Author: Official Release

GREG BIFFLE/GREG ERWIN/JACK ROUSH PRESS CONFERENCE

TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN OUT THERE TODAY. GREG BIFFLE: “It was a great run. The car started off really good. It just got a little bit too loose. I couldn’t keep up with the 14. They beat me a little bit on the start and I was just so afraid to get the car too tight. Once you get the car sliding the nose off of turn four, you’re just dead. I was really reluctant to put any wedge or make any adjustments. About the first half of the race, I didn’t adjust on it really. When I got right behind the 14, really putting pressure on him, I still couldn’t get the gas down. At that point I said, ‘I got to tighten the car up if I’m going to win the race’. If I go backwards, I go backwards. I’m a guy that likes to drive a free, loose car. We decided to tighten it up and put some wedge in it, put some air in the left rear tire and I think the car really started tightening up. At the next stop I put some more wedge in it. I’ll tell you what, those last two runs, it was amazing. It was literally the best car I’ve ever driven here. I could drive anywhere on the racetrack. I could enter any line in the corner and push the gas down whenever I felt like it. It was pretty incredible.”

GREG ERWIN, WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS FROM UP ON THE BOX? “Pretty exciting. We’ve been waiting for this time here to come. This mile and a half racetrack has really been improving for our program, in particular the 16, as well as the whole Roush organization. We were fortunate enough to get that win out at Pocono a couple months ago. We really knew that when the Chase time came, this mile and a half would be good for us. We were kind of showing that at Michigan a couple weeks ago. We are glad to follow it up here. This guy is pretty incredible here. Look at his track record. Heck, I’ve only been with him three years now and we’re in Victory Lane twice. That ought to say something. He does a great job here. The pit stop really, you know, got us out there in front because you could tell he could catch the 14 and get right to his bumper. It was going to be about the guy that had the best air. We were fortunate to have it at the end.

MR. ROUSH, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE DAY? “I’m especially proud of Greg Erwin and Greg Biffle, what he’s done, the entire team, the Ford support we’ve had behind it. I’m hoping that the guys didn’t tell you about our secret. We got this water soluble Sherwin Williams biodegradable paint on his car (laughter). I am pretty sure it is the only one in the field. I think it was the green thing that got it done today.

GREG, YOU MENTIONED THAT WHEN YOU CAUGHT THE 14 THAT YOU DECIDED YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE TO THROW SOMETHING BIG AT IT TO PASS HIM. YOU WERE RIGHT THERE AT SECOND. DOES THAT MEAN THIS WAS A ‘GO BIG OR GO HOME’ KIND OF DAY FOR YOU?

GREG BIFFLE: “Well, not really. I was just reluctant to adjust on the car. I took a ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ kind of attitude. When you’re running the worst you’ve run all day fifth or sixth, most of the day you’ve run third, you hate to start adjusting on things just to see what it’s going to do. You don’t want to go backwards. I didn’t want them to stick the wedge wrench through the window and start turning on it. Finally I decided I could run right there with Tony, then he started to get loose. We were pretty even and I thought if I could get a little bit better where I could put the gas down coming off of turn four, that’s where he beat me is turn four, everybody beat me there. I could beat him in one and two, I’d be good. So we put wedge in it, air in the left rear and my gosh, that was it, it was over. The car picked up a 10th and half a lap. I put another wedge in it when we did the next set of tires, and the thing was faster yet. I knew at that point whether a caution came out or not, even if I didn’t have track position, I was going to be able to beat the 14. I didn’t know who else was going to come up there and play at the end of the race. I had a lot of confidence after those two pit stops after making those kind of adjustments that the car was going to be pretty hard to beat.”

TALK ABOUT WHERE THIS PUTS YOU FOR THE CHASE. GREG BIFFLE: “You know, everybody asked us last week if we’re out the Chase, have we given up, whatever the case was. The 16 team will never give up. We’re just going to approach each race like we did today, qualify the best we can, do the best we can in practice, execute the best we can at the racetrack. We’re going to go to California and do the same thing, Charlotte Motor Speedway, you know, see what happens. I’ve still got a thorn in my side right in between my rib cage from Dover. We had a sixth, seventh, eighth place car, which is nothing to brag about, but that’s what we did. That’s not very good for us. Normally we’re better than that. We got caught by that caution. We finished 19th. We passed the 13th, 12th, 11th and 10th place car on the last run of the day easily. If we just had track position, we’d be sitting here 30 points out of the lead for the championship right now instead of 80. We lost 50 points last week just because we got trapped by one caution. It was unfortunate for us. A win here propelled us up there. Maybe we’ll go do the same next week.”

I THOUGHT MAYBE THE SECRET YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT JACK WAS THE $100,000 BONUS YOU GUYS CASHED IN ON TODAY. JACK ROUSH: “Anybody that has been around me a long time knows I’m not too generous with my money (laughter). You know, Ford Motor Company stepped up and they realize drivers don’t do it for the money, the crew doesn’t do it for the money, certainly I don’t, but they would put $100,000 additional contingency for the driver, crew chief and team for the win. I hope they don’t regret that. I hope they’ll do it for the races that remain. I think they probably will. At any rate, it was showing their interest and seeing to it that we could do all we could do and wanting to reward the guys if they could pull it off. That was fun.”

GREG, YOU SAID IT WAS THE BEST CAR YOU HAVE EVER HAD HERE, THAT IS SAYING SOMETHING. YOU HAD TO BE PRETTY CONFIDENT CONSIDERING YOUR TRACK RECORD HERE. GREG BIFFLE: “It’s probably one of the best cars I’ve driven in years, probably dating back to 2005. I could drive down in the corner. First of all, I was having to lift a little bit early to watch the RPM on the engine. I could drive down in the corner and the thing could just run down in the corner. I could push the throttle to the floor, not just hold the wheel straight, drive up all the way off the corner, open the wheel up in the corner exit. The car just drove so easy the last 75 laps of the race. It was really nice to have a car driving like that. I didn’t really want to see the caution out, but I was kind of, like, I wouldn’t mind seeing a showdown right here at the end because our car was really, really good.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR CONFIDENCE COMING INTO THIS RACE? GREG BIFFLE: “My confidence is really high coming in here. Now going to California and Charlotte I have a lot of confidence. We’ve won at a lot of these tracks before. This is one of them.”

WHAT DOES THE $100,000 MEAN TO YOU? GREG BIFFLE: “It means a lot to me. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my half of the money yet. I’ll probably donate it to my charity; probably help some homeless animals or something with my cut of it.”

