NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 23, 2013
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET met with media and discussed rescue animals due to Oklahoma tornados, the challenges for the 600 race, what Memorial Day means to him, and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
Q.        With all the tornado stuff going on in Oklahoma, are you doing any rescue things there?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  Actually we have been in really close contact, Krissie has been really in close contact with the Code 3 Associates people because that’s their line of work.  We do some things and I think Krissie can probably speak more so on what we will do because some of that stuff is so delayed, people are getting their lives together before they get their animals’ lives back together.  But Code 3 Associates basically has to get the clearance to be able to come in and help in a situation like that, but myself and Krissie have kept in contact with the people at Code 3 and I know that they’re working on that.  There’s nothing directly that I know of.  I know there are some things that will go through the pipeline, but like I said, it’s a delayed reaction because it kind of has to be because of their situation.
 
            Q.  Talk about how challenging this race is, the 600, and how much strategies plays into it.
            RYAN NEWMAN:  Strategy is a part of every race.  The majority of crew chiefs work the race backwards, because you have to work from the last run to where you’re at.  It’s a challenging race because of the longevity of it, because of the timing of it, starting in the sun, in the heat, on a track that’s typically biased to more heat in 3 and 4 than 1 and 2.  The shade happens in 1 and 2 way earlier in the afternoon than it does in 3 and 4.  That’s a part of it that we just don’t see at other racetracks.  Managing your car, managing your engine, managing your pit stops, keeping yourself in the hunt, all those things come into play at each and every race, it’s just that it takes more effort because it’s a longer race and you have to keep yourself in the hunt for maybe two more fuel runs here than some other racetracks.
 
            Q.  What does Memorial Day mean to you?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  Memorial Day says it all.  It’s remembering family members, friends, everybody that has made a difference for us to be able to have the freedoms that we have, and I say freedoms, not just the freedom, the freedoms that we have to be able to do so many things in our lives, just to have that clear conscience of being able to walk across the street, being able to walk across the parking lot, to be able to drive a race car, go do things with your family.  Memorial Day is about remembering all the people that have made so many sacrifices to be in the position that we are with our country, and that’s why we’re proud of people like Oral‑B who make such a big deal out of something that’s built in the USA.  We’re proud of who we are, we’re proud how we got to where we are, and Memorial Day is a time to celebrate that freedom.
 
            Q.  The troops that you met in your time with the military, working for the Army as their driver, did you meet a lot of people?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  I’ve met a ton of people and heard a ton of stories and not all of them you can remember.  You remember certain situations and certain people, but in the end I think it makes you a different person, and I’ve always told you that I took it for granted, things that the soldiers do for us and the sacrifices that they make, and those are the soldiers that I’ve talked to.  I’m sure there are millions of other soldiers who have done so many different things.  To get to visit hospitals like Walter Reed and to see some of the soldiers who are wounded and talk to their families, and at the end of the day they put a smile on your face, because they make you feel wanted, and I actually ‑‑ a soldier who is now a good friend of mine, his name is Greg Stube, I think a lot of us kind of know him in the NASCAR world.  He’s the one that touched me the most.  He came up to me and totally out of the blue, just happened to be a fan of mine, but totally out of the blue he told me you’re who we are fight for, and I’m like, what are you talking about?  I’m like, I just drive a race car.  He said, no you’re who we are fighting for, you’re the people who represent the American freedom that enjoy what we have given you, and that to me says so much.  It says so much about him personally but I think mainly the motives behind the members of the military that give so many sacrifices.
 
            Q.  (Inaudible.)
            RYAN NEWMAN:  We’re just lagging back.  It’s kind of like the Tiger Woods approach, you know?  Wait until Sunday.
 
            Q.  Do you guys think that it took you guys a while to ‑‑ not you guys necessarily, but the organization as a whole to realize, hey, we are behind ‑‑
            RYAN NEWMAN:  I don’t know that you can necessarily say behind.  I think behind is a loaded word.  I think our guys have been doing a good job.  I think a lot of our development has been on time with respect to the new car and I think we just haven’t got the entire package when it comes to the setup quite right yet.  But there’s a behind way of looking at it.  We’re not behind body‑wise I don’t feel.  I don’t feel like we’re behind power‑wise.  I think the Hendrick guys do a great job with that.  But balancing all four tires of the race car, I’d say we’re lacking in that.  That’s not necessarily behind, maybe behind in development, but it’s something that we can click on right away.  It’s not something that takes three, four, five months to get things pushed through the system.  I think that we’re always continually working on it as are the guys on top of the board.  But rest assured, nobody is sleeping more than they should.
 
            Q.  In terms of the strategies of this race, were you able to learn something last week for this race being a long race?
 
            RYAN NEWMAN:  Not necessarily from the day to the night because really last week in the All‑Star Race it was all night.  We started with a clear visor and it was dark out.  It’s going to be different Sunday night, with all respect to the weather, but it’s just such a different race.  The 20‑lap segments, they’re basically sprints.  Everybody was in a position where you probably have to put tires on, you have to put tires on at the end, so the strategy is entirely different for that race than it is the Coca‑Cola 600.
            We’ll see.  I think we have the potential to be good and our Quicken Loans Chevrolet is better today in practice than we showed.  I didn’t get the last good lap I should have in qualifying, and I think that qualifying tonight is something I always enjoy, something we can hopefully make a good rebound in.
 
    &n
bsp;       Q.  Are you expecting anything different out of the race with the new car here?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  I don’t think so.  I think we saw how hard it was to pass here in the All‑Star Race.  Some of my restarts were something that I was proud of.  I passed six cars at one end of the racetrack one time.  It’s difficult to pass when we’re going as fast as we are, I’ve always said, and the faster you go the harder it is to pass.  The air makes a bigger difference in the race car.
 
            Q.  The penalties a few weeks ago, did that send any kind of shock wave through the garage and does that change your approach thinking okay maybe we can now try things and it might not be so punishing?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  I think that approach from a penalty standpoint is more on a crew chief’s shoulders than it is mine.  But as a team he makes those decisions.  He’s the one that’s missing six weeks.  The driver doesn’t miss six weeks.  As a team, yes, there is a compound effect there, but the crew chief is the one that is responsible for 90 percent of those things I’ll say.
            I think the appeal process was a little bit I’ll say questioning.  Just kind of to me seems confusing as to how it would get as far as it did and uphold the penalties and all of a sudden one guy just says let’s reduce it.  That’s happened three times if I remember right; the last three times in a row it’s gone to that point and it’s been reduced.
            I don’t know, I don’t know that it’s necessarily good for our sport, but it is what it is, and they still upheld the majority of the penalties.  I think a lot of the guys in the garage know that there are some things that make sense and there are some things that don’t make sense with respect to those penalties, and we all go on.
 
            Q.  (Inaudible.)
            RYAN NEWMAN:  What do they say?  I don’t remember.
 
            Q.  Is Dover really like a giant Bristol?
 
            RYAN NEWMAN:  It is a big brother to Bristol, and we tested up there, all of Stewart‑Haas tested up there, and feel like we made some improvements on our cars for sure, and we actually tried to do some of those things here at Charlotte for the All‑Star Race and just couldn’t get it to click in practice.  Dover in is its own animal because of the speeds there and it is a very important track, as well, from a track position standpoint because of how fast it is.  But I enjoy it because it’s concrete, doesn’t seem to change a whole lot.  If you usually get a car right at Dover you can keep it right the entire day.
 
            Q.  Do you have to have a championship to be a leader in the garage?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  Do you have to have a championship to be a leader in the garage?  Depends on who you’re looking for your leadership from.
 
            Q.  How do you feel?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  I don’t know, if you’re looking for it amongst your peers I don’t think you need to.  I think there’s guys in this garage that have never won a championship that are considered leaders.  Mark Martin comes to mind first.
 
But I don’t necessarily think that I would think any more of Mark if he was a champion.  I think he’s a great experienced driver.  But at the same time if you look at the perspective of it, are you talking from NASCAR’s perspective or the drivers’ perspective because they’re two entirely different things.
 
            Q.  How do you see Mark Martin as a leader?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  I think he’s a driver that’s been instrumental in somebody like Joey Logano’s career, to stand behind him, give everybody his word on the kind of driver he thought he was.  He’s been ‑‑ not that it’s bad, he’s been so many places and he’s done so much and he’s still a part of this sport, it just kind of tells you the kind of guy that he is.  There’s drivers that move around and slide right on out, but he’s moved around and stayed on top.
 
            Q.  Brad Keselowski said at the awards ceremony I’m your champion and now I want to be your leader.  Is he a leader?  Do you guys view him as a leader?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  A leader is somebody you look up to.  It all depends on your position.  If you look up to somebody like that, then yeah, he is your leader, but if you don’t, then somebody else is.
 
            Q.  Do you look up to him?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  Do I look up to Brad?  Only when I’m standing next to him.
 
            Q.  A lot of people will look at some of the struggles of this organizations and its ties with Hendrick Motorsports and look at some of the things Hendrick is doing and say Hendrick is doing it, why can’t Stewart‑Haas have that similar type of success, understanding there’s two different organizations but there should be a pipeline, so can you explain to a fan out there that looks at the ties with Hendrick, why there would seem to be such a disparity?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  Simply said, it’s just ties with Hendrick, that doesn’t mean that we have their spring inventory, it doesn’t mean that we’re building the same shocks, it doesn’t mean that we’re setting the same air pressures.  Just because we have the inventory of knowledge doesn’t mean we have the inventory of performance.
            And then I think conversely if you look at 2011 when Tony won five out of the 10 Chase races, I think if you’re a Hendrick fan, you’re wondering why isn’t Rick Hendrick and these guys checking out ‑‑ Jimmie Johnson and Jeff and all these guys copying what the 14 is doing.  I mean, it’s part of the cycles of racing.  We all click at certain times.
 
