on the door of first and second.  I think if they keep doing what they’re doing, the win will come.  This is definitely a track that they can win at.  I know that car and that setup and it’s very good.  I know that as good as those guys have been this year and Junior runs well here too – this is a race that they can win.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT RACING AT SONOMA?:  “No matter what is happening for us on road courses, I love going out there and this is certainly no exception.  We’re going to go out a little bit early.  We’re going to spend some time as a family with other family and friends that are out there.  We’re going to be celebrating my daughter’s birthday, which we didn’t get a chance to do last year because Eva (wife) was pregnant and she didn’t travel to that race and neither did Ella (daughter).  We’re looking forward to doing that again, which is always fun and exciting and motivating for me to go win the race just because of the party that my wife puts together.  It still blows me away that I’m trying to figure out how we’re going to get her to 16.  It’s a lot of fun regardless and it’s just a spectacular weekend.  The wine country is beautiful; the race track is such a fun and challenging race track.  I think right now that is probably and I go out there with just this great attitude and just enjoy the weekend, but I have to say that our road course weekend has just been way up and that to me is what I am more anxious about and fired up about.  We just tested mid-Ohio last week with Boris Said, who is also going to be driving for James Finch in a Hendrick car and I thought we had a good test.  I thought Mid-Ohio was a departure from what we normally do to try to learn something and make some gains.  I feel like we made some gains and I hope it shows up out on the track out in Sonoma.  We have not been competitive enough to win there.  Probably better there than at Watkins Glen, but even at Sonoma the last couple of times felt like we haven’t been good enough.  Look forward to that as well and then of course the Cars 2 movie.  I will be spending some time with John Lassiter and his family out there.  This is when this whole relationship got started was a year ago – I met John out there and went to his house and spent some time with him and he presented ‘Jeff Gorvette’ to me and to see it all become a reality now a year later is amazing.  I look forward to that time as well.”

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING FOR MICHIGAN ON SUNDAY?:  “With that same stat, I would like to look at the top-fives here because we run good here and we seem to always be in the top-five here.  I think we’re going to run well here, I really do.  I think that the team has momentum.  As I mentioned about that setup in the 24 car from last year that’s in the 88, we also will probably have something similar to that to start the weekend with and I just think this team is on a roll right now.  This is one of my favorite tracks.  I love this track.  I feel comfortable at this track and I feel like we can get the car dialed in here for the race.  Then it’s going to come down to how the race unfolds.  This is a race that you can have the fastest car and not win and then there’s times when you have to have that fastest car.  We’re going to do everything we can to put a complete race together like we did at Pocono.  Keep ourselves in position and hope it turns out the same way – that would be awesome.”

CAN YOU COMPARE STEVE LETARTE AND ALAN GUSTAFSON?  HOW HAVE THE OTHER CHANGES IN YOUR TEAM AFFECTED YOU?:  “I would say that Alan (Gustafson, 24 crew chief) and his group have made it very easy for me.  We spent a lot of time over the off season with me in the shop and with the engineers and with Alan.  We did a lot of work inside the car with the cockpit and with the seat because just mounting the seats and being able to do it consistently – we did a whole new dash in the cars that was designed around me.  The whole process to me made me feel very at home and comfortable that they were putting that kind of effort in there to get me in the car and we did some testing as well.  We went out to Colorado – I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s near Colorado Springs.  We had a great test there and kind of a bonding session.  Phoenix to me was not that big of a surprise.  I thought we were going to run good at Phoenix and we did.  That’s the kind of relationship that it’s been.  It started pretty early.  You have to understand too, I’ve known Alan for a long time.  Alan has been at Hendrick for a very long time and I can remember when Kyle (Busch) was his driver and we would talk about the cars and the setups and I just had tremendous amount of respect for Alan back then.  That was the young Kyle Busch and he liked to make sure that he got the car to the wall every happy hour and that’s the way – he’s talented and pushes hard, but it frustrated the team a little bit and they usually were repairing the car rather than having the car on the track.  We have conversations about that a lot, but then they would go to the race and they would fly and be great.  As far as comparing Alan to Steve (Letarte, 88 crew chief) – Alan has more of an engineering background and history and education.  Steve us one of these self-taught – he’s just a racer and he’s been around his whole life through his father.  He’s smart and he’s got a lot of personality.  I think the reason why it’s really gelling well with Junior is that Junior needs somebody to pull that out and Steve has a lot of confidence in himself and he opens up the dialogue and the conversation.  For Alan and I, I think we mesh very well.  I think we have similar personalities to where we don’t talk a lot, but when we do, it’s straight to the point.  Then we laugh about stuff too.  To me, it’s really about getting the information.  Just like this past weekend for instance, this is the difference between me and Alan – I vent and say things and push the button on the radio and say things that are unnecessary to be said.  Alan, he won’t so that at all.  So I will say something and the great thing is that he doesn’t react – at least not on the radio.  That actually gets my attention.  I react, I say something, my tone or whatever it is, my words and he just says, ’10-4.’  In the race car, that’s what you need when you’re in that moment when you’re frustrated or when you’re trying to vent.  IN the closing laps of that race, the car was getting really loose and so he wanted to make an adjustment and because of the way that our relationship is built, I kind of called back on the adjustment and said, ‘Okay, I know I’ve been venting and I’ve been screaming about being loose, but not that loose so let’s not go that far.’  We had a car that won the race.  Even there was one time that I got real loose in that last run and came on the radio screaming because I thought I about hit the wall and he’s like, ‘You okay?’  It wasn’t like a panic thing.  I like how he’s calm in the situations and I’m like that except that I do vent through words.  I think we’re very similar in a lot of ways and I think that if we’re not running well, one thing I guarantee is that it is not the communication between us.”

HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR DRIVING STYLE WITH THE NEW CARS AND TIRES?:  “I’ll take you way back because I just did an interview before I came over here talking about the Atlanta 1992 race and how much this sport has changed.  The thing that’s changed the most is the cars and the setups.  If you go back to those old clips and videos and you see what we have today.  Today it’s all about the splitter has to be sealed to the ground and it’s all about car attitude and ride quality and all these things.  Back then we didn’t even care about the front air dam.  It could be six or eight inches off the ground and we were like, as long as the right spring is in the right front or in the right rear then it didn’t’ matter.  Along the way, probably I would say 1999, 2000 and these are years that I struggled those years because I started going to big sway bars, big right rear springs and the platform of the car completely changed, but yet the down force increased dramatically.  For me, that transition was about not having a car that rolled over and sat down on a spring, whether it be the right front or the right rear and you just didn’t turn the car with the right front spring coming down on the right front spring.  Now we go down on the right front spring to get more down force.  It took me a couple years and then 2001 we got it figured out.  It wasn’t that I changed anything; it was getting used to it as well as trying to make that setup work for me.  I’m the kind of driver; I work off the right front.  I want to feel that right front.  It has to do with how your position your hands on the steering wheel, how you pull with your left and push with your right.  Everybody does it different.  You’ve got Mark Martin who puts his elbow into it. You’ve got some guys that pull with their left.  Some guys are right hand dominant and some guys are left dominant.  All those things play a role in how they feel the car.  You’ve got some guys that go off the right rear and some guys like to go off the right front.  I like to go off the right front.  Things change with the setups with the cars – I’m fine with that because we’re making more down force and we’re making the cars go faster and even though the feel changes a little bit, as long as we adapt it to my style to where I’m still feeling the right front the way I want to feel it.  We’ve had to do some funky things to these cars over the last few years to get them to have the down force.  You see the car skewed down running sideways down the straightaway – that has an effect as it turns in the corner as well as what it does when you get on the throttle.  Some of those things are just adapting to them and some of them are adapting them for you.  That’s why when you see four cars at Hendrick Motorsports and you say this one is running good and why can’t you put that one in there?  You’ve got to find the advantages that are in that, but then work on them for yourself.  I would say that is the one thing that Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and I have had to work with – he had Mark Martin and Mark runs a very, very free race car and rolls through the corner very quick.  I drive in deep and probably give up the middle a little bit, but try to get off the corner strong as well.  We’ve had to work around that aspect of it as to what I like and what I need in the car versus what he’s been used to.”

WHAT DID YOU GAIN TESTING AT MID-OHIO?:  “I’ve always said that we’ve been trying to go to road courses for all these years that I’ve been in this sport to test and to me, none of them are anywhere close to the tracks that we go to.  VIR (Virginia International Raceway) – it’s a nice track and there’s some hard braking sections so if you want to go test out your transmission and get used to doing some shifting and down shifting and check out your brakes, great, go to VIR.  If you want to try to get handling characteristics for Watkins Glen or Sonoma, forget it.  We got to Road Atlanta because it’s a faster road course, which is more like Watkins Glen, which is a fast road course.  Again, handling characteristics I think are really minimal.  Sonoma is a technical, low grip road course with a lot of elevation changes.  What came about with Mid-Ohio, I don’t know, I just know that Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) mentioned it to me and said, ‘What do you think?’  I said, ‘I’m up for it because to me these other places we go to are useless.’  He kept trying to really get details and so he mentioned something about Boris (Said) had gone there and thought it was okay, but he still liked Road Atlanta.  Because of all the laps he had been there, we could go together and maybe learn something.  I don’t know if we did.  We’ll find out when we get to Sonoma.  It’s not Sonoma, but I kind of like some of the transitions in the corners and some of the elevation changes that I thought could help us for Sonoma.  We’ll find out.  I had fun.  It was a nice track and I’ve always wanted to go there.  It was hot – it was like 98 degrees and 90 percent humidity – it was ridiculously hot.  I definitely think from a grip level, we were very similar to what we will have in Sonoma.  My first time there and Boris has obviously made thousands of laps there.  I was pretty happy with our pace because of that.”

