The Royal Purple ‘Bad Bird’ LSR Race Car takes First In Class at the Northern Nevada Street Fever Car Show for the second year in a row!
The Maxx2Racing Team does it again.
Why can this car beat the competition ‘hands down’ in a judged show, and yes, it is a “full bore race car”, not a trailer queen. With double the entries for the show over last year, this was a ‘must attend’ two (2) day event. This one was an ‘Entry Judged’ event, with the voting only by other entrants.
Many ‘Exhibitors’ spent quite a bit of time at the car, wanting to discuss the records the car set over the years, the car show awards won, the SEMA Show experiences with both cars, and look over the car before voting.
A group of entrants showed up Saturday around 1:00 in the afternoon, and a couple of them looked under the car. “Hey, you guys (Yes there were gals there also), look at this. The underneath looks as great as the car itself.” That sealed the deal for most of those who voted for the car over our main competition, a Hugger Orange ’78 Camaro drag race car. It was pretty, but the details weren’t as they should be.
A special ‘thank you’ to Jack Arries, a longtime friend and race car driver/owner for being at the show to spend countless hours talking to those fellow entrants and race/car show builders.
Maxx2Racing–The Royal Purple ‘Bad Bird’ LSR Race Car takes First In Class at the Northern Nevada Street Fever Car Show for the second year in a row!
The Royal Purple ‘Bad Bird’ LSR Race Car takes First In Class at the Northern Nevada Street Fever Car Show for the second year in a row!
The Maxx2Racing Team does it again.
Why can this car beat the competition ‘hands down’ in a judged show, and yes, it is a “full bore race car”, not a trailer queen. With double the entries for the show over last year, this was a ‘must attend’ two (2) day event. This one was an ‘Entry Judged’ event, with the voting only by other entrants.
Many ‘Exhibitors’ spent quite a bit of time at the car, wanting to discuss the records the car set over the years, the car show awards won, the SEMA Show experiences with both cars, and look over the car before voting.
A group of entrants showed up Saturday around 1:00 in the afternoon, and a couple of them looked under the car. “Hey, you guys (Yes there were gals there also), look at this. The underneath looks as great as the car itself.” That sealed the deal for most of those who voted for the car over our main competition, a Hugger Orange ’78 Camaro drag race car. It was pretty, but the details weren’t as they should be.
A special ‘thank you’ to Jack Arries, a longtime friend and race car driver/owner for being at the show to spend countless hours talking to those fellow entrants and race/car show builders.
Honda Racing–Hinchcliffe Runs Fifth in Dual 2 at Detroit
• Last-lap move for a podium finish comes up short
• Honda drivers lock out front row in qualifying
In a race that in many ways resembled Saturday’s “Dual 1” opening race of the Detroit Grand Prix Verizon IndyCar Series doubleheader, poorly-timed caution flags and varying pit strategies left many Honda-powered contenders unable to challenge for victory in Sunday’s second race, despite an all-Honda front row in qualifying and a late-lap charge from James Hinchcliffe.
As in yesterday’s race, early yellows from on-track incidents sent many in the field to the pits as early as Lap 3, once again leading to a continuously shifting race order throughout the 70-lap contest. At the end of the day, those on a “three-stop strategy” and pitting for the first time on Lap 11 had the advantage, led by Helio Castroneves, as the Team Penske driver scored his first win of 2014.
Of the Honda-powered contingent, pole qualifier Takuma Sato’s A.J. Foyt team chose the right strategy, but Sato’s chances for victory evaporated when he was hit and spun on Lap 35 by Ryan Briscoe; and further contact from Marco Andretti in the closing laps resulted in an unrepresentative 18th-place finish.
For the second day in a row, Hinchcliffe started on the outside of the front row, second, but his team’s “two stop” strategy was nullified by the timing of the race’s four cautions. On the final lap, an attempt to pass Charlie Kimball for the third and final step on the podium came up short, and Hinchcliffe slipped to fifth behind Scott Dixon.
On a similar pit stop strategy, Honda-powered Schmidt Peterson Motorsport teammates Simon Pagenaud took the checkers in sixth, while his rookie teammate, Mikhail Aleshin, finished seventh.
Richard Childress Racing–FedEx 400
CupPostRace
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks Post Race Report
Dover International Speedway
June 1, 2014
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates Paul Menard, Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman finished 10th, 21st and 31st, respectively,
Newman ranks 11th in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, trailing current leader Matt Kenseth by 89 points, while Menard ranks 14th and Dillon ranks 15th.
Jimmie Johnson earned his second victory of the 2014 season and was followed to the finish line by Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin.
The next Sprint Cup Series race is the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 8, which is scheduled to be televised live on TNT beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Time and is scheduled to be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
Austin Dillon Earns 21st-Place Finish in No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet at Dover International Speedway
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon earned a 21st-place finish in No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet SS in the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon. The Welcome, N.C., driver started the 400-lap race from the 23rd spot and advanced into the top 20 before the first round of pit stops on lap 67. Dillon maintained his position within the top 20 until pitting for right-side tires under caution on lap 159, helping him advance into the top 10. The red flag was displayed shortly after the caution so that NASCAR and track officials could make repairs to the racing surface, which developed a pot hole in turn two. Following a 25-minute red flag for repairs, green flag racing resumed on lap 164 with Dillon in the eighth position. Dillon was running in the 14th spot with approximately 70 laps remaining when he ran out of fuel under green-flag conditions. He immediately brought the No. 3 Chevrolet down pit road but could not read his gauges while coasting and was issued a penalty for speeding down pit road. Once pitted, his car stalled in the pit box, causing further problems for the team. Dillon fell back to the 24th spot, two laps down to the race leader, following the pit stop. He battled his way to the 21st position for the race’s finish and is now 15th in the point standings.
Start – 23rd Finish – 21st Laps Led – 0 Points – 15th
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
“I’m proud of all of the guys for working so hard today and this weekend. This is a hard one to take. We had our best car all year today and I really think we were on our way to a top-10 finish in the American Ethanol Chevrolet. We ran out of fuel. What can you do about it? On to the next one. We’re All In!”
2011 CC Team Icon 27 NSCS Menards
Paul Menard Earns Second-Straight Top-10 Finish at Dover in No. 27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet
Paul Menard drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet SS to a 10th-place finish in Sunday’s 400-mile event at Dover International Speedway. The Eau Claire, Wisc., driver started 15th and was fast from the start, scored as the fastest car on track several laps in a row. Menard quickly found his way to the top 10 and raced in the top five by lap 132. On lap 159, Menard radioed the team concerned about a chunk of concrete missing in the track. After a 25-minute red flag to patch the track, the green flag flew and Menard restarted in the seventh position. The Slugger Labbe-lead team raced in the top five, passing the halfway mark in the fifth position. Menard lost handling of the car after a pit stop for two tires. On the final caution, the No. 27 team opted to stay out and was able to bring the Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet home tenth. Today’s top-10 is the team’s seventh of 2014 and moves the No. 27 to 14th place in the championship standings. Up next for the No. 27 team is next Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway.
Start – 15th Finish – 10th Laps Led – 0 Points – 14th
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“We definitely had our best Dover car yet. The Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet took 10 to 15 laps to come to me but we could really race after that point. We struggled on restarts because of the time it took for the air pressures to settle in but we could really move forwards once they did. The guys gave me great stops on pit road which helped keep us in the top five early in the race. It was a great race for us and another top 10 finish doesn’t hurt.”
Mechanical Issue Costs the No. 31 Caterpillar Team Top-10 Finish
At Dover International Speedway
Ryan Newman drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS to a 31st-place finish at Sunday’s 400-lap event at Dover International Speedway. The South Bend, Ind., driver started 14th and in the early stages, battled an extremely loose-handling condition to race in the top 25. By halfway, the No. 31 competed in the top 20 but still needed more adjustments for a chance to contend with the top-10 competitors. The team’s hard work paid off as Newman moved into the top 10 on lap 291. Unfortunately a mechanical issue occurred when the No. 31 visited pit road for what was to be the team’s final service of the day. The problem slowed Newman and he was forced to the garage for quick repairs. He returned to the track 14 laps down to the leader to finish in 31st position. The result places Newman in 11th place, just three markers out of the top 10 in the driver championship point standings. Up next for the No. 31 team is next Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway.
Start – 14th Finish – 31st Laps Led – 0 Points – 11th
RYAN NEWMAN QUOTE:
“When the race started, we had our work cut out for us. We were so loose it cost us quite a bit of track position. The CAT crew worked extremely hard to get our Chevrolet competitive and Luke (Lambert – crew chief) made all the right calls. We made our way into the top 10 with about 100 laps to go. I’m so proud of what we were able to accomplish. Through adversity, we were capable of turning things around to produce a top-10 car. It’s a shame we had a mechanical problem that cost us the decent finish.”
NHRA– 6/1/14
Top Fuel — Richie Crampton, 3.819 seconds, 320.51 mph def. Doug Kalitta, 3.848 seconds, 317.34 mph.
Funny Car — Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 4.126, 301.33 def. Del Worsham, Camry, 4.189, 296.70.
Pro Stock — Jeg Coughlin, Dodge Dart, 6.510, 213.94 def. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 10.314, 88.65. Both ARP Cars
Pro Stock Motorcycle — Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.828, 196.56 def. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.837, 196.30.
Pro Modified — Von Smith, Chevy Camaro, 5.966, 241.58 def. Jason Hamstra, Ford Mustang, 9.861, 91.12.
Competition Eliminator — Scotty Richardson, Chevy Cavalier, 8.069, 152.00 def. Calvin Hill, Pontiac Grand Am, 8.163, 147.41.
Super Stock — James Fontana, Chevy Chevelle, 11.444, 114.88 def. Marty Rinehart, Chevy Camaro, 9.708, 134.81.
Stock Eliminator — Katie Sepanek, Chevy Chevelle, 11.410, 112.15 def. Russell Linke, Chevy Camaro, 10.541, 124.65.
Super Comp — Stephen Logan, Dragster, 8.929, 161.54 def. Doug Doll Jr., Dragster, 8.942, 159.19.
Super Gas — John Olson, Chevy Chevelle, 9.931, 139.07 def. Ken Bowers, Chevy Corvette, 9.940, 164.29.
Top Dragster — Val DiGenova, Dragster, 6.835, 195.05 def. Kara Stricker, Dragster, 6.533, 206.54.
Mopar Racing–Coughlin Takes Victory at NHRA Summernationals For Third Consecutive Mopar Win
Coughlin Takes Victory at NHRA Summernationals For Third Consecutive Mopar Win
· Coughlin earns his second national title win of the season at the 45th annual NHRA Summernationals to earn his 58th career Pro Stock victory
· Third consecutive win for the Dodge Dart and third Pro Stock final round appearance for Coughlin in a row
· Fifth win for Mopar this season
· Mopar teammates Coughlin and Johnson tied for second in Pro Stock points standings
· Don Schumacher Racing’s Jack Beckman takes his Dodge Charger R/T to semi-finals at Englishtown
Englishtown, New Jersey (Monday, June 2) –Jeg Coughlin Jr. drove the JEGS.com Mopar Dodge Dart to victory at the 45th annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Summernationals in Englishtown, New Jersey, to earn his 58th career Pro Stock national title after reaching the final round of eliminations for a third consecutive event. The defending NHRA factory hot rod world champion has been on a tear, jumping from ninth place in the points standings to second with his two wins and a runner-up finish, combining with his teammate, Allen Johnson, to put the new Dodge Dart in the winner’s circle at each of the last three events.
