JOHN FORCE No. 2 at DOLLAR GENERAL FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
CHARLOTTE (April 20, 2013) – John Force and the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang team came out of the pits swinging today at the 4th annual Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals qualifying No. 2 with a 4.039 second run at the Funny Car event top speed of 316.08 mph. All four John Force Racing race cars qualified for the once a season four-wide extravaganza at Bruton Smith’s Bellagio of Drag Strips, zMax Dragway. Rookie Funny Car driver Chad Head was the No. 1 qualifier, the first of his Funny Car career, with a 4.014 second pass in the opening session under optimal conditions.
John Force made the highlight run in Funny Car to start the day for JFR but Brittany Force in her four-wide debut also turned some heads with a constantly improving Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster. The rookie driver opened the day with a 3.839 second run and followed it up with a 3.836 second pass in the second and final session. At the end of the only day of qualifying the rookie driver was pleased to be the No. 9 qualifier, her highest starting spot in her young career.
“We only got two runs and coming into the race we were hoping for the four qualifying runs to get used to four-wide. We were consistent both runs and we improved on our last run which is always good. We are moving in the right direction. In my canopy I don’t have much side vision but it is definitely a lot louder,” said Brittany Force, a quarter-finalist at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals two weeks ago.
“For me staging is just so different. My first run today I was in lane one which is the furthest lane on the left and it was pretty easy since the Christmas tree looked like it normally does. You are just waiting on three other cars to pull in. The last run I was in lane three which is the lane second from the right and I got a little confused for a second. The two runs were enough to get me comfortable though. I am looking forward to going some rounds tomorrow hopefully.”
In the first round of Top Fuel Force will face off with No. 1 qualifier Shawn Langdon, No. 8 qualifier Tony Schumacher and No. 16 qualifier rookie Sidnei Frigo.
“I am just going to go up there and do my same routine. It doesn’t matter who is in the lane next to me or the three lanes next to me here. I am excited to be racing a fellow rookie, Schumacher and Shawn Langdon. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Going into the second session today the three John Force Racing Funny Cars were in decent positions considering there were seventeen Funny Cars trying to get one of sixteen spots but with only two shots to qualify they all knew anything could happen.
Robert Hight was the first JFR Funny Car driver to try and improve his position. At the time of his run he had slipped to the No. 15 spot and was running with Johnny Gray, Dale Creasy Jr. and fellow Ford driver Tim Wilkerson. His spot in the show was far from secure and as Hight’s Auto Club Mustang powered down lane number four is began to drop cylinders before it shockingly exploded and blew the carbon fiber body high into the air.
“It ran 6.13 in the first session and more than likely that will not keep you in the show. There are too many good Funny Cars here. This is a little different ballgame because we are four-wide so you don’t know who is behind you that could still bump you out. You are trying to figure all that out in the water box. I just went up there and did my burn out and knew I needed to make a good run. I hit the throttle and it instantly goes to the right and I knew it had a cylinder out,” said Hight.
“The last few runs it has done that it has gone right down the race track. It doesn’t even put a mark on a piston. I am fighting it back to the left then all of a sudden it puts a cylinder out on the left side and it goes towards the center line but I get her straightened out. Everything is good but the motor didn’t sound right without a doubt. I didn’t know if I was qualified and I had to stay with it. It just blew up. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. It was obviously a malfunction.”
“If it would have just had one cylinder out at the hit that thing would have motored down there like it has done the last ten runs. There was some sort of malfunction and we will fix it tonight. We will be back up there tomorrow in the ball game trying to defend this four-wide title.
The NHRA released a statement after the incident stating that the Mustang carbon fiber body landed in a walkway in front of the eastside grandstand. As a precaution two fans were evaluated and released by paramedics on-site.
Veteran driver Johnny Gray missed the show and Hight settled into the No. 16 spot with a final run of 4.879 seconds.
After the debris was cleared from the race track Courtney Force and John Force were next up in their quartet of Funny Cars. Courtney Force’s Traxxas Ford Mustang was looking to improve on their qualifying position.
“The races rained out on Friday so we were short two qualifying passes, which means we didn’t get to try out two of the four lanes. It’s unfortunate, because we didn’t make two great passes today. The car tried spinning the tires down track and it struggled early on in the second qualifying pass today. I feel like we’re going into race day blindfolded because we didn’t get to qualifying in all four lanes, but everyone else is in the same boat as our team. We’re going to have to go out tomorrow and do the best we can with what we do know. On the bright side of things, we got qualified, and that’s a plus because that’s not always guaranteed,” said Force the Mello Yello Funny Car points leader.
“We’re looking forward to tomorrow to see what our Traxxas Ford Mustang can do. I have to keep this car as straight as possible as a driver, really just focus and not be distracted by the lights. It hasn’t been bad so far. I’m glad I have my routine down early on. Ron Douglas has been doing a great job tuning my race car all season long. We went to the final round at the last event in Las Vegas so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again tomorrow.”
John Force was a few lanes away from his youngest daughter and his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car did not improve and he will go into race day as the No. 2 qualifier and a first round match-up with Tony Pedregon, Bob Tasca III and Blake Alexander.
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (April 20, 2013) –Gil de Ferran, a two-time IndyCar Series champion and winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500, will join Honda Performance Development, the racing arm of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. as a technical consultant and advisor, de Ferran and HPD officials announced Saturday at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Associated with HPD and the Honda Racing program since 1996, de Ferran won his first Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Indycar race for Honda at the 1996 Cleveland Grand Prix. He went on to score another six wins and 16 poles with Honda power, and claimed the 2000 and 2001 CART Indycar World Series championships.
In qualifying for the 2000 CART season finale at California Speedway, de Ferran set a world closed-course speed record of 241.426 mph, a record that still stands as the fastest ever recorded at an official race meeting.
De Ferran won the 2003 Indianapolis 500, then retired from open-wheel competition at the end of that season. But he returned to racing, with HPD, in 2008 as owner/driver of an Acura ARX-01b sports car in American Le Mans Series competition, More race victories followed, along with the ALMS championship in 2009 driving the new LMP1 category Acura ARX-02a.
In addition to his success as a driver and team owner, de Ferran also served as Sporting Director for the Honda Formula One team from 2005-07.