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.

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES           

Helluva Good! 400(Friday Advance)

June 17, 2011               

Michigan International Speedway

Ford drivers David Ragan and AJ Allmendinger finished first and second in the opening practice session at Michigan International Speedway Friday afternoon. They will be the last two cars to qualify Saturday under new NASCAR rules and each talked about their fast lap and what it means for qualifying tomorrow.

DAVID RAGAN, driver No. 6 UPS Ford on his practice run:  “It is sometimes easy to do that on Friday. It gets a little harder Saturday and a litter harder Sunday. Our UPS Ford is fast. We expect it to be fast when we come here to Michigan. There is a chance for rain tomorrow and the time slot for tomorrow’s qualifying falls in line with that first practice so we spent some time in qualifying trim, as did some of our teammates.  It was fast I look forward to seeing how it is after a few more laps in race trim this second practice.” 

YOU GO LAST TOMORROW IN QUALIFYING.  “It doesn’t change much for us. We have seen that you can go out and sandbag and try to have an earlier spot but that kind of messes with the rhythm of the weekend. Our opinion is to go out and go as hard as we can every lap of every practice and let the chips fall where they fall. It may hurt us a little bit going out really late if it gets really warm out, but our UPS Ford has enough speed in it that we feel like we have a great shot at the pole and certainly a top-five or top-10 run.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, driver No. 43 Best Buy Ford on his practice run:  “The tough thing about this place is that it will change so much by Sunday and get a lot slicker. We are just trying to get a good baseline package. I think race trim is okay and the qualifying run right there was a good lap. I don’t know if I could match that again. We will see how this next practice goes.” 

YOU WILL QUALIFY SECOND TO LAST, DOES THAT CHANGE YOUR APPROACH AT ALL?  “Well, we will see. A lot of the strategy with that is the rain that is coming. If it rains then we will start second in the race which is good. We have been starting like crap lately so that would be nice. I know how this track is going to slicken up, so we have to keep working on a good package, but this is at least a good start.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

HELUVA GOOD! SOUR CREAM DIPS 400

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES

June 17, 2011

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET met with media and discussed repaving MIS, the upcoming road race at Sonoma, his mindset approaching the Chase, and more. Full Transcript:

THEY JUST ANNOUNCED THEY ARE GOING TO REPAVE THIS TRACK (MICHIGAN).  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT? “The sad thing is that it’s time to repave a few of them and it’s just come due.  It’s the only thing you can do when its time……..its time.  You have got to repave it.  These tracks do age well and as they age the racing gets better and better and Goodyear does a good job of bringing tires that create a good racing environment on the surface whichever the case may be whether it’s got a lot of grip and its brand new and fresh or slippery and slimy.   But like I said, it’s been a good race track over the years and it’s been a lot of fun to race on and it’s going to provide good racing no matter what the surface is.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL COMING IN HERE THIS WEEK AFTER POCONO AND PERFORMANCE HAS SEEMED TO BE A MOVING TARGET FOR MOST RECENTLY? “I would have been in that group for sure.  Just couldn’t find the speed really and spent a lot of time back home in the shop just going over the notes and trying to figure out where we are off.  That is the biggest thing that some people are doing a better job at finding grip than we are now and we went to work this week and just trying to focus on supporting our guys and telling them in a positive way, ‘hey, let’s get back after it’.”

WE ARE HALFWAY TO THE CHASE AND WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND.  ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT? “Well, not really.  There are just so many things and you know, the biggest thing that disturbed me this week was Kyle Busch getting a six point fine after my deal last year.  You know, I am past that and we had a 150 point fine and lost my crew chief for four weeks.  That is kind of a slap in the face to hear about that this week, but it is what it is.”

REGARDING ROAD COURSE RACING AND SONOMA NEXT WEEK.  SOMEONE SAID YOU USE BOTH HANDS AND BOTH FEET. “Yeah, I won’t let them put a camera on my feet because it looks like I am break-dancing down there. I am out of control.  You know it’s a lot of fun to do that and its very technical race track.  A lot of fun, it really is with a lot of hills and blind corners and the dive bombs getting into the last corner over there and there are just so many things that go into getting a good finish there.  Running good there is one thing, but getting a good finish there is a whole different ballgame.”

