Category: NASCAR Cup Series

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PRICE SHOPPER 400

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 1, 2010

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

“We made quite a few adjustments on the DuPont Chevrolet during practice. I really didn’t feel like the track was that much different from what we ran. We drew a late number so that certainly helps. But we struggled a lot in practice getting the car through (turns) three and four. I changed some things on my line. But I’m just so proud of 9crew chief) Steve (Letarte) and all these guys for the adjustments and the day we’ve had. And the way we’ve been qualifying lately, we just have not been qualifying good and it’s something we’ve put a lot of effort in and today finally things went our way and man, that’s like a pole to me right now.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 U.S. ARMY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 6TH:  “I pretty much got everything I could get out of the lap,” said Newman a former Kansas winner. “The U.S. Army Chevrolet was a little snug in Turns 1 and 2, but after that it felt good and we’ll have a good starting position for Sunday’s race. I was really pleased with our car’s setup in practice. We’ll dial it in a little more during Saturday’s two practice sessions and then look forward to a successful race on Sunday.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH: “This Target Chevy was fast in practice. I think the track is slow. Everybody seems to be running a little slower.  I made a little mistake out there trying too hard. So far so good. Now the question is if it’s going to pick up as it cools down a little, so we’ll see.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH: “Just was really loose. It feels like the track gave up a little grip. We missed backing up what we did in practice by a tenth, but I think there are a lot of guys, right now, are happy with they can maintain what they ran in practice. It just seems like it is a little warmer, lost a lot of grip compared to practice 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.

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion (Qualified 42nd) “We were a little bit too free in our practice run, so we made a couple changes to tighten it up and we were actually freer in our qualifying run than we were in our practice run. So I’m kind of disappointed. I thought we made the right adjustments, but either we didn’t go far enough or the track changed a little bit. But we spent 95 percent of our practice in race trim, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow and working on it for Sunday.”

DAVE BLANEY, No. 38 A&W Ford Fusion (Qualified 40th) “Well, we just got it in. I actually thought it was a better lap than what we actually ran. We are in the show and that’s what matters, and we have tomorrow to work on it and see what more we can get out of it.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 37 Taco Bell Ford Fusion (Qualified 38th) “Our Ford Fusion was pretty good. It was a little to free in practice and we tightened it up but probably went a little too far. I was a little on the tight side but I feel like we have learned quite a bit. We have the car driving really consistently now which is something we have struggled with the last few weeks. I feel like we are making gains as a team and taking steps in the right direction.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 AFLAC Ford Fusion (Qualified 31st) “I am frustrated because we were much faster than that in practice. We have to figure out what went wrong there. We will work on our race trim and see. The good thing is that you can pass here.”

KASEY KAHNE – No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion (Qualified 1st) “So far it is good. We will see. I felt like I moved around a lot. I missed the bottom a little bit and gave up some time. We should have been in the 80s somewhere which would give us a better shot at the pole. We sell gained two-tenets there though so that is good.”

ELLIOTT SADLER – No. 19 Stanley Ford Fusion (Qualified 15th) “I think that was pretty good. I don’t know where it will end up at, but we did a lot of work today on a lot of different things. This is a special weekend for us with the paint scheme. I love that Stanley gives me the opportunity to drive this car with this scheme on it. We want to go out there and run well and keep improving weekly and finish this season as strong as we can.”

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Qualified 10th) – ““It seems like our UPS Ford was fast when we unloaded it here this weekend, but obviously going out for qualifying in the top 10 doesn’t help our efforts. If that time puts us in the top 15, that will be a good starting spot for Sunday. Our mile-and-a-half program has really been the strong point for us and it was good to have a full week in the shop with Drew [Blickensderfer] to come up with a game plan for this weekend. Last week, he was kind of thrown in and had to make changes on the go, so it was good for us to spend some time together to put together a plan. Qualifying is half the battle and I’m looking forward to Sunday.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Qualified 8th) “I am really happy with the speed. I wasn’t real happy with how I drove though. I thought we had enough speed today to have a shot at the pole if I could have gotten to drive exactly how I wanted to, but I couldn’t quite get it. I am happy with the speed of the car though.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Qualified 5th) “It was a pretty good lap. A little bit tight off of two though. I probably could have put the gas in a little sooner. If I had gotten it turned a little bit better then we probably would have been on top of the board so that feels pretty good.” HOW DO YOU FEEL IN RACE TRIM FOR SUNDAY? “I feel pretty good about it. We will just have to wait and see what it is like in practice tomorrow though.”