“We’re thrilled to have Gil rejoin the HPD family as a technical consultant and advisor,” said Art St. Cyr, HPD president. “It feels like a homecoming for us, as Gil has played such an important role for the Honda Racing effort in both open-wheel and sports-car racing for such a long time. His skills and expertise are almost impossible to duplicate, and we look forward to his continuing contributions to HPD’s racing programs.”
“I have always had the utmost respect and admiration for Honda and its role in motorsports,” said de Ferran. “Honda has been a common thread in my racing career since we first worked todevelop their Indycar engines in 1996, which led to winning races and championships, followed by my time in Formula One and the amazing Acura ARX-02a. Throughout our long and storied history, whatever role I played, we have developed a great, successful, enjoyable and effective working relationship. I look forward to contributing to Honda’s efforts once again.”
IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH INDY
STREETS OF LONG BEACH
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 20, 2013
MICHAEL ANDRETTI, OWNER OF ANDRETT AUTOSPORT THAT FIELDS FOUR CARS IN IZOD INDYCAR SERIES FOR DRIVERS RYAN HUNTER-REAY, MARCO ANDRETTI, JAMES HINCHCLIFFE AND E.J. VISO, met with members of the media at Grand Prix of Long Beach Indy. Full transcript:
TALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM BEHIND THE TEAM RIGHT NOW: “It’s really doing great. We really focused on building on the momentum that we were able to get last year with the championship. At the end of the year, when we sat down and looked at it, we were pretty excited because we felt that there was still a lot of room for improvement within the team. I think we’ve made a lot of great changes over the winter affecting the results we are getting now. We’re pretty excited about it. I think one of the goals was to get all four cars competitive, more competitive. Ryan (Hunter-Reay) was the guy that seemed to stand out the most last year. So, we wanted to get more consistency with the other guys. I think we’ve improved there, and hopefully we can continue to improve that.”
TALK ABOUT THE PROGRESS YOU HAVE SEEN WITH YOUR INDY LIGHTS DRIVERS: “I’m really excited about them. They are doing a great job, both of them. Carlos (Munoz) if you watched him throughout the year last year he just got better and better and better. You just knew it at the end of the year that he is going to be a major title contender for this year. He is not letting us down, he has been quickest everywhere. Really should have won the first race. He had a problem with getting that penalty, but dominated the last race. We are excited about it. I think he has got a good shot at it. We had our first test with him in an Indy car at Texas and did an awesome job. I think he is going to turn a lot of heads when we get to Indianapolis this year. Zach (Veach) I’m really proud of. That kid just keeps getting better and better as well. He doesn’t have a ton of experience, but he just keeps working at it and getting better and better. I think our goal is to try to get him in the top three this year and hopefully win the championship with him next year and get him in an Indy car as well. Sort of do the same program that we are doing with Carlos. That is our goal if we can get it done.”
BACK AT BARBER IT ULTIMATELY DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE THERE WERE NO MORE YELLOWS, BUT I’M WONDERING HOW YOU FELT ABOUT JAMES HINCHCLIFFE JUST GETTING LEFT OUT THERE ON THE TRACK?
“Unfortunately, it’s just part of it. There is no way that they should throw a yellow just because a car is stuck on the track. That is just bad luck. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately you know what they say that is racing right?”
INAUDIBLE:
“I don’t know it may have taken more than one more lap. Just to help one guy, you have to worry about the big picture of the show. I don’t blame them for what they did.”
YOU HAVE A FOUR CAR TEAM PLUS YOUR INDY LIGHTS TEAMS. IN THIS ECONOMY A LOT OF TEAMS ARE HURTING TO GET SPONSORSHIP WHAT IS YOUR SECRET TO GETTING ALL THE SPONSORS AND GROWING YOU TEAM IN THIS ENVIRONMENT?
“Honestly, it’s just hard work. It’s not easy. It’s really difficult out there right now. One thing we haven’t let up on whatever we do if we are cutting budgets or whatever we are not cutting it on the R&D side. You have to be winning races. If you win race that helps a lot. That is one thing. Also, I think you have to look at the people we have within the team that are out there doing a job of selling and stuff. I think we have the best people in the business. We are very creative in everything we do. Not one sponsor is the same the way we do their program. You have to really listen to them and see if you can detail a program for them. It’s a tough complicated thing to do, but I think we do a pretty good job with it.”
SO MUCH OF THIS RACE ALWAYS SEEMS TO HINGE ON TURN ONE ON THE START AND THE RESTARTS. DO YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT THAT IN TERMS OF HOW YOU APPROACH IT OR IS EVERY DRIVER JUST DEAL WITH IT DEPENDING ON WHERE HE IS AT ON HIS OWN?
“Yeah, pretty much. Every track has got some things like that. You have to be careful. You know that it’s important to get a good start and get that pass in turn one because it is difficult to pass here. But then again, you don’t want to throw your race away taking too much of a risk. It’s a bit of a balance and it’s something that you just do as a driver spur of the moment. You just take it the way you feel it is. Some guys are more aggressive than others and they get away with it or they don’t. It’s just part of it. We try to tell our guys big picture. It’s all about points, but also I don’t want to say don’t go for it either because you have to go for it if you are going to win this championship. There is no sitting back and letting it come to you either.”
YOU TALKED ABOUT GETTING ALL FOUR CARS COMPETITIVE AGAIN MARCO (ANDRETTI) I THINK IS HAVING THE BEST START OF HIS CAREER. I KNOW IT’S ONLY BEEN TWO RACES BUT HE IS COMING PRETTY FAR IN THE FIELD EACH WEEK. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET HIM ALL THE WAY THERE TO VICTORY LANE?
“I think he has just got to continue to do what he is doing. He is really focused. He is really working hard. He is in the truck just studying all the data between all the cars and all the drivers. Just trying to see where he is weak and trying to improve that area and that is how you are going to do it. That is how all these guys do it. It’s no secret. It’s just a lot of hard work especially now because you are talking about hundredths of a second not even tenths of a second anymore. He is doing a good job. I think you can just see the progression. He knows he is not there yet, but I think he has definitely improved a lot. He has gotten himself halfway there. I think as the year goes on if he continues to work on it the way he is working on it I think he is going to be winning some races.”
