CORVETTE DPs AT SEBRING: Bourdais Puts Action Express on Pole

Momentum continues following season-opening Rolex 24 victory

SEBRING, Fla. (March 14, 2014) – Sebastien Bourdais delivered a second straight pole position for the Corvette Daytona Prototype on Friday with the fastest lap in qualifying for the 62^nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida. Bourdais posted a lap of 1:51.917 (120.303 mph) in Action Express Racing’s No. 5 Corvette DP that he shares with Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi.

The trio opened the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season with a victory at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, leading a sweep of the top four overall positions for Chevrolet. Barbosa, Fittipaldi and Bourdais are seeking to become the first drivers to win at Daytona and Sebring in the same season since 1998.

“The Prototype qualifying session today was a great example of how difficult conditions at Sebring can be,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager for Daytona Prototypes. “Congratulations to Sebastien and Action Express Racing on the overall pole position for the 12 Hours. The track characteristics changed from this morning practice due to the different types of rubber on the racing surface and the windy conditions. It was not easy to take all this into account and deliver a strong lap.”

Bourdais was 0.169 seconds quicker than the next-fastest driver in qualifying: Oak Racing’s Olivier Pla. Ricky Taylor qualified third in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP with a time of 1:52.544 (119.633 mph). He will drive with brother Jordan and Max Angelelli as the two Corvette DPs will line up nose-to-tail for Saturday’s 10:30 a.m. green flag.

The Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP finished second at the Rolex 24. Four Corvette DPs qualified in the top-10 on Friday at Sebring, where Daytona Prototypes are competing for the first time.

Television coverage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will be available live on FOX Sports 1from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET with the remainder of the race airing live on IMSA.com. FOX Sports 1 also will air a three-hour recap at 8:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 16.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRES RACING CORVETTE DP

“It was a great qualifying for us. We didn’t exactly know where we were going to be. This morning, you couldn’t put a lap together; traffic has been a big difficulty because it’s hard to get a read on the car since you can do three corners on the line. It’s tough to know exactly the balance of the car and how to get in a rhythm. It’s not like it will be any easier tomorrow. At least we got a definite read on how the car is in qualifying because you could string a few laps together and that gives you a good feel for it. I guess we are pretty spot on because there was a bit of an issue with oversteer but overall the car was enjoyable to drive. I took my time and strung a few laps together. By the end of it, the car was pretty optimized. I gave it another shot on the last lap but overdid it a little bit. I’m very happy for the Action Express team and Chevrolet. It’s a great way to start after Daytona. Hopefully we can keep that kind of pace throughout the day tomorrow. Obviously qualifying doesn’t mean much in a 12-hour race. We will reset the counters tomorrow and see where we end up.

“A lot of guys made mistakes before they even banked a lap, which is unusual. But it’s a good sign of how tricky the conditions are. When the wind is like this at Sebring, you get a double-faced car; it goes from oversteer to understeer as soon as you turn the car around. These DP cars are very sensitive to the wind and to traffic, which makes things quite interesting behind the wheel. It should be quite close tomorrow.”

RICKY TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP

“Through practice, we never knew where we really were because of traffic. The last session, we ended up quite far in the back but I think this proves we have a really good car. Now, we have a good picture of where everybody is. We obviously have work to do to catch the No. 5, but I think with the three drivers we have in our car – and having the best team on the pit lane – we’re good even through we’re third in speed in qualifying. “It’s definitely been a cool day. It’s hard to believe three hours ago I was sitting in Dad’s (Sebring International Raceway) Hall of Fame induction ceremony, thinking about qualifying. He’s had a pole here and he’s not stopped rubbing that in my face, so I had that carrot dangling in front of me during qualifying. Obviously, the team did a good job and gave me a good car. I’m really looking forward to racing here tomorrow in these cars for the first time.”

CORVETTE RACING AT SEBRING: Fourth, Fifth in GTLM Qualifying

Second and third rows in class for Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs

SEBRING, Fla. (March 14, 2014) – Corvette Racing will roll off the GT Le Mans grid from the second and third rows Saturday for the 62^nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida. Oliver Gavin qualified the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R fourth in GTLM, and Antonio Garcia was fifth in his No. 3 Corvette. The new Corvette C7.R is racing at Sebring for the first time following its debut in January at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Gavin’s best lap was a 1:59.222 (112.932 mph) in the Corvette he shares with Tommy Milner – the duo won in class last year at Sebring – and Robin Liddell. Liddell already has one victory to his credit at Sebring this week with a win in Friday’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge driving a Camaro Z/28.R.

Garcia, driving with Jan Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe, set a best time of 1:59.224 (112.930 mph) – just 0.002 seconds off the pace of the sister car. Garcia and Magnussen won the 2013 American Le Mans Series championship despite scoring zero points at Sebring.

Corvette Racing tested the Corvette C7.R multiple times at Sebring during the offseason. The rough nature of the track was the ideal place to optimize the new car. The new aluminum frame is 40 percent stiffer than the Corvette C6.R from last season and helps keep the car stable over the considerable bumps and turns around Sebring’s 3.7-mile layout.

Michael Christensen qualified on the GTLM pole with a lap of 1:58.933 (113.207 mph) in a Porsche. The top six cars were within 0.315 seconds.

Television coverage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will be available live on FOX Sports 1 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET with the remainder of the race airing live on IMSA.com. FOX Sports 1 also will air a three-hour recap at 8:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 16.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R

(On different characteristics of track due to Friday’s Continental Tire race): “Yes, I think so, for sure. That is normal that it happens; especially after such a big difference in time from Practice Four to qualifying. It had been six or seven hours since we’ve been on track, and a lot of other cars had been out. So for sure, the car behaved differently because of the amount of rubber, or different cars that have been out. But the main characteristics of the car pretty much remained the same. It was just a factor of making the car work on every single point of the race track. So I didn’t probably nail it the whole lap because I had to change my style from this morning. But we were probably in the same boat. I’m sure everybody felt the same, not just us at Corvette Racing. So it is part of the game. The good thing is that we are among six cars within three-tenths. That’s pretty close, and exciting to see towards the race.”

(On consistency in stint): “That is something we will know 35-40 minutes into the race. We’ve been working really hard on that; just trying to make the car behave – not just for a single lap but to be able to go through the stint as consistent as possible.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R

“It was a very close session. The Porsche obviously came out and put down a great lap. It was kind of a strange session because from the Conti (Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge) race before us, there was rubber or whatever that was still on the track. Our car was quite different to drive (than from practice sessions). It was unusual in the way the fronts (tires) came in before the rears (tires) did. We never really got that matched up, and I think that if we had managed to get that matched up, we would have had an even better shot at getting pole. But it was a clean run, no traffic or anything. I think the circuit is going to get very different before the race. You are constantly fighting with that here. The wind direction changes as well so now it is blowing us down the backstretch. Blowing you in to Turn One; blowing you out of (Turn) 17; all those things you have to take into account. We are reasonably happy with the car, and looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER

“Today’s qualifying session clearly demonstrated how incredibly close the GT Le Mans class continues to be. The difference between pole position and P5 was a mere three-tenths of a second, which should make for a great race tomorrow. We have worked hard to ensure that our Corvette C7.Rs will be consistent over an entire stint, and we k
now from experience that handling is the ultimate key to success in the Sebring 12 Hours.”

TEAM CHEVY AT SEBRING: First Victory For Camaro Z/28.R
Liddell, Davis score landmark win for Stevenson Motorsports at Sebring
 
SEBRING, Fla. (March 14, 2014) – The new Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R is a race-winner in just its second start in the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Stevenson Motorsports’ Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis took a victory Friday in the No. 6 Camaro Z/28.R at Sebring International Raceway.
 
Liddell made the winning pass on a restart with 30 minutes to go and pulled away from the field as the race ended under caution. Liddell finished ahead of John Edward, his Stevenson teammate from a year ago. The season’s second round finished under yellow-flag conditions following a massive crash for one of the Mazda ST competitors.
 
“Congratulations to Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis on taking the Stevenson Motorsports Camaro Z/28.R to victory lane at Sebring,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The entire team demonstrated a ‘never-give-up’ approach throughout the day to put the No. 6 Z/28.R in position for Robin to make a great move on a restart that ultimately gave the team the win. We are very proud of the dedicated efforts of John Stevenson and his crew at Stevenson Motorsports, our racing engineers and our technical partners on the development of Camaro Z/28.R that resulted in its first victory in the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.
“We never want to see a race conclude under caution as a result of an accident, and we extend our best wishes to Mark Miller for a speedy and complete recovery,” Campbell added.
 
Andy Lally and Matt Bell finished eighth in the No. 9 Stevenson Camaro. The No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro Z/28.R of Lawson Aschenbach and Eric Curran retired following an incident on the race’s final restart in the same series where Liddell drove to the lead. The incident also involved Lally, who dropped from fifth to eighth.
All three of the Camaros ran in the top-five until that point – a remarkable achievement considering the car’s early life. Liddell also posted the fastest race lap – 2:16.893.
 
