Chevy Racing–Ryan Newman–Phoenix

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS/SALUTE TO VETERANS DAY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed memories at Phoenix, the 2014 season and other topics. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
WHAT IS YOUR FONDEST MEMORY OF RACING AT PHOENIX?
“I’ve been fortunate to be able to experience it and the old style or old shape of the race track and the way it is now.  Some of my fondest memories include the Copper World Classics out here and the midgets and Silver Crown cars.  That was our Daytona was to come out here the first of February and race and prepare in the off-season for our big race.  That was literally our Daytona 500 in the open wheel series.  Then to come back here 10 or 15 years later, whatever it was, to race in the Cup Series and have as many poles as I did here in a row and my win here would probably be the peak of it all because going back to the Copper World and having those poles, obviously you want to put the bookend on one side of it or at least a potential bookend and that was that victory in the Cup Series here.  And to do it in the style that we did it was pretty cool too.”
 
CAN YOU REFLECT YOUR STATE OF MIND LEAVING STEWART-HAAS RACING AND HEADING TO RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING NEXT SEASON?
“About four or five weeks ago somebody had asked me a similar question and to me, it was like a series of books where you’re not finished with one book so you can’t start the next and in that series of books you have to get the last couple chapters over and done in order to get started and understand the next one.  There’s part of me that’s excited about the future, no doubt and getting to that next book, but there’s part of me that wants to finish out these last couple chapters and do it strong and do it in the right way and we have two opportunities here being Phoenix and Homestead.  Those are tracks I’ve run good at.  I can’t even say that it’s bittersweet because I don’t look at it as bittersweet as it is just a matter of doing my job and having fun.  That’s what the whole goal is.”
 
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT JEFF BURTON, MARK MARTIN AND BOBBY LABONTE POSSIBLY RETIRING AFTER THIS SEASON?
“I think with Mark (Martin), I don’t know how to say that because Mark’s retired like 16 times now.  I guess if you look back at it, it was destined to come.  If you look back to when Jimmie (Johnson) and I came in, eventually we’re going to have that time too.  Same thing with maybe (Matt) Kenseth and (Tony) Stewart and a few other guys.  I think there’s going to be some waves of that happening and I think that those guys are definitely proud of their careers and the things that they’ve accomplished.  Someday I’ll probably be making that same announcement.  I think at this point in the season is where it all becomes kind of vocal.”
 
 

Chevy Racing–Phoenix–Jeff Burton

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
ADVOCARE 500
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 8, 2013
 
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CAT MINING CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media today at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed making his 1,000th career NASCAR national series start, his role in the sport in 2014 and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
A BIG MILESTONE FOR YOU THIS WEEKEND YOU HAVE HAD A STOUT CAREER IN NASCAR MAKING YOUR 1,000TH CAREER NASCAR NATIONAL SERIES START HERE AT PHOENIX.  TALK A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR CAREER AND WHAT THIS MILESTONE MEANS TO YOU:
“Well it means I’m getting old I guess, that is primarily what it means.  I’ve been really blessed to do it for as long as I’ve done it to do something that you love and to be able to do it as long as I’ve done it really is a blessing.  When I was seven years old I wanted to be a race car driver.  I’m 46 and I’m a race car driver.  I’ve just been really blessed.  The cool thing is I’ve met so many people and experienced so many things that I never would have been able to do.  To have a chance to compete for a living is really is a cool thing.  You know what your job is and go out and try to do it.  Competing to me means something.  To be able to do it this long has been really cool.”
 
IN SHORT TERM OR LONG TERM FUTURE IS THERE AN OPTION TO SET UP YOUR OWN SPRINT CUP TEAM?
“Do I look dumb?  (Laughter) You know there was a time that I really thought that would be an option for me, but in the environment that we have today I don’t know how a small guy could have a Cup team that would be a formidable force.  My pockets aren’t deep enough and wouldn’t have the financial; actually Jack Roush talked to me about the money tree one time.  If he had to he could turn the money tree on and create money for the investment until the investment had time to pay off.  If you can’t do that as a car owner I don’t think you can be an effective car owner.  So for me in today’s world there may be room for me as an ownership group, but to be the primary owner would be farfetched.”
 
OF YOUR 999 RACES WHICH ONE STICKS IN YOUR MIND THE MOST?
“I have done a terrible job in my career of taking time to enjoy it.  My personality is such that I’m always on to the next thing.  In many cases kind of looking back on now they are a little more special now than they were then.  Racing Matt Kenseth for those couple of wins that I got with him meant a lot to me because I respect Matt so much.  I respect what that No. 17 car was all about.  They meant a lot to me.  Winning my first races in Nationwide and Cup were big races.  Racing Kyle Busch at (Las) Vegas in a Nationwide car last lap battle.  I got by him on the outside, he spun coming off turn four.  That was fun.  It was just two guys racing hard.  If I would have finished second or spun it still would have been fun.  Those experiences are really neat.  Winning Darlington in adverse conditions, rain delays, those kinds of things, we went to Darlington and dominated those races for years and couldn’t find a way to win and then we won two of them in rain shortened races.  Winning the Winston ‘No Bull’ races I think we won three of those.  When we won three of those races three fans won a million bucks too.  Being in Victory Lane with those fans winning that money that was cool.  I hate to pick one out, but those were really cool events.”
 
WE ARE AT THE END OF THE YEAR WITH THE GEN-6 CAR.  WE ARE LOOKING AT MAKING SOME CHANGES FOR NEXT SEASON.  WHAT IS YOUR EVALUATION OF HOW THE CAR HAS CHANGED RACING OVER LAST YEAR AND HOW IT HAS PERFORMED AND ALSO WHAT WE NEED TO TWEAK?
“I think it’s an improvement over last year’s car.  I think that is evident in watching races I think it’s proven to be better.  I still think there is a step to go.  I’m guilty of comparing what we do today to what we did 15 years ago, but I think that’s irrelevant.  What we really need to be looking at is what do people want to see today?  So, sometimes we defend the racing today by saying ‘well it’s better than it was 10 years ago’, but that doesn’t matter because today’s fans are today’s fans.  There may be a fan that was there 10 years ago, but what they are watching today is what they care about.  So, fans want to see more action.  They want to see more intense racing.  The only way to do that is to get the cars closer together.  We talk a lot about making it easier to pass.  Well if you make it easier to pass are the cars really going to be closer together?  Do we really want it to be easier to pass?  I think the reason Martinsville is so much fun to watch and do is because it is hard to pass.  The definition of what better racing is that is where the problem comes in.  You are not going to make everybody happy.  I think what NASCAR has to do is they have to look and say ‘what is NASCAR all about’?  Then make the rules so that the racing is indicative of what NASCAR is about.  That should be close racing; not intentionally wrecking each other, but tire marks down the side of cars is cool.  That kind of close racing is what we need to be pushing for, but it is hard to do.  A 1.5-mile race track running 190 miles per hour into turn one it’s kind of hard to be rubbing tires.  We have got to find a way to have cars that can be closer together, can race harder to put on more exciting racing.”
 
IF YOU LOOK AT OTHER SPORTS AGE DICTATES HOW LONG YOUR CAREER IS.  AUTO RACING IS SO DIFFERENT FROM THAT IN THAT YOU GUYS HAVE A SAY ON WHEN YOU WANT TO CALL IT QUITS.  WHEN DOES A RACE CAR DRIVER KNOW WHEN IT’S TIME TO GO?
“Well that is a really tough question.  One thing I do know is when you aren’t having success and you are 46, it’s because you are 46.  That is what people think.  When you aren’t having success and you are a rookie it’s because you are a rookie also, it works both ways.  To me it’s about what you are willing to give up to be in this sport.  I think what happens is the older you get the more other things matter.  Racing still means a lot to me, but for me to sit here today and say it means the same thing to me that it meant when I didn’t have a daughter getting ready to go to college, a son that is racing, those things they do play a role.  I think that the schedule is harder today than it’s ever been.  I know guys used to race more in the ‘50’s, but I’ve been in Toronto (Canada) all week filming.  You are gone more today.  I think it boils down to desire.  If you have talent, I don’t think talent goes away.  Certainly eye sight changes, those kinds of things change, but we can fix that.  But talent doesn’t change; it’s more the passion that you are willing to bring to it.  As long as you are willing to bring that passion and you are willing to give something up then your career can go a long time.  It’s not a number; it’s more of a personal thing and what you are willing to sacrifice to be involved in the sport.”
 
YOU LOOK AT MATT CRAFTON HE IS 37, YOU LOOK AT TWO GUYS IN THEIR 40’S BATTLING FOR THE CUP TITLE, SAM (HORNISH, JR.) IS NO SPRING CHICKEN.  WE TALK ABOUT ALL THESE KIDS COMING UP, BUT DOES THIS YEAR TELL US MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE CAN STILL DO THIS?
“Well there is no question.  I mean we are blessed because we are in a sport that you can.  It isn’t like the NFL; it isn’t like Major League Baseball, where you don’t have to be young to do this.  Experience helps you here.  There is no question.  It’s good to see who is battling.  Don’t get me wrong I believe in the cycle of things.  I believe that we
always need to have young drivers coming and pushing the older drivers out.  I mean I’m a 46 year old driver saying that, but we need it.  Our sport needs that, but at the same time it’s good that we have two veteran drivers battling it out, because it is a sport that if you have passion and you have desire and you have the right situation you can have success well into your 40’s.”
 
IN YOUR BUSCH DEBUT BACK IN 1988 YOU MADE TWO LAPS IN THE GOLDEN SKILLET CAR BEFORE THE ENGINE BLEW.  DO YOU REMEMBER THAT DAY?
“Vividly, that was the second engine we blew up that day.  I had gone to the bank and borrowed money; we wonder why the banks are in trouble right.  I had gone to the bank to borrow money to buy and engine and it blew up after qualifying.  Hubert Hensley, Jeff Hensley’s dad who is a crew chief on a truck, said ‘hey man, I’ve got an engine if you need it.’  We went to his shop that night and we had a Pontiac engine in and had to put a Chevy engine in.  Which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it was a big deal.  We ran that engine for those laps and it blew up.  So, yes, I remember it vividly.  It took me about three years to pay that damn engine off.  No, it didn’t it took me longer than that.  It took me like five years to pay that engine off.”
 
OF THE TWO CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS MY GUESS IS YOU KNOW MATT (KENSETH) A LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN JIMMIE (JOHNSON) PROBABLY CAN YOU COMPARE AND CONTRAST THEM BOTH AS RACERS AND AS PEOPLE?
“You know they are very similar in how they race.  They are both quietly aggressive.  They are both aggressive drivers, but they don’t do it by running into you.  They do it by driving into the corner a little deeper than perhaps they should to get that position.  They are both clean drivers, both very committed to the sport.  They are a lot alike.  I don’t know Jimmie nearly as well off the race track.  Matt is a smart ass.  We all know that right?  He knows that too.  He claims that he learned it from me, but I don’t think that is true.  They are both good people.  They both have values that you can be proud of. They are the kind of people that when they win championships you are proud that they represent the sport.  But you know their driving styles they really are very similar.”
 
WHEN YOU ARE A YOUNG DRIVER YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN ASKED ‘WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU WEREN’T DRIVING’.  LOOKING OVER YOUR LONG CAREER WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IF YOU WEREN’T DRIVING RACE CARS?
“I left high school and went to work for Jay Hedgecock building race cars, building chassis.  Actually me and Bobby Labonte and Jack Sprague all worked there at the same time.  So, I really enjoy that part even my time at Roush, Jack (Roush) let me kind of oversee the chassis department there for a while or be involved in it rather.  So I really enjoyed that part of it.  Had I not been able to make it as a driver that would have been the direction that I would have tried to go in; whether I would have been good at it or not I don’t know, but that is what I would have been trying to do.”
 
HOW DO YOU THINK KEVIN (HARVICK) WILL HANDLE NOT HAVING THAT TYPE OF FORCE OR PUSH FROM RICHARD CHILDRESS AND HOW THEY HAVE GOTTEN?  IT SEEMS LIKE THEY IN ONE SENSE MAYBE THRIVED ON HOW THEY HAVE PUSHED EACH OTHER AND WHAT IT HAS KIND OF BEEN LIKE.
“I think Kevin (Harvick) is going to wherever Kevin is he is going to be pushing.  That is one of Kevin’s strengths is to… Kevin is not the kind of guy that is willing to say ‘okay it is going to be good three weeks from now’.  He wants it good right now.  I think that RCR has benefitted from that.  I think that Stewart-Haas will benefit from that.  Kevin to me is a different person than he was four years ago.  Kevin owning those race teams, Keelan coming along, all those things have had a major impact on Kevin.  Kevin really sees the company.  He understands it has to be successful from a financial stand point.  He understands investment is not easy to make.  He has a much broader picture than he had say six years ago.  I think that he will help Stewart-Haas.  Richard (Childress) to his credit, much like my father did with me, Richard didn’t try to stifle Kevin.  Richard let Kevin be Kevin.  He would get mad at him, but he wasn’t the kind of guy that just would say ‘you are not going to do that’.  He would let Kevin be Kevin.  There was a lot of wisdom in that.  You have got to learn your way.  You can’t learn by somebody telling you not to do something.  You have got to learn by doing it and wishing you hadn’t of done it or at least that is how I have learned everything I’ve learned.  That is really what Richard, in my opinion, let Kevin do.  But Kevin is really good at pushing buttons to try to get things to happen.  You have to do that in this sport.  You have to do it.  If you don’t have that intensity of ‘we have got to succeed now’ then the future never gets here because if you are always building for something you are not doing it now.  The now matters.”
 
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF BEING IN FIVE YEARS?
“I don’t know.  I don’t know we will see. When this process started this year I decided to step back a little bit and take myself out of the mental habit of being at the race track every single weekend and look at things from a broader view.  Kind of ‘hey what else is out there’ in the racing world so to speak.  The last several months have been really interesting.  I have been offered some things that were just crazy that I can’t talk about today, but there were some really interesting things that have come my way.  I’m having meetings with people currently about doing stuff with them that are real exciting, but I don’t know.  We will see. I will be involved in the sport. There is a place for me.  I want to be here.  I feel like I can contribute so I would be surprised if five years from now I wasn’t still involved in the sport.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HARRISON (BURTON)? HAS HE TALKED TO YOU ABOUT WHAT HE WANTS TO DO IN THE FUTURE AS FAR AS NATIONWIDE AND EVEN A CUP DRIVER IN THE FUTURE?  IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WANT HIM TO TAKE A PATH WITH?
“Well, what I try to do with Harrison is to teach him everything I know about racing, but we don’t go racing trying to teach him how to be a Cup driver or how to be a Nationwide driver.  We go racing trying to teach him how to do what he is doing today the best he can and then when it’s over what did we learn.  Where that takes him we don’t know.  He is doing things at 12 and 13 years old that are pretty much unmatched. I mean no one else has been able to do the things he has done at his age.  I’m not bragging that is just how it is.  But what is more important to me is that through all this he is learning how to be a human being because driving a race car isn’t a given.  Just because he’s the son of a Cup driver that doesn’t give him the right any more than it gives anyone else a right to drive a race car for a living.  He has got to earn that.  He may not, as good as he looks today, he may not look that good five years from now.  You never know.  But he is always going to be with himself and so through racing we are trying to teach him how to be the kind of person that he needs to be.  That is really the primary focus.  Now don’t get me wrong we go to race we go there to win or we go there with a realistic goal.  When he races against Bubba Pollard and he races against some of those guys to think that a just turned 13 year old is going to beat those guys right now is sort of unrealistic, although he is getting close.  But what did h
e learn from that experience?  That is really what we are focusing on.  We are not worrying about what he might be one day because we don’t know that.  We are trying to train him so that mentally he is capable.  His physical skills will take care of themselves, but his mental skills are the most important thing.  As far as he’s concerned he is going to win three or four Daytona 500’s and four or five championships and all is good.  But I know that probably isn’t going to happen and that is what as parents that is what our focus is on.”
 
YOU HAVEN’T ANNOUNCED YOUR PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR YET, MARK MARTIN HASN’T ANNOUNCED ANY PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR NOR HAS BOBBY LABONTE.  AFTER NEXT WEEK’S RACE ARE WE LOOKING AT THE POSSIBLE END OF AN ERA?
“We are going to go film a movie about three old guys in (Las) Vegas (laughs).  That just dawned on me.  I’m thinking that might work.  Mark would be boring as hell though.  He would be in the gym every morning.  I find it hard to believe that we won’t still be around in some form or fashion.  Now the chances that any of us are going to be running for a Cup championship next year are obviously next to nothing.  But Mark Martin has a tremendous amount of value of being able to have a positive impact on this sport in some form or fashion so does Bobby Labonte and I feel that about myself as well.  Yeah, I think it is going to be different and that is okay.  I’m speaking for Mark or Bobby either one, but for me when I came in a spot was created for me somehow some way a spot was created for me.  Part of that is through older guys moving on.  It’s just the natural cycle of things.  But to think that Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte don’t have a way to contribute to make this sport better whether it is for a team of for the sport in some form or fashion to think that they wouldn’t is inaccurate because they can definitely help.”
 
A FEW WEEKS AGO YOU SAID THAT YOU WERE PRETTY CONFIDENT IN YOUR 2014 PLANS.  SHOULD WE TAKE THE SILENCE TO MEAN THAT THINGS HAVE CHANGED?
“No, really nothing has changed.  I feel that I know what I am going to be doing it’s just you all don’t (laughs).  Some things have taken a little longer than I thought they would take and some of that is because of me.  Some of that is because I slowed some stuff down and wanted to really think about it. Some of it is because some situations have popped up that weren’t there a little bit ago.  I feel very confident.  I know exactly what I’m going to be doing part of next year and there is another part of it that I’m still working on, but really close on.  I’m just not the kind of person that is going to talk about it until we need to be talking about it.”
 
IS PART OF THAT PLAN DRIVING?
“Yeah, part of it is, yes.”
 

John Force Racing–JFR 2-3-4 IN FUNNY CAR AT AUTO CLUB FINALS THURSDAY QUALIFYING

JFR 2-3-4 IN FUNNY CAR AT AUTO CLUB FINALS THURSDAY QUALIFYING

POMONA, CA (November 7, 2013) – His Mello Yello Championship may be secure, but John Force still has work to do at this week’s season-ending 49th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Force started his bid for a record ninth victory in the season finale by driving the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang through the 1,000 foot timers in 4.105 seconds at 304.12 miles per hour, good enough for one bonus point and the No. 3 position after the first of four qualifying rounds.

“It is good to come out of the box first session and get down the race track. That gives you a strong tune up. I think we are all in the top four in Funny Car and Brittany is No. 7 in Top Fuel. Everybody is in the top half but tomorrow is a new day,” said Force, a 138-time NHRA National event winner. “We have wrapped up the championship but we are trying to win this race for all our sponsors from Castrol to Ford to Auto Club to Traxxas. Robert and Courtney are trying to get up to the No. 2 and No. 3 spot in the points. I have the championship but I still want to win the race because this is Auto Club Raceway and this is an Auto Club race.”

In fact, Force finished Day 1 just behind son-in-law Robert Hight and the Auto Club Mustang and just ahead of youngest daughter Courtney and the special edition Traxxas Mustang that commemorates the 25-year-old’s Rookie-of-the-Year season in 2012.

“That was a good start. We wanted to get a good run under our belt on the first day and go from there. That first run will really set up the event for us. We got some bonus points and we are trying to get up to the No. 2 spot. I am glad we put up a good number in the Auto Club Ford Mustang and I know Neff will start working on a great tune up,” said Hight.

The only quicker car was the Dodge of Jack Beckman, which took the provisional No. 1 at 4.077 seconds.  Hight was second at 4.096 and Courtney fourth at 4.115 coupled to top speed for Funny Cars at 314.97 mph.

Courtney Force and her Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car team came out today in the opening qualifying session and posted a respectable 4.115 second run at 314.97 mph to put their hot rod in the No. 4 spot for now.

“It feels good to be back at a racetrack where we took home a win to kick-off the 2013 season at the Winternationals. It seems to be a lucky track for our Traxxas Ford Mustang team,” said Force.

The 25-year old made her first qualifying pass in the right lane beside competitor Ron Capps. The duo was the first in the Funny Car category to make two full, clean passes right down the track. Force’s ET tied Johnny Gray’s 4.115, but the female driver took the higher qualifying spot on speed, her 314.97 to Gray’s 306.46 mph run.

“It looked like a couple of cars were struggling to get in when we were watching the qualifying session start. We went down and ran a 4.11 and ran top speed of the session at 314. Just got bumped to the No. 4 spot so we didn’t get to pick up any qualifying bonus points today, but my teammates, my dad and Robert Hight did so we’re excited for them. I think we’ve got some fast Ford Mustangs out here for John Force Racing. We’re looking forward to tomorrow for another qualifying session and hopefully we can move up to the top spot,” said Force.

Thursday’s qualifying effort assures a favorable spot for all three Ford drivers in Friday’s qualifying order.

While the JFR Funny Cars were off to a good start Thursday, so was the Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster in which Rookie-of-the-Year contender Brittany Force sped to the provisional No. 7 spot at 3.843 seconds at 312.86 mph.

“I’m glad to be out here at Pomona at my home track. I love racing here. We get to race at Auto Club Raceway twice a year and it’s nice for us because it’s close to home and our friends and family can come out to watch us race,” said Force.

“On our first qualifying pass we went out and ran a 3.84 and ended up No. 7. We’re super excited about that, but we still get three more shots at trying to improve on that so we’ll just try to keep moving in the right direction. We had a hole out on that run so hopefully we can run a little bit faster tomorrow.”

John Force has won the Auto Club Finals a record eight times but has never won in an odd-numbered year.  His wins came in 1988, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010.  The 64-year-old icon comes in on a three-race winning streak that ran his record total of tour victories to 138.

Summit Racing–Anderson a Top Half Player on First Day of NHRA Finals

Anderson a Top Half Player on First Day of NHRA Finals
 
Pomona, Calif., November 7, 2013 – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson enjoyed an encouraging start on the first day of the final race of the season, the 49th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. Anderson, of Mooresville, N.C., clocked a 6.576 at 210.37 mph to position himself as the provisional No. 7 qualifier in the only session allotted for the day. Friday and Saturday will bring three more total sessions at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and thusly three more chances for Anderson to improve.
 
“That was a very smooth run for my Summit Racing Camaro,” said Anderson, a top-half qualifier at 19 of the previous 23 events in 2013. “But really, it was probably a little too safe. The racetrack was better than we thought it was going to be, and we think we could have run faster. But the good news is that now we know what we’ve got out there, so we’ll see if we can step on it tomorrow. It was a good, safe start.”
 
Anderson is optimistic for the remainder of the weekend, particularly because the weather forecast is so pleasant. Today was to be the warmest day, and each day after should become cooler and more inviting for the naturally aspirated factor hot rods.
 
“The forecast shows that the temperature is going to go down every day,” said Anderson. “That will make the racetrack a little bit better, and it will make the motors run a little bit better, too. Our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros should continue to get faster each run. Our first pass was a good tune-up run, and we expect we’ll be able to run better tomorrow. It’s going to be fun. The qualifying ladder is definitely going to change some before the weekend is over. We plan to be one of those cars moving up.”
 

Summit Racing–Line Staying Alive in Championship Chase After Day One in Pomona

Line Staying Alive in Championship Chase After Day One in Pomona
 

Pomona, Calif., November 7, 2013 – The first of three days of qualifying for the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona concluded with Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line hanging tough in the championship chase. Line, who entered the event in the No. 2 spot in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings, earned two valuable bonus points with a run that was almost the best of the day to inch a little closer to what would be his third Pro Stock season title.

The first day of the season-closer turned into a warm affair, with the ambient temperature a pleasant 83 degrees and the sun soaked track surface heating to just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line was one of the last two cars to make a pass during the single session allotted on the first day of the event, and he clocked a swift 6.554 at 210.93 mph in his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro that was just a thousandth of a second behind the No. 1 qualifier.

“It’s a pretty good place to start,” said Line, who has been the No. 1 qualifier twice this season. “But we should have been able to go 6.53 out there. I feel like we’ll be No. 1 before the weekend is out; I definitely feel like we will. The KB Racing team is working very hard to make sure that happens. Both of our Summit Racing Camaros are capable of it, but I have a very serious goal for it to be me.”

Line and the rest of the Pro Stock drivers will have three more shots this weekend to set themselves in the field at the 49th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals, beginning with a single run on Friday and concluding with two runs on Saturday. Eliminations for the final race of the 2013 season are set for 11am on Sunday.

Kraig Kinser Racing–Kraig Kinser Concludes the 2013 Season in the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte

Kraig Kinser Concludes the 2013 Season in the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte
By Kraig Kinser Racing PR
 
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— Nov. 6, 2013— It was the middle of February when Kraig Kinser pulled into the pit area at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida to open the 2013 World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series season. Now, nearly nine months later and tens of thousands of miles traveled, the third-generation driver is set to wrap up the season at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in the World Finals. Kinser will do so with the Bad Boys Buggies colors adorning his No. 11K, as a teammate to his father, Steve, the 20-time World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series champion.
 
“It’s great to be teamed with Bad Boy Buggies and my dad this weekend,” said the younger Kinser. “It’s hard to believe the season is just about over. We’ve had our ups and downs this year and we really want to end the year on a strong note. The World Finals have been a really good event for us the last few years, and the track really seems to suit my style and our program.”
 
The Seventh Annual World Finals, which along with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series features the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and Super DIRTcar Series, is set for Thursday, Nov. 7, Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9. Thursday will serve as the qualifying night, with two rounds of time trials setting heat race lineups for Friday and Saturday. Heat races, a dash and 30-lap main event will make up the racing program on Friday and Saturday. The cameras from CBS Sports Network will be rolling each night to capture all of the action to air in December.
 
“The World Finals have definitely grown into one of the biggest events of the year,” said the 29-year-old. “Drivers from coast-to-coast make the trip down and the caliber of cars is as strong as we see all season. It’s a good measuring stick at the end of the year to see how you stack up against guys from all over the country.”
 
Kinser raced at the state-of-the-art four-tenths-mile earlier this year, during Memorial Day weekend. He finished 21st, after suffering a flat tire during the main event. He was 21st-quickest in qualifying and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the third heat to earn a spot in the 30-lap main event at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
 
“We didn’t have the best of luck it he spring at Charlotte,” shared Kinser. “We got a little behind in time trials and with the way the World of Outlaws format is, that can really effect the rest of your night. Qualifying is going to be very, very important this week, with the numbers of cars that will be on-hand. We’ve qualified well just about every time at the World Finals, so that is certainly our first objective when we unload the car this week.”
 
The third-generation driver made his debut at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in the fall of 2002. Kinser has made a total of 18 starts over the years at the venue, picking up eight top-10 finishes. The native of Bloomington, Ind., finished third in the opener of the World Finals last year and followed that up with a fourth-place performance in the finale. Kinser has finished among the top-10 in seven of the 12 World Finals A-Features, dating back to the inaugural edition of the blockbuster event in 2007. Kinser has finished fourth or better in four of his last five starts at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. He finished a career-best second in the finale of the 2008 World Finals.
 
“It takes a good car and all the pieces being in place to run up front at Charlotte,” Kinser said. “I came close to winning in 2008 during the World Finals and it would definitely be a great way to close the year with a win. We want to put ourselves in a good spot and hopefully have the Bad Boys Buggies colors up front. It would be great if my dad and I were battling for the win each night. We’ll definitely give it all we have.”
 
Entering the final two point paying features of the season, Kinser is 11th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has one victory this season and earned 33 top-10 finishes, with nine of those being top-five showings.
 

Summit Racing–Line Ready to Take a Shot at Third NHRA Title in Pomona

Line Ready to Take a Shot at Third NHRA Title in Pomona
 

Mooresville, N.C., November 5, 2013 – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line is only 71 points back from first place, and as the season closer kicks off this weekend at the 49th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the two-time Pro Stock world champion is ready to turn up the wick and chase a third world title.

“All you can do is hope for the best,” said Line. “We’ve done our homework, and we have a great team and great support. Now it’s up to us to go and try to win the race, and we’re sure going to try to hold up our end of the deal. We’re heading to a place where the Summit Racing team has traditionally done really well, so that is certainly a comfort.”

Line was on course for a banner year as the Countdown to the Championship began in Charlotte just five races ago, and the Mooresville, N.C.-based driver qualified No. 1 at his home track and raced to the final round to move up from sixth to third in the Pro Stock standings at a critical juncture. At the very next race in Dallas, the second in the championship chase, Line won and took over sole possession of the points lead for the first time in 2013. But after that, a strange chaos set in.

Surprisingly, the points leader qualified in the bottom half of the field and bowed out in the first round in St. Louis, and he dropped back to third place. Then, the seasoned driver with 31 national event titles on his scorecard returned with a flash in Reading, qualifying on the pole and recording a semifinals finish. Determined to gain even more ground as the final two races of the season approached, Line and the KB Racing crew ventured out for a test session not too far from home in North Carolina, and that’s when things took a very abrupt and challenging turn.

The conditions were cool and the track required more finessing than normal on that Thursday at Rockingham Dragway, and although experienced in all sorts of conditions, Line made the smallest of errors and lost control of the silver Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro that had been so powerful in the latter portion of the season. Line crashed, and the car could not be repaired in time for the Las Vegas race. With limited options, Team Summit made the best of what they had. Line took over the white Camaro previously piloted by teammate Greg Anderson, while Anderson settled back into the red Summit Racing Camaro.

In Las Vegas, as predicted, Line showed grit and the level of determination widely associated with the Summit Racing group and a team who has dominated the ultra-competitive category in multiple seasons. He made exceptional runs during qualifying and settled into the No. 5 spot before socking away a round win on Sunday and moving up one position, to second, in the Mello Yello Pro Stock standings. Now, with the final race of the season staring him in the face, Line is prepared to fight for the crown that once seemed so easily within reach. Wisely, Line is mentally refueled after taking a short break from the normal routine.
 
“To be honest, I’ve lived like a normal person this past week,” said Line. “I spent a little time with my family and worked on some stuff that I wanted to work on just for a change of pace and to try to think about something else for a little bit. By our KB Racing standards, it’s been a somewhat frustrating year. Wrecking that car – for me, that was devastating, both financially and obviously in regard to the timing. It couldn’t have been worse; it took us all year to get a good racecar, and to get one that was happy, so to have one that was in contention for the championship and then destroy it was beyond frustrating.”
 
The weather in Pomona looks to be bright and cool, and for Line, this could play out to be ideal as he travels to a racetrack where he and Anderson have shared so much success before. Line has four No. 1 qualifier awards and been to four finals at the venerable facility. He has two Pomona wins, both at the season-opening Winternationals. The only driver who has been able to stop Line in the final round has been Anderson, and both times it was at the NHRA closer.
 
“Regardless of what happens with the championship, this weekend could very possibly be fast, and that’s a lot of fun for us,” said Line. “Pomona is one of my favorite places to go. You get there at the beginning of the year, and you’re excited. Then you end the year and if it’s been a long year – like this one – you’re really happy that it’s done. But it’s always a good time, and for me, it’s always a place that I enjoy racing.”

Summit Racing–Anderson Vying for Event Win with a New Attitude at Season Closer

Anderson Vying for Event Win with a New Attitude at Season Closer
 
Mooresville, N.C., November 5, 2013 – Drag Racing is a self-induced, high-pressure situation, but Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson has been under tremendous pressure over the course of the 2013 season of NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. This weekend, though, the pressure is off at the 49th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
 
“You know, you always have hope, but this weekend I think we’re going into it with a little bit of a different mindset,” said Anderson. “At least I will be. The pressure will be off. It will be one of those races where you can just go and enjoy yourself, have fun, and not worry about the points. Those are pretty rare, and you’d certainly rather be in the hunt for the championship, but it looks like that’s what we’re going to have this weekend in Pomona. Maybe that low-pressure situation will work in our favor, and I’ll finally be able to put my Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the winner’s circle again.”
 
For Anderson, the 2013 season has been one riddled with a brand of challenge to which he is completely unfamiliar. For the first time in 13 years, the four-time Pro Stock world champion is heading into the last race on the tour without a win. He is currently No. 8 in the series standings.
 
