NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 16, 2015
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 HALO 5 MASTER CHIEF CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kansas Speedway and discussed his strategy moving forward in the Chase, what he likes about Kansas Speedway, last week’s incident with Carl Edwards and many other topics. Full Transcript:
WHERE YOU ARE IN POINTS DOES THAT IMPACT YOUR JUDGEMENT AS FAR AS HOW YOU MAKE A MOVE? OR CAN YOU NOT LET IT IMPACT YOUR JUDGEMENT?
“We ain’t got nothing to lose. We just got out there and run hard and try to win races and try to run up front. We are not close enough to the top eight to sort of have a strategy. We are just going to go out there and race and see how it works out for us and try to win. We have two opportunities and we are a good enough team so we will see how that works out.”
DO YOU BLOCK LIKE HELL AND IF YOU GET TURNED YOU GET TURNED OR IS IT NOT THAT AGGRESSIVE?
“No, I don’t think you want to get wrecked for any reason, but you’ve got to know when you are beat. You’ve got to understand when you are beat. Just have to make good judgement calls out there. If a guy wants to run in the back of you and wreck you, he can do that. But you’ve got to be able to go out there and be fast and try to make good decisions on restarts and be aggressive on restarts and get the lead and be in the lead at the end.”
IS THIS VERSION OF THE CHASE FAIR TO GUYS WHO PUT UP BIG NUMBERS IN THE REGULAR SEASON AND DOES IT MATTER?
“I mean the way the Chase is made and structured is providing a lot of excitement the elimination factor really brings a lot of excitement. It’s just like college basketball. You get eliminated. You are out. Even if you were the number one team in the country you can get knocked out in that tournament. So, that is how it is. You have to be able to deliver when the time comes.”
IT’S BEEN A DECADE SINCE YOU WON ON A 1.5-MILE TRACK, CHICAGO IN 2005. HOW DOES ONE EXPLAIN OR DEFINE SOMETHING LIKE THAT? THAT JUST SEEMS LIKE A PUZZLING OR BIZARRE STAT FOR SOMEONE THAT HAS HAD A GOOD BIT OF SUCCESS?
“Yeah, I know, I don’t know. I think as a driver I’m a little bit more consistent at the short tracks and obviously the plate tracks, we run pretty good at. I like the mile and a half’s and I run pretty good at them. We are always second, third, fourth or fifth. We are never really the guy that can lock in the win. I mean I don’t know. It’s just one of them things. I really can’t answer that because we have been one of the more consistent teams in the series over the last five or six years. We have maintained a good standing in the points throughout the regular season so we are running well, finishing well, and we are up front in a lot of these races. But, overall I think that I’m a better short track driver than I am a mile and a half driver, I don’t know.”
YOU WERE IN POSITION TO WIN THIS RACE EARLIER THIS YEAR:
“Yeah, on the restart we almost cleared Jimmie (Johnson) on the last restart to win here. We just didn’t. He won the race and we ran third to (Kevin) Harvick. It’s just, I don’t know, got to get a little luck. I know that 10 years of not winning has got a little bit more to do than just luck, but we have been running good enough. We have been up front and been competitive in these races, just those last few restarts getting the right opportunity to start in the right lane. One or two things fall in your favor it puts you in position to get the win.”
HAVE YOU TALKED TO CARL EDWARDS AND OR NASCAR ABOUT EITHER THE WRECK WITH CARL LAST WEEK OR THE OIL?
“No, I didn’t talk to either one of them. There was oil on the track due to the shade or whatever it was that the billboards cast across the track, I don’t know why they didn’t see it or didn’t know it was there or didn’t understand it was there. I think we were in good shape to rebound and get a top 10 finish before we hit the oil and hit the wall. That definitely hurt our opportunity that day. The incident with Carl, I thought he was impatient and run in the back of us. I didn’t cut him off or run down into… he didn’t hit me in the quarter panel he hit me in the back of the car. I think he was just impatient there. But I’ve got to focus on the next two races and try to win so I can advance. If we don’t advance we can change our focus.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE 2016 RULES PACKAGE?
“I think all the drivers are excited about it. I’m good with it. It’s a good change of direction I think to change the way the races are going to look and feel. I wouldn’t be looking for some dramatic change, but I think the drivers are happy about it. I believe that after what the fans and NASCAR saw in the two races that we ran it this year that they are excited about it as well. It will be interesting to see how … it’s going to be a process so I guess I wish people would try to be patient because we have to allow Goodyear to tune a tire for this package and that is not going to happen on the first attempt at all these races. They can’t have an issue where we are having tire problems and the tires aren’t lasting. They have to creep in on this deal and kind of bring the softer tire little steps at a time. It’s going to take some time to sort of get there. I just hope people are kind of patient that they wait on that process to unfold. I think that we saw at Kentucky we had a great race without really a good tire, not a softer tire that would provide an even better event. We softened the tire for Darlington and that really was a great opportunity to see potential and the direction we can go with Goodyear to get a softer tire that has a lot of fall off at a lot of these racetracks. That’s going to really make the races look and feel different and the cars will be more challenging to drive. It will be a little process, but it’s a great step in the right direction I think.”
DO YOU FEEL PRETTY COMFORTABLE HERE AT KANSAS? IS THIS A PLACE YOU THINK YOU CAN GO AFTER A WIN?
“Yeah, I like this place a lot. Especially since the high groove has come in over the last couple of trips it really has made this place fun. As a driver you love when the track widens out and you have different lines you can run so you are not really stuck behind everybody in a single line, in a single groove. This place has a lot of different grooves and gives you a lot of opportunities to move around. When you catch a slower car you don’t get stuck behind them and feel helpless. It’s a good track. The reconfigurations I think are good changes. I love the banking. As it ages and gets slicker and wider it’s just going to get better.”
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