NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 18, 2013
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – SIDELINED WITH AN ENGINE FAILURE ON LAP 54
 
SOME EARLY PIT STOPS, BUT THEN APPARENTLY AN ENGINE PROBLEM WHAT HAPPENED?
“Yeah, we were just putting ourselves in position for later in the race with those early stops.  Then we had an issue there with the engine as I came out of the pits and got back up to speed dropped a couple of cylinders.  We were trying to get it figured out and see what would happen.  On my way into the pits it finally locked up and that’s the end of it.  Unfortunate day, but I’m happy that we have had such a strong opening part of the season and we have points on our side and some wins on side so we are not in jeopardy of anything going into the Chase.”
 
DO YOU EVER JUST SHAKE YOUR HEAD AND WONDER IF THIS PLACE HAS IT IN FOR YOU?
“It does.  It’s going to make it all the sweeter when we are able to win.”
 
ONCE AGAIN AT MICHIGAN YOUR DAY IS OVER EARLY.  I SAW YOU TALKING TO THE ENGINEERS, WHAT DID THEY SAY WENT WRONG?
 “The engine broke there.  I guess when we came in for a green flag pit stop something started then and made it a few more laps and didn’t really notice anything off.  Then it finally dropped a cylinder or two down the backstretch.  Definitely an unfortunate thing but we had plenty of speed in the car and I think we were going to be a factor with this Kobalt Tools Chevrolet.”
 
WERE YOU GUYS MAYBE TRYING SOMETHING NEW FOR THE CHASE?
“Not that I am aware of.  You know, this track is hard on engines and these guys will figure out what went on there.  Days like today, I am thankful for the big point’s lead that we have and the bonus points we have been able to accumulate to get us to this position for the Chase.  It happens and I hope to get all this stuff out of the way now although I hate losing momentum going into the Chase.  It’s nice to roll in there hot and I think we had a chance to win today.  We will dust ourselves off and go again next week.”
 
CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED?  WHAT DID YOU FEEL?
“Coming down the back straightaway I felt it drop a couple of cylinders and knew we were in trouble.  So brought it to pit road and unfortunately it finally broke all the way and locked up.  It would be nice to have salvaged something and maybe pulled the down cylinder parts out you know the valve train parts out and get back out on the track, but the engine didn’t live long enough once it broke.  These things break pretty quick and that was the end of it.”
 
IS THAT THE ENGINE THAT YOU HAD IN THE PRIMARY CAR?
“I am not 100 percent sure, but Jamie Little (ESPN Anchor) just said that it was a new engine and it wasn’t the one in the primary, but I don’t know for sure.”
 
ARE YOU AT ALL WORRIED THAT AS GOOD AS A SEASON YOU ARE HAVING LIKE WEIRD THINGS KEEP HAPPENING TO YOU EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE THAT COULD CARRY OVER INTO THE CHASE AT ALL?
“When I look back most of it is self-inflicted.  Even though it’s an engine failure we will be able to trace back why and what.  Human hands are on these things assembling them and it could be in that or it could have been a simple part failure.  The bulk of the stuff has been human error.  I’m not overly concerned.  I hate having momentum not work in our favor late in the regular season.  I think we would have had a very strong race today if not a win.  That momentum is key rolling into the Chase.  That is the biggest downfall to me.”
 

Big Night for Chevrolet, Wayne Taylor Racing in Kansas Triumph
Taylor, Angelelli win for third time and regain DP championship lead
 
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Aug. 17, 2013) – Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli came away winners Saturday night in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in more ways than one. The Wayne Taylor Racing duo won the inaugural SFP Grand Prix at Kansas Speedway in their No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Daytona Prototype and regained the championship lead in the DP drivers’ standings in the process.
 
Jordan Taylor held off a stern challenge from Scott Pruett to win by 0.568 seconds. The son of team owner Wayne Taylor, driving the closing stint for the first time in a Daytona Prototype, kept Pruett behind him for the better part of an hour. Angelelli moved up from fifth at the start to third when he handed off to Taylor.
 
The third victory of the season for the Angelelli-Taylor pairing came with the extra bonus of now leading the drivers’ championship. Angelelli and Taylor lead Action Express Racing’s Christian Fittipaldi by two points, meaning Corvette DP drivers hold the top three spots in the championship with two races remaining.
 
The Wayne Taylor Racing entry made only three pit stops – the least amount of the DP field. After the team elected to short-fill on its first stop, Taylor moved into the lead for the first time midway through the race following the third and final caution period. The team called in Taylor for his final stop with 38 laps to and was the first of the lead cars to pit. That strategy proved to be the difference.
 
“Max was great at the start and gave me a great car,” Taylor said. “The guys had the perfect strategy, and we were the only ones to do what we did. So it worked out in the end.”
 
The victory allowed Chevrolet to increase its lead in the engine manufacturers’ standings, and Wayne Taylor Racing moved from fifth to second in the team championship.
 
“Congratulations to everyone at Wayne Taylor Racing for a fantastic victory in the inaugural Rolex Sports Car Series event at Kansas City and reclaiming the Daytona Prototype drivers’ championship,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager for the Rolex Series. “This was an incredible challenge with a number of incidents that impacted many of the top runners. Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor may not have had the fastest car on the circuit but the Wayne Taylor Racing team had the best strategy and made the fewest mistakes. In a series as competitive as this, those two factors are keys to winning races and championships.”
 
After starting third and fourth, Action Express Racing’s two Corvette DPs finished fourth and fifth.
 
In GT, Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 57 Camaro GT.R of John Edwards and Robin Liddell placed fourth. They are third in the class championship and only three points out of first place, as is Stevenson Motorsports in the team standings.
 
Earlier in the day, Edwards and Matt Bell won the GS class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 9 Camaro GS.R. Both drivers led during their stints, and Edwards ran out front the final 23 laps for the duo’s second GS victory this season.
 
The next round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival. Both races are set for Sunday, Sept. 8 from Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The Rolex Series event will air live at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
 
ROLEX SPORTS CAR SERIES QUOTES
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“It was a stressful two hours. It was my first time finishing a race in the DP class. To have someone like (Scott Pruett) behind me for an hour-and-a-half was stressful but I knew I had a good car behind me and had all these guys (on the team) supporting me so I wasn’t phased at all.
“We went into this race thinking we had a third- to fourth-place car. Our engineers did their homework and it paid off. The car was solid for the whole stint. We usually have tire wear issues where they drop off a little bit, but the Continentals were perfect and we could push for the whole race.”
 
MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“Our Corvette was really good. Jordan did a fantastic job. It’s not easy to have Pruett behind you for over an hour. I’m very happy and very proud.”
 
