JIMMIE JOHNSON PUTS CHEVROLET SS ON POLE AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Sixth Consecutive Race Team Chevy Leads Field to Green
 
CONCORD, NC. – May, 22, 2014 – Jimmie Johnson, six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup points paying race winner at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS), put his No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet SS on pole for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Johnson turned a lap of 194.911 mph, 27.705 seconds in the third round of NASCAR’s knockout qualifying format to earn his first pole of the 2014 season.
 
It was Johnson’s fourth pole at CMS, his 33rd NASCAR Sprint Cup career pole, and he moved into a tie for 20th on the all-time series poles list with Fonty Flock. He is also tied for the most all-time point wins at Charlotte with NASCAR Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison.
 
Johnson’s quick run was also the 31st pole for Team Chevy at the 1.5-mile track. For the past six consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup point-paying races, a Chevrolet SS has led the field to the green.
 
Teammate Kasey Kahne posted his ninth top-10 starting spot at CMS with the third place qualifying effort in his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS.  Danica Patrick was fastest in the second in her No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS and fourth quick overall giving Team Chevy three of the top five starting positions.
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified his No. 88 National Guard/Superman Chevrolet SS in 10th, and Kevin Harvick qualified 11th in the No. 4 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevy SS.
 
Brad Keselowski (Ford) will start the race alongside Johnson and Clint Bowyer (Toyota) will start fifth to round out the top five qualifiers.
 
The season’s longest race, the 400-lap/600-mile event takes the green flag on Sunday afternoon at 6:00 p.m. ET and will be aired live on FOX TV
 
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
COMING INTO CHARLOTTE AND SITTING ON THE POLE, THINGS ARE LINING UP FOR YOU.
“It’s nice to have a fast car off the truck. I think we were second or third in the first practice session. We go back to last weekend and we had the fastest lap in All-Star qualifying. It was a decent car in the race; struggled a little bit in traffic. As we get into practice on Saturday, that’s really going to be the goal for us. I think we have some good ideas to secure the car up and help the clean air balance versus the traffic balance that we’ve been working on. In qualifying today, it was really interesting to start with the sun kind of out and warmer track temps. As the sessions went on, the grip level came in and the adjustments we made got the car better and better. To have my fastest lap around here come on my third time out on the track is pretty mind-boggling the way it works out. So I’m very proud of the team. We had a strong race car all day and are obviously very happy about our performance.”
 
YOU’RE THE ONLY DRIVER TO WIN FROM POLE HERE SINCE 1998. CAN WE INFER FROM THAT, THAT WHEN YOU QUALIFY WELL HERE THAT YOU’RE A THREAT TO WIN THE RACE? AND IS THE TRACK STARTING TO BECOME MORE LIKE IT WAS WHEN YOU DOMINATED BEFORE THE REPAVE?
“I don’t think it’s there yet. It’s definitely getting rougher and losing some grip. In the All-Star race we saw that four tires were definitely better than two. So it’s slowly coming. Whatever the composition of this asphalt is that they put down, it’s tough. It’s taken a long time to finally give up and get to this point. We’re getting into a sweet spot and I feel that in the next three to five years it will continue to evolve and get us to where we were before and provide some great racing.
“We’ve won a lot of races from the back, too. In today’s form of racing though, track position is so, so important. A good pit stall pick. I guess statistically and if you’re looking at the odds or something, the better you qualifying, it will show with a better performance on Sunday. We feel good about it. There’s no guarantees with 600 miles. Anything can happen. We’re so happy to start in this position than 20th or something.”
 
YOU GET ASKED QUITE A BIT ABOUT NOT WINNING A RACE YET, AND YOU REPEATEDLY TALK ABOUT HOW IT DOESN’T BOTHER YOU. DO YOU GET THE IMPRESSION SOMETIMES THAT PEOPLE WANT IT TO BOTHER YOU? AND DO SOME PEOPLE GET SATISFACTION OUT OF YOU NOT BEING ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING AT THIS POINT OF THE SEASON?
“I think there are some people getting satisfaction out of it. But honestly no matter what I do, people talk about it and I don’t mean that in a bad way. If I win, then I’m winning too much. If I’m not winning, then it’s ‘Why aren’t you winning?’ So I can’t do it right either way. I learned a long time ago to not pay attention to the outside voices and influences and just worry about my race team. We’ve been good and had a chance to win at a few tracks. And then at some our bad tracks, we went in there and ran terrible. I’ll be the first to admit it. I think we deserve a fair evaluation at times. We’ve been close to wins and we’ve been pathetic at other tracks. This is a good track for us. Next week is a good track for us and we need to capitalize on those opportunities and get some wins. Again, it doesn’t matter what I do. It’s a good situation to be in because I have had so much success. But no matter what we do, I think they’ll talk about the 48.”
 
THIS IS YOUR FIRST POLE UNDER THE NEW FORMAT. IN LIGHT OF THAT, SHOULD THE COMPETITION BE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF ON SUNDAY?
“Qualifying is on Thursday and (the race) is so far away. You’re really worrying about beating the tires up versus a fuel run when you’re out there. It certainly shows that we are going to be strong this weekend. I’m not sure that it sends a message that two or three race wins would send. That’s the position I want to get in. I’d love to rattle two or three wins and have people fear the 48 again as they have in the past. I don’t think a pole position does that in the garage area but you have to start somewhere. So if we can start here today and keep things moving forward from today, we’ll be good shape.”
 
YOU WEREN’T VERY GOOD IN THE ALL-STAR RACE. YOU DIDN’T APPEAR TO BE FAST IN PRACTICE. YOU DIDN’T DOMINATE THE RACE LIKE YOU HAD AFTER WINNING IT THE LAST TWO YEARS. DID YOU FIND SOMETHING DIFFERENT BETWEEN THEN AND NOW, OR WAS IT JUST ONE OF THOSE WEEKENDS WHERE IT DIDN’T HAPPEN? OR HAVE YOU HAD TO RETHINK SETUPS AND SO FORTH?
“We’ve definitely come back with a different setup and leaned on our teammates. The 5 car looked real strong in the race and was able to cut through traffic real well. A lot of credit to all our teammates and probably most of all to the No. 5 car in what they did. Our fast lap that we ran in qualifying (for the All-Star Race) gave us a great reference point for today. The balance and simulation – although the setup is different – gave us a nice target to shoot for and balance to build the car around. We did learn some things last weekend that led to speed today. Maybe we learned what not to run in the race last weekend and we will be in much better shape this weekend.”
 
WHY IS THE RACING BETTER THIS SEASON?
“It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been up front to see all that.  The one race I was leading at California I thought was a pretty exciting race.  You had a lot of tire issues going on.  It looks like we had it in the bag and blow a tire and the No. 18 emerges from a decent day and ends up a surprise winner of sorts.  I think some of that has been going on.  When I think of Richmond and how the No. 22 car was able to make stuff happen in the final few laps and get from deep in the field up to the lead and win.  There has been the drama late in the race and I don’t know what has created it personally and it’s hard to say and every year NASCAR works hard to tweak the rules and doing whatever they can to provide great side-by-side racing.  I don

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 22, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOT CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP. YOU WERE ONE OF THE LAST ONES TO GO OUT
‘Yeah, it was a really strong lap. I’m very pleased with it. Happy to get this Lowe’s Chevrolet on pole for this big race coming up Sunday afternoon. We knew we had a great race car today so it was nice to get out there and work our way through the three segments here and get it done. On the first run we missed it a little bit but Chad (Knaus) knew exactly how to dial me in for the second one. We got a lot closer and for the third segment laid down a good lap.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD:
WHERE WAS THE AREA YOU FELT YOU MISSED IN THAT RUN?
“I feel like I missed it in every round. Just getting into Turn 3. I wasn’t as sharp as I’d been in practice or last week. We’ve got to work a little bit on (Turn) 3 getting to the white line faster and that type of thing. We’ve got to push a little harder through there. I think that’s the spot. I felt pretty good in (Turns) 1 and 2 and pretty good in (Turn) 4. I tried backing it up and doing different things but it was just kind of set-up stuff that we need to work on Saturday.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 4TH 
ON HER QUALIFYING RUN:
“The car was really good.  I think the big difference that came for me was in the second round.  (Tony) Gibson (crew chief) made really good adjustments and anticipated the offset from run one to run two really well and the balance was really good.  I did that 20 whatever seven which was quickest in the second group.  We have a lot to be proud of.  I mean let’s face it this is the part of the weekend that I dreaded every time.  I had to train myself to not say I hate qualifying.  We were third in a round, we were first in a round and we were fourth in a round.  A lot to be proud of at Stewart-Haas and for the GoDaddy car and it’s going to give us a great starting spot for Sunday.”
 
DRIVERS ARE TALKING ABOUT THE CHALLENGING CONDITIONS TODAY WHAT WORKED FOR YOU GUYS HOW DID YOU AVOID THAT?
“I think one of the things that happens when your team gives you a really good race car is you don’t notice the track being off as much.  It never feels super low grip.  Even in the heat of the day today I told the guys ‘I really honestly don’t feel like the grip level is all that much different than when we were here last weekend for the All-Star weekend and it was far cooler.’  That is a product of good race cars and they have a lot to be proud of at the shop.”
 
WERE YOU ABLE TO LEARN ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN APPLY THIS WEEKEND FROM THE SHOWDOWN LAST WEEKEND?
“Anytime you can have track time at a track you are going to race at is good for learning.  It’s good for repetition, it’s good for learning about your car, so we would have loved to have been in the All-Star weekend, but it wasn’t meant to be.  We are doing okay here and we’ve got another practice before the race.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 26TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“We unloaded and were really loose.  We made quite a few runs on the first set of tires.  We put our next set of tires on and the car was really tight.  It’s really hard to adjust on that.  And then we were just way tight in qualifying.  I don’t know if the track has tightened up.  It seemed like it was a pretty big change from practice and then I felt like we took a huge swing at it again to free it up and it almost seemed worse.  I don’t know.  Just way off there we haven’t been that far off in qualifying all year long.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 27TH
WHAT DOES STARTING THIS DEEP IN THE FIELD DO FOR YOU GUYS?
“It just disappoints us.  We know our car is much better than this.  I think these are about as challenging conditions as you can have when you have a really hot day like this.  The sun goes down and it’s a total guessing game and we completely guessed wrong.  We just missed the set-up.  The car has plenty of speed in it.  I’m not concerned about the race.  I know that we can work our way through there and be really strong in the race, but we just have to get the balance right at the start of the race and make sure that we are there at the end.  It’s just more challenging to do that from where we are going to be starting.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2014
 
MICHAEL ANNETT, NO. 7 PILOT FLYING J CHEVROLET SS AND REED SORENSON, NO. 36 BEEF JERKY OUTLET CAROLINAS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed Tommy Baldwin Racing’s involvement with the Salute the Troops program and the Armed Forces Foundation.  PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
 
REED SORENSON:
 
TALK ABOUT THE SALUTE THE TROOPS PROGRAM:
“The Salute the Troops program is a deal they put together to basically write letters to the troops to show support and thanks pretty much.  They can come from anywhere from what I understand.  The other day I actually went to a classroom with six different third grade classes and helped them write letter.  We will get them all collected and send them all off.  Just something they might enjoy. Chevrolet is sending off some calling cards to all the troops.  Carolina Jerky is sending some beef jerky for them to go through. Just a little token of appreciation a little different maybe than what they are used to.  I’m sure getting letters from third graders back here at home might mean a lot to them.  I’m sure they will keep it and mean a lot to them for a long time.”
 
CAN FANS STILL GO ONLINE AND DO IT? 
“It goes through July to the Daytona race which is July 5th I believe.  There are still plenty of weeks left to do it.  From what I understand go to the Tommy Baldwin Racing Facebook page or Twitter page to make sure you get your letter sent into the right place.  They will all be collected and sent out.”
 
OVER THE YEAR’S I’M SURE YOU HAVE HAD PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT WITH TROOPS ALL OVER THE WORLD.  ARE YOU FINDING THEY ARE A LOT OF BIG RACE FANS OUT THERE IN THE MILITARY?
“For sure, I was able to fortunately be sponsored by the Air Force at one point.  I got to hang out with those guys a few times.  A lot of race fans in there.  Not a big surprise I guess, but a lot of race fans.  They enjoy talking to all different people throughout the sport.  They know how much NASCAR supports them and I think that is why they enjoy hanging out with all of us and trading stories and things like that.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR TEAM AND THE GROWTH THIS YEAR:
“Yeah there are no start and parks anymore that is what a lot of people forget.  There used to be three or four cars that would pull off and now there are none.  It’s definitely changed a little bit.  I think the competitiveness has gone up a little.  It’s kind of forcing everybody to spend a little more time, spend more money and get better people.  We are moving along with that program as well.  All the guys are working hard to make our team better.”
 
MICHAEL ANNETT:
 
TELL US ABOUT THE SALUTE THE TROOPS PROGRAM:
“It’s a real easy way to give back.  Whenever we come to this weekend and this race each year you get to see a lot of the patriotism. It’s a really easy way, five minutes of your time, to let those guys overseas know that we are thinking about them all the time.  Unfortunately stuff like this only gets fired up on one weekend.  It’s something that people need to think about every day of the year.  Just using where we are at in the sport to be able to do something like this and give back.”
 
THIS PROGRAM GOES THROUGH JULY WITH YOUR TEAM?
“It’s really easy to go onto TBR’s Facebook page and Twitter and all the information is there.  You can get in touch with our people.  It’s something that needs to go a lot longer than one weekend.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR INTERACTION WITH TROOPS OVER THE YEARS:
“I think the coolest thing in our sport is in the Driver’s Meeting we acknowledge all the troops that come to the race track and the families of people that are lost family members overseas.  I think that by far always puts a smile on my face and makes me proud to be a part of this sport that appreciates it.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2014
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER FOLDS OF HONOR CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed what it takes to win the Coca-Cola 600, his season thus far and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT THE 600 FOR YOU?
“I think it is just keeping up with the car.  As you go through the temperature changes it’s going to be a lot warmer than it was last week so you kind of have to take that with a grain of salt as to what we did at the All-Star race because of the much warmer temperatures. We may not even every get to the coolest temperature Sunday night is probably still going to be warmer than the warmest it was last week.  You just have to keep up with the car and always try and stay on the lead lap through the beginning part of the race knowing that your car is going to need to handle a lot different as you get to night.  It’s an interesting challenge.  It’s a long night you are never out of the race unless you are torn up.  You don’t want to get yourself torn up or make a dumb mistake early in the race because you can always make your car right by the end.”
 
WITH THIS RACE BEING SO LONG DOES YOUR MIND EVER WANDER OFF?
“That is a good question.  I think for me it’s just about making laps and trying to remember exactly what you did in that corner last time.  It never wanders off of racing for sure just for the fact that unless a cable falls out of the sky or something falls in front of your car then you have something else to think about.  All in all it’s just trying to relay that information back to the crew as much as you can to try to be as good a piece of information as you can to keep up with the track.”
 
WHAT IS THE KEY TO GETTING AROUND THIS PLACE?
“The key is just keeping up with the race track.  In the beginning just taking what the car will give you and trying to keep yourself in a good position to stay on the lead lap and make solid pit road entrances and exits and into your box.  Just try to keep making yourself as good as you can lap after lap.  In the end as you get towards the end there is just a lot that can happen throughout the day and night.  You just have to be patient to get yourself within at least 100 miles of the end so that you can still be in contention.”
 
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A BETTER TEAM?
“I don’t think so.  The bottom line is the organization from a whole has given us every resource that we have asked for.  You never talk about money, it’s just what do you need and how do we get it for you, how do we get better. They went out recruited Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and he went out and recruited every single person on this team.  They all came here for the same reasons.  They all want to win races.  They all want to win and race for championships and when you put that kind of people together with that determination everybody pushes everybody else.  So you just have to ride the wave and try to keep getting better.  Everybody is having fun and everybody likes to race.  It’s all about racing most of the time.”
 
WHAT ABOUT THIS RACE SUITS YOU?
“You just have to keep yourself in the race that is the first thing that you have to do.  For me I feel like we can always make our car better even if we are leading the race.  I feel like we can always find something to work on, but sometimes you can also send it the other way.  You just have to make good decisions through the night.  I feel like the communication from the driver’s seat to the crew chief and how they interpret that back to the engineers has always been a plus for me.  I feel like that is a large part of what happens in this race.”
 
WHAT IS KURT BUSCH’S CHALLENGE?
“I think the biggest challenge and we haven’t specifically talked about it from anything from a race car standpoint is just knowing what car you are in and remembering how to drive that particular car because they are so different.  I hope he has a good weekend he has done a great job in Indy.  I know he has the accident this week, but I think that is not a bad thing either.  I know it’s probably expensive from a team owner’s standpoint, but I think knowing where that edge is before you get into the race and not having to hopefully experience that during the race is probably good that he got it out of the way.  It’s been fun to watch and very fun from a NASCAR standpoint to see him go over there and have speed and be competitive. That is hard to do in late model racing, in go-kart racing to go into somebody else’s territory and be competitive no matter what level it is at.”
 
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WOULD BE THE BIGGEST TURNING POINT TO PUT YOU IN THE RIGHT PLACE TO WHERE YOU COULD WIN RACES?  WOULD YOU LOOK BACK AT ATLANTA OF 2001 MAYBE?
“I have won races in everything I have ever been in.  It’s just I like to race.  Winning is a lot more fun than losing I can promise you that.  It is way too much work to be a part of this whole deal and not win.  That is probably a little bit of my downfall is being frustrated when we lose and a little bit grumpy.”
 
INAUDIBLE:
“It has to bring some interest just from a standpoint that it’s a big challenge from both worlds.  Whether it’s coming over here and just racing this race or just going over there.  I mean they are huge races.  I think it’s good for both series that he is doing it bringing a lot of attention both ways.”
 
DO YOU LIKE RACING AT DOVER?
“I do.  Dover is one of those race tracks that you can be really aggressive at and get away with it.  Over driving the car is not such a bad thing there.  I’ve been fortunate to run well and I know (Tony) Stewart won the race there last year.  We are looking forward to going up there next week.  To me once you get past this race is really when you start that grind through the season and into the Chase.  This is an important stretch from now until Richmond.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE WHEN WE GO TO DOVER?
“I think the cars are going to be lightning fast in qualifying trim, race trim.  You hear some of the testing speeds and they were really fast.  It’s going to be much warmer hopefully as we go into these next few months.  Those speeds will back up a little bit, but the cars are going to be faster than what they were there before for sure.”
 
A COUPLE OF TIMES YOU HAVE BROKEN THIS YEAR DO THEY CONCERN YOU AT ALL OR ARE YOU STILL PRETTY CONFIDENT IN THE WAY YOU GUYS HAVE UNLOADED OFF THE TRUCK?
“We never really had any problems.  We had a couple of parts break, but speed has never been a problem. That is the thing that everybody in the garage searches for and probably one of the parts that keeps us sane.  Is our cars are fast every single week.  Even if they start practice slow, Rodney (Childers) and the engineers and everybody in this organization they can figure out whatever my problem is in the car they can figure out how to fix it.  If we start half a second off the pace by the end of practice we will be able to gain and by race day it will be even better.  I’ve just never been a part of something that they have been able to work on the car so much and make it better.  That is just a lot of fun.”
 
YOU’VE HAD WINS SLIP AWAY THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS DOES THAT ADD ANY MORE DESIRE TO WIN?
“We want to win every race.  It is such a different mentality than what I have been used to in the past.  As far as we have had the speed to run for the win in every race.  But you are going to lose some.  Everything has gone so well that I think me included we
have kind of lost sight that we are in our 11th race.  Which is kind of scary that from race one we have been in contention and have had the speed to win every race we have been in.  As we sat down and analyzed things this week of everything that happened on pit road last week that was their 11th race.  Sometimes I think our problems are sticking out a little bit more than they would in a normal situation just for the fact you are racing for a win you are not racing for 10th.  It’s probably not a bad thing and hopefully we can have all our issues gone through by the time we get to Homestead.”
 
DID THE SEASON ALMOST START LAST YEAR WITH THE TEST HERE AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN DECEMBER?
“For sure we were fortunate that Rodney was able to come over early and all he worked on once he got to SHR was what we were going to do this year with the new rules.  I feel like we have been a little bit ahead of the game since that test.  But when we had that test here last year the first lap on the race track everybody’s confidence went to about as high as you could put it just for the fact of how well things went.”
 
INAUDIBLE:
“The first minute that I was in that car I haven’t quit smiling since.  It’s been so refreshing and so much fun to be a part of it that every day you just kind of leave the race track shaking your head going ‘well we won that one or we could have won that one.’  We raced and led and did all the things that you want to do as a race car driver as a team.  I don’t know how you could ask for it to go much better.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2014
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/SUPERMAN CHEVROLET SS met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway today to discuss a new paint scheme for his car, his goal of winning a point’s race at Charlotte and his ‘Wrecked Car Graveyard’, among other topics. Full transcript:
 
TALK TO US ABOUT THE PAINT SCHEME FOR THIS SPECIAL WEEK AT CHARLOTTE:
“It’s a pretty neat deal. HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) has teamed up with DC Comics to do a three-year program. This particular weekend, Superman and the National Guard are getting together. Basically what DC Comics wants to promote on this particular weekend is their Superman Hall of Heroes, which is an online gift-giving portal where you can go and induct someone that you think deserves that title. It’s a pretty neat deal. There are some things that I know but can’t talk about that we will be revealing later. It’s a good-looking race car. I hope it is fast. I’m hoping we can go out there and run good. We’ve worked with DC Comics in the past and had some pretty good success when we’ve done that. We had a Superman car in ’99 at Phoenix in the Nationwide Series where we wrapped up the championship there. We had Batman on the car in 2012 when we won at Michigan. We’ve had some pretty good history. Hopefully we can have a good run. I’d love to win here. We haven’t won here in a points-paying race. This is a track where that I always got to come to ever since I was old enough to get to the race track, so we haven’t missed many races here. I sure would love to win one here. It’s been very difficult to do. The 600 would be in the top-five of my favorite wins if I can get that this weekend.”
 
