NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 26, 2013
 
 
JEFF GORDON LEADS TEAM CHEVY WITH A THIRD PLACE QUALIFYING RUN AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
 
RICHMOND, Va. (APRIL 26, 2013)  – Behind the wheel of his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS, Jeff Gordon posted a quick lap time of 20.729 to qualify third for tomorrow’s Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. This marks his 31st top-10 start of the 2013 season, and his sixth in 15 races on the three-quarter mile D-shaped oval.
 
Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kasey Kahne qualified his No. 5 Quaker State Chevy SS, fourth quickest, and will start on the outside next to Gordon in the second row. Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Depend Chevrolet SS qualified sixth; giving Team Chevy three of the top six starting spots.
 
Jamie McMurray will roll off the line from the 13th position in his No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet SS, Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row Chevy SS was 14th, Ryan Newman, No. 39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet SS qualified 15th, and Jeff Burton, No. 31 Airgas/Bulwark Chevy SS posted the 16th fastest qualifying time.
 
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, Brian Vickers (Toyota) – second, and Clint Bowyer (Toyota) – third to round out the top-five qualifiers.
 
Live coverage of the Toyota Owners 400 will be provided by FOX TV, MRN Radio and Sirius XM Channel 90 and coverage will begin at 7:30 pm ET.
 
POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS, QUALIFIED 3RD:  ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT: “It was a really solid day for us. We went through so much the last time we were here. I think we learned a lot through that experience. We’ve qualified well here the last several times; have come close to being on the pole, also losing by a one-hundredth I think. We ran a great lap in practice there to close out practice. I was a little nervous at that time. I was like ‘this is too early to be that fast, and have that good of a car’.  Then it is just a guessing game. How are you drive it. How to make adjustments to the car; what the guys are going to do that. All-in-all, I am very pleased to be within one-hundredths, two hundredths and be third. Great place to start this race. Good pit stall selection. I feel like our car is going to be good in the race as well.”
 
IS THERE A FEELING AMONG YOU DRIVERS THAT IT IS KIND OF YOU AGAINST NASCAR? AFTER THE WEEK THAT MATT (KENSETH) HAS BEEN THROUGH, IS THERE KIND OF A “YEAH MATT” FEELING IN THE GARAGE? “I was kind of thinking of my weekend last week in Kansas, and I was thinking how I deserved to get the pole after starting 43rd last week. But, I guess after his week, maybe he deserved it a little bit more. (LAUGHS)  You know, I don’t think so. I think that you go through the ups and downs of this sport if you’ve been in it long enough. Sometimes mistakes are going to be made, or things are going to happen. I’ve been on both sides. We had manifold issues here one time where it was made out of the wrong material, and it was a GM part that was sent to us. It was a mistake, but ultimately the team takes that responsibility and pays the price. You feel for everybody on the team. You feel for everybody on the team. You feel for others when that happens. But, it is just kind of the way it works.”
 
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR HIS (MATT KENSETH) TEAM CAN BE MORE MOTIVATED BECAUSE OF THIS, AND HAVE BETTER PERFORMANCE? “If being angry, and wanting to have revenge makes you better, then yes. That’s kind of maybe going back to your question as well is that when things like this happen, and you don’t feel like it’s unjust that you kind of take it upon yourself as a team to just push a little harder; just do a little bit more. Sometimes you don’t know that you have that in you, but it is amazing how in that moment you can find a little bit more. I think we’ve seen it in Brad as well with the No. 2 team and that fight. Sometimes it tears you apart, or tears you down. And, sometimes it lifts you up and makes your stronger, and makes you fight harder. The thing is that Matt and his team, they are a rock solid team. They have been showing it this whole year, and continue to. To me, whatever happened this past weekend is not going to affect how those guys perform going forward.”
 