“These last three weekends have been a helluva hat trick for J&J Racing, winning all three races,” said Coughlin who earned both his wins this season against Greg Anderson in the final round, this time with an elapsed time run of 6.510 seconds (213.94 mph). “I got Atlanta and Englishtown and A.J. won in Topeka, so we’re on a great run.”
“Congratulations to Jeg Coughlin Jr. on his drive to the winner’s circle at the Summernationals to continue this fantastic streak of wins for the Dodge Dart and his second of the year.” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “A third consecutive win for the Dodge Dart definitely helps validate all the hard work that the Mopar teams have put in with the new vehicle. We look forward to seeing what more Jeg and Allen can do with HEMI and new Dodge Dart combination in such a competitive Pro Stock field.”
The win was hard fought after only five of the 16 Pro Stock qualifiers completed runs under full power in the opening round. Track conditions even claimed Mopar teammate and No.1 qualifier Johnson as a victim in his first round match-up against Chris McGaha, after previously resetting the track record two days in a row in qualifying with the Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Fellow HEMI-powered driver V.Gaines also succumbed in the first round against Shane Gray. Coughlin also wasn’t able to make a clean run but persevered to beat his first round opponent Kenny Delco to the stripe.
“That was a scare,” Coughlin said. “Kenny’s a hometown hero and I know they wanted to win. The track just wasn’t there and neither of us managed to launch correctly. It was some violent shake and I had to let the car settle before I was able to get back on the gas and get down the track. Those moments seem to last forever.
“The guys worked on it, softened the launch sequence a touch, and we came back and ran a decent 6.586 against Shane Gray,” Coughlin added. “We worked on it some more and really had a pass against Dave Connolly in a great side-by-side race (6.524 to 6.535 second e.t.) and that got us to the final. We had the kind of conditions that Pro Stock cars love today with a great barometer and not a cloud in the sky but you had to work for it.”
Mopar teammates Coughlin and Johnson are currently tied for second (668) in the Pro Stock points race and have combined for five national titles for Mopar this season to date.
In Funny Car competition, after leading the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) contingent of Dodge Charger R/T entries with a fifth place spot on the eliminations ladder, Jack Beckman advanced to the semifinals round with consistent runs all weekend long. He beat Chad Head with a 4.067 second e.t. in the first round of eliminations, then won a holeshot against Mopar teammate Matt Hagan in the quarterfinals, before a mechanical issue ended his run in the semifinals against No. 1 qualifier and event winner Cruz Pedregon.
Tommy Johnson Jr. defeated DSR teammate Ron Capps in the first round before falling to eventual winner Pedregon
Hagan took the Mopar Express Lane Dodge through a first round battle against John Force before falling just six-thousandths of a second short to Beckman at the line. Beckman (4.133 second e.t) beat him ( 4.121 sec e.t) with .073 to 0.91 seconds reaction time.
“We just need some things to fall our way and they haven’t yet. We’ll take a week off, regroup and get ready for four in a row. It’ll be a challenge but I know this team will be ready for it.”
Summit Racing–Anderson and Team Summit outsmart the racetrack to reach final round in Englishtown
Anderson and Team Summit outsmart the racetrack to reach final round in Englishtown
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J., June 1, 2014 – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson’s friendship with Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown was renewed this weekend at the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals, and for the seventh time in his career, Anderson wheeled his way to the final round at the esteemed event. Qualifying in the top half of the field and collecting round wins on raceday inched Anderson even closer to a much-desired position in NHRA’s Pro Stock top 10.
Starting from the No. No. 8 position, Anderson piloted one of just five cars to make it down the racetrack with a respectable time on a very tricky racing surface. While pedalfests abounded in round one, Anderson got loose early but regained control to clock a 6.554 at 213.43 mph and advance on rookie competitor Jonathan Gray. In the second round, the 74-time national event winner came to the starting line for a meeting with Chris McGaha, the No. 16 qualifier who had just pulled off an upset over low qualifier Allen Johnson.
What was to ensue in their head-to-head match was a real thriller as both Anderson and McGaha left the starting line and quickly lost traction. Each driver worked the throttle, pedaling as they tried to get the tires to stick back to the racetrack, and ultimately it was Anderson who was able to get to the finish line first. His 7.906 topped McGaha’s 8.272 for the win.
The semifinals started on a strange note as Rodger Brogdon’s car failed to maintain power as he attempted to pull to the starting line. Anderson, who had already pulled forward to the waterbox and was preparing to make his burnout, was alerted to the situation and so pulled back to wait for his opponent. When NHRA officials signaled Anderson to move forward, he did so and completed the burnout, and Brogdon quickly found power and made a short burnout of his own.
Although he came to the round without lane choice, Anderson wheeled his Summit Racing Camaro off the starting line ahead of Brogdon and turned on the win light with a 6.535 at 214.25 mph that easily surpassed his opponent’s troubled 15.406. The victory sent Anderson ahead to his second final round of the season and the 115th of his career at a racetrack where he had already claimed five wins, including the historic 100th win for KB Racing and the first of the new generation Pro Stock Camaros in 2012.
In this year’s final, Anderson launched with an incredible .010-second reaction time to nab a .006 edge on Jeg Coughlin. He was charging towards the coveted victory in those early moments of the run, but he very quickly was slowed by the same issue that most other drivers had experienced at some point throughout the day as the tires of his Camaro broke loose and the engine shut off.
“It was a weird day, with a lot of pedaling for the Pro Stock cars,” said Anderson. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a day like this. The power level went up, the air was great, and the starting line got warm and everyone had a hard time managing it. Thankfully, the Summit Racing team had a lot of luck and good fortune, and we made the proper adjustments before the semifinal round but went over the top again in the finals. It was a complete tuners battle today.
“We are hitting ourselves for not backing it down a little bit more for the final, but the good news is that we made it to the final at all. I’m a little disappointed because you always want that win, and I really want it because it’s been a long time for me – over two years now. We had a good day, just not a great day.”
According to NHRA and National Dragster stats keeper Brad Littlefield, Anderson is now just two round-wins shy of tying Pro Stock icon Bob Glidden’s remarkable 597. Pro Stock legend – and Anderson’s former boss Warren Johnson holds the all-time record at 873.
“It’s great to see that type of thing, and that’s a real neat deal – but the truth is that we are more focused right now on the performance of our cars and getting them where we want them to be. Until we get that, we won’t be satisfied, but by achieving the results we are so focused on, we are also going to be able to achieve milestones. I can promise you that we are all looking forward to that.”
Summit Racing–Anderson and Team Summit outsmart the racetrack to reach final round in Englishtown
Anderson and Team Summit outsmart the racetrack to reach final round in Englishtown
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J., June 1, 2014 – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson’s friendship with Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown was renewed this weekend at the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals, and for the seventh time in his career, Anderson wheeled his way to the final round at the esteemed event. Qualifying in the top half of the field and collecting round wins on raceday inched Anderson even closer to a much-desired position in NHRA’s Pro Stock top 10.
Starting from the No. No. 8 position, Anderson piloted one of just five cars to make it down the racetrack with a respectable time on a very tricky racing surface. While pedalfests abounded in round one, Anderson got loose early but regained control to clock a 6.554 at 213.43 mph and advance on rookie competitor Jonathan Gray. In the second round, the 74-time national event winner came to the starting line for a meeting with Chris McGaha, the No. 16 qualifier who had just pulled off an upset over low qualifier Allen Johnson.
What was to ensue in their head-to-head match was a real thriller as both Anderson and McGaha left the starting line and quickly lost traction. Each driver worked the throttle, pedaling as they tried to get the tires to stick back to the racetrack, and ultimately it was Anderson who was able to get to the finish line first. His 7.906 topped McGaha’s 8.272 for the win.
The semifinals started on a strange note as Rodger Brogdon’s car failed to maintain power as he attempted to pull to the starting line. Anderson, who had already pulled forward to the waterbox and was preparing to make his burnout, was alerted to the situation and so pulled back to wait for his opponent. When NHRA officials signaled Anderson to move forward, he did so and completed the burnout, and Brogdon quickly found power and made a short burnout of his own.
Although he came to the round without lane choice, Anderson wheeled his Summit Racing Camaro off the starting line ahead of Brogdon and turned on the win light with a 6.535 at 214.25 mph that easily surpassed his opponent’s troubled 15.406. The victory sent Anderson ahead to his second final round of the season and the 115th of his career at a racetrack where he had already claimed five wins, including the historic 100th win for KB Racing and the first of the new generation Pro Stock Camaros in 2012.
In this year’s final, Anderson launched with an incredible .010-second reaction time to nab a .006 edge on Jeg Coughlin. He was charging towards the coveted victory in those early moments of the run, but he very quickly was slowed by the same issue that most other drivers had experienced at some point throughout the day as the tires of his Camaro broke loose and the engine shut off.
“It was a weird day, with a lot of pedaling for the Pro Stock cars,” said Anderson. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a day like this. The power level went up, the air was great, and the starting line got warm and everyone had a hard time managing it. Thankfully, the Summit Racing team had a lot of luck and good fortune, and we made the proper adjustments before the semifinal round but went over the top again in the finals. It was a complete tuners battle today.
“We are hitting ourselves for not backing it down a little bit more for the final, but the good news is that we made it to the final at all. I’m a little disappointed because you always want that win, and I really want it because it’s been a long time for me – over two years now. We had a good day, just not a great day.”
According to NHRA and National Dragster stats keeper Brad Littlefield, Anderson is now just two round-wins shy of tying Pro Stock icon Bob Glidden’s remarkable 597. Pro Stock legend – and Anderson’s former boss Warren Johnson holds the all-time record at 873.
“It’s great to see that type of thing, and that’s a real neat deal – but the truth is that we are more focused right now on the performance of our cars and getting them where we want them to be. Until we get that, we won’t be satisfied, but by achieving the results we are so focused on, we are also going to be able to achieve milestones. I can promise you that we are all looking forward to that.”
Summit Racing– Line and Team Summit have powerful showing in Englishtown
Line and Team Summit have powerful showing in Englishtown
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (Jun 1, 2014) – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line had three wins at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park entering this weekend’s 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals, and although he was unable to add a fourth Etown Wally trophy to his collection, the 32-time national event victor did appreciate the smaller victories over the course of the weekend that he is confident will bring the KB Racing crew back to the winner’s circle in the near future.
