CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
DAY TWO PRACTICE
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 12, 2014) – Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet,  led the way for Team Chevy on Day Two of practice for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500.  The on-track activity increased to 30 cars taking laps in preparation for the May 25th running of the historic race. Castroneves ran 96 laps in warm, muggy conditions with gusty winds and turned a lap at 223.635 mph.
 
Also putting their Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered cars in the top-10 in the final order were Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, and Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
 
Practice resumes tomorrow, Tuesday May 13, 2014 from noon to 6:00 p.m.
 
Qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 will begin Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. and conclude Sunday, May 18 with the Fast 9 Qualifying beginning at 2:00 p.m.  ABC TV will air live coverage of qualifying from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.
 
DRIVER QUOTES:
HELIO CASTRONEVES, No. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 3RD IN PRACTICE: “I feel that the weather is the biggest contribution here. Sounds like tomorrow and Wednesday and even Thursday possible rains. So yea, exactly that’s why you want to take a chance with the hot weather conditions for the race plus when you put the turbo number, we’re going to put more pressure on turbo so the speeds going to go up and we’re still going to go with that kind of scenario so right now I’m very happy with our car. It’s not only pretty, it’s looking good. Pretty good. Like I said, we’re not looking for the times because if you like that way, it’s always a reference. It’s a little bit different. I think everybody is getting draft so that they understand what their car is doing in traffic. But at this point, the name of the game is the same for everyone. We’re just trying to put some mileage, especially on the engine and go for it.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 3RD IN PRACTICE:  “It was good to get out there and run a lot of laps today, which was important because we don’t know what the weather will be like for tomorrow. I will definitely sleep good tonight because that was a workout. I think the No. 2 Verizon Chevy showed good improvement from yesterday. We picked up some time, as did some other drivers. It’s all part of the step-by-step process to get to where we need to be for the race. All in all I think things are going according to plan.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHEVROLET, 13TH IN PRACTICE: “Today was the first true day of practice for us.  It was great to get out there and run for a while today.  We tried a number of things we’ve been working on, both in the offseason and in preparation for this first oval of the year.  It’s pretty cool having the silver Target cars here in May to celebrate 25 years of partnership with such a fantastic company.”
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET (IN T CAR), 10TH IN PRACTICE:  “We definitely put a full day in today with the Target car – well over 100 laps around Indy.  The No. 10 team is working really hard.  Lots and lots of running out there.  Today is only the first day of testing the primary car for the race, so we went through a laundry list of items we’ve been wanting to run.  Overall it was a good day of learning for us.”
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, 12TH IN PRACTICE:  “It felt good to get out on track today and have some time to turn some real lap times.  Today was the first day I went out in the primary No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet and we just wanted to shake down the car and make sure the oval setup was good to go for tomorrow.  We’re looking at turning a lot more laps during the session tomorrow and making some long fuel runs
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 15TH IN PRACTICE: 
“The Verizon Penske Chevrolet has been really quick.  We didn’t run too many laps today, but because we ran a lot of laps yesterday, we’re in a good direction, which is important since it will probably be wet over the next couple of days.  We’re definitely getting to where we want to be.”
 
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, 18TH IN PRACTICE: “The conditions were tough out there today.  It’s pretty windy.  Ed and I were both trying to find a little more grip in the cars.  We wanted to work in traffic today.  I feel like we made good gains with the setup.  We didn’t really try to find a real speed in these types of conditions.  We were focused on race running all day.  With the variable conditions, that can be rough sometimes.  We found a couple of good changes at the end of the day that we will stick with in the future.  It is like a race day with the weather.  But you don’t want to be complacent on days like this.  You want to be really good in conditions like these.  We need to be a little better in these conditions and be prepared if it is close to this on race day.”
 
SAGE KARAM, NO. 22 DREYER & REINBOLD KINGDOM RACING, 23RD IN PRACTICE:  “We made some improvements today on the car and got up into the 220s.  I was able to draft a little bit for the first time in a Verizon IndyCar Series car, which was a new experience for me and took some time to learn.  The crew worked really hard to make the car’s balance better for me in traffic and I think today was a preview of what’s to come for me this week.  I want to use this week to get more comfortable in the draft and start working on getting higher up on the speed chart.”
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 6 ROBERT GRAHAM – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, 24TH IN PRACTICE: “Another productive day in the Robert Graham – KV Racing Technology car. We ran a lot of laps. Worked through our program for the day. Ran some laps in traffic and with my teammate Sebastien Bourdais. A good day. It is a process, but we are making progress so overall I am happy with how the day went
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS:  No. 11 No. 11 HYDROXYCUT/MISTIC E-CIGS – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, 26TH IN PRACTICE: “It was a good start. I liked the Hydroxycut/Mistic E-Cigs car right off the bat. The balance was pretty good. We worked on a few things then I worked a little in traffic. Every year is different, every day is different here. You run a lot of laps and try and get a feel for how the car is in every condition then try and make the right decisions for race day. That is what we are doing. It was a good day for the first day of practice.”
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, 27TH IN PRACTICE: “We had a couple of issues today that kept us off the track for some time.  But that is what is great about having a teammate here.  J.R. was able to put some good laps and test some things that I didn’t.  Hopefully it is dry for some time on Tuesday.  The weather forecast doesn’t look good though.  That’s why you want as much track time as you can get.  The conditions today were tough with the warmth, the humidity and the wind.  It was a lot like race day can be in a few weeks.  I think J.R. had some good runs today that can help our team.  That is what working together can mean to a multi-car effort
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET,  30TH IN PRACTICE:  “It was a shame we didn’t get more laps in today.  The weather conditions were interesting with the wind and the temperature today and the long-term weather is looking pretty indefinite for the rest of the week.  We’ll just have to run when we can and focus on what it’s going to take to make the
car better for the race.  We’re pretty confident in what we need to do to get the car ready for qualifying this weekend, but we need work on traffic and running with groups to get the car ready for the 500.”

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
DAY ONE PRACTICE
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 11, 2014) – The first day of practice for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 is in the books, and many of the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered drivers took advantage of the six-hour time frame to shake down their race cars for the first time.
 
Topping the speed charts was Team Chevy’s Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, with a lap of 223.057 mph/40.3485 seconds.  He was followed by his teammates Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet and Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet.
 
JR Hildebrand making his return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the No. 21 Preferred Freezer Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet turned in the fourth quickest time of the day.
 
Practice resumes tomorrow, Monday May 12, 2014 from noon to 6:00 p.m.
 
Qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 will begin Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. and conclude Sunday, May 18 with the Fast 9 Qualifying beginning at 2:00 p.m.  ABC TV will air live coverage of qualifying from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.
 
DRIVER QUOTES:
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FASTEST IN PRACTICE:  “It’s great, to be at the top of the speed charts, but the car felt really good, too, today and we got to do quite a few laps, try to get the mileage up.  You know, just anticipating that it might be wet the next couple of days.  But,  it’s only practice, first day, always handy to be at the top.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 2ND IN PRACTICE: “I felt really comfortable in the Verizon Chevy today. I did a lot of running by myself and then I ran behind someone just to start getting used to the feel of that; the understeer and how the car feels in traffic. Right now we just want to get comfortable in the car. The first time I was here it took me about three laps to get comfortable. This time it was a few more. One of the great things about being with Team Penske is our cars are so good.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 3RD IN PRACTICE: “Very happy the weather cooperated with us today. The Pennzoil Chevrolet was really quick today. I’m really glad we were able to do so on the first day of Indianapolis 500 practice. That always puts the boss (Roger Penske) in a good mood. I love this month and it feels good to have speed right out of the box. Things are looking good.”
 
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, 4TH IN PRACTICE: “It was a good day despite not running as many laps as we had planned.  The main purpose today was to get Ed and myself on the same page with the cars.  We wanted to see how we worked with a similar setup.  So as we work through the month we can get a good baseline with our cars.  Luckily we are looking for the same thing with cars right now.  So this was a great start and the cars have some speed in them.  I think it’s equally important that both of us are hunting for the same things out the race car.  Sometimes you have teammates who go different directions on setup.  Right now I don’t see that happening.  I think Ed and I are similar in our approach driving in traffic and other settings.  I feel good about how things are going right now.”
 
TOM WURTZ, TEAM MANAGER FOR CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET,  7TH IN PRACTICE AND
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET (IN ‘T’ CAR), 16TH IN PRACTICE:  WURTZ: “It was a very quick turnaround from the Grand Prix of Indianapolis road course setup to the Indianapolis 500 oval setup for Opening Day, but we made sure we were prepared to make the transition as easily as possible.  We didn’t get out until later this afternoon because we wanted to make sure our T (backup) car was ready to go to run some install laps.  Tonight we’ll pull the engine from the T car and put it in the primary car so that we can get out on track as soon as practice begins tomorrow at noon.”
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, 8TH IN PRACTICE: “I always focus on the race, but I think after last year, the excitement of winning the pole, and then the disappointment of finishing tenth in the race with what was a fast car I think has made us even more focused on making sure we’re ‑‑ I don’t want to say more prepared, because I think we are prepared for the race. But, just more focused on getting the right amount of race running each day and running in enough different types of conditions, and not necessarily maybe worrying about qualifying quite as much.”
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 6 ROBERT GRAHAM – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, 9TH IN PRACTICE:  “The Robert Graham – KV Racing Technology crew could not have made it any easier in terms of the preparation of the car. I had a really comfortable starting setup. There are a lot of people here that I have worked with before and I am really pleased with the group of guys we have put together.  It is never easy when it is a one-off situation, but right now I don’t think it could be any better in terms of the chemistry and the people that are making this all happen.” 
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 LEXAR CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET (IN T CAR), 10TH IN PRACTICE: “It was a good day overall for the Target team.  Scott and I both had time today to shake down the backup cars.  I feel like we’re in a good position and we had a great start today.  The team worked really hard last night changing from the road course cars to the backup oval cars today.  There were a lot of long hours put into this last night after the grand prix, and it will continue again on through tonight.  But it’s worth it after all –  it’s the Indianapolis 500.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHEVROLET, 13TH IN PRACTICE:  “Today was pretty basic.  We did 11 laps in the T (backup) car and that was the goal today.  Everything went as planned for Team Target and we’ll move to the primary cars tomorrow.  Short day at the track.”
 
SAGE KARAM, NO. 22 DREYER & REINBOLD KINGDOM RACING: “I really enjoyed today and it went well. We finished the rookie orientation program to get those laps out of the way and went on to run 77 laps total. The set up we have on the car right now will not let me go too much faster than what I have shown, but right now the main goal is to get comfortable and I think that’s what we achieved. Later this week we’ll start trimming it out and making her faster to get up into the 220s.”
 
