NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CHEEZ-IT 355 AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 9, 2013
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Watkins Glen International, and discussed racing at Watkins Glen, Tony Stewart’s injuries, Regan Smith and other topics. Full transcript:
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HEADING INTO THE RACE AT WATKINS GLEN AS YOU PREPARE FOR THE CHASE?
“I don’t know, I’ve run pretty good here a couple times, but my expectations coming to these road courses is always pretty low.  That way I go away feeling pretty good about whatever result we get.  It’s a fun track and probably of the two road courses, the one I enjoy the most and I do appreciate the history of the race track itself.  Pretty aware of how this place came about and all the Formula 1 races and other events that have been held here way before we started coming here.  It’s a great area and a pretty fun race track.  It’s really one that we seem to kind of hit and miss on.  Sometimes we actually come here and we’re relatively quick and sometimes we come here and nothing seems to be working.  We’ll just have to see what kind of car we’ve got and work real hard and try not to ruin it.  Last year we were looking like we were going to get a top-10 and I spun out over there on the back side of the track so we’ll just try to do a better job of not making as many mistakes.”
 
WOULD YOU BE OPEN TO REGAN SMITH DRIVING THE NO. 14 CUP CAR FOR TONY STEWART IF THE OPPORTUNITY WAS PRESENTED?
“I’d be the first to put Regan’s (Smith) name in the hat for that kind of opportunity.  I understand that we are racing for a championship and I think that could actually help Regan understand.  It would be a challenge, but I think it could help him in some ways and be an advantage to him maybe to have that extra track time and just be able to have some other ideas in his head about what can improve his car.  I would be for that and it would also give him an opportunity to showcase himself and give himself possibly a chance to get some interest on the Cup side as far as ownership goes and get some guys maybe wanting to put him back in the car full time on this side of the deal.  That would be good for him.”
 
WOULD YOU NOT WANT A ROAD COURSE IN THE CHASE?
“Yeah, no I’m not a big fan of them.  They’re fun to watch.  If you could put aside your feelings about wanting to finish well, win or points then they are kind of fun to be in.  If you can get over the potential pitfalls and things that could happen to you, especially at the end, the restarts and everything when we have late restarts people just kind of go nuts and you have to run over people or be run over.  There’s two things that can happen to you, you are either going to run somebody over or get run over.  There’s no middle ground really.  It’s whatever the popular opinion is, if fans want to see road courses and if they want 10 road courses in the Chase then that’s what needs to happen.  I, myself, I’m just one guy, but I like ovals a lot better than road courses.”
 
DID THE INCIDENT IN SONOMA IMPACT HOW YOU VIEWED YOUR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN RACE CARS?
“Well it had an effect on me, everybody’s different.  It’s everybody’s opinion is going to be different as far as being a driver and certainly the injury and style of injury that you have could make a difference as well.  I remember we went to — the burns that I had really didn’t talk about that much and tell a lot of people what kind of injuries we had or what the injuries were.  I know that when we went to Bristol and I still had some open wounds in my legs that I probably should have had skin-graphed, but those really stung when we got all that champagne in them from winning the Nationwide race and the Cup race.  It just sort of put things in perspective for me.  If I enjoyed road racing as much as Tony (Stewart) enjoys dirt cars then you wouldn’t give it up and I wouldn’t have.  I would have gone back and done it more.  Those were just really, I wouldn’t compare what I was doing to what Tony was doing because his passion and love for that far exceeded what I felt about racing sports cars.  I just really liked the relationship that I had with Corvette and Chevrolet, but I was really never a sports car fan per se.  That was not very hard for me to shut that out of my life and do without it.  Just going through the process of healing and knowing burns take so long to heal and knowing how much of a pain in the butt that was, it was easy for me to not want to do that anymore.  I think if I could, you know how some drivers run late model races like Brad Keselowski went up and ran a race in Canada a couple weeks ago, that’s something that I dream about or daydream about doing is on an off-weekend taking my late model and running Motor Mile or something like that.  The only reason I don’t is just because I’m not sure about what the balance would be between standing there signing autographs all day and being able to run a 50-lap feature.  I miss the comradery and all the volunteer help going and just being with your buddies and racing.  I’d love to do that and get back to that style of racing one day.  I think that for me shutting out the sports cars was kind of easy because it wasn’t something that I had that much passion for and it was just a one-off deal.  Every once in a while we would do it with Boris (Said) or anybody that we happen to team up with to go have fun.  The two are really not the same with what happened to me and what happened to Tony.”
 
CAN YOU COMMENT ON WHAT ITS LIKE FOR REGAN SMITH TO COME TO WATKINS GLEN AND RACE IN FRONT OF HIS HOMETOWN?
“I don’t really know how he feels about coming here and running.  He doesn’t have a ton of confidence about his road course ability, but he’s kind of like me.  I think he’s having a great year and he’s enjoying himself and he’d like to get back to finishing well like they were at the beginning of the season and get himself back in the points.  A couple of them races, Road America and a couple other places were pretty regrettable for him, but he’s trying to rebound and get back in the groove and hopefully finish this year out really strong.  I’m sure he’s looking forward to trying to do well this weekend.  We get along really great.  We hang out quite a bit away from the race track, most of the time drivers don’t really spend a lot of time around each other off the circuit, but we get along great.  He’s a lot of fun.  Good guy and it’s fun to sort of have him part of the team and everybody on the team and in the office enjoys him and it’s easy to want to get behind people that have the kind of energy and attitude that he has.  It’s been a real boost for our company and he’s worked really, really hard.”
 
WHAT IS YOUR GENERAL REACTION TO TONY STEWART GETTING HURT RACING SOMETHING ELSE?
“I was just real sick to my stomach about it.  I woke up for some reason at five o’clock in the morning, which is rare and I just couldn’t sleep so I grabbed my iPad and that was the first thing that I saw and I just couldn’t believe it.  I felt like I must have been dreaming.  Tony (Stewart) is one of my competitors and you really aren’t supposed to have, you really aren’t supposed to have the kind of admiration I guess that I have for Tony as he is my competitor.  You want to go out there and beat him on the race track and he’s fun to race with, he’s a hard racer and he takes it as good as he can get it.  A lot of guys can’t take it very well.  You all know what kind of guy he is so I won’t go on and on about it, but I hated it for him just knowing what being out of t
he car is like and knowing how much he loves what he does and loves how much he enjoys driving no matter what it is.  I know he feels bad you know.  He hates to put his company and team in this situation and he personally is a bit upset and saddened.  Just knowing the kind of guy he is, I hate that he has to go through that and I know they’ll be a lot of pain and rehab and things like that he will have to face and that’s unfortunate and you hate to see people have to deal with that.  He’s tough though, he’s really, really tough and everybody knows that he’s just going to beat the hell out of this and get back in the car before you know it.  He’ll probably be back in the car before the doctors want to let him in.  I don’t anticipate this really slowing him down at all.”
 
WILL THIS CHANGE TONY STEWART AND WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT?
“I don’t think it will.  I think it makes you appreciate what you do anytime something like this where you are put on standby or taken away from you, I think you appreciate it more, if that’s possible.  I think when you come back you are even more tenacious and fired up than you were before.  You just take it for granted that you just get to do it every weekend and once that’s gone just for a little bit even, you really sort of reset your priorities and I think you come back stronger and more determined.”
 
WHAT DOES IT DO NOT TO HAVE TONY STEWART IN THE CHASE RACING AGAINST YOU?  “He’s a lot of fun to race with so you’ll miss that competition as much as everybody wants their job to be easier, you’ll miss the competition that Tony (Stewart) brings to the table every week and I think the fans will miss that as well.  There’s a lot of guys in the series that are just real fun to race against.  Especially when the cars are so equal and you can get out there and really get after it, he’s a lot of fun. He’ll be back before any of us are ready and he’ll be tougher and more determined.  I expect a lot of good racing lays ahead for him.”
 
DOES BEING OUT OF A RACE CAR DO ANYTHING TO YOUR CONFIDENCE?
“No, not really.  Not really.  I think as far as, drivers have pretty big egos so I don’t think that none of us, I don’t think our confidence is something that’s easily swayed.  I feel like you do everything you can while you’re not in the car to make you feel as close to the action as possible so you get the entire experience except for the driving obviously.  When you go back into the car it’s almost like you haven’t been gone or the process is seamless as far as the transition to getting back into the car.  You’ll go test and run somewhere I’m sure, most drivers when they have an injury that gets them out of the car, they get a couple laps somewhere to see speed and know that I’m not going to miss a beat.  This all makes sense and feels normal so by the time you go race you are ready to go.”
 
WHERE DO YOU FALL BETWEEN TONY STEWART FEELING BAD AS A TEAM OWNER VERSUS BEING GOOD FOR NASCAR TO HAVE HIM RUN OTHER SERIES?
“I think Tony (Stewart) just ought to do what he wants to do.  I think if he wants to race everywhere every night of the week that’ what he wants to do, that’s what makes him happy.  He understands the risks and the situations that can happen and it was worth it to put in that kind of effort and go do it.  I really don’t feel, I know he’s upset that he feels like he’s let his team down and that’s nothing you can really do to make him change his mind about that because he understands that his priority and top priority is his Cup program, especially being an owner.  He wears a lot of hats and he wears them really well and he’s such an asset to the sport as a driver and to come in as an owner and do the things that he’s done and have the success that he’s had.  He’s become even more important to the sport.  When we talk about personalities and how that drives the sport, he’s definitely the top of the list as one of the more important ones and the more influential ones that sort of drive the needle.  I think that he’s got to do what makes him happy and that’s why you like him.  That’s where the appeal is with Tony I think is he’s a blue collar racers racer.  He can get down on the ground level and he might be the owner of the Cup team and owner of a race track, championship driver, but he can get down in the dirt and get his hands dirty and get behind the wheel of a sprint car and win anywhere in the country on any night.  I think that’s part of the appeal with him is that he’s that kind of guy that can do that.  We all compare him to AJ Foyt and guys like that who used to race all the time and just compile an amazing resume and I think that’s definitely a positive for him.  He enjoys it.  It’s whatever makes him happy, I think he ought to be able to get out there.  He’s leveraged his life to where he can make those kinds of decisions and be able to enjoy that part of it.  I think more power to him.”
 

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.

BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY’S INTERVIEW: 

JENNIE LONG:  Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to today’s NASCAR teleconference.  We are joined by Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet for Earnhardt‑Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
 
In 13 career road course starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Montoya has two wins and eight top‑10 finishes.  His most recent premier series win came in 2010 at Watkins Glen International, site of Sunday’s Cheez‑It 355.  Juan, going into Watkins Glen, a place where you’ve won before, how important is this weekend for your chances to make the Chase?
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, I think this weekend for us is really, really important.  First of all, thanks for having me.
 
I’ll tell you, I think we’ve got a lot of really good tracks coming for us, and I mean, we know that we made a lot of ‑‑ we made as a team a lot of mistakes.  This weekend was mine, but overall as a team we made too many mistakes, and we do want to try to change the season around, and to be honest with you that’s the perfect opportunity to do it.
Q.  I was just wondering your general reaction to Tony Stewart’s injury and the fact that he’s going to be not racing at the Glen where he was obviously going to be one of the favorites along with yourself and some of the others.  I was also wondering if you could touch on your experience missing races when you injured your shoulder in 2005 and what that was like to be sitting on the sidelines.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, to be honest with you, I think what Tony is going to go through is pretty bad.  After what happened to Leffler earlier in the year, everybody was like, ooh, do we want to keep racing sprint cars and stuff.  I’ll tell you, NASCAR really does a very good job for safety.  The truck standards, the car standards are so much better today.  I’ve been here for seven years, and seven years ago it was good, and nowadays with the new cars, the cars are really, really safe.
 
I feel really comfortable.  Not having Tony there this weekend, it’s a shame, because as you said, he’s always a contender.  He always runs well there.  He’s going to be missed.
Q.  I heard you on a show last week talking about Sonoma versus Watkins Glen, and I know it’s real easy, a lot of people want to compare the two, but I thought you had a pretty interesting take where you were describing Watkins Glen favoring road racing skills a little bit more than Sonoma does.  Could you elaborate on that?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, my honest opinion, it’s fine because the first place ever I drove in the U.S., I did my driving school in Sonoma.  I did the Skip Barber Driving School back in ’92, and that for me I thought was a really awesome racetrack.  In a Cup car it’s actually a really easy track.  It’s a lot of ‑‑ you can’t hustle the car.  It’s a place where it’s all about timing it and being smooth on the throttle.
 
As a road racer, you don’t have a big advantage because there’s nowhere where you’re, okay, you need big cojones to go through the corner.  You don’t have that in Sonoma, where in the Glen all the esses, going over the curves and the backstop, it’s always a challenge, and for guys that run in ovals every week, that is very difficult.  And for me my background is road racing going over curves and hustling the car, that’s what it’s all about.
 
