JEFF GORDON, NASCAR SPRINT CUP POINT LEADER, LEADS THE WAY FOR
TEAM CHEVY AT KENTUCKY
Eight Team Chevy SS Drivers Qualify in Top 12

SPARTA, KY. – June 27, 2014 – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point leader, Jeff Gordon, led the way for Team Chevy in qualifying today at Kentucky Speedway, the 17th stop on the 2014 tour.  Gordon took his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevy SS around the rough, 1.5-mile track with a fast lap of 28.903 seconds/186.832 mph, which was good enough to claim the third starting position for Saturday night’s 267 lap/400.5 mile race.  The four-time NSCS champion was one of only four drivers to break the 28 second barrier in the final round of knock-out qualifying.

“Oh my gosh you never want to be satisfied unless you are on the pole or in Victory Lane, but this sort of feels like a victory for me because that first run was not pretty,” said Gordon following the qualifying session. “That was a pretty wild session for the Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, but those last two or three runs were just so solid.  We made some good adjustments really proud of Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the guys on the adjustments they made. I don’t know how far off of those guys we were, but solid.  That is a great place to start this race.”

Out of three previous races completed at Kentucky Speedway this marks Gordon’s best qualifying effort to date at the track, the only track currently on the NSCS schedule where he has yet to capture a win.

In Saturday night’s 42-car field, Team Chevy will occupy eight of the top 12 starting positions. Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team continued to show a strong qualifying program by recording their sixth top-five start of the season. When the green flag flies, Harvick will pilot his Chevy SS from the fifth position.  He will be followed by Rookie of the Year contender, Kyle Larson, who will start sixth in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS.

Nicknamed ‘The Rocket Man’, Ryan Newman will guide his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS toward the top spot from the seventh starting position.  Last week’s pole sitter, Jamie McMurray, in the No. 1 Lexar Chevrolet SS, follows him in eighth.

Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Danica Patrick, No. 10 GoDaddy Chevy SS, will start ninth and 10th, respectively, in their Chevy SS race cars.   Paul Menard rounds out the top 12 Chevy qualifiers and will start 12th with his Chevy powered No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet SS.

Brad Keselowski (Ford) won the pole, Joey Logano (Ford) will start second, and Denny Hamlin (Toyota) will start fourth, to round out the top five starters.

The Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday June 28th. Live coverage will be available on TNT, PRN Radio, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.

POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 6TH (TOP ROTY CONTENDER)

YOU’VE BEEN A PRETTY AMAZING QUALIFIER ALL YEAR LONG. WAS THERE ANY SPECIAL CHALLENGE ABOUT THIS TRACK?
LARSON: “No, I knew we were going to have a good car after our mock runs and stuff and practice. Like I said, I was a little bit disappointed we ended up sixth because I thought we had a good shot for the pole before qualifying started. But yeah, we’ve been qualifying pretty good this year. Last year and for pretty much all my racing career I’ve been a really bad qualifier so I’ve been happy with how it’s been going this year. Our cars have just been really good is why we’ve been qualifying well. Jamie (McMurray) has been qualifying well, too. I think it’s all got to do with our team and how well our cars have been.”

KYLE LARSON DEPARTS AND JEFF GORDON JOINS.
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’VE GOT A PRETTY GOOD RACE CAR THIS WEEKEND HERE IN KENTUCKY. I KNOW YOU’D LIKE TO CHECK THIS ONE OFF.

GORDON:  “Boy, we sure would. And we do. We have a great race car. That was an awesome qualifying session as far as I’m concerned with the No. 24 car. We’ve kind of been hit or miss with this sort of format. When we’re good and we qualify up front, we usually start good and stay pretty good but don’t seem to have it at the end. And today, we made our first run and it was not very good. And we decided to make another run. I thought it was going to rain the whole time. I have no idea where the rain went. I looked on the radar before I got in the car and there was no doubt in my mind it was going to rain, but we got the whole thing in. I’m just blown away but I’m really glad.

“I don’t like being too excited about third, because you always want to be on top and you always want to be in Victory Lane and I do; but I’m telling you that was an awesome third-place qualifying session and run for us. It’s a tough place. Our car has been good but our first run was mediocre at best. The second run was a little bit better. The third run we made was, I thought, all we had in it. And that last run, I really flew through (Turns) 1 and 2, but when I got to (Turns) 3 and 4, I got in there good, got it rotated, jumped back on the gas, but it just didn’t stick. So, I was a little disappointed with (Turns) 3 and 4, but came back third. Of course it was a long ways off from the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski, pole winner). They really have their act together when it comes to qualifying.”

DO YOU LOOK AT THE PENSKE CARS AND WONDER WHAT THEY ARE DOING?
“If they were beating us in the race every weekend, then I’d be concerned. But if you just look at practice, they have something that has that front-end speed. Even in race runs in practice; maybe they’ve got the balance figured out, something mechanically, or with air pressure that they’re doing. They get faster every run. Now of course, we did too, today. But I mean they take it to another level in the third session. So, at this point, we’ve kind of gotten used to it and accustomed to it and we’re going to always work hard to try to beat it and figure out what they’re doing. But they are really doing an amazing job with their cars for qualifying. But we seem to have something for them when they drop the green flag in the race. So whatever it is doesn’t seem to correlate to race runs as much.”

THERE WAS A TIME IN YOUR CAREER WHEN THAT’S EXACTLY WHERE YOU WERE. EVERYBODY LOOKED AT YOU DURING QUALIFYING AND WONDERED IF THEY COULD KEEP UP WITH YOU. DO YOU REMEMBER THOSE TIMES? IS THAT WHERE WE ARE NOW?
“I know what you’re saying and I’ve always been proud of being a good qualifier throughout my career, but I’ve always felt like when we qualified well, we backed it up in the race. Those guys are just so spectacular in qualifying. They’ve won races; don’t get me wrong. But they’ve typically won races when it’s a real short run and they kind of get it done in a short run. So, I would like to think that the times when I was sitting on the pole, all those weeks, and everybody was like what do they have? We had a fast race car and a great team that we were getting it done in qualifying as well as in the race.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 27, 2014

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“Oh my gosh you never want to be satisfied unless you are on the pole or in Victory Lane, but this sort of feels like a victory for me because that first run was not pretty.  I don’t know the car just didn’t do what I wanted it to do.  It was so crazy we thought it was going to rain and then it didn’t.  That was a pretty wild session for the Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, but those last two or three runs were just so solid.  We made some good adjustments really proud of Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the guys on the adjustments they made.  Even that final lap there I really got through (Turns) one and two good.  I said ‘okay don’t mess up three and four’.  I got down into three got it turned just the way I wanted to got back in the gas and the front end just did not quite stick for me.  I don’t know how far off of those guys we were, but solid.  That is a great place to start this race.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH
TOP FIVE IN QUALIFYING HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THAT IS GOING TO BE FOR TOMORROW?
“I think it’s going to be pretty important.  We kind of have battled I think everybody has battled just a tough race track to get ahold of.  To get over the bumps and make your car turn and do all the things it needs to do. We didn’t have a great first run, made it better every run and wound up with a top five start.  I think that is a great improvement for our Budweiser team.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 SCOTT PRODUCTS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 15TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“I’m okay with it.  I think the first run we were so tight we tightened up from practice when it was really loose.  I probably over drove it just a little bit so that put us right on the edge of making it into the second group.  So we made one more run, the car was a lot better, still too tight overall throughout all of qualifying, but I think that second run on tires probably hurt us a little bit.  The third run I was proud of the guys they kept making the car a little bit better each time, but I think I hurt the right-front too much. That was all I had.  I was pleased with the lap.  I don’t think I could have got much more out of it.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 CHEERIOS PROTEIN CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 16TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“I don’t know the car drove really good.  Just need some more speed.  The car is driving good that is the good thing.  I think we should be fine tomorrow night.  The car has been decent since we’ve been here and long run speed is good.  Didn’t have an issue right there as far as drive so I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 25TH
“Race-trim-wise, I think we’re in good shape. We made a qualifying run at the end of practice and went slower than our race run (laughs); so, it’s discouraging coming into qualifying. We didn’t get the lap that we needed out there and didn’t transfer. But I feel actually decent about our car in race trim. We put up a great two runs in the final practice session. We just couldn’t get out of our own way in Q-trim.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD SS – QUALIFIED 29TH
“We were slow in practice. We’ve been fighting the car all day and haven’t had any gains. We haven’t been able to figure out what we need to do. But we just haven’t had good speed. The car is rough. It’s just really bouncing all the way down the straightaway all the way through the corners. We’re having a real rough go of it. The car is just way too rough and has way too much movement and it’s hard to control it that way.”

