Will Power Starts the Season with a Win on the Streets of St. Petersburg
Third Consecutive Year the in Season-Opening Victory Lane for Chevrolet IndyCar V6
 
 
ST. PETERSBURG (March 30, 2014) – Will Power, No.12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, won today’s Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – the series’ season-opening race. It is the third consecutive year that a driver powered by the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 engine has started the season on the Streets of St. Petersburg with a win.
 
“Congratulations to Will Power and the entire No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet team on their win in today’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Helio Castroneves’ podium finish in the No. 3 Hitachi Chevy and Scott Dixon’s fourth place finish in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car resulted in three Chevrolet powered Indy cars in the top four finishing positions. It is a great start to the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season”.
 
Today’s victory marked the 22nd career for Power who led three times for 74 of the 110-lap race. It is his third consecutive Series’ victory (Race Two at Houston and season-ending race at Auto Club Speedway preceded today’s win), and the second time he has won the St. Petersburg race.
 
Joining Power on the podium was Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Hitachi Chevrolet.  Last year’s runner-up in the title chase finished third.
 
Defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion, Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Chevrolet finished fourth.  His teammates Tony Kanaan, No. 10 Target Chevrolet and Ryan Briscoe, No. 8 NTT Data Chevrolet gave Team Chevy five of the top-10 finishers with sixth and 10th place finishing positions respectively.
 
Ryan Hunter-Reay (Honda) was second to complete the podium.
 
Today’s victory was the third win for Chevrolet in a the three major U.S. motorsports series in which it competes.   Action Express Motorsports with drivers Christian Fittipaldi, Joao Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais put the No. 5 Corvette Daytona Prototype in Victory Lane for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the
Daytona 500 behind the wheel of the No. 88 National Guard Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS.
The next race for Chevrolet in the Verizon IndyCar Series will be the Grand Beach of Long Beach (Calif) on April 13, 2014.
 
An interview with Will Power and Helio Castroneves
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll begin our post-race press conference and welcome our third-place finisher Helio Castroneves.
 
Helio, it was a good day for Penske Racing and for you to continue your quest to capture the championship.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Correct.  I’m extremely happy about it.  Yesterday qualifying I heard Ryan saying great conditions for qualifying.  I didn’t think so.  Well, it was a great opportunity to show how fast our car was, and I knew that since we started here.
I was very confident that 10th place wasn’t our fair spot.  But I knew I had to make the move right away in the beginning, and that’s what I did.  It put us in a great position here to battle for the win
 
Q. How does having Verizon as title sponsor feel?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Just adding to that, certainly Verizon being with us for four years, they saw the potential.  They actually perfect for the IndyCar Series.  We’re about technology and speed, and they’re about technology and speed.  Like I said, I’ve been part of the Verizon team for four years.  Now the entire IndyCar Series is part of their team.
We’re talking about exciting people.  We’re not talking about people, Let’s just put our name there.  I’m very, very happy that they’re onboard.
 
Q. Talk a little bit about a home-field advantage coming from South Florida.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  It’s funny you say that because I had to ask for a lot of credentials to have my friends come over here.  I know you did, too.  For us is very difficult.  The first race of the season, in Florida, it’s great to be honest.  I wish we actually had a doubleheader here.
.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll open it up for questions for Helio.
 
Q. The two Penske cars went first and third.  Is it an advantage New York Yankees?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I hope so.  Certainly we don’t want to give any inch this year.  We don’t want to give any opportunity, whether it’s going to be myself, Will or Juan Pablo.  I’ve been saying that in the pre-season interviews.  We want to give the championship to Roger no matter what it takes.
 
Q. Have you had a chance to see the restart or talk to Will about it yet?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I don’t have to see the restart.  I know what happened.  When I say wanker, he calls everybody a wanker.
 
Q. No microphone.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  He did play.  You got to understand, Will and I know each other for a long time.  He know my tricks.  I didn’t quite know that trick from him, and he got me, which is good.  I’m not saying that in a bad way.  When you’re battling for the win…  He knew where I was going, so he did something that I was not expecting and it caught me a surprise.  That does not take away anything from the win he did today.  Cindric and himself did a very good strategy with the tires, better tires in the end.  They were able to pull away. For me, I use everything I got in the beginning because I started from behind and pushed as much as I could.  Obviously it will be a very good problem to have if this is going to be the entire season like this, myself and Will battling.  That’s what we want.  Hopefully Long Beach will be the same, except a different end.
 
Q. So is that a move he should have made?  You talk about it being a trick.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Should have made?  Now I know when I’m restart behind him, I know what I need to do.  If he should have made or not, I was not expecting.
One thing for sure, brake check, I did that in the past when I was young.  But he did what he had to do, but I was not expect.  I always expect a little constant speed, and we did not have that.  But the problem is — well, it’s not a problem, it’s competition.  You just have to keep learning from your competitors.  Today I learned my lesson.
 
Q. Maybe the back of the field did.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Well, that’s the problem for me when you have that kind of scenarios.  I’m glad I was in the front because that probably could have caught me as well if I would be in the back.  I didn’t see the back, to be honest.  I saw what happened in front of me.  I just had to be careful to not knock him out of the race.  But he was very fast in the end.  Like I said, this little trick move didn’t take anything away.  In fact, good job.
 
Q. You didn’t see Juan in the race.  How would you sum up his first race weekend in years?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I did speak with him on my way here.  He had a blast.  He learned about the red tires.  He made some changes during the warm-up to the race quite dramatic.  But it was good because he learned what to handle.  When he was in front of us, I saw that he was running pretty good lap times.  That shows he got the hang of it.  Trust me, Long Beach, he knows the place, not sure if he won there, but I believe he did.  It’s going to be a different picture of himself.  Another bullet for Team Penske.
 
Q. The New York Yankees versus the Florida Marlins, Dario (Franchitti) earlier in the weekend said that Tim (Cindric’s) comments were classless.&nb
sp; Would you like to speak to Cindric’s character in rebuttal?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I know Tim for a long time.  Obviously he has his own opinion.  To be honest, so many things is said before from competitors.  It’s just blowing out of proportion when somebody speaks a little bit louder.  I don’t see all the fuss about it.  Again, everybody is entitled for your own opinion.  It’s too much power for me to comment, so I prefer to stay out of it.  Certainly I think everybody is entitled for your own opinion.
 
Q. Can you talk a little bit about your tire strategy.  You said Tim and Will had the tire strategy exactly right at the end.  You made some spots up early.  Did it work out in your favor?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Yeah, starting fourth place and starting tenth place, I had to make up some spots.  I put the new tires in the beginning so I could pass a lot of people.  It worked pretty good.  Roger (Penske) decided to put the black tires on the second stint.  I asked for no but he said yes.  I got to say, ‘Yes, no problem.’  I got to obey the order.
In the end of the day towards the end they saved him and I think Hunter-Reay, they saved the best for last.  I pushed as hard as I could the entire race and my tires just gave up in the end about 15 laps.  I had a huge moment in turn 10, and I said, Guys, that’s it, I’m not making any progress here.  I thought it was a very good strategy.  We saved fuel when we had to, we pushed when we had to.  Coming from 10th, passing a lot of cars, I’m very proud of the boys.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Helio, we’ll see you in Long Beach. We’ll continue with our race winner, Will Power.  This is Will Power’s 22nd career Indy car win.  He started the race fourth.  He won this race in 2010.  Will, you’ve won three consecutive races, finishing out last year with wins in Houston and Fontana.  How great is it to start out the year with a win?
 
WILL POWER:  Obviously the perfect way to start.  Kind of struggled a little bit during the weekend with the setup.  Definitely made a good race car.  Obviously qualifying was very mixed up.  I don’t think anyone had anything for Sato, he was so fast.  For sure we worked hard over the winter.  I did personally, as well, on my fitness.  As a team I think we worked very well together to get the most out of our cars.  It’s been a real team effort.  Real happy to get the Verizon car in Victory Lane again.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll open it up for questions for Will.
 
Q. Seems to be one place where you really are the Yankees versus the Marlins.  Why do you suppose the Penske cars are so dialed in at this track?
 
WILL POWER:  Honestly, I think a lot of people have good, dialed-in cars.  I wasn’t expecting to be that competitive in the race actually as the weekend was unfolding. Just good team strategy, good pit stops, mistake-free driving, and obviously a good car.  It’s just hard work basically.
 
Q. Did you even know who the Marlins were before Thursday?
 
WILL POWER:  I’ve only heard a little bit of that story, so I haven’t paid much attention to it, to be honest.  Are the Marlins good?  Do they win?
 
Q. Take me through the first segment when you eventually tracked down Sato to get the lead the first time.
 
WILL POWER:  Cindric pitted me early.  It was actually a very good call.  I was able to pump out some good lap times.  Sato came out on blacks, I think, just like I was.  I felt our car was definitely stronger on blacks and was able to hunt him down and pull the move on him that I’ve had pulled on me two years in a row.  I learned my lesson and finally pulled it off myself.
 