PAUL MENARD – No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion (Qualified 2nd) “The car has been pretty good since we unloaded. We worked on qualifying trim exclusively today. Slugger and the boys made some good improvements in practice. The track is a little bit slicker than I think it was earlier. I am pretty happy with the lap. It got a little slick at times but based off the RPM coming off the corner I thought we would be quicker than that, but I will take it.”

TWO FORDS UP THERE ON TOP OF THE BOARD RIGHT NOW, HOW DOES THAT FEEL? “It is really cool. Hopefully they will stay up there for the rest of today and all day Sunday.”

YOU MADE THE DECISION TO NOT RUN IN RACE TRIM AT ALL TODAY WHERE DOES THAT PUT YOU FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND? “We will be maybe a run or two behind the eight ball tomorrow but I think we will catch up pretty quickly.”

PAUL MENARD PRESS CONFERENCE

PAUL MENARD, No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion — TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN OUT THERE TODAY. “We didn’t change a whole lot from practice. We made a lot of changes in practice to get the car a lot better. We had a late draw which obviously helped us because we were able to listen to what other people were saying about the race track. We made a couple of little air pressure adjustments. The car was a little more free than what we had in practice. My RPM on exit corner was about a hundredth better than in practice so I thought it would be a better lap. These mile-and-a-half tracks are easy to overdrive and mess up your whole lap. I feel like I left a little bit out there.”

IS THERE A LITTLE EXTRA IN THIS TO BE A NON CHASE GUY UP NEAR THE TOP WHEN THE CHASE GUYS DOMINATE THE HEADLINES? “I think I can speak for everyone in the garage that they give 110-percent each time they go out, so no. If we could have qualified second every race this year we would have taken that, and would have taken a few poles obviously. We just hit on something the last few weeks and have been qualifying well. We had a good race last week and we hope to have a good race Sunday.”

YOU HAVE HAD VERY LITTLE SUCCESS HERE, WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE TODAY THAN YOUR PREVIOUS THREE ATTEMPTS? “The car is driving good. If the car isn’t driving good then it makes for a long day for sure. We had some notes from last year where I think we qualified 20th. We had some video of the lap and picked up some things from that. It is a totally different race car and totally different set up though, and it is working.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PRICE SHOPPER 400

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 1, 2010

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET met with members of the media at Kansas Speedway and discussed team performance, the Chase and other topics.  Full transcript:

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS BEING 80 POINTS BACK HEADING TO THE THIRD RACE OF THE CHASE?:  “We’re still in it and that’s the thing, we didn’t take ourselves out of it in the first two races.  Didn’t go quite the way we were hoping that they would, but we hope that our strong tracks and performances are coming up.  Still a lot of racing left.”

DOES HOW YOU FINISHED IN THE FIRST TWO RACES CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY?:  “Not so far.  We’re coming here doing everything we can to try to win and get a great finish and qualify well and all those things.  The thing is, you have to keep yourself in it until you get to Talladega or Martinsville or something like that and then just kind of see how those races go.  For us right now, we need some momentum and we need a good finish.  There’s no doubt about that.  We’re doing everything we can to try to get that to happen this weekend.  I feel like our strength this year has been more at the mile-and-a-halves and this has been a good track traditionally for us in the past.  We expect to run good here.  If we don’t, it’s definitely going to be a step in the wrong direction for us.”

DID DOVER BREAK YOUR MOMENTUM AT ALL?:  “A little.  We were probably about a sixth or seventh-place car, but we had a problem on a pit stop.  We finished 11th or something like that.  The 48 (Jimmie Johnson) winning and a lot of the guys in the Chase finishing up front, it wasn’t the performance we were hoping for.  We know that we have to step it up, not fall back.  We fell back to eighth, but we really didn’t lose that many points.”

HOW MUCH DO OTHER DRIVERS IN THE CHASE WATCH THE 48 TEAM?:  “It’s not so much watching what they’re doing, it’s knowing what they’re capable of doing.  You can never count them out, it doesn’t matter what they’re season’s gone like, what the first race of the Chase or even a race like this weekend, they are so capable of coming back and putting wins together that you always have to give them a lot of respect and make sure, all you can do is focus on your own program and your team and get the maximum points and performance out of it.  You can’t control what they’re going to do, but you also know that you really can’t give up a race because those guys are that strong.”

