NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SYLVANIA 300
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 20, 2013
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
ON HIS NEW TRACK RECORD:
“I’ve told you before that this track is the birthplace of track position and qualifying great with our Quicken Loans Chevrolet is extremely important obviously for where we are in the points and this time of year. It is really difficult to pass. Having a good pit selection; having all those things we’ve had so many times before… But great run for Matt (Borland, crew chief) and all these guys to do what they did. Last time we were on the pole here, we led a lot of laps and we won (SMILES). I am hoping we can duplicate that again.”
SEVEN TIMES THE POLE SITTER HERE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY CONGRATULATIONS:
“Yeah it’s great timing I guess none the less, but a great run for our Quicken Loans Chevrolet. Matt (Borland, crew chief) and the guys did a great job and this is the birthplace of track position so with that being said we will see if we can capitalize on it.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS TRACK POSITION? IS IT HAVING THAT NUMBER ONE PIT STALL WHAT MATTERS THE MOST?
“Well everything about qualifying weighs in to having a better chance in the race with the pit selection and with track position to start and obviously knowing you have a fast race car. We will see what we can do with our Quicken Loans Chevrolet tomorrow in race trim. We have been in qualifying trim the entire day so I’m pretty sure and pretty confident we can make it all pay off.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SECOND
A NEW TRACK RECORD. PRETTY GOOD LAP TELL US ABOUT IT:
“Yeah it felt really good. The first lap I was sliding a little bit too much so we didn’t get there, but the second lap I was able to pick up some speed and run a good lap. I don’t know I know Kurt (Busch) is going to be strong and probably a bunch of the other guys as well, but that is a good lap for right now. I felt good about it.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED FOURTH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“I’ve just got to thank the guys for going out there and having shots at poles. It’s not every Friday that you have a shot at it. Today we didn’t get it but it’s crazy how close it is. And our Denver Mattress Chevy was right there. You can’t tiptoe a pole lap. You have to know it. And so I think we tiptoed into a top 5 spot. I just couldn’t’ do anything aggressively with steering input or throttle input because the car wanted to come out from underneath me.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 SYLVANIA/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SEVENTH
AFTER BRUSHING WALL IN PRACTICE TALK ABOUT QUALIFYING:
“The car was really good in practice. We were doing race runs. I lost track of where the wall was and I just brushed the wall a little bit. We switched to qualifying trim right after that and the car was good in qualifying trim. I didn’t get all of it, so we basically left it alone. We tightened it up just a little bit for qualifying here. We could have gone a little bit more, just a little bit too loose.”
YOU THIS THE WALL IN PRACTICE AND YOU JUST SAID YOUR CAR WAS LOOSE
“The car was really good in practice. We were doing race runs. I just lost track and brushed the wall. I switched over to qualifying trim right after that and felt like the car was good in qualifying trim. I didn’t get all of it. So we basically left it alone. We tightened it up just a little bit for qualifying here. But we were just a little too loose.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH
WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR LAP? TOMORROW WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE TO PRACTICE SOME MORE WHAT ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO WORK ON?
“Our qualifying lap was fine nothing spectacular put up a decent time so that is good. As we get into race trim tomorrow we worked on that this morning and just didn’t have exactly what we were looking for. Tomorrow’s practice will be important for us and just trying to get that race feel that we need where you can pass cars. It’s one thing to get one to go by itself around here with clean air and everything. But what I saw in the race here in the spring to get through traffic you need something totally different. I was chasing that feeling today in the first practice session and I didn’t quite get it. Trying to drive it a little differently and a little smarter going into the race.”
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“The car drove comfortably, so that is a good sign. Saw a lot of guys on television lacking an overall grip comfort. I had that. Decent lap. We had a tough time in race trim this morning. When we got to qualifying trim and went faster. We are definitely working hard to get this Lowe’s Chevrolet right. Tomorrow’s practice will be important for us. This has been such a great track for us over the years, I feel pretty good about things.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 TIME WARNER CABLE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 17TH
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR RUN:
“Just wasn’t real happy with it. We just haven’t had the car we had here in qualifying last time. The car just hadn’t been turning very well and the front end is a bit of a handful. We will just have to see how it goes.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 21ST
A GOOD SECOND LAP TALK ABOUT THE RUN:
“The first lap felt like a little bit of a throw away. I got pretty loose in (turns) one and two and I wasn’t very good coming to the green either. I kind of knew it wasn’t going to be the lap. It was like that in practice for me. It’s so important to turn here that I guess what I feel like I’ve learned is that you can be a little loose to start, but in qualifying it comes in quicker. In the race it’s a little bit like our first race run we were really loose but just kept going faster and faster and that was our best run of that first practice other than qualifying. It’s just important to rotate at almost any cost for some reason.”
WHAT WAS THE BIG DIFFERENCE FROM PRACTICE TO QUALIFYING?
“That magic I was talking about on the PA system before I went out that I was hoping for. We’ve just been doing a nice job. (Tony) Gibson (crew chief) has been doing a great job of making the car better for qualifying, and I’m just thinking more about it, and watching the cars more before I go out for my qualifying run. Just paying attention to the little things. Every little bit helps. The times are always so close, especially at a small little track like this. It is really critical I think at this track to turn in the center. It just is. There is so much time in it. I rotated really nice on throttle. Too well on the first lap which is why I was slow. But no matter what happens, it was a nice pickup for us, and hopefully will give us a better place to work from on Sunday than last time.”