NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FORD ECOBOOST 400
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 17, 2012
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed his mindset going into the final race tomorrow, what type of race we should expect to see on Sunday and other topics. Full Transcript:
WHERE IS YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW AFTER ALL THE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING IT’S TIME TO RACE? “Yeah ready to race for sure. Very pleased with how our car finished up. It’s really nothing for me to lose sleep about tonight. It’s an easy night for me. I got my training in this morning. I know I’m going to be tired and ready for bed. We finished on a high note in practice and just got to bed, get up and get to work tomorrow. Easy from my stand point, because I’ve got nothing to lose. We will see what they do on the other side.”
WE SAW SOME GUYS CRASH IN PRACTICE RACING SIDE-BY-SIDE. WHAT TYPE OF RACE DO YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE ON SUNDAY? “The crash that we had I think there was just some confusion and it kind of looked to me like people thought they were two-wide, but they were three-wide. There was just some confusion there that led to the crash on the front stretch. That happens anywhere. It’s kind of odd to happen in racing, but I think spotters might have a tough view in turn four. Turn four is a tricky corner. The car turns so strong through the center of the turn and then as you come up onto the straightaway you can lose the front end a lot. So, I think that is why we see issues over there. The race should be good. We are going to be on the line to the wall. This progressive banking makes for a really good race.”
WILL WHAT HAPPENED CHANGE THINGS? BRAD (KESELOWSKI) WILL NOW MOVE UP AND BE ON THE INSIDE TO START THE RACE ON THE FRONT ROW. CHANCES ARE HE WILL LEAD THE FIRST LAP… “I hope he tries really, really, really hard to lead that first lap. I know (Marcos) Ambrose next to him is going to try hard too. That could be good for me.”
DOES THIS TRACK LEND ITSELF TO A LOT OF CHANGE DURING THE RACE AS FAR AS IF YOU ARE BAD EARLY CAN YOU GET YOUR CAR BETTER THROUGHOUT THE RACE OR IS IT MORE WHAT YOU’VE GOT IS WHAT YOU’VE GOT? “If we have cautions you will have a chance to work on your car. That is biggest problem is when we got to these tracks, especially 1.5-mile tracks, and we don’t have many cautions you don’t get chances to work on your car. It’s tough to tune yourself in. I hope that we are close and we don’t need the cautions to work on our car, but that is really what sets the pace for the race and allows people to get back into it. The more cautions the more opportunities to improve your race car.”
I KNOW THE CONDITIONS CHANGE HEADING INTO TOMORROW BUT GIVEN WHAT YOU SAW FROM THE OTHER GUYS AND WHAT YOU FELT IN YOUR OWN CAR HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU IT IS A WINNING CAR? “I think we are a top-five car right now, winning we will work on that tonight and put some final touches on it. I knew coming into this weekend I was going to have a big hill to climb with the No. 2 car and the points lead that they have. They have done their part and have been very competitive all weekend long. We will just have to see how that race goes tomorrow. I feel we have made our car a lot better through the course of the weekend. The last two race runs we had were pretty strong and in the mix.”
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
