NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 3, 2014
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
SPEED HAS NOT BEEN A PROBLEM FOR YOU GUYS ALL YEAR LONG IN MAY YOU SET THE TRACK RECORD FIVE MONTHS LATER YOU COME BACK HERE AND CRUSH IT. TELL US ABOUT IT:
“I’m just really proud of everybody on our Budweiser team. We’ve been dealt some bad luck throughout the year, but it hasn’t fazed them in continuing to work on the cars and the speed. The first three weeks we have led a bunch of laps and qualified well. Last week had them covered and a valve stem got knocked off by a lugnut. Keep doing the things that you are doing and that luck will all come full circle and as long as the cars continue to be fast that stuff all comes back to you. Hopefully it peaks at the right time.”
TOMORROW A BETTER INDICATION OF HOW THE RACE IS GOING TO BE?
“Yeah, our car was really good here last time. Obviously, very similar to the things we did here in the first race, same car. Hopefully we can do the same thing in race trim.”
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS PLACE FIRST, WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE? THAT IS THREE IN A ROW FOR YOU HERE:
“Yeah, for whatever reason this fits everything that I have going on with my driving style. But in the end it’s all about having fast cars obviously. Last year we had a fast car and this year we have had a fast car as well. So just have to thank everybody on my Budweiser team for staying focused, continuing to build better race cars, and controlling all the things that we can control. Our cars are fast, we are qualifying well, our pit stops are good, cars are reliable and everything is good. We just need a little bit of good luck to go with it. It’s just like I keep telling these guys – that stuff will all come full circle and hopefully it does it at the right time this year.”
AFTER HAVING SOME BAD LUCK, HOW DO YOU COME OUT AND HAVE THAT RACER FOCUS THAT YOU NEED?
“I just feel like with a little bit of good luck we can beat every car here, every week, at any style race track. And that is a real good, positive feeling to have as a race car driver. Our guys have a lot of confidence in what they are putting on the race track and everybody knows if the chips fall right that we have the speed and the cars to do what we need to do. We have made the adjustments with reliability from the beginning of the year and having the pit crew on pit road. Everything is there it’s just a matter of having everything come together on the luck side so we will just keep plugging away.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE 4 TEAM IS THE TEAM TO BEAT IN THIS CHASE?
“I feel like we are doing everything we need to do to be in contention and that is really all you can ask for. It’s just a matter of having it all come together for our Budweiser team.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING SESSION:
“I’m happy with where we ended up. I feel like that is about where we were. Kevin (Harvick) was in another league. I felt like we had a shot – if you look at how close it is all the way up to second we had a shot at second. I got a little bit tight off of (turn) two, which was surprising I had been loose over there the whole qualifying session. I did not expect it to get tight there. Knowing that I wish we could have made a little bit different adjustment there before that run. All in all, the car has great speed in it and I was happy with it in the race trim runs we ran today. A top five you have to be happy with that starting position.”
WHAT IS THE ASSESSMENT FROM TODAY WITH A COUPLE OF PRACTICES AND A QUALIFYING RUN?
“It was a really solid effort for our Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS team. Little disappointed that we couldn’t go faster than that because I feel like the car had a little bit more speed in it. That last run I just got a little bit tight off two. So to run what we ran and have that bit of tightness, I am happy. To be in the top five is a great place to start and that is higher than where we started when we ran this race in May. The car has felt excellent all day long, so pretty happy. So yeah, a really solid day.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 RUSH TRUCK CENTERS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 9TH
JUST HOW FAST IS NINTH QUICKEST?
“It’s fast enough that I don’t want to have to do that again the rest of the day. Kevin’s (Harvick) lap at 197 mph average on a 1.5-mile that is pretty fast for a stock car. It’s pretty impressive. I remember when I started in these things 16 years ago we didn’t even think about running 197 for an average. They barely ran 197 at the top end. It’s pretty impressive. The rules package right now with so much downforce you can just fly around there. I’m looking forward to them cutting some spoiler off next year for sure.”
PRETTY GOOD STARTING SPOT FOR SUNDAY EVERYONE HAS BEEN SAYING TRACK POSITION IS GOING TO BE KEY:
“Yeah, anytime you are not lifting out of the gas it is hard to pass. The crew chiefs will have to play the track position game and you have to have a good car too. Hopefully today is a good sign that we will have a good day tomorrow and keep the thing balanced and have something we can work with on Sunday.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 17TH
THIS FORMAT IS SO CLOSE IN MAKING IT OR NOT MAKING IT ISN’T IT?
“When you are that wide open, it is tight. You know, it’s not what we wanted to start with our Caterpillar Chevrolet SS but after the little drama we had and being tied with the 11 car on that first round I am happy that we got the opportunity to beat seven more of them. So we will work on it a little bit more in race trim. We really thought we were going to be better than that based on where we were in qualifying practice. The car drove really good but I think everybody just stepped it up and we were already stepped up.”
HOW ENCOURAGED ARE YOU TO BE IN THE SECOND ROUND OF THE CHASE AND INTO THIS CONTENDER ROUND?
“It’s great, especially in the first year with this team. I told somebody earlier that I went from not knowing some of these guys names at the beginning of the year to running for a championship title with seven races to go. So we are happy.”
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