Bowyer wins at Loudon

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

SYLVANIA 300

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 19, 2010

 

Clint Bowyer Wins at New Hampshire and Jumps From 12th to Second in Points and Gets the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Underway; Team Chevy Drivers Score Four of Top-Five and Six of Top-10 Finishing Positions

Loudon, N.H. (September 19, 2010) - Clint Bowyer made a strong statement that he is a contender in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a dominating win in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS).  Behind the wheel of the bright yellow No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, Bowyer led seven times for 177 of the 300 laps in today's race.

Coming into the NHMS race, the Richard Childress Racing driver was the 12th seed in the final field competing tor the Series' championship.  He is now second in the standings, just 35 points out of the lead, following the first of the 10-race Chase.

Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald's Chevrolet, finished third after leading three times for a total of 12 laps.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. brought the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet to the checkered flag in fourth place.

Kevin Harvick remains third in the Chase standings with his fifth place finish behind the wheel of the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont/National Guard Facebook Chevrolet, finished sixth and moved to fifth in points with nine races remaining in the season. Gordon is contending for his fifth NSCS championship.

Ryan Newman, No. 39 US Army Chevrolet, was the eighth-place finisher to give Team Chevy six of the top-10 finishers.

Four-time defending NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's/Johns Manville Chevrolet, dropped to seventh in the Chase point standings with a 25th place finish. Johnson was involved in two on-track multi-car incidents that forced him to pit road for repairs under caution, and then had an unscheduled green-flag stop for a suspected loose wheel.

Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, broke into the top-10 in the running order less than 75 laps into the race and continued to make his way toward the front of the field, but ran out of fuel as the field made their way to the checkered flag. He finished 15th and is 10th in the points order.

After leading three times for a total of 100 laps, two-time NSCS champion Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, had control of the race coming out of turn four heading for the white flag when his engine sputtered-out of fuel. He was relegated to the 24th place finishing position and now sits 11th in the standings.

Denny Hamlin (Toyota) finished second.

Race Two of the 2010 Chase will be Sunday, September 26 at Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware.

 

RICHARD CHILDRESS, TEAM OWNER, RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING

CLINT BOWYER AND CREW CHIEF, SHANE WILSON, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET – RACE WINNERS PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

 

            KERRY THARP:  We have our race winner for today's SYLVANIA 300, and the first race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, race win goes to Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 33 Cheerios Hamburger Helper Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing and he's joined by crew chief Shane Wilson and owner Richard Childress.  This is Clint's third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, he's won here twice, three years ago he led the Chase off with a win here.

            And Clint, talk about, was it déjà vu?  You had a strong car all weekend, and you had a lot of confidence in here on Friday, I remember, talking to you.

            CLINT BOWYER:  Just everybody, it reminded me so much of 2007.  You know, two weeks ago, going into Richmond, your feeling the confidence level in our race team, in our equipment level, everything was good.

            Shane built a brand new race car and we came here and we were fast right off the truck, and everybody had a lot of confidence, a pep in their step.  And we showed it from the time we unloaded to qualifying, practice, we were one of the fastest cars here.

            That's what it takes to run at this level, to be a part of that Chase, if we can go and continue to have as much fun as we did this weekend.    I know it's the key, I know it is to my success.  When I'm having fun, I'm always performing at my best, and I think it showed this weekend.

            We overcame some adversity and should some things go on there on the restart and them guys got around us.  And I really thought I could run him back down and Shane come on and told me I needed to start saving fuel.  And I knew in the back of my mind I needed to do that.  And it's hard to run somebody down and save fuel at the same time, but he informed me then that I better be saving fuel and not be worried about running him down and we did that, and darned if he didn't run out of gas.

            Just thrilled for General Mills, Cheerios and Hamburger Helper, 14 years in this sport and to finally win a race for them, we're very proud to have them as a sponsor and very proud of their support, not only our race team, RCR, but the start.

            KERRY THARP:  You move ten spots up in the points standings.  You go from 12th to second in one race; you have to feel good about that, as well.

            CLINT BOWYER:  Absolutely.  To come in here the underdog just like we did in 2007, to win the first race of the Chase and set that tempo, not only for the Chase but for our race team, our organization, all three of our cars were up front, and that's what it takes.  You've got to be able to work together as we did this weekend.

            We all three showed up a little bit different, and we found a common ground.  We all honed in on that, fine tuned it from there, worked together.  And if we do that for the rest of these races, you know, somebody at RCR is going to bring a championship trophy back home to this man.

            KERRY THARP:  Shane Wilson, talk about the performance of the team today and on pit road in particular.

            SHANE WILSON:  Just real good.  We've had a lot of races where we've performed good enough to win the first two thirds of the race, so glad today to kind of finish one out.  Circumstances allowed us to win this one but we were fast all day, and lost it a little bit there in the middle, in the blast run we were pretty good.  Just proud of all my guys that worked through it.  We are still a pretty new team and we are like 50 some odd races into this deal as a group working, together and just proud of all my guys.  They work hard and do what I ask them to do and just want to give them a lot of credit.

            KERRY THARP:  Richard Childress, certainly the resurgence of your race team this year has been one of the biggest stories in the sport, all three in the Chase and now you have Clint Bowyer winning the first race in the Chase.  Congratulations.

            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Thank you.  I'm just proud of everyone at RCR.  These guys here just did a phenomenal job.  Clint had a great car and for Shane to make the call, I didn't know how short we was on fuel.

            I knew it was going to be close and as soon as he got into second place there, that's when they started telling him to slow down in between Dillon telling him, me telling him and Shane telling him that he had to save it.  He did a great job being able to save fuel right there at the end.  I think we had a really strong car, and it would have been a good race if it had not been on fuel mileage but the way it came out, it worked out and we won the race.

 

            Q.  Clint, you're going into turn three, about to get the white flag.  Were you resigned to second place, and what did you think when all of a sudden Tony just basically topped?

            CLINT BOWYER:  Well, 40 laps before that, I knew when he started    you could tell by Shane's voice that I needed to start saving fuel, and I did that.  I thought I did.  He told me I needed two laps, so I was thinking about four (laughing).

            I was trying to save as much as I could.  I was lifting halfway down the straightaway and not hitting the brakes until you're almost in the corner and letting it roll around there as long as you could before we picked up the gas.  I saw the 11 coming and then you start worrying about, well, I'm not going to let him pass me.  I said, I am go to go run out for it before the guy passes me again.

            But you want to stay close enough that you're keeping pressure on him, but you also want to take care of business.  That's something that we take pride with.

            That's the first fuel mileage race all year long I think.  Nobody wants to see those, you know, but I'm glad it worked out.  We wanted to see double file restarts and maybe no green/white checkered but I like the double file restarts.  Everything worked out.

            I think this sport is as good as it's been, the racing's good.  The fan turnout this weekend was awesome, and more importantly, I think this Chase is going to be as close as it's ever been.  I mean, when the 12 seed wins the first race, all of those guys that have won races and everything else, it just shows you the level of competition in this Chase.

 

            Q.  Your reaction when Tony ran out?

            CLINT BOWYER:  Couldn't believe it.  I could not believe it.  And then I thought I was going to run out.  (Laughter) As soon as you see him run out, you're wondering when it's your turn then.  It happened in the burnout, thank God.  (Laughter).

            KERRY THARP:  Good timing.

 

            Q.  You vaulted from 12th to second here in the points and obviously you talked a little bit about the feeling of déjà vu to 2007.  That year, you finished third.  Now, do you feel like you have what it takes maybe to win the thing?

            CLINT BOWYER:  I know we have what it takes.  We have the equipment.  We have the race team.  It's up to us to get it put together.  Kevin Harvick has done a good job all season long of showing RCR's potential of getting it all, not just the start of the race, the middle of the race, but the finish.  And you know, if we can match what he's done 26 races in, somebody at RCR can win this championship.

 

            Q.  Just to follow up to that, where this team was a year ago now to you sitting here at victory lane, first race of the Chase, can you reflect on that, and all of the hard work that went to getting to this moment?

            CLINT BOWYER:  Absolutely.  It starts with the boss.  You know, he pulled everybody in there, said that, "I'm not satisfied with running second."   You know, nobody was.  Everybody was down.  It was a dismal year.  We started from scratch.  You know, he moved people around. 

            It's all about people.  That's the one thing that he's taught me in this sport and this business is you're only as good as the people around you and he's always surrounded us with good people with Shane and with everybody on this race team.

            You know, the management side of it, everybody knows the changes.  We have talked about it pre race and everything else.  Those are all changes that led to a great thing this year, and you know, thanks for him spending the money and making it happen.

 

            Q.  On the outside looking in, it looked like a tremendous risk going to the end.  Did you feel it was that big of a risk, and why was it worth it, considering Tony    what happened to Tony and what happened to your teammate, Jeff Burton.

            CLINT BOWYER:  I'll go.  You dominated the race.  You owe it to yourself to go out there and try and win the race.  We are the 12th seed going in, those are the kind of chances you're going to have to take to beat these guys in this championship Chase.

            I'm glad that he did it.  Did I think    when I saw everybody pit behind me, I wasn't worried about fuel mileage, I was worried about them tires driving around me.  But once I got going, our car was so strong on the long run that, you know, again, that's the chances you've got to take.  That's the chances that people win races at this sport take each and every week, and I'm proud of him for doing that.

            SHANE WILSON:  The track position was so important, and if we ever got up front again    you know, McMurray did, and you don't know that then.  And all we need was more cautions like we had and it was going to be really close.

            So we came in the 12th seed, and we talked about it before the race, it's going to allow us to race a lot looser than some of people.  Now, going to Dover in second, I don't know if I'll make that call or not.  (Laughter).

            CLINT BOWYER:  You'd better.

 

            Q.  Your guys were telling you to save fuel, Tony's guys were telling him to save fuel and Tony's guys were telling him they were telling you to save fuel and Tony comes on the radio and says he doesn't give two shits about saving fuel, he wants to win this race.  How do you balance    how do you balance the  

            CLINT BOWYER:  Quote, right?  (Laughter).

 

            Q.  Yes.  How do you balance the wanting it to win so bad, but, you know, knowing that the 31 is already    you know, ran out.

            CLINT BOWYER:  You just have to.  You've got to trust the people that are calculating the fuel mileage.  He knows how closure.  He told me the two laps, and it's not rocket science.  When you're lifting at the flag stand where you were lifting maybe 200, 300 feet past that before, you'd better make up a lot of those to make up for two laps of wide open throttle.

