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  • Shell Launches New ‘WINSday’ Promotion – Consumers Save on Fuel When Busch Visits Victory Lane

    NEW AND EXISTING SHELL $AVER CARD HOLDERS CAN NOW SAVE EVEN MORE

    Save On Pit Stops With A Limited Time Offer From Shell   Houston – Now, all motorists can saveeven more on fuel with two Shell $aver CardSMoffers. New cardholders will be rewarded for activating now with savings of 10 cents per gallon through April 30, 2011. Meanwhile, all cardholders will have a chance to save 22 cents per gallon throughout the year as part of a special racing promotion — “WINsdays with Kurt Busch”, driver of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil car.      

    Shell Oil Products US (Shell) recognizes that Americans are continuing to approach purchasing decisions with a cautious stance, even for everyday staples such as fuel. Consumers are spending smarter, including comparing prices through digital technology and by using debit instead of credit.According to the most recent Federal Reserve Bank Payments Study, debit cards have become the No. 1 non-cash payment method.*

    That’s a trend that bodes well for savvy spenders who use a check card that provides additional perks like the Shell Saver Card. The Shell Saver Card is a non-credit payment product exclusive to Shell that acts like a debit card by linking directly to cardholders’ checking accounts and offering savings at the pump.

    $avings for New Cardholders As of today, all new Shell Saver Card holders will receive savings of 10cents per gallon on every grade of Shell Nitrogen Enrichedand Shell diesel fuel. After April 30, 2011, Shell Saver Card holders will continue to enjoy an everyday savings of two cents per gallon on all Shell-branded fuel purchases.   Further, consumers who activate a Shell Saver Card before April 30, 2011 will receive a limited edition racing-themed Shell Saver Card featuring the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Car that has an imprinted autograph by driver Kurt Busch.

    All Cardholders’ Win-Win Offer If Kurt Busch wins a points raceduring the 2011 season, Shell Saver Card holders will receive a savings of 22 cents per gallon! The savings will be applicable when cardholders purchase Shell Nitrogen Enriched gasolines and Shell diesel the Wednesday following Kurt’s win — now known as “WINsday.”

    The 2011 season will begin February 20 and 36 points races will be run through November 20, which means Shell Saver Card holders have 36 chances for savings on “WINsday” with Kurt! The enhanced savings will automatically register at the pump on a “WINsday”.

    About the Shell Saver Card While Shell Saver Card earnings apply only to gasoline and diesel purchases, the card can be used for any purchases at Shell-branded stations except lottery tickets. Through Telecheck® and the use of personal PIN numbers, the Shell Saver Card offers safety mechanisms that enhance consumer security. Since the Shell Saver Card directly links to a checking account, applying for the card does not affect consumer credit scores, nor are there any application or annual fees.

    “We know our customers want to saveon the cost of driving without sacrificing the quality of their fuel,” said Mark Theobald, US Consumer Cards, Shell Oil Products U.S.  He also noted it makes organizing family budgets easier by using one card that lists all Shell fuel purchases and offers cardholders earnings every time it is used, allowing consumers to get the most out of every drop of Shell gasoline. To learn more or apply, consumers may go online at www.shell.us/savercard.     From gasoline cards to credit cards, the Shell Family of Cards addresses the diverse financial needs of today’s consumers with a range of payment options. For more information about the Shell Saver Card and the Shell Family of Cards, visit www.shell.us/cards   Facebook:   www.facebook.com/shellcards   *CreditCards.com   Shell Oil Products US, a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company, is a leader in the refining, transportation and marketing of fuels, and has a network of approximately 6,100 branded gasoline stations in the Western United States. Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Shell Group [(NYSE:RDS.A) and (NYSE:RDS.B)].

    Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 100 countries with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of Liquefied Natural Gas and Gas to Liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects including wind and solar power. For further information, visit www.shell.com   INQUIRIES: Shell Oil Products US        Shell Media Line                 +1 (713) 241-4544 

    Cautionary Note The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release “Shell”, “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this press release refer to companies in which Royal Dutch Shell either directly or indirectly has control, by having either a majority of the voting rights or the right to exercise a controlling influence. The companies in which Shell has significant influence but not control are referred to as “associated companies” or “associates” and companies in which Shell has joint control are referred to as “jointly controlled entities”. In this press release, associates and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as “equity-accounted investments”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for example, through our 34% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘will’’, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘risks’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘should’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for the Group’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserve estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including potential litigation and regulatory effects arising from recategorisation of reserves; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2008 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These factors also should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, February 3, 2011. Neither Royal Dutch Shell nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We use certain terms in this press release that SEC’s guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms from the SE

  • KROGER EXPANDS PARTNERSHIP WITH USO AT DAYTONA 500

    Kroger-USO Race Car Honors Associate Service Members 

    CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) and the USO are expanding their partnership with a new campaign to support men and women in the armed forces and their families.

    As part of the Daytona 500 celebration on Sunday, Feb. 20, Kroger will launch a year-long initiative to raise funds for members of our armed forces in partnership with the USO, the leading organization for morale-boosting programs and services for American troops and their families. The campaign will include in-store and online promotions and a text-to-give campaign that encourages Kroger customers to text “USO” to 27722 during the race to donate $10 to USO programs.

    Kroger will also present a $400,000 donation to the USO on Sunday. These funds were collected in 2010 from customers and associates at nearly 1,300 Kroger-operated supermarkets across the country, including Kroger, Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Dillon’s and Baker’s stores.This donation will support USO programs serving members of the military, wounded warriors and their families.

    “This is an exciting time for the USO as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of lifting the spirits of America’s troops and their families,” said USO President Sloan Gibson. “We’re committed to providing the wide array of services needed to support our troops and their families, so we’re thrilled to join this partnership with Kroger.”

    Kroger and USO executives will bejoined at the Daytona 500 celebration by Juan Cortes, a Kroger associate and Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve.�

    “Lt. Commander Cortes is one of hundreds of men and women who have served in the armed forces while working for Kroger,” said Lynn Marmer, group vice president of Corporate Affairs for Kroger. “On behalf of our Kroger family, we thank all of our associates in the military for their service to our country, our communities and our company. We are eager to work with the USO this year to support even more men and women who serve with courage and honor.”

    As a special tribute to its associates in the military, Kroger, the USO and JTG Daugherty Racing will unveil a special Kroger emblem on the red, white and blue No. 47 Kroger-USO car, driven by NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte. This emblem features the names of more than 350 Kroger associates who are active duty or reservist members of the U.S. military.  �

    “It is such a privilege to be able to have a small part in thanking the men and women in uniform for the service they provide to our country and communities to keep us safe,” Labonte said. “I’m proud to carry the USO logo on our Toyota Camry. It’s pretty special for all of us at JTG Daugherty Racing to be able to do that thanks to Kroger and all of our partners behind this program.”

    Kroger is the exclusive retail partner for the Daytona 500. Learn more about special in-store and online Daytona 500 promotions at Kroger and its family of stores at www.kroger.com.

    Traditionally known for entertaining and assisting troops when in transit, in recent years USO programs have broadened to support families at home and returning troops. To learn about the USO’s mission to support men and women in uniform – Until Every One Comes Home® – please visit www.uso.org.

    About the USO
    The USO (United Service Organizations) lifts the spirits of America’s troops and their families millions of times each year at hundreds of places worldwide.  We provide a touch of home through centers at airports and military bases, top quality entertainment and innovative programs and services. We also provide critical support to those who need us most, including forward-deployed troops and their families, wounded warriors and their families and the families of the fallen.

    The USO is a private, non-profit organization, not a government agency. We rely on the generosity of our volunteers and donors.  In addition to individual donors and other corporate sponsors, the USO is supported by Worldwide Strategic Partners: American Airlines, AT&T Inc., BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, Clear Channel Communications, The Coca-Cola Company, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Procter & Gamble and TriWest Healthcare Alliance. We are also supported through the United Way and Combined Federal Campaign (CFC-11381).  To join us in this patriotic mission and to learn more about the USO, please visit www.uso.org.

    About Kroger
    Kroger, the nation’s largest traditional grocery retailer, employs more than 338,000 associates who serve customers in 2,461 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two dozen local banner names including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith’s. The Company also operates 784 convenience stores, 375 fine jewelry stores, 954 supermarket fuel centers and 40 food processing plants in the U.S. Kroger, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, focuses its charitable efforts on supporting hunger relief, health and wellness initiatives, and local organizations in the communities it serves. For more information about Kroger, please visit www.kroger.com.