DOES THE MANUFACTURER HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO THE TEAMS TO DO THE BEST THEY CAN TO COVER THE FINANCIAL END OF WHAT NASCAR HANDS DOWN AGAINST THAT TEAM?  “There is an argument for that. Again, the team is ultimately responsible because they are the one that signs off on everything and take that car. So, if there is a part or piece, doesn’t matter who delivered it to them, where it was manufactured, it is still their responsibility to put it on the car, and make sure that it passes inspection. But as an insider on the team, you are pretty upset when you feel like ‘ok, this is not a part or piece that we need to go through and check the medal…’.  We weigh every rod I know when we get them. Know there’s not a single…and we actually have them heavy. Ours are too the heavy side just to be safe. That’s just what I’m hearing that we do. So, you just assume that is what ever team does. I don’t know if that is the case in this scenario.”
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
APRIL 26, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED THIRD
TELL US ABOUT YOUR RUN:
“I knew I was close.  I came across the line and I said ‘man please tell me that is it’ because I knew we were talking hundredths at this place.  The first lap I went to get in the gas off of (turn) four and the back end jumps out that was pretty much it for that lap.  I tried to feel the car out and see what it was doing it felt like it was doing the things it wanted to do the second lap.  I drove into (turn) one really deep and just didn’t quite turn as good as I needed it to.  I knew that was a good corner, but not a great corner so I tried to make up for it down here.  I actually got through there really good.  Came up a little bit short, but still all-in-all a great day for the Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 QUAKER STATE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED FOURTH
ARE YOU SEEING THE SAME PICK UP THAT A LOT OF THESE OTHER GUYS ARE SEEING?
“We picked up a good bit more.  Our qualifying run in practice we were off a little bit.  They changed the car around and felt really good there. I was just a touch tight, but really close and happy with the Quaker State Chevrolet.”
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 15THON HIS LAP“Well, the track picks up a good bit. It’s kind of tough to gauge that speed when your are the first of a couple of cars out. But I’m proud of the guys on the Outback Chevrolet. They did a good job working through some adjustments today and I feel like we have a better handle on our race package than we do on our qualifying package.”
 
HOW IS THIS TRACK GOING TO CHANGE FROM TODAY TO TOMORROW NIGHT WHEN YOU GO GREEN UNDER THE LIGHTS?
“I don’t know if it matters as much as is anticipated. It’s going to change, but it all depends on where you start and what issues you have to deal with. It definitely picks up a good bit of grip. But just like you see right there, hat was sis-tenths quicker than our practice speed.”
 
DANICA PATRCK NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED
“It’s a lot faster now than it was. It’s cooled off and it turned pretty well. Getting into the center it just felt like I was chasing the rear. So, that was a decent run. I think we had a decent pick-up and we’ll just see how that translates into the rest of the qualifying.”
 
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 AIRGAS/BULWARK CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED: 16RG
WAS THAT A GOOD RUN?
“Not particularly. We went through (Turns) 1 and 2 really good on the second lap but I overdrove the entrance into (Turn) 3 and got up the track, and not being on the bottom when the exit got me loose coming to get the checkered. So, I let my guys down a little bit. The grip level is so much more than it was in practice but I just pushed it a little too hard.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 19TH
IS IT A DISADVANTAGE TO GO OUT EARLY?
“Yeah, I think it’s an advantage to go out when the track is cooler and has a lot more grip. But I thought we would still be able to run pretty well. We qualified really well last year, so I wasn’t really too worried. I thought we’d still get a pretty decent spot and I don’t really know where I was going to end up. I don’t know that we ran as well as we thought we would and even against the competition we were around even in the beginning of the order. So, we’ll just have to see.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 13TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT
“I expected a little bit more. I thought we practiced a little bit better in qualifying trim that probably where we were going to end up. But our McDonald’s Chevy was really good in race trim. We did, I think as many long runs as anybody and the car was really comfortable; which I think was a big deal here. And it had pretty good speed. So, we learned some stuff in qualifying trim that I hope we can apply to our race package. So yeah, everything is going good for us.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 DEPEND CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 6TH:
WAS THIS THE LAP YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?
“Our Depend Chevy did pretty good. But in qualifying trim we never really got the car to my liking. But I’m pretty happy with the result but I wanted a little more.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 26, 2013
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 QUAKER STATE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed racing at Richmond, penalties for the Matt Kenseth No. 20 team, his equipment at Hendrick Motorsports, what he has done to improve, and more.  Full transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT YOU AND THE TEAM’S MOMENTUM COMING INTO RICHMOND:  “Things have been going really well. We didn’t feel quite right today. There were times when we felt pretty good. Race trim got to where I was pretty happy; a couple of small adjustments for tomorrow’s race, and I think we’ll be in a good spot compared to other cars. That’s good. We made one mock run right at the end, and just didn’t go very fast. So, we’re trying to figure out how to do a better job qualifying this afternoon. It should be interesting. The bottom seems really good here, which it has the last couple of times we have raced here. I remember there was a day that you would just keep moving higher and higher. That seemed like the spot to be two or three years ago, and now it is just how low can you go. The track has changed a lot over the last couple of years, but I feel pretty good with our Quaker State Chevrolet.”
 