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
AN INTERVIEW WITH:
WILL POWER
ED CARPENTER
 
            THE MODERATOR: Well, this is an audition for Riverdance and right now I’m not quite sure how you’re doing it ‑‑ good lap, 223 and change, last time I looked up there.  You generally know how strong you went, but the real litmus test is how you felt about it.
            WILL POWER:  Yeah, apart from the speed, it’s great, to be at the top of the speed charts, but the car felt really good, too, today and we got to do quite a few laps, try to get the mileage up.  You know, just anticipating that it might be wet the next couple of days.  Yeah, you can’t ‑‑ it’s only practice, first day, always handy to be at the top.
 
            THE MODERATOR:  You’re a professional, obviously, and do this for a living, but was it weird at all when you first got out after having competed yesterday?
          &
nbsp; WILL POWER:  It was just weird waking up the day after a race and having to get straight back into the car and on a different style of track.  But you know, as soon as I finished up today, like as soon as I got into it today, I just felt normal again, back‑to‑back, focus on the 500 and get the most out of the car.  Can’t believe we actually raced yesterday, had totally forgotten about it.
 
            Q.  So it was weird switching from the two cars, but did it take very long?  And were you in the same car as you were yesterday?
            WILL POWER:  No, we were in a different car.  No, it didn’t take long.  It’s such a different discipline.  The oval is so different from the road course, tires are different.  Just get back into the swing of the oval feel, basically.
 
            Q.  We didn’t get to have you in yesterday, but you and Dixon had the moment in turn three and four.  Can you explain what happened there and just was he pushing too hard to get inside?
            WILL POWER:  Yeah, he went ‑‑ he went for a move up his side and hit me and spun.  I mean, I didn’t see.  I felt it, felt someone hit me.  Obviously come around the next lap, and he’s bumped (ph) ‑‑ yeah, he had a much better view than I.  Hit my back wheel.  Yeah, it’s a tough place to pass.
 
            Q.  When I saw it, I thought to myself ‑‑ that guy cannot get a break at this racetrack, speaking of you.  Do you ever have that thought about particular racetracks, and do you know if I always go here, I have success here or I have some tough luck a time or two here?
            WILL POWER:  Yeah, I would say that about this place.
            But although, I would say that my performance in 2009 to finish fifth with Penske kind of gave me a chance to be full time there.  I think Roger saw that, running five seconds.
            I think it’s really time to have a good Indy 500 finish, I really do.  I think after what’s happened over the last few years, it’s time to have a good finish, which is a win.
 
            Q.  You won the last 500 at Fontana, how much confidence does that give you?
            WILL POWER:  Yeah, it just was a great off‑season, obviously water under the bridge.  Since then, we have four races, all preseason testing.  Just, man, you know, it’s just more experience.  Obviously it does a lot better for your confidence than not finishing or having a bad day.
 
            Q.  Do you just throw everything away and start from scratch, or is there anything that you can pull from what you’ve done or is it just a completely different experience?
            WILL POWER:  It’s the first oval that we do all year.  So you’ve been in road course mode and you get to the oval, and it’s a lot different, and the way you race around here is a lot different with the drafting and pretty close quarters all the time.
            So, you know, you could say that, yeah, you’re starting kind of ‑‑ this is the start of the oval season when you start.  Obviously Brad’s obviously got three years with this car, so quite a bit of data to go off, but it’s a slightly different tire, too.
 
            Q.  What is your plan when you do get on the track?  Is it more race training earlier in the week or qualifying later?
            WILL POWER:  Yeah, actually we did a bit of race work today, just anticipating the rain here.
            I think it’s important to get some race stuff in, because you get to the end of the week and you get to thinking about qualifying, which pays big points, too.  So you have to be pretty honest with that.  But the whole race does pay massive points, double points.  Honestly, I think it’s way too far but it is what it is right now.
 
            Q.  Saturday also pays some pretty good points.  Right now you have a one‑point lead over Ryan Hunter‑Reay, but come Saturday, if you’re the fastest on Saturday, you’ll get 33 points if he has an issue and Sam gets ten points and all of a sudden your lead increases.  What do you think of the whole point structure for qualifying here?  There’s a lot of points available for that.
            WILL POWER:  Yeah, it’s a big deal.  Although, it’s a very ‑‑ you know, between points, it’s not a big spread.  So generally all the guys who are in the championship are in good teams and up front anyway in qualifying.
            So I expect ‑‑ I expect maybe to gain five points or something if you happen to be on the pole.  But like I say, who knows what can happen.
 
            Q.  And also, were you surprised at how brutal yesterday’s race ended up being, on equipment, on drivers, a lot of things?
            WILL POWER:  It was a surprise.  It was aggressive.  Yeah, it was a lot of ‑‑ yeah, I couldn’t believe it, some of those restarts.  I actually had a drive (ph) penalty, so I just backed off and watched one of them, and sure enough the car goes flying into the wall and bits of debris going everywhere.
            It just seems to get rougher and rougher in IndyCar all the time.  Like it’s just becoming ‑‑ I can’t tell you how many times I was hit yesterday, like side to side, and you kind of ‑‑ the cars are almost too strong now.  Man, we bang off each other a lot.  But it’s made for some good racing, but I just don’t want it to become dangerous.
          
 
THE MODERATOR:  You’ve been sitting here watching other people race, had to feel good to get in the car.
            ED CARPENTER:  Yeah, I’ve been looking forward to it.  Obviously like I said, I don’t think it would have mattered, really, if I had been running all the races up to this point.
            The start of the month of May is always special and it’s always exciting to get it started, so happy that we had weather that cooperated today and let us run all day
.
            THE MODERATOR:  By the way, your crew was working to get Mike back into action, really did yeoman’s work.  I was back there watching.
            ED CARPENTER:  They did a good job yesterday, and J.R.s guys for the 21 car were back kind of just working on the speedway cars, and I think everybody in the garage jumped in and got us back out.
            Sometimes yo
u do that and it’s not really worth it, but we picked up five spots and that kept us ‑‑ we dropped from fifth to sixth in points instead of seventh, and we are that much further ahead of eighth, still.  So I’m glad that we’ve put in the effort.
 
            Q.  In terms of the pole run last year, which was so spectacular, and I know it was a highlight in your career, do you build on that here or is it just the race that you think about and how you improve the actual ‑‑ running the 500‑mile?
            ED CARPENTER:  I always focus on the race, but I think after last year, the excitement of winning the pole, and then the disappointment of finishing tenth in the race with what was a fast car I think has made us even more focused on making sure we’re ‑‑ I don’t want to say more prepared, because I think we are prepared for the race.
            But just more focused on getting the right amount of race running each day and running in enough different types of conditions, and not necessarily maybe worrying about qualifying quite as much.
            I tend to worry about speed a lot, which makes me want to work on going fast.  So trying to not ‑‑ trying to not think that way as much this year, but at the same time, I think that the team has built a couple fast cars, and feel pretty good about where we are at the end of the first day.
 
            Q.  You’ve been out of the car I think since Fontana, or maybe you’ve had a couple refresher or test days.  How hard is it for you to get back in since you’ve been the sidelined person?
            ED CARPENTER:  I don’t know that it’s any different for me than guys coming from the GP yesterday to this.  It’s so different.  The car feels so different from road course spec to oval spec.
            I don’t think that I was at a disadvantage at all.  I’ve done as much oval testing since the last race at Fontana as anybody.  You know, we did two days at Texas and two days at Fontana.  So I don’t really ‑‑ I didn’t feel any rest.  I’m always so excited to get back out on this track, you know, so just glad being here.
 
            Q.  After being in the timing stand for the first four races, do you almost feel like, it’s my turn?
            ED CARPENTER:  Yeah, I feel like I’m back home.  I don’t know what I’m doing on the timing stand all the time.  I’m just trying to stay out of the way and I probably talk more than I should.  But the guys on the team do a great job and they don’t ‑‑ I think I’m a better asset to them in the car than I am standing up on the timing stand.
            So I’m happy to be getting sweaty again.
 
            Q.  You made the comment during the TV broadcast yesterday that the standing starts were yet another ‑‑ with the incident there.  Can you talk a bit about what that has done, whether you think it should be changed?  There is also the issues on a couple restarts, as well.
            ED CARPENTER:  Well, the restarts are a separate issue.  But I think when I look at the standing starts and the series, I can think of maybe two where every car went off the grid.  So I just don’t think that we have all the pieces of technology that we need to do the standing starts.
            It’s not that I’m against standing starts, but you’ve got Juan Montoya stalling, who has probably done more standing starts than anyone in the field with all the years he ran in Formula 1.  They don’t go off well.
            They are exciting when they work, but I think maybe we’ve had only one or two where everyone’s went.  Luckily I stalled on one of them, Charlie stalled on one.  This just happened to be a race where guys stalled up front and it made it even worse.
            But more of the ones we’ve done or not, cars haven’t gone, and I don’t think that we all just don’t know what we’re doing.  It’s really hard to do with the way the system is that we have.
          

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
5-HOUR ENERGY 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 10, 2014
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA COATINGS CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE NIGHT?
“I knew we had a fast race car.  We have been bringing fast race cars every single weekend.  It’s just given me so much confidence in the race cars and the race team.  I have got to thank Axalta Coating Systems they are an awesome sponsor.  When the lights went out we could still see this thing out there.  Of course AARP Drive To End Hunger, Pepsi Max, Valvoline and Chevrolet.  You know Kevin (Harvick) was tough.  He was so strong I did not know if I could hold him off.  I almost didn’t there at the end.  I caught traffic.  The car just got extremely loose on me and he was just coming.  Luckily that was the checkered flag.  I’ve got to say Happy Mother’s Day.  What an amazing Mother’s Day present this is going to be.  I can’t wait to see my wife Ingrid and my mom tomorrow.  It’s going to be an amazing celebration.  What a huge weight lifted off this team’s shoulders.  We have been leading the points but we needed to get to Victory Lane and they proved they were capable of it.  Great job by them.”
 
WHAT WAS THE KEY TO WINNING THIS RACE?
“I think it was overcoming a lot of adversity.  We had a lot of things in the first half of the race that did not go our way.  We knew we had a fast race car.  We weren’t sure if we had as good of a race car as Kevin (Harvick), but I thought if we got in front of him we could hold him off.  Then that last pit stop I mean we cycled out in front of Kevin and it was confusing because there were guys still out there so we were in the lead.  I pulled away from him.  The car was just driving unbelievably and then all of a sudden I started getting extremely loose. He faded but then he kept coming back on me.  Then my car would tighten up and I would go forward again and then he would fade.  We just kept going back and forth, but the key was getting out front and this pit crew and Alan Gustafson and all these engineers, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports they actually won this race.  We have been building up to this all season long.”
 