            Q.  With this season the new car, obviously Goodyear brought out a new tire and a lot of tracks continue to do that.  How does that change things for you as a driver?  The tire changing throughout the season, it seems like it’s at a bigger rate than ‑‑
            RYAN NEWMAN:  I think the tire is the only part of the race car that touches the racetrack, so it’s very pivotal in how we balance our race cars, and with the addition of downforce and the addition of speed, the tires has got that much more of a focus on what we have to do to make the race cars turn and go fast.  Yeah, it’s super important, and Goodyear knows that, and I think NASCAR knows that they put some pressure on Goodyear because of the added downforce and speed.
  &nbs
p;         I don’t think it’s anything any different than what we’ve ever had, it’s just maybe on a different scale than what we’ve ever had because Goodyear has always changed the tires and always changed the compound and the construction and the durability side of it.  I don’t think any of that is new, maybe just the magnitude of it.
 
            Q.  Can you talk about qualifying today?
            RYAN NEWMAN:  Sure.  We’re going to go out and do one lap probably, as fast as we can.
 
            Q.  Talk about qualifying in Charlotte.
            RYAN NEWMAN:  It’s a track that you really have to step up your game because of the speeds increase because of the temperature change typically is a good bit with the sun going down and the shade in the middle of 1 and 2 with the condos and stuff.  You really have to be on your game, and fortunately we got a good draw for our Quicken Loans Chevrolet with 33rd.  So probably the best draw we’ve had all season at a place that really means a lot, and we’ll see if we can make the best of it.
 

CHEVROLET RACING
IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
97TH INDIANAPOLIS 500 MILE RACE
THURSDAY MEDIA DAY DRIVER QUOTES
MAY 23, 2013
 
Below are selected quotes from Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers gathered during Media Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
 
SELECT DRIVER QUOTES:
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT/HVM CHEVROLET:
WHAT KIND OF RACING DO YOU EXPECT ON SUNDAY?
“It’s such a long race.  It’s a very difficult race; it’s very mental and very physical.  It’s a lot of the way how you interact with the team, with engineers, with all the strategy going on.  It’s a race where it is very easy to make mistakes so you need to be very calm and study the situation, understand what it going on.  Then at the very last part is when you are going to go for what you are looking for.”
 
IN REGARDS TO HIS OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THIS YEAR’S INDY 500:
“It’s going to be a very exciting race for me.  I feel that it’s the first time I truly have something I can have fun with.  I think I never had so many days at this track that I have been smiling after practice.  I normally am upset, frustrated at the way things have been going, but this team has been very refreshing.  Not only these two weeks, but also the previous races.”
 
IS THIS THE BEST OPPORTUNITY YOU FEEL YOU HAVE EVER HAD?
“In Indy?  Yeah for sure of course, big time.”
 
ALL FIVE ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CARS ARE STARTING IN THE FIRST THREE ROWS.  AT THE LAST FIVE LAPS IS IT EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF?
“I mean this race is all about respect. I believe if we have something as a team it’s that we respect each other probably even more than what I have ever respected another of my teammates because I feel that is reciprocal.  But it’s Indy and I don’t know what is going to happen the last five laps.  It’s not going to make much of a difference who I am racing with.  I’m sure it’s the same for them.  I think if we get to that point and that is the problem then, that is a good problem to have.”
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE WON TWO RACES ALREADY THIS YEAR?  I GUESS YOU ARE NOT THE SAME DRIVER YOU WERE A YEAR AGO:
“I’m probably more relaxed than I was a year ago certainly.  There is always pressure when you join a team like Andretti Autosport to win races.  There was pressure from GoDaddy to win races.  I really wanted to win a race for myself and for Canada.  Having done that now I think I sleep a bit better at night knowing that I will never had to answer that question again.  When is the win coming?”
 
YOU HAVE A FINAL PRACTICE TOMORROW WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING TO DO ONE FINAL TIME OUT ON THE TRACK BEFORE THE 500?
“We are really hoping that ‘Carb day’ is just going to be confirmation of what we learned last Sunday.  When we put the car away at the end of last week we were very happy with it.  The conditions are quite different now.  Temperature is quite a bit cooler than it was on Sunday.  Normally that makes the car better, so we are hoping that with the cooler temperatures and we are going to see cooler temperatures on race day that the car is still good.  We have one or two tiny little things we want to try, but by and large it’s just confirming that we still have a strong race car.”
 
LAST YEAR WAS A VERY HOT INDY 500.  A LOT OF PEOPLE FELT THAT PLAYED INTO THE HONDA HAND THAT THEY RAN BETTER IN THE HEAT.  THIS YEAR IT IS ALMOST TOTALLY THE OPPOSITE.  IS THAT GOOD FOR THE CHEVROLET TEAMS?
“I guess time will tell.  Certainly they have been performing well in qualifying, but we have seen this movie before.  This is the same story of last year and Honda had the advantage on race day.  I think cooler temperatures and lower humidity definitely helps the engines in general and hopefully we will still have the edge that we had all month.”
 
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO BECOME THE FIRST CANADIAN SINCE JACQUES VILLENEUVE TO WIN THE INDY 500?
“It would mean everything.  It would mean the world to me.  Not just personally as a driver, but for Canada and for my team and for GoDaddy.  It takes so many people to get a driver to this point.  It would be for all of them. Every single person involved.  I was actually in a museum at the start of the month and drooling over Jacques’ (Villeneuve) car.  Somebody asked me of all the cars in there which one would I like to drive the most.  Without hesitation I pointed out the No. 27.  I said I would love to take that thing for a spin because Jacque winning that race is one of my earliest racing memories.  Watching that race on TV and understanding that a Canadian had won and all the rest of it. It’s literally one of my first memories of watching racing.  As a result it’s quite special to me.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE CONFIDENCE YOU HAVE AS A TEAM (ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT) GOING INTO SUNDAYS’ RACE:
“You would be surprised.  With the way the week went in practice and then obviously getting all five cars into the top nine you would think that we are kind of walking around on a cloud.  At the same time we qualified just as strong last year and we got out classed in the race.  The Honda’s were quick and a couple of different teams did a very good job on their race cars.  You can’t be confident here. That is the problem.  Indy is such a unique place you never know what it is going to throw at you.”
 
BUDDY LAZIER, NO. 91 LAZIER PARTNERS CHEVROLET:
ALL THESE YEARS SINCE THE ALL-TIME FEEL GOOD WIN IN THE INDY 500 CAN YOU EVEN QUANTIFY HOW GOOD IT WOULD FEEL AFTER ALL THIS TIME TO FIND YOURSELF IN THAT SITUATION?
“I’m not even trying to think about it.  But you know what I am trying to do is… I was here as a 19 year-old.  I was the youngest driver by a lot.  It was quite an experience.  Every year I have been here it’s a different experience.  You think it’s going to be one way, but is always a little different than you expect, but it’s always enjoyable.  It always tests you as a driver.  I really enjoy the process.  I’m just enjoying the process right now.  Where that process puts me on race day with everything, such a late start, small team, no teammates, no notes, we are just going to maximize what we have.  If we hit it on race day when it comes to this place the cream, car wise, will always find their way to the front.  If we hit it, the car will go to the front it will go good.  If we don’t I will make the best of it.  I’m not even trying to think about anything other than that. You are in it to win it always when you’re racing.  There have been so many times here where I felt like we ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’.  We wound up second twice here.  There were years when we finished fifth here where I feel like we really ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’ won it.  So certainly I will know right away if I’ve got that kind of car.  I remember there was one year when I took second when we had both me and the one who won the race weren’t competitive all day and we still found ourselves in that position.  That is pretty rare.  You have got to have a good car here or you are not going to the front.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW CAR?
“I love it, I do.  It reminds me actually it’s funny if you stay around long enough you get back to where you sort of began.  It reminds me of the Lola era which was good for an era that was good for me.  That probably helped me adapt a little bit.  The cars actually do remind me a little bit of that.  There is still more… it’s just so hard to control the weight on this car for some reason.  There is a
lot of rear weight in the car.  That is still sort of an engineering conundrum we are trying to solve.  But, I’m really blessed I’ve got a great engineer in Mike Colliver and a great crew chief with Dennis (LaCava) so it maybe a small crew but there is a lot of experience there.  We have been leaning on each other and it’s been good.  Every time we try to tap the car for a little more speed it’s come up speed.  I think it’s an extremely good car.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IT IS FOR AN AVERAGE RACE FAN IN THIS COUNTRY THAT AN AMERICAN WIN THIS RACE SUNDAY?
“Forget American they need an Andretti to win (laughs).  I think it could be a big deal.  I know the fourth-time club and everything with Helio (Castroneves) could be pretty cool story.  But that is going to be the biggest story especially with this curse that the media has drawn up on me.  That would be huge to be able to break.”
 
HOW MUCH MORE CONFIDENT ARE YOU COMING INTO THIS YEAR’S 500?
“Obviously being in contention the overall picture helps.  This race is a championship in itself.  Last year we did have to come from the back twice and actually the second time that is what ended up biting me.  Hopefully, this year we can stay towards the front most of the day.”
 
YOU HAD CHEVROLET’S UP FRONT LAST YEAR IN QUALIFYING BUT IT WAS THE HONDA’S THAT WON.  DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO TO GET THOSE GUYS?  ARE YOU STILL CONFIDENT A CHEVY CAN GET TO THE FRONT AND WIN THIS YEAR?

“Yeah, I mean honestly if you look at last year I don’t see Honda beating us I see us beating ourselves because of our approach.  I’m talking at the time the No. 26 car that team.  That was the first time where I was even close to being in contention for the pole so we got off track last year in chasing a qualifying car.  I think it hurt our chance in the race.  I wasn’t pleased with my race car last year.  I think this year I am.”
 
IS MAYBE YOUR BEST CHANCE YET TO WIN THIS RACE?
“I think so.  I just want to make sure I’m not getting over confident, because I know how many elements can take you out of this race.  In my experience, my driving, my guys, my race car, I think if we execute we can win.  Having said that, I haven’t been sleeping because of just picturing the last restart.  Because these cars tow so well and I can lead 190 laps around this place and then have a restart with five to go and just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  We will leave that part to the man upstairs, but I think everything is in line so far that has been in our control.  I’ve been really pleased with our race car.  This year as a team we really attacked getting a good solid race car and I think we have that.”
 
