IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
GOPRO GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 25, 2013
 
Will Power Puts Chevrolet in Victory Lane at Sonoma
 
SONOMA, Calif. (August 25, 2013) – For the third time in his IZOD IndyCar Series career, Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet,  stood atop the victory podium at Sonoma Raceway.  Power, who started third on the 25-car grid for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, was credited for leading once for a total of 16 laps of the 85-lap race on the way to his 19th career victory, and his first of the season.
 
“Congratulations to Will Power and the No. 12 Penske Verizon Chevrolet team for their win today at Sonoma Raceway,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President Performance Vehicles and Motorsports.  “Will persevered, and it was great to see him back in the Winner’s Circle.”
 
The victory was the eighth of the year for the Bowtie Brand, and moved Chevrolet back to the lead in the battle for the 2013 Series’ Manufacturers’ Championship.
 
Team Chevy drivers notched a total of two of the top-five finishers, and seven of the top-10 in the final finishing order.
 
With a seventh-place finish, Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, extended his points lead to 39 points with four races remaining in the 2013 19-race IZOD IndyCar Series season.
 
Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, finished fourth and remains fourth in the point standings, improving to just 70 points behind the leader.
 
Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, continued his quest to defend his Series’ championship with a sixth-place finish today.  He is third in the standings, moving to only 62 points down to the top-spot.
 
James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 GoDaddy Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, finished eighth followed by fellow Chevrolet IndyCar V6 driver Simona De Silvestro, No. 78 Nuclear Entergy Areva KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, who claimed the ninth finishing position.
 
Sebastien Bourdais, No. 7 McAfee Dragon Racing Chevrolet, was 10th at the checkered flag.
 
Justin Wilson and Dario Franchitti completed the podium finishers in today’s race.
 
Next on the IZOD IndyCar Schedule will be the September 1, 2013 running of the Grand Prix of Baltimore on the Streets of Baltimore (MD).
 
POST RACE DRIVER QUOTES:
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER  : ON THE WIN: “We’ve had a lot of hard hits and I’m just happy for all the guys. It’s just phenomenal, it’s great for our confidence and we’re back in our winning ways.”
 
ON NOT LETTING LACK OF WINNING GET TO HIM: “I learned a lot about myself this year. I just kept at it, and just stoked for all the guys from Verizon, Meijer, Quicken Loans, all of the guys that make this possible. Living the dream.”
 
ON FINAL RESTART: “That was tight, he was close to getting me. He definitely had a good run there, so it was good racing. It’s hard racing, I can’t believe how many restarts, it was crazy. A very good day. I love wine. Especially when you win.”
 
TIM CINDRIC, PRESIDENT OF PENSKE RACING: HOW REWARDING IS THIS WIN?  “Yes, without a doubt.  These guys have spent all year trying to get to this point and the championship is not in reach for Will, but obviously for Team Penske Helio had a good day.  Certainly tough there with what happened there in the pits and I am just glad that everybody is okay.”
 
STRATEGY-WISE YOU GUYS HAD GOOD STOPS ALL DAY AND WERE HITTING THOSE NUMBERS LAP IN AND LAP OUT: “Yeah, without a doubt.  We had good stops, Will drove a good race, and really didn’t make too many mistakes.  The restarts were really tough and we had to get the one done there at the end and that hasn’t always worked out for us in the past, so fortunately it was our day today.  Certainly needed that for the moral of these guys.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED  4TH: “We had to (get into the top five) with a broken front wing so I was really losing it in the third sector, but other than that not a bad weekend – you got to keep fighting. I know temperatures are hot right now all around, it’s that type of race when you have a lot of restarts there’s going to be a lot of carnage because yellows breed yellows and that’s the way it works.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH: “Seems like the way things have been falling lately – we’ve just been making our lives more difficult than it needs to be, but at this point in the season we need to be making the kind of gambles we’ve been making, and we’ve just not had luck on our side. I think the DHL car was the one to finish first or second today and we buried it deep in the field. It’s part of it; we have to take those gambles right now. We’re not interested in finishing second or third in the championship and when that’s the case you have to go for it all… that’s what we did. Disappointed, we had a great race car but couldn’t do much with it back there. We worked our way from last up to sixth but just ran out of laps.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “We tried to do everything that we could. I’m happy that Will (Power) got his win. He was really aggressive and pushing as hard as he could. He deserved it. I’m happy for him and happy to extend the points lead. I can’t believe it. With all that happened to us in the race, I’m extremely satisfied for the Hitachi Team Penske boys. Four more to go. Let’s keep going.”
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH:  
“Crazy Race. We had a disastrous first stint. The original start was alright but on the restart we got shuffled back, and I accidently hit the pit lane speed limiter coming off of (Turn) 7 and was losing all sorts of spots – on top of that the car was tough to drive. So we went off strategy there and the yellows fell just right; it looked like it was going to come into our hands a bit and on that last stint we were on reds when a bunch of guys were on blacks. Unfortunately those cautions at the end when everybody had to come in and top off gave some guys fresher tires, we had the oldest tires of the groups and each of those restarts we just feel back a couple spots. It’s too bad because we recovered great, the GoDaddy guys called an awesome race as always and to rebound into the top five from where we were in  the first stint is testament to what these guys do every week. Pretty interesting driving out there, but that’s what you get in a competitive series. We’ll take the finish and move on to the next one.”
 
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “I’m pretty happy with P9, Our race was chaos out there. We had really good restarts every time except one and I was always able to move up the field. Then we got hit by Sebastian (Bourdais), which I think was pretty dumb because there was plenty of space to get by. That put us back in the back and then we had to fight our way through the field again. The guys did an awesome job in the pits and strategy-wise I think we made some pretty good calls. I’m really happy. I think we were the highest-finishing car that started in the back and it was pretty good to show that kind of pace and recover from where we started.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10th:
 
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 SUNOCO-TURBO KV RACING TECHNOLOGY – SH RACING CHEVROLET FINISHED 13TH: “I really had to work hard today, The left-rear of the car was damaged early in the race and made it almost impossible to turn right. But, given how tough this w
hole weekend has been I am just happy to have brought the car home in one piece. We fought hard, had to recover from a drive through penalty and still managed to work our way back into the top-10. Unfortunately, in the end we just didn’t have enough to maintain that position.”
                                                                                                                                                                       
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH :
“Well, it was such an up and down race – we pretty much had everything possible happen to us. We were very, very fast and we were able to make it towards the front every time we came from the back; it happened that way three times. We had a couple of penalties that I don’t really think were too fair. The first one, I was trying to pass (Justin) Wilson, and I already had half a car in front of him and he pretty much ran into me. If he had just left me a little bit of space, nothing would have happened. They gave me that drive-thru penalty which pretty much is where the nightmare started. Once you’re in the back part of the pack, it’s when all the bad things begin to happen. I’m grateful to the team; I was very happy with the car. I think we were able to do big improvements – we were not that happy with the car during the first part of the weekend, but I think the speed that we had in the race was better.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH : “The National Guard guys gave me a great car, there was just a little too much carnage out there today. The crew was great in the pits too – I was proud of them. What a way to bounce back from where we qualified. The National Guard Chevy was really strong out there and we were able to pass lots of cars. I have to thank the team and the National Guard for giving me a chance to run again this weekend. We didn’t get the result we wanted but I’m happy with the way we all stuck together and bounced back from where we qualified.”
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED  19TH:  “It was frustrating for us today.  It looked like we were going to be a pretty good shape early in the race.  I got shuffled to back after a restart and we had to go with the black tires.  They just weren’t as good.  Then later in the race I got caught up in someone’s accident.  I had nowhere to go. We seemed like we had good pace at some parts of the race.  But we really struggled on the black tires today in the Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy.  We kept staying out with all of the yellows and I was getting good restarts today.  So we stayed in the mix pretty well in the early portion of the race.  It then got to a point where I was on old tires and other guys were on fresh ones.  On the one restart, I lost a ton of ground with the old tires.  So we had to pit again and that kind of ended our day. Now we’ll just pack up and travel across country to Baltimore for next weekend.”      
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO.  6 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED  21ST:  “We are really disappointed with that finish. We were doing a great job even though we faced a penalty early in the race and started in the back. We had a great strategy which let us pass a lot of cars. On the last restart Davison took us out the race and its just a shame. We really wanted to bring that #6 TRUECar racing car up to a finish in the front. I want to thank all of the TRUECar, McAfee guys, everyone who was present to support us here in Sonoma. This team really showed how fast we can be and all of the hard work the team continues to do is paying off, I just wish we could have shown this in our result today.”
 
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – ROGER PENSKE AND WILL POWER:
 
THE MODERATOR:  We have been joined by race winner Will Power and team owner Roger Penske.  This is Will’s third win in Sonoma.  He won in 2010 and 2011.  It’s his 19th career IndyCar win.  He’s the 10th different winner this season.
Will, congratulations.  Walk us through your day.
WILL POWER:  Thank you.  It was a lot more yellows I think than anyone anticipated, so you really had to survive a lot of restarts.  A bit of a different strategy there between a bunch of cars to survive that.
Kept putting ourselves in good position.  Really happy for all the Verizon guys, my crew, all the people that worked so hard to put us in this position.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Roger, your team has had a lot of success here.  Talk about the race today and why you’ve been so successful here.
ROGER PENSKE:  I think when we come here, we look forward to it.  Racing in northern California is pretty special.  Many years I raced here at Laguna Seca and here obviously.
This is a key part of the season for us, for Helio, and obviously Will was looking for that first win.  With his skill here, he got that bad accident where he got hurt, coming back here and doubling down as he has the last three years is pretty important.
There’s a lot of strategy.  Restarts looked like a NASCAR race, guys moving, pushing and shoving.  At the end of the day, I don’t like to see the call that had to take place.  Everyone saw it.  It’s unfortunate.  That’s the way racing is.  So we’ll move on.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’ll open it up for questions.
Q.                                                               Will, just how huge of a relief is this for you to finally get a win?
WILL POWER:  It is.  I’m actually very happy for my guys.  I think we all expected to be a little bit more competitive.  Not that we haven’t been, we’ve just had some bad things happen to us.
Very happy.  I’ve learned a lot this year.  I’ve been in the back of the pack.  I’ve learned a lot about restarts.  When you have a tough year, you really start searching, looking.  You pick up things.  Really feels like next year I’ll come back more a complete driver.
 
