NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
NEW HAMPSHIRE 301
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 17, 2016
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND
WHATEVER CHANGES YOUR CREW CHIEF MADE OVERNIGHT IT SEEMED LIKE THEY WORKED:
“Yeah, we had a much better Haas Automation Chevy today than what we had yesterday. Buga (Mike Bugarewicz, crew chief) did a really good job. I went off and went to Eldora for the King’s Royal last night. He kept sending me a couple of texts. He was working as late here as I was working late at Eldora. It really paid off. He is doing such a great job for a rookie crew chief that only has half a season he has got veteran calls and veteran moves. Really proud of him, proud of this whole team, Mobil 1, Bass Pro, Code 3 Associates, Rush Truck Centers. I think our partners are as excited about all this as I am which is making it fun. They are as much a part of the team as anybody, Rusty (Rush), Eric and Dan and everybody at Mobil 1 and Johnny Morris at Bass Pro we are loving it. Chevrolet most of all. They have been a great partner my entire career with GM, Pontiac and Chevrolet. I’m proud to be running my last year in a Chevy.”
HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DOES THIS GIVE YOU?
“I like it. The hardest part about it honestly is just the restarts. You’ve got two lanes of cars going into Turn 1 that are all fighting for one lane. As much as Kentucky last week we had tires that weren’t very easy to race on this is probably the best tire I think Goodyear has ever brought to Loudon. I mean you could run all over the race track during the day. They are working hard at it and they are getting better, so just keep plugging away with those guys. But, I’m happy I mean this is the kind of day we wanted here and we are getting close.”
ON HIS DAY:
“It was fun. The hardest part of the restarts was just which line you were in. If you were on the bottom you were at a huge disadvantage. You needed to be on that top line and needed to be able to hold them down when they got there. We restarted sixth on the outside that last time and that really was the key to getting us up where we were at the end.”
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF DAYTONA YOUR AVERAGE FINISH OVER THE LAST FIVE RACES WOULD BE FOURTH. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT YOU AND THE TEAM?
“I like that stat. I feel like we are getting better each week now. Buga (Mike Bugarewicz, crew chief) is doing a great job on the box. You can see the confidence not only in him but all the guys on the team. Our Chevy’s are fast right now. I feel like we are gaining on it. What we said, I don’t know when we said it, we were talking about you crawl before you walk, walk before you run, run before you jog and job before you sprint. We are definitely running right now. I feel like we are getting pretty close to this sprint at the end.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 4TH
HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH THIS TOP FIVE?
“I’m disgusted to tell you the truth. It’s the same thing every week. We just make mistake after mistake and until we clean that up we don’t have a chance to win races putting ourselves in a hole every time we make a mistake. It sucks because the cars are plenty fast, but we are just not executing.”
WHAT WILL BE YOUR TAKE AWAY WHEN WE COME BACK HERE IN THE FALL?
“We just have to perform better. We under execute as a team on a weekly basis and got to do a better job. The Jimmy John’s Chevrolet cars are always fast, but we always do something wrong.”
HOW DO YOU AS THE LEADER OF THIS TEAM HELP CORRECT SOME OF THOSE ISSUES?
“It’s really going to have to come from the top. I mean they are going to have to clamp down and there is no way we can win a championship like this unless they straighten some of this stuff out.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CREDIT ONE/CREDITCARDS.COM – FINISHED 6TH
HOW BIG IS THIS TOP 10 FINISH TODAY?
“Yeah, a really big day. Our Credit One Back Chevy was really solid all weekend. We had good pit stops and had good restarts. You have to have all that here. The race kind of drew out for a little while and we had long green flag runs. Then in the last 40 laps, we were just crazy on all those restarts. It seemed like on some of them you wanted to be on the top, some of them you wanted to be on the bottom. The guy in second is at such a disadvantage on those restarts, especially when you start spinning the tires. So, a really solid day for us today.”
WHAT IS THE FEELING AROUND THIS TEAM AT THE MOMENT?
“Well, we are getting better at the right time. Last year we made the Chase and we had a pretty good buffer going into Richmond, but we didn’t run very good in the first three Chase races. It seemed like we were going the wrong direction at that point. But right now, yeah, I think three of the last four races we were in the top 10. They have made our cars a lot better. The No. 42 has been really good at a lot of races. Our car has been good at a lot of races, so, it’s just a lot of hard work by everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing. Fortunately, we were able to get a good finish out of today.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 WHELEN CHEVROLET SS – Finished 7th
ON THE RACE INCIDENT
“They checked up in front of me and I got the No. 19 (Carl Edwards) and crossed him up and took about three other guys out. But, that was ‘racing’ I guess, from my standpoint. Maybe they see it that way. Maybe they don’t. But, just let them know it wasn’t on purpose. It was a good run for our Whelen Chevrolet and it was a hard-fought day, man. We had about maybe a 15th place car and to finish where we did was definitely good.”
