Author: Official Release

CORNELIUS, N.C.(September 28, 2010) – – Two months ago JTG Daugherty Racing named 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte as the No. 47 Toyota Camry driver for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 36-race schedule.

Today, the 21-time division winner tests with crew chief Frank Kerr and his new team for the first time at the half-mile oval of Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga.

“The biggest part for me during this test is communication – – understanding what the team wants from me,” Labonte said. “Building a relationship with my crew chief, engineers and team starts today. I know you have to have chemistry and everybody on the same page working in the same direction for success. You can’t buy confidence. You’ have to build it with your teammates and team members.”

Cohesion separates a good team from a championship contending team. Crew chief Frank Kerr and his JTG Daugherty Racing team are taking advantage of this fundamental test to get to know Labonte.

“You have to have chemistry,” Kerr said. “That’s what separates the good from the great. Bobby is a proven winner and a champion in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. He will bring a lot of knowledge and confidence along with his leadership ability.

“During this test we want to make sure Bobby is comfortable with the interior of the car and find out what he expects from us,” Kerr continued. “Some of it is about fundamentals. We want to make sure we have his seat in the right location and the pedals are where they need to be. We want to have everything perfect for him as we prepare for 2011.”

Kerr and Labonte may have only spent a small amount of time together, but they both have similar goals for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

“After JTG Daugherty Racing finished 18th in the points their first year in Cup, I would like to think we can be in a Chase position,” Labonte said. “This year was tough for the team as far as the points go, but it’s nobody’s fault and you can’t point a finger – – it’s just part of it. The resources are there and if we can concentrate and focus hard on it, I definitely think it’s attainable. We just have to do everything right and hold ourselves to that goal.”

“Bobby’s right,” Kerr said. “We are capable and we do have the resources in place. We just had too many DNFs (eight) this year and that really hurt us in the points. A lot of that was out of our control being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’re starting fresh in 2011 and we will continue to be dedicated and work hard toward a common goal and that’s to be in contention for the Chase.”

Labonte is ready for a fresh start with Kerr and JTG Daugherty Racing as the team enters its third full-time season.

“They have all of the necessary resources along with the Toyota program and Michael Waltrip Racing technical alliance,” Labonte said. “You can see the progress growing with David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. week in and week out. I hope my experience will add to the program as I learn from those guys too. I haven’t had that opportunity the past couple of years with teammates. All the tools are there, it’s just how you apply them. The stars are lining up and you’ve just got to make sure you do it right.”

JTG Daugherty Racing, owned by Brad Daugherty, Jodi and Tad Geshickter, are looking forward to what the future holds.

‘We feel like our team has a lot to prove on track and we believe Bobby’s in a place in his career where he has something to prove too,” Daugherty said. “This first test begins a new chapter for JTG Daugherty Racing with Bobby Labonte. I’ve known him for a long time dating back to the 80’s racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and I’m a big fan of his. This test finally gets him in our car so that we can start working toward getting him in victory lane in 2011.”

“As energized and focused as we are to finish the season strong with Marcos, we are equally excited about the beginning of our testing program with Bobby Labonte,” said Geschickter. “The chemistry between driver, crew, and technology is tricky and it’s important for Bobby to get a feel for what we have and how it fits his driving style. We are fortunate to have a head start on the process so we can be at full speed when next season starts.”

For more information about Bobby Labonte, join his Facebook and Twitter pages.

www.twitter.com/bobby_labonte

http://www.facebook.com/Bobby.Labonte.Official.Page

Mooresville, NC (September 27, 2010) Scott Bloomquist drove his Roush Yates powered Dirt Late Model engine to Victory Lane at Brownstown Speedway on Saturday night, capturing the 500th feature win of his career. Bloomquist took home $20,000 for his third win in the 31st Annual Jackson 100. This is the defending Lucas Oil Champion and current series point leader’s eighth win of the season.

“I have to thank so many people for getting 500 wins,” said the 46-year-old driver. “My wife, daughter, and my mom are here so I’m glad they got to see this. To win number 500 at Brownstown is special; it has been one of my favorite tracks to run on in my career. The car and engine ran great tonight and it feels amazing to accomplish 500 wins.”

Bloomquist started the 100-lap event in third and took the lead after only four laps. He kept fellow Roush Yates powered driver Don O’Neal from becoming the first four-time winner of the race and stretched his lead in the Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings to 260 points over Jimmy Owens. O’Neal went on to finish second, giving Roush Yates a 1-2 finish in the race. Bloomquist is sponsored by Miller Brothers Construction, Hawkeye Trucking, and Sweet Mfg., and runs his own self-designed chassis.

“Roush Yates Engines is proud to congratulate Scott Bloomquist on his 500th feature win,” said Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “It’s an honor to provide power to such an accomplished driver. I look forward to watching Scott have continued success and race for his second straight Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Championship.”

The Roush Yates Ford 410 Dirt Late Model engine received its second win of the season thanks to World of Outlaw driver Josh Richards. Richards became the first Virginia native to win at Winchester Speedway in the annual Winchester 200. He took the lead on lap five of the fifty lap event and never looked back to claim the $10,000 prize.

Other Roush Yates wins came in the Sprint Car division this weekend. Charles Davis Jr. collected his sixth ASCS Canyon Region win of the year at Canyon Speedway Park on Saturday night running a Roush Yates Sprint 360 motor and Ryan Grubaugh captured the ASCS Points Championship in the Sprints on Dirt region.

To get the same power and performance that Bloomquist has and to learn more about Roush Yates’ Dirt Late Model engine program, please call Jay Dickens or Jeff Clark at (704) 658-1540. You can also find all of Roush Yates Performance Products online at www.roushyatesparts.com

About Roush Yates Engines

Roush Yates Engines designs, engineers and crafts high performance racing engines with the power to perform and the horsepower and durability you’d expect from legendary NASCAR pioneers Jack Roush and Robert Yates. The partnership of power and precision has come from merging the knowledge and experience of two legendary engine builders, both with a passion for winning today and powering up for tomorrow. In 2009 Doug Yates purchased his father’s half of Roush Yates Engines to become a co-owner in the company.

As CEO, Doug Yates leads a staff of 180 engineers and technicians who design, assemble, test, and service racing engines at two separate state-of-the-art facilities in Mooresville, North Carolina. Here, the best minds and latest technology are hard at work producing nearly 1,500 racing engines each year for teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA, Grand-Am, FIA GT3, Dirt Late Model, Sprint cars, and NHRA Pro Stock. At Roush Yates Engines, the mission is Power Performance, which is achieved through innovation design, precision engineering, and skillful craftsmanship. Building the best engines in racing today, providing service that’s second to none, and honoring a commitment to research and development are the heart of Roush Yates Engines.

DOVER, Del. – Jimmie Johnson went into the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” hoping to use the first two races as a springboard towards a fifth consecutive title. The first one at New Hampshire didn’t go so well, but the second at one of his favorite tracks – Dover International Speedway – sure did.