CONTINENTAL TIRE SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE QUOTES
MATT BELL, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R:
“The Stevenson guys have been working really hard. This one definitely goes to the guys that run the car all week. Ryan (McCarthy) our engineer really pulled off a great job making this car drivable on the oval and on the infield. These guys have been working really hard. Ryan nailed the setup. My stint was mostly on my own, which really highlighted what the team did with the car. John had a lot of battling going on, and I think he did a very good job with that. It’s not an easy task keeping Matt Plumb behind you. I’m very impressed with everything the team has done this weekend.”
JOHN EDWARDS, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R:
“The car was great. I don’t think we expected this to be one of our (most favorable) tracks but that didn’t stop us from really focusing on the setup and just trying to make the car as good as we could make it. I think we had one of the fastest cars. I think we probably weren’t as fast as the No. 13 car but ultimately Matt (Bell) was faster than Nick Longhi and did a good job to get by him. So that move early in the race – even though this is an endurance race – really played a key part in the end because I was in a position to defend against the No. 13 instead of trying to get around them.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A FINAL PRACTICE CRASH AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY.
 

 
IN REGARDS TO THE ACCIDENT:
“That was definitely part of it.  I’m a little puzzled as to why I spun out going in because I’ve had great entry stability even on that run I had great entry stability.  I got a little close to the No. 27 but then again it’s not like I was right on him.  To me it felt like I lost downforce just from the traffic scenario.  I’m not really sure either way we have a torn up car and we will have to work hard to get this one ready to go.  Hopefully make a couple of laps here before this session is up and take it from there.”IT SEEMS LIKE YOU HAVE A GOOD BACK-UP CAR:
“Very good back-up car went out and put down an eight or 10 lap run there at the end that I would put up against anybody’s time.  I hate the extra work load, but we are trying to figure out what really happened because I had no sign of lose and certainly spun out and crashed.  The No. 88 came over and he said that he felt there may have been some oil down and he slipped real bad going through there.  Then we are trying to look at our tires and get an understanding of what might have happened because lose was not in the characteristics of the car and then I end up spinning out and going in.  It would be nice to figure out why so we know, but regardless we’ve got a back-up car that we’ve gone to and hopefully the race engine is still in good shape and we can put it in the back-up car and not have any issues with our grid position.”

YESTERDAY YOU HAD A CUT TIRE WHICH WAS SORT OF ODD DID YOU GUYS FIGURE THAT OUT?
“Yeah it was a valve core issue with the right front as we are rolling into tech the valve core was leaking air and NASCAR was like ‘hey we would love to tech your car, but you need tires we air in them, so get out of line and come back’.  So we had to put a different set of tires on for qualifying and got through inspection.”

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO FOR TONIGHT?
“If we can understand why it will help us with the last adjustment we made when we were on the track and decide if that is the direction we want to go in.  Because it produced the fastest lap and then I crashed.  If not we will back up a step and then play it safe there, but it was really nice to get out there and get some laps on the car and get our heights right and get the splitter broken in.  That was real important to get at least one run on the car.”

Action Express Fills out Second Row in Rolex Series Qualifying at Kansas City
Fittipaldi third-fastest for Action Express in inaugural event
 
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Aug. 16, 2013) – Action Express Racing will fill out the second row and lead the contingent of Corvette Daytona Prototypes in the inaugural SFP Grand Prix on Saturday. Christian Fittipaldi qualified third in Action Express Racing’s No. 5 Corvette DP during time trials Friday night at Kansas Speedway for the 10th round of this year’s GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.
 
Fittipaldi’s best lap was 1:10.055 (121.790 mph) in the entry he shares with Joao Barbosa. The pairing is coming off a runner-up finish in the Rolex Series’ previous round at Road America last weekend.
 
Four other Corvette DPs followed Fittipaldi in the qualifying order. Burt Frisselle was fourth in the No. 9 Action Express entry at 1:10.081 (121.745 mph). The top seven cars were within 0.598 seconds at the six-turn, 2.370-mile speedway road course. Memo Rojas captured pole position.
 
Stevenson Motorsports will start from the second row of the GT grid after John Edwards qualified fourth in the No. 57 Camaro GT.R. Edwards’ lap of 1:15.528 (112.96 mph) put him within 0.572 seconds of Alex Tagliani’s pole time. Edwards and teammate Robin Liddell sit second in the GT championship with four victories to their credit. Only one other duo has won more twice this season.
 
Boris Said in Marsh Racing’s No. 31 Corvette was sixth-fastest in GT qualifying.
 
“Of course we would like to be on pole position but we have seen far too often that qualifying means little when it comes to the race,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager, Rolex Sports Car Series. “The competition is very close, especially between our Corvette DPs. There still are many unknowns at this new venue for the Rolex Series, and our teams are well-prepared to meet those challenges. That, combined with racing under the lights at this great facility, should make tomorrow’s race very interesting to say the least.”
 
In qualifying for Saturday’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race, Stevenson Motorsports’ Matt Bell was the fastest driver in a Chevrolet entry at 1:21.695 (104.437 mph). That put the No. 9 Camaro GS.R he drives with Edwards sixth on the GS grid.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 16, 2013
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SERTA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SECOND
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“If you’re not running on that edge and somebody is going to find that edge and put it right there. It was a really good lap for us and our Furniture Row guys and the way we picked up speed from practice. I was hoping to get a 35.35 and that’s exactly what we ran and we’ll see where that shakes up.”
 
IN REGARDS TO HIS QUALIFYING LAP AND THE QUICK SPEEDS:
“These Generation- 6 cars are incredible.  Each team has their own way of approaching how to find speed and my Furniture Row guys have found speed week in and week out.  Just real proud of them we gained a lot of speed from practice.  I was hoping to run a 35.35, I don’t know what that does for mile and hour and we ran exactly that.  Some guys might beat us which if fine, but we will get a great starting position from there.  Cloud cover is big today and that is adding to a lot of the speed.   Last time we were here I think we qualified and the track temp was in the hundred and teens.  This time around it is around 105.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED THIRD
ONE OF SEVERAL CARS THAT ACTUALLY HAD TO WAIT TO GO TO GET THROUGH TECH FIRST. YOU HAD A LEAKY RIGHT FRONT TIRE AND THEN YOU GOT THROUGH TECH. BUT THE CAR DIDN’T LOOK STABLE AT ALL DURING QUALIFYING:
“Yeah, I guess if you’re in the sport long enough, anything and everything will happen to you. I’ve never had a flat rolling through tech before and we had a flat rolling up on the platform and had to put new tires on this thing and come back (laughs). So, with tech going as slow as it did, it put things behind and they’re still trying to get cars through right now. But we had plenty of time to get the car prepared and ready and we were very fast throughout practice today. I definitely had my hands full on that lap. I wasn’t as efficient I guess as I probably should have been and I think I dragged a little speed out of the car but it was a very good lap. And hopefully it will keep us there I the Top 5 and we’ll go racing on Sunday.”
 
