NASCAR XFINITY Series
U.S. Cellular 250
Iowa Speedway
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Race Highlights:
Brian Scott finished third and was the highest finishing Richard Childress Racing driver in the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway. Ty Dillon finished fourth, Brendan Gaughan fifth and Brandon Jones 20th. Continue reading Richard Childress Racing–U.S. Cellular 250
J. FORCE, HIGHT STILL ON TOP GOING INTO SONOMA ELIMINATIONS
SONOMA, CA – With warmer temperatures today at Sonoma Raceway the quartet of John Force Racing race cars held form in qualifying for the 28th annual Sonoma NHRA Nationals. John Force held onto the No. 3 position followed by Robert Hight in No. 5 position and Courtney Force in the No. 12 qualifying spot in Funny Car. Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster did step up in the final session and will go into race day as the No. 12 dragster. Continue reading J. FORCE, HIGHT STILL ON TOP GOING INTO SONOMA ELIMINATIONS
CHEVY IN NHRA
NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS
SONOMA RACEWAY
SONOMA, CALIF
TEAM CHEVY POST QUALIFYING RECAP
AUGUST 1, 2015
SONOMA, Calif. (August 1, 2015) – After setting the NHRA Pro Stock track record of 6.499-seconds/212.36-mph in the second round of qualifying at the Sonoma Nationals, Chris McGaha, Harlow Sammons of Odessa Pro Stock Camaro SS, headed into the qualifying final as the No. 1 qualifier after three rounds. He bested Jason Line in the final qualifying round with a run of 6.527-seconds/212.l06-mph and for the sixth time in his career, and the fourth time this season McGaha qualified No. 1 in NHRA Pro Stock. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NHRA–Sonoma–Qualifying
Beckman, Hagan Take 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T for Record Runs at NHRA Sonoma Nationals to Top Funny Car Qualifying
· Jack Beckman drives Mopar to No.1 qualifier honors at 28th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals with quickest elapsed time run in Funny Car history
· Beckman carries momentum from win at Mopar Mile-High Nationals to top Funny Car qualifying with record setting 3.921-second run at Sonoma Raceway Continue reading Mopar Racing–Beckman, Hagan Take 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T for Record Runs at NHRA Sonoma Nationals to Top Funny Car Qualifying
Strong Qualifying Has Line Starting No. 2 at NHRA Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif., August 1, 2015 – Jason Line was a strong performer during qualifying for the 28th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals, and he narrowly missed putting his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro on the pole. Starting from the No. 2 position, his best start since he was the low qualifier earlier this year in Atlanta, Line will race newcomer Aaron Strong in the first round on Sunday at one of Team Summit’s most successful racetracks on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour. Continue reading Summit Racing—Strong Qualifying Has Line Starting No. 2 at NHRA Sonoma
Scott Dixon Puts Chevrolet on Pole with Track Record Run
Team Chevy Drivers Captured Nine of the Top-10 Starting Positions for Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Continue reading Honda Racing–Scott Dixon Puts Chevrolet on Pole with Track Record Run
Hunter-Reay Heads Honda Qualifying at Mid-Ohio
• Iowa race winner will start Honda Indy 200 from seventh
• Eleven drivers better existing lap record
• Sunday’s race to be broadcast on the CNBC Network
Ryan Hunter-Reay led the Honda field in qualifying Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and will start seventh in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. Hunter-Reay, winner of the most recent Verizon IndyCar Series race, two weeks ago at Iowa Speedway, was one of 11 drivers to break the existing Mid-Ohio track record during the three-round “knockout” qualifying sessions. The old mark of 1:05.347 was set by Dario Franchitti 1999 and matched a year later by Gil de Ferran, both in Honda-powered Championship Auto Racing Teams Indy cars. Continue reading Honda Racing– Hunter-Reay Heads Honda Qualifying at Mid-Ohio
Hunter-Reay Heads Honda Qualifying at Mid-Ohio
• Iowa race winner will start Honda Indy 200 from seventh
• Eleven drivers better existing lap record
• Sunday’s race to be broadcast on the CNBC Network
Ryan Hunter-Reay led the Honda field in qualifying Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and will start seventh in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. Hunter-Reay, winner of the most recent Verizon IndyCar Series race, two weeks ago at Iowa Speedway, was one of 11 drivers to break the existing Mid-Ohio track record during the three-round “knockout” qualifying sessions. The old mark of 1:05.347 was set by Dario Franchitti 1999 and matched a year later by Gil de Ferran, both in Honda-powered Championship Auto Racing Teams Indy cars. Continue reading Honda Racing–Hunter-Reay Heads Honda Qualifying at Mid-Ohio
CHEVROLET IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: “It’s the Target car! The Target car obviously has had strong runs here with 10 wins for Chip Ganassi and five with myself driving the No. 9. So it is a combination. Even that lap I messed up in (turns) 12 and two. There is definitely a bit of speed and we waved off the last lap as well and Will (Power) came pretty close so good thing we have a little buffer there.