Johnson claimed Sunday’s “AAA 400” at the Monster Mile, starting from the pole position to win for the sixth time at the one-mile concrete oval. Johnson won the race by 2.637 seconds over Jeff Burton, who advanced from a 27th place starting position to finish runner-up. Johnson is now second to only Richard Petty and Bobby Allison, who each won seven times in their careers at Dover.

The win counteracted Johnson’s 25th place finish at New Hampshire last week, which left Johnson 92 points back in the Chase, and vaulted him back to second place, now just 35 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.

“Obviously it was the weekend we would dream of. We got the pole, led the most laps and won the race,” Johnson said. “I had a great car and everybody did their jobs today. I was very pleased with the effort and it came at a good time obviously. We’ve got eight [races] to go and we’ll see where it goes from here.”

Johnson ran near the front all day. He eventually ended up leading five times for 191 laps, and never ran lower than sixth place. His first stint up front consisted of the first 13 laps, but he yielded the lead to AJ Allmendinger on lap 14.

Johnson was content to hang around the front pack until lap 42, when Allmendinger pitted and turned over the lead. He kept a grip on the top spot for the next 96 laps, until Kyle Busch just beat him out while pitting under caution at lap 293. On the restart, Johnson spun his tires and Busch was able to pull away to a 1.3-second lead in just four laps.

But on lap 339, Johnson reeled Busch in and regained the top spot. Aside from handing the lead to Carl Edwards on the next set of pit stops, he was in front the rest of the way.

For as well as the race went, the weekend started out uncharacteristically badly for Johnson. He ran just 20th fastest in the first practice on Friday, which, compared to the No. 48 team’s history at Dover, was like running last.

“We really had our hands full this weekend,” said crew chief Chad Knaus. “We came in qualifying trim, and as we unloaded, the car wasn’t reacting the way we anticipated. So we had to make some pretty significant changes, and when it came time to qualify, we had to put a setup under there that Jimmie hadn’t felt yet.

“For race practice, we weren’t where we needed to be then either. Honestly, we could adjust the car and make it do some different things, but we couldn’t really make the car better. The difference today was definitely the driver.”

The driver came out of the race knocking on Hamlin’s door in the points standings, although Hamlin’s 35-point advantage is the largest a driver has ever had after two races since the Chase was implemented in 2004. Hamlin finished 9th, which was no small accomplishment considering his history at Dover. He finished 4th in the May race this year, but before that had finished no higher than 22nd in the five previous races.

“It was a mediocre day,” Hamlin said. “I hate that we didn’t run better, but we got close to where we wanted to be leaving Dover. It’s frustrating that we still can’t get a grasp on this race track and didn’t run as well as we did in the spring. But if you told me I’d be taking a 35 point lead out of Dover, I’d take it.”

Kyle Busch finished third and also jumped up to third place in the points standings with his solid run. “It was a good day for us, but man, legitimately we had a second place car,” Busch said. “I thought we had something on Jimmie with about 100 laps left. I was gaining on him, but I was overdriving the car. After that, the car just got tight and I could never get it back out of the car. It was that good, but we didn’t finish quite where we wanted to.”

Burton jumped to seventh place in the Chase standings with his second-place finish. He’s just 80 points out of the lead heading into Chase race No. 3 at Kansas after finishing second at Dover for the second time this season.

“We thought we had a really good car coming into the race today,” Burton said. “We took off and struggled a little bit with rear grip, and worked all day to get the grip level right. About halfway through that next to last run, my car got really happy and took off. I’m proud of us for getting the car right at the right time. About 15 laps into that next to last run, Jimmie cleared Logano and got really fast. He was just a little quicker than we were today.”

Allmendinger started second and finished 10th, a result that was largely due to a right-rear tire going down. He led 143 laps on the day after previously leading only 43 laps in his entire NASCAR Sprint Cup career.

“It was just a fast race car and starting up front [that was the difference],” he said. “It’s actually a lot of fun to lead. No wonder Jimmie is smiling so much.”

The race was one of the cleanest ever run at the Monster Mile. It had just four cautions, two of which were for debris and one that was for a damaged track caution light. There was only one incident that brought out a caution, when David Reutimann hit the wall in Turn 4. The 19 laps under caution were the fewest at Dover in 13 years, going back to the September 1997 event that had just one caution flag for 11 laps. It was just the sixth race in the track’s history to run fewer than 20 laps under caution.

NASCAR returns to the Monster Mile on May 13-15 and Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2011. For more information call 1-800-441-RACE or visit DoverSpeedway.com.

# # #

Dover International Speedway is owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE: DVD), a leading promoter of motorsports events in the United States. DVD subsidiaries operate three tracks in three states, and present several hundred motorsports events each year. This includes 14 major, national events which include races sanctioned by NASCAR and the NHRA. Dover Motorsports, Inc. also owns and operates Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis, Mo., and Nashville Superspeedway near Nashville, Tenn. For further information log on to www.DoverMotorsports.com.

Team Chevy Driver Jeff Burton Finishes Second to Match His Best Run of the Season

Dover, Del. (September 26, 2010) – Four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT TOOLS Chevrolet, delivered a statement about his chances for a “Drive for Five” as he scored a resounding win in the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Johnson led five times for a race high 191 laps en route to his 53rd career victory and sixth of 2010.

Coming into the Dover race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had not visited victory lane since winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June – a stretch of 10 races. The win not only was Johnson’s 53rd in 319 career races, but was the 194th for Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history. Johnson has also won 19 of the 62 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series “Chase” races, more than any other driver.

Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet matched his best finish of the season by coming home in the runner up position. His only other 2nd place run in 2010 also came at The Monster Mile in the Spring event.

Ryan Newman, No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet finished eight and was the only other Chevy driver in the top-10.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont/Law Enforcement Museum Chevrolet, finished 11th and dropped four spots to eighth in the overall standings.

Mark Martin, No. 5 Delphi/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet battled back from the 42nd starting position after a shock penalty following qualifying to finish 12th.

Driver Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished 13th and 14th for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.

Kevin Harvick fell two positions in the Chase standings with his 15th-place finish behind the wheel of the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet.

Tony Stewart struggled with handling issues most of the day in his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet and came home 21st and remained 10th in the Chase standings.

Clint Bowyer, No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet finished 25th and remains in 12th position in the Chase after hitting the wall, and receiving a pit road speeding penalty in a tough day for the embattled Richard Childress Racing team.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, was the 23rd place finisher in race 28 of the 36-race season.

Joey Logano (Toyota), Kurt Busch (Dodge) and Carl Edwards (Ford) completed the top-five finishers.

The Series moves to Kansas Speedway for Round Three of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on October 3, 2010.

JIMMIE JOHNSON AND CREW CHIEF, CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER’S POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

THE MODERATOR: We’re now joined by today’s winner of the AAA 400, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie, tell us about your run.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, obviously the weekend we would dream of, were able to get it with winning the pole, leading the most laps and winning the race.

It was a challenging weekend, to say the least. The tire that Goodyear brought back, it’s the same as it was in the spring. It blackened up the track in a hurry, but really made the track challenging after 30 or 40 laps. The rubber would build up on the track and create handling issues for the racecar that you couldn’t tune to. The car would act different and do different things when you ran over the black patches.