WHAT CHALLENGES WILL CHASE ELLIOTT FACE AS THE SON OF A NASCAR LEGEND?
“I don’t think he’ll face a lot of challenges early because when you’re young, you’re a bit naïve to all that and all the things going on around you. You just really worry and care about driving the car, enjoying what you’re doing, working with the team and hanging out with your friends. You don’t understand and you don’t recognize and notice a lot of the storm around you. It takes a couple of years before you start to understand how big a thing this really is. So I think that for the first couple years being naïve is a bit of a blessing. He seems to be just focusing on only the particulars – driving the car, enjoying himself. He’s very soft-spoken and quiet. I think that will serve him pretty well the first several years. After about 12 or 24 months in the Cup series, you start to realize exactly how big this thing is and how powerful this sport is. That’s when you start to have trouble keeping your foot off your mouth and keeping your head on straight.”
 
OTHER THAN A CHAMPIONSHIP, IS THE NO. 1 RACE ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?
“This is definitely a race I’d love to win. I want to win a point’s race here so bad because we live just right down the road. I’ve been coming here since I’ve been a kid. I remember sitting up in the press box watching qualifying for the ’83 race, and that was probably one of my first real memories of going to a Cup event. Once they built those condos over there in One and Two, we never missed a race and we watched a lot of them over there in the mid-80s and early-80s.
 
“We watched a lot of races over on the last corner of the road course up on the hill with most of our family and all the Eury’s and everybody. We just always came here, and it’s frustrating that I haven’t won a race here other than the All-Star event. We’ve had some good cars but not anywhere near good enough. There are a lot of other race tracks where I think, ‘Man we were really close’ or the car was fast enough. But I’ve never really had a car here that I thought we had it, we were walking away and we gave it away. We always seem to get outrun here but hopefully this weekend we can change that.”
 
WHAT IS KURT BUSCH DOING “THE DOUBLE” DO TO ELEVATE RESPECT AMONG THE DRIVERS? DO YOU LOOK AT HIM IN A LITTLE DIFFERENT WAY FOR GOING OUT AND DOING THIS?
“I really like the work he is doing with The Armed Forces and it says a lot about what’s important to him more than anything he is doing on the race track. He’s doing some amazing work and making an impact. That’s doing a lot for him – like it matters – in my eyes. I respect him a lot more because of that. The racing thing… hell, we all like to race so I can understand his enjoyment of doing the Indy deal. I can’t wait to watch and pull for him. He’s representing the entire sport. Whether he knows it or not, he’s got a lot of people, drivers, crew and just about everyone on the infield pulling for him to do well because he is representing all of us. He’s definitely put in a strong effort to make a different impression. I have to hand it to him. He’s done a lot of work.”
 
GOING TO DOVER, ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A LITTLE REDEMPTION AFTER FINISHING SECOND, AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THAT RACE?
“I just learned that Jimmie is really hard to beat at Dover. We came so close. I ran those last 20 or 30 laps over and over after that trying to think about where I might have given up a little bit or not seized an opportunity. But it was nice that we had a good car, and I hope we can be as competitive when we go back obviously. But I like racing there and we definitely ran well. We will just have to be really aggressive. We were aggressive on restarts and that paid off. We fought for positions in the middle part of the race that seemed meaningless. By the end of the race, those instances I could add up and say that’s how we got that track position and get to where we were in a position to race Jimmie. So I learned a lot in that particular event.”
 
STICKING ON THE SUPERMAN THEME, IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY SPECIAL POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
“Super-human strength would be the best one to have, I think. Being able to pick stuff up and throw it across the yard would be fun. You can impress your friends and show off for the ladies. You could sit down and think about it; they all have their positives. Super-human strength would be pretty cool.”
 
WHAT WOULD YOU THROW?
“Oh I don’t know. Maybe my friends and I would go to a junkyard and toss some cars around. That would be pretty harmless, right?”
 
ARE YOU EVER FASCINATED AT THE CURIOSITY OVER YOUR WRECKED CAR GRAVEYARD? ARE YOU ADDING CARS AT A MORE RAPID CLIP THESE DAYS OR DOES IT SEEM THAT WAY BECAUSE YOU’RE ABLE TO POST PHOTOS ON TWITTER?
“I think it’s the Twitter thing. I think people are learning about me on Twitter over the last little bit. We’ve collected cars there for a long time. It’s not like I go looking for every wreck that we have or anyone has. A lot of times they’re offered up or I’ll call up a buddy that’s a crew chief or something. I called (Steve) Addington and asked Steve about the 51 car. I know Harry Scott pretty well so I figured if they were going to throw it away I could at least have it. I don’t know why I want them or even why we go get them. When JR Motorsports first started with Pro Cup and Late Model, we’d put so much money into building those cars. When we’d tear them up, I couldn’t see throwing them away or scrapping them so we’d stick them in the woods. So if we have 80 cars now, the first 30 or 40 are JR Motorsports or Late Models or something related to me or my company and we just kept plugging them in there. Then Brad Keselowski… y’all remember when Brad’s daddy owned a Nationwide car that wrecked at Talladega in (Turn) 4 and it flipped up into the wall? I forget who was driving but he used to be track champion at Hickory… Dennis Setzer was driving it. Brad gave me that car and it started with getting cars like that. Brad lives right next to me and said, ‘Hey man, we’re going to throw this awa
y. Do you want this car?’ We put that in there and that got me thinking that I’ll get other people’s cars and not just me. I called Chip about the Jet Dryer car. He said I could put it out there as long we didn’t take any pictures of it. He just didn’t want a lot of publicity with it being out there. Then I got the C-post car from Chad Knaus because I think they wrecked it the first lap of the race. The hard part is that if people want to know if there are tours and can they come look at it. I feel kind of bad because it’s on my property. It’s like that western town that I build. It will be there way after I’m gone and someone will walk back there and say, ‘What the hell is this doing here? And who put it here?’ Then my name will come up and they will remember me.”
 
INAUDIBLE:
“I don’t know. I may need to go count. There are sides and noses and hoods hanging up in the trees. There’s all kind of quirky stuff back there. My property manager has a weird sense of humor. He’ll stick those things in some odd places. He got a truck from Brad Keselowski that he nosed into the side of the creek. It’s half-buried in the creek and funny-looking sticking out that like that. It’s fun. We go back there riding through there in the golf carts and my mom goes walking back there… you see something new every time.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2014
 
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his experience of voting in the Hall of Fame, challenges with the new rules package, IndyCar racing, and more. Full Transcript:
 
YESTERDAY YOU GOT TO CAST YOUR BALLOT FOR THE 2015 NASCAR HALL OF FAME CLASS. HOW DID YOU LIKE THAT?
“That was a huge honor and an amazing day to be a part of. To sit in a room with so many people that care for our sport and know about our sport and then discuss what took place in eras of time when I certainly wasn’t around.  Others, I was on the west coast. But it was a very awesome and unique experience and something I think that is a huge honor and in years to come, it’s only going to help drivers in the garage area understand the history of our sport and grow closer and more attached to the people that built this sport. And in a big way, I wish that the garage area could sit in on that discussion and see the respect that the peers and the people on the voting panel have for our industry and for the people involved. It wasn’t an easy process to work down to five. All 20 on that list were very deserving to be in the Hall of Fame.
 
“So, to see the process and to see the care of our peers and our industry, it was a very good experience. And again, I think of myself as still kind of young in this sport, and it was huge for me; I think of Kyle Larson and other drivers coming along, how good it would be for them to see and witness all of that. So it was an awesome day. The champion gets that honor and it is a huge honor. I know that the champions behind me will have as great an experience as I did.”
 
HOW IS THIS RACE DIFFERENT FOR YOU IN THE FACT THAT IT’S THE LONGEST RACE OF THE SEASON? WHAT IS THE PREPARATION LIKE? HOW IS SUNDAY DIFFERENT BECAUSE IT’S THE LONGEST RACE OF THE YEAR?
“It’s not tremendously different any more. The big thing you need to stay aware of is the track changing. That’s the biggest issue that we’ll deal with starting in the day and finishing late at night. I think maybe toward the start of my career we were a little bit worried about equipment and managing equipment. But those all seem to be distant memories now and you can really run every lap like it’s the last. Drivers’ fitness and hydration is kind of a player in there as well and you might see a little bit of fatigue at the end.  I feel like I’ve got that base covered if it does come down to that. You’ve got a lot of opportunities to work on your car and that’s what I’ll tell myself all night long. If things don’t go our way, if we’re caught in the pits when a caution comes out, or something doesn’t work in our favor, you’ve got 100 more miles to sort things out. A 500-mile race is already long. And now you’ve got 100 more to work on it. You’ve just got to keep your head in the game and focus on being in the game longer.”
 
THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A LOT OF CURIOSITY IN THE GARAGE AREA ABOUT THE INDY 500. IF THIS EXPERIENCE FOR KURT BUSCH GOES WELL ON SUNDAY, DO YOU THINK MORE NASCAR DRIVERS MIGHT BE INCLINED TO GIVE IT A LOOK?
‘I think so. I feel like there’s been an open door there. At least I know there has been for myself in discussions with many teams on the IndyCar side. Timing was an issue at one point in time and the engine manufacturer situation that I was dealing with when I had the green light from my wife to go do it. So, there are always some challenges but it might. And I hope that it does. I think it’s great for motorsports to see this happen.
 
“And maybe I’m not answering your question directly, but the thing that I look at in all this and watching intently for is to see how a driver does from a low downforce vehicle into a high downforce vehicle. Sunday we’ll know a lot more how that transitions, but it seems to be an easier transition to go from low downforce to high downdorce versus open-wheel guys leaving their high downforce cars and coming to our low downforce cars. So, I’m proud of Kurt (Busch). He’s doing an awesome job. He’s put up a lot of speed and fast laps over there and has even found a limit. That’s something you need to do. It’s better to tear them up in practice than on race day. I’m looking forward to the 500 and hopefully he has a great showing.”
 
SOUNDS LIKE YOU’RE STILL INTERESTED IN IT
“My desire to compete in the Indianapolis 500 has not diminished one bit. But I made a deal with my wife. So, a deal’s a deal.”
 
ON THAT NOTE AND AS SOMEONE WHO TRAINS, WHAT IS IT THAT YOU APPRECIATE MOST ABOUT WHAT KURT BUSCH IS TRYING TO DO ON SUNDAY?
“As a racer, there are just events that you dream of competing in before you ever make a decision that’s you’re going to race on short tracks and end up in stock cars or go-karts that lead to open wheel racing. You just watch events on television; you know the procedures that follow them and you just desire to race in those events. Indy is that for anybody who has had a love for auto racing. So, I’ve had that. I feel like stock car drivers are fortunate now that we get to go there for our Brickyard 400 and it’s a very important race. We’re able to satisfy a large part of that. For west coasters like the Busch brothers and myself; Jeff Gordon and other guys like Kasey Kahne, open wheel was our path. Especially in my era of growing up, a lot of guys were leaving the different off-road and dirt ranks and working their way into Trans-Am and up to indy Lights and then to IndyCar.
 
“My focus was solely on IndyCar. I knew a little bit about NASCAR, but if it wasn’t for Chevrolet being very honest with me and they wanted me to be a part of their driver line-up in years to come. But they said look, we’re pulling out of open wheel. If you want a career in motorsports and you want Chevrolet’s support, you need to consider stock car racing. And it wasn’t long after that I had a one-way ticket to North Carolina and was on Ron Hornaday’s couch. So, my path led me a different way. With Kurt, I would imagine Indy was very prominent in his mind as a kid growing up.”
 
LOOKING AHEAD TO DOVER THIS WEEK, YOUR RECORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. DO YOU EXPECT ANY OF THAT TO CHANGE WITH THE RULES CHANGES AND NEW SET-UPS?
“Yeah, it’s all different, no doubt. We had a set-up that worked well with a variety of generations of cars and it will be a little different going back. But there’s a rhythm and a style of driving that race track that I think sticks with the driver regardless of car. So, I’m very optimistic about our performance over there.”
 
REGARDING NOT HAVING WON YET THIS SEASON, CHAD KNAUS SAID ON THE RADIO THIS WEEK THAT YOU STRUGGLED A BIT WITH THE NEW RULES PACKAGE BECAUSE IT FAVORS A TIGHTER CAR AND YOU LIKE TO DRIVE A LOOSER CAR AND THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO ADAPT IT FOR YOU. DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT? ARE YOU CATCHING-UP WITH WHERE YOU WANT TO BE?
“Yeah, that’s definitely what we’ve been dealing with. We develop a balance of a car in practice by ourselves in single car runs; and then in traffic situations, find that balance is just too uncomfortable to drive. So, we’re trying to trade off single car speed versus how the car handles in traffic has been kind of our goal. I do like a loose race car and as we get in traffic, the car typically gets looser. So, if you start with a loose car and you end up deep in traffic, you’re not really going anywhere; you’re kind of stuck. And yes, I’m not the best driver of a tight race car.
 
“A lot of tools have been taken away from us to help the car turn. So, it’s something that I’m trying to adapt to and sort out. There are always different challenges in this sport and I know that we’ll get it. I also feel that eve though we haven’t won a race this year, there are 16 drivers that make it into the Chase, where last year t
here were 12 and two of those were wild cards.
 
“So, the window is a lot bigger to get into the Chase for the first segment and I feel very confident that we’ll be in there. And I really don’t think there’s going to be 16 different winners. So, as long as we work to make our cars faster, of course we want to win, but as long as we keep a smart mind on points and have good finishes and keep ourselves up in points, we’ll keep our post-season hopes alive. And in the post-season, we have amazing race tracks for us. And I know by then we’ll have things where we need to have them.

HAVING BEEN FRIENDS AND TEAMMATES WITH JEFF GORDON, WHAT DISCUSSION HAVE YOU HAD WITH HIM ABOUT THAT FIRST WIN OF HIS CAREER HERE AT CHARLOTTE? WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT SEEING IT ON THE WEST COAST?
“Oddly enough, maybe we talked about it years ago, but I don’t have any vivid memories or thoughts of our discussions about it. I remember watching it and seeing how he couldn’t even talk. He just broke down and emotion poured through. Being a driver on the west coast and he grew up out there (also) and he raced in a different form of cars giving me a lot of hope. And I think a lot of dirt-related drivers had a lot of hope that they would get a shot at NASCAR. And so, I just remember watching. I was a fan. I owned a die cast car and he was my guy so I was stoked that he won a race. And to look back on that it was obviously a big day for him and just the start of all the great things that came.”
 
HOW HAS THE NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT CHANGED RACING?
“I feel like you get another opportunity on most tracks if you don’t get your first lap right. Here, we should have a chance for two to go out on a second run on tires and not lose too much speed. So, if you don’t get the greatest first lap, you can maybe improve your starting position. So I feel like this format offers you a few chances to get your best starting position. Most importantly, I think it’s good for the fans. I think having a race of sorts and some type of competition out there is good for them.”
 
I MEANT THE QUALIFYING FORMAT FOR THE PLAYOFF. DOES THAT CHANGE THE WAY YOU GUYS RACE?
“Oh, I haven’t seen anything totally different yet. I think once we get towards the end of the year, you’ll definitely see some aggression. It really makes a difference between first and second with wins being a priority. There could very well be some heated racing up front, but for third and forth, you’re not going to go in there and dump the guy for third and then have him mad at you the rest of the year. It’s different if you’re racing for the win. But I think it’s built a lot of excitement. I’ve had not necessarily non-NASCAR fans, but more casual fans that I know have been tuning in a lot more and interested in following the winners and the progress of the season. So, I feel like it’s been a good change for our sport.”
 
ON VOTING FOR THE HALL OF FAME, HOW MUCH PREPARATION DID YOU DO TO CAST YOUR VOTE? DID YOUR CAR OWNER GIVE YOU A LITTLE RIBBING THAT YOU COULDN’T GET HIM IN YESTERDAY?
“No, I spoke to him on the drive up today, just catching up with him; and I’m not sure he feels he should be in there yet. He’s a competitor out there and he appreciates the phone calls he received yesterday and the concern from others, but I don’t think he feels like it’s time to be in there yet, although I voted for him. I just am so impressed with his stats and what he has done, but I still think there are many more to come.”
 
HOW MUCH DID YOU PREPARE?
“For me it was a lot. I actually read the book. And those that know me know how much I despise reading. And I read the book twice. So, I studied up and enjoyed the entire process.”
 
WHEN YOU VOTED, DID YOU HAVE A SHORT LIST OF PEOPLE THAT YOU THOUGHT MIGHT GET IN? AND AS DISCUSSIONS PROGRESSED THROUGH THE DAY, DID THAT LIST CHANGE AT ALL?
“Yeah, it really did. There was so much good discussion. I probably had seven going in. And I thought the discussion would help me whittle it down to five. But after the conversations took place, I think my number grew to nine. And then we had lunch and things moved kind of quickly after that and the ballot was in front of me, in front of all of us. And it was time to check some boxes.
 
“So, I felt like I could have been there another couple of hours with the open microphone format and learning more about the individuals. It was not an easy decision. Just following social media and seeing people reply and being upset that someone they are a fan of or related to even, didn’t make it in. I feel for everybody. And I kind of sensed that some took the voting process lightly based on just 140 characters that come through a tweet. I wish others, especially the people on the outside of our sport looking in, could understand how much thought went into that. I was really impressed yesterday; and the whole prepping process and what went into it and how much consideration goes into each and every name on the ballot. So, those in there know, it’s not an easy process to pick those five.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2014

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION MADE IN AMERICA CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed attempting to do the double this weekend competing in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT HOW EVERYTHING IS GOING:
“It’s good to be at the NASCAR track today and to jump into Sprint Cup practice and just to give credit and acknowledgement and the time back to the 600 portion of all of this.  Indy is obviously exciting and new and different and it starts earlier in the month of course as far as preparations.  I was on the plane ride back and I’m like you know I’m going to be in my Cup car and be back in the comfort zone and go out for practice on Thursday.  That is going to feel fun.  I’m really excited about getting in the car today and shaking down the car, making laps, then try to tailor the set-up around finding the right comfort zone that we will need for a full 600 miles.”
 
DESCRIBE THE CHALLENGE NOW THAT YOU HAVE THAT CONTEXT OF HOW THAT THING PERFORMS AND OF COURSE YOU HAVE THE LOGISTICS INVOLVED AS WELL:
“I hope that there is still more to learn and more to experience and there will be on Sunday.  It’s still difficult to describe the differences between the two.  I’ve had to keep them very separate.  I hope if I have the chance to come and see you guys on Friday in Dover after Memorial Day weekend I will have a better explanation.  Just like walking through the garage today it takes 20 minutes for me to go sign in and it’s not because of fans and autographs, even though they are there as well.  It’s the other crew chiefs and the other drivers asking about it, wanting to know the differences and to live some of the experience with me.  Like Todd Berrier stopped me and then a guy Max Papis he was very curious on the world that he has been in and come from.  It’s just so exciting to talk about it.  It’s just still hard to put it all into words.  The Indy car demands a lot of respect and you are on that razor blade edge when you are out there driving.  Everything is very precise.  It’s almost like being a surgeon.  When you are out there by yourself trying to qualify at 230 mph it’s different than what it is in the draft in the dirty air.  They call it a tow.  When you are in the tow up there and following other guys around in the groove for race pace it’s not just wide open all the way around like some people would think.
 
“When I made the mistake on Monday it was because I just started to tell myself ‘settle in, get into this 500 mile rhythm and know that you have 600 miles later on.’ It was the set-up that I had from the previous Thursday where I was the most comfortable in drafting practice.  I made some adjustments inside the car, didn’t stay on top of Turns 1 and 2.  The south end of the track is different than the north end of the track there.  The wind angle was at the most different, awkward angle that I’ve had during the whole month of May.  Turn 2 bit me.  I’m glad that I experienced it.  I might sound stupid, by staying that I’m glad I wrecked at 220 mph, but if I didn’t put myself in that position I would have done that on Sunday possibly 50 laps into the race.  That is how you have to advance through life is to learn from your mistakes.  It was a mistake that I whole heartedly put myself in.  It’s because I just started to feel comfortable.  I just let my guard down a little bit and that Indy car jumped up and bit me.
 
“When I came here and ran the All-Star race on Saturday night I jumped in there cold turkey for qualifying.  Coming down pit road at 150 mph that is a blast there will never be another day that I came into so many things unprepared.  When I got through with the qualifying lap here I’m like ‘man I’m a fish out of water.’  I’m making way too many wheel movements, throttle inputs, steering inputs, I’m just all over the place.  I’ve got to let the stock car do its normal flow.’  You have to let the car move before you react to it.  In IndyCar you can react to it right away.  It’s very precise with the Indy car, the stock car you have to let it flow.”
 
CAN YOU GET INTO SPECIFICS ON HOW YOU HAVE HAD TO TRAIN AND WHAT THE DEMANDS ARE OF AN INDYCAR VERSUS A STOCK CAR REQUIRE YOU TO TRAIN DIFFERENTLY?
“Well it’s not an Indy car versus stock car it’s just being prepared for 1100 miles.  Upper body strength is important in both.  Core strength is what I have worked on these last six months.  It’s to be able to use your core to not over exert your arms or to have your legs cramp up.  It’s to be as prepared as you can be for the marathon portion of this.  The demands from driving both cars are the same on the body it’s just I have to be ready to do 1100 miles.  Running to the gym, keeping my heart rate elevated while I’m there, doing martial arts type of activity in a boot camp style formula to where as it keeps your heart rate up for that full hour and then run back home from the gym.  This week it’s been great to add in the full nutrition portion of the program to come in on the first part of the week with low carbs maintaining the protein.  It will start tomorrow night with loading up on carbs and almost being at the big fighter weight that you would expect to see a guy with the extra weight just so that I know that I am going to burn all that off on Sunday.”
 
