Category: NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PEPSI MAX 400

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 8, 2010

 

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/PEPSI MAX CHEVROLET met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway and discussed two races at Auto Club Speedway, on-track retaliation and other topics.  Full transcript:

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT RICK HENDRICK BEING ON THE ROSTER FOR VOTING INTO THE NASCAR HALL OF FAME?:  “I would certainly love to see Rick (Hendrick) get inducted.  You know he’s going to eventually, but to be in that second class would be pretty amazing.  He’s been in the sport for a long time and has achieved an awful lot beyond just the success with the race teams.  I think of what he’s done in the sport.  There’s a lot of history in this sport and there’s a lot of people on that list that deserve to be in there so looking forward to seeing who those five are whether Rick makes it or not.”

IS THERE ANYONE BESIDES RICK HENDRICK ON THE LIST THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE INDUCTED?:  “You’re going to have to start going down the list and I’ll give you my opinion.  I think (David) Pearson is somebody that stands out to me that I would like to see in there.”

DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE ETIQUETTE BETWEEN CHASERS AND NON-CHASERS?:  “I think that’s the beauty of our sport and our whole Chase that we have is that what makes it unique is that you’re racing against everybody out there and one of those challenges comes that you have to race those guys hard and clean and recognize that you’re going for a championship.  They have something out there to prove as well and they have to recognize the same thing.  To me, you should not go into the Chase expecting guys  that aren’t in the Chase to give you any extra leeway.  That’s not the way it works.  I had a heck of a battle with Ryan Newman last week and I felt like I was a lot faster than him.  Had we got by him, it would have gotten us a couple extra spots.  But he’s racing for position, racing for things that are important to him and he didn’t want to budge or give up on that so I respected that.”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO WIN AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY?:  “I don’t know, ask me after Sunday because it’s been a while since we’ve won anywhere and this track is a tricky one.  It’s slick, the grooves move around during the race and we haven’t had the success here recently that we’ve had in the past.  Sometimes it takes fuel mileage.  Sometimes it takes having a good car on the restarts.  Sometimes pit strategy, but a lot of different things.  I’ll take a fast car anywhere we go, that always helps.  It’s going to be interesting this weekend being 400 miles instead of 500.  How that’s going to change things, of course it always depends on when the cautions fall and how they fall.  Being a little bit shorter race I think it always more exciting.  I’m anxious to see how it affects this one.”

 

DID YOU TAKE CONTROL OF LAST WEEK’S RACE?:  “I don’t really remember, but I think if I go back to what we were talking about, we’ve had some issues this year where we started adjusting the car and the adjustments that we were making, like if you go back four or five years ago, those adjustments might help.  This car, this day and age with some of the funky setups that we have, it just seems like if you start getting passed small adjustments – air pressure, small track bar and wedge adjustments, it just seems like the whole car starts to go crazy and that’s what I started to see happen last week is that we were making these adjustments and we started making bigger adjustments.  It was all based on things I was asking for, but I felt like it was not taking the car in the right direction like it was actually making us go slower.  I was just giving my feedback to Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and the guys.  That’s my job and their job is to try to give me what I need out there.  Sometimes, I’ve got to back up and look at things that I’m saying and how I’m expressing it as to how that’s affecting the calls and the adjustments that those guys make.”

ARE YOU STILL SUPPORTIVE OF STEVE AND WORKING WITH HIM?:  “Oh yeah, absolutely.  No doubt about that.  This is a team sport and I really believe in Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and I think he’s an awesome crew chief.  If I’m not giving him the proper feedback then I don’t expect him to be able to make the right adjustments to help us go faster as the race goes on.  I was real happy last week with the way we ended that race and I felt like we really made big gains there at the end and went from a ninth or 10th place car all the way up to fifth.  Those are things we have to do more of.  Those are things we did earlier in the year and then we started missing in the middle part of the year.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON CALIFORNIA LOSING A RACE?:  “This race track has struggled.  I think it’s been obvious that while we have a great fan base out here and I think we want to maintain that, you have to look at the sport, the whole sport and everything that’s going on.  When you leave Kansas Speedway and we’ve got an incredible crowd and just a huge group of fans are there and you look at how that race track and surrounding areas are growing.  They’re building a casino and all those things.  It just makes more sense for us to be there.  Whether it’s the economy, whether it’s this market.  They can’t even get an NFL franchise to work in this area.  There’s something about this area that is really tough when it comes to sports franchises and sports entertainment in general.  I think that right now it’s the right move. Hopefully we can get back to selling out this race and utilizing this market because it is a great market and then maybe one day come back and have two races.”

WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO RUNNING WELL AT CHARLOTTE?:  “I love Charlotte and love going there.  We weren’t very good there in May so we’ve been really looking hard at our notes and setups and cars and trying to do some things to be better when we go back there.  It’s a very fast race track, high-banked and I think it’s hard to pass there so qualifying is pretty important.  We’ve been missing some of that the last couple times.  I think we’ve learned some things since we were there and track position is important everywhere we go, but having a really well-balanced race car there is equally or more important.”

DO YOU FEEL GOOD GOING BACK TO TEXAS KNOWING YOU WERE STRONG IN APRIL?:  “I’m excited to go back to Texas just because we were so good there, I’m looking forward to seeing if we can go back there and be as good as well as where the competition is at.  We’re kind of on the fence for Texas because we feel like we’ve learned a lot since we were there, but at the same time, we were so good there that we wouldn’t change a whole lot.  I’m anxious to see just how our setup that we think is the best package, how it’s going to work for us.  It’s the first time I’ve really looked forward to going to Texas for a second time just because we were so good there.  I think we’ll be good again.”

DID YOU SEE THE NASCAR SOUTHPARK EPISODE?:  “I did not.  I read something about it and heard about it.  To me, regardless of what the positive or negative spins are that all these shows put, I think it’s still good publicity for the sport.  Even if you’re making fun of it, I think it’s still getting attention that’s pretty cool for us.”

DID LAST WEEK’S SITUATION AT KANSAS BRING TO REALITY THAT A NON-CHASE DRIVER COULD TAKE OUT A CHASE DRIVER?:  “I’ve never second-guessed that before.  I think if a guy feels like he was taken out then I fully expect that they’ll come back to get you.  That’s just part of racing.  We hear about paybacks all the time, but sometimes they happen right away and sometimes they take time.  David (Reutimann), he didn’t like what happened and he chose to retaliate right away.  I think if Kyle (Busch) was being honest, he would probably go back and rethink some of the choices that he made, not because he thinks that he did anything wrong, but just look at the outcome.”