I had to fall back on my dirt racing background. I think that helped me out some. I had a great car. Everybody did their jobs today. Very pleased with the effort. Came at a good time, clearly. We got eight to go and we’ll see where things go from here.

THE MODERATOR: We’re also joined by Chad Knaus. Your thoughts from on top of the box today?

CHAD KNAUS: It was definitely a good day for us, obviously. We really had our hands full this weekend. We came in qualifying trim. As we unloaded, the car wasn’t reacting the way we actually anticipated it. We had to make some pretty significant changes to the racecar. When it came time to qualify, we actually had to put a setup underneath the car that Jimmie had not felt yet. He had to trust in us, and thankfully he did, to go in there and bomb it for qualifying. It stuck.

Being able to qualify on the pole is obviously huge here because track position is critical along with your pit selection.

Race practice, we weren’t where we needed to be then either. We really had to work hard on the car going into Happy Hour. Got in much better in Happy Hour. Made some big changes over the course of the evening to get even better yet.

Honestly, just like what Jimmie said, we could adjust the car, make the car do some different things, but we really couldn’t make the car better. The difference today was definitely in the driver.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.

Q. Jimmie, when AJ Allmendinger got out in front early on, did you think you had a fight on your hands or you had the car to overtake him down the road?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Well, I feel like coming into this weekend he was in the back of my mind as one of the guys to worry about. He certainly did a great job in qualifying and in the race. In the spring race here, he was chasing us a bunch in that race, putting a lot of pressure on us.

With the momentum that team has had, the confidence he is getting in his abilities in a stock car, he’s a real threat and was a real threat today.

It looked like they had some tire issues potentially or something was going on when he pitted from the lead, put us in the lead, gave us control of the race at that point.

Early in the race, I just had to push my car way too hard to run that pace. I don’t know if the pace led to the problems he had, but it was past experience for me here. I knew I’d run the tires off the car and have a problem if I went that hard.

We played it smart. He wasn’t a Chase guy, so I didn’t feel good about letting him go. But when he got to me and put pressure on me, I let him by. I just need to worry about those 11 other drivers and really about myself. Way too early to worry about stuff. Come the end of the race, he wasn’t there to have to fight with.

Q. Chad, I got to ask you this. I saw you looking just so directly at the 11 car on Saturday. You looked at all the drama that was going on next to you. It was like you had already taken those two guys out of the Chase; now it’s just us against nine guys. How do you get the mental mindset going in and move forward, stick with your game plan?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: We were watching them because it was entertaining. Who wasn’t watching (laughter)?

CHAD KNAUS: Honestly, I didn’t know anything was happening. I had seen some stuff happening on the racetrack. As we pulled onto the track, I told Jimmie, Watch that 29. I was trying to get him to look into his mirror so he could see the action. Obviously, he didn’t, so he missed all the on track stuff.

Once we got into the garage, I didn’t really know anything about it. Jimmie and I had been talking for probably a good solid two or three minutes, hadn’t even realized there was any type of altercation in the garage between the two guys. Jimmie was, Hey, those two guys are about to fight. I was like, Wow. At that point I kind of looked up to see what was going on.

But quite frankly, we didn’t waste a whole lot of time being spectators at that point. We put our heads down, got to work on what we needed to do to work on our racecar.

We’ve been through all of that stuff. You go back to 2005. We had a bit of a match with the 20 car. We’ve had on track problems with other people. We’ve lived all that stuff. We’ve had suspensions, fines, all that kind of stuff. Everything that’s possible to be done in the sport from a negative and a positive, we’ve unfortunately been involved in. We don’t really pay a lot of attention to what goes on outside of our four walls. We worry about our racecar, our toolbox, try to make it right.

Q. Jimmie, if you could expound on that a little bit, too. Do you find it humorous? Do you feel those guys were giving themselves self inflicted distractions you don’t need in the Chase?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: You know, like Chad had mentioned, I didn’t see what went on on the track. When I got out of the car for the change we were making, I think round two of their discussions started up. That’s what we saw.

It’s an emotional sport. Guys have all different points of view. You have two very competitive drivers with different points of view. It turned into what it did.

I haven’t thought much about it. The reason I don’t want to think much about it is I need to worry about my racecar and my team. I want to expect the best out of those two race teams and not think, Well, they’re occupied with each other, they’re not going to be as strong. That would be a mistake on my part. I need to look at the 11 like it’s the 11, the 29 like it’s the 29, regardless of the feud or whatever could exist in the future. I wouldn’t be doing my job then.

So we’ve done a very good job over the last four years worrying about ourselves and we’ve got to maintain that.

Q. Jimmie and Chad, I think you tried to make the point Friday that you actually didn’t run that badly last week, but circumstances produced a bad finish. Everybody looks at the final outcome. Given how your team has performed these past two weeks, is this how you hoped you start the Chase as far as on track performance?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I think so. The short run at New Hampshire was really our weak spot. That showed in qualifying, trying to get one fast lap, and on the short runs after restarts, just couldn’t get going. Today we were much more competitive. Maybe not where we wanted to be on the short run, but much more competitive than New Hampshire.

Qualifying went well. Our goal was to come in and qualify well. It starts the ball in motion. It starts kind of the trend for the team, just the arc of what the team is going to deal with. If you qualify badly, you’re in such a hole from pit road pick to what takes place on track, it’s stuff to overcome.

We met our goals this weekend, moved up a lot today. I think today shows you, I saw the 11 finish ninth and we’re only 35 out. We look at 80, 90 points, whatever it is, think it’s a lot. It really isn’t. I mean, you finish 10th or 15th, you lose 60, 70 points. There’s eight races left, and the points can shake up a lot.

I think it’s going to be as exciting of a Chase as everyone is hoping for.

Q. The first hundred laps of the race y’all were pretty good, then the sun came out. Looked like you were really good. Did that play into your plan? You were just happy it came out and it worked out?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I don’t really ever remember the sun being out. Maybe I forgot about those hundred laps (laughter).

Our car didn’t change a lot. We made very, very small changes in the racecar throughout the day today. Throughout the sun and cloud situation, our car stayed within a very, very small amount on adjustments. It was more about me over the course of the long run doing the right things with my line selection on track to keep speed in the car than anything.

Q. Jimmie, coming into the Chase this year, four time defending champion, it seemed like after the first race a lot of people were counting you out. Is this a statement victory for you as early as it is in the Chase?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I’m not so concerned with statements. At the end of the day, I’m just concerned about where I am in the points, what the deficit is. If we’re fortunate to get on top, how big that gap is, what we need to do to be champions. A lot of that other stuff, if it’s in your brain, you’re not thinking about the right thing.

For me, what people want to read into, what they want to think about today’s performance, that’s fine. We’re moving on. We have to go to Kansas and do the job again. There’s eight races left in this thing. We want to win this championship. We want to win five in a row. It’s within our race shop. These guys on the 48 team, we need to buckle down, get better in some areas. Today we did win, but we need to be stronger moving forward. We got to go home and get better.

