TEAM CHEVY AT LAGUNA SECA: Front-Row Start for Camaro Z/28.R
Curran P2 in No. 01 CKS Camaro; Davis fourth in No. 6 Stevenson Camaro
 
·         Three Camaro Z/28.Rs fill first seven spots on GS grid
·         Second straight front-row starting spot for Curran’s Camaro
·         First race since historic Sebring victory
 
MONTEREY, Calif. (May 2, 2014) – Three Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R race cars will start in the first seven positions for Saturday’s Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Eric Curran qualified second in CKS Autosport’s No. 01 Camaro Z/28.R on Friday with a lap of 1:35.979 (83.943 mph).
 
It’s the second consecutive race that Curran put his Camaro on the outside of the front row, following a similar effort at Sebring International Raceway. Curran, who was just 0.031 seconds off the pole time, will team with Lawson Aschenbach in Saturday’s two-and-a-half-hour Grand Sport (GS) race that begins at 3:45 p.m. ET.
 
Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 6 Camaro Z/28.R will start behind Curran in the fourth position after Andrew Davis’ qualifying run of 1:36.154 (83.791 mph). He and Robin Liddell scored the Z/28.R’s first victory at Sebring in just the car’s second race.
 
Andy Lally qualified seventh in the No. 9 Stevenson Camaro that he drives with Matt Bell. Ashley McCalmont was 19th in the No. 00 CKS Camaro; she shares it with Bob Michaelian.
 
The Camaro brand has a rich history at Laguna Seca. The Camaro GS.R won in the Continental Tire series at the track in 2011 and 2012 and was second in 2013. Compared to the previous car, the Z/28.R is an improvement in many key areas.
 
The Chevrolet engine, suspension components and aerodynamic elements all have seen major upgrades for the Camaro Z/28.R. It also is the closest link between production Camaro and racing version Chevrolet has produced.
 
ERIC CURRAN, NO. 01 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO Z/28.R
“What a difference. Yesterday we had a day that felt like it was 90 degrees, and the car was sliding all over the place. This was a nice change for us. I think it’s a bigger benefit to us than it is the other cars just because of the additional weight the series added to us prior to this race. But the CKS guys did a fantastic job. The car is awesome. Right away we were P1 and we held it most of the way but just got nipped there at the end. We’re really happy and just need a solid run to the end tomorrow.
“This is a place where you need some horsepower with some uphill climbs – especially going up to the Corkscrew. But ultimately this is a handling track. You better have your brakes working, as well as your chassis and suspension really working. (Team owner) Kirk (Spencer) and all the guys were spot-on. Lawson did a good job tweaking the car earlier in the day and we got a setup that was just about perfect for what we’re working with. We’re 200 pounds heavier than the car that’s on the pole. But this Camaro Z/28.R is pretty awesome.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AARON’S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 2, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/VALSPAR RESERVE CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the new drafting format at Talladega, making the Chase on points, his intermediate program, how is mother influenced his racing career, and more. Full Transcript:
 
ON THE JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION AND HELMET OF HOPE
“First of all, I just want to thank everybody for supporting the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and writing the articles and talking about the Helmet of Hope program. We had over 400,000 votes tallied over the ten semi-finalists to decide the five winners and that’s just massive. We were so impressed by that stat and so thankful that people are participating and the reach that our media center has and the what you guys (media) do for us, I just wanted to thank you all for that to help raise awareness and drive so much focus to it. So, next weekend we (Mike Wells, President & CEO, Wells Enterprises, Inc., maker of Blue Bunny ice cream and Johnson) are going to do a Google+ hangout talk to the five winners and everybody is excited about and it will be a lot of fun. And then I will wear the helmet at Indy on July 27th. So, thank you once again.”
 