IS IT THE CAR YOU’RE FIGHTING, OR THE TRACK?
“The car bounces because of the track. But it doesn’t take a scientist to figure it out. But this front straightaway is pretty mean. The corners are fine. We can figure that out. But this is something else. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

CHEVROLET RACING
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
SHELL PENNZOIL GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON
MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 27, 2014
HOUSTON (June 27, 2014) – Will Power, Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves all posted practice times today fast enough to land them in the top-five quickest as the opening day of the Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston for the Verizon IndyCar Series concluded. Power was second in the order, Briscoe third and Castroneves fifth as the Chevrolet teams prepared for Race One of the Houston doubleheader weekend.
Firestone Fast Six qualifying for Race One is schedules for 10 a.m. CT Saturday, June 28.
The first of the two 90-lap races of the weekend around the 1.683-mile/10 turn temporary street circuit is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. CT with live TV coverage on NBC Sports Network. Additionally IMS Radio Network will carry the action live on XM 209/Sirius 213 as well as IndyCar.com
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET-2ND IN COMBINED PRACTICE,  AND RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET – 3RD IN COMBINED PRACTICE, met with members of the media at the Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston at the conclusion of Friday practice.
WILL POWER: IT SEEMS LIKE YOU PICKED UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF LAST YEAR FINISHING FASTEST OVERALL IN TODAY’S COMBINED PRACTICE.  HOW HAS TEAM PENSKE HELPING YOU PREPARE FOR THE RACE TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND QUALIFYING TOMORROW MORNING?  “It’s hard to tell actually we didn’t have a good session that last run was really difficult to get a lap.  It’s normal IndyCar it’s really difficult.  Obviously being in that front bunch is very competitive, but I think we’ve got a good chance tomorrow with about 10 other guys so we are doing everything we can tonight to really work out the set-up.”
IN YOUR WORDS HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE TRACK FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR?  “It’s a little bit different.  It’s very similar honestly.  It’s no big deal it’s basically the same track to me it’s just you getting your car to ride the bumps well.  I think that is the key.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL IF EITHER OF THESE TWO RACES GOES TO RACING IN THE WET?  “Well that always makes things really interesting.  I mean it just depends how much it rains and how it dries up and when you go to slicks and when you put on wets and so on.  It’s all stuff you’ve got to do on the fly you just can’t predict it.  You don’t know how it’s going to be but it will definitely make it exciting for the fans.”
HOW DO YOU THINK THE STANDING START PRACTICE ON THE FRONT STRETCH WENT AND IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WAS NEEDED FOR YOU GUYS? “Yeah I think it was a good idea.  No one stalled so hopefully that is the case in the race.  The reason we are doing it is because of what happened at the Indianapolis road course. Obviously we had a pretty big crash there so trying to prevent that.  Obviously things are a little different when there is a bit of pressure on and everyone is packed up there on the grid.  Hopefully everyone gets away.”
I KNOW YOU HEAR A LOT THAT FANS THINK INDYCAR RACE CONTROL FAVORS YOU OR DOESN’T MAKE CALLS AGAINST YOU:  “I thought that was the other way around.”
DO YOU THINK THAT IT’S ACTUALLY THE OTHER WAY AROUND?  “Yeah, I mean I probably have gotten the most penalties of anyone this year.  Four of them have come in the last five races.  I would be surprised if anyone has had even two drive through penalties let alone four.  I’ve been penalized enough.  Everyone has that.  When people stop talking about you that is when you’ve got a problem.”
IT DOESN’T SEEM LIKE THE CAR HAD ANY DAMAGE FROM JUMPING THE CURB IN THIS MORNINGS PRACTICE SESSION.  THIS AFTERNOON ANOTHER DRIVER DID THE SAME THING AND ENDED UP IN THE WALL.  HOW WAS YOUR CAR AFTER THAT CONTACT WITH THE CURB?  “The car was fine. I just kept going.  Luckily it was early in the session and we were running very slow and I didn’t even make the wall.  That hurts.  You don’t want to do that.  It jolts your neck.  Yeah, I’m sure it hurt more for (James) Hawksworth if he did the same, but got to the wall.”
RYAN BRISCOE:  YOU RACED HERE IN 2007 IN A SPORTSCAR, WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE BACK HERE AT HOUSTON IN AN INDYCAR? “Still bumpy.  It feels way better than last year looked, so I am thankful for that. I’m thankful for all the changes and upgrades to the track. I think it is going to be a tough weekend for sure. It is an exciting track. It’s not that hot outside, but it feels hot. It is just the humidity. It takes it out of you. It is going to be grueling weekend. But, really pleased with the way we have opened up today with the car. The first session was really about me getting back into the groove of getting around this track. Sort of re-learning it after, what, seven years since I was here in a sports car. We’ve had a pretty busy schedule since the last race in Texas. We went to Iowa, then Milwaukee and then a couple of days in Sebring. I feel like that has really helped this team, and especially on the No. 8 car. We will just keep building on what we’ve been learning all year long. Hopefully we keep going strong tomorrow.”
ON KICKING OFF THE LONG STRETCH OF RACES THE SERIES HAS IN FRONT OF THE TEAMS: “The next four weeks, we have six races including a double-points race in Pocono. It is going to have a huge impact on championship points. It is crucial to get it kicked off with a strong result in both races here at Houston is important. We’ve seen in the past what can happen over a doubleheader weekend. You always hope to be on the positive side of that.”
THERE IS A CURB IN TURN TWO THAT SEEMED TO HAVE CAUSED A PROBLEM TODAY FOR A COUPLE OF DRIVERS, ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT? “I think it is alright. It is very usable, you just can’t hit it with the center of your tub. I think it is really nice that IndyCar has been going towards standard curbing around the whole track. At least that way we know what to sort of expect around each corner. That has been a huge improvement since last year, and the year before.”
HOW CRUCIAL WAS THIS BREAK BEEN TO HELP RAISE PERFORMANCE OF ALL FOUR TEAMS? “It has been crucial. We were looking forward to having those tests come around. It’s been a battle, and we’ve been learning a lot, making improvements as the season moves forward, but it is so hard when you come to these race weekends and you have such short practice sessions. It is hard to go too far out of the box, and go too far out there on trying things. The testing the last couple of weeks gave us that opportunity. We definitely learned some things. This is a unique track for sure, it’s difficult at Sebring to simulate what you are going to get here at Houston. I believe we found some really good items that we carried over, and we have confirmed as being positive. We just need to keep working hard, keep going. I know the team has always been known as getting stronger, and stronger as the season is going forward. The No. 8 team guys are all working hard. We are looking forward to winning races. We’ve worked on a bit of everything. For sure, depending where we are going, you work hard on that track, but we don’t’ give up anywhere. You can’t look past the superspeedways. There is Indy, then the other two are double points and mean so much. We are working on things for Indy to apply at Pocono and Fontana. But, so much of what we do is street course racing, and that is probably where the most time has spent.
OTHER TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES:
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, 10TH IN COMBINED PRACTICE:  “We tried a couple of different things in the second session and they obviously didn’t work as well as we would have liked.  We know exactly what needs to be changed and we have a teammate in the top two, so we want to head in that direction and see what we can do tomorrow.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, 11TH IN COMBINED PRACTICE:  “We were able to get a lot of good practice in today and Tony and I both were able to work on qualifying on both sets of tires.  We had a little bit of contact in the first practice, but we rebounded pretty quickly with that and finished both practices in the top 10.  We obviously want to be higher than that, but we’ll put in some time tonight and get the car ready for the first race tomorrow afternoon.
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 LEVEMIR® FLEXTOUCH® CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, 17TH IN COMBINED PRACTICE:  “Overall we were pretty happy with the second session.  We didn’t get a chance to run new right there at the end like most of the guys did.  We made some changes to the car that weren’t quite as good, so I think we’ll go back and take that direction and head into qualifying in the morning.  The No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet looks great and it seems to be pretty quick already.”
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, 23RD IN COMBINED PRACTICE:  “The car just didn’t handle as we would have liked today.  We made some changes from the morning to the afternoon but it just wasn’t enough.  We’ll have to work overnight to find some settings that can handle this circuit.  I feel they have improved the surface of the track from last year.  Especially the turn one surface is much better and it feels smoother.  There are smoother spots in other portions of the circuit too.  Overall, we just have to find the setup that works well on this new surface.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 27, 2014

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media and discussed the bumpy Kentucky track, his thoughts on marking Kentucky off as the final track on the schedule he has yet to record a victory at and many other topics.  Full Transcript:

TELL US HOW PRACTICE WENT FOR YOU GUYS:
“It went pretty good.  This is a tough place obviously you hear a lot about the bumps.  We expected that coming in.  It’s hot and slick like normal as well, but I thought the Drive to End Hunger Chevy was pretty good.  I’ve been happy with the grip level just working with the balance and then we switched over into qualifying trim and had a pretty good run there too.  Yeah, right now I’m fairly pleased.”

