Chevy Michigan quotes

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CARFAX 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 14, 2010

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET met with media and discussed the Chase, hot streaks, NASCAR fines, and more. Full Transcript:

HOW WAS YOUR FIRST PRACTICE SESSION THIS MORNING?
"I spent half the practice session this morning waking up. That's much earlier than I'm used to being up in the morning. But the track, early in the morning like this, has a lot of grip. I think that second session will really give us all a better idea of how our cars are driving and handling. This morning it was really fast, pace-wise and had a lot of grip. I think we're just trying to find a good base off of what we learned yesterday in the first practice and I feel like we're a lot closer today than we were yesterday. But I think we're really going to put the majority of our stock into this next and last session. That's going to be the most valuable practice session of the weekend to truly have a good read on what kind of car we're going to have for Sunday."

ON NASCAR FINING DRIVERS FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS, SHOULD NASCAR CONTINUE TO DO THAT?
"We mentioned the last couple of weeks that there are other pro sports that have the same thing. It's done for a reason. We, as drivers, and people here in the media center are just as guilty at times of being worse on our sport than anybody'; and in a way that's not really justified. I'm not sure that NASCAR as a sanctioning body deserves some of the things that we say as drivers and some of the things that the media says. The sport and the racing right now is more competitive than it's ever been. From NASCAR's side, they've got to do what they have to do to protect the sport. The great thing is that the media is allowed to get to us right after we get out of our cars when the Adrenalin is flowing. There is no other sport like that. There never has been. And that's a great thing and I don't think it's fair to you guys (media) to see that side of it go away. But at the same time, there are a lot of things said in that first five or 10 minutes that 30 minutes to an hour after the race is over I think a lot of times we wish we would have phrased it different or said it different. I think that's what has kind of forced NASCAR to do what they've had to do. They didn't just all of a sudden one day say uh, this is what we're going to do.

"I think we as drivers and members of the media have put them in that position. NASCAR has built over 60-plus years of product that's a good product and is a thriving product. I don't think it's fair for us as drivers or media to tear all that down. None of that happens overnight but I think we all forget everybody in this room and myself included, how good we really have it to do what we do every week and to be able to go the places we do and participate in the sport that we all love."

HOW CLOSE ARE YOU GUYS WITH THE CHASE COMING UP AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU STILL NEED TO GAIN? WE'VE SEEN A BUNCH OF GUYS HAVE MINI HOT STREAKS, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
"Well, I think the mini hot streaks are just finding something that works. We're still in a period of transition with this new car. What you find that works right now may work three or four weeks. The engineers are doing such a good job of continuing to find things that these cars like that they're finding bigger chunks quicker. I think that's why we see the spurts from different organizations. Do I feel like we're right where we need to be? Not exactly. Do I feel like we're gaining on it? Yes. I'm excited about the fact that I feel like we're looking up the hill and not looking back at where we're sliding to. So I feel like we're gaining on it. I'm not sure we're exactly where we want to be yet, but right now we're making progress and that's the progress that we want doing into the Chase versus last year this is kind of the part where the wheels started falling off and we're maintaining or sliding backwards. I'm happy with the progress the team has made this year. It's easy to go from having a first year like we had last year that went so well for so long and to have the disappointment this year of not running as well as we'd like for guys to not necessarily give up, but just lose their enthusiasm and lose that drive and that's something that I'm really proud of my guys at our shop at Stewart-Haas and even the engine department at Hendrick and the chassis department there. I feel like they've continued to push way hard. So I feel like we've got a good group of guys that have really got their heads down to the ground and they're focused on what we're trying to do and accomplish."

REGARDING CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OF NASCAR FROM DRIVERS AND OWNERS, WHAT ARE THE APPROPRIATE TIMES AND FORUMS FOR YOU GUYS TO EXPRESS THAT? DO YOU AS AN OWNER HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS THOSE THOUGHTS AND IDEAS AS YOU DID BEFORE?
"There are times and places to express what's on your mind. NASCAR has always had an open-door policy of us going in and venting frustrations to them and I think that's where they get frustrated at times. We come in here (media center) and we give you guys (media) everything that you want and the sound bite that you want that gives you the story that you want. But at the same time it backs NASCAR in a corner when we should go to NASCAR and discuss those issues behind closed doors and give them the opportunity to either address the issue or explain to us why it's being done in the way it is without making it a firestorm for those guys. The appropriate place to do it is go to NASCAR and talk to them behind closed doors like it should be.