DO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARDED THE WIN LAST WEEK CONSIDERING MATT’S (KENSETH) PENALTY? “I don’t know. I thought about that this week. In sprint car racing, you know you win the Knoxville Nationals and then something is illegal, then the guy in second would win. But, I just think the way NASCAR…to me – it has always been a lot different than that. There have been plenty of penalties after the fact, you know, when the car goes through tech and things. In Matt’s case I would say that as far as what happened with them is to me, from what I’ve read, it seems like a mistake, and it also seems like something that would make zero factor in speed. I think there are a lot of things you can do to gain speed, and go faster, and be more competitive. But, as far as what happened to them and to Matt, because I don’t think that gave them anything at all, maybe less. Who knows? It’s hard to see all that. Matt’s a good guy, and that was a pretty big deal for those guys.”
 
WAS KYLE LARSON ON YOUR RADAR AT ALL BEFORE HE GOT INTO NASCAR? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HIM AND HIS ABILITY? “He actually has been because he did some stuff…we get a lot of our sprint car parts through Kaeding Performance out in California. He had a deal with them.  He drove one of their sprint cars. So with our relationship out there, we knew a lot about him. My cousin Willie knew a lot about him. I would always hear really good things about him. Then I started paying attention before he got to the Nationwide Series or the Truck Series, or maybe even a year prior to that. He has been pretty impressive since he started. Always has since he’s been on four wheels. I think he is going to stay that way. He is talented. He enjoys racing. That is all he wants to do. He has a lot of drive and passion for it, so I think he’ll be a guy that is going to win NASCAR races for sure.”
 
YOU ARE OFF TO A GREAT START, WHAT IS IT? IS IT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS? IS THERE SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN YOUR CAREER? WHAT IS IT? “I would say it definitely starts with Hendrick Motorsports. From the car; the preparation at the shop; building the car; building the chassis; the body; the aero side of things. Then the engines run great. Everything from Chevrolet and our engine shop. And then just the relationship – myself, Kenny (Francis, crew chief) and Keith (Rodden, engineer), and our whole team. We have built some of it with the guys from last year, and other parts of it have been going for a long time. So for me, just putting all that stuff together, and being really relaxed and confident. I just feel like we have a shot every week. I really think that we have. We’ve been kind of in the hunt whether it was practice or the race – especially in the race; every race this year.”
 
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE GENUINELY A CONTENDER FOR THE CHASE? “I hope to be. I hope as this season goes on we keep getting stronger. There are so many things that go into that in those final 10 races. I think I’ve felt pretty good the last two or three years in those final 10 races – two years – whether we were in the Chase or not, I ran pretty well. So, if we can keep building our team, hopefully we can be one of those guys when that time of the season comes. But, hard to say right now, there is still a lot of racing to go.”
 
