NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 17, 2014
 
 
BOWTIE BRAND SHINES ONCE AGAIN UNDER THE LIGHTS AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Chevrolet Driver Jamie McMurray Scores First Win In Annual Sprint All-Star Race
 
CONCORD, NC (May 17, 2014) – Jamie McMurray muscled his No. 1 Bass Pro Chevrolet SS to the front when it counted the most, and captured his first career NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, which was also the first for team owner Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates.  The prize was a cool $1 million.
 
McMurray restarted in second position on the final 10-lap segment but made his way past the leader soon after the restart, and never looked back.
 
Since the inception of the All-Star race in 1985, the Bowtie emblem has shone brightest under the lights with Chevrolet-powered teams and drivers now having made 17 trips to Victory Lane in the exhibition race that highlighted points-race winners from the start of 2013.
 
Kevin Harvick finished in second place in his No. 4 Hunt Brother’s Pizza Chevrolet SS.  Harvick, the All-Star champion in 2007, was unable to track McMurray down after moving into second with just five laps remaining.  Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. was also looking for his second All-Star win, but came home fourth In the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS.
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was third and Carl Edwards was fifth to round out the top-five.
 
The next race on the NASCAR Sprint Series schedule will also be at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Coca-Cola 600, which is the longest race of the season, takes place on Sunday, May 25th at 6:00 p.m. ET. It can be seen live on FOX and heard on PRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JAMIE MCMURRAY, KEITH RODDEN, CHIP GANASSI, FELIX SABATES, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER:
 
KERRY THARP:  We’re going to go ahead and hear from the car owners from tonight’s 30th‑annual NASCAR Sprint All‑Star Race, won by Jamie McMurray, who drove the No. 1 Bass Pro Chevrolet to victory in the Sprint All‑Star Race, and that’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.  Congratulations to both of you guys.  It’s your first Sprint All‑Star win, Chip, and that’s going to be a big deal for you.  Congratulations.

            CHIP GANASSI:  Thank you.

            KERRY THARP:  Felix, congratulations to you as well.  Chip, what’s it mean to win the Sprint All‑Star Race and certainly the way your race team has been performing this year, been very, very impressive, and we know how good Jamie McMurray is here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Talk about what this means to your race team.

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, thanks.  I think first of all the fact that it’s the home race for everybody here in the backyard, this and obviously Memorial Day and in the fall, the races mean a lot more when they’re in your backyard, I guess everybody gets to see them, your peer group, your friends, your wives, your girlfriends, and your families.  I think it adds a little something special to it.

            I think that.  I think Jamie likes this place.  Number two, I think he’s got a little nose for the front.  When he gets a little sniff of the front there, he kind of gets calm all of a sudden and settles down, seems to like it at the front when he’s in the ‑‑ we like to ‑‑ I think Keith made some great calls tonight.  I think the call was really made I want to say in segment 2.  The call was made in segment 2 that I think enabled him to win the race, to be there at the end and in the mix at the front, obviously.

            I think you saw some great racing with Carl Edwards and he, with Kevin and Jamie.  Just really, really proud of the team, really proud of the people that have hung in there with us.  Bass Pro Shops obviously tonight, obviously Cessna and McDonald’s, Target, people that have been with us for lots of years, and really proud to bring them a victory.

            It means something here.  There’s something a little special about the All‑Star Race, too, I think, that nobody is out there points racing.  It’s hammer down there with 10 to go.  I think we saw a special kind of racing tonight, and we’re all very lucky to see that.

            KERRY THARP:  Felix, certainly you know how special it is racing here at Charlotte and what this could mean for the team as we even look ahead to next weekend, but what’s the significance of the win here tonight for you guys?

            FELIX SABATES:  Well, you know, it puts us in an elite group, a very elite group that won this race in the past.  You look at the past winners, it’s like the who’s who of racing.

            We’ve come close to winning this before, but close doesn’t count when it comes to All‑Star Race.  As far as I’m concerned, if you finish second, you’re the first loser in the All‑Star Race.  You’ve got to win the race.  We brought a new mascot to us today, Coach Rivera, his wife Stephanie, they sat in the pit box with us, and by God, we won the race.

            KERRY THARP:  Good to have you here, Coach.

            FELIX SABATES:  So the NFL, we changed the schedule so they can play on Saturday so he can come to races with us on Sundays.  I don’t know if we can get it done or not, but thanks to Ron and Stephanie for being here.

            Q.  Both Chip or Felix or whoever wants to answer, you’ve been through a lot with Jamie and he’s now delivered you a Daytona 500, a Brickyard and an All‑Star Race.  How much does he mean to you personally and how long are you going to keep him around so you can go chase a championship?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, that’s true.  He said to me in victory lane tonight, he said, we’ve won a lot of great races together, haven’t we.  I said, yes, we have.  You know, it was kind of special for him to think of that, as well, because he’s that kind of guy.  He understands the ‑‑ he understands what it takes to be in this sport and be a driver.

            I think your media brethren miss a lot of times what it really takes to be in this sport week in and week out, with a family, with the demands that are put on these athletes in any top‑level sport.  It can be trying at times, and in the ups and downs and the mental side of the sport can be very difficult, and I think Jamie has shown great resilience over the years to hang in there and perform at a high level when the opportunity presents itself, and he did that here tonight.

            I’m sure that that obviously ingratiates Jamie in the mind of a lot of people, and his future is bright, I can assure you.

            Q.  Seems like you guys have had some pretty good runs this year, and you look at Martinsville and you get put in the outside wall, you look at Kansas, what happ
ened there.  What does this win do for your outlook going forward from here, and how much confidence does this give a guy like Jamie to go out there and know that he can still get out there and win races?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Yeah, I think obviously with the addition of Kyle Larson to the team this year, things have stepped up a bit.  The performance, we had a few changes with personnel in the off‑season, and these are things that ‑‑ I guess it’s nice to have a validation from time to time of your MO.  It’s nice to ring the cash register, if you will, from time to time in this business to let you know that you can still do it, and the way that you operate the business, the way you motivate your team, the components you put together, the people, all those pieces that have to come together.  Sports teams are a very delicate balance of personalities and equipment, and it’s nice, like I said, to validate that from time to time.

            Q.  Chip, were you always coming today?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, meaning I was in Indianapolis earlier today?

 

            Q.  Yeah, with the second part of my question being, and not to cut you off, but we only were able to follow peripherally what happened in Indy today.  Does this victory sort of turn your day around?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, yes, we obviously didn’t have a great day in Indianapolis, and you’re damned right it turned my day around.  It could turn tomorrow around, too.  This might turn around a few more days, as a matter of fact.  Yes, this has the ability to do that.  Thank you.

            Q.  Would it have deterred you from coming here today?

            CHIP GANASSI:  No, we have a two‑car team and one of our cars was in this race, so I was going to be here, so thank you.  Yes.

            KERRY THARP:  Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, is our race winner, wins his first Sprint All‑Star Race, led a race‑high 31 laps, Jamie, and this is a big win for you here.  It’s got to be a big win for you here tonight.  I know how much you like racing here at Charlotte and have had success here before at the Speedway, but just talk about what this means not only right now at this moment in time in your career but also in your career overall, how this is a big deal winning this race.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, this is just really awesome moment.  It’s so much different than winning the Daytona 500 or the Brickyard because there are no points, and I think the mentality going into that last segment is just all or nothing, and that was my thought process.  I am like, I don’t really care if we wreck, I don’t care what happens, I’m racing for a million dollars, I get to start on the front row and I’m going to make the very most out of the restart and everything that goes with this.

            It was awesome.  It’s three or four of the hardest laps I’ve ever driven in my racing career, and it’s one of those memories that I hope I never forget.  I have such a clear vision of those three or four laps with the 99 car being on the inside of me, and it’s what we wake up every single day and live for is to get to be put in that exact position.  It’s really awesome.

            KERRY THARP:  And Keith, just talk about this win from your perspective as a young crew chief, just what this means to you.

            KEITH RODDEN:  It means a lot to finally get a win.  I feel like this year we’ve been pretty good, we just need to get better, and I feel like we’ve been getting better on the track every week.  Last week we had a little unfortunate thing happen, so didn’t get to show how good that car was, but tonight we kind of started in the back a little bit, or started in the middle, and had to play a little bit of a track‑position game.  I really knew that we had something special when we pitted and some of the ‑‑ I think like seven people stayed out or so and we were running really good lap times compared to what we had run before, and after that we stayed out and when no one stayed out in front of us, I knew we had something.  Jamie did a great job.  The 4 and the 5 were really fast and they were on four tires for most of the night and when only the 5 passed us that one time and Jamie was on really olds lefts and sticker rights and held the 4 off forever.  Right then I knew that that final segment it was us and somebody else were going to run for this million dollars.  Obviously got to line up in second spot coming down pit road.  The guys had a great pit stop, barely got beat out, restarted on the outside.  Like you said, he just drove amazing.  All 10 laps were amazing, but that race with Carl was really special.

            I don’t know, just special to win the All‑Star Race.  It’s nice to win it as a crew chief, and looking forward to just carrying this momentum to winning some points races.

            Q.  I caught up with Carl in the garage after the race, and he lamented some of the decisions he made and said he would have driven the last few laps differently, but he said you drove perfectly and made perfect decisions at every turn.  Do you feel like that was the best four or five laps you could have possibly driven when you were racing with him?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Absolutely.  When I look back at like winning the Daytona 500, it’s kind of circumstantial to get drafting totally different.  The Brickyard was for me really special because I passed Kevin Harvick on the outside of Turn 1 at Indy, which does not happen.  It’s really hard to do.  That was a really special restart for me.

            But this is different because there’s no points, and honestly I wanted Carl to take the outside of the restart because I thought the inside was the better place and I had restarted on the inside both times before and been able to beat the guy to Turn 1, and when he took the inside, I was like, screw it, I don’t care.  If we drive off into the corner and we all wreck, I don’t care right now because literally you can see the million bucks.

            When you get to be in the All‑Star Race, it’s one thing to start ‑‑ like I started the first segment 11th, but there’s so much that’s going to happen between now and that last 10‑lap segment that it’s not reality.  I think I restarted sixth last year, and I believed in my head I think I can win this if I get in the right position.  But starting second, I’m like, one of us is going to win this.  I’m like, the 4 is going to have a chance, but it’s so hard to pass here in 10 laps, especially when you have a good car in front of you, that I’m like if the 99 ever gets in front of me I don’t think I can pass him.  I was telling Keith on the way over here a couple of those laps when he was inside of me we drove off into Turn 1 and I felt like I was 300 feet deeper than I’ve ever drive
n into that corner in qualifying trim and I could hear his exhaust and he hadn’t let off yet.  And I’m like, I don’t care.  I’m just staying wide open until he lets off and I’m going to carry a little more speed, and it was so much fun to run up the racetrack with him knowing that like on the end of that it’s a million dollars.  I can’t explain to you guys how unbelievable that is to hold a check up for that much money.  It’s crazy.  I can’t even make sense of what’s going on right now.  It’s awesome.  Really it’s like just ‑‑ it’s ultimately what a race car driver wakes up every single day to be put in that position.  That’s unbelievable.

            Q.  You guys have had some pretty strong runs this year and just some tough luck.  You look at Martinsville and Kansas, for instance.  What does winning this race do for you guys going forward knowing how much wins mean this year?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I’m going to let Keith answer this, as well, but my take on tonight, what makes tonight so special is it’s all about a team effort.  I feel like I did a really good job as a driver.  Keith did a great job of when we had the caution in the second segment, we pitted, and I could listen in his voice, I thought, he’s going to make me stay out the next segment on old tires and I don’t want to do that, but I could tell that’s what he wanted to do.  Because it’s all about just trying to score the most points you can in those first four segments for a good starting spot in the last 10 laps, and also about our pit crew.  To be able to come in in second place, first or second place on the last segment of the All‑Star Race, there is no more pressure that you can put on a pit crew, I think, than that.  For those guys to come through with an amazing stop, and if the 99 hadn’t had the first pit stall we would have come out first, that’s so cool for a complete team effort, and I think it shows the strength of not only Keith and I but also our pit crew, and that’s a really good feeling to know that your entire race team is capable of winning.

            Q.  You said in victory lane about Keith that I think he was a hidden gem or something like that and how lucky you were to have gotten him.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Absolutely.

            Q.  Why do you think that about him and why is this relationship working?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, when I look at Keith, I think it’s really hard ‑‑ when I think back to the beginning of my Sprint Cup career, I watched the guys move up from engineers to crew chiefs or guys that were on teams up to crew chiefs.  You know, like sometimes you could see it, like I think he can make it, and then other times it’s like I don’t know.  But I had heard Keith Rodden’s name for years and heard people say just great things about Keith.

            Last year I went over to Keith’s house and we sat in his basement and talked for, I don’t know, 15 or 20 minutes, and when I left I came out and I called Max, I’m like, that’s the guy.  You’ve got to figure out how to make it work.  No matter what you have to pay him, what you have to do, get that guy because I like everything about him.  There wasn’t anything negative about that.

            Whenever everything worked out, I talked to Kasey on the phone, and Kasey is like, man, you’ve got a really good guy, and I think he’s going to do an amazing job for you.  And Keith just all around (inaudible) but also very race savvy, good at calling the races, lots of common sense.  He has everything it takes to be extremely successful, and I think tonight showed that he’s willing to take a little bit of a chance on staying out, putting two tires on.  That’s hard, those are tough decisions because if it doesn’t work out, I think it’s hard to go home at night as a crew chief when you feel like you’ve made the wrong decision, but he made all the right decisions tonight.

            Having confidence in someone, especially as a driver, in the guy that is ultimately responsible for your car which has your name on it and is your life, right, that’s huge, and I just have so much confidence in not only his ability to make my car fast but also to make the right decisions on pit road and make all of ‑‑ just get us to victory lane.  He’s done a great job.  It’s really hard to say that when someone is sitting three inches from you.  It’s really hard.  But he’s done a great job.

            Q.  Jamie, obviously in your career you’ve won some of the biggest races, but you’ve also had certainly the struggles, certainly some down years.  Your career seems like there’s been a lot of highs and lows.  How have you persevered because you seem to be somebody that takes everything even personally to the nth degree and it really kind of carries with him.  How have you handled the highs and lows and persevered to get back to this point tonight?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, it’s really hard.  I won’t lie.  I feel like I’m harder on myself probably than anyone else is, and when you go through the garage and you look at drivers who are with really good teams, some of them are having bad years, and if you think that they’re not doubting their ability or down on themselves, they are, because that’s just the way our sport works.  I think it’s the same way, whether it’s golf or baseball.  I think when you’re not doing well, you always wonder if you’re capable of competing at this level.

            So I’ve had the absolute best moments of my career and I’ve had some really tough times.  It’s hard, but you just have to believe that you get in the right position.  For me this year, and Keith coming over and the amount of money and effort that Chip and Felix have put into our team, that makes you believe, that helps.  And even though you guys don’t see it most likely, our team, when I look at our year, we’ve been like one of the better cars of a lot of races at certain points in the race, and it just seems like every race this season that we’ve had a car really capable of running well.  Bristol we were running fifth and Harvick blew that oil line in front of us, last week we blew a tire out.  It seemed like every time we had a good car something would happen.  That’s really frustrating and that gets your confidence down.  But I texted Keith last week, and I’m like, keep your head up, we’re doing our ‑‑ our cars are really fast, and that’s the hardest part of our sport is to have fast cars.  Good luck, bad luck, that happens, but if your cars are slow, that’s hard to fix in a short amount of time, and we’ve had awesome cars.  Both teams have run really well this year.

            It’s tough when things are going bad, but I’ve got to live some of the greatest victories that you can have in this sport.  It’s unbelievable.

            Q.  I’m curious how much your past history here has impacted your race today, Keith, considering that the 5 had been a very successful car here in the past, were you able to bring anything you learned there specifically for this track, and Jamie
, having won at this track before did that give you the confidence to be able to race Edwards that hard?