IS THIS TRACK HARD ON YOUR BACK?
“Yeah, I mean this track is hard on everybody’s back.  If they could just repave the front straightaway I think we would be good here.  I love the corners.  I love the challenges of the grip, the cracks, the bumps and the corners.  Those don’t bother us.  That front straightaway is pretty absurd.  Yeah, it’s going to play a slight toll on my back, but that kind of stuff is not what really bothers my back like what happened at Charlotte.”

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT HOW STOKED YOU WOULD BE IF YOU CROSSED THIS ONE OFF THE LIST AND HAD WON AT EVERY SINGLE TRACK ON THE CIRCUIT?
“Yeah I mean I have thought about it a little bit.  It would be very cool.  Most of my energy is spent with do we have a shot at winning at this track.  I feel like we have run solid here the last few times we have been here.  I feel like as good as our cars are this year that this is probably the most legitimate shot that we’ve had of crossing that one off the list.  It would mean a lot.  It would be quite an accomplishment and it’s something that I would love to say I have done.”

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SECRETS TO SUCCESS TO WIN AT THIS TRACK?
“Being out front when the checkered flag waives which is the secret of success everywhere.  Last year it was a day race on Sunday and I feel like we were really in position and I just didn’t get the best restart.  That was one thing.  The challenge is that you are practicing during the day when it’s hot and it’s slick and you are racing basically at night.  It’s that guessing game of what the track conditions are going to be like, how the car is going to react, how the pace is going to pick up and what your car is going to do.  Especially these days we’ve got these ride heights down so low on a rough track like this it’s about trying to keep that splitter sealed up or as low as possible and the platform being right on the car. Yet you are crashing into the race track like you do here it’s a compromise.  The team that does the best job managing that I think is going to be the team to beat that is going to have a fast race car.  But the tire is so hard.  This is such a conservative tire.  I haven’t had a chance to talk to Goodyear about what challenges this surface has for them.  Because they have an ultra conservative tire which is making track position so important.”

WHEN YOU SAY THEY BROUGHT A CONSERVATIVE TIRE WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
“That means it’s really hard, not a lot of grip and it doesn’t wear at all.”

YOUR TEAMMATE DALE EARNHARDT, JR. WAS PRETTY AGGRESSIVE AT SONOMA.  DO YOU THINK THAT JR FEELS IT?  YOU KNOW THE FEELING OF KNOWING THAT YOU’VE GOT A SHOT AT A CHAMPIONSHIP DO YOU THINK JR. FEELS IT THIS YEAR?
“I think when you hear people say ‘oh that guy’s got confidence that is a different driver’.  The cars are giving you that feeling.  When it happens week in and week out on a consistent basis it doesn’t matter if you go to a road course that you don’t typically run well at or what track you go to.  You have confidence that you can get the job done.  When you are in that position it makes you drive a little harder.  It makes you get up on the wheel a little bit more and just gets you more excited.  I feel like other than Kasey (Kahne) having some bad luck that is kind of how all of us feel at Hendrick right now.”

DO YOU SENSE ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT DALE, JR. THIS YEAR?
“I haven’t seen anything different other than the confidence.  I have seen that ever since he and Steve (Letarte, crew chief) got together.  It just seems like the communication is more open he is sharing more and I think he feels like he has cars and a team that are capable of winning on a weekly basis.  I think his driving is showing.”

WHAT IS THE KEY TO FINISHING UP FRONT AT DAYTONA?
“I have no idea.  It’s been a long time since I’ve done a very good job of it.  In Daytona this year we got fortunate and missed the wrecks and were there at the end.  It felt great. We didn’t pull that off in Talladega.  We will try to go back in July and do the same thing.  Daytona in July is a little bit different because it’s hot and slick and the car has to handle good. It’s really just these days to me it’s just pure luck.  There are some guys that seem to do a better job of it than others that find their way to the front and get to stay there and avoid some of the big ones.  Most of all I think it’s just purely coincidental and luck.”

DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE THE SAME CHAOS WE SAW AT TALLADEGA DURING DAYTONA KNOCK-OUT QUALIFYING?
“Oh yeah it’s going to be hairy.  It’s going to be chaotic.  As much as we all sit there and go ‘okay qualifying is not that important here’ we still all want to be starting up front.  It’s obvious there you want to be the last car off pit road at the back of a big pack and everybody is jockeying for position and playing all kinds of games.  It gets really interesting.  It was pretty exciting in Talladega.  I think we all learned a lot from that session that we will take to Daytona.”

WILL YOU TRY TO RUN QUALIFYING AGAIN LIKE YOU DID IN TALLADEGA WITH ALL THE HENDRICK POWERED CARS TRYING TO GET TOGETHER?
“We didn’t do that in Talladega.  So we will probably do a better job of that in July at Daytona.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS CHASE FORMAT WILL BE LIKE WITH THE KNOCK-OUT ROUNDS?  WILL IT JUST BE SUPER AGGRESSIVE?
“I think so.  I think it’s going to be exciting.  I’m looking forward to it.  It’s certainly going to be intense.  I think everybody keeps talking about how important it is to win.  I don’t think it’s that important to win the first couple of rounds.  I think it’s important to really run solid.  I think that after those first knock-out rounds you are going to have to be on your ‘A’ game.  I think the best team is going to win like usual, but it’s which team is going to be rising to the top and the best at that time and through those final 10 races is what is going to be so interesting.  Then can they be the best in that final race at Homestead.”

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY SINCE DOVER IN 1996 WHERE A FULL FIELD DID NOT SHOW UP.  SHOULD ANYBODY READ INTO ANYTHING ABOUT THE HEALTH OF THE SPORT OR IS THAT NOT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE A CONCERN?
“We don’t need 43 cars out there to put on a great race.  I’m not really that focused on it. There is no doubt that times have changed with how much the cost has gone up.  How much we are asking out of our sponsors and some of the crowds have gone down.  We are searching hard to find the income to match what the cost is.  That is about the only thing that anybody should make of anything that is going on out there.  Whether there are 35 cars or 45 cars to me that doesn’t really make a big difference.”

CAN YOU PUT WHAT JIMMIE JOHNSON HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS IN PERSPECTIVE AND WILL WE EVER SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN?
“I don’t see how we will ever see that again.  I think it is incredible.  I don’t think he gets nearly enough credit for it and I think down the road he is going to have to struggle at some point in his career for people to really appreciate it and maybe give him the credit that he’s really due.  It is so difficult I don’t care how good you are, how good your team is, it’s so difficult to do what they did and very impressive.  They are a great team and Jimmie is a great driver and I think that he deserves more credit for that.”

YOU’VE HAD THESE BACK PROBLEMS AND SOME OTHER INJURIES THAT HAVE SLOWED YOU UP IS SOMETIMES JUST THE PHYSICAL WEAR AND TEAR THAT YOU TAKE BEING A DRIVER DOES THAT PRECLUDE SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENING AGAIN?
“It’s a long schedule it is hectic there is testing.  We all have health issues, maybe family and friends that we have to attend to.  All of us have obstacles in our life so when you look at a 38 week schedule that you have to be basically at every one of those races and then you have to be on top of your best ‘A’ game.  Then you look at all the obstacles that are in your way in each race, especially those final 10 how difficult that is.  That is to me what makes it even that much more impressive to go do five in a row like that.”

TALK ABOUT THE KENTUCKY TRACK YOU SAID A LOT OF DRIVERS AT FIRST WERE CRITICAL NOW THEY LIKE THE CHALLENGE WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
“Nobody enjoys it from about 100 feet off of Turn 4 to about 200 feet getting into Turn 1.  There is nothing enjoyable about that, but we put up with it because it’s on the straightaway and it’s just uncomfortable.  Once you get in the corners this place is fun.  We all like a challenge of the grip level going away, maybe a crack or a bump that you have to get over and you can use that to your advantage.  Just search around the race track before somebody else gets out of shape and you take advantage of that.  So the corners here are great.  We don’t want them to repave this track, none of us do.  But I would like for them to pave that front straightaway.”

WHAT IS THE HOTTEST YOU HAVE EVER BEEN IN THE RACE CAR AND DO YOU REMEMBER THE DAY JIMMIE JOHNSON CAME INTO YOUR COACH AND ABOUT COLLAPSED OF HEAT EXHAUSTION?
“Well I went to his.  He had the text message that said ‘help, mayday, mayday’ he was in bad shape that day.  He had run that Daytona Prototype race in July.  I don’t know the air conditioner or drink system something failed in the car and it usually doesn’t catch up to you for about 45 minutes to an hour after.  Boy it did and I happened to be parked next to him and his fingers could only dial a few different numbers and it got to me.  I was happy to help him out and get him to the infield care center to get him some fluids.