Line started the weekend by resetting the track record for speed in his fast Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro on Friday evening. His 213.40 mph blast was the fastest run that the racing surface at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park had ever hosted for a Pro Stock car to that point, and although the record was eclipsed on Saturday, Line still proved he had a car that could contend for the title as he raced to a qualifying best time of 6.488-second at 214.52 mph. Notably, in the second qualifying round Line reset his personal best record for speed to 214.83.
Starting from the No. 4 position, Line drew John Gaydosh as a first-round opponent. Gaydosh had a slight advantage as the two left the starting line, but soon enough the Summit Racing Camaro surged ahead for a decisive 6.500, 214.45 mph win. Line’s official numbers were the second quickest and fastest of all the Pro Stock cars in the round, and his speed was one of just seven that exceed 214 mph during eliminations; teammate Greg Anderson also enjoyed a 214 mph run in the semifinals.
The second round was where Line’s quest for the title came to an end as he was out of the gate first but got loose on the racetrack and slowed to a 6.599 at 213.60 mph while Rodger Brogdon edged ahead for a 6.558, 214.04 win.
“It’s extremely disappointing for the Summit Racing team to leave without a trophy today, but we are very pleased that my teammate over there got to the final round,” said Line, referencing Anderson’s second final round of the season in just his fourth race of the year.
“Every loss hurts, and some more than others, but the good news is that Greg made up points and is on his way to the top 10. That’s a big goal for us right now, and the way to get him there is to make sure he’s going rounds. Of course, I wanted to win today. But that wasn’t in the cards. We’ve got some time before the next race, and I can assure you that the Summit Racing team will be looking for a change by the time we get to Bristol.”
Chevy Racing–IndyCar–Belle Isle Post Race Interviews
CHEVROLET INDY DUAL IN DETROIT – RACE NO. 2
POST RACE TRANSCRIPT
An interview with:
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVO NORDISK FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLETC
THE MODERATOR: We’ll begin our Verizon IndyCar Series post race press conference. We’re pleased job joined by Charlie Kimball.
Charlie, a grueling race out there on a doubleheader weekend. How rewarding is this for you?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: It feels really good. Obviously qualifying this morning didn’t really go our way as a team, to have three of the four cars outside of the top 10 is not ideal. I didn’t think I would have been able to end up on the podium having used reverse on lap one to get out of that melee in turn three.
The one thing is it set us up strategy-wise. It gave us some options because we didn’t have anything to lose. My engineers and strategist, Tom and Brad, were able to roll the dice in a couple places.
The nice thing is when we had clean air, the car was really quick. All I had to do was put the lap times in to move forward.
I didn’t know how the strategies were going to play out. I didn’t know if yellows were going to help or hurt us. All I know is the guys were telling us, When you have clean air, go hard, when you are stuck in traffic when, you save fuel, and it opens up some options. I was able to get really good lap times.
A lot of credit has to go to the Chip Ganassi Racing guys because not only did they do good work in pit lane, but before we got to the race today they did a great job with the setup, just working through and keeping their heads up, coming into the race fighting rather than giving up starting 20th.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Charlie.
Q. Typical answer when people are asked about team orders is: Don’t wreck each other. When you make a late-race pass on a teammate, what goes through your mind?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: If this goes wrong, the boss is going to call (laughter).
In all honesty, when I went by Scott, he had gotten offline. I could see him struggling with the car a little bit. Talking to him after the race, it sounds like he had a couple of brake issues. Sounds like the brakes got too hot on the second-to-last yellow. When he went into three, he ran a little wide. He was gathering the car up all the way through.
Will was sideways through most of four, five and six. He had a run on Will into seven, but just slid past the corner.
It wasn’t really an out-braking or traditional overtaking maneuver. I was just inside on the line and out-accelerate him up to turn eight.
It gets really tight in there. I didn’t want to clear him too hard and knock his front wing off or ruin the end of the race there. So you’re conscious of it, for sure. But at the end of the day you’re still out there trying to get the best result possible.
Q. How about the battle with Hinchcliffe on the last lap?
CHARLIE KIMBALL: It was a lot of fun, yeah. I don’t know if I was in James’ shoes I would be saying it was quite as much fun.
But I knew I had one less overtake than he did. I learned yesterday about how and where to use overtakes to the best advantage.
My team was doing a pretty good job of telling me when James was using the overtake button. Those last couple yellows gave us the fuel to be able to use the overtake, and fuel wasn’t a limiting factor.
I used my last one headed into turn three to send him on the button as well. He had one more in the tank as we got on the back straight. My team said he was on the button, so I descended to the inside knowing if I could hold the inside line up to the brake zone, it was a question of him trying to make a move around the outside. While the grip was good out there, it wasn’t that good. So it was definitely a wheel-to-wheel battle.
A lot of credit to him for racing me clean. In those last 20 laps when I was running with Hinch, Dixon and Pagenaud, all those guys around me, I knew the racing would be clean and hard-fought, for sure.
Q. You referenced the poor qualifying results for the team. I thought I heard Dixon say that Chip had a little discussion with the team.
CHARLIE KIMBALL: It was a pretty good little pep talk. I think we’re calling it that now (laughter).
It was just an affirmation of expectations, of what we’re here to do. I think we all knew it, but sometimes it’s nice for the boss to come in and tell us what we’re here to do.
We knew that to be successful today we had to have a fighting race. I think maybe he lit a little fire under all of us, not just the drivers, but engineers and team managers, as well. We all knew we had to dig pretty deep, and we did.
So, you know, however it works, it works.
Q. (Question about how he feels after the doubleheader.)
CHARLIE KIMBALL: I feel pretty good. One of the things we focused on in training this year was knowing that the doubleheaders are tough physically. It was a little easier last year because the temperatures were down.
It’s part of the job. You got to be ready to go for two races.
Mentally I think it was harder, especially because today there were times I didn’t know if I was 10th or 20th, 5th or 15th, if my lap times were good enough. Every time I would ask, my team would tell me my lap times were good, I was quicker than the guys behind me, catching the guys in front, and making good fuel mileage.
Staying mentally focused was the biggest challenge. Physically I feel pretty good. After today’s result, and we finished 9th yesterday, 3rd today, I’d like to go do it again tomorrow. Anyone else up for that (laughter)?
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Charlie.
We’ll continue with our second-place finisher today, Will Power.
Will, very strong weekend for Team Penske in qualifying and the race. What did the team give you?
WILL POWER: Yeah, actually I made a change this race. My car was definitely better than yesterday. I think the biggest hit was a drive-through penalty. Still I was surprised to end up in second. I didn’t know where I was the whole race until it went yellow and suddenly, Oh, there’s only one car in front of me, wow.
Yeah, it was just a good day for Roger. I think on the last restart, last two restarts, I wasn’t going to attack Helio too hard. You know, last thing Roger would want to see is two cars in the wall. I was going to be nice there unless he made a big mistake.
Yeah, just over the moon for Chevy and Roger.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Will.
Q. What was your reaction to the penalty? It looked like you could have turned right there a little quicker.
WILL POWER: If only (laughter).
I was actually surprised how he came across. Obviously he didn’t see me because he must have had someone on his outside. I have to look at the replay before I comment on it.
You know, I’ve been on the good side and the bad side of the penalties. You know what I mean? I’ll take it. I’ll go to race control, watch the replay with them, yeah, give my explanation.
Q. I think you jumped back into the lead for the championship. A good day for you. Couldn’t be much better.
WILL POWER: Yeah. If you look at points, I guess you could say it’s a good points day. I don’t even look at it anymore. Try to just have good days, have fun
and try to win. That’s all we can do in racing.
If you want to be a points racer and feel conservative all the time, it sucks. I’ve been through that three years in a row, so I’m not doing it anymore.
Q. On your second and third pit stops, you came out of the pits and got into the 117s quickly, Helio was doing 118s. Faster on cold tires? Did you know?
WILL POWER: I did not know what was going on. I didn’t realize Helio was behind me at any point in the race until he told me on the podium, I was behind you.
So, yeah, it’s one of those races, team just tells me what fuel number, how hard to go, yeah. My guys, you know, I have so much faith in my engineer and Tim Cindric, all the guys on my car. I feel comfortable they’ll always put me in a good position. Rarely will they put me in a bad position.
In practice, qualifying, any time, just a very solid team. Yeah, love working with them.
Q. You alluded to what this weekend means to Roger. What does it mean to get back-to-back wins like this?
WILL POWER: Yeah, like I said, it’s just great. Roger loves this city. We run Chevrolet engines. These are the days Roger just loves. He’s an out-and-out racer. To have his cars finish 1-2, win yesterday, win both races, that’s what keeps Roger going. I think he just loves it.
I’ve never seen someone so enthusiastic about racing. I mean, he’ll fly to a NASCAR race, next day he’s going to an IndyCar race, he calls Helio’s race. The result like this is just great for Roger.
Q. (No microphone.)
WILL POWER: We’re never told that. C’mon, you know, you’re given such a good opportunity. Roger is a racer. Never team orders, never. He would have been happy with me. He wouldn’t have said a thing if I attacked Helio, went hard at him. I know the worst thing that could have happened was both of us end up touching. Helio was tough anyway. It would have been tough to get by him.
No team orders. He’s an out-and-out racer.
Q. As a competitor, as a teammate, how happy are you to see Helio get a victory?
WILL POWER: Actually happy after the 500 because I felt he drove a race to win it. Both him, Hunter-Reay and Helio, phenomenal, putting everything on the line there. I think Hunter-Reay just had a little faster car. What a performance he put on.
He was just on fire from the moment he first practiced, first lap. So I think it was deserved.
Q. Will, even though you’re not looking at the points, do you feel you’re getting some real momentum up now?
WILL POWER: Yeah. Just getting solid results every weekend. Trying to be mistake-free. Trying to forget about the championship in every race, just try to do your best. That’s really all you can do. Try to keep out of trouble. Obviously drive-through penalty is not a good thing today. Same at Indy. But, yeah.
Q. Do you see Helio coming into contention?
WILL POWER: Yeah, he’ll be there. I mean, he’s very consistent. He’s got better in his old age. I don’t know how (laughter). Gives me hope. I got a pretty long career. But, man, since I started, he’s kind of changed his driving style. More similar to the way I drive now.
He’s just very strong. He’s gotten strong. The guy has passion for winning and motorsport itself, which this sport is very tough on you. A guy like him that hasn’t won a championship, he’s been so close.
Yeah, he’ll be a contender this year. He’s relentless. To me he’s better than when I first turned up on the scene for sure. Definitely better.
Q. Fontana is two miles, Texas is one and a half. Your confidence level going into Texas next Saturday night?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I definitely want to do a better job than what I did last year. We got a bit more downforce. My teammate absolutely destroyed the field last year. No excuses on the car front. That is just confidence on ovals. It’s a very light downforce we run now, and you’re lifting.
Yeah, we just got to turn up there, see what we got, try to have a good weekend.
THE MODERATOR: Will, we’ll see you next weekend. Thank you.