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CHEERIOS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED FIFTH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“When I got out of my car, somebody said it was a good job for an old guy (laughs) and I wonder what they’re saying to him (Mark Martin).  It was a clean day. We were fast in race trim; we were fast in Q-trim. We didn’t quite have the speed that we needed for the pole. I asked for an adjustment before qualifying and got us a little too further than we needed to go, but nonetheless the car has been great all day. Wherever it ends up, we don’t care. It’s been a good day for us.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SIXTH
YOU WERE FAST IN PRACTICE, BUT MAYBE THIS WASN’T THE BEST DRAW FOR YOU TODAY:
“No, and I don’t mind the draw. Going out early is not the end of the world. The problem is I finished my lap and it cools down. I got in the car; the track was 12 degrees hotter than when we first practiced. And I’m like okay, and if I can back it down I’ll be the same lap time as practice and that’s a hell of a job. And we did and look at this. It’s probably cooled down 15 to 20 degrees. But we’ll see. It’s the luck of the draw. It should give us a Top 10 start.”
 
ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT HE WON’T BE BACK WITH THE NO. 42 TEAM NEXT YEAR:
“I don’t know where I’m going to wind up. But I’ve got to thank Target because I’ve had an awesome seven years with them here. Everybody on the team has been really good. Chip (Ganassi) and I have a really good relationship. What I’ve been telling people is whatever I’m going to do; I’d better be in a winning car.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SEVENTH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“I over-drove the car in Turn 1 in practice and under-drove it in qualifying and you’ve just got to hit it right on the spot. The car’s got a lot of grip. I think the track is even more abrasive than the first trip here. The cars are carrying a little more speed than they were the first trip here in practice and in qualifying. So, there’s a lot of grip and a lot of comfort out there just trying to really hit the lap perfectly and do all those things just right is kind of difficult. But we’re pretty happy with the car. I’d like to have a little more speed but that’s a good lap and the National Guard Youth Foundation car should be good for the race. We’re going to work on it tomorrow and find out.”
 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 27TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP AND HOW HE IS FEELING IN THE CAR:
“I’m comfortable in the car.  I tried to get a little too much right there.  I got really tight in (turn) one just over drove the car, but trying to get some. Get a good starting spot, but it pays more on Sunday so we will go out there and have a good run Sunday.”
 
IS QUALIFYING WHEN YOU STEP IN ANOTHER PERSONS CAR MORE STRESSFUL THAN ONCE YOU GET IN AND RACE THE CAR?
“Yeah, it is.  It’s just I’m pretty good at qualifying just struggled today just because I over drove it trying to get a little bit more.  The car was there, the car was good it just didn’t turn good enough.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 28TH
HOW DOES THIS GEN 6 CAR COMPARE TO THE LAST TIME YOU WERE HERE?
“Everything feels a lot better. The car feels much more stuck out there, which is good. I feel like Hendrick has done a really good job of improving the engine package as well. So, I didn’t really get what I wanted there. I thought we’d have gone quicker. But it is what it is. We tend to race a lot better than we qualify so, I was just hoping we would do all right in qualifying here because we had a nice practice, but we’ll just have to see where it ends up.”
 
WHERE DID YOU MISS A LITTLE BIT DURING THAT QUALIFYING LAP?
“I don’t know. I felt really good. I was surprised I didn’t go quicker.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 ADVIL CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 29TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN: 
“We didn’t take a qualifying run, obviously. We broke an engine earlier and thank goodness we have Advil on our car because everybody had a headache. So take Advil and feel better. The speeds are so quick, the cars are traveling more than ever and we just had the splitter on the ground and you could literally smell it when I went on my get up to speed lap. It’s like wow; it’s going to be a tough lap here. It wasn’t bad. The grip of the car was actually really good, which is encouraging. It just didn’t turn good enough just from the front end being on the ground so much.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 16, 2013
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway, and discussed the No. 14 car, racing at Michigan and other topics. Full transcript:
 
HAVE YOU TALKED WITH TONY STEWART?
“Not since Ricky (Stenhouse) and I went and saw him in the hospital.  I haven’t talked to him, but have texted with him a little bit.  I’ve heard he’s kind of getting back in the game you know.  He wants to know everything that’s going on.  He wants to be able to hear what we’re doing.  He’s off the meds and back to life again.”
 
ARE YOU HAPPY TO HAVE AUSTIN DILLON IN THE NO. 14 CAR THIS WEEKEND?
“Yeah, it’s nice to have a teammate that you know.  Obviously, running with Austin (Dillon) in the Nationwide Series, I know him.  I love getting other drivers perspectives on the cars and just kind of hearing the way they describe things.  I think it will be good for the team.  He’s young, he’s got fire and he wants to do it.  I think he will be a good addition for however long it works out for.”
 
HOW DOES THE TRACK FEEL TODAY?
“It feels like a smooth track.  We came here earlier in the year and I struggled and didn’t feel very comfortable, but we worked really, really hard on trying to get a car that was more consistent and predictable and felt better.  Actually, we kind of started working towards it here in the race and by the end of the race I felt really good.  We had double-stinted the left sides and it was the best the car had felt.  We made a lot of improvements and have continued to make improvements since we were here last.  When I first went out on the track, I thought, ‘Man, this feels like a whole different car.’  White literally it probably is, it just feels so much better than the last time.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SPEEDS?
“I was thinking about that because we were talking about the normal pick up from practice to qualifying and that qualifying pole was slower than what quite a few people have run.  That just means in my head that all the teams have had time to work with this new car, make it better, make improvements and I think that by seeing the speeds come up from the last time, it’s a result of how hard the teams have been working to make the cars better.  We work our butts off and we do a lot of testing and it’s nice when it shows.”
 
DO THESE CARS FEEL FAST TO YOU?
“I think any car that feels comfortable and is good feels like a moderate speed and any car that is not working right and doesn’t feel good, those are the cars that feel like you’re going at warp speed.  I’ve had both in both conditions.  Gosh, I can remember back in the IndyCar days here being so loose one time and feeling like I was doing 160 miles per hour instead of 220 or whatever we were doing.  It all depends on the balance of the car.  It’s all relative.  Let’s face it, a smaller percentage when you’re working up in the 200s.”
 
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU PICKED UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF HERE IN JUNE?
“That’s what I was just saying is it feels so much better than when we were here last and that’s just a result of (Tony) Gibson (crew chief) and myself and the engineers working together and finding a setup that’s more comfortable for me right off the bat and then also working on the car itself and making improvements there.  It feels better than when we were here last.”
 
