NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 4, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO 24 AXALTA COATING SYSTEMS CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed racing at Daytona, his bubble position for the Chase, looking ahead to other races and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THE ADVANTAGE OF STARTING THE RACE AT CHICAGOLAND IS AND IF THERE IS AN ADVANTAGE?
“I think the only advantage is if your 1.5 mile program is really strong and if that has been a really good track for you in the past.”
 
HOW ABOUT FOR YOU?
“It’s been an okay track for us.  We actually were running really well there last year when we had the trouble that we ran into with the throttle.  But I am very encouraged by how well we ran last weekend at Kentucky, and I think our 1.5 mile program is actually pretty strong this year.  So, first we have to get in the Chase, and then we can start worrying about how good we are going to be in Chicago.”
 
WHAT KIND OF RACE ARE YOU EXPECTING HERE THIS WEEKEND?
“Well we know the temperatures here are going to be warm so certainly you are going to slip and slide around a little bit more than what we did here in February.  Other than that I think we have just gotten more laps and experience with this car in the draft between the Daytona race, Talladega race, and I feel that we have all just gotten more comfortable and are wanting to get more aggressive out there.  I am not sure to be honest with you until we get out there.”
 
YOU ARE 12TH RIGHT NOW AND SITTING ON THE BUBBLE, SO HOW MUCH DOES THE REALITY SET IN THAT YOU STILL HAVE SOME WORK TO DO?
“You know, we have just had such an inconsistent year and so many crazy things thrown at us that I am impressed that we are 12th, and I am pretty happy with that to be honest with you.  I feel like we have so much more potential that if we just live up to our potential that there is no doubt that we can get in the top-10.
 
“Every year we see where those positions eight through 14 or 15 are just crazy swapping every single weekend. So we just have to go out there and focus, do our job – do it well, and get to the tracks like New Hampshire that are coming up.  We also need to do well at some of these other tracks that are coming up, and get some great finishes and make sure that we do that.”
 
BEING IN THE POSTION YOU ARE IN, DOES IT MAKE IT TOUGH TO SET IT ON KILL AND GO FOR THOSE?
“No, I feel that is pretty much where we are and I would rather be here honestly than maybe eighth.  I feel at eighth you can be a little too conservative and trying to maintain in that top-10. For us, we are so tight among us…..ninth, and 10th, and further back – we don’t have any choice but to go out there and go hard and be aggressive.”
 
REGARDING COMING UP ON THE 20TH RACE AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY AFTER YOU GOT THE FIRST WIN AND BEING FROM THERE
“You know, it’s hard to believe that it’s been that long and that really blows me away.  As a kid growing up, before I even moved to Indiana, Indianapolis Motor Speedway was very special to me.  I had always dreamed of racing there and to finally get that opportunity to do it there in 1994 in that first Cup race was a dream come true.  I had never even imagined winning it and now we have won three more times since then.  I love going there.  I love the fans, I love the atmosphere, I love the track, and I just love everything about it.”
 
GIVEN WHERE YOU ARE IN THE POINTS AND IF IT COMES DOWN TO THE LAST LAP, DO YOU ALMOST HAVE TO TAKE A DECENT FINISH OVER GOING FOR THE WIN?
“The first thing you have to do is to survive here.  You have to get to the final laps, which is not an easy thing to do.  We are going to look at where we qualify, we will base our strategy on that as well as how things went the last time we were here, and that is how we are going to run this race. We are just going to have to come with the best strategy that is going to get us a win and get us a good finish.  If we are in the closing laps of the race and we have a shot at winning it, then we are going to go for it.  You have to go for the win and that’s always the case.”
 
REGARDING HOW TOUGH IT WILL BE ON THE WILD CARD BUBBLE WITH FORMER CHAMPIONS ALL AROUND YOU
“That is true and somebody is going to be out, or actually more than one.  At this point, and I think this is how we race every race and every year, is that we race ourselves.  I try to focus on what our car and what our team is capable of doing, and get the most out of it.  I don’t think we have lived up to our full potential this year and have had a lot of crazy things happen.  I am hoping we can put some of that behind us and really start putting some finishes together like we have the past couple weeks.  If you do that; it takes care of the competition, points, and all those things. That is what I am focused on.”
 
HOW UNIQUE IS NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY AS COMPARED TO OTHER TRACKS THAT WE HEAD TO? “New Hampshire is very flat, but has long straightaways so you carry a lot of speed into the corners.  It’s hard to maintain a lot of speed for such a long, flat corner.  I have always enjoyed New Hampshire although the flat tracks have not always been my favorite types of race tracks growing up.  It’s been one that I have enjoyed and we actually did the tire test there.  We have run well there the last couple of years, so I am certainly excited to get there and optimistic about how we can do.”
 
ARE YOU GOING TO TEST SOMEWHERE BECAUSE OF WHERE YOU ARE IN POINTS?
“I am not, but my team is.  I have three tests planned over the next month or month-and-a-half, so we are going to be testing a lot this summer.”
 
ARE ANY OF THOSE NASCAR TRACKS?
“You know the way it works, it’s all NASCAR tracks and that is just the way that the testing rules are this year.  The way those rules are this year, you have to come together as an organization and decide where you are going to test.  Obviously we get invited to the Goodyear test and if we decide that is going to be beneficial then we usually go.  I think there have been some verification tests that have come up like at Atlanta. I don’t think we are going to be doing that, but we will have a Hendrick car there.  We are looking at test dates and all that right now, and I think they are all NASCAR tracks.”
 
WAS THERE A POINT IN GROWING UP AND RACING THAT YOU FIGURED OUT THAT YOU CAN DO THIS AND GO A LONG WAY?
“No.  I mean every step of the way, you find out and the question gets answered.  I wondered if I had what it took to go to the next level, but I was fortunate that when I got in the car that things went well. I was comfortable, confident, and was obviously fortunate to have good race cars.  The statistics kind of spoke for themselves every step of the way, and on to the next step until I got here.  Until I got that first win in Charlotte, I didn’t know if I had what it took to be in the Cup series.  But that day said a lot to me,  my team, and from that point on – there was no turning back.”
 
REGARDING HIS SON RACING ONE DAY
“You know he is three.  I am sure that both of my kids will get behind the wheel of a race car at some point whether it’s just for fun, a hobby, or something serious and that is up to them as far as their excitement, passion, or work ethic.  If they really want to pursue it at that level, you will know it based on them wanting to get in the car over, and over, and over again.  If that is the case, then absolutely. I have had an amazing experience in racing and why would I not want to share that with them or help my kids have that opportunity?”
 
THIS RACE USED TO BE ALWAYS RUN ON JULY 4TH; WOULD IT MA
KE SENSE TO GO BACK TO THAT?
“Was it always July 4th?”
 
FOR THE FIRST 29 YEARS IT WAS JULY 4TH AND FOR THE LAST 25 YEARS IT’S BEEN WHATEVER THE SATURDAY IS CLOSEST TO IT
“That is interesting and that is a good question.  Good observation.  I guess I didn’t know that.  I think I have raced this race on July 4th but think it was on a Saturday.  (laughs).  So to run it on the Saturday or the weekend makes sense.  But I don’t know.  I think getting into the heads of the fans and the people who would attend this race, and would watch it at home…..that is the research that NASCAR, the tracks, and the media do a much better job of than I do.  That is all that would matter to me is whether the fans would enjoy it being on July 4th.”
 
ARE MID-WEEK RACES SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE FEASIBLE IF THEY HAD IT LIKE ON A WEDNESDAY?
“I would love to see that.  I think when Monday Night Football ends, we should start Monday night racing.  But that is just me.  I have always felt like needed weekday races, but of course I came from Thursday Night Thunder, and Thursday Night Thunder was ridiculously successful back in the day.  I am not saying we need to do it every week, but if we could find the right week in the schedule and mix it up, make it special, and make it make sense for the fans at home as well as the ones that could attend then I think it would be awesome.  I think July 4th might make sense because everybody is off on that day and looking for something to do.  Of course, we are not off, but I think that is why it could work.
 
“It seems like every time I talk to NASCAR about doing a weekly race or one mid-week, they say ‘oh well if you do it on this day you won’t get as many people coming to the track, so the track suffers, and if you do it on this day then maybe the track does well but then the people at home won’t watch it because of this’, so it always seems to be some kind of obstacle.  But the fourth makes the most sense.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 4, 2013
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON NO. 48 LOWE’S DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media today at Daytona International Speedway and discussed what it will take to win this weekend and become the first driver in 31 years to sweep Daytona in the same season, last weekend’s race at Kentucky and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT COMING BACK TO DAYTONA AFTER YOUR DAYTONA 500 VICTORY IN FEBRUARY:
“Yeah, I’m excited to be back.  I have fond memories of dancing around like fools doing the Harlem Shake out on the front stretch, even watching Jayson Werth and Willie Robertson from Duck Commander wrestling outside my motorhome once everything had thinned out.  I came back and looked outside my bus and I’m like ‘that’s where those goons were wrestling.’ Can’t help but think of our good times out there on the front stretch.  So excited to be back.  Our restrictor plate program has been very strong as always.  I think that I’ve done a nice job with this rules package to race for track position, maintain track position and put ourselves in position to win.  Clearly did that with the (Daytona) 500 and then in Talladega we had an awesome weekend too and ran up front.  Starting the last lap I really felt like we had a chance to win.  Then the Front Row guys they came blowing through and won there.  I felt like we were in a very good position starting the last lap of the race.  Excited to be back and look forward to some fun Saturday night.”
 
LET’S DISCUSS THIS RESTART THING.  WHAT IS GOING ON THERE?  THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF TIMES WHERE YOU HAVE HAD ISSUES AND SEEM EXTREMELY CONFUSED WITH THE RULE.  HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND IT AND WHERE DO YOU STAND RIGHT NOW WITH YOUR FRUSTRATION WITH THAT?
“Yeah, there are a couple of bad restarts that have been highlighted and a focal point here of late.  There are a lot of other great restarts that have happened; a lot of other great opportunities to win races and lead laps and pull all that off.  I know the rule.  I feel like I’m maybe a little focused on the way the rule reads exactly and paying maybe too close of attention to that.  Maybe I should lighten up and loosen up on the way some restart and then certainly the way I do.  There are a lot of restarts, especially during the Kentucky race that I brought down that I feel like a good citizen, a good student in doing exactly what I’m supposed to.  There are other times when I don’t feel that exactly happens and that it’s not called on or viewed from the tower as kind of the rule reads.  At the end of the day I’m just going to lighten up on how I think about it and use that zone and that area regardless of the way the rule reads to get an advantage and worry about myself.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CHANCE BOTH YOU AND DANICA (PATRICK) HAVE OF DOING AS WELL THIS WEEKEND AS YOU DID IN FEBRUARY CONSIDERING THIS IS A 400 MILE NIGHT RACE?
“Yeah, I really feel like we have a great chance to come here and win again. The rules are the same so from a car stand point our race car that we won with is out in the parking lot basically at Daytona USA.  Outside of that not a lot has changed.  I feel like the speed in our race car and what we need there from a mechanical stand point is there.  Then it is just down to racing luck and how that plays out.  Plate racing we all know the odds there.  It’s tough to get it right that is probably why that stat is in existence and someone hasn’t won the 500 and the 400 in the same year. I feel we will have a great chance to do it and I expect to run up front all night long and be a factor and hopefully have racing luck go our way.  As far as Danica (Patrick), if she did it in the spring or did it here in February she can do it again without a doubt.  I think these tracks suit her style.  She had a lot of comfort in running flat out and running side-by-side in a restrictor plate situation.  She should be very competitive.”
 
IT’S BEEN 31 YEARS SINCE ANYBODY HAS SWEPT BOTH RACES HERE AT DAYTONA.  WHY IS THAT SO DIFFICULT DO YOU FEEL?  IN GENERAL IS IT THE RANDOMNESS OF THE RACING HERE OR WHY IS IT SO HARD TO DO THAT?
“Have plates been on for 31 years too?  Is that pre-plates?”
 
YES.
“I mean with restrictor plate racing we know the packs that we run in and the wrecks that we cause, but if that number goes back prior to plates being on I don’t really know.”
 
ONLY FIVE YEARS BEFORE PLATES:
“Okay, in the past I could say in my early years racing here the 500 cool temperatures, track had a lot of grip; people are a little more relaxed for a 500 mile race and trying to get to the end.  When you came back for this event the track had so much less grip, much hotter conditions, there is just more urgency to lead and be up front that I feel there is just more energy and more opportunities to make mistakes in the July race than in the February race.  Due to track conditions and also everybody is just charged up for a night race, fourth of July and all those things.”    
 
HOW DO YOU LOOK AT RESTARTS IN GENERAL?  SINCE DOVER HAVE YOU REVIEWED TAPE AT ALL? BIG PICTURE HOW DO YOU LOOK AT IT AND HOW DO YOU INTERPRET IT?  WHAT ARE YOU DOING SO IT DOESN’T HAPPEN TO YOU AGAIN?
“Well learn from mistakes for starters and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how I interpret the rule it’s how it’s enforced.  That is the thing that I’m trying to focus on now.  It doesn’t matter how I read it, what I think.  Clearly the way I’ve felt a few things have gone are different than the way it’s enforced.  The way it’s enforced is all that matters.  That is where I’m focusing now.”
 
IS IT POSSIBLE AT A PLATE RACE TRACK TO LEARN FROM WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IN THE PAST AND PUT A MOVE IN YOUR HIP POCKET?  OR IS IT ALL JUST SO UNPREDICTABLE NONE OF THAT MATTERS?
“It is really unpredictable for sure.  The thing that makes it so tough to consistently work on time and time again is most passes if not all you don’t do on your own.  You might see the opportunity, but you need to have maybe let off the gas or drug the brake to back up to the car behind you to get the run at the right time to take advantage of that hole that opens up or what you see is going to happen.  That is tough to do.  That is the hard thing.  Then sometimes you make that move and you get out there and you look in the mirror and the cars behind you didn’t agree with the move you made and you’re a sitting duck.  You might get along side of the car you are trying to pass, but they have all stayed in the bottom lane and now you are dropping like a rock.  That is the part that makes it so tough is one week, actually one lap, during the course of the race everybody is trying to pass and do what they can.  Not every one of them work out.  You just kind of play the numbers.  You keep trying and trying and try to show… I was taught by Jeff (Gordon) show that you are going to complete the pass.  Make the pass and the effort in the right spot at the right time and people will follow.  You have to show people and build that trust and rapport that you are going to make the right move here that is not only going to work for you, but for the guys behind you.  If you get a little too narrow minded and just worried about a single car pass a lot of times that will come back to bite you.  Especially if we are chasing the yellow line around the track, usually you can defend and hang on the yellow line.  I lost a (Daytona) 500 here, I can’t remember the year, but coming down the back straightaway I thought I was in a great position.  Pulled out
going into turn three pulled out to the outside and thought everybody would follow me because it was the last lap.  It was way too early.  If I had waited until off of (turn) four I think people would have gone with me.  I just went too early.  They stayed in line and I came back by in seventh or eighth.”
 
IT’S NOT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU WOULD TRY IN AN EARLIER RACE THAT WAS JUST BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE RACE HAD GONE:
“Just the way it worked out.  You are thinking about yourself.  Well, the guy behind me is like ‘well I’m going to push you to the lead and then it’s you and I stuck in the outside lane dropping like a rock.  Why am I going to do that?’  You need to have a vision in some respects where why would somebody want to follow you, why are they going to work with you.   If you have from turn three to the finish line that is a long gap.  You need to wait until you get over here where it’s a little shorter distance.”
 
AFTER THE RACE LAST WEEK IN THE GARAGE AREA THERE WAS TALK THAT THE RESTARTS ARE STARTING TO GET IN YOUR HEAD. IS IT EASY TO NOT LET IT GET INTO YOUR HEAD AFTER THAT RULE CAME DOWN THAT SORT OF BIT YOU?  IS THAT NOT PART OF IT THAT YOU HAVE STARTED TO LET IT GET IN YOUR HEAD?
 “I’m not smart enough to let it get in my head.  So we are fine there.  There is not much between these ears (laughs).”
 
IT WASN’T ABOUT THE FACT THAT SORT OF BIT YOU BEFORE AND YOU WERE OVER THINKING IT?  WAS IT JUST THAT YOU WERE SORT OF STICKING ON THE RULE AND THIS IS THE RULE I’M GOING TO DO WHAT THE RULE SAYS?
“Yeah, very focused on the rules for sure and in the way they read, expecting things to be officiated that way. Again I’ve made so many mistakes throughout my career and these two restarts look like something, but we all make mistakes out in those race cars every single lap all the time.  Just opportunities learned really the way I’m looking at it.”
 
MATT KENSETH ARE YOU SURPRISED AT HOW HE’S DONE THIS YEAR AND THAT HE IS A CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER SEEING AS HOW HE IS THROWN IN WITH A NEW TEAM?
“No, not at all.  Our sport is really about people and the relationships between driver and a crew chief is really the start of that whole process.  Matt (Kenseth) is awesome.  The guy does a great job driving the car, knows what he is looking for, doesn’t let things rattle him and can withstand pressure.  He can do it all.  He really does a great job.  Dave’s (Rogers) has been coming along as a crew chief, growing, learning very smart guy, very well respected guy in the garage area.  The pairing of those two I think the garage area took notice when Matt made the decision to leave and then who he was paired with I think everybody felt they are going to have their hands full over the course of the year with the No. 20 car and that has been the case for sure.”
 
AS WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE 20TH BRICKYARD 400 IN A FEW WEEKS.  YOU ARE GOING BACK AS A FOUR-TIME AND DEFENDING RACE WINNER THERE.  WHAT DOES INDIANAPOLIS STILL MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?
“To me on a personal level I just recall sitting on the couch with my dad and my grandfather watching the Indy 500.  I can remember a variety of races and instance that took place from watching myself.  I remember my grandfather’s stories and talking about his heroes that raced on that track and his opinions of it.  I remember that childhood aspect and how cool that track was.  Truthfully through my upbringing in off road racing with Rick Mears and Robby Gordon coming from my world and going into IndyCar that is the route that I wanted to pursue and the road I wanted to go down. Clearly things took a much different turn as I got older and my professional career developed.  Now to go there and have won at that track four times it’s insane.  One of my heroes with Rick Mears in that situation it’s been a wild experience and a very rewarding experience at that race track. It’s very special to win here in Daytona, I mean it is.  It takes others on the track with the draft and how you work that and you almost want to thank other drivers and it’s often done in Victory Lane.  I wouldn’t have been able to win the race if so and so didn’t push me or help me, but at Indy it’s a different game.
 
“The track is so technical and so hard to drive.  It took me a long time to figure it out.  Once I figured out the line and how to drive it we have had great success there.  With that the challenge that goes with it there is huge reward when you are able to win.  I have been able to experience that a few times and it’s really cool.”  
 
YOU HAVE WON A LOT OF RACES, BUT RACES LIKE LAST WEEK DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU LOST THAT YOU GAVE IT AWAY? CAN YOU BE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY INSIDE THAT CAR?
“At times I mean all drivers can be their own worst enemy.  I feel like that one in Kentucky is definitely on me.  I’m the guy behind the wheel at the controls.  We went down into turn one and I’m not exactly sure I haven’t seen the video, but we were three-wide going in the corner.  The air affected my car and I got turned around.  If I didn’t spin there I really feel like regardless of the restart not being a pretty one for whatever reason.  I still had a very good opportunity to win the race.  I feel like our car was strong enough if I came out of there in second or third I feel like I had enough laps to get up there and take the lead again.  I hate that really what went on in turn one in two and the spin.  That is really, I know a lot of people had talked about other issues, but for me the bottom line is getting turned around. If we didn’t get turned around in (turns) one and two I still think we could have won.  I’m going to make sure we can get through (turns) one and two and not spin out that is really the ultimate thing.”
 
YOU ARE A VERY LAID BACK KIND OF GUY AND VERY SELDOM GET REALLY FRUSTRATED.  HOW DO YOU KIND OF GET BEYOND THAT LAST WEEK AND WHAT DO YOU DO TO PUT THAT BEHIND YOU OR DO YOU USE THAT AS FUEL GOING FORWARD?
“No, it might seem that I’m real calm all the time, but I think all drivers leave the track frustrated with something.  A missed opportunity, car didn’t perform all weekend or car didn’t respond.  There are pit calls, there are driver mistakes, speeding penalties.  I rarely leave the track and not go home in deep thought thinking about what I could have done differently.  They sting a bit more when you lead all those laps and don’t leave with the trophy there is no doubt about it.  But I’ve been doing this long enough to know how to shrug that stuff off, focus on what is important and what I can learn from and then go to the next race.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 4, 2013
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway and discussed her success in the Daytona 500 in February, if she has a plan for the last lap of this weekend’s 400-mile race and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS COMING BACK TO DAYTONA:
“Happy 4th of July.  We had the pole here in Daytona and started the year off that way.  It would be nice to start the second half of the year off the same way.  At the end of the day it’s not the most important thing, but it sure is nice to start up front.  Obviously we don’t have our Daytona car here, but we have our back-up and that tested really well.  We nearly ran that anyway.  It should be good still.”
 
CAN YOU DO THE SAME THING HERE SATURDAY NIGHT THAT YOU DID IN THE DAYTONA 500?  HOW MUCH DOES A 500 MILE RACE IN THE WINTER TIME AND THE DAYTIME HERE TRANSLATE TO A 400 MILE RACE IN THE SUMMER TIME AT NIGHT BOTH WITH THE CAR AND THE SET-UP AND WITH YOU AND THE SKILLS YOU HAVE LEARNED AT DAYTONA SO FAR?
“To answer your first question can I do the same thing yeah I don’t get worse as the year goes on.  Especially in the early years of running in a new series, so presumably I should hopefully have better experience at doing it especially having done Talladega too.  It’s definitely possible.  The difference you know the cars are well stuck here.  I feel like it’s not going to be worlds of difference.  It’s maybe a little less single file just because we have been in the car all year and people don’t feel the need to just kind of get on with the season, get it started and start the year off well.  As opposed to maybe a little more antsy-ness, a little more comfort in the car.  You could see some more people a little bit more prepared to pass and know how to do it a little easier than at the start of the year.  It should be very similar in the end.”
 
DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE IDEA NOW HOW TO CLOSE THE DEAL AT THE END OF THE RACE? OR IS IT STILL HELTER SKELTER?
“I think it is still a little bit of helter skelter.  Right after the race I said I wish I would have had a plan, but then I got done with it and I talked to Tony (Stewart) afterwards.  He said you probably had more to lose than you had to gain by trying something at the end.  He said you could have just as well of been 20th in the end as opposed to where you did finish.  You probably had more to lose so he thought I made the right decision on what I did.  After I said good job to Jimmie (Johnson) after he won.  I had said that I wished I knew what to do better.  He said that the two times that he has won now at Daytona were the two times he didn’t have any kind of plan.  I suppose it is about being at the right place at the right time and having the right people behind you.  There is luck that plays into it that way.  Although a lot of times good drivers win, so you still need to know what to do.  Probably more than anything it just means have a little bit of experience so that you can handle whatever situation comes up best.
 
“Maybe if I would have seen that Dale (Earnhardt, Jr.) was dropping back I would have just drug the brake to stay back to him.  Maybe it wouldn’t have necessarily been about trying something other than just making sure that I wasn’t going to get a run. Nobody was going to get a run on me maybe.  Just being kind of ready in the moments of what’s going on.”
 
IF THE SAME SITUATION DID PRESENT ITSELF THIS TIME DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN THE SAME MINDSET OR IS THERE A DIFFERENT MINDSET NOW THAT YOU’VE GOTTEN THAT FINISH.  COULD YOU RISK MORE TO GO FOR SOMETHING EVEN IF YOU DID DROP?
“No, I think that is a really good question.  I think that is a good point.  On these speedway races there is definitely a feeling of, I feel like over time, especially the longer you have been in them.  It’s like to go for it.  I think that you have to start to take a chance to try and put yourself in a position to win.  I don’t feel like I would want to just settle for the same thing.  Although a top-10 finish is always good to have.  I think that in the long run it will serve you better to try things.  It will show other drivers that you are willing to do it.  That when the time comes maybe next time or the time after or the time after all of a sudden then you’ve got a little bit of a better trust and following of other drivers that you want to win.  Every driver wants to follow someone who wants to go for the win.”
 
DO YOU COME IN HERE WITH ANY MOMENTUM HAVING FINISHED ON THE LEAD LAP YOUR LAST FOUR RACES? YOU GUYS TALKED ABOUT SMALL STEPS AT THE START OF THE YEAR.  IS THAT A STEP?
“Yeah, I mean it is getting better.  Do I wish it would get better faster?  For sure, I mean everybody that is not running in the top 10 every weekend wishes it would get better faster.  Its small steps and part of it is being a rookie and learning.  Part of it is just making changes and making the car better or making things better internally so that you can go faster.  Faster cars all that kind of stuff, so there is a lot more that plays into it than just getting experience.  Through getting experience on the track I’m also getting experience and understanding how a team works and giving my input on how I think it could get better.”
 
ON THE LAST LAP OF THE DAYTONA 500 YOU WERE RUNNING THIRD. WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS AT THAT POINT?
“I think it was pretty much what I was thinking at the last lap was like ‘come on, come on boys keep it flat, don’t lift, nobody lift.’  The thing that threw me off was that, and this is probably some of the inexperience’s that, I was flat out.  I was hoping they were too, but the reason that allowed me to be able to go flat out and feel like we were going faster and potentially pulling away was because Dale (Earnhardt, Jr.) was dropping back.  Whenever you lose the push behind you, you need to make up for it in throttle.  I know better now.  I was thinking ‘man I feel like we are driving away from them right now.’ But that really wasn’t the case.  I was just thinking ‘let’s hold onto this’ because a top three would have been great.  It ended up being at top 10 which is till good, but I was just thinking let’s just hang onto this and let’s finish it off like this.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT RESTARTS AND HOW YOU WERE WHEN YOU FRIST CAME TO CUP COMPARED TO INDY CAR AND WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED?
“As far as me and the restarts go, I feel like they are getting better and better; and a lot of it has to do with the car sometimes if it’s really tight or really loose on a restart, there is just nothing you can do about it. You’re just hanging on. So, you tend to not have as good a restart in those situations. But there are other ones where, man; I’ve passed five cars and having awesome restarts.  So I feel like I’m actually having those days now. So, that’s very important, especially this year with how important track position has been. That’s where you can make up the most amount of ground. It’s challenging to pass. It’s really tough to pass. So, that’s good.
 
“Now, the difference between IndyCar and NASCAR starts are totally different. I think it’s hard for people to understand just how quickly IndyCar’s accelerate. In NASCAR, it’s really just about Turn 1. In IndyCar it’s just about who gets flat first. That’s the whole restart. It’s who can get flat first and anticipate that. So, even jumping the start on some; there’s a lot of jumping the start that goes on in IndyCar I feel like. Where in NASCAR, there is
a penalty for it. But it’s been this way for a long time, so it’s a much more organized start and I feel like it leads to a little bit more of kind of putting yourself in the right place at the right time and understanding how each lane works and where you might need to go. Like sometimes at a track, the outside lane is really where you want to be and sometimes it’s the inside. So, hoping to get in the right line. But in IndyCar it gets a lot more spread out a lot quicker and it all happens right on the initial start when the green comes out or as I said, maybe just before.”
 
WHEN YOU WERE HERE IN FEBRUARY, THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH RICKY STENHOUSE, JR.  ARE YOU HAPPY THE HOOPLA HAS DIED DOWN AND HOW DO YOU THINK IT IS GOING AS FAR AS WHETHER YOU HAVE DEFENDED HIM (TALLADEGA).
“I don’t think there have ever been any scenarios where we’ve been put in a position to defend either one of us or say anything. The only incident we had was at Charlotte during the Coke 600. Honestly, I don’t really get that many questions about him. More than anything, you are one of the first kind of questions I’ve had where somebody is asking how it’s going and how it’s been going in the media and things like that. I don’t really get asked about it a lot. For the most part, I’m the one who has stories that I say, ‘Oh, Ricky and I were talking about this,’ but, nobody really asks me specific questions about him. I guess I would say that it’s going fine and I don’t really have to answer a lot of questions about it.”
 
IS THERE ANY DISAPPOINTMENT ABOUT NOT RUNNING THE NATIONWIDE RACE THIS WEEKEND?
“Not necessarily. I will always run it if I can. But if I don’t, it’s okay too. I think that it’s about getting the right funding and getting it all together. To be honest, our focus as a team was put on running Watkins Glen, which comes after this one. So, that’s kind of where we put our efforts to get the funding to run. So, I understand that this one came second and it didn’t get done because Watkins Glen is not done. So, I’m okay.”
 
WITH YOUR NATIONWIDE SUCCESS HERE AND HOW YOU RAN IN FEBRUARY WITH WINNING THE POLE, HAVE YOU FOUND THAT YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL HUNGER TO WIN AT DAYTONA?
“I would say that it came more in Nationwide because it was the best opportunities to win.  Tony Eury Jr., just like Tony Gibson builds very good speedway cars and I felt like we had a real chance to win on the speedways. As a driver, if I’m going to pick a race to win, of course I want to win the Daytona 500. That’s a huge one. But as a driver, you want to win the challenging driver tracks. You want to win at places like Bristol or Darlington or places that are more known as driving tracks. So I wouldn’t say I’ve marked it down. No. But I haven’t marked any one of them off. So, I’ll take any one I can get.”
 
LAST WEEK JIMMIE JOHNSON SPUN OUT AND WAS REALLY TICKED OFF ON THE RADIO
“But he held on so good, didn’t he. Oh, that was really impressive.”
 
AND THAT’S WHAT I WAS GOING TO ASK ABOUT. HE CAME BACK AND STILL GOT A TOP 10. HAVE YOU EVER DRIVING TICKED OFF IN THE CAR AND DID IT HELP YOU AT ALL?
“Oddly enough, it does help you. When you’re mad, you just get extra aggressive and get on a mission. It can help. And you wonder to yourself, why can’t I just do that all the time? But every now and again, a certain emotion bubbles inside of you and it makes for a different result or different racing on some levels. And a lot of times it happens when you’re running better and you get taken out of that position. So, those are also days where you probably have better cars to do it, too. I wouldn’t say that I’m running 26th and something happens and I end up 30th and I’m like oh, my! I can’t believe it. But, on those days where you really get all that mad.
 
“But when you get knocked out of being up front, you’re probably there because you have a good car and it makes it more possible to get up there. It doesn’t, by any means, make it easy. And him (Jimmie Johnson) coming from the back of the field to 9th at the end was pretty impressive. But you do tend to find a little extra.”
 
WHEN YOU GET CRITICISM, HOW DO YOU SEPARATE THE CONSTRUCTIVE FROM THE SNIPING? DO THOSE LINES EVER BLUR? IS THERE ANY EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING THAT’S BEEN SAID EITHER ABOUT YOU OR TO YOU THAT MIGHT HAVE SOUNDED LIKE SNIPING BUT THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE ACTUALLY TAKEN AS CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ALONG THE WAY?
“I think that if there is ever constructive criticism that comes, it tends to come on a one-on-one basis from a driver or a crew chief or something like that. But it tends to come from a driver. And they’ll talk to you one on one. It’s happened a few times; whether it be on how you handle lapped traffic or how you handle running with somebody. It just tends to be a one on one situation in a conversation. Anything beyond that it just conversation.”

Storied Venue to Host Close Championship Battle and Round Two of 2013 Fuzzy’s Triple Crown
 
LONG POND, Penn. (July 3, 2013) – As the second half of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season kicks into high gear, the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers and teams prepare for a trip to the Pocono Mountains to take on the ‘Tricky Triangle’ known as Pocono Raceway.
 
Although none of the current Chevrolet IndyCar Twin Turbo V6-powered drivers have ever competed on the 2.5-mile three-turn track, it is not the first time that Indy cars have raced at the unique facility; having competed at the storied venue from 1971 to 1989.  This year the IZOD IndyCar Series brings back the sights and sounds of Indy car racing with high stakes on the line, and a few twists thrown in for fans to enjoy.
 
Not only is there a close championship battle being waged that has Team Chevy drivers occupying the top-five positions in the order led by Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, but once again the track will play host to one of the legs of the prestigious Triple Crown.
 
With nine races remaining in the season, Castroneves leads the standings with Andretti Autosports teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe close behind.  Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan sits in fifth position, still within striking distance of the championship lead.
 
Back in the day, the Triple Crown contests included 500-mile races at Indianapolis, Pocono and Ontario, Calif. from 1971 to 1980, and from 1981 to 1989 at Indy, Pocono and Michigan.  This season the three-race challenge returns with 1 million dollars up for grabs for the driver that can take home all  three victories at Indy, Pocono and California (Auto Club Speedway).  Chevrolet driver Kanaan is the only driver who can complete the trifecta after the popular Brazilian-born driver took his No. 11 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Victory Lane in May, 2013 to claim his first Indy 500 win.
 
“Team Chevy rolls into the Pocono Mountains this weekend for the return of IndyCar racing on ‘The Tricky Triangle’,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series. “The learning curve will be steep, but our technical partners, teams and drivers have been doing their homework in advance to get acclimated to this unique circuit which blends very fast speedway characteristics with three unique turns that require individual technique to get through quickest.   We hope to carry the momentum of the previous weeks into Pocono Raceway and continue the quest for the championships by focusing on each race as a must win situation.  The Chevrolet IndyCar Twin Turbo V6 is ready to do battle and put our Chevy drivers in a position to win at this special venue.”
 
This week the IZOD IndyCar Series announced another competitive element to put more excitement in the mix.  Not only did the famous Indianapolis 500 start three abreast, but this weekend’s race at Pocono and the third leg of the Triple Crown at Auto Club Speedway will also start in the famed three-wide formation.
 
Before heading to their seats for all of the on-track action, fans can stop at the Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Fest area at Pocono Raceway.  In addition to registering for a free Chevy IndyCar t-shirt, posing for a photo in the display, interactive games for fans of all ages; fans can see several of the great vehicles from the Chevrolet line-up including Malibu, Impala, Sonic RS, Traverse, Camaro ZL1 Convertible, Volt, Spark and the all-new 2014 Silverado. The display will be open Saturday, July 6th: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., and Sunday, July 7th: 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
 
In addition, fans can see live on-stage several Team Chevy IndyCar drivers including Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and E.J. Viso on Saturday at 3:00 PM followed by Tony Kanaan at 4:40 PM and on Sunday Ed Carpenter will be in the display at 9:45 AM.
 
The 160 lap/400 mile challenge is scheduled for Sunday, July 7th at the three-turn Pocono Raceway. The race will be televised live at 12:00 p.m. (ET) ABC and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211, www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 App for most smartphones and tablets.
 
 
CHEVROLET IN THE IZOD INDYCAR SERIES – FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT:
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, POINTS LEADER (ONE 2013 WIN):
“I always like going to new tracks and I’m really looking forward to racing at Pocono this weekend. The track has so much history and it’s great that IndyCar is back at Pocono. We’re also back racing the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet this weekend and we learned a few things in the test at Pocono last week and we’ll get a chance to learn even more Thursday at the series open test. We need to make sure we keep the lead in the championship coming out of this weekend and we’re happy we have a guy like Rick Mears, who’s had so much success at Pocono in the past, in our corner. With the long straightaway and the unique three corners at Pocono, it’s going to be an awesome race for the fans to watch on Sunday.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, 2nd IN STANDINGS (TWO 2013 WINS):
“Racing 400 miles at Pocono will be a new challenge for every team and driver in the series, which really makes things interesting. No one really knows what to expect. We have a different tire compound and downforce package compared to what we tested last week, so I’m not quite sure what we’ll have to deal with this weekend. It’s a clean sheet of paper for everyone and I think that bodes well for the No. 1 DHL team. 

“Looking ahead we have an exciting week and a half coming up with the Pocono race, Turbo movie premier in New York (City), Toronto race week and then the ESPY awards in LA.  I want to thank all the fans, DHL, Sun Drop and Chevy for their votes and support.”

MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, 3rd IN STANDINGS:
“The last three races have been strong for the RC Cola Chevy, but we maybe gave up a couple of wins when it came down to it. Pocono is basically my home town, so it would be an awesome place to close the gap to the points lead. I think we can have the car to do it – we just need to execute.”
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, 4th IN STANDINGS (THREE 2013 WINS):
“Everybody is really excited to get to Pocono. First of all, there’s a lot of history there and we love going to tracks with history. Secondly, it’s a new challenge for everyone and I think every team believes that they will be the ones to get the jump on the field at a new venue. Of course, only one of us can be right! But the test went well, I think the racing is going to be just like Indy, and in case you missed it that race was nuts! We’ve had good momentum on the GoDaddy Chevy the last three weeks, obviously capped off with the Iowa win last race. The big thing for us is to keep that trend going, not only to keep us in the title fight but also to have the confidence high heading into Toronto!”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 SUNOCO “TURBO” KV RACING TECHNOLOGY – SH RACING CHEVROLET, 5th IN STANDINGS (ONE 2013 WIN):
“Pocono will be the third of four races (Mid-Ohio fourth) I will run in the Sunoco “Turbo” car and after the success we have had in the first two with them, finishing on the podium at both Texas and Iowa, I really want to keep that momentum going at Pocono and hopefully do even better. You know, this is also the second leg of the Fuzzy’s Triple Crown and because of the Indy 500 win I am the only driver with a chance to win all three events (Fontana third).  I have never raced at Pocono Raceway, but we know we had a good car at Indy and had a good test at Pocono a few days ago.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 10th IN STANDINGS:
“W
e had a good test with the Verizon car at Pocono last week and we look forward to getting some more time on track this week before the race on Sunday. Pocono is a pretty interesting track with the tri-oval and the unique and separate corners. You have to make some decisions on how you set up the car and how it handles through the three turns. It will be good to spend the day running the Verizon Chevrolet at the IndyCar open test on Thursday so we look at all of our options heading into race weekend. Hopefully we’ll get a good crowd this weekend because I know we’ll put on a good show over the 400 miles of racing on Sunday.”

E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET, 11th IN STANDINGS:
“Heading back to a 2.5-mile oval, it’s something that I can see is going to be good. With the pace we had during the (Indianapolis) 500 – it was awesome; going back to a long track is going to work in our favor. Two weeks ago at Iowa, practice wasn’t the best for me as we experienced some issues with the engine, but I have a lot of confidence in the Chevrolet team and that they already have my engine back up to speed. I can’t wait to have another weekend, and Pocono, I think, is going to be an amazing race.” 

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, 13th IN STANDINGS:
“A lot of NASCAR tracks don’t seem like they would make a good IndyCar track, but that’s not the case at Pocono.  I am really happy that Brandon and Nick (Igdalsky) worked out a deal with IndyCar to get us back there. I would like to see the schedule be a little more balanced, say 50-50 (ovals, road and street courses), and I think the series would like to see that too. But, it is a matter of finding more good partners like what we have found here at Pocono to put them (ovals) on the schedule. We can’t just add them if they are not going to be quality races and not promoted properly. I think you’ll see the number grow, but it’s not going to happen overnight.  Turn 1 is the really tricky part of the lap and that’s the hard corner to get right without messing up the other two. The challenge of doing something new.  Everybody came here with a set-up on the car that we thought that would work, but, with having no experience here and being how unique the track is, you are just guessing on the car. We don’t go to too many new tracks, so it’s fun trying to figure out what the car needs. Every corner offers a different challenges, especially Turn 1. It’s a beast! It’s a monster of a corner.”

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, 18th IN STANDINGS:
“I’m pretty excited to be going to Pocono. It’s a brand new track for everybody and it should be a lot of fun driving there. We tested there last week which was good. I’m sure the Chevy power is going to show really strong at this track and the team has been working really hard, so hopefully we’ll have a good result.”

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, 21st IN STANDINGS:
“I am really looking forward to running at Pocono this weekend. It’s a really different oval and I am up for the challenge. We have had a tough season so far, so I am looking to get back up front this week.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO.  6 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, 23rd IN STANDINGS:

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET, 28th IN STANDINGS:
“It will be a busy weekend between racing the National Guard Chevrolet at Pocono and the Level 5 car at Lime Rock. It’s great that Panther is giving me the opportunity to race at Pocono even though I won’t be here Saturday for practice and qualifying. Fortunately, I will be able to prepare the car for the race and it was a big bonus having the test day last week and then the open test on Thursday to get as much track time as possible. Last week we spent our time working on our race prep and we worked hard on trying to find something that will get us through the field during the race on Sunday. Pocono’s a big track and it’s a long 400-mile race, so we feel plenty confident even having to start in the back. I know the National Guard crew will work hard, and with all the track time we’ll have on Thursday, we can get to the front.”

TONY GIBSON, CREW CHIEF FOR DANICA PATRICK AND THE NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY’S INTERVIEW: 
 
AMANDA ELLIS:  We’re going to start with Tony Gibson, crew chief the No. 10 Go Daddy Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing and driver Danica Patrick in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  He was born and raised in Daytona Beach, Florida, and earlier this year he led Patrick to her first career pole and an eighth‑place finish in the season‑opening Daytona 500.
 
Tony, growing up in the Daytona Beach area, how special was it to win the pole for the Daytona 500 earlier this year, and what are your goals heading into this weekend’s Coke Zero 400?
 
TONY GIBSON:  Well, it was obviously extremely gratifying to go down there and run well.  To go to your hometown where I grew up and all your friends and family, and to go there and to do something that is pretty amazing, to make history, to just be a part of that is incredible.  It was something that obviously will never be done again, and I feel real fortunate to be a part of that.
 
I’ve got to thank Go Daddy, Danica and Stewart‑Haas Racing and all my guys for sticking through the testing and the building of cars and going and doing all the things it takes to go down there and put those two laps together and make history.  It was pretty crazy, too, with all the media and all the hype going into it, and actually the pressure of actually testing well and going down there and repeating and making it happen, it was a huge relief, but it was also very gratifying and probably ranks up there as probably one of the greatest things I’ve accomplished in my career.
 
Goals for July are the same as they were in February when we went to Daytona:  We want to go down there and we want to make a statement.  We want to try to sit on the pole again, obviously, and this time come up a few spots further up.  We felt like we had a shot to win it, ran in the top three or four all day and had a fast car, and it came down to the last lap and kind of got snookered a little bit there at the end.  But we felt like we were definitely in contention to win it, so we’re going back there with the same mindset, to try to be the fastest car in qualifying and try to close the deal at the end of this thing.
 Q.  With all the spotlight being on you, when you get a good result like a pole and you go through the season and you still have more than average attention being directed to you with Danica, could you kind of explain what that’s like with your team?  Your team gets a little bit more of a microscope than a lot of other teams.
TONY GIBSON:  Yeah, we do, and we knew that going into it.  Most of us on the 10 car, most of my guys were with me when we were with Dale Jr. at DEI, and we’ve been through some of the microscope deal with a high‑profile driver.  So we were kind of used to it.  At least we thought we were.
 
But obviously it’s a little bit more than that with Danica.  The fan base is a little more spread out.  There’s kids and little girls and boys and women and men, and she has a huge fan base now.  You’re dealing with a lot of different folks at the racetrack and talking to different people and things like that.
 
It’s a little different than what we’ve experienced in the past.  So moving forward you want to please everybody.  You want your performance to be good because you don’t want to let your fans down.  You don’t want to let her fans down.  When you’ve got to look a little girl in the eye and she asks you what happened last week or why didn’t Danica win, it’s pretty hard to come up with an answer that’s going to satisfy a little girl.
 
But it’s crazy.  It’s different.  But we approach every week the same.  We want to go in, and we set goals, and we want to do the best we can every week as a team, and we want to build a stronger team and a relationship with Danica because it’s only going to help us down the road.
 
But the demands to perform and run better and to do things like that seem to be a little higher than they were because of the expectations she puts on herself and that the fans want to see her do good.  So that’s a little bit different for us.
 
That’s been a little bit of a struggle for us to get our hands wrapped around and absorbing that and trying to make things ‑‑ try to justify each thing we do and keep ourselves in check, you know.
Q.  And being from the Daytona area, do you believe that there’s anything of a home‑field advantage for a NASCAR team?
TONY GIBSON:  Well, I think there is.  I think for me I have a lot of family down there, a lot of friends, and a lot of history at that place.  And I think it’s kind of like going and playing football or baseball or basketball in your hometown.  You always feel like you’ve got that little ‑‑ you’ve got the eighth man there, and it’s a little bit of a pump‑up and a boost, and knowing that your friends and family are there and rooting for you.  Yeah, I think it’s different, and I think it’s a plus.
Q.  Just want to ask you a couple different things about the organization and such.  Obviously you documented about the early season struggles, but certainly there have been better performances, much more so in the last month or so.  How have things changed?  I know the results maybe at Kentucky weren’t what you guys hoped, but how have things changed and how are things ‑‑ how do you guys feel moving forward compared to maybe earlier in the season?
TONY GIBSON:  Well, I think we’ve definitely made some gains as a company.  We’re nowhere near where we want to be or where we need to be each and every week on every level, from the 39, the 14 or the 10.  I mean, our goals are a little bit less than the other two guys, at least the goals we set for ourselves are a little lower but reachable.  But we have struggled as a company and with the Gen‑6 car, and we’ve worked really hard.  We’ve done a lot of testing here lately, and I think the testing that we’ve done has definitely paid off in her performance.
 
Has it taken us from a 15th‑place organization to a winning organization?  Well, not really.  Dover was a good day and it was a good race for the 14 to win it, but they weren’t the dominant car all day.  They put themselves in a good position.  They were a top‑10 car and put themselves in position to win it and did so.  But the performances have been better, but our expectations and where we need to be is not there yet.
 
But I think the reason that we have been running better is because of the testing and the developing we’ve been trying to do on our 7 posts, our future rigs, and our engineering staff has been working around the clock trying to come up with a solution to what we’ve been fighting with this Gen‑6 car with all three drivers.
 
So I think it’s paid off.  But the bad thing about this is when you pick up two to three steps, they’re still working two, so they’re picking up another one.  So you have to make gains twice as much, twice as fast as your competition just to stay caught up to them like the Gibbs guys seem to be rolling pretty good, so we’re working double time to try to get caught up to them, not so much pass them but just stay caught up.
Q.  And I know you talked about the testing, I know you guys have done three team tests so far this season, the New Hampshire test most recently.  When you’re testing with Danica, is it any different from what you might have done with another driver because of her ‑‑ she doesn’t have as much experience at some of these tracks, and how valuable has that proved to be to have that testing brought back to where you can test at least a few of these Cup trac
ks for somebody like her?
TONY GIBSON:  Yeah, it’s huge.  Any time that we can get to go do a test at the right racetrack on the right tire, even if you’re not on the right tire, but to be at that racetrack that you’re going to compete on is huge.  Any lap behind the wheel of this Gen‑6 car for her is a plus.  You know, it’s definitely been a plus for the seat time side of it.
 
You know, the tests that we have done have been huge, and the biggest thing that’s really helped her is having the data from the other two drivers, the EFI data from the other two drivers as far as breaking traces and throttle traces and steering traces and those things that we really ‑‑ that we can sit down and look at, and she can talk to Stewart or Newman and they can help her if she’s struggling and they can kind of go to some of these racetracks where she hasn’t been.  Some of these tracks she’s never been to in any kind of car.  Having those two guys at a test when we go has been huge for us.
 
And it shows.  I know it doesn’t make us run top 10, but it makes us run 15th to 20th.  That has been huge for her.  That’s been the biggest thing I’d say for us is going to those tests and being able to do that, and if we could do it more, we would, and we go to VIR, we go to Road Atlanta, we go to Nashville, we go to Greenville Pickens, we go anywhere we can go to make laps and learn.  And a lot of these tracks we have ‑‑ even when we go to Nashville, all of our drivers have been there and the Hendrick guys have been there obviously, so we have a lot of data we can look at that helps her on the driving side as well as on the setup side, too.
Q.  You all did the tire test down there at Daytona.  I know they’ve changed the tire setup compared to February.  Do you have any sense of whether that will change in any way the way they race?
TONY GIBSON:  No, it’s not going to make any difference.  Actually the tire when we were on it, we did a lot of drafting.  We did some 20‑lap drafting runs and put the car in several different compromising positions, and everything was good.  But I don’t think any driver there could tell the difference in the tire, and I think that’s what Goodyear wanted to hear.  They didn’t want to hear that they could feel a difference.
 
When we left there, we would have never known that it was a different tire or anything.  I think it’s just a more durable tire, and it’s supposed to be a little bit better for punctures and things like that.
 
I think it’s a plus, and like I said, the good thing is it didn’t change the way the cars drove at all, so I don’t think it’ll change the racing.
Q.  As far as restarts go, we’ve seen a lot of controversy this year on restarts and when people are starting and if people are kind of braking either before or after the zone.  I’m curious as crew chiefs, do you guys look at your own EFI data after a race to see what it says, how fast maybe y’all were going at times prior to restarts to try and figure out what is the best strategy on those?
TONY GIBSON:  We do.  We look at our shifting things that we can do with our transmissions, which is not a whole lot.  NASCAR regulates that pretty good, but there is a few little things we can do ratio‑wise to help that.
 
But on these restarts it depends on ‑‑ these tires sometimes are a little harder than others, and the racetrack, the pavement is different.  So a lot of times you’ll have wheels spin more so than anything to do with the shifting or where the driver fires.  But I think we do work on that when we go test places, we do simulate restarts, but most of that’s working on transmission ratios.
 
The drop from third to fourth, if it needs to be larger or smaller, we work on that for certain tracks.  Dover is one of those odd tracks that has a first‑gear pit road deal and a second‑gear restart gear, so that’s an odd animal, and a lot of guys ‑‑ we’ve always seen it with Jimmie there, that had the issue there at Dover.
 
So we do work on that, and we look at it each and every week.  In our debriefs we talk to the drivers on restarts, how they thought their car did and is there anything we can do to make it better.  So we look at speeds and we look at accelerations and things like that so we can maximize our performance in that area for sure.
Q.  I had a quick question for you here.  This entire season there have been dramatic changes in the weather say from Thursday to Friday and Friday to Saturday and then race day.  How difficult does that make your life getting the cars ready on race day?
TONY GIBSON:  It’s a little bit challenging because the weather is kind of crazy.  Like in Kentucky there, obviously we were supposed to run at night, and everybody was prepared to start in the daytime and the track be tight and then go into the night and it gets freer.  So I think everybody kind of put some adjustability in the car for that, and obviously that didn’t happen.
 
But again, on Sunday the sun would pop in and out and would change the balance of the race car a lot, so that was quite challenging.  But it is; the weather really dictates how our cars drive, not only from the tire side, but the racetrack I think is the biggest player in this deal because obviously what type of asphalt it is.  Like our new paves, it’s a different asphalt mixture than what we’ve seen like at Kentucky when it was paved; it’s a totally different type of asphalt, so the weather affects those tracks differently.
 
So I think when you go to these tracks, whether it’s a new pave or an old surface, the way you approach it are a little bit different.  So it makes a pretty good ‑‑ it’s a balance changer for sure, and it makes it a little more difficult, especially when you’re supposed to run at night and you end up running in the day.  You pull your hair out trying to get it figured out, figure out where you need to be.  It’s a game changer for sure.
Q.  I wondered if you could talk a little bit, I know that with a rookie driver there is a big learning curve, especially early in the season.  How big a boost is it for you guys morale‑wise to return to Daytona where you did have such a high and things did go so well?
TONY GIBSON:  Well, I think it’s obviously a track that we feel like we can win at.  I feel like that’s right in Danica’s wheelhouse there.  She likes the drafting.  She likes the high speeds, and I think most of that comes from the IndyCar side of it.
 
So yeah, it’s exciting for us.  We went to Daytona ‑‑ and before when she was running the Nationwide car, she was really good at the restrictor plate stuff with the drafting and the air and that kind of deal.  So we were pretty excited for going into this year, and then when we went to Daytona and tested, we knew that we were going to be fairly strong down there.
 
So it’s exciting for us, and we’re working really hard.  We work hard every week, but when it comes to the restrictor plate racing, especially going to Daytona, we go all out.  We put every little thing we can into those cars, because we know that that’s a track that we can win at and we can really do some damage, on the good side.
 
But we’re pretty excited about going to these restrictor plate races.
Q.  Is it something you can even feel the excitement in the shop as you get ready to head down here?
TONY GIBSON:  Yeah, you can feel the excitement in the shop.  The guys are just rubbing and detailing and they’re pumped up and they’re excited. We have our trophy from Daytona for the pole down here, and so that stuff we bring out ‑‑ we brought it out this week just to remind everybody of what we can do when we get down there.  It’s a little bit of a morale booster.
 
The vibe is different.  When we
get ready to go here, everybody gets jacked up, and we know we can go here and we can do really well.
 
AMANDA ELLIS:  Tony, thank you for joining us today.  We appreciate you for spending a few extra minutes with us, as well, and best of luck to you and the team this week at Daytona.
 
TONY GIBSON:  Thank you so much for letting me be a part of it, and I really appreciate it, and thanks to everybody for calling in.
 

Back in the USA: Corvette Racing Readies for Lime Rock
Next steps toward title defenses in ALMS
 
LAKEVILLE, Conn. (July 2, 2013) – Two weeks after both its Compuware Corvette C6.R race cars completed the Le Mans 24 Hours, Corvette Racing returns stateside to continue defense of its GT driver, team and manufacturer championships in the American Le Mans Series. Next up is scenic Lime Rock Park and the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix on Saturday, July 6.
 
The fourth ALMS round of the year will air live starting at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with simultaneous live streaming on ESPN3 beginning with a 2:45 p.m., pre-race show. It’s an event Corvette Racing has won four times but none since 2008.
 
At 1.474 miles with seven turns, Lime Rock Park is the shortest track on the ALMS calendar but offers a surprisingly quick lap with average speeds in qualifying nearing 105 mph. The compact nature of the venue coupled with the two-hour, 45-minute race length means constant overtaking and frequent car-to-car contact.
 
Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen return to ALMS competition as the most recent winners in the GT class at Laguna Seca in May. The pairing – fourth in GTE Pro at Le Mans with Jordan Taylor – drive the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R.
 
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner share the No. 4 Compuware Corvette. The defending ALMS GT champions – seventh with Richard Westbrook at Le Mans – stand second in this year’s drivers’ standings and are three points out of first. Magnussen and Garcia are fifth but just 12 points from the lead. The Lime Rock round pays 20 points to the race-winners, 16 for second and 13 for third.
 