TALK ABOUT GOING BACK TO DAYTONA AND THE HISTORY AROUND THAT TRACK AND GOING BACK THERE IN A COUPLE WEEKS “Daytona is what NASCAR is all about.  It started there and it means so much to be able to go and compete and it’s just such an awesome race track.  We have gotten close so many times and we were close to the 500 again this year and I want to get a win there in the Cup series there one day.”

KEVIN HARVICK AND KYLE BUSCH ARE OFF PROBATION THIS WEEKEND.  WHEN YOU ARE NOT INVOLVED IN SOMETHING LIKE THAT IS IT AMUSING UNTIL YOU GET CAUGHT UP IN SOMETHING? “You thought it was funny didn’t you? Well, I did too (laughs).  Its entertainment at its best.”

DO YOU EXPECT ANYTHING FURTHER AFTER WHAT THEY BOTH HAD TO SAY? “Not until they get in there next altercation (laughs).”

DO YOU DIVIDE YOUR SEASON UP IN SEGMENTS OR TAKE RACES ONE AT A TIME AND HOW DO YOU ASSESS YOUR SEASON SO FAR? “No not really.  I feel like we are doing the things we need to be doing and we are aware of where we need to be.  The last two or three weeks haven’t been where we want to be at all but we have had strong runs this year.  I think that is what speaks volumes about our sport right now.  Everybody has had that.  Everybody has had their bad runs and everybody has been fighting and bickering with one another and their teams and everybody has had good runs and some time in the sun too.  Man, I am telling you it’s just very competitive and very close racing and I think they have got us in a box right now and you are going to see more of that.”

IF AT DAYTONA (FEB.) SOMEONE WAS TO TELL YOU WHERE YOU ARE IN THE POINTS RIGHT NOW AT MICHIGAN, WOULD YOU BE HAPPY WITH THAT BACK THEN? “Right now we are where we need to be.  Not by much, but we are where we need to be. I mean that is the thing you have to focus on.  We know we have to go out and get our cars handling better and get some more speed in them. For now we have to focus on getting the best finish we possibly can with what we got.”

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.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

HELUVA GOOD! SOUR CREAM DIPS 400

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES

June 17, 2011

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed the Camaro he is raffling for his foundation, his season to date, Michigan Int’l Speedway and other topics. Full transcript:

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CHEVY CAMARO YOU ARE RAFFLING OFF THROUGH THE DALE JR. FOUNDATION? “Yes, I can! Every year my foundation does an event. Our event this year is called Dale Jr. Driven to Give. Jeff Foxworthy is going to be the host. Our grand prize this year is the 2011 Chevy Camaro that I drove off the line at the GM Plant (Assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) this year. It is the No. 3 car. That car can be won through a raffle. The tickets are $25 apiece and it runs through September 1, 2011. You can go to www.WinDaleJrsRide.comto buy tickets for the raffle. There is a second prize which is airfare and tickets to the event and then the third prize is a weekend package to the Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.”

IS THAT FUN FOR YOU TO DO THINGS LIKE THAT? “We just want to raise a lot of money.”

DOES IT SEEM TO YOU LIKE IT HAS BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE YOUR LAST WIN? “I guess. It’s been awhile.”

GOING INTO THAT RACE YOU WON HERE AT MICHIGAN, PRIOR TO THAT RACE, YOU SAID IT WAS PUT UP OR SHUT UP TIME THEN, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT NOW? “I think we are puttin’ up. I think we are doing some pretty good work here lately. Would like to win a race and we’re trying to, but we don’t want to get so careless…we don’t want to get too careless about it and start taking too many chances that are just foolish. We want to take the right chances in a smart way. So we’ll keep working hard like we’re doing.”

WHAT WILL IT MEAN TO YOU WHEN THAT WIN COMES? WILL IT BY LIKE ANOTHER STEP IN THE ROAD COMING BACK? “We need to win several races I think to be legitimate and it’s not easy. One race doesn’t make a season. One win really doesn’t make a season, we would definitely like to win several races and I would feel like we are where we need to be potential wise. We’re not now. We’re getting there, we’re doing good but we still know we can do better. We still know we had races where we let things get away from us. We’ve been very, very lucky this year that when we’ve slipped up, we’ve had fortune and luck to pick us up everyone and awhile and get us a good finish.”

WHEN YOU DO WIN, WILL THE FANS AND THE MEDIA BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT IT THAN YOU WILL BE? “I’ll get excited. I’ll be pretty excited. I remember. I have always felt like you celebrate every win like it could be your last. You never know what happens or what could happen in this sport so I always have torn down Victory Lane every time we’ve been there. I’m proud to have that kind of accomplishment when we win a race in this sport. We definitely have enjoyed it every time. If we get the opportunity again this year, we’ll do it.”