WILL POWER: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll continue with our post race press conference. We’re pleased to be joined by today’s winner, Helio Castroneves.
Helio, talk about your win here.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, no, for me, coming out of a tough weekend, but good weekend in Indianapolis, coming out here, we turned the page. We’re like, Okay, guys, it was a good weekend. Unfortunately we didn’t win. We were close, showed potential. Let’s keep going.
My engineer and I worked extremely hard. Even when the race was over in Indy, we were already working on Detroit. I said, I want to win this race as bad as anybody.
As soon as it came out of the truck, the Hitachi car was outstanding. Whatever you guys did, don’t touch it. Literally we massaged the car just a small bit, and it was absolutely perfect.
Race number one, unfortunately the yellow didn’t play in our favor. But we had the car, the strategy, but it didn’t work that way. We at least were able to carry on the Team Penske flag.
Today, man, I knew we had the car. I said, We’ve got to keep going. Can’t just give up. That’s why Team Penske is one of the best. We never give up. We push as hard as we can. It was pure racing. There was no fuel strategy, no playing games. I love it.
It was perfect. I knew exactly what I needed to do. Winning was what we wanted to do.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions for Helio.
Q. Talk about how important it was to have your team up on the fence with you, and have you done that before?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, that was really cool. I did not expect that, to be honest. That was a very touching moment.
They deserved it. They did so well. I mean, in the beginning of the season to now, they’re pushing so hard. Those guys, people don’t understand, but since Indianapolis, the Grand Prix, they’re flat out. I speak on behalf of everyone, every mechanic here, everyone is really flat out, fixing cars, putting together, converting from oval to a street course.
It was great. It was great to see them there. Very pleased to be able to win today.
Q. What was your strategy on the final two restarts?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, the whole time when I was about 12, 15 seconds, that’s what Roger at least was telling me, I was pushing, but I was under control.
In fact, it was about 15 laps, I’m just going to take it easy, because even if I lose a second a lap, it won’t be a problem. So I was really managing the distance.
When the yellow came, that was exactly my experience, you got to have the tires and the car and myself ready to go. That’s exactly what happened.
So as soon as they going to go restart, I wasn’t even looking to the mirror. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I was very confident. I had the car with me. I just needed to deliver. It was just absolutely perfect. So I wasn’t worried.
Q. On your second and third pit stops, you were doing
117s, but at first they were 118s. Will was doing 117s while you were doing 118s. Was it cold tires? Did anybody tell you to speed up?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: The last pit stop?
Q. Yes.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I was opening the gap about 13 seconds. When we stopped, we came out about 11 seconds, and he dropped down to 9 seconds.
Definitely was the set of tires. Temperature was still coming up. The guys told me on the radio, Listen, I’m having a little bit of handling here, which I didn’t have. The temperature’s coming up. After the temperature came up, I started doing the 17s back again.
Like I said, that was the point I was like, Don’t need to risk, don’t need to push, 15 laps to go. When I need it, I’m going to save my ‘push to pass’. I knew I had more than him.
So I was just taking it easy. If that will come out to one second… Roger was kind of telling me like nervous. I’m like, Relax. He needs to chase me. I did say that on the radio.
I think he understood the message. It was good. Everybody was in sync.
Q. With what Detroit has been through and what Roger’s done to this island, could this be one of the most satisfying victories for you on behalf of him?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, for me, being biased, because this is where I get my first win, and having Roger on my radio, knowing how important it is for Detroit, for Chevy. In the beginning of the season, Chevy said, We want to win the Indy 500 and Detroit. We were close to the Indy 500, but we were able to deliver two wins here in Detroit.
For me, having a lot of friends already here in Detroit, mutual friends from Roger, for being so many years with him, it’s just special. You see the crowd. You see the volunteers. In fact, I want to thank them. Every time you come over here, there’s not one single person upset. In fact, everybody was really happy.
That for us as a driver, team personnel, that’s the best you can have. You see the island every year. Now next year they say they going to make some improvements. This is the jewel of Detroit I heard many, many times, and I agree. This is a great island to have a racetrack, to have a family coming. Honestly, the weather was perfect.
So all these things combined for me, it’s a very special day.
Q. Does it feel like it’s been 13 years since your last win here?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, no, actually it does not. To be honest, the win feels just like 13 years ago. They’re great. They’re awesome. The crowd was great. The only thing, I need to hold my emotion better because I’m getting old (laughter). But it was just like 2000.
Q. This is a great victory to celebrate. Next Saturday night you’re going to one of your best tracks at Texas. Do you have a feeling this could be the start of something big for you?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, we are on it. We are not playing around. I’m very confident with my team. The Hitachi car, we know what we got, especially after Indy. Ovals, we improved quite a lot.
We need to know what kind of rules they going to have in terms of downforce. But we are ready. We are definitely ready. I’m already thinking about Texas, to be honest.
Q. Power says you’re probably driving the best he’s seen you. Do you feel like this is the best part of Helio’s career?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I think I’m becoming wiser I guess with the age. But I be able to pay attention in details that I haven’t seen before, able to work with engineers better than before. I think this is the second year in a row I have the same engineer, same crew. Crew actually changed. First time I had Roger. Last time I had part-time Roger. When you go from that kind of changes, it takes a little time for them to understand, for you to understand, and everything is clicking the right way, especially Jonathan. Everybody knows engineers is the key to keep you going. When you have a guy that understands what you’re saying, it’s great. For me Jonathan is doing an outstanding job. He gave me an amazing car today.
Plus the rules was changed from the past. Now the rules is going the way it’s supposed to be. Those I believe are the things going in my favor.
Q. Are you a better fence climber now than you were?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah. Before I was just going and running out of breath. Now I’m able to at least take my time, not rush into it, have time to talk to the interview after I come down from the fence (laughter).
So, yes, I am a better fence climber.
Q. You had a really emotional whole month in Indy. Now you come here and you have two races in a row. Talk about how tough it is emotionally and physically to do back-to-back races after the whole month at Indy.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Emotionally we were able to control ourselves. Like I said, for the car that we had in Indy, we felt we had the best car out there. But it wasn’t our day. We were able to compose ourselves, come back here and focus.
The first day, Saturday, it didn’t go our way, even having the best car. Today, just never give up. We proved today it was perfect.
Physically, yes, it’s tough, especially coming from one month at Indy, then to come back here in Detroit, which is a very physical place. But today is a statement of my trainer, Carlos Bailly, we were spot on. I sweat, but not that bad. I felt good all day, all the time, and I’m ready for Texas.
THE MODERATOR: See you next weekend.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Thank you so much, guys. Appreciate it.
Chevy Racing–CHEVY AND CADILLAC COMBINE FOR FIVE VICTORIES DURING CHEVROLET DETROIT BELLE ISLE GRAND PRIX WEEKEND
CHEVY AND CADILLAC COMBINE FOR FIVE VICTORIES DURING CHEVROLET DETROIT BELLE ISLE GRAND PRIX WEEKEND
DETROIT—Helio Castroneves’ victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit on Sunday capped a weekend in which Chevrolet and Cadillac combined to win five races run in the Verizon IndyCar, Pirelli World Challenge and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series held on The Raceway of Belle Isle, a 2.3-mile, 13-turn street course near the manufacturers’ world headquarters.
“Racing and performance are important parts of our heritage,” said Jim Campbell, vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “For Chevrolet and Cadillac to combine to win five races this weekend, right here in our own backyard, demonstrates the preparation, teamwork, determination and never-give-up attitude by our Chevrolet and Cadillac teams.”
Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, led a race-high 42 laps en route to pacing a podium sweep for Chevrolet; Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) and Charlie Kimball (No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) finished second and third, respectively. Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) completed a 1-2-3-4 Chevy finish.
Castroneves’ victory came one day after Power reached Victory Lane. Power led 21 of the 70 laps en route to his second win of the season and 23rd of his career. Tony Kanaan, in the No. 10 Energizer Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, finished third to put two Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers on the podium. Earlier Saturday, Castroneves won the pole for his first Verizon P1 Award of the season. Power is now the points leader by 19 over Castroneves.
Brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor drove their No. 10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) to victory in the TUDOR SportsCar Championship Chevrolet SportsCar Classic on Saturday. Richard Westbrook (No. 90 Visit Florida Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP) won the pole and finished second.
Johnny O’Connell, driver of the No. 3 Cadillac CTS.V.R, swept both Saturday’s and Sunday’s Pirelli World Challenge Series Cadillac Grand Prix of Belle Isle GT races from the pole. O’Connell, the series points leader, now has five wins in six series starts at Belle Isle. His teammate, Andy Pilgrim (No. 8 Cadillac CTS.V.R) was runner-up in Sunday’s race.
Chevy Racing–IndyCar–Belle Isle Race Two Post Race
CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
CHEVROLET INDY DUAL IN DETROIT
RACE TWO POST RACE
THE RACEWAY AT BELLE ISLE
Helio Castroneves Wins Race Two of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit; Will Power, Charlie Kimball and Scott Dixon Give the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 a 1-2-3-4 Sweep
DETROIT (June 1, 2014) – Chevrolet swept the podium for Dual Race No. 2 of the Chevrolet Indy Dual at Detroit. Helio Castroneves won the 70-lap/164.22-mile race in the No. 3 Hitachi Chevrolet by 1.6836 seconds over his Team Penske teammate Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, the winner of Saturday’s Race No. 1.
Charlie Kimball finished third in the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, his first podium finish of the 2014 season. Kimball’s teammate, Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chevrolet, finished fourth to give the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 the top-four sweep in Sunday’s round two and final race of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix weekend.
“Congratulations to Helio Castroneves and the No. 3 Hitachi Chevrolet team on their victory today in Dual II on the challenging Raceway of Belle Isle course,” said Jim Campbell, Vice President of Chevrolet Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “This is Helio’s third win in Detroit, and he did it in dominating fashion, leading 42 of the 70 laps. Also, congratulations to Helio’s Team Penske teammate Will Power for moving into the points lead following his second place run. Charlie Kimball fought hard all day long to a podium finish, followed by his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon making it a Chevrolet 1-2-3-4 finish. I’m very proud of our Team Chevy drivers, who really excelled this weekend.”
Castroneves’ last win on The Raceway at Belle Isle came in 2001, backing up his 2000 career-first IndyCar victory in Detroit. With today’s victory, the Brazilian has led 217 laps in 10 starts at the track in the shadows of Chevrolet’s world headquarters.
James Hinchcliffe (Honda) completed the top-five finishers.
Next on the schedule is the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, June 7, 2014. The 248-lap/372-mile race is Live radio coverage will be on XM Radio Channel 209, and IMS Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 213. In addition, IndyCar live timing and scoring with the radio broadcast can be found at
Chevy Racing–Dover Post Race
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FEDEX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 1, 2014
CHEVROLET EARNS 35TH WIN AT DOVER, CONTINUES TO LEADS ALL MANUFACTURERS
Jimmie Johnson Takes Chevy SS to Victory Lane and Earns Ninth Career Win at ‘Monster Mile’
DOVER, DE – June 1, 2014 – Chevrolet celebrated in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series Winner’s Circle at Dover International Speedway today for the 35th time in 89 races held at the 1-mile concrete track. Jimmie Johnson piloted his No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet SS to his ninth career victory, and continues to lead all drivers in wins at the ‘Monster Mile’. After dominating the race by leading 272 of the 400 laps, the six-time champion now has 68 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories.
