NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
STP 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 28, 2014
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media and discussed getting his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Martinsville, what makes the Hendrick Motorsports organization so good at the paperclip and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
COMING UP TO MARTINSVILLE CERTAINLY A TRACK YOU HAVE HAD SOME GOOD RUNS AT.  TALK ABOUT HOW YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET YOUR SECOND WIN OF THE SEASON HERE AT MARTINSVILLE THIS WEEKEND:
“Yeah, this is a track I have been trying to get a win at for a long time.  I grew up in a house full of clocks so it’s been pretty illusive.  We have had some good cars in the past here that I’ve felt like could have won races and we just weren’t able to get the job done for whatever reason, somebody was faster or whatever.  Looking forward to having another opportunity.  Just every time we come here we are excited.  I love short-track racing.  I love this track.  I love the history of this place, what it represents.  It’s a joy to run here and a lot of fun to race.  It can be frustrating and you’ve got to battle all day long to maintain your track position, but it’s a good challenge, a fun challenge.”
 
WHAT IS THE KEY TO STAYING MENTALLY FOCUSED IN A 600 MILE RACE?
“Just having something to occupy your mind is enough.  If the car is competitive and your team is communicating with you and keeping you busy, keeping you on task those are keys to being able to stay focused.  When you see yourself with an opportunity to win the race going into the last 200 or 150 miles it’s pretty easy to stay on task and stay focused.  When the car is not handling well you are struggling to run inside the top 10 that is when frustration can kind of creep in and then that just becomes another hurdle for you.  You have to be pretty disciplined to stay on task and just focus on just trying to improve no matter how the thing is starting to shape up.  Because yeah, those last 100 miles you realize mentally and physically that it’s a unique race due to that extra 100 miles.  It’s a very long night and you just have to be sharp all night try to push yourself to stay disciplined.”
 
YOUR TWO TEAMMATES JIMMIE (JOHNSON) AND JEFF (GORDON) WE TALK ABOUT THEM WHEN WE COME TO MARTINSVILLE WHAT SPECIFICALLY CAN YOU TAKE FROM WATCHING THEM RUN AROUND HERE THAT YOU CAN APPLY TO YOUR SET-UP?
“We use a program called dart fish where basically it overlaps my lap with another car.  Maybe we look at the guys who sat on the pole or qualified in the top three and then look at my qualifying lap.  I can do that for last year, the year before, we can go as far back pretty much as we want and see what guys are doing differently.  How they are getting in the corner, how they turn into the corner, I can try to learn things that way.  As far as my teammates go I’m out on the track with them.  I know their tendencies and it depends on how their car is driving and how their car is handling as to how they are going to run, drive the corner and approach each corner.
 
“Yet Jeff has a real good knack for finding out how to get his car around this place depending on how his car drives.  He can change his approach to the corner and how he enters the corner to affect the speed on his car quite well here.  Obviously Jimmie has got a lot of success here, but he seems to be very consistent in how he drives and deliberate in how he drives this track.  They are definitely two guys that have had a lot of success here so you sort of tune in to what they are doing, how they are setting up their cars and what their comments are about their cars.  You try to stay on top of that and try to understand how their weekend is going and try to use any of that stuff to your advantage for sure.”
 
DENNY HAMLIN KIND OF RELEASED A STATEMENT ON WEDNESDAY THAT KIND OF LAID OUT KIND OF WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY.  I WAS CURIOUS IF THAT ANSWERED YOUR QUESTIONS AND/OR IF YOU HAVE HAD ANY CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAVE ANSWERED YOUR QUESTIONS?
“Well I feel real comfortable with the process and I just was worried.  I thought that the lack of a statement from Denny’s point of view left him vulnerable and unprotected.  I just felt like it was important for him to have a very simple statement that sort of cleared up any kind of assumptions or whatever you have for him personally.  That was good I thought on his behalf to be able to do that as quickly as he could.  I feel great about the process and what NASCAR has had in place for years.  I feel like they bring in the best people from that region that have the best connections to those hospitals in that region. If I’m in trouble I know I’m going to be somewhere where I can get taken care of very quickly.  NASCAR has a team that travels and has all the information on our health and it’s updated weekly if it needs to be.  I like the system that we have in place. I feel like it’s adequate and I’m happy Denny is cleared and ready to race this weekend.”
 
CAN YOU BE MORE OFFENSIVE HERE NOW WITH THE NEW CHASE FORMAT? DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE A LAST LAP PASS?
“Yeah we have had that happen in the last couple of years regardless how the points system is stacked up we have had guys pushing each other around here quite on a regular basis so I assume if there is anyone within reach on that last lap of the leader the leader is going to have his hands full.  That is fair.  I can tell you though as far as being offensive, defensive, you are only as offensive as your car will allow you to be.  I can attest to that over the last six years that if your car is fast enough you want to drive it as far as it can go.  If your car is quick enough to be in the lead you want to get it there.  If it’s not you go as far as you can and try to defend that situation and wait until you have an opportunity to improve the car.  I don’t think I’ve ever raced here walking on egg shells.  I think you can get in trouble pretty quickly if you do that.  You definitely have to be offensive all the time and always try to be aggressive in how you drive the race track and how you race with the competition.”
 
IT’S HENDRICK’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY AND YOU PROBABLY HAVE SOME OF THE BEST PERSPECTIVE IN THE GARAGE AS TO REMEMBERING BACK WHEN IT STARTED.  WHAT IS THAT EVOLUTION BEEN LIKE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE AND BEING ABLE TO ULTIMATELY JOIN THE COMPANY?
“It’s been interesting to see how Hendrick Motorsports has progressed and changed and evolved.  They were tough competitors when I was young going to races watching my father race.  Just they seemed like they had so many resources and they had quite the dynamic when it came to drivers.  It was just a team that always was going to be challenging for the win and challenging for championships, especially once Jeff (Gordon) got there they were almost unstoppable at that particular point in the ‘90’s.  Ever since really Jeff got there they have never fell off.  They have always maintained their status as one of the top teams with a lot of growth and success.  I think that is a credit to the people working there, management, just a lot of great decisions putting people in key positions.  Understanding people’s talents and being able to maximize their potential just in management and other key roles in the company.  Obviously Rick (Hendrick) has an influence on his employees.  Everybody really strives from the top to the bottom to give their best.  It’s a cliché but it’s so true when you actually get to work there and get behind closed doors and see the influence that he has just on individuals.  Everybody just pushes so hard to do so
mething good every day.  It makes everybody else’s job that much easier.  It’s just good reflection of his influence on the company as a whole, but yeah it’s fun being a part of it.
 
“All those years as a young kid before I drove and then as a driver competing against them you always wonder what is the culture like.  Then when you get behind there and see how they are working on their cars, how they set their cars up, for year’s you have wanted that access.  To finally have it it’s pretty mind blowing in certain areas.  It’s been a fun experience for me.”
 
OF ALL THE SUCCESSES YOU HAVE HAD HERE AT THIS TRACK WHAT IS THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY?
“I think you look at all of them and see how close you came.  We flat go out ran by Kevin (Harvick) that one year in ’11.  I thought we had it.  I thought we were going to be fine once we got out front, but he was just so fast.  I tried to get under him in (turns) three and four but he didn’t have a bumper left to move.  I went in there to shove him a little bit and everything on that corner of his car was gone.  That is just how it works out.  I think the best car I had here was when we knocked the right-front fender off and we ended up running fourth that day.  I was coming back through the field and spun out on the inside of (Ryan) Newman in (turns) three and four and had that not happened I think we would have been in position to win the race because we were by far the quickest car.  Just we had to go back to the back of the field after that additional spin and we didn’t have enough race left to get back to the front.  We ended up finishing fourth, but that car was really fast.
 
“Having that fender torn off kept that right-front tire cool, kept it turning, kept the brakes cool, we were kind of an average car for 10 laps and then after that it would just take off.  I have been trying to figure out how to get my fenders to fall off ever since.  But we have ran into a few things but they just seem to bend and get taped up.  I hope we can be competitive.  It gets harder and harder because the competition seems to get better and better every time you come back here.  Obviously I’m racing with my teammates who are two of the most talented and successful guys at this track.  We got a tough hill to climb, but hopefully we can maybe get it done.”
 
IF WE HAVE A NEW WINNER EVERY WEEK AT WHAT POINT DOES IT ALTER THE CHASE STRATEGY AND DO YOU KIND OF FORESEE A NEW CHASE STRATEGY DEVELOP?
“Yeah I think it will change as it goes as we start to see it happen.   If we have a new winner every week, if we get into week 13 and 14 and we have got 12 winners at that particular point with 10 races left in the regular season guys are going to get a little more protective of their position in points.  I hope that we don’t really get to that situation.  You would like to not have to worry about it the whole process of going through Daytona and winning and feeling like we were in was a great feeling.  Not having the burden of worrying about points and being able to just race one weekend after the next and not worry about anything else was great.  Having to fall back into that mode of concentrating on your point’s position, your track position, maximizing every race to get the most points that is a bit of a burden.  One we always dealt with year after year and this year it seemed to go away.  If we get into about the 12th or 13th week and we still don’t have a two-time winner in the season I think guys are going to start to change the way they think about points.  I don’t think the racing changes.  I don’t think the competition and the product changes.  I just think guys pay a little more attention and if you were at all careless you will be shoring up all that stuff so you are not making mistakes out on the race track.  The pressure will rise for sure.  Intensity I think on the race track I think will stay the same if not increase.”
 

Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Teams Prepared for 2014 Season-Opening Race
Streets of St. Petersburg Kicks Off 18-Race Schedule
 
·         2014 marks Chevrolet’s third year in Verizon IndyCar Series competition with the V6 2.2 liter twin-turbocharged direct-injected purpose-built engine fueled by E 85
·         A Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered driver won both the pole and the race on the Streets of St. Petersburg in 2012 and 2013
·         Chevrolet is the defending IndyCar Series Manufacturer Champion, and also won the title in 2012
·         In two full seasons of competition, Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers have won 21 of the 34 races held in the 2012 and 2013 seasons
·         Chevrolet IndyCar V6 driver Tony Kanaan is the defending champion of the Indianapolis 500
 
DETROIT (March 26, 2014) – Chevrolet’s drivers and teams are ready. They have prepared for five months for this moment.  The first race of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series (IndyCar) is about to commence on the 14-turn street circuit on the Streets of St. Petersburg (Fla.) for the Firestone Grand Prix. Since Chevrolet’s return to open wheel racing in 2012 their drivers and teams have taken the pole and the checkered flag at the season opening race setting the stage for two manufactures titles.  New faces to the Chevrolet brand along with a new redesigned 2.2L twin turbo engine are the focus as the new season gets underway.
 
During the off-season IndyCar officials made significant rule changes for engine manufacturers.  In 2014, engines are now required to complete 2,500 miles before change-out without penalty, or as high as 2,850 miles if they start a race with just short of 2,500 miles on the engine.  This is a 25 percent increase from 2013 where engines were to be changed after 2,000 miles of use.  This season both engine manufacturers are required to use identical, yet revised twin turbos from Borg-Warner, a technology Chevrolet already had in place. Multiple areas of the engine were opened up to both engine manufacturers to be redesigned and resubmitted to IndyCar for re-homologation.  Chevrolet worked tirelessly during 2013 working in numerous areas including fuel injection, cylinder heads, plenum / inlet system, exhaust headers and calibration to improve upon an already immensely successful engine.
 
Racing is deeply sewn into the fabric of Chevrolet. The dedication to constantly evolve the performance of Chevrolet’s production vehicle line-up is the driving force behind the involvement in the Verizon IndyCar Series, which was never as prevalent as during this off-season.  The engineers working on the updated Chevrolet IndyCar Series engine focused heavily on simultaneously improving its power, reliability and fuel efficiency, which are key characteristics of several current powerful and fuel-efficient Chevrolet production cars.   
 
“Team Chevy is primed, prepared and positive about the start of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season kicking off on the streets of St. Petersburg, said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, Verizon IndyCar Series.  “Chevrolet has had good results on this circuit the past two seasons since returning to IndyCar competition.  With our updated 2.2L twin turbo direct injected V6 Chevrolet IndyCar engines, new formats to the championship points and a race on the road course at IMS to kick off the month of May, there is a plethora of new challenges to look forward to.  Top it off with Verizon as the new Series sponsor to engage the fans with leading edge communication technology and this could be the season to remember.”
 
In addition to an updated engine, a few new faces have joined Chevrolet’s star studded driver lineup for 2014 including the Chip Ganassi Racing stable which houses defending IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon.  A total of four organizations fielding 10 full-time cars will carry the Gold Bowtie as they take on the competition in 2014 powered by the purpose-built Chevrolet IndyCar 2.2L twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V-6 racing engine powered by renewable E85 ethanol fuel.
 
The Team Chevy line-up as the season kicks off in St. Petersburg will be:
 
Ed Carpenter Racing: Mike Conway, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet (Road Courses only.  Ed Carpenter will drive the oval track races)
 
KV Racing Technology: Sebastien Bourdais, No. 11 Mystic/Hydroxycut KVSH Racing Chevrolet and Sebastian Saavadra, No. 17 KV AFS Racing Chevrolet
 
Team Penske: Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet and Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet
 
Chip Ganassi Racing: Ryan Briscoe, No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Tony Kanaan, No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, and Charlie Kimball, No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
 
For the first time, the Team Chevy IndyCar display will be on site on the Streets of St. Petersburg.  Located in the Fan Midway that runs adjacent to the front straightaway, the display hours of operation will be Friday, March 28th: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Saturday, March 29th: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM and Sunday, March 30th: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM. On display will be a number of vehicles from the Chevrolet line-up including Impala, Malibu, Silverado, Sonic RS, Traverse and Volt.  There will be interactive activities for children and adults alike.
 
The highlight of the weekend will be the driver visits to the stage in the display where fans can engage in question and answer sessions with Chevrolet’s top IndyCar stars.
On Saturday, fans can see: Mike Conway at 12:15 PM; Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Juan Pablo Montoya at 12:30 PM; Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Saavedra at 12:45 PM and Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan at 5:30 PM.
ABC will have a live telecast of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 30, with pre-race at 3 PM ET. The green flag will fly at 3:27 PM.

Dario Franchitti to Drive Camaro Z/28 Indy 500 Pace Car
 
NEW YORK — Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will drive a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 to pace the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25.
 
It’s the eighth time a Camaro has been the pace car, starting in 1967 – and the 25th time a Chevrolet has paced the race.
 
Franchitti won the Indy 500 in 2007, 2010 and 2012, and he is only the third driver ever to win at least three consecutive IndyCar titles – among four championships overall. Franchitti’s appearance in the Camaro Z/28 pace car signals a new start in his career as he embarks on a driver development role with Chip Ganassi Racing, which will use Chevrolet power in the 2014 IndyCar season.
 
“Dario is a true champion who has earned the respect of competitors and race fans alike,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports. “It will be very special to have Dario lead the field to the green flag in the Camaro Z/28 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”
 
Said Franchitti: “It is a tremendous honor for me to be asked to drive the Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500. As a historian of motorsport and as a three-time winner of this great race, I will appreciate every minute of getting to pace the field in the new 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. Although I won’t be competing in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, this will be as close as one person can get to the action. I can’t wait until May in Indianapolis.”
 