Q. I heard what you said on TV about the restart, where people got stacked up.  Helio is convinced you were playing with the field there.  Can you take us through that.
 
WILL POWER:  Basically the pace car pulls off and you can set the pace you want.  I wasn’t even in the zone.  We weren’t even in the zone that you have, the 200 yards or whatever it is, to decide for the leader to go when he wants.  They actually threw the green before I was even in the zone, so it was confusing to me.  So the next restart I just went because I figured, They’re going to throw the green anyway. To me, the only problem people would have had would have been if they gassed back to get a big run.  That’s the only problem they should have had.  I didn’t touch the brakes, did not touch the brakes.
 
Q. You talked at the end of last season about how good it was for yourself personally to just stop thinking about points and to just race and have fun.  Now that you’re starting a new season, are you still able to do that?
 
WILL POWER:  Yeah, in a way.  I just got to keep reminding myself, It doesn’t matter if you lose.  You just got to keep reminding yourself that it’s a race, and you race hard to win a race.  Sometime years I’ve started here and been so conservative.  I just race now, race hard.  I just want to race, race hard, and I want to win.  That’s the only way to think of it, not think of points. I want to win a championship, but I like winning races.  Hopefully the two come together and it happens.
 
Q. (No microphone.)
 
WILL POWER:  Can you have fun not winning?  Do I have fun?  No.  You know what, you come here to win.  Good, hard racing is fun.  You start at the back of the grid, you finish up third, that’s fun.  There’s nothing worse than just struggling, though, not having the car or equipment to do well.  That gives you a good hit, your self-confidence, you start to question yourself.  I just remind myself that everyone is human, you’re capable of doing everything everyone else is if you work hard.
 
Q. What gear were you in?
 
WILL POWER:  First gear.
 
Q. Helio said letting off the throttle there would be a brake effect.
 
WILL POWER:  The thing to me was Helio was getting out of line.  That’s when I lifted off the throttle.  Why are you getting out of line?  Are you going to go like you did last year and jump-start completely and get the lead that way?  I wasn’t going to let that happen.  I wasn’t even in the zone, so it did not matter.  He got out here, he’s going to do his thing, jump the start, he was getting out of line, I was going to make it obvious by lifting a little.  Then I just went.
 
Q. With an offseason as long as the INDYCAR offseason was this past year, it would probably be pretty easy to lose the momentum you finished the 2013 season with.  Apparently you have the same momentum you ended the year with.  How important is it to continue that momentum into 2014?
 
WILL POWER:  Yeah, it’s amazing all the development and hard work you do in the off-season.  I’m sure everyone else does too.  It’s interesting to turn up to the first race and see where you stack up.  During practice, it became obvious that the filed had once again even closed up more.  You had 21 cars in less than in a second in practice.  To me it’s like, ‘OK, no one is going to stick out here, it’s going to be competitive and tough racing.’
At the end of the day the hard work we did to get a good race car, good strategy, good pit stops, all the boxes were ticked that you need to win a race, and that’s just a good team effort basically.
 
Q. The TV commentators alluded to the fact that the whole off-season the talk has been about Juan coming to INDYCAR, can (Scott) Dixon repeat, everything except Will Power.  Have you felt overlooked at all?
 
WILL POWER:  I love it.  I hate attention.  I just loved last year, too.  No one paid attention.  I could just do my thing.  Yup, I hope it continues.  I don’t want people to talk about me.  I like to be low-key.  I don’t like to be in the limelight.  I just like to do my job, enjoy it, race hard, and that’s it.
 
Q. You should try not winning.
 
WILL POWER:  It happened last year.  I didn’t have to do appearances.  It was great.  No one cared.  It was awesome.  If I could get wins and not be hassled both, I’d be stoked.
 
Q. How important was it for Verizon and yourself to win the first Verizon Series race in that car?
WILL POWER:  It wasn’t something that I was thinking of, that I was going to think because it’s the Verizon Series.  It’s pretty fitting.  It’s great to win the first race of a Verizon-backed series.  I think everyone is excited to have them onboard.  I think the next five years, the series, we got to make good decisions and go in the right direction.
I think with Mark Miles, he’s employed some very good people.  Mark Miles, I think he’s doing a very good job.  He’s a very good leader.  I think Derrick Walker on the technical side is the same.  You have good people in the right positions.  I can see it going in the right direction.
 
Q. There was a period of time where it could almost be taken for granted by others and you that Will Power was going to win frequently.  After the drought from last year, did you have a rethink about the frequency with which you were winning and consider thinking differently about wins going forward?
 
WILL POWER:  You definitely start to look pretty hard when you have a long period of not winning.  You just can’t get complacent.  You’ve got to keep working hard, especially in this series.  There’s so many good teams, good drivers.  It’s just a good thing.  It’s a good kick in the ass to have some bad runs.  Not actually lack of pace, but just to have some bad runs, be in the back of the field.  You just reset, just realize that you can’t leave anything on the table.  You just can’t.  It’s funny.  I was speaking to Mark Webber at some point, Did you lose a little bit of motivation in your 30s?  He said, Yeah.
He said to me, You can’t kid yourself.  You’ve got to work hard.  It’s just the way it is.  If you’re not, someone else is.  That’s true.  You got to get everything right in this business or you won’t win.
 
Q. You’ve long championed having more horsepower.  Are we getting close to the numbers where the cars have that difficulty of driving?
 
WILL POWER:  Yeah, it actually is getting to the Champ Car level now where you’re starting to shift a gear and it still spins.  Definitely getting harder to drive.  Got good horsepower.  They’re definitely getting up there where they used to be.
 
Q. So how did Dale Jr. get your Vegas car?
 
WILL POWER:  I think Tim Cindric gave it to him.  I think he was looking for something to put in his whatever it is down there.  I’ve seen a few people tweet that, my Vegas-crashed car sitting up in a tree.  Sort of fitting for the way it came down.  That’s about where it landed.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Give us a little preview of what we can expect in Long Beach.
 
WILL POWER:  Once again, it’s going to be very tight, great racing.  It’s a great track for racing.  Hopefully we can repeat.  It’s another awesome place to go race.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll see you there.  Thank you.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
STP 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 30, 2014
 
GENE HAAS, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNING CO-OWNER
 
FIRST THOUGHTS, SIXTH RACE OF THE SEASON AND KURT BUSCH AND THE NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION TEAM WON.  YOU ARE OUT IN CALIFORNIA WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS AS THAT BATTLE WORE ON AND THE RACE DREW TO A CLOSE?
“Well last week Kurt told me this was his worst race track, he never wins here.  So obviously he didn’t get that right.  It’s great.  I think it’s great.  I think he goes to a track he can’t win at, he doesn’t practice on Saturday and he wins.  We have a new formula here.”
 
WERE YOU WATCHING ON TV AND WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR REACTIONS DURING THE LAST COUPLE OF LAPS?
“I know that Jimmie Johnson won there a lot and it’s kind of his track.  I was thinking that we would probably pull out in front of Jimmie Johnson and be there for a few laps, but he was better on the long run.  I was kind of like going ‘well hey at least we made a good show’.  It was a little bit iffy in the beginning of the race and that was overcome.  Kurt kept his cool he did what he had to do and no matter how he finished I thought that was going to be great.  Then when he went back and forth with Jimmie and he stayed out in front I was impressed with that.  I think Jimmie was a real gentleman about racing him cleanly and not trying to push him out of the way.  I think Kurt and Jimmie both did that.  I think that was really good too.  Ultimately they didn’t do what they typically do at the end of those races where they have multiple passes and all that stuff so those two guys did really well.  I think we just came out on top of that.  Any other day I think Jimmie would have come out on top.  I was just really impressed with that and the great season to finally win a race with Haas Automation on the hood. It couldn’t have been better, well it could I could have been there.”
 
JUST THE REWARD YOU FEEL IN CREATING THIS FOURTH TEAM AS INVESTED AS YOU WERE IN IT TO SEE IT FINALLY PAY OFF WITH A VICTORY FAIRLY EARLY IN THE SEASON:
“Obviously it feels good.  Basically there were a lot of naysayers and doubters out there about Stewart-Haas Racing.  Tony (Stewart) having his injury last year and it looked like we were all washed up and out of business.  But it just goes to show you that there is a team behind everybody that was always the back-up plan we are still going forward.  Racing is tough.  Every time you win you typically lose three times.  It’s a very difficult sport and it’s always great to win.  The challenges are great and that is what makes me feel good that we could overcome our adversaries.  You feel really good when are racing hard against people that don’t give you an inch and then you can actually beat them.  I feel really good about that. I feel great about Tony Stewart he certainly has taken the team to a certain level.  Now it’s kind of like we are both working together and I think we make a good team to put a winning race team together.  We have two drivers that have won early in the season so the choices that we made worked.  When we have great people behind the teams and the cars, we’ve got Chevy as our partner and lots of sponsors to go with it.”
 
YOU GUYS CAME OUT OF THE BOX WITH A FOURTH TEAM KURT WAS 31ST IN POINTS AFTER FOUR WEEKS DOES THIS COME AS A RELIEF? WERE YOU WORRIED AT ALL?  IS THIS KIND OF WHAT YOU EXPECTED ALL ALONG?  ARE YOU WHERE YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE?
“Well we are not point’s racing anymore.  This is all about winning.  Being ahead in points and not being able to win is really not going to get you very far.  I think it’s really a whole new venue it’s a very exciting one.  I’m looking for wins.  How we do in the points isn’t nearly as important.  You can look at the points but if you are not winning you are not going be there for the championship.  I’m more concerned about running up front.  It’s like practices, it’s always good to be top of your practice, but it really comes down to race day when you are racing your compatriots out there of who can beat who.  Going out there by yourself on the track and having great lap times is one thing, but I think when it comes to the race that is a whole different animal.  That is when I think Kurt Busch and the rest of the drivers do really well at Stewart-Haas Racing.  That is where I think the concentration is going to be at is winning races.  I don’t even care about the points that much.”
 
KNOWING KURT BUSCH’S MAVERICK REPUTATION DID YOU LIKE THE FACT THAT THIS RACE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF CONTROVERSY AT IT PERTAINED TO KURT, SPECIFICALLY IN HIS DUEL WITH BRAD KESELOWSKI?
“I think Brad Keselowski just was speaking a little bit prematurely.  I think if you went back and looked at it he ran into the back of Kasey Kahne and then swerved a little bit to his right and right into the path of Kurt Busch.  That is the way I kind of saw it.  I’m sure he sees it differently, but I will be honest with you, I have been racing with stuff for a long time.  Drivers run into us all the time and I think that is just part of racing.  As far as Kurt Busch handling it I think he did a great job and we have obviously found a solution for Kurt Busch.  When he is in Winners Circle he doesn’t bitch about anything so that is where we need to keep him.”
 
THE F1 RACE IN MALAYSIA STARTED JUST A TICK AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WAS IT A LITTLE BIT EMOTIONALLY DRAINING TO WATCH AN F1 RACE THINKING OF WHAT THAT MIGHT BE FOR YOU IN THE FUTURE AND THEN TO WATCH THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT MARTINSVILLE AND SEE KURT DUEL IT OUT FOR A WIN AND THEN ACTUALLY YOU ALSO HAVE A TRUCK WITH COLE CUSTER COMPETING IN THE TRUCK SERIES RACE.  WAS IT DRAINING?
“That is what is wonderful about TV.  I was watching the F1 race at 1:00 AM this morning. I was able to watch the Cup the race at 10 AM and now I’m watching a Truck race. I get to see it all on TV.  The funny thing about racing to me is we put the pieces together they can work.  Sometimes being at the races is the tough part.  Watching it all work that is actually where I get a lot of enjoyment out of.  The Formula 1 race those people are just racers.  They are just as tough of racers as NASCAR just in a different part of the world.  They are really all the same.  I think we could do really well if we ever do have that opportunity.”

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
POST RACE QUOTES
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG
STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
 
DRIVER QUOTES POST RACES:
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:, RACE WINNER:  ON HIS WIN: “Man, I’m mentally tired. That was physical and hard, but pretty stoked to get the first win for Verizon as the series sponsor with the Verizon car. It’s a great day, a great stop there when we all pitted at the same time, the boys got me out there. Really happy with that and we executed well.”
ON 2ND TO LAST RESTART: “They threw the green early, I thought we were meant to go in that zone. So that was – I was surprised. I don’t really know what happened behind me, what happened? I left it a little, I didn’t touch the brake at all. They can look at my data, I did not touch the brake. I worked so hard in the offseason. We came into the season wanting to win a championship for Roger, and the way it went down last year was really disappointing for Helio not to win. Between the three of us – Juan, Helio and myself- we’ve been working really hard to get the car right. The field is so tight that I’m just happy we had a good race car today. Didn’t quite have the pace in qualifying. That’s how you want to start the season. Last year was horrible, and this year it’s good to get a points lead.”
ROGER PENSKE, OWNER TEAM PENSKE:  “It was just a great run by Team Penske. Obviously, Will (Power) had the car under control all day and Helio. Great to see Chevrolet come in 1-3. Also for Verizon, who just took over as series sponsor. It couldn’t be a better day.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “What a race! I was having such a great time. We knew exactly what we needed (during the warmup). That’s why the warmup is great to try new things that maybe will work. At the end of the day, I knew what I needed to do. I was just pushing all the way along. Toward the end, my used red tires were a little difficult.”
THOUGHTS ON THE RESTART: “It was a little strange on the restart. I’ll have to review that. He was being very tricky, for sure. I understand that it was too slow on the first one and on the second one he was playing a little bit. I got hung out to dry and (Ryan) Hunter-Reay took advantage of it. They had a little better tires as well. As I kept pushing, the tires were going away. But all the way, it’s a great, great start to the season. I love it.”
 
START TO THE SEASON: “As soon as we had a moment back there in one of the corners, I said, ‘RP, I don’t think we’re going to go anywhere.’ He told me to just bring it home. It was at the limit. But at the end of the team, great job Team Penske.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “Overall we had a good race.  Historically we haven’t had the best start to the season here at St. Pete.  But the crowd was great and I’m really impressed with the turnout today here.  It’s such a great event here.  We had a lot of fun and the Target team bringing two cars home without any damage to start off our year is a small win.  We’re looking forward to improving and heading to Long Beach in a few weeks.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH:  “I need to thank the Target team really.  Everyone was so close out there it was all about track position.  Then we caught on our out lap and lost a position on track as well.  The No. 28 almost put us in the wall after that and overall I think we lost maybe half a second and that equates to two positions out there. I think we had a car to finish in the top five and we finished sixth.  Not the start we wanted, but we’ll take it.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET,
FINISHED 10TH: “It was a pretty tough race just with the tires and our balance wasn’t quite where we needed it to be. Then I didn’t help the situation either running into the back of Montoya exiting the pits and damaging our front wing.  We ran about three fourths of the race with a broken front wing, which really didn’t help us at all.  Despite the issues we faced today though, we were able to hang in there and get a top 10 result to start the season off.  We’re looking forward to even better results with the No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet moving forward.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA: NO. 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH:
“I am happy with how the first race of the season went. Unfortunately we didn’t have the pace at the end but after where we started at the weekend, I am pleased with the 11th position points in the bank. At the end it was a survival race. We had a strong stint on the reds, the blacks were not very quick and that really caused us to drop places and that last stint was a big battle to the end. I’m very proud of my KV AFS boys, everybody did an amazing job in the pits. We just need to keep focusing and prepare for Long Beach in a couple of weeks time.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT – KVSH RACING CHEVROLT, FINISHED 13TH:  “It was a tough race. Guys from back of the grid ruined the start of the race and I lost four positions on the first lap. I also bumped into Juan Pablo Montoya when the field checked up in turn eight. I ended up having to pit to replace my front wing on lap 12, which was very early and forced me to save a lot of fuel for the entire race. Despite all that, we were going to have a really good result because we had a rocket ship for a car. Then just as I was going to make my third stop the track went yellow, so I had to stay out. When I finally pitted I was out of fuel and the car stalled, but we were still in a good position and I knew I had a fast car. Then I was penalized for not packing up fast enough, which was pretty rough because I was packed up before the pits opened and no one was harmed. That really set us back, but we kept digging.  It was such a valiant effort by the whole team and to finish where we started is very frustrating. I really feel bad for the guys because they worked so hard and for all our sponsors who came to the race and supported us. The only positive note is that we have a fast car so our time will come.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH:  “I think it went pretty good.  We were just burning up the rear tires with the setup that we decided to run.  It was just a little too aggressive.  You know, we will learn and pass some people and some people passed us.  There are a few things we have to do better but I didn’t feel my pace was too bad there at the end.  I was keeping up with everybody and it was good.
How does it feel to be back in open wheel:
Fun!  It’s going to be a lot of work but I am very excited.
 
