Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Verizon IndyCar Series
Qualifying
Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park
 
Will Power Puts Chevrolet on the Pole at Barber Motorsports Park
 
 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 26, 2014) – Will Power, behind the wheel of his Chevrolet V6 powered No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, won the pole for Sunday’s Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.  It is the third consecutive year that a Chevrolet IndyCar V6 2.2 liter twin turbo powered driver will lead the Verizon IndyCar Series field at Barber Motorsports Park.
 
 It is also the third Verizon P1 Award for Power at Barber Motorsports Park, and he has notched  two victories on the Alabama track.
 
 “Congratulations to Will Power for a great drive in qualifying,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, Verizon IndyCar Series. “Will and Team Penske have been solid all weekend and they demonstrated it by going out first and setting a pole time in the Firestone Fast Six that no other car could beat for the balance of the session. The track’s grip was falling through the afternoon as track temps exceeded 125F with air temperature in the low 80’s; both of these conditions were impacting lap times for everyone.  The fast and flowing nature of Barber Motorsports Park should provide a great race tomorrow for the fans, and hopefully a third consecutive win for Chevrolet.”
 
Other Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers in the Firestone Fast Six were Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Chevrolet who qualified fifth, and Helio Castroneves, No. 3 AAA Team Penske Chevrolet who qualified sixth.
 
Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, qualified eighth for his first race at Barber Motorsports Park.
 
The remaining drivers in the Firestone Fast Six were: James Hinchcliffe – second; Ryan Hunter-Reay – third, and Josef Newgarden – fourth – all Honda powered.
 

Qualifying Cancelled At Richmond Due to Rain
Chevrolet Rookie of the Year Contender Kyle Larson will lead the Field to Green at Richmond
 
RICHMOND, Va. – April 25, 2014 – Qualifying for Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) has been cancelled due to inclement weather.
 
The starting grid has been set per the provisions in the NASCAR rulebook. Starting positions are based on the times from the first practice session held on Friday.
 
There will be 21 Chevrolet SS drivers in Saturday night’s race.  For the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career 21-year-old Kyle Larson will lead the field down to the green flag.  Larson was quickest in the first practice session at RIR in his No. 42 AXE Peace Chevrolet SS as he paced the field with a lap of 21.280 (126.880 mph).
 
Other Team Chevy drivers starting in the top-10 will be Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS – 4th; Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet SS – 5th; Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet SS – 7th; Paul Menard, No. 27 Certainteed/Menards Chevrolet SS – 9th and Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 KOBALT Tools Chevrolet SS – 10th.
 
A total of 44 cars were entered for Sunday’s race, and the qualifying rainout determined that Michael McDowell (Ford) and Dave Blaney (Ford) will miss the race.
 
Brad Keselowski (Ford) will start second, Clint Bowyer (Toyota) will roll off third, Brian Vickers (Toyota) will start sixth and Ryan Truex will start eighth, rounding out the top-10
 
The 400-lap, 300 mile event at Richmond International Raceway is scheduled to start on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m., ET and will be aired live on FOX, MRN Radio and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
 
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 AXE PEACE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway following the cancelation of qualifying.  Based on the rules set forth by the NASCAR Rule book the starting grid has been set based of first practice times.  Larson was the quickest in the first session and will lead the field to the green flag for the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.
 
TALK A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE RUN AND STARTING FIRST TOMORROW NIGHT:
“We were debating before practice started to start in qualifying trim or go to race trim and do that.  I wanted to start out in qualifying trim and was able to kind of talk Shine (crew chief Chris Heroy) into doing it.  I wasn’t sure what to expect on my lap, but we came here and tested last year for Goodyear and had a good baseline.  I was pretty confident with going out in qualifying trim without getting used to the car yet.  Was able to lay down a fast lap and then we switched over to race trim and we were good in that too.  Excited about the AXE Peace Chevy, I think it should be a good race tomorrow.  It’s nice starting off from the pole.  I don’t know if I will count it as my first career pole, but it’s still pretty cool to start on the front row.”
 
YOU ARE SO USED TO SPRINT CAR SHOWS WHERE YOU GO OUT AND YOU DON’T HAVE HARDLY ANY PRACTICE TIME YOU JUST HAVE TO GO FAST RIGHT AWAY.  DO YOU THINK THAT HAS HELPED YOU THIS YEAR AND DID THAT HELP IN A SITUATION LIKE TODAY?
“I don’t know.  It’s tough to answer.  I think it helps a little bit, but as far as being fast right off your first couple of laps, no.  I think since I haven’t been to a lot of these tracks in the Cup car it takes me a few laps to get to where I am comfortable and can run into the corner hard and get back to the gas hard and stuff like that.  You see the fast guys that seem to go out right from practice they lay down some quick laps.  We are usually 12th or so after the first couple of laps.  But I think the sprint car stuff helps from being able to learn new race tracks quicker than others just because in sprint cars you go to 80 different race tracks a year or something like that.  You have to figure it out quick in five laps; I think that part of it helps when you go to a new track.  I have been to all but two tracks, so I guess it might help at Pocono and Sonoma hopefully.”
 
WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE WON THIS ON YOUR OWN MERITS INSTEAD OF JUST BY BEING FAST IN PRACTICE?
“Yeah, but I’m still happy with being on the pole.  But yeah it would be nice to get a legit pole.  I don’t know if we would have gotten it had it not rained.  We worked all second practice on qualifying runs.  We were seven tenths slower than our lap that we laid down in first practice and almost two and a half tenths slower than the fastest guy in second practice.  I doubt we would have been on the pole, but I will take it how we get it.”
 
HOW INDICATIVE IS THIS IN TERMS OF HOW YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR CHANCES ARE GOING TO BE COME RACE DAY?
“I definitely think starting out front helps a lot.  Before I came here last year because I did well in the K&N car and I thought this track suited my style quite a bit.  Then I came here in the Nationwide car and struggled.  I know I got average finishes, but I felt like we were really bad.  I wasn’t too excited coming here this weekend, but started off Nationwide practice we were really good.  I think we have a winning car over there.  I thought in Cup practice we were a top five car.  I’m definitely excited and I think getting the pole, even though it’s in practice helps the confidence more.  I’m looking forward to it tomorrow.”
 
DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE AN AFFECT ON THE TIRES IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE WITH THE RAIN WASHING AWAY ALL THE RUBBER?  THERE WERE CONCERNS ABOUT RIGHT-FRONT TIRES YESTERDAY. 
“It should make the tires wear a little bit quicker.  I had heard if we got rain that they were going to throw a competition caution.  I haven’t heard if that was going to happen or not.  Hopefully they do because the right-front’s (tires) were wearing pretty quickly.  I don’t know.  I think teams will figure it out.  As the rubber gets laid down the tire wear should be better throughout the race.  I think at some point after the first caution it should be back to normal.”
 
SAW YOU TALKING TO CLINT BOWYER AS HE LEFT.  WERE YOU TRYING TO PICK HIS BRAIN ABOUT THE TRACK OR WHAT WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
“He was more trying to pick my brain.  (Laughs) I mean, not really trying to pick my brain but in that second practice we both started off in qualifying trim and I think we were one of only a handful to start off in qualifying trim in second practice.  We pitted next to each other so he came over to ask if I was really tight, because he was really tight and pretty much had the same feedback.  And then he just gave me a little advice.  Something I kind of already knew which was be careful getting loose into both turns in this track.  Because into one you are on the brakes so it’s easy to get loose and he kept warning me about that.  I hadn’t been loose in practice yet so that made me feel good about my car.  It’s nice to be reminded of those little things that you might not think about so I thank anybody that can give me some tips.”
 
YOU ARE USED TO RUNNING SO MANY NIGHTS IN THE SPRINT CARS.  AFTER THIS BREAK, ARE YOU GLAD THAT IT CAME SO YOU COULD HIT THE RESET BUTTON AS A ROOKIE OR DID YOU WANT TO KEEP RACING?
“I hated the break.  But man I am so used to flying out on Thursdays to go to the racetrack it felt like forever to get to Thursday of last week.  Then I had to wait another week to get to this one.  So I was going to go to Devil’s Bowl to watch the Outlaws race if our team was going to go there and run.  But they didn’t have the tool cart ready so we didn’t go there. Their first night is tonight in Pennsylvani
a at Williams Grove if it doesn’t rain so I will keep up to date with that.  But yeah, that break was really long and I wish we didn’t have any breaks.  Wish there was no offseason either.”
 

Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Verizon IndyCar Series
Friday Practice Recap
Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 25, 2014) Sebastien Bourdais carried the banner for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 during the first two rounds of practice for the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Behind the wheel of the No. 11 Team Hydroxycut KV SH Racing Chevrolet , Bourdais turned the second quickest time of the combined session with a lap time of 01:08.9311 at a speed of 120.120 m.p.h.
 
Also posting top-10 practice times were Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – fourth, Helio Castroneves, No. 3 AAA Team Penske Chevrolet – sixth, Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 PPG Team Pernske Chevrolet –  eighth and Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet  – ninth.
 
Firestone Fast Six qualifying is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT to set the field for Sundays race.
 
The Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is scheduled to start Sunday, April 27, 2014 at 2:30 p.m. ET with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network. Live radio broadcast will be provided by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 209 and www.indycar.com. Race timing and scoring can also be found on

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 25, 2014
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed his lack of a win thus far in 2014, his thoughts on the potential reduction of horsepower in 2015 and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
IT’S BEEN A GOOD TRACK FOR YOU HERE AT RICHMOND, TALK ABOUT COMING HERE AND YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE RACE TOMORROW NIGHT:
“We suck here.  We’re terrible and hopefully we are a lot better this weekend.  The last couple trips especially – we have been junk.  So the results don’t reflect the effort, so that is the disappointing part.  And I know that Chad has worked very hard once again to get us a good car and hopefully it will be on the track and we will have good speed right off the truck.   I believe a couple of those wins that I had came on a Sunday rain out.   I would love to be home Sunday, but if it did rain out and we did race on Sunday, I have a pretty good average on the day.”
WHAT IS THE LIKELY REASON FOR THE TEAM’S STRUGGLES HERE?
“I don’t have a good answer.  We always evaluate our performance here and say, ‘maybe it was this’, and we pursue what was down that road and come back with new hope and then unload and have a frustrating practice.  We manage okay finishes for the most part but we know we should be better than that.  Just getting beat by a track really gets under our skin as well.  We can usually accomplish what we need to and eventually figure out a race track. So the piece that I am not 100% sure as you started your question, but they used to put a sealer down here and I think a lot of our success came when they put the sealer down.  You could move around the race track to find some grip and really get your right sides (tires) on the edge to get some grip and speed out of the race car.  It might be something in that but they don’t have sealer down so I can’t count on that this weekend.  But I love watching races here, and for the races that I have been competitive in and had a chance to race in the top-five – I love it.  I think it’s a fantastic race track, it puts on a great show, it’s great for the fans, and in my heart I think we need more short tracks on the schedule. I just need to get this one figured out.”
HAVE YOU SEEN ANY CHANGE IN CHAD’S PASSION OR DEVOTION TO YOUR TEAM IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS?
“Yes and no.  I encourage him to take time to balance his life better.  I am surprised he has made it as long as he has working the hours and for the years that he has been in this sport.  But unfortunately and usually when he does take time off and he returns, and if we don’t have the performance that we should – then he thinks the two are related.  Just because he took two or three days off for himself, and we have two or three bad races, there is no correlation there.  But in his mind and the way he operates, he thinks ‘well I shouldn’t vacation, I am not supposed to vacation, I am supposed to work around the clock’.   So continue to push him, and I have done this since we started.  In our rookie season together I think we were racing on the West coast and I said, ‘hey man, I am shooting down to Mexico, come on down for a few days and hang out’.  He did, came down, and we came back and ran at the race track and performance didn’t work and he said, ‘I am never going with you and Chani anywhere’.  
“So like four or five years later, our ladies decided that we are all going on vacation.  When you are married you just go where your wife tells you.  So I am going where my wife is telling me, and Chad is coming with his girl and we come back and run terrible. He tells me that he is never going to vacation with me again.  So you see how that goes.  I hope he does find better balance because the guy deserves it and he is not going to last 10 more years in this sport if he works around the clock like he has.”
HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO ADAPT TO THIS YEAR’S CAR WITH THE NEW RULES AND REGULATIONS?
“It’s been a challenge for sure.  The team has a lot more to play with in this car.   And we know the balance that I like and it’s usually a car that turns stronger than what my teammates want or what Stewart-Haas cars want when we look at set up sheets.  But right now we are still trying to find exactly what gives us the best vehicle dynamics and what gives me the best feel.  A lot of times when you create the perfect car on the race track when you look at video and photos, it’s not turning as strong as I want it to. So that is kind of the rule because without any telemetry here, there are only so many tools the crew chiefs have.  So usual tools of watching videos and looking at photos is what the team has.  And trying to marry those two worlds is tough. We’ll get there and I think we have been there at a handful of races this year.  So we are just going down the road and trying to figure out where speed is and balancing those two worlds.”
IS IT TIGHTER THAN YOU LIKE TO DRIVE?
“I would say at the start of the season we were a bit edgy and we got that part under control.  We got the edginess out of the cars that had a tight balance, especially at Darlington.  How we finished third is beyond me because that car was so tight.”
STEVE O’DONNELL SAID YESTERDAY THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE SOME KIND OF HORSEPOWER REDUCTION NEXT YEAR.  HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THINGS FOR YOU AND HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THINGS FOR THE TEAMS AND CHALLENGES LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT YEAR?
“Every driver and team that I have spoken to isn’t up for a horsepower reduction. We all feel that having power creates better racing.  Especially on the driver’s standpoint where you go down to the Nationwide Series and run flat out at a lot of the tracks.  So we are all trying as drivers and members of this sport to say what is best for the racing.  If its reduction in power that makes competitive racing, I think we are all more than willing to get on board and to go down that road.  But it’s not a guarantee in my opinion and an example is at Michigan last week, or actually it was a couple weeks ago.  There was a tire test and they took the power out of the 21 car and his center of the corner speed almost went up 10 miles an hour than what an unrestricted engine was running at.
“I am not sure those eight miles an hour through the center of the corner is going to allow us to run comfortably through the corner side-by-side.  Now we have picked up a lot of speed through the corners and are the tires going to hold up? Is the suspension going to hold up?  It costs a lot of money to even put a tapered spacer on the car.  We are going to go and work to change all the internals to maximize the role that the engine performs.  So I sympathize with NASCAR because there isn’t an easy way to go about things.  No rule change is cheap anymore. Because it’s not just a single piece or component to change, there is a domino effect that changes a lot of things.  I don’t know what to think to be honest with you.  I like the power, power has been good for me.  If you look at my Nationwide stats versus my Cup stats, I need power.  I wish they would add more horsepower to the cars.”
IF YOU ARE SAYING A MAJORITY OF THE DRIVERS THEN ARE NOT FOR A POWER REDUCTION THEN WHY IS THIS BEING PUSHED THROUGH?  IS IT BECAUSE THERE ARE GREATER LONG TERM BENEFITS AND YOU GUYS ARE MORE LOOKING A SHORT TERM THE NOW? WHY IS THERE THIS PUSH OR ARE YOU GUYS NOT BEING LISTENED TO IN THAT ASPECT?
“We are listened to, but again the goal that NASCAR has is to do what is best for the sport and not necessarily what is best for the individual group.  The drivers wanting to keep the powe
r or add more power we are one small group, one small piece of the puzzle.  Owners have a say on extending engine life and trying to go to multiple races on an engine.  I think the end result is sponsorship dollars, viewership, the inbound cash flow for our sport and our industry is the ultimate concern for NASCAR and for our sport to be healthy.  The better the competition is on the track the better chance we have that.  I think that is really the root cause.  They do listen, but somebody has to make decisions and I think at the end of the day it’s really based on keeping the sport healthy.  Competitive races keep the sport healthy, but how you get there is to be discussed, argued and debated.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT BEING AFTER YOUR FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AND HOW GOOD IT WOULD BE TO GET IT HERE AT RICHMOND?
“It would be great to get it here especially at a track we have struggled at the last few times here.  Yes, there seems to be at least a conscious effort to win races more and this big discussion about winning races, but you need to win races to win championship period.  That is really been the mindset of the No. 48 has always had.  We have knocked on the door a few times and I think a win is out there for us very soon, hopefully this weekend.”
 
