Chevy Racing–Juan Pablo Montoya

 
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 23, 2013
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway and discussed the final practice session, how important getting a good start to the season is and other topics.  FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU HAVE SEEN BULLSEYE THE DOG BEFORE?
“No, the dog we had him…I’ve seen him a couple of times.  I think the last time I saw it was at Target 50th anniversary last year they had the dog there.  It’s amazing.  It’s pretty cool.  With the race suit on, I hadn’t seen it with the race suit on that is pretty cool.”
 
THE RACING SUIT IS AWESOME.
“I think so.  It’s called Bullseye.  It’s a great thing the Target dog.  It’s a cool dog and obedient as hell. (Laughs) not like me.”
 
IS HE A GOOD LUCK CHARM?
“I hope so.  Dario (Franchetti) took him last year to the (Indy) 500 and won.  So, it’s here and I think it would be cool.”
 
SO NO PRESSURE ON THE DOG THEN RIGHT?
“No, or me (laughs).  No, I think it’s pretty cool for everybody on the Target team this is awesome.  We worked really hard this year.  Last year was a tough year for us. We worked really hard and to start this year the way we have been running so far it’s pretty encouraging.”
 
PRACTICE WENT WELL WERE YOU PLEASED WITH EVERYTHING?
“Yeah, we finished third in our Duel and we practiced sixth today.  Yesterday we didn’t do any practice.  Our car seems pretty good.  It’s stable; it does everything that I want the car to do.  You still have to run 500 miles, be there at the end to have a shot at it.”
 
WHAT DID YOU WORK ON IN FINAL PRACTICE?
“A little bit of everything.  We felt we were too tight in the Duels.  I think most of the people were shocked how tight they were.  So we worked on it and we freed it up a little bit and it seemed to work a little better so it’s pretty good.”
 
WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY FOR THE RACE?  
“We got a good starting spot.  We are starting seventh and I think that is a great thing.  It’s always a big question mark as to what do you do.  You still have to run 200 laps. You still have to be there at the end.  The first 150 doesn’t really matter.”
 
A LOT OF DRIVERS ARE TALKING ABOUT PATIENCE.  THAT DOESN’T SEEM TO GO HAND IN HAND DRIVERS AND PATIENCE:
“You do have to be very patient here.  We haven’t had the 43 cars on the track together yet. I think it might be a little bit different.  If you really think about it you look at the Duels were 20 cars each.  With 20 something cars each you don’t have enough cars to have two proper lanes. I think the race might be a little bit different because if you look at every other race the bottom works.  In our races the top works.  We will see.”
 
SOME DRIVERS HAVE SAID THEY ARE HAPPY THAT ALL THE ATTENTION HAS BEEN ON DANICA (PATRICK) THIS WEEKEND AND IT HAS KIND OF GIVEN THEM A CHANCE TO BE UNDER THE RADAR.  WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?
“I think it was cool for Danica and the sport to have her on pole.  Its attention that is great for everybody, all of us.  But when the green flag drops it’s the same feel for everybody.  Whoever can do the best job over the weekend and on that day is going to take the trophy home.”
 
YOU HAD GREAT LUCK HERE WITH THE ROLEX 24 HOUR WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO BE IN VICTORY LANE ON SUNDAY?
“This year has been really good for me.  I have no complaints.  The Rolex win, I finished third in the Duels, we finished 10th in the Unlimited.  Things are going our way.  After last year I will take any bit of luck.  I’m excited.”
 
IS THERE A LOT OF PRESSURE TO GET THE YEAR OFF ON A GOOD START?
“We work as hard as we can.  That is all I can do.  I drive the car as fast as I can every time I’m in it.  I try to drive the wheels out of it every time.  That is all you can do.”