SAM HORNISH JR, (No. 77 AAA Dodge Charger) Finished 18th “We battled all night for track position and it paid off for us. We stayed out under caution and got ourselves back on the lead lap, gambling and playing the card that we needed to play. We got the AAA Dodge a top 20. We got loose a couple of times, scrubbed the wall, but we stayed in it and kept digging to bring home the best finish that we could. I’m happy to make it to the end without controversy.”
HOW MUCH OR A “RAZOR’S EDGE” WAS YOU CAR TONIGHT? “We were exactly where we were at here earlier this spring, if not tighter. It was a super frustrating day. We need to figure out why we can’t get the car to rotate like we need too. We either get the cars not to rotate or over rotate. It’s just a really fine line that makes it awfully hard to drive. There is no in-between with the car. It will push and not turn or just spin out. We can’t get it to where you feel comfortable with the back end of the car. I’m proud of the guys on the Mobil 1/AAA Dodge team today. They did a great job sticking with it and making good changes to get us going. At the end of the day, it was all about how we could get ourselves on the lead lap and a respectable finish.”
KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Finished 24th “Man, just a bit of a mystery today. We did our job on Friday to get our Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger a solid sixth starting position and that’s about as good as it was today. I’m just really confused on why our car was so tight to start the race. It’s really puzzling. By the time we got to the third caution on Lap 60, we had to make a complete shock change in the front, just to try and loosen the car up. Steve (Addington, crew chief) kept wrenching on it and we started to make some gains as the car loosened up. I thought that we were pretty good on the short runs, but just struggled on long green-flag racing. We started to inch our way inside the top 20, then top 15. Then all of a sudden, around the 200 lap marker, we pitted under caution and the entire attitude of the car changed. I have no idea if it was track temperature, tires, but whatever it was, we got really tight again. I scrubbed the wall and fell back to mid 20s again. Just no consistency and it showed.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI (NO. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) Finished 33rd “We really struggled to get our car to run the whole corner. We had moments where we were good in the middle, moments where we were good in and moments when we were good off, but we couldn’t find the answer for all four corners. Our team, we’ll find out what we need to do to make our cars better. We’re just missing a couple of little things. We just have to figure out what they are.”
PAUL MENARD- No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion (Finished 10th) – “We had a bad set of tires somewhere in the mid part of the race and dropped back to 15th or 20th or something like that. We put some tires on and did some minimal adjustments and came right back. That bad set got us behind the eight ball. I am proud of the guys. We have had bad pit stops the last couple of weeks and they really picked it up tonight. I had a fast car all weekend long. I am disappointed with 10th place, which is a good thing I guess.”
TREVOR BAYNE – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion (Finished 17th) – “That was awesome man. We had a terrible pit stall though because we were right with the guys we were racing with and I couldn’t get it in and out and got boxed in a few times. We had to pass so many cars, like 10 or 15 a run until pit stops. Finally Reutimann helped me out and stayed over to the left in his box and that really helped us. That was incredible. These things are so much fun. I wish I could do it every weekend. It was a blast to drive and to be that fast for a first run is incredible. Donnie Wingo, everybody at Wood Brothers Racing and Roush Fenway and Ford I want to thank for giving me this opportunity. I don’t really know what to say. That was as good or better than we expected so I am really pumped about it.”
MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Finished 2nd) – “That was disappointing that I didn’t finish it off there. We have lost a lot of close one’s here at Texas. My Crown Royal Black guys did a great job. Doug Yates and those guys built me an awesome engine. We had a perfect restart. I really wanted the bottom and he gave me the bottom. Everything went right that whole last lap. I got on the gas and cleared him down there and I thought everything was good and as soon as I got in front of him my car just took off. I had to get back out of the gas. I am disappointed we finished second but happy we performed that well.
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Finished 5th) – YOU HAD THE TOP CAR ALL DAY UNTIL TRANMISSION PROBLEMS, HOW DIFFICULT A PILL IS THAT TO SWALLOW. “It is really tough. We know we have had this problem and have neglected to fix it. We have had numerous opportunities. We had bad drive train vibration problems and today it bit us. It shook the guts out of the transmission today and they still don’t know what it is. They think they know what it is, but I am not sure if they really know.”
DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Finished 8th) – YOU HAD TO OVERCOME A LOOSE LUG NUT EARLY IN THE RACE. “First off, that goes to show you just how good of a car we had today. We were running in the top 10 and that loose lug nut just killed us. We had to come back in and tighten that up and then we were in the back of the field in the high 30s. After that, we just really had to race hard the rest of the night. Towards the end, we were in the wrong lane when one of the guys missed a couple of gears, so I was glad that we got that last caution. It was a good job by Drew [Blickensderfer] and our UPS team, we just need to get better on pit road.”
AFTER HAVING TO FIGHT BACK, HOW DOES IT FEEL WALKING AWAY WITH A TOP 10? “It’s some good momentum going into these last two races and it’s good to be disappointed with an eighth-place finish. I remember just a couple of months ago when we would have loved to have had a top 10. It’s good to have a fast car and we’ll go now to Phoenix and Homestead and try to do it again.”
Fort Worth, Texas – Is a winless season starting to get to Jeff Gordon driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet? Even though Gordon was nowhere in contention to win the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the contact between he and No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet will be the talk of the AAA Texas 500. On lap 191 it appeared that Burton had turned into Gordon’s DuPont Chevrolet during the seventh ServiceMaster Clean caution. That was brought out by Martin Truex Jr. driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts/Susan G Koman Toyota after smacking the wall in turn three. Jeff Burton and Gordon get into fisticuffs on the backstretch after Gordon walked to where Burton was standing instead of getting into his own ambulance.
“Thankfully, I had a long walk to him down the backstretch because I did about the least amount I was going to. I wanted to do a whole lot more to him. You know, I like Jeff, he’s a guy that’s usually very rational and I respect his opinion and he apologized, said it was his fault, said he didn’t mean to do it, and whatever. It’s over.” Gordon said.
Burton took full responsibility for the accident.
“100 percent, it was my fault. I had no problem with what Gordon did. I don’t blame him for being mad. I would have been mad too,” Burton said.
Now to get you back to the race, Elliott Sadler driver of the No. 19 Stanley Ford would bring the field to the green, but could not hold off the No. 16 American Red Cross Ford of Greg Biffle, who would lead the first lap. Biffle would continue to lead until the first ServiceMaster Clean caution was thrown due to the No. 87 of Joe Nemechek smoking. The green flag drop again at lap 17 with Biffle still the leader. Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet started to make a move on Biffle after restarting in the sixteenth spot, by lap 19 Johnson had picked up five spots to eleven. Johnson would continue to gain momentum, picking up another two spots to ninth by lap 21 and was to the fifth spot by lap 42. Before the second ServiceMaster Clean caution was thrown for debris.
Mark Martin is the first car off pit road and took over the lead. He’s followed by Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Elliott Sadler. Martin would bring the field to the green flag and would continue to lead until lap 49. When again, the No. 16 of Greg Biffle would once again take the lead. Biffle continues to lead, with a gap of about a second ahead of Mark Martin. The third ServiceMaster Clean caution would fly at lap 58 when Sam Hornish Jr. would get into the outside wall in turns three and four. We would finally start to see some different leaders, due to pitting. Kurt Busch and Patrick Carpentier would both lead a lap under caution, but once again Biffle again take once they cycled through the pit window. Biffle would continue lead from lap 64 through lap 97 until the No.5 of Mark Martin would take the lead.
Martin, would briefly lead as Biffle would regain the top spot on lap 105 as Martin pitted under the green flag. Biffle, would lead from laps 105 to 110 as he too pit under the green. Points leader Jimmie Johnson would lead for the first time at lap 110, Johnson lead briefly as he too had to pit. So, with a smart pit strategy Mark Martin regains the lead at lap 112 and would lead until lap 134 as the leaders would come to pit road. After the fourth ServiceMaster Clean caution came out for Martin Truex Jr., as he got loose in turn four and would hit the wall before sliding into the infield grass.
Under caution both Casey Mears and Joey Logano would take the lead, Logano would lead the cars to the green, and lead for two laps before Biffle would once again take the lead on lap 139. Biffle would continue to lead until lap 151, when we saw our fifth ServiceMaster Clean caution for Truex again as this time he blew a tire. Logano, would again take the lead under caution and bring the cars to the green, as he and Biffle would again battle for the lead. Logano, would lead one lap before Biffle would regain on lap 159. We would see our sixth ServiceMaster Clean caution as the No. 18 would spin in turn one. Biffle would once again bring the cars to the green and lead for fourteen laps until Logano would take the lead at lap 177. Logano would again continue to lead through the Burton and Gordon and fiasco and again bring the cars to the green at lap 201 and continue to lead until Biffle would again take the lead at lap 204.