And something that has been really cool this year is with the new Gen‑6 car, it’s so much more agile on road cases, and that makes it so much more fun.
Q.  Is there any other tracks that maybe are not on the NASCAR schedule maybe that you’ve driven before that you’d like to see as far as road racing goes?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, sometimes I kind of envy the Nationwide guys when they go to like Road Atlanta.  There’s a lot of cool places where they go that we don’t, the way our schedule is, to get new races and new places, but Road America would be a great place.  Road Atlanta, oh, my God, that’s a place (inaudible).
 
Honestly, there’s a few places like mid‑Ohio, like mid‑Ohio, I think mid‑Ohio would be a fun place.  It’s a slow track kind of like Sonoma, but it’s got a lot more corners.  So what happens for me for Sonoma is, like the best part of the track was the loop and we don’t use it.  Same thing at the Glen.  It’s interesting because you talk to drivers and sometimes we gossip, and we all say, man, why we don’t run the boot, and they think the lap is too long with the boot and it would take too much time to go around all the track, but I think it would be an awesome track using the whole track.
Q.  I’m curious, you don’t run a whole lot of races beyond Cup.  I’m curious, do people ask you often to run either Nationwide or other events, and do you not do them because you just simply don’t want to, or do you want to avoid any sort of risk of injury?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, to be honest with you, I’m surprised that I don’t really get asked that much to be honest with you, especially like road racing.  I think people ‑‑ I’ll be honest with you, I was pretty outspoken especially earlier when I was doing the Nationwide races that I felt like it was too much.  I felt like we were doing too much racing, and it was too much, so I think people think that I don’t want to do them.
 
But I think if a good opportunity would come to drive a road course ‑‑ a Nationwide on a road course, I think I would probably do it.  I would have to ask Chip’s permission first, but I think he would be okay with it.
Q.  And looking at the Glen and the fact that you’re about 21 points or so out of 20th, do you look at this as any sort of opportunity that if you can win that you’re still Chase eligible?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Oh, absolutely.  There is a lot of really good races coming that we’ve been very close to winning this year that going there we know we have a chance, and you know, we know we’re throwing a lot of points away.  We ran out of gas with one lap to go at Sonoma, for example, running second, and we converted a second‑place finish into a 36th‑place finish.  We can’t do that.
 
Like same thing this week, I made a mistake, we had loose tires in the pits, we had a gearbox failed.  Everything freak that could happen has been happening, so it makes it a little hard.
 
But we know that if we go to the Glen ‑‑ and we’ve been testing.  We did VR test before Sonoma, and we did a Road Atlanta test, and we feel our car is really, really strong, and if you normally look at my performance in Sonoma compared with the Glen, in Sonoma I can run okay but I’m never really good, and this year I probably had one of the best cars there.
 
So going to Sonoma with the car the way it was and heading to the Glen this weekend, I’m really excited.
Q.  You and Marcos Ambrose both have two wins in Cup and all four on road courses.  Do you ever think about that?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Oh, that we won on road courses?  Of course we do.  And on ovals, as well, it’s what we’re here for.  90 percent of the season runs in ovals.  It’s not that we’re not trying.  I’ve been very close, a lot of opportunities, we’ve thrown them away. We’ve found ways to screw them up.  But to tell you the truth, as a team we keep our head up and we keep fighting, and believe me, we believe we have a chance.  We really, really believe that we have a good chance.
 
We’ve just got to make sure ‑‑ the way we do it, like probably Marcos and myself, the only thing we need to do at the Glen to have a chance of winning is not screw up.  Yeah, honestly.  If we have 10
pit stops, we’re in the top three.  I’ll guarantee you we’re in the top three.  Worst case scenario we’re fourth.  If we run out of brakes we’ll finish fifth.
Q.  Just to follow up on the earlier question about Tony Stewart, Tony is the boss there at Stewart‑Haas, but are you surprised that his sponsors let him do this, let him go out and ‑‑
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, that’s just Tony.  I talk to Tony sometimes, and this year he was so excited he was going to go over 100 races in a year.  It’s like for him, making 100 races in a year was a big deal.  And you don’t see the dangers.  You don’t think it’s dangerous, but there’s always a risk factor; you know what I mean?  It’s racing.  There’s nothing you can do.  And when you’re the boss, as well, it’s a little more flexible, I think.
Q.  You’ve driven on some of the world’s best road circuits and have won at Monaco, Watkins Glen and elsewhere.  How does the Glen rank with some of the other courses you’ve raced on around the world?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I think the Glen is a great place.  It’s one of those ‑‑ I don’t know how to explain it to you, but it’s got a lot of character, and it’s got the classic character of a really good track.  If you notice through the years with Formula 1, with safety and everything with the safety, the tracks, especially in Europe have lost a lot of character, especially with the Formula 1 races because the runoff areas are so far away.  You know what I mean? I think it takes a lot of the challenge.
 
And the Glen has that.  You go through those esses, the top of the esses, the exit is the guardrail.  I mean, oh, my God, if you get it wrong there it’s going to hurt.
Q.  You’ve come very close to winning on ovals this year.  Would winning on an oval in NASCAR be especially meaningful to you?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Oh, yeah.  I mean, I’ll tell you the truth, in a way it has really sucked that we haven’t won yet because we’ve been so close so many times, but at the same time we see it as that’s racing, and we can’t do anything about it but just keep working on it, and I think if we keep our head down it’s going to happen.
 
This year I felt like we’ve been closer than ever, and I think as a team we’ve just been doing a really, really good job, and we’ve been really proud of all the guys, how hard they’ve been working this year.
 
You know, you see our team where they came from last year, how far off we were last year to where we are right now, I think it’s been really, really exciting to see.
Q.  Have you had an opportunity to watch Kyle Larson race?  The fact that he’s been added to the roster as a development driver for Earnhardt‑Ganassi Racing, have you had time to spend with him?  What do you think?  What do you think his prospects are moving forward?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, I think he seems to have a lot of talent.  He’s been doing really good things.  With every young driver there’s weeks where they’re better than others, but I always believe that’s kind of normal.  You can’t expect a young kid to nail it every week, but I think he’s been doing a really good job.  Chip, he saw an opportunity to have a young guy for the future, and I think it’s great.  I think it’s great for the team and it’s great for everybody.
Q.  Can you just talk about what Shine has brought to your team over the last year and a half?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, I’ll tell you, when Shine came aboard it was hard at the beginning.  I think his point of view and my point of view were very different, what I wanted out of the car, what he wanted to bring to the table, and I think that made it hard in the beginning of the relationship, and I think as time went by he got more experience.  We got better at working together.
 
Right now we do a really good job.  We work really well together.
 
I’ll give an example.  The last couple weeks we felt we’ve been unloading a lot better, but through the weekend we haven’t gained enough.  We go testing, and when we go testing we feel we work the same way but we gain on the car a lot, and if you can see everywhere we test, we’re very, very competitive.  And we felt like, you know, we’re maybe trying to do too much, and we sit down and we talk about it.
 
It’s something that is really good with Shine.  It’s something that we don’t have to ‑‑ you know what I mean?  I tell him, if you don’t like it, tell me.  If I don’t like it, I’m going to tell you.  We have a very open relationship.  We know what we want to do, what we need to do, and I always say, if you feel I need to do something different, tell me.  If I want or need to do something different, I’ll tell you.
 
It’s very open.  He’s a really hard‑working guy, so it’s fun.  Right now it’s fun because we go every week, we run good, we qualify better.  I think my qualifying average is like 13th this year, that I think is pretty good compared to like ‑‑ I think it’s 10 or 12 places better than last year.  So it just makes it ‑‑ it makes it fun to go to the racetracks and know that you’re going to be good and you’re going to be competitive.
Q.  Have you used all your tests this year?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  No, not yet.  We’ve still got some.
Q.  What are your plans going forward for your remaining tests?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you or if I can tell you.  We’ve got a plan; put it that way.
Q.  With all your experience in racing at different levels, different sanctions and stuff, do you think it takes a special level of skill to excel at road course racing?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  No, it’s the same thing as oval racing.  I think the way I always seen it, if you’re a good driver, you can drive anywhere. You’ll drive dirt, you’ll drive ‑‑ you just need a little bit of time and good people around you to succeed.
 
The problem ‑‑ you know what I mean?  I have a lot of road course experience.  I did that all my life, so that’s like second nature to me.  You know, we go testing anywhere, tracks that I haven’t been in years, and within five laps I’m on pace, and it’s easy.
Q.  Tony Stewart won’t be back for a while ‑‑
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Who’s going to replace him this weekend?  That’s what I want to know.  That’s good gossip right there.
Q.  Yeah, it’s wild on Twitter right now; everybody is wondering about it.  I talked to Dr. Jerry Punch some time ago about drivers racing when they’re injured, and he said often times they do better when they’re injured.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, look at Brad last year.
Q.  Do you feel that way, too?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, I think Brad did a really good job last year.  You look at every other year from Brad, and last year was exceptional. It’s pretty amazing.
Q.  You say you’re more of a road racer.  Do you feel like that’s your advantage going into this race?  There’s a lot of guys in the circuit, more of an oval race, that’s what they’re more used to in a way.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Yeah, there’s some guys that grew up in karting, but if you pay attention to guys that run good now on road courses, a lot of them have karting.  They have their own go‑karts, and with the track in Morrisville, they all go there during the week.  They all practice, so they’re getting better at it.  The problem is now they can drive a go‑kart, and that’s where I grew up.  I did 14 years of karting.  I grew up on that.  Now the hard thing is learning the transition from karting to that.
Q.  Do you find Watkins Glen to be a bit easier than Sonoma, or are both technical?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I think both are technical.  I think the Glen i
s way challenging because it’s got way faster corners like the esses.  The risk factor of getting it wrong is a lot bigger at the Glen than at Sonoma.  I think at Sonoma you get it wrong you go to the dirt and you come back.
Q.  If you would have had the opportunity to use KERS and DRS in F1, how would it have affected your driving style?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I never really drove with DRS or any of that.  I think overtaking, it’s an art, and you’ve got to be good at it, and you’ve got to ‑‑ you know, you’ve got to make mistakes and you’ve got to screw it up a million times to learn to get it right.  And that’s how you grow up in racing, and you keep getting better at it, and it becomes like an art.
 
The same thing overtaking on an oval; it has its own way that you’ve got to learn to do it, and when you figure it out, it works really well.  And when you put all those electronic aids, you don’t have to learn to pass anymore.  You catch the guy and then your wing drops and you drive past the guy down the straight.
 
JENNIE LONG:  Thank you for joining us, Juan.  Good luck this weekend.
 

GREG ZIPADELLI, COMPETITION DIRECTOR OF STEWART-HAAS RACING AND MAX PAPIS, INTERIM DRIVER FOR THE NO. 14 RUSH TRUCK CENTERS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS, WERE GUESTS ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT:
 
JAYME AVRIT:  Good morning, everyone, and welcome to today’s NASCAR teleconference.  Our guests today are Greg Zipadelli, Competition Director for Stewart‑Haas Racing, and Max Papis, interim driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet at Watkins Glen International for Stewart‑Haas Racing.
 
In 35 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Papis scored his career best finish of eighth at Watkins Glen in 2009.  He is a seven‑time winner in the GRAND‑AM Rolex Sports Car Series, which includes a Daytona prototype victory at Watkins Glen and the 2004 Sahlen’s Sports Car Grand Prix. Papis won the 2004 GRAND‑AM Rolex Sports Car Series championship with co‑driver Scott Pruett and is a two‑time winner of the prestigious Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in 2000 and 2002.  His most recent NASCAR start was in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at Tours Speedway in France where he finished second on July 6th.
 
Greg and Max, despite a good bit of adversity this week you come into Watkins Glen looking as strong as ever.  Greg, walk us through how you selected Max to drive the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet this weekend.
 
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Max and I have worked together in the past when I was at JGR with Joey.  He helped us and went to Road Atlanta test with us and helped, and then Steve Addington and the 14 car wanted to do a Road Atlanta test about two weeks ago, and we reached out to Max, and he was able to do it.  Tony had some commitments and was going to come down the second day.
 
They had the car that we’re racing, the primary car at Road Atlanta.  We tested it with Max.  He did a really good job.  Steve felt like he had a good relationship with Max.  They communicated well.  So in all honesty it was a perfect shoe‑in for us, because as I said, we had been working together recently.  There was also a little dialogue between Steve and Max.  I’ve had a relationship with Max for a while now, so we just felt like it was our best bet to be able to communicate well over the weekend and get the most out of the car that we could.
 
JAYME AVRIT:  Max, what were your first impressions of Stewart‑Haas Racing as you tested with the team back on July 30th at Road Atlanta?
 
MAX PAPIS:  Yeah, first of all, I want to wish Tony a quick recovery.  I mean, he had odd circumstances, and it’s never good that something like this is happening.  But obviously I was here in Haas Racing like a long time ago when I actually raced for Haas Racing in Sonoma, and I was just a part of the test schedule, to go there and help them out, and obviously when the situation with Tony arose, I felt that if they needed my help, I was here and I was available.
 