“Congratulations to Robin Liddell, Andrew Davis, John Stevenson and everyone at Stevenson Motorsports for a fantastic victory with the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R,” said Lisa Talarico, Chevrolet Program Manager For Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.
“Our partners at Stevenson Motorsports, Pratt & Miller and GM Powertrain put an incredible amount of effort into developing this new Camaro race car. To take a victory in just our second race is a fantastic achievement. This was a team victory in the truest sense.”
 
The next round of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is Saturday, May 3 at Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.
 
ROBIN LIDDELL, NO. 6 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“To be honest I thought John (Edwards) would drive away from us after that restart, so I kind of had the bit between my teeth just to try and see what I could make of the first lap. I thought it would settle down. Those guys were just slightly napping coming out of (Turn) 17, and I had a really good run alongside John. I just kind of boxed him in which was kind of mean and I knew he would be a bit hacked off about that. But I kept him boxed in there behind Shane (Lewis). Then when we got to the braking zone for Turn One, I just broke completely right and went around the outside of them. By then I saw there was some carnage behind me, but to be honest I had a pretty massive lead at that point. I certainly thought at that point (Edwards) was going to catch us and chase us down. Obviously the Camaro is running fantastically well, but we are still early in the program. I’m not sure had it gone back to green at the end if he would have been able to get around because I would have made that Camaro as wide as possible, as I always have done.
“I have had full confidence in the program for this new Chevy Camaro Z/28.R. Obviously Chevrolet is fully behind the program. Stevenson Motorsports and all the guys I have know and love from the team that I have worked with for six years. Credit to John Stevenson for getting behind this. Back with Andrew Davis, and here we are back in Victory Lane. It’s pretty cool.
“I’ve been involved with the development of this Z/28 right from the beginning. Right from when the car first rolled out of the shop to be driven. I’ve had a little more time in the car than some of the other cars.”
 
ANDREW DAVIS, NO. 6 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“I took a hiatus from Stevenson Motorsports for a while, and I come back and they are still firing on all cylinders. They are still one of the best teams out there so I knew this program was going to be strong. We made our Camaro Z/28.R better every session and just worked on the long runs trying to make sure the car was good over the run. Again, so happy to be back with Stevenson Motorsports. Thanks everybody. Robin did a superb job. It’s nice to be on the top step of the podium again.
“This means a lot to me on a personal level to be back with Stevenson Motorsports and my buddy Robin Liddell. This is my first win at Sebring after the times I have been here.  Just so happy for the Stevenson crew, for Chevy, for Pratt and Miller…thanks to everybody!
“We made another change overnight. We went back to something that worked for us in an earlier test session. I think that helped the car a little bit for a long run. Still it was all about management of the rear tires. It’s tough when you’re in a battle like that. I made a mistake and dropped back but was able to fight my way back up. With the lack of rear grip, the key is to drive mistake-free. The Stevenson Motorsports Camaro was really good. The focus we had over the weekend was not going for a single-lap but trying for a longer run. I’m proud of the team for working hard and giving us a car that is really good on those long runs.”
MATT BELL, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“The big issues we were having all weekend is keeping this thing cool, especially when it gets hot and gets humid. You’re running nose to tail, and it’s something you get when you’re developing a new car. What happens is the power drops off when you’re behind a car too long. So you’re bouncing back and forth between driving in a draft to keep up when the engine is cooler and popping out to try and cool it down. But with that constant change of torque, it’s hard to keep up. The tire fell off a little bit quicker than Andrew (Davis) and we didn’t want to hold him up. Other than that, the car is great. I’m having a blast driving the Camaro Z/28.R. That 7-liter engine is awesome. It’s still quite strong.”
 
ERIC CURRAN, NO. 01 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO Z/28.R
“Overall it was a good stint. We ran behind that BMW for awhile. That was the main goal. We have a heavier car and we have a Camaro Z/28.R with a big 7-liter motor and lots of torque. It’s pretty easy to spin up those rear tires coming off the corners. You have to be really careful on the tires, short-shift gears and not be too aggressive on the throttle and really pace yourself to have a really good run. These Camaro Z/28.Rs are so new and it’s the second race. There is still a learning curve but I’m really happy with what I’m seeing. These cars are plugging away and going fast.”
 
LAWSON ASCHENBACH, NO. 01 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO Z/28.R
“It was one of those deals and unfortunate things coming to the green flag. We had a rocket ship today. The car was on rails all day. I thought we had a shot at it coming to the restart and looked like the two leaders spun. At that point there was nowhere I could go, and I moved up the track and into Andy (Lally). I feel bad for Andy but there was nothing I could do at the time and into the wall. I feel bad for the CKS Autosport guys. We definitely had a shot at this. We were going to fight the Stevenson guys and the BMW all the way there.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOOD CITY 500
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 14, 2014
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 QUICKEN LOANS BILLION DOLLAR BRACKET CHALLENGE CHEVROLET SS me with media and discussed his sponsors, the track & tire conditions during practice, changes in the qualifying procedure, and more. Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR SPONSORS AND HOW IT ENDED UP ON THE RACE CAR TODAY
“It’s a fairly simple deal. Just get a perfect bracket, which I think is like one in two hundred million, trillion odds; but it’s a great opportunity to engage with the fans, not just in our sport, but with college basketball. If you nail the bracket, it’s a billion dollars. There is some form of losers bracket as well, bracketology there too, as well. They’ll give out some money for that, too. But the ultimate goal is to win the billion dollars. Quicken Loans is a big supporter of ours and we appreciate the opportunity to let us come race. But in the end, we talk about their college bracket.”
 
HAVING A SPONSOR LIKE THAT WHERE YOU GET SOME GREAT CROSSOVER HAS GOT TO BE A BIG PLUS.
“Yeah, geographically they’re in southern Michigan, which is really close to my home which is in the heart of basketball country. I think it’s a no-brainer for them or for any kind of fan out there, whether you’re basketball fan or a racing fan. Who doesn’t want the opportunity at a billion dollars? Even if you just plain old get lucky, you get lucky! So, go register.”
 
WHAT THE HECK HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN PRACTICE, AND WHY HAVEN’T YOU CRASHED YET?
“I don’t know (laughs). I guess the starter would be that we had a 15-minute penalty from Vegas, so we sat there an watched a few guys crash. But it’s a big transition, I think, for us this weekend; not only with the new rules package, but with the new tires that we have here (and) getting a grasp on that. It seems like the cars are really, really sensitive to some changes just because the cars are so stiff now because of the rigidity of how we’re running them. Once you lose it, you really lose it; which is kind of what we’ve seen. More aerodynamic-related at other race tracks; but here, more mechanical-related.”
 
INAUDIBLE
“It seems, from what I’ve seen in some testing data and here in the practice session, it does seem like it’s going to give up more so. It definitely is marbling-up way more than we’ve seen any Goodyear tire marble-up in the last few years. And from what I understand, it is the Loudon left-side tire, which is not anything at all like a concrete tire that we’ve run here in the past. So, it’s definitely different. I don’t know what it’s going to do for the racing, but it definitely is marbling-up.”
 
SO MARBLING-UP IS NOT A GOOD THING, RIGHT?
“Marbling-up is not a good thing as far as the race track and giving us the ability to use all of the race track. When it marbles-up and you get up into the marbles, it takes two or three laps sometimes to get back going again. And that’s sometimes 20 or 30 positions. You want to have the confidence in the race track and your race car to be able to put it anywhere so that you can pass at any time. And obviously the track is pretty narrow.  So, giving us the ability to move around is a good thing.”
 
WAS THERE JUST NO GRIP THIS MORNING?
“Oh, there’s a lot of grip. Once you lose that grip, it’s kind of gone. That’s a full slide. You have to run it right there on the edge to kind of feel it.”
 
DO YOU HAVE A BRACKET FILLED-OUT?
“Not yet. It’s on the ‘to-do list’”.
 
SO WHAT DO YOU DO TO COMPENSATE FOR THE MARBLING-UP?
“I don’t know that it’s going to be like that in the race. I think if they blow the race track off and we go straight to the top and doing our thing like we have done here in the past, it won’t be an issue. But as of right now, it’s laying a lot of marbles and we’re running the bottom to the middle; so the top third of the race track really is marbled-up. So, I don’t know that it’s going to be an issue, but it has potential more so I think now, than last year.”
 
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR TRIP ON WEDNESDAY TO SOUTH CAROLING?
“Oh, at the National Wildlife Turkey Federation? We just went down and kind of got a chance to meet some people with the National Wildlife Turkey Federation. I’m a big outdoorsman and am really avid about saving the habitat and saving the hunt with their program as well as just in general. The love of animals, which goes along with managing them; I don’t want to get into that issue, but in the end we had a good trip down there. I got to meet the CEO and a few other people at two of their properties, and saw some of their ideas for the future and how to incorporate the youth out there to be better outdoorsmen and better for the environment. So, we had a good trip, my wife and Angie Skinner, and I.”
 
