NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 19, 2012
KASEY KAHNE TAKES POLE POSITION FOR SUNDAY’S HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400
NEW TRACK RECORD AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY
KANSAS CITY, KS – October 19, 2012 – Kasey Kahne earned the pole position for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 by posting a new track record on the newly repaved and reconfigured Kansas Speedway with his No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet of 28.219 seconds, 191.360 mph. This marked Kahne’s 26th NASCAR Sprint Cup career pole and moved him into a tie for 26th on the all-time series poles list with Bobby Labonte. His lap around the 1.5-mile oval was Kahne’s fourth pole of the 2012 season and third in 11 races at Kansas Speedway.
All 46 drivers in today’s qualifying session turned a faster lap than the previous track record of 180.856 mph set by Matt Kenseth (Ford) in 2005.
Three other Team Chevy drivers will start the 400-mile race in the top ten. Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Code 3 Associates Chevy will start sixth, five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will roll off seventh in his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy, and Kevin Harvick will start 10th in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. All four Chevy drivers in the top-10 starting line-up are contenders in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevy who is also in the Chase, will start 19th, and Tony Stewart, defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and a Chase contender will start from the 33rd position in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet.
The field of 16 Chevy drivers includes Regan Smith, substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 National Guard/Mountain Dew Chevrolet, qualified 39th; and Danica Patrick, competing in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevy rolls off 40th.
The Hollywood Casino 400, Round 32 on the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tour, gets underway on Sunday, October 21st at 1:00 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN-TV.
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET – POLE WINNER
POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING RUN OUT THERE TODAY:
“It was a good lap. Our car felt really good. I came to the green as fast as I had throughout the practices. I got through (turns) one and two pretty good. In (turn) three I got in and then off of turn four I had to lift just a little bit, kind of lost the front tires, but still was able to run a quick lap there and get the pole. I was really happy. Our team has done a nice job this week. We have been here for a few days it’s been cold. The track is great I feel like the guys did a really nice job here at Kansas Speedway repaving making the track what it is. It is going to be tough this weekend, but from here out I think it is going to be one of the best tracks we go. I feel like you can look at it and tell the lines, the grooves that will come in as the track gets some wear into it and some age. I think it will be a lot of fun to race on. It’s smooth and all the transitions are really nice.”
EVERYBODY IS TALKING ABOUT THIS IS A NEW TRACK, BUT THIS IS YOUR THIRD POLE NOW HOW NEW IS IT TO YOU? WHAT IS YOUR SECRET HERE?
“Well someone had to get it today (laughs) and it worked out for us. It was close. I didn’t see what Clint (Bowyer) ran but I know that myself and Mark (Martin) were really close together. It’s fast, it’s smooth, and it’s a great track. We have run pretty well here in the past so I’ve kind of always liked Kansas. I’ve liked how you have been able to move around and run a lot of different lines and things. I feel like this track will go there eventually. We will be able to move all over. It doesn’t really feel anything like the old track, but we just had a really good balance today and we were able to put down a good lap.”
YOU ARE STARTING FIRST, FIRST PIT STALL AND ALL THAT. BRAD (KESELOWSKI) IS STARTING 25TH CONSIDERING THAT THE SECOND GROOVE HASN’T WORKED IN YET HOW BIG OF AN OPPORTUNITY DO YOU THINK THIS IS TO MAKE UP SOME GROUND IN TERMS OF THE CHASE?
“Well I think it could be a pretty big one. I think those guys will really figure out how to go fast in race trim. That is what they have done all season long. They haven’t qualified great really this whole year, but they know how to race. With strategy and however they will figure out how to get to the front if they are fast enough to stay up there. You know you will see the No. 2 car at some point. They have shown that all season long, but for ourselves we have a great starting spot, we have a great pit stall a lot of things from today will help us throughout the entire race not just the start of the race. I feel really good about where we are at and if we can capitalize and make the right decisions, get the right balance of the car hopefully we can gain some points.”
MARK MARTIN AND CLINT BOWYER TALKED ABOUT HOW TOMORROW’S RACE IS GOING TO BE EXTREMELY CRITICAL TO HOW WELL THE TRACK IS ON SUNDAY HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT SAME SITUATION?
“I feel the exact same way. I think the rubber from tomorrows race, the rubber from our practices tomorrow we will have two hours of practices, all that will help the track. If it gets a little warmer around here, gets some sun out, I think all that will help the track also. To just get a better base to run on and hopefully move off that white line a little bit to where we can open up the entries and exits and have a better shot to pass if you are a good bit quicker than the car in front of you. Either way it’s going to be tough to pass regardless, but with all that rubber and the heat and things hopefully it will help some. That is really all we can ask for after a repave.”
COMING INTO A RACE TRACK WHERE NOBODY HAS ANY REAL EXPERIENCE RACING ON IT DO YOU SEE IT AS A REAL GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO MAYBE MAKE THE GAINS? WHAT DOES IT DO TO THE CHASE TO HAVE THIS KIND OF A THING THROWN INTO THE MIDDLE WITH ONLY FIVE RACES TO GO?
“I think it’s a bit of a wild card. It’s not a Talladega wild card, but it’s a bit of a wild card because you have to pick up on the surface. The only thing to me is it is pretty similar to Michigan. The size of the track isn’t but the surface, the corners for whatever reason I think it feels really similar to Michigan. The guys that are running well right now ran pretty well at Michigan. I would say they will figure it out. We had a great run today but everybody will figure it out for Sunday. We just need to try to stay ahead of them if we can.”
YOU TALK ABOUT EVERYBODY UP FRONT WILL GET BETTER AND THAT MEANS YOU ARE GOING TO CATCH SOME OF THE CARS IN THE BACK WHO AREN’T AT THE SAME LEVEL AS THE REST OF THE TEAMS. HOW TOUGH IS PASSING GOING TO BE WHEN YOU GET UP TO A SLOWER CAR LIKE THAT?
“Some of it you will be able to set up and you will be able to get by, but once you get to a car you can go back to Michigan for example. Mark Martin caught the No. 47 and No. 42 and they ran side-by-side and Mark just rode behind them. I caught them and I went to pass Mark next thing you know we are all crashing. It was just the No. 47 and No. 42 screwed up then we are all crashing. He (Mark Martin) didn’t go anywhere once he caught cars I think they were probably in 30th or 35th I don’t know how far back they were. Mark was at a dead stop. It makes it difficult for sure. This track is a little different than that track so hopefully we will have a better shot at passing and the longer those races went at Michigan the better the racing got and the more it opened up. The first race run there (Michig
an) it was tough. You could hardly pass a car that you’d just reeled in that you were running five tenths a lap faster you couldn’t pass them when you got to him.”