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT DURING QUALIFYING TOMORROW WITH THE NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT FOR THE FIRST TIME HERE IN TALLADEGA?
“I don’t know what is going to exactly happen. But to win the pole, you’re going to have to go out there and race. And the run that you can get on a group that it a football-field-or-two ahead of you, is so dramatic that I even think that a 10 or 12-car line won’t be as fast as somebody who falls way back in the pack and has a chance over a lap or two to pull up into the pack. So that’s what every driver is going to try to do. And setting that up is going to be tough because one, everybody is going to be trying it; and two, if you see someone behind you coming, why are you going to stay on the gas to help them? So, bailing out of the gas, breaking up the pack, and things like that are all possible. So, I don’t know. It’s going to be exciting for sure. We’ll all clearly be working on it during practice. And then qualifying itself will be very exciting.
 
“The thing I’m trying to come to grips with is where do I take a large risk? Trying to qualify well or trying to work my way through the pack to get to the front? And we’re just not sure right now what to expect. We wanted to come here with a plan in place of how we were going to qualify, but our opinion seems to change every 15 minutes. And we’re going to wait until after P2 and decide what we’re going to do.”
 
BOTH PENSKE CARS HAVE WINS THIS FAR AND THEY ARE PLANNING THEIR TESTS AROUND CHASE TRACKS. ARE YOU THINKING OF THAT ADDED BENEFIT WHEN THAT WIN DOES COME AND WHEN ALL THE HENDRICK CARS MAYBE GET THOSE WINS?
“It definitely does change the way you race. I think with that pretty-much guaranteed lock with won win lets you take two tires when maybe you should take four, or try for fuel; look at what Junior did in Las Vegas. Steve (Letarte) played that perfectly and why not try? They won at Daytona and they’re locked-in so let’s go for a W. I definitely agree that it gives those teams and advantage.
 
“But I knew I was going to get asked questions about this today before I came down here. Honestly, the way I see it is we’re locked in the Chase right now. If it were to end where we are in points, we’re in the Chase. And I’ve been trying to explain that to many people through interviews and other things and sure, we want to win. We feel like we could have won a few times. But as of right now, we’re locked into the Chase. So I don’t know what the big concern and worry is.”
 
COMING OFF A SHORT TRACK AND NOW A SUPERSPEEDWAY, THE INTERMEDIATE TRACKS ARE THE BREAD & BUTTER OF THE SCHEDULE. TALK ABOUT KANSAS NEXT WEEK AND YOUR INTERMEDIATE PROGRAM?
“I feel pretty good. We’ve had strong runs and I think Texas, we didn’t get to go very far, but through practice and qualifying we had a lot of people concerned. We led a lot at California. Vegas went well. I feel very good about our 1.5-mile stuff. We still want to be better and I think the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) has been the most consistent car with the most speed. But we’ve been in there fighting for wins. So we feel very good about that. Our Richmond-specific program, it’s needed work for a long time (laughs); and we just proved it again last week that we still need to keep working on it.”
 
JOEY LOGANO SAID THE PACKAGE FOR PLATE RACING HAS CHANGED A LOT.  DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT? HAVE YOU NOTICED ANY DIFFERENCE IN THE MENTALITY OF THE DRIVERS IN RISK VERSUS REWARD OR PLAYING IT SAFER, OR HAS THE AGGRESSION LEVEL CHANGED?
“Yeah, I definitely agree that the rules package really promotes the type of racing. When we had the push-drafting that we could do, you’d really ride and wait and catch-up at will and track position, as a result of the rules package, didn’t really mean a lot until three or four (laps) to go. It’s far different than that now. You really need to take off and go from the beginning and fight to maintain track position. The one other component is the track. At Daytona, it’s so much more narrow that there’s even a higher premium on track position. Where here (Talladega) you can get a third or fourth lane going. There’s much more of a revolving door from the front positions on back that there are more opportunities to go forward and also to come back. So, Talladega does have it’s own style compared to Daytona as well.”
 