Q. You mentioned in Victory Lane, I know it doesn’t look like I’m emotional now. You seem almost matter of fact, that this was business. Am I getting this wrong? Didn’t seem to have that overflow of emotion.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, you know, I don’t know how to describe it. We want to win this championship. And, yes, today was a big victory, hopefully a step towards the championship. But it’s not the prize we want.

Today we got maximum points. I am very proud of that internally. But it’s not time to celebrate. If we take this week off and take it lightly, not prepare like we need to for Kansas, we’ll get beat. We can’t get beat. We’ve got to win races and keep this momentum going.

At the end of the year, if we’re fortunate to win the championship, I’ll be the guy with the biggest smile, be the guy that’s hung over more than anyone come Monday morning. It’s just right now it’s time to buckle down and time to be working on stuff.

Q. Jimmie, you’ve won three out of your last four starts here, six out of 18. I’m sure you don’t want to share it, but what’s your secret?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: It’s just a good track for me. It was no surprise to see the 18 coming up towards the front at the end. I know this is a great track for him, too. There’s a certain rhythm to this racetrack that works. The 43 has figured it out and knows that rhythm now. The 31, he’s always been decent here, but he’s really figuring this place out, the rhythm it takes.

Even though it is a big track, you wouldn’t think rhythm. There is a very unique rhythm to driving this track. It’s just suited my style since I’ve been in a car. I go back to when I ran my first race here in ASA in ’98, won the pole, led most laps. Unfortunately blew a tire late in the race. Always, always loved this track.

Q. Jimmie, just curious as to why you chose to do the burnout at the end of pit road instead of the frontstretch like you usually do.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: The front straightaway is so banked you can’t really do a good doughnut. With my guys being at the end of the pit road, I was first going to come down and nose the car into the wall, do a burnout in front of them. That angle is so steep, I thought, I’ll damage the car. That’s all we need to hear about next week, how the 48 nosed it in, did damage to the car. I didn’t want to deal with that.

I saw a flat area by my pit box. Was just doing doughnuts and saying ‘hey’ to my boys as I was doing doughnuts spinning out. I was more than anything looking for a good flat spot to do a good burnout.

Q. Can you say what you’ve learned as far as the Chase in the first two races or you don’t learn anything till the mile and a half’s? Was that the first time you had your daughter in Victory Lane? Talk about that.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, that’s the first time for her, outside of the womb. She was in Channy’s belly throughout the wins for the first time five of the year. To have her there was really cool this weekend. I was impressed she was able to get her buttoned up and together, and even herself, because I guess she was feeding her right before we won the race.

Knowing my wife, she’s not one to celebrate too early. She waits until it’s done before she starts getting excited. I’m surprised and happy she made it to Victory Lane when she did. This is a cool moment. I know when I get these photos and look back on them, share them with her when she’s older, it will be a cool moment. Really proud my family was here, first time in Victory Lane.

CHAD KNAUS: I feel good about it. If you go back and look at our performance in Chicago, we qualified respectable. We led a good portion of that race. I think if you go back and you look at how we ran at Charlotte Motor Speedway, we ran very competitive there. We basically took ourselves out of both of those races.

I think leading into that with Kansas being very similar to Chicago, looking forward to it. I think the performance we had in Atlanta was definitely a direction that you can see where we’re headed toward going into Charlotte Motor Speedway, Homestead, and definitely Fontana, we’re always excited to go there. We obviously won there in the spring.

I think our big track stuff is pretty close. We’re excited about it. We know we’re never as good as what we want to be. We’re definitely going to be continuing to work on it, trying to improve our product, but I’m looking forward to it, definitely.

Q. Jimmie, the fact that Kyle Busch took the lead for a little bit and faded, the fact you didn’t have to fight him to the finish, was that a relief to you or did you feel he was in the Chase with you, would you have pushed your car for the victory?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, definitely would push for the victory. Anytime you see Kyle, no matter what series you’re in, if he’s coming, if you’re up front and that 18 is there, you’ve got your hands full. There’s no way around it. The guy can drive a racecar. Love him or hate him, he can get the job done and I have a lot of respect for what he can do in a racecar.

I wasn’t taking it lightly when I knew he was in second, then the restart when he was in the lead, trying to run him back down. I had to do everything I could to get back by him. He’s a lot smarter this year. He’s going down there at the end of this thing fighting for it.

Q. Chad led into what I was going to ask. Maybe you can expound on it. How good you feel with these coming races. You’ve won 30% of the Chase races, 19 of the 62 since this format. Can you talk about your confidence level. 30% is quite a percentage.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, we’re kind of taken aback by it, as well. We’ve had slow summers in the past. We had a slow summer this year. We’ve at least been able to get into the Chase. We sit back and shake our heads about the success the team has late in the season.

The tracks in the schedule kind of work for us. Even though the tracks work for us, I think the pressure that comes with the championship battle is something that we embrace. I mean, it’s not a comfortable 10 weeks. You lose a lot of sleep. There’s a lot of frustrating moments. But for whatever reason, it’s a good pressure for us and we do well.

Proud of the last four years. Proud of where we are today. Regardless of where we end up, I know this 48 team is all in and we’re going to give it a hundred percent. We’ll be proud of wherever we finish at the end of the year.

THE MODERATOR: Chad is wondering why it’s not 40%.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: He’s thinking it could be a hundred percent. There’s a chance (laughter).

Q. Jimmie, we all know that staying on top in sports is one of the toughest things. You’ve done it for four years. How do you keep the team motivated? How do you do this?

CHAD KNAUS: Basically I think a lot of it has to do with simply making sure you get the right people on the team. Jimmie is very easily self motivated, obviously with some prodding from me, goes a long ways, and vice versa. Jimmie and I, I think we do a good job of keeping each other in check on a consistent basis.

From the foundation of the team, we work hard making sure we have guys that work at Hendrick Motorsports and within the 48 team that are kind of self motivators, guys that when there is a mistake or flaw, they take it upon themselves to try to improve, correct whatever misfortune you may have had. When you have guys that basically want to go out there and do the best they can, try to win every single race, motivation just kind of comes and you don’t have to try to fish for it or try to instill it in people.

We work hard to make sure we have the right people on the team. I think we do. We’re not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I can promise you, if something goes wrong, something falls short of what their goal is, there’s nobody that feels worse than what that individual does. To try to motivate from that point is unnecessary when you got guys like that.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, congratulations. Thank you for your time.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND:

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Jeff Burton. Jeff is seventh in points. Jeff, tell us about your run today.

JEFF BURTON: Well, we thought we had a really good racecar coming into the race today. We took off and struggled a little bit for rear grip. Just kept working all day to get the grip level right.

I thought the track changed a lot. My guys did a great job of adjusting to the track, getting the car better at the right time.

About halfway through the next to the last run, my car just got really happy and took off. We then became a contender. Proud of us being right at the right time. We were in position with that restart.

What won the race for Jimmie wasn’t the start of the restart, but about 15 laps into the next to the last run, he cleared Logano and got really fast right there. He squirted away from me pretty hard and ran the 18 down. Then we started running them down.