The location of this final race of the 2013 Mello Yello Series is a bright beacon for Anderson, who has enjoyed much success at the hallowed facility in the heart of Southern California, where the idea of racing on the dragstrip instead of the street grew roots in the early days of the sport.
 
Of Anderson’s remarkable 74 national event wins with KB Racing, 10 were recorded in Pomona. A five-time winner in five NHRA Finals money rounds, the Mooresville, N.C.-based Pro Stock veteran also has five wins in six finals at the Winternationals, the traditional season-opener at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Notably, Anderson, who has held six national records for elapsed time over the course of his career as well as five national records for speed, recorded a then mind-blowing 6.528 jaunt down the quarter-mile at the 2009 Winternationals to become the new world record holder.
 
“If I’m going to find a way to keep my streak alive [of winning a race every year since 2001], this is as good of a chance as I could ask for,” said Anderson. “We love this racetrack. Just love it. We had a week off after the last race in Las Vegas, and we took that time to look back and study. We think we have a good game plan, and we expect the Summit Racing Camaros to run well.
 
“It looks like the weather will be relatively cool, and that’s been our cup of tea there the last several years. If the weather is cool there, the cars will be fast – and we love to run those big speeds. We’ve had a ton of success there in Pomona, both with Jason’s car and mine. It’s always exciting, it’s a feel-good track for us, and it’s just a great way to end the year.”

Chevy Racing–Tuesday Teleconference–Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS, AND JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS, WERE THE GUESTS ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW ARE THE TRANSCRIPTS:
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS:
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are joined by Jeff Gordon.  Gordon is currently sixth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings and has one win and a top‑five finish.
            Jeff, going into the final races, what is your approach to finish off your season strong like you did last year with a win at Homestead.
            JEFF GORDON:  That’s certainly one of our goals.  We tested in Homestead last week.  Had a fantastic test.  I’m very excited about that race.
            Certainly disappointing to have the race we just had in Texas.  So doesn’t change really our approach, how we go through these next two weeks.  Just takes us back, you know, in points.  Certainly kind of takes that momentum away that we had.
            But the confidence is still high.  The car was fantastic again this past weekend, felt like we were going to have a great weekend.  We take that confidence in the cars that we’ve been bringing to the racetrack into Phoenix this weekend, on to Homestead.  Finish out the season the best we can and hopefully move up in points again.
            THE MODERATOR:  We will now go to the media for questions.
 
            Q.  Jeff, could you talk a little bit about the overall importance of physical fitness to what you do as a racecar driver and just talk a little bit about what you do to stay in shape.
            JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, physical fitness is definitely important.  Getting more and more important all the time as the speeds of the cars increase.  The demands on the driver, the competition in general, just getting tighter.  I think being fit is going to help you be more focused throughout the race weekend, through a long schedule that we have with 38 races.
            So, you know, it’s something that I probably haven’t put as much effort into as some other guys out there.  I think there’s some that may take it even a little bit further than it needs to.  But if that is what keeps them focused and enjoying the week or helping prepare for the race, then I think it’s a great routine.
            For me, I’ve had some back issues over the years, so a lot of my routine is just mixing in cardio with stretching, just staying as loose as I can, building up my core to help strengthen my back and stomach to try to keep the pain that I deal with in my back to a minimum.  That’s really helped me get through the races and not really be thinking about my back, so I can just think about driving the car.
            But from a fitness standpoint, other than maybe road courses in the summer months, some of these hot races are more demanding.  I feel like fitness is always something that I’ve been really good at.
 
            Q.  Jeff, did you guys ever find out what happened to the tire?
            JEFF GORDON:  I know the team was having a meeting with Goodyear today.  I don’t have all the details from that.  I’m planning on meeting with them tomorrow.  I was out in Las Vegas yesterday.  We didn’t get to do our normal debrief.  Plan on getting with them tomorrow to get more detail.  Wish I had more to share.
 
            Q.  Do you look at that as bad luck?
            JEFF GORDON:  No.  I think that everything happens for a reason.  It’s unfortunate that it happened.  I think there’s a cause behind it.  The question is whether we caused it or did it run over something.  If I ran over something, then I guess you could maybe call that bad luck.
            Until I know more details, I don’t want to say it’s bad luck.  We’ve certainly had our share of that this year.  In order to get up there and be a threat for the championship, you can’t have things like that happen.  It’s unfortunate.  Certainly sort of took the wind out of our sails, the momentum we had.
            But we also know that we came into this thing 13th and we still have a great shot at being third or fourth, and that’s our goal.
 
            Q.  Jeff, the question I get a lot after a race like Texas where Jimmie dominates so much, with the cars and drivers being so close, how can he be that much better than everybody else?  It happens so consistently with him.  If everybody could figure it out, they would be doing what they’re doing.  I wonder what it’s like to race against the 48 team when they’re running like this.
            JEFF GORDON:  Well, it’s tough.  I think sometimes a lot of people don’t put enough credit into the overall team in our sport.  Jimmie is a great driver. Chad is a great crew chief.  But they’re also surrounded by incredible people and resources at Hendrick Motorsports.
            Not that the rest of the Hendrick teams aren’t, but you have to understand, this is a group that’s been together a long time.  They’ve won championships, they’ve lost championships, they’ve won and lost a lot of races.  These guys know how to step up and win at the right time.
            I would say Texas is one of Jimmie’s best tracks as well.  He has a lot of confidence.  Went to the test there, he had us beat by a 10th, 10th and a half during the entire test.  I felt like we closed that gap slightly over the race weekend.
            But everybody was kind of playing catch‑up.  Especially you let those guys get out front, they had the track position.  They had the one little issue on a green‑flag pit stop that put them behind.  But they had such better tires against everybody else they were up against, everybody was short‑pitting.  It made it that much easier for him to drive up through that.
            I think Matt was the one guy, one team that had something for him.  I think that’s why they’re 1‑2.  He was the only one that could run lap times that Jimmie could.  Once they got behind on the mistake they made on pit road, they never were in a position on those final caution restarts to battle it out and try to get in front of Jimmie.
            So you have to give a lot of credit to the 48.  Other than that one little issue, they were flawless all weekend.
 
            Q.  Jeff, you’re someone who has raced against Matt Kenseth for a long time.  His numbers rank up there among some of the best in the series, some of the best of all time.  I don
‘t think that people recognize that about him.  Why do you think that he goes so under the radar and is so underrated?
            JEFF GORDON:  I think he’s kind of an under‑the‑radar kind of guy.  He’s a great racecar driver.  He probably hasn’t won as many races as he could have.
            I think this move to Gibbs is just showing his talent, how good that team is.  You might start to see a lot more attention be put on him if they can keep these kind of stats and numbers and this kind of consistency up, especially if they win this championship this year.
            But Matt is just one of those drivers where he’s really good at a lot of tracks.  So you give him the right car and team, this is a guy that can be a major threat for the championship every single year.
            I think he sort of is more quiet and reserved in front of the cameras, and even the way he goes about his racing.  You don’t see him knocking guys out of the way or doing anything over the top.  He’s just solid, always there, knows how to put himself in position when it matters most at the end of the race.
            I don’t know.  I think he’d kind of prefer it that way as well, as long as he’s getting the job done when that checkered flag flies.
 
            Q.  Would you have been surprised if people said he would win second in the championship race?
            JEFF GORDON:  Yes and no.  I mean, you never know how somebody’s going to transition into a new team.  You look at that team in past years, they certainly haven’t shown to be a threat for the championship.  But at the same time, I feel like from Matt’s talents and capabilities, while they might have been diminished slightly with his results at Roush, I think that a lot of us within the sport knew just how good he was.
            Again, you put him with the right equipment, the right team, the crew chief that he gels with, he can put up some great numbers, and that’s what he’s doing this year.
            So a little bit of a surprise just because they’re new together.  But not so much of a surprise, in my opinion, from what Matt’s capable of.
 
            Q.  Jeff, this has been a particularly turbulent Chase for you.  You’re in, you’re out, you’re sneaking back into it, then Sunday the letdown.  Talk about the emotions that hit in that very moment you’re in the wall and you know another year has gone by without a championship.
            JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, I remember sitting in the hauler while the team was fixing the car, watching the race, watching the lap times, sort of in disbelief. We’ve been through so much, not just this year, but the last couple years as a team, just clawing and fighting our way to get in the Chase, ups and downs, trying to win races, sometimes just trying to finish races.
            We get in this year, things start to go well for us, we find ourselves in a great position.  It’s all over in a split second.  It’s pretty devastating for the whole team.  You work so hard to get to that point, it’s definitely a letdown.
            Yeah, I was just sitting there going, I can’t believe this.  I felt like I was in a bad dream and I was going to wake up any second.  The longer the time went by, the more and more I realized this is reality.  You have to face it, deal with it, put it behind you as fast as you can and move on.
 
            Q.  Every year there’s somebody that surfaces and they’re either a contender, win a championship, like Brad.  Next year they’re way out of it or don’t even make the Chase.  Can you maybe discuss just how difficult this is.  Obviously Jimmie makes it look easy because he’s the guy that’s inevitable.  Discuss the level of competition that makes it difficult for anybody to sustain a long run.
            JEFF GORDON:  It’s extremely difficult.  You’re right, Jimmie and the 48 team, they make it look easy.  That just shows you how in tune they are with one another, how confident they are, how good of an organization Hendrick Motorsports is.  They’re setting the bar.
            I think the bigger question is what happened with the 2 car?  Is it just the change from last year’s rules package over to the new Gen‑6 car that got them off track?  Is it some of the issues that went on earlier in the year that took a little speed out of the car that they had to search and find?  Seems like they’re getting it back now.
            It’s hard to say what takes a team from being so good, on top of the sport, winning the championship, a real threat for the championship, like the 99 a couple years ago, and those things that change.  Sometimes they’re internal, teams don’t want to talk about it.  Sometimes they just put everything together in that year and have an amazing year.
            The 48 team, where they separate themselves, you know they are capable of doing that every single year.  I mean, heck, last year I think if they hadn’t have had the issue at Phoenix with I think it was a blown tire, I think they would have won the championship last year, too.  That’s just how good they are.  We’re all playing catch‑up, trying to be that good.
            As long as those guys stay together, stay confident, are able to continue to bring competitive cars to the racetrack, it’s going to be very, very tough to stop them.
 
            Q.  Jeff, despite the disappointment at Texas, what do you take from the Chase?
            JEFF GORDON:  We did the same thing last year in the Chase.  We were really solid from Chicago all the way to Phoenix.  Obviously we had our issues there that took Bowyer and myself out of being more competitive, higher up in the points.  That was pretty disappointing to us, to have a shot at the top five, you know, not be able to pull that off.
            The same types of things have happened this year where we’ve been really solid, fast racecars.  We’ve come on stronger at the end of the year.  Those 10 races in the Chase have been very good for us up until Texas, and up until Phoenix last year.
            I think it just shows what kind of quality team we are.  We never give up.  It’s a long season.  You want to be at your best in those final 10 races.  That’s what we’ve done the last two seasons.  But we’re still just missing those final little ingredients to get us on top and stay there.
 
            Q.  I guess throughout the course of a Chase, the ever‑shifting goals that your teams have.  You might come out one week and you’re contendi
ng for the championship like you were after Martinsville, or now where you sit here after Texas.  Talk about the way your goals constantly shift throughout the 10 weeks.
            JEFF GORDON:  I mean, our primary goal always stays the same:  that’s that you go to the race to win the pole, win the race, accumulate the most points. It doesn’t change your thought process throughout the week, how you’re going to execute as you get to that next race.
            A lot of these races are planned out weeks in advance.  Some of it comes from testing, simulation, building the cars.  Maybe it’s a new car.  All these things lead up to a race.  That doesn’t really change.  It’s really what are we capable of accomplishing if we do our absolute best.
            And that’s the thing that’s shifted and changed so much for us after this past weekend in Texas, is that we knew we had an outside shot at making some gains on those guys.  We knew they were both going to be tough at Texas.  A part of it was just trying to maintain as much as we could or maybe make a gain on one of those guys if they didn’t have any issues at all, just go put the best race we can together to show we’re capable of it, show everybody else we’re capable of it.
            I think our best track in the Chase is Homestead.  I really just wanted to get to Homestead with a shot, you know, with a mathematical shot at this championship because I think we could put some pressure on them, have a shot at winning that race.
            Now, yeah, it’s, Okay, how high up in points can we get?  You’re still dealing with the same thing.  It’s just one is the championship and the other one is maybe a third or fourth in points.  That will all be reevaluated after we go through this next weekend’s race in Phoenix.
 
            Q.  You talked about how at the Texas test you had an idea how fast Jimmie would be.  After the Homestead test, who should we be looking out for?
            JEFF GORDON:  I felt pretty good about our chances and our car there.  We had a great test there.
 
            Q.  Does having a pretty successful 2013 season serve as motivation at all going forward for 2014?
            JEFF GORDON:  I wouldn’t call it a 2013 season.  I’d call it a 2013 Chase.  The majority of the races that we’ve run this year, I don’t think we’ve even come close to living up to our full potential.  Maybe Pocono stands out.  That’s a race I feel like second and almost winning was a great accomplishment for us at a crucial time in the season.
            But we had a disappointing season on so many levels that, you know, to just be able to step it up to this next level during the Chase has been probably the best motivating thing we could have.
            Again, we went through the same thing last year, by ending the season, by winning the race in Homestead, really pulled our team together, got us excited for 2013.
            The car and some of the changes threw us off a little bit, threw me off a little bit, took us a while to start to make gains on that.  With some of the issues and failures we had earlier in the year…
            We never stopped trying to make our cars better, getting me to feel that I need to go out there and have confidence in the car and have the speed.  We’ve done a great job of that.
            That’s what we’re going to take out of this year’s Chase as well, is that depending on how many changes happen for 2014, that we have a team that can fight, that can find a way to get where we need to be by the end of the season.
            I’m hoping that next year we can get it a little sooner in the season so we don’t have to go through all the drama we had to go through this year and last year.
 
            Q.  Jeff, consistency is probably one of the most desirable goals in motorsports.  Can you identify the important factors that build confidence leading up to consistency or the lacking that causes a slump.
            JEFF GORDON:  Well, consistency is important when you’re battling for a championship or a place in the Chase.  I say that because you can consistently run 15th, and while you might not be extremely happy with that, that will get you into the Chase.
            At some point you’ve got to turn that consistency and what you’re doing into gains.  You’ve got to continue to progress forward and stay a consistent 15th, make it a consistent 10th.  If you’re running a consistent 10th, you have to move it to a top 5, and then wins.  That’s the only way you’re going to battle for a championship.  You have to start somewhere.
            When you have consistency, it does allow you to fine tune, look to find out where your team is weak, where can you make gains, you as a driver, you as a team, performance, pit crew, pit strategy, everything that’s involved nowadays.  If you can do that consistently, you’re more than likely going to start making gains.
            If you don’t, you’re just a consistent driver, not a winning driver, the frustration is going to start to kick in and you’re actually going to start losing a little confidence instead of gaining that confidence.
 
            Q.  Can you identify that in your team when that starts to slip away?  Is there anything you can do to stop that, teams going up and down?
            JEFF GORDON:  I mean, for me, I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of success, especially the first 10 years of my career, where I can fall back on that success.  I know what I’m looking for in the car to push the limits of the tires, push the limits of the car, to be more competitive out there on the racetrack.
            While that’s been challenged at times and questioned by myself and probably even by my team, you know, I never stop believing that I can do it, and never stop believing in the team that has the answers.  The engineering that goes into these cars these days is so important.  So you’ve got to work together.
            They’ve got to believe in you and you have to believe in them.  I think that’s what turned the corner for us this year.  While we were frustrated, not performing the way we wanted to at times, we never stopped believing in one another, eventually started getting the results, coming together, making big gains. The way the cars were driving, the speeds we had, how we were qualifying, so on.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS:

THE MODERATOR:  Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today’s NASCAR Cam teleconference with current Sprint Cup Series poi
nts leader Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  Five‑time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Johnson has six wins and 15 top‑5 finishes this season.
            Jimmie, you currently sit seven points ahead of Matt Kenseth, and this weekend you head to Phoenix where you sit atop the track’s all‑time wins list with four victories.  What’s your mindset as you approach a possible sixth championship?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Well, there’s still a lot of racing left, and the two tracks that remain on the schedule are very challenging tracks.  Last year we were in this situation with a points lead.  We had a seven‑point lead going into Phoenix and had a very bad race and blew a right front tire.  Actually had a decent race going but blew out a right front tire and hammered the wall.  Really hurt our opportunity and our chance to win a sixth championship then.
            So I’m just not going to put my guard down.  We need to go into Phoenix, race well.  We finished second there in the spring, so we strong about our setup and the performance we should have there, but that doesn’t guarantee us anything, and we need to go out and have a good strong, clean weekend.
 