IS IT HARDER TO HAVE THE BULLS EYE OR DO YOU PREFER TO BE UNDER THE RADAR?:  “The thing is that if you’re flying under the radar, there’s a reason.  It’s because you really haven’t performed.  If you’re the bull’s eye, it’s because you’ve been in that position before and you are capable of performing at a high level.  I’d rather be in that position.  I would rather be out front, leading laps, winning races and having everybody gunning for you because you’re still in more control.”

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THIS TEAM NEEDS TO WORK ON IN THE OFF SEASON?:  “Let’s get through the Chase first.  Right now, qualifying.  We have not qualified good like the last 10 or 12 races.  We’re stuck right now on 15th.  We’ve put more effort into it for the Chase and still haven’t seen results so there is something we’re missing there.  That would be one area that I would definitely say because earlier in the year we were qualifying good.  It’s a weird time of year for things because it’s the Chase, you have to step it up and you have to perform and you come to tracks that you come to the second time around and some tracks only the first time and then you start to see your competition in the Chase as to what they’re doing, but you start to see guys outside the Chase – Paul Menard, AJ Allmendinger, Jamie McMurray – these guys that are performing really well and you start to go, ‘Okay, where are we missing it, how are these guys able to find some speed and where do we stack up?’  Those are things that we will look at, even though we’ll focus on trying to win a championship and get the best finish in the Chase, we’re also looking at our competitors that are picking up momentum and seeing what they’re doing and maybe see if there’s something we’re missing that we could focus on in the off-season.”

DO THOSE DRIVERS HAVE LESS PRESSURE AND CAN PERFORM BETTER?:  “Absolutely.  We’ve been in that position before when we didn’t make the Chase, we were able to just go to work in a totally different area, you have nothing to lose, everything to gain and you start trying some really crazy, different things and sometimes you find something.”

DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE DROP IN TV RATINGS FOR THE CHASE AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?:  “I have no idea.  I feel like it’s been exciting.  We’ve got an interesting story right now.  There’s the potential of a new champion, you’ve got a four-time champion going for five, the racing has been pretty good and exciting.  I don’t think what we’re doing out there on the race track is an indication of what the ratings are.  We’re not the only sport.  There’s plenty of sports that are battling the same issues, we’re not through it yet, that’s an obvious thing that I see.”

ON GETTING INVOLVED WITH THE ORGANIZATION PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM WHOOPING COUGH:  “It was really making us aware of an issue out there that was really jaw dropping to us on the statistics of children right now being diagnosed with whooping cough and we wanted to do all that we could as parents to protect our children, especially the newborn on the way and so we were thankful that we were made aware of it and we wanted to get the word out to other parents and grandparents and caregivers to make them aware of how you can protect your children through the booster shot.”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT CALIFORNIA?:  “You have to have good power, have to have good balance in the car.  Right now there’s a lot of stuff going around the garage with teams that are trying to run soft in the back versus stiff in the back and at a track like that, you can really experiment with because the straight-aways are so long and it’s a big, fast race track to try to get the spoiler out of the air a little bit.  Just trying to work that balance out.”

IS THERE ONE THING YOU WORK ON WHEN YOU UNLOAD AT CALIFORNIA?:  “We do all that in simulation at the shop and based on what we’ve been running, what we’ve been seeing in the garage area that’s running good and fast, you try it and if it’s not working then you go in a different direction.”

IS THERE ETIQUETTE TO CLEARING THE AIR WITH ANOTHER DRIVER?:  “I guess it depends on what kind of a relationship you have with them and what you’re dealing with.  I think what happens is that both parties recognize that it can be more of a distraction than any kind of help.  Usually you just want to get that cleared out so you can go back and go focus on your job and that there’s nothing holding you back.  Other than that, I don’t think that they clear the air, to be honest with you.  I think that if it weren’t for them thinking that it’s going to hinder their performance in some way by not having things smoothed over then I think they would just continue to go on about their way.”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD SOMEONE NOT WANT TO TALK TO YOU OR NOT TAKE YOUR PHONE CALL?:  “Martin Truex Jr. never called me back.  I’ve still not spoken to Martin.  We rode around driver introductions maybe a year or two ago, I mean a race or two ago.  We didn’t speak about the incident at all.  I didn’t expect anything any different.  I’m not one that goes out of my way to pick up the phone and call other people and I don’t expect people to call me.  To me, I leave it at the race track.  When something like that happens, I might not be happy about it if it happens towards me.  I’ll remember it and I just try to move on, run my races, but keep it in the back of my mind.  I expect that’s probably what most guys do.”