THE LAST TIME YOU WERE HERE YOU HAD THE CONTROVERSIAL FINISH. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WIN BY SEVEN SECONDS THIS TIME? GREG BIFFLE: “Well, first of all, we did cross the finish line because if you don’t cross the finish line, you won’t get the trophy. You know, most races, we’re about out of gas when we go across the start-finish line. With that caution coming out at the end, darkness coming on, we can hardly see where we’re going, NASCAR made the right call by stopping the race. We were close on fuel and I wasn’t doing my job to watch the fuel pressure gauge. I got up in the corner and let the fuel run away from the pickup. The thing started sputtering. I made my way down to the apron, got the fuel back in there and accelerated the car up to 70, 80 miles an hour, whatever, pushed the clutch in, shut it off to save the rest of the fuel. I was still coasting probably 40 miles an hour, the pace car goes about 55. I just thought, Boy, that’s plenty fast enough. The caution is out. I’ve already won the race. As long as I can maintain a cautious pace, I was going to stop at the start/finish line anyway. We maintained plenty of speed.”

GREG ERWIN: “NASCAR takes you over to the fuel pumps after the race and puts fuel in the car. The car still had a gallon and a half of gas in it.”

GREG BIFFLE: “We still had fuel. The controversy was I didn’t try to start it again and make it go anymore. I just let that speed be enough speed to roll across the start-finish line. Other guys sped up, went around me, which you’re not allowed to do under caution, then complained about I didn’t maintain enough speed. NASCAR went back and looked at it. They were going 70, 80 miles an hour when they passed me. So it was kind of a moot point. They know the other guys sped up to go by and that I maintained enough speed.”

TODAY BASICALLY PUTS YOU BACK IN A POSITION TO CHALLENGE IN THE POINTS. WHAT DOES GETTING THE WIN AND PERFORMING LIKE YOU DID THE LAST PART OF THE RACE MEAN AS FAR AS THE CHASE GOING FORWARD? GREG BIFFLE: “Our car was fast all day. I was fairly confident early on in the race, first tire run of the day, we were going to finish in the top five. I just needed to figure out a way how I was going to win the race. We kept working on it and adjusting on it. We want to win these races. We want to have the trophies. They’ve been talking about all the other guys, so we’ll give them something to talk about for the next couple weeks. Hopefully in California and Charlotte we can run decent and make our way up there into the points, maybe get up in the top five.”

GREG ERWIN, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE $100,000 AS FAR AS IT PERTAINS TO THE TEAM AND WHAT KIND OF INCENTIVES THE PIT BULLS HAD, SINCE THEY TAKE A LOT OF PRIDE IN WHAT THEY DO? GREG ERWIN: “You know, Jack is right. It’s a very gracious, very generous offer by the folks at Ford. But the truth is that these guys work unbelievable amount of hours. This Pit Bull group that we’ve got is pretty underestimated but certainly not underappreciated by me. You watch their performance on pit road every week. The greatest thing about watching that group is the senior guys on that thing, the more experienced group we had. We had a tiny, tiny mistake earlier in the race. We hung a nut on the right front going in and lost a couple spots. Without the level of maturity and experience we have on a couple of those key positions, that very easily turns a bad day worse for a guy. But they turned it right around and got us out first. As far as the money goes, we’ll let Jack and the folks at Roush decide how it gets broke out on our side. They all have kids to put through college, too, so I’m sure they appreciate it.”

JACK, A LOT OF FORDDS CAME OFF THE HAULERS FAST THIS WEEKEND. DID YOU AND DOUG YATES FIND SOMETHING BETWEEN NOW AND LAST WEEK OR IS THIS EVOLUTIONARY?

JACK ROUSH: “This engine, this FR9 engine has been an instant success for Doug, Ford and our team. It took about 18 months to hone, sand, get the castings right to the point it was better than the engine we had. Tom and all the guys in the engine shop have been working trying to make more power with it. The engine we had was not uncompetitive, but there were a number of aspects of the new technologies that have been brought with computer aided design techniques that went into the various components that gave us an advantage over the engine we had. This really just catches us up to date with where General Motors, Chrysler and Toyota have been in terms of the way the cooling system works, the computer aided design that was used for the induction system, that sort of thing. There hasn’t been a revelation that occurred in the last two or three races that would have given us an advantage with the engine. The engine is competitive and it’s durable. As Greg said, he punished it pretty hard. We had two choices in gear. We had a 389 gear and a four to one gear. Of course, the four to one gear turned almost too much rpm and everybody made the least of it, said it will probably slow down enough. But Doug knew and I knew that it probably wouldn’t. We hoped the engine would be strong enough to survive, and it was. I can’t wait to get the valve train pieces to the shop and do what I call a death march where you run it to absolute destruction. That’s what we’ll do this week.”

DID THE COLD WEATHER ALLOW YOU TO TAPE UP MORE THIS WEEKEND? GREG BIFFLE: “A little bit. But everybody does. You don’t get an advantage over the other cars because they got to tape up a little bit, too.”

WE KNOW THE TOUGH EXPERIENCE JACK HAD EARLIER THIS SUMMER. THIS IS ONLY YOUR SECOND WIN ALL YEAR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW SATISFYING IT IS WITH JACK’S RECOVER AND ROUSH’S RECOVERY? GREG BIFFLE: “It’s tremendously satisfying for us. Especially the timely win, you know. The first win at Pocono was remarkable for us to be able to pull it out. It was a day like today. We weren’t as good at Pocono as we ended up being at the end. Today, we were up front all day.

I’m proud to carry the flag for Roush Fenway right now. I’m glad to see Matt, Carl and David all running well, and the other Ford cars. It’s great to have Jack back at the racetrack. It’s like he took a one week vacation. The next week he was on the conference call like he hadn’t even missed a beat. It’s good to have him around. He gets us what he need, parts and pieces for our racecars.”

JACK, HOW DO YOU FEEL? “I feel great. I was really embarrassed for not being there for Greg at Pocono. But Greg came to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and gave me my owner’s trophy after he won on Sunday. I was actually out in one of the labs having some work done, so I wasn’t there when he arrived. I hated that for him. I hated putting him to that much trouble. I hated not being there for the team, and I was humbled by the fact he went out of his way to bring me my trophy.”

Denny Hamlin (12th) was the highest finishing Camry driver in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Kansas Speedway.  

Joey Logano (17th), Scott Speed (19th) and Martin Truex Jr. (20th) also finished in the top-20 in the 267-lap race at the 1.5-mile oval.  