ON HIS RUN:
“I don’t know what it is about this team, this No. 24 car and us here at Kansas on inaugural nights or days but I love this place, such a great race track.  Some of the best race fans we have, so thanks to them for coming here for a Saturday night race before Mother’s Day.  What an incredible job by this Axalta Coatings Systems No. 24 race team.  I’m just so proud of them.  They have been giving me the best race cars all year long.  I have been having so much fun.  I’m going to be 43 (years old) this year and I feel like I’m 25 again.  That is the way they make me feel.  Credit goes to them not only for the race cars, but the pit stops and just sticking with it tonight.  We had a lot of things that didn’t go our way in the first half and then in the second half we just stuck with it.  We were just grinding it out and then that last pit stop got us out front and it was awesome.”
 
IT LOOKED LIKE FOR YOU GUYS THIS RACE HAD JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING IN IT:
“It really did.  It was great to see the groove widen out and get a top groove going and a bottom groove and a middle groove. It was a lot of fun racing out there.  Kevin (Harvick) was really strong.  I felt like there were times that if I could get in front of him I thought we could keep him behind us and we had to prove that there at the end.  I almost didn’t do it.  Luckily we got to the start/finish line ahead of him, but congratulations to him.
 
“The relationship that we have at Hendrick with Stewart-Haas is a very tight one that we share a lot of information.  Those guys have been so strong.  We have been strong, it’s fun to go out there and race those guys for a win like that.”
 
NOW THAT YOU HAVE THIS WIN ALL THE FRUSTRATION FROM BEING SO CLOSE CAN GO AWAY NOW:
“Well that is where being coming up on 43 (years old) can pay off because I’ve got a lot of patient (laughs).  To me, yeah there were moments of frustration like California when we were leading on the last lap and the caution came out and we finished deep in the field.  That was frustrating.  There have been a few moments this year where it has been frustrating but all in all it’s been more excitement and just pride in the team and just having fun driving fast race cars.
 
“I knew it was just a matter of time.  I didn’t know if it was going to happen tonight I will be honest.  We were kind of catching Kevin (Harvick) there before the last pit stop and then we took four tires and I didn’t know how it was going to all cycle out when we were out in front of them.  I was like ‘boy this is not going to be easy to hold him off.’”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND
REALLY STRONG CAR ALL NIGHT AT THE END DID YOU GO AWAY?  DID JEFF GORDON GET STRONGER?  WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF THAT RACE THAT PUT YOU IN SECOND?
“What put us in second is I just didn’t get down pit road very good there coming to the pit box the second time.  I kind of ran out of gas and I was paying attention to the fuel pressure gauge instead of the pit road speed light.  I lost some time there, but everybody on our Jimmy John’s Chevrolet did a good job.  I found a groove that worked really well there at the end.  I slipped with about eight or nine laps to go.  Just was able to make the ground back up, but not get by.  Congrats to those guys they have been running good all year and glad to see a Chevrolet in Victory Lane.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE/THANKAMILLIONTEACHERS.COM CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
ON HIS RUN:
“It was good.  We had a fast Farmers Insurance Chevrolet.  We got third so that is good it’s the best run we have had in a while.  Felt really good about it, led some laps.  Congrats to Jeff Gordon those guys have been good all season long.  That is awesome that a Hendrick Motorsports car won.  My engine was unreal all night.  My car was really close, we got a little loose there, a little tight before.  It’s a fine line.  It’s so close with everybody that you have to be perfect.  We were pretty close.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 5TH
STRATEGY AND SOME HARD RACING TONIGHT WHAT WORKED FOR YOU TO GET INTO THE TOP-FIVE?
“We had a real good car the first half of the race and was working the top.  I don’t think anybody had any speed like we did up there.  As it got cooler the bottom got faster and we sort of leveled off and we were too tight at the end of the race.  We had been working on front grip all weekend.  I knew it was going to be tough to run well tonight because of how bad the car pushed all weekend.  That really kind of bit us there at the end.  Real happy with the result the guys worked really hard.  This is a brand new car.  I’m happy for Jeff (Gordon) and the whole No. 24 team, Alan (Gustafson) and all the guys they do a great job.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 7TH
WHAT IS THE MOST REWARDING PART OF THIS FOR YOU WITH JUST RUNNING UP FRONT ALL NIGHT LONG AT KANSAS?
“Honestly the most rewarding part of my night was probably when I drove around the outside of the No. 48 on a restart.  That was probably my most rewarding thing of the night. I say that with all the respect in the world.  It’s a big deal because he is Jimmie Johnson.  Aside from that I was really just overall proud that w
e stayed up front all day.  That was the biggest thing.
 
“When the race started it was about finishing the weekend off right and just staying up there.  You know you are going to go up, you are going to go down a little bit and we sure enough did that, but we more than held our own through the whole race.  I’m extremely proud of this crew for building a new car that was just awesome.  It was so good on restarts and long runs and tires getting old.  Hard work pays off and they definitely put the hard work into it.  Obviously really happy for days like today to give back to GoDaddy who has always been behind me and get on TV a little bit.”
 
ON THE RACE AND TOP FINISH
“Honestly the most rewarding part of my night was probably when I drove around the outside of the No. 48 on a restart.  That was probably my most rewarding thing of the night. I say that with all the respect in the world.  It’s a big deal because he is Jimmie Johnson.  Aside from that I was really just overall proud that we stayed up front all day.  That was the biggest thing.  When the race started it was about finishing the weekend off right and just staying up there.  You know you are going to go up, you are going to go down a little bit and we sure enough did that, but we more than held our own through the whole race.  I’m extremely proud of this crew for building a new car that was just awesome.  It was so good on restarts and long runs and tires getting old.  Hard work pays off and they definitely put the hard work into it.  Obviously really happy for days like today to give back to GoDaddy who has always been behind me and get on TV a little bit.
 
“Gibson (Tony, crew chief) did a good job in making changes for the race and it was good from the get-go. And I think what says even more are two things: It was really good on restarts and it was really good when it wasn’t quite right, and really good on long runs. And I think that just goes to show that this is a new car and they built a great one. And we’ve got more of these coming. That’s the even better news. But overall, I’m just proud for the team.
 
Kevin (Harvick) has been a great teammate in helping me out and obviously he was very fast tonight. I am surprised he didn’t win, but congrats to Jeff (Gordon). And I’m happy for GoDaddy who has always been a big supporter of mine, no matter what. And it’s days like today that hopefully it makes them smile and makes it all pay off a little.”
 
YOU SAID KEVIN HARVICK IS A GOOD TEAMMATE. HOW MUCH CREDIT DO YOU GIVE TO THE CONVERSATION YOU HAD WITH HIM THIS WEEKEND TO YOUR PERFORMANCE TONIGHT?
“It definitely paid off in qualifying for sure. And it does pay off in the race, too. But the little things that he gave me advice on for qualifying really worked. That’s the kind of stuff that I was really excited about having when Kevin and Kurt (Busch) came on to the team and having Tony (Stewart) back full time was being able to get those little tidbits from those guys and fast-forward my learning curve instead of having to learn it all myself. So, it’s really cool when you have teammates that are unconditional like that that want to help you. And when everyone is better and we all get better, it pumps the team up and everybody wants it even more.
 
“I guarantee you we’re going work even harder now. It’s not just sitting back. We’re going to work harder because we love where we’re at and this is what we work for. When you taste it you don’t want to let it go.”
 
WHAT DOES THIS DO FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE MOVING FORWARD?
“I’ve always believed in myself. I’ve always believed that in the right situation, that I can do it. And it’s with all respect that these little moments like when you drive by Jimmie Johnson on the outside, stuff like that, that makes me really proud of myself and little moments like that that give me a little bit more confidence.”
 
WHAT WAS THE RACE TRACK LIKE FOR YOU? SOME DRIVERS SAID IT WAS TRICKY
“Oh, it was tricky and you really had to be careful how hard you went into the corner. It was easy to get it to step out on entry. So you had to be a little bit careful. But that’s all part of the game. Turns 1 and 2 are pretty good. For me, I could run any lanes and that really helped me out.”
 
WHEN YOU GOT UP TO THIRD AT THAT ONE POINT, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
“I was like, no yellow! When I was fifth I was thinking this is good, you know? I feel faster then them. They got caught up in traffic in (Turns) 3 and 4 and got checked-up and I got underneath them. But when I’m running third, I’m honestly trying not to think about the fact that I’m running third, and the fact that I’ve been looking at that car in front of me the whole race and I need to go pass that car.
 
“So, it’s probably best really to think about it more like pass the next car for me than being in a place that I’m not normally in. When you just think about it car by car, I think it’s a little bit more calming. The last thing you want to do is get excited out there and start overdriving it and making mistakes.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 10TH
YOU HAD A LOT GOING ON TODAY, BUT CAME OUT OF IT WITH A 9TH PLACE FINISH. WHAT STANDS OUT THE MOST ABOUT THE RACE?
“Overcoming adversity (stands out the most); we didn’t have a clutch in the car so pit stops were limited and track position was a big key. You just really had to grind it out today and then we did and we got a decent finish.”
 
DO YOU THINK THERE WAS ANY WAY YOU COULD HAVE MADE IT TO THE FINISH WITHOUT THE SPLASH & GO STOP FOR FUEL ON LAP 255?
‘Yeah, it didn’t sound like it. I don’t think so. We just didn’t have that optimism on the radio, so I don’t think so. By doing that we were able to get a top ten (finish).
 
JUSTIN ALLGAIER, NO. 51 BRANDT PROFESSIONAL AGRICULTURE CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR CRASH ON LAP 186
HARD HIT, WHAT HAPPENED AND ARE YOU OKAY?
“Yeah I’m fine first of all.  I’m not exactly sure what transpired in front, but the No. 47 (AJ Allmendinger) I think was coming down the race track.  I saw him coming and I tried to squeeze as much as I could to the inside and almost got into the grass.  As soon as he got me I turned back across and I guess David Gilliland is the one that I collected him.  Really unfortunate we had a really strong Brandt Chevy tonight and felt like we had a top 10 car for sure.  I can’t thank all the guys back at HScott Motorsports enough and the guys at the Hendrick chassis shop.  I took a heck of a hit.  I feel good now.  I got the wind knocked out of me a little bit. Definitely not how I wanted to give my wife her first Mother’s Day present or my Mom her Mother’s Day present, but Happy Mother’s Day to them and all the mother’s out there.  We will come back again next week.  We know what we can build on from this week and we had a really fast car like I said so should be good at Charlotte.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS- INVOLVED IN A CRASH ON LAP 150
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I’m not 100 percent sure.  I just entered Turn 3 and I heard a small pop and then just lost all the steering and got into the fence and then knocked the oil lines and everything off which caused the fire.  I’m not sure we didn’t really have any tire issues all weekend.  Keith (Rodden, crew chief) had been kind of reporting to me what the tires looked like after each stop and hadn’t seen any really wear issues at all.  I don’t know if it was just a bad tire or if I ran over something.  Just lost all the air and ended up crashing.”
 