I know I have the confidence and the ability to go out there and do the best for them.  I called Zippy and I told him if you need my help I am going to be here and available, and I let go and let the Lord take care of everything else.
Q.  Zippy, I’m just wondering, you guys have just basically talked about this weekend.  Is there any way to talk about what you’re expecting beyond this weekend?  Are you thinking that Tony could come back any time soon?  Is this going to be something that takes weeks or months, or what’s a general timeline?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, I don’t think we have a timeline right now.  I think Tony has one more surgery that needs to be addressed.  I think at that time in the next 24 to 48 hours we will have a much better idea of exactly what the healing process will be and will be able to do a better job of ‑‑ is it six weeks or is it longer?  Honestly we really do not have an answer for that right now.  As soon as we do, we will try and do a good job of keeping everybody updated of what it looks like.
 
As far as next week and on, we’ve got a few candidates and we’re talking to a few people.  We’ve got a lot of people that have obviously reached out.  We’re not sure if we can put one person in until Tony gets back or we’re going to have to do multiple people.
 
Our main priority was this was such short notice, and it was to get Max in here yesterday, get the seat and all the things that we needed to change in this car and get this car headed to Watkins Glen this afternoon, take care of all the stuff that we’re doing now, and then we’ll get behind some closed doors and kind of really decide who will be the best candidate for the 14 car and SHR to try and maintain what we can in owner’s points.  That’s all I have for you right now.
Q.  But it is something that you’re looking at that’s going to take at least a few weeks?  I mean, he’s not coming back ‑‑
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Absolutely, absolutely.  It’s a few weeks, so we need the next two or three weeks lined up, and that’s what we’re going to start working on this afternoon or tomorrow, and as soon as we have something, I promise we’ll do our best to get it out to you.  But there’s nothing there now.  It’s taken us all day yesterday ‑‑ we were in Atlanta for the tire test, had to wake up pilots, get on a plane yesterday morning, fly home.  We didn’t get to the shop until 8:30 by the time we landed.  Honestly we were just a little bit behind all day, and Watkins Glen and dealing with our sponsors and making sure that they were all on board and doing everything we can to make the best of a bad situation.  So like I said, as soon as we get done with this, we’ll start working on the next few weeks.
Q.  I’ve got two questions for you. The first one I just want you to address and clear up, because there’s been so much speculation:  What is your position on Tony racing in all these extracurricular things?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Hey, it’s a tough one.  We all know that.  We all know Tony loves to do those races.  We know that that’s his golf game, that’s his hunting, his fishing, all the things that the rest of us do.  You know, there is a difference in the amount of responsibility we have and obligations to other people, and that’s where I think that’s kind of where it gets sticky.
 
I think it makes him better at what he does here, but it obviously leaves the door open for a situation that we’re in now.  I think that as many races as he’s run in the past, we’re probably lucky that this is the first time we’re dealing with this to be perfectly honest with you.  You know, we’ll do our best at Stewart‑Haas to put pieces together and sit down and evaluate it, and I think it’s ‑‑ it would be a lot easier to look at and talk about things right now because we’re in the situation that we’re in moving forward.
 
That doesn’t mean anything other than we will talk about it, we’ll discuss it and we’ll try and do what’s best for Stewart‑Haas and our partners in the future.
Q.  My second question is as far as I can recall, a shoulder injury in 2006 in the Cup car is the only injury I can recall.  How are you guys dealing with this?  What’s the morale?  And what was your reaction, because I can’t recall any other injury?  Were you surprised?  What’s everybody feeling? What are you thinking?  And is this a discussion that you guys will have with him going forward?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, yes.  I mean, obviously I was in a hotel room in Atlanta when I got the call.  We always get updates.  He texts me every night after a heat race, qualifying; doesn’t matter what time it is or what’s going on.  And when my phone went off, it wasn’t a text or the call that I had expected.  Honestly, like I said, he’s run so many of these races and flipped in tho
se things.  I think me and him and everybody around us didn’t think Superman could get hurt.  This is his day.
 
As far as morale, everybody at Stewart‑Haas, all of our partners have been extremely, extremely positive, supporting in all the things that we need to do to keep racing, and hopefully, like I said, we’re certainly wishing him a speedy recovery.  We’ll know a lot more in the next 24 to 48 hours exactly what that recovery is.
Q.  I have one question for Zippy and one for Max.  For Zippy, obviously as someone who has worked with Tony for a long time, this possibility probably always existed even when you were a crew chief, and I just wondered how the team handled it.  I’m sure even people at SHR are familiar with what Tony does in his spare time, but how has it affected the people on the 14 team?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, I mean, let’s face it, first and foremost everybody is worried about Smoke and how soon is he going to be back.  He’s a crucial part of Stewart‑Haas Racing.  I mean, he’s the man.  Everybody, I think, right now has pulled together and doing whatever it takes to get this car to Watkins Glen and have the best day that we can there, and we’ll kind of take it week by week.
 
I think it’s real early to say to you anything other than that because that’s truly the atmosphere and the situation that we’re dealing with here.  I think will people be frustrated, will people be disappointed down the road and things of that nature?  I don’t know, hopefully we’ll do a good job of encouraging them and going to the racetrack and having good runs, and we’ll make the best of the situation.
 
Everybody here is disappointed because Tony is not in the car this weekend, and we’re all, like I said, wishing him a speedy recovery.  I hate to be so generic, but in all honesty that’s just really where we’re at right now, you know?
Q.  And for Max, I know this was short notice, but you did test the car.  Would you consider this one of the best opportunities you will have to collect a win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series?
MAX PAPIS:  Obviously it was a very short notice, but as I always say, if things are written, they are written, and in one way the things I’m the most proud of is that through the years, when I sat in the NASCAR car for the first time in Daytona in 1996, I’m sure none of you guys and even me would have ever imagined an Italian guy could have been sitting in a car.  Now I have this opportunity, I’m going to do the best I can.
 
Obviously I’m not going to go out there to run 20th or 25th.  I’m going to go out there to make everyone proud and do the best job I can, and I know that my best job is pretty good.  I have confidence in what I can do, and I have confidence, as well, that my personality and my spirit, it’s something good for this team.
 
Like in circumstances like this, I believe that the joy that I bring in my heart and I joy that I have for the sport hopefully is going to bring up the morale of everyone in the organization, and obviously if we add this to a good result it would be even better.
 
Kind of answering a little bit ‑‑ not answering, but talking to you guys a second about what you guys were talking before, we are athletes.  Race car drivers are athletes, so you can’t cut the wing of us in a way.  You can get hurt walking on the street or doing something like that, and we are good in what we do, and Stewart is good at what he does because he is Stewart. He’s a guy that is one of the unique guys that can go and drive anything.
 
I think at the end of the day, you can make out of this like big things or you can make out of this like something that happened and could have happened in your garage or driving out of the street or hurting yourself walking out here.  It’s just a matter of a situation.
 
The things that I enjoy to watch here in this organization is how fast everyone reacted and how decisions were made and intelligent decisions were made, and I think this proves the spirit of doing things right is all around here.
Q.  I have a question for Max.  You sort of touched on this, but I was wondering going into this weekend’s race, what are your expectations from a competitive standpoint as far as what you hope to accomplish, and what’s the team’s expectations of you to do, and are they different in any way?  In other words, are you going to go out there and obviously you hope to win, and is the team saying, look, we just want a good finish out of here?
MAX PAPIS:  I mean, I can answer that my expectations are always do the best I can.  I know that I have a gift from God to drive cars properly and do a good job, and that’s the thing I do.
 
How I look at this, and I told Zippy this yesterday, as well:  I’m 42 years old.  I’m proud of what I’ve done so far in my career.  Obviously this, I don’t look at this like a career‑changing something that is going to ‑‑ I look at this like an amazing opportunity in a terrible circumstances, and that’s it.  I’m just going to go out there and enjoy every lap I have, enjoy every second I have with the guys, and keep that seat warm for Smoke until he’s going to come back.  And who knows, maybe in the future we’re going to have some laughs to share about what I did in this car or anything.  You never know.
 
I think that things are written, and I believe that sometimes if you push for opportunities, they don’t come, and sometimes things come because of reasons.  And again, the things that I’m the most proud of, as I told you guys before, is the fact that I’m even considered about this opportunity.  There are hundreds of guys out there that can drive this car, but I guess that ‑‑ I always say it’s not about the money you make, it’s not about anything that you do, but it’s about the story you write.  And I guess that so far I’ve been writing a pretty decent story to get a call from Stewart‑Haas Racing.
Q.  Did you just talk with Stewart‑Haas Racing officials, or have you spoken to Tony at all?
MAX PAPIS:  What do you mean?  No, I didn’t talk to Tony.  I didn’t talk to him.  I sent him an email when I was testing his car telling him that his lap belt fit me, so it was actually funny stuff.  I don’t tell you the answer.
 
But besides everything, it’s okay.  No, I haven’t talked to him.  I only talked to the crew chief and Zippy.  Obviously it was very short notice.  I was going to go and do an appearance yesterday.  I turned my truck around with my kids in, and I came over here to work on the seat.
 
Again, it’s doing the best out of difficult circumstances.
Q.  Do you know the exact location of Tony’s fracture, how high it was above the ankle?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  No.  No, we’re ‑‑ I don’t know exactly where it is.  It is above the ankle, below the knee.  I hate to be so generic about where it was.  A lot of the particulars and things, like I said, Tony is still in Iowa, and I talk to him.  We get reports.  He’s doing okay.  It’ll be another, like I said, 24 to 48 hours before we have all the details.
 
MAX PAPIS:  The thing he told me is he’s going to be able to have kids in the future, so that’s no problem.
Q.  Greg, you just said that you had talked to Tony.  How are his spirits, and has he told you that he’s ready to get in a sprint car again so don’t ask him not to do it?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  I didn’t give him the opportunity to tell me he’s ready to get in.  I told him to hurry up and get his butt down here because I was going to break his other leg, like some of my ancestors used to do, old school, and maybe beat him with it, jokingly.  But he’s in good spirits, a lot of pain, trying to get comfortable, but overall he’s obviously ‑‑ he was worried about what everybody th
ought and apologetic and feels like he’s letting everybody down here.  At the end of the day the reason we’re all here is because of him, so I know he’ll get back in it and make it up to us.
Q.  I assume you were joking when you said that you’d break his other leg, but will you actually sit down and talk to him and discuss whether he should be racing outside events, and will you suggest that he not?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Yeah, I think a lot of that stuff will take care of itself in time here.  Most importantly is that he gets healed and gets the proper attention that he needs so that it’s not something that bothers him down the rest of his life and we get him back in this 14 car.  What he races down the road, like I said, I think it opens up a lot of discussions, and I think it’s way too early to really get in the middle of any of these details.
Q.  Tony Stewart is a tough guy and Stewart‑Haas Racing is a tough team, and I know you can’t answer a lot of questions looking forward, but as he talks about being in a race car, it’s almost like it keeps him mentally straight to be in a car.  Can you imagine a Tony Stewart out of a car for a number of weeks, and how will his being out of the car affect what information the team can get or what he provides the other teams at Stewart‑Haas?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  I think it’s you guys that are afraid of him out of a car and what he’ll be like in a couple of weeks, back hobbling around.
 
No, I never imagined this.  He is old school, tough, we’ll just deal with it and get the job done to the best of his ability, which is usually pretty darned good.
 
As a company, like I said, we’ll do our best.  We’ll hopefully get him healed up and to the racetrack and being part of this group and team as soon as we can and get him back in the car as soon as he can and keep his thoughts.
 
As far as what the team is doing and the race car and all those things, we’ll do our best to keep him in the loop and take the information that he has.  Yesterday in between doctors’ visits and this and that, we texted and we talked, and we talked about Max and some other people, and he’s been as big a part of the decisions that have been made here right now as anybody else.
Q.  Can you also talk about how the sponsors have reacted and how much support, not just ‑‑ you mentioned people wanting the ride or getting in touch with you, but what about like feedback from people wanting to pitch in, just other drivers, just to help?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, like I said, it’s all happened so quick.  Obviously we reached out to all our sponsors immediately.  They were all disappointed, which we understand that.  But they’ve all been really good to work with.
 
I think yesterday was more of a shock and you go through it.  Today it’s been more discussions about what we’re going to do in the next couple weeks and trying to give them all some suggestions of these are the people we’re thinking about and making sure that they’re all happy and feel that that person will represent their brand.  This is a big deal.  It’s going to take everybody as a team working together, and we’ll get through it and hopefully do a good job and hopefully they’ll all be proud of how Stewart‑Haas deals with everything.  Most importantly obviously it’s about performance and giving their brand the recognition it deserves.
Q.  Max, I apologize if you touched on this earlier, but you were slated for the GRAND‑AM Rolex race at Road America this weekend, and fresh off your first win at Indianapolis a couple weeks ago, what was the process of being able to get out of that and take this opportunity and have you talked with your team about their plans this weekend?
MAX PAPIS:  Actually that’s a good question.  I was ready, and here at Stewart‑Haas Racing we had actually everything organized for me to go and run the GRAND‑AM race there in Elkhart Lake.  We had a plane organized and everything.  But first of all, I need to say thanks for Remo Ferri Racing.  I talked to Remo yesterday.  He’s a good friend of mine for many years.  And I told him I was going to actually be at the track tomorrow testing, go back to Watkins Glen on Friday and Saturday, and fly back with Boris or someone back for the race.
 