IF IT GOES WELL ON SUNDAY DO YOU THINK OTHER DRIVERS WILL BE TEMPTED TO GIVE IT A SHOT ONE DAY?
“I’m a race.  Tony Stewart is a racer, Robby Gordon is a racer and John Andretti is a racer.  This is a true test of what your commitment level is on being a racer. There are so many practices back and forth, the travel, the logistics’; the fun meter is pegged right now.  I’m having a blast doing it; you just have to know it comes with a lot of hard work.  I encourage others to try it out.  At the end of the day though motorsports to me is my family, it’s my home. On the NASCAR side I’ve been here 15 years.  I always open the USA Today or click on different websites for Memorial Day weekend and it’s about our military and the red, white and blue all the time.  But Memorial Day weekend is a time for motorsports to shine.  It starts with Monaco it goes through Indy and it ends here in Charlotte.  I’m doing this for a lot of different reasons, but at the end of the day I think motorsports can use the shot in the arm to go you know what this is a guy that has never been in an Indy car we want to watch that race then we want to follow him to Charlotte to see what he can do down there running that full 600 miles.”
 
IS THIS UNDERTAKING BIGGER THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE?  OR IS IT ABOUT AS BIG AS YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE?
“It’s a different discipline of motorsport.  It’s a tough car to drive just like a Sprint Cup car is tough to drive.  It hasn’t been overwhelming, but at the same time each day in the Indy car I’m a student and I’m learning.  How many times have we all told ourselves if I would have known now what I could have known then?  The way to approach this is to have fun.  I have zero IndyCar experience and I’m trying to elevate my game over there to be competitive.  Yes, it’s difficult.  Those guys are good at what they do.  I had a shot at the Fast Nine, but that is when you have a fast car to do that with.  Andretti Autosport guys have prepared a beautiful car for me to drive up there.  My rookie orientation car was different than the one that I qualified and now I will have a different one in the race.  It shows t
he level of craftsmanship that the IndyCar guys can put into their cars and then the level of ability of their drivers.  I’m sitting on the fourth row and that fourth row ended up with a ton of credentials because we were all the guys that didn’t make the final nine.  It’s (Juan Pablo) Montoya, Scott Dixon and myself.  That is all the way to 12th place.  The names can go on and on up there on who is in the field.  I’m just one guy out of 33 racing up there.  I’m one guy down here racing against 43.  It’s been a blast to be able to do this in my career and to say at 35 years old I’m at the peak.  I’m feeling great about the Cup car.  We’ve got a solid Stewart-Haas team.  I’ll be back next week and it will be back to normal of running Dover, Pocono, Michigan, Sonoma and on with the rest of them.”
 
HAS THE FUN AND SUCCESS YOU HAVE HAD AT INDY TAKEN YOUR MIND OFF THE STRUGGLES A LITTLE BIT OF THE CUP CAR?
“No I’ve been there right along with the Cup guys.  I actually surprised them when we had a rain out up in Indy and came to the shop on a Wednesday last week.  I could see in everybody’s eyes they were startled that I was there and at the same time they were relieved because they know that we have some work to do.  I just wanted to show them my commitment.  My commitment is here on the NASCAR side and I’m excited about getting in the car today to make laps and to work on getting this No. 41 Haas Automation Chevy stronger and faster.”
 
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SENSATION OF SPEED BETWEEN INDYCAR AND NASCAR?  WHICH FEELS FASTEST TO YOU?
“That is a very detailed question because there are so many ways to explain it and so many different people will experience things that think that are faster in one aspect versus another.  Ask Jimmie Johnson, I talked to him and I told him Bristol is one of my favorite tracks.  That track it’s like it’s in slow motion when I’m out there.  He goes ‘really, that place it feels like I’m going 200 mph’.  I said ‘well that is what it feels like for me at Charlotte’ and you think and he told me it is slow for him.  There are different drivers that have their comfort level at certain tracks and in certain forms of motorsport.
 
“It would be like you and your buddies riding a roller coaster.  One guy is going to think it’s extremely fast and the other guy is going to go ‘nah it wasn’t so bad I’m ready for more.’ The speed it obviously shows up when you are doing something wrong.  When I wrecked the other day in the Indy car that extra 20 mph and not a lot of material to crush is definitely a harder hit than what it is in a Cup car.  But I was fortunate enough to hit a safer barrier and to have all the extra safety equipment on that IndyCar has put in place and that NASCAR has evolved to.  I feel like drivers now are able to withstand bigger wrecks than what our pioneers and the legends of our sport have done before.  Our group can challenge what those guys have done in the past, but they deserve bigger credit.  The legends such as AJ Foyt or Mario Andretti, the Gurney’s those big names back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.
 
“I mean this whole adventure here this month of May I will finish with this, I’m talking to Mario Andretti and he is telling me a story about how in 1967 his car was overheating.  They continued to fight overheating problems.  They put on this panel on the back of the car to extract air from the radiator.  He said ‘after we put that panel on the front tires kept lifting up. So then I made these little wickers and I put them on the front of the car to balance the front back out.’  That was the discovery on downforce.  That was putting wings on cars.  All he was trying to do was extract air from the radiator so that the car could run more efficiently and that is how cars have evolved into downforce.  Now that changed the game to go from whatever mph range they were in to the next mph range.  Those guys were all going into foreign territory.  For me I’ve had great teammates at Andretti Autosport to look at their notes.  To have a team that has solid information to help me graduate as a driver through the different levels it’s been an amazing experience.  It’s been a lot of fun and I can’t wait to get in the Cup car today and to finish this journey on Sunday with a strong 1100 miles.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2014
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media today at Charlotte Motor Speedway to talk about his win in the Sprint All-Star Race, his thoughts on the Coca-Cola 600 and his position in the Chase among other topics. Full transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR WIN IN THE ALL-STAR EVENT AND NOW GETTING READY FOR THE 600 THIS WEEKEND.
“The week has been really busy. I got to spend Sunday with my family. Then Monday was kind of all-day at the race shop with a team lunch and doing a lot of media obligations. Then we left at 4:30 in the morning to go to Kentucky for a Goodyear tire test all day Tuesday and all day Wednesday. We got back somewhat early yesterday; we land and I’m driving home and (Matt) Kenseth called and said they we’re having a family get together at his house so I was over there until about eight o’clock last night. So it’s been really busy for me.”
 
WHAT’S THE WACKIEST PHONE CALL, RESPONSE, TEXT OR ANYTHING AFTER WINNING SATURDAY NIGHT? AND CAN YOU ESTIMATE WHAT TIME YOU LOST THE BUZZ THAT NIGHT?
“Did I have a buzz? That’s weird… I don’t remember that. I didn’t really get any wacky texts. My wife went to a birthday party at Casey Mears’ house Tuesday night, and she told me last night, ‘Jamie, I think people are really happy you won.’ Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) and everyone over there came up and were kind of harassing here and asking what she was going to buy. But at the same time she was saying, ‘I really felt like they were really happy that you won.’ And I thought that was cool. Ultimately for me, I only care what that group of people thinks – the other drivers in the garage, the crew chiefs and the owners – I value their opinion more than anyone else’s. To see they were really happy for me was really cool.
“I got a lot of text messages – maybe 150 over the course of 12 hours after the race. But almost everything was really nice and really good stuff. I loved going to the shop on Monday and I can’t tell you how many of the guys who work in our shop were slapping their wife in bed saying, ‘Wake up…he’s going to win.’ I think that’s great because that’s exactly what I would have done if I had been lying in bed with Christy, so that was pretty cool.
 
“The buzz wore off… I don’t know what time. I went to bed about 4 and got up at like 8. I jumped up and was like, ‘I’ve got to get in the shower so I can get home and go see my family.’”
 
EVEN THOUGH WE’RE GOING FROM A 10-LAP SHOOTOUT TO THE LONGEST RACE, WILL IT COME DOWN TO THE FINAL RESTART AS TO WHO WINS THE 600?
“Well yes. But I think is going to depend on if the final restart comes with 25 laps to go, it will be different. It seemed like the other night that in the 20-lap segments, when we got lap 15 or 18, you could tell the handling was going away on some of the guys’ cars.  If we get a longer run… you could see the 4 or the 5 car getting passed last week. I think you’ll see some guys who can advance but if it comes down to a 10- or 15-lap shootout, the guy who gets out front will be hard to beat, for sure.”
 
DOES KURT (BUSCH) DOING THE DOUBLE HAVE ANY IMPACT ON NASCAR? WILL IT BRING MORE ATTENTION TO THE 600 BECAUSE SOMEONE IS DOING BOTH RACES?
“I think so. My take on what Kurt is doing as a race fan is that it’s awesome. I can’t wait to get up Sunday morning, turn the Indy 500 on and watch Kurt’s day. We can all remember Tony (Stewart) and Robby Gordon did it and watching those guys to see how their races goes, them getting on the helicopter – Kurt is actually flying on the plane that I fly on every weekend back down here – and then to show up and race here. I’m excited about it, and I hope other fans – whether you’re and IndyCar fan or a NASCAR fan – are excited to watch his whole day as well. I think it’s really cool what he’s doing.”
 
YOU’VE HAD A COUPLE OF MONTHS TO GET USED TO THIS SYSTEM FOR QUALIFYING FOR THE CHASE. HOW HAS IT CHANGED THE CUP SERIES? HAS IT CHANGED STRATEGY? HAS IT CHANGED QUALIFYING AND TESTING? WHAT’S DIFFERENT NOW THIS YEAR?
“I don’t see a lot different from our take. For me, the difference will be – and we haven’t had this race yet – is if we get a race… in order to take a chance, it has to be on fuel mileage or tires. We haven’t been in a position so far this year. Here we can go 50 laps on fuel. If we get a caution with 52 laps to go, that’s taking a chance and I think that’s where you will see guys take more risks in the pit strategy. We just haven’t been put in that position yet this year.”
 
WITH THE 600-MILER, NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE DRIVE 600 MILES IN A DAY MUCH LET ALONE DOING IT WITH 42 OTHER GUYS WHO ARE CHASING THE SAME THING. WHAT DO YOU DO MENTALLY TO PREPARE YOURSELF FOR SUCH A LONG DAY?
“When I look at the 600, I think back to when I was running the Busch Series and the first time I ran a Cup race. You go from running 200 miles or 300 miles to a 500-mile race. I remember running my first Cup race and thinking to myself that it wasn’t as long as I was prepared for. You mentally prepare for it all week long leading up to it. I’ve had this race circled, somewhat dreading it. I love the 400-mile races. I think that’s the perfect length for a NASCAR race. But I also think it’s cool that we have this marathon of an event. The only thing other than mentally preparing is getting enough food in your system. When I think back to this event, it’s always about trying to get enough food in your system that you’re not hungry or feel weak toward the end of the race.”
 
THIS MIGHT SOUND RIDICULOUS, BUT WAS THERE EVER A MOMENT SINCE WINNING AND KNOWING IT WAS THE ALL-STAR RACE AND DOESN’T HELP YOUR CHASE POSITION AT ALL?
“Looking back at the way the Chase format has been structured, I assume next year the winner of the All-Star race will be included into the Chase based on my history. It seems like every year, I’m a year behind on what actually the next year is going to be. But I’m not concerned with that. I was so excited to win the All-Star Race. When I got home and I was looking at the trophy and thinking of all the races I’ve won, it was so cool to be put in that category. As much as I would have liked to win a points race and be guaranteed to get into the Chase, that was huge last weekend for me, for Keith (Rodden, crew chief) and our entire team. So honestly I don’t think about that.”
 
CAN YOU LOOK BACK TO 2002 WHEN YOU WON HERE FILLING IN FOR STERLING MARLIN AND HOW THAT WAS A TURNING POINT FOR YOUR CAREER AND HOW THAT WORKED OUT FOR YOU?
“I honestly can’t look back to 2002. Things have changed so much in the sport and in my life since then. I remember those days mainly from pictures and some video; typically for the October race they will play that highlight and if I happen to be watching TV I’ll see that and it will spark a memory. But honestly, I don’t remember much about 2002.”
 
BUT IT WAS A HUGE TURNING POINT FOR YOU, RIGHT?
“It was huge. I hadn’t won a Truck race or a Busch race at that point, and I won in Sterling’s Cup car filling in for him. So yeah absolutely that was huge for me.”
 
IF YOU CAN’T REMEMBER 2002, THEN 1994 MIGHT BE A PROBLEM. I’M WONDERING WHAT YOU REMEMBER ABOUT JEFF GORDON’S FIRST CAREER VICTORY AS A FAN BACK THEN.
“I don’t remember that. I remember seeing all the video footage – I think Jeff won his first race and Kenseth as well (in 2000) so it’s a really big event for rookies. That’s what I was telling Kyle (Larson), ‘That this could be a big weekend for you.’ This is a weekend where rookies win races. So I think that’s really cool for Kyle. I graduated high school in 1994, so I don’t remember a lot about that.”
 
TALKING ABOUT THE CHASE AND AS WE COME TO THE HA
LFWAY POINT, IS THERE ANY ANXIOUSNESS OVER NOT HAVING A POINTS WIN YET?
“There is still a lot of racing left to go. We’ve had really good cars all year and certainly are not sitting very good in the points. But if you’re in the position that our team is in, it’s about getting a win and getting locked in. Then the points reset themselves. Coming in here after winning the All-Star Race, I feel probably better than I have all year long because you’re coming back to a track that you feel you have a good setup at and it’s a good track for me. The becoming anxious will come with four to five races to go – not necessarily at this point. It’s a long way to Richmond. There is going to be a lot to happen.”
 
WHAT IS THE OLDEST THING YOU DO REMEMBER?
“It’s weird. I remember my first go-kart race. I remember that day as clear as can be – everything about it. (The previous question) just put me on the spot. I just can’t remember it right now!”
 
DO YOU PAY ATTENTION AND NOTICE IF ANOTHER TEAM IS RUNNING GOOD OR STRUGGLING, OR DO YOU FOCUS ON YOUR TEAM? AND IF YOU DO NOTICE SOME OF THOSE THINGS, WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE FIRST 10 OR 12 RACES OF THE SEASON?
“I think everyone has paid attention to the 4 car this year. From the time we came here and tested in December and January for spoiler testing and pan testing, the 4 car has been the fastest off the truck. They’ve been really for the most part the best car all year long. I think everyone in the garage is paying attention to Kevin and Rodney (Childers). You’re looking at pictures and looking at their car. Everyone is eyeballing that team and trying figure out where the speed is. But that goes week to week as well. If someone runs well, everyone is on that bandwagon to find out what that team is doing this week for the next. But that’s no different than any other.”
 
WHAT DID IT MEAN TO GIVE KEITH RODDEN HIS FIRST WIN AS A CUP CREW CHIEF?
“It was really cool to get Keith his first win. I remember my days at Roush and Jack at the Christmas party would get a trophy made for the crew chief for their first win and give it to them at the Christmas party. So I’ve been thinking in my head and talking to my wife about what I could do for Keith – something he would cherish and would like. I haven’t come up with that yet but I’m trying to figure it out. It’s special because Keith has won a lot of races and been part of some really good teams. It’s really gratifying for him to do it at the top level and for me to be part of that is really special.”
 
YOU TALKED ABOUT KYLE (LARSON) EARLIER. HOW HAVE YOU SEEN HIS PROGRESSION TO THIS POINT IN THE SEASON? WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE HE IS READY TO WIN AT THIS LEVEL?
“Kyle has done a great job this year of staying out of trouble. I think one of the hardest parts for rookies is how you race people and how they race you. He’s done a good job of gaining the respect of a lot of the guys who have been around. It looked like he and Greg (Biffle) had a moment; I saw a highlight of he and Biffle at Kansas kind of going at it. That’s part of being a rookie. But he’s done a really good job with most of the guys and I think he’s gained their respect. He’s done a great job there and he’s had really good cars all year long. He’s done a good job if the car gets away from him in the middle part of the race, they as a team have done a really good job of getting the car back and if they don’t get a great finish out of it, they get a good finish out of it. I think me winning last week will help him confidence-wise, knowing that our cars are capable of winning. When you know that another guy has won in the car and you feel like you’re capable of winning, I feel like that’s good for our whole organization and I know that’s going to be good for him.”

CAMARO Z.28/R AT LIME ROCK: Short Track, Big Challenge at Lime Rock
New Camaro looking for second Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge victory
 
·         Four Camaro Z.28/R race cars entered for standalone GS race

·         Curran, Aschenbach crack top-five in GS points for CKS after Monterey runner-up

·         Chevrolet up to second in GS manufacturer championship

 
DETROIT (May 21, 2014) – It may be the shortest track on the schedule, but Lime Rock Park is set to provide a big challenge to the new Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R race car and the rest of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Lime Rock plays host to the fourth round of this year’s championship, which sees a standalone race for the Grand Sport (GS) class.
 
Four of the new Camaro Z/28.Rs are entered for Saturday’s two-and-a-half hour race. Lime Rock – at 1.53 miles and seven turns – is the smallest track on which the Camaros will compete this year. But it’s a venue that has been extremely good for the Chevrolet muscle car the last three years with three top-five finishes and a runner-up spot in last year’s race.
 
Heading into this year’s event, Chevrolet is second in the GS manufacturer championship, trailing by just seven points.
 
CKS Autosport’s Eric Curran and Lawson Aschenbach stand fifth in the GS championship following their second-place showing in the most recent round at Laguna Seca. The weekend also saw Curran place second in qualifying. CKS also will field a Camaro Z/28.R for Ashley McCalmont and Bob Michaelian.
 
Stevenson Motorsports’ two Camaro Z/28.Rs will race at Lime Rock as well, including the No. 6 entry of Sebring winners Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis. Andy Lally and Matt Bell will be in the No. 9 Camaro. Bell placed second in last year’s race driving a Camaro GS.R and led the most laps. He has finished in the top-five each of the last three years.
 
This version of the Camaro is very different than previous generations. The 7.0-liter V8 motor matches its production counterpart, as do many of the aerodynamic elements including the splitter, rear spoiler, hood extract vent, rockers and belly pan. Those features provide the closest link between production Camaro and racing version Chevrolet has produced.
 
“This race presents a unique challenge for our Camaro Z/28.R,” said Lisa Talarico, Chevrolet’s Program Manager for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. “Lime Rock is a stern test with a short lap and close-quarters racing. Patience and performance are keys. The length of the track also means that avoiding both contact and long pit stops are critical. With just one left-hand turn, the layout can create interesting strategies for setup and tire management. Fortunately, our Chevrolet Camaro teams have executed well at Lime Rock in the past, as evidenced by our strong showings in recent years. Another one would help us accumulate more valuable points in the GS manufacturer’s championship.”

CHEVROLET WINS THIRD CONSECUTIVE POLE FOR THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
Chevy’s Ed Carpenter Wins Back-To-Back Verizon P1 Pole Awards for Greatest Spectacle in Racing
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 18, 2014) – Chevy power returned to the top of the pylon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the third consecutive season as Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet earned the Verizon P1 award, and the pole for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500.  Carpenter became only the 11th driver in Verizon IndyCar Series history to win back-to-back poles for the Indy 500, and only the 10th driver to have two poles to his credit at Indianapolis.

“Ed Carpenter drove four incredible laps under intense pressure to clinch his second consecutive pole for the Indianapolis 500, said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The hometown favorite joined an elite group of drivers who have clinched two poles for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. We’re proud to have Ed and his No. 20 crew as part of Team Chevy.”
 
With a four lap of average of 231.067 seconds Carpenter was steady under tension as the final competitor in the Fast Nine Shootout.  He was the only driver to break the 231 mph barrier on his four lap average. The Indiana native set the fastest four-lap average since fellow Chevrolet driver Helio Castroneves earned the pole for the Indy 500 in 2003 with a four lap average of 231.725. An average speed of 229.382 mph makes this is the fastest field in Indy 500 history.
 
The Chevrolet powered driver made the most of the new qualifying format earning a maximum possible 42 championship points by being the fastest car on day one of qualifying and backing that up by earning the pole.
 
“What an effort and result for Ed Carpenter and the whole Ed Carpenter Racing organization, said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, Verizon IndyCar Series. “Back-to-back poles at the Indianapolis 500 is surely an elite group.  Ed certainly knows how to wheel his Chevy powered Dallara around the Brickyard, and his team’s efforts to prepare a car to consistently run at that level are noteworthy.  All of us at Chevrolet are proud of this accomplishment by Ed and the whole Ed Carpenter Racing crew.  Now we shift our focus to winning the Indy 500 next Sunday.”
 
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, will join his Gold Bowtie teammate Carpenter on the front row for the 98th running of the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ rolling off third.  Power was one of only six drivers to surpass 230 mph on his 10 mile qualifying effort.  Power’s Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, a three-time Indy 500 winner, will pilot his No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Chevrolet from the fourth starting position inside of the second row when the green-flag waves next Sunday.
 
Pole sitter Ed Carpenter’s teammate JR Hildebrand, No. 21 Preferred Freezer Chevrolet, making his first start of the season will line-up ninth in his fourth attempt at victory in the Indy 500.  
 
Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet will make his first Indy 500 start in 14 years from the 10th starting spot.  Defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon will join Montoya in the fourth row starting 11th in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
 
Last year’s Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, now driving for Chip Ganassi will try to make it back-to-back trips to Victory Lane in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Sebastian Bourdais, No. 11 HYDROXYCUT MYSTIC E-CIGS KVSH Racing Chevrolet rounds out the top-20 Chevrolet starters earning the 17th starting spot.
 
Fifteen Chevrolet V6 powered cars will take the green-flag on Sunday May 25th for the 200-lap/500-mile race. The remainder of Team Chevy’s starters are as follows: Townsend Bell, No. 6 Robert Graham KV Racing Technology Chevrolet – 25th, Charlie Kimball, No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – 26th, James Davidson, No. 33 KVRT/Always Evolving Racing Chevrolet, Ryan Bricoe, No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – 30th, Sage Karam, No. 22 Comfort Revolution/Brantley Gilbert Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdon Racing Chevrolet – 31st, Sebastian Saavedra, No. 17 AFS KVAFS Racing Chevrolet – 32nd and Buddy Lazier, No. 91 Wynn Institute for Vision Research Chevrolet – 33rd.
 
A five-hour practice session is scheduled for Monday afternoon from 12 to 5 p.m.
 
The 2014 Indianapolis 500 will be the 98th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” It has been held every year since the first race in 1911 except the war years of 1917-1918 and 1942-1945. The race will take place Sunday May 25, 2014, and will be broadcast live on ABC beginning at 11 a.m. (ET).
 