            KEITH RODDEN:  Not really.  Everything changed this year with the no ride height rule, so you can start your car out an pit road at whatever ride heights you want to start, so that pretty much wiped out everything we had done the last two years.  Just kind of racing here a lot, really paying attention, keeping up with the track, that sort of thing that Ray and Kenny really instilled in me, so that sort of thing is there.  It’s still Charlotte, right.  But no setup or no technical things, really.  Just kind of keeping up with the racetrack.

            It’s so hard because you practice during the day.  This race was all during the night.  The 42 I thought was really good in practice, and I think they were going to have a really good race last night and had a little issue, but I just didn’t pay a lot of attention to it because it wasn’t the same conditions as what we raced tonight, and until we do this, we don’t really know how it’ll be.

            Jamie had one thing he kind of wanted to do to the car and we had some other things, and we actually changed a good bit of stuff tonight for the race, and it worked out.  I’m happy about that, but it doesn’t always work out.  I don’t know if that answers your question or not, but from the technical side, no.  From keeping up with the racetrack, yes.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  It’s so weird because Keith told me tonight before the race that we had the 5 car setup from last year, so I don’t know where he got that answer from just now.  (Laughter.)

            Well, I think for me coming here, this is a really good track for me.  It has been ‑‑ I mean, I won my first race here, we won here in 2010.  This has been just a really good track for me.

            When I look at it, I think what Keith is saying about the ride heights is so true.  I felt good, us and the 42 were one of the better cars at the test here that we had when we were trying to figure out the spoilers and the front pans and everything, so coming back here, I felt good about it just because it’s been a good track.  I don’t really disagree with what Keith is saying, but I think that he has always run well here, so I think that that helps when you go to tracks that typically crew chiefs, engineers run well at and drivers run well at.  I think it’s a really good combination.

 

            Q.  Jamie, how much has it helped you to have an engineering style crew chief because in the past you’ve worked with guys like Wingo and such.  It’s a little different discipline.  You talked about how surprised you were that the car stuck on the high groove where I guess there was a lot of debris.  You were talking about kicking up dirt and stuff.  What made you stick up there?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, a million dollars is what made me say the hell with it, I’m going to go for it.  I really enjoy having Keith.  I like ‑‑ I guess what I really enjoy about Keith is I feel like when I ask him a question, he always has an answer.  I feel like he’s already thought about what I am bringing up, and I ask a lot of questions, and I ask a lot of random questions, and I always feel like he has a good answer, and I think that’s a really good confidence builder for a driver when you can ask a question, whether it’s about pit road, setups, what happened in the Nationwide race last night.  I feel like he’s always thinking about it, and I said this last week or the week before, I talked to him on the phone a week or so ago, and he’s like, I woke up at 3:00 in the morning and I was thinking about this, and I was like, that is awesome that that’s what’s going through your head at 3:00 in the morning.  I know your wife probably doesn’t enjoy that, but I love that you’re constantly worried about making our car faster because that’s the kind of stuff I think about at 3:00 in the morning.  That side of it, I just really enjoy.  I feel like he’s always thinking about what we need to do to make our team and our cars better, and it’s also nice like the engineering side of it that Keith can ‑‑ if we need to look at data or simulation he knows how to run that because he’s done it in the past, so when he talks to the engineer, he can speak, they can talk kind of the same lingo, which is great.

            Q.  When Chip was in earlier, he talked about when you get a sniff of the front you really calm down.  Is that something that most drivers do do you think or shouldn’t it be the opposite?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I think ‑‑ I don’t know, that makes me feel good that he thinks that.  He said that to me, too, and I didn’t know what he was talking about.  The truth is, and it’s this way in any kind of racing, when you get to the front, the cars drive so much better.  I talked to Kurt out there before the race started and just telling him I was watching him at Indy and asking about that, and he was explaining about 20 cars back to 10 cars back to when you get close how dirty the air is in IndyCar racing.  We were kind of trying to relate it to NASCAR.  My side of that is when I get to the front the car drives better because you’re just in better air.

            Q.  You mentioned a little earlier that you’ve had the opportunity to win so many big races during your career that a lot of drivers never get the chance to.  I just wondered if for some reason your career ended tomorrow, how would you feel that you’ve had a successful career based on what you’ve been able to accomplish, or would you feel that not being able to be in the thick of a championship hunt there would somehow be something left on the table?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, I don’t know.  That’s a hard question to answer.  I think being able to contend for a championship would be a great feeling.  I think that’s a different feeling.  That’s such a long battle versus race to race and being able to win.

            I have been so lucky to be able to, first off, be in NASCAR as long as I have been, and to be able to experience the wins that I have been involved with and the people that I’ve been able to meet.  I think it’s been really successful.  There’s been a lot of guys come along that don’t ever get to win a race, much less win three of the biggest races of the year.

            Yeah, I feel really lucky to be able to do what I’ve done.

            Q.  What are you going to do with your winnings, Jamie, the extra money?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  I’m going to send my two kids and probably my next child that’s not here yet to school.  Honest to God, that’s what I’ve thought about.  School is really expensive, and you guys don’t know this about me probably but I’m very frugal, just outright tight and I’m paranoid about money every day of my life, and I thought about ‑‑ I’ve looked at what school costs, and colle
ge and just getting to college, and it’s most likely going to go to that.

            Q.  I saw Marty tweeted something about a train for your kid?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  I’ll tell you guys the story.  I’ve told it 10 times, but it’s a really great story.  This morning the whole family sitting at the breakfast table, Carter and Hazel are eating cereal, I’m having some coffee, kind of looking at the internet.  I asked Carter what are you going to do today?  And he’s like, well, I’m going to probably play in my sandbox, Dad, and he rattled off a couple of random things that I already knew he was going to do.  And he said, Dad, what are you going to do today?  And I was like, Carter, I’m going to go race for a million dollars tonight, and he’s like, okay, like no big deal, has no idea what a million bucks is.  And I think it’s so weird that my wife, who we really never talk about racing, she never really asks me anything about the car or if I think I can win, very seldom does she say that.  She’s like, do you think you can win tonight?  And I’m like, I don’t know.  We’ve got to get our car a little better.  It’s a good track.  I said if we get our car better I think we have a chance, and she’s like, Carter, if Dad were to win tonight, what would you want?  And of course most of you if you said you could have anything in the world with a million dollars you would pick something really expensive, right, and he’s like, I’d like a new train set.  I’m like, okay.  It’s yours, Carter.  Actually whether we win tonight or not you can have a new train set, either way.

            That’s really cool.  I can’t wait to get home.  I’m going to end up staying here tonight because I have a small buzz right now, but I can’t wait to get home and see them in the morning and bring the trophy home and get to share that moment with Carter.

            Carter doesn’t quite get winning and losing.  After the Talladega race where we ripped the splitter off our car and we’re like 10 laps down and we almost got them all back, I was a little frustrated after the race, and went back to my motor home and I’m going to take my suit off.  I walk in the bus, I open the door, and Carter is standing on the ottoman in our bus, and I walk in and he puts both of his hands in the air, and he’s like, Dad, Denny Hamlin won, woohoo!  Like he’s excited.  I’m like, Carter, I love you.  I don’t know what else to say.  He doesn’t know that I should be the one to win, right, and I really don’t care if Denny Hamlin won the race.  So I can’t wait to go home and tell him that dad won last night.

            Q.  How about you, Keith?  I’m sure you get a few extra dollars.

            KEITH RODDEN:  Actually I’m not sure.  Everything he says is probably about how I am.  As frugal as I am, my wife is even tighter.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  She’s in here.  That’s awesome.

            KEITH RODDEN:  She’s not even embarrassed about it, because she knows it’s true.  Yeah, same kind of thing, really.  Got to protect for the future and the kids.  Hopefully we have a house that we’ll never move out of.  I don’t want to move again anyway, ever.  Yeah, I just don’t really think about stuff like that to be honest with you, just think about racing and when we’re at home at the house or on an off weekend like tomorrow, just looking forward to spending time with the family.

            I don’t know what it is with people because we have a two‑and‑a‑half year old, almost a three‑year‑old, she’ll be three in August, and everyone gives us stuff for her.  It’s like no one thinks that we buy ’em my anything at all, so she has all this stuff, and I think we’ve spent 50 bucks on toys in three years.  It’s awesome.  So if anybody wants to donate anything ‑‑ no, just kidding.  No big plans to spend any money.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 17, 2014
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in accident on lap 61:
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I’m not exactly sure what. Hopefully we didn’t damage it too bad so we can’t find out what it was. I was going down the backstretch going into Turn 3 and I felt something in the front end give. All of a sudden I had more wheel and I wasn’t even in the corner. As I got in the corner, the car just went straight. It wasn’t like it was a right front where it just shot there; it just slowly went there. We’ll have to do some investigating to find out. It was certainly was one fast Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet up until that point.”
 
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE RACING TONIGHT? HOW INTENSE IS IT?
“It’s intense. It’s awesome. These cars are fantastic and the conditions couldn’t be more perfect. It’s nice to see some guys switching up their strategies. That’s what making the racing so good because they realize how important it is to get track position and some of them are able to maintain it. Unfortunately for us, the 11 car decided to do it because he pretty much ruined our night.”
 
ANY IDEA WHAT HAPPENED?
“Something broke in the front end, either a tire or something in the suspension because I was going down the back straightaway and as I was getting to the corner it just sat down and started going straight.  I hate we caught those guys up top on the outside of me.  But man what an awesome Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet we had tonight.  Drive to End Hunger has been such a great supporter of ours and I so badly wanted to get them into victory lane.  We had the car to do it tonight but we didn’t have many breaks going our way.  That 11 staying out in the second segment killed us because we got behind him a bunch.  And every time he was weaving we would get by him.  But our car was super-fast and we could go to the high side, middle, and bottom.  We were looking forward to the average working out if we could make some ground up in that run but unfortunately not to be.  Great effort by this team by this team and I am still just loving driving these race cars because they are just so good.”
 
YOU LOOKED AT THE REPLAY, WERE YOU ABLE TO LEARN ANYTHING FROM WHAT YOU SAW?
“I just wanted to know what broke.  Somebody said the engine, but I think that happened after we hit the wall and broke a line or something.  I was just trying to figure out if it was the left front or right front. It didn’t just shoot into the wall which made me believe it might have been in the left front.  I am not really sure and all I know is it just went in there and went straight.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
WHAT ABOUT THE RESTART AND THE BATTLE WITH CARL EDWARDS?
“Really, as a kid, that’s what you grew up wanting to do is to have a shootout like that and have a possibility to just race for 10 laps. And Carl got a little jump on me on the restart and I was able to hang on to his quarter panel. And I was like heck with it, it’s for a million bucks. If we wreck, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s still cool to come out on top of that. It’s a lot of fun. I have to thank Sprint for putting this up. My little boy, when he woke up, I asked him what he was going to do today. And he said he was probably going to play in his sandbox. And then he said, ‘What are you going to do today, Dad?’ And I said, ‘I’m going to race for a million bucks, Carter!’ It’s so cool that we were actually able to win and Christy (wife) asked him if his dad wins, what would he want. He told her, ‘A train.’  So Carter, you’re going to get a really cool train in the next few days, I promise you.
 
I’ve just got to thank Bass Pro Shops and Johnny Morris. He’s been with us a long time. And we’ve gotten to win some really big races with him. I know you’re watching Johnny. This is so cool and I can’t thank you enough for your friendship and everything that you’ve done for our race team. This is an awesome day.”
 
ON KEITH RODDEN’S CALLS DURING THE RACE, WERE THEY THE WINNING MOVES?
“Absolutely. Keith did an unbelievable job. He was a huge secret in the garage and I’m so glad that I get the opportunity to work with him. We’ve had good cars all year long. We had some bad luck. But this is one of those races that makes up for a lot of bad times.”
 
TELL US ABOUT THE RESTART AND WHAT YOU DID TO GET AROUND CARL EDWARDS
“I just drove as hard as I could. I’m really fortunate that Chip (Ganassi) and Keith (Rodden, crew chief) gave me a car that was capable of winning today. Carl got a little bit of a jump on me and I was able to hang on to his quarter-panel. I could have pulled in behind him  but I knew whoever got out front, it was going to be hard to pass. So those couple of laps with Carl… he wasn’t going to let up and neither was I. We were both sliding up the race track. That is as much fun as a race car driver that you can have. I hope it was fun to watch.”
 
WHO MADE THOSE CALLS FOR TWO-TIRE STOPS?
One hundred percent Keith Rodden. He did an amazing job today. We’ve had good cars all year long and he’s really good at calling the races. As a driver, when they tell you stay out and you know that (taking) tires are better, it’s really hard to do want to do that. But I really believe in Keith and he’s done a great job for us this year. He’s truly what put us in the position to win this race.”
 
WHERE DOES THIS WIN STACK UP IN YOUR CAREER?
“This is an amazing race. I’ve been fortunate enough to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. But the All-Star race is different. When I woke up this morning, I was like ‘I’m just going to have fun. We were talking about the old days of the All-Star race when it was more laid back. It’s way more serious now. That’s what I told the pit crew – just have fun. It’s about having a good time today and doing your best. And fortunately we were the best ones today.”
 
CHIP GANASSI, OWNER CHIP GANASSI RACING WITH FELIX SABATES
“I was excited, I’ll tell you. It’s great to be here in front of the hometown crowd. The great fans from Charlotte… all the teams are here. Everybody saw who won this race tonight.”
 
KEITH RODDEN, CREW CHIEF, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
“It’s pretty surreal really. Jamie did a great job and the pit crew just really stepped up there at the end. It’s a pretty amazing night, really.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 HUNT BROTHER’S PIZZA CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND:
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE?
“Just a bad pit stop. The guys did a great job putting a fast race car on the track. We recovered from the first one and the second one cost us the race. All in all, they put a car on the race track that was capable of the winning and we just didn’t get it done.
 
“We recovered from the first bad pit stop on pit road and we didn’t recover from the second bad pit stop on pit road. But I’ve just got to thank all my guys on the Hunt Brother’s Pizza Chevy. They did a great job and provided a fast car. We just didn’t get it done on pit road.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 4TH
“We fought a tight car all night. We really were trying to figure out how we can improve to get better for the (Coca-Cola) 600. I know the guys will work hard all week and try to get us a little more front grip and a little more speed. We made some adjustments and got it better at the end, obviously. A lot of guys that were good had trouble so that gave us a couple of spots at the end of the race that we wouldn’t have had or would have had to race for a little harder. We need to improve a little bit, and I think we understand that and we’re going to work hard all week. I feel pretty confident going into the 600 weekend with the improvements we’ll have on the
car.
 
“They made the car a little bit better there at the end. But we’ll think about it. And look at everything we need to look at to make it better for the 600 and I’m happy for Jamie (McMurray, race winner). It’s a pretty cool deal for him. We need to work a little bit and get a little better and the guys will do it. I’m confident that when we come back here next week we’ll be good.”
 
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE RACING TONIGHT?
“It was what I expected – guys not giving a whole lot of room. You can’t. If you want to win the race, you have to take what you can get. There’s going to be some guys getting turned around, but that’s going to be part of this style of racing. I hope the fans really enjoyed it. Congratulations to Jamie and his team. Hopefully we’ll get that 600 next week.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 6TH
ON THE RACE
“We just didn’t get off pit road where we needed to and those first couple of laps those guys got away. And Jamie (McMurray) got free and took off, so I congratulate those guys. I think tonight was a great night for our sport. To have qualifying take place like it did and have the fans get into it and see how excited they were; and then to have the race straight after that was pretty cool. It was definitely not the performance that I wanted for our Lowe’s Patriotic Paint Scheme tonight, but I think it was a great night for our sport.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 17, 2014
 
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in accident on lap 61:
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I’m not exactly sure what. Hopefully we didn’t damage it too bad so we can’t find out what it was. I was going down the backstretch going into Turn 3 and I felt something in the front end give. All of a sudden I had more wheel and I wasn’t even in the corner. As I got in the corner, the car just went straight. It wasn’t like it was a right-front where it just shot there; it just slowly went there. We’ll have to do some investigating to find out. It was certainly was one fast Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet up until that point.”
 