INAUDIBLE
“Well, the National Wildlife Turkey Federation has worked really closely with Johnny Morris and Bass Pro Shops and they’ve had a relationship. I don’t know if that’s off the record or on the record, but it’s obviously showed-up on the Bass Pro Shop car. I in fact drove the car I think two years ago at Talladega. So yeah, I wouldn’t say that there is no potential, but for us it was really kind of initiatives with our Rescue Ranch efforts and understanding how we can help engage the youth and the outdoors along with animals.”
 
DO YOU HAVE ANY METHOD TO YOUR MADNESS IN FILLING OUT YOUR BRACKET?
“That’s the thing is that with my analytical mind it’s easy for me to overthink it. So I don’t know if I’m going to take the overthink approach or the under think approach.”
 
ON THE QUALIFYING CHANGES RELATIVE TO COOL DOWN LAPS
“I think that’s the right call. It’s what we talked about as drivers from a safety standpoint and that was for two reasons. From a safety standpoint as well as giving us the opportunity to put on a better show for the fans with the drama building up with more opportunities because we can cool the car down so fast that to go out there and bog the race track down with slow race cars was not safe. So I think they made the right call, for sure; especially going into this race track.”
 
ON THE NEW FORMAT AND WINNING MEANING SO MUCH, COULD WE GO BACK TO SOME OF THE PHYSICAL STUFF THAT WE’VE SEEN HERE AT THE END OF RACES AT BRISTOL?
“Physical stuff inside the race track or outside the race track?”
 
WELL IT USUALLY SPILLS OVER IF IT STARTS INSIDE
“No, I don’t see it as that, to that extent. At least from my standpoint, I don’t have any plans to be anymore violent so to speak than I have in the past. I don’t know how you can read into that. But, ultimately we have to manage our race car. We have to manage our race. We have to have something there at the end. So, you can beat on guys, but you’re going to probably get beat back on. So, there is a balance there. It all depends on where you’re at and who you’re around.”
 
IF YOU’RE RUNNING SECOND GOING INTO TURN 1 ON THE LAST LAP, WILL IT BE TEMPTING?
“No, I’ll wait until Turn 3.”
 
BUT IT WILL BE TEMPTING, RIGHT?
“It’s always tempting, even on the first lap.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOOD CITY 500
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 14, 2014
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway and discussed racing at Bristol, payback, celebrating his Daytona 500 victory and much more.  Full Transcript:
 
COMING TO BRISTOL, FIRST SHORT TRACK ON THE SEASON THIS SEASON, TALK ABOUT YOUR MINDSET COMING HERE. YOU’VE HAD A HOT START. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THIS WEEKEND:
“Just to have some fun, you know. This is a fun race track. I love racing on the short tracks. We don’t get to do a whole lot of it throughout the year so really hoping to just be able to make all the laps and if you are out there making all the laps you’re going to be enjoying yourself because you can’t run around here without having fun. It’s really cold and hopefully the weather is going to steer clear, but it will be awesome. It’s going to be an awesome Nationwide race to watch. I’ve got a couple of cars in there. We feel like we’ve got a shot to compete for the win there and hopefully we’ll have a good weekend with that. Kevin’s (Harvick) won some races here so we’re excited to see him drive for us here at this track. The cup car, we’ll just get in there and see how it is today. Like I said, just have some fun. I love coming here, been coming here since I was real little. I mean, even over Charlotte, this was the one race that I didn’t want to miss all year long – or the two races that I didn’t want to miss, especially the night race that was just so much fun when you’re a kid. Hopefully we’ll have a good time and hopefully the car’s going to be fun to drive. Hopefully, Steve’s (Letarte) got her handling good and we’ll work on it if he doesn’t. We’ll keep plugging away until we get what we want.”
 
BRIAN FRANCE HAS SAID IN THE PAST HOW YOU GO, THE SPORT GOES.  WITH YOU RUNNING WELL, ARE YOU STARTING TO NOTICE THE ATTENTION GROWING AND PICKING UP ON NASCAR:
“It’s hard for me to kind of have my finger on the pulse and know exactly how much the needle is moving. They say we can’t really look at the Daytona because of the rain out. The network broadcasts are about the same if not a little bit, a percentage point one way or the other. I guess my fans have been tuning in all along. We just enjoy what we do. I try not to really worry about – I can’t concern myself with how much I move the needle. I think that goes outside of my comfort zone and what I feel is and what I think you need to concern yourself with if you’re as an individual. I just don’t think it’s something –it’s relevant to me of course but not important to me. I want the sport to be healthy. And I want to do things that help the sport and make an impact on the sport. I try to do those things always taking opinions and advice on what I can do better and what I’m not doing that I could be doing to help the sport. You want to leave a mark of some kind. We all do. Everybody here wants to have some sort of mark left in their field and in the sport because we all care about it. There are so many personalities and other drivers and new guys coming in. It’s an ebb and flow of personalities. So, I try not to get too caught up in it. It ain’t always gonna be that way. You know, something could happen this weekend between two different drivers that reach far beyond what I could do, and that will be great. That’s how the sport survives. It definitely doesn’t live and breathe on everything that I’ve got going on. It would be perfectly fine without me, but I’m glad to be a part of it.”
 
DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT OF DRIVER OR ATHLETE BEING IN THE ZONE. IF SO ARE YOU CURRENTLY IN IT WITH THE START YOU HAVE HAD:
“Well, we’ve really got to take last weekend in perspective. We were going to probably run fourth to eighth in that race if we stayed on the strategy with everyone else. So, we can’t get too carried away by ‘yeah we were in the position to win’ but we did that on a strategy that a lot of people weren’t willing to take. We’re not going to be able to do that every week. We’re not going to be able to turn an eighth or a fifth-place run into a second or third or first-place run every week. We’ve got to keep in perspective what happened last week. We weren’t by any means running with Brad (Keselowski) and those guys up front and battling for the lead at any point in the day. So we definitely can look at that and be excited that we had a chance to win. But also we need to focus more on how we get better so we’re running up front regardless of the strategy we’re running and the fuel strategy we use. It feels – we started off last year I thought with a lot of top fives and stuff to jump into the points lead early in the first five or six weeks of the season. We did some things just like we did at (Las) Vegas. We went to California last year and we were like 22nd on that last restart. We come in and got tires and we passed about 10 to 15 cars on the outside in one and two and somehow nobody got in the way and we got lucky and ended up running second after they wrecked in the corner down there for the win. Just things happen sometimes for you and sometimes against you and we just been getting the luck here lately. Hopefully we can keep it going. This place here isn’t going to hand you any favors or give you an inch.   So you’re going to have to work hard to get – whatever you take out of here, you’re going to have to earn it.”
 
DO YOU LIKE THE OLD BRISTOL BETTER THAN NEW BRISTOL? WHAT DO YOU THINK – THE NEW FORMAT AND THE NEW SURFACE AT BRISTOL? DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE ANY DIFFERENT AT BRISTOL HERE, MORE AGGRESSIVE OR ANYTHING?
“I think so. I’ve talked about this year before with several of you. If you look back at the Bristol race, and the one that comes to mind is, because it’s the perfect scenario, where Matt (Kenseth) was leading and Kasey (Kahne) was running second. I think Kasey would have been much more aggressive in that situation to try to get the win had we been using the current format for the points system. So, yeah, when it comes down to it, if you’ve got a guy running second within reach of the leader and he needs a win he’s going to do a little bit more than he probably would have done last year, probably be a little more aggressive and rightfully so. I think that things definitely changed, things have changed in the drivers’ mentalities over the years. You used to see people using the bumper all the time.
 
“A lot of that does have to do with how we run the race track now versus years ago they ran right along the bottom and that was the only way you could get around people was to move them. But the mentality’s changed over the years. You don’t want to go throw your trash in your neighbor’s yard just for the hell of it, but if you give me a good reason, I might do it. So, that’s kind of, I mean you want to dump somebody at a race track like this; you’re going to need really good reason to do it. The mentality has changed over the years and the new system changes that mindset slightly too where if you move a guy out of the way for lack of a better way to explain it, you can blame the system and move on. Years ago, I don’t know how that’s changed or whatever, they would run over each other and argue about it and throw water bottles. But then the next week they could be professional and go and race at the next race track. That was the way it was. This new system, definitely, you need to win. Winning is important. So, if you need to move somebody to win the guy that gets moved has to see it coming and understand that in the same situation he may have done the same thing. I think that’s a good thing. And hopefully – not that we all want to go out there and see each other running each other into the fence – but hopefully that definitely is what we see at places like Bristol when we’re presented with them opport
unities Fans get more excitement and get more  bang for their buck. I think it’s definitely going to change the way people do strategy. We saw that last week. And at the short tracks, it’s definitely going to change the way guys race each other. At the short tracks where you can get within reach of each other, you’re definitely going to maybe be more aggressive in them situations for sure.”
 