Corvette Racing leads the team standings, as does Chevrolet the manufacturers’ race.
 
“Le Mans was as challenging as ever. We battled the weather as well as the competition and I can tell you we are glad to get back to racing in the ALMS,” said Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing Program Manager. “The crowd is always great at Lime Rock, and the racing is as tough as anywhere else we compete the rest of the season. At just 1.5 miles in length, Lime Rock presents some unique challenges. You can’t make a green flag pit stop without losing a lap, so your strategy there will most likely determine your level of success. Our guys thrive on that pressure and are ready to go racing again.”
 

Action Express Racing and Stevenson Motorsports Repeat as Winners in Six Hours of the Glen to Give Team Chevy Double Victory
The Victory is the Second Consecutive in 2013 for Barbosa and Fittipaldi in Corvette DP and Fourth Win in Five Races for Camaro GT.R Piloted by Liddell and Edwards
 
WATKINS GLEN, New York (June 30, 2013) – Action Express Racing driver Joao Barbosa battled his way to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International last year in the difficult and prestigious GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Six Hours of The Glen. Today, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) with his new co-driver, Christian Fittipaldi, Barbosa made a return trip to the Winner’s Circle to occupy the top step on the podium and once again collect the winner’s trophy for the overall win.
 
The pair combined to lead 30 of the 171 laps completed in the six-hour race that saw bright sunny conditions quickly replaced with heavy rain that was just as quickly replaced with blue skies and warmer temperatures. Fittipaldi held off all challengers in the final stint of the race to bring the Corvette DP to the checkered flag first.
 
It is the second consecutive win and the third consecutive podium finish for Barbosa and Fittipaldi this season. The victory moved the team from fifth in the DP team standings to third.
 
Not to be outdone, John Edwards and Robin Liddell powered the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R to the win in the Rolex Series Grand Touring Class (GT), also for the second consecutive year. The pair combined to lead a race-high 67 laps of the 164 run by the leaders in the GT class.
 
It is the fourth victory in the last five races for Edwards and Liddell, and closed the team to within six points of the leaders in the GT class standings.
 
“Our Chevrolet teams rose to the occasion today, and dealt with some changing and sometimes difficult circumstances throughout the Six Hours of the Glen,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. “It is always a rewarding experience for everyone associated with the Team Chevy program in the Rolex Series to score a win in both Daytona Prototype and Grand Touring as we did today.  Congratulations to the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP team and the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro team on their repeat victories in this prestigious race.”
 
Equaling its best finish of the season, a runner-up run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP gave Chevrolet the first and second spots on today’s DP  podium.  Team owner Enzo Potolicchio started the race, and then Stephane Sarrazin and Michael Valiante shared the driving duties for remainder of the event. Valiante was in the cockpit for the final stint to make a charge for the win in the closing laps.
 
The two Corvette Daytona DP teams that came into today’s race holding the first and second spots in the standings suffered setbacks early in the race. The No. 10 Velolcity Worldwide Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP had a mechanical issue with the shifter linkage on the opening lap of the race.  The team was able to make repairs and the car driven by Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor returned to competition. The team was credited with a 10th place finish and now sits in a tie in the standings for the top spot.
 
The No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP piloted by Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney came into the race second in the standings, but also had to battle back from a mechanical problem early in the race. Something went awry in the steering and sent it on an off-course excursion.  The team made repairs in the paddock and got the “Red Dragon” back in competition, but on the long track in a race that didn’t see a great deal of attrition, the team was relegated to a 14th place in class finishing position. They now sit fourth in the team standings.
 
In Saturday’s GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R led the way for Team Chevy posting a sixth-place finish.
 
Next on the schedule for both the Rolex Series and the Continental Tire Challenge will be the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25-26, 2013.
 
 
DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES:
 
NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE, OVERALL AND DP RACE WINNER:
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI: ON HIS THOUGHTS AS THE RACE CAME TO A CLOSE: “I don’t know. I was on the limit all the time.”
 
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE RACE. THAT WAS A FANTASTIC FINAL FEW LAPS. WERE YOU MORE CONCERNED ABOUT MICHAEL VALLENTE CATCHING YOU, OR THOSE LAPPED CARS THAT BOTH OF YOU WERE STARTING TO APPROACH ON THE FINAL LAP?
“I guess both. I knew that the No. 3 car had a very strong piece. They showed it a couple of times during the race. They were definitely stronger than us. But I think we played the game better than they did. And we, as a team, won the race today. Hats off to Joao, who drove an outstanding stint. And man, I’m very happy. Two in a row is a very nice feeling. We led at the three-hour mark and won the race, so it couldn’t have been a better weekend.”
 
YOU ALMOST HAD A FLAWLESS BECAUSE THERE AT THE END WHEN YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THE BOOT, YOU GOT SIDEWAYS. WHAT HAPPENED THERE? AND DID YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE THROWN AWAY THE WIN?
“I was under limit. I was very heavily under limit every single lap that I could do and maybe I ran a little bit over a little bit. But I managed to catch it, I guess. That’s where 42 years of age and 20-some years of 30 years of racing counts a little bit. And I’m happy that that came into the play. That definitely helped me a little bit like experience over there and it was a great week and a great day. We didn’t have the quickest car on the track today. And I just think that the whole group as a team did an excellent job.”
 
JOAO BARBOSA: TALK ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN YOU AND CHRISTIAN AND THE TEAM: “It is working isn’t it? It’s like they say ‘We are in it to win it’. This was a great points day for us. We led at the three-hour mark. We led at six hours. We won the race overall. It is looking great for us in the points now. I think we made a great click.  This Action Express team, man…the chemistry that is going on is unbelievable. The car is running excellent. Christian did a fantastic job. He is a little worn out, but he’ll get over it (SMILES). What can I say, this group of guys has done a tremendous job, and the car drove awesome today.”
 
HOW SATISFYING IS THIS TO HAVE TWO WINS IN A ROW? LAST YEAR, YOU WERE USUALLY AT TEAM AROUND FOURTH OR FIFTH. NOW, YOU ARE SHOWING UP AND WINNING RACES.  “I don’t agree with that. We won the Six Hours last year. So, this team has been doing phenomenal. Obviously the chemistry is working so well and we were able to make the car go fast and these guys are awesome. They did a tremendous job. Every pit stop was great and we were able to bring the car home again in first place. Two wins and a second-place in the last three races and it is looking good. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”
 
 
NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R, GT CLASS WINNER:
JOHN EDWARDS: YOU HAD TO SIT THERE AND WATCH ROBIN WORK SO HARD THAT LAST STINT, HOW HARD IS THAT?  “It was really tough, especially with the changing conditions. I’ve always said I prefer to be in the car at the end, because sitting on the pit stand I just get a nervous twitch going on with my leg. That is the worst part of the race for me. When I got out of the car, that was the most nervous part for me. Ultimately the car was good in the dry, and we were hoping it wouldn’t rain because those conditions are really tough, and you might throw it off even if you are as good of a driver as anyone can be.”
 
ROBIN LIDDELL: THE PRESSURE WAS ON THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH WASN

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 30, 2013

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 HELLMANN’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
ON HIS RACE AND RUN THAT GOT SECOND PLACE FINISH:
“Yes, it was a really good day for us. I wasn’t sure after Happy Hour what we had. We’ve had really quick cars for the last two months, and have not been able to capitalize on it. We’ve had really unfortunate luck. But cool to have a really good run. I was quite a bit quicker than him (Clint Bowyer), and I guess the No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) wasn’t on tires, so you are just fighting to get by as quick as you can because you never know when a caution is going to come out, or how it is going to play out.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED EIGHTH
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY:
“We had an awesome fast Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet that is for sure.  I think we passed more cars than anybody.  These pit stops just aren’t going our way.  If we try to stretch it doesn’t work our way.  If we try to pit early it doesn’t work our way.  I don’t know, you just have to keep working hard at it and hope they fall your way eventually.  Pit stops were great when we had them.  The car was awesome on the race track.  It took a little while for it to come in and that last restart I kind of timed it and the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) spun his tires and stacked us up, then cars were four-wide.  That didn’t certainly work out in our favor.”
 
WITH THE BAD LUCK YOU HAVE HAD THIS YEAR YOU GUYS HAVE BATTLED BACK TO 12TH IN POINT’S ONLY TWO POINT’S BEHIND 10TH.  TALK ABOUT HOW THE TEAM CONTINUES TO FIGHT TO GET IN THE CHASE:
“I’m happy the way we are running.  The last two weeks have been very promising.  That is going to help us as we move forward.  We are doing the right things.  We’ve got to continue to qualify better, execute better, hope some things go our way and then I have to be able to get those restarts.  The first one actually wasn’t that bad.  We were going to come out pretty good.  The last one, yeah, I could have done a better job.  I’m just happy with the way the car is working right now.”
 
A LOT OF GUYS COMPLAINED ABOUT THE TRACK HOW BUMPY IT IS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON IF THEY SHOULD REPAVE IT OR JUST LEAVE IT THE WAY IT IS?
“I would rather it stay the way it is.  I don’t like repaves.  I think a smooth new pavement that they are putting on these race tracks now is worse than that.  Yeah, it’s rough and it beats the cars all up.  I don’t think we should be going down on the apron here on restarts.  I think that is pretty dangerous.  Other than that I like everything about the track.  It’s just trying to find a tire that works well here.  That is a challenging thing to do for this surface.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED NINTH
ON FINAL RESTART:
“I don’t know. We were kind of in an awkward situation in that restart there. And then we were like three and four wide going in the corner, then something happened with the air and just kind of turned me around. Unfortunate, but at least we rallied back for a good finish.  The No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) broke the pace car speed, which you aren’t supposed to, but, they aren’t calling guys on that so I need to start trying that in the future.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD YOUTH FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 12TH
ON HITTING THE TIRE DEBRIS AND DAMAGING HIS CAR:
“You just fix it and keep going. The guys did a good job on pit road all day long working on it and trying to fix everything. I’m not sure we got everything back where it is supposed to be, but we did well-enough to get a decent finish out it. Just proud of how hard the team worked. Did a good job for qualifying, and put a good car out there for the race. Can’t do anything about what happened out there on the race track with that casing.  They worked hard on it to get it right, and get it good enough where we could run well. So, they deserve a lot of credit today.”
 
ON HITTING THE TIRE DEBRIS AND DAMAGING HIS CAR:
“You just fix it and keep going. The guys did a good job on pit road all day long working on it and trying to fix everything. I’m not sure we got everything back where it is supposed to be, but we did well-enough to get a decent finish out it. Just proud of how hard the team worked. Did a good job for qualifying, and put a good car out there for the race. Can’t do anything about what happened out there on the race track with that casing.  They worked hard on it to get it right, and get it good enough where we could run well. So, they deserve a lot of credit today.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 30, 2013
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY LEADS TEAM CHEVY AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
Five Team Chevy Drivers in the Top-10
 
 
SPARTA, Kentucky (June 30, 2013) – Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Hellman’s Chevrolet SS, recovered from early issues to finish second in today’s Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at Kentucky Speedway.  McMurray, who rallied from a mid-race tire problem, had one of the fastest cars in the field at the end of the 267-lap event.  With fresher tires, the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver was gaining on the leader in the closing laps, but was unable to catch him for the win.
 
The race, which was originally scheduled to run Saturday night, but postponed until noon Sunday due to rain, was dominated by Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson until an incident on the final restart.  Johnson, who led a race-high 182 laps in his No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet SS, lost control of the car and spun on a restart with less than 25 laps to go. After a pit stop for tires, Johnson made a furious charge from the back to finish ninth in the race and maintain his position as the series point leader. He now holds a 38-point advantage over second place.
 
Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet SS, scored his second straight top-ten finish and came home sixth.  The finish helped Busch move up three positions in the standings to 14th.  
 
Jeff Gordon gained more valuable points with a solid eighth-place finish in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS, which enabled him to move up one spot in the standings to 12th.   Richard Childress Racing driver Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS, finished 10th in today’s event and remains fourth in the overall standings.
 
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet SS, started on the pole for the race, but hit debris from a shredded tire early in the race.   After several repairs by the crew and some determined driving, Earnhardt Jr. came back to finish 12th. 
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was the race winner, Clint Bowyer (Toyota) was third, Joey Logano (Ford) was fourth, and Kyle Busch (Toyota) was fifth to round out the top-five finishing order.
 
Next stop on the circuit will be Round 18 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, July 6th.  Green flag is set for 7:30 pm ET and will air live on TNT, Sirius/XM Channel 90, PRN Radio and

Rain Sets DP Field for Six Hours of The Glen; Front Row will be Corvette Daytona Prototypes of Wayne Taylor Racing and Bob Stallings Racing
Stevenson Motorsports Continues Roll in GT with Pole Winning Effort for Sunday’s Endurance Race
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 29, 2013) – The No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) of Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) and the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP will occupy the front row of Sunday’s GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen after qualifying Saturday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International was cancelled due to rain and the grid was set per driver’s point standings as set forth in the GRAND-AM rulebook.
It is the third consecutive race that the DP point-leading driver pairing of Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor will bring the Rolex Series field to the green flag.
Qualifying for the Rolex Sports Car Series Grand Touring (GT) class was completed just prior to the rain.  Robin Liddell, driver of the No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro, led GT qualifying. It was his first pole of the season but third for the car, with co-driver John Edwards winning poles at Barber Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio. Eric Curran, who shares the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette with Boris Said, qualified second in-class.
Other Team Chevy in the DP starting field are:
No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP – 4th
No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP – 5th
No. 9 Action Express Corvette DP – 8th
No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP -10th
No. 4 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP – 14th
 
Race time is 11 a.m. EDT Sunday with live television coverage provided by SPEED. Live radio on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 begins at 10:45 p.m. Live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions can be found at www.grand-am.com, and on mobile devices at m.grand-am.com and the GRAND-AM smartphone app.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 28, 2013
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kentucky Speedway and discussed racing at Kentucky, going to Fort Bragg, preparing for the Chase and other topics. Full transcript:
 
ON FINDING THE SOLDIER HE MET AT FORT BRAGG NORTH CAROLINA:
“None of that was really intended to be a public matter, to be honest with you.  I thought when we went to Fort Bragg I thought we would easily be able to find out the gentleman’s name that I had just talked to. We got the information, and looking forward to talking to him, hopefully at the race track sometime in the near future.
 
“We went to Fort Bragg, and just kind of took it for granted that the situation, and the fact that we didn’t get his name. We thought it would be rather easy to find out somebody’s name that we just talked to 15 minutes ago, and it has taken this long. So finally we took it among our group to take it to social media, and in a day and a half, we had found him, so it was pretty cool.”
 
HOW DO YOU STAY FOCUSED IN THIS LONG STRETCH DURING THE SUMMER MOVING TOWARD THE START OF THE CHASE?
“It is nice being in the position that we are in. You know we’ve been in several different areas of the points throughout this time of year. Obviously with a couple of wins, and where we are in the points, you are really going after wins. It is just like this week; we’ve been gone for three or four weeks with the testing, appearances, the races and the travel. For myself, after we got home Monday night, I just shut it down for three days, and took a few days off. The biggest thing is just once you have experienced, no matter where you are in the points, once you’ve experienced this time of year, you learn how to maintain yourself. If you are in a bad spot mentally, you know you need to shut it down for a couple of days. Or just physically not feeling well, you need to just take care of yourself. It is all about being ready for that first race of the Chase. Right now it is all about trying to gain more wins.”
 
DO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAME HERE AND TESTED A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO PUTS YOUR TEAM A LITTLE AHEAD OF THE CURVE?
“This is a unique race track with just how rough it is. I think everywhere we have been the car has required something different to be able to make it go around the race track like you need it to. We have a limited amount of practice time today. We have two practices and qualifying today, so everything is very condensed into a short amount of time. So hopefully we have a good place to start. Sometimes those tests backfire on you. At Pocono, it all worked out for us, and we had a competitive car and were able to run fast, and do the things we thought we should be able to do from the test. As you come back to a race track and you see a lot more rubber on it, and you see some different weather conditions, you are always a little bit concerned until you get through practice and the race and see where everything is at.”
 
HAVE YOU NOTICED ANY CHANGE IN THE TRACK SURFACE FROM LAST YEAR?
“No, the track surface is pretty consistent. This is just a really rough race track. There is nothing wrong with the race track; it is just rough. We’d rather see a rough race track than a re-paved race track. I don’t feel that we had much difference than we had last year.”
 
WHEN YOU ONLY GET FOUR OF THEM, WHY TEST HERE?
“Honestly, I haven’t even been asked where to test. Let me rephrase that. I’ve been asked where to test, but never really been in the meetings as to how those conclusions have been come up with. We all kind of put in a hat as to where we want to test, and the crew chiefs and management decide where they want to go from there. You get asked, and hopefully the decisions are made from a group of common denominators I guess you could say of the tracks that were picked. The crew chiefs and management make those final decisions. I would rather not test anywhere to be honest with you (LAUGHS).
 
“The Ford camp had Casey’s (Mears) here with all the Roush people working on it. They were here for three days. I don’t know what we could have done for the third day, but two days was plenty for me. Our testing was condensed into Pocono one week; Kentucky the next week. We definitely changed a lot of things from the time we started. The Pocono thing – we kind of got Pocono, Michigan and Indy kind of falls into that same group of race tracks. This one doesn’t really fall into much; but we hadn’t run very well here, so I think that was probably why they decided to come here.”
 
WHAT IS IT ABOUT TURN THREE HERE? DO YOU HAVE TO GET THAT RIGHT BEFORE YOU WORK ON REST OF TRACK?
“Turn three is just really flat getting into the corner. You have more banking as you exit the corner, so you kind of drive into the banking and it progressively gets a little bit more as you come off of the corner. It’s really flat right there, and you are carrying a lot of speed. You just wind up being loose into the corner for the most part. As you go through the weekend that will be the toughest spot to navigate for sure.”
 
