GREG ZIPADELLI, COMPETITION DIRECTOR OF STEWART-HAAS RACING AND MARK MARTIN, INTERIM DRIVER FOR THE NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS, WERE GUESTS ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT:
 
 
JAYME AVRIT:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Welcome to today’s NASCAR teleconference.  Our guests are Greg Zipadelli, competition director for Stewart‑Haas Racing and Mark Martin, interim driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for Stewart‑Haas Racing
 
Greg, you made it official that Tony Stewart is out for the remainder of the season, and as a part of that news, you announced that Mark Martin will drive 12 of the final 13 races in the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing with Austin Dillon driving the car at Talladega. How important is it to have a plan for the rest of the season? 
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Obviously it’s great that this worked out for everybody here at Stewart‑Haas, our partners, to put a veteran in that has as much experience, wins, top 5s, all those things are so important to go out and finish the year on a strong note.  Obviously we’re still racing for a spot in the Chase with the 39 car, and we’ll do the best we can with owner’s points.  By keeping one guy that has a lot of experience in there like Mark, I think it gives us our best shot.
 
JAYME AVRIT:  Mark, Tony Stewart always says how much he respects you.  What are your thoughts as you get ready to fill in for him beginning with this weekend’s race at Bristol?
 
MARK MARTIN:  Well, I’m incredibly honored.  Sometimes I have a hard time understanding how Tony could possibly feel that way toward me when the guy is so amazing, the modern‑day A.J. Foyt.  When I was growing up, A.J. drove anything and everything and was fast and won in everything he drove.  And Tony is the guy today that really does that and is successful at it.
 
So it’s hard for me to comprehend that, but he’s made great friends ‑‑ we’ve been good friends for quite some time with amazing respect, mutual respect.  It’s an honor to be in the situation where we’re able to do this.
 
I’m really, really sorry that it comes at the expense of Tony getting hurt.  But one thing I do want to say that is really important here is the amazing amount of cooperation that it took to get this deal done by so many parties, and I haven’t seen this much cooperation in the past, and I think it was largely in part for the incredible amount of respect that everyone has in the sport for Tony Stewart.
 
Q.  This question is for Mark.  You have been very particular in what you’ve chosen to do in your career, particularly since you stopped racing full schedules.  Why was it important for you to be able to do this for Tony?
 
MARK MARTIN:  Well, really it’s such a win, it’s a win for every person involved, from Michael Waltrip Racing, Aaron’s, Brian Vickers, as well as the incredible amount of respect that I have for Tony.  Just the fact that they asked me was a huge honor to me.
 
You know, I feel kind of amazed that we were able to get this done, but we were able to get it done.  Aaron’s agreed to it.  The folks from Toyota agreed to it.  They are very intense racers, but they all saw the value in a win‑win‑win situation, and everyone respects Tony and wanted to be able to help out.
 
I think all the stars just lined up for this to work out because anyone along the way, including Mobil 1, Chevrolet or Bass Pro Shops could have probably stopped this from happening.  So there were so many pieces to this puzzle, it was a lot more complicated than it looked at face value.  But the reason it was able to be worked out is because everyone was able to win in this situation.
Q.  I have one for Greg.  Obviously with Tony out the entire season now, the injury, is it more serious than you guys first thought?  Can you figure out what happened inside the car to cause the injury and put him in the position he’s in right now?  I think the release said you guys were expecting him to be back in the car for the beginning of next year.
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Yeah, I mean, we expect a full recovery by Daytona or close to it.  You know, it may be able to be done earlier, it’s just not worth it.  It’s a bad break to the leg, and he needs time to go through the process of healing, rehabilitation, all those things.  With Mark coming on board, I think it gives us the window to go to the end of the year and feel like we are doing our partners the best job we can to fill Tony’s shoes, and that’s what we’ll do.
Q.  And Mark, I know you’ve always wanted to win a title.  Are you thinking about winning an owner’s title here?  What would that mean to you if you were able to pull that off?  And also are you thinking about next year still driving?
MARK MARTIN:  Well, you know, obviously when I was at the 55 with Michael and Rodney and all the guys, their goal with Brian and Michael behind the wheel, and myself, was to try to make the owner’s Chase.  You have to have those goals.  Obviously Stewart‑Haas Racing has the same goal at this point in time.
 
