KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 PEPSI MAX CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT:
 
 
THE MODERATOR:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Welcome to today’s NASCAR teleconference.  We will start off today with Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Pepsi Max Chevrolet for HendrickMotorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kahne is 12th in the series standings, but sits first in the wild card standings with two wins and nine top‑10 finishes. He has one career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Michigan Speedway, which is the site of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400. Kasey, what is your mindset with four races left to make the Chase with Michigan and Bristol up next, both being tracks you’ve won at?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  I feel really good about making the Chase.  I feel good about getting into the top 10 and racing our way in. I think we’ve been fast at those tracks and good at all the tracks that we have left on the schedule this season.  I’m excited about it.  I think we’re in a good spot.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll now go to the media for questions for today’s guest, Kasey Kahne.
Q.  Kasey, I wanted to ask you a little bit about, I know it looked like you were having fun on Twitter after the race on Sunday.  Talk about that, your thoughts and why you did that.  Secondly, if you could talk about Michigan, review of your stats.  Recently it’s been all good or not so good.
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I think the Michigan deal, we were really fast the first race, had a right front tire go down, blow out, hit the wall hard.  So our day was over.  But we were leading at the time. I feel good about going to Michigan.  Those types of tracks seem to suit us pretty well.  So, yeah, looking forward to that.
 
The ones that have gone bad, that was one of them.  I can’t remember last year real well.  I imagine we hit something there, too.  I don’t know what happened.  But we definitely are fast when we go to Michigan.  Just circumstances haven’t always gone our way.
 
Then the Twitter stuff, I was just frustrated and at the same time trying to make fun of it.  I just tweeted about going down there.  I had a few texts and different people tweeting me back.  It ended up being kind of entertaining and I enjoyed it.
 
I wasn’t happy about Matt crashing me at Watkins Glen at all.  I feel like we had a great car and we were trying to make moves, come up through there.  I don’t know if he had a problem with Ambrose.  He said he didn’t.  Other people around, seemed like he might have.
 
I don’t know what happened.  I just know he missed the corner, wiped me out.  I gave them guys plenty of room.  It was frustrating to get crashed at that point in the race for something like that.
 
The whole Gibbs thing, this is the fourth time this year a Gibbs car has crashed me when I’ve been running.  I mean, that was 11th.  But the others were for first, second, fifth.  We’ve lost tons and tons of points because of those guys.  It doesn’t sit real well with me at all.
Q.  Have you had a chance to speak with Matt or any of them after Watkins Glen?
KASEY KAHNE:  He texted me, I don’t know, five to eight times apologizing, trying to explain what happened, how he felt really bad about how it happened and all that stuff.  I understand and I appreciate the texts.
 
At the same time, we’re trying to get in the Chase.  It hurts when you get wiped out when you’re minding your own business.  It’s happened enough this year that I don’t know what I can do about it, but I definitely am not pleased.  It’s really annoying and upsetting.
Q.  Kasey, I received an email recently from a fan who goes to the Sprint car races at Williams Grove.  He said it was a treat to see you and Tony Stewart race there.  He hasn’t seen you there for two years.  I understand there’s nothing in your contract that prohibits you from racing Sprint cars. Have you just decided not to do it?
KASEY KAHNE:  I don’t know when the last time I raced at the Grove was.  I enjoy racing there.  As far as this year goes, I haven’t raced.  I had to have raced 10 or 12 times last year.  This year I’ve pretty much stuck with the Cup stuff, focused on that.  I have a great team, opportunity there, so I’ve stuck with that.
 
I was with three World of Outlaw teams and one team that races 60 times a year that I get to enjoy the Sprint car racing with.  I was at Knoxville as long as I could be, hung out with those guys, watched those guys kind of do their thing.
 
It’s been good, exciting to be part of that.  When I feel like racing a Sprint car again, I will.  Right now I’ve kind of been focused on trying to do the best I can in the Sprint Cup car.
 
Q.  After what happened with Tony, will that make you think twice about racing the Sprint cars again?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  I think it will all make us look at how it happened to Tony and try to make the cars a little bit safer in those areas, if we can. There’s got to be some ways we can prevent what happened to Tony or try to prevent it.  It just all kind of fell against him in those certain circumstances, got his leg.
 
I think all the teams can learn from that.  I know Tony is going to be a big part of trying to make that better, as well.  I think we’ll try to make our stuff better from what we can learn from Tony’s accident.
 
No, it doesn’t really change myself wanting to race, any of that.  It’s exactly the same as it was before he got in that wreck.
Q.  I wanted to hear about how running is helping with the late‑season grind and whether you’re able to run more or less as the Chase heats up?
KASEY KAHNE:  I’d say I’ve actually run about the same amount.  At times maybe a little less because of testing and things like that.  Just not enough time to get it all in.
 
The nice thing about running is you can do it anywhere.  I’m able to still get out there, get a good sweat in, get some miles each day.  I feel good about that.
 
I really think it helps for the Chase because I feel better at the end of the season.  When it’s all said and done, I still feel motivated, not completely drained and worn out.
 
I remember the first couple years I was in the Cup Series, by the time we got to Homestead at the end of the year, I was so happy for the season to be over.  Probably the last two years really, I’ve been wishing it went a couple more races.  I think a lot of that has to do with running, the physical work that I put in each year.
Q.  Considering what happened at the Glen, how big was the previous win at Pocono as far as keeping y’all calm and confident as far as the Chase goes?
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I think it was really big.  I don’t like not being in the top 10, but I feel a lot more secure.  I feel like our chances are a lot better because of the Pocono win after falling back out of the top 10 because of getting wiped out at the Glen.  It was a big win, it was really good.  It helped all of us out.
 
These next four tracks are good tracks for us.  We want to race our way back in.  We want to get those bonus points to start the Chase.  Hopefully we can start on that this weekend at Michigan.
 
Q.  Is there anything you can do to avoid these things?  Anything you’re going to try to do to change your luck?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Man, I feel like all you can do to change your luck is work hard, do the right things.  I try to be a good person.  I try to work hard before the races and be as prepared as I can be once I get there.  I race people the way I expect to get raced.  I don’t crash pe
ople.
 
I’ve still gotten wiped out five times this year.  It’s discouraging, but I think I just keep doing what I’m doing.  Hopefully they all figure it out.  I don’t know.  Hopefully it just quits, I guess.
 
I think over time it runs a path and a pattern.  It all kind of comes around eventually.
Q.  Obviously you’re in a lot better situation than a lot of people for the Chase.  When we get to Richmond, you’ve been through that before. What is that like, trying to race your way in, the stress and the pressure?  Is there anything in your career previously that you can relate to what that feeling is like at Richmond, trying to get your way into the Chase?
KASEY KAHNE:  No other feelings that I’ve had like that.  I’ve been in that position a lot over the years.  We just always seem to be right on that verge there, right on the edge of making it or not making it.
 
I’ve went through it.  I kind of enjoy it.  I kind of enjoy the pressure, like to have to be perfect that weekend, things like that.  It’s been good.  It’s worked out for us most of the time.  We’ve been able to make the Chase when we’re in those positions.
 
I feel pretty good about it, don’t mind it.  I’d rather have that pressure late in the season.  We haven’t had it late in the season yet.  We just have to keep working at that.  Hopefully we’ll have a little pressure when Richmond comes, and hopefully we’ll have a little more at the end of the year.
Q.  What does that do for a team in trying to race to get into the Chase and then you have to gear back up to race for a championship?  How do you reset or how does that affect guys?  Does that hurt a team, make it harder to win a championship when you’ve had to scramble to get into the Chase?
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I don’t think it would make it easier by no means because everybody’s putting in the time, the pressure’s on you each week, from the driver to the team to the pit guys on Sundays.  It’s a tough part of the season.
 
But it’s kind of what we’re all here for, too, to step up when times are tough, make it happen.  I know we have a really strong team. I think with the two wins, that helps, takes some of the pressure off.  If we can run strong the next few weeks, I think we’ll be in a really good spot, just try to put those final 10 together.  That’s what it’s all about.
Q.  You’ve talked about your frustration with the run‑ins with the JGR cars this season.  Has there been a time in your career where you’ve been on the other end, where you’ve gotten into somebody or one particular team?  You talk about things kind of come around.  Has that happened to you earlier in your career, and how did you deal with that?
KASEY KAHNE:  It’s never happened to me.  Kind of makes me think I need to start taking cars out.  But it hasn’t happened to me.  I don’t know what it would be like on that side of it.
Q.  Kasey, on this issue with Matt Kenseth, you make it very clear that you’re not somebody who is going to wreck somebody on the racetrack. How do you go about getting the message to Matt, that this has to stop, this isn’t the right way to race?
KASEY KAHNE:  Well, just looking at the incidents with him and Kyle, we’ve always had conversations after the fact.  They’ve explained and felt bad about it.  Truthfully, Kyle races me really good all the time.  It’s not really on my mind when I’m racing with Kyle.
 