ON KYLE PETTY’S COMMENTS ON DANICA PATRICK:
“That is a loaded gun right there. I think this (racing in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) is hard to do. You see there is really no good training ground for it anymore in the Nationwide and Truck Series because of the lack of horsepower. It is really hard to understand what you need to drive these cars, and to be able to drive them fast. It is just not something that is going to happen overnight. I don’t know that I would go as far as calling her not a racer because she has raced her whole life, and I think on a continuous learning curve. She’s obviously dedicated at what she does to try and get better, and knows she has a lot of hurdles to overcome in a short amount of time.
 
“She’s fortunate to have a sponsor that is willing to back her, and take those learning experiences with her. Hopefully as the week’s progress, she gets better and better. In that aspect, I think you look at that, and you try to put all that in perspective. I couldn’t imagine just coming in here and having two-and-a-half years of stock car experience, and expect to come here and be competitive knowing what all this entails. It’s hard. And it’s not going to get easier. I think that is why over the years you’ve seen less and less new drivers come into the sport because the cars have become harder to drive. There’s just nowhere to figure out how to drive them other than being on the race track on a Cup Sunday or Saturday that we race. Because they are just hard to drive.”
 
IS IT A DIFFERENT LEARNING CURVE EVERY TIME WITH GOING TO A NEW TRACK FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH THE NEW GEN 6 CAR?
“They’ve obviously created some new challenges for us. Different types of race tracks. As you look through the schedule, and you look at everything that we’ve done, just think they are going to run faster everywhere. They are going to run faster, but how you get there is a totally different equation than what we had to put together last year. It is just much different. We’ve progressed in a different direction than everything we had last year.”
 
AS AN ATHLETE, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO SIT THERE AND HAVE PEOPLE SAY THINGS LIKE THAT ABOUT YOU IN A SITUATION LIKE DANICA PATRICK IS IN?
“It is almost that unfair part of being really popular. In her case, she obviously has got a lot of attention and things that come with it. She seems to, just being around her the little bit that I have, seems to have kind of become immune to it, and understands what the goal… I think she is realistic with her goals, and understands that she has a lot to learn and tries to take everything in. It is easier just to turn it all off. Not read it. Not listen to it. Because at some point, whether it is her,
or myself, or Dale, Jr. or Tony Stewart, or whoever it may be; you are going to be criticized, and you are not going to like it if you read. So it is easier just to not pay attention to it. I think if you can make yourself do that, life is a lot better, and you understand where your team is at, and where your goals are; and how you need to adjust them. And how you need to better. There is really nobody inside of any of our situations that can really understand why things are like they are; why they are good; why they are bad, or what you need to do to fix them. Because until you are in it on a day-to-day basis, this is really how to do.”
 
WILL THE NEW TIRE THEY ARE BRINGING TO DAYTONA GOING TO CHANGE THE RACING NEXT WEEK? 
“I didn’t even know they were changing the tire. (LAUGHS)  See, that is how I stay detached from it, so I don’t have any preconceived notions going to the race track on a given weekend.”
 
HOW DO YOU COMPARE TOMORROW NIGHT’S RACE TO THE COKE 600 IN TERMS OF ADJUSTABILITY?  “When we tested, we tested from day to night. I think as you go into the race, you try to build some of things into  your car; whether it will be more or less – hopefully we’ll have some things that we can go back and look at, and realize what we need to do at a certain time of day. No matter what race it is, you have to have adjustability in your car no matter where you are because you never know what the conditions are going to be like when you start the race in a pack. You never get to run in a complete pack like we will when the race starts.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 28, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS, met with media and discussed the ‘race to the Chase’, going to the Yankee game with his son, being recognized in New York City, his qualifying efforts, the upcoming Brickyard 400, and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR MINDSET BEFORE WE SET THE FIELD FOR THE CHASE:
“We know that this is an important race for us and every one from here on out is going to be crucial for us to get ourselves into the Chase as well as be a threat for the championship. You always know if you’re in it, then you have a shot at winning. Anything is possible when you accomplish that. We know that we’ve got to work hard and keep our heads up and build some momentum off the great run last week and here at Kentucky, this is crucial for us to run well here on a 1.5-mile and follow-up what we did at Sonoma, with a great run on an oval. Today went really well. It’s been a good day. It’s been a good week and I’m very happy with the car and hopefully we can follow that up in qualifying.”
 
CAN YOU RECALL ANY OTHER POINT IN YOUR CAREER WHEN YOU HAD THIS KIND OF URGENCY AND WERE WONDERING WHAT’S GOING ON AND WHEN ARE THINGS GOING TO FALL INTO PLACE?
“Last year. It’s pretty familiar to us. Maybe not quite at this level; I think we were further back than 10th at this point last year than we are now. So, obviously last year things didn’t go so well. I would point out this year and then 2000. Those are some years that stand out to me. There was one when we didn’t win a race. But I thought that year when we didn’t win a race that we actually had several shots at winning races and we finished second quite a few times. So it wasn’t quite like dealing with some of the things we’ve had this year. Yeah, you know, it’s certainly been frustrating.
 
“I think that this team, the way I look at our team, is that we have high expectations put on us. We know the pressure that comes along with that to perform. And when we don’t, the criticism comes with that. But I also know that nobody is more capable of pulling ourselves out of a hole and getting back on track than this team. It’s Hendrick Motorsports. It’s the No. 24 team and we have the capability of being very, very strong and getting on a roll.
 
“So, you just never give up. You never lose faith in one another. We lost a little confidence in ourselves with some of the things happened. Qualifying, primarily; I think in the race we seem to be able to perform pretty well if we’re there, if we have a car in one piece. But when you get caught up in some wrecks and some different things, it can definitely be a little frustrating. But the qualifying is what has broken our confidence down a little bit. And so hopefully we can qualify a little bit better today.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY WITH (SON) LEO AT YANKEE STADIUM:
“It was unbelievable. I took my daughter when she was around the same age and it was a really special experience for me and her and it was a special one for Leo and myself, as well. I’m so blown away with the experience of going to a Yankees game with the new stadium. It’s just unbelievable. We got on the train and rode the train all the way there. There were all the Yankees fans and a few Texas fans, too, that were on the train. It was Thursday afternoon; 1:05 p.m. game and I couldn’t believe how many people were at this game. It was incredible. I think for Leo, baseball might not be quite as exciting for him as Monster Trucks because I did take him to Monster Trucks this year, too; and he seemed to be in that and not pulling on me going, okay I’ve seen this. This is cool, but I’m ready to go home (laughs). But yeah, it was a great father/son experience and I had a lot of fun doing that.”
 
PEOPLE TALK ABOUT HIS TRACK AS HAVING A LOT OF CHARACTER. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THIS KENTUCKY TRACK?
“If you are trying to be kind to the bumps, then you’d call it ‘character’. I don’t even see how we make it through a race here from a mechanical standpoint. This place is so hard on the driveline and the suspension components, shocks, and springs. The loads are just unbelievable. But if you just look at the pure grip level of the race track, that part of it I really like. The transitions make this a very tricky track. It’s pretty flat from the back straightaway to Turn 3; plus there’s a huge bump going in there.
 
“So, it really makes you work hard and it’s hard to get the car working right in every aspect of the track. And the bumps are definitely one of the things that do challenge the cars and the set-ups. So, I like the fact that those challenges allow you, as a driver, to have to search around the race track. The car is never going to be perfect and you’re going to slide around. And that seems to suit me a little bit better than some of these new super-fast, high-grip race tracks that we go to.”
 
CAN YOU GO ON THE TRAIN AND TAKE LEO AND MERGE WITH THE FANS AND NOT BE JEFF GORDON? OR, DO YOU GET RECOGNIZED?
“I saw one couple looking at me, but they didn’t say anything. Nobody said anything to me. I would say 99% of the people on that train had no idea who I was. At the game, once I got inside, there were several people that came up to me and were really kind, and everything. But it wasn’t a distraction from me and Leo being able to have a special moment.
 
“But we got back on the train and not one single person said anything to me. And that’s one of the things I love about New York. I go through that on a day-to-day basis up there.  When you do get recognized, it’s actually a moment where you’re like wow, I can’t believe somebody recognized me in New York City! I did have one kid the other day. I had picked up my daughter. She was at this little camp and we were going back to the apartment and what’s real popular is these kids that ride these bikes that can take maybe two or three people in the back. I can’t remember what they call them. But, the guy had my hat on. And so I came up to a stop and he was next to me and I looked at him and I thought it was a No. 24 hat and I said, ‘Nice hat’. And he looked at me and said, ‘Thanks’. We went up to the next hat and I said, ‘Do you know why I said, ‘Nice hat’? He kind of looked at me and I said, ‘That’s me’. And he said, ‘Oh, yeah, it is’! (laughter). So I walked right by him and he didn’t know. And even if there are fans there, which there are plenty of fans in New York City, but a lot of times they just don’t expect you to come walking by.”
 
THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY IS TALKING ABOUT 40 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF IMPROVEMENTS TO A TRADITIONAL HISTORIC TRACK.  WHAT WOULD BE BEST TO SPEND THAT MONEY ON FOR DRIVER’S AND FAN?  WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT LIGHTS AT THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY? 

“Well, you have to understand from a fans stand point I’ve never, not since I went to an Indy 500 when I was a kid, have I sat in the grand stands.   I think the fans are much more in tune with what’s going on from a fan stand point where that money would suit their needs.  From our stand point that track is very difficult to get a tire.  It’s a very abrasive race track and Goodyear is very challenged with the race track.  I’m not saying repave, but just wondering how we could make it a little less abrasive.
 
“Lights… I mean lights would be cool.  Lights are cool everywhere, I love racing under the lights.  I don’t know what it costs for lights around Indianapolis, but Indianapolis is already to me one of the top facilities that we go to.  The garage area is immaculate.  They just do everything first class there.  Where they located the tunnels you don’t even feel a bump when you go over them like every other track we go to.  You can rid
e around there and tell them exactly where the tunnel is because there is a huge dip there.  You don’t get that at Indianapolis.  Once you get outside the race track and outside the garage area I really couldn’t tell you accurately where it would be good to spend some of that money.
 
“We know that our race has had its challenges as far as the crowd.  When I first started going to Indianapolis in 1994 with the Cup cars I mean the people lined up 10 deep around the garage area and filled the grand stands.  It was standing room only.  It sure would be nice to know why that hasn’t continued and how we get back to that.  That would be awesome.  I love racing there.  Just the history of that place is second to none for me who went to an Indianapolis 500 as a kid and went to high school around Indiana and always wanted to race at Indy.” 
 
IF YOU WIN HERE AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY YOU HAVE A WIN AT EVERY ACTIVE TRACK CURRENTLY IN THE SPRINT CUP SERIES.  WOULD THAT BE MEANINGFUL TO YOU? 

“Oh my God that would be huge.  Number one because this is a very challenging race track, not an easy race track to win on.  Number two is I don’t know what the plan is for adding race tracks in the future, but in the past every time we knock one off and get close to accomplishing that goal.  Which I think that would be a pretty awesome thing to accomplish, they add another race track.  So, getting a win at Homestead and Phoenix and getting closer to accomplishing that and knowing that there is one left and we are running good this weekend.  That would be huge.  That would be something that I would be very proud of.”
 
IT’S A LONG YEAR.  OVER THE COURSE OF YOUR CAREER HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HARD TIME KEEPING FOCUSED THROUGH THIS SUMMER STRETCH?  HOW MUCH OF A CHALLENGE IS THAT? 

“It’s tough.  I don’t know I feel like I’m kind of like a fine wine, I get better with age.  I feel like that is the same way my season goes.  I feel like we get better as the season goes on.  Sometimes, especially with a new car things change over the off season and I feel like as I get older, a little more set in my ways, it takes me a little bit longer to adapt to changes.  So throughout the season I feel like I get more and more comfortable and understand what I need and the team can help me accomplish that.  That is why I think the old point system worked so well for me because I think that we were able to look at 36 weeks as a total instead of 26 and 10.  I don’t know.
 
“I feel like one thing I’m very good at is pace of being able to adjust my schedule. To look out throughout the whole year on whether it be sponsor commitments, fan commitments, team commitments, family commitments and balancing out that very well to maintain a focus to be strong the second half of the season and not wear myself out.  This year I think a little bit more of a challenge with the testing schedule for the teams.  Like this week for instance teams got back Monday morning basically and they are coming here Wednesday afternoon.  That to me is tougher on the teams.  I feel like it’s always been tougher on the teams.  As a driver I feel like I’m able to maintain pretty well.”
 
WHAT IS IT THAT MARK MARTIN HAS BEEN ABLE TO DO WHERE HE CAN ADAPT TO ALL THESE DIFFERENT ERAS? 
“Mark (Martin) is a very unique race car driver.  One is I think he has always been one of the most talented race car drivers that there is. He has driven every kind of race car on different types of race tracks and been successful.  Started at a young age, so I think he is just tremendously talented, but I think if you look at the way he has treated his body it tells you that this guy likes a challenge.  He likes to push himself and that he is disciplined.  I think that is what gives you longevity in a sport when you have the talent.  He is able to align himself with good quality teams and equipment and people.  Then he is able to give results.  I think that is just a reflection on who he is and what kind of race car driver he is.”  

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 28, 2013
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD YOUTH FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
ON HIS LAP:
“We like the bumps; at least in the corners anyways. It was a great lap. This National Guard Chevrolet had good grip and good speed and we had a cool race track. We had a lot of shade there for a couple of guys in front of us. Now the sun is back out so hopefully it’ll slow them other guys down. Steve Letarte (crew chief) and all the guys on the team did a good job putting a good car out there on the line for me.”
 
YOU KNOCKED YOUR TEAMMATE OFF THE POLE.  HOW DID THAT LAP FEEL?
“It felt real good.  I didn’t know that it would be quick enough to beat Jimmie (Johnson) but we had a lot of shade in front of us. About five cars in front of us we got a lot of shade and cooled the track down.  It gave us a good opportunity to put down a lap like that.  Steve Letarte (crew chief), Kevin Meander (engineer) and all the guys on the team did a good job putting a good car out on the grid; give me a good shot at it.  They deserve a lot of credit.  We just tried not to mess it up.  Just tried not to over drive it.”
 
DO YOU HAVE THE POWER TO KEEP THE CLOUDS AWAY FROM THE SUN NOW SINCE THE SUN IS BACK OUT?
“Looks like from where I’m standing there is going to be a good amount of sun for these next several guys at least.  We will see what it does.”  
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED THIRD
DID YOU SEE FLAMES COMING OUT?  YOU WERE FLYING IN THIS CAR.  GREAT LAP:
“That was a good lap.  I’m looking under the car because as I crossed the start/finish line I dipped below the racing surface onto the apron.  There is a huge hole down there and it had me airborne.  I’m making sure that my car is alright.”
 
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT LAP?
“I feel good.  I felt (turns) one and two went really well.  (Turns) Three and four I thought maybe I could have been a little faster through there.  We will just see how things play out.  These clouds are coming in and the track is just going to get faster now.  I’m not sure we will still stay on the pole, but hopefully it will get us a nice top-five.  I would like to be top four.  There are really four good pit stalls on pit road.  If we can be in the top four that would be job well done.”
 
DID YOU KNOCK A FILLING OUT WITH THAT RUN?
“I dipped down below the racing line on the apron across the start/finish line to make the track a little shorter. There is a big jump down there! So, my younger brother, Jarit, is racing in Crandon (Wisconsin) in an off-road truck this weekend, so I wanted to get airborne myself and go down there and catch a little air. It doesn’t look as exciting as it felt in the car. But the car’s not designed for that.”
 
THAT’S BECAUSE YOU’VE ONLY GOT A COUPLE OF INCHES OF TRAVEL. THIS ISN’T YOUR BAJA CAR
“Yeah, a couple inches of travel that droop, let alone the 16th or an 8th when you’re down on the bump stops and all. But wow, that was exciting. The lap was good; a very, very good lap. I think in (Turns) 1 and 2 was spot-on; (Turns) 3 and 4, somebody could probably get through there quicker. And all these clouds are coming. So that’s going to hurt me a little bit with the guys that go later.”
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SEVENTH
PRETTY FAST LAP TODAY EVEN THOUGH JIMMIE JOHNSON MIGHT BE TAKING YOUR TITLE HERE TODAY:
“Jimmie (Johnson) had a heck of a lap there is no doubt about that.  I told my guys that catching a cloud wasn’t going to be good enough.  We were going to need to catch a layer of two or three clouds to run a 48.  I was impressed with the effort that the guys did with the Quicken Loans Chevrolet.  We picked up on it.  Definitely feel that a little bit of cloud cover didn’t hurt us.  We made some improvements and we beat a lot of cars that beat us in practice.  We will keep working on it.”
 
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE STEWART-HAAS ORGANIZATION IS KIND OF GETTING BACK ON TRACK AND CAUGHT UP WITH THE GEN-6 CAR?
“I don’t know about that.  I’m more focused on the No. 39 side and what we are doing.  Collectively we have to have the right tools to work with.  I never thought we didn’t have the right tools to work with we just have to make the car fast.  That is not easy to do.  There is so much complex things that are going on underneath what you guys see as the car shell which is really cool in the (Chevy) SS that it’s not easy.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 10TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“It was okay we really struggled in qualifying trim in practice.  Everybody on the Target team did a really good job, good changes.  I could have gotten out of the car a little bit more I think.  But it’s hard because it’s so much quicker than before it’s hard to know what you are going to get.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 12TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“I mean you definitely want to get a cloud if you can, but it’s cooled down in my opinion since practice, so the times should be better than they are.  We just missed the balance through (turns) one and two.  The car was perfect through (turns) three and four, but (turns) one and two really tight.  It hurt our lap, but we have a good race car so I’m excited about the race.”
 
