Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 Denny Darnell Scott Sebastian Dodge Motorsports PR Daytona Int’l Speedway Daytona 500 Kurt Busch Open Interview NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) TALK ABOUT HOW YOU’RE FEELING HEADING INTO THE DAYTONA 500? “We’re just trying to stick with our game plan. We still want to push forward; this Daytona 500 is what we came here for. The tokens that we have with the Shootout and the Gatorade are nice, but we’re here after the big ultimate prize. We’re just sticking with our game plan of going out there today and shake down the car to get the (Daytona) 500 motor up to temperature…transmission, gears, rear axle…just to make sure things were singing smoothly. And then we found that the brakes were rubbing a bit, so we had to take the brakes apart and just re-evaluate that tomorrow when we get back out on track and just take advantage of the time that we have. Today, if we hadn’t gone out, we would have found that problem tomorrow. We would have been in a big panic and Sunday morning would have been real iffy if we would have gotten the problem fixed. I’m glad things happen today and we got the bugs worked out. The week just seemed to be going too smooth. You know that something was going to jump up and bit us. So we got that scienced out. Teammates like (Brad) Keselowski out there… a guy like Ryan Newman and I have a great rapport. Right now there’s just communication going on between all the spotters, crew chiefs and all the drivers with how you can hook-up and stay hooked-up.”

ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE DREADED “FAVORITE” ROLE FOR SUNDAY? “I’m not worried about it. It’s just nice to get back out and practice today, get back into the swing of things and try to keep it as normal as possible. The normal part will be exciting when we fire up the engines and see Dale Jr. drop to the back and we’ll be leading the field to start the 53rd running of the ‘Great American Race’. I’ve got to put all those emotions aside and get into the groove of the 500-mile race. We’ll do that during Lap 1. I hope that Regan Smith and are tied-up together like we need to be and we lead Lap 1. We’ll just settle in after that.”

IF YOU’RE SECOND GOING INTO THE LAST LAP THIS TIME, DO YOU STAY THERE? “Absolutely not. I think that everybody knows that if you’re the guy that’s pushing, you’re in the catbird seat. If you’re separated from the guys behind you, that’s the position to be in. You really want to be pushing. I really expect a green-white-checkered to happen and we’ll see how it all plays out. You’ve got your buddy that you’ve been with all day long. When you get to the end of the race, you never know who’s going to tie up, but everybody wants their best shot at victory and there’s no guarantee of anybody staying behind you. If Newman’s pushing me and I’m leading and he’s second coming off of Turn 4, I’ve got to expect that’s he’s going to pass me and win his second-career Daytona 500. It’s just the product of how this two-car draft is.”

ARE ALL THE CARS IN 500 TRIM OR ARE YOU AWARE THAT NASCAR MAY BE LOOKING AT SPEEDS AND MORE CHANGES MAY COME, SO NOBODY IS SHOWING WHAT THEY HAVE FOR THE 500? “Everybody is set for 500 miles. It’s not sprint racing any more. On the other token, it’s just that you haven’t seen the two-car drafts in quantity. Nobody is really teamed-up, had the lead group ahead and chased them down; that’s when you see the big numbers. Just the lack of quantity of cars is going to keep the speed down.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE GOODYEAR HAS MADE THE PERFECT TIRE FOR YOU GUYS? “They have to be commended for the job that they’ve done finding a tire that allows the cars to have the grip as well as maintain that free wheel-type movement. We tried a set of tires during a tire test that actually just locked down the inside lane. It was like it didn’t let the cars free-wheel enough, so you saw everybody in the high lane drafting like we see at Talladega. All of us in the garage area were like, ‘No, no, no. We can’t have that.’ So Rick Campbell, the guys at Goodyear, Stu (Grant) and the gang, yes, they deserve all the accolades for bringing such a great tire. It’s just unique that we really don’t have to change it all that often. It’s so good; we don’t have to change it. It’s a weird feeling to have. Once we settle into next week’s race in Phoenix, that track is really old, it chews up tires. You change tires quite often. Then you’ll settle into the regular season…Vegas, Bristol, Martinsville and so on.”