 

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
DRIVERS IN 10TH – 33RD STARTING POSITIONS
DAY TWO QUALIFYING
NOTES AND QUOTES
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS QUALIFIED FOR STARTING POSITIONS 10TH THROUGH 33RD FOR THE 98TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500:
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH: “It was good the Verizon car was really really quick.  Team Penske did an amazing job.  Yesterday we missed it a little bit.  We missed the car a little bit where we needed to be.  The team did an amazing job today.  Still we have a pretty quick car hopefully my guys can learn something for the Fast Nine my teammates Helio (Castroneves) and Will (Power) but I think that will put us in a good spot to start the race.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH:  “It was a big improvement from where we were yesterday and I’m happy with our result today.  We still have another practice session tomorrow under the new format next week so we’re going to keep working hard to keep the Target cars going in the right direction.  The car was really smooth to drive and I think we could have been faster if I hadn’t had to deal with a bit of a crosswind on my run.  Overall a better day than yesterday.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 16TH:: “The whole Target Chip Ganassi Racing team did a great job today.  They stayed late last night and put the time in to pick us up some more speed today.  It was a total team effort today.  Again, like I always say, it’s not where you start here at Indianapolis.  I started from 12th last year and was a contender and won here, so anything is possible.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 HYDROXYCUT/MISTIC E-CIGS – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 17TH:  “I am very happy for the Hydroxycut/Mistic E-Cigs crew. We were desperately trying to get a read on a change we made yesterday, but we didn’t get out, so the guys kept working and did a great job overnight. We made progress. I honestly didn’t think we had that much speed in the car, but I stayed on top of it. I’ll take it. Now it is back to race mode and we have already done a lot of work on that. So we will just go from there.“
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 6 ROBERT GRAHAM – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 25TH:  “We had good balance on the run in the Robert Graham – KV Racing Technology car. I’m just not quite sure why we aren’t putting up the numbers we expected.  It was nice to see (teammate Sebastien) Bourdais pick up a lot of speed, so maybe we can learn something there. We will keep rubbing on the car. Race trim wise I am happy with the car, so we are excited to get to race day.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL,, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 26TH:  “We’re a little disappointed in the speed we saw today with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet, but I still have full confidence in my race-day car that my team has given me.  I’m really proud of the crew for working hard to find me more speed for today and I think we got some good data that we can use to our advantage for next year’s qualifications.  I’m still very confident in what we can do at the Indianapolis 500 with full tanks.  Last year I started towards the back of the pack here and spotted the field 100 miles and I still ended up with a top-10 finish. Anything can happen and I’m excited for next Sunday.”
 
JAMES DAVISON, NO. 33 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY/ALWAYS EVOLVING RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 28TH:  “It was fast, but not quite fast enough. We ran our first 229 (mph lap) by ourselves, so that was good. I’m aware that it’s all about the race, so from now on we focus on that and get the car to handle well in traffic. The conditions were perfect today, this is the best the weather has been in quite a few days. Considering how little track time we’ve had, we have to be pleased with the qualifying result. I’m just excited to be here, sporting the Always Evolving colors and looking forward to a good race.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 30TH:  “I was really hoping for more speed today out of the No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet, but it just didn’t happen.  I think we got a little greedy with the downforce and I was sliding all over the place out there.  It is what it is and I’m optimistic for Sunday. I’ve felt all week of practice that I have a great race car, so we’ll just get to work switching the car back to race-day setup tonight and get out there and do some work tomorrow during practice.”
 
SAGE KARAM, NO. 22 COMFORT REVOLUTION/BRANTLEY GILBERT  DREYER & REINBOLD KINGDOM RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 31ST:  “We went slower than we did yesterday and everyone else was going faster, so it was definitely a frustrating run. We didn’t go out this morning for the warm up, and I think that might have contributed to it. I didn’t have the time to feel the track out, and I think we missed on the set up a bit. But the team has diagnosed the problem and corrected it, so we’re ready to go for tomorrow’s practice. I think we had a better race car than we do a qualifying car anyway, so I’m really looking forward to the race next Sunday. You can win this race from any position really, and that’s the beauty of the event. Everyone is so close on speed, so you know it’s going to be a really good race, and hopefully we can get the No. 22 Comfort Revolution/Brantley Gilbert Chevrolet right in the thick of things. ”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 AFS KV-AFS RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 32ND: “I am disappointed for sure. We did some changes last night which apparently showed on the data we could gain a mile per hour but instead we lost a couple, which hurt us a lot in our qualifying effort. It’s a little more painful because the KV AFS guys have done such a fantastic job, given their lives to this car this last week and to not be able to show all their hard work, is heart breaking. This is just the beginning and we need to focus on the race, which is what matters.  I have full faith that we have a great race car…..it doesn’t matter where you start, its where you finish and keeping a cool head and doing the right things will mean we will be upfront and that’s what we need to focus on.”
 
BUDDY LAZIER, NO. 91 WYNN INSTITUTE FOR VISION RESEARCH CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 33RD: “We’ve had a really short weekend and that’s what has hurt us. We got way behind, but the crew has done a great job considering the limitations, and we’re just working hard.  We’re trying to short-cut everything to catch up. These are the best  teams in open wheel racing, for oval track racing, by far. You can’t just say let’s skip this practice and just go straight to being quick. There is a lot of learning left to do and we’re learning as quickly as we can. Every time in the car, we’re quicker than the time before. So far, so good.”

 
 
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 17, 2014
 
 
BOWTIE BRAND SHINES ONCE AGAIN UNDER THE LIGHTS AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Chevrolet Driver Jamie McMurray Scores First Win In Annual Sprint All-Star Race
 
CONCORD, NC (May 17, 2014) – Jamie McMurray muscled his No. 1 Bass Pro Chevrolet SS to the front when it counted the most, and captured his first career NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, which was also the first for team owner Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates.  The prize was a cool $1 million.
 
McMurray restarted in second position on the final 10-lap segment but made his way past the leader soon after the restart, and never looked back.
 
Since the inception of the All-Star race in 1985, the Bowtie emblem has shone brightest under the lights with Chevrolet-powered teams and drivers now having made 17 trips to Victory Lane in the exhibition race that highlighted points-race winners from the start of 2013.
 
Kevin Harvick finished in second place in his No. 4 Hunt Brother’s Pizza Chevrolet SS.  Harvick, the All-Star champion in 2007, was unable to track McMurray down after moving into second with just five laps remaining.  Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. was also looking for his second All-Star win, but came home fourth In the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS.
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was third and Carl Edwards was fifth to round out the top-five.
 
The next race on the NASCAR Sprint Series schedule will also be at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Coca-Cola 600, which is the longest race of the season, takes place on Sunday, May 25th at 6:00 p.m. ET. It can be seen live on FOX and heard on PRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JAMIE MCMURRAY, KEITH RODDEN, CHIP GANASSI, FELIX SABATES, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER:
 
KERRY THARP:  We’re going to go ahead and hear from the car owners from tonight’s 30th‑annual NASCAR Sprint All‑Star Race, won by Jamie McMurray, who drove the No. 1 Bass Pro Chevrolet to victory in the Sprint All‑Star Race, and that’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.  Congratulations to both of you guys.  It’s your first Sprint All‑Star win, Chip, and that’s going to be a big deal for you.  Congratulations.

            CHIP GANASSI:  Thank you.

            KERRY THARP:  Felix, congratulations to you as well.  Chip, what’s it mean to win the Sprint All‑Star Race and certainly the way your race team has been performing this year, been very, very impressive, and we know how good Jamie McMurray is here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Talk about what this means to your race team.

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, thanks.  I think first of all the fact that it’s the home race for everybody here in the backyard, this and obviously Memorial Day and in the fall, the races mean a lot more when they’re in your backyard, I guess everybody gets to see them, your peer group, your friends, your wives, your girlfriends, and your families.  I think it adds a little something special to it.

            I think that.  I think Jamie likes this place.  Number two, I think he’s got a little nose for the front.  When he gets a little sniff of the front there, he kind of gets calm all of a sudden and settles down, seems to like it at the front when he’s in the ‑‑ we like to ‑‑ I think Keith made some great calls tonight.  I think the call was really made I want to say in segment 2.  The call was made in segment 2 that I think enabled him to win the race, to be there at the end and in the mix at the front, obviously.

            I think you saw some great racing with Carl Edwards and he, with Kevin and Jamie.  Just really, really proud of the team, really proud of the people that have hung in there with us.  Bass Pro Shops obviously tonight, obviously Cessna and McDonald’s, Target, people that have been with us for lots of years, and really proud to bring them a victory.

            It means something here.  There’s something a little special about the All‑Star Race, too, I think, that nobody is out there points racing.  It’s hammer down there with 10 to go.  I think we saw a special kind of racing tonight, and we’re all very lucky to see that.

            KERRY THARP:  Felix, certainly you know how special it is racing here at Charlotte and what this could mean for the team as we even look ahead to next weekend, but what’s the significance of the win here tonight for you guys?

            FELIX SABATES:  Well, you know, it puts us in an elite group, a very elite group that won this race in the past.  You look at the past winners, it’s like the who’s who of racing.

            We’ve come close to winning this before, but close doesn’t count when it comes to All‑Star Race.  As far as I’m concerned, if you finish second, you’re the first loser in the All‑Star Race.  You’ve got to win the race.  We brought a new mascot to us today, Coach Rivera, his wife Stephanie, they sat in the pit box with us, and by God, we won the race.

            KERRY THARP:  Good to have you here, Coach.

            FELIX SABATES:  So the NFL, we changed the schedule so they can play on Saturday so he can come to races with us on Sundays.  I don’t know if we can get it done or not, but thanks to Ron and Stephanie for being here.

            Q.  Both Chip or Felix or whoever wants to answer, you’ve been through a lot with Jamie and he’s now delivered you a Daytona 500, a Brickyard and an All‑Star Race.  How much does he mean to you personally and how long are you going to keep him around so you can go chase a championship?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, that’s true.  He said to me in victory lane tonight, he said, we’ve won a lot of great races together, haven’t we.  I said, yes, we have.  You know, it was kind of special for him to think of that, as well, because he’s that kind of guy.  He understands the ‑‑ he understands what it takes to be in this sport and be a driver.

            I think your media brethren miss a lot of times what it really takes to be in this sport week in and week out, with a family, with the demands that are put on these athletes in any top‑level sport.  It can be trying at times, and in the ups and downs and the mental side of the sport can be very difficult, and I think Jamie has shown great resilience over the years to hang in there and perform at a high level when the opportunity presents itself, and he did that here tonight.

            I’m sure that that obviously ingratiates Jamie in the mind of a lot of people, and his future is bright, I can assure you.

            Q.  Seems like you guys have had some pretty good runs this year, and you look at Martinsville and you get put in the outside wall, you look at Kansas, what happ
ened there.  What does this win do for your outlook going forward from here, and how much confidence does this give a guy like Jamie to go out there and know that he can still get out there and win races?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Yeah, I think obviously with the addition of Kyle Larson to the team this year, things have stepped up a bit.  The performance, we had a few changes with personnel in the off‑season, and these are things that ‑‑ I guess it’s nice to have a validation from time to time of your MO.  It’s nice to ring the cash register, if you will, from time to time in this business to let you know that you can still do it, and the way that you operate the business, the way you motivate your team, the components you put together, the people, all those pieces that have to come together.  Sports teams are a very delicate balance of personalities and equipment, and it’s nice, like I said, to validate that from time to time.

            Q.  Chip, were you always coming today?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, meaning I was in Indianapolis earlier today?

 

            Q.  Yeah, with the second part of my question being, and not to cut you off, but we only were able to follow peripherally what happened in Indy today.  Does this victory sort of turn your day around?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, yes, we obviously didn’t have a great day in Indianapolis, and you’re damned right it turned my day around.  It could turn tomorrow around, too.  This might turn around a few more days, as a matter of fact.  Yes, this has the ability to do that.  Thank you.

            Q.  Would it have deterred you from coming here today?

            CHIP GANASSI:  No, we have a two‑car team and one of our cars was in this race, so I was going to be here, so thank you.  Yes.

            KERRY THARP:  Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, is our race winner, wins his first Sprint All‑Star Race, led a race‑high 31 laps, Jamie, and this is a big win for you here.  It’s got to be a big win for you here tonight.  I know how much you like racing here at Charlotte and have had success here before at the Speedway, but just talk about what this means not only right now at this moment in time in your career but also in your career overall, how this is a big deal winning this race.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, this is just really awesome moment.  It’s so much different than winning the Daytona 500 or the Brickyard because there are no points, and I think the mentality going into that last segment is just all or nothing, and that was my thought process.  I am like, I don’t really care if we wreck, I don’t care what happens, I’m racing for a million dollars, I get to start on the front row and I’m going to make the very most out of the restart and everything that goes with this.

            It was awesome.  It’s three or four of the hardest laps I’ve ever driven in my racing career, and it’s one of those memories that I hope I never forget.  I have such a clear vision of those three or four laps with the 99 car being on the inside of me, and it’s what we wake up every single day and live for is to get to be put in that exact position.  It’s really awesome.

            KERRY THARP:  And Keith, just talk about this win from your perspective as a young crew chief, just what this means to you.

            KEITH RODDEN:  It means a lot to finally get a win.  I feel like this year we’ve been pretty good, we just need to get better, and I feel like we’ve been getting better on the track every week.  Last week we had a little unfortunate thing happen, so didn’t get to show how good that car was, but tonight we kind of started in the back a little bit, or started in the middle, and had to play a little bit of a track‑position game.  I really knew that we had something special when we pitted and some of the ‑‑ I think like seven people stayed out or so and we were running really good lap times compared to what we had run before, and after that we stayed out and when no one stayed out in front of us, I knew we had something.  Jamie did a great job.  The 4 and the 5 were really fast and they were on four tires for most of the night and when only the 5 passed us that one time and Jamie was on really olds lefts and sticker rights and held the 4 off forever.  Right then I knew that that final segment it was us and somebody else were going to run for this million dollars.  Obviously got to line up in second spot coming down pit road.  The guys had a great pit stop, barely got beat out, restarted on the outside.  Like you said, he just drove amazing.  All 10 laps were amazing, but that race with Carl was really special.

            I don’t know, just special to win the All‑Star Race.  It’s nice to win it as a crew chief, and looking forward to just carrying this momentum to winning some points races.

            Q.  I caught up with Carl in the garage after the race, and he lamented some of the decisions he made and said he would have driven the last few laps differently, but he said you drove perfectly and made perfect decisions at every turn.  Do you feel like that was the best four or five laps you could have possibly driven when you were racing with him?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Absolutely.  When I look back at like winning the Daytona 500, it’s kind of circumstantial to get drafting totally different.  The Brickyard was for me really special because I passed Kevin Harvick on the outside of Turn 1 at Indy, which does not happen.  It’s really hard to do.  That was a really special restart for me.

            But this is different because there’s no points, and honestly I wanted Carl to take the outside of the restart because I thought the inside was the better place and I had restarted on the inside both times before and been able to beat the guy to Turn 1, and when he took the inside, I was like, screw it, I don’t care.  If we drive off into the corner and we all wreck, I don’t care right now because literally you can see the million bucks.

            When you get to be in the All‑Star Race, it’s one thing to start ‑‑ like I started the first segment 11th, but there’s so much that’s going to happen between now and that last 10‑lap segment that it’s not reality.  I think I restarted sixth last year, and I believed in my head I think I can win this if I get in the right position.  But starting second, I’m like, one of us is going to win this.  I’m like, the 4 is going to have a chance, but it’s so hard to pass here in 10 laps, especially when you have a good car in front of you, that I’m like if the 99 ever gets in front of me I don’t think I can pass him.  I was telling Keith on the way over here a couple of those laps when he was inside of me we drove off into Turn 1 and I felt like I was 300 feet deeper than I’ve ever drive
n into that corner in qualifying trim and I could hear his exhaust and he hadn’t let off yet.  And I’m like, I don’t care.  I’m just staying wide open until he lets off and I’m going to carry a little more speed, and it was so much fun to run up the racetrack with him knowing that like on the end of that it’s a million dollars.  I can’t explain to you guys how unbelievable that is to hold a check up for that much money.  It’s crazy.  I can’t even make sense of what’s going on right now.  It’s awesome.  Really it’s like just ‑‑ it’s ultimately what a race car driver wakes up every single day to be put in that position.  That’s unbelievable.

            Q.  You guys have had some pretty strong runs this year and just some tough luck.  You look at Martinsville and Kansas, for instance.  What does winning this race do for you guys going forward knowing how much wins mean this year?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I’m going to let Keith answer this, as well, but my take on tonight, what makes tonight so special is it’s all about a team effort.  I feel like I did a really good job as a driver.  Keith did a great job of when we had the caution in the second segment, we pitted, and I could listen in his voice, I thought, he’s going to make me stay out the next segment on old tires and I don’t want to do that, but I could tell that’s what he wanted to do.  Because it’s all about just trying to score the most points you can in those first four segments for a good starting spot in the last 10 laps, and also about our pit crew.  To be able to come in in second place, first or second place on the last segment of the All‑Star Race, there is no more pressure that you can put on a pit crew, I think, than that.  For those guys to come through with an amazing stop, and if the 99 hadn’t had the first pit stall we would have come out first, that’s so cool for a complete team effort, and I think it shows the strength of not only Keith and I but also our pit crew, and that’s a really good feeling to know that your entire race team is capable of winning.

            Q.  You said in victory lane about Keith that I think he was a hidden gem or something like that and how lucky you were to have gotten him.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Absolutely.

            Q.  Why do you think that about him and why is this relationship working?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, when I look at Keith, I think it’s really hard ‑‑ when I think back to the beginning of my Sprint Cup career, I watched the guys move up from engineers to crew chiefs or guys that were on teams up to crew chiefs.  You know, like sometimes you could see it, like I think he can make it, and then other times it’s like I don’t know.  But I had heard Keith Rodden’s name for years and heard people say just great things about Keith.

            Last year I went over to Keith’s house and we sat in his basement and talked for, I don’t know, 15 or 20 minutes, and when I left I came out and I called Max, I’m like, that’s the guy.  You’ve got to figure out how to make it work.  No matter what you have to pay him, what you have to do, get that guy because I like everything about him.  There wasn’t anything negative about that.

            Whenever everything worked out, I talked to Kasey on the phone, and Kasey is like, man, you’ve got a really good guy, and I think he’s going to do an amazing job for you.  And Keith just all around (inaudible) but also very race savvy, good at calling the races, lots of common sense.  He has everything it takes to be extremely successful, and I think tonight showed that he’s willing to take a little bit of a chance on staying out, putting two tires on.  That’s hard, those are tough decisions because if it doesn’t work out, I think it’s hard to go home at night as a crew chief when you feel like you’ve made the wrong decision, but he made all the right decisions tonight.

            Having confidence in someone, especially as a driver, in the guy that is ultimately responsible for your car which has your name on it and is your life, right, that’s huge, and I just have so much confidence in not only his ability to make my car fast but also to make the right decisions on pit road and make all of ‑‑ just get us to victory lane.  He’s done a great job.  It’s really hard to say that when someone is sitting three inches from you.  It’s really hard.  But he’s done a great job.

            Q.  Jamie, obviously in your career you’ve won some of the biggest races, but you’ve also had certainly the struggles, certainly some down years.  Your career seems like there’s been a lot of highs and lows.  How have you persevered because you seem to be somebody that takes everything even personally to the nth degree and it really kind of carries with him.  How have you handled the highs and lows and persevered to get back to this point tonight?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, it’s really hard.  I won’t lie.  I feel like I’m harder on myself probably than anyone else is, and when you go through the garage and you look at drivers who are with really good teams, some of them are having bad years, and if you think that they’re not doubting their ability or down on themselves, they are, because that’s just the way our sport works.  I think it’s the same way, whether it’s golf or baseball.  I think when you’re not doing well, you always wonder if you’re capable of competing at this level.

            So I’ve had the absolute best moments of my career and I’ve had some really tough times.  It’s hard, but you just have to believe that you get in the right position.  For me this year, and Keith coming over and the amount of money and effort that Chip and Felix have put into our team, that makes you believe, that helps.  And even though you guys don’t see it most likely, our team, when I look at our year, we’ve been like one of the better cars of a lot of races at certain points in the race, and it just seems like every race this season that we’ve had a car really capable of running well.  Bristol we were running fifth and Harvick blew that oil line in front of us, last week we blew a tire out.  It seemed like every time we had a good car something would happen.  That’s really frustrating and that gets your confidence down.  But I texted Keith last week, and I’m like, keep your head up, we’re doing our ‑‑ our cars are really fast, and that’s the hardest part of our sport is to have fast cars.  Good luck, bad luck, that happens, but if your cars are slow, that’s hard to fix in a short amount of time, and we’ve had awesome cars.  Both teams have run really well this year.

            It’s tough when things are going bad, but I’ve got to live some of the greatest victories that you can have in this sport.  It’s unbelievable.

            Q.  I’m curious how much your past history here has impacted your race today, Keith, considering that the 5 had been a very successful car here in the past, were you able to bring anything you learned there specifically for this track, and Jamie
, having won at this track before did that give you the confidence to be able to race Edwards that hard?

            KEITH RODDEN:  Not really.  Everything changed this year with the no ride height rule, so you can start your car out an pit road at whatever ride heights you want to start, so that pretty much wiped out everything we had done the last two years.  Just kind of racing here a lot, really paying attention, keeping up with the track, that sort of thing that Ray and Kenny really instilled in me, so that sort of thing is there.  It’s still Charlotte, right.  But no setup or no technical things, really.  Just kind of keeping up with the racetrack.

            It’s so hard because you practice during the day.  This race was all during the night.  The 42 I thought was really good in practice, and I think they were going to have a really good race last night and had a little issue, but I just didn’t pay a lot of attention to it because it wasn’t the same conditions as what we raced tonight, and until we do this, we don’t really know how it’ll be.