YOUR WIN HERE WAS A FUEL MILEAGE RACE, AND IT IS A WIN, BUT NOT THE SAME AS IF YOU GO OUT THERE DOMINATE, HOW BAD DO YOU WANT TO GO OUT THERE AND GET A WIN LIKE THAT?  “I don’t really want that badly. I mean it is nicer when you do go out there and dominate and clearly are the better car and the faster driver all day long, but you take them however you can get them. You really do. When you get home, they are all sweet and nothing really tarnishes it in your mind because you are the guy that won the race. You feel just fine about it (SMILES) It is nice when you can just go out there and be dominant all day and be strong all day and competitive and come away with a win.”

ARE YOU IN A BETTER SPOT NOW THAN YOU WERE THAT YEAR? “I think I’m having one of the best years I have ever had. I don’t remember in my career as a driver showing up to the race track and feeling like I was top-10 every single weekend, which, we have done that every weekend this year, except for maybe Phoenix. But, we’ve been top-10 every week and I was never able to do that before for whatever reason. I know when I had some really, really good cars back in the first half of this decade, or the previous decade, I was really young and made a lot of mistakes. Now that I feel like I am a smarter driver, this is a great opportunity because the cars have been there every weekend.”

SOMETIMES WHEN AN ATHLETE GAINS CONFIDENCE, THINGS SLOW DOWN A LITTLE IN THE GAME FOR THEM, IS THAT HAPPENING TO YOU IN THE COCKPIT? “Not really. I know what you mean but I don’t know if it really…it’s not really happening, but hopefully it will. I remember when it was a piece of cake to do a lot of things in the car and you didn’t think twice about certain situations you were in and you took a lot of things for granted. It would just happen as you went through the process. But, now, everything that you face in the car and even just typical things like pitting and getting down pit road or trying to make your qualifying lap or whatever, you really try to make sure that once you get ready to do this, you have all your marbles together and everything is right. Where  before, I remember when I was younger, I just took it for granted and just went and did and didn’t really know any better. I don’t know. I need about a year or two more of this, of what we are doing right now, and I think I will be 100% as far as my confidence. It is up there right now, but, it would be nice to win a couple of races and do a couple of other things a little bit better than we are going and we will be 100%.”

DOES IT BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE WHEN YOUR CREW CHIEF SAYS TO YOU DURING A RACE AND SAYS TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GET, THE GUYS AROUND YOU AREN’T DOING ANY BETTER? “Yes. He (Steve Letarte, crew chief) does a great job of telling me, he just says, I don’t know how he knows, but he makes me feel comfortable when I’m getting uptight or nervous in the car about what’s going on or my car is doing things that I don’t like.  He makes me feel, he calms me down and makes me feel like we’ll get it sorted and just maintain what you can, do the best you can and that makes you feel good.  It’s what you try to do anyways and he’s on top of the box watching you.  He knows what you’re trying to accomplish and we just have a good thing going.  Just getting along real good.  The communication between me and him is really, really good.  We just speak the same language and we’re just real fortunate in that we do that.  We definitely know how to approach each other and know how to talk to each other.  Know how to deliver conversations to each other and get our point across without striking a nerve or anything.”

HOW HAVE YOU AVOIDED THINKING ABOUT IT BEING THREE YEARS SINCE YOU WON A RACE?:  “I don’t dwell on it at all really.  I can’t do nothing about not winning races other than just going out every week and trying to run hard and trying to do the best you can and I was a long ways – I felt like that I wasn’t – I felt like that last year and the year before that, I wasn’t competitive enough to even worry about it.  I was more concerned about trying to get right and trying to get better and trying to be more competitive even.  Wasn’t even thinking about winning races.  We were struggling so bad that we had so much other things to worry about.  Now this year we’re running good and I can think about wins, I can think about opportunities and missed opportunities that we’ve had a little bit more.  They don’t bother me and it doesn’t upset me.  I’m excited that somebody was asking me if I was upset that I hadn’t won, but I’m thrilled to be having such a good year that it’s hard to be upset.  It would be nice to win a race, but I don’t know who to thank or tell me who to thank for what’s happening to me this year because I’m appreciative as hell to have this opportunity and to be running as well as I am.”

ARE YOU GETTING OLDER AND WISER IN PERSPECTIVE?:  “I don’t know – I always thought I was pretty smart even though I probably wasn’t at times.  I just know that you don’t get a lot of second chances in this sport and I could have easily been written off over the last couple years and thankful that I have been able to turn it around and still show that I have good reason to be in this sport and good reason to be driving race cars – good, quality team with good, quality cars and I’m glad to have people that believe in me and stuck with me.  Hopefully, we can continue to make it pay off.  We just barely started to turn the corner I feel like.  I want to be around for a long time and this is a small piece of the season and we’re doing okay.  Hopefully we can keep it up.”

