NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FEDEX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 13, 2011
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLETmet with members of the media at Dover International Speedway and discussed racing at Dover, NASCAR probation and other topics. Full transcript:
HOW HAS YOUR WEEK BEEN AND HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THIS WEEKEND?: “It’s one of my favorite race tracks and coming off of Darlington — it’s usually a place you can carry over some of the things you learned from there to Dover. I enjoy the race track because it doesn’t change a whole lot, but because it’s demanding as well. Having a good finish at Darlington was good for our team to get back on that path and we need to continue that here at Dover.”
WHAT HAS BEEN GOING WRONG AT DOVER FOR YOU SINCE 2003 AND 2004?: “We went through a lot of transitions with the race cars — going from the old style car to the new style car — in between there and obviously me transitioning through teams. That’s part of it, but at the same time just because of what you’ve done doesn’t mean that’s what you’re going to do when it comes to performance on the race track. We come in here thinking that it’s a good track for us. Think about why we haven’t won, like you said, but at the same time what we can do to be that winning team.”
CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT SECRET PROBATION IS AND WHY ARE SOME PUBLIC AND SOME PRIVATE?: “That’s a secret. Honestly, I’m kind of new to the bad boy market. I don’t know exactly how it’s always been versus how it is. I know that there are times when there are things that are public and there are times when things are private. There is that in every business out there. I can only speculate how it should be. I don’t know and I’m learning how it is. At the same time, that’s part of our sport that we’re not proud of. It’s like any other sport that goes through people that are getting fined or people that are getting penalized. Our actions are detrimental to their sport so it’s not something that we want to sit around and talk about — we would rather talk about the racing and what we can do to put on a better show for the fans.”
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE CLARITY IN THE RULES?: “I would say that clarity is a good thing when it comes to the situations we’re put in and at the same time, every situation is a little bit different so it is hard to clarify that from NASCAR’s perspective. It’s nice to know those things, but as Jimmie (Johnson) kind of eluded to — if you don’t think about those things and you’re thinking about what you need to do to win a race, those things are just a by-product of the frustrations. It’s nice to know those things when it comes time, but as he stated, it’s something you’re not necessarily going to put all your weight in. If you’re frustrated, you’re going to react. It’s a difficult situation in our sport especially because of what we do out there. It’s not like you’re playing against a team that you only see three times a year. We’re out there each and every week doing things that are way more dangerous with race cars that have totally different reactions, I guess you could say, to what can be done on the race track and the dangers that go along with that.”
WHEN DO YOU HAVE TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE PUSHED AROUND?: “I think if you look back at the history of the sport, it’s always been there and it’s been some of the benchmarks for the sport. The first race on TV and the fight that happened out there between (Cale) Yarborough and the Allison’s. The Intimidator (Dale Earnhardt) himself, he wasn’t just the Intimidator because of his mental game. He was an Intimidator because of his physical game. There’s a lot of history in our sport with not being pushed around or being the one that pushes around. There’s a fine balance for that depending on the driver, the competition and the race track — where you’re at in the season and all those things play a part of what you have to do as a driver to either get that respect or make sure that you’re given that respect.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NEXT WEEK’S SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE?: “Each and every race is a new opportunity and I look forward to each and every one. Just go out and have fun — that’s really what it’s all about. Just to have fun representing the Army, Chevrolet and everybody else to put a show on for the fans. It doesn’t really matter where it’s at — every race is a big race to me.”
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