“We are starting in the right position, but as we saw last year, anything can happen. We started 22nd and won from there with obviously a pretty big break in strategy. Team Target has done a heck of a job all weekend. The car rolled off fantastically. It is always great to be here at Mid-Ohio with so many fans. When the weather is just like this, turns four and five is packed already. It is fantastic to see.”
“We can’t really race for the championship right now. We have to race for wins. It is hard with that mind set when you get close. Even at Milwaukee and Iowa we were fairly good and we thought we had the two in the hole there and both of those races turned around and didn’t capture the points that we needed. I think we are 47 points back. There are still a lot of points to go. There are 200 and something points on the table. We’ve been strong all year, but we haven’t got the results that we wanted. We’ll see what we can do!
“The Verizon IndyCar Series is very, very strong. And Chevy, man, just keeps dominating. Big thanks to Chevy!
“It is always hard to know, you have to manage the tires and see how they wear, but the Firestones have been unbelievable this weekend as far as consistency and grip and everything. The second run I knew I hadn’t really had a clean run on the reds as far as getting a lap together. Even on that last lap there I messed up (turn) two pretty big and that last (turn 12). We were definitely up off on the last lap, so we just had to wave it off. I’m glad that we’ve had a ton of time and have a ton of speed in the Target car, but as we saw last year you can see how strategies can be and what teams try with us winning from the back.”
WILL POWER, NO. 1 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND: “(Scott) Dixon’s really good around here, but it would be nice to have a win. If everything falls our way, we can definitely win. No question we need to for the championship. That’s our goal.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROYCUT – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD:
“A good day for the Hydroxycut team, but not good enough to get Dixie (Scott Dixon) and Will (Power). I was a little surprised at the gap. I don’t understand how they can pull stronger laps in the Firestone Fast Six, but it is what it is. We just have to keep digging. I think we made a huge improvement on the Firestone red (alternate) tires, which is very satisfying. If you are going to have a good race at Mid-Ohio you are going to have to be strong on the reds. Starting third we are in the running to win tomorrow. Chevy has given us reliable power and if things pan out right, the car is very strong on the black (primary) tires, so we can make it happen.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4TH: “As you have seen over the weekend, we were never able to get a clear lap, which actually was good. It kind of held us a little bit back, but in the end of the day it was a great effort from my engineer, Jonathan Diuguid. He was on it and cool and relaxed. When you have the people around you with that kind of coolness, it just makes you better. For me, it was perfect to put down good two laps there. It was tough, very tough, but we’re going to get ready for tomorrow and have a good result. I have no doubt it’s going to be another tough race, not only mentally but especially physically because we’re going pretty fast out there.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 67 HARTMAN OIL CFH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH: “We’re doing a good job executing. We might not have had the ultimate speed today, I definitely did not have (Scott) Dixon’s speed. We were maybe a little better, third quick may have been possible. We had another tenth or two in it, I just didn’t get it out of it. Dixon’s lap was out of reach for us. We’re there, we’re in that top group. We make sure to execute very well every weekend, we find ourselves in the top five pr top six and we do a good job on race day. That’s really all we are doing, we’re just trying to be there and capitalize on good opportunities.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLONG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 6TH: “The No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet was just fast today. The team worked really hard to consistently make the car better after each session we had this weekend. It obviously doesn’t hurt to have Dixon to learn from here at Mid-Ohio. He’s so good here and his data has been really helpful. It’s nice to see a couple of Chip Ganassi Racing Teams’ cars up front in the top 10.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH: “I think we had a really fast car today for qualifying – we just weren’t able to make it into the top six. The competition was so tight and everyone was putting up such close lap times that even a little bit of understeer was enough to keep us out of the final round of quals. We’ll just have to make sure we have the right strategy in place and hope we can move up through the field early.”
LUCA FILIPPI, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA CFH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH: “We knew qualifying was going to be very, very close. It was very important to do everything correctly, which we did in Round 1. In the very last lap of the Top 12, I was on a lap that could have been good enough for the Firestone Fast 6, but I made a small mistake. In this very tight field, that mistake ended up costing us the opportunity to advance. We were fast and it’s good to have both cars in the Top 10. We have a lot of potential for tomorrow.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 HAWKI PERFORMANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH: “To be honest with you it’s taken a lot of hard work by everyone on the Verizon Chevy team to get to where we are. We had a problem with the engine yesterday and lost almost an entire practice session. Since then we have just been behind. We’ve been trying to catch up and we improved a lot this morning. We were seventh in the morning session and qualified 10th. I just had a too much understeer in the first round and we didn’t adjust enough in the second round.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH: “It’s been a rough day for PPG Automotive Refinish Chevy. Now it’s all back to normal. We had some technical issues yesterday and especially today in practice as we didn’t run any laps because of that. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of valuable track time. But quite frankly I am satisfied with my performance in qualifying, but I just needed a little more time to find the limit of the new aero kits. That’s what cost us today. We are starting P15 which is interesting because there’s a lot of strategy that we could do and maybe our luck could around come tomorrow’s race.”
STEFANO COLETTI, NO. 4 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 18TH: “I am disappointed about qualifying today. I had a good car and we had the possibility to advance to the next round. Unfortunately I made a mistake on the final lap, which would have put me P4 in the group. I have to thank my crew and Chevy for giving me a good car and will now focus on the race tomorrow and see what we can do!”
SAGE KARAM, NO. 8 COMFORT REVOLUTION/BIG MACHINE RECORDS CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 19TH: “It wasn’t the way we wanted qualifying to go for the No. 8 team. It was a tough session and the COMFORT REVOLUTION/Big Machine Records car was fast overall. I got blocked a few times and tried to recover to get a good lap in to advance, but I went off in the end and couldn’t put it together unfortunately
Line a Standout Performer on Day One in Sonoma Continue reading Summit Racing–Line a Standout Performer on Day One in Sonoma
Anderson’s Summit Racing Camaro Speedy in Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif., July 31, 2015 – The first day of qualifying at the 28th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals reminded Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing Pro Stock team just how much they love the sea level conditions and smooth-as-silk racing surface at Sonoma Raceway. Anderson, powering the red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, grabbed an early lead and ended Day One in Sonoma in the No. 3 position. He will have two more chances on Saturday to grab the top spot for the KB Racing team. Continue reading Summit Racing–Anderson’s Summit Racing Camaro Speedy in Sonoma
J. FORCE, HIGHT LIGHT UP QUALIFYING AT QUICK SONOMA NATIONALS
SONOMA, CA – At the conclusion of the first day of qualifying at the Sonoma NHRA Nationals John Force sits No. 3 and teammate Robert Hight sits No. 5, provisionally. There will be two more qualifying sessions tomorrow where both drivers are in prime position to earn more qualifying bonus points and put their Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Cars in position to go rounds on race day. Continue reading John Force Racing–Sonoma Qualifying
CHEVROLET IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: “It’s the Target car! The Target car obviously has had strong runs here with 10 wins for Chip Ganassi and five with myself driving the No. 9. So it is a combination. Even that lap I messed up in (turns) 12 and two. There is definitely a bit of speed and we waved off the last lap as well and Will (Power) came pretty close so good thing we have a little buffer there. Continue reading Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Mid-Ohio–Post Qualifying
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
WINDOWS 10 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JULY 31, 2015
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S/BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED – 2ND
DESCRIBE THE LAP THAT ALMOST PUT THE NO. 4 ON THE POLE:
“Just really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Budweiser team for running our fastest lap in the last session. A lot of that lies on me for putting the lap together something I hadn’t done over the last couple of months. I feel like we all did a good job there and made some good adjustments. I feel like I probably gave up a little bit in Turn 1. I got a little bit tight in the center of that corner, but all-in-all it was a good lap and I’m glad we ran our fastest speed in the last round. That is what you have to do.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Pocono–Qualifying
CHEVROLET IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: “It’s the Target car! The Target car obviously has had strong runs here with 10 wins for Chip Ganassi and five with myself driving the No. 9. So it is a combination. Even that lap I messed up in (turns) 12 and two. There is definitely a bit of speed and we waved off the last lap as well and Will (Power) came pretty close so good thing we have a little buffer there. Continue reading Chevy Racing– Indycar–Mid-Ohio– Scott Dixon
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
WINDOWS 10 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JULY 31, 2015
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S/BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED – 2ND
DESCRIBE THE LAP THAT ALMOST PUT THE NO. 4 ON THE POLE:
“Just really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Budweiser team for running our fastest lap in the last session. A lot of that lies on me for putting the lap together something I hadn’t done over the last couple of months. I feel like we all did a good job there and made some good adjustments. I feel like I probably gave up a little bit in Turn 1. I got a little bit tight in the center of that corner, but all-in-all it was a good lap and I’m glad we ran our fastest speed in the last round. That is what you have to do.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Pocono–Qualifying
Rahal, Sato Head Honda Practice Effort at Mid-Ohio
• Championship challenger Rahal runs fourth for Honda, Sato fifth
• Five Honda drivers post top-10 times
• Qualifying for Honda Indy 200 set for Saturday
Hometown favorite Graham Rahal led the way for Honda in practice Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, posting the fourth quickest time in preparation for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. A race winner earlier this season at Auto Club Speedway in California, Rahal is currently ranked second in the Verizon IndyCar Series drivers’ championship, 42 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya, who was 22nd on the time sheets today in a 24-car field. Continue reading Honda Racing–Rahal, Sato Head Honda Practice Effort at Mid-Ohio
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
WINDOWS 10 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 31, 2015
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 MICROSOFT CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Pocono Raceway and discussed his Pocono sweep in 2014, the status of his team heading into the Chase and many other topics. Full Transcript: Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Pocono–Dale Earnhardt Jr.
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
WINDOWS 10 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 31, 2015
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AARP MEMBER ADVANTAGES CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed rules packages, different challenges of racing at Pocono and his memories of this particular track, how he feels about making the Chase at this point in the season, his feelings about going to various tracks for the final time as a competitor, and more. Full Transcript: Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Pocono–Jeff Gordon
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
WINDOWS 10 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 31, 2015
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/VISSER PRECISION CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Pocono Raceway and discussed his win at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ in June, his thoughts on the recent developments at Michael Waltrip Racing and many other topics. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT THE WIN IN JUNE AND COMING BACK THIS WEEKEND:
“Yeah, definitely it feels a little different coming back this time for sure. It feels good. It was definitely a huge weekend for us, for all of us; for me, my team, for Barney (Visser, team owner) and just everybody that has put so much effort into Furniture Row Racing and the No. 78 car. Definitely feels good to be back. Hopefully, we can repeat on what we did last time. Obviously, it’s not going to be easy, but I feel like we are up for the challenge. A few differences in the racetrack with the Tunnel Turn being smooth again, I think that certainly makes it a little bit easier on everybody else. I kind of like the challenge of the bumps just because obviously we had them, seemed like, figured out pretty good. So far the car has felt good today. I feel like we will have a good run for qualifying and looking forward to a great weekend.”