DID YOU THINK RICHARD CHILDRESS HAD ANY CHANCE TO WIN HIS APPEAL?:  “If you look at the stats, it doesn’t seem like they go your way very often.  I think we had one go our way a few years ago.  It can happen.  That’s why you have to fight it and you don’t fight because you think you’re going to win, you fight because of what you believe in and what you feel like your reasoning was for what happened and try to explain your side.  It doesn’t mean that you really think you’re going to win it.  The rules are pretty clear and they usually have a pretty good case as to why they typically don’t get reversed because when you’re talking about measurements and inspection and those type of things, it’s kind of hard to argue the other way.”

HOW MUCH OF A SELLING POINT IS IT TO A SPONSOR THAT YOUR TEAM IS IN THE CHASE?:  “I’m sure we use that, but I think you’re really going beyond that when your trying to sell sponsorship because being in the Chase is not what you’re trying to sell, it’s being a champion, being a team that’s going to run up front, lead laps – it’s all about getting exposure for the sponsors.  There is added exposure to be in the Chase, but I think there’s more added exposure by having one of the top teams out there who’s running up front week in and week out for wins and for the championship.  I think you win five races throughout the year and don’t make the Chase, that’s probably still going to be as much or more exposure, especially if it’s a big race like Daytona or the Brickyard than making the Chase.”

DO YOU GET MORE COMFORT KNOWING YOU CAN WIN AT TALLADEGA?:  “Yes and no.  I think that it’s nice to always have confidence in a place, but our stats have been terrible there recently.  We have not finished well there in quite a while and to me, it’s just too much of a crap shoot for everybody.  You don’t go there expecting anything.  I like racing there, I have fun with it and when everything is going our way, I feel like we have a shot to win there if we survive the big crashes.  But we haven’t been very good at surviving the big crashes lately.  It’s really pure luck in my opinion as to whether you do that, if you do then I feel like our cars, our pit crew and me as a driver, I feel like we can have a great finish there.”

WHAT IS YOUR CONFIDENCE COMING TO KANSAS SPEEDWAY?:  “You have to understand, that was 2001 and a lot has changed since 2001.  I do like this track.  It’s a nice track.  As a driver, what you like is it transitions to straight-aways to corners, grip level and I like all those things about Kansas.  For us, the cars have changed so much over the years and even throughout this year, just setups and things change so it’s about really making sure that you’ve got the best team underneath you that you can possibly have and I feel like right now we have a little work to do.  We come in here with confidence with the team and the race track, but needing to build some confidence when it comes to our performance as a whole.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY?:  “I’m not a big fan of that race track, but we seem to run pretty good there.  That’s what I like about it.  That always matters more than anything else.”

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. 1, 2010

Kansas Speedway

Dodge Motorsports PR

PRICE CHOPPER 400

Post-Qualifying Quotes

Tweets by TeamDodge

www.media.chrysler.com

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Qualified 9th “We’ll take it with the Operation Home Front /Miller Lite Dodge. We made an adjustment on the car for qualifying and it ran the same speed as I did in practice, but it felt more comfortable. That’s what we need to do, find more comfort and speed in the race car when it comes time to race on Sunday. We were real tight in race trim and ended up really loose. We’ll just shoot for the middle and see what happens.”

SAM HORNISH JR (No. 77 AAA Dodge Charger) Qualified 18th “Not the qualifying draw (first) that we were looking for today. This track seems to cool down so fast that guys who have the chance to go out late seem to pick up a lot. It wasn’t a terrible lap for when we had to qualify. Our AAA Dodge is pretty good. The track was just a little bit off from what we thought it would be like. Our car was pretty good in race runs. I love coming out here to Kansas. This place is one of my favorite places to race.”

WHERE HAS THE NO. 77 AAA DODGE BEEN GOOD TODAY? “We have been pretty good in and off the corners. We’ve been just a little too tight in the center of the corners. It’s just too bad that we didn’t get more speed out of the race car. That’s just because we qualified first and we didn’t quite know what the track was going to do. There’s definitely more speed in the car.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger) Qualified 26th “We just seem to be off a bit in the Penske Dodge today. I over drove (turns) 3 & 4 a little bit and we were just a bit off in 1 & 2. I needed to hit a real good corner there. We just need to keep working on it. This is a pretty basic track compared to Kentucky or California or Texas. It’s like all those tracks, just simpler.”