But he told me that he felt that it would have been a better thing for me to stay focused and help Stewart‑Haas Racing in this great opportunity for me and in this difficult circumstances.
 
In one way I was a little sad because I feel that I’m an old style guy.  I’m one of these guys that ‑‑ I feel like there are only a few left, like Stewart, like me, like maybe Mario Andretti, where you go and drive a Sprint Cup car, you go and drive a sports car, you go and drive a midget the day after, and that’s a little different.  So I’m sad I’m not going to be there, but I want to thank them for the opportunity and that they are going to let me stay focused on this and helping Stewart‑Haas Racing.
 
I guess that I need to find myself something to do in the afternoon of Saturday because when the qualifying is finished, maybe there’s not going to be much to do.  I might just maybe go and watch the GRAND‑AM race on TV or something like that.
Q.  This question is for Greg.  Just on the competition side of everything, is the focus now on Ryan Newman and getting him in the Chase, and as far as maybe even converting some of the No. 14’s over to 39’s, and what’s the outlook there?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, our focus has always been getting the 14, the 39 ‑‑ they’re both obviously had opportunities to make the Chase.  Our focus was to give them equal attention.
 
I think obviously now that the 39 is our only chance, we will do whatever we can to help.  I don’t know that it’s any more than what we have been doing, but we’ll certainly do our best to work together as a team, and if there’s anything they need, we will certainly do our best to give them what they need to have that opportunity.
Q.  After the Brickyard I guess you guys were on a high, you had two shots at getting cars into the Chase.  Does this knock some of the wind out of your sails in regard to that?
GREG ZIPADELLI:  Well, I mean, obviously it’s a huge letdown to everybody at Stewart‑Haas, knowing that we were making some great strides.  I think we’ve had some drastic improvements in the performance on the racetrack.  I felt like we were peaking at the right time with two race cars having an opportunity.  It’s a huge disappointment.  But we’ll try to do our best to take that disappointment and turn it into a positive push for the 39.
 
JAYME AVRIT:  Thank you, everyone, for joining us today.  Thank you to Greg and Max, and best of luck this weekend in Watkins Glen.
 

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.

BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY’S INTERVIEW: 

JENNIE LONG:  Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to today’s NASCAR teleconference.  We are joined by Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet for Earnhardt‑Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
 
In 13 career road course starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Montoya has two wins and eight top‑10 finishes.  His most recent premier series win came in 2010 at Watkins Glen International, site of Sunday’s Cheez‑It 355.  Juan, going into Watkins Glen, a place where you’ve won before, how important is this weekend for your chances to make the Chase?
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, I think this weekend for us is really, really important.  First of all, thanks for having me.
 
I’ll tell you, I think we’ve got a lot of really good tracks coming for us, and I mean, we know that we made a lot of ‑‑ we made as a team a lot of mistakes.  This weekend was mine, but overall as a team we made too many mistakes, and we do want to try to change the season around, and to be honest with you that’s the perfect opportunity to do it.
Q.  I was just wondering your general reaction to Tony Stewart’s injury and the fact that he’s going to be not racing at the Glen where he was obviously going to be one of the favorites along with yourself and some of the others.  I was also wondering if you could touch on your experience missing races when you injured your shoulder in 2005 and what that was like to be sitting on the sidelines.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, to be honest with you, I think what Tony is going to go through is pretty bad.  After what happened to Leffler earlier in the year, everybody was like, ooh, do we want to keep racing sprint cars and stuff.  I’ll tell you, NASCAR really does a very good job for safety.  The truck standards, the car standards are so much better today.  I’ve been here for seven years, and seven years ago it was good, and nowadays with the new cars, the cars are really, really safe.
 
I feel really comfortable.  Not having Tony there this weekend, it’s a shame, because as you said, he’s always a contender.  He always runs well there.  He’s going to be missed.
Q.  I heard you on a show last week talking about Sonoma versus Watkins Glen, and I know it’s real easy, a lot of people want to compare the two, but I thought you had a pretty interesting take where you were describing Watkins Glen favoring road racing skills a little bit more than Sonoma does.  Could you elaborate on that?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, my honest opinion, it’s fine because the first place ever I drove in the U.S., I did my driving school in Sonoma.  I did the Skip Barber Driving School back in ’92, and that for me I thought was a really awesome racetrack.  In a Cup car it’s actually a really easy track.  It’s a lot of ‑‑ you can’t hustle the car.  It’s a place where it’s all about timing it and being smooth on the throttle.
 
As a road racer, you don’t have a big advantage because there’s nowhere where you’re, okay, you need big cojones to go through the corner.  You don’t have that in Sonoma, where in the Glen all the esses, going over the curves and the backstop, it’s always a challenge, and for guys that run in ovals every week, that is very difficult.  And for me my background is road racing going over curves and hustling the car, that’s what it’s all about.
 
And something that has been really cool this year is with the new Gen‑6 car, it’s so much more agile on road cases, and that makes it so much more fun.
Q.  Is there any other tracks that maybe are not on the NASCAR schedule maybe that you’ve driven before that you’d like to see as far as road racing goes?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, sometimes I kind of envy the Nationwide guys when they go to like Road Atlanta.  There’s a lot of cool places where they go that we don’t, the way our schedule is, to get new races and new places, but Road America would be a great place.  Road Atlanta, oh, my God, that’s a place (inaudible).
 
Honestly, there’s a few places like mid‑Ohio, like mid‑Ohio, I think mid‑Ohio would be a fun place.  It’s a slow track kind of like Sonoma, but it’s got a lot more corners.  So what happens for me for Sonoma is, like the best part of the track was the loop and we don’t use it.  Same thing at the Glen.  It’s interesting because you talk to drivers and sometimes we gossip, and we all say, man, why we don’t run the boot, and they think the lap is too long with the boot and it would take too much time to go around all the track, but I think it would be an awesome track using the whole track.
Q.  I’m curious, you don’t run a whole lot of races beyond Cup.  I’m curious, do people ask you often to run either Nationwide or other events, and do you not do them because you just simply don’t want to, or do you want to avoid any sort of risk of injury?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, to be honest with you, I’m surprised that I don’t really get asked that much to be honest with you, especially like road racing.  I think people ‑‑ I’ll be honest with you, I was pretty outspoken especially earlier when I was doing the Nationwide races that I felt like it was too much.  I felt like we were doing too much racing, and it was too much, so I think people think that I don’t want to do them.
 
But I think if a good opportunity would come to drive a road course ‑‑ a Nationwide on a road course, I think I would probably do it.  I would have to ask Chip’s permission first, but I think he would be okay with it.
Q.  And looking at the Glen and the fact that you’re about 21 points or so out of 20th, do you look at this as any sort of opportunity that if you can win that you’re still Chase eligible?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Oh, absolutely.  There is a lot of really good races coming that we’ve been very close to winning this year that going there we know we have a chance, and you know, we know we’re throwing a lot of points away.  We ran out of gas with one lap to go at Sonoma, for example, running second, and we converted a second‑place finish into a 36th‑place finish.  We can’t do that.
 
Like same thing this week, I made a mistake, we had loose tires in the pits, we had a gearbox failed.  Everything freak that could happen has been happening, so it makes it a little hard.
 
But we know that if we go to the Glen ‑‑ and we’ve been testing.  We did VR test before Sonoma, and we did a Road Atlanta test, and we feel our car is really, really strong, and if you normally look at my performance in Sonoma compared with the Glen, in Sonoma I can run okay but I’m never really good, and this year I probably had one of the best cars there.
 
So going to Sonoma with the car the way it was and heading to the Glen this weekend, I’m really excited.
Q.  You and Marcos Ambrose both have two wins in Cup and all four on road courses.  Do you ever think about that?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Oh, that we won on road courses?  Of course we do.  And on ovals, as well, it’s what we’re here for.  90 percent of the season runs in ovals.  It’s not that we’re not trying.  I’ve been very close, a lot of opportunities, we’ve thrown them away. We’ve found ways to screw them up.  But to tell you the truth, as a team we keep our head up and we keep fighting, and believe me, we believe we have a chance.  We really, really believe that we have a good chance.
 
We’ve just got to make sure ‑‑ the way we do it, like probably Marcos and myself, the only thing we need to do at the Glen to have a chance of winning is not screw up.  Yeah, honestly.  If we have 10
pit stops, we’re in the top three.  I’ll guarantee you we’re in the top three.  Worst case scenario we’re fourth.  If we run out of brakes we’ll finish fifth.
Q.  Just to follow up on the earlier question about Tony Stewart, Tony is the boss there at Stewart‑Haas, but are you surprised that his sponsors let him do this, let him go out and ‑‑
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, that’s just Tony.  I talk to Tony sometimes, and this year he was so excited he was going to go over 100 races in a year.  It’s like for him, making 100 races in a year was a big deal.  And you don’t see the dangers.  You don’t think it’s dangerous, but there’s always a risk factor; you know what I mean?  It’s racing.  There’s nothing you can do.  And when you’re the boss, as well, it’s a little more flexible, I think.
Q.  You’ve driven on some of the world’s best road circuits and have won at Monaco, Watkins Glen and elsewhere.  How does the Glen rank with some of the other courses you’ve raced on around the world?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I think the Glen is a great place.  It’s one of those ‑‑ I don’t know how to explain it to you, but it’s got a lot of character, and it’s got the classic character of a really good track.  If you notice through the years with Formula 1, with safety and everything with the safety, the tracks, especially in Europe have lost a lot of character, especially with the Formula 1 races because the runoff areas are so far away.  You know what I mean? I think it takes a lot of the challenge.
 
And the Glen has that.  You go through those esses, the top of the esses, the exit is the guardrail.  I mean, oh, my God, if you get it wrong there it’s going to hurt.
Q.  You’ve come very close to winning on ovals this year.  Would winning on an oval in NASCAR be especially meaningful to you?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Oh, yeah.  I mean, I’ll tell you the truth, in a way it has really sucked that we haven’t won yet because we’ve been so close so many times, but at the same time we see it as that’s racing, and we can’t do anything about it but just keep working on it, and I think if we keep our head down it’s going to happen.
 
This year I felt like we’ve been closer than ever, and I think as a team we’ve just been doing a really, really good job, and we’ve been really proud of all the guys, how hard they’ve been working this year.
 
You know, you see our team where they came from last year, how far off we were last year to where we are right now, I think it’s been really, really exciting to see.
Q.  Have you had an opportunity to watch Kyle Larson race?  The fact that he’s been added to the roster as a development driver for Earnhardt‑Ganassi Racing, have you had time to spend with him?  What do you think?  What do you think his prospects are moving forward?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, I think he seems to have a lot of talent.  He’s been doing really good things.  With every young driver there’s weeks where they’re better than others, but I always believe that’s kind of normal.  You can’t expect a young kid to nail it every week, but I think he’s been doing a really good job.  Chip, he saw an opportunity to have a young guy for the future, and I think it’s great.  I think it’s great for the team and it’s great for everybody.
Q.  Can you just talk about what Shine has brought to your team over the last year and a half?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, I’ll tell you, when Shine came aboard it was hard at the beginning.  I think his point of view and my point of view were very different, what I wanted out of the car, what he wanted to bring to the table, and I think that made it hard in the beginning of the relationship, and I think as time went by he got more experience.  We got better at working together.
 
Right now we do a really good job.  We work really well together.
 
I’ll give an example.  The last couple weeks we felt we’ve been unloading a lot better, but through the weekend we haven’t gained enough.  We go testing, and when we go testing we feel we work the same way but we gain on the car a lot, and if you can see everywhere we test, we’re very, very competitive.  And we felt like, you know, we’re maybe trying to do too much, and we sit down and we talk about it.
 
It’s something that is really good with Shine.  It’s something that we don’t have to ‑‑ you know what I mean?  I tell him, if you don’t like it, tell me.  If I don’t like it, I’m going to tell you.  We have a very open relationship.  We know what we want to do, what we need to do, and I always say, if you feel I need to do something different, tell me.  If I want or need to do something different, I’ll tell you.
 
It’s very open.  He’s a really hard‑working guy, so it’s fun.  Right now it’s fun because we go every week, we run good, we qualify better.  I think my qualifying average is like 13th this year, that I think is pretty good compared to like ‑‑ I think it’s 10 or 12 places better than last year.  So it just makes it ‑‑ it makes it fun to go to the racetracks and know that you’re going to be good and you’re going to be competitive.
Q.  Have you used all your tests this year?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  No, not yet.  We’ve still got some.
Q.  What are your plans going forward for your remaining tests?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you or if I can tell you.  We’ve got a plan; put it that way.
Q.  With all your experience in racing at different levels, different sanctions and stuff, do you think it takes a special level of skill to excel at road course racing?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  No, it’s the same thing as oval racing.  I think the way I always seen it, if you’re a good driver, you can drive anywhere. You’ll drive dirt, you’ll drive ‑‑ you just need a little bit of time and good people around you to succeed.
 