IF YOU DID WANT TO GO THROW TRASH IN YOUR NEIGHBOR’S YARD, WITH THE NEW CONFIGURATION, THE ACCEPTED WAY OF DOING FOR YEARS WAS THE BUMP AND RUN WHEN YOU GUYS WERE RUNNING THE BOTTOM. NOW YOU GUYS RUN THE TOP, SO HOW DO YOU ROUGH SOMEBODY UP? IS THERE STILL A BUMP-AND-RUN TYPE STRATEGY? HOW DO YOU DO IT WHEN SOMEONE IS UP AGAINST THE WALL? 
“Yeah. You know, he’s going to get the quarter-panel in the fence a little bit but he will be able to race on. The think about it is, fans will even tell you this – they don’t like you to park a guy. Nobody likes. It’s just wrong to fence a guy and end his race. I don’t think the drivers ever intentionally do that. I’ve tried to move guys and accidentally spun them out before. I mean, it happens. You know, at the short tracks, you’re not running as fast, you can just get a guy loose and if they’re running the high line, they might get their quarter-panel in the fence. (Joey) Logano and Denny (Hamlin) were an example of that. (Joey) Logano was able to race on and finish the day and be relatively competitive. So, you know, you can move a guy out of the way, get the position and make the pass without just ruining his day and throwing away everything him and his team worked for. You take the spot. That’s how you try to do it. That’s how you try to accomplish it.”
 
SINCE YOU FINALLY GOT HOME WERE YOU ABLE TO DO ANY DAYTONA 500 CELEBRATION WITH YOUR FAMILY? OR WAS THAT JUST AT THE RACE TRACK WITH KARSYN:
“I got home. Sonny was there. My mom was there. It was like 2:30 in the morning so mom, and Sonny and I and another buddy of mine we drank a beer, talked a little bit about the race. You know. I had – just stuff was piled up everywhere that I had to go through and do. I needed to go over to HMS. We have our team meeting. So, it was a pretty typical week. I did a photo shoot with the Unilever folks. I had a little work and got back to normal. And I went to see Karsyn (Elledge). She runs with the box stocks. Over the last several years she runs with the box stocks, which is basically kids her age and this year she’s moved up to the big karts with the grown men. She ran fourth against 12 karts so I was blown away. That was a lot of fun to watch her do that. I’m sitting there watching these guys, these grown men, like all of us our age walking around at this little dirt track and she beat several of them. She’s just a little girl. It was pretty crazy. I’m real proud of her. We had a good week. It was nice to be home. My family was real excited to see me.
 
WITH THE START YOU ARE OFF TO, YOU’VE ALREADY REACHED A HISTORIC LANDMARK – BEING ONE OF ONLY FIVE GUYS TO START THE SEASON WITH THREE CONSECUTIVE TOP TWO FINISHES. THERE’S ONLY BEEN ONE GUY WHO HAS DONE IT FOUR STRAIGHT – RICHARD PETTY. AS A HISTORIAN OF THE SPORT, WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO JOIN PETTY AS THE ONLY TWO DRIVERS TO HAVE FOUR STRAIGHT TOP-TWO FINISHES:
“Anytime – you know, I’m going to sound cliché – but anytime you’ve do anything that Richard has done and you put yourself in the conversation with him to do with any statistic, it’s you know, a pretty awesome accomplishment because of everything that he has ever done winning as many races as he has and running as many races as he has. He’s been such a fixture in the sport still today. Yeah, that would be awesome. Just something else we can hang our hat on and we’ve got a shot at it, man. We really run good here. I like coming here. We felt real good about our car last time we were here when the 5 (Kasey Kahne) or the 21 (Trevor Bayne) we were running with those guys and we ended up sort of chickening out on the fuel strategy and pitting and ended up giving up all of our track position. With the way things are now, we don’t have to do that. We can go for it and be aggressive, so that will be interesting to see if we can be in a situation to do that and try to capitalize and get another win or another top three or top two or whatever we need to join Richard in that statistic. We’ll be going for it.”
 
DO YOU FEEL ANY PRESSURE AT ALL BEING THE PERSON THAT CAN ELEVATE NASCAR TO ANOTHER LEVEL?:  “That’s a very uncomfortable question and to get asked about it really makes me uncomfortable because there are so many other drivers – there’s guys like Jimmie (Johnson) who have done so much and accomplished much more than I have. And they do a lot to elevate the sport. They do a lot of things that, you know, carry the sport as well or better than I do.  It’s just very uncomfortable because I don’t have the accolades and the hardware that a lot of these guys have, like a championship and things like that. I’m comfortable with the popularity and things like that because I feel like that we do a lot and we have a great fan base and we do a lot to engage with them. But carrying the sport is a whole other conversation or being the face of the sport is a whole other conversation. It’s a very uncomfortable position to be put in. I don’t think it’s realistic. All the drivers have a role in that and they are actively doing that.”
 
I UNDERSTAND YOU TOOK THE GAMBLE YOU WANTED TO TAKE LAST WEEKEND WHEN YOU FINISHED SECOND. BUT COMING THAT CLOSE TO WINNING AND NOT WINNING, DOES IT STICK WITH YOU FOR A WHILE?
“Nah, it bothers you and it will anytime you talk about it. We still talk about Charlotte years ago running out of gas off of four and it bothers you when you talk about it. There’s part of you that’s like ‘Man, we almost won that race.’ Then you think about those words – ‘we almost won that race’ – and you get disappointed all over again. Yeah, I mean, it will bother you because it’s Vegas, too. It’s a big race that’s in a unique market. They definitely have a whole different way of presenting our sport from the way we do the driver’s meeting. Everything about that whole town is unique and different. So to win there, I think would be a lot of fun and a good celebration and an enjoyable time and something that  you could be real proud of. So I was very disappointed to come up short. At the same time, we took a gamble that wasn’t supposed to make it and I can justify why we didn’t win. But to come that close really does disappoint you.”
 
WITH THIS NEW FORMAT THERE IS ALMOST THE EXPECTATION THAT YOU COULD GET HIT FROM BEHIND IN THE CLOSING LAPS IF YOU ARE THE LEADER.  WITH THAT SAID IF SOMEBODY DOES THAT AND YOU UNDERSTAND WHY IT HAPPENS THEY STILL HAVE ONE COMING FROM YOU DON’T THEY?
“I mean you definitely are going to be upset if you get run over or get moved out of the way.  That is not going to be fun.  Yeah, especially in front of the fans of the sport in attendance and on television nobody likes to get showed up, put in the fence or moved out of the way.  You feel had.  You are obviously going to have a tinge of revenge in the back of your mind and you will carry that with you.  You might do it you might not.
 
“I got ran over accidently.  I ran my first Nationwide race at Myrtle Beach and Jeff Green was in front of me.  I was running seventh, Jeff was sixth and Jason Keller was fifth.  Jeff pushed Jason into the corner way up into the marbles in (turns) three and four.  Jason just turned left and was trying to get back down the track and hit Jeff Green in the quarter panel.  He hit me in the door as I was following through and spun me out.  I always wanted to get Jason Keller back, but I never did.  I just never was in the perfect… and I know Jason is a great guy and I probably would have never bee
n able to bring myself to do it, but some people you get a chance to get back.  Sometimes it’s teed up perfectly right in front of you and you take it.  Then sometimes you just never see them again or you are never in that position racing for a win.  Or you are just never presented the opportunity for whatever reason. Yeah, if somebody runs you over you definitely can put it in the back of your mind and you don’t ever forget it.”
 
LAST WEEK BRAD KESELOWSKI SEEMED EXTREMELY ENTHUSED TO BE JOINING THIS GROUP OF YOU AND KEVIN HARVICK OF ALREADY HAVING A WIN IN THE BANK.  AS THE WEEKS GO ON HERE HOW DO YOU THINK THIS DYNAMIC WILL EFFECT THE RACING?
“Yeah hopefully that is the case.  When it was just me and Kevin (Harvick) and you guys began to talk about that and we began to think about being able to be more ‘man the pressure is off’.  You were like man I don’t want anybody else in this club.  Brad is in it who is probably the last guy you want in the club because they gamble regardless of the system.  Some of the things they did in the Chase to win the championship that year were big gambles and they were gutsy to do it.  Yeah, they will take risks and stay out on old tires and Brad will drive his guts out.  We know that.  The more people that join it as an early member of the group you don’t want anybody else in.  You like that advantage if you will.  But I think as more people are lumped into that winners box you are definitely going to see it will be good I think to see guys out there on so many different strategies and it will provide more passing because you will have guys on old tires, guys come in and get two tires, new tires or whatever.  You are going to be at tracks where you will see there will be a difference in performance between vehicles because of the strategies and therefore there will probably be closer racing and more action.  The cars won’t just be spread out because everybody will have the same tires, same fuel it will be a little bit different at each track and it presents some good races more often than not.”
 