You know me, and you know that I don’t want to race ‑‑ my motivation for racing is not for points, it’s for racing.  I want to race, and I want to finish ‑‑ if I’m running 20th, I’ll bust my butt to run 19th.  And that’s one more point, but it’s for one more position.  And I say that just trying to explain the fact that we will race as hard as we can race, and wewill finish as high as we can in every race, and that in turn accumulates the most points that we can.
 
But I don’t go into this situation rubbing my hands together saying, oh, wow, this is an opportunity to race for a championship.  First of all, the first thing we’ve got to do is put it together really quickly.  I feel like going into Bristol, I feel sort of like ‑‑ I’ve driven for a lot of different teams, and I’ve worked with a lot of different people, but when you do something like the 11 car at Martinsville on four‑days’ notice or going into Bristol with this short of notice, it is like jumping into ice‑cold water.  We’re going to go into Bristol and we’re going to have to do race setup, qualifying setup and qualifying all on Friday, boom.  We don’t get another crack at it on Saturday.  We don’t get another chance to think about it.
 
It’s going to be challenging, and challenges are good for me.  They push me hard.  They drive me hard, and I will do everything I can to step up to the plate and dig in.  But it is a new situation, and it’s not like you sign on with a new team in November and you have January and February to get to know each other before you go off racing.  We’re faced with this race coming up in just a few days.
Q.  Do you think this will be it for you?  Is this the last of your racing or do you still plan to come back and do some kind of part‑time next year?
MARK MARTIN:  I don’t have a plan right now, and I have much less planned right now than I had a week ago.  A week ago I was going to race a partial schedule.  Now I’m racing all but one with a whole new situation with what I feel like is a lot of challenges and a lot of pressure, and I don’t want to think about 2014 at all right now.
Q.  This is for Greg.  When you all thought about whether Mark Martin would be a possibility or not, how much hope did you have that it would actually get done?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, I mean, obviously every time you get an opportunity to work with a driver as great and has the accomplishments he has, you obviously look forward to that, and when we sat down and looked at what we had for options, to run as many races as we need, he was obviously the best option. 
There’s a lot of options and a lot of people reached out to us, and we’re very thankful for obviously everybody wanting to have that opportunity.
 
But Mark just seemed to be the fit.  Him and Tony, they’ve got a bond.  They seem to get along.  Tony was very excited about it.  That was his first choice, so that’s what we went after.  Like Mark said earlier, everybody kind of giving a little bit in this situation, hopefully it’s a win‑win for everybody, so we certainly appreciate everybody working with us.
Q.  Mark, did you actually change your Twitter handle yourself?  And can you explain how that all got done so quickly?
MARK MARTIN:  Well, Arlene and I had already had a discussion several weeks ago even before this came up about the 55 part of it, the @55MarkMartin.  So we had had the discussion.  I moved right past it, didn’t want to think about it or deal with it.  We got home last night, and I told her that she was right, I needed to figure something out.  I have a buddy that has helped me initially with Twitter a good bit, and he ‑‑ Phil Hampton, and he actually got in contact with Twitter.  We went on the computer last night and searched it out and looked at our options and then talked a little bit to Phil, and Phil talked to Twitter, and there was a lot of cooperation there, and we got it handled, got what we wanted.
Q.  Mark, can you reflect a little bit on how far Michael Waltrip Racing has come in the two years you’ve been associated with them?
MARK MARTIN:  Well, first of all, I appreciate you giving me a chance to talk about MWR.  It’s been such an incredible experience.  The working environment that they have there is so great.  I mean, it is the least uptight and the least tense of any place I’ve ever been.  I really, really have enjoyed being a part of it.  I’ve felt really warm and welcome there, and I really love the people in that organization.
 
A lot of the people there I’ve worked with before at other places or known, and it was a very comfortable situation.  And to be real honest with you, people can say what they want, but I have had very little to do with the progression of that organization.  I stepped in at a good time when the organization was on an upswing, and it was just starting to show on the racetrack before I arrived there, and when I stepped in, everything was just in place and clicking.
 