            I tried to do that.  I tried to do it as much as I could and keep the momentum through the corner to where I could keep a little bit of pressure on him to where he wasn't continuing to back up to me as I did.  You know, that was the thing that I was trying to pay attention to is he kept telling me my lap times and it seemed like the 40s is the lap time that I could    if I rolled the corner good in the middle, I was getting to the gas as late as I could and I was able to find that consistency in my lap times and I was able    because he was backing up to me.

            As I was backing up from the teens to the 20s to the 30s and then on to the 70s, he was, too, so I knew that I needed to get back to, you know, at least the 40s and have a shot at keeping some pressure on him.  So it just worked out.  It just as easily couldn't have, but damn glad it did.

 

            Q.  I guess Shane, you just sort of alluded to this, but my question, Clint, you've talked so much about you liked where you were, there's not been any pressure, there was no pressure over the final three weeks, you came in here after Jimmie the other day and you said, you guys just asked him ten questions about how much pressure he's are in, and nobody's asking me about any pressure; well, now you're second in the points.  You're 35 out.  Does that change now?  Is there pressure now?

            CLINT BOWYER:  I don't know.  You going to leave me alone next week?  (Laughter) I hope you do.  I had a lot of fun.  It's kind of a relaxing weekend.  I don't know if it's going to be that way from now on.

            But I'm telling you, you know, just like we launched ourselves into the pressure cooker early, and you've got to be able to continue to have as much fun as we did this weekend.  If we can do that, we can continue to have the success and run at this race.

 

            Q.  Do you still get a little jittery on the radio?

            CLINT BOWYER:  We were running out of glass.

            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Not Clint.  Not Clint.  (Laughter).

 

            Q.  I'm talking about long before you were running out of gas, when you start hearing, feeling vibrations.

            CLINT BOWYER:  I didn't hear a vibration.  I heard him saying, "Save!  Save!  Back up!"  And then Dillon and Richard and then back to Shane.  They were kind of taking turns telling me to let off.  I don't think they wanted me to run out.

 

            Q.  I'm talking way before the gas, I know Richard and Dillon and them were like, "Come on, Buddy, you can still win this, get your rhythm."  Sometimes, can you handle the pressure of this?  Sometimes it seems like they have to reel you back in.

            CLINT BOWYER:  Well, I sure as hell hope so.  Thanks a lot.  Can you?

            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Trying to earn money.

            CLINT BOWYER:  There's a lot of pressure in this Chase.  Geez, thanks.

 

            Q.  Clint it was quite a contrast in images after the race when you were doing the big burnout and Tony is limping along besides you trying to finish the race.  Did you notice that?  Did you see him there trying to finish as you were spinning around?

            CLINT BOWYER:  You know, I did, and I was really going to push him across but I didn't know what to do there, so I just went on to celebrate.

            You know, I hated that.  You hate to see that for anybody.  You can imagine the heartbreak of running out of gas with one lap to go.  You don't wish bad things upon anybody.  You're happy that you won the race and you leave it at that.  You hate to benefit from somebody else's mishap.  That's certainly part of racing.  We have certainly won and lost races the same way and that's just part of this sport.

 

            Q.  All week you talked about how this felt similar to 2007, and you were the guy to come up and say, hey, Superman's cape looks a little bit shorter this time around.  It could be he effectively argued that you called your shot in winning this race.  What's it like to have this confidence, and then back it up, and then does it give you a little bit of an edge, because I'm sure your competitors picked up on it.

            CLINT BOWYER:  Well, I don't know.  He was sitting next to me.  I was just kind of teasing him like we normally    that's me and Jimmie talking normal, just happened to have a microphone in front of me.  That's when I get in trouble.

            He's still the guy everybody is chasing.  He's won four of these things in a row.  You'd have to be a fool not to think he's not going to be the one down to the wire you're going to be racing for this thing.

            But I have to tell you, this is as strong, since I've been in the sport, this is as strong a Chase as ever.  I think the cars, the competition, everything, is so much closer than ever been.  You don't have that dominant organization.  When Jimmie was winning four races in the Chase, so was his teammates, they won the rest of them.  It wasn't like, you know, there was a multitude of cars winning races like myself.

            I mean, RCR, we didn't win a race last year.  Now we've got three of us in it with a shot at the championship.  Things are really shaking up to be an awesome Chase race and I hope that there's at least somewhere from three to six cars going into Homestead with a legit shot at the championship.  That's what this sport needs.

 

            Q.  How cool is this for you being at home?

            SHANE WILSON:  It's definitely a big deal.  Means a lot to me.  Come here a lot of times, got to win a Nationwide race with Kevin, ran good here with Brendan in the Truck Series, but to win a race in Cup; family is here, came and watched the first Cup race here when Rusty won up in the stands, so means a lot.

 

            Q.  It's said that when fans like an underdog, and here you guys, at the beginning of the year, the plan is to make the Chase, and then the plan is obviously to move up in the Chase, and you've done it.  So what do you tell your team?  What do you tell your fans?

            SHANE WILSON:  Just, you know, it's been a good deal.  We had goals going into this year, and one was to make the Chase, and another was to win a race.

            So today is a good day.  The last couple of weeks have been really good to us and now we have to capitalize on our opportunity and that's what    as an underdog, that's what we are going to do, and we did it today.  I really feel like, why not us?  You know, Jimmie Johnson is good, but he's won four in a row, and the last four or five weeks, we've been right there with him.  He's not that much better than us.  We can do it and why not us.

 

            Q.  When did you feel like you got through to Clint to save fuel, because obviously there was all that talk going on on the radio.  Were you confident you were getting through?  Because certainly at times, the margin was    he was closing in on Tony.

            SHANE WILSON:  Yeah, I usually don't talk that much on the radio, so I think he knew how important it was to save.  I usually don't say but    I probably just give him his lap time and the guy in front of him or ten four.  So I said that about a hundred times; I'm hoarse now.

            It's good.  It all worked out.  We went through some adversity and I think at the end, he knew how serious I was about the gas.

 

            Q.  Can you talk about the 29's day?  He seemed to be dead in the water and then all of a sudden he was Top 5, just like that.

            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Well, we had a really bad pit stop.  He had a really good car in practice, Top 5.  Clint showed to be the dominant car in practice and we felt he would run good, but we had bad pit stops and stuff.  I can't blame him for coming on there and screaming.  I screamed myself but I was a little kinder than he was.  (Laughter).

            CLINT BOWYER:  I'm not the only one that screams, see?

 

            Q.  Just to follow up on a question I asked Clint about the reflections on where the team was a year ago versus now, and do you feel like every penny that you spent to try and improve this team was well worth it?

            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Yeah, we were spending the money in 2009.  We was doing a lot of the right things but we just kind of went down the wrong path.

            And Charlotte World 600, I stood on the trailer and seen how we were chasing our tails and how behind we were, and we were in a panic mode.  I came back Monday or Tuesday, had a meeting with everyone, and started making changes and told them, you know, you have to build    it's just like building a house; your foundation is a start of a good home and the foundation for a good race car is a good chassis.

            We just started from there and all of us worked together and changed some people, got Scott Miller in place, and Kent Day in engineering and Mike Dillon is going a great job in the position he's in.  It was all a team effort.  I'm just a spoke in that big wheel that turns.

            CLINT BOWYER:  That would be the hub, not really a spoke.  I would call that the hub.  (Laughter).

 

            Q.  Bowyer showed up in New York this weekend wearing plaid and blue jeans and cowboy boots and reminiscent of you and your old buddy, and Stewart looks at him and said, what's up with the cowboy gear  

            CLINT BOWYER:  Called me hillbilly.

 

            Q.  Bowyer is kind of like the boy next door and the guy you want to go have a beer with.  The typical NASCAR fan, weren't we looking for a guy as likable as Clint that we can have a beer with?

            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Mike Dillon, it's funny you say that, he came over to me in Winter Circle and said:  This is the best thing for NASCAR, we need somebody like Clint Bowyer winning races and running for this championship.  Because Clint, he came from the short tracks, the dirt tracks.  He's worked and he's earned his way to where he is today.  He's very fan friendly.  The fans love him.  It's what I think NASCAR needs is a new type of hero, blue jeans, plaid pants, whatever, it's good.

            Cowboy boots, I've got mine on right now.  (Laughter).

 

            Q.  Can you just talk about the range of emotions you felt, obviously for dominating so much and then maybe worrying about it slipping away?  And now in light of pressure, do you feel additional pressure now that you're here to save NASCAR apparently, according to your boss?  (Laughter).

            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  No, I didn't put it that way.

            CLINT BOWYER:  You know, there's a lot of adversity that happens each and every week, and certainly when you have the dominant race car the whole time, everybody is looking to knock that off.

            And sometimes that's easy because he's out there and minding his own business and doesn't make adjustments to the car; you keep working on yours to be able to run him down, the caution comes out at the end, sets you up in position to roll on by.

            Man, I tell you, that car, I don't know what happened to the carburetor.  Had not had that happened all week end.  Had to have piece of dirt in it or something.  It was just popping, cracking, carrying on and wouldn't take off.  The longer we ran, the better it got because I didn't have so much throttle response off the corner and wasn't spinning as bad.  So it kind of worked in my favor after the first 15 laps or so.

            You know, you hate racing guys as hard as you do at the first.  My teammate, Jeff Burton, I am sure he was not very happy with me because I was racing him very, very hard, but I needed to stay in front of him, because about four or five laps, my car would just take off and you would run whoever was leading back down.

            And then the fuel mileage thing at the end that's very nerve wracking.  Any time, doesn't matter what racetrack you're at, when you're trying to save fuel, run people down, keep people from passing you from behind, there's a lot going on, it's very busy and nobody really knows exactly when you're going to run out.

 

            Q.  So how did you keep your head?

            CLINT BOWYER:  Well, I didn't.  Ask Jenna.

 

            Q.  You did.  You did much better.   (Laughter)

            CLINT BOWYER:  You deserved that.

 

            Q.  When you look back at 2007, how much of your ability to stay in that championship hunt stemmed from the momentum you gained here with that one win, and can this one win here keep you in it for a certain period of time?

            CLINT BOWYER:  You know, reminded me a lot of 2007.  That first win of the season, the first win, that was our first win as a group, too, just like it was here.  That confidence, the momentum, everybody, not just for me, the crew chief, and all of his decisions, the over the wall guys, everybody has a major pep in their step right now and they are going to carry that through on to next week and if we can continue to ride that momentum wave through this Chase, we can have a shot at it just like we did in 2007.  Going into the last race, we were really the only team that had a shot at knocking off a Hendrick car and I aim to do just that again.