                                                                                                           

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOOD CITY 500
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 14, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway and discussed his outlook for this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the changes in the qualifying procedure, not having a win through the first three races in 2014 and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR OUTLOOK COMING TO BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
“I just want to survive this place.  We did get our win in 2010 and we have been able to run consistently in the top five.  That is truthfully our goal.  This track really is difficult on me and Chad (Knaus) and the team through practice and qualifying.  Then in the race we seem to find our way.  A lot of that falls on my shoulders.  I feel like this track for me it just takes the repetition of laps to find a rhythm and to find the half a tenth or so that I need to really be in the game.  We will try to keep aggravation and frustration to a minimum today, tomorrow and then whenever we race.  I know that we will be able to get out there and run well.”
 
DALE, JR. WAS IN HERE EARLIER AND HE WAS ASKED ABOUT CARRYING THE WEIGHT AND PRESSURE OF ELEVATING THE POPULARITY OF THE SPORT.  HE SAID THAT HE FELT UNCOMFORTABLE BEING ASKED THAT QUESTION BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF.  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT AND WHAT IMPACT YOU DO FEEL HE HAS HAD ON THE SPORT GETTING OFF TO SUCH A GREAT START?
“I think in our sport it takes everyone involved, all the personalities involved, all the drivers on the track, TV personalities and the support of the television network partners, print media, everything across the board to make our sport what it is.  There is no doubt that Junior can move the needle.  I’m happy to see his success right now.  I think one of the effects of it and a positive effect of him running well is the interest it brings in the sport.  We can kind of speculate the type of fan base that he has and maybe fans of his father that some say have left our sport because of the change. When he does well their interest comes back in, is it the younger kids?  I don’t know where the interest comes from, but it’s a great byproduct of him running well.  But it’s too much pressure to put on one person.  Just as unfair as it is for people to say that I have hurt the sport with my success, I think it’s a little unfair to put that all on him that this sport depends on his success.  The sport is bigger than him, it’s bigger than me and it’s bigger than any one person.  It takes all of us to make it what it is.  I’m very proud of where he is and I have seen the hard work that he has put in and Steve (Letarte) has put in.  I pay more attention to my teammate running well than the other effects that take place out there.”
 
DOES IT ADD ANY ANXIETY AT ALL WHEN YOU ARE NOT IN THE 2014 WINNER’S GROUP YET?
“No, I haven’t put much thought into it.  The main reason is 16 transfer and it’s pretty rare that we have 16 different winners in the course of a season.  So points still have a pretty big impact on where you are at.  I’m happy that we are third in points.  I feel like Vegas we had a shot to win.  Midway through the race the balance of the car changed and we found something wrong with the car that was pretty rare and unique for us.  So we know where our speed went and I feel like the (Daytona) 500 we had a shot to win so we have had two chances to win and have had a bunch of top six finishes.  There is nothing to be concerned about yet, one because the year is early and two I feel like at least one or two positions will go in via points.”
 
WERE YOU HAPPY TO SEE THE QUALIFYING CHANGES ANNOUNCED EARLIER THIS WEEK AND DO YOU EXPECT TODAY’S SESSION TO LOOK MARKEDLY DIFFERENT THAN IT HAS THE LAST FEW WEEKS?
“Yeah for sure.  We have had two very forgiving race tracks with generous aprons to cool down on and we still had some close calls.  Here you can’t get on the apron to get out of the way.  I guess you can, but it’s a lot more difficult.  So I’m very happy with the changes and I think we will see a much cleaner, fair opportunity to get your fast laps in.”
 
WERE YOU WORRIED ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE HAD THE CHANGES NOT BEEN MADE?
“Yeah, it would have been total chaos.  There is some level of excitement in it for sure and there are certainly story lines following qualifying that isn’t a bad thing for the sport.  Sometimes bad press is good press, any press is good press that whole mentality.  But there needs to be a bit of order and this should bring a lot of order.”
 
WITH THE PREFERRED LINE NOW BEING THE HIGH LINE NEXT TO THE WALL IT’S DIFFERENT FROM WHEN IT USED TO JUST BE AROUND THE BOTTOM THE BUMP AND RUN WAS EASIER.  IF YOU ARE COMING DOWN TO A WIN HERE AND YOU ARE LOOKING TO MOVE A SLOWER CAR HOW DO YOU DO IT? DOES THE BUMP AND RUN NOT WORK ANYMORE?
“It definitely is a different bump and run factor.  If it’s a lap down car or somebody that you are not racing for position a little tap on the straightaway usually wakes up whoever is in front of you and they will cut you some slack.  If it’s for position I wouldn’t anticipate anybody to pull down and get out of the way.  You are just going to have to go to work the hard way and try to get by.  You know some drivers have grown up in stock cars and in environments where you use the bumper to move someone and it’s second nature.  It’s not the environment that I came out of and I think the same for Kasey (Kahne) if you go through his background and the types of cars he raced.  You don’t bump, you don’t touch and I have found personally that it takes me longer to set up a bump and run.  It’s a delicate touch to get in there and to move somebody in the right way.  I waste more time doing that than it does to get inside of them to try to pass them.  That might also lead to kind of the conversation with Kasey’s closing laps last year and if that happens again, there are some guys that are comfortable and used to it.  If I have to I will, but I am probably going to be saying I’m sorry after.  It will be in that category of (Dale) Earnhardt trying to rattle Terry’s (Labonte) cage and Terry’s car was all torn up.”
 
IS THERE MORE RISK FOR THE GUY TRYING TO DO IT THAN THE GUY THAT IS RUNNING UP NEXT TO THE WALL?
“Yeah definitely getting your path and the wall will catch them.  I’m pretty sure they will be able to get back to you in (turn) 1.  Bump and run works nice when you can get somebody if they slip and slide and they are four or five car lengths behind you in the next turn because you know it’s coming back.  Being so close to one another and then the proximity of the wall a bump and run you might complete the pass to start with, but you are probably going to get it back sooner than you would want.”
 
AS YOU LOOK BACK OVER THE TIME THAT YOU HAVE BEEN IN THE SERIES ARE DRIVERS MORE WILLING TO HIT EACH OTHER NOW A DAYS THAN BEFORE?
“It’s tough to say.  I mean you race people how you are raced and vice versa.  There is usually not a lot of contact between myself and other cars and it’s been that way since I’ve entered the sport.  I feel like there might be less casual contact, but we see more heated moments when something does happen.  I think there are far less bump and runs and there is more aggravation and frustration and something big happens and then we have a wrestling match on pit road after.”
 
DALE, JR. MENTIONED A DRIVER, JASON KELLER, AS ONE THAT ONE TIME GOT HIM.  HE ALWAYS WANTED TO GET HIM BACK AND NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY.  IS THERE SOMEBODY WHO IS NO LONGER IN THE S
PORT THAT GOT YOU THAT YOU NEVER GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET THEM?
“The first one that comes to mind and I actually tried was with Matt Kenseth.  I guess it was one of my full years in Nationwide and he had crashed me two or three times and he had a bad pit stop in Dover and came out deep in the field.  I was running eighth to 10th or something and he wrecked me in (turns) one and two.  I was sitting on the apron waiting for him to come back around and I had the car in gear ready to dump the clutch to harpoon him.  When I dumped the clutch to take off the fuel cell was on the ground and my rear tires were up off the ground and I couldn’t go anywhere.  I was all over the rev chip going nowhere.  I have teased him about it since and I think even mentioned it in the media once.  Matt (Kenseth) does not remember that thing, but I do.  But we are well past that now.  There is no revenge there, but it’s fun to harass him about it.”
 

TEAM CHEVY AT SEBRING: FRONT-ROW START FOR NEW CAMARO Z/28.R
Curran P2 in Continental Tire GS qualifying for CKS Autosport; Stevenson entries P4 and P5
 
SEBRING, Fla. (March 13, 2014) – Just two races into its debut season – and on its first time out Sebring International Raceway – the new Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R has notched its first front-row starting spot in the Continental Sports Car Championship. Eric Curran qualified P2 in the No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro for Friday’s second round of the Continental Tire series as three of the Z/28.R race cars finished the session in the top-five.
 
Curran, driving with Lawson Aschenbach, posted a best lap of 2:16.165 (98.880 mph) in Thursday’s qualifying session for Grand Sport (GS) cars.
 
Matt Bell was fourth at 2:16.616 (98.554 mph) in Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 9 Camaro that he drives with Andy Lally. Andrew Davis, in the No. 6 Stevenson Camaro he shares with Robin Liddell, was fifth with a best lap of 2:16.628 (98.545 mph).
 
