KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SERTA CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR TELECONFERENCE. BUSCH AND FORMER TEAM CHEVY DRIVER AND CURRENT NASCAR ON ESPN ANALYST RICKY CRAVEN DISCUSS THEIR EPIC DARLINGTON BATTLE IN 2003, WHICH IS STILL THE CLOSEST FINISH SINCE THE INCEPTION OF ELECTRONIC TIMING AND SCORING IN 1993.   
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY’S INTERVIEW:
 
 
AMANDA ELLIS:  Good morning, everyone, and welcome to today’s NASCAR teleconference.  We’re joined by Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Serta Chevrolet for Furniture Row and NASCAR on ESPN analyst Ricky Craven.  This season marks the 10th year anniversary of their record setting finish at Darlington Raceway in 2003.  The margin of victory, .002 seconds, it’s the closest finish since the inception of electronic timing and scoring in 1993 and has since been tied at Talladega Superspeedway in 2011.
 
Kurt, let’s start with you.  What do you remember about that day and the battle with Ricky to the finish line?
 
KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, the most memorable part has to have been just the way the cars came to the finish line.  But to tell the story as many times as I have over the last 10 years, it gets better and better each year, it just puts a smile on your face when you know you gave it your all and the guy that you were racing, a competitor, he gave it his all, and the two of us put on a show.  That’s what the fans want to see, and at the end of the day, two guys taking the gloves off, going after it and producing such a solid finish, I think we both knew right away we were part of something special.
Q.  Ricky, the Darlington victory was your last Sprint Cup Series win.  How does it rank amongst all your accomplishments in the sport?
RICKY CRAVEN:  Well, I have to say that when I won, it was really all about winning at Darlington.  It was absolutely that important, and the competitors that have competed at Darlington, they understand it’s different than anyplace we compete.  It tests you in a way that other tracks don’t test you.
 
But to your point, the race has become much bigger to me than just the trophy.  It wasn’t about on that day, it wasn’t about being a fan of mine, it wasn’t necessarily about being a fan of Kurt, it was really about being a fan of racing, because since I’ve retired, it seems as though it’s all that anybody wants to talk about when I cross paths with them.
 
What’s important to me, and maybe I hadn’t expressed it enough, but I want to express it right off the top, is Kurt and I, like most competitors, we test each other every week, every seven days, and it’s not that important to be friends.  You know, as competitors, it’s just not that important.  But this race, this one day, has definitely brought Kurt and I together as friends, and I think that’s kind of unique, and it needs to be acknowledged.
Q.  10 years is a long time, but if you remember back then, Darlington kind of had an iffy future in the sport.  How much do you think that finish kind of reminded people of what the track was and the exciting races it could produce to helping along to where it is now?  It seems a lot more stable and a regular Mother’s Day staple on the NASCAR lineup?
RICKY CRAVEN:  I think that it is ‑‑ it’s critical that we look at Darlington the same way that baseball looks at Fenway Park or Wrigley Field, because geographically it might not be perfect.  If you look at the design of the racetrack from an aerial view, it might not be perfect.  But what I described earlier and the way that the track tests the driver, there’s not a driver that’s carried a NASCAR license that wouldn’t rank the track among the toughest that they’ve ever competed at.  And that means something, and it’s important that the fans understand that, and I think that they’ve certainly gotten that message loud and clear because of the way the drivers approach that weekend.
 
If, for whatever reason, the sport lost Darlington, it would have lost one of its pillars.  It’s not to say that the foundation of NASCAR would have been compromised, but there would have been a vacancy.  I mean, there would have been an absence that every single competitor would have felt.
 
I’m not nearly bold enough to say that that one race was a turning point, but I am realistic enough to say that at the end of the day, people buy into a product because they want value orthey want an experience, they want something that sticks with them.  If they’re going to spend their hard‑earned money, they want something that they can feel like they’ve invested in, andthat’s what that race represents, I think.
 
KURT BUSCH:  Our sport saw a tremendous amount of growth from the mid‑’90s to the mid‑2000s, and to have Darlington survive the storm, it shows its strength all on its own on how unique it is.  And to be the Southern 500, it ranks more important than the other tracks that have fallen to the wayside.  Even though Rockingham is close geographically, it put on spectacular races, North Wilkesboro, a track that not a lot of people know about, it put on great short track races that tested the drivers’ ability to save their tires and the tire management role.
 
Darlington, its first race, the winner was the Tortoise.  He took the approach on just running laps and he wasn’t the fastest car but he had the least amount of pit stops.
 
Darlington is a challenge in so many ways, it’s unbelievable.  And this weekend we’re going to have the Generation 6 car go for a qualifying lap around this track, and there’s going to be drivers talking about holding it wide open through turns 1 and 2.  It’s going to be a phenomenal ride, and what type of track could produce this type of challenge?  There is no other track.  Darlington shows its strength, and the Lady in Black will always shine through.
Q.  Kurt, I was just curious if you’ve looked at a lot of replays from the race at Talladega and your flip, and is there any ‑‑ are you just a passenger once you get kind of on your side or is there anything you can do while you’re either flipping or atop Ryan’s car?
KURT BUSCH:  I was in the Darlington frame of mind with this being the 10‑year anniversary.  Just typical, though.  For your question, I got lucky that Ryan Newman was in the position he was in to save my car from multiple barrel rolls.  When I reviewed the tape, I was in the mode of this barrel roll is going to last from Talladega to Georgia.  I mean, it was going to be a long barrel roll.  But Ryan Newman was in the right place at the right time to help me settle back onto the track and not be as big of a wreck as it could have been.
 
But, yes, I’m just an innocent bystander, wrong place at the wrong time.  There’s nobody to blame.  I can’t even blame NASCAR for it.  It’s just when it’s a free‑for‑all like that at the end of the race, you have to expect bumping and grinding.
Q.  Can you talk about just going to Darlington and also your IndyCar test this week that put maybe Talladega behind you?
KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, it’s always tough when you wreck and go out in a blaze of glory like that.  The only way to get back in the groove is jump back on your horse and go again.  This week I have a unique opportunity to test with Andretti Autosport and drive at Indianapolis in the month of May in an IndyCar.  This is an experience of a lifetime, and we’ll see what happens from Thursday.  I’m really excited about it.
 
And then on Friday jumping in the car at Darlington to go hammer down, it’s going to be a fast‑paced qualifying run, but then we have to focus on the full 400 miles and put ourselves in position at the end so that, yes, hopefully there’s a good show like it was with Craven an
d I 10 years ago, but I want to be on the .002 of the second side ahead this time and bring home the trophy for the Furniture Row guys.
Q.  With David Ragan winning last week, there’s been a lot of talk about another small team coming through.  It doesn’t happen very often, and in fact the last time it happened at a non‑Superspeedway was at Darlington with the Furniture Row team.  I wanted to ask both of you why don’t you think we see more often some of the smaller teams break through, especially at non‑Superspeedways or non‑road courses?
RICKY CRAVEN:  Probably a lot of it has to do with economics.  The same reason we never saw the Montreal Expos win the World Series.  We haven’t seen Minnesota win one in a long time.
 
So when you see a team like the Florida Marlins win the World Series, a couple times, in fact, it’s an example or I guess a comparison to watching Regan Smith win at Darlington or Keselowski win at Talladega a few years ago and David Ragan winning last week.  It’s extremely healthy for the sport.
 
I talked earlier about the value of leaving the racetrack and fans feeling like they got their money’s worth 10 years ago at Darlington, and I expect that people who left last week felt like they got what they paid for.  It’s not that it would work every week, but the fact is if David Ragan and Regan Smith and perhaps me, if we represent the Montreal Expos in terms of our identity with a small team, then Jimmie Johnson represents the Yankees, and not everybody wants to see the Yankees win year after year.
 
That’s just my view on it.  I can’t explain mechanically why it doesn’t happen more often, but certainly economically there’s a pretty clear explanation.
 
KURT BUSCH:  You know, being with big teams and being with small teams, there’s certain tracks that tailor themselves to the whole field, and then there’s tracks that tailor themselves to how the engineering and the infrastructure of a team can outspend another team.  The great equalizer is the restrictor plate.
 
Another step towards equalizing cars is putting them on a short track to get aerodynamics out of the mix, but a car just can’t necessarily show up and win at Martinsville anymore by having that short‑track feel.  You have to design the car lightweight, have all the weight low and to the left and have this tremendous amount of money and difference in that car.
 
So the core, though, of our schedule is still on the mile‑and‑a‑halfs, Darlington, Dover, Phoenix, New Hampshire, you still have all these high‑speed tracks that technology will buy you wins versus the good underdog stories.
Q.  Kurt, if you were to win, is that a big team win or a little team win in your opinion?
KURT BUSCH:  Well, in my mind this is a big team, and it would be a big team win.  But in everybody else’s mind this team hasn’t deserved the respect, in a sense, of a Hendrick Motorsports or Gibbs or Penske Racing, and therefore it would be a small team win.  But if you ask anybody that has knowledge within the sport, the budget that a Furniture Row is on is very different than a Front Row Motorsports.
Q.  I was going to ask you, Kurt, with as well as you’ve driven at times at Darlington and Furniture Row’s win a couple years ago, you must have a good amount of confidence coming into this week that you guys will be able to do well here, and also as far as getting back to 10 years ago for both of you, is it just amazing that you both didn’t end up in the wall sometime during those final few laps when you think back on it?
KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, I’m really pumped up about this weekend.  Drivers can say that each week, but with Furniture Row’s win there, with my hunger to try to win at Darlington and get those .002 of a second back, it’s going to be a good weekend, I really feel it.
 