  • Jimmie Johnson Press Conference Transcript

    Jimmie Johnson Press Conference Transcript

    NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

    2011 DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS

    DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

    TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

    February 16, 2011

    JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway and discussed the rule changes, two-car draft, changes to Phoenix, the yellow-line rule, racing at Daytona and other topics. Full transcript:

    WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS RIGHT NOW ABOUT YOUR RACE TEAM, YOUR STATE OF MIND AND YOUR APPROACH TO THE UPCOMING RACES? “We’re learning and growing with all the other teams in the garage area in general trying to get our heads around the rules that are coming along. How I can drive it and be better than the others and how our team can do a better job. I completely understand the position that NASCAR is in and have talked to Mike Helton plenty about changes and ways to help keep the speeds down. I have certainly seen the process and respect the decisions that have been made and only time will tell. I think in general, we’d all like to have no plate on the car which we all know is impossible. But the biggest plate on there we possibly can. But, the speeds, we know what happens with cars at 195 mph or whatever it was Brad (Keselowski) and Carl (Edwards) at Talladega. You add 10-15 mph to that, that is going to be even worse. So I understand the process and look forward to getting on track and just knowing what these new rule changes are going to do and how the cars are going to drive.”

    SAFETY IS A BIG TOPIC THIS WEEK ESPECIALLY WITH THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF DALE EARNHARDT, SR.’S DEATH, HOW SAFE DO YOU FEEL IN THE CARS PARTICULARILY WITH NASCAR CONTINUING TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO SLOW THEM DOWN AND KEEP THEM ON THE TRACK? “We, as drivers know that we’re in a profession that isn’t necessarily safe. To a large degree we have assumed those risks and our families have as well. We’ve come to grips with that decision a long time ago. But, all that being said, in 2001 what went on and the five drivers who we lost including Dale, Sr., turned the world around for us and has increased the threshold multiple times. I don’t even know what the number is, but, to see the impacts with the data recorders on the cars and have drivers NOT lose consciousness; not break bones; walk away, it is amazing where we are today. Hopefully we keep an open eye on the small details that are left. There are weird angles on walls at tracks. I think grass is another area of focus. Fire is always an area and fortunately we haven’t seen anything like that so we seem to have done a really good job as a sport to beat that problem before there really was one, at least in my era. I know back in the early days it was probably different. I think intrusion is an area of focus that NASCAR is looking at in the next step for us as well.”

    DO YOU LIKE TANDEM RACING AND DO YOU THINK THAT IS GOOD FOR NASCAR TO DISPLAY THAT IN THEIR SHOWCASE EVENT? “I don’t think that it is fair to say for NASCAR to display that in their showcase event because no one knew this was going to happen from the sanctioning body side. Us as teams and drivers knew at Talladega we could stay together for awhile. We all went home and worked hard within the rules to do it longer. I don’t think anybody anticipated it turning into this. Even at the test session, maybe the track was too green and dirty but all the reports I had from the first test session when Goodyear brought the tire test here was you can’t do it, don’t expect to do it. Well, we come back for the open test and here we all are linked up and going so it is evolving and moving. Is it good or bad? I don’t know. I’ve watched some of the clips and talked to a lot of people, some find it interesting to see all the passes that took place and the fact that we aren’t riding in a big blob and you can’t advance. Others like the big blob of cars and say well this wasn’t all that exciting. So, I don’t where it nets out for me as a driver. I can say it was fun and interesting because there was something new. It was fun for the guys in the Shootout to try and find something before your competitors did. At the end of the day, Kurt Busch did the best job, figured it out and won the race. To be in that space of finding something new.especially at these plate tracks where the rules and the rules; the draft has been the draft To have something new to focus on was fun for us in the seats.”

    YOUR TEAMMATE DALE, JR., DENNY HAMLIN AND A FEW OTHERS FELT LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE GONE THE OTHER WAY, MADE THE HOLE LARGER SO IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOUGHER FOR YOU GUYS TO GET OUT THERE IN A TWO-CAR TANDEM, HAVE YOU GOT ANY INDICATION TO BELIEVE THAT IS TRUE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? “I’ve talked to Junior in detail about it and that’s what he felt like would be a good fix and I guess at the Goodyear tire test, there was a larger plate on the cars and it was more difficult to stay together and guys couldn’t do it. My only counter to that is at 204 or whatever my lap time was, I know 206 mph was the big number, I’ve not been in a position to lose control of my car yet, so I am not convinced that a few more miles an hour is going to change that. I think all we are doing is having the potential of getting more speed in the car and a bigger issue for lift off. With the position we’re in as a sport, with a couple of practice sessions, a race then the 500, I don’t think we have a lot of time to experiment and try stuff. I think we all felt like a smaller plate was coming and understand why so I am not saying I have a problem with the direction it is going. I think everybody would love to see the plates off the cars to start with. It is that necessary evil that we talk about every time we go to a plate track. NASCAR was trying to do everything they could to not go down on plate but they are kind of at that point. At least for the Shootout and see what happens through it.I’m sorry, not the Shootout, but the Duel. I believe they are in a position where they would like to make a big change and then if they can give us something back for the 500, they will. So I know that this pop-off valve for the water pressure in the engine system and the cooling system, that is going to change the game. That valve opens up, you are losing water, so go ahead and push as long as you want, you’re not going to last long.”

    WITH THE THREE CHANGES THEY HAVE MADE TO THE CAR SINCE QUALIFYING, HOW DETRIMENTAL WILL BE TO NOT GET OUT IF THE RAIN CONTINUES TODAY AND YOU DON’T GET A CHANCE TO DRAFT PRACTICE AT ALL? “It would definitely be a disadvantage for the drivers that weren’t in the Shootout. Even from the open test, the way we were working the draft in the Shootout than I had seen from the test session. It would be a disadvantage for those folks. For all the teams, in the some ways, it will maybe save some race cars knowing how exciting these practice sessions can get. Then again, I guess at the end of the day, it could hurt the ability a better decision for the 500 if we saw something in practice today, there may be a change; it may stimulate some change or put that thought process in NASCAR’s mind so it probably would be a negative if we didn’t get on track on all fronts.”

    YOU WON THE THING HERE IN ’06, BUT THE LAST THREE YEARS, YOUR FINISHES HAVEN’T BEEN STRONG, WHAT HASN’T CLICKED THESE LAST FEW YEARS THAT YOU NEED TO TURN AROUND? “In the plate stuff in ’06, I had a really good understanding on how to drive the old car; where to position myself and how to really defend once I got to the lead. I don’t feel like I’m doing the best job with plate racing and the way the COT drives. Couple of things lead to that: 1. We’ve really tried to make sure we are learning for the Talladega Chase race, so I’ve not been in position in a lot of plate races to race for the win and defend. It has been trying to understand how to be in the right spot and avoid the problems and then go like crazy to get to the front at the end. The other side to it is, if you look at those races, we’ve been caught up in wrecks late in the race each time. That is what reflects those poor finishes. I guess last year I felt like we were in a position to win, we were right there in the thick of things with the leaders and with McMurray obviously cycled out to win and we were caught up in a wreck. So I think our finishes would have been better than what the results show. ”

    DOES THAT SPEAK TO YOUR GREAT SUCCESS IN THE CHASE BECAUSE YOU ARE THINKING CHASE WHEN THE SEASON STARTS? “Yea, it does. Sometimes we feel like we make good decisions for plate tracks. Other times it is so tough to tell because quite frankly, there is a lot of luck involved in missing the big wrecks and being in the right line and having the right guy pushing. Whatever it may be. So, there is skill that is involved, but it can be superseded with luck at any point on a plate track.”

    PHOENIX HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE GOING TO RECONFIGURE THAT TRACK, CHANGE SOME THINGS ON PIT ROAD, CHANGE SOME THINGS ON THE FRONTSTRETCH AND DOGLEG AS WELL, WHAT IS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU HEARD ABOUT THAT AND WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CHANGES THEY ARE PLANNING? “Definitely disappointed that they needed to resurface the track. I understand that at some point all tracks need it and they are at that point. We love the tracks that are worn out and on the verge of needing to be resurfaced. I think we put on our best races there. So, disappointed to hear it go but Phoenix has done a good job in speaking with folks, drivers, trying to understand the track from a safety standpoint and to make sure that we don’t have single-file racing starting at the first race after the repave. I’ve been in talks with Phoenix and the crew that is working on the track and I feel good about things and where they are going with it. If we don’t like it, which sounds like the chances are low, in time it will come back, just like a lot of the other tracks.”

    HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO READ THE MAXIM STORY ON BRIAN VICKERS AND HAVE YOU EVER MET THAT VERSION OF BRIAN? (CHUCKLES) “I know that Brian, definitely. I did read the article. Felt like I needed to be prepared coming in today. It was an exciting article and certainly read through it. With a year off, I think he pursued as many things off track as possible and certainly had a lot of fun. Everybody sees things a little differently. Brian has always had an interesting point of view on things. He has never lacked confidence either. I felt like that came through in the article too.”