Like I said, they’ve got a lot of great people there who work really well together, and the team concept and the team is working together so great with Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer, all the crew chiefs, we all got along so well and worked really hard to achieve the performance that we achieved.  I was so proud of Clint being able to finish second in the championship last year, and he’s sitting in the same position this year and hopefully can be poised to race for the championship.  And Martin getting a win at Sonoma, he’s been so close for so long, so I’ve felt really good about being a part of so many great people there.  I really, really have made great friends with all the folks there.
Q.  This is for Greg.  Can you sort of walk us through the mechanics of how exactly this deal came together and how many people had to say yes and maybe what was your biggest challenge in putting it together?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  I don’t actually know how many people had to say yes.  It was just a lot.  Obviously Mark and I ‑‑ I’ve known Mark for a while racing, and we had been talking.  You know, we just ‑‑ I’ll be honest with you, it just kind of happened.  Everybody was very cooperative.  Michael Waltrip Racing, hat’s off to them for allowing Mark to help us out and them getting a jump start on next year.  It just really was like, “Hey, do you think this would ever work, Mark?”  And he goes, I don’t know, let me go check.  It was just that simple, that casual of a conversation, and from that point everybody started thinking about how it could help Stewart‑Haas Racing and also help MWR, and obviously it happened.
 
Those things like that are difficult to get worked out.  Everybody was very respectful of each other, I believe.  It just seems to be a good fit for all of us.  It’s about as close to a miracle as you could have happen in such a short period of time.
Q.  Zippy, I just wanted to see if you had any comment on Lee Spencer’s report that SHR had offered Kurt Busch a deal for next year beyond a possible expansion?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  I mean, right now we’re really focusing on Mark.  Obviously there’s options out there.  We’re looking at everything that’s there. There is nothing done.  Right now like I said we’re focused on the 39, trying to win another race to make it into the Chase and getting Mark fitted up in this car and heading to Bristol to do the best job we can.
Q.  Mark, have you talked with Tony, and what kind of conversation did you have?  Have you been able to kind of have a one‑on‑one with him about all this?
MARK MARTIN:  I haven’t talked directly to Tony.  Talked back and forth through Eddie Jarvis, and we’ll be getting over to see ‑‑ I’ve been in Arkansas for a couple weeks, and I’m going to get over there and see him Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how all the seat fitting goes on Tuesday and everything.  I’ll finally get a chance to go visit with him, and I look forward to seeing him.
Q.  For Greg, obviously there will be a lot of reports and whatnot moving ahead, not knowing what 2014 will hold, and are you talking to drivers still now, other drivers beyond the story and the talk in the garage about Kurt Busch?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  No, not at all.  Like I said, we’ve got two big things going on here right now with the 39 having an opportunity to make the Chase and getting Mark Martin over here, get him acclimated with the guys and how we do things and heading to Bristol.  We’ll take it week by week.
Q.  Greg, what do you want Mark to do or what do you want him to provide or what can he do to help carry the organization, help it go a little bit further in his time with this car?  What are things that he can do or what are you looking at other than obviously strong finishes?  How can he help move this organization a little further along?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, I mean, any time you have somebody that has the experience level that he has, all the different organizations that he’s been at, I feel like he can bring some wisdom and help us out a little bit with things he’s seen and how things have changed over the past.
 
But the biggest thing is we’re really just concentrating on Mark getting in the car, doing the best he can, like he said, finish every lap that we can, and what that brings us at the end of the day, that’s what we end up with.  As long as we all do our best, feel like we give 110 percent for each event until Tony gets back, that’s our main priority.  There’s no major expectations of him coming in and any extra pressures of him trying to have to do anything.  It should be fun to have somebody else in there like Mark that can sit in there and jump in for the rest of the year, but really that’s all we’re looking for, just good, solid finishes.
Q.  You talked about you’re focused on the 14 and getting the 39 in the Chase, but obviously with the report of the possible expansion, certainly in your role as competition director you’re looking short‑term and long‑term.  You talked earlier this season about the challenges of going from a two‑car to three‑car operation and how that maybe slowed you guys up in performance.  What are the lessons you learned and how do you avoid that if you go from a three‑car to a four‑car organization and not have those same problems?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, there’s lessons to be learned.  We’re not to that point yet.&nb
sp; Right now we are a three‑car.  We have made lots of gains throughout the year, but I still think we have room to improve.  We’re still working on that.
 