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT YOUNG DRIVERS MIGHT FACE COMING FROM NATIONWIDE OR OTHER SERIES INTO SPRINT CUP REGARDING EXPECTATIONS?
“I think that it’s always difficult as a driver to say the words like my goal is top-20.  It’s not what it needs to be at some point.  While you’re ultimate goal is to win and if the opportunity presents itself, you’ll be ready, you still have to set realistic goals along the way to keep yourself upbeat and to keep everybody else upbeat.  That’s been something I’ve dealt with this year.  I think coming off of last year I expected to do a little bit better and I let things get me frustrated and I let my spot on the track kind of take me out of my game a little bit I think.  I pushed the limits a little bit too much and we took that week off and I just kind of looked at the season so far and said, ‘Man, every time I try so hard something bad happens and every time I just take whatever the car will give me and whatever the race will give me they are much better days.’  It’s just figuring out you yourself what makes you work and what makes you get the best results possible.  For some it might be to get fired up and for others it might be just relax and let the race come to you.  It’s just figuring that out.  Everybody’s different.”
 
HOW MUCH DOES THAT FRUSTRATION CARRYOVER TO THE REST OF THE TEAM?
“When you’re in the middle of being frustrated and wanting more and having some tough days, you don’t think that you’re making anyone mad, but we were testing at Nashville this weekend and we were just sitting there having lunch and one of my guys said, ‘I don’t know what you’ve been doing the last few weeks, but it’s been a noticeable difference in you and everything seems to be going so much better and everybody notices and appreciates it.’  Let it be a lesson that if you think something is going on, it is.”
 
DID IT SURPRISE YOU THAT THEY SAID THAT?
“No, no.  I think the best relationship you can have is being honest with your guys and with people that you work with.  I don’t think so because being the one in the middle of it, to actually come to the realization that you’re trying too hard probably means you’re trying too hard in a pretty obvious way.  Like I said, you have to figure that out yourself, you can’t tell somebody to relax.  You want someone to push hard so you can’t just tell them to back off.  They have to figure it out themselves.”
 
HOW IMPORTANT ARE TIRES TO RACING?
“It’s the chicken and the egg.  If we didn’t have tires, you can’t go.  They’re very important of course.  Tires are very important and most importantly here at Michigan there’s a lot of strategies to tires here because it’s repave and very smooth and the tires have a lot of longevity.  You can play a lot of different strategies with them, which I think makes the racing more interesting.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT BRISTOL?
“I’ve liked Bristol since I went there the first time.  I remember when I stepped foot onto that track, it was the day before, it was load in day and I looked out there and you’re standing on the straightaway, but it sure seems like a corner.  It’s a very cool track and a spectacle for the fans.  I feel like that is always the one that everyone says, ‘I want to come see the Bristol night race.’  I feel like the attendance lately has been great, the coverage has been great of NASCAR and I think we’ll get a lot of people out there.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 16, 2013
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media and discussed the recent announcement that he will not be returning to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in 2014 and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
HOW DID THIS WHOLE DECISION COME DOWN?  HOW DID YOU FIND OUT?
“Well to be honest with you I think I knew from quite a while ago to be honest with you.  They had an option earlier in the year and they didn’t take it so I kind of knew it was going to be something different next year and that’s it.  They confirmed it this week and that was it.”
 
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO NEXT YEAR?
“I don’t know.  The only thing I said already is I want to be in a winning car.  Whatever else I do, don’t know what I’m going to do, but I want to make sure I’m in a winning car.  It was a fun seven years with the Target car and Chip (Ganassi) and everything. We worked really hard and we had our up’s our down’s, but at the end of the day I want to win races.  He wants to win races and we want to try something different.”
 
COULD IT BE ANYTHING WITH CHIP (GANASSI) IN INDYCAR OR GRAND-AM?
“It could be with Chip it could be with somebody else.  You know with Chip something we said is number one is make sure we keep our friendship.  We are really good friends.  We have a good relationship and that was it.  It’s not that bad.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON SAID IT TAKES FIVE YEARS TO LEARN CUP.  AFTER FIVE YEARS IT’S THE MAGIC BETWEEN THE CREW CHIEF AND THE DRIVER.  DO YOU THINK WE WILL LOSE YOU OUT OF NASCAR AND HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK IT WAS LEARNING AND HOW MUCH OF IT’S TEAM?
“A lot of it was learning at the beginning, but I thought I picked it up pretty well.  I run really well.  I made the Chase in my third year.  One of the hardest things and I just said it, it’s the amount of changes.  There was never any consistency and I think that was one of the hardest things.  It wasn’t because they were doing it on purpose they were just trying new things and trying to make things better.  The problem is every time you make changes it makes it harder.”
 
ARE WE GOING TO LOSE YOU OUT OF NASCAR MAYBE?
“I don’t know.  As I said the number one priority for me is trying to be in a winning car.”
 
IS GOING BACK TO INDYCAR IS THAT AN OPTION FOR YOU?
“I don’t know we will see.”
 
HAVE YOU TALKED TO OTHER NASCAR OWNERS YET?
“Oh ages ago.”
 
I KNOW YOU HAD TALKED TO SOME IN THE PAST…
“No I mean ages ago this year as well. I’ve been looking at all my options for a while.  I wanted to make sure we had the door open to stay at Ganassi if the opportunity was here.  I have a really good… a part from the relationship with Target, the relationship with Chevy is really important to me.  It’s good.  Right now it’s actually fun.  As I said yesterday I did an interview yesterday and I said you know I’m really good friends with everybody on this team.  They mean the world to me and we’ve still got 14 races to go.  I mean we still have a lot of racing to go.  Number one thing is to keep enjoying racing and go at it every week.”
 
WHERE DOES YOUR HEART LAY RIGHT NOW WHAT ARE YOU FEELING INSIDE?
“I mean at the beginning I was really disappointed, but we kind of knew it.  From one side you knew it was going to happen, the other side, you know it’s not a bad thing.  We wanted to win races and it hasn’t happened.  We’ve been close this year, but you know what I mean for one reason or another it hasn’t really happened.  I think a change will be good for him. It will be a good change for me.  I think it will be fun.”
 
IN SOME WAYS DOES THIS TAKE SOME PRESSURE OFF FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR TO JUST KIND OF GO OUT AND LET IT HANG OUT NOW?
“Well I kind of do that every week anyway so that doesn’t change.”
 
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR AN INDYCAR RIDE?
“I have talked to a lot of people put it that way.  I don’t want to be specific about anybody.  I know some people are interested and I just want to make sure whatever I do as I told you I have an opportunity to win races.  I grew up winning and I’ve won at everything.  I won some races here, but I miss dominating.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CHANCES ARE YOU WILL BE IN THIS GARAGE NEXT YEAR?
“I don’t know we will see.”
 