Matt has been pretty tough on me a lot this year.  He got me there.  That’s definitely on my mind.  I just kind of see things the way I see it.  I would expect a little difference out of him, but you never know.  We’ll see how it goes.
Q.  Going into Michigan, how important do you think it is for you to get as close as you can to a win or to the win itself and climb into the top 10 in points?
KASEY KAHNE:  I think the most important thing to me is to get into that top 10 and not have to use a wild card.  In order to do that, we need to be consistent.  It would be great to get another win and get some more of them bonus points when the Chase does start.  Michigan is a good track, Bristol, Atlanta, all of them are tracks we won at.  Hopefully we can race hard, take care of it on the track, go that way.
 
But I don’t know.  The only reason we’re in this position isn’t because of my consistency or my team’s consistency, we’ve had that all season long, it’s been other people not being able to control their racecars at times.
 
I feel like mine and my team’s consistency is as good as anybody’s.  If everybody else could control their car in those situations we’ve had, we’d be in the middle of battling for the lead in points.  That’s very easy to see for myself.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Kasey, thank you for joining us today and best of luck this weekend in Michigan.
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Thank you.
 

GREG ZIPADELLI, COMPETITION DIRECTOR OF STEWART-HAAS RACING AND AUSTIN DILLON, INTERIM DRIVER FOR THE NO. 14 MOBIL 1/ BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS, WERE GUESTS ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT:
 
 
 JAYME AVRIT:  Thank you.  Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today’s NASCAR Teleconference.  Our guests today are Greg Zipadelli, competition director for Stewart‑Haas Racing, and Austin Dillon, interim driver of the No. 14, Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS at Michigan International Speedway for Stewart‑Haas Racing.  Dillon, the current NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader, has two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Michigan including last June when he finished a career best 11th.
 
Greg, you captained an adversity‑filled week with a top 15 finish by Max Papis at Watkins Glen that kept the No. 14 team 11th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner standings.  Now you head to Michigan with another interim driver, Austin Dillon.  Tell us how you selected Austin to drive the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for the Pure Michigan 400?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, we went down through the list and saw who is available and who had track time, who was doing double duty and was willing to try to work out a schedule that would work for both sides.  He has a strong relationship with Bass Pro Shop, and a big part of how we go through this is making sure that our partners are happy with what we’re doing as far as who we’re putting in the car and who will represent their brands in the way they want it represented.
 
Like I said, there is a strong relationship there.  Austin’s done a great job in the past at Michigan.  We kind of felt like it was a good fit for us this week.
 
JAYME AVRIT:  Austin, what are your expectations for your 10th career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend at Michigan?
 
AUSTIN DILLON:  Well, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity that’s presented itself here at Stewart‑Haas.  I just want to thank all the parties at RCR and Stewart‑Haas for giving me this opportunity to let me go out there in a premier ride in the Cup series.  Like I said, we’ve had a great relationship with Bass Pro Shops and looking forward to representing them and Mobil 1 this weekend.
 
It’s a great opportunity for me.  We’re really focused on the Nationwide Championship as well, and we’re going to give both parties a great opportunity at a win this weekend.  We’re going to go out there and try to run strong.
Q.  Greg, I was wondering, are you guys looking at this as being sort of a weekly occurrence until Tony can get back in the car?  Do you have any idea at all when that might be?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, it’s going to be a weekly occurrence here for a little while.  We’ll evaluate each race as it comes and do the best job we can with putting someone in it we feel will do a good job for Stewart‑Haas and all of our partners.
 
We will probably know more next week.  Tony has a doctor’s appointment Wednesday here to just kind of go over things, and at that point we’ll have a lot better idea of what we’re doing.  But for right now it will probably be a week‑by‑week decision as far as who is in the car.
Q.  Austin, I wanted to find out if you planned to drive the Nationwide race at Mid‑Ohio this weekend in the Sprint Cup race?  How will the logistics of that work for you, if you do?  And does it help that they’re within driving distance of each other?
AUSTIN DILLON:  Yeah, we’re working all of that out right now.  We’re going to be running both of them, and the scheduling is pretty tough this weekend, so we’ll be on doing our best to give equal amount of practice time.  The good thing about Mid‑Ohio, we have a full test day there Thursday, so we’ll have plenty of time on the track.  We have lots of sets of tires, and we’ll be using them up on Thursday.
 
Qualifying seems to be the issue for the Nationwide race.  That is the only part that will be tough.  We might have to start in the rear.  But I think we’ve done a good job of trying to work out where each party gets a good amount of practice on both cars.
Q.  Austin, Max Papis just tweeted that he considered you his godson, and that makes him a godfather.  That is kind of a scary thought.  But my question to you is you’ve grown up around RCR.  I imagine you haven’t been in the SHR car, but you might have been at the shop.  I was wondering if you could tell me the things you see similar or do you see anything different at the two shops?
AUSTIN DILLON:  I think both shops strive for excellence, so it’s great to be out here at another organization.  I’ve been around Tony Stewart a lot, and know how much his passion is for racing, and he’s built a great team over here.  That is the biggest thing.  He’s the company that I’ve been able to work with, my grandfather’s and coming over here to Stewart.
 
Today is my first day.  I know the way they like to work, and that is put the best equipment on the track they can.  And that is the greatest thing about this opportunity.  We’re here with a lot of racers, and that’s what I love to do.
Q.  Austin, my question is for you. My first one is obviously this is a great opportunity that I don’t think you could turn down.  But the fact of the matter is you’re in a pretty tight points battle over there in the Nationwide Series.  Do you worry about this with the two races being at different tracks maybe compromising your title hopes for the Nationwide Series?
AUSTIN DILLON:  No, we’re going to win the Nationwide Series.  That is our main goal.  We’ve been fighting for it all year long.  This week at Mid‑Ohio we’ve had a lot of practice time.  The good thing about a road course is the strategies that you’ll be using could actually help us out with the start.  It obviously helps to start up front any race you’re at.
 
But we’ll have a plan.  If there was a better place to do it in the Cup race, Michigan is the place for me because I have a lot of laps there and confidence there.  So we’re going to do our best to come up with a good strategy for both races.  I think we’ll be just fine.
 
Road courses have been not our strong suit, but we’re getting better at them, and the good thing was we were able to test earlier this past year at Mid‑Ohio, so I have some track time.  So I’m familiar with the track.  I really think it’s going to be a wild race in the road course there in my opinion.  It’s a tight road course.  We’ll just do our best and try to work our way up to the front with whatever starting position we get.
Q.  Greg, if I could ask you, for the time that Tony is out of the car, would you rather have the consistency of maybe the same driver in there week‑in and week‑out?  Or would you like maybe the opportunity to have a bunch of different looks at different people in the 14 just to see what you might learn from a vast amount of driving styles?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  No, I think we’d rather have one or two drivers if we can work it out.  I think that will give us some consistency, build some communication between the crew and the driver and that will give us our best chance.  We’re working on some of that stuff now and hopefully we’ll see it.  It may be more than two, maybe three or four.  If that’s the case, we’ll look at each individual racetrack and see who is available that runs good at that racetrack and make the best choice we can.
Q.  Austin, the experience at Michigan having been there earlier this year, how much does that help if you do have to miss some practice time on Saturday at Michigan?
AUSTIN DILLON:  I think it’s really big.  Like I said, I’m very confident at M
ichigan.  It’s one of my favorite tracks.  We led all the laps in the Nationwide race there this year until we had the left rear flat and ran well in the Cup race.  So I’m looking forward to it.  I think it’s a place that we can really go out and have a good run at this weekend.
Q.  Greg, was there any hesitation for the time having an RCR guy in your equipment and Hendrick equipment and maybe what he might learn about what you all have so you might be competing against him down the road?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  We’re going to put a blindfold on him, and right before he backs out of the garage we’ll take it off.  (Laughing). Then he won’t be able to look.
No ‑‑ I mean, yes, it will probably be difficult at times, but I think it’s a one‑shot deal for right here right now.  We’ll see where that goes.  We’ll see how it all works.  We’ve got to be guarded, and the same with him.  He’s got to come over here and trust that we can put something in the car that he can drive.  And same time he can come over here and tell us all the things they’re doing too.
 