 

            Q.  New Hampshire is your best track on the Chase statistically; are there others that you can win?

            CLINT BOWYER:  Look at my races last year, we were good enough to run, as bad as our cars were, if we were in it, we would have finished fifth or sixth.

            You know, these are good racetracks for us.  Dover is another one I've won twice in the Nationwide Series, but haven't always got the finish.   And that's the thing about a race team, if we can get the finish like we run during the race, then we can win this championship.

 

            Q.  It's been a while since RCR has won a championship.  Is this the best chance that you've had since then, all three guises are in the Chase, Clint wins, Kevin has a bad day and finishes fifth.  Is this your best shot to get that seventh one?

            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  It's not just mine, it's RCR's.  Everybody has worked really hard and put their selves in a position, get the cars in the Chase, and I think we are as prepared as we ever have been.

            I felt in 2001, 2000, we just missed the championship by a few points, and 2001, I felt we were as prepared as ever, and I think we are as prepared now as we've ever been.

 

            Q.  Following up, you and Kevin and Jeff have all said that you thought this has been one of the best opportunities that RCR had at a championship, and it's been a long time since the organization has had one, but it's one thing to say that in the first 26 races and another one to put it into practice.  How much does this getting a win, whether it was you or Kevin or Jeff, do for the organization just in general, whatever happens in the future?

            CLINT BOWYER:  Hey, a win helps everybody.  It doesn't just help my team have confidence.  It fueled the fire for me teammates.  They know that I just won a race, and it doesn't matter who you are or how good a teammate you are, when you see a teammate win in your he request equipment, it pisses you off and you want to go out and perform at that level just like he did.

            It did, Jeff and I, when Kevin won.  Obviously team work is key to success, but at the end of the day, that's fuel for the fires for them, everybody bit as much as it is for me.

 

            Q.  I think I interviewed you when Richard first put you in a car, and you were just about as confident and you didn't sound much different than you sound right now.  But how much has changed for you    what's changed most for you since that time that he first picked you up?

            CLINT BOWYER:  It's nothing today.  I tell you, that first ARCA race, driving for Richard Childress, that was sheer excitement.  And being in the Chase, that's sheer excitement.  Winning the first race of the Chase, same exact thing.

            It's just been fun.  RCR is like family.  I know pretty much everybody there, in the engine shop; I'm there every week.  Richard he gets on me all the time, he was like, "You been down in that engine shop?"   And I said, "Remember when you was there last week, I was there."  Might have been working on my dirt stuff but I was down there (laughing).

            Just people, it's a very warm atmosphere.  He's always had that at RCR.  It's always been that way.  It's how he treats his employees and how the employees treat each other.  I mean, all my friends that I hang out with are RCR employees whether they are my teammates or people in the shop.  That's just what we do, you take your friends to the racetrack.

           

KERRY THARP:  Congratulations and good luck at Dover.

Kevin Harvick at Loudon

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

SYLVANIA 300

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and discussed getting into the Chase, the mindset of the Chase, sponsorship in NASCAR, RCR having three cars in the Chase and other topics.  Full transcript:

TALK ABOUT YOUR OUTLOOK THIS WEEKEND AT NEW HAMPSHIRE AND STARTING THE CHASE: “For us, I think we just have to keep doing the things that we did up until this point. We won a few races, had a lot of top-fives and top-10 finishes. On the days where we really struggled, I felt like we, for the most part, made something out of those days. It was good enough to lead the points in the first 26 (races) so there is really no reason for us to change our strategy.  I feel like the guys have done a great job of getting the cars prepared. They have built four or five new cars. We’ll see what happens. Whether we win or lose, I think everybody has done everything we can control. We’ll just go race now.”

HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL WHEN PEOPLE SAY TO JIMMIE JOHNSON WHO CAN STOP YOU HERE AND HE SAYS YOU? “I think everybody is proud of everything that we have done to get turned around. If you had told me at the start of the year that the turn-around was going to be as good as it has been, I think we’d all have chuckled a little bit and said ‘We hope so’, but you never know how it is going to turn out until you start racing. It is kind of like these last 10 week, you never know what is going to happen until you get in here and race. Just proud of everybody. I think everybody is jacked up and just ready to go race and see where we stack up in the end.”

DO YOU THINK THAT PUTS PRESSURE ON YOU BY BEING LABELED THE FAVORITE BY JOHNSON? “I think he is still the guy to beat. I mean, he has won the last four so how can he not be until somebody beats him?”

WHAT DOES IT MENTALLY FEEL LIKE TO GO FROM A POINTS LEAD OF OVER 200 POINTS AND GO INTO THE CHASE 30 POINTS DOWN TO THE LEADER? “For me, I just quit looking at the points about half-way through the year because things were going so good, it didn’t really matter. We knew what we were racing toward and that was a reset of the points and we needed to figure out how to win more and we did. We started winning races. Then as we got closer to the Chase, we just raced and that is really all we did. Now, it is time to think about going back to leading laps and going back, if you aren’t in contention to lead laps, you have to figure out how to get those five points. You have to figure out how to qualify decent and do all the little things that we did up until that point. Myself and the whole team knew what direction we were racing toward at the end of race 26, so the points didn’t really matter. Once we got to a point of knowing we were headed toward the Chase, we started thinking about the Chase and we didn’t even look, it didn’t even matter.”

ALL THE CHILDRESS CARS HAVE NEW CHASSIS HERE THIS WEEKEND, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE THOUGHT PROCESS TO DO THAT? SOME MIGHT THINK THAT IS A RISK TO COME HERE WITH SOMETHING YOU HAVEN’T RUN HERE BEFORE? “We think that is a good thing. Those cars were built and massaged and rubbed-on and really feel like they have been very detailed out as far as cars on the race track. That is part of the process of what we feel like we did right coming into the Chase, was build new cars that take more lead, that make more downforce and that’s why we saved them until now.  The good thing about all the things we do now is we have wind tunnels and we have the shaker rig and the pull-down machines and everything that we put these cars on. You know what your good cars are, so you go and put them all in that direction and you try to make them better. They are so good at building the cars now; I don’t really think it is a risk. I think it is a good thing. I think you’ll see that over the next several weeks. A lot of new cars coming out of our stable. I know there has been a lot of talk about the un-predictability of what you bring to the race track, but I feel like our quality control is better than everybody else’s. The things that we do; the processes that we put our cars through to make sure they are built right and make the right downforce. The downforce is in the right spot. That is something that we do really good. I think RCR has always been very good at their quality control issues with the engine department and that has bled over into the manufacturing department of the cars.”

YOU HAVE A NEW SPONSOR FOR YOUR TRUCK THIS WEEKEND, JEGS, WHICH IS NORMALLY DRAG RACING. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT PROGRAM? “I think Jegs has been a part of us, whether it’s been just small pieces here and there for the last couple, probably three years actually, this will be the third year. They decided they wanted to venture out. They do the contingency program on the Cup and Nationwide sides. It is a big step for those guys to step out of the drag racing world and come over into the Truck series and be the primary sponsor. They have become good friends of ours and we are looking forward to running well this weekend and hopefully having a good showing for them and showing them that the NASCAR side will work well for them.”

WHERE DOES SPONSORSHIP STAND WITH KHI FOR NEXT YEAR? ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT BIG NAMES LIKE TONY STEWART AND JEFF GORDON ARE HAVING TROUBLE SECURING FULL SPONSORSHIP FOR NEXT YEAR?

"We've been very fortunate on the sponsorship side. Hopefully in the next three or four weeks we should have a lot of things wrapped up. And that's a good thing. Our intentions are to still compete in both as they currently stand in the Truck Series and the Nationwide Series with the vehicles that we have and hopefully maybe a few more races than what we currently run. Everybody has done a great job from a Cup car to the Nationwide cars. Our current sponsors are all going to still be involved from the Nationwide side and many of them on the Truck side. For us, we've been very fortunate to have a lot of success on the sponsorship side and things are going great."

CAN YOU CONTRAST WHERE THIS ORGANIZATION WAS A YEAR AGO COMING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND HOW VASTLY DIFFERENT IT IS NOW FOR THE ENTIRE RCR ORGANIZATION TO HAVE THREE CARS IN THE CHASE? WHEN DID THE ACTUAL TURNAROUND BEGIN? "The actual turnaround began in Indianapolis last year. That was our first generation of new cars with some different set-up things that were implemented into the cars at that particular time. From that point on it's been a building process to get things headed in that direction. Richard (Childress) made a few more personnel moves as we went through that time and over the off-season. But really last year at this time, we had had a crappy year but the direction was headed in the right direction when we came here last year so everybody had started to calm down to a certain degree, knowing that the year was shot but that the direction was going in the right direction. So, I still say for the No. 29 team the key race for us was still California and just knowing that we had cars that were capable of competing. I felt like I made a big mistake and that was a huge eye-opener for everybody to get back in that mindset of remembering what you do when you win races and not forcing things."

WHEN YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THAT, DID YOU EVER THINK YOU COULD GET ALL THREE CARS INTO THE CHASE? "It's been more than normal to get the three cars than it has to not. For us, that was something we'd done pretty well at through the years. Last year was definitely more abnormal than the norm that we'd been used to. I think last year made us better. I think those struggles definitely made us better."

YOU TALKED ABOUT JIMMIE JOHNSON BEING THE FAVORITE, BUT OBVIOUSLY YOU'VE GOT TO BELIEVE IN YOUR OWN ABILITY TO WIN THIS CHASE. SO WHY CAN YOU WIN IT? WHY WILL YOU WIN? "I think we have the best chance to win just because of the mindset that we've been able to put ourselves in going into it first off; and that came from running well in the first 26 weeks and running through almost three Chases leading up until this point. Until you beat the guy that's won four times is one thing, but I think our shot at being able to win and have a chance to win the championship is there. It's just a matter of how it all unfolds in 10 weeks. All 12 teams are capable of getting on a hot streak at any time. We've all been here before. We've all won championships in some sort of racing division at some time. So it's just a matter of who puts these 10 weeks together and who gets on that hot streak."

DO YOU NEED TO BE BETTER THAN YOU WERE DURING THE REGULAR SEASON?

"I don't think so. I think if we do what we did in the regular season I don't think we need to be any better."