Other Camry drivers in the field included Kyle Busch (21st), Casey Mears (24th), Reed Sorenson (30th), Marcos Ambrose (34th), David Reutimann (35th), Kevin Conway (38th) and Landon Cassill (43rd).  

Hamlin fell to second in the unofficial NSCS point standings and trails current leader Jimmie Johnson by eight points after the third race in the 10-race 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship playoff.  Kyle Busch fell four spots to seventh-place — 80 points behind Johnson.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position:  12th How was your race? “We were hanging around 20th for most of the day and the car just went back and forth, and even when I thought the balance was close we were just two- or three- or four-tenths off at times.  We had some different stuff than what we typically had in our car for this race.  I kind of was a little bit worried about it at the beginning, but I knew right away we were going to have a long day.  It’s still a good fight for this FedEx team to rebound to 12th.  It’s not the kind of run we want by any means, but obviously we’re not out of this by any means.” Are you disappointed in losing the championship points lead? “It’s tough.  You’re going to have to run well all 10 of these races.  The good part is we didn’t panic and get ourselves into a wreck or something like that.  That’s the thing.  It’s just you’ve got to make the most of your bad days and if this is a bad day for us then we’re going to rebound next weekend.  We’re going to just keep fighting.  That’s all we can do.” Do you have a target race in mind during the Chase where you need to be dominant? “I think the next few races we need to stay in the hunt and that’s going to be important for us.  An important thing is to not make mistakes over these next few weeks.  We need to have a shot at it going into those last five races so the next two weeks now is just about making sure we’re still in the hunt.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position:  17th

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position:  19th

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA/Susan G. Komen Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position:  20th

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position:  21st What should NASCAR do to penalize David Reutimann for what happened? “Nothing.  I thought about it more.  Whatever.  It’s just really unfortunate you know.  These guys work their butts off and to put ourselves in the Chase and to have the opportunity to try to go after a championship and to have it end up something like that today.  The guy (David Reutimann) was loose — said it on the radio.  He slid up off the bottom and I got into him unintentionally and just spun him out.  My fault 100 percent, but then the retaliation to a guy that’s in the Chase that’s racing for something.  He’ll be here next year.  He could’ve wrecked me in any of the first 26 races next year.  That would’ve been fine.   It’s just hard to swallow something like a day like today where we had a solid top-five car going.  Dave (Rogers, crew chief) did a phenomenal job getting this M&M’s Camry to where we could run upfront and run those guys down and chase them down.   And, we had a really good car going and just when we got hit there it just bent everything under the rear end.  We salvaged the best we could, but still far off of where we could’ve been.”

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Finishing Position:  24th

REED SORENSON, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position:  30th

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Little Debbie Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position:  34th

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position:  35th What happened with Kyle Busch on the race track? “He got into me there early in the race and wrecked us, and pretty much messed up our day.  That’s pretty much it.” Do you think Kyle Busch intentionally wrecked you? “He (Kyle Busch) just rolled over me.  I’m on the bottom of the race track and he had the whole top of the race track to go to, and he ran over me.  I got wrecked.  You guys can sugarcoat it all the time, but he wrecked me.  You can tell me how bad he wants it, how hard he drives, how much he wants it above everybody else.  That’s all fine.  You guys can say all that, but he just wrecked me.” Did you intentionally wreck Kyle Busch? “On my part?  What do you think?  It just got tight.” Have you had problems in the past with Kyle Busch? “We don’t have a history on the race track.  There’s been stuff said, but as far as he and I, no problem. Do you think drivers in the Chase race you differently? “I don’t care if you’re in the Chase or not.  You need to think about who you’re running over when you’re running over them.  I don’t care who you are.  If you’re in the Chase, you have as much responsibility to drive with respect as I do, or anybody else.” Do you feel bad about what happened looking back on the incident? “If you guys want me to feel bad, then yeah, I feel bad that our car got wrecked and it ruined our day.  That’s what I feel bad about.”

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 7 Extenze Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports Finishing Position:  38th

LANDON CASSILL, No. 64 Little Joe’s Autos Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Finishing Position:  43rd

Jimmie Johnson Takes Points Lead with Runner-Up Finish at Kansas; Team Chevy Drivers Capture Four of Top-Five Finishing Positions

 

Kansas City (October 3, 2010) – With a runner-up finish at Kansas Speedway, four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup (NSCS) champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/Johns Manville Chevrolet, took the lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.  After starting 21^st, Johnson worked his way to second at the checkered flag in the  Price Chopper 400, the third race of the 2010 Chase.

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, finished third in the 267-lap/400.5-mile race and led twice for a total of 16 laps.  Harvick jumped two places in the standings, now in third place in points.

Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, led four times for a total of 76 laps on the way to his fourth place finish.  The two-time NSCS champion is 10^th in the standings, but only 127 points behind the leader with seven races remaining in the season.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, finished fifth and led three times for a total of 29 laps. The four-time NSCS champion jumped three positions in points to fifth place.

Ryan Newman, No. 39 US Army Chevrolet, finished ninth and maintained his 13^th place in the standings.

Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, fought handling issues late in the race that relegated him to 18^th in the finishing order. He now sits ninth in points, 101 points down to the leader.

Clint Bowyer, No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, rebounded from fighting an ill-handling car to finish 15^th today. He remains 12^th in the point standings.

Greg Biffle (Ford) was the race winner.

The Series moves to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif on October 10, 2010.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/JOHNS MANVILLE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2^ND AND LEADER IN CHASE STANDINGS

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL/PENNZOIL CHEVROLET – FINISHED 3^RD:

 

 

            THE MODERATOR:  We’re joined by Jimmie Johnson.  Tell us about your run, Jimmie.

            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Just a long fought performance today.  Relieved that the checkered fell when it did and we were running second.

            The car, although we were able to pass a lot of cars today, we started 21st, worked our way forward.  Some pit sequence put us back to 21st.  Then since we were back there we pitted another time to work on the car.  That put us in the 30s.  With that adjustment, it worked great for us.  I drove up right to about the top 10 on that next run.

            (We) had the balance closer.  The balance of the car was good.  It just never was in the racetrack.  Felt like cold tires all day long.  I saw a lot of guys fighting the same issue.  I think this tire that was brought here certainly threw us for a loop this weekend.

            Honestly, I drove 400 miles with my tong hanging out just sawing at the wheel trying to get everything I could.  Very pleased to have walked that fine line and didn’t make any mistakes.  My crew did the same.  Chad called a great race.  We needed all those things to work together in order to get a good finish and we did that.

            THE MODERATOR:  We’ll take questions.

            Q.  You are now the points leader.  It didn’t take you very long, but can you comment on the fact that you have the points lead in the Chase after three races.