But he was just a little quicker than we were today.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.

Q. Jeff, it seemed yesterday when the skirmish between Harvick and Hamlin was going on, Jimmie and Chad were over to the side soaking it all in. Can you talk about the focus they’ve had, Jimmie, came back today, the focus they have when they win championships.

JEFF BURTON: Well, they’re good. They’re not good, they’re great. That word is not being overused when I say that. They’ve won four in a row. You’re not good doing that. You have to be great to do that.

They’ve been in the hunt. They’ve been in the mix. I think they’re as seasoned as you can possibly be together. They fought the fights together. They haven’t won every championship together. They’ve lost some, too. Through losing some, you gain wisdom. Through winning some, you gain wisdom. They perform. That’s what they did.

I expected them to come here and perform. This is one of their best racetracks. It didn’t surprise me to see them run as well as they did.

Q. Jeff, taking a walk down pit road late in the race, some of Clint Bowyer’s pit crew were in your stall. When your team is challenging for the win, Bowyer is off the pace, how as an organization are you going to handle that as the Chase moves forward?

JEFF BURTON: I’m not aware of the situation there, to be quite honest. I’m not even sure what you’re talking about. I’m not blowing you off; I don’t know the story there.

Every team is here to win races. Every team is here to try to win a championship. As the thing goes on, it will get harder for some teams to win than others.

I don’t see any situation where we’re pulling people away from one team. I don’t know. I’m not going to get into all that. Every team is here to win races.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time. Congratulations.

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.

Joey Logano (third) was the highest finishing Camry driver in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Delaware’s Dover International Speedway.  

Kyle Busch (sixth) and Denny Hamlin (ninth) also recorded top-10 results for Toyota at the one-mile concrete oval.  

All three Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Camrys finished in the top-10 today in Dover.  

It marks the second time in three races and third time this season that all three JGR drivers finished in the top-10.  

Other Camry drivers in the field included Reed Sorenson (16th), Marcos Ambrose (20th), Casey Mears (29th), Scott Speed (32nd), Martin Truex Jr. (34th), David Reutimann (35th), Kevin Conway (37th), Mike Bliss (40th) and Joe Nemechek (41st).   Hamlin maintains the unofficial points lead with a 35-point advantage over second-place and race-winner Jimmie Johnson after race two of 10 in the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff.  Fellow Camry driver and JGR teammate, Busch is third (-45 points).  Hamlin’s current point lead is the largest after two races since the Chase format began in 2004.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position:  2nd How did you feel about the race today? “I’m just trying to catch my breath.  That was a long race.  We had a good Home Depot Toyota – a really good car.  We had a good car in practice too.  We had to start in the back, but felt like we did a good job working our way up there today and made good adjustments on this race car.  Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) did a good job.  Pretty happy with it.  I feel like we were close to winning that thing.  Came up a little bit short, but either way it’s better than last year.” What did you have to work on with your race car today? “I think that’s typical stuff that we’ve had every weekend.  We started towards the back thanks to me in qualifying.  The guys did a really good job getting my car good in practice and had a really good car in Happy Hour.  Just battled along all day and got the Home Depot Toyota real good.  Just a little tight here and loose there, just playing around with it.  Our car was good – I don’t know if it was good enough to win, but I felt like we were close and I’m excited about that.  Want to thank Home Depot, Toyota and all those guys.  It’s definitely a good run for us.  We still have to work on our consistency.  We wrecked last week, we finished third this week so we have to somehow figure out how we can do this week in and week out.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position:  6th Do you feel like you should have finished better in today’s race? “We definitely had a better car than where we finished.  There through about lap 300 or so, I thought we had a car capable of winning.  We were fast.  If I drove it a little bit over my head and a little harder, it was faster than the 48 (Jimmie Johnson), but I about wrecked a couple times so I just backed up and rode there.  Waited for another pit stop to try to adjust on it and we did and we couldn’t get the tight back out of it.  We were loose and then we tightened it back up and once we did that last tighten up, we just couldn’t get it back.  We were just too tight the rest of the day.  I don’t know what happened, we just lost some lap time.  We thought we should have finished second.  That’s where this Interstate Batteries Camry should have run.  The 48 was probably the best car today.  We’ll take it.  Not where we want to be, but another solid top-10, what are you going to do?” Are you comfortable with where you are in the Chase after Dover? “We could have been a lot better today.  I’m disappointed with that.  We should have been second, that’s where we should have finished.  We got loose there and then we made an adjustment to tighten it up and we just never got the tight back out of the car.   Dave (Rogers, crew chief) did a great job.  All the guys did a great job on pit road.  I feel like we’re fine where we’re at, but we’re not showing anything yet and maybe we don’t have to do that until five races to go.” Should anyone be surprised that Jimmie Johnson won the race today? “With his (Jimmie Johnson) track record here, with the way he’s able to rebound after bad performances – those guys, they came out here and knew what they had to do and they did that and they produced.  We felt like we were right there and capable of running with them, but unfortunately we just missed a couple things.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) How was your race overall today? “It was a good day for us, but man, legitimately we had a second-place car.  I thought that we had something for Jimmie (Johnson) with about 100 (laps) to go.  I could gain on him, but I was just over-driving the car and I figured we had another pit stop left so let’s just wait and ride around here and relax a little bit.  After that, the car just built up a tight – a tight that I just could never get back out of the car.  Unfortunately, the Interstate Batteries Camry was just that good, but didn’t finish quite where we wanted to.  Overall, a good day.  The guys were solid on pit road, everything went well – communication and all was there.  It’s a solid day.  The average is going to be a sixth, but with our ninth – that doesn’t quite give us what we want.  We were hoping for a second or third today.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position:  9th Are you happy with your finish today? “It was a decent day.  I said in my head today that the number was eight.  We missed it by one, but it was a good fight for the FedEx team.  We didn’t have the best car today, but we fought through and made something of it.  This is what we needed to do to get by this weekend and we feel like we can run with them from here on out.” How do you feel about your position in the Chase moving ahead to tracks that you consider to be strong for you? “I feel good about it.  This is a huge obstacle for us.  This track has bitten us in the Chase for the last four years so to get out of here keeping the point lead at least.  I know these guys are charging, but this was our biggest obstacle we had to fight.  From here on out I feel like it will be better.” Are you happy you survived this track? “It was important for us to survive.  That was one of the things, we’ve either wrecked here or broke here or just ran like crap here in the points in the past.  To get out of here with this kind of finish is a good look for our team.  I fully anticipated losing the point lead when I left here, but to be able to keep it is good.  I’ve got a little buffer going into the tracks that we’re strong at.” Is this the most comfortable you’ve felt after two Chase races? “Yeah, for sure.  This is the best position I’ve been in.” Do you think everything with Kevin Harvick is behind you for the rest of the Chase? “I think so.  It is on my part.  All we’re caring about right now is focusing on just getting top-fives and top-10s from here on out – and wins at the tracks that we know we can win at.  For me, I think it’s important that we just move on from this and it’s a learning lesson.” How do you keep this momentum going? “You go next week and you finish strong again and that’s all we can do is just keep building on the momentum we have and as bad as a ninth-place spot sounds for us, here at Dover we’re going to take it.  We’re going to take a top-10 here because the past four Chase races have been absolutely miserable for us here.  Even though you come in here with a new mindset every single time you come here, it’s still in the back of my mind that this place has just got the better of me.” Is it déjà vu to have Jimmie Johnson back in the Chase hunt with his win today? “I don’t think so.  I think everyone anticipated that he (Jimmie Johnson) was going to make a charge here.  He wasn’t going to run 25th every single weekend and we definitely knew that he was going to come on strong.  He’s the champ.  He’s the one that set the standard over the last four years and he’s the guy that ultimately we feel like we’re going to have to beat in this whole thing.” How do you not let Jimmie Johnson’s win affect you? “I think I’ve ran four years here, I’ve never seen Jimmie (Johnson) once because he’s always been so far ahead of me and I at least kept him in sight today.  To me, I think we’re catching him.” Were you trying to stay quiet in today’s race? “I was running by myself all day.  It was a lot like it was here in the spring.  Nobody was around me all day so it was kind of uneventful.  If somebody would come up, I would let them pass.  Track position is so hard at this race track and the rubber that builds up on the race track makes it so hard to pass that you are almost racing this track like Darlington now.  No one is really racing each other anymore.  It’s a challenge in itself just to keep your own car straight much less have to worry about anyone else.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Do you believe this race was more of a statement by your team? “I think so.  I think a lot of people are just waiting for us to slip up, like we have done in the past.  I just don’t see that happening this time around.  I just think our team is too focused at this point and we’re running too well for that to happen.  I think it’s going to go all the way to the wire.  My opinion, I think there’s going to be a handful of guys that are going to be racing legitimately for this championship at Homestead.  Hopefully we’re one of those groups.  That’s a really good track for us.  I just don’t see anyone really running away with it this year.  The competition’s just too strong.” What does it mean to have Joey Logano finish third in today’s race? “I’d like to acquire his (Joey Logano) feel.  He’s got a great feel for this race track.  It’s something that we can learn.  I like it when Joey runs good because that’s more information that we can tap into for our 11 team.  When the 20 team doesn’t run good or the 18 (Kyle Busch) team doesn’t run good, it does not help us one bit.  We need all of our cars running competitively for that information exchange to work right.  So the better that 20 runs, and hopefully if he keeps that momentum up, keeps running good, then he’s going to be a guy that’s hopefully in between us Chasers when I need him for a point or two.  I think that’s going to be important.”