And the way that Ricky and I raced, it’s amazing we didn’t wreck each other, and just hand the win over to a third place running guy.  That day it was Dave Blaney.  To take the gloves off, I knew Ricky was going to catch me.  I just knew it.  I had power steering issues, and lap after lap he’s ticking away not two two‑tenths to three‑tenths, he’s ticking away a half a second quicker than us.  And it was just, all right, if you can do math, you know he’s going to catch you with about two to go, three to go, and I’m like I don’t know what I’m going to do when he catches me.  But he doesn’t know I’m going through all this hardship, so maybe I can catch him by surprise and at least juke him for a lap and a half.
 
RICKY CRAVEN:  If you remember, Kurt actually did get in the wall.  I didn’t expect him to race me into Turn 1 with a few laps to go, and I expected him to lift and do a cross‑over, and as he said, I didn’t know what he was dealing with as far as power steering issues.
 
I think really, and I’ve seen this a lot, I didn’t watch it much during my career because as I said earlier, every seven days you’re racing.  So regardless of how exciting the racing is or if you won, it’s on to the next event.  But the life I’m in now where I do have time to reflect, it’s pretty clear that with two or three to go, we both made the decision that we’re going to win this race, and we went about it in different ways.
 
But in the end, it just came down to a few inches.  You don’t script it.  It’s not something that you plan for.  It’s not something that, as much as I want to say that all my short track days back in New England prepared me for it, they didn’t.  For the last few laps, I can tell you there were two guys that emptied the tank.  And it’s the only reason, the only reason I can explain Kurt walking across the garage to join me in victory lane and celebrate is because he had emptied the tank, like I had.  And, hell, at the end of the day, what is there to complain about?  You did everything you could do.  I mean, really, I think that’s what that race represents.
Q.  Real quick, Kurt, you mentioned earlier taking the gloves off, and Darlington, that old‑school feel that it still has being on the circuit.  Kind of go back to that last few laps where you guys were just bumping and banging and just really seemed like that was defined what NASCAR has been for so long, and just talk about just that exciting finish and what it was like to be a part of.
KURT BUSCH:  The way the track races at Darlington, it’s difficult to navigate it just even by yourself.  And the cliché is race the racetrack, that’s where the definition came from, is you have to race the racetrack because it’s so difficult that you can’t pay attention to where the other drivers are, you just have to run your own race.
 
And with the inevitable coming to me of Ricky, having so much more speed than me at the end, it’s as if I went into that defensive short track mode, and doing that on a three‑eighths mile Saturday night in a late model is just fine, but doing it at a 1.3 mile Superspeedway with a Cup car, maybe it’s not so acceptable.  But, then again, there’s somebody that’s going to get a trophy and points and a check.
 
And it’s just amazing how you just go into that mode of I’ve got to win, and you throw out the whole speech and preaching that everybody has given you about how you’ve got to race the racetrack, otherwise the track will jump up and bite you.  And it was if the Lady let us dance that day with her to get me and Craven beating each other up with the cars, and yet it produces a show that still stands today as one of the best finishes.
 
RICKY CRAVEN:  What’s also apparent to me is that there have been a lot of other really, really, really exciting races, finishes, and sometimes people qualify a great finish as the closing laps, the leader getting bumped from behind, spinning, and the guy goes on to win a race.  I’ve never heard anybody a
ssociate Kurt and my finish with that type of a race.
 
See, the problem with that type of a race, and you’ll see it again, you’ve seen it before, is when a driver who’s running second spins the driver in front of him, somebody got cheated.  And they may not have ‑‑ the people in the stands might not have gotten cheated, but somebody in the equation got cheated.
 
The great thing about Darlington, and it’s very apparent 10 years later, is that nobody got cheated, nobody.  And I agree with Kurt that for whatever reason, the Lady in Black allowed us to race the way we did the last two laps, because typically you couldn’t do that on new tires.  We did it on worn‑out tires.  I mean, we were 50 laps into a run.  The tires were gone.
 
And what both of us should be most proud of is that we took each other right to the edge but we didn’t take each other out, and that really stands pretty tall with me.
 
KURT BUSCH:  I agree with you.  Usually there’s a winner and somebody that is just disgusted and frustrated because they have a wrecked car and they didn’t get second place, and that’s what we’ve all come to know as entertainment.  This happened back in the days of the Roman gladiators. There’s somebody standing there in victory and there’s either a dead human a dead lion.  Somebody had to take the fall.  This day we had two winners it seemed like, and that’s what gave it such a unique twist at the end.  Or maybe I’m just telling myself that because I keep losing this race by .002 of a second, and I’m never going to accept that, but it was a great race.
Q.  You all talked about how you were able to get together in victory lane afterwards and respect each other for that, but it seems like especially in recent years at Darlington there hasn’t been maybe that show of respect after the race with you.  What do you think has changed over the years as far as hard driving situations, and today do you think that drivers would congratulate each other in victory lane or would be trading barbs like we’ve seen on occasion?
KURT BUSCH:  I think that day it was just something special and it was two men that gave everything they were worth.  If there was a loser, it was fine, because I gave it everything I had.  I’ve been in some epic battles over the years, good and bad, indifferent.  I’ve come out on top of a Nationwide race with Robby Gordon at Watkins Glen where it was definitely a gloves‑off moment, and the two of us were able to shake hands and smile about it afterwards, not as much as what Craven and I did with each other.
 
But I’ve always had this sense of ‑‑ or a feeling of when two drivers are toe to toe and they give it everything they’ve got that there’s that showmanship side.  There’s the entertainment side that is valued in our sport, sometimes more so than the actual competition side.
 
But usually it’s the competition that bleeds through, and two guys are upset with each other and NASCAR drivers are like elephants; we don’t forget.
 
It just depends on the situations, but more times than not, at the end of the day, I’ve got respect for the guy that I beat or that beat me, and it was just a genuine, honest competition.
 
RICKY CRAVEN:  I think that you’ve got to have that ‑‑ this sport desperately needs the drivers to show emotion and show their personalities.  I think it’s critical.  And we’ve gotten a lot of that over the years.
 
Now, it comes in different forms.  Sometimes it’s two drivers grabbing ahold of each other and sometimes rolling around on the ground like we saw from the Allison’s and Cale Yarborough, and sometimes it’s the element of surprise.  When people see what they saw at Darlington and then they see Kurt walking toward me, and I have to admit here was an element of concern.  I didn’t know how I was going to be greeted.  But Kurt grabbed ahold of my hand, we shook hands, and I could give you all sorts of analogies, but honestly, as far as racing goes, it was as close to ‑‑ this is really going to seem out there ‑‑ but it was as close to a schoolyard basketball game or a schoolyard kickball game when you’re a kid.  It’s as close as it gets, because everybody dreams as a kid of swinging ‑‑ being in that position to swing for the fence and win the game with one swing of the bat, and you do that, you rehearse that as a kid playing sports.
 
But then when recess is over, when the game is over and you’ve got to head back into class, you usually go in arm in arm or laughing, prodding one another, and that’s really what it was that day.  I said it, and I was sincere, the race has definitely brought Kurt and I together.  He’s been very gracious.  But it’s real.  It’s real.
 
AMANDA ELLIS:  That is all the time we have for today.  Kurt, Ricky, thank you for joining us.  It was a lot of fun to reflect back on the victory and the race this weekend in Darlington.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AARON’S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 5, 2013
 
 
 
Team Chevy Driver Jimmie Johnson Scores Top-Five Finish at Talladega and Extends Point Lead
 
TALLADEGA, Ala. – (May 5, 2013) – In a wild scramble to the checkered flag, Jimmie Johnson led the way for Team Chevy by powering his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS to a fifth-place finish in the rain-delayed Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway.  It was Johnson’s fifth top-five finish of the season, boosting his lead in the current point standings to 41 markers over second.
 
In a battle with Mother Nature, the 499-mile race was red-flagged for three hours and 36 minutes due to rain and resumed with 63 laps remaining. While vying for the win in the closing laps, Johnson held the lead during the final green-white-checkered finish; but a mad scramble at the front shuffled him back to fifth place overall.  The race went into overtime, ending in near darkness at 511-miles and 192 laps.
 
Several Team Chevy drivers were sidelined in two multi-car crashes in today’s event including Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Chevrolet SS who was hit from behind in the first major incident early in the race, and dropped three spots in the standings from third to sixth.  Kurt Busch was looking at a possible top-five finish when his No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet SS went airborne in a late-race crash and landed on the roof of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS driven by Ryan Newman.
 
Looking for a weekend sweep, Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race winner Regan Smith, No. 51 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet SS, came home with a solid sixth-place finish. Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Imron Elite Chevrolet SS, rallied from early issues to finish 11th.  Gordon’s teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS, posted a 17th place finish and moved up one position in the standings to third.
 
David Ragan (Ford) scored the win and his teammate David Gilliland (Ford) was second. Carl Edwards (Ford) was third and Michael Waltrip (Toyota) was fourth to round out the top-five.
 