EIGHT RACES IN IT’S UNUSUAL FOR YOU TO HAVE GONE THIS LONG AND I FEEL LIKE WE ASK YOU THIS EVERY WEEK, BUT IS THERE A POINT WHERE YOU ARE JUST LIKE ‘DAMN WHEN AM I GOING TO WIN A RACE’?
“Honestly, I get asked about it and that is the only time it comes through my mind.  I don’t know how long we went in the past before we won a race at the start of the season.  We still have 28, 30 races left whatever it is.  I don’t have this big fear that I’m not going to make the Chase and I’m not going to win a race.  If we were running 15th and 20th every week I would be up here nervous and honestly I would tell you about it.  But the fact we have been knocking on the door gives me great hope and optimism and doesn’t change anything from this year versus any other year mentally.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 25, 2014
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 OUTBACK CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed the momentum he brings into Richmond following his win at Darlington, his thoughts on the possible reduction of horsepower next season and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKEND:
“This has been a great race track for us in the past.  As we have come through the years I have been fortunate to have a lot of success.  I always look forward to coming to this race weekend just knowing that and hoping that you can contend for a win.  Hopefully, we can put ourselves in a good spot throughout the weekend and be around somewhere at the end of both races.”
 
HAS THE NEW CHASE FORMAT CHANGED THE DYNAMIC OF RACES?
“I think last week was a prime example of what the new format has brought forth.  Just for the fact that we had run pretty much a whole fuel run at Darlington and we had eight of the first nine cars, I think, I don’t know that number for sure, but there were a tremendous amount of the first 10 cars that put two tires on knowing good and well that wasn’t the right thing to do as far as making your car run as fast as it could.  People are just trying to take chances to get that win and I think for us we have been I guess like a Ricky Bobby scene, we have been first or last.  There has really been no in between.  The performance of the cars has been really good and obviously we have had some problems, but it’s just one of those deals where being the point’s leader and having points is really irrelevant at this point.  You just go out and try to put your best foot forward every week to get a win and protect yourself as much as you can with as many wins as possible is our goal at this point to get into the first rounds because the bonus points matter at this point.”
 
DO YOU GET TO THE POINT WHERE RACING IS JUST FUN AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE SUCCESS COMES?  ARE YOU FEELING THAT NOW MORE?
“I have been having fun the whole off-season and year.  We have had some weeks that things didn’t exactly go our way, but there are a lot bigger challenges than a broken part on a race car.  We put it all back together and we come back the next week and we know our cars have been running well.  That is really what keeps you going is when you are really capable and in our opinion winning every race that we’ve been in so far.  Obviously, those wouldn’t have worked out and didn’t work out, but the performance of the car has been there.  That keeps you going and that makes enthused and everybody is getting along and having fun and to me it’s like I said at Darlington I think the character of the team has really been tested as we went through the first eight weeks.  I think everybody did a good job of not points fingers and not getting overly mad at anybody it was just things were happening and we had to continue to do our jobs and that to me is one of the best things that came out of the first week was just seeing what the character was of our race team when the chips were down.”
 
WHAT IF QUALIFYING GETS RAINED OUT TODAY?  WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY?
“Rain, I mean we are going to practice so qualifying is going to happen right off the bat here in practice.  Turn your TV one because the qualifying session – to me the rain didn’t look that bad on the radar, but if it rains, it rains, and practice will be over.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY WITH YOUR TEAM IN YOUR FIRST YEAR WITH STEWART-HAAS AND HOW YOU HAVE GELLED TOGETHER SO QUICKLY?
“Well I knew a lot of the people I was going to be working with on the driver side before I got there.  That part was really done before we even started.  Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and I we spent a lot of time together just trying to figure out if this is what he wanted to do.  I had committed a long time before that so we felt that myself and Zippy (Greg Zipadelli) and Tony (Stewart) and Brett (Frood) and everybody felt that Rodney was the guy.  It was just convincing him to make it happen.  It’s hard, I lived it.  I lived the same things he was going through when I had to make the decision as to what my future was going to hold.  It all worked out and in the process we got to know each other really well.  Still as we go through the weeks you still learn stuff about each other, but we learned the foundation about each other pretty early on as we went through that process.  I feel like the relationship between all the guys is really good and strong.
 
“We have been on both sides of it like I said a minute ago we have been on both sides of having success and we have been on the sides of seeing that success fail.  Whether it’s your own doing or a part failure it doesn’t matter when you are in position to win races and something on your car breaks or something happens everybody feels like crap regardless.  It’s a huge test for everybody as you go through those moments, but the character of the team is there.  Everybody gets along well and nobody really gets wound up.  I think a lot of that starts by Rodney.  Just because his demeanor he is so low emotion as you go through any situation.  Whether you are winning or losing he doesn’t get wound up.”
 
DO YOU AGREE WITH THE CHATTER THIS WEEK THAT STEWART-HAAS RACING HAS BEEN ONE OF THE BEST ORGANIZATIONS OF 2014 DESPITE THE BUMPS IN THE ROAD?
“I think as you look at the organization I think we have a lot of room for improvement still a lot of new things that are happening.  Obviously, we have been through eight weeks and we know that there are a lot of things to work on and improve on that is exciting just for the fact that we have been able to run well with our car.  Kurt (Busch) has won a race and Tony (Stewart) has been knocking off some top-five’s so I think as you look at everything from the outside looking in I’m sure it appears that everything is going well and everything is going well, but from the inside I just feel very strongly that there is a ton of room for improvement with a lot of things so we just have to keep working and not sit on our hands.  Whether you win or lose on Sunday or Saturday night in this case you go back to the shop and you analyze your race just as if you had run 20th. Because that is what you have to do in order to come back because everybody in this garage is going to do the same thing.  We have to keep building and I think (Greg) Zipadelli and everybody at SHR has done a great job with everything that they have taken on over the past few years.  Gene (Haas) has given the resources from a financial stand point to do the things that we have done in a short amount of time.  Just a lot of things that need to get a little bit better, but they have done a great job of building a great foundation.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR NATIONWIDE CAR FOR THIS WEEKEND?
“It’s hard to tell.  There is not a car here that is going to drive good all weekend.  They are all going to feel like crap.  Just for the fact that the tires wear out.  It’s a tough place to get your car to feel really good.  We will just have to make our car drive better than everybody else’s.  Yesterday we had two good practices so hopefully that translates to tonight.”
 
IS THERE MOMENTUM TO APPLY HERE TO THIS RACE TOMORROW NIGHT?  WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS TRACK THAT YOU LIKE?
“Well this has just been a great race track for me just for the fact that for whatever reason it has fit my driving style through the years.  I grew up on a lot of flat, worn out race tracks and my days at RCR we spent a lot of time on our flat track program an
d short-track program.  My driving has become accustom to these types of tracks.  As far as the momentum we won Phoenix early in the year and we had six very bad weeks finish wise after that.  You just ride the wave as long as far as it will take you and the last wave was really short. So you don’t want to get your hopes up you just want to do your job and hope that things keep going well.”
 
YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE ALWAYS LIKED THIS RACE TRACK.  HOW DOES THAT PROCESS WORK AS A DRIVER TO WALK INTO A NEW TEAM WITH THEIR NOTES, YOUR NOTES, HOW DOES THAT GO IN THE MEETINGS?
“Well I told them in the first meeting that we should never lose a short track race.  They all kind of looked at me like I was crazy. For me it was exciting just for the fact that I have seen the success that Rodney (Childers) had on the short track stuff in the past with his previous organization.  I know that Kurt (Busch) runs well and Tony (Stewart) runs well so you put all that stuff together and see the success that we have had here in the past from my stand point with winning races and running good you are just excited about the short track races.  Really excited about every race, but the short tracks in general because just because I know and I’ve seen the effort that they put into the cars and every part and piece from a weight stand point.  It’s fun and everybody expects to run well.”
 
COMING BACK HERE BRINGS UP MEMORIES OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE LAST SEPTEMBER.  DO YOU THINK THE GARAGE HAS MOVED ON FROM THAT OR THAT IT LINGERS AND IS STILL TALKED ABOUT OR THOUGHT ABOUT WHEN WE COME BACK?
“I think everybody has moved on.  The repercussions I feel like MWR is probably still feeling those just for the fact that it was a bigger hit to their organization than anybody else.  I think you would be silly to not pay attention to what had happened and understand the reality of situations of what could be lost by handling something wrong.  I’ve handled a lot of situations wrong maybe not something to that magnitude, but it’s still kind of a wake-up call to everybody to understand that there is a lot of money and a lot of people watching.  The perception of your actions sometimes can be taken to the extreme and the repercussions of that can be very extreme as well.  I think everybody has to keep that in mind.  I think everybody has pretty much moved on and understands that the lesson was learned.”
 
DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF HOW GROUP QUALIFYING WILL TAKE PLACE AT TALLADEGA?  DO YOU GUYS DREAD IT AT ALL?
“I thought about just going home and starting in the back (laughs).  It’s going to be exciting to say the least.  There is only one way to get a good lap and that is to catch the pack and have four or five cars lined up behind you.  We have already kind of experienced this once and that is when we went to Talladega last year.  I believe it was the first race when everybody knew it was going to rain on qualifying day.  It’s just going to be getting that spot where you get the best pull up to the pack for one lap to where you can time it right and not have to let off for a pack of cars or something like that.  It will be interesting and it’s just kind of a crap shoot just like the race, but it will be exciting for sure. It will definitely be better than watching three and a half hours of one car going around the race track, I promise you that.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE POTENTIAL REDUCTION OF HORSEPOWER NEXT SEASON? 
“I saw some of the – I didn’t see it I heard about some of the Michigan stuff from when I believe they put a plate on Trevor Bayne’s car at the tire test in Michigan.  The part that everybody is forgetting here, there are two parts to this problem.  There are two parts that the less horsepower problem will create.  One is the engines are the most expensive things that we do.  There are very few engine manufacturers as we sit in the garage right now.  When you start messing with the engines the costs go up really fast.  I believe that our garage is very vulnerable at this particular point from a cost stand point.  I believe that NASCAR in general has to keep the cost involved from where we are and the timing of engines, whether you put a plate on it, whether you put a throttle body on it, whether you change the cubic inch, no matter what you do the cost of those engines is going to go up if you change the rules.  I understand there is a safety concern, but when you slow the cars down the center of the corner speed is going to go up.
 
“Because you are going to be able to carry more speed through the center of the corner because you have a slower car, so when you start messing with the engines the costs are going to go up because everybody is going to do more R&D.  And you slow the cars down the center of the corners are going to go faster so you create that problem then you are going to create another problem for Goodyear because the cars are already really fast so you are going to have a cost problem and you are going to have a tire problem.  Good luck with that from a changing the rules stand point.  Obviously I’m a big fan of it (laughs).”

Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Verizon IndyCar Series
Post Race
Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets of Long Beach, California
 
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 13, 2014): Mike Conway scored his first win of 2014 to take Chevrolet IndyCar V6 power to Victory Lane in the Verizon IndyCar Series for the second consecutive race. It is the second win for Conway in the Grand Prix of Long Beach on the Streets of Long Beach, his first coming in 2011.
 
In only his second race as the road and street course driver of the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Premium Ultra Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Conway led once for two laps to score the win, and move to second in the Series’ championship standings.
 
Congratulations to Mike Conway and the Ed Carpenter Racing team for a very well executed race in the midst of a number of incidents,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Program Manager, Verizon IndyCar Series. “Today’s competition on the Streets of Long Beach was a solid example of the motto “Never Give Up”.  We had our share of issues before and during the race, but persevered, and the breadth of talent and determination across Team Chevy came away with the top two steps of the podium.”
 
Giving Chevrolet the top-two tiers on the podium was Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.  With his runner-up finish on the heels of his victory in the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Power now holds a 27 point lead on second place Conway.
 
In his return season to the Verizon IndyCar Series, Juan Pablo Montoya brought his No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to the finish line in fourth place.  Giving Team Chevy four of the top-10 finishers in today’s 80-lap/157.4-mile race was Sebastian Saavedra, No. 17 KV AFS Racing Chevrolet  with a ninth-place finish.
 
Carlos Munoz (Honda) completed the podium.
 
Next on the 18-race schedule will be on April  27, 2014 at Barber Motorsports Park.
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
 
 
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER:
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll get started with the remainder of our post-race Verizon IndyCar Series press conference.  We’re pleased to be joined by the winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Mike Conway.  This is Mike Conway’s first win of 2014, and the third win of his IndyCar career.  His first one came here in Long Beach in 2011, he also won at Belle Isle in Detroit in 2013.  This is Ed Carpenter Racing’s second win in the Verizon IndyCar Series.  It previously won with Ed Carpenter at Auto Club Speedway in 2012.  Mike, congratulations and tell us about the race today.
MIKE CONWAY:  Thank you.  Yeah, I was really ‑‑ started back in 17th, and we really had to fight for every position.  The guys made a good call on strategy.  We were able to bump past some people, and on race restarts we gained some positions as well.  So, great job by all the team.
I know on that last restart I had to get by Will, because I knew he had one push to pass left, and I knew that (Carlos) Munoz behind me had four, and Munoz was very good all day, so it was hard ‑‑ it was going to be hard to keep him behind.  So managed to get by Will (Power) and then was kind of all over the back of Justin (Wilson) and Scott (Dixon) and they were battling it out as well.  And they touched going into Turn 8, and it got close to me and Scott.  I was thinking of driving up both of those guys (Indiscernible), but thought better of it.
Then Scott was kind of all over them, but when the safety car came out again, I thought maybe I’ll have a chance to get by him here, but I knew at the same time he may not have enough fuel to get to the end.  So I wasn’t sure, because I could see he wasn’t saving much fuel, and the guys are saying he’s saving fuel because he can’t make it.  I was like, oh, I don’t know.  Maybe he saved enough.
But, yeah, that was ‑‑ I was like, you know, this is it now.  We can make this two times winning at Long Beach.  Yeah, awesome.  I can’t believe it really.  It’s been a really tough day to be here.  After, yeah, just a fantastic job by the team, and thanks to Long Beach again for putting on such a good show.
 
THE MODERATOR:  A unique situation for you this year.  You’re only racing the road and street courses while your team owner Ed Carpenter races the ovals.  How gratifying is it for you personally and also for the team to see the results of that strategy pay off in the second race of the season?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, I’ve got to say a big thanks to Ed for making it happen, and all the guys at Fuzzy’s Racing to put me in this position.  Yeah, I think it’s a great combination.  I think everyone’s quite excited about it.  It’s great to repay them this soon with a win.
Yeah, I think Ed’s going to be awesome on the ovals, and he’s really looking forward to the Texas test next week and Indy in May.  So, yeah, it’s great to be part of it.
 
Q.        There are a lot of great drivers that haven’t won this race.  You’ve won it twice.  The satisfaction of being able to be a two‑time Long Beach Grand Prix winner?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, it still hasn’t sunk in yet.  I mean, as I went over the land, I got that same feeling, that feeling in my stomach and not being able to get any words out because it kind of just meant so much.  Probably the same as the first time.  You know, it’s always tough the first time as well.
So, yeah, it’s just a really special place.  It’s so hard to win around here, and to do it twice, I’ve not done that on many tracks, so to do it here is really cool.
Q.        It’s hard enough for drivers to get a full‑time ride.  I was wondering what did you think of your chances were of getting a road course only ride when the season started?  What do you have to say to people who were skeptical?
MIKE CONWAY:  Slim, definitely slim.  Yeah, I wasn’t sure obviously at the end of 2012 too, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it back.  But managed to pick up some rides last year and kind of showed that I’ve still got a lot of speed, and we won in Detroit as well.  I still wasn’t sure at the end of last year what was going to happen.  Yeah, to be able to pick this up is a dream come true.  It couldn’t have worked out any better between me and Ed.  So, yeah, I’m very thankful for the position I’m in and trying to make the most of it.
Q.        A little while ago Will was saying you don’t get many gifts in racing, and he was talking about the big pileup that allowed you guys to do what you did.  How do you look at that?
MIKE CONWAY:  I didn’t really see what happened.  So you know, I saw the last part of it as I was approaching the corner, and I thought someone was going to go around there, and I heard over the radio call there was an incident in the corner, be very careful and stay right.  I’m thankful for that call because they really kept me out of trouble through there.
It was tight just to get through with the speed we have.  I really had to dive around people.  Yeah, I mean, luckily obviously that that happened and advanced us a good four positions.  I think we were still within the hunt to get a good result today.  But, yeah, obviously, unlucky for those guys and made it fortunate for us.
But it’s always like that on street courses.  It gets really close, but I don’t know what really happened.  I’ll have to look at that.
 
Q.        Great finish.  You didn’t start very well.  Describe the start and how that worked snout also heard there was damage to the fro
nt wing, and did that affect you at all during the race?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, the start wasn’t great.  The revs really dropped, and I thought I was maybe going to stall and I had to quickly pull the clutch again and go again and obviously two cars got around me at that point.  Managed to get by Ryan and pick that position back up.  But all the way through the race it was hard to know where we were going to end up.
There were lots of cars around you, and when you got within a second of a car, you’d lose half a second in pace, and it was really hard to make your way by.  But we did manage to pick some people off as the race was going on and made some good passes.  But, yeah, it was a real unknown until that last kind of restart where we were going to be.  So had to fight all day.  Yeah, kind of had the car to do it, so big thanks to the guys for that.
 