Chevrolet has a long, shared history with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon IndyCar Series. Chevrolet was founded in 1911, the year of the inaugural 500-mile race, and the Chevrolet brothers – company co-founder Louis, Arthur and Gaston – all competed in early Indy 500 races. Arthur Chevrolet competed in the 1911 race and Gaston Chevrolet won it in 1920.
 
“We are excited to have Dario Franchitti lead this year’s Indianapolis 500 starting field to the green flag,” said J. Douglas Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Dario’s appearance in the Camaro Z/28 Pace Car will be special for race fans and it underscores Chevrolet’s important place in the past, present and future of the Indianapolis 500.”

Chevrolet competed in Indy-style competition as an engine manufacturer in 1986-93 and 2002-05 with V-8 engines, and returned in 2012 with the Chevrolet IndyCar twin-turbo V-6 engine with direct injection. Tony Kanaan won the 2013 Indy 500 in his Chevrolet-powered race car, leading Chevrolet to seven of the top 10 finishes – including the top four. Chevrolet also earned the IndyCar manufacturer championship titles in 2012 and 2013.
 
About the Camaro Z/28
The 2014 Camaro Z/28 is the most track-capable model in its history, building on the legacy of the original SCCA Trans Am-series contender introduced in 1967. It is solely focused on track capability, with unique exterior elements designed like a race car to produce downforce that presses the car against the track for greater grip – up to 1.08 g in cornering acceleration – and faster lap times.
 
The aerodynamically optimized design helped the Camaro Z/28 log a 7:37 lap on Germany’s legendary Nürburgring road course – four seconds faster than the Camaro ZL1 – and faster than published times for the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640.
 
Additional contributors to the car’s track performance include greater stopping power. The Z/28 features Brembo carbon ceramic brakes capable of 1.5 g in deceleration; consistent brake feel lap after lap; and reduced curb weight. The naturally aspirated Z/28 weighs 300 pounds less than the supercharged Camaro ZL1, with changes ranging from lightweight wheels to thinner rear-window glass. In fact, 100 percent of the un-sprung mass – suspension, wheels, tires and brake system – has been changed from the Camaro SS, dramatically enhancing the balance and overall driving feel of the Z/28.
 
Power comes from the 7.0L LS7 engine, with dry-sump oiling, rated at an SAE-certified 505 horsepower (376 kW) and 481 lb-ft of torque (652 Nm). The engine is built by hand at the new Performance Build Center within GM’s Bowling Green, Ky. assembly plant.

CHEVROLET SS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CONTENDER KYLE LARSON EARNS CAREER BEST FINISH AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TIRE ISSUES PLAGUE 206-LAP RACE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
 
FONTANA, Calif. (March 23, 2014) – After earning his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series race in his Chevrolet Camaro on Saturday, California native Kyle Larson piloted his No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS, to a second-place finish in the fifth race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season at Auto Club Speedway.  The Rookie of the Year contender made a daring move on the final green-white-checkered restart to battle with race winner Kyle Busch (Toyota). Larson ultimately finished the 206-lap race in the runner-up spot.
 
Larson’s valiant move was a spectacular way to end a race that was primarily dominated by Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s “Spring is Calling” Chevrolet SS and Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS.  Johnson led a race high 104 laps before being stricken with a flat tire with only a handful of laps remaining.  He handed the lead to Gordon, who battled through the field twice due to two pit road incidents.
 
Gordon had a very fast Chevy SS too, and led four times for a total of 23 laps. When the final caution flag came out on lap 199 of 200 it set-up a green-white-checkered finish. Due to the plaguing tire issues, Gordon and the No. 24 Chevy team took four fresh tires; but didn’t get a strong restart and settled for a disappointing 13th place finish.
 
At the checkered, Kurt Busch was third in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, which was his best finish of the 2014 season to-date.
 
Busch’s Stewart-Haas racing teammate and team co-owner Tony Stewart, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS earned his second consecutive top-five finish coming home fifth.  Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet SS also recorded his best finish so far this season finishing sixth.  AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Charter Chevrolet SS, scored his first top 10 finish of 2014 ending the day at Auto Club Speedway in the eighth position while new father Paul Menard, No. 27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet SS finished ninth.
 
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS, overcame two tire issues to earn a 12th-place finish and Danica Patrick, No. 10 GoDaddy/Get Found Chevrolet SS ended the day in the 14th position, which was her best finish thus far in 2014.
 
Kyle Busch (Toytoa) was the race winner and Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was fourth to round out the top-five.
 
The series travels to Martinsville Speedway on Sunday March 30th.
 
POST RACE DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
 
KRISTI KING:  We’ll get started with our post‑race press conference here following the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.  Welcome once again Kyle Larson to the hot seat up here, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished second in today’s race, and also our top finishing Sunoco rookie for today’s race.  Getting a little more comfortable sitting up here in the media center.  Talk a little bit about your racing overall this weekend, obviously with the win yesterday and finishing second today it’s been a really good weekend here for you.
 
KYLE LARSON:  Yeah, it’s been a really good weekend.  I guess you couldn’t ask for more, but was surprised to get up there late in the race.  We were probably a 12th‑place car for most of the day.  We struggled with our Target Chevy being too loose on exit but still too tight in the center.  We tightened the exit up and got way too tight in the center.  My guys worked really hard all day long to find that right balance, and right there on the last pit stop we were able to make good enough adjustments where we could go hard for a couple laps.
 
I was thinking I was going to line up eighth but then the 40 stayed out and I had to line up on the bottom and I was disappointed because the bottom had been getting jammed up once we got to Turn 1, and I was surprised, I just watched it on TV and it was pretty wild, we were four wide there into 1.  Came out in fourth there, I think, and then got to second off Turn 2 the next lap and thought I might have a shot at Kyle depending on where he’d go into Turn 3, but he was good enough to keep it on the bottom and stay ahead of me.  But we’ll take a second.  Long race and definitely didn’t expect to run second, so I’ll take it and head back to North Carolina with a smile on my face.
Q.  Kyle, on that last run from the final green flag, were you pretty much a straight shot to the front or did you have to move around a lot of guys to get to second?
KYLE LARSON:  I had to move around a little bit.  I spun my tires just a little bit, and Jamie was able to get a run to my inside, so I was stuck in the middle.  I think I got to Jeff’s outside.  Luckily I didn’t get tight behind anybody or loose or anything like that.  It was a pretty ‑‑ I guess it was pretty hectic for me, but really nothing too scary for me, either.
Q.  Kyle, describe how you threaded through to get up to second.  How many cars did you pass and who did you pass?
KYLE LARSON:  I don’t know, it’s on TV somewhere.  I don’t know, I just explained, I lined up ninth and was going to try and actually go to Jeff’s inside if I got a good enough restart, but Jamie got a good one behind me, so I got stuck in the middle, but it all worked out.  Thankful for it.
Q.  Can you talk about the tire situation?  Why was everybody having so many situations with their tires?
KYLE LARSON:  I don’t know, just I think it was a little bit of camber issues or something.  We had a little bit of an issue in practice or happy hour yesterday, and then we worked on that and got it better, and we actually didn’t have any tire issues the whole race.  Every pit stop my crew chief would tell me my tires were great.  There was just a small concern that last run we had when people really started blowing tires, but I wasn’t too concerned.
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
 
KRISTI KING:  Kyle, thank you very much.  Congratulations on a great weekend here at Auto Club.  We are now joined by our third‑place finisher in today’s Auto Club 400, Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet.  Kurt, battled quite a few folks out there, especially toward the end of the race, even the boss man.  Talk a little bit about the finish out there.
 
KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, we put ourselves in good position at the end of the race.  This race has two mindsets.  One is to race 400 miles and not abuse your tires.  The other mindset is it’s most likely going to come down to a green‑white‑checkered or a short run at the end with fresh tires.
 
We ran sixth to tenth most of the day.  We might have been able to finish fifth.  I think we were running fifth when Bowyer spun.  To be up front and be in position with the Haas Automation Chevy is what we needed.  We needed that after this season started as good in season reasons with leading laps and running up front, but it’s been horrible with our finishes.  So it was nice to race the boss, Tony Stewart, today for the win.  You’re excited in one moment.  The second moment when it sets in, it’s like, wait a minute, neither the 14 nor the 41 won the race today.  The strategy call was two tires.  Me and Daniel Knost, my crew chief, we both agreed that was the right call.  We beat everybody off pit road by a large margin, and it was because everybody’s stop was slow and maybe we should have put four on?  It’s something you look back on because you didn’t win.
 
Congratulations to Kyle, my brother.  They won the race today with four fre
sh tires, and it was a nice battle up front.  I didn’t get a perfect restart, but it wasn’t a horrible restart.  It’s just that everybody starts pushing and shoving, and I didn’t get down into Turn 1 leading.  I got down into Turn 1 side by side with Tony and the two of us raced for the next three miles side by side.  If I could have gotten clear, gotten up front, maybe we could have brought the Haas Automation Chevy to victory lane, but we’ll take a top 5 any day.
Q.  Kurt, tires seemed to be the issue for so many people today.  Did you have any concerns during the day?  Did you feel anything?  Were you worried about it at all?
KURT BUSCH:  We were lucky, we had our tire problem with two minutes to go in practice yesterday, and that allowed us to go into a conservative approach overnight.  I’m glad that we had that.  Sometimes it’s a blessing in disguise, so to blow a tire and to not pay a penalty by spinning and wrecking your primary car.
 
Tires, Goodyear is doing a good job.  It’s the same type of tire.  But here’s what we have.  We have faster cars, more downforce, and NASCAR is allowing us to put whatever cambers we want into the cars, and therefore it’s up to the team’s discretion if you’re going to have a problem or not.  I’ve been in this game 15 years, and normally NASCAR mandates what certain air pressures you have to run and what cambers you have to run not to have a black eye for Goodyear, by no means is this a problem for Goodyear, it’s actually a thumbs up for NASCAR allowing the teams to get aggressive in all areas.
Q.  Kurt, you said you decided to go with a little bit more conservative approach.  You did that before the race started.  Once all these problems started coming one right after another, can a team go back on that or have they kind of made their bed before the race?
KURT BUSCH:  You’ve made your bed before the race starts, but you hope you’re right up against that edge to drive aggressively and use the tires to that level, and then you still have to wait, though, for the track to rubber in and to settle in over the first 300 miles.
Q.  Had you and Tony lined up right at the start of that last restart, could you have held off Kyle?
KURT BUSCH:  It would have been interesting.  The 40 car threw a wrench into the program.  They stayed out, so he was actually the control car, so I was second, and when he made his first move, the 40 car, to take off, I did, as well, and it seemed like whoever was behind Tony had a serious run.  But it was probably because he had four fresh tires and he had that grip out of the left rear tire where I only had grip with the right rear tire.  It was a good battle.  I wish I would have gotten into Turn 1 with clean air.  We’d be right there in victory lane.
Q.  I wanted to go back to the tire issue problem.  You said you had made, together with your team, a conservative approach.  Does it mean for the rest of the season you run with a conservative approach or just this particular racetrack?
KURT BUSCH:  Just with this track, just with the tire wear that we saw all weekend.  This is a very abrasive track and it chews up the tires.  Next week Martinsville will have its separate issues, but by the time we come back to Texas, that tire should have the durability where the teams can go full aggressive again.
Q.  Very speculative question:  Do you think it was wise to come in for Gordon when he was leading?  Do you think he could have risked his tires and stayed out with the way the tires were performing?
KURT BUSCH:  On that last caution?
Q.  Yeah.
KURT BUSCH:  Because he was the leader?  Is that why you’re asking?  I don’t know what happened to him.  With two laps to go, you would think that you could hang on.  We had half the ammunition.  We had only two right side tires.  Four tires wouldn’t have worked.  The guys from behind would have had fresher tires, and they eventually would have caught you.
 
KRISTI KING:  Kurt, congratulations on your run today.  Thank you for your time this afternoon.
          

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MARCH 23, 2014
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 12TH:
ON THE TIRE SITUATION
“To be honest with you, the back straightaway is very rough and I think the tire can’t handle the load that it goes through on that back straightaway. And it’s just tearing the tire up where the sidewall and tread are put together. There ain’t another race track on the circuit besides Kentucky that has bumps like that. They’re incredible huge, huge bumps. And I think that plays a big role in it because the tire must see astronomical loads through that section of the race track that it never sees any other time at any other circuit.
 
“So, I don’t think it’s good to cycle a tire through bumps like that. I think that’s why the tire comes apart. I think that’s why a left rear here and a left front there and it’s not air pressure and things like that. We’re moving air pressure around and it ain’t saving the tire. There’s bumps on the back straightaway that get worse and worse. They don’t need to pave the race track. Just pave the back straightaway. Not very cheap, but I’ll bet you won’t have any tire problems anymore.”
 
SO WHEN THE CAR COMES DOWN OFF THE BUMP, THAT’S THE WEAR ISSUE?
“They show it in slow motion during practice all the time. Like the Nationwide guys, they were just banging through there and the cars are moving six to 10 inches in travel; and that’s ridiculous. We run these cars and work within sixteenths of an inch getting them around the race tracks. And for it to be going through that much movement, that many times through the back straightaway can’t be good for the tire. You’re just taking the tire and it’s like taking a piece of Aluminum and just keep twisting it back and forth and it’s going to break in half.
 
“The bumps are getting worse and worse and are too bad now. I don’t think it’s low air pressure. That doesn’t help when you get down too low. I imagine that Goodyear is going to look into that. But I’m telling you, the bumps back there and unlike any other thing we see. If they don’t tear the tire up, I don’t care that it’s bumpy. You just go through them and fix the track whenever you feel like fixing it. But, if it’s tearing the tires up and if that’s why, we need to look into it. Us, as a team, the team’s got to fix it all the time. It might be something fundamental like bumps on the race track there. They’re really bad on the back straightaway.
 
“I feel bad for Goodyear. I think the tire is fine. I like the tire. It’s just those bumps. If you watch the cars go through there in slow motion, it shouldn’t be like that. And grinding them, they tried to grind them and they’re huge. You’d have to grind into the ground into the dirt to get those damn things to move (laughter).”
 
DID YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES THIS WEEKEND? WERE YOU SURPRISED ABOUT TODAY?
“I was fine all weekend. I seen guys having trouble but our air pressure was in the ballpark with everyone else. And we didn’t feel like we were low on air pressure. We felt like we were good. And we knew where low was and we weren’t there. We weren’t going there. We were just going to try to make our car work without going that low. But, it just seemed like every other tire you put on, just wasn’t quite as tough as the next and with everything going on with the bumps back there that that plays a big role in it.
 
“If they don’t believe that, that’s fine. If they think we need to do something else, they’ll do it. But I mean look at that rocker panel on that race car right there (points to the panel). That panel is tore up and folded up and it’s literally pushed up three inches. That’s from traveling and hitting the ground through those bumps. Hell, it’s like an off-road track back there and it shouldn’t be like that. It doesn’t have to be that way, even if it ain’t the problem.”
 