I THINK YOU WERE LOOKING AT THE FT. LAUDERDALE RACE AS A PROMOTER IF YOU WERE CAN YOU GIVE US AN UPDATE ON THAT?
“We are looking at a lot of different things. We did do some searching down there. It’s still a long way off if it were to happen. We are not giving up on it, but there is still a lot of work to be done there. We are also looking at some other deals that I can’t talk about, but hopefully if they were to come about it would be really pretty exciting things. We are always out there looking for new venues.”
MARK MILES MADE A COMMENT THIS WEEK IT WAS BASED ON THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP RECOMMENDATION OF STARTING THE SEASON EARLY AND POSSIBLY ENDING IT AT INDY ON THE ROAD COURSE. WHAT IS YOUR FEELINGS ON THAT?
“It’s a tough one. I think they have done some research and they think it could be fairly successful. They know better than me. If they feel that you know I’m there to support whatever we think we can do to make the series better. I’m okay with it. I think if you talk about tradition I think there has been a lot of tradition broken there anyway. I think we cannot forget that our core fans are in that area. If we can draw say 100,000 for that race that would be huge. That could end up being our second biggest race of the year. If those sort of things are possible then why not do it. As for starting the season earlier I think that is smart because there are so many nice areas that you can start. I think you can start the season in February. I think in terms of
competition on TV I think it is a lot better. You are not up against football. I think also though, we always talk about football. I think that is a bit of a cop out in some ways because I can’t say that some of our ratings are any better this time of year than they are later in the year. I don’t know if I agree with that 100 percent. I do think having a six month off season is not good, but I mean say if they were able to do a mini-series in that six months, say an international series I would be all for that. I think that would be awesome, which I know they have been talking about things like that. That to me would be something that I think all the teams would get behind.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE LONG BEACH MEMORY?
“That is a tough one because I have had great memories here. It probably has to be my first win. The first win is always special. The way we won it was great. Al (Unser) Jr. made us work for that really hard there. We just went at it good old fashion racing. I would say probably the first one.”
WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT WE WILL EVER SEE ROAD AMERICA ON THE SCHEDULE AGAIN?
“I don’t know. I’m not the one to ask. I love Road America. I’m all for it if it can make sense financially for everybody including Road America. I think it would be great. It’s just one of the nicest race tracks not only in the United States, but in the world. I know there is not a driver out there that wouldn’t love to be racing there. There is not a team owner that wouldn’t want to be up there. We are all for it if it could make sense financially.”
CAN YOU GIVE US A SNEAK PEAK AT SOME PLANS THAT ARE IN THE WORKS FOR THE MILWAUKEE INDYFEST?
“It’s going really well. We are going to be adding another race. We are going to have the Mazda’s there, the Pro Mazda Series, which I think is going to be great. They always do a nice job on the ovals. We are going to really focus again like we did last year on the festival atmosphere so the infield is going to hopefully be jumping like it was last year. We are going to be adding hopefully some more new things and exciting things for people to do. We are working on the band situation which I think we will be announcing in a couple of weeks and some other exciting things. We are excited about it. It’s nice to have a little time to prepare and hopefully we will be a little bit better prepared than we were last year.”
LONG BEACH, CA April 19, 2013 – The palm trees go by very quickly at 170 mph whether it is in Florida or California. The American Le Mans Series moved from east to west and from the longest to the shortest race of the year this weekend. Guy Smith qualified on the front row for tomorrow’s ALMS race here on the streets of Long Beach. Smith qualified a solid second on the eleven turn, 1.968 mile course alongside one of southern California’s more famous beaches.
“After this morning’s practice, I knew the car was solid,” said Smith. “To beat the Muscle Milk Guys is good. It is always comforting to be quick in qualifying but especially here because of the nature of the weekend. We ran at 7:30 this morning and then did not go back out until after 6:00 PM to qualify. IndyCars have been on track all day and the weather is different so we are happy with the performance.”
Guy raced here in 1998 and 1999 in Indy Lights. “In ’98, it was my second street race and my second race in America and I ended up on pole. It was a very American experience: here you are in Los Angeles with all its history and Hollywood glamor. This is just a great event and this is what makes American sports car racing so good: you race on pretty much every type of circuits from wide open tracks like Sebring to street races here in Long Beach and Baltimore.”
On the way to Long Beach, Dyson Racing tested their #16 Mazda-powered Thetford/RACER entry at Willow Springs Raceway north of Los Angles. They ended up breaking the twenty-four year old sports car track record set by the Toyota GTP car. “We went there with our Long Beach set-up and were not optimized for the track, so we were pleasantly surprised,” said Chris Dyson, “I have been fortunate to have done it twice now – once at Lime Rock in 2007 and now at Willow Springs. It is satisfying because the GTP cars had a thousand horsepower and seven thousand pounds of downforce.”
Last weekend, Dyson raced at Silverstone with Michael Marsal in the combined World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series weekend. “It was a baptism by fire with the Greaves Motorsport crew,” said Dyson. “Michael and I had not tested the Zytek and it rained the first two days we were there. We struggled in Saturday’s ELMS race but we learned a lot and carried that over into the six-hour WEC race the next day and we stood on the podium at the end of the day. That was a great accomplishment for the team in a race with such a deep field and very well prepared cars. This was the first time for Michael racing overseas and we came away with a successful result. We are looking forward to going back over to Europe and racing at Spa next month.
“Even though with my travel schedule I feel like I am in a time machine, our focus is on Long Beach and winning on one of racing’s more famous and iconic street courses.”
Making his first appearance of the season for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Mike Conway led the Honda effort Friday in IZOD IndyCar Series practice for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Long Beach. Thequickest car for most of both practice sessions, the veteran British driver was edged out of the top spot in the final moments of the quicker afternoon session by a last-lap effort from defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Conway was second-quickest in each of the two practice sessions and on the day, while IndyCar rookie Tristan Vautier continued to impress, fourth quickest for Honda and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. James Jakes, Alext Tagliani and Dario Franchitti finished sixth through eighth, respectively, while Takuma Sato made it six Honda-powered cars in the top 10.