EVERYBODY BASICALLY DREADS TALLADEGA. BUT IS THERE A TRACK OTHER THAN TALLADEGA THAT YOU ARE MOSTLY CONCERNED ABOUT? "I look forward to Talladega. I think the way that our superspeedway stuff has gone this year, and I know that can turn at any moment, but I look forward to the challenge of Talladega and putting ourselves in the position to race there. For us, the biggest hiccup has been Charlotte and we ran okay there this year and hopefully we can build on that and a lot of race tracks that we've gone to that we thought we had struggled at in the past, past stats haven't stacked up for us as far as what we've done at particular race tracks. I think Michigan is a great example. So we just go out and race and I don't think of a weak point for us that we have; there's going to be a week that we don't run good but I don't think going in there we're going to think that we're going to run bad. So, Charlotte would be the one that sticks out in these 10 weeks. You can go to any of these race tracks and say that you've had a bad day at some particular moment. I think we're looking forward to all of them right now."

DO YOU AGREE WITH TONY STEWART THAT MAYBE THE CHASE GUYS COULD HAVE THEIR OWN POINT SYSTEM SEPARATE FROM THE OTHER 33 GUYS AND IF YOU HAVE A BAD FINISH, IT'S ONLY AMONG YOURSELVES AND NOT AMONG EVERYBODY?

"All right, you're going to get me started on points and Chases and that stuff (laughter). The part of this sport that I like the most is that it requires you to race all 43 guys. And the part that sticks out to me the most is if you want to create a points championship that has one or two point increments and you can have a bad week, having a bad week is part of this sport. And if you finish 43^rd, you still have to race the other 43 guys. If you want to have your own point system, let's just have 12 cars on the track and call it I-ROC, because it won't work. So, you've got to race against all 43 guys. Durability has always been a part of this sport and being creative and how far you can push things and having wrecks. Creating its own point system for the Chase would be a total mistake because that's not what our sport is about. Our sport is about guys trying to make the race and people having to put their stuff on the trailer and go home. It's always been (about) who could not break engines and who could not break parts and who could not break pieces. So I think you'd open up a can of worms. It wouldn't be fun because it's still not about 12 guys."

ON DOVER, YOU FINISHED 7^TH THERE EARLIER THIS YEAR AND THAT COULD BE A WILD CAR FOR SOME OF THE GUYS BECAUSE THINGS HAPPEN SO FAST

"Dover is a cool race track. It's fast. But there can be a wreck off of Turn 2 that will swallow up 10 or 15 cars. We've been on both sides of that fence. We did run well there at the beginning of the year. Hopefully we can do the same thing when we go back. It's one of those race tracks that lets you know how fast you're going, not only when you're going around the race track, but if you happen to hit something. It's a fun race track but it can eat you up pretty fast."

Chevy quotes at Richmond

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AIR GUARD 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES & QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 11, 2010

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS / HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET – FINISHED 6TH; 12TH SEED IN THE CHASE:
ON HIS APPROACH FOR THE CHASE
"You kind of go in as the underdog under the radar. You know, the good thing is that we do have a lot of momentum right now. We've run well here as of late and probably the last month, and that's what got us in this thing. So if we can continue that on, I think we can create some excitement in this Chase. I really believe that a win, just like 2007, is exactly what this team is missing right now. So whatever that brings; that calm finesse, that little more pep in your step, and believing in all of ourselves is what we need right now. So if we could possibly get that done like we did in '07, I think we'll run good.

"I'm really excited to be a part of the Chase. I'm excited about our chances. Our car was good. I passed Denny (Hamlin) a couple of times and just there at the end just kept getting worse and worse. I got looser in and off. You need to get better to be in contention to run with these boys but being a part of this Chase speaks volumes about these boys. They didn't give up. We had some bad runs and dug deep and got ourselves back into it."

YOU GUYS HAD TO GET IN TONIGHT AND YOU DID IT SOLIDLY. NOW LOOKING FORWARD TO THE OPPORTUNITY WHAT IS YOUR TEAM’S CHANCE TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP? “It’s just go cat go from here. You know we just have to go for it all and have fun with it. I don’t even think we are the 12th seed, or the last guy in I think we won 11th. So all-in-all it's just so exciting to be a part of this Chase and last year was such a downer for everybody at RCR to not be in it last year. But to have all three cars in the Chase this year speaks volumes of the effort to get things back on top.”

STRAIGHT UP, HOW NERVOUS WERE YOU WHEN YOU STRAPPED IN TONIGHT?
"Well, I was; I was nervous. The only thing that you can take out of is if something crazy off the wall would happen. To have everything go your way and to have a good car is frustrating; I thought I had a shot at winning that thing for a while. There the last couple of runs, we got lose there and looser on me getting in and we just faded at the end of that last run. But hey man, if somebody would have given me a sixth place before I ever got out there, I would have gave them everything I had for it (laughs)."

YOU WERE SPOTTED SITTING NEXT TO RYAN NEWMAN DURING PRACTICES. IT'S KIND OF QUIRKY THAT THE 12TH AND 13TH HAULERS ARE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER. DID HE EVER SAY HEY, MAN, YOU'VE GOT THIS IN THE BAG?
"Actually he's pretty neat about it. His wife gave me a $50 dollar bill and two peanuts before the race (laughs). But I told her I was going to take her money and her Chase spot and luckily we did (laughs)."

ON HIS OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN THE CHASE AND RUN FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP
"Well, you know we've just got to go out and give it our all and have fun with it, you know? So all in all, it's just so exciting to be a part of this Chase again. It was such a downer for everybody at RCR to not be a part of it last year. And to have all three cars in the Chase speaks volumes on the effort to get things back on top."

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SLEEP TONIGHT?
"A lot better (laughs); but I probably ain't going to sleep for a while (laughs again)."

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH; 3RD SEED IN THE CHASE: HOW HAPPY ARE YOU TO BE BACK IN THE CHASE AND RUNNING WELL AGAIN? “I am happy to turn things around like we have and everybody on our Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet has done a great job. Its been a phenomenal year to this point and hopefully the last ten weeks can be the same way. We have done it for 26 weeks and we have beat them, and hopefully we can beat them for ten more.”

TONIGHT WAS A NIGHT WHEN YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE BEST CAR BUT LOOKING FORWARD, KNOWING WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? “Yeah, tonight we had what we thought was a terrible night and we finished 9th so that is what we have got to do when we feel like we are not running very well. The car was real loose tonight getting up off the corner but I think a lot of people but we just couldn’t put the power down. We just look forward to Loudon next week and hopefully we will be getting off on the right foot and doing what we need to do get started.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR RICHARD CHILDRESS? LAST YEAR WAS A STRUGGLE AND THIS YEAR YOU ARE ALL IN. “I think it’s important that obviously we have run as well as we have but it's also important to make it happen in the last ten weeks. This is the best we have ever been prepared and the best we have run up to this point. I feel like we have the cars and the things in the shop and feel like we have a plan for everything that has happened and going to happen. But you can’t control the circumstances and everyone gets better and sometimes you hit it and sometimes you don’t. The things we can control, I believe we controlled them and we will just see what happens.”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET – FINISHED 13TH; 10th SEED IN THE CHASE:
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEXT 10 RACES?
"Ah, finish the best we can. We have one goal and that's to win the championship. That's what all these guys want to do is to win the championship. I think we are given out 60 points to start and we can't worry about that. We can't go make it up in one race, we've just got to go race our race and we've just got to do the best we can every race and we'll add up all the points when it's over and see where we are."

YOU ARE A VETERAN DRIVER IN THIS CHASE FOR THE CHASE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP. DO YOU APPROACH IT ANY DIFFERENTLY THAN SOME OF THE OTHER GUYS?
"Well, my approach is a little different because most of these guys will have more opportunities than I have. At age 43, some of these 20 year-olds will have more opportunities. My approach to this is I've been waiting my whole life to be in this position and that's my approach. That's the way I'm going to run after it. I'm going be real aggressive. My team, I think, is prepared. I feel really good about what we can do. The last month hasn't gone well but I think we can rebound and make it really good. I'm excited about it.

LAST YEAR ALL THREE RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING DRIVERS MISSED IT; THIS YEAR YOU’RE ALL IN IT. HOW DOES THAT FEEL? “It feels a lot better than last year. To me this isn’t the end of something; this is the beginning to something. It is great to be here. You’re so focused on going to Loudon and to get going. I’m real excited about our opportunity. I feel like we can ratchet it up and have a shot at this.

"It’s disappointing that we’re giving up so many points starting it, but what’s done is done. We can’t do anything about that now. We’ve just got to go make every lap, every corner, ever straightaway as best we can. We do that and I think we’ve got a shot.”

THE CHASE HAS SOME OF YOUR BEST RACETRACKS IN IT: “Yeah, I think it does. You look at pretty much every race track out there and I think we can win on and compete at a high level, but then again who on this stage isn’t going to run well in all those races. Again, I think this is solid, it’s stacked; I don’t know who the favorite would be. I just have a good feeling about what we can do. I’ve gone into the Chase a couple times knowing we weren’t where we needed to be, but I really feel like with this team and this company where we are right now, we can ratchet it up and be where we need to be.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET – FINISHED 12TH; 8TH SEED IN THE CHASE:
DOES MOMENTUM REALLY COME INTO PLAY WHEN IT'S TIME TO RACE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP?
"I think it can play a big role. But you can create momentum in the Chase as well. Ten races is a long way. A lot is going to happen. We had a good regular season; a real strong team. We didn't get the wins but I think over ten races we can race these guys. We showed it tonight. We got behind at the beginning and we fought really hard back to a top 12 and had a car that was capable of being in the top five at the end."

DO YOU ANTICIPATE THE CHAMPION THIS YEAR IS GOING TO HAVE TO WIN ONE, MAYBE TWO RACES THIS YEAR; OR CAN A CHAMPION WITHOUT A WIN?
"Anything is possible. Every season has been a little bit different than the next. But the guys who are running the best right now are the guys in the top 12. You're going to see the champion win at least one race I would believe. It's not that you have to, but I expect it to happen."

BOBBY HUTCHENS, DIRECTOR OF COMPETITION FOR STEWART-HAAS RACING: GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR STEWART-HAAS RACING TO MAKE THE CHASE BOTH YEARS OF TEAM'S EXISTENCE: "It is kind of bitter sweet. We wanted to get Ryan (Newman) in there too tonight but we came up a little short. Tony (Stewart) being in there is big and hopefully we can take what we've got and go win this thing."

