CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
MEDIA DAY QUOTES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
MAY 23, 2014
 
SELECTED QUOTES FROM TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS AT INDIANAPOLIS 500 MEDIA AVAILABILITY:
          
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, STARTS 1ST
“If anything I’m a little more relaxed this year than last year last – having gone through this last year and having been in this position and the pressure that comes with that, because there is some. That’s probably the biggest thing – being more prepared to manage the whole week leading up to it. For the race, I feel like we are more prepared than last year. Some that is going through this whole thing and having a car that is capable of winning. You learn things through that process. So yeah, I feel prepared but it’s a 500-mile race and a lot of things happen.”

HOW’S YOUR MINDSET COMING IN AND YOUR GUT FEELING KNOWING HOW WELL THIS MONTH HAS GONE?
“There are moments where I feel crazy confident and feel like it is our year. But maybe there’s only been two years here where I didn’t feel like it was my year. Then there were other days where you’re thinking the month has gone really well; something bad must be about to happen. Overall, I feel good and feel pretty relaxed. I think that’s because I’m prepared and my team is prepared. It’s about going out, doing the job and executing and doing it better than 32 others.”

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE ON THE LAST LAP?
“I think you have to be in the front. You can certainly win it from elsewhere but odds are you have a better chance of winning from the lead. There is less risk there but a lot of it depends on the day. Last year that may not have been the case but I don’t know if this year’s race will be like that one.”

IS THERE ONE TEAM OR ONE DRIVER YOU’RE LOOKING AT AND SAYING YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO BEAT THEM?
“I mean Helio is going for his fourth, and it’s a big deal for him. Roger (Penske) and that whole team is hard to beat here, and the Ganassi guys are pros. Andretti’s cars are great. And you can’t count out guys like Josef Newgarden who has been fast. It’s really an amazingly competitive field. It will take a perfect race from someone to get it done, in my opinion.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, STARTS 3RD
“To be sure, we’re focused on all the things you have to do right during the race with this particular car. It’s different than it used to be. For one, you have to understand the car in traffic and know that you can attack when the time comes. With 50 to go, you want to be in the top-five. With 20 to go, you want to be in the top-three. With 10 to go, you want to be leading or doing the switch-back with the guy who is second. It’s a big deal to understand where you can run and when.”

IS THE OUTSIDE TOUGHER THAN THE MIDDLE? DOES IT MATTER WHEN YOU GO INTO TURN 1?
“It depends on what happens behind you and with the two guys on the inside of you. If you’re clear on the inside then you’re fine; you just slot in there in place. But you have to be ready to go. When Ed goes, that’s when we can go.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, STARTS 4TH
“This is the biggest race of the season for us. It’s the only race that everyone says, ‘If I can only win one race, this is it.’ I try to embrace it as much as I can. I’m thinking about what we can do. We’ve pretty much at the end of setting up the car. I know the team has done the best job possible. Hopefully it ends well for us Sunday. You’re thinking about a win no matter if it’s four or five and we keep going. A number is part of history. But I’m all the time thinking of what I can do to win this race. Last year it wasn’t enough. Was it strategy or setup or pit stops. We all analyzed a lot of things after last year. Now with the design of this car, we are looking for details that I never saw before. Hopefully those details will make the difference Sunday.”

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE ON THE LAST LAP?
“That’s a good question. With this car, I don’t know. I probably will want to make a pass on the last lap. Then trust me, my car is going to be really wide going into the last corners.”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR ROOKIE EXPERIENCE THAT COULD HELP THE FIRST-TIMERS THIS YEAR?
“You have to be patient. It’s not a sprint race; it’s a marathon. To finish, you have to be there in the end otherwise you won’t win. When you make a decision, you have to be certain with your decisions.”

DOES IT GET HARDER EACH YEAR TRYING TO WIN NUMBER FOUR?
“It’s always hard to win, no matter the number. I feel right now that things are so competitive. I also feel that we’ve taken care of ourselves and are prepared better. Every step of the way seems to be going well. I have the best guys and strategists that have won races. I guess our chances should be very high. We’ve put ourselves in good positions in the past but I think the cars have changed so much that it took me time. In 2012, we had some issues but in 2013 we were right there.”
 
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, STARTS 9TH
“This year, I feel more prepared as it is in general. We’ve not been quite as aggressive with the car setup. We both have cars that are capable of losing time on a lousy pit stop, falling back to 20th but working our way back up through the field. I think for Ed, finishing 10th after starting on the pole and having so much speed was majorly disappointing. We’ve focused a lot more on being good on raceday and being able to deal with a variety of possible circumstances.”

HOW IS THE PREPARATION DIFFERENT THIS YEAR?
We’ve worked really hard at finding mechanical grip whereas in years past, we’ve wondered how little downforce can we run and still make it to 30 laps. This year has been more focused on having the best cars for a variety of situations.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, STARTS 10TH
“My confidence it OK. We have decent cars. I don’t know what to expect. Things are so close. People are complaining about the same thing. Whoever does the best job on race day will take the trophy home. I don’t think that I’ve won it before. You have to focus on what to do today. I’m looking at videos of the race, how people pass, how they got passed, what worked and what didn’t. If I thought I had the best car, I wouldn’t be working on it. And if I don’t have the best car, I’ll work the hell out of it to make sure I do. I want to win it, and to do that I have to give myself the best chance.”