The problem ‑‑ you know what I mean?  I have a lot of road course experience.  I did that all my life, so that’s like second nature to me.  You know, we go testing anywhere, tracks that I haven’t been in years, and within five laps I’m on pace, and it’s easy.
Q.  Tony Stewart won’t be back for a while ‑‑
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Who’s going to replace him this weekend?  That’s what I want to know.  That’s good gossip right there.
Q.  Yeah, it’s wild on Twitter right now; everybody is wondering about it.  I talked to Dr. Jerry Punch some time ago about drivers racing when they’re injured, and he said often times they do better when they’re injured.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, look at Brad last year.
Q.  Do you feel that way, too?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Well, I think Brad did a really good job last year.  You look at every other year from Brad, and last year was exceptional. It’s pretty amazing.
Q.  You say you’re more of a road racer.  Do you feel like that’s your advantage going into this race?  There’s a lot of guys in the circuit, more of an oval race, that’s what they’re more used to in a way.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Yeah, there’s some guys that grew up in karting, but if you pay attention to guys that run good now on road courses, a lot of them have karting.  They have their own go‑karts, and with the track in Morrisville, they all go there during the week.  They all practice, so they’re getting better at it.  The problem is now they can drive a go‑kart, and that’s where I grew up.  I did 14 years of karting.  I grew up on that.  Now the hard thing is learning the transition from karting to that.
Q.  Do you find Watkins Glen to be a bit easier than Sonoma, or are both technical?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I think both are technical.  I think the Glen i
s way challenging because it’s got way faster corners like the esses.  The risk factor of getting it wrong is a lot bigger at the Glen than at Sonoma.  I think at Sonoma you get it wrong you go to the dirt and you come back.
Q.  If you would have had the opportunity to use KERS and DRS in F1, how would it have affected your driving style?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I never really drove with DRS or any of that.  I think overtaking, it’s an art, and you’ve got to be good at it, and you’ve got to ‑‑ you know, you’ve got to make mistakes and you’ve got to screw it up a million times to learn to get it right.  And that’s how you grow up in racing, and you keep getting better at it, and it becomes like an art.
 
The same thing overtaking on an oval; it has its own way that you’ve got to learn to do it, and when you figure it out, it works really well.  And when you put all those electronic aids, you don’t have to learn to pass anymore.  You catch the guy and then your wing drops and you drive past the guy down the straight.
 
JENNIE LONG:  Thank you for joining us, Juan.  Good luck this weekend.
 

Helio Castroneves Continues to Lead IZOD IndyCar Series Points; Team Chevy Drivers Claim Five of Top-10 Finishing Positions at Mid-Ohio
 
LEXINGTON, Ohio (August 4, 2013) – Helio Castroneves, No. 3 PPG Automotive Refinish Team Penske Chevrolet, extended his points lead to 31 points in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship battle with a sixth-place finish in today’s 90-lap/203.222-mile race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
 
It was the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner’s 10th consecutive top-10 finish and 13th of the 14 races run to-date this season including a win at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
A total of five Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers captured top-10 finishes in today’s race.  Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, finished fourth; defending Series’ champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, finished fifth to remain third in the standings and gain a few points on the leader; Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet finished ninth and James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 GoDaddy Andretti Autosport Chevrolet finished 10th in the final order.
 
Andretti sits fourth in the standings and Hinchcliffe is seventh in points.
 
The race was won by Charlie Kimball.  Simon Pagenaud and Dario Franchitti completed the podium finishers.
 
Next on the schedule is the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma August 22-25, 2013. The race is scheduled to start Sunday, August 25,2013 at 4:00 p.m. ET with live television coverage on 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
GOBOWLING.COM 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 4, 2013
 
KASEY KAHNE SCORES SECOND WIN OF SEASON IN AGGRESSIVE FASHION AT POCONO
CHEVROLET SWEEPS TOP-FIVE FINISHING POSITIONS
 
 
LONG POND, Pa. – August 4, 2013 – Kasey Kahne saw a seven-second lead in his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS erased by a late caution, but rallied back on the final restart of the GoBowling.com NASCAR Sprint Cup race to make an impressive pass on the outside in turn two for the win, with two laps remaining.  It was a bittersweet win for Kahne in that he had to take it from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS, on his birthday.  With their 1-2 finish today, both drivers moved up one position in the point standings, to eighth and ninth respectively.
 
Kurt Busch was also hunting for a win in his No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevy SS on a birthday that he shares with Gordon, but brought home a third-place finish.  Busch stays very much alive in the hunt for the Chase with his 13th position in the point standings with five races until the cut-off.
 
Last week’s winner Ryan Newman, No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet SS, was in the thick of things for much of the race and brought home his second straight top five with a fourth place finish at Pocono Raceway. With the finish, he moves to within nine markers of the final Chase “Wild Card” position.
 
Another Hendrick Motorsports driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., rounded out the top-five in his No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet SS to give Team Chevy their first top five sweep of the 2013 season.
 
After starting on the pole, and leading 43 laps, Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Plane Chevy SS cut a right-front tire at the mid-way point, but consistent repairs by the pit crew enabled him to rally back for an impressive 13th place finish.  Johnson remains the series point leader with a 77 point advantage over second.
 
The next stop on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tour will be Sunday, August 11 on the in road course in Watkins Glen, NY.
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
 
KENNY FRANCIS, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNING CREW CHIEF
 
THE MODERATOR:  Let’s hear from our race winner for today’s 40th Annual GoBowling.com 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race here at Pocono Raceway, and our race winner is Kasey Kahne.  He drove the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  It’s Kasey’s 16th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win, his second victory in 2013, and his second win at Pocono.  Kasey now is 8th in points in the current championship point standings; however, he’s got two all‑important victories now heading into as we go five races to go before we set the Chase field.
 
Congratulations, Kasey, certainly an outstanding race down the stretch with you and your teammate Jeff Gordon.  Maybe just talk about that final part of that race there, that last restart.  Let’s go back to the restart before that.  You had the lead, caution came out, Gordon took the lead. Maybe just kind of go back over that for us, because that was some really good racing.
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I just felt like we had our Farmers Insurance Chevy was the best car.  Kenny called a great race with strategy and kept me in the front the whole time once we got there.  We started 18th, so we had a little ways to go, but we were gaining on the leaders from the time the race went green off of everything I could see with markers and things.
 
But, yeah, when the caution came out, we had a pretty big lead.  I knew Jeff was going to be tough.  I felt like he was beating me on restarts a little bit.  I always struggle on them.  I need to work on that and just keep getting better with my starts, but he got a great start.
 
He was on my left rear off of turn one, and was able to kind of side draft me down the backstretch and just stayed under me.  He finally got by off turn three.  So at that point, I just tried to stay with him.  We had five laps, so I thought I may get another opportunity to get by, but it was tough.  It seemed like with him in clean air; it was going to take more than five laps.  It was going to take more like ten laps.
 
Then the caution came out, and on that caution, I just knew it was two laps to go, it’s whoever gets the lead, whoever gets clear is going to win the race.
 
I had some help from Kurt Busch, pushed me down the front stretch, and I just drove into one as far as I felt I could, and I got some speed and momentum down the back and beat Jeff to turn two.  That was kind of the race at that point.  Once I cleared him getting into two, from there it was just don’t make a mistake and try to run the quick lap on that last one.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Kenny Francis, congratulations on the win here today.  You and Kasey Kahne certainly have teamed up over the years to turn in a lot of wins.  But this has to be one of the more, I would think, gratifying wins that you all have put together.
 
KENNY FRANCIS:  Yeah, they’re definitely all important, but this one was pretty special looking at all the crazy stuff that’s happened to us over the summer and the past eight to ten weeks.  We’ve had a lot of good race cars and didn’t have much to show for it.  So to come here and dominate the race and get the win in the end, that was pretty cool.
 
So that was a really cool pass he made on that last restart.  We were all about to jump off the box when he did that.  So, you know, it was kind of nerve‑racking.  You’re sitting there racing your teammate, and you want them to have a good finish too.  But at the end of the day, we’re out for ourselves.  I’m just thankful that we were able to get the win.
 
Q.  When you saw the extra caution come out, what was going through your mind?  First of all, you got three guys behind you who are desperate for wins.  You know, Junior just, he’s good in the point standings, but he still would like to win desperately.  Then Jeff and Kurt that really need a victory to solidify their chase aspirations.  I mean, what was going through your mind?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  I just knew that it would probably be three‑wide going into turn one and down that front stretch everybody gets such a good run.  The draft comes into play as you come up through the gears.  So it was just crucial getting into one and getting to the backstretch.  I was able to drive in.  My braking and the way the car was set up, I could drive into one and into two really hard all day long.  So I felt like if I got there and I was close to anyone, I could drive in as far or further than them, and that’s what we were able to do.
 
I knew I had my hands full because those guys want to win just as bad as we do.  I needed one bad.  I felt like our team did.  We’ve been, like Kenny said, we’ve been really fast this whole season, especially through the summer months.  Just things have happened and we don’t have much to show for, but today we finished it off and put a full race together.
 
Q.  Kasey and Kenny, talking about some of those issues this race in June, you didn’t even get to finish the first lap before you had to pull into the garage, and now this one you were in victory lane.  If I remember correctly in that race, you felt once you got the situation fixed, you were running really strong.  So what does it feel like to capitalize on what you may have had in June?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, this was the same car.  So Friday we started practice similar to that and felt really close to how
I felt in June.  The track didn’t change much and the tire didn’t change.  So it was not having practice yesterday didn’t bother me at all because I knew that we had put 40, 45 minutes in on Friday and we’re in a good spot.
 
Just preparation, the guys did a great job,  Kenny and the whole team, bringing back the same car.  It was fast the first time we were here, and we were able to show how fast it was today.
 
KENNY FRANCIS:  Yeah, that first race, we had that U‑joint problem and went behind the wall, and it took us about 50 laps to figure it out and get it sorted back out.  But we went out and ran that whole rest of that race and started off kind of easing around there and realized how fast the car was.  It was after the race, it was amazing how many other crew chiefs and crew members and stuff came up to us over the next few weeks.  We were like, wow, I can’t believe how fast your car was.  So it was cool to bring that same car back and actually win the race.  It doesn’t always happen that you come back the next time to Pocono and the set‑up works.  Usually you’re scrambling again.
 
Just fortunate that we hit on such a good set‑up on the first event that transferred over.
 
Q.  Little bit more about the emotions of coming back to Pocono, as I heard in your post-race television interview, you mentioned Jason Leffler and another friend who had been in the hospital, and Eldora had happened a couple of weeks ago, and you only had one break.  Was it a little emotional coming back?  You recalled leaving and hanging out with Jason?  Just you’re a family it seems in the NASCAR community.  Your job goes on and on, so was there some kind of poignant memory coming back here since June?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  I think there definitely is.  I think this summer has been tough on some racers.  A lot of things have happened with people I know and different guys involved in racing.  Jason, I thought about it on my way up here on Friday, I was like, man, the last time I was here he flew with me here and flew back with me.  Just me and him.  We spent a bunch of time together and then that happened that Wednesday.  So it was tough.
 
There are so many people that are good friends with Jason and knew him really well, so I just wanted to mention something about him. Then Gary Zeronian is a guy that when I moved to Indianapolis in ’99, I met Gary, and we became really good friends and I drove his Silver Crown car on and off for a few different years, probably like three or four years.  We won some races together.
 
He’s just a great guy.  He was at Indy with us.  We had lunch and spent Sunday together.  He was at the car before we took off for the race, and then after the race he had a heart attack walking to his car.  So he’s been in Methodist all week, but he’s recovering.
 
I think it’s just been a tough summer, and I wanted to mention some of that because a lot of my friends feel the same way about those two guys.  So I just said something when I was in that interview.
 
Q.  Kasey, on the second to last restart, you chose the outside and Jeff Gordon passes you.  On the last restart he chooses the inside.  Did you have any regrets that you should have chosen the inside on the second to last restart and when he chose the inside did you think this is my second chance and it’s going to come to me?
KASEY KAHNE:  I thought Jeff would probably choose the inside because I knew he was good down there throughout the whole race.  I had the restart on the inside early in the race and stuck with Keselowski until I cleared him.
 
So I felt good about being down there, but to me it was more about getting momentum off turn one.  When Jeff gave me the outside, I was pretty happy about that because I thought that that may have given me a chance and an opportunity to get back by him.  It’s tough though.
 
You go down the front stretch, everybody’s pushing and the air is working differently, the transmissions and gear ratios are a little different, so everybody has a different run.  Then once you get to turn one, if you miss your mark a little bit, you don’t pick up the throttle, he hits it right. That’s what he did to me on the start before.  He just got off turn one a little bit better than I did and was able to get the lead.
 
So it’s all so close.  The competition and I think my car and Jeff’s on those restarts were really similar.  I don’t know.  It could have gone either way, and I’m just glad I didn’t give that one away, because I knew we had the best car.  If I didn’t win the race today, I would have felt pretty bad about giving it away.
 