DID YOU WATCH YESTERDAY’S SECOND DUEL RACE? WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS? “You always see one Duel more exciting than another. It’s tough to duplicate even though you’re calling it a “duel”. You’re splitting up all the top teams in points from the order they finish in the previous year. I watched the race and definitely was very tuned into who was drafting with who; how they were doing it; who was switching more often than actually trying to breath the radiator. There’s all types of scenarios. I just can’t wait for the race to start, to get settled in and make it the best run of our life on Sunday with our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.”

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford knows what it takes to win the Daytona 500 after claiming victory in 2009. Kenseth will start 9th in this year’s version of the Great American Race and answered questions from the media on Friday.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford Fusion – CAN YOU TELL US HOW THINGS HAVE GONE FOR YOU SO FAR LEADING UP TO SUNDAY? “It has gone alright. Saturday was disappointing because we didn’t get in the right place and had a disappointing finish. Yesterday was good. I think that was the best finish we have had in a 150. We were in position to have a shot at the win and the late caution took us out to fourth. I was happy with that. The car is in one piece and we had good speed and worked out most of the things that we could work out with the way the track is and the rules and all. Everything seemed to be going pretty good and it has been pretty smooth so far.”

CAN YOU PUT INTO WORDS WHAT IT WAS LIKE COMING BACK TO DAYTONA THE YEAR AFTER YOU WON IT? “It was fun. We came down a little early and did some media stuff which was fun because when we came back last year, well it has been almost two years since we won a race now, we are kind of on a dry spell. It was fun to come back and be the defending champion. You got to think about the year before and it put me in a better mood for the season. It is fun whenever you can win a race, especially one as big as the Daytona 500. The sport is still more of a what have you done for me lately deal. It is more about what we can do today and tomorrow and down the road.”

YESTERDAY YOU WERE ABLE TO DRAFT FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. WHAT IS THAT ATTRIBUTED TO IN YOUR MIND? “I don’t think our stuff is any different or we have any advantage over anybody necessarily. There are probably a few circumstances where I got some air in there and kept it kind of cool or maybe didn’t take care of that engine as much as I would the 500 engine because I knew we were going to change engines anyway and I didn’t care if it got overheated. It was more important to me to keep our car in position and get a decent starting spot for Sunday. I didn’t want to be in the back and get wrecked. I wasn’t as careful with it as I should have been. I don’t know how you get away from two car drafts, whether they are good, bad or indifferent. You kind of knew it was going to be that way since the last Talladega race and Jeff Burton and I got in front and kept swapping positions until we finally couldn’t get back together for whatever happened there. That is the way the ending the last couple of races there have been. You knew when they paved this place that handling wasn’t going to matter for a lot of years. With these cars and the way they are set up, two cars pushing each other is faster than a big group of cars and that is what everybody is going to try to figure out how to do.”

AS A DRIVER, CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE IN THE PAVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR? “It is totally different. The old pavement was like driving down a gravel road and the new pavement is like driving down a freshly paved road with your street car. It is really that extreme. With the old pavement you could run wide open for five to 12 laps and then you had to start letting off the gas and it was almost like a plate race for 5 or 10 laps and a big track race after that where you had to start hitting marks exactly right. Toward the end of the run a lot of people would be lifting and you could pass by yourself. It was a lot different race. There is so much grip right now and they are so good at making asphalt now so I think it will be like that for a long time. Handling is such a non issue that you can run 210 or 215 at least before you have to start getting off the gas. It is going to be more of a Talladega style race.”