Q.        During the race while you were battling, did you notice a major difference between the power characteristics of the Honda and Chevy?  Because in qualifying it looked very dominant for Honda.  I think they had nine of the top 12 qualifying positions, but we ended up with a Chevy 1, 2 at least.  Did you notice any difference coming out of the final hair‑pin?
MIKE CONWAY:  I don’t know.  It was really how you get around the hair‑pin.  It was hard to tell sometimes on how you get off.  But I mean I was behind Munoz for a good few laps.  It felt similar to be honest.  I mean, he was on the blacks to that point and his car was really turning well through that last corner, so he could get off well just with traction.  So it was really close to be honest.  And we did trim out a little bit for the race so I think we had better speed than some people down the strait.
But I forgot to answer your question about the front wing.  That did feel like it slowed us down a little bit because it was flapping around.  That top element definitely some drag there.  But I think we did have some good top end speed because of the downforce level we had, but it felt close.
 
Q.        You mentioned being told over the radio about the accident.  Are you one of the few drivers that has a spotter?
MIKE CONWAY:  Well, just lucky they saw it.  I mean, they were there at the time.  I thought he said he was going to be down in turn one, but he must have seen it on the big screen or from where he was standing in one.  Normally he doesn’t have to say too much, but obviously if there are any incidents anywhere and he’s there at that point he’ll let me know, otherwise the team will let me know on the TV.  But, yeah, kind of lucky he was down there.
 
Q.        The spotters were on turn one, and I think there were only six or seven spotters because it’s not required on a road course?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, well, I have (Indiscernible), and he’s a really key part of the team.  He’s out there making sure we’re making the most of every corner.  He watches what all the other cars are doing.  Yeah, he’s obviously in the race.  He can’t do so much of that, but he can also definitely help me if there are any incidents, and that definitely helped today.
 
Q.        Regarding the accident, it seemed like it went on for quite some time.  I think Takuma Sato came into it five or six seconds afterwards.  Were the course marshals signaling adequately that there was a blockage of the track around the corner which I assume you couldn’t see coming through?
MIKE CONWAY:  Well, as I said, when I got there it just happened.  So, yeah, I mean, I didn’t see any yellows at that point.  I don’t recall.  But it’s hard to tell because I was so focused on looking for what was around the corner.  You know, you kind of miss sometimes what’s on the entry with the marshals.
But, yeah, there were a lot of cars behind me at that point, and some made it through, some didn’t.  I suppose it was a bit of luck, I suppose.  Yeah, it was definitely not the yellows, but if you didn’t know where the cars were, it was still tricky.  You had to slow down a lot to miss it all.  There was really one line, and it took a long time to clear up.  There were a lot of cars involved.
 
Q.        This is a smaller team in the series, but yet it really seems like they can take on the power teams and whip them at their own game.  What is it about Ed Carpenter racing that they seem to do so well particularly at certain tracks in?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, I think we’ve got a really good group of people.  Some great engineers on board and everyone’s working really hard and they’re always pushing between St. Pete and this weekend, they were nonstop in the shop trying to develop some parts and make things better.  You know, I think if you’ve got that drive and that hunger within the team you can definitely achieve anything.
It does make it harder, a one‑car team, but I think with all the help and all the people we have on the team, we can definitely make some waves.
 
Q.        What do you think about the hair‑pin?  The tightest one in all of Indy racing.
MIKE CONWAY:  I mean, it’s Long Beach, it’s been here since the start, I presume.  It does make it tricky.  Obviously the restarts, first lap of the race it does get quite choked up in there.  But I think everyone’s smart enough to stay out of trouble, but I’m not sure.  Obviously I saw Graham was spun down around there.  I mean, it’s easy enough to hit someone’s back side going in there because if you don’t choke up a little bit and you’re not aware of it can catch you up.  But I don’t know.  It’s just part of the course, I suppose.
 
Q.        You mentioned that you started 17th, but you didn’t qualify well.  Someone asked Will Power how come he was so far down in the field, and he said well, the car was great, he just didn’t hit it during qualification.  How come you were like 17th, because after all, you’re past champion here?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, it’s very close, the series.  As years go on it gets closer and closer.  If you’re behind a little bit it can really show up in qualifying.  When everyone’s on that ultimate limit putting in really quick times.  We felt like we needed a couple more laps to get the tires in.  It was taking a little bit longer, and before we knew it, the session was finished.  Yeah, that’s all it takes.  If you don’t quite get it together, you’ll just miss that advance.
So, yeah.  Any slight mistake on a lap, and you really risk not making it through.  It was a shame.  Obviously, we didn’t want that to happen around here.  We thought we had a good car for top eight, maybe more.  Yeah, obviously the race we knew made it difficult for us, but we had some good speed and got into the run.
 
Q.        You avoided the carnage in turn four.  You finished very strong.  What was the biggest challenge you faced in the final laps of the race?
MIKE CONWAY:  Having Will behind me and Scott in front, two wily cats.  I knew I had my work cut out.  I just couldn’t make any mistakes.  I had to really push them all the way.  Will was very good through the last sector, so I had to be strong through there, and make sure I went through the last hair‑pin well.  I knew he didn’t have many overtakes left, if any, at that point.  I didn’t have any either.  So I really just had to get as good as I could through that sector and clean down the straight.
But Scott was very good off that last corner, a
nd it was hard to get close to him.  I could get close to him on the infield, but he was pretty good out there.
Yeah, it was tricky.  I didn’t know whether he had the fuel to finish or not.  The guys were telling me he was saving fuel and they weren’t sure that he could make it, but at the same time, you don’t want to rely on that.  I don’t know.  I was kind of trying to make things happen and maybe get by him.  But when I saw pull in I was like, okay, the guys are right, and just have to bring it home.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Before we let you go.  In two weeks you’ll be continuing your deal with Ed Carpenter racing at Barber Motorsports Park.  Give us a preview of what we can expect at that track?
MIKE CONWAY:  I like Barber a lot.  It’s a cool track, very fast flowing.  The test was okay for us there.  We’ve made some progress since then.  So hopefully we’ll come back stronger.  Obviously, we have two weeks in between and we’re going to keep pushing and make sure the car is quick for me to ride there.  But always a good race.  Qualifying is really cool around there.  It is harder to pass, however, it’s still possible.  Yeah, hopefully, we’ll have a good showing.
 
Q.        How much fuel did you have left?
MIKE CONWAY:  Loads, loads.  I don’t actually know the numbers, but maybe we can let you know after.
 
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’re pleased to be joined by Will Power, Will Power finished second in this race.  His second podium finish of 2014, and his sixth podium finish in nine starts at Long Beach.  Will has now finished first or second in his last four Verizon IndyCar Series races and is the current points leader with 93 points.  Will, you seem to be on quite a roll dating back to 2013?
 
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I was definitely thinking after qualifying we might have been in a bit of trouble, but we know this track well and IndyCar Racing well.  There is always a lot of action, so definitely a good day.
Mike (Conway) was very strong.  I kind of regret not using the push to pass on the restart where he got me.  I knew he had one and I had one, and I thought I’m going to try to save it and he used it on that restart.  But definitely take second from 14th, you know, good for the championship, not that I want to think about that crap anymore.  I just want to race.  I’m just going to race to win every time.
 
Q.        Will, after finishing first and second, I know you don’t want to look at the points.  You’re the leader.  If you guys could talk a little bit about it seemed for a while it was Ryan Hunter‑Reay’s race, and all of a sudden, one thing completely turned the nature of this race around.  Just talk about how big an impact that had, and Will, you were able to get through that carnage without hitting anything?
 
WILL POWER:  I saw it unfold.  I mean, those two came out of the pits in front of me on cold, black tires, I was on reds and down a lap or two.  You know, then all of a sudden I saw Newgarden come out and I’m thinking this is going to be really interesting because all these guys know that that is for the win.  It became even more interesting in turn four when they all ‑‑ thank you.  Yeah, unbelievable.
I saw Hunter‑Reay go inside, and me going, oh, this will be interesting if he turns and there they go together.  Then Hinch piles into him, and I got through, like yeah, you don’t get those gifts often in racing, so I’ll take it.
 
Q.        Will, talk about the final laps and the temptation to overtake Mike Conway in the last few laps?
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I mean, none of us had a push to pass, so, yeah, I did everything I could when I saw Dixon pull in with only two to go.  I was like oh, man, that restart got me.  But like I said, it was 14th, and we’re going to be happy with a Top 5.  So second is okay.
 
Once Dixon peeled off, Mike was very quick anyway.  If I had one push to pass, I’m pretty sure I would have had a good shot.  It would have been interesting, maybe he would have ended up winning because Mike and I would have crashed into turn one or something (laughing).  Yeah, it was a good day.  Definitely a good day.
 
Q.        Two quick questions, first one, Simon Pagenaud and you got hooked up there a little bit.  Obviously, he’s upset with you.  He said you guys aren’t going on vacation anytime soon together.  Do you guys two weeks, six weeks, eight weeks down the road, I know you are good friends, how do you mend that fence?  Second question is a lot of really young drivers are showing real strength this year.  What do you put that towards?
 
WILL POWER:  Simon, it’s on him.  It depends what he wants to do.  He’ll probably pay me back at some point on the track.  If I got a penalty, he probably wouldn’t have, but he told me he’s going to get me back.  I thought he had a flat tire.  He was so slow on the restart.  He went from second back to he was in front of me.  I thought, oh, he’s going to brake early, and I brake, went up the inside and realized he was going to turn.  I tried to get out and just touched his back tire.
Yeah, I hate to ruin someone’s race like that.  I do.  But I think if he looked in the mirror, he could have prevented that incident.  We talked about in the driver meeting that there’s got to be a bit of give and take there.  But still I hit his back tire with my front wheel, so it’s on me.
 
Q.        And the question about the young drivers?
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I mean, man, these guys are definitely putting the pressure on it.  They’re quick, really quick.  They’re not making mistakes either.  Carlos was super quick and very good in the Indy 500 last year.  He’s just backing it up this year and showing everyone how to do it on road courses as well.  So definitely got a long future in the series, and so is Jack Hawksworth also.
 
Q.        Will, when Ed Carpenter decided to split the driving duties on his team, I was wondering what your thought.  Now it may pay off very big in points later in the year.  How do you feel about that kind of strategy?
WILL POWER:  I thought when they told me that, I thought championship contenders as far as team championship, you know, and they will be because Mike was coming at St. Pete.  He was probably going to finish second or third there too.  Obviously it was a bit of a blunder in the pits, but those guys were on it every week.  Then Ed is definitely capable of winning pretty much in all the ovals too, so it’s a pretty strong combination they’ve got right there on that team.
 
Q.        Describe the standing start because you were kind of in the middle of the pack for the start.  So describe what happened for you all.
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I thought it was pretty good.  We all got a good start.  I think it’s definitely better for the fans.  It looks cooler for all the people sitting in the grandstands for everyone to have a standing start.  See on the luminator the lights going out.  And no one stalled so that was good.  Unless there was someone behind me, I don’t know.  But it was good, a good first lap, yeah.
 
Q.        Will, you talked about them coming out of The Pits on black tires, and you were on Reds.  What was your strategy on tires with the consta
nt temperature change here in Long Beach?
WILL POWER:  Well, I was surprised that those guys went on Blacks, unless they used up their new Blacks from the start.  I don’t know ‑‑ or new Reds from the start.  Because Reds to me, I had a good chance to get a couple of those guys coming out of the pits on cold tires.  They took care of it themselves.  But, yeah, our strategy was start on blacks.  Hopefully the Reds would go off and go red‑red because the Reds were definitely quicker.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Will, you’re the points leader heading into Barber Motorsports Park, a track that’s been historically very good for you.  Talk about a preview of two weeks from now what we’ll be expecting at Barber?
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I mean, to me I’ve got to qualify a bit better for sure.  Definitely aiming to be pole because that track is very difficult to pass.  Everyone’s tested there.  Everyone’s run a lot of miles there, so there are a lot of good guys with good cars, so it’s definitely going to make it an interesting weekend.
 
Q.        You seem to be quite a significant performance difference in you and qualifying and the race performance today.  Can you comment on that at all?  Any major changes that went into the car or the set‑up or to any of the mechanicals?
WILL POWER:  Well, actually, this is the worst qualifying in my career.  I just didn’t get it right.  It’s just one of those laps that I had a couple of laps to do it in, and I just didn’t get it right.  Because in the practice session before that, we were quickest.  We had a very good car, so it’s just one of those things, you know.  We didn’t change anything.  The car was the same in the race.  That sucks, but we had a good day anyway.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
STREETS OF LONG BEACH
 
DRIVER QUOTES:
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER:  YOU ARE CALM AND COOL, BUT YOU’VE GOT TO BE FIRED-UP
“Yeah, I can’t believe I’m actually here. Wow, this is just an awesome job by the team. We just really hung in there all day. We weren’t sure what we had but I just hung in there all the way to the end and it just seemed to come to us. It’s just a fantastic job by the boys and the Fuzzy’s crew. Wow, I just can’t believe it. Two times Long Beach winner, It’s jus unbelievable. It’s so good to be back here.”
YOU BROKE THE FRONT WING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE RACE. HOW ARE YOU HERE (AS THE WINNER)?
“As you say, you never know; you just have to push as hard as you can all the time, and all the way to the end. I knew Will (Power) was going to be close and he was good off the last corner, but I knew I just had to keep it in clean air. Oh, and like the guys are saying he should be saving (fuel) but a second would have been good anyway, but I can’t believe it. And yeah, I had so much drag off that front wing. But, awesome.”
WOULD YOU HAVE TRIED TO PASS SCOTT DIXON IN THE FINAL LAPS KNOWING HE MIGHT HAVE TO PIT? DID YOU JUST WANT TO PRESSURE, OR WOULD YOU HAVE TAKEN THE CHANCE?
“I was thinking about it at the beginning. We got close a couple of times, but then after that it was hard to get really close enough for a pass. So, I couldn’t really get close enough to be honest, and I wouldn’t have risked it. But I couldn’t see him. I didn’t really know if he had to save fuel or not. The guys were telling me he had to, so I just stayed behind him and hoped he would pull in and he did, with two laps to go. It was like a gift.”
ON THE MULTI-CAR CRASH, HOW CLOSE WAS IT FOR YOU TO SQUEAK THROUGH THERE?
“Luckily our guy who was on the radio down in that section told me. He said to stay right, and so I did stay right through the corner and saw the two on the left and another two came together and speared right. I managed to stick it in between and that was it. Wow, I can’t believe I’m here. It’s so cool.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: “The No. 12 Verizon Chevy team never gave up.  We did everything that we could
and would have been happy to get a top 5 starting from 14th. But to finish 2nd, what a great day for our guys. We didn’t change anything going into the race and we had a great day. Looking forward to going into Barber and getting the pole and win.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “That was an interesting race. What an amazing team and I really have to thank Verizon and Chevy. I could’ve been a little more aggressive at the end but I really wanted to make sure we didn’t get in any trouble and got a decent finish in the Verizon car. We had some close calls out there but we kept pushing and to come out of Long Beach with a top-five finish is pretty good.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA: NO. 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET,  FINISHED 9TH:
“It was quite an interesting race. I made a big mistake at the start, stalling the car, but we kept calm and focused. We had a great car with great pace and that enabled me to move back through the field. I was also able to capitalise on the mistakes by others. Unfortunately with 10 laps to go we had a mechanical situation and then our main goal was to bring the car home. I was able to pick up some great points and am real proud of all of the KV AFS crew for keeping their heads in the game and not panicking when we got into those situations. I also need to thank my engineer for a great strategy and for getting me back in the race. We move on to Barber in a couple of weeks and I look forward to getting another great result.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH:  “The Automobile of Southern California boys did a great job. Unfortunately we got caught up in an accident in Turn 4. That was very disappointing. Then we got a penalty on one of the restarts late in the race. We need to figure out what happened with that. It was a very crazy race after the crash. We were taking it easy trying to save the car. We were just saving fuel and trying to make it to the end. It was a great job by everyone at Team Penske. Now let’s go to Barber.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH: “It was a tough situation for the Target team to be in there leading at the end and not make it. We ended up being about a half of a lap short on fuel and didn’t get a break with a yellow flag.  We could have stayed out and tried it but then we would have risked running out of fuel and wrecking the field.  I feel bad for the accident with Justin Wilson. I didn’t expect him to be there on the outside so I will go talk to him. Not the day we wanted but we’ll regroup and be ready for Barber.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: NO. 11 TEAM MISTIC– KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH: “This one really hurts.  I had a great car and I just made a mistake. The rear tires were going during the first stint and I started compensating with brake bias. When we put on new tires for the second stint I wound it back a bit, but not enough. During the out lap the rear tires were coming in, but the fronts were still not in. I touched the brake pedal and didn’t even slow down. I didn’t brake late, but was nowhere near making the corner. It was a very bad judgment call.  I want to thank my sponsor Mistic Electronic Cigarettes for all their support this weekend. I also especially want to thank the crew for sticking with it all day. It is just the second race and we know we are fast.  We will make this work together as a team.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 TNT CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH:  “We had some major mechanical issues throughout the race and we thought we might actually be done for the day.  We came back to the garage and our engineers were able to work with the Chevy engineers to get some things figured out and we were able to get back out there to make up some positions.  Obviously finishing 17th isn’t where we wanted to be, but it is encouraging that we were able to get back out there and get back some points. It’s just disappointing because Long Beach is one of my favorite races and we had such a good start by making up all of those positions so early.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH:  “My wrist is a little sore from the accident.  It’s a shame for the Target team. They told me to take it easy on the radio when the accident happened but I guess I didn’t take it easy enough.  I didn’t expect to have four cars there and when Sato hit, I couldn’t avoid it.  It’s a shame overall but we were up there and what ever happened there in front of us today didn’t look smart.”
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 23RD: We’re not sure what exactly happened today with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet yet.  We still need to get the car back and look over all of the data to figure out the exact problem.  We started the race out exactly as we planned by picking up a lot of spots early and getting through the standing starts cleanly.  The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew did a great job in pit lane by getting me in and out quickly and just as the yellow fell.  We had the right pace and the right tires to run a good race today, it just didn’t go our way with mechanical issues.  The team did a great job today and even though it wasn’t a great end to our weekend in Long Beach, I’m confident going into Barber here in a few weeks.”

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
STREETS OF LONG BEACH
 
DRIVER QUOTES:
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER:  YOU ARE CALM AND COOL, BUT YOU’VE GOT TO BE FIRED-UP
“Yeah, I can’t believe I’m actually here. Wow, this is just an awesome job by the team. We just really hung in there all day. We weren’t sure what we had but I just hung in there all the way to the end and it just seemed to come to us. It’s just a fantastic job by the boys and the Fuzzy’s crew. Wow, I just can’t believe it. Two times Long Beach winner, It’s jus unbelievable. It’s so good to be back here.”
YOU BROKE THE FRONT WING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE RACE. HOW ARE YOU HERE (AS THE WINNER)?
“As you say, you never know; you just have to push as hard as you can all the time, and all the way to the end. I knew Will (Power) was going to be close and he was good off the last corner, but I knew I just had to keep it in clean air. Oh, and like the guys are saying he should be saving (fuel) but a second would have been good anyway, but I can’t believe it. And yeah, I had so much drag off that front wing. But, awesome.”
WOULD YOU HAVE TRIED TO PASS SCOTT DIXON IN THE FINAL LAPS KNOWING HE MIGHT HAVE TO PIT? DID YOU JUST WANT TO PRESSURE, OR WOULD YOU HAVE TAKEN THE CHANCE?
“I was thinking about it at the beginning. We got close a couple of times, but then after that it was hard to get really close enough for a pass. So, I couldn’t really get close enough to be honest, and I wouldn’t have risked it. But I couldn’t see him. I didn’t really know if he had to save fuel or not. The guys were telling me he had to, so I just stayed behind him and hoped he would pull in and he did, with two laps to go. It was like a gift.”
ON THE MULTI-CAR CRASH, HOW CLOSE WAS IT FOR YOU TO SQUEAK THROUGH THERE?
“Luckily our guy who was on the radio down in that section told me. He said to stay right, and so I did stay right through the corner and saw the two on the left and another two came together and speared right. I managed to stick it in between and that was it. Wow, I can’t believe I’m here. It’s so cool.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: “The No. 12 Verizon Chevy team never gave up.  We did everything that we could
and would have been happy to get a top 5 starting from 14th. But to finish 2nd, what a great day for our guys. We didn’t change anything going into the race and we had a great day. Looking forward to going into Barber and getting the pole and win.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “That was an interesting race. What an amazing team and I really have to thank Verizon and Chevy. I could’ve been a little more aggressive at the end but I really wanted to make sure we didn’t get in any trouble and got a decent finish in the Verizon car. We had some close calls out there but we kept pushing and to come out of Long Beach with a top-five finish is pretty good.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA: NO. 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET,  FINISHED 9TH:
“It was quite an interesting race. I made a big mistake at the start, stalling the car, but we kept calm and focused. We had a great car with great pace and that enabled me to move back through the field. I was also able to capitalise on the mistakes by others. Unfortunately with 10 laps to go we had a mechanical situation and then our main goal was to bring the car home. I was able to pick up some great points and am real proud of all of the KV AFS crew for keeping their heads in the game and not panicking when we got into those situations. I also need to thank my engineer for a great strategy and for getting me back in the race. We move on to Barber in a couple of weeks and I look forward to getting another great result.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH:  “The Automobile of Southern California boys did a great job. Unfortunately we got caught up in an accident in Turn 4. That was very disappointing. Then we got a penalty on one of the restarts late in the race. We need to figure out what happened with that. It was a very crazy race after the crash. We were taking it easy trying to save the car. We were just saving fuel and trying to make it to the end. It was a great job by everyone at Team Penske. Now let’s go to Barber.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH: “It was a tough situation for the Target team to be in there leading at the end and not make it. We ended up being about a half of a lap short on fuel and didn’t get a break with a yellow flag.  We could have stayed out and tried it but then we would have risked running out of fuel and wrecking the field.  I feel bad for the accident with Justin Wilson. I didn’t expect him to be there on the outside so I will go talk to him. Not the day we wanted but we’ll regroup and be ready for Barber.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: NO. 11 TEAM MISTIC– KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH: “This one really hurts.  I had a great car and I just made a mistake. The rear tires were going during the first stint and I started compensating with brake bias. When we put on new tires for the second stint I wound it back a bit, but not enough. During the out lap the rear tires were coming in, but the fronts were still not in. I touched the brake pedal and didn’t even slow down. I didn’t brake late, but was nowhere near making the corner. It was a very bad judgment call.  I want to thank my sponsor Mistic Electronic Cigarettes for all their support this weekend. I also especially want to thank the crew for sticking with it all day. It is just the second race and we know we are fast.  We will make this work together as a team.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 TNT CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH:  “We had some major mechanical issues throughout the race and we thought we might actually be done for the day.  We came back to the garage and our engineers were able to work with the Chevy engineers to get some things figured out and we were able to get back out there to make up some positions.  Obviously finishing 17th isn’t where we wanted to be, but it is encouraging that we were able to get back out there and get back some points. It’s just disappointing because Long Beach is one of my favorite races and we had such a good start by making up all of those positions so early.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH:  “My wrist is a little sore from the accident.  It’s a shame for the Target team. They told me to take it easy on the radio when the accident happened but I guess I didn’t take it easy enough.  I didn’t expect to have four cars there and when Sato hit, I couldn’t avoid it.  It’s a shame overall but we were up there and what ever happened there in front of us today didn’t look smart.”
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 23RD: We’re not sure what exactly happened today with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet yet.  We still need to get the car back and look over all of the data to figure out the exact problem.  We started the race out exactly as we planned by picking up a lot of spots early and getting through the standing starts cleanly.  The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew did a great job in pit lane by getting me in and out quickly and just as the yellow fell.  We had the right pace and the right tires to run a good race today, it just didn’t go our way with mechanical issues.  The team did a great job today and even though it wasn’t a great end to our weekend in Long Beach, I’m confident going into Barber here in a few weeks.”

CHEVROLET SS SWEEPS THE PODIUM AT DARLINGTON
KEVIN HARVICK EARNS SECOND WIN OF 2014
 
DARLINGTON, SC – (APRIL 12, 2014) – Team Chevy crossed the finish line occupying the top three spots at the conclusion of the Bojangles Southern 500, the eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race to open the 2014 season.  After the first seven races the series had witnessed seven different faces in Victory Lane.  However, after 367-laps around the facility nicknamed the track ‘Too Tough to Tame’ Kevin Harvick drove his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS to Winner’s Circle for the second time this season.  Harvick becomes the first driver to win from the pole at Darlington Raceway since Dale Jarrett achieved the feat in 1997. This is Harvick’s first victory at ‘The Lady in Black’ and 25th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win.  With two wins this season, Harvick is now guaranteed to be among the top 15 winners, earning a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
 
“It was just one of those deals where the strategy was going to be hard to overcome with the track position without those green-white-checkers there at the end,” said Harvick in Victory Lane.  “The cautions all lined out and this Budweiser Chevrolet was unbelievable all night. We were able to hang on there at the end and I knew I had that high line I hadn’t showed it to them all night on the restarts and I wanted to save it until the very end.  I kind of learned that last night as we were in the Nationwide race.  It was a good tool in your tool bag to have there at the end.”
 
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made a valiant effort to get his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS back in Victory Lane.  The team made a gutsy call to take two tires and looked to possibly be on their way to another checkered flag.  However, he was unable to hold off Harvick’s advances and brought home a second-place finish, which is his career-best finish at Darlington Raceway.  His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet SS, finished third, earning his fifth top 10 finish of the season.
 
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS, finished seventh, but remains the series points leader by 1 marker over Matt Kenseth (Toyota).
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) finished fourth and Greg Biffle (Ford) finished fifth to round out the top-five finishers.
 
The series returns to action in two weeks at Richmond International Raceway for another battle under the lights on April 26, 2014.
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
RODNEY CHILDERS, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNING CREW CHIEF
 
KERRY THARP:  We’re going to roll into our post‑race and hear from our winning team tonight at the 65th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500, and winning here at Darlington for the first time in his career is Kevin Harvick, and he drove the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing.  Kevin is the first driver to win from the pole at Darlington since Dale Jarrett did it back in 1997.  Kevin becomes the first double winner of the season, as well, so that’s a big deal.  That’s going to pay dividends here later this fall.  Congratulations to this race team.
 
Certainly you had a fast car from the time we started Friday, had a fast car tonight, led a lot of laps and made that move there at the end.  Just talk about how that all played out.  Certainly you were the class of the field.  The drivers that were in here earlier tonight certainly testified to that.  But just talk about how you had to get up through there.  It wasn’t easy, was it?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  Made it a lot more stressful than we’d have liked it to have been.  You know, honestly, I felt like we did everything right with putting the four tires on.  I didn’t really expect four, five, six of those guys to put on two tires to tell you the truth, but all in all, I think it worked out really good the way the cautions fell, and we were able to just get ‑‑ our car was really good on the launch on restarts tonight and we were able to push the 88 to the lead that one time.
 
I felt that I had a little left in the bag down there in 3 and 4 on the top on the restarts, kind of learned that last night in the Nationwide race.  But all in all, it was a good night and really a great weekend.  Just proud of all my guys for everything that they’ve gone through over the last five or six weeks, and we’ve had cars this fast, and we just have had some things go wrong.  But I think it says a lot about the character of the people and the things that happen within Stewart‑Haas Racing, to have everybody keep their head down and stay focused on what they need to be focused on is kind of like a big test to see if it would implode from inside out, and everybody just kept doing what they’re supposed to do, and everything went really well.
 
KERRY THARP:  Rodney, certainly a big win here, as Kevin alluded to, very, very big to win this race here at Darlington.  Just talk about how things folded out there at the end, cautions came out, cars were spinning out, fluid on the track.  You had to make a call there at the end.  It was the right call. Talk about the thought that went into that.
 
RODNEY CHILDERS:  Yeah, I mean, I thought we had a strong car all weekend, so when it comes down to the end like that, I thought the right thing for us was to put four tires on.  I was sitting there thinking in my head there would be three or four that put two on, and we were right beside the 20 and the 24 on pit road, so I knew that’s what they were going to do.  But I still thought four was the right thing. We got a little bit fortunate there with the caution coming out.  If that wouldn’t have happened we probably wouldn’t have won the race. It’s hard to say.  It’s always easy to go back and think about that stuff and what you should have done and shouldn’t have done.  I think we could have won the race on two tires, and we still won it on four. Really all that goes down to Kevin and his determination at the end of the race and the guys building the strong race car, and like he said, keeping their heads down and just keep preparing for each weekend.
 
Q.  I believe you tried to win here at Darlington on 18 different occasions.  What’s it like to finally reach victory lane here?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  Yeah, this is one of those places that I circle every year I come to Darlington, and most all of us know the history of this particular racetrack and what it means to our sport.  To come here each year and know that now you only have one shot, but to win the Southern 500 and you look at the names and pictures on that trophy that they have out there is something that’s pretty phenomenal to be a part of. It’s the last crown jewel race I guess you could say that I wanted to ‑‑ I told him before the year even started, if we’re only going to win once this year, let’s win at Darlington because this is just the place that you want to race, and I love racing here.  I think it’s like going to Bristol for me, for him here. He’s not as enthused about it as I was.  But all in all, it’s a great place to race and means a lot to our sport.
 
KERRY THARP:  You certainly have completed now all of them, 500, 600, Brickyard, this one tonight, so congratulations.
 
Q.  Rodney, inspections seemed to be a challenge for you guys this weekend.  When you have to kind of tweak on the car to kind of get it through tech, does that mess up any of the setups?  Are you sitting there wondering whether everything you had planned is now kind of out the window?
 
RODNEY CHILDERS:  No.  It was never an issue, really.  I think everybody saw we did have a few problems getting through qualifying inspection. It really just comes down t
o hitting it right across the platform.  It’s been a learning curve for everybody basically, and it seemed to change a little bit from the first time we went through until qualifying, and then of course in qualifying it didn’t hurt the car at all, and then we went back through today and had a similar issue.
 
We got in trouble a little bit because I was in chapel which I thought was kind of weird, but the guys aren’t allowed to mess with the car unless I tell them what to do, and I was in chapel. All in all, we got through there fine.  It’s not an issue and never thought it was going to hurt the car one bit.
 
Q.  Rodney, when you made the four‑tire call, did you have in mind that very likely at this place there were going to be more cautions and more restarts to make up for the four‑tire time?
 
RODNEY CHILDERS:  Originally when I made the call, that’s not what was in my head.  After we left pit road and I saw that many cars in front of us, I thought that was maybe our only shot.  It worked out good for us.  The thought process going in was maybe three cars would take two and we’d be able to drive by them before we got to the end of the race, and we were a little fortunate that things played out the way they did.
 
Q.  And for Kevin, what did you think of that call after the 48 took four and jumped out there to that lead on that restart?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  I’m a four‑tire guy, so I would have probably argued a little bit if he’d have said two tires on the radio.  It’s one of those places where the cars were so ill‑handling tonight as we went into the race.  We never really saw how ill they were going to be in practice because they never really drove like that.  Our car drove good for 20 laps.  You get to lap 12 and 15 and the cars really started to go south pretty quick.  But it was a lot of fun. You could use the whole racetrack top to bottom, and that made it a challenge to figure out where you needed to be and what you needed to do to your car.  But all in all it was a very challenging race and a lot of fun to drive.
 
Q.  I understand that racers in general measure things by how fast the car is and not necessarily the results, and you guys have still had fast cars even though you haven’t been able to close out some of the races, not by your own doing.  Was there ever times over this kind of mini‑slump, I guess, where you guys looked at each other and you were like, geez, if we can’t finish some of these races we’re going to be in trouble long‑term?  What was the conversation like?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  You look at all sports, and people go through ‑‑ I guess the classic example in today’s day and age would be the Indiana Pacers. You’ve seen them go through a slump, and they are imploding within as a team, and as players they’re just absolutely destroying each other.  I think when you look at this team, you look at all the things that have happened, and the same thing could have happened, but everybody has patted each other on the back and said, look at the speed of our race cars and look at the things that we’ve been able to accomplish, and everybody just kept supporting each other.
 
Everybody is frustrated and everybody wanted to finish the deal on weekends where we felt like we could do exactly what we did here today and did at Phoenix, but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way, and you have to be able to put that behind you whether you win or lose.  Monday morning we have to be able to put this win behind us and say, all right, what do we need to do to get better and how do we do that and where do we go and what do we do and where is the weak link.  I’m just proud of all my guys, Rodney for keeping them all together and being a part of it, and seeing it not implode from within is pretty awesome.
 
Q.  You alluded earlier to winning the 500, now you’ve added the Southern 500, you’ve got Daytona.  Can you put into words the mindset of the drive and desire now to chase down a championship to sort of just put the bookend to your career and to your legacy in this sport?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, I’m excited about it, and I think that’s why everybody on this team came here.  We came here to race for wins, to be in a position to where we could contend for a championship, and felt like ‑‑ I really feel like everybody on this team felt like we all bettered ourselves in coming together and being a part of Stewart‑Haas Racing.
 
For us it’s a lot of fun just for the fact that you have so many resources, and it’s almost a challenge to figure out how to use them all.  Gene has put in a major commitment from a financial standpoint, and I think that’s hard to get used to because it’s all about winning.  It’s not about money, it’s not about resources, it’s all about what do you need and how are you going to achieve what you think you should achieve with the people around you.
 
In the end you’re as good as the people around you, and hopefully we can keep getting better.  I feel like we have as an organization and team, we have a lot of room for improvement, and we just have to keep picking it apart one piece at a time.
 
Q.  Kevin, when you think about you’ve won Daytona, Charlotte, the 600, the Brickyard and now here, kind of a NASCAR Slam, what does that mean being able to accomplish all those things in your career, all the way back from being on Ron Hornaday’s couch to doing that, and Rodney, can you talk about the fuel issue and did you almost feel like something bad had to happen tonight to overcome before you could win and that was kind of the obstacle you guys faced tonight?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, I think to be a part of the sport and be able to accomplish the race wins that we’ve been able to be a part of, I just feel lucky to tell you the truth, just to be a part of it.  This is what I used to do for a hobby, and I’m sure Rodney will tell you the same thing, you used to do this as your hobby and pay to do it.  We’re fortunate to be able to do this for a living, but to be able to have celebrated a lot of the race wins, whether it be Indy or Daytona or Charlotte or All‑Star Race or the Southern 500 now is something that some people don’t get to experience at all in their careers, but to celebrate them all is something that’s pretty phenomenal. I just feel lucky.  I’m glad to be here.  I love my job, and looking forward to racing every week.
 
RODNEY CHILDERS:  I echo what Kevin said.  As young as I am in my career, I’ve been really fortunate.  That race in Charlotte for the coke 600, I was lucky it kept raining, and then this year I was lucky that Kevin Harvick wanted me to be his crew chief.  This has been phenomenal for me, and it means a lot. But as far as the fuel issue, it really just came down to the can didn’t plug in right the first time, and once the can doesn’t plug in right the first time, it pretty much becomes a disaster, and panic mode sets in.  It’s one of those deals where we’re a young team, but we made a mistake, and we switched gas men as soon as it happened.  I was like, we’re not giving this away.  We had somebody different the rest of the race and did an excellent job.  But the person that made the mistake I support 100 percent.  We’re still a young team and still learning, and that’s something that we’ve just got to work on.
 
Q.  We see a little more gray on this racetrack every year we come back, four tires won tonight.  Are we getting back to the point at Darlington where four tires is the only call here?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  You’ve got to love it, gray racetracks, you can almost see the sparkle of the rocks coming out in the asphalt.  That’s so exciting. Maybe we need to spread the South Carolina sand on Kansas and Charlotte and all these other racetracks that haven’t aged as
fast as this one.  When you start to see that gray and you start to see the seams and you can see the sparkle of the small rocks in the asphalt, it just makes it fun.  Darlington is what it was supposed to be tonight, the cars slipping and sliding and bouncing off the walls and hard to drive.  That’s how you want every racetrack to be.  You have Atlanta, you have Chicago, you have Richmond, a lot of these racetracks that are wore out.  We need to go in there and maybe we need to take some of this sand and just spread it everywhere and just rub it in with something, I don’t know.
 
Q.  What do you think is more ‑‑ do you consider more exciting, what you’ve already accomplished this season or ‑‑
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  Wait a second, we’re talking about excitement?  Have you seen how excited he gets?  This is it.  This is as excited as he gets. (Laughter.)
 
Q.  What you’ve already accomplished together this season or the potential for what you still have to go the rest of the season?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  I think for me it’s the potential, just seeing what’s forward.  I think you look at all the guys, and I’ve got to know them all pretty well now, so it’s a lot of fun to ‑‑ everybody has put the energy into work hard to be a team, and he pushes a lot of that.  I feel like we have a great relationship, but I feel like all the guys on the team have a great relationship not only with him or myself but with each other, and that’s important.
 
I think as we go through time, there’s still a lot of growing pains that we have to work through as far as structure and things at Stewart‑Haas Racing and in general, just as you look at the four teams and how they flow and who does what and how things work.  There’s a lot of things that still need to be worked on, but even on a good team.  If you’re sitting on your hands, you’re getting ready to get passed because this is a competitive garage, and there’s a lot of competitive people that push things to the point where they get themselves into victory lane.
 
RODNEY CHILDERS:  You know, for me everybody thinks I don’t get excited.  I was as excited as anybody out there on that pit box.  10 minutes after the race I’m already thinking about everything that we did wrong.  There’s stuff that we should have done better. Like he said, we’ve got a lot to learn and a lot to get better at, but like I said at Phoenix, I thought the day I walked in there it was going to be June or July before we could win a race, and we’re sitting here now, and without mechanical issues we could have won two or three races, maybe four races, maybe five races.  We’ve had good cars every week.
 
But that’s part of the learning process, and like he said, we’ve had each other’s backs through all of it.  There’s been other weeks that were tougher than others.  But the thing that’s so great about the team so far is I struggled really bad one week, I’ll say Bristol I struggled to get over.  It was something that we’ve always run good there, and that’s one of the ones I always wanted, and it ended up being a night race at Bristol and I wanted it pretty bad, and it took me until Wednesday to get over it, which is unacceptable.  We need to put things behind us and move on.
 
Everybody patted me on the back, and we’ve done that every week.  It’s been a lot of fun.
 
Q.  Rodney, barring a tsunami or something, you guys are in the Chase.  I know you still want to win every week, but how does that change what you can do?  Can you experiment more, test differently, et cetera?  Big changes there or not?
 
RODNEY CHILDERS:  I talked to Clair about this in victory lane.  For me it just doesn’t work that way, and anybody that knows me, if we’re not the fastest car in practice, I’m not happy.  And if we don’t sit on the pole, I’m not happy, and if we don’t win the race, I’m not happy.  We’ve just got to keep working to make our team better, and I think the way we’ve got to make our team better is to keep bringing good cars and keep trying to win races. We’ve got some things that we need to get better as far as an organization, but all in all, I think we’re just going to keep doing the things that we’ve been doing and focusing on what we can focus on and keep moving forward.
 
Q.  Kevin, you talked about the resources that Gene brings to the table.  On Monday he’s going to hold a press conference to talk about the Formula 1 reasons that he’s been granted, and that obviously is likewise a huge commitment in terms of time, resources and money.  What sort of effect do you think that’s going to have on the Cup program?
 
KEVIN HARVICK:  I have no idea.  Obviously I think when you look at the things that it takes to ‑‑ I shouldn’t even comment because I don’t even know what it takes to start or where you even start to build a Formula 1 team.  I guess we’ll have a great carbon fiber shop.  That’s for sure, so that’ll be a good thing.  But all in all, I think Gene loves racing, and I’ve learned that.  He’s one of those guys that he has very few hobbies, and I’m still getting to know Gene and the people around him, but as I’ve gone through time, Gene likes to win races, Gene likes to be at the racetrack.  He loves the challenge of doing things that other people don’t do, and he’s fortunate to be in a position financially to experience those things, and I’m excited to see how it all unfolds. I guess we’ll see what his plans are, and I’m excited to be watching it and see what it all ‑‑ how it all takes place.
 
Q.  Rodney, you guys have had I would think kind of crazy things happen to you.  Were they all just freak things, or was there anything that you felt was kind of a quality control thing on you guys’ end?
 
RODNEY CHILDERS:  I think no matter what the situation, you could have done it better.  We had a hub failure at Vegas, and it really comes down to some of it being a new team and not kind of going through the processes of what hub should we be running and stuff like that. Every single thing you learn from it, and it’s stuff you could have done different.  None of it was really one person’s fault.  We just had some really weird stuff happen.  But we’ve took measures to make sure that it doesn’t happen again, and that’ll pay dividends later in the season.
 
KERRY THARP:  Congratulations to the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet team, Kevin Harvick, crew chief Rodney Childers and Stewart‑Haas Racing.  Enjoy the week off.
 
 
 DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 8TH – TOP FINISHING ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CONTENDER
 
KERRY THARP:  Let’s roll right into our post‑race for tonight’s 65th annual Bojangles Southern 500 here at Darlington Raceway, and what a race it was.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins us.  He’s our race runner‑up, your best career finish here at Darlington, so close to getting that win here tonight.  Just talk about how things unfolded for you.
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, that was ‑‑ we really weren’t a top‑two car, we were probably the third best car, fourth best car, depending on where Jimmie and Jeff Gordon were.  They were pretty good, a little better than us most of the time.  But the 4 was the best car I thought.  Jeff was pretty good.
 
We just, you know, got some good restarts at the end.  The outside line was real bad about spinning the tires, and Jimmie hadn’t been up there and didn’t really know that, so he chose the outside on them restarts and I knew I had a great shot at getting the lead from him.  We got going, he spun his t
ires real bad, the 4 got to pushing me a little bit and we got the lead, and that felt pretty good leading the race.
 
But the 4 just had new tires.  We had 30‑something laps on our left, and it just wasn’t going to get the job done with him right there on us.
 
I’m going to probably wished I would have run the top in 3 and 4 coming to the white and made him try to pass us on the bottom, but I’m pretty sure he was going to get around us somehow.
 
Q.  Dale, you’ve had such a hate‑love relationship with this place, a career best second place finish at what you’ve called one of your toughest tracks.  What does that mean to you?
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  It’s a little disappointing to come that close because I know I don’t really run that well here and the opportunities to win are going to be very few compared to other tracks.  It hurts a little bit to come that close because we worked so hard to try to win races.  Running second is great but nobody is going to really remember that.  But we’re proud of it.  We’re proud of it.  And Steve, I know he’s very proud.  They did a great job giving me a really good car to be able to run that well here.  The car was phenomenal.  Really proud of those guys’ effort.  Even though they know where my shortcomings are, they worked their guts out to try to get us the best.
 
Sometimes if I admittedly say this isn’t my best track, it’s easy to sort of back off, but those guys really push the pedal and give me everything I can to give me the best chance to finish as best I can.  They did that tonight.  That was a great example of that.
 
Q.  Somebody just pointed out that the guys who finished 42nd and 43rd last week finished first and second in this race.  That’s a good indicator of the highs and lows you talked about this week.  Is your team’s performance this week kind of an indicator for you of how good the season is going even though you didn’t get the win?
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Oh, sure.  If you scratch Texas off the map, that’s how good we are.  We were running that good the first two or three races.  I think this is as good as this team has ever been.  We’ve got areas where we can probably get a little better, but we’re really right there.  The 4, I saw ‑‑ the performance of the 4 car, I saw that coming because I know how good Rodney is and I know how good Kevin is, and pairing them together, that’s one of the best pairings in the garage next to this guy sitting next to me and Chad.  That’s going to really be a tough combination to battle all year. They’re going to win more races.
 
But our team, man, I’m proud and I’m happy where I’m at.  These guys are giving me some great stuff.  We’ve really learned each other, and they know they’re giving me some really good cars because they know my habits and what I’m looking for.
 
KERRY THARP:  Jimmie Johnson has joined us, as well.  Jimmie was our third‑place finisher tonight, and Jimmie drives the No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  Talk about your run.  Certainly right on the cusp of getting that win, and talk about how things went.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, just very happy to finish there in the top three.  I thought we had a shot at a win.  I think if things stayed green after our last pit stop, we had a good chance at it, good shot at it.  I’m happy with Chad’s decision to go with two, and there were enough cars that took two that it gave us a little bit of a cushion, maybe enough of a cushion to make it four or five laps there.
 
Solid performance, granted we struggled in qualifying.  We struggled the first run or two of the race, but we got the car turning for me and came to life and really did it the old‑fashioned way and kind of drove up through the field before the last pit stop, so proud of the hard work.
 
KERRY THARP:  Our top Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate finished eighth tonight, and that is Kyle Larson.  Kyle drives the No. 42 Target Chevrolet.  Kyle, talk about your trip around Darlington here tonight.
 
KYLE LARSON:  Yeah, just really proud of my Target Chip Ganassi team for how hard they had to work after I got into the wall yesterday and pulled the backup car out.  The backup car was fast in the first laps made.  I was really confident going into tonight.  I started the race off so loose and just had to hang on for a couple runs and Shine got the car tightened up the car for me and we were able to run I thought top‑10 or ‑12 speeds.  Finally got up there and then I got in the wall a couple times and had to pull the fenders back out and drive back up there.  We had four tires at the end when a lot of people had two, so I was pretty excited about that.  The restarts just didn’t really work out for me that well.  I was 12th the first restart and got to 10th and got to 8th.  I finally had the restart in that last on in 8th, I was going to be in a good spot but we just stacked up on the top.  Still ended up 8th, but all in all it was a good Saturday for us.  Friday was terrible, but my team worked hard.
 
Q.  Dale and Jimmie, you guys remember what this place was like before the repave.  We see this track get a little grayer every year.  Is that old Darlington coming back?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I think it’s getting closer.  It’s not all the way there, but it’s quickly on its way.  It’s a lot of fun having a lot of options.  I don’t know why we can run so much lower on the racetrack.  Back with the old surface, you wouldn’t dare get on the apron area, and heck, I don’t think I ran up in the groove but a handful of laps today.  I was down on the flat the majority of the race.  The asphalt is aging but it’s driving different, and I assume it’s just the cars and how much more downforce we have now.  But it is a lot of fun out there.
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, it’s definitely getting slicker.  I don’t know about managing tires.  I tried to manage tires and it didn’t seem to make any difference.  They built a pretty damned good tire.
 
Q.  It seems like we’re having a lot more of these late race cautions and green‑white‑checkereds this year compared to even recent years.  Is there something with this new championship format or the tracks we’ve gone to so far that makes y’all’s driving style more aggressive and kind of precludes the green‑white‑checkereds?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I don’t know what brought out the caution with 10 to go or nine to go or whatever it was, but once we get the first caution, cautions breed cautions.  I assume there’s a lot of pent‑up anger out there through 495 miles of racing, and when a guy has got four fires on him, I’m sure it was pretty aggressive in the middle of the pack and that’s what caused the other two cautions.
 
Q.  Dale and Jimmie, you guys didn’t have great qualifying.  Was today kind of ‑‑ how do you go from where you were in qualifying to finishing top three?
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I felt like my car was great in race trim.  I’m not a great qualifier but I knew we had good speed in race trim, so I wasn’t too worried about it for some reason in qualifying.  There are some guys that can really put some stuff together.  The petty cars, man, they qualify out of nowhere, don’t race as well, but they definitely qualify pretty impressively.  We just didn’t hit on it yet.  We’ll figure it out.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Kind of the same thing.  Qualifying is very important, but with a 500‑mile race it’s not the end of the world.  I think with the 20 car in the years of us making fun of him and poor qualifying efforts and good runs, I’ve be
en in that category for most of my career, too, with mediocre qualifying runs and good finishes.  That’s the good thing with the Cup Series.  You get a lot of chances to pit your car and work on it and also make up spots on the track.
 
Q.  Jimmie, how do you view Harvick right now because he’s obviously won two races but he’s been inconsistent even though he’s had fast cars? He hasn’t been able to finish some races through no fault of his own.  Even though all that was going on, do you still view him as one of the top threats each week?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I definitely think he has been the fastest car all year long.  You look at the races that he didn’t finish Vegas, Texas, and some tracks where they’ve been the fastest car and had issues. I think that Rodney and Kevin both, they’ve really been on it to start the season, and I think we all have been chasing them, honestly.
 
Q.  Jimmie and Dale, we hit the off weekend now coming up.  Where do you assess where you guys are at this point, and just what do you have to do moving forward the next few weeks after this break?
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I think we’re really got some great performance for our team.  We just need to look at our competition, try to understand what we’re seeing and where there are some areas where we can improve.  There are some spots where we can improve and get better, but we run second at one of our worst tracks tonight, so our performance is there.  We’ve got the cars ‑‑ we seem to be on the leading edge of trying to learn these new rules and trying to understand what’s going on.  A lot of guys middle of the pack are scrambling with their set ups.  We seem to be on a path and setting a pattern with what we’re doing, and it seems to be working.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  For us it’s just unloading closer.  We seem to find a way come race time to get a good finish and honestly have a shot to win some races.  But showing up at the track a little bit closer is key for us.  We’re really just trying to get a grasp on these rules, and we go home with what we’ve learned from a previous race, bring a new mousetrap, and unfortunately we’ve had to continue to work on it each week.  That’s really our goal is to show up closer.
 
Q.  Dale, how might the finish have been different if the last caution had not come out?
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I don’t know.  Everybody was telling me that I had a 15‑car‑length lead, and I don’t want to hear about that.  I’m going to hear about it all day tomorrow, man; you almost won it.  They said we had it won with a 15‑car‑length lead coming into that last white flag when the caution come out on the back straightaway.  But I don’t know how good Kevin was.  He was pretty fast.  I think he was going to drive the shit out of it and try to get there.  I was trying not to look in the mirror, just try to run as hard as I could.  I didn’t know how much speed the car had, we were on two tires, and it was late in the night.  You want to drive the car as hard as you can without pushing to drive to the fronts, and we just were running some laps a lot different than we’d been running all night, really.  But feels good to be close.
 
