Friday, July 22, 2011
Dodge Motorsports PR
Nashville Superspeedway
Federated Auto Parts 300
Open Interview Session
NASCAR Nationwide & Truck Series
BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T) CAN YOU TALK ABOUT RACING AT NASHVILLE? “I love Nashville. This place is where I got my first NASCAR win in 2008. It will always hold a special place to me. I enjoy coming back here. I enjoy the city. I enjoy the fans that we have here and how enthusiastic they are about racing. It’s a very special place for me to come and race at a track that I just seem to pick right up on. I enjoy coming here.
“Kind of an easy weekend for me driving this weekend. I’ve got a lot of other things going on with the (No. 29 Penske Truck Rental RAM) truck being here. It’s been running so well lately and I’d like to see it win a race. Hopefully, I can be in attendance when it wins.
“Nashville is a great place to come race. I’ve got two guitars. Winning last year and in 2008, I’d love to have three.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT STARTING IN THE TRUCK SERIES AS A DRIVER AND NOW AN OWNER? “There’s a lot of different reason that go into the decisions to own a truck. Certainly, the camaraderie that I feel in the truck series with the different teams and the people that work in the series – from the media to the officials – makes it have a natural feel and I thoroughly enjoy it as well. Looking back at it, it would just seem weird to have a family that has been in the truck series since the beginning to not have a truck entry. It feels right and it’s one of those things that you follow your heart.”
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO THE NFL PLAYER’S REMARKS ABOUT DRIVERS NOT BEING ATHLETES? “I think there are certain people that are just looking for attention. Maybe he was looking for attention. If he was looking for attention, he certainly found it.
“You don’t have to be an athlete to do it, but you have to be an athlete to do it well. I think that you can (look) at a lot of sports and say that. Whether it’s looking at John Daly with golf or a kicker on a football team – and some kickers are (great athletes). There are sports where you don’t have to be an athlete to do it, but you have to be an athlete to do it well and racing is one of those sports.”
IS IT A MISCONCEPTION TO SAY THAT DRIVERS AREN’T ATHLETES? “It’s tough to say because there’s no real way to show what a driver goes through to showcase it to a fan or a follower, for them to really grasp a concept. It’s really expensive to just put someone in a race car and let them run a race. So most people will never get that experience and I’m lucky to have gotten that experience myself. It wasn’t until the first few times that I did it and went, ‘wow, this is really a lot harder than it looks’. Over time, you build up a skill set and endurance if you are an athlete and do the right things. I can certainly appreciate and understand those who don’t get racing from that sense.”
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE GUITARS THAT YOU’VE WON FOR WINNING AT NASHVILLE? “I’ve got one at the shop and the second is on its way to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I don’t know if it’s gotten there yet. I enjoy both of them. I’ve tried to play both of them and I’m not any good. A third one would still be very nice.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR CUP SEASON SO FAR? “The Cup Series has been up and down. Last week was a bummer. We’ve shown a lot more speed on a consistent basis. I feel a lot more confident with where we’re heading as a team. It’s just a matter of getting consistent execution, which is really tough. We all have to grow together to make that happen. I think that when my team fires on all eight cylinders, we’re a top-10 team. We just need to make it an effort to fire on all eight cylinders and we haven’t done that on a consistent basis, but I see the potential to do it.”
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM THE BRICKYARD NEXT WEEKEND? “I’m not really sure what to expect there. I’m still figuring my way around that place. I’m certainly going to miss running at that small track. That small track has always meant a lot to me. It’s one of the few tracks that I’ve never missed a race as far as the trucks are concerned. I think it’s the only track where I’ve never missed a race. I enjoy going there. There’s something to be said about going to the Brickyard as well and what it means to this sport and what it means to auto racing in general beyond NASCAR. Kind of mixed emotions.”
HOW DID YOU COME TO THE DECISION NOT TO RUN MONTREAL IN THE NNS? “From the beginning of the season it was something that I wanted to look at. We really hadn’t made a decision until we got the right driver that made sense for the sponsors and for the team. Obviously, Jacques (Villeneuve) is a very aggressive, talented racer. He’s won Montreal in a F1 car. So I’d love to see him win in my car. That would be cool. What he means to the town of Montreal is just good for everybody on our team and I’m excited to see what happens there. Time will tell.”
WILL YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO TALK TO JACQUES ABOUT SETUP? “The cars are different this year from last year. I think everything is pretty much out the window for that.”
PARKER KLIGERMAN (No. 29 Penske Truck Rental RAM) CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR TRUCK SEASON SO FAR THIS YEAR? “I think that the first part of the season isn’t what we wanted, but we’ve come on the last few weeks, few months. It’s a lot of hard work by our guys. It’s about being able to finish races without a mark on them and being able to go look at them after the race and see where we need to be better. A big part of it comes from my owner Brad Keselowski. From Monday through Friday, he’s there with us trying to make our trucks better and faster. At the end of the day, we’re looking for speed. When you have speed, you can put those other pieces together. Speed is what we look for the most. It’s really exciting to be driving these trucks when they’re that fast. I look forward in being able to make that next step and getting that first win.”
IS THERE ANY ADVICE THAT BRAD HAS GIVEN YOU THAT YOU CAN USE? “There’s been plenty. The one that sticks the most is after Dover when we were running third and going for second with eight to go and wrecked. I was in his bus afterwards and he said, ‘don’t do that again.’ It’s as simple as that. After that, I think that we’ve kind of chipped away at it and gotten better every week. I’ve taken the mentality of letting the races come to us. Sure enough, it’s worked out in our favor week in and week out.”