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE FEELING WHEN YOU COME TO THE TRACK WHEN THINGS ARE GOING SO WELL? “I really feel like Monday, whether when we won at Bristol, or Monday after last weekend, or after Phoenix, or whenever it may have been; Monday or Tuesday I am already ready for the following race, and I am excited for it.  Can’t wait to get there.  I get to look forward to it all week long. It is nice to have that. I’ve had that before, and I think a lot of people do with what we get to do as far as racing each weekend; something that we love to do. You are always looking forward to three or four days from now. I’ve had that all season and I’ve had it a lot. I think it goes to…just a lot of it’s just to show that I feel that we can win, and I want to win. It’s exciting for me each week. Other than that, I would say a lot of things are the same…similar to last year. Just trying to find where my trailer is parked, where the car is parked…all that stuff. It’s always different. It’s places I’ve never been. To be second in points…I don’t know if I’ve been second before. I don’t recall being second. It feels good.”
 
DO YOU THINK TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, YOU CAN CONTINUE AS YOU ARE NOW? OR DO YOU HAVE TO BE A DIFFERENT, MORE AGGRESSIVE KIND OF DRIVER? “I think one of my biggest downfalls since I have been in this Series is being consistent. That is something I’ve worked on.  I have really wanted to get better for awhile. Last year I thought we did after the first seven or eight races and carried that through to this year. To me the reason we are where we are at is because we are way more consistent because I have been, and the team has. In order to win the championship, I think you need to win a little bit more. We’ve won one so far. But, consistency is the only way to do it. You can’t fall out of races, and get in wrecks and things like that. I feel like that we are making gains in the right areas. You just have to peak at the right time. You never know which team is going to do that. There are going to be 12 teams that definitely have a shot to do that when that time of the season comes. But right now, it is just about being consistent, figuring out each track and these cars; the tires and the things that they throw at us.”
 
‘YOU CHASED MATT KENSETH TO THE FINISH LINE AT LAS VEGAS AND AGAIN LAST WEEK AT KANSAS. JGR HAS WON FOUR OF THE FIRST EIGHT RACES. WHEN YOU SEE AN INFRACTION WITH PENALTIES LIKE THIS AS A COMPETITOR, DOES THAT PUT A QUESTION MARK OVER THE TEAM.
“It does not, to me. Not at all. I feel like we’ve always known you don’t mess with engines at any type of racing. It’s a big deal and not a good thing at all. But as far as them and their team and their speed and how they get it each week, I feel like their going to be there all season long. Especially Matt (Kenseth) and Kyle (Busch), and when Denny (Hamlin) comes back and those are three great drivers and three great teams and a great owner. So I don’t see them going anywhere. To me, I don’t feel like they’re cheating in any way. I don’t think that’s what you can even call it. To me it’s more like it was a mistake. You get in trouble for it because it’s a big deal and they’re taking the consequences for it. But to me, they didn’t cheat as far as I
look at it in my head.”
 
YOU TALK ABOUT WORKING TO BE MORE CONSISTENT. AT TIMES YOU CAN’T CONTROL CERTAIN THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO THE CAR. WHEN YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT BEING MORE CONSISTENT, HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED OR WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO AT LEAST CONTROL THE THINGS THAT YOU CAN?
“Over my career there have been plenty of times when things happen that I can’t control or that even the team can’t control. It’s just situations. There have also been plenty of times when I’ve done a bad job in practice with communication or something to where we get the car to where say it’s too loose and we can’t get it back throughout the whole race. So, I take that on myself. I just didn’t get the car right. So for me, a big part is our final two practices of the weekend to be much better there and get the car more consistent to where I feel comfortable and I’m kind of looking ahead into the race and how those races change the feeling of the car and how that changes in the races. That’s where I feel like I need to be more consistent and I think we’ve done a really good job of that for the last year and a half. And there have been other times in my career where I wear myself out and (crew chief) Kenny (Francis) out too. I’ve tried to step-up my side of it and I know that Kenny is always up on his. I think it’s just little things that I’ve seen over the years that I could do a better job of and I feel like I have.”
 