So I think on both sides we’ll be respectful of each other, and do the best job we can.  I think it will be fine.  Besides that, he won’t be there that much anyway.  He’s got a lot of flying time.
Q.  Greg, you were talking about this weekend at Watkins Glen just about the challenges of the schedule and saying if you layoff the Nationwide schedule at Mid‑Ohio and the Cup schedule at Michigan, they don’t match up very well.  You said one of the things you could do is find somebody that could run at Michigan or you worried about somebody going back and forth.  And your word was it would be half‑assed.  How is this not going to be in that sense that term that you used or as much the pleasing of partners and that’s what makes this work this weekend, based off of what you said on Friday?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, obviously, they have a test day on Thursday.  We sat down with Austin.  He’s able to give us all day Friday.  So he’s given a lot because they’ve got the test day and things.  So it’s certainly different as we’ve laid it out.  A lot different than it was last week because Thursday would be a disaster.  But with the way we’re doing it, he’s going to get a full test day with a ton of tires and a lot of time on the racetrack Thursday.  We’re going to get all day Friday where we’ve got no interruptions on our side.  I didn’t think that was an option last week.  So it is this week, and we’re going to take advantage of it.
Q.  Austin, how many races have you scheduled yourself for to run at the Sprint Cup level this year?  How protective do you have to be if, in fact, you are going to run for Rookie of the Year at the Sprint Cup level next year?
AUSTIN DILLON:  They changed the rule this past year that as long as you designate a series, you can run for Rookie of the Year next year.  So I can actually run as many Cup races as I want as long as I have a designated series as the Nationwide.
Q.  Knowing that Tony was involved in this choice, how much do you feel like Austin’s victory at Eldora helped him with what he’s able to do there?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, I don’t know if it had anything to do with it other than if you look at his record in the Truck Series and the job he’s done in the Nationwide.  That’s kind of what we’re basing it off of.  He runs good at Michigan.  He’s got a good record there.  He’s young, and you know, ready to rock and roll there.  We’re ready to see what we can accomplish this weekend.  Hopefully, that dirt track experience doesn’t come into any play this weekend as far as Michigan goes, because it wouldn’t be very good.
Q.  Just to clarify, when you’re talking about how you’re going to handle the substitutions going forward, is there a chance if Austin does really well at Michigan, could he merge as the guy?  I know you’re saying you’re looking at each individual racetrack and how people perform.  But if Austin’s impressive at Michigan, could he become the guy you want to keep in that seat until Tony comes back?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Absolutely.  We’re talking about other races.  We just kind of want to get through this week here and then plan ahead.  Like I said, things are a little slow.  We’ve got a little bit more time this week.  We’ll be able to plan weeks out here once we get this Michigan stuff done.  Last week was kind of a short week, and we just really focused and concentrated on Watkins Glen and doing the best we could there.  Like I said, the next couple days we’ll be able to probably layout the whole schedule for everybody.
 Q.  Since you talked to Tony after the race on Sunday, can you tell me what he said it was like for him watching the race and seeing somebody else in his car?  And what is the earliest you have for him possibly coming back right now?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  I did see Tony.  I was over there this morning for a while.  He’s doing well.  As far as when he’ll be back, like I said, I think we’ll know mid week a little bit more on his schedule.  He was, you know, he was doing as good as he could.  We did talk about what we had for plans there, and he was all on board and felt like we had made good choices.  So that was important.  I don’t remember the other question.
Q.  Are you looking down in two or three weeks of possibly letting him get in the car for a lap or so just to get the points to remain possibly viable if you could go to Richmond and try to win Richmond and somehow make the Chase with two wins or something?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Honestly, if the doctor said we could do that, we’d probably do it.  We’re going to do everything that they say, because we want him back a hundred percent and don’t want to ‑‑ you know, sometimes you can do things sooner than you’re supposed to and make your healing process longer.  So we’ll follow on with what the doctor says.  If the doctor says in four weeks or six weeks he can do that, then we’ll probably look at those options and do what we can do.
Q.  How hard will it be to adjust from the road course in Mid‑Ohio back to Michigan which is a pretty speed track in Michigan?
AUSTIN DILLON:  I’ve been able to race a lot of dirt and asphalt and doing a lot of different things.  So adapting is something that you have to do as a driver.  I think as soon as I land, I’ll be tuned into what I’m doing on each track and just switch your mindset so when you get there of what you’re doing. We’ll be using a lot more break at one of them and none at the other.
Q.  Mr. Zipadelli, what are your expectations for Austin this weekend in this 14 car?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  I think we’re going to go there and run all the laps and try to stay 15th or 20th, and just see from there where we go.  We’re going to be setting our goals very obtainable and stay out of trouble.  Most important thing is running as many laps as we can.  We need to finish the race.
 
By his track record there in the past, we should do better than those.  But you just never know the circumstances, and hopefully we can get him something that he’s comfortable in, and we can go out and race and hopefully do better than that.
 Q.  I’m curious, will you use this opportunity to do any sort of testing of any parts or pieces or something you’d want to look at for 400 miles that maybe you wouldn’t if you had a car and a guy racing where points are maybe more valuable?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  We haven’t had time to think that direction quite yet.  Right now we’re still fighting for all the owner points we can get.  So finishing these races is very important, and representing our sponsors and doing that in the best way that we can would be by finishing the races, running all the laps and get
ting the best finish we can.  I’m not saying it won’t change, but right now, it’s no different than if Tony was in here.  We’re not treating it any different.
Q.  Can you say how many calls and texts did you get from prospective drivers?  Were there 20 people lobbying for this ride, 30 people, 40 people?  Did they wait for you to call them?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  I would say it was more in the 50 range.  There’s been people that I didn’t even know raced called.  And we appreciateeverybody reaching out and willing to help.  But it’s been interesting, let’s leave it at that.
Q.  Greg, has there ever been a point in your career where you’ve been in this similar position, or are you kind of like a rookie right now learning everything with each step of the process?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  You mean as far as the drivers and replacing a driver and going through all this stuff?
Q.  Yes.
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Yeah, I mean, the only time I’ve really experienced it was at Dover when we had to put Ricky Rudd in for Tony, and that was for one race.  So I don’t know.  I don’t know.  It’s just business as usual.  We need a driver, so we picked the best one we can.  We put a seat in there and get them comfortable, and try to build some communication and go to the racetrack.  That’s pretty much as cut and dry as we can keep it, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.
 
 JAYME AVRIT:  Wanted to thank you both, Greg and Austin, for joining us today, and I wish you all the best this weekend in Michigan.
 

CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: A Pair of Podium Finishes
Second and third for Compuware Corvettes; Gavin and Milner regain drivers’ title lead
 
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 11, 2013) – Corvette Racing scored two podium finishes Sunday at Road America in the Orion Energy Systems 245. The No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen placed second in the sixth round of the American Le Mans Series. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, driving the No. 4 Compuware Corvette, finished third.
 
The race, shown to a nationwide audience live on ABC, marked the first time this season that the two Corvettes finished on the podium in the same race. Even more importantly, the results provided a major boost for the drivers, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet in the ALMS GT championships.
 
Gavin and Milner, defending GT champions, moved back into the lead in the driver standings. Garcia and Magnussen unofficially are third but only six points out of the championship lead.
 
Chevrolet solidified its lead in the manufacturer standings, as did Corvette Racing in the team championship.
 
“The Corvette Racing drivers and team exhibited terrific teamwork on the track and in the pits, and with race strategy to claim two podium positions in the American Le Mans Series at Road America,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports.  “The team’s never-give-up approach will bode well as we go into the final races of the season. It was a great points day for Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin as they reclaimed the lead in the ALMS GT driver standings. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia also improved their standing, as well.”
 
Endurance racing is a true team sport, and that played out again Sunday. The Corvette Racing pit crew executed two perfect stops during the race’s penultimate full-course caution period. The two Corvettes entered the pits running seventh and eighth in class. with 90 minutes remaining but left pitlane first and third.
 
The race began on a wet track with Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette and Milner in the No. 4. Both Corvettes, like the rest of the field, began on wet tires. Both Magnussen and Milner ran aggressive yet cautious stints in the beginning before both cars went to slick tires at the 40-minute mark. From that point, strategy and some of the best pit work in the ALMS took over.
 
Corvette Racing’s next event is the Grand Prix of Baltimore on Aug. 30-31 from the Baltimore Inner Harbor street circuit. Gavin and Milner placed second there last season, and Gavin and Magnussen teamed for a third-place finish in 2011.
 
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
 
Grand Prix of Baltimore (all times ET)
·         Practice 1: 8:50 a.m., Friday, Aug. 30
·         Practice 2: 12:05 p.m., Friday, Aug. 30
·         GT Qualifying: 4:50 p.m., Friday, Aug. 30
·         Warmup: 10:10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 31
·         Race: 3:45 p.m., Saturday Aug. 31
 
Road America: Watch It!
Friday, Aug. 30-Saturday, Aug. 31 (all times ET)
·         Qualifying: 4:20 p.m., Friday, Aug. 30 (ESPN3)  
·         Race (Web): 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 31 (ESPN3)
·         Race (TV): Noon, Sunday, Sept. 1 (ABC)
 
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
HOW MUCH DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU COULD PUSH IN THAT LAST STINT: ” I had a really good restart and was making a lot of gap to the guys. When I saw the Viper coming, I held him off for like four or five laps and I was thinking, ‘no problem’. But the problem was right when he was catching me, my engineers were telling me I need to save fuel. I said ‘All right’, so I was saving fuel but going fast. I was kind of trying to guess how much fuel I needed to save. At some point Marc (Goossens) got a really good run out of Turn 3, and at some point I was asking on the radio should I defend or should I just let him go by. That’s what I did basically. They told me it was more important to save fuel than to keep the position. And then it was a matter of just holding back, just trying to save as much fuel as possible. I knew that Ollie (Oliver Gavin) was under pressure from the Porsches as well, so we were managing that gap too. I was really aggressive on the brakes in the traffic just trying to make a gap. Then as soon as we had a gap, went just went back toward them again. I think that is what we could do. I don’t know exactly if we were good or not (on fuel at the end); I think we were right on. The thing is that I wouldn’t risk it. I think we were probably better than the Viper, but I believed I should have kept that result. I preferred to keep Corvette two-three and in good position for the championship.”
HOW SURPRISED WERE YOU TO COME OFF PIT LANE IN P1 FROM THAT STOP? “I knew after all the pit stops came that we were the guys changing four slicks the latest, and we were almost leading the guys that came in the previous time the latest so I knew we had some advantage and fuel there. We needed just to do 13-14 seconds of fuel plus the tires, so we really needed to be sure that driver change was good. Everything went smooth. Fuel, tire change was perfect and I just remember launching myself out of the pits seeing the Ferrari just come in, and I just a half of a car ahead, or something like. So that put us into one-three at the moment. I was like…that is what I said yesterday after qualifying: When it comes to race time, Corvette Racing is the best that a driver can ever have. So, that is the thing.”
 