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 16TH:  “As the day went on, we steadily moved up and we got to third.  I think we had a different strategy from other people.  We made some big gains on the red Firestone tires drove by many people today.  So that was very positive.  I wasn’t really hoping for a safety car there around lap 80.  I was hoping to hold the gap when we went to the black tires.  I didn’t hear a radio communication to come into the pits then.   I thought the safety car waved me by but they were waving (James) Hinchcliffe by instead.  I don’t know if there was a communication problem there too.  I didn’t know if they waving at me or both of us.  Then they said it was only for Hinch.  And that was it.  It screwed up our whole day.   Then on the restart, there was a big pile up.  With the single file restarts, you can’t see around the big rear wings because you can’t pull out to pass before the green flag.  And we can’t see
the green flag with these rear wings and we bunched up single file.  So we have to rethink that area I believe.  We have to be able to see around the other cars.  It definitely needs to be looked at in the future.”  
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 20TH : “It was encouraging that we had that much pace in car but it was obviously disappointing that we had some mechanical issues early in the race.  We lost quite a bit of ground dealing with those issues.  Overall though the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen crew really fought hard today and had some really clean pit stops.  I have complete faith in the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew and the Chevrolet team that they’ll figure out the issue we faced today and get us ready to have a great race in Long Beach.”

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING REPORT
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG
STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
 
ST. PETERSBURG (March 29, 2014) Tony Kanaan, No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, led the way for Team Chevy as he qualified his Chevrolet IndyCar V6-powered car in second for the first race of the  2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season  – the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was a challenging round of qualifying as the track went from wet to dry conditions during the three rounds but Kanaan delivered a solid qualifying effort on the Streets of St. Petersburg for his first race with a new team.
 
“The Verizon IndyCar Series 2014 season has kicked off here on the Streets of St. Petersburg,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager for Verizon IndyCar Series. “And it is apparent the fans will be presented with some outstanding racing on Sunday.  The challenge of a qualifying session that was delayed for rain and started out on wets became a rapidly changing set of conditions for each team and driver to adapt to and likely exposed any remaining driveability issues.  Tomorrow’s weather looks spectacular and Team Chevy will be ready to race for the win and as many of the top 5 manufacturer point scoring positions as possible.”
 
Two additional Team Chevy drivers making it through knock-out qualifying to the Firestone Fast Six were: Will Power, No.12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, who will start fourth and Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, who turned in the fifth fastest time in the final session.
 
A total of 10 Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered drivers will start the 110-lap race on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street course in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida
 
Takuma Sato (Honda) won the pole.  Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andetti completed the Fast Six.
ABC will have a live telecast of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 30, with pre-race at 3 PM ET. The green flag will fly at 3:27 PM. The IMS Radio Network brings the action live to fans. Both the radio broadcast and live timing and scoring can be found on www.indycar.com.  Radio broadcast can also be heard on XM Radio 209/Sirius Radio 209.
 DRIVER QUOTES:
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND: “I  think it has been like 3 years since I have been in the Top 6. It feels really good , I can’t thank the Target Chip Ganassi Racing guys enough. A lot of people made a lot of comments over the years because we struggled so much in qualifying in street and road courses and nobody was counting on that.  I like to be the element of surprise.  Nobody was talking about us at Indy last year and nobody was talking about this weekend.  Although this is not even half of the battle because this is qualifying. Front Row, man it feels pretty good!  I used to see 16 or 17 cars in front of me in a circuit like that so it feels pretty good. I am happy.  It is a new team and those guys had a heck of a year last year and a huge disappointment on Dario’s accident and I still feel like this is Dario’s car.  Those guys went through a lot and they gave me a lot of credibility when I replaced Dario.  They made me feel extremely comfortable and although we have only been working together for the three or four months, I feel part of it.  Every one of them is part of this front row for me.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:, QUALIFIED 4TH: “The car is OK. Balance-wise, it feels good. We got a bit of the insight there on the red tires and bit of a dry track in the Fast Six. Just have to make we have a good look at the data overnight and work to make the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet better for the race.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET. QUALIFIED 5TH: “It was a pretty good track out there. It was kinda fun to be in the mixed conditions. This place has been kind of a thorn in my side. I think that might be the best I’ve ever qualified here, but, we typically race well here. I did have loads of understeer, which was a bit of a pain on the backside.  Maybe we didn’t manage the tires well. I think the best lap was when TK (Tony Kanaan) was off in (turn) one. By the new rules, we have to slow down, so it was okay. I have to start there, and that is 15 spots better than last year. I am looking forward to the race.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH:  “We started on the slick tires then went to the red tires and the track just kept getting better and better.  My tires kind of dropped off there at the end and we didn’t have the speed when the track was at its best. We went the safe way expecting there to be a yellow or a red at some point throughout the session and it just never happened. We’ve got the speed but today just didn’t go to plan. We’re still in the top 10 and I’m just excited to get out there tomorrow and be back with the Verizon IndyCar Series.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH: “It was a little bit tough out there but the Hitachi Team Penske Chevy was really fast. I had no reference point in some areas so it made it challenging and it was a little wet for me in Turn 5 especially. We came up a little short to advance into the Firestone Fast Six and we have a little bit of work to do tomorrow. But I can’t wait. I have Roger (Penske) on my side with the strategy and the Hitachi guys will be strong. It should be a really etxciting race to start the season here in St. Pete.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA: NO. 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH:
“I think it was meant to be that 11th position, whether we had qualifying or not. We’re meant to put on a show and I think that’s exactly what we did. The first session was wet, so it’s important to read the track as quickly as possible and try not to make any mistakes. I think the KV AFS team did a great job in predicting what was going to happen. Q2 was positive in the beginning when it was still wet, but as it got drier I misread the track thinking it was wetter than it was. Once I had realized, it was too late so I didn’t get the best out of my tires and wasn’t then in a position to fight for the Firestone Fast Six. I am looking forward to the first race tomorrow and hope to bring home some good points.”
 
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 12TH:  “We generated a lot of tire temperature early in the second session of qualifying when the track was a bit damp.  We are still missing something in the car. We need to look at it overnight. The 12th spot might have been a little better than what we thought coming into qualifying.  The start of the race here is always pretty wild here.  You can’t take too easy and you can’t be too aggressive either. You need to be aware of what and who is around you.  We will need to make up some positions early and I hope we can do that in the first lap.  Even though it bottlenecks into turn one, you usually can go two or three wide through there.  You need to find the space to get through the turn.”
 
ED CARPENTER, TEAM OWNER, ED CARPENTER RACING, HIS FIRST RACE OUT OF THE CAR AND ON THE PIT STAND: “We felt like the track was ready for slicks at the start of the second session.  And we were right in that regard.  Mike was P1 in his first four or five laps.  If we could have caught yellow in there, we would have been in good shape.  It ended up hurting us in the end because us and Briscoe started on slick reds and we probably used the best part of the tires before the track got better.  So the guys who waited a little bit longer to go to slicks had an advantage at the end.  But we also have some work to do to get the car better
too.  We need get Mike more confident with the car.  We’ll keep chipping at it.  The rain probably helped us the first group with the wet track. I think the transfer was more on Mike than the car then.  I was happy with job he did in qualifying.  We’ll look for a solid run on Sunday.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT – KVSH RACING CHEVROLE, QUALIFIED 13TH: “It wasn’t much of a qualifying session for the Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing team. Because of the track conditions we waited to go out to make sure that we had room in case something happened, so everyone else got in a lap before the first red flag. When we went back out I got one lap at speed before the second red flag. We were too conservative and I feel bad for the crew. They did a good job preparing the car. We will just have to go to work and do the best we can in tomorrow’s race.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALFIED 18TH: “The biggest problem for the No. 2  Verizon Chevy was the last corner, for some reason. I just couldn’t come off that corner and get the car to turn. (Takuma) Sato was in front of me and I would lose everything to him right there. It is what it is. I haven’t driven in wet conditions in a long time and we never had an opportunity to do it in testing. I don’t think we’re that far off. I’m still getting acclimated back to the Verizon IndyCar Series. My team is still getting acclimated to me. If that process was complete we would be a lot better. We are definitely making progress.”
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 20TH: “We started on the slick tires then went to the red tires and the track just kept getting better and better.  My tires kind of dropped off there at the end and we didn’t have the speed when the track was at its best. We went the safe way expecting there to be a yellow or a red at some point throughout the session and it just never happened. We’ve got the speed but today just didn’t go to plan. We’re still in the top 10 and I’m just excited to get out there tomorrow and be back with the Verizon IndyCar Series.”
 