Q.  Is it getting tougher on restarts to know which lane to choose?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, because I ‑‑ I mean, I don’t know.  I think everybody’s car you kind of have the spot that you want to be and you’re looking for.  Jeff was tight so he wanted to be on the white line and try to hook his tire on it, he was telling me after the race.  But you’re thinking about going down the straightaway, some tracks you have more grip on the inside or outside on the initial start, and other tracks once you get to the corner, you have more grip on the inside or outside.  So just how do you play that?
 
A lot of times the leader is just in control and can make that work.  But with these long straightaways, it seems that this place is a little more difficult as a leader.  I think everybody’s just a little bit closer together on these starts, so it could go either way.
 
Q.  It doesn’t matter and we’ll never know, would you have caught Jeff without the last caution or ‑‑ you were making up ground, but was it enough time that you even worry about that now?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  I don’t know.  I felt like that first lap I was right with him, and the second lap I was on him and got loose in the middle of three, and he pulled me down the front stretch and I was reeling him back in.  I think we had two to go or three to go.  So we would have definitely had a shot.
 
We had speed.  I could move around.  But to actually clear him and make the pass, I think it would have been really difficult.  So I’m glad that second caution came out there and gave us another shot.
 
Q.  Those restarts, obviously there are always a lot of hair‑raising moments in the cars.  Can you get a sense of what kind of hold‑your‑breath moments those restarts were or any more so than what you guys go through a lot of race weekends at the end of the race?  Can you also talk about just how Kurt Busch pushing you, how that helped and how that was such a factor for you on that last restart?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I think the hair‑raising spots are when somebody’s pushing you and they can hook you a little bit.  I think it happened with Newman and with Dale.  Both times it got me kind of whipping right before I got to turn one, so that will get your attention.  Then just trying to drive into turn one as far as you can and downshift to third and still make the corner and not enter too hard and push your tires, but go as hard as you possibly can.
 
So those are the spots that, to me, are interesting.  I think the further you get back in the pack where the air is ‑‑ more guys have runs and things like that, they’ll get three and four wide, that is a tougher spot.  When you’re coming off the front row it seems you can enter the corner about two wide, which isn’t too bad.
 
But, yeah, Kurt pushing me was key.  I don’t know if he had a lot of places to go when he first got to me, because we weren’t to the line, so he had to push me.  At that point we got through the gears fine and we just kind of h
ooked together like we were at Daytona and started making ground, and we were catching those guys all the way to turn one and then drove up beside Jeff once I got there.
 
Q.  Kenny, I heard you tell Kasey near the end that he had a different second gear than what Jeff had.  Can you talk about the decision to choose the certain gear?  Also, is that something that is common in all organizations?  Is that something that each team gets to choose or would other organizations say everybody’s running the same gear?
 
KENNY FRANCIS:  I think it’s pretty common that different drivers and different driving styles use different ratios.  Everywhere I’ve been, it’s been multi‑car teams.  But here in particular, NASCAR changed the rule for second gear for this particular race, so I think there were a number of different people trying philosophies.  So that is the advantage of having your teammate and you know what he’s got.
 He knew that already.  I just wanted to make sure he remembered.
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Jeff knew we had it too because he slowed down on that restart, so that would benefit him with the ratios.  I noticed that.  I knew he was going to.  But, yeah, Jeff knew what was going on.
 
KENNY FRANCIS:  Yeah.
 
Q.  He said that he did, yeah.
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Did he?  Yeah.
 
KENNY FRANCIS:  No one really knew what to do.  With the lack of practice, we didn’t really get a chance to do any restart simulations, which we were planning on doing.  Here, it’s not like another ‑‑ here you’re allowed to change ratios through the weekend, so we had some opportunity to play with it if we’d had practice.
 
So I think there was just some uncertainty with the rule change and wondering what the right answer was.  I think we picked the wrong answer, but luckily we got away with it.
 
Q.  You got that all‑important second win today as far as towards the Chase.  You talked about you haven’t had anything to show for it the last couple of weeks.  You probably thought you were a championship contender all along, but does this win kind of signal to maybe some of the other people that, hey, don’t forget about us, we can make some noise if we make the Chase?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I feel like it does.  It gives myself confidence and gives the whole team confidence, Kenny, and the pit crew guys and everybody that’s part of it.  It closes the gap.  If we finish in the top 10 and get into the Chase, it will be closer to Matt and Jimmie who already have four wins.  So I think wins are key for sure.
 
Then just for our points, I mean, the Chase is what it’s all about in NASCAR.  I mean, you need to make it for the sponsors, for the teams. We’ve been right there on the edge with kind of the way our summer went.  So it was nice to get two wins.  It gives us much more hope going in. We’ll just start a lot closer.
 
KENNY FRANCIS:  I think also it gives you a little more flexibility to be able to take more risks in the upcoming races.  You’ve already got your two wins.  There is a good chance you’re going to make the Chase either way, so now you can maybe take a little more risk.  Where if this doesn’t work out, it could hurt bad.  Now you’ve got something to fall back on now.
 
There was a call today we had to make that was a little risky that I thought, well, we’ll just have to do it and see.  It was one of those two‑tire stops and we couldn’t quite get as much gas in it as we wanted, or if we did, it was going to take more time.  So definitely having another win gives you some more opportunity to play a little different strategy or take a chance or maybe take a chance on your set‑up before the race or something like that in the upcoming races.
 
Q. (Indiscernible)?
 
KENNY FRANCIS:  It was one of the yellow flag stops where we took two tires.  It was, I don’t remember, two‑thirds of the way through the race or something.
 
Q.  I think we covered this when you won in 2008 here, but I think you spent some time on some of the smaller tracks around here a few years ago when you were just coming up.  Can you talk about coming back here and what it means to you to win here?  Can you also talk about the unpredictability of the races here?  We had a very different race here in June; can you explain why these races are so crazy in varying differences?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I felt like the track was really similar today to what it was in June.  Not a lot of change in the racetrack and the tire and the combination of the cars and things.  So the race may have played out a little different today, but I felt pretty similar to how I did in June.
 
Yeah, I raced a lot in Pennsylvania.  Raced Sprint Cars and midgets and things around here.  I lived in Tower City for like a month and a half one year, which was hard on me.  That was a long time in Tower City.  But I had a good roommate, Rick Hawk.  I lived with him and his family, so we had a lot going on.
 
But it was cool.  Pennsylvania racing is tough.  All the Sprint car racing is really hard, really difficult.  The guys are on top of their game all the time, so it’s a good spot for myself when I was in Sprint cars to race and learn.  I felt like I made a lot of gains when I was racing around here.
 
Q.  The Hendrick cars the last two weeks in particular have been really, really strong or cars with Hendrick engines too.  Is it more difficult or easier to close a gap or gain an advantage when you’re trying to do it against your teammate versus another organization?
KENNY FRANCIS:  I think it’s more difficult.  Those guys are hard to race.  It’s hard to beat Jimmie and Jeff and Dale and the Stewart‑Haas cars are strong.  They’ve been getting stronger every week for the past couple months.  I don’t know.  What do you think?
 
KASEY KAHNE:  I think it’s more difficult.  You know you have very similar cars and engines and all of that, so you know you can run those lap times and things if one of the other guys is beating you.  But at the same time, when someone hits on something and it’s working for them, it’s tough.  Jimmie and Chad do the best job of that each year.
 
I have a great team with Kenny and Keith and all the guys behind us.  I feel like we can run with them if we do everything right.  So we’re just doing the best job we can and trying to get to that point and have some confidence here when we enter the Chase.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Kasey and Kenny, congratulations on certainly a big win here today at Pocono, and we’ll see you at Watkins Glen.
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
 
THE MODERATOR:  We’re going to roll into our post-race for today’s 40th Annual GoBowling.com 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race here at Pocono Raceway.  Our race runner‑up is Jeff Gordon.
 
JEFF GORDON:  Could you have fixed that last caution for me?
 
THE MODERATOR:  I tell you, Jeff, yeah.  The race runner‑up is Jeff Gordon.  He drove the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, and certainly, Jeff, as you alluded to here right now, you had that race in your grasp there.  That last caution came out, and certainly it was tough to overcome the 5 car.  He had a great run on you there.
 
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, he was superfast all day.  I mean, those guys they deserved and earned that win today.  We had them though. We certainly had the position.  We got a good restart.  I’m pretty
disappointed that I allowed them to get to the outside of me down in one.  That is the advantage you have of being second.  Just like the restart before that, I had a little bit of an advantage by being in second to get position on him.  And I thought that last one that I did everything I needed to do, and I looked in my mirror and I really thought that the inside lane got a good run on Kasey, so I thought all I needed to do was get in here and get the bottom and I’d be good.  But, man, he got a killer run and blasted on the outside of me.  Caught me by surprise, I’ll be honest.  In that case, and in that scenario, it just kills your momentum.
 
So I feel fortunate to finish second.  I feel like we had a great day all in all, and I’m very proud of that.  It’s something we can build a lot of momentum on.  Yeah, I’m frustrated right now because we had a shot at it.  We know how important wins are, but second is a great points day for us as well.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Ninth in points right now, Jeff.  We’ll take questions for Jeff Gordon.
 
Q.  You alluded to this, but as we saw in the truck race yesterday and to a large extent today, being the leader on the restart didn’t seem to be an advantage.  Could you just comment on that a little bit?
 
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, the bigger the rear spoilers get on the vehicles, cars, trucks, the bigger hole you’re punching in the air and easier it is for guys to get runs either behind you or stall you on that side.  But that wasn’t necessarily the case today for me in that last restart.
 
I got a good restart.  I think I caught them off guard.  I took off a little early, maybe.  It was questionable.  Yet, I got up in front of him and did what I felt like I needed to do, but, obviously, that wasn’t the case.
 
Yeah, once he got to the outside of me, then that same scenario and aerodynamics really stalled the car out and put me in a bad position going into the tunnel turn.  I really just kind of had to give it up at that point.
 
The caution before that, I was able to get the run and be the car that was in a better position.  You know, he did a great job.  I mean, that’s all you can say.
 
Kurt Busch, come on up here and have some fun with me.  Come on.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Kurt Busch, the birthday boy.
 
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, absolutely, let’s celebrate.
 
Q.  Kind of following up on what he was asking, Kasey chose the outside on the restart prior to that, and I think most guys were choosing the outside all day long.  Was that not a consideration for you because you had taken the lead by being on the inside and choosing the outside wasn’t even a given?
 
JEFF GORDON:  I was terrible on the outside all day.  The outside is good if you have the run on the exit, but I was having so much trouble getting in the corner on the outside that I was more afraid of losing it that way.  My goal was to get a good restart and have the lane to myself, which I did.
 
Now, looking back on it, I probably would have rather put him on the inside.  If I had known I was going to get that good of a restart, I think I would have rather put him on the inside and then I don’t think he could have gotten to the outside of me.
 
It doesn’t matter.  You’ll go through that a million ‑‑ I’ll go through that a million times.  Listen, I’ve given away a lot more races than I’ve won.  So whether it’s restarts ‑‑ I mean, I’ve missed shifts here before.  So I’m happy that we were in position.  I’m bummed that it worked out the way it did.  I’ll try to do it better the next time, and hopefully it works out.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Let’s now hear from our third place finisher in today’s race and that’s Kurt Busch.  He drove the No. 78 Furniture Row Denver Mattress Chevrolet to a fine showing here today.
 
Kurt, congratulations on a good performance.  Kurt’s 13th place, but he’s only 11 points out of that top 10 position, so it gets very interesting now with five to go before we set the Chase field.  Kurt, congratulations.
 
KURT BUSCH:  Thanks, Kerry.  It was definitely a run that we were able to close the chapter, so to speak, on having a little problems here or little problems there.  What I mean by that is we executed really well today with pit strategy, the pit stops, two tires, four tires, and to be in position at the end.
 
We even, when the 48 had their trouble and hit the fence and threw debris out on the track, we were even able to get into the pits before they closed them and get some tires on the car.  So that’s just Todd Berrier, a head’s up call.
 
The way we made changes to the car, it just seems like the team is flowing really well, and I’m excited for this portion of the season, because we now getting to back to all these tracks a second time, and we have fresh notes of working together on this Furniture Row Chevy team.
 
What I’m happy about is this group of guys, we’re small, but we can shoot from the hip a lot and make up a lot of ground by being aggressive with going back to a track a second time knowing exactly what we did wrong the first time around.
 
So even though we didn’t win, I feel good about this third place finish.  Even though we didn’t gain points, this was a championship‑effort‑type day.
 
Q.  Kasey was told something on his radio before that next to last restart, that him and you had different second gears.  Is there or what is the reason for that?
 
JEFF GORDON:  Because I wanted the one that I had and he wanted the one that he had.  I mean, NASCAR has given us the flexibility to play around with second and third gear.  We shift here and that’s probably why.  So we felt like we were getting beat on the restarts the last time we were here, so, as a company, we adjusted that and they went a little further than we did.  I think it helped me.
 
But when you get that good start, you’ve got to make the most of it, and that’s where I feel like I let the ball drop there.  But, yeah, we did have a little bit different, and we knew that going in.  He was having pretty decent restarts all day long.  They were very minor.  I mean, we’re talking little tiny bits of difference.
 