Trent Hindman was the fastest GS qualifier at 2:15.947 (99.039 mph) in a BMW M3.
 
Friday’s two-and-a-half-hour race is set for 1 p.m. ET with live streaming and timing at IMSA.com.
 
ERIC CURRAN, NO. 01 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO Z/28.R
(Camaro Z/28.R development) “Our Team Chevy and CKS Autosport guys – Kirk Spencer and all his boys – have been working really hard on this car. We came to Daytona with a car that was a week old and fought a lot with it there – like anyone else does with a new race car. But there has been quite a bit more work done on the car in the last month-and-a-half. We’re getting it into a better race car – more consistent and all the hard work is paying off.”
(His qualifying run) “I put down a flyer of a lap and dropped two wheels in the dirt but kept it all together. I’m really happy for that and everyone at Team Chevy. This Camaro Z/28.R is awesome.
“We’re a little concerned how this car will be on a long run. We just have Daytona on it. Continental cars haven’t run here at Sebring for years. Hopefully it’s not too hard on the rear tires. That’s our main concern.”
 
MATT BELL, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
(His qualifying run) “The strategy was to do a pretty short run in qualifying. We have to use the same tires for the start of the race that we use in qualifying. For these tires on this track, they are probably already well degraded with this heat cycle on them. We’re going to start off the race well slower than we finished that session. Some of our competitors are in much lighter cars so they won’t be as hard on their tires in general but the strategy is that they will run out of tire halfway through their stint.”
(Continuing development) “The Camaro is great; we haven’t had too much time … just tuning. We’re still developing for the most part; we still have a lot of stuff that we’re just checking off the list as far as getting it all to work as we expect it to work. The last couple sessions are the only time we’ve spent hunting down performance. But every time we make a change the car is better so that’s the direction you want to go. We’re in a great place for the race. As long as we keep it clean, we’re in a great place with both cars.”
 
ANDREW DAVIS, NO. 6 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
(His qualifying effort) “The Stevenson Motorsports crew works non-stop. Along with the guys at Chevrolet and Pratt & Miller, we’ve all have been putting our heads together to try and improve this program. That’s how well we work together. For me personally, I try to get faster every time I get in the car. The car is a pleasure to drive. The Camaro Z/28.R is just really fun. It’s good all around. It’s all the things I remember about Pratt & Miller race cars. We found good time in qualifying. There was probably a little bit left out there; I made a mistake on the first lap that cost me a little bit of time. The second lap was pretty good and I’m happy with that.”
(Challenges of the track): “Sebring is such a difficult circuit. Not only is it long with a lot of different corners, the surface makes it very quickly. There is cement, asphalt, sealer… you have to deal with that. We’re all fighting for grip, and rear grip will be at a premium at the end of a stint. We’ve been trying to make the car quick on a given lap but at the same time we have to look at the big picture. We have to race this car for two-and-a-half hours tomorrow.”

CHEVROLET BECOMES NEWEST IMSA AUTOMOTIVE PARTNER
Chevrolet Also Official Car and Official Pace Car at Sebring International Raceway

SEBRING, Fla. (March 13, 2014) – With the 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida providing the backdrop, officials from Chevrolet and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) announced today a multi-year agreement making Chevrolet an Official Automotive Partner of IMSA, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.
 
“Chevrolet is proud to partner with IMSA,” said Jeff Chew, manager of business strategy and operations for Chevy Racing. “Our involvement in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship gives us a relevant platform to showcase our premier performance vehicles on the race track to our loyal customers and fans. Chevrolet’s participation in the TUDOR Championship’s Prototype and GT Le Mans classes – plus the GS category in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge – illustrates our commitment to IMSA.”
 
The No. 5 Action Express Racing team and drivers Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais gave the Corvette DP its first Rolex 24 At Daytona victory to open the 2014 TUDOR Championship and Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.
 
“Chevrolet’s reputation for excellence in sports car racing is well documented, and the brand is clearly a fan favorite,” said David Pettit, IMSA vice president, marketing. “The former GRAND-AM Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón both benefited from Chevrolet’s fantastic support, which we are proud to continue in the ‘new’ IMSA.”
 
The agreement also names Chevrolet as the Official Car and Official Pace Car for Sebring International Raceway, as well as upcoming events at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park on Saturday, May 31; at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 25; and at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Saturday, Aug. 10. The manufacturer has a strong presence in IMSA, through the Corvette DP and Corvette Racing teams in the TUDOR Championship and Camaro Z/28.R race cars in the Continental Tire Challenge.
 
“Chevrolet is pleased to continue our partnership with Sebring International Raceway as Official Car and Official Pace Car for 2014 and beyond,” Chew said. “Both Chevrolet and Sebring have established rich traditions in North American sports car racing, which makes this a natural alliance. Track President and General Manager Tres Stephenson has assembled a world-class team of professionals that supports our marketing efforts each year around this historic event – one in which Chevrolet has achieved considerable on-track success.”

Chevrolet has an impressive history at America’s oldest endurance race. Corvette is the defending Sebring GT champion and has recorded 25 class victories here since its first appearance at the 12-hour classic in 1956. Chevrolet ranks third all-time at Sebring among manufacturers with 36 top-10 finishes.

“Sebring is proud to extend its marketing partnership with Chevrolet,” Stephenson said. “Chevrolet and Corvette have played a key role in Sebring’s history and we are excited to have the new Corvette C7 Stingray pace the field for Saturday’s 12-hour classic.”
 
Since 2001, Chevrolet and Corvette Racing scored 10 manufacturer and team championships in the ALMS and earned seven class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the Rolex Series, Chevrolet earned six manufacturers championships and overall victories in the 2001 and 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

CORVETTE RACING AT SEBRING: Drive for Ninth Win in 12 Hours
New Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs to take on racing’s most demanding venue
 
DETROIT (March 11, 2014) – Corvette Racing and its new Corvette C7.R race cars are about to undergo the ultimate challenge in road racing. The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is America’s oldest sports car race, and the 62nd running of the Florida classic is set for this weekend. It’s also an event that is rich with Chevrolet and Corvette history.
 
You could say that Sebring is the spiritual birthplace of the modern-day Corvette Racing program. A Corvette raced for the first time in its history at the 1956 Sebring 12 Hours and placed ninth overall. Almost 60 years later, Corvette Racing will go for its ninth class win at Sebring since 2002 – this time with the brand new Corvette C7.R. The production-based racer is Chevrolet’s entry in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
 
“Sebring is one of the toughest race tracks in the world,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet’s Director of Racing. “Corvette Racing’s success in the 12 Hours is a testament to the preparation and work ethic of the team at Chevrolet Racing, Pratt & Miller and GM Powertrain. Winning Sebring once is an incredible accomplishment, and doing so eight times is nothing short of remarkable. We are confident the new Corvette C7.R – with its improved handling, stability and efficiency – can help add to that record at Sebring.”
 
Sebring is the second round of the inaugural TUDOR Championship. As at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, each of the Corvettes will have three drivers each. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen – last year’s American Le Mans Series GT champions – will team with IndyCar star Ryan Briscoe in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R. Defending Sebring class winners Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner will share the No. 4 entry with Robin Liddell.
 
Gavin, Milner and Richard Westbrook overcame early electrical issues and came from two laps down to win last year’s race in their Corvette C6.R. Ahead of this year’s race, Corvette Racing has tested the C7.R at Sebring on multiple occasions, and for good reason.
 
Sebring International Raceway pounds race cars like no other race track in the world. The facility sits on the site of Fort Hendricks – a World War II airbase that was used as a training ground for American B-17 bombers. Part of the circuit – most notably Turn 16 through the exit of Turn 1 – uses the old concrete runway and taxiway, which makes up some of the roughest sections of racing surface anywhere in the world. It’s part of what makes Sebring physically the toughest venue in endurance racing.
 
The new aluminum frame – 40 percent stiffer than the C6.R – should be a huge benefit over the bumps at Sebring. The direct-injected engine offers better fuel economy, a critical element in long-distance endurance racing. The advanced aerodynamics on the C7.R compliments both the stability and efficiency factors.
 
Television coverage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will be available live on FOX Sports 1 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET with the remainder of the race airing live on IMSA.com. FOX Sports 1 also will air a three-hour recap at 8:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 16.
 
Corvette Racing will compete in 11 TUDOR Championship races around North America plus the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
 

 
CORVETTE DPs AT SEBRING: First Time at the 12 Hours
Historic Florida circuit follows dominant showing at Rolex 24
 
DETROIT (March 11, 2014) – There’s a first time for everything, the old saying goes. It’s with that in mind that Corvette Daytona Prototype teams head this week to Sebring International Raceway for the second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is America’s oldest sports car race but this year marks the first time DP cars race at the historic circuit.
 