The series heads to Darlington Raceway next weekend for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Saturday night, May 11th.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
AMAZING RACING HERE AT TALLADEGA. WHAT WAS IT LIKE DURING THE LAST FEW LAPS FROM YOUR SEAT?
“Well, I thought that between the No. 99 (Carl Edwards) and the No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) and ourselves and the No. 51 (Regan Smith) that we would settle the race between us. And then, the No. 34 (David Regan) and the No. 38 (David Gilliland); I was racing the No. 38 earlier and he had plenty of speed, but they came up on us so fast that I could see Carl (Edwards) trying to block and he finally said there’s no real way to block the speed that they’re bringing. Those two had blown by and David had made it back to the checkered flag. So, it’s really cool for that team.  It was obviously a very good day for our Lowe’s Chevrolet. We had a very fast car and I felt like we were a player all day long, and that’s awesome.”
 
REGAN SMITH, NO. 51 HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SIXTH
TAKE US THROUGH THE LAST FEW LAPS THAT YOU SAW:
“Well the last few laps I didn’t see much it was pretty dark.  Happy for the guys on the Hendrickcars.com Chevy Phoenix Racing, it was a good day for them.  A little disappointed.  That last restart we were on the bottom and our car just didn’t work on the bottom at all for whatever reason.  It just kept stalling out.  I stayed down there to try and help Jimmie (Johnson) and give him a shove so we could get up there and battle it out.  I just couldn’t give him a big enough push to clear guys at the right time.  I kept getting stalled out by the cars on the outside.  Still a good day, still proud of the effort by the team and you know go to the next one.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 17TH
ON THE GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED RESTART AND FINISH:
“We were on that inside lane and weren’t going forward. We were going backwards. Everybody was going by on the outside, and when it’s three- and four-wide, you can’t really go up. I don’t know.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE RACING?
“I don’t really know. We didn’t have a car that I felt comfortable with. We just didn’t have a good car all day, but – I don’t know – I thought it was alright I guess. What did you guys think?

WAS THIS ONE OF THE LONGEST RACING DAYS THAT YOU CAN REMEMBER?
“Nah, I’m sure there’s been some longer ones.”

THE DAMAGE ON YOUR CAR, DID IT HAVE ANY IMPACT ON THE WAY IT RACED?
“No, I don’t think so. I think a couple guys that finished in front of us had worse damage than we did. They seemed to finish okay.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 30TH AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP 183
ON ACCIDENT:
“We just got hit from behind, and along for the ride we went.”
 
ARE YOU OKAY?
“Yes, lovely.”
 
JJ YELEY, NO. 36 GOLDEN CORRAL CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 31ST AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP 183
ON ACCIDENT:
“My car was really bad on the bottom all day long, so I just stayed to the outside. Everyone kept getting jammed up in the middle. I could carry a ton of momentum, and pushed the No. 51 (Reagan Smith) to the lead there. Thought I was going to take the lead there myself down the back straightaway. I just kind of stalled out there from a side draft from Reagan, and the No. 17 (Ricky Stenhouse) thought he could stick it on the outside there, and there wasn’t enough room. He hit me in the right rear, and got me lose, and sent me back across the field. Very disappointing. I definitely thought we had at least a shot at a top-five, but we were definitely going for the win.”
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 32ND AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN MULTI-LAP ACCIDENT ON LAP 183
ON THE ACCIDENT: “I am doing this interview to let everybody know I’m alright. They can build safer race cars, they can build safer walls. But they can’t get their heads out of their asses far enough to keep them on the race track, and that’s pretty disappointing. I wanted to make sure I get that point across. Y’all can figure out who ‘they’ is. That’s no way to end a race. Our car was much better than that. That’s just poor judgment in restarting the race, poor judgment … I mean; you got what you wanted, but poor judgment and running in the dark and running in the rain. That’s it, thank you.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 33RD AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP 183
WHAT HAPPENED FROM WHERE YOU WERE?
“I’m probably sure the most common answer is ‘I have no idea’. It happens out here; it is frustrating. I know this is plate racing, but…I’m watching the replay right now, so let me see what happened here. I was running the middle lane…yes, yes…that’s about what I saw. Ricky (Stenhouse, Jr.) was trying to make it four wide, and the No. 36 (JJ Yeley) came up to block him, and it turned him. Then the No. 78 (Kurt Busch) was spinning, I went high. and somebody came up and clipped me and put me in the wall. I’m not sure which car it was. The No. 32 (Terry Labonte) it looked like.  Honestly, it is just the way it goes. People forcing the issue. It is late in the race, I get it. But that’s what causes these accidents that makes speedway racing speedway racing.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AARON’S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 5, 2013
 
On lap 125 of 188, the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway was red flagged due to rain. The following Team Chevy comments were captured during the delay:   
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE 9TH POSITION

EVERYONE WAS TRYING TO TIME THEIR MOVES WHERE TO GO. YOU AND JIMMIE (JOHNSON)
WERE LINED UP THERE WHAT HAPPENED?
“Well, some guys built a run on the outside and got in line.  A lot of people committed up there and just went around us.  I didn’t think the outside line was going to be able to do that, but enough people got up there.  They got some good cars going.  I don’t know that was our first little bit of experience up in the front.  I was trying to understand what the draft was doing and how it works.  We have been trying to come back from a little trouble earlier today. Things are looking pretty good.  We are going to get this thing restarted and get a shot at it.”
 
LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT TROUBLE EARLY ON.  YOU HAD A LEFT-REAR FLAT TIRE AND TORE UP SOME SHEET METAL THERE:
“Yeah, I was going around the outside of somebody and I don’t know if they got tight or whatever, but we got together.  It just tore the quarter panel off; the tire didn’t actually go flat.  The quarter panel rolled up on top of the tire and tore the tread off the tire, but the tire was still up.  Goodyear builds a good one.  I don’t know I just would not have room right there.  When we hit, I thought we had a flat; it kind of turned me down and inside there.  Luckily, we didn’t have any more trouble than that. Got it fixed up, the team did a good job sorting everything out and getting everything right.”
 
WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS SO EARLY DO YOU PUSH THE PANIC BUTTON?
“It’s a long race a lot of things can happen.  I’ve seen a lot of guys get in trouble down there in turns one and two.  So a lot of things can happen in this race.  We still have a lot of racing left.  We are going to get this thing restarted.  Things are clearing up real good and we are going to get back on the race track and get a shot at trying to get back up to the front and try to win this thing.”
 
WHEN WE DO GET RESTARTED DO YOU HAVE A CAR THAT CAN WIN?
“We can win, sure.  Everybody out there can win if you do the right things.  We definitely got a great engine; the car has been good all week.  The guys have been doing a great job.”
 
WHAT CAUSED THE DAMAGE ON THE LEFT-REAR OF THE CAR?
“I was just going around the outside with some guys and they just come up in the lane I was in as we were going by; and I don’t know whether they got tight or something on the inside of me, but they just hit the tire when we was coming by on the outside and knocked the air out of it or bent the quarter panel, really. The quarter panel rolled over and tore the tread off the tire. The tire was still low. But, we got it fixed. And we sat there and waited until we could get our Lucky Dog opportunity and that came when we had the big accident in (Turns) 1 and 2 and then we had a great strategy to get us out off pit road up in the top five. And things have been going better since.”
 
FROM A HANDLING PERSPECTIVE, HOW WAS THE CAR RUNNING AFTER YOUR CREW MADE ALL THOSE REPAIRS?
“Well, I think the car runs fine. I can’t really tell what affect the damage has on it because I didn’t really get a good idea how the car was prior to that. We’ve been trained pretty easily. We can’t really get as aggressive as we would like to with the car. But I don’t know if that’s just the way the package is working with the traffic with the draft. When we get trained on the outside by some guys, I see it happen to a lot of cars. So I don’t think it’s anything just particular to our car. It’s been interesting to see how the draft works and what you need to do to get up front. We’re still hoping to have the opportunity to get out there and see what we can do with that.”
 
IN GENERAL TERMS, HOW IS THE RACING HERE AT TALLADEGA? AND IS THAT WHAT YOU EXPECTED OR ARE THERE SOME THINGS THAT YOU’VE SEE HERE TODAY THAT ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU EXPECTED?
“The package and the drafting is different than anything I’ve ever been around. The side-draft on these cars is just incredible. It’s something I wish wasn’t quite as strong because we can really run up beside each other and just really stop each car. And it really causes a delay in action I guess is the best way to describe it. There is still a lot to learn and still a lot of racing left. I think we saw what kind of racing we can expect if we can get this thing restarted to the finish.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE 10TH POSITION
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO WORK WITH WHEN WE GO BACK TO GREEN?
“Not sure, I really don’t know how it’s going to unfold.  I didn’t expect, I think I heard (Clint) Bowyer talking about when the rain was going to come.  I just didn’t expect for it to get crazy when it did, then it didn’t rain, then it got crazy again and it rained.  Our Haas Automation Chevrolet in the end is actually pretty good.  I don’t know if there is actually a pairing of driver’s or any kind of group run the outside or the inside.  I think it is more just a crap shoot right now.  I got a run on the outside, went to the inside, got the lead coming off of (turn) four.  I was third off of (turn) four and leader at the line, so anything can happen. It’s just a matter of how cars line up.  In the end everybody is out for themselves, but they are trying to go fast so they are trying to push.  Whoever gets the best run I think is going to have that run.”
 
