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[/media-credit]NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CAPITAL CITY 400 PRESENTED BY VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 27, 2012
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/OFFICE DEPOT CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed his win in the Late Model race at Richmond, Ryan Blaney’s NASCAR Nationwide Series debut and other topics. Full Transcript.
HOW DO YOU THINK YOU’RE CAR IF FOR TOMORROW NIGHTS RACE?
“I think the last half of the second session I got pretty happy with my balance. We didn’t put up a big number but I think we got something that we can race with.”
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO HAVE ALL YOUR PRACTICES IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY AND RACE AT NIGHT?
“We all do it. It’s a challenge, but this track really doesn’t change that much at night. The fun part of it is that it is really slick; it doesn’t have a lot of grip in it. You have to fight the grip all day long.”
IS IT TOUGHER TO RUN UP FRONT EVERY SINGLE WEEK NOW THAN IT WAS FIVE OR 10 YEARS AGO?
“I mean the competition is just that much tighter. Anytime you have competition that close it doesn’t take a little bit to move you up or down 10 or 15 spots.”
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT AFTER THE LAST TWO WEEKS? WERE YOU SURPRISED AT THINGS?
“I just think we missed it for the last couple of weeks. We weren’t terrible last week we were gaining on it. We definitely missed it at Texas and last week we were a little off, but I think we are figuring out why and what the things are we need to adjust.”
AFTER HAVING SUCH A STRONG FINISH LAST YEAR ARE YOU TRYING THINGS?
“You are over analyzing. We are still taking one week at a time. We are not trying something new; we are not trying something trick to see if it is doing anything. We are just week to week right now.”
IS IT MORE COMFORTING TO KNOW THAT YOU KIND OF HAVE A FEEL OF WHAT WORKED AT THE END OF LAST YEAR?
“Not necessarily, because I don’t think we were straying too far off that direction at Texas and Kansas. It just reinforces what I always say about the technology changes. What worked four months ago may not work now. You have to keep pushing forward and trying to find the next thing.”
RYAN BLANEY IS MAKING HIS DEBUT TONIGHT IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HIM AS AN UP AND COMING DRIVER?
“He does an awesome job. His racing family tree is pretty strong, got pretty good roots, between his uncle Dale and his dad Dave. He does an awesome job and he’s a smart racer he thinks about what he is doing and thinks about the scenarios he puts himself in.”
YOU WERE VERY COMPLIMENTARY LAST NIGHT OF THE SECOND AND THIRD PLACE DRIVERS YOU RACED WITH IN THE LATE MODEL DEAL. WHEN YOU GO RACE THESE GUYS DO YOU THINK BACK TO WHEN BIG NAME GUYS DROPPED IN WHEN YOU WERE STARTING OUT? HOW DID THOSE GUYS TREAT YOU BACK THEN?
“Even before that when I was going to dirt tracks and watching as a kid. I would watch guys come in it always impressed me to watch them get in something different that they weren’t used to and see how quick they adapted to it. It was always impressive to see guys do something out of the norm. Everybody thinks well, because we are at this level we are supposed to be good in something like that. Guys that run those things every week are always better in their cars than we are coming into that type of deal. That is what made yesterday so gratifying was that we were able to come into a car that we run once a year and actually had a really good night in it.”
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER GUYS THAT WOULD COME IN, DID THEY TALK TO YOU? DID YOU HAVE ANY INTERACTION WITH THOSE TYPE PEOPLE LIKE YOU DID WITH THE GUYS LAST NIGHT?
“Well, about the same. Granted the one that sticks in my mind is Stan Fox, when he would come back and run the midgets and stuff. Other than that the local guys that you had were just as tough if not tougher than the guys that came down and dropped down and division to race with you.”
ARE THEY TOUGHER ON YOU, THE LOCAL GUYS, WHEN YOU GO TO ALL THESE TRACKS BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BEAT YOU AND SAY THEY BEAT YOU?
“The guy I race for the lead last night he wore the right-front corner of my nose out diving down across it a couple of times. I mean it’s a feather in their cap. They are going to race you hard because that is a big plus on their resume if they go out and they beat us and have a good night. It shows that they are capable of doing that. They are going to race you hard. You wouldn’t expect anything different. You would be disappointed if they didn’t race you hard.”
IF SOMEBODY IN CUP DID THAT, YOU WOULD HAVE TURNED THEM?
“Well, it’s a little different deal, a little more etiquette. You realize why they were doing it here. That excuse wouldn’t fly at this deal. If I were that kid I would have done the exactly the same thing. He had every right to run us hard like that. I’m not sure I would have been as lenient with somebody else.”
WHY CAN’T IT BE THAT WAY IN CUP? NOT AS GENTLEMAN LIKE?
“Well it is to a certain degree. There are guys that take advantage of situations and guys that don’t. There’s a big difference between a guy that is trying to make a name for himself and guys that are here and do this every week that know how to do it. Like I said, the kid did a really good job last night and ran second. He was very deserving of that. He didn’t do anything wrong, but when you come to the Cup Series it’s a little bit different deal.”
DO YOU SEE THINGS THAT COMING LIKE THE 2013 CAR AND THESE TRACKS THAT ARE BEING REWORKED AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU TEAM TO LEARN SOMETHING BEFORE SOME OF THESE OTHER GUYS DO?
“You always hope that is the case. I get worried any time they repave a race track. To me it’s always a nightmare when it happens. Luckily, Phoenix has been the only scenario that I can think of lately that has had a new surface and been a really good race out of it. I hope what they did to get the track ready; it’s not just repaving it and saying okay we are going to race on it now. They are going to have to do stuff prep wise to make it to where the racing is good now.”
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