The inaugural season of the TUDOR Championship couldn’t have started much better for the contingent of Corvette DP teams. Action Express Racing’s No. 5 entry led a sweep of the top four positions at the Rolex 24 At Daytona to start the year. Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais look to earn a double in Florida with a victory at Sebring. The competition is tough though with 18 cars in the TUDOR Championship’s Prototype class – including four other Corvette Daytona Prototypes.
 
Wayne Taylor Racing finished second at the Rolex 24 and stands to contend again at Sebring. Action Express’ No. 9 entry followed with Spirit of Daytona’s Corvette DP in fourth. Throw in Marsh Racing’s No. 31 entry – only the team’s second race with its Corvette DP – and you have a group capable of challenging throughout 12 hours on the rough-and-tumble Florida circuit… and giving Chevrolet its first overall Sebring victory since 1965.
 
“There aren’t many racing venues in the world that are as demanding on the cars, drivers and teams as Sebring,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet’s Director of Racing.  “It is a circuit full of history and Chevrolet looks forward to returning to this amazing track. Taking the top four finishing positions at the season opening Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona race was a monumental moment for Chevrolet and our Corvette Daytona Prototype program.  We hope to build upon that success as the season continues with the 12 hour race at Sebring.”
 
The No. 5 Action Express entry set the quickest time of a two-day open test at Sebring in late February with a 1:52.480 (119.701 mph). Spirit of Daytona’s No. 90 Corvette DP was third.
 
There may not be two race circuits in North America that are as different as Daytona and Sebring. The former is a combination of high-banked oval and infield road course with smooth surfacing all the way around. That is in short supply around Sebring, which sits on the site of a World War II airbase – Hendricks Field. American B-17s trained there, and now the sound of thousands of horsepower fill the air around Sebring each March. Part of the circuit uses the old concrete runway, which makes up some of the roughest sections of racing surface anywhere in the world. It’s part of what makes Sebring physically the toughest venue in endurance racing.
 
“There are many unknowns ahead of this race for our Corvette Daytona Prototypes in their 2014 configurations,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet’s Program Manager for Corvette Daytona Prototypes. “Even that will change with the recent IMSA adjustment of performance – revisions to our downforce package and air restrictor. Our knowledge base for Sebring is limited to the two IMSA test days in February, so there is little to no prior experience of running these cars around the toughest circuit on our schedule. Our competitors running P2 machinery have an advantage in that those cars have run in the 12 Hours numerous times before.
 
“This race is half as long as Daytona but in many ways it’s twice as difficult on both the teams and equipment,” he added. “Reliability will be key, as will getting through and around traffic with nearly 70 cars over an erratic and bumpy surface.”
 
Camaro Z/28.R Set to Make Sebring Debut
Chevrolet’s newest version of the Camaro also makes its Sebring debut this week. The Z/28.R made its first race start in January at Daytona International Speedway and has undergone additional testing and development since.
 
Both Stevenson Motorsports and CKS Autosport are fielding the new Camaro Z/28.R in the car’s debut season. For Stevenson, Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis drive the No. 6 Camaro with Andy Lally and Matt Bell in the No. 9. In the CKS camp, Eric Curran and Lawson Aschenbach partner in the No. 01 with Ashley McCalmont and Bob Michaelian sharing in the No. 00.
 
A GS-class victory at Sebring would be historic on a number of levels. In addition to the first win for the Z/28.R, it would be the first at Sebring for the Camaro brand since 1990 in the IMSA Firehawk Series. In fact, the Firehawk championship was the first street-stock series to race at Sebring in 1985 – a six-hour race won by a Camaro.
 
“The Daytona weekend was a beneficial one,” said Lisa Talarico, Chevrolet’s Program Manager for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. “The time between then and now has been equally important with continuing development. Sebring is a difficult challenge on its own. We are confident, along with our partner teams, that the Camaro Z/28.R program will continue showing progress and competitive results.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
KOBALT 400
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 9, 2014
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR. IS HALF LAP SHORT OF WIN AT VEGAS
Team Chevy grabs six of the top ten finishing positions
 
LAS VEGAS (March 9, 2014) – Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Mountain Dew Kick Start Chevrolet SS came ever so close to scoring his second win of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season.  Earnhardt lead a total of 51 laps in the race, including 44 of the final 45 before running out of fuel down the backstretch on the final lap at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) in the Kobalt Tools 400.  He was able to carry his momentum across the finish line to come home second. It was his is third straight top-two finish to open the season after winning the Daytona 500, and posting a runner-up finish last week at Phoenix.
Earnhardt still retains the point lead by one point over second place.
 
Paul Menard earned his best finish at LVMS with a third place run in the No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing.  It was his third top-10 finish at the 1.5-mile Vegas track in eight races, and first top five and top ten finish of 2014.  With the finish, Menard moves up to 18th place in the point standings after three races.
 
Six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson placed sixth in the No. 48 Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS, Ryan Newman in the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS posted his second straight top-10 finish in seventh.  Johnson moves up from fifth to third, and Newman moves up from 15th to ninth in the standings.
 
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS, and Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS, finished eighth and ninth, respectively, to place all Hendrick teams in the top 10.  Kahne sits 15th in points while Gordon moves up three spots to fifth.
 
Brad Keselowski (Ford) was the race winner, Joey Logano (Ford) was fourth and Carl Edwards (Ford) was fifth to round out the top-five.
 
The series moves to Bristol Motor Speedway, also known as the “World’s Fastest Half Mile”, on Sunday March 16th.
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS:
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 MOUNTAIN DEW KICKSTART CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND

KERRY THARP:  Dale Earnhardt Jr. has joined us.  Dale was the race runner up.  He drove the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Kickstart Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  Dale, you’re right on the verge of getting your second win of the season, and you were talking out on pit road how the new championship format system allows you to go for broke pretty much like you guys did today.

DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Sure does.  And that’s a great point.  I think everybody has seen that over the last couple of weeks that this format has definitely allowed teams to gamble like we have.
 
You know, it did pay off.  Not the ultimate prize, but we did run second.  We weren’t going to ‑‑ as much as you want to win, and believe me, we were out there trying to win, you do take pride in a good performance, a good finish, and we weren’t going to run in the top 5 if we hadn’t have used that particular strategy, if we’d have run the same strategy as our competitors we would have probably run just inside the top 10 where we were all day.
 
At least it felt like I was around eighth all day.  I just couldn’t get any ground, and we fought the car all day.  Just the air is so dirty behind everybody, the further back you get you’ve got less and less grip.  Once we got the lead, it was like driving a Cadillac.
 
I was lifting real early trying to save even more.  We figured we were a lap short, and I was lifting early and let Brad get there, and I felt like if we were good enough to hold him off, then we’d win the race.  If we weren’t, we would have saved enough fuel to have finished the race, at least get to the end.  I can run out of gas on the back stretch and be okay, but if I run out off of 4 coming to the white it would’ve been big trouble, so I had to save a little bit.  So I let him catch us and once he got there, I ran as hard as I could and could pull back away from him.
 
So I felt good about the car and proud of Steve and the strategy that he used to give us a chance to win.  We’re going to dearly miss that next year, and hopefully we are learning what we need to learn in these last couple of years to continue calling races as well as he does.
 
It’s disappointing, but at the same time the good Lord has blessed me with a good team and good fortune and great opportunity, so I don’t want to get too down and think about the positives and be productive so we can go to Bristol and try to win there.
Q.  Just to be clear, do you think your team would have attempted that strategy at all three races into the season if not for the current Chase format?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Absolutely not.  I can say that without a doubt.
Q.  And as a driver, even though you didn’t win, did you find it ‑‑ did you find it entertaining?  Did you find it interesting?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Interesting, oh, yeah.  Damn right, leading the race the last 50 laps is a hell of a lot better than running eighth the last 50 laps.  I was interested.  (Laughter.)
 
KERRY THARP:  So were about 100,000 people.
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, it was very exciting.  I think the way the new format is, nothing is perfect, right, but it definitely is showing it has tons of positives, and it’s better as far as entertainment for our sport.  Yeah, it gives us freedom, and it’s nice to have that freedom to do the things that we did today, even though we knew our odds weren’t good.  We really shouldn’t have made it, and we didn’t, but we got to try because of the new system.  So yeah, I think it’s pretty cool.
Q.  Aside from the Chase, this has been your hottest start since I can remember, but what does that do for your confidence and the team’s confidence?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, we ran pretty good out of the gate last year.  Yeah, this is a good start for sure.  Yeah, the confidence is up there. When we first got together we’d run our guts out to run in the top 15.  Then the next year we’d run our guts out to run in the top 10, and you wondered when you’d get up to fifth and start running in the top 5 regularly.  We started doing that finally last year, and so our team just keeps stepping up this ladder.  It just makes total sense to me how that process has went, having lived it and having seen the progression.  So the sky’s the limit for us, and if we are smart and keep our composure and don’t get foolish and don’t get too proud of ourselves, just keep it in perspective, we’ve got a great opportunity this year to be this competitive every week.
 