KERRY THARP:  Guys, thank you very much for putting on a great show this weekend here at Darlington.  Have a good week off.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BOJANGLES SOUTHERN 500
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
APRIL 12, 2014
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
AN EVENTFUL RACE BUT LETS START WITH THOSE LAST TWO RESTARTS STARTING WITH THE ONE WHERE YOU SHOVED DALE EARNHARDT, JR. OUT THERE AND THEN WERE TRYING TO CHASE THOSE GUYS DOWN:
“It was just one of those deals where the strategy was going to be hard to overcome with the track position without those green-white-checkers there at the end.  The cautions all lined out and this Budweiser Chevrolet was unbelievable all night. We were able to hang on there at the end and I knew I had that high line I hadn’t showed it to them all night on the restarts and I wanted to save it until the very end.  I kind of learned that last night as we were in the Nationwide race.  It was a good tool in your tool bag to have there at the end.”
 
DID YOU HAVE ANY POINTS OF NERVOUSNESS THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT?
“After the last several weeks were nervous every lap.  It’s one of those deals where we have had a lot of crazy things happen.  These guys have just kept their head down and known that we have had really fast race cars over the last several weeks.  Tonight we were able to put a whole race together.  Great night for us.”
 
PRETTY SURE WE CAN SAY AS A TWO TIME WINNER IN 2014 YOU ARE LOCKED INTO THIS YEAR’S CHASE HOW DOES THAT FEEL?
“It feels great.  It’s allowed us with the way the points system is to go for wins and not have to worry about the bad weeks too much.  Really proud for these guys and looking forward to the last 10.”
 
HOW BIG OF A DEAL IS IT TO WIN AT DARLINGTON?
“This is the one race I told Rodney (Childers, crew chief) I wanted to win.  We were able to put it all together, but this is the Southern 500, this is as big as it gets in NASCAR racing.”
 
THIS WAS A BIG WIN FOR SO MANY REASONS. YOU WON AT PHOENIX AND YOU’VE HAD NOTHING BUT BAD LUCK. TO WIN THE SOUTHERN 500; AND THIS WAS A SHOOTOUT.  TALK ABOUT THE WIN:
“Yeah, the first thing I want to do is to thank everybody on this Budweiser Chevrolet. Everybody who is a part of this car. Hendrick engines have been great all year. These guys on the No. 4 team and everybody who puts this car on the race track every weekend. We had to overcome a lot in these past several weeks, but we’ve had really fast cars. So, we just kept our heads down and did what we had to do.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR STRATEGY AND YOUR FRAME OF MIND WITH THOSE LAST COUPLE OF LAPS AND THE SHOOTOUT:
“Well, I needed those green-white-checkers. The last one is probably the one I needed the most, just for the fact that I was able to get really good re-starts and was able to time the restarts really well. Those guys had older tires and were spinning the tires. I knew if I could make it through (Turns) 1 and 2, close to the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), I knew I had the top line there and they were on the bottom. So it was a good night, man! This is the Southern 500!”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND
THE LAST FEW LAPS TELL US ABOUT THEM:
“Just didn’t have enough tires you know.  (Kevin) Harvick had the best car and the best tires at the end.  It was real hard to hold him off.  I should have probably ran the top down there in (Turns) 3 and 4 and made him go around the bottom, but I think he was going to get us anyway and we were going to try.  A great run, good job by my team, this isn’t one of my best tracks so my team gave me a great car.  I’ve got to give them a lot of credit.”
 
YOU TOOK THE BOTTOM, HE HAD FRESHER TIRES. DID YU STILL THINK THAT MIGHT GIVE YOU THAT SHOT?
“No, he (Kevin Harvick) had the best car and the best tires. I wasn’t looking in the mirror so I couldn’t really tell where anybody was. But they just said he was coming. So, I maybe should have run the top there in (turns) 3 and 4 coming to the white (flag) and made him work the bottom to get around us. We had a great car. This is the best finish I’ve had here. I don’t really run that great here, so the guys had to prepare a really good car for us to run that well. I’ve got to give the National Guard team a lot of credit.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
WILD FINISH THERE TELL US ABOUT YOUR LAST FEW LAPS AS YOU TRIED TO RACE FOR THE WIN TONIGHT:
“Things were really going our way there when we took two tires and got the restart under control and had a good lead there.  Then the caution came out and at that point I knew that us on two tires we were probably in big trouble and the No. 4 had worked his way up through there and did a great job, it seemed like the fastest car all night long.  We had to gamble to kind of take a shot at getting a win and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) played it right and we were in the right position, but just got two cautions there at the end that kept us from getting to Victory Lane.”
 
A LITTLE BIT OF SHOVING ON THE RESTARTS IS THAT JUST DARLINGTON?
“Yeah the guys on two tires just couldn’t accelerate and I think the No. 4 helped the No. 88 quite a bit getting him going.  Junior asked on the radio if I would give him a shove and I said ‘yeah man no problem’ so I pushed him as hard as I could down the front and got him by the No. 4, but those four tires got back by.”
 
INCREDIBLE EFFORT ON WHAT YOU DID. WHEN YOU WERE LEADING, YOU CHOSE THE OUTSIDE RESTART. TELL ME ABOUT THAT DECISION
“First and foremost, I’m just thankful that my guys never quit working and never stopped trying. We didn’t qualify well and really the first quarter of the race, the car was really far off.  Chad (crew chief, Knaus) took big swings at this car and got this Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevy flying. It was really competitive. The restart at the end, I was talking to the guys on the radio and they said the outside was kind of the place to be. I hadn’t seen the front all night long and I was talking to Junior as I got out of the car and he said that was a bad move. And then certainly the push that the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) got from the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) got him by me. But before that, we had two or three (laps) to go and I had a nice lead and I thought it was going to come our way, but it just didn’t work out.”
 
IF YOU WERE TO DO IT OVER, WOULD YOU HAVE TAKEN THE TWO TIRES, AND HAVE STILL CHOSEN THE OUTSIDE?
“Yeah, if it was two and my outside worked on that first one, and I got away from everybody, if it had stayed green there, I think we were in great shape.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 7TH
YOU ARE STILL LEADING THE POINTS HERE AS YOU COME OFF THIS RACE HERE AT DARLINGTON TELL US ABOUT TONIGHT:
“We had a really strong race car and everything was going really well.  Kevin (Harvick) definitely that number one pit stall and he was fast too, but I thought we were a little bit better than him on certain runs.  There towards the end I don’t know we just kind of started fading.  I got into the wall a little bit and got the right side flattened up a little bit and then from there our night just went downhill.  We just made some mistakes and got behind.  We were the last car on two tires and then got ate up on those restarts.  Actually that last one wasn’t bad to come home seventh.  I thought it was going to be a lot worse than that.  Good to be leading the points I feel like a missed opportunity, but another great race car and I’m happy about that.”
 
ON THE RACE:
“There towards the end, we just kind of started fading. I got into the wall a little bit and got the right-side flattened up a little bit and then from there I just went downhill. We just made some mistakes and got behind and were the last car on two tires and t
hen got eaten up on those re-starts. But actually that last one wasn’t bad to come home seventh. I thought it was going to be a lot worse than that. So, it’s good to be leading the points. I feel like I missed an opportunity, but this is another great race car and I’m happy about that.”
 
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 CERTAINTEED/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – HIT THE WALL ON LAP 201
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I hit the wall like 10 laps before and I guess the right-front tire just went down.  Kind of rode the wall in (Turns) 3 and 4 and I guess I was just in denial, I guess I didn’t realize the right-front tire was down.  It felt fine going down the front stretch and let go it killed Turn 1.  A lot of damage, the guys are going to try to fix it.”
 
HOW WAS THE RACE TRACK BEFORE YOU HIT THE WALL?
“When the sun went down I think it freed up.  Since it’s been dark it kind of stabilized I don’t think it changed a whole lot since the sun went down.”

CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: First Victory for New Corvette C7.R
Garcia, Magnussen dominate street race; Gavin, Milner take third-place GTLM finish
 
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 12, 2014) – Corvette Racing won its first race with the new Chevrolet Corvette C7.R on Saturday at Long Beach as Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen dominated in their No. 3 Corvette to take the GT Le Mans class of the Patrón Sports Car Showcase. The duo led all but one lap and took the checkered flag by 5.408 seconds in the third round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
 
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed third in class in their No. 4 Corvette C7.R. It was the fourth time Corvette Racing placed both of its entries on the podium at Long Beach since 2007.
 
“Congratulations to Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and the No. 3 Corvette C7.R team on scoring the win today here at Long Beach,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “It was the first win for the Corvette C7.R and a great day. It started with a great qualifying run by Jan to put the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R on the pole, which was a huge advantage in a short, 100-minute sprint race. Antonio did a great job getting a nice lead; the Corvette Racing team had a great pit stop and Jan took it home for the win. It was also great to see Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner put the No. 4 Corvette C7.R also on the podium. Just a tremendous effort for Corvette Racing.”
 
Saturday’s victory was the fifth at Long Beach for Corvette Racing. Magnussen qualified on pole position Friday, and Garcia led the entirety of his 41-minute stint – the result of a great start that allowed him to put two slower prototypes between himself and the rest of the class. His lead grew as much as seven seconds before handing off to Magnussen.
 
The Dane’s biggest advantage was 12 seconds during his stint as he won at Long Beach for the second time; Garcia won his first Long Beach race.
 
The No. 4 Corvette gained one position from its fourth-place starting spot. Gavin and the two competing cars in front of him were balked by the slow prototype that Garcia managed to get around on the opening lap. Gavin also fought high tire pressures but still had the fastest race lap in class for most of his stint.
 
After the driver change to Milner, the young American whittled down the gap to second place from three seconds to a half-second halfway through his stint. He ended the race just 0.273 seconds shy of the runner-up spot. Milner also set the fastest GTLM race lap at 1:18.954 (89.733 mph).
 
The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship takes place at Laguna Seca from May 3-4.
 
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It’s been a really good race for us. We couldn’t expect more. We saw yesterday that we were very fast. I think 50 percent of the race was done by Jan yesterday in qualifying. Today he stayed away from the walls but yesterday he was really, really close to them! That pole position made a big difference. I knew that the race was all about Turn 1 and the first three laps. I was probably a bit on the high side of being aggressive on the opening laps because I knew the prototypes were struggling to warm their tires. I made it through at Turn 1, and that was mainly it for the race. That risk made the rest of the race a little more relaxing. Taking the first victory for the Corvette C7.R is very big for us. We have been battling really hard from the beginning. All the Corvette Racing and Chevrolet guys have worked really hard throughout the offseason and into this year. A big thanks to them.”
 
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was an important victory for the team and the guys who have worked so hard to get the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R ready for the season. The whole time we have had a fast car but didn’t make the most of it. We had some reliability issues at Daytona and Sebring, so it’s really nice that we can have a weekend like this with pole position and a win by leading from start to finish. I couldn’t be happier for Antonio and myself, and for all the guys on the team. They really deserve it. A big thanks to Antonio. He did all the hard work and got a huge lead. That last hour for me was like a holiday for me! I just drove around making sure I didn’t make any mistakes and stay off the wall.”
 
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was a great result for Corvette Racing today. To get both cars on the podium and to get the first win for the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is fantastic. It was a little frustrating for myself getting caught up behind one of the prototypes and battling with the BMWs. I was also struggling with high tire pressures for some reason. We just missed that all weekend. I don’t know why but maybe we need to look at the systems we have. We kept the car in the race. Tommy got in and did a sterling job and got us right up behind the BMW but I think it was a bit too much to do to get by that car. It seemed that where we were quick, they weren’t so good but then they were fast in some key spots. Tommy did all he could and drove extremely well. But the main thing for both cars is that we got fantastic results for points and the first win for the Corvette C7.R. It’s a fantastic day for Corvette Racing.”
 
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was a great day for Corvette Racing. You could really see how strategy plays a part in tire wear and things like that. Great job to Antonio and Jan. They had a great race and got ahead of that one LMP car and could cruise. Our class has always been super-competitive, and it’s fun to see it all play out with pit stops and strategy. It was a great day of racing here at Long Beach.”
 
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“What a fantastic race for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing today at Long Beach! The team’s strategy played out perfectly, and Antonio and Jan had mistake-free stints. Having Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin join them on the podium makes this a very rewarding day for the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R program. Rest assured, we will work to capitalize on this momentum in our continued push for the first championship in the new TUDOR series.”
 

Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Verizon IndyCar Series
Qualifying Recap
Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets of Long Beach, California
 
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 12, 2014) Sebastien Bourdais carried the banner for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 in Firestone Fast Six qualifying for the Grand Prix of Long Beach.  Behind the wheel of the No. 11 Mistic KV SH Racing Chevrolet , the three- time Long Beach winner will start third on Sunday in Round Two of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule.
 
Also posting top-10 qualifying times were Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet  – seventh, and Helio Castroneves, No. 3 AAA of Southern California Team Penske Chevrolet – ninth.
 
Ryan Hunter-Reay (Honda) was the pole winner.
 
The Grand Prix of Long Beach Indy is scheduled to start Sunday, April 13, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. PT/4:00 p.m. ET with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 209 and www.indycar.com. Race timing and scoring can also be found on

KEVIN HARVICK’S CHEVROLET SS WILL LEAD THE FIELD TO GREEN AT DARLINGTON
HARVICK EARNS HIS FIRST CAREER POLE AWARD AT ‘THE LADY IN BLACK’
 
DARLINGTON, SC – For the second consecutive week a Chevrolet SS driver will lead the field down to the green flag for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.  Kevin Harvick put his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS on the pole for Saturday night’s Bojangles Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint at Darlington Raceway.  He circled the 1.33-mile track with a fast lap of 26.802 seconds, 183.479 mph. It marked Harvick’s first pole at the track dubbed ‘Too Tough to Tame’ and seventh career pole in the sport.
 
The afternoon session at Darlington followed the new 2014 knockout qualifying format for intermediate sized tracks, which consisted of one 25-minute session, one 10-minute session, and a final five-minute session for the fastest 12 cars.  Five Chevrolet SS drivers earned spots in the top 12 starting positions for the 367-lap race.
 
“I was on the bottom all day in practice and Rodney (Childers, crew chief) felt like in order to get the pole you were going to need to run the top after we ran our first run, Harvick said following the qualifying session.  “That is the driver in him that is why he is good to have sitting there watching because he knows what is going on and he can relay.  Also having Tim Fedewa up on top as former drivers knowing what is going on to relay what you need to do.  We moved up and picked up in the second one felt like I didn’t roll through there fast enough and in the last one felt like I rolled through there pretty good.  It all worked out.  Knockout qualifying paid off for us today.  We were able to save the best for last.”
 
Jamie McMurray drove his No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet SS into the sixth qualifying position.  Ryan Newman who was fastest in the final practice session will start the Bojangles Southern 500 from the seventh starting position in the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS.  Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS, a seven-time winner at ‘The Lady in Black’ qualified in the ninth position rounding out the Chevrolet power in the top-10.
 
Joey Logano (Ford) qualified 2nd, Aric Almirola (Ford) qualified 3rd, Marcos Ambrose (Ford) qualified 4th, and Brad Keselowski (Ford) qualified 5th to round out the top five starting spots.
 
Saturday night’s race will air on FOX beginning at 6:30 pm ET. The Bojangles Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race will be 367 laps making up 501.3 miles.
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
 
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN HERE AT DARLINGTON?
“This is one of those I guess what we would refer to as a crown jewel race.  The one that is not sitting in our trophy case, so not only that but it’s just Darlington and this is what NASCAR racing is all about.  To win here would mean a lot.  Hopefully we can keep it together for 500 miles.  I believe we have a really fast car and everything has gone well all weekend.”
 
DOES THIS QUALIFYING FORMAT WILL THAT LEAD TO MORE POLES FOR YOU THAN THE OLD FORMAT WOULD HAVE?
“I think we just have faster cars to drive in qualifying.  They do a good job of detailing out the race cars. Our cars always have speed and the first four weeks we didn’t do a very good job on Friday and I think over the last four weeks we have done a lot better job.  I think you just have faster race cars on qualifying day.”
 
YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF CRAZY THINGS HAPPEN TO YOUR CAR ON RACE DAYS ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT IT?  ARE YOU FRUSTRATED? WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET?
“The cars are running really good.  The guys are doing what they are supposed to do.  We have been fast every week.  You just have to battle through it.  There is nothing that you can change about it.  I think if we were in the previous points format you would probably be in a whole lot worse mood about it.  But since we have already won and obviously we feel like we have given away some wins with the failures, but you just keep going about your business.  I think today is good medicine for everybody and proof that everybody just works week to week on what they need to work on and last week is over.”
 