DO YOU HAVE TO RELEARN HOW TO RACE UP FRONT?:  “I don’t really have to relearn how to run up there or anything, but I do think guys – I remember when I was running up front all the time or more consistently than I have been in the past, when you see somebody who was having a good day that usually wasn’t very strong, you run them pretty hard.  I was expecting that if we did have good runs this year and did do a good job of being fast every week that it would take a while for the guys that have been up there for the past several years to get used to seeing me around up there.  It seems to be working out fine.  I’ve enjoyed what I’ve been able to do this year and enjoyed having the races I’ve been having with the drivers that are up there that I have been racing every weekend.  I guess the one thing that you have to be careful of is not to get too excited and screw up.”

WHY DID YOU RUN OTHER GUYS HARDER UP FRONT?:  “You were like, man I don’t want to get beat by you – you don’t typically out run me so I don’t want to get beat by you today.”

ARE PEOPLE NOT DOING THAT TO YOU?:  “Not so much I guess.  I don’t really know.  I know that is what I thought as a driver.  You just have guys that you look at and you’re out there racing and you think that I should be out running you.  Even today, even last year – there’s teams that I knew should kick my ass and there’s teams that I knew I should be out running and you’re upset when you don’t out run those guys.  It’s different when you move closer to the front.”

HOW MANY GUYS SHOULD YOU OUT RUN TODAY VERSUS ONE YEAR AGO?:  “I don’t know.  More than last year, which we’re doing.  We’re doing what I want to be doing.  It’s still tough.  Carl’s (Edwards) really fast and there are guys that are fast consistently and that’s the level that you’re trying to obtain and we’re not quite there yet.  We’re just searching for that speed and whatever the package is that we need in the cars and some things that we’re trying and trying to find speed in the car.  We’re going through several things over the last several weeks that are some ideas to find that extra level of speed – that next notch to put us over the top.”

ARE YOU GETTING A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM OTHER DRIVERS TO WIN A RACE?: “I wouldn’t call it cheering, but there’s a ton of support and I’ve always had a lot of support in this garage.  I think all the drivers have a lot of respect for each other and we all – there are guys that I would like to see do well, there’s guys that I’m happy to see do well that are friends of mine and I get along with well and I respect and I’ve tried to treat well in my career.  I think that’s what it is.  Me and Kevin (Harvick) – we’ve had a really good relationship and we have a lot of respect for each other and I like to see him and Richard (Childress) and them have success and that whole company have success through Kevin and through Clint (Bowyer).  And all those guys over there.  He feels the same way I guess about me.  When we get close and we almost win races, even if he’s the guy that ends up taking the win, I can definitely understand that.  There’s a lot of good friendships out here.  We all want to beat each other every Sunday when we all want to out run each  other, but we definitely have a lot of good respect in this garage.”

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE CHANGED AT MICHIGAN WHEN THEY REPAVE THE TRACK?:  “I thought it was cool that they took some of the grandstands down so it kind of looks like it’s 1985 all over again.  They sent them to Watkins Glen.  The track’s awesome. I don’t know why it needs new asphalt.  They ought to send that asphalt over to Pocono.”

WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN ON FATHER’S DAY?:  “Any win, any time I win is going to be pretty cool.  I didn’t even think about it being Father’s Day.  I have a terrible memory for things like that.  Whatever the circumstances are, we’ll enjoy it.”

DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE IN THE HUNT TO WIN EACH WEEK?:  “We feel like we’re in the hunt each week and we just want to keep it up.  We just don’t want to be a non-factor.  We just want to be competitive and keep trying to improve.  You keep running up front, opportunities to win will be there and you just try not to let them get away from you when you get that opportunity.”

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KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Have you talked with Dave Rogers about the part failure last week? “Yeah, we’ve talked a little bit this week and they found out what the problems were.  It was in the front springs so we’ll see if we can’t get with the manufacturer and figure out how we can make heat not be an issue.”  

Did you feel the punishment fit the crime? “It doesn’t matter whether you feel like it does or doesn’t.  It was something that we had wrong and we did not fit within the rules after the race.  Certainly there needs to be something done to that.  Like Joe Gibbs Racing issued a statement earlier this week that we accept the penalty and we’ll move forward.”  

Did Michigan talk with you about repaving the race track? “I haven’t been one of the ones that they’ve talked to about it.  I hope they talked to somebody at least and got some ideas on maybe how to make sure that they can repave this place.  And, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but not ruin it — you know what I mean.  When you repave a place or when you pave one to begin with like a Kansas or a Chicago or a California a few years ago when they did that place.  It was always one groove right around the bottom of the race track.  Homestead, I feel like did the best at it when they repaved it.  You could go right to the race track and you could run the bottom, you could move to the middle, you could go to the top.  It was a race track that you could move all over the place instead of just being stuck to one lane.  So, hopefully they can take a little bit of information from Homestead and do that here — progressively bank it here — in order to help drivers out.” How much will being off probation change your driving style this weekend? “Zero.”  

Do you feel better being off probation? “It didn’t matter being on it or being off of it.  I try to race the best I can each and every week, as hard as I can and as clean as I can.  Sure, sometimes there’s a time where you get into somebody or you get loose and you get into them and you spin them and they’re mad at you.  It wasn’t intentional.  There’s no malicious intent involved in it.  It’s just a product of racing.   Hopefully we can keep racing that way.”  

Are you expecting Kevin Harvick to retaliate this weekend after the way he raced you at Pocono? “I’m not expecting anything at anytime, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen.  It’s fine with me.  It’s not my problem.   I race my race car and he drives his.  You saw how I raced.”  

Do you feel a sense of relief being off probation? “There’s no difference in being on probation or off probation for me because I race the same whether I’m on or whether I’m off.  There’s no difference there.  Like I said, there’s times in which you’re racing hard and you get loose and get into somebody or you get into somebody and there’s no intent in doing that.  It just happens.  It’s just a product of hard racing.”  

Were you trying to stay away from Kevin Harvick last week at Pocono? “Yeah, when you’re getting pushed down the front straightaway all the way to the bottom of the race track you’re trying to get away from the situation.  It wasn’t happening. He (Kevin Harvick) kept following me so I backed off and waited for my next opportunity to pass him and then when I did pass him, he then pus hed me all the way down the frontstretch.  At first, it brought back a memory of what he said after Homestead and how he was racing me like a clown all day and then he parked me.  So, it seems like there was a different side there.”  

How hard is it to stay patient in a situation like last week at Pocono? “It’s a lot easier to do earlier in the race than it is at the end of the race.  If it was for a win, it would certainly be a heck of a lot harder to do than if it’s for a fifth or sixth or a something like that.  I’ve learned a lot.  I think it will be a lot different.” Have you not talked to Kevin Harvick since the NASCAR meeting at Dover? “Correct.”  

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Are you looking forward to racing at Kentucky? “Kentucky will be good.  I’m looking forward to getting there.  It’s a great opportunity for the speedway to have the triple there that weekend — the Trucks, the Nationwide cars and the Sprint Cup cars there all together.  For their first Sprint Cup weekend, it’s not just a standalone event or it’s not just a Nationwide Series and Cup Series event, it’s all three.  It’s big for the speedway and hopefully it will be good for myself and Kyle Busch Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.”  

What type of racing do you expect at Kentucky Speedway? “I couldn’t expect anything but some good, hard racing.  Kentucky is a fast race track.  There’s a lot of sweeping corners there so you’ve really got to keep your momentum going and it’s a big momentum-type race track.  There’s a lot of throttle on time there.  You carry a lot of good speed, but yet the place is really wide so you’ve got room for maneuverability.  You can run the bottom.  It seemed like you can run the middle.  I don’t know how great the top will be, but we’ll have to see once we get there and what kind of tire we’re on.”  

What role has your father Tom had in your career? “I think we talk about it every year, there’s not much different to say besides what we’ve said in the past.  My dad was a big inspiration in my career — both my brothers and my career.  We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him and his passion for motorsports and racing and him doing everything he did possible for us to have the opportunity to have race cars to go to the race track with, and to buy tires and to buy fuel and to buy everything it took.  And, then for him and mom to both make that sacrifice for us.”  

Do you still call your dad for advice? “He calls me and he tells me things. He always asks me about different situations about race weekends like, ‘Hey, well why did you guys pit here?’  Or ‘Why didn’t you take just two tires there?’  So, he’s always giving me advice about how maybe we could’ve done things differently.  I tell him, ‘Man, you’ve got to look at the whole picture.’  And when he hears my side he’s like, ‘Oh, okay.’”  

How challenging is it to race against road course drivers who you might not race against on a regular basis? “It’s different already.  There’s a lot of guys out there that have the road racing background that know a heck of a lot more about road racing and technique than we do anyways.  The neat thing about road racing is just being able to have — it’s like a throwaway weekend — it’s not a throwaway weekend, but to me it’s like a vacation weekend.  You just go out there and have fun and do the best you can and you’ll either do really well or you’ll do really bad and you just go on to the next one.   We do have some testing for it and you try to pick up on it, but in respect to who you’re racing, yeah, you can expect to race a little bit different crowd.  (Marcos) Ambrose has been really good this year so we’ve been racing him more and more on the ovals.  Juan Pablo (Montoya) the same thing.  Jimmie (Johnson) has been a lot better at the road courses so now you race against him, you race against Tony Stewart.  A lot of the guys that race well at both you race against every week.”  