“I have been through some situations not as bad as that but that was about the worst I have ever seen.  It shows you just, especially when I watch LeBron James go through what he went through recently it reminded me of Jimmie actually.  It was even worse than that. The hottest I’ve ever been, the only time I’ve ever had cramps like that was after a Pocono race where there were a lot of green flag runs and I just didn’t hydrate myself well enough throughout the race.  I started cramping after the race.  The hottest I can remember being inside the car was one year at Sonoma it was really hot and they had a red flag late in the race and we just sat and cooked inside the cars on the back straightaway.  I remember that.  We are doing such a better job of cooling inside the cars and hydration and preparation just in general now.  I’ve been in pretty good shape so far.”

HOW PHYSICALLY DEMANDING IS KENTUCKY?
“Well I mean the bumps are not physically demanding they are just aggravating.  It’s just you are sitting there getting beat up.  You just kind of ride it out. The day after, yeah, you might feel the effects.  In the corners it’s pretty slick the tires don’t have much grip and the track is fairly abrasive so it loses grip very fast.  Other than the bumps it is not physically demanding expect for the humidity and how warm it can be inside the cars.  Compared to some of the other tracks, Charlotte to me is the most physically demanding because the speeds that we carry, the G-Loads that we have in the corners especially when it’s cool there.  When it’s hot it slows down so you don’t pull the G’s but yet you hot set the car.  That is kind of where we are at here.  It’s not the most physically demanding because of the speeds and the grip level in the corners, but the heat definitely and the bumps get to you.”

CAN WE COUNT YOU AS A FAN OF KENTUCKY?
“I am a fan. Yeah, I like it because it’s a challenging race track and I like a good challenge and our cars have been good here the last few times and so if I feel like we have a shot at winning I usually like that track.”

DO YOU DO ANY TYPE OF BEEFING UP THE SUSPENSION WHEN YOU COME HERE?
“I was talking about that earlier.  I think that most of our suspension components are beefed up so much that we find out just what they are truly capable of when we come here.  I don’t know if we beat up anything as much as we beat it up last week at Sonoma bouncing off the curbs the way you do there.  That is probably about as much abuse as you could put on a car.  But if you throw in the high speeds here, yeah, this is definitely a good test.  As far as I know we don’t.  I hope that doesn’t bite us, but I think that we have a pretty good indication when we go through a race after a race is over we look at what is cracking, what is showing signs of stress and we address it.  Unless something completely out of left field is going to pop up on us here I think we feel pretty comfortable with it.”

DO YOU THINK THEY SHOULD PAVE THE TRACK OR LEAVE IT ALONE?
“I don’t want them to pave this race track. I want them to pave the front straightaway.  But I don’t want them to pave the rest of it.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 27, 2014

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his ‘best/worst’ season to date, the characteristics of the Kentucky race track, upcoming qualifying at Daytona, and more. Full Transcript:

TALK ABOUT CATERPILLAR RENEWING THEIR SPONSORSHIP AND WHAT THAT MEANS TO THE TEAM
“It’s great for all of RCR and it’s great for me, personally. Caterpillar has been such a big sponsor and a great name in NASCAR for so long. It’s a great way for them to get their dealers involved, and the dealers who are fans involved, and some that don’t know it yet. It’s been a lot of fun this year working with Caterpillar, so it’s nice to see them sign-up to come back and keep doing this.”

YOU HAVEN’T WON A RACE THIS YEAR YET, BUT THERE ARE SOME GUYS WHO WILL GET IN ON POINTS. YOU ARE CURRENTLY RANKED #2 OUT OF THE SIX THAT ARE POTENTIALLY IN THERE NOW. ARE YOU BASICALLY TRYING TO FIND TWO WAYS TO SKIN THE CAT?
“This is probably the best worst season I’ve had (laughs) as far as just not having the ultimate numbers. Our average is good, which is still a part of getting yourself into the Chase if there are not 16 winners. So, we have to win. We want to win. If you’re going to win the championship, you’re probably going to have to win something. I don’t see that the winner of the championship doesn’t have a race victory under his belt.

“But we’ve been working hard at it. The guys at RCR as well as ECR have been working really hard at it and I think that we have some things in the works that are going to make us better. But I know that everybody else does, too.”

IN LOOKING AT YOUR FINISHES. YOU HAVE CONSISTENCY
“It’s probably the longest in my career to not have a top 5 in any given season, but at the same time we’re sitting eighth in points, which is probably twice as good as I was at this time last year if I remember roughly. So, that part of it is better. That’s why I said it’s the best/worst year I’ve had without top 5’s and a few top 10’s; and yet consistency-wise, we’re eighth in points.”

IS THERE SOMETHING TECHNICALLY THAT YOU THINK CAN MAKE THINGS A LITTLE BIT BETTER?
“It takes a little bit of everything. From underneath the hood to pit stops to myself; the race car, strategy-wise, some racing luck.  We’ve probably had about as bad of racing luck as you could have had last week at Sonoma. We were going to pit twice when the caution came out twice, two different times. So it changed our strategy and our track position. Had we have gotten to the pits when we wanted to, or if the caution didn’t come out, we would have been right there with Carl (Edwards, winner) and Ambrose right up front.  Not to say that we would have won the race, but we were good. We had to fight back from 21st to 11th in the last 17 laps. Just things like that. We’ve made mountains out of molehills and we’ve made molehills out of mountains.”

THERE IS AN OLD SAYING IN BASEBALL THAT THE LONGER YOU PLAY; THE MORE LUCK TURNS YOUR WAY. IS THAT TRUE IN NASCAR?
“You can create your own luck. And some of it is there to haunt you. In the end, you’re going to catch a piece of debris and run over it and get a flat tire. It’s going to happen throughout the year. But it doesn’t mean it happens on the first lap or the last lap, but that’s where the good luck or the back luck comes in, is if you have a chance to rebound. When it’s happened to us, we haven’t had a chance to rebound. It’s usually been on the last pit stop or the last cycle and here we are fighting back at the end of the race and you can’t do that after everybody gets their stuff sorted out.”

HOW DOES THE KENTUCKY TRACK DIFFER FROM OTHERS
“Well it really is a big circle with the exception of the back straightaway. So that’s one of the biggest things. It’s got a D-shape appearance from the sky, but it drives like a big circle with a small straight. And the character of the bumps is probably like no other right now, as far as the roughness of the race track. It seems like Goodyear has brought a really good tire here that hangs on and it’s rubbering the race track up. One of the best things I think I’ve seen all weekend so far is the fact that the track rubbered up before we even got through half of our practice. Usually it takes, like Michigan, it takes until the end of the race for the track to get good. And we’re starting with a better race track here.”

CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW BUMPY IT IS WITH THE NEW SET-UP NOW?
“It bumps you around to the point that it’s difficult to see at times. The front straightaway is really, really rough.”

WHEN YOU SAY ‘ROUGH’, IS IT ‘CORNFIELD-ROUGH’ (LAUGHTER).
“You’ll see the in-cars (cameras) and if you just do that with your head and try to stay focused, it’s not easy.”

HOW MUCH DOES IT CHANGE FROM YEAR TO YEAR?
“Well, the cars have changed more than the track has. It’s always been a typically rough track, but we’ve gotten stiffer with the chassis because we’ve gotten lower with the chassis and that part of it just makes it that much rougher. It’s like taking a car with no suspension over the railroad tracks. It doesn’t ride like a Cadillac.”

AT DAYTONA COMING UP, WHAT’S THE KEY TO FINISHING UP FRONT THERE?
“Daytona, it’s just so much different than it used to be, which is how I liked it when you could slip and slide around. But you have to have a fast race car and you have to put yourself in position for that last little section. And you have to have a good enough car to not get shucked out of line. It all depends. It could end up being a fuel mileage race. It could end up being a multiple green-white-checkered race. You just never know there.”

WE WILL HAVE KNOCKOUT QUALIFYING THERE FOR THE FIRST TIME. DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE LIKE THE CHAOS WE SAW AT TALLADEGA?
“Yeah, I’m not a fan of it at all.”

WILL YOU HAVE A PLAN WITH YOUR TEAMMATES?
“Oh, we’ll have a plan; but to me it’s not what qualifying is all about.”

WHY?
“Well, it’s not qualifying. Qualifying shouldn’t be chaos. You said it yourself. It’s not what we’re here for. It’s not what I’m here for.”