Johnson also surpassed the record for laps led at Dover. The previous record, held by Bobby Allison, was 2,802 laps; after today’s race, Johnson surpassed that with 2,976 laps led at Dover. This is the 13th time in Johnson’s career he has earned back-to-back wins. With two victories after 13 races in the 2014 season, Johnson joins fellow Team Chevy driver Kevin Harvick with guaranteed spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
“It was an awesome race car, Johnson said in Victory Lane. “The first run I wasn’t sure we were really going to have the normal Dover magic here. Once the track ‘rubbered’ in our car came to life and it was so good. It’s amazing that we can stay on top of things here with the different generation car, different rules and different tires. This place just fits my style and Chad Knaus’ style.”
Johnson was not the only winner today. Martin Truex, Jr. driving the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet SS collected a moral victory. Having been plagued with various issues with his new team during the first part of the season, Truex, Jr. was able to earn his best finish thus far this year with a sixth place at what the New Jersey native calls his ‘home track.’
Last spring’s Dover winner, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS earned his fifth top-10 finish of the season coming home seventh. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS rounded out the Chevrolet power in the top-10 by earning a ninth-place finish, his eighth top-10 finish of 2014.
Chevrolet has now won seven (7) of 13 races in 2014 and continues to lead the Manufacturer standings by 27 markers over second.
Brad Keselowski (Ford) was second, Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was third, Clint Bowyer (Toyota) was fourth and Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was fifth to round out the top five finishing order.
The Sprint Cup Series travels to ‘The Tricky Triangle’ of Pocono Raceway next weekend to compete on June 8th.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS –R ACE WINNING CREW CHIEF
AMANDA ELLIS: We have now been joined in the media center by our winning crew chief today, Chad Knaus. Chad, another dominating performance for you guys here at Dover, an impressive nine wins for Jimmie now, officially nine Monster trophies. Talk a little bit about the performance today and winning back‑to‑back races between the Coke 600 last week and the FedEx 400 today.
CHAD KNAUS: Gosh, I don’t really even know where to ‑‑ quite honestly where to begin. We had come in here with high expectations obviously after winning the 600 last weekend. We came here with a brand new race car and things went really well for us straight out of the gate. Jimmie made his first laps on Friday, and he was very happy with the race car, and we were pretty optimistic at that point. Qualifying went really well, and then race practice Jimmie was very happy with the race car and we were posting very good lap times, so we were pretty excited to get into the event today.
At that point we were just out there just trying to manage the race and see what we could do, and it turned out to be a great day for everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, the Kobalt team and everybody involved.
Q. Chad, I think Jimmie came over the radio afterwards and you said, “I knew you would love this car.” What was it about this car, and I can only imagine what kind of car you’re going to bring for Pocono now.
CHAD KNAUS: Yeah, actually going into the 600 last weekend I told Jimmie we were taking his favorite race car to the racetrack for the 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and I told him that his new favorite car was going to be going to Dover the following week, and then I told him his next favorite car was going to be going to Indianapolis. So far I’m doing pretty good, and hopefully we can keep it true.
We’ve worked really hard. The one thing I’m really impressed with at Hendrick Motorsports is when we do get behind, which we feel like we’ve been just a pinch behind this year, everybody digs down really, really deep and they work hard, from the pit crew, from the guys that hang the bodies to the guys that build the chassis to the guys that build the engines and they try to find an advantage. When we do finally start to hit our stride, all those things that everybody worked on starts to culminate, and we can get out there and really start to make things happen. I think we’re seeing a lot of the fruit of a lot of people’s labor right now at the racetrack, and definitely looking forward to getting to Pocono. I’ve said it time and time again, Pocono is one of my favorite racetracks. I think it’s a lot of fun. It’s very difficult. So from a driver standpoint, this is definitely a tough racetrack. From a Pocono standpoint, it’s definitely difficult crew chief’s tough track, so I’m looking forward to getting there.
Q. After you won last week, you said that you’d kind of know if you guys were back when you were controlling the outcome of the races, so to speak. You seemed to dictate that today where it was kind of a 48 race. You didn’t have to wait for things to play into your hands. Does this mean you’re closer to where you want to be now or back or the favorites, or are you still not there?
CHAD KNAUS: No, I feel like we’ve still got to room to grow. I’m looking forward to the next series of race cars that we build at Hendrick Motorsports. I’m excited about that. I feel like if the 4 car didn’t have the troubles that they would have had today, they would have been a serious threat. So we need to continue to work to try to minimize those threats.
But we’re close. We’re definitely close. We had solid pit stops today. They needed to be a little bit better. We had a good race car today. It needs to be a bit better. So I think if we can start digging in a little bit deeper we’ll finally have what we want when we get to about September time.
Q. You mentioned that you felt you guys were behind a little bit. What exactly did you get behind on, and how did you work out of it to where you are now?
CHAD KNAUS: Well, like I said, we’re still behind. I think we’re behind on just a little bit of everything. What happens, and I’ve said this before, when you are fortunate enough to battle for a championship, your main focus goes solely on trying to win a championship, so as we were going through and pursued the 2013 season championship, we lost focus on 2014. But that’s just inherent. That’s what happens because you have to focus on the goal that’s directly in front of you.
I feel like we’ve got a long ways to go yet to understand exactly what we need. With the new ride height changes and rules that they’ve got out there, it’s a different an
imal, and I know it’s difficult to understand and it’s not easy for everybody to understand, but it does change the way you approach a race car. The advantages that we had last year were minimized with these new rules, so we’ve got to try to find some new advantages and new ways to get the car set up to where Jimmie is happy with it.
The last couple weeks have shown great strides in that direction, but we’re not where we need to be.
Q. There’s some rumblings that Jimmie had hernia surgery during the off‑season. Did you know that? I imagine you probably did. And did that set you guys back? Did it have any effect whatsoever on preparing for the season?
CHAD KNAUS: The only thing from my standpoint that set us back for the 2014 season was just us going for the championship in 2013, and that’s it. That was purely my focus last year and all I was concerned about. I didn’t care about anything that we were doing to prepare for 2014. It was the furthest thing in my mind for the last three months of last year.
When you have guys like the Penske guys who were basically out of the championship hunt, when you have a guy like Rodney Childers who’s an amazing crew chief, a great crew chief, you give him six months off to where all he has to do is prepare for the next season, he’d better come out guns blazing, especially when he works for Kevin Harvick. I feel like that is the reason we were behind coming into the 2014 season. The further we get into the season, the more I think that that’ll level back off.
Q. Did Jimmie have any comment about the track issue before it happened or after it happened, and did you anticipate it might be a problem after the patching was done?
CHAD KNAUS: Man, I’ll tell you what, I didn’t. I didn’t see it, and I mentioned it to Jimmie, and oddly enough, he was like, yeah, I saw that when I was driving around for driver intros. I’m like, man, you think you could have told somebody? Do you think it would have been a good idea at that point to let everybody know at that point that the track was coming apart? He saw it then. He had not said a word about it during the event, and I think quite honestly, we’ve seen this happen time and time again, and there’s nothing wrong with the racing surface. There’s no bones about what this facility does because it happens often. It’s no different than your local street, as you go through winters and summers and the expansion joints have, you have that type of fatigue on your pavement. So it happens, and I think those guys did a fantastic job of fixing the track racing surface, and man, he didn’t say anything afterwards, and I think it held up great. Everybody tried to ‑‑ everybody wanted to blow it apart. I could look down at the TV periodically and I could see the crack is getting just a little bit bigger and a little bit bigger, everybody is waiting for it to come apart, and I think the track surface crew did a fantastic job repairing that damage.
Q. Traditionally on the schedule, Charlotte, Dover and Pocono are all three races right together, and you guys traditionally do well at those tracks. What is it that you’re able to have the success over the years, because they’re three such different tracks?
CHAD KNAUS: Well, obviously Charlotte Motor Speedway is near and dear to our hearts. It’s right down the street from Hendrick Motorsports, and we’ve been successful there for many, many years. That’s inherent that that’s going to be a good track for us. Obviously Jimmie is fantastic here at the Monster Mile, so basically that lends itself to us, as well. And Pocono, quite often ‑‑ Jimmie loves Dover. We talk about time and time again about how when Jimmie was running his ASA car here at Dover how he took to it immediately, really enjoyed it. So I think that’s part of the reason. I’ve said it before, time and time again, Pocono is such a fun track from a crew chief standpoint because you have to work so many different angles. We’re really looking to getting there next weekend and just seeing if we can get another solid finish.
Q. Just curious if you guys still feel like you were missing something at the beginning of the season, or was it just a series of circumstances that kept you guys from winning?
CHAD KNAUS: That’s a great question. I think both. I feel like we were missing a little bit of something at the beginning of the season, and I think circumstances also kept us out of victory lane. I think if you look at how we performed in Fontana, California, we had a great race car there, and with a lot of help from the 24 car, we stole some of their notes, and then we go to Bristol and I think we had a fantastic race car at Bristol. Unfortunately we had another tire failure there like we did in Fontana, and then we go to Martinsville, had a shot to win at Martinsville with just a few laps to go there. I think circumstantial and the fact that we were missing a little bit of something at the beginning of the season was compounded, but quite honestly I’m very proud of where the team is at right now and the way that it is performing, and looking forward to the races to come.
Q. Chad, it seems like right now more than at any point in your career you’re having more fun. You’re laughing a lot more, you’re smiling a lot more. Is that the case, or is it just this win in particular, something about it is special?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: It’s circumstantial.
CHAD KNAUS: If you ask Jimmie, I was a jerk three weeks ago. Quite honestly I’m at the best point in my life. I’ve been very fortunate to have been in this sport for a long time. I’ve seen it grow and change, and it’s been a weird circuitous route to get to where we are now, but quite honestly, I’ve never been happier in my life with my personal life, my performance at the racetrack, what we’ve got going on, and Jimmie has helped a lot with that. So has Mr. Hendrick as far as making me understand that I’ve got to take time away from the facility and understand that there’s life outside of motorsports.
I’ve tried for a long time to deny that fact, but I’m really, really enjoying it all the way around. It’s fun. Trust me, we’re going back to Charlotte tonight and we’re heading up to Loudon, New Hampshire, tomorrow evening, and then we go race Pocono and go we go back home from Pocono and then we head out to Chicago to tire test the week after that. It’s busy as ever, but we’re in a good spot right now. Everything is great.