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
ON THE CHALLENGE OF THE FIRST HOUR: “It was a difficult beginning of the race with the wet track. But it was not super wet so I don’t think the wets (tires) really got up to working 100 percent. The balance of the car wasn’t great or right to begin with. Everybody was pulling away from us quite a bit. Then it seemed like the car and the tires came in, and we were doing pretty well for ourselves. But making the decision to go to slicks was really hard for me to make because the wets which don’t give you a good feel for what is going on. You can feel the grip is improving, but is it improving enough for slicks? And also just looking at the track, it wasn’t clear-cut dry or not dry, so you really have to rely on other people making the decision for you. Fortunately some guys down the back made the first move – it was wrong. So good thing we didn’t follow those guys. But when we did make the move for slicks, it was definitely the right time. So that worked out well.  There was a lot of pressure from Tommy (Milner) throughout the stint when we were on the slicks.
“Then there was one absolutely fantastic pit stop from the Corvette guys! We came in seventh and eighth, and out one-three. That is unbelievable. So fantastic… absolutely fantastic. After that, Antonio drove under extreme pressure – saving fuel; trying to go fast… two things that are really, really hard to do at the same time. Overall it was a fantastic job for the whole team.
“I don’t know had we not had that yellow at the end what would have happened. We were very, very close on fuel. I have a feeling the Vipers were even closer. So who knows? But when the safety car came out right there at the end, there was a big sigh of relief from the whole team. It was ‘OK, now we have second’. I am sure we would have gone for it (if the race had restarted), but would we have won doing it or blown it?”
 
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
ON THE RACE: “The race today was pretty hard. First of all Tommy (Milner) came in and we were seventh and eighth, and the guys just did a fab
ulous job with the tire stop, the fuel and everything. We went in eighth position, and came out third, and our sister car (No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R) came out in the lead! That is just a spectacular job by the guys. Just amazing that pit stop. At the restart, the (No. 62) Ferrari was pretty racy into Turn 1 and he tried to squeeze me as we came off. We just rubbed all the way down to Turn 3; I got by him and then I was up behind Antonio (Garcia) but the (No. 91) Viper was coming. It was quick. It just had a bit too much pace for us today.
“I was being told, ‘Save fuel, save fuel, save fuel.’ I was doing the best I could. The Porsche was catching us and catching us. They’ve got super straight-line speed so that was tough. In the end there, I think we were good to go with the fuel. I was wondering if everybody else was going to be in the same spot or not. I know we could have gone to the end, but I don’t know if the Viper could, whether the Porsche could or anybody else. We had done our job in doing that. The guys were fantastic in the pits. Tommy did a spectacular job of getting it through in very tricky conditions in the wet weather. So all-in-all it was a great team effort by everybody here at Corvette Racing.”
ON BEING TOLD TO SAVE FUEL: “You have to figure out your routine on how to do it and the way you are going to go about doing it. Where you are going to lift, where you are going to brake and how you are going to do it. I was working really hard with (engineer) Chuck (Houghton). It was frustrating, and a couple of times we were adjusting the engine map, and the Porsche was catching us, and Chuck was telling me, ‘Go back! Go back!’ The Porsche was so close. It was just one of those ones where it was nail-biting every single lap. You could not take your attention away, or ever think ‘We’ve got this now; we’ve got everything under control’, because everything was just in flux; right on the limit, and right on the balance the whole race. Sometimes that’s the way it is, and everybody on the team worked so hard.”
ON REGAINING DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD: “That is just fantastic. Of all the things that could have happened today, to get the points lead back, and to extend our lead in the manufacturers’ championship, that is spectacular. This is a huge win-win… we didn’t win the race, but in terms of the actual bigger picture, it’s been a great day for us.”
 
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
ON THE RACE: “We knew that the race would be dry toward the end. We didn’t do anything to the car to try to help it in the wet, so we actually struggled early on. It made it very difficult to keep the car underneath me. It was very loose the entire time in the wet conditions. It is tough here to tell when this track dries up; it is not very easy to see when the lines are drying and when they are still wet. So on that (first) yellow flag, we probably could have switched it to dry tires right then, but I wasn’t too sure, and didn’t want to gamble on that and then throw the race away. So we stayed out which hurt us a little bit there for awhile. But the car was really, really good on slicks in the dry again. I knew if we could just get Oliver in the car and get that last pit stop out of the way, we would be in good shape.
“I could have never imagined to go from basically eighth place to third place in the pits. Oliver did a great job on the restart and got second. So really, today’s result is thanks to Corvette Racing, the pit stops and the strategy that was played to perfection. The Viper definitely was quick today. Congrats to them. They’ve done an awesome job all year long so far. They’ve been right there, and they put one together. I know what that feels like; it is obviously very exciting for them. We’ve got a race on our hands for the rest of the year. They are quick, and we are quick. Porsche is quick; BMW is quick. It is going to be a big fight to the end.”
ON BEING THE POINTS LEAD – IS IT BETTER TO LEAD OR BE CHASING WITH A FEW RACES TO GO? “It can go either way. I think we all kind of approach each weekend as its own separate championship. We want to win that race, and if we can’t win, we want to finish as high as we possibly can. If you just focus on one race at a time, the championship takes care of itself. All we did today was not get too worried about the fact we were in seventh and eighth at the back. We were more focused on how do we make the best out of our race today. What is our best strategy. We did that. Here we are in third place, points lead. Everything is going the way it should right now.”
 
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“This race marks the middle of our 15th season in the American Le Mans Series. In those 14½ years, I don’t remember an event where a pair of pit stops had the impact on the outcome that it did today. The 3 and 4 car came in seventh and eighth, and they went out first and third. That’s all-world, and that’s what we do at Corvette Racing.”
 

MONTOYA TAKES TOP FIVE FINISH FOR TEAM CHEVY
Johnson Maintains NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Point Lead
 
WATKINS GLEN, NY – Aug. 11, 2013 – The Cheez-It 355 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International featured plenty of cautions and a lengthy red flag delay, but that didn’t deter Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS from posting a strong top-five finish – his third top-five finish of 2013.  
 
“It was fun it’s just not enough laps,” Montoya said after exiting his No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS.   “It’s hard to pass.  These cars, you know, guys that run up front are pretty good here.  Our Target Chevy was really good all day.  To be honest with you we didn’t think we could make it in two (pit stops) all weekend.  We got so many cautions and I felt, you know they told me to save and I started saving a ton of gas and even saving gas we were pretty good.”
 
On the challenging 11-Turn, 2.45-mile road course, where passing is difficult, five-time series champion, Jimmie Johnson, ran a solid race in his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS to finish eighth overall from his 18-place starting position. Johnson maintained the series point lead on the strength of 15 top-10 finishes this season and now has a 75-point advantage over second place.
 
Kurt Busch brought his No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevy SS home in ninth, his 10th top-10 finish in 22 races completed this season.
 
Montoya and Busch were joined by four other Team Chevy drivers all recording top-15 finishes.  Jamie McMurray driving the No. 1 McDonald’s/Monopoly Chevrolet SS finished 11th followed by Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS in 13th.
 
Ryan Newman brought his No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet SS home in the 14th position followed by his Stewart-Haas Racing interim teammate, filling in for the injured Tony Stewart, Max Papis piloting the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS.
 
Kyle Busch (Toyota) was the race winner, Brad Keselowski (Ford) was second, Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota) finished third, and Carl Edwards (Ford) was fourth to round out the top-five.
 
The next race on the tour will be Sunday, August 18, 2013 at Michigan International Speedway.
 
POST RACE QUOTE:
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
TAKE US THROUGH THOSE LAST COUPLE OF LAPS.  THAT LOOKED LIKE FUN:
“It was fun it’s just not enough laps.  It’s hard to pass.  These cars, you know, guys that run up front are pretty good here.  Our Target Chevy was really good all day.  To be honest with you we didn’t think we could make it in two (pit stops) all weekend.  We got so many cautions and I felt, you know they told me to save and I started saving a ton of gas and even saving gas we were pretty good.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED NINTH
ON HIS RUN:
“It wasn’t one of my best efforts.  I felt like I was just off rhythm but the team did their job and we had great execution on pit strategy and we were able to gain some track position then.  Everybody it seems like is fast.  I think there is a group of us though in the top 10 that broke away most of the day.  We were right on the tail end of that group.  So I got up as high as fifth and I just couldn’t clear (Clint) Bowyer.  I think if I could have cleared Bowyer I would have hung on to a top five, but we just got out muscled at the end.  I wasn’t quite on my ‘A’ game today.”
 
MAX PAPIS, NO. 14 RUSH TRUCK CENTERS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 15TH
ON HIS RUN:
“I felt that we were definitely in bound to have a top 10 finish.  Really glad that Greg Biffle came over and apologized when he turned me around he said it was totally his mistake.  I think that really cost us a solid top 10. Beside this I drove the wheels off the car every lap.  Super proud of keeping the seat of Smoke (Tony Stewart) as warm as I could.  I felt I did a pretty good job and I’m proud of myself.”
 