Action at the Grand Prix of Long Beach continues Saturday with a final practice, followed by “Fast Six” knockout qualifying. Sunday’s 80-lap race, the third round in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series, starts at 4p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
Mike Conway(#17 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda Dallara) second-fastest in practice Friday for the Grand Prix of Long Beach: “The car was great. From the outset, we had a good balance and we ended up top-two in both sessions, so that was nice and encouraging for the rest of the weekend. It was a good start – a good job from all the guys. I am looking forward to [qualifying] tomorrow. We have a few areas to work on to be quicker. If we can improve those areas, we’ll be good.”
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
STP 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
APRIL 19, 2013
RYAN NEWMAN LEADS TEAM CHEVY IN QUALIFYING AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY
KANSAS CITY, KS (APRIL 19, 2013) – Ryan Newman, Code 3 Associates Chevrolet SS, led all Team Chevy drivers in qualifying at Kansas Speedway on Friday in posting the ninth-fastest lap for Sunday’s STP 400. This is Newman’s third top-10 start of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Paul Menard, No. 27 Menards/Pittsburgh Paints Chevrolet SS, qualified 12th; Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet SS, was 13th and Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonalds Chevrolet SS will start 14th.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS, spun during his first qualifying lap and made contact with the outside wall. He will start at the rear of the field in a backup car.
A total of 17 Chevrolet SS drivers will take the green flag for the eighth race of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was the pole winner. Carl Edwards (Ford) – second, Ricky Stenhouse (Ford) –third, Sam Hornish (Ford) – fourth and Kyle Busch (Toyota) – fifth, complete the top-five qualifiers.
Live coverage of the STP 400 will be provided by FOX TV, PRN Radio and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and coverage will begin at 1:00 pm ET.
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 CODE 3 ASSOCIATES CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED NINTH
HOW WAS IT ON YOUR QUALIFYING RUN OUT THERE?
“It was good it was fast. This place is so fast. There is so many grip up until the point that you lose grip then you better hang on because it’s going to slide. We take the cars to the limit, but a good run for our Code 3 Associates Chevrolet. Matt (Borland, crew chief) and the guys did a good job off the truck the car was really good. Even though we are not on the pole I’m much happier qualifying that lap than I have on a lot of the intermediate tracks we have qualified on this year.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 14TH
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP:
“So not a bad lap my balance was too tight. I kind of told them the wrong adjustments after practice so all on me. The car still seems to have good speed even though the balance wasn’t good. Just looking forward to tomorrow.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 21ST
HOW WAS YOUR QUALIFYING LAP? DID THE WIND AFFECT YOUR LAP AT ALL?
“Yeah, that is definitely part of it. We have lacked a little speed today in Q (qualifying) trim. That is certainly frustrating at times. The wind it is a little higher, but it’s been there all day. I didn’t feel like it was a big contributing factor in what I had going on.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 23RD
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF YOUR QUALIFYING LAP?
“I was pretty disappointed. I think only three out of four of us have gone right now, but as a company we are not showing a lot of speed today. The car doesn’t have glaring issues handling wise. It’s not really a deal…the car should just go right around here rather easily when it’s good. My car is not very easy to drive in qualifying trim. We ran some race trim in practice though and I was really pleased with that. I thought the laps were great. I thought the way the car drove was really good. We just maybe way off on something with air pressure who knows something odd.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 25TH
ON HER QUALIFYING LAP:
“We improved from practice, which was good. Qualifying has been a struggle for us this year, except for Daytona obviously, so this was a good gain for us. We would have liked to have been top-20 with the Go Daddy Chevrolet, but we’ll take the small gain. It’s just a matter of improving each week.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 27TH
YOU ARE A CONTENDER EVERY TIME YOU COME TO A PLACE LIKE THIS. HOW DOES YOU QUALIFYING LAP EQUATE TO SUNDAY?
“Not as good as what we would have liked. We have a great car this weekend with the 85 years of Farmers Insured and Chevrolet and we just didn’t get a very good lap. I was tight wasn’t turning so I wasn’t able to push the throttle down.”
WITH THE EVER CHANGING WEATHER TODAY DID YOU GET WHAT YOU WANTED WHEN YOU WERE QUALIFYING?
“I think the track conditions were fine. We had one end in sun and one end was cloudy and it was windy everywhere so I think we had as good as anybody. We just got a different set of tires there just didn’t feel near the same as the other ones. Just need to work on that and get a little better prepared for Sunday.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – HIT THE WALL DURING HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT AND WILL GO TO A BACK-UP CAR AND ENGINE – WILL START 43RD
I BELIEVE THE WORD YOU USED WAS COMMITTED:
“I was committed. We have been tight, and I wasn’t tight. It felt great coming to the green and I was pretty happy with it through (turns) three and four and I got down into (turns) one and two and I arced it in there just the way I wanted to and got to the yellow line and started picking up the throttle and it just slowly came around. For a second I thought I was going to save it. I lit the tires up to keep it from hitting too hard and now we have a car and an engine that are pretty much done and it’s been a while since I wrecked qualifying. So you know what? I really meant what I said about the commitment. I felt these guys deserved a better lap than what we put down in practice and I thought the car was better than that and it felt so good coming through (turns) three and four that I wanted to get back to that gas early and hard down there and run some of the lap times that some of these guys are running, but obviously it didn’t sti
Mopar Ready to Run Four-Wide at Charlotte
· Mopar ready to compete in this weekend’s fourth edition of the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Fueled by Full Throttle
· Rain disrupts Friday qualifying at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.
· Mopar has a streak of 12 wins that spans 10 consecutive NHRA events beginning in Charlotte in Sept. 2012
· Johnson on a roll heading into Charlotte after claiming Pro Stock National titles at the Gatornationals and Las Vegas, as well as a win in the K&N Horsepower Challenge
· Mopar Express Lane driver Johnson leads NHRA Pro Stock Championship points
· ‘Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar’ driver Matt Hagan holds Charlotte track record at 3.995 seconds (322.27 mph) set in Fall 2011
Concord, N.C. (Friday, April 19) – While Mopar drivers and teams were ready to run the first two qualifying sessions of this weekend’s fourth annual Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Mother Nature had other plans as rain and inclement weather forced the cancellation of Friday’s activities at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s zMAX Dragway. The event features an unusual format that has entries in each pro class compete against each other using four lanes instead of the usual two. This will be the fifth event on the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series schedule.