ON THE POINTS
“It was a good finish for us as well as a bad for some other guys. But, we’ve got to perform better and we’ve got to do better on pit road and on the race track and be up there contending in the Top-3 all day long.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Finished 12th
ON THE RACE
“It was a tough day. We had a fifth to eighth place Lowe’s Chevy and I just messed up sliding through my pit. That was disappointing, for sure.”
ALEX BOWMAN, SUBSTITUTE DRIVER FOR DALE EARNHARDT JR, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Finished 26th
WHAT WAS TODAY LIKE FOR YOU?
“It was amazing. I can’t thank Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys enough. They took me to my worst race track by far and made me look good. I just have to thank Mr. H. I had such an amazing time. Everybody, Greg (Ives, crew chief) and all the guys were so welcoming. I hate the circumstances and really hope Dale is feeling well, but I had so much fun today. Obviously, I hate that we didn’t get the finish we deserve, but I’ve raced with a lot of these guys for a long time… I raced around them I’ve never got to actually race with guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, all those guys. I had a lot of fun passing really good cars. Just really thankful for Nationwide and all of Hendrick Motorsports for letting me be here.”
WHAT EXACTLY LED TO THE TIRE GOING DOWN?
“I think the No. 19 (Carl Edwards) was backing up because he was blocked in as I was leaving the pit box. My left-rear hit his right-rear as I was leaving. It caved it in enough, we thought we would be fine, but obviously, when I got into the No. 41 (Kurt Busch) it was already going down. I got really loose, got up the race track and got into him. I hate that for Kurt. Obviously, just got loose had a tire going down and then it went down at about the start/finish line, I just tried to hang on to it. It is really unfortunate. They knew we were here for sure and I had a blast.”
ON THE EXPERIENCE
“I hate the circumstances, obviously, and I hope Dale is feeling better. I’m just so appreciative of the opportunity to be here. I’m really disappointed to end our day that way, but we showed we were a Top-10 car all day long.
“This is the first time I’ve consistently run in the Top-10 in a Cup car. We made a lot of progress this weekend. This is by far my worst race track. To come here with these guys and run that well just shows what a great piece they bring to the race track. I’ve never really had a great feel for this place, so to be able to run Top-10 means a lot and I wish we had the finish, but I think they knew we were here.”
HOW WAS IT STEPPING INTO THE SEAT WITH THE CREW YOU HAD AT A TRACK THAT’S ADMITTEDLY NOT YOUR BEST RACE TRACK?
“When I got the call I’m like, ‘Oh, Loudon? Really? Okay, well, I’ll try.’ And they were so welcoming. Such great people to get to work with. Greg (Ives) and all the guys….I had so much fun working with everybody. And I’ve got to thank Mr. ‘H’, too; it was just an absolute blast. I was off a little bit in practice and qualifying, so I feel like I got my act together for the race and it definitely showed.”
WHAT IS IT ABOUT LOUDON THAT YOU THINK IS TOUGH?
“I’m one of those guys who just wants to drive the heck out of it and make it go fast and that’s the opposite of Loudon. I’ve run okay here in the past; just never had a really solid feel in a Cup car. I think I’ve figured it out today, finally. I mean I’ve got some bad memories of here (like) race cars on fire, popping front tires, and all kinds of things. These guys helped me so much and Jimmie (Johnson) and Kasey (Kahne) and Chase (Elliott) and looking at their data and being able to lean on them was just great. I’m grateful for everyone to let me be here.”
EVEN THOUGH IT DIDN’T END THE WAY YOU WANTED, IT STILL MUST HAVE BEEN AN INCREDIBLE TIME AND A GREAT EXPERIENCE
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve gotten out of a Cup car with a smile on my face in a while. It’s just so much fun to be able to run up front like that. I’ve spent two years of my career wondering if I can really do this at the Cup level and today I answered that for myself.”
WAS THERE ONE MOMENT DURING THE RACE WHEN YOU REALLY FELT LIKE YOU BELONGED AND THAT MADE YOU REALIZE YOU COULD DO THIS?
“The biggest thing is I’ve raced around those guys for two years; almost three years now. I’ve never raced with them. You can call Superspeedway racing whatever you want to call it, but I’ve never had a day where I could just race with them. And today I was finally able to do that.”
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