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
TALK ABOUT THOSE LAST COUPLE OF LAPS: 
“Yeah, I thought I wanted to start eighth and then the No. 40 stayed out and we started ninth.  I thought we were in trouble there or at least not going to be able to get up to the front.  I don’t know where everybody went, but I somehow ended up in second there and I was right on Kyle (Busch) down the backstretch.  It went through my mind ‘I might sweep the weekend here’.  A heck of a day for this Target Chevy.  Shine (Chris Heroy, crew chief) and the guys made some good calls all day.  We kept bouncing back and forth between begin loose and tight.  We finally that last run we got good enough on the short run we could charge to the front.  Just hats off to everybody on this car and man what a weekend.”
 
DESCRIBE THE AFTERNOON:
“Yeah it was a lot of fun today.  We struggled or not really struggled but we were just off a little bit all day long.  Got caught speeding and was worried we would get a long green flag run there and maybe go a lap down.  But we were able to stay on the lead lap.  We were really good on long runs, never really good on a short run.  Shine (Chris Heroy, crew chief) and everybody on this Target Chevy made great adjustments during that last pit stop to get me tightened up so I could go hard for a couple of laps.  Was not expecting to get up that far ahead, I thought starting on the inside we might be in trouble because I was really good early on the outside.  I could drive by a couple of rows up top in (turns) one and two.  Somehow we got to second and I was thinking maybe… I didn’t know where Kyle (Busch) was going to go in (turns) three and four because I hadn’t seen him all day.  So I just kind of followed him in there, but we will take a second.  It seems like I run second a lot in stock cars, but I will take a second here at California.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
ON HIS RUN:
“Unreal the amount of emotions of running well today, executing on pit road.  Daniel Knost (crew chief) did a great job and this Haas Automation Chevy was fast and then to race your boss for a win.  Neither one of us came home with the ‘W’ so we are both upset about that, but at the same time it was a genuine moment for Tony (Stewart) and I to race and to put it all out on the line for Stewart-Haas.  I came home third, he came home fourth.
 
“Congrats to Kyle (Busch) he won.  Those guys they have been fast all weekend and he executed and that is what it took.  Real happy with our team.  Kyle did a great job.  Monster Energy thanks to those guys.  We will get it.  We are making headway and we will get.  Thanks again to Haas Automation.”
 
YOUR RUN TODAY WAS A VERY STRONG FINISH FOR YOU GUYS.  TELL US ABOUT YOUR AFTERNOON:
“Yeah it was an awesome finish racing your boss Tony Stewart for a win.  A little like happy, but sad, one of us should have brought it home for Stewart-Haas Racing and it just didn’t pan out with the four tires versus two.  I thought we could have held the advantage, but man it was a battle all day long.
 
“I just have to thank Haas Automation guys they had a bunch of suites here, a lot of people were here routing us on and it feels great to have this Chevy up in the top five.”
 
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 RUSH TRUCK CENTERS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
YOU HAD AN EVENTFUL DAY.  WALK US THROUGH THAT FINAL RESTART:
“Yeah, I didn’t know which lane he (Kurt Busch) had been running in all day and I didn’t know what lane he wanted as far as where he wanted to be when he got to Turn 1.  Really proud of Chad Johnston and everybody on this Rush Truck Centers/Bass Pro/Mobil 1 Chevy.
 
“Chad di
d an awesome job all weekend and our team did too.  We had some bad pit stops at the beginning, but at the end when we needed it the guys did a great job on pit road.  We had some problem early in the day and then just kept battling back.  About the last 50 laps we finally got the car pretty decent there we just didn’t have the track position to go with it.
 
“It was sketchy not knowing what was going to happen with two versus four (tires) but I was glad Chad made the right call again two weeks in a row.”
 
SECOND TOP FIVE IN A ROW FOR YOUR TEAM AS YOU GET BACK INTO IT IN 2014. TELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY:
“Well it wasn’t very good at the beginning.  I had a problem where I spun. Chad (Johnston) thought it might have been a cut tire and I had to tell him that it was just driver error more than cut tire.  I messed up and spun early.  The guys did an awesome job we kept fighting the balance really loose off the corners.  Chad kept working on it.  We had really good pit stops at the end when we needed it and got track position at the end and Chad Johnston had another great call to get us another top-five.”
 
SOME FOLKS THOUGHT MAYBE YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD AN ISSUE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN YOURSELF AND KURT BUSCH BECAUSE OF THE BLOCKING.  HE CAME OVER AND YOU GUYS WERE HIGH FIVING EACH OTHER ABOUT A GREAT DAY FOR THE ORGANIZATION:
“I don’t think there was any blocking with us.  I never got underneath him like I did Joey (Logano) last year.  I mean he just was trying to keep me to where I was pushing.  I was trying to find an open lane.  What he did was a little different.  I was under Joey last year when he was running me down the race track.  I was glad that we had two SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) cars there in contention at the end.  We hadn’t been a top-five car all day so really proud of these guys.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 13TH
DESCRIBE THE CLOSING LAPS AND WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THE RACE CAR:
“The closing laps were pretty much typical restart for me.  I got the inside lane which was absolutely the worst lane for me.  I got actually a decent restart and it just didn’t go well.  I went to the inside of the No. 18 he swerved left that put him in the middle, me on the bottom three or four wide and it just went downhill from there.
 
“I don’t know where to begin with the disappointment for this Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet team.  They gave me the most incredible race car today and it is just so disappointing for it to end like that.   I hate the caution came out.  I hate Goodyear was not prepared today for what happened.  They are so good at what they do and that is just uncalled for.  We were having a tire issue there on that last long run and I just backed off.  When I saw the No. 48 had issues I was just hoping we would make it to the end and I was just going as slow as I possibly could trying to maintain the lead and cars were just blowing tires left and right all around me.  It’s unfortunate that was happening.  But most importantly that the caution came out because we did not need that restart.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 14TH
ON HER BEST FINISH SO FAR IN 2014:
“It seems like some of our most trying weekends end up with our better results.  We will take it and we will know that there is so much more potential for those weekends where we feel like we are running a lot better.  It was a steady race.  My hope was our car was close on the first run so I knew we could make it better but it is always so difficult when you start off on the beginning and it really wasn’t too bad to start off with.  I think is usually the common denominator and also having a good race is just that first run the car being there.  It was so we just made little adjustments here and there and you know I don’t think we were extremely fast, but we were fast enough to pick them off and move up and have a steady day.  That is what we did.  It’s nice when you get fortunate and lucky and your best running position on track happens to be the last lap so I will take it that doesn’t normally happen.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S “SPRING IS CALLING” CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 24TH
IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD THE CAR TO BEAT AND ALL OF A SUDDEN FLAT TIRE:
“Yeah, we did an awesome job as a race team.  We did everything we could to win the race today, unfortunately something out of our control let us down.  I had that feeling I thought we were going to win here at my home track once again and just a bummer it didn’t work out.  Spring is Calling this No. 48 is fast and we will come back next week to a very strong race track for this Lowe’s Chevrolet and hopefully get the job done there.”
 
MARTIN TRUEX JR, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 23RD:
“Every time we felt the momentum swing our way this weekend, we seemed to take a punch in the gut. After a strong qualifying effort (12th) Friday we blew a tire in practice and had to go to the backup car. The guys worked overtime on Saturday and then made a number of changes to the car for today’s race.  We weren’t perfect at the beginning, but the Furniture Row Chevy was moving forward. Then I ran over some debris that cracked the splitter, which put us at an aerodynamic disadvantage. We fixed the problem as best as we could and we were moving forward again later in the race. But the splitter damage eventually caused additional damage to the car, which knocked us to the back again. Finishing 23rd isn’t great, but we fought as hard as we could for every inch of it. Just a rough weekend overall.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
MARCH 21, 2014
 
 
 
CALIFORNIA NATIVE JIMMIE JOHNSON LEADS TEAM CHEVY
IN QUALIFYING AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
SIX TEAM CHEVY DRIVER’S WILL START IN THE TOP-12
 
FONTANA, Calif. (March 21, 2014) – Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson led the way for Team Chevy in qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway with a third-place time of 38.516 (186.935 mph) in his No. 48 Lowe’s Spring is Calling Chevrolet SS.
 
As teams and drivers get accustomed to the new ‘knockout’ qualifying format, new strategies continue to emerge.  Tire conservation and the changing of lines was the name of the game during today’s session.  43 entrants took to the track for the first session 25-minute session before the field was cut to the 24 fastest cars.  Those 24 cars moved to round two and were given 10 minutes to post another fast lap.  The fastest 12 drivers then moved on to the third and final five-minute session, where the fastest single laps determined the pole winner and starting lineup.  Six Team Chevy drivers ended the day in the top 12.

2011 Auto Club Speedway winner Kevin Harvick will start fourth in his No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS followed by four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Jeff Gordon, piloting the No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS in sixth.

Tony Stewart, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, recorded his best qualifying effort thus far this year and will roll off from the 10th starting spot on Sunday.  Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS will start 11th, and Martin Truex, Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet SS will start 12th.

Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was the pole winner, Brad Keselowski (Ford) was second and Clint Bowyer (Toyota) qualified fifth to round out the top-five.

The Auto Club 400 takes the green flag on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET and will be aired live on FOX.
 
 
POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S “SPRING IS CALLING” CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3rd
 
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING RUN:
“Real consistent session for us.  We did a nice job managing things and managing the balance of the race car.  I felt like I got all that my car had on that last session, just came up a little bit short.  I knew (turns) one and two was the best that I could get out of it.  I just knew I was a little too tight, but (turns) three and four, man, I was flying over there.  I just wish that up through (turns) one and two it was a touch better.  The thing I am honestly most excited about is to start this good starting the weekend.  I feel like Vegas, Phoenix, even Bristol we were really working hard to catch up and to be a factor and to have speed.  We have unloaded with speed.  That is good for us.  We are kind of in familiar territory right now and back where we want to be starting a race weekend.”
 
WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO GO OUT AND PICK UP SPEED AT TIMES?
“Shocked.  I think the cooling track conditions helped and certainly the shade in (turns) three and four.  From watching the little fan scan thing the guys ran a higher line and got into the shade and found some speed and got back around.  That was really cool to see. I think the No. 88 and the No. 99 went faster.”
 
WE’VE NOW GOT THIS QUALIFYING FORMAT IN FOUR RACES.  HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?
“I think it’s awesome.  I really do.  This track has a high wear factor for the tires and I was concerned that if you had a bad lap you couldn’t go out and improve, but to see a couple of cars do that in the first session was nice.  I think there is an argument maybe for a second set of tires to come into play.  But for an abrasive race track I think this was a very competitive knockout qualifying session.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
MARCH 21, 2014
 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 CHEERIOS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 20TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“We were just too loose. We were loose the first time and I tried to run the top the second time after seeing the guys were making some time up there. It felt good in (Turns) 3 and 4 where the track was a little more shaded. In (Turns) 1 and 2, I’m just sideways. But we’re better than half the field, I guess. We’ll just go out there tomorrow and practice and work on it and get it better in happy hour. But I’m not disappointed. I feel like we could have had a little bit more if I was tighter.”
 
ON THE INTENSITY OF THE NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT
“Oh, for sure it’s intense. I had my dad on the radio giving us like, you should get in line, you should get in line; and my crew chief is telling everybody to calm down because we’ve got time. It’s definitely a bidding war right there. We tried to make a swing at it out there in the end but we’ll take it and keep going.”
 
IS QUALIFYING IN A CUP CAR A LOT DIFFERENT FROM A NATIONWIDE CAR AT THIS TRACK?
“It’s quite a bit different in the Nationwide car. The thing is we’ve put so much downforce in these cars that they actually drive somewhat similar to a Nationwide car now. It’s just trying to get used to the new style qualifying I think. Me, being a rookie, I wish I would have run more laps on the top during practice. That’s about it. I was really focused on the bottom of the track and some of them guys went quick on the bottom. But we could never get our car to turn good enough to run down there and then we’d be free on exit.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S SPRING IS CALLING CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD:
“It was nice to unload as we did with so much speed in the car. The first four or five weeks we’ve been learning at lot at these tracks trying to get caught-up with the new package and we’re off to a good start this weekend.”
 
HENDRICK TEAMS SEEM TO BE STRONG THIS WEEKEND
“Yeah, we’re all working hard in different areas to try to find speed. These rules are far different, but we know that we’ve got great bodies on the race cars and great Hendrick power and once we get all the ingredients put together I think we’ll see a parade of Hendrick cars out there at some point. That’s what I want to see.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 4TH
“Just hitting a lap, time after time is the thing here, especially when you run high like that. So, it’s a fine line between overdriving it, and like I said, I overdrove it around (Turn) 2 and under drove it around (Turn) 3. But giving up a tenth was a lot better than giving up four (tenths).”
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 15TH
“The first lap I missed the seam in (Turns) 1 and 2 real bad, which I do, more than 50 percent of the time here when I qualify. So, I should have known better and tried to run the top. But we went out another time and were able to get in the top 24 and then better ourselves a little bit more and get 15th place. Just having to run that extra run hurt our tires a little bit and we did lack a little speed today. But overall, 15th is pretty good considering where we were going to be. After that first lap we were outside the top 24 a pretty good ways.
 
“I’m going to study what my teammates are doing. And see who is fast and see what their thoughts are on their cars and just try to get the car to handle well on the bottom and the top. We’re going to study real hard and try to learn what’s to gain in the next 24 hours. It will be a good challenge though. I like running here. It’s a fun place. Even when you’re car is off a little bit you can sort of get a line and find a line and work on it. It should be a good race.”
 
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HAVE TO GET YOUR BEST LAP MULTIPLE TIMES?
“it seems to be working in our favor. If it was just one shot like it was last year, we’d be in trouble and pretty disappointed. I think we were customarily qualifying around 22nd on average over the last three years. You know, we’d have a couple good qualifying runs here and there but typically we were around 18th – 22nd. So, this format has given us an opportunity to better ourselves and bump-up our qualifying average a little bit. Yeah, it would be nice to go out there and hit it the first time, early, and be able to cool your tires and relax and go out in the second session with cold tires and one less run so you can try to put down a better lap.”
 
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH:
“It was nice to make the last round, but once I made the last round I just thought we’d be a lot better. But we just got too tight in that last run. So, we’ll take it. P11 is not bad.”
 
ON MAKING MULTIPLE RUNS
“I like it. Always your first time out, you’re not 100 percent comfortable. And then once you figure out the balance of your car that first run, you can usually attack it harder the second time. So, I like it that way. Maybe being a rookie, I don’t know what the other guys think about it, but I like it a lot.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 6TH:
“You really just have one lap at it. And that last run, I just got a little bit too tight going back to the gas in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2 and it just cost us a little bit. It was unfortunate. I felt like we had a car that could really get it done today, but all in-all we’re having a great weekend so far and I’m real happy with the car.
 
