NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 5, 2014
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS, met with media at Richmond to discuss last week’s win in Atlanta, being part of the Chase, qualifying efforts and more. Full transcript:
WELCOME TO THE CHASE. HOW AS THAT SUNK IN FOR YOU THIS WEEK KNOWING THAT COMING INTO RICHMOND THAT THAT HEAVY BURDEN HAS BEEN LIFTED FROM YOU?
“Yeah, it’s been a good week. It was great to get that win last week. We hadn’t won in awhile so it felt really good personally and for our team – all the guys. Hopefully we can carry all that momentum into this weekend. I think Richmond will tell a lot about where we are as a team going into Chicago and into the start of Chase – depending on how we run, how we perform and how well we work together tomorrownight. So we’re looking forward to it. We started out a little rough for us today… in qualifying trim not so good but in race trim I thought we were decent. We weren’t the best car but we were fairly close. As the track changes tomorrow, it changes who has the best car a lot of the time. Looking forward to tomorrow’s race.”
LOOKING AT THE NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT AND NEW CHASE FORMAT, HOW HAS THE COMPETITTION BEEN DIFFERENT THIS YEAR IN HOW YOU RACE?
“Those are two pretty different things. In qualifying, your car handles so much differently. It’s a completely different part of the week than how it used to be, plus how you prepare and how you make it happen. I feel like I’ve been one of the best qualifiers in the Cup series since I’ve been in Cup up to this year. Now it’s maybe 15th to 20th best now. I think that’s just all because of how it’s changed and we as a team and myself as a driver haven’t figured that out yet. Qualifying has hurt us this year – starting position, picking pits and things like that aren’t where they’ve been in the past. We haven’t been happy about that at all.
“The Chase format, I like it. To make it into the Chase, winning is everything and means so much. Once we’re in there, it’s about consistency, winning and a little bit of everything to get back to Homestead. I’m interested to see how it plays out and how intense it gets. I’m really glad to be a part of that – really glad. As a fan, it will be interesting to be able to watch it and see how the system works.”
WE USUALLY SEE A LOT OF EXCITEMENT IN THIS RACE. DOES THIS NEW CHASE FORMAT IS GOING TO IMPACT THE WAY THE RACE ENDS AND HOW IT GOES ON TOMORROW NIGHT?
“I think a lot of that has to do with where the cautions fly. I felt like today in practice, your normal guys were the best guys; it was a normal weekend as far as looking at averages. I think Clint (Bowyer), Kyle (Busch), Paul Menard, Austin (Dillon)… there are some guys there who have a legitimate shot of making the Chase, especially if they can figure out how to get a win. Depending on when the cautions fall – track position, two tires, four tires – it will play into someone’s hand at the end of the race, I’d imagine. It will get kind of wild and crazy. Four tires is big here just because of the way the tires fall off. It will be interesting. People will have to take chances; that’s going to be your only way to make it – taking chances or having a great car. I didn’t see those guys having that great car in practice but things change a lot beforetomorrow night’s race.”
NEXT WEEK IN CHICAGO WITH IT BEING THE FIRST RACE IN THE CHASE, HOW ARE AND YOUR TEAM PREPARING FOR THAT RACE IN HOPES OF GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START?
“This weekend means a lot to me in trying to figure out if we’re ready as a team – if we can put another full race together, work hard all night long and make the right decisions to be there late in the race. So this weekend is very big for us in our preparation for Chicago. I was glad I went on our last off-weekend and ran for JR Motorsports at Chicagoland. We ran fourth and I felt like we had a really good time and learned a lot about the track and the tire. Hopefully we can use some of that to help us when we get there. Chicago is a cool track and I like a lot. There will be lots of racing going on; you can move around a lot. It’s all about momentum and where you’re at. Right now I feel like we have momentum as a team and hopefully we can carry that through Saturday night and take it with us to Chicago.”
YOU WON YOUR FIRST RACE HERE IN 2005. CAN YOU LOOK BACK AT THAT RACE AND HOW YOU’VE GROWN AS A DRIVER SINCE THEN?