 
 

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
POST RACE
GRAND PRIX OF INDIANAPOLIS
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Driver Helio Castroneves Earns Podium Finish at Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Chevrolet Continues to Lead Series Manufacturer Standings
 
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 10, 2014) – Helio Castroneves led the way for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 contingent in his No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet with a podium finish in the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis.  On his birthday, Castroneves matched his best finish thus far in 2014 with a third-place effort.
 
In a very tight battle in the Verizon IndyCar Series manufacturer standings, Chevrolet continues to lead with four races in the record book.
 
A total of six Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered drivers scored top-10 finishes in the 82-lap/200-mile race. Sebastien Bourdais, No. 11 Mystic E-Cigs KVSH Racing Chevrolet, finished a season-high fourth.  Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Charlie Kimball, No. 83 Novo Nordisk Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, finished fifth followed by Ryan Briscoe finishing sixth in the No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
 
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, continues to lead the championship standings with an eight-place finish on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after also overcoming an infraction..
 
Tony Kanaan, No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet rounded out the Chevrolet V6 power in the top-10 earning a 10th-place finish. 
 
Simon Pagenaud (Honda) was the race winner, and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Honda) completed the podium.
 
Next on the schedule is the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25.  The live ABC television broadcast is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m ET.
DRIVER QUOTES:
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “Sometimes you’re just there and you’re going for it. I guess you just didn’t want to take a chance with the fuel. But at the end of the day, I’m happy with the result. I’m ready for practice tomorrow and I’m ready for the Penzoil car, too.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS:  No. 11 MISTIC E-CIGS KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “I knew this race was going to be a bit of a crash fest and sure enough it turned into one, but I am sure it was exciting to watch. It was one of those days when you feel you have the pace, if you can just keep your front wing on and not get hit you can usually have a good day, a good result and earn strong points and that is what we did. I am really proud of the Mistic E-Cigs crew. They did awesome pit stops and the car was strong. We faded a bit at the end on new tires, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a strong finish and that was what we were shooting for this weekend.” 
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH:  “This is a great day for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing.  My engineer, Brad Goldberg, and my team manager, Tom Wurtz, gave me the right pit stops at the right times and just let me go race the car.  There were so many different strategies going on and all of those yellows made it challenging for our strategy because we had to run hard towards the end just to get back up into the top five after that last stop.  I think without that last yellow at the end we might not have had to fight as hard to get back into the top five and could’ve possibly finished even higher.  Overall, I’m just really happy with the guys. We needed this result, especially with the Indianapolis 500 coming up.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH:   “It’s a really exciting result for us.  I wasn’t confident after we got the penalty in pit lane early on in the race, but we had a couple of really strong restarts and the car just came to us as the rubber went down on the track.  The No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet just got better and better as we went through the race.  I’m really happy with the result from today and it’s just a great way for the NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing crew to roll into the month of May.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH: “ I am disappointed for the No. 12 Verizon guys, as they did a good job in preparing us for the race and we were reasonably fast  in the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.  We thought we were in pretty good shape to win before the penalty.  It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen after restarts.  But we will move forward and look ahead for a better finish at Indy 500.
 
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 LEXAR CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET,  FINISHED 10TH: “Not the day we wanted today but the restarts were really tough and people needed to pay more attention.  I think our cars are improving but now it’s time to turn the page with the Lexar car here for the grand prix and starts having some fun getting ready for the 500.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH:  “It was a tough day for the Target car. We had good pace and got a good start to the inaugural road race here for the Indy cars. The turning point of the race for us was really battling with Power. We had a moment right before I spun where he didn’t give me room, and then the next time he opened the door, closed it, and I locked up the tires and spun. Not the day we wanted obviously but we need to focus on tomorrow and prepare for the 500.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET,
FINISHED 16TH: “We had a winning Verizon Chevrolet today, to be honest. It was very frustrating to have all the problems we had. Got off on the wrong foot at the start. We did what we normally do on a standing start; I dropped the clutch and it just stopped. From there we were behind, but even then we were catching everyone. The lead pack knew we were coming. I really thought we were going to win the race. Then we had the problem in the right rear and lost a lap. That was it. We had a good run but just weren’t able to finish were we should.”
 
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 20TH:  “We had a good start and I started picking my way through some guys.  I went to the right and I heard on the radio that (Sebastian) Saavedra had stalled.  I stayed inside and I could see that the car was stopped.  I went for the spot that was open along the wall.  (Carlos) Munoz was in front of me and he misjudged the space and clipped Saavedra. That moved Saavedra’s car out just enough that there was no enough for me and it caught me.  That put me into the inside wall and we broke the right side suspension, front and rear.  The ECR/Fuzzy’s boys did a great job fixing it. And all I could do was go back out and salvage his points. We tried to learn something with couple of setup changes.  Still need to pick up some speed but it was good to get some points and I think we are in 6th now.” 
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA: NO. 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 23RD:  “I don’t know what happened. As soon as I released the clutch, the revs went from 11,000 RPM to zero, which shouldn’t have happened. I just feel so bad for the entire KV AFS team, the guys worked so hard to give me such a strong race car. It’s amazing how the happiest moment can turn around so quickly. We won’t give up though, we still have a long season ahead and will prepare now for the 500.”  (Started on the pole, but involved in multi-car crash at the line)
 
 
PODIUM PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
An interview with:
HELIO CASTRONEVES
 
THE MODERATOR:  Helio Castroneves, your birthday.  Looked for a moment you were headed towards Victory Lane.  In your mind did you know you were going to have to come in for a stop?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I have to
say Roger did a great job.  The Verizon No. 3 car was actually getting better.  Not having the warmup, it was very difficult because we didn’t know if the setup we did was going to be good or not.
It was good.  I feel we could improve it.  Good job from John and the rest of the Verizon boys.  And off course, Roger, man, the guy knows a great strategy, I tell you.  I didn’t know to be honest what’s the position.  He was just telling me, Push, push, push.  I kind of understood the message.
I was so focused because it was so difficult.  The light was changing.  The track was getting better so you could push a little bit harder on the braking points but at the same time not make any silly mistakes.
I tell you, after Barber and Long Beach, after not having so much good momentum, I want to win as bad as anybody, but it’s a great momentum for the month and the start of the Indy 500.  I can’t wait to go back in the car tomorrow.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll take questions.
Q.        What was your view of the start and how close were you to potentially hitting anything?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I had a great start from 10th.  I didn’t see the guys inside.  I went to the middle, then outside, went for it.  I did not know that Saavedra had an issue or if anybody else had an issue.  The only two guys in front of me, which was Juan Pablo and Tony, I saw they kind of like bubbled a little bit.  Other than that, I didn’t see the rest of it.
 
Q.        Helio, when you came in, you were a breath of fresh air, climbing fences…  Is Simon a breath of fresh air these days?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Absolutely.  Simon has been on the radar already for quite some time.  Last year or the year before he finished close on the championship.  Now he’s winning again.
Certainly Simon has been showing an amazing potential here.  He already won races.  Great effort for them, especially being local here in Indianapolis.
But I think, to be honest, not only Simon, but a bunch of drivers.  It’s been so competitive.  It’s amazing how close it is out there.  You guys don’t realize to finish here on the podium, it’s so difficult.  That’s why it’s great to be here.
 
Q.        Back to the first start with all the chaos, do you think the Dallaras are too sensitive for a standing start?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I agree.  I’m very surprised for what happened today on the start.  This is one of the widest places that we actually go.  To have that kind of scenario…
Yes, it is sensitive.  We don’t do that many because we switch back and forth.  But, I mean, that’s why we’re different.  The IndyCar Series is different because we go street course, road course, short ovals, superspeedway.
 
Q.        (No microphone.)
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  During the practice they allow us to do that, yes.  You have to remember, everything is improving.  If we got to have them, maybe a warmup.
 
Q.        (No microphone.)
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I used the wrong finger (laughter).  Now I’m on probation.  End of the month, please (laughter).
 
Q.        Changing the subject a little bit, how pumped now are you for the 500?  How quickly do you turn your focus to win the next one?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Exactly.  Got to take the moments.  Right now it’s a great moment.  I’m sure my boys are already thinking about what to change.  Like I said, it takes about 12 to 15 hours to convert the road course to oval.  You know what I mean.
Tomorrow is going to be a new day.  I’m wearing different colors, a different suit, just like the month of May.
But it’s great momentum.  At the least your mind is not thinking, I could have done that, this.  At least now you’re focused on the 500.
 
Q.        Today’s race probably had a brutal impact on Indy 500 practice.  There’s going to be guys without cars tomorrow.  We don’t know whether Hinch is going to be able to be cleared to drive.  There’s a lot that happened today putting people behind tomorrow and maybe into Monday or Tuesday.  .
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I think coming over, a lot of teams are prepared for Plan B or C.  You know what I mean?  Those teams are all professional.  It’s tough, yes, but that’s the name of the game.
 
Q.        Do you have a separate car for the 500?  Are you going to try to convert these cars over?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Good question.
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  I heard today this Verizon is going to be a spare car.  But you got to confirm with the team.  I heard that.
 
Q.        We saw an accident on a rolling restart today, typical to St. Petersburg, where the drivers seemed to bunch up.  The leaders slowed up for the start.  The guys from behind came plowing in.  Do you think there should be a change in the procedure?
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  We trying to figure it out, man.  Right now it’s very difficult.  Actually, again, this is the better place to keep most of the people behind.  I think everybody trying to work together.
Right now, yes, there is some areas that maybe needs to be fixed.  In the end of the day we’re still working on it.  Everybody is working together and hopefully we find a solution.
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Why don’t you tell them that in the meetings?
 
THE MODERATOR:  Thank you, guys.
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Thank you.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
5-HOUR ENERGY 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 9, 2014
 
 
CHEVROLET’S KEVIN HARVICK PUTS SS ON THE POLE IN KANSAS
Chevy SS Drivers Occupy 6 of top 10 Starting Positions
 
KANSAS CITY, KS – May 9, 2014 – Kevin Harvick placed his No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS on the pole for the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup race to be held under the lights night at Kansas Speedway.  The pole is Harvick’s second of the season, making him the only driver with two poles in 2014. This is also Harvick’s second pole at the 1.5-mile track.  The driver of the aptly named ‘Freaky Fast’ Chevrolet SS laid down a lap of 27.799 seconds, 194.658 mph, which is a new Kansas Speedway track record.  The qualifying run marks the ninth pole for Chevrolet in 18 qualifying sessions at Kansas.
 
Harvick led five other Chevrolet SS drivers with top 10 qualifying efforts.  Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammates all qualified in the top-10.  Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS qualified sixth, two-time Kansas winner, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS will start eighth followed by Danica Patrick, No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS in ninth.
 
Also demonstrating strong Chevy power in today’s qualifying session was Rookie of the Year Contender Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS, who led all rookies with a fifth-place effort.  This is Larson’s third top-10 start of the season. Larson’s Chip Ganassi teammate, Jamie McMurray in the No. McDonald’s Chevrolet SS, was quick enough to make it to the final qualifying round and ended the session 11th fastest.
 