            Q.  I asked Rick this before you came in Sunday at Texas, but your stretch of four races right before the Chase, which I think someone at some point said may have been the worst four‑race stretch of your career, but one thing Rick said is during that four‑week stretch neither you nor Chad ever lost any bit of confidence, and that looking at you, you would never know that you had gone through a stretch like that, and a lot of that he said was because you guys understood the reasons for what happened.  I was just wondering, when you have a stretch like that, A, how were you able to maintain your confidence; and B, what was it about what took place during that stretch that allowed you to believe that you would still be just as good in the Chase?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I mean, it certainly challenged us mentally.  We had to remind ourselves the reasons why we had those bad races and issues behind it, and truthfully those issues were two of the tracks aren’t very good for the 48, and I’m so happy they’re not in the Chase.  The other two tracks we were running very, very strong and had, I think, a tire blow at Pocono.  We had an engine issue at Michigan coming from the back and I think had a great chance to win.  Then there was another race in there where we had an issue while having a very strong race‑winning performance.  I can’t recall exactly what happened ‑‑ oh, it was Atlanta, where we were running well but maybe on the first restart everybody checked up in front of me and I ran into the back of one of my teammates and killed the front of the car.
            We could put a lot of stock in the tracks there that we had speed, we had pace, had good things happen, and that helped us out a lot.  And then the other two tracks, we just sweep those under the rug.  That would be Richmond and I think Bristol.  Just move on, forget about them.
 
            Q.  The Jimmie Johnson 48 team that we see right now would you say is indicative of what you have really been all season long?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I think so.  We’ve shown great speed and pace at a lot of tracks, especially mile‑and‑a‑halfs.  One thing that we aren’t very proud of is the opportunities we let slip by through the course of the year on mile‑and‑a‑halfs.  The win at Texas I guess was our first mile‑and‑a‑half points win of the year, and we were in position to win a lot of other ones and just dropped the ball in a variety of ways.
            Glad that we executed well.  We certainly have another big track with Homestead and need to execute there, and then we’ll go into the short track this weekend and see what we can do.
 
            Q.  Are you as comfortable and confident at Phoenix since the repave as you were before the repave, or is there still some gap there do you think?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, there’s definitely less confidence in the track that we’re racing on now, and if you just look at our performance over the years, we won so many races with the old configuration and that old asphalt that we’ve had a good run here, it seems like the spring races have been very good for us on the new configuration, but man, if there was one guy sad to see the old configuration and asphalt go away, that was me.  We just had something that worked there and fit my driving style and we were able to win a lot of races.
            Part of our sport is dealing with change, and we always have cars changing and surfaces changing, and I feel like we’re going in the right direction with the racetrack, and hopefully we can capitalize on that this weekend.
 
            Q.  How often in your career have you had a car that was as dominant as the one that you had this past Sunday at Texas?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Not many.  Usually when you have a car that strong, you find a way to mess it up and not pull into victory lane.  So I was really happy to see it through and close the deal at the end and get the car to victory lane.  But it doesn’t happen often.  The car was flawless.
 
            Q.  And that success that you had, will that transfer to the finale at Homestead, and I know you guys tested at Homestead Miami, but what works well in Texas, does that same thing work at Homestead?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  The overall concept will, and we were able to validate a lot of that through the two test sessions that we had.  The base, foundation of the setup carried from our Texas test into our Homestead test, so I’m excited about that and clearly want to see the same results once we get down to Miami. But we’ll race hard this weekend and then roll into Homestead and try to take care of business down there.  But it’s going to be a tough two weeks.
 
            Q.  Last year you were you were battling for the championship with Brad Keselowski who had not won a Cup title prior to that point.  This year you’re battling Matt Kenseth, a guy who has been a Cup champion before.  From your perspective, how do those two experiences stack up against each other, and from your perspective is there a sense of comfort in racing hard with somebody that’s been in that situation before versus someone who hasn’t and may be tougher to predict?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  You know, it’s hard to know what to predict in general, and I’ve found a lot of peace in expecting the best out of a championship contender, and that’s the way it’s been this year and every year to be honest with you.  I felt like last year there could have been an opportunity to put pressure on Brad and his team, and it was Penske’s first championship in Cup.&nbsp
; Same for the driver, same for the crew chief, and no one will ever know, but maybe there was a little opportunity there to put pressure on them and put them into a stressful environment.  We just didn’t do our job, and we had our problems in Phoenix and then again at Homestead.  And honestly in Homestead we had them where we wanted to put them and was really putting the pressure on them to see what they could deal with and handle at that point, but then we made too many mistakes and didn’t follow through on our side.
            It’s really hard to know the truth in it all, but I do feel driver and team competing for their first is dealing with stress and pressure that someone that’s racing for their second, third, fourth, that they just don’t have that same pressure, and I only know that from my own experience.  My first was far more stressful than anything I’ve done in my life.
 
            Q.  I told John Force last week probably no one knows more about championships at NHRA over there than him.  I can ask you the same question: Probably no one knows more about NASCAR championships than you.  Can you share what it takes to be a repeat champion with others what you think have the drive to be a champion?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  You know, it’s such a team sport, and I think that gets overlooked at times.  Certainly people just think of the driver and the driver’s impact.  Next in line would be the crew chief.  But as you work your way down through the different positions and the department heads and even people back in the shop, I know we always reference these folks and it might get annoying to some, but the ability to repeat comes from the depth in your organization, and it’s certainly led by the driver and crew chief, but it takes everybody in the system to have the right mentality, to be pulling in the right direction.  There’s always rule changes that the entire company has to respond to, and then the end result is what the driver and crew chief do at the track.  But the load and stress and burden is far greater than just what the two guys at track deal with.
            I really put a lot of our success into the depth we have, the systems we have at Hendrick Motorsports, the support we have behind the scenes.  That really lets the race day crew, the guys that go there each and every weekend seen on TV, to do their jobs and handle the issues at hand.  It boils down to depth, I believe.
 
            Q.  How important is it as far as your momentum that you’ve built up now going into Homestead with only 900 miles to race?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Momentum is nice, and we’re happy to have it.  But I’ve been doing this long enough where I realize that momentum doesn’t guarantee a thing.  It makes a nice Sunday evening until Friday morning when the NASCAR timing and scoring system starts up again, but it doesn’t change a thing about Friday practice, qualifying, Saturday practice, or that Sunday race.  You’ve got to go out and do your job each and every day.  It’s been a nice, comfortable week, but the pressure cooker will start up there Friday morning when we’re on track.
 
            Q.  This is kind of a strange question, but it’s been talked about by many, many people.  That was a great shot of you, your daughter and your wife wearing the hats after the win at Texas.  Because your daughter has been around many tracks with you, what would you and your wife say if in a few years she says, hey, I think I want to start racing?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  It wouldn’t bother me a bit.  I’m not sure my wife would be on board.  But really at the end of the day, we want to support our children and have them pursue what they’re passionate about and what they enjoy in life.
            I was raised in that environment and so was my wife, and we all think of traditional means of work and providing and starting a family and all that, and we just really want to keep an open mind for our children and help them develop and support what they’re passionate about.
            I feel so lucky and fortunate that my passion turned into my career, and I know the happiness it’s brought me.  So whatever passions my kids have, that’s what I’m going to pursue, and if someone of the two girls we have now, who knows if there will be more kids, but if either one of them want to hold a steering wheel, dad will be happy and ready to go.
 
            Q.  I know part of this is your natural demeanor, but it seems your success and the team’s success has built an immunity of the kind of stress experienced by those who haven’t won championships.  Can you sense that, and can you compare your state of mind at this stage this year with that same 2004 and 2005, some of the earlier years?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I mean, we’re not immune.  We’re human and deal with all the same stress that anybody competing for a championship goes through.  I feel that through the years of winning championships we learn how to manage stress much better and find a way to enjoy the pressure and enjoy the stress.  We’ve lost some interesting close championship battles which have been interesting character builders, although they hurt badly and it’s not a fun month or two following that experience, but there’s a lesson to learn from everything, and I always try to find something to learn through those downtimes.
            But we’re not immune.  We do have experience on our side, and we’ve been here before, and hopefully that experience will lead us to a sixth.
 
            Q.  Do you recall what it was like in 2004 and 2005 when it was a fresh experience?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I do.  2004 was a heartbreaker.  We had a tragedy amongst our race team in the NASCAR community with an airplane of ours going down, lost 10 wonderful people.  We rallied through a difficult Chase and got back into striking distance at Homestead, and essentially the championship slipped away from us in the closing few laps as Kurt Busch worked his way back from an issue on pit road and his wheel falling off, and went from the high of highs feeling like it was meant to be to not winning and wanting to win for all those on the airplane and to help heal everyone involved and all the hurt that was around.  We just felt like it was meant to be, and there’s a big lesson in that that what you think is meant to be isn’t what’s going to happen.
            We got stronger from that, and then in ’05 was really the toughest point for us.  We had a very strong start to the season, led by a lot, and then as the year closed out, we slipped and we slid off the map essentially.  Tony Stewart came in, or was there, and the guy we were chasing, and Tony got the job done.  That was really a turning point for Chad and I.  It tested us in our relationship and our bond pretty tough, and put a lot of pressure on us, and we had our milk‑and‑cookies meeting then, and from that point forward we were a stronger driver‑crew chief and have been
very, very strong since and learned a lot from 2005.
            As I mentioned earlier, some of those down moments have been some of the most impactful moments of my career,  and 2005 is really that defining moment for us as a team.
 
            Q.  Do you sense that Matt is going to be even more of a player now that he’s with JGR?  If anyone can deliver a Jimmie Johnson type season, he might be that guy?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I’ve always known Matt’s abilities.  I’ve raced against him a lot over the years, and just always been extremely impressed.  I’ve known that the JGR cars have been quick.  Denny and Kyle have showed that throughout the years.  Matt’s experience I think has brought in a level of consistency, and matching that with the speed those cars have, he’s taken it to a new level.  And I think the 20 team, there’s a lot of new faces over there, and as time goes on, they’re going to get stronger and stronger and stronger.
            Put it this way:  What they’ve accomplished in year one, there’s no telling what the top is going to be, the peak is going to be.  It’s amazing.  That doesn’t happen often, so they’re going to be a force for a lot of years.
 
            Q.  Can you talk a little bit about your foundation’s education grant announcement you made earlier today?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yes, absolutely, thank you.  We announced our grant recipients here today in the Charlotte area.  Three great schools, just over $430,000 that we distributed here to the area in which we live in North Carolina, in the Charlotte area.  Each year we hold a big fundraiser in California, and throughout theyear raise more money, and right now is our time to pass it out.  There’s areas where I grew up in El Cajon, my wife grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and right here in the Charlotte area.  We’re making those schools known about their checks and excited to see them put that money to use.
            We also have some stuff that will be announced as we move forward in I guess probably the start of next year.  We’ll be doing more fundraising here in the Charlotte area and trying to do more in the area in which we live and excited about those fundraisers and look forward to sharing them with everybody here soon.
 

John Force Racing–CHAMPIONSHIP SECURE, FORCE STILL MOTIVATED

CHAMPIONSHIP SECURE, FORCE STILL MOTIVATED

16-Time Champ Aims for Ninth Victory in Season-Ending Auto Club Finals

 

POMONA, Calif. – He may already have clinched a record 16th NHRA Funny Car championship, but rivals know that John Force isn’t just going to “mail it in” this week when the 2013 Mello Yello tour concludes with the 49th annual Auto Club Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

In fact, one of the many ways in which Force has kept himself viable for 36 pro seasons is by creating new challenges for himself and his team, not just season-to-season, but race-to-race.  .

As a result, when he sends his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang back to work this week, he will focus on what little unfinished business remains in a season in which he has won four races, qualified No. 1 five times, recorded the second quickest run in the 1,000 foot era (3.985 seconds) and set a national speed record (323.50 miles per hour).

With a year like that, one might ask “what else is there?”

Well, while the 64-year-old icon has won the Auto Club Finals a record eight times, he’s never won the finale in an odd-numbered year.

Nevertheless, the most intriguing opportunity for the 2008 inductee into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is one that would propel him into the company of seven-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher and Pro Stock World Champions Bob Glidden and Greg Anderson.

Schumacher, Glidden and Anderson are the only pro drivers ever to win four consecutive races to close out a season.  No one has done so in Funny Car, not even Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, one of Force’s idols in the 1970s and early ‘80s when he was just so much cannon fodder for the frontrunners.

To be in a position to accomplish that feat a year away from his eligibility for Social Security borders on the unimaginable.  However, it is much more than just a possibility.

After all, Force has been the No. 1 qualifier at each of the last two events in the Countdown, has been to four straight final rounds and has won three-in-a-row for the 15th time in his career but for the first time since 2005.

He credits crew chief Jimmy Prock and a veteran team that four years ago sent Robert Hight to the podium as a first time champion.

“Most of the guys working on this Funny Car have been here since 2005,” Prock said of his supporting cast.  “We have been through the ups and downs, but everybody hung in there and worked together.  This is a tough gig working on one of these race cars.  Your heart and soul goes into them and when you win, it’s a great feeling.”

“We are learning how to race again,” Force said.  “Don Schumacher Racing and Cruz Pedregon have been pounding us, so we needed to get back in the game.  Winning is a team effort.”

Despite his success this year, Force admitted that he was a little unnerved by all the “Sweet 16″ signs that emerged as he neared his latest title.

“I didn’t like seeing those ‘Sweet 16′ signs,’” Force said.  “That sounds like I’m quitting.  I’m not quitting. I’m going for No. 17 next year.  I’m going to be around awhile.”

Richard Childress Racing–Jeff Burton to make 1,000th-Career NASCAR Start at Phoenix International Raceway

Jeff Burton to make 1,000th-Career NASCAR Start at Phoenix International Raceway
 
WELCOME, N.C. (November 5, 2013)- Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 @CATMining Chevrolet, will make his 1,000th-career NASCAR start when the Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013.
 
During a NASCAR career spanning more than 25 years, Burton has amassed 48 wins including victories in the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The South Boston, Va., native has earned more than 250 top-five and 400 top-10 finishes, was named the 1994 Sprint Cup Series “Rookie of the Year” and co-piloted the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to the 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series owner’s championship.
 
“It’s hard for me to imagine that I have driven in 1,000 NASCAR races,” said Burton. “I’ve been lucky and blessed to have family and friends that have given me all this support. I also have good relationships with everyone that I’ve worked with over the years to show for it, which is most important to me.”
 
Overall, the 46-year-old driver has made 689 Sprint Cup Series starts along with 306 starts in the Nationwide Series and four starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving for Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and the Stavola Brothers among others. Burton is the last driver to lead 100 percent of the laps in a NASCAR-sanctioned event, pacing the field for all 300 laps en route to victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2000 and was the 2007 NASCAR Illustrated “Person of the Year.” He currently sits 19th in the 2013 Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings on the strength of two top-five and six top-10 finishes.
 
“It makes it even sweeter to reach this milestone at Phoenix International Raceway where we have had a lot of success over the years,” added Burton. “The No. 31 @CATMining Chevrolet team had a top-10 finish in March at Phoenix and tested there recently. We expect to contend for the win this weekend.”

Tracy Hines Racing Ninth on Both Nights of Oval Nationals

Tracy Hines Finishes Ninth on Both Nights of the Oval Nationals
By Tracy Hines Racing PR
 
NEW CASTLE, Ind. — Nov. 3, 2013— Tracy Hines always wants to race against the best competition, no matter what type of vehicle he is competing in. He was able to do that this past weekend as one of the largest fields of the year assembled for the 2013 season-ending Budweiser Oval Nationals presented by All Coast Construction for the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series at Perris Auto Speedway in California, with over 50 cars present at the half-mile for the two-day event. The veteran driver came away with a pair ninth-place finishes aboard the Hansen’s Welding Inc./The Carolina Nut Company DRC.
 