Weather permitting, qualifying should resume on Saturday with two sessions to set the field for Sunday’s Four-Wide elimination rounds where Mopar is hoping to continue a win streak that spans 10 events. It began here in Charlotte in Sept. 2012 and is currently at 12 title wins (Pro Stock and Funny Car) which includes the five victories in the first four races of this season. Contributing to that total are five Pro Stock wins by Allen Johnson, three Funny Car titles by Ron Capps, and individual victories by Jack Beckman (FC), V. Gaines (PS), Vincent Nobile (PS), and Johnny Gray (FC).
Friday’s action did see the first ten Pro Stock entries post times before rain began to fall just prior to runs by the Dodge Avengers of Johnson, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Nobile and Gaines. Shane Gray holds the provisional No. 1 qualifier position following the cancellation of the rest of qualifying for Pro Stock, as well as Funny Car and Top Fuel classes.
Mopar Express Lane driver Johnson (354 points) heads into this weekend’s event as the points leader following two consecutive National title victories at the Gatornationals and Las Vegas, as well as the K&N Horsepower Challenge. His teammate Coughlin Jr. (330 points) is third in class after taking JEGS.com Mopar to the semifinals in three of the last four events while Nobile (276), who also runs Johnson & Johnson supplied HEMI engines, rounds out the top-five with a win in the season opening race. The fourth full-time HEMI®-powered Dodge driver, Gaines (232 points) is in seventh place.
Don Schumacher Racing’s Matt Hagan comes back to Charlotte still holding the track record he set at 3.995 seconds (322.27 mph) in 2011 at the fall event. He’s hoping to improve on his performances so far this year that have the ‘Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar’ Dodge Charger R/T fourth in the points, splitting his teammates Johnny Gray (second) and Ron Capps (fifth) in the standings. Defending Funny Car Champion Jack Beckman is currently eighth.
CORVETTE RACING QUALIFIES 4TH AND 6TH AT LONG BEACH
(LONG BEACH, Calif., April 19, 2013) – Jan Magnussen, driver of the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R, qualified fourth (1:19.047 secs.) in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT Class at Long Beach. Tommy Milner, who won his first ALMS race at this event last year, qualified sixth (1:19.083) in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach Street Circuit.
“We definitely made some good improvements between practice and qualifying,” Magnussen said. “It’s always hard here because there’s such a long time between the two sessions, so you really have to think about how the track is going to develop, so I think we made some good choices. We’ll go back and look at some old data and fine-tune a little bit, but overall, I’d be happy to race this car.”
Magnussen added that the No. Corvette C6.R experienced a minor problem during practice, but it was fixed before qualifying.
“We had a small issue shifting this morning. Fixed. All gone,” Magnussen said. “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
Magnussen will team with Antonio Garcia for tomorrow’s race.
Milner will again team with Oliver Gavin. The two won the 2012 ALMS drivers’ championship, and opened the 2013 season with a victory at Sebring last month.
“Obviously, it’s super, super close, as it always is in GT,” Milner said. “So, the position doesn’t sound great; sixth is not what I was hoping for, but it was only two-tenths off the pole. That’s pretty close.
“Obviously, I’d love to get a win here again, like I did last year, my first win in ALMS, but at the end of the day is the championship and finishing the race and keeping the nose of the car clean, give it to Oliver and let him work his magic like he did last year.”
ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 DRIVERS met with members of the media at the Streets of Long Beach. Full transcript of the press conference:
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
ON SEASON SO FAR: “I really worked on consistency in the off season so it’s a decent start to that. But when I look at two of my teammates who have won the first two races , I need to be consistently better. I think if we keep knocking on the door like we have been…like even last weekend, we had another good shot at another podium, but we lost a lot of time coming out behind another car. We’ve been driving good, so we have to keep doing that.”
ON HISTORICAL SIGNIFGANCE OF LONG BEACH RACE: “To echo my teammates. It’s just the history and the tradition. It is the same reason why Indy (Indianapolis 500) is so important to us as drivers as well. My family alone has a lot of history here. A lot of wins between them (Michael, his Dad, and Mario, his grandfather). I think my dad won his first and last race here if I’m not mistaken. For the family it means a lot as well.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
ON RETURNING TO LONG BEACH: “This race has been fantastic in the past. There are a lot of positives here for me. This week I am really looking forward to continuing that roll that Andretti Autosport has had for the good part of the last half a year. There is no atmosphere like Long Beach. It is going to be incredibly tough again.
“It is sort of a home race for me having lived here for 8 years in Southern California My wife’s whole family is from here. I have family out here so this feels like the second home race of the season for me. Long Beach is a race I have been watching for a long time. Came here as a kid and as an INDYCAR fan. The whole Southern California really embraces this race which is what makes a difference. Everybody wants to come to this race. It’s an event; it’s a happening every year. We’re just honored to be here putting on the show.”
ON DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW CAR: “We are constantly tweaking it; we are constantly developing it. For instance, last year at Barber for myself at least – our team, we struggled there. And, we developed the car to be a lot better there (this year). We are constantly making it better. We are pushing the aero side of it; the mechanical grip side of it. In those areas, you give engineers a lot of time, and we’ll find some speed.”
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NHO. 27 GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
ON LONG BEACH RACE: “This race is so awesome. The atmosphere, I think It is the second longest running race we have next to the [Indy] 500. There is a reason it has gone on for 40 years. It is a hell of an event. Great city. They do a great job. It’s always treated me pretty well. Had some success here in Indy Lights. My first IZOD IndyCar top-five; first IndyCar podium. It would be nice to keep that streak alive.
“The fact that the race has been around for so long. There is one thing you can’t buy, and that is history. You can build the biggest, fanciest, most expensive race track in the world if you want; but year one is still year one. And there is not history to it. This place used to host a Formula One race. It has hosted IndyCar for years and year. All the legends have raced here. All the legends have won here. You add that on to the atmosphere, the environment, the fans, it being right here near the boats, the setting. The combination is what makes it so special.”
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET:
ON LONG BEACH RACE: “This is an amazing track to come to already and I keep having great performances here on qualifying days. I think I have been two or three times in the top-six. This year I’m not thinking too much about qualifying but thinking of the race. Hopefully we can make it happen this weekend.