WHY DO YOU SAY CHANGE IS GOOD FOR YOU?
“Well you know what I mean we have been together for seven years and we had our up’s we had our down’s and I don’t know.  I think if we keep going and the results don’t come we end up hating each other and it could be worse.  We are really good friends.  We respect each other as boss and driver and as friends as well.  I think we want to make sure we keep it that way.”
 
DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THE DECISION WAS MADE?
“I mean he has made a lot of changes through the years.  A lot of changes for him were logical for me were not.  It is what it is.  He feels we need to do something different and that’s it.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL? 
“A winning car.  We had winning cars here a few weeks and I blew some, they blew some and it’s clicked, but it hasn’t clicked as much as it needs to click.”
 
DO YOU HAVE ANY POTENTIAL SPONSORS THAT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO TAKE TO A TEAM AT THIS POINT?
“No, you know what I mean at the moment I’m just taking my time looking at the options and I want to make sure I make the right decision.”
 
DO YOU THINK YOU COULD GO TO INDYCAR?  IT’S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME AND TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED.  YOU NEVER EXPRESSED MUCH INTEREST…
“Well I was committed to NASCAR you know what I mean and when you are committed to NASCAR you want to make sure your head is in NASCAR.  My heart always has been in open wheel.  I had a lot of fun in NASCAR and you know we will see.”
 
I JUST WONDER IF THE TECHNOLOGY, IT’S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME…
“Oh technology in IndyCar is probably not as advanced as it was in Formula 1.  You know what I mean… not to worry.”
 
DO YOU KNOW IF PART OF THIS WAS TARGET OR IF TARGET WAS PART OF THE DECISION?
“I don’t know and I don’t ask you know what I mean.  It’s what it is whether it’s Target or Chip (Ganssi) it is what it is.”
 
WHEN YOU LOOK BACK WILL YOU CONSIDER THIS WHOLE THING A DISAPPOINTMENT?
“Oh no, I had a great seven years.  I learned a lot.  Whether you believe it or not I became a better race car driver.  It’s funny because you know we do the GRAND-AM every year and the more I do this plus my experience in open wheel the better I do.  The wiser you become you know what I mean.  My speed I believe is the same or better and I’m just a lot wiser making decisions.  I think it’s been a good experience.”
 
WITH THE SIZE OF YOUR FAMILY AND THE AGES THE KIDS ARE NOW WOULD A LIGHTER SCHEDULE PERHAPS INDYCAR BE THE WAY TO GO?
“Number one choice winning car then we will worry about the rest.”  

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 16, 2013
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS  met with members of the media and discussed the challenge of the Michigan track, what it would mean to win here, success in the Nationwide Series versus the Cup Series, and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
TALK ABOUT RACING AT MICHIGAN THIS WEEKEND AND THE APPROACHING CHASE:
“Yes, time is going by pretty quick. The Chase is right around the corner. We’re excited to be here. The way the No. 48 ran and all of Hendrick Motorsports ran here in the Spring, we’ve all been excited to come back and hopefully have that pace and lead the race and hopefully get one of the cars in Victory Lane. I certainly want to get the No. 48 to Victory Lane. We’ve tried a lot of years now and have been very close here, but haven’t been able to pull that off. And we had issues that kept all four cars out of great finishes in the Spring race and if we can avoid the varying issues that took place, I think we stand a really good chance of getting into Victory Lane.”
 
BECAUSE YOU’VE NOT HAD TO FOCUS ON TRYING TO GET IN THE CHASE THIS YEAR, AND IN OTHER YEARS, HAVE YOU LEARNED ANYTHING?
“We’ve worked really hard to maintain the same mindset. There was a year where we started some radical testing and concepts with the car and got off base and entered the Chase pretty weak and not up to par where we wanted to be. So, I think we learned that lesson. I wanted to say that was in 2007 or somewhere in there. But, since then, we really want to obviously perform as good as we can week in and week out. I think there’s a lot in that. And the way things are anymore, especially with the new car, you have to bring something new to the track each week and keep evolving. So, the mindset that we started the year with is really where we’re at now. We’re not making a stronger effort to try different things with the race car and the set-up. We are fortunate to have a lot of test sessions left. We just tested in New Hampshire and we’re going to test at Richmond next week. We have a few more out there that we’ll try to use to try to be prepared for the Chase. But, honestly, there hasn’t been a different mindset this year. We’ve had pace. We’re proud of that. We need to execute. We’ve left some wins on the table and we need to not do that. But, we’ve got to keep inching forward. We can’t sit still. And we’ll try to carry that momentum right into the start of the Chase.”
 
THIS TRACK (MIS) HAS BEEN NAMED ‘TRACK OF THE YEAR’ IN TERMS OF FAN EXPERIENCES. WHAT DO THE DRIVERS THINK OF IT?
“This track has always been high on the drivers’ list. The repave brought us back down to a pretty narrow racing groove. And in time, we know that will change and we can start racing around the top of the race track once again. The asphalt is too good these days. They just put down such good stuff that  it doesn’t wear out or age anytime quick and pins us down to a narrower lane. But I love coming here. This track has worked very well with myself and the young fans; we have a package that we do here with them and I go out and spend some time with the kids. So, I’m very proud of what this race track does with the fans.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE WINDWARD DREAM CRUISE YESTERDAY. WHAT WERE YOU DRIVING AND HOW WAS THAT?  ALSO TALK ABOUT GOING TO BRISTOL NEXT WEEK AND THE CHALLENGES OF GETTING AROUND THAT TRACK:
“At Bristol, we run well. We are probably a Top 3 or Top 5 car there in most circumstances. We were able to get a win once and we definitely want to be better. Not that I’m content with running in the Top 3 or Top 5, but from where I started off, in being a lap down 50 laps in and running 20th all the time there (laughs), I now enjoy going to Bristol. I’m excited to go there. For the longest time, I dreaded going there. I loved watching the races there and being a fan, but in the car was pretty tough on me. So, we certainly hope to be better and we want to go to Victory Lane again.
 
“At the Windward Dream Cruise, I drove my ’67 Camaro that I built in ’05. It’s been through a few modifications since then. But it has the LS9 engine in it right now and the C5 suspension under it with the ’67 body on it. So it’s a good driving car. It has lots and lots of power and it also turns and stops. So, it’s a fun car to drive. I was able to lay down a little rubber yesterday and drift the car around a little bit and not get pulled over and get arrested, so that was fun.”
 
THIS IS ABOUT THE ONLY TRACK WHERE YOU’VE BEEN TO MORE THAN A DOZEN TIMES AND HAVEN’T WON. DO YOU KEEP THAT CHECK LIST OF PLACES WHERE YOU HAVE AND HAVEN’T WON? WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT HAS KEPT YOU FROM WINNING?
“Yeah, I do pay attention to the tracks I haven’t won at. It’s more on the front side going to the event and building excitement about racing at the track and wanting to win. When the race starts, it doesn’t go through my mind at that point. It has when opportunity slips by, especially here. We’ve been so close that it certainly enters my mind at that point.
 