Hines was quickest in qualifying on Saturday, Nov. 2, with a total of 45 drivers taking to the clock. The top-six finishers from the preliminary feature the night before were already locked into Saturday’s main event, and thus did not take part in time trials.
 
The native of New Castle, Ind., lined up 15th for the 40-lap main event and used a strong second half of the race to work his way into the top-10, ultimately finishing ninth for the second straight race. A total of four caution periods slowed the event at the high-banked half-mile.
 
Hines finished third in the first heat race earlier in the evening, but with just the top-two transferring to the main event, he found himself in the first B-main. He would win that 12-lap contest to secure a spot in the A-Feature.
 
In the opener of the Oval Nationals on Friday, Nov. 1, Hines came home ninth in the 30-lap preliminary feature. He lined up 15th in the feature that saw a red flag on the fifth circuit, followed by a 10-lap stretch of racing and another caution flag period on lap-15. The remaining 15 circuits went non-stop. Hines worked his way into the top-10 in the opening four laps.
 
The 2002 Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series champion was 16th-fastest in time trials on the first night of the Oval Nationals. He lined up third in the first heat race and came home fourth in that 10-lap contest to earn a spot in the 30-lap preliminary feature.
 
Hines wrapped up the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series season sixth in points. He was victorious twice, with both of those wins coming in the season-opening three-night event at Bubba Raceway Park in Florida. In his first season driving his self-owned machine, Hines picked up 19 top-10 finishes, with eight of those being top-five performances.
 
“For the first year of running our own deal, it was a respectable season,” said Hines. “We a couple of wins early and would have liked to have won a few more. We had a few chances and things just didn’t fall into place. With the level of competition we face every night, it’s no easy task and we know some of the things we have to work on in the winter and when we get home in a few weeks, we’ll get on it and start getting ready for next season.”
 
After taking next weekend off, Hines will return to action the following week at Canyon Speedway Park in Arizona, in the running of the famed Western World Championships, which will feature the Honda USAC National Midget Series and the USAC Southwest and West Coast Sprint Car Series.

Wood Brothers Racing–Missing Spring Rubber Leads to a Tough Day in Texas For Motorcraft/Quick Lane Team

Missing Spring Rubber Leads to a Tough Day in Texas For Motorcraft/Quick Lane Team
November 4, 2013

Trevor Bayne and the crew of his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion struggled with an ill-handling car through the early portions of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Long green-flag runs hampered the crew in its attempts to diagnose the problem, which also caused tire issues that forced unscheduled pit stops that led to lost laps.

 Finally, a late caution period allowed the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew time to carefully inspect the car, and the problem was located.

 “A spring rubber had fallen out of the right-rear spring,” team co-owner Len Wood. “They replaced it, and it made a different car out of it.”
 
Spring rubbers are pieces of rubber inserted into the coils of a spring to change its affect on the car’s handling. They’re also useful during races because they can be quickly inserted or removed, thus providing a significant chassis adjustment. With the spring rubber back in place, Bayne was able to run competitive laps and race with those around him, but by that time he had lost four laps to the leaders and wound up finishing 29th.

Wood said the chassis adjustments the crew made during the race didn’t produce the expected results because the missing spring rubber so adversely affected the chassis set-up of the No. 21 Ford Fusion. “It would take three times the usual adjustment,” he said.

Wood and the rest of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team had praise for Bayne and his handling of the challenges of the afternoon, especially the issues with the tires, which wore excessively due to the missing spring rubber. “He caught it each time and did a nice job of getting the car to pit road,” Wood said, explaining that a blown tire likely would have meant a wrecked car especially at a high-speed track like Texas Motor Speedway.

 Now Wood and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team turn their attention to the season-ending Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks.

 “We tested there last week, and we’ve got a good plan and a different car for the Ford 400,” Wood said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Richard Childress Racing–AAA Texas 500

AAA Texas 500
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Texas Motor Speedway     
November 3, 2013
 
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished eighth (Kevin Harvick), 15th (Paul Menard), 22nd, (Austin Dillon) and 24th (Jeff Burton) in the AAA Texas 500.
Following the event at Texas Motor Speedway, Harvick is third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, 40 markers behind the leader, while Menard is 17th and Burton sits 19th.
The No. 29 Chevrolet SS team is third in the Sprint Cup Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 27 team ranked 17th in the standings and the No. 31 team 20th.
According to NASCAR’s Post-Race Loop Data Statistics, Harvick completed 51 passes while running in the top 15, positioning him fifth in Quality Passes.
Harvick had the eighth-best Average Running Position, earned the eighth-best Driver Rating, was the eighth-Fastest Driver Early in a Run, eighth-Fastest Driver Late in a Run, ninth-Fastest on Restarts and had the ninth-Fastest Green-Flag Speed.
Menard completed 148 green-flag passes, 40 of which came while running in the top 15 (Quality Passes).
With 117 passes, Dillon was fifth in the post-race loop data category of Green-Flag Passes.
Burton gained three positions during the final 10 percent (34 laps) of the 334-lap event, tying him for sixth in the Closers category.
Jimmie Johnson earned his sixth victory of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season and was followed to the finish line by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne.
The next Sprint Cup Series race is the AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, Nov. 10. The 35th race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
 
Menard Finishes 15th at Texas Motor Speedway
 
Paul Menard started the Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet from the fourth position at Texas Motor Speedway and brought home a top-15 finish after facing handling issues throughout the 500-mile race. In the early laps of the event, Menard slipped back several positions as he fought a tight-handling condition. The “Slugger” Labbe-led crew made a variety of chassis adjustments to the No. 27 machine on multiple four-tire pit stops in an attempt to remedy the handling condition. During the middle portion of the 334-lap affair, Menard continued to struggle with a tight condition and fell a lap down to the leader on lap 230. The Eau Claire, Wis., native was determined to gain his lap back and maintained a top-15 position, ultimately getting the “Lucky Dog” pass on lap 256, allowing him to return to the lead lap. The Richard Childress Racing driver continued to fight handling issues as cloud cover caused changing track conditions, but Menard was able to run in the top-15 for the remainder of the race, ultimately crossing the finish line in 15th place. He sits 17th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings heading into Phoenix International Raceway.
 
Start – 4                            Finish – 15                             Laps Led – 0                Points – 17th
 
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“We started the race off super tight, but as the laps wore on the car improved. Then we lost our drive off the corners. We struggled with the handling of our Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet all day. The crew made a variety of changes, but we just couldn’t hit on the right setup. There at the end we went from being too tight to too free. We’ll keep our heads up and hope for better results next weekend.”
 

Harvick Earns Eighth-Place Finish at Texas Motor Speedway
 
Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser team earned a top-10 finish at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday after battling handling issues and changing track conditions. Starting from the 19th spot, the Bakersfield, Calif., native immediately went to work increasing his position in the running order, settling into the top 10 by lap 30 while battling a loose-handling Chevrolet. As the race progressed, Harvick continued to fight the loose condition, leading crew chief Gil Martin to call for multiple chassis adjustments during the ensuing four-tire pit stops. The Richard Childress Racing driver maintained a position within the top 10 during the late stages of the race, but as the sun set over the 1.5-mile track, Harvick alerted the team that the car had transitioned from loose to tight. Making a final visit to pit road on lap 293 for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments, Harvick returned to the track and moved into the top five after green-flag pit stops cycled through the field. The 22-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner continued to run near the front of the pack during the final laps, ultimately taking the checkered flag from the eighth position. Following Harvick’s 19th top-10 finish of the season, he moved up to third in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, 40 markers out of the top spot.
 
Start – 19         Finish – 8          Laps Led – 0        Points – 3rd
                      
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
“We struggled a bit today with the handling of our Budweiser Chevrolet. It seemed like no matter what we tried we couldn’t tighten it up enough, and then at the end we went a little too far. We still had a strong finish and gained a spot in the point standings.”

 
Burton Finishes 24th at Texas Motor Speedway
 

Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team finished 24th at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday evening. Starting the 334-lap event from the 20th position, the 21-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner battled a tight-middle and loose-off handling condition on his black and yellow machine during the early laps while maintaining a top-25 running position. Throughout the middle stages of the event, the South Boston, Va., native continued to battle with the ill-handling machine while the Luke Lambert-led Caterpillar pit crew made chassis and air pressure adjustments on multiple four-tire pit stops under both green-flag conditions and caution-flag periods. The Richard Childress Racing driver maintained a top-25 running position over the final 100 laps, taking the “wave around” pass under a late-race caution-flag period and was scored two laps down to the leader late in the race. Although he was hoping for one more caution-flag period, the 46-year-old driver was forced to bring his Chevrolet SS to the attention of the Caterpillar pit crew under green-flag conditions before the end of the race, ultimately crossing the finish line in the 24th position. Burton remains 19th in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

 
Start – 20                      Finish – 24                   Laps Led – 0                Points – 19th
 
JEFF BURTON QUOTE:
“It was a tough day for the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team because we couldn’t find the balance we needed on the car. One run we would be tight and the next we would be loose. It actually started to come around there at the end. I’m looking forward to getting back to Phoenix (Intern
ational Raceway) where we had a top-10 finish earlier this season.”
 
 

Dillon Drives the No. 33 Boot Barn Chevrolet to a 22nd-Place Finish at Texas Motor Speedway
 
Austin Dillon drove the No. 33 Boot Barn Chevrolet to a 22nd-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The Welcome, N.C., driver started the 500-mile race from the 21st position and reported to his team that the car’s handling was loose on entry into the corners in the early portion of the 334-lap race. A series of green-flag pit stops provided the Richard Childress Racing team an opportunity to work on the handling of Dillon’s Chevrolet SS, but changing track conditions made the job of keeping up with adjustments challenging. The team fell one lap down to the race leader on lap 136 while running in the 25th position and was unable to race their way into the “Lucky Dog” position.  In the closing portion of the race, Dillon reported a loose-handling condition. However, a green-flag pit stop with 32 laps remaining gave Dillon four fresh tires for the closing laps, allowing him to advance to 22nd for the race’s finish.
 
Start – 21          Finish – 22        Laps Led – 0    Points – N/A
 
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:  
“I think if we would have taken the “wave around” pass, we may have gained a few extra positions, but overall I am happy with the strategy we played today. I have a lot to learn. I want to thank Boot Barn, Wayne Workwear, VF Imagewear and all of the guys at RCR who helped me today on this car. It was a fun race.”

Chevy Racing–Texas Post Race–Jimmie Johnson

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AAA TEXAS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 3, 2013
 
 
TEAM CHEVY FINISHES ONE-TWO AT TEXAS
Jimmie Johnson Earns Sixth Victory of Season and Regains Point’s Lead
 
 
FT. WORTH – November 3, 2013 – Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, dominated the AAA Texas 500 by leading 255 of the 334 laps to earn his sixth victory of the season.  It is the 66th win of Johnson’s career and his third at Texas Motor Speedway.  The win moved Johnson back into the points lead by seven markers with only two races remaining in the 2013 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
 
“This was an awesome, awesome race car,” Johnson said in Victory Lane. “I have to go back to the test session we had last week or the week before. We did a nice job of developing a plan on how we wanted to show up in qualifying trim and in race trim. We had an awesome, awesome race car. And we needed it. Matt (Kenseth) didn’t have the best day and he finished fourth or fifth. So it’s hard to get points in this championship battle, and we got a couple today.”
 
Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 AMP Energy Gold/7-Eleven Chevrolet SS, finished second.  The run marks his third runner-up finish in the eight races completed thus far in the Chase and his 20th top-10 this season.  Earnhardt, Jr. gained two positions in the standings and moved up to the fifth position.
 
Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet SS, earned a fifth-place finish; which gave him ten top-10’s in 2013 and also gave Team Chevy three of the top-five finishers in the Lone Star State.
 
Chase contenders Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS, and Ryan Newman, No. 39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet SS, both had solid runs on the 1.5-mile track coming home eighth and ninth respectively.  Harvick moved up to third in the Chase standings.
 
It was an unfortunate day for Jeff Gordon, whose top-10 run was halted early after experiencing a right-front tire issue on lap 75 which sent the No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS into the outside retaining wall. The team was able to make repairs, but the damage relegated Gordon to a disappointing 38th-place finish.
 
Joey Logano (Ford) was third and Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was fourth rounding out the top five in the race.
 
The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup resumes next Sunday, November 10th with round eight at Phoenix International Raceway.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON AND CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNERS
RICK HENDRICK, OWNER OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS – TEAM OWNER WINNER
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’re now joined by tonight’s winning car owner, Rick Hendrick.  This is Mr. Hendrick’s fifth career victory at Texas Motor Speedway as a car owner.  In you could, Rick, talk about the poise that the 48 Team showed this evening?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, it was kind of a perfect night other than one pit stop.  You know, we didn’t make any mistakes on the track, and the car was really fast.  You know, we all tested here and all of our cars ran well.  Dale had a good night, and I think Jeff was going to have a good night.  When they finished three in the Top 5, that’s a good race for us.  We knew Matt was going to be tough from practice and qualifying.
            It’s just good to get out of here with a 7‑point lead.  We had that last year when we went to Phoenix and had a problem, had a problem at Homestead.  So I’d rather be 7 ahead than 7 behind.  But I don’t think we’re going to know what’s going to happen until the last lap at Homestead.
 
            Q.  Rick, what is the difference ‑‑ like you said, you mentioned the points advantage this time last year.  What is the difference with this team this year compared to last year?  Because obviously although you had the problems, you guys got beat, and there was a sense of how invincible this 48 Team has been in the garage.  So what is different from this year to last year to maybe regain that dominance potentially?
            RICK HENDRICK:  I felt real good going to Phoenix last year, and I thought we were in good shape and we had a problem.  I’ve never seen it this tight, so I don’t feel any better really this year than I did last year.  I actually felt like when we went to Phoenix that we put some distance on Brad, and we’d be in pretty good shape.  Then we blew a tire and hit the wall.
            So I think Jimmie has been very confidant, but nobody has said he was unbeatable this year.  Really, Matt’s been right there the whole year.  Scott’s got more wins, one more, I guess, than we do, maybe two.  I don’t remember.  But we’ve led so many laps.  I think the thing that pulls us this year is we’ve been in position and led right up to the end, and on the restart, we’ve given two or three away on the restarts this year, and the car has been really fast and led a lot of laps, and we didn’t close the deal.  That’s not like the 48.
            Matt was right there to take advantage with Kasey in Vegas and Jimmie in a couple of places.  So we know that team’s not going to make many mistakes.
 
            Q.  Can you talk a little bit about your feelings about Jeff having problems and basically falling out of a chance to win a fifth title?  And Dale Jr., fifth runner‑up this year.  They’ve done everything but win.  They’ve surrounded it a number of times.
            RICK HENDRICK:  Yeah, Jeff was leading this race, I think, early this year and had a bearing failure, which we never have.  He was really pumped up after getting in the Chase and winning Martinsville and felt really good about this race.  I was with him this morning, and I think ‑‑ I hated for that for the team because they have really come together and he’s put a bunch of good runs together.  You know, you just can’t help stuff like tire problems or failures or things like that happening to you.
            As far as Dale goes, Kasey, we’ll talk about Kasey just a second, he started the year off as our best car.  I mean, he led everything.  Then he fell off.  Junior came on strong.  He’s been running really well.  I didn’t think Jimmie would get him at Dover, but Dale and Stevie are really clicking.  Dale’s confidence is higher than I’ve seen it since he’s been with us.  You know, if he hadn’t had that motor problem early in the Chase, he’d be right there.
            But it’s, again, I think the engine guys, and I hold our breath for 500 miles when you ‑‑ we shouldn’t need Jimmie to say he had a vibration with 20 to go.  Man, that was a long 20 laps.  Anyway, I think everybody’s doing a good job.  But I feel for Jeff because he really had shown what that team could do, and I hate it for him.  But it could be Jimmie next week.  It could be Matt next week.  You just don’t know.
 