Q.  How critical was that last pit stop, and you did fight back from that, but did that play out in the end result or whatever?
 
KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, I felt like our last pit stop wasn’t ‑‑ it wasn’t great, and maybe it was a little less than average, so it put us behind the 24 and the 39.  I was trying to hustle as much as I could on those fresh tires to get in front of those guys, and it didn’t materialize.  So when you’re pushing hard early and then you get stuck behind guys, it just adds to some of the ill‑handling of the car.
 
So, yeah, I mean, this is a game where you have to be perfect, and getting on and off pit road is my duty and the time that we spend in the box is the pit crew’s, and we win as a team and we finish third as a team.
 
Q.  Jeff and Kurt, for you guys, we talked on Friday about the inconsistency of all the guys that are in this fight to get into the Chase.  At this point, it’s not a win, but just putting together a couple of good finishes in a row and doing that for a few weeks, do you think that’s going to be enough to make up the difference, because everybody can’t seem to get it together for more than a couple weeks in a row?
 
JEFF GORDON:  Well, for us, I feel like we’ve pulled together some decent finishes but it hasn’t been pretty.  Today was an impressive run for us internally.  Just well‑executed, like Kurt was saying, good stops.  Everything just kind of went ou
r way.
 
It’s too competitive.  The cars are too tight in how they’re built, how they perform, and everybody’s too good on pit road, and the drivers and the crew chiefs.  So you’ve got to execute well.
 
I feel like we’ve been fortunate to get some of the top 10s that we’ve gotten here recently, and today I felt like we finally actually went out and earned that one.
 
KURT BUSCH:  To follow up, I feel like we’ve been fast every week when we unload and practice, and we qualify well and we start the race decent.  We’re just not closing the door.  Today was one of those finishes where we closed the door, and it just gets me so excited to know that an area that we’re weak in, we need to polish up on it and fix it.  The only way we’re going to make the Chase is to fix that weak area.
 
The way that you run consistent, even though Jeff finished second today and Biffle finished top 10, Truex, I think, was struggling today and came back and finished 15th.  This is a competitive group.  The top seven guys, I would say, are locked in.  Kahne probably moved himself into a pretty good spot with two wins now, but there is still a lot of see‑saw going on with guys.  Like Biffle with one win, Stewart with a win, Truex with one win, and me and Jeff are winless, but here we are finishing second and third, so it’s tight.
 
Q.  First of all, you’re top 5 this race is all Chevrolet.  So want to talk about your confidence in that manufacturer, and also with Watkins Glen coming up, you talk about a lot of these tracks you’ve come back to for a second race.  But Watkins Glen is a one‑off. It’s the second road course, but just this one race coming up, you’re both excellent road course racers.  Obviously, Jeff you have several wins, Kurt, not at the Glen, but you have a win and you’re a strong road course racer.  How much effort are you putting into that race?  I know they’re all important, but the notebook is looking for those second visits to the other tracks, but talk to me about Watkins Glen?
 
JEFF GORDON:  You approach Watkins Glen like every track.  It’s a track that you have to go perform well at.  I think the competition has gotten so much stronger at the road courses than it used to be.  Where I used to go to the road courses feeling confident that we were going to gain points and have a shot at winning, these days, I’ve got to fight hard to get a top 10.
 
But I feel good about our road course program this year.  We finished good at Sonoma.  Felt like we learned a lot at the end of the second half of the race at Watkins Glen last year.  We kind of more did a test more for Watkins Glen than we did for Sonoma prior to Sonoma, so I’m hoping that pays off.
 
But I’m looking forward to the Glen.  This stretch of races that are coming up, I think it’s one of the reasons we made the Chase last year. They’re just good tracks for us, and if we can start to put the execution together with the performance, I feel like we have a shot at staying in the top 10.  You always want those wins, as Kurt was alluding to because you don’t want to see yourself just squeak outside the top 10 and then not have the win.
 
We’re going to be on ‑‑ the closer we get to Richmond, the more aggressive we get.  But I also think consistent top 5s would do it.  I think that would get us in.  But that’s a lot to ask for.  But I think the Glen is a race we can perform well at.
 
KURT BUSCH:  For us, we actually went and used one of our NASCAR tests at Watkins Glen, and I’m glad we did.  I feel like there are track that’s I’m good on, and I feel like there are tracks that I struggle on.  When we went there, we opened up Pandora’s Box with some braking issues, brakes, so we were able to master that by the end, and I feel very confident now heading back there not to just have speed in qualifying but to have speed throughout the race.  It’s an important race.  Sonoma is on the calendar in June, and the middle of August is much more important.
 
Q.  Kurt, I saw you guys looking at the replay.  Can you talk about the last restart, because it seemed maybe Kasey got a little bit of a slower start and Jeff got a really good one, and maybe you kind of gave Kasey a little bit of a push there?
 
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, man, what’s up?
 
KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, I was waiting to get out of here before Jeff saw that.
 
The way it all turned out is Jeff just caught Kahne sleeping.  I’ve seen Kahne struggle a little bit on some restarts, and when he did, he slipped the tires at least twice.  Then when he shifted to third gear, it was all wrong again, and I hesitated.  My front bumper hit his rear bumper, and the only option I had at that point was to push.
 
I could have went four wide or five wide.  I mean, the 88 got to my inside, and at that moment I was just hoping for the best.  Who knew Kahne was going to squeak out and get alongside the 24 and beat him down into turn two.  So the only option I had was to push him at that point, and it’s just the way that things fall.
 
It wasn’t premeditated.  It wasn’t planned.  Gordon went from winning to finishing second, and Kahne went from finishing second up to winning.  My car might have had something to do with the draft on the outside lane.
 
Q.  Kurt, you’re up to 13th, 11 points out of 10th.  If you top 5 the rest of the way or top 10 the rest of the way do you feel like you’ll make the Chase?
 
KURT BUSCH:  We just need to have nice, smooth races and execute just like today.  What’s amazing is we finished 14th last week and gained one point.  We finish third this week and gained two points, so it’s so tight.
 
When you’re running against Jeff Gordon, a four‑time champion, Keselowski, a champion from last year is in this mix, Biffle is strong, Truex won earlier at Sonoma, this group of guys are all Chase material.  For us, we’re just putting the blinders on and worried about the 78, and I’m just excited to go back to these tracks a second time and execute with the mistakes we made the first time around.
 
Q.  Chevrolets sweep the top 5 today; I think Chevy has had six of the top seven at Indy.  These are tracks that are usually indicative of how you guys run it at the big speedways.  Is the difference that pronounced?  Does Chevrolet have that much of an edge at this point in terms of horsepower and everything?
 
JEFF GORDON:  I’ve never driven a Ford or Toyota, so I don’t know.
 
KURT BUSCH:  Let me answer that.  I’ve driven them all.
 
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, go for it.
 
KURT BUSCH:  No, go ahead.
 
JEFF GORDON:  Not driving those, I don’t know.  I know we’re making great power at Hendrick.  I’m very happy with my horsepower.  I think that our cars are really good right now as well.  Chevy certainly contributes to that in their research and development in how they work with the teams.  I know three of those top 5 were Hendrick cars.
 
I think Jimmie had an issue, I think he would have finished in the top 5 too.  So Hendrick cars last week and this week were pretty strong.
But, honestly, I give Kurt a lot of credit, because those guys ran so well earlier in the year at some of these bigger tracks doing some things that our Spies out there capture, and we had to go to work because we were getting beat by some things that we weren’t trying and doing.  We went to work, and I think we’ve made some gains.
 
Q.  Do you have any thoughts?
 
KURT BUSCH:  When I saw the group of Hendrick cars up front, it’s that sheer torque that they have on corner exit.  I had the chance to drive the Phoenix Raci
ng Chevy, and it might not have had 100% effort, and what I mean by that is they didn’t go to the chassis dine owe a lot, so some of the power might have been lost in the drive train.
 
But to experience the low‑end torque, it shows up here every time you have a corner exit.  In turns 1, 2, and 3, and the Hendrick power just has great power on the low end.
 
I think where I am with the ECR Engine and Childress’ group, they have great top end, and that shows when we unload, and the track is fast, and we keep the RPMs up.  That is just a little difference, and that is just a little difference in Chevys versus the Fords.
 
The Toyotas the first time here were detuned a little bit, so we were able to take advantage of that the first time.  But overall the Hendrick guys last week, there were four of the top 5.  It’s a combination that when they start rolling, it’s a tough steamroller to slow down.
 
Q.  Jeff, when you took the lead from Kasey coming off the restart, that was great racing.  How hard is it, how fun is it to go two‑wide all the way around this track?
 
JEFF GORDON:  It’s not something I recommend, but it was necessary at the time.  To be honest, I got a good restart on him on the inside, and I was able to pull in there and get even with him into one.  I tried to roll around the bottom to get a good shot off and he slipped.  I was pretty surprised I was able to actually get to his left rear and by catching him where I did, sort of like he did with me, it just stalled him out, and I had a good run going into the tunnel.
 
I was pretty aggressive through there to hold the position.  Because I thought if I could get underneath him or stay underneath him going into three, it seemed like the inside was the preferred line.  The outside was pretty slick and that was the case.  He kind of had to give it up to me when we got to three.
 
I was driving as hard as I knew how to drive once I got in front of him and when I was up beside him.  But at the same time, he’s your teammate.  He’s a good friend of mine, and the last thing I wanted to do was wreck either one of us as well.  But he was fighting hard, I was fighting hard, and it was fun.
 
When it all ends up like that and you’re the leader, it’s a lot of fun.  I didn’t want to see that last caution that’s for sure.  He was better than me.  He was going to catch me, whether he could have passed me, I’m not sure.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Okay, Jeff, Kurt, congratulations on a strong performance today, and we’ll see you at Watkins Glen.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
GOBOWLING.COM 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 4, 2013

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
TALK ABOUT THOSE LAST RESTARTS:
“I ‘bout gave it away when Jeff (Gordon) got by me. And then I spun the tires a little bit and he got a great jump and Kurt (Busch) pushed me all the to Turn 1, which really helped; and then I had one opportunity. It was either to go for it and make it work, or not. And as good as our car was, our Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, all day long, I thought we could make that work on the outside. I just needed to clear him. And when we got to Turn 2, I was able to do that. It was a great race. We had a really fast car. Kenny (Francis, crew chief) called an awesome race and the whole pit crew did a perfect job. We needed this one to get in the Chase. We really did. It feels really good. We have a strong team and they’re doing a great job.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE LAST RESTART AND GETTING AROUND JEFF GORDON:
“Well Jeff (Gordon) was getting great restarts and he was fast once we got going.  I was in a tough spot once I got behind and I felt like I needed at least five laps to get back by him.  We had a better car.  The Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was better once we were out there.  Passing was…you had to work for it a little bit and work hard at it.  That final one he beat me to turn one.  Kurt Busch gave me a great push all the way down the front stretch which helped a ton.  Once we got there I just had one shot.  It was either make it stick on the outside or go home in second.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
NOT THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT YOU WANTED. WHAT A RUN FROM 22ND TO 2ND. TAKE US THROUGH THE FINAL RESTART AND THE BATTLE WITH KASEY KAHNE:
“It’s funny how our emotions to go up and down in this sport. Before the race, if you told me that I’d finish second, I’d say that was a great birthday gift. But when you’re leading, and take the lead from Kasey (Kahne) the way we did you know, on that restart, I thought we had him. He was better than us but I thought getting out in front I could hold him off. I got a perfect restart that last one and probably jumped him a little bit and I moved up front of him and it looked like I needed to block the inside. I tried to protect the inside and he got out the outside and flat outdrove me through (Turn) 1. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get this win. This team has worked so hard to put ourselves in position. I’m really proud of all the efforts by Drive to End Hunger and what they do for the millions of older Americans who are hungry out there. And this is certainly going to contribute toward that. But I’m a little disappointed, but also excited. It was a good point’s day for us and we needed that.”
 
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE AT THE END?
“Well first congratulations to Kasey (Kahne) he did an awesome job down there in (turn) one getting to my outside.  We had a great restart the time before that.  I don’t know maybe it was an advantage being second not first because we got inside and we were able to get by him the restart before that.  Just an incredible effort by this Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet team.  These guys were awesome in the pits, great calls by Alan (Gustafson, crew chief), and fast race car.  I’m just having fun up there duking it out for the win.  Kasey was the guy to beat.  We got a good restart, got in front of him and then that last one I got the perfect restart.  I thought I needed to protect the inside and man he drove right by me on the outside.  Hats off to him and a little bummed for the team, but also got to look at the bright side a pretty good birthday and pretty good points day.”
 