“But we’ve had varying issues here and those only consistent one, I would say, has been fuel mileage. We’ve worked hard to improve the car. And then I’ve worked real hard on my driving style to get better fuel mileage here. It seems like we’ve covered that gap, but we’ve had a mechanical or two. We blew a tire this last Spring when we were here. So, there have been a lot of reasons why. But I really look forward to the day I’m able to pull into Victory Lane over here.”
 
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE AN ANOMALY BECAUSE YOU’VE HAD SO MUCH MORE SUCCESS AT THE HIGHER CUP LEVEL (MORE THAN AT NATIONWIDE LEVEL). DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT CLICKED FOR YOU WHEN YOU MOVED UP?
“Yeah, probably. I look at (Tony) Stewart’s Nationwide career and I think our paths were kind of similar where we didn’t have great success in Nationwide. For me, when I started in Cup, that was my fifth year ever in a stock car. So I think I was really green in my Nationwide days; not only as a rookie in the sport and the cars and the tracks, but in stock cars in general.  I had two years in ASA prior to my first year of Nationwide. So, I think I was just behind. And the right circumstances came together being with Hendrick and all of that and my maturity level in the car and understanding everything came along and I kind of peaked at the right time. But when I look at the Nationwide Series today, and I haven’t driven one of those cars in a while, there is great benefit in being in the series and to learn the tracks and kind of learn the basics and fundamentals of adjustments on the car. But I think you can get trapped in those cars too long and develop habits that don’t work in the Cup Series. The Cup cars have so much more power. And you have to drive them so differently that I think it can do some damage if you stayed too long in the Nationwide Series.
 
INAUDIBLE:
“I agree. And you don’t know until you get in there. And when you look at Kyle’s background (reference Kyle Larson) and he’s driving cars with far more power than grip, I think the Cup car will suit his style far better than a Nationwide car. But you do need that foundation of knowing these tracks because when we show up, our fastest lap we run all weekend will probably be our first lap right now. And if Kyle Larson wants to go to Cup next year, that’s tough to do. He’s going to need the whole session to get where he needs to and then you’re five or six adjustments behind the fast guys. And that’s when the Nationwide Series is so good. You can learn the tracks and understand some things there. But you’ve just got to be careful to not stay there too long.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE GEN 6 CAR AND WHY YOU HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL THIS YEAR? WHAT WOULD A WIN AT MICHIGAN MEAN TO YOU?
“Th
e Gen 6 car, I think Hendrick does a very good job in responding to rules changes or rules that are put out or new cars or whatever it may be. And not always, but most times, we get on top of stuff faster than others. I think that’s been a big benefit to us and plays into the Gen 6 car and the success that we’ve had. A win here would be awesome. It would be a huge victory to win here; especially with how close I’ve been. We’ve had at least five or six that could have happened.”
 
WHAT DO YOU FIND TO BE SO TOUGH AT THIS MICHIGAN TRACK?
“The track is so different than it’s been in the past that you’ve got to maintain track position. That’s really the key. In the Spring race, we didn’t qualify well but we were able to get to the front. And then through pit strategy, we lost track position a few times and were able to recover. But in the end, I ran the right front (tire) off the car and blew a tire and hit the wall (laughs). So, I think the secret to winning here really falls into the hands of the engineer and the crew chief in what decisions they make late in the race to maintain track position. I think that’s where the key is. For the driver, when you’re out there practicing, you’re going so fast around here and you’re usually running by yourself, that it’s easy to set the car up to run in clean air. And you don’t always get that luxury. So being aware, through practice sessions and even trying to run a little bit in traffic to understand the balance shift, is going to be key today and tomorrow.”
 
WERE YOU SURPRISED WHEN YOU HEARD THE JUAN PABLO MONTOYA NEWS THIS WEEK?
“A little bit. Juan has been with Ganassi for so long that it did catch me off guard. I’m used to seeing Ganassi winning races and running up front through the open wheel world and I would imagine there would be a shake-up at Ganassi through the off-season. But that did catch me off-guard. They’ve been through some crew chiefs. If I look at the evolution of things, you usually go through a couple of crew chiefs and a driver change and that’s kind of what’s going on. So, yes; shocked, but the more I think about it I feel like there was some change coming there.”
 
WHAT IS IT THAT IS SO DIFFICULT TO MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM OTHER RACING DISCIPLINES TO THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES?
“For me, I feel like you need five years to really know the tracks and the cars and that was really my evolution through the ASA racing through Nationwide and then Cup. So, Juan (Montoya) is at that seven or eight year mark. You kind of get to a spot where you’ve got the experience and there are many reasons why things might not work and I firmly believe in the relationship between the driver and the crew chief is where the magic lies; especially once you’re past that five year mark. One thing that I don’t have first-hand experience with is driving a high downforce car. But in talking with Juan and in talking with Dario (Franchitti) and even Danica (Patrick), it is such a different world in a high-downforce car than in what our vehicles do.
 
“So, there are challenges there that I don’t understand and sensations that I don’t get and understand. And through all that, I’ve been kind of curious to watch the driver go from stock cars into open wheel. Would it be as difficult or would it be easier for a driver to go to a low downforce situation to a high downforce situation and where that would be. But either way I guess my situation isn’t exactly true, but when you race against people that started off thinking sedan-style vehicles at a young age, that’s all they’ve known their whole life, I think there is something in that.
 
“And I say that, and that’s not my situation. But I want to believe there’s something in that too, where running in open wheel vehicles his whole life, and the same for Dario or Danica, there are just thing that are engrained in their habits and the way they drive that may not apply to what a stock car needs.”
 
HOW CAN TESTING THE GEN 6 CAR HELP YOU GET AN ADVANTAGE OVER THE OTHER TEAMS?
“We spend so much time trying to get the cars in an ideal aero situation. The faster the car goes, the more importance aero plays. We are breaking track records everywhere we go. The speeds are up and the aero balance is more and more important. And we’re going to great lengths to get the right attitude in the car and the proper downforce and maximize the downforce that’s available. That’s really where we’re at right now. So as long as we can keep working in those areas, and I think that leads to the troubles that we have on some tracks with passing because you’re so aero-dependant that when you lose the aero assistance and you’re just sitting on the mechanical set-up of the car that’s underneath it, the car isn’t ideal at that point. But that’s the world we live in. Aero is everything.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 16, 2013
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SERTA CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed racing at Michigan this weekend, his potential plans for 2014 and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
YOU’VE HAD TWO WINS HERE AND ARE 11TH IN POINTS, HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THE WEEKEND AND HOPEFULLY GET ANOTHER WIN HERE?
“Yeah, Michigan has been real good or real bad. So, if you go by the law of averages I hope this time around is pretty good. We’ve had some speed in practice; we just haven’t translated that into the race conditions. This time around we hope we can parallel what we did at Pocono a couple weeks ago, which was to improve and find more comfort in the car.”
 