DOES THE ANDRETTI HISTORY KIND OF SETTLE IN MORE AND MORE ON YOU?
“When you are out front leading this race you always think about it.  You just hope that there is not an element that is going to take us out of it.  Last year up front cruising, it was early in the race and that is all we knew is that it’s early, it’s early.  But having said that I think as a family as a whole as competitors it’s frustrating 70 plus tries with one victory, but I think as human beings we are lucky.  We are fortunate; we are all healthy and still have a great shot at winning this race at a young age.”
 
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 60 SUNOCO ‘TURBO’ PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET:
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEYS THAT ALLOWS YOU TO DO SO WELL EVEN THOUGH LATELY INDY HAS BEEN YOUR ONLY RACE OF THE YEAR?
“I think there are two schools of thought about how to come here.  Generally I try to go fast early when I get here and try to just get that out of the way.  I feel like the quicker I’m up to speed even though I’m not totally relaxed and everything is not totally right.  If I just kind of… as long as I’m confident in the car and trust in what I’ve got the quicker I can get up to speed the sooner I can really start drilling into the fine details.  Some guys come and sometimes it takes several outings or a couple of days to get going.  I try to go big early and then be working on just the finer points.”  
 
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET:
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE LITTLE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE TWEAKED?
“Right now it’s hard to say. I think for example on Sunday we rolled off pretty well and kind of had a little few things to make it a little bit better. Just a little bit of understeer.  I think I’m pretty comfortable with the car so it’s just like little things that just makes it a little bit better in traffic.  Those are the important ones.”
 
YOU ARE ONE OF FOUR WOMEN TO QUALIFY FOR THE INDY 500 WHAT IS THAT FEELING LIKE?
“Well, I don’t know to me it’s never really been a big thing.  At the end of the day I feel like we are all wearing helmets and we are all trying to do the best job we can.  For sure I think it’s nice that there are so many women that qualified for the race and hopefully we are going to take the banner pretty high up at the end of the day.”
 
WHO IS YOUR BIGGEST COMPETITION IN THIS RACE?
“I think everybody.  Pretty much all the drivers are.  It’s not somebody or somebody else.  I think all the other 32 drivers are your competition because our goal is all to win this race.  That is the biggest competition you want to end up being the best one out there.”
 
DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR STRESS LEVEL WAS LIKE LAST YEAR VERSUS THIS YEAR?
“I think I wasn’t really stressed just kind of more frustration last year.  I think as a driver you always want to be competitive.  When you are in a situation like I was you are just there.  What are you going to tell people?  You can’t be saying ‘I don’t deserve this’ or anything like that.  It is the situation you are in.  You just try to do the best thing you can.  This year it has totally changed because I feel like I have the tools.  We are competitive and there are things I have to work on, on my side.  It’s different you kind of have a different outlook to it because you as a driver can improve yourself.  Because you have the tools and sometimes you didn’t do something right so you know that has to be better and that is what I actually really like about this year.  Because I see that I can improve in somethings.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR RACE DAY?
“For me it has always been hard to put a result out there any races.  I feel like if do our job right we should be able to end up like up front pretty high up.  I think we have a really good race car for sure.  I feel like I’m still not where I am for example on a road course.  On an oval I think there are still things that I kind of have to learn and kind of get my rhythm in especially last year I didn’t pass any cars last year because of the Lotus situation.  Just getting the timing right to get by people and things like that.  That is what I’ve been working on for this whole week.  Hopefully, things are going to click in the race and we can move forward.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET
HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO SUNDAY’S RACE?
“I think like last year, we feel confident. We don’t know what race day brings yet. We had some surprises last year from our competition that hopefully we don’t have this year, but we’ve been working really hard on the race car this year and I think that any one of the Andretti cars has a good opportunity, a chance, at being a contender for the race in the final 10 laps.”
 
THERE IS A CHANCE OF RAIN. DO YOU HAVE A HANDLE ON WHAT
YOU MIGHT EXPECT FOR A SET-UP?
“Yeah, we started the practice week with cooler temperatures and I think we have an opportunity to look back at those days. But, we’ll see. It’s 20 percent chance of rain and who knows how that will pan out. One way or another, we’re going to race this race. It might be cooler than expected, but it’s the same for everybody.”
 
TWO YEARS AGO YOU STRUGGLED AT THIS RACE. BUT NOW, THE ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT TEAM IS AS STOUT AS EVER. TALK A LITTLE ABOUT THAT
“Starting out with your first point in 2011, we just missed it entirely. You’re only as fast as the horse you’re riding and we just didn’t have a horse in the show. The horse didn’t show-up that day. Since then, it’s been a complete turnaround for Andretti AutoSport. We came back and won a race that year in New Hampshire and then came out in 2012 and won the championship, winning the most races and winning the oval championship as well. This year we’ve gotten off to a great start. I think the chemistry and the atmosphere within team is the best it’s been in a long time. We have constant communication between the teammates and the engineers. So things are going in the right direction and the engineering department is certainly doing a great job in what they put on the race cars as we an see with the speeds we’ve been turning.”
 
NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE CHAMPIONSHIP, DO YOU FEEL ANY NEED TO WIN THE INDY 500 AND ADD THAT TO YOUR RACING RESUME?
“I think the pressure just comes naturally with being the series champion. You now have the bar raised and you have to live up to a certain standard on-track and off. But it’s a good pressure. I feel like I’m more relaxed this year. What I’ve always tried to achieve my entire career, which is the IndyCar championship, we’ve now achieved. We still have so much work to do. We still have races to win, the biggest one of all being the Indy 500. But I actually feel more relaxed. I’m not sure if that’s because we’ve won a championship or because I’m more comfortable in the environment that I’m in at Andretti AutoSport, with basically a home around me and guys I’m very comfortable with. It’s a good atmosphere right now and I’m looking forward to Sunday.”
 
ON YOUR RACE DAY PREPARATIONS, ARE THOSE ANY DIFFERENT FOR THE INDY 500 THAN FOR OTHER RACES?
“Yeah, I can’t step on any cracks all the way out to the car. No, I’m joking. I don’t have any superstitions. I eat responsibly. I hydrate and make sure that I get in my calm space before the race where I can kind of zone out and just focus on the job at hand, because there are so many distractions on race day. We’ve got so many people at this event. We have so many sponsors and fans and everything else. There can be quite a few distractions when the biggest job of the year is coming ahead. So, you’ve just got to make sure you keep the blinders on and stay focused because what really matters is getting a result on Sunday.”
 
WOULD YOU RATHER WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP OR THE INDY 500?
“Now having had a championship, I’d rather win the Indy 500 for sure. But, the Indy 500 is such a special event that you really can’t put a price tag on it. It’s where heroes are made. I remember watching it as a fan growing up that the guy that won this race might as well as had a Superman cape on. It’s so much different and it’s a part of history. And yeah, the Indy 500 is the top of the list.”
 
DO YOU EXPECT THE SAME RACING STYLE AND DRAFT AS LAST YEAR?
“I do. I think we’re going to rival the amount of lead changes that we had last year. It’s going to be very similar.”
 
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
WHEN YOU WENT INTO NASCAR, YOU SAID YOU WERE MAKING A PRACTICAL DECISION WITH ALL THE MONEY YOUR PARENTS HAD INVESTED IN YOUR CAREER THAT YOU BASICALLY HAD TO DO THAT AS A PLACE TO GET PAID. ARE YOU BACK IN THE FORM OF RACING THAT YOU LOVE?
“It didn’t move to NASCAR to get paid. I went there because at the time the split was bad. You didn’t know what was going to happen. The writing was on the wall that CHAMP car was going to go away. At that point, the IRL schedule didn’t really excite me. It was just all ovals and not a lot of road courses and at that point I was on a team and they didn’t know if they were going to go to the IRL because Jerry Forsythe was so against it. So, I just did it for a job, honestly. I think people just thought that I made the decision; ahh, the money is there and it’s easy to go. It was hard. I love open wheel racing. Right now, I’m just looking at things that give me the best opportunity in my life just to be happy and have fun and we all know money helps, but it’s not the most important thing. I’m just kind of taking it all in, one day at a time. I look at it as a simple decision for me. If Roger Penske wants to offer me a job and offer me races and keep doing that, I’m not going to turn him down, no matter what series it’s in. So, that’s just kind of where I stick at and everything else, I just kind of go along with it and see what happens.”
 
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE BACK HOME WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN THIS FORM OF RACING?
“No, for me it’s just having the chance to do this gets the enjoyment back really. It’s not like I’m back home. I feel like the reception that I’ve gotten here has been great with the fans and the other drivers and other teams. I feel like I’ve been welcomed here and that’s been really nice to have.  Ultimately is it back home? I don’t even know what that feeling is. I don’t know what that’s supposed to feel like. I just know right now I’ve enjoyed being here so much and to be here as a Roger Penske driver is just a dream come true and I really haven’t even experienced it yet. I can’t wait until Sunday when I finally get introduced.”
 
DOES YOUR NASCAR EXPERIENCE TRANSLATE TO INDYCAR RACING?
“I don’t think it translates at all. These guys had this race last year but for me, it’s kind of just flying by the seat of my pants and learning each lap that I go. The start is going to be hectic because that’s something that you really can’t practice. In traffic, we’ve practice that for the last week and a half, but the start is going to be a little bit hectic in trying to take that as it comes. From there, it’s no different than any other Indianapolis 500. You’ve just got to settle in. It’s 500 miles. A lot of things can happen. I guess the way I look at it is if I do everything right and I can run a perfect race or close to a perfect race and make no mistakes, if the team makes no mistakes and we have good pit stops and everything goes with that, we will have a chance to win this race. That’s how fast our car is. And that’s how good I feel about it. And that’s all you can ask for.”
 
ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE RACE CAR?
“I’m fairly comfortable. I think we have a really good balance in general on our race car. I feel like we’re in a real small box now but we know what we want. The questions downforce-wise; that will be kind of determined by conditions coming into Sunday. That’s probably my biggest question it’s like okay, how much downforce do I want in the car? When I’m out leading the pack I feel really good. I can run wide-open pretty easy and feel like I’ve got good speed in the car when I do that. I generally feel like if we do all the right things, we’re going to give ourselves a really good shot to win this race and that’s all you can do. But I feel good about the car.”
 
WHAT’S THE HARDEST PART OF PREPARING FOR THIS RACE?
“I think the hardest part is going through the daily process of it. It’s a long week and a half. I don’t know how these guys used to do it when it was a month, honestly. But It’s just like the process of waking up every day with no pre-conceived ideas of what I finished the day before and that’s how it’s going to be today you know, with the weather conditions and wind and
everything that can change. It’s just almost like starting all over again from day to day. That was tough. I was always having those nerves getting back in the car. Those first couple of laps out to kind of see where the balance was but other than that, I felt like the week and a half went probably better than I could have hoped. It was better than I expected. But I really didn’t have any expectations. But just how comfortable I feel in the car and how good I feel I traffic and things like that, went really well. On race day, for me, I just want to give us the best chance to win and just be smart (and) be patient when I have to be patient and be aggressive when I have to be aggressive and just try to limit mistakes. And if there is a mistake, make it a very small one because you don’t have a lot of room for error here; and run all 500 miles. If at the end, that’s our chance to win, then great. And if not, and I can get out of the car and say you know what, I did everything I could. And that’s all I can do and be happy with it.”
 
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET:
REGARDING ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT AND PANTHER RACING
“We’ve made a pretty conservative effort, especially with the No. 4 car, running with those guys as much as possible through practice. It’s easy to go out and run in traffic, but it’s not that easy to go out and run in traffic with guys that you’re actually going to be racing with and have those guys racing with each other. For us, it’s made it much easier to target a time of day to run or whatever because all the Andretti AutoSport cars are good. So, if they’re all going out, then we’ll just tag on and run with them. And they’ve been pretty good about letting us do that. In fact, on Sunday, they wanted us to go out first and they wanted to follow us around.
 
“So, I think we’ve been more aggressive than usual building a race car that’s just going to be fast on Sunday. We’ve taken some risks that I think we wouldn’t normally take or didn’t take last year or the year before that Panther hasn’t taken in a few other years because I think with the car formula and the way the cars work and the way racing goes right not, if you want to know that you’ve got a shot at it at the end of the day, you’ve got to have a car that you can pass 10 guys in 20 or 30 laps. Just the nature of the way the race goes, there’s a lot of yellows and there are a lot of cars running close together. So you don’t ever get out in front and take off. And so for sure, I think the Andretti AutoSport cars are fast. The Penske cars are really good. I’d be shocked if the Ganassi cars aren’t in the mix by the end of the race, but we feel like we definitely have those guys number when it comes down to it.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL V-P0WER PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:  CAN YOU ADDRESS HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS FOR YOU TO WIN MULTIPLE INDY 500 RACES GIVEN HOW HARD IT IS TO DO IT THE FIRST TIME? “The competition…I feel especially today we have at least 20 cars that are able to win this race. The level of the speed, the level of the teams today…you have one car on the pole position beating the great names – Penske, Ganassi, Andretti – rising stars. A lot of things change. But because you are so limited on what you can do on the cars, everybody is on the same level. What I think is going to be the different is experience; team experience; those things for sure I believe are going to make a difference. We have a great team, and hopefully that will be a factor so we can continue and try to get the fourth one.”
 
ARE YOU THINKING AT ALL ABOUT GETTING YOUR FOURTH WIN, AND IF SO, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? “I dream every night about it, but there is so many other drivers, unfortunately, that are thinking they want to get their first.  I’m not thinking about the end of the result. I am thinking about how I am going to get the result. Right now we are trying to prepare as much as we can. There is so many things that can go wrong, but it so little things that can go right. That is why we are trying to eliminate the bad stuff. We have the speed; we have the experience. We just have got to put ourselves in the right place at the right time. Doing those things, I believe, we can make it happen.”
 
ARE YOU MORE COMFORTABLE NOW COMING TO INDY WITH ALL YOUR EXPERIENCE AND SUCCESS? “Every time I come here, I always start from zero. My notes start from zero. I mean I read everything so that I can understand what basics where we are, and what level are we on. If you change the weather, if you change a little bit on the engine; the tires; it has changed it all already completely. That is why you always have to respect this place. When you do that, good things happen to you.”
 
ARE ALL THREE OF YOUR WINS DIFFERENT? “Each one is special. The first one you never forget. The second one – you can’t believe you just did it; and the third one – the circumstance that happened to me was just absolutely amazing.”
 
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO WIN FOUR, LIKE ANOTHER MEMBR OF TEAM PENSKE – RICK MEARS? “Well, I’m the lucky on here. He’s not only a mentor to all of us at Team Penske, but he is also my spotter. When I ask him ‘What do I do now?”  He says “I don’t know, you are the one driving.” It is one of those lines that I love it. He is so cool. Sometimes I don’t think it is fair that they call him a four-time winner. I think they should say five and a half or something like that because he helped me win all the other ones.”
 
WHAT WOULD YOUR THOUGHTS BE ABOUT SEVERAL NASCAR CUP SERIES DRIVERS COMING HERE TO RACE THE INDIANAPOLIS 500? “I believe that is what it is all about. This place is about racing against the best. When you mix NASCAR drivers, IndyCar drivers, Sprint Car drivers, I feel that this is the place we should have. Hopefully in the near future we would be able to see that.”
 
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:  SOME DRIVERS HAVE SAID THAT AJ (ALLMENDINGER) HAS A SHOT AT WINNING THIS RACE. DOES HE? “I think he does, yes definitely. He’s been the strongest of the three of us this month. So, yes he does.”
 
WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL? “Actually we are making some changes. They car hasn’t been very good in traffic, so, we need to get that right. We need to have good pit stops. It’s got to be a day where everything flows your way.  That’s how you win.”
 
WOULD IT BE COOL, IS YOU AREN’T THE WINNER, FOR EITHER HELIO OR DARIO TO WIN AND JOIN THE FOUR-TIME WINNER CLUB? “Yes, I think it would be especially cool for them. LAUGHS. I don’t know how cool it would be for everyone else. LAUGHS.  But, yes, it is a pretty big accomplishment to win one of these things really.”
 
WHAT DOES THE INDY 500 NEED TO CONTINUE TO BE THE TREMENDOUS EVENT THAT IT IS? “I think it will always be big. It is a tradition for people to come here, actually robably more than about the race. If you fan come here and have a good time, you see people in the infield, a lot of repeat people. It’s not like it’s a whole new set each year. It just becomes a tradition to come to this race”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET: DID YOU SPEND MOST OF PRACTICE LAST WEEK GETTING A GOOD CAR FOR THE RACE, OR DID YOU WORK ON QUALIFYING? “We spent a bit of time trying to get the car faster, but we did that we just didn’t want to take massive chances, so we trimmed the car to minus 10 on the rear wing, and we kept the sidewalls on the wing. A lot of guys took everything out. The conditions got a little cooler than we thought they’d be, and guys just trimmed out massively, and they picked up more. The air got a little thicker, so we picked up drag. Ultimately we were hoping for a 227.5 mph, and we did 226 mph so we were disappointed. But, we decided too late to try to give another go at it, and tr
im the car some more. We didn’t get a chance to practice it, so we didn’t get in line, and we didn’t want to do something stupid. The car is very solidly in the show in P 15. You don’t want to pull the time, and not go any faster and look real stupid, and then you go again the next day. We just basically took the pill and said see what happens.”
 
HOW IS THE RACE CAR? “We spent a lot of time on the race car on Sunday. We had some good, some bad and some ugly, but I think we finished the day fairly strong.  At the end, we did a full stint, hooking up with different people, at the end with Scott (Dixon). The car looked pretty good. We’ll see. The conditions are going to be so different. I hope we aren’t going to have to go and do the yard sale, but could be. You never know what you get here. Sometimes 10 degrees, 15 degrees makes a massive different. It will probably be 40 degrees different track temp between what we practiced, and what we are going to run tomorrow.”
 
WHAT IS YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE? “I didn’t really set anything. I think from where we start, anything is possible actually from anywhere. Anything is possible in this race. It is just a matter of us having the setup nailed. Hopefully we can run tomorrow and have a good surprise, and feel like we can run strong again. But until we do it, you don’t know what you are going to get.”
 
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 MECUM AUCTIONS PANTHER DREYER AND REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET: HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO THE RACE? “Very good. Not over-confident because in this race, so many things happen in a 500-mile race that you just can’t feel super confident. I don’t’ think anybody can or should. But I feel very well prepared. I feel like this time I am best prepared ever for this race. I am definitely looking forward to it.”
 
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WORRY ABOUT THAT COULD COST YOU THE RACE? “It is a race where pit stops play a big part because there are going to be seven or eight pit stops. But I do have a very strong crew; we show it every race. Last year we finished second in the Pit Stop Competition and I hope we win it tomorrow. Pit stops can go wrong for anybody. We’ve seen that with even Penske. How many times have they had issues in the pits at this race which they care so much about. So pit stops are always a problem. Or, basically just making a mistake and crashing. When you are going at these speeds, you are racing 32 other guys who all want to win. Cars moving around, when the cars move around, they take the air away from you. You don’t take any risks, but you hit the wall because you lost the downforce. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. Everything has to go right for you to9 be able to win. You have to have a sharp day and make best decisions.”
 
HOW DO YOU TOP THE INCREDIBLE FINISHES WE HAVE SEEN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS? “I think it is going to be amazing because last year, this car provided a great race. This year we’ve seen through all the races so far, it’s even more competitive. We are all more equal to each other. I really think there at least 20 guys out there with a total legitimate shot at winning on Sunday which is unthinkable in most of the history of the race. That is going to provide an amazing race.”
 
