NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
THE PROFIT ON CNBC 500
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 28, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, DRIVER OF THE NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with media today at Phoenix International Raceway to discuss being back at PIR, differences in setup from last year’s race here, his influence on Dale Earnhardt Jr., and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
TALK ABOUT BEING BACK AT PHOENIX CONSIDERING YOUR SUCCESS HERE.
JIMMIE JOHNSON: It’s always great to be back at a track where you and a team have had so much success. With the reconfiguration of this track, it’s been hit or miss for us. When we were here in November, it was really good for us especially from the championship perspective. To come back now, there is definitely excitement and confidence. The cars are far different than when we were here in November. This will be the first real test on which team and organization has found speed in their cars and been able to use the new rules package to their advantage. We feel good about what we have. We tested quite a bit to get ready for this moment. We will know more about 30-40 minutes into the practice about where we stand.”
 
I’M CURIOUS TO SEE HOW YOUR TESTING STRATEGY MIGHT CHANGE WITH THE NEW FORMAT FOR THE CHASE THIS YEAR.
“Ideally if all four (Hendrick) drivers win a race, we can just sit on our test sessions and know that we are in that first block. That’s really the objective I think for all the teams. We will have to see. We have tested a lot at tracks where we don’t compete at, and you learn so much more when you come to a track that you compete at. Next weekend in Las Vegas will be big for all of the teams in the garage area to have an extra day on the race track – getting data and figuring some stuff out. So yes, ideally let’s save our test sessions until the deep in the Chase if we can. If we’re behind, we’ll have to burn some of those sessions to catch up.”
 
IT WAS SO EXCITING TO TALK TO EVERYONE AFTER THE RACE LAST WEEK. THEY WERE ALL UP ON THE WHEEL AND EYES SORT OF GLEAMING. IS THAT A RESULT OF THE WEATHER AND DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE SOME OF THAT AS WELL WITH SOME OF THE NEW FORMAT? OR WAS IT BECAUSE IT WAS THE DAYTONA 500?
“The possibility of rain coming and shortening the race really did it. We saw before the rain came that we were single-file against the wall just riding. Most don’t want to do that. I think the top five were content riding. Everyone else wanted to be in the top five, and then they would be content. There are guys who would try to move to the inside lane and get something going down there but it would never materialize. Then with the long delay and the threat of rain out there, we were two- or three-wide the rest of the night and put on a great show.”
 
INAUDABLE.
“Yeah, the first 10 laps after a restart here are exciting. This is one of the craziest tracks, I feel, from a restart perspective. You have the dogleg on the back where you can find yourself four-wide through the center of the backstretch and hope you have it sorted by Turn 3. If we have cautions – and cautions usually breed cautions – it will be exciting for sure.”
 
SPEAKING OF RAIN COMING, HOW WILL THAT CHANGE THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND? HOW WILL IT SHAKE OUT ON SUNDAY?
“We showed up in qualifying trim, and with the threat of rain we switched over to race trim. We will open up the first 30-40 minutes in race trim and then flip over. It would be nice to have all of the practice tomorrow because everything is so new right now. That would be the biggest impact – less track time to work through our setups. It puts a little more pressure on us today to make it right.”
 
DO YOU HAVE ANY WAY – BEFORE GOING ON TRACK TODAY – OF KNOWING WHERE HENDRICK MATCHES UP WITH OTHER TEAMS WITH THE SETUPS SO RADICALLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THEY WERE LAST YEAR?
“Not really. There have been so many teams at the Nashville race track running that we kind of feel like we’re good based on what we saw from other organizations there. But I still don’t have a lot of confidence in that. I think within the first 30-40 minutes we will have a very good idea once practice starts.”
 
RICK HENDRICK LAUDED YOUR INFLUENCE ON JUNIOR OVER THE LAST FOUR TO FIVE YEARS. JUNIOR ALSO HAS TALKED ABOUT HOW YOU MOTIVATED HIM AND HELPED HIM WHEN THINGS ARE BAD. WHAT DO YOU SAY TO HIM AND WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK YOU PLAYED IN HIS COMEBACK THE LAST FEW YEARS?
“You know, with Junior I always just kind of reached out to him and let him know I was there if he wanted to talk about race cars, the team or really anything for that matter. With his personality, if you’re in his face a lot or telling him what you think or almost preaching to him – telling him what he should do – it’s not going to work out. In some ways, I’ve tried to lead by example and just do my thing. He is a very, very observant guy – especially with what goes on in our shop. That’s taken me awhile to pick up and understand; how much he pays attention to what I do, how I drive my car, the things I’m interested in, things I focus on. And then being there and answering questions. From there, he has done the rest on his own. Between he and Steve (Letarte, crew chief) with the relationship they have… we may have been a carrot out there for the 88 in some respects but the hard work those two have put in and that team has put in has put them where they are today.”
 
FOLLOWING UP ON THAT, DALE SAID SUNDAY THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ONE OF HIS BIGGEST FANS. IS THAT A NATURAL DYNAMIC OF TWO GUYS WHO WORK FROM THE SAME SHOP OR DOES IT GO BACK TO THE POTENTIONAL YOU’VE SEEN FROM HIM? WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT COMES FROM?
“Really from being in the same shop. Before that, I was always there for him but I didn’t have the opportunity to connect and talk at the level we do now. Being in the same shop has allowed that to happen. He and I have been friends for a lot of years – well before either of us were racing in NASCAR. I think the time and history there kind of helps take down some of the walls and lets us communicate.”

TAKE US THROUGH WHY YOU’RE RESPONISBLE FOR THE DALE JR. TWITTER PHENOMENON. WAS THIS A BET? WAS THIS PRODDING HIM, AND WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM HIM WATCHING HIM OPENING HIMSELF UP THE WAY HE HAS?
“He has taken it and run with it, huh? I, among many others, have been pushing him. There have been a lot of people involved on social media – even people from Twitter – who have put pressure on him and have come to me to put pressure on him over the years. It just wasn’t something he was interested in. As sharp as he is and as much time as he spends in the digital world, I knew that when he got involved that he would love it and it would work well for him. For myself, maybe in a different manner though, when you’re exposed like that and open yourself up like that, it lets your fans see the world through your eyes. He must have been watching from afar for awhile. He has the lingo down and is tagging people and replying to people pretty well. He didn’t enter as a rookie on Twitter in my opinion! He is off to a pretty strong start. All I did was explain to him how social media is the best way to show your value to your sponsors. I’ve taken a lot of time and put a lot into our digital presence because quite frankly I just didn’t believe in what I was reading in Joyce Julius reports – the way they poll people, form an opinion and give me a value. It didn’t correlate.  It just didn’t make sense to me. That’s what I explained to Junior – (social media) is a real-time, relevant way to show your relevancy and how you fit in the world. I think that really clicked in his mind and got him going.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
THE PROFIT ON CNBC 500
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 28, 2014
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his approach to the new qualifying procedure, testing at Las Vegas, working with Stewart-Haas, and more. Full Transcript:
 
IS TODAY YOUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY?
“Yes, it is; 13 years. This is the first time that (wife, DeLana and son, Keelan) they haven’t been out here. It’s obviously another piece of our lives that Mr. Keelan has changed. But west coast trips, as all you parents know, are not good to changes the schedule. So, first things first.”
 
ARE YOU GOING TO CELEBRATE WHEN YOU GET BACK HOME?
“Well, I’m actually staying out here through Las Vegas just because of the travel, and having to be there on Thursday is such a short timeframe at home. So yeah, it’s hard to celebrate anything anymore. With everything that’s going on here and everything with Keelan, so it stays pretty busy.”
 
ARE YOUR SORE AT ALL FROM LAST WEEK? I SAW YOUR TWEETS AND AM CURIOUS IF YOU’VE GOTTEN ANY REACTION?
“The tracks, for the most part, don’t listen to really anything unless it’s profitable for their shareholders.  So, when you see somebody spending $400 million dollars on their track and they don’t have soft walls around the inside, maybe they could spend $403 million to go ahead and finish the inside of the superspeedway there at Daytona. Yeah, I was sore all week. And, just today feel good enough to do what I need to do.
 
“So, it was just a weird situation. The car didn’t have any brakes or any steering and the throttle was partially hung coming off the wall and going through the wet grass and then into no safer barrier at the end of pit road there. So, it was a hard shot. It’s a little bit frustrating because it really shouldn’t even be a debate. I know they have data that shows where the most frequently hit spots are but we wear all this safety equipment and do all the things that we do to these race tracks for that one freak incident to keep things from happening like happened back in 2001. So, it’s shouldn’t even be a debate. It’s just one of those things I guess that you just wait around for something else to happen and then they’ll fix it.”
 
INAUDIBLE
“I don’t know. I went through there before on the top line and the guys in the medical center afterwards, and the guys that I saw, they said they about wrecked there the lap before. So, I went in there and the thing went straight with the front end and I tried to pull it off the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and the car spun out. So, it hadn’t ever hinted at being tight for 499 miles, so it was definitely unexpected.”
 
ON TESTING AT LAS VEGAS
“Well, we tested with the no ride height rule at Charlotte when we did the NASCAR test and I just expect the cars to have a little bit more grip and a little bit more speed than what we had before. Along with that, when you have those changes in the car, it changes all the springs and the way that the engineers go about looking at everything that they do. And so it’s a whole different thought process than it was last year. And as we found out last week in the Unlimited, the main thing that you have to pay attention to is being able to get the tires off the car on a pit stop. So, we had to adjust for that during Speedweeks a little bit last week. And so, I know they’ve worked hard on it but things happen a lot more aggressively coming into the pit stall and everything is hot and so you’ve just got to make sure that’s right.”
 
SO HOW IMPORTANT IS IT THAT YOU HAVE AN EXTRA DAY OUT THERE TO TEST?
“For us, not only is it a new team, which I felt like we’ve worked through a lot of things really well last week. We had some things here and there, a lot of things here and there, that we had to work through and everybody did a good job. So, those four extra hours to get everything sorted out for us is important, but I think there are just so many new things and the way that you look at things and the way you go about things and the springs and things that you run underneath the car are so drastically different than what you ran last year, that we’re looking for that baseline to be able to understand exactly what we need and where to work from. In that same sense, things will evolve really fast because things are quite a bit different. So, you’ll have something that will evolve into something new by the time you get to the next week.”
 