HOW MUCH DID THE TRACK CHANGE FROM PRACTICE ON FRIDAY?
“I don’t know.  We made so many changes from Friday to today that I know our car was certainly a lot better today than it was on Friday.  It changed, but it mainly changed throughout the race.  It was a little slick there at the beginning, but I was also in 22nd position.  When you get out front there, boy, it is amazing how much grip it has.  The further we got to the front the better the car drove and hung in there all day.  We’ve had good cars here for a while we just haven’t started good and got that track position today things went our way.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
A SOLID DAY, BUT AT THE END YOU SAID YOU FELT LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CAR?
“I was just right there in the mix, you know; on restarts I felt like we gained spots each time. The lap times that we were running before that final pit stop, we weren’t able to maintain those at the end. And so temperatures on the track increased. I don’t think we changed anything on the car, but I’ve just got to thank the guys. This was a phenomenal run today to execute and learn from what we did here in June, to post a Top 3, and to run with the guys that we have to run with to make it in the Chase. I’m just real happy with these guys and Furniture Row and our mattress brands that are with us and Monster Energy. It’s just good to run strong when it’s time. And right now, we’re getting that job done, even though we haven’t crossed the threshold to win. On that last restart, the only option I had was to push (Kasey) Kahne and I felt like we got hooked-up in one of those two-car drafts and got him clear of the NO. 24 (Jeff Gordon). I wanted to go to his high side, but I would have definitely been a fish out of water in the grey area in Turn 1. It would have been pretty big. So, I’m happy for this finish and this team and just the job we’re doing.”
 
DESCRIBE JUST HOW DIFFICULT THIS RACE WAS WITH ALL THE CAUTION FLAGS AND RESTARTS:
“Lots of restarts today, but we had a really strong Furniture Row car.  We ran up front and had great pit stops and put ourselves in position to win.  The final restart (Kasey) Kahne actually got a poor restart and I had no option except just to push him.  It was like we hooked up in one of those two car drafts driving down into turn one.  He cleared the No. 24 and we couldn’t quite maintain and ended up coming home third.  It’s exciting for us because we are in this mix of trying to race our way into the Chase.  You have to do it with top five finishes like this.”
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION 30TH ANNIVERSARY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FOURTH
ON HIS RACE:
“It’s a good run not as good as it could have been.  We struggled in the pits today but overall a good effort.  Racing a lot of the guys around us it’s where it’s important to get the victory.  Jeff (Gordon) was really close there and he’s fighting for his Wild Card spot.  We have a win and we are fighting for a top 10 Wild Card spot, but none-the-less it was a good effort.  Just a horrible day in the pits for us.  We have to get that figured out.”
 
A COUPLE OF SLOW PIT STOPS TODAY, BUT YOU RECOVERED WITH A TOP 5 FINISH TODAY. TELL US ABOUT YOUR RUN:
“We had a really fast car. The Haas Automation Chevrolet was really good. We just struggled in the pits like you said and there is no doubt that hurt us. But it was good comeback.”
 
ANOTHER GREAT RUN FOR YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR AFTERNOON:
“Well it was a good run no doubt.  We struggled a lot on pit lane.  The guys did an awesome job too I had a good car. Just those restarts man they are so crazy.  I was telling (Dale Earnhardt) Junior it seems like Martinsville restarts, short track restarts every time.  A good run for us today.  Big for Quicken Loans and their ‘Bring it Home’ sweepstakes.  Go to qlracing.com about that.  Obviously a ‘Bloomin’ Monday’ so Outback on Monday.”&nbsp
; 
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD YOUTH FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
TOP FIVE FINISH, THE VIBRATION ALL WEEKEND LONG HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THAT AND WAS IT STILL A FACTOR HERE TODAY?
“Well we changed every part on the car but the engine.  I think we helped it a little bit today.  We got it to where we could drive it.  I want to thank Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and the crew they did a good job putting a good car on the starting line today that was competitive and had a good strategy to get us up front because we qualified so poorly.  Just didn’t have the edge we needed.  I felt good coming in here thought we might win the race, but come up a little short.  I want to thank National Guard Youth Foundation for everything they do and helping us out this weekend, being a part of this weekend.  I thought it was a good race.  I really love coming here.  The Mattioli’s do a good job; the fans love us coming up here.  I would just like to win here one time.”
 
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE RESTARTS HOW INTENSE THEY ARE?
“Yeah, they are pretty frustrating.  Those debris cautions can be quite unique and really change the complexion of the race.  I think that it definitely makes it more exciting at the end. Sometimes they go for you and sometimes they go against you and you just try to be on the good end.  You’ve got to get pretty aggressive in turn one down there and I’m sure it’s a lot of fun to watch.”
 
A GREAT DAY AND YOUR PIT STOPS WERE SOLID. BUT ON FRIDAY, YOU HAD A SERIOUS VIBRATION. YOU CALLED IT A ‘SHAKE’ ACTUALLY. THEY CHANGED EVERYTHING THAT COULD ROTATE. HOW GOOD WAS THE CAR TODAY AND HOW DID YOU GET IT BETTER DURING THE RACE?
“It was better as far as the vibration goes. The guys worked really hard. We changed everything in the car but the motor. I’ve got to thank the National Guard Youth Foundation for everything that they do and for being a part of this weekend for us. We didn’t have a good car. It was not as good as we needed to be. We changed it a little bit from the last time we were here to try and get it better. I don’t think we did. It was a little bit loose-in all day and a little tighter in the center and just didn’t have the edge that we needed. But I felt pretty good coming in here this weekend; real confident. But the weather set us back and then all that vibration stuff; we never got to work on the car real good on Friday. So we just had to shoot in the dark today. I’ve got to thank my guys. They gave me a good car and did a good job on strategy and great pit stops.”
 
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED NINTH
ON HIS DAY:
“Good strategy by the crew chief because the driver screwed up today.  I got us the pit road speeding penalty and put us back there.  Steve’s (Addington, crew chief) pretty keen on the pit strategy and what to do to get us back up there.  Got us back the track position I just was a little too tight to stay there.  Definitely didn’t need the last two cautions there.  We were going to run sixth or seventh there.  If it went green we would have stayed there instead we end up with a ninth.  A long day, but glad to have a good day for GoDaddy, Mobil 1, Chevrolet and Bass Pro.  I don’t know how it was with the point’s day, but we had a solid day we’ve just got to keep clicking them off like this.”
 
YOU HAD AN IMPRESSIVE DAY AFTER THAT PIT ROAD SPEEDING PENALTY. YOU LIKE TO TALK TO YOUR CREW CHIEF AFTER THE RACE WHEN THINGS ARE FRESH ON YOUR MIND. WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND NOW?
“Oh, we were just a little bit tight on entry versus where we were in the spring. I’ve got a very short memory, so I’m better off staying an extra couple of minutes and talking to these guys on this GoDaddy Chevy after this race. We just talk about it while it’s fresh on our minds and it gives them something to think about while they’re on the plane ride back and have our debrief tomorrow morning. But I was pretty happy. Steve Addington (crew chief) did a good job and the pit crew did a good job getting us some track position after I made a mistake. So, they definitely carried me today.”
 
YOU ARE KNOCKING OFF THOSE TOP 10’S. THIS IS THE THIRD ONE IN THE LAST FOUR RACES. HOW MUCH ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE AND THE CHASE? OR, DO YOU FEEL SOLID WHERE YOU’RE GOING?
“We’ve been running good. It’s just we still need to be a little bit better. There are cars that are still a little bit better than us right now that we’re trying to get caught-up to. So, I think our focus is more on that than making the Chase. It’s one thing to make the Chase, but it’s another thing that once you get there, you’ve got to have something you can contend with. So, we’re staying focused on just taking it one week at a time and working on our program and Bass Pro and Mobil 1 and we’ve got GoDaddy this weekend on our car. Everybody is working hard; all of our partners are excited, especially after Ryan’s (Newman) win at the Brickyard last weekend. We’re proud of him for that and we’ve just got to keep plugging away. Everybody at SHR is doing an awesome job and Hendrick engines and chassis have done a great job too. So everybody is working hard and doing a good job and we’ve just got to keep clicking them off and just keep getting a little bit better each week.”
 
IS THE TEAM NOW THAT WE ARE HITTING AUGUST WHERE YOU WANT IT TO BE HEADING TOWARDS THIS CHASE PUSH?
“Well it’s hard to say.  We tested here.  This is one of the places we used to test and we ran good in the first race here this year.  I think we are still reaping the benefits of that test.  Definitely Indy last week we both ran well and this week.  It gives you some confidence for sure going into the next couple of races.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PLANES CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 13TH
NOT THE DAY YOU WANTED BUT NOT BAD CONSIDERING WHERE YOU WERE 20 LAPS AGO:
“Yeah, my day kept needing to be calibrated as the day went on at first.  I really felt like we had a shot to win, unfortunately blew a tire off of turn one and ended those hopes there.  We worked on the car and got it better.  Then I hit the wall so hard that it knocked a spark plug wire off the spark plug.  They were able to find the right plug and get everything hooked back up and the engine took off.  Off we went and salvaged a very nice finish.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE TEAM IN GENERAL BECAUSE WHEN YOU WERE OUT THE OTHER GUYS WERE ALL UP FRONT:
“From a Hendrick (Motorsports) stand point I was kind of focused on our issues trying to get stuff worked out, but I knew on the last restart my three teammates were sitting there one-two-three and I’m not sure how they finished, but I know it was a one-two.  Really proud of Hendrick Motorsports and what they continue to give us week in and week out.”
 
GOOD YEAR SAYS YOU LOST AIR THROUGH A BEAD.  HAVE YOU EVER HAD THAT HAPPEN BEFORE?
“I know I lost air.  There is no doubt about that (laughs).  I don’t know why.  I wouldn’t think brakes, brake temps sometimes the bead issue is relative to brake temp when you melt a bead.  I don’t know I haven’t really heard much.”
 
AS GOOD AS YOU WERE EARLY IN THIS RACE YOU TALKED FRIDAY ABOUT NOT WANTING TO LEAVE ONES ON THE TABLE.  HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS COMING OUT OF IT?
“It wasn’t late enough in the race to have that same feeling as other events we’ve not capitalized on.  Today was just racing.  You have that happen from time to time and it got us today.”
 
AFTER HAVING YOUR HEART BROKEN LAST WEEK AT THE BRICKYARD, YOU HAD ANOTHER TOUGH DAY. BUT YOU MADE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING AFTER THAT FLAT TIRE TO FINISH 13TH. YOU’VE GOT TO BE PROUD OF THIS TEAM:
“I’m really proud of the efforts of the whole crew. Th
e damaged race car; and I guess I hit so hard it knocked one of the spark plug wires off and I was running on seven cylinders. We finally figured that out and put the spark plug wire and then the car ran good again. And I don’t know how with all the trouble we had today that we salvaged a 13th. It was just a team effort. I’m very proud of everyone involved. Unfortunately we had that flat after leading the race, but stuff happens. It’s racing.”
 
DID YOU HAVE ANY INDICATION AT ALL THAT YOU WERE HAVING RIGHT-FRONT TIRE PROBLEMS BEFORE IT LET GO?
“No, the way it went, it just exploded. So, I’m not really sure what caused it. But late off of Turn 1 it just exploded and that was it.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in an on-track accident on lap 110 – FINISHED 35TH
ON THE INCIDENT:
“These cars rely on side force, so when someone’s on the outside of you, it always makes you a little bit looser. But, I didn’t feel like I went in any more hero-like that time. We were tight in the race and so we had freed it up a little bit and it was better. But then, when they’re outside of you, you just get loose. So, just chased it up and it spun around and unfortunately it ends the day for the GoDaddy car. And it was a good day, you know? For me, I have to sit in my car and say, ‘Today’s going good if it’s a Top 20; it’s a good day for me.’ So, that’s what was happening. Unfortunately we won’t come away with that. But we were better off today than what we’ve been a lot of other days. So, that’s about all there is to say.”
 
WHAT HAPPENED?
“There was a car outside of me and when there is a car outside of you going through fast corners it takes the side force off of it and the car gets looser when someone is there.  It hadn’t been a problem all day.  I didn’t do anything different that time.  I even kind of told myself going into the corner ‘it’s fine just run through the corner’.  I don’t know if he was closer than other cars had been to my outside or not.  We had freed the car up just a little bit, but not drastically just a little bit because we were tight.  I don’t know if that was enough to just tip it over the edge from where it was.  It’s never as much rear grip when someone is outside of you.  I feel bad for the team because we were having a good day and I know it’s nice to finish those days off and it would have been nice to finish in the top 20. That is just my goal.  It’s simple, it’s nothing crazy, but it’s been a challenge this year.  It would have been nice to do that and we were just having a steady race and a good race and it’s over.  We were way better than we were last time.  We were competitive and we were making good calls in the pits.  Everything was going just it’s just it happens.”
 
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 FXI GUTTERCLEAR 365 CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in multi-car accident on lap 110 – FINISHED 36TH
 
ON WHAT HAPPENED:
“They just got together and by the time I got there, they were wrecked. It’s just kind of how the year’s going. We had a good car today but we just kept getting in trouble. We kept getting ourselves out of track position. When you’re in the back of the pack like that, you’re more likely to have things happen. I thought we had about a top seven or eight car, and then we had one run where we weren’t so good and we lost track position and then we went three-wide into the tunnel and got the quarter panel tore up and we had to fix that. And that just kept putting us further and further back. So, it’s just kind of the way the year is going.”