TALK ABOUT THE CHEVY PERFORMANCE SO FAR: “I am very proud of the work they have done. Chevy over the winter, they worked very hard. Honda did too, but obviously Chevy did a better job, at least when it comes down to the boost level we used in qualifying, Chevy was definitely superior. On race day, I hope we still have the edge.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 HYDROXYCUT KV RACING TECHNOLOGY SH RACING CHEVROLET:  TALK ABOUT YOUR 12 YEARS AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “My biggest motivation is the fans. It’s crazy how big I became here without winning.  You take yourself for granted. You don’t think about this kind of thing like ‘oh I’m famous’ or ‘oh I’m a fan favorite’. Every time I’m here, it is unbelievable the warm welcome I get from the fans. So that is my biggest boost to keep coming back.
“Every year if I don’t win, I try not to let myself down or get mad or something. I just try to understand why.  Quite honestly I was in a position to win, but then it rained or someone hit me. Or we got the yellow flag at the wrong time. Those are things I can’t control. So to me what keeps me coming back and having motivation is I know how good at this track. If I am going to win it or not, a lot of things have to happen for me to accomplish that, but my motivation is always the same. I am totally fine with the position I have at this place. Some people make history because they win a lot and some people make history because they never won this thing.”
WHAT PART OF YOUR SKILL SET MAKES YOU GOOD HERE? “I don’t know. To have a good car here, you have to drive a neutral to a loose car, and that is something I really like. That is how I like my car. That suits me quite well. Apart from that I really like the place, it helps a lot. I wouldn’t be able to answer why. Maybe somebody else. I feel it, definitely and the results speak for themselves. My view, it’s the kind of setup that you have to run here that makes you go fast.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 23, 2013
           
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 TIME WARNER CABLE CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed winning the Coca-Cola, his crew chief Kenny Francis, and more. Full Transcript:
 
KERRY THARP:  We have our defending race winner, and that’s Kasey Kahne.  He drives the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  Kasey has won the Coca‑Cola 600 three times.  I believe he’s a four‑time winner here at Charlotte Motor Speedway, won the All‑Star Race, as well, Sprint All‑Star Race.  I believe you did that ‑‑ you came out of the fan vote that year, didn’t you?
            KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah.
 
            KERRY THARP:  You had the opportunity to win that race last week in the last segment there, but you’re coming to Charlotte now to get your fourth win in this prestigious race, certainly one of the top races in our series.  What would that mean if you could get number four?
 
            KASEY KAHNE:  It would mean a lot.  I felt like we were pretty close last week, so we have a lot to work on, some things to work on Saturday to be better prepared for the long race, and I just think that the big thing here is having a car that’s capable of making changes throughout the race and making sure that those last 100 laps you’re getting yourself in position and you have the car where you want it by then.  So it’s kind of ‑‑ I actually really enjoy the 600, having a lot of time to work on it and trying to figure out where you’re at and where you need to be and just kind of going through the steps.  This is a lot of fun for me this weekend.  Hendrick Motorsports is really good here, so I imagine all the guys will be really good, Jimmie coming off the All‑Star last week, should be an exciting race.
 
            Q.  You were the last driver to pull off the May sweep here, winning the All‑Star Race and the 600; that was in 2008.  The significance of that in your opinion, how hard it is to do, as well, as Jimmie Johnson tries to do it this year?
            KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I think it’s a big deal to win two big races in two straight weekends, consecutive weekends.  It’s a big deal.  It felt great doing it.  Jimmie was ‑‑ he’ll be tough.  He’ll be one of the guys to beat for sure on Sunday afternoon.
            I think you have to change things up a little bit from the All‑Star Race to this weekend to make sure you keep up with the track, but a lot of the things that he did last week will work.  I feel like he’s going to be the main competition come the last 100 laps.
 
            Q.  There’s a theory that after Charlotte at the end of May that you know what your team has got in terms of contender status.  What has your team got in terms of contender status?
           
KASEY KAHNE:  Well, I feel like we have a really strong team.  We’ve came a long ways.  I think our cars are great, the engines run awesome, so it’s ‑‑ there’s just a lot of little things that go along with it.  But yeah, I feel like we’re capable of winning Sunday night.  I know the pit crew is ‑‑ they had one of the best stops there of the whole night last week when the pressure was on, so all those things add up, and that’s what we’re working on.  We want to be in that Chase.  We want to make it in there clean and then put the best 10 races we can late in the year together.  That’s what everyone wants to do.
            But yeah, I think winning Charlotte, I think running up front in Charlotte, those races, the 600, that tells a lot about where your guys are at and where you’re headed for the next half of the season.
            KERRY THARP:  Speaking of this race, you’ve won it three times.  If you win it again you would rank second all‑time, right behind Darrell Waltrip.  He won five Coca‑Cola 600s, and you, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have won three, so that’s pretty elite company there.
 
            Q.  This is kind of a two‑part question.  Can you tell me the first memory you have from racing at Charlotte and what that was like, and second of all, if you would talk a little bit about what it means and how it helps you at this track and at other tracks to also run in the Nationwide Series before the Cup race.
            KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, for myself the first memory was I came here in 2002 with Robert Yates, driving for Robert Yates in the 98 blue car, and it was ‑‑ I was trying to figure it out.  We came to test and David Green was helping me, and it was just kind of a wild track, something I’d never been a part of.  I’d watched races here and remembered that, but I had never driven on a track like this.  So it was kind of my first mile‑and‑a‑half, so that was really eye opening on how you get around this track.  That race was definitely not one of my better ones.
            That was kind of my first memory, and I think the Nationwide race on Saturday, I don’t know really how much it helps.  I personally feel like it’s hot usually, hot and sunny, you slide around a lot, it’s short, so there’s so many things that are not similar to the 600, and I do it because I enjoy that kind of racing all weekend long and being part of racing on Memorial Day weekend.  But I don’t really think it helps you with the 600 at all.
 
            Q.  As well as you’ve done at the 600, I wonder if you could talk about embracing the duration of the race, how it’s different than other races are and sort of is there anything in particular you need to do differently, and the other thing I was curious about is you’ve been with your crew chief a long time, longer than most drivers have been.  What sort of advantage do you have in the fact that you guys have been together for so long and obviously must know each other so well.
 
            KASEY KAHNE:  Yeah, I think for whatever reason, longer races for me, I feel like I’ve done a little better in over the years, 500‑mile races, 600 miles, and it gives you more time to work on your car, gives you more time to kind of fine‑tune and get it as perfect as you can for those last 50 to 100 miles.  So yeah, I’ve always really liked the longer races.  There’s times when you wish the race was over because it gets so long.  But for whatever reason the 600 has always been one of my favorite races and I just think because there’s a lot of communication going on where you need a good crew chief and good engineer.  People are going to listen and work with you and understand what you’re saying, and I have that with Kenny and Keith.  We have a good combination to get the car better and better throughout the race, and I think that’s what it’s all about is the communication in the 600 and having a car that’s capable of making a lot of little adjustments to make it right for the very end.
 
&nb
sp;           Q.  Why do you think you guys have stuck together so long?
            KASEY KAHNE:  Well, I’d say we’re both pretty ‑‑ just kind of mellow and just kind of understand ‑‑ like I understand what he puts into the sport, I understand what he puts into the 5 car, into Hendrick Motorsports, and there would be really no one else I would want to work with than Kenny.  Because we’re kind of mild‑mannered we get along really well and we don’t ‑‑ we just understand each other, no reason to yell and scream at each other.  We work things through kind of up front and figure it out and move on.  I don’t know, I think we both have a lot of respect for each other is a big part of it.
 
            Q.  How would you describe Jimmie Johnson’s career?
            KASEY KAHNE:  I think ‑‑ I mean, that’s a serious question.  That guy is ‑‑ for as short a period of time that he’s been in the Sprint Cup Series and as much as he’s done, I mean, it’s just kind of ‑‑ he’s my teammate now and I know my cars are just as good as his and I have just as good of engine and people and all the stuff, and he figures out how to win so often and championships and do it week after week and so consistent and fast when it counts.  I mean, it’s pretty amazing to me what he’s done, what he’s accomplished and how much more he’s going to do before it’s over, before he decides to step out of the sport.
            I mean, I don’t know, as long as I’ve been in racing I’ve never seen anybody like it and I’ve been in a lot of different series of racing and had great competition and not so good a competition at times, but Jimmie is just right on top of it at all times.  I mean, it’s ‑‑ he’s a guy that you shoot for.  Everybody here shoots for him every week because you know he’s going to be one of the guys to beat.
 
            Q.  To follow up on that, before you were teammates with Jimmie, you said you had the equipment, everything the same.  Before you were teammates with Jimmie and the success that he had, did you think it was something else, that he was winning because he had some kind of advantage?
 
            KASEY KAHNE:  I’ve always ‑‑ I always knew he was in a great situation, had really good people around him.  Him and Chad worked through things really well, whether they were not happy with each other or happy with each other, they always worked through things really well and you could see that from the outside.  But I knew he was really, really good.  I mean, I knew who his teammates were, and as dominant as he’s been at HMS, I always had a ton of respect for him since it started.  We beat him a couple times when we were on other teams, but it was really difficult and it still is being on his team.  So I wouldn’t say that it’s a huge difference.  I just think that they really can step up and really put that package together and then he takes it to another level.  I think he’s really good at figuring out how to make the best out of what he has every week.
 
