NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
STP 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 27, 2015
CHEVROLET’S RYAN NEWMAN TO START ON THE OUTSIDE POLE IN MARTINSVILLE
Chevrolet SS drivers earn eight of top 10 starting positions
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – (March 27, 2015) – Ryan Newman placed his No. 31 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS on the outside pole position for Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, round six of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. A fast lap of 19.258 seconds (98.328 mph) earned Newman his fifth top 10 start of 2015 and 17th in 27 races at the paper clipped-shaped track.
Newman led a procession of Chevrolet’s in the top-10. The Bowtie Brigade earned eight of the top starting spots. Martin Truex, Jr. piloting the No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet SS matched his best starting position at Martinsville, and will take the green flag on Sunday from the third starting spot.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon, No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet SS and Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS – the two most successful drivers at Martinsville Speedway with eight wins apiece – will start fifth and sixth, respectively.
Tony Stewart, No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS earned his best starting position of 2015, with a sixth-place effort. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS will follow Stewart, in seventh.
Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS will start ninth and AJ Allmendinger, wheeling the No. 47 Bush’s Beans Chevrolet SS, will start 10th.
Joey Logano (Ford) will lead the field to the green as the pole sitter. Matt Kenseth (Toyota) will start eighth to round out the top 10 qualifiers.
Sunday’s 500-lap/263 mile race is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage will be available on FoxSports1, MRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS:
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 2ND
YOU’VE WON HERE BEFORE. YOU’RE ALWAYS UP-FRONT WHEN IT COMES TO QUALIFYING. WHAT IS YOUR OUTLOOK FOR SUNDAY? YOU’VE GOT TO FEEL PRETTY GOOD.
“I do. I hate getting beat. But Joey (Logano) won the pole here last fall. We’ve got a good Quicken Loans Chevrolet. We actually started in race trim and got one run in qualifying trim and went to P1. So, I felt like we were super competitive and just got beat by just a little bit. So, we’ll obviously focus on race trim like everybody else and get the car to drive good and hopefully still be fast. We’ll keep an eye on our brake temps like everybody needs to do, and see if we can do it better than everybody else.”
TEMPERS CAN FLARE AT SHORT TRACKS. HERE, IT SEEMS LIKE AT LEAST SOMEBODY IS ALWAYS MAD AFTER THE RACE. WHY HERE? WHY DOES THAT HAPPEN?
“I don’t know (laughs). I think it’s just a factor of this. I don’t know if this is the shortest track or if Bristol is any shorter, but my point is the heavy-braking here just leads to more traffic jams. You don’t get the jumbled-up restarts at a place Bristol like you do here and I think it’s just the fact that it’s just the race track or a short track that’s flat and heavy braking and it just gets frustrating when you get stuck behind somebody and you can’t really pass them and you’re going five mph slower through the center of the corner than your car is capable of. That’s just one aspect of it. That’s not if you had a bad pit spot and got back there first.”
WITH LESS HORSEPOWER, IS THERE GOING TO BE EVEN MORE PREMIUM ON BRAKES?
“I don’t think the horsepower is the biggest change as much as the gear rule changes is the biggest difference just because the engine braking is a big part of what assists the brakes to not overheat. We’re turning less rpm, which in turn, gives us less engine brake so to speak, and makes it a little bit harder. But I think the cool temperatures on Sunday are going to be the equalizer and it’s not going to be so big of an issue. The temperature is going to help the brakes, which is going to help the tires as far as bead failures and things like that.”
HAVE YOU TRIED SHIFTING? DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WILL TRY SHIFTING SUNDAY WITH THE GEAR CHANGE?
“I got in my truck this morning and I put it in ‘D’. That was the amount of shifting I did (laughter).”
DID YOU COME TO THE RACE TRACK IN YOUR RACE CAR?
“No, I haven’t tried it. I have no intentions of trying it.”
YOUR TEAM IS ONE OF FOUR TEAMS WHOSE TIRES WERE TAKEN AFTER FONTANA. DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR TIRES HAVE BEEN SENT ON?
“I have no idea. I know they’ve been doing that for the last little bit, and I have no idea what the status of that is.”