    WITH ALL THE DOCUMENTARIES AND STORIES ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT’S DEATH HERE, THEY ALWAYS INCLUDE THAT IT TOOK HIM 20 TRIES TO WIN THE DAYTONA 500, HAVE YOU CONSCIOUSLY THOUGHT THAT YOU ARE GLAD YOU HAVE AT LEAST ONE UNDER YOUR BELT SO NO ONE HAS TO ASK WHY AS A FIVE-TIME CHAMPION HAS NEVER WON IT OR WERE YOU EVEN AWARE OF HOW MUCH GRIEF HE CAUGHT YEAR AFTER YEAR? “Yea definitely but not in those exact words. I wasn’t in the sport all that long and maybe didn’t know maybe what the discussion was in the garage area and what the questions were being asked. I watched intently hoping some day he would win it as a fan. They did a good job of portraying how difficult it was for him and how close he had been. I sat there hoping he would win a 500 just like the majority of the fan base did. So, when I won mine, it was along the lines of WOW, it took Earnhardt 20 years to win his and there is some relief associated with that, yes I did win mine. So, it didn’t have anything to do with championships. I guess now reflecting back on it, if I hadn’t won, it would be a painful question I would have to answer every time we come to Daytona so indirectly we corrected that problem.”

    DO YOU FEEL WITH THE CHANGES THAT NASCAR MADE THIS WEEK, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY ENOUGH TO RUN AT THOSE SPEEDS? “One, we run at over 200 miles an hour around one another on a lot of tracks, California, Michigan, Indianapolis, some of the 1.5-mile tracks we get close to that at the end of the straight aways. It’s not really a trust factor and I honestly believe there is nothing from NASCAR’s side in trusting the drivers to do it, it just boils down to physics. We know these cars are airborne. We’ve seen them airborne in Atlanta, we’ve seen them airborne in Talladega and we’ve seen them airborne here. We can’t have that situation. We as a sport cannot be faced with a car getting into the catch fence and injuring the driver or the fans. We cannot do that at all costs. Even if we are bashed for a boring race, we cannot have cars in the grandstands or injuring people or up in the fence, whatever it may be. It’s just not an option. So that’s the decision that NASCAR’s faced with and it started back in ’85 with Bobby in Talladega, ’87 that’s where it started. They took all of that decision making process out. It’s just a so simple fact. We can’t have them airborne. Even with those attempts of having the wing on the back of the car, and a lot of us actually joked going forward its created down force, what happens when you turn it around then unfortunately we had to watch a couple of cars take off before we made changes to that. But we can’t have cars airborne. At 206 (mph) airborne you’re going to fly for a while.”

    DID YOU VIEW IT AS KIND OF A MAN ON THE MOVEMENT MOMENT WHEN JEFF WENT 200 HERE BECAUSE IT’S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME WE’VE SEEN ANYBODY MAKE THAT KIND OF SPEED HERE? “I knew there was like a 202 mark or something and then it started going and the latest is 206, we can’t really tell inside the car. You know that you are on the top side of the rpm curve, you hit the rev limiter and we have shift lights to warn us when we are too high on rpm’s, and for lap after lap after lap my lights on and I’m on the chip, so I don’t know what that math equals up to for a final gear ratio and rpm range, but all senses are telling you, you are smoking along pretty good.”

    HAVE YOU FIGURED OUT WITH ALL THE CHANGES THAT ARE GOING ON AND FROM WHAT YOU’VE SEEN, WHERE YOU WANT TO BE COMING OFF TURN FOUR THE FINAL LAP? “I still think leading is not the position you want to be in to win the Daytona 500 or at Talladega. We will be able to push for some period of time. Even if the cars overheat in a very short period of time for the win as you come off of (turn) two or (turn) four, you’ll find a way to get connected and try to separate yourselves and just run until the engine blows, whatever that threshold is. So as long as the push is in effect, the guy pushing has the advantage. Kurt (Busch) showed us all something in the Shootout that a second group coming up has a fair shot as well as the leaders. I would say you either want to be second or third, that’s really the pay off position as of now. When we had the old cars and the way we would be single file and we couldn’t connect the bumpers, leading was a pretty good position to be in. It took a lot of work from second place of dragging the break to get to third, get a bump draft, to get the momentum to try to make a move. And it took lap after lap after lap just setting that up. If the leader was smart he could just ride the brake and control that energy and never allow a pass to happen. Those days are gone. We can’t do that now. As you drag the brake to stop the energy from taking place the guy just picks you up and pushes you and off you go. So it’s just a different game.”

    IN REGARDS TO THE YELLOW-LINE RULE, DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN AN UNFAIR POSITION, HAVING TO MAKE THAT DECISION, IF SOMEBODY CAN FORCE YOU BELOW THE YELLOW LINE, YOU EITHER GO AND GET DEMOTED OR END UP IN A WRECK? “The time I feel it’s unfair is mid-race when you’re not willing to knock the right side off your car and somebody is coming, coming, coming and you’re left with the decision and I don’t want the fender pushed in and don’t want the side of my car caved in, I’ll go out of bounds, let off, let the pack go by and get back in line. That’s the time where it’s kind of unfair. Coming to the finish there has to be a boundary line at some point. So at that point I’m willing to knock the fenders in and have some contact but mid-race I’ve been forced out of bounds a few times or chosen to not hold my line because I didn’t want to damage my car and then I’m below the yellow line I have to let off and you can’t get back in line. Before you join the field you’re 25th or something. That part isn’t a lot of fun. I don’t know how you police it any differently. There is an argument from off of (turn) four to the start/finish line have at it but I don’t know if that’s really an option.”

    WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IT THEM DO AWAY WITH THE YELLOW-LINE RULE ON THE LAST PART OF THE LAST LAP? “In some ways I think the potential is there for an even bigger wreck because now if you’re the leader you’re going to go to the inside to the lowest line to prevent somebody from trying to shoot up the inside. So now, if I’m the leader I’m going straight to the grass. I don’t know if it really changes a lot. I see that there can be some contact and some guys really blocking, now you push the car off in the grass, he’s going to come back out of control across traffic and that can be another issue. At least now when you get shoved out, you’re shoved on the apron and you can still control your car. Where if the apron was the track and the grass was out of bounds, if you get shoved out you are out of control when coming back up into traffic. If that makes any sense.”

    ABOUT THE SWAP, IF YOU’RE IN THE LEAD PAIR OR THERE ARE CARS AROUND YOU AND YOU NEED TO SWAP, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GO LOW IF THERE ARE OTHER CARS AROUND OR GO HIGH AND COMPLETE THE PASS AND SWITCH POSITIONS WITHOUT LETTING THOSE OTHER CARS INTERFERE WITH YOUR AIR? “Yeah, that’s really the interesting part and I think the part that will keep the race entertaining and exciting. You can try to get air in the nose by sticking your fender out on the other side then try to get some air around and into the car to try to cool it down but I think it’s impossible to say that guys are always going to change or switch at the same time. So someone’s car is cooling a little better, someone got connected a lap later or a half lap later, whatever it may be, that change right now is the equalizer I think. I’ve seen more cases in practice and even in the Shootout, well the Shootout we didn’t have to change all that much, in testing and practice we did a lot of changeovers and in those changeovers, two or three times we had done our changeover and were coming and the group in front of us were trying to do it and they weren’t organized yet and we caught them at a bad time and there was nowhere to go. As we caught them our group broke apart because the race track was kind of full and we didn’t have anywhere to go. So that is a tricky part to it and the closure rate of guys coming that could potentially cause some wrecks. The pushing car can’t see unless the spotter is doing a real good job of describing what’s up in front, you can push the car you are up against right off into guys that are running side-by-side trying to cross over. That’s what was so interesting from our standpoint in the cars, was all this new stuff and we would make our switch, connect then here’s a group that was disconnected. It was all this new stuff to try and that’s why it was fun for us in the seats. Then trying to strategize, ok if we can stay together half a lap longer or a lap longer over the period of time we’ll do less changes than anyone else. That’s how we ended up where we did today with the teams working so hard on the cooling. Then we as drivers worked real hard in the test sessions to minimize the amount of time it took for a changeover. We were doing that down here at the test session and were timing our laps and really got our lap time down about a second and a half on how we reattached and got going again. Just trying to find something that we could stack up over a period of time. So it’s been fun for us. That’s why you see drivers kind of enjoying it I would say. I think that’s what I’ve heard. I’m not sure and could be totally wrong, everybody is in here saying they hate it. The guys in the Shootout I thought enjoyed it because there’s a new element of racing that’s involved.”

    Note: Team Chevy press releases, high-resolution images, and media kit can be downloaded from the Team Chevy media website:

    About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com ce5&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.chevrolet.com%2f>

  • Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet Daytona 500 Advance

    Kevin Harvick

    No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet

    Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway

    Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest

    . Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, enters Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway with an impressive resume. In nine Daytona 500 starts, Harvick has earned one win, four top fives and five top-10 finishes.

    . Harvick posted the 14th-fastest lap in last Sunday’s qualifying session and will start ninth in the first 150-mile qualifying race on Thursday. The finishing line ups from the two qualifying races will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

    . On Friday, Harvick will be available to members of the media in the Daytona International Speedway infield media center at 9:45 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 18.