YOU BLASTED TO THE LEAD AT LAP 56 AND THEN YOU LED TWO LAPS THEN DROPPED BACK.  DOES YOU CAR SEEM TO WORK BETTER AT ONE AREA OF THE RACE TRACK?
“I’m happy that we are 10th right now.  We have been keeping ourselves in contention.  When I got the lead I wanted to get the lead.  I wanted to learn a little bit for the later part of the race, which I didn’t know if it was going to be now or 60 laps from now.  Either way, I have been playing it safe and being conservative.  I think that has proven to be smart for the last three races for me.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SERTA CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE 13TH POSITION
IF WE RESTART YOU ARE 13TH.  IF WE ARE DONE YOU ARE 13TH EITHER WAY.  CAN YOU GET THAT NO. 78 CHEVY UP TO THE FRONT IF WE GET GOING?
“Yeah, the draft has been an interesting game today.  However many cars are in one lane, the quantity of cars seems to edge out the guys that don’t have the amount of cars in their lane.  So, like when our group is up front running, we were running the low lane, then those guys got on the outside there.  They came up charging.  A lot of cars jumped on that top side.  I think we are in the mix.  The guys have been doing a great job on pit road, nice and smooth.  It’s interesting with the weather.  When they say ‘alright rain is coming’ you should just see the intensity pick up and how the game changes out on the track.”
 
TONY GIBSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE 14TH POSITION
HOW DID DANICA PATRICK AVOID THAT BIG CRASH ON LAP 42?
“We were watching and we were like, holy cow! The next thing you know is she came on the radio and she just aimed for the empty hole. I don’t know how she missed the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) there at the end. The No. 18 came back down across and she said she got loose when she got on the first apron; then when she got on the flat, she got real loose. How sh
e survived, I have no idea. But I’ll take it because usually we’re right in the middle of those things. The GoDaddy.com Chevy did good and our spotter did an awesome job. We’ve got a fast car today. We’ve just got to get up there and show it.”
 
REGAN SMITH, NO. 51 HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET SS – CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE 25TH POSITION
YOU HAD TO PIT UNDER THAT CAUTION PERIOD.  IT LOOKED LIKE YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD A HEATING PROBLEM:
“Yeah, we picked up some debris on the previous run and pushed most of the water out of the car.  Fortunately for us the Hendrick motors are great and durable and held up when it didn’t have much water in it.  This was a good break for us.  We got to get in here, get the thing cooled back down and now we can go out and see if we can get the Hendrickcars.com Chevy back towards the front again.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AARON’S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 3, 2013
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway and discussed the mindset it takes to win at Talladega, his thoughts on JR Motorsports having the opportunity to lead the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT COMING TO TALLADEGA AND YOUR OUTLOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND:
“Really have had a lot of success here, a lot of great runs.  Always feel confident when we come here that we are going to have a good car, going to know how to use it and I think we feel that way coming in this weekend.  We had a great run at Daytona.  Feel like as far as a company goes Hendrick Motorsports has done a great job with this car at these particular race tracks.  Our confidence level is real good, real high.  Just looking forward to getting a little practice in, make sure everything is working the way it is supposed to.  Probably won’t run a whole lot, but the weather here is going to be odd all weekend.  Hopefully, we get an opportunity to race on Sunday and go to Victory Lane.  We really feel like we have a good shot at it and feel like it is about that time for us to win one here at Talladega.”
 
NOW THAT YOU HAVE SEVERAL RACES UNDER YOUR BELT WITH THIS CAR ARE YOU ENJOYING THE CAR?  DO YOU LIKE DRIVING IT AND DO YOU HAVE A GREAT SENSE OF HOW THIS CAR WILL RACE AT ANOTHER PLATE RACE?
“I am enjoying the car.  We are learning as we go. It’s hard to have a real good idea of what to expect every week.  There is still so much to learn with this car that the competitive line is a moving target.  Someone will find speed and really force the rest of the sport to chase that mark down.  Then the ante just keeps getting raised it seems week after week.  So it’s still a lot of questions and stuff about the new car. I really enjoy it I think it’s been good for me and we have run well pretty much everywhere we have been. I think that I’m not sure exactly what to expect on Sunday as far as a style of event we are going to have, style of drafting we will have and the way that the race will play itself out.  I think the asphalt has aged a little bit hopefully it is getting slicker and slicker.  Makes actually racing around each other a lot more challenging than it has been lately at the plate tracks. That should really separate the men from the boys.”
 
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT IS GOING TO BE THE TOUGHEST PART OF THE RACE ON SUNDAY?  ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT ANOTHER LAST LAP SCRUM LIKE WE HAVE HAD HERE A COUPLE OF TIMES LATELY?
“Yeah, that is something I think you worry about every week.  Especially at a short track like last week and you feel like that could happen at any short track race.  The mentality is the similar at the plate tracks.  Someone is going to have a position on somebody and not be willing to compromise and somebody is going to get turned around and bring about that green-white-checkered.  I don’t know everybody likes to see as far as race car drivers go. I mean I don’t know the fans probably love to see that kind of ending and see that kind of excitement.
 
“I’m certainly if I’m a fan I think that is one of the best ways to end the race is make it as exciting as possible with a green-white-checkered.  As far as some of the drivers are in position and putting themselves in position especially the plate tracks to make a move at a certain time that works out for them when the checkered flag is expected to fall.  Then when those plans kind of go out the window with a green-white-checkered you really have to scramble to put something else together because you are going to line up behind another guy or a different person or be side-by-side on the restart with someone else and the plan you had is not there anymore because there are different people involved.  It’s really a challenge at the plate tracks when the green-white-checkered start to happen to put something together and be able to trust the person you are trying to work with because they might not be a teammate of yours.  They might not drive the same manufacturer you do.  So it’s really a big challenge and something that can really turn the race upside down.”
 
LAST NIGHT YOU WERE WITH RICK HENDRICK AT THE HALL OF FAME.  WHAT DID THAT EXPERIENCE MEAN TO YOU?
“I was really moved by the speeches from all the guys that were inducted.  Particularly Dale Inman just his appreciation really showed through and the comments he made.  It meant a lot to him and you could tell that he had seen a lot.  You could tell he had been through just about as much as a guy could go through in this sport.  It was really neat to be able to see him get some kind of recognition and for him to get that opportunity to speak in front of everybody.  That was really emotional I think for all the guys involved and for the people who know these individuals.  It was inspiring to me.  Even some of the things that the drag racers were talking about, as far as his father being a man and that means more to him than the stats.  Some of the quotes and some of the lines in there really said it all and really encompassed the meaning of the night and the meaning of being inducted.  It was really inspiring to be there and to be able to listen to some of that stuff.”
 
WHEN YOU GET IN THE CAR HERE YOU JUST DON’T KNOW.  YOU MIGHT WIN, YOU MIGHT WRECK, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THAT THOUGHT PROCESS WHEN YOU KNOW IT GOING IN?
“I think that you go in still with this mentality ‘I’m going to put it together, I’m going to make the moves, the car is going to be there and we are going to make great pit stops.’ You still go in with the mentality that you are going to put together this formula that is going to win the race.  You are going to do all these things that equal victory.  Even though you know it’s really a lottery in some aspects.  You still go in there kind of turning a blind eye to that part of it.  Restrictor plate racing is a race where you can get swept up in something that is totally out of your control and totally random and at times ridiculous.  You can be so frustrated by how out of your hands that happens.  How there was nothing you could do to avoid that fate.  You’ve really got to be able to put that behind you fast.  You’ve got to be able to know that is a possibility, a real possibility much more than any other track.  When you are running a short track you can see trouble coming.  You can avoid trouble.  You run your car how you want to run it.  It’s hard to explain, but you have got to know that is right around the corner.  You have got to be able to accept that kind of result and move on and go to the next race the next weekend. At the same time you’ve got to feel like you are going to do everything right.  You have to have confidence in what you are doing. If you are not making confident choices or not having confidence in what you are doing on the race track sometimes that type of mentality and just driving with caution or driving without confidence sends you backwards or puts you in a mess that tends to be the one that takes you out. So you have got to make confident moves, make moves with assertiveness and conviction.  That sort of has a better result more times than not.”  
 
JR MOTORSPORTS HAS NEVER LED THE NATIONWIDE SERIES.  REGAN SMITH IS CURRENTLY ONE POINT OUT.  WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE THAT PROGRAM COMPETITIVE AGAIN AND WOULD THE SERIES LEAD MEAN ANYTHING AT THIS POINT?
“Yeah, I think it says a lot about the changes we made over the last several months to try to turn things around and get the program more competitive.  I th
ink it raises awareness to potential partners for us to help us afford to put a great competitive team on the race track.  It says a lot about Regan (Smith).  It says a lot about the employees that we have there and how competitive they are and how talented they are.  It says a lot.  I’m excited about that. I’m excited about their potential this year.  I told Regan, ‘you’ve got to minimize your mistakes to do well in the points over a long haul’.  If he does that he will have a great opportunity of winning the championship.  I feel like that a lot of those guys in that series are going to… some of them are young and they tend to make more mistakes than the experienced guys.  If he can just keep his head on his shoulders, he has a bit of a temper sometimes, if he can just kind of keep that in check he has a great chance.  He has got a good team around him.  They are going to get better I think because they just started working together at the start of this year.  The potential there is through the roof for those guys if they can just all work together and stay on a good positive path mentally with each other and work together well.  They have to go to the race track every week and try to do the best they can and stay out of trouble.”
 