Obviously if something were to come, we would look at where we feel like we fell short and try to do a better job at it.
Q.  After spending essentially a career at Roush, when you announced you were going to leave there at the end of 2006, could you have imagined that you would have had the opportunities that you’ve had now to be with so many different teams?  And what have you learned along the way?
MARK MARTIN:  No, I never dreamed of what would take place from 2007 on.  It’s been a really great experience to have the opportunity to work with so many great people, teams, learn from so many people and make friends, so many good friends throughout the time.  I’ve had great times.  I’m just really grateful for all the time that I’ve had in NASCAR racing and in all of racing.  The battles that I had getting to NASCAR and ever since, a lot of years of my life have been dedicated to racing and these cars, and it’s really been rewarding, a rewarding experience to have the opportunity to work with Hendrick Motorsports, DEI and MWR and now Stewart‑Haas.  I’m excited about an opportunity to get inside the organization.
 
One of my goals is, I know that Zippy’s main goal is to get good, solid performance, but more than that I want to be able to bring something to the organization in stability, and hopefully we can turn the 14 car back over to Tony an even stronger organization than what it was when he stepped away and got injured.
 
You know, that’s the thing that I really want to work hard to do is when it’s all said and done with, I hope that they can look back and say they were glad that they had me as a part of the organization.
Q.  Mark, I’ve known you for a long, long time.  I can remember a lot of the up‑and‑down days, and I can remember how you don’t like to focus too much on one thing at all, but there have been some great moments in your career and in your life as a driver.  How does this moment rate in your life in doing what you’re about to do?
MARK MARTIN:  Well, I’m humbled and honored.  At the same time it came at a tragic ‑‑ a tragedy with Tony, so it’s tempered because of that.  I will have to wait until we get through this and rate it when we get done because I don’t know how successful we’ll be.  If we’re extremely successful, then it will be one of the greatest experiences of my life, and if we’re not successful, then I’ll be sorely disappointed that I wasn’t able to bring more to the table.  I would wait and see before I rate it, but definitely humbled and honored that they would ask me to do it.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 18, 2013
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
YOU STARTED 13TH AND BROUGHT IT HOME SECOND WE THOUGHT MAYBE YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE A RUN ON JOEY LOGANO THERE AT THE END. DID YOU HAVE A SHOT AT HIM?
“You know, we never really got out in front by ourselves today, but our Rheem Chevrolet was really good. I’ve got to thank everybody who is a part of this car. I just mistimed that last restart there. I was rolling pretty good on the No. 55 (Mark Martin) and going to beat him to the start/finish line, so I had to check up and that allowed the No. 22 (Logano) to kind of make it three-wide and get under me and then we had to fight back from there. But all in all it was a good day and we tried a lot of different stuff today and it seemed to run pretty good.”
 
ALL IN ALL, IT’S ABOUT GETTING READY FOR THAT 10-RACE CHASE. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE A TEAM AND A CAR AND A GROUP THAT’S CAPABLE OF WINNING THIS CHAMPIONSHIP?
“Well, they did a great job today and I think everybody was on their game. So, I think as long as we run like that every week and finish in the top five every week, we’ll have a shot.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SERTA CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE DAY?
“A good day. At the end of the day, we have our weaknesses and pit road and restarts are one of them. It’s just like our Achilles Heel, but to be in position to win at the end, we had it, we just didn’t have the speed. So we can’t blame those items as a result of our third place. But here we are talking third place and that’s what’s awesome about our effort today to bounce back from where we were at the first Michigan and what we’ve learned since June to be where we are now. Teams have to move quick to find technology and this little team keeps continuing to do that. Call these guys a big team, Furniture Row Racing. This is awesome. Thanks to them and everybody that keeps putting their hand on this car to put us in Chase position.”
 
HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO KNOW YOU CLIMBED TWO SPOTS TODAY AND YOU’RE IN NINTH NOW; INSIDE CHASE CONTENTION
“I was all fired up. We were running 14th. (Martin) Truex was ahead of us, (Brad) Keselowski was ahead of us, (Greg) Biffle was ahead of us (Kasey) Kahne was ahead of us. You can’t run 14th and gain on guys. And I had a restart where the seas parted and I went to the high side and we got a lot of positions on that one restart. So, we’ll just keep plugging away. We’ve got three (races) to go (before the Chase) and we’re in the mix.”
 