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE RACING TONIGHT? HOW INTENSE IS IT?
“It’s intense. It’s awesome. These cars are fantastic and the conditions couldn’t be more perfect. It’s nice to see some guys switching up their strategies. That’s what making the racing so good because they realize how important it is to get track position and some of them are able to maintain it. Unfortunately for us, the 11 car decided to do it because he pretty much ruined our night.”
 
ANY IDEA WHAT HAPPENED?
“Something broke in the front end, either a tire or something in the suspension because I was going down the back straightaway and as I was getting to the corner it just sat down and started going straight.  I hate we caught those guys up top on the outside of me.  But man what an awesome Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet we had tonight.  Drive to End Hunger has been such a great supporter of ours and I so badly wanted to get them into victory lane.  We had the car to do it tonight but we didn’t have many breaks going our way.  That 11 staying out in the second segment killed us because we got behind him a bunch.  And every time he was weaving we would get by him.  But our car was super-fast and we could go to the high side, middle, and bottom.  We were looking forward to the average working out if we could make some ground up in that run but unfortunately not to be.  Great effort by this team by this team and I am still just loving driving these race cars because they are just so good.”
 
YOU LOOKED AT THE REPLAY, WERE YOU ABLE TO LEARN ANYTHING FROM WHAT YOU SAW?
“I just wanted to know what broke.  Somebody said the engine, but I think that happened after we hit the wall and broke a line or something.  I was just trying to figure out if it was the left front or right front. It didn’t just shoot into the wall which made me believe it might have been in the left front.  I am not really sure and all I know is it just went in there and went straight.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 17, 2014
 
 
BOWTIE BRAND SHINES ONCE AGAIN UNDER THE LIGHTS AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Chevrolet Driver Jamie McMurray Scores First Win In Annual Sprint All-Star Race
 
CONCORD, NC (May 17, 2014) – Jamie McMurray muscled his No. 1 Bass Pro Chevrolet SS to the front when it counted the most, and captured his first career NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, which was also the first for team owner Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates.  The prize was a cool $1 million.
 
McMurray restarted in second position on the final 10-lap segment but made his way past the leader soon after the restart, and never looked back.
 
Since the inception of the All-Star race in 1985, the Bowtie emblem has shone brightest under the lights with Chevrolet-powered teams and drivers now having made 17 trips to Victory Lane in the exhibition race that highlighted points-race winners from the start of 2013.
 
Kevin Harvick finished in second place in his No. 4 Hunt Brother’s Pizza Chevrolet SS.  Harvick, the All-Star champion in 2007, was unable to track McMurray down after moving into second with just five laps remaining.  Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. was also looking for his second All-Star win, but came home fourth In the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS.
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was third and Carl Edwards was fifth to round out the top-five.
 
The next race on the NASCAR Sprint Series schedule will also be at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Coca-Cola 600, which is the longest race of the season, takes place on Sunday, May 25th at 6:00 p.m. ET. It can be seen live on FOX and heard on PRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JAMIE MCMURRAY, KEITH RODDEN, CHIP GANASSI, FELIX SABATES, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER:
 
KERRY THARP:  We’re going to go ahead and hear from the car owners from tonight’s 30th‑annual NASCAR Sprint All‑Star Race, won by Jamie McMurray, who drove the No. 1 Bass Pro Chevrolet to victory in the Sprint All‑Star Race, and that’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.  Congratulations to both of you guys.  It’s your first Sprint All‑Star win, Chip, and that’s going to be a big deal for you.  Congratulations.

            CHIP GANASSI:  Thank you.

            KERRY THARP:  Felix, congratulations to you as well.  Chip, what’s it mean to win the Sprint All‑Star Race and certainly the way your race team has been performing this year, been very, very impressive, and we know how good Jamie McMurray is here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Talk about what this means to your race team.

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, thanks.  I think first of all the fact that it’s the home race for everybody here in the backyard, this and obviously Memorial Day and in the fall, the races mean a lot more when they’re in your backyard, I guess everybody gets to see them, your peer group, your friends, your wives, your girlfriends, and your families.  I think it adds a little something special to it.

            I think that.  I think Jamie likes this place.  Number two, I think he’s got a little nose for the front.  When he gets a little sniff of the front there, he kind of gets calm all of a sudden and settles down, seems to like it at the front when he’s in the ‑‑ we like to ‑‑ I think Keith made some great calls tonight.  I think the call was really made I want to say in segment 2.  The call was made in segment 2 that I think enabled him to win the race, to be there at the end and in the mix at the front, obviously.

            I think you saw some great racing with Carl Edwards and he, with Kevin and Jamie.  Just really, really proud of the team, really proud of the people that have hung in there with us.  Bass Pro Shops obviously tonight, obviously Cessna and McDonald’s, Target, people that have been with us for lots of years, and really proud to bring them a victory.

            It means something here.  There’s something a little special about the All‑Star Race, too, I think, that nobody is out there points racing.  It’s hammer down there with 10 to go.  I think we saw a special kind of racing tonight, and we’re all very lucky to see that.

            KERRY THARP:  Felix, certainly you know how special it is racing here at Charlotte and what this could mean for the team as we even look ahead to next weekend, but what’s the significance of the win here tonight for you guys?

            FELIX SABATES:  Well, you know, it puts us in an elite group, a very elite group that won this race in the past.  You look at the past winners, it’s like the who’s who of racing.

            We’ve come close to winning this before, but close doesn’t count when it comes to All‑Star Race.  As far as I’m concerned, if you finish second, you’re the first loser in the All‑Star Race.  You’ve got to win the race.  We brought a new mascot to us today, Coach Rivera, his wife Stephanie, they sat in the pit box with us, and by God, we won the race.

            KERRY THARP:  Good to have you here, Coach.

            FELIX SABATES:  So the NFL, we changed the schedule so they can play on Saturday so he can come to races with us on Sundays.  I don’t know if we can get it done or not, but thanks to Ron and Stephanie for being here.

            Q.  Both Chip or Felix or whoever wants to answer, you’ve been through a lot with Jamie and he’s now delivered you a Daytona 500, a Brickyard and an All‑Star Race.  How much does he mean to you personally and how long are you going to keep him around so you can go chase a championship?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, that’s true.  He said to me in victory lane tonight, he said, we’ve won a lot of great races together, haven’t we.  I said, yes, we have.  You know, it was kind of special for him to think of that, as well, because he’s that kind of guy.  He understands the ‑‑ he understands what it takes to be in this sport and be a driver.

            I think your media brethren miss a lot of times what it really takes to be in this sport week in and week out, with a family, with the demands that are put on these athletes in any top‑level sport.  It can be trying at times, and in the ups and downs and the mental side of the sport can be very difficult, and I think Jamie has shown great resilience over the years to hang in there and perform at a high level when the opportunity presents itself, and he did that here tonight.

            I’m sure that that obviously ingratiates Jamie in the mind of a lot of people, and his future is bright, I can assure you.

            Q.  Seems like you guys have had some pretty good runs this year, and you look at Martinsville and you get put in the outside wall, you look at Kansas, what happened there.  Wh
at does this win do for your outlook going forward from here, and how much confidence does this give a guy like Jamie to go out there and know that he can still get out there and win races?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Yeah, I think obviously with the addition of Kyle Larson to the team this year, things have stepped up a bit.  The performance, we had a few changes with personnel in the off‑season, and these are things that ‑‑ I guess it’s nice to have a validation from time to time of your MO.  It’s nice to ring the cash register, if you will, from time to time in this business to let you know that you can still do it, and the way that you operate the business, the way you motivate your team, the components you put together, the people, all those pieces that have to come together.  Sports teams are a very delicate balance of personalities and equipment, and it’s nice, like I said, to validate that from time to time.

            Q.  Chip, were you always coming today?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, meaning I was in Indianapolis earlier today?

 

            Q.  Yeah, with the second part of my question being, and not to cut you off, but we only were able to follow peripherally what happened in Indy today.  Does this victory sort of turn your day around?

            CHIP GANASSI:  Well, yes, we obviously didn’t have a great day in Indianapolis, and you’re damned right it turned my day around.  It could turn tomorrow around, too.  This might turn around a few more days, as a matter of fact.  Yes, this has the ability to do that.  Thank you.

            Q.  Would it have deterred you from coming here today?

            CHIP GANASSI:  No, we have a two‑car team and one of our cars was in this race, so I was going to be here, so thank you.  Yes.

            KERRY THARP:  Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, is our race winner, wins his first Sprint All‑Star Race, led a race‑high 31 laps, Jamie, and this is a big win for you here.  It’s got to be a big win for you here tonight.  I know how much you like racing here at Charlotte and have had success here before at the Speedway, but just talk about what this means not only right now at this moment in time in your career but also in your career overall, how this is a big deal winning this race.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, this is just really awesome moment.  It’s so much different than winning the Daytona 500 or the Brickyard because there are no points, and I think the mentality going into that last segment is just all or nothing, and that was my thought process.  I am like, I don’t really care if we wreck, I don’t care what happens, I’m racing for a million dollars, I get to start on the front row and I’m going to make the very most out of the restart and everything that goes with this.

            It was awesome.  It’s three or four of the hardest laps I’ve ever driven in my racing career, and it’s one of those memories that I hope I never forget.  I have such a clear vision of those three or four laps with the 99 car being on the inside of me, and it’s what we wake up every single day and live for is to get to be put in that exact position.  It’s really awesome.

            KERRY THARP:  And Keith, just talk about this win from your perspective as a young crew chief, just what this means to you.

            KEITH RODDEN:  It means a lot to finally get a win.  I feel like this year we’ve been pretty good, we just need to get better, and I feel like we’ve been getting better on the track every week.  Last week we had a little unfortunate thing happen, so didn’t get to show how good that car was, but tonight we kind of started in the back a little bit, or started in the middle, and had to play a little bit of a track‑position game.  I really knew that we had something special when we pitted and some of the ‑‑ I think like seven people stayed out or so and we were running really good lap times compared to what we had run before, and after that we stayed out and when no one stayed out in front of us, I knew we had something.  Jamie did a great job.  The 4 and the 5 were really fast and they were on four tires for most of the night and when only the 5 passed us that one time and Jamie was on really olds lefts and sticker rights and held the 4 off forever.  Right then I knew that that final segment it was us and somebody else were going to run for this million dollars.  Obviously got to line up in second spot coming down pit road.  The guys had a great pit stop, barely got beat out, restarted on the outside.  Like you said, he just drove amazing.  All 10 laps were amazing, but that race with Carl was really special.

            I don’t know, just special to win the All‑Star Race.  It’s nice to win it as a crew chief, and looking forward to just carrying this momentum to winning some points races.

            Q.  I caught up with Carl in the garage after the race, and he lamented some of the decisions he made and said he would have driven the last few laps differently, but he said you drove perfectly and made perfect decisions at every turn.  Do you feel like that was the best four or five laps you could have possibly driven when you were racing with him?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Absolutely.  When I look back at like winning the Daytona 500, it’s kind of circumstantial to get drafting totally different.  The Brickyard was for me really special because I passed Kevin Harvick on the outside of Turn 1 at Indy, which does not happen.  It’s really hard to do.  That was a really special restart for me.

            But this is different because there’s no points, and honestly I wanted Carl to take the outside of the restart because I thought the inside was the better place and I had restarted on the inside both times before and been able to beat the guy to Turn 1, and when he took the inside, I was like, screw it, I don’t care.  If we drive off into the corner and we all wreck, I don’t care right now because literally you can see the million bucks.

            When you get to be in the All‑Star Race, it’s one thing to start ‑‑ like I started the first segment 11th, but there’s so much that’s going to happen between now and that last 10‑lap segment that it’s not reality.  I think I restarted sixth last year, and I believed in my head I think I can win this if I get in the right position.  But starting second, I’m like, one of us is going to win this.  I’m like, the 4 is going to have a chance, but it’s so hard to pass here in 10 laps, especially when you have a good car in front of you, that I’m like if the 99 ever gets in front of me I don’t think I can pass him.  I was telling Keith on the way over here a couple of those laps when he was inside of me we drove off into Turn 1 and I felt like I was 300 feet deeper than I’ve ever driven into that corner i
n qualifying trim and I could hear his exhaust and he hadn’t let off yet.  And I’m like, I don’t care.  I’m just staying wide open until he lets off and I’m going to carry a little more speed, and it was so much fun to run up the racetrack with him knowing that like on the end of that it’s a million dollars.  I can’t explain to you guys how unbelievable that is to hold a check up for that much money.  It’s crazy.  I can’t even make sense of what’s going on right now.  It’s awesome.  Really it’s like just ‑‑ it’s ultimately what a race car driver wakes up every single day to be put in that position.  That’s unbelievable.

            Q.  You guys have had some pretty strong runs this year and just some tough luck.  You look at Martinsville and Kansas, for instance.  What does winning this race do for you guys going forward knowing how much wins mean this year?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I’m going to let Keith answer this, as well, but my take on tonight, what makes tonight so special is it’s all about a team effort.  I feel like I did a really good job as a driver.  Keith did a great job of when we had the caution in the second segment, we pitted, and I could listen in his voice, I thought, he’s going to make me stay out the next segment on old tires and I don’t want to do that, but I could tell that’s what he wanted to do.  Because it’s all about just trying to score the most points you can in those first four segments for a good starting spot in the last 10 laps, and also about our pit crew.  To be able to come in in second place, first or second place on the last segment of the All‑Star Race, there is no more pressure that you can put on a pit crew, I think, than that.  For those guys to come through with an amazing stop, and if the 99 hadn’t had the first pit stall we would have come out first, that’s so cool for a complete team effort, and I think it shows the strength of not only Keith and I but also our pit crew, and that’s a really good feeling to know that your entire race team is capable of winning.

            Q.  You said in victory lane about Keith that I think he was a hidden gem or something like that and how lucky you were to have gotten him.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Absolutely.

            Q.  Why do you think that about him and why is this relationship working?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, when I look at Keith, I think it’s really hard ‑‑ when I think back to the beginning of my Sprint Cup career, I watched the guys move up from engineers to crew chiefs or guys that were on teams up to crew chiefs.  You know, like sometimes you could see it, like I think he can make it, and then other times it’s like I don’t know.  But I had heard Keith Rodden’s name for years and heard people say just great things about Keith.

            Last year I went over to Keith’s house and we sat in his basement and talked for, I don’t know, 15 or 20 minutes, and when I left I came out and I called Max, I’m like, that’s the guy.  You’ve got to figure out how to make it work.  No matter what you have to pay him, what you have to do, get that guy because I like everything about him.  There wasn’t anything negative about that.

            Whenever everything worked out, I talked to Kasey on the phone, and Kasey is like, man, you’ve got a really good guy, and I think he’s going to do an amazing job for you.  And Keith just all around (inaudible) but also very race savvy, good at calling the races, lots of common sense.  He has everything it takes to be extremely successful, and I think tonight showed that he’s willing to take a little bit of a chance on staying out, putting two tires on.  That’s hard, those are tough decisions because if it doesn’t work out, I think it’s hard to go home at night as a crew chief when you feel like you’ve made the wrong decision, but he made all the right decisions tonight.

            Having confidence in someone, especially as a driver, in the guy that is ultimately responsible for your car which has your name on it and is your life, right, that’s huge, and I just have so much confidence in not only his ability to make my car fast but also to make the right decisions on pit road and make all of ‑‑ just get us to victory lane.  He’s done a great job.  It’s really hard to say that when someone is sitting three inches from you.  It’s really hard.  But he’s done a great job.

            Q.  Jamie, obviously in your career you’ve won some of the biggest races, but you’ve also had certainly the struggles, certainly some down years.  Your career seems like there’s been a lot of highs and lows.  How have you persevered because you seem to be somebody that takes everything even personally to the nth degree and it really kind of carries with him.  How have you handled the highs and lows and persevered to get back to this point tonight?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, it’s really hard.  I won’t lie.  I feel like I’m harder on myself probably than anyone else is, and when you go through the garage and you look at drivers who are with really good teams, some of them are having bad years, and if you think that they’re not doubting their ability or down on themselves, they are, because that’s just the way our sport works.  I think it’s the same way, whether it’s golf or baseball.  I think when you’re not doing well, you always wonder if you’re capable of competing at this level.