YOUR EQUIPMENT IS PROBABLY MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR CAREER.  IS EQUIPMENT HELPING YOU OR HAVE YOU RISEN TO THE EQUIPMENT, IN THAT SENSE?
“I’d say a little bit of both. Definitely the equipment is great every week. And I agree, and I feel like the equipment is great every week that gives me confidence and we have teammates that you can look at and go ahhh; and see what they did and that helps so we can try some of that stuff. Personally, I’ve had cars that are as good in the past. Some of those race cars were some of the nicest cars I’ve driven.
 
“Early on, with Ray Evernham, those were some of the nicest cars on the track and had some of the most speed. Back in my rookie year, if I had known what I was doing like I do now, I probably would have won 10 races that year. Not the first year with Evernham. The cars were better than anything out there, or at least as good as probably the Hendrick cars or the Roush cars at the time. Personally, I think I’ve come a long ways and then it’s great to have some of the best equipment and engines every single weekend.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 26, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed being fastest in the final practice session, the penalties levied this week against Joe Gibbs Racing, the new qualifying format NASCAR announced this week for Sonoma and Watkins Glen and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
YOU WERE FASTEST IN THE FINAL PRACTICE SESSION TELL US ABOUT IT:
“The last qualifying run went really well.  It makes you nervous when you are practicing during the day and you are going to qualify at night and you are fastest in your qualifying run.  Because you know the track is going to change.  We are going to try to do our best using previous experience and notes to make sure that we adjust it right for when the sun goes down.  We drew a really late number as well so we have been good here qualifying in the past.  I think we could have a shot at it today.  That is certainly good.  We have seen here as well where qualifying doesn’t really mean that much if you don’t get that car working really well in race trim.  So we really are working hard on that aspect of it.”
 
TALKING ABOUT QUALIFYING NASCAR MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT THIS WEEK THAT THE QUALIFYING SESSIONS WOULD BE CHANGED FOR THE ROAD COURSES WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
“It’s cool.  I’m a big fan of Formula 1 and I love knock out qualifying.  I kind of was hoping that we would go more towards the knock out qualifying session because I think in road racing that gives you that opportunity to do that.  But we have 45/50 cars that we have to get qualified in so it’s a little bit more challenging to do that.  You are obviously going to have that clock and the ability to kind of make a second lap if you need to.  Which at Sonoma I think that is the biggest thing is trying to get heat in the tires and make that lap the way we do it on single lap qualifying is very challenging.  I think what I’m looking forward to most guys are is being able to go out there and really plan your lap and get heat in the tires as you cross that line and then lay down that lap.  It will be very interesting to see how that goes.  I’m certainly anxious to try a new format.”
 
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THE PENALTIES THIS WEEK AGAINST JOE GIBBS RACING?
“We have always known that engine related incidences get very severe penalties.  It just seems to me like in that instance it’s not worth not only what intentions could be, but also not double checking and making sure that you do all your checks and balances.  To make sure that those parts and pieces, even if it’s a mistake, doesn’t get in that engine, which is something that I know Hendrick Motorsports works extremely hard on, because we know how severe those types of penalties can be.  It’s unfortunate they are having a great year and when you look at who is responsible for it I don’t know if they are getting penalized as much as the team is. But we also know ultimately the crew chief and the car owner on that team is who NASCAR holds responsible.  Somebody has got to be responsible for it.”
 
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE AT TALLADEGA NEXT WEEK?
“I’m certainly very anxious to see because bigger wider race track compared to Daytona.  In Daytona I feel like we learned a lot about being very patient and picking and choosing your moments to try to make passes.  I certainly tried to make some that didn’t work out and cost us a lot of positions.  We saw single file through the middle section of the race, but yet still be extremely exciting in the closing laps.  I think that you are going to see certainly that at the end.  The unknown is with this bigger, wider track are we going to be able to complete those passes that we weren’t able to at Daytona.  We did see handling be a bigger issue at Daytona when you were around other cars on the longer runs.  That doesn’t normally seem to be the case at Talladega, so we won’t know until we get there, get in practice, start drafting and run our race.”
 