MATT HUMPHREY: Joined now by six‑time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and now two‑time 2014 winner, Jimmie Johnson, here in the media center. Jimmie, can you run us through the race today and the momentum this 48 team is on right now?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I’d say the first segment of the race we were ‑‑ we were decent but just couldn’t really go anywhere. Kind of ran in fifth or sixth for a while, and I could see a couple guys losing the handle a little bit, and I was able to work my way up through. But from the second run on, the track came to us, or I don’t know, something happened there, and the car was just incredible the rest of the day.
We had to adjust a bit. I think the track changed the first three quarters of the race, and we had to stay on top of adjustments to get there, and then at the end, we really honed in on the balance of the race car I was after and what adjustments to put under it, and that thing was awesome.
Q. Jimmie, what exactly did you notice was wrong with the track during driver introductions, and when did you have hernia surgery?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Two off‑the‑wall questions for sure. So the track, when I was coming to the drivers’ meeting, I cou
ld just see the corner of one of those slabs, the way the squares are ‑‑ rectangles are poured on the track I could see something from afar that just looked like the edge was broken, like the corner was broken on it. I didn’t think much of it. I mean, there’s countless track vehicles driving around the racetrack, and actually right over the top of it looking at it, and everybody else ‑‑ I just didn’t think much of it. I saw it from afar and just chalked it up to maybe a bad angle looking at something, because I didn’t drive over the top of it, I saw it from 40, 50 yards away.
And when I came back around and saw that was the spot, I’m like, no way, that’s what I saw from afar earlier. And then the hernia surgery was literally right after the banquet. Got home Sunday and then went in Monday morning following the banquet. Surprised nobody knew about this thing sooner. It wasn’t a secret by any stretch of the imagination, but I had bilateral hernias, one on each side, and then a third one in my belly button, so I was very lucky to go in and have all three fixed. It wasn’t a sports hernia. It was something over time and getting older that something like 60 percent of men near the age of 40 have these and don’t know, but I saw one mid‑season, a little protrusion in my skin and went and had it checked out, and they’re like, you’ve got a couple years to get it fixed, so I figured I’d get it fixed sooner rather than later and went in right after the banquet. That kind of led to us missing out on some of the test sessions that went on during the winter months, but we felt like it was time to shut things down and let the team kind of recoup and then just got back after it after that.
Q. Jimmie, Chad in here just said that at Charlotte he brought your favorite car, here he brought another favorite car, Indianapolis another favorite car. Do you believe him, or is that just psychological on Chad’s part?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: You never know with a crew chief. I knew that our 600 car was good. This was a new car that we brought here, and I think Indy, it might be a frame that we’ve had in the system, but it’s ‑‑ things have changed quite a bit with this no ride height limit. We’re now at a point where we’ve identified areas to produce speed and bringing new versions and new cars to the track.
What we learned here is good and it’s going to help change our system, and then Pocono, Indy, those ‑‑ I know Chad is working hard on our Indy race car. We should have a nice one there, too.
Q. Can you tell by feel that it’s a favorite car, so to speak?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: It’s harder with the chassis we have now. When I first started, I still remember the chassis number, it was No. 059. 59 was a chassis that I loved, and it had this soft, squishy feeling to it, and it worked so well at the rough tracks, so we won a bunch of races at Charlotte with it, a bunch of races at Atlanta, and really the car probably won more than anywhere. In today’s world with the bodies being mandated and how they’re positioned on the cars, the chassis being line on line, the centers being line on line with the chassis and body, it’s been very difficult to know what car you’re climbing in. NASCAR has made them all so equal and easier for them to regulate and officiate, so I understand that. But now it’s difficult to know what car you’re in to say, yeah, that’s my favorite. I used to pay attention to it, and anymore if he tells me it’s a great car, I just get in there and go and believe him.
Q. Can you describe your thoughts going into the last 10 laps and possibly ‑‑ close enough that you’re winning the race? What’s going through your head at that time?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: 10 to go, just hoping it would stay green, and then when the caution came out, I’m scouring the track looking for where the debris might be, and I saw some rubber off line and assumed that’s what it was for. I was hopeful I would see like a bumper lane out there, something big and noticeable. But cautions at the end, you can kind of expect them for whatever reason, and truthfully it’s an opportunity for the guy that’s dominated all day to make a mistake, so I wanted to make sure I chose the right lane and got a good restart and got up through the gears well, and that all worked out for us.
Q. On the topic of the hernia surgery, I think you ran the half marathon in Daytona, so I assume you were fully healthy about the time the season started, but do you think that in any way led to you starting not as fast as you wanted, either because of your health or because you weren’t at the test and that put you behind at all?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I think there’s a couple pieces to it. We missed, I think, three test sessions at the start of the year. One was because of the hernia surgery, and I was back training again I think it was 10 days later, so it was a laparoscopic procedure, so it wasn’t all that invasive.
First couple days sucked. There’s no doubt about that. But then quickly it got back together and was training within 10 days. It affected that first test date. And then we had two other test dates scheduled at Nashville that made us comfortable to give us that Charlotte test so I could have the hernia surgery, and both of those were canceled due to weather. So three opportunities for us to go test were out the window, and I do feel like that hurt us some and had us behind a little bit, especially once we did get to Nashville and were there and the 4 car was there testing. We knew we had a gap to make up, and those guys were off to a quick start. I think it was a combination of some bad weather and then my procedure.
Q. What is it about Dover that makes it so special? You are so successful here.
JIMMIE JOHNSON: It just fits my style. I mean, you need a race car that’s loose and turns very strong here to get it done and to be fast on the long haul. I just have to put a lot of weight in that. There’s something, too, with the loading characteristics when you come off the straightaway and land down in the corner that fits with me well, too. I notice that I make up a lot of time on people through that portion of the corner, and then I think the loose ‑‑ the fact that I like a loose race car helps us stay fast for long runs, and those two things together work really well.
Q. Certainly two wins in a row is great, but it seems like a lot of factors are coming together now. Do you feel like you’re on the verge of maybe a big run in the summertime, and do you have any other non‑secrets that you should definitely tell us about like the hernia stuff?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: I didn’t realize it was, one, a secret, or two, public information. Have you had any surgeries lately? Is there any procedures ‑‑ when did you have your teeth cleaned?
Q. 10 days ago.
JIMMIE JOHNSON: No, and again, it wasn’t supposed to be a secret. I’m surprised ‑‑ everybody at the track knew, all the competitors knew that I wasn’t there because I was having a procedure done. Why it didn’t make it to the media center is beyond me, and no big deal, I guess.
But we can get on a roll. We’ve got some good tracks ahead for us. I think that tracks really build momentum for teams and drivers, and going to Charlotte is a great track, here is a great track for us, Pocono next weekend is Chad’s favorite racetrack, and I think you can look ahead at the summer months and see who historically runs well at different tracks and kind of pick your favorites. It certainly has been that way for us. The tracks we’ve been bad at, we’ve gone there and been embarrassed by our performance, and then the tracks that are good to us still have been good to us.
Q.
Some drivers in the garage suggested a repave because of the concrete thing. If they said they were going to repave this place, what would you do?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Pavement or concrete?
Q. Some of the guys mentioned asphalt.
JIMMIE JOHNSON: I heard the asphalt days were a lot of fun. I’m cool with whatever. It doesn’t really bother me. I haven’t felt like the surface has given me an advantage. I feel like it’s the shape of the track and then the way you land in the corner and how you can pick your line and work the controls in the car to get through that landing portion of the track.
So if the topography and kind of general shape stays the same, I’m fine with whatever surface is down. And just a quick note, whatever they put in that pothole worked awfully well. Hats off to the track for the fix that they made.
John Force Racing–HIGHT, J. FORCE STILL 1-2 IN POINTS AFTER ENGLISHTOWN
HIGHT, J. FORCE STILL 1-2 IN POINTS AFTER ENGLISHTOWN
ENGLISHTOWN, NJ — For the 74th time John Force Racing will leave a Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event 1-2 in points. For the eighth consecutive event Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang sit at the top leading teammate and boss John Force and his Castrol GTC High Mileage Ford Mustang. Courtney Force has surged up the Funny Car point standings positioned No. 6 and only eight points out of 4th place. While JFR is dominating the Funny Car category Brittany Force and the Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster continue to improve and hold steady at No. 8 distancing themselves from the drivers behind them in the point standings.
Today at the 45th annual Toyota Summernationals Robert Hight raced to a semi-final finish losing to Del Worsham in a close race which Hight led until his Goodyears hazed the track at the top end. Hight entered the race as the No. 3 qualifier and took out Bob Tasca III in the first round.
“Getting that first round win was huge. Once you get past the first round this Auto Club Funny Car has been pretty strong. There are a lot of tough Funny Car still left but I am hoping to go some more rounds today,” said an excited Hight at the top end following his opening round win.
Hight would square off with one of the toughest drivers he has faced in 2014, Alexis DeJoria. Hight dropped two final round races to her earlier this year before getting his first round win over her in Houston on the way to his 32nd career win. Hight’s solid 4.086 second winning elapsed time was good enough to give his Auto Club team lane choice in the semi-finals versus his long-time friendly rival Del Worsham.
Hight took a solid starting line advantage from Worsham in the semi-final race but a tricky left lane bit the Auto Club Ford Mustang just past half-track opening the door for Worsham to advance to his first Funny Car final since the 2010 installment of the Toyota Summernationals.
With a strong qualifying effort and consistent performance, Brittany Force still came up shy of winning the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals. Her Castrol EDGE dragster looked strong all weekend and was a contender to win today.
Brittany Force had qualified fifth with a stout 3.777 second run at 324.44 mph earlier in the weekend. Racing from the top-half of the field, Brittany had lane choice going into the opening round in which she would face Spencer Massey. It was Massey that that put Brittany on the trailer in the semi-finals during last weekend’s NHRA Kansas Nationals in Topeka, Kansas. Brittany was looking to even the score. As the lights on the Christmas tree came down, Brittany’s Castrol EDGE Dragster blasted off with strong 3.789 second run and took the win.
“I was excited to get that win against him (Massey) in round one. He got us last weekend so it was our turn this weekend for the Castrol EDGE team to beat him. We were hoping to go some rounds and we had lane choice going into round two so I was very excited because that number we ran in round one was awesome,” said Brittany Force.
During the quarterfinals, Brittany Force lined up with Morgan Lucas. Once again she had lane choice and it was the first time these tough young competitors have faced each other. At the first hint of green, both dragsters left the starting line side-by-side. Brittany’s Castrol EDGE dragster was charging hard on the top end then the tires broke loose around 600 foot mark.
That’s when the Goodyear slicks started to smoke and her car began to slide around. All she could do was watch Lucas drive away and get the win. It was a tough break for the 2013 NHRA Auto Club Rookie of the Year who has working hard on achieving her first Top Fuel win for the Castrol EDGE team and John Force Racing.
“I’m very disappointed in how it did in the second round. We had a strong car all weekend and we were running 3.77 and it was pretty consistent. We were in the left lane which had been the better lane during the first round of eliminations. I felt just as long as the car went down the groove, we’d be okay. I felt the tires break lose and I tried to pedal it. It did hook back up but it wasn’t enough to get past Morgan Lucas,” said Brittany Force.