            So I’ve had the absolute best moments of my career and I’ve had some really tough times.  It’s hard, but you just have to believe that you get in the right position.  For me this year, and Keith coming over and the amount of money and effort that Chip and Felix have put into our team, that makes you believe, that helps.  And even though you guys don’t see it most likely, our team, when I look at our year, we’ve been like one of the better cars of a lot of races at certain points in the race, and it just seems like every race this season that we’ve had a car really capable of running well.  Bristol we were running fifth and Harvick blew that oil line in front of us, last week we blew a tire out.  It seemed like every time we had a good car something would happen.  That’s really frustrating and that gets your confidence down.  But I texted Keith last week, and I’m like, keep your head up, we’re doing our ‑‑ our cars are really fast, and that’s the hardest part of our sport is to have fast cars.  Good luck, bad luck, that happens, but if your cars are slow, that’s hard to fix in a short amount of time, and we’ve had awesome cars.  Both teams have run really well this year.

            It’s tough when things are going bad, but I’ve got to live some of the greatest victories that you can have in this sport.  It’s unbelievable.

            Q.  I’m curious how much your past history here has impacted your race today, Keith, considering that the 5 had been a very successful car here in the past, were you able to bring anything you learned there specifically for this track, and Jamie, having won at this
track before did that give you the confidence to be able to race Edwards that hard?

            KEITH RODDEN:  Not really.  Everything changed this year with the no ride height rule, so you can start your car out an pit road at whatever ride heights you want to start, so that pretty much wiped out everything we had done the last two years.  Just kind of racing here a lot, really paying attention, keeping up with the track, that sort of thing that Ray and Kenny really instilled in me, so that sort of thing is there.  It’s still Charlotte, right.  But no setup or no technical things, really.  Just kind of keeping up with the racetrack.

            It’s so hard because you practice during the day.  This race was all during the night.  The 42 I thought was really good in practice, and I think they were going to have a really good race last night and had a little issue, but I just didn’t pay a lot of attention to it because it wasn’t the same conditions as what we raced tonight, and until we do this, we don’t really know how it’ll be.

            Jamie had one thing he kind of wanted to do to the car and we had some other things, and we actually changed a good bit of stuff tonight for the race, and it worked out.  I’m happy about that, but it doesn’t always work out.  I don’t know if that answers your question or not, but from the technical side, no.  From keeping up with the racetrack, yes.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  It’s so weird because Keith told me tonight before the race that we had the 5 car setup from last year, so I don’t know where he got that answer from just now.  (Laughter.)

            Well, I think for me coming here, this is a really good track for me.  It has been ‑‑ I mean, I won my first race here, we won here in 2010.  This has been just a really good track for me.

            When I look at it, I think what Keith is saying about the ride heights is so true.  I felt good, us and the 42 were one of the better cars at the test here that we had when we were trying to figure out the spoilers and the front pans and everything, so coming back here, I felt good about it just because it’s been a good track.  I don’t really disagree with what Keith is saying, but I think that he has always run well here, so I think that that helps when you go to tracks that typically crew chiefs, engineers run well at and drivers run well at.  I think it’s a really good combination.

 

            Q.  Jamie, how much has it helped you to have an engineering style crew chief because in the past you’ve worked with guys like Wingo and such.  It’s a little different discipline.  You talked about how surprised you were that the car stuck on the high groove where I guess there was a lot of debris.  You were talking about kicking up dirt and stuff.  What made you stick up there?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, a million dollars is what made me say the hell with it, I’m going to go for it.  I really enjoy having Keith.  I like ‑‑ I guess what I really enjoy about Keith is I feel like when I ask him a question, he always has an answer.  I feel like he’s already thought about what I am bringing up, and I ask a lot of questions, and I ask a lot of random questions, and I always feel like he has a good answer, and I think that’s a really good confidence builder for a driver when you can ask a question, whether it’s about pit road, setups, what happened in the Nationwide race last night.  I feel like he’s always thinking about it, and I said this last week or the week before, I talked to him on the phone a week or so ago, and he’s like, I woke up at 3:00 in the morning and I was thinking about this, and I was like, that is awesome that that’s what’s going through your head at 3:00 in the morning.  I know your wife probably doesn’t enjoy that, but I love that you’re constantly worried about making our car faster because that’s the kind of stuff I think about at 3:00 in the morning.  That side of it, I just really enjoy.  I feel like he’s always thinking about what we need to do to make our team and our cars better, and it’s also nice like the engineering side of it that Keith can ‑‑ if we need to look at data or simulation he knows how to run that because he’s done it in the past, so when he talks to the engineer, he can speak, they can talk kind of the same lingo, which is great.

            Q.  When Chip was in earlier, he talked about when you get a sniff of the front you really calm down.  Is that something that most drivers do do you think or shouldn’t it be the opposite?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Well, I think ‑‑ I don’t know, that makes me feel good that he thinks that.  He said that to me, too, and I didn’t know what he was talking about.  The truth is, and it’s this way in any kind of racing, when you get to the front, the cars drive so much better.  I talked to Kurt out there before the race started and just telling him I was watching him at Indy and asking about that, and he was explaining about 20 cars back to 10 cars back to when you get close how dirty the air is in IndyCar racing.  We were kind of trying to relate it to NASCAR.  My side of that is when I get to the front the car drives better because you’re just in better air.

            Q.  You mentioned a little earlier that you’ve had the opportunity to win so many big races during your career that a lot of drivers never get the chance to.  I just wondered if for some reason your career ended tomorrow, how would you feel that you’ve had a successful career based on what you’ve been able to accomplish, or would you feel that not being able to be in the thick of a championship hunt there would somehow be something left on the table?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  Yeah, I don’t know.  That’s a hard question to answer.  I think being able to contend for a championship would be a great feeling.  I think that’s a different feeling.  That’s such a long battle versus race to race and being able to win.

            I have been so lucky to be able to, first off, be in NASCAR as long as I have been, and to be able to experience the wins that I have been involved with and the people that I’ve been able to meet.  I think it’s been really successful.  There’s been a lot of guys come along that don’t ever get to win a race, much less win three of the biggest races of the year.

            Yeah, I feel really lucky to be able to do what I’ve done.

            Q.  What are you going to do with your winnings, Jamie, the extra money?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  I’m going to send my two kids and probably my next child that’s not here yet to school.  Honest to God, that’s what I’ve thought about.  School is really expensive, and you guys don’t know this about me probably but I’m very frugal, just outright tight and I’m paranoid about money every day of my life, and I thought about ‑‑ I’ve looked at what school costs, and college and just getting
to college, and it’s most likely going to go to that.

            Q.  I saw Marty tweeted something about a train for your kid?

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  I’ll tell you guys the story.  I’ve told it 10 times, but it’s a really great story.  This morning the whole family sitting at the breakfast table, Carter and Hazel are eating cereal, I’m having some coffee, kind of looking at the internet.  I asked Carter what are you going to do today?  And he’s like, well, I’m going to probably play in my sandbox, Dad, and he rattled off a couple of random things that I already knew he was going to do.  And he said, Dad, what are you going to do today?  And I was like, Carter, I’m going to go race for a million dollars tonight, and he’s like, okay, like no big deal, has no idea what a million bucks is.  And I think it’s so weird that my wife, who we really never talk about racing, she never really asks me anything about the car or if I think I can win, very seldom does she say that.  She’s like, do you think you can win tonight?  And I’m like, I don’t know.  We’ve got to get our car a little better.  It’s a good track.  I said if we get our car better I think we have a chance, and she’s like, Carter, if Dad were to win tonight, what would you want?  And of course most of you if you said you could have anything in the world with a million dollars you would pick something really expensive, right, and he’s like, I’d like a new train set.  I’m like, okay.  It’s yours, Carter.  Actually whether we win tonight or not you can have a new train set, either way.

            That’s really cool.  I can’t wait to get home.  I’m going to end up staying here tonight because I have a small buzz right now, but I can’t wait to get home and see them in the morning and bring the trophy home and get to share that moment with Carter.

            Carter doesn’t quite get winning and losing.  After the Talladega race where we ripped the splitter off our car and we’re like 10 laps down and we almost got them all back, I was a little frustrated after the race, and went back to my motor home and I’m going to take my suit off.  I walk in the bus, I open the door, and Carter is standing on the ottoman in our bus, and I walk in and he puts both of his hands in the air, and he’s like, Dad, Denny Hamlin won, woohoo!  Like he’s excited.  I’m like, Carter, I love you.  I don’t know what else to say.  He doesn’t know that I should be the one to win, right, and I really don’t care if Denny Hamlin won the race.  So I can’t wait to go home and tell him that dad won last night.

            Q.  How about you, Keith?  I’m sure you get a few extra dollars.

            KEITH RODDEN:  Actually I’m not sure.  Everything he says is probably about how I am.  As frugal as I am, my wife is even tighter.

            JAMIE McMURRAY:  She’s in here.  That’s awesome.

            KEITH RODDEN:  She’s not even embarrassed about it, because she knows it’s true.  Yeah, same kind of thing, really.  Got to protect for the future and the kids.  Hopefully we have a house that we’ll never move out of.  I don’t want to move again anyway, ever.  Yeah, I just don’t really think about stuff like that to be honest with you, just think about racing and when we’re at home at the house or on an off weekend like tomorrow, just looking forward to spending time with the family.

            I don’t know what it is with people because we have a two‑and‑a‑half year old, almost a three‑year‑old, she’ll be three in August, and everyone gives us stuff for her.  It’s like no one thinks that we buy ’em my anything at all, so she has all this stuff, and I think we’ve spent 50 bucks on toys in three years.  It’s awesome.  So if anybody wants to donate anything ‑‑ no, just kidding.  No big plans to spend any money.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
DAY ONE QUALIFYING
NOTES AND QUOTES INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
Chevy’s Ed Carpenter Fastest on Day One of Qualifying for the 98th Running of the  Indianapolis 500
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 17, 2014) – Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet, set the benchmark on the first day of qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500. With a four-lap average of 230.661, the 2012 pole sitter ended the day on top of the scoring pylon.
 
Making the day even sweeter for team owner Carpenter was the fact that JR Hildebrand put the second Ed Carpenter Racing entry in the Fast Nine Shootout.  The driver of the No. 21 Preferred Freezer Chevrolet ran the ninth quickest average at 230.027 mph.
 
Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet, was third quickest with a four-lap average of 230.432 mph.
 
Giving Team Chevy four entries in the Fast Nine Shootout for the Verizon P1 Award was Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, who turned a four-lap average of 230.323 mph.
 
Qualifying concludes Sunday, May 18 with another qualifying session to determine final starting positions, and culminating with the Fast Nine Shootout to determine the pole sitter. Tomorrow’s qualifying to determine the pole and the final grid positions begins at 10:15 a.m. ET and will also be broadcast live on ABC from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
 
INDIANAPOLIS 500 QUALIFYING FORMAT:
SUNDAY QUALIFYING
 
Group 1:
All Saturday times are erased and positions 10-33 will re-qualify to determine starting position.
Order will be the reverse of Saturday’s rankings.
Lineup will be determined based on fastest four-lap averages.
In the event that there are only 33 cars entered, this group will determine positions 10-33.
 
Group 2:
The top nine cars will run in reverse order based on Saturday’s times.
All cars will make one attempt.
At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-9 based on their four-lap average during the segment to run the Fast Nine Shootout
 
The 2014 Indianapolis 500 will be the 98th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” It has been held every year since the first race in 1911 except the war years of 1917-1918 and 1942-1945. The race will take place May 25, 2014, and will be broadcast live on ABC beginning at 11 a.m. (ET).
 
DRIVER QUOTES – TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS IN THE FAST NINE SHOOTOUT:
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – FASTEST ON QUALIFYING DAY NUMBER ONE
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – NINTH QUICKEST ON QUALIFYING DAY NUMBER ONE
BOTH ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET’S WILL COMPETE TOMORROW FOR THE VERIZON P1 AWARD IN THE FAST NINE SHOOTOUT FOR THE 98TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
 
YOU TURNED IN ONE HECK OF A LAP:
ED CARPENTER: “Yeah I was hoping to only have to do that once today, but as it turned out we needed to do it twice just to have some security.  Really happy both of our cars made it in.  I think it was an exciting day to have five different teams represented in the top nine.  More than probably what I expected going into today.  I thank the speedway and the series it should be exciting.”
 
I WOULD IMAGINE WHEN YOU SAW RYAN HUNTER-REAY GO OUT THERE WITH JUST A MATTER OF A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO GO IT WAS A LITTLE BIT HOLDING YOUR BREATH:
JR HILDEBRAND: “Yeah I was having a little miniature freak out in the helmet.  I mean when I saw (Josef) Newgarden go out and he went faster by like a little tiny bit like six feet after four laps or something that pissed me off.  Then when Ryan Hunter-Reay went out honestly I thought at that point it was over.  We were out of time and he has had speed.  But the Andretti cars were kind of all over the place so we didn’t really know.  That was obviously a massive relief when we saw the lap times starting to come down a little bit.  I know I owe all this to Ed (Carpenter) and the ECR (Ed Carpenter Racing) for the work.  We all know that the speed in these cars doesn’t come through the week it comes from all the prep that goes on beforehand and they gave me a great car.  I think tomorrow we will have to go out first, but we definitely got some more speed I think that we can squeeze out of it.  We will see what we’ve got.”
 
AFTER ALL THAT YOU WENT THROUGH TODAY WHAT IS IT GOING TO BE LIKE TO DO ALL OF THIS AGAIN TOMORROW?
ED CARPENTER: “Personally I’ve been in every shoot out, but one since they started the shootouts.  I have fun with it.  I mean everyone is out there you have one shot at it.  For the most part we all get along all the drivers. It’s a good time.  It’s one and done you’ve got to nail it and it’s more pressure a day like today when you go do a run and for me I was the fifth car out and sat around all day.  Thought we were probably going to be okay and then it’s like ‘oh crap the track is getting faster we are going to have to probably make another run’.  I’m glad we made another run I think it helped us be better prepared for tomorrow because like I said we only get one shot at it.  We’ve got to get it right.  The engineers have got to get it right and that is what we did last year so we will see if we can put both of us up front.”
 
ANY MOMENTS YOU HAD TO REMIND YOURSELF THAT YOU DIDN’T WIN THE POLE?
ED CARPENTER: “No, but I was thinking about how many points we were going to win today. Not mad about that.”
 
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS TEAM HAS A LITTLE BIT OF AN EDGE WHEN IT COMES TO QUALIFYING?
ED CARPENTER: “I think there are five teams in the top nine and I think there are probably 15 guys that could win the race.  I think there are a lot of people with good opportunities here. I like where we are sitting.  I think JR (Hildebrand) was one turn away from winning this race so he knows how to get in position to do that.  He’s been there.  We had some success last year just didn’t do well enough when it counted at the end.  I think both of us like this place and are comfortable here.  We have fast cars now it’s just a matter of continuing to execute and make good decisions.”
 
YOU SAT ON THE POLE LAST YEAR YOU CAN START NO WORSE THAN THE THIRD ROW THIS YEAR. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN THE KEY FOR YOUR SMALL TEAM TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT WELL IN QUALIFICATIONS?
ED CARPENTER: “Our people is the easy answer beyond that we’ve got great sponsors on the team. Fuzzy’s has been with us since the very start.  I wouldn’t be here without them they are great partners and now bringing JR (Hildebrand) on with Preferred Freeze and Dean and CSC.  Those guys have allowed us to grow.  With the way this month has played out having a second car here has been crucial to being prepared with the short days we have had just blessed to have good partners and good people.”
 