YOU ARE IN THE SAME SHOP WITH KASEY KAHNE HOW GOOD ARE THEY RIGHT NOW?
“Kasey (Kahne) and Kenny (Francis, crew chief) were going through a lot of changes.  That whole shop was last year being new to Hendrick.  I think that is tough for anybody to come into a new environment and just get into the rhythm and flow and get started off by being very competitive, winning races and not having issues.  We saw how strong they were this second half of the season and it looks like this year they have been able to kind of pick up where they left off and get off to a much better start this season.  So that is great.”
 
ARE YOU IMPRESSED WITH KYLE LARSON’S TRANSITION SO FAR FROM DIRT TO ASPHALT?
“I’m impressed with Kyle Larson for a lot of reason and a lot of different series.  I raced sprint cars.  I raced midgets and of course the last 20 plus years been racing in NASCAR.  To me non-winged sprint car on dirt is probably one of the hardest race cars there is to drive.  He makes it look pretty easy.  He can jump back and forth and be competitive in just about everything that he gets into.  I think he has impressed a lot of people.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 26, 2013
                 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed racing at Richmond, frustration with another driver at Kansas, being on The Colbert Report and other topics.  Full transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY AND YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE WEEKEND: “I’ve always enjoyed coming to Richmond. I was just talking about that…had fun racing Indy cars here. I liked driving the Nationwide car here. We didn’t have the greatest result, but it was still fun. Even in the Nationwide car, Ricky (Stenhouse) and I were talking about it; we struggle with getting the power down off the corner after 20 or 30 laps. So, I can’t imagine how much fun this is going to be in a Cup car. We’ll have to see. There seems to be some similarities between Martinsville and here. We’re hoping that that translates.”
 
YOUR DIVORCE WAS FINAL LAST WEEK, ANY COMMENTS ON THAT? “No. It is just the end.”
 
AFTER THE RACE LAST WEEK, WERE YOU REALLY MAD AT (DAVID) GILLILAND, OR WAS THAT JUST VENTING ON THE RADIO? “Yes, I was mad. I’ve felt like he drives very aggressively against me from Darlington last year on. There was just a lot more of it last weekend, and I was frustrated. But, I think in general it was a frustrating race, and that was just one of the elements.”
 
HOW MUCH OF A CHANCE DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE OF WINNING AT TALLADEGA CONSIDERING HOW WELL YOU RAN AT DAYTONA? “I feel like I’ve learned some lessons from Daytona about the draft, and that unfolds at the end if you are in the right place at the right time. I think that when we talk speedway racing, there’s a lot of luck involved. Like I said, right place at the right time…there are a lot of people that have a good chance of winning Talladega I think. Hopefully we are one of them at the end of the race. But, we won’t know that until end of the race.”
 
HOW MUCH WAS THE COLBERT REPORT EXPERIENCE? WHAT’S IT LIKE CARRYING HIS LIKENESS ON YOUR CAR THIS WEEKEND? “I have always liked The Colbert Report. I think it is a great show. It is really funny. I love his (Stephen Colbert) sense of humor. That was the first time I have been on his show. I was excited. He’s a cool guy. Obviously he plays a character. He said before I went out there.  So my character is incredibly ignorant and stupid. Just bear with me; have fun with it. It was cool. When we got done, he came back and said good job; that was fun; sorry I went a little bit long, but I was having a good time. So that’s a very nice thing for him to say. I had a good time. I felt like he went kind of easy on me. I’m glad I’ve watched the show because I was prepared for anything. I feel like I watch his show and I see some people that go on and I don’t think they have any idea what that show is all about, and what he does on it. I’m glad I had some knowledge. It was a lot of fun. It’s always fun to do those kinds of things that are a little different and outside the box.
 