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE QUALIFYING SESSION? DO YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC PLAN OF WHEN YOU WANT TO GO OUT AND HOW LONG YOU WANT TO BE OUT?
“I think it’s going to kind of be trial by fire, here. I think everybody is anticipating and is excited about it, but we don’t really know exactly what to do because the hard part about it is really the engine. And I know they make it sound really simple; you just take tape off. But when you start taking tape off the downforce becomes less, the packer becomes different and you can’t adjust the packer in the front of the car. You can adjust the air pressure, but the ride is going to change as you take tape off the front of the car. So there’s just a lot of things that play into it that you anticipate. But there’s also a lot of things that you don’t understand or know about with the car that you’re not going to think of until you actually get into the situation that it’s going to be a challenge for everybody just to try to put your arms around everything and understand it. I think it’s going to be great once we get it all going and get all the kinks worked out with it. It’s definitely going to keep the on-track excitement up. So I think everybody is excited but everybody is a little bit on edge because you don’t really know exactly what you need to do. You’ve thought of everything you can think of, but there will always be a hundred things that you don’t think of.”
 
DO YOU EXPECT TRAFFIC TO BE AN ISSUE HERE?
“You know, we do practice all the time. When everybody starts doing qualifying runs, sometimes there are guys out there doing race runs and sometimes there are guys out there doing whatever. And so, there will be a lot of different agendas. But we deal with it every week pretty much during practice with the traffic.”
 
ON RAIN IN THE FORECAST POSSIBLY AFFECTING QUALIFYING AND PRACTICE
“Yeah, it’s a unique spot we’ve been talking about it for a week now because we’ve seen the forecast and you just have to go out and try to put as many things together as you can and collect as much data as you can so you can put your race set-up together for Sunday. But you know that qualifying is important, but you also have to concentrate as much as we can on the race stuff. So, there are so many things that you have to put into and hour and a half that you have to prioritize. Qualifying will probably be the last thing that we prioritize too, but we’ll definitely have to get to it at some point.”
 
HOW DOES IT FEEL FOR A TEAM TO WIN EARLY IN THE SEASON AND BE IN THE CHASE?  HOW DOES THAT CHANGE AN APPROACH? WHAT IS THAT EMOTION?
‘Well, this year it’s different. Because, not that you’re not going to be aggressive, but you have to keep the mindset right now of that you still have to finish the races; but as you get in that position you can start being a lot more aggressive with really anything. Car set-ups, fuel strategy, race strategy, all those things fall into being more aggressive so you can take a lot of chances and then really, all you’re after at that point is winning races to try to gain more bonus points to protect yourself in the first round of the Chase to get the cushion.”
 
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF JUNIOR ON TWITTER?
“I think he’s doing good. I knew he’d like it once he got on there. He’s kind of that techy-type of guy who likes all the cool gadgets and stuff. And for a guy
who is that popular, it’s a really easy way to interact without having to create a frenzy that happens when he comes around somewhere in public. For him it’s got to be almost a relief to be able to engage with people and do it at his own pace and not have to be in this total frenzy because he is a rock star.”
 
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT HIM THIS WEEK ON TWITTER?
“I think everybody did. One thing I like about what Dale Junior has is he’s got all those cool pictures of his dad. I’ll look forward to Thursdays now just for the fact that I know he’s going to post some really cool pictures from back in the day.”
 
AFTER GOING THROUGH THE WHOLE WEEK, IS THERE ANYTHING HE HAS TO WORRY ABOUT WHEN GETTING TO THE TRACK HERE ON FRIDAY?
“For him, he’s used to dealing with all the hype. So, it’s not anything different. Obviously you’ve been through a lot this week in just taking care of yourself and making sure you’re ready to go and not giving them the world and managing your time correctly is the hardest part to make sure that you focus on the race car and the things that you need to do in it. But he deals with that every week.”
 
HOW DOES THIS NEW CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT IMPACT YOUR STRATEGY FOR TESTING THIS YEAR?
“Honestly, we haven’t talked about a test yet. I think it’s just kind of seeing where you’re at and if things are going good, there’s no reason to use those tests up. You can save all four of them for Homestead. That would probably be the best way to do it.”
 
YOU HAVE A ROSTER OF FOUR-STAR DRIVERS AT STEWART-HAAS. HAVE YOU DISCOVERED THAT THERE IS A DOMINANT PERSONALITY THERE? DOES TONY STEWART HAVE MORE SAY BECAUSE HE’S THE BOSS? HOW IS THAT DEVELOPING, AS YOU ARE ALL GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER?
“I’ve learned that Tony listens a lot because he takes a lot of things in. When we sat in our first competition meeting this week, Tony seems like the guy that’s going to be the boss that doesn’t want to say anything and I can kind of relate to this. You don’t want to say something that’s out of line until you think about it and realize and understand how you need to approach it and fix it and do those things. But Tony is a smart person and I don’t think many people give him the credit. And I learned this sitting at the Roulette Table just how smart he was. He’s Rain Man smart with numbers and things.
 
“He seems like the guy that’s going to be thinking about things all the time and wants to give you the right answer instead of blurting out something; which you know, for us, we’re just brainstorming and thinking out loud and Tony is sitting there absorbing it all and wanting to make the right answer. And you can see that in him sitting there during the competition meeting and things that have happened so far.”
 
WHEN YOU SAY THAT, IS THERE A TOUGH BALANCE BETWEEN LEADING AS A LISTENER VERSUS AS A TALKER?
“Well, I think there’s a time for both. I think sometimes you have to set the tone when things are out of hand or something like that with a comment. I think there’s a time when things are calm and things are just progressing and you have to think about things and how to make things better. So, there’s a time for both of them. Like when I started my teams, I just wanted to if somebody did something wrong you just fire them. If something’s not going right, you cut it up. And you can’t run business that way. You have to be able to absorb it all and make a good decision for the company and it’s not just about one person or one car. You can tell that he’s been a part of a lot of things and understands that there’s a lot going on and everything affects something else.”
 
 

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT:
 
THE MODERATOR:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Welcome to today’s NASCAR teleconference.  We’re joined by Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and the winner of the 56th running of the Daytona 500.  With the victory Dale became the 11th driver with multiple Daytona 500 victories.
 
Dale, congratulations to you and the entire 88 team.  It’s been about 36 hours since you took the checkered flag at Daytona.  Since then you’ve made the rounds in New York City, you wrapped up at ESPN in Bristol, now you are en route to Texas.  Has it all sunk in yet?
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  This media tour is a great way to decompress off of something like that.  I don’t know how I would take it in just having nothing to do with myself.  It’s been fun being busy and talking about the win.  It’s an opportunity to celebrate my team and their effort, give everybody credit.
 
So I’m enjoying it.  It’s a lifetime opportunity to not only win the race but to be able to celebrate it and go talk to the world about it.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll now go to the media for questions.
Q.  I want to ask you something about you talked about in the media center, mentioning that Jimmie Johnson has always been one of your biggest fans.  Speak more to your relationship with him.  I guess maybe you see each other more as equals than most people might think.  Is that the case?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I can’t really speak for Jimmie.  I admire his talent.  I admire the way he carries himself, how professional he is, even in crisis situations, difficult situations that he has to face. I do feel like as talented as he is, I think I am on the same level.  As a driver, you have to feel confident in yourself and believe in yourself.  So I think I’d put myself up against anybody in the field. But I think we definitely have a good friendship.  I enjoy seeing him have success because I know where he came from and I know the kind of person he is, who he was, who he is now.  I think he feels the same way. We’ve known each other a long time.  A lot of things have happened in that period of time that I think allows us to have a lot of respect and appreciation for each other.
 
Q.  The most compelling part was seeing the fans crying, excited, the video of the little boy.  It’s a compelling thing to watch the reaction.  Have you had much of a sense of the reaction from your fans?
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Not really.  Seeing the videos was really the first bit of reaction I’ve seen.  I just started using my Twitter handle that I’ve had for several years.  Haven’t had a chance to follow anybody yet.  Been so busy, haven’t even had a chance to eat anything (laughter).
 
It’s been hectic as far as the schedule that we’ve had.  So when I sit down to all those videos, especially the kid crying, it gets me emotional seeing their emotions because I know what the win means to me.  To see what it means for someone else, how it affects someone else is such a reward. It’s a really awesome thing when you can do something that brings joy to someone else.  There’s no greater feeling for me anyway.  So I did like that obviously. We’re doing some stuff with radio or RJN 360 where we compile some clips.  I think fans may be able to check it out on DaleJr.com and stuff like that.  We put some stuff up on YouTube.  That’s going to be fun to be able to see.
Q.  Yesterday after you took the photos by the car, Rick was talking about how he feels like last year they finally were able to knock some of the pressure off you, getting you comfortable with close‑to‑perfect cars, letting you be yourself.  I’m curious if you think that kind of finally did happen last year.  If it did, at what point of the year was it?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  The cars that I drove in the Chase were far superior to anything I ever drove.  Even earlier in that same season, we were building new cars.  We had gained a lot of information and understanding on how to improve on our cars since the beginning of the year.  So we were able to start really putting all those additional features into one vehicle. Right there at the end of the year we were running so well.  To be able to be as fast as we were at Homestead, to finish the season off with such a strong car, almost get a win there, did wonders for our confidence.  It obviously showed how we were able to take off at the beginning of the year, get the win. We have a great situation here to have something unique.  The team is in a perfect position really to capitalize on our final year with Steve Letarte.
Q.  Can you describe what the difference is compared to before?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Drivers always talk about the car being into the racetrack, being into the track, getting more comfort and grip.  I’d say that we have improved that tremendously throughout the year.
Q.  The response to your victory sort of emphasizes your popularity.  Do you ever feel you’re carrying the weight of the sport on your shoulders?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I don’t really feel that way.  I feel like I represent Junior Nation.  I represent my fan base and the people that support our team. I think the sport is really kind of divided into the particular supporting systems for each driver.  You have the fans of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart.  I think we all represent our own fan base. There’s people out there that enjoy our sport that aren’t particularly fans of mine.  I don’t carry the whole sport on my shoulders.  We have enough personalities in the sport to do that individually. There’s tons of great storylines out there with the 3 coming back, Austin Dillon, all the rookies coming into the series, all the rookies coming into the Nationwide Series, Tony Stewart coming back, Danica’s first couple years trying to get her legs, trying to get going.
 
There’s a lot of good things happening in the sport that are relevant.  I just feel like a part of it.  Definitely got to stand on the center stage this past weekend by winning the Daytona 500.  But I never would assume that I was the face of the sport, even though some people have said that before.  I don’t think that’s the case at all.
Q.  Your excitement on Sunday night was a lot of fun to watch as you came into the media center.  It struck me even like your session on Thursday, you had this upbeat feel compared to the way you were a couple, three years ago.  Certainly how you’re up right now is easy to understand.  Can you describe where you were in life that had you looking so glum a couple years ago and what has really perked you up even before obviously Sunday?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  We weren’t running good.  We were struggling.  I think people underestimated how much I care about performance.  I don’t think people realized how much winning mattered to me. When you look at the critics and you look at their comments, aside from people saying I was overrated, they would always say I didn’t have killer instinct, I didn’t have the stuff that I needed to drive to win a championship, I didn’t want it bad enough. I never was bothered by being called ‘overrated’ because it’s such a broad term.  When people really pick at your determination, your drive, your hunger, that bothered me more than anything else did, because I grew up around the sport and I love it to death.  I would do anything for NASCAR.  I’d do anything for the health of the sport.  I’d sacrifice anything for it. When you don’t run good, it makes you upset, it disappoints you.  If you look at how ha
ppy I was Sunday after winning that race, you’ll know how bad I want to win, you’ll know how much winning means to me, and you’ll know from now on that there’s no questioning my killer instinct or drive, whatever term you want to use.
 