Joey Logano (Ford) qualified second, Brad Keselowski (Ford) was third and Carl Edwards (Ford) was fourth to round out the top five starters for the 267-lap, 400-mile race night race.
 
There will be 22 Chevrolet SS race cars in the 43-car starting field.
 
The 5-Hour Energy 400 Benefiting Special Operations Warrior Foundation NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway will take the green flag on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. (ET) and will be aired live on FOX.
 
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH (TOP ROOKIE QUALIFIER)
 
POST RACE QUALIFYING TRANSCRIPT:
 
KEVIN HARVICK:
FIRST TIME SINCE 2005 YOU HAVE WON MULTIPLE POLES:
“It’s a miracle that I’ve ever won two in one year anyway.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING SESSION, YOUR CAR, THE WAY THAT YOU ARE RACING, YOU ARE LOOKING GOOD TRYING TO CLAIM YOUR THIRD WIN THIS SEASON:
“Usually when Friday goes well it’s a good sign for the rest of the weekend.  We had a good test as we came here a few weeks ago and felt confident we could go back and tell everybody that we felt really confident in the things that we had in our car.  I think that showed up good in qualifying as an organization today.  Our car was good when we unloaded it off the truck.  Had to make small adjustments here and there to the different tire that they brought, but the guys are just doing a great job.  I’m just the lucky participant that gets to ride in the car and reap the benefits from a good group of guys in an organization that is doing good work.  It’s a lot of fun right now.”
 
WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU FROM THE FRONT NOW?
“We struggled the first three or four weeks in qualifying and just had to sit down as a group and say what do we need to do to get better on Friday’s. Because we were making it a little harder than it needed to be with the cars speed that we had in race trim and putting ourselves in a position where we weren’t getting optimum pit choices.  We were having to go through traffic and do things that were making it harder than it needed to be.  The guys, Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and the engineers have done a great job in evaluating the set-up’s.  Now they don’t resemble a whole lot of race trim in general as we go and change it for qualifying trim.  I think as a group nobody’s ego is too big to say that we aren’t doing something right.  They aren’t scared to tell me if something is not right from the driver’s seat.  I think the communication is great and everybody is doing a good job in working together.  I think that goes a long ways to seeing the gains that we have made in qualifying from about week four on.”
 
DID YOU ALL DEBRIEF BEFORE THE QUALIFYING SESSION? 
“We did debrief after the practice sessions.  We try to do that every week.  Danica (Patrick) and I talked for about an hour and 15 minutes today about everything that was going on.  She obviously did a great job in qualifying and just basically just needed to quit thinking about it and smash the gas.  That is what she did.  She’s done a great job in trying to take in all the information and I think all the teams have been communicating well and I think we are probably closer this weekend on Friday and in race trim than we have been anywhere that we have gone so far.  The communication is good right now and all of us get along well so that makes things a lot easier and we can talk openly about what we think about what is going on, on the race track.”
 
ARE YOU CONCERNED AT ALL WITH THE TIRE ACTING THE WAY IT IS WHAT THE RACING IS GOING TO BE LIKE TOMORROW NIGHT?
“I think we should straighten something out first.  I think that the race track has put the tire in the position that it is in with the fresh asphalt.  I think we ran a lot of laps here at the test and Goodyear came back and the track has taken a tremendous amount of rubber.  I’ve already run several laps above the first seam.  There are already two grooves of rubber on the race track and feel like for taking in all the data and all the things that we did from the test and as fast as we were wearing tires out at the test they did a good job in bringing it back.  The speeds are going to be high. There is not going to be a lot of fall off in the tires.  There are going to some tire strategy games, but there is just no way around that when you repave these race tracks.  There is nothing wrong with the tire.  I’ve been telling them for a while now that you need bigger rocks in the asphalt if you want the tires to wear out. Otherwise Goodyear has to protect everybody against themselves and make the tire harder so that it doesn’t wear out because the speeds are so high.  It’s a catch 22. You’ve got to repave these race tracks when there is stuff wrong with them, but I think we could do a better job with the asphalt itself.”
 
WOULD YOU EXPECT THEN THAT THE RACE TOMORROW NIGHT WON’T BE LIKE THE LAST TWO RACES?
“Well the tire wear is low.  We couldn’t give you a fair or honest opinion about what is going to happen when they drop the green flag. I don’t think it’s going to be like it was when they dropped the green flag last fall here, but I think that the cars are not going to handle like they have been by themselves in a single file line.  The handling is going to be different, but I mean qualifying today was two seconds faster than race pace basically.  Well a second and a half faster than race pace.  The speed is probably going to be about the same as it was in practice, but it could be a little bit faster it could be a little bit slower.  I don’t think anybody really knows exactly where that is going to go and what the speeds are going to be and how much it’s going to fall off.  It’s going to fall off some, but it’s not going to be much.”
 
 
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH
“It was a really good day for the Target Chevy team. Our first run out I think we were in the twenties and then went back out and ended up se
cond in the first round. We just made small adjustments to keep up with the track or the tires had changed a little bit. So, it had lots of grip and we had a good run there. We’re proud to start in the top 5 here and hopefully we’ll have a good race tomorrow.”
 
WHEN CHAD KNAUS COMES OVER THE RADIO AND SAYS TO JIMMIE JOHNSON THAT HE MIGHT WANT TO FOLLOW THE NO. 42’s LINE, WHAT DOES THAT SAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH IN SUCH A SHORT TIME?
“I don’t know. I always seem like I’m running a different line than somebody. So, I guess that’s pretty cool. Jimmie has accomplished a bunch and Chad is one of the best out there too, so to have teams like that paying attention to our No. 42 team says a lot about how well our cars are running right now. We’ve just got to keep it up and try to be in front of those guys.”
 
YOU ARE KNOWN NOW AS THE GUY WHO JUMPS TO THE TOP REAL QUICK. CARL EDWARDS SAID THE SPEEDS ARE SO GREAT THAT THE GROOVE IS NARROW. DO YOU FEEL WITH THE SPEEDS THE WAY THEY ARE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GET TO THE TOP?
“The speeds are high and I was talking to Ricky Stenhouse who also like to run at the top and he said he was up into the third groove at this race last year. So, I guess it just depends on how the night racing is tomorrow. Hopefully it widens out some. I thought (Turns) 1 and 2 widened out pretty well just in the two Cup practices and (Turns) 3 and 4 are still pretty narrow but I imagine that will widen out. It seemed like it did last year when I ran the Nationwide race. I don’t know. I think for a freshly repaved track this is a pretty exciting place. The groove already seems wider than it is at Michigan or somewhere like that that’s been repaved.”
 
ON HOW HIS CREW CHIEF KEEPS HIM CALM DURING A RACE
“I think we’re both always calm. After the first lap at Richmond I was a little stressed out. I was calm after that and decided to go to work and I think both of us have similar personalities and maybe the thinks I get stressed out but I don’t a whole lot. But it’s good to have a guy like that that kind of talk to you a little bit and try to keep you more calm than you already are. I think we work well together and we’re just going to keep growing as a team and start running even better than we are.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
5-HOUR ENERGY 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 9, 2014
 
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
ON WINNING THE POLE:
“Just have to thank everybody on my Jimmy John’s Chevrolet for all that they do.  It was ‘Freaky Fast’ today so just have to put it all together tomorrow night when it counts. The pole is great, these guys have done a great job for qualifying.  It makes life a lot easier when you can have pit stall one.  Hopefully we can have a good night tomorrow night, but the weekend has gone good we had a great test here a few weeks ago and everything has carried right over.”
 
CAN YOU SENSE THE SPEED THAT YOU GUYS ARE GOING FASTER THAN YOU GUYS HAVE EVER GONE HERE AT KANSAS?  
“It feels like you go faster through the corner than it does down the straightaway just because of that sensation of speed.  As soon as you hit the banking it feels like the car accelerates.  You can definitely feel the speed, but that has kind of been the way that these Gen-6 cars have been since we have had them on the race track this year.  It’s been fun.”
 
THAT CAR LOOKS FAST, NO OTHER WORD FOR IT.
“Yeah ‘Freaky Fast’.  I just have to thank everybody on my Stewart-Haas race team and everybody from Jimmy John’s, Budweiser and Outback for all the effort that they put into this car.  My qualifying record hasn’t been great, but they have really done a good job at getting our qualifying stuff situated after the first four or five weeks to the season to come here and sit on the pole.  I thought I had screwed it up.  I never got through (Turns) three and four like (Turns) one and two.  I felt like I got through (Turns) one and two all three laps pretty good, but three and four was a little bit too tight. I got a little bit concerned, but all in all it worked out okay.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA COATINGS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 13TH
IT’S TRICKY JUST TO GET THE TIMING RIGHT
“Yeah, I’m probably most disappointed in the first run out because I thought it was a good lap and I obviously didn’t push it hard enough; didn’t drive it well enough to get us in that first time. And when we had to go back out and put extra laps on the tires and extra heat in the tires, it just affected us from that point forward. I’m disappointed in that. I’m disappointed that we didn’t go faster. I really thought in practice we had a car that would have easily qualified in the top 24 for that first round and made it into round 2 just to start working on how we could sit on the pole and be in the top five. I did not expect to be here in 13th or 14th. It was certainly tight; really tight. It was unbelievable the times and how tight they were and how much faster it was. Our car is really good, but I thought it was going to be better than that.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 14TH
ASSESS WHERE YOU GUYS WERE AT WITH YOUR QUALIFYING SESSION:
“It’s definitely an improvement over the last couple of weeks.  We will look at the positive there and take that.  We felt like we had a car to get to the final round and just came up short.  I ran my fastest lap of the weekend so far, but it wasn’t enough to get us there.  We have got to do a little more work in qualifying trim to get it, but I feel really good about our Lowe’s Chevrolet.  We have been very strong in practice and tomorrow night’s race is going to be different.  It’s the first time under the lights for everybody here.  So we will learn a lot tonight watching the truck race and then go racing tomorrow.”
 
DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT THAT MEANS RACING UNDER THE LIGHTS?  DO YOU HAVE A HUNCH OF WHAT THAT WILL MEAN OR IS IT KIND OF A WILD CARD?
“We kind of get trends that certain tires show us and certain surfaces, but still until you get out there and live it and experience it for yourself you are just guessing until then.”
 
WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE KEY TO WINNING THIS RACE?
“I don’t know.  Nobody has been here at night before.  So we will all learn a lot watching the truck race.  We will just kind of take it as it comes.  The car has been driving good.  I hate that we didn’t advance to the final round, but definitely an improvement of where we have been the last couple of weeks in qualifying.  We will go racing.  We have a really fast car so I’m looking forward to tomorrows race.”   
 