 
POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
An interview with:
WILL POWER
TONY KANAAN
SCOTT DIXON
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’re joined by Scott Dixon.  Scott, talk about how it was for you out there today.
SCOTT DIXON:  It’s been a tough place for me here.  I think the qualifying today, it was a lot of fun actually with changing conditions and trying to time things right.  Q2, we had to really string it together on that last lap.  That got us in.  Q3 we went out on old, put in a lap, then came in and switched over.
I think kind of best timing for us might have been when T.K. was off in one, so we had to slow down on that lap.  Whether that made any difference or not…
It was a good comeback for the Target team, T.K. starting on the front row, we’re on the inside of the third row.  Considering how the weekend has been going, I think we’ve made some good improvements.  Hopefully we race a little bit better.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’re also joined by Team Penske’s drive Will Power.  Will will be starting fourth.  Will has won pole here the last four years here at St. Petersburg and won the race in 2010. 
Will, what was qualifying like for you?
WILL POWER:  Just trying to get through every round without making a mistake.  The Fast Six, that was as quick as I could go.  The car wasn’t that bad.  We got a little bit of work to do, but definitely happy to be qualifying in the front two rows.
It’s a pretty long race.  Make sure we get everything right and see where we come.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll continue with questions.
Q.        What parts of the track changed the most from your first session to the end?
WILL POWER:  Just got a dry line basically everywhere.  Just got dryer, dryer, dryer.  At the end it was completely basically a dry track.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’re also joined by Tony Kanaan.
Tony, another strong start for Chip Ganassi Racing.  You’ll be on the front row.  What are you expecting from tomorrow’s race?
TONY KANAAN:  It feels good not to see 17 cars in front of me on the start.  We were doing the math.  Probably three years I haven’t made it to the Fast Six.
It’s good.  It’s just qualifying.  You still got to make it to turn one tomorrow.  We’ll see.
I’m happy.  The whole team, I think we did a great job.  We were pretty competitive all weekend with one of our cars.  Probably for the fans qualifying was fun, but for us it was quite hard.
 
THE MODERATOR:  What has the experience at Target Chip Ganassi racing been like you so far?
TONY KANAAN:  It’s been awesome.  It’s quite a bit different than what I was used to.  I have very tough teammates that keep me on my toes.
I have to say they made me feel pretty comfortable in the past three months.  For me to adapt, it wasn’t that difficult.  Obviously there are quite a few things that I need to relearn.  We have a lot more information.
Like I said, with four teammates, it reminds me back of the Andretti Green days.  It’s been good for so far.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll continue with questions.
Q.        The race being 110 laps, would you rather have two sets of red tires and one black, or distance-wise is it better to have blacks?  I heard Firestone brought the same tire you had last year.  .
TONY KANAAN:  It’s tough to say.  I mean, I would say I would prefer to have more tires, period, for the we
ekend.  Right now it’s hard to say black or red.
We’ll find out tomorrow, that’s for sure.
 
Q.        Scott, as the reigning series champion, what is it like being back now that you have several practices and a qualifying under your belt?
SCOTT DIXON:  It’s fun.  It’s good to be back at St. Pete.  It’s probably not my favorite track as far as speed-wise.  It’s probably the best place we could kick off the season.
I think with the momentum we’ve had from the past few years, obviously with Verizon coming onboard as a series sponsor, I think it’s huge for us.
I think we’re all excited.  The weather has been a bit funky for the past two days, but tomorrow I think is going to be perfect weather conditions.  Hopefully we have lots of fans out here and put on a good show for everybody.
But, yeah, it’s good to be back in the car.
 
Q.        Tony, is there any part of the track that feels different this year from last year?  How has that track been maturing?  Any pieces that you have to attack a little differently?
TONY KANAAN:  I was talking to Scott about that.  They did repaint going into turn one where the runway is, the white stripes on the inside.  I felt that they were new.  I think that’s the only part.
Felt it was a little bit bumpier everywhere else, as well.  To me the biggest one was turn one.
 
Q.        T.K., not only do you look good in red, you seem very happy.  Talk about the rejuvenation you feel to get off to such a good start.
TONY KANAAN:  I think it’s quite normal.  I was in a very good position back in the days when I was with Andretti.  For whatever reason or the circumstances were, I took a big hit on that when I had to leave.
The struggle for the past three years with finding money, not just doing what I want to do, which is drive the car, I didn’t realize then, but for sure now I can see.
Yeah, I’m happy, because I think anybody that would be
driving that 10 car, you could ask anybody on the grid, they would be smiling the entire time.
I’m in a very good organization, probably one of the best positions I’ve been in my career in IndyCar.  There’s no reason to be unhappy.  I’d have to say I’m happier because I was always happy.  I’ve been mad a couple times.
We came out of a great year last year winning the 500 and things just happened after that.  That’s probably it.
Q.        Being a street course, you don’t get to practice here, you just come and race.  Is the track slippery?  I’ve heard them say that on the PA that it’s very slick.
TONY KANAAN:  Always.  When we come here every year I think the track starts a little slippery.  For some reason this year, in my opinion, has been worse than years before.  You can look at the lap times, as well.  We were a little slower in both sessions.
It’s hard to tell.  We don’t know if we came in with the same tires as last year, same conditions.  It’s hard to tell.  But definitely felt that it was slipperier than years past.

CHEVROLET ADDS TO HISTORIC WIN TOTAL AT MARTINSVILLE
Kurt Busch Earns First Race Victory of the Season and Leads a Podium Sweep for the Chevrolet SS
 
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 30, 2014) – Chevrolet added another notch in the win column at Martinsville Speedway, bringing the all-time victory total to 53 wins in 104 races at the 0.526-mile track. Kurt Busch brought home the victory for the bowtie brand in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS.  The win in the sixth race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) schedule, breaks an 83 race winless streak for Busch and is his second career victory at Martinsville.  Stewart-Haas Racing now has two drivers with victories this season. Busch joins his teammate Kevin Harvick as the sixth race winner in the NSCS this season.
 
“I didn’t know if we’d be able to do it,” said Kurt Busch following the race. “The No. 48 car is king here – him or the 24. The old theory is if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. We have a Hendrick chassis prepared by Stewart-Haas Racing. Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet… thanks to those guys. I’ve been on this journey for a while. Every time you come to Martinsville you draw a line through it; like ‘there’s no way I’ll be able to challenge those Hendrick guys or challenge for a top-10’. This Stewart-Haas team gave me a team to do it. Now I know what I need to do on Saturdays: don’t even practice. Just show up and race on Sunday that way I won’t dial out the car! It’s a dream come true to have Gene Haas call you and tell you that he wants you to drive and he wants to go for trophies and wins. It’s an unbelievable feeling to deliver.”
 
Busch led a Team Chevy sweep of the top-three positions.  Jimmie Johnson, an eight-time winner at Martinsville Speedway led a race-high 296 laps in his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, but was overtaken by Busch for the win with only a 10 laps remaining, relegating the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion to a second-place finish.  Johnson was followed by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS, in the third position.  Earnhardt, Jr. battled his way from the 26th starting spot to earn a top-three finish.  With the run; Earnhardt, Jr. resumes the point’s lead by nine markers over Matt Kenseth (Toyota).
 
Other Chevrolet SS drivers earning top-10 finishes at Martinsville were Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS who earned a seventh-place finish and Paul Menard, No. 27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet SS as he ended 500 laps at the paperclip shaped track in the 10th position.
 
Joey Logano (Ford) was fourth and Marcos Ambrose (Ford) was fifth to round out the top-five.
 
Next week the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for round seven of the 2014 season. 
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS, RACE WINNER
KERRY THARP:  Let’s hear from our winning race team of today’s 65th annual STP 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race here at Martinsville Speedway.  Our race winner is Kurt Busch.  He drives the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing, and he’s joined by his crew chief Daniel Knost.  Congratulations to the No. 41 team.  Very well deserved, and glad to have you guys up here today.  This is Kurt’s 25th win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  This is the silver anniversary for your victories here today.  You were part of 33 lead changes, which is a new track record, and certainly can’t wait to hear you talk about how the race unfolded at the end.  Daniel’s first win as a crew chief, just your sixth start as a crew chief, and you’re a Virginia Tech grad.  Being able to win your first race in your home ‑‑ I know it’s not a state, it’s a commonwealth.
Let’s hear from Kurt.  Talk about this win here today and what it means to you as a racer and to be able to get into the Chase and just the significance of winning this here today.
KURT BUSCH:  Well, it’s an unbelievable feeling, you know, to have a shot at winning, and when it comes across you, you want to deliver for your team.  There’s things you have to do in the car to manage your emotions and then tires, most importantly, and to be in position to win this early with the Haas Automation team, it’s been for ‑‑ to the credit of a lot of hard work and a lot of mistakes have been made, but enough that we could learn from.  To deliver for Gene Haas this early, it shows the potential of this team.  I know Kevin Harvick won earlier this year at Phoenix, and I think our strength this year with the Haas Automation Chevy and most of Stewart‑Haas Racing has been at the short tracks.
A win like today is a great step forward.  I don’t want it to camouflage any of the work, though, that we still have to do to make our car stronger and to be more competitive week in and week out, but don’t think that I’m not going to enjoy this for one moment.
I’m going to soak this in.  This is an unbelievable feeling, to get back to victory lane after this tour that I’ve been on, to find this opportunity with Stewart‑Haas, and to win, it means the world to me.  That’s what I’ve always driven for was just going for the wins and you let the rough edges drag on the other side.  You get compared to guys that are sponsor dreams and they’ve won one or two races, and now to hear that I have 25 wins and to have a championship and to hoist a trophy at a track that I would draw a line through this track every time I’d show up not ever having a shot to win because it was one of my worst tracks.  So it shows what teamwork is all about.  That’s what I want everybody to take away from today is teamwork.  What better way to win than using that old cliché, can’t beat ’em, join ’em.  I’ve got a Hendrick chassis and a Hendrick motor prepared by Stewart‑Haas Racing, and we brought our No. 41 car home to victory lane.
Awesome feeling.  Thanks to Daniel.  His pit calls were wonderful.  The pit crew did an excellent job holding serve on pit road, and every time that I had a little handling issue, Daniel had a fix for it today, so great teamwork.  Thank you, Daniel.
KERRY THARP:  Certainly it’s a big deal, too, the first time the Haas Automation Chevy has visited victory lane.  Daniel, talk about how it feels to have your first victory as a Sprint Cup Series crew chief.
DANIEL KNOST:  You know, it’s very exciting.  In some respects it hasn’t hit me.  You have that kind of moment on the box where you yell and scream and stomp your feet and hit something and you get that out, and now, maybe just in a little bit of a daze.  I can’t believe that I’ve had success come to me this fast.  But we’ve got a great driver, we’ve got a great organization.  We have guys that really work hard on our stuff, and that is manifesting itself.  We took a chance and almost got it last week and this week we cashed in, so I think our group is pulling together at a good pace.
Q.  Kurt, Kevin Harvick said one of the main reasons he wanted to join Stewart‑Haas was to get the Hendrick equipment.  Is it that much different and that much better?