When you don’t run good, I don’t know why, in ’09, ’10, we were 20th, 25th every week.  I look at that now, I can’t even imagine it.  But I know I went through it. It’s such a long ways from where we are now.  Ran so good when we first came into the sport.  Then to go through that, get so far away from being competitive, then to come all the way back to where we are now, I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am and thankful I am that (indiscernible) didn’t give up on me, that Rick Hendrick didn’t give up on me, that they believed in me, were trying to find ways to make the chemistry work, regardless of what anybody said, regardless of what the critics were saying, when everybody was saying I was finished, whether I was going to do anything ever again.
 
I’ve been pretty vindicated, but I’m in a good place now.  I got my priorities in better shape.  I feel, like I said, we’re embarking on a season that could be something really special for me. Whether we win the championship or not remains to be seen obviously.  But I had one of my greatest years last year, and I think we can top that this season.
Q.  For those of us that don’t do what you do for a living, going back to Sunday night, how do you keep your focus during such a long rain delay?  Do you take your mind off racing during that time?  Let us know what you were doing.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I just put on some sweat pants, sat on the couch, ate a bunch of candy, played with the dogs, talked to my girlfriend, watched some TV, ate some junk food.  Normally whatever I would do on a Sunday if I had a Sunday off. I can switch it off.  We looked at the radar.  We got relatively assured we probably would be going racing again at 8:00, 830.  It’s not always common that you have such a structured idea of when the rain is going to stop, when you’ll get the track dry.
 
The rain delays where you’re wondering if it’s ever going to quit, when you don’t just know anything, that’s harder to deal with, always constantly looking out the window, has it stopped raining, how long has it stopped, are they close to getting the track dry, trying to stay on the phone, get texts from NASCAR, kind of keep up to speed on how close the track is, whether we need to put the suit on, get the suit off, be at the car, what the hell ever.  All that is a pain in the butt. It seemed none of that was never the case Sunday.  It was like, All right, man, it’s going to rain for a while, we’ll probably do it again at 8:00.  Have your stuff ready to go, so that’s what we did.
Q.  I don’t know if you had a chance to go back and look at the race.  Brad Keselowski said it was the most intense 500 ever.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I could feel it.  It was electric, man.  I don’t know what the hell was going on or why it was like that.  I wish I knew because that’s what NASCAR wants to bottle and sell. It felt so different than any other race I’d ever been in, any other Daytona 500 I’d been in for sure.  The intensity level was at a max.  Races usually have a lull in the middle, don’t get going till the end when it’s time to put money on the line, people start picking up the intensity.  We sustained it from the time we started, restarted, all the way to the end.  I couldn’t believe it. I think people were enjoying themselves.  I think everybody was having fun with each other, putting each other in difficult situations, bringing out the best in each other.  There was really something special going on.
 
I know everybody thinks it’s the greatest race they ever saw because Dale Jr. won it.  Taking that out of the equation, I think it really was an exciting race and one of the most exciting Daytona 500s I’ve ever been in and one of the most intense races I’ve ever been in. The drivers were really feeding off each other out there.  It was a really weird kind of deal.  But it was fun.  We were really having fun. I cannot wait to watch it.  I bet I watch it three times in a row back‑to‑back (laughter).  I can’t wait.
Q.  Dale, even with your huge volume of fans, you probably added even more new fans with the 500 win.  What would you share with your fans?  What would you say about what your fans mean to you?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I just hope they’re enjoying this win as much as I am.  They should celebrate it, celebrate it long.  If you’re a fan of a sports team, fan of the Washington Redskins, right?  They have won Super Bowls in the past.  They’re another storied franchise.  They haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1991. You face the trials and tribulations in the tough years.  Every off‑season you look at changes they made.  You hope they’re going to turn it around.  You hope they will, regardless if they will.  Even if you don’t know about the new coach, even if you question the changes they made, but you still put that belief and faith in them because you want them to win.
 
When that finally happens, like when they finally do win games and go to the playoffs, you love to celebrate it.  I hope they do.  I hope they celebrate that victory.  I hope they’re enjoying themselves this week.  I hope they enjoy the coverage.  I hope they think I’m doing a good job representing Junior Nation.  I hope they appreciate the coverage.
 
The new fans, I heard a couple people tell me they’re fans now.  Never watched a race.  Now they’re a NASCAR fan.  The race was fun and crazy to watch, now they’re fans.  I think we turned on a lot of people Sunday.  I think that race was destined to do that for some reason.  It had kind of that feel, that ’79 Daytona that was first live flag‑to‑flag broadcast that really turned the world on to what we were doing through network television.
 
My race might not have had that kind of impact, but it’s comparable I think in ways.  Yeah, hopefully this is going to be a solid year.  NASCAR made some changes to try to kickstart some energy and boost awareness and excitement in what our series can do.  I think we got a great start to the year, for sure.
 
THE MODERATOR:  That’s all the time we have for today.  Thanks for joining us and good luck this weekend in Phoenix.
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I enjoyed the teleconference.  Thanks for having me on.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Thank you to the media for joining us.

MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – Experienced Motor Problems on Lap 31
YOU HAD TWO GREAT CARS HERE IN DAYTONA FOR SPEEDWEEKS.  DOES DISAPPOINTING EVEN DESCRIBE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW?
“No not really.  I mean it’s definitely a tough break for the team.  The car was super-fast today and I went to bed last night thinking that this was my best shot ever to win the Daytona 500 and really felt that way – even today.  The car was just so good and we were just riding around and biding our time you know, being patient and trying to get to the end of this thing.  Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.  It looks like something knocked the oil pump belt off.  Not sure if it was debris off the race track or what.  You typically get about two seconds to shut it off once that belt comes off or it will blow up and we just didn’t get enough warning.
 
“Definitely a shame and definitely a tough break for this team.  They built us a great race car.  I guess the only good news is that we have a car in one piece to race next time because it’s pretty darn good.”

DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP 145
WAS THAT THE HARDEST HIT YOU HAVE EVER TAKEN?  HOW DO YOU FEEL RIGHT NOW?
“I don’t know it feels like they are all pretty hard unfortunately.  I think more than anything I am just upset that the GoDaddy car felt really good and it was the best car that I had all SpeedWeeks. It seemed like we could catch whoever and it seemed like we could move around, make lanes and just move around and move forward at the end of the day.  I felt like everything was going pretty well, so it’s just upsetting you know.  It’s just the culmination of sitting around all day and you know.  It’s a bummer, but you know that is the excitement of speedway racing that anything can happen, and it was unfortunate that I was on the short end of the accident.  But that is the kind of thing that happens and I appreciate everyone sticking around and watching, and we will go get them at Phoenix.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
DOES YOUR SECOND DAYTONA 500 WIN TAKE ON EVEN MORE MEANING CONSIDERING THE JOURNEY YOU’VE TRAVELED OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS?
“Yeah, I think so. Man, winning this race is the greatest feeling that you can feel in the sport, aside from obviously accepting the trophy for the championship. I didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to feel that again and it feels just as good, if not better than the first because of how hard we tried year after year after year funning second all those years and wondering why and what we needed to do. I’ve got to get my head together. I’ve got to thank National Guard and Diet Mountain Dew and all our sponsors; Kelly Blue Book, Chevy, and Sprint and my team. This race car was awesome. We showed them there night long how good a car we had and it’s because of these guys right here putting it together in the shop. We could fight off battles after battles. We got a little help from Jeff (Gordon) to get away on that restart and tried to take care of it from there. This is amazing. I can’t believe this is happening. I’ll never take this for granted because this just doesn’t happen twice, let alone once. I’m so thankful. Thanks to all my fans out there for supporting. We pretty much might be in the Chase? We get that off our chest and we are two-time Daytona 500 champion.”

WHAT DID YOU DO ON THAT LAST RESTART?  WHAT DID YOU HAVE TO DO TO KEEP THE LEAD?
“We had enough car to battle them off all night long and if they took the lead we could grab it back pretty quickly.  We had a real fast car.  I’ve got to thank Steve Letarte, Mr. Hendrick, all this team that put this car together.  When you come down here and race the car does most of the work and these guys deserve a lot of credit for how good a piece they had out there tonight.  Just real proud of my National Guard team.  Got to thank Diet Mountain Dew, Kelly Blue Book, Chevrolet and Sprint, all our partners.  Those last few laps I just got in front of my teammate Jeff (Gordon) on that restart.  Worked with him on getting a good restart and getting pushed out in front, so I’ve got to thank him, without that I don’t win the race.  Then once I got out front I just kind of listened to my spotter TJ (Majors) and started watching in the mirror and seeing what lane I needed to get in front of, who I needed to get in front of to give shoves.  I knew I had some tough competition back there Brad Keselowski is getting smarter and smarter every time he races at these places.  He is as good as anybody now at plate racing and I figured he was going to put up a pretty good battle.  I was a little worried about that, but we had such a strong car we were able to hold everybody off.”
 
IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WERE A COUPLE OF TIMES YOU WOULD GET SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH FOLKS AND MAYBE GET BACK A LITTLE BIT, BUT YOU WERE ABLE TO BATTLE BACK.  WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“Just the race car was so superior to a lot of the competition out there.  It starts in the body shop, the engine room at Hendrick, all those guys that put all that effort in.  I keep saying it over and over, but just a reference to how much goes into the body of this car.  There are 11 coats of clear coat on top of the decal.  These guys work their guts out all winter long on every part of the car from front to rear.  It’s perfectly prepared.  The whole series is like that it is so competitive, but I love this crew that I’m with.  We are as competitive as we can be.  This could be a spectacular year for us.”
 
YOU MENTIONED THE CREW BEFORE YOU TALKED TO ANYBODY YOU GOT AND YOU WENT AND PERSONALLY THANKED AND HUGGED EVERYONE OF THEM:
“(Laughs) I love ‘em man.  We have so much fun, every one of them said last year even when we didn’t win a race that was probably the most fun a lot of them had, had in the series just in a year racing we were having so much fun.  This is truly a special group.  I won’t take it for granted.  I won’t forget it.  It’s been a real pleasure working with every one of them and we are making things happen.  Hopefully we will have solid year.”
 
YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO QUALIFY FOR THE CHASE:
“I know I’m the first feature winner and we are in the Chase.  I’m pumped up man.  Trust me man we are going to have a blast this year.”
 