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 14TH
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP AND HOW YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR CAR IS FOR THE RACE:
“I mean it’s pretty disappointing there.  A couple of things we are going to be on the wrong side of the clouds.  We probably made too many adjustments trying to tighten up.  We just got way too tight.  Just let a lot of speed off of it because I couldn’t be in the gas.  Pretty disappointing that is not going to be anywhere near like we were in practice.  It is what it is and we will make it work.  I do feel like we are really good in race trim.  I feel like we have an understanding of what we need going into the race so we will see what we can get.  I thought we would qualify a lot better than that.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 QUAKER STATE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 21ST
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“It felt good.  It felt a lot better than we did in practice, just a little bit on the free side.  That was much better than being tight like we had been all day.  It was good.  The guys made some good adjustments and hopefully that holds off for somewhere in the top-15.  I don’t really know.  It’s hard to say I feel like it’s hotter out and then people going late you know does that help or not?  I don’t know.  We will see kind of where that ends up.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 22ND
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP.  IT APPEARS YOU JUST CAUGHT THE END OF A CLOUD:
“I wish we would have been about five minutes later on that one.  We knew with the early draw that it was kind of going to be hit or miss.  If that one (cloud) brings some rain that would be the only good thing that could come out of that cloud for us going so early.  All in all they did a good job and made the car…that is four tenths faster than we ran in our mock qualifying run at the end.  We knew it wasn’t going to be very good with our draw.  We have a good race car.”
 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 51 ALSCO CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 26TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“The Cup car is pretty good.  The Phoenix Racing Chevrolet was really good in r
ace trim.  I was too loose right there in qualifying trim, but second car out it’s a little difficult to really know what you’ve got.  It’s a good run in our Nationwide car to get the pole; going after our third straight win here so it’s been a good day.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 28, 2013
 
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR. CAPTURES POLE FOR SATURDAY’S QUAKER STATE 400
FOUR TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS WILL START IN TOP-10
 
SPARTA, KY – June 28, 2013 – Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet SS, captured his first pole of the 2013 season and first of his career at Kentucky Speedway with a lap of 29.406 seconds and average speed of 183.686 mph which smashed the previous track record.  This is the 39-year-old driver’s 12th pole in 486 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate and winner of the event’s pole in 2012, Jimmie Johnson, qualified third in his No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet.
 
Starting behind Earnhardt, Jr. and Johnson inside the top-10 will be Ryan Newman, No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, who will take the green flag from the seventh position.  Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS, will make his fourth top-10 start of the season beginning the 267-lap contest from the 10th positon.
 
Other Team Chevy drivers qualifying in the top-20 were:  Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevy SS – 12th and Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet – 14th.
 
Rounding out the top-five starters, Carl Edwards (Ford) qualified second, Kyle Busch (Toyota) will start fourth and Marcos Ambrose (Ford) qualified fifth.
 
The third-annual Quaker State 400 will take the green flag on Saturday, June 29th at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be aired live on TNT.
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD YOUTH FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
 
TALK ABOUT THIS RACE TRACK YOU HAVE BEEN HERE A FEW YEARS NOW THE CARS WERE FLYING AROUND OUT THERE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW THIS RACE TRACK IS HANDLING AND HOW YOU THINK THAT NO. 88 CAR IS GOING TO DO TOMORROW NIGHT:
“Well, I think we got great speed and we are real competitive.  Worked on some things in practice and found what we think the car likes and what the car is going to want as far as our wedge trace and the balance of the car.  I like the track; it’s got a lot of age on the asphalt, which we like.  We widen out the groove in the corners which as a driver you like you can run the bottom, the top you have a lot of different options.  You are not really limited and restricted as to where you can run in the corners.  We don’t really mind the bumps in the corners it just kind of adds character when they are not very severe.  There are some pretty bad bumps on the front straightaway that aren’t a ton of fun, but they don’t really affect how the car drives.  You just kind of go through them.  I enjoy the track I think it’s a great area and we have a lot of fans here.  It’s a fun track to run on, race on.  We thought we had a top-five car in practice and we got some good cloud cover about six or seven cars in front of us before we went to qualify and that brought the track temp down to give us a good advantage.  Give us an opportunity to run a bit quicker lap than maybe what the car had in it.  Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and Kevin Meander (engineer) and the team put a good car out there that rolled the center and turned really well and actually went through (turns) three and four very good.  Looking at the trace on NASCAR.com it seemed like we got through (turns) three and four better than most.
 
“In between the last practice and qualifying I got my hair cut at Great Clips.  I think that might have had something to do with it too.  I don’t mind letting that sneak right out of the bag because they are one of my sponsors.  I really did.  It happened.  I was a little lazy this week.  It’s been a few weeks since I had my hair cut.  Luckily somebody from Great Clips was here that could get the job done.”
 
CARL EDWARDS SAID THAT IN HIS ESTIMATION YOU RAN A PERFECT LAP.  I WANT TO KNOW IF YOU FELT THAT WAY TOO AND DID YOU FEEL LIKE THE CLOUD WAS A REAL DIFFERENCE MAKER?
“I think that the cloud cover at least gave us a bit of speed.  It’s hard to say of course the cooler track temps gives the car more grip.  I would admit that I think we definitely had the better situation of anyone in practice with that scenario.  There were some clouds that came in later in the qualifying session, but not quite the extent of what we had.  I did think the lap was really good.  I got into turn one a little bit over zealous.  The car actually was working a little bit better as far as turning through the middle than it had in practice.  That was able to keep the lap relatively competitive in (turns) one and two even though I over drove the car getting into turn one a little bit.  (Turns) Three and four was just a real good corner.  I think we did everything we could do down there.  If anything we could have backed up turn one and maybe run a little bit better down the back straightaway.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 28, 2013
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kentucky Speedway and discussed his mindset with 10 races left before the start of the Chase, what changed his feelings about racing at Kentucky, his thoughts on why it can be so difficult transitioning from IndyCar to NASCAR and much more. Full transcript.
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR MINDSET WITH 10 RACES LEFT BEFORE THE CHASE AND THIS WEEKEND HERE AT KENTUCKY.
“It definitely is an important time of the year for everybody. I looked around 10th (place) and how tight that is. If you’re on that eighth to 14th bubble right there, it’s getting really tense right now and it will over these next 10 weeks. Life is pretty comfortable up where we are. We can still squander away the position we are in and have trouble. But fortunately, now that I think it through a little more, with those three wins we should be in great shape. With all that in mind, we just need to focus on being strong, finishing up these next 10 races, entering the Chase, as competitive as we can. Certainly race tracks that we run on such as Loudon (New Hampshire) here next weekend or in a couple of weeks, whatever it is, we want to leave there knowing we’ve had a good race because obviously we come back and race there in the Chase. It’s an important 10 weeks for everybody. There is more pressure on some than others, but the real pressure will come in Chicago and hopefully we’ll be in contention at that point.”
 
YOU ARE GOING TO HIT SOME OF THE TRACKS THAT YOU’VE ALREADY RACED AT THIS YEAR, NORMALLY THERE IS NOT A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU GO FROM ONE TIME TO ANOTHER AS FAR AS CHANGE IN THE COMPETITION, BUT WITH THE NEW CAR WILL THERE BE MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GUYS TO BE BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND?
“Daytona I don’t think so because the rules are so strict and there is very little area to grow and learn. Pocono for sure. I’m trying to think of another track we repeat too. We certainly do later in the year. Loudon is a good example, and Dover. Tracks like that. Absolutely, every time we go to the track the whole field is smarter. Like for us going to Pocono, we just hope whatever they gain on us we’re able to extend for unselfish reasons. Yeah, this garage area is smart. In two to three weeks’ time technology changes and what you had a month ago doesn’t work.”
 
EVEN THOUGH THIS IS ONLY THE THIRD RACE HERE FOR THE SPRINT CUP, WHEN YOU GO TO A TRACK THAT YOU HAVEN’T WON AT DOES THAT GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO REALLY SHOOT AT BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOU WANT TO WIN EVERY WEEK?
“It gets me excited. There’s five tracks left that I haven’t won at. I think (Tony) Stewart is down to two or three. We don’t talk about it amongst Stewart, (Jeff) Gordon or myself, but I think we all secretly would love to be the first to win at every track that we compete at. I think Stewart is the closest right now. I want to get closer. I’ve been very close here. I’ve been very close at Michigan. I’ve been very close at Chicago. So, I hope we can get one or two of them this year. I would love to start here.”
 
IT’S SUCH A LONG SEASON, HOW DO YOU STAY MENTALLY FOCUSED DURING THIS STRETCH IN THE SUMMER THAT SEEMS LIKE ITS NEVER GOING TO END?
“It still feels like it’s not going to end. There’s no doubt about it. There’s still a lot of racing left. Our last off weekend is in a few weeks then we have to grind it out after that. It goes in phases and the situation we are in with the strong start to the season, we are in a comfortable position because of the win and the points, but at the same time as we get closer to the start of the Chase we need to make sure we are peaking at the right time and that we didn’t peak too early. So we have that pressure and motivation on our side. When the final 10 (races) starts it’s just brutal. You live week to week, and honestly in some situations you live day to day at the track and what kind of speed your car has. That takes it to a whole new level. Then we have our short off season to recover, load up and do it again.”
 
THIS YEAR YOU ARE DRIVING A CAR THAT LOOKS MORE LIKE THE MANUFACTURER CAR, THE ONE THAT RUNS ON THE STREET, HOW’S THAT RESONATING WITH FANS, SPONSORS WHO WANT A CAR THAT LOOKS LIKE THEIR CAR?
“Yeah, it’s been very well accepted by the race teams, drivers, fans, manufacturers. When you look at the first quarter of the year, especially starting at Daytona with the buzz around the new car and everybody seeing it in competition for the first time, it’s been a great launch of the Gen-6 car. I know that all the manufacturers are pleased the style of the car, the connection between the showroom and the race track. Hopefully it’s a good sign of things to come in the future. The manufacturers are very important to our sport. They always have been. Due to officiating things changed to the Gen-5 car, but now the focus has gone back to the manufacturers and their own brand identity.”
 
LAST YEAR YOU TALKED ABOUT BEFORE THE RACE THAT YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS PLACE VERY MUCH AND THEN YOU WENT OUT AND WON THE POLE, ONE YEAR LATER HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT NOW?
“Since I’ve been here to compete in the Cup car, I’ve really liked the track. I think I qualified in the top five for the first one and ran well. Last year we qualified on the pole and were very competitive in the race. Where the dislike came from was through my Nationwide days. I tore up a few cars here. Then prior to my Cup start at Hendrick, we were able to test here. There were teams here every week working away. I piled a bunch of them over there in between (turns) three and four. So coming back I was a little concerned about that, but things have been very good since I’ve been in competition in the Cup car.”
 
JUSTIN ALLGAIER SAID ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF AGO THAT HE BELIEVES THAT TURN THREE HERE IS ONE OF THE MORE CRITICAL TURNS TO GET DOWN; YOU JUST MENTIONED THAT WHEN YOU WERE TESTING YOU PILED SOME CARS IN THAT CORNER, WHAT IS IT ABOUT THAT TURN? DO YOU FEEL LIKE THAT IS A KEY PART OF THIS RACE TRACK?
“Yeah, I do for me. When we were testing here the entry is so flat and you really don’t pick up the banking until almost the physical center of the corner that I would lose the back of my car on the corner entry and spin out and smack the fence. Now it’s changed quite a bit. The track is so rough starting with the very end of the straightaway before you turn off the corner, it’s almost like you hit a curve. Inside the car it’s big. It’s a forceful impact. It just limits your speed into the corner then shortly after that you get into a series of bumps. I think that is where my fondness for the track has come around. When it was smooth and easy to get through there I would just bust my butt over there and make a mistake. Now you’ve got to slow down, deal with the bumps. Your car set up is very important. Your line selection is very important. You can move around two to three feet through the entry to the center of the corner over there and find like little valleys and miss the bumps to improve your lap time dramatically. That aspect of it makes it really fun for the drivers because you have some option and you just don’t chase the white line around the track.”
 
YOU ARE IN A DOMINANT POSITION AND DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THINGS. BUT, AT WHAT POINT IN THE RACE TO THE CHASE DO DRIVERS BEGIN TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT THEY NEED TO DO TO LOCK THEMSELVES IN COME SEPTEMBER?
“Honestly, we are all worrying. Even in the dominant position we’re in, we look back at the last three or four races and see missed opportunity; and we know that we left some bonus points on the table, plus points in general, if we were in the Chase. You can’t win a championship that way with Dover and Michigan. Sonoma turned out okay, but you can’t make those mistakes. So, although it looks like we’re just
cruising along and smiling, we have a lot of pressure on ourselves to perform at the level we need to. But, the other teams in that ‘bubble’ area, you’ll see a lot of testing or hear about a lot of testing. Teams have been very smart about reserving test sessions and as we get closer to the Chase, I think you’ll see a lot of teams in that 8th to 14th or 8th to 12th range using those test sessions to make sure they have good finishes and collect a lot of points.”
 
DO YOU HAVE A TESTING SCHEDULE AT THIS POINT?
“No, fortunately, the last I heard was that we’re still sitting on them and hopefully will use them on all Chase tracks. We’ll see how that goes. Jeff (Gordon) is obviously in a tough position and we need to make sure we get him in the Chase. But right now, we haven’t really picked any tracks yet.”
 
IT’S BEEN A TOUGH TRANSITION FOR DANICA PATRICK, AND YOU LOOK AT SAM HORNISH AND DARIO FRANCHITTI.  WHY IS THAT TRANSITION SO DIFFICULT? IF YOU TRIED IT IN REVERSE AND TRIED TO GO TO INDYCAR AT THIS POINT IN YOUR CAREER, WOULD IT BE DIFFERENT?
“When I look at the vehicles, the way you make them handle, the downforce numbers, the mechanical grip, if you look and compare downforce versus vehicle, mechanical grip, the Cup car has a lot of mechanical grip and very little downforce. It’s just the opposite for an IndyCar race car. I know when I raced a GRAND-AM car, the way you use the brakes in a braking zone it totally different than if you do the same thing in a Cup car on the same track at Watkins Glen. Granted they all have four wheels, but they are very, very different.
 
“One other element that’s involved in all of this, and I think it’s something that’s always worked in my favor, because I’m used to running side-by-side with people in racing. And I’m a far better racer than I am somebody who qualifies or posts practice speeds. And IndyCar guys and girls don’t have a lot of side-by-side racing. They do, kind of now on the 1.5-mile ovals they run on, but it’s like a plate track running wide-open. It’s not the competitive passing and racing and fighting for position like you see in NASCAR. And it takes a while to figure it out.
 
“Even with my background, I can remember my first three races in ASA that I ran, I would catch a car and be stuck behind it and couldn’t pass it. I remember being on the radio and being upset that I didn’t know how to pass the car. It took time to figure out how to do that. So, when I summarize it all, it’s really that they are different cars. And then the racing that takes place on the track, the door-to-door racing and where you position your car to keep the air on it so you don’t make a mistake and how you can affect others around you to get the position, that’s just something that takes laps. I have a lot of friends that race in other series that want to come NASCAR racing and I tell them all they need a five-year plan before you have high expectations. You need to go out there and hit walls. You need to make mistakes. You need to make people mad. That’s what you do. You have to go out there and learn and learn through experience.
 
“In time, you see Sam is really off to a great year in Nationwide winning races and leading the championship at times. I think he’s proof that you just need time. He’s a great driver. He just needs to figure it all out in this style of car. Just to finish up my long story, I’d be very interested to watch a closed-bodied driver go to an open-wheel vehicle. Guys that I’ve talked to that have come our direction like Dario, and maybe even Juan (Montoya), when you take the downforce off the car your eyes are calibrated for a certain speed and it’s tough for them to come our direction. I’m very curious too, to what it’s like to go from a car that doesn’t stick in the corner all that well to something that has a lot of grip.
 
 
“Would the transition be easier going from our car to theirs? I have the same question. I don’t know the answer. But I do know, you’re going to race for a win. You’re not just going to show up in your first year and race for a win, but theoretically there’s an argument that going from low downforce to high downforce is an easier transition than the other way.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 28, 2013
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD YOUTH FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS, met with the media following a press conference announcing his involvement with the National Guard Youth Foundation, specifically to draw attention to the nation’s alarming high school dropout rate by promoting the National Guard Youth Challenge program. During his time with the media he discussed his season thus far, racing at Kentucky Speedway and other topics.  FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
YOU ARE ONE DRIVER THAT IS STILL LOOKING FOR A WIN THIS YEAR AND WON LAST YEAR.  HOW MUCH DOES NOT WINNING WEIGH ON YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW?  HOW URGENT DO YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO GET A WIN BEFORE THE CHASE?
“I think we keep working hard the wins will come.  We have had some really fast cars, just had some bad luck.  Thought we had an opportunity to win at Michigan and just with the engine failure we weren’t able to get that done.  If we just keep working and running well we will get our opportunities to get to Victory Lane.”
 
KYLE PETTY GOES ON TV YESTERDAY AND SAY’S THAT DANICA PATRICK IS NOT A RACE CAR DRIVER.  YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH HER IS EXTENSIVE DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH KYLE’S STATEMENT?
“I have to disagree with Kyle (Petty).  I think she is a tough competitor and she works really hard at what she does.  She has run some really good races.  On every occasion she is out running several guys out on the circuit.  If she was not able to compete and not able to run minimum speed or finish in last place every week I think you might be able to say Kyle has an argument.  But she’s out there running competitively and running strong on several accounts.  I think that she has got a good opportunity and a rightful position in the sport to keep competing and she just might surprise even Kyle Petty.”
 
TOP-FIVE HERE LAST YEAR DO YOU HAVE A LOT OF CONFIDENCE COMING INTO THIS TRACK AND DO YOU FEEL LIKE TURN THREE IS ONE OF THOSE CRITICAL PARTS OF THE TRACK THAT YOU HAVE TO GET DOWN?
“Well, it looked critical last night in the Truck race, some guys having some difficulty in turn three. The track is just unique and very bumpy and got a lot of character.  I enjoy racing here.  I think that the track gets better every year.  Just look forward to having a good car.  I’m excited to get out there and get in practice see what kind of speed we have and how competitive the car is.  Hope that we can put together a couple of good days and have a good weekend.  I enjoy coming here and we’ve got a lot of fans in this area that enjoy seeing us race here.”   
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 23, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON LEADS THE BOWTIE BRIGADE AT SONOMA
Five Team Chevy Drivers in the Top-10
 
SONOMA, Calif. (June 23, 2013) – Piloting the No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS, Jeff Gordon led Team Chevy in the Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup race on the tricky 10-turn road course at Sonoma Raceway with a runner-up finish.  Gordon overcame an early and untimely pit road penalty for pitting just as the caution flag waved, which left him mired in traffic for much for of the 110-lap race.  But solid pit strategy and a fast race car propelled him to the front of the field with just a few laps remaining.
 
Gordon, who owns five wins at Sonoma, and who also holds the record for the most all-time road course wins (9) in the Series, captured his fifth top-five finish this season.  He gained three positions in the point standings, and is now ranked 13th overall. 
 
Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet SS, also overcame pit road misfortune and rebounded to a top-five finish.  Busch received two back-to-back pit road speeding penalties, placing him one lap down to the leaders a third of the way through the race.  The team persevered to earn a fourth-place finish.  This is his sixth top-five finish in 13 starts at Sonoma.
 
Gaining valuable driver points, Kasey Kahne in his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS, earned a sixth-place finish; which moved him up to 11th in the standings.  Series point leader Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, avoided mayhem to finish ninth, and now has a 25-point lead overall.  Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet SS, continued his streak of Top-10 finishes for the six consecutive week by earning a 10th-place finish.
 
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS finished 12th followed by Paul Menard, No. 27 Menards/MOEN Chevrolet SS in 14th and Ryan Newman driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS finished 15th overall. 
 
Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota) was the race winner, Carl Edwards (Ford) was third, and Clint Bowyer (Toyota) was fifth to round out the top-five finishing order.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 23, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
ON LAP 24, WHEN YOU PITTED TOO SOON AND YOU RESTARTED 37TH, WERE YOU THINKING THERE WAS ANY WAY YOU COULD COME BACK AND FINISH SECOND TODAY?
“This is one of those crazy types of races where pit strategy goes all over the place and you never know what might happen. We were on a three-stop strategy and that’s why we wanted to come in when we did. I hate it for (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) because that’s the call the crew chief makes and I’m right there. And I couldn’t turn away. At the time I was thinking gosh, I don’t know who has the worst (luck) right now, me or him? The way things have been going on the track for me haven’t been great and the way things have been going with the calls haven’t been going his way either. But, wow, we finally had a race car that was fantastic with this Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet. And the pit crew and Alan the rest of the day were just spot-on. Great adjustments. We had a lot of fun out there. I knew that we could probably never get to that No. 56 (race winner, Martin Truex, Jr.), but boy, we were sure having fun coming up through there. I do want to say one thing about Drive to End Hunger. Go to Drivetoendhunger.org. We’ve got a really cool program where your name could be on our car and ride around the race with me on the hood for the race in Chicago later this year.
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SEALY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FOURTH
YOU HAD NOT ONE, BUT TWO PIT ROAD SPEEDING ISSUES. YOU MADE AN IMPRESSIVE RECOVERY:
“Yeah, we were fast, even on pit road (laughs), twice. I messed-up, flat-out. I didn’t hit my tachometer right and I was speeding both times. It was one of those where I’m like how does that happen? I just put myself in a position that was poor trying to get too much on pit road. But man, this Furniture Row Chevy was fast. Congrats to Truex. When we were running a lap down with him, I was trying to pace myself. I wanted to get back on the lead lap. We did get back on the lead lap when he pitted, but we had to battle hard. We came back up through there. You’ve got to rub guys and move guys and we gave guys room and just made one mistake. I think we could have gotten all the way up to second, but we never would have caught Truex. I just have to thank the Furniture Row guys. We have Simmons, Serta, and Sealy as our mattress sponsors. But I got busted speeding on pit road. My bad.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SIXTH
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY AND ALL THAT PIT STRATEGY GOING ON:
“We had a good day.  We came a long ways from Friday.  The guys, Kenny (Francis, crew chief), Keith (Rodden, engineer) did a really nice job.  That was one of the better cars I’ve had here late in the race.  I was really happy with it.  I don’t know we played the right strategy I thought.  Maybe we could have stayed out with Martin (Truex) and ran second to him.  Martin was the class of the field for sure.  I think what we did and got back to sixth was probably better.  Because of what we did last year it really bit us.  That was our plan.  We need the points.  We have been struggling to get points.  We have been pretty good, but we have been struggling to get points.  The Farmers Insurance guys did that today.”
 
WHAT WAS THE TOUGHEST THING OUT THERE ALL DAY TODAY?
“Grip – just forward drive off the corner.  I felt pretty good everywhere expect driving forward.  It was real easy to spin the tires.  It was for everybody.  I felt like my car was probably better than most, but it was a long race.  I think we got a little better as it went.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 12TH
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY:
“It was pretty good.  We really didn’t have a lot of great speed.  We just had good strategy on pit road.  Just come home with a decent finish.  We will take it.  This is definitely my worst race track, my least favorite track.  We will take whatever, we will take a top-15 here any week.”
 
WHAT WAS THE TOUGHEST THING OUT THERE?
“Well just trying to get the car to turn in turns seven and 11.  I just couldn’t turn.  At the end of the race you couldn’t get turned through there.  Just really hard all day long.  This tire is not very good.  The track is a good track.  I think they just need to get a little bit better tire.  I don’t know, it’s hard to say.  These things are a handful around here.  It really brings out the worst in guys like me.  We feel good about running 12th.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 34TH – SCORED AS THE FINAL CAR ON THE LEAD LAP AFTER FUNNING OUT OF FUEL ON THE LAST LAP.

YOU REALLY LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD THE FASTEST CAR A LOT OF TIMES TODAY, BUT EVERYTHING REALLY FELL APART IN THE END
“Our Target Chevy was really good today. The guys did an amazing job; it’s just heartbreak. It’s heartbreak for me and everybody on the Target team. You’ve got to defend them in the way that when they do the fuel calculations based on the other runs; and the other runs, when you’re stuck in traffic, you can’t run that hard. Then you get in clean air and they’re asking me to run as hard as I can, and I’m doing that, you’re going to use a little more fuel. It should have been a little smarter. With five (laps) to go you start saving a little bit, just in case. We’ve got tools to prevent things like that from happening.”
 

James Hinchcliffe Wins at Iowa Speedway to Lead All-Chevrolet Podium in Race 10 of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Season
 
Helio Castroneves Maintains Lead in Point Standings
 
NEWTON, IOWA – (June 23, 2013) – For the third time this season, James Hinchcliffe drove his way from the green flag to victory lane. Starting on the outside of the front row for the Iowa Corn Indy 250, the pilot of the No. 27 GoDaddy Andretti Autosport Chevrolet took the lead for the final time on lap 217 of the 250-lap race to capture his career-first victory on an oval track, his third career IZOD IndyCar Series victory, his third win of the 2013 season and the fourth consecutive race at Iowa Speedway won by an Andretti Autosport driver.
 
Hinchcliffe, who led for a total of 226 laps around the 0.875-mile oval track, beat his Andretti Autosport teammate, defending Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, to the finish by 1.5009 seconds. Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan, No. 11 Sunoco “Turbo” KV Racing Technology – SH Racing Chevrolet, finished third to make it an all-Chevrolet IndyCar V6 driver podium for the third consecutive race.
 
A total of eight Team Chevy drivers scored top-10 finishes today: Ed Carpenter finished fourth; Oriol Servia was seventh at the checkered flag; Helio Castroneves finished eighth; Marco Andretti was ninth and EJ Viso finished in 10th position.
 
“Team Chevy continues to carry the winning momentum and depth with another strong result securing eight of the top 10 finishing positions at Iowa Speedway today,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series. “Congratulations to James Hinchcliffe and Andretti Autosport for netting the 3rd win of the season for James and the GoDaddy crew.  Leading the majority of the race, James showed he had the setup for the day and the skills to drive it to the checker.  Sweeping the podium for the third race weekend in a row, and the fifth of the season, is a great accomplishment and propels our Team Chevy drivers to accumulate points in the driver’s championship.  We look forward to bringing IndyCar racing back to Pocono in two weeks after a well-deserved weekend off.”
 
With nine races remaining in the season, Chevrolet continues to lead the IZOD IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Point Standings. Through the first 10 races, Chevrolet drivers have scored seven poles and seven victories.
 
Team Chevy drivers hold the top-five in the championship standings: Helio Castroneves leads with 332 points followed by Hunter-Reay with 323 points; Andretti sits third in the standings with 277 markers; Hinchcliffe jumped to a fourth place total of 266 points and Kanaan in fifth with 253 points.
 
Next on the schedule is the Pocono INDYCAR 400 Fueled by Sunoco on Sunday, July 7th at famed Pocono Raceway. Live coverage will be on ABC TV starting at Noon ET.
 
 
AN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, MICHAEL ANDRETTI,
RYAN HUNTER-REAY AND TONY KANAAN
Sunday, June 23, 2013 – Iowa Speedway
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are pleased to be joined by our race winner, James Hinchcliffe.  This is the third win of the 2013 season for James, his first at Iowa.
            James, before today, you had led 99 laps total; today, 226.  Talk about today’s race and the win.
            JAMES HINCHCLIFFE:  Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty incredible.  In St. Pete, I led the last 20; in Brazil, like the last hundred feet, and here, today, to do what we did, we got Will on lap one there and really never looked back.  The car was solid.
            Yesterday, we knew we didn’t have the car to win yesterday in the heat races, so I sat with Craig and the engineers and we decided to kind of take a swing at it and put a little aggressive setup on it.
            There was obviously a lot of unknowns with the weather.  It was cooler than we thought it was going to be.  Obviously the rain throws a wrench into it, but when we needed it, the car was awesome.  We were fast out front by ourselves.  We were good in traffic.  We didn’t have a whole lot of yellows to contend with, which I think was really good for us.
            Obviously we had the one restart with Graham, which was the biggest moment of the race but had fun racing with him there and just so proud of these guys.  They have got such a good track record here, Marco in ’11 and Ryan and ’12, and me now; and its Go Daddy’s hometown, where they started so to get a win here is extra special and it’s just nice to keep our season getting back on track.
 
            Q.  What is it specifically about the short oval package that has allowed four different Andretti Autosport drivers in four straight years to win here?
            JAMES HINCHCLIFFE:  Well, I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you, and none of us want that; there’s too much paperwork.
            It’s funny, because obviously the team was good here before the new car came out, before the W12, and to be able to continue that kind of success with a new car; and a lot of the success the team had at night and track conditions are very, very different at night.
            So to come here during a day race and still be able to have a strong showing.  I mean, look at Ryan.  That’s probably the more impressive drive of the race was from where he started to finish second.  There’s clearly a philosophy on the team that works well, and having four guys that work so well together makes races like this where we have so little practice time, just one session before qualifying, it makes it a huge advantage for us.  And the chemistry between us and the ability to work well together, it shows on track on Sunday.
 
            Q.  Describe what that dynamic is going to be like, not only are you battling for the championship, but you’re going to be doing it with your teammates.
            JAMES HINCHCLIFFE:  Yeah, I mean, that’s obviously going to be a more complicated question in five or six races.  We still have nine to go, and there’s still a lot to play for.
            But certainly, when you’re coming to the home stretch of the season and you have teammates running together, you know, I would like to think that we are all going to run each other fair and we are going to continue to work as well together as we can, because what you have to remember, it’s not just us in this championship.
            And if we start battling each other internally off track, then the other guys are going to catch up and pass us, and then we are fighting over second, third and fourth.  That’s not what we want to do.  We want to back up Ryan’s championship last year and bring another one home for Andretti Autosport, and I think we all know that the team is greater than one guy and we all have to work together to try and achieve that.
 
            THE MODERATOR:  No rest for you, I believe you’re off testing?
            JAMES HINCHCLIFFE:  Yeah, I have to catch a plane now and head to Pennsylvania.  We are testing at Pocono which everybody is excited for.  Yeah, we are excited for a weekend off.
  It’s been about two straight months on the road between Brazil, Indy and this five race stretch.
            So to go you say we have a break now, but we are straight testing on Tuesday and then we finally get a weekend off.  New track for us, obviously everybody is very excited about that.  We had strong cars at Indy and this is another Super Speedway and hopefully that translates, but there’s a lot to learn there.
            So I’m glad we are getting the chance to go somewhere new.  We always like a new challenge.
 
            Q.  You entered the season trying to get your first career victory and now you have three; is it a matter of kicking the door in and you just come charging through.
            JAMES HINCHCLIFFE:  Well, it’s funny, you know because people, all last year and the off season, people say things like:  Oh, you know, once you get your first one, they all just kind of come; it becomes way easier after that.  And they clearly haven’t tried running an IndyCar race, because it’s not easy under any circumstances, no matter how many you’ve won.
            I remember after St. Pete people were saying:  Oh, yeah, they will just come now.  And I’m thinking, race two at Barber, we completed all three laps and watched the rest of it from the side of the track.  I’m like, well, that didn’t quite go as everybody says it was gonna.
            It was incredible to be here now, three wins in and that first one is so hard to get.  But if you look at the record books, there are a lot of guys that have one win, and a pretty big factor, smaller that have won, two, smaller factor again that have won three, then it kind of goes up exponentially from there of guys that have had more than that.  It’s nice to be chalking a few up.
            But at the same time, these races are so hard to win.  You’ve got to be with a good crew, good car, good put pits, call it right, drive smart and have some luck.  That’s all part of it.  And you can’t take anything to are granted.  You can’t assume you’re in a good position, because there are legitimately 12 guys any weekend that can win a race, and you just never know if you’ll ever win another one.
            Will used to tell me that and I used to laugh at him, because that’s when he was winning six races a year; it’s just so true, and in an environment this competitive, you just never know.
            We are enjoying what we have got now and the success we’ve had, but we have got to keep our heads down and work harder than ever if we want to get back up here.
 
            Q.  After having won three races, nobody else having performed that well this season but still running fourth in the points, how does that set up your plan for the remainder of the season?
            JAMES HINCHCLIFFE:  We obviously kick it off with a bang, had two DNFs and another win and then had a couple bad races in Indy and Detroit.  After Detroit, we really just said, all right, look, guys, we have to get our momentum back and we have to get that MoJo going again.  At Texas, solid top 10; Milwaukee, solid top 5 and obviously here back at the top step.  I think that’s just the momentum shift that we needed.
            We are not going to be in a position to win every race, we know that but I think that we have found our way into finishing where we have to on the day you’ve got a ninth place car, finish ninth.  It’s a lot better than wrecking and going for eight.
            I think the team has got a lot of confidence in each other and themselves and now we can just try and rip off some consistent results because you look at Marco and you look at Helio, I’ve got more wins than anybody, but those guys are ahead of me because they have been more consistent.
 
            Q.  You said at St. Pete trying for that first victory, you were dreaming up scenario, how am I going to lose this; how is it different today after you’ve had a couple wins and you’re out in front for so much of the race?
            JAMES HINCHCLIFFE:  It was even worse because that much longer in the lead and more time to think of things that would go wrong.
            Obviously the first stint went pretty well for us and getting the lead early I think was important for us, because clean air is king, and we were able to get through traffic.  When we first came up on traffic, that was going to be the first big test, the first 20, 30 laps, whatever it was, didn’t really mean much, because anybody running by themselves up front was going to be good.  It’s when we got into lap traffic that was going to make a difference.
            And every time I came up on a lap car that was going to be the car that was going to screw it up for us.  Luckily we didn’t have many cautions.  When you are leading and have a good pace, you don’t want to see those, but every time we did, it was, oh, well, this is the restart that’s going to do us in; or every pit stop, I’m going to spit coming off turn two, get back up to speed or something.
            We did have a couple close calls.  Like I said we went aggressive with the setup and the car was very loose at certain parts of that race, and then the last ten laps picked up this freak understeer, I thought the tire was going down and I was on the radio asking if the pressure was all right    how far is Ryan, and I’m thinking, ten to go, really?  You’re going to let me lead 200 laps to take it away now.
            But luckily the gap was enough and I made sure I just controlled the lap at the end.  I didn’t want to catch that group because as soon as you’re in dirty air with old tires, the car falls apart a little bit, and luckily we had the gas to run we needed.
 
            Q.  In all your years of racing, have you ever dominated as well as you have today?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE:  I mean, I can’t think of a race.  A few races of Lights that I led from pole but either a third of the distance or there’s no pit stops, restarts are a much different deal, they were not double file back then.
            So, no, I watched guy win races like this on TV and my whole career, I thought, I just don’t get it, like how do they do that.  I’ve never been in that position.  And now, I know:  You have to have a hell of a good car, a hell of a good crew and just hit your marks all afternoon long.
            I’m just so pleased that we are able to do    everybody performed.  If it was the guys in the pits, the setup, me and my spotter making good decisions out on the racetrack, and, man, it feels good to do it like that.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are pleased to be joined by Michael Andretti of Andretti Autosport, our winn
ing team owner, this is the consecutive one, two finish for Andretti Autosport at Iowa.  Just talk about the great season your team is having.
 
            MICHAEL ANDRETTI:  Yeah, it’s just been a great year.  We work really hard, and all that hard work is paying off.  We are working great as a team.  All four cars are communicating very well and all four drivers and engineers and everything, and you know, it’s like I’ve been saying and preaching all year.  That’s where we are getting our results and it’s been awesome.
            As for coming here to Iowa, hope they never take this race off the schedule.  You know, it’s just been such a great race since the moment it made the schedule.  It’s a great racetrack.  We have great fans that come out and support it, and I hope it stays on the schedule for a long time.
 
            Q.  Ryan said that he thinks that your guys have particularly figured out the short ovals, but it’s not the only place that your cars seem to do really well.  I asked you at the beginning of the season what the dynamic is rolling behind the team.  What would you say is the great strength of the program right now?  Where is the really great focus?
            MICHAEL ANDRETTI:  Well, I think just what I just said before; I think the focus is on team and team work.  IndyCar Racing is very tough, because you get very little track time.  You don’t get the test.  You barely get any practice on a race weekend.
            So, you know, getting information is very important, and you need to get good, accurate information, and you need to have information that you can trust, and that’s what we have with all four cars that are out there running all the time.  We are getting four cars of data, and the four drivers and four engineers all work together and trust each other, and so we are getting four times the work done than if you had one car out there.
            I think that’s the biggest thing.  I don’t think it’s anything else than that.  I don’t think we have any tricks or anything like that.  Just good, hard work and good team work.
 
            Q.  Next race is Pocono and that’s really when the championship gets even tighter.  Can you foresee, you’re looking at two, three guys battling for the championship.
            MICHAEL ANDRETTI:  Boy, I hope you’re right.  Or three that they are battling    that one pain in the butt out there, that Penske car    (laughter).
 