KURT BUSCH:  You know, it still is about the people.  You can have the best things given to you or you can purchase them, such as Gene Haas and Tony Stewart have, and they’ve provided us with a foundation to work off of.  Every team has their own custom pieces that they add to the car.

I do have to thank Rick Hendrick, though, for allowing the information that they create to be shared and for the technical alliance to exist and for us to run those motors.  It’s a Chevrolet brand, and coming from a Chevrolet brand last year, there’s small little things that are different, but let’s face it here, Jimmie Johnson has got six championships, and the Hendrick group, every week it seems like are the cars to beat.  So that’s what Harvick’s mentality was, is let’s ju
mp in with that equipment and shift gears.  He’s been with Childress for a dozen years, so a big change for him, and I was happy to see him win at Phoenix right away.
Q.  Getting the box checked and getting essentially a seat in the Chase, you’ve got this upcoming huge opportunity and challenge coming up with the double.  Does that take pressure off doing that and make that easier for you?

KURT BUSCH:  Wow, that kind of hit me hard.  I hadn’t thought of that.  My focus is here in the stock car world and with my NASCAR team.  It is nice, though, to have a genuine position now to make the Chase.  At this pace, though, six winners in six weeks, right, or is it five?
Q.  Six.

KURT BUSCH:  It’s going to fill up quick, and we have to do our job on this 41 team to develop as a team and to be a bona fide chase contender when the Chase starts.  So we’re not going to rest on this win.  We have a long way to go, though, to get up into that top 16 in points, and once we get there, let’s keep digging.  Consistency now is what we’ll focus on.  A win is a win.  If we get a second win, that’s when I would call ourselves locked in.  But we have this consistency battle that we have in front of us, and I’m up for this challenge, especially when you have all this weight lifted on your shoulders with a win so early.
Q.  Kurt, I asked Jimmie about this earlier, a couple years back you had famously said that you would rather lose to 41 other cars before the 48, but you’ve come a long way in the last couple years and he even mentioned that you guys had sat down and talked it out and everything was good on that front.  I’m curious, two years ago versus today, if you were in that same scenario, because you guys had a fantastic clean race there at the end, would your temperament have been different when you were attacking the 48 over those last laps?

KURT BUSCH:  You would think it would be worse today with not winning for two years.  It flashed through my mind when he passed me that I’m hungrier than he is.  I’m ready to tackle 10 prime rib steaks right now.  I was hungry, and I wasn’t going to let this slip away with it being so close.
You know, a few years back when we were battling, I was speaking for the fans.  Anybody but the 48, when you have the same winner time and time again, it can get stale, and I wasn’t doing my job well enough on that team to challenge Jimmie for the win and to knock him off the top.  When you win as much as he has, he has that target, and you want to go there and knock him off his podium.
It was great to have raced him, and there was that respect today because we don’t come from the same garage, but we do have some ties.  We do have Mr. H, we do have Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, and there is a little bit of that camaraderie of teammates back and forth, and you don’t want to start it off on a bad foot like that.  But that’s an epic‑type battle at a short track, with a six‑time champion to go back and forth and exchange the lead, a couple taps, a couple moves, a little bit of a chess game.  I was hoping I had enough rear tires to drive away from him at the end, and I got an arm pump at the end.  That was the hardest 30 laps I ever drove not to slip a tire in my life because I didn’t want to let last week where I let the win slip away, let it slip away this week.  So I gave it all I had, and it felt good.  It felt really good to give it my all and deliver and to win knowing that after this two‑year run it can still be done.
Q.  I understand Gene Haas wasn’t here, which I would think is pretty disappointing with the lengths that he went to to get you aboard.  Have you had any interaction with him after or anything at all?

KURT BUSCH:  He texted me on Friday, how’s it going.  I said, it’s Martinsville… he goes, what does that mean?  I said, we’re loose, we’re sliding all over.  He goes, well, just slow down.  His sarcasm is unbelievable.  I love him.  He’s great.  He gives us every tool we need to win, and when he hired me he said go for wins.  If you go out sliding sideways and you wreck, I’m okay with that.  Just bring home those trophies.  I said, deal, you’re just going to have to carry them out of victory lane.  Unfortunately Gene wasn’t here today to carry the trophy out of victory lane.  Daniel carried it out.  Last week at California we had a shot to win in his backyard and I didn’t deliver, and to see him go with the car to tech inspection and hang out with the guys and he wasn’t in a rush to jump on a plane to get out of there because he lives in Southern Cal, it was a moment missed, and I’m glad I could deliver the week after, and we need him back at the track again as soon as possible to help us win again.
Q.  You talked about the first win in two years.  Has not winning over the last two years been as frustrating or less frustrating considering you’ve been working with teams that are kind of growing?

KURT BUSCH:  You know, it was a process.  It was a challenge to work with those Furniture Row guys.  I thought we were knocking on the door about the 10th race in last year, and we couldn’t win.  It’s amazing how many things have to fall into place, and so I never doubted myself.  I never gave up.  I kept trying to find little stones to uncover and rocks to overturn to try to make teams better for the way that I knew how to make them, and I was just trying to find the right combo, trying to find the combo that Daniel found today, and Stewart‑Haas Racing is that combination for me.  It’s great to win six races in with a brand‑new team like this and have that feeling of a competitive organization around you.
Q.  And as far as what happened on pit road with Keselowski, can you talk about what happened and were you surprised that he was upset?

KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, I can’t believe he overreacted and he’s as upset as he is.  The 5 car was trying to pull into his box, Brad ran into the back of him, I steered right to go around Brad and then he clobbers our left‑side door, and it’s like, okay, accidents happen on pit road.  It’s congested.  It’s not a place to race, because of all the pit crew guys down there and I didn’t think much of it, and then once we were back out running, he targeted us, he was aiming for us.  He tried to flatten all four of my tires.  That’s a no‑fly zone.  That’s a punk‑ass move and he will get what he gets back when I decide to give it back.
Q.  You said that you were really going to let this victory soak in.  When you took that checkered flag, was it a sigh of relief of just like, I told you I’d be back, I’m back, and how have you changed?  How have these last two years changed you?

KURT BUSCH:  You know, I had such focus for the last 30 laps not to slip a tire and the emotion of performing at my best and then to deliver, I had this sharp chill go through my body of I’ve done it, I did it, I’m back on that stage, we’re with a competitive organization, we’re a winner, and it takes a team to do it.  I ran a lot of my early part of my career as an individual, and I didn’t respect my team, my team owners, and to have a team owner like Tony Stewart who’s a driver and an owner, I can communicate things to the mid‑level personnel, those are all the things that I knew I struggled with and that I needed to communicate better to the channels of people that are all part of this team.  It’s not just me and the crew chief or the pit crew that jumps over the wall.  There’s a full channel of everybody, and when you have racers like Greg Zipadelli that are there to help you, Matt Borland was there to assist Daniel in our growth, and a whole group of guys back at that shop that are hopefully not going to tear the lobby down when we party, it’s that camaraderie and it’s that feeling. 
Those Furniture Row guys gave it to me.  The Phoenix Racing guys gave it to me, but we just never were able to deliver a win, but we’ve been knocking on the door for the last two years, and it feels great to get back there.
Q.  You won this race after I think earlier you had even said you’re done and there was a lot of adversity early, the Keselowski thing probably would have rattled you or anybody.  How did you refocus at that point?  How did you pull yourself together, brush that off and say I’m just going to move past this?

