NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SYLVANIA 300
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 23, 2012
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND: ON HIS RACE AND TAKING POINTS LEAD: “We had a great race car, just not an amazing car like the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) had. We were best in class today; did a great job. We really expected the No. 11 to be tough here today, and he was. I was telling the guys on the radio on the way in, to only leave seven points on the table in two races is pretty good. We missed that win last week, and this week, and we didn’t lead the most this weekend, but it is probably seven total. That’s not bad. Very proud of this Lowe’s team.”
WHERE DO YOU FEEL LIKE HE (DENNY HAMLIN) WAS BETTER THAN YOU GUYS TODAY? “It was hard to tell. He had a lot of speed in his car and seemed to be able to go when he needed to and wanted to. It was just a great job on their behalf. We were the next best car, finished second, and passed a lot of cars ourselves today. We knew based on the spring race that those guys were going to be real tough here today and they certainly were. We’ve got some really good ones coming up for this No. 48 team starting next week. I’m really excited about things. I think probably left about seven points on the table with the two win points, the extra points for that and leading the most this week. So to be two races in and that is all that I feel we have left behind is pretty darn good. I’m real happy.”
YOU ARE ONE POINT IN THE LEAD RIGHT NOW LEADING THE POINTS OVER BRAD KESELOWSKI. IS THIS EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANTED TO BE? “Yeah it is. This track here we have a few wins, but I kind of average like a top 10. So to beat our average here is very important and very helpful in the Chase. Then we’ve got to go to Dover next weekend a place I love and hopefully have a good, smart day and get the finish we hope to have.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET – FINISHED 3RD: ON HIS RACE: “It was a really solid effort. It’s such a shame what happened to us in Chicago last weekend because I think we would have back-to-back top-fives. Great fight. We didn’t quite have the car today, so to come home third, that’s just a total team effort from pit stops, to adjustments. The car was the best it had been all day right there at the end. Just a great fight. I am really proud of this Drive To End Hunger team.”
YOU KNEW COMING IN, THAT IT IS GOING TO BE LITTLE BITS AT A TIME TO GET BACK IN, AND THAT IS WHAT YOU DID TODAY: “Oh, absolutely. It is one at a time. There is no doubt we can get ourselves back into this. We’re a strong team, with fast race cars. We just have to consistently put those results together that we’re capable of, and who knows where we can get to in the points.”
YOU ARE STILL OPTIMISTIC EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE STILL 45 POINTS BACK IN 12TH? “We gained a lot on a lot of guys. It’s going to be tough to gain on guys like the No. 48 and the No. 2. Certainly today nobody was going to gain on that No. 11, still a really great effort, top three. I hate what happened in Chicago, we would have back-to-back top five’s I think. Still great effort by the Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet team, I thought the pit stops were great. All the way around a great effort this weekend, great calls in the pits, adjustments as well. That was the best the car had been all day long was right there at the end and that is all you can ask for. We didn’t have a car that could win. I thought we were a third or fifth place car, we came home third that is pretty good.”
YOU ARE JUST RACING, BUT WHEN YOU PASSED KESELOWSKI YOU WATCHED THE POINTS OF JIMMIE JOHNSON ALL OF A SUDDEN HE WAS TIED AND NOW HE IS LEADING THE POINTS. I THINK HE OWES YOU DINNER. WHAT DO YOU THINK? “Well if that happens in Homestead I think he might buy dinner, but it’s so early right now. Everybody is just racing for position, racing for wins, the points will kind of fall where they fall. I thought the No. 48; Jimmie (Johnson) did a great job today to come from deep in the field. His car, I know the set-up and he drove the heck out of it. I thought that was a great effort. That is the kind of effort that wins championships so we will see where that takes them.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 5TH
ON HIS RACE: “It was decent. We missed it a little bit yesterday, so we had to throw some things at it today just off of Friday and Saturday. The guys did a really good job. It was solid race for us. We weren’t quite as fast as we would have liked. Denny (Hamlin) was really good like everybody expected. But, our Farmers Insurance team did a great job again. We’ll just get ready for Dover next week. Looking forward to that.”
WHAT DID YOU TAKE AWAY FROM TODAY AND HOW YOUR CHASE IS SHAPING UP? “We had another consistent day. Our Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was fast, but not as fast as a few of those guys, but it was good. I couldn’t get the car to turn when it would load. I think it was just on the splitter a little too hard and chatter the fronts (tires) so we just needed to work on that. We couldn’t fix it during the race so we had what we had. The team did a really nice job on pit road with stops and things to keep us towards the front. We have been pretty consistent so far so the first two are good for the Chase. Hopefully, we can keep it going and get a little faster if we want to catch those other guys. That would be pretty cool. Denny (Hamlin) was great today.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 ASPEN DENTAL CHEVROLET – FINISHED 10TH:
ON THE RACE
“It just seems like I never got the corner flow right. We got the balance halfway close, but we never go the entry middle exit quite right. So, it was a decent finish for the Aspen Dental Chevrolet. It was just not what we wanted.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 ENERGIZER CHEVROLET – FINISHED 22ND:
“It was a rough day. We just couldn’t get the car to turn right. It started out ok on the early run and then it just got worse. We had a lot of green flag runs which didn’t leave us a lot of time to make drastic changes or help with the handling. The guys did what they could. I wish we had a better result for the Energizer folks today.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 LIFTMASTER CHEVROLET – FINISHED 26TH:
”I was really excited to have LiftMaster on board with us this weekend at New Hampshire. We worked with the handling on our car all day and were actually running competitive lap times with some of the cars up front, we just couldn’t overcome the track position to make any gains on the track.”
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