REED SORENSON, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position:  16th

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Bush’s Baked Beans/Scott Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position:  20th

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Finishing Position:  29th

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position:  32nd

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position:  34th

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position:  35th

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 7 Extenze Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports Finishing Position:  37th

MIKE BLISS, No. 55 Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Finishing Position:  40th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Heat Redefined.com Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position:  41st

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

AAA 400

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER:

AFTER LAST WEEK, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WIN THE POLE AND THEN WIN THE RACE THIS WEEK?

“It feels great. Last week didn’t turn out how we’d want but that’s racing and it’s going to happen in the Chase. I just can’t thank everybody at Hendrick Motorsports enough for working as hard as they do. It just never quits. It never stops. And I’m so thankful for the engine shop, the chassis shop and all the great guys who work on this Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools car and all the great people at Lowe’s and KOBALT Tools for their support; the fans and everything. I may not look a lot excited right now, but there’s this huge weight off my shoulders that we were able to win a race in the Chase, rebound from last weekend, and we’re in the middle of this thing and I’m really, really excited.”

YOU’RE ONLY 35 POINTS BACK IN SECOND PLACE NOW

“Yeah, that’s good. I knew it would be close. I’m excited about what we have ahead. Last weekend; anything can happen. I know Talladega is out there. We did a great job today. We’re in the right position but we’ve got to keep this Impala fast and be there after Talladega. That’s the goal. So we did the best thing possible. I’ve very, very excited about today. At some point hopefully my wife and my daughter will show up; I thought they might be here now and I can’t wait to celebrate this moment with them too.”

AND SPEAKING OF FACES IN VICTORY LANE, WHAT IS IT LIKE TO ROLL IN AND SEE MR. HENDRICK’S SMILING FACE?

“There’s nothing better. We’ve had a few frowns on recently because we’ve been getting our butts kicked, but this is a great track for us and today we got the job done and it’s because of Rick’s (Hendrick) dedication to this race team and all the tools that he gives us.”

YOU TOLD US BEFORE THE RACE THAT YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS THE TIME YOU GUYS COULD HIT YOUR STRIDE, LET’S GO BACK TO THE LAST RESTART, ABOUT 295 TO ABOUT 320, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU STARTED REELING KYLE BUSCH IN, WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE THERE? “Truthfully, we lost some spot on pit road and I didn’t have control of the restart. Once we got going, I ended up third. I have my daughter here in a car carrier here and I don’t know what to do with her yet. (LAUGHS) First time in victory lane for her. We came up third on that restart and I just fought really hard to get back into position behind the No. 18. (Kyle Busch)  It took me a while to get by the No. 20 (Joey Logano).  I knew we had a lot of laps on our side and I didn’t want to do something stupid and throw it away. So, I took my time and made sure I got to the front when it was time.”

HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE DID THE WEATHER MAKE WHEN IT COOLED DOWN? “Today it was easier to drive the car than yesterday. We did make some changes to help that but I think today with the cooler temperatures helped out a little bit.”

IT HAS BEEN 10 RACES SINCE YOU HAVE WON, WHAT IS IT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE IN THE CHASE? ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING DIFFERENT? “No, we are not doing anything different. Today is a great day for us because it shows us what we are capable of and the fact that we can win races and be competitive in this Chase. This summer was hard on us. There is no way around that. We had bad races and finished bad. We had good races and finished bad. So it is nice today to do things start to finish all weekend long on the right foot.”

SECOND IN POINTS, ONLY 35 BACK: “A lot of racing left.”

CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALTOOLS CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY, PRETTY GOOD: “Yes, it was an awesome. Guess he wanted to put some smoke up here for our interview (referring to Johnson’s burnout). Man what a great job. We showed up and we were a little bit off. We had to work on the car pretty hard. We really relied on Jimmie awfully hard for qualifying and he did a fantastic job qualifying. We had to work hard on the KOBALT Chevrolet to get it where we needed it to be but man it was fast all day today.

“It wasn’t easy on Friday and Saturday. It looked like it was pretty fast today, but we were pretty far off when we got here. A lot of hard work by all the guys. Can’t say enough about all the guys at the shop, prep and everything, so we had the information we needed when we got here. I am glad Mr. Hendrick came here. I wish his Mom was here with us. I sent her some flowers a couple of weeks ago, so I hope she is still enjoying those. Just couldn’t be prouder of this whole team.”