Q. Will, yesterday after practice and then during qualifying, the wind became an issue.  We watched that flag go different directions.  Was the same thing happening in the race?
WILL POWER:  Yeah, it actually changed from the beginning to the end.  The wind went a full 180.  You got to read it.  You drive the track a lot differently depending on the wind direction.  That was the case again in the race today.
 
Q.                                 &n
bsp;                                 Will, what is it about Sonoma that brings out the best in you?
WILL POWER:  It’s actually a pretty tough track.  To me it’s a real driver’s track.  It’s about understanding where to overdrive and where to underdrive.  You can easily blow corners here.
I think the team, we do have a very good setup here.  As you saw this weekend, it looked like Andretti and Ganassi had pretty much caught us and passed us.  But in the race I feel we had a better car.  So, very happy.
 
Q.      Will, Dario is clearly less than happy about the restart.  Can you take us through how you saw that.
WILL POWER:  I mean, we barely touched.  I’m surprised.  That’s just racing.  I’m surprised at his displeasure.  Dixon did exactly the same thing to me when roles were reversed on the first restart.  Dario seems to have a short memory because in Detroit at the first corner, he hit me a lot harder and I lost a bunch of positions.
It’s just racing.  He’ll cool down.  Double-file restarts, what do you do?  We’re side-by-side.  Cars are going to touch.  It’s not like I KO’d him into the wall.
 
Q. Roger, you mentioned it’s a shame to see a call like that made.  Safety is the number one key on pit lane.  If you can talk about the profound impact that that call may have on the points championship.  Now Helio’s closest pursuer looks like he was going to gain points.
ROGER PENSKE:  I think the difference, we were 33, now we’re 39, so it’s 6 points.  Not anything catastrophic.
That’s racing.  To me, I didn’t call it.  I wasn’t involved in it.  Obviously when you have a pit crew member going up in the air…  If you look at it, our pit crew actually lifted the tire up, went behind the car.
To me, I think judgment there was made by whoever makes that call.  We certainly didn’t.  You know, those are the way things go.
 
Q. Roger, what do you think about the tire compounds this weekend?  It seemed to help the competition.  The reds were uniquely different than we’re used to seeing.
ROGER PENSKE:  There’s no question that the softer compound, at this track today, the temperature, they were probably 1 second to 1.2 seconds faster and held on.  The blacks were running in the 82s.  Will was actually quick there on blacks for quite a while.
That’s the difference.  I think that makes strategy.  We have to run one set of reds or one set of blacks in the race.  We used some of those to qualify.  They’re not all brand-new.  You could go all blacks and one set of new reds.
I think it’s added a little bit of ingenuity for the crews and the drivers.  Taking care of your tires was key today because the car would get a lot of oversteer if you didn’t take care of your rears, whether it was on reds or blacks.
 
Q. Roger, quick question about Helio’s race.  I know he’s working on a points championship and the lead.  But he seemed to be faster in practice and qualifying.  Was today disappointing for him?
ROGER PENSKE:  Not at all.  You saw on the restarts, he was taking care of himself.  We got jumped by Marco twice where we were behind the car ahead of us, and Marco was three-wide going through the corner here before we got to the acceleration cone.
I told him, We cannot afford to knock the wheels off.  Certainly once Dixon had his problem, our goal was to finish.  He finished ahead of Hunter-Reay, Hinchcliffe, some pretty good cars.  I don’t think we have to take a backseat on his run today. When you’re running for the championship, get six points today, I think that’s a big win for us.
 
Q. Will, by the points you’re mathematically still alive, but by the positions there’s an awful lot of guys ahead of you.  How much do you miss being right in the middle of a championship fight?
WILL POWER:  Yeah, in one way it’s more relaxing because you can be more aggressive.  Like Roger was saying, Helio had to kind of look after himself.  But of course I would love to be in the battle right now.  We just have had one of those years where things don’t flow.  But it’s slowly coming on here.
Yeah, you know, obviously next year’s mindset.  This year is to make sure Helio wins the championship.  We’re going to help him any way possible for the next three races.
 
Q.                         You said you learned a lot about yourself this year.  Can you detail that a little bit more.
WILL POWER:  I just think you start really looking close at your weaknesses.  My oval performance wasn’t very good.  This year I definitely had to get points on ovals because we weren’t winning races on road courses.  Also the mental aspect.  I really believe it makes you stronger, having a year like this.  You’ll come back next year a serious contender.
 
Q. Roger, not to belabor the point, but you said your crewmen lifted the tire up trying to avoid contact.  Is it clear, the dividing line between the two pit areas, and was your guy where he was supposed to be?
ROGER PENSKE:  I think you should look at the tape.  Our man who changed the tire picked the tire up, was running behind the car.  It wasn’t that he stuck the tire out.  He didn’t leave the tire on the ground where it could have been in the way.
I think they’re way overplaying this thing as far as I’m concerned.  Someone got hit, went up in the air.  Obviously the 9 car was too close to our crew, had an accident there.  The outcome is obvious.
So I feel bad for Scott.  On the other hand, you know, it could have been the other way.  We’ve been in situations where it was called the other way.  Running over the hose, we’ve had to do a drive-through.
These are things that are pretty clear in the rule book.  You go to 701.16 in the rule book, if a team member gets hit in the pits, there’s a drive-through.
WILL POWER:  Kanaan had a penalty last year in Toronto by touching a tire.  He didn’t hit a crew or anything.  You know, it is clear-cut.
 
Q.                                                                                                                   Roger, how are the crewmen?
ROGER PENSKE:  As far as we know, the boys are okay.  He landed on his elbow.  The other guy went up because the hose got around his leg and flipped him up.  I’m sure they’ll be sore tomorrow, but so far, so good.
 
Q. You have a competitor directly accusing you of unsportsmanlike conduct.  Would you like to respond to that directly?
ROGER PENSKE:  Who is that?
 
Q.                                                     &nbs
p;                   Dario said a quote to that in the press conference earlier.
ROGER PENSKE:  At what time during the race and what was the issue?
 
Q. Dario said in the post-race press conference that he thought the usual decorum that is exercised for those competing in the title fight was not displayed in the incident in the way the pit crew member walked around the car.
ROGER PENSKE:  What was he talking about, the incident with our crew member?
 
Q.                                                                                                                   The one that drew the penalty.
ROGER PENSKE:  I’d love to have Dario here.  As far as I’m concerned, he’s off base.  Our guys were doing a job, changing the tires, picked the tires up, got hit by a car from behind.
You start to get personalities into this, what we’re doing running for a championship, it’s ridiculous.
 

KASEY KAHNE LEADS THE CHARGE FOR CHEVROLET WITH SECOND PLACE FINISH
 
FIVE TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS END THE NIGHT IN THE TOP 10
 
BRISTOL, TN – August 24, 2013 – With a hard fought effort to earn back-to-back victories at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kasey Kahne, scored his fourth second-place finish of the 2013 season in his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS in the Irwin Tools Night Race NASCAR Sprint Cup 500-lap contest at the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’. Kahne, who missed taking the trip to Victory Lane by a mere 0.188 seconds, was disappointed in the result of his valiant battle with race winner, Matt Kenseth.
 
“I was trying to get there,” said Kahne. “I would have wrecked probably both of us. It would have just been a wreck. I just tried to pass him as clean as I could, and race him as hard as I could. I thought I had him at one point. I had a good run. I tried to slide across him, but he just kept position. We were rubbing all the way down turn four. I just didn’t clear him. I just didn’t get it done and I’m upset with myself for not figuring out how to win tonight because I clearly had a better car at the end of the race.”
 
Juan Pablo Montoya, who was also a strong contender in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS, placed third for Team Chevy, giving the bowtie brigade two of the top three finishing positions. “I’ll tell you, we had a really good car all night,” said Montoya.  “We were a little tight at the start of the night and we made some good changes.  The car had good speed.”
 
Other top finishers under the lights at Bristol were Paul Menard, No. 27 Menards/Schrock Chevy SS finished sixth, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Axalta Coating Systems Chevrolet SS was seventh, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS, ended the day in 10th. Overall, Team Chevy posted five of the top-10 slots in the 266.5-mile race results.
 
Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, maintained his point lead in the current standings after being involved in a multi-car accident on lap 360.  He was forced behind the wall for repairs.  The team fought hard to finish the race in 36th place.  Johnson continues to hold an 18 point advantage over the field.
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was the race winner, Brian Vickers (Toyota) was second, and Joey Logano (Toyota) finished fifth, to round out the top five.
 