FOR THAT GOOD LAP DID YOU CHANGE YOUR LINE THROUGH TURNS THREE AND FOUR? HOW MUCH CAN YOU CHANGE YOUR LINE?
“I was on the bottom all day in practice and Rodney (Childers, crew chief) felt like in order to get the pole you were going to need to run the top after we ran our first run.  That is the driver in him that is why he is good to have sitting there watching because he knows what is going on and he can relay.  Also having Tim Fedewa up on top as former drivers knowing what is going on to relay what you need to do.  We moved up and picked up in the second one felt like I didn’t roll through there fast enough and in the last one felt like I rolled through there pretty good.  It all worked out.  Knockout qualifying paid off for us today.  We were able to save the best for last.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BOJANGLES SOUTHERN 500
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 11, 2014
 
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and discussed his progress so far in his rookie season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
YOU HAVE A NEW SPONSOR ON THE QUARTER PANEL THIS WEEKEND TALK ABOUT THAT AND THEN TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGES THAT DARLINGTON BRINGS PARTICULARLY FOR A YOUNG DRIVER LIKE YOURSELF:
“It’s nice to have one of Target’s partner’s on the quarter panel this week.  P3 by Kraft it’s this little snack with meat, cheese and nuts.  It’s nice to get a little snack in during this long day today that we are having.
 
“As far as Darlington goes definitely the toughest track we go to I think.  Both ends are so different, (turns) 1 and 2 is a lot faster corner and then the exit slows up a lot.  I drilled the wall off Turn 2 earlier today, as well as a couple of people did.  We had to get a back-up car out.  I’m proud of my Target guys for working really quick to get us back out there in first practice and preparing a really good back-up car.  We fired off and were just a little bit slower than our primary, but they worked on it some and felt like we were really good in second practice.  We made a couple of long runs then our mock (qualifying) runs were decent.  I need to get better to just get around the track faster.  I feel like the car handles okay.  I just have to figure out some things.  It’s a little bumpy off (turn) 2 so that is what’s tricky and then loose off (turn) 4.  So I guess it’s just that both ends are way different so just got to figure it out.”
 
HOW MUCH OF THIS TRACK IS ABOUT JUST FEEL THAT THE DRIVER GETS WHEN HE IS IN THE CAR AND IS THIS TRACK PROBABLY AS CLOSE TO WHERE YOU REALLY OPERATE ON THE EDGE COMPARED TO ANY OTHER PLACE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN?
“It’s definitely on edge.  I would say more than the rest of the tracks we run on.  Just because you run lap one on the wall and at some point you are going to get into it.  Each lap, at least in the Cup car, I feel like I’m going to hit it.  It’s just like I said (turns) 1 and 2 is just really fast and 3 and 4 is a little bit more of a normal corner, but you feel like you are going to get into the wall in the center of the corner.  Just a tricky track and each lap you run your tires get a little worse.  The car handles differently and it gets a little frustrating, but it was good in final practice to figure out some things that helped my car turn better off of (turn) 2, because that is where I’ve been struggling mostly.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE NOTION OF HAVING SOMEONE WHO IS EVEN YOUNGER THAN YOU BE SUCCESSFUL IN CHASE ELLIOTT?  DO YOU FORESEE A KYLE LARSON AND CHASE ELLIOTT RIVALRY THAT COULD LAST MANY YEARS?
“Yeah, I guess.  I don’t even call me and Kyle (Busch) a rivalry we are just racing each other each week and want to beat each other.  It’s not like a bad rivalry or anything like that.  I mean Chase (Elliott) does an amazing job in a race car.  He has been quick every race so far this season.  He seems like he gets better and better each week.  He is going to win a couple of more times this year and hopefully with us both being young we are going to be racing and battling each other for the rest of our careers.  Hopefully we will be doing it up front in the Cup series.  He is with a great organization over there with Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports.  I’ve got good stuff over at Chip Ganassi Racing too so hopefully we will be duking it out for a long time.”
 
YOU LIKE THE HIGH SIDE IT SEEMS TO BE KIND OF AN INSTINCT FROM YOUR SPRINT CAR DAYS WITH THE CUSHION AND THAT SORT OF THING.  DOES DARLINGTON SPECIFICALLY GIVE YOU A PAUSE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT KIND OF HAS BEEN YOUR NORMAL STYLE OF RUNNING UP HIGH?
“I definitely think more about it here just because you are carrying so much speed up to the wall.  Most of the other tracks the entry is pretty wide and you can ease your way up to the wall, where here you are hauling butt up to the wall.  The wall here is not very smooth either.  It comes out and does all sorts of different things. It will reach up and grab you quick and really can tear up your car if you get into it. Where other tracks I feel like you can nudge it and it is okay.  I think maybe in the Nationwide car you can do that here, but in the Cup car I feel like it’s going to tear up your right-front if you do that.  It’s a long race and my goal is definitely to try to stay out of the wall as long as possible.  I know I will probably get into it at some point, but hopefully it’s in the later part of the race.”
 
AFTER SEVEN RACES IF YOU COULD JUST ASSESS YOUR SEASON WITH THE TEAM, YOUR CONFIDENCE, WHAT THE TEAM IS DOING GOOD, BAD AND THINGS LIKE THAT?
“We have been good every week.  Every week I feel like we have had great speed.  Our car has been in the top 10 I feel like most races.  Martinsville was probably our worst one and that’s a lot of it to do with me.  I think we have been doing a great job.  The first couple of races we made some mistakes, but now it seems like we have kind of got some momentum and figuring things out and the races have been going smoother for us.  We have been getting solid finishes so just have to keep that little streak going and just be consistent.  So far there have been a lot of winners so you have to put yourself in position for later in the season if the 16 fill up and you don’t have a win.  I feel like we should get a win here shortly.”
 
HOW CLOSELY DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROOKIE STANDINGS?
“My goal was always to win the Rookie-of-the-Year so it hasn’t changed yet.  We have put ourselves in position to win that so far.  I pay attention to the rookie points and right now we are leading it.  I definitely pay attention to where Austin (Dillon) is at as well as Justin Allgaier and the other rookies just because I want to win that bad, so just working hard to do that.  Austin is really good at finishing races and being consistent in getting his car better throughout each run so it makes me work hard to do that also.”
 
WILL COMPETING IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE TONIGHT HELP YOU FOR THE CUP RACE TOMORROW NIGHT?
“I definitely think the Nationwide race will help me more tonight than it has at the other races just because this track is so difficult.  You drive the track pretty similar in both Nationwide and Cup so I think however many laps the race is tonight should help me and help me figure out some different lines and stuff.  The track is going to have a lot of rubber on it by the time we get out for the Nationwide race.  It’s going to get trickier and trickier, so I think it’s going to help me a lot tonight.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE SUCCESS THIS YEAR YOUR TEAM HAS REALLY BEEN DOING WELL. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE THIS YEAR?
“I just think it’s a combination of a lot of things.  I think everybody at Target Chip Ganassi Racing has built great cars for myself and Jamie (McMurray).  Jamie has a new crew chief, I’m new there in the No. 42 car and I just think the chemistry over there is really good right now.  Jamie and I work really well together.  We can talk to each other very easily.  We have been talking a lot this week just because it is a difficult track.  The crew chiefs and engineers work really hard to make our cars better.  I just think everybody is getting along really well and gelling and that pays off.”
 
HOW TOUGH IS THIS TRACK COMPARED TO OTHER TRACKS ON THE CIRCUIT?
“It’s the toughest track we go to I think.  There are other really
tough tracks, but this one is tough in its own way.  The wall reaches out and grabs you really quick here.  We got into the wall pretty hard off (Turn) 2 and decided to get the back-up out.  They said they probably could have fixed that one, but it wouldn’t have been right for the second practice and stuff.  We decided to get the back-up out.  They said it was just as good as our primary so I had the same amount of confidence after I wrecked in first practice to when I got in the back-up car.  Just hats off to my guys for working quick to get me back out there to get me as many laps as I could.”
 

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – HIT THE WALL DURING THE FIRST PRACTICE SESSION AND EARNED HIS FIRST NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES DARLINGTON STRIPE:
“Well, Kyle (Larson) came over and asked, ‘where did you hit’? I said off Turn 2. He said, me too.  I said did you try you try to come off the wall and make it turn? He said exact same thing. So we are just learning, I guess. You get really tight. I felt good into (Turn) 1, and then through the middle, I get tight late around the corner, it just carries speed. Just hit the wall, but I learned a lot right there. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again. 

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – HIT THE WALL DURING THE FIRST PRACTICE SESSION, WILL GO TO A BACK-UP CAR
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GO TO A BACK-UP:
“Yeah I mean we (Austin Dillon) were talking and it sounded like the exact same thing that we were describing.  Difference is I have to get a back-up out.  Our back-up they said is just as good as our primary so we had a really good run before we I hit the wall.  Just learning, I’m mostly ever in the wall in (Turns) 3 and 4 and never hit off (Turn) 2.  I killed the wall in (Turn) 2.  We will get back out here soon and I’m sure be fine.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BOJANGLES SOUTHERN 500
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 11, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the disappointment of having fast cars and yet not winning this season, what he likes about Darlington, qualifying, the toughest days inside the race car in his career, and more. Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT COMING TO DARLINGTON. CERTAINLY YOU’RE ON THE VERGE OF GETTING YOUR FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON. TALK ABOUT YOUR CHANCES HERE TOMORROW NIGHT
“I’m excited to be back at the race track, a track that is a favorite of so many; including myself. The sensation of speed here is higher than any other track we go to. And the line and racing surface is so narrow and unique and challenging, that it really is an accomplishment to run 500 miles here; to be successful and qualify well and have a good race, and then ultimately to win. So, I’m very excited to be back and I’m looking forward to a good race.
 
“We’ve had a lot of speed in our cars. And I feel terrible that honestly, the last three weeks we’ve had a race-winning car and just haven’t been able to take advantage of it. Las week our race was cut awfully short; just three or four laps before we had all the damage fro Junior’s trip through the grass, and didn’t have a chance to let our car shine there in Texas. I think we were really, really in a great position to compete for a win, but that stuff happens. We’re looking forward and are focused on this weekend’s race and can hopefully get a ‘W’.”
 
ABOUT THE LAST THREE WEEKS, WHEN YOU DOMINATE THE RACE, LOSE CAR AT THE END AND THEN LAST WEEK, WHAM, EARLY. IS THERE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF ‘OUCH’ THAT BITES YOU? DOES THAT THROW A GLITCH IN THINGS AT TIMES?
“There’s definitely an ‘ouch’, but it’s more from a position where we hate to see opportunities slip away. It doesn’t hurt our confidence. For us, and I think most teams, when you’re that close and have a shot to win, and know that you have fast race cars and you don’t pull into Victory Lane, it’s a confidence booster. The end result isn’t what you want or what you like, but you know your cars are fast and your pit stops are good. You have all the pieces there and it’s just about running the distance of the race and getting the job done.
 
“So, I’ve been through various challenges in my Cup career and one marker I always look for is clearly fast cars and ultimately top 5 finishes. And I firmly believe that if you’re running in the top 5, you’re going to have your shots at winning races. And even a step further, top 3’s. But our goal, since I’ve started, has been if we can run in the top 5 all day long, we’ll have a shot to win the race. And it’s led to a lot of victories for us.”
 
PENSKE, IN EFFECT, HAS BOTH OF HIS CARS IN THE CHASE AND CAN EXPERIMENT MORE AND TARGET CHASE TRACKS WITH TESTS. HOW MUCH OF AN ADVANTAGE IS THAT? DOES THAT PUT THE REST OF YOU AT SOMEWHAT OF A DISADVANTAGE?
“My first response is that it doesn’t put us at a disadvantage. The game has changed some and I think most of it falls on the fact that you have to test as an organization where you go. We’re confident we’re going to have a car, if not all four cars, in the Chase. And all of our planning has been focused around Chase tracks for testing. So, if we do get deep into the regular season and need to use a test at Richmond or a test at a non-Chase track, at that point yeah, absolutely. It benefits a Penske where they’re already locked-in. But now, in the way we’ve been planning things, we’ve been focused on all our cars being in the Chase and heading that direction. But you know, in time it could change and we might have to call an audible late in the post-season and show a little help to one or more of our race cars.”
 
WE ARE COMING UP ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF LOSING ARYTON SENNA. YOU ARE A BIG FORMULA 1 FAN. DO YOU REMEMBER IF HE HAD ANY IMPACT ON YOUR EARLY YEARS AS A DRIVER? IS HE SOMEBODY YOU LOOKED UP TO BACK WHEN HE WAS A CHAMPION?
“The media back in that period of time was so different than today. A few magazines I’d pick-up, I could learn about him; an occasional Formula 1 race on TV, but it was pretty far and few between. I knew the name. I knew the legacy. I feel like I’ve been able to learn more about Senna through Max Papis, to be honest with you, and some of the open wheel guys that I’m friends with that looked up to him and he actually mentored along the way. Max is probably the biggest one to that effect.
 
“So, his legacy still lives on and it’s a beautiful thing to see the respect that he has worldwide. It doesn’t matter the discipline of motorsports, people still respect his abilities today and it’s an amazing thing. And truthfully the documentary kind of opened-up everyone’s minds, as to what he was as a man, in and out of the car. And still, I can’t believe the footage they got and the story they were able to tell through that documentary. I wish I’d had a chance to meet him, and certainly wish I had the chance to race against him. I know a lot of drivers who wish they could have had that opportunity.”
 
ON DEALING WITH THE FRUSTRATION OF HAVING FAST CARS AND NOT WINNING, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU LEARNED EARLIER LEADING INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS OR ARE YOU HAVING TO DEAL WITH IT NOW?
“It’s something that you learn. I’d say that maybe the first couple of races there was a bit more frustration because our cars didn’t have the speed that they needed to, and those were things that we could control. So, practice sessions at Phoenix and Las Vegas, that’s where we felt like we were off and missing something.
 
“But we’re giving 100 percent and that’s really all you can do. We’ve learned through experience to identify with that. You can only work so many hours in the day and then in the week, and only give 100 percent. Anything more is only going to be detrimental to the team and not help things progress. So, I feel like post-Bristol, moving forward, we’ve had speed in our race cars. We’ve been competitive and have had looks at wins. And things have happened. And that happens in motorsports. So, we hate that it (wining) hasn’t happened. We hate opportunities slipping away, but when you’re giving 100 percent and you have fast race cars, you’re controlling most of your variables and we feel good about that know that once we get things rolling we’ll be in great shape.”
 
LAST WEEK CHAD KNAUS (CREW CHIEF) SAID YOU NEED TO BE BETTER ON FRIDAYS.  WHAT WAS THE CASE OR WAS THAT JUST AN ISOLATED INCIDENCE OF NOT QUALIFYING AS WELL AT TEXAS?  AND ALSO, CONSIDERING YOUR RACE AT TEXAS, WHAT IS YOUR TOUGHEST DAY IN THE CAR AT A RACE?
“Man, I can think of a lot of Nationwide days that are tough.  Cup-wise I think I would go to Las Vegas maybe in ’05, can’t really remember the year, but I think we were like three laps down and had a perfectly straight race car and didn’t hit a thing.  I was loose in the front straightway in that little bend in the road.  That was my toughest day in Cup for sure.  It’s kind of hard to tighten a car up on the straightaway.  It was a very challenging day.”
 
“Fridays are a big focus for us and I don’t think going fast for a lap is the 48’s specialty.  It could just fall in my lap, team, setups, whatever it is; it’s just kind of the team’s history here at the 48.  It’s something that we have worked hard to improve.  If we had started on the front row, we wouldn’t have been in harm’s way and we have seen that a few times.  I think it was Texas in ’09 or something where Sam (Hornish) spun and we got caught up in that.  There are some rare situations where there is a problem early and if we had qualified a few spots better, then we would have been ahead of it.   That is what Chad
was referencing.”
 
WAS YOUR CAR DAMAGED SO MUCH ON MONDAY THAT THE ENTIRE DAY WAS A WASTE AS FAR AS NOT EVEN LEARNING ANYTHING ON THE NEW AERO RULES, OR MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO SEE WHAT THEY DO?
“Yeah, we had some pretty good damage to the car.  I think they did a very nice job of fixing it and I still think I could have run in the top-five based on the lap times that I heard through the course of the day. The damage was one thing, and our guys did a nice job of keeping me on the lead lap but then something fell off my car, or I ran something over on the track that shredded that right rear tire.  But as I went into turn one I ran something over, something big. I knew I was going to have an issue and sure enough, I had a flat.  That flat is what really put us down.  So it was kind of a wash, especially with the aero damage to the race car and knowing how adjustments would work.”
 
ARE YOU SEEING ANYTHING DIFFERENT OUT OF JEFF GORDON TODAY, OTHER THAN SOME OTHER YEARS YOU HAVE RACED AGAINST HIM?
“Jeff is so rock solid.  During the week, out of the car, our team meetings or debriefs, he just knows what he is looking for out of his race car.  There have been times where the collective group on the No. 24 have been able to give him what he needs and he is off and you can’t catch him.  He is off and gone and you are behind him chasing him down. Then there are other weeks where it doesn’t pan out and you are wondering why the 24 isn’t up front just because he has set such a high bar through the years with all the success he has had.  I have always admired his ability outside the car to continue to lead his team, to continue to search for the feeling.  It helps me because we run through stretches where we don’t have speed in the car and I look around at my peers, and Jeff being one of them, and watch how he handles those situations.  He has confidence in his abilities and his feel of a race car and keeps challenging the guys to find that. I am very happy for the success the 24 has had this year and know that they are going to be strong all year long.”
 