AFTER LAST YEAR YOU SAID YOU WERE UPSET THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK THEN THE RACE WENT WRONG.  ALL THIS WEEK YOU AND JR HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT DOING RACE SET-UP’S.  IS THIS PACE THAT WE SEE TODAY IS THAT A BYPRODUCT OF YOU WORKING ON EVERYTHING OR DO YOU HAVE A QUALIFYING SET-UP IN THE BAG AS WELL?
ED CARPENTER: “When you are working on race set-up’s when I talk about it you are constantly trying to find grip in the car.  You are trying to find ways to make your car handle better in dirty air.  We weren’t bad last year I mean we led the most laps in the race.  It wasn’t that our car was bad it was more of we made a couple of decisions that I think if we could have changed it we would have been in a better position.  We came in with a good car and a good package from last year.  Like I said with the second car here we have been able to t
ry some more things than what we did last year.  I think when you find grip out of the car and get it working better mechanically it just makes it that much better when you do trim out to go fast.  A lot of the speed is found in the race shop working on all the details of the car.”
 
BOTH OF YOU ARE USED TO BEING ON SINGLE CAR TEAMS.  CAN YOU BOTH TALK ABOUT THE TEAM WORK EFFORT AND IF YOU ARE WORKING TOGETHER HOW THAT IS GOING:
JR HILDEBRAND: “This is not because my boss is sitting next to me here, but it’s gone incredibly well from my perspective.  I’ve been in situations where we have had teammates for this race or sort of pseudo teammates during a year.  Until this week I have never worked so closely with another driver, but another whole team of people and engineering staff and all that kind of stuff.  That have worked so closely together to try to solve the same problems basically.  From my view as we have gone along here this week the two cars have constantly been coming back together.  He (Ed) goes and does something and it’s better we are both looking for the same things out of the car.  If he goes and does something that is better nine times out of 10 we have thrown that on my car just gone out not even had to test it and it’s been good.  That I think has especially given the limited running that we’ve had because of weather to Ed’s point earlier has made this a much easier process getting through all that stuff.  I think that I feel like we have strong equipment, strong people and like I said I have not worked together with another driver ever to this level.  It’s been all good and we really owe a lot of that again to the folks that are around the team.”
ED CARPENTER: “I agree with JR on that.  We’ve got great people on the team that don’t have egos.  Everyone wants to succeed and wants to see the whole team do well and help each other.  Going back to the Grand Prix of Indy last weekend, Mike Conway got caught up in that first lap crash.  Every person in the garage was working on the car.  JR’s crew guys were back there just doing some stuff on his car getting ready for practice the next day and they all jumped right in.  They are guys that aren’t full-time.  They don’t work for us year round, but they are great guys and they have bought into what we are doing.  And beyond that I think this was a long process JR and I started talking last June more in July trying to figure out a way to work together.  We train at the same place until he moved to Colorado.  It wasn’t like we just showed up here and met for the first time.  We’ve been talking about this for a while.  I think that is a big part of why it’s gone well also.”
 
DID YOU HAVE A FEELING WHEN YOU RAN 230 YESTERDAY YOU PROBABLY HAD THE MOST SPEED OF ANYONE OUT THERE?
ED CARPENTER: “No, I didn’t run this morning; we were the only two cars not to go out this morning.  To be honest I was much happier with my car Thursday afternoon than I was the 19 minutes we did last night.  The time looked really good, but it wasn’t the best run we have had.  I had a couple of questions and I’m glad we went out in those conditions we learned a couple of things, but I wasn’t sure, especially when we skipped the morning warm-up.  I felt like we had a whole lot of competition going into it.  I wasn’t sure we were going to go 230 our first round.  I was relieved when we did.  To be honest I didn’t think going into qualifying that I was going to see 230.
 
WHAT IS THE FUTURE POSSIBLY FOR THIS SECOND TEAM?
ED CARPENTER: “I mean we’ve wanted to expand for a long time.  Maintaining the second car beyond here just comes down to having the funding in place to do it and being able to staff up permanently for that.  Running a second car at Indy is easier than other places because you don’t have to have quite as much equipment.  You don’t have to worry about transportation equipment and all that just because we can shuttle it out here.  We would like to grow and hopefully it happens sometime whether it’s this year or next year, but we will worry about that after we figure out a way to win the race.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET,  QUALIFIED 3RD: YOU MUST BE HAPPY:  “Yes. Certainly every time you get a position of being in the top-nine, it helps a lot.  If you are talking about points, it helps a lot; especially for the people who are battling in the championship. That is certainly great.  I’m happy.  The Pennzoil No. 3 guys did a fantastic job. Every time we went out there, it was improving. We went from 229 to 230 (mph). I know one mile-an-hour means nothing, but especially today, look at that, the top-nine over 230 (mph). We are talking about less than a .2 mph that can be on pole position. It is going to be interesting tomorrow.”
 
DO YOU LIKE THE NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT? “It is the first one, and I think when everything is new, there is adjustment. It is exciting I have to say. We went out there, and we kept pushing ourselves. Everybody actually pushing each other. Look at the times.  I’m the traditional guy, it’s a different way. But, I feel that the fans enjoyed it. We broke the 230 mph. It is a plus. If we have to make some changes, we will. But right now I think everybody is happy.”
 
“I did remind myself (that there was still tomorrow) every time I was going out there, because from first to ninth is extremely close. Tomorrow, I think, is going to be the same. Sounds like the weather might play a little factor because not being quite as cold as today which probably masked a lot of areas that sometimes you are really going low downforce…that could be tough. Let’s see.  Right now we are sitting good but we still have some work to do.  Hopefully tomorrow that work would pay off.”
 
WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT YOUR CAR WHEN YOU DID YOUR BEST LAPS?  “We were just looking for speed. I was very surprised with my first run to be honest because the car was spot-on, and I just didn’t understand why we didn’t go as fast as at least the second run to be honest. We just kept ourselves cool, and we knew where we had to go. I think the track was getting a little bit better for consistency. It helped a lot of people, including us. It was a combination of a lot of things. When you are talking about less than .2 mile-an-hour, if it’s a blow of wind or a fart (LAUGHS) it makes a difference.”
 
ON HOW THE SMALLER TEAMS CAN MAKE A BIG STATEMENT HERE:  “It is a credit to the engine manufacturers too. Obviously they seem to be pushing each other in a way it is keeping things very close.  Also the Series, it is a spec series so the limits of what we can do and change and touch, is very…so even the big teams are finding it difficult to separate themselves. Certainly the smaller teams, you can see the field is getting so tight, if they have a good organization, they can be battling with the big teams, and I think that is the credit for the small teams.”
 
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE AT THE START OF HAVING CLEAN AIR VERSUS BEING MID-PACK? “Even though I started the race 13th, I won the race in 2002, but the point is you want to eliminate some kind of issues.  Sometimes people try to pass in places when it is still too early and you get caught in the middle. When you eliminate that kind of scenario, your chances of being there at the end become bigger. Those are the reasons that starting up front is a little more comfortable. But, it doesn’t mean anything to be honest because it is a 500 miles. It is a long race, and you can still win from the middle of the pack. Especially the way the series is right now, it is accomplishable.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: 
“It was definitely a bit of a hectic day. Really amazing that it took a 230 miles per hour average to make it into the Firestone Fast Nine. But we did what we had to do and now we have a shot at the Indianapolis 500 pole award tomorrow. The No. 12 Verizon Chevy has obviously shown it has the speed to contend for the pole position.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 17, 2014
 
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed qualifying for the Indy 500, logistics, this evening’s All-Star race at Charlotte, and more. Full Transcript:
 
HOW WAS IT TRAVELING BACK TO CHARLOTTE FROM INDY? ALSO TALK ABOUT HOW FAST YOU WERE IN QUALIFYING FOR THE INDY 500
“It’s been an exciting day. It’s a lot of fun to qualify into the Indianapolis 500 my first outing. I was hoping for a little more, but the air in the morning there is so thick, those cars have a hard time cutting through that air. And then as the day progresses, conditions get better. And then right here, now, we got bumped out of the Fast Nine, which I thought we might be able to hang on but, hey. First time there to be 10th, 11th, 12th is right in the mix and it’s really exciting. To have had the chance to go 230 mph; and then to have a fast plane with Cessna to get back here to be ready for the All-Star race.”
 
WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING TONIGHT IN THE ALL-STAR RACE?
“I’ve got five segments tonight; four of those are 20-lap runs. Last year the No. 78 car was a bullet. It was fast. So I’m hoping to use some of that same chemistry within the car and just settle back in. I’ll need that first segment to settle into the car and to feel the four tires and to feel the stock car again and to respect it. Back and forth there’s a lot of excitement and a lot of emotion but I haven’t been in this car yet this week. I’m going up against the best of the best in this All-Star race. You can’t take this for granted.”
 
WAS TODAY AS GOOD AS YOU EXPECTED IN THIS FIRST-TIME EXPERIENCE?
“Last night, there was a Casino Night that’s mandatory for the drivers that are full time and I went. I wanted to go and feel it and experience it. There’s just a lot of Indiana hometown people that appreciate the fact that the Indianapolis 500 is in their backyard. And it’s the people that have made that race track what it is; and that race track makes that for the people. So it’s really need to feel that small hometown Indiana feel on a grand stage. The world does watch the Indy 500. So, it’s emotional. It’s fun. We qualified first run out and then was 12th and then bumped-up and got as high as third, and then we got bumped out of the Fast Nine. That’s part of the emotions of qualifying into the Indy 500.”
 
WITH ALL THE PRACTICE AND BEING ON THE TRACK ALL WEEK, HOW HAVE YOU EXPECTATIONS CHANGED? ARE YOU THINKING MORE ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF WINNING?
“Each day is a lesson of just being a student and learning what I can do to advance with the car. My inexperience is what will hold us at that last little bit. Each day though, there have been nice improvements. So it’s hard to know what to expect. We’ve got another qualifying round tomorrow and then Monday is a full race trim day and then it’s a week off, it feels like, when I’ll be back to Indy to run again. So, we’ve got one more qualifying run and then a race run and we’ll see. I expect there to be more competition this year just with the rules being very close and everybody is comfortable with the package they have. I see that lead group of cars 18 deep; maybe even into the twenties. Any little mistake will come up and it will come up big, and then you’ll be buried in traffic.”
 
HAVE YOU HAD MUCH OF A CHANCE TO RUN IN TRAFFIC?
“Yeah, we focused the first four days on running with traffic. We got rained out Wednesday. It was nice though, to go back Thursday and get some race runs in. And I felt comfortable making passes on guys.”
 
IT WILL BE A NIGHT RACE TONIGHT. YOU SEEM RESTED AND CALM. ARE YOU TIRED AT ALL?
“No, just trying to keep up with my checklist. This qualifying run, I take the green on track, and coming down pit road I don’t have to slow down for pit road speed and I don’t have any reference points. I didn’t practice. That I’ve just got to clear that hurdle and get back out onto the track as quick as I can; and hopefully after a great pit stop by the guys, and see where we stack-up for the first segment. Once we do that, then that will dictate our race strategy.”
 
WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE SO FAR IN TRYING TO DO THE DOUBLE? OR, WHAT’S BEEN THE HARDEST THING?
“The open cockpit is a whole different experience. The biggest surprise has just been the warm welcome in the open wheel paddock. The Indy Car guys have been just so supportive and giving me encouragement. It’s been really neat to see them reach out. I thought it would be more cutthroat from those guys, but we haven’t gotten into race weekend yet. I’m sure that will change.”
 
REGARDING GETTING TO CHARLOTTE IN TIME FOR QUALIFYING TODAY
“Well, the driver’s meeting is the most important part so we could keep our starting position. I thank NASCAR for allowing me to miss yesterday’s practice and still be eligible to run tonight.”
 
YOU ALSO HAD GREAT SUPPORT FROM WITHIN THE SPRINT CUP GARAGE. THAT HAS TO BEE A GOOD FEELING
“It’s neat. Dale Jr. has been tweeting about it and I heard when I did do my qualifying run to get up as high as P3, Tony Stewart said congratulations and that one hit me hard just with the Indiana feel of everything. It’s near. Everybody has been curious about it. There’s still a lot of anxious moments and the speed is probably the most fun part. I can check 230 mph off the list. It’s a hair-raising experience to put a car on edge for four laps. I had three, what I felt were moments, in the car. If I had had a fourth, I might not be here right now. I’m glad that we went as fast as we did today to make the Final Nine was really exceeding expectations.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR EXPECTATIONS OF NEXT WEEKEND’S 600 RACE?
“Just settling into race trim next week and we’ll see. It’s a race; it’s anybody’s race and we have to position ourselves for not making mistakes and stay away from mistakes on pit road to earn the gentleman’s respect out on the track as far as the protocol. That will be the next step in the first third of the race.”
 
WHAT’S THE OPEN COCKPIT LIKE AT THOSE SPEEDS?
“Yeah, you’ve definitely got to make sure the helmet fits nice and snug and we’re not worried about the oddities of driving an open wheel car. I just said I had a death grip on the wheel and that’s just because I wasn’t relaxing. So it’s just a matter of settling in and not putting too many things ahead of the curve.”
 
THERE IS SUCH A DIFFERENCE IN THE CARS, WHEN YOU’RE GOING BACK AND FORTH, ARE YOU PUTTING ONE OUT YOUR MIND AND FOCUSING ON THE OTHER? HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THAT?
“I made sure I got a nice nap in on the plane. And to wake up and look out the window and there’s Charlotte Motor Speedway. It’s a visual reference, but at the same time it’s All-Star time. Stock cars. This is what I have to do the next four hours. And then when I fly back up tonight, I’ll just zone back in tomorrow morning when I get up. It’s Indy. We’ll do a baseline run tomorrow morning to do a q-run and then hopefully have a good q-run in the afternoon to make the Indy 500 a 10th.”
 
HOW IMPORTANT ARE STARTING SPOTS?
“We have a shot at the fourth row. That’s going to be our best. That will be our goal. If we can come away with 10th, 11th, or 12th, that will be a great spot to be in. Is it ideal? No. There are guys that are better. But for me there’s going to be so much when they drop the green flag, that I might be starting fourth and have to yield ten positions just to get settled in. So, we’ll see how that goes.”
 
WAS IT A SMOOTH FLIGHT FROM INDY TO CHARLOTTE?
“Door to door, I walked out of the paddock in Indianapolis and made it here, to the back of the hauler, in an hour and 31 minutes.  We gave ourselves a two-hour cushion so if there is anythi
ng that happens, we’ll know exactly what our timeline is.”
 
DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE GAINING CROSSOVER FANS?
“They have a different feel up there with Gasoline Alley and they’re right there on top of the drivers when they go in and out and rooting the teams on. I heard the crowd after I got out of the car and the crowd was very supportive. I heard a guy heckle me. He said hey, you taxicab driver you! And I went hey, that’s awesome. I come from the stock car world and that’s my home and that’s where I’ve raced for 15 years. And it’s nice to have the support of those guys up there.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE ALL-STAR RACE WILL BE LIKE TONIGHT?
“I think a fast car is going to prevail. Jeff Gordon was fast last week along with Kevin Harvick. The average of the four segments we hope that we can be in the mix and in the mix is top six. If we’re in the top six, then I think we’ve got a shot at winning it.”
 