The next race on the tour is September 1st at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
 
KERRY THARP:  Let’s roll right into our post‑race for tonight’s 53th annual Irwin Tools Night Race here at Bristol Motor Speedway.  Our third‑place finisher was Juan Pablo Montoya.  He drove the No. 42 target Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.  Congratulations on a very solid run. You had a contending car all night.  Just talk about how things went for you and maybe what you were thinking there at the end.
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I’ll tell you, we had a really good car all night.  We were a little tight at the start of the night and we made some good changes.  The car had good speed.  I got caught speeding there with like 170 to go or something, and that kind of hurt us.  But I’ll tell you the truth, I think it helped us because if it would have played right, we probably would have run out of gas.  Our fuel mileage wasn’t as good as the 20.
 
It made it more interesting.  I really had to use the brakes and really cooked the front tires there at the end, but it was fun.
 
KERRY THARP:  And our race runner up is Kasey Kahne.  He drove the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  Kasey, talk about your race out there tonight.  Certainly you were giving it all you could to get past the 20, and it was a lot of give and take and certainly put on a great show tonight here for the fans at Bristol.  A heck of a race down there towards the end.
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I thought Matt did a good job of just running as hard as he could as close to the wall as possible, which helped him a lot, and then I was just trying to gain speed.  I had a better car.  We were on the right strategy, and I just couldn’t clear him.  There was a couple shots I took, and I had to have been close, but I could feel him on the right side of my car, and I just didn’t clear him.  I didn’t figure out how to get by.  It’s disappointing not to win here.  I thought we had the best car the last 200 laps, and it was a lot of work.  We didn’t start the best, but Kenny made a lot of good calls, and our strategy was perfect at the end.  It was a great night for us, good for the points and things, but yeah, I wish I could have figured out how to get by him.
 
Q.  Kasey, you said on the TV interview, first you said I had options, and then you came back later and said you were upset with yourself for not figuring out a way to win.  What options did you have?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Well, the only options ‑‑
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Taking him out.
 
Q.  Which obviously would have helped Juan.
 
KASEY KAHNE:  That’s the only option I have.
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I was hoping they were going to wreck on the white flag to be honest.
KASEY KAHNE:  I had already tried to clear him on a slide job type deal and he just didn’t brake and stayed in the gas and we were going to hit each other.  I don’t know how all that was going to work out.  I needed a win bad, but I also needed a finish, and I just didn’t do anything crazy. I just basically ran as hard as I could, tried to pass him two different times and ran on his bumper and hoped he’d screw up, and he really never did.
 
Q.  Juan, you came back from a speeding penalty and you salvaged the day and finished third.  Based on your situation is anything short of wins kind of satisfying at this stage?
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  It is.  To be honest with you, where we are with the team and the result, if I got in, it’s pretty good.  I’m still running until the end of the year with Target, and I want to make sure I can do the best for them.
 
Q.  Kasey, I think a lot of people would probably say that you cemented your reputation tonight as a clean racer.  Is it just something that you don’t believe in, to wreck somebody as revenge or take retaliation, because certainly you joked about it on Twitter that they had gotten you four times this year and you could have exacted your revenge tonight and you didn’t.  Is that simply against your code?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Seems that way.  You know, I’ve always really raced that way.  I don’t have any experience doing it for one, and for two, that’s just kind of how I’ve always raced.
 
I think more than anything it’s just discouraging when other guys, like Matt in his case at Watkins Glen, watching that afterwards, all he had to do was lift, and he didn’t because he didn’t want to get passed from behind or whatever the situation was.  It wasn’t a mistake like he got loose or anything, he just didn’t lift and wiped us out and those kind of things are discouraging because that’s not how I race, but at the same time, more times than not, Matt races me clean.
 
I don’t know, I just don’t ‑‑ I think at the end of the day I just don’t wreck people.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 24, 2013
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
ON HIS RUN:
“We had a really good Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. We were fast. Kenny (Francis, crew chief) made a great call to get the tires and not worry about fuel and I just didn’t get it done. I didn’t win. I had the better car. The guys did a great job in the pits and I feel bad I didn’t win. We needed this. I would have been big for us. But, we ended up second. It was still a good point’s day and we’ll try to get one in Atlanta.”
 
YOU TRIED TO MAKE THE PASS CLEANLY. ON THE FINAL LAP, YOUR ONLY OPTION WOULD HAVE BEEN TO HAVE CONTACT WITH THE NO. 20 (MATT KENSETH).  WERE YOU TRYING TO GET THERE?
“I was trying to get there. I would have wrecked probably both of us. It would have just been a wreck. I just tried to pass him as clean as I could, and race him as hard as I could. I thought I had him at one point. I had a good run. I tried to slide across him, but he just kept position. We were rubbing all the way down Turn 4. I just didn’t clear him. I just didn’t get it done and I’m upset with myself for not figuring out how to win tonight because I clearly had a better car at the end of the race.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE ENOUGH FOR THEM AT THE END?
“Our Target Chevy was strong all day.  When we restarted I started gaining on him.  I thought ‘oh we are looking pretty good here’.  I tried running the top in (Turns) three and four and it was so way dirty  and I lost a bit of ground there and started kind of equalizing.  I just kept getting tighter and tighter, so it didn’t happen.  That was all we had believe me.”
 
AS YOU WERE WATCHING THAT BATTLE IN FRONT OF YOU FOR FIRST AT THE END YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN THINKING THESE GUYS MIGHT TAKE EACH OTHER OUT AND I CAN FALL INTO THIS THING:
“I was hoping they would do that on the white flag (laughs).”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA COATING SYSTEMS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SEVENTH
IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS NOT WHAT YOU NEEDED IS THERE ANY SENSE OF A LOST OPPORTUNITY HERE?
“Yes and no.  I think we were better than that.  I don’t know if we had enough for Matt (Kenseth) but we fought hard and gave it our best effort.  Seventh gained point’s on 10th, it’s not as much as we could have, but we gained something.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 10TH
ON HIS RUN:
“We had a good car especially at the end. I’m real happy with the speed we had, just we weren’t sure about making it on fuel.  The No. 15 ran out and he was even saving as much as we were.  Just a risk we couldn’t take.  Just a risk we couldn’t take tonight, but gave up about maybe five points there and hopefully just making sure we got the fuel to finish the race and getting a 10th-place finish will pay off for us here in the next couple of weeks.”
 
ORIGINALLY WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE IT MIGHT GO TO THE END ON FUEL WERE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THAT?
“Yeah, we were still five short and we didn’t have a yellow.  It was five laps short and you just don’t know if you saved enough under caution shutting the car off and stuff.  If we were past Richmond Steve (Letarte, crew chief) said we would have gambled and went for it.  I believe that.  If it was earlier in the season we would have gambled and went for it.  But under the circumstances we didn’t have the freedom to do that and as much as I hate to say what could have happened maybe we could have finished in the top five or top three even.  Considering what happened to guys behind us in points I think we had to do the right thing, do the smart thing anyways.”
 
DID THIS RUN TURN THINGS AROUND A LITTLE BIT CONSIDERING WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH THE PAST FEW WEEKS?
“The car was really good.  Steve (Letarte) and I worked on the car real hard Friday.  Still weren’t right where we wanted to be.  Him and Kevin Meendering my lead engineer studied all this morning and came up with a couple of changes that I think we really needed to help the car.  Really Steve put his heart in it.  The car was great at the start of the race.  We picked off cars real quick and moved up real fast. We were able to lead a couple of laps and get some points there.  The car was pretty good definitely a top five car all night especially at the end of the race I think it was really dialed in.”
 
TWO MORE 10TH PLACE FINISHES AND YOU ARE IN THE CHASE RIGHT?
“I would like to think so.  I really don’t know how much we gained on everybody tonight but we definitely needed to build on that cushion.  That 20 points really had me pretty nervous.  Hopefully if we can put a good one together next week something similar or better than this we will definitely go to Richmond a lot more comfortable.” 
 
MARK MARTIN, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 20TH
YOU STRUGGLED EARLY BUT AFTER THE HALFWAY MARK, MADE SOME HEADWAY. TALK ABOUT YOUR NIGHT:
 “We struggled at the beginning of the race hitting the racetrack really, really bad. Then I screwed us up in the pits. Pitted long, and we weren’t able to get it rectified before the tires got changed, which put us a lap down. We still didn’t have the car fixed yet, so we continued to work on the car and at about halfway, we got the car pretty competitive. At that point, we had taken a gamble and lost a couple more laps by pitting under the green, and then having a caution come out on the lap where we came back out. We had some tough luck and a few things that we could’ve done better, but we were pretty fast at the end. That’s why I go home feeling good about it because we were able to improve the car and get it competitive and that’s hard to do with the short pit stops that we get here. The guys did a good job. I think we’ll be better. Our practice time was so short yesterday and we had so much trouble, we just needed another day to be ready for tonight, really.
 
“We missed the setup really bad at the beginning of the race. We struggled with the car in trying to get it better, and then I pitted wrong and cost us a lap and that was the beginning of the end. Then we tried to pull pit strategy to get back on the lead lap. We had to pit under green and that made it very difficult. The positive is the guys did a great job. We were way off in the beginning and at the end we were a top-10 car. I can go home knowing that it was just a short day yesterday and we didn’t have a chance to get it right. We took a stab at it this morning and missed it pretty good. We were able to adjust to that during the race, get it up off the racetrack and get it competitive at the end. This one is behind us and hopefully we’ll move ahead from here.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 26TH
ON HER RUN:
“Overall I would honestly say we are still on a good streak of running strong.  There is nothing you can do about getting into the wall and having damage.  We came back as best as we could and made the car as good as it was at the end.  That is a positive.  My goal honestly in my mind is like ‘man if we can come away with a top 30 with having these problems then that is alright’ and we finished 26th through attrition and staying out of trouble.  We will take it and move on.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SEALY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 31ST
THE INITIAL PROBLEM WITH THE WHEEL HUB IS THAT SOMETHING YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DIAGNOSIS LATER?
“Yeah I guess we had a right-rear hub fail where the studs pulled through or they weren’t tightened or assembled.  I do
n’t know just a right-rear hub failure.  Now we have to go back and diagnosis that.  When you are 20 laps down there is nothing you can do.  We just rode around and we are down, but we are not out.  I guess at the end of the race we gained a bunch of points back with guys having trouble.  My thoughts all through the race were we just have to go to Atlanta and Richmond and win them both.”
 