    . On Tuesday night, Budweiser hosted a comedic roast of Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort in Daytona Beach, Fla. In front of an audience of more than 250 people from the NASCAR community, members of the media and Budweiser guests, nationally known comedians Jon Reep, Jeremy Hotz and Earthquake took turns roasting Harvick. The comedians were joined on stage by Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler, Ron Hornaday, Mike Dillon and Harvick’s wife, DeLana Harvick, all of whom took their turn at the microphone to tell jokes and share stories at the expense of Harvick. The two-hour Budweiser Roast of Kevin Harvick was filmed, and an hour-long edited version will air on SPEED on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. ET. The TV show will also feature pre-recorded comments from teammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer, Harvick’s crew chief Gil Martin and members of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team.

    . On newsstands now: The Feb. 21 issue of ESPN The Magazine, “The Speed Issue,” features Harvick’s No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet on the cover. Inside the magazine, a two-page spread on Harvick titled “Back in Black” examines the growth of the driver’s career in the past 10 years, his ability to come to terms with being the driver who replaced Dale Earnhardt and his drive to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

    . This week in Budweiser Racing history: On Sunday, Feb. 15, 2004, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500. He led the field on five occasions for a total of 59 laps that day and took the checkered flag with a 0.273-second margin of victory.

    * Follow along each weekend with Harvick and the team on Twitter. Check out @KevinHarvick for behind-the-scenes information straight from the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. Get live updates from the track each weekend from @Black29Car, the PR team for Harvick. Also, follow @RCRracing and @RCR29KHarvick for additional information about the Richard Childress Racing organization.

    Kevin Harvick discusses racing at Daytona and the upcoming Daytona 500:

    Is the idea for the twin Duel 150 qualifying races to get your (Daytona) 500 car through there safely? You’re a race car driver and you like to win races, so how do you marry those two things?”We’re just going to go for it. If they’re going to write a check and give out a trophy, then we’re going to go as hard as we can. The only way to race at these speedways is to push and shove, and you’re going to have to push and shove, or you’re going to get left behind. You have to go out and do what you have to do. The team has plenty of time to tune up and get everything straightened out, so we’ll race as hard as we can and see what happens.”

    Is going three-wide a lot hairier at Daytona than it is at Talladega? “It’s a lot hairier. It’s a lot easier now with the pavement, and the grip level that you have on the race track. It’s not that big of a deal, but definitely a lot hairier than Talladega.”

    How much less room do you feel like you have? “At Daytona, it feels like it’s half the width of Talladega. It’s just a lot narrower than Talladega is. You definitely feel like you have a lot less room.”

    With the way you ran last season and the way things are going, especially with the power that’s under the hood, could this be the year to win that second Daytona 500? “Well, last year, I think we led the most laps in the (Daytona) 500. We won the 500, but we lost the 520. With the way that the rules are now, the green-white-checkers at the end are difficult to know exactly where you need to be. I think I know where I need to be with where you want to be coming to the checkers at this particular race. It’s one of those things where we just have to keep working on our cars, nickel and diming them to get every ounce of drag out of them that we can, and the guys in the engine shop will do their part on the power. We just need to keep racing and putting ourselves in the right spot to be in those positions with fast cars. To be able to be competitive, you have to work on them constantly.”

    Do you still remember what it felt like to win the Daytona 500? “There isn’t anything that compares to winning the Daytona 500, just for the fact of the magnitude and the attention that comes with that particular race. There’s nothing else that even comes close. I remember that day like it was yesterday. There’s no better feeling of winning a race than that one.”

    Daytona International Speedway Track Facts

    Track Length: 2.5 Miles

    Race Length: 200 laps/500 miles

    Grandstand Seating Capacity: 146,000

    First Race: Feb. 22, 1959

    Banking in corners: 31 degrees

    Banking on straights: 3 degrees

    Banking on tri-oval: 18 degrees

    Frontstretch: 3,800 feet

    Backstretch: 3,000 feet

    TV: FOX, 1 p.m. ET

    Radio: MRN Radio, SIRIUS NASCAR Radio

  • Practice Quotes – Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    Practice Quotes – Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

    DAYTONA 500 QUALIFYING

    DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

    TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE NOTES & QUOTES

    February 16, 2011

    DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET – Pole Winner involved in accident, will go to back-up car and start at the rear of the field in both the Gatorade Duel Qualifying Race and the Daytona 500:

    NOTE: The No. 88 team just unloaded Chassis 88-576. Jeff Gordon last raced this chassis at Talladega in October to an eighth-place finish. The Budweiser Shootout car will now be the backup. Previously a band-new chassis, it’s currently back at Hendrick Motorsports in the paint booth about to make its way back to Daytona. Chassis 88-576 has been refurbished to meet the nose and other 2011 requirements but hadn’t been tested this season.

    WE WERE REALLY IMPRESSED BY THE WAY YOUR CREW CHIEF, STEVE LETARTE, AFTER THE FACT WAS VERY ENCOURAGING AND TOLD YOU NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT, AND THAT THE TEAM WOULD JUST GET THE BACK-UP READY

    “Well, yeah. That’s his job as a crew chief. I just really don’t know what was going on there. The guys on the inside looked like they were going to stay low and then they started kind of creeping up and giving Jimmie (Johnson), and they gave me the impression they were going to be closing the hole on the outside. So Jimmie lifted. And he about wrecked and I got off the gas and there were a couple of guys coming behind me (Martin) Truex, and a couple other guys and just didn’t have a chance.

    “You got to pay attention out there, man. I mean if you’re going to come out here and race, you need to pay attention.”

    YOU TALKED THE OTHER DAY AFTER YOU WON THE POLE POSITION AND SAID YEAH, THAT’S GOOD BUT IT’S JUST KIND OF A BABY STEP. SO THIS IS JUST GOING TO MAKE YOUR JOB A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT. WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN NOW AND THE 150’S TOMORROW?

    “Well, we’ve got plenty of race cars. And I ain’t worried about how fast we’ll be or whether we’ll be as good. We’ll be fine. But you know, it never feels good tearing them up. I’m just disappointed in myself. I didn’t feel good about getting out there and practicing and didn’t think I needed to be out there practicing. I just had a bad feeling about it. And we come running up on some guys that didn’t have their heads on straight and got in an accident.”

    WE SAW YOU AND MARTIN TRUEX JR. PATTING EACH OTHER ON THE BACK AND TALKING. WHAT DID MARTIN SAY TO YOU?

    “That he was sorry for running into the back of me. And he didn’t have anywhere to go; and I’m sure he didn’t. We were all off the gas pretty hard right there for those guys to pull up the race track there. I don’t even know if we would have room. We might have had room on the outside to get through, but it was real tight. They moved up off the bottom into the middle of the race track at least, from what I could tell and what I can remember, and just give us the impression we were going to need to check-up. They keep slowing the cars down and it makes a car drafting normally much slower, and now the closing rate on the two-car pack is even faster; and I mean it’s just hard. It’s just real hard. Hopefully there’s no more accidents this rest of the week. We can all; we’re all kind of getting the hang of it, but the guys that aren’t, in a two-car pack, need to be aware that those guys are going to come flying up on them faster than they think. And you’ve just got to keep that in mind and hold your line.”

    WHAT HAPPENED? “We were coming around the corner and there were three guys on the inside and they moved up off the bottom and me and Jimmie (Johnson) had to checkup and I got hit from behind there.”

    IS IT REALLY HARD TO SEE? IT LOOKED DIFFICULT OUT THERE: “That is just restrictor plate, we see wrecks here all the time. It wasn’t anything different than anything we’ve seen in the past. Out there practicing; not everybody on the same page.”

    WERE YOU SPEWING WATER OUT BEFORE THE CRASH? “It was after. We were all overheating. 220 degress is what we usually run, the temperature was fine. We were actually testing to see when that pressure valve went off. We were probably about a lap or so from being done.”

    WHAT IS THE BACKUP CAR YOU WILL USE NOW? “The backup car is fine, just as good as the other ones. They are all kit cars any ways. The bodies are all the same. Good motors. We’ll have plenty of speed, but we have this car; the third car, the fourth car is just as good. I mean, they are all good.”

    ARE YOU FRUSTRATED? “Just getting caught up in wrecks. Just feeling a little snake-bit right now, because, I don’t feel like I was really at fault in any of them but we just keep getting in them.”

    WAS THE AIR MOVED OFF OF YOUR CAR BECAUSE OF IT? “No. They just moved up in front of us and we lifted and the guys behind us didn’t know what was going on. That is all that happened.”

    YOU SAID YOU WERE NERVOUS ABOUT PRACTICE, WHY? “Well we have the pole sitting race car, don’t need to practice.”

    ANY MORE REASON THAT THAT? “Well, I hadn’t been out there, we hadn’t practiced together, so no. I don’t know who is paying attention and who ain’t. I had a fast car and didn’t want to practice it.”

    WHAT IS YOUR EMOTION RIGHT NOW? “Get the next one ready.”

    Note: Team Chevy press releases, high-resolution images, and media kit can be downloaded from the Team Chevy media website:

    About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com ce5&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.chevrolet.com%2f> .