Biffle would continue to lead from lap 204 through lap 246. As, he would make a green flag stop, and Kevin Harvick would lead his first lap of the day for five bonus points, Matt Kenseth and David Gilliland would each pick up five bonus points under this caution as well. Biffle, would once again lead from lap 249 through lap 288, until one again Joey Logano would again lead at TMS. Logano would just lead for one lap before Biffle would once again take the lead at lap 289. Biffle would lead from lap 289 until the eighth ServiceMaster Clean caution was thrown at lap 300 for debris.
The leaders would pit at lap 302 and after this it was Denny Hamlin’s race to lose. After a 2-lap battle with Matt Kenseth, Hamlin was the winner of the AAA Texas 500.
“That was disappointing that I didn’t finish it off there. We have lost a lot of close one’s here at Texas. My Crown Royal Black guys did a great job. Doug Yates and those guys built me an awesome engine. We had a perfect restart.” Kenseth said.
Hamlin has swept both races at TMS this season and with his win, he overtook Johnson in the Sprint Cup Series standings by 33 points.
Johnson finished ninth.
“It was just a long day. I had speed in the car. We worked our way forward and had issues on pit road. We gave away so much track position from the beginning. It’s tough to get back where we needed to.” Johnson said.
The unofficial top-ten in the AAA Texas 500 are: Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson, and Paul Menard.
Fort Worth, Texas- The NO. 18 M&M’s Toyota driven by Kyle Busch is still atop of the speed-charts for final practice. Busch led the second practice session with a time of 28.537 and a speed of 189.228, his final practice was.. Busch’s first practice time was 28.269 and a speed of 191.022. Busch has defiantly improved since his qualifying; he qualified twenty-ninth and is in the fifteenth row.
Here is how the rest of the drives in the Chase finished in the final practice session. Kurt Busch driver of the NO.2 Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge currently ninth in points, was fourth in the final session with a time of 28.899. Jeff Gordon driver of the NO.24 Dupont Chevrolet currently fourth in points finished ninth in the final session with a time of 28.997 .Jimmie Johnson driver of the NO.48 Lowes Chevrolet currently leading the points finished tenth in the final session with a time of 29.029. Carl Edwards driver of the NO.99 Aflac Ford who is sitting sixth in points finished the final session fourteenth in points with a time of 29.098. These are the top-five final practice speed drives that are in the Chase.
Here is where the rest of the drivers in the Chase finished for the final practice session. Tony Stewart driver of the NO.14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet currently seventh in points finished the session in seventeenth with a time of 29.130. Greg Biffle, driver of the NO. 16 American Red Cross Frod currently eleventh in points finished the session in eighteenth with a time of 29.135. Kevin Harvick, driver of the NO. 29 Shell/Penzoil Chevrolet currently third in points finished the session in twentieth with a time of 29.146. Deny Hamlin driver of the NO. 11 FedEx Office Toyota currently second in points finished the session in 29.187.
Clint Bowyer driver, of the NO.33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet currently twelfth in points finished the session in 29.261. Matt Kenseth, driver of the NO. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford currently eighth in points finished in thirty-first with a time of 29.331. Jeff Burton driver of the NO.31 Caterpillar Chevrolet currently tenth in points finished the session in thirty-fifth with a time of 29.423.
Other NSCS notables not in the case; Elliot Sadler pole sitter driver of the 19 Stanley ford had a time of 28.981. Mark Martin driver of the 5 Carquest/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet had a time of 29.102. Jamie McMurry driver of the 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet had a time of 29.198. Dale Earnhardt Jr. driver of the 88 National Guard/ AMP Energy Chevrolet had a time of 29.317.
For Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, it’s three to go.
For Johnson, it’s a shot at not only the historic but the inconceivable just a few years ago: five straight championships.
For Hamlin, it’s the accomplishment of a quest he vowed to fulfill last year when the season closed out at Homestead: dethrone Jimmie Johnson.