IS IT WEIRD FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO HAPPEN THAT FAR INTO A RUN?
“Yeah, we didn’t even pit yet so we had a wheel start to vibrate loose at an odd time.  I felt vibrations before, but we are leading the race walking the dog and our right-rear is falling off.  It’s just kind of how you have to fight sometimes and overcome the obstacles that come your way.”
 
AT THIS POINT WHAT SORT OF RALLY THE TROOPS MENTALITY DO YOU HAVE FOR THE GUYS AND THE GUYS HAVE FOR YOU?
“Well we are down, but we are not out.  We have two races to go and I heard we are only five points out of 10th.”
 
YOU CAME BACK OUT AND GAINED 10 SPOTS:
“Yeah, it’s just never give up.  You feel like going back out sometimes is really just a hazard, but guys had trouble today towards the end and we might of actually passed a couple of them.  Again, we are down, but we are not out.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 34TH
WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE WRECK THAT YOU SAW?
“I just saw the No. 11 shoot across the race track.  It looked like he was trying to swerve at somebody.  He said the No. 56 got into him and so I just wanted to know what happened.”
 
WHAT DID HE (DENNY HAMLIN) TELL YOU?
“He just told me his version of it.  It’s all good it’s Bristol racing and it’s just something I wanted to know.”
 
HOW WAS YOUR RACE IN TOTAL?
“The race wasn’t bad we were just off on fuel mileage.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 36TH
“We will definitely come back next week and do all we can. We had a decent finish. Last week I really thought we had a shot to win and had an engine failure. This racing stuff happens. Luckily, we had a big point’s lead that we can kind of deal with right now. We’ve locked into the Chase. We certainly want to clean things up and have some great finishes rolling into the Chase. We’ll keep after it, and be back again next week. We’ll go to Atlanta and do all we can there. And then Richmond; and I feel like we had a really good test. There is still a lot of racing left. And the once the Chase starts, it is its own animal. So we’ll just wait and see what happens during those ten (races).”
 

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
GOPRO GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 24, 2013
 
SONOMA, Calif. (August 24, 2013) – Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, led three Chevrolet V6 drivers in Firestone Fast Six qualifying for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Power turned in the third fastest time in the final session of knock-out qualifying that set the starting grid for the 15th race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season.
 
Ryan Hunter-Reay turned the fourth fastest time in his No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, followed by point standings leader Helio Castroneves in the cockpit of the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet who turned the fifth quickest lap in the session.
 
James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 GoDaddy Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, was ninth quickest to give Team Chevy four of the top-10 qualifiers.
 
Dario Franchitti (pole winner), Scott Dixon (second quickest) and Charlie Kimball (sixth fasted) completed the Firestone Fast Six.
 
The 85-lap/202.73-mile GoPro Indy Grand Prix at Sonoma is scheduled to start on Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. ET with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
 
Live radio coverage will be on XM Radio Channel 94 and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 212. In addition, IndyCar live timing and scoring with the radio broadcast can be found at

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 23, 2013
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway and discussed practice, her visit with Tony Stewart and much more.  Full Transcript:
 
HOW IS THE CAR SO FAR?
“We were really tight to start second practice and we made a lot of improvements there.  I think that is what helped us get going so well in qualifying trim.  We just didn’t make improvements during qualifying.  I think we have a lot to go off of and I’m proud of everyone for working so hard.  It’s a lot to cram in, a lot of changes that we crammed in those couple of hours, but I think they are going to pay off.”
 
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM BEING HERE THE LAST TIME? 
“I mean I think in general it really just has more to do with being familiar with the car, familiar with the track itself which I’ve raced here a lot now or plenty of times to feel comfortable with the track.  All of it helps and all of it helps a lot more in the beginning.  It’s just that learning curve in the beginning.  Beyond that it really just has to do with how the car feels.  If the car feels good you are going to move up.  If it doesn’t then you are going to have to work on it.”
 
EXCITED ABOUT MARK MARTIN BEING A PART OF THE TEAM?
“Yeah, I’ve known Mark for a long time.  He’s a really nice guy and he’s really interested in helping.  That is good.  Shoot he can fit in my car so maybe someday he will drive my car too.  I always like getting other drivers feedback.”
 
GREG ZIPADELLI SAID THERE MIGHT BE A CHANCE YOU HAVE THREE TEAMMATES NEXT YEAR.  LOOKING BACK AT YOUR TIME AT ANDRETTI HOW VALUABLE IS IT HAVING AS MANY TEAMMATES AS POSSIBLE?
“Well if it does work out that there are four of us on the team next year then I’m excited.  I always like having more people to look at as far as their styles.  There are more engineers there are more crew chiefs and more people around to develop things.  For me I think it’s a great thing.”
 
YOU TALK ABOUT JUST TRYING TO TAKE EVERYTHING THAT COMES YOUR WAY.  IS THIS THE HARDEST PLACE TO KIND OF KEEP COMPOSURE AND KEEP YOUR COOL?
“I think it can be frustrating, but there is a certain element that it does become single file and there is really nowhere for anyone to go.  A lot of times where it might seem like the person right in front of you is holding you up it’s because the person in front of him is holding him up.  The restarts are going to be important and that has been the case all year.  That has been the most important time to make passes.  Whenever you are running really close to people it always gives them a lot more of an opportunity to lay on you and that is the kind of stuff that gets you a little fired up.”
 
HOW CLOSE DID YOU COME TO THROWING YOUR HELMET LAST YEAR WHEN THE REGAN (SMITH) THING HAPPENED?
“(Laughs) No I don’t think I get enough helmets to throw them.  I never think of that, but I do think of the fact that I want another driver to see if I’m angry.  I think I made that at least mildly clear.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT KURT (BUSCH) POSSIBLY COMING OVER, WHAT HE CAN BRING TO THE TEAM AND HELP YOU AS WELL?
“Well I mean if like I said if I have four teammates or if there are four of us next year then I just answered it.  I would like that.  I would like to be able to learn from other drivers no matter who they are.  If it just happens to be Kurt then he is a fantastic driver and he gets up on the wheel and I feel like there would be a lot that all of us could learn.”
 
HAVE YOU SPENT TIME WITH KURT (BUSCH) PERSONALLY AWAY FROM THE TRACK?
“Shoot the only driver I spend a lot of time with personally is Ricky (Stenhouse, Jr.).  We spend so much time at the track together, but I have known Kurt for a long time.  Shoot it goes all the way back to when he drove an IndyCar at Sebring I believe.  He drove a Rahal Letterman car and I was there watching that day.  I’ve always really liked him and got along really well with him.  We’ve never had any problems on the track at all so we have a good working relationship for sure.”
 
THERE WAS A REPORT THIS WEEK THAT MICHAEL ANDRETTI IS TALKING TO JUAN (PABLO MONTOYA) ABOUT POSSIBLY GOING OVER THERE.  WHAT KIND OF A FIT WOULD JUAN BE WITH THE ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT GROUP?
“I don’t know.  I think it all depends on who you end up having to work with and what your obligations are with the team.  Things always feel like they are going really well if you are running well.  If you are running well it will all be great.”
 
TONY (STEWART) APPARENTLY HAS THE ABILITY TO TALK ON THE RADIO FROM HIS HOME.  DID HE SAY ANYTHING TO YOU IN PRACTICE?
“Tony (Stewart) was trying to talk on the radio, but I couldn’t hear him.  I could hear him key up, so I’m happy for him for that because the poor guy is laid up for such a long time.  He barely can move around, so I’m glad that he’s able to get interactive with us and gosh technology huh it’s pretty awesome.”
 
HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO TALK TO HIM A LITTLE MORE THIS WEEK?
“I went and saw him this week again and he is progressively getting better you know.  We were joking about how he has to go to the hospital to get a check-up and how the ambulance comes, and they bring him out on a stretcher.   Poor guy.  But he was in good spirits and he was definitely of the mindset that he needs to do it right, and do rehab right.  You know, they hope that he can be back in January.  And if he does, he is like, ‘I don’t need to be back any sooner, so let’s just do this right’, and I think that is the right attitude.  So I think he is in a really good place……as good of a place that you can be with many incisions in your leg.”
 
DO YOU MISS TONY BEING AT THE RACE TRACK?
“It hasn’t been that long that he hasn’t been here.  So I think that in general he is a great driver, we have similar styles and similar feels with the car, and he plays a really good cheerleader. I think the team has done a really good job of keeping their cool and being up for any of the challenges.  I never felt like the team has been disrupted by other drivers coming into the 14 car, so I feel like they are all doing a really good job.  That comes with putting good people in.  So, I just miss it because he is a great driver and he is the leader of this team.”
 