            Q.  But forecast what these races are going to be like in terms of one of your drivers trying to break away in the championship.
            MICHAEL ANDRETTI:  Well, I mean, hopefully all the ones that are in the championship now, especially the three with James and Marco and Ryan, that they just continue to finish races and continue to get points; and races like today where Marco didn’t have a great car but he still came home ninth and got some important points and that’s what it’s going to take.
            We just have to hope we finish the year without any problems with the cars and all three of them, if we do that, I think one of them has a chance at winning the championship.
            Having said that, guys like Helio, with his experience and everything, it’s going to be really difficult and he’s going to make it go right down to the wire, I can assure you.  But it’s always nice to have more than one bullet in the gun, and right now we have three real legitimate shots at winning the championship.
 
            Q.  James didn’t have a win coming into the season, and now has three in ten starts.  Can you talk a little about how he’s grown as a driver here in 2013?
            MICHAEL ANDRETTI:  Yeah, it’s just really come together.  You know, just a matter of time for James.  He showed great brilliance last year in a lot of races and even races before and other teams that he’s been with.
            We all knew he had potential.  It’s always one of those deals, you get that first one and it seems like the next one comes a little bit easier because you have that confidence to know that you can do it, and I think that’s where James is right now.
            He’s had a weird year, for sure, where he’s been feast or famine; he either wins or he has problems.  But he knows he’s capable of winning, and you know, if he can just hopefully get through all his problems and continue to do what he’s doing, I think he has a good shot at the championship.
 
            Q.  With races back to back, I know everybody is tired but does it help to come from a one mile oval like Milwaukee to come here?
            MICHAEL ANDRETTI:  Honestly, I don’t think it really matters.  I don’t think it really does, because it’s the same amount of work between getting the cars ready for each event that really, it’s not a big thing.  I think maybe for your thought process; you can continue thinking the same way as you did the week before, that makes it a little nicer.  But in the end, it’s not a big difference.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are now joined by Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport, you finished second.  This is the second consecutive podium finish for Ryan at Iowa.
            Ryan, the race today, obviously a little issue that brought you all the way back to 21, 22, to be able to bounce back to second, especially with the lap traffic out there, talk about today’s race.
 
            RYAN HUNTER-REAY:  Yeah, it was so challenging out there today.  Just had a lot of imbalance in the first stint.  I just had a lot of understeer and really had to push to get by Graham (Rahal), and I just kept my foot in it trying to pop right out of the corner, and when I did I was right under his gear box.  I just had no downforce on the front wing and when I turned it, there goes the front wing.  It’s that easy to make a mistake.
            Had great day, had a lot of fun, got angry a few times because of some lap cars that were just racing a little too hard.  But it was a really good day, good points, to finish second after being dead last.  And yesterday we had a nightmare of a day as well.  So really happy that we were able to bring the No. 1 DHL Chevy home in second.  Would have liked the repeat but once again, the Andretti cars were the cars to beat here at Iowa.
 
            Q.  You passed more cars today than anybody else on the track, so just how difficult was that and how much did you have to pace yourself to be able to systematically get your way backup?
            RYAN HUNTER-REAY:  Yeah, d
efinitely had to pace myself, because it was difficult.  Like Tony said, with these cars, the underlying characteristic is that they want to understeer quite a bit right in the run, right.  So half    inaudible    tires to the end, it’s very difficult, if somebody is running an optimum line that you’re working with, and somebody that you’re trying to pass is running that line, it can take you 20, 25 laps to even get a shot at them.
            It was a difficult day, I had to be patient at times and overly aggressive at others.  I had a really good day and I had really good car.  It’s a bummer when you have that good of a car and you come home second, but considering we came from the back of the pack to finish second in such a tight field, I have to be happy about that, or pleased about it, I should say.
 
            Q.  Big picture, what do you think this looks like to people who are watching it?  You have a few that’s different than we have, but what do you think it looks like to us?
            RYAN HUNTER-REAY:  What?
 
            Q.  All the mixing and exchanging of positions and dive bombs.
            RYAN HUNTER-REAY:  We look like a bunch of nuts out there, quite a few    anyway.
            I’m sure with an action packed race    it was so busy.  I think I had a clear track twice, and during that time, it felt like I was on vacation, it was so nice, and then you get back into the rough stuff and just dicing it you have and lap cars coming and then you have a guy for position or behind you while you have two cars in front of you for lap traffic, it was just nuts.  That’s what’s great about this race.  I really enjoy I think the night race is really great here.  I think we put on a great show during the day, but I think in the end, more people come out at night for this race.
 
            Q.  First and second today; what is it about the Andretti cars that they run so strong here?
            RYAN HUNTER-REAY:  We just figured out the short oval package, you know.  Unfortunately the 28 team, or the No. 1 team that you’re talking about, the No. 1, 28, we’ve won five I think of the last short ovals, dating back to New Hampshire, Milwaukee, Iowa, Milwaukee.  So we came close to doing it again here, but they gave the drivers a great short oval car.
            This track, you can see that everybody is very evenly matched when you’re on new tires, because the imbalances in the car are not showing and when everybody starts sliding around, that’s when the Andretti cars go to the front.  We just have great set up and definitely have to credit the engineering staff and the crew at Andretti for giving us those cars.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are pleased to be joined by Tony Kanaan.  This is Tony’s fourth consecutive podium finish here at Iowa.  Talk about that great race.  There were tons of battles going on for position all day.
            THE MODERATOR:  This is Tony’s fourth consecutive podium finish Iowa.  Talk about that great race.  There was tons of battles going on for position all day.
            TONY KANAAN:  I wonder why people think, why do I love Iowa so much.  Yeah, it was an interesting race.  I think in the beginning, we had some temperature issue on the car, so on the first stop, we took a little bit of extra time.  Some debris got into the side, so we kind of had to take one piece off the oil heater that we had it on to cool the engine, so we lost five positions there.  And track position was so important today, that it cost us the entire race to go back to where we were.
            So on the last yellow, when I asked Jimmy where we were, we were only like 11th and there was only like three cars behind me on the same lap.  I said:  Why don’t we pit, put new tires on, we are going to have an advantage.  I think I can make it up, because a lot of people, because of the nature of the track and the downforce that we have, better tires were always going to help.  And then we went off sequence and that’s what helped us at the end of the race.
            I’m excited.  It’s funny, every time we have the Sunoco car this year, I finish on the podium, so going to have convince them to have a full car every race.  But it was a great race for us.
 
            Q.  That battle you had with Graham Rahal looked pretty good there, it was pretty close.  How fierce and intense was that?
            TONY KANAAN:  It was intense.  Obviously he has not had a great year, so he was fighting for the podium position.  And he fought a little bit too hard in my opinion, but I take it, I think this is racing.  It’s not    he gave me room; at times he didn’t, but we managed to pass him.  So it was a hard race.  He’s a good driver.  He made his car extremely wide.  So it was a good battle.
 
            Q.  Traffic is always tough here but talk about the traffic here in this race today.
            TONY KANAAN:  I mean, it’s the shortest track we go.  We are going to have traffic every lap.  People are going to get mad.  People are going to get    you know, say, oh, you should let me by, you should do this.  But you know what, at the end of the race, we are racing.  And even the lap cars are racing some lap cars, as well.
            So it was tough.  There were people there that were hanging in there for their life so they could only run one lane and sometimes it happened to be your lane, as well.  So it is what it is.
            And it’s such a short track; if you start letting people by every lap, after ten laps, you’re going to have to let the same people by again.  It’s tough.  But I think it’s part of what makes this race here very exciting.  So it is what it is.
            I’m not a big fan of complaining about traffic, because, you know, it is what it is.
 
            Q.  Do you particularly like    you must like going into turn three and just taking whoever is on the outside and just making him go further outside; you really dive down low, much lower than most people.  Is that one of your favorite parts of the corner?
            TONY KANAAN:  It is, and then funny that you picked on that, because I think my best move on the race was when I passed Marco there, you know.
            I think because of the nature of the cars today, a lot of people don’t go down low like that because you actually have a tendency to understeer.  My car was actually pretty good there.&nb
sp; And once you dive in that early, the barking kind of help you in the middle of the corner and a lot of people didn’t realize that, and I think in the race, that helped me a lot.
            I made a lot of passes, because a lot of the guys were choosing to run high going into that corner, and you know, running low, I had the grip and I had the clear air.  So it was definitely a good place to be.
            THE MODERATOR:  Just looking ahead to our next race, is obviously Pocono, you’re in the Sunoco car, it’s a new track and you’re going for the Triple Crown.  Any thoughts about that as we head there?
            TONY KANAAN:  I haven’t been there.  I’m going to test there on Tuesday.
            So I’m excited.  I’ve always heard good things about Pocono.  Obviously when I drove for Michael Andretti, it was a track that they had a lot of success, it was close to their house and I even heard that Michael had a helicopter crash on the way there once.  So I’ve heard about the track a lot.
            I’m excited.  Obviously I’m the only one that has a chance to win the Triple Crown, so the pressure is on us, but I’m excited.  I can’t wait to go there on Tuesday and check the track out and see how it looks like.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
IOWA CORN INDY 250
IOWA SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 23, 2013
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: We just had to go off of experience and all goes to the team.  We have a great track record here but this year with so many different things and a day race, everything was different.  We took a bit of risk.  We wanted to make sure the car wouldn’t get understeer because that kills you in traffic.  I can’t believe we led that whole thing.   The guys were awesome in the pits.
 
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU LED 226 LAPS TODAY. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?
“It’s Andretti Autosport. These guys have such a good track record here and we knew it was going to be different racing here in the day. We took a couple gambles with the set-up and we really wanted to make sure it was going to be good in traffic and turn, and man, that car was hooked-up from the get-go. We pulled away from everybody and had a good race with Graham (Rahal) there on one of those restarts. I lost one of my head pads halfway through the race and I thought it was either going to get stuck in the pedal box, or fly out and get in the air box and those last 20 laps were really long just trying to hold onto it. But, the GoDaddy guys were great in the pits. It’s great to win in Iowa; it’s where GoDaddy started. I’m just so stoked. Thanks to the fans who held out through the rain and stayed with us. And Andretti Autosport, I’m so stoked.”
 
YOU MADE IT LOOK EASY GETTING THROUGH THAT LAPPED TRAFFIC, BUT HOW HARD WAS IT?
“It’s so hard. You know, this place is so physical. You’re going straight for all of like four seconds in the lap and you’re working the rest of the time. And some guys are really well-behaved and consistent, but at the same time those guys are racing and if they’re in front of you two-wide, there’s nothing you can do. We’re trying to manage the gaps of the guys behind us and trying to take care of the tires. But at the end of the day, the car was solid. Everybody on the No. 27 crew, in the pits, they were awesome. Guys on the stand called it perfect. Man, I just can’t thank these guys enough.”
 
HOW DOES BEING 4TH IN THE STANDINGS, JUST 66 POINTS BACK SOUND?
“It sounds a whole lot better that ninth coming in, man!”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: It was so hard to catch back up to James (Hinchcliffe) and then lapped traffic.  It’s one thing if you’re a lap down but if you’re five laps down or six laps down just making it tough on the leaders was uncalled for.  But hey, we can back from 22nd or whatever we were to finish second.  Definitely had the car to win today but just made a mistake there trying to get by Graham (Rahal), keeping my foot in it. The front just had no grip on it when I turned to pop out and pass him.  Easy mistake.  We had a tough weekend.  To come second out of this thing, I’m pretty please with that.  Good job to James (Hinchcliffe).  It was a good day in the point for the No. 1 DHL Chevy. Definitely have to be happy about that.
 
YOU HAD THE INCIDENT WHEN YOU HAD TO COME IN AND GET A NEW NOSE AND GO BACK OUT, AND WENT FROM LAST ALL THE WAY BACK UP TO FINISH SECOND. BOY, A LOT HAPPENED IN BETWEEN THEN
“A lot happened. It was a busy day. I as pushing so hard to catch James (Hinchcliff) there and then a bunch of lapped traffic just held us up racing. I don’t know why so hard when they are five laps down. But it was a great show today. A great race. Good job to James and the GoDaddy team. We had a good recovery on points today in the No. 1 DHL Chevy. Thanks to all the fans for coming out. We always appreciate it and thank you for making this such a great event.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 SUNOCO “TURBO” KV RACING TECHNOLOGY – SH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “First I have to thank the entire Sunoco – KV Racing Technology – SH Racing team. They did a great job today. We had some issues early in the race with the car, but we were able to work around them.  The pit stops and strategy were great and we fought hard to earn this podium finish. I also want to thank Chevrolet and Firestone for their work. It was a great effort by everyone and a great race.  This is my second race in the Sunoco car and a second podium for us. I want to keep that momentum going into Pocono, which we will have the Sunoco car again and will be the second leg of the triple- crown.”
 
A FANTASTIC RUN FOR YOU! GETTING AROUND LAPPED TRAFFIC WAS A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY
“Yeah, it’s a short track and you’re always going to have lapped cars and they are fighting for positions as well. Some other races, I’ve been there. It’s just the nature of the track. I want to thank the fans for coming. I know the weather didn’t look good this morning, but hopefully charging back through the field toward the end there I made it exciting for them.”
 
YOU HAD SOME EARLY ISSUES WITH TEMPERATURES, BUT IT WAS A GOOD RACE FOR YOU TODAY
“It was. We’ll take it.  We had the temperature issue where we lost five positions in the pits. And then track position was so crucial today. After that, all we did was we tried to get off sequence to have better tires. So we did it in the yellow because it was only three positions to lose from the back of the field and we put new tires on and that gave us a big advantage in the end.”
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “It was a good run for the Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy team.  We moved up to the front early and, then on the second stint, we had a understeer condition that sent us back in the field a little.  It was a long slow fight to the front again after that.  The Fuzzy’s guys gave me a great car today and we probably weren’t as aggressive enough early in the race on our changes.  But we made all of the right changes late and we were fast at the end.  I think we had a car fast enough to win today.  Our last green flag pit stop didn’t go as we wanted, but we came back and nearly got a podium today.  Overall, we still got a top-five finish today so it wasn’t a bad day for us.  This is a really fun place to race.  There were multiple lanes today and I ran both the low and the high groove.  Seemed like others were only good in one lane.  I just wish the race was a little longer for us because we were closing fast on the leaders.  But we’ll move on and go to Pocono.  I’m really looking forward to that race.”  
 
THAT WAS A HARDER-FOUGHT FOURTH PLACE FINISH THAN IT LOOKED LIKE, WASN’T IT?
“Yeah, we were at the front and then dropped back pretty far and raced our way to the front in the end and just ran out of laps. I think we would have kept catching people. It was a good day for the Fuzzy Vodka car. We didn’t execute perfectly, but I still got a Top 5 so I can’t complain about that.”
 
TALK ABOUT HOW KEY THAT LAST PIT STOP WAS TO HELP YOU WORK YOUR WAY BACK UP
“We were off sequence to Hinch and those guys so we got clear track on old tires after they had pitted. We did a pretty good job of holding them off for most of the time and we were in pretty good shape. We didn’t have a great pit stop on the last stop, but that’s the way it goes sometimes and we’ve got to be happy about the result anyway.”
 
HOW GOOD WAS YOUR CAR AT THE END TODAY?
“Other than the second stint, we were one of the fastest cars on track. We lost a lot of position the second stint. We had a bad stop at the end. That’s the way it goes sometimes. I’ve made plenty of mistakes this year and it’s going to happen at some point in time where you can’t be perfect in the pits all the time. So, it was a little bit of a bummer because we could have had more. I think we had a shot at the wi
n, but you can’t be mad about fourth. So, I’m happy to get out of here with a good run.”
 
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “The National Guard Chevy was great all day. This is the first time I can remember that I didn’t ask for a single change to the car for an entire race. It was the restarts today that cost us; the best restart I had the No. 55 car almost spun in front of me and I had to check up. But I felt like we were faster than a lot of the guys around us all day today. To be honest, seeing that I was seventh at the end was a surprise because I felt like we were much higher than that, but a big thanks to the team and the National Guard for such a great car today.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH:  “It was a good job today by the Hitachi team. We drove as hard as we could today. When they told me I came in 8th, I was like ‘What?’ I certainly felt we had a better car than that. I guess in traffic we got held up coming in and out of the pits which cost us some positions. The Hitachi car really came alive with about 50 laps to go and it felt great. Maybe it was a little too late for us. But, we still have the points lead and we will look for a better result in Pocono.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “It was a total handful when it came to traffic. I’m disappointed we couldn’t get the RC Cola car up there with the teammates but congrats to those two (James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay).”
 
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: 
“It was a pretty up and down race for me. I think at some points, especially at the beginning of the race, we showed tremendous speed, and I thought at that point we were going to make it to the front.  Unfortunately in the second and third stint, we didn’t have the similar speed and I went to the back. I recovered again to finish in the top-10. It was not the best weekend for us, even from the beginning. But I am happy for my two teammates James (Hinchcliffe) and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) for finishing first and second.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH: “It was a decent day starting from where we were it was not easy. Every time you start at the back you have some restarts that play your way and some that do not. I had a really good one halfway through the race but then on one restart I got caught behind Viso because he was running my line and couldn’t get going so that put us in the back. After going a lap down I tried to be as less of a factor for the leaders but then you have to start to let people by and you can’t run your race anymore. We were able to make a lot of progress with the car from the heat race to the feature race. When you have to drive from the back and don’t have a rocket ship its pretty tough to make it up to the front.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH: “Tough day for the Verizon team. The rear handling of the car was an issue pretty much from the start of the race. It was frustrating because we tried everything we could to make it better but we just couldn’t get it to where we wanted it. It was a good job in the pits by the Verizon guys and we look forward to testing this week to make sure we feel good heading into Pocono.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO.  6 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: “It was a very disappointing weekend for us. I am very frustrated after coming to Iowa with a lot of momentum and we were just not able to create a reliable car for the race. With having this little of practice time before the race, if you do not come with a well balanced car it’s very hard to catch up to the front. The race for us was just a matter of keeping it a clean race. We made a bad call when we could have gained our one lap back in the beginning and the really finished the day early for us.”

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 21ST: “The car was better today than yesterday, but it’s still not quite there yet. It feels like we’re in damage control mode right now. We rolled off the truck not so good and didn’t have a ton of track time to get it fixed, so we got in kind of a pickle there. For the race we tried a few different things which got us closer, but it was still a long race for us.  I’m excited to go testing and hopefully we can turn all of this around. We’ve struggled the last two races, so we’ll just have to keep working on it.”