"And on a side note, when I say this room is guilty of it, it's not everybody in this room. There are a handful of people who have created the problems just like the drivers have. I don't mean that everybody in the media center has killed the sport by any means because it's not that way. There are a lot of good journalists in here. But there's a group of them that are the bad eggs just like anywhere else and they're the ones that consistently week in and week out focus on anything negative that happens here and that's the people that I was speaking about."

ARE YOU GETTING CLOSE TO FIRMING UP YOUR SPONSORS FOR THE NO. 14 FOR 2011?
"Yeah, we're working on it. It's a daily process. It's the normal deal; when we have something signed I guarantee we'll be happy to announce it to everybody. But we're still working on it.”

IS IT GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION?
"Well, I hope so. We're trying. It's not an easy process. It's a day-to-day process. That's all I can say."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A ROAD COURSE IN THE CHASE OR ANY OTHER ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FORMAT?
"I would love to see a dirt race at Eldora in the Chase (laughter) which, I've mentioned for 10 years. So, hopefully I won't have to go 11 years before we get one but I'm not going to hold my breath that it's going to happen. It doesn't matter to me. I think that there are races that some of us would like to see in the Chase. I think there are one or two races that some of us would like to see out of the Chase, but NASCAR is pretty smart at knowing which races to have in there and why they need to be in there which is why we have them as the sanctioning body."

ALTHOUGH YOU'RE ONLY IN YOUR SECOND YEAR AS A CAR OWNER, DO YOU GET A SENSE OF SOMEBODY LIKE RICHARD CHILDRESS WHO HAS HAD PEAKS AND VALLEYS OVER THE YEARS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THOSE? HOW CHALLENGING IS THAT? HOW HAS HE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT?
"You're giving me way too much credit. I wish I was that smart to know how to do that. But you're right. He's one guy that hasn't had to go rely on an outside source to bail himself out and keep his organization running. He's been able to figure out how to do it singlehandedly. And with that, I think that makes him one of the strongest car owners in the series. He's just an average guy that loves this sport and has poured his heart and soul into it. Like you said, there have been a lot of valleys and at times there have been peaks and in the middle of that, but even through when times aren't good he fights and he won't give up and that's what you have to do as a car owner at this level. Everything is great when things are going well. When times are tough is what shows you the true character of an organization. I think that's why Richard has been as successful as he has for so long is because he's one of those guys that just will not stop and will not quit. He stays focused and knows how to get the job done."

JACK ROUSH WAS HERE YESTERDAY AND TALKED ABOUT THE PRIDE HE HAD IN THAT HIS TEAM WENT ON WITHOUT A HITCH WHILE HE WAS SIDELINED. AS A TEAM OWNER, GOD FORBID SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU, WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR TEAM? DO YOU HAVE PLANS IN PLACE AND HOW DOES EVERYBODY HANDLE THAT?
"I've been gone for three weeks racing sprint cars and luckily the team has given me a hall pass to go do that. But it's proof that my organization doesn't have to have me to operate. Yeah, there are provisions in place if something should happen. You have to have that in place. Our team will do the same thing. Our team will continue on whether I'm here or not."

Michigan quotes 8/10

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

CARFAX 400

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, BROOKLYN, MI

AUGUST 15, 2010

 

KASEY KAHNE, No. 9 FORD FUSION

What should we expect on the track this weekend at Michigan? “There is so much racing room out there that you have to really work on your setup. I feel like that is one of the tracks where it is really critical to have a good aero and engine package. The racing at Michigan can be great at times. It also can be a race where cars run away and get strung out and there’s not a lot of passing going on. As far as the width of the race track and racing groove, there’s plenty of room. If you have a good car, you’ll be able to pass and it will be a fun race.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL/PENNZOIL CHEVROLET – POINT LEADER: "Michigan has been tough for us. We've had a tough time just trying to figure out the package that we need to. Everywhere else we've been this year one of us has been able to figure something out but Michigan has been a place where we all struggle. This time going back we'll have a couple of days with the new Nationwide car that we're going to hopefully use to our advantage to get a direction on some things. Hopefully when Cup practice starts, I feel like last time we got a good direction that we needed to go last time in qualifying and hopefully our stuff that we came up with this time will be a little bit better than what we raced last time. So we're looking to go being competitive with a lot of different changes than what we had last time. We just struggle finding the balance of the car. We have great horsepower, so that's not a problem; and our cars are great week in and week out. But for whatever reason we just find it tough to find the balance on the car whether it's too loose or too tight. But it's a fun race track and I really enjoy going there and you have a lot of options as a driver to move from the bottom to the top. It's a fun place to go. Hopefully this is the time we can turn it around."