  • Jeff Gordon Press Conf. Transcript

    Jeff Gordon Press Conf. Transcript

    NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

    2011 DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS

    DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

    TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

    February 16, 2011

    JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET met with media and discussed his expectations for upcoming Thursday and Sunday racing at Daytona, two-car racing, the tribute to Dale Earnhardt Sr. on lap 3 of the Daytona 500, and more. Full Transcript:

    ON THE NEW DAYTONA SPEEDWAY TRACK SURFACE

    “Oh, it’s phenomenal. They did an awesome job. It’s got a lot of grip. It’s really smooth. I think they did a fantastic job and obviously it’s changed how we’re going to race here in Daytona, which I think all of us expected. I think it’s going to make for a spectacular race.”

    NASCAR HAS REDUCED THE RESTRICTOR PLATE 1/64TH OF AN INCH THIS MORNING. HOW WILL THIS IMPACT THE RACE AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE FOCUSED ON?

    “We’re going to be focused on whatever it takes to win the race. We’ve been seeing that the two-car pushing has obviously dominated practice and the race so far with the Bud Shootout; and it’s going to continue to do that. To me, the smaller restrictor plate only makes it easier to push. And then (they) narrowed down the opening and the pressure valve and all that stuff, we’re not going to be able to push as long, but we’re still going to push. So, it’s just going to be about trying to find somebody; right now I’m just thinking about the 150’s (Gatorade Duel Qualifying Races) and who we partner-up with to push. And then what you’re going to see, which I think is kind of cool, what you’re going to see in the 150’s is a swap-over, which is what we practiced in testing. In almost the entire test, anytime we were drafting, was how fast you could go from being the guy pushing to being the guy out front being pushed and how much time you could really save in that swap-over. So I think that’s probably what you’re going to see. It’s not an exact science. Sometimes it goes smooth and sometimes it doesn’t; and if it doesn’t go smoothly, then it’s about the cars behind you and how fast they swallow you up.”

    WHAT’S YOUR GUESS ABOUT HOW MANY LAPS YOU CAN LAST IN A TWO-CAR NOW? WILL IT BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED?

    “I won’t know until we get out there (for practice). It’s weird because in testing we were going like four laps. And then we got here and saw guys going much further than that. And plus the nighttime cool race allowed us to go a lot further. So, I think we’ll probably be back to three or four laps.”

    IS THIS KIND OF RACING GOOD FOR NASCAR? I WONDER IF NASCAR DOESN’T THINK SO BECAUSE THEY’RE MAKING THESE KINDS OF CHANGES.

    “Well I think that it’s something that we all have to try to get our arms around and accept; because as I mentioned the other day in the media center, once you gain the knowledge of how this works and how much faster your car can go teamed up with one other car like this, you’re not going to watch those guys just drive away from you. I think that it’s also something that the fans need to accept as well because I think there is some very exciting and entertaining aspects of it. I’ve had a lot of people have mixed emotions and several people have said to me, ‘Hey, I thought that was pretty cool. It wasn’t want I’m used to, but it’s pretty cool.’ So, I just don’t think you’re going to be able to change that. It doesn’t matter if we push for three-quarters of a lap; we’re going to push if that’s what makes us go faster.”

    HAVE YOU GUYS ADJUSTED TO THE CLOSING SPEEDS YET?

    “There is no adjusting to it. It’s just your spotter doing the best he possibly can to guide you through it. We’ve heard some guys that are teammates going to one (radio) channel with one spotter. So there are a lot of interesting things going on right now on the best way to avoid the closing rate speeds and the accidents that could happen from that. If it’s just two cars in front of you, it’s pretty easy to go right around them.

    “It’s when they are side-by-side and two-by-two and you come up on them very fast. And then the guy behind you, his spotter has to do a good job of saying, ‘Hey, you guys are coming up on a group and you’re probably going to need to check-up and slow down.’”

    SO DOES THAT MEAN YOU GUYS HAVE TO THINK A LITTLE QUICKER AND THINK MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING?

    “Let me tell you. From inside the car, it’s intense. We might only be two cars out there, but it’s intense because if you’re pushing, you’re trying to follow that guy not knowing where you’re going. You can’t see anything. And you’re just following that car and your spotter is telling you what’s coming up, which is pretty crazy at 200 mph. But the guy out front, he’s got to make sure he doesn’t lose the guy behind him.

    “Sometimes when you get close to a pack in front of you, you’ll start to gain speed and you can actually pull away from the guy. And as soon as you pull away from him, your speed just stops.”

    WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE POINTS?

    “I’m not even thinking about the points right now. To me it still pays the most to win and each position that I can gain out there on the track is a gain in points. So, that’s the only way we’re really looking at it right now. If it makes it a little easier for all of us to understand and follow, then great. The way I’ve always approached racing is to me it’s pretty black and white. If I finish ahead of the guy ahead of me then I’m going to get more points than the guys behind me. That has not changed. So, we’ll see how it shakes out for the championship at the end of the year. But I still think the best team is going to win the championship.

    LOOKING AHEAD TO PHOENIX, WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR TO LAYING DOWN A QUICK LAP THERE?

    “Well, when it comes to qualifying, it’s about getting into the corners aggressively; but getting the car turned through the middle. It seems like the exit really comes to you during qualifying runs there. You don’t have to worry about that too much. So it’s just getting in the corner deep and getting the car to turn.”

    THIS IS THE LAST RACE BEFORE THEY RE-PAVE AND RE-CONFIGURE THE PHOENIX TRACK. DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE CHANGES THEY ARE GOING TO MAKE THERE?

    “When a track re-paves, they have all their reasons. And I feel like there are legitimate reasons. I tried to give them my input on what I’d like to see from a surface standpoint.

    “The type of surface we have here is great for Daytona and for Talladega, but it’s not good for a place like Phoenix because we’ll be single-file racing and the type of tires that Goodyear is going to have to build for us to not abuse them and all the heat that they’re going to have to take is to me, not optimal. So, I think these tracks, especially these shorter tracks that are repaving, we’ve got to go to the contractors and the pavers and say hey, we don’t want what’s the latest and greatest that you’re going to lay on the highway. This is a race track. You need to build it for a race track and race tires and racing configurations. If they put in the variable banking I think that could be a good thing, but they’ve got to be really careful too. Doing the math to make sure that one groove is not a lot faster than another groove can be a tricky thing. So, I think (if) you work with Goodyear and work with the teams and with NASCAR and the people that are paving the project, that team effort can come up with something really good.”

    JUST TO CLARIFY, ARE WE GOING TO SEE THIS KIND OF TWO-CAR RACING AT THE 1.5-MILE TRACKS?

    “No. No, because downforce and grip means too much. You’ve got to understand we’re just right on that edge of not being able to do it here, as you saw in the Shootout. We saw guys spin out and crash. And a lot of that is because they get in the corner and put a lot of wheel into it and that guy maybe just touches him at the wrong time and you go through a transition and boom, the car spins out. Those transitions are too abrupt at the 1.5-mile tracks. You will not see that anywhere, at least for the next five or six years, at any track other than here and Talladega.”

    WHAT’S IT LIKE WORKING WITH CREW CHIEF, ALAN GUSTAFSON?

    “It’s been awesome. I’ve had a blast working with Alan. He’s very intense and very focused. I feel like our personalities match-up well. He’s all business. And when I get to the race track, that’s how I like it to be. They’ve just built really great race cars for us over the winter and have worked really hard. It’s great to be on the front row for the Daytona 500; I think that’s really cool. And I hope that we can not only keep that momentum the rest of this week, but also when we leave here.”

    CAN YOU TALK ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT SR. AND THAT HE’S ON EVERYBODY’S MIND THIS WEEKEND AND THE TRIBUTE FOR HIM ON LAP 3?

    “Oh, that’s awesome. And you know, what Dale left behind with his legacy is just something that should be recognized and celebrated and I think for those of us who got a chance to race against him and be a friend of his, the sport has never been the same and never will be the same without him. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years (since his death), and I think that it’s a great opportunity for race fans and for our sport and everybody to pay tribute. I think that’s awesome.”

    CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JEFF BURTON OVER THE PAST 17 YEARS AND PARTICULARLY HOW IT’S BEEN SINCE THAT TEXAS INCIDENT?

    “It’s been good. It goes back further than 17 years because I raced with him in the Nationwide Series. Jeff has always been a great competitor and a fast driver and somebody that pretty much leaves his talking to what he does on the race track. He’s a guy who has a really good opinion and point of view on this sport and things that have happened in this sport over the years.

    “He and I have always gotten along good. Right up until that moment in Texas, I feel like Jeff and I always had a lot of respect for one another.”

    AND AFTER THAT?

    “Obviously there was respect that was lost. I still to this day will never understand why it happened. But at the same time I do like Jeff a lot and look forward to racing with him a lot more in the future.”

    WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW NOSE ON THE CAR?