No losses are easy to take for any professional drag racer, regardless of how many passes they’ve made down the strip. However for Brittany Force, she doesn’t dwell on her last round of competition. Brittany stays positive and focused for the next race on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
“It was still a good weekend since we got past the first round. That was always tough for us last year, right now we’re moving in the right direction and going rounds. The Castrol EDGE dragster is running really strong and Todd Smith, Guido Antonelli and the rest of the guys are doing a great job. I’m ready to head to Bristol and get back in the cockpit of my dragster,” said Brittany Force.
Brittany Force is currently in eighth place with 462 NHRA Mello Points Top Fuel points.
It wasn’t a good day for drag racing legend John Force as the three-time 2014 finalist lost in the opening round. Persistent clutch issues have plagued the Castrol GTX High Mileage team for the last few races once again sidelined the seasoned veteran in round one. Force had been hoping to claim his 140th career victory and end his thirteen year drought of being winless at the NHRA Summernationals.
“My car had run 4.01 in qualifying and we pushed it harder, we’d thought it could run faster today. We had been running big speed but unfortunately the clutch disintegrated within 100 feet. We’re going to address these issues. Luckily, we remain second in points,” said John Force.
The 16-time NHRA Mello Yello World Champion had made a solid run in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang on Friday with a 4.015 second pass at 310.48 mph and he qualified fourth. John Force drew Matt Hagan in the opening round on race day and had the advantage of lane choice. These two have done battle eighteen times and faced each other in the finals at the season opener NHRA Winternationals.
John had a slight reaction time advantage over Hagan and did a great driving job to reel his Mustang back into the groove at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Unfortunately he couldn’t catch Hagan.
“We build big power, that’s why when it runs, it runs good. That’s why we have the NHRA national record. Maybe that’s the problem, we’re too fast and it’s hard on the clutch. We ran good earlier in the season and despite struggling these last few races, we’ll fix the clutch problems and get this Castrol Hot Rod in the winner’s circle,” said John Force.
“It’s even tougher losing early at Englishtown because this is Castrol’s home track. Their headquarters are just up the road in Wayne, New Jersey and we had many of their folks out here with us this weekend in our pits and up in the stands seeing our hot rods making some noise and Robert Hight going to the semi-finals,” said John Force.
The Castrol GTX High Mileage team leaves the NHRA Summernationals still in second place with 601 NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car points. They’ll have a weekend off and head back to the shop in Brownsburg, Indiana to regroup and work through the clutch issue before heading out on the road again. The next race will be the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.
“We just need to keep the faith, never give up, never look back just keep looking ahead,” said John Force.
Courtney Force qualified in the top half of the field this weekend in the No. 7 spot and had lane choice going into the opening round against fellow Ford racer Tim Wilkerson on race day. Despite Force’s 7-1 winning record against Wilkerson in previous events, the Traxxas team posted a 4.116 ET at 312.78 mph to the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang’s 4.073 ET at 301.33 mph and handed over the win.
“We
came out this weekend off of a win and had a strong race car. We went down there, made a decent pass running a 4.11, and just got outrun. We didn’t expect Wilkerson to come out and lay down such a great number in that right lane. That was a tough lane to run in. Good job by him and his team,” said Force.
The 2012 NHRA Auto Club Rookie of the Year who picked up the 100th pro win for women last week, slipped one spot in the NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car points with this first round loss, and will go into Bristol in the No. 6 position.
“It was tough for us, but we’ll come back next weekend in full force. We’re just happy that we have a consistent race car and thinks are looking up for this Traxxas Ford Mustang team. We’re going to move forward with our heads up,” said Force.
Chevy Racing–Dover–Post Race
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FEDEX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 1, 2014
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
TAKE US THROUGH YOUR RUN TODAY:
“It was an awesome race car. The first run I wasn’t sure we were really going to have the normal Dover magic here. Once the track ‘rubbered’ in our car came to life and it was so good. It’s amazing that we can stay on top of things here with the different generation car, different rules, different tires. This place just fits my style and Chad Knaus’ style.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY CLOSE CALLS THROUGHOUT THE DAY?
“The first run or two I didn’t think we were in a dominant position, but towards the end of the first run thing started coming around and I felt like we were in great shape. Even with some varying track strategies and I lost track position we were still able to smoke our way through traffic and get to the front and control things. I think we would have had a heck of a race with the No. 4. I’m not sure what trouble he had, but outside of that I think we had everybody covered.”
THIS IS YOUR NINTH VICTORY AT DOVER
“It is incredible I have so much to be thankful for. I wish Mr. Hendrick was here; am sure he’s at home watching. I’m so thankful for an awesome race team and awesome car and such great support. I’m so thankful for the support we get from Lowe’s and KOBALT Tools and I’m just happy to get the job done today.”
YOU SAID YOU KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE A GOOD RACE CAR TODAY. HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?
“Well, we’ve got a new generation car that Chad (Knaus, crew chief) just had a lot of faith in and put a lot of time and effort into. He told me I’d love the car, and sure enough, we unloaded and got on the track and he was right.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 6TH
*Best Finish of 2014
“All-in-all it was good day. We battled from the beginning, lost the handling of the car for a while but Todd Berrier made some great calls throughout the race and we were able to finish strong. You can just feel it that we’re heading in the right direction. We also had a top-10 car last week in Charlotte, but had a freak breakage occur with nine laps to go. We’re a new team and takes a while to get all the pieces of the puzzle in place. We’re learning about this car and how to be competitive with it. We’re getting closer and closer to finding that sweet spot. One constant we have had all year is excellent pit stops and today was a continuation of how good these over-the wall guys are. You know when you come into the pits there’s a good chance you’re going to gain spots. And all the dumb luck we’ve had didn’t bite us today. It almost bit us on Friday when a bird hit our car during practice and caused some damage to the left headlight area. We still have a ways to go but the feeling is upbeat knowing that we have more speed and can be more competitive. Dover has been good to me over the years and it was also a great feeling to bring home a strong effort at what I consider my home track.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 9TH
ON HIS DAY:
“Steve (Letarte) did a good job on his adjustments all day. Strategy was pretty simple. Keep putting four tires on, we had a two-tire run that worked out for us one time. I liked the speed of the car. Yeah, a second or third place car just got messed up there on pit road. Really can’t blame anybody there, but myself.”
WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS WHEN THE CONCRETE STARTED COMING UP OVER THERE?
“Concrete has been losing the battle for preferred surface on a race track for 60 years. I don’t think they are going to start paving them all with concrete anytime soon. It is okay and I think they got their money out of what they put down here. I would be a little nervous because there are so many joints and joists in this place it’s a lottery on which one is going to come up next. If they repave it, I hope they put asphalt down and we would give the fans a hell of a show around here.”
IS IT IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND ON A RESTART AFTER THEY PATCHED THAT THING?
“Well what we did was sent a guy down there with a radio and he could keep his eye on it. At the level I was at I couldn’t see if there was a hole there or not. We got a guy looking at it the whole time and he was like ‘alright it’s staying together, it’s looking good.’ If it was going to come apart we would have been able to get notified and move up a lane and run through there until – we weren’t going to be the first person to find out when that thing came apart. That was a good deal on my team to do that extra leg work to make sure we were clear. They did a great job patching it up. I was real happy and it looked like it stayed together so good job on NASCAR’s part.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 13TH
ON HITTING THE PIECE OF TRACK IN TURN 2, WHAT DID YOU THINK HAPPENED?
“I’m not 100% sure. I guess that the race track came up. And when I came off of the corner, it just felt like I hit something, obviously, heavy. Initially I thought I’d blown a tire out. When I hit it, it actually pushed the car to the right and I got into the fence a little bit. And as I slowed down, I couldn’t figure out first off, why I didn’t hit the fence harder, and then what happened. I didn’t see anything. It just hit the front end and ripped the splitter off and it pushed the car to the right. So, I’m not real sure.”
WELL THAT WAS UNUSUAL:
“Yeah Martinsville is the last time I remember something like that happening. I really don’t know I guess the race track came up. When I came off Turn 2 I heard a huge boom and then the car felt like it got really tight. I thought I had blown a tire out or something had fallen off the car. As I got going down the straightaway I wasn’t real sure because I was like ‘well the tires feel up now.’ So I just stopped getting into Turn 3 because I didn’t have any idea what was going on.”
HOW MUCH DID IT AFFECT YOUR CAR?
“Well it killed the front-end. That pan that is underneath there is critical. We worked really hard to make that just right and the pan underneath I think is really torn up. It definitely took a lot of front downforce off the car, but our guys did a really good job recovering here putting all the stuff on and we salvaged what we could today.”
THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE ASKING WHY THEY WOULDN’T LET YOU GUYS WORK ON THE CAR UNDER THE RED FLAG BECAUSE OF THE CONDITIONS. HOW DID IT FEEL SITTING IN THE CAR?
“Well it’s really frustrating. All I was thinking about was the No. 18 at Charlotte last year when he got the wire stuck under his car. I thought they let him work on their car under the red flag, but I don’t know. It’s hard. It’s really frustrating when you are sitting in there and you want them to be able to fix it, but it is what it is.”
Chevy Racing–Corvette Racing at Le Mans
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: First Laps at Le Mans for Corvette C7.R
Test Day goals accomplished; Gavin fourth and Magnussen sixth
LE MANS, France (June 1, 2014) – Corvette Racing successfully ran through its test program ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans today as the two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs turned their first laps around the circuit in the Sarthe region of France. Both Corvette C7.Rs ran virtually trouble-free during the pair of four-hour sessions two weeks before the famed endurance race June 14-15.
Four-time Le Mans winner Oliver Gavin set the fourth-fastest time of the GTE Pro field in the No. 74 Corvette at 3:58.403 (127.878 mph), set in the afternoon session. Gavin, partnering with past Le Mans winner Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook, also was the quickest Corvette Racing driver in the morning session.
Jan Magnussen was the fastest driver in the No. 73 Corvette C7.R and sixth in GTE Pro with a lap of 3:59.192 (127.443 mph), set late in the second session. Another four-time Le Mans winner, the Dane was the first driver in the No. 73 to start the day and was the last driver in at the end of the session. He drives with Antonio Garcia – the pairing have won the last two races in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship – and Jordan Taylor.
The two Corvettes recorded considerable number of laps around 8.3-mile circuit. The No. 73 car completed 45 laps – tied for the most in class – during testing with the No. 74 posting 44. The top six cars were within two seconds, which bodes well for a competitive race.
With seven class victories at Le Mans since 2001, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet rank among the most successful teams and manufacturers to compete at Le Mans in the modern era.