 

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET – 2^ND IN STANDINGS: “I love coming to this race track. Whether it’s on a double-file restart late in the race or just racing one guy ahead of you, there are a lot of places to go here. Because we can get fanned out and run multiple grooves in the corners and down the straightaways, that makes this one of the best tracks we race on in my opinion. We’ve run well here recently. Those two second-place finishes were fuel-mileage races, but I think we were a top-five car in both. In June, we were a top-five car again but we just didn’t really have enough to battle for the win. I don’t think we were too far off, so hopefully we can make those gains and battle for the win on Sunday.”

 

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET – 3^RD  IN STANDINGS: “Michigan has been our worst race track. It has been a track where we have struggled and have not been good at all. It has pushed us, tricked us and made us mad. But, it’s a place where we have to find a way to improve.  We had some circumstances and have been in some situations that made the finishes look worse than they really were. I like going to Michigan because it’s a fun race track. It gets pretty slick and there’s a lot of options and those are the places I tend to run well on. We took a step forward in the spring and we ran well. That was a step forward from what I’ve been doing there and I hope to be able to improve on that. Michigan has really been one of our weak points. I think the thing that really sticks out is the width of the groove. There are a lot of options at Michigan. You can run all the way down on the white line or run almost up by the wall. You don’t have to follow somebody around. It’s certainly not a one-groove track. That makes it so the driver has options. It also makes it a challenge for the team because the car has to work in multiple grooves. Running the groove that you feel good about in practice is important, but you also need to run the groove that you may have to run in the race. Getting the car to work well in multiple grooves is important. The only way to save fuel is to save fuel. You can’t go fast and save fuel. There’s varying degrees of saving fuel. Let’s say that you have to save fuel for four laps over 38 laps. To help that, you have to get out of the throttle a lot. If you have to save for a half of lap, then you have to get out of the throttle a little bit earlier and getting back in the throttle a little bit later but, if you have a lot to save, you just have to go partial throttle. You have to do a lot to keep fuel from going to the carburetor.”

 

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET – 5^TH IN STANDINGS: It’s fun trying to get one (track where he hasn't won yet) off the list.  Really happy to get two very difficult tracks for me off the list with Bristol and Sonoma.  Excited for Michigan.  It’s been a really good track for us.  We had a decent finish there in the spring.  Didn’t really perform like we wanted to during the day and we were trying some things.  We feel like we’re going to come back closer than what we were in the past.  We had a lot of speed in the car during the race and we’ll take it from there.  We’re optimistic, excited, no idea what to really expect.  It could be a fuel mileage race.  It’s been a good track for us although we haven’t won there, we’ve led a lot of laps over the years and hopefully we can take home a trophy.  Especially after last week with the disappointing finish after we ran so well and passed so many cars to then have a late-race incident take us out of a good finish.  I don’t like sliding down in the points any further than I am right now and looking forward to a good finish and hopefully to go up in the points a few spots.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET - 13^TH IN STANDINGS: “Michigan has been one of those tracks that we’ve always run well at. We always have some ups and downs as far as crazy, off-the-wall things that happen to us. We had a top-ten run going last time, but we pitted while others stayed out. We ended up in the fence and had a horrible finish. You never know how these races will shake out. These multiple attempts at green-white-checkered allow guys to get two laps back, put tires on, race their way into the top ten and knock you out of the way in the process. There are a lot of things that are happening and you have to play your cards right throughout the whole race, not just half of it. If we can do that, we’ll be successful. Michigan is a track that we can run well at. We just have to get there, get a feel for our race set up in practice, lay down a solid lap in qualifying and be there at the end. I know we can get a good run there. We just have to go there and perform.With the way the cautions are coming out, we haven’t seen anyone win on fuel strategy this year. If you think back to all the big tracks, fuel mileage always played into your race strategy. But, with the way things are shaking out this season, I just don’t see that happening.”