            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  It’s a great position to be in, but it’s way too early to think about it, to worry about defending.  You have Chase guys running so good each and every week.

            I know there’s a lot of attention made this morning of the guys that didn’t qualify good.  Here are two of them sitting up here that qualified badly and drove to the front.

            Just can’t put your guard down.  It doesn’t matter if it’s qualifying, or the race.  Until that checkered falls in Homestead, it’s anybody’s championship.

            THE MODERATOR:  We’re joined by Kevin Harvick.  Tell us about your run.

            KEVIN HARVICK:  It was good.  We had a strong car really from the drop of the green flag all the way till the end.  Obviously, we would have liked to win.  We lost some track position there on those last couple pit stops.  Just took a little bit longer to get through traffic than we would have liked.

            Felt like we had a great car and just finished third and on to California we go.

            THE MODERATOR:  We’ll resume with questions.

            Q.  Jimmie, do you think there’s a mental advantage that you have being the four time points champion to getting on top of the points lead right now?  Do you think some of the other guys might feel a little bit defeated?

            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I know that’s a popular question that everybody wants an answer to.  I don’t have an answer for you.

            All I can do is worry about my team, what we have to do.  Again, it’s early.  I’m not worried about who is leading the championship right now.  I know we came in second.  Of course, I wanted to be leading.  I could care less where the 11 was today.  It’s just not time to worry about that stuff.

            After Talladega, teams and drivers can work on a strategy of protecting or taking chances.  We have to get deeper into the Chase to be concerned about who the points leader is.

            Q.  It seems like on the restarts, you can maybe clarify, it looks like you take more chances on the restarts.  Maybe easier to get around guys as they’re going slower.  Can you comment on some of the guys and how crazy some of those restarts were?  Do you take an extra chance when you have an opportunity to catch somebody when they’re not up at full speed?

            KEVIN HARVICK:  I had a lot of trouble on restarts.  We had to get through the first three or four laps.  I know for me, I was just hanging on.

            I just went wherever there was a free gap.

            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  It’s kind of one of those things you have to take advantage of where your car is good.  Usually if it starts off real comfortable, you better make hay while you can because it’s going to tighten up quick and you’re going to lose spots.  So when it’s hooked up, you got to go.

            Q.  Jimmie, can you talk about the conditions on pit road.  I think Chad told you early on they weren’t going to help you whole heck of a lot, it was so tight getting in and out.  Seemed problematic.

            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, it was.  With the poor qualifying effort, didn’t have any options on our pit road pick.  That first pit stop we were behind the 11 and then the 26 was still on the lead lap, got pinned in.  Not a lot we could do.

            From then on, our goal was to get in front of the 11.  If we could be on pit road in front of the 11, I could at least get my car angled out and get out of the pit box.

            Second, third run, somewhere in there, we got in front of them and I guess stayed in front of them the rest of the race.  I guess that worked well for us.

            Q.  Jimmie, we heard you say on the radio afterwards, Keep your heads down, boys, it’s on.  I know you talk about that focus.  Friday was a tough day for you in qualifying.  Was the focus missing a little bit for the team on Friday?  Maybe you can talk about how yesterday and today you got it back and rebounded.

            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  No, I mean, last night we had to go to work and change a lot of the racecar around to get it right for today.  It leads to a sleepless night and a frustrating morning, having anxious moments before the race starts, not knowing how the car is going to drive.  With everything that’s on the line, I mean, you can’t just take blind guesses; you’ve got to make a decision.

            In Dover we had that, made the right decisions.  This weekend we did it and made the right decisions.  It was because we follow the things that we felt in our hearts and in our guts would make the car better.

            That’s more to what I was talking to down the back straightaway.  If we keep our blinders, stay focused on the 48 team, we tend to make good decisions.

            Q.  Kevin, what is your reaction to Jimmie being at the top of the standings?  Certainly you’re aware he’s won four in a row.  Is it like, Here we go again?

            KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, I think at this point everybody’s racing for themselves.  Obviously they’ve done a good job over the last four years.  But it’s our job to do what we’re supposed to do, and that’s what we’re worried about right now.

            Is that what you wanted me to say?  Probably not.  Nice try (laughter).

            Q.  Jimmie, I know you’ve talked about putting the blinders on.  There’s a long way to go.  Have you entertained the thought of what it would mean to win a fifth?  Have you let yourself think about that at all?

            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  No, that would be foolish.  It is way too early to think about those things.  Way, way too early.

            THE MODERATOR:  Gentlemen, congratulations.  Thank you.

     FastScripts by ASAP Sports

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., 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 Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). 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, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PRICE SHOPPER 400

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES

October 3, 2010

 

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/JOHNS MANVILLE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2^ND:  21^st STARTING POSITION TO RUNNER-UP FINISH, HOW EVENTFUL WAS YOUR DAY? “That was a lot of work. It is just tough to pass here and to pass as many cars as we had to, I’m just really relieved that it is over and it is behind us.”

HOW DOES IT SOUND TO BE THE POINT LEADER? YOU’RE IT!

“That sounds awesome. To come through a poor qualifying effort and fight for track position all day long and get second at the end was really cool. We had some strategy work against us and started way back again and drove right on up through for a second time and got up to the front. I’m glad we had the finish we did. There’s still a lot of racing left, but we’re doing the right things. We’re making bad weekends good weekends. Although we dominated and won (at Dover last weekend), we didn’t have what we wanted leaving practice. We didn’t have what we wanted yesterday leaving practice. We didn’t have what we wanted for the first half of the race. But we kept working on the car and made it better. I can’t thank (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and all these guys on this Lowe’s car enough for their hard work and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for giving us the tools to go to the race track and we’ll go to the next one.”

IT WAS TRULY A TEAM EFFORT. THE WAY YOU ADJUSTED ON THE CAR. AND YOUR TEAMMATE, JEFF GORDON, YOU ACTUALLY HAD HIS SET-UP. HOW MUCH DID THAT AFFECT YOU TODAY?

“He’s been really good getting through traffic on these 1.5-mile tracks and that has been one of our weak spots. Although I didn’t really love the feeling of the car; it was kind of on top of the track, it was stable in traffic. And with where I was starting, that’s what we needed to focus on. I’m glad we had that set-up in the car today. So I’ve got to thank Steve Letarte and those guys for some help.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3^RD: STRONG RUN AND A GOOD CAR TODAY: “The car was good from the drop of the green flag really. We just had to keep trying to gain track position and keep doing the things we had to do to our car to make it better and better. Great job by our Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet team today.”