    “It looks good. It’s a good-looking nose. We won’t really know the performance aspects of it for a little bit longer until we get to some of the other tracks when we leave here, but what I can see so far, I really like it.”

    CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW EASILY YOU GUYS CAN ADAPT NO MATTER WHAT THE CHANGES ARE? DO YOU HAVE TO DO MORE THINKING?

    “Well, you’ve got to think it through just because you want to be smart and you want to optimize your performance. I don’t know if they had made the restrictor plate announcement at that time, so that’s a little bit new. But it’s something we’ve spent a lot of time talking about because we’re just going to make the changes and we’re going to optimize our airflow and everything to keep the engine cool and the oil temperature cool. And then we’re going to go out there, hopefully today, and we’re going to practice and test it out and we’ll know more then. I think you’d be surprised at how small those changes appear to us.”

    HOW DOES THE WEATHER AFFECT THE RACE AND HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THAT?

    “Well, right now, we need time on the track. With these changes we definitely would like to have some time on the track before tomorrow’s race to know how long we can push and what these changes are going to do. Hopefully this weather will clear out of here and we’ll get on the track.”

    ON NASCAR’S 18 – 25 YEAR-OLD GRAPHIC, IS THERE A SENSE AT ALL THAT THERE IS A BIT OF AGING GOING ON? THERE AREN’T A LOT OF YOUNG GUYS IN THE SPORT

    “Yeah, I think you could say that’s being recognized. If you look at some of the changes made to the Nationwide Series, back when I was coming up, the Nationwide Series was the feeder series to the Cup series and it had a lot of young talent in it. And there’s still a lot of talent over there, but I don’t know if they’re really being recognized. And it’s because of all the Cup drivers over there dominating; which is also a good thing because it gives them experience to race with that kind of talent.

    “I think also, if you just look at that demographic, the 18 – 25, and what they’re interested in today. They’ve got their iphones and they’re into apps and it’s kind of a computer age, and I think we’ve kind of left technology behind in a way that’s hurt us a little bit; to be a little bit more current and relative to what’s going on with that group. I think NASCAR is making some steps to capture that, so we’ll see how it goes.”

    ARE SPONSORS RELUCTANT TO GO WITH A YOUNG GUY, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THESE ECONOMIC TIMES?

    “I think sponsors have always been reluctant to take a chance. But sometimes that chance is worth taking and can pay off big. I was fortunate that happened with me and Rick Hendrick and with DuPont; and I think it’s something that car owners should stay motivated by because the payoff can be really, really big, from a sponsor’s standpoint and from a team standpoint.”

    ON THE DIFFICULTY OF BEING ABLE TO SEE IN THE TWO-CAR DRAFT, IT SEEMED LIKE THE REAR WING WAS A BIG PROBLEM WITH THE VISABILITY. WHY ARE WE STILL SEEING ISSUES OF VISABILITY WITH THESE CARS?

    “Oh, the spoiler is far bigger than the wing. What happened was, in order to make the same aero numbers, downforce numbers, and drag numbers, or as close as possible as the wing, this is the size spoiler they had to come up with. If we were in December testing right now, going back, I would be talking to John Darby about hey, let’s bring a bunch of plates; let’s bring some different spoilers. And let’s see what we could do with that package. There is very little that they are going to be able to do from this point until the Daytona 500 other than like what I said earlier, that the two-car draft can be pretty darn exciting. We saw an awesome finish in the Bud Shootout. Were there 15 cars in that? No. there were only four.

    “But in the Daytona 500 I think there could be more and I think it’s very exciting. So I think right now, we just need to accept it. But that’s the reason why the spoiler is as big as it is. And the other thing is, it’s not just the spoiler, it’s the height of the deck lids. Over the years, if you just look at the manufacturer’s production cars as well what makes great downforce for our cars and what looks the best, is a higher deck lid. And that’s just a trend on cars in general. And what that does is it makes it harder to see through to cars like we used to years ago.”

    HOW WAS DISNEY?

    “Oh, we had a blast. Disney was awesome. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Ella enjoyed herself more than I can ever describe. So we had a really good time.”

    ON SAM BASS

    “I’ve had a lot of interaction with Sam over the years. He designed the DuPont Chevrolet for us and Sam’s just such a great guy. He puts his heart in his work so much and he takes a lot of pride in it and he does an awesome job.”

    WHAT HAS HE MEANT TO THE SPORT?

    “Oh, my gosh. If you think of what he’s created and his designs and the input that he’s had over the years; all you’ve got to do is to go to his place and see all the cars that he’s designed. It’s very impressive.”

    WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE BRIAN VICKERS STORY IN MAXIM MAGAZINE?

    “I knew they were doing a story. And if that’s the kind of stuff Brian is interested in bringing up, then I’m happy for him. He’s young and he’s obviously enjoying life.”

    HIS SPONSOR MIGHT NOT MIND, BUT DO YOU THINK NASCAR WOULD?

    “All, I can say is that’s not for me. I’ve had great times over the years, but you know I’m a family guy and I try to represent my sponsors in the way they’d like to be represented. And it is different for him. He’s young. He’s single. He’s got Red Bull as his sponsor, so I don’t know how they would perceive it.”

    DID YOU LOOK AT HIM AS NAME-DROPPING A LITTLE BY SAYING LET’S CALL JEFF GORDON WHEN HE’S OUT WITH OTHER PEOPLE?

    “Well, what I was going to say to him is the next time he’s out with a writer from Maxim Magazine, and he’s having a good time, he can forgget my phone number about calling me to join them.”

    Note: Team Chevy press releases, high-resolution images, and media kit can be downloaded from the Team Chevy media website:

    About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com ce5&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.chevrolet.com%2f> .

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Crashes At Daytona: Goes From Pole to Hole In Daytona 500

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Crashes At Daytona: Goes From Pole to Hole In Daytona 500

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]After waiting several hours for the weather to clear, Sprint Cup practice for the Gatorade Duels finally started. It took only a few moments before the new “love bug” drafting claimed its first victims.

    Coming off turn four, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was linked nose to tail with Jimmie Johnson. Just as Earnhardt Jr. started to move left, Martin Truex Jr. came hard into his right rear bumper and sent both cars spinning into the infield wall, just at the entrance to pit road.

    NASCAR started the day by issuing teams smaller sized restrictor plates, 57/64 diameters, along with mandated smaller radiator grill openings.
    These changes were implemented in an effort to slow the 200+ mph race speeds and reduce the two by two drafting to a minimum.
    Unexpected rain showers had dampened the speedway and delayed early morning practice for several hours.

    Once the track was cleared for practice, it didn’t take long for teams to start testing their new restrictor plates and resume their two-by-two drafting around the 2.5 mile super speedway.

    After just a few green flag laps, it was once again Earnhardt Jr. posting the fastest times with speeds in excess of 195 mph.

    Once he was tagged in the rear bumper, the car of Earnhardt Jr. went tail first into the inside retaining wall, bounced off and then collected the car of Martin Truex Jr. with the front bumper of the No. 88 Amp Energy Chevrolet.

    With his primary car all but destroyed, Jr’s Hendrick Motorsports crew immediately pulled out a back up car.

    Qualifying for the front row of Sunday’s Daytona 500 has already been completed, and, with Dale Jr. winning the pole position, this unfortunate series of events will have huge impacts on tomorrows first Gatorade Duel and Sunday’s Daytona 500.

    Earnhardt Jr. will be relegated to the rear of the field in both events.

    His efforts in the Gatorade Duel will have no impact on this situation. According to NASCAR rules, Earnhardt Jr. cannot improve his starting position unless some other unfortunate driver crashes, changes an engine or has to go to a back up car.


    No one has ever come from the last starting position to win the Daytona 500.

  • Quotes from ESPN news conference at Daytona

    NASCAR on ESPN analysts Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree, lap-by-lap announcer Marty Reid and ESPN vice president, motorsports, Rich Feinberg participated in a news conference today at Daytona International Speedway. Live coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opening race at Daytona airs Saturday, Feb. 19, on ESPN2 beginning at noon ET with NASCAR Countdown.