HAS HELIO BEEN HELPFUL?
“All the information is there. We drive different race lines. I think Rick (Mears) has been a big help. He has a really good eye and understanding. The whole thing about Rick is that he isn’t trying to tell you how to do it. He tells you what he thinks and you can decide whether or not you want to do it or not. But it’s good to have someone you can lean on for support.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, STARTS 11TH
“It’s about track position, for sure. You can’t just lay back. You need to work hard to make sure you maintain in order to be in the top six or eight. But then it gets down to strategy and figuring out what you need to do fuel-wise, who your strongest competitors are and what your car needs – whether you need to trim out or whether you need more downforce. If you leave that stuff too late, you’re going to get waxed at the end.”

WHAT CAN WE TAKE FROM HOW YOU RAN SUNDAY?
“Unfortunately our bad day was Sunday. Generally we found the speed. The race cars have been good, and I think we concentrated too much on the race cars and then when we made the switch to qualifying, we had to back up on a lot of things to get a lot of the speed of it. I feel very comfortabl
e in the car and the team looks pretty good.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, STARTS 16TH
“I had fooled myself for a couple of years by saying that I’d be OK with the fact that I might not win this race in my career. It changed everything when I crossed the finish line last year. I’m so glad I did. It’s still overwhelming and it’s still really special.”

HOW DO YOU SIZE UP YOUR CHANCES GIVEN HOW QUALIFYING WENT?
“I’m starting with no pressure, which is kind of the way I like it. It’s not an excuse. We had a poor qualifying day. I like my chances. I think the field this year is even tougher than last year. Last year you had nine guys in the field that could win. This year I think it’s double.”

HAVING WON LAST YEAR, WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION FOR THIS YEAR?
“My biggest motivation is that I’m driving a car that won this race a few times. Three of my best friends have driven this car – (Alex) Zanardi, Dan (Wheldon) and Dario (Franchitti). Chip (Ganassi) gave me an opportunity this late in my career that doesn’t come around very often. That’s all the motivation I need.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 HYDROXYCUT MISTIC KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, STARTS 17TH
“This is my fourth year here. There is a little more pressure. I don’t drive for people so I don’t put pressure on myself because they expect me to do well. For sure, I have pretty big shoes to fill with TK (Tony Kanaan) winning last year and me being in his car from last year. But it is what it is. I feel less pressure because I think we are well-prepared. We’re not where we want to be. We have one more hour of practice but it’s not where you want to approach the race from, but it’s better than not knowing what you’re going to get. Last year we had a good car that was pretty decent in traffic. It wasn’t perfect but we still were capable of being a contender toward the end. Hopefully we can make a little better decision and work our way toward the front. If we can do that, I think we have as good a shot as anyone. The field is so tight and there is no obvious (favorite) that pops out.”
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 6 ROBERT GRAHAM KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, STARTS 25TH
“It feels really normal. (Wednesday) I was in Watkins Glen testing a Ferrari and the two are so different that it really doesn’t compare. I did my first 230 mph lap this year, which was a nice milestone. I was supposed to run in clean air and wasn’t looking for a draft but had someone come out of the pits in front of me on a qualifying sim, and I was thinking that I don’t get this chance every day. It was the perfect distance to throw up a big number. I just laid into it, and it was fun to see that number come up.”

WHAT BRINGS YOU BACK EACH YEAR?
“This is the biggest, best and most important thing I do all year. For me, my calendar is defined by the Indy 500, and it’s been that way for several years. Everything I do during the year is a build-up to or a reaction from Indianapolis. I’m thrilled to be back for an eighth Indy 500. We’re starting further back that we would like but we feel very comfortable that we can be competitive Sunday.”
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVO NORDISK CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, STARTS 26TH
 
DO YOU EXPECT THE RACE TO BE LIKE LAST YEAR WHERE NOBODY WANTS TO BE IN FRONT FOR TOO LONG?
“You know I’m happy being in front especially lap 200.  That is kind of the goal.  I think we will see how it develops.  No one really knows what the Honda twin turbo is going to be like on mileage.  No one really knows at this boost level what the 2014 Team Chevy is like so it will be interesting to see how those races evolve the fuel mileage races or elements of the fuel mileage race evolves.  But other than that I think the racing itself will be very good.”
 
DOES DETROIT PRESENT ANY UNIQUE CHALLENGES?
“I think Detroit is always a unique challenge especially being in the sort of heart and home of Chevrolet and GM.  Representing Team Chevy it’s an important one a big highlight on the calendar especially coming off the Indianapolis 500.  It’s the only race where you come from a three week event going into it.  To reset and refocus heading into that race itself is very different.  The other thing is the track itself is quite challenging.  It’s fairly low grip, pretty rough, passing areas are better with the track adjustment they made last year – the layout adjustment.  But the race itself is always a very close fought thing.  It’s one of the better races we go to for sure.  It’s one of our highlights.  I’ve gotten a couple of good results there and hopefully we can go back and get a couple of great ones.”
 
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TIRE DEGRADATION AND DOWNFORCE LEVELS AT TEXAS AND THE CHALLENGES THAT RACE PRESENTS:
“The Texas Motor Speedway race is always interesting especially the last couple of years with downforce levels the way that the tires, the speed has fallen off throughout the run based on the car sliding around a little more.  If you find a little bit of mechanical grip and have that addition of some downforce I think you are in really good shape.  At the beginning of the run you will be able to run flat and side-by-side with guys, but then you will see the stronger cars come to the front getting in clear air and making the most of that.”
 