YOU PICKED UP TWO SPOTS IN THE POINTS AS WELL, GOOD FEELING? “Yes, it is all about maintaining that gap. Today we were able to beat the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) and maintain with the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and that is what we feel like we have to do. We feel like California is another good week for us next week.”

 

YOU STARTED 24^TH, BUT YOUR CAR WAS A ROCKET FROM THE DROP OF THE GREEN FLAG. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?

“The car was good all weekend. I’ve got to thank all my guys on the Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet. They did a great job. Track position is pretty important and it just took a little longer than we needed to to get back up through traffic again after our pit stop. So it was just a good day. The car was fast all weekend and we had a solid top-three run and I feel good about next week too.”

ON HIS CHANCES IN THE CHASE

“We feel good about where we’re at. That’s what got us here was those solid top-five finishes and the things that we did during the year. So we’ve just got to keep doing those things and keep our cars in contention to run up front and lead some laps and get those points and we’ll see where we’re at when we get to Homestead.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4^TH: WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE RACE TO THAT LAST RUN? “I just couldn’t take off on restarts. I couldn’t get going in traffic. My car kind of sat up on top of the track and took a little bit to go. We’d get about 10 laps into it and it would be fast. Just gave up too much time up front.”

 

DOES IT FEEL GOOD TO GET BACK ON TRACK HERE IN THE THIRD RACE OF THE CHASE? “Yes, it really is. We’ve known we’ve been a better team than these last two weeks. We just had bad luck the first race and then just a bad day the second race. Hopefully, the upcoming weeks will be like today.”

EXACTLY HOW MUCH DID THE CAR AND RACE TRACK CHANGE TODAY? “I don’t think it changed a lot. We were just a little bit off there at the end and that late in the race, everybody has their stuff right.”

THIS LOOKS JUST LIKE WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED, A TOP FIVE FINISH AND YOU LED THE MOST LAPS TODAY

“Yeah, I would have like to have stayed up there at least with Greg (Biffle) where we were at most of the day, but I’m really proud of our guys. It’s hard to rebound after two weeks like we’ve had starting the Chase. But it shows how strong this Stewart-Haas race team is and everybody at Office Depot and Old Spice and (crew chief) Darian Grubb and the Hendrick chassis and engine department and everybody back at our shop has just rallied around and kept the team’s morale up. Everybody is working hard so today is a result of that.”

 

THE GUYS HAVE SAID YOU DO A GREAT JOB OF LIFTING EVERYBODY UP AND MAKING THEM BELIEVE YOU’RE NOT OUT OF IT. WITH THIS RUN TODAY, CAN YOU STILL WIN THIS CHASE?

“Yeah, we’re not out until you guys say we’re mathematically out. Who would have dreamed we would have two weeks in a row like we had the first two weeks. So it’s proof it can happen. Talladega is still on the schedule (laughs) so that can jumble everything up too. So, we’ve just got to go out and do what we did today and that’s just go out and try to win the race and take what it gives us.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5^TH: TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY: “This track has been good to us. We were hoping for a little bit more than that with the way things went all weekend long. The way the race started, was pretty optimistic but we were just missing a little bit there. We lost some track position. I just give a lot of credit to this DuPont Chevrolet team there at the end. Great pit stops. Good adjustments that brought us back up in the top-five so that was a great finish.”

HOW MUCH DID THIS TRACK CHANGE? “Quite a bit. We were pretty good there those first two runs. Then Tony (Stewart) and (Matt) Kenseth and a couple of other guys got up there and they were really getting a hold of the race track good and our car just seemed to fall off a little bit. We got real loose and had to tighten it back up there at the end.”

IT WAS AN EVENTFUL DAY. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR CAR THREE-QUARTERS OF THE WAY THROUGH THE RACE? IT WAS ALMOST LIKE A DIFFERENT RACE CAR

“Yeah, we started the race good but we were real loose out front. And when some of the faster cars got up there we could see where we were off. We fell back and lost some track position but I’ve got to give (crew chief) Steve (Letarte) and the DuPont Chevrolet team a lot of credit. We had a great pit stop there at the end to make up a bunch of spots under green, and some good adjustments to make the car a lot better. We finally got it tightened up enough and we could race with those guys and pull off a top five.”

SOME GREAT RACE TRACKS COMING UP FOR YOU, WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS RIGHT NOW OF THE CHASE AND WHERE YOU SIT AS A TEAM?

“Well, I’m happy we gained. We gained points overall and points positions. That’s good. I felt like we kind of missed an opportunity here this weekend. I felt like we were one of the best cars and felt like we should have led more laps and had a battle for the win. We still have some work to do and we’re going to try to make that happen with the tracks coming up. They are good tracks for us. But they’re good tracks for our competitors too. It was a good day today. I just felt like we could have been better and we’re going to have to do that in the races coming up.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 US ARMY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9^TH: ON HARD-FOUGHT EFFORT TODAY: “Well, it was a short day. It felt like the race went by pretty quick. Just struggled a couple of different runs and that got us behind. We ran out of fuel and lost a bunch of track position and had to put ourselves at risk with no tires a couple of times. A top-10 for the US Army Chevrolet, I am proud of that. Proud of the No. 14 (Tony Stewart) guys getting a top-five. Good for their Chase hopes. We’ll go on.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11^TH: ON HIS DAY: “Well, it was a good day… We worked all day to make the right changes, and Bono did a great job playing the tire strategy out to put us in position to get a decent finish, and we did just that. Would have loved to get another Top-10 today, but the car just really tightened up there at the end of that last run.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15^TH: ON HIS DAY“We fought the Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet most of the day.  I’m proud of my guys for working every single pit stop to make it better.  A top-15 finish isn’t exactly what I had hoped for, but we’ll take it and look forward to a strong run at Fontana next weekend.”