ARE YOU NOT OVERLY AGGRESSIVE BECAUSE YOU CAN FOCUS ON WINNING A CHAMPIONSHIP?:  “My thing is this is that I know if I have no issues with a guy and I don’t have any history with that person knocking me out of the way for a position, I know that if I make contact with him or if I wreck him, spin him, that’s going to come back to me one day.  That’s just the way I’ve approached racing throughout my whole career.  I go back to Sonoma and some things that happened there and I fully expect whether it happens this weekend, next weekend or whenever and those guys, the 19 (Elliott Sadler) and the 56 (Martin Truex Jr.), they’ve been racing me really, really hard.  Bumps and taps and little things here and there.  They haven’t just clean taken me out.  If it happens, you’re not going to hear me say much about it.”

 

IS IT MORE SIGNIFICANT THAT JIMMIE JOHNSON IS LEADING THE POINTS OR HOW TIGHT THE BATTLE IS?:  “I think it shows just how strong they are when the Chase comes around.  Those guys just have an ability to step up and each year they do it.   Each year you think, ‘Oh man, I think we have a shot at seeing a different champion this year.’  Then those guys start backing it up right away with solid finishes even though they started New Hampshire a little rough.  You just can’t ever count them out.  As tight as things are, I think everybody in the top-six or eight right now feel like they still have a shot at it.  At the same time, you don’t ever want to see that 48 (Jimmie Johnson) up there leading because those guys are just so tough and so strong that unless something happens to them, it’s going to be hard to consistently beat them.”

DID YOU FEEL CALIFORNIA WAS DESTINED FOR TWO RACES WHEN YOU WON THE FIRST ONE?:  “Yeah, I think so.  We’ve always had a great fan base in California.  Even southern California.  I don’t think that was ever in question and it was cool to come back, great race track.  I’m one that questions a lot of tracks having two races, not just here at California.  We’ve put a lot of people in the grandstands, we’re very fortunate to have as big of an audiences that we have, but makes you wonder when economy has some issues whether or not you can sustain that kind of audience.  I think before the economy, we saw things tapering off here a little bit and when the economy hit, it didn’t surprise me that it tapered off as much as it did here.  I just look at southern California in genera, there’s so much to do here, there’s so many options for entertainment that it’s very competitive.  When you think about trying to put and not to mention traffic is bad here all the time anyway.  You try to put 80 or 100, 000 people in the grandstands and do it twice a year, that’s tough to ask around this area.”

DID YOU GO TO CUP RACES IN CALIFORNIA WHEN YOU WERE A KID?:  “I didn’t know what a Cup car was when I lived in California, I’ll be honest.  I didn’t know what NASCAR racing was until I moved to Indiana.  Even though, my family on my dad’s side, I found out they were all big NASCAR fans.  I had no idea.  I had raced for years and all I followed was sprint cars and Indy cars and I found out that they were NASCAR fans on my dad’s side, but I had no idea.”

DO YOU STILL KEEP UP WITH INDY CAR?:  “A little bit.  Not like I did when I was growing up as a kid.  I was a big Rick Mears fan and Mario (Andretti) and AJ (Foyt) and (Al) Unser and those guys.  I mainly watched the Indy 500 that was my thing.  The series has changed a lot over the years and now with our schedule, it’s hard to keep up with any other thing.  I probably keep up with Formula 1 more than I keep up with anything.”

ARE YOU CONCERNED THAT THERE ARE MORE PAYBACKS AT LARGER RACE TRACKS?:  “Listen, we have to be big boys.  If you’re going to go out there and race at this series and at this level and do the things that we do, make the choices and decisions that we make then you’re going to have to recognize that’s just part of it.  You can’t pick and choose when paybacks are coming or where or what or how.”

 

IS THIS A CHANGE FROM THE YEARS PAST?:  “Nope.  I think it’s just a coincidence maybe that’s the pattern.  To me, the way I’ve always looked at paybacks is it just happens when it happens.  It depends on how ruthless you are.  If you feel like that person got you at a time when you had a shot at winning the race then you’re probably going to try to take a win away from them.  You have to kind of be in that position where you’re out of it and you don’t have a shot at it and you don’t want them to win that race.  It could be something like that.  To me, it doesn’t matter where you’re at.  I don’t think anybody goes out there with any intentions of hurting anybody.  That’s not the case.  This is why I try hard not to hit people.  I know I’m not always successful at that.  In my opinion, you don’t know what the repercussions of that are and when they’ll happen and I prefer not to take that chance.  When I see and even when I go back to (Dale) Earnhardt and Rusty (Wallace), I used to see things that went on back then that always used to amaze me.  Why would you do some of those things because surely they’re going to get you back and you may not like when or where they get you back and you might end up in the hospital.  That’s why I try not to make too many enemies out there.”

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.

Friday, Oct. 08, 2010

Auto Club Speedway

Dodge Motorsports PR

Pepsi MAX 400

Post-Qualifying Quotes

Tweets by TeamDodge

www.media.chrysler.com

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger) “We ran a 39.86 with the Miller Lite Dodge and were just dead loose at one point. Our early qualifying draw didn’t help us, but we weren’t the only ones to go out early. That’s just part of the deal. Fontana is a big, wide track with plenty of room to move around. We put ourselves behind a bit in qualifying. Now we’ll have to play catch up on race day.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger) “I’ll take it. I was excited that we ran that fast because I didn’t feel like the car drove that well at all. We put up a decent lap for how it drove despite the fact that it wasn’t a perfect run. It’s pretty warm out and the cars tend to get on the loose side here. I was a little loose in (Turns) 1 and 2, got through 3 better and 4 was OK. Let’s see where it puts us.”

SAM HORNISH JR. (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) “We haven’t been good all day, so I didn’t expect too much in qualifying. Just a struggle today.”

NASCAR veteran Donnie Wingo has been named crew chief of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion. Wingo will assume the role immediately and will be atop the No. 21 pit box next weekend in Charlotte.

“It’s really an honor to be on top of the pit box for the No. 21,” said Wingo. “Anyone in NASCAR knows the historic significance and what the Wood Brothers have meant to NASCAR. The No. 21 is iconic in this sport and it’s a great privilege to be associated with this team. I’m eager to get to Charlotte next weekend and see what we can do as a team.”

Wingo most recently served at the crew chief for Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 Sprint Cup team with driver David Ragan. During his 27-year NASCAR career, he has worked with drivers ranging from Dick Trickle, Ricky Rudd, Jimmy Spencer, Juan Pablo-Montoya, Jamie McMurray and Morgan Shepherd.

The No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion and driver Bill Elliott will be back on track next week in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON COMING BACK TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY? HOW WAS TODAY’S FIRST PRACTICE? “It’s great to be back on the West Coast. Growing up in Las Vegas, it was always fun to come to Southern California whether it was for vacation or racing. Racing at Irwindale Speedway, Mesa Marin up in Bakersfield, Southern California has always been high on my list. It’s a great race track here. I’ve had a chance to win a race in the Truck and Cup Series.

“The way that everything shook out for us in practice, we had some suspension components that we were working on and trying to science out some stuff. The race track here just gets rougher and rougher and presents a tougher challenger every time that we come back as far as how we can get our front end compliance to get the grip that we need out on the track. So far, so good. We’ll see how things go.”

WHY ARE WE SEEING MORE RETALIATION BY DRIVERS? IS IT A CONCERN? “I think we’ve had it all along at the bigger race tracks, there’s just more focus on it this year with the guys not having to look over their back and having NASCAR make a call. The decision of ‘boys have at it’ means everywhere. We’ve let a couple weeks of retaliation go by. It seemed like just so that NASCAR wasn’t on you so hard. Now it’s more wide open and you don’t have to look over your shoulder.”

HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF POSITION FOR THE REST OF THE CHASE? WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT COUPLE OF RACES? “We’ve got a decent foundation of points built up. We’re in better position than we were last year after three races. What we need to happen, like at Kansas, we were running eighth or ninth and tried to short pit, had a bad pit stop and lost four positions. If we can turn that around, flip it the other way and take and eighth-place car and finished fifth with it, that’s what’s going to put us in position to win this championship. We just can’t have those little mistakes chewing away at points and losing them. We need to start gaining them.”

HAVE YOU STARTED TO NOTICE FEWER CAUTIONS THE LAST PART OF THE SEASON AND THE NUMBER OR GREEN FLAG RUNS ASSOCIATED WITH IT? HOW DIFFICULT IS IT WHEN THERE ARE MORE GREEN-FLAG STOPS? “It’s good to get into that green-flag rhythm. I think that it helps a team like ours with just knowing what lap you’re going to pit on and getting the guys ready to jump over the wall to pit. I try to communicate with Steve Addington as much as I can at the beginning of the run to let him know the car is doing and then shortly before we pit. Green flag pit stops, you can lose a lot of time and positions as well as gain them, if the driver gets into pit road cleanly and smoothly. When you’re on pit road during a green-flag stop, it’s rare that cars are around you and guys can really blitz off a fast pit stop time because you don’t have to worry about other guys running into them. It’s a nice difference when you have green-flag sessions.”

WHAT DOES IT SAY FOR PENSKE RACING TO BE THE ONLY DODGE TEAM RACING IN CUP AND NATIONWIDE, YET HAVE A SHOT AT WINNING BOTH CHAMPIONSHIPS? “It’s a true testament to everyone who works at Penske Racing. They’re doing a great job and everyone is pushing hard. It’s just not on the NASCAR side; we had a legitimate shot at winning the IRL title too. We just came up a bit shy. It seemed like just a bit of lack of experience that Will (Power) had on some of the ovals. Again, the cars were prepared well. Everybody was upbeat about it. Last month, we were at a team luncheon with all of our teams there and we were saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got a shot at three championships.’ We missed out on one. We still have a great shot at the Nationwide, that’s our best shot, and we’re right in the mix too. I’m proud of our car carrying the Dodge banner, there’s a lot of responsibility in that, but we’re doing a great job doing it as independents.”

FOR A SHORT TRACK, WHY DOES MARTINSVILLE CREATE SO MANY PROBLEMS? “It’s just the fact that you can let off the brake pedal going into a corner and dump somebody. You’re on the competition all the time and there’s no room for error. The spacing is so tight that positions can change quickly and if you have bad pit stop at a Martinsville-style track, it can be really difficult to work your way back up front.”

BETWEEN TALLADEGA AND MARTINSVILLE, WHICH ONE IS MORE FRUSTRATING FOR YOU? “I would say Martinsville is for me. I feel like I’ve just struggled at Martinsville over the years versus Talladega.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PEPSI MAX 400

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 8, 2010

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 THE HARTFORD CHEVROLET, met with members of the media to discuss Scott Miller as a temporary crew chief and the reduced penalties, track conditions at ACS for Sunday’s race, and more.  Full transcript:

 

WELCOME BACK TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON TAKING TO THE TRACK HERE?

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to a 400 mile race here. We were good here in the spring as a team and I’m looking forward to the challenge of having Scott Miller as a crew chief. This is going to be a challenge for everybody. Scott has done a good job of the homework side of it and getting acclimated to this race team and staying in tune to the last few weeks. I think that he can even benefit us a little bit. You know, he’s been on the sidelines looking in and down on our race team and on some of the faults that we have as a race team and some of the benefits and things that we do good. I think he can compliment both sides of that and help out a little bit. So, it’s going to be challenging to be able to go to work without (crew chief) Shane (Wilson), but I think everybody has done a good job of stepping up in preparation for this. I think we’ll be fine.”

WITH ALL THIS UNPLEASANT STUFF HAPPENING THE LAST WEEKS, DOES IT HAVE ANY AFFECT ON THE WORKING MORALE NOW WITH RICHARD CHILDRESS OR IS IT THE SAME AS BEFORE?
“Well, it’s taken a lot of attention and focus away from some things. But to get this behind us was important; it was crucial for the outcome of the rest of the year from RCR. I’m glad that we were able to do that. I guess they did pull back a little bit of the penalty or something, but more importantly I’m ready to look forward to these last few races and try to get That Hartford Chevrolet in victory lane again this weekend. We’ve got to do that, in my mind, to clear things up from New Hampshire. I think it’s important to get that done and I think looking at Talladega is another good place to do that. Kevin (Harvick) won the race. Our cars are very fast on the superspeedways. Our engine program is second to none and I know that a lot of the other Chasers are not looking forward to that. That’s got to be an opportunity for us to pounce.”

 

WERE YOU HAPPY AT ALL THAT THE SUSPENSION WAS REDUCED?  TALK ABOUT MILLER WORKING AS YOUR CREW CHIEF AND THE DYNAMIC WITH DILLON ACTING AS YOUR ‘COACH’ DURING THE RACE.

“I didn’t even know about the deal this week.  I put it behind me—last week in Kansas, I went on an elk hunt, my phone didn’t work for three days, then we went to Vegas and enjoyed ourselves for another couple of days.  It was a hell of a good week.  I got to enjoy it with some racers—Elliott Sadler, Bobby Labonte, Kasey Kahne and Dale Jarrett—just a good group of good guys.  You normally don’t get the chance during the season to enjoy some of the guys you race against; those are some of the best characters in the business, so I really, really enjoyed this week and had a lot of fun. I didn’t worry about anything to be honest with you. I think my phone turned on in Truth or Consequences; Elliott was driving and I’m like, ‘where the hell are we?!”  I think Truth or Consequences is where I finally found out what was going on.  Sometimes it’s neat to be able to just go out and get away completely, and I’m talking like completely away and enjoy yourself.  It was a well needed week.”

WAS IT WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY OR WHEN?

“It was Wednesday sometime, I don’t know.  It’s been a long week though.”