JUSTIN ALLGAIER, NO. 51 BRANDT PROFESSIONAL AGRICULTURE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 18TH
ON THE CHALLENGES OF THE QUALIFYING SESSION
“I think the biggest challenges are that it was super hot and sunny in our practice session. The sun is going down now and obviously the race tomorrow night is at night. Every time we went on the track in practice, we slowed down because it was so hot. And then in qualifying we ran six or seven runs and we got faster every time and my fastest lap was my last lap. It’s definitely an interesting dynamic but such an incredible race track.”
 
HOW’S THE CAR FOR TOMORROW
‘Our Brandt Chevy is pretty good in race trim. We felt like our qualifying trim was going to be questionable as to where we were going to end up. So, to come out of here with a career best starting spot of 18th, and to know that we’ve got a really good car for the race, I think that’s really good. But, we’re all kind of shooting in the dark I guess if you will because we’re going into a night race and none of us have ever raced here at night. So, I think we’re all looking at this qualifying session and how we’ve gone faster each time and we know that tomorrow night’s race is just going to be absolutely insane speeds. So that’s going to be cool.”
 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 19TH
“I think it was pretty cool to see people go faster as you ran on tires. Our car was decent. We got better and better. It was a bigger improvement from practice to qualifying for us as a team. I was happy with that. We’ll just have to find some speed at these other tracks we’re going to. We are a little off I feel like. (Ryan) Newman was good and that’s good for RCR. We’ll just have to look at his stuff and ours and see if we can change a few things for the race.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 22ND
STEVE LETARTE SEEMED PRETTY POSITIVE ON WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE LEARNED NOT ONLY IN KNOCK-OUT QUALIFYING TODAY BUT ALSO EARLIER TODAY IN RACE TRIM:
“Yeah I liked the car in race trim a lot, but we needed a lot of left-front grip and then when we went into qualifying trim we were way off and really slow, about three-quarters of a second off.  We made a lot of changes in between that last practice and this qualifying session.  It helped the car a lot, but we still need to find some more. We need a little more speed and then that is all in the front-end of the car and once we get the car turning a little bit better it will be alright.  I don’t know it is going to be real hard to pass here, but our car was moving up the race track in practice and liking it.  I like the fact that we are going to have more than one option as far as grooves in the race I think.”
 
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 26TH
JUST MISSED IT 26TH FASTEST WHAT HAMPERED YOU THE MOST?
“We were just too tight.  We fought it all day long, haven’t really been able to make any difference with the car.  We have been struggling a little bit.  We ran three laps.  We made three runs that were all within like four one thousandths.  Just all we have had today, just too tight got to get to work on it tonight.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 9TH:
“Our whole camp was s
tellar today and that’s definitely a tribute to everybody at SHR. It was a great effort across the board, and I’m so proud of all our guys. Our runs in the GoDaddy Chevy in each of the sessions were really consistent. I think for me, the biggest thing has been listening to my teammates – Kevin (Harvick), Kurt (Busch) and Tony (Stewart) – and taking their advice. We had our meeting before qualifying, and I think that was a big help. I learn a lot when I talk to them, and I took what they said today and used it on my laps and I think it showed. It was definitely a good day.”

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
SATURDAY QUALIFYING
GRAND PRIX OF INDIANAPOLIS
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
 
Sebastian Saavedra Put Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Power on the Pole for the Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 10, 2014) – Sebastian Saavedra put Chevrolet IndyCar V6 power on the pole for the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Piloting the No. 17 KV AFS Racing Chevrolet, the 23 year-old Colombian negotiated both wet and dry conditions to capture his career-first Verizon P1 Award in the Verizon IndyCar Series career.
 
Additional Team Chevy drivers advancing to the Firestone Fast Six were Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet –qualified fifth, and Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – qualified sixth.
 
The remaining drivers in the top-six qualifiers were Jack Hawksworth (Honda), Ryan Hunter-Reay (Honda) and Simon Pagenaud (Honda).
The inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 10 with live television coverage on ABC.  The live IMS Radio broadcast will be available on Sirius and XM channels 209 and www.indycar.com. Race timing and scoring can also be found on

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
5-HOUR ENERGY 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 9, 2014

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 KWIKSET CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed track conditions, tires, his race team’s current program, and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
“On pure raw speed here at this race track, this Kwikset Chevrolet has grip and just pure raw speed. I think it’s the fastest we’ve ever been here; at least it feels like it to me here at this race track. So, it’s a new opportunity for me this weekend with the Kwikset Chevrolet. They are the leader in retail home security with respect to locks and I’m just proud to represent them and hopefully get them in Victory Lane.’
 
DID YOU RUN ANY EXTENSIVE RUNS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TIRE?
“I think our longest run was 10 laps. Based on our tire wear, everything looks really good. There have been a lot of question marks with respect to tires and durability at different race tracks. The speeds that we have here put us at risk no matter what. I think they (Goodyear) have at least, at this point, made a good decision on the tire they brought.”
 
NOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE TRACK FOR PRACTICE, WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS RACE IS GOING TO BE LIKE?
“The track has got to widen-out. And I don’t necessarily see the trucks widening the track a whole lot, so I think it will be more a matter of how much rubber we get. I’m not exactly sure. With a 6:30 p.m. start time, the sun will still be out and there is a chance to put a little bit of rubber on the track and hopefully that will make a big difference. When we’re out there, it’s barely two grooves wide now. I’m saying two car widths, not two grooves.
 
“So it’s really going to be dictated by that. Once we widen out the race track and have double-file restarts and that part of it. I just don’t see the trucks really making the track that much wider just because of their speed and the quantity and quality of the trucks that are out there.”
 
SINCE THE REPAVE, THE RACING HAS BEEN DIFFERENT HERE BECAUSE THE TIRES HAVE BEEN SO EDGY. DO YOU THINK THIS TIRE AT LEAST MAKE FOR BETTER HANDLING SO YOU DON’T THINK YOU ARE ON EDGE ALL THE TIME?
“Yeah, we’re only on edge because of raw speed and what we’re doing with our race cars to make them that fast. It’s not going clear back to the days of Charlotte and Vegas when the tracks were repaved and you were gripping the steering wheel for all your life to get the first couple of laps in because you were going to spin out; and the more you ran, the tighter you got. It doesn’t see to be so much that. But, it was within a tenth or two on sticker tires versus hot scuffs, so like I said, everything points to it being the right choice.”
 
NOW THAT YOU ARE ON A NEW TEAM, HOW DO YOU PREPARE TO MAINTAIN YOUR SUCCESS AT THE CHARLOTTE TRACK?
“Well, the 600 to me is like the Southern 500. It’s one of those races that I haven’t won that would really mean a whole lot to win. Having won at Charlotte in the Nationwide car as well as the All-Star race, I know that I can get the job done. And we were close last year. I think we finished sixth. I think we had a bad re-start there at the end and got hung-up on the line that didn’t go, which has happened quite a few times to me this year. But, hopefully that’ll flip-flop and average out and we could have some good restarts and put ourselves in contention at the end of the race. It’s a fun race track. It’s so much different (in) Turns 1 and 2 versus (Turns) 3 and 4; you really have to approach the race track a little bit differently. But in saying that, it’s so fast that you really can’t waste much time thinking about how you approach it.”
 
WITH YOUR ENGINEERING BACKGROUND, DO YOU KEEP A KEEN EYE WHEN TRACKS GO THROUGH HARSH WINTERS AND NEED TO BE REPAVED OR PATCHED? THEY HAD A HARSH WINTER IN KANSAS THIS YEAR
“Yes, as an engineer I always think of those things. But I don’t think you get the harsh winters here as you get harsh weather at for instance, Talladega. It has aged more because of the sun in the summer. And I think the race track here just gets covered-up with the snow and it just sits. It’s insulated. It’s got a jacket on all winter. So yeah, I think they’ve done a lot technology-wise, to help control the heave of the asphalt and it not getting bumpy as we expected it would as maybe the last repave or two repaves ago compared to what we’ve experienced at other race tracks. To me, I think that tracks that are up north kind of get that shelter from the snow that helps them get through the winter. They have hot summers here, but if you look at a place like Talladega, which to me has aged quicker than some of the other race tracks. The heat is more of a factor with respect to the oils and the aggregate that it affects the way that the race track ages.”
 
TEN RACES IN, WE’VE HAD EVERYTHING BUT ROAD COURSES SO FAR. AS A NEW TEAM, WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AS FAR AS YOUR PROGRAM GOES RIGHT NOW?
“Performance-wise, I think we’ve been really good. We haven’t been the fastest and we’re not leading the most laps or anything like that, but we’re putting ourselves in contention. What we haven’t done is seal-up the contention that we were holding; just that follow-through. I don’t want to call it ‘execution’; I want to call it the ‘follow-through’ of where we are. And finishing it off hasn’t been 100 percent or as good as I think it should or could be. So, when we’re running 7th, we finish 10th. And when we’re running 5th, we finish 7th.
 
“We just need to shine-up the performance a little bit with respect to finishing it and not just how we’re running in the middle of the race. So, outside of that it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been a good experience (of) me being the plug ‘n play guy in an organization that has so much experience. I feel like we have the tools and the things that we need to have to be successful. We just have to show it.”
 
ON A TRACK LIKE THIS THAT IS PRETTY FRESHLY PAVED AND THAT HAD SOME TIRE PROBLEMS LAST YEAR, WOULD YOU HAVE LIKED TO SEE A NIGHT PRACTICE SESSION AT SOME POINT THIS WEEK?
“A night practice you said? It doesn’t really matter. You typically like to see a practice that matches up with your race time, but in the end it really doesn’t matter. It’s a guessing game either way. It’s a guessing game how much the trucks are going to affect the race track after we get done qualifying, you know? I don’t think it really matters in the grand scheme of things. I don’t think it changes the outcome of the performance of the race if you look at the package as a whole from the grandstands.”
 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
5-HOUR ENERGY 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 9, 2014
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed racing both the Indy 500 and the Coke 600 on Memorial Day weekend, his physical fitness routine to prepare, the busy schedule, and more.
 
ON TALKING TO TONY STEWART ABOUT DOING THE ‘DOUBLE’
“He said you know the IndyCars have less horsepower. They have less pick-up, acceleration, and feel even though the cars weigh 1500 pounds, IndyCars don’t accelerate like stock cars do. So you have to look ahead. You have to anticipate. You have to digest what’s happening in front of you when guys get side-by-side, how quick you’re going to catch them.”
 
ON THE PACES FOR NEXT WEEK
“That all starts on Thursday to Friday of next week. Andretti Autosport and the way that we’re going to go through our paces next week, most of the practice runs are in race trim for the Indy 500.”
 
ON INDY 500 QUALIFYING
“That’s a nice gift so to speak. We still don’t want to be part of bump day or in that lower half of the field or lower third. So, to me it still is following Andretti Autosport’s lead even if we had a threat of having to qualify in, I’d be leaning on every bit of experience from them. But it will be nice not to have to worry about getting bumped out.”
 