Has Jeff Gordon’s style changed over his career? “I don’t know that I can really answer that question 100 percent.  To me, all you can take is from what you see or what you hear and, yeah, you can say that Jeff’s (Gordon) style is pretty much tried to stay the same. And I think these cars are so much different that you have to adapt to the cars sometimes and maybe he’s been able to be a lot better at that.  I think communication between the team members — driver and crew chief — makes it easier for you to change your style a little bit.”  

How can driver/crew chief communication help change your style? “When the crew chief tells you, ‘Alright, well we’re going to have to put this in the car in order to make the tire last longer.’  When we went to this towed rear end housing that makes the cars go down the straightaway crooked, that changes your driving style.  You can’t go off into the corner the same, you can’t drive it in the same, you can’t accelerate the same — it’s all different.  So, all of that changes with aerodynamics of the way the cars are where the — I don’t know how to explain it — I guess where the spin out coefficient is, you know, the more yaw you get.  How much down force versus drag versus side force — does it all apply?  And, you know, that changes too.  It’s so many different things you’ve got to equate into a driving style.”  

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Do you have to be a scientist to understand the communication and changes? “Your crew chiefs have to be and then they have to tell you how to figure it all out too.  You tell them what you’re feeling and he goes, ‘Alright, well is this why you’re feeling it?’ And you’re like, ‘Yeah, that seems about right,’ you know, so then you start learning more about it.”   Have you spoken to Kimi Raikkonen about his future plans? “I have not, so I don’t know.  Rick (Ren, Kyle Busch Motorsports general manager) talks to them a lot more than I do, so I have not talked.  I don’t know.”  

Is it important in your career to have a road course win? “I think it’s pretty good.  I think it’s great to be able to have wins at all types of facilities.   I think in ’08 when I won the road course races, I also won the road course race in Mexico.  That was a big road course year for me for some reason.  I just clicked at all of them.  We’ve run top-five and top-10 since, but haven’t quite been the car to beat at those road courses. I enjoy that type of racing and I’d like to get back to it and it’s cool the opportunity comes next week at Sonoma.”  

What are your thoughts on the recent Joyce Julius report of advertising value? “I think it’s good.  I think that’s what we’re all out here for, obviously, is advertising for our sponsors.  We’re a moving billboard.  In the short scheme of things, there’s a lot more beyond that.  For me to have the opportunity to be the number one talked-about guy, whether good whether bad, it’s an opportunity.  We’d like to make the most of that and be talked about for better reasons than others, but that’s what sponsors pay the big dollars for in this sport is to get recognized and get exposure dollars.”  

Were you surprised by the overall value and do you think M&M’s is pleased with that? “That’s what we all look at every day when we go to try and sell sponsorship to Kyle Busch Motorsports for the truck teams, for the Nationwide teams, for the Cup teams.  That’s why I run as many Nationwide races as I do, because the sponsors want me in the car.  It’s nothing against the younger drivers, because they are what’s going to make this sport go forward, but they don’t really care — they want the exposure value.  It’s right here, right now and the same thing in the Truck Series.  If I could put Brian Ickler for the whole year and sell the same sponsorship that I’ve sold, I would do it.  But that opportunity doesn’t exist.”  

Do you have a comfort level to veto your crew chief’s pit decisions? “I’m not sure that I’m ever really comfortable making the calls.  I’ll ask him what the call’s going to be and I’ll ask him a couple questions to rethink it and he’ll either change it or keep it the same.  He’s got a hell of a lot more information than I do sitting on the top of that pit box, so he sees a lot more.  He sees lap times of other drivers.  He sees where the race is going — how many laps, what the pit windows are — all that stuff.  That’s why I tend to leave it to him and let him make the decisions.”  

Do you think a crew chief can hear it in your voice that you want changes? “Sometimes there’s definitely, whether we need to stay out or whether we need to pit, I’ve made a couple of those decisions this year where he’s like, ‘Yeah, I think we ought to stay out,’ and I come in and I pit and it was like, ‘That was the right decision.’ Or vice versa.  I can make those pretty good on the fly, but just because I can see what’s going on in front of me and in my mirror about who is coming to pit road and who’s not.   Not necessarily about whether we need to take four tires or two tires or all that stuff.”  

Who is the grumpiest person who needs a Snickers bar right now? “There’s probably a few that could use a Snickers bar, but names I won’t mention.”