IN THREE OF THE LAST FOUR RACES WE’VE HAD FIVE CAUTIONS OR LESS.  HAVE YOU AS A DRIVER NOTICED THAT? AND WHEN THERE ARE SUCH A LOW NUMBER OF CAUTIONS AND SUCH A HIGH NUMBER OF GREEN-FLAG RUNS, HOW HARD IS IT TO ADJUST ON YOUR CAR DURING THE RACE TO MAKE THINGS BETTER, OR ARE YOU MORE CONCERNED ABOUT GETTING ON AND OFF PIT ROAD FAST BECAUSE ALL THE STOPS ARE GREEN? 

“Goodyear has done such a great job of making the racing better and I don’t know if there is a point to where it gets almost too good.  We might be approaching that.  They’re going an awesome job of making things safe; you’re not having tire problems or anything like that.  Those are the things that lead to cautions and once you get a caution, a lot of times cautions will breed other cautions.  That’s due in part, I think, the job that Goodyear has done for us.  It’s easy to get yourself greedy and I think that some of these race tracks that we’ve been to—look back in history they are some of the tracks that do stretch out and we have long runs, so chances that it could definitely be one of them.  I thought we might see one of those mystery cautions come out and they never did, but I wish they would have.  We’re in this together, you know.”

WITH ALL THE RAN WE’VE HAD A VERY GREEN TRACK, BUT WILL ALL THE PRACTICES AND THE NATIONWIDE RACE COMING UP, THE TRACK WILL BE RUBBERED-UP BY SUNDAY.  AT 91 DEGREES, WILL THAT MAKE IT CONSIDERABLY SLIPPERY FOR THE CARS?

“Yeah, I think the hot weather will definitely—you get enough laps in on this race track by the time we get to Sunday with the Nationwide race and all the stuff that goes on that the rubber is fine.  But the heat will definitely play a toll on everybody; you’ll be sliding around and your hands will be full in the racecar and the guy that can manage his tires the most will win the race.”

JUST FOR PURPOSES OF CLARITY, THIS WAS A ROAD TRIP THAT YOU GUYS TOOK?

“No, it was a hunting trip.  Some of those guys were already out there in Vegas, but [before traveling to Vegas] Elliott [Sadler], myself and Bobby Labonte were there to hunt, and really neat environment, beautiful terrain, crawling up on mountains.  I’m telling you, it was a workout.  It was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done was to pack that elk out of there.  It was hell for about a day.”

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NEW MEXICO?

“Well I think that’s where we fly into.  I was along for the ride, man.  You ever done that?”

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, YOU SEEMED LIKE YOU SORT OF CAME OUT OF YOUR SHELL A LITTLE BIT THROUGH THE WHOLE THING.  YOU SPOKE AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE, AND I THINK THAT’S A SIDE OF YOU THAT PEOPLE LIKE TO SEE.  DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE MAYBE DONE THAT A LITTLE BIT?

“I don’t know.  I’ve always been pretty outspoken really.  I think.  It’s just I’m having fun, I enjoy what I do for a living, I enjoy racing.  I don’t think I’m any different; I just think that I’ve had a different scenario happen that I felt like I needed to speak my opinion and have my voice be heard.  I did and it didn’t really matter; so I’ll just go on and I guess I’ll go back in my shell again.  I don’t know.  Like I said, I enjoy what I do and I like having fun and being around people.  Certainly I get to see that in this sport as much as anything.”

A COUPLE YEARS BACK YOU GOT OFF TO A GREAT START IN THE CHASE AND WERE RIGHT THERE IN THE POINTS.  AS A DRIVER, HOW MUCH WERE YOU AWARE OF THAT?  DID YOU THINK OF THAT, OR HOW DID YOU AVOID THINKING OF THAT AND HAVING IT IMPACT WHAT YOU DID ON THE TRACK?

“You mean as far as racing those guys?  I’ve never come to a race track not expecting to win.  You’re there to win; you travel a long ways and a lot of people’s hard work and dedication go into it.  I don’t care who you’re racing, you’re trying to beat them.  Sometimes doing that, when you’re trying as hard as you can giving 100% things can happen.  You’ve got to understand that.  We race a lot together.  When you race as much as this group does, and this garage together, there is bound to be things happening.  It was the same way when you are racing the touring series across the country; dirt car and late model boys; those guys get into it.  They’ll be fighting and bickering back and forth for a few weeks, and the next thing you know they’re having a beer together somewhere and enjoying each other again.  That’s just the nature of racing in general.” 

HOW DO YOU THINK JOHNSON HAS DONE?  DO YOU THINK HE’S MORE VULNERABLE THIS YEAR THAN HE HAS BEEN IN THE PAST? 

“He’s won four in a row—he’s on a pretty good roll.  I don’t know that it’s easy to avoid that.  Believe it or not, I think they’re on to something.  I think they’re pretty good.  I really do.  Can they be beat this year?  Certainly.  This year more than any year I’ve said it from the beginning of the Chase and even halfway through the season, he’s had moments of struggles and certainly Kansas is one of them, but they turned that thing around and got an awesome finish out of it.  He’s definitely shown signs of not being perfect all the time this year and maybe one of those things can bite them.  Usually it seems when you’re watching the 48 car, the right things happen at the right time, all the time. 

“They’re always able to put themselves in that situation to benefit from somebody else’s mishap or whatever the case may be.  I look at Dover; the 43 car was dominating the race, made a mistake and the 48 was there for the pouncing and did just that.  They just do a better job of putting themselves in the right situation most of the time.  I tell you; I think it’s a more even playing field than it has ever been.  I don’t think they have that one-up on the competition every week.  I think that it is going to be a struggle to win that championship all the way down to Homestead; I really do.  Look how close it is.  It’s close clear back to the ninth-place guy.”

HOW DO YOU THINK NON-CHASE GUYS SHOULD RACE THE GUYS THAT ARE IN THE CHASE?  DO YOU THINK THE NON-CHASERS NEED TO HAVE A LITTLE MORE RESPECT?

“It’s all respect.  It all comes down to respect; no different than you working in an office or anything else.  It’s all about respect.  If you show respect and give respect, then you are going to get it back.  There is a lot of people and a lot of situations where you need to take care of business.  It’s no different than the 11 car and the 29 car, and miraculously 30 minutes later get into it in practice.  There just has to be respect out there and when there is not, things happen.” 

EARLIER IN THE YEAR YOU CAME HERE AND RAN THIS WING; NOW YOU’RE COMING BACK AND RUNNING THE SPOILER.  IS THERE ANY REAL DIFFERENCE?

“They’ve done such a great job of compensating for that.  From the very first time, everybody is anticipating that we put the spoiler on and the adjustments that they made with the quarter panels.  Everybody was excited and was like, ‘Alright, what is this going to do?’  And it’s like, ‘Did you switch it? Did you put the spoiler on it?’  Other than looking in the mirror and seeing a spoiler on there to a wing; you really don’t feel anything as far from the seat of your pants.” 

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PEPSI MAX 400

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 8, 2010

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET took three questions from media at Auto Club Speedway. Full Transcript:

 

CHARLOTTE IS COMING UP NEXT WEEK. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO AT CHARLOTTE TO BE SUCCESSFUL?

“It always seems like it’s a battle of trying to get your car to cut through the center of the corner and keep the forward drive in it; it seems like it’s a sacrifice of one or the other but the two ends are different. It seems like you can carry a lot more speed through (Turns) 1 and 2 and (Turns) 3 and 4 are a little more like ‘thread the needle’ type corners.”

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FALL AND SPRING RACES AT CHARLOTTE?

“Well, sometimes there isn’t one (big difference). You know they’re spread out so far and they’re at the beginning of summer and the end of summer, so a lot of times they can be very similar.”

THEY ARE GOING TO ANNOUNCE A SECOND HALL OF FAME CLASS NEXT WEEK. DO YOU HAVE A CANDIDATE YOU’D REALLY LIKE TO SEE GET IN THERE?

“I haven’t even looked to see who is on the ballots yet. I’ve been a little busy. We’ve got this Chase-thing that we’re doing.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PEPSI MAX 400

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 8, 2010

 

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway and discussed being at Auto Club Speedway, driver retaliation, green flag pit stops and other topics.  Full transcript:

 

WELCOME TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY: “It is good to be here. We’re looking to turn some things around. See if we can, we finished third here in the spring. It is a good race track for us typically. We’ve typically struggled in the summer race, so hopefully we can get that put behind us. But we are looking forward to having a good day.”

HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PLACE (AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY) AND DOES IT MAYBE WORK BETTER IN THIS MARKET FOR MAYBE ONE RACE? “Obviously the attendance here hasn’t been what everyone hoped it would be. I think it is a good area for us to be in. I think being on the West Coast is a good thing. It is close to L.A. It just seems like to me that it makes sense to be here. Unfortunately, the crowds just haven’t been what everyone hoped they would be. With that being said, if there is an opportunity to have a one-race event be better for a facility, this is an opportunity. Only time will tell. I believe we have a lot of race fans out here. I also know the economy around the race is really bad. That has hurt the race track a lot as far as being able to sell tickets. But I think it is important for us to be here. It is hard to say taking a race away is a good thing, but sometimes it is and this may be a case where you end up netting out more people for one race than you end up netting our for two races. I hope that is the case.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE HERE FOR THAT FIRST RACE AND HAVING NASCAR BACK IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AFTER A DECADE? “Yes, it was cool. That is what the whole deal was. Southern California, hot rods and the beach and all that stuff. We had some big thing down in L.A. with music and all kinds of stuff. It was a big event. It was billed to be back in Southern California. It was and there was a lot of people here and it was a good event.”

THE LAST FOUR RACES SINCE THE RICHMOND CHASE CUTOFF RACE, WE HAVE HAD FIVE OR LESS CAUTIONS IN THREE OUT OF THE FOUR, HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT AS A DRIVER? SECONDLY CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR TEAMS START OFF NOT GOOD IN A RACE TO ADJUST AND FIX THING WHEN YOU HAVE LESS CAUTIONS SO LESS OPPORTUNITIES TO FIX THINGS? “I know it sounds silly to say this, but I haven’t noticed less cautions, but I have noticed more green flag pit stops. That is an interesting thing because there are a lot of time to be made up or lost on green flat pit stops. The other thing is, we’ve become accustomed to a lot of cautions so we have started working on our cars so the run good for like 2/3 of a run and you really don’t care what it does in the last 1/3 because you never get there. Well, we’ve been getting there. We’ve seen long runs. We’ve seen teams really fall off. So it has had an impact. It is difficult, very difficult, when you aren’t running well, when you getting a lot of green flag runs, to ever try to get caught up. Because there is just less opportunity. And, the other thing, when you make the wrong move, you have less opportunity to fix it. So sometimes a good running car in an effort to get better makes an adjustment and it goes the wrong way and you go green for a fuel stop, well that hurts that team too. The less stops you have, the more precise you have to be in the changes that you make. Last week for example, we ran fourth to seventh the whole day and the last stop we make the wrong change, whatever happened-happened. I didn’t ask for the right thing and we got really really slow. It went green the whole rest of the race and we never had a chance to get it fixed. So we went from racing Matt Kenseth for fourth to finishing 18^th because that caution never came out, never gave us a chance to fix whatever was wrong done. So we went from being in the position to gain points, have a good points day, looking at coming here at maybe 55 or 60 points out of the lead to coming here 100 points out of the lead. That is a big difference. You are one caution away from the possibility of having something good happen to you.”

DO YOU FOCUS ON TIME IN AND TIME OUT DURING GREEN FLAG PIT STOPS? “It is really important. It is really important. Pit road speed is analyzed today more than it has ever been analyzed. There are so many accurate ways to analyze it. In the past, it was always well, we had a good pit stop and we got beat on the race track so you must have been slow getting in or whatever. Today they can analyze it and there is a lot more data for them. So, yes, it opens the door for opportunity to gain spots and also to lose them.”

HOW SHOULD A NON-CHASE DRIVER RACE A CHASE DRIVER? “The same way he races them every week. As a Chase driver this year, it is easy for me to stand here and say ‘Well, if I am a Chase driver, I should get a special consideration.’ Is that I felt last year when I wasn’t a Chase driver? The reality of it is that this race this weekend is as important to the team that is 20^th in points as it is to the team that is first in points. Now, I understand that in reality that isn’t the case. But if the team that is 20^th in points doesn’t come here with the same intensity and their sponsor doesn’t feel like they’re getting the same opportunity be successful and their team members don’t feel like they are getting the same opportunity to be successful, then, that is a major problem. So last year, when I wasn’t in the Chase, I came to every race looking to win the race. The same way I went to every race before the Chase. You certainly don’t want to be involved in the conversation as to why a guy didn’t win the championship because you wrecked him or whatever. But, that goes both ways. You have to drive people with respect all the time. You can’t pick and chose when you want someone to respect you. And you can’t pick and chose when you are going to respect them. It has to be all the time or none of the time. Yes, it would be as a Chase guy and a guy that is trying to win a championship, I don’t want anybody messing with me. The guy that is second in points, or the guy that is 20^th in points. I want them to race me the same way Sunday that they raced me three months ago. I figure that I race people with respect and I’m going to get that back.”

 

AFTER WHAT HAPPENED WITH REUTIMANN AND BUSCH, DO YOU THINK NOW THIS CAN HAPPEN? “Oh, it can happen and that won’t be the last time it happens. That wreck last week, Kyle (Busch) didn’t intentionally wreck him, I didn’t think. I think that I was asked something about mending fences last week and I said when a wound is opened, it might start to close but it is just real easy to open it back up. That is what happened last week. That whole deal that went down last week wasn’t just about what happened last week. It was what happened throughout the year. When you feel like somebody doesn’t respect you, and doesn’t show you respect, and then they get into you, whether they meant to or not, there’s a different level of thought process. The retaliation came, not from what had just happened at that one event, but what happened over several events. It was swift and it was harsh. You can debate whether it was too hard or not, that’s for those two guys to decide, not me.  It goes back to I don’t think Kyle did that on purpose last week. I watched the replay of it, I heard him get out of the throttle, but if you are David Reutimann and you’ve been wrecked over the last several weeks and you have had an issue with someone in the past and now you are having an issue with him again, what recourse do you have. There are two ways of doing it. You can take something they’ve got or you have to put fear in them. It can’t be idle words. If you tell somebody what you are going do and then if you don’t do it, then it is worse than not ever saying anything. I don’t know. I mean, it was a big deal. Anytime someone intentionally does something, it is a big deal and shouldn’t be over-shadowed. There is a history there and gets a little complicated when emotions get involved.”

YOU HAVE BEEN RUNNING STRONGER IN THE 2^ND HALF OF THE SEASON, IS IT BECAUSE THE CAR SETUP BETTER, WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE? “I think we’ve been fairly consistent throughout the year. Our problem has been executing, we just haven’t executed. That’s been our problem here in the Chase too. If you look at our year, I can go back and name seven or eight races that we had a great shot to win the race and we didn’t and something happened in the last 20-25 laps of the race. And, that is how our Chase has gone as well.  (CLINT BOWYER ENTERED INTERVIEW THE ROOM)  BURTON CONTINUES: (LAUGHS) “And we’ve put up with Clint a lot and it has been a pretty big distraction (CONTINUED LAUGHTER). Honestly for us, I feel like we perform at a high level, but we don’t finish at a high level and that’s been really disappointing.”

 

WHEN DO YOU WANT NASCAR TO STEP IN AND REGULATE AND HOW MUCH OR CAN YOU GUYS REGULATE YOURSELVES? “You can regulate yourself, but it turns into what we saw last week. Everybody wants everything. They want NASCAR  to stay out of it until it until it is not convenient for them that NASCAR stay out of it, then they want NASCAR to be involved. When it gets severe, like what we saw with Carl (Edwards) and Brad (Keselowski). My gawd, at some point, something has got to happen and at some point you can cross that line and NASCAR has got to step in. That’s the level that I think NASCAR should step in. I think that is they are going to say Boys Have At It and they are going to let you go after it, then let you go after it. There is a certain amount of penalty to be paid when you don’t show people respect over and over and over. NASCAR is not going to do that, they never have so you have to. You can cross a line, similar to what we saw with the 99 and that group. That is when they would need to step in.

SHOULD NASCAR HAVE STEPPED IN BEFORE THE INCIDENT? “I don’t know how they could have stepped in before the incident. I’m sure that they have had a conversation, or I don’t know if they have, but I’m sure at some point there has been a conversation. Intentionally wrecking people is not a good thing. At the same time,  sometimes that the only recourse.”

GOING BACK TO KYLE BUSCH & DAVID REUTIMANN, AT THE R&D CENTER ON TUESDAY, GREG BIFFLE SAID THAT AS A GUY IN THE CHASE, HIS GOAL IS NOT TO BE INVOLVED WITH ANYBODY IN ANYTHING, PERIOD. AND THAT HE COULDN’T TELL ON THE REPLAY IF KYLE HAD DONE IT INTENTIONALLY, BUT IT WASN’T SO MUCH THE POINT AS DON’T PUT YOURSELF IN THAT POSITION. IS THERE A WAY FOR A CHASE GUY, 50 LAPS INTO THE RACE, IS THAT AVOIDABLE?  “Well, listen. That wreck that happened last week, honestly, Clint (Bowyer) and I could have wrecked like that. When you’re in the gas trying to pass somebody and something happens and they slip, you can hit ’em. And I think that’s what happened. I don’t think that was on purpose. I think it’s just hard racing. The way things are today, you can’t run 80 percent, and then just say well, now I can run 100; it doesn’t work like that. It’s too competitive. When they drop the green flat on the restart, if you’re not kicking ass, you’re getting your ass kicked. You gotta go. It’s just that simple. There’s no waiting around. When there’s an opportunity to pass, you pass. The only way to do that is to push. You’ve got to push. If you’re not doing it, you’re not getting by anybody. It’s just the nature of the business. If nobody cared how fast you went, there would never be a wreck. The fact is, the faster you go, the better you’re doing. And the only way to go fast is to be up in the gas. That’s why we have wrecks.”

DOES IT HURT YOU WITH SPONSORS WHEN T.V. COMMENTATORS FAIL TO MENTION THEM DURING RACE COVERAGE? “I hadn’t noticed that. But you have to understand I’m not watching the race on Sunday. I haven’t noticed that. Whenever I get interviewed or whenever I am on the radio, it is always “Driver of the Caterpillar Chevrolet”. But I’m not watching the race on Sunday. I think that our TV partners need to understand, and I’m not saying that they don’t—l want to be clear, I’m not saying that they don’t understand—but our TV partners need to understand that it is not just about the sponsors that they have on their program. It is also about the sponsors that we have on our race cars. That is a fine line that they walk. They have people that are paying them to advertise during the races and certainly they have to make sure they are taking care of. But what makes this sport work, is that everyone gets taken care of. If they start trying to eliminate that, then that would be a major problem and there wouldn’t be much future in that.”

 

ARE THE PAYBACKS HAPPENING MORE AT THE BIGGER TRACKS, LIKE MILE-AND-A-HALFS, HAS THAT BECOME MORE OF A CONCERN BECAUSE OF SPEEDS, ETC. “It is because we are on a lot of them. Anytime you intentionally try to spin somebody out, you are putting them in jeopardy. The faster you are going, the more jeopardy you are putting them in. There should be a consideration for that. Things need to be really really bad to intentionally start wrecking somebody. They need to be really  really bad. If it gets to that point, you really need to check yourself and think about would could be the consequences. If you have road rage man, you aren’t thinking straight. You really need to catch yourself and understand that if you are at California, you are running really really quick and you need to use your head about that.”

IS IT MORE ACCEPTABLE AT A SMALLER TRACK? “I don’t know if it is more acceptable or not. I don’t know. It doesn’t appear to me that it is more acceptable wherever you are. I don’t think it is, I hope its not.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PEPSI MAX 400

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 8, 2010

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION CHEVROLET met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway and discussed new race strategy at Auto Club Speedway, the Chase and other topics.  Full transcript:

 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON COMING BACK TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY?:  “It’s been a fun week for us already.  We had our golf tournament that took place on Wednesday and a dinner that was Tuesday night.  Raised just around $525,000 so very successful event and something that we’re very proud of.  Then to come to my home state and be back in my home area to race on my home track, just excited to be back and hopeful to have another solid weekend.”

DID YOU EVER GO TO RIVERSIDE OR ONTARIO AS A FAN?:  “I did.  I went to Riverside a lot actually, but mainly for the off-road truck race that used to take place there.  The biggest race of the year was there and guys from all over the country would come in and race.  It was kind of divided into two different sections where you would have the west coast racing, the Midwest and a little down south.  Yes, I was there a lot.  I did make two Cup races.  I think my final Cup race was in ’86 and the thing I took away from that weekend, my dad was so impressed that this car owner was out there racing himself.  So I knew the name Rick Hendrick at that age as this car owner that was out there driving around himself.  My dad and I started at the start-finish line and walked literally all the way around the race track and watched the whole race.  It was a lot of fun.”

ARE YOU UPSET THAT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY WILL ONLY HAVE ONE RACE NEXT YEAR?:  “As a California native, I’m disappointed to hear that it’s losing an event because it’s taken so long for NASCAR to get here and then to really engrain it into the sports fans in the area.  I hate to see us lose a weekend here, but on a national scale and what’s right for the sport, I kind of see that side as well.  Think that if we’re not packing the stands, we probably need to take the second date somewhere else and I have a lot of friends that would come all the time when there was just one race.  When it went to two races, it almost gave them an out to say, ‘Well, we’re busy this spring, we’ll come back in the fall.’  The fall would be here and the race would be here and they would say, ‘Well, we’ll come back in the spring.’  I could see both sides of it.  Either way, I just hope that we have packed stands and everybody watching at home.”

WOULD IT BE MORE CHALLENGING TO HAVE MORE ROAD COURSES ON THE NASCAR SCHEDULE?:  “It’s an argument that comes around once or twice a year.  If they choose to put more road courses in the schedule, I’m all for it, I really enjoy driving on road courses.  There are some amazing circuits throughout North America that would be a blast to drive on.  Stuff that I’ve watched other forms of racing on over the years.  Just thought about how cool it would be to drive there.  I wouldn’t be against it, but it’s just hard for me to have any insight on that.  At the same time, hard to think that those venues really fit our core fan and what we need to do, unfortunately.”

WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET COMING INTO THIS WEEKEND GIVEN YOUR PAST SUCCESS AT THIS TRACK?:  “I come in optimistic for sure, but to have a race in February and then to come back in October, so much has gone on from a technical standpoint with the race cars that I’m optimistic, but at the same time I know that once we get out here, it’s going to be a different set of circumstances than what we’ve seen in the past.  I do have a lot of confidence in how we ran at Atlanta and then again last weekend in Kansas and think that we’re going in the right direction with our setups and making our cars more competitive on these big tracks.”

ARE YOU FOCUSED ON THE POINTS AS MUCH AS DENNY HAMLIN IS?:  “I do look at the points and I am curious where everyone is.  I know how important every single point is, but I just choose not to over think things maybe.  Just stay focused on what we need to do.  We all have different things that we use to motivate ourselves with and set as a goal for the team.  It’s not a bad way to go about it; I’ve got nothing against it.  I just don’t really pay attention to it and just stay within my own head and what I need to do each week.”

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS EACH WEEK FOR THE CHASE?:  “I think really is just don’t squander away a good start to the season and from there, after Talladega, form a strategy.  After Talladega, you can finally breath a little bit, you’re over the halfway point.  If you’re behind, you know you need to take chances to catch up.  If you’re ahead, you might start thinking about protecting something then and take it from there.  I just try to simplify things.  I’m not a very smart guy, evidently he’s (Denny Hamlin) a lot smarter than I am.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET MAXIMUM POINTS THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS?:  “It is, but I really don’t want to fall into a false sense of security and think that because we have run well here in the past that we’re going to come back and have it again.  You have to come back and prove yourself every qualifying session and every race so it makes the week easy coming in, but as soon as those engines fire and we roll out for practice this morning, all of that disappears and it’s about the now.  That’s what I’m focused on and I think the experience over the years has helped me with that.  We’ll just go out and do all we can.”

WHAT IS YOUR AGGRESSIVENESS TO THIS RACE BEING 100 LESS MILES?:  “I haven’t really thought about it too much.  I think that the race distance at 400 is probably better for everyone.  I don’t have a lot of fears at this race track because there’s so much room and if you don’t qualify well, there are lanes that you can use to pass.  Pit road is very friendly and if you have a poor qualifying effort, these stalls are big enough that you can actually still have a good pit stop and not be blocked in by guys that are laps down or slow or whatever it may be.  I have less fear on that side for a two-mile race track, this place is really racey and I remember the restarts last year, we had a lot of them, kind of the second-half of the race and it was just a shootout and all kinds of things.  One thing caught Denny (Hamlin) up and he ended up with a wrecked race car.  It’s going to be an exciting race and honestly, I’m very excited for what it’s going to be like on Sunday.  I think we’re going to put on a good show and really race hard for this win.”

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE NASCAR ‘SOUTHPARK’ EPISODE?:  “I’ve had multiple text messages saying that I was on South Park, really from all of my friend’s kids.  I’ve got to check it out.  I haven’t seen it, but I heard that Cartman’s in a very entertaining sponsored car.  I haven’t seen it yet and I can’t wait to.”

WILL THE HEAT ON SUNDAY COMPLICATE THE TIRE THIS WEEKEND?:  “I chuckle because I don’t know if it’s really the same tire.  At Kansas last weekend we were told that we were on the same tire and it just didn’t seem like it.  Either we’ve screwed it up or there are some subtle differences that fall into the ‘it’s the same’ category and they came back with it.  I have no issues with the tire, I just wanted to be a smart ass there for a second.  With that in mind, being a smart ass and your phone is blowing up, I didn’t know you could move that fast, man, you’re all over that thing.  Even though it seems like things are the same, they’re still so different.  I don’t think that the temperature will hurt the tire one way or the other.  I personally like hotter race tracks, more slick race tracks that pushed the groove out, gives it more options.  Directionally, I think it will put on a good show if it’s hot.  If it’s cool, you’ll run a lower line, more single file racing and you won’t see us spread out as much.  We’ll rely on the track and see how different things really are.  Last week it may have been the same tire, but it may have had less stagger so how can it be the same if it has less stagger.  We keep hearing these things and it’s a lot like a crew chief.  He’ll say it’s the same setup and then you have a tough practice and he’s like, ‘Well, it’s kind of the same, this is changed, that’s different.’  It’s kind of a crew chief, the same situation.  Again, I’m not that smart so I can’t dig deep enough to find out what’s going on.”