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE ONE OF THOSE FOUR? DO YOU FEEL LIKE THERE IS MORE SCRUTINY ON YOUR TEAM BECAUSE THEY DID SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
“In my educational career, I’ve been called to the principal’s office a few times and a few times let go for whatever. So, I mean, from my standpoint, it’s just a matter of them doing their job; whether you’re guilty or you’re not guilty or whatever, that’s their job of keeping the sport at a level playing field. And we’ll see what comes of it. But, I’m not worried about anything.”
* * * *
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 25 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 27TH
CONGRATULATIONS, CHASE. WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS NOW THAT YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE YOUR MAIDEN VOYAGE OUT THERE ON SUNDAY?
“It’s really exciting. I don’t know how excited I feel about being 27th, but at the same time it’s real exciting to making our first Cup race and it’s just crazy how much different of a world this is on this side of things being timed so close. Just a couple hundredths would have had us in the Top 24 and a tenth would have had you heck, up near in the teens. So, it’s just crazy how close things are. But we’re excited and looking forward to the race.”
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN THESE CUP RACES THIS YEAR? DO YOU WANT TO JUST GET YOUR FEET WET OR DO YOU HOPE TO CHALLENGE FOR A WIN SOMEWHERE?
“Obviously, we want to go as fast as we can for as long as possible. So, no; we don’t want to aim to not run well, but we want to do the best we can and make the most of these races and try to just gain as much knowledge as possible. To have an opportunity to go run five races doesn’t seem like a lot, but at the end of the day it really is, if you can get in all five, and make those laps. You’ve got to take it one at a time, first off. You just want to put together 500 solid laps on Sunday and try to run all the laps and hope we can have a good day.”
DID YOU FEEL PRESSURE TO LIVE UP TO THE HYPE TODAY BECAUSE EVERYBODY KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO TRY TO GET INTO THIS RACE AND YOU HAVE TO KIND OF EARN IT?
“I didn’t really. The pressure I felt was what I put on myself. But I want to go do well. So, sure; I wanted to get in the race probably more than anybody else wanted me to get in the race or didn’t want me to get in the race. So, I’m sure there were plenty of people waiting for both ways. But, I always do my best to try to get in and that was our main goal today. So, there’s certainly a lot of pressure off to not worry about that tomorrow, and we can focus on our race car for Sunday afternoon.”
WITH THE WEATHER THE WAY IT WAS, WERE YOU KIND OF GOING TO BE REALLY DISAPPOINTED IF YOU DIDN’T AT LEAST HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRY TO GET INTO THE RACE?
“Oh, definitely. Driving over here, I was very disappointed. I went to bed last night, disappointed, looking at the weather. Part of me had a hard time going to sleep. That part was so mad that it was like I wasn’t too excited about making the drive over here in the rain. We were actually talking about if we didn’t get in, we’d go run a short track race tomorrow night. So, I’m glad we couldn’t go do that and we can stay here and race on Sunday.”
YOU’RE IN A SEAT PRACTICALLY EVERY SINGLE WEEK. BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR FIRST SPRINT CUP SERIES START, DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS IS SOMETHING SPECIAL AND SOMETHING DIFFERENT? OR, IS IT JUST ANOTHER START TO YOU?
“No, this is definitely special. For me, this is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Going to the race track and watching my dad running these races for a number of years, it’s very odd to be showing up here and not be coming to watch him. So, this is definitely a weird-feeling weekend, more than anything else, right now. It’s definitely exciting. But at the same time, you don’t want to forget you are still racing. And as you said, you’re still in a seat and you’re still trying to achieve the same thing. So, you don’t want to lose sight of what your goals are, no matter what you’re driving. I think you’re going to fight some of the same things you fight in these cars and anything else you drive on asphalt. Hopefully we can try to manage it and have a solid day.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WORKING WITH (CREW CHIEF) KENNY FRANCIS AND THE GUYS ON THAT TEAM? HAS THAT MADE THIS TRANSITION A LITTLE EASIER?
“Oh, definitely. Kenny has done a great job and really all the guys. This is a tough deal for a four-car team to bring an extra car to the race track; and especially the guys in the 5/24 shop, the chassis shop, and the engine shop, to do an extra car. That’s asking for a lot. For them to do it, and the way that they did it, and to bring as nice of a car as they brought for me to drive this weekend, is very impressive. I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the team I’m on and I want to try to do my job for them.”
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