JAMES DAVISON, NO. 33 KVRT ALWAYS EVOLVING RACING CHEVROLET, STARTS 28TH
 
DID YOU HAVE AN INDY 500 DRIVER THAT WAS A HERO TO YOU?  DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE INDY 500 MOMENT?
“I mean Juan Montoya I was a big fan of him when I was younger.  Growing up in Melbourne going both the Grand Prix and then going to the Surface Paradise Champ Car race, Montoya was a big name in my upbringing for sure.  I think favorite Indy 500 moment I think 2012 with (Takumo) Sato going for glory and it ending in a spectacular unexpected way was huge for the race.  It would have been cool to see the first Japanese winner, but at the same time he took a risk he had to take.”
 
WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE SOMEONE HAS GIVEN YOU ABOUT RUNNING YOUR FIRST INDY 500?
“I would say Townsend Bell has told me just about getting up to speed.  I’ve got to treat it like an airplane.  If anything is not quite right just land the plane and bring it back into the pits. And maybe Rick Mears he said you’ve got to drive the first 100 laps to set yourself up for the second 100 laps something like that.  Very much I’ve got that in my head I’ve got to survive the first 100 laps to be there for the second 100.”
 
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN FOR RACE DAY AS A ROOKIE HERE?
“Probably the marbles just either pushing in dirty air into them or snapping loose.  Either way if you have one of those moments that puts you in there I think that is probably the biggest killer for a rookie race is my thought.  Hopefully it’s not, but I would say the marbles it’s an element that I’ve never experienced in an oval race before having done Indy Lights.  You look at the final after the Freedom 100 last year they are three-wide through Turn 4 relative to the final lap of the 2011 Indy 500 they barely went two-wide and the leader ended up in the wall. I guess that is the ultimate example of the differences between the Freedom 100 and the Indy 500.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR RACE DAY?
“At minimum it is to finish.  I would love to finish in the top 15 and a top 10 would be like a win for us.  We are the shortest program out of all 33 cars.  I guess me and Buddy Lazier both started on the same day, we both started on Thursday.  Yeah, that would be huge for us to get a top 10.”
 
WHAT WAS THE KEY FOR YOU GETTING HERE TO RUN THIS RACE?
“I did Indy Light back in 2009 and finished runner-up in the championship.  I did it that year with (Jame
s) Hinchcliffe), (Charlie) Kimball and (Sebastian) Saavedra, but I never had that crucial backing to move up.  I persevered I was out of a ride for the last four years and managed to get my first opportunity to run Mid-Ohio and Sonoma last year with Dale Coyne which went very well.  Then once I had some momentum behind me the doors opened up and the biggest part of this deal happening was my sponsor Always Evolving supporting my Indy 500 ride; stepping up their commitment level in motorsports from the World Challenge Series to the Indy 500.”
 
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, STARTS 30TH
 
YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED A LOT AND WON A LOT OF RACES DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO WIN THE INDY 500?
“Yeah definitely I tell you what in all the years I’ve done this race and then someone else wins it and you see them drinking the milk I’ve never been so jealous.  You know in that moment right when you are watching that guy drinking the milk you are just like ‘God I wish that was me.’ I just want it so bad.  Hopefully one day, hopefully this year, hopefully this Sunday, but hopefully I have a few more shots at it too.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE WITH YOUR TEAMMATES ESPECIALLY WITH TONY (KANAAN):
“With Tony it’s definitely a new relationship and it’s been fun.  He’s extremely fun to work with and open.  I feel like me and Tony both being new on the team we have both had a lot of discussions together about what we are learning and what we have been having to pick up and adapt to.  I feel like we have a lot of common area between the two of us at the moment.  It’s been good bonding time with TK and he’s a lot of fun to have around.”
 
AT WHAT POINT DURING THIS WEEK ARE YOU JUST READY TO DRIVE THE CAR?
“Oh well I always want to drive the car.  I’m looking forward to Carb Day and final practice tomorrow at 11 o’clock.  We have got a lot to get through for that one hour session.  We’ve got plenty of tires.  It’s going to be busy out there.  We had a good run Monday, but we didn’t’ get as much running as we wanted.  When (Kurt) Busch crashed we got a lot of extensive damage to our car running through the debris and that put us down for two hours.  We still had a lot to accomplish and I’m looking forward to getting back out there for that final one hour and really getting the car dialed in.”
 
EXPLAIN THE WEATHER AND ALL THE THINGS YOU HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH OVER THE COURSE OF THESE 10 DAYS.  DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE A LITTLE BEHIND AT THIS POINT?
“No, you can only compare to who has been on the track around you and it’s the same for everybody.  I feel like we only lost one day with all the rain.  We only lost one day and it wasn’t that bad.  I felt unprepared going into qualifying because we were counting on that Fast Friday to really do our qualifying runs.  We hadn’t done any qualify runs to that point.  Then Friday got rained out and it was Saturday morning for qualifying and I hadn’t done a qualifying run yet.  So if I had any regrets throughout last week it would have been nice to give ourselves a bit better preparation on Thursday for qualifying.  We have ourselves in a bit of a sticky situation starting at the back of the grid for the race.  On the flip side of that we did work a ton with our race set-up.  It’s the best car I’ve ever felt around this place.”
 
SAGE KARAM, NO. 22 COMFORT REVOLUTION/BRANTLEY GILBERT CHEVROLET, STARTS 31ST
 
SAY YOU GO OUT OF THE RACE; OF THE 32 OTHER DRIVERS WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE WIN THIS YEAR?
“Obviously I would love to see one of my teammates pull through like Dixon or Kanaan again.  I think Kanaan is a huge crowd favorite and people would love to see another repeat, but if they can’t definitely my hometown buddy Marco. That would be cool to see a kid from Nazareth (Pennsylvania) win.”
 