            Jamie had one thing he kind of wanted to do to the car and we had some other things, and we actually changed a good bit of stuff tonight for the race, and it worked out.  I’m happy about that, but it doesn’t always work out.  I don’t know if that answers your question or not, but from the technical side, no.  From keeping up with the racetrack, yes.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  It’s so weird because Keith told me tonight before the race that we had the 5 car setup from last year, so I don’t know where he got that answer from just now.  (Laughter.)

            Well, I think for me coming here, this is a really good track for me.  It has been ‑‑ I mean, I won my first race here, we won here in 2010.  This has been just a really good track for me.

            When I look at it, I think what Keith is saying about the ride heights is so true.  I felt good, us and the 42 were one of the better cars at the test here that we had when we were trying to figure out the spoilers and the front pans and everything, so coming back here, I felt good about it just because it’s been a good track.  I don’t really disagree with what Keith is saying, but I think that he has always run well here, so I think that that helps when you go to tracks that typically crew chiefs, engineers run well at and drivers run well at.  I think it’s a really good combination.

 

            Q.  Jamie, how much has it helped you to have an engineering style crew chief because in the past you’ve worked with guys like Wingo and such.  It’s a little different discipline.  You talked about how surprised you were that the car stuck on the high groove where I guess there was a lot of debris.  You were talking about kicking up dirt and stuff.  What made you stick up there?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, a million dollars is what made me say the hell with it, I’m going to go for it.  I really enjoy having Keith.  I like ‑‑ I guess what I really enjoy about Keith is I feel like when I ask him a question, he always has an answer.  I feel like he’s already thought about what I am bringing up, and I ask a lot of questions, and I ask a lot of random questions, and I always feel like he has a good answer, and I think that’s a really good confidence builder for a driver when you can ask a question, whether it’s about pit road, setups, what happened in the Nationwide race last night.  I feel like he’s always thinking about it, and I said this last week or the week before, I talked to him on the phone a week or so ago, and he’s like, I woke up at 3:00 in the morning and I was thinking about this, and I was like, that is awesome that that’s what’s going through your head at 3:00 in the morning.  I know your wife probably doesn’t enjoy that, but I love that you’re constantly worried about making our car faster because that’s the kind of stuff I think about at 3:00 in the morning.  That side of it, I just really enjoy.  I feel like he’s always thinking about what we need to do to make our team and our cars better, and it’s also nice like the engineering side of it that Keith can ‑‑ if we need to look at data or simulation he knows how to run that because he’s done it in the past, so when he talks to the engineer, he can speak, they can talk kind of the same lingo, which is great.

            Q.  When Chip was in earlier, he talked about when you get a sniff of the front you really calm down.  Is that something that most drivers do do you think or shouldn’t it be the opposite?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I think ‑‑ I don’t know, that makes me feel good that he thinks that.  He said that to me, too, and I didn’t know what he was talking about.  The truth is, and it’s this way in any kind of racing, when you get to the front, the cars drive so much better.  I talked to Kurt out there before the race started and just telling him I was watching him at Indy and asking about that, and he was explaining about 20 cars back to 10 cars back to when you get close how dirty the air is in IndyCar racing.  We were kind of trying to relate it to NASCAR.  My side of that is when I get to the front the car drives better because you’re just in better air.

            Q.  You mentioned a little earlier that you’ve had the opportunity to win so many big races during your career that a lot of drivers never get the chance to.  I just wondered if for some reason your career ended tomorrow, how would you feel that you’ve had a successful career based on what you’ve been able to accomplish, or would you feel that not being able to be in the thick of a championship hunt there would somehow be something left on the table?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, I don’t know.  That’s a hard question to answer.  I think being able to contend for a championship would be a great feeling.  I think that’s a different feeling.  That’s such a long battle versus race to race and being able to win.

            I have been so lucky to be able to, first off, be in NASCAR as long as I have been, and to be able to experience the wins that I have been involved with and the people that I’ve been able to meet.  I think it’s been really successful.  There’s been a lot of guys come along that don’t ever get to win a race, much less win three of the biggest races of the year.

            Yeah, I feel really lucky to be able to do what I’ve done.

            Q.  What are you going to do with your winnings, Jamie, the extra money?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  I’m going to send my two kids and probably my next child that’s not here yet to school.  Honest to God, that’s what I’ve thought about.  School is really expensive, and you guys don’t know this about me probably but I’m very frugal, just outright tight and I’m paranoid about money every day of my life, and I thought about ‑‑ I’ve looked at what school costs, and colle
ge and just getting to college, and it’s most likely going to go to that.

            Q.  I saw Marty tweeted something about a train for your kid?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  I’ll tell you guys the story.  I’ve told it 10 times, but it’s a really great story.  This morning the whole family sitting at the breakfast table, Carter and Hazel are eating cereal, I’m having some coffee, kind of looking at the internet.  I asked Carter what are you going to do today?  And he’s like, well, I’m going to probably play in my sandbox, Dad, and he rattled off a couple of random things that I already knew he was going to do.  And he said, Dad, what are you going to do today?  And I was like, Carter, I’m going to go race for a million dollars tonight, and he’s like, okay, like no big deal, has no idea what a million bucks is.  And I think it’s so weird that my wife, who we really never talk about racing, she never really asks me anything about the car or if I think I can win, very seldom does she say that.  She’s like, do you think you can win tonight?  And I’m like, I don’t know.  We’ve got to get our car a little better.  It’s a good track.  I said if we get our car better I think we have a chance, and she’s like, Carter, if Dad were to win tonight, what would you want?  And of course most of you if you said you could have anything in the world with a million dollars you would pick something really expensive, right, and he’s like, I’d like a new train set.  I’m like, okay.  It’s yours, Carter.  Actually whether we win tonight or not you can have a new train set, either way.

            That’s really cool.  I can’t wait to get home.  I’m going to end up staying here tonight because I have a small buzz right now, but I can’t wait to get home and see them in the morning and bring the trophy home and get to share that moment with Carter.

            Carter doesn’t quite get winning and losing.  After the Talladega race where we ripped the splitter off our car and we’re like 10 laps down and we almost got them all back, I was a little frustrated after the race, and went back to my motor home and I’m going to take my suit off.  I walk in the bus, I open the door, and Carter is standing on the ottoman in our bus, and I walk in and he puts both of his hands in the air, and he’s like, Dad, Denny Hamlin won, woohoo!  Like he’s excited.  I’m like, Carter, I love you.  I don’t know what else to say.  He doesn’t know that I should be the one to win, right, and I really don’t care if Denny Hamlin won the race.  So I can’t wait to go home and tell him that dad won last night.

            Q.  How about you, Keith?  I’m sure you get a few extra dollars.

            KEITH RODDEN:  Actually I’m not sure.  Everything he says is probably about how I am.  As frugal as I am, my wife is even tighter.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  She’s in here.  That’s awesome.

            KEITH RODDEN:  She’s not even embarrassed about it, because she knows it’s true.  Yeah, same kind of thing, really.  Got to protect for the future and the kids.  Hopefully we have a house that we’ll never move out of.  I don’t want to move again anyway, ever.  Yeah, I just don’t really think about stuff like that to be honest with you, just think about racing and when we’re at home at the house or on an off weekend like tomorrow, just looking forward to spending time with the family.

            I don’t know what it is with people because we have a two‑and‑a‑half year old, almost a three‑year‑old, she’ll be three in August, and everyone gives us stuff for her.  It’s like no one thinks that we buy ’em my anything at all, so she has all this stuff, and I think we’ve spent 50 bucks on toys in three years.  It’s awesome.  So if anybody wants to donate anything ‑‑ no, just kidding.  No big plans to spend any money.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 17, 2014
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in accident on lap 61:
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I’m not exactly sure what. Hopefully we didn’t damage it too bad so we can’t find out what it was. I was going down the backstretch going into Turn 3 and I felt something in the front end give. All of a sudden I had more wheel and I wasn’t even in the corner. As I got in the corner, the car just went straight. It wasn’t like it was a right front where it just shot there; it just slowly went there. We’ll have to do some investigating to find out. It was certainly was one fast Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet up until that point.”
 
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE RACING TONIGHT? HOW INTENSE IS IT?
“It’s intense. It’s awesome. These cars are fantastic and the conditions couldn’t be more perfect. It’s nice to see some guys switching up their strategies. That’s what making the racing so good because they realize how important it is to get track position and some of them are able to maintain it. Unfortunately for us, the 11 car decided to do it because he pretty much ruined our night.”
 
ANY IDEA WHAT HAPPENED?
“Something broke in the front end, either a tire or something in the suspension because I was going down the back straightaway and as I was getting to the corner it just sat down and started going straight.  I hate we caught those guys up top on the outside of me.  But man what an awesome Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet we had tonight.  Drive to End Hunger has been such a great supporter of ours and I so badly wanted to get them into victory lane.  We had the car to do it tonight but we didn’t have many breaks going our way.  That 11 staying out in the second segment killed us because we got behind him a bunch.  And every time he was weaving we would get by him.  But our car was super-fast and we could go to the high side, middle, and bottom.  We were looking forward to the average working out if we could make some ground up in that run but unfortunately not to be.  Great effort by this team by this team and I am still just loving driving these race cars because they are just so good.”
 
YOU LOOKED AT THE REPLAY, WERE YOU ABLE TO LEARN ANYTHING FROM WHAT YOU SAW?
“I just wanted to know what broke.  Somebody said the engine, but I think that happened after we hit the wall and broke a line or something.  I was just trying to figure out if it was the left front or right front. It didn’t just shoot into the wall which made me believe it might have been in the left front.  I am not really sure and all I know is it just went in there and went straight.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
WHAT ABOUT THE RESTART AND THE BATTLE WITH CARL EDWARDS?
“Really, as a kid, that’s what you grew up wanting to do is to have a shootout like that and have a possibility to just race for 10 laps. And Carl got a little jump on me on the restart and I was able to hang on to his quarter panel. And I was like heck with it, it’s for a million bucks. If we wreck, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s still cool to come out on top of that. It’s a lot of fun. I have to thank Sprint for putting this up. My little boy, when he woke up, I asked him what he was going to do today. And he said he was probably going to play in his sandbox. And then he said, ‘What are you going to do today, Dad?’ And I said, ‘I’m going to race for a million bucks, Carter!’ It’s so cool that we were actually able to win and Christy (wife) asked him if his dad wins, what would he want. He told her, ‘A train.’  So Carter, you’re going to get a really cool train in the next few days, I promise you.
 
I’ve just got to thank Bass Pro Shops and Johnny Morris. He’s been with us a long time. And we’ve gotten to win some really big races with him. I know you’re watching Johnny. This is so cool and I can’t thank you enough for your friendship and everything that you’ve done for our race team. This is an awesome day.”
 
ON KEITH RODDEN’S CALLS DURING THE RACE, WERE THEY THE WINNING MOVES?
“Absolutely. Keith did an unbelievable job. He was a huge secret in the garage and I’m so glad that I get the opportunity to work with him. We’ve had good cars all year long. We had some bad luck. But this is one of those races that makes up for a lot of bad times.”
 
TELL US ABOUT THE RESTART AND WHAT YOU DID TO GET AROUND CARL EDWARDS
“I just drove as hard as I could. I’m really fortunate that Chip (Ganassi) and Keith (Rodden, crew chief) gave me a car that was capable of winning today. Carl got a little bit of a jump on me and I was able to hang on to his quarter-panel. I could have pulled in behind him  but I knew whoever got out front, it was going to be hard to pass. So those couple of laps with Carl… he wasn’t going to let up and neither was I. We were both sliding up the race track. That is as much fun as a race car driver that you can have. I hope it was fun to watch.”
 
WHO MADE THOSE CALLS FOR TWO-TIRE STOPS?
One hundred percent Keith Rodden. He did an amazing job today. We’ve had good cars all year long and he’s really good at calling the races. As a driver, when they tell you stay out and you know that (taking) tires are better, it’s really hard to do want to do that. But I really believe in Keith and he’s done a great job for us this year. He’s truly what put us in the position to win this race.”
 
WHERE DOES THIS WIN STACK UP IN YOUR CAREER?
“This is an amazing race. I’ve been fortunate enough to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. But the All-Star race is different. When I woke up this morning, I was like ‘I’m just going to have fun. We were talking about the old days of the All-Star race when it was more laid back. It’s way more serious now. That’s what I told the pit crew – just have fun. It’s about having a good time today and doing your best. And fortunately we were the best ones today.”
 
CHIP GANASSI, OWNER CHIP GANASSI RACING WITH FELIX SABATES
“I was excited, I’ll tell you. It’s great to be here in front of the hometown crowd. The great fans from Charlotte… all the teams are here. Everybody saw who won this race tonight.”
 
KEITH RODDEN, CREW CHIEF, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
“It’s pretty surreal really. Jamie did a great job and the pit crew just really stepped up there at the end. It’s a pretty amazing night, really.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 HUNT BROTHER’S PIZZA CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND:
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE?
“Just a bad pit stop. The guys did a great job putting a fast race car on the track. We recovered from the first one and the second one cost us the race. All in all, they put a car on the race track that was capable of the winning and we just didn’t get it done.
 
“We recovered from the first bad pit stop on pit road and we didn’t recover from the second bad pit stop on pit road. But I’ve just got to thank all my guys on the Hunt Brother’s Pizza Chevy. They did a great job and provided a fast car. We just didn’t get it done on pit road.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 4TH
“We fought a tight car all night. We really were trying to figure out how we can improve to get better for the (Coca-Cola) 600. I know the guys will work hard all week and try to get us a little more front grip and a little more speed. We made some adjustments and got it better at the end, obviously. A lot of guys that were good had trouble so that gave us a couple of spots at the end of the race that we wouldn’t have had or would have had to race for a little harder. We need to improve a little bit, and I think we understand that and we’re going to work hard all week. I feel pretty confident going into the 600 weekend with the improvements we’ll have on the
car.
 
“They made the car a little bit better there at the end. But we’ll think about it. And look at everything we need to look at to make it better for the 600 and I’m happy for Jamie (McMurray, race winner). It’s a pretty cool deal for him. We need to work a little bit and get a little better and the guys will do it. I’m confident that when we come back here next week we’ll be good.”
 
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE RACING TONIGHT?
“It was what I expected – guys not giving a whole lot of room. You can’t. If you want to win the race, you have to take what you can get. There’s going to be some guys getting turned around, but that’s going to be part of this style of racing. I hope the fans really enjoyed it. Congratulations to Jamie and his team. Hopefully we’ll get that 600 next week.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 6TH
ON THE RACE
“We just didn’t get off pit road where we needed to and those first couple of laps those guys got away. And Jamie (McMurray) got free and took off, so I congratulate those guys. I think tonight was a great night for our sport. To have qualifying take place like it did and have the fans get into it and see how excited they were; and then to have the race straight after that was pretty cool. It was definitely not the performance that I wanted for our Lowe’s Patriotic Paint Scheme tonight, but I think it was a great night for our sport.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 17, 2014
 
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in accident on lap 61:
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I’m not exactly sure what. Hopefully we didn’t damage it too bad so we can’t find out what it was. I was going down the backstretch going into Turn 3 and I felt something in the front end give. All of a sudden I had more wheel and I wasn’t even in the corner. As I got in the corner, the car just went straight. It wasn’t like it was a right-front where it just shot there; it just slowly went there. We’ll have to do some investigating to find out. It was certainly was one fast Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet up until that point.”
 
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE RACING TONIGHT? HOW INTENSE IS IT?
“It’s intense. It’s awesome. These cars are fantastic and the conditions couldn’t be more perfect. It’s nice to see some guys switching up their strategies. That’s what making the racing so good because they realize how important it is to get track position and some of them are able to maintain it. Unfortunately for us, the 11 car decided to do it because he pretty much ruined our night.”
 
ANY IDEA WHAT HAPPENED?
“Something broke in the front end, either a tire or something in the suspension because I was going down the back straightaway and as I was getting to the corner it just sat down and started going straight.  I hate we caught those guys up top on the outside of me.  But man what an awesome Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet we had tonight.  Drive to End Hunger has been such a great supporter of ours and I so badly wanted to get them into victory lane.  We had the car to do it tonight but we didn’t have many breaks going our way.  That 11 staying out in the second segment killed us because we got behind him a bunch.  And every time he was weaving we would get by him.  But our car was super-fast and we could go to the high side, middle, and bottom.  We were looking forward to the average working out if we could make some ground up in that run but unfortunately not to be.  Great effort by this team by this team and I am still just loving driving these race cars because they are just so good.”
 
YOU LOOKED AT THE REPLAY, WERE YOU ABLE TO LEARN ANYTHING FROM WHAT YOU SAW?
“I just wanted to know what broke.  Somebody said the engine, but I think that happened after we hit the wall and broke a line or something.  I was just trying to figure out if it was the left front or right front. It didn’t just shoot into the wall which made me believe it might have been in the left front.  I am not really sure and all I know is it just went in there and went straight.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 17, 2014
 
 
BOWTIE BRAND SHINES ONCE AGAIN UNDER THE LIGHTS AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Chevrolet Driver Jamie McMurray Scores First Win In Annual Sprint All-Star Race
 
CONCORD, NC (May 17, 2014) – Jamie McMurray muscled his No. 1 Bass Pro Chevrolet SS to the front when it counted the most, and captured his first career NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, which was also the first for team owner Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates.  The prize was a cool $1 million.
 
McMurray restarted in second position on the final 10-lap segment but made his way past the leader soon after the restart, and never looked back.
 
Since the inception of the All-Star race in 1985, the Bowtie emblem has shone brightest under the lights with Chevrolet-powered teams and drivers now having made 17 trips to Victory Lane in the exhibition race that highlighted points-race winners from the start of 2013.
 
Kevin Harvick finished in second place in his No. 4 Hunt Brother’s Pizza Chevrolet SS.  Harvick, the All-Star champion in 2007, was unable to track McMurray down after moving into second with just five laps remaining.  Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. was also looking for his second All-Star win, but came home fourth In the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS.
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was third and Carl Edwards was fifth to round out the top-five.
 
The next race on the NASCAR Sprint Series schedule will also be at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Coca-Cola 600, which is the longest race of the season, takes place on Sunday, May 25th at 6:00 p.m. ET. It can be seen live on FOX and heard on PRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JAMIE MCMURRAY, KEITH RODDEN, CHIP GANASSI, FELIX SABATES, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER:
 
KERRY THARP:  We’re going to go ahead and hear from the car owners from tonight’s 30th‑annual NASCAR Sprint All‑Star Race, won by Jamie McMurray, who drove the No. 1 Bass Pro Chevrolet to victory in the Sprint All‑Star Race, and that’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.  Congratulations to both of you guys.  It’s your first Sprint All‑Star win, Chip, and that’s going to be a big deal for you.  Congratulations.

            CHIP GANASSI:  Thank you.

            KERRY THARP:  Felix, congratulations to you as well.  Chip, what’s it mean to win the Sprint All‑Star Race and certainly the way your race team has been performing this year, been very, very impressive, and we know how good Jamie McMurray is here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Talk about what this means to your race team.

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, thanks.  I think first of all the fact that it’s the home race for everybody here in the backyard, this and obviously Memorial Day and in the fall, the races mean a lot more when they’re in your backyard, I guess everybody gets to see them, your peer group, your friends, your wives, your girlfriends, and your families.  I think it adds a little something special to it.

            I think that.  I think Jamie likes this place.  Number two, I think he’s got a little nose for the front.  When he gets a little sniff of the front there, he kind of gets calm all of a sudden and settles down, seems to like it at the front when he’s in the ‑‑ we like to ‑‑ I think Keith made some great calls tonight.  I think the call was really made I want to say in segment 2.  The call was made in segment 2 that I think enabled him to win the race, to be there at the end and in the mix at the front, obviously.

            I think you saw some great racing with Carl Edwards and he, with Kevin and Jamie.  Just really, really proud of the team, really proud of the people that have hung in there with us.  Bass Pro Shops obviously tonight, obviously Cessna and McDonald’s, Target, people that have been with us for lots of years, and really proud to bring them a victory.

            It means something here.  There’s something a little special about the All‑Star Race, too, I think, that nobody is out there points racing.  It’s hammer down there with 10 to go.  I think we saw a special kind of racing tonight, and we’re all very lucky to see that.

            KERRY THARP:  Felix, certainly you know how special it is racing here at Charlotte and what this could mean for the team as we even look ahead to next weekend, but what’s the significance of the win here tonight for you guys?

            FELIX SABATES:  Well, you know, it puts us in an elite group, a very elite group that won this race in the past.  You look at the past winners, it’s like the who’s who of racing.

            We’ve come close to winning this before, but close doesn’t count when it comes to All‑Star Race.  As far as I’m concerned, if you finish second, you’re the first loser in the All‑Star Race.  You’ve got to win the race.  We brought a new mascot to us today, Coach Rivera, his wife Stephanie, they sat in the pit box with us, and by God, we won the race.

            KERRY THARP:  Good to have you here, Coach.

            FELIX SABATES:  So the NFL, we changed the schedule so they can play on Saturday so he can come to races with us on Sundays.  I don’t know if we can get it done or not, but thanks to Ron and Stephanie for being here.

            Q.  Both Chip or Felix or whoever wants to answer, you’ve been through a lot with Jamie and he’s now delivered you a Daytona 500, a Brickyard and an All‑Star Race.  How much does he mean to you personally and how long are you going to keep him around so you can go chase a championship?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, that’s true.  He said to me in victory lane tonight, he said, we’ve won a lot of great races together, haven’t we.  I said, yes, we have.  You know, it was kind of special for him to think of that, as well, because he’s that kind of guy.  He understands the ‑‑ he understands what it takes to be in this sport and be a driver.

            I think your media brethren miss a lot of times what it really takes to be in this sport week in and week out, with a family, with the demands that are put on these athletes in any top‑level sport.  It can be trying at times, and in the ups and downs and the mental side of the sport can be very difficult, and I think Jamie has shown great resilience over the years to hang in there and perform at a high level when the opportunity presents itself, and he did that here tonight.

            I’m sure that that obviously ingratiates Jamie in the mind of a lot of people, and his future is bright, I can assure you.

            Q.  Seems like you guys have had some pretty good runs this year, and you look at Martinsville and you get put in the outside wall, you look at Kansas, what happened there.  Wh
at does this win do for your outlook going forward from here, and how much confidence does this give a guy like Jamie to go out there and know that he can still get out there and win races?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Yeah, I think obviously with the addition of Kyle Larson to the team this year, things have stepped up a bit.  The performance, we had a few changes with personnel in the off‑season, and these are things that ‑‑ I guess it’s nice to have a validation from time to time of your MO.  It’s nice to ring the cash register, if you will, from time to time in this business to let you know that you can still do it, and the way that you operate the business, the way you motivate your team, the components you put together, the people, all those pieces that have to come together.  Sports teams are a very delicate balance of personalities and equipment, and it’s nice, like I said, to validate that from time to time.

            Q.  Chip, were you always coming today?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, meaning I was in Indianapolis earlier today?

 

            Q.  Yeah, with the second part of my question being, and not to cut you off, but we only were able to follow peripherally what happened in Indy today.  Does this victory sort of turn your day around?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, yes, we obviously didn’t have a great day in Indianapolis, and you’re damned right it turned my day around.  It could turn tomorrow around, too.  This might turn around a few more days, as a matter of fact.  Yes, this has the ability to do that.  Thank you.

            Q.  Would it have deterred you from coming here today?

            CHIP GANASSI:  No, we have a two‑car team and one of our cars was in this race, so I was going to be here, so thank you.  Yes.

            KERRY THARP:  Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, is our race winner, wins his first Sprint All‑Star Race, led a race‑high 31 laps, Jamie, and this is a big win for you here.  It’s got to be a big win for you here tonight.  I know how much you like racing here at Charlotte and have had success here before at the Speedway, but just talk about what this means not only right now at this moment in time in your career but also in your career overall, how this is a big deal winning this race.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, this is just really awesome moment.  It’s so much different than winning the Daytona 500 or the Brickyard because there are no points, and I think the mentality going into that last segment is just all or nothing, and that was my thought process.  I am like, I don’t really care if we wreck, I don’t care what happens, I’m racing for a million dollars, I get to start on the front row and I’m going to make the very most out of the restart and everything that goes with this.

            It was awesome.  It’s three or four of the hardest laps I’ve ever driven in my racing career, and it’s one of those memories that I hope I never forget.  I have such a clear vision of those three or four laps with the 99 car being on the inside of me, and it’s what we wake up every single day and live for is to get to be put in that exact position.  It’s really awesome.

            KERRY THARP:  And Keith, just talk about this win from your perspective as a young crew chief, just what this means to you.

            KEITH RODDEN:  It means a lot to finally get a win.  I feel like this year we’ve been pretty good, we just need to get better, and I feel like we’ve been getting better on the track every week.  Last week we had a little unfortunate thing happen, so didn’t get to show how good that car was, but tonight we kind of started in the back a little bit, or started in the middle, and had to play a little bit of a track‑position game.  I really knew that we had something special when we pitted and some of the ‑‑ I think like seven people stayed out or so and we were running really good lap times compared to what we had run before, and after that we stayed out and when no one stayed out in front of us, I knew we had something.  Jamie did a great job.  The 4 and the 5 were really fast and they were on four tires for most of the night and when only the 5 passed us that one time and Jamie was on really olds lefts and sticker rights and held the 4 off forever.  Right then I knew that that final segment it was us and somebody else were going to run for this million dollars.  Obviously got to line up in second spot coming down pit road.  The guys had a great pit stop, barely got beat out, restarted on the outside.  Like you said, he just drove amazing.  All 10 laps were amazing, but that race with Carl was really special.

            I don’t know, just special to win the All‑Star Race.  It’s nice to win it as a crew chief, and looking forward to just carrying this momentum to winning some points races.

            Q.  I caught up with Carl in the garage after the race, and he lamented some of the decisions he made and said he would have driven the last few laps differently, but he said you drove perfectly and made perfect decisions at every turn.  Do you feel like that was the best four or five laps you could have possibly driven when you were racing with him?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Absolutely.  When I look back at like winning the Daytona 500, it’s kind of circumstantial to get drafting totally different.  The Brickyard was for me really special because I passed Kevin Harvick on the outside of Turn 1 at Indy, which does not happen.  It’s really hard to do.  That was a really special restart for me.

            But this is different because there’s no points, and honestly I wanted Carl to take the outside of the restart because I thought the inside was the better place and I had restarted on the inside both times before and been able to beat the guy to Turn 1, and when he took the inside, I was like, screw it, I don’t care.  If we drive off into the corner and we all wreck, I don’t care right now because literally you can see the million bucks.

            When you get to be in the All‑Star Race, it’s one thing to start ‑‑ like I started the first segment 11th, but there’s so much that’s going to happen between now and that last 10‑lap segment that it’s not reality.  I think I restarted sixth last year, and I believed in my head I think I can win this if I get in the right position.  But starting second, I’m like, one of us is going to win this.  I’m like, the 4 is going to have a chance, but it’s so hard to pass here in 10 laps, especially when you have a good car in front of you, that I’m like if the 99 ever gets in front of me I don’t think I can pass him.  I was telling Keith on the way over here a couple of those laps when he was inside of me we drove off into Turn 1 and I felt like I was 300 feet deeper than I’ve ever driven into that corner i
n qualifying trim and I could hear his exhaust and he hadn’t let off yet.  And I’m like, I don’t care.  I’m just staying wide open until he lets off and I’m going to carry a little more speed, and it was so much fun to run up the racetrack with him knowing that like on the end of that it’s a million dollars.  I can’t explain to you guys how unbelievable that is to hold a check up for that much money.  It’s crazy.  I can’t even make sense of what’s going on right now.  It’s awesome.  Really it’s like just ‑‑ it’s ultimately what a race car driver wakes up every single day to be put in that position.  That’s unbelievable.

            Q.  You guys have had some pretty strong runs this year and just some tough luck.  You look at Martinsville and Kansas, for instance.  What does winning this race do for you guys going forward knowing how much wins mean this year?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I’m going to let Keith answer this, as well, but my take on tonight, what makes tonight so special is it’s all about a team effort.  I feel like I did a really good job as a driver.  Keith did a great job of when we had the caution in the second segment, we pitted, and I could listen in his voice, I thought, he’s going to make me stay out the next segment on old tires and I don’t want to do that, but I could tell that’s what he wanted to do.  Because it’s all about just trying to score the most points you can in those first four segments for a good starting spot in the last 10 laps, and also about our pit crew.  To be able to come in in second place, first or second place on the last segment of the All‑Star Race, there is no more pressure that you can put on a pit crew, I think, than that.  For those guys to come through with an amazing stop, and if the 99 hadn’t had the first pit stall we would have come out first, that’s so cool for a complete team effort, and I think it shows the strength of not only Keith and I but also our pit crew, and that’s a really good feeling to know that your entire race team is capable of winning.

            Q.  You said in victory lane about Keith that I think he was a hidden gem or something like that and how lucky you were to have gotten him.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Absolutely.

            Q.  Why do you think that about him and why is this relationship working?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, when I look at Keith, I think it’s really hard ‑‑ when I think back to the beginning of my Sprint Cup career, I watched the guys move up from engineers to crew chiefs or guys that were on teams up to crew chiefs.  You know, like sometimes you could see it, like I think he can make it, and then other times it’s like I don’t know.  But I had heard Keith Rodden’s name for years and heard people say just great things about Keith.

            Last year I went over to Keith’s house and we sat in his basement and talked for, I don’t know, 15 or 20 minutes, and when I left I came out and I called Max, I’m like, that’s the guy.  You’ve got to figure out how to make it work.  No matter what you have to pay him, what you have to do, get that guy because I like everything about him.  There wasn’t anything negative about that.

            Whenever everything worked out, I talked to Kasey on the phone, and Kasey is like, man, you’ve got a really good guy, and I think he’s going to do an amazing job for you.  And Keith just all around (inaudible) but also very race savvy, good at calling the races, lots of common sense.  He has everything it takes to be extremely successful, and I think tonight showed that he’s willing to take a little bit of a chance on staying out, putting two tires on.  That’s hard, those are tough decisions because if it doesn’t work out, I think it’s hard to go home at night as a crew chief when you feel like you’ve made the wrong decision, but he made all the right decisions tonight.

            Having confidence in someone, especially as a driver, in the guy that is ultimately responsible for your car which has your name on it and is your life, right, that’s huge, and I just have so much confidence in not only his ability to make my car fast but also to make the right decisions on pit road and make all of ‑‑ just get us to victory lane.  He’s done a great job.  It’s really hard to say that when someone is sitting three inches from you.  It’s really hard.  But he’s done a great job.

            Q.  Jamie, obviously in your career you’ve won some of the biggest races, but you’ve also had certainly the struggles, certainly some down years.  Your career seems like there’s been a lot of highs and lows.  How have you persevered because you seem to be somebody that takes everything even personally to the nth degree and it really kind of carries with him.  How have you handled the highs and lows and persevered to get back to this point tonight?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, it’s really hard.  I won’t lie.  I feel like I’m harder on myself probably than anyone else is, and when you go through the garage and you look at drivers who are with really good teams, some of them are having bad years, and if you think that they’re not doubting their ability or down on themselves, they are, because that’s just the way our sport works.  I think it’s the same way, whether it’s golf or baseball.  I think when you’re not doing well, you always wonder if you’re capable of competing at this level.

            So I’ve had the absolute best moments of my career and I’ve had some really tough times.  It’s hard, but you just have to believe that you get in the right position.  For me this year, and Keith coming over and the amount of money and effort that Chip and Felix have put into our team, that makes you believe, that helps.  And even though you guys don’t see it most likely, our team, when I look at our year, we’ve been like one of the better cars of a lot of races at certain points in the race, and it just seems like every race this season that we’ve had a car really capable of running well.  Bristol we were running fifth and Harvick blew that oil line in front of us, last week we blew a tire out.  It seemed like every time we had a good car something would happen.  That’s really frustrating and that gets your confidence down.  But I texted Keith last week, and I’m like, keep your head up, we’re doing our ‑‑ our cars are really fast, and that’s the hardest part of our sport is to have fast cars.  Good luck, bad luck, that happens, but if your cars are slow, that’s hard to fix in a short amount of time, and we’ve had awesome cars.  Both teams have run really well this year.

            It’s tough when things are going bad, but I’ve got to live some of the greatest victories that you can have in this sport.  It’s unbelievable.

            Q.  I’m curious how much your past history here has impacted your race today, Keith, considering that the 5 had been a very successful car here in the past, were you able to bring anything you learned there specifically for this track, and Jamie, having won at this
track before did that give you the confidence to be able to race Edwards that hard?

            KEITH RODDEN:  Not really.  Everything changed this year with the no ride height rule, so you can start your car out an pit road at whatever ride heights you want to start, so that pretty much wiped out everything we had done the last two years.  Just kind of racing here a lot, really paying attention, keeping up with the track, that sort of thing that Ray and Kenny really instilled in me, so that sort of thing is there.  It’s still Charlotte, right.  But no setup or no technical things, really.  Just kind of keeping up with the racetrack.

            It’s so hard because you practice during the day.  This race was all during the night.  The 42 I thought was really good in practice, and I think they were going to have a really good race last night and had a little issue, but I just didn’t pay a lot of attention to it because it wasn’t the same conditions as what we raced tonight, and until we do this, we don’t really know how it’ll be.

            Jamie had one thing he kind of wanted to do to the car and we had some other things, and we actually changed a good bit of stuff tonight for the race, and it worked out.  I’m happy about that, but it doesn’t always work out.  I don’t know if that answers your question or not, but from the technical side, no.  From keeping up with the racetrack, yes.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  It’s so weird because Keith told me tonight before the race that we had the 5 car setup from last year, so I don’t know where he got that answer from just now.  (Laughter.)

            Well, I think for me coming here, this is a really good track for me.  It has been ‑‑ I mean, I won my first race here, we won here in 2010.  This has been just a really good track for me.

            When I look at it, I think what Keith is saying about the ride heights is so true.  I felt good, us and the 42 were one of the better cars at the test here that we had when we were trying to figure out the spoilers and the front pans and everything, so coming back here, I felt good about it just because it’s been a good track.  I don’t really disagree with what Keith is saying, but I think that he has always run well here, so I think that that helps when you go to tracks that typically crew chiefs, engineers run well at and drivers run well at.  I think it’s a really good combination.

 

            Q.  Jamie, how much has it helped you to have an engineering style crew chief because in the past you’ve worked with guys like Wingo and such.  It’s a little different discipline.  You talked about how surprised you were that the car stuck on the high groove where I guess there was a lot of debris.  You were talking about kicking up dirt and stuff.  What made you stick up there?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, a million dollars is what made me say the hell with it, I’m going to go for it.  I really enjoy having Keith.  I like ‑‑ I guess what I really enjoy about Keith is I feel like when I ask him a question, he always has an answer.  I feel like he’s already thought about what I am bringing up, and I ask a lot of questions, and I ask a lot of random questions, and I always feel like he has a good answer, and I think that’s a really good confidence builder for a driver when you can ask a question, whether it’s about pit road, setups, what happened in the Nationwide race last night.  I feel like he’s always thinking about it, and I said this last week or the week before, I talked to him on the phone a week or so ago, and he’s like, I woke up at 3:00 in the morning and I was thinking about this, and I was like, that is awesome that that’s what’s going through your head at 3:00 in the morning.  I know your wife probably doesn’t enjoy that, but I love that you’re constantly worried about making our car faster because that’s the kind of stuff I think about at 3:00 in the morning.  That side of it, I just really enjoy.  I feel like he’s always thinking about what we need to do to make our team and our cars better, and it’s also nice like the engineering side of it that Keith can ‑‑ if we need to look at data or simulation he knows how to run that because he’s done it in the past, so when he talks to the engineer, he can speak, they can talk kind of the same lingo, which is great.

            Q.  When Chip was in earlier, he talked about when you get a sniff of the front you really calm down.  Is that something that most drivers do do you think or shouldn’t it be the opposite?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I think ‑‑ I don’t know, that makes me feel good that he thinks that.  He said that to me, too, and I didn’t know what he was talking about.  The truth is, and it’s this way in any kind of racing, when you get to the front, the cars drive so much better.  I talked to Kurt out there before the race started and just telling him I was watching him at Indy and asking about that, and he was explaining about 20 cars back to 10 cars back to when you get close how dirty the air is in IndyCar racing.  We were kind of trying to relate it to NASCAR.  My side of that is when I get to the front the car drives better because you’re just in better air.

            Q.  You mentioned a little earlier that you’ve had the opportunity to win so many big races during your career that a lot of drivers never get the chance to.  I just wondered if for some reason your career ended tomorrow, how would you feel that you’ve had a successful career based on what you’ve been able to accomplish, or would you feel that not being able to be in the thick of a championship hunt there would somehow be something left on the table?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, I don’t know.  That’s a hard question to answer.  I think being able to contend for a championship would be a great feeling.  I think that’s a different feeling.  That’s such a long battle versus race to race and being able to win.

            I have been so lucky to be able to, first off, be in NASCAR as long as I have been, and to be able to experience the wins that I have been involved with and the people that I’ve been able to meet.  I think it’s been really successful.  There’s been a lot of guys come along that don’t ever get to win a race, much less win three of the biggest races of the year.

            Yeah, I feel really lucky to be able to do what I’ve done.

            Q.  What are you going to do with your winnings, Jamie, the extra money?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  I’m going to send my two kids and probably my next child that’s not here yet to school.  Honest to God, that’s what I’ve thought about.  School is really expensive, and you guys don’t know this about me probably but I’m very frugal, just outright tight and I’m paranoid about money every day of my life, and I thought about ‑‑ I’ve looked at what school costs, and college and just getting
to college, and it’s most likely going to go to that.

            Q.  I saw Marty tweeted something about a train for your kid?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  I’ll tell you guys the story.  I’ve told it 10 times, but it’s a really great story.  This morning the whole family sitting at the breakfast table, Carter and Hazel are eating cereal, I’m having some coffee, kind of looking at the internet.  I asked Carter what are you going to do today?  And he’s like, well, I’m going to probably play in my sandbox, Dad, and he rattled off a couple of random things that I already knew he was going to do.  And he said, Dad, what are you going to do today?  And I was like, Carter, I’m going to go race for a million dollars tonight, and he’s like, okay, like no big deal, has no idea what a million bucks is.  And I think it’s so weird that my wife, who we really never talk about racing, she never really asks me anything about the car or if I think I can win, very seldom does she say that.  She’s like, do you think you can win tonight?  And I’m like, I don’t know.  We’ve got to get our car a little better.  It’s a good track.  I said if we get our car better I think we have a chance, and she’s like, Carter, if Dad were to win tonight, what would you want?  And of course most of you if you said you could have anything in the world with a million dollars you would pick something really expensive, right, and he’s like, I’d like a new train set.  I’m like, okay.  It’s yours, Carter.  Actually whether we win tonight or not you can have a new train set, either way.

            That’s really cool.  I can’t wait to get home.  I’m going to end up staying here tonight because I have a small buzz right now, but I can’t wait to get home and see them in the morning and bring the trophy home and get to share that moment with Carter.

            Carter doesn’t quite get winning and losing.  After the Talladega race where we ripped the splitter off our car and we’re like 10 laps down and we almost got them all back, I was a little frustrated after the race, and went back to my motor home and I’m going to take my suit off.  I walk in the bus, I open the door, and Carter is standing on the ottoman in our bus, and I walk in and he puts both of his hands in the air, and he’s like, Dad, Denny Hamlin won, woohoo!  Like he’s excited.  I’m like, Carter, I love you.  I don’t know what else to say.  He doesn’t know that I should be the one to win, right, and I really don’t care if Denny Hamlin won the race.  So I can’t wait to go home and tell him that dad won last night.

            Q.  How about you, Keith?  I’m sure you get a few extra dollars.

            KEITH RODDEN:  Actually I’m not sure.  Everything he says is probably about how I am.  As frugal as I am, my wife is even tighter.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  She’s in here.  That’s awesome.

            KEITH RODDEN:  She’s not even embarrassed about it, because she knows it’s true.  Yeah, same kind of thing, really.  Got to protect for the future and the kids.  Hopefully we have a house that we’ll never move out of.  I don’t want to move again anyway, ever.  Yeah, I just don’t really think about stuff like that to be honest with you, just think about racing and when we’re at home at the house or on an off weekend like tomorrow, just looking forward to spending time with the family.

            I don’t know what it is with people because we have a two‑and‑a‑half year old, almost a three‑year‑old, she’ll be three in August, and everyone gives us stuff for her.  It’s like no one thinks that we buy ’em my anything at all, so she has all this stuff, and I think we’ve spent 50 bucks on toys in three years.  It’s awesome.  So if anybody wants to donate anything ‑‑ no, just kidding.  No big plans to spend any money.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
DAY ONE QUALIFYING
NOTES AND QUOTES INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
Chevy’s Ed Carpenter Fastest on Day One of Qualifying for the 98th Running of the  Indianapolis 500
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 17, 2014) – Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet, set the benchmark on the first day of qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500. With a four-lap average of 230.661, the 2012 pole sitter ended the day on top of the scoring pylon.
 
Making the day even sweeter for team owner Carpenter was the fact that JR Hildebrand put the second Ed Carpenter Racing entry in the Fast Nine Shootout.  The driver of the No. 21 Preferred Freezer Chevrolet ran the ninth quickest average at 230.027 mph.
 
Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet, was third quickest with a four-lap average of 230.432 mph.
 
Giving Team Chevy four entries in the Fast Nine Shootout for the Verizon P1 Award was Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, who turned a four-lap average of 230.323 mph.
 
Qualifying concludes Sunday, May 18 with another qualifying session to determine final starting positions, and culminating with the Fast Nine Shootout to determine the pole sitter. Tomorrow’s qualifying to determine the pole and the final grid positions begins at 10:15 a.m. ET and will also be broadcast live on ABC from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
 
INDIANAPOLIS 500 QUALIFYING FORMAT:
SUNDAY QUALIFYING
 
Group 1:
All Saturday times are erased and positions 10-33 will re-qualify to determine starting position.
Order will be the reverse of Saturday’s rankings.
Lineup will be determined based on fastest four-lap averages.
In the event that there are only 33 cars entered, this group will determine positions 10-33.
 
Group 2:
The top nine cars will run in reverse order based on Saturday’s times.
All cars will make one attempt.
At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-9 based on their four-lap average during the segment to run the Fast Nine Shootout
 
The 2014 Indianapolis 500 will be the 98th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” It has been held every year since the first race in 1911 except the war years of 1917-1918 and 1942-1945. The race will take place May 25, 2014, and will be broadcast live on ABC beginning at 11 a.m. (ET).
 
DRIVER QUOTES – TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS IN THE FAST NINE SHOOTOUT:
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – FASTEST ON QUALIFYING DAY NUMBER ONE
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – NINTH QUICKEST ON QUALIFYING DAY NUMBER ONE
BOTH ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET’S WILL COMPETE TOMORROW FOR THE VERIZON P1 AWARD IN THE FAST NINE SHOOTOUT FOR THE 98TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
 
YOU TURNED IN ONE HECK OF A LAP:
ED CARPENTER: “Yeah I was hoping to only have to do that once today, but as it turned out we needed to do it twice just to have some security.  Really happy both of our cars made it in.  I think it was an exciting day to have five different teams represented in the top nine.  More than probably what I expected going into today.  I thank the speedway and the series it should be exciting.”
 
I WOULD IMAGINE WHEN YOU SAW RYAN HUNTER-REAY GO OUT THERE WITH JUST A MATTER OF A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO GO IT WAS A LITTLE BIT HOLDING YOUR BREATH:
JR HILDEBRAND: “Yeah I was having a little miniature freak out in the helmet.  I mean when I saw (Josef) Newgarden go out and he went faster by like a little tiny bit like six feet after four laps or something that pissed me off.  Then when Ryan Hunter-Reay went out honestly I thought at that point it was over.  We were out of time and he has had speed.  But the Andretti cars were kind of all over the place so we didn’t really know.  That was obviously a massive relief when we saw the lap times starting to come down a little bit.  I know I owe all this to Ed (Carpenter) and the ECR (Ed Carpenter Racing) for the work.  We all know that the speed in these cars doesn’t come through the week it comes from all the prep that goes on beforehand and they gave me a great car.  I think tomorrow we will have to go out first, but we definitely got some more speed I think that we can squeeze out of it.  We will see what we’ve got.”
 