RYAN AND HIS CREW CHIEF TONY GIBSON PUT UP A VALIANT FIGHT: "They work hard every week, they are the hardest working group in here I think. They didn't get what they deserved; we had a couple of races that things didn't go our way. We came here tonight with a chance and that is all we can ask for. Unfortunately, we are leaving here without a spot for him but that will hopefully give us some fuel for some fire for next year."

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 16TH; 6TH SEED IN THE CHASE: THIS IS WHERE YOU GOT YOUR FIRST WIN, NOT QUITE SO GOOD NIGHT, WHAT WAS ISSUE? "You are right, not very good. It just was a rough night, this evening. Really proud of our guys and everybody at Office Depot and Old Spice. Burger King, Coca Cola, Mac Tools, Haas Automation, US Army, Tornados, Chevrolet, everybody who has been part of this program the last two years and helped us build this and put us in a position where we can be in the Chase two years. Tonight wasn't a good night, but, we still have that momentum off of last week. The arrow is still pointing up in my opinion, instead of down like it was last year when we were here last year. It wasn't a good night tonight but we have 10 good weeks coming up."

WHAT IS THE BIG DIFFERENCE IN YOUR TEAM THIS YEAR VERSUS WHERE YOU WERE LAST YEAR? "I think that it is just a year and a half of notes and Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and I working together. We just have got so much confidence working with each other. We got such a slow start to the year, but we never...we got frustrated, but we never got discouraged with each other. That is something I had done in the past with Zippy (Greg Zipadelli). I got battling with my own guys and that is something I have learned, better late than never. I wish I would have done this the 10 years I was with Greg. But, you learn as you go. I've learned...Eddie Jarvis always says when you get down you get up, not give up. That's what we've been doing all year."

THE FIRST PART OF THE YEAR WASN'T WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR, ARE YOU HITTING YOUR STRIDE NOW? "I hope so. Tonight didn't show that, but, we have 10 good weeks and I am proud of our organization and Bobby Hutchens and Darian and all these guys as well as Ryan (Newman) and all those guys on the US Army car. Everybody has done an awesome job. We have 10 weeks to see what we've got."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD; 2ND SEED IN THE CHASE: ARE YOU BACK IN CHAMPIONSHIP FORM? "I think so. We have some great races coming up for this race team. I think the last couple of months our finishes haven't really been all that fair to how the team has been performing. We certainly had some bad races, but every team has that. We had some really good races with some bad luck and ended up with bad finishes. All-in-all I am excited about our chances going into it. Two great runs going into the Chase, I'm excited. I think this team is where it needs to be."

WHAT IS THE PLAN OVER THIS FIRST PHASE OF THE CHASE? "You have to get every point that can. At the same time, there is that fine line and that balance that the driver needs to pay attention do. Is the risk worth the reward? Is it worth the five points to do something stupid for eighth or ninth on the track, whatever it may be to make that position and have the risk of crashing and tearing up the car. That is where you have to walk that fine line and it's not easy. I've won the championship from crashing at Loudon and then I have always finished very well at Loudon. So, it can be done either way. I much prefer leaving there with a good finish there though."

YOUR CAR LOOKED LIKE IT WAS STRONG AT TIMES, BUT THEN OTHER TIMES IT JUST WOULDN’T QUITE GET THERE IN THE CORNER. “First of all it was a great night for this Lowe’s Impala. I just can’t thank my guys enough for really working hard to bring the right setup here this weekend. We stayed patient here through practice and stuck to our guys on what we felt in our hearts would make this car better and it did. I’m really proud of the chemistry between Chad, myself, the guys, our engineers and everybody else on this team. We were okay at times; it just didn’t seem to have enough for that No. 11 (Hamlin). Then the 18 (Kyle Busch) showed up there from mid-race on; we were kind of equal with him for awhile but he kind of short pitted and got ahead of us. We thought for awhile there that he was going to get the 11. We kind of finished where we ran all night, but I’m still really proud of it. With the way the last month has gone to finish third at Atlanta and third here is really good for this race team heading into the Chase.”

WITH THE WAY THE LAST MONTH HAS GONE WITH FINISHES OUTSIDE THE TOP-20, WHAT WILL THESE LAST TWO WEEKS AND THIRD-PLACE FINISHES DO FOR YOU HEADING INTO THE CHASE? “They certainly do a lot. It’s a tough sport and when you’re inside the racecar on one of these race teams when you’re on the top you know how fragile it is. The same thing, when things aren’t going your way you know you’re an adjustment or two away from getting it right. These past couple weeks we have done that and we’ve gotten it right. Great pit stops, great race cars, great finishes and I think we’re ready for this Chase.”

YOU’VE WON FOUR IN A ROW, CAN YOU BE THE FIRST AND ONLY DRIVER TO WIN FIVE NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES TITLES IN A ROW? “I have no idea, but I can promise you that I’ll try as hard as I can and I know this race team will as well. Hendrick Motorsports is behind Jeff [Gordon, teammate] and myself as their two cars in the Chase to give us everything they’ve got. It won’t be from a lack of effort and I’ll be very proud of wherever we end up at the end of this year. I’m just looking forward to it. I’m excited for this opportunity. I’d like to say hello to my wife and the baby at home—hopefully the baby is asleep and ‘Mom’ will be too.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET, FINISHED 34TH: “That was one of my worst performances, I believe. We were trying something new and it just didn't work out. We'll keep working at it. I don't think it's something we're going to give up on. We ran a rear spring package we've never run before, front spindles we've never run before; just trying to find something to help us get better. Running like we've been running all year long ain't good enough, so we figured we'd try to go in a different direction, and it was a bad choice tonight. We're going testing on Monday, and we'll do as much testing as we can do the rest of the year to figure out what's wrong and to get a package that will work.”

RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING: YOUR THOUGHTS ON HAVING YOUR THREE CARS IN THE CHASE: "I'm excited for Clint, all three of our teams, our whole organization to get all three cars in the Chase. We definitely have got our work cut out for us to win the championship. Our goal is to be a contender, if you are a contender, you have a chance to win and that is what we are going to work hard on."

HOW DID YOU KEEP CLINT CALM AND FOCUSED TONIGHT? "He was pretty good. We talked about it earlier this week and earlier today. He knew what he had to do. He was good. He wanted to win the race, but we just got a little off on that last set of tires. But, for him doing what he did and race as hard as he did a couple of times, we had to tell him what to do, but other than that, he did a great job."

KEVIN HARVICK SAID HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE TO CLOSE TO CLINT, IT MADE HIM TOO NERVOUS, WAS THEIR AN ORGANIZATION CHANGE IN PHILOSOPHY TONIGHT? "Not really, we didn't even talk about it. All the drivers knew what they had to do. Knew where he was at. I knew they were all going to race good and hard and clean."

LAST YEAR YOU DIDN’T HAVE A CAR IN THE CHASE AND NOW THIS YEAR YOU HAVE ALL THREE IN: “Yes, I am really proud of our organization. They did a great job and it was just a heck of a fight tonight to get Clint in and move up to 11th and I am just proud of all of them.”

WHERE DO YOU TAKE IT FROM HERE? “We have got to work as and organization to be there and be a contender. If one is a contender, the other ones are and we are going to be right there with them.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: TALK ABOUT YOUR NIGHT. "It was a good day. Good pit stops. Good calls in the pits. Just the car wasn't quite fast enough. It was good on the short runs and just killing the rear tires."

YOUR TEAM IS JUST REALLY SOLID: "We are. This year we got involved in a lot of wrecks, not our fault and it killed us but, speed wise we are there every week. It is good."

LANDON CASSILL, NO. 71 POST-9/11 GI BILL CHEVROLET, FINISHED 33RD: “I wish we could have been better on our short runs. We were really competitive at the end. It is tough to have a slow start to the race. We went down a few laps early and then the car came to us and we were really running well at the end. You just can’t give up that kind of time to these guys. The car was funny, it came and went. On the long runs it was a lot better. It is so hard on these short tracks. You have to be good on the short runs or you will go laps down to these guys like we did early. We worked on it hard all race and the guys did a great job in the pits. I will take away from this race how important it is to be good on short runs right from the start.”

Chevy at Richmond

TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT:


KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET – Point Leader: "Richmond has been a great race track for us. That’s the last one to have a free for all, and just do what you have to do. It is also the last weekend to prepare yourself for what is coming in the next ten weeks. We have to have our stuff together, and I think we should run well. I enjoy Richmond, and I think it suits everything that we do at RCR, and always has since I’ve been there. It should be a good weekend. Absolutely, I think you have to (give up a spot or two to Clint Bowyer, if he could). It’s important for our company, it’s important for all of our sponsors to see that. Whatever we have to do, we’ll do.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONAL GUARD MILITARY INTELLIGENCE CHEVROLET – 2ND IN STANDINGS: “Richmond is a very tough race track. I felt like we had a real legitimate shot at winning that race the last time we were there. I felt like Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin) run really really strong there but we definitely cut into that gap tremendously the last time we were there. It is a tough race track. It is a short track. It is not easy to get a hold of. You go from day to night because the race starts sort of in the evening but you still slip and slide around a little bit until the sun goes down. Then you have double-file restarts which at any short track, but especially a multiple groove track like Richmond really makes it challenging and that is one of the reasons we lost the race last time we were there.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OLD SPICE CHEVROLET – 4TH IN STANDINGS: “You want to make sure your car is adjustable at Richmond. We start the race at the end of the day, when it’s usually pretty hot but, as night comes, the track cools down and it changes quite a bit. Old pavement, new pavement – the same theory applies, and that’s not something you see at most of the races we go to. It’s pretty much isolated to just the night races. You’ve got to have adjustability because you know for a fact that the track isn’t going to stay the same all night long. Richmond is my favorite track. It’s not one of them, it’s the favorite track of mine on the circuit. I’ve just always thought it’s the perfect-sized track for a Cup race. The other short tracks we run – Bristol and Martinsville – they’re cool in their own right, but there’s a lot of congestion at those two tracks. But at Richmond, it just seems like that extra quarter-mile, and that three-quarter-mile shape, and how wide the groove gets there, allows for good racing. It seems like we have to race ourselves and race the racetrack versus racing each other a lot of times. You do have to race each other, obviously, but there are a lot of times during the race when you have the flexibility to move around on the racetrack and try to find a spot your car likes better than somewhere else. A lot of times on a short track you don’t have the flexibility. You’re more narrowed down with what groove you’re going to be in.”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET –6TH IN STANDINGS: “I just think for the teams, for the fans and for everybody that it takes to make this sport work, Richmond is the best all-around track. Richmond has good racing action. It’s big enough where it’s not wreck after wreck, but small enough where it’s close side-by-side action since you have multiple grooves. To me, it’s a really hard race track to beat, competition-wise. I take a lot of pride in running well at Richmond. Being from Virginia, Richmond is where I went as a kid to watch Cup Series racing and it’s a special place for me to come back to. When you've clinched (a spot in the Chase), you get to go to Richmond and be in the shape to run really hard. That's how the Cat Racing team is going to run in the Chase - we are going to run it really hard. We are going to kick it off this weekend in Richmond and just bring everything we have. There’s no more protecting now. It is go time and we have to lay it all on the line. The pressure that those drivers (who have to fight their way into the Chase) will go through is just unbelievable. It’s not what you want to go through. You want to be able to clinch earlier than coming to Richmond. But, this is what our sport is about. You have to be able to operate under pressure. You have to be able to do your best under pressure and, if they get into that mind set, they’ll handle it well.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET – 7TH IN STANDINGS: "I'm hoping we will be a little better this time around at Richmond. We didn't have the greatest run there in the spring even though we finished 10th. The first couple of pit stops are always real important so you can get the car adjusted right. Track position is so important - it's not like you can come in and work on it if it's not where you want it. We've won there before but it just seems like we are up and down there. We just need to stay on top of it and try to get things going the right way as we start the Chase. It was a big relief to lock ourselves in (to the Chase) at Atlanta. It takes a little bit of the pressure off this weekend but that doesn't mean that we aren't looking for the win."