HOW HAS YOUR MONTH GOING?
“It’s really good.  It’s been a dream so far.  It’s been really cool, exciting, stressful, a lot of emotions thrown into one.  Just counting down the days now.”
 
YOU MISSED YOUR PROM?
“I did I missed my senior prom at high school back in Nazareth Pennsylvania, but I have an awesome team and they threw one for me yesterday in Garage B1.”
 
WHAT EXACTLY DID THEY DO?
“I had no idea.  My girlfriend she was texting a few people and she was being kind of fishy about it.  I knew something was going on, but I didn’t know what.  Then I came to the track and I walked through the garage and there were a bunch of people there.  I guess it was Hawaiian themed.  A bunch of Hawaiian stuff all over the place and there was a Miss Indiana girl came over and put a crown on me and stuff.  I looked down and I figured out ‘oh this is my prom I guess.’ Then my girlfriend was there in a pretty dress and I actually did my first ever slow dance yesterday in front of news cameras and stuff. It was kind of an under pressure circumstance to slow dance, but I think I killed it.”
 
ARE YOU NERVOUS ABOUT SUNDAY OR EXCITED OR BOTH?
“I’m not nervous right now I’m more excited, but come race day I will be nervous.  Once I get in here to the track and I see the people I will get nervous.  I remember how nervous I was last year for the Freedom (100).  That is going to be magnified by 10 so I’m going to be nervous that day, but right now I’m just taking it all in and excited.”
 
HAVE YOU TAKEN THE TIME TO SIT AND THINK ABOUT HOW SIGNIFICATION THIS IS?
“A little bit not too much I’ve just been so busy doing stuff this month.  It’s not really much time to think.  I’ve been doing things on and off track and just really worried about getting the car ready for the race.  I’m sure once the race is over I will sit back and watch.  I will probably watch it on TV after the race ends and I will reminisce about it for sure.”
 
WHO HAS GIVEN YOU THE MOST ADVICE?
“Dario Franchitti he has been my go to guy of helping me out.  He’s been great so far, just the little things I would never have known if I didn’t have him.  Big hats off to Dario.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 KV AFSRACING CHEVROLET, STARTS 32ND
 
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE FOR YOU TO GET OVER WHAT HAPPENED AT THE GRAND PRIX AND GET INTO INDY 500 MODE?
“15 minutes.  I’m the kind of guy that it happens, okay what’s next? You cannot let something stick in your head for any longer because if not you won’t be able to get in the car.  It took two days to rebuild the car and I was just eager to get out there.  I just wanted to test the car.  I wanted to see what kind of things we needed to develop to continue making progress.  When you are in this sport you realize that is the kind of job you are into.  It’s not the first and it’s not going to be the last.”
 
DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE DRAFTING BEING AS IMPORTANT AN ASPECT OF THIS RACE AS IT WAS LAST YEAR?
“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be very close to the same if not even better.  Having hotter climate is going to make it even harder just because I think tires are going to degrade quicker.  Engines might fail more, many things that we have not been able to test even because we have been testing on rainy days and very cold days.  The race is going to come into a very new time for all 33 cars.  So it’s going to be very interesting what is going to happen and people are going to enjoy that.”
 
HOW DO YOU PLAN BEING WHERE YOU QUALIFIED?
“It is rough at the same time funny to see how this sport works.  You can be on the top of the world one day and be below it the next.  It’s something as a driver you need to accept it.  As I said be
fore it’s not the first or the last time.  But you just approach it the most professional way.  Focus on what can you keep developing in your car and what you can keep developing in yourself.  It’s a very long race.  We knew that qualifying was not going to be our strength after the big crash that we had. The car was not going to be at its optimal level. I’m very happy with the race car that we have been able to build.  It’s not aerodynamically efficient just because the 80 hours of the other body was destroyed.  Once we are behind people we can start passing very good.”
 
BUDDY LAZIER, NO. 91 WYNN INSTITUTE FOR VISION RESEARCH CHEVROLET, STARTS 33RD
 
TALK ABOUT HOW YOUR PREPARATIONS HAVE BEEN GOING.  YOU GOT A LITTLE BIT OF A LATE START, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE CATCHING UP:
“We did get a late start, but we are catching up.  We are really actually, given our set-backs, we are pretty pleased with the way the progress has taken off.  Our car was never intended to qualify to the front given the late start.  We have been focusing on the race so I think we have actually a pretty clever race set-up.  We are going to do maybe a little more work tomorrow than some other teams because we still are catching up a little bit.  But at this moment I think we are a lot better than our starting position would show.”
 
ARE THE CREW MEMBERS YOU ARE WORKING WITH ARE THEY PEOPLE YOU HAVE WORKED WITH BEFORE? DO YOU HAVE JUST A SMALL CORE GROUP AND YOU BRING OTHERS IN?
“A small core group and we bring others in.  We have a really good engineer this year with David Cripps.  It’s been a really fine addition. The frustrating part is given the nature of some of the other challenges we have had this year we haven’t been able to maximize our potential.  I know our car is capable of so much more and our team is.  We are still in progress.  We are really all about how it goes on race day, but it’s a good crew.  It’s a crew that is capable of so much better than where we are starting, which is exciting for our future.  Our owners that are involved in the race car and our sponsors these are all every one of them new to racing.  That is pretty unusual when you have some 15/16 entities that have never been around the sport.  There are challenges to growing a team like that, but also there is a lot of potential.  We are kind of looking forward to the process.”
 