“As Marco said with two teammates who have very proudly won the first two races and the championship which I feel like gives me a lot of confidence that we have a very strong and stable platform that is going to allow us to do the same. We really work hard as a team, and I really like the energy that is always put into the team. Not only the racing aspect, but in every other single department, which is important. Hopefully Long Beach is going to be the one for me.
“It is just a great track for a street course. It is very fast; probably faster than any other street course. It has a great combination of different kinds of surfaces which gives you different grip levels. So you really need to understand the car in every part of the track which behaves completely different. There are curbs you normally don’t take in during the first part of the weekend, but you end up eating them during the race. It is a track that really makes you think hard, and I love it.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay Tops Speed Charts in Practice for Sunday’s Long Beach Grand Prix
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 10, 2013) – At the conclusion of today’s two practice sessions for the Grand Prix of Long Beach Indy, defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay turned in the fastest time of the combined sessions behind the wheel of his No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet.
Other Team Chevy drivers turning in times that landed them in the top-10 were: Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – 3rd; Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California Team Penske Chevrolet – 5th and James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 GoDaddy.com Andretti Autosport Chevrolet – 9th.
The IZOD IndyCar Series will return to the track for a 35-minute practice session at 10:00 a.m. PDT Saturday morning in preparation for qualifying that is slated to start at 2:00 p.m. PDT.
In addition to the on-track competition, Chevrolet will debut its all-new 2013 Chevrolet Racing Display in the Lifestyle Expo at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. In addition to a number of Chevrolet vehicles for fans to see, there will be games and other interactive activities for fans of all ages. The display will open at 8:00 a.m. PDT Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The highlight of the display activities for the fans will be several Question and Answer sessions with many of the Chevrolet IZOD IndyCar Series drivers. Scheduled to appear are: Team Penske’s Will Power, Helio Castroneves and A.J. Allmendinger at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday; KV Racing Technology drivers Tony Kanaan and Simona de Silvestro on Sunday at 10:30 a.m., and the “Champ”, Ryan Hunter-Reay from Andretti Autosport, will meet the fans at 10:45 a.m. All times are Pacific Times.
The Grand Prix of Long Beach Indy is scheduled to start Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. PT (3:15 p.m. ET) with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network (Verizon FiOS 90/590, DirecTV 220, DISH 159 and AT&T UVerse 640) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211 and www.indycar.com. Race timing and scoring can also be found on
First day of 4-Wide Qualifying a Washout
CONCORD, N.C. (April 19, 2013) – The first day of qualifying at the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals came to a soggy halt when persistent rain and wind converged upon zMAX Dragway. Only three quartets of Pro Stock cars were able to make it down the racetrack before the weather forced a delay in the action. Neither of the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros, driven respectively by Greg Anderson and Jason Line, were able to make a pass. Qualifying will continue with two sessions on Saturday, one at 12:15 pm. and the final session at 2:30 p.m., before the fields are set for final eliminations at noon on Sunday.
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
STP 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 19, 2013
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE 85TH ANNIVERSARY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kansas Speedway and discussed the connection between the Boston tragedy and Hendrick Motorsports, the speed of the Gen-6 car at Kansas compared to last season and other topics. Full Transcript:
HOW ARE THINGS GOING FOR YOU THUS FAR THIS WEEKEND IN KANSAS?
“So far pretty good it’s a little different with this car. I think the track has aged a touch too and so it’s a little grayer than what I expected. The car has a lot of speed like it has at every track that we have been to. I don’t know. I’m interested to see how qualifying goes. I think we have been fairly close so far.”
WE ALL LEARNED OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND THE TRAGEDY IN BOSTON TODAY WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
“I think all week for myself it’s been sad to pay attention to and to watch. You try to think about what those people, the people that have been involved, the people that are working to fix it, just so much going on up there. It’s hard to imagine what everybody is going through as an outsider, but I’ve paid really close attention to it and it’s sad. I just want it to get over with. Definitely thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved and Andrew (Collier) from Hendrick Motorsports his brother was the police officer last night that got shot. It’s sad and hopefully they get it taken care of and figured out soon.”
DO YOU KNOW HIM (ANDREW COLLIER)?
“I know I have met him because I have met everybody there. I can’t picture him so I don’t know him well, but I definitely have met him.”
WHAT’S IT LIKE WHEN THE BIGGEST STORY IN THE WORLD HITS THIS CLOSE TO HOME?
“I feel like regardless of where everything is at I mean you sit here and we are trying to race, but last night I was up until 2 something in the morning just watching the news seeing how things were going. Watching Twitter following what was going on. It’s been really crazy. It’s sad that it has come to this. I just pray that it gets over with soon.”
YOU MENTIONED THE SPEEDS IN PRACTICE JUST COMPARATIVELY HOW FAST IS THE CAR HERE AT KANSAS TO HOW IT WAS LAST YEAR?
“I think speed wise it’s probably pretty close to last year because I think the track got a little more grip in it than what it does this year. The car itself is a little faster so maybe it’s a wash or maybe we will go a touch quicker in qualifying today. I think race pace will be very similar to what it was last year just with the Gen-6 car being a little faster.”
WHAT IS THE KEY TO GETTING AROUND KANSAS?
“I think just making the right pit calls, staying up front, trying to keep that track position and making sure your car keeps turning. Last year there I fought turn three a little bit with some things and then I think you can get tighter as a run goes. So, just making sure you have speed built into your car for the long runs I think we will see long green flag runs and some green flag pit stops Sunday. Just trying to be prepared for all that.”
YOUR TEAMMATE DALE EARNHARDT, JR. DIDN’T HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO RACE ON THE PAVEMENT LAST FALL. HOW MUCH HAS HE LEANED ON YOU AND THE OTHER TEAMMATES AT HENDRICK MAYBE TO KIND OF GET UP TO SPEED ON WHAT IS GOING ON HERE THIS WEEKEND?
“Well, we have talked a little bit during practice and he was just surprised how fast the track was, how smooth it was and basically how well his car drove around for just his first few laps. I think qualifying is a different story. The cars react a little different so you have to figure that out. I think he was happy with it. I think he will be really good on Sunday.”
FAIR TO SAY HE (DALE EARNHARDT, JR.) LEANED ON YOU GUYS?