LOOKING BACK ON THE 2013 FALL RACE, WHEN NOBODY PULLED OUT WITH YOU AND MATT KENSETH WHEN YOU TRIED TO MAKE THAT MOVE, DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME? DO YOU HAVE ANY EXPLANATION A FEW MONTHS LATER? HOW MUCH OF THAT WAS JUST DUE TO THE LOW LINE NOT SEEMING TO WORK LAST TIME?
“I really feel that whichever line it is works via numbers. The lane that has the most cars is the fastest lane; that’s just really how it is. If I remember right, I think the No 1 car (Jamie McMurray) was leading and I should have known before I pulled out, I should have looked to see who was leading, because I would have made a different decision I believe and stayed in line. With certain guys, they just have certain strategies of defending. And Jamie and a few others, there’s nothing wrong with it at all, but that’s going to be his move and it worked very well for him. So, I’m just curious why second, third, fourth, and on back didn’t try to make a move at any given point in time. And I still don’t have an answer or reason for it. I get it up until the white flag falls, but once the white is out, I still for the life of me don’t know why nobody tried to pass. We just kind of all rode around single-file.”
 
INAUDIBLE
“If I had a lane with a run, and was progressing forward, I think drivers would then drop down to try to get to the head of that line. But that’s not progressing. I think people are like well, why am I going to pull out of this eighth position right now and risk being 15th? So I think it’s really jus decisions and every driver is thinking independently about what’s best for me right now. And all of those decisions together led to the single file finish.”
 
WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT KURT BUSCH IS DOING THE MONTH OF MAY AND RUNNING IN THE ‘DOUBLE’ AND THE NEW CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO MAYBE MISS A RACE. IF HE HAS SUCCESS IN THE INDY 500, DO YOU THINK THAT WOULD CREATE MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR CUP GUYS TO GO RUN THAT RACE? WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED?
“I think the opportunity has been there and I’m not sure that a lot of stock car drivers have the desire to run Open Wheel; and that’s probably been the limiting factor. I know at one point in time, manufacturers had supplier issues that prevented me from going. You can certainly have sponsors and people to get ev
erything approved. In my situation, I have a wife that would have to approve me going to Indy. We had a deal that prior to having children, I could. And I didn’t get my opportunity before having kids. The start time was the big problem there. You couldn’t physically do both the way the start times worked out. I hope that encourages others. I think as a race fan, I look forward to that weekend to see who does the double and watch that much racing from Monaco all the way through to the NASCAR event.
 
“Again, I think opportunities are there. A lot of it is just sponsor-driven. But if any top driver from NASCAR showed interest in Andretti Green or Penske or Ganassi and had the sponsors to go through with it, I think they could get a seat. I just don’t know how ambitious many closed-body drivers are to try Indy.”
 
ON MOTHER’S DAY, WHAT DID YOU MOM MEAN TO YOU DURING YOUR CAREER? WHAT IS HER ROLE?
“My parents, together, were largely responsible for my career and my love for racing. My mom fortunately was on board; it wasn’t just my dad’s idea to take me to the race track. My mom was really into it and enjoyed it. She even did a few little races in the ladies division and stuff in different vehicles. So, her willingness to let me ride and compete was much appreciated. But I think my personality and the way I treat others, even the way I compete, really reflects my mom. She’s a respectful person and treats others how they treat you; a lot of those things from my mother’s personality show through. And my dad, certainly, too. But my dad can be a little bit more stern; and even out of my brothers, I’m the one that’s the most relaxed back and I guess more like my mom than my brothers are to a certain degree. So, I’m very thankful for all the sacrifices my parents made. Mother’s Day is a special day; especially now being a parent and understanding that a little bit better. It makes me reflect back and think about all the times I was traveling the country in a 1979 Ford Econoline van with a little 12-foot trailer behind it towing motorcycles. I can’t imagine parents taking off weeks at a time to take me to Oklahoma to race dirt bikes or to Tennessee or to Las Vegas. All the sacrifices they made were pretty awesome.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AARON’S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 2, 2014
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway and discussed his thoughts on knock-out qualifying at Talladega, the influence his mom has had on his life and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
BIG NEWS COMING OUT OF YOUR CAMP TODAY REGARDING NATIONWIDE BEING THE SPONSOR ON THAT RACE CAR STARTING NEXT YEAR THAT HAS GOT TO BE A BIG DEAL FOR YOU GUYS.  TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT AND SEGWAY INTO JUST RACING HERE AT TALLADEGA:
“We are really excited to be able to announce the sponsorship with Nationwide as it continues to grow.  We have had a relationship with them for a very long time.  It’s been successful on both sides.  I’m really thrilled to be able to go to the next level with them and allow Hendrick Motorsports to be part of that.  It’s a great fit.  We’ve had a lot of fun together and I’m excited to be able to continue that relationship.  It’s a good thing for me.  We were obviously looking for a good fit and looking for something that would work out well.  I can’t imagine a better scenario and I think Nationwide is very excited to get going and start working together in the Cup series.  Our current partners National Guard and Diet Mountain Dew are very excited about it as well to have them in the fold.  Just a lot of good things.
 
