Qualifying Cancelled At Richmond Due to Rain
Chevrolet Rookie of the Year Contender Kyle Larson will lead the Field to Green at Richmond
 
RICHMOND, Va. – April 25, 2014 – Qualifying for Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) has been cancelled due to inclement weather.
 
The starting grid has been set per the provisions in the NASCAR rulebook. Starting positions are based on the times from the first practice session held on Friday.
 
There will be 21 Chevrolet SS drivers in Saturday night’s race.  For the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career 21-year-old Kyle Larson will lead the field down to the green flag.  Larson was quickest in the first practice session at RIR in his No. 42 AXE Peace Chevrolet SS as he paced the field with a lap of 21.280 (126.880 mph).
 
Other Team Chevy drivers starting in the top-10 will be Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS – 4th; Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet SS – 5th; Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet SS – 7th; Paul Menard, No. 27 Certainteed/Menards Chevrolet SS – 9th and Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 KOBALT Tools Chevrolet SS – 10th.
 
A total of 44 cars were entered for Sunday’s race, and the qualifying rainout determined that Michael McDowell (Ford) and Dave Blaney (Ford) will miss the race.
 
Brad Keselowski (Ford) will start second, Clint Bowyer (Toyota) will roll off third, Brian Vickers (Toyota) will start sixth and Ryan Truex will start eighth, rounding out the top-10
 
The 400-lap, 300 mile event at Richmond International Raceway is scheduled to start on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m., ET and will be aired live on FOX, MRN Radio and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
 
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 AXE PEACE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway following the cancelation of qualifying.  Based on the rules set forth by the NASCAR Rule book the starting grid has been set based of first practice times.  Larson was the quickest in the first session and will lead the field to the green flag for the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.
 
TALK A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE RUN AND STARTING FIRST TOMORROW NIGHT:
“We were debating before practice started to start in qualifying trim or go to race trim and do that.  I wanted to start out in qualifying trim and was able to kind of talk Shine (crew chief Chris Heroy) into doing it.  I wasn’t sure what to expect on my lap, but we came here and tested last year for Goodyear and had a good baseline.  I was pretty confident with going out in qualifying trim without getting used to the car yet.  Was able to lay down a fast lap and then we switched over to race trim and we were good in that too.  Excited about the AXE Peace Chevy, I think it should be a good race tomorrow.  It’s nice starting off from the pole.  I don’t know if I will count it as my first career pole, but it’s still pretty cool to start on the front row.”
 
YOU ARE SO USED TO SPRINT CAR SHOWS WHERE YOU GO OUT AND YOU DON’T HAVE HARDLY ANY PRACTICE TIME YOU JUST HAVE TO GO FAST RIGHT AWAY.  DO YOU THINK THAT HAS HELPED YOU THIS YEAR AND DID THAT HELP IN A SITUATION LIKE TODAY?
“I don’t know.  It’s tough to answer.  I think it helps a little bit, but as far as being fast right off your first couple of laps, no.  I think since I haven’t been to a lot of these tracks in the Cup car it takes me a few laps to get to where I am comfortable and can run into the corner hard and get back to the gas hard and stuff like that.  You see the fast guys that seem to go out right from practice they lay down some quick laps.  We are usually 12th or so after the first couple of laps.  But I think the sprint car stuff helps from being able to learn new race tracks quicker than others just because in sprint cars you go to 80 different race tracks a year or something like that.  You have to figure it out quick in five laps; I think that part of it helps when you go to a new track.  I have been to all but two tracks, so I guess it might help at Pocono and Sonoma hopefully.”
 
WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE WON THIS ON YOUR OWN MERITS INSTEAD OF JUST BY BEING FAST IN PRACTICE?
“Yeah, but I’m still happy with being on the pole.  But yeah it would be nice to get a legit pole.  I don’t know if we would have gotten it had it not rained.  We worked all second practice on qualifying runs.  We were seven tenths slower than our lap that we laid down in first practice and almost two and a half tenths slower than the fastest guy in second practice.  I doubt we would have been on the pole, but I will take it how we get it.”
 
HOW INDICATIVE IS THIS IN TERMS OF HOW YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR CHANCES ARE GOING TO BE COME RACE DAY?
“I definitely think starting out front helps a lot.  Before I came here last year because I did well in the K&N car and I thought this track suited my style quite a bit.  Then I came here in the Nationwide car and struggled.  I know I got average finishes, but I felt like we were really bad.  I wasn’t too excited coming here this weekend, but started off Nationwide practice we were really good.  I think we have a winning car over there.  I thought in Cup practice we were a top five car.  I’m definitely excited and I think getting the pole, even though it’s in practice helps the confidence more.  I’m looking forward to it tomorrow.”
 
DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE AN AFFECT ON THE TIRES IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE WITH THE RAIN WASHING AWAY ALL THE RUBBER?  THERE WERE CONCERNS ABOUT RIGHT-FRONT TIRES YESTERDAY. 
“It should make the tires wear a little bit quicker.  I had heard if we got rain that they were going to throw a competition caution.  I haven’t heard if that was going to happen or not.  Hopefully they do because the right-front’s (tires) were wearing pretty quickly.  I don’t know.  I think teams will figure it out.  As the rubber gets laid down the tire wear should be better throughout the race.  I think at some point after the first caution it should be back to normal.”
 
SAW YOU TALKING TO CLINT BOWYER AS HE LEFT.  WERE YOU TRYING TO PICK HIS BRAIN ABOUT THE TRACK OR WHAT WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
“He was more trying to pick my brain.  (Laughs) I mean, not really trying to pick my brain but in that second practice we both started off in qualifying trim and I think we were one of only a handful to start off in qualifying trim in second practice.  We pitted next to each other so he came over to ask if I was really tight, because he was really tight and pretty much had the same feedback.  And then he just gave me a little advice.  Something I kind of already knew which was be careful getting loose into both turns in this track.  Because into one you are on the brakes so it’s easy to get loose and he kept warning me about that.  I hadn’t been loose in practice yet so that made me feel good about my car.  It’s nice to be reminded of those little things that you might not think about so I thank anybody that can give me some tips.”
 