“This is traditionally a great track for us at Hendrick Motorsports. I love this track; this is so much fun to drive with all the different grooves and lanes you can run on. And I think you’ll hear that across the board. I’m just having a lot of fun. I’ve got a great race car and a great race team. We’re just enjoying the season so far with the momentum that we’ve been able to have and then to come here and have a strong car like we have here just really gets me excited about Sunday’s race.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 21, 2014
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed what he likes about Auto Club Speedway, the challenges at Martinsville, his chances for a win, and more. Full Transcript:
 
ON THE CHALLENGES OF AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY:
“I like this race track. Everybody, for the longest time, compared this one to Michigan and they were not even close to the same. They are entirely opposite. Michigan has been repaved and this is the old worn-out California, which it never was. It’s a fun race track now, and the most fun it’s ever been in my career of being here for 12 years. I look forward to it.”
 
WHAT HAS CHANGED ABOUT IT?  WHAT DO DRIVERS LOOK FORWARD TO WHEN THEY COME HERE?
“We can get off line. We drive down the straightaways. It’s really just a lot of fun. It’s got a lot of character. So many race tracks now are repaved and have no character so to speak with bumps and things like that. We can move around the race track a good bit and have some fun.”
 
DO YOU LIKE MARTINSVILLE?
“I like Martinsville. I wish we had more tracks like Martinsville; not necessarily that shape. But short track racing is one of the best things we have going for our sport with the racing we have there.”
 
WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART OF MARTINSVILLE TO FIGURE OUT?
“Martinsville is just so much of a factor of mechanical grip. It all depends on what tire Goodyear brings there if you’re fighting forward drive or graining on the left sides. Things like that kind of manipulate your weekend and kind of get you off-path at times.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR CHANCES ARE FOR A WIN HERE?
I enjoy the race track. I think our cars have been good. We’ll see. It’s typically been a fun place to drive and a good place to race and we’ve seen a lot of excitement here, more so than we ever did at least last year compared to the years before.”
 
DO YOU FIND INCONSISTENCY DURING THE WEEKEND AT MARTINSVILLE?
“I don’t find that so much. It’s just really that you kind of have to chase the tire and the race track. I don’t know exactly what the Martinsville tire is but I assume it’s the same. But you never know.”
 
AFTER LAST YEAR’S RACE, DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE ON END OF RACE ETIQUETTE?
“I don’t think there’s anything different now this year than there ever has been in racing for 100 years. You’re here to win and you do what you’ve got to do to win. And you have a certain level of respect for your competitors. That could change throughout the race but that’s been the same for the last 100 years.”
 
NOW WITH THE SYSTEM OF ‘WIN AND YOU’RE IN’, DO YOU PAY ANY ATTENTION TO POINTS NOW?
“We’re here for the best possible finish we can get. If it’s a win then great. If not, we’ll go for second or for third and so on. It’s not about man we should try harder to win or we should try harder to finish in the top 10 to get better points. We’re here to do the best we possibly can. We’ll lap the field if we can.”
 
DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON SHORTENING THE LENGTH OF THE CUP RACES?
“Shortening the length of our races would be great for our sport and great for the fans. It would build the excitement sooner. And I don’t think it would necessarily change the outcome, I think it would just intensify our sport.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 21, 2014
 
KYLE LARSON, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS, met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway to talk about his finish at Bristol last weekend, making the Sprint Cup All-Star race this year, being a rookie in Sprint Cup and other topics. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM FROM BRISTOL CARRYING OVER TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY?
“Yeah, last week at Bristol was great for our Target Chevy and Cartwheel Chevy in the Nationwide Series. I’m excited to get here to California. It’s my home state. I grew up about six hours north of here so it’s a little bit of a home race for me. So I’m really looking forward to it. I’m hoping we have two good runs again. Definitely after the runs we had last weekend, it should help build a little bit more momentum. So I’m definitely excited about this weekend.”
 
GOING INTO YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT AT THE ALL-STAR RACE, YOU’RE ELIGIBLE FOR THE FAN VOTE. IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL YOU OR YOUR FANS ARE DOING TO GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE?
“Nothing yet. It will be tough to beat Austin (Dillon) and Danica (Patrick) for that vote. So we will probably have to race our way in, so that’ll make it fun. It would be nice to get a win before the All-Star race and not have to run the ‘B-Main’ as I call it.”
 
YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE AN EASY ROOKIE SEASON WITH A LOT OF EXPECTATIONS. WHAT HAS BEEN THE ONE THING THAT YOU THOUGHT WAS GOING TO BE HARDER THAT MAYBE HAS BEEN EASIER? AND ON THE CONVERSE, WHAT HAS BEEN A LITTLE EASIER THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE?
“Nothing has really been easy. It’s all been tough. Everything is tough in the Sprint Cup Series. I got a glimpse of it last year being able to run four races so I understood how tough it was going to be this season. So nothing has really surprised me at all to start this season. Everybody races extremely hard all race long. The field is really tight. In Nationwide from what I was used to last year, it’s pretty spread out with the quality of the field and all that. In Cup, there are 25-30 drivers that are pretty fast. That’s what makes the Cup series really tough.”
 
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO PREPARE FOR MARTINSVILLE? YOU HAVEN’T RACED THERE VERY MUCH. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’VE BEEN DOING?
“Not yet. When I get home, I’m sure I’ll run it a little bit on iRacing to try and get used to that stuff. Martinsville is a lot different than what I’ve ever done. I didn’t feel like we were very good there last year when I ran the Cup race and we ended up blowing our engine up so I didn’t get in a full race. But gaining that little bit of experience last season will help some going there again this year. It’s probably not a race I’m looking forward to; I’m pretty nervous about that one. Hopefully we can just stay out of trouble and get a good finish.”
 
THIS IS A WIDER TRACK, AND YOU WERE AT BRISTOL LAST WEEK WHICH IS A BULLRING. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TREAT THE RACING HERE? HOW MUCH EASIER OR HARDER WILL IT BE?
“I love racing at Auto Club Speedway. It’s probably one of my favorite tracks because it is so wide. You can run anywhere on the track it seems like. Grip changes throughout the race and slows down throughout a run. Those seem to be the tracks that I think I do the best at, even though last week at Bristol was as far as my stats go is my best track. But I like these bigger, slicker tracks. Hopefully practice goes good and we have a solid car and can have a good race on Sunday.”
 
LAST WEEK, IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT DYLAN (KWASNIEWSKI) IS GOING TO BE A DEVELOPMENT DRIVER WITH GANASSI. BEING A ROOKIE IN THAT ORGANIZATION, DO YOU FIND IT HARD TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO A MUCH YOUNGER ROOKIE OR ARE YOU FOCUSED ON YOURSELF AT THIS POINT?
“Since I’m running Nationwide this year with Dylan at Turner Scott Motorsports, I can help a little bit because of all the stuff he’s going through this year, I experienced last year. I can give him tips on how the track may change throughout a race and things like that – more driving right now in terms of advice. But he’s a really good kid and smart kid. It’s nice to have him as part of the team. It’s pretty cool getting to work with him. I got to spend a few days with him this week doing some stuff with NASCAR in LA. I’d say we’re pretty good friends, and it’s easy to work with him.”
 
I’D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU’VE CHANGED IN YOUR CONDITIONING PRE-NASCAR TO NOW AS FAR AS YOUR PHYSICAL BODY GOES.
“Not a whole lot, really. Back when I raced sprint cars, I was probably in better shape because I’d race almost every day. Now I have a few days off in the week. I worked out a little bit in the offseason. I haven’t had too much time to do that after the season started. I’ve been a little bit busier. But once things slow down… it seems like the season finally starts getting in a rhythm after this race so I’ll try to get back to the shop and work out with our personal trainer.”
 
WHERE ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO USE YOUR TESTS THIS YEAR, AND IS THERE ANY CONCERN AS FAR AS THE ROAD COURSES GO?
“I think we are going to VIR sometime soon to do a road course test. As far as the handful of tests we get at tracks we race at, I don’t know what we’re doing yet. Our car is running OK so far, so we might try to save them for later this season. If we’re in the Chase or close to the Chase, we’ll use those tracks to get better at.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 21, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S “SPRING IS CALLING” CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway and discussed not having a victory thus far in the season,  racing at his home track and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
EARLY IN THE SEASON, BUT YOU STILL DON’T HAVE A WIN.  FIVE WINS AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY TALK ABOUT GOING FOR THE WIN THIS WEEKEND AND HOPEFULLY GETTING THAT SPOT IN THE CHASE:
“Yeah this is a good track for us.  It would be great to get the win and get ourselves locked in to the Chase.  But I think we are in a good spot, we’ve been very competitive.  We have had a shot to win a couple of races.  Bristol isn’t our best race track and unfortunately we had that tire issue early, but I still had a great car and a lot of fun in the race.  Left there with a very good impression on where our cars are and where we are going with things.  We will get out there today and see how things go and hopefully get to that final grouping for a shot at the pole today and then obviously get out there tomorrow and work on our race stuff.  All in all things are well and we will hopefully get a win before long.”
 
LAST WEEK WHEN YOUR TIRE SHREDDED AND CHAD (KNAUS) MADE THE COMMENT ON THE RADIO, SOMETHING LIKE ‘I SUPPOSE THAT IS OUR FAULT TOO’.  WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?
“Definitely frustrated and then if you look at how things transpired from there when Goodyear had a chance to respond it was our fault.  That is what Chad was preparing us for.  That of course it was going to be our fault.  I went in the truck and sat down and talked with Rick Campbell and I get along with Rick great and we had a great conversation about the wear on the tire and what potentially could have happened.  From a team standpoint we are still very adamant that the wear on the tire was not the issue.  A lot of guys had left-front wear and issues with the left-front and some stuff going on there.  We are very confident, and the tire was still intact.  Just a half inch strip came unwound from the inside corner of the tire and it was some 60 feet long.  We laid it out from the front of the truck all the way to the back of the trailer.  We could see every wear hole on it.  It wasn’t worn out.  That is all Chad was kind of referencing is that it would be our fault in the end and it was blamed as our fault.”
 
DID YOU GET ANY ANSWERS THAT MADE YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT IT FROM GOODYEAR?
“At that point there is not a lot that you can do.  We just try to learn from it and try to give them the tire and all the information we can so they can make a better product.  They tested there in October or something last year and the temperatures were far different.  It became apparent to everybody early in practice that the temps weren’t the same and the tire wasn’t acting the same.  It’s not an easy job that they have, but I think we can come back with a little better tire there.”
 
AT WHAT POINT IN THE SEASON DO YOU AND CHAD START TO GET A LITTLE ANTSY ABOUT NOT GETTING YOUR FIRST WIN OF THE YEAR?
“It’s not even close to time yet.  When you look at the stats and you have 16 different winners in a year it’s a pretty rare occurrence.  I still think that points are every bit as important as they have been until you get to Homestead.  Even when you get into the Chase itself the top guy in points will advance in pretty much every scenario or every scenario, even the final one to race at Homestead.  So points are still the focus in what I’m looking at.  We have been able to win multiple races a year with a certain mindset.  I am not going to chase home runs.  I’m looking at a smooth and consistent 26 races and when we get a look at a home run we are going to swing for it.  But we are not stepping up to the plate every time trying to hit it out.”
 
THEY MADE THIS RACE SHORTER A FEW YEARS AGO AND MADE THE RACING BETTER.  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON MAKING SOME OF THE RACING THAT IS 500 MILES AND THE REST OF THE SEASON A LITTLE SHORTER?
“It’s a great idea.  Maybe 25 races a year would be really good?  30 maybe?”
 
ON THE FINAL RESTART WE HAD CONTROVERSY LAST YEAR WHAT IS THE ETIQUETTE WHEN TAKING THAT FINAL RESTART AND KEEPING SOMEONE BEHIND YOU IF YOU ARE STARTING IN SECOND PLACE?
“The final restart it’s all out the window.  I think etiquette comes into play earlier in the race and there is a little bit more give and take scenario.  But that final restart I’m not expecting anybody to cut me any slack.  That is not going to cross my mind with a guy in front of me.  It’s out the window and it’s time to get the best finish you can.”
 
WHAT NEEDS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE TIRE WEAR LAST WEEK THAT CAN CARRY OVER NOT ONLY TO THAT TRACK BUT MAYBE POTENTIALLY TO OTHER TRACKS DOWN THE ROAD?
“I didn’t test there for Goodyear.  All I can go off of is just my opinion so it’s nothing to write home about.  The thing I can see is Saturday when the temperatures came up the track laid rubber and tire wear got a lot better, especially the left-sides.  The right-sides were holding up fine.  The left-sides weren’t laying rubber down and you could see that white ring around the bottom of the race track.  We were all running so low and it would wear that left-side tire out.  The tire was almost rolling up and leaving marbles all around the track except for that warmer Saturday practice session, the second one we had.  Come to find out the test session it took a while for rubber to lay down and when the track temperatures came up and the test session heated up the track finally took rubber.  There is something in the compound; I would suspect it’s in the compound and the temperature where the track will accept the rubber versus ball up.  If that makes any sense at all.”
 
YOU’VE GOT FIVE WINS HERE AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY MOST OF ANY ACTIVE DRIVER WHAT IS YOUR SECRET FOR BEING SO SUCCESSFUL HERE? WHY ARE YOU AND THE TEAM SO GOOD HERE?
“I think our team has done well on kind of low grip level race tracks.  This track is in that category and pretty high on that list in today’s standards.  That has usually been good for us.  Hopefully we’ve got that magic once again.  The character in the track continues to changes and the bumps.  Last year especially the bumps were as big as I’ve ever seen them.  The paving seams are very sensitive to run your right-side tires on.  We have seen that in the NASCAR vehicles and also IndyCar.  So I think those challenging elements are good for the No. 48.”
 
I KNOW IT’S EARLY IN THE SEASON BUT DO POINTS MATTER AT ALL ANYMORE WITH THE ‘WIN AND YOU ARE IN’ THING?
“I absolutely care about points.  I think that it’s a pretty rare situation to have 16 different winners in 26 races.  There will be people transferring into the Chase based on points.  Even as you look at three races and how many spots are available on the second segment and third segment the point’s leader or the highest person in points without a win is going to transfer.  Absolutely points are still very important until Homestead and then it doesn’t matter.”
 
NEXT WEEK IS THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF RICK HENDRICK’S FIRST NASCAR WIN. THERE MIGHT NOT BE ANOTHER PRO TEAM OWNER IN PRO SPORTS THAT HAS HAD SUCH A LONG CONSISTENT RUN OF SUCCESS. IF YOU HAD TO EXPLAIN WHAT MAKES RICK HENDRICK SO GOOD AT KEEPING THAT KIND OF GROUP TOGETHER AND HAVING THAT KIND OF SUCCESS WHAT IS IT?
“I think it’s a couple of things.  One his love and passion for cars is second to none.  He has an automotive empire and then his racing s
tuff. They really play off of one another.  I know a lot of other successful business men diversify and have many other interests and things that keep them busy.  But Rick is a car guy.  I think there is a lot of weight in that.  Then the other aspect is the man that he is.  People want to work for him and they show up and do the best that they can.  They treat our company like it’s theirs.  Due to Rick’s personality and who he is as a man.  I put it in those two categories.”
 
AFTER RACE FIVE WE WILL HAVE BEEN TO EVERY KIND OF RACE TRACK.  DO YOU GUYS, AS A DRIVER, AS A TEAM, MAKE ANY KIND OF FORMAL ASSESSMENT AFTER THIS RACE?
“We do and we are ready for the next five.  We showed up at all, except Daytona, we showed up at four of the five pretty far off, especially off the truck.  We didn’t test as often as we would have liked during the off season to understand this new rules package.  We have been playing a bit of catch up.  So when I look at our progress from Friday practice session to Sunday race or the Thursday that we had in Las Vegas we have covered a lot of territory at every track, Bristol included.  The next five are going to be real good races for us.  If we can come off the truck how we kind of start a race I think we will be in that race winning window.”
 
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR WEEK HERE? DO YOU GET TO GO DOWN TO SAN DIEGO? THE GUY THAT WINS GETS BOOED A LOT AT A LOT OF PLACES, BUT THIS IS YOUR HOME TRACK DO YOU KIND OF FEEL LIKE YOU CAN COME HERE AND FEEL A LITTLE BIT MORE LOVE WHEN YOU ARE HERE?
“Definitely and it’s for sure our best souvenir sales if you look at any track.  We come home and we see it on all fronts from cheers to licensed merchandise selling at the truck.  It’s great to be home and feel that love for sure.  This trip out I’ve not been to San Diego.  We are going to do that before the Sonoma race when we have our golf tournament. I came out yesterday and did some media in LA (Los Angeles) and took advantage of being out here in this market and just kind of hanging out.”
 
HOW MUCH OF BEING HOME IS A DISTRACTION?  NOW THAT WE ARE FOUR RACES INTO THE SEASON IS THERE ANYTHING THAT HAS SURPRISED YOU?
“Over the years I’ve learned how to deal with being home and family and friends at this point have been to enough races and kind of the shine is off of it.  Everybody cuts me some slack.  The surprising thing for the year would be how complicated the set-ups are on the car.  Some minor changes in the rules, at least in the wordage in the rule book and what we are allowed to do with minimum ride height in that particular area has completely changed how you work on the cars; they are very sensitive and very difficult to get right.  That has been our biggest learning curve right now is how to get all your ride heights correct and not have it change the balance of the race car and the set-up of the race car.  Because with the front sway bar and geometry and then your rear ride heights and all that whole mouse trap that goes on it gets really confusing and you can create issues.  That part has been a big shock to everybody.”
 

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT:
 
THE MODERATOR:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Today we’re joined by Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender is coming off a career‑best 10th‑place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway, as he gets set to make his Sprint Cup Series debut at Auto Club Speedway.
 
Kyle, talk about heading into this weekend’s race with at momentum of a 10th‑place finish.
 
KYLE LARSON:  It’s definitely a good feeling going into the California, my home state, with a good finish at Bristol.
 
We’ve had really fast cars all year long.  Just haven’t really caught the right breaks to get those top 10s.  I feel at Phoenix and Vegas both we had top‑10 cars.  I got stuck a lap down there from mistakes.
 
I think with the good finish at Bristol, it’s really going to hopefully turn things around, hopefully bring a lot of consistency.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll now go to the media for questions.
Q.  I saw the tweet you sent yesterday saying that it was a good finish after the first few weeks.  You mentioned mistakes you made, can you expand on that?  I know the troubles you had early in the Daytona 500.  What’s really been the biggest issue in the first three weeks?  I know Bristol is a completely different track.  Maybe the style of track was different, but what was the biggest change for you that made you have this breakthrough performance at Bristol?
KYLE LARSON:  Well, at Phoenix we got caught under green‑flag stops where we had a long stop there went a lap down.  Just kept barely missing the Lucky Dog.  Like I said, thought we had an eighth‑ to 12th‑place car there.
 
Then at Vegas I sped in pit road and we had lots of green‑flag runs and could never get a Lucky Dog there, so…
 
Finally at Bristol, we finally had a race that nothing went wrong for us.  Daytona I got in the wall, got in the wreck late.  Bristol was the first week of the season that was mistake‑free and drama‑free, I guess, didn’t have anything happen to us.  Hopefully we’ll have more and more of those.
 
After the first three weeks I realized to even get a top 15, you have to be almost perfect or have a perfect race.  It’s tough to come back from mistakes in this series.  I learned that really quick.
Q.  When you’re up there chasing Matt Kenseth for the lead, are you getting excited?  Ultimately you finished 10th, but can you sort of see it and feel it, Holy cow, I might be able to get this win?
KYLE LARSON:  Yeah, I definitely thought that through the midpoint of the race.  Our Target car was extremely fast in the middle of the race.  I thought if we were quick enough that if everything works out, maybe we can win.
There at the end maybe we pitted when we shouldn’t have and then it was tough to pass.  It’s really actually exciting to be a little bit disappointed in a top‑10 finish in the Cup Series.  Like I said, this series is really competitive and hard to do well in.  I thought we had a top‑five race going for sure and ended up 10th.
 
Career‑best Sprint Cup finish for me and a little bit disappointing, too.  I guess that’s a good thing, though, from where this team has come from.
Q.  Obviously you made a few starts last year in the Cup Series.  What has been the biggest adjustment in the first four weeks of this year making that transition to Cup?
KYLE LARSON:  The biggest adjustment?  There are a lot of adjustments.  Maybe the one that stands out is trying to get your feedback right to your crew chief from Happy Hour to the race.  That’s something we’ve struggled with at Phoenix and Vegas both were making the right adjustments on the car to start out the race good.  We got behind a little bit in the beginning of both races and it’s hard to come back from those.
 
Communicating well with your crew chief, even though I ran those Cup races last year, these really are the first four races I’ve got to work with Chris Heroy.  I did some testing with him last year, but it’s totally different than putting yourself in situations in races and stuff.  The communication part has been a big adjustment.
Q.  Is the extra seat time you’re still getting in the Nationwide Series helping you on the Cup side at all?
KYLE LARSON:  I think it helps a little bit just knowing how the track might change throughout a race.  I really think it helps for my Nationwide race running the Cup stuff.  Now when I get in the Nationwide car, it feels slow.  Things happen slower.  I have more confidence in that.  That’s why I’ve been running really well in that car so far, too.  I think it helps the Cup Series a little bit, but I think it helps the Nationwide Series a whole bunch.
Q.  There’s always talk about Cup guys running in Nationwide.  How important is it for you to have that extra track time?  If they made rules saying that Cup guys can’t do Nationwide, how would you feel about it?
KYLE LARSON:  I would be disappointed if they ever did that.  I don’t see them ever doing it.
 
I think the Nationwide regulars like Cup guys running with them.  I know I do.  I consider myself still young, I guess, in racing stockcars.  Whenever I’m out there with guys like Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, I can see them in front of me, I’m learning a lot from them.
 
I like it.  I think it’s good for the development side of the young drivers ’cause it is a development series for those kids.  I think it’s a good thing for NASCAR to have the Cup guys in there because it’s just going to make their series more competitive when those young guys move up.
Q.  Do you feel like your start of the Cup season has proven anybody wrong, has shown that you do belong in Cup?
KYLE LARSON:  Maybe just that Bristol race, then moments of the race in Vegas I felt like I was really competitive, too.  I hope fans see that I’ve been competitive each week, maybe not at Daytona, but every week since then I feel like I’ve been pretty competitive.  I hope they see that.
Q.  You’re running all the Nationwide companion events.  Was that your idea, Turner Scott’s idea?
KYLE LARSON:  I think that was everybody’s idea.  Chip Ganassi, he really wanted me to do double duty.  I think I read a stat somewhere before the year, I’ve only ran 40 something stockcar races in my career.  I’m getting double the amount of experience in stockcars this year running both.  I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s good for Turner Scott Motorsports to have me still over there racing.
 
Now that Dylan is a development driver over here for Chip Ganassi, me and him get to work together a little bit.  I can teach him some things and all that. It’s kind of cool I guess being the veteran of that team over there.
Q.  Does part of you wish you still could be eligible for the Nationwide championship given the year you’re having so far?
KYLE LARSON:  Yeah, yeah, I thought about that the other day.  Obviously I like where I’m at right now.  Yeah, we’ve been running really well for far.  I guess I can still try and get Harry Scott and Steve Turner the owners championship.  Maybe I can help them accomplish that.
Q.  I know you were talking earlier about the communication being one of the adjustments.  Have you found it much different running since you ran mid‑pack and towards the front just what it’s like running in those situations, how it differs from the Nationwide Series, what the pace has been like in the Cup Series with these limited starts
?  Anything struck you about those situations?
KYLE LARSON:  Just the whole field is really aggressive in the Cup Series.  The pace, like you said, throughout the field is a lot quicker.  It’s more aggressive.
 
Nationwide, you get up to the top three or four, that’s really when the pace quickens.  But in Cup, everybody is so even, it’s tough to get an edge on somebody.  It’s just extremely tough.
 
I don’t know.  It’s a lot of fun doing that.  At Bristol I got to be up front.  You get in the back, it’s tough to pass because everybody is going so hard, a lot of the same speeds.  It makes it interesting for us and makes us try harder.
Q.  You talk about the aggressive thing.  Some people might be surprised because they might say that the Nationwide races would be aggressive because they’re shorter races.  Can you explain what you mean by things are more aggressive?  What’s happening out there that is more aggressive than what you’ve seen?
KYLE LARSON:  You know, in the Cup Series, there is a little bit more of a give‑and‑take.  I just feel like the top 25 guys are all racing really hard.  Even though it could be a 500‑mile race, you’re still racing as hard as you can to position yourself to be up near the front at the end.
 
It’s hard to give up a little bit when you know it might affect you at the end.  I know everybody thinks that when they’re racing.
 
As a fan, before I ever came over here, Oh, they’re long races.  They just ride around till the last hundred laps or whatever.  But for my first race at Charlotte last year in the Cup Series, I realize there’s not as much give‑and‑take as I thought.  It’s all racing really hard the whole time, and it’s a lot of fun.
Q.  I like how you said that you still consider yourself really young, you feel young.  A lot of times we forget how young the drivers are.  You are in the Cup Series.  I wonder if you feel that way when you go into the garage, not just the learning part but the way people treat you in there or address you as you’re around these veteran drivers?  If so, since you are a Cup driver, how long will it be before you don’t feel that?
KYLE LARSON:  I don’t know, I think it takes a little bit of time.  It’s nice, I think being there’s so many rookies in the Cup Series this year.  The veterans aren’t eyeing one rookie because there’s seven or eight of us out there.
 
I am extremely young still.  But I think it’s a good thing for everything really in this, being the new style of rules or whatever for this car.  I’m not used to how it was in the past.  I think that’s good.
 
As far as the way the other drivers have been treating me, it’s all been good so far.  I’ve raced everybody clean so far, and they’re doing the same with me. We’ll keep trying to do it the same way.
Q.  Are you a goal setter setting where you should be right now?  Do you do the best you can and you don’t set yourself specific areas?
KYLE LARSON:  Well, I want to be fast each week.  I feel like we have been fast each week.  I felt, like, as far as the speed of the cars, where they’re at, I feel like our goals are close to being met, just our finishes haven’t met our expectations. But, yeah, I think as far as how the cars have been, our goals have been met there.
Q.  About your Rookie of the Year contention, obviously you won it last year in the Nationwide Series.  This year you’re competing with Austin Dillon. You finished 10th, he finished 11th this weekend.  When you’re racing someone week in, week out for the top rookie honors, do you naturally start having a little rivalry to where you’re paying attention to what he’s doing?  Also, what would it mean to win Rookie of the Year in Cup after winning it in Nationwide?
KYLE LARSON:  Yeah, I pay attention because obviously Austin is the favorite, I would say, for winning that title.  I definitely pay attention to where he’s at on the speed charts or in the running motor, wherever, during the race.  I don’t know if he does the same with me or not.
 
I think it’s fun.  I had a lot of fun racing at the end of the Bristol race on Sunday.  He was quite a bit faster than I was.  I was driving as hard as I could, as hard as I did the whole race, to try to stay in front of him.  We ran clean and hard.
 
I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of good races this year with Austin.  I hope it’s a nice, tight battle to the end.  It would mean a lot if I could win that Rookie of the Year award.  Like I said, I only had 40 something stockcar races in my career before I got to the Cup Series.  I think it would mean a lot if I could beat guys that have a lot more experience in stockcars.
 
Austin has won Nationwide Rookie of the Year, Truck Rookie of the Year, and championships in both series.  So if I could stop him this year and win that Rookie of the Year, it would be really special.
Q.  Regarding the points standings, is it too early to start thinking of those in terms of Rookie of the Year or do you set your goals that high and sort of let the chips fall where they may?
KYLE LARSON:  I don’t know.  I think you still have to worry about points a little bit to position yourself to make the Chase if you don’t win a race.  I always try and pay attention to that.  Like I say, I pay attention to where Austin’s running so hopefully I can beat him for Rookie of the Year.
 
It’s nice that you win a race, you get locked in.  But you still have to try your best to gain as many points as you can.
Q.  You’ve driven many different types of cars.  What was the biggest change when you started driving Cup cars?
KYLE LARSON:  I think the biggest change between everything versus Cup is just the competition level.  You’ve grown up racing winged Sprint cars, I used to think the best drivers in the world were in the World of Outlaws Series.  I still think they are very good, but the depth of the really good drivers in the Cup Series is really amazing.  That’s what makes it really tough, is there’s 25 to 30 drivers out there each week that are extremely good and fast.  You go to the World of Outlaws race, there might be seven or eight guys you have to beat.
 
I think that’s what makes it really tough.  Probably the one thing, I don’t know, that didn’t surprise me but made me realize how tough it really is.
 
THE MODERATOR:  That’s all the time we have today.  Kyle, thanks for joining us this week and good luck at Auto Club.
 
KYLE LARSON:  Thank you, guys.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 DRIVERS MIKE CONWAY, SCOTT DIXON, TONY KANAAN AND JUAN PABLO MONTOYA met with members of the media at the open test for the Verizon IndyCar Series at Barber Motorsports Park.  Full transcript:
 
 
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
“So far it’s been very good.  Really enjoying working with Ed Carpenter Racing and the whole group of guys there.  I know a few of them from before that I worked with.  Still it’s good to get back together and work on a program for the season.  Preseason testing has gone well, but still need to keep working hard.  Obviously we are trying to learn as much as we can once we are allowed on track over these next two days.  That will be our final prep then really for St. Pete.  I’m looking forward to all the races ahead really.  I think we still have a little bit of time to find maybe, but we are working hard to find that and hopefully we will get that over the next two day and looking forward to the season ahead.  I got a good few races last year which I was fortunate to get and then obviously really happy to get all the races I’m getting this year with Ed Carpenter Racing. Really thankful for that and can’t wait to get going.”
 
BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK HAS BEEN GOOD TO YOU IN THE PAST.  TALK A LITTLE ABOUT RACING AT THE TRACK:
“I love the track as opposed to when we first came here in 2009. It’s more of a track I’m used to with the European style of tracks being quite fast flowing.  It’s good fun here.  It’s always very testing on the tires and the car. It’s always some parts of the circuit compare to other it’s a bit of a give and take sometimes with set-up.  It’s always good to get that going.  It’s a fun place to come to and I think one of the best tracks including all the facilitates and the cool museum they have here. It’s always good to be here.”
 