“So many things have changed since then for myself, for NASCAR, the race track itself and the tire. It’s not even similar any more. But it was a great night for us. I remember pretty clearly that getting that first win with Ray Evernham and our guys. We ran second a bunch prior to that. It was a big win for us. We had to beat Tony Stewart. It kind of came down to the end with a restart. I was able to clear him and drive away from then. We had a great car and ran up front most of the night. I feel like I was better at Richmond then than I am now.”
NOW THAT YOU’RE IN THE CHASE, HAVE YOU AND KENNY (FRANCIS, CREW CHIEF) SAT DOWN AND ANALYZE THE NEW FORMAT, THE STRUCTURE AND HOW TO ATTACK IT WITH ELIMINATIONS? IS IT IMPORTANT TO REVIEW ALL THAT?
“It’s important to understand it for sure. We did that Tuesday. It was the first time I’d looked at it since January when it all came out. Just kind of getting it clear in my head, and Kenny did the same. There is definitely a lot to it, understanding it and trying to play it right. Yeah, we’ve looked at that and thinking ahead a little bit, which you have to do to be prepared. But at the same time, we can’t get ahead of ourselves. I still think tomorrow night is a big, key race for us and how we perform as a team. Hopefully we can stay focused, work hard, get the most we can out of the car and be there late in the race and be at our best for the final 100 laps. That’s how you win Sprint Cup races and that’s what we’ll work on tomorrow.”
WHAT STRIKES YOU ABOUT THE ELIMINATIONS?
“I think the eliminations… you have to understand that side of things and the points and being consistent still. But it’s about winning and speed in your car. I feel like that’s going to be the key to running well throughout the Chase – just having speed each week. Not just barely getting by because that will only work for maybe the first round. You have to be in the middle of it. I think those three extra points will be good. It would be nice to have six.”
HOW CRUCIAL WILL QUALIFYING BE IN THE CHASE?
“It will be pretty crucial. It’s a big part of our weekend – where you start and where your pit stall is. Pit stops are everything and worth so much throughout a race. It’s not just if your team is on but where your pit stall is too because you can gain a little bit on pit road. If you have those first couple of choices, it seems to help especially over 10 races. At some point that’s definitely going to benefit you. We’ve worked on that and tried to get better. We’ve made some gains – they’ve been small but we’ve definitely made some gains in qualifying. Hopefully we’re prepared to make some more.”
IN TERMS OF WINNING LAST WEEKEND, HOW WOULD YOU RANK THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF YOUR CAREER?
“Pretty high. I’ve had some pretty exciting and big wins in my career that meant a lot. But I’d say that with the pressure, with where we’ve been as team – not having speed early in the year and then having some pretty good speed but not able to finish – to pull that off late when the pressure kept building… About a month ago, I started to feel it a little bit more. Something happens at Bristol and now all of a sudden we need to win to make the Chase. If we don’t then we’re probably going to miss the Chase. We went into it that mentality and luckily we were able to pull it off. Everything worked our way. We had a great car at the end. The restarts were good. The pit stop put us fifth. For whatever reason, all of those little things played in our favor that night. It was big and a huge relief. I felt like as a team we stepped up higher than we have in the past.”
AFTER THIS RACE, THERE’S PRESSURE TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. IS THAT DIFFERENT?
“I think it’s a good bit different. My teammates have been in for awhile. Everyone knows we have great cars and great engines. Mr. (Rick) Hendrick gives us everything we need – teams and all that. To miss the Chase with 11 or 12 races left, that’s difficult and something I didn’t want to go through. We fought through there and made it. So that pressure is gone; we’re in the Chase and that feels really good. I would imagine there’s more pressure than that when you get down to Homestead or Phoenix and you’re going for a championship. I’ve never been in that situation so I don’t know exactly how that works. We’ve been fourth or fifth or somewhere in there getting down to those final races. To have a legit shot to win a championship is much different. I’d say that’s where the pressure is, from what I’ve felt in the last couple of weeks – wanting to be there and needing to be there.”
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