YOU ARE USED TO RUNNING SO MANY NIGHTS IN THE SPRINT CARS.  AFTER THIS BREAK, ARE YOU GLAD THAT IT CAME SO YOU COULD HIT THE RESET BUTTON AS A ROOKIE OR DID YOU WANT TO KEEP RACING?
“I hated the break.  But man I am so used to flying out on Thursdays to go to the racetrack it felt like forever to get to Thursday of last week.  Then I had to wait another week to get to this one.  So I was going to go to Devil’s Bowl to watch the Outlaws race if our team was going to go there and run.  But they didn’t have the tool cart ready so we didn’t go there. Their first night is tonight in Pennsylvani
a at Williams Grove if it doesn’t rain so I will keep up to date with that.  But yeah, that break was really long and I wish we didn’t have any breaks.  Wish there was no offseason either.”
 

Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Verizon IndyCar Series
Friday Practice Recap
Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 25, 2014) Sebastien Bourdais carried the banner for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 during the first two rounds of practice for the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Behind the wheel of the No. 11 Team Hydroxycut KV SH Racing Chevrolet , Bourdais turned the second quickest time of the combined session with a lap time of 01:08.9311 at a speed of 120.120 m.p.h.
 
Also posting top-10 practice times were Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – fourth, Helio Castroneves, No. 3 AAA Team Penske Chevrolet – sixth, Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 PPG Team Pernske Chevrolet –  eighth and Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet  – ninth.
 
Firestone Fast Six qualifying is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT to set the field for Sundays race.
 
The Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is scheduled to start Sunday, April 27, 2014 at 2:30 p.m. ET with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network. Live radio broadcast will be provided by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 209 and www.indycar.com. Race timing and scoring can also be found on