IS THIS RACE THE GREAT EQUALIZER WHERE THE SMALLER TEAM HAS THE SAME ADVANTAGE AS A BIGGER ONE?
“I would say given the nature of the rules of IndyCar today the cars are remarkably similar and a small team can get it right.  You can have a small team that has success no question about it.  But it is also a bit of a set-back because you don’t have teammates to share information or to work with on practice.  But come race day I mean everybody is out there for themselves and I don’t know that team work on race day is worth anything.  Yeah, I think a small team can succeed and even the little time that we have run as sort of a smaller but smart effort has already shown that you can do this.  We are looking to continue to improve this program and it’s a four or five year program and we are just in the second year.  We are certainly learning from our mistakes and we will certainly get better.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON PUTS CHEVROLET SS ON POLE AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Sixth Consecutive Race Team Chevy Leads Field to Green
 
CONCORD, NC. – May, 22, 2014 – Jimmie Johnson, six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup points paying race winner at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS), put his No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet SS on pole for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Johnson turned a lap of 194.911 mph, 27.705 seconds in the third round of NASCAR’s knockout qualifying format to earn his first pole of the 2014 season.
 
It was Johnson’s fourth pole at CMS, his 33rd NASCAR Sprint Cup career pole, and he moved into a tie for 20th on the all-time series poles list with Fonty Flock. He is also tied for the most all-time point wins at Charlotte with NASCAR Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison.
 
Johnson’s quick run was also the 31st pole for Team Chevy at the 1.5-mile track. For the past six consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup point-paying races, a Chevrolet SS has led the field to the green.
 
Teammate Kasey Kahne posted his ninth top-10 starting spot at CMS with the third place qualifying effort in his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS.  Danica Patrick was fastest in the second in her No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS and fourth quick overall giving Team Chevy three of the top five starting positions.
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified his No. 88 National Guard/Superman Chevrolet SS in 10th, and Kevin Harvick qualified 11th in the No. 4 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevy SS.
 
Brad Keselowski (Ford) will start the race alongside Johnson and Clint Bowyer (Toyota) will start fifth to round out the top five qualifiers.
 
The season’s longest race, the 400-lap/600-mile event takes the green flag on Sunday afternoon at 6:00 p.m. ET and will be aired live on FOX TV
 
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
COMING INTO CHARLOTTE AND SITTING ON THE POLE, THINGS ARE LINING UP FOR YOU.
“It’s nice to have a fast car off the truck. I think we were second or third in the first practice session. We go back to last weekend and we had the fastest lap in All-Star qualifying. It was a decent car in the race; struggled a little bit in traffic. As we get into practice on Saturday, that’s really going to be the goal for us. I think we have some good ideas to secure the car up and help the clean air balance versus the traffic balance that we’ve been working on. In qualifying today, it was really interesting to start with the sun kind of out and warmer track temps. As the sessions went on, the grip level came in and the adjustments we made got the car better and better. To have my fastest lap around here come on my third time out on the track is pretty mind-boggling the way it works out. So I’m very proud of the team. We had a strong race car all day and are obviously very happy about our performance.”
 
YOU’RE THE ONLY DRIVER TO WIN FROM POLE HERE SINCE 1998. CAN WE INFER FROM THAT, THAT WHEN YOU QUALIFY WELL HERE THAT YOU’RE A THREAT TO WIN THE RACE? AND IS THE TRACK STARTING TO BECOME MORE LIKE IT WAS WHEN YOU DOMINATED BEFORE THE REPAVE?
“I don’t think it’s there yet. It’s definitely getting rougher and losing some grip. In the All-Star race we saw that four tires were definitely better than two. So it’s slowly coming. Whatever the composition of this asphalt is that they put down, it’s tough. It’s taken a long time to finally give up and get to this point. We’re getting into a sweet spot and I feel that in the next three to five years it will continue to evolve and get us to where we were before and provide some great racing.
“We’ve won a lot of races from the back, too. In today’s form of racing though, track position is so, so important. A good pit stall pick. I guess statistically and if you’re looking at the odds or something, the better you qualifying, it will show with a better performance on Sunday. We feel good about it. There’s no guarantees with 600 miles. Anything can happen. We’re so happy to start in this position than 20th or something.”
 
YOU GET ASKED QUITE A BIT ABOUT NOT WINNING A RACE YET, AND YOU REPEATEDLY TALK ABOUT HOW IT DOESN’T BOTHER YOU. DO YOU GET THE IMPRESSION SOMETIMES THAT PEOPLE WANT IT TO BOTHER YOU? AND DO SOME PEOPLE GET SATISFACTION OUT OF YOU NOT BEING ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING AT THIS POINT OF THE SEASON?
“I think there are some people getting satisfaction out of it. But honestly no matter what I do, people talk about it and I don’t mean that in a bad way. If I win, then I’m winning too much. If I’m not winning, then it’s ‘Why aren’t you winning?’ So I can’t do it right either way. I learned a long time ago to not pay attention to the outside voices and influences and just worry about my race team. We’ve been good and had a chance to win at a few tracks. And then at some our bad tracks, we went in there and ran terrible. I’ll be the first to admit it. I think we deserve a fair evaluation at times. We’ve been close to wins and we’ve been pathetic at other tracks. This is a good track for us. Next week is a good track for us and we need to capitalize on those opportunities and get some wins. Again, it doesn’t matter what I do. It’s a good situation to be in because I have had so much success. But no matter what we do, I think they’ll talk about the 48.”
 