CHEVROLET RACING
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
SHELL PENNZOIL GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON
MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 27, 2014

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET,  HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET AND JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET met with members of the media at the Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston. Selected quotes below:

HAVE YOU DONE ANYTHING SPECIAL FOR THE WEATHER THEY PREDICT THIS WEEKEND?  “I think you would have had to do that in the off season like just turn up fit.  Which I did turn up pretty fit and then maintain it.  You couldn’t do much in a two week break.  It’s going to be hot for sure.”

HOW WAS THE LACK ON THE CURB? “Uh that was hard.  Man, you think they would at least make tape for that nicely when cars are going to … oh my God that was hard.  But I kept going.”

YOU’VE HAD BACK TROUBLE WHEN YOU GET A WHACK LIKE THAT… “Yeah I know that is not good.  I don’t need it.  I know so well when I break my back now because I’ve done it so many times.  Usually you get winded and it’s like ‘oh,ugh, uh’.  Yeah that is bad to hit that at high speed.  Man that would be bad.”

ANY DAMAGE TO THE CAR?
“No I was actually at low speed.  I didn’t even make it to the wall.  It was just violent the way it goes up like that.  Just horrible.”

HAVE THE CHANGES TO THE TRACK BEEN SIGNIFICANT CHANGES FROM A YEAR AGO?  “Yeah they have totally resurfaced the area there was a big problem with.  It’s a lot better.”

WHAT ABOUT THE WEATHER SITUATION?  IT’S NOT NEARLY AS HOT AS SOME PEOPLE EXPECTED IT TO BE AND IT MIGHT RAIN TOMORROW:   “It definitely affects the way the race rolls if it rains during.  You just have to be ready for it.  You’ve just got to be on your game.  If it rains it’s going to make us pit sooner and then go to slicks or wet/dries (tires).”

HELIO CASTRONEVES:
ON THE HEAT: “It is challenging. But I think it is more challenging for the mechanics. Standing out there with helmets and (fire) suits. At least, we (drivers) have air conditioning. (SMILES) Just open the visor, and everything is good.  It’s a challenge. The drivers are all fit, and really strong. I guess we have to see who is the strongest. Hopefully with a good setup combination, will be in good shape. All the performance for everyone is very tough. We are talking the heat – engine performance, sometimes it could be troublesome. Like I said, in terms of us, pit stops could also be a crucial moment because you are losing a lot of fluids. You have to think of all of the details so when you get to race day, you don’t have any issues.”

ON BEING AT HOUSTON: “It is a great atmosphere. You see fans coming over. It is pretty cool Especially having the Shell Pennzoil headquarters here, it’s awesome.

“It is very humid, and it is tough, but we have trained well enough to make sure we don’t have any problems out there.”

ARE YOU MORE ABLE TO ADAPT TO THE HEAT? “It is hot out there.  For Juan (Pablo Montoya) it probably feels more cool, because coming from (NASCAR) Cup when you have the engine in front and the heat comes inside, that is probably nothing. A 45 minute practice is not a practice. But, when you are talking about a two-hour race, the last half-an-hour, when you put full fuel in the car, that is going to be the toughest.  Last year unfortunately we were 50 laps down. We had a little break. We intend this year to not have that kind of scenario.”

HOW DO YOU NOT HATE THIS PLACE AFTER LAST YEAR? “You can’t. That is why racing is challenging. Just because something out of your control goes wrong, I don’t want to think that way. I want to overcome that result. It gives me a purpose to come here, and make it even more of…trust me, I want to win as much as anybody. Plus, Shell Pennzoil headquarters are here, and want to make sure their party is complete!”

IS THE TRACK BEING BUMPY THE ONLY CONCERN? “Yes. It is very difficult to pass. I wish we had a little more straightaway. But, it is fun to drive. But at the end of the day, whoever starts in front will have a huge advantage.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:
THIS TRACK IS NEW FOR YOU WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS PLACE?
“I only had 45 minutes out there and out of 45 minutes you probably get 20 minutes on the track and 25 minutes working on the car.  We had a lot of issues the car was pulling to the right really bad so we were trying to figure out what it was.  Changed shocks, we changed a lot of stuff and it got a little better at the end. I think it’s a process about learning the track and figuring out where to brake and what to do.  The left-front tire was locking a lot.  I don’t know why.  It was making it pretty hard because I was more focusing on not going off than going fast.  You get to the braking area the front tires smoke you are like ‘I will get off the brakes’, I overdrove this corner, oh don’t hit the wall, it was one of those days.  But it’s okay being the first session it is what it is.  You are going to be a little bit behind.  I’ve got some time to look at the data and understand a little more what they are doing and how we go from there.”

IS IT AS BUMPY AS YOU HAVE BEEN LED TO BELIEVE?  “It’s normal.  I don’t see what is the big deal.”

WHAT DID PEOPLE TELL YOU TO EXPECT COMING HERE AND RACING THIS COURSE?
“Oh it’s so bumpy, ‘oh my God’.  It’s okay it’s just a race track.  I don’t know.  Is it bumpy?  Yeah, but I think it’s fun.  I think it’s got a lot of character.  The only thing I don’t like is there are no apexes.  The apexes are curves not walls.  I don’t know why.  I think the drivers all complained that ‘oh you don’t see, you don’t see’, but I think that is the nature of a street course.  That is where when you have an open apex it’s really easy to commit to the wall.  When you don’t have an open apex and it’s a wall it makes it a lot harder for a driver and I think it makes it a lot more fun.”

WHAT ABOUT THE WEATHER?  NOT THE TYPICAL 110 PEOPLE WERE EXPECTING:
“It hasn’t been.  It doesn’t look that bad.  It’s been nice and windy and I don’t know it’s been okay.”

ON PRACTICE:
“Yeah we had a practice.  It was okay.  It is not as bad as people you hear them talking ‘oh my God it’s so bumpy’.  Yeah it’s a street course.  I’ve never been bothered by stuff like that.”

ARE YOU HYDRATING A LOT?
“Yeah, but I always do you have to.”

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE IN GREAT SHAPE:
“Yeah it’s kind of funny because I was talking to my guys today.  They asked me if I was going to be overweight and I said I think it’s going to be up. It’s kind of crazy this week I trained and every day I trained the weight going up.  I know I’m hydrating I know I’m training a lot, but it should go the other way and it doesn’t with me.  It’s kind of frustrating.”

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SONOMA IN THIS CAR?
“Oh my God yes I tested there and we run like an extra mile and we run the same lap times as them (NASCAR).  Yeah we do the whole course and I think our lap times are within a second or two.”

DO YOU LIKE THE WHOLE COURSE OUT THERE?
“You know what is amazing I’ve been out there for so many years in the Cup (NASCAR Sprint Cup) that to get used to the Indy car was hard.  Because you see them like they showed (Kevin) Harvick that on-board of his pedals and you see how easy he is driving.  In this thing (the Indy car) you are like pedal to the medal you are going.  It’s completely different.”

ARE YOU AFRAID YOU MIGHT TAKE A WRONG TURN?
“No, because the only place you can make a wrong turn is on top of the hill like 3A or whatever it is.  For us it’s nearly wide open so.”

CHEVROLET RACING
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
SHELL PENNZOIL GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON
MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 27, 2014

MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at the Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston. Full transcript:

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE THE LAST RACE YOU COMPETED IN AT DETROIT?
“Not racing anything, but was in Le Mans.That is about it really.  Spent a bit of time in Europe and then back here about a week ago.  Not loads to report I’m afraid.”

YOUR TEAM HAS BEEN PRETTY BUSY IN THAT PERIOD WINNING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.  HOW IS PRACTICE HEADING OFF OF THAT MOMENTUM?
“A huge congrats to the team on Texas, I was watching it at about 3 a.m. in the UK (United Kingdom).  So far it’s been okay.  Some good track improvements from last year which has been good.  We struggled a little bit in the first session I think.  We put on new tires at the end, but just didn’t get to execute a good time.  We have some work to do I think between the two sessions, but not too bad of a start I suppose in terms of what we think we can get out of the car.”

CAN YOU TALK A BIT MORE SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE CHANGES TO THE TRACK? WHAT HAVE THEY IMPROVED AND HOW IS IT REFLECTED IN HOW YOU DRIVE THE CAR AND THE LAP TIME?
“I suppose the biggest one was as you went through Turn 1 big improvement on the straight there.  We are not taking off anymore.  It’s really smooth now you hardly notice that section which is good.  It feels like the curbs have changed slightly through (Turns) two and three.  It just seems like it’s more of a chicane now whereas last year you could kind of really pound through it.  I don’t know if there is much of a change there, but the rest of it is not too bad.  Typical kind of street track, very bumpy into (Turn) three and then it feels a bit smoother through four, five, that seems like they have ground down some more areas through there.  Yeah, pulled the curbs back in three I believe or four and then the rest is fairly similar.  Still pretty bumpy most places, but the trick is I think the last corner where it’s so quick.  You’ve got big kind of rise and then a dip as you go in.  But it’s not too bad but yeah it gets your attention if you get sideways through there that is for sure.”