CAN YOU TELL IF THE MOMENTUM ROUSH FENWAY HAD THE SECOND HALF OF LAST SEASON HAS CARRIED OVER TO THIS YEAR? “I think you have to at least get through Phoenix, Las Vegas and probably a couple races further than that down the road to really see where you are at compared to your competition. I do feel like we are prepared for Daytona. Although qualifying was disappointing, it seemed like we had good speed out there. I don’t think that will matter a whole lot because of the draft, but I would still rather have a fast car than a slow one. People will want to hook up with you more if you are fast. At the end of last year we got much stronger and finished the season on a good note with Carl winning a couple races and Greg winning a couple races. We were more competitive toward the end of the year even though we didn’t win, so that has our hopes up for this year.”

HOW DID YOU GUYS ARRIVE AT YOUR PRACTICE DECISIONS FOR TODAY? “We didn’t, Jimmy did. Basically we just changed engines today and put a couple laps on our 500 engine to make sure there were no vibrations or oil leaks or anything. Tomorrow we will practice a little bit to make sure the cooling system and everything is okay. Try to draft just a little bit. We did the tire test for two days and the other test for three days and with the amount of grip you have here, there are no handling issues to work on. Once you get the car trimmed out and the platform right and the aero and all that stuff, there is really not a lot to work on. The rules are pretty tight and they don’t allow you to work on much, so there isn’t much reason to put a bunch of laps in practice. I don’t think a big group is going to win the race, so I don’t think you want to go out there and get behind 15 cars to see how your car reacts. Maybe you want to push and look for a car your car reacts well with and go out there and race.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK NASCAR COULD HAVE DONE TO PREVENT THIS TYPE OF RACING AND DO YOU THINK NASCAR MIGHT CHANGE ANYTHING BEFORE TALLADEGA? “First of all I don’t know that it is a bad thing. We had a really good finish to the shootout. It is just different. Once they paved it, we knew this is how it would be like. I guess if they don’t like the product and want to change it I don’t know what they would be. I guess you would have to go test stuff at Talladega to see. I don’t know that there is a lot more they can do this week to get a big group together, although I will say that in the second 150 there was a bigger group and the cars got shuffled and didn’t lose a couple spots, they lost eight or 10 spots. I think when you get twice as many cars out there; the potential is there to have a lot bigger pack and more jockeying for position. I think you will get some groups in the front that get locked up, but I think you will have a lot more action and a bigger pack.

WAS THERE ANY DROP OFF IN TIRES YESTERDAY AND HOW FAR DO YOU THINK YOU CAN RUN ON THEM? “I think you could run the whole race on one set of tires with absolutely zero issues. There have been no tire issues at all. I think people will get tires just because if you are getting 16 or 18 or 14 second of fuel, or you get a yellow then you might as well put tires on. I think that honestly you could go the whole 500 miles on one set of tires because we didn’t see any wear at all.”

NASCAR HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT IN TERMS OF TV RATINGS AND LENGTH OF RACES. WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN THIS RACE ON SUNDAY TO REVERSE THAT TALK? “How do I answer this one? I think the product is pretty good. Last year I think was the closest Chase in history and there were a lot of really exciting races. Texas comes to mind. There was a fight and a guy flipping off an official and two lead changes in the last two laps. There was a little bit of everything. I think the product has been really good. As far as being picked apart, you guys do that. The media writes the stories. I know you guys don’t create TV ratings and attendance numbers, but you guys do that more than we do and that is your job. I think that last year the racing was pretty good and pretty competitive. The Chase was competitive right down to the end. I know we have a different point system this year, but I thought last year was good with different winners. Denny dominated most the season and Jimmy came on at the end and won again. I thought that was pretty exciting.”

HOW IS KATIE DOING AND TO WHAT DEGREE HAS THE IMPENDING BIRTH AFFECTED YOUR SPEEDWEEKS? “She is doing pretty good. I am probably doing better than she is, but she is doing alright. It hasn’t affected me yet. I told her to wait until Monday and she always listens to me, so I am not too worried about it. I hope it will be next week. I am not a woman, but I would assume when you get to the end of a pregnancy that you are ready for it to be over. Hopefully that happens next week when we are getting ready to go to Phoenix.”

Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 Dodge Motorsports PR Daytona Int’l Speedway Daytona 500 Brad Keselowski Open Interview NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) AT SOME POINT ON SUNDAY, ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TEAM UP WITH KURT? “I hope so. We’ve worked really well together in both testing and practice here at the 500, but we haven’t seen each other in race trim yet and we’re not going to see each other until the 500. I think that if we can get together in the 500, we’ll be one of the combos to beat.”

WHAT ABOUT TOMORROW’S NATIONWIDE RACE? “I think that there are going to be a lot of incidents. With the bumpers not lining up – they line up a little, but not a lot. What you’re seeing is as the fuel burns out of the cars, they go from lining up to not lining up. If you have a guy in front of you who’s halfway through a fuel run, you’re not going to line up bumpers and you’re going to wreck him. You don’t know those things. It’s just all these idiosyncrasies and it’s going to be a very tough race.”

IT WAS STRANGE THAT ONLY 12 CARS PRACTICED TODAY; “I didn’t expect as many cars to be on the track as there has been so far. I think if you look back, traditionally at Talladega the way that practice works there, you get the big packs for the first hour and the second practice is single car runs. Quite honestly, if it wasn’t for the rule changes, I think there would be less practice than what we’ve seen. It’s part of the deal. You get a few laps on your motor…gears, tires and all that good stuff to make sure everything is good and get ready for the big race.”

WAS IT MORE TO SAVE ENGINES OF THE CAR? “The engine is your car. There’s also the car itself, the body. Obviously there’s suspension components, but mostly the engines and the actual body on the car.”

PEOPLE REALLY JUMPED ON BOARD WITH THE UNDERDOG STORY YESTERDAY WITH YOUR BROTHER? “It’s great to have fans. Fans continue to amaze me with the way that they pour in support. We’re really thankful for that. I didn’t actually do it to make more fans, I did it because it was the right thing and it felt good to work with him and get to the front.”

DID YOU GET A LOT OF E-MAILS FROM FANS? “Oh yeah, it blew up on Twitter. My inbox was full and it took me like 15 refreshes to get to all of them. That was pretty cool. It’s amazing how people respond to things like that.”

HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO TALK TO YOUR BROTHER SINCE? “I haven’t. I’ve had appearances to do and I’m here for the PVA.org announcement. I’ve got one more thing to do. I haven’t made it into the garage yet. I’ve text messaged a couple of times and that’s as far as we’ve gotten.”

HOW DID YOUR BROTHER GET TO BE SO HEFTY AND YOU SO SLIM (LAUGHTER)? “He was the first one to the table.”

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE TERM ‘SNOT-NOSED KID’? No (laughter)…it really doesn’t matter. I’m comfortable with the term Brian Keselowski, Daytona 500 starter.”

THE NUMBERS for the DAYTONA 500 presented by Dodge

2 – number of times Richard Petty drove a Dodge to victory in the Daytona 500 among his seven wins (1973 and 1974)

3 – number of Daytona 500s run without a caution (1959, 1961, and 1962)

3 – number of consecutive Daytona 500s extended beyond the scheduled distance (2005 2007); the 2010 race was also extended with three attempts for a green-white-checkered finish for a total of 208 laps

4 – number of Daytona 500s shortened due to rain (1965, 1966, 2003 and 2009)

7 – fewest lead changes for a Daytona 500 (1964 and 1965)

11 – number of jet dryers available for the Daytona 500 and Speedweeks 2011

11 – most cautions for a Daytona 500 (three times – 1968, 2005 and 2006)

21 – most different leaders for a Daytona 500 (2010)

32 – most consecutive Daytona 500 starts (Dave Marcis, 1968-1999)

52 – number of lead changes among 21 drