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[/media-credit]NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FEDEX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
June 1, 2012
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/OFFICE DEPOT CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Dover International Speedway and discussed racing at Dover, his thoughts on the Indy 500 and other topics. Full Transcript:
HOW WAS YOUR PRACTICE? “We are struggling a little bit but we think we are getting a direction on what it’s wanting.”
ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS? “We just have some work to do. I can’t tell you what we are working on.”
YOUR FINISHES HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THE BOARD THE LAST SIX WEEKS, DO YOU FEEL THAT IT HAS BEEN AS INCONSISTENT AS THE NUMBERS LOOK?
“No, we have been pretty inconsistent. We have had some really good runs and we have had some races that we are still scratching our heads about. We are working through different packages and trying to find the balance that I like. Steve (Addington, crew chief) and I are still just getting to a lot of these tracks for the first time. It’s that growing pain of getting somewhere with a new guy.”
IS THAT MORE DIFFICULT THAN MAYBE STRUGGLING ALL THE TIME? YOU KIND OF KNOW THAT YOU HAVE AREAS TO WORK ON BUT HERE IT SEEMS LIKE IT IS SO HIT OR MISS? “Yeah, and here it is feast or famine for me. I either run really good or really bad. There is really no in between. We either hit it or we don’t for some reason. We just keep plugging away we have another hour and a half to try to figure it out.”
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU LOOK FOR IN THE CAR HERE AT DOVER? WHAT’S GOING TO TELL YOU WEATHER IT IS GOING TO BE A STRONG WEEKEND AT A TRACK LIKE THIS?
“It’s always feel. This track you spend probably two-thirds of a lap in the corner. You’ve got to get the car to get through the bumps. You’ve got to get it through three distinct parts of the corner here. I mean the entry the way it lands in the corner, the way it gets off the corner then the way it rotates through the center. You’ve got to get all three of those to work right.”
IS THERE TIME DURING THE RACE TO ADJUST ON SOMETHING LIKE THAT OR IS IT SOMETHING WHERE IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT SET-UP EARLY ON IT’S GOING TO BE A LONG RACE? “Sometimes you can’t and sometimes you can. That is the hard thing. These cars are so sensitive with the stops on the front of them. Especially, a place like Dover here where you are kind of falling down into the corner then it lands. There are some things you can do sometimes just putting wedge in and out and trackbar and air pressure isn’t going to fix it. You have to get it pretty close right off the bat.”
HOW HAS THE RELATIONSHIP BEEN SO FAR WITH STEVE (ADDINGTON, CREW CHIEF)? “Great, I really enjoy working with him. We have a lot of fun at the track. I think our communication with each other is really good. He’s easy to understand. I think he understands what I’m talking about. Those are the things that you can’t teach they have to come natural and that is coming pretty easy.”
IS THAT BEEN HIS BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION SO FAR? “No, I think there are a lot bigger contributions than talking to me on the radio so far.”
HAVING THE TWO WINS DOES THAT MAKE THE INCONSISTENCY EASIER TO HANDLE? KNOWING THAT YOU ARE IN A PRETTY GOOD SPOT AS FAR AS MAKING THE CHASE GOES? “We know we can do it, it’s just finding the combination and what works at some of the tracks isn’t going to work at other tracks. We just have to keep working at it, trying to figure out what we need at the places that we are struggling.”
WHAT MAKES A TRACK LIKE THIS A CHALLENGE?
“Concrete it’s got a lot of bumps in it. You have to get the car to go through the bumps here. That would be the biggest challenge.”
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE INDY 500?
“I thought it was the best Indy 500 I’ve ever seen. I was glad we got it worked out in my schedule to where I could watch the whole thing and didn’t have to leave before the end of it to go to hospitalities we had them all after the drivers meeting. I got to watch the whole thing. I thought it was awesome.”
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