NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS MEDIA DAY
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 16, 2012
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 PEAK/MENARDS CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway and discussed winning the Brickyard 400, his chances of winning the 2012 Daytona 500 and his high school classmate Bon Iver front man Justin Vernon. Full Transcript:
WHAT CHANGED FOR YOU AFTER YOU WON THE BRICKYARD? IN TERMS OF YOUR CONFIDENCE OR HOW YOU WERE PERCEIVED ON THE RACE TRACK BY YOUR FELLOW COMPETITORS, DID YOU NOTICE A DIFFERENCE AT ANY POINT?: “Nothing really, honestly I get that question a lot. I still approach my race weekends the same way. Obviously going to Pocono the next weekend, it was a hectic week; there was a lot of stuff going on. Going to Pocono was really cool, walk through the garage and seeing a lot of the crew members and drivers say congratulations. That was one of the best parts about winning the race. Once you sit back in the car for the first practice, its business as usual. This off season I’ve had some time to reflect and spend some time with family and friends and I’ve gotten to enjoy it. It’s still hard to believe that actually happened. I go about my business the same way though. This off season I’ve had a little bit of fun, done some work, been trying to do what I can personally to be competitive when we roll down here to Daytona.”
REGAN [SMITH] WAS SAYING THAT AFTER HE WON THE SOUTHERN 500 HE FELT LIKE GUYS WERE GIVING HIM MORE RESPECT WITHIN THE FIELD. DID YOU EVER HAVE A POINT WHERE YOU FELT LIKE GUYS WERE GIVING THAT TO YOU?: “This sport is so up and down that you might feel like that one weekend and get into it with a guy the next weekend. I guess I haven’t really noticed that. I feel like I have a good rapport with all my competitors and I’ve never really had that big of a run in with that many people. That has never really been an issue for me. I’m not sure if that is the case or not, like I say we just go about our business. Whatever happens, happens.”
DOES KNOWNING YOU ARE A RACE WINNER IN THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES DO ANYTHING FOR YOU MENTALLY? “I will take it to my grave that I’m an Indianapolis Motor Speedway race winner. That is pretty special, something to tell the grandkids.”
HOW ABOUT THE DAYTONA 500? OBVIOUSLY THE BRICKYARD 400 WAS VERY PRESTIGEOUS. WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT WOULD DO FOR YOUR CAREER? DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD ENJOY IT FOR A FEW WEEKS THEN GO BACK TO YOUR REGULAR SEASON MENTALITY? “You would have to or else you will get eaten up. It is just too damn competitive. Winning the Daytona 500 is number two on my bucket list. I got number one out of the way, Daytona would be pretty special, but then you go to Phoenix put on your helmet get into practice and all that goes out the window it is a new race weekend, a new day. I’ve got 10 fingers so I figure I can put a couple more rings on there.”
DURING THE OFF SEASON OBVIOUSLY KEVIN [HARVICK] WAS ABLE TO STREAMLINE THINGS FOR HIMSELF, WITH THE ANNOUNCMENT OF THE BABY AND SHUTTING DOWN OF KHI. HOW HAVE YOU SEEN HIM CHANGE A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE OF THAT?: “I have seen Kevin quite a bit since the off season, hanging out in the shop. He seems relaxed, recharged and focused. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing for his race team or not. He’s an animal behind the wheel and he is a pusher at the race shop too. I think he is a lot more mentally prepared than what I saw a year ago.”
TALK ABOUT THE BON IVER TWEET; DO YOU KNOW JUSTIN VERGAN? “Yeah I’ve known him for 18 years probably. Since like sixth grade, we went to school from sixth grade through graduation, we played football together. We’ve been to many parties together, we’ve been friends. That was pretty cool to see.”
THAT MUST BE A SURREAL EXPERIENCE THAT A HIGH SCHOOL HAS NOW PRODUCED SEVERAL WELL KNOWN AND SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS: “Yeah and we’ve got a kid that is a year or two younger than us that plays for the Chicago Blackhawks. Memorial High School should be pretty proud.”
CROSSING THE FINISH LINE AT THE BRICKYARD LAST YEAR, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT IT MEANT TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND YOU DAD TRYING TO WIN THAT RACE FOR SO MANY YEARS: “ I was born in 1980, my first year there was 1983, his first year there was 1977. It was a long time of trying to win a race there. It was a lot of years that my dad was attempting, just growing up around the race track, being a pit rat hanging out with my brothers, my friends in the garage area. To be able to share it with everybody, my mom, dad, my sister was there my brothers weren’t unfortunately, but it was pretty special.”
WHAT WAS YOUR DAD’S REACTION AFTER THE RACE WHEN THE CAMERAS WERE OFF?: “He didn’t stop grinning until I said goodbye for the night. I called him the next day and he was out celebrating with some friends, he was pretty pumped up.”
NOW THAT YOU HAVE WON AT THAT TRACK WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?: “It’s unbelievable. It still doesn’t really seem like it happened. You look back and it was so hectic afterwards, it’s kind of like man did that really happen. Over this off season I’ve had a lot of time to reflect and enjoy it.”
ESPECIALLY SINCE IT WAS YOUR FIRST CAREER WIN: “I hadn’t won a single Sprint Cup race before that for that to be the first, I didn’t know the procedures and protocol afterwards, and they had you running around for about four hours after the race was over. Went to ESPN the next day and after about two hours of sleep and did the whole ESPN experience, then obviously a whole lot more media throughout the week so it was kind of a relief to get back to Pocono to the race track.”
WHAT ARE THE WIN NOTES I MEAN FOR THIS YEAR YOU HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A SHOT OF CONFIDENCE OBVIOUSLY: “We are as well prepared as I’ve ever been for the race season. I did what I could do for myself over the off season. Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) has been doing what he can do for the race team. We have talked pretty much every day and we are on the same page.”
TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR OUTLOOK COMING INTO DAYTONA. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO AT THE START OF THIS SEASON?: “You roll into Daytona everyone has a high expectation. I firmly believe that we can be competitive this first handful of races. Just the preparations my guys have put in during the off season, I’m most excited to unload on Friday for Daytona practice and showcase their hard work. They have been busting their tail and I think we have a really fast race car.”
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SLUGGER (LABBE, CREW CHIEF): “We talk almost every day; we see each other all the time. Actually, we did a little snowmobiling together, did a little skiing together. We are friends; we are going on our third year together. I think we complement each other he is a high strung guy; I’m a low key guy. We off set each other a little bit so it’s a good relationship.”
HAVE YOU ENJOYED COMING OVER TO RCR? “It is a great group of guys. From the first day I walked in there and started meeting some of the people. I saw a lot of familiar faces too from the DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) days. I felt really welcomed from the get go. Having a year under my belt and a whole off season of preparation I feel like everybody is very confident right now. We have our preseason kick off lunch last week and we had a lot of enthusiastic people and that’s good to see in this sport.”
CAN YOU WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP?: “Of course we can. We have all intents on making the chase and if that is step one, step two is to win the championship.”
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