DO YOU HAVE A PROGRAM LINED UP IN EUROPE BESIDE YOUR INDYCAR COMMITMENT?
“No, I have a deal with Toyota doing the testing with the LMP1 program and some LMP2 running as well in the WEC Series (FIA World Endurance Championship).  Yeah, keep me busy a lot of back and forth to Europe this year.  It’s good.  Lots of seat time which is good for me.  I’m glad, very fortunate to have a few programs going on.  I’m happy about that.”
 
HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO GET THE CAR TO YOUR LIKING COMING IN KIND OF FRESH WITH MAYBE HOW ED (CARPENTER) LEFT IT WITH WHAT HE LIKES IN A CAR VERSUS WHAT YOU LIKE IN A CAR?
“It’s been good I’ve been able to take my time a little bit longer obviously with all the testing we have had or we are going to have before the first race.  It’s been good for me to really kind of all the little details that you kind of don’t have time to work on during a race weekend has really been good to work on those.  Yeah, really explore different things, just testing loads of different items which you can’t do on a race weekend.  It’s been really good for me to learn a bit more about the car and how they have been running it and the way we progressed it over the last few tests that we have had. It’s been good; every time we have gone out we have improved it which is the main thing.  Still some bits to work on but we are looking good I think.”
 
WAS IT THAT FAR OFF WHEN YOU GOT IN THE CAR?
“No I mean straight away the car felt good when we got in at Sebring.  No I was happy with the car, but you know you always try and get it in more of a direction that you like or you are used to.  But not they definitely did a good job with preparing the car.”
 
IS IT A BIG CHANGE TO GO BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN INDYCAR, LMP1 AND LMP2?  IS THERE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR YOU?
“No, it’s not really a big thing to jump back and forth to.  Yeah, each car has obviously got their own little details, intricacies and the way you have to drive them.  It’s good for me I think just to develop new skills and to apply them to different cars.  I think it’s been really good for me in terms of driving different things.  I’m enjoying that and it is certainly helping IndyCar again too it’s definitely helping me.  It’s been fun.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
 
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET:
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET:
 
WHAT IS THE TRANSITION LIKE COMING FROM SEBRING TO PREPARE FOR TESTING AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK?

SCOTT DIXON: “Not too bad.  We were just talking about it, but I will say a 12-hour is a lot easier to recover from than a 24-hour.  I think my biggest issue was staying up for the Formula 1 race and then falling asleep 10 minutes before it started.  I think the race for us was a lot of fun.  The car was really competitive.  We had a few up’s and down’s at the end, but it was really successful for the team which was fantastic to see.  I’m really proud of the No. 01 guys, but I don’t know.  It feels good and the travel was pretty easy to get here obviously.  I had a day to relax so definitely ready to go.  Unfortunately it’s a little wet out there now which has added to the delays today so far.”
 
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING TO LEARN FROM TODAY?
 
TONY KANAAN: “I think it’s a lot of we have all of us, we have our race engines for the first time.  It’s going to be making sure everything runs okay and we can get a couple… the last two good days before the season starts.  I think it’s getting rid of some of the issues that we probably can’t avoid up until we get to St. Pete and just have a good test.  We are coming back here to race, but still a track that we haven’t tested this year as a team so it will be pretty important for us to come out of here with a pretty good idea of what we wanted to have.”
 
MAKING YOUR RETURN TO INDYCAR THIS SEASON I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN TO A FEW TESTS WITH A LOT OF CARS ON TRACK WITH YOU.  THIS IS THE FIRST SERIES OFFICIAL OPEN TEST WITH THE FIELD YOU WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN.  AS YOU CONTINUE THAT ADJUSTMENT PERIOD WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU WILL BE LOOKING FOR TODAY?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: “For us it’s work on the car and myself a little bit on new tires.  Just trying to find a good balance on long runs.  Just learn.  We just have to keep going through a learning process again and just see what happens.”
 
WHEN YOU CAME BACK TO OPEN WHEEL FROM THE NASCAR BUSINESS HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO ADAPT THE CAR?  IS THERE STILL SOMETHING YOU CAN USE WHEN YOU WERE DRIVING CHAMP CARS WITH THESE NEW DALARRA CARS?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: “I think a little bit of everything that I have done helps me with experience.  Adjusting to the cars no I got up to speed pretty easy.  There are a lot of things still to learn.  Sebring was easy because I have been there before.  I was there before in the Champ cars so I knew the track really well.  Did a lot of laps back in the day.  It hasn’t changed, it’s bumpier than hell, but has always been.  It is what it is.  I’m very open minded about this year.  I think being with Team Penske and Verizon is really exciting.  We have a hell of a car, hell of a team and I’m very open minded right now what’s coming.”
 
DO YOU EXPECT YOUR TEAMMATES TO BE AS HELPFUL AS THEY HAVE BEEN IN THE OFF SEASON ONCE THE SEASON STARTS?
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: “Yeah I think we work really well together.  We have a really good friendship with Helio (Castroneves) and Will (Power) and we understand that the ultimate goal is the team.  We get that.  I think we do a really good job of working together and maximizing everything and helping ea
ch other.  Yeah, I don’t see why not.”
 
COMING INTO ST. PETE WHAT IS GOING TO BE YOUR MINDSET WITH THE NEW DIFFERENT FORMAT TO THE WEEKEND, THE FAST SIX QUALIFYING ALL THOSE THINGS YOU HAVEN’T REALLY EXPERIENCED?
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: “I haven’t experienced for example red tires.  I asked why they don’t give us red tires for practice or like official tests like today would have been useful to get on a set of reds to get an idea of what they do, but have to wait until St. Pete and see what it does.  I think the positive is I did a lot of testing in Formula 1 with a lot of different tires, hard, soft so you learn to drive them all.  I think that will play into my hands a little bit.  Of course I think the guys that do it every week know what the tires doing they are going to be a little bit ahead of me on that, but we will see.  It’s a matter of putting a good lap together.”
 
YOU SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN NASCAR, REGRETS MAYBE NOT LIVING UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS THAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO DO ON THAT SIDE OF THE RACING WORLD?
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: “Not really. We did what the team could do and what the car could do.  When we had a good car we made the Chase we won races and we competed for wins on oval and stuff.  But when you don’t have the car to win it makes it impossible.  When the car was competitive and it was good we were good when it was bad it was bad.  As a driver you can do so much, but at the end of the day if your equipment is not where it needs to be it makes it impossible.”
 
JUST THE FACT YOU MIGHT GET TO TRY OUT BOTH RAIN TIRES AND DRY TRACK TIRES DOES THAT HELP?

TONY KANAAN: “I think we are going to be using slick tires.  Maybe some people will do an installation lap with the slicks, but the track is going to be damp for sure this afternoon, but it looks like tomorrow will be better.  Different conditions for a fact I believe that when we come back here it is not going to be this cold.  Just have to play with what we got.  Track time is extremely important especially now a days that we don’t have much track time. This is really the first time that we are all together.  It’s just a different day.”
 
HOW DOES BARBER STACK UP WITH OTHER VENUES IN TERMS OF TESTING?
 
SCOTT DIXON: “I think at this point of the season it’s just getting miles.  We have only done three days so far this year. It doesn’t really apply to any other track that we go to.  At least this year Sonoma, Mid-Ohio we run similar tires so that actually helps a lot.  Years previous the tires have been different from track to track to track.  Barber is a unique circuit.  It’s kind of close to Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, but in a lot of ways it’s not.  It’s unique, it’s a lot of fun, it’s a fantastic facility and definitely for the fans and people out this way it’s been a fantastic event for us.  This early in the season to get miles is the important thing as Tony (Kanaan) touched on.  Everybody has got their first new engine spec for one of the four engines for the season.  There is a lot to be learned on drive ability.  There are some brake options that are sort of being circulated out there that we need to get through and it’s just trying to get everything ready for the first race which is in a week and a half.  There is a lot to be achieved and obviously with the weather today it’s sort of hindered that a little bit, but I’m sure we will be out this afternoon to get some laps in.”
 
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT IT’S LIKE NOW TO SWITCH TO THE TARGET TEAM AND HOW YOU HAVE KIND OF FOUND A NEW HOME THERE?
 
TONY KANAAN: “Well in a way it was a very easy transition for me.  I’ve known a lot of the guys there and I’ve hung with Scott (Dixon) and Dario (Franchitti) forever outside the race track so it wasn’t like everything new.  The new thing for me is just the size of the team, the resources is just like it’s endless.  For me it took me a little bit of time to adjust to that.  They made me feel extremely welcome.  It definitely helped a lot by doing the Tudor United Sportscar Series races with them because some of my crew actually was on the No. 02 car.  I had a lot of time with them.  We had a 24-hour race and a 12-hour race together already.  It’s not like I don’t know those guys.  I’m happy I’m extremely excited about the season.  I think I still have a lot of things to get a grip as far as the way the Target Chip Ganassi team works, but so far it’s been pretty good.  Now we just need to go to the track and do what we know.”
 
YOU ARE THE DEFENDING SERIES CHAMPION.  IT’S GOING TO BE A NEW SEASON FOR YOU WHAT IS THAT PRESSURE LIKE DEFENDING THE SERIES TITLE AS YOU ENTER A NEW SEASON?
 
SCOTT DIXON: “I think it’s obviously a good problem to have.  I’ve been in this situation a couple of times before and we actually haven’t defended it that well.  In ’09 we had a close shot and nearly won another championship.  We will just have to sort of see how it goes.  For us in the past when we have come close to another three championships I think it’s always been the start of the year that has kind of hindered us.  I think we need to focus on making a good start in the first three or four races.  Barber has always been – I think I’ve finished second here every year I have come here.  It would be nice to improve on that maybe.  I think we need to start the season stronger and I know the team will be very good.  The transition to Chevy has been very smooth and very exciting I think for the team in a whole.  Expect us to be competitive it’s just hopefully we don’t give out too many point’s at will.”
 

CHEVROLET SS DRIVER TONY STEWART EARNS BEST FINISH OF SEASON AT BRISTOL
STEWART FINISHES FOURTH IN RAIN MARRED FOOD CITY 500
 
BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 16, 2014) – In a race plagued by inclement weather for the entire day and into the evening, the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway was shortened by 2.5 laps when the skies opened-up again and forced Round 4 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to end under caution. Mother Nature finished ahead of Team Chevy’s Tony Stewart in his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, who collected fourth place, his best in the 2014 season thus far, after a leg injury in mid-2013.
 
After starting 37th, Stewart navigated his Chevrolet SS through on-track turmoil, rain delays and ever-changing track conditions, to earn his best finish since the 0.5-mile track was reconfigured in 2012. The finish moves Stewart up four positions in the standings to 23rd.
 
Having halted the race for nearly three and a half hours, wet weather conditions intervened again with a sudden soaking shower, leaving the field to scramble for top finishing spots. Five-time Bristol Motor Speedway winner Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS, earned his fourth consecutive top-10 finish of 2014 with a seventh-place spot at the ‘World Fastest Half-Mile’.  This marks the first time in Gordon’s 23-year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career he has started the season with four top-10 finishes. Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate and 2013 Bristol winner Kasey Kahne, piloted his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS to an eighth-place run.  Rookie-of-the-Year contender, Kyle Larson, drove the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS to a 10th place finish and impressed many onlookers with his solid run at the difficult short-track.
 
Carl Edwards (Ford) was the race winner, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (Ford) was second, Aric Almirola (Ford) was third and Marcos Ambrose (Ford) was fifth to round out the top-five.
 
The series travels back to the West Coast to take on Auto Club Speedway on Sunday March 23rd.
 
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 4TH
ON HIS RUN:
“It was great. To start 37th and end up fourth today, I’m pretty excited about that. I’m really excited for Chad Johnson and everybody on the Mobil 1/Bass Pro team. Everybody just worked hard all weekend. We had a long way to go from Friday, when we weren’t very good and every day we just got better and better. So, I’m really proud of this team.”
 
HOW DO YOU FEEL?
“I feel great! Let’s do it again!” (laughter)
 
I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FINAL CAUTION WAS FOR, BUT A GREAT RUN FOR YOUR TEAM TONIGHT:
“Well I think the end result of it was going to be the same.  Man really proud of Chad Johnston and everybody on this Bass Pro/Mobil 1 Chevy team, awesome job, Rush Truck Centers, Code 3 and Associates.  It’s not a win, I know that, but it feels like a win.”
 
HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THE NIGHT?
“I think we will take that.  Come to Bristol and run 500 laps here and a top five that is just what the doctor ordered.”
 
I KNOW IN YOUR MIND A COMEBACK ISN’T COMPLETE YET.  THIS HAS TO BE A BIT OF A RELIEF:
“Yeah it’s a step in the right direction for sure.  This is a big one.  If you come out of this place with a top-five you’ve had a good day. Track position was big like it always is here.  We were pretty strong at the end we just couldn’t run those guys down in front of us.  Carl (Edwards) was obviously really strong at the end.  Happy with the day that we had.”
 
TALK ABOUT MAKING YOUR WAY UP THROUGH THE FIELD YOU HAD A LONG WAY TO GO:
“Us and Brian Vickers both.  We started 37th and 38th and ended up 4th and 9th I would say we both had really good days.  It’s not impossible to do it, but you have got to think through your way.  We stayed around the top 15 all day.  We had a really good car, very balanced and very driveable.  Chad just kept working on it all day and making it better for us.”
 
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE ENTIRE TEAM?
“Obviously it wasn’t the day we wanted for our teammates.  It is something I needed for sure.  Obviously for Chad and I to work together for the first time for four or five races into the season be able to get a top five at Bristol that is pretty big for us.”
 
HOW MUCH WAS A TEST FOR YOU PHYSICALLY?
“It’s big.  I mean this is a physical place.  If you look at the lap times we were running mid 15 second laps around here all day it is no walk in the park by any means.”
 
LOTS OF THREE WIDE RACING OUT THERE TONIGHT:
“It’s pretty cool.  When leaders caught traffic you had to make holes.  We saw that yesterday in the Nationwide race and knew it was probably going to be the same today.  The closing rates weren’t quite as big, but if people don’t like the racing here tonight I don’t know what they want.  Unless they just want a wreck fest I thought the racing was pretty good.  Like I said you run mid 15 second laps on a half mile track and run three wide that is pretty impressive.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 8TH
GOOD FINISH ANOTHER TOP 10 YOU GUYS BATTLED BACK AFTER THAT PIT ROAD INCIDENT TELL US ABOUT YOUR NIGHT:
“Yeah we did.  It was a great battle by this Axalta Chevrolet.  The whole team did an awesome job.  We had a really good race car at different times throughout the night.  It’s crazy when we went back racing after the rain delay we just completely wore out the left-front tire in just like 20 or 30 laps.  I mean we were going backwards in a hurry.  Thankfully for that competition caution, but we fixed that and got the car better.  Drove up into the top five, I was pretty happy.  The car came up through there so good on four tires that we decided to put four more on.  The restart just didn’t go the way I needed it to and we never got up through there again.”
 