IS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE TEAM SINCE THAT WIN? IS IT SOMEWHAT MORE CIRCUMSTANCES OR DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM IS ANY DIFFERENT OR CAPABLE THAN IT WAS WHEN YOU WERE HERE PREVIOUSLY?
“Yeah, I mean we definitely ran into kind of a string of bad luck there with Sonoma and Daytona getting caught up in crashes. I felt like we had a really good car at New Hampshire, one of the better cars I’ve had in quite a few years, actually. And got caught a lap down by the caution and had to come from the back and finish 12th, I think, in 45 laps or so. Then last week at Indy I thought we had a pretty good car. We never had the speed that we needed to lead, but we did have a good top five. It’s been a little bit up and down here lately, but I feel like we still have speed in our racecars. We really haven’t been to any tracks where we feel like we have really performed well at. No 1.5-miles, place like Dover where we led the most laps, places that I tend to run really well at. I think we have some more good tracks coming up. I feel like we still have that momentum, we just kind of had some bad luck along the way. We are obviously looking for more speed just like everybody is. I think everybody is stepping up their program as the season goes on and we are trying to do the same thing. We brought a new car here. Trying to be better than last time and hopefully it will play out.”
THE LAST THREE WEEKS YOU HAVE RUN THREE DIFFERENT RULES PACKAGES. WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE ADAPTING TO THOSE CHANGES?
“It hasn’t been that big of a deal driver wise as far as adapting to the packages. I think it is all relative. It’s more about where you’re racecars are. When they take downforce off everyone the good cars still seem like they are the good cars. Certainly I think some guys have definitely put more effort into the other rules packages than we did. I heard stories of people going to the wind tunnel 10-15 times before racing either one of those packages. I think we went once or twice. So, that is one area where maybe we are at a little bit of a disadvantage just funding wise – the amount of money coming into our team. But, I think we have done a good job. We had a really good car at Kentucky in the low downforce and hit some debris on the racetrack and pretty much ruined our race. I felt like we were pretty good in the high downforce last week at Indy too. The guys have done a good job of adapting. As far as the driving goes it’s a little bit different, but it’s still all about getting the most you can out of your racecar and out of your team and all the things you do together. It really hasn’t been a huge change I don’t think for us.”
IS THIS THE SAME CAR AS A FEW WEEKS AGO? ARE YOU IN THE PROCESS YET OF SAVING OR PROTECTING YOUR BETTER CARS FOR THE CHASE?
“It’s not the same car and no, I think honestly at this point we are constantly working at getting better and constantly working on trying to find more speed. I don’t think we have anything set aside car wise that we feel like is better than what we can build going forward. That is the plan. The team is pushing hard, they are working hard and trying to do everything they can to keep getting better. Again, you’ve got to stay with the competition. Things change so fast around here that you’ve got to work hard. Cole (Pearn, crew chief) and the guys are doing a good job with that. Hopefully, we will able to get back to leading laps and putting ourselves in position to win some more races.”
SINCE YOU WON HERE IN JUNE HOW MUCH MORE PRESSURE DO YOU PUT ON YOURSELF AND YOUR RACE TEAM THIS WEEK?
“Not any different than any other weekend I don’t think. Obviously, we have that bit of a safety net so to speak. I think we can tend to take chances a little bit more and this and that. But you know we are still here to win and get the best finish we can for everyone. You definitely feel a little more pressure just because we were so good here last time that you don’t want to screw it up. But at the same time, again, the track is a little bit different and everybody is getting better. I think the (Joe) Gibbs (Racing) cars have proven that in a couple of weeks’ time you can make some really big gains. I think those guys are really the cars to beat right now. We’ve got to continue to work hard and try to get our stuff better and try to again get up front and start leading laps again and put ourselves in position to win again.”