HOW DIFFERENT FOR YOU IS THE TIRE TEST IN PHOENIX AS OPPOSED TO THE TEAM TEST AT RICHMOND?
“Well, I have only done one tire test and it was at Daytona.  You do get a fair amount of time to work on the car, but there is definitely dedicated time to running different sets of tires and things like that.  Even though it’s not a full test for the team to run through the changes, any time is good time for me in developing a good relationship with Goodyear.  Just having a hand in picking a tire is a big benefit.  You are always going to pick one that you feel you run the best with.  So I think that is good or at least being able to have a feel for it so you know what is coming when they choose a certain kind of tire.   Honestly sometimes maybe the most interesting tire isn’t the most consistent one; it’s the one that goes off the most.   It’s all good for me; track time is good for me.  Only running a couple times at Phoenix in a Cup car, I think it’s really good for me to run somewhere like that.”
 
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A TIRE THAT YOU FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE WITH OR ARE YOU TRYING TO KEEP IN MIND EVERYBODY ELSE OR IS THAT NOT YOUR JOB THAT IS GOODYEAR

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 23, 2013
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SEALY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SECOND
TALK ABOUT THAT LAP:
“Yeah pretty eventful.  They had to fix all the damage that I gave the car through practice.  Things get bent and things that you measure show straight and then when you get over to that big inspection rig with lasers and measuring calipers it really shows that you were wrong.  It’s just a matter of trying to understand what is bent in the car. As long as we have tomorrow morning to go through it I think we will be fine just an eventful qualifying run.  I’m sorry if I’m scatter brained and my interview sounds horrible, but thanks to these guys.  To work as hard as they did on this car it’s one of those moments where everybody just had to roll up their sleeves, jump in and we smiled all the way through it going ‘hey it’s fun to do an old school thrash and then we got through it’.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SEVENTH
HOW HAS A SEASON SWEEP SOUND FOR YOU HERE AT BRISTOL?
“It sounds good.  It’s not going to be easy I know that.  The first one was tough and the track I feel is even tougher this time.  Just kind of see what happens we are going to push pretty hard and see.  We qualified alright.  I feel like the car was close right there the guys did a good job.  I wish I would have maybe got a little more aggressive with it.  Fifth for now hopefully a top 10 it will be close to a top 10 we will see.”
 
YOU COME IN 11TH IN POINT’S BUT YOU’VE GOT THE TWO WINS CAN YOU KIND OF PIN YOUR EARS BACK AND JUST GO FOR WINS AT THIS POINT?
“No, I think you need to just really be… like we need to get in the top 10. We need to be consistent.  We need to try and get another win.  There are a couple of tracks that I feel like we can if things go our way and we play it right.  I really feel like we just need to be really to me it’s like Chase time like we have to really focus on that and can’t just go for wins and just get out of control because something crazy could still happen and knock us out and even not starting with those bonus point’s would be bad also.”
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED EIGHTH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“I felt like I had a really good three and four on my lap, just my one and two was not exactly what I wanted.  But man it’s fast here, touchy…..and the track seems rougher and has more character than it ever has.   We will see how it ends up and I think it was a good run for our Quicken Loans Chevrolet.”
 
MARK MARTIN, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO GET THE SECURITY YOU WANT IN THIS TAKING OVER THE SEAT FOR TONY STEWART WHILE HE IS OUT WITH INJURY?
“I’ve just got to have some more time. I apologize to all these guys for working so hard to try to accommodate me. Being familiar with all this stuff may be a little over-rated; but to be real honest with you, I was quite challenged today and I don’t feel like I was able to rise to the challenge. I’m really proud of that qualifying lap. It’s better than I thought, but it’s still going to be mid-pack. But, we’re in one piece and we have learned so much. If we just had one more day before the race to work together a little bit, it would help us a ton. Kudos to Bass Pro Shops and Mobil 1 and everybody that works in this thing. And Tony Stewart, thanks, bud.”
 
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP:
“It was a little bit better than what I hoped for based on practice.  I am pretty happy and I was extremely challenged by the newness and differences in the race car than what I have been driving.  I haven’t been here in two years, and the race track ……because it’s been ground up top…..I haven’t been on that before, so the race team had to be patient and we lost a lot of time in practice in just getting to know each other.   

“It’s going to be upper to mid pack starting spot.  That is better than what I was hoping for at the end of practice and I am so proud of these guys and we will build strength and momentum going forward after we get this race under our belt and start marching forward.   I just never got the confidence in the car and in the track like we need and over a period of time that will come.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 13TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“Yeah I mean you just have to be so committed.  Stuff happens; I had an exciting (turn) three and four coming to the green.  I had to turn around and take another shot at it.  The first lap was still really tough, but my second lap was okay looks like top 15.”
 
RYAN TRUEX, NO. 51 SEAWATCH CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 18TH
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP:
“It was good.  I under drove it a little bit and every driver says that, but I messed up one and two on my first lap. I think our first lap was better and I could have drove a little higher.  There is so much grip up high right now.  I got a little scared I guess….a little gun shy to get up near the wall.  I got in the wall a little bit in practice in the end.  So I was a little gun shy but proud of these guys and I think that will hold up for a solid starting spot.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 19TH
NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR IN QUALIFYING CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP?
“Yeah it was a little bit slower than we would like to go.  The car was pretty good, I don’t know.  It’s really tough to get ahold of this place.  We haven’t qualified good here in a really long time.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE FOR TOMORROW NIGHT?
“Yeah I hope so.  It’s just going to be very competitive race.  It’s really… everybody runs the same speed.  It’s just going to be whoever can be up front and get track position.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 22ND
ON HER QUALIFYING RUN:
“We had a pretty normal pick-up so that is good.  That just means that we made nice good changes and the car felt pretty good out there.  I know that qualifying is not my strong suit so I feel like over time we will keep getting better and better at it.  What we need to do right now is just kind of be on the norm for the pick-up and just keep improving our practice times so that when we do pick up in qualifying we just keep moving up.”
 
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 42ND
ON HIS LAP:
“We’ve just been chasing it all day.  In qualifying we were just way loose and I had to chase it up the hill and got in all the debris and that hurt us a lot. But we’ll get better. It’s just one of those days; a bad day.  We will regroup. Tomorrow is a long night and we’ll find a way to make it work.”
 

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
GOPRO GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST PRACTICE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 23, 2013
 
 
SONOMA, Calif. (August 23, 2013) – Helio Castroneves and his No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet team stayed focused on the task at hand during the opening day of practice for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma by posting the second fastest time in the combined sessions. Castroneves comes into the 15th race of the IZOD IndyCar Series season leading the point standings by 31 points in pursuit of his first Series’ Championship.
 
Defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, was third overall in the final order, and Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet logged the fourth fastest time.
 
Firestone Fast Six qualifying for Sunday’s 85-lap/202.73-mile race on the 12-turn/2.385-mile Sonoma Raceway is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. PT. Qualifying will be broadcast tape delay on NBC Sports Network at 6:00 p.m. PT. A total of 12 Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers will make qualifying runs.
 
GoPro Indy Grand Prix at Sonoma is scheduled to start on Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. ET with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
 
Live radio coverage will be on XM Radio Channel 94 and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 212. In addition, IndyCar live timing and scoring with the radio broadcast can be found at

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 23, 2013
 
 
KURT BUSCH TO START ON THE FRONT ROW FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK
Six Chevrolet SS Drivers to Start in Top 15
 
BRISTOL, TN – August 23, 2013 – Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet SS, who has five career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Bristol Motor Speedway, will start the race on the outside of the front row for the second straight week.  Busch has now earned seven outside, front-row starting spots so far in 2013.  He will be looking to keep his hot streak alive and stay inside the Top 10 in the point standings in the last three races leading into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. 
 
Kasey Kahne, who won the spring event at Bristol, will start his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS in seventh position.  Kahne also needs a solid run on Saturday night to keep his grip on his Chase “Wild Card” position.  Ryan Newman, No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, also very much alive in the Chase standings, and will start in eighth position on Saturday night.
 
Other Team Chevy members starting in the Top 15 are: Mark Martin, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS – 11th, Jimmie Johnson, No 48 Dover White Chevrolet SS – 13th, and Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet SS – 15th.
 
Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was the pole winner, Carl Edwards (Ford) was third, Brian Vickers (Toyota) was fourth and Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was fifth, to round out the top-five.
 
The IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway takes the green flag on Saturday, August 24th at 7:30 p.m. ET, and will be aired live on ESPN.
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/SEALY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SECOND:
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY:
“It was an eventful Friday for us. I got a little loose getting into (Turn) 3 and it took me all the way until Turn 4 to scrub the fence and we pancaked the right side just enough to where we had to quit practice for the last half hour and go to work on fixing the car. The hood seams were sealed and the decklid seams were sealed, but the whole right side was pancaked. You’re right on that edge. Do you fix it or do you pull out the back-up. It was so cool to just feel the energy from my guys. They all rolled their sleeves up. They all looked at the clock and said we’ve got an hour and a half to fix this to get in the tech line. And we got it in. Then we had trouble getting it through the tech line because the lasers inspect the car with a little bit more detail than what our tape measures show. And so we had to go through the tech line two or three times and got out to the grid right before it was our turn.
 
“I went and turned a lap and the cool part was I said I’ve got to go 95 percent. I can’t go a full 100 percent on that first lap just to feel the car and to trust the car and to trust the track. And then the second lap, once I made it through the first lap, I said all right, let’s go 100 percent. And then I backed all over the place again. So it was a very eventful day. But, thanks to my guys for working as hard as they did to give us this outside pole. We’ve been on the outside pole a half a dozen times. It’s a good accomplishment but at the same time, we’re coming up a little short for getting the pole. But these guys keep plugging away. It’s been great to go into an old school thrash like we did today and come out with an outside pole.”
 