            Q.  You kind of talked a little bit about it earlier and how the team didn’t close.  But this is their first win on a mile‑and‑a‑half track this year, wh
ich seems pretty amazing.  Is there anything that you feel they’re doing better at this point in the season than they were on the intermediate tracks earlier in the year?
            RICK HENDRICK:  No, when you look back I think we had an engine problem with 8 to go somewhere.  I don’t remember where it was.  We led all the laps, and then there was a caution at the end on the restart.  Couple of guys, we spun the tires.  We were really good and ran into each other on the first lap at Atlanta.  I mean, we’ve been fast enough to win races.  We just haven’t led at the right time.  I mean, that sounds silly, but just and the restarts were biting us.
            But if you go back and look at the laps Jimmie has led on the mile‑and‑a‑halves, we should have won more races there.
 
            Q.  This may be two races early to ask you, but you’ve always had wonderful combination of drivers and crew chiefs.  How does Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson rate in all of the different drivers and crew chiefs that you’ve had over these years?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, I think if you look at their performance, it kind of speaks for itself.  Ray and Jeff were kind of magical when they were together.  And Chad and Jimmie, just it’s amazing the confidence they have in each other.  And I’ll tell you, I was here working yesterday at the dealerships, and I called Chad up ‑‑ or I text him.  Those guys don’t answer the phone.  So about 11 o’clock he was saying I was working on the set‑ups and stuff for the day.  I mean, the amount of energy that Chad and Jimmie put into it amazes me.  I don’t know how they continue to come to that level every single week and every single year.
            But I look at Jimmie and his workout routine and what he eats and how he runs, and I look at Chad, and Chad is calmer and I think he’s more seasoned than I’ve seen him.  He can handle adversity better, and that’s made the team better.  I’m glad I don’t have to race against them.
 
            Q.  Does it get easier now that it’s essentially just the 48 versus the 20?  There is really nobody else to worry about beyond Matt?
            RICK HENDRICK:  No, it really doesn’t.  I mean, you just ‑‑ everywhere we go we ride together.  We qualify close together.  We race close together.  I thought we went to Martinsville.  We had come out of Martinsville with a good spread.  I didn’t think Matt would run that well at Martinsville, and there he was almost winning the race.  It’s going to get more ‑‑ I think it’s just more tension.
            I don’t know how it could get any harder than it is right now, I mean from the standpoint of being out there and watching the restarts, watching the start of the race and knowing that we’re asking a lot of the engines tonight on a 500‑mile race on a cool night where they make a lot of power.  I was amazed that there wasn’t more engine trouble because we had some real nice green flag runs.
            It’s nerves.  It’s not going to end ‑‑ I think it’s going to be the last lap at Homestead, unless one of them has a major failure early in Phoenix, and then the other guys just got to finish in the Top 10.  But I don’t see that happening.  I think this is just going to be a dogfight there.  The teams are that close.
 
            Q.  This is about eight straight years Jimmie has done this to be in this position at this point of the year.  Do you see him gaining an extra level of confidence or edge each successive year?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, when you win five straight and then you come back and you don’t win a couple years, but they prepare and we’ve been in it.  All you can ask the team to do is show up every week and be capable of winning races and leading the points and being there, and he’s been in it.
            Like last year, Tony was unbeatable, and we were kind of off that year.  I don’t think anybody was going to beat Tony winning five races out of ten.  But last year we were in this position, and we didn’t do it.  It fired us up.  It fired Jimmie and Chad up.  But they can’t work any harder.  I think they’re as good as they’ve ever been and maybe better because they’re seasoned.  Now they’ve lost it a couple of years in a row and they want it bad this year.
            But they’re doing everything in their power, preparation, cars at the shop, at the track, engine guys everybody is working as hard as they can, and so are the other guys.  So is the 20 car and Matt Kenseth.
            I just think it’s going to be, again, it’s going to be the best points race.  If they don’t have any trouble, it’s going to come down to Homestead, and it will be ‑‑ you won’t know until it’s over.
 
            Q.  This is the 20th Top 10 for Junior and the only one better than that is Jimmie.  Would you talk about whether or not you think Junior’s getting contract for the kind of season he’s having?  Seems like so many people still think it’s a disappointment.  But 20 Top 10s this year seems like a pretty strong season.
            RICK HENDRICK:  Yeah, again, if you just go back and give him a top 10 for the motor that he lost in the first of the Chase, then it would be entirely different story.  He’s finished ‑‑ you know, I have this theory.  You’re not going to win until you you’re consistently in the Top 10 and then you’ve got to be consistently in the Top 5.  When you can run consistently in the Top 5, you’re going to win races and he’s been right there.
            Again, I said it earlier, his confidence is as high as it’s ever been.  We get plenty of questions when he is going to win the race, but he’s right there.  So I think as competitive as he is, it’s answered a lot of questions and I think we’re going to build on that momentum.  Hopefully, we can continue the next two weeks.
            He’s really good at Phoenix.  He likes Homestead.  We had a great test there.  I hope he can win a race and carry this momentum into next year.  I think he could be right in the middle of this championship had we not lost that engine, and he had nothing to do with that.
 
            Q.  When the Chase started, Jimmie had just come off I think it was four straight finishes of 28th or worse.  At that time a lot of people questioned whether or not ‑‑ what would he do in the Chase?  I’m just interested to know what your thoughts were at that time and is the 48 Team performance that we’ve seen in the Chase what you believe the true indicator of the team has been this season?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Yeah, again, you go back and look at what happened.  We had some things that happened in the
race, and, again, restart on the first lap and you run into the back of one of the other cars and knocked the radiator out of it, engine problem, a broken valve spring, running well.  You know, when you see that, you know that’s just ‑‑ those are things that are going to happen.  But the speed has been there.  The laps led were there.
            Again, you look at the restarts going back to Dover and some of the other races.  We just, uncharacteristically we were in the wrong spot at the right time, took four tires, got in the wrong lane.  Just the speed was there.  I didn’t think they’d be rattled.  I thought once we got in the Chase, we had a bunch of tracks he was good at.
            His confidence was never down.  Chad’s confidence was never down because we could see what was causing the problem, and it was out of their control, really.
 
            Q.  When you have four in a row, do you start getting a little concerned?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Oh yeah, yeah.  I mean, you think you’re snake bit.  Jeff thought he was snake bit.  That’s what was so good about Jeff Gordon’s run is he just believed something was going to happen.  Then he started clicking off good finishes, and that gets in your head.
            I think Jimmie is able to cinch it up, man, when he needs to, and Chad has always been able to fire his guys up and work harder.  They sure didn’t give up and they knew they were capable of doing it.
 
            Q.  How do you see Dale’s confidence higher?  How do you notice that?  What examples can you offer that prove to you that his confidence is higher?
            RICK HENDRICK:  You can see it the way he walks.  You can see it when he gets out of the car.  You can see it when I talk to him about the race.  He’ll send me a text and say, man, that car was good.  That was really ‑‑ I loved driving that car like that.  You know, I see it in the way he goes to the racetrack and how he prepares for the race talking to Stevie.  His confidence is at an all-time high.  You can just see it in his face.  You can see it in his interviews.  I mean, I can.
            But more than anything is his confidence on the radio when he’s giving feedback to Stevie about what the car needs.  He doesn’t just say I’m junk.  I need a little bit of this, I need a little bit of that, or I’m good.  That was better.  He’s so ‑‑ I mean, that’s just a real ‑‑ Stevie, the two of them, when you talk about combination and you talk about how Chad and Jimmie are, I think a lot of people overlook the relationship those two guys have developed and how well they communicate and how good they’re working together.  That’s about as good as I’ve ever seen with a crew chief and driver.
 
            Q.  As good as Jimmie has been in the Chase, he’s kind of left points on the table at Charlotte and Talladega.  Were you concerned or are you still concerned that maybe those will come back to haunt him because he’s usually so good at getting the most out of every situation?
            RICK HENDRICK:  You know, any time you lose one of those things you go back and think about what ifs.  I remember when Kurt Busch’s tire could have gone a foot the other way and we would have been one‑two in the points.  You can go back and second-guess all of it and look at every mistake or every opportunity that you let get away.  But at the end of the day, all the points, the last one counts just like the first one in the Chase.
            Yeah, we would go back and look at some of those restarts and say, man, if we just had that or if we had gotten in line in Talladega we maybe could have won the race because we led a lot.  But you can’t look at it like that.
            I think we’re in the position.  Now we only have two not to make a mistake, and hopefully we can just race without any kind of failure.  But I don’t think it will look back.  If it happens, we’ll look back at the next two.  We won’t look at the ones way back, I don’t think.
 
            Q.  You talked about how Chad was able to mature and handle things.  You’ve been through so many close title chases, how do you handle it when it gets this close so late in the season?
            RICK HENDRICK:  I’m just thankful we’re competitive and we’ve won races.  I think you do the best you can and you show up.  If we don’t win, I can handle that.  I mean, we did the best we could.  We weren’t searching for speed.  We weren’t searching for horsepower or handling.  We were right there, led laps with everybody and anybody.  So at the end of the day, I just accept it and go on and get ready for next year.
            Come on over here, guys, I need your help.  I’ve never answered this many questions in my life.
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Sorry to leave you here so long.
            THE MODERATOR:  We’re joined by the winner of tonight’s AAA Texas 500, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet.  You become the first driver to win consecutive fall events at the Texas Motor Speedway and are now tied with Carl Edwards for the most Sprint Cup series at TMS with three; for the fourth time in your career you scored a perfect 150 driver rating, led a race high 255 laps, and more importantly, you now have a 7‑point lead going into the final two races in the season.  Talk about just the dominating performance you had tonight?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  That was a great, great race car.  We’re really buttoned up, which is the cool thing.  We came here and tested.  After two days we really honed in on the balance of the car and comfort of the car.  We felt really strong about things, but at the same time we’re here testing, as are all of our competitors were as well.  So it was tough to leave here overly excited because your competition is here getting better and getting data and all of that as well.
            So we came back and just kept our blinders on and focused on our team, our race car and got the thing pretty dang awesome.
            There were a couple moments in the race where we had to work on the car from a balance standpoint.  There was one cycle of pit stops that came out fourth or fifth and had to drive back through those guys.  Just got the lead from Brad before the caution came out, so there were a couple of tense moments in there.  But when you have a dominant car, it is so stressful because you’re just waiting for that thing that can get you, whatever it is.  So it was nice to keep a ‑‑ Chad said it once on the radio, just keep a positive mindset here, and things are going to work out.  We did that.  We stayed focused and got the job done.
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;          THE MODERATOR:  We also have winning crew Chad Knaus.  Chad, you all tested after Talladega here.  Talk about how pivotal that test was in tonight’s performance.
            CHAD KNAUS:  I’m trying to figure out this hat.  It’s supposed to be ‑‑ I don’t even know how it’s supposed to be.  It was a great test.  It was difficult for sure.  NASCAR allowed us four tests per organization to do, and you’ve got to take all of your teammates there.  So when we first came out here after Charlotte, unfortunately, it rained, and we had to make a pretty difficult decision for everybody to go back to Charlotte before Talladega.  Get our Talladega stuff prepared, go to Talladega and race, and then come back out here the next week.
            I think it was very beneficial for us.  We were able to really kind of break down what the race car was doing.  Jimmie was able to go out there and kind of explore a little bit and find the nuances of the racetrack in kind of a more calm environment.  I think it paid huge dividends for us from a lot of different levels, and it was good.
            Eddie had to be patient with us as we were trying to get him to put the Jet Dryers out there the day that it was raining, and pretty much jet fuelled up, and he did the best to allow us to stay, but we had to come back a week later.  It was difficult.
 
            Q.  Chad, we had during this race a couple of troubles with other drivers, including with tires.  When you saw that, did you modify or change your strategy for Jimmie’s race?  And question number two:  During the test earlier, did you figure out that maybe the tires would be a critical factor?
            CHAD KNAUS:  Yeah, well, we were here testing a couple weeks ago.  We did realize there was a tire issue.  But that’s not so unlike the norm.  We have seen that in the past here, especially until the racetrack starts to get some rubber built up on to it that we do see tire wear.  We saw that while we were here testing.  We really focused on the longer runs.  15, 20 lap runs here at the test to make sure we’d get the tires to last as long as what we needed.  Not so much worrying about the short run speed and the three, four, five laps.
            Fortunately enough, what we were able to get from that is we were able to understand how to make the race car go fast at 20 laps, keep the tires on it, and that actually translated back into a fast race car in the short run as well.  So it definitely was difficult to go through all of that.  And we didn’t really have to change our strategy too much.  We were very fortunate that as we were going through that, we knew there were going to be tire problems.  The key is to not be the first one with the tire issue, and fortunately enough, we weren’t.
 
            Q.  What out‑of‑the‑ordinary repairs did you have to make after yesterday’s final practice, if any?
            CHAD KNAUS:  We didn’t make a whole lot of changes.  We felt like we had a pretty good understanding of what the racetrack was going to do based on what we saw last fall, based on what we saw in the spring with the new GEN‑6 race car, and obviously taking into consideration what we saw during the test.  We didn’t have to do a whole lot.  We made small modifications to the race car.  And, man, I was really pleasantly pleased right out of the box.  Jimmie was able to go out there and pass the 99 car with relative ease just a couple laps into the race.  So we hit it pretty close.
 
            Q.  When you guys win a race like this and you’re battling somebody head‑to‑head, this doesn’t shatter their confidence, but it’s a pretty big blow.  Do you think this will put some extra pressure on Matt and his team going to Phoenix and going to Homestead when you have this kind of dominance over them here at Texas?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I don’t know.  I’d like it to, but I don’t.  At this point of the season if you’re in contention, you’ve got more pressure than you ever wanted to you.  It’s just there.  So I don’t know if this puts anymore.  They were able to get some points on us last week.  We got some on them this week, so I’m not sure.
            But I know where we are and where our team is and our focus and how good of a test we had in Homestead, and we’re very excited to get out to Phoenix and go racing again.
 
            Q.  Chad, same question?
            CHAD KNAUS:  Yeah, you know, I don’t know.  That’s going to be interesting to see.  I think Matt’s the strongest player on that team.  I think he’s the glue that holds that thing together, so we’ll just have to see what happens.  I feel if we stay focused on what we’ve got to do, then we’ll let the chips fall where they may.
 
            Q.  You when you all came here to practice, I was here the one day and it looked like you were doing everything that any of the other teams were attempting to do.  Do you try to physically hide is the wrong word, but, nevertheless, hide what you’re finding?  How much did the fact that Kenseth blew a tire on the second day of that test, how much did that help you get to where you needed to be?
            CHAD KNAUS:  I wouldn’t say that we hid a whole lot.  We came here with a plan and our plan was to try to understand this racetrack a little bit better.  Try to know what we needed to do when we came back and what adjustments would yield a good result.
            I know if I was the 20, and I came here and on my last day of testing I blew a right front tire, I’d be nervous as hell coming back to a racetrack.  So that had to have been looming over them.  Quite honestly, based on what I saw at Homestead, they’re probably pretty nervous about that same thing happening there.  But we just came here and just did our thing.  I think that’s pretty Classic 48.  We worry about us and just kind of let everything else go the way it should.
 
            Q.  The slow pit stop that left you fifth on that cycle, was there any worry that losing your track position would cost you or that you wouldn’t be able to rally from that even with a good car?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I knew we were going to lose some time.  I thought if I had a big enough lead I’d be all right and still come out first or second.  But I guess those guys pitted laps before we did and made up more time on track than what we lost on pit road, and that became more evident to me as I was getting through them pretty quick.
            So I got to second pretty quick, and just as I got by Brad, the caution came out, so that was a challenging point in the race for me.  And it was nice to have it because I rea
lized how good of a car we had and got a little experience passing some cars and got an idea if we did lose track position, the adjustment we needed to make.
 
            Q.  Jimmie and Chad, a year ago you left here up 7.  I’m curious do you feel any better about this year or worse about this year on how you’re doing and also considering Kenseth and the competition?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I mean, we learn lessons each and every year.  I know when I go to Phoenix the balance of the car and what I had felt last year led to a blown right front tire.  So we’ll show up there and make sure that from my standpoint and what I feel and what Chad sees with tire pressures and temps and the overall balance of the car that we don’t overwork that right front tire.
            I feel better about Phoenix, honestly, than I did last year leaving here.  Then last year we did not test Homestead and we just came back from Homestead, and that test went really well.  So I’m optimistic.  I feel good.  But, man, it’s so weird because I’ve been in position before where I’ve had these amazing sensations and feelings that a championship was going to happen, and we were able to do it for those five years in a row.
            There were other years where I had those feelings, and it didn’t happen.  I think 2004, we had everything going our way it seemed like, and it didn’t happen.  Last year was another good example of us taking control late in the Chase, and then that ended with two bad races.
            I guess the lesson in all of that is I’m not counting on anything, and I have to go to Phoenix and race, same as Homestead.  It does simplify things a little bit.  I’m not going to get too excited about things during the course of the week.  I’m going to work real hard and train my butt off.  Stay in this little world that I’ve been living in for the last five or six months, but more so the last eight weeks, and show up ready to go these next two weeks.
 