STEVE LETARTE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
CAN YOU EVEN PUT INTO WORDS WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU AS A CREW CHIEF AND FOR YOUR FAMILY TO GET YOUR FIRST DAYTONA 500 WIN?
“Oh, no; this is the one.  You work all winter long at the shop and come down here with your best equipment. They built a great race car and everybody worked really hard. Dale drove a great race. But if you’re going to win one, this is the one you want to win. I’m glad. He knew I really wanted to win this one and he drove a great race. There is nothing better I could think of in the world than to give Mr. Hendrick a 500 win in the last year.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FOURTH
TELL US ABOUT YOUR EVENING:
“Well I know it’s not a win for our Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet, but we have not made it to the end here in quite a while so I think it just shows what this No. 24 team is capable of when we are at the end.  We made a great effort at it.  Congrats to (Dale Earnhardt) Junior the world is right, right now.  Dale, Jr. just won the Daytona 500 to kick off 2014 that is a sign that the NASCAR season is going to be a good one.  I had some great pushes from Jimmie Johnson and some other guys out there.  That is what it takes if you are going to either win it or be in contenti
on to win it.  We had some good things go our way today, pit stops, everything.  The whole team just did an awesome job all winter long and down here all week.”
 
THREE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CARS IN THE TOP FIVE, OBVIOUSLY YOU WANTED TO WIN, BUT TELL US HOW THE FINAL LAPS UNFOLDED:
“Oh my God, I am so excited for Hendrick Motorsports right now.  Congratulations to Dale, that is so cool and I know how excited his fans are.  Rick Hendrick, another Daytona 500 victory.  Three Hendrick cars in the top five is spectacular.    You know, I don’t know what happened when the rain went away and the track dried, but everybody’s brains just flipped over to this is a shootout.  It was unbelievable the kind of racing there was.  Two and three wide, bump drafting and just craziness.  There for a while we didn’t have great track position and I was just hanging on and trying not to wreck and seeing other guys doing the same thing.
 
“We got through some wrecks and then we started having some things going our way.   We got good pushes, good lines and my spotter Eddie did a great job.  Alan and this team just did an amazing job and gave me a great car at the end of the show.”
 
IN RETROSPECT, WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE THAT LAST LAP?
“No, I gave Junior a great push when we took the green so we got a good start.   The 99 got to my bumper and we got kind of going, but he got sucked-off of me or whatever happened, and I was just a sitting duck at that point.  I saw Jimmie Johnson go three-wide behind me and my lane started going backwards.  But he got to me and gave me a huge shove and the 11 pulled down in front of me and we just went.  At that point I am thinking maybe we can get to Junior, but when I got to third I thought anything in the top three at that point without a wrecked car would be a great finish.   We wanted to win and we had a car that could but we are also excited to see Junior win.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
TALK ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT, JR. WINNING THE DAYTONA 500:
“I want to talk about my teammate and the awesome job he did and how proud I am of Hendrick Motorsports and the 48/88 shop.  Steve Letarte and all those guys, Junior included obviously just very happy for them.  He has been knocking on the door here at the 500 for a lot of years and got it done tonight.  He did an awesome job.”
 
TELL US ABOUT YOUR RUN.  WHAT IS IT LIKE IN THE LAST FEW LAPS OF THESE RACES?
“If you can be the lead car and control the lanes like Junior did there in the closing laps that is the spot to be in.  It’s not an easy job by any means, but I was trying to get in that position and got in the outside lane.  I got to the head of the outside lane and it just never really materialized and I slid back some.  A solid performance and just real happy for everybody at Hendrick Motorsports.”
 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED NINTH
ON GETTING A TOP-10 FROM THE POLE IN HIS FIRST 500:
“The biggest thing is just having that bottom lane at the end. My car couldn’t suck up as good after that wreck. We had a heck of a run down the back stretch, and everything started stacking from the middle to the top just from all the side drafting.  Man, the side drafting it just kills you. I just had clean space down there; used it, and it worked out. There was a big wreck and I just go by it.
 
“Getting through that wreck was pretty big. I don’t know how I didn’t connect with that outside wall. Somehow it slid through there perfectly, and back steering through it, caught it and drove on. And the save off of two; those two were my favorite moments today. I think we could have wrecked a race car pretty hard.
 
“For Chevy, I think it was a good day, and man, it is wild. I don’t know what to think right now. A lot of stuff happened fast.”
 
CASEY MEARS, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 10TH
ON HIS RUN:
“It’s been an eventful week for us really. We’ve just had a lot of near-misses in practice and then in the Duel and then tonight was just really an eventful night. The entrance of pit road was wet and we locked-em’ up real bad. We didn’t realize how wet it was and I got a pit road speed penalty and got a flat tire sliding the tires. And then we recovered from that. We got back and raced up to the front and had a real fast car and got back on the lead lap. We had some really good runs back to the front again. I honestly think we could have been better. Well, we for sure could have been better than tenth. But it’s a solid finish for us considering it’s a new program and it’s a really good start to the season. A top 10 here is always good.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 13TH
WHAT HAPPENED?
“My car just went straight I thought I had a flat tire, but Carl (Edwards) and Reed (Sorenson) said that they about spun out the lap before down there with some oil or whatever was on the race track.  My car just went in there and went straight like it blew a right-front tire and I clobbered the side of the No. 18.  I hate it for everybody who got their cars torn up, but guys on our Budweiser Chevy did good all night.  We kind of got stuck in a bad spot there before that last yellow and kind of got back there where we didn’t need to be.  All in all it was a good week and even though we wrecked we still finished.  Good way to start the year.”
 
REED SORENSON, NO. 36 GOLDEN CORRAL CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 16TH
WHAT HAPPENED?
“From what I can tell it’s just that the track, I don’t know what everybody else is saying, but to me it didn’t look like the track got cleaned up.  I know the lap before a few of us about wrecked going through where the spillage was or whatever got spilled.  Then I knew it was going to be bad the next lap because everybody was three-wide going for it.  I mean as soon as the No. 4 car hit it I was one row back on the high side of him and as soon as he hit it he was wrecking.  There was no way he was going to save it.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP 145
WAS THAT THE HARDEST HIT YOU HAVE EVER TAKEN?  HOW DO YOU FEEL RIGHT NOW?
“I don’t know it feels like they are all pretty hard unfortunately.  I think more than anything I am just upset that the GoDaddy car felt really good and it was the best car that I had all SpeedWeeks. It seemed like we could catch whoever and it seemed like we could move around, make lanes and just move around and move forward at the end of the day.  I felt like everything was going pretty well, so it’s just upsetting you know.  It’s just the culmination of sitting around all day and you know.  It’s a bummer, but you know that is the excitement of speedway racing that anything can happen, and it was unfortunate that I was on the short end of the accident.  But that is the kind of thing that happens and I appreciate everyone sticking around and watching, and we will go get them at Phoenix.”
 
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP 162
YOU JUST LOOKED AT THE REPLAY AND SHOOK YOUR HEAD.  IS WHAT YOU SAW ON THE MONITOR WHAT YOU SAW HAPPEN FROM THE CAR?
“Yeah, it was just a long day.  I got in the wall on lap one, blew the right rear and spun so we had a rough start from the go of it.  But we just kind of rode around the whole race there and finally got in the Lucky Dog position so we were racing pretty hard there.  I just pulled the middle line and I don’t know if Austin (Dillon) got a little loose, shuffled up the track and got into me and turned us sideways.  So it’s been a really long day.  I can’t wait to get to Phoenix and try and do better. 
Been at Daytona a lot and it sucks to end it like this, but we will go to Phoenix and try to rebound and get the momentum built up.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – Experienced Motor Problems on Lap 31
YOU HAD TWO GREAT CARS HERE IN DAYTONA FOR SPEEDWEEKS.  DOES DISAPPOINTING EVEN DESCRIBE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW?
“No not really.  I mean it’s definitely a tough break for the team.  The car was super-fast today and I went to bed last night thinking that this was my best shot ever to win the Daytona 500 and really felt that way – even today.  The car was just so good and we were just riding around and biding our time you know, being patient and trying to get to the end of this thing.  Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.  It looks like something knocked the oil pump belt off.  Not sure if it was debris off the race track or what.  You typically get about two seconds to shut it off once that belt comes off or it will blow up and we just didn’t get enough warning.
 
“Definitely a shame and definitely a tough break for this team.  They built us a great race car.  I guess the only good news is that we have a car in one piece to race next time because it’s pretty darn good.”
 
WAS IT INDEED AN ENGINE THAT PUT YOU OUT?
“Yeah it was definitely an engine.  What a shame we had such a fast race car. I was really happy with it today.  This car was a lot better than the car we raced Thursday night.  We were really pumped up about this race.  Just kind of biding our time out there taking it easy, made it a little bit of a run there before it blew up toward the front.  Wish we could have hung around all day to see what we could have done.  The car was super-fast and I have to thank everybody on the Furniture Row Chevy for giving me a great race car.  Just a shame.  Not sure what happened yet looks like the oil pump belt came off.  I don’t know if something came up off the race track and knocked it off or what.  You’ve got about two seconds warning when the belt comes off before it blows up.  That is what happened.”
 
WHAT WAS THE RACING LIKE OUT THERE?
“Yeah I mean guys are being patient taking their time, trying to be smart, giving each other plenty of room.  I expect that it’s going to get a lot hairy later on, but guys realize that this is a big deal this race and you’ve got to get to the end to have a shot at winning it.”
 
WHAT CAUSED THE ENGINE TO EXPIRE?
“Without having a camera under the hood you really don’t know what caused it.  I mean you can speculate.  We don’t have the [Oil Pump] belt so it’s hard to tell if it’s broke in half, if something hit it or what happened.  I will leave that to the engine guys.  I don’t want to speculate.  I just know the belt is not on there and it should be.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR DISAPPOINTMENT:
“Super disappointed.  I went to bed last night feeling like I could win this race that is how good my car was yesterday.  Honestly, felt like it was the best car I’ve ever had here.  It felt like for 20 some laps today I felt the same way.  I really felt like the car was super strong.  Anytime we could get even two or three cars lined up with us we could pass guys on the bottom pretty good. That is difficult to do here.  I felt great about the car and just a shame we didn’t get to hang around all day and show what we could do.  Just disappointing you know, you want to hang around this race long enough until it gets exciting and you really get to racing hard that is when it’s fun.  I didn’t get to do that today so it sucks.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Wins the Daytona 500
Chevrolet SS Drivers Capture Three of Top-Five Finishing Positions
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 23, 2014) – After an almost six-and-a-half hour rain delay, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sealed the deal with a popular win of the 2014 Daytona 500.  After finishing second in three of the last four Daytona 500 races, the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS fielded by Hendrick Motorsports captured his second career victory in the Great American Race by leading six times for a total of 54 laps.  His first Daytona 500 win came in 2004.
 
“Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and the No. 88 Chevrolet SS team on winning the 2014 Daytona 500,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President Performance Vehicles and Motorsports.  “Dale, Steve Letarte,  and the entire crew demonstrated incredible focus, determination and teamwork all race long. They communicated really well on the radio in talking through race strategy, pit decisions and re-starts. This was a great start to the season by the No. 88 team in their pursuit of the championship.”
 
Earnhardt, Jr. was scored as the race leader when the race was restarted for the last time lap 199 restart and the race went into overtime with a green-white-checkered finish.  Earnhardt, Jr. got the restart of his life to lead the field for the scheduled final two circuits. However, a multi-car accident as the field thundered through turns three and four, forced the caution flag to fly which froze the field and gave the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS the win.
 
As the first feature winner of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season, Earnhardt, Jr. is now well on his way to securing a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. This win also marked his 20th career NSCS victory and his third at Daytona International Speedway.
 
Earnhardt, Jr.’s victory is also a hallmark win for team owner Rick Hendrick.
 
“In addition, congratulations to Rick Hendrick and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports on scoring their eighth Great American Race win,” said Campbell.
 
Giving Chevrolet three of the top-five finishing positions were four-time NSCS champion Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS, in the fourth finishing positions, and six-time and defending NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS in fifth.
 
Pole sitter Austin Dillon brought his No. 3 DOW Chevrolet SS home in ninth place followed by Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS, in 10th position giving Team Chevy five of the top-10 finishing positions.
 
The 2014 season continues with round two on March 2, 2014 at Phoenix International Raceway.
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
STEVE LETARTE, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, WINNING CREW CHIEF
RICK HENDRICK, WINNING TEAM OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS

KERRY THARP:  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., what does it feel like to win the Daytona 500?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Man, it feels incredible.  You know, I was looking at winning this race in 2004.  It’s the greatest feeling you can have as a driver in NASCAR at a single event in a single day.  Just trying to explain what that feeling is to people, I’ve been trying to tell people for 10 years what that felt like.  It’s just hard to put it into words what winning this race really means you.
            As an individual, I felt lucky back then because I was with family, working with Tony, Sr. and Tony, Jr.  That was a great team.  Had my Uncle Danny on it, a lot of the guys that worked with my dad for years on the Nationwide team in the ’90s and even the ’80s.
            What makes this special is the people you’re with when it happens.  I have a great relationship with my crew chief, Steve.  He’s put an amazing team around me that we all really enjoy working together.  And Rick’s here to make all that possible.  It just seems like it’s too good to be true really.
  &nbs
p;         We ended last season on such a strong note.  In the garage area at Homestead after the race, we were standing there tearing apart racecars, talking about how great the season was.  A lot of these guys, like Jason Burdett has been in this sport for a long time, he’s my car chief, said that’s the most fun he’s ever had in a season in the sport ever.  That was the biggest compliment.  I took it personally as a compliment.  I know he meant he was really enjoying himself.
            That really summed it up to me that this group is unique and special.  That’s what makes winning this race that much more special.  Obviously it’s the biggest race and most important race we run.  But the people you do it with is really the icing on the cake.
            We really all are best friends, enjoy working with each other.  We pull for each other.  Lucky enough to have Amy with me, my sister Kelley, LW, my staff, Mike Hoag, Laura that helps with HMS.  All those people we grind every week throughout the season.
            When you got great people around you, it just makes that whole experience so much more special.
            KERRY THARP:  Dale, I’d be remiss also not to ask you, as you mentioned earlier, with this win, what do you think about the Chase?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, we don’t have to think about it (smiling).  We don’t have to think about it.  If everybody is telling the truth, we’ve won a race, we should be in it, so I’m not going to worry about it (laughter).
            Now, if I got to win two of these things, I don’t know if we’re that worried ’cause we’re going for the jugular this year.
            This is a good analogy for Steve I’ve been using with him.  You know, when you’re a kid, especially when you’re growing up around racing, me and all my buddies would go to pay to ride the go‑kart ride, whatever racetrack we were at.  Every racetrack, Talladega, every place would have them.  We’d get a hundred bucks from daddy and go ride the go‑karts till the wheels fell off, till we ran out of money.
            On that last ride, you let it all hang out.  You didn’t care if you got kicked off.  If you didn’t get kicked off, something was wrong, on the last ride.  This is Steve’s last ride.  He’s going to let the rough side drag all year.  He’s got a little racing left in him, I think he’s going to try to get it all out.  That’s good for me.  I’m fortunate to be on the ride with him.
            This is his first Daytona 500 victory.  So I was glad to be a part of that, to be part of the team that helped deliver that for him.
            But, yeah, making the Chase is important.  I didn’t anticipate having to put that to bed so quickly.  We’ll go ahead and concentrate on winning more races.  Like I said, at the end of last year, we felt like we were right on the cusp of doing just that, winning races.  We’re turning the corner right at the right time.  I got one last year with this guy and we’re going to make it something special.
            Steve, talk about the significance of tonight’s win.
            STEVE LETARTE:  I don’t even know if I know it quite yet.
            It’s Daytona.  It’s a place I’ve been coming my whole life, 20 years in the sport.  I remember before that coming with my dad, watching him run around here.
            It’s like when we sat in the drivers meeting today, when they announced the guys that were in the Hall of Fame, all the great drivers there, they don’t say how many times they won Martinsville, Bristol, Charlotte.  This is the five‑time Sprint Cup Champion, and a three‑time Daytona 500 champion.
            Any race they decide when you win it, you’re the champion of the event, not the winner of the event, it kind of sets it apart.  That’s really what this is all about, is to come down here.
            I think everyone in this room could be a resident of Florida as much time as we spent in Daytona over the years.  You spend so much time all winter long working on cars.  Everybody brings their best stuff.  These races are hard to win.  We’ve been fortunate to run second the last two years.  I’ve seen him put our cars in positions they shouldn’t be in.  He really makes something happen.
            He said it best earlier in Victory Lane.  For the last two years, we’ve been that car in third, fourth or fifth trying to figure out how we beat the leader.  Coming here today, we decided if someone was going to win it, they were going to have to pass us.  We wanted to be the leader at the end.  That strategy worked.  It only worked because he held it.
            We had a pit stop there with more than 50 to go.  So he held them off for a long time and we got help from our teammates.  The whole thing is kind of surreal.  I don’t think I’m quite eloquent enough in my words to describe it all.  It will probably sink in well maybe never.  We’ll see.  It’s a big day.
            KERRY THARP:  Rick, congratulations.  Certainly you’ve won many big races, this one several times.  Talk about the significance of this win by the No. 88 team.
            RICK HENDRICK:  I like to listen to these two guys talk.
            But, you know, this is really special.  I mean, after last year with Dale and Stevie running so good, five second‑place finishes, this year locking in Chase, I saw him put the sticker on the car, to win the Super Bowl here, he drove his butt off tonight.  He made some phenomenal moves.  Stevie called a great race.  T.J. did a heck of a job spotting.  I mean, it was flawless all night.
            But this race is so big and it is our Super Bowl, so it will carry us, this team.  I’m excited to watch them.  Now you’re in the Chase, just go race hard and have fun.  I think it makes a statement how good they were last year and carrying it forward this year.
            KERRY THARP:  Questions now, please.
            Q.  Dale, it seemed like no matter who was behind you, who was pushing you or who you were trying to block, you didn’t have any trouble maintaining your lead.  Was there anybody who gave you a particular problem tonight?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Biffle was rather competitive.  He was the guy I saw quite often.  My teammate Jimmie knows what to do when he’s up there.  He’s my teammate.  When he is leading the race and I’m running
second, in this particular moment, it’s in my best interest to protect both of us.  So that presents a unique challenge.
            We just had such a great racecar, I’ll tell you.  You guys know this place.  You got to have a lot of car.  The guy that wins this race has to make some smart moves and do some things either by luck or on a whim or experience or what have you, but the car really does the majority of the work.  Just the car has to be excellent and above par.
            My car tonight, I knew it was something special.  I didn’t know it was as good as it was tonight.  But in practice, a couple times throughout the weekend, I noticed it was something unique.  When we got the opportunities to sort of work our way into the lead, hold it, I was able to fight guys off, like you were saying, hold the lead, hold the lead, keep moving line to line.
            I learned a little bit about what I needed to do to hold the position.  The outside line worked best on the straightaways.  When they’re all side‑by‑side behind you, the outside line gets the run on the straightaway and the inside line gets to run on the corner.  You get in front of each line, depending where you’re at on the racetrack.  Just keep watching guys, watching how they’re tight together, whether they’re pushing each other.
            You can sort of anticipate a run coming.  You just sort of jump in front of it and they shove you away.
            But the car has to be something special.  Typically if the car isn’t anything special, you get diced around and guys can make a fool of you and send you on back outside the top five kind of easily.
            But our car was able to battle and fend off guys left and right it seemed at times.
            Q.  Dale, you were talking to Steve on the radio before the final laps about how nervous you were, how you couldn’t enjoy it at all.  Have you had that same feeling when you’ve fallen short or was there something about tonight that made it any different?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  No, you always have that feeling when you’re sitting in position.  When you’re close enough to the front to win races, there’s a lot on the line, it’s a big race, and you want to win it so badly, your team wants to win it so badly.  You realize at that moment, especially inside of 20 laps to go, you’re in the top five, you realize at that moment there’s countless people watching on television, there’s countless sitting in the grandstands with your shirts and hats on, your team over on pit wall, your crew chief, your family back home watching.  There’s so many people pulling for you that want to see you win, it’s a heavy weight.
            You get so caught up in trying to do what you can to make that happen.  When you finish second or you fall short, it’s really disappointing.  You’re proud of that effort inside somewhere, but outwardly you’re disappointed because winning’s all that matters when it comes to Daytona.  They won’t really remember you for running second a lot.
            It’s such a great feeling.  It’s such a great feeling.  You want to do it again.  I’m grateful to have one it twice now.  I was grateful to have won it once.  In about six months, I’ll be as urgent to try to do it a third times as I was after the first.
            Q.  Dale, was that tape deal much ado about nothing or was that a concern?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I had no thought about it.  He said the grill was half covered.  We had two laps to go.  We were cycling the engine, trying to save fuel.  That was bringing the temperature down quite a bit.  I knew that the motor was going to be fine.
            If anything, it would help us.  Anytime you add tape to the grill, you speed the car up.  If anything, it was going to help my car.  They could have taped it solid for all I cared those last two laps.  Would have been fine.
            I don’t know how Steve feels about that.
            STEVE LETARTE:  I think he’s right.  Once we saw the white, we knew it wouldn’t be an issue.  We knew at most we were going to run two laps at a time maybe a couple times.  We figured we could maintain good enough temperatures to do it.  It closed half the grill off, so I think we’ll take it.
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  It’s like fate.
            Q.  Rick, obviously this is a huge deal for your team, but talk about what it means for NASCAR to have Dale Jr. in this position this early, just the bigger picture for the season.
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, I think you see the fans’ reaction.  We were in primetime.  It’s going to be exciting to see what the ratings were tonight.
            But Dale’s got a bunch of loyal fans.  It’s good for the sport.  It was good TV.  It was a great race.  It doesn’t hurt to have him, the most popular driver, win the biggest race, the Super Bowl of our sport.
            I think it will be good for NASCAR.  It’s good for all of us.  It’s definitely good for our organization.  It takes a little heat off of me with his fans.
            STEVE LETARTE:  I know what you mean.
            RICK HENDRICK:  Stevie and I know about that (laughter).
            Q.  Dale, a lot of drivers have been asked about what this means for the sport.  Do you have a sense of that?  What is your feeling about people talking about how big this is for the sport?  How much of a weight does that put on you and the relief you feel tonight?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  It’s not a weight when you’re able to deliver.  It’s a weight when you’re not able to deliver.  When people say you’re the face of the sport, you’re running fifth or 10th every week, it’s very challenging because you want to deliver and you’re not delivering.
            This brings me a lot of joy.  I look forward to going and doing all the media all week long and representing the sport.
            I don’t know that I realize how big a deal it is, but I know I got a lot of fans that are really happy, really enjoyed what we did tonight.  Can’t wait to go to work tomorrow to brag to all their buddies around the water cooler.  Monday is going to be a fun day for a lot of people in Junior Nation.
            Q.  Can you do that with the champion’s breakfast, too?
      &nbs
p;     DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I won’t complain much tomorrow.  I’ll be slow.  I’ll be there nonetheless.
            I’m looking forward to the entire week.  You just don’t get to do this every week.  I’m going to really embrace this whole experience.  I won’t be home for a while, but it will be well worth it.  I think I’ll have some fun even throughout the process.
            Q.  Did you really think it would take 10 years to get back to this particular Victory Lane?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, I did, because the competition’s changed so much.  I was talking earlier about how when we was winning all these plate races at DEI, there was a bigger tolerance in the field.  Our cars were so superior to other organizations.  About the only organization that could run with us was Rick’s.  Otherwise, we was out there running by ourselves.
            The competition, the way the rules are, the way NASCAR has transformed over the years, there’s no room between the competition.  There’s just no tolerance.  Everybody’s basically got the same car out there, and it just comes down to who can make the right moves.
            Granted, our car was definitely extremely unique tonight and special, one of the best cars that I think Steve’s ever put on a plate track in his career.  But I knew it was going to be challenging.  As soon as I set down in the drivers meeting, seeing all the talent in that room, I knew it was going to be a difficult day for anybody to win this race.
            It’s only going to get tougher.  This sport is just growing tremendously, getting so much more competitive every year.
            Q.  Steve, from a practical standpoint, now that you’re locked in the Chase, what does this allow you to do differently that you wouldn’t be if you had to be fighting for a spot?
            STEVE LETARTE:  I think without a doubt all the crew chiefs on pit road understand the risk versus reward.  There’s a line there.  It’s hard to explain.  It’s like a return on investment.  There’s a number there that everybody knows how many positions you’re willing to give up versus how much of a chance you have to win.  I think that opens our window tremendously.
            Now it’s easy to say you can run 20th and go for a win, where if you’re racing for the points, you can’t afford to give up 20 points.
            When they come out with this points system, we talked about it a lot, especially at Media Day.  I don’t think it changes much before you win.  I don’t think anybody can take any bigger chances we already take to try to win.  I think once you have won one, it gives you an opportunity to really take borderline ridiculous chances.  It really does.  If there is a slim chance, that’s really all the chance you need.
            We’ve been very fortunate to have good runs and there’s been a lot of seconds, close calls, run out of gas in the 600, a lot of stuff over the years.  I think those opportunities are going to come around more often now.
            Q.  Dale, do you think you could have won this race three to four years ago, given what you were facing given the talent running up behind you?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I tried, you know.  I’ll be honest.  There’s something about the car that you sort of connect with the car.  That car that I drove tonight, we got along.  You know, we worked as a unit.  It just happens.
            It’s hard to explain with this guy sitting next to me.  The cars we’ve had in the past, I drove ’em all week down here at Speedweeks.  I just didn’t have that 100% confidence in either the car or myself or us as a unit to be able to drive it with the confidence that you need to win.
            Yeah, that car tonight, man, it was just doing so many great things.  I could depend on it.  When I would ask it and put it in certain situations and expect it to do what I wanted it to do, it did it.
            The car’s everything at Daytona and Talladega.  I think I do a good job of drafting and understanding the draft, knowing what to do, when to do it, but you can’t without the right car.  The difference between the right car and what I’ve been driving is this much, that’s how close it is out there.  You know it when you’ve got that much more.  It’s an obvious gut feeling you feel from the seat of your pants.
            That car was just ready to go, man.  It was just asking for everything that I was giving it.  I mean, I felt like I was just out there just beating ’em off one at a time.  Man, it was awesome.  Just an amazing car.
            Q.  (No microphone.)
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I put one in there before.  It’s a good feeling.  Fans come down and take pictures of it.  I signed autographs with it sitting there all year long.  Memories will come back to you from tonight.  It’s a great thing.
            Q.  Dale, do you expect Mooresville to burn to the ground tonight?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  As soon as I said that, that was probably not the perfect choice of words.  I was exploding inside.  As soon as my mouth opened, everything just came on out (laughter).
            Yeah, you know, that’s how you feel.  You know, that’s the emotion you feel when something like that happens to you.
            Imagine in your profession the greatest thing that could happen to you.  That’s what happened to me tonight.  I just couldn’t contain myself.
            Q.  You talked about the car earlier.  Did you know before the delay that the car was going to be that good?  How tough was it to wait?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Made it easier actually to wait knowing we had such a good racecar.  Typically when you and the car aren’t on the same page, like I said, it’s just that little bit, you grow concerned about what you need to do to win the race.  The slope got steeper, gets steeper with every lap.
            Tonight, you know, as we drove, even as we waited it out, I knew we had enough racecar.  I was a little bit nervous because the pressure was on me because there was plenty of car to do it.
            Q.  Dale, is there anything special about the confluence with Austin?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I thought a
bout holding the three fingers running down the front straightaway.  I didn’t want to bring too much attention to that.  I just want Steve and Rick and the team, everybody, to enjoy this experience as it should.
            But, you know, it felt so comfortable all week for that number to be back.  I’m happy with that situation.  I’m happy for Austin.  You guys have gotten to know him over the last couple years.  He’s got a great head on his shoulders.  He appreciates the history of the number.  He appreciates not only what it meant as an Earnhardt fan, but what it meant for his family.  It means something entirely unique to him separate of my father.
            I appreciate that and I’m happy for him and Richard.  They’re really enjoying that experience together.  That’s got to be something special, grandfather and grandson, to be able to do that together.
            I’m very comfortable.  I had not thought about it once all week ’cause it just seems right.
            Q.  Dale, you said when you crossed the finish line, This one’s better than the first.  Then you said in Victory Lane, This one’s not better than the first.  Which one is it?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I was thinking about that.  When I crossed the finish line, I was relieved that I’ve done it again and I’ve done it with the people I’m with.  Initially the reaction was, This is better because I’m back in Victory Lane.