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 10TH:
ON HIS RUN:
“We had a really good run today.  Started off the race in 20th and got to the top 10 pretty easily there in the beginning, and then pretty much stayed in the top 10 for the whole race and inched our way up to the front.  Ran in second and third for a long time.  Our Target Chevy was great in the middle part of the race.  I just think we didn’t keep up with it enough the last two pit stops.  May have made a bad pit call there at the end also to come in for two.  Just got a little bit too tight there in the center and ended up 10th.
           
“It’s crazy to think it’s kind of a disappointing finish for the way we ran for most of the race, but all in all it was a good race.  It was a lot of fun racing with Austin Dillon there at the end.  We must have ran side by side or so for the last 20 laps.  I definitely had to got up on the wheel and get the elbows up and try not to make any mistakes.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 18TH
ON HER RUN:
“The GoDaddy guys worked hard all weekend. We had to go to a back-up car just four laps into practice, so I appreciate the effort of Tony Gibson and the guys. It was a tough weekend, so to come out of here with 18th, I’ll take it. It was an eventful night. The 26 (Cole Whitt) wasn’t clear and got into us and so we had some damage. Then I lost 1st and 2nd gear and then finally 3rd gear, so the last 100 or 200 laps I only had fourth gear. That’s why I hit Clint (Bowyer) in the pits. It wouldn’t go, so I dipped the clutch and got sideways and when it was about to spin around, I lifted, it caught and then it went straight and it wouldn’t stop. So I hit him. I apologized to his crew after the race. And then it was like yellow after yellow and if
there was any day I didn’t want yellows, it’s today because I didn’t have any gears. We survived and got a decent finish out of it. Gibson made good calls all night and hopefully we can build on this going to Fontana.”
 

Line makes steps in the right direction in Gainesville
 
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 16, 2014) – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line was two rounds shy of where he wanted to be at the conclusion of the 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals, but for Line and Team Summit, the final result belies the truth: the KB Racing team is making progress on the racetrack with every bite they take out of NHRA’s 2014 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour.
 
Line, of Mooresville, N.C., qualified his blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the No. 8 position with a best time of 6.525 at 212.76. Qualifying started on a sour note for the team as a malfunction in the clutch halted progress before Line could even begin, but each run thereafter was a step up and in the right direction.
 
Line cleared the finish line in the second qualifying round with a 6.541, 213.20 and was 6.526 at 212.63 in the third session. He was prepared for raceday following one final qualifying pass that moved him up a notch in the line-up, a 6.525 at a solid 212.76.
 
On raceday, the 32-time Pro Stock winner drew Summit Racing teammate Jimmy Alund as a first-round opponent. Line got the nod when Alund left the starting line too soon and illuminated the red light. Line raced to a 6.567-second blast at 211.30 mph in the Summit Racing Camaro and advanced to a second-round meeting with Dave Connolly, the No. 1 qualifier.
 
The race with Connolly was decided at the starting line, as Line’s opponent was first to launch and carried the lead to a 6.584, 210.87 to 6.568, 211.39 win.
 
“The driver didn’t do a good job today, but the good news is that the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro got better and better over the course of the weekend,” said Line, who leaves the event positioned fourth in the Pro Stock series standings.
 
“We were respectable today, and even though we got off to a late start after losing that first run in qualifying, we made progress. The KB Racing team worked well together this weekend, and hopefully we can pick up momentum heading into the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in a couple of weeks in Las Vegas.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOOD CITY 500
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MARCH 16, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY 39TH
YOU HAD A GREAT CAR YOU HAD GREAT TRACK POSITION THEN YOU HAD THE TIRE COME APART CORRECT?
“Yeah, it was a really weird deal.  The tire has air in it and is fine over there it’s just the tread came off the top of it.  That slowed me down lost control I thought I had a flat.  Came to pit road, the tire wasn’t flat, but the tread isn’t on it anymore.”
 
BEYOND THAT IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD A GOOD CAR AND WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO:
“Yeah, we only went down three laps.  We should get the wave around here, be down two laps and hopefully we can get some quick cautions and get back on the lead lap. We have a great KOBALT Chevrolet and we just need to get back to green and get going.”
 
WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR TIRE?
“We are just trying to figure out what happened.  The tire still had air in it.  It didn’t wear it out.  You can see the wear indicator on there (referencing a piece of the tire that came off the car).  It certainly didn’t wear the tire out.  Something made it come apart in this real long 50 foot section.  I don’t know if we clipped something on the track that kind of scored the tread and then it unraveled or if something else happened with the tire.  Now we are down multiple laps and we think it’s only three which there is a lot of racing left maybe we can get those three laps back and get on the lead lap and race for a win here.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY 16TH
TOUGH LUCK ON THAT FIRST PIT STOP.  NOW THAT YOU ARE WORKING YOUR WAY BACK UP THROUGH THE PACK HOW IS THE CAR HANDLING?
“Yeah that first incident was on us.  It is our responsibility to get out of the box clean.  With so many cars there on the lead lap with the competition caution we just made a little mistake there.  That definitely got us behind, but man what a race car.  I’m having so much fun out there.  Not that I want to come from the back, but it sure is fun when you have a race car like what we have right now with our Axalta Chevy SS.  We are just going to keep tuning on it.  Obviously this rain is going to change a lot of things, wash that rubber away and hopefully takes off as good as it did at the beginning of the race.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY NINTH
HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR RACE CAR SO FAR?
“It’s alright.  We’re wearing pretty good on the left-front that first run so we fell back a bit and got a pretty good vibration.  It made it tough the last 20 laps of that run, but other than that I feel like we’ve been better, just a little free working on that.  Now with the rain it will probably go back that direction again.  Just trying to keep up with what’s going on, but yeah I feel pretty good about our Farmers Insurance Chevy I think the longer the race goes the better we will get.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY SECOND
CURRENTLY RUNNING SECOND HOW HAS YOUR RACE BEEN SO FAR?
“The McDonald’s Chevy has been really good.  I felt like the first 10 laps with that green initially when the race started that the car was too free, but then it just started getting better as the run went on.  I felt like our car isn’t that good on the take-off, but it seems to stay up there really well.  It’s going to be interesting to see what the track does now that it’s rained again and they are going to blow all the rubber off of it.  Overall Keith Rodden (crew chief) and all the guys on this Chip Ganassi team have done a really good job.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY SIXTH
ON HIS DAY THUS FAR:
“The team has done a great job once again.  We had a tough Friday, but everybody just sits down and we are all new together and they are trying to figure out what I like and all the new rules and everything that goes into everything we have going on with the new team as well.  They just do a great job at figuring out what they need in the car and have done a great job again this weekend.”
 

CORVETTE DPs AT SEBRING: Podium Finish for Action Express Racing
Three top-10 finishes in Corvette DP program’s first race at Sebring
 
SEBRING, Fla. (March 15, 2014) – Action Express Racing followed up a victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona with a third-place result in the 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on Saturday. The No. 5 Corvette Daytona Prototype of Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastian Bourdais finished less than 10 seconds behind the winning car.
 
The second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship saw both the Action Express entries – including the No. 9 of Burt Frisselle, Brian Frisselle and Jon Fogarty – and the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli lead during the race.
 
Bourdais, who drove the final stint in the No. 5 Corvette DP, went around the Oak Racing Morgan entry for third shortly after the race’s final restart with 20 minutes remaining.
 
“Our Corvette DP teams put on a strong show in their first race at the Sebring 12 Hours,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager for Corvette Daytona Prototypes. “Three of our five Corvette DPs finished in the top-10, and Action Express Racing continued its stellar start to the season. Chevrolet still leads the Prototype Engine Manufacturer’s championship after two tough races. Next up is another new challenge for the Corvette DPs – the streets of Long Beach.”
 
The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship takes place on the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit from April 11-12.
 
JOAO BARBOSA, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
“Third place in Sebring is always a great achievement. We are leading the championship right now, which is a plus. It was a really tough race. Very competitive. A finish on the podium is always a great result here at Sebring.”
 
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
“It was tough, but we managed the car very well. That was fun. Hats off to the Ganassi guys. They were in the right place at the right time. That made all the difference in the world. I want to thank Chevy. Our car ran flawless from the beginning to the end. We definitely had a shot at winning. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. But we scored some points, so we will turn the page and go on to Long Beach.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
“It was a tough race, but we gave it our best. We started from the front and stayed there for awhile.  It looked like we had the pace and everything we needed to win the race. As things got a little more complicated, we lost the lead as everybody started to show their hand. At the end we just didn’t have anything for these guys. I gave it my best the whole race, and we set some pretty fast laps. But at the end of the race, they just turned it up and I told them ‘That’s all I got’. On top of the fact that it was very much a game of track position because you couldn’t pass anyone. It was closely matched. The No. 1 was in front of us, and the No. 01 cycled to the front and left the GTs in between us. By the time we crossed the start/finish line, the gap was six seconds… game over. It is a little disappointing because I was really hoping we could win. I’ve finished second here overall twice before. It is one of these deals where it didn’t work out. But that is all I had. No regrets. That is all we had. That is the way it is.”
 
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“That was the toughest race I think we’ve ever had and to come out with seventh place probably doesn’t do justice to all the hard work everybody put into it. But it was just a matter of not being able to bounce back all the way from the few issues we had today – the early penalty, my having to go off with cars spinning and colliding in front of me in the middle of the race, and Ricky getting his windscreen oiled up and going off, which necessitated another pit stop toward the end of the race. All in all, I think we might have had a solid podium car, at best, despite all the things we had to deal with. But we brought it home in one piece both at Daytona and here at Sebring, and we’re still sitting second in the points, so we’ll head to the early sprint race part of the schedule and try to build some serious momentum.”
MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETE DP
“To win races like this, you have to be good, but you also have to have things go your way. Our car definitely was maybe a fourth-place car. With a little bit of luck maybe a podium finish. If I had to put my finger on one thing in particular, I think we underestimated the heat in the track and what it did to our car from a setup standpoint. That’s my opinion. This is a great race and we would have loved to have had a better result.”
RICKY TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“There seemed to be no passing during that last run. I think it was because the pace was just so high and I think everybody was in the position they belonged in after racing for almost 12 hours. I feel really bad that we had to make an extra pit stop because of the oil (on the windscreen). I don’t know if anybody else had that problem out there. That was frustrating. But when I had a clean windshield, the car was the best it’d been all day at the end, there. Finishing seventh is kind of ho-hum when you look at it. It was a long race. I’m just happy we got through the middle because it was so difficult to keep the car on the track and stay out of trouble.”

CORVETTE RACING AT SEBRING: Disappointing End in Florida Classic
After leading during the day, sixth and eighth for Corvette C7.Rs
 
SEBRING, Fla. (March 15, 2014) – Corvette Racing’s two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs each led in class at Sebring International Raceway on Saturday but ultimately ended the 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on disappointing notes.
 
The No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Robin Liddell finished sixth in GT Le Mans for the second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The car led in class for significant portions throughout the race before two late spins and an engine issue with 30 minutes remaining put a halt to the car’s charge.
 
Up until that point, it was smooth sailing for the No. 4 Corvette. Gavin set the class’ fastest race lap (1:59.521).
 
The No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe had an up-and-down day with the “down” part coming into play again with four hours to go. The trio eventually finished eighth in class after suffering an opening-lap collision and fuel pressure problems that ultimately resulted in the replacement of the Corvette’s fuel pump just past the eight-hour mark.
 
The No. 3 Corvette also lost a lap early with front bodywork damage it sustained on the opening lap when Garcia was hit by a competitor from behind and shoved into a BMW ahead of him on the opening lap. But timely yellows and strategy calls put the Spaniard into the lead just past the halfway point.
 
The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship takes place on the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit from April 11-12.
 
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It is a shame. It went from a disaster to really enjoying the fight back. The car was running really good. The team did a really good job just to get it back after we crashed on the first lap, and the car was behaving really good. Good strategies, and step-by-step we were going up. It was going perfect. Then again, everything went south. It’s definitely something we need to take care of for sure. We can take this as learning and try to fix every single thing because we have the speed, we have best team and we have a really good car. “
 
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It’s been up and down all day. It didn’t start so well. Antonio got hit from behind on the first lap and smacked into somebody else. There was quite a bit of damage to the front – the fenders and we had to change the whole nose. We went a lap down but got that back and into the lead of the race. Then we had the unfortunate issue with the fuel pump and spent time trying to fix it. The car was pretty good. We could drive as fast as anyone out there. It was a shame about the little things. But the Corvette Racing guys were great. We all are massively disappointed.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“The engine started running worse off the corners like it wasn’t running clean. It started to get worse and worse and worse as we went on. In the end it was the fuel pump. At least we were able to go until we got a full-course caution so that helped us out a little bit. Unfortunately we were three laps down. It was just so good to have the lead and run 1-2. We were the quickest cars on the track, for sure. It’s just a real shame.”
 
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It’s very frustrating that we had that problem and issue at the end. Up to that point we were looking very strong. I got in the car toward the end to do the last couple of stints. I had a couple of issues inside the cockpit with lights that we moved around after night practice. And we’re still finding our way a little bit with this new car. I got a bit hot coming into Turn 17 and had a bit of a spin. We caught back up to the Viper and Porsche. As I was right there with them, we started to have this problem with the engine and it started to miss a bit. I was pushing harder and harder to try and keep up. I pushed a little too hard coming out of Turn 5 and looped it off there. It was pretty clear we had a problem after that. It was a case of managing the situation until the finish. But I think the guys did an absolute fantastic job with the car this weekend. For 11 hours we had one of the quickest cars and best cars. We were in a position to fight with anyone and seemed like we were the class of the field.”
 
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It’s a bummer. It’s unfortunate, for sure. It was kind of like Daytona, unfortunately. The car was good for 95 percent of the race. That last five percent now has been a little bit of a problem. But it’s a new car. I’m excited about how quick we’ve been… and good teamwork. The No. 3 car guys had a problem early on and they were able to fight back from that. We had our own little issues throughout the race. I kept fighting and got back up front there toward the end. It was just unlucky.”
 
ROBIN LIDDELL, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was disappointing obviously. Tommy (Milner) and Olly (Gavin) did the lion’s share of the work, by far. And it would have been their win really, and the team’s win if we’d gotten to that point. But obviously it’s disappointing. We came pretty close at Daytona and then again here. But ultimately we’ve got to be reasonably happy with the performance of the car and obviously the team. But it’s always hard when you get close to the end in a race like this, looking like you’re going to get results, and then you start running into difficulties. But essentially it’s just new car blues. Having these two races as the first two of the season makes it incredibly tough. I think the car has shown itself to be not just a contender, but a race-winning car. It’s been a great experience. I’m happy to have the opportunity to drive for Corvette. On that side, it’s good.”
 
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“The Sebring 12 Hours typically is one of the most challenging and unpredictable auto races in the world. Today was no different. Similar to the first race of the year at Daytona, the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R showed its tremendous potential with both cars leading significant portions of the race – including the No. 3 after facing adversity on the opening lap. At Corvette Racing, we don’t give up and that was on full display again. We’re encouraged with the performance of both Corvette C7.Rs and are eager to get back to racing at Long Beach.”
 