“He didn’t really lean on me. We just talked kind of about what he felt and what I felt and where our cars were which is similar to every race weekend I would say.”
Rain Cancels Qualifying; No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP to Start on Front Row
BRASELTON, Ga. (April 19, 2013) – Friday’s scheduled qualifying sessions for both the Rolex Sports Car Series and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge were cancelled due to steady rain at Road Atlanta. The GRAND-AM rulebook states that the starting lineup is set by team point standings when qualifying is cancelled. Jon Fogarty will start second over-all in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP). He and co-driver Alex Gurney are second in the DP standings.
Other Team Chevy Corvette DP teams will start as follows: No. 10 Velocity Worldwide/Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP – 3rd: No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP -5th; No. 3 8 Star Motorsports Corvette DP – 6th; No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP – 7th and No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP – 10th.
In the Rolex Series Grand Touring (GT) class, the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R will start sixth in-class, and the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette will roll off ninth in-class.
The No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing DP (BMW) will start of the over-all pole, and No. 44 Magnus Racing (Porsche) will lead the GT cars to the green flag.
In the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R will start second on the Grand Sport (GS) grid. The No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R will roll off 11th, and the No. 00 CKS Camaro GS.R will start in the 14th position. The No. 13 Rum Bum Racing (Porsche) will start on the GS pole.
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
STP 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 19, 2013
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed qualifying at Kansas and at other tracks, the fast speeds at Kansas, on meeting other drivers’ daughters, her influence, and more. Full Transcript:
DANICA PATRICK:
“I’d like to lead-off with everything that’s been in the news with Boston and Texas and all over the place. It seems like there’s a lot of really scary stuff going on. And it creates a lot of pride to see the country rally together and be strong. So anyway, I’m feeling for all those people out there who are suffering.”
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU HEARD THAT STORY IN BOSTON ACTUALLY HAD A NASCAR CONNECTION WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORT5?
“Well, obviously the Boston Marathon is an incredibly bit marathon. But when it hits close to home and you realize that somebody who is connected with this sport was hurt, it’s a small world. I think it makes you just be more aware. We are a big sporting event too. Security has been a lot tighter around here (Kansas City) from the get-go, and there’s good reason.”
DOES THIS MAKE IT HARDER TO RACE THIS WEEKEND?
“No. You get in the car and do your job. That’s what we do. But it’s just a time to let people know to be careful and sow some compassion.”
ON QUALIFYING AND HOW IT IMPACTS HER WEEKENDS
“I was over talking to Tony (Stewart) after practice and said, ‘Look, I’ve got to figure out how to qualify better.’ And you know a lot of the runs there have been obvious issues, whether it be really loose or really tight or having a moment at the end of the first lap which leads into the next lap, so it kills both of them. You know there have been reasons. But all in all, it’s not necessarily my strong area and I know that. I was saying that in the Nationwide Series, it was kind of the same thing. And once I really got comfortable in the car and understood it and what it did when you pushed it, and obviously developed a set-up that I am comfortable with, things really changed. And all of a sudden it was like a light switch and I was like all right,
“I’m actually not so bad at qualifying these things anymore. But it took time. And so, I’m sure that it does happen like that with me. All of a sudden something happens and I’ll feel more comfortable and there’s more speed there. But it doesn’t stop me from pushing and trying to figure out how to get better at it. I think the best thing that we can do at this point in time is to try and get a car underneath me that I feel comfortable with and try and develop a good platform that we can go each and every weekend to these 1.5-mile tracks and to the short tracks too, and just know what I have, as well. There’s something to be said for coming to the green, and yeah, you’ve got to be fast through (Turns) 3 and 4 coming to the green. So, just knowing what you’ve got underneath you so that you know what it’s going to do when you push it.”
ON THE FAST KANSAS SPEEDWAY
“The cooler temperatures; the track holds the grip better when it get’s hot and it gets a little bit more slippery. And also it’s better performance for the engines to have this cool air. All in all, it’s fast out there. So they asked me, ‘Is it lateral low that’s making it step-out or making it move, or is it the throttle actually?’ And I’m like I don’t know. I can’t separate them. You’re carrying so much speed that it’s hard to separate throttle from lateral. But I like it. I don’t mind it whatsoever. We started out with a much better platform right off the bat. We were respectable in speed on the first run so it was just a matter of; and then on the second run I hit the wall on entry to (Turn) 1. Unfortunately we did all our qualifying runs with a bent track bar and truck arm. We’ll be trying to get it right for qualifying having done all those runs with it bent. But we definitely got better off this weekend than a lot of others.”
THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TRACKS THAT YOU ALSO RACED AT LAST YEAR. ARE YOU REAPING THE BENEFITS OF THAT THIS WEEK?
“Yeah, anytime you have track time in that car, I think it’s helpful. I have notes from last year; my own notes. The team has notes from what we did. It is helpful. But at the end of the day, you can be really good one year and not the next, based on the car and what the set-up is like and if it has potential in it and if you’re comfortable with it. So things can change very quickly based on the balance.”
ON DARRELL WALLACE, JR., THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN DRIVER IN THE TRUCK SERIES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE HIM?
“You’re just another driver out there. You have to go out there and push hard and prove yourself with your on-track activity just like anybody else does. I know that from my position, I’ve had a lot of opportunities through sponsorship and with my unique situation that I am in being a girl in this sport. But your staying power relies on you performing, so take the opportunities, but then you have to make the most of them.”
WOULD IT BE TOUGHER FOR A BLACK MAN TO MAKE IT IN THIS SPORT THAN A FEMALE?
“No.”
DO YOU REALIZE IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS SINCE YOU WON IN JAPAN?
“Is it really? Oh, that makes me feel bad (laughs). You know, I felt like there were a lot of years in IndyCar that were really strong and then there were some that weren’t and I felt like the ones that weren’t were toward the end. So, just like in this series, as it is in IndyCar, you have to have the right situation going on and you have to have a fast car. But yeah, five years ago; it’s time to do it again!”