The next time Corvette Racing takes to the circuit at Le Mans is 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 11 for free practice and qualifying. Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 14 with live coverage on SPEED.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 73 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“The Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is a major step forward compared to last year’s car. So far we’ve worked on our usual, annual to-do-list for Le Mans, and everything is going to plan. With the new car we of course have a lot more work to do than with the previous car, which was always a known package. But so far everything we tried and at Road America seems to be working here and we’re definitely going in the right direction.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 73 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“We just improved the car as we went along. It was very hard to already find a race setup given the conditions of the track (green and dirty after a year). All three of us were happy with the changes we made, and we specifically made some good progress on the brakes. We came here with a car that was very good straight out of the box, so we could stick to the plan we had set ourselves to do today.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 73 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“I didn’t get too much time in the car yet. So far I’ve tested the car at Road America, so it was good to spend half a day in Le Mans. The car feels quite comfortable. That’s the most important thing here in Le Mans – to have a car you feel comfortable driving and which all three drivers feel comfortable with setup wise. All three of us are happy with where we are and we are definitely looking forward to the race.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 74 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“The track was very dirty in the beginning and it took a while to be good enough. Everybody seemed to waiting for the track to become nice and clean. By the second half of the morning session is was good enough for everybody to work with it. All in all it’s been a good first run with the C7.R here in Le Mans. The car seems to be very predictable here. It does what we want it to do.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 74 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“We went through our program of changes and ideas to make the car better, both in handling and performance. I’m fairly happy with where we are now. After all the changes we made, I did a run on new tires early in the afternoon session and the car felt a lot better than this morning on used tires. This is a first good test for the Corvette C7.R here, and things have been a lot better so far than last year around the same time.”
RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 74 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“The first few laps were pretty strange, having raced in the Detroit TUDOR Championship race less than 24 hours before. There are probably no two more opposite cars like the Corvette DP and the Corvette C7.R, just like there are no two more opposite tracks like Belle Isle and Le Mans. Other than that the car felt really good with no major issues so all I had to do was to make sure I felt comfortable. I’m quite looking forward to the race the week after next.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“Unlike in years past when there was a huge differential between the different types of cars, this year they are all pretty closely bunched together. This is of course testament to the efforts made by the sanctioning body in creating a very good balance of performance. We’re pleased with where we are on a performance standpoint and are looking forward to qualifying in 10 days with the new Corvette C7.Rs.”
Team Falken return to the UK following successful demonstrations in Europe
Team Falken return to the UK following successful demonstrations in Europe
London, England – June 1, 2014 – After busy demonstration events at the Bodensee Tuning World show and the Hockenheim Drift Challenge in Germany in front of thousands of motorsport and tuning fans, the Falken drift team have returned to the UK in anticipation of their next competition event next weekend.
The team first visited the annual Tuning World Bodensee event at the start of May to performance live drift demonstrations and passenger rides in the outdoor area. Having become a regular feature in the show, fans lined the live action arena to watch the team perform and queued in their thousands to meet and greet the drivers. Alongside Paul, Alan, Matt and Kirsty from the UK, Irish Drift Champion James Deane was in attendance as well as Dutch drifting duo Remmo Niezen and Lars Verbraeken.
Just two weeks later the Falken collective would congregate again at the Hockenheimring for the Hockenheim Tuner GP and Drift Challenge. This low-pressure event on the challenging world-famous circuit gave the drivers the chance to hone their skills ahead of the upcoming British Drift Championship round at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland.
The cars are currently making their way back to the UK to be prepared for their next competition event. With Matt Carter and Alan Green both sitting in 5th position in their respective classes and Paul and Kirsty in 11th in theirs, there’s still everything to play for and the team’s performance at round two will be crucial.
Honda Racing–Extreme Speed Motorsports Earns Pair of Top-Seven Finishes At Belle Isle
• Last-lap fireworks lead to top-five run for Ryan Dalziel, Scott Sharp
• Lengthy caution period widens fuel window, ruins fuel strategy plan
The Extreme Speed Motorsports squad carried its pair of Honda-powered HPD ARX-03bs to top-seven finishes after a challenging 57-lap sprint racein Saturday afternoon’s Sports Car Classic at Belle IslePark, Round 5 of the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
The #1 Honda-powered ESM entry of Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel started on the outside of the front row and ran in the lead group all day before coming home in the fifth spot. The #2 of Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek fell victim to an ill-timed caution flag that put them a lap down by the race’s halfway point, but soldiered on to collect a seventh-place result.
While struggling with tires that came up to temperature a couple of laps after those of their competitors, the ESM team found itself behind the ‘eight ball’ on starts and restarts Saturday. Once the tires reached optimal temperatures, Sharp maintained contact with the lead group through the opening stint, threatening the fourth-place Nissan Morgan of Gustavo Yacaman all the way to the first pit stop.
Starting driver Brown ran a clean opening stint and was battling with the Mazda Prototype of Sylvain Tremblay as the day’s first caution flag waved for water on the course. The caution sent most of the leaders in for fuel and driver changes and the #1 ESM Honda joined that group, as Dalziel took the fifth-place car from Sharp and returned to the fray.
The strategy on the #2 was a bit different, however. Brown stayed out until the last lap of the caution period before coming in to hand the car over to van Overbeek. The strategy was designed to give van Overbeek a chance to run the remainder of the event on one tank of fuel, while everyone else would have had make another time-consuming stop before the end of the race.
The timing of the stop put van Overbeek back on track directly ahead of the leaders, where he dropped a lap toleader Ricky Taylor just before the caution flag flew again, this time for contact involving the GB Autosport Porsche of Damien Faulkner.
The contact required a lengthy cleanup and repair of the barriers, and the seven-lap caution period eliminated any fuel advantage that the ESM Honda might have gained by fuel strategy, dooming the teamto finish a lap down to the leaders.
The #1 HPD ARX-03b Hondabenefitted from some last-lap fireworks to earn an extra position in the final order, moving up a spot to fifth after Joao Barbosa cut a tire and spun after making a pass for the lead.
Steve Eriksen (Vice President and COO, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race “With LMP2 cars having to run tires developed expressly for Daytona Prototypes, they have a distinct disadvantage on street circuits, as we saw today in Detroit and earlier this year at Long Beach. Nevertheless, Extreme Speed Motorsports worked hard to maximize the strengths of our HPD ARX-03b Hondas, and gained valuable points for the season-long championship. After their victory earlier this month on the natural terrain Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course, we’re confident about our chances as the series returns to road racing at Watkins Glen next month.
Scott Sharp (#1 Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-02b Honda) started second, finished fifth: “The car was quick all weekend long, but we didn’t think that we would be as handicapped on the restarts as we would be because of the tires.The tires took so long to get up to pressure and that held us back on the restarts, but we stuck with it and were able to salvage a good finish. The strength for us is in the consistency and reliability of the Honda engine package and we really leaned on the traction control Honda provides today, it’s just too bad that they don’t do the tires!”
Rahal Runs Second for Honda in Saturday’s Dual in Detroit
• Battles Will Power for victory in another close IndyCar finish
• Strong runs for Wilson, Hinchcliffe
• Rookies Hawksworth, Munoz and Huertas impress
In his best performance of 2014, third-generation racer Graham Rahal fought eventual race winner Will Power for the final 20 laps of Saturday’s opening race of the “Dual in Detroit” Verizon IndyCar Series doubleheader weekend, making a last-lap effort that came up just 33 hundredths of a second short at the checkers.
The Rahal Letterman Lanigan team, headed by Graham’s father, Bobby Rahal, made the right calls throughout the 70-lap contest, keeping its driver at or near the front of the field in a race that featured nearly a half-dozen different pit strategies among the 22 contestants. When the green flag waved for the final time on Lap 60, Rahal was in third place, behind Power and Ryan Briscoe. After dispatching Briscoe on Lap 62, Rahal closed down on Power and made several runs at the leader, but came up short in his efforts to snatch the victory.
Just behind the leaders, Justin Wilson combined excellent Honda fuel mileage with equally clever pit calls from his Dale Coyne Racing team to finish fourth, his best result of 2014. James Hinchcliffe ran in the lead group for the first half of the race, but the timing of the race’s four cautions dropped him to an unrepresentative sixth. Rookie Jack Hawksworth also starred, running second to early leader Helio Castroneves until a broken brake disc dropped him off the lead lap; while fellow rookies Carlos Munoz and Carlos Huertas finished seventh and eighth, respectively – the third top-10 result for Munoz this year and a career-best for Huertas.
Graham Rahal(#15 National Guard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) started 9th, finished 2nd, best result of 2014:“I thought I was going to finally get the monkey off my back [and win] today. I knew I had a car that was as quick as [Will Power]. I knew I had one opportunity and that was on the restart. He blocked me, which I would have done too, so I don’t blame him. I said after Indy that this team was made up of champions and that it was going to come in time. We are going to win. I can promise you that. I was focused on the task at hand and I knew I was one of the few guys who could drive by a lot of people today. So when I saw myself in 13th place after a bad run on the reds [alternate tires], I thought, ‘This isn’t over. I can still pass these guys.’ And sure enough we went to the front. This is where our season started, right here, today.”
Justin Wilson(#19 Boy Scouts of America Dale Coyne Racing Honda) started 19th, finished 4th:“To be totally honest, I had no idea what was going on [in terms of strategy] out there today! I was just driving as fast as I could and pitting when I was told, and it all worked out really well for us. All thanks to Mike [Cannon, engineer] and the team, they did a great job with both the strategy and the pit stops. The track was getting seriously fast late in the race, so I think tomorrow may be another crazy race. It’s Detroit; anything can happen!”
Mark Crawford(IndyCar Project Leader, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race: “It was close. We managed to move a bunch of cars to the front of the field today with some clever pit strategy and excellent Honda fuel mileage, but fell just short of victory. It was good to see Graham Rahal turn things around today after a tough start to the season, and we saw timely, strong performances from Justin Wilson and James Hinchcliffe, and that also was encouraging. Now we get to do it all again tomorrow, we just have to finish one position higher!”
Honda Racing–Pagenaud, Honda Head IndyCar Series Practice at Detroit
• Honda seeking fourth and fifth consecutive 2014 IndyCar victories
• Manufacturer defends sweep of both Detroit rounds in 2013
• Honda drivers claim five of top 10 positions in practice
Honda-powered drivers led the way in Verizon IndyCar Series practice Friday for the Dual at Detroit doubleheader race weekend, with Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay leading the morning practice session, and finishing the day fifth overall, while 2013 Detroit winner Simon Pagenaud paced the afternoon session and the day.
Honda drivers claimed five of the top 10 positions, with Takuma Sato seventh fastest for A.J. Foyt Racing, James Hinchcliffe eighth for Andretti Autosport, and Graham Rahal rounding out the top 10 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Simon Pagenaud(#77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda) quickest in Friday practice: “Detroit is a great track, I really love it. You have to able to cope with the different track surfaces, asphalt and concrete, and be comfortable sliding the car. It’s breathtaking after spending the last three weeks in Indianapolis. [Winning here] last year was such a big day for us, the team really ‘went up a gear’ as a result and since then we’ve been competitive everywhere we go.”