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 NIBCO/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FOURTH
FUEL MILEAGE, STRATEGY, BUT A FAST RACE CAR, WHAT ADDED UP FOR YOUR FINISH HERE TODAY?
“We had a good car all weekend.  We didn’t qualify very good and I knew that the car had some speed in it, but it mostly just drove really good all weekend.  Lacked a little bit of speed to run with Joey (Logano) and even Kevin (Harvick) was too fast at the end.  Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) made some good calls to get some track position when to take two (tires), when to take four (tires).  Matt Krueter (gasman) filled up the car with plenty of gas at the end and everybody at RCR I’m just really proud of them.  We needed a good run and we’ve got four RCR built cars in the top 10.”
 
FIRST TOP FIVE OF THE SEASON, HOW DID YOU DO IT?
“We really needed a good run.  We started off the season strong and just fell off the last couple of months.  We have had good cars we just haven’t been able to put together a race and we have been crashing a lot and we just don’t do that.   Really proud of everybody at RCR with three cars in the top ten and the 78 being the fourth car.  Also just proud of RCR and everybody on my team.  Slugger made great calls about when to take two tires, when to take four, and made great adjustments all day long.”
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CHEERIOS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED EIGHTH
SOLID TOP 10 FINISH TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY:
“It’s good to be disappointed with eighth that is a good thing.  We had a lot of speed at times we had the best car on the track.  We just struggled with tires more than other people did.  When we put tires on it seemed like it hurt us more than others.  When we had our sequence of tires that we wanted our car was really happy.  That next to last caution was not what we needed.  Pitting under green and being able to put four (tires) on right there would have been a hundred percent for us.  We were about five laps from pitting and that caution came out.  That kind of sealed us.  Just because of what we had going on with our car, but it’s a good day.  That’s a step in the right direction, no drama, got what we deserved and we will go on.”
 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 14TH
ON HIS RUN:
“It was up and down.  Definitely scared myself at the beginning it was too early to be wrecking out there.  I apologize to the No. 36 team and JJ Yeley.  I didn’t mean to get into them like that at all.  I just grabbed the brakes and locked them down in the rear, couldn’t steer out of it.  Luckily we had saved enough car where we could work on it, get some track position.  Steve (Addington, crew chief) made some great calls on track position and can’t say enough about them guys.  They did a great job.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD YOUTH FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – SIDELINED WITH RIGHT-FRONT TIRE ISSUE ON LAP 135 – FINISHED 36TH:
ALL THE FANS WERE ON THEIR FEET AS YOU LED THIS RACE, AND THEN YOU WERE IN THE WALL AND BACK IN THE GARAGE:
“It’s just the tire; we’ve had a lot of problems with. I think this is the same tire we struggled with the last race. But, I don’t know, you know. It’s just kind of frustrating. It’s just bad luck. If we keep running like we’re supposed to run and like we’ve been running, we’ll get on into the Chase and not have to worry about it. But this bad luck, we need to shake that. We just can’t keep having this every week. It’s been biting us every week. So we’ll just have to see what happens.”
 
YOU ARE SEVENTH IN POINTS RIGHT NOW. LOOKING AT THE WAY YOU GUYS CAN RUN AND LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE WITH THREE RACES TO GO BEFORE THE CUTOFF, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CHASE?
“There are guys in worst positions than us. We ain’t got to outrun just one guy; there’s a lot of guys. And all of them have got to have clean races, just like we do. I think we’ll be all right. We’re not an 11th place team. We’re a Top 5 team. We’re consistent. We’re more consistent than most. We’ve just got to shake this luck, whatever is going on; it’s something different every time. We’ve got good speed and we’ve just got to keep our head up and keep working hard and things will be all right.”
 
YOU ARE NOW 20 POINTS INSIDE THE TOP 10 IS THAT A CONCERN FOR YOU OR DO YOU STILL FEEL SOME WHAT COMFORTABLE?
“I feel pretty good.  I’ve been in tighter situations.  I think if we just run as good as we can we will be fine.  We are not an 11th place team.  If we just run as good as we can we should be alright.”
 
DID YOU HAVE ANY WARNING OR DID THE TIRE JUST BLOW?
“Yeah, it was down on the splitter getting into the corner.  I got it slowed down pretty good and then started getting close to the wall and put a little brake in it and it blew the tire out.  It had a slow leak and I don’t know.  We have had a lot of problems with this particular tire and it’s getting frustrating.”
 