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 25, 2014
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed his lack of a win thus far in 2014, his thoughts on the potential reduction of horsepower in 2015 and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
IT’S BEEN A GOOD TRACK FOR YOU HERE AT RICHMOND, TALK ABOUT COMING HERE AND YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE RACE TOMORROW NIGHT:
“We suck here.  We’re terrible and hopefully we are a lot better this weekend.  The last couple trips especially – we have been junk.  So the results don’t reflect the effort, so that is the disappointing part.  And I know that Chad has worked very hard once again to get us a good car and hopefully it will be on the track and we will have good speed right off the truck.   I believe a couple of those wins that I had came on a Sunday rain out.   I would love to be home Sunday, but if it did rain out and we did race on Sunday, I have a pretty good average on the day.”
WHAT IS THE LIKELY REASON FOR THE TEAM’S STRUGGLES HERE?
“I don’t have a good answer.  We always evaluate our performance here and say, ‘maybe it was this’, and we pursue what was down that road and come back with new hope and then unload and have a frustrating practice.  We manage okay finishes for the most part but we know we should be better than that.  Just getting beat by a track really gets under our skin as well.  We can usually accomplish what we need to and eventually figure out a race track. So the piece that I am not 100% sure as you started your question, but they used to put a sealer down here and I think a lot of our success came when they put the sealer down.  You could move around the race track to find some grip and really get your right sides (tires) on the edge to get some grip and speed out of the race car.  It might be something in that but they don’t have sealer down so I can’t count on that this weekend.  But I love watching races here, and for the races that I have been competitive in and had a chance to race in the top-five – I love it.  I think it’s a fantastic race track, it puts on a great show, it’s great for the fans, and in my heart I think we need more short tracks on the schedule. I just need to get this one figured out.”
HAVE YOU SEEN ANY CHANGE IN CHAD’S PASSION OR DEVOTION TO YOUR TEAM IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS?
“Yes and no.  I encourage him to take time to balance his life better.  I am surprised he has made it as long as he has working the hours and for the years that he has been in this sport.  But unfortunately and usually when he does take time off and he returns, and if we don’t have the performance that we should – then he thinks the two are related.  Just because he took two or three days off for himself, and we have two or three bad races, there is no correlation there.  But in his mind and the way he operates, he thinks ‘well I shouldn’t vacation, I am not supposed to vacation, I am supposed to work around the clock’.   So continue to push him, and I have done this since we started.  In our rookie season together I think we were racing on the West coast and I said, ‘hey man, I am shooting down to Mexico, come on down for a few days and hang out’.  He did, came down, and we came back and ran at the race track and performance didn’t work and he said, ‘I am never going with you and Chani anywhere’.  
“So like four or five years later, our ladies decided that we are all going on vacation.  When you are married you just go where your wife tells you.  So I am going where my wife is telling me, and Chad is coming with his girl and we come back and run terrible. He tells me that he is never going to vacation with me again.  So you see how that goes.  I hope he does find better balance because the guy deserves it and he is not going to last 10 more years in this sport if he works around the clock like he has.”
HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO ADAPT TO THIS YEAR’S CAR WITH THE NEW RULES AND REGULATIONS?
“It’s been a challenge for sure.  The team has a lot more to play with in this car.   And we know the balance that I like and it’s usually a car that turns stronger than what my teammates want or what Stewart-Haas cars want when we look at set up sheets.  But right now we are still trying to find exactly what gives us the best vehicle dynamics and what gives me the best feel.  A lot of times when you create the perfect car on the race track when you look at video and photos, it’s not turning as strong as I want it to. So that is kind of the rule because without any telemetry here, there are only so many tools the crew chiefs have.  So usual tools of watching videos and looking at photos is what the team has.  And trying to marry those two worlds is tough. We’ll get there and I think we have been there at a handful of races this year.  So we are just going down the road and trying to figure out where speed is and balancing those two worlds.”
IS IT TIGHTER THAN YOU LIKE TO DRIVE?
“I would say at the start of the season we were a bit edgy and we got that part under control.  We got the edginess out of the cars that had a tight balance, especially at Darlington.  How we finished third is beyond me because that car was so tight.”
STEVE O’DONNELL SAID YESTERDAY THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE SOME KIND OF HORSEPOWER REDUCTION NEXT YEAR.  HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THINGS FOR YOU AND HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THINGS FOR THE TEAMS AND CHALLENGES LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT YEAR?
“Every driver and team that I have spoken to isn’t up for a horsepower reduction. We all feel that having power creates better racing.  Especially on the driver’s standpoint where you go down to the Nationwide Series and run flat out at a lot of the tracks.  So we are all trying as drivers and members of this sport to say what is best for the racing.  If its reduction in power that makes competitive racing, I think we are all more than willing to get on board and to go down that road.  But it’s not a guarantee in my opinion and an example is at Michigan last week, or actually it was a couple weeks ago.  There was a tire test and they took the power out of the 21 car and his center of the corner speed almost went up 10 miles an hour than what an unrestricted engine was running at.
“I am not sure those eight miles an hour through the center of the corner is going to allow us to run comfortably through the corner side-by-side.  Now we have picked up a lot of speed through the corners and are the tires going to hold up? Is the suspension going to hold up?  It costs a lot of money to even put a tapered spacer on the car.  We are going to go and work to change all the internals to maximize the role that the engine performs.  So I sympathize with NASCAR because there isn’t an easy way to go about things.  No rule change is cheap anymore. Because it’s not just a single piece or component to change, there is a domino effect that changes a lot of things.  I don’t know what to think to be honest with you.  I like the power, power has been good for me.  If you look at my Nationwide stats versus my Cup stats, I need power.  I wish they would add more horsepower to the cars.”
IF YOU ARE SAYING A MAJORITY OF THE DRIVERS THEN ARE NOT FOR A POWER REDUCTION THEN WHY IS THIS BEING PUSHED THROUGH?  IS IT BECAUSE THERE ARE GREATER LONG TERM BENEFITS AND YOU GUYS ARE MORE LOOKING A SHORT TERM THE NOW? WHY IS THERE THIS PUSH OR ARE YOU GUYS NOT BEING LISTENED TO IN THAT ASPECT?
“We are listened to, but again the goal that NASCAR has is to do what is best for the sport and not necessarily what is best for the individual group.  The drivers wanting to keep the powe
r or add more power we are one small group, one small piece of the puzzle.  Owners have a say on extending engine life and trying to go to multiple races on an engine.  I think the end result is sponsorship dollars, viewership, the inbound cash flow for our sport and our industry is the ultimate concern for NASCAR and for our sport to be healthy.  The better the competition is on the track the better chance we have that.  I think that is really the root cause.  They do listen, but somebody has to make decisions and I think at the end of the day it’s really based on keeping the sport healthy.  Competitive races keep the sport healthy, but how you get there is to be discussed, argued and debated.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT BEING AFTER YOUR FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AND HOW GOOD IT WOULD BE TO GET IT HERE AT RICHMOND?
“It would be great to get it here especially at a track we have struggled at the last few times here.  Yes, there seems to be at least a conscious effort to win races more and this big discussion about winning races, but you need to win races to win championship period.  That is really been the mindset of the No. 48 has always had.  We have knocked on the door a few times and I think a win is out there for us very soon, hopefully this weekend.”
 
EIGHT RACES IN IT’S UNUSUAL FOR YOU TO HAVE GONE THIS LONG AND I FEEL LIKE WE ASK YOU THIS EVERY WEEK, BUT IS THERE A POINT WHERE YOU ARE JUST LIKE ‘DAMN WHEN AM I GOING TO WIN A RACE’?
“Honestly, I get asked about it and that is the only time it comes through my mind.  I don’t know how long we went in the past before we won a race at the start of the season.  We still have 28, 30 races left whatever it is.  I don’t have this big fear that I’m not going to make the Chase and I’m not going to win a race.  If we were running 15th and 20th every week I would be up here nervous and honestly I would tell you about it.  But the fact we have been knocking on the door gives me great hope and optimism and doesn’t change anything from this year versus any other year mentally.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 25, 2014
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 OUTBACK CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed the momentum he brings into Richmond following his win at Darlington, his thoughts on the possible reduction of horsepower next season and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKEND:
“This has been a great race track for us in the past.  As we have come through the years I have been fortunate to have a lot of success.  I always look forward to coming to this race weekend just knowing that and hoping that you can contend for a win.  Hopefully, we can put ourselves in a good spot throughout the weekend and be around somewhere at the end of both races.”
 
HAS THE NEW CHASE FORMAT CHANGED THE DYNAMIC OF RACES?
“I think last week was a prime example of what the new format has brought forth.  Just for the fact that we had run pretty much a whole fuel run at Darlington and we had eight of the first nine cars, I think, I don’t know that number for sure, but there were a tremendous amount of the first 10 cars that put two tires on knowing good and well that wasn’t the right thing to do as far as making your car run as fast as it could.  People are just trying to take chances to get that win and I think for us we have been I guess like a Ricky Bobby scene, we have been first or last.  There has really been no in between.  The performance of the cars has been really good and obviously we have had some problems, but it’s just one of those deals where being the point’s leader and having points is really irrelevant at this point.  You just go out and try to put your best foot forward every week to get a win and protect yourself as much as you can with as many wins as possible is our goal at this point to get into the first rounds because the bonus points matter at this point.”
 