WHAT HAPPENED LATE IN THE RACE WITH THE NO. 9?
“I don’t know.  The guy was sideways going up the hill.  I mean I’m going up the hill.  I touched him I turned him, not on purpose obviously.  I think that something broke in the back of his car. I guess.  Pretty weird deal.  It was not a good thing.”
 
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED ‘A’ DAY, ‘B’ DAY, HOW DO YOU LOOK AT IT?
“A+”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 20TH
IS IT MORE ABOUT SURVIVAL TODAY?
“Yeah and I think at the end of the day there was a lot going on especially at the end.  Really just trying to finish and really just trying to not get frustrated no matter what is going on out there and just taking what the car will give you.  So I just tried to stay calm and stay focused on not making any mistakes.  It was really easy to make mistakes out there and we worked on the car and I feel like we have a direction for next time.  I’m not sure.  We didn’t nail it today that is for sure, but I think we made gains for sure from the beginning of practice until the end of the race.  It’s just a matter of using that for next time and getting better.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT ON LAP 82 AND FINISHED 30TH
ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ACCIDENT:
“I’m fine.  The No. 18 was going after the No. 9 and tried to wreck the No. 9 and ended up hitting the No. 5, not the No. 18, but the No. 20. The No. 20 was going after the No. 9 and missed him or got him a little bit.  I don’t know if the No. 9 ended up wrecking or not, but ended up knocking the No. 5 out of the race and knocked ourselves out of the race and a couple of other guys.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT ON LAP 82 AND FINISHED 34TH
ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ACCIDENT:
“I’m fine.  I thought we had a pretty good Farmers Insurance Chevy.  I was trying to just get through there.  There were some openings there.  I’m not sure what happened.  I know I got hit in the left-rear.  I know the No. 9 was there and the No. 20.  I don’t know how it all happened because I haven’t seen it.  I felt like I was kind of over on my side of the road, but I would have to see it to know for sure.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A CRASH ON LAP 13 – FINISHED THE RACE IN THE 38TH POSITION
IN REGARDS TO THE ACCIDENT WHICH OCCURRED ON LAP 13:
“It’s unfortunate. I had a big run on the No. 11 and I got up on him and the nose just completely took off and put me in the wall. We’ll get it fixed and go out there and ride around. That’s the penalty for making a mistake like that, you have to drive something like I’m getting ready to drive out there all days and we pay the price in points. It’s on to next week.”
 
WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE?
“Fight hard.  Just keep working to go to the next race and qualify better, execute better and not make mistakes.  That was my mistake that was on me today.  We can’t have stuff like that happen.”

Two Podium Finishes for Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Prototypes
at Road America
Chevrolet solidifies lead in Rolex Series’ DP engine manufacturer championship
 
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (Aug. 10, 2013) – Action Express Racing’s two Corvette Daytona Prototypes (DP) placed second and third at Road America in Saturday’s VisitFlorida.com Sports Car 250, the ninth round of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa were runner-ups in the No. 5 Corvette DP, and teammates Brian Frisselle and Burt Frisselle were third in the No. 9 Corvette DP.
 
The finish enabled Chevrolet to maintain its lead in the engine manufacturer championship in the DP class. The No. 5 Action Express entry was one of three Chevrolet-powered entries to lead during the two-hour, 45-minute race.
 
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings’ Racing’s pairing of Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney closed to within four points of the DP driver’s championship and stand second. The No. 99 Corvette DP squad remained third in the team standings with three rounds left in the season.
 
“Today was another exciting day of Rolex Sports Car Series racing at Road America,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Congratulations to the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP driven by Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa, and the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP driven by Brian and Burt Frisselle on their podium finishes. Their efforts along with the other Corvette DP teams helped Chevrolet gain valuable points in the Rolex Series DP engine manufacturer standings.”
 
In GT, the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports’ Camaro GT.R of Robin Liddell and John Edwards placed eighth in a tough GT fight. Liddell and Edwards maintained their second-place position in the class’ driver’s championship with Stevenson Motorsports second in the team standings. Chevrolet is third in the GT manufacturers’ race.
 
Saturday’s Rolex Series race was the first half of a historic sports car doubleheader at Road America that also features the American Le Mans Series. The Rolex Series and ALMS will merge for 2014 to create United SportsCar Racing and a single, premier North American sports car racing championship.
“It is fantastic to see so many road racing fans here at Road America to watch the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series this weekend,” Campbell said. “Attendance is up as the fans staked their favorite place around the four-mile track. You can feel the excitement of the fans as they get a preview of road racing in 2014 and the United SportsCar Racing series.”
 
The next round of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is the SFP Grand Prix on Saturday, Aug. 17 from Kansas Speedway.
 
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES:
 
JOAO BARBOSA, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS CORVETTE DP – FINISHED 2ND: “It all comes down to execution. Action Express did a tremendous job coming back from a little hiccup. They gave us a great car; the Corvette (Daytona Prototype) drove awesome today. We didn’t have the fastest car today. But that is why we keep telling is we have to execute, and we have to be consistent. We have to bring podiums and we have to bring points. This was a great points day, and I am really proud of all the Action Express people for a second and third place today. I am happy for Brian and Burt Frisselle on their third place finish today, they did a tremendous job. That’s a big statement to the team.”
 
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP – FINISHED 2ND: “Unfortunately I flat-spotted the tire and we had to come in a little bit early, but still at that point we were in the race. We enough fuel to do the same amount of stops as all of the other guys. When it recycled, I was running P2. We were in the race. On my first stop, for some reason, the fuel didn’t come in the car, so I had to stop about six laps earlier than what we were planning. That definitely messed us up. But the yellows helped us today. It goes both ways; today we got helped by the yellow flags, but the same way he have been hindered in the past, at the end of the day, luck evens out. We’ll just keep on trying. Today was a good points day for us. We are solid in the championship and we are going to continue trying our very best.”
 
BRIAN FRISSELLE, NO. 9 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP – FINISHED 3RD: “The difference today was things kind of broke our way there at the end with the yellow. We’ve had some bad breaks, but this team has just been awesome all year. The No. 5 and the 9 both, the Action Express guys have been rocking. The Corvette Coyotes have been rocking. We finally got some track position at the end and were able to use it.”
 
BURT FRISSELLE, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP – FINISHED 3RD: “I definitely threw a curve ball at Elton (Sawyer, team manager) and Brian when I flat-spotted that tire with at minutes into the race. Elton took that curve ball, and hit is out of the park getting Brian the track position he needed. Brian drove a brilliant last stint, so I feel lucky to have gotten away a little error. These guys gave us such a good car underneath us. That Coyote Corvette was a joy to drive”

CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: Solid Starts for Compuware Corvettes
Garcia qualifies second in No. 3 Compuware Corvette; Gavin fourth in No. 4 entry
 
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 10, 2013) – Corvette Racing’s two Compuware Corvette C6.Rs qualified second and fourth in class Saturday for the Orion Energy Systems 245 at Road America. That means the two velocity yellow Corvettes will roll off the grid one behind the other for Sunday’s sixth round of the American Le Mans Series. Antonio Garcia was second-quickest in the GT class with a 2:04.212 in the No. 3 Corvette he shares with Jan Magnussen.
 
Oliver Gavin qualified fourth in the No. 4 Corvette at 2:04.277 that he drives with Tommy Milner. The defending ALMS GT champions stand second in this year’s championship. Garcia and Magnussen are third. Corvette Racing and Chevrolet lead the team and manufacturer standings, respectively.
 
“I am very happy with the way we performed,” said Garcia, who made his Road America debut in 2012. “We got 100 percent out of the car. I believe everything will be even better for the race. We can use both cars to fight at the front.”
 
The Road America round begins at 3 p.m. ET with live coverage on ABC.
 
Saturday’s qualifying session was another tight one in the class. Only 0.699 seconds separated Garcia from the ninth-place qualifier. The pole-winning time was a 2:03.410. The Corvettes have a strong history at Road America with six class victories since its first race here in 2002.
 
So far in 2013, Corvette Racing has won three times in ALMS competition. Gavin and Milner won the most recent round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and opened the season with a victory at Sebring alongside Richard Westbrook. Garcia and Magnussen were winners at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
 

JAMIE MCMURRAY LEADS TEAM CHEVY IN QUALIFYING AT WATKINS GLEN
 
WATKINS GLEN, NY – August 10, 2013 – For the 12th time this season the drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series set a new track record. Ten drivers broke through the old threshold with speeds toping 128 mph.  Those breaking the old record included Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s/Monopoly Chevrolet SS and Paul Menard, No. 27 Menards/Splash Chevrolet SS who placed their Chevys in the Top 10 for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International.  Drivers will take on the twists and turns of the 2.45-mile course as they compete in round 22 of the 36-race season.  With only five races until the field is set for the Chase, a solid run at ‘The Glen’ this weekend is crucial for the Bowtie teams.
 
McMurray will roll off the starting grid in the sixth position in his No. 1 Chevrolet.  He was the road course pole sitter earlier this year at Sonoma Raceway.  Menard will follow McMurray in his No. 27 Chevy SS starting from the seventh position.   This marks the fifth time this season Menard will start inside the top 10.
 
Other Team Chevy members starting in the top-20 are: Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS – 11th, Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Denver Mattress Chevrolet SS – 13th, Ryan Newman, No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet SS – 14th, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS – 18th and Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS – 19th.
 
Marcos Ambrose (Ford) was the pole winner, Clint Bowyer (Toyota) was second, Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota) was third, AJ Allmendinger (Toyota) was fourth and Kyle Busch (Toyota) was fifth to round out the Top 5.
 
The Cheez-It 355 at The Glen takes the green flag on Sunday, August 11th at 1:00 p.m. ET, and will be aired live on ESPN.
 
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S/MONOPOLY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SIXTH
ON HIS RUN:
“Well, our McDonald’s/Monopoly Chevy just didn’t have the grip. I went into Turn 1 the second lap and I could just tell I didn’t have the grip I did the previous lap. And so, it was somewhat of a waste of time to run through the remainder of the lap knowing that you’re going to go slower. It was a pretty good lap. I gave up quite a bit through the esses. The track had a fair bit more grip than what it had yesterday. And where the water was in the bottom of Turn 2, I had never run against that curb. And today there wasn’t water. So I got the car low enough, but I just couldn’t get turned back to the left. I was a little bit loose and it doesn’t look like it on TV, but that is one of the most thrilling corners I feel like we have on our whole circuit because you’re sliding off towards that guardrail. The car is hung out and it takes a lot of courage to run through there flat-out. I just couldn’t get pulled back to the left enough. But it was a good lap. We qualified on the pole at Sonoma, so I felt like we would qualify well here. Our race pace is a little bit off but we’re going to work on it tonight and hopefully get a good, solid run tomorrow.”
 
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MENARDS/SPLASH CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SEVENTH
YOU MADE YOUR SPRINT CUP DEBUT HERE IS IT KIND OF LIKE COMING HOME?
“Yeah, man 10 years go by fast.  Our first time was 10 years ago.  The car is really good.  We unloaded pretty happy with it yesterday, maybe lacked the speed of a lot of guys, but drove really good.  I feel like a longer run 10 laps into a run we might be okay.  That was a good little pick up there we will see how it stacks up.”
 
CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT KIND OF FEEL YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ON A ROAD COURSE VERSUS AN OVAL?
“A place like this you just need it to stay under you.  I mean you are in the gas so hard out of these corners that you start burning rear tires off.  Same as Sonoma and any of these road courses, you start burning rear tires off it just keeps getting worse and worse.  You need a car that is pretty well balanced even if the speed is not quite there.  I feel like our car is really balanced and it will be good on a long run.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 13TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“Just trying to get a read on our front tires and we didn’t quite carry enough speed through each of the corners.  So when you add up all the corners and you are off a little bit in each corner you are going to add up to an awful lot that you are off on lap time.” 
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION 30TH ANNIVERSARY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 14TH
ON HIS LAP:
“It was a good lap. I obviously went out in an earlier group. We’ve just been struggling a little bit for speed. Hopefully we have a better long run car than a short run car. It’s been a bit of a speed struggle, I would say. Being P2 in your group isn’t bad, but that’s better than what is was in practice; let’s put it that way.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 18TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“It didn’t go as planned.  It was a lot harder to get around the track than I expected from what we had yesterday.”

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 19TH
HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THAT QUALIFYING SESSION?
“I thought it was all right. It was pretty loose to the right on corner exits; I didn’t get down any of the straightaways real well. It screwed us up a little bit for time. But I thought the car felt really pretty balanced and something that will be nice to race tomorrow. So, this is a tough track for me, but I don’t think we’re as far off as it might look.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE FROM RUNNING IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE THIS AFTERNOON TO THE CUP RACE TOMORROW?
“I think just practice. Just running this track and working on braking and just trying to get speed in every corner; a little bit here and a little bit there, and you can get some pretty good times. I did that year. I thought it helped for Sunday’s race. So we’ll see how today goes and try to help it for tomorrow.”
 
MAX PAPIS, NO. 14 RUSH TRUCK CENTERS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 29TH
TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP:
“The biggest obstacle for me was definitely going to be qualifying because I don’t do this very often.  I got a little too greedy in turn two.  I definitely got it better on the third lap, but the tires were gone.  I have really good confidence.  I improved my speed every time.  Definitely qualifying I left something on the table.  Maybe is not as much as it felt.”
 
DID YOU DO A QUALIFYING RUN IN PRACTICE YESTERDAY?
“No qualifying run.  Obviously that is something for someone like me who doesn’t have a chance to do this every time it’s much more than a hurdle.  I’m proud of my effort and I’m proud of how much better we made the car.  I really feel we can do something special from where we are going to start.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 35TH
ON HER LAP:
“The car turned a lot better than yesterday. It was loose, but improved from yesterday for sure. I think we’ve made good gains with the GoDaddy Chevy. I’m ready for tomorrow. It should be a good race.”

Jordan Taylor Puts No. 10 Corvette Daytona Prototype on the Front Row at Road America
 
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (August 9, 2013) – Jordan Taylor put the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) on the outside of the front row for tomorrow’s VisitFlorida.com Sports Car 250, Round 9 of 12 for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series (Rolex). This is the fifth consecutive race that Taylor and co-driver Max Angelelli have captured front row starting positions.
 
In total, seven Corvette DPs qualified for the 2.75-hour race Saturday around the 14-turn/4.048-mile Wisconsin road course.  Sebastien Bourdais qualified the No. 4 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP in the fourth starting position on the grid. Christian Fittapaldi was fifth fastest in the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP.
 
The No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Corvette DP will start sixth; the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP set the ninth fastest time; in the 10th starting position is the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP and the No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP will roll off 11th.
 
In Rolex Grand Touring (GT), the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette GT.R will start 10th in-class. The No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R will occupy the final grid position following failing post-qualifying technical inspection.
 
The No. 9 Stevenson Camaro GS.R was fastest for Team Chevy in qualifying for the 2.5-hour Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race by posting the eighth quickest time.  The No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R was ninth in the final qualifying order.
The first race of the weekend, the CTSCC Road America Sports Car Challenge 2.5-hour contest,  is scheduled to take the green flag at 12:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, August 10. It will be followed by the start of the 2.75-hour VisitFlorida.com Sports Car Challenge for the Rolex Series at 4:00 p.m. CT (5:00 p.m. ET) with live television coverage on SPEED TV.  MRN Radio will also broadcast the race live on GRAND-AM.com live timing and scoring.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CHEEZ-IT 355 AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 9, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Watkins Glen International, and discussed racing at Watkins Glen, Tony Stewart’s injuries and other topics. Full transcript:
 
DO YOU FEEL THERE ARE MORE DRIVERS THAT CAN CONTEND ON ROAD COURSES NOW THAN THERE USED TO BE WHEN YOU STARTED DRIVING IN NASCAR?
“I still think there are a handful of guys that are the real big threats, the guys like Juan (Pablo Montoya) and Marcos (Ambrose), but there’s a bunch of other guys that are holding their own and putting up good laps, qualifying well and maintaining pace during the race, which makes it just more challenging than it’s ever been.  The cars are as competitive against one another as they’ve ever been as well.  It’s evolved and changed a lot over the years, but still love coming here.  It’s so much fun, fast race track, challenging race track and looking forward to enjoying our final road course of the year.”
 
DO YOU FEEL ENERGY BUILDING TO BE IN YOUR BEST POSITION IN SEVERAL YEARS FOR THE CHASE?
“Wow, how things change in one week.  Last week it was, do you have a shot at making the Chase?  I think that right now, what love about the Chase is that it offers just that, what you’re talking about.  You can be off the pace or not having things go your way early in the season and you can get it turned around and get that momentum and find the speed and do the things that you need to do as a team to get yourself geared up and if you make it in that Chase then you really could be a threat at winning it.  I think that this point, I don’t think that we’re considering ourselves the contender for the championship, but I think we’re a real serious contender in the wild card and that ninth and 10th position.  I’ve always been a big believer that you have to walk before you can run.  These next five or six weeks will decide whether we’re going to solidify that and if we can become a real threat for the championship.  We’ve got a little work to do yet.  More runs like last week and I will say yes.”
 
HOW WILD IS IT TO NOW HAVE TONY STEWART IN THE FIELD THIS WEEKEND?
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet.  I was in Knoxville (Iowa) this week with our ‘Kick it for Kids Cancer’ program there and they’re doing the kickball tournament today, which it’s been such a great relationship to be on Shane Stewart’s car at Knoxville, but to go there and be in that environment of sprint car racing and around the people that are feeling the impact of that and now here I come this weekend to this race where the impact is being felt here as well.  Tony (Stewart) is such an influential person in motorsports as a driver and just as a supporter of racing that it’s tough.  I was looking all over those cars trying to understand what happened and you’re there and you’re in awe of these awesome beasts of race cars.  930 horsepower, 1400 pound cars, tons of downforce.  They just fly and they impress you and it makes me want to get behind the wheel of one so I totally understand the appeal and then you look at Tony and his talents and to go out there and want to be as competitive as he is.  He has a shot at winning these races, which is unbelievable.  He’s racing against guys that do this every single weekend.  They are somewhat, compared to the space cowboys of the NASA program several years ago where they’re sitting on top of a rocket and without a lot of protection.  I hope that this can actually be a great benefit and influence on the sprint car community to make these cars safer.  There are some areas that could be improved.  These cars are lightweight and they’re fast and they’re cool and awesome, but we’ve seen a lot in seat technology in that series, but I think that we’re seeing this type of injury that’s happening from time to time with that torque tube and driveshaft being so exposed and the lightweight components.  I hope to see something like this advance that.  Yeah, we’re missing Tony and haven’t had a chance to speak to him yet, but can’t wait for him to get back as soon as possible.”
 