Friday, Oct. 1, 2010

Kurt Busch Open Interview

Dodge Motorsports PR

Price Chopper 400

Kansas Speedway

Kurt Busch Open Interview

Tweets by TeamDodge

www.media.chrysler.com

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger) WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON COMING BACK AND RACING AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY? “We’ve got Operation Home Front on our car this weekend. We’ll run it from now until Texas. The whole program comes to a close Veteran’s (Day) weekend in Texas. It’s a military program based on helping military families in need. It’s a special few weeks where we have them on the car. It’s exciting to have that military support and to be out there creating awareness around it.

“We’re here at Kansas Speedway to have a solid run and see what we can to build upon our points foundation that we’ve started from the beginning of the Chase. We’ve done well the first two races, so we need a solid third race to start the Chase off. It’s (Kansas) a tough race track, a mile-and-a-half that’s flat compared to most of the others that we race on. It just presents a few different personality changes that you have to make on the car to get a hold of this race track.”

TODAY IS A LITTLE WARMER THAN WHAT IT’S EXPECTED TO BE ON SUNDAY. HOW MUCH WILL THAT CHANGE YOUR SETUP? “There’s not much that you can do about it. We seem to run better with our Miller Lite Dodge Charger with cooler conditions. We’re excited that it’s going to be as cold as it’s going to be. It helps us gain the grip that we wouldn’t have in the warmer conditions we’re experiencing today or in the summer months.”

HOW DID THE CAR FEEL IN PRACTICE TODAY? “We were real tight to start off practice and ended up really loose in qualifying trim. We’re on both ends of the map. We’ll shoot for the middle and hope for the best. It seems like it takes a few laps to get settled here at Kansas since we only race here once a year. I don’t know if it’s the same Goodyear tire or not as last year, but it shows considerable amount of drop-off on track.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT BEING THE ONLY DODGE TEAM IN CUP? “We only have Penske Racing Dodge’s that are competitive and all of our eggs are in one basket. That’s the motto. Everything we know, Dodge knows. A lot of times, a manufacturer has to tell all the teams and there might be information that doesn’t quite travel down the pipeline as smooth. For us, it’s like family with those guys. We’re in it together and everything we do needs each other’s support. We’re just outnumbered when it comes down to it.”

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion, enters the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 73 points behind Chase leader Denny Hamlin. In 28 starts this season, Edwards has accumulated seven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. Edwards is making his seventh Cup start at Kansas Speedway with two top-five and four top-10 finishes to his credit. A native of and currently resident of Columbia, Missouri, Edwards considers Kansas Speedway his home track in the Sprint Cup Series. He talked about coming home, maintaining Chase position and why he wants to win at Kansas more than at Daytona or Indy.

WELCOME HOME CARL. “Thanks, I am glad to be here. Our car is very fast too, so I am having fun so far. We have two races this weekend, so two opportunities to get a trophy here at Kansas. It is good to be here racing and good to be on the streak we are on. We are running really well and gaining points and that is what it is about.”

YOU ARE 73 POINTS OUT OF THE LEAD RIGHT NOW WITH A FEW MORE TRACKS LEFT OBVIOUSLY. IS THERE ANYTHING COME UP THAT YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT WILL BENEFIT YOU? “Yeah, we’ve got seven races left. Is that right? We have run two, so we have eight left? How many races have we run? Two right? Hey, this is only the beginning (laughter). It feels like it has been six or eight races though. Those races go very slowly. I feel like we are just getting into the tracks that we have a chance to run well at. Kansas, California, Texas and Homestead I am excited about them all. I am a little iffy about Charlotte. Martinsville and Talladega anything can happen at those places. We need to capitalize on these tracks we have run well at. The Chase is, I think, stacked in our favor. Hopefully we can capitalize.”

HOW DIFFERENT DOES IT FEEL COMING TO KANSAS THIS YEAR THAN LAST YEAR? “I feel that last year we were just barely hanging on. Last year we weren’t performing as well as we wanted to be. This year, I feel the last few months we have really hit our stride. It feels a lot better. The proof is in the finish. We need to go out and do well. I woke up in my bed at my house this morning and drove to the race track. That is pretty neat. I don’t get to do that at any other Cup track. That is really special. I have already seen a couple people I haven’t seen in awhile. It just feels good. It is a good place for me to come and race.”

LAST WEEK THERE WAS A DRIVER CALLING OUT ANOTHER DRIVER. DO YOU FEEL THERE IS SOME KIND OF UNWRITTEN RULE THAT YOU DON’T THROW ANOTHER TEAM UNDER THE BUS, ESPECIALLY CONCERNING TALKING ABOUT ANOTHER TEAM CHEATING? “I don’t think so. I don’t think there are any rules. I think it is whatever works for you I guess. The way I try to conduct my business and do my thing is that it is always better for me to just focus on what is going on with my car and my team. If there is something you can’t avoid, then go ahead and address it. I don’t think there are any rules though. I think there is a lot of posturing with the media in the garage and I think the best thing is to just sit back and be entertained by it. It doesn’t seem to benefit me to engage in it.”

THE NEW FR9 IS OBVIOUSLY MAKING A DIFFERENCE. BIFFLE TALKED ABOUT BACK END OF THE CAR IMPROVEMENTS. WHICH HAS BENEFITED YOU MOST? “We talk a lot about cars and we engineer things and do all this stuff, but that engine, you know when you are racing, you can’t beat some horsepower. It helps you all the time. Qualifying, practice, on and off pit road, all of those things. Having a strong engine is good. I think the engine has been a huge part and has been something that, even myself, has been overlooked a little bit. When I think of the things that have made us faster, I don’t think of that engine, but man it is good to step on that pedal and have it go.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE MARGIN FOR ERROR HAS REALLY NARROWED THIS YEAR IN THESE CHASE RACES? “Yeah, it really has. If you look at the top five or top-10 there seems to be a lot of those chasers running up there in these races. I think we will slowly see guys weed themselves out of that top group. They are going to make mistakes or have trouble. The key is to run well enough to stay up there with them but not make those mistakes. We are two races in and like I said earlier, it feels like we have raced a lot. There is a lot of stress and a lot of hard racing. There is no telling what the points will look like in seven or eight races. If you make mistakes, for instance me racing with Denny (Hamlin) for third at New Hampshire, I slipped up and spun Denny out and cost both of us a chance at the win. You can’t make those mistakes. It is so hard to balance how hard to drive because of how well everyone is running. When you are running 10th and see seven of the guys in the Chase in front of you, it is demoralizing. Those guys are fast.”

ARE THERE EXTRA PRESSURES COMING HOME TO RACE? “There is a little extra pressure. It isn’t really pressure though, it is more desire. I think you guys saw that a couple years ago racing with Jimmie (Johnson) driving it in there and using the fence. I never thought of that as a reasonable thing to do until that moment. The idea of being able to win here was big. For drivers that race around this area and local dirt tracks and stuff, this place is very special and a win here would be huge.”

DOES IT SURPRISE YOU CONSIDERING THE ECONOMIC SITUATION WE ARE IN THAT THE PLACE CONTINUES TO BE SUPPORTED SO WELL BY THE FANS? “I am very grateful for the fans that we have. The economy is tougher than it has been in awhile and all of us have felt that. Standing in Richmond, the last race before the Chase, we are standing there on September 11th and the stands were packed and F-22’s are flying over and fireworks and the National Anthem is being sung; it gave me chills. As tough as things are, we have a sport that is delivering a good product to the fans. A lot of fans are still enjoying it and I think that is good and I am proud to be a part of it.”

CAN YOU PREVIEW CALIFORNIA, A TRACK THAT IS TYPICALLY GOOD FOR YOU ROUSH FENWAY? “California is fun. It is so different out there. It is always interesting to go there. We have a bunch of stuff going on around the racing. To race on that race track takes the whole team, just like Michigan does. You have to have huge horsepower and the aero package has to be good. It drives like a big dirt track. You can run at the bottom or up around the top. On a two-mile race track, that is a pretty big deal to drive down the corner and slide to the top of the race track. It is a finesse track and a fast track and it changes a lot throughout the race. I really enjoy it. People have knocked it for getting strung out, but it is two miles long. 43 cars don’t look that grouped together spread around a two mile track. For me it has always been really fun to drive.”