“Excited to come here to Talladega, really enjoy racing here, it’s a very laid-back atmosphere and a fun race track.  Looking forward to seeing how well we can run with JR Motorsports on Saturday and obviously working on our car throughout the weekend and see what we can do on Sunday.  It should be a lot of fun.  I enjoy these types of races and have been looking forward to it all week.”
 
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OUT OF QUALIFYING TOMORROW?
“Nobody knows.  I just don’t know.  We will just have to see. The guy that gets the pole is going to have to hit it just right.  We built a brand new race car so our willingness to take risks is going to be pretty limited throughout that process.  We just you know need to get into the field with the car it doesn’t matter where you start other than just picking on pit road.  Not sure exactly what our approach is yet.  We’ve still got some conversations to have between Steve (Letarte) and our teammates and just sort of feel out everybody’s opinion about what they want to do and how they want to try to accomplish the best result they can.  I don’t think right now anybody has any answers.”
 
WHERE IS YOUR PLATE RACING CONFIDENCE COMING INTO THIS WEEKEND?
“It’s pretty confident.  We as a team I think improved our emphasis on our plate cars to be able to improve their performance.  I think that started to show in the last 12-16 months.  When Steve (Letarte) and I first started working together our confidence and really our focus was more on improving ourselves as a whole.  We really didn’t focus on the plate stuff as much as we needed to improve everywhere.  We had to kind of put our emphasis on the plate track on hold for a while to try to get our team in the right direction.  I think that started to happen to where we were running well enough everywhere where we could start to put a little more care and preparation into our plate track cars.  That is definitely showing in the results.  You show up here sometimes and you have great race cars that do a lot of good things and are very effective when you are moving around in the draft.  There are times when you show up and for whatever reason the same car that I ran second with at Daytona a year or two ago wouldn’t hardly run down here for some reason.  We just couldn’t get anything accomplished and we would get stuck in the pack and boxed in where we couldn’t go anywhere and the car just wouldn’t react the way we needed it to in order to be able to move forward and be aggressive with the passes that we wanted to make.  It just depends on whether you hit everything just right and it all starts with preparation at the shop and I think we have been doing a real good job at that here lately.”
 
HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS TRANSLATE NOW TO YOUR CONFIDENCE THAT WHEN YOU GET IN THIS RACE AND IF YOU GET DOWN TOWARD THE END, CONFIDENCE, THAT THE MOVE YOU CHOOSE WILL BE THE RIGHT MOVE?
“The car gives you the confidence.  When you are driving the car and you get a sense of the cars ability the car gives you the confidence.  Then when you are thinking more positively you tend to see positive results no matter what you are doing, whether you are driving a car or whatever.  If you are thinking ‘hey man I need to make this move right now, but I don’t believe in the car’ then the result is typically not what you are wanting and more of what you expect.  When the car is very good and you appreciate what the car is doing throughout the day you tend to expect it to make the moves you want to make and accomplish what you want to accomplish in the draft late in the race.  Realistically those results pretty much come true when you have that kind of confidence in the car and yourself.  It’s a process throughout the whole weekend really leading up to the race and throughout the first part of the race that builds that confidence.”
 
WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE SERIES THAT NATIONWIDE HAS CHOSEN TO LEAVE AS SPONSOR OF THE SERIES TO SPONSOR YOUR NO. 88 CHEVROLET SS IN THE CUP SERIES NEXT SEASON?
“I think it says a lot about the direction that Nationwide wanted to go after their involvement in the sport for some time.  That they wanted to move forward and do something new with their objectives.  I also believe from what I’ve been hearing behind the scenes that the opportunities and search for a title sponsor in the Nationwide Series won’t be a challenging one that there is some good interest there.  Those type of sponsorships although both of them are involved in the sport they kind of accomplish different things.  I think this is a direction that Nationwide wanted to go after what they were doing was affective.  There will be some opportunity and there is some good interest to fill that void.  I think that the Nationwide Series currently is very healthy due to what Nationwide has been able to accomplish in the series.
 
“Also as the sport has sort of reset and rebounded from the economical struggles that we had several years ago the teams are getting healthier and we are seeing a lot more interest on teams wanting to get on the quarter panels and the hoods of these race cars. Whereas for a long time there was a lot more interest to be an official sponsor of the sport and more tied to the sport as a whole.  Now we are seeing a lot more interest in guys wanting to get back on the quarter panels and hoods of these cars.  I think that is really important to the health of the sport overall.”
 
IS THE BUSINESS OF SPONSORSHIP EVOLVING ENOUGH TO WHERE IT IS GOING TO BE TRULY A RARITY FOR ANY ONE ENTITY TO SPONSOR ONE CAR FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON?
“Yeah, I think that is true. I don’t know that is a sign of anything positive or negative.  I just think it’s an evolution of how sponsorships have changed.  Much like we used to think it was a wild thing when a guy would have two race cars out there.  Instead of now a days there are owners that have four race cars and three race cars and that is the norm.  It’s just the way things kind of evolve over time.  I think that it’s really a lot busier when you have multiple partners and it’s a lot more entertaining and interesting as a driver for sure to have so many partners to work with.  And have so many people across so many different – that can rea
ch such an audience.  I’m really enjoying having multiple people to work with each year.  We all sort of learn from each other and how to market and how to reach as many people as we can.  It’s been very effective and we have had a lot of success with it.”
 
INAUDIBLE:
“No, not necessarily, not for us particularly.  I know that in certain instances with certain teams there is definitely that stress.  We feel that somewhat at times in the Nationwide Series.  At this particular point we are very healthy and we have a lot of interest, but there are times if you go back three or four years ago where every team was having a difficult time finding the proper funding to run the full schedule.  I know there are teams in the series that struggle with that every year, but at this particular point the sport has gotten so healthy over the last three years there has been a lot of growth and a ton of interest.  I think that has not reached its peak yet.  That is good for everybody.”
 
FROM EVERYTHING I UNDERSTAND YOU ARE A PRETTY FRUGAL GUY SO COULD YOU EVER IMAGINE IF YOU WERE EVER TO GET MARRIED THAT YOU WOULD SPEND TWO MILLION DOLLARS LIKE THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER SAYS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE DOING LATER THIS YEAR?
“I definitely would have a hard time writing that check (laughter).”
 
WOULD YOU DO IT AT DAYTONA?
“No of course not.  I would not force everybody to go down to Daytona for my wedding.  I probably would just have it right there in the back yard, but whatever is easiest.  That was funny.  I read that and it was a roller coaster of an article. Pretty good.”
 
DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE GETTING MARRIED?
“I didn’t.  So we just skipped the engagement I guess, went right to the wedding.”
 
NEXT WEEKEND IS MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND.  WHAT DOES YOUR MOM MEAN TO YOU?  HOW DID SHE HELP YOU ALONG DURING YOUR CHILDHOOD AND RISE ALL THE WAY TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
“I don’t have enough time to answer that to give it justice.  She was from a racing family.  Obviously I loved the sport when I was a little kid so I was so lucky to have it on both sides of my family.  My parents split up when I was really young, but no matter where I was I was around a race car.  Which I really appreciated because the Gee’s, my mother was a Gee, Robert Gee and Robert Gee, Jr. and all them, they raced and did things differently and approached racing differently so it was fun to sort of learn from both sides.  She had a huge influence on me becoming a Washington Redskins fan which I really appreciate to this day.  She just worked really hard and she had a hard time giving up custody of me and Kelly to my father in 1981.  She just knew we would have better opportunities and a better life in that situation.  That was very difficult and she fought with that internally for many, many years.  It was a real joy to be able to have her husband Willie (Jackson) retire from his job as a fireman and them be able to move to North Carolina and be close and be able to really become more a part of her life again.  She has a great sense of humor and very sarcastic and I really appreciate that.  Just a ton of fun to be around, if you want an honest opinion and you want the truth even if you don’t want to hear it your mom is the best person to go to, to get it.  She doesn’t have a filter and she will steer you down the right path every time.  It’s great to have a relationship with her that I have today.  She is a huge influence on my life and has been for some time.”
 