YOU ARE SO GOOD AT RESTRICTOR PLATE RACES, HOW MUCH OF THIS IS THAT YOU ARE GOOD AT IT AND FEEL IT; AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS RE-STUDYING THE CHANGE IN THE CAR AND WATCHING TAPE AND THINKING ABOUT IT THIS YEAR AS OPPOSED TO OTHER YEARS?
“The one thing that’s been consistent with restrictor-plate racing since I started racing in NASCAR is that they constantly change the rules. They constantly change the plates and the spoilers. They’re taking away and adding things to the cars so the package itself is changing just about every year. And sometimes in the middle of the seasons, the package can change. And what that means is, every time you move something on that car on the body of that car, it’s going to draft differently.
 
“It’s going to react differently with cars around it. The weigh it pulls up on somebody and your ability to pull out and pass changes every time. So you really have to have an open mind and be willing to change how you’re going to race and how you’re going to draft because of the way the car reacts. I think that you find those things out in practice. We don’t really practice as much as we used to. As a sport, I think everybody has really backed off on how much they run in practice.
 
“I remember we used to come here in ’02 and ’04 and we used to run lap after lap after lap in the draft from the start of the day until the end of the day and just run every lap we could run. And we’d learn so much about how the car drafted and how it reacts and what works and what doesn’t work and what’s new as far as the package and how the draft works. But you don’t do as much of that anymore. The crew chiefs don’t really like you on the track as much anymore. The engine guys want to keep the miles down on the motors. For several different reasons, we just really don’t spend a lot of time out there in 20-car packs running lap after lap and learning too much. So, you’ve kind of got to learn in the race on the fly.
 
“But you’ve got to be open-minded about what you’re seeing and what you’re feeling in the car because the package has changed so much. You’ve got to be willing to change the style of the way you try to pass people and how you put together passes and how aggressive you are out there.”
 
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL PLANS FOR THE UPCOMING MOTHER’S DAY?
“Yeah, we’re going to cook a brisket together. I just started. I bought Myron Mixon’s book, that guy from the show, BBQ Pitmasters, and I’m trying to learn how to barbeque (laughter). So we’re going to cook us a brisket and see how that goes. So, yeah, that’s going to be Mother’s Day for me. She lives 100 yards from me. We took her to lunch this week. I like sushi a lot and I just got her to where she’ll eat some of that. So we went and took her to lunch this week and got a haircut and just typical, normal stuff.”
 
LAST TIME WE WERE HERE YOU WERE PRETTY ANGRY ABOUT THE RACING IN GENERAL.  YOU KNOW THE POSSIBILITY OF A CRASH IS THERE. WHEN YOU ROLL IN HERE, DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF DREAD? ARE YOU APPREHENSIVE ABOUT WHAT COULD HAPPEN?
“Well, I hate to put the blame on the concussion, but the feeling that I had physically when I got out of the car, I knew that I had set myself back somehow with the concussion thing. And so I was really angry with that because I had spent four weeks to get to where I could feel like I was great. And then now I’m going to take two steps back and have to do all that again. I was really, really mad that I couldn’t just get through that wreck and not have that happen.
 
“I don’t care if I’m in the crash and out of the race, but to get out of the car and feel concussed and feel like oh shoot man, now I’ve got to go through the process again and you’re not supposed to have them close together and all this stuff so you just have all kinds of worry running through your mind. It had me really, really angry and not myself, obviously. So, I’ve regretted that. I’ve regretted making those comments and I think I overreacted and overstated my feelings quite a bit. It’s frustrating when you run around and we spend all day running 495 miles and then crash in the last five (miles). The whole field crashes. It’s really frustrating to sort of accept that as what I decided to do today. I got up Sunday morning and decided to run 495 miles to crash in the last five miles and now I’m going to go home, and I’m all right with that. That’s hard to wrap your brain around, and I’m okay with it and everything’s cool. But I think I did over-react a little bit and just was real emotional. I think about feeling concussed. On Sunday morning I’m like man, I feel great and just 100 percent myself and I was just so happy to have that feeling and feel like I could get back on track and try to do well in the Chase and put that test crash behind me and get all that in the back of my mind and not worry about it ever again, and now I wasn’t the case after that race.
 
“But I don’t think about Talladega when I come here for a race such as this weekend, in a bad way. I think about it as a place where I’ve done well. I think about it as a place where we need to win and we can win. I know what I need to do to win at places like this and we can make it a good weekend. And if I drive the way I need to drive, I’m not in position to be in a wreck. I’m up front where I’m supposed to be. That’s my feeling inside is I’m supposed to be up front. And then, I get swept-up in a crash running 18th. I didn’t do something right. And I put myself in that position at some point in the race. So, if I do everything I need to do, then I won’t have to worry about being swept-up in the last lap crashes and we can go into Victory Lane and celebrate. That’s what I think about when I preparing to come here.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AARON’S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 3, 2013
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway and discussed racing at Talladega, why he has a good attitude about restrictor plate racing, sponsorship and other topics. Full transcript:
 
TELL US ABOUT THE BUDWEISER MOBILE 360 APP:
“The new 360 App is pretty cool. Obviously it gives you a 360 degree view of the inside of the car. We had cameras hanging off the left side of the car. I think we freaked the guys out that were mounting the cameras on the car when it ran at 190 miles-an-hour on the first lap. I don’t know how much their camera cost; they were happy with the footage, but scared to-death it was going to fly off the car. It was fun. I always like to do things that are authentic. When you drive the car at full-speed, and you take a real race car. That was kind of my requirement I wanted to do the deal, and Budweiser spending the money to do something unique for the fans. Go to the Budweiser 360 App and check it out.”
 
TALK ABOUT BEING AT TALLADEGA THIS WEEKEND:
“It’s one of those deals where the last few times, really the last race, I thought coming to the checkered flag ‘Man, by the time we get to the start/finish line, we’re going to have a chance to win the race’.  I think we were running third; never made it off of turn four.  You just kind of go through cycles like. We won the qualifying race and Shootout (at Daytona International Speedway in February, 2013) this year. Points races haven’t been kind to us over the last few (superspeedway) races, but you keep doing the same things. You try to put yourself in position. Sometimes you miss the wrecks, and sometimes you don’t. I enjoy the restrictor plate style racing. Interested to see if there is any difference from Daytona to here as to how the cars draft, and drive, and handle – but that won’t be that big of a deal at this particular track. We’ll go practice, and see how the cars are and go from there.”
 
COMING OFF THE RICHMOND WIN. HOW MUCH FEEL GOOD AND CONFIDENCE TRANSFERS TO HERE?
“Obviously very different. I think a win is obviously a good fix for…whether you’ve had good runs; bad runs; it gives that instant boost. All the guys are pumped up. Everybody is excited to be at the race track. There’s really nothing you can take from last week to this week, other than some positive momentum. There is a W in the win column, and everything’s going okay, but it’s just two totally different animals.”
 
HOW IMPORTANT IS TODAY’S PRACTICE GOING TO BE? WILL YOU DO CLOSE DRAFTING DURING PRACTICE?
“I think the weather will have more of influence on that for tomorrow, than probably anything. I think everybody’s half-way convinced that today’s practices will line-up will line-up the cars for Sunday’s race. So, I think that race in Daytona kind of eased everybody’s minds just for the fact that we have more cars now. People have had time to build more cars. At Daytona, we were lacking some parts, and time was really the biggest thing that we lacked. I think everybody has had some time to put their cars back together, and put more cars together. I think you want to go out and practice, and get the best speed you can for qualifying. Possibly.”
 
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THE PROSPECT AND THE CONCERN FOR THE UNKNOWN HERE? “My approach to these types of races has always been just you don’t worry about the things you can’t control which is a whole lot here. You go out, and go in with a mindset of that I enjoy restrictor plate racing.  That unknown is something that is intriguing to me to know that you can go somewhere, and you can race all day.  I know that a lot of people might think that you are crazy for thinking like it’s fun. But it is fun. I know that the end result doesn’t look like it is fun; it is a lot of work for the guys that fix the car. It’s dangerous. But, that thought of being able to push and shove kind of like you are at the go kart track with your buddies. That is really how you would race; especially at the end. You are pushing whoever is in front of you, no matter what color, what brand, what driver, who you hate, who you don’t hate; you are pushing the guy in front of you to try to make the be position at the finish that you can.  Sometimes you push too hard; sometimes somebody else pushes too hard and you are in there mess, and you get out and go home. You have to have that….for me, I’ve always just tried to approach it that I don’t care attitude, and just do whatever you have to do to try to put yourself in position. And, when you leave here, if you wreck, you can’t be mad. It’s part of the game.”
 
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL PLANS FOR MOTHER’S DAY NOW THAT DELANA IS A MOM? HOW MUCH OF A HELP WAS YOUR OWN MOM TO GET YOU WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
“My biggest plan is to not screw up Sunday in the first year.  You don’t want to screw up the first Mother’s Day. My main objective is to make sure that you have the gift pre-week, and don’t forget to hand it out on Sunday. Obviously, my Mom has always been there. Always been supportive of everything I do. That is something you don’t want to forget as well. You want to make sure you don’t forget on either front.”
 