“I’ll take the Colbert bump, sure. He has a big following. I guess, really, I’m one of them. It was nice of GoDaddy to let that go on the car. I didn’t make the joke on TV, but we would have gone about it, I would have said I will try and keep his face off the wall. We’ll have to see.”
 
HOW ARE YOU ADJUSTING TO THE GEN SIX CUP CAR? WHAT CHARACTERISTICS HAVE YOU NOTICED ON THIS TRACK THAN IT WAS LAST YEAR WITH THE PREVIOUS CAR? “We haven’t been out on the track yet, and I wasn’t on the track last year in the Cup Series to know what that would have even been like to tell you what the difference is. I feel later today you’ll probably have a better answer from someone who’s been here in a Cup car. The new Gen Six is fine. We are all just adapting. I feel like we are running okay on certain kinds of tracks as a team, but struggling at some others. We will work that out; sooner than later hopefully.”
 
DID GILLILAND’S “SHUT-UP AND DRIVE” COMMENT BOTHER YOU, OR DID YOU SORT OF FEEL LIKE HE IS TREATING YOU LIKE EVERYONE ELSE? “No, I don’t think he races me like everyone else. I watched him move over, and let someone by, so no, I don’t think he does. And, that is what makes me mad. He is just getting more attention for this than he deserves.  I think he was just driving in a way that I didn’t think was appropriate, and I haven’t thought was appropriate for a long time, but it was just too much that time.”
 
A LOT OF PENALTIES HAVE BEEN LEVIED BY NASCAR THIS YEAR.  DO YOU THINK NASCAR HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY TOUGH THIS YEAR?  HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE MOST RECENTLY MATT KENSETH? “It’s tough for me to know what the things that teams, cars, drivers, owners have been penalized for and to know how bad that is.  I think that penalties happen more in (Sprint) Cup than anywhere it seems like, and I haven’t been around that long, and I don’t know how much of these things are performance gains or oversights or blatant or something they just got caught for.  I just don’t know.  I don’t know if it has to do with the new car, I really don’t.  So I would say that NASCAR is definitely sending a message that if something is found that they don’t like, that there will be penalties for it.  That’s pretty clear.”
 
WITH THE NEW GENERATION 6 CAR IT SEEMS LIKE THEY ARE TURNING RECORD LAPS AT THESE TRACKS.  DOES THAT MAKE YOU NERVOUS AT ALL HAVING TO GO OUT AND RACE IN A NEW CAR THAT YOU HAVE NEVER USED ON A CERTAIN TRACK AND ITS GOING TO BE RUNNING AT RECORD SPEEDS? “We are talking tenths of a second or a mile-an-hour.  I mean we are not talking about going from 100 to 200 miles-an-hour, so no.   You are not nearly going to feel it.  There is probably a bigger difference going from qualifying trim to race trim, so we are talking small amounts here.  So I think it’s a talking point, but the car is similar, and I think that is what we can see….that it’s similar.  So, maybe it’s a little bit faster, maybe it could be a little bit slower.”
 
IN YOUR HISTORY OF RACING; INDYCAR, ETC, AND EVERYTHING – DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE DRIVER SHOULD ALWAYS BE RESPONSIBLE IN A PENALTY SITUATION WHETHER IT WAS THE ENGINE BUILDER, CHASSIS, OR WHATEVER, WHO BROKE THE RULE? “Oh gosh, I hope not because I have absolutely no idea what goes on other than when I am driving the car.  If you are asking if it’s just the driver that should be held responsible, then I don’t.   If you are asking if they should get a penalty then it’s the team that puts the car out there that gets that result so it all kind of goes hand-in-hand but I definitely don’t think it should be all the driver’s penalty.  But you are driving for a team where NASCAR found something they didn’t like so the biggest penalty is the car that is out there running for the championship points, so that is where they get them.  That is what hurts the most, you know?”