ED CARPENTER SEEMED TO SUGGEST DURING THE RADIO BROADCAST FOR PRACTICE THAT THE TEAM WAS REALLY STRESSED OR FRUSTRATED GIVEN THE CURRENT CONSTRUCTION OF THE SCHEDULE.  WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN OUT OF YOUR TEAM DURING THE TESTING AND LEADING UP TO THIS RACE WEEKEND?
“Yeah, they have had a really busy schedule, three test days after Texas.  They had everybody on a coach and they kind of toured around for like a week and a half.  They are really busy and I think the guys got a few days off, but it’s been a really hectic schedule this year.  They all look fresh and rejuvenated and ready to roll this weekend.”

BEING THAT THIS IS A STREET COURSE LIKE DETROIT WHERE WE JUST HAD ANOTHER DOUBLE HEADER DOES YOUR TEAM SHOW UP WITH THE SAME KIND OF SET-UP OR ARE THERE CHANGES THAT YOU MAKE TO IT?
“I think since Long Beach we have had quite a good base set-up for the car.  We pretty much turned out to most of them with that base set-up and then we just tweak it with some things and final adjustments that the circuits need.  But it’s fairly similar to what we rolled out with at Detroit and not too dissimilar to what we had at Long Beach.  We need to make a few adjustments, but nothing drastic.  It’s normally the smaller things once you are in the window.”

DO YOU FEEL THAT ED CARPENTER RACING MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF AN ADVANTAGE BECAUSE BOTH YOU AND ED (CARPENTER) GET TO BE A LITTLE BIT FRESH GOING INTO THE STRETCH OF RACES COMING UP?
“Maybe, yeah, I suppose there could be some of that, but I think all the boys are pretty fit in this paddock.  I think the more seat time whatever the track is, is better anyway.  I think it is pretty similar.”

WHAT DO YOU RATE YOUR CHANCES OF HAVING ED CARPENTER RACING SWEEP THE TEXAS ROUNDS OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP?  THE LAST TIME THAT WAS DONE WAS A LITTLE OVER 30 YEARS AGO?
“I would like to think we’ve got a good chance to. Ed (Carpenter) got some guns and a Stetson (cowboy hat) and we got the chance to get some boots to match the outfit this weekend (laughs).  We could have a complete outfit.  I don’t know we will see. I think everyone is pretty confident, but double-headers are always tough and this track is I don’t know.  They are long races, tough races and hot temperatures.  We will see.”

CAMARO Z/28.R AT WATKINS GLEN: Curran Lands First Pole Position for New Camaro
Watkins Glen veteran quick and consistent in qualifying; Stevenson Camaros second and fourth

·         Curran quick and consistent at a home track for CKS Autosport

·         Davis P2 and Bell P4 in Stevenson Camaros

·         Camaros quickest in practices as well ahead of Saturday race

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 27, 2014) – Eric Curran made Camaro history Friday with the first pole position for the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R. The Massachusetts native driving for CKS Autosport set the fastest time in qualifying for Saturday’s 150-minute race for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Watkins Glen International – 2:00.749 (101.367 mph) in the No. 01 Camaro.

Three Camaro Z/28.Rs will start from the first four positions on the Grand Sport (GS) grid for the series’ sixth round of 2014.

“Congratulations to Eric Curran and everyone at CKS Autosport on the first pole position for the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R,” said Lisa Talarico, Chevrolet’s Camaro Z/28.R Program Manager. “It’s the result of many hours of development and engineering to have three Camaro Z/28.Rs in the top four of qualifying at Watkins Glen. We are seeing the potential of this program with our partners at CKS and Stevenson Motorsports. Everyone is cautiously optimistic for tomorrow’s race.”

Curran, driving with Lawson Aschenbach, set the two fastest times of the session. He was 0.155 seconds quicker than Andrew Davis in Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 6 Camaro Z/28.R. His best time was a 2:00.904 (101.237 mph) to make the two Camaros the only cars under the 2:01 mark in qualifying.

“For me, this is one of my home tracks. I grew up in the Northeast and I’ve been coming here since 1996 or so,” Curran said. “I get in the car and ‘boom’. I know this place like the back of my hand. The combination of that and having such a good Camaro Z/28.R was perfect. The car was perfect and consistent. It shows that all the work is paying off. We’re getting better and better.”

Matt Bell was fourth in Stevenson’s No. 9 Camaro at 2:01.563 (100.689 mph). Both the Stevenson and CKS teams will go for the Camaro Z/28.R’s second victory of the season. Davis and Robin Liddell won at Sebring in the Camaro’s second race.

Live coverage of Saturday’s race begins at 11:35 a.m. ET on IMSA.com. FOX Sports 1 will broadcast the race at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 6.

ERIC CURRAN, NO. 01 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO Z/28.R
“Kirk Spencer and the guys at CKS Autosport have been working like crazy. This is the most amount of work I’ve ever seen them do in a year. All that is paying off, and you see it today. The Camaro Z/28.R has been really good all year but it’s the first year for it. It’s still sorting it out and trying to find little tweaks. We’ve been fast and consistent.”
(The Camaro in race trim) “Lawson did the long run today in practice because he will finish the race tomorrow. We gave him that longer run to feel it out and he was still pretty quick even then. We keep making the car better and better and sorting it more and more. This Camaro is so much fun – love the car and it’s such a blast. I’m hoping we can finish tomorrow where we start.”

ANDREW DAVIS, NO. 6 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“I’m excited. It’s our best starting position of the year, and it’s exciting to have our No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro Z/28.R up there. The car was really quite good in qualifying. We struggled a little bit in the first session yesterday and missed some time there and a little this morning. But the guys rallied and we made a good change for qualifying. I put down a really good lap on first lap, and I thought that would actually be good enough. But Eric (Curran) had a great run as well and nipped me by a couple tenths. We’ll have a really good car and a good race tomorrow.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 27, 2014

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed visiting the White House last week, how his season is progressing, the rough track at Kentucky, his teammates, and more. Full Transcript:

TALK ABOUT BEING AT THE WHITE HOUSE THIS WEEK AND BEING RECOGNIZED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“Of course it was a huge honor for myself and the team. The fact that I was able to be there with my teammates to experience the tour and those few minutes that we had with the President, was great. Honestly, we’ve moved on from the 2013 season and are heavy into the 2014 season, so it was a nice opportunity to reflect back and to bring back those memories and feelings of accomplishment and to share that with my crew guys. Mr. Hendrick was there, of course, and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) for the first time after all these years. It was just an awesome experience. To look out into the audience and see my daughter there and my wife, it was just a very cool experience.”

CAN YOU EXPAND ON THAT? I THINK HE COMPARES YOU TO MICHAEL JORDAN
“Yeah, it was a surreal moment standing on stage next to him and hearing him reference or compare me to Michael Jordan, with the six championships I assume is where he was going with that, and hear our foundation mentioned and all the hard work that we’ve put in there. I didn’t know what his speech would be. But to hear him go through and articulate with great detail, the things that we’ve accomplished as a team on and off the track and what the foundation has done, I sat there with goose bumps, head to toe just hearing all that stuff. It was pretty neat.”

TALK ABOUT HOW YOU STARTED THE SEASON AND HOW THINGS ARE GOING NOW AND WHY
“We’ve been learning this new package. We didn’t get off to the start we wanted to at the start of the season. Even though we were slow, I really feel there were opportunities to win. We had flat tires and various issues that kept us from going to Victory Lane. And, starting in Charlotte, we didn’t drop the ball. And when we had the chance to win, we took advantage of it and got it done. We won two or three there pretty quick. Really, I feel like the last five or six; we’ve been in position to win. Pocono, I think we had a car plenty capable of winning the race. Had the contact on pit lane and hurt our opportunity there. And then last week in Sonoma, we were one of the better cars on the track all day long. On one of those restarts and bumping and banging, bent the left front suspension on the car and slowed us down quite a bit. I’m happy that the speed is there and it’s just a little more consistent for us compared to especially the first quarter of the year. But more than anything, we’re taking advantage of opportunity and have been able to pull into Victory Lane.”