WILL SUNDAY’S RACE BE MOSTLY A FEELING-OUT PROCESS FOR THE FIRST HALF AS GUYS FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THESE CAR, AND KNOWING AT DAYTONA,  YOU DIDN’T GET A LOT OF PACK STUFF?
“I don’t envision it being a lot different. We ran four Cup races in Daytona, so you kind of know what you have. The track is different. There will be the opportunity to have some bigger packs just because of the style of the race track, and there is more room to maneuver, and what affect, and how big that affect is on this style of racing is obviously yet to be determined. Honestly in my mind, I don’t envision it being a whole lot different.”
 
WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN DAYTONA EITHER BY RACING OR WATCHING THAT WILL HELP YOU HERE WITH THIS CAR?
“Winning is a lot more fun than wrecking. (SMILES) That is what I learned. We won the whole week, and wrecked on Sunday. But, that’s just kind of the way it goes. I think it is all going to be the same here.”
 
WHAT TWEAKS WOULD YOU MAKE TO THE GEN SIX CAR IF YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY IN TERMS OF AERO PACKAGE? WHAT WOULD YOU ASK FOR?
“I think the car has been very competitive as we have gone through the weeks. This will be our second event with the superspeedway stuff. It’s easier to get engaged on the downforce stuff when you are racing it every week. We’ve had several really good races, and finishes. Man, I got out of owning cars, and trucks and all those things, and trying to play the politics of it. I’ve learned to just drive the things, and let them figure out the rules and adapt to them the best we can.”
 
IS BELL HELICOPTER GOING TO BE ON THE CAR AGAIN?
“We had Bad Boy Buggies the week before (Richmond) at Kansas. Bell Helicopter was on last week. Cesna is a partner of our throughout the whole season. I know Bad Boy Buggies will be back on the car in the Nationwide Series as we go through the rest of the year.”
 
HOW MUCH OF YOUR RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACK SUCCESS TO YOU ATTRIBUTE TO YOU ATTITUDE OF KNOWING WHAT CAN HAPPEN AND BEING PREPARED FOR THE THINGS YOU CAN’T CONTROL?
“You see a lot of guys drive themselves crazy about having to come to Talladega, and complaining about what they think is right, or what they think is wrong. It is just a race. It really is. You know what is going to happen coming into the race. I’ve been through a lot of different styles of racing here. I’ve been in races with no cautions here; I’ve run one race with no cautions here back in the day. We’ve run races that are caution-filled and wrecks all over the place. We’ve wrecked on the first lap; last lap; middle
laps. You just never really know what to expect, so you just….  I think that mindset is kind of an RCR (Richard Childress Racing) mindset that was installed in the beginning, when I started restrictor plate racing. I think that Richard (Childress) has never been one to get on me about wrecking cars at the speedways. He knows the deal. He’s raced the cars. He knows the position that you get put in as a driver. You just have to go for. You have to be smart about it, but you have to be in position at the end of the race. You have to take some chances, and sometimes those chances pay off, and sometimes they don’t.  Sometimes you have absolutely nothing to do with what happens, and you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The other side of that is you can drive through the biggest wreck in the world, and not have a scratch on your car. It’s definitely better to have a good mindset about it, and not let yourself get completely torn-up about what you would change and how you would change it. This is a part of NASCAR racing, and it has been for a long time.  You might as well just enjoy it.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AARON’S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 3, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 IMRON ELITE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway, and discussed superspeedway racing, rain in the forecast and other topics. Full transcript:
 
HOW WILL YOU APPROACH PRACTICE WITH RAIN IN THE FORECAST?
“Obviously, we are going to put a lot of effort into going fast in this practice session, which means you’re going to have to work the draft. We want to make sure that’s we’re starting up front. It’s not crucial here, but I think it’s important and with what we learned in Daytona, I think track position is more important these days at a restrictor plate race than they used to be.”
 
DOES THE RAIN MESS WITH YOUR MINDSET?
“Honestly, if we didn’t practice at all it wouldn’t even affect my mindset. I don’t think we’re going to learn a lot in practice so this is actually kind of exciting that we’ll actually be able to go out there with a purpose for a potential starting position for tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.”
 
ON STARTING POSITIONS:
“I certainly would like to qualify. I think our team has an excellent shot at being on the front row or pole. We typically qualify well here. I would like to see us qualify and we can’t be guaranteed that the weather is going to come and rain this thing out tomorrow. We’ll be prepared for both scenarios.”
 
WILL THE HENDRICK CARS RUN TOGETHER IN PRACTICE?
“We’re going to consider all options, but we’re actively going to work the draft to try to go fast. If that’s what’s going to help us start up front tomorrow then we’ll do that. Typically, we wouldn’t worry about that. Typically, we would just go out there and see how the car is in the middle of the draft and look at our temps, look at our handling and look at the options of pushing or not pushing, being pushed and all those things. We’ll still do some of that, but we’re also going to try to put up a fast number.”
 
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF TRACK POSITION:
“It was hard to pass in Daytona and it’s not that it’s just hard to pass, it’s that nobody wanted to get out of line. Everybody kind of protected their position until those crucial moments in the closing laps. I think that there could be some more of that this weekend and I made some mistakes by getting a little bit over-confident that we could make some moves with some other cars and drive to the front. Until we see that happen here, I think it’s going to be more of start up front, try to have good, solid pit stops and strategy and stay up front and go after it in the closing laps.”
 
IS THERE ANY REASON THIS COULD BE DIFFERENT THAN DAYTONA?
“No. The only thing that is different is this is a wider race track. You don’t have to worry about handling where handling was a little bit of an issue at Daytona. You don’t have to worry about that at all here. You might be able to push a little bit more aggressively and we’ll look at the temps, but I think it’s going to be just as challenging and difficult to jump out of line and to get a line formed on that inside to move up there. It certainly could happen and it could have happened at Daytona, it just didn’t seem like enough guys really wanted to get organized to do it. They were pretty committed to stay in that outside lane so it made it very challenging and I would think you are going to see a lot more of the same here.”
 
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE UNKNOWN THAT CAN HAPPEN AT DAYTONA?
“This car this year, we’ve experienced a lot of that, not just at Talladega or Daytona, but a lot of tracks. I think that we go into it trying to utilize our past experience, try to utilize what we’ve learned so far this year and then always try to look ahead at what we feel like we could gain and how we could get better. I think that here at Talladega, the only unknown is when that big wreck is going to happen and what’s going to cause it and sometimes it happens when you least expect it, but you can be assured that you get a full group of cars down to the closing laps of this race and it’s going to happen. It’s just whether or not you get caught up in it or not. Last time I was here I got very fortunate, they were slamming and banging and cars flying all over the place and we were able to sneak by on the apron in three and four and come out in second or third.”
 
HOW DO YOU COMPARE YOUR MINDSET NOW AT TALLADEGA COMPARED TO WHEN YOU STARTED RACING HERE?
“The first time I came here, I came with moderate confidence because of our success at Daytona that year. We ran up front. I don’t remember how we ended up here in that first race, but you definitely have to treat this slightly different than Daytona because it is bigger, wider, faster and the drafting is slightly different. What moves you’re able to make as a driver, just because of the security the car has here is a little bit different. Over the years, certainly that confidence is built because of our success, but at the same time the cars have changed, packages have changed, how you win at Talladega has changed. We were close a couple years ago and hopefully we can be smart and make some good moves and get ourselves back in a position. All you want at a track like this is to have yourself in position to be able to make some of those moves and hope that your momentum carries and you get a good finish and maybe even a win.”
 
HOW DOES THE GEN-6 CAR IMPACT THESE RACES?
“It’s a different aero package and this car has a lot of drag, but a lot of down force in it. It’s a little bit different in the draft. We saw in Daytona where you could upset the cars a little bit more when you got up close to them and outside of them. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that too much here, but still it’s something to think about. You can really play with the side draft a lot more here at this track with this car and so it’s certainly different than what we had last year.”
 
ON THE INDUCTION CEREMONY LAST NIGHT:
“Oh my God that was so cool. I haven’t been to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame event in a few years. It was very special to be there with Rick (Hendrick) and to see him honored like that. I know how much effort he and his organization have put into this sport and I know how much it means to Rick to be honored like that and having all four drivers and crew chiefs and many others that have been a part of that success over the years there last night meant the world to Rick. He did an awesome job as usual, very classy. It was also very cool to hear the other stories with Dale Inman and Richard Petty and Don Schumacher, Rusty (Wallace), it was a great event I thought.”
 
ON INCREASED SPEEDS IMPACTING RACING THIS SEASON, SPECIFICALLY AT INDIANAPOLIS DURING THE TIRE TEST:
“The speeds were up because Goodyear, it’s a tire test. They’re trying different combinations and different tires. The speeds won’t be that fast because that tire didn’t really pan out. It just didn’t lay the rubber that we were hoping that it would lay so it had a lot of grip, was super fast. We showed up second day, low temps on the track early in the morning and we busted off some crazy laps. Then it wasn’t short after that we went back to the Indy tire that we’ve run in the past. It’s a great tire, but it definitely doesn’t have as much grip. Speeds are going to be significantly less than what those were that we were putting out there. Just because it was cool to go that fast. I thought it was awesome. To have a car stick like that, not even in qualifying trim was to me a great experience at Indy. I wanted to talk about it and so did other drivers. There’s no doubt that the faster you go through the corners, the bigger hole you punch in the air, the more it’s going to impact the racing. We need wide race tracks where we can get multiple grooves
and we can search around the race track to be able to make that work. That’s just been evolution. That is just how the sport has evolved over the last 50 years. That’s where we’re at and that is where the Gen-6 car is and I think we have had some great races and certainly plenty of challenges. You do not want to be in the wake of that car. You have to get away from it. Yet when you’re away from it, it sticks really good so it’s got a lot of comfort, gives the drivers a great feel of confidence and allows us to push a little harder.”
 