 

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18^TH: IT SEEMED LIKE THAT SECOND-TO-LAST RUN THAT REALLY PUT YOU OUT OF THE TOP 10 AND HURT YOUR DAY

“Yeah, I don’t know what happened. The run before that, the last ten laps of the run, we were the fastest car on the race track. They didn’t put on tires and we went terrible. And then we went to (being) the slowest car on the race track. I don’t know. It’s really frustrating. I don’t know if we had a bump stop fail or something, but we went from having a really good race car and being able to, I thought, contend for the win, to where we wouldn’t have stayed on the lead lap if we’d gone another run.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., 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 Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). 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, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010

Dodge Motorsports PR

Kansas Speedway

PRICE CHOPPER 400

Post-Race Quotes

Tweets by TeamDodge

www.media.chrysler.com

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Finished 13th “It was a solid top-15 finish for our Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger at a track that has been tough for me. We just fought a loose race car most of the day. I had a handful of steering wheel most of the day and just did whatever I could to stay up with the leaders. This is a tricky mile-and-a-half that’s different from most others that we race on. Steve (Addington, crew chief) tried all kinds of adjustments including a right-rear spring rubber and wedge adjustments trying to help our overall balance. We stayed inside the top 10 for most of the race, but just couldn’t gain the track position we needed late. Once the track rubbered-in, our car got tight in the middle of the corners and was tough to drive. Big picture is that we still only sit 70 points back from the leader (J. Johnson) heading to two of my favorite tracks – California and Charlotte. We’ll move on, put this one behind us, head to Fontana and get ready for next weekend.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger) Finished 23rd “There’s a big difference and I don’t have a reason why, but getting through (Turns) 3 and 4 is different than (Turns) 1 and 2. We seemed to be pretty good most of the race in (Turns) 1 and 2, but never seem to have anything for them in (Turns) 3 and 4 today. Turns 1 and 2 are tight while 3 and 4 have a little more banking and are more open. It’s frustrating. We’ve got to keep working and find some more speed.”

SAM HORNISH JR (No. 77 AAA Dodge Charger) Finished 36th “We had our ups-and-downs today. It’s unfortunate for the AAA Dodge. We had a drive shaft issue; I think that’s the fifth mechanical failure this year. Something is not right in the 77 world of cars. We’re getting the fluke things that never seem to happen to anybody else. Hopefully, we’re getting them all out of the way where there’s nothing left that can happen to us anymore the rest of the season. We were too free at the beginning, fell back a couple of positions, but when the tires came up, we could go. We got the car too tight on the first pit stop. That didn’t work, so I realized alright, I’ve got to drive it free. That’s what it wanted and that’s how it was fast. Hopefully, what we learned will help us for California.”

Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion, started the Price Chopper 400 on the pole and led the first 26 laps of the race but was ultimately forced to the garage early after ripping up the right side of his car after hitting the wall on lap 164. Kahne talked about the incident in the garage.

KASEY KAHNE – No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion – WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE? “The car doesn’t look too good. I was bouncing pretty bad throughout the whole race and through practice yesterday really. We never got it fixed. I just got all mixed up.  It wasn’t too bad when it first went green because I was out in the open. The longer it went, Jeff got by us. I knew from the time it went green that we were in trouble because of the bouncing. I couldn’t hardly control it and still run competitive speeds. Something was bound to happen. I actually got loose in and then tight and then loose and spun out and hit the wall. I should have just slowed way down and I didn’t. I just tried to get some more on that restart there and it didn’t work out.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PRICE SHOPPER 400

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 1, 2010

Jeff Gordon to Start Third at Kansas; 16 Team Chevy Drivers Set for Price Chopper 400

Kansas City (October 1, 2010) – Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) will start third in Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway, the third race in the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Team Chevy drivers Ryan Newman, No. 39 US Army Chevrolet and Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, will also start in the top-10 after qualifying sixth and seventh respectively in the 43-car field.

A total of 16 Chevrolet drivers will start the race scheduled to take the green flag at 12:00 noon CDT.  Live broadcast coverage will be provided by ESPN TV, MRN Radio and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

Kasey Kahne (Ford) was the pole winner. Paul Menard (Ford), Joey Logano (Toyota) and Greg Biffle (Ford) complete the top-five qualifiers.

POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 3^RD:

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LAP

“Oh, man, I feel like I’m on the pole right now. It’s been quite a while since we’ve qualified well; since like Darlington (when) I was in the top three or five, or three I guess, and then maybe Pocono since we were in the top five. We’ve just really, not that we haven’t been trying hard; we’ve been trying really hard to qualify better. And I feel like it has been impacting our races. I feel like one thing that we do well is qualify well and we’re used to qualifying up front and we race better when we qualify up front. And I don’t feel like we’ve been doing a good enough job with that. So today is definitely a big plus and a big gain there. After that last run in practice I wasn’t so optimistic but Steve (Letarte) and all the guys made some great adjustments. The car was balanced really well and the track obviously changed because the track seemed to slow down a little bit for most guys, but for us it picked up a little bit. So, here we are third. It’s a great day.”

SIX OF THE TOP 10 SPOTS WERE NON CHASE GUYS

“Yeah, if you look at practice and who was up in the top 10 or 15 spots, it just seems like the track threw a bunch of guys really far off because normally we pick up grip and we go faster in qualifying. It seemed like a lot of guys tried to push the cars to go faster and actually slowed down qualifying. And so I think that’s kind of what threw it off and why there are so many non-Chase guys up there in the top 10 right now. But you’ve got to give a lot of credit to those teams too. Right now they have nothing to lose. They’re out there trying to find something to finish their season off and something for next year, you know, to get their program going and stronger. And so a lot of times they just go for broke and sometimes they hit on something. And it’s not unusual this time of year for that to happen.”

EARLY ON IN SUNDAY’S RACE, WITH SO MANY CHASE GUYS FURTHER BACK IN THE PACK, DO YOU ANTICIPATE KIND OF HAIRY EARLY GOING?

“I’m just glad right now I’m not having to deal with that. I’ve been dealing with that every weekend for the last 10 or 12 weeks it seems like. It’s not fun. It doesn’t matter whether there are Chase guys or non-Chase guys, it’s never fun starting mid-pack. The cars don’t drive as good because of the aerodynamics and the turbulent air and everything. You’re really not sure how to adjust the car because if you do get to the front, it’s probably going to handle different and there’s always more risk to get yourself caught up in something. So for a change, we got ourselves in a good spot and let those other guys deal with what we’ve been dealing with and I’m sure they’ll make their way up there. I think when this race comes down to the end, you’re still going to see the guys that are bound for the championship up front.”

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO A STRETCH MOSTLY COMPRISED OF INTERMEDIATE TRACKS AND WILL WE LEARN WHO THE STRONGEST TEAMS ARE IN THIS CHASE FROM NOW UNTIL CHARLOTTE?

Page

“Yeah, you know, it’s funny because that’s been our weakness the last couple few years in the Chase is the 1.5-miles. And it’s something that we really went to work on last year at this time. I feel like it’s something that we’ve been much better at this year. So we’ve gotten through these first two races and they didn’t go exactly the way we were hoping and the whole time leading into the Chase we were saying our strength is our 1.5-mile program; let’s get to Kansas. I couldn’t help but get down a little bit from our finish last weekend at Dover but this is certainly given some spark back to our confidence. This is a track that we’ve run well at as well as it’s a 1.5-mile. We’ve always heard, at least in the last few years, the guys who are strong on the 1.5-miles seem to be the guys that win the championship. And we certainly hope that that holds true this year as well because that’s where we’ve put a lot of our focus. You’ve still got to be good at the other tracks but I think a lot of times the 1.5-miles, because there are four or five of them in there that they seem to be more of a determining factor.”