YOU GOT FIRST QUARTER DRIVER OF THE YEAR THIS YEAR.  YOU HAD NEVER WON THAT BEFORE?
“I have no idea.”
 
HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT WINNING THAT?
“I just think obviously we would really be happy to win the award out right.  To get it quarterly is sort of a nod to how we have performed.  It’s good that the media sees the performance because as much as we love to do a lot of things for ourselves we really get a kick out of when the media and our fans see the performance and acknowledge it. That kind of nod was a great feeling.  We have worked so hard to be able to be this competitive and we show up every week and we are quick and the car is there.  It’s been so long or I’ve never really had that to be honest.  I can’t even imagine ’04 was even that good.  This is awesome that things are going as good.  I couldn’t be happier with what is going on in my professional life.  It’s good to get that nod.  It’s just a good feeling.  I consider the media peers of mine.  We all work in this together and it’s just like another driver coming up and saying ‘man you drove a hell of a race last week’.  It’s a good feeling.”
 

JAMIE McMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT:
 
 
JENNIE LONG:  Good morning.  Joining us today is Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  Jamie heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend where he made his first career start and has two wins and seven top‑10 finishes.  Jamie, your win at Talladega last October was the first time your son and daughter were with you in victory lane.  Can you talk about what that moment was like, having them there for the celebration?
 
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, I’m going to start with apologizing for any background noise because I am home alone right now with both of them, so this could be really interesting in the next 15 minutes if they get too wild on me.
 
It was obviously really special for me to have both of them there.  I think I said in the media center, I’ve seen pictures for years of Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth and all the guys that I’ve been friends with, had pictures with their families in victory lane, and it was just a really special day.  That was a great picture, one that I’ll always cherish.
Q.  First of all, what are the ages of your children?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  One and three.
Q.  Speaking of family, what’s Mother’s Day weekend going to be like for you in Kansas next week?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, it’s different because normally we’ve had mother’s day at Darlington, and all of my family lives here now.  I think that my mom is going to try to go back with me this year.  It’s been easier in the past because you would just ‑‑ we kind of planned it out where she and I would just drive down together, so that was always really nice.  And then after having kids, it’s special because you’re spending that with your mom and then also your wife who is a mother.  That day becomes much more important.
 
But this year I think my mom is going to actually fly back with me and I think she’s going to hang out with her friends a little bit in Joplin and then come back up to the race in Kansas.
 
Yeah, it’ll be really special.  It’s become more and more important to me the older that I get, and after having kids you just realize everything that your mom has given up and how much work they put into raising you.  It becomes more special every year.
Q.  What impact did your mom have on your career coming up as a driver?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I think when I look at my parents, my parents were quite a bit different.  My dad was fairly loud and outspoken, and my mom was very reserved.  But I learned a lot from both of them, and when I look back to my mom, I think some of the values she taught me was, first off, how important getting an education was.  She was a schoolteacher.  And then also my mom was just always really conservative and really good at saving money and not wasting things, and that has rubbed off on me, and I’ve kind of been that way my whole life.  That’s from her and listening to her and just kind of doing what she did when she was raising us. I learned really good stuff from her.
Q.  What do you credit your success at Talladega over the other tracks on the circuit?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  That’s a really tough question.  I don’t really view Talladega or Daytona any different than any other track.  I think to be successful at a plate track, you have to be ‑‑ I don’t know that you go there with the mindset of winning.  I always go to plate tracks with the mindset of running second and pushing somebody to the win, and if the circumstances work out that you find yourself in the lead, it’s great.  But I don’t think you can be ‑‑ I think you just have to be very open‑minded and willing to help more than trying to get help.  I think a lot of guys go to those tracks and want everyone to help them, but they don’t really want to return the favor, and I think it’s important to kind of have a different mentality with that, and you always want to try to help whoever is in front of you and work with them.
 