WHAT SURPRISED YOU THE MOST?
“I would say the open arms and the feel in the paddock of the IndyCar guys and team owners and other sponsors and the drivers; it’s been an amazing welcome to our garage area.”
 
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF TRAINING?
“I think it’s going to be upper-body strength. On the physical side of it, my hands have been very sore after each of the practice sessions just from the death grip on the wheel. I need to relax more and just let the car come to me instead of me forcing the car. So, it’s just getting comfortable with the driver controls and knowing where everything is around me.”
 
HAS DANICA PATRICK BEEN HELPFUL?
“I was going to talk to Danica this weekend and I still have more race review tape to watch, so it’s like doing homework after all my practice as well.”
 
DID YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH ROOKIE ORIENTATION?
“Yes, it’s been a good confidence builder all through the few days I’ve been in the car. And Andretti Autosport had done a tremendous job in allowing me to roll as a rookie and to feel the comfort levels each time we go out in the car and not overstep anything that’s asked me to do too much as a newbie.”
 
ON LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DOUBLE
“The excitement is building up. It’s been great all this whole month. Just over the past year of putting two competitive contracts together, I have a chance to win with an Andretti Autospot car and I’ve got a chance to win the Coke 600 with a Stewaart-Haas car. At the end of the day there still is a full second half of this double. There’s a stock car race. There’s a 600-mile event where I’ll be driving the Haas-Automation Chevy and this team here that I’m with, they’re rooting me on but I still have my job to do when I show up. And there has to still be a lot of focus around the stock car side of this.”
 
WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE GOING TO BE LIKE FOR YOU?
“We have a pretty straightforward schedule on the IndyCar side. It’s very different than our scheduled practices in stock-car-land. What’s happening on the IndyCar side is the track is hot every day from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. So I’m on call every day, 12 to 6 pm. Andretti Autosport has their sequence of schedule on when we’re going to go out on the track and that’s been given to me. And we have more time than we do tires over there on that side of the garage.
 
“We have our practice sessions all planned out already. So it’s neat to have a mindset to know where we’ll be and what needs to be done on both sides of the garage area. Mother Nature ultimately is in change. She is dishing out a little bit more of a percentage chance of rain early in the week. And then it’s cool conditions with very consistent conditions Friday and Saturday next week up in Indy.”
 
WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO GETTING AROUND KANSAS?
“This place is fast and it’s a matter of getting the car setting into the corner the right way to where you don’t lose a lot of speed getting back to the gas. I see the way the test speeds have shown, we’re probably not going to be out of the gas all the way. And so we’re going to be holding a lot of throttle in the car, and hopefully the car doesn’t step out on you. With the wind direction here, that changes; looks like today we have a wind blowing towards Turn 2. That will make Turn 2 the toughest corner when you cross over into a headwind.”
 
ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR EFFECTS OF THIS BEING A NIGHT RACE?
“It will be just that much faster. The tires might take a little bit to come in with temperature. I see us pitting with two stops to go for tires and then that last stop will probably just be for fuel only. So we’ll have heat in the tires on that last pit stop.”
 
HAVE YOU LOST ANY WEIGHT SINCE YOU STARTED TRAINING?
“I’ve bulked up a little bit just with muscle mass. I’ve gained about three pounds. It’s been a noticeable slight difference.”
 
HAVE YOU TALKED TO JUAN PABLO MONTOYA?
“I haven’t talked to Juan. I think Juan will be a smart guy to talk to, based off of his transition from NASCAR to IndyCar just in the last six months. He was there on my rookie orientation day, but I was in the car and all the drivers were outside telling jokes. It was a great group that was there to support me for my rookie orientation.”
 
WHAT MAKES IT A SUCCESSFUL ‘DOUBLE’?  FINISHING BOTH RACES, WINNING ONE OF THEN, OR WHAT?
“I think finishing both races. That’s just a quick honest answer. I’d love to finish in the top half of the field at Indy. I’d love to stay out of trouble all day and just experience it all. But once this week gets further down the road, I think with just the comfort level that I will gain, I’ll want more. But right now, it’s a matter of just finishing both races. Eleven hundred miles is tough to do.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR EMOTIONS AND THIS GETS CLOSER?
“Each day I wake up it’s like its now, it’s here, and I’m giving it my best. And right now I have a couple hours of NASCAR practice on this Friday to dial our car in for race trim and qualifying trim, and then we’ll probably go back to race trim to finish. It’s just me going into that compartmentalized component of what has to happen every session or every time I’m in the car.”
 
ON GETTING BACK AND FORTH, INDIANAPOLIS TO CONCORD
“Cessna has been phenomenal. They orchestrate all the logistics to fly me back and forth. The team here, Stewart-Haas has been through this before, and the Andretti Autosport guys know that my day job at the end of the day is the Coke 600. So it’s been fun. The balance of both race teams, the practice sessions, learning a new IndyCar and then still coming back here to my comfort zone, which is the NASCAR garage and driving the No. 41 car.”
 
INAUDIBLE
“It’s a matter of still just pacing myself. The 600, you don’t as a driver get too excited about that the sunshine’s out anyway. It will be the first 100 -200 miles that we just have to log laps with anyway. And at the end of the day I’ve got Monster Energy to help me out. If I need to get jacked-up, I’ll just chug a can. And we’ll do this. It’s been a lot of fun to push myself through training, to work some marshal arts thought processes as well. I hope that the IndyCar thing goes smoothly. I don’t need to be in a wreck or have my laps cut short up in Indy because it would be a disappointment in all the effort and training that I’ve given it.”
 
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WORKOUT ROUTINE?
“A no
rmal workout would be strength training with lifting weights, getting on the treadmill, and then running a half hour. Half of that half hour might have been a strong walk to a strong run. I’m running to the gym, so it’s a mile and a half there and a mile and a half back. When I’m there, we keep my heart rate up above 140 and I track that with my Basis watch, which has allowed me to download my workouts and to see the actual results. And to have information downloaded on graphs is neat to be able to see that. Running, the amount of time engaged with my heart rate elevated, learning more about nutrition and having the foods that I eat release the energy into my body in the right way. It’s just been a lot of fun to get into more depth in all areas. And I feel like that’s going to help me, being 35 years old here in the Cup garage, with another strong ten years. Ramping up this format is going to carry and prolong my activity level here in the Cup garage.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
5-HOUR ENERGY 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 9, 2014
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kansas Speedway and discussed not having a win in 2014, the potential to change up the All-Star format and many other topics. Full Transcript:
 
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO YOUR FANS WHO MIGHT BE CONCERNED THAT YOU HAVEN’T WON YET? 
“Until we are not locked in I mean there is nothing to worry about.  Where we sit in points right now we are locked in.  Of course we want to win; we want to win every race we go to.  We have been in the ballpark and have been very close to victory a couple of times and it got away.  Yes, there have been some poor performances.  We are trying to raise that.  I don’t think that we are where we want to be as a team right now, but we have had a few looks at wins and I know we will get a few more.  We just need to capitalize on that.  If not, points still matter.  There is a bigger window to make the Chase today than there was last year.  Last year was 12, this year it’s 16.  I don’t think there is anything to stress out about yet.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE SPIN LAST WEEK AND YOU AND CHAD (KNAUS) AND THE TENSION OR HOW YOU GET OVER THAT. 
“Really last week was just plate racing.  We had a very fast race car and felt like a car that I could create opportunities to pass and win.  Was very pleased with how the day was going.  We got caught up in the first big wreck and did some damage to the car.  After that the second wreck was me spinning out. I’m still assuming with the right side damage we had on the car that was a big factor as to why I just spun out.  We fixed the car from there and I was racing through the field again.  I got clobbered at the start/finish line taking the white flag and broke the right-front suspension.  So it is just plate racing.  It’s easy to write it off as to plate racing when the championship is not on the line at Talladega.  When we go back in the fall it’s a much different race for us all.  Our big thing is lets at least see the white flag.  If we make it to the white flag we are happy.  Dale, Jr. has kind of instilled that in our race shop.  We saw the white flag so I was cool.”
 
INAUDIBLE:
“We are going.  I mean Chad (Knaus, crew chief) isn’t happy unless we are winning races we all know that.  He certainly has had some sleepless nights.  We tested last week at Nashville.  We are working hard.  Chad doesn’t have an outbound filter.  When he hits the button or when he speaks there is nothing slowing down his honest opinion.  13 years of working with him it’s family.  That stuff doesn’t bother me.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE WAY BRAD KESELOWSKI WAS RACING LAST WEEK AT TALLADEGA?  I WANT TO GET THE VETERANS PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT THE CODE IS AND YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT DID TRANSPIRE THERE:
“It’s a tough position to be in.  You have to think being six laps down you are not going to get back on the lead lap.  There is an opinion you are on the race track you deserve a right to go race regardless how many laps down you are.  I’m sure that is probably a smaller percentage of people have that opinion.  It’s very easy when you are caught up in that wreck is to go ‘why were you racing, you are six laps down’.  It just depends on where you are.  If you are a No. 2 fan or Brad (Keselowski) you are probably over here.  If you are one of the drivers’ the fan base that was caught up in the wreck you are probably in the majority in thinking it wasn’t right to race then.  Six laps down, me personally I would have just been riding and tried to save our race car from getting torn up.  Just sit there at the back of the pack.”
 
FROM A RESPECT POINT OF VIEW DOES BRAD NEED TO EARN MORE RESPECT NOW BECAUSE OF WHAT DID TRANSPIRE?  OR IS THIS JUST WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE?
“Nobody intentionally tries to crash and take out other race cars.  I personally think that what happened in Talladega just falls into that restrictor plate bucket that we just kind of overlook a lot of things that take place at plate tracks.  Then you move on and you go to a normal downforce track and race.  Yes, cars were crashed, but it’s not like, just using Brad as an example.  It’s not like he went into the corner and just dumped somebody and there is going to be retaliation for a move like that.  It is plate racing and you just again throw it in the plate bucket and move on.”
 
WHAT ARE YOU AND YOUR TEAM DOING TO GAIN ANOTHER VICTORY IN THE ALL-STAR RACE AND USING THAT RACE TO HELP YOU IN THE COKE 600?
“We have been able to get the All-Star portion under control the last few years.  We lacked a little bit in the 600 although we still had decent finishes.  You race that is the fun thing about it.  You don’t have the pressure of championship points or now a race win to make the Chase weighing on your shoulders.  You can be more aggressive with set-up’s.  You can be more aggressive with the engine package.  You can be more aggressive with how you drive, pit stop calls, going over the wall, just all those things.  It just gives us a chance to be freer with decisions that we make.  That is fun.  The big prize at the end of the day it’s one of our best paying races and mama can buy a lot of shoes after you win that race (laughs).”
 