            Q.  Do you feel any different being 7 points ahead this year compared to last year based on how you’re doing?  And the fact that you’re facing this with a guy who has won the title before?
            CHAD KNAUS:  No, I don’t think there is a big difference.  I think you guys have seen it time and time again.  We really focus on what it is we need to do.  We can all say that Phoenix was the culprit last year why we didn’t win the championship.  The fact of the matter is we had a mechanical problem at Homestead that took us out of it.  If we had won Phoenix and went to Homestead and still had a mechanical problem, we’d have lost the championship.
            So I’m looking forward to it.  I really am.  I think we were in great shape last year.  I think we’re in as good or maybe just a pinch better shape this year, though I do feel the opponent is a little more formidable than what we had last year. So I’m excited.  I really am.
            I love this time of year.  This is what we live for.  This is what we want to do.  We want to go out there and do everything we can to try to win Phoenix.
 
            Q.  Following up on that, Rick said that you guys were both really fired up after Phoenix last year.  That set maybe the tone for even this year to some extent.  I guess, what were those emotions like after that race last year?  Did you feel like you solved whatever caused you to run outside the Top 5 with that second you had back in the spring?  Do you feel like you guys are back to form with that track?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I feel much better about Phoenix this year than last going into it.  I kind of lost my thought.  What was the first part of your question?
 
            Q.  It seemed like it got you guys fired up after that weekend.
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, there definitely was a feeling of it slipping away.  I’m trying to recall the exact emotions at the time.  I mean, frustrated that we blew a right front, and then rolling into Homestead, we didn’t have anything to lose.  We had everything to gain.  That was a fun way to race down there.  We found ourselves with an awesome car, awesome strategy and leading the race, then we had mechanical issues.  I think we had a pit stop issue too right before that that started the downward spiral.
            But there was a range of emotions, for sure.  I mean, pretty disappointed leaving Phoenix to have that slip away like that and lose a big chunk of points.  Rolling into Homestead, eager and ready and trying to put as much pressure on the 2 as we could.  Man, we were close.  We had all the pressure on them and in position, and made some mistakes.
 
            Q.  Chad, you just mentioned a moment ago about feeling like this year’s opponent Matt is a little more formidable than last year’s.  Why so?  Can you explain that comment, please?
            CHAD KNAUS:  I think Matt just from his personality standpoint is a little more controlled.  He’s a little more mature.  He’s been in the sport for a long time.  I think he’s just a little more even keel, so that makes him a little more challenging to get off kilter, off rocker, so we’ll have to see how it shakes outcome Phoenix.
 
            Q.  Yesterday during the Nationwide race, do you stop and watch the race?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  No, I was ‑‑
 
            Q.  What did do you?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I was in Dallas.  My wife and two kids were at a great friend’s house up in Dallas.  So once we had our debrief, I hopped in the car and drove up there and played in the little jump house with my daughter and my God children, and tried to teach my daughter how to ride a bicycle without training wheels.  She didn’t hit the ground, but it didn’t go very well.  Luckily I caught her.
            I went to Mi Casina and got some Mexican food.  I was jealous of everybody else having some of those mumbo taxi margarita things that I wish that I could have.  I could have one tonight, but I couldn’t have one last night.  So that was it.  I was pretty calm.
 
            Q.  So the training wheels worked for the most part.  What would you give her, a grade A through C?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, she needs a little more time with the training wheels.  At 3, she’s not quite there yet, but we had fun for sure.
 
            Q.  Chad, what about you?&nbsp
; Do you stay and watch the race to see problems like the tire issue and things like that?
            CHAD KNAUS:  I try to study as much as I possibly can.  I spent some time on pit road and walked up and down pit road a little bit.  Watched what some of the other teams were going through and what was happening.  I don’t analyze it a whole lot because the strategy is so different.
            I’m not very good at Nationwide racing, So I don’t really understand what they do.  But they did have the same tire; it was the same racetrack, so I was able to get an idea of what was happening with the tire wear.  But that was really all I paid any attention to.
 
            Q.  Johnson, Gordon, it’s basically over for him.  He’s 69 points out now.  Finishes 38th, I think.  What’s it feel like when you’re in a situation like he is where he wins last weekend, feels like he’s got a Hail Mary chance to win a championship, then you show up here pretty confident.  I think Rick said he felt really good after the test you guys had, and then it goes out the door like that with a blown tire?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I haven’t had a chance to catch up with him yet, but I can only imagine the disappointment.  To be off to a slow start through the year and to rally and showed great speed at different times, and then the whole Richmond thing.  He thinks he’s out and then he’s in.  As he said, playing with house money.  Things were really going his way.  Wins last weekend, so I would assume that it’s just been a steady build‑up of confidence and anticipation for a shot at a championship, and then, boom, it’s gone.
            So I would imagine pretty disappointed, for sure.  I’ll definitely reach out to him and check on him.
                 FastScripts by ASAP Sports
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY GOLD/7-ELEVEN CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND.
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’re joined by tonight’s second-place finisher of the AAA Texas 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMPEnergy Gold 7‑Eleven Chevrolet.  This is his fourth Top 5 finish at Texas Motor Speedway.  Another strong run for you.  Talk about your evening?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR:  We started off, we came here to test, and all the Hendrick cars came here to test, and it paid off.  We started out Saturday morning in practice really struggling, and we worked on the car and improved it for the second practice and made a lot of changes overnight to go in that direction.  When the race started, we had a Top 10 car, and I think  (crew chief) Steve (Letarte) improved it quite a bit.  The track was kind of coming to us as well.
            The track conditions that we tested in were similar to how the race ended, so I think that was in our favor inadvertently.  But just real pleased with being able to run well.
            We want to put forward a good account of ourselves in the Chase because you’re in there for a reason and you don’t want to be an also ran.  So we feel like we’re doing a lot of good work and getting really close to probably breaking through and getting a win.  We’ve only got two more opportunities at it, but real pleased with just the speed of the car.
            I think our team has continued to get better every season, and it’s really showing, especially right now in the results that we’ve got.
 
            Q.  With the exception of the engine failure, you’ve had a remarkable run in the Chase.  You’ve had Top 10 finishes in seven of eight races.  You’ve led laps in 6 of 8 races.  Ran into Stiffy today, and he said can you imagine where you would be right now if you had not had that engine failure?  You’d probably be right in the mix.  Do you think about that or do you just try to go and do what you do best?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR:  Yeah, I mean, the Chicago deal is regrettable.  We’d love to go back and do that over again, but as soon as that happened, we really changed our approach and it was more about trying to win a race, winning a race would really lift all the teams spirits.  You work all season long not to go winless and not to getting to Victory Lane.  So I know how much the guys want the win on the team.  So that’s what we’re working for now.
            We gambled a little bit in the late stages of this race short pitting and getting a lot of track position, and we had a fast enough car to keep it, but the 48 was in another class and nobody had anything for him.  He was just super good all through practice and in the race.
            But, yeah, I think about that a little bit.  But there isn’t much you can do about it.  I’ve got two races to go and we’d love to get a win in one of them and continue to have a good run here the chase.
 
            Q.  I think I heard you or Steve on the radio afterwards talking about how many second place finishes you’ve had, and I think it was five.  There wasn’t a lot of frustration.  Is that how you’re viewing it?  It’s not a matter of like, wow, we’ve missed opportunities.  It’s a matter of we’re so close?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I think it’s a matter of being close.  You know, it’s not ‑‑ we’re not running second by making mistakes.  We’re not giving away wins.  So I feel like we’re just really getting close to cracking through and just trying to maintain the momentum with two races to go is going to be tough.  But that’s what we’re focusing on.
          
            Q.  Dale, as you look at the way Jimmie is running, can you compare him to the way he’s run in his previous championship years?  Is this the best you’ve ever seen him run?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  No, I think that he was equally as good in the other championship runs.  They were all impressive for one reason or another.  They’re just a great team.  Chad’s done a good job of putting the right people in the right place.  You’ve got to give (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) a lot of credit for maintaining the consistency of the group and keeping the performance of the car and the equipment there for Jimmie throughout all that process.
            So to be able to sustain that is kind of challenging in this environment.  Guys move around and get hired over here, hired over there, and Chad’s done a good job of keeping the performance up on the equipment and the team.
 
            Q.  Tonight the wind kicked up quite a bit those last ten, 15 laps.  Does that have any impact on you?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  I didn’t even know it.&nb
sp; We talk about that, and we can see it during practice and we pay attention to it for qualifying and what have you, but as the race is going on, sometimes your crew chief will give you that information, but he didn’t tell me tonight.
 
            Q.  You know the flags they were out straight the last nine laps?
            DALE EARNHARDT JR.:  Yeah, I was just looking straight ahead and trying to hit my marks.
 

Chevy Racing–Texas Post Race

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AAA TEXAS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
NOVEMBER 3, 2013
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
WE RAN OUT OF ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED TODAY – INCREDIBLE, SPECTACULAR, IMPRESSIVE – HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT?
“It was all of that. We came here and tested and did an awesome job of understanding what I needed in the car and what was going to create speed. We came back and had a very smooth qualifying session and practice sessions yesterday, and just kept putting more and more speed in the car. It paid off today. Obviously we need a lot of speed in the car and a win to get any points because Matt (Kenseth) is there in the top-five. Nice to gain just a few points on him. But just a dominant day for this Lowe’s team. I can’t thank everybody at Hendrick Motorsports enough for their hard efforts. Great car, great effort. Pits stops…all across the board. This Chevy was fast. I know there are a lot of Lowe’s employees watching and excited and are cheering so thank you. Thanks to all the No. 48 fans. Hopefully my wife (Chandra) gets here soon with my two little ones, I can’t wait to see them.”
 
WITH TWO ROUNDS LEFT, HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU THAT THIS IS YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP TO WIN?
“I have been watching a lot of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting lately, and you’ll fall into a rhythm and think that somebody has got the fight won, and it doesn’t end that way. That’s how this is going to be. Matt didn’t have maybe the best day and still finished fourth. This thing is going to go to the last lap at Homestead, and it is going to come down to mistakes. I’m very excited about our performance and what we did here. We’ll enjoy this, but there is still two weeks of very hard racing ahead of us.”
 
YOU HAVE A SEVEN POINT LEAD, AND LEFT HERE LAST YEAR WITH THAT NUMBER, WHAT DO YOU THINK?
“I hope history doesn’t repeat itself. That is the perfect example of this thing isn’t over until it’s over. Last year we had eight great races and two bad ones and didn’t get the championship. Very important to finish strong. There are two very important races left.”
 
HOW GOOD WAS THIS NO. 48 CAR TODAY?
“This was an awesome, awesome race car. I have to go back to the test session we had last week or the week before. We did a nice job of developing a plan on how we wanted to show up in qualifying trim and in race trim. We had an awesome, awesome race car. And we needed it. Matt (Kenseth) didn’t have the best day and he finished fourth or fifth. So it’s hard to get points in this championship battle, and we got a couple today.”
 
YOU HEAD TO PHOENIX WITH A SEVEN-POINT LEAD. DO YOU CHANGE YOUR THINKING?
“You can’t do it. You have to go racing. Last year, we had the lead leaving here and had two bad races. We have to go to Phoenix and have a very strong race, and then back that up with another one at Homestead. It still isn’t over until the last lap at Homestead.”
 
RICK HENDRICK, WINNING TEAM OWNER
YOU SAID YOU HEARD JIMMIE SAY HE HAD A VIBRATION WITH 15 LAPS TO GO, WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND?
“We’ve had it happen here with just a few laps to go. But all the cars ran good. Jimmie was just so strong all night. It felt like that last 30 was unbelievable. I asked him when he had a vibration; please don’t say anything on the radio any more, not with 10 to go.”
 
DO YOU THINK THIS IS YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP WITH TWO RACES TO GO?
“Absolutely not. We were like this last year going to Phoenix. Anything can happen. You know, we’re not going to know how this thing is going to end until the last lap at Homestead. It is so tight. That is such team. Matt (Kenseth) is such a great driver. Anything can happen. It happened to us at Phoenix last year. It’s not going to be over until the last lap at Homestead, so we just have to keep doing what we are doing. All the cars are running great. I hate it for Jeff (Gordon) but that Lowe’s Chevrolet was on the money tonight.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY GOLD/7-ELEVEN CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
THIRD TIME IN THE LAST SIX WEEKS YOU HAVE FINISHED RUNNER-UP, YOU ARE GETTING CLOSE:
“That’s right. We’re getting close. I have got to give Steve Letarte (crew chief) a lot of credit. I want to thank AMP Energy Gold, National Guard, all of our sponsors – Time Warner Cable. The team has done a good job. We came here and tested so we thought we would have a good chance to win it here. Obviously our teammate was here testing too, so it paid off for him. Congratulations to Jimmie. We’ve been working really hard. Steve has done a great job. It’s paying off. We’re getting close.”
 
WHAT WAS THE DAY LIKE?
“Saturday morning in the first practice we were struggling. We got it a little bit better and a little bit better and then we worked on it last night in the bus studying. When the race started, it wasn’t that great; it was okay. But we dialed it in and I think the track kind of came to us as it got dark here. That’s about what the conditions were when we tested. Steve is doing a good job of dialing the car in. He is giving good cars every week. I am driving them alright; I’m just staying out of trouble.”
 
YOU HAD THE FIELD COVERED FOR JUST ONE GUY:
“He (Johnson) was in a class of his own. We were joking that we won the GT class. They were super-fast. I was super, super impressed with those guys’ car. I’m happy to have a good effort and looking forward to the last couple of races. Hopefully we will get us a win. We keep getting close.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 TIME WARNER CABLE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
ON HIS RACE:
“We had a pretty good Time Warner Chevy today. We were seventh to 10th most of the race, and worked our way to fifth there at the end. Not quite as good as what Jimmie (Johnson) and Dale (Earnhardt, Jr.) was. I know if Jeff (Gordon) had been out there, he would have been fast as well.  The Hendrick (Motorsports) cars were good today. Congrats to them. I’m glad we were able to have kind of a flawless race, and race all day and make a little bit of ground at the end.”
 
HOW MUCH DID THE TRACK CHANGE?
“It actually changed a good bit where it got a little bit more rear grip, so we had to take a touch of wedge out on that final stop and that helped with the front tires. So it did change, I think it helped us a little bit with battling our front end the whole night. It was still a good race. It feels good to get a solid finish and kind of be in the hunt.”
 
HOW GOOD DOES IT FEEL TO RUN UP FRONT?
“It seemed like we ran seven to 10th. We kept working on it. We never really hit it like we would have liked but it was the best run was definitely our final. It’s been awhile since we’ve run up front so it feels pretty good.”
 
HOW GOOD WAS THE NO. 48 CAR?
“It seemed like he was pretty good. I never saw him. I could only see him on the restarts, so I knew he was really fast. I knew he was going to be really fast after yesterday’s practice. He looked like he was pretty unreal all day from where I was.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 17TH
ON HIS RACE:
“That’s all we had, and for us it wasn’t a good day, or for that matter, a good weekend,” said Busch. “We were off since we unloaded on Friday and never found the right balance for this track. We gave it everything we had, but yet it was disappointing because these mile-and-a-half tracks should be good for us. We need a turnaround in the final two races because it has been too good of a year to end on a struggling note.”
 