I don’t know.  It’s definitely a different style of racing than what we normally have.  I have to tell you that I’m so thankful that we’ve gotten rid of the tandem.  I hated that.  I know some fans liked it and some didn’t, but for me I dreaded going to the plate tracks when we had the tandem.  I like the package that we have now.
Q.  What’s your favorite track?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  My favorite track is the one that we go to next every week.  I honestly, like if you have a good car at any of the tracks, they’re fun, and if your car is not good, none of them are fun.  I really enjoy getting to go do some road course racing, I like Martinsville, I like Charlotte.  I enjoy going to Daytona and Talladega.  That’s fun to do four times a year, but it’s nice to go somewhere different each week.
Q.  We’re close to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  What do you think of that track?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, Indy is fun because of the history.  I wouldn’t say that Indy is in the top 5 of the funnest tracks to race on because it’s so hard to pass there.  But it’s a really special place just because of the history of it, and after winning that race and getting to kiss the bricks, it makes it even more special to me.
Q.  Jamie, the new elimination system stresses winning probably by plan and seems to be working pretty well, too.  But it may benefit drivers like you who are no strangers to victory lane from time to time.  How does that change the mindset of you and your team and other drivers, too, looking into how you approach this year?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, I don’t think anyone is doing anything any differently.  I mean, if it comes down at Richmond last week or Talladega this week and you take a gamble on fuel mileage, everyone is going to do the same thing.  I think the mentality has changed that everyone races to win every week, and I don’t think that what they’ve done this year has made anyone try harder or do anything different because you only can race based on the circumstances that are given for that event, and it’s really ‑‑ you’d have to ask a crew chief, but in my opinion it’s not any different than it’s ever been.
Q.  I’m curious, can you talk a little bit about what your first impression was of Talladega when you first went to the track and when that was?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, Talladega was the first Superspeedway race that I even ‑‑ well, I guess I ran Daytona, but I think I tested at Talladega first, and I just remember going there and knowing that you could run wide open around the track, and I had never been to a track that you could do that at.  It’s so hard to get used to, whether it was in the late models or doing the trucks, that you can run around the track and not ever let off.  It’s hard to conceive that.
 
The first laps were ‑‑ it’s so much fun to be able to run around a place like that flat out and not have to let off.  It’s different now because it’s got so much more grip than what it had before the repave.  When we did the plate races before, you could run like 15 laps and handling started becoming an issue, and now there’s so much grip that it’s a little bit different.  That’s a thrilling place to go to for the first time, and to run around there by yourself is exciting initially, but then when you run around and you’re in the middle of a 30‑ or a 40‑car pack and you’re right in the middle lane, middle of the pack, that gets your attention, and it certainly requires a lot of focus.  It’s a really cool place, really fun venue.
Q.  What went through your mind the first time you took a lap around there, and do you remember when that was?
JAMIE McMURRAY:
  Well, no and no.  I don’t remember that.  And I don’t remember exactly when it was.  I could be wrong, it might have been in the truck at Daytona the first time I ran a plate track or somewhere that you could run wide open.  But it’s just hard to conceive that you could do that and that it would stick good enough.  It takes a while to realize that, that it’s real.
Q.  I’m just going to ask you about what happened with Ambrose and Mears after Richmond.  Are you surprised that they got fined and the punishment was what it was or do you think NASCAR should have just let it go?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I hoped that NASCAR would just let that go.  They have preached to all of us that they want us to be who we are, and I think it’s good that you have some characters in the sport that ‑‑ I’m not calling Casey or Marcus out, but not everyone is willing to ‑‑ or is the type of guy that would punch someone, right?  Everyone has a moment that they’re extremely upset, but I don’t think that ‑‑ I think you can count on one hand the guys that would actually throw a punch.  Everyone is talking about it.  I’m building a house, and when I got up to the home site, that’s all the guys wanted to talk about was oh, my gosh, did you see that, and they wanted to know if I have any inside scoop.  I think it’s great.  I don’t want to see anyone get punched, but it’s been ‑‑ how many years ago has it been since someone actually punched someone?  It’s got everyone talking about the sport and I think it’s good you see those guys’ passion.  Casey was so mad when you look in that video there and kind of pushing Marcos.  I don’t know, I was really hoping that NASCAR was going to let it go or that the fines would be less because that’s a huge ‑‑ $25,000 is massive.  My opinion of that is that you won’t see it happen again because I think people will think about that and be like, it’s not worth it.  It’s not worth $25,000 for me to express exactly how I feel at this time.
Q.  There must have been situations where you’ve been in that same situation and have held back.  Have you been in those type of situations, as well?  Have there been any times you’ve thrown a punch or have wanted to but have held back?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, there’s probably been times, yeah, when I wanted to do that.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had that kind of anger inside of me.  But you know, I don’t know.  My take on that is I kind of ‑‑ if it was happening every week, I think it would be different, but if they hadn’t fined those guys, I don’t think it would have happened again for a long time.  Like I say, I think there’s only a few guys ‑‑ I think there’s maybe five guys that are willing to do that, and it takes both those guys getting together on the same night and being extremely upset before it would happen.  I don’t think it was ‑‑ I think if they would have let it go, I don’t think it would have happened again for a while.  I think it’s very circumstantial with the two right guys, you know.
 