OTHER DRIVERS HAVE BROUGHT THEIR DAUGHTERS OVER TO MEET YOU. DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUNG GIRLS WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY NOW BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU’VE DONE? MAYBE YOU’VE INSPIRED SOME OF THEM TO GET INVOLVED
“Maybe just from the perspective of that they would think about racing. It’s not a normal sport for a kid to try because it’s not something you go play in school, right? In school, you play basketball, volleyball, all those kinds of sports like baseball. Racing is not one of those. So, your family has to have the means to be able to do it and then you have to have even the scope of knowledge to be able to run a car. I think it might just make people a little bit more interested and maybe they want to become race car drivers. But what I always tell little girls or little boys is that anybody who wants to become a race car driver has to work really hard and it has to be your passion and if you find that it is, so be it. But if not, then follow that because I think you can make a career out of anything.”
HAS THE THRILL OF WINNING AT JAPAN FIVE YEARS AGO JUST WORN OFF BECAUSE IT’S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME SINCE THEN?
“It’s sill a happy memory. It’s still my one win in IndyCar. But you know, it was a long time ago and it was a good feeling and I’d like to get that feeling back.”
FOR THE KANSAS TRACK, IS THERE A PARTICULAR CORNER OR AREA OF THE TRACK THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON?
“Not necessarily. I think it’s just a matter of making the car comfortable enough and also the car; let’s just say, I went out, I wasn’t driving hard enough, I wasn’t on the stops right, and then I go out and I do it and all of a sudden it’s better. So we make a change and then I go in a little bit harder and all of a sudden we hit the splitter and the front takes off. So then you make another change. You go back out and I go in even harder and then I get loose. So the harder you go, the more things you unveil about the cars. For me and my comfort level, I’m so methodical of a build-up driver that you kind of keep uncovering issues with the car the harder you go. So it’s both ends. And it’s just a matter of going in deeper, using less brake and getting on it harder. It’s that simple.”
WITH TV RATINGS UP A LITTLE BIT THIS YEAR, DO YOU LIKE TO THINK THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR A LITTLE PIECE OF THAT?
“I always say it takes all of us out there to make an entertaining race. If it was just me out there it would be really, really boring. I understand your question. I think that when I’m running, let’s say at Daytona, and qualifying on the pole, there are a lot of stories written and so it drums up a lot of attention and interest and pure curiosity like how’s this going to work out? Is she going to be good? Is she going to hang on? Is she doing to drop back? So that curiosity might lead to viewership. I’m flattered by that. But again, I think we’ve seen throughout the races this year that there has been a record number or at least a new record number of lead changes at race tracks and that’s the kind of stuff that keeps fans coming back.”
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
STP 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 19, 2013
JAIME MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the state of the EGR team; it’s turnaround this year, and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT”
HOW WAS YOUR CAR IN PRACTICE?
“I thought we were really good in race trim. We changed a few things in qualifying and I thought we got a little bit behind. But by the end, I thought our car was good and we’re happy with it.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA SAID TODAY THAT WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON WITH THE GANASSI CARS HAS BEEN BAD LUCK AND FAILED PARTS. HAS THERE BEEN MORE QUALITY CONTROL THERE?
“Well, unfortunately the No. 42 car has been on the receiving end of having the parts failures. The parts that they’ve broke are kind of one-off’s. I don’t think it’s a quality control issue. Unfortunately it’s just been really bad luck for them. So, yeah, I don’t think there is really anything that we’ve done wrong at our shop. It’s just unfortunate that both things happened to the No. 42 car early in the year.”
SO IF THEY WEREN’T HAVING THOSE TROUBLES, DO YOU THINK THE NO. 42 TEAM WOULD BE PUTTING UP SIMILAR RESULTS TO YOUR NO. 1 TEAM?
“Both our cars have been very similar, performance-wise. He ran really good at Bristol and had that fuel pump issue. But for the most part, our cars have been comparable.”
MONTOYA SAID HE FEELS PRETTY GOOD ABOUT NEXT YEAR AND BEING BACK. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON ALL THAT?
“Oh, I don’t really have a comment on anything for next year. I’ focused on what we’re doing now. I’ve really tried hard not to talk about the length of my contract or when you resign one. I feel like the media takes a lot of that and runs with it and seems to use imagination to make more than what is fact. So I don’t have a comment about anything like that.”
WHAT IS THE MAJOR REASON FOR THE TEAM TURNAROUND THIS YEAR?
“When we made all the changes in 2011, we hired a lot of new people and changed the way we go about a lot of items at the shop. I said at Media Day at the beginning of 2012 that it wasn’t going to be immediate. And it’s taken some time. Certainly this car I think has helped us. I feel like we hit on a few things at the Charlotte test in December or January, and it’s helped our 1.5-mile program, which is where we really struggled last year. And fortunately our short tack program has been pretty good all year. When I look back at my season, though, we ran really good at Martinsville but at Bristol, we really had about a 15-place car and the way the pit strategy worked out, we got a Top 10 out of it. But I feel like we’ve run better at the 1.5-miles than we have at the short tracks and we really had a great car last week. I made a mistake on pit road and got us a penalty and we never could recover from it. We’ve had a couple of instances where maybe we should have pitted once, and didn’t; and then next time we shouldn’t have pitted, and we did.
“But fortunately when I look at that, we’ve at least been in position to contend. And maybe we haven’t made the best decisions, but performance-wise, our cars, I would say, are better than they were in 2010. Obviously we didn’t win the Daytona 500 this year, but for me, constantly at every single race track we have been competitive this year. And even in 2010, we didn’t have that.”
HAVE YOU NOTICED A CHANGE WITH CHIP GANASSI AT ALL? HE CAME TO MARTINSVILLE ON FRIDAY, WHICH WAS UNUSUAL BECAUSE THE INDYCARS WERE RUNNING IN ALABAMA THAT DAY. HAD HE BEEN MORE DEDICATED OR COMMITTED?
“No, Chip has been really consistent through all this. Chip has spent a lot of money to get out program back where it needs to go; certainly with the engine program change that we did this year. I know that was a big cost in relation to the ECR engines; and also with hiring all the people and all the software that they bought at our shop. So he’s made a huge investment into this; even more so than what he did in 2008, ’09 and ’10. But him coming to the races is pretty much planned out before the season starts. He knows where he’s going to go and on what days he’s going to be there. And I think Martinsville was just on the way to Barber. But yeah, he seems really pleased with kind of where the cars are.