IS THE FACT THAT YOU ARE EVEN IN THIS SITUATION, YOU’VE HAD SUCH A GOOD SEASON THAT YOU WOULDN’T EVEN THINK THAT YOU WOULD HAVE HAD TO W
ORRY ABOUT RICHMOND IS IT DISAPPOINTING EVEN TO BE IN THIS POSITION?
“No not really.  It’s a competitive sport and we’ve got some good teams behind us.  We are not sitting here with everybody in the distance.  It’s just a little closer than we would like it to be, but it’s still 20 points is 20 points.  That is half a race a little more than that so we got three to go we should be alright.  If we keep having bad luck we can’t do nothing about that.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 18, 2013
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – SIDELINED WITH AN ENGINE FAILURE ON LAP 54
 
SOME EARLY PIT STOPS, BUT THEN APPARENTLY AN ENGINE PROBLEM WHAT HAPPENED?
“Yeah, we were just putting ourselves in position for later in the race with those early stops.  Then we had an issue there with the engine as I came out of the pits and got back up to speed dropped a couple of cylinders.  We were trying to get it figured out and see what would happen.  On my way into the pits it finally locked up and that’s the end of it.  Unfortunate day, but I’m happy that we have had such a strong opening part of the season and we have points on our side and some wins on side so we are not in jeopardy of anything going into the Chase.”
 
DO YOU EVER JUST SHAKE YOUR HEAD AND WONDER IF THIS PLACE HAS IT IN FOR YOU?
“It does.  It’s going to make it all the sweeter when we are able to win.”
 
ONCE AGAIN AT MICHIGAN YOUR DAY IS OVER EARLY.  I SAW YOU TALKING TO THE ENGINEERS, WHAT DID THEY SAY WENT WRONG?
 “The engine broke there.  I guess when we came in for a green flag pit stop something started then and made it a few more laps and didn’t really notice anything off.  Then it finally dropped a cylinder or two down the backstretch.  Definitely an unfortunate thing but we had plenty of speed in the car and I think we were going to be a factor with this Kobalt Tools Chevrolet.”
 
WERE YOU GUYS MAYBE TRYING SOMETHING NEW FOR THE CHASE?
“Not that I am aware of.  You know, this track is hard on engines and these guys will figure out what went on there.  Days like today, I am thankful for the big point’s lead that we have and the bonus points we have been able to accumulate to get us to this position for the Chase.  It happens and I hope to get all this stuff out of the way now although I hate losing momentum going into the Chase.  It’s nice to roll in there hot and I think we had a chance to win today.  We will dust ourselves off and go again next week.”
 
CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED?  WHAT DID YOU FEEL?
“Coming down the back straightaway I felt it drop a couple of cylinders and knew we were in trouble.  So brought it to pit road and unfortunately it finally broke all the way and locked up.  It would be nice to have salvaged something and maybe pulled the down cylinder parts out you know the valve train parts out and get back out on the track, but the engine didn’t live long enough once it broke.  These things break pretty quick and that was the end of it.”
 
IS THAT THE ENGINE THAT YOU HAD IN THE PRIMARY CAR?
“I am not 100 percent sure, but Jamie Little (ESPN Anchor) just said that it was a new engine and it wasn’t the one in the primary, but I don’t know for sure.”
 
ARE YOU AT ALL WORRIED THAT AS GOOD AS A SEASON YOU ARE HAVING LIKE WEIRD THINGS KEEP HAPPENING TO YOU EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE THAT COULD CARRY OVER INTO THE CHASE AT ALL?
“When I look back most of it is self-inflicted.  Even though it’s an engine failure we will be able to trace back why and what.  Human hands are on these things assembling them and it could be in that or it could have been a simple part failure.  The bulk of the stuff has been human error.  I’m not overly concerned.  I hate having momentum not work in our favor late in the regular season.  I think we would have had a very strong race today if not a win.  That momentum is key rolling into the Chase.  That is the biggest downfall to me.”
 

Big Night for Chevrolet, Wayne Taylor Racing in Kansas Triumph
Taylor, Angelelli win for third time and regain DP championship lead
 
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Aug. 17, 2013) – Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli came away winners Saturday night in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in more ways than one. The Wayne Taylor Racing duo won the inaugural SFP Grand Prix at Kansas Speedway in their No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Daytona Prototype and regained the championship lead in the DP drivers’ standings in the process.
 
Jordan Taylor held off a stern challenge from Scott Pruett to win by 0.568 seconds. The son of team owner Wayne Taylor, driving the closing stint for the first time in a Daytona Prototype, kept Pruett behind him for the better part of an hour. Angelelli moved up from fifth at the start to third when he handed off to Taylor.
 
The third victory of the season for the Angelelli-Taylor pairing came with the extra bonus of now leading the drivers’ championship. Angelelli and Taylor lead Action Express Racing’s Christian Fittipaldi by two points, meaning Corvette DP drivers hold the top three spots in the championship with two races remaining.
 
The Wayne Taylor Racing entry made only three pit stops – the least amount of the DP field. After the team elected to short-fill on its first stop, Taylor moved into the lead for the first time midway through the race following the third and final caution period. The team called in Taylor for his final stop with 38 laps to and was the first of the lead cars to pit. That strategy proved to be the difference.
 
“Max was great at the start and gave me a great car,” Taylor said. “The guys had the perfect strategy, and we were the only ones to do what we did. So it worked out in the end.”
 
The victory allowed Chevrolet to increase its lead in the engine manufacturers’ standings, and Wayne Taylor Racing moved from fifth to second in the team championship.
 
“Congratulations to everyone at Wayne Taylor Racing for a fantastic victory in the inaugural Rolex Sports Car Series event at Kansas City and reclaiming the Daytona Prototype drivers’ championship,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager for the Rolex Series. “This was an incredible challenge with a number of incidents that impacted many of the top runners. Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor may not have had the fastest car on the circuit but the Wayne Taylor Racing team had the best strategy and made the fewest mistakes. In a series as competitive as this, those two factors are keys to winning races and championships.”
 
After starting third and fourth, Action Express Racing’s two Corvette DPs finished fourth and fifth.
 
In GT, Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 57 Camaro GT.R of John Edwards and Robin Liddell placed fourth. They are third in the class championship and only three points out of first place, as is Stevenson Motorsports in the team standings.
 
Earlier in the day, Edwards and Matt Bell won the GS class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 9 Camaro GS.R. Both drivers led during their stints, and Edwards ran out front the final 23 laps for the duo’s second GS victory this season.
 
The next round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival. Both races are set for Sunday, Sept. 8 from Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The Rolex Series event will air live at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
 
ROLEX SPORTS CAR SERIES QUOTES
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“It was a stressful two hours. It was my first time finishing a race in the DP class. To have someone like (Scott Pruett) behind me for an hour-and-a-half was stressful but I knew I had a good car behind me and had all these guys (on the team) supporting me so I wasn’t phased at all.
“We went into this race thinking we had a third- to fourth-place car. Our engineers did their homework and it paid off. The car was solid for the whole stint. We usually have tire wear issues where they drop off a little bit, but the Continentals were perfect and we could push for the whole race.”
 
MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“Our Corvette was really good. Jordan did a fantastic job. It’s not easy to have Pruett behind you for over an hour. I’m very happy and very proud.”
 
CONTINENTAL TIRE SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE QUOTES
MATT BELL, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R:
“The Stevenson guys have been working really hard. This one definitely goes to the guys that run the car all week. Ryan (McCarthy) our engineer really pulled off a great job making this car drivable on the oval and on the infield. These guys have been working really hard. Ryan nailed the setup. My stint was mostly on my own, which really highlighted what the team did with the car. John had a lot of battling going on, and I think he did a very good job with that. It’s not an easy task keeping Matt Plumb behind you. I’m very impressed with everything the team has done this weekend.”
JOHN EDWARDS, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R:
“The car was great. I don’t think we expected this to be one of our (most favorable) tracks but that didn’t stop us from really focusing on the setup and just trying to make the car as good as we could make it. I think we had one of the fastest cars. I think we probably weren’t as fast as the No. 13 car but ultimately Matt (Bell) was faster than Nick Longhi and did a good job to get by him. So that move early in the race – even though this is an endurance race – really played a key part in the end because I was in a position to defend against the No. 13 instead of trying to get around them.”