WITH THE NO. 42 BEING OPEN FOR SURE NOW DOES THAT CHANGE AS FAR AS THE PEOPLE THAT YOU’RE TALKING TO ABOUT NEXT YEAR? SHOULD WE COUNT YOU AS A CANDIDATE FOR THAT RIDE?
“It hasn’t changed anything, I’m good friends with Felix Sabates and I know Chip real well and the whole gang, Max Jones, Steve Lauletta. They came up with that decision not based off any of the talks that I’ve had with them but it is a potential opportunity that’s for sure.”
 
ARE YOU ANY CLOSER? HAVE YOU MADE PROGRESS WITH WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO NEXT YEAR OR HAVE YOU PUT ALL THAT ON THE BACKBURNER WHILE TRYING TO MAKE THE CHASE?
“Well, the focus is making the chase and we have four weeks to go and we’re in great position. It’s been neat to feel the energy from the team. We spent a week in Colorado meeting with Denver media and they’ve adopted us as like a fifth sports entity for that town. It’s been really neat. They talk Broncos. They talk Rockies. And now they’re talking us. So, it’s cool to have talks with Furniture Row about what we can do in 2014 and beyond. The Ganassi thing came up and other phone calls have happened. Nothing’s going to change. We’re just still really focused on the Chase and what we can do in these next four weeks together.”
 
ANY THOUGHTS ON THE TRACKS IN THE FOUR WEEKS BEFORE THE CHASE START?
“The next four weeks as far as the tracks, I’m really looking forward to Bristol of course. I’ve won it three times at Atlanta. Richmond we did really well there in the spring. So, I look at this one as the toughest out of the next four weeks. This week here at Michigan. If we get through this, then I think we’ve got a really good shot at things.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THROWING THE FIRST PITCH AT THE COLORADO ROCKIES THE OTHER DAY? YOU NAILED IT:
“It was fun. It was the first time I went into the stretch position for throwing out the first pitch. I checked the runner over there on first to liven it up a little bit. It was cool. The Rockies have whoever throws out the first pitch do an autograph session afterwards. So a lot of the fans were lined up. A lot of them said, “Good pitch.” And one guy that looked like a full on baseball guy says, ‘You know I’m going to have to call a walk on you. You looked at first base too long. You delayed on your throw.’ I thought that was hilarious to joke around with some of the fans about the first pitch. Yeah, it was a good throw. It was a strike.”
 
WE GO TO BRISTOL NEXT WEEK, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GOING THERE AND THE CHALLENGES WE GET AROUND THAT TRACK?
“You know it’s exciting to go to that track. Just as a fan and as a spectator. The team owners get excited, the drivers do. I love that place. It couldn’t come at a better time on the schedule for us.”
 
ELEVEN OF YOUR TOP-10’S HAVE COME AT THE NEXT FOUR TRACKS, DOES THAT GIVE YOU A LOT OF CONFIDENCE AND A BOOST GOING INTO THE LAST STRETCH RIGHT BEFORE THE CHASE?
“Yes and no. It’s all about what you’ve done lately and I haven’t been to Victory Lane in a long while. It’s good to have good tracks coming up. A) For consistency and For trying to break through and get a win. You always want your strong tracks to be when you need them.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 16, 2013
 
AUSTIN DILLON, INTERIM DRIVER FOR TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS AND GREG ZIPADELLI, COMPETITION DIRECTOR AT STEWART-HAAS RACING, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed expectations for the race weekend, updates on Tony Stewart and much more.  Full Transcript:
 
HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING INTRODUCED AS THE DRIVER OF THE NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET?
 
AUSTIN DILLON:  “It’s pretty exciting.  We all know who drives it on a regular basis and that’s one of my heroes, Tony Stewart.  I’m super excited to be representing their sponsors, Mobil 1 and Bass Pro Shops and just looking forward to this whole weekend.  We had a good test yesterday with our Nationwide car and I’m really excited to be working with Steve Addington (NSCS crew chief) and Greg (Zipadelli, competition director) and hopefully putting together a great run for both of our teams this weekend.”
 
WHAT IS THE UPDATE FROM STEWART-HAAS RACING AND WHAT IS IT LIKE BEING AT MICHIGAN WITH AUSTIN DILLON THIS WEEKEND?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “Like we said last week, we’re taking one week at a time and trying to do the best we can.  Austin (Dillon) had run here before, ran here in the spring and did a good job.  He was willing to come here today and give us 100 percent because they had the test day yesterday, which kind of really made the difference as far as making this work for us.  With that being said, we’re certainly excited about getting on the race track, getting all this stuff kind of behind us and doing the best we can this weekend.”
 
WOULD IT BE EASIER TO HAVE ONE DRIVER FOR ALL THE RACES TONY STEWART WILL MISS RATHER THAN CHANGING DRIVERS EACH WEEKEND?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “There’s pros and cons to it.  We’re certainly looking at trying probably in the next three to four days, before we get to Bristol everything will be ironed out for the rest of the year.  We’ve had hurdles that we’ve had to get through so we are looking at that and we’re working on that.  It will be two drivers probably the rest of the year just to do exactly what you said and just try to get them guys to try to build some chemistry and get the best finishes we can.  We’re still 11th in owner’s points, that’s a big deal and we can look at that and that’s kind of what we’re focused on right now.  We are working on that, it’s just too early to talk about.”
 
ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS ABOUT TALKING SETUPS BETWEEN RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING AND STEWART-HAAS RACING?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “We did touch on that and it’s very important that we both respect our boundaries from team to team.  Obviously, they’re racing for a championship and we’ve got the 39 (Ryan Newman) that we’re trying to get in the Chase to race for a championship and we have the 14 that like we said we are trying to keep as high as we can in owner’s points.  We’re just going to talk about what he (Austin Dillon) feels in that car and what he needs.  We won’t talk about particulars about what we’re changing and we’re not really going to ask him to divulge things that they did here in the spring.  If he’s got a suggestion and feels like he might want the track bar up or down or wedge in or out then by all means he will communicate that with Steve (Addington, crew chief).  We’ve got to be very respectful of our partners at Hendrick Motorsports and things so I’ve talked with Hendrick Motorsports, I’ve talked with Richard Childress about it and we’ve all agreed that Austin will just get in and give tight/loose and drive the hell out of it.”
 