For Harvick, it’s the opportunity to bring a title back to Richard Childress racing and complete a remarkable resurgence from last year’s mediocre results.
All three have strong motivations and none are more seductive than the title they could carry to Speedweeks at Daytona in February: defending Sprint Cup Champion.
It’s never been this close before and it’s been four years since it’s been nearly this close with three to go. It could get even closer.
For Hamlin, just managing to get a top six finish with Johnson three spots back could get him the points lead. Harvick could tote the lead out of Texas with a win and just a few spots between himself and Hamlin and Johnson.
For Johnson, it’s time to sweat.
He’s hearing the footsteps. He knows both the 11 and 29 teams are figuring out how to squeeze him out of points.
Last week, the 29 team elected to maneuver their pit stops so that Johnson couldn’t lead a lap under caution. Ultimately the 48 did lead, but the RCR bunch did the things they could do to control it.
Just how far will each go?
This season, we’ve seen the “have at it boys” mentality in the Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series. We’ve seen it happen for spots, for spite, and for wins.
Could it happen for a championship? Here’s something to start thinking about now.
What happens if it gets to Homestead with just a few points separating all three? It could happen.
Only three races remain at Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead.
At those three racetracks combined (the average of the average finishes at each track), Jimmie Johnson has the best average finish at 9.2. Hamlin comes in behind him at 10.6 at Harvick rounds out the three with a 12.1 average finish at all three tracks combined.
That means that on average, less than three positions separate each contender with three races to go.
The first ingredient for the “have at it boys” mindset is proximity, and they might have it every single week.
Race results from week to week get forgotten. It’s an endless blur of tracks, cities, silly season news and sponsorship moves. A Champion gets remembered forever.
So far this season, we’ve seen races won and lost by having at it, we’ve seen cars get airborne by having at it, and we’ve seen penalties handed out for having at it.
What if a championship is won or lost by having at it?
What if we get to Homestead and we end up waiting until Tuesday to see if a penalty is enough to change the final standings? What will NASCAR do if an egregious incident knocks someone out, or singles out a championship contender for rough driving after the race?
How will you remember the 2010 season if it happens?
Will you watch the driver collect a championship, the trophy and the check and celebrate him for doing what he had to do to win a title, or will you forever look at the 2010 champion with a mental asterisk?
Did he avail himself of the current mentality in NASCAR, or did he win a championship under dubious circumstances?
Be prepared to answer those questions yourself; there’s never been a year like this before and it could create a perfect storm for the fans, the drivers and NASCAR.
We all have heard “Baseball is Americas Pastime”. After witnessing what I saw tonight in the garage area at Texas Motor Speedway, I must say NASCAR is “Americas Family Sport. I had the privilege of seeing little D.J. Starr son of NCWTS driver David Starr playing at his “playground”.
I must say it blew me away; I just stood there in amazement seeing this little boy run through the garage area as if he was playing at the city park. But to him this is his park, the hauler is his jungle gym, and dodging through the people and other teams in the garage is his maze. Young D.J. is not the only kid who calls NASCAR garages, haulers, and trailers their playground.
The crew is his extended family, and the other drivers are ‘Uncles”. But, NASCAR is not only a family sport for the drivers; it is also a family sport for the fans. Most tracks offer a family section, in this section there is usually no alcohol or smoking allowed in the stands.
They usually offer a family ticket package or in most cases tickets are priced very well. For example a family of four could attend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday for $159.00. In the same area for other sporting events, you would pay would pay 331.32 to take your family to Dallas Cowboys game and for the Dallas Mavericks a family package varies between $49.00-$256.00 for a family of four.
I would encourage you if you have the opportunity to go to a NASCAR race to bring your kids to the races, like David Starr and let your children witness the “NASCAR Playground” like young D.J.
Fort Worth, Texas- Texas news and notes by the numbers:
* Can pole sitter Elliot Sadler become the second driver in the NSCS to win from the Pole at TMS? Kasey Kahne, driver of then NO. 9 Chevrolet is the only to driver to win from the pole (4-09-06) and there have been four wins from the front row.
* There are four current drivers who have competed in all of the 19 races at TMS, and will start there 20 here tomorrow. They are Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon, Gordon and Burton have both won at TMS, Gordon has one victory in the Samsung 500(04-05-09), while Burton has two victories in the Samsung 500(04-15-07) and the Interstate Batteries 500(04-06-97).