AFTER ALL THAT YOU WENT THROUGH TODAY WHAT IS IT GOING TO BE LIKE TO DO ALL OF THIS AGAIN TOMORROW?
ED CARPENTER: “Personally I’ve been in every shoot out, but one since they started the shootouts.  I have fun with it.  I mean everyone is out there you have one shot at it.  For the most part we all get along all the drivers. It’s a good time.  It’s one and done you’ve got to nail it and it’s more pressure a day like today when you go do a run and for me I was the fifth car out and sat around all day.  Thought we were probably going to be okay and then it’s like ‘oh crap the track is getting faster we are going to have to probably make another run’.  I’m glad we made another run I think it helped us be better prepared for tomorrow because like I said we only get one shot at it.  We’ve got to get it right.  The engineers have got to get it right and that is what we did last year so we will see if we can put both of us up front.”
 
ANY MOMENTS YOU HAD TO REMIND YOURSELF THAT YOU DIDN’T WIN THE POLE?
ED CARPENTER: “No, but I was thinking about how many points we were going to win today. Not mad about that.”
 
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS TEAM HAS A LITTLE BIT OF AN EDGE WHEN IT COMES TO QUALIFYING?
ED CARPENTER: “I think there are five teams in the top nine and I think there are probably 15 guys that could win the race.  I think there are a lot of people with good opportunities here. I like where we are sitting.  I think JR (Hildebrand) was one turn away from winning this race so he knows how to get in position to do that.  He’s been there.  We had some success last year just didn’t do well enough when it counted at the end.  I think both of us like this place and are comfortable here.  We have fast cars now it’s just a matter of continuing to execute and make good decisions.”
 
YOU SAT ON THE POLE LAST YEAR YOU CAN START NO WORSE THAN THE THIRD ROW THIS YEAR. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN THE KEY FOR YOUR SMALL TEAM TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT WELL IN QUALIFICATIONS?
ED CARPENTER: “Our people is the easy answer beyond that we’ve got great sponsors on the team. Fuzzy’s has been with us since the very start.  I wouldn’t be here without them they are great partners and now bringing JR (Hildebrand) on with Preferred Freeze and Dean and CSC.  Those guys have allowed us to grow.  With the way this month has played out having a second car here has been crucial to being prepared with the short days we have had just blessed to have good partners and good people.”
 
AFTER LAST YEAR YOU SAID YOU WERE UPSET THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK THEN THE RACE WENT WRONG.  ALL THIS WEEK YOU AND JR HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT DOING RACE SET-UP’S.  IS THIS PACE THAT WE SEE TODAY IS THAT A BYPRODUCT OF YOU WORKING ON EVERYTHING OR DO YOU HAVE A QUALIFYING SET-UP IN THE BAG AS WELL?
ED CARPENTER: “When you are working on race set-up’s when I talk about it you are constantly trying to find grip in the car.  You are trying to find ways to make your car handle better in dirty air.  We weren’t bad last year I mean we led the most laps in the race.  It wasn’t that our car was bad it was more of we made a couple of decisions that I think if we could have changed it we would have been in a better position.  We came in with a good car and a good package from last year.  Like I said with the second car here we have been able to t
ry some more things than what we did last year.  I think when you find grip out of the car and get it working better mechanically it just makes it that much better when you do trim out to go fast.  A lot of the speed is found in the race shop working on all the details of the car.”
 
BOTH OF YOU ARE USED TO BEING ON SINGLE CAR TEAMS.  CAN YOU BOTH TALK ABOUT THE TEAM WORK EFFORT AND IF YOU ARE WORKING TOGETHER HOW THAT IS GOING:
JR HILDEBRAND: “This is not because my boss is sitting next to me here, but it’s gone incredibly well from my perspective.  I’ve been in situations where we have had teammates for this race or sort of pseudo teammates during a year.  Until this week I have never worked so closely with another driver, but another whole team of people and engineering staff and all that kind of stuff.  That have worked so closely together to try to solve the same problems basically.  From my view as we have gone along here this week the two cars have constantly been coming back together.  He (Ed) goes and does something and it’s better we are both looking for the same things out of the car.  If he goes and does something that is better nine times out of 10 we have thrown that on my car just gone out not even had to test it and it’s been good.  That I think has especially given the limited running that we’ve had because of weather to Ed’s point earlier has made this a much easier process getting through all that stuff.  I think that I feel like we have strong equipment, strong people and like I said I have not worked together with another driver ever to this level.  It’s been all good and we really owe a lot of that again to the folks that are around the team.”
ED CARPENTER: “I agree with JR on that.  We’ve got great people on the team that don’t have egos.  Everyone wants to succeed and wants to see the whole team do well and help each other.  Going back to the Grand Prix of Indy last weekend, Mike Conway got caught up in that first lap crash.  Every person in the garage was working on the car.  JR’s crew guys were back there just doing some stuff on his car getting ready for practice the next day and they all jumped right in.  They are guys that aren’t full-time.  They don’t work for us year round, but they are great guys and they have bought into what we are doing.  And beyond that I think this was a long process JR and I started talking last June more in July trying to figure out a way to work together.  We train at the same place until he moved to Colorado.  It wasn’t like we just showed up here and met for the first time.  We’ve been talking about this for a while.  I think that is a big part of why it’s gone well also.”
 
DID YOU HAVE A FEELING WHEN YOU RAN 230 YESTERDAY YOU PROBABLY HAD THE MOST SPEED OF ANYONE OUT THERE?
ED CARPENTER: “No, I didn’t run this morning; we were the only two cars not to go out this morning.  To be honest I was much happier with my car Thursday afternoon than I was the 19 minutes we did last night.  The time looked really good, but it wasn’t the best run we have had.  I had a couple of questions and I’m glad we went out in those conditions we learned a couple of things, but I wasn’t sure, especially when we skipped the morning warm-up.  I felt like we had a whole lot of competition going into it.  I wasn’t sure we were going to go 230 our first round.  I was relieved when we did.  To be honest I didn’t think going into qualifying that I was going to see 230.
 
WHAT IS THE FUTURE POSSIBLY FOR THIS SECOND TEAM?
ED CARPENTER: “I mean we’ve wanted to expand for a long time.  Maintaining the second car beyond here just comes down to having the funding in place to do it and being able to staff up permanently for that.  Running a second car at Indy is easier than other places because you don’t have to have quite as much equipment.  You don’t have to worry about transportation equipment and all that just because we can shuttle it out here.  We would like to grow and hopefully it happens sometime whether it’s this year or next year, but we will worry about that after we figure out a way to win the race.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET,  QUALIFIED 3RD: YOU MUST BE HAPPY:  “Yes. Certainly every time you get a position of being in the top-nine, it helps a lot.  If you are talking about points, it helps a lot; especially for the people who are battling in the championship. That is certainly great.  I’m happy.  The Pennzoil No. 3 guys did a fantastic job. Every time we went out there, it was improving. We went from 229 to 230 (mph). I know one mile-an-hour means nothing, but especially today, look at that, the top-nine over 230 (mph). We are talking about less than a .2 mph that can be on pole position. It is going to be interesting tomorrow.”
 
DO YOU LIKE THE NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT? “It is the first one, and I think when everything is new, there is adjustment. It is exciting I have to say. We went out there, and we kept pushing ourselves. Everybody actually pushing each other. Look at the times.  I’m the traditional guy, it’s a different way. But, I feel that the fans enjoyed it. We broke the 230 mph. It is a plus. If we have to make some changes, we will. But right now I think everybody is happy.”
 
“I did remind myself (that there was still tomorrow) every time I was going out there, because from first to ninth is extremely close. Tomorrow, I think, is going to be the same. Sounds like the weather might play a little factor because not being quite as cold as today which probably masked a lot of areas that sometimes you are really going low downforce…that could be tough. Let’s see.  Right now we are sitting good but we still have some work to do.  Hopefully tomorrow that work would pay off.”
 
WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT YOUR CAR WHEN YOU DID YOUR BEST LAPS?  “We were just looking for speed. I was very surprised with my first run to be honest because the car was spot-on, and I just didn’t understand why we didn’t go as fast as at least the second run to be honest. We just kept ourselves cool, and we knew where we had to go. I think the track was getting a little bit better for consistency. It helped a lot of people, including us. It was a combination of a lot of things. When you are talking about less than .2 mile-an-hour, if it’s a blow of wind or a fart (LAUGHS) it makes a difference.”
 
ON HOW THE SMALLER TEAMS CAN MAKE A BIG STATEMENT HERE:  “It is a credit to the engine manufacturers too. Obviously they seem to be pushing each other in a way it is keeping things very close.  Also the Series, it is a spec series so the limits of what we can do and change and touch, is very…so even the big teams are finding it difficult to separate themselves. Certainly the smaller teams, you can see the field is getting so tight, if they have a good organization, they can be battling with the big teams, and I think that is the credit for the small teams.”
 
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE AT THE START OF HAVING CLEAN AIR VERSUS BEING MID-PACK? “Even though I started the race 13th, I won the race in 2002, but the point is you want to eliminate some kind of issues.  Sometimes people try to pass in places when it is still too early and you get caught in the middle. When you eliminate that kind of scenario, your chances of being there at the end become bigger. Those are the reasons that starting up front is a little more comfortable. But, it doesn’t mean anything to be honest because it is a 500 miles. It is a long race, and you can still win from the middle of the pack. Especially the way the series is right now, it is accomplishable.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: 
“It was definitely a bit of a hectic day. Really amazing that it took a 230 miles per hour average to make it into the Firestone Fast Nine. But we did what we had to do and now we have a shot at the Indianapolis 500 pole award tomorrow. The No. 12 Verizon Chevy has obviously shown it has the speed to contend for the pole position.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 17, 2014
 
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed qualifying for the Indy 500, logistics, this evening’s All-Star race at Charlotte, and more. Full Transcript:
 
HOW WAS IT TRAVELING BACK TO CHARLOTTE FROM INDY? ALSO TALK ABOUT HOW FAST YOU WERE IN QUALIFYING FOR THE INDY 500
“It’s been an exciting day. It’s a lot of fun to qualify into the Indianapolis 500 my first outing. I was hoping for a little more, but the air in the morning there is so thick, those cars have a hard time cutting through that air. And then as the day progresses, conditions get better. And then right here, now, we got bumped out of the Fast Nine, which I thought we might be able to hang on but, hey. First time there to be 10th, 11th, 12th is right in the mix and it’s really exciting. To have had the chance to go 230 mph; and then to have a fast plane with Cessna to get back here to be ready for the All-Star race.”
 
WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING TONIGHT IN THE ALL-STAR RACE?
“I’ve got five segments tonight; four of those are 20-lap runs. Last year the No. 78 car was a bullet. It was fast. So I’m hoping to use some of that same chemistry within the car and just settle back in. I’ll need that first segment to settle into the car and to feel the four tires and to feel the stock car again and to respect it. Back and forth there’s a lot of excitement and a lot of emotion but I haven’t been in this car yet this week. I’m going up against the best of the best in this All-Star race. You can’t take this for granted.”
 
WAS TODAY AS GOOD AS YOU EXPECTED IN THIS FIRST-TIME EXPERIENCE?
“Last night, there was a Casino Night that’s mandatory for the drivers that are full time and I went. I wanted to go and feel it and experience it. There’s just a lot of Indiana hometown people that appreciate the fact that the Indianapolis 500 is in their backyard. And it’s the people that have made that race track what it is; and that race track makes that for the people. So it’s really need to feel that small hometown Indiana feel on a grand stage. The world does watch the Indy 500. So, it’s emotional. It’s fun. We qualified first run out and then was 12th and then bumped-up and got as high as third, and then we got bumped out of the Fast Nine. That’s part of the emotions of qualifying into the Indy 500.”
 
WITH ALL THE PRACTICE AND BEING ON THE TRACK ALL WEEK, HOW HAVE YOU EXPECTATIONS CHANGED? ARE YOU THINKING MORE ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF WINNING?
“Each day is a lesson of just being a student and learning what I can do to advance with the car. My inexperience is what will hold us at that last little bit. Each day though, there have been nice improvements. So it’s hard to know what to expect. We’ve got another qualifying round tomorrow and then Monday is a full race trim day and then it’s a week off, it feels like, when I’ll be back to Indy to run again. So, we’ve got one more qualifying run and then a race run and we’ll see. I expect there to be more competition this year just with the rules being very close and everybody is comfortable with the package they have. I see that lead group of cars 18 deep; maybe even into the twenties. Any little mistake will come up and it will come up big, and then you’ll be buried in traffic.”
 
HAVE YOU HAD MUCH OF A CHANCE TO RUN IN TRAFFIC?
“Yeah, we focused the first four days on running with traffic. We got rained out Wednesday. It was nice though, to go back Thursday and get some race runs in. And I felt comfortable making passes on guys.”
 
IT WILL BE A NIGHT RACE TONIGHT. YOU SEEM RESTED AND CALM. ARE YOU TIRED AT ALL?
“No, just trying to keep up with my checklist. This qualifying run, I take the green on track, and coming down pit road I don’t have to slow down for pit road speed and I don’t have any reference points. I didn’t practice. That I’ve just got to clear that hurdle and get back out onto the track as quick as I can; and hopefully after a great pit stop by the guys, and see where we stack-up for the first segment. Once we do that, then that will dictate our race strategy.”
 
WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE SO FAR IN TRYING TO DO THE DOUBLE? OR, WHAT’S BEEN THE HARDEST THING?
“The open cockpit is a whole different experience. The biggest surprise has just been the warm welcome in the open wheel paddock. The Indy Car guys have been just so supportive and giving me encouragement. It’s been really neat to see them reach out. I thought it would be more cutthroat from those guys, but we haven’t gotten into race weekend yet. I’m sure that will change.”
 
REGARDING GETTING TO CHARLOTTE IN TIME FOR QUALIFYING TODAY
“Well, the driver’s meeting is the most important part so we could keep our starting position. I thank NASCAR for allowing me to miss yesterday’s practice and still be eligible to run tonight.”
 
YOU ALSO HAD GREAT SUPPORT FROM WITHIN THE SPRINT CUP GARAGE. THAT HAS TO BEE A GOOD FEELING
“It’s neat. Dale Jr. has been tweeting about it and I heard when I did do my qualifying run to get up as high as P3, Tony Stewart said congratulations and that one hit me hard just with the Indiana feel of everything. It’s near. Everybody has been curious about it. There’s still a lot of anxious moments and the speed is probably the most fun part. I can check 230 mph off the list. It’s a hair-raising experience to put a car on edge for four laps. I had three, what I felt were moments, in the car. If I had had a fourth, I might not be here right now. I’m glad that we went as fast as we did today to make the Final Nine was really exceeding expectations.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR EXPECTATIONS OF NEXT WEEKEND’S 600 RACE?
“Just settling into race trim next week and we’ll see. It’s a race; it’s anybody’s race and we have to position ourselves for not making mistakes and stay away from mistakes on pit road to earn the gentleman’s respect out on the track as far as the protocol. That will be the next step in the first third of the race.”
 
WHAT’S THE OPEN COCKPIT LIKE AT THOSE SPEEDS?
“Yeah, you’ve definitely got to make sure the helmet fits nice and snug and we’re not worried about the oddities of driving an open wheel car. I just said I had a death grip on the wheel and that’s just because I wasn’t relaxing. So it’s just a matter of settling in and not putting too many things ahead of the curve.”
 
THERE IS SUCH A DIFFERENCE IN THE CARS, WHEN YOU’RE GOING BACK AND FORTH, ARE YOU PUTTING ONE OUT YOUR MIND AND FOCUSING ON THE OTHER? HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THAT?
“I made sure I got a nice nap in on the plane. And to wake up and look out the window and there’s Charlotte Motor Speedway. It’s a visual reference, but at the same time it’s All-Star time. Stock cars. This is what I have to do the next four hours. And then when I fly back up tonight, I’ll just zone back in tomorrow morning when I get up. It’s Indy. We’ll do a baseline run tomorrow morning to do a q-run and then hopefully have a good q-run in the afternoon to make the Indy 500 a 10th.”
 
HOW IMPORTANT ARE STARTING SPOTS?
“We have a shot at the fourth row. That’s going to be our best. That will be our goal. If we can come away with 10th, 11th, or 12th, that will be a great spot to be in. Is it ideal? No. There are guys that are better. But for me there’s going to be so much when they drop the green flag, that I might be starting fourth and have to yield ten positions just to get settled in. So, we’ll see how that goes.”
 
WAS IT A SMOOTH FLIGHT FROM INDY TO CHARLOTTE?
“Door to door, I walked out of the paddock in Indianapolis and made it here, to the back of the hauler, in an hour and 31 minutes.  We gave ourselves a two-hour cushion so if there is anythi
ng that happens, we’ll know exactly what our timeline is.”
 
DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE GAINING CROSSOVER FANS?
“They have a different feel up there with Gasoline Alley and they’re right there on top of the drivers when they go in and out and rooting the teams on. I heard the crowd after I got out of the car and the crowd was very supportive. I heard a guy heckle me. He said hey, you taxicab driver you! And I went hey, that’s awesome. I come from the stock car world and that’s my home and that’s where I’ve raced for 15 years. And it’s nice to have the support of those guys up there.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE ALL-STAR RACE WILL BE LIKE TONIGHT?
“I think a fast car is going to prevail. Jeff Gordon was fast last week along with Kevin Harvick. The average of the four segments we hope that we can be in the mix and in the mix is top six. If we’re in the top six, then I think we’ve got a shot at winning it.”
 
 

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT TO LOCK INTO FIELD:
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, No. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “It’s good to actually hear what he is saying because it sounds like we are in kind of a similar scenario.  The car feels fantastic.  The Pennzoil car looks really good.  I was kind of surprised to be honest for the speed.  I thought we were going to pull at least a 229.9 or close to 230.  When I saw the 229.3 I was like ‘uh’ I don’t like that.  Yeah, similar to what he is saying we have got to figure out the quick.  We know we have a plan B obviously and that is what we are going to try to do and let’s see what happens. Yeah, the only thing I wish actually would be a little wind, because the track condition is absolutely perfect. With the new rules you are allowed to go without losing your time depending on the line you go in.  That is what we are going to do.  We are going to try to keep going and squeeze.  I know all the guys are going to go. I heard obviously the Ganassi and yes, you want to be the fastest out there today, but the main key is to be in the top nine.  At this point that is what we are going to focus on right now.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “To be honest, I wasn’t sure we would run that quick this morning.  I am happy with that and now it is just sitting back and seeing what everyone else does.  I really don’t want to make two runs today.  I think there are a couple of little things we can do to get some more speed out of it.  But I would rather test that stuff on Sunday.  I think we have a good chance for the pole on Sunday but the field is very tight this year.  There are so many good cars and drivers out there that I don’t really know where we sit right now. It will come down on who gets it right on the day for the pole.  It really comes down to being perfect for four laps. It makes for the a long day because you have to sit around and see what everyone else can do on Saturday.  If you would have told that we were going run 230 for an average, I would have said it’s a top nine spot.  But I don’t know right now.  If we have to go back out now, I think we can get some more out of the Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy.  I thought it would take about a 229 or 228.5 to get into the top nine before this morning’s runs.  Then a lot of guys ran 230 this morning, so I am just not sure where our 230 run stands.  I hope it remains on the top of the charts. In a perfect world, we make one run today and one run on Sunday.  We’ll just wait and see right now.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT:  “I felt pretty good.  I lifted on that run so obviously got more than that.  Just have to go back and have a good look at what we can do with the set-up here.  I think we have got a fast enough car, just looking at it right now to definitely be in the top nine, but maybe challenge in the top three. That is the aim for today get in the top- nine.  I think we are good. For us it’s just to get in the fast nine in the safest way possible.  I have to say it is very difficult on this new tire.  The new tire runs on low downforce, but it’s a very good race tire very durable.  So we are just kind of struggling to get a good balance right now in the car for this low downforce tire.  I lifted that means when you lift you have a moment so I’ve got to understand what is going on. It’s difficult to tell because we have been running around with such heavy downforce.  It’s a little cold and we are on the lightest downforce we have been on.  It’s low grip for me right now, it feels that way. I think if it was hotter this tire would be better.”
 