            It’s different because it’s the people, you know.  I was talking about that earlier.  It’s better because you had a taste of it before.  To win it the first time, you are blown away and sort of overwhelmed.  The experience is a blur.  It doesn’t sink in.  You don’t absorb much of the whole thing.  I can’t even remember half of it even after the fact, what we did that week.  I don’t even remember going over and putting the car in there.  It was just all so much of a flash.
            So now I realize that.  I’m surrounded by so many great people.  We got a great team.  So many people are able to enjoy this.  I’m reminded to let it sink in, reminded to enjoy it.  I really enjoyed driving down in front of the fans there.  I was having the time of my life inside that car going down the front straightaway.
            When I got to Victory Lane, I couldn’t wait to hug everybody, just enjoy it.  Didn’t do that the first time ’cause you’re just blown away.
            So this one’s funner (laughter).
            Q.  Rick, I imagine fielding cars for NASCAR’s most popular driver is quite a responsibility.  It must feel frustrating that you don’t have more success, you always give your best stuff to Jimmie, let Jimmie win all the time, according to the fans.
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I’m glad I’m sitting here.  I want to hear this (laughter).
            Q.  I don’t say it.  The fans do.
            RICK HENDRICK:  They’ve never said it to me.  You’re the only one that said it.
            Q.  Dale told Michael Waltrip if he wins the Daytona 500 he’s going to get on Twitter.
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  You’re paying attention.  I got to get my password (laughter).
            Q.  Do you feel any relief or satisfaction in getting this win with him?  Can you talk a little bit about the burden that you do feel in needing to have success with Dale Jr.?
            RICK HENDRICK:  You know, I think Dale had a lot of options when he was going to make a change.  We talked.  He wanted to come with us.  I wanted him to come with us.
            It was a lot of pressure, an awful lot of pressure, an awful lot of high expectations.  We didn’t have the success that we thought we’d have.
            I remember a lot of you said, He’ll win six races and a championship.  We came down here and we won the Shootout and qualifier right out of the gate.  We didn’t go where we needed to go.
            But we never gave up.  I was as determined as ever.  I told him that we would get it right and we would do what we set out to do, and we were not going to stop.
            But it’s a lot of pressure.  It was an awful lot of pressure.  I felt like I let him down.  He felt like he let me down.  But we locked arms and said, We’re going to figure it out.
            Last year was a great year.  I wish the success had come earlier.  But this is a tough sport.  I mean, it is a tough, tough sport.  There’s so much talent out there.
            Just like he said, it’s that little magic with the car, it’s also that magic with the guys here, with the team.  When you hit it, it’s amazing.  When Jimmie Johnson goes two years and doesn’t win a championship, something’s wrong.  Well, there’s nothing wrong; it’s just everybody else is that good.
            They’ve got that magic, and these guys have that magic.  I think this could be the year.
            Q.  Dale, Brad Keselowski was here earlier and he said that he thought this may have been one of the hardest‑run Daytona 500s from start to finish.  You’ve obviously been in a lot more than he has.  I wondered if you felt something similar.  If so, was it just being the Daytona 500, points don’t matter, or sitting around for six and a half hours?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I think it was the package, the way you were having to race to stand your ground.  I hated to do some of the things I had to do tonight to race.  There were a couple laps where I had to run Jeff Gordon right on the fence, down the turns, the straightaway, right on his door, to keep him from drafting by me.  I hate to do that to my teammate.  I hate to do that to anybody.  But that’s what it took.  That’s what you had to do.
            I knew, like we had talked about before, I talked to Steve about how we were not in the right place at the end of these other races.  We’d make a move and finish second.  We knew we didn’t have a shot at winning, knew we didn’t have a shot at the leader at the end.  Why?  What do we need to do?
            Tonight it was all about not giving an inch, not running fifth, not sitting there in fifth place all night and being okay with it.  We wanted to be in the lead every lap, be in first every lap.  Th
at’s what my motive was.
            It was a unique race.  I feel uncomfortable sitting here bragging that I drove my ass off or ran the best race of my life, but it was a unique race.  We all were pushing the envelope out there, asking a lot of each other.  I remember running real, real tight on the door of the 16 car for the lead.  He had the 20 behind him.  I just kept thinking, All it’s going to take is for Matt to make one move a little wide into the corner or something like that, catch my quarter panel, turn me into the 16, we’re going to be up in the wall.
            Every lap you’re asking every driver around you to be able to hold their line and be smart and see what’s happening and understand how close quarters were.  Everybody was shoving all over each other, climbing over the top of each other.  So you were asking a lot of everybody around you to be able to do that all night long.
            We all really put each other in a lot of difficult situations, but it was really fun even under the circumstances.  I felt like that for the first time in a long time you were able to see just how talented everybody out there was.  Biffle and all those guys, everybody was really bringing the best out of themselves tonight.
            Q.  Steve, I’ve had many veteran drivers say over the years how much they have spent time trying to win the Daytona 500.  Even Dale Jarrett who was in here earlier.  Once they accomplish that goal, the first thing they think of is how they win the next one.  You decided to take another career path.  Is this the optimal way to go out or do you think you might have some second thoughts?
            STEVE LETARTE:  I mean, it’s better than losing.  Yeah, I mean, I was telling my wife last night, we were riding to dinner.  We were just talking about stuff.  I said, It’s a little sad.  I never really put two and two together.  When you think about making that decision, you know, so many things that are so important in my life that drove that decision.  Going to dinner last night, I’m a little sad, this will be my last 500.
            I think I’m going to have a lot of those moments this year.  I’ve done this since I was a 16‑year‑old kid.  I don’t know anything else.  The joke with my team when you go anywhere, if you want to know where to eat, I’ve grown up at all these tracks.  Everyone has a bucket list, and you don’t work in racing without having the Daytona 500 on your bucket list.
            It seems a little bit surreal or awkward, but it appears that a career‑defining moment came in my last chance at it.  Like I said earlier, it’s one of the those things that they might say I won X amount of races as a crew chief, but Daytona 500 champion will always be set out of that list.  This one was special.  I’m going to enjoy this one, for sure.
            Q.  Dale, you talked about trying to remember more of this experience.  You mentioned driving in the car with the fans.  What stood out about that?  That’s your moment by yourself.  Also, obviously great moment, you’re excited.  When is the last time you felt like that?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  The last time I won the Daytona 500.  You win other races.  Other good things happen to you in life.  But this is a unique feeling.  It only comes with this particular win.
            You know, the fans are so supportive.  They stick with you.  We put them through so much.  We ask so much of them to plug into this sport, to be a part of it.  You think about that.
            Then you think on a smaller scale of your personal fans, the fans that pull for your team, what I’ve went through as a driver.  You know, the lows you go through, they’re with you.  They’re with you in the highs, obviously.
            We went through some pretty bad lows.  They’re still there.  I know when I drove down that front straightaway, I know it wasn’t, but it seems like everybody that was here was cheering.  I know we don’t have every fan out there, but it was certainly a happy crowd.  I really feed off of that.  That is as key to the moment, enjoying the moment as anything.  That’s as key to the moment as going to Victory Lane, seeing your crew, seeing Rick, seeing my girlfriend.
            All those moments where you see joy in someone else’s face during this evening, seeing all that in all those fans, you feed off of that so much.  You’ll never forget that, just looking up into the grandstands, seeing all those people cheering, so happy.
            Especially when you get the flag, you get right up on ’em.  Like they’re coming through the fence, you know.  It’s just incredible, the energy from that side of the racetrack.
            Q.  How much fun can the next 25 races be, being able to swing for the fences?  How can you use that to build momentum in trying to win a championship?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Well, I expect that we’re going to have some great racecars and some great opportunities to win.  I know that we run our guts out every week.  Steve and the guys give it all they got.  I give it all I got.  We did that last year and didn’t win any races.  We weren’t trying to be consistent.  We weren’t trying to just gather up points.  We want to win so bad because we know how important that is for our fans, how important that is to the sport, how big it would be for all the effort Rick has put into it.
            So we try every week to win.  We’ll continue to do that.  I don’t think we’ll do it any different than we’ve always done it.  Steve may be able to get in certain situations at certain tracks and make a different call that he would typically make.  I anticipate that, look forward to that.
            For the most part, the tracks and the tire wear and things like that will really dictate the strategy he uses regardless of the format, the points, the Chase, all that.
            You want to do whatever you can to win the race, and that’s dictated by the track, the tires, fuel mileage, what have you.  I don’t think our approach is going to change a lot.
            But we have a lot of confidence coming off such a strong year, obviously winning this race.  Our confidence couldn’t be higher.  Confidence is a great thing.  It’s half of the battle, you know, being confident in what you’re doing.  When you have the most, you’re in perfect situations to have some good things happen, so hopefully we can seize the moment.
            Q.  Rick, when you rode Jimmie’s car into Victory Lane, you said you never would do it again.  What possessed you to do it again tonight?
   &
nbsp;        RICK HENDRICK:  When I got to the car, he said, Get in.  I was so excited, I got in.  When we got to that corner at the gate, I couldn’t hold on inside.  The roll bar was slick or something.  I almost fell out.  I was hollering, Stop.  I almost didn’t come in here tonight.  Probably would have been over to Halifax.
            I won’t do it anymore.  I better not say that.  But I think the emotion just got me as soon as I got to the window.
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Need to learn how to get those side windows out, that way you can ride in the passenger seat.
            RICK HENDRICK:  As soon as I got over there, he said, Climb in.  I didn’t even think about it.  I’ll think about it again because I almost fell out.  I was wedged in with Jimmie.  My legs were wedged up under the steering wheel.  Riding like I was riding a bull.  This time I almost did fall out.
            Q.  Steve, what do you think it will be like a year from now when you’re not going to be able to defend this?
            STEVE LETARTE:  Oh, I have no idea.  I think I’m going to come back and get my car back.  Maybe I’ll come back and get it when they give it to us next year.
            I don’t know.  There’s a lot of water to pass under the bridge between now and then.  There’s still 35 other trophies to get.  There’s a big one at the end of the year.  I’m going to really, really enjoy this victory.
            But it’s kind of like Dale said, winning reminds you how great this sport is, why we all did it, why we’re all here.  It’s really as simple as that.  It seems odd, but that’s really what it comes down to.
            We don’t play in stick and ball sports.  A .500 year doesn’t exist with a race team.  You go and you compete against 42 other people.  Every Sunday you line up.  Nobody cares what you did last week.  It’s all about what you’re going to do this week.  You have that same sort of feeling.  You want to go and win every single week.
            That’s my biggest concern about next year is what is going to fill the competitive void because it’s all I’ve known since I was a kid.  We’ll see if my kid’s go‑kart will fill the void or not.  I think he’s going to be a tougher boss than this one.  I’m going to have to sharpen up a little bit before then.
            Q.  Dale, I wanted to talk about your teammates a little bit.  With around 10 to go, even when the lanes forced a separation, you had a clear commitment to work with each other.  How much of a difference do you think they made down the stretch?  How much did they keep your confidence up, especially Jimmie being in the same shop after all these second‑place finishes?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Jeff pushing us on the last restart was key to us winning the race, a key moment for us to pull away, not get stuck side‑by‑side with the outside lane.  We timed that perfectly.  He did a great job.  That was definitely a very big moment for the victory there.
            You know, our teammates, they’re all great guys to begin with.  The reason why we all get along so well and tend to want to work with each other and even seek each other out at times on the track at Talladega and Daytona is because of the culture in the company.
            There’s no favorite.  No one’s singled out.  No pressure on one guy more than the other.  Everybody has the same commitment, whether it be the fabricators or the engine room.  Every team sort of gets the same commitment.
            It’s a very well‑run machine.  Just the culture in there, how everybody enjoys working together, we feed off of that.
            We see each other quite a bit.  Rick has us over there often for luncheons, what have you, in the shop.  We actually spend time with each other.  I’ve known Jimmie since he first started racing in the Nationwide Series, St. Louis since he ran his first race.  I’ve known Jeff forever, back when him and daddy were partners in several business ventures together.
            Dad introduced me to Jeff on the first straightaway at north Wilkesboro one time, told me he was going to be great.  Me and Kasey have been friends since when I started.  You know all these people because you’ve been around them for so long.  We’re all in great stuff.  Rick keeps everybody happy.  We enjoy seeing each other doing well and enjoy working together.
            The package tonight made you have to depend on people.  You couldn’t do things by yourself.  You definitely needed people to help pass other people.  You know you could count on your teammates to give that to you if you could get in a lane with them.
            As far as Jimmie being a good teammate, when we won when I was working with Tony, Jr., we won at Michigan.  It was my first win with Rick.  When Jimmie came into Victory Lane, the first thing I could think of to say to him is, I’m a winner.  He said, I know you are.
            Jimmie has always been one of my biggest fans.  Even before we were in the same shop, you know.  Like I said, I’ve known him for a very long time, before he was a champion, when he was just getting starting, he was wondering what kind of motorhome to buy.
            It’s been a long road for both of us.  He enjoys seeing me do well and I feel the same way about him.  So we got a great relationship.  It’s really great to be in the same shot together.  We feed off of their success.  I think they do the same with us.  Hopefully we can continue that.
            Q.  Dale, go back to the final lap.  The appearance was that no matter what Denny Hamlin did, you seemed to know what he was going to do before he did it.  Can you talk a little bit about that last lap.  And, Rick, did you hold your breath for a minute or did you just feel confident the whole time the checkered flag was coming?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I think I knew what had to happen for us to be passed, and I knew what I needed to do to combat that.  I needed to be in front of the cars that were moving to get a draft push from them, keep some separation, not allow them to get a run on me, whether it was the 2 car or Denny, whoever was going to come with a run.  I needed to be in front of them when they got there, limit their opportunities around me.
            Denny came pretty close.  He got very close coming off of turn four.  I didn’t know if he had enough to get to the quarter panel.&n
bsp; If he even sniffed on the quarter panel, he was going to get a hell of a run to the flag stand.  It was going to be tight.
            He’s obviously very good.  They ran well this week.  Won a couple races.  Showed their speed, his talent.  I knew when he come up through there, that’s what I was expecting, somebody to get up there and make a move.  He’s been able to show all week that he’s had a great racecar and knows what to do with it.
            RICK HENDRICK:  Yeah, this race you’re never confident.  I thought we were in good shape.  Those cautions kept falling.  We had to have those restarts.  You worry about that.
            I thought when he got that good push from Jeff that we were going to be in good shape.  But you just don’t count this race until you see the car come off the fourth corner, and the car running second on the outside can’t get to him.
            It’s an unbelievable feeling.  I bet if you had a heart monitor, you’d be amazed at what your pulse was that last couple laps.  I know your knees get weak when it’s over.
            I’ve been there so many times down here leading coming off the four, and wade ’em up.  So it was good to see that thing out front by itself.  I was very nervous.
            Q.  Where is the party tonight?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I’m going to try to keep myself under control some, good shape tomorrow.  I’m going to have a few beers, spend time with my girlfriend Amy and whoever else wants to sit around.  See where the night goes.
            Probably won’t be able to party till we get to Vegas after Phoenix.  I’m going to Vegas straight from Phoenix on Sunday.  That might be our time to celebrate.
            RICK HENDRICK:  It’s five hours past my bedtime.
            Q.  You said you put yourself in some situations that you had to in order to win.  Is that kind of the mindset you’re going into this whole year with knowing it’s Steve’s last year and knowing you’re starting to get closer to the end of your career than the beginning?  Are you at that point where, in order to fulfill your dreams of winning a championship, you’re going to have to be more aggressive than you normally like to be?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  We were running second every week, running in the top 10 throughout the Chase pretty much.  We were getting cars that were completely superior to what you had at the beginning of the season.  Hell, what I had at the beginning of the season was pretty good.
            Just when you think things are as good as they can get, they get better.  That’s been the situation with this team since me and Steve got together.  We’ve gotten better every year.  We said we were going to get better and we have.  We get closer and closer and closer to reaching our goals without any kind of setbacks or pauses.  So, you know, if things just keep going like they’ve been going, we should win some more races this year and the cars should be there and the confidence should be there.
            I’m perfectly comfortable forcing my way in any situation when I know the car’s capable of carrying its load and doing its job.  Steve knows that.  I think that gives him motivation to try to give me those cars.
            We were starting to see that happen last year.  Looking forward to this year.
            KERRY THARP:  Congratulations on this win tonight.
 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – TOP ROOKIE FINISHER EARNING A NINTH-PLACE FINISH
KERRY THARP:  Also joining us right now is our top‑finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate, Austin Dillon. Solid run for you here today.  Maybe talk about your race.
 