HOW HAS ROAD COURSE RACING CHANGED SINCE YOU STARTED BEING REALLY GOOD AT IT?
“Again, I go back to that I feel like we put a good amount of effort into our road course package, improving the brakes and the cooling and dialing in the transmission gearing and just like the cars on the ovals where you used to be able to do more things to the cars to have an edge over the competition because how they inspected the cars, there was just more gray area.  We would also take advantage of that on the road courses.  I think that not everybody looked at the road courses, they kind of looked at road courses as throw away races in some cases.  That’s just not the case now.  Everybody takes these races very serious, the cars can’t be manipulated as much, everybody has good brakes and everybody has all the equipment that you need to go be competitive so then it just comes down to the driver pushing the limits of the car and the team engineering finding the right package to go fast at those tracks.”
 
WHAT IS MAKING YOU BETTER THESE LAST SIX RACES?
“We haven’t been on pit road when the caution came out or getting ready to make our pit stop when the caution came out.  We had the ability to get much better results earlier in the year that we didn’t and the frustration was kicking in.  I think that right now we’re seeing an improvement in performance as well as things going our way a little bit better.  Sometimes those things kind of happen together.  If your cars are fast and you’re getting yourself in good position then it allows you to make a little different choices and decisions that sometimes just put you in a more solid position to get good results.  I think there were times where I think we were pulling at straws and just swinging for the fences and that was putting ourselves into some risky positions that cost us those good results.  I’m hoping that will continue and we’re certainly on a good streak.  You just feel the energy in the team and that confidence in crucial.  This is a people business more than just cars.  The cars are obviously important, but if the people around you don’t believe in you or you don’t believe in them then there is no confidence in what you’re doing and you’re telling them that you need this to go faster and they’re questioning it.  You don’t want people to question, you want absolute yes, that’s what we need to do to make the car go faster.  Yes, that’s what our driver needs to do to get the speed out of it.  It just starts building on one another.  It can build for the good or it can build for the bad.”
 
DO YOU FEEL THE CRITICISM OF TONY STEWART RACING SPRINT CARS IS UNWARRANTED?
“I absolutely agree with that.  When the conversation is on the flip side about who is a real racer in this garage area, who’s got the most talent, who’s out there doing the most for motorsports then Tony Stewart rises to the top of that list of the great things that he’s doing.  Then as soon as he gets injured then you say, ‘Oh boy, maybe he shouldn’t have been doing that.’  It’s certainly up for debate and it’s been talked about and bringing a lot of interest on the subject.  For me, I say yes that’s Tony and I tell him all the time when he goes and runs the sprint car races and wins or is competitive, I’m like, ‘Man, that’s awesome and that’s unbelievable.’  That’s because I couldn’t do that and I don’t choose to do that because of just different things that are happening in my life and the choice that I make, but I applau
d him and definitely support him in that effort.  It’s just unfortunate that  this has happened.”
 
WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRIVE IN THE BOOT SECTION OF THE RACE TRACK?
“Absolutely.  For years I always said put more turns in and I think we’ll have a better chance at better results.  I think for our fans watching at home as well as watching here, I think that the course we run is probably a little bit better and more laps, more suited to our cars.  I don’t know what would creep up if we went that direction.  Would we have brake issues?  I don’t know all the ins and outs because I’ve never driven it.  I like road courses and I like challenges so I at least would like to give it a shot one time.”
 
HOW DID THE GO KART RACE COME ABOUT WITH TONY STEWART?
“Through our ‘Kick it’ program and that sponsorship, Tony (Stewart) has been a great supporter of the kickball tournaments and obviously with his involvement with sprint car racing and that whole community has been so supportive and we always said this was a grassroots program, what better way to get it going and have some fun than a grassroots racing program and dirt tracks racers and the fans and the competitors.  Today we’re having a kickball tournament and it is on the fairgrounds property in Knoxville (Iowa) and there’s drivers that are on teams, wives and girlfriends that are on teams, fans that are on teams — it’s pretty cool.  Tony is a giving guy and has a big heart so he’s been involved in that as well as somehow this came along as far as doing a go-kart event and so I worked out my schedule so I could go there earlier to be a part of that.  He obviously really was a big influence on the whole thing coming together with sponsors and getting fans out there.  There is this really cool place called Slideways, it’s a sprint car slick track, go-kart track oval that’s out there and it’s a blast.  He had a pretty good feeling in Kyle Larson who would end up winning the event or finishing second.  It was a blast.  We raised, this small little go-kart event ended up raising like $25,000.  Hopefully it’s something we can build on and do more of and obviously would love to have Tony back at it again next year.  It was tough because he wasn’t there, but we also understand how big of an impact he played in that event happening and being a part of it.  I was excited about it, especially racing with him and we made the best out of it that we could.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HOW QUICKLY CLINT BOWYER HAS BECOME A ROAD COURSE RACER?
“I would say (Brad) Keselowski as well; he was real strong here last year.  Kurt Busch is fast on the road courses.  I separate Sonoma from here so people that were quick in Sonoma doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to be quick here.  I think Clint (Bowyer), yeah he’s another one of those guys that is just a solid race car driver everywhere you go and I think his diversity with his dirt track experience and different types of cars shows his talents and he’s a very talented race car driver.  It also shows by Martin’s (Truex Jr.) victory out in Sonoma and Clint’s strong finish here last year that their road course program is improving as well.  You take talented drivers, good race cars and an effort towards road course racing and you’re going to see results.  I look for them to be strong again this weekend.”
 
DID YOU GET THE FEELING WHEN YOU WERE IN KNOXVILLE THAT SOME SAFETY CHANGES MIGHT BE CONSIDERED OR DO THEY FEEL THEY ARE JUST IN A BAD STRETCH?
“I would like to have talked to, I never really talked to World of Outlaw officials and the people are the big influencers on making those decisions so I really don’t have a good answer for that one.  I talked to the guys on the teams earlier and they were like, ‘This is what we have and this is what we do and here’s what we’re doing, just go along business as usual and it happens.’  Nobody wants to give up an advantage in performance and these guys, like I said, I compare them to space cowboys, that’s what makes them awesome and that’s what makes the cars incredible, that’s what makes their fan base as loyal as it is, they understand that these cars are rocket ships and that there’s danger involved.  Me as a competitor and seeing what has happened in our sport and what has influenced change for the good in safety, I’m hoping that those with World of Outlaws and those that are the influencers, maybe the chassis builders.  I don’t know where it really begins that they would be willing to step it up.  They’ve made slight changes and improvements in this area and I don’t know all the details in Tony’s (Stewart) cars, I heard that there were things on this car that were maybe different from some of the rest that are intended to be safer.  Obviously, it’s not enough.”
 
DO YOU KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE NEW ZONE TREAD TIRES FROM GOODYEAR AND IF THEY WILL BE A GOOD IDEA MOVING FORWARD?
“I have heard about it, understand the concept and it sounds really interesting and that it has great potential.  I did see Kasey (Kahne), but we weren’t talking about any testing at Atlanta, it was all sprint car stuff that we were talking about.  I am interested.  I know they made a lot of laps so I’m interested to find out more about it.  I’m hoping that’s something that works for us to give a shot at the next Atlanta race and I think that’s a step towards finding ways — I’m a big believer that it’s not a tire thing, it’s the weight distribution of the car, total weight in general, downforce, our cars are very difficult on tires.  It’s not just, ‘Hey Goodyear, you have to build a better tire.’  It’s everybody has to work together to allow them the ability to make tires that have some fall off and that can wear and don’t just build a lot of heat and blister.  Maybe this is a nice compromise for that.”
 
IS THERE ANY FEELING OF NOW NOT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT TONY STEWART IN THE CHASE OR IN MAKING THE CHASE?
“That’s certainly not our initial thoughts.  Anytime one of our competitors is injured, we’re going to think about them and their health first, but there is no doubt that Tony (Stewart) plays a huge influence in the Chase and in the championship.  We saw him squeak into the Chase just a couple years ago and win the championship.  You never count them out.  Their cars are running really good right now and so I looked to him to being one of the biggest threats for the position that we’re in.”
 