THIS IS YOUR FIRST POLE UNDER THE NEW FORMAT. IN LIGHT OF THAT, SHOULD THE COMPETITION BE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF ON SUNDAY?
“Qualifying is on Thursday and (the race) is so far away. You’re really worrying about beating the tires up versus a fuel run when you’re out there. It certainly shows that we are going to be strong this weekend. I’m not sure that it sends a message that two or three race wins would send. That’s the position I want to get in. I’d love to rattle two or three wins and have people fear the 48 again as they have in the past. I don’t think a pole position does that in the garage area but you have to start somewhere. So if we can start here today and keep things moving forward from today, we’ll be good shape.”
 
YOU WEREN’T VERY GOOD IN THE ALL-STAR RACE. YOU DIDN’T APPEAR TO BE FAST IN PRACTICE. YOU DIDN’T DOMINATE THE RACE LIKE YOU HAD AFTER WINNING IT THE LAST TWO YEARS. DID YOU FIND SOMETHING DIFFERENT BETWEEN THEN AND NOW, OR WAS IT JUST ONE OF THOSE WEEKENDS WHERE IT DIDN’T HAPPEN? OR HAVE YOU HAD TO RETHINK SETUPS AND SO FORTH?
“We’ve definitely come back with a different setup and leaned on our teammates. The 5 car looked real strong in the race and was able to cut through traffic real well. A lot of credit to all our teammates and probably most of all to the No. 5 car in what they did. Our fast lap that we ran in qualifying (for the All-Star Race) gave us a great reference point for today. The balance and simulation – although the setup is different – gave us a nice target to shoot for and balance to build the car around. We did learn some things last weekend that led to speed today. Maybe we learned what not to run in the race last weekend and we will be in much better shape this weekend.”
 
WHY IS THE RACING BETTER THIS SEASON?
“It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been up front to see all that.  The one race I was leading at California I thought was a pretty exciting race.  You had a lot of tire issues going on.  It looks like we had it in the bag and blow a tire and the No. 18 emerges from a decent day and ends up a surprise winner of sorts.  I think some of that has been going on.  When I think of Richmond and how the No. 22 car was able to make stuff happen in the final few laps and get from deep in the field up to the lead and win.  There has been the drama late in the race and I don’t know what has created it personally and it’s hard to say and every year NASCAR works hard to tweak the rules and doing whatever they can to provide great side-by-side racing.  I don

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 22, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOT CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP. YOU WERE ONE OF THE LAST ONES TO GO OUT
‘Yeah, it was a really strong lap. I’m very pleased with it. Happy to get this Lowe’s Chevrolet on pole for this big race coming up Sunday afternoon. We knew we had a great race car today so it was nice to get out there and work our way through the three segments here and get it done. On the first run we missed it a little bit but Chad (Knaus) knew exactly how to dial me in for the second one. We got a lot closer and for the third segment laid down a good lap.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD:
WHERE WAS THE AREA YOU FELT YOU MISSED IN THAT RUN?
“I feel like I missed it in every round. Just getting into Turn 3. I wasn’t as sharp as I’d been in practice or last week. We’ve got to work a little bit on (Turn) 3 getting to the white line faster and that type of thing. We’ve got to push a little harder through there. I think that’s the spot. I felt pretty good in (Turns) 1 and 2 and pretty good in (Turn) 4. I tried backing it up and doing different things but it was just kind of set-up stuff that we need to work on Saturday.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 4TH 
ON HER QUALIFYING RUN:
“The car was really good.  I think the big difference that came for me was in the second round.  (Tony) Gibson (crew chief) made really good adjustments and anticipated the offset from run one to run two really well and the balance was really good.  I did that 20 whatever seven which was quickest in the second group.  We have a lot to be proud of.  I mean let’s face it this is the part of the weekend that I dreaded every time.  I had to train myself to not say I hate qualifying.  We were third in a round, we were first in a round and we were fourth in a round.  A lot to be proud of at Stewart-Haas and for the GoDaddy car and it’s going to give us a great starting spot for Sunday.”
 
DRIVERS ARE TALKING ABOUT THE CHALLENGING CONDITIONS TODAY WHAT WORKED FOR YOU GUYS HOW DID YOU AVOID THAT?
“I think one of the things that happens when your team gives you a really good race car is you don’t notice the track being off as much.  It never feels super low grip.  Even in the heat of the day today I told the guys ‘I really honestly don’t feel like the grip level is all that much different than when we were here last weekend for the All-Star weekend and it was far cooler.’  That is a product of good race cars and they have a lot to be proud of at the shop.”
 
WERE YOU ABLE TO LEARN ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN APPLY THIS WEEKEND FROM THE SHOWDOWN LAST WEEKEND?
“Anytime you can have track time at a track you are going to race at is good for learning.  It’s good for repetition, it’s good for learning about your car, so we would have loved to have been in the All-Star weekend, but it wasn’t meant to be.  We are doing okay here and we’ve got another practice before the race.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 26TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“We unloaded and were really loose.  We made quite a few runs on the first set of tires.  We put our next set of tires on and the car was really tight.  It’s really hard to adjust on that.  And then we were just way tight in qualifying.  I don’t know if the track has tightened up.  It seemed like it was a pretty big change from practice and then I felt like we took a huge swing at it again to free it up and it almost seemed worse.  I don’t know.  Just way off there we haven’t been that far off in qualifying all year long.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 27TH
WHAT DOES STARTING THIS DEEP IN THE FIELD DO FOR YOU GUYS?
“It just disappoints us.  We know our car is much better than this.  I think these are about as challenging conditions as you can have when you have a really hot day like this.  The sun goes down and it’s a total guessing game and we completely guessed wrong.  We just missed the set-up.  The car has plenty of speed in it.  I’m not concerned about the race.  I know that we can work our way through there and be really strong in the race, but we just have to get the balance right at the start of the race and make sure that we are there at the end.  It’s just more challenging to do that from where we are going to be starting.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2014
 