THIS IS YOUR SEVENTH OUTSIDE ROW STARTING POSITION. YOU ARE IN POSITION FOR A CHASE BERTH. WHEN YOU WENT TO FURNITURE ROW THIS YEAR, DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA YOU COULD PUT TOGETHER THIS KIND OF SEASON?
“It’s been great on qualifying days. Fridays have been, I think, our strongest suit. What I mean by that, it can be defined in a few categories and that’s all the hard work at the shop the guys do with the simulator and the seven-post. So, when your first lap out is fast, it’s encouraging all weekend long. And when we switch over into qualifying trim, that speed is there again. To say that I didn’t expect it wouldn’t be the right phrase. It’s been a great work in progress that I knew we could achieve. And to have as many outside poles as we do, is a nice feather in the cap. But when you need to get through a Saturday practice session and still have that speed and then translate it into Sunday, we’ve just come up a little bit short on some of our speed. That’s maybe why we haven’t driven the Furniture Row Chevy into Victory Lane. But it’s been very satisfying on Fridays, and working through the sequence of the weekend to find that chance to go to Victory Lane, we just keep coming up a little bit short.”
 
“Is not winning the only thing that’s missing?  Well, we’re three weeks away from the Chase. And that’s what our focus is right now and I said this about six or seven weeks ago, we don’t have to win to make this Chase. Even if we had a win right now, we would be not guaranteed a spot in the Chase. Consistency is what gets you in and consistency wins the championship. You just have to ramp it up a notch once you’re in the Chase. So right now, the blinders are on. We are full-focus on just making sure we get nice, consistent finishes.”
 
DO YOU TRUST WITH YOUR GUYS ALL THE TALK ABOUT WHERE YOU MAY GO NEXT YEAR TO TRY TO HELP THEM KEEP THE BLINDERS ON? AND DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THE REPORTS ABOUT STEWART-HAAS RACING WOOING YOU FOR NEXT YEAR?
“Yeah, the guys know that this is the time now, and they are all shaking my hand saying thanks; and they are also saying let’s do this again next year. And I’m like yeah, heck yeah, I’m right there with you. We have to stay focused on the present as well as balance the future. And it’s a tough thing to do. And you hope you could do it behind the scenes, you know, where it’s not out in the public. But today was a great reminder of how hard you have to work in this sport. And when things go wrong, you have to have talented guys jump in and pick you up. And today we brought home the outside pole with the adversity we had to overcome.”
 
YOU HAD YOUR ISSUE TODAY KYLE BUSCH HAD PROBLEMS. JIMMIE JOHNSON HAD PROBLEMS IN QUALIFYING. IS THE EDGE A LITTLE BIT HARDER TO FIND AT THIS TRACK THIS WEEK FOR SOME REASON?
“If Jimmie didn’t have problems, I was just going to go oh you know those dang Busch brothers; always out there on the edge tearing cars up. Checkers are wreckers, you know. That’s the whole mentality. But it’s a joke, guys, really.  My delivery was really poor (laughter). I actually asked (John) Darby if I could go out there and walk the banking in (Turns) 3 and 4 right before qualifying, just to see where the marbles had collected. We’re all right there on that high lane. And the higher you go, there’s more grip. But as soon as you put a few inches of the tire into the marbles, then your right-side is pancaked. You’re right on that edge and it’s a half-mile around. Any little mistake shows up on the stopwatch immediately.”
 
EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW HARD YOU DRIVE A CAR. WHEN YOU ARE A SOUGHT-AFTER DRIVER, AND THERE ARE MULTIPLE OFFERS COMING YOUR WAY, WHAT IMPACT DOES THAT HAVE ON YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THE CAR?
“You know, it’s like a checklist that you go through each time you get in the car. One of those items is to just block out the outside world and know that what is at hand right now is a qualifying run. Tomorrow is 500 laps at Bristol where I have to protect my car and make sure we don’t try to push any issues on restarts. And then to have the outside guys knocking on the door going hey we want you to drive. It’s a good confidence booster, to say the least.”
 
THERE IS GOING TO BE A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE GUYS THAT HAVE TO MAKE THE CHASE AND THE GUYS WHO ARE GOING OUT TO WIN. EVERYBODY WANTS TO WIN. BUT WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE TENURE TO BE TOMORROW NIGHT?
“I’m just sitting here thinkin
g. With Bristol, as cool as this place is and the excitement level, could we move this race into the Chase so we didn’t have the guys that were on edge, that had to have a good consistent run, just to get their way into the Chase, why couldn’t this be the second race into the Chase? And then why can’t we just put dirt on this place and run here in March on dirt, you know? I think that would be awesome to put dirt on here and then every ticket was $35. That would be pretty sweet. That’s my vote for next March.”
 
WHAT ABOUT MARTINSVILLE?
“I can get on my soapbox again and talk. I think there should be a lottery system or there should be a wager that you have to place with NASCAR to buy a Chase date. And that the championship race, at the final race, should have to bid just like you bid on the Super Bowl. It should move around a little bit. Yeah, we can’t probably race in Chicago in November. It might be a little too cold. But there are a half-dozen tracks that I think could be a series finale, and I think they should have to bid on the tracks.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 23, 2013
 
MARK MARTIN, INTERIM DRIVER FOR TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS AND GREG ZIPADELLI, COMPETITION DIRECTOR FOR STEWART-HAAS RACING, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway and discussed expectations for the race weekend and the remainder of the season, what Stewart-Haas Racing might look like in 2014 and many other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT HOW THINGS UNFOLDED THE LAST FEW DAYS AND THEN NOW THAT YOU HAVE YOUR SIGHTS SET ON THE REST OF THIS SEASON YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING BEHIND THE WHEEL OF THE NO. 14:
 
MARK MARTIN: “Well first of all I’m honored and humbled both to be asked to fill in for ‘Smoke’ (Tony Stewart).  I really look forward to Tony getting back with us.  I just wanted to say that first of all.  It has been a whirlwind for sure.  Getting the details sort of sorted out Sunday and Monday really not until Monday and then taking the trip, I’m over in Arkansas right now with Arlene (Martin, wife).  Taking a trip to North Carolina Tuesday and spending the day fitting seats and shooting pictures and getting to know people.  Faces and names and the organization and everything else Tuesday and Wednesday were kind of a whirlwind for sure.  Today I’m a little bit nervous.  Today is going to be action packed with a short amount of practice to get ready to race tomorrow night and to qualify all packed into one day.  I’m excited about the challenge and I’m extremely committed to do a good job for this race team, for this group, for Tony and hopefully return his car back over to him in as good or better standing then when it was turned over to me.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE THOUGHT PROCESS THAT WENT INTO CERTAINLY BEEN A LOT OF THINGS HAPPENING OVER AT YOUR PLACE THE LAST FEW WEEKS.  JUST TALK ABOUT THE THOUGHT PROCESS IN GETTING MARK (MARTIN) AND GETTING SOME STABILITY OVER THERE HERE MOVING FORWARD:
 
GREG ZIPADELLI: “For us it’s a homerun.  Obviously he has big shoes to fill to take Tony’s seat and there are not many guys in the garage that could do that.  We all agreed that if there was any way to get Mark Martin he was the guy that would do us the best job and be able to do that. That is kind of like over the last few weeks we said we were going to take our time and everything that we did we would try to be as calculated as we could and obviously we were hoping we could get this worked out.  We felt like it was the best opportunity for the No. 14 car to perform on a weekly basis and you know do our sponsors the justice that they deserve.”
 
TONY HAS HAD SUCCESS IN ALL FORMS OF MOTORSPORTS, RACED ALL KINDS OF THINGS AS WELL AS IN NASCAR.  ALSO DURING HIS CAREER HE’S HAD RUN IN’S WITH MEDIA, OTHER COMPETITORS AND EVEN NASCAR ITSELF.  EVEN THROUGH ALL THAT PEOPLE STILL HOLD A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF RESPECT FOR HIM.  WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?

MARK MARTIN: “I think because people see people who have been around and close enough to him to see Tony on the inside know that he is an incredible person, caring and amazing person.  For the people who don’t get to know that side of Tony they might have a different impression, but he’s loved in the sport and respected throughout the sport universally I think for what a great person he is and the incredible driver and commitment that he has to racing.”
 
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT WHAT TONY MAY OR MAY NOT DO OR WHAT HE WILL BE LIKE AFTER HE COMES BACK WILL HE HAVE CHANGED.  DO YOU EXPECT HAVING YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH TONY THAT HE WILL BE ANY DIFFERENT THE DAY HE GETS BACK IN THE NO. 14 CAR?

GREG ZIPADELLI: “No, I mean I hope obviously he is struggling with the fact that he is not in the car and he’s in this situation, but he’s a racer he loves to do what he does.  I hope that and think that he will come back to Daytona with something to prove to the world and maybe he will turn over a whole new leaf he hasn’t got to see you guys for four or five months and he will be more welcoming to you.  I don’t know, I can’t guarantee that.”
 
YOU HAD A CONVERSATION WITH TONY, WENT TO VISIT HIM WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?  WHAT DID YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT?
 
MARK MARTIN: “I couldn’t get a word in edge wise.  If that tells you what two weeks of bed rest does for you.  We talked initially about he went into great detail about the accident and what caused the injury and the fix for that particular freak accident.  What happened all the stars had to line up just perfectly for that to happen where it injured him.  He went through in great detail of how they were going to address preventing that from ever happening again in sprint car racing.  Talked a lot about sprint cars, a lot about safety in sprint cars and we talked some about injuries.  Finally after about an hour of Tony never taking a breath I got a chance to talk a little bit about… I had some injury stories for him.  We had the biggest laugh.  I thought he was going to start crying once laughing so hard.  A story that I told him about when I had my foot and ankles broke.  It was that story about when Darrell Waltrip drove my car at La Crosse, Wisconsin.  Actually what was funny was the trip from Arkansas to La Crosse Wisconsin.  My dad was driving me up.  It’s a long story… move on past that… it’s a very funny story.  It sounds like a lie, but it really is not even embellished it’s just crazy.  But we had a really good time.  We did talk a little bit about the No. 14 car and about Cup racing.  We had a really good time and he was in really good spirits.”
 
I KNOW MARK AND TONY ARE NOT THE SAME SIZE.  YOU DID A PHOTO SHOOT THIS WEEK HAD TO GET A UNIFORM.  WHAT ABOUT THE COMMERCIAL SIDE OF IT?  ARE WE GOING TO SEE MARK REPRESENTING TONY STEWART IN ALL FACETS OF PUBLICITY NOW?

GREG ZIPADELLI: “Obviously the sponsors wanted some things done so I mean we are obviously doing everything we can do be good partners with them and make sure that they can use Mark in whatever they need to from here to the end of the year.  Everybody did a great job this week.  A lot of stuff got done in a short period of time, but we got it done and feel like everybody chipped in and gave when they needed to and we were able to get everything done and pulled off.”
 
BECAUSE THE ANNOUNCEMENT HAD ALREADY BEEN MADE WITH BRAIN VICKERS GOING IN FULL TIME DID YOU FEEL MORE AT EASE TAKING THIS POSITION BECAUSE OF THAT AND DID THE FACT THAT ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE RESULT IN YOU BEING MORE PRONE TO TAKE THIS?
 
MARK MARTIN: “It obviously opened the door for this to happen.  It’s been quite a work in progress since Brian’s win up at New Hampshire.  Getting Aaron’s re-signed, getting Brian signed, getting all those parts and pieces of the puzzle together and so it was just a matter of timing.  Once they got that done, signed and announced you know then it kind of opened the door where it was a win/win for everybody.  It’s a win for Brian, it’s a win for Michael Waltrip Racing, and it’s a win for myself to have the opportunity to be a small part of Stewart-Haas.  I’m not sure I can describe to you what it means to me that Tony wanted me to do this.  He is definitely one of my heroes.  People who are paying attention knew that before this ever happened so it means a lot to me that he wanted me to.  Like I said before I’m a little bit nervous about today because I feel like it is an extraordinary challenge because it’s not like…I’ve switched around a lot, but usually you have a couple of months and a test or two to get together.  Man, I see a lot of faces I’m not sure I can put names to just yet.  This i
s going to be an action packed two and a half hours or whatever today.  It’s going to be action packed.  Then we are going on and testing next week at Richmond and I think that will help us this weekend and next week’s test will help us start getting in the groove and as we go forward I think things will smooth out.  It’s been pretty intense so far this week.”
 
THE PHYSICAL RECOVERY FOR TONY IS GOING TO BE VERY DIFFICULT.  I’M WONDERING IF THE MENTAL PART OF THIS IS GOING TO BE JUST AS DIFFICULT FOR HIM SINCE HE IS USED TO BEING IN A CAR SIX DAYS A WEEK? 

GREG ZIPADELLI: “I think that is part of what he will learn a little bit about how important it is to him.  Sometimes we all take things for granted and I think at the end of the day hopefully he will look back.  I think he is bound and determined to change the sprint cars and making them safer and getting that movement going in the direction it probably should have happened years ago, but they are so weight conscious and have been allowed to work in those areas.  I think he is bound and determined to do that which I think will help everybody over there.  Hopefully he will come back here with a little bit different attitude and understanding how important and we all rely on him.  He’s got a lot of kids at Stewart-Haas you know what I mean as we say we are under his umbrella and I know he will do his best.  I really think when he comes back I think he is going to be fired up and ready to show the world that all that time he has had cooped up there will hopefully pay larger dividends for next year and hopefully start the year off on a stronger note.  Obviously we’ve got a lot of changes at Stewart-Haas and adding things.  There is just a lot of excitement a lot of positive things to turn this around and to head into next year with.”
 
IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS A LOT GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES AT STEWART-HAAS AND YOU GUYS ARE SEEMINGLY TAKING A PRETTY AGGRESSIVE STANCE AND POSITION ON BUILDING THINGS FOR THE FUTURE.  WHAT IS GOING ON, AT STEWART-HAAS? IT SEEMS LIKE YOU GUYS ARE BUILDING AND BEING VERY AGGRESSIVE AND WANT TO BECOME A VERY LARGER PLAYER AMONGST THE HEAVY WEIGHTS?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI: “I think that is said very well is we are looking to expand. We are looking to do whatever we can to make Stewart-Haas a better place to race, give our drivers better resources.  Our crew chiefs and things our goal is to give our teams better product to race every week going into Daytona.  With four good drivers next year I think that it gives us that opportunity.  Our owners are aggressive.  It’s kind of exciting it’s fun in a time where everybody is kind of going the other way we’ve got owner that are committed to stepping up and hopefully making Stewart-Haas a bigger and better place in the future.”
 
TONY TOLD A RADIO PERSON THIS WEEK THAT HE HAD NO INTENTIONS OF NOT RUNNING SPRINT CARS. HAVE YOU TALKED ABOUT THAT AND ARE YOU OKAY WITH HIM GOING RIGHT BACK TO DOING WHAT HE WAS BEFORE?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI: “I think that it’s too early to get into that stuff.  He needs to go through his process right now.  We need to go through ours and we need to spend time talking honestly.  I don’t think you can take Tony Stewart and tell him he can’t drive other cars.  That is what makes him that is who he is.  Can we get him to cut his schedule back, can we get him to look at things; can we help him with this movement of making those cars safer for everybody including himself?  I think those will be the things that come in the next couple of months.”
 
CAN YOU BE A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC WHERE DO THINGS STAND WITH KURT (BUSCH) AND IS RODNEY (CHILDERS) GOING TO BE THE CREW CHIEF FOR KEVIN HARVICK NEXT YEAR?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI: “We love Rodney (Childers) we think a lot of him he has been a friend of mine for a while.  We have talked to many people.  He is on our radar, but we have no commitments, nothing signed.  I talked to people yesterday about the opportunity so we would love to make him part of Stewart-Haas, but we are not there yet.  As far as Kurt’s deal that is moving forward.  We spent some time this week talking about buildings and expanding.  As far as that part of it goes we are pretty much committed.”
 
INAUDIBLE:
 
GREG ZIPADELLI: “We are working on that and if we can get it all worked out we are going to head that way.”
 
YOU SAID YOU TALKED TO TONY ABOUT MAKING THE SPRINT CARS SAFER CAN YOU GO INTO A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CAR AND WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE CAN BE DONE TO MAKE THEM SAFER?
 
MARK MARTIN: “I shouldn’t because I’m not technically familiar with sprint cars.  The way evidently the rear ends can’t come back because they hit the fuel cell.  When the car went upside down the rear end was able to get below the fuel cell and it was able to pull like the drive shaft, for me not knowing better, there may be a better word for that.  The yoke out of the front side and that is what got him.  Technically I shouldn’t even answer that question because I’m an idiot I haven’t ever been closer than 10 feet to a sprint car so I don’t know what I’m talking about.” 
 
GREG ZIPADELLI: “He’s kind of explaining what it is the torque tube came out and hit him. There is protection, but obviously that hoop that is there is not enough to contain it.  I think that is the area they are working in.”
 
MARK MARTIN: “So the torque tube is actually in my world a drive shaft.  See I told you I was an idiot (laughs).  It’s a drive shaft in a Cup car.”
 
HAVING WORKED WITH RODNEY CHILDERS CAN YOU JUST TALK ABOUT HIS ABILITIES AND WHAT THE OPPORTUNITY WORKING WITH A FULL-TIME DRIVER POTENTIALLY AT STEWART-HAAS COULD DO FOR HIM AND WHAT HE COULD DO FOR THE TEAM?
 
MARK MARTIN: “Rodney Childers is an amazing person.  I will say that first and foremost, amazing.  He’s very smart and very dedicated and an incredible crew chief.  It’s funny how things work out.  My mission in February was to help him secure a championship caliber sponsor and driver for 2014 so that he could race for a championship in the No. 55.  My how things change over time.  I feel like we still accomplished that, it’s just that he may have an opportunity to do it.  I would assume that the whole garage would be after Rodney Childers.  Last year he did a one year contract instead of a long term deal because he wanted to wait to see what transpired after our year together.  He wanted to work with me and Brian (Vickers) and Michael (Waltrip) in 2013 and wait and see what 2014 brought.  He’s in that position now to look at all options.”
 
WHAT ESSENTIALLY TRANSPIRED IN THE MONTHS SINCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE THAT RYAN (NEWMAN) WOULDN’T BE COMING BACK AND TONY’S STATEMENT AT THE TIME THAT HE DIDN’T THINK YOU WERE READY FOR FOUR CARS?  HAS THERE BEEN A QUANTUM CHANGE IN PHILOSOPHY SINCE THEN THAT’S MAYBE ALLOWED YOU TO GO FORWARD WITH THAT FOURTH CAR AS MUCH AS YOU CAN GET INTO THAT WHAT HAS CHANGED?
 