HOW TRICKY IS IT WITH THE PROPOSED CHANGES OR THE NOT PROPOSED CHANGES THAT NASCAR HAS GOING INTO THE CHASE?
“I don’t know that it’s so much notes and set-up’s and things. I think it’s more of we really geared up this season and put a lot of emphasis on building our cars and focusing on the rules package we thought we were going to have. A small team like ours can’t make those big changes and go after a new rules package quite as fast as say the bigger teams. I mentioned earlier about the wind tunnel time. I heard of people using, just for the high downforce and the low downforce package. We really put all our eggs in that basket of ‘hey these are the ’15 rules.’ We developed our whole car around it over the winter and going into the start of the season. We really hope that it continues down that path. At this point we are not really sure what is going to happen. It’s definitely a difficult time for the teams for sure. A lot of money being spent on wind tunnel time and aero stuff and just trying to figure those things out, but at the end of the day we don’t even know what we are going to have yet. So, it’s definitely difficult, especially for the smaller teams to be able to do that.”
WHAT WAS YOUR IMPRESSIONS THIS MORNING OF THE TRACKSIDE SUPERSTORE?
“I thought it was awesome. Just from my perspective I thought it seems a lot simpler. It seems more modern and just a nicer area to be in. There is shade, there is a little bit of air flow. It is not standing out in the sun sweating walking around to try to find your driver’s hauler or things like that. The biggest thing that stuck out for me, we have a souvenir hauler that we share with other drivers. I’m constantly getting messages on Twitter and on Facebook and my fans asking me at the racetrack ‘where do we get your hats? Where do we get your t-shirts?’ It’s like; well I don’t know where that trailer is at this weekend. It’s just a lot more simplified especially for us. I thought it was a really cool atmosphere out there. It should be fun for the fans. I think they are going to enjoy it.”
CAN YOU TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM POCONO TO HELP YOU PREPARE FOR WATKINS GLEN?
“It doesn’t help at all. When you throw right turns in there it mixes everything up. It’s definitely a lot different than here. But, I do love going to Watkins Glen, definitely looking forward to that race for sure. It’s a fun place to go, a fun area. I can’t say enough about the weather up here this weekend, so hopefully we will get some more of that next weekend at Watkins Glen.”
WOULD YOU MIND SEEING A ROAD COURSE IN THE CHASE? WHY HAS THE RACING BEEN SO EXCITING AT WATKINS GLEN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS? WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THAT TRACK THAN SONOMA?
“I really enjoy the road courses. I probably wouldn’t mind seeing one in the Chase. If I had to pick I would lean more towards Watkins Glen just because it seems like Sonoma is such a wild card race. It’s almost like a Talladega or Daytona of road courses just because of the layout and the double file restarts and how it all works out there. It’s really tight racing and you can pretty much plan on getting knocked off the track at least once throughout the race. It’s difficult, but I think it would be cool to have a road course in the Chase for sure. I really do enjoy Watkins Glen a lot.”
ARE YOU SURPRISED AT THE DEVELOPMENTS AT MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING?
“Yeah, a little bit. I don’t really know a whole lot about what’s going on, but hearing that Rob (Kauffman) is buying into another team is interesting for sure. I’m not sure what they’ve got going on, but it was definitely surprising. I’ve got a lot of friends over there. They have a lot of great people there and hopefully they will all land on their feet and figure out some way to keep going.”
IT’S KIND OF BIZARRE BECAUSE YOU CAME FROM GANASSI TO MWR AND IT’S KIND OF LIKE HE’S DOING THE OPPOSITE:
“You never know in this sport. Things change quickly, especially these days.”
HOW DO YOU THINK THAT DYNAMIC IS GOING TO WORK HAVING WORKED AT BOTH PLACES?
“It has been so long since I’ve been… I was at Ganassi for a year and it was so different then than it is now. Just based on who is there and what they are doing and stuff. It’s really hard to say.”