    Some highlight quotes from the news conference:   What can be done about the commercial load in ESPN’s NASCAR telecasts?   RICH FEINBERG — “The commercial ratio that we use is less than we are contractually allowed. We could actually be putting more commercials in our telecasts. With our agreement with NASCAR, we would be allowed to do so and obviously that would generate us more revenue. We choose not to do that in an effort to show as much green flag racing as we can. We’ve done studies between our commercial volume versus the other media partners of NASCAR and it is very, very similar. We’ve also actually done some internal studies to look at some of those websites that track commercials and have found a lot of inaccuracies in their system. The reality is that it’s a business. With the rights payments that we have to make to have our partnership with NASCAR, and with production costs, marketing and personnel, we’re a business as well, and we need to recoup those expenses and hopefully make ourselves profitable. So it’s a balance. I think there are ways to try and strike a better balance than we have now. Currently we are not allowed to do side-by-side per our rights agreement with NASCAR but I know that in our partnership we have discussions with them about that. The reality is we try to minimize the impact on the presentation of the show as much as possible. We’ve had a lot of success in the placement of our commercials and offering the end of a race without as many commercials as we can possibly do.”   Your reaction to the remarks by Tony Kornheiser on Tuesday’s PTI?   RICH FEINBERG — “I did not see the show, but it’s been relayed to me what he said. It’s sort of my take on it that that’s a show of opinion, and it’s primarily based on his and Michael’s (Wilbon) opinion, and they are entitled to their opinion. Hopefully they present it with responsibility and in a dignified way, which from my take, it’s an Emmy Award winning show they do for the most part. But they’re entitled to their opinion, you’re entitled to your opinion, I’m entitled to my opinion, and I disagree with what I was told he said. And I can tell you for sure that ESPN doesn’t agree with his opinion yesterday, but that’s the nature of commentary, and not all the time are we going to get a rosy picture when people are offering their opinions.”   Dale Jarrett, what does it mean to you when one of your colleagues makes a remark like that?   DALE JARRETT — “It wouldn’t matter who said it or what network it might have been on, but it pisses me off that somebody thinks that from being inside, and knowing how hard a lot of years that myself and a lot of others that I worked with and around, worked on our race cars to try and make them the best. All you have to do is look around throughout the history of the sport at crazy things that happened. You get in a wreck with somebody one week, and the next week you qualify side-by-side and you’re in a truck riding around the track together. Did NASCAR plan that? Why hell no. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in a very good race car down here. He’s always run well here given good equipment. He’s my pick to win this race. Was it because it’s the 10th anniversary of his father’s death? Well no, it doesn’t have anything to do with that. It aggravates you that that perception is out there. I can assure everyone that it can’t happen. To set something up, there’s too many people that would have to be involved. You couldn’t keep something like that quiet. It’s unfair to the competitors and to the people who work their tails off to put a quality product out there. We have a very good sport with a lot of integrity out there and to have it questioned is unfortunate.”   Andy Petree would you weigh in on that?   ANDY PETREE – “We’re hearing opinions of people who really have no idea. This is my 30th Daytona 500 that I’ve come down to. I have spent a career trying to get an advantage under the hood or anywhere I can with that car. And I’ve done it with numerous drivers, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Harry Gant, and I can tell you I’ve never, ever in my life seen anybody get the call to have something done to their car. These guys are too smart in the garage area. You’re working right next to every team in there. If I saw something on somebody else’s car that I thought wasn’t right, I’m going to be the first one to make sure somebody knows about it, and they’re going to do the same thing to me. That’s not possible in this garage area. The integrity of this sport, I can vouch for after 30 years of doing it.”   Dale Jarrett on getting back into a race car on Friday to run laps with fellow ESPN analyst Rusty Wallace …   DALE JARRETT – “I’ve talked to a lot of the drivers about the pavement and how the racing has changed, obviously watched how that has changed, and when ESPN called Rusty and myself about this opportunity, it was one I certainly jumped at to be able to go out there in more than just a pace car or something like that. To actually get in a race car and go at some good speeds and see just how different this place really is from what Rusty and I raced on. All the years that we were here, it was the same surface and it just kept getting more and more worn. It’ll give us an opportunity to better speak about the changes to the track and what has changed, more than just getting it from our friends in the garage area. Really looking forward to it and we certainly appreciate Daytona and NASCAR giving us this opportunity, and hopefully we’ll be able to convey to the millions who will be watching over the weekend just how much it has changed and how different things are going to be.”   Marty Reid on calling the first NASCAR Nationwide Series race on the new Daytona pavement …   MARTY REID — “You know there are still some questions. We’re waiting to see what happens, based on what we saw at the Shootout, how much of a change it’s going to affect for the Nationwide cars. I don’t think it’s going to be as drastic, from what everybody’s been telling us, but it’s still going to be fun to see how the new pavement handles and how the drivers adjust, and how much bump drafting we actually see. The cars don’t match up as well in Nationwide, so that’ll be a factor as well, so you won’t be able to run up on somebody and push them as much as we saw in the Shootout.”   Andy Petree on how crew chiefs have to deal with rule changes such as those announced following the Bud Shootout …   ANDY PETREE – ““You work all winter on the cars and try to get a package that you feel like you‘re gonna be competitive with and be able to win with. When they throw that at you, it’s aggravating for crew chiefs, but they have to react to it. Whoever reacts to it the best, the quickest, those are the guys that are going to have a leg up. So I always looked at it as an opportunity to maybe get a leg up on the competition, and that’s the great thing about this sport, it never stays the same, not even minute to minute, and that’s what’s always kept me interested as long as I’ve been in it.”   Visit www.espnmediazone.com for ESPN’s latest releases, schedules and other news, plus photos, video and audio clips and more.   About NASCAR on ESPN: ESPN produces comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Additionally, ESPN2 is the television home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. ESPN’s NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, SportsCenter, ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981 and returned to NASCAR coverage in 2007. The network’s award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN has been honored with 19 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide.

  • HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS SIGNS CHASE ELLIOTT

    CONCORD, N.C. (Feb. 16, 2011) – Hendrick Motorsports has signed Chase Elliott to a multi-year driver agreement.

    Elliott, the son of 1988 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, will continue to compete for his family-owned team until meeting age requirements for entering NASCAR national series events. Bill Elliott Racing, based in Dawsonville, Ga., will field Chevrolets with support from Hendrick Motorsports.

    “The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree with Chase,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “I’ve always admired Bill’s ability in a race car and how he handled himself with the fans. I see those same traits in Chase, with his natural driving talent and an awareness of what he needs to do away from the track to be successful. He comes from a great racing family, and it shows.

    “We think it’s a terrific situation. Chase already has a strong support system in place (in Dawsonville) that will allow him to focus on his education and grow as a driver, and Hendrick Motorsports will provide whatever kind of assistance the Elliotts need in any area.”

    A 15-year-old freshman in high school, Elliott already has competed against some of the best short-track racers in the United States. In 40 late model starts last season, he posted 13 victories, 27 top-five finishes and 37 top-10s.

    “I’ve always been taught that teamwork and people are important, and that’s something Mr. Hendrick really believes in,” Elliott said. “Everyone at Hendrick Motorsports has high standards and takes a lot of pride in what they do. Racing with all of their support, and the support of my family, is going to be incredible. I’m going to work really hard to make them proud and make the most of this opportunity.”

    In 2010, Elliott became the youngest driver to win the Blizzard Series at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., the Miller Lite Series at Mobile (Ala.) International Speedway and the overall Sunoco Gulf Coast championship. The Dawsonville native also posted victories in the prestigious Winchester 400 and at the re-opening of historic North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

    Elliott already is two-for-two in 2011 after sweeping the Speedfest late-model features last month at Lanier National Speedway in Braselton, Ga. This season, he plans to enter a combination of super late model, pro late model and NASCAR regional touring series events.

    CHASE ELLIOTT FAST FACTS:
    Birth date: Nov. 28, 1995.
    Hometown: Dawsonville, Ga.
    Residence: Dawsonville, Ga.
    Career victories: More than 60.
    Types of cars raced: Late models, legends, bandoleros and go karts.
    Career highlight most proud of: Becoming the youngest driver to win the prestigious Winchester 400 late model race at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway in 2010.

    ABOUT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
    Since 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 194 race victories and a record 10 car owner championships in NASCAR’s premier division, the Sprint Cup Series. The organization fields four full-time Chevrolet teams on the Sprint Cup circuit with drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Headquartered in Concord, N.C., Hendrick Motorsports employs more than 500 people. For more information, please visit www.HendrickMotorsports.com, www.twitter.com/TeamHendrick and www.facebook.com/HendrickMotorsports.

  • Toyota NSCS Daytona Notes & Quotes — Denny Hamlin

    DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

    What is your mindset with the weather in the area today? “Looking forward to getting on track.  With the new rule changes, it’s going to be quite a bit different.  Every time we get on track really with these cars and NASCAR makes a change, it’s going to be a learning curve that we have to adapt to.   Looking forward to seeing how the cars react to the new changes.”

    Do you feel like you are getting your bad luck out of the way early this week? “Nothing has counted for anything yet, which is good that the mechanical issues that we’re having and obviously all that’s happening before it counts in the 500.  For me, it’s not discouraging one bit.  I think that we showed in the Shootout that we’re very capable of winning when it comes Daytona 500 time and the 150s tomorrow.  I look forward to it.  I love this type of racing.  I think that it’s exciting to watch and it’s definitely, from my standpoint, exciting to be a part of.”