RICK HENDRICK, TEAM OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, RACE WINNER: TALK ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NO. 48 TEAM TODAY: “I think a lot of people were counting them out. Boy, we were counting on Loudon and this race to really give us that spring board we needed. The man (Jimmie Johnson) knows this place really well. It is a great day, great day. I’m so proud of them. Good job!”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE POINT STANDINGS AFTER TODAY’S GREAT RUN? “Well, everybody is looking at the point standings for sure. Our goal at this point is just to keep going. We’re not going to leave a race in the next few weeks with the points lead. We started far enough behind where that is just not going to happen. Last week was really, really frustrating. We had a great car, well we didn’t have a great car, we had a really good car last week and we weren’t able to capitalize and ran out of gas with two to go. We got lucky to finish 15th. Today, we did a good job. The No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was a little stronger. I thought he had the class of the field. But we put some pressure on him.”

HOW MUCH DID THE TRACK CHANGE DURING THE RACE? “It changes a lot. This track, it is crazy how much this track changes. We really struggled for grip early in the race and by the time the race was over, we were just way too tight. The track always does that. You see a lot of people early here, they can’t run well late because they got their cars tight enough so it drives good and then later in the race they can’t go any good. We kind of sacrificed a little bit at the start of the race. A little more than we wanted to. None-the-less, it was a good day for us, we got right at the right time.”

HE HAS SOME BLISTERS ON HIS LEFT HAND BUT HE HELD ON AND DID A HECK OF A JOB: “Just really proud of everybody. We had a good car all weekend. I just didn’t do a good job qualifying. I just cannot get qualified. Here especially for some reason. But we will keep working on it. Proud of everybody. Proud of Caterpillar and SKF and Prilosec OTC, just everybody that helps us. It has been one of those years where we have been really good but haven’t been able to capitalize. We have eight more chances and hopefully we can start pulling the trigger.”

A DIFFERENT LINE WORKED FOR YOU TODAY, TALK ABOUT THAT: “You know, at one point there, I started driving the car like straight in the corner and running right at the race track. Just diamonding the corner really weird, I’ve never done that before here and that got us going. When we were at our best, I could arc the corner like I needed to.

“The No. 48 was just really really fast, he was the class of the field today. We put some pressure on them, we could match them but that wasn’t good enough from where we were.”

 

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/LAW ENFORCEMENT MUSEUM CHEVROLET – FINISHED 11^TH

“You can’t give up those positions; especially when you come to a place like this where most of the Chase guys are going to be up front, really at most places, the Chase guys are going to be up front. The first half of the race went pretty good. The second half, when the rubber laid down, man we just really struggled. It was everything I could do to just hang on to it, let alone finish 11^th. So things didn’t go our way there at the end. We lost some extra positions and just held on for 11^th. That’s all we can do.”

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO KANSAS?

“Definitely; I love Kansas. We knew coming in here that this was going to be a struggle for us. But we were up there in the top five and we were maybe about a 7^th place car and we were wanting to at least maintain that, but we didn’t. So now we go to Kansas and some other places that I think are much better tracks for us and we’ve got to capitalize on that.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL/PENNZOIL CHEVROLET – FINISHED 15^TH:

“We drove up to the top 10 nicely, but our Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet just went too loose on the last three runs, and we couldn’t get it dialed in.  We will regroup and be ready for them next week at Kansas.”

GIL MARTIN, CREW CHIEF, NO. 29 SHELL/PENNZOIL CHEVROLET – FINISHED 15^TH:

WHAT HAS HAPPENED THE LAST TWO RACES, IS THAT INDICATIVE OF WHAT YOU WILL SEE THE REST OF THE CHASE?

“I think all the guys in the Chase are going to run up front obviously.  We had a pretty good day going there.  We got up to ninth and on the last two runs something didn’t agree with us on those last two runs and we got very loose.   But I don’t see anything that is going to change going into the next few races.   Same guys are going to run up front each week and its going to be difficult for everybody every single week.”

YOU GUYS WORKED YOUR WAY UP PRETTY GOOD.  CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED THERE AT THE END?

“Well we thought we had a pretty good drive.  We drove from 33^rd up to ninth I think and then we just kind of……the last two runs I don’t know what happened.  We just lost the handle on the car.  I don’t know if something went wrong with the car itself and we will just have to get back to the shop and look at it but up until that point we had a pretty good drive going.”

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.

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Finished 19th) – “It looked like my teammate just skidded his tires trying to get on pit road.  Everybody does it, but that blew the left-front out and caught us two laps down because we had just pitted. We were running on the lead lap and I thought we were a top-10 car. It’s unfortunate. That probably right there was kind of our chase hopes. We’re not out of it, but those two finishes are not a way to start the chase off.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Finished 18th) – “I just missed pit road. I got balled up off of two. I was racing Denny and they told me to pit that lap. He gave me the outside and at the same time I was going to the bottom. I don’t know if I got all that stuff on the tires or what, but I stopped at the same point I did the other time and just couldn’t quite get stopped. I should have just bailed for pit road and hoped I made it, but it’s 100 percent my fault. I just got in there too hard and it locked the left-front up.

I tried to go around and the tire blew out.” YOUR THOUGHTS ON HAVING A PROBLEM THE SECOND RACE IN THE CHASE? “To be honest with you, there was a lot of pressure here. This is the only track we’ve run worth a darn at in about four or five months probably, so there was a lot of pressure to try to get a good finish out of here and we couldn’t get it. The conditions out there were absolutely terrible with this tire.

It’s hard for anybody to make a lap around there, really. I thought we were gonna have a top five to seventh-place car if I didn’t mess it up, and I messed it up.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Finished 5th) – “It’s so grueling. That’s a long one and when they say halfway, you’re like, ‘Man, it can’t be.’ I can’t imagine what it was like to race 500 laps here, but my Aflac crew did a good job. I just wasn’t good enough on that last restart when Jimmie spun the tires a little bit. He was able to stay in front of us, and I think that was the restart that made the difference. I just really appreciate all the fans coming out here and all the folks from the Armed Services that were here with us today. We appreciate it. It was a solid day for us. It’s nice to be disappointed with fifth. I thought we had a better car than that, I’m pretty sure we did. Two runs from the end we got real tight and I went back to sixth and then we just couldn’t make it back up. I felt like we had a car that could win if we were out front, so that’s all I can ask for is cars like that. We’ve got eight races left and closed some points on the leader. That’s all we can do every week.” KANSAS IS NEXT WEEK. “Yeah, it’s gonna be fun. Kansas is great. We ran so well at Chicago that it would be a heck of a place to go get a win.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL TWO RACES INTO THE CHASE? “I feel like we’ve performed really solidly. We obviously haven’t gone out and won anything yet, but we’re something like 73 points back and closed it by

20-25 points on the leader today. If we do that every week, we’ll be alright. If we can just get that one little bit better, but I feel comfortable with where we’re at.”

PAUL M ENARD – No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion (Finished 7th) – “Our Menards Ford Fusion was pretty good all weekend. We struggled a bit with a tight condition today, but it wasn’t so much that I couldn’t work through it. Getting a good finish at Dover is a big deal because it’s a tough track and I’m really proud of this team. Slugger really only made minor adjustments all day and we were pretty good at times.  All in all, it was a decent weekend for us.”