DO YOU GET TO THE POINT WHERE RACING IS JUST FUN AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE SUCCESS COMES?  ARE YOU FEELING THAT NOW MORE?
“I have been having fun the whole off-season and year.  We have had some weeks that things didn’t exactly go our way, but there are a lot bigger challenges than a broken part on a race car.  We put it all back together and we come back the next week and we know our cars have been running well.  That is really what keeps you going is when you are really capable and in our opinion winning every race that we’ve been in so far.  Obviously, those wouldn’t have worked out and didn’t work out, but the performance of the car has been there.  That keeps you going and that makes enthused and everybody is getting along and having fun and to me it’s like I said at Darlington I think the character of the team has really been tested as we went through the first eight weeks.  I think everybody did a good job of not points fingers and not getting overly mad at anybody it was just things were happening and we had to continue to do our jobs and that to me is one of the best things that came out of the first week was just seeing what the character was of our race team when the chips were down.”
 
WHAT IF QUALIFYING GETS RAINED OUT TODAY?  WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY?
“Rain, I mean we are going to practice so qualifying is going to happen right off the bat here in practice.  Turn your TV one because the qualifying session – to me the rain didn’t look that bad on the radar, but if it rains, it rains, and practice will be over.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY WITH YOUR TEAM IN YOUR FIRST YEAR WITH STEWART-HAAS AND HOW YOU HAVE GELLED TOGETHER SO QUICKLY?
“Well I knew a lot of the people I was going to be working with on the driver side before I got there.  That part was really done before we even started.  Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and I we spent a lot of time together just trying to figure out if this is what he wanted to do.  I had committed a long time before that so we felt that myself and Zippy (Greg Zipadelli) and Tony (Stewart) and Brett (Frood) and everybody felt that Rodney was the guy.  It was just convincing him to make it happen.  It’s hard, I lived it.  I lived the same things he was going through when I had to make the decision as to what my future was going to hold.  It all worked out and in the process we got to know each other really well.  Still as we go through the weeks you still learn stuff about each other, but we learned the foundation about each other pretty early on as we went through that process.  I feel like the relationship between all the guys is really good and strong.
 
“We have been on both sides of it like I said a minute ago we have been on both sides of having success and we have been on the sides of seeing that success fail.  Whether it’s your own doing or a part failure it doesn’t matter when you are in position to win races and something on your car breaks or something happens everybody feels like crap regardless.  It’s a huge test for everybody as you go through those moments, but the character of the team is there.  Everybody gets along well and nobody really gets wound up.  I think a lot of that starts by Rodney.  Just because his demeanor he is so low emotion as you go through any situation.  Whether you are winning or losing he doesn’t get wound up.”
 
DO YOU AGREE WITH THE CHATTER THIS WEEK THAT STEWART-HAAS RACING HAS BEEN ONE OF THE BEST ORGANIZATIONS OF 2014 DESPITE THE BUMPS IN THE ROAD?
“I think as you look at the organization I think we have a lot of room for improvement still a lot of new things that are happening.  Obviously, we have been through eight weeks and we know that there are a lot of things to work on and improve on that is exciting just for the fact that we have been able to run well with our car.  Kurt (Busch) has won a race and Tony (Stewart) has been knocking off some top-five’s so I think as you look at everything from the outside looking in I’m sure it appears that everything is going well and everything is going well, but from the inside I just feel very strongly that there is a ton of room for improvement with a lot of things so we just have to keep working and not sit on our hands.  Whether you win or lose on Sunday or Saturday night in this case you go back to the shop and you analyze your race just as if you had run 20th. Because that is what you have to do in order to come back because everybody in this garage is going to do the same thing.  We have to keep building and I think (Greg) Zipadelli and everybody at SHR has done a great job with everything that they have taken on over the past few years.  Gene (Haas) has given the resources from a financial stand point to do the things that we have done in a short amount of time.  Just a lot of things that need to get a little bit better, but they have done a great job of building a great foundation.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR NATIONWIDE CAR FOR THIS WEEKEND?
“It’s hard to tell.  There is not a car here that is going to drive good all weekend.  They are all going to feel like crap.  Just for the fact that the tires wear out.  It’s a tough place to get your car to feel really good.  We will just have to make our car drive better than everybody else’s.  Yesterday we had two good practices so hopefully that translates to tonight.”
 
IS THERE MOMENTUM TO APPLY HERE TO THIS RACE TOMORROW NIGHT?  WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS TRACK THAT YOU LIKE?
“Well this has just been a great race track for me just for the fact that for whatever reason it has fit my driving style through the years.  I grew up on a lot of flat, worn out race tracks and my days at RCR we spent a lot of time on our flat track program an
d short-track program.  My driving has become accustom to these types of tracks.  As far as the momentum we won Phoenix early in the year and we had six very bad weeks finish wise after that.  You just ride the wave as long as far as it will take you and the last wave was really short. So you don’t want to get your hopes up you just want to do your job and hope that things keep going well.”
 
YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE ALWAYS LIKED THIS RACE TRACK.  HOW DOES THAT PROCESS WORK AS A DRIVER TO WALK INTO A NEW TEAM WITH THEIR NOTES, YOUR NOTES, HOW DOES THAT GO IN THE MEETINGS?
“Well I told them in the first meeting that we should never lose a short track race.  They all kind of looked at me like I was crazy. For me it was exciting just for the fact that I have seen the success that Rodney (Childers) had on the short track stuff in the past with his previous organization.  I know that Kurt (Busch) runs well and Tony (Stewart) runs well so you put all that stuff together and see the success that we have had here in the past from my stand point with winning races and running good you are just excited about the short track races.  Really excited about every race, but the short tracks in general because just because I know and I’ve seen the effort that they put into the cars and every part and piece from a weight stand point.  It’s fun and everybody expects to run well.”
 