GREG ZIPADELLI: “I mean obviously something has changed.  Gene Haas is obviously a partner and started this many years ago.  He just came the other day, he is always liked Kurt (Busch).  We had talked about Kurt last year of putting him in the No. 39 things just didn’t work out.  It’s really nothing that Ryan (Newman) did wrong I mean he’s done a great job, he’s a good guy, heck of a driver.  This just kind of got sprung on us 14 days ago or less.  It’s kind of all come down.  Gene just showed some interest and having the ability to put something together.  Without getting into a ton more details that is really all it is.  It’s something we are working o
n.  I don’t know that it will all come together.  It’s going to take an awful lot.  It is kind of late.  We didn’t think that we would have all the pieces to get put together at Loudon and felt like it was the best thing for Ryan to give him a fair shot at securing something for himself.  I mean which is the most important thing.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS, met with media and discussed his motorcycle injury at the age of eight, engine issues last week at Michigan, the respect among others for Tony Stewart, and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
YOU ARE OUR POINTS LEADER WITH FOUR WINS SO FAR THIS SEASON. COMING INTO BRISTOL, WE’VE GOT THREE RACES BEFORE WE RESET THE FIELD FOR THE 2013 CHASE. YOU’VE ALREADY CLINCHED A SPOT IN THE FIELD AND WOULD LIKE TO GET SOME ORE BONUS POINTS. TALK ABOUT COMING HERE TO BRISTOL AND YOUR OUTLOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND:
“I’m excited to be in Bristol. This night race was always one of my favorites to watch, growing up. I’m looking forward to a packed house and some great short track racing. We’ve been a Top 5 car here over the years and hopefully we can take that next step and move into that Top 3. In my opinion, running in the Top 3 you’ve got a great shot at a win. We’d like to win another race here. We’ve done it once in our career and hopefully we can do it again.”
 
THE ENGINE ISSUES YOU HAD LAST WEEKEND (AT MICHIGAN), HAVE YOU DISCOVERED WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS AND TAKEN CARE OF THAT? DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS GOING FORWARD?
“There is always concern and we tested at Richmond and the guys were still asking me questions from the engine shop about what I felt and the order and how things went on and failed. They didn’t have any clear direction then. And I’m not sure they’ve had a lot of time to work on everything with all four cars going to Richmond on Tuesday and Wednesday. But, we definitely had one; our engine failed and the others didn’t. In the past, that stuff usually boils down to a part failure. And I’m assuming it was something in that department. Hopefully we can find out what batch it came from and which part it was. You know, when things fail at a rapid rate like they do, it’s hard to find the source of the issue. Hopefully we can narrow that down and get new parts and pieces in place so it doesn’t happen to our car or anybody else’s.”
 
OBVIOUSLY TONY STEWART HAS HAD SUCCESS IN A LOT OF FORMS OF MOTORSPORTS, INCLUDING HERE (NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES). DURING HIS CAREER, HE’S ALSO HAD HIS SHARE OF RUN-INS WITH MEDIA AND FELLOW COMPETITORS AND EVEN NASCAR. YET, THROUGH ALL THAT, HE STILL SEEMS TO BE HELD AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF RESPECT AMONG HIS PEERS. THAT IS A DELICATE BALANCE. WHY IS THAT?
“I think it’s because of his honesty. At times his frustration with his honest approach, you might hear some real colorful things and have an issue on the front side. It might lead to something, an altercation on the track; getting out of cars and having a scrappy session with someone after (laughs). But once the dust settles, his honesty once again weighs out. He’s not one to walk from a problem or run from a problem. He’ll continue to talk to whoever it is and whatever it’s about and work through those things. So, that’s kind of where I put it. He’s just honest at all times. Sometimes he probably wishes he had a filter on it, especially on the front side, to save some of the back-end issues. But, at the end of the day, that’s what I respect about him is he’s just an honest guy.”
 
MARK MARTIN AND GREG ZIPADELLI WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT TONY STEWART AND WHAT HE’S IS GOING TO GO THROUGH MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY ON HIS WAY BACK. WHAT’S THE TOUGHEST INJURY THAT YOU’VE EVER HAD TO GET OVER? HAVE YOU EVER HAD SOMETHING WHERE YOU REALLY GOT BUSTED AND IT TOOK A WHILE TO GET BACK?
“Yeah, I’ve been fortunate in my four-wheel career to have just some minor injuries and issues. But, my first championship I won when I was racing dirt bikes. With a few races left in the season, it was my birthday of all things, I fell in the first turn and bent the handlebars. And as I rode a couple more laps, I just mentally forgot about my handlebars being bent and where they had the front tire pointing. I came over a double-jump section of the race track and just put my hands straight like I expected and the wheel was cocked. I tumbled and got tangled-up with the bike and I broke my tib and fib on my left leg and pulled the knee apart. And when I was done tumbling, my foot was up here. And I’ll never forget looking at the bottom of my motorcycle boot laying on the ground and like, wow, this is really serious.
 
“I went to the hospital and had reconstructive knee surgery and they got everything put back together and had me in a cast. And we figured out that if I started the race and rode one lap the next couple of events, that I would tie with this other kid in points, and I would have more race wins and would win the championship. So, my dad, with his fabrication skills, designed a little thing off the side of the bike. He borrowed some adult-sized leathers and boots and all that, and got my foot propped up and rode one lap and tied the kid in points and won the tie-breaker due to the wins, and went and got my first championship trophy on stage on crutches. I was in a cast for quite a while. That was a six or eight-month process to get through, but I was so young; and really, nothing stuck around, mentally. It didn’t bother me in any way, shape, or form. So I was pretty lucky with the age. Not only did it kill the injury for my knee, but also mentally, it just didn’t have an effect on me.”
 
HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN THAT HAPPENED?
“It was on my eighth birthday.”
 
SO YOU HIT THE GROUND AND IMMEDIATELY KNEW YOUR FOOT WASN’T WHERE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE?
“Yep. I was staring at the bottom of my motorcycle boot. And I knew that was bad (laughter). And then there was somebody trying to help me off the track and my dad was running over; he saw me fall. And when he saw my leg and somebody trying to move me, that person still today probably regrets touching me because my dad stuffed him. He came running up and planted the person that was trying to help. It was a reaction. He could hear me scream and saw my leg in an awkward position and was just being a protective dad.”
 
COULD YOU TALK ABOUT THE POSSIBLE CHANGES COMING AT STEWART-HAAS RACING AS FAR AS PERHAPS GOING TO A FOURTH TEAM NEXT SEASON AND HOW THAT WOULD BENEFIT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS?
“I hear the rumors but I’m not sure what it happening or what will happen from personnel changes to adding cars. There’s still a lot to learn about Tony’s (Stewart) health and what’s going to happen with the No. 14 car. But, we have a great relationship with Stewart-Haas Racing and I know with (Kevin) Harvick coming on board, Kevin and I have talked already and we work well together now, but I think that can improve and be better in the future. And the more smart pulling in the same direction, the better both companies are going to be. Stewart-Haas has shown their ability to win races and championships; and I think for the good of all of us, the more smart people, the more dedicated-focused people on both teams, the better all of us are going to be.”
 

Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Teams Trek West To Take on Sonoma Raceway
 
DETROIT – (Aug. 21, 2013) – After a short break, the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 teams and drivers return to competition at Sonoma Raceway for Sunday’s running of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. With only five races remaining on the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, critical points are on the line as the intensity of the battle for the championship increases.
 
Situated in Sonoma County, just north of San Francisco, California, Sonoma Raceway has long been a favorite track of drivers and fans. The 2.385-mile, 12-turn natural-terrain course has it all to challenge drivers – elevation changes, tight right-hand Turn 12 leading onto the frontstretch, a Carousel turn that requires finesse to navigate – all packed into a scenic setting.

“Team Chevy has been very busy analyzing and refining our on-track results and we are eager to return to the race track, especially the Sonoma Raceway for the Go Pro Indy Grand Prix,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series.  “The competition has really peaked in the second half of the season so it is time to unleash the full potential of the Chevy arsenal.  The IndyCar Open Test on Wednesday along with the three practice sessions before qualifying will provide ample time to optimize the setup for the typically low grip surface there.  Our teams and technical partners know this is crunch time and are digging deep to focus on executing what it takes to win the top spot on the podium at each of the remaining races, and earning championships.”
 
Chevrolet heads to Sonoma tied for the lead in the Series Manufacturer point standings with seven victories thus far this season, as well as three Team Chevy drivers in the top-five of the Driver Championship Standings, and five drivers in the top-10 points positions.
 
Helio Castroneves sits atop the standings with one victory to his credit through 14 races.  Defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, has two wins in 2013 and sits third in the point’s order and Marco Andretti is solidly in fourth position with only five races remaining until this year’s champion is decided.
 
In previous IndyCar races at Sonoma, five current Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers have visited the Winner’s Circle.  Ryan Briscoe is the defending race champion. Will Power is the only driver with multiple wins at the 2.358-mile course with back-to-back victories earned in 2010 and 2011.  Castroneves took the trip to Victory Lane in 2008.  Marco Andretti was the Sonoma race winner in 2006, and Tony Kanaan captured the win in 2005.
 
The 85-lap GoPro Indy Grand Prix at Sonoma is scheduled to start on Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. ET with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
 
Live radio coverage will be on XM Radio Channel 94 and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 212. In addition, IndyCar live timing and scoring with the radio broadcast can be found at