WHO WOULD YOU PICK AS THREE DRIVERS FOR A FANTASY TEAM FOR THE ALL-STAR RACE?  “Oh my gosh, active drivers for the All-Star race. You can’t go wrong with Jimmie Johnson. Those guys have been so good in that race. The way that Matt Kenseth is running this year, those guys are just so, so strong. I’m trying to think who else has really been, I think maybe it would come down between a Kyle Busch or a Brad Keselowski, those guys have just been solid, fast and I would probably lean towards Kyle just because of his aggressiveness and abilities to do such a good job on restarts in those first couple laps. That’s when that race is won in my opinion.”
 
HOW MUCH DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO SECURITY AT RACE TRACKS AND SURROUNDINGS IN GENERAL?
“I think you go through different times. I’ve been in this sport a long time and so when I first came into the sport, you put a moderate amount of energy and a team does into the safety of the cars. You’re main focus is how I can make this car go fast. How do I get it to the end? That’s is just your primary focus. Then some incidents happen where safety becomes a top priority and you put a lot more energy into that. I see the same thing with the tracks. They’re always trying to make sure everybody is safe, but sometimes things happen that you don’t really anticipate whether it’s what happened with (Denny) Hamlin, with me in a similar scenario in Vegas or what happened in Daytona. I think everybody needs to understand that these cars are traveling 200-plus miles per hour, safety is something that is a big focus, but there’s still things that you can’t prepare for. I think they’ve done a great job looking at the Daytona incident and that was one of those incidents where that car hit an area of that fence that just, it’s like an one-in-a-million chance of that happening. I think those are the things sometimes that are hard to foresee that you wish you could, what about that one-in-a-million? How could you possibly prepare and get ahead of that and be proactive rather than reactive. The nice thing is that I know the speedway here has made sure and all the speedways have looked at those crossover gates making sure that area does not give way in an impact if that were to happen again. Cars are going to get airborne, I think the cars are far better these days. They are going to get airborne, parts are going to fly off if they get into the fence, but I think most of the time it’s going to be minimal debris that gets put up into the grandstands as well as minimal injuries to the drivers, but it’s still possible.”
 
ON TRACK SECURITY:
“You know we had Monica Seles to a race, oh my gosh, 18 years ago as guest of DuPont and to me that was the first time we were really focused on it because it was after her incident that happened on the court. I know we were all conscious of her coming into our series where there is very minimal security when it comes to the fans access because that’s part of our sport. I wanted to make sure she was comfortable. She handled it well, but she was pretty shocked at how interactive we are within the garage area with the fans. I’ll be honest with you, not much has changed over the years. That’s just something we’ve come to expect and I’ve never felt threatened ever. I’ve had great interactions with the fans, doesn’t mean they always say or do the things that you hope for, but I’ve never felt unsafe. It’s one of those things that we’ve got to continue to keep that uniqueness and that accessibility. You just hope that there’s not one person out there that ruins that for everybody else.”
 
AT WHAT POINT IS IT DANGEROUS FOR AN INJURED DRIVER TO COMPETE?
“I think you have to look at your injuries. You have to put faith in your doctors and listen to them, they are the experts. Then you have to understand where you’re at in your career. If you have many, many years ahead of you then you have a bright future and you have a team that supports you to get through that healing process then you need to take your time and think long term. If you’re somebody that is struggling to keep that ride, they are going to push the limits more and take that risk. Life in general is just risk versus reward. As a race car driver, we don’t think of ourselves any more risky out there than somebody else that has a nine-to-five job. It’s just the way our minds work. You have to take yourself out of that and understand what the dangers are, what the risks are and if you re-injure yourself, can that be life-threatening or something that ends your career. I think for me, I’m later in my career and have a family and so an injury like what Denny (Hamlin) went through, I don’t know. I might not come back from that just because, is it worth it? For Denny, I think it’s worth it for him to really take his time and do it right. What he’s doing this weekend, to me that makes sense. It’s Talladega, there’s ways to avoid those incidents. I’ll be interested to see if he gets out or stays in there. If I know Denny he’s going to have a hard time getting out. Sounds like he is ready to go.”
 
ON PERSPECTIVE OF INJURIES THAT COULD TAKE YOU AWAY FROM YOUR FAMILY:  “My perspective on what kind of risks I’m going to take when I know what’s laying in front of me. It doesn’t change the risk that I’m going to take out there on the race track or how hard I’m going to push or whatever it takes to win races. That’s not on my mind when I’m out there, but when incidents happen and you go through certain injuries and stuff like that, yeah, you’re family definitely plays an important role because they are very important to you. You start to realize where the real priorities are and when I’m at the race track my priority is to win. If there is something that’s going to take me away from spending quality time with my family 10, 20 years from now, that’s something I would weigh in any decision I make.”
 
HOW DO YOU TREAT THE ALL-STAR RACE?
“I think we push hard to try to win every race. The difference is that you have a shorter amount of laps. You know that it’s kind of a win or nothing scenario and that’s not the case on the other weekends. Again, going back to the risk versus reward thing, it’s sort of a win or nothing maybe top-two or three, other than that it really doesn’t lend itself to battling over the top to try to get fifth or sixth or eighth or something like that. I’ve always approached it as being aggressive, I love the energy from the crowd and the whole event. We try to push hard whether it be in practice or qualifying just to get that car to be really, really strong especially over a 10 or 15 lap run because that seems to be where you can really make up positions and put yourself in position to win.”
 
WOULD YOU DO THE SAME THING DENNY HAMLIN IS DOING THIS WEEKEND?
“I probably would take a little longer vacation. He’s young, he’s got so many years ahead of him. I probably would be more patient with it just because what do I have to gain? I’ve had the fortune of winning four championships, sure I would like to win more, but he’s not won a championship. He has so many race wins ahead of him. I think he’s seen how good his team is this year and I think that makes it more challenging for a guy in his position than it would be for me to wait it out.”
 
DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO RETURNING TO DARLINGTON?
“I am, I always look forward to going to Darli
ngton. It’s a great track, it’s fast and exciting. It’s not the same track it used to be 10 years ago, but it’s still one of those tracks where you have to push hard, be patient. We’ve run good there the last couple times so I’m looking forward to it.”
 

DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDAY.COM CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway and discussed the expectations coming into Talladega after a successful run in Daytona, the possibility of getting the Fan Vote for the All-Star race and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
FIRST PLATE RACE SINCE DAYTONA, DO EXPECTATIONS SPIKE ALL OVER AGAIN?   
“I suppose based on Daytona and how fast this car is, which is the same car we ran at Daytona, and how the race went.  I suppose it’s fair to say that there should be a little spike in expectation, but you also have to take into consideration on these big speedways that there is a whole lot of luck that comes into it.  Everything has got to be clean.  The stops have to be good.  You have to stay in the pack no issues, not getting caught up in an accident.  From what I remember last year even at Talladega it was more of a pack race than Daytona even.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out.  Obviously, this is a wider track than Daytona so when we start getting four-wide that is when stuff starts to get a little exciting.  We will just have to hope that we are in the right place at the right time.”
 
SHOULD YOU BE THERE AROUND THE LAST LAP, DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM THAT LAST LAP AT DAYTONA THAT WOULD HELP YOU SWIM WITH THE SHARKS ANY BETTER?
“I learned that if I just stay in line and keep my foot down and don’t try and come up with any kind of plan that you are kind of a sitting duck.  I mean I talked to Tony (Stewart) after the race and I talked to Jimmie (Johnson) after the race too.  I think Tony pointed it out most specifically is just that there was probably more to lose in third than there was to gain. By pulling out and trying something I could have just as easily ended up 15th or so back, again right place at the right time with the right opportunity ahead of you. I have a better idea of what it is going to take, but it’s also circumstantial.  Jimmie told me after the race he said ‘look I didn’t have a plan.  The two times I’ve won now I didn’t have any plan going into the last lap.’ That is where the luck comes in and right place at the right time.”
 
WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL ON THE SUPERSPEEDWAYS?
“I don’t know if the confidence level shifts a tremendous amount as much as the comfort level does.  Just being comfortable on these big speedways and comfortable with this pack style racing that I was so used to in IndyCar on the ovals.  Just having a feel for it, it is something that I probably caught on to quicker than anything in stock car racing.  I guess I show up here and it’s just a little bit more comfortable.”
 
WHAT DO YOU HOPE DAYTONA DID FOR YOU IN TERMS OF PEOPLE’S CONFIDENCE RUNNING WITH YOU AND AROUND YOU?
“Anytime you run at the front and you run with good drivers you hope that they just have good experiences and they think nice things and they feel more comfortable around me.  They think less about me probably to be honest as far as just thinking about it other than worrying about me being fast.  I mean that is the best kind of thinking you can have.”
 