MICHAEL ANNETT, NO. 7 PILOT FLYING J CHEVROLET SS AND REED SORENSON, NO. 36 BEEF JERKY OUTLET CAROLINAS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed Tommy Baldwin Racing’s involvement with the Salute the Troops program and the Armed Forces Foundation.  PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
 
REED SORENSON:
 
TALK ABOUT THE SALUTE THE TROOPS PROGRAM:
“The Salute the Troops program is a deal they put together to basically write letters to the troops to show support and thanks pretty much.  They can come from anywhere from what I understand.  The other day I actually went to a classroom with six different third grade classes and helped them write letter.  We will get them all collected and send them all off.  Just something they might enjoy. Chevrolet is sending off some calling cards to all the troops.  Carolina Jerky is sending some beef jerky for them to go through. Just a little token of appreciation a little different maybe than what they are used to.  I’m sure getting letters from third graders back here at home might mean a lot to them.  I’m sure they will keep it and mean a lot to them for a long time.”
 
CAN FANS STILL GO ONLINE AND DO IT? 
“It goes through July to the Daytona race which is July 5th I believe.  There are still plenty of weeks left to do it.  From what I understand go to the Tommy Baldwin Racing Facebook page or Twitter page to make sure you get your letter sent into the right place.  They will all be collected and sent out.”
 
OVER THE YEAR’S I’M SURE YOU HAVE HAD PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT WITH TROOPS ALL OVER THE WORLD.  ARE YOU FINDING THEY ARE A LOT OF BIG RACE FANS OUT THERE IN THE MILITARY?
“For sure, I was able to fortunately be sponsored by the Air Force at one point.  I got to hang out with those guys a few times.  A lot of race fans in there.  Not a big surprise I guess, but a lot of race fans.  They enjoy talking to all different people throughout the sport.  They know how much NASCAR supports them and I think that is why they enjoy hanging out with all of us and trading stories and things like that.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR TEAM AND THE GROWTH THIS YEAR:
“Yeah there are no start and parks anymore that is what a lot of people forget.  There used to be three or four cars that would pull off and now there are none.  It’s definitely changed a little bit.  I think the competitiveness has gone up a little.  It’s kind of forcing everybody to spend a little more time, spend more money and get better people.  We are moving along with that program as well.  All the guys are working hard to make our team better.”
 
MICHAEL ANNETT:
 
TELL US ABOUT THE SALUTE THE TROOPS PROGRAM:
“It’s a real easy way to give back.  Whenever we come to this weekend and this race each year you get to see a lot of the patriotism. It’s a really easy way, five minutes of your time, to let those guys overseas know that we are thinking about them all the time.  Unfortunately stuff like this only gets fired up on one weekend.  It’s something that people need to think about every day of the year.  Just using where we are at in the sport to be able to do something like this and give back.”
 
THIS PROGRAM GOES THROUGH JULY WITH YOUR TEAM?
“It’s really easy to go onto TBR’s Facebook page and Twitter and all the information is there.  You can get in touch with our people.  It’s something that needs to go a lot longer than one weekend.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR INTERACTION WITH TROOPS OVER THE YEARS:
“I think the coolest thing in our sport is in the Driver’s Meeting we acknowledge all the troops that come to the race track and the families of people that are lost family members overseas.  I think that by far always puts a smile on my face and makes me proud to be a part of this sport that appreciates it.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2014
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER FOLDS OF HONOR CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed what it takes to win the Coca-Cola 600, his season thus far and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT THE 600 FOR YOU?
“I think it is just keeping up with the car.  As you go through the temperature changes it’s going to be a lot warmer than it was last week so you kind of have to take that with a grain of salt as to what we did at the All-Star race because of the much warmer temperatures. We may not even every get to the coolest temperature Sunday night is probably still going to be warmer than the warmest it was last week.  You just have to keep up with the car and always try and stay on the lead lap through the beginning part of the race knowing that your car is going to need to handle a lot different as you get to night.  It’s an interesting challenge.  It’s a long night you are never out of the race unless you are torn up.  You don’t want to get yourself torn up or make a dumb mistake early in the race because you can always make your car right by the end.”
 
WITH THIS RACE BEING SO LONG DOES YOUR MIND EVER WANDER OFF?
“That is a good question.  I think for me it’s just about making laps and trying to remember exactly what you did in that corner last time.  It never wanders off of racing for sure just for the fact that unless a cable falls out of the sky or something falls in front of your car then you have something else to think about.  All in all it’s just trying to relay that information back to the crew as much as you can to try to be as good a piece of information as you can to keep up with the track.”
 
WHAT IS THE KEY TO GETTING AROUND THIS PLACE?
“The key is just keeping up with the race track.  In the beginning just taking what the car will give you and trying to keep yourself in a good position to stay on the lead lap and make solid pit road entrances and exits and into your box.  Just try to keep making yourself as good as you can lap after lap.  In the end as you get towards the end there is just a lot that can happen throughout the day and night.  You just have to be patient to get yourself within at least 100 miles of the end so that you can still be in contention.”
 