WITH THE OLD CAR, IT WAS SO IMPORTANT TO GET A GOOD QUALIFYING POSITION BECAUSE THE CARS WERE SO AERO-SENSITIVE. IS IT THE SAME WITH THIS CAR? AND DOES IT QUALIFYING IN THE TOP 10 MEAN AS MUCH NOW AS WHEN YOU’D RUN THE TWISTED SISTER CAR?

“Twisted sister!”

THAT’S WHAT THEY CALL IT. SOMEBODY CAME UP WITH THAT, I DIDN’T MAKE THAT UP

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard it called that. But it’s a good analogy. It’s good. I like it (laughs). Qualifying is far more important now than it was then. And I’ll tell you why. Aerodynamics are always playing a role in motorsports, all kinds of motorsports; and never more important than today. The difference is that these cars are aero-sensitive. The problem is that they’re all so identical. The speed of the cars are all so close that it’s so hard to get an edge on the competition It’s so much harder to work your way through the field. And so in some ways to me, it makes the cars more aerodynamically sensitive in traffic. But, the nice thing is we’re here at Kansas which is a nice wide race track with multiple grooves and that’s an absolute must for this car. If you aren’t allowed to get yourself in clean air here some way, based on a wide-groove race track, you’re not going anywhere. You’re not going to the front.”

SO ARE YOU SAYING THERE IS MORE PARITY? “Far more parity today than there ever has been in my opinion. If you look at the times from qualifying today versus several years ago with the old car, you would have a much bigger gap with the old car versus the new. I think the same thing in the race. The pace in the race, sometimes you will be running 15th and only a tenth or two off in front of you but you just can’t seem to find that gap until cleaner air. Then all of a sudden there it is. You can be off just the tiniest bit and it seems like you are off a mile. Where with the old car, you could be off a lot and never get it, and even if you got to the front, it might not have changed a whole lot of things. There was some more adjustment.  I’m not putting down this car. I love this car. I think it has come a long way. I think the racing is fantastic. I struggle with it as a driver from time to time because I haven’t been able to figure out some things with it, especially like at Dover. But when we come to a place like Kansas that I have confidence in and we put a good package together, we have a lot of fun with this car and run well and I love.”

WHERE DO YOU STRUGGLE THE MOST WITH IT? ENTRY, CENTER?? “The thing about this car is it has a higher center of gravity. It doesn’t have the downforce in the front that the old car had, so what happens is it is much harder to use the tools we have to get the car to do all of what you want. We used to be able to make a car comfortable getting in and if it was tight in the middle, we had some tools to free the car up in the middle that didn’t affect the exit too much. Now the cars are running sideways down the straightaways just trying to get downforce and side force in them and it makes them not drive perfect. They are just broken up through the corner. Some guys have figured it out and some guys haven’t. On our mile and a halfs, we seem to have done a good job with it. Still searching for some things with it on some short tracks.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., 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 Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). 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, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

KASEY KAHNE – No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion (Qualified 1st) TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN OUT THERE “We weren’t great in practice so we knew we needed to make adjustments to the car. Kenny Francis and Keith did a really nice job. Coming to the green I felt great. I got through one and two really good and got a little free in three and missed the entrance a touch. I was able to gather it back and get rolling but I gave away a little bit of time there and I noticed Paul Menard gained a lot there at three. Going out late he came really close to clipping us off. I am glad we got the pole for Budweiser and for Ford. It will be exciting to have a couple RPM guys on the front row on Sunday. That is really nice for the whole company.”

THERE ARE SEVEN FORDS IN THE TOP 15 AND LIKE FIVE IN THE TOP-10. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT AND HOW IMPRESSIVE THAT IS? “Yeah, that is really impressive. That is something that we didn’t have at the start of the year. It just shows how hard all the Ford teams have worked. How hard all the guys at the engine shop have worked on building power. They are doing a really nice job. It is good. Any time you can qualify well you know you have a good engine and a good package. Hopefully we can get it right tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a big part of Sunday, trying to get a really good balance for the car.”

YOU MENTIONED RPM, IT IS KIND OF INTERESTING THAT THE TWO GUYS LEAVING RPM ARE AT THE TOP TODAY, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT DYNAMIC? “To me it shows that myself and Paul and our teams are still really interested in running strong and not backing down at all just because we have other things we are going to do in the future. At the same time it shows that RPM is giving us great race cars. Roush Yates is giving us great engines. We have the package, we just need to put it all together. We have struggled. We had that deal in Atlanta that maybe made us miss the Chase and we haven’t run well since. It feels got to get on the pole today and hopefully it gives us some momentum for Sunday’s race. Hopefully we can carry that.”

HOW CLOSE ARE YOU SET UP WISE FOR THE RACE? “We worked on race stuff the first 40-50 minutes of practice and then switched over. They switched over really quick which tells me it is a fairly close balance. I feel pretty good we will start off decent in practice tomorrow and have to work on it from there. We tried some things today and the way we started isn’t the way we qualified or the way we will start tomorrow. Kenny and Keith had a couple of plans and one of them worked so far. We will keep trying to build on that and make it right.”

EARLIER THIS YEAR THE ROUSH TEAMS WERE STRUGGLING AND WORD IS THAT KENNY HELPED THEM GET THAT TURNED AROUND. DO YOU TAKE PRIDE IN HELPING THE ROUSH TEAM GET THINGS TURNED AROUND? “Roush has a lot of things that we use on our cars as well. We have a really nice Roush car this weekend and we are quick with that. I feel like they have a lot to offer us. A little bit of the front end things that we have been doing at our deal for awhile, clear back a couple years ago, some of that stuff Carl really liked and I think Greg and I think it slowly got moved over to their place and some of their drivers really liked it. You never know. There are things that RPM has helped them with and things that Roush has helped us with. I guess that is what it is all about.”