    What is your interpretation of the yellow line rule now? “There’s a lot of instances since 2001 where guys have been penalized by the yellow line.  There’s a lot of them that have not been penalized because NASCAR deemed that they were forced down.  Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. at Talladega — that looked just like mine and was identical if you look at it.  There was no penalty.  There’s been other instances where there’s been penalties.  For me, coming to the checkered, it’s hard for us drivers mentality is not to use every bit of race track that we have to get to the line first.  For me, I think that’s what makes it so exciting.  Some of the most exciting passes that we’ve had in NASCAR is guys nipping down to the grass just about to make a pass.  I think there’s something to be said about that.  Take me out of the equation, there’s some great finishes that we could have had.  Talladega was one of them – if we didn’t have the yellow line rule.  Who knows what would have happened.  It would have been a very, very exciting finish.   Really, the part about if you’re forcing a guy down then you may be black flagged — that’s probably the least used rule in NASCAR’s rule book.  The guy who forces somebody down and I’m not particularly talking about Ryan (Newman), he’s the one that’s causing these wrecks.  He’s the guy who’s forcing these wrecks to happen.  I wish that was used a little bit more, if I guy knows that you dart your car down there and force a car down there, if they’re going to keep the yellow line rule then he needs to know that he’s subject to a penalty.  Right now, I think everyone just assumes that there will be no penalty because it’s never been implemented before.”

    Does that mean that you have to hold your line in that situation? “It forces you to if you want to keep your position and still go for a win that is.  I could have just pushed Ryan (Newman) to the win and finished second.  There would have been nothing wrong with that obviously.  They want us going for wins — I want to go for a win.  It’s exciting to me, especially in a Shootout-type race.  You do what you think you have to do to win the race.  That’s what I did.”

    How big of a concern are drivers who did not experience the two-car draft if practice does not take place today? “I think with the new changes, it’s probably going to be a little bit more like Talladega and less like what it was during the Shootout.  So it will probably play into the guys who have less experience at it — play into their hand a little bit better.  They won’t need to learn the art of pushing for 15 straight laps or something like that.  I think the more that NASCAR changes and obviously helps get these cars back together in a big pack, it will be more like the superspeedway racing that everyone’s seen before.  Right now, we don’t know until we get on the race track whether it’s still going to be two-car tandems or not with switch-offs.  For me, I’m not worried about it too much.  These are really, really good drivers.  Even the guys that weren’t in the Shootout are good drivers and they’re able to learn just as quick as us.”

    Will there be more three-car packs with the new rules? “You’ll never see that happen — you’ll never see three cars in a line continuing pushing each other.  For one, the guy in the middle would be scared out of his mind.  He can’t see in front of him and he’s getting pushed from behind.  That will never work, but I think for some reason it’s just the cars and the air just doesn’t react that way to them.  You will see probably the four-car tandem in the sense of you have two twos running very close to each other like we did at the end of Saturday night.   I think that was a big learning — something to watch from all the competitors at the end of that race watching two car links commit to not passing each other was much quicker.”

    DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) What are your thoughts on NASCAR going with a smaller restrictor plate? “The bias in me hates it because the smaller hurts the Toyotas even more.  Our horsepower range is a little bit lower.  It just makes the two-car tandem, in my opinion, more important with the smaller the plate that you go.  Being that the delta between being by yourself and being together will be even larger.  For me, the two-car tandems will be even more important.  The slower that the cars run by themselves, when you get them hooked up they are going to run close to the same speed or pretty close to the same speed.  It just makes that delta bigger and that’s when you’re going to have big, big runs and everything.  I thought that going bigger would be better simply because the faster we go, ultimately the handling will come into play eventually if we’re going a certain speed that the cars really can’t handle the corners being pushed.  I thought being bigger would be an advantage for getting the pack back together.  The pack would be able to catch the two- car tandems very, very quickly if the plate was bigger.  Obviously they felt that they didn’t want the cars running 206 (mph).   There’s a big safety concern when the cars are running 206.  Not necessarily for us, but the flag man especially.”

    What did finishing second in the points last year do for you? “I would say it’s the same, no different.  You have to have thick skin in this sport anyway, but then when you’re leading going into the last race and coming out second – you really are going to have to have thick skin.  For me, it is a learning experience.  You think of all the things you could have changed to improve not just that race, but many races before that.  It does, it makes you much tougher and it makes you more mentally prepared when you get around to that same situation again.  Hopefully I’m in that situation again.”

    Why has everyone been surprised by the two-car tandems? “I think none of the teams in testing were willing to give up race cars or crash race cars to try it out.  When you come down here and you know that it’s going to be race situation, you’re willing to take some more chances.  Really for me, I don’t know how much the teams learned during the test because obviously we came down here and started racing a whole lot different than what we did when we were testing.  I think NASCAR did a good job in the sense that they didn’t do all these rule changes right before the Shootout.  They at least saw how the Shootout was going to play out first.  That gave them an indication of how the 500 was going to play out.  We might even see more changes after the 150s depending on how the cars react.  There’s a certain type of racing that we’re all trying to get to here and NASCAR is working hard to try to make that happen.  Really for us, we never really show our hand — none of these drivers do on how they’re going to race the race until they get in it so it’s hard for NASCAR to predict it.”

    Are you worried about not getting any practice today? “If we raced today with no practice — I’m okay with it.  None of the rule changes that they implemented I think are going to impact the cars to where there’s going to be reliability issues or things like that.  It’s just basically going to change how the cars react around each other.  I think anyone would say to line them up and race them right now — we really don’t need that much practice.”

    What are the visibility problems of the pushing car in the two-car draft? “The whole game changed, not just the way we drive, but the way our spotters spot.  They spot the car in front of us now instead of us.  He basically tells me, ‘Okay, the car you’re pushing — he’s clear by this much, now he’s not clear.’  He tells you what’s going on with that car.  You obviously can control your car by looking through your mirrors and things like that, but once you get in the middle and stuff, it kind of gets hairy because now he’s trying to spot your car and his car.  It definitely was a complete game-changer and for me, the visibility was very, very tough.  It’s no different than Talladega. The only difference is the track is much wider than Talladega so you can see your barriers quite a bit more between the inside line and the wall.  With Daytona being so narrow — honestly, it’s only got one set of dotted lines around the corner instead of multiple like other race tracks so when you’re in the middle of the corner and you’re not around any dotted lines, you don’t know where you’re at.  You don’t know if you’re close to the apron — you don’t know if you’re close to the wall.   It’s definitely like driving blind for sure, but we just rely on our feel to kind of fix that.”

    DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Does the two-car draft and visibility issue make it easier to work with your teammates? “We even talked about it at the beginning of the race — the 4 (Kasey Kahne) and the 22 (Kurt Busch) didn’t have teammates in that race.  We thought about putting their radio channel on our radio so we could flip to them if we needed them at any point.  The problem is that everyone’s partner eventually wrecks out of the race so you’re looking for new partners midway through the race anyway.  That’s the way it kind of turned out.  It’s different.  It’s always good for us if the Toyotas can link up together.  That is the most efficient way for the two-car tandem to work is two Toyotas.  It’s different for sure.  For me, this is a whole new thing that I haven’t seen or anyone’s seen before.  Definitely having those guys, the chemistry is a little different because we tested a lot with each other — pushing and what not.  These cars are so stable now that you can use pretty much anybody that’s around.”

    Are you finding that your car reacts differently than Joey Logano and Kyle Busch’s cars? “For sure — my car is definitely faster pushing than it was being pushed.  Half-a-second difference realistically so that’s why I never chose to get pushed in the Shootout.  I would always, if a guy came up behind me, I would get out of the way and get behind him because my car is just not efficient out front whatsoever.  Ultimately to win the race, you’re going to need to be that second or maybe looks like even third guy.  For me, I think some cars — guys taped up their car differently.  I think this is going to be a whole new game now because with the mandated opening, I think everyone’s car will be closer out front versus being the one that’s being pushed.  Some people were opening up their grill sizes larger to be able to push longer.  The problem with that is that when they got out front, they were really slow.  Now that everyone will have the same grill size, you’re going to see guys being able to go being the first car or the second car.”

    Are your bumpers physically in contact the entire time you are in the two-car draft? “It stays solid.  It’s almost like a pressure-locked seal between the two cars.  There’s times that our cars come disconnected, but you don’t really see it on TV and you can’t really see it if you watched them.  As soon as that front car feels the release of that back car coming off, he’ll immediately hit the brakes and come back to you to start your momentum back up again.   We come disconnected quite a bit, but it just never shows on TV.  That’s when you see the other guys get a huge run and blowing right past you is because that one tandem has lost its seal.  I just don’t think anyone has figured out now what causes that seal to happen.  It’s literally like a magnet.  It gets close to each other and sucks right up.”

    Do you think NASCAR should have a large test session for the new changes? “I say as we go we’ll figure it out.  What NASCAR’s trying to get is to get these big packs back together and not these two- car tandems.  They’re going to achieve it before Sunday.  I firmly believe that they’re going to get it before Sunday.   Eventually we’re going to get it all figured out and we’re going to run a safe speed that they feel comfortable with.  It’s just so tough.  If we go and test somewhere, we’re not going to race the same.  We’re not going to drive the same as we will in race conditions — no one ever does.”