TEAM CHEVY AT SEBRING: Four-Hour Update
Strong start for Corvette DPs, Corvette Racing in 12-hour classic
 
SEBRING, Fla. (March 15, 2014) – The contingent of Corvette Daytona Prototypes and Corvette Racing’s two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs ran in strong positions after the first four hours of the 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida on Saturday.
 
The pole-sitting No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of fastest qualifier Sebastien Bourdais was P2 at the four-hour mark but less than a second from Sage Karem’s leading car. Joao Barbosa led for the majority of his opening stint in the Action Express entry, and the Barbosa/Bourdais/Christian Fittipaldi trio is seeking to become the first group of drivers to win at Sebring and the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the same year since 1998.
 
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP ran in podium position most of the race’s opening third before a penalty late in the third hour for working in a closed pit. The No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP ran solidly in the top-five throughout the first part of the race, as well.
 
In GTLM, Tommy Milner was second in Corvette Racing’s No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R after leading a handful of laps early in his stint. The No. 3 Corvette lost a lap early with front bodywork damage it sustained on the opening lap when Antonio Garcia was hit by a competitor from behind and shoved into a BMW ahead of him going to Turn 1.
 
Ryan Briscoe got back on the lead lap in the third hour but found trouble again when the No. 3 Corvette suffered a flat tire when it ran through debris from a massive crash on the frontstretch that brought the race to a halt although the race clock continued to run.
 
The next Team Chevy update will come after eight hours.
 
DAN BINKS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 3 CORVETTE RACING CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
ON MAKING REPAIRS TO NO. 3: “Right now I think we are pretty good. It tore up the nose pretty bad – that thing was rubbing on the tires, then we got that yellow.  We practice this stuff at the shop. If the hood wasn’t bent up so bad, we would have been able to do it in one lap. That is what we have been practicing. These guys are awesome. Everybody works so hard. I don’t think anybody here could change all that bodywork in 3 1/2 minutes. We are ready to go.”
ON WHAT HAPPENED: “I think everybody was just bumping and grinding at the beginning and we got the worst end of it.”
 
RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 90 SPIRIT OF DAYTONA CORVETTE DP
“So far so good, it seems. There is so much traffic that the No. 1 priority is to stay out of trouble, and that’s what we’re doing. The car is getting better as it gets warmer so hopefully it will come to us a bit more. We struggled for pace in the first stint. In the second stint with fresh rubber and the heat coming up was a bit better. We need track position, and for that you have to be patient in traffic.”
(On track conditions) “I feel the track is getting better and better. We will see what happens when the sun starts going down. The Sebring 12 Hours is all about being quick in the night. That’s where it counts. We will see how the track develops.”
 
RICKY TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“The track was very slippery. There was a strange rhythm of traffic with the different classes, so that takes some getting used to. There is a lot of pickup on the tires. Just staying on track and keeping clean in the first run was important. There are a lot of people going wide and making mistakes. We have a good car; it’s a bit of a handful but as the track cools down toward the night we will be better and better.”
 
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CORVETTE RACING CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“We went around the No. 55 BMW at the start and got behind the 56 and I knew I had (Nick) Tandy behind me who was very aggressive. Out of Turn 1, we got pretty close together. As usual we went to the inside and I saw there was going to be a traffic jam. As it was happening, I saw something in the rear-view camera coming really fast and Tandy just hit me really, really hard. I don’t know if he was launched by another car or where it started. Initially I was asking if the rear was OK but the team said the front was much worse. Once we changed everything, the car really came to life. The work the crew did made it right. Now we just need the right yellow to get back on the lead lap.”
 
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CORVETTE RACING CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“The car has been running fairly well. After the restart, I felt we had a good car underneath us and the tire was very strong. It does seem that as we run a stint that the tire does seem to degrade. It might not necessarily be just us in the GTLM class but everybody. The circuit does seem very slick. We will see how that goes. The track temperature also seems to be high. It was good to get up against the Porsche. It seems like every time I drive the C7.R that I seem to race against those Porsches. It would be nice to get by them and get away from them. It’s very early and there is a lot of time to go. It’s a strong start so far and we will try to keep it clean and look after the car.”

TEAM CHEVY AT SEBRING: Eight-Hour Update
Corvette C7.Rs run 1-2 in GTLM; Corvette DPs challenging for overall lead
 
SEBRING, Fla. (March 15, 2014) – Corvette Racing’s two Chevrolet Corvette C7.R race cars were 1-2 in the GT Le Mans class through eight hours of the 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida on Saturday.
 
Oliver Gavin led the class in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R two-thirds through the second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Gavin, Tommy Milner and Robin Liddell had a mostly trouble-free run in the first eight hours. On the other hand, the No. 3 Corvette C7.R had an up-and-down day with the “down” part coming into play again with four hours to go.
 
Crew members were examining fuel pump pressure issues on the car with Ryan Briscoe at the wheel while running second. The No. 3 Corvette also lost a lap early with front bodywork damage it sustained on the opening lap when Antonio Garcia was hit by a competitor from behind and shoved into a BMW ahead of him on the opening lap. But timely yellows and strategy calls put Garcia into the lead just past the halfway point.
 
The pole-sitting No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Christian Fittipaldi ran third at eight hours but was well in contention for an overall victory. Joao Barbosa led for the majority of his opening stint in the Action Express entry to start the race, and the Barbosa/Bourdais/Christian Fittipaldi trio is seeking to become the first group of drivers to win at Sebring and the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the same year since 1998.
 
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP and No. 9 Action Express Corvette DP also ran inside the top-10 as the sun began to set.
The next Team Chevy update will come following the race.
 
TROY FLIS, OWNER, NO. 90 SPIRIT OF DAYTONA CORVETTE DP
“We are going to plug into it and see what we have. We just lost electronic throttle control there. Very disappointed for the Visit Florida folks, and Chevrolet. We had a good car, and it is a beautiful day here today, and we were hopefully having a good finish. So disappointed for all those folks, and this team is working so hard.  With some of these new things, we just don’t have a lot of experience with. We haven’t seen anything like this yet. This if the first time we’ve had any gremlins with the electronic throttle control stuff. We’ll see what we can do. This place is always tough.”
 
JOAO BARBOSA, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
“My first two stints were pretty smooth. As the race progresses, it seems like things get a little more hectic with the traffic. Our Corvette DP is running very good. It’s been a really tight fight in the front. Sebastien is in the car and is doing a great job but there is still a long way to go. The car loses a little bit of grip toward the end of the stint. But the track also changes with the heat that we have now. There is a very big variable there and the circuit gets really greasy. So far everything looks good and we are hanging around at the front.”
 
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CORVETTE RACING CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“Our car is good. It looks like have a strong car today, which is exciting. I don’t know how long I was in the car; it felt like three hours but I only had about an hour’s worth of racing. In the first stint we were under yellow a lot and in traffic. I didn’t like the tires very much but when we came in and changed, the second set was a lot better and what I expected. So we were able to get with the program then. It was good to feel that. I came not even a millimeter away from ending our race with the last accident. The Viper had checked up and I tried too as well. I got to the inside and got a load of brake but some throttle too. He may have seen me because he was straightening his car out a little.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 3 CORVETTE RACING CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“We’re on the lead lap so I think we’re in good shape. I didn’t think I ran over any debris from the crash out of the last turn but it was everywhere, and that cut the tire. The car is pretty good. We have good pace and I think it’s just going to get better at the end of the race. We need to hang in there. Hopefully we have our woes out of the way and can go racing from here on.”
 
GUY COSMO, NO. 31 MARSH RACING CORVETTE DP
“It’s pretty intense. Guys are dropping like flies. Sebring is a really demanding place. It’s so tough with so much traffic. Everyone just needs to cool it a little bit. We have a long way to go yet and it feels like half the field is already missing. I ran almost a double-stint. It was my first time back in a Daytona Prototype in a long time and my first time in a Corvette DP. I like that, and I like having that Corvette power behind me. That sucker gets up and goes. I’m learning the car and helping the team with some feedback from a fresh perspective.”
 
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“It was a bit of a mess. I got in after the penalty (for working in a closed pit) so we went to the back of the pack and sat around there for about an hour. After my first stop in the middle of the stint, we cycled back up behind the No. 02 car and on the outlap someone went off in front of me. I had to avoid it and go off, so we’re back to where we started. But there is a long way to go. I think we are struggling with the track temperature. Our hope is that as it cools down in the night we will pick up some speed.”
 
ROBIN LIDDELL, NO. 4 CORVETTE RACING CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“There hasn’t been really any flow to the race at all for anyone. We ran green for a bit in the beginning but since then it’s been caution, caution, caution. There has been a lot of big contacts and damage. From my point of view, I kept my nose clean and didn’t make any mistakes. I was struggling a little bit with the rear of the car – just not feeling a lot of confidence in the rear in the fast corners and the grip going away in the slower stuff. We think the track will come to us a little bit as it cools down and hope it’s the right strategy and setup for the car. We haven’t made any mistakes or had any problems.”
 
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CORVETTE RACING CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“The C7.R is performing perfectly, and we have a fantastic AC unit. The Michelin tires are doing a phenomenal job. The only cars that seem to be able to  out-brake us in the whole field are the P2 cars. It seems like we’ve go some good performance  from the tire. There is some very creative driving out there from some drivers, and there was one particular DP car I got caught behind for quite some laps. It’s going well, and there is still plenty of racing to be done here.  You just never really know.  It only takes one guy to drive into the side of your car and you’d be taken out like so many of these cars today.  It is just what happens with so many cars on the grid.  It’s certainly very entertaining and non-stop Sebring 12-Hour.  I will be getting back in I believe. Just want to say a big thanks to everybody at Mobil 1, Chevrolet, Corvette Racing for giving me such a wonderful car.”
 
RICKY TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“It is really a great family atmosphere for us, and a great team atmosphere. But my first Sebring 12 Hour – Holy Cow.  It is definitely like what they say, it is like a 24 Hour. I feel like I got tired twice as fast You have to focus so hard. It is such a handful out there and you try to not make any mistakes. Our Velocity guys have done a great job trying to get us back up there in contention, and I am confident that we will get there. It is very slick.  I had a couple of near-off moments. It is so slick, and then there is the marbles so first of all the slippery track puts you off line, and when you go off line, you get marbles.  Then you have to try and scrub them off.”

JEFF GORDON LEADS TEAM CHEVY IN QUALIFYING AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Six Chevrolet SS Race Cars Qualify in Top 15 Starting Spots

BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 14, 2014) – Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon led the way for Team Chevy in qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway with a sixth-place time of 14.962 (128.245 mph) in his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS. 

This was the first time the new ‘knockout’ qualifying format for short-tracks was used at Bristol. All the cars were on track during a 30-minute first session, with the fastest 12 advancing to the second and final 10-minute round. The qualifying session was extremely close with the top 36 qualifiers separated by only four tenths of a second. 

Three-time Bristol pole sitter Ryan Newman in his No. 31 Quicken Loans Billon Dollar Bracket Challenge Chevrolet SS was ninth fastest in the final session.  Kasey Kahne, who earned his first career Bristol victory one year ago placed his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS in the 10th starting spot.  He was followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammate and six-time Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson in his No. 48 KOBALT Tools Chevrolet SS, who ended the session 11th.    

Also among the top fifteen in the new qualifying procedure were two other Team Chevy drivers.  Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS was 13th and current points leader, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS, will start Sunday’s 54th annual Food City 500 from the 14th starting position.

Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was the pole winner, Brad Keselowski (Ford) was second, Matt Kenseth (Ford) was third, Joey Logano (Toyota) was fourth, and Marcos Ambrose (Ford) qualified fifth.

The Food City 500 takes the green flag on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EDT and will be aired live on FOX.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SIXTH

TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING RUN: 
“It was good to make the top 12.  We were fast in practice when we moved over into qualifying runs.  We had pretty high expectations and it was a really good first run.  The car was a little bit tight so we were just trying to figure out how much to free it up for that second run.  We went out there and the car was decent, but just not quite free enough.  I got a little bit out of the race track here off of (turn) four.  I knew it wasn’t my best lap so we went to try to make another run.  At a track like this and this is what we are going to see as we progress through the season is which tracks tires fall off, which ones they don’t and there is a lot of strategy involved with now which is very interesting to me.  Because I think a lot of the guys that ran fast the second session were loose the first session and their cars kind of came to them.  Where our car was really good maybe a little too tight in the first session and got too tight the second session.” 

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH
HOW WAS QUALIFYING OUT THERE FOR YOU? 
“We picked up from practice.  We were definitely struggling in that opening practice session.  We leaned on our teammates and got some speed and made it to the second round.  We wished we could have been a little faster there.  Still starting 11th isn’t too bad for us here.”

DID YOU LIKE THE NEW TWEAKS THAT THEY MADE WITH THE COOL DOWN UNITS? 
“It helped the chaos a lot.  Still when qualifying starts I think we can address the order in which we roll out and some of that craziness.  It still was relatively calm today.  I think the biggest deal was having the cool down units and letting cars cool down on pit road instead of out on the race track.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 13TH

ON HIS RUN:

“When you’re measuring things by thousands of a second, it’s so tight. And, mistakes we made, we went out too early in that first run. And then this is leaps and bounds ahead of where we’ve been with Phoenix and Vegas with our front splitter control. And then we just came in real low on some of our other items. We ran a .78 in practice and we backed that up with a .95. That’s not what you need to do.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 14TH

WHAT DID YOU FIGHT MOST ON YOUR RUN?

“Well, the first run is the one you needed to get i
t done with and we were just too tight. We wanted to get the car comfortable and had all that Nationwide practice in between and kind of overshot the track a little bit. But the track probably tightened up somewhat as well. We’d like to be in that last 12 going for it and trying to better our position, but we were struggling earlier today so we’ve been picking up a little bit at a time and look forward to tomorrow to be able to get in race trim and improve on the car.

NOT MANY DRIVERS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO TIE RICHARD PETTY IN ANYTHING. WITH ANOTHER TOP-TWO FINISH ON SUNDAY, WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN TO YOU TO BE IN THAT POSITION?

“I’d just like to be able to win here. This is a great race track with a lot of history here. I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid and it was my favorite race track to come to when I was little. I just fell in love with it a long time ago. I love racing here and enjoy the racing that we do here. So it would mean a lot to be in the same sentence with Richard Petty in any kind of statistical category or accomplishment would be a great thing.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 20TH
A LOT OF DRIVERS WERE SAYING THEY WEREN’T GOING FASTER ON THE SECOND TIME OUT WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE? 
“I ran I think exactly the same laps I did my first time out my second time.  We went out for a third one and was slower.  I just got tighter and tighter with my Target Chevy.  Just couldn’t roll through the center quite as quick as we needed to.  We were six hundredths off from making the final cut.  It just shows how competitive these teams are and drivers are that it is so close.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BAD BOY BUGGIES/REALTREE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 26TH

WHAT WAS YOUR ASSESSMENT OF QUALIFYING TODAY? 
“Just if somebody got cleared in front of me on our money lap we ran our fast lap was our second lap and the No. 83 pulled up in front of us.  That is part of it.  We thought we had a big track and he was getting up to speed and I had to pass him off of (turn) two and into (turn) three.  Disappointing I feel like we could have been a little further up, but we will just have to learn from it and keep going.”