TWO YEARS AGO SHOWED US HOW MUCH WINNING REALLY WINS TO YOU. HOW BADLY ARE YOU JONESING FOR A WIN? “I really want to win a race. Winning races is why we all started racing. To go drive fast and have the trophy. That is the fun part. I’ve won a bunch of races and the way I explain it is that I know what that feels like. To me, if there was a giant risk to win this race this weekend that I could take that might cost us the championship, I would have to go for the championship, at least right now. At this point in my career I want that championship trophy and see what that feels like. If I felt we weren’t in a position to win it, I would probably go take some pretty big risks. I feel like we are in a position to do it, so right now I am focused on that.”

HAVE YOU PLAYED OUT IN YOUR HEAD WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO WIN HERE? “Yeah, it would be as big as any race on the circuit. If I had to pick a race to win, this would be the one I would pick, over the Daytona 500 or the Brickyard 400. It would be that special to me. I am not saying that because I am sitting here, that is the truth.”

DID YOU NOTICE ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE TRACK THIS YEAR IN PRACTICE AND WHAT KIND OF RACE WILL WE SEE ON SUNDAY? “The track is a little different and the tires are different so right off the bat our setup was out to lunch. We picked up a second though in practice, which was huge for us. I think running the Nationwide race will help because I think it is the same tire. We will see how it goes in that race and I will learn a little bit. There are some bumps and the track has some character to it. It looks like the surface has aged a little bit. All of those things are good for the fans and good for the racing.”

THIS MIGHT BE A SENSITIVE SUBJECT FOR YOU, BUT GATEWAY CLOSING DOWN, CAN YOU GIVE US YOUR THOUGHTS ON IT CLOSING AND WHAT THAT TRACK MEANT TO YOU? “Some of the neatest moments I have had in racing are at Gateway. I just don’t understand why that race track can’t sustain itself with the good racing it has had there. Spectacular finishes there in the Truck Series and the Nationwide Series. Some of them were too spectacular. I think all of us like driving there. It has unique characteristics and is a fun track. It is like Memphis or Pike’s Peak. Those tracks are so much fun, I have a hard time understanding the business side of why it can’t work. We get to go there one more time and have one more shot at it. I would love to win another race there. I think we have three or four wins there. They are all like wins here. It feels good to win that close to home. It feels like going to your local track for a big show and all the pressure is on the line and you win it. That is pretty cool.”

WOULD YOU PICK YOURSELF OR TONY STEWART TO WIN HERE? “Tony has run really well here, but we have run really well too. I don’t think you can really look at past statistics. I think you have to look at what we have done lately and I think we are in a better position than those guys are. The only difference is they don’t have as much to lose right now. Tony can take bigger gambles on fuel mileage and on the race car. I feel like our run at Chicago and Atlanta, I guess he beat us at Atlanta, but I think we are pretty matched up. Hopefully we would come out on top, which would be good.”

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, enters the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway ninth in the Chase standings, 140 points behind leader Denny Hamlin, but only 75 points out of fifth. Biffle has a 2007 victory at Kansas to his credit and led the most laps last season before finishing third. With an average starting finish of ninth at Kansas, Biffle talked about his success at the track, his crazy win here and if he is still racing for a title or being a good teammate.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RACING HERE AT THIS TRACK? “I am glad to be back. It feels like we are sort of back in our core at these mile-and-a-half tracks. We have been pretty good on those this year. The car seems to be decent. We have a little work left to do though. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s practice and qualifying this afternoon. It looks like we should be in the top-15 or top-10 possibly. If we can just get a good lap, hopefully I don’t make a mistake, then we will be there.”

YOU HAVEN’T HAD THE GREATEST START TO THE CHASE, BUT NOT HORRIBLE. ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS TRACK, A PLACE YOU HAVE HAD SUCCESS AT OVER THE YEARS? “We are off to a horrible start so yeah it is nice to get here. I was looking forward to Dover because I think the last five or six times we had been there we were in the top five and had won there twice. I have won here once and was leading last year before I decided to take four and Tony (Stewart) took two and he ended up beating us at the end. I was looking forward to last week and the same carries forward here. We just need a good run. We certainly aren’t giving up, but mathematically it is an uphill battle at this point to get back in the fight. It is going to take about five weeks of good runs and to have some of those other guys have a little trouble to put us back in the hunt.”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A WEIRDER WIN THAN HERE AT KANSAS? “There has been some different stuff go on with wins but that was weird. The thing started running out of gas on the back stretch so I shut it off and coasted. I ran it around the corner and up next to the back of the pace car and then I decided, after thinking about the rule for a minute that says you must maintain a reasonable pace, to coast the rest of the way and not try to start it again. It has fuel left in it because we did start it after that. I knew as long as I stayed coasting I was okay. If I had let the clutch out, for those of you that have tried to start a stick shift car, perhaps it doesn’t start right away and you could lose your momentum. If you let the clutch out and it doesn’t start it will really slow you down and then you maybe aren’t keeping a cautious pace. I just decided to let it coast the rest of the way. The reason that NASCAR gave me the win was because when Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer went past me, they were going 70-something miles per hour and pit road speed was 55. I was going 47 or 48. Whatever the miles per hour were, they were 15-20 miles per hour over when they raced by me. I could have started it and made some more speed, but I really didn’t have to.”