HOW DOES HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS SHAKE OFF THE JUNE RACE AT MICHIGAN TO RETURN NEXT WEEKEND?
“I don’t think there is any organization out there better than Hendrick to analyze a situation, that race, take everything, all the information we could gather from each of the cars and find ways to improve that and make sure those things don’t happen in the future.  For me, it was qualifying as poorly as I did, being in that position to get caught up in a wreck.  It wasn’t, I don’t look at that as just bad luck.  We shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with and we’ve got to improve the qualifying effort at Michigan.  I like the things that we’ve learned lately that I think can really help our performance qualifying as well as in the race. I think we’re going to be pretty good in the race, I was pretty happy when they dropped the green with what my car felt like.  As far as some of the other things, there’s only so much that is in my control and in my hands.  I know when it comes to engines, there is nobody better than the Hendrick engine group at making sure we have good power and reliability going back.  I’m not sure on the tire issues, but we’re certainly, we’ve gathered all that information and I’ve got complete faith in Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the team to make t
he right calls to when it comes to what’s going to allow us to have the best speed, but also reliability when it comes to the setup and the tires as well.”
 
WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO PUT AN END TO MARCOS AMBROSE’S REIGN AT WATKINS GLEN? “What makes him so good, not to mention his road racing experience over the years is his aggressiveness.  He’s just so aggressive.  While I think sometimes that holds him back on the ovals, it pays off big time here.  That’s going to be tough to beat.  I think it was interesting because we were at Sonoma and he doesn’t do as well at Sonoma as he does here because this track, it loves aggressiveness.  Sonoma does not like aggressiveness.  I think you’re going to see him be extremely fast this weekend.  He was fast at Sonoma, but just the fall off was pretty big there where here that’s not the case.  I think he’s going to be very, very difficult to beat.  I’m definitely hungry, but again you have to walk before you can run and we have not been as strong here the last couple years.  I know that if we hit on something that we’re going to be very strong and hopefully we can go compete with those guys.  We had a shot to finish eighth or ninth here last time we were here and I think we need to be shooting for that or better.  I think that we had a slow start to the weekend last time we were here because we just didn’t get on top of it soon enough, but halfway through the race we really did and we just try to learn from that and apply that earlier in the weekend.  Hopefully we get some laps today that would help.”
 
WHY HAS THERE NOT BEEN A DROP IN ATTENDANCE AT WATKINS GLEN?
“There’s just something about the atmosphere of this place.  You go into the campground and there’s just people that love being here and love being a part of the event.  They’re having a good time and it’s not just about coming and watching a race, it’s a lot more than that and I think that’s just part of the appeal.  There’s a lot of very avid fans around this area too that don’t maybe get a chance to get to NASCAR races or they are just a little more road racing enthusiasts, hard to say.  We love it and we love coming here and the crowd that we get here is an avid one and fun to hear them having a lot of fun here in the infield all weekend long and see how excited they get on race day.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CHEEZ-IT 355 AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 9, 2013
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Watkins Glen International and discussed visiting Tony Stewart in the hospital this week, her outlook for the race this weekend at Watkins Glen and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR OUTLOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND AT THIS ROAD COURSE:
“Sonoma didn’t go as well as I thought it would, but that is definitely a challenging track as I’ve found myself and heard a lot since then.  We went and tested at Road Atlanta a week or two ago and felt really good.  This place has a lot more grip than Sonoma so I’m hoping that translates and that we have a better weekend.”
 
IF YOU COULD JUST TALK ABOUT YOUR REACTION TO WHAT HAPPENED WITH TONY (STEWART), HOW DID YOU FIND OUT AND HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO HIM SINCE TO GET AN IDEA OF HOW HIS SPIRITS ARE RIGHT NOW?
“Well, I didn’t know until, well I guess I found out late that night that it happened, Ricky (Stenhouse) watches all those races.  It’s the most exciting time of the year for them; it’s on every night for 10 days or so.  He said that he crashed.  Well his team is Jason Johnson I think he was running like third or second so they were both doing really well and he said he crashed and he was airlifted.  Later on I had woken up because I can’t stay up that late and he said that he had broken his leg.  We talked to Eddie (Jarvis) the next day and just kind of kept up with how he was doing.  We went and saw him in the hospital.  He’s in typical Tony spirits. He’s hassling the nurses and everything you could imagine Tony is.  He has pretty good spirits, but it’s one of those things, it happens.”
 
IN TERMS OF TEAM HE IS OBVIOUSLY OWNER AND LEADER OF THE TEAM.  WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO MISS THIS WEEKEND IN TERMS OF TONY NOT BEING THERE?
“Well he is like one of the masters of this track.  I called him the master.  He’s won here a lot and so before we left I asked for all of his speed secrets.  We will see if they work (laughs).  You know he just he has a good spirit about him and everybody that works around him or doesn’t to be honest, loves Tony.  He will just be missed from a presence and a morale stand point.  I said I would do my best to keep everybody on the up and up and the season well.”
 
WE SAW YOU WERE UP AT ROCHESTER FOR THE PGA YESTERDAY.  DID YOU HAVE FUN UP THERE AND WHAT CAN YOU KIND OF OBSERVE FROM OTHER PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES THAT YOU CAN APPLY TO YOUR DRIVING?
“That us race car drivers are pretty cool and casual before we have to get out there and do our job and that we are very fan and sponsor oriented.  So many other sports they get to just kind of keep their head down.  Whether they go from practice to the course or whatever watching them practice every sport is incredibly difficult and it takes a lot to get to the top of any of them.  I have played golf a few times lately and I’m just happy if I make contact with the ball and get it above the ground by any measure at all as opposed to rolling it.  They are very good at what they do and dang they are good at putting.  They make those 10-15 foot putts look easy.”
 
DO YOU FEEL A RESPONSIBILITY OF ANY KIND TO LITTLE GIRLS WHO WATCH YOU RACE?
“I mean I think it starts off as you just race.  I think I’m kind of getting a little bit older now and recognizing how honored I am to be in a position to be looked up to and to have them want to grow up to be like me or to just purely cheer for me.  There are a lot of choices out there.  There are a lot of different sports to look at.  I do what I can to kind of nurture that or take care of it and spend time with kids.  If I’m ever running about and don’t have a lot of time, but I have a little bit I always try and make sure I pick out the kids and take time for them.  I guess I do.  I do feel some sort of responsibility to be someone that they want to look up to and a good role model for them.  Mostly just not break their heart.  I feel like one of the hardest things when you are young is you have this idea of your idols or your role models and it’s so high.  It’s hard to not disappoint because they have built you up so much.  I do my best to just not let them down and that if I have a second I at least say hello or waive.
 
“There was a little girl at the golf course yesterday.  She wasn’t little, she was maybe 10 (years old) and her Dad was telling her who I was as I was walking by.  I could hear it all happening you know it’s right behind me.  He had said ‘hello’ and so as I kind of turned off to walk another way I looked over just to waive at her.  It would be easy enough for me to just keep walking and they didn’t say anything to me.  They didn’t try and say hello again or take a picture or anything, but I thought you know what I can tell that she figured out who I was and she thought that was cool.  So I just turned around to waive at her.  She will have that story now as opposed to me walking away.  Just little stuff like that.”
 
HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL AFFECT TONY TO WATCH SOMEONE ELSE DRIVE HIS CAR?
“I mean I don’t know, but I think that he understands what happened and he is where he is.  I mean essentially he watches people drive his cars a lot. He owns a team and he has his sprint car stuff and so he watches and he has his own drivers already.  I don’t know if that kind of dampens it a little bit just because of his position of being an owner of a lot of cars, but I mean he really was getting on a roll this season.  Especially being at a track that you’ve done really well at as a driver I’m sure it’s a little bit harder to take that one.  He’s on the road to recovery and he is just going to have to keep his head down and get well.  Like I said he was in good spirits so I’m sure it won’t be easy, but I think it probably helps that he owns cars already.”
 
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND ANALYZING AN ACCIDENT LIKE WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK TO LEARN FROM IT?  HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO TRAVIS (KVAPIL) AT ALL?
“I definitely think about it.  I don’t want to make more mistakes and I know that at least coming off of Loudon for sure into our break that I just said to myself I was just going to run my own races and I wasn’t going to let anything get to me.  It just is what it is and I have better days when I don’t think about, when I don’t get bothered by anything.  Honestly that was how I went into Pocono and I didn’t let anything bother me if someone was catching me, if they passed me, fine.  If I couldn’t get by someone that was just what was happening.  I really felt very calm in that race.  I did.  I did call him and did talk to him.  I felt like it was time to do that.  It was a good conversation and hopefully we don’t have any more issues in the future.  It’s not good to crash cars so I don’t want to be in that position.  I don’t want to be in the position to take anyone with me.”
 
GREG ZIPADELLI INDICATED THAT TONY FELT BAD BECAUSE HE FELT LIKE HE LET THE TEAM DOWN AND HE LET PEOPLE DOWN BY HIS BEING INJURED.  JIMMIE JOHNSON AND DALE EARNHARDT, JR. HAVE SAID HIM GOING OUT AND RACING IN THESE SPRINT CAR RACES IS WHAT MAKES HIM TONY.  IT HELPS THE SPORT.  IT’S A GOOD THING.  WHERE DO YOU KIND OF FALL ON THAT?
“Well, I mean it’s not a mystery he loves racing sprint cars. He has a team; he races them all the time.  When we were there saying hello obviously you get a lot of people on both sides of the fence about the safety of sprint car racing, but I said ‘beep’ happens.  It just does.  N
obody at the team is mad or upset we feel bad for him.  We all want him around.  At the end of the day those are the most important people are the people around you.  None of us are mad whatsoever we just feel bad for him.”