IS THE NATIONWIDE RACE GOING TO HELP ON SATURDAY AND MIGHT YOU MAKE ANY MOVES THAT BE GEARED TOWARD SOME EXPERIMENTATION FOR SUNDAY?
“Yeah, the Nationwide race that is why we are doing it.  We are doing it to try to win and we are doing it to get a little bit more practice in before the big day on Sunday.  There is going to be more bump drafting in the Nationwide race, but I think that everything is happening really fast in the Nationwide race because you have such shifts in speed with bump drafting and drafting. I feel like it kind of just sharpens your instincts up and sharpens you up out on the track and gets you ready for and more prepared for the next day.”
 
HOW COMFORTABLE WERE YOU ON THE ICE IN CHICAGO?
“I was wearing heels when I arrived to the Blackhawks game (Hockey).  At the last second I intelligently grabbed a pair of flats so I’m glad I did that because knowing that I had to go… I didn’t really understand what I was going to have to do out there.  When I realized I was going to be like really trying to score and hit the puck into the goal I thought you know what I better give myself the best chance possible.  I put those flats on and tried a couple of shots in the back just on concrete floor.  They gave me some advice on how to hit it and luckily that very first one went in.  I’m glad they didn’t show the rest of them because they didn’t look so pretty.”
 
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE ALL-STAR RACE WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR CHANCES ARE OF GETTING THE FAN VOTE?
“I don’t know.  I think about it from a fans perspective and I think that you want the driver that you cheer for to be out there of course, but you want a good race.  Hopefully, they think of me when they think of those two.  We always have the opportunity to race in as well.  We are going to be working really hard over the next month on our mile and a half car and we need to. Let’s hope it all comes together by the All-Star race.”
 
ON THE VIDEO FOR FAN VOTING FOR THE ALL-STAR RACE WITH RICKY STENHOUSE:
“We thought that was fun. Ricky (Stenhouse) and I shot that little video. I would love to be in the race and I think more than anything you want to entertain your fans of course. I hope I can be in the race to do that. Also, I want to perform well in the Coke 600 and racing in the All-Star race would definitely help that.”
 
HOW DID THE VIDEO COME ABOUT?
“I think it was between Go Daddy and Sprint and them all making that happen. In fact Joe (Crowley, PR) coming up with the script and thought it was a clever little script so we shot it in a matter of about 20 minutes and it aired. Obviously, we both want to be in the race and to try to create a little bit of buzz to get people to go vote and have some fun with it.”
 
WAS IT DIFFERENT DOING THE VIDEO AS A COUPLE?
“I suppose. We’ve done stuff on camera before. We shot stuff for Nationwide and some other things together. It wasn’t the first time, but I think it’s clever and cute for the both of us. I think I would vote for him, I like watching Ricky (Stenhouse) race.”
 
WHAT IS THE MENTAL APPROACH AT A TRACK LIKE TALLADEGA OR DAYTONA?
“You just have to hope and pray that you’re in the right place at the right time as I’ve said. You have to be smart enough to know when you’re putting yourself in a bad situation and when you need to force the issue. That’s the exciting part. As a fan, I’ve watched plenty of these speedway races in Cup and I want to watch to see how it plays out too and I think that’s part of the excitement of these tracks is that you’re not sure how it’s going to play out. There can be some new players up front and there can be some real shuffling of the field and that’s what makes it exciting to watch is you just have to watch it to see how it plays out.”
 
HOW HAS TONY STEWART BEEN DEALING WITH THE FRUSTRATIONS THIS SEASON?
“Tony (Stewart) is obviously an incredible driver. They’ve had tons of success as a team, Stewart Haas has and I think that when things aren’t going as you hope they would go, it’s frustrating and you just have to figure out what it’s going to take to turn that around. I know that he’s been around the shop more and trying to figure those things out because obviously he wants to run well as a team, but he wants to run well himself. I’m sure that all that will help and as I’ve said, we’ve got a lot of tests lined up for the next month. It’s just a matter of stumbling on to the right balance of setups so you can go to these mile-and-a-halves and unload close and then make it better instead of, at least in my situation, not sure exactly what platform you should be run
ning and what setup you should be running. We just need to get closer on that and arrive at the track with a closer setup.”
 
DO YOU HAVE CONCERN ABOUT HOW RAIN MAY IMPACT PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING?
“Well from what I’ve heard practice times are going to line-up the field for the Cup race, that is what we were inside talking about needing to get a draft and put a big number up on the board as possible. I said, ‘Okay, everybody is going to be trying to do that.’ You’re probably going to see a lot of cars on the track, obviously you want to get out there in case it rains and you want to give yourself opportunities to get that big draft run where you can put a big time up. It’s a little bit of a unique scenario on these speedways because you get so much faster when you catch up to a big pack. It will at least make practice interesting on these speedways, which can probably be pretty boring sometimes.”
 
ARE YOU ANY MORE COMFORTABLE AT DARLINGTON?
“Last year I ran there in the Cup race, it was one of the, well it was basically my first Cup race really. I ran Daytona, but Darlington was getting thrown into the deep end. That was the purpose of it was to get seat time so I’m not thinking or dreading going there next weekend and worrying about what that’s going to look like for me and how it’s going to feel. I have an idea now of how it is going to feel and what needs to be done.”
 
WHO WOULD YOU WANT YOUR THREE CAR FANTASY TEAM TO BE IN THE ALL-STAR RACE?  “Three car fantasy team for the All-Star race, I think as far as going out to win the race I think Tony (Stewart) would be a good one. I feel like he always seems to do well in these one off races in particular. I think Tony, probably Jimmie (Johnson) of course and Kyle (Busch). I would say they would be pretty good picks.”

2014 Corvette Stingray to Pace 97th Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS – The all-new, seventh-generation 2014 Corvette Stingray will serve as the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car, leading the field to green at the start of the 97th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” on Sunday, May 26, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It marks a record 12th time the Corvette has served as the Pace Car, starting in 1978.
“It is an honor to help inaugurate the all-new Corvette Stingray at the hallowed Brickyard and further the legacy between Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500,” said Jim Campbell, GM vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The 2014 Corvette Stingray’s performance was influenced by racing, making this prestigious assignment even more fitting.”
Along with Chevrolet’s return in 2012 as an engine supplier, the Corvette Stingray Pace Car extends a legacy at the Brickyard that dates to the racetrack’s early days.
“Chevrolet is a great partner of the Speedway,” said Jeff Belskus, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation president and chief executive officer. “That connection is heightened this year with the next-generation Corvette in front of a very talented field of racers.”
Decked out in Laguna Blue Tintcoat with official Indianapolis 500 graphics on the doors, the   Corvette Stingray Pace Car differs from production models with only track-mandated safety features and strobe lights. No powertrain upgrades are required to run in front of the IndyCar pack, thanks to its all-new 6.2L LT1 engine, which features advanced technologies including direct fuel injection, continuously variable valve timing and Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation). They help produce an estimated 450 horsepower more efficiently.
The 2014 Corvette Stingray coupe goes on sale this fall, with a convertible model – featuring a fully electronic top that can be operated remotely with the key fob – coming a few months later. Vehicle highlights include:
·         An interior that offers genuine carbon fiber and aluminum trim, hand-wrapped leather materials, dual eight-inch configurable driver/infotainment screens, and two new seat choices – each featuring a lightweight magnesium frame for exceptional support
·         Advanced driver technologies, including a five-position Drive Mode Selector that tailors 12 vehicle attributes to fit the driver’s environment and a new seven-speed manual transmission with Active Rev Matching that anticipates gear selections and matches engine speed for perfect shifts every time
·         Lightweight materials, including a carbon fiber hood and removable carbon fiber roof panel on coupes; composite fenders, doors and rear quarter panels; carbon-nano composite underbody panels and a new aluminum frame help shift weight rearward for an optimal 50/50 weight balance that supports a world-class power-to-weight ratio
·         A sculpted exterior featuring advanced high-intensity discharge and light-emitting diode lighting and racing-proven aerodynamics that balance low drag for efficiency and performance elements for improved stability and track capability
·         Track-oriented Z51 Performance Package, including an electronic limited-slip differential; dry-sump oiling system; integral brake, differential and transmission cooling; as well as a unique aero package that further improves high-speed stability.
The Corvette Pace Car features the track-capable Z51 package.
Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500
Chevrolet has a long shared history with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and the IZOD IndyCar Series. Chevrolet was founded in 1911, the year of the inaugural 500-mile race, and the Chevrolet brothers – company co-founder Louis, Arthur and Gaston – all competed in early Indy 500 races. Arthur Chevrolet competed in the 1911 race and Gaston Chevrolet won it in 1920.
Chevrolet competed in Indy-style competition as an engine manufacturer in 1986-93 and 2002-05 with V-8 engines, and returned in 2012 with the Chevrolet IndyCar twin-turbo V-6 engine with direct injection. In that time, Chevrolet won 118 IndyCar races, powered seven driver series champions and scored seven Indianapolis 500 victories.
2013 marks the 24th time a Chevrolet has served as the official Pace Car of the Indianapolis 500, more than any other brand, dating to 1948 with a Chevrolet Fleetmaster. Camaro has served in the role seven times and, with this year’s running, Corvette has led the way a record 12 times.