 

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT TO LOCK INTO FIELD:
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, No. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “It’s good to actually hear what he is saying because it sounds like we are in kind of a similar scenario.  The car feels fantastic.  The Pennzoil car looks really good.  I was kind of surprised to be honest for the speed.  I thought we were going to pull at least a 229.9 or close to 230.  When I saw the 229.3 I was like ‘uh’ I don’t like that.  Yeah, similar to what he is saying we have got to figure out the quick.  We know we have a plan B obviously and that is what we are going to try to do and let’s see what happens. Yeah, the only thing I wish actually would be a little wind, because the track condition is absolutely perfect. With the new rules you are allowed to go without losing your time depending on the line you go in.  That is what we are going to do.  We are going to try to keep going and squeeze.  I know all the guys are going to go. I heard obviously the Ganassi and yes, you want to be the fastest out there today, but the main key is to be in the top nine.  At this point that is what we are going to focus on right now.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “To be honest, I wasn’t sure we would run that quick this morning.  I am happy with that and now it is just sitting back and seeing what everyone else does.  I really don’t want to make two runs today.  I think there are a couple of little things we can do to get some more speed out of it.  But I would rather test that stuff on Sunday.  I think we have a good chance for the pole on Sunday but the field is very tight this year.  There are so many good cars and drivers out there that I don’t really know where we sit right now. It will come down on who gets it right on the day for the pole.  It really comes down to being perfect for four laps. It makes for the a long day because you have to sit around and see what everyone else can do on Saturday.  If you would have told that we were going run 230 for an average, I would have said it’s a top nine spot.  But I don’t know right now.  If we have to go back out now, I think we can get some more out of the Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy.  I thought it would take about a 229 or 228.5 to get into the top nine before this morning’s runs.  Then a lot of guys ran 230 this morning, so I am just not sure where our 230 run stands.  I hope it remains on the top of the charts. In a perfect world, we make one run today and one run on Sunday.  We’ll just wait and see right now.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT:  “I felt pretty good.  I lifted on that run so obviously got more than that.  Just have to go back and have a good look at what we can do with the set-up here.  I think we have got a fast enough car, just looking at it right now to definitely be in the top nine, but maybe challenge in the top three. That is the aim for today get in the top- nine.  I think we are good. For us it’s just to get in the fast nine in the safest way possible.  I have to say it is very difficult on this new tire.  The new tire runs on low downforce, but it’s a very good race tire very durable.  So we are just kind of struggling to get a good balance right now in the car for this low downforce tire.  I lifted that means when you lift you have a moment so I’ve got to understand what is going on. It’s difficult to tell because we have been running around with such heavy downforce.  It’s a little cold and we are on the lightest downforce we have been on.  It’s low grip for me right now, it feels that way. I think if it was hotter this tire would be better.”
 
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 6 ROBERT GRAHAM – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “I think we had a great balance.  We had to make some adjustments on the first lap, but it was a very consistent run all the way across.  Probably like Tony (Kanaan) I think we’ve got a very good balanced car.  It’s essentially very close to what he raced at KV last year.  I’m appreciative for his test driver work on my behalf.  It’s good it’s just not quite getting the same speed out of it some of the other teams, but from a balance stand point we are pretty happy.  Our other teammate cars with (Sebastian) Saavedra and (Sebastien) Bourdais I think have run and the speed is comparable to what I have.  We will have to go back and study things and make a decision as to what and how much and when.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET,  FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “We thought my car was faster than Scott’s (Dixon). Obviously we are not as fast as anybody right now. The whole team has been struggling. We probably had a top-12 car going in to today, and then we were going to make it better during the day, and obviously that isn’t the case. So we are going to have to make it better today to try to make it to the fast nine.  If not, honestly I won starting 12th last year, so I don’t think it will be a problem. Last year I had the pressure of winning; this year I have the pressure to win again. You take it in a completely different approach after winning this race. I’m glad that I did it. I’m glad I got to celebrate for a full year. But now it is time to go back to work. The fans have always been great with me here and they still are. I still struggle to walk around here, which is a good problem to have. We’ll keep doing what we are doing. As long as I can keep pleasing them and putting on good races for them, they are still going to cheer for me.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “I think it was a pretty good run. I had to be pretty quick on the adjustments in the car to try to squeeze a little bit more speed out of it on a couple of laps, which was working well, but on that last lap I lost a little speed so we’ll just have to go back through the data and see where that was. It’s a long day here today, so we’ll see how things shake out after everyone’s had a run. we would’ve liked to have pulled a little bit more speed out of our run, but obviously Ed (Carpenter) has some speed in his car. So we’ll go back and take a look at where the differences are between the two of our runs and go from there. It’s not a lot of lap time. The cars are very close together, so maybe there’s a little bit of time lost in shifting, or not shifting, warm-up laps, and those kinds of things. With how close everyone is, you’re getting into the nitty gritty little bits of detail to determine what’s going on. For Ed and me, it’s a very transparent relationship so that makes it easier in a situation like this to really figure it out. Especially with Ed being as quick as he is, I doubt that we’ll really be in a position to bump him out. So we’ll see what things look like in a bit.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “It is good to be back. I thought we could have run a 230 (mph). We made some changes and we were just sliding around a little too much in qualifying and just dragging the car down a little too much. It’s not bad. That is what we do…it is normal. We feel like we have a really fast car for the race.  As the day goes on, we will understand better where we are and how good our car is; how much speed it has; and go from there. I think we know what we need to do with the car. We are going to give it another run later. It’s hard to know because it is so close. I think we are going to somewhere between eighth and twelfth. So we are going to have to really push that issue a little more. I think qualifying is great. I th
ink what they did is really, really good. I think it is awesome the way they did it because you are going to have people running all day. I mean going at it all day. I think if you are going to do a test run, you might as well just time it.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS:  No. 11 No. 11 HYDROXYCUT/MISTIC E-CIGS – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “We spent a lot of time to get it right for the race.  The car is definitely pretty racy.  It’s pretty comfortable in traffic and we got it better during the week. We tried quite a few things and I think we have it much better understanding of what we are looking for in race trim than we do in qualifying trim mode.  Obviously we didn’t get much practice so that is kind of a shot in the dark a bit because this morning was the first time we came with the rear wing laid back in qualifying trim.  It’s not easy, but it was a pretty solid run.  We kind of scrubbed a bit too much on lap two and four coming off of (Turn) two it was the tail wind but that was about it.  Really there wasn’t much going. I think Fast Friday with the high boost and everything was the day dedicated to qualifying running so we got seven laps in.  It’s kind of tricky, but it is what it is.  We have seen plenty of upsets coming from the back here. The great thing is now we have to do it all over again tomorrow anyways.  We are not necessarily going to stop there we are going to keep at it and make it as far forward as possible.  I just feel we can’t content for the fast nine if we don’t make it today.  10th place would be alright. It’s a couple of changes front, rear just changing a bit of cross weight and things like that.  Essentially I think it’s a little better tire.  It seems to leave a lot less vibrations from everybody’s feedback and stuff.  It seems a bit more durable as well.  The grip seems to be a bit more consistent through runs and stuff so it’s a better tire.  But it requires a little bit different set-up not dramatic just a couple of adjustments here and there.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “I was just talking to him (Scott Dixon).  As a team we have got to put our thinking caps on a little bit.  It’s definitely not a question of downforce.  We just need to find some speed somehow.  We’ve got a long day ahead of us, but we will be able to practice later, have a couple more qualifying attempts and do our best.  The car felt reasonable, we just need to find the speed.  It’s got to be there.  There are no excuses we just need to really put our thinking caps on here and see.  We haven’t had much opportunity to practice qualifying and really start searching.  So today we are going to get into that and make a long day of it. I mean that is where he coming from the stand point of as far as trimming out goes they won’t let us take the rear wing off so that would be the next step for us (laughs).  But it is something else.  I think it’s not just about the downforce number.  I mean (Ed) Carpenter is running more downforce than any of us and he is the quickest car out there.  Whatever they are doing they are doing it right and we need to try to figure it out pretty quickly.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. AFS 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT:
: “It’s hard to believe that this is the same car that was involved in the big accident last weekend. I am so proud of the KV AFS Racing guys, they did an amazing job putting the car back together in two days. We lost a lot of time on track, but we are here and the car feels good. To be at the same pace as my teammates with a car that is not fully build for this event is a great feeling.  We haven’t focused so much time on the qualifying trim, so I know we have a good race car and now we focus on the race next weekend.”
 
SAGE KARAM, NO. 22 COMFORT REVOLUTION/BRANTLEY GILBERT  DREYER & REINBOLD KINGDOM RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “Today was great. We qualified and made the show. We’re in the Indianapolis 500, which has been a dream of mine as long as I can remember. To finally accomplish that is an incredible feeling for me and also my family, because we’ve worked so hard for it. As far as the car is concerned, it’s great as well. Dreyer & Reinbold-Kingdom Racing put a really good car together for me. We know it’s not today that counts, but tomorrow and next Sunday. Hopefully tomorrow we can find another couple tenths in the Comfort Revolution/Brantley Gilbert car, and try to qualify towards the front. Right now we’re sitting about mid-pack, which I can work with, but if we can get up to tenth, it’ll be a whole lot easier on me, and we’ll have a lot more fun with that, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “We’re a mile-and-a-half off right now, and we are trimmer than a lot of the cars out there with the exception to the Penske’s that are pretty trimmed. It is hard to see when Ed (Carpenter) rolls out there, they have a lot of downforce on them, and goes out there and knocks off some 230s (mph) right out of the box.  I think fundamentally we are missing something right now. A mile-and-a-half doesn’t sound like that much, but it is. The unfortunate part is you work probably six months of the year trying to find the combinations that you want to run, and we think we get the best speed out of it. We have to try and reinvent the wheel in the next hour or two. Hopefully that will help us find some speed. I watched the No. 8 (Ryan Briscoe) to see how it ran. They are fairly similar. I think the No. 10 (Tony Kanaan) seems a little more solid than we are right now for speed. But probably for only a half-a-mile-an-hour. In general we are still lacking. So, we’ll see how everybody goes for the first run and we will start working on some big set-up changes here, and take a few practice runs to see if we can find some speed. Right now. If we run through all these spots, we are going to be sitting  back in about 20th or 21st. So we have a lot of work to do.”
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT:   “It’s pretty tight but that is the Verizon IndyCar Series for you at the moment.  It’s super competitive and you know you have to get the most out of the car.  With the weather conditions the last couple of days getting limited qualifying running yesterday and then with the temperatures this morning limiting how much we were able to do in that 8 – 10 a.m. time frame I’m pretty happy with the No. 83 Novo Flex Pen colors effort in qualifying.  It was a solid flag in the ground as a baseline.  The nice thing about the updated qualifying, I guess the nice and challenging thing is, you don’t have to withdraw your time to go try again.  So the track may never open for practice because people may just stay in line because they don’t have to risk it.  I think that what eventually will come is if you are so confident in going quicker you withdraw your time and take it.  But as far as the 83 car and the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing side we have to go back and look at the data and see if we can find a little bit more.  See what’s left in my engineer and my teams’ bag of tricks.  I know they always have something up their sleeve.  We will go back and look at it. We will compare data with the No. 9 car, the No. 8 car, as well as the No. 10 who ran in very similar track conditions to me right after me.  We will compare that. We definitely started working towards the qualifying set-up as far as downforce level trimming out this morning.  Understanding that as the day warmed up ambient wise some but the t
rack conditions the track temperature coming up would change the handling a little bit.  We erred on that side of caution a little bit mechanically, but I think aerodynamically going from 45 degrees to 50 degrees it’s not like going from 50 to 80 ambient wise.  What little understanding I’ve garnered from the engineering staff it’s more ambient temperature on aerodynamics than anything else.  We will just have to see what the rest of the day brings.  I think it’s supposed to continue to warm up later into the day.  I don’t know if it’s supposed to cloud up there were some gray clouds rolling in.  I don’t know if that will cool the track back down and the air will still be warm and thin and quick, but that is something the engineers would be able to tell me a lot better than I would be able to guesstimate.”
 
BUDDY LAZIER, NO. 91 WYNN INSTITUTE FOR VISION RESEARCH CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “We had the first qualifying pull and we missed that spot this morning and so the thought was to wait until it opens for practice and go to a balance check and make a run. But I got the sense that there was rain possibly coming it did sprinkle a little bit so we hurried up and went sort of blind in a way.  It was actually a good run.  I think we had less than 20 laps at speed and we don’t have a teammate so we missed four days of practice.  That is the thing I just don’t want to do anymore.  It still is too much. It is difficult to make up so instead of using experience to really do well we are just trying to get caught up all the time.  It’s a good car.  We’ve got a great engineer with David Cripps.  We are just starting to learn each other all the crew.  It did come together very last minute so I think in the future that will be our goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen like it did this year and last. Well (this year) it’s better preparation and our plan was to be a lot better.  We had some things that didn’t go right in the off season.  Without getting into too much detail we were certainly better but at the same time we are really supposed to be.  I think we are all a little disappointed with the last minute nature of it and there were reasons for all that.  But at the same time we are excited about being here and try to make the most of it.  We have some great sponsors with us this year with Herman Miller, the University of Iowa Stephen Wynn Institute which is something we are really excited about and is unique.  We have Phillips Energy Partners which is a great group out of Texas. Our sponsors the support I just want to do a great job for them.  It came together last minute but we think we have a lot more potential on race day in particular.  We may make another run.”
 
JAMES DAVISON, NO. 33 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY/ALWAYS EVOLVING RACING CHEVROLET, FOLLOWING FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT: “It wasn’t long ago that our deal was announced. We are running a half-program, hence why we have sat out of a lot of running.   Someone asked me before if the weather had hurt us, but not really because we can’t run too many miles any way. We get 500 miles of practice and qualifying on our engine that we can run. We need to use them wisely for the race. Prior to this morning, all I had down was rookie orientation. So we got a little bit done this morning on the car. We are about 80 percent way there on the wing angle to the other cars. That is going to be worth a mile-an-hour or two. We really need to use our miles wisely for race set-up, so unless we need to, we won’t go back out.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT SHOWDOWN
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 16, 2014
 
 
 
AJ ALLMENDINGER EARNS SPOT IN SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE WITH RUNNER-UP FINISH IN SHOWDOWN

Chevrolet Driver Josh Wise Voted in Via Sprint Fans

CONCORD, NC (May 16, 2014) – AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Freightliner/Miller Welders Chevrolet SS, raced his way into the Sprint All-Star race for the third time in his career by finishing second in the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Allmendinger will join 21 other drivers in Saturday night’s 30th running of the annual non-points race, with NASCAR’s brightest stars battling under the lights for $1 million.

Immediately following the race, the winner of the Sprint Fan Vote was announced to round out the field of 22; and Josh Wise, No. 98 Dogecoin/Reddit.com Chevrolet SS, was chosen by the fans to compete in Saturday night’s All-Star event.
 
Clint Bowyer (Toyota) was the race winner, Casey Mears (Chevrolet) was third, Marcos Ambrose (Ford) was fourth, and Aric Almirola (Ford) finished fifth.
 
The Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway takes the green flag on Saturday, May 17th at 9:10 pm ET and can be seen on FOX Sports 1 and heard on MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.
 
A.J. ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 FREIGHTLINER/MILLER WELDERS CHEVROLET SS – Finished 2nd, and JOHN WISE, NO. 98 DOGECOIN/REDDIT.COM CHEVROLET SS – SPRINT FAN VOTE WINNER
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
KERRY THARP:  Let’s roll right into our post‑race for tonight’s 29th annual Sprint Showdown, and we have a couple of drivers that will be racing now in tomorrow night’s NASCAR Sprint All‑Star Race.

            Our race runner‑up, and he led some laps out there tonight, was AJ Allmendinger.  He drives the No. 47 Freightliner Miller Welders Chevrolet.  He came in second.  Congratulations.  And our Sprint Fan Vote winner for 2014 is Josh Wise.  He drives the No. 98 Dogecoin Reddit.com Chevrolet.  Congratulations, Josh, to you.

            Let’s hear from our race runner‑up first, AJ.  Just talk about what your strategy was.  Certainly were racing aggressive out there tonight, but just talk about the strategy and some of the things you’re feeling now that you get to come back out here tomorrow evening.

            AJ ALLMENDINGER:  Yeah, I mean, it was set off by a good practice this morning, and a really good qualifying effort to start up front and lead some laps.  I was debating the last five laps before the caution came out whether we should pit or not.  Just being up front is so important here.  But my car started getting really loose kind of late in the run, so at that point I figured we had to at least come in and do two tires, and I was hoping to do two and get a good pit stop and maybe restart up front again and know that if I restarted up front it was going to be hard to ‑‑ I knew Clint was fast but I knew we were pulling away from everybody else, so for anybody else to come get us, even if they had four.

