NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – SYLVANIA 300
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BELKIN/WEMO CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 2ND
ON HIS QUALIFYING SESSION:
“I thought we had a really good car in race trim. We ran a few laps in race trim to start today. Very similar to the same car we had here the first race. We switched over to qualifying trim we were second quick so yeah our car has been good so far. The track will change a little bittomorrow when the rubber gets laid down, but overall it’s been a really good weekend so far. We have WEMO on our car, a really loud paint scheme so really excited about everything so far.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER DESIGNATE A DRIVER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD
YOU JUST MISSED A LITTLE BIT, BUT STILL HAVE A SMILE ON YOUR FACE
“Those were huge improvements for our Budweiser team and what we had in practice, and feel like it gave us a good direction for race trim. I’m just real proud of everybody on our Budweiser team. I’m proud to be driving the Designate a Driver car this weekend and sending a great message to everybody to drink responsibly. Have a good time, but have a plan to drink responsibly as you go out. So, I’m excited about a good qualifying effort. That will make our day a lot easier to start with anyway, on Sunday.”
THAT CAR WAS GREAT IN JULY. BUT HOW DIFFERENT ARE THE SET-UPS FROM A HOT JULY TO A COOL SEPTEMBER?
“Well, we’ve got a totally different style car and set-up. We came up here and ran for a few days. We didn’t feel like we were that great in July. We felt like we could apply a lot of things from Phoenix to here and then from here to Phoenix and that seemed to be somewhat true. So, I feel like we’re in a lot better spot than we were going into the race or into Saturday practice than we were in July. So, I’m excited about it and just looking forward to getting into tomorrow’s practice and seeing where we are.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 6TH
‘The first lap was decent and the second lap is usually quicker. I overdrove Turn 3 and ended up about a lane high. I felt like I had a shot at it, especially when we went out in the second outing of the first round and ran a thirty. I wanted to be up there on the front row or have a shot at the pole and didn’t want to say I left anything on the table, but unfortunately I got into Turn 3 a little hot and missed it.”
WE ALL SAW WHAT HAPPENED IN JULY. THIS TIME AROUND, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS GOING INTO THE RACE?
“Well, to go further than the 10 or 12 laps we ran (laughs). That was a bummer of a day, for sure. It hurts us more than anything when we don’t know what that set-up did. So, we’ll work through that race practice stuff tomorrow and expand on that. So much has changed since July, especially for us, just trying to find speed and work in the right areas, that we’ll have two or three major changes to throw at the car tomorrow and then see which one shows the most speed.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 10TH
HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR CAR IS? HOW DO YOU THINK PRACTICE WENT AND COMMENT ON YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“I thought practice was okay. Then that first round of qualifying we were really fast. Then I was expecting a lot there the second round. Jamie (McMurray) posted a really fast lap. I was better than him the first round so I was hoping to do really good in this final round. My first attempt I went out and went into (Turn) three and my splitter must have been two feet below the earth because it never turned and I hit the wall. I had to come back in and re-cool down the engine and the tires were hotter. We had to adjust the car to try and get the splitter off the ground and I was too tight. Disappointing I think we were 10th, but happy for Jamie.”
IS THE CAR OKAY FOR SUNDAY AND WHAT ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO DO ABOUT THE NO. 2 CAR?
“The car is fine. I looked at the right-side and it looks like it just got the tire into the wall, barely scuffed up the fenders. The No. 2 car has been fast all year long. He was amazing fast here the first race. I don’t know. I don’t think anybody has anything for Brad (Keselowski). It’s pretty amazing how fast he is right now at pretty much every race track we go to. Hopefully we are the guys that can stop him this weekend, but it will be really tough.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH
REALLY TIGHT TOP 12 TALK ABOUT THE TWO SESSIONS AND HOW YOU THINK YOUR CAR IS FOR SUNDAY:
“We qualified a lot better this time than we did the last trip here. We saved a set of tires in practice too that will be a big benefit tomorrow in race trim. It was a good day. We lacked a little speed that second round, but still to be able to get into the second round considering how we qualified the first race here big improvement.”
DO YOU THINK THE TEST SESSION HERE A FEW MONTH AGO HELPED?
“I don’t know. I think that we have learned a lot as a team overall. The test session probably helped some, but I think just watching everything else as well, just all the other cars that would have access to their information and the racing that we have done since then. I think we have learned a little bit on a new direction or the direction that we need to be going.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 13TH
WHAT STANDS OUT THE MOST ON THIS SESSION?
“I’d say I was a little bit loose on that first run out, but I felt like I got everything out of it. We just don’t have enough speed. That’s the bottom line. I think we’ll be a lot better in the race. We kind of went through this same process earlier in the year here. We took two tries to get in and just snuck our way in and ended up ninth or 10th. I think that’s about where we are now. I overdrove it a little bit there trying to make up for something; trying to sneak our way into it, and I overdrove it and I just got a little bit wide in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2 and the lap was over. But, not from a lack of effort, that’s for sure. We’re excited about having the orange colors on our Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet for Hunger Action Month and we hope everybody takes action.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 TIME WARNER CABLE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 17TH:
DID THE TRACK CHANGE AT ALL? THERE WAS A BIG SWING OF ABOUT 10 DEGREES IN TRACK TEMPERATURE
“I don’t think it changed a whole lot. I was a little free in practice as well, and then right here I was really good through the center, got off the brakes and back to the throttle, and then I just sheared the back just a little bit. So, I couldn’t go wide open as quickly as I wanted to. We tightened-up the second time out and really had the same thing. We were really close. The times were close. Our Time Warner Cable Chevy is great. It’s turning really well, so that’s much better than the first trip up here a month or two ago. So I feel good that we’ll hit on it and be much better on Sunday. But we must barely missed it.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 18TH
ON THE SESSION
“When I look at how close the times are and look at what four hundredths would have done; I’m not sure how it ended in the end because I was trying to go faster. But that would have put us from 16th to eighth. So it would have been a huge difference. I’ll I’m thinking about is like coming off of Turn 4 on that first run. My car was moving around and stepping out just a little bit. If I’d have kept it down, would it have taken it? Would I have picked-up those four hundredths that I needed? So that’s the hard part about when it’s so close. But, hey, I’d rather be close and be in the thick of things than think to myself, and I’ve been there before, how in the world am I going to find four tenths. It’s a good problem to have and we were just talking about how far we’ve come. We qualified somewhere in the thirties earlier this year. So much better for the GoDaddy car. I thought when I was going out that a top 18 would be a good improvement from this morning.”
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