RICHARD “SLUGGER” LABBE, Crew Chief – No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion – “That was good. It’s probably the best we’ve been all year from the time we unloaded to the time they threw the checkered. We had good practices, good qualifying runs and a good race run, so that’s promising. No one is giving up. We’re trying hard and it’s good when the whole team gels. The last couple of weeks have been pretty brutal and to come back and run competitive means a lot.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Insignia/Best Buy Ford Fusion (Finished 10th) – YOU HAVE FINISHED BETTER BUT YOU HAVE NEVER RUN AS WELL AS TODAY.

WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE TODAY? “A fast race car and starting up front. It was fun to lead. No wonder Jimmie is smiling so much.

It’s actually a lot of fun to lead. Everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports is building great race cars and Doug Yates and all those guys are bringing a lot of horsepower. The car was dialed in and just a stupid five-cent washer got inside the tire. I’m not sure when. It must have been right when we pitted and left the pits. As the run went on the car started freeing up and then I asked how long it was before I was supposed to pit and he said, ‘Twenty laps,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna make it.’ I knew something was wrong. I knew the right-rear was going down and after that you’re just fighting back the rest of the day. We’re getting really good at fighting back and making good finishes out of a problem that happens. I would like to have a consistent race one of these days, but we’ve got fast race cars and we’re getting there. They saw us lead. They saw that we had the speed there. They saw the Insignia/Best Buy Ford just out there flying. It was a good day, but it could have been a great day.” WERE YOU TWO LAPS DOWN? “I don’t know. I just know that once the tire was flat I had to drive my butt off. That’s all I know.” ARE YOU GOING TO BE ONE OF THOSE GUYS THAT ISN’T NECESSARILY GOING TO BE HAPPY TO SEE THE SEASON END BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE SAVING YOUR BEST FOR LAST. “I love racing, so I always hate when the season ends. I’m not looking at that. We’ve got eight more races to go, so we’ve got a lot of work to do. I still feel like we can get to the top 16 or 17 in points and if we keep running like this, maybe we can sneak a win in there. We still have two months before I’ve got to worry about the season ending.” DID YOU WANT THAT RACE TO GO LONGER SO YOU COULD MAKE UP SOME MORE SPOTS? “It’s tough. I felt like my car was really fast for 25 laps, but once the tires kind of leveled off it was really hard to pass. My car was really good on restarts, so we got a yellow out there and got another set of tires and tried it again. I thought we had a chance, but the thing was that under yellow we’d pull all the rubber up off the track and then we’d go green and my car would be really fast. But once we laid the rubber back down, it felt like we were getting way too tight – almost like the splitter was hitting the rubber and making the car too tight. I felt if we could have cleaned the race track off and then went at it hard for 25 laps we had something.” DO YOU THINK YOU’RE INCHING CLOSER TO FINDING THAT CONSISTENCY? “I think we’re getting there. To say, can we go out and win one? We’ve got to keep getting better. We’ve got to be consistent inside the top 10. Today was a big day for that. To be able to lead so many laps. I think that was quadruple the laps I’ve ever led, combined in Cup. We’ve just got to keep getting there. Of course, winning is the ultimate goal and that’s what we want to do, but we have to go baby steps here. We have to be one of those cars that are inside the top 10 every weekend and then we’ll get there.”

NOTE: Allmendinger led 143 laps today. Prior to the race, he led only 43 laps in his Cup career.

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Finished 24th) – “I felt like this was the best car we’ve had in a race here in a couple years, but we made two mistakes this weekend. First, we didn’t qualify our UPS Ford as well as we should have and second, we had that one mistake on pit road (loose wheel). When you get behind like that, you then have to race a different kind of race. You’re just trying everything you can to get back up on the lead lap. We took some chances and did get the wave around, but the cautions didn’t fall how we needed them to fall. For the first weekend with Drew [Blickensderfer], I think it was a good weekend for speed, we just have to do something to change our luck a bit. I’m definitely looking forward to Kansas.”

Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010

Dover International Speedway

Dodge Motorsports PR

AAA 400

Post-Race Quotes

Tweets by TeamDodge

www.media.chrysler.com

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Finished Fourth

“The Miller Lite Dodge was a very good race car today. Steve (Addington, crew chief) has helped me a lot here at Dover. We had a pit road speeding penalty and it was my fault. The driver was just too aggressive. I was trying to be right on the edge getting in the pits. That hurt us. That was right at half way and it took us 200 laps to get back up to fourth. I think we were running third when we had the penalty. Who knows if we could have mixed it up there at the end? If we had one more restart, maybe, but it was a good solid top-five finish. This was a tough one and Kansas will be a tough one. I’m real happy with this effort today. We were the third finishing Chase guy, that’s what is most important.”

YOU TOLD STEVE AND YOUR CREW WITH 35 LAPS TO GO THAT YOU WERE GOING TO TURN THE WICK UP. “I was trying for every tenth-of-a-second I could possibly get. We ran our fastest laps then. Maybe I hurt the tires a little bit as we weren’t quite as fast the last 15 laps. We were right in the mix. We made small adjustments all day to stay competitive. The Miller Lite Dodge was a winning car. The driver just messed up today getting into the pits. But we came back and finished fourth.”

STEVE ADDINGTON (Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN TODAY? “We just started off way too loose. A great job by everybody on this race team. We worked really hard and just wanted to come out of here with a solid run. We got behind when we got caught speeding on pit road, but that’s just the effort of Kurt picking up all the tenths-of-a-second that he can. The crew guys made great stops the rest of the day and we were able to bring home a fourth-place finish in the Miller Lite Dodge.”

KURT PICKED UP 11 SPOTS DURING THAT 100 LAP RUN AFTER THE PIT ROAD SPEEDING INCIDENT. WAS ANYTHING DIFFERENT ON THE CAR? “We’d been loose all day and we just kept chipping at it and finally got a little bit more aggressive with the car. We ended up being the fastest car on the race track at that point. One set of tires didn’t have the grip that the others sets did and that’s where we got a little bit off.”

WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE MUCH COOLER TODAY. HOW MUCH DID THAT AFFECT YOUR TUNE-UP? “Not much. I think that it just made it easier on us sitting on the box and easier on the drivers.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger) Finished 22nd “I’m proud of the way we executed today. Our pit stops were great. We had a solid race strategy that allowed us to pick up nine spots from where we started. The No.12 Penske Dodge just lacked speed. That’s something we’ll work on and continue to get better at the last eight races of the season.”

SAM HORNISH JR (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) Finished 36th “A bad day gone worse. I thought that we started out pretty good, but we never could gain track position that we needed. I thought we had a tire issue in the middle of the race and had to come in under green. That cost us some laps. Late in the race, we had an electrical problem under the dash which caused the battery cable to ground out and started a small fire. Just a really strange electrical deal that jumped up and bit us. A tough day that just got worse for the Mobil 1 Dodge.”