DO YOU STILL FEEL YOU HAVE A SHOT AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP, OR IS THE RACING SO COMPETITIVE RIGHT NOW IN THE TOP-12 WITH A LOT OF THEM IN THE TOP-5 EVERY WEEK THAT YOU FEEL LIKE MAYBE YOU COULD JUST HELP CARL HAVE A SHOT AT IT? “I haven’t even looked at how far Carl is out of the points. I know he is only a couple of positions ahead of us, but I don’t know where he is at points wise. I am not going to look at anything other than we are trying to win a championship for our 16 team. That is what I am here to do and that is what they pay me to do. We are not out of it but like I said earlier, it is going to be an uphill battle because there are a bunch of good guys up there. Anything can happen. Guys can have trouble. We have seen the 11 car have engine trouble and mechanical things. We have seen the wheels fall of the 18. The 48 car’s first Chase race wasn’t very good and a few leading up to it weren’t very good. He came around and won at Dover though. We know that guys up there can have trouble and are vulnerable. We will just keep our head down and when we get to three or four to go we will make another assessment of where we are.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

PRICE SHOPPER 400

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

October 1, 2010

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Kansas Speedway and discussed his position in points, his car in practice and other topics.  Full transcript:

A LOT OF DRIVERS HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE NEXT COUPLE OF RACES OF SETTING THE TONE FOR THEIR CHASE AT THE INTERMEDIATE TRACKS, DO YOU AGREE? “I think so. I mean, there are more mile-and-a-half tracks in the Chase than there are anything else. It definitely a situation where the next couple of weeks kind give everybody an idea of where they are at and what they have to.”

DOES HOW JIMMIE JOHNSON PERFORMS IN THE CHASE, DOES THAT COME INTO PLAY ON HOW DRIVERS APPROACH HIM AND THE RACES? “I don’t know. All I’m worried about is our car right now. That is the only one we have control of. That’s what we’ve been focusing on.”

WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET WITH WHERE YOU ARE IN THE POINTS RIGHT NOW? “We have nothing to lose and everything to gain, really. It is a situation that I wish we could say that we were right in the middle of this and had to worry about everything. In two weeks I have dug myself a pretty big hole. It’s literally a go-for-broke attitude. We don’t have anything to lose right now. 10^th doesn’t mean anything to me in the point standings. I’m going for everything I can get right now.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE A BETTER TEAM AND HAVE RUN BETTER THAN YOUR FINISHES HAVE SHOWN? “Definitely. But we’re a better team. But still the last two weeks are what they are. We can’t change, we can’t fix it. We can’t go back and redo it. It is a tough situation to be in where we have got behind in two weeks. We have eight weeks to do the best we can to get everything we can get out of them.”

DO YOU BEAT YOURSELF UP THAT THE DRIVER MADE SOME MISTAKES? “Yes, I still do that. I just have made mistakes the last two weeks that have cost us. Like I said, I can’t do anything about it now. All I can is go out there and do the best I can the rest of the year.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE GETTING CLOSE TO WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR AT THE END OF THAT PRACTICE SESSION? “I think so. We made gains the whole time we were in race trim. We waited pretty long to switch over but I felt like we made a lot of gains in the session. Darian (Grubb, crew chief) even said that he got a good direction for tomorrow. It is encouraging going into tonight. No matter where we end up qualifying, we had a really productive practice today.”

IS IT DIFFICULT BECAUSE YOU ONLY RUN HERE ONCE A YEAR? “No, there are a lot of tracks we only go to once a year and everybody does just fine at it. It is the same for everybody. Your whole career you go to places you have either never been to or go to only once a year. Everybody does just fine with that.”

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.