AUSTIN DILLON:  Yeah, I think the yellow stripes on the bumper showed a little bit tonight.  But we made it through it.
 
It was fun.  I had a blast.  The car was fast.  After we got in the wreck, I don’t know how we didn’t hit the wall.  Had a little damage, but was just a lot freer after that.  Car was still fast, just a little loose.
 
All in all, it was a great start for our season, and hopefully we can carry it.
 
KERRY THARP:  We’ll continue with questions.
Q.  Austin, are the stars kind of aligned?  You had the No. 3 on the track, and Dale Jr. wins the race.  Talk about that.
AUSTIN DILLON:  Yeah, it’s very awesome.  Junior has been so supportive of me bringing back the 3.  I’ve gone to him for a lot of advice lately.  I can’t thank him enough.  He’s been awesome to me.  It made this whole transition a lot easier.  If we didn’t have him onboard, it would have definitely been tough to do this.
 
I want to thank him and congratulate him.  That was an awesome race.  He led a ton of laps.
 
For me, he’s been a little bit of a bigger brother right now.  It’s been pretty cool.
Q.  Austin, did you have contact with Larson and Newman on those accidents?  What happened?
AUSTIN DILLON:  Yeah, I had contact with both of them.  The 31, I had a run and everything was good.  I don’t know.  I haven’t seen a replay of either one of them really.
 
His rear bumper cover was off, I barely touched him.  It turned him to the left quick.  Definitely didn’t want to do that, he’s my teammate.  I think I touched the 1, it backed him up.  It happened quick.  Like I said, getting aggressive, 10 to go, just trying to make something happen.  It was hard once you got back up there to get back up front if you weren’t making moves to side draft.
 
Hopefully I can take this, go to Talladega and do a little better.
Q.  Austin, does this 10th‑place finish take some of the pressure off of you as a rookie or do you have just as much pressure facing you in Phoenix and Las Vegas?
AUSTIN DILLON:  I don’t think so, man.  It’s such a long year.  We got to keep the pressure on as far as our team.  We want to do well.  We got a lot of goals we need to accomplish.
Superspeedway racing is so much different than the mile‑and‑a‑half’s and the short tracks.  We have a lot to learn.  That’s what this year is about:  experience, trying to finish races and getting better each week.
 
We have a long year ahead of us.  I’d like to use some of this momentum going forward.  I know it’s going to be a long, tough year and hopefully we’ll be there to the end of these races and try to learn something.
 
KERRY THARP:  Congratulations on a successful Speedweeks.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
DAYTONA 500
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 22, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway and discussed the process of getting a third car ready for the Daytona 500 after being involved in a crash in Thursday’s Budweiser Duel race, his thoughts on how the Daytona 500 will play out on Sunday and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
NOT THE FINISH TO THE DUEL THAT YOU WOULD LIKE, BUT COMING INTO THE DAYTONA 500 WHAT IS GOING TO BE YOUR FOCUS TODAY AS YOU GET PREPARED FOR TOMORROW?
“Just getting some more laps on this race car.  We have been very impressed and happy with the speed this third car has had. Not a situation we wanted to be in by any means, but I wasn’t aware of the preparation and our car count coming down here.  Obviously we want to bring our best two race cars and we felt that was the case.  But we brought two cars that we had a lot of success with last year and a build on those cars that were last year’s kind of mindset and technology.  Some of our teammates built new vehicles and brought them down here and they have had a little speed on us even through qualifying.  I wasn’t aware that we had a generation car like this and that is what is our third back-up is.  With our single car runs yesterday the car had a few tenths more speed in it than our best car, the car that we had slated for the Daytona 500.  So with all that it is nice to have the speed and we will take it from there.  We will go out today and make some more single car runs, make sure we get the attitude of the car right and there aren’t any tires rubs or any of that kind of stuff that can plague you and take it from there.”
 
CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH THE PROCESS AFTER THURSDAY WHEN YOU WENT TO THE THIRD CAR?
“Chad (Knaus, crew chief) always has a plan.  When I left the infield car center I went to the bus and I didn’t know anything until the next morning.  I walked in for practice and there was a painted No. 48 car sitting there.  I assumed it would be a wrap around the car and we unloaded a No. 88 car or No. 24.  That is kind of how we have been in year’s past.  We will build two and focus on Phoenix and Vegas and really the rest of the season.  I knew there would be a car, but I thought it would be a sticker wrap instead of a paint job.  I was pleasantly surprised to see it was paint.  I knew that of course Chad had his bases covered.  Then it really just boiled down to what kind of speed the car had in it.  That was a welcome surprise to see that it was a little quicker than the car we had slated for the (Daytona) 500.”
 
WHAT IS SO HARD ABOUT WINNING THIS RACE AND WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PUT YOURSELF IN POSITION TO WIN?
“Plate racing is so different than the racing we all grow up doing.  Competing, perfecting and then just working on that skill set.  Here we have heard the comparisons to playing chess and it kind of is that way.  You spend more time playing defense and your defensive moves and blocks create your opportunity to pass and to win.  Then the timing of when people’s decisions behind you when they take place and if you are able to block it, it gives you that surge down the backstretch or through (turns) three and four that brings you to the finish line.  So it is just different, it’s a different mindset and I think you have to work really hard to change your mind set at these four tracks in order to be successful.  All that being said (Dale) Earnhardt (Sr.) would probably be the exception to that with how many plate races he won and how long it took to win down here.  I think he just had a black cloud over him for all those years and wasn’t able to get it.  It’s a totally different mindset of racing.”
 
IN THE FIRST THREE CUP RACES WE HAVE SEEN HERE THERE WAS NOT A LAST LAP PASS FOR THE VICTORY.  WILL WE LIKELY SEE ANY LAST LAP PASS FOR THE VICTORY TOMORROW OR IS THE NEW CAR MAKING THAT MORE DIFFICULT?
“I’ve been surprised when I’ve been in second how little of a run I have had at the leader.  I’ve felt like this taller spoiler would increase that closing rate and really help out.  It’s created that opportunity further back in the pack and there is a lot more energy in the meat of the pack, but near the front there has been a little less closing rate.  No necessarily closing rate, but when you pull out I guess the air gets on that tall spoiler and it is just like throwing a parachute and it stops you.  The other component to that is I think we have crashed before we had a chance to get to the stripe.  The Unlimited there just wasn’t a big enough field to create the energy and then us running out of gas prevented the opportunity for something to take place in the duel.”
 
IT’S BEEN 10 YEAR’S SINCE DALE EARNHARDT, JR. WON THE DAYTONA 500 AND HIS LAST PLATE WIN WAS 2004.  DO YOU SINCE ANY FRUSTRATION FROM HIM HAVING FINISHED SECOND IN THREE OF THE LAST FOUR DAYTONA 500’S?  WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT HIM PLATE RACING 10 YEARS AGO THAT MADE HIM SO DOMINANT?
“Definitely know he’s irritated by not winning.  I mean he’s an extremely competitive guy and wants to win.  I know last year he was probably a lap or two away from having a shot at the win, just kind of ran out of distance.  Made a great move and got to second and he’s very sharp and understands how to set up a pass for the win.  I know he wants to win and I know he’s irritated that he’s been so close.  I guess it maybe boil into a little bit of frustration.  He’s a competitive guy and wants to win.
 
“The difference, you know things have changed so much with the draft.  I feel like last year’s combination was very similar to the generation of car when Junior won.  I know that the ‘13 rules package felt a lot like the ’06, ’07 in that time frame in what the cars did and how they react and how you set up passes.  I want to say even Junior’s stats reflect that.  I know mine certainly do.  There was kind of a dry spell through some of the gen-5 stuff especially the push drafting a lot of DNF’s, although we did have one win, but our average is way down.  I’m not sure you would probably have to ask him, but I think we have similar reasons why our style of drafting fits the gen-6 car and maybe his stats reflect that too.”
 
WHEN YOU HEAR CRITICISM THAT YOUR DOMINANCE AND YOUR SIX CHAMPIONSHIPS IN EIGHT YEARS IS DETRIMENTAL TO NASCAR AND THE INDUSTRY WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THAT CRITICISM?
“It is a short sided comment.  There are so many components and pieces to our sport.  That is just a fan of another competitor with a narrow mindset or a short sided mindset.  There are so many pieces of the puzzle as we all know from the economy.  We look at the construction that is going on out here and understanding how this facility is going to be like a football stadium before long.  I was talking to Chani (Johnson, wife) about that this morning she couldn’t believe that there aren’t the mezzanine levels for concession stands and restrooms and all that stuff.  When you really break down the sport and when you know the sport there are a lot of areas that need work and everybody is addressing that.  One driver’s dominance is not the reason why.”