NEXT WEEKEND IS AN OFF WEEKEND.  HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT WEEKEND AND WHAT KIND OF PLANS DO YOU HAVE?
“It’s very important to have off.  I am not sure what our plans are with the tragedy we had last week and we are just not in the mood to really go anywhere so we may have a stay-cation at home and enjoy just being at home which is going to be a vacation all on its own.  But it’s great for the teams.  The drivers have one aspect and we would like some down time, but for the crew members, they have been going hard since Christmas break.  Especially since after the New Year and trying to narrow in on our rules package; through testing, through Speedweeks and to here.  So it’s a much needed break for the crew members.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BOJANGLES SOUTHERN 500
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 11, 2014
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and discussed last week’s accident at Texas, JR Motorsports victory at Texas with driver Chase Elliott and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT RACING HERE AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY:
“It’s been around a long time.  One of the toughest race tracks physically that we race on, tough track mentally. 500 miles here is a really long race because the track is quite a big race track and the pace slows down. You are working so hard in the corner so just one lap around here is a lot of work.  To have to run 500 miles it’s a pretty tough test of man and machine.  This track is starting to grey up pretty good so I’m looking forward to getting out there in practice and seeing what we’ve got.”
 
HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO WATCH JEFFERY EARNHARDT RACE AND SEE HOW HE IS DOING?
“I watch him every week during the Nationwide races.  I think he’s done a couple of good things with that team.  Had a great qualifying effort at Bristol and got spun out the first lap of the race.  He has had some other good situations that I’ve seen where he’s had some speed in practice or in qualifying and in particularly in the race he has done well on a few occasions.  We keep an eye on him.  Him and I are close he lives real close to me.  He’s supposed to come over to the house Sunday to hang out a little bit.  I mean we stay pretty tight.”
 
COULD YOU ELABORATE ON CHASE ELLIOTT AS YOU SAID ‘BEING BETTER THAN HE KNOWS HE IS’ AND BILL’S (ELLIOTT) INFLUENCE ON CHASE?
“What I meant about Bill (Elliott) is just Bill’s demeanor his calm demeanor.  He is not excitable and I think that helps Chase a lot.  I think that has molded Chase into the person that he is.  As Chase has grown up I think he has taken a lot of his father’s mental makeup and intuition and certain personality traits that have been a big help to Bill in his racing career.  Just basically how calm Bill is and how much of a student to racing Bill was. I think that Chase really is very similar.  He has just got a lot of talent.  I think every once in a while there are some guys that come in here that they don’t know how good they are.  They haven’t competed against this type of competition before and drove cars this well prepared before.  Or been in a series of this nature, so they don’t really know how much they stack up against the competition.  But as an outsider looking in you can see certain guys have more than others.  Chase is really ahead of the game right now.  He should continue to progress and continue to learn and hopefully be real quick in the next 24 months he is going to turn into something pretty awesome that will be a force in the sport for a while.  I’m excited about it just to have a guy like that come in with that pedigree.  He has got real potential to be a force for a long time so it will be exciting.”
 
WAS JAMES FINCH THE PRIMARY GUY WHO CONNECTED YOU, RICK (HENDRICK) AND CHASE (ELLIOTT)?  HOW DID YOU AND RICK FIND OUT ABOUT CHASE?
“I can’t speak for Rick (Hendrick) on the deal.  If I had to guess I would say that (James) Finch had some great words to say and influenced some of Rick’s opinions.  But I just kept hearing him winning races and beating good competition; winning races against guys that were surprising.  He was doing some good work in the late models, super late models and he was handling himself in a real professional manner.  As important as it is that he is successful on the track, it’s also equally and maybe more so important that he is a level head off the track.  That makes it so much easier to deal with him, to want to work with him, to want to help him and to market him.”
 
HOW DID YOU GET OVER LAST WEEK?  HOW MUCH TIME DID YOU SPEND THIS WEEK BEATING YOURSELF UP OVER IT?  HOW WAS THE REACTION ON TWITTER COMPARED TO WHAT YOU THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE?
“I guess Twitter can be a help in a situation like that.  I mean my fans certainly have a back and tell you to brush it off, don’t worry about it.  I’m sure there are some people on there saying the opposite, but I didn’t see many of those or any of those.  There is a positive and a negative to everything.  I didn’t really spend a lot of time on Twitter this week because we were working at Michigan.  We had some things to do Thursday.  Twitter is a bit of a playground and I don’t want to horse around if we are not doing good.  I don’t want to be on there goofing off and making light of the situation because it was a frustrating mistake.  It was something I don’t take very lightly.  Just being able to get back in the car and test at Michigan was a big help for me to get past it and to get focused on the next race. This is a tough event at Darlington.  We’ve got some decent runs here but we haven’t really come here and had a race that we thought we lost.  This is going to be a tough place to come rebound, but we are going to give it our best.  I’m just glad to be back at the track.  Go ahead and get a race or two in the bank and put it behind us.”
 
THE SPEEDS YOU GUYS WERE TURNING AT MICHIGAN THIS WEEK HOW REALISTIC THAT WE MIGHT SEE THOSE DURING THE RACE WEEKEND UP THERE?
“The track should slow down as it rubbers up, tightens up, get slicker.  The seams will get slicker.  So I don’t think we will see those kinds of speeds.  That is basically what we saw in practice there last time.  We may see those speeds in practice, but I doubt we will see those in the race.  The race will slow down quite a bit or enough.  I think we learned some things.  I was really happy to have an opportunity to test with Goodyear and get an opportunity to get on the race track and learn.  We did go through a lot of different tires and a lot of different constructions.  The dual zone tire we tried a couple of different ones.  We went through – they had about eight different sets of tires that they wanted to learn something’s about, some for Michigan, some for Kansas and other places. It was a productive test and even though we were cut short on the first day we were able to get a lot of information for Goodyear that I hope is going to be helpful to them.  So it was good to be a part of that.  I really enjoyed it.  I love turning laps at Michigan.  It’s a superfast race track.  We weren’t able to really work on the set-ups of the cars that much at a tire test, but I like the speed that our car had compared to the guys I saw there.”   
 
JR MOTORSPORTS HAS HAD A GREAT START THIS YEAR AND YOU GUYS PICKED UP A BIG WIN LAST WEEK AT TEXAS WITH CHASE BEHIND THE WHEEL.  TALK ABOUT THE PROCESS:
“We feel real fortunate to have Chase (Elliott) in the program.  He was going to go somewhere and be successful and we were lucky to be able to work with him.  Feel fortunate to have him and be able to work with Bill (Elliott).  Bill has been a lot of fun to work with.  Having him spot for me a couple of times has been a blast.  That is like an added perk to the whole deal.  Chase has been a real pleasure.  He has done a great job.  He did an awesome job in Texas getting the car to Victory Lane.  That team is poised for success and I feel like they have a great opportunity to continue that and continue winning races.  It’s just a very exciting time for us, for NAPA and we have just got to sit here and wait and keep working hard and watch it play out.  It’s going to be a long season and there is going to be some up’s and down’s, a
lot of things to learn.  It’s not all going to be roses, but it’s definitely pointed in the right direction and we just want to give Chase a great opportunity to progress and learn as well as he can in the cars we have.”

CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: First Street Fight for Corvette C7.R
Looking to turn potential of new GT race car into victory
 
DETROIT (April 8, 2014) – After the two longest races on the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship schedule, Corvette Racing moves to the shortest event on its calendar. The team’s two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs travel to the West Coast for the Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase – part of this weekend’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.
 
Although the race lasts just 100 minutes, the event typically is one of the most challenging of the season. It’s a sprint through the streets of Long Beach – a 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit that is playing host to a grand prix weekend for the 40th year.
 
Corvette Racing has been part of the last seven Long Beach weekends as part of the American Le Mans Series, and the results have been overwhelmingly solid. The team has four victories at the circuit to its credit including two years ago for the duo of Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin. A Corvette Racing driver also has set the fastest race lap in class each of the last seven years.
 
It’s no secret then that Corvette Racing drivers and crew look forward to returning. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen – twice a pole-winner at Long Beach – share the No. 3 Corvette C7.R with Gavin and Milner in the No. 4 Corvette.
 
Redemption is top of mind for America’s premier production-based sports car team. Both Corvette C7.Rs led significant portions of the TUDOR Championship’s first two rounds at Daytona and Sebring but the results don’t reflect the efforts of the drivers and team.
 
The No. 4 Corvette of Gavin, Milner and Robin Liddell was the dominant car in class at Sebring, having led a majority of the race before a fuel pressure issue took the car out of contention. Likewise, the No. 3 entry of Garcia, Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe (competing in this weekend’s IndyCar race in a Chevy-powered entry) led at Sebring despite an opening-lap collision and a punctured tire.
 
Such strong performances underscore the potential of the first-year Corvette C7.R platform. Based on the 2015 Corvette Z06 production car, the C7.R’s rigid frame – which gives the car improved cornering ability and stability – and throttle response from its direct-injection engine make it a contender against entries from the likes of BMW, Ferrari, Porsche and SRT.
 
Live television coverage of the Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase starts at 6 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
 
The TUDOR Championship is the result of a merger between the ALMS and GRAND-AM’s Rolex Sports Car Series. Corvette Racing will compete in 11 races around North America plus the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
 
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“I’ve always like racing at Long Beach, and I enjoy all street circuits. It is an unusual event because the race is short. I don’t know how it will play out this year with the new fueling and capacity regulations. This always has been a one-stop race for us and I believe it could be again. That is the key thing about this race – how the strategy plays and how you work around that. The number of yellows can play a role as well. You can be up front and use a normal strategy but find yourself in a bad situation depending on when the yellow falls. The number of factors and variables here are very, very high.”
(Long Beach methodology) “At Long Beach, you need to run at 100 percent but you have no room for error. The walls are very close and traffic will be a factor. That’s part of the game but I think that’s why I like street circuits. I enjoy that pressure.”
(Start to 2014) “It’s true that we haven’t had a trouble-free start to our season but everyone at Corvette Racing has been analyzing and working on it. I hope Long Beach is a turnaround for us and our season. The Corvette C7.R has shown at both races that it has speed and can run up front.”
 
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“Long Beach is a fantastic venue. There is always an incredible show going on during the weekend. The grip level on the track is very good. The Corvette has always been very strong; we’ve not always been super successful but we always have had a shot to win. I’m looking forward to a trouble-free weekend and hopefully we can get back on plan in terms of the championship.”
(Navigating Long Beach) “There is not a lot of runoff. There are some places that have a safety or escape road you can use. But most other places it is just concrete so you have to drive with a bit of a safety margin. But because of the length of the race, you also have to get things done. In certain situations you might be a little more aggressive than normal but you must also bear in mind that there is a bigger risk here than anywhere else.”
(Race expectations) “For us, it’s the first time with the C7.R at Long Beach. There may be a little bit of a learning curve but I think we have a really good handle on it. We should be in good shape right away. The car has been good. We’ve had bad luck at the first two races and we’re due for a good result. We have been up front in both races. Hopefully those things are part of the past and we can concentrate on getting some wins and podiums to get back on track for the championship.”
 
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“I do like Long Beach and the circuit. The new Corvette C7.R should be strong there, and I know the guys at Corvette Racing have been working on the setup for this weekend. Because we have so little track time, you have to make sure you come off the truck fast. In previous years, we’ve done that very well.”
(Keys to success) “A street circuit can make a little difference to a driver but at the same time you have to say to that you can only drive around in the car you’re given. Sometimes little tweaks and little things in just the right spots can make the difference in having a car on the front row and winning or losing the race. Pace is very, very important there because it’s a short race. You need to qualify well and on top of everything. That’s one of the things Corvette Racing has been good at for so long. We’re hoping for that again this year.”
(Strategy focus): “It’s most probably the one race where it’s all focused on your one pit stop if everything goes well. You have to get it right. You don’t get any second chances because there is no window for a second stop to make up any time or turn your strategy around. Once you do your stop, you’re done and you’re committed. As a driver, you’re mindful that the in-lap and the out-lap are vitally important. There are so many things you have to weigh. In terms of the work level that the driver actually does driving the car is quite short, but it’s very focus. You know that any slip-up is going to make a huge difference on the outcome of your race.”
 
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“This weekend is equally important as the first two races at Daytona and Sebring but it’s fun for different reasons. It is so short and goes through downtown Long Beach. It’s definitely a whole different mindset. We have such limited practice time. We go there with a new Chevrolet Corvette C7.R unsure of how the car will be on a tight track like Long Beach. I don’t think it will pose any problems for us. Obviously a new car shows us some new things with how it reacts to setup changes and stuff like that. So far, the new Corvette C7.R has been as good if not better in every area of performance compared to the C6.R. I don’t forsee it being an issue for us, but there are always new things to learn.”
(Corvette strengths) “In years past, it seems like what has helped us at Long Beach has been our braking performance. With the Corvette C7.R, one area where we have improved is putting power down. Those are two pretty crucial parts of having a fast car at Long Beach. So if the power-down is improved like it was at Daytona and Sebring
then I think we’ll be pretty good shape for Long Beach.”
(A two-class race) “I’m definitely excited to see what the race will be like with just us and the prototypes. The other classes provide for great racing and the fans like to see that. But after some of the issues the series faced at the first couple of races with some long caution periods, hopefully with two professional categories and drivers racing together that we don’t have too many accidents and put on a good show for the fans.”
 
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“After two long-distance races to open our season, we head to Long Beach for close-quarters racing on the streets of southern California. We have clearly shown that the pace of the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is promising; unfortunately, the results so far do not do reflect our performance or efforts. There is no better place to break through than Long Beach. The Grand Prix is one of racing’s premier events and provides an incredible atmosphere for sports car racing with huge crowds throughout the weekend. We’re fully prepared to give all the Chevrolet and Corvette fans in southern California our fifth victory at Long Beach!”

CORVETTE DPs AT LONG BEACH: Taking It To Southern California’s Streets
Chevrolet comes to famed street venue with TUDOR Championship engine manufacturer lead
 
DETROIT (April 8, 2014) – Armed with a victory at its longest race of the season, Chevrolet’s Corvette Daytona Prototype teams head to America’s premier street circuit event for the shortest race on the calendar. The streets of Long Beach will play host to the annual Grand Prix of Long Beach – a southern California tradition celebrating its 40th year. The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is part of the festivities with Corvette Daytona Prototypes playing a leading role.
 
To be fair, it’s also a position Chevrolet and the Corvette DPs have held since the TUDOR Championship’s opening race at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Thanks to a victory there and a third-place finish at Sebring – both via Action Express Racing’s No. 5 Corvette DP – Chevrolet leads the TUDOR Championship’s engine manufacturer standings in the Prototype category.
 
Saturday’s Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase – set for 3:10 p.m. PT and airing live on FOX Sports 1 – is a 100-minute race made up of the TUDOR Championship’s Prototypes and the GT Le Mans class. With heavy involvement in both those classes plus being an engine supplier for the Verizon IndyCar Series, Chevrolet will be the prominent marque on the Long Beach weekend.
 
The opening two rounds of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship featured two distinct types of race tracks. That trend continues with the series’ third event on its inaugural calendar. But Long Beach is unfamiliar territory for the Daytona Prototypes. The last time DPs raced around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile street circuit was 2006 as part of the GRAND-Am Rolex Sports Car Series; the American Le Mans Series’ prototypes ran there from 2007-13. Entries from both series now populate the TUDOR Championship’s Prototype class.
 
There won’t be much time for teams to acclimate themselves to the circuit with a two-hour, early-morning practice followed by a 30-minute session late in the afternoon before qualifying. That plus the race’s abbreviated length means there is no margin for error. Since they debuted for the 2012 Rolex Series season,  Corvette DPs won two of the three street races on the GRAND-AM schedule: both on Belle Isle in Detroit.
 
Long Beach continues a run of unique circuits that Team Chevy faces in the opening rounds of the TUDOR Championship. The season began on Daytona International Speedway’s infield road course before moving to the rough-and-tumble permanent road course at Sebring International Raceway. Action Express Racing’s No. 5 entry of Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais led a Chevrolet sweep of the top four positions at the Rolex 24. They followed with a third-place finish at Sebring to lead the Corvette DP contingent.
 
Wayne Taylor Racing, runner-up at Daytona, is entered for Long Beach along with Spirit of Daytona and Marsh Racing to make up the group of Corvette DPs set for Round 3.
 
“There are many unique challenges to racing around Long Beach,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet’s Program Manager for Corvette Daytona Prototypes. “As DPs have not raced there in some time, there are many unknowns – things like suspension and aero setup, and gearing ratios will be best estimates based on our simulations at Chevrolet. The length of the race and minimum drive times bring a new element of strategy into play as well. More than ever, the teams that are best prepared ahead of Friday’s first practice will have distinct advantages. We’re confident our Corvette DP teams will be chief among those.”