NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SYLVANIA 300
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/OFFICE DEPOT CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and discussed his win at Chicagoland, the attitude of his team, competition in the Chase and other topics. Full transcript:
WHAT DID THE PERFORMANCE AT CHICAGOLAND TELL YOU ABOUT YOUR TEAM? “That they don’t give up. We never have. We’ve got a group of guys that no matter how bad it’s been this year and how low I’ve got with it, they’ve never given up. They’ve never quit. It defines our organization as far as what our group of people are capable of and they fight to the end. Last week was a situation that showed that no matter how bad our year has been, this team is not going to give up and this organization’s not giving up.”
HOW MUCH OF A THREAT DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE IN THIS CHASE? JIMMIE JOHNSON SAID HE KNEW IF YOU MADE THE CHASE, YOU WOULD BE A THREAT? “I’ll be honest; I didn’t have that confidence until the last couple of weeks. We had three great runs in a row and three totally different race tracks and that is what makes you feel better about it. You feel better as you go, but, there’s no guarantees and you feel like, unless you’ve been doing it and been good at it every week, you never feel like you are in the right spot. I still think we’re taking it a week at a time. I don’t know that I look at it any further than that. We’ve had days where we were really good and the next week totally terrible. It shows that you have to take it a week at a time. I’m not worried about how big of a threat I think I am or anybody else thinks we are. It still goes down to doing your job each day and you take it one day at a time still.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL COMING BACK TO NEW HAMPSHIRE AFTER THE SUCCESS YOU AND RYAN HAD EARLIER THIS YEAR HERE? “It’s obvious, you love coming back here after that. We had a dream weekend as an organization here the last trip. You just try to see if you can duplicate it.”
DOES IT WORK BOTH WAYS THAT ONE GOOD WEEKEND OR ONE BAD WEEKEND SHOULDN’T AFFECT THE TEAM EITHER POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY? “Yes, absolutely. You still know what your organization is capable of and a good day doesn’t offset a bunch of bad days and one bad day doesn’t offset a bunch of good days. You know where you program is at. The hard thing is one day can make or break you in the Chase but it doesn’t define what your organization is about because of one good or bad day.”
WHERE ARE YOU AT HERE AFTER PRACTICE AND WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU? “We’re 14th. It tells me we aren’t quite quick enough to get to 13th and just good enough to be ahead of 15th (LAUGHS).”
DO YOU THINK THAT WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK WITH THE FUEL MILEAGE REDEEMS WHAT HAPPENED HERE LAST YEAR IN THE FIRST RACE OF THE CHASE? “It doesn’t make up for it. It still doesn’t change what happened here last year. But at least we got off on the right foot. That’s the stories you guys think about and that is what you guys do to fill air time. We don’t think about it as drivers. Last year’s stuff, as soon as we got to the next weekend, you had to put it behind you because there is nothing you can do to change it. Last week didn’t make up for it. It just means that we are off to a good start for this year’s Chase.”
ARE YOU STILL PLANNING ON RUNNING AT ELDORA TONIGHT? “Yes.”
DO YOU EVER HAVE TO THINK NOW THAT YOU ARE SECOND IN THE POINTS, THE RISKS INVOLVED? “I had to drive a rental car from the airport to here and that’s probably just as dangerous as going and driving a race car somewhere. So what do you do? Do you just ride in the transporter to the race track every weekend? You have got to live life. No, I’m not worried about it at all.”
TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT JOEY SALDANA COMING BACK FROM HIS INJURIES IN WORLD OF OUTLAWS SOONER THAN PEOPLE EXPECTED AND THEN WINNING HIS FIRST RACE BACK: “Glad to see that he is back this early. It’s miserable when you are a race car driver and you’re watching the results and watching races and not able to be in it yourself. First of all, we’re just glad that Joey is healthy. That was a big hit he took and it shows how strong of a person and how tough of a person for him to be back this quick. We’re all glad to see him coming back.”
HAVE YOU HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO MARK MARTIN AFTER TYING HIS RECORD ON THE ALL TIME LIST? “No. This has been a hell-week. We’ve been non-stop because we had to cram four days into three days and we had four full days already planned this week that we had to cram into three.”
About Chevrolet
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