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET - 12TH IN STANDINGS: "I need to make sure I don’t screw up (at Richmond), first and foremost (laughs). In the end, you need to make sure you don’t beat yourself. I’ve been in this situation before. Even though there is a lot of pressure, we need to go out there and do what we’ve been doing all year long. I need to stay focused at the task at hand, but also remember to have fun with it. As a driver, I’m kind of like the quarterback of this deal. I need to make sure everyone is upbeat and having fun, no matter what’s going on this weekend. Richmond is definitely the place I feel the most comfortable laying it out on the line. It’s one of my favorite race tracks where I’ve won at in the past, so gives us an extra boost of confidence. By no means is it locked up yet. We aren’t looking at it that way either. I do feel better about our situation with the padding we have over the guys behind us. It’s a good feeling to have, but we know we still have a job to do this weekend in order to be able to contend for the championship. I have a lot of confidence going into this race. I’m going to have to lean on this race a lot. This will be the race that gets us in or keeps us out of the Chase. We know that. Hopefully, we can run well and take care of business. Even though it’s an important point race for us, it’s also a place where we can go out and win.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 U.S. ARMY CHEVROLET – 13TH IN STANDINGS: "We've been running well lately with finishes of sixth and eighth in the last two races. Our approach this weekend in the U.S. Army Chevrolet will be the same as it's been all year and that's to try our hardest and hopefully be in position to contend for the win. It seems like everyone wants to talk about where we stand in points. It's evident that you don't need an engineering degree to figure out our odds of making the Chase. Mathematically, we still have a chance, and I guess that means something. But you can't expect to make up all of those points in one shot. Again, our position in the standings is not going to change how we will approach the Richmond race. History will show that this No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing team has had success on short tracks and with that said we're looking to be running up front just like we did in the past two races at Bristol and Atlanta."

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET – 14TH IN STANDINGS: “The key to having success at Richmond is obviously being the fastest car, as well as making sure you make the most on the restarts. The inside line is the preferred groove to run on, so a lot of times it gets hard to fight your way forward in the field if lapped cars are running that line. I’m really looking forward to this weekend with our Bass Pro Shopsl team along with all the exciting two-wide racing you’ll see Saturday night.”

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET – 15TH IN STANDINGS: “Richmond is a great race track. I think all the guys like racing there. We had good racecars there last year. Every race is a new race. We had three great racecars at Bristol; the first three times we raced Bristol in the 5 car were awesome and this last time was about as bad as I’ve ever been. You never know what you’re going to get. Right now we’re working as a whole organization to try to raise our game. I think we’re all—when we hit it just right we have good strong results—but we don’t have the kind of strength and stamina that we had as a group last year where you could just be ok and be competitive. If you’re just ok right now, we’re not there. We’re not competitive and we need to raise the level of the performance of the whole group right now. That’s part of the competition. It comes and goes like that. You’re never on top all the time; although Hendrick seems to be on top most of the time.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET – 17TH IN STANDINGS: “Richmond and I don’t have a very strong history together but hopefully after our top-10 finish earlier this year our luck is changing. The schedule and the track are unlike any other we go to. It’s an impound race so we don’t get any practice time at night which makes it difficult to set-up the car for race conditions. And the track itself is pretty tricky. It’s two-wide racing and you have to fight hard for position. Our Target Chevrolet’s have been fast and we’ll just go out there and try to run a smart race.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET – 19TH IN STANDINGS: "Richmond fits my driving style. I grew up racing at Myrtle Beach (S.C.), and it's got the same characteristics of that track. It's got multiple grooves and multiple ways of racing around there. The car changes quite a bit over the night, and you've got to be able to move around and find different grooves. We've struggled there the past couple of times but we've been doing a lot of testing to get ready for this weekend."

BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 09 PHOENIX CONSTRUCTION CHEVROLET – 31ST IN STANDINGS: "James Finch and this Phoenix Racing team have really worked hard. We had some bad luck at Bristol a couple weeks back. Right now, we are really hoping to find a lucky horseshoe or something. This No. 09 team deserves a great finish for all of the tough things we've been through. Hopefully this weekend we will be able to get one. This team has had great qualifying runs at Richmond these past few races. Hopefully we'll be able to use that set-up to put us in a good starting position for the race. Starting the race up front will definitely be beneficial in keeping us out of trouble. It's really easy to get caught up in traffic, and it's hard to race in 'dirty air' in the back. You just can't pass. I have had some really good races at Richmond. This race is really exciting for all the fans. It's the race that determines the 12 drivers for the 'Chase', and even though we are not in it this year, it really gets the fans excited. This race gives me the same feeling the Bristol night race does. A packed house, under the lights, it's the way racing should be. This weekend will be extra special for the Labonte family. Terry (Labonte) will be making his debut with the Stavola Brother's. It's going to be a cool feeling to be racing again with Terry. We had a lot of great racing battles together over the years and it'll definitely be a great feeling to be with him on the track again."

LANDON CASSILL, NO. 71 POST-9/11 GI BILL CHEVROLET: “I’ve run in the Nationwide Series at Richmond. I finished 12th there in the second race in 2008. The last time I ran there we had a shot at the pole and then qualifying was rained out, so we had to start a little farther back based upon points. I have a of lot laps at Richmond and that experience will help me in the Sprint Cup race this Saturday. It is a short track; the grand stands go all the way around the track, giving it a real stadium feel.”

TERRY LABONTE, NO. 10 GANDER MOUNTAIN CHEVROLET: "This seems like it's been a long time coming for everyone, but probably more for Bill (Stavola, co-owner of Stavola Labonte Racing). He has been around the sport for a while, and we talked about doing something. He has such a passion for the sport and for doing things the right way. That's why it was easy to partner with him. He's put together some good people, and I think he's gone about this in a way that gives us the best chance to succeed. I'm happy to be with him this weekend. I think we're all anxious to get out there and see how it goes. We got some help from Richard Childress Racing and their group. Everyone knows that they have been extremely competitive this season. That gives us confidence that we have a good car to go to the track with."

Mark Martin on Richmond

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, was the guest on the NASCAR Weekly Teleconference. Full transcript:

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the NASCAR teleconference in advance of this weekend's NASCAR event at Richmond International Raceway.


Joining us today is Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Hendricks Motorsports. Saturday night's Air Guard 400 concludes the Race to The Chase, the 10-race stretch that precedes The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.


It's the last opportunity for drivers to earn a spot in the 2010 Chase. And Mark is one of those on the eligibility bubble. Following Saturday night at Richmond, the top 12 drivers in the Series standings will battle for the Series title during the season's final 10 races, or The Chase.


Mark is 15th in the standings right now. He's 147 points behind 12th place Clint Bowyer. You had to come from behind to make The Chase before. What do you think your chances are Saturday night?


MARK MARTIN: I haven't done the math, but I don't think they're very good from where we're at. Not very good. I'm sure if Clint starts the race, then we just about need to be leading the most laps and win the race and him finish last somewhere in that range.


So we've got ourselves too far behind to expect to jump in there.


THE MODERATOR: Questions?


Q. Mark, to try to drag you into the same boat as me, as one of the few left around who can remember the young Dale Earnhardt and his style, I was thinking about Kyle Busch, as far as car control and like this past weekend, didn't have a great weekend like he did at Bristol but he made a good weekend out of a bad weekend. Does Kyle, with car control and keeping on struggling to salvage weekends, does he remind you of Earnhardt in his heyday?


MARK MARTIN: You know, maybe glimmers of that. But his style -- his style is still a little bit different. It is definitely really strong.


He manages to do an incredible amount of things with at times when it doesn't look like he has so much. But you and I both probably -- it may not have been as big a deal as what it seemed like it was back in the day, in Dale's young times, but it seemed bigger than anything I ever could have dreamed of seeing at this time in my lifetime. And I don't know about you.


So in some ways there are flashes of --


Q. Maybe Dale was a little rougher and more obvious with it and Kyle might be a little bit slicker?


MARK MARTIN: Yeah, there's some of that to it. You know, also what Kyle does is not head and shoulders above what all the greats do. In other words, you know, there were some greats when Earnhardt was out there doing all that but there wasn't as many greats with great cars as there are today. What Kyle does is make him shine and place him above, up at the very top of the class. But not as far -- like Earnhardt just, he was like way elevated and didn't think there was anybody in his league when it came to that.


With Kyle, you don't forget, you still have Jimmie Johnson and you still have Tony Stewart, and you still have Carl Edwards. As far as that matter, I'll tell you what, Matt Kenseth's style is not showy or flashy, but what he does is incredible, when I set back and just watch what he manages to do so often with when he has what appears to be so little.


And so I would say the discrepancy from the mid-pack to Dale Earnhardt versus the discrepancy today is smaller. But you would expect that, because everybody's raised their game and there's so many -- everybody's cars have the availability of being great.


Everybody's cars aren't the same and they're not all as fast as the other. But they are much closer than they were back 25 years ago.


Q. The chase is so far along now, have we got with this thing that if you're not in it you had a bad season?


MARK MARTIN: Well, that's a good question. This is my first time to miss it. I didn't run for it in '07 or '08. So certainly being in it is big. For me, if we were to have squeaked in it and ran, continued to run like we've run the last three races, three or four races, then it wouldn't make our season. You know what I mean?