* Four of the current twelve drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup have yet to garnish a win this season; they are Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth. It seems like Edwards will have the best chance as he will start in the third position tomorrow, while Gordon will start in the fifteenth, Burton in the sixteenth, and Kenseth in the nineteenth.
* It takes approximately 120 minutes for the ServiceMaster Clean Jets to make it around the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway Oval.
* The fewest number of ServiceMaster Clean cautions for a Sprint Cup Race at TMS is five , this has happened two time with the most recent on 11-08-09.
* Twelve is the most number of ServiceMaster Clean Cautions for a Sprint Cup Series race at TMS, this has happened three time with the most recent on 11-04-07.
* There have been sixteen different race winners in the nineteen Sprint Cup races at TMS.
* There have been thirteen different pole winners in the nineteen Sprint Cup races at TMS.
Other News and Notes by the Numbers not related to Texas:
* There have been twelve different Sprint Cup race winners in 2010
* There have seventeen different Sprint Cup pole winners this season.
* The most number of ServiceMaster Clean Cautions this season for a Sprint Cup Series race has been fifteen at Martinsville.
CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET, met with media and discussed his current momentum, what he does with his trophies, and more. Full Transcript:
SURE YOU WANT TO KEEP THE MOMENTUM UP AFTER LAST WEEK’S WIN AT TALLADEGA?
“Absolutely. Last week was a great, well-needed win for our race team. It was a 1-2 finish for RCR and it was a good points day for Kevin and you couldn’t ask for a better situation so glad to get out of Talladega……….and anytime you can get out of there with a top-ten you are pretty happy and obviously with a win we were pretty ecstatic. But looking forward to Texas, it’s a fun place to be you know and I always look forward to coming down here in front of a great fan base that we get to race in front of.
“We were off a little bit in qualifying but in race trim I think we will be where we need to be. The guys are digging deep in the computers and trying to see where our speed needs to be in qualifying trim and we really need to figure it out because we got a good draw.”
YOU SAID AT YOUR NEWS CONFERENCE THAT YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE A NEW CAR AND A NEW ENGINE. CAN YOU FEEL THE DIFFERENT RIGHT AWAY OR ARE YOU STILL WORKING ON IT?
“Well unfortunately for the engine guys, our chassis is not chassis-ing enough that we can use the engine (laughs). We have got to get the chassis underneath us to where we can utilize the horsepower that we’ve had all season long. Its just kind of the next step for our engine shop and when they are excited about something it gets you pretty excited.
“I think we will be able to use that in the race and you certainly would think in qualifying it would help you but we have got to get our chassis better so we can get a good qualifying effort.”
HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO GET A WIN LAST WEEK IN LIGHT OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU?
“It was very important and that is the think that probably is the most exciting just for everybody. You know you think about everything that happened after the penalty, the sponsors, you as the race team, not having a crew chief, and down to Kevin’s pit crew to be able to give them another win and give them a better feeling about the situation is a good thing. I am just happy for everybody involved and for myself and the 33 car and you couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
CAN YOU ALSO TALK ABOUT GETTING YOUR CREW CHIEF BACK?
“Yeah, I was pulling out and I saw him standing on top of the hauler and I said, ‘I bet your radio batteries are charged up, they have had four weeks to get charged up and they probably won’t be running down in his radio anytime soon. Just happy to get him back and get him in the routine and get things finished off right for this season and as we get started out for next season without missing a beat.”
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR TROPHIES THAT YOU WIN?
“This is kind of bad, but the trophy for Talladega is on the floor of my motorhome. It was on the table but I had to move it so I could eat last night but it hasn’t made it home yet. You know, trophies are always something that I have been proud of and you really think about it at the end of the day and the money that you win will probably be gone someday and those trophies on your mantle and in your trophy room are probably your most prized possessions for the rest of your life.”
WHAT ABOUT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE TROPHY?
“Yeah, it made it back but we lost that lobster that they gave us in New Hampshire and they mount a lobster somehow so I am waiting on them to get that to us and I am curious to see what that lobster looks like. It will be a different trophy for the trophy room for sure.”
About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
The tumultuous adventure in the NASCAR Nationwide Series continues as Danica Patrick returns to a place she knows, Texas Motor Speedway.