KURT BUSCH:  Because it wasn’t that big of a deal.  When somebody has a problem on pit road, it’s like, ooh, I’m glad everybody is cool, pit crew guys are fine, and then he brought it out on the track and he really tried to ruin our day.  If we would’ve got a flat tire at that moment, we would have gone a couple laps down because it was a green‑flag condition, and there would have been hell to pay.
Q.  You touched on a question that I was going to ask about, and that’s the dynamic of driving for a driver and what that means not just for the Kurt Busch team but for the entire organization.  If you want to just expand on that, and then secondly, at what point did that car come in?  Did Jimmie start to lose?  Did you start to dial in because it seemed like maybe the weather conditions started to change, and at what point did that start working for you?

KURT BUSCH:  You know, it’s a blessing to have a team owner who’s a racer because then there isn’t the cloudiness or the lack of clarity when the drivers are asking for something specific.  I remember sitting in big meetings with Jack or with Roger and there was some question on what’s the driver really talking about.  Tony Stewart can really clarify that and move the things quicker.
It’s great to have him out there.  At Fontana we raced for the win, which was an interesting situation.  I really enjoyed racing him for the win, but the problem was the 14 and the 41, neither one of us won that day, so it’s kind of a bummer we didn’t deliver for our team last week.  It’s all about the team guys.  Tony can communicate very easily.
You know, the car never really told me it was a winning car, but we kept passing guys, and I got to 10th and I had to celebrate.  I was like, I’ve never been running 10th after 200 laps here before, and we kept looking out our windshield going to chase down more guys.  I didn’t know what that feeling was like to have a winning car here at Martinsville because I haven’t won here since 2002.
 Q.  You’ve taken a journey that none of us can relate to, can quite understand.  When you get to this point, what does winning feel like?  What is special again?  What has stood out in the last 25, 30 minutes and is part of this two‑year journey that you’ve gone on, and did you ever think you’d get back to this point?

KURT BUSCH:  You know, it’s a moment of self‑satisfaction and enjoyment of all the hard work that I’ve put in and all of the people that have been around me to help me, and to have a guy like Gene Haas believe in you and give you a shot with a brand‑new team and a brand‑new car.  You’ve got to put life in perspective, and you have to learn from your mistakes, and you can’t just sit there and try to muscle your way individually through certain situations, and so you rely on your experience level, you rely on your team, and this is a great day for me to be able to lift the trophy in victory lane for Stewart‑Haas Racing.
 Q.  You had said last year you really wanted to win and get little Houston in victory lane, so I’m curious what that moment was like today to finally be able to do that.

KURT BUSCH:  It’s pretty emotional.  To see him starry eyed and not knowing what he needed to do and I was directing him where he needed to stand and where he could see it all better and put him up on stage.  And to have him break down in tears, it got me crossed up because I’ve been trying to deliver for him, and when you deliver for your team and everybody that’s on this Stewart‑Haas, Haas Automation team, we’re all adults, but when the kids get involved and he gets to soak it in, it just kind of took it to a new level.  He busted out crying, and tears of joy from a nine year old are probably the heaviest tears of all.
 Q.  You kind of touched on this a little bit.  You said how special it was for a team that’s only basically six races old to be winning already, but for you personally, and you mentioned this, this has never been one of your best tracks.  When you add the two of those together for you guys going forward, doesn’t that even kind of provide you, sort of set it up for what could be a very special season when you’ve accomplished a goal like that so early at a place that’s been difficult for you?

KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, I don’t know how to exactly define it.  I’ve always looked at Martinsville as a struggle.  To get a 15th and just kind of move on.  To beat Jimmie Johnson and to pass for the win and have him pass me and then I got back by him, it was a great short‑track duel.  It was as if I hadn’t missed a beat.  But it’s been a long two years, and it’s been a lot of hard work, and I just kept staying the course.
You’ve just got to believe in the people that are around you, and I’m very thankful to have a chance to win today and to be in a good position for 2014 already with a race win and moving our way up through points.  Now our next objective is just to build more consistency in our Haas Automation Chevy.  Daniel deserves a lot of credit.  He’s brand new in his position, Wes, the lead engineer underneath him is brand new, the guy underneath him is brand new in his position, so a lot of guys we promoted internally.  I think the key to today’s victory was no practice on Saturday, so I’m taking Saturday off when we come back here in October, or just give me a blindfold.  I might do better.  I think I’ve been really good at dialing the car out on practice days here at Martinsville.  A lot of times we could just kind of roll the dice on Sunday morning with the setup.  We took advantage of today’s conditions with the track being rained out and the new ride height rule through a lot of teams’ guaranteed setups out the window, and it put everybody more on an even playing field today.
Q.  Can you talk about what a relief it is to get this win behind you because it makes the whole Indy challenge probably a little bit less daunting?

KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, it didn’t hit me until the question was brought up about Indianapolis.  I’ve had my mindset around the beginning of the season, get these first 10 races under our belt, and then once we get to Talladega and to Kansas, that’s when the Indy stuff will really start picking up.  There’s going to be a lot of flights back and forth.
This is just a great feather in the cap.  It’s a load off our shoulders.  There won’t be the questions or the distraction thought process anyway.  It’ll be, hey, the 41 car is doing well.  We still have a long way to go to be competitive to give ourselves a shot once the Chase starts, but my Indianapolis adventure, now we can breathe easier as we go through these next two months.
KERRY THARP:  Kurt and Daniel, congratulations.  Big win here today, and I suspect we’ll see more of that this season.  Enjoy this victory.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, FINISHED 2ND
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS, FINISHED 3RD  
KERRY THARP:  Let’s roll right into our post‑race for this afternoon’s 65th‑annual STP 500, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race here at Martinsville Speedway, and our second‑ and third‑place finishers have joined us here in the media center.  Our race runner‑up is Jimmie Johnson.  He drove the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet for He
ndrick Motorsports.  Our third‑place finisher is his teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  He drove the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  Jimmie, certainly contended for the win throughout the day, back and forth with the 41 car over the last 50 or 60 laps.  Tell us what happened out there.
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Just a very strong race car.  We unloaded off the truck fast and qualified well and had an awesome car here in the race today.  Of course disappointed not to get to victory lane, but there wasn’t anything else I could do.  Man, I got back by him and I thought that we had control of the race then.  I felt like since I hadn’t seen him through really any part of the day that he might have me on short‑run speed but he would fall off.  He stayed in my mirror and found a way back by me and then got a car length or so on me and did an awesome job.  I wish I could have gotten the win here for the 30th anniversary, but I came up a little short, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.
KERRY THARP:  Dale, certainly you battled throughout the day, got in a couple of bumps and bruises out there it looked like, but just talk about the race out there today.  Certainly was no easy task out there getting around this short track today.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, well, it was pretty easy until the end.  You had to just discipline yourself to not use the throttle, and I think we’ll have a lot of fun looking at the throttle trace on some of them runs because I was quarter throttle at the max, under the lap I was probably quarter throttle toward the end of them runs, even on the straightaways.  There just wasn’t no point in mashing the gas any further than that.  When guys were faster, I just let them go and just sit there.  I was real patient all day in saving the left rear, saving the left rear and just waiting until the end, see where we’d be.  We had good track position.  Inside of 38 laps to go I thought everybody was going to go like hell, and we all did and ended up running third.  I think the two guys in front of me were ‑‑ I was losing my car pretty fast there the last five laps so I didn’t have anything else to get there.  I got a couple lapped guys gave me the outside instead of the inside.  That’s their right, but that cost me a little time and maybe some wear and tire on my tires.  I thought when we passed the 22 we might be able to roll up there and get in the middle of the race for that win, but no, those guys’ cars, they were pretty good.
Q.  Jimmie, I think you set a record for lead changes today with 32.  Seemed like with you and Kurt the last 20, 30 laps, seemed like exceedingly clean racing.  Is that how it felt?

JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Man, we were so on edge slipping and sliding.  I gave him a little nudge to get inside him, and he came and put some pressure back on me, but it was so slight, honestly the cars were so on top of the track and slipping and sliding you would go out there and push one around with your hand.  I think the lack of security in our own car kept us from feeling more racy and putting a bumper to someone or really getting inside someone aggressively.  From the minute I would hit the brakes and go into the turn I was turning right and just drifting in there the whole time.
The lack of comfort probably prevented us from racing a little harder.
Q.  Dale, I was listening on Fan Vision, and Steve was apologizing during the race that he was reminding you so much about taking it easy and making your stuff last.  You mentioned that discipline.  Does it help having him in your ear to remind you when you’re running 30 or 40 laps that you’ve got to keep maintaining your speed?

DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, I mean, that’s exactly what ran through my mind when he said that, when he was saying I’m probably getting on your nerves, I’m thinking, man, I’m just going to bring it on because I’ll be missing this next year.  There’s nobody like him.  I don’t expect the next guy to come in there and mimic him or be like him.  We’ll work that out and communicate like we need to communicate going forward.  But yeah, he does a great job of keeping my mind focused on the tasks, and there’s several different things you’re doing in the car during a run, and you can forget to ‑‑ you can easily get yourself carried away and race a guy and forget taking care of your car and taking care of your left‑rear tire.  It’s easy to get swept up in the competition of things, and he’s good at sort of cheerleading you along the way and running the show.  He does a good job on top of the box.
Q.  With Stewart‑Haas winning two of the first six races, do you ever look at Rick and go, what were you thinking about bringing them on board as partners?

DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I don’t.  You know, I look at it as an opportunity to learn more.  I look at it as an opportunity to understand new ideas.  It’s a good partnership that works both ways.
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, totally agree.  They’re an important part of Hendrick Motorsports in general.  We wouldn’t be as strong as we are as a company if we didn’t have the relationship, either.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I’ll say I don’t know the crew chief on the 41 that well yet, but it’s been a real pleasure being able to communicate with Rodney from the 4 car.  You sort of build those relationships throughout the year with those guys, and it all works back and forth.
Q.  Did you feel any added pressure going into this week knowing that it was the anniversary of Rick’s first win and knowing that it happened at this track?

DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  You know, Rick has had so much success here starting with the first win, and it’s been great to watch Rick have so much success here.  It’s been awesome seeing the company go to victory lane.  It’s been great to be a part of understanding how that works and benefiting from it.  We run third today because we got great teammates that understand how to get around here and put good cars on the track, and we lean on that.  It’s been a great experience seeing it happen, and I’m sure that one of us would have loved to have won that race for Rick.  We’ll get more opportunities to win more races, and I’m just frustrated I’ve been chasing the clock here for so long.  Hopefully one of these days it’ll work out.
Q.  Dale, you mentioned racing with discipline today.  Can you afford to race with less discipline at other tracks like next week, for example?

DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Well, when I mean by racing with discipline today, you couldn’t run any harder with the wear we had on the tires.  You just couldn’t afford to.  You saw how the 20 car and the 18 car, those guys would run real hard at the lead early in the race, and they set an example for the rest of us to watch out and be easy on that left‑rear tire, and it just goes away like a snap.
I couldn’t afford to run any harder if I wanted to be competitive on the end of these runs, and particularly we seen longer runs here than we saw today.  None of the runs went past 80 laps, but typically we see a good long run in the middle of the race, and we were just ready for that.
Q.  Jimmie, I don’t want to be the downer, but over the last couple years for as much as you’ve won, you’ve lost a lot of races dominating like today.  Are they starting to add up in your mind?  Any frustration?

JIMMIE JOHNSON:  No, but thanks for the reminder.
Q.  I said I didn’t want to be a downer.

JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I’ve got to figure something out.  Hopefully I’ll win a race soon or a championship.
To be truthful, last year I felt like some got away that I definitely had control of and was disappointed in myself on some of that.  Some of the stuff circumstances got me, but we left a lot of wins on the table la
st year for sure.
Today I couldn’t have done any more.  I just got beat.  You’re going to have those, too, and you’ve got to recognize when you get beat and you’ve got to recognize when you make mistakes, and today we just got beat.
Q.  What is the feeling today besides the fact you know you got beat at Martinsville, which you’ve won here eight times?

JIMMIE JOHNSON:  It’s nice to know our cars are good.  This track is in the Chase, so we’ll come back a lot smarter and try to prevent running second again.  You just learn from the situation.  I’m not saying there was a mistake today, but you learn from this weekend and carry it forward.  This is a brand new car and a lot of stuff to figure out, so I know in the coming months the car’s setups will be a lot different, and we’ll just keep evolving and try to prevent running second.
Thanks for the hard questions.
Q.  Jimmie, a couple years back Kurt was quoted on camera as saying there were 41 cars on the track he would rather lose to than losing to the 48, but you guys obviously had a great race today and it was predominantly clean.  Is that indicative of the fact that you two have gotten beyond that point and you’re now able to race without any kind of animosity?

JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, for sure.  I think things came to a head at Pocono and then Richmond was shortly thereafter.  After the Richmond race we sat down and talked long about things and got through it.  Through some of the struggles he’s had the last couple years before he landed at Stewart‑Haas, I’ve been there and kind of advised ‑‑ not necessarily advised, but had conversations with him, gave him my opinion.  I was happy to see him go to Stewart‑Haas.  He’s a fantastic driver, and with the way we share information, we can learn from him and learn from that.
We’re definitely in a good place, that’s for sure.  I think today was very representative of that.
KERRY THARP:  Dale and Jimmie, congratulations on a strong run here today and good luck at Texas next week.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
STP 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MARCH 30, 2014
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A CRASH ON LAP 199
IN REGARDS TO THE ON-TRACK INCIDENT:
“He (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) barely got into me and you hope that wouldn’t happen and he would get off of you, but he didn’t.  I went around and got into the wall pretty hard.  I don’t know if they will be able to fix it, but we had a really good run again and had a great McDonald’s Chevy and it’s just unfortunate.”
 
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?
“There was a lap car holding up our pack.  I thought the No. 88 would be a little more patient with me.  I had gotten by him in lap traffic.  Then he got on my inside.  When he got into me it was like it couldn’t get off and spun me around and just got into the wall there.  Really unfortunate had a good car, every race we’ve had good cars.  You just wish you weren’t racing for points because that is the hardest part to swallow is the point’s loss.  It’s fun to run well but that is what you will think about for the next five days.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
ON HIS RACE:
“I didn’t know if we’d be able to do it. The No. 48 car is king here – him or the 24. The old theory is if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. We have a Hendrick chassis prepared by Stewart-Haas Racing. Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet… thanks to those guys. I’ve been on this journey for awhile. Every time you come to Martinsville you draw a line through it; like ‘there’s no way I’ll be able to challenge those Hendrick guys or challenge for a top-10’. These Stewart-Haas team gave me a team to do it. Now I know what I need to do on Saturdays: don’t even practice. Just show up and race on Sunday that way I won’t dial out the car! It’s a dream come true to have Gene Haas call you and tell you that he wants you to drive and he wants to go for trophies and wins. It’s an unbelievable feeling to deliver.”
 
THE PIT LANE INCIDENT WITH BRAD KESELOWSKI
“We won. We’re not worried about any of that nonsense right now. We are a winner. We’re not guaranteed in the Chase but we have a win and we’re moving forward. Thanks a lot to everyone on this team. I can’t thank them enough.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND
ON HIS RACE:
“I’d been loose in the final third of the race and was hanging on there. When (Kurt Busch) got back by me, I was hopefully that he’d wear his stuff out and I could get back by him. He did but I couldn’t hold him off. I started to get looser and looser. That’s all I had. I ran the rear tires off the car. I flipped every switch and knob I could get front brake and turn fans off to bring my balance back but it was a little too loose to get the win. I hate it. We had a very fast race car. I wish we could have gotten this for Rick (Hendrick’s) 30th anniversary.”

CHEVROLET RECOGNIZES HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FOR 30 YEARS OF SUCCESS AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
 
DETROIT (March 29, 2014) – Chevrolet congratulates long-time partner Hendrick Motorsports on 30 years of winning. Hendrick Motorsports has fielded only Chevrolets in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The combination of two of motorsports’ most prominent names tasted victory for the first time April 29, 1984 when Geoff Bodine in a Chevy Monte Carlo earned the first checkered flag for Rick Hendrick’s organization. In the 30 years that followed, Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports have driven to a total of 219 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins and 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships.
 
During the past three decades, Hendrick Motorsports drivers have piloted the Chevrolet brand to Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway 21 times. Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson all have earned the prestigious Grandfather Clock trophy from NASCAR’s oldest track.  Gordon and Johnson, both Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers for the entirety of their careers, currently hold the record for most victories by active drivers at Martinsville Speedway with eight wins.
 
“We are extremely proud of our partnership with Rick and the Hendrick Motorsports organization,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Rick’s success over the past three decades is the result of his passion, persistence and emphasis on teamwork to get the job done. As a result, Hendrick Motorsports has 272 wins and 14 NASCAR Owner Championships – all with Chevrolet. As a key partner and respected friend, we congratulate Rick and Hendrick Motorsports on 30 great years of racing and winning.”
 
Both Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports hold significant records at the 0.526-mile track.  Chevrolet is the winningest manufacturer there with 52 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins, and Hendrick Motorsports is the most decorated organization with 21 victories.
 
With the 2014 season in full swing, both Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports are off to a good start. Chevrolet leads the manufacturer standings while Hendrick Motorsports has already recorded a victory in the season-opening Daytona 500 placing Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet SS, into contention for the Chase. All four Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet drivers hold positions in the top 20 in the point standings.  
 
Together Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports look forward to continued success in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series not only at Martinsville Speedway where all the trips to victory lane began, but at all the others along the way.