NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CAMPINGWORLD.COM 500
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTS
MARCH 13, 2015
CHEVROLET’S KEVIN HARVICK EARNS HIS FIRST POLE AT PHOENIX
Chevrolet SS drivers take three of the top five starting positions
AVONDALE, Ariz. – (March 13, 2015) – Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup series champion Kevin Harvick will pilot his No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet SS from the pole position in Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR), round four of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. A fast lap of 25.577 seconds (140.751 mph) earned Harvick his first pole in 25 starts at a track where he honed his racing skills. This marks Harvick’s 15th career Cup pole, his first pole of the season, and second top-10 start thus far in 2015. Harvick leads all active drivers as a six-time winner at PIR.
“I didn’t even know that this is my first pole here,” said Harvick after the qualifying session. “But, it’s exciting for everybody to be a part of this No. 4 team and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. I didn’t thank the engine shop or the chassis shop at Hendrick Motorsports last week, but everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Budweiser team is doing a great job. This is a pretty special place. All these West Coast races are special, but this one in particular just for the fact that we used to bring our Southwest Tour cars here and our Winston West cars. We struggled a little bit for quite some time and then it all clicked. I didn’t actually know that we hadn’t been on pole here, but to get that first pole with these guys and celebrate anything that we hadn’t done or have done; every week is just a new adventure and it’s pretty special to be a part of a group of guys like this.”
Seven other Team Chevy drivers advanced to the third and final qualifying round at the flat 1.0-mile Phoenix track. Jamie McMurray was third in his No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet SS and Ryan Newman was fifth fast in the No. 31 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, giving the bowtie brigade three of the top five starting positions.
Other Chevrolet SS drivers making the final round of qualifying included: Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS (eighth), Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS (ninth), Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS (10th), Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Chevrolet SS (11th) and Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS (12th).
Joey Logano (Ford) qualified second and Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was fourth to round out the top-five qualifiers.
Sunday’s 312-lap/312 mile race is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage will be available on FOX, MRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S/BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING RUN:
“Just really proud of everybody on my team. I know you guys hear me talk about them all the time, but they just keep grinding away and doing things that it takes to keep making the cars progress and faster. Just really proud of them. Obviously anything we can do here at Phoenix is fun for me because it’s just a special place for me. You already know everything I told you this morning. Anytime we come here and can accomplish something I’m really excited about it.”
ARE YOU FEELING LIKE YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING WITH THIS TEAM IS ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT CAN POSSIBLY BE?
“Well everything can always be better, but I think everybody is doing a great job. And continuing to get better as we go from week to week and never sitting on what you did last week. And always communicating about just the little things and what you think you can do better. I’m just lucky to be able to drive the car and fortunate to be able to be a part of this team and see what they do. I didn’t think the laps were very good from my part, but I was fortunate to ride a really fast car. And be able to make a couple of mistakes here and there and still do what we needed to do. It definitely seems like we can overcome things and make somethings happen here and there.”
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO BEAT YOU HERE?
“That is easy. There are just so many circumstances that you can’t control. There are so many things that can go wrong. There are so many mistakes that you can make. We can make some bad decisions as we go through practice and miss the balance to start the race. There are just a lot of things that can go wrong.”
WHEN YOU GUYS LEFT FOR THIS WEST COAST SWING DID YOU GUYS AS A NO. 4 TEAM THINK THAT YOU COULD SWEEP THE WEST COAST?
“We never talk about stuff like that. We just talk about what we think the air pressure and speeds. We don’t talk about things we’ve done. We always talk about the things we do wrong and we talk about the things that we need to do different. It’s never really anything about last week. It’s always about next week and the things that we have to do to try to be prepared when we come to the race track.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE IN SPEED IN THE CARS FROM LAST YEARS TO THIS YEAR?
“You are in the gas a little bit sooner, but I mean, I think we ran, I don’t even know how fast we ran last year. I think we ran 25.60s or 50. They’re definitely down on power a little bit compared to last year. I think this is where we are going to notice the biggest difference. Phoenix, Martinsville, Loudon, those types of places where you just don’t have that acceleration and you don’t have the gear ratio that you had before. You are definitely in the throttle very soon, but I think as the day goes on and the heat gets into the race track it’s going to be hard to make the cars handle like you want them to handle for a long period of time.”
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING IN THAT QUALIFYING SESSION THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL ON SUNDAY?