Patrick is preparing for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at a track where she garnered a second place finish in June with her IndyCar racer. The track is familiar to her, but running it in a heavy stock car is a whole different deal as she has come to realize.
Her spotter T.J. Majors and crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. will be doing their best to guide her through the field, trying to boost her confidence with each lap. She has shown her feisty spirit recently on the track and even looks a bit racy at times.
Though her stats don’t appear noteworthy with and average finish of 29.1, she may have done much better had it not been for the accident factor, much of which was not her fault.
On the JR Motorsports team preview, Patrick stated, “I can tell you that top 15’s are the goals we have for our GoDaddy team through the end of the year. It’s something I feel we can do. I think we’ve had some chances this year, especially at Fontana. I know that I’ve learned as I’ve gone along. I feel a little more under control. Not everything is happening as fast for me as it was at the beginning.”
Patrick will be running the last three races of the NASCAR Nationwide series this year and the first four races of the season next year before starting her open-wheel series. Homestead, the final race this year, is another track where she was able to capture a second place finish with her IndyCar ride.
Controversy will continue to ride shotgun with Patrick as people debate whether she belongs in NASCAR or how serious she is about it. Time will come all too quickly when Patrick will have to decide if she wants to drive open-wheel cars or stock cars. It has made her NASCAR learning curve more difficult with the IndyCar schedule.
The driver of the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevrolet for JR Motorsports seems very serious about proving she can race with the boys and “have at it” with them. The continuity of seat time she has at the end of this season and the beginning of next season should show if she can truly get a handle on stock car racing.
We shall watch the Danica Patrick experiment play out this coming weekend. She has at least raised her goals from a top-20 finish to a top-15. Maybe this will be the weekend she can start proving her goals are within reach.
TONY STEWART, NO. 24 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET met with media and discussed racing in the Chase, the tight point battle, and more. Full Transcript:
HOW WAS PRACTICE? AND WHAT ADJUSTMENTS, IF ANY, DO YOU NEED TO MAKE?
“Well, we’ve only got an hour and a half; we haven’t been here very long. I think we’re decent. We’ve got a good starting spot off where we were in the spring and feel like we’ve got something we can work with. Let’s get through today and see how good a job we can do in qualifying and then we’ll go into tomorrow and start our race stuff again and see if we can make it better than it was today.”
EVERYBODY HAS MADE THESE COMMENTS LIKE ‘ANYBODY BUT THE NO. 48’ ABOUT JIMMIE JOHNSON RUNNING FOR A FIFTH CHAMPIONSHIP. LAST WEEK KEVIN HARVICK JOKED ABOUT SOMEBODY ELSE NEEDING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR IT TO BE RELEVANT TO THE FANS. WHERE DO YOU THINK ALL THAT COMES FROM?
“I just laugh at everybody about it. The whole idea here is to go out and win races and win championships and the guy has been good at it for four years. So, I don’t know how you can say they guy doing what he’s supposed to do, and doing what all of us want to do, how you can say it’s bad. That’s where I stand on that.”
AND REGARDING THE CHASE, DO YOU THINK EVERYBODY IS FINALLY LEARNING HOW TO RACE THE CHASE?
“That’s the thing everybody has asked since day one. It’s not a hard concept to understand. It’s just a 10-race season, basically. You race in that first 26 weeks to get yourself in there and then it’s a short 10-week season. So it’s not like people had to learn how to do this. Everybody in this garage area raced somewhere else before they got here; and raced for championships no matter whether it’s 10 races long or 120 races long like the World of Outlaws. So, they all know how to do it but it’s just a matter of doing the job for those 10 weeks.”
ARE YOU TRYING ANYTHING DIFFERENT TOWARDS NEXT YEAR RIGHT NOW?
“I’m still trying to win races this year. We’re just staying the course right now, in all honesty. We’ve still got places we’re still racing for in the championship too, so we’re just trying to get the best finishes we can get.”
ON THE POINTS BATTLE BEING TIGHTER THIS YEAR THAN LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME WHEN JIMMIE JOHNSON HAD A PRETTY BIG LEAD AT THIS POINT
“I know we’re not in contention so it’s fun for me to watch too and watch to see who’s got a chance to win this thing. Its three great guys and three great teams and organizations right now that still have a really good shot. It’s anybody’s ballgame right now.”
About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
