NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SYLVANIA 300
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media and discussed racing this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, competing in the Modified race this weekend, the challenges of this weekend’s short race length and many other topics. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT HOW THE FIRST PRACTICE HAS GONE FOR YOU AND YOUR OUTLOOK HERE THIS WEEKEND AT NEW HAMPSHIRE:
“I always look forward to coming to New Hampshire. It’s a fun place for me career wise, resume wise, as well as, getting to run the Modified and having some fun with that up here. I had a pretty good practice session in P1 there with the exception of not getting some clean qualifying laps. We had some traffic and didn’t get to bust off the lap that I think that we are capable of. We have a little bit of work to do to decipher exactly what we need and how fast to go. I feel like we have a good Quicken Loans Chevrolet and always look forward to qualifying here. I’ve done pretty well on Friday’s here and been fairly fortunate on Sunday’s as well.”
EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU HAVE A GREAT QUALIFYING RECORD HERE HOW MUCH DIFFERENT IS IT FOR YOU QUALIFYING HERE IN THE NEW FORMAT?
“I mean you really get multiple opportunities at it and the car is tuned just a little bit differently because of the multiple runs. You have just as much of an opportunity to make a mistake as you do to learn from your mistakes if you are fortunate enough to be able to run multiple laps or multiple outings. That is the biggest difference to me. It’s a little less hero or zero now than it used to be.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL WITH THE MODIFIED SITUATION HERE? ARE YOU GOING TO BE FAST ENOUGH? YOU WERE NOT NEAR THE TOP IN PRACTICE AT ALL:
“We didn’t run the first practice just because it was so cold and we have got a pretty good notebook from here. Second practice we actually struggled a little bit more than I thought we were going to. The car was really tight, but then did a pretty good run there at the end. I think we will have a good competitive car. I just look forward to the race. It’s so much fun here drafting and passing and the short race. The Cup race here is one of the shortest that we have all year, but the Modified race being a third of that just makes it even more exciting in my eyes.”
HOW MUCH MORE DIFFICULT IS IT TO IMPROVE YOUR CAR BECAUSE THE RACE IS SO SHORT AND IT’S OVER SO QUICKLY?
“Well it’s not so much a matter of that as it is having your car right for all four runs basically because the tires are usually really durable here, track position is key. Every once in a while you get guys that are off cycle. Maybe 15 or 20 laps that will make a difference in track position for maybe you or you could be that guy that gets the advantage, but in general you just have to have a good car and have good restarts and not lose four or five spots. Or not have a bad pit stop because all those things are magnified with the short distance and the fewer opportunities to gain what you might have lost.”
HOW HAS THE DOVER TRACK CHANGED IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT GOING IN TO TRY TO GET THE MOST POINTS OR EVEN A WIN?
“For me if anything it’s gotten a little bit rougher. But it still feels like the same old Dover. The cars and the tires have changed way more than the race track has changed.”