HOW WILL THE WING AND PIT STRATEGY CHANCE IN SUNDAY’S RACE?:  “The two less stops, I don’t know if it’s going to make that big of a difference.  The 400-mile race should make it more exciting and entertain the viewers on television and also the people in the stands.  I think it will be a good race.  We at Hendrick Motorsports have said that there is not a big difference, we’ve struggled more on these big tracks than what we did last year so maybe there is something there we don’t recognize.  I don’t think, especially for today in a qualifying situation, there is no difference.  They’ve matched the numbers and maybe in traffic it’s a little bit different, but we’ve had enough time with the setups to get used to it.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PEPSI MAX 400

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 8, 2010

 

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway following his announcement that the Kevin Harvick Foundation will fund a full academic scholarship to one California State University, Bakersfield student-athlete per year for the next 12 years. Harvick then discussed racing at Auto Club Speedway, competition in the Chase, staying calm under pressure and more.  Full transcript: 

 

CONGRATULATIONS ON THIS VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY.  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON COMING BACK TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY? 

“Well, I think for us it has obviously been a great year for us.  You look back to the second race of the year, and this is really one of the weeks that kind of spring boarded everything into motion.  As we went through the race here and felt like these were our weaker race tracks over the past few years and we’ve been in contention to win the first race here and obviously won the last race at Michigan.  We’ve had circle on this one as we come back to this particular race track.  Obviously, [I am] racing in front a lot of our fans and a lot of friends and family from home, so it is hopefully going to be a good weekend.  A lot has changed since then—no wing, you’ve got the spoiler on the car and a lot of things are different.  Based upon Michigan, hopefully things will be good.” 

HAVE YOU DETERMINED THE PLAN FOR KHI IN 2011 AND BEYOND? 

“Right now we’re working through a lot of different things to get our plans and hopefully we can kind of lay out our [NASCAR Camping World] Truck and Nationwide [Series] plans as we get through the next three or four weeks.  We’re working on a lot of different things and scenarios right now.
“Right now, he’s obviously a part of our Truck Series program and has run the Nationwide races.  We’d love to have him play more of a role with the organization.”

OVER THE LAST WEEK THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT HOW A NON-CHASE DRIVER SHOULD RACE THE CHASE DRIVERS.  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?

“I think that’s the great thing about our sport—it’s the race within the race.  There are a lot of guys that have created new life in their season that want to win a race, and there are a lot of guys that are racing for a championship.  It’s all about 43 cars on the racetrack and if there is a scenario that something happens between a Chase guy and a non-Chase guy, then those things are going to happen.  I would hate to see a separate points system, and you hear a lot of talk about those types of things.  In the end, it’s all about all 43 cars on the racetrack.  I don’t think there is any—it is still the same old deal—you race those how they race you.  Obviously there was a circumstance like that last week and it played out the way that it did.  I don’t think—obviously there is more that has happened than just last week.  Those weren’t just feelings from last week, I don’t think.”

 

AS A FAN GROWING UP IN CALIFORNIA DID YOU EVER MAKE IT TO ANY CUP RACES? 

“I actually went to—you’re going to laugh—the only time I went to Riverside, I wasn’t old enough to get in and my dad was there working on Rick Carelli’s car.  I actually went into the infield in the backseat of Cathy Carelli’s car with a blanket over the top of me to get into the pits.  I stayed in the back of the—Rick had a bread truck basically as a hauler at that particular point—but that was the last race at Riverside.  Then we’ve been to Phoenix as we were racing the Southwest Tour cars and things like that for the Cup race.”

THIS IS THE LAST YEAR WITH TWO RACES FOR CALIFORNIA, DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE BETTER TO HAVE TWO RACES IN THIS STATE AS OPPOSED TO THREE?

“I don’t think that it will be a bad thing.  I think when we used to come here and there was one race a year, a lot of participation from the fans and I think this is not going to be a bad thing for this particular market, in my opinion.”

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 500-MILE VERSUS THE 400-MILE RACE IN YOUR APPROACH TO THE RACE?

“I don’t think that the approach is much different.  I think the engine guys take a deep breath and are happy that you don’t have that extra hundred miles.  From our point, really nothing changes other than you’re calculating to the end of a 400-mile race instead of 500, and that’s really just two extra pit stops.”

SHOULD NON-CHASERS HAVE ANY DIFFERENCE TO YOU GUYS THAT ARE RUNNING FOR A TITLE?
“I don’t think so.  I think everybody needs to race us as hard as they can.  Everybody will race everybody with respect, and obviously if you feel like you’ve been done wrong then you are going to handle it however you think that it needs to be handled.  I think that’s part of what makes our Chase unique; you have all these past moments that have happened through the year that could bear their ugly head again if they haven’t been settled. 

“That to me looked like something that hadn’t been settled; hadn’t been talked about off the racetrack.  There was just too much emotion involved in that whole situation.”

 

IN GENERAL, IT SEEMS THERE IS A CALMNESS AROUND YOU THAT I HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THAT YOU’VE RUN FOR THE CHASE.  IS THAT ACCURATE?

“I feel really comfortable where I’m at.  I feel like we’ve been through a lot of these situations before.  I feel like we’ve run better this year—just consistently.  I know that we’ve started the Chase better than we’ve ever started the Chase before.  It seems like looking back at the past history of what we do, the last four or five races are our strength based upon the last few times that we’ve been in the Chase.  You never know how it’s all going to shake out, but I feel really good about the situation that we’re in as a team and we just go race every week as hard as we can.”

YOU RACED HERE EARLIER IN THE YEAR, HOW IDENTICAL IS YOUR CAR TO WHAT IT WAS EARLIER THIS SEASON?

“Well it’s a lot different actually because with the wing off a lot of the downforce numbers and shifts of downforce have changed from front to rear.  The cars are quite a bit different, but everything that we’ve got in our car this weekend, it is the same car that we ran at Michigan and a lot of the same things underneath the car that we ran in Michigan.  I feel really good about going into the weekend and I feel like we should run well.”

MICHIGAN IS SIMILAR TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY, BEING THAT THEY’RE SIMILAR DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE DIFFERENT SET UPS OR CAN YOU PATTERN IT PRETTY CLOSELY TO MICHIGAN’S PERFORMANCE?

“Well, we hope we can pattern it fairly close.  There will be some differences in the setup.  Obviously it is going to be probably 90 degrees on Sunday, so the weather will be virtually identical to what it was in Michigan, but the racetrack has its own unique characteristics and drives a little bit different than Michigan.  A lot of the same setup theories will work here.”

HAS GOODYEAR BROUGHT THE SAME TIRE USED IN MICHIGAN, OR IS IT DIFFERENT?

“This is the same tire we ran last week at Kansas.  There seems to be subtle differences every time that we show up so we just have to see how the tire measures and drives on the racetrack.”

DO YOU HAVE THE HORSESHOE THIS TIME?

“I hope I have the horseshoe.  If I have the horseshoe I’m happy; hope you can’t find it.”

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