            Overall just really proud of this race team.  Our mile‑and‑a‑half program so far this year we’ve really struggled.  Last week was our biggest struggle.  My crew chief Brian Burns, my engineer Tony Palmer, everybody back at the shop for all of the hard work, too.  Come up with some new ideas to at least come here and try it.  I’m really, really happy that the car is better.  We’re not really where we want to be yet.  We don’t have quite enough speed in it, but we’re definitely making progress.  More importantly to get Tad Geschickter and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty into the All‑Star Race, to race our way in, for all of the sacrifices they make for this team and make us feel like a family throughout our shop, it’s just really gratifying to be able to do that for them.

            We’ll do the same thing tomorrow, just keep taking it step by step to try to make it better, and if we’ve got a shot to win the million dollars, we’re going to go for it.

            KERRY THARP:  Josh Wise, what a month or so it’s been for you and your race team.  Got this dynamic community of new fans behind you.  Just talk about what it’s like now to be racing in tomorrow night’s Sprint All‑Star Race.

            JOSH WISE:  I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, I guess.  This is huge for me and our team.  Really it started with a 16‑year‑old kid posting something on Reddit.com about some good runs that we had had, and for whatever reason this huge, awesome community just got behind us, and everyone knows about them raising money to sponsor us at Talladega, and then it was on to the Fan Vote.

            I’m just super thankful to be a part of it, really.  It’s been a pretty cool experience.

            Q.  Josh, do you ever wonder what made you stand out in this community and have them embrace you like this?

            JOSH WISE:  I do, and I don’t necessarily have an answer.  It’s just one of those things.  But something I wanted to kind of say, too, is like this is kind of a big deal for our sport, I felt like, because it’s a lot of like young kids and people from around the world.  I’ve had the chance to interact with a lot of them, and there’s a lot of people who had never watched a NASCAR race who have now watched several, so it’s a pretty cool deal.

            Q.  Josh, obviously you knew that the community was voting and voting and voting.  Did you kind of have it in the back of your mind that this was going to be realistic?  Did you think it was going to actually happen?

            JOSH WISE:  I guess yeah.  I mean, I saw the potential there.  There’s 110‑million people that regularly use Reddit, and there was a large portion of them that knew about this and were a part of it I felt like.  So it was just one of those things that you didn’t know if people were just telling you they were voting for you or how many times they’re voting or whatever.  I thought it was definitely a possibility.

            Q.  Josh, the whole Twitter world has blown up and half of them are happy and half of them say you guys somehow gamed the system.  Do you care what people say about how you got in?

            JOSH WISE:  I don’t necessarily care what people say about it.  Yeah, I mean, people vote and the person with the most votes wins, so however you play the game, I guess it’s ‑‑ yeah.  That’s all I have to say about that.

            Q.  Josh, can you talk a little bit about I think Tony Stewart was kind of the guy that lobbied for you when you first got here and just what a roller coaster ride it’s been for you, and then to now have the kind of popularity you could really only dream about, I know you guys race for the race, for the competition and everything else, but to win the Fan Vote for this deal when there have been times when you haven’t even known whether or not you w
ere still going to be in a NASCAR race, still driving a NASCAR car, what does this moment feel like?

            JOSH WISE:  I mean, if you asked me two months ago, there’s just no way I would have thought this was possible.  You know, you kind of outlined a little bit of my path, and it was pretty awesome and exciting through my open‑wheel days, driving for Tony and AJ Foyt and seeing success, and it’s been really, really hard since I’ve been out here.

            And one of the challenges that I’ve faced is just gaining momentum through sponsorship and being in really good opportunities to be able to showcase what I think I can do, and so this is a big deal because obviously we have a lot of people behind us.  Hopefully it helps us to build a better program here as we go forward.

            Q.  Josh, by making the All‑Star Race, that’s an additional $70,000 or so that your team would not have gotten, and I know that pales in comparison to the money that Clint and AJ, those teams can have to some degree, but what does $70,000 ‑‑

            AJ ALLMENDINGER:  Whoa, whoa, we’re looking for sponsors every day, too.  Let’s back it down a little bit.

            Q.  What does $70,000 mean for an organization like yours?

            JOSH WISE:  Yeah, it just helps us.  We’re able to buy those extra sticker tires on the weekend so that we feel like we have a car that’s going to be more competitive.  I am stoked for just Phil Parsons Racing in general about this.  Phil really took a leap of faith and just saying we’re racing this year, we’re going to do whatever it takes to race, and that’s what we’ve been doing.  We’ve been able to really have some really good speed at some tracks, some tough tracks, Bristol, Darlington, we had a strong run at Fontana until we blew a tire.  So obviously all that little bit of funding helps.  But I think probably what’s more valuable than that is the exposure that’s coming from it.

            Q.  Josh, have you talked to Phil yet?  I know he’s up in the booth.  And secondly, do you plan on reaching out to Dennis and what are you going to say to him?

            JOSH WISE:  Yeah, I’ve actually spoken with Dennis because Dennis ‑‑ when Dennis started this, it was to really fund the car for Talladega, and really the community kind of schemed that whole thing together, and they basically called us and were like, hey, we’re raising money, we want to sponsor you, and this is what we want to put on the car, so it was just this big whirlwind.  So when that happened I reached out to Dennis.  I tracked him down and I actually text message with him all the time now, and he’s a cool little kid.  He’s going to come to the Chicago race.  I know he’s probably pretty pumped about this.

            KERRY THARP:  Congratulations. You’re going to make it a better race tomorrow night, and good luck tomorrow night.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
FAST FRIDAY
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 16, 2014) – Fast Friday was exactly that for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 teams and drivers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Inclement weather once again played havoc with track time prior to Saturday’s start to qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500.
 
However, Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, made the most out of the 18 minutes of running time turning in the fastest lap of the month, 230.522 mph/39.0418 seconds, to win the $10,000 FE Harding Asphalt Company Fast Friday Lap of the Day Award.
 
There were four additional Team Chevy drivers who turned fast times that landed them in the top-10 in the order: Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet – 229.843 mph; JR Hildebrand, No. 21 Preferred Freezer Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet – 229.384 mph; Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – 229.205 mph and Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – 229.0-62 mph.
 
Qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 will begin Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. and conclude Sunday, May 18 with the Fast 9 Qualifying beginning at 2:00 p.m.  ABC TV will air live coverage of qualifying from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.
 
FASTEST LAP PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
IS THERE ANYTHING LEFT IN THAT THING?
“Well I mean that was a tow lap that wasn’t totally honest there.  We will find out tomorrow.  I mean I really think it’s going to be close.  I think it’s going to come down to a lot like last year the conditions and who gets it right for the conditions on that given run.  With tomorrows format and the ability to make multiple attempts without pulling a time and 33 points being available for the quick time I think we could see a lot of attempts just because those points are valuable.  33 points you can only get 40 or 50 for a win.  It’s going to be enticing.”
 
HOW DID THAT LAP FEEL AND WHAT DID YOU THINK?
“It felt good.  I mean the cars definitely have the speed this year.  I think when it comes to trying to predict what the pole is going to be I think a lot of it is just going to come down to what the weather is.  That 230 mph I did today I don’t think that would have happened on a clean track.  Obviously I had (Sebastien) Bourdais in front of me for half of the lap.  But if it warms up enough and the air gets a little thinner certainly I think 230 mph laps are realistic and even up to 232 or 233 if the weather was right I think.”
 
IS ANYBODY THAT YOU KNOW OF HAD A CHANGE TO DO A FOUR LAP SIMULATION YET?
“I haven’t I was on the fourth lap when it started raining there.  Yesterday when I was trying to do one I caught up to JR (Hildebrand).  That is what has been hard.  It’s hard compared to years past we had more time to be on track.  The way it’s played out with weather and engine mileage and everything else.  The limited time we have had the past three days everyone is out there all the time.  When you have 25-30 cars on this track even though it is 2.5-miles long it’s nearly impossible to get a clean lap.  No one really knows what anyone can really do out of a tow.  We do all these no tow reports to filter out laps where people got a tow and right now there are not many people on the list.  It’s hard to really know where people are.  I know that we feel confident in our speed and hopefully we will be a factor this weekend and be able to have some fun.”
 
IS QUALIFYING TRIM JUST GUESS WORK OR YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO WITH THE CAR?
“I think for us I feel okay about it.  JR (Hildebrand) and I both did a three-lap, well he did four yesterday, I did three yesterday and then he got in four this morning clean.  I got in three not clean, but we’ve done enough and trimmed enough that we feel good about where we are.  Maybe a few minor tweaks here and there.  I think a lot of guys out there this morning we got pretty far trimmed.  It looks like the Penske cars got pretty far trimmed, but there are some other cars that still had a ways to go.  I would rather be in our position where we have gotten a little further with it than having to be on the other side where maybe you haven’t trimmed as far as you think you need to go for qualifying.  You never want the first time that you do it to be in qualifying.”
 
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO SIT ON THE POLE FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR?
“Even though it wasn’t a lot of track time and I didn’t even run as many laps as I had hoped because we had a couple of issues, but I still feel like we got a lot of work done with the race car.  I really feel like we are in a good situation having a second car here this year.  If JR (Hildebrand) wasn’t on board and we had this type of weather and everything play out as a single car team I think that we would be further behind.  Having the second car here this year we have gotten more work done.  I feel good about where things are for the race.  It seems like the cars have some speed in them.  When you have a chance to make a run at a pole here at Indy you would be crazy not to try for it.”
 
IS THERE ANY ADVANTAGE IN THE FACT YOU WENT THE FASTEST THEN THE RAIN CAME? IN TERMS OF THE PSYCHE OF THE OTHER COMPETITORS?
“I don’t know.  I got 10,000 bucks.  You know Helio (Castroneves) went out and worked pretty hard to knock me off yesterday so I’m sure they would have done it again if they worked hard enough at it.  Other than that today doesn’t mean anything.  Tomorrow is a new day and the weather is going to be different.  The team and driver that go out there and get the right combination will be fastest at the end of the day.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 16, 2014
 
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CARES CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed her performance last week at Kansas, the upcoming 600 race next weekend and more. Full Transcript:
 
HOW DOES YOUR 7TH PLACE FINISH AT KANSAS GIVE YOU MOMENTUM FOR THIS WEEKEND?
“We’re just doing our best as a team to take the positive from Kansas. Sure, emotionally, but really set-up wise and things like that we think will translate and carry those one. I think that’s a good part about doing well is it gives some confidence but it also helps show what stuff works out there. Your car has to be right. You have to qualify well. You have to run strong. You have to make good calls. It all has to get put together. The car is just one part of it.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW PUPPY          
‘It was a pretty magical weekend. It was a good night on Saturday night (at Kansas) and then on Mother’s Day I picked up my dog; or our dog I should say. We got a little girl miniature Siberian Husky. Her name is Dallas. She’s really cute. I’m itching my face because she licked it and it itches. So, I just came from seeing her. As I walked away, Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) was holding her and I’m like see babe, you have a little bit of a bad day and you come back and it’s just a little better when you have a little dog to go play with and that will lay with you. She’s been a lot of fun. But she definitely acts like a baby. She wakes up all the time. She poops on the floor, she goes to the bathroom all the time. She’s due for more shots next week, you know, all that stuff.”
 
ONE THING ABOUT A DOG: IT NEVER HAS A BAD DAY
“No, no. No they don’t. Not if you show some love to them. It’s always good because in this cruel sport of racing very rarely are you on Cloud 9. It’s nice to come home to that.”
 
HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE, IF ANY, DID YOU GET FROM KANSAS? IS THAT SOMETHING YOU KNEW YOU HAD IN YOU AND THAT YOU COULD DO, OR WAS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU LEFT THERE LIKE ON CLOUD 9?
“Honestly, I really believe I can do that. I don’t think I would be where I am today without the confidence that I can. At this point in time, after where I’ve been and where I’ve run, it was a little bit of a surprise. But I guess if things had been going well, progressively, from the beginning, these are the kind of races that I would have hoped to have every now and again starting now. But, obviously it hasn’t been nearly that good yet. But that’s really an example of putting a whole weekend together; everything from getting help from my teammates to qualifying well, making good race calls, making good decisions on the car before the race, using our teammates and all the information we have to do that and building a really great new car. You have to have everything together to be able to run up front in the Cup Series. It’s just so hard. So, I’m very proud of everyone for putting it all together and doing a great job.”
 
THE ALL-STAR RACE HAS A HISTORY. RUSTY AND DW IN ’89, KYLE PETTY AND DAVEY ALLISON IN ’92; CRAZY FINISHES IN THE END WHERE DRIVERS DO THINGS THEY MIGHT NOT ORDINARILY DO. WITH A MILLION DOLLARS ON THE LINE, ASSUMING YOU RACE IN, ON SATURDAY NIGHT, WHAT WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO DO FOR THAT MONEY?
“When you’re in the car, you’re not thinking about the fact that I need to pass for a million dollars. If it was about money, I don’t think that would be enough for any of us. It’s about heart and it’s about doing your best and it’s about making the most of the night. So, that’s what’s running through your head is passing the car in front of you. Now, more than anything since it’s not really about money more than anything; it’s just a one-off race, so the results don’t necessarily matter unless you win, so you might as well go for it. For me, that’s what my attitude is toward it. Now if you win a million dollars, that’s great. But if you win the race, you probably already have a million dollars. So, it’s icing on the cake. Now if it was like $5 million, it might make you think. I’ll pass for $5 million.”
 
WHAT WORKED SO WELL AT KANSAS? DID THE CAR JUST GO WHEREVER YOU PUT IT? WERE YOU JUST MORE DARING?
“It’s something that happens two-fold. I think when the car is good, you can be more daring because it’s not going to step out on you and you trust it and you know what it’s going to do. When things aren’t as good on track and the car doesn’t feel as good, then it’s a lot harder to be more brave because there is a higher likelihood that it’s not going to end well. So, for me, the big difference was that it was really good on restarts. It was really stuck in traffic. And it was really good in the long run. I never noticed a lack of grip at any point. For me that was what I noticed last weekend above any other weekend was the consistency of it. That’s what allowed me to be able to have great restarts, or definitely not really lose a lot, which has been qualifying I would say. And restarts are a place where it comes up that I need to work on it and it’s true. Yes, that is the case, but I think last weekend, you see what can happen when the car is right and that gives me the confidence to do more. And I think that as time goes on and you get more seasoned as a driver, you can overcome some of that, for sure. But it’s still got to be good.”
 
SOME DRIVERS TALK ABOUT THE DAY THE LIGHT WENT ON AND THAT THEY SORT OF GOT WHAT’S GOING ON OUT THERE. WAS THERE ANY OF THAT ASPECT TO IT FOR YOU AT KANSAS? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE TURNED A CORNER WITH THAT PERFORMANCE?
“No. It was a good weekend. I feel like I’m feeling the car better and better, but I don’t think it was a light switch for me. It was just a weekend that so many good things happened in the race and we ran with such good cars and passed such good cars that for me it gives me confidence, for sure. Like I said, I’ve always believed I can do that but when you’re head-to-head with guys like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jr.’ when you’re head-to-head with those guys then it’s another story on it’s own. I think that if we keep doing what we’re doing and keep our heads down and not get flustered; not every single weekend is going to be like that for anyone. But we’ll have more of those, for sure.”
 
IN LOOKING AHEAD TO THE COCA-COLA 600, HOW DO YOU MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THAT RACE WITH IT BEING SO LONG?
“Oh, what’s another 100 miles on top of 500? It really doesn’t seem that long. I did it the last two years, right? Last year seemed pretty quick. Mind you, I did get crashed. A lot of it has to do with how you’re doing and how the car is; what’s happening on track, are you actually racing people throughout the race? I always felt like Darlington was the longest race in the whole world. It felt like 800 miles to me. But for some reason this year it went quick. So, actually, I just think it has to do with how your race is going. Another 100 miles, if you’re running well, is going to help; if not, then it’s not. Other than that, it’s just another long race and we have a lot of them.”
 