At the end of the day you still have to run good to be, to really feel good about yourself. So if you run good and you miss The Chase, then that's a crying shame. And that's what we were faced with last year. It would have been a destroying season for us at the 5 car to have missed the chase last year. Because we knew if we could make it, we could get in it, we could win it. And nearly did.


So, you know, I'll have more insight on missing it after this season's behind us, I guess. But for us right now, our focus is to get back up on the level that we were on last year and actually this allows us in one way missing The Chase will allow us to go out there and take chances on different hardware and different setups and those kind of things that we wouldn't necessarily if we were in the hunt for the championship.


So we will work through that. We really tried a lot of different stuff, really different stuff at Atlanta. And it certainly didn't pay dividends.


But we're one more race wiser. And we do know a few things we don't want to do next time. So we continue to work really hard to raise our game to the level it was last year.


Q. Will you be trying new stuff with the goal of having a better overall season next year, or with winning this year in mind?


MARK MARTIN: Both. Both. No difference in those two statements there. It's all the same. When you run better, you run better. And most of the time, over the long haul, when you run better, you score more points. That's not always the case, because you can have bad luck.


But in reality, even with bad luck, if you run better, you score more points than if you were running bad and you have bad luck. So don't forget, you know, there's more to racing than points. It just doesn't seem like it in today's -- in today's sport. But there is. Every race is a race. Every race is not a point. It's not a points tally. It is if you're in a points battle, but for me I believe that the attraction to the sport of racing is the race.


You can't see points tally until these things are over with and all this stuff, you know, takes place. But you can watch a race and get excited right then and there all the way through the race. And at the end of the day we all started out racing because we loved the race. And I still think that that's what puts people in the stands is watching the race.


Q. Mark, how does it happen that a team like yours goes from being second in points at the end of last year to 13th or 14th where you are now, and kind of in the same vein, how does a team like Harvick go from 19th at the end of one year to first the next?


MARK MARTIN: Well, you know, I don't really know. (Chuckling). I just know it happens. I've seen it happen before. But I don't really know.


I saw the Childress cars start their momentum at Indy last year and gradually build momentum in performance from there, going forward, all the way to the end of the season. And I knew that they were going to have a great year this year, based off what I saw there.


Didn't really see this coming for the 5 car. And I just know that it happens, that things change and competition -- you know, the target is a moving target. It always has been and always will be. And we were hitting the bull's eye last year. And we haven't found the bull's eye this year. And we'll continue to work until we do. But we just haven't found it.


And we're the same group of people that were getting it done last year and we can do it again. We'll just keep digging until we find it.


Q. On an unrelated topic, Terry Labonte is going to try to make the race this weekend. Have you talked him at all? He hasn't raced since the end of last year, and what do you think about him stepping back into the seat?


MARK MARTIN: I have a couple of thoughts. I talked to him at the first Texas race I think was the last time I talked to him. It was really good to see him and really good to talk to him. I think it's awesome to have him back, and I think it was pretty clear that I was living the dream of every retired driver or semi-retired driver in the country last year.


And it's something that I think it's really good. I think it will be good to see him. It will be good to see him back at the racetrack, and I know there's still fans that saw him win championships and win races and put on great shows that will welcome him back to the racetrack and be glad to see him back.


Q. Mark, this is kind of along the lines of what Bob was saying, but more from kind of an emotional or a gut feel for you to come off a year like you had last year and kind of allow your expectations to rise and then for it to turn out the way it does. Maybe you could explain the difference you feel heading into Richmond this time as opposed to last year.


MARK MARTIN: Well, I'm not as nervous as I was this last year. But certainly it's a different feel. It's something that none of us expected or saw coming. But we are the same people that were doing this a year ago and doing it so well.


And you have to look at the positive things and not focus on the negative. Expectations are really tough to deal with when you don't meet them. And that's why I've tried so hard to limit and keep my expectations in check. But still, yet, even as much as I do that, you know, I couldn't have ever been prepared for having as tough a year as what we've had.


But we're the same people, and we're working just the same together as we were a year ago. And that part of it feels good. You gotta focus on the positive. We have a great race team. Smartest people. Some of the smartest people in the business, very committed. We all really get along and respect one another. And we're going to work through this together, and we're going to get better together.


And at the end of the day, as devastating as it is to not run good at the racetrack, you still go home. Just like you do if you won and carried the trophy home. You still go home the same way. And you go to bed that night and you get up the next morning and it's a new day.


And that's the way every one of them were. Every day is. No matter what the result. And you just have to work hard and have to do the best you can to manage all of those emotions, whether they be the peak or the highest peak or the lowest valley. You have to do your best to manage those emotions and everything that's tied along with it.


Otherwise, it can be a deterrent. You know, either the highs are the highs or the lowest of the lows. If you let those get to you, then it changes the outcome and certainly makes a difference in how you're able to perform and work and deal with situations and work with people and everything else.


Q. Are you a little bit better equipped to deal with something like this because of all the experience you've had throughout your career? Was there a time maybe 10 years ago where you might have been a little bit more angry to be in this position or do you think it just kind of balances out and comes with experience and maturity?


MARK MARTIN: I think that I'm better equipped to handle this than ever before, based on the experiences I've had. I'm not fully matured yet. But I have matured some, from 15 years ago, and certainly would have handled things differently if this was 15 years ago and would have let it impact the way I interacted with the people that I worked with and my family as well.


And I feel like I'm doing a much better job of managing all that than I would have back then.


Q. This weekend, when we go to Richmond, we have so many different agendas. You have people who will do anything to get in. That little tiny bubble space. Then you have other people who are already in, so why not just go for broke, right? You have other people that are being careful and trying to get bonus points. Do you think it's going to be interesting this weekend with all the people racing with their different agendas?


MARK MARTIN: Yeah, you know, it will be. But to me, it's always interesting. Racing is always. Every race is interesting, fascinating to me. But there will be different agendas. I've always been on the end of protection mode to some degree. I've always had something to protect.


And this is probably these next 11 races are going to put me in a different position. And that might be interesting to me, because I can race each race with not so much to lose and everything to gain.


And I've had to be on the other, you know, been in the other shoes every other time that I can think of. I know in '07 and '08 I didn't run a full schedule, but we still had to watch ourselves pretty close because our car ran full time with Reagan Smith or Aric Almirola.


So it's going to be very interesting. Racing always is.


Q. Even in the races where we don't have these big drama story lines, there are so many interesting things that happen to dissect it. And one of the things I was going to ask as a follow-up is: When you guys come on like a light bulb, this past weekend I think there were 24 laps to go, you always race hard but seemed like everybody came to life and the place went crazy. It was interesting when that light turns on. You would have thought it would have been less laps?


MARK MARTIN: It's backing up from the finish of the race more and more and more all the time, the intensity backs up further and further and further into the race or earlier and earlier that gets started. Even the green flag of 500-miler today is really intense, way more intense than it ever was when I got started in NASCAR. There's no comparison.


So the racing is always more intense and, of course, it builds as the further you go along, and when these guys think that they've had their last pit stop, it really goes through the roof.


So I don't know. I love the sport. I'm as big a fan as there is out there. So like I say, every race is interesting to me.


Q. This past weekend Jeff Burton was asked about not having won a championship and his comment was it would be disappointing, it wouldn't ruin my life, but it would be disappointing for me to walk away from this without ever having won a championship. You certainly made your feelings about a championship known. But I'm just wondering, did you always feel that way that you do now about championships, or how did that change for you from early in your career? And my assumption would be whether it's wrong, would be at least early in your career you were all about everything and that maybe over time things changed but maybe I'm wrong. Can you talk about how you can have, how you developed those feelings in regards to the championship and maybe not letting it be the be-all end-all consuming thing for you?


MARK MARTIN: Well, when I was young, winning races was everything. And building my career was also everything. And winning races helped. Winning championships also got you even more recognition as well. So coming up through the ranks, I got four ASA championships.


I never ran for the Nationwide championship. Got in the Cup in my second year with Roush we went into the last race in second in the points and we broke an engine and wound up third. And then my third year, we nearly won it.


And you know there was all the controversy about the points penalty that we got and whether or not we should have got really a points penalty or not in the first place, based on what the infraction was. Whatever the controversy was.


And you know what, it didn't bother me, because I knew, and anybody would know, you know, based on the experience that I had had, that I would win one.


When I look back on it now, it wouldn't have changed my life had I won it in 1990. It wouldn't change my life any. I don't think I'd be a different person. I don't think I'd have a different ride. I don't think I'd have more sponsors or anything else.


When I look back on it, I've been very, very fortunate to have been incredibly successful at doing what I have passion for and love. And I'm no champion. I'm just lucky I got to win a pile of races. I'm no champion.


I haven't earned the right to be in that category or to stand beside those guys. But at the same time I'm proud that I made them work for it and I saw them finish behind me many a time. And that I can be proud of. And I think that there's a measure to every human being. There's different ways you measure success.


And if you're a race car driver, points is one of those measurements. But it is not the only measuring stick there is. But it is certainly one of them. And I don't measure up in that category.


THE MODERATOR: Mark, thank you.

Rick Hendrick at Atlanta

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
EMORY HEALTHCARE 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

RICK HENDRICK, OWNER OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, met with media following the announcement of an expansion of his 15-year relationship with Quaker State, which includes primary placement for Quaker State on the No. 5 Chevrolet in four Sprint Cup races annually and associate sponsorship of all Hendrick Motorsports cars. Quaker State also will continue to be poured in the more than 80 Hendrick Automotive Group franchises throughout the United States. Discussion with media included topics about the economy and sponsorships, changes in NASCAR, having two cars in the Chase, and more. Full Transcript:

WHAT'S THE SITUATION ON THE NO. 5 CHEVROLET FOR NEXT YEAR? FOUR RACES FOR QUAKER STATE AND WHAT ELSE?
"GoDaddy.com is coming back so this about fills us up. There is one more sponsor that we haven't announced. But we're pretty much done."

REGARDING THE ECONOMY AND THE SPONSOR/DRIVER SITUATION, IS THIS THE HARDEST IT'S BEEN?
"It's definitely the toughest I've ever seen it. Of course I guess the economy is as tough as I've ever seen it and what you have is most everybody is wanting to cut back some if they can. So when you've got one that's willing to up the ante a little bit, it's pretty neat. They've been on all the cars and now they've got the primary races too. I've wanted to see them do it for a long time because I think there are some good marketing opportunities for us not only in the racing, but in the racing too."

THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF SPECULATION WITH JEFF (GORDON) AND WAL-MART AND THEN WAL-MART PUT OUT A STATEMENT SAYING THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE ON THE CAR. CAN YOU CLARIFY THAT?
"It's like anything else. You talk to people and they were someone we were talking to. We got down the road a bit, but timing is kind of one of those things that I think possibly we'll do something down the road with them but it won't be next year. It's good though, to see companies have interest. And I guess at the end of '08 and '09 it was pretty dismal. You didn't see, if someone wasn't already out here on a car, you didn't talk to anybody. And now there is interest from people that haven't been in the sport. They're kind of doodling around with it. So it's good. It feels better today than it did in the first half of '09. So that's encouraging to see. And it's real encouraging to have people re-up. That's good too."

WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT A LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH WAL-MART TO GET SOME OF YOUR GUYS PRODUCTS IN WAL-MART STORES?
"Yeah, that's still ongoing. We have a good relationship with them. It's a timing issue and we're still working on a lot of stuff."

ON UPCOMING SPONSOR ANNOUNCEMENTS
"I don't really want to go into that. We've got a lot of our folks coming back and I'm not really sure how many we've got committed in what area. But we're getting close. We'll be announcing in the next 60 days. In the past we would announce mid-year but companies now waiting later and later to make announcements. We plan to have everything done by the end of November."

WOULD THAT REQUIRE HENDRICKCARS.COM TO BE ON ANY CARS TO FILL THAT?
"Oh, it could be. I enjoy that if I can afford it (laughter). It's worked real good for me in the past. I think that probably if I could win Daytona or run up front with the Hendrick cars logo, it would be something I'd really like to do one day. But we don't know if that'll ever happen."

ARE YOU STILL WORKING ACTIVELY ON THE 2012 DEAL FOR KASEY KAHNE?
"Oh, the 12; like 2012. I’m trying to get 2011 done. Gosh (laughter). We're always talking to people and you run a lot of what-if's and you have a tremendous amount of discussion. I think the exciting thing and the important thing is in the first half of '09, there was nobody talking about anything. And now there are a lot of people talking and things happening. In general, the feeling is much better and people are looking beyond what we've been through. They're not looking backwards anymore; they're looking forward. But the economy is still tight and people are still trying to stretch their dollars; and we've got to be fairly creative to be able to make it work for everyone."

BRIAN FRANCE HAS TALKED ABOUT CHANGES TO THE CHASE. HOW IMPORTANT WOULD IT BE IF THEY EXPANDED THE FIELD TO 15 CARS? AS A CAR OWNER LOOKING FOR SPONSORS, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WOULD HELP?
"I have got mixed feelings about expanding it to 15. If you expand it to 15, somebody is going to want to go to 18. Twelve is fine with me. If 15 happens, okay. But that's not going to make or break any kind of sponsor deal in my opinion."

WITH QUAKER STATE ON YOUR CARS NOW, DOES THAT MEAN THAT STEWART-HAAS HAS TO USE QUAKER STATE NOW?
"No. The folks that rent or lease motors for us, do whatever they want to do. That's their call."

IS THE PRICE POINT HOLDING FIRM FOR A SPONSORSHIP THESE DAYS? IS IT CHANGING?
'Well, the price point is pretty close compared to what it has been. If you had your best world scenario, you'd have one sponsor all year and they'd never change their logo and you don't have to paint cars and change uniforms and all that. But as it's worked out, we have some really good partners that work together like CARQUEST and Go.Daddy.com and now Quaker State and they all get along. It's tough for the team sometimes to have to do back-up cars and different paint schemes but that's a whole lot better than not having a sponsor."

DO SPONSORS GET ALONG?
"I think most of the time it's communication. And we try to work really hard to get them together like in another week we're going to have about 80 sponsors in Charlotte for two-day workshops. We try to stay ahead of that and find out what's important to them, and then let them meet the other guys and so they have a relationship and then they share show car programs and so forth. So we try. I can't ever remember having to referee a problem with a sponsor.

"I think where you get into trouble is when a sponsor shows up one weekend and they didn't know that they were secondary and somebody (else) was primary. I've heard those kinds of stories. But we get all that squared away before the season starts so they know and they can plan and we can plan with them. It's communication."

A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN JEFF GORDON DIDN'T MAKE THE CHASE, YOU MADE A CREW CHIEF CHANGE AT THE START OF THE CHASE. LOOKS LIKE DALE EARNHARDT JR IS NOT GOING TO MAKE THE CHASE. WHAT OPTION IS THAT FOR A POSSIBLE CREW CHIEF CHANGE THERE?
"Actually, I'm pretty happy with the chemistry there now. Maybe some of you guys don't agree but I'm around them and I'm in the shop during the week and the Tuesday meetings and I talk to Dale and I talk to Lance (McGrew) and I talk to them both after they've been testing. And we had some good momentum going and then we kind of fumbled the ball a little bit here right before the Chace. If you can't pinpoint where your problem is, then the whole organization needs to be better. We're working hard but we're not as sharp as we want to be with all four cars. But the guys are working hard and working together. If you miss the Chase and you just decide that you're going to change something to be changing it, I think that's a mistake. I've never tried to do that. I keep my options open, but at the same time if the driver and the crew chief are getting along and they're working together and they're trying, that's all I can ask for. It's pretty darn competitive here in the garage. Guys get on a streak and then guys fall back a little bit. We're not happy with where we are as an organization, but we're working on it. And nobody is blaming anybody and nobody is giving up. So we're getting ready for the Chase. We're trying a lot of stuff and we're all over the map here this weekend, but we're trying some things. We know we've got to get better. And I'm really happy with my whole group and the way they work together and of course we'd like to win more races and you like to dominate, but it's hard in this sport. You look at the guys up there now and they get a streak and then they cool off. That's probably a 10-minute answer to a short question."

SO IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU PLAN TO KEEP LANCE MCGREW AND DALE EARNHARDT JR. TOGETHER THROUGH THE CHASE AND GOING INTO NEXT YEAR. YOU ARE NOT PLANNING ON A CHANGE AT THIS POINT?
"That's correct. We make decisions as things develop during the season. And right now we've got a game plan and we're sticking to it. Next week and going into the Chase and during the Chase, our plans are for those two guys to be together."

YOU HAVE TWO OF FOUR TEAMS IN THE CHASE. ARE YOU UPSET OR DISAPPOINTED? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FIRST 24 WEEKS?
"Every year you start, you want to have all four guys in the Chase. We finished one-two-three in the points last year and I don't know the right word, but if you get the machete out, the first time you miss the Chase, that's not the way to build an organization. My philosophy is when you've got some areas to work on, you work hard and you work together. I would rather miss the Chase and have momentum in the last 10 (races) than be in the Chase and grind to a nothing toward the end of the year. So, our plan is to build momentum and get better every week. Hopefully by the end of the year we'll have all four teams going forward and not backing up. For your sponsors and your drivers and your fans, you're not happy when any of your teams don't make the Chase.

"But by the same token, when you've got three and only one of them can win the championship, if you miss it you want to go back and try to do better next year. So, you're going to have times where you get them all in and you don't win it. This year, we've had our work cut out for us to get any more than two in. But we've had some distractions and we haven't been as good as we need to be since we went to the spoiler over the wing, and we're still working on it. That's kind of the name of that tune."

DO YOU THINK THERE WAS AN AFFECT ON MARK WITH ALL THE QUESTIONS BEING ASKED ABOUT WHERE HE WAS GOING TO DRIVE NEXT YEAR? "(SMILES) Yes, it is your fault-all you guys. (LAUGHS) That is the problem we have had this year is your fault. (MORE LAUGHTER) That was a distraction, it had to have been. We're over that now. We don't have that excuse anymore so we've got to get going."

A COUPLE OF YEARS YOUR WERE OUTSPOKEN ON THE TESTING RULES WHEN THEY CHANGED THEM, NOW THERE ARE SOME TALKS ABOUT DIFFERENT CHANGES INCLUDING A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TRACKS COMING IN A DAY EARLY, THAT TYPE THING, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? "I think that is good. I think the testing you need. A lot of young guys you have got coming on. Then if you have a new driver coming on or if you are in a slump, you can use a test. I think we should have some tests at the tracks we are at. It is really funny, when I talk to owners, they don't want any testing. If they have a bad week, they want to test. (SMILES)

"I think we need some tests. I think we need to be able to test a certain number at tracks we are going to race at. I think coming in a day early is good. I would also like to see us put some instrumentation in the cars, everybody here has instrumentation, we used to used to run it in the Trucks up to qualifying years ago, so I think that would help us just to be able to compare. I think that would be good. I'm for some more testing."

DO YOU MEAN TELEMETRY AT THE TRACK ON FRIDAY? "Yes. Because it gives the engine guys data they wouldn't have. It just gives you some good information that you can use and everybody's got it. It is not like one group has got it and somebody doesn't. I think they have been, in the past, reluctant, because of traction control, but, they are a lot smarter these days. Nobody's going to try that. So, I think that with fuel injection coming, it is going to be really critical to be able to capture a lot of that data for the engineers and the crew chiefs to go back and look at raw data after practice. I think that could actually cut down the need for some testing too."

ARE YOU OK WITH IT FOR A DAY BEFORE OR DO YOU WANT TO GO UP TO QUALIFYING? "I would like to see it all the way up to race. I think you could take it out right before qualifying. That is what I would prefer. But, I don't know how everybody else feels. I just think that you have that tool that the driver and the crew chief could look at. You are going on driver feedback a lot of times with a hot, slick track. Every other form of racing uses it and I think it would be good if we could use it."

ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAME OUT OF THE MEETING THE OWNERS AT YOUR SHOP? "I want to say that was the most unbelievable gathering. I mean everybody was represented that wanted to be there and everybody agreed. I think NASCAR is taking some of the things that we came up with under consideration and I think some of them might happen. It was a very good meeting. The owner's have had their financial guys getting together looking at ways to save money with hotel rooms and so forth. But, this was something that owners talked about how can we make it better for the fans and what would be a better show and what can we do, if we are going anyway, driver appearances at the race track. Doing the events versus a week or two before (race weekend) for Winner's Circle. So a lot of good conversation came up and I thought it was real healthy. NASCAR has been really meeting and talking about listening to what the owners and drivers have to say. I think it has been a really good exercise. Everybody's working together and trying to make our sport better. So I have been real encouraged by that."