ARE YOU WORKING UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT TONY STEWART WILL BE OUT THE REST OF THE YEAR OR IS THERE A CHANCE HE WILL BE BACK THIS SEASON?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “We don’t know that yet.  I’m working under the assumption that he’s (Tony Stewart) out for the next month or so or longer.  He went to the doctor’s this week, he had a decent visit.  No setbacks.  Basically, very simple instructions, stay in his bed with your leg up over your heart for the next seven days and then come back and see me.  We’ll reevaluate you and tell you what you can do.  That’s what he’s doing.  I saw him Wednesday night, we spent some time together, spent a couple hours together yesterday just kind of filling him in on all the things that we’ve got going on.  He’s in great spirits and they changed some of his medicines and things of that nature.  He’s going through a little bit of a transition period, but like I said the doctor’s appointment went well or as good as it can.  He said the next seven to 14 days will tell a lot of how it heals, how those things take and we’ll certainly continue to update you guys as we can.  It’s going to be a really slow process.”
 
IS AUSTIN DILLON ONE OF THE TWO THAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT FOR MORE RACES GOING FORWARD?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “Yeah, obviously Austin’s (Dillon) done a great job in the Truck Series and Nationwide Series.  He’s got a long-standing relationship with Johnny Morris and Bass Pro Shop so we are talking about more races.  We don’t have anything concreted yet.  We’re looking at that other option and just seeing how many races that they can do.  It looks like one more race at least for Austin through the rest of the year with us.”
 
GREG, WHY WAS AUSTIN DILLON THE RIGHT CHOICE THIS WEEKEND AND AUSTIN, HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A SUCCESSFUL WEEKEND?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “From our side, like I mentioned earlier, he (Austin Dillon) just ran here and did a great job in the spring race.  Runs well here in the Nationwide.  He’s done some testing in these cars so we could have found a guy in the Truck Series or something like that who doesn’t have a ton of time in these race cars, which I felt was — not that they wouldn’t do a good job, but I think these cars are a little bit different and the biggest thing is that he did a good job here in the spring.  We looked at that, the association with Bass Pro Shop, both sponsors were on board.  That is a big priority to us that our partners are on board with everything we do.  Obviously, we let them down with Tony (Stewart) not being in the car the rest of the year and we need to do the best we can to represent them and they are a big part of our decisions.”
 
HOW ACTIVE IS TONY STEWART WHEN YOU VISIT WITH HIM AND WHAT IS HIS MINDSET?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “His (Tony Stewart) mindset is pretty good.  He’s in a lot of pain at times.  He was in a wheelchair yesterday when we had our meeting with three or four of us over there for a couple hours yesterday going over things at the shop and what we were doing moving forward.  For the most part, like I said, he’s supposed to be in bed for the next seven days with his foot up above his heart I guess is what the doctor said.  It needs to be elevated just to keep the swelling and things of that nature down.”
 
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO GO FROM LAST TO THE TOP-10 AT MID-OHIO AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR WHAT YOU DO AT MICHIGAN ON SUNDAY?
 
AUSTIN DILLON:  “A top-10, I want to be able to win hopefully Saturday.  From 43rd to first is something that is tough to do, but I feel like with all the strategy and things that are going to play out during that race — I think it’s going to be a pretty wild race.  Going to the inaugural race for Mid-Ohio and there are some blind corners and some elevation changes and some really slow corners where people are going to make up ground and mistakes are going to be made.  My goal always is
to finish laps in these races and that will always bring positions to you and that answers Marty’s (Smith, ESPN) question earlier about our goal for this weekend in the 14.  I’ve been able to be pretty successful at finishing a lot of laps in my career. I think trying to put ourselves in position at the end of the race to get a top-15 would be great.  We do that by being there at the end.  That’s what I feel like we’ll try to do in the Nationwide race.”
 
WHAT ARE THE LOGISTICS YOU WILL GO THROUGH THIS WEEKEND AND CAN YOU PREVIEW BRISTOL?
 
AUSTIN DILLON:  “I think the logistics are actually not as bad as we all thought it was going to be because the test at Mid-Ohio kind of solved that.  I was able to be there all day yesterday.  We flew in on Wednesday night, I was there yesterday full time and then came over here last night.  Had a good night’s rest and then today I will stay here and even be able to watch the Truck race tonight with Ty (Dillon) in it and stay the night and stay here for a little bit of practice in the morning.  Then helicopter to Mid-Ohio before the race Saturday.”
 
WHAT IS IT LIKE RACING FOR MULTIPLE TEAMS IN THE SPRINT CUP SERIES AND WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM PLAYING IN THE LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES?
 
AUSTIN DILLON:  “This is my third Cup team this year that we’ve run for and it’s pretty special.  I think it’s cool to be able to say that I’ve driven for multiple different people.  The great thing about it is that you learn a lot running with different guys and learning how things are supposed to be done and what it really takes to be a team leader.  I think that’s pretty important.  As far as the Little League World Series, it was a great time.  I thought I was going to be a baseball player for the rest of my life and I’m sitting in the media center for a NASCAR Cup race this weekend.  It was a very special time.  The funny thing was that I ran into a bunch of the players from my team this past weekend after our race and I thought that was cool.  They are very supportive of my career and I still have some of them come around to the races here and there.  It’s a fun time of the year.  I always love watching it and I did see on ESPN that Michigan is playing California today, is that the team?  It’s special.  It’s always a good time for a bunch of 12-year-olds and you get to miss a little school too.”
 
WHAT IS THE TEAM’S MINDSET ABOUT THE REST OF THE SEASON?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “Everybody has been pretty good honestly.  We’ve been so busy trying to work through all these details and seats and seat brackets and all the things that have gone on in the last two weeks that these guys haven’t had time to stop I don’t think really and reflect on what’s going on in the year.  Like I said, we’re 11th in owner’s points and that’s the message that we keep driving to these guys that it is business as usual.  There’s no reason in the world that we can’t be in the top-10 with where we’re at and that’s our goals is to continue fighting as hard as we can, do the best we can to represent our sponsors and keep the boss smiling at home that we did a good job with what we had to work with.”
 
DOES THIS SHOW THE STRENGTH OF THE ORGANIZATION?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “Everybody’s been great.  We’ve all spent a lot of time together, probably more time than we have in the past and maybe we’ve learned that we can do a better job of communicating and spending more time together.  Everybody from Gene (Haas) on his side with his people to Tony (Stewart) and everybody in between have really spent some time together, talked about things and all have come to common ground on what’s best for Stewart-Haas moving forward.  To be part of that, I’m proud of everybody for just not putting themselves forward and just looking at what do we need to do to do the best job we can for Stewart-Haas.  We’ve got the 39 (Ryan Newman) that we need to put as much resources as we can there and obviously there’s been distractions on my side and things of that nature, but Matt (Borland, crew chief) and those guys are doing a great job digging and moving forward and that is the priority right now.”
 
IS TONY STEWART BACK TO BEING FEISTY AGAIN?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  “He was pretty ornery Wednesday night when I left.”