IS THERE LESS GRIP HERE THAN IN KANSAS? DOES THE CHALLENGE RESUME HERE AT CHARLOTTE? ALSO, MARK MARTIN IS BACK. HAVE YOU HAD MUCH CONVERSATION WITH HIM?
“Yeah, the grip level at Kansas is higher, but they also give you a harder tire. It’s not as though they are worlds apart, but there is less grip here. And the track is rougher and seems to wear the tires out a little bit more. So there is a little bit more of a difference in getting to the end of a run. And yeah, Mark is back. I walked into the hauler this morning and saw him. He’s been not feeling so great throughout the beginning of the year and was intending to be around every weekend or most weekends, to sort of
help out and fast-forward the learning curve and play a part as much as he could to help with that. It’s good to see him. He’s obviously great around here so it’s nice for him to come to this one (race). It’s nice to have one more driver on my side who has a ton of experience that can help me; especially on e that’s not in the car that can see everything that’s going on and hear it. Every little bit helps. I’m never mad when someone has a suggestion or something they think will help me. I’ll always try it. And sometimes they are just nice little reminders every now and again about getting down to the line or trying high. I mean you kind of get in such a rhythm of trying to make the most out of what you think is best that you think you need to step out. Sometimes it’s just simple little reminders that are nice.”
 
REGARDING YOUR RECENT SUCCESS IN KNOCK-OUT QUALIFYING AND IF THAT MOMENTUM CAN HELP YOU TODAY IN THE SHOWDOWN QUALIFYING FORMAT
“It’s definitely better.  It’s obviously something that I needed to work on but you still have to have a good car and the first top-10 was at Martinsville.   We saw how I ran that day, and I was absolutely terrible that day.  It’s not everything, but it definitely helps.  I would venture to say that when knock-out qualifying happens and we all get done with our first run, there are a heck of a lot more times that I have been in the top-15.  Most of the time when I finally get things going in knock-out qualifying, then it’s like last weekend everybody goes out again and goes faster. So, no, it’s like I said at the beginning of the year; it all evens out in the end.  There are times when you find speed, and you make something happen and you get in.  Then there are times that you get in on a good time and you go out and you go from being 11th overall in first round and then you are 24th – and that sucked.  So if it’s more interesting for the fans, then that is the most important thing for our sport because we are fan-driven so much.   We have to keep them entertained for sure, keep them watching and interesting.  At the end of the day it’s just racing, driving as fast as you can, and more of it.”
 
DID THE KANSAS FINISH LAST WEEK CHANGE YOUR CONFIDENCE IN YOUR 1.5 MILE PROGRAM, OR OVERALL?
“Weekends like that are just good signs.  They show hard work by everybody and they make you excited to do it more. So I think the optimism level goes up because you are riding high and you want to keep doing that.  I think we have to keep our expectation levels in check a little bit and make sure we don’t just expect to go out there and run in the top-five or top-ten every time now.  We have to remember that there is a process to it and we skipped over top-15s and went straight to top-10s.  Shoot we pretty much skipped over top-20s and didn’t have many of those either.  We have to keep improving and have to keep getting in the thick of the good drivers and move up like that. It definitely gives confidence, it’s definitely a good sign, and definitely good to have those races.  We just hope to have them more often.”
 
REGARDING THE FAN VOTE AND IF THAT GIVES YOU CONFIDENCE IN THE RACE
“I was very fortunate to win the Sprint Fan Vote last year and it was great, great racing and practice.  It was a good challenge for me before the Coke 600, which we were having a pretty good race in the Coke 600
and it definitely helped.  What can I say? I am just really fortunate.  My fans are awesome, there are so many of them that defend me and support me to the bitter end.  It’s cool that they can play a part in my racing career, and that is what they do. For them to be able to use their voice or their fingers to vote for me, get me more track time, and help me be better – that is playing a part. So, I am really fortunate for that. And hopefully that happens; and if not, then not. Definitely every driver wants to race their way in and not even have to think about the fan vote, and that is my plan tonight.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 16, 2014
 
PARKER KLIGERMAN, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed his role as Kurt Busch’s backup at this weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race and next weekend’s Coca-Cola 600, among other topics. Full Transcript:
 
TELL US ABOUT YOUR SITUATION FOR THIS TWO WEEKS HERE.
“It’s obviously a unique opportunity. It’s not kind of something that is conventional in our sport – to show up and having the chance to drive one of the top cars in our sport in a practice session and be a fly on the wall for the rest of the situations that are going on and the races. I kind of harken it back to my time at Penske when I did it for Brad (Keselowski) on the Nationwide side and also on the 22 car at the Cup level at Michigan two years ago. So I’ve done this at little bit before. But obviously jumping into a new team at Stewart-Haas Racing and Haas Automation, and having this opportunity from Kurt (Busch) and everyone here to have the belief in me to come in here and do a good job is flattering. Hopefully I’ll make the best of it.”
 
HOW DID IT COME ABOUT?
“Honestly, Kurt called me two weeks ago. Actually he was texting me first, and I was like ‘Why is Kurt texting me?’ Occasionally I’ve gone to him for some advice here and there, but this was out of the blue. I started thinking, ‘Why would he need to text me.’ Then he asked if he could call and I said ‘Yeah, call me.’ So he called me and said he knew about my situation and all but he said, ‘This is the kind of call you want to get. Would you be willing to come and practice my car for me and be on standby as I do this double deal (at the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600)?’
 
“We kind of fit in the same seat and we know this from our time at Penske. He knew my feedback and our driving styles are similar so I absolutely said yes; this is one of those opportunities where you can’t say anything other than yes.”
 
HOW MUCH HAVE YOU DONE ALREADY AT THE SHOP, AND WHAT’S THE PLAN AT THE TRACK?
“We did a seat fitting on Monday and Tuesday. We’re trying to keep it close to Kurt. His insert is in it, his seat belts are in it and his wheel position. The only we had to do is move the pedals back, which we’re not excited about. Kurt and I have to figure that out for the 600 just because he has longer legs. We’re about the same height but I have a little broader shoulders so I’m a little cramped in there. If I do have to drive the car for some extended hours, I will be a little beat up but that’s all in helping Kurt do this, complete 1,100 miles and help this Haas Automation Chevy SS team be at the level they are used to being… which is up front.”
 
WHAT’S THE PLAN STARTING HERE THIS WEEKEND TO GET YOU SEAT TIME?
“Kurt came in Wednesday when it was raining in Indy. He flew back and we were able to sit down with Daniel (Knost), his crew chief, to go over everything and see how it’s all going to work out. Honestly, it’s a
play-it-by-ear. We all have a plan and a set idea of how it should work out. If everything goes to plan, Kurt will be here for everything almost – aside from today. Obviously barring weather and situations that can happen, we have to be prepared for everyone on this No. 41 team. Hopefully everything falls in place and Kurt races 1,100 miles and run up front. That’s the most important thing.”
 
IS PART OF YOU HOPING YOU HE DOESN’T MAKE IT BACK AND YOU GET A CHANCE TO RACE A CAR OF THIS QUALITY?
“That’s not fair to say. I absolutely hope Kurt is able to do all 1,100 miles. Obviously if something were to happen, I’d be prepared to go out there and do the 600 miles and have the chance to run this Haas Automation Chevy SS. But as I’ve said before, that’s not my mindset. My mindset is to help this team be at the level they are used to being at, which is up front and being prepared to go out there and win races so that when Kurt shows up, he’s ready to go out there and have the best and easiest transition between an IndyCar and stock car, which is tough in itself.”
 
HAS IT BEEN HARD FOR YOU NOT TO BE IN THE CAR THIS WEEK?
“It’s been kind of refreshing, to be honest. When you’re at the back end of the Cup series and fighting and in those teams that are struggling a little bit, it can wear on you. I’ve been at this NASCAR deal for five years. I’m still young but I don’t look back. It’s one of those things that can wear on you and wear on you. It’s a little refreshing to step back, take account of where you’re at and look at the opportunities out there and say, ‘You know what…I’m not going to do opportunities like that any more.’ I’m going to look at opportunities that can forward my career and put me in better positions to win races no matter where it’s at and make sure I’m staying at the forefront of the series instead of trying to do the thing of building a team up, which as I think you saw just doesn’t really work.”
 
TWO WEEKS AGO, WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU’D BE DOING THIS WEEKEND?
“I was going to be going to Indy, and I still might go to Indy. I think I’ll be going there Sunday for Pole Day and some other things – meeting with some people, which will be fun. I would have been there earlier than I would have been there now, so I’ll fly back for the 600 weekend. I guess Kurt and I are both doing the same Indy-to-Charlotte travel. We’re kind of in the same boat a little bit but obviously he has a lot more going on.”
 
YOU’RE NOT GOING WITH KURT SUNDAY?
“We haven’t talked about it. Funny enough, last night we were talking about the travel situation and I said, ‘You know what, I think Kurt is flying out then.’ I don’t know exactly what his schedule is in that sense. I know it’s just all in the air in terms of were they qualify and how qualifying works out for him. A lot of his mindset, I think, is to cut down on the travel as much as possible so he’s rested and ready to go.”
 
ARE YOU LOOKING AT A MOVE TO OPEN-WHEEL? IS THAT THE REASON YOU’RE GOING TO INDY?
“We’ll see.”
 
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET THIS OPPORTUNITY?
“As I said before, I’m very grateful and honored to have the opportunity and to have someone like Kurt, a champion of our sport, to have the belief in me to come here and do this for him. As we said Wednesday, there is a million dollars on the line in this practice session in what we do here will help him go out there and fight for a million bucks. That’s pretty cool. And obviously with the 600 weekend and all that he has going on, to know that in some ways he has the peace of mind to believe in me to do the right thing with his race car. As a driver it’s a great honor and confidence inspiring that a great champion of our sport has that respect for me. Hopefully I do a great job and other opportunities will come from it.”
 
HOW DOES ANOTHER DRIVER SET UP A CAR ESPECIALLY ON A TRACK WHERE YOU ARE PRACTICING DURING THE DAY FOR A RACE AT NIGHT?
“That’s really tough. Stepping into new equipment is tough and his seat and all that – it all adds up. I don’t expect to set the world on fire because that’s a tough situation, especially at this level. But the things that we can do with Daniel and everyone on this 41 Stewart-Hass Racing team… everyone is a professional. They have a great notebook of what Kurt likes, what they’ve been fighting and what they’ve been working on. They also have three great teammates in Danica (Patrick), Kevin (Harvick) and Tony (Stewart). And so all that information relays back to where I’m giving them feedback and direction on the 41 car – giving them a baseline. From there, they will make the decision on where the car goes through the other teammates and through all that info with what they decide
to do for when Kurt steps into the car.”
 
ARE YOU EXPECTED TO QUALIFY?
“I know I’m doing pit road practice; so that will be interesting. But we’re playing it by ear. I believe he should be here for qualifying and everything; he’s planning to be here for the drivers’ meeting and be on time and be ready to go.”
 
INAUDIBLE.
“It’s all in the working stages. Part of that is going to Indy and meeting with people. As I said before, my sole focus is when an opportunity comes, it’s the right opportunity. At 23 years old, I’m still very young to be at this level and at this height in the sport. I’ve got time on my side. So I feel like making sure that when the opportunity comes, it’s the right one and the one I want to do and that I’m enthused about. Hopefully that can forward my career and I can do a good job in that situation. The time in between is making sure it’s right and putting the puzzle pieces together to have all those things to go out there to win races.”
 
DID YOU GET ADVICE FROM ANYONE ABOUT WHAT YOU COULD DO RIGHT NOW?
“No. It’s such a unique thing. I think some people looked at me like I was crazy when I didn’t take some of the things I was offered – especially the people offering them. I guess sometimes you have to look in your heart at what you want to do. Just being here and being part of this isn’t in my interest. It’s not what I want to do as a racecar driver and a competitor. I want to be at the front. I want chances to win and chances to run for a championship. Just hanging around and surviving isn’t something I’m interested in. I would just as gladly do something else that I can be successful in rather than just survive and hang around. Taking the time to find those right opportunities to build the puzzle pieces and put them together… I’m more enthused about that. It’s fun and it’s exciting. I know those things will come together. You never know where everything will lead. But I’m just grateful for this opportunity in the Haas Automation Chevy with Stewart-Haas Racing and to be aligned with another great Sprint Cup team to see how they operate and see the professionalism of this organization and hopefully continue to align myself with teams of this caliber.”
 
IS IT TOUGH STAYING PATIENT?
“Yes, it is tough. Patience has never been a virtue of mine. But at this, I’m learning it. It’s the summer; it’s a beautiful time and I get some time off. When I come back, hopefully I’ll be refreshed and ready go to in a place where I can win races and run up front. That’s what keeps me calmed down and level. I know when it does come together, it will be the right thing.”
 
HOW MUCH INTERACTION HAVE YOU HAD WITH YOUR NEW TEAMMATES IN THE PAST – TONY, DANICA AND DANICA?
“Honestly not much. Those are three people in the sport that I haven’t associated with that much at all. Like I said, Kurt and I were associated a lot at Penske. That was kind of the connection here. I haven’t talked to them but hopefully I’ll get the chance to at least talk to them over the next two weeks and get to know them. Obviously all three are top-caliber drivers and champions of our sport. Kevin’s obviously on fire right now. It’s a great place to be. There is a lot of momentum and a massive amount of professionalism in this organization. It’s a great atmosphere to be around as a young driver.”
 
CAN YOU TALK MORE ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH KURT?
“We were at Penske together for years when I was a development driver. I did a lot of testing when he was in the 2 car then the 22 car. We were at tests a lot together. I was always at a race track around him and that sort of thing. He was a guy I was able to go for advice like when I went to Kyle Busch’s Nationwide team, which he had driven for the year before. So there were so many parallels there. Maybe we will go a couple months without talking but when we do we hit it right off again and never stop talking. So I was not surprised to get the call as much as being grateful and honored. For someone of his caliber to give me a call and as someone who I was thought was kind of a kid who annoyed him sometimes… he had a respect for me and my driving ability, and that was really gratifying.”
 
MENTALLY, DO YOU HAVE TO PREPARE YOURSELF TO START THE 600 REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENS?
“Yeah, physically and mentally. The funniest thing is that I told Kurt two weeks ago when I got the call… I know he’s a little slimmer than me and I have a little broader shoulders. So I stopped weight training and lifting and started running and cardio – heat training and that sort of thing. I don’t know if it made a difference and I didn’t keep track. I don’t know if I am slimmer; I feel slimmer. But in the event that something were to happen and even to do this practice, making sure that we can be as aligned as possible in this seat is what matters most. In the event that did happened and I need to do 600 miles, yes I’m ready to do 600 miles.”
 
SO IF EVERYTHING GOES TO PLAN IN KURT’S FAVOR, THE ONLY TIME YOU’LL BE IN THE CAR OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS WILL BE TODAY?
“Today and a little bit for practice on either Thursday or (next) Saturday. I need to do a couple laps just to be able to start.”
 
SAYING THAT, CAN WE TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT – NASCAR POSSIBLY  LETTING A ROOKIE DRIVER TO START A CUP RACE?
“Yeah, and a thank you NASCAR for allowing that for this whole opportunity. I’ve raced in the Trucks and Nationwide levels for now three years and obviously started in Cup for six months. I’m not a full-on rookie; it’s not like I haven’t raced at Charlotte at bunch of times. Maybe they looked at all that and were able to account for that. As long as I get to practice for a couple of laps, I’ll know the car and I’ll know the track. It should be all fine and we’ll go from there. I’m glad they were able to work that out otherwise it could have been a hitch.”
 
WERE YOU ABLE TO NEGOTIATE AN F1 TEST AS PART OF THE DEAL?
“I haven’t met Gene (Haas) yet but maybe if I see him I’ll nudge him or something! I think that’s a really exciting for everyone in our country. It’s amazing deal for someone like Gene Haas to take on. It shows once again his passion for the sport. When I walked into Stewart-Haas, I hadn’t ever been there and it was an amazing facility. You saw all the expansion that was going on. I started to realize that this is a guy who may have been a little quiet but he has a such a passion for the sport and is at such a high level in our sport that going to do F1 is no surprise. Hopefully it works out for him. Hey, if I could ever be a part of it, I’d take it!”
 
DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU MIGHT MEET HIM?
“I believe tomorrow. We’ll see. It’s down the road but I think it’s amazing for America to be represented in F1.”