“No. I think as you look at how much different the qualifying stuff is than the race stuff the car just has a different feel to it. You can just abuse it and drive it harder and do things differently than what you can do in race trim. Your focus of what you are looking for is so drastically different for race stuff and looking at the long runs. Right now it’s just about getting enough grip in the car to be able to get it pointed in the right direction and bury back in the throttle. It’s definitely two different things you are looking for.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 8TH:
CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT?
“It was fun to get back out there and feel the car through the three sessions again. My whole career there’s been that one lap, you go for it, and it’s a one-and-done type event. So, to get back in the sequence of knock-out qualifying, that was what I think ultimately, led to us being just a little bit off the top speed. It’s up to me to digest how to go through the three sessions. But overall, it was just a pleasant day with overwhelming support from the team and the garage area. ‘Glad you’re back’, is what I hear a lot of; and I’m thankful to be back and to have this competitive car that I can put in the Top 10 on the first day out. Tomorrow, we’ll settle back into race trim where the car showed some speed. And this is the first short track of the year. It will put everybody on even ground, but I have the least amount of experience with the new package. So, mine is a little bit of learn as you go with the draft and the dirty air on Sunday. But overall, I’m pleased with the Haas Automation Chevy right now and I’ve got to thank those guys and all my sponsors and all the great people at Stewart-Haas.”
YOU WERE FAST ON THE FIRST LAP. WAS THERE SOME SPECIAL DESIRE THERE THAT YOU BUILT UP TO GET BACK IN THE RACE CAR AND GO FAST?
“Phoenix is probably the track that I have the most amount of laps on in my career. It was great to roll right off the hauler and be towards the top of the chart. It’s not me; it’s the team. The team is building very competitive cars. Kevin Harvick is in one of the strongest sequences that I’ve ever seen in our sport and I’ve got a teammate car to his. So, it’s really up to me to try to keep up with him. Overall, I’m pleased with how I was able to get back in the seat and show some speed and now you’ve got to work on those little things that pay dividends at the end of these races on Sunday.”
COMING INTO THIS WEEKEND, DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE BEHIND AT ALL?
DO YOU FEEL YOU’RE IN A CATCH-UP MODE? IS THERE ANY AREA THAT YOU FEEL LIKE MIGHT BE SLOWER FOR YOU TO ADAPT TO WITH THE NEW PACKAGE?
“I don’t feel like I’m too far behind. This is the first short track of the year. So it’s an even playing field for the new package and everybody at a track less than a 1.5-mile. Next week at Fontana, the group will have the 1.5-mile experience over me for two races and so that will be a bigger learning curve settling in next week. That will be done during the race with all that dirty air.”
WITH NO TESTING, YOU HAD NO SEAT TIME PRIOR TO DAYTONA. IS THERE ANY RUST OR HESITATION GETTING BACK INTO THE CAR? OR, DO YOU JUST POP YOURSELF INTO THE SEAT AND FEEL LIKE YOU’RE HOME AGAIN?
“It’s always a little different going out there for your first lap of the year and just getting back into the sequence will be the challenge; and to do it as quickly as possible. It all felt normal today. And to be in the Top 10 is a great start. But there’s all those little things that you have to apply and to learn and to feel with the car now just because it’s a different rules package. So, yeah, the testing thing is definitely different. I think it’s got a lot of people out of sequence. And so it’s just a matter of time before we settle in and then we’ll have a weekend off the first of April. So, I’m looking forward to these next three weeks. I had three weeks to sit there and watch and now I’ve got three weeks to get back on my game, have the off-week, and then go attack Texas.”
HAVE YOU TALKED TO KYLE BUSCH AT ALL? IT’S GOT TO BE TOUGH BEING OUT OF THE RACE CAR AND HE CAN’T EVEN REALLY GET AROUND
“I saw Kyle right when he came back to Charlotte before he had his second surgery. And he seemed in good spirits. And the steps for him, what makes his tough, is that he wants in his head to get back to the track as soon as possible. But he can’t rush the healing of bones and surgeries. And so, we have to keep track of him to give him things to do and to keep his mind in a phase where he’s not trying to rush it. We’ve got to hopefully see him progress at the right pace and then show up back at the track and try to get the best out of 2015 that he can. Overall, he’s taking it very well. I can’t say that he’s ahead of schedule, but just listening to Tony Stewart on how he broke his leg and how Kyle broke his leg; and then my mom, she broke her leg a couple of years ago, so she’s got her experience. And when Mom’s telling you what’s going on, she’s the main doctor.”