We were really strong at the end of the year last year.  It just thrilled me to death.  So this is great.  Yeah, you definitely don’t want to take it for granted, get used to it, but this is what we envisioned, and starting to bear some fruit.
Q.  Dale, you’re obviously pretty good friends with Brad.  How much do you think it bothered him last year to miss the Chase, especially the year after he won the championship and people would say that maybe it was kind of a fluke thing for him?  Do you think that ate at him?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, I mean, he’s competitive, loves to win, driven, very driven to ‑‑ he studies his team, studies the sport, studies the cars and him and his crew chief work really hard.  He overthinks everything, and he comes up with 20 ideas and 18 of them are crazy but two of them are great.  You know, that’s the way he always was with us.  Pops has had to run him out of the shop because he’s just nitpi
cking everything on the car, why is that like that, why don’t we turn this this way and do it like this.  A lot of the stuff, Pops would have to explain it to him, but hell, a couple ideas would be pretty good.  Brad does that with everything, and that’s why he’s successful.
 
He’s obviously a very talented driver, just raw talent.  You don’t learn that, you’re kind of born with some of those things, some of those traits.  But his work ethic, I think his dedication to his craft, and he thinks about it every day, I think that’s the kind of ‑‑ that’s why he’s so successful.  He’s plugged in, real plugged into what he’s doing.
Q.  Dale, at what point late in the race did you have to give up saving fuel with Brad coming and go full for it?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  When they told me ‑‑ well, really I ran two real hard laps right after that restart, and we got about a 20‑car length lead and I started lifting real early into both corners and seeing whether they were going to catch me, and I was probably better off lifting anyways because I was badly over driving the car, so we probably weren’t even losing any lap times, maybe running even better lap times.  So I was being pretty cautious and lifting pretty early, and when I saw Brad pass the 99, I knew Brad in clean air would be quicker than us, potentially, he had been all day, and I just continued to save and hope that once he got behind me and got into dirty air I could keep him there, and he drove ‑‑ I continued to save until he got within about eight car lengths, and then I started running hard, and we were fast enough to keep him behind us.  As soon as I got to the top of 1 and 2 the last several laps, I was real comfortable that he wasn’t going to get to me, felt fine about if we had enough gas we weren’t going to have a problem.  But we didn’t have enough gas.
Q.  Forgive me if this was already asked, but I can remember when you ran out at Pocono, and it took a while for you to get that confidence back, but with Stevie, with this being his last year, is this a go for broke kind of year, and I mean, if it wasn’t already with the win in the pocket, is it kind of what do we have to lose?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, sure.  I ran out of gas at Pocono with Tony Jr. crew chiefing in ’08 when we was driving for Rick, and we were supposed to be fine until the end of the race and then we ran out with like two laps to go and I came in, took my helmet off and bashed a fender on the car and just made a real ass of myself and learned a lot from that experience.  It took a lot ‑‑ my team was disappointed in my actions, and my cousin was disappointed in my actions and the way I was, so when we ran out ‑‑ when we run out of gas now, you know, you’ve got to try to be positive, because those kind of things, when you crash, wreck, blow up, those kind of things, there’s an opportunity there for it to be worse, and you make it worse than it is, or for you to try to clean up the mess and carry on.  Throwing a tantrum and getting upset and mad about it don’t do any good for your team.  They don’t feed off of that.  If anything it brings your team down.
 
But we were able to ‑‑ the gamble didn’t pay off ultimately, but we were able to run in the top 5.  We weren’t going to do that, and with the strategy we were on and everybody else was on, it was a good strategy and gave us a chance to win.  We definitely wouldn’t have taken that gamble had we not had the new points system, so we were able to really take advantage of that.  Steve is already going for broke, and he’s having a fun time.  It hurts to lose like that.  We’d definitely love to be in victory lane right now, but our time will come.  We’ll keep going.
Q.  You mentioned Steve Letarte and his kind of moving on to the broadcast next year.  Are there any thoughts as to who might be up for that position yet, or is it just way too early?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  It’s way too early.  I promise you, and I’m telling y’all the truth, there’s been no discussion as far as I know, and I wouldn’t think if there is any discussion ‑‑ I would be involved in it even if it was light discussion in the shop.  There’s been none at all yet about it.
And we’ve got a lot of time, and I think that it’s best not to jump to a conclusion early.  Steve is a great part of that process; let him sort of watch the year unfold and see how the team is and understand what his opinion is on who would be best for that role, allow Chad to do the same thing.  Everybody is busy getting the season going, and I don’t want that to be a distraction.  We can be patient, and I promise you that there have been no even initial discussions at all really.
 
Unless you’re really ready to make the decision, it’s almost best not to even discuss it because you don’t want rumors to start floating around in the shop and people start getting the wrong messages and stuff like that.  When we’re ready to make the decision, we’ll sit down and we’ll make it, and it’ll be clear.
 
 
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 QUAKER STATE/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD           

KERRY THARP:  Our third‑place finisher is Paul Menard.  Today Paul drove the No. 27 Quaker State Menard’s Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.  Certainly a valiant effort out there today.  Just talk about your afternoon.

PAUL MENARD:  Yeah, just had a really solid car all day and all weekend, really.  Started on Thursday, felt like in race practice Thursday we were really strong, switched over to qualifying trim Friday and still the car drove good, we just didn’t have any speed, so wound up qualifying 21st.

Did a few adjustments from yesterday, felt like we ended happy hour good, did a few adjustments overnight, anticipating the track was going to be a little bit hotter, slicker, kind of played into our favor, and really had a solid car from the green flag.  We tightened it up a little bit the first couple runs, and then we freed it back up and kind of bounced back and forth.  Felt like we had definitely a top 3 car and at times the best car.  It was cool going up and passing Jimmie for the lead and passing him for a few laps, but just proud of my guys.  We’re clicking really well, we got a couple new engineers and of course Slugger is back for our fourth or fifth year working together, so a good group of guys.  Our pit crew’s pit stops were awesome.
Q.  Paul, there were all kinds of fuel strategies and stuff going on today.  How did you guys fall into that, and did things work out sort of as you planned?
PAUL MENARD:  Yeah, had it gone green two runs ago, we were like four laps short, so it’s hard to save four laps.  When that caution came out, we knew that we were going to pit.  The question was whether or not to take right sides or gas only.  Took gas only, spun the tires really bad on the restart. Everybody on the outside lane seemed to really spin their tires.  Whoever had clean air seemed like they checked out.  You saw the 2 do that earlier; the 88 did it at the end.  So clean air obviously is still very important, but I felt like our car, I could move lanes and we could race people and pass people, which was obviously really important.
Q.  You were driving like a guy trying to get to the hospital for the birth of your kid.  Can you talk about the situation with your wife, any update on that?  When is her due date?
PAUL MENARD:  The due date is Tuesday.  My phone is back at the hauler so she might have called, but I told her to call.  Matt Crafton is my backup and he really wants to get in the car, so I told Jennifer if it’s important, call Matt because he’s sure as hell going to tell me.  I didn’t get the call, though, so I guess everything is good.
Q.  Paul, as a
company overall, can you evaluate how you guys are running right now?  Do you feel like you have the strength that you need with all your cars to contend each week?
PAUL MENARD:  Well, it’s too early to tell, really.  Obviously Speedweeks were really good for RCR with Austin on the pole; every single car was fast down there.  Phoenix was kind of a scratching our heads.  None of us felt like we were very good there.  The 31 had the best finish of us all, but they kind of played some strategy to get up there.
Obviously our short track program I feel like is where we need to focus on.  Intermediate track, I think Ryan finished 7th and Austin had a good car all day.  We just need to ‑‑ we’ve got a good baseline for intermediate stuff; we’ve just got to work on our short track stuff more.  But overall, proud of everybody.  Richard has put a big investment in the off‑season hiring some new people, and I feel like our engineering and support staff is awesome.

KERRY THARP:  Paul, outstanding effort this afternoon.  Best of luck next week at Bristol.

PAUL MENARD:  Thanks.  Got a plane to catch.  (Laughter.)
 
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
 
 
 
 
ADDITIONAL POST-RACE COMMENT:
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 ASPEN DENTAL CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 21ST:
“For us on the 10 car, we were really good all weekend. The guys on the Aspen Dental Chevy gave me a great car. The weakest session we had all weekend was the last practice. I’m really happy with the cars this year. I was running with the leaders the last half of the race, but I was a lap down. Unfortunately, one car always stayed out (rather than pitting), so we couldn’t get our lap back (via the wave around). And we just missed the lucky dog spot. Obviously you always want more, but I’m happy with it, especially after what we’ve gone through the last two weeks. It’s a good day and gives us something to build on going to Bristol.”