            Q.  As somebody who’s worked with a lot of different bosses, I was curious what’s distinctive about the Hendrick operation to you now that you’ve had a chance to be around it for a while?
            KASEY KAHNE:  I think it starts with just how Mr. H treats people from the top, every single person there and the management people, all the competition side, everybody that I work with treats everybody with respect, and that starts from Mr. H, and you don’t have that everywhere you go.  You know, there’s ‑‑ he actually to me cares about every single person at Hendrick Motorsports, and I’ve been plenty of places where they ‑‑ I don’t know, you just worry as much about some of the guys or something, and I really feel like he worries so much about every person there so that the whole company is ran that way.  When he’s not around for a week and he’s doing other things, it’s still ran the exact same way, and that’s all from him and what he puts into it and his passion he has for racing and for winning.
            KERRY THARP:  Kasey, thanks for coming in.  We wish you a lot of luck in getting that fourth Coca‑Cola 600 title and in the Nationwide race.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 23, 2013
 
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET Met with media and discussed Memorial Day, running in the longest race of the year, how the Coca-Cola 600 compares to the All-Star race, and more. Full Transcript:
 
Q.        Danica, what does Memorial Day mean to you?
 
DANICA PATRICK:  I thought you were going to ask me about labor.  What does Memorial Day mean to me?
 
Q.        Yes.
 
DANICA PATRICK:  Well, for me, for so long obviously it meant Indy.  It’s not Labor Day, it’s Memorial Day.  I’m like, wait, no.
Memorial Day was the month of May for me.  It was Indianapolis.  It was a lot about the military, the people that serve our country on race day, everything down to them being the ones that sang national anthems sometimes before the race.
It’s the start of summer. 
 
Q.        How different was your experience last weekend compared to running the 600 last year, new car and all that?
 
DANICA PATRICK:  How different was the All-Star Race versus the Coke 600?
 
Q.        Compared to being a rookie last year and coming back.
 
DANICA PATRICK:  I mean, the All-Star Race is a totally different thing.  So I guess you get more track time really, which for me is good.
 
Q.        Do you feel you’re a better driver than years past?
DANICA PATRICK:  I don’t know.  It doesn’t look like it out there.  There’s definitely no chance that I’m getting worse.  Continuing to learn and get more comfortable.  We’re learning with the car.  We know we have a lot further to go with getting to a place of speed that we want.  But every day that we’re on track, every lap that we make is going to bring us a little closer and learn a little bit more. Sometimes it’s about what not to do.
 
Q.        This is one of the signature races of the season, not just a holiday weekend.  The longest race the year.  How important would it be for you to run well here, change the conversation a little bit?  How close do you think your team is to competing week in, week out in the top 10?
DANICA PATRICK:  Sorry, that was like three questions.  What one do you want me to answer?
 
Q.        Performing well in a signature race.
 
DANICA PATRICK:  It’s always really nice to do well when everyone is watching or when more people are watching.  I’ve been very fortunate in my career that that happens a lot, whether it be Indy or Daytona or big races like that.  It’s been a nice coincidence for me.
We didn’t have a special race here last year in the Coke 600, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t this weekend.  Hopefully we keep that trend going of having good weekends on big weekends.
 
Q.        How close do you think you are to running in the top 10 consistently?
 
DANICA PATRICK:  I think that as an organization I feel like half of the battle is kind of figuring out what it is, and I think we have a grasp, an idea, of what that is, what those things are.  Executing is the next challenge.
I think it’s going to take some time.  I don’t know how long it will take to have those issues fixed ultimately, but I feel like we have an idea of where we need to go.
 
Q.        (No microphone.)
DANICA PATRICK:  Yeah, I mean, I think everybody rolls into a year, you think you’ve done everything you can to prepare best as possible.  You don’t know till you get going, which is why at the beginning of the year when people ask about what I should be expecting out there, what to expect, I said, Let’s see how the first five races go, see where we shake out.  I think that’s the same every year.  You just need to see where you end up on all the different tracks, what you need to work out.
I do, I think that we were surprised.  But all of us understand that we have to work hard to fix it.
 
Q.        On race day, what do you do to get yourself mentally prepared to race?  Any kind of rituals?
DANICA PATRICK:  I listen to Eye of the Tiger six times and I do 40 push-ups in a row (laughter).
I don’t do anything unique or different.  I just have a normal morning.  I don’t think that changing it up means anything.  Superstitions are only real if you believe in them.
They change based on what race time is, what there is to do before the race.  Night races are far different days than noon races.  No, I don’t do anything in particular.
 
Q.        As you gain more experience in the car, your thought process, the things you’re thinking about as the race progresses, how has that changed from a year or so ago?  I guess you’re learning more things.
 
DANICA PATRICK:  I would say the biggest difference between when I’m out running the car at the beginning last year and now, I just feel like I understand a little bit better, definitely not great, but I understand better what’s happening with the car, whether it’s the splitter hitting, whether or not it’s falling over on the right rear, something like that.  I can identify the issues a little bit better than I could in the beginning, of course.
 
Q.        How much does that help you?
DANICA PATRICK:  It just helps to be able to identify the problem so I can relay the right information to Gibson so he can fix it.  He’s only as good as the information I give him.
Over time I’m getting better at that, help hone in on what change is the best one, not by telling him, but giving him more detailed information.
 
Q.        (No microphone.)
DANICA PATRICK:  I’m not going to lie.  I didn’t feel very good after we ended the All-Star Race last weekend.  I’m not necessarily optimistic right now about the race.
But by no means do I let that take me out of the game, take my effort out.  We were all fired up today.  I think we had a relatively decent practice.  We had lots of issues.  Around that, I think we had better race speed.  I think we’re learning more about what I need in a qualifying car.
You know, let’s hope that helps us qualify better and let’s hope that helps us race better.  That’s just what we do every single day and weekend, is work towards those things.
I have a little bit of a better feeling after practicing than I did this morning arriving.  So a step in the right direction.
 
Q.        This being Indy 500 week, do you think more about possibly doing the double at some point seeing all that going on?
DANICA PATRICK:  I would say that I don’t think more about it when Indy comes up as far as on the schedule.  But I would say that I think about it each year at the end of the year what I want to do.
I really tried hard to do it this year.  We all did on my team.  Ultimately it came down to the fact that it wasn’t going to help me here, and this is what I’ve chosen to do now, it’s not fair to take away from it.  I have a long way to go to figure this out.  I need to focus here.
As the years go by, more and more distance goes between my full-time IndyCar career and now, it gets less and less likely.
 
Q.        Homesick feeling watching it?
DANICA PATRICK:  No.&
nbsp; I have really fond memories.  I, of course, would have loved to have won the race.  I feel very fortunate as a driver to have been in a position to win a few times.  Definitely two times having a really, really good chance.  I feel good about that.
 
It’s just one race.  It is the Indy 500, but I feel like I also did good things.  While Indy can kind of make a driver, I feel like it is part of what made me who I am today.  So it did those things for me.  I didn’t win, but it did make me who I am today.
 
Q.        600 miles tougher physically or mentally?
DANICA PATRICK:  Physically it’s just about hydration.  Mentally it’s about hydration actually, I would say.  Honestly, that’s where you lose it.
I’ve already started working on that.  To be honest, that’s kind of the norm for NASCAR.  These long races on Sundays, you really need to focus on just staying hydrated.  The car is not hard to turn.  It’s not physically difficult to drive.  But you do sweat your butt off in there, so I’m working on that.
 
Q.        After the 40 push-ups.
DANICA PATRICK:  Yeah, my triceps are spazzing.
No, it’s fine.  Just got to stay hydrated.
 
Q.        How about a Dover preview?  What are you thinking about as you head to the Monster Mile next week?
DANICA PATRICK:  I’m thinking I’m glad we tested there.  I hope it helps.  It didn’t help Newman last year.  I think we went there and there was a lot more cars on the track.  There was like 11 of us.  Actually laid down a little bit of rubber.  Obviously the things we worked on will translate on race weekend.  I think that’s always a struggle from testing to race time.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 23, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed his first career win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his expectations for the race this weekend, his thoughts on Jimmie Johnson’s career and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
WHAT DID YOUR FIRST WIN HERE AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY DO FOR YOU?
“I know how special that win was.  That first win to come in the 600 and I meant everything I said.  Coming into the Cup series I think everything is unknown.  You don’t know if you have what it takes.  You don’t know if you came into a team that got assembled that has what it takes.  With that many unknowns you hope to get the opportunity to win one race.  Now I just hope I get the opportunity to win another race.  That is kind of how I have gone throughout my career is just work as hard as you can to do your part as a driver to go and have opportunities to win races.  We have gone through some great times and won a bunch of races.  It all started right here and hopefully another one can come here.”
 
WHEN YOU COME INTO A TRACK WHERE YOU HAVE WON BEFORE DO THINK ABOUT THAT AT ALL OR DOES THAT EVEN ENTER YOUR MIND?
“I think there is a period of time over the years where things seem to stay pretty constant for a certain number of years.  We would come in here and pretty much be a threat for the pole and a threat for the win.  Then things just started evolving faster than that.  They used to maybe last five years then they started lasting three years. Now I feel like year to year and that is technology and engineering that has become a part of this sport.  Before long it’s going to be each race or every couple of races like you see in other forms of motorsports like Formula 1 for instance.  You can find something that quick.  That is where I think we are right now is that a lot has changed from last year to this year.  We are off to a slow start, but I think as an organization we have the tools that it takes to make up those gaps. To get ourselves back into a position to win and I think we learned a lot from the All-Star Race.  Had a pretty good car and didn’t show for it.  There is no doubt I feel like we can be a threat in this one.”
 
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN IN THE 600 ON SUNDAY?
“Well, it’s a long race.  We certainly know that.  This track definitely changes quite a bit with temperatures.  We see whether it be during practice, qualifying or in the race.  Yet, the competition has gotten so tight you can’t afford to give up too much.  You used to be able to pace yourself you can’t do that anymore.  You’ve got to have the car adjustable like you’ve always had to have it when the race starts.  If it’s warm during the day the track is going to be slick and the balance is going to be different.  The pace is going to pick up as the sun goes down.  You’ve got to be able to be to be ready for those changes and that speed to pick up as well.  That is why I love the All-Star Race it really tells us about the night conditions.  We don’t get any night practice so it’s the one practice that we have to know what the track should be like when the sun goes down.  The rest is really about getting a good lap in for qualifying, getting a good starting position and be ready for what the track is going to be like when the race starts.”
 