YOU TALKED ABOUT THE SNOWBALL EFFECT OF GETTING DOWN AND THINGS GETTING WORSE. WAS THERE SOMETHING ABOUT THIS WEEKEND THAT SEEMED DIFFERENT THAT YOU HAVE MORE CONFIDENCE? “No. Truthfully, in practice I felt pretty good and then we made our qualifying runs and our first lap was alright and our next couple were no better. When practice got over I wasn’t that happy. I went in the trailer and we talked about it for a little while. Kenny called me 20 minutes later and we talked about it some more. They changed a couple little things. We weren’t far off, we just didn’t hit on it very quickly today. It took just before qualifying to get it right. It just shows that these cars are really close. Everybody is really close. The competition is so close that if you miss it a little bit you can be 20th. We were 22nd in practice and made a couple small changes and we go pole. That is how close it is. There is a lot of competition right now and you have to make the right decision and adjustments. You can’t overshoot your corner or hit the throttle too soon. It is pretty fine tuned it seems like right now.”

AS A NON CHASE DRIVER DO YOU TAKE SATISFACTION THAT SIX OF THE TOP 10 ARE NON CHASE GUYS TODAY? “Yeah, that is pretty cool I think. It is guys that still want to race well. When you look at it during the week and are preparing for the race weekend, if you miss the Chase it isn’t nearly what it is as if you are in the Chase. You are thinking about gaining five spots or a championship, and we don’t have that right now. To see guys that are not in the top-12 still qualifying well and running good is fun. You have a lot of hard core racers out here that just want to perform.”

IN YEARS PAST WE HAVE SEEN DRIVERS AND CREW CHIEFS THAT ARE MOVING ON AT THE END OF THE YEAR KIND OF SHUTTLE OFF TO THE SIDE. DO YOU STILL FEEL YOU ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TEAM THERE? “RPM is working on their future and I am not part of that. At times you feel like maybe you aren’t so much a part of what is going on and at other times you feel like you are. When you see the equipment that you bring to the track then you feel like you are a part of it. I go through stages where I wonder. Then I go through a day like today where everything is good. It is kind of a tough situation to be in to tell you the truth. I didn’t think I would struggle with it but I do at times. You get wondering and you don’t know and it happens with guys on the team too and the guys at the shop. Some guys are leaving and going different places and getting switched around, so that throws you off too. When you have a day like today and you win the pole, you realize it is all there and you just need to work together as a team like we have all year and hopefully finish strong.”

4th, Joey Logano 12th, Denny Hamlin 16th, David Reutimann 19th, Kyle Busch 25th, Martin Truex Jr. 32nd, Marcos Ambrose 33rd, Scott Speed 34th, Reed Sorenson 35th, Landon Cassill 37th, Casey Mears 41st, Kevin Conway DNQ, Joe Nemechek DNQ, Jason Leffler DNQ, Mike Bliss

JOEY LOGANO Starting Position:  4th Are you happy with the race car? “I will definitely take it, for sure.  We picked up a little bit from practice, which a lot of guys haven’t.  So, I’m going to take that and be happy with it.  I know where the half-a-tenth that puts us where the No. 9 (Kasey Kahne) is right now.  We got what we got.  I feel like the car was — the balance was pretty close.  We’ll take it over the last few qualifying runs I’ve had — (they’ve) been terrible.  I’m glad I didn’t screw this one up.  They gave me a good Home Depot Toyota.” How much practice did you do in qualifying trim? “We did a lot of race trim practice, that’s for sure.  I think we ran the most laps of anybody in the first practice.  I felt like my car is good.  As soon as we unloaded, we didn’t have a lot o speed on the front side, but it hung in there for a long time and we made a long run off the trailer.  We just tuned it a little bit here and there.  We’ll see what we have when we unload tomorrow.  That’s usually when you really know what you have for race trim, but I feel like we are going to be close.” How important will practice be tomorrow with cooler temperatures expected Sunday? “‘Happy Hour’ is the most important practice of the weekend, I think.  We start in race trim just to get some laps up there, feel a couple different changes to see which way they are going to go, and the true telling is going to be tomorrow.  I think we are going to be fine. I’m pretty confident about it.  

DENNY HAMLIN Starting Position:  12th Are you happy with the race car? “Yeah.  I feel like we have some speed in the car that I feel like that we maybe struggled with earlier in the season.  Our cars seem to have speed now.  We’re qualifying better because of it.” Are you happy with your qualifying run? “I wish we would have picked up a little bit.  We didn’t fall off as much as some.  It just depends on how much it speeds up here later on.” How important will practice be tomorrow with cooler temperatures expected Sunday? “I think it’s going to be important.  I think the second practice is always the true test, no matter what the temperature seems to be.  For us, we ran race trim today and it seemed like our car was pretty good.  So, we are going to have a good starting spot, hopefully, for tomorrow.”

DAVID REUTIMANN Starting Position:  16th How important is practice tomorrow with the weather being much cooler on race day? “It’s going to be different I’m sure.  We’ve just got to try to get a couple of hours of practice there and hit the ground running tomorrow morning.  I don’t think we’re bad in race trim.  I think our race trim stuff is okay.  I just know that as far as what we just had in qualifying wasn’t even close to what we needed to run fast.  Hopefully we’ll have a good race car. What do you need to work on in practice? “We’ve been free from the center off since we got here and that’s what slowed us up in qualifying.  In race trim it’s not as bad.   It’s something you can deal with, but in qualifying you can’t.” Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.   · 19001 South Western Avenue   · Torrance, CA 90501 , No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position:  19th Are you happy with your race car? “We were tight in practice and then again in qualifying.  I think we’ve got a pretty good car and we would be happy to come out of here with a good finish and keep pace in the Chase.  We’ve struggled here in the past when we’ve been in the Chase, so we know we need to have a good run.  We’ll work on the M&M’s Camry tomorrow and try to get it better for Sunday.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS/Susan G. Komen Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position:  25th How was your qualifying lap? “Not too good.  We kind of struggled today in practice.  It was a pickup from practice — a good pickup, but just kind of struggling here today to get some grip.  We were real tight right there and then real loose in practice.  So, we made some ground just went a little too far.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Little Debbie Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position:  32nd

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position:  33rd

REED SORENSON, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position:  34th Are you happy with your race car? “We’ve been struggling all day.  We made changes and I didn’t think it was a lot different.  We just have to go through tonight and see what we can do.  We’ve just been fighting no front grip all day and that’s what we fought during qualifying.  We’ll get it better.  We have all day tomorrow to get it better and see what we can do.”

LANDON CASSILL, No. 64 Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Starting Position:  35th

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position:  37th

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 7 Extenze Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports Starting Position:  41st

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Heat Redefined.com Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position:  DNQ

MIKE BLISS, No. 55 Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Starting Position:  DNQ

JASON LEFFLER, No. 66 Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Starting Position:  DNQ