NASCAR Cup Series

Last year’s winner at Watkins Glen will begin his quest to repeat in 2015 from the point position in tomorrow’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. AJ Allmendinger won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 30th Annual Cheez-It 355 at The Glen with a lap of 68.993 seconds, 127.839 mph.

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER/BUSH’S BEANS CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER - AFTER THAT DAY YOU HAD YESTERDAY, FULL OF FRUSTRATION, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO NOW START ON THE POLE AT WATKINS GLEN? “We can lead to Turn 1 at least. I’m just proud of all my guys; I was frustrated yesterday and I probably wasn’t helping. I was overdriving trying to get more than what we there and I didn’t do a good job yesterday.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 8th - How was your qualifying session? “Our laps weren’t great, we were just okay."

JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “We needed to go faster. We had a good first lap, but everyone picks up so much on their second lap that you’ve got to go back out and run again.

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER/BUSH’S BEANS CHEVROLET SS – Pole Winner - AFTER THAT DAY YOU HAD YESTERDAY, FULL OF FRUSTRATION, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO NOW START ON THE POLE AT WATKINS GLEN? “We can lead to Turn 1 at least."

Attorneys representing the family of deceased sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, who ran over and killed Mr. Ward during a sprint car race at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park on Aug. 9, 2014.

Jeff Gordon has had great success at Watkins Glen and in what is his last time running at the road course in upstate New York. Gordon has 4 wins, 6 top 5’s and an average finish of 14.8. Jeff was asked what the road courses meant to his career. “I think early on I just remember wanting to take on every challenge as a team that we possibly could to improve to be a bigger threat for the championship,” he said.

Michael McDowell is in his second season driving the No. 95 K-LOVE/Thrivent Ford Fusion for Leavine Family Racing. As the series prepares for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, McDowell and owner Bob Leavine spoke about the challenges of running a part-time schedule and how their main goal of expanding to a full season is a top priority.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Watkins Glen International and discussed his memories at racing at The Glen over the years, what makes him such a good road course racer, his thoughts on the high downforce package the teams will race at Michigan and many other topics.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How much confidence do you have entering Watkins Glen after winning at Sonoma? “It was certainly unexpected I guess in Sonoma, but I feel like I’ve been a pretty good road racer over the years so it wasn’t surprising. Just look forward to these races. I always do every year. It’s kind of fun, it’s kind of a ‘weekend off’ from the oval stuff. "