THE LAST TIME A FULL FIELD DIDN’T SHOW UP FOR QUALIFYING WAS 1996 AT DOVER. TODAY THERE ARE SUPPOSEDLY ONLY 42 CARS HERE. IS THAT ANY CAUSE FOR CONCERN? WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?
“I don’t have any concern with it. When you compare our form of racing to others, we have double the fields compared to a lot of other major auto racing series’. I hate to see it, obviously. There’s that prestige of having 43 since way back. But I don’t think it has any bearing on the strength of our sport. When I look at all the markers our sponsors look at and why they’re partners on our race car, things are going in the right direction. So, I don’t think it’s a real reflection of the strength of our sport, (or) the strength of the competition on the track. The fact of the matter is this is the top form of racing, in my mind, in the world, and some maybe just in North America. And it’s not cheap. I understand why there could be a short field, but there’s no concern on my behalf.”

YOU KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO FEEL LIKE YOU CAN TASTE A CHAMPIONSHIP; EVEN THIS EARLY IN THE YEAR, AND KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO BE A FACTOR. YOUR TEAMMATE, DALE EARNHARDT JR., HAS BEEN PRETTY FRISKY BEHIND THE WHEEL THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. DO YOU THINK JUNIOR FEELS THAT THIS YEAR, AND THAT THESE OPPORTUNITIES ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN? IS HE UP ON THE WHEEL THIS YEAR BECAUSE HE CAN TASTE IT?
“I haven’t been around him at some of those friskier moments. It’s hard for me to speak for him on-track. But in a large respect, yes; he is taking advantage of opportunity. What he and (crew chief) Steve (Letarte) have built with the No. 88 team; we all know that the driver/crew chief pairing is the most important part, and Steve and Junior have hit it off. And there’s no guarantees that next year’s crew chief is going to be able to connect with Junior and create the same speed in the cars. In theory, yeah; I’m sure he’s trying to take advantage of opportunity.

“But sitting in meetings and being around him as close as I am with our situation of the No. 48 and No. 88 being in the same shop, I see a guy that knows his race car better than ever; and a guy that’s focused on all the details. He’s thoroughly involved, is much more open and communicating on a far deeper level than I’ve seen him, especially when he started at Hendrick Motorsports. As my years go on, teams slow down when the communication stops. And his team has gotten faster and faster and he is more talkative and involved and engaged and sits in meetings with notes and set-up sheets. He’s really in the game.”

WITH THE NEW CHASE FORMAT, THERE IS MORE EMPHASIS ON WINNING RACES. WHAT’S THAT LIKE FOR A DRIVER? DO YOU THINK THAT’S MADE IT BETTER FOR THE FANS AND HAS MADE FOR BETTER RACING?
“Inside the car, nothing has changed my approach. It might open up the door for some other teams, maybe teams that aren’t in the big four or five (like) Hendrick, Roush, and Gibbs-type organizations. But I firmly believe there won’t be 16 different winners. So points still matter in transferring into that first phase. I was saying that when we hadn’t won a race and I still believe it today even after winning three. I still think we’ll get a couple of guys in on points. That’s very similar to what we’ve had in the past. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t have a problem with that.

“I am excited to see how the conversation has changed and that so many people are talking about winning. I think that’s good for our sport. But as we work through the Chase, winning I think gets more important the deeper we’re into the Chase than it ever, ever has been. And then Homestead, we’ve never had that scenario before. We’ve never had four drivers with a chance to win the championship; let alone (be) tied for the championship going into it. As the season wears on, things will continue to heat up. Especially deep into the Chase, it’s going to be a pressure cooker.”

EXPLAIN TO RACE FANS HOW ROUGH THIS TRACK IS WHEN YOU’RE BOUNCING ALL OVER THE PLACE AND YOU SAY WE LOVE IT, DON’T TOUCH IT. AND FANS THINK YOU WANT GLASSY-SMOOTH TRACKS. DESCRIBE THIS TRACK AND WHY YOU GUYS LIKE IT SO MUCH
“The glassy-smooth tracks really give us one lane to race on. With the speeds we’re going, in order to pass a driver with one-lane of racing surface to really utilize, you’ve got to be half a second faster. And there really isn’t a half a second worth of speed the way the cars are anymore. It’s so well regulated through NASCAR and so competitive, that you’re lucky to get a tenth, maybe two, is as much as you get. So when you have a surface that throws the cars around and forces drivers to make mistakes, it forces a second lane, a third lane. I don’t think we really have a third lane here. And a lot of it has to do with the grinding that’s been done on the track. Last year I tried to explore outside the black and think about a fourth lane or a third lane near the wall, but the surface just won’t allow it. So we’ve got a good couple of lanes from the three-quarter mark down on the race track that we can use. And the bumps make mistakes out of drivers. They put us in situations where we blow it, and open a door to get passed or look for an opportunity to pass someone.”

WITH THESE CARS NOW PLANTED TO THE GROUND MORE THAN THEY WERE A YEAR AGO, ARE YOU GOING TO GET MORE OF A JARRING SENSE THROUGH THESE BUMPS AND PITCH YOU HARDER OR MAKE IT MORE PHYSICAL?
“Yeah, I think so. We hadn’t had ride quality issues at a lot of the tracks leading up to this point with the old car. We show up with the new car going man, the ride quality is terrible. But we’re going so much faster and on and on. So, yeah, the ride quality is definitely going to be compromised here.”

FOR JEFF GORDON, THE FIFTH CHAMPIONSHIP HAS BEEN ILLUSIVE. HOW FRUSTRATED DO YOU THINK HE IS WITH THE WAY THE SECOND HALF OF HIS CAREER HAS GONE? AND HOW DOES HE HANDLE IT?
“I don’t know exactly. It’s not something really that we spend time talking about. But, I know that the speed is there. I know that the desire is there. The last few years, luck has really played a factor in him making the Chase and the success in the Chase. I feel like a championship is a real opportunity for him. And this year, this format could really be the one. I know it means a lot to him. I know it’s what he wants. But as far as his mindset and frustration or whatever it might be, I’m not all that sure. But I see a guy that loves his job and is highly committed to it in all of our meetings. He’s got spring in his step and is ready to go racing.”

WAS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT AT YOUR WHITE HOUSE VISIT LAST WEEK THAN PREVIOUS VISITS THAT STANDS OUT IN YOUR MIND?
“I’ve been there, not for all of our championships but in general. The top 10 drivers that made the stage were able to go. So, I’ve been on that tour and on that trip eight or 10 times. You end up seeing the same stuff. They are only going to give you so much access to look around in the White House. There are only so many rooms you can go in. But, back to my earlier comments, to have my team there was the difference. Before, you were walking around with the other drivers and it was a great experience and fun, but to actually share those moments and watch the tour take place and all those fresh faces that are my teammates; and hear the story, go to all those different rooms, meet different Secret Service folks was fun. They hosted a very nice lunch for us in a private dining hall, which they said was the second most famous dining hall in the world. The first would be the President’s private space. We were able to share and experience a lot of things together and that really was the difference.”

YOU’VE COME CLOSE TO WINNING AT KENTUCKY, BUT HAVEN’T CLOSED THE DEAL. TALK ABOUT THAT
“We’ve been close. It’s just on that last run; varying mistakes have kept us from going to Victory Lane. We’ve had a car capable of winning; I think two of them, at least. I’m not sure about the third. So, it’s just executing in that final run.”

YOU WERE UPSET LAST YEAR WHEN YOU DOMINATED THIS RACE, BUT WITH THE RESTART YOU DIDN’T WIN. FOR A GUY WHO HAS ACCOMPLISHED AS MUCH AS YOU HAVE, DOES THAT STICK WITH YOU AS MOTIVATION A YEAR LATER?
“Yeah, and a lot has changed since then. Our restart procedure has changed and there were a lot of cat and mouse games going on through last year. That stuff has changed quite a bit now. So I’m happy with the rule changes and certainly still today, feel that the scenario and the games played there is what led to our issue down there in Turns 1 and 2.”

ON YOUR JACKMAN, ANDREW CHILDERS, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HIS IMPORTANCE AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR YOU TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TEAM THROUGHOUT THE SEASON?
“Those are your guys. That’s your group. They don’t get the credit they deserve. Not only the guys that go over the wall, but everybody back at the shop. We go out there and look good in the race car and pull into Victory Lane if you’re fortunate enough to do that, and smile and get all the accolades, but we’re just a piece of the puzzle. The way today’s racing is, pit road is just as important as out on the race track and creates as many opportunities. Andrew does an awesome job of being the jackman on the No. 48 car. Not a ton of experience; he’s in his second season of being the guy for us and is doing a great job.”

Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Teams Ready for Second Doubleheader Weekend on Verizon IndyCar Series Schedule
Team Chevy’s Will Power and Scott Dixon Looking to Make Return
Trip to Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Victory Lane
·         Chevrolet  Leads Series Manufacturer Standings heading into 9th race of 18 race schedule

·         Chevrolet IndyCar V6 has won 5 of 8 races held to-date in 2014

·         Will Power Continues to Lead Driver Point Standings at Season Half-way Point

DETROIT (June 25, 2014) – This weekend the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 contingent of teams and drivers head to the MD Anderson Cancer Center Speedway at NRG Park, in Houston Texas for the second doubleheader weekend of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston is on deck with two full points-paying races, one Saturday and one Sunday, around the 10-turn/1.683-mile temporary street circuit.
“Last year, the Houston circuit was pivotal in the ultimate outcome of the 2013 Driver’s Championship,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, Verizon IndyCar Series. “This year the event takes place earlier on the schedule and being a double header again, coupled with the new Manufacturer’s points system in place for 2014, carries a serious impact to the championships.  The continued refinement of standing starts will be shown on Saturday and the allowed use of optional radiators for the first time will keep the engineers busy this weekend.  The added challenge of racing in Houston during the mid-afternoon in late June will definitely test the thermal vigor of the engines, drivers and crews.  Team Chevy is up for the challenge.”
Six of the first eight races of the 2014 season have been contested on either a road or street course.  Team Chevy driver Will Power scored the first victory in 2014, bringing the Chevrolet 2.2 liter direct injected twin turbocharged powered No. 12 Verizon Team Penske to Victory Lane at the Streets of St. Petersburg.  His second victory of the year that propelled him to the lead in the point standings was race one of the Chevrolet Dual at Detroit.  Power heads to Houston with a 39 point lead in the driver standings.

The first oval was the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Three time Indy 500 winner, Helio Castroneves, came within just six one-hundredths of a second from claiming his fourth victory in the iconic track.

However, Castroneves took the momentum to Detroit and scored a top-five finish in race one in the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit, and a dominating victory in Sunday’s race two of Chevrolet sponsored weekend.  He is second in the standings behind his Team Penske Chevrolet teammate, Power.

Despite having nearly three weeks away from competition none of the Chevrolet powered teams have sat on their laurels and rested on recent success.  Teams have been hard at work testing and preparing themselves for the final stretch to finish out the season.

As the teams resume competition at Houston, two Chevrolet powered drivers are looking to repeat last year’s success. Power was victorious in the second race at the track last season.  Scott Dixon, new to Team Chevy this season, is also looking to capture a repeat win at Houston and turn his 2014 season around and place his No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Chevrolet in Victory Lane for the first time carrying the Chevrolet banner.

While these two drivers look to repeat as winners, Castroneves is looking for redemption.  Last season the driver of the No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet watched his championship hopes fade away at Houston as two mechanical issues ended his pursuit of victory early.  He hopes this season he can ride the momentum from his win at Detroit and conquer Houston to add to his championship quest in 2014,

The most recent Team Chevy winner, Ed Carpenter – Texas Motor Speedway – will return to the role as owner at the GP of Houston.  Long Beach winner Mike Conway returns to the cockpit of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.

Race number one of The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston is set to start on Saturday, June 28th at 3:00 p.m. ET with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network. Race number two is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 29th with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network.

CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: One Word…FINALLY!
Landmark first trip to historic road course for ALMS champions

·         Corvette C7.Rs face new challenge at Six Hours of The Glen

·         Garcia, Magnussen go for third straight win in TUDOR Championship

·         Coming off second, fourth in class at Le Mans

DETROIT (June 25, 2014) – It’s only about an hour’s flight from Detroit to Watkins Glen International. But over the years, the two have been worlds away from the perspective of Corvette Racing. With the advent of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship however, that distance is no more. America’s leading production-based racing team gets its first shot this weekend at the famed road course during the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

The event is the second endurance race in two weeks for Corvette Racing, which finished second and fourth in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen – runners-up at Le Mans with Jordan Taylor – are on a two-race winning streak in the TUDOR Championship and stand second in GT Le Mans points in their No. 3 Corvette C7.R.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette are tied for third in the championship and look for their first victory of the season. They were fourth at Le Mans with Richard Westbrook.

Although the team has not raced at The Glen, the four Corvette Racing drivers aren’t complete strangers to the circuit. At the fore is Garcia, who hasn’t missed the Six Hours since 2010 when he finished third overall for Spirit of Daytona. Magnussen was a GT winner in 2005, and Gavin (2000 overall) and Milner (2011 GT) have runner-up finishes.

Climbing back on the podium – much less the top step – will require plenty of skill with a little luck. Sunday’s race marks the first since Sebring in March where all four TUDOR Championship classes will share the track at the same time. The grid stands at 55 cars for the 3.37-mile, 11-turn circuit.

The construction and performance of the Corvette C7.R gives Corvette Racing a key advantage. Based on the 2015 Corvette Z06 production car, the C7.R’s rigid frame gives the car improved cornering ability and stability. Those factors plus the Corvette’s impressive braking performance and throttle response along with Corvette Racing’s strategy and execution will be keys to success.

The Watkins Glen round also doubles as the third race of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. It is a special four-race competition made up of the TUDOR Championship’s true endurance rounds. Gavin and Milner are tied for second in GTLM with Garcia and Magnussen standing seventh.

Corvette Racing’s No. 4 Corvette is second in team points, as is Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings.

Live television coverage of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen starts at 11 a.m. ET, Sunday on FOX Sports 1.

The TUDOR Championship is the result of a merger between the ALMS and GRAND-AM’s Rolex Sports Car Series. Corvette Racing will compete in 11 races around North America plus the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Corvette Racing Display: For the Fans at Watkins Glen
Corvette Racing’s visit to Watkins Glen also means fans can take in a number of activities and at Chevrolet’s Corvette Racing Display in the Fan Midway Area:
Production vehicles such as the North American Truck of the Year, the Chevrolet Silverado, as well as the Camaro, Sonic and Impala
Showcars on location include a Corvette C7.R, and both a Corvette Stingray coupe and convertible, the North American Car of the Year
Fans can see a sample of engines, parts and accessories available for purchase from Chevrolet at their local Chevrolet dealer
Other activities at the Corvette Racing Display include a variety of interactive games for adults and kids
Fans who sign up with Corvette Racing will receive a special commemorative t-shirt
The Corvette Racing display opens 9 a.m. Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It is a short turnaround after a difficult race like Le Mans, but I am happy to go back to Watkins Glen and race the Corvette C7.R for the first time. Certainly it will be much different competing with the C7.R than a DP. This track has a good blend of high-speed parts and technical areas, so Corvette Racing should be able to challenge for another win.  Things won’t be so easy with a six-hour race and lots of traffic. However, Corvette Racing has shown that we produce good strategies and excellent pit stops. It would be great if Jan and I could win our third straight TUDOR Championship race after a second-place at Le Mans. Regardless, a good finish would help us in the points race.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It will be the first time for me in a Corvette at Watkins Glen. It’s an interesting place with a lot of history. The times that I’ve been there in other cars, I’ve enjoyed it a lot. So I’m looking forward to go back there and get back into the TUDOR Championship where we have won consecutive races. We’ve proven the car is good in all conditions. I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to fight for a win. It’s longer than a standard TUDOR Championship race and puts a lot more importance on pit stops and strategy. In the past, Corvette Racing has been very, very good in those areas and absolutely have been one of the team’s strongest points.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It’s very much what you’d call an old-school track. It’s got three or four corners on it that are fast and really challenging. You get a huge amount of satisfaction from doing them well. It’s a circuit where you need courage and be fully committed all the time. If you’re at all timid or hesitant with it, then it can bite you. Generally the surface has a high level of grip. You can make a case for many different spots on the track being crucial for lap time, but I would stick my neck out and say that coming out of Turn 1 and uphill to the Esses is one of the biggest influencers.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“If you’re going to put together a calendar for sports car racing in the U.S., you have to have Watkins Glen. It’s one I’ve been looking forward to for awhile. I haven’t won there but definitely want to add it to my résumé. I feel pretty confident going there. We have some experience with the car in a low-downforce trim, so if we need to go in that direction we have some knowledge to build from. And we typically run max downforce in the U.S. So no matter what, we should have a good car there. For some of our competitors, a six-hour race will feel a little long. But for us having just come back from Le Mans and doing 24 hours, it will feel like a breeze!”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“It has been a long time coming but I am personally thrilled to see Corvette Racing finally compete at Watkins Glen. It is an iconic track with such a rich global history, and everyone on the team is excited by the opportunity to see and hear our Corvette C7.Rs make their Glen debuts. As the fans know, it’s a very short turnaround time for us following our strong showing at Le Mans. Rest assured, we readily accept that challenge and are welcoming the opportunity to showcase some ‘Ground Pounding American Thunder’ to all the Corvette and TUDOR Championship fans!”