YOU ARE PSEUDO TEAMMATES WITH STEWART-HAAS RACING (SHR) THEY ARE KIND OF STRUGGLING.  ARE YOU GUYS STILL WORKING AS CLOSELY WITH THEM THIS YEAR.  WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING ON WITH THEM?
“I mean all the information is openly available like it always has been nothing has changed there.  I think the crew chiefs talk among one another quite a bit.  I talked to Tony (Stewart) from time to time, but I know that they haven’t been a part of our debrief call in’s and sit down meetings that we have on Tuesday as much this year as they have been in the past.  You know who knows, some of it could just be when it comes to Tony and the No. 14 car I think I saw them like this before, then they went and won a championship.  In my opinion they probably are struggling a little bit more than they would like to, but they are also a team that could turn things around fairly quickly and get back on track.
 
“I can’t say a whole lot.  We are in an organization that we have a lot of guys running very well up towards the front of the points and we are not there.  We do have conversations every week and sit downs.  Sometimes even when your cars are good you don’t always put all the pieces together.  That has been out thing this year.  We’ve got a great cars, great crew chief, great pit crew and I think I do a pretty good job; but getting them all to come together in synch when it counts most.  We did it at Darlington we had a third-place finish.  We did a pretty good job at Martinsville, had a good finish.  The rest of the races those things haven’t come together.  We haven’t been able to get the results.  So, some of those things could be the same with Stewart-Haas.”
 
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE JIMMIE JOHNSON’S CAREER?
“Pretty phenomenal I mean certainly from the Cup side of it.  I think that a lot could be said about what he did prior to getting into Cup about how hard he had to work.  If you were analyzing if the talent was there, but maybe the results weren’t always there.  So, I think some people kind of looked over him when in reality he had a tremendous amount of talent, work ethic, desire and passion.  When you put that combination with Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports and that team they have assembled from that point forward the rest is really history in what his career has been and the numbers that he has put up I think speak for themselves.”
 
YOU WERE THE GUY WHO ENDORSED HIM TO RICK HENDRICK AND LOWE’S. HOW DOES REALITY COMPARE TO WHAT YOUR EXPECTATION WAS IN 2001?
“It’s hard to have those high expectations to meet the reality. I think it’s better that way. It’s better to have a little bit lower expectations. Now when we were talking to sponsors, we were pumping it up like he was going to win every race (laughs).
 
“But I think that my expectations were, ‘I think this guy has the abilities. If you put a team together like we have done for the No. 24 team, I think he’s going to do some spectacular things.’ But still even then, I don’t think any of us expected the whole thing to come together quite the way that it did.
 
“And now I look at it and every time he wins a race I shake my head and I go that’s unbelievable. Those guys are just so good. And you give Jimmie the sight of the victory, and where he takes that to is just a whole other level. I remember in parts of my career when it was like that for me where we were just that good as a team; that in sync, and that confident that we almost had the competition beat before the race even started. They’re in that position right now. Everybody is sitting there watching them; well no, we got ‘em we got ‘em. And then all of a sudden they’re gone and they win. That just puts another notch in the belt of the No. 48 team, but it also takes a notch out of the rest of the competition. And that’s a great asset to have as a team for a driver.”
 
CONSIDER THE NUMBER OF FUTURE HALL OF FAMERS THAT ARE RACING RIGHT NOW, THIS POSSIBLY BEING THE GREATEST ERA OF COMPETITION, HOW DO YOU COMPARE THE ERA NOW TO THE ERAS IN THE PAST? HOW WOULD ANYBODY SAY THAT THIS IS GREATER OR THAT IS GREATER?
“Oh I would never categorize it that way. I feel like throughout the history of NASCAR, there has always been tremendou
s individuals and talents that played their own role in history and were spectacular in their own ways and sometimes they came along maybe when somebody else was moving out or sometimes they were right head-to-head.
 
“And to me, I’ve always seen dominance as something that you can’t dominate if somebody else is there, beating you every other weekend. So, usually it’s recognized as dominance because you have an edge on the competition. We saw that with Richard Petty. We saw that with Dale Earnhardt, Sr. We saw that with me. And we see that now with Jimmie Johnson. I think that’s always going to hold true throughout history of this sport.”
 
DO YOU HAVE A PLATFORM WITH WHICH TO APPROACH THE 600 RACE?  WOULD YOU BREAK IT DOWN INTO THREE 200-MILE SEGMENTS
“I think you have to have a plan for every race and try to understand what the challenges are and what you can somewhat expect from previous experience. And because this is such a long race, maybe instead of breaking it down in half, you could break it down into thirds. Even with all the well-laid-out plans it doesn’t seem to make it all go smoothly. Even with Ray (Evernham) we would kind of know things but we would still have to adjust as we go. And that’s the way we still approach it today.”
 
WHAT MAKES DOVER SO MONSTROUS?
“Well, the high speeds, big corners, the high-banked turns and then the high-banked straightaways as well. It’s just a track where you’re on the edge. There’s not a lot of room for air and when it does happen…   One is it can happen by itself. On your own you can break your car loose and find yourself in trouble and it’s hard to recover there. Usually when you have a problem, you’re in the wall. And same thing when you’re in a group and it happens as a group, there is going to be a big wreck. So, it is definitely a monster.”
 
I ASSUME YOU HAVE TO RACE THE TRACK THERE FIRST?
“I like to try to race the track first everywhere. But, I think that at Dover, similar to Darlington, you have to really respect the race track. You can’t get too caught-up in the competition. If you get track position like anywhere else, you’ve got to try to maintain it. It’s just still very important, even at Dover. But survival and having a car working good there is the most important thing. I feel like it might be a little bit more there than it is at some others, but most of the time that is the case.”
 
THERE HAS BEEN TALK ABOUT MOVING THE FALL CHARLOTTE FALL RACE TO LAS VEGAS.  WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?
“I can’t imagine not racing here three times a year, or certainly two points races. I love racing here. It’s nice to be home and this is such a special race track. And I feel like people flock from all over the country to come here not just because of the facility, but what else there is to offer with the Hall of Fame, the city (of Charlotte), the team shops and all those things. I would hate to see that. But at the same time, I think Las Vegas makes great sense from a marketing standpoint. When we look at the sport and where we’re at and how to grow it and get those seats filled, you would certainly think that a race in Las Vegas in October would do pretty well. I think Las Vegas deserves to have two races. I would not want to see us take away a race from here.”
 
WOULD YOU WANT TO SEE THEM ADD ANOTHER ONE TO THE SCHEDULE?
“No (laughs), I wouldn’t. But without putting any names out there, there are some other tracks that maybe could give up one (laughs again).”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 23, 2013
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed winning the All-Star race last weekend, racing on Memorial Day weekend, his NASCAR Sprint Cup career and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
 
THE MODERATOR:  Jimmie Johnson has joined us.
Jimmie, certainly coming off a very strong performance at the All-Star Race must bode well for you on Sunday here at Charlotte.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  It does.  The longest run we had was 20 laps.  We feel like we’ve got a good direction but we still need to get out in Saturday’s practice session and work on the car balance for a full run.
In our situation, we won’t be able to have our All-Star car to race this weekend.  It won’t get released from the tech center till Tuesday.  There’s not enough time to turn the car around.
We have a lot to work from, but it’s still a new weekend.  Race is much different than before.  We feel like we have a good direction and we’ll see where things stack up at the end of the night on Sunday.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Questions for Jimmie.
 
Q.        Last night at the Hall of Fame, we were debating about whether this might be the greatest era of NASCAR competition, considering parity in the sport and the number of future Hall of Famers that are racing now.  Out of that, I’m wondering how you can decide whether one era might be better than the other.  How do you judge and stack yourself up, Jeff, those that you race with, against the guys that raced 50 years ago?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  That’s a great question.  I don’t think there is an answer.  I think that’s what leads to great conversation, debate, and harassment amongst friends that think a different driver from a different generation was better.
 
I don’t know how you do it.  You can look at stats.  But just a different world for a lot of reasons.  I think it’s the same way when you look at a lot of other pro sports.  It’s very difficult to pick one.
Stats kind of tell the tale at the end of the day, but we would all love to see – it wouldn’t be possible – but the greatest baseball game with all the Hall of Famers on the field.  Same with football.
If we could get Petty in his prime, Earnhardt in his prime, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Jeff Gordon, go on down the list, that would be an awesome list.  We can’t do that so we just have the questions and the conversations, which are great.  I’m glad we have those conversations in our sport.
 
Q.        Jimmie, Brad was talking a little bit earlier about even though he’s a lot longer and you have to survive to get that far, how Sunday might be similar to the All-Star Race, in whoever can get up front after that last pit stop is going to have an advantage.  How do you feel about the end of the 600 coming up?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I don’t disagree with that.  I think it’s kind of par for the course on tracks without a lot of tire falloff or tire wear.
The clean air is more of an advantage in that situation, even if you are abusing your tires and you can hang on.  I think a 10-lap shootout, guaranteed, changes the game a little bit.  We’ll be hopefully coming in after a 40-, 50-lap run running on old tires to the finish.  Maybe there’s a little different scenario at that point in time.
Yeah, I don’t disagree that opportunity could be here, especially if it’s a short run to the finish.
 
Q.        Jimmie, Memorial Day weekend, there will be a huge military presence here.  There’s always a lot of pageantry to go along with that.  Your thoughts about Memorial Day, what it means to Jimmie Johnson.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  It’s awesome to be a part of it, to be a source of entertainment, and to pay our respects as a race team.  We usually have an awesome paint job on our racecar.  To be a part of it, to say thank you, means a lot to Lowe’s, myself and our race team.
From a race fan’s perspective, Sunday is the greatest day all over.  Monaco Grand Prix, right into the 500, right into the 600.
I don’t miss not racing, but sitting on the couch watching all that, I do have fond memories of watching a full day of racing.
 
Q.        Talked to Doug.  He said you haven’t decided where you’re going to do your test yet this season.  Is there someplace in particular you believe you need to test more than somewhere else with the new car?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  For me I think Phoenix is the question mark.  We finished second there in the spring, but we didn’t have the confidence the race weekend we wanted to.  We raced better than we expected to, finished better than we thought.  From the 48’s standpoint, that’s probably the hottest track in our mind.
With the testing format the way it is, might not play out that way.  We’ll have to see.  Luckily all the cars are running good and we’re able to sit on our test sessions right now and use them in the best manner possible, hopefully on Chase tracks. That would be the ideal situation.
 
As we get through the summer, if we have a teammate that’s near that cutoff point, we need to get stronger at a regular-season racetrack, we can have that strategy in place, too.
 
Q.        Jimmie, I’ve asked a few people today, your peers, to describe your career.  More than one have said ‘greatest of all time’.  How would you describe your career, knowing your peers feel that way?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Wow, I don’t know how to quite respond to that.  I am honored that they have mentioned me in that way.
I just don’t pay that much attention to it all.  It’s very difficult to think about where I fit in while I’m still racing.  I think of driver’s careers ending mid 40s.  I still have 10 years or so to even think about that, worry about that.
So to be recognized and thought of and even in the conversation with Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon, that’s a huge compliment I’m very proud to have, proud to be a part of that conversation.  But I haven’t thought that much about it.
 
Q.        You mentioned earlier about not driving the All-Star car this weekend.  Was that ever an option or hope?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  If you don’t go to the tech center following the race, you have that option.  You can turn your car around.  But we had a brake problem.  We won.  Weren’t getting our car back for a couple days.  In the old days, before the cars would come home with us, they wouldn’t go to the tech center till Tuesday, we would ask ourselves the question, even if we didn’t win:  Do we want to turn this car around and use it?  When we won here, it didn’t go to the tech center, we brought that car back.  You know where the gaps are.  At that time the balance, now it’s the splitter.  Those heights are so critical, you’ll waste two or three runs on a new tire today where you could use those runs to really fine tune your racecar.  You’d much rather bring that racecar back in today’s world.  Ideally we would, for sure.
 
Q.        You’ve won this race before, the 600.  You know the razor thin line of what it takes to win it, how hard it is to win it, the margin for error is so thin.  How difficult or demanding on a driver is it when you have to physically wrestle the car around but also keep in the back of your mind one small mistake you could put yourself to the back of the field?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:&nbsp
; It is a fine balance.  Not only is it important for the driver, but it’s also the team.  I think the All-Star Race was a great example of how important that last pit stop is.  You get the driver who’s been out there, potentially fatigued.  You have a team that’s been up and at it early, setting up a pit, doing pit stops all day long.  It’s late at night.  You come down to the last pit stop.  Who has it in the tank?  Not only energy, but hand-eye coordination.
In today’s day of racing, when you get to Victory Lane, sure, the driver gets most of the credit for the job well done, but it’s such a team sport.  There’s just as much riding on the success of the car on pit road as much as there is on the racetrack. 

Q.        AJ Allmendinger, qualifying for Indy, do you think if you go to Indy, top driver in the garage, you’d be a contender right away?
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I don’t think so.  I think that the driver we become is a product of what we grew up in.  My off-road days, the vehicles I raced, helped lead me to NASCAR.  I didn’t grow up in carts.  I’ve never been in an open-wheel vehicle, a formula-style vehicle.  They just drive differently.
AJ was on top of his game in IndyCar before he came to NASCAR, had to relearn.  I think his venture into NASCAR is a good example of what would happen if a driver went from NASCAR to IndyCar.  It takes time.
If I just left and tried next year, tested a couple times, I wouldn’t be where Dinger is.  I think he’s doing an amazing job and I would love to see him win that thing.
 

Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 Teams and Drivers Ready for 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race
 
DETROIT (May 23, 2013) – The 33-car field is set for the 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race scheduled for Sunday, May 26th, and will feature 17 driver entries powered by the Chevrolet V6 2.2 liter direct injected twin turbocharged purpose built engine fueled by renewable E85.
 
Ed Carpenter, in his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, will lead the traditional field comprised of 11 rows of three to the green flag.  With deep roots in Indiana, hailing him as a local hero to Indy 500 race fans, Carpenter is the first owner/driver to win the pole for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing since 1975.
 
Months of preparation, coupled with hours of testing and practice on the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway will culminate when the most famous words in auto racing, “Drivers, Start Your Engines”, are uttered to signal the start of the 200 lap/500 mile race in pursuit of one of the most coveted awards in motorsports, the Borg-Warner Trophy.
 
“The keystone event of the IZOD IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis 500, is nearly upon us and Team Chevy has positioned itself well for the start of the race,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager for the IZOD IndyCar Series. “Our engineers, teams and technical partners have been preparing for the event since the day after the 2012 race was over.  The competition in the Series remains tight, and the fans are sure to witness another memorable Indy 500, paced by the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.
 
“Congratulations again to Ed Carpenter and the entire Ed Carpenter Racing Team for winning the pole position for Sunday’s race.  We are looking forward to competing and being “back home again in Indiana”.
 
Andretti Autosport will field five Chevrolet-powered cars and drivers in the Indy 500. Rookie Carlos Muñoz and Marco Andretti, who currently sits second in the Series’ point standings, will fill the front row with Carpenter, starting second and third respectively.  E.J. Viso will start fourth, defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will roll off seventh and two-time 2013 winner James Hinchcliffe will take the green flag from the ninth starting spot to place all five of the Andretti Autosport entries in the first three rows.
 
Team Penske’s rookie driver, A.J. Allmendinger, will make his career first Indy 500 start from fifth position on the grid. Joining Allmendinger in row two will be his teammate Will Power starting sixth.  The third Team Penske Chevrolet IndyCar V6 driver, three-time Indy 500 winner, Helio Castroneves, will start eighth.
 
Panther Racing’s JR Hildebrand had a strong qualifying effort, securing the 10th starting spot. His teammate, eight-year IndyCar series veteran Townsend Bell, will make his sixth Indianapolis 500 start, taking the green from the 22nd starting position.  Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver, Oriol Servia, a fan favorite at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will start in 13th position.
 
Tony Kanaan will make his 12th start in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.  He will pilot his KV Racing Technology Chevrolet from the 12th starting position. His teammate Simona De Silvestro, the fastest of the four women to qualify for this year’s race, will start 24th.       
 
Hoping to add an Indy 500 win to his list of motorsports accolades will be Dragon Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais who will start 15th. He is followed by teammate Sebastian Saavedra who recorded the third fastest speed on ‘Bump Day’ to start 27th.
 
1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier will make his first start in the Indianapolis 500 since 2008. The 2000 IZOD IndyCar Series champion will start 32nd.
 
Chevrolet has won three of the first four races of the season, and has collected four poles which includes Carpenter’s Indy 500 pole-winning accomplishment.
 
Live broadcast overage of the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 begins at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, May 26 on ABC.  The green flag is set to wave at 12:30 p.m. The famed race will also be broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including Sirius and XM Channels 211 and www.indycar.com.
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Anderson Prepared to Zero in on Trouble Spot after NHRA Kansas Nationals
 
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 19, 2013) – The 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka saw some of the smoothest runs that the Summit Racing Pro Stock duo of Greg Anderson and Jason Line have seen all year, but the Minnesota-bred, Mooresville, N.C.-transplanted pair didn’t achieve the results that they were aiming for at the eighth of 24 events on NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour.
 
Anderson, the No. 6 qualifier, halted veteran racer Larry Morgan in the first round, 6.707 to 6.723, and then clocked a very efficient .017-second reaction time before excessive clutch slippage resulted in a 6.723 that simply couldn’t better Allen Johnson’s 6.674 in round two.
 
“This weekend, the Summit Racing Camaros weren’t running as fast as we believe they truly can,” said Anderson. “And really, we cannot expect to win races at this pace. We’ve got to pick it up. The cars are not responding in a favorable direction to the changes that we’re making, and so we’re glad we have a week off before it’s time to go racing again. That will give us a chance to really figure it out so that we can go to Englishtown with a better product and really show our potential.”
 
After struggling with tire spin in recent events, Anderson was pleased that he and Line’s Summit Racing Camaros were able to make a series of clean journeys down the quarter-mile dragstrip over the course of the weekend.
 
“The cars are going down the track every time, the cars are very safe, and they feel very good – they’re just not running fast yet,” said Anderson. “We’ve definitely gotten better and sorted out the problems we were having earlier, but you have to have both a repeatable car and run fast. You can’t have one without the other and expect to win. We know it’s there, we just have to zero in on what, exactly, we’re doing wrong.”
 
Anderson is holding in the No. 8 spot in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings, and he has much on the agenda as he is chasing his first win of the season. The Summit Racing team so far has one win on their scorecard this year; Line was victorious in Houston.
 
“This one was definitely a bust for us, we didn’t perform as well as we should have, but that has the Summit Racing guys fired up to get home and get back to work,” said Anderson. “We’ve been faced with challenges before, and we have a very capable team. It’s time we show what we’re capable of.”

 
 
Seventeen Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Drivers Set to Start 97th Running of the Indianapolis 500
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 19, 2013) – Bump Day, the traditional name for the second day of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, came to an end with the 33-car field set for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26, 2013.
 
With today’s addition of Sebastian Saavedra, No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing Chevrolet, and 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier, No. 91 Lazier Partners Inc. Chevrolet, who both posted successful qualifying attempts, a total of 17 Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered cars are set to start the 200-lap/500-mile race on the famed 2.5-mile oval.
 
Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, will start of the pole with fellow Chevrolet V6 drivers Carlos Muñoz, No. 26 Unistraw Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, and Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet completing the front row.
 
After the remainder of the cars had taken their qualifying laps today, there was an ample supply of track time available for open practice that gave Team Chevy cars and drivers a valuable opportunity to continue preparations for the historic race.
 
IZOD IndyCar Series activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway resume on Friday with the traditional final practice session, known as “Carb Day”. The 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts at 11 a.m.EDT Sunday, May 26, with live television coverage on ABC.In addition, the famed race will be broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211 and

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