COMING BACK HERE BRINGS UP MEMORIES OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE LAST SEPTEMBER.  DO YOU THINK THE GARAGE HAS MOVED ON FROM THAT OR THAT IT LINGERS AND IS STILL TALKED ABOUT OR THOUGHT ABOUT WHEN WE COME BACK?
“I think everybody has moved on.  The repercussions I feel like MWR is probably still feeling those just for the fact that it was a bigger hit to their organization than anybody else.  I think you would be silly to not pay attention to what had happened and understand the reality of situations of what could be lost by handling something wrong.  I’ve handled a lot of situations wrong maybe not something to that magnitude, but it’s still kind of a wake-up call to everybody to understand that there is a lot of money and a lot of people watching.  The perception of your actions sometimes can be taken to the extreme and the repercussions of that can be very extreme as well.  I think everybody has to keep that in mind.  I think everybody has pretty much moved on and understands that the lesson was learned.”
 
DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF HOW GROUP QUALIFYING WILL TAKE PLACE AT TALLADEGA?  DO YOU GUYS DREAD IT AT ALL?
“I thought about just going home and starting in the back (laughs).  It’s going to be exciting to say the least.  There is only one way to get a good lap and that is to catch the pack and have four or five cars lined up behind you.  We have already kind of experienced this once and that is when we went to Talladega last year.  I believe it was the first race when everybody knew it was going to rain on qualifying day.  It’s just going to be getting that spot where you get the best pull up to the pack for one lap to where you can time it right and not have to let off for a pack of cars or something like that.  It will be interesting and it’s just kind of a crap shoot just like the race, but it will be exciting for sure. It will definitely be better than watching three and a half hours of one car going around the race track, I promise you that.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE POTENTIAL REDUCTION OF HORSEPOWER NEXT SEASON? 
“I saw some of the – I didn’t see it I heard about some of the Michigan stuff from when I believe they put a plate on Trevor Bayne’s car at the tire test in Michigan.  The part that everybody is forgetting here, there are two parts to this problem.  There are two parts that the less horsepower problem will create.  One is the engines are the most expensive things that we do.  There are very few engine manufacturers as we sit in the garage right now.  When you start messing with the engines the costs go up really fast.  I believe that our garage is very vulnerable at this particular point from a cost stand point.  I believe that NASCAR in general has to keep the cost involved from where we are and the timing of engines, whether you put a plate on it, whether you put a throttle body on it, whether you change the cubic inch, no matter what you do the cost of those engines is going to go up if you change the rules.  I understand there is a safety concern, but when you slow the cars down the center of the corner speed is going to go up.
 
“Because you are going to be able to carry more speed through the center of the corner because you have a slower car, so when you start messing with the engines the costs are going to go up because everybody is going to do more R&D.  And you slow the cars down the center of the corners are going to go faster so you create that problem then you are going to create another problem for Goodyear because the cars are already really fast so you are going to have a cost problem and you are going to have a tire problem.  Good luck with that from a changing the rules stand point.  Obviously I’m a big fan of it (laughs).”

Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Verizon IndyCar Series
Post Race
Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets of Long Beach, California
 
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 13, 2014): Mike Conway scored his first win of 2014 to take Chevrolet IndyCar V6 power to Victory Lane in the Verizon IndyCar Series for the second consecutive race. It is the second win for Conway in the Grand Prix of Long Beach on the Streets of Long Beach, his first coming in 2011.
 
In only his second race as the road and street course driver of the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Premium Ultra Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Conway led once for two laps to score the win, and move to second in the Series’ championship standings.
 
Congratulations to Mike Conway and the Ed Carpenter Racing team for a very well executed race in the midst of a number of incidents,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Program Manager, Verizon IndyCar Series. “Today’s competition on the Streets of Long Beach was a solid example of the motto “Never Give Up”.  We had our share of issues before and during the race, but persevered, and the breadth of talent and determination across Team Chevy came away with the top two steps of the podium.”
 
Giving Chevrolet the top-two tiers on the podium was Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.  With his runner-up finish on the heels of his victory in the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Power now holds a 27 point lead on second place Conway.
 
In his return season to the Verizon IndyCar Series, Juan Pablo Montoya brought his No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to the finish line in fourth place.  Giving Team Chevy four of the top-10 finishers in today’s 80-lap/157.4-mile race was Sebastian Saavedra, No. 17 KV AFS Racing Chevrolet  with a ninth-place finish.
 
Carlos Munoz (Honda) completed the podium.
 
Next on the 18-race schedule will be on April  27, 2014 at Barber Motorsports Park.
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
 
 
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER:
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll get started with the remainder of our post-race Verizon IndyCar Series press conference.  We’re pleased to be joined by the winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Mike Conway.  This is Mike Conway’s first win of 2014, and the third win of his IndyCar career.  His first one came here in Long Beach in 2011, he also won at Belle Isle in Detroit in 2013.  This is Ed Carpenter Racing’s second win in the Verizon IndyCar Series.  It previously won with Ed Carpenter at Auto Club Speedway in 2012.  Mike, congratulations and tell us about the race today.
MIKE CONWAY:  Thank you.  Yeah, I was really ‑‑ started back in 17th, and we really had to fight for every position.  The guys made a good call on strategy.  We were able to bump past some people, and on race restarts we gained some positions as well.  So, great job by all the team.
I know on that last restart I had to get by Will, because I knew he had one push to pass left, and I knew that (Carlos) Munoz behind me had four, and Munoz was very good all day, so it was hard ‑‑ it was going to be hard to keep him behind.  So managed to get by Will (Power) and then was kind of all over the back of Justin (Wilson) and Scott (Dixon) and they were battling it out as well.  And they touched going into Turn 8, and it got close to me and Scott.  I was thinking of driving up both of those guys (Indiscernible), but thought better of it.
Then Scott was kind of all over them, but when the safety car came out again, I thought maybe I’ll have a chance to get by him here, but I knew at the same time he may not have enough fuel to get to the end.  So I wasn’t sure, because I could see he wasn’t saving much fuel, and the guys are saying he’s saving fuel because he can’t make it.  I was like, oh, I don’t know.  Maybe he saved enough.
But, yeah, that was ‑‑ I was like, you know, this is it now.  We can make this two times winning at Long Beach.  Yeah, awesome.  I can’t believe it really.  It’s been a really tough day to be here.  After, yeah, just a fantastic job by the team, and thanks to Long Beach again for putting on such a good show.
 