And look, I think if you watch the video of that, my take on it, I don’t think Casey had any intentions of throwing a punch.  Casey went over there and was wanting to get his point across.  I don’t think he had any ‑‑ when he got hit, you could tell he was like, I can’t believe I just got punched, right?  I don’t think anyone had that mindset going into it.
Q.  Racing is a tough sport that is built up with a lot of emotion.  Now that you have children, has your thought process changed?  In other words, how do you keep the children out of your mind when you get into that race car compared to when you were not a daddy?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, honestly that never crosses my mind.  I don’t know that ‑‑ I think if you polled most guys, they would say that that doesn’t ‑‑ once you get out, whether it’s in practice or qualifying or when the National Anthem is going on for the race, once you get in the car, it’s all about racing, and you just do what feels natural.  I mean, I don’t know that anybody necessarily when they’re racing thinks about, well, I have kids now or I’m married.  You do what happens naturally, and you make decisions really fast, and it’s just based on what you feel at that time. For me it’s not any different.  I think if you were to ask most guys, they would say that.
Q.  Coming up on the midway point of the season, so to speak, what’s your assessment for the first half, and then what’s the outlook for the remainder of the season?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I mean, our cars have been tremendously better.  It’s been somewhat unfortunate that some of the races that we had really got cars ‑‑ when I looked at Bristol with 50 laps to go and the 4 car losing an oil line in front of us, Martinsville with the 88 cutting a tire down and crashing in front of us.  We’ve had really good cars at every race.  Keith Rodden has done a great job coming over and being the crew chief this year, his first year of crew chiefing.  Team and organization‑wise has been really good, and I think both Kyle and I are looking forward really to about everywhere we’re going.  I love road course racing.  We’re getting ready to go do some testing for that on Monday, and we’ve just been good at each type of racetrack, whether it’s flat track, high banked, short track, mile‑and‑a‑half.  Our cars have been good about everywhere, so that’s a great feeling to have in this sport because sometimes you have cars that are good at short tracks but not good at mile‑and‑a‑halfs, so you dread those mile‑and‑a‑half tracks because you know you’ve struggled with those.  We’ve been good about everywhere, so yeah, really optimistic about everything for the rest of the year.
Q.  It’s coming down pretty well up here in upstate New York.  What’s the weather been like down there this week and how has it effected you at all?
JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, the weather ‑‑ I’m actually going to Talladega a little early for a fishing trip, so I’ve been watching the weather closer this weekend than I have in the past.  But it looks like all the weather is going to be out of there today, and we’re going to have a great weekend.
 
JENNIE LONG:  Jamie, thanks so much for joining us today, and good luck this weekend at Talladega.