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 6 ROBERT GRAHAM – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “I think we had a great balance.  We had to make some adjustments on the first lap, but it was a very consistent run all the way across.  Probably like Tony (Kanaan) I think we’ve got a very good balanced car.  It’s essentially very close to what he raced at KV last year.  I’m appreciative for his test driver work on my behalf.  It’s good it’s just not quite getting the same speed out of it some of the other teams, but from a balance stand point we are pretty happy.  Our other teammate cars with (Sebastian) Saavedra and (Sebastien) Bourdais I think have run and the speed is comparable to what I have.  We will have to go back and study things and make a decision as to what and how much and when.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET,  FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “We thought my car was faster than Scott’s (Dixon). Obviously we are not as fast as anybody right now. The whole team has been struggling. We probably had a top-12 car going in to today, and then we were going to make it better during the day, and obviously that isn’t the case. So we are going to have to make it better today to try to make it to the fast nine.  If not, honestly I won starting 12th last year, so I don’t think it will be a problem. Last year I had the pressure of winning; this year I have the pressure to win again. You take it in a completely different approach after winning this race. I’m glad that I did it. I’m glad I got to celebrate for a full year. But now it is time to go back to work. The fans have always been great with me here and they still are. I still struggle to walk around here, which is a good problem to have. We’ll keep doing what we are doing. As long as I can keep pleasing them and putting on good races for them, they are still going to cheer for me.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “I think it was a pretty good run. I had to be pretty quick on the adjustments in the car to try to squeeze a little bit more speed out of it on a couple of laps, which was working well, but on that last lap I lost a little speed so we’ll just have to go back through the data and see where that was. It’s a long day here today, so we’ll see how things shake out after everyone’s had a run. we would’ve liked to have pulled a little bit more speed out of our run, but obviously Ed (Carpenter) has some speed in his car. So we’ll go back and take a look at where the differences are between the two of our runs and go from there. It’s not a lot of lap time. The cars are very close together, so maybe there’s a little bit of time lost in shifting, or not shifting, warm-up laps, and those kinds of things. With how close everyone is, you’re getting into the nitty gritty little bits of detail to determine what’s going on. For Ed and me, it’s a very transparent relationship so that makes it easier in a situation like this to really figure it out. Especially with Ed being as quick as he is, I doubt that we’ll really be in a position to bump him out. So we’ll see what things look like in a bit.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “It is good to be back. I thought we could have run a 230 (mph). We made some changes and we were just sliding around a little too much in qualifying and just dragging the car down a little too much. It’s not bad. That is what we do…it is normal. We feel like we have a really fast car for the race.  As the day goes on, we will understand better where we are and how good our car is; how much speed it has; and go from there. I think we know what we need to do with the car. We are going to give it another run later. It’s hard to know because it is so close. I think we are going to somewhere between eighth and twelfth. So we are going to have to really push that issue a little more. I think qualifying is great. I th
ink what they did is really, really good. I think it is awesome the way they did it because you are going to have people running all day. I mean going at it all day. I think if you are going to do a test run, you might as well just time it.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS:  No. 11 No. 11 HYDROXYCUT/MISTIC E-CIGS – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “We spent a lot of time to get it right for the race.  The car is definitely pretty racy.  It’s pretty comfortable in traffic and we got it better during the week. We tried quite a few things and I think we have it much better understanding of what we are looking for in race trim than we do in qualifying trim mode.  Obviously we didn’t get much practice so that is kind of a shot in the dark a bit because this morning was the first time we came with the rear wing laid back in qualifying trim.  It’s not easy, but it was a pretty solid run.  We kind of scrubbed a bit too much on lap two and four coming off of (Turn) two it was the tail wind but that was about it.  Really there wasn’t much going. I think Fast Friday with the high boost and everything was the day dedicated to qualifying running so we got seven laps in.  It’s kind of tricky, but it is what it is.  We have seen plenty of upsets coming from the back here. The great thing is now we have to do it all over again tomorrow anyways.  We are not necessarily going to stop there we are going to keep at it and make it as far forward as possible.  I just feel we can’t content for the fast nine if we don’t make it today.  10th place would be alright. It’s a couple of changes front, rear just changing a bit of cross weight and things like that.  Essentially I think it’s a little better tire.  It seems to leave a lot less vibrations from everybody’s feedback and stuff.  It seems a bit more durable as well.  The grip seems to be a bit more consistent through runs and stuff so it’s a better tire.  But it requires a little bit different set-up not dramatic just a couple of adjustments here and there.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “I was just talking to him (Scott Dixon).  As a team we have got to put our thinking caps on a little bit.  It’s definitely not a question of downforce.  We just need to find some speed somehow.  We’ve got a long day ahead of us, but we will be able to practice later, have a couple more qualifying attempts and do our best.  The car felt reasonable, we just need to find the speed.  It’s got to be there.  There are no excuses we just need to really put our thinking caps on here and see.  We haven’t had much opportunity to practice qualifying and really start searching.  So today we are going to get into that and make a long day of it. I mean that is where he coming from the stand point of as far as trimming out goes they won’t let us take the rear wing off so that would be the next step for us (laughs).  But it is something else.  I think it’s not just about the downforce number.  I mean (Ed) Carpenter is running more downforce than any of us and he is the quickest car out there.  Whatever they are doing they are doing it right and we need to try to figure it out pretty quickly.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. AFS 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT:
: “It’s hard to believe that this is the same car that was involved in the big accident last weekend. I am so proud of the KV AFS Racing guys, they did an amazing job putting the car back together in two days. We lost a lot of time on track, but we are here and the car feels good. To be at the same pace as my teammates with a car that is not fully build for this event is a great feeling.  We haven’t focused so much time on the qualifying trim, so I know we have a good race car and now we focus on the race next weekend.”
 
SAGE KARAM, NO. 22 COMFORT REVOLUTION/BRANTLEY GILBERT  DREYER & REINBOLD KINGDOM RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “Today was great. We qualified and made the show. We’re in the Indianapolis 500, which has been a dream of mine as long as I can remember. To finally accomplish that is an incredible feeling for me and also my family, because we’ve worked so hard for it. As far as the car is concerned, it’s great as well. Dreyer & Reinbold-Kingdom Racing put a really good car together for me. We know it’s not today that counts, but tomorrow and next Sunday. Hopefully tomorrow we can find another couple tenths in the Comfort Revolution/Brantley Gilbert car, and try to qualify towards the front. Right now we’re sitting about mid-pack, which I can work with, but if we can get up to tenth, it’ll be a whole lot easier on me, and we’ll have a lot more fun with that, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “We’re a mile-and-a-half off right now, and we are trimmer than a lot of the cars out there with the exception to the Penske’s that are pretty trimmed. It is hard to see when Ed (Carpenter) rolls out there, they have a lot of downforce on them, and goes out there and knocks off some 230s (mph) right out of the box.  I think fundamentally we are missing something right now. A mile-and-a-half doesn’t sound like that much, but it is. The unfortunate part is you work probably six months of the year trying to find the combinations that you want to run, and we think we get the best speed out of it. We have to try and reinvent the wheel in the next hour or two. Hopefully that will help us find some speed. I watched the No. 8 (Ryan Briscoe) to see how it ran. They are fairly similar. I think the No. 10 (Tony Kanaan) seems a little more solid than we are right now for speed. But probably for only a half-a-mile-an-hour. In general we are still lacking. So, we’ll see how everybody goes for the first run and we will start working on some big set-up changes here, and take a few practice runs to see if we can find some speed. Right now. If we run through all these spots, we are going to be sitting  back in about 20th or 21st. So we have a lot of work to do.”
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT:   “It’s pretty tight but that is the Verizon IndyCar Series for you at the moment.  It’s super competitive and you know you have to get the most out of the car.  With the weather conditions the last couple of days getting limited qualifying running yesterday and then with the temperatures this morning limiting how much we were able to do in that 8 – 10 a.m. time frame I’m pretty happy with the No. 83 Novo Flex Pen colors effort in qualifying.  It was a solid flag in the ground as a baseline.  The nice thing about the updated qualifying, I guess the nice and challenging thing is, you don’t have to withdraw your time to go try again.  So the track may never open for practice because people may just stay in line because they don’t have to risk it.  I think that what eventually will come is if you are so confident in going quicker you withdraw your time and take it.  But as far as the 83 car and the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing side we have to go back and look at the data and see if we can find a little bit more.  See what’s left in my engineer and my teams’ bag of tricks.  I know they always have something up their sleeve.  We will go back and look at it. We will compare data with the No. 9 car, the No. 8 car, as well as the No. 10 who ran in very similar track conditions to me right after me.  We will compare that. We definitely started working towards the qualifying set-up as far as downforce level trimming out this morning.  Understanding that as the day warmed up ambient wise some but the t
rack conditions the track temperature coming up would change the handling a little bit.  We erred on that side of caution a little bit mechanically, but I think aerodynamically going from 45 degrees to 50 degrees it’s not like going from 50 to 80 ambient wise.  What little understanding I’ve garnered from the engineering staff it’s more ambient temperature on aerodynamics than anything else.  We will just have to see what the rest of the day brings.  I think it’s supposed to continue to warm up later into the day.  I don’t know if it’s supposed to cloud up there were some gray clouds rolling in.  I don’t know if that will cool the track back down and the air will still be warm and thin and quick, but that is something the engineers would be able to tell me a lot better than I would be able to guesstimate.”
 
BUDDY LAZIER, NO. 91 WYNN INSTITUTE FOR VISION RESEARCH CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “We had the first qualifying pull and we missed that spot this morning and so the thought was to wait until it opens for practice and go to a balance check and make a run. But I got the sense that there was rain possibly coming it did sprinkle a little bit so we hurried up and went sort of blind in a way.  It was actually a good run.  I think we had less than 20 laps at speed and we don’t have a teammate so we missed four days of practice.  That is the thing I just don’t want to do anymore.  It still is too much. It is difficult to make up so instead of using experience to really do well we are just trying to get caught up all the time.  It’s a good car.  We’ve got a great engineer with David Cripps.  We are just starting to learn each other all the crew.  It did come together very last minute so I think in the future that will be our goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen like it did this year and last. Well (this year) it’s better preparation and our plan was to be a lot better.  We had some things that didn’t go right in the off season.  Without getting into too much detail we were certainly better but at the same time we are really supposed to be.  I think we are all a little disappointed with the last minute nature of it and there were reasons for all that.  But at the same time we are excited about being here and try to make the most of it.  We have some great sponsors with us this year with Herman Miller, the University of Iowa Stephen Wynn Institute which is something we are really excited about and is unique.  We have Phillips Energy Partners which is a great group out of Texas. Our sponsors the support I just want to do a great job for them.  It came together last minute but we think we have a lot more potential on race day in particular.  We may make another run.”
 
JAMES DAVISON, NO. 33 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY/ALWAYS EVOLVING RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “It wasn’t long ago that our deal was announced. We are running a half-program, hence why we have sat out of a lot of running.   Someone asked me before if the weather had hurt us, but not really because we can’t run too many miles any way. We get 500 miles of practice and qualifying on our engine that we can run. We need to use them wisely for the race. Prior to this morning, all I had down was rookie orientation. So we got a little bit done this morning on the car. We are about 80 percent way there on the wing angle to the other cars. That is going to be worth a mile-an-hour or two. We really need to use our miles wisely for race set-up, so unless we need to, we won’t go back out.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT SHOWDOWN
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 16, 2014
 
 
 
AJ ALLMENDINGER EARNS SPOT IN SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE WITH RUNNER-UP FINISH IN SHOWDOWN

Chevrolet Driver Josh Wise Voted in Via Sprint Fans

CONCORD, NC (May 16, 2014) – AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Freightliner/Miller Welders Chevrolet SS, raced his way into the Sprint All-Star race for the third time in his career by finishing second in the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Allmendinger will join 21 other drivers in Saturday night’s 30th running of the annual non-points race, with NASCAR’s brightest stars battling under the lights for $1 million.

Immediately following the race, the winner of the Sprint Fan Vote was announced to round out the field of 22; and Josh Wise, No. 98 Dogecoin/Reddit.com Chevrolet SS, was chosen by the fans to compete in Saturday night’s All-Star event.
 
Clint Bowyer (Toyota) was the race winner, Casey Mears (Chevrolet) was third, Marcos Ambrose (Ford) was fourth, and Aric Almirola (Ford) finished fifth.
 
The Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway takes the green flag on Saturday, May 17th at 9:10 pm ET and can be seen on FOX Sports 1 and heard on MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.
 
A.J. ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 FREIGHTLINER/MILLER WELDERS CHEVROLET SS – Finished 2nd, and JOHN WISE, NO. 98 DOGECOIN/REDDIT.COM CHEVROLET SS – SPRINT FAN VOTE WINNER
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
KERRY THARP:  Let’s roll right into our post‑race for tonight’s 29th annual Sprint Showdown, and we have a couple of drivers that will be racing now in tomorrow night’s NASCAR Sprint All‑Star Race.

            Our race runner‑up, and he led some laps out there tonight, was AJ Allmendinger.  He drives the No. 47 Freightliner Miller Welders Chevrolet.  He came in second.  Congratulations.  And our Sprint Fan Vote winner for 2014 is Josh Wise.  He drives the No. 98 Dogecoin Reddit.com Chevrolet.  Congratulations, Josh, to you.

            Let’s hear from our race runner‑up first, AJ.  Just talk about what your strategy was.  Certainly were racing aggressive out there tonight, but just talk about the strategy and some of the things you’re feeling now that you get to come back out here tomorrow evening.

            AJ ALLMENDINGER:  Yeah, I mean, it was set off by a good practice this morning, and a really good qualifying effort to start up front and lead some laps.  I was debating the last five laps before the caution came out whether we should pit or not.  Just being up front is so important here.  But my car started getting really loose kind of late in the run, so at that point I figured we had to at least come in and do two tires, and I was hoping to do two and get a good pit stop and maybe restart up front again and know that if I restarted up front it was going to be hard to ‑‑ I knew Clint was fast but I knew we were pulling away from everybody else, so for anybody else to come get us, even if they had four.

            Overall just really proud of this race team.  Our mile‑and‑a‑half program so far this year we’ve really struggled.  Last week was our biggest struggle.  My crew chief Brian Burns, my engineer Tony Palmer, everybody back at the shop for all of the hard work, too.  Come up with some new ideas to at least come here and try it.  I’m really, really happy that the car is better.  We’re not really where we want to be yet.  We don’t have quite enough speed in it, but we’re definitely making progress.  More importantly to get Tad Geschickter and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty into the All‑Star Race, to race our way in, for all of the sacrifices they make for this team and make us feel like a family throughout our shop, it’s just really gratifying to be able to do that for them.

            We’ll do the same thing tomorrow, just keep taking it step by step to try to make it better, and if we’ve got a shot to win the million dollars, we’re going to go for it.

            KERRY THARP:  Josh Wise, what a month or so it’s been for you and your race team.  Got this dynamic community of new fans behind you.  Just talk about what it’s like now to be racing in tomorrow night’s Sprint All‑Star Race.

            JOSH WISE:  I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, I guess.  This is huge for me and our team.  Really it started with a 16‑year‑old kid posting something on Reddit.com about some good runs that we had had, and for whatever reason this huge, awesome community just got behind us, and everyone knows about them raising money to sponsor us at Talladega, and then it was on to the Fan Vote.

            I’m just super thankful to be a part of it, really.  It’s been a pretty cool experience.

            Q.  Josh, do you ever wonder what made you stand out in this community and have them embrace you like this?

            JOSH WISE:  I do, and I don’t necessarily have an answer.  It’s just one of those things.  But something I wanted to kind of say, too, is like this is kind of a big deal for our sport, I felt like, because it’s a lot of like young kids and people from around the world.  I’ve had the chance to interact with a lot of them, and there’s a lot of people who had never watched a NASCAR race who have now watched several, so it’s a pretty cool deal.

            Q.  Josh, obviously you knew that the community was voting and voting and voting.  Did you kind of have it in the back of your mind that this was going to be realistic?  Did you think it was going to actually happen?

            JOSH WISE:  I guess yeah.  I mean, I saw the potential there.  There’s 110‑million people that regularly use Reddit, and there was a large portion of them that knew about this and were a part of it I felt like.  So it was just one of those things that you didn’t know if people were just telling you they were voting for you or how many times they’re voting or whatever.  I thought it was definitely a possibility.

            Q.  Josh, the whole Twitter world has blown up and half of them are happy and half of them say you guys somehow gamed the system.  Do you care what people say about how you got in?

            JOSH WISE:  I don’t necessarily care what people say about it.  Yeah, I mean, people vote and the person with the most votes wins, so however you play the game, I guess it’s ‑‑ yeah.  That’s all I have to say about that.

            Q.  Josh, can you talk a little bit about I think Tony Stewart was kind of the guy that lobbied for you when you first got here and just what a roller coaster ride it’s been for you, and then to now have the kind of popularity you could really only dream about, I know you guys race for the race, for the competition and everything else, but to win the Fan Vote for this deal when there have been times when you haven’t even known whether or not you w
ere still going to be in a NASCAR race, still driving a NASCAR car, what does this moment feel like?

            JOSH WISE:  I mean, if you asked me two months ago, there’s just no way I would have thought this was possible.  You know, you kind of outlined a little bit of my path, and it was pretty awesome and exciting through my open‑wheel days, driving for Tony and AJ Foyt and seeing success, and it’s been really, really hard since I’ve been out here.

            And one of the challenges that I’ve faced is just gaining momentum through sponsorship and being in really good opportunities to be able to showcase what I think I can do, and so this is a big deal because obviously we have a lot of people behind us.  Hopefully it helps us to build a better program here as we go forward.

            Q.  Josh, by making the All‑Star Race, that’s an additional $70,000 or so that your team would not have gotten, and I know that pales in comparison to the money that Clint and AJ, those teams can have to some degree, but what does $70,000 ‑‑

            AJ ALLMENDINGER:  Whoa, whoa, we’re looking for sponsors every day, too.  Let’s back it down a little bit.

            Q.  What does $70,000 mean for an organization like yours?

            JOSH WISE:  Yeah, it just helps us.  We’re able to buy those extra sticker tires on the weekend so that we feel like we have a car that’s going to be more competitive.  I am stoked for just Phil Parsons Racing in general about this.  Phil really took a leap of faith and just saying we’re racing this year, we’re going to do whatever it takes to race, and that’s what we’ve been doing.  We’ve been able to really have some really good speed at some tracks, some tough tracks, Bristol, Darlington, we had a strong run at Fontana until we blew a tire.  So obviously all that little bit of funding helps.  But I think probably what’s more valuable than that is the exposure that’s coming from it.

            Q.  Josh, have you talked to Phil yet?  I know he’s up in the booth.  And secondly, do you plan on reaching out to Dennis and what are you going to say to him?

            JOSH WISE:  Yeah, I’ve actually spoken with Dennis because Dennis ‑‑ when Dennis started this, it was to really fund the car for Talladega, and really the community kind of schemed that whole thing together, and they basically called us and were like, hey, we’re raising money, we want to sponsor you, and this is what we want to put on the car, so it was just this big whirlwind.  So when that happened I reached out to Dennis.  I tracked him down and I actually text message with him all the time now, and he’s a cool little kid.  He’s going to come to the Chicago race.  I know he’s probably pretty pumped about this.

            KERRY THARP:  Congratulations. You’re going to make it a better race tomorrow night, and good luck tomorrow night.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
FAST FRIDAY
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 16, 2014) – Fast Friday was exactly that for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 teams and drivers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Inclement weather once again played havoc with track time prior to Saturday’s start to qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500.
 
However, Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, made the most out of the 18 minutes of running time turning in the fastest lap of the month, 230.522 mph/39.0418 seconds, to win the $10,000 FE Harding Asphalt Company Fast Friday Lap of the Day Award.
 
There were four additional Team Chevy drivers who turned fast times that landed them in the top-10 in the order: Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet – 229.843 mph; JR Hildebrand, No. 21 Preferred Freezer Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet – 229.384 mph; Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – 229.205 mph and Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – 229.0-62 mph.
 
Qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 will begin Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. and conclude Sunday, May 18 with the Fast 9 Qualifying beginning at 2:00 p.m.  ABC TV will air live coverage of qualifying from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.
 
FASTEST LAP PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
IS THERE ANYTHING LEFT IN THAT THING?
“Well I mean that was a tow lap that wasn’t totally honest there.  We will find out tomorrow.  I mean I really think it’s going to be close.  I think it’s going to come down to a lot like last year the conditions and who gets it right for the conditions on that given run.  With tomorrows format and the ability to make multiple attempts without pulling a time and 33 points being available for the quick time I think we could see a lot of attempts just because those points are valuable.  33 points you can only get 40 or 50 for a win.  It’s going to be enticing.”
 
HOW DID THAT LAP FEEL AND WHAT DID YOU THINK?
“It felt good.  I mean the cars definitely have the speed this year.  I think when it comes to trying to predict what the pole is going to be I think a lot of it is just going to come down to what the weather is.  That 230 mph I did today I don’t think that would have happened on a clean track.  Obviously I had (Sebastien) Bourdais in front of me for half of the lap.  But if it warms up enough and the air gets a little thinner certainly I think 230 mph laps are realistic and even up to 232 or 233 if the weather was right I think.”
 
IS ANYBODY THAT YOU KNOW OF HAD A CHANGE TO DO A FOUR LAP SIMULATION YET?
“I haven’t I was on the fourth lap when it started raining there.  Yesterday when I was trying to do one I caught up to JR (Hildebrand).  That is what has been hard.  It’s hard compared to years past we had more time to be on track.  The way it’s played out with weather and engine mileage and everything else.  The limited time we have had the past three days everyone is out there all the time.  When you have 25-30 cars on this track even though it is 2.5-miles long it’s nearly impossible to get a clean lap.  No one really knows what anyone can really do out of a tow.  We do all these no tow reports to filter out laps where people got a tow and right now there are not many people on the list.  It’s hard to really know where people are.  I know that we feel confident in our speed and hopefully we will be a factor this weekend and be able to have some fun.”
 
IS QUALIFYING TRIM JUST GUESS WORK OR YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO WITH THE CAR?
“I think for us I feel okay about it.  JR (Hildebrand) and I both did a three-lap, well he did four yesterday, I did three yesterday and then he got in four this morning clean.  I got in three not clean, but we’ve done enough and trimmed enough that we feel good about where we are.  Maybe a few minor tweaks here and there.  I think a lot of guys out there this morning we got pretty far trimmed.  It looks like the Penske cars got pretty far trimmed, but there are some other cars that still had a ways to go.  I would rather be in our position where we have gotten a little further with it than having to be on the other side where maybe you haven’t trimmed as far as you think you need to go for qualifying.  You never want the first time that you do it to be in qualifying.”
 
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO SIT ON THE POLE FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR?
“Even though it wasn’t a lot of track time and I didn’t even run as many laps as I had hoped because we had a couple of issues, but I still feel like we got a lot of work done with the race car.  I really feel like we are in a good situation having a second car here this year.  If JR (Hildebrand) wasn’t on board and we had this type of weather and everything play out as a single car team I think that we would be further behind.  Having the second car here this year we have gotten more work done.  I feel good about where things are for the race.  It seems like the cars have some speed in them.  When you have a chance to make a run at a pole here at Indy you would be crazy not to try for it.”
 
IS THERE ANY ADVANTAGE IN THE FACT YOU WENT THE FASTEST THEN THE RAIN CAME? IN TERMS OF THE PSYCHE OF THE OTHER COMPETITORS?
“I don’t know.  I got 10,000 bucks.  You know Helio (Castroneves) went out and worked pretty hard to knock me off yesterday so I’m sure they would have done it again if they worked hard enough at it.  Other than that today doesn’t mean anything.  Tomorrow is a new day and the weather is going to be different.  The team and driver that go out there and get the right combination will be fastest at the end of the day.”