 

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 TORNADOS CHEVROLET – 14^TH IN STANDINGS: “For a driver, it’s just a great racetrack. In fact, I normally tell people that anyone can drive Michigan. It is so wide that cars can race three- and four-wide there every lap. The track has long sweeping corners, which helps to promote some really good racing. From a driver’s standpoint, you get to draft and bump-draft on the straightaways. I just think it’s a track that is conducive to good racing. To have a good run at Michigan, there are definitely a couple of key things that you have to have. The first thing is speed. You have to have horsepower to get around this ultra-fast racetrack. I’m confident in that area because we have such strong horsepower from Hendrick under the hood of our No. 39 Chevrolet. The second key is handling. The handling of the racecar is crucial, especially in turns two and three. The car can’t get too tight off two or be too loose off three. In June, I felt like we had a pretty good handling car for the most part during the race. I think we hung around the top 10 for most of the day. Unfortunately, we ran over a piece of debris on the racetrack and that really changed the complexion of the race for us. The handling went away, the front of the car didn’t work, and we ended up losing a lap. What happened was really perplexing and unfortunately it ended up costing us at the end of the day. Despite that, I think we have some good notes going back to Michigan this weekend, so I think we should have a good racecar. I feel like our performances at the mile-and-a-half and 2-mile tracks have improved this season. We just need to have a little luck this weekend, and I’m confident that we’ll have a solid finish. And right now, that’s what’s important to this race team. We’re on the outside looking in, and our goal is to make this Chase. To do that, we have to have a solid day at Michigan.”

 

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 PHILIPS NORELCO BODYGROOM PRO CHEVROLET – 15^TH IN STANDINGS: “Racing at Michigan is pretty significant for all of us at this organization. The region is home to General Motors so we always want to perform well when we come to Michigan. The track is pretty wide and gives us plenty of room to pass. Michigan typically has a lot of green flag runs, so we just make sure that our Chevrolet has the horsepower and the handling that we need all afternoon. While we started from the outside pole for the last race at Michigan, we just couldn’t seem to get the setup right for the race.  So, we’re looking to return with a couple of new ideas, and I know Bono feels pretty confident in some of the things we’ve found since the last Michigan race.  As a team we’re welcoming another new partner to the track this weekend in Philips Norelco.  This is just another great opportunity to welcome a well known, and successful brand like Philips to our team.  We certainly hope to have another great weekend following our overall EGR performance this past weekend in Watkins Glen.”

 

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD “DRIVE THE GUARD”/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET – 16^TH IN STANDINGS:  "Lance (McGrew, crew chief) and the guys unloaded a great car last time at Michigan. We've had some good runs with this car. I enjoy going to Michigan because it's so wide. It has a lot of different grooves, and we can move around and find places to run on the track. We like coming here because it's in the backyard of the manufacturers. Hopefully we'll get a win for Chevrolet."

 

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET – 19^TH IN STANDINGS: “I’ll be honest with you-it would be nice if we could carry over our momentum into Michigan this weekend. That win in Watkins Glen was big for us and we’d like to keep it going. I’ve said it all along our cars are fast and we’ve come along away with our program now it’s just going out there and getting that oval track win. We haven’t had a whole lot of luck at Michigan but maybe things are turning around for us now.”

 

BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 71 TAXSLAYER.COM CHEVROLET – 31^ST IN STANDINGS: “I am looking forward to the weekend. The cars that Dan and the guys are putting together for the ovals have gotten better with each race.  I like Michigan, so we should have a good weekend. Michigan is different than Atlanta, Fontana, Charlotte, and the Las Vegas type of tracks.  It is still flat.  You really have to keep your momentum up, which means having a good engine.  It is an exciting track.  It is a multi-groove track.  You can enter the turns high, low or in the middle and exit them the same way.  It has a lot of different characteristics that lend to some great racing, including running two tires below the white line or the right side right up against the wall all the way through the corners. You feel the draft towards the end of the straightaway more than you do at those other places.  The draft helps you to a certain extent, but not really through the corners.  It is to your advantage to catch guys down the straight and pass them into the corners with your handling. There are not many yellows historically at Michigan.  This means we will have to focus   on track position and knowing when to come for tires.  Track position is so important these days.  Sometimes tires will be better for you, but track position is always important and Michigan. You can have your car where it runs flat down the straightaway, a Daytona type look to it.  At the same time you have be aggressive on the set-up to go faster through the corners all day as opposed to worrying about the speed down the straightaway.  Years ago teams would take their Daytona car to Michigan.  Those guys would go fast down the straights and then hit the corners and they would be in trouble.”