ONCE A TEAM REACHES A CERTAIN LEVEL OF SUCCESS AND YOU GUYS HAVE OBVIOUSLY SET THE BAR REALLY HIGH.  WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES AT MAINTAINING THAT SUCCESS?
“Successful teams can sometimes be their own worst enemy with expectations that are set in that respect.  We have been through dry spells before.  A 10-12 race dry spell isn’t a very long one period.  We have set an expectation that is less than that.  I get it.  I understand if we didn’t have any looks at wins this year I would have a much different opinion.  I still feel that we are extremely competitive and I feel as an individual I’m a better race car driver today than I was last year.  I just keep learning more and experiencing more and add that to my repertoire of things to do.  Our team is as strong as it has ever been. Our teammates are all running very well this year.
 
“Our relationship with Stewart-Haas those cars are quick.  Everything is there we just need to own this new rules package and find the No. 48 set-up in it.  That is what we are searching for.  Some tracks we have been close others not so much, but our drive to compete it really exists within Chad (Knaus) as an individual and me as an individual.  That hasn’t changed one bit. We are still as hungry as we have ever been.  There is no guarantee that success will be as it was in the past, but we are going to show up and give 100 percent each week.  I know we will win our fair share of races.  We will make Chases and certainly be a threat for championships.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE FIRST TIME NIGHT RACING AT KANSAS, WHAT APPROACH AND WHAT CHALLENGES IS THERE ON A TRACK FOR THE FIRST TIME AT NIGHT?
“We know we are going to pick up grip.  Some tracks lean towards more front percentage.  Other tracks it’s more rear percentage.  Don’t know why, but the balance changes.  Some tracks we know as the night wears on you are going to get looser.  That is probably more of the standard, but there are a few tracks that go the other way.  We will kind of take our best guess moving forward and look at past notes and when the track surface is cool where the balance is.  Through our day practice sessions take that into consideration as we set-up for the race.  We are back on a tire that
we are familiar with.  The new surface has had a few races on it, so I don’t think there is going to be any big concerns or questions pop up.
 
“It’s just about sorting out the new rules package and getting to work.  I think night racing is great for our fan base.  It’s tough for the teams and drivers because we are so used to a Sunday format and what happens.  We sit around a lot in the morning.  The crew goes to work and the drivers sit and wait and then it’s finally time to go.  If the fans are smiling and hopefully they will show their support by coming out and tuning in Saturday night on television.”  
 
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO POINT’S RACE?
“There are instances where you are wrecked and you work hard to get your car back on the race track to advance ahead of other people that crash or break or pull out so you are trying to get every point then.  If you are protecting something you can point’s race at that point and maybe give 98 percent instead of 100 in a situation.  I still think that is pretty rare, especially with the Chase format at the end of the year.  You need every point you can get if it’s even leading a lap.  I would say it kind of really fits the back side and when you have a crash or some type of mechanical it’s important to get back out on the track to get every point you can then and kind of slow the bleeding down for that weekend.”
 
DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON THE ALL-STAR FORMAT?  HOW THEY MIGHT CAN CHANGE OR IMPROVE IT TO CREATE MORE LAST LAP DRAMA?
“If they have us run the first two segments going the correct direction and then the final segment we run backwards (crowd erupts in laughter).  That is about the only thing we haven’t tried.  Every year it’s a different format.  I don’t know, but that could work. Or we just run the short track, the small track.  Run the first two heats on the big track and then run the small track at the end.  Or the road course, hell, shoot us through the road course. I mean it hasn’t been from a lack of effort.  I can’t think of the 13 years I’ve gone in racing the All-Star event there has ever been the same thing each year.  I respect and I say all that not trying to knock the track or the format, but we try.  There is unfortunately a level of competition that there are some facts that the fastest always finds its way to the front.  We also know that the faster we go the harder it is to pass.  Charlotte is a very fast race track so the groove gets narrower and narrower so there are some things we just can’t overcome I feel.  Unless we mix it up and run it backwards or run the short track.” 
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
5-HOUR ENERGY 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 9, 2014
 
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KINGSFORD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kansas Speedway and discussed last weekend’s finish at Talladega, his season thus far and many other topics. Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN LAST WEEK AT TALLADEGA:
“I was just happy to roll the car back onto the hauler with all the tires on it still.  I have not had good luck there so I tried to do everything that race that I thought was right to put myself in a smart position to at least finish the race.  And then hopefully have a good finish at the end.  That last restart starting on the bottom I had a lot of help with Paul Menard.  His car was really fast.  All the RCR cars and the ECR motors were fast.  He hooked up with me and a couple of those gaps opened up.  It was like the seas parted for us on the restart and got to fifth.  I’m not sure if I would have had a shot if the yellow didn’t come out.  I had a run coming to the white flag, but Paul (Menard) wasn’t clear at that point, so I didn’t want to move up.  But overall to have a top-five finish at Talladega, have the car roll back in the hauler no scratches on it, good day and good momentum.”
 
YOU AND THIS TEAM HAVE REALLY PROGRESSED THIS SEASON.  WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS GOING TO A RACE LIKE THE COCA-COLA 600?  WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO GET THE NO. 47 TEAM IN THE ALL-STAR RACE NEXT WEEK?
“I try to take it one weekend at a time.  I’m really proud of this race team right now.  It’s good with the way we are running, all the sponsors that we have on our race car, all the big-name sponsors to get them publicity gets them some promotion.  The team is always doing a lot of promotion with the sponsors.  Just to be able to get that out is really good.  Really for me I know we are 15th in points and everybody talks about ‘you are right on the edge of the Chase’.  I don’t even worry about it.  It’s just one weekend at a time.  We are going to have our up’s and down’s.  We can come to Kansas this weekend we could dominate, we could struggle.  It’s just the way being a small team is just really trying to take it one practice session, one lap at a time.  Obviously, it would be awesome to win this weekend, get into the All-Star race go to the Coke 600 and have a good run and keep the momentum going.  But the only way we can do that is just keep building as a team.”
 
WHAT HAS CLICKED HERE THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS?
“I think it is just we are starting to put the weekends together.  We are maximizing the practice time.  We are doing just good things throughout the race, whether it’s pit stops or just making the right calls, and we are having fast race cars.  The beginning of the year we had decent cars, but we just never put the weekend together.  We would either struggle really bad on Friday or qualify really bad or make an uphill climb on Sunday or have to really make a lot of big changes going into Sunday and not know really what the car was going to do.  I feel like the last few weekends Brian Burns (crew chief) and I we are really starting to gel and this whole team.  
 
“We sit down and discuss how to maximize the practice sessions, what do we need to do.  We are learning with the new rules package, working with RCR the whole alliance.  We are learning our set-up’s about where we need to start to be closer when we start unloading the weekend.  It’s just baby steps.  That is really what it is. I’m trying to not get too high with where we are right now because there is so much time.  I will worry about possible Chase or where we are at in points when we have 20 races in things like that.  At the beginning of the year if you said coming into Kansas you are 15th you are right on the edge, you have had three top 10’s, you have been running well I would have said ‘perfect I’m happy with that’.  I’m happy with where we are at right now, but not satisfied.  I know we have a lot of room to improve and a lot of steps we need to improve on.”
 
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF CHATTER ABOUT THE TIRES THIS WEEKEND DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY CONCERNS GOING INTO PRACTICE AND FOR THE RACE THIS WEEKEND?
“Same tires for everybody.  We didn’t test here so I didn’t feel the other tires.  To me it’s good for me it’s all new to everybody now so we are not really at a disadvantage.  I mean tires when you bring something completely new that nobody has run everybody is going to have a little bit of a concern with it.  It is what it is.  You have got to adjust your car to what tires are on the race car.  Goodyear is working hard to try to get the best tires possible.  To me it’s been fun to a certain extend because you have to set your car up. You have to be easy on your tires.  You can’t over abuse your tires at some of these race tracks otherwise you will use them up.  We have seen that and I felt like our team has done a good job at adjusting to it.  In the end it’s four tires on the race car.  You set your car up around them and you go racing.”
 
WHY SHOULD FANS VOTE FOR AJ ALLMENDINGER THIS WEEK TO GET INTO THE ALL-STAR RACE?
“Because they’ve got to be tired of voting for Danica (Patrick) I really feel like.  I’m a fun loving guy.  I was with Miss Sprint Cup last week, we were talking about it. I said I would do the worm across the stage if I get voted in, bust a move, whatever.  We will have a good time with it.  I’ve raced my way in a couple of times to the All-Star race.  I love the new format now with us racing on Friday.  So if you do get your car into the show and your whole team you can enjoy it a little bit more.  When you race your way in you have no time to really have fun with your guys.  It’s like turn the car around, okay everybody go up on stage, alright, boom, let’s go race.  I like the new format of knowing that after Friday night you are in or you are not in.  It would be cool.  It’s just another chance to go out there and keep learning and keep improving.  A fun race and hopefully the fans see when we are in it I have a good time with it.”
 
HOW MUCH FUN ARE YOU HAVING RIGHT NOW IN SPRINT CUP?
“I really enjoy it.  I’ve been on a lot of teams.  I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing, but right now with this whole No. 47 group it starts with Tad Geschickter and his wife Jodi and Brad Daugherty just the atmosphere that they put around this team.  The guys seem to be really enjoying it.  I really enjoy this core group.  I love being a part of this small team and leading the team and learning how.  It’s the first time I’ve really had to learn how to lead a team.  Every other team I’ve been on I’ve been the secondary guy and just kind of went along with the program.  So right now I just enjoy so much.  I put a lot of pressure on myself because Tad and Jodi and Brad have put so much sweat and tears and money into this team.  We have got a lot of great sponsors that I have said.  This weekend we have Kingsford on the car. They do a cool promotion for grilling out for Mom on Mom’s day so stuff like that.  Right now when it comes to just family atmosphere, having fun with the team it’s by far the most fun I’ve ever had.  I’ve told Tad many times already I would love for this team to be the last team I drive for.  That is how much fun I’m having and just to keep trying to climb that mountain and have that David versus Goliath attitude to where we’ve got to go bet the big teams.  I wouldn’t say we are beating them yet, but we are least getting closer.  I take a lot of pride in
it and I’m really enjoying it.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE RCR ALIGNMENT WITH YOUR TEAM AND HOW THAT ALL WORKS?
“With the RCR alliance it’s been great because Richard (Childress) for our team at least has just opened his doors.  I mean giving us all the information we can have.  Our cars right now aren’t brand new cars they are cars from late last year.  A lot of the No. 29 cars a couple of them that Kevin (Harvick) won with.  So they are not brand new cars, but at the same point they are still fast race cars.  They have given us just basically open information, engineering, set-up’s, everything that we need to know what makes the cars fast.  It’s been great sharing and hopefully we are bringing something back to them.  That has been my goal is to not just keep taking but hopefully bring something back to where they are learning and we can make everybody as a whole better.  Richard has been just fantastic.  I’ve been part of an alliance before and this is the best I’ve ever seen.  All credit goes to him and their race shop for allowing us to have that.  Hopefully it just keeps continuing.”