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A BETTER TEAM?
“I don’t think so.  The bottom line is the organization from a whole has given us every resource that we have asked for.  You never talk about money, it’s just what do you need and how do we get it for you, how do we get better. They went out recruited Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and he went out and recruited every single person on this team.  They all came here for the same reasons.  They all want to win races.  They all want to win and race for championships and when you put that kind of people together with that determination everybody pushes everybody else.  So you just have to ride the wave and try to keep getting better.  Everybody is having fun and everybody likes to race.  It’s all about racing most of the time.”
 
WHAT ABOUT THIS RACE SUITS YOU?
“You just have to keep yourself in the race that is the first thing that you have to do.  For me I feel like we can always make our car better even if we are leading the race.  I feel like we can always find something to work on, but sometimes you can also send it the other way.  You just have to make good decisions through the night.  I feel like the communication from the driver’s seat to the crew chief and how they interpret that back to the engineers has always been a plus for me.  I feel like that is a large part of what happens in this race.”
 
WHAT IS KURT BUSCH’S CHALLENGE?
“I think the biggest challenge and we haven’t specifically talked about it from anything from a race car standpoint is just knowing what car you are in and remembering how to drive that particular car because they are so different.  I hope he has a good weekend he has done a great job in Indy.  I know he has the accident this week, but I think that is not a bad thing either.  I know it’s probably expensive from a team owner’s standpoint, but I think knowing where that edge is before you get into the race and not having to hopefully experience that during the race is probably good that he got it out of the way.  It’s been fun to watch and very fun from a NASCAR standpoint to see him go over there and have speed and be competitive. That is hard to do in late model racing, in go-kart racing to go into somebody else’s territory and be competitive no matter what level it is at.”
 
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WOULD BE THE BIGGEST TURNING POINT TO PUT YOU IN THE RIGHT PLACE TO WHERE YOU COULD WIN RACES?  WOULD YOU LOOK BACK AT ATLANTA OF 2001 MAYBE?
“I have won races in everything I have ever been in.  It’s just I like to race.  Winning is a lot more fun than losing I can promise you that.  It is way too much work to be a part of this whole deal and not win.  That is probably a little bit of my downfall is being frustrated when we lose and a little bit grumpy.”
 
INAUDIBLE:
“It has to bring some interest just from a standpoint that it’s a big challenge from both worlds.  Whether it’s coming over here and just racing this race or just going over there.  I mean they are huge races.  I think it’s good for both series that he is doing it bringing a lot of attention both ways.”
 
DO YOU LIKE RACING AT DOVER?
“I do.  Dover is one of those race tracks that you can be really aggressive at and get away with it.  Over driving the car is not such a bad thing there.  I’ve been fortunate to run well and I know (Tony) Stewart won the race there last year.  We are looking forward to going up there next week.  To me once you get past this race is really when you start that grind through the season and into the Chase.  This is an important stretch from now until Richmond.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE WHEN WE GO TO DOVER?
“I think the cars are going to be lightning fast in qualifying trim, race trim.  You hear some of the testing speeds and they were really fast.  It’s going to be much warmer hopefully as we go into these next few months.  Those speeds will back up a little bit, but the cars are going to be faster than what they were there before for sure.”
 
A COUPLE OF TIMES YOU HAVE BROKEN THIS YEAR DO THEY CONCERN YOU AT ALL OR ARE YOU STILL PRETTY CONFIDENT IN THE WAY YOU GUYS HAVE UNLOADED OFF THE TRUCK?
“We never really had any problems.  We had a couple of parts break, but speed has never been a problem. That is the thing that everybody in the garage searches for and probably one of the parts that keeps us sane.  Is our cars are fast every single week.  Even if they start practice slow, Rodney (Childers) and the engineers and everybody in this organization they can figure out whatever my problem is in the car they can figure out how to fix it.  If we start half a second off the pace by the end of practice we will be able to gain and by race day it will be even better.  I’ve just never been a part of something that they have been able to work on the car so much and make it better.  That is just a lot of fun.”
 
YOU’VE HAD WINS SLIP AWAY THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS DOES THAT ADD ANY MORE DESIRE TO WIN?
“We want to win every race.  It is such a different mentality than what I have been used to in the past.  As far as we have had the speed to run for the win in every race.  But you are going to lose some.  Everything has gone so well that I think me included we
have kind of lost sight that we are in our 11th race.  Which is kind of scary that from race one we have been in contention and have had the speed to win every race we have been in.  As we sat down and analyzed things this week of everything that happened on pit road last week that was their 11th race.  Sometimes I think our problems are sticking out a little bit more than they would in a normal situation just for the fact you are racing for a win you are not racing for 10th.  It’s probably not a bad thing and hopefully we can have all our issues gone through by the time we get to Homestead.”
 
DID THE SEASON ALMOST START LAST YEAR WITH THE TEST HERE AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN DECEMBER?
“For sure we were fortunate that Rodney was able to come over early and all he worked on once he got to SHR was what we were going to do this year with the new rules.  I feel like we have been a little bit ahead of the game since that test.  But when we had that test here last year the first lap on the race track everybody’s confidence went to about as high as you could put it just for the fact of how well things went.”
 
INAUDIBLE:
“The first minute that I was in that car I haven’t quit smiling since.  It’s been so refreshing and so much fun to be a part of it that every day you just kind of leave the race track shaking your head going ‘well we won that one or we could have won that one.’  We raced and led and did all the things that you want to do as a race car driver as a team.  I don’t know how you could ask for it to go much better.”