THE MODERATOR:  A unique situation for you this year.  You’re only racing the road and street courses while your team owner Ed Carpenter races the ovals.  How gratifying is it for you personally and also for the team to see the results of that strategy pay off in the second race of the season?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, I’ve got to say a big thanks to Ed for making it happen, and all the guys at Fuzzy’s Racing to put me in this position.  Yeah, I think it’s a great combination.  I think everyone’s quite excited about it.  It’s great to repay them this soon with a win.
Yeah, I think Ed’s going to be awesome on the ovals, and he’s really looking forward to the Texas test next week and Indy in May.  So, yeah, it’s great to be part of it.
 
Q.        There are a lot of great drivers that haven’t won this race.  You’ve won it twice.  The satisfaction of being able to be a two‑time Long Beach Grand Prix winner?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, it still hasn’t sunk in yet.  I mean, as I went over the land, I got that same feeling, that feeling in my stomach and not being able to get any words out because it kind of just meant so much.  Probably the same as the first time.  You know, it’s always tough the first time as well.
So, yeah, it’s just a really special place.  It’s so hard to win around here, and to do it twice, I’ve not done that on many tracks, so to do it here is really cool.
Q.        It’s hard enough for drivers to get a full‑time ride.  I was wondering what did you think of your chances were of getting a road course only ride when the season started?  What do you have to say to people who were skeptical?
MIKE CONWAY:  Slim, definitely slim.  Yeah, I wasn’t sure obviously at the end of 2012 too, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it back.  But managed to pick up some rides last year and kind of showed that I’ve still got a lot of speed, and we won in Detroit as well.  I still wasn’t sure at the end of last year what was going to happen.  Yeah, to be able to pick this up is a dream come true.  It couldn’t have worked out any better between me and Ed.  So, yeah, I’m very thankful for the position I’m in and trying to make the most of it.
Q.        A little while ago Will was saying you don’t get many gifts in racing, and he was talking about the big pileup that allowed you guys to do what you did.  How do you look at that?
MIKE CONWAY:  I didn’t really see what happened.  So you know, I saw the last part of it as I was approaching the corner, and I thought someone was going to go around there, and I heard over the radio call there was an incident in the corner, be very careful and stay right.  I’m thankful for that call because they really kept me out of trouble through there.
It was tight just to get through with the speed we have.  I really had to dive around people.  Yeah, I mean, luckily obviously that that happened and advanced us a good four positions.  I think we were still within the hunt to get a good result today.  But, yeah, obviously, unlucky for those guys and made it fortunate for us.
But it’s always like that on street courses.  It gets really close, but I don’t know what really happened.  I’ll have to look at that.
 
Q.        Great finish.  You didn’t start very well.  Describe the start and how that worked snout also heard there was damage to the fro
nt wing, and did that affect you at all during the race?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, the start wasn’t great.  The revs really dropped, and I thought I was maybe going to stall and I had to quickly pull the clutch again and go again and obviously two cars got around me at that point.  Managed to get by Ryan and pick that position back up.  But all the way through the race it was hard to know where we were going to end up.
There were lots of cars around you, and when you got within a second of a car, you’d lose half a second in pace, and it was really hard to make your way by.  But we did manage to pick some people off as the race was going on and made some good passes.  But, yeah, it was a real unknown until that last kind of restart where we were going to be.  So had to fight all day.  Yeah, kind of had the car to do it, so big thanks to the guys for that.
 
Q.        During the race while you were battling, did you notice a major difference between the power characteristics of the Honda and Chevy?  Because in qualifying it looked very dominant for Honda.  I think they had nine of the top 12 qualifying positions, but we ended up with a Chevy 1, 2 at least.  Did you notice any difference coming out of the final hair‑pin?
MIKE CONWAY:  I don’t know.  It was really how you get around the hair‑pin.  It was hard to tell sometimes on how you get off.  But I mean I was behind Munoz for a good few laps.  It felt similar to be honest.  I mean, he was on the blacks to that point and his car was really turning well through that last corner, so he could get off well just with traction.  So it was really close to be honest.  And we did trim out a little bit for the race so I think we had better speed than some people down the strait.
But I forgot to answer your question about the front wing.  That did feel like it slowed us down a little bit because it was flapping around.  That top element definitely some drag there.  But I think we did have some good top end speed because of the downforce level we had, but it felt close.
 
Q.        You mentioned being told over the radio about the accident.  Are you one of the few drivers that has a spotter?
MIKE CONWAY:  Well, just lucky they saw it.  I mean, they were there at the time.  I thought he said he was going to be down in turn one, but he must have seen it on the big screen or from where he was standing in one.  Normally he doesn’t have to say too much, but obviously if there are any incidents anywhere and he’s there at that point he’ll let me know, otherwise the team will let me know on the TV.  But, yeah, kind of lucky he was down there.
 
Q.        The spotters were on turn one, and I think there were only six or seven spotters because it’s not required on a road course?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, well, I have (Indiscernible), and he’s a really key part of the team.  He’s out there making sure we’re making the most of every corner.  He watches what all the other cars are doing.  Yeah, he’s obviously in the race.  He can’t do so much of that, but he can also definitely help me if there are any incidents, and that definitely helped today.
 
Q.        Regarding the accident, it seemed like it went on for quite some time.  I think Takuma Sato came into it five or six seconds afterwards.  Were the course marshals signaling adequately that there was a blockage of the track around the corner which I assume you couldn’t see coming through?
MIKE CONWAY:  Well, as I said, when I got there it just happened.  So, yeah, I mean, I didn’t see any yellows at that point.  I don’t recall.  But it’s hard to tell because I was so focused on looking for what was around the corner.  You know, you kind of miss sometimes what’s on the entry with the marshals.
But, yeah, there were a lot of cars behind me at that point, and some made it through, some didn’t.  I suppose it was a bit of luck, I suppose.  Yeah, it was definitely not the yellows, but if you didn’t know where the cars were, it was still tricky.  You had to slow down a lot to miss it all.  There was really one line, and it took a long time to clear up.  There were a lot of cars involved.
 
Q.        This is a smaller team in the series, but yet it really seems like they can take on the power teams and whip them at their own game.  What is it about Ed Carpenter racing that they seem to do so well particularly at certain tracks in?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, I think we’ve got a really good group of people.  Some great engineers on board and everyone’s working really hard and they’re always pushing between St. Pete and this weekend, they were nonstop in the shop trying to develop some parts and make things better.  You know, I think if you’ve got that drive and that hunger within the team you can definitely achieve anything.
It does make it harder, a one‑car team, but I think with all the help and all the people we have on the team, we can definitely make some waves.
 
Q.        What do you think about the hair‑pin?  The tightest one in all of Indy racing.
MIKE CONWAY:  I mean, it’s Long Beach, it’s been here since the start, I presume.  It does make it tricky.  Obviously the restarts, first lap of the race it does get quite choked up in there.  But I think everyone’s smart enough to stay out of trouble, but I’m not sure.  Obviously I saw Graham was spun down around there.  I mean, it’s easy enough to hit someone’s back side going in there because if you don’t choke up a little bit and you’re not aware of it can catch you up.  But I don’t know.  It’s just part of the course, I suppose.
 
Q.        You mentioned that you started 17th, but you didn’t qualify well.  Someone asked Will Power how come he was so far down in the field, and he said well, the car was great, he just didn’t hit it during qualification.  How come you were like 17th, because after all, you’re past champion here?
MIKE CONWAY:  Yeah, it’s very close, the series.  As years go on it gets closer and closer.  If you’re behind a little bit it can really show up in qualifying.  When everyone’s on that ultimate limit putting in really quick times.  We felt like we needed a couple more laps to get the tires in.  It was taking a little bit longer, and before we knew it, the session was finished.  Yeah, that’s all it takes.  If you don’t quite get it together, you’ll just miss that advance.
So, yeah.  Any slight mistake on a lap, and you really risk not making it through.  It was a shame.  Obviously, we didn’t want that to happen around here.  We thought we had a good car for top eight, maybe more.  Yeah, obviously the race we knew made it difficult for us, but we had some good speed and got into the run.
 
Q.        You avoided the carnage in turn four.  You finished very strong.  What was the biggest challenge you faced in the final laps of the race?
MIKE CONWAY:  Having Will behind me and Scott in front, two wily cats.  I knew I had my work cut out.  I just couldn’t make any mistakes.  I had to really push them all the way.  Will was very good through the last sector, so I had to be strong through there, and make sure I went through the last hair‑pin well.  I knew he didn’t have many overtakes left, if any, at that point.  I didn’t have any either.  So I really just had to get as good as I could through that sector and clean down the straight.
But Scott was very good off that last corner, a
nd it was hard to get close to him.  I could get close to him on the infield, but he was pretty good out there.
Yeah, it was tricky.  I didn’t know whether he had the fuel to finish or not.  The guys were telling me he was saving fuel and they weren’t sure that he could make it, but at the same time, you don’t want to rely on that.  I don’t know.  I was kind of trying to make things happen and maybe get by him.  But when I saw pull in I was like, okay, the guys are right, and just have to bring it home.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Before we let you go.  In two weeks you’ll be continuing your deal with Ed Carpenter racing at Barber Motorsports Park.  Give us a preview of what we can expect at that track?
MIKE CONWAY:  I like Barber a lot.  It’s a cool track, very fast flowing.  The test was okay for us there.  We’ve made some progress since then.  So hopefully we’ll come back stronger.  Obviously, we have two weeks in between and we’re going to keep pushing and make sure the car is quick for me to ride there.  But always a good race.  Qualifying is really cool around there.  It is harder to pass, however, it’s still possible.  Yeah, hopefully, we’ll have a good showing.
 
Q.        How much fuel did you have left?
MIKE CONWAY:  Loads, loads.  I don’t actually know the numbers, but maybe we can let you know after.
 
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’re pleased to be joined by Will Power, Will Power finished second in this race.  His second podium finish of 2014, and his sixth podium finish in nine starts at Long Beach.  Will has now finished first or second in his last four Verizon IndyCar Series races and is the current points leader with 93 points.  Will, you seem to be on quite a roll dating back to 2013?
 
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I was definitely thinking after qualifying we might have been in a bit of trouble, but we know this track well and IndyCar Racing well.  There is always a lot of action, so definitely a good day.
Mike (Conway) was very strong.  I kind of regret not using the push to pass on the restart where he got me.  I knew he had one and I had one, and I thought I’m going to try to save it and he used it on that restart.  But definitely take second from 14th, you know, good for the championship, not that I want to think about that crap anymore.  I just want to race.  I’m just going to race to win every time.
 