 

Richard Childress Racing– O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge

O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Texas Motor Speedway 
November 2, 2013
 
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fifth (Austin Dillon), eighth (Brian Scott) and 12th (Ty Dillon).
A. Dillon leads the Nationwide Series driver championship standings by six points over Sam Hornish, Jr., while Scott is six in the standings, 97 points behind the leader.
The No. 3 Chevrolet team ranks third in the Nationwide Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 33 team sixth in the standings and the No. 2 team 10th.
According to NASCAR’s Post-Race Loop Data Statistics, A. Dillon was the fifth-Fastest Driver Late in a Run (170.453 mph).
Scott ranked fourth in Average Running Position (5.170) and had the fifth-best Driver Rating (108.9).
T. Dillon made 34 Quality Passes, ranking him seventh in the category.
Brad Keselowski earned his sixth Nationwide Series victory of 2013 and was followed to the finish line by Denny Hamlin, Hornish, Matt Kenseth and A. Dillon.
The next Nationwide Series race is the Servicemaster 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday, Nov. 9. The 32nd race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.

 
 
Brian Scott Earns His 13th Top-10 Finish of 2013 at Texas Motor Speedway
 
Brian Scott and the No. 2 Shore Lodge team earned an eighth-place finish after fighting a tight-handling condition in the late stages of Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Scott started the 200-lap event from the ninth position and quickly moved forward, settling into the sixth spot by lap 17. Crew chief Phil Gould called the Boise, Idaho-native to pit road under green-flag condition on lap 51 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. Scott consistently clicked off lap times as fast as the leaders throughout the day, climbing as high as second. The Richard Childress Racing competitor spent a majority of the 300-mile race inside the top-five. The caution-flag flew on lap 78, setting up an 18-lap dash to the finish with Scott in the eighth position. Upon the restart, Scott quickly moved into the sixth position, but over the final run he fought a tight-handling condition ultimately earning an eighth-place finish. Scott moved into sixth in the Nationwide Series Championship point standings, 16 markers back from fourth.
 
Start – 9         Finish – 8         Laps Led – 0         Points – 6th
 
BRIAN SCOTT QUOTE:
“We had a really good Shore Lodge Camaro today; we just needed a little more in order to contend for the win. This was probably the best mile-and-a-half Chevrolet we’ve had in awhile. I’m proud of the guys, they were strong all weekend and on pit road. With just a few races left, we’re going to get every point we can. I can’t wait to get to Phoenix. We’re bringing the same car from earlier this fall in Richmond; hopefully we’ll finish one-spot better”
 

 
Austin Dillon Scores Fifth-Place Finish in No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway
 
Austin Dillon earned a fifth-place finish in the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon after starting the 200-lap race from the fifth position. The championship contender reported his blue Chevrolet Camaro was loose exiting the corners during his initial run. Dillon led lap 53 to gain a valuable championship bonus point before pitting under green-flag conditions on lap 54, taking four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. During the ensuing run, handling conditions improved and Dillon maintained position in the top five. However, a caution period on lap 72 provided many teams the opportunity to pit for tires while the No. 3 team opted to take fuel only, causing Dillon to fall to 13th when green-flag racing resumed on lap 75. Despite battling handling conditions, Dillon drove into the top-10 before pitting for the final time on lap 169 for four tires and fuel. Exiting the pits in the seventh position, he drove to fifth for the race’s finish. Dillon leads the Nationwide Series driver championship standings by six points with two races remaining.
 
Start – 5           Finish – 5         Laps Led – 2    Points – 1st               
                                                  
 
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
“We did what we needed to do today, which is earn a top-five finish and keep ourselves in this championship points race. Overall, it was a solid day. The cautions did not fall in our favor today and we ended up with an extra set of tires in the pit box at the end of the race that we were unable to use. It’s always a shame when that happens. Oh well, that’s just part of it. I’m excited for Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway to see how this Championship race plays out.”
 
 
 

Ty Dillon Finishes 12th at Texas Motor Speedway
 
Battling a temperamental-handling Chevrolet, Ty Dillon and the No. 33 WESCO team finished 12th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. Dillon started the 200-lap affair from the 10th position and reported to the Nick Harrison-led crew he was loose on entry and exit of the corners, but tight in the center of the turns. Long green-flag runs prevented the driver from seeking relief early in the race and fell to the 13th spot before hitting pit road under green-flag conditions on lap 50. The WESCO pit crew serviced their Chevrolet with four tires, fuel and a round of chassis adjustments to combat the ill-handling machine. Dillon ran as high as fifth before handling issued returned on lap 116. The No. 33 team utilized pit stops to adjust the handling of the blue and white Chevrolet over the course of the last portion of the race. A tight-handling condition continued to plague the Richard Childress Racing driver relegating him to a 12th-place result.
 
Start – 10             Finish – 12                          Laps Led – 0                        Owner’s Points – 6
 
TY DILLON QUOTE:
“The No. 33 WESCO Chevrolet was really fast yesterday in practice, but we just couldn’t get the handling the way we wanted it today in the race. I was too loose and the beginning of the run and I would need to be a lot tighter to carry the speed. We over corrected a little bit too much on that last stop and got way too tight at the end. I learned a lot today, which I’ll add it to the notebook for next year.”

Richard Childress Racing–Nascar 350

NASCAR 350
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Texas Motor Speedway   
November 1, 2013
 
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished first (Ty Dillon) and fourth (Brendan Gaughan).
Dillon is third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship point standings, 47 markers behind the leader; while Gaughan ranks ninth in the standings.
The No. 3 Chevrolet team is fourth in the Camping World Truck Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 62 team 11th in the standings.
According to NASCAR’s Post Race Loop Data Statistics, Dillon earned the highest Driver Rating (150.0), while Gaughan ranked fourth with a rating of 104.8.
Dillon earned the highest Average Running Position (1.136) during the 147-lap affair and Gaughan earned the sixth-highest (5.762).
Dillon was first in the Fastest Driver Early in a Run and Fastest Driver Late in a Run categories. Gaughan was seventh and second, respectively in the same categories.
Combined, the RCR drivers collected the Fastest Laps Run 79 times throughout the event.
Both Gaughan and Dillon spent 100 percent of the race running in the top 15.
Dillon led for a total of 130 laps, more than any other competitor.
Dillon earned his second-career Camping World Truck Series victory and was followed to the line by Johnny Sauter, Ron Hornaday Jr., Gaughan and Justin Lofton.
The next scheduled Camping World Truck Series race is the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday, Nov. 8. The 21st race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR radio, channel 90.

 
 

Dillon Dominates in the Lone Star State
 
Ty Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops team dominated at Texas Motor Speedway, leading for 130 of the 147 laps contested on Friday night before taking the checkered flag and making their second trip to victory lane this season. Starting from the third position, Dillon jumped to the inside line and battled three wide for the lead when the initial green flag was displayed. He gained control of the top spot off of turn two and led the first portion of the race. The Welcome, N.C., native drove off with more than a four-second lead on the second-place truck when the field was slowed on lap 59 for a caution period. Crew chief Marcus Richmond called the young driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to keep the balance neutral on the black and orange machine. Dillon restarted second on the ensuing start, but was shuffled back to third once the green flag waved. He battled side-by-side for position through the course of the next three laps before taking back the top spot. The Richard Childress Racing driver settled into a rhythm and never looked back. Dillon crossed the finish line earning his second-career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Friday night’s win marks the 100th win for the No. 3 in RCR’s history.
 
Start – 3                 Finish – 1                     Laps Led – 130             Points – 3rd
 
TY DILLON QUOTE:
“This is awesome, we finally got a win at Texas (Motor Speedway). I’ve wanted to win the cowboy hat so bad. It’s the one race that I had to win. This No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team is great. They were fast on pit road and worked really hard to put together a fast truck. It all paid off tonight when we pulled into Victory Lane. Marcus (Richmond, crew chief) made some great calls and kept us out front all night long. This was our race from the drop of the green flag. We’ve let too many wins get away this season; I wasn’t going to let this one get away. I’m so proud of this team and everyone at RCR, we couldn’t have done this without everyone’s help.”
 
MARCUS RICHMOND QUOTE:
“We’ve had some bad luck the last few weeks and after everything that happened last weekend, this was a great way to show how strong this Bass Pro Shops team really is. We work hard every week to put together good trucks. I know this team is capable of winning. We have a great driver and a strong work ethic. We showed that tonight, it’s an honor working for this organization and leading this No. 3 team.”
 

 
 

Gaughan Earns Top-Five Finish at Texas Motor Speedway
 
Brendan Gaughan and the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino team finished fourth under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night. Starting the 147-lap affair from the seventh position, the Las Vegas native competed within the top 10 of the running order, despite battling a condition that transitioned from loose to tight during the early laps. The pit crew made chassis adjustments during scheduled four-tire pit stops on laps 25, 60 and 101 in an effort to combat the handling issues. Armed with a well-handling machine, Gaughan was scored in the sixth position for the lap-106 restart and worked his way into fourth during the final laps, where he ultimately crossed the finish line.
 
Start – 7               Finish – 4              Laps Led – 0                        Points – 9th
 
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
“Well, we weren’t as good tonight as we were during the spring race, but we still managed to pull off a pretty good run. Congratulations to my teammate Ty Dillon on his win. The RCR Chevrolets were really fast, but no one had anything for Ty tonight. Shane (Wilson, crew chief) and the South Point Hotel & Casino team did a great job; we just came up a few spots short.”
 

Wood Brothers Racing–Bobble in Turn Four Drops Bayne to 32nd in Texas Qualifying

Bobble in Turn Four Drops Bayne to 32nd in Texas Qualifying
November 1, 2013

Trevor Bayne and his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion got off to a good start in qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon. When it was time to qualify; however, he was unable to maintain that pace for his entire lap and therefore will have to start 32nd on Sunday.

“It was a great lap until we got to turn four and about plowed the wall,” Bayne said of his run against the clock which nonetheless ended with a speed of 191.347 miles per hour. “We were probably a top-15 run until that point.”
 
As soon as Bayne returned to the garage area, he and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew began putting the disappointment behind them and focusing on Sunday’s race, the final 500-miler of the 2013 Sprint Cup season.

Team co-owner Eddie Wood said he’s confident that Bayne and crew chief Donnie Wingo can work together on a set-up and strategy that will help them overcome a poor starting position.

“We haven’t made any race runs yet,” Wood said after qualifying. “We spent the week testing at Homestead, which is a somewhat similar race track, so I’m not too worried at this point.”

Wood said that it’s never a bad day at the track when the front-row starters both are driving Ford Fusions.

“Congratulations to Carl Edwards for the pole and to Brad Keselowski for the outside pole,” Wood said. “I feel good about Sunday, for their teams and for ours.”

Chevy Racing–Texas–Jimmie Johnson

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AAA TEXAS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 1, 2013
 
 
Jimmie Johnson Leads Team Chevy in Texas Qualifying
Five-time Champion will Start Third in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500
 
FT. WORTH (November 1, 2013) – Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion Jimmie Johnson turned in the third fastest qualifying time for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
Piloting his familiar No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, Johnson, who is currently tied for the lead in the series point standings with just three races remaining in the 2013 season, went out seventh in the order of 43 drivers attempting to make the field. Despite a little brush with the wall, he held the top spot until very late in the qualifying order.
 
“I was committed to the throttle off of Turn 4 and just kind of ran out of room,” said Johnson after his Qualifying run.  “And I hate to admit it, but at one point I think I had my eyes shut because I knew there was going to be contact. I just didn’t know how much. But, I just grazed the wall and scratched the sticker for the bumper cover and tail light on the back of the car.”
 
Giving Team Chevy four of the top-10 starters in the 334-lap/501-mile race on the 1.5-mile tri-oval are: Paul Menard, No. 27 Quaker State Chevrolet SS – 4th; Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 AMP Energy Gold/7-Eleven Chevrolet SS – 7th and Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS – 8th.
 
Carl Edwards (Ford) won the pole. Brad Keselowski (Ford) and Kyle Busch (Toyota) complete the top-five qualifiers.
 
The race is scheduled to start Sunday at 3:00 p.m. EST with live TV coverage on ESPN.  Live radio coverage will be provided by PRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
 
 
POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, QUALIFIED 3RD.
 
YOU QUALIFIED THIRD. IT LOOKED LIKE YOU TAPPED THE WALL. TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING RUN
“Yeah, I was committed to the throttle off of Turn 4 and just kind of ran out of room. And I hate to admit it, but at one point I think I had my eyes shut because I knew there was going to be contact. I just didn’t know how much. But, I just grazed the wall and scratched the sticker for the bumper cover and tail light on the back of the car.
 
“In watching Brad (Keselowski’s) lap, he was in the throttle early as well and lost some time off of (Turn) 4. And then when the Nol. 99  (Carl Edwards) came through, his moment was in (Turns) 1 and 2, but he had a really good (Turns) 3 and 4 and was able to nip us both there. But, I’m real proud of the lap. Even though it was exciting off of Turn 4, as early as we went out to be able to get that lap time, I think it shows our car has a lot of speed in it.”
 
DOES MATT KENSETH HAVE A WEAKNESS? IF SO, WHAT IS IT?
“No; I mean at this point, with three races left, I can’t say that there really is. I’m not planning on it. I didn’t have a lot of faith built in Martinsville being a weak track for him because he ran so good there in the spring. It certainly wouldn’t hurt my feelings if he ran 15th all day (laughs) but I knew that wouldn’t be the case early-on in the event and he had a strong race. So, I don’t think there’s a weakness for either team right now. We’re probably going to finish by each other. If somebody has a mistake, I think that will be the deciding factor. But other than that, I think we’re going to run right around each other for these next three races.”
 
LAST WEEK, WHEN GREG BIFFLE WAS ANGRY AND CAME UP TO YOU ON PIT ROAD, YOU DIDN’T THROW A PUNCH, BUT JUST CALMED HIM DOWN BY PUTTING YOUR HAND ON HIS CHEST AND TRIED TO TALK TO HIM. IN THAT MOMENT, HOW DID YOU KEEP YOUR COMPOSURE AND STAY CALM?
“I don’t know what kept me from swinging, to be honest. You never know how you’re going to react until you’re in those moments. After I realized who it was, because I was caught off guard; I didn’t know where it came from. And it was a shock to see Greg because we were on track and roughing each other pretty good for quite a few laps and I thought that everything had simmered down and was gone.
 
“And at that point in time, I didn’t know that his bumper cover was why he went to pit road. I saw him go to pit road, but I didn’t know he was black-flagged for it. So there was a lot of confusion there and I was surprised to see that it was him. I didn’t know who it would be, but I just didn’t think it would be him. So, I thought if he was that mad he would have spun me out on the race track. And then again, my lack of knowledge of knowing that his bumper cover was why he was so upset, I was talking to him about how we had contact in the first place, and the fact that I was inside of him going into Turn 3, which instigated the next five or six exchanges that we had. So my mindset was on something else in general and I was trying to collect my thoughts.
 
“And then truthfully, the most important thing in it all was after he grabbed me, the look in his eyes, I don’t even think he looked at me. He was looking around me and saw all of you (media) standing there. I think he was just as shocked that he grabbed me like that as anyone. And I’ve been in a couple of fights, not many, but he didn’t want to fight. He was just pissed. So, I think at the end of the day that was really the energy in that moment that let me stay calm and just kind of handle it how I did.”
 
DID YOU JUST WORK ON QUALIFYING DURING PRACTICE? YOU JUST DID SEVEN LAPS. ARE YOU THAT CONFIDENT IN YOUR RACE SET-UP?
“Well, we were here and tested last week. We came here twice so I’m a bit confused on exactly when. But we had very similar conditions on the second day of testing. Chad (Knaus) loves to have a plan and to work through a plan and executed well during the test and had a very productive test. And coming back, we had a plan of just working qualifying runs today and then focus on race runs tomorrow. So, it’s nice being able to test, especially being so close to race time and things are buttoned up and the car that you wanted to use and test with and all those kinds of things. So it worked really well for us today.”
 
WITH ALL THIS TESTING AND PLANNING, WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF PRACTICING TOMORROW? WHAT’S THE GOAL TOMORROW?
“For the guys that tested, we’d love to see it rain out to some degree and you’d just have to line-up and run, you know? (laughs) You know what you have in your car. But it’ll be small changes. It’ll be trends. The No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) had a tire issue when we were here so we’ll try to validate a longer run and make sure there are no issues. So, it’s very small things, to be honest. And just to get a temperature on the track and how it’s grip level is and what adjustment might work. So, there will be pretty fine adjustments tomorrow. We won’t be changing a-frames and springs and all that kind of stuff. It’ll be pretty minor.  The engine shop would love us not to run (laughter).”
 

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