NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TUMS FAST RELIEF 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
OCTOBER 28, 2012
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – WINNER
THIS IS YOUR FIRST RACE IN THE CHASE THIS SEASON. YOU TOLD US THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE DAY YOU WOULD WALK OUT OF HERE IN CHAMPIONSHIP FORM. YOU ARE NOW THE POINT LEADER BY TWO POINTS. WHAT GOT IT DONE TODAY?
“We just had a great race car. And I think we’ve also learned our lesson here in the past in not pitting late and that certainly came into play and we made the right decision there. I’m so torn with emotion right now with winning here; and I’m so happy to be in the point lead. But I can’t help but think of all the people in 501RH a few years back. Also you can see on my car, Rick (Hendrick) wrote here in here Todd Rose passed away recently and I certainly want to mention him as well. I’m ecstatic about the win today and ecstatic about the point lead, but this is no cake-walk. These guys are bringing their best each and every week and we’ve got to keep working hard to keep this Lowe’s Chevy up front; and we’re in good shape.”
KNOWING HOW FAR BACK BRAD KESELOWSKI STARTED AND TO KNOW HE WAS AHEAD OF YOU ON THAT LAST RESTART HE WAS AHEAD OF YOU AND OPTED TO STAY OUT. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
“I felt like it was going to be a problem for him. I mean, we’ve been there before and have stayed out and gotten beaten. I expected him to drop a little further back, so with only a 2-point margin, he must have stayed up in the top five somewhere. You just can’t count out good race teams. When you’re in the playoffs, it doesn’t matter what sport it is, teams step up to show what they’re made of. We’ve seen a lot of teams do it this Chase. Out team came out on top today, and a few more racing doing that, we should be in good shape.”
NORMALLY YOUR WIFE WATCHES BACK IN THE BUS, BUT THE BABY WASN’T HERE TODAY. SHE WAS ON THE BOX. WAS SHE THE LUCKY CHARM?
“I think so. She was at a wedding yesterday with some great friends and got here right before the race started without our daughter. I know Evie is watching at home and I can’t wait to get home and see her. This is a great day. I with my daughter was here, but Chani made it and we’re going to have a nice drive home tonight.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET – FINISHED THIRD
YOU GUYS HAD TO WORK ON YOUR RACE CAR THROUGHOUT THE DAY. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?
“Yeah, we had to battle pretty hard. But luckily all the Hendrick Motorsports cars were pretty good today and congrats to the No. 48 team. Those guys did a great job. We were right there. We just, man, I think my window to race in is really small at this track. I make it hard on (crew chief) Kenny Francis and the guys. But Jimmie Johnson’s window is I guess big, and mine’s (not); it’s hard, like I’ll be loose, and then the next round I’ll be tight and it’s just so hard to find that fine line. But we ended up third, which is my best run in a long time here and I felt pretty good all day.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PEPSI MAX CHEVROLET – FINISHED SEVENTH THOSE FINAL LAPS TYPICAL MARTINSVILLE? “Yeah we were on the outside and I mean we were sitting ducks on the outside. I was just trying to get down. I felt like I got down in front of him (Clint Bowyer) but maybe I didn’t I don’t know I haven’t seen the video. Pretty typical Martinsville with Clint Bowyer and the No. 24 car here it’s not the first time. I like Clint (Bowyer) a lot we race really hard together and we were just racing hard right there.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOUR TEAM TO HAVE A GREAT RUN TODAY BECAUSE THE CAR WAS STOUT? “It was really strong especially the first half. That meant a lot to me and this team and our sponsors Pepsi Max, Drive To End Hunger, DuPont and Quaker State everybody that makes such a great effort. This team made an amazing effort the pit stops were great, the car was dialed in. I don’t know I think we wore the left-rear tire out or something on that real long run and it started getting extremely loose. We made a nice come back from there and the last thing we wanted was to be on the outside on those last two restarts and we were and it costs us.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/FARM AMERICAN CHEVROLET – FINISHED 15TH “As was the case in Kansas last week our performance today was better than the finish. We were running in the top five when I got hit and spun out. That knocked us back in track position and we were fighting to get back on the lead lap. This is our third race together and I am happy with the progress. The potential is there and we’re getting closer each week. The pit stops were phenomenal and they played a big role in getting us to the front. The spin was obviously a major blow to us today, but we also had a vibration in the Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet for the majority of the race and that affected the car’s handling.”
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW/NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET – FINISHED 21ST HOW DO YOU FEEL AND WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THAT RUN OVERALL? “I don’t know it was alright. We didn’t have a really good car and fought some issues all day long. Just made some poor choices at the end that got us run over.”
CARL (EDWARDS) CAME OVER HERE AND TALKED TO YOU WHAT DID HE SAY? “That it was just a tough deal. Somebody had run over somebody from way back.”
HOW DID IT FEEL TO BE BACK IN THE CAR? “It felt pretty good. I was just really pissed off about how we finished that race. That was really ridiculous. I mean you’ve got to use a little common sense that was not a good move.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM CHASING THE CURE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 32nd
SIDELINED ON LAP 474 WITH ENGINE ISSUES:
“The motor wouldn’t run all day. Couldn’t restart in second gear. Just hasn’t been a great year. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. At least we got the car handling pretty good and we were up inside the top-10. Motor blew-up.”
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