Q.        Will, after finishing first and second, I know you don’t want to look at the points.  You’re the leader.  If you guys could talk a little bit about it seemed for a while it was Ryan Hunter‑Reay’s race, and all of a sudden, one thing completely turned the nature of this race around.  Just talk about how big an impact that had, and Will, you were able to get through that carnage without hitting anything?
 
WILL POWER:  I saw it unfold.  I mean, those two came out of the pits in front of me on cold, black tires, I was on reds and down a lap or two.  You know, then all of a sudden I saw Newgarden come out and I’m thinking this is going to be really interesting because all these guys know that that is for the win.  It became even more interesting in turn four when they all ‑‑ thank you.  Yeah, unbelievable.
I saw Hunter‑Reay go inside, and me going, oh, this will be interesting if he turns and there they go together.  Then Hinch piles into him, and I got through, like yeah, you don’t get those gifts often in racing, so I’ll take it.
 
Q.        Will, talk about the final laps and the temptation to overtake Mike Conway in the last few laps?
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I mean, none of us had a push to pass, so, yeah, I did everything I could when I saw Dixon pull in with only two to go.  I was like oh, man, that restart got me.  But like I said, it was 14th, and we’re going to be happy with a Top 5.  So second is okay.
 
Once Dixon peeled off, Mike was very quick anyway.  If I had one push to pass, I’m pretty sure I would have had a good shot.  It would have been interesting, maybe he would have ended up winning because Mike and I would have crashed into turn one or something (laughing).  Yeah, it was a good day.  Definitely a good day.
 
Q.        Two quick questions, first one, Simon Pagenaud and you got hooked up there a little bit.  Obviously, he’s upset with you.  He said you guys aren’t going on vacation anytime soon together.  Do you guys two weeks, six weeks, eight weeks down the road, I know you are good friends, how do you mend that fence?  Second question is a lot of really young drivers are showing real strength this year.  What do you put that towards?
 
WILL POWER:  Simon, it’s on him.  It depends what he wants to do.  He’ll probably pay me back at some point on the track.  If I got a penalty, he probably wouldn’t have, but he told me he’s going to get me back.  I thought he had a flat tire.  He was so slow on the restart.  He went from second back to he was in front of me.  I thought, oh, he’s going to brake early, and I brake, went up the inside and realized he was going to turn.  I tried to get out and just touched his back tire.
Yeah, I hate to ruin someone’s race like that.  I do.  But I think if he looked in the mirror, he could have prevented that incident.  We talked about in the driver meeting that there’s got to be a bit of give and take there.  But still I hit his back tire with my front wheel, so it’s on me.
 
Q.        And the question about the young drivers?
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I mean, man, these guys are definitely putting the pressure on it.  They’re quick, really quick.  They’re not making mistakes either.  Carlos was super quick and very good in the Indy 500 last year.  He’s just backing it up this year and showing everyone how to do it on road courses as well.  So definitely got a long future in the series, and so is Jack Hawksworth also.
 
Q.        Will, when Ed Carpenter decided to split the driving duties on his team, I was wondering what your thought.  Now it may pay off very big in points later in the year.  How do you feel about that kind of strategy?
WILL POWER:  I thought when they told me that, I thought championship contenders as far as team championship, you know, and they will be because Mike was coming at St. Pete.  He was probably going to finish second or third there too.  Obviously it was a bit of a blunder in the pits, but those guys were on it every week.  Then Ed is definitely capable of winning pretty much in all the ovals too, so it’s a pretty strong combination they’ve got right there on that team.
 
Q.        Describe the standing start because you were kind of in the middle of the pack for the start.  So describe what happened for you all.
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I thought it was pretty good.  We all got a good start.  I think it’s definitely better for the fans.  It looks cooler for all the people sitting in the grandstands for everyone to have a standing start.  See on the luminator the lights going out.  And no one stalled so that was good.  Unless there was someone behind me, I don’t know.  But it was good, a good first lap, yeah.
 
Q.        Will, you talked about them coming out of The Pits on black tires, and you were on Reds.  What was your strategy on tires with the consta
nt temperature change here in Long Beach?
WILL POWER:  Well, I was surprised that those guys went on Blacks, unless they used up their new Blacks from the start.  I don’t know ‑‑ or new Reds from the start.  Because Reds to me, I had a good chance to get a couple of those guys coming out of the pits on cold tires.  They took care of it themselves.  But, yeah, our strategy was start on blacks.  Hopefully the Reds would go off and go red‑red because the Reds were definitely quicker.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Will, you’re the points leader heading into Barber Motorsports Park, a track that’s been historically very good for you.  Talk about a preview of two weeks from now what we’ll be expecting at Barber?
WILL POWER:  Yeah, I mean, to me I’ve got to qualify a bit better for sure.  Definitely aiming to be pole because that track is very difficult to pass.  Everyone’s tested there.  Everyone’s run a lot of miles there, so there are a lot of good guys with good cars, so it’s definitely going to make it an interesting weekend.
 
Q.        You seem to be quite a significant performance difference in you and qualifying and the race performance today.  Can you comment on that at all?  Any major changes that went into the car or the set‑up or to any of the mechanicals?
WILL POWER:  Well, actually, this is the worst qualifying in my career.  I just didn’t get it right.  It’s just one of those laps that I had a couple of laps to do it in, and I just didn’t get it right.  Because in the practice session before that, we were quickest.  We had a very good car, so it’s just one of those things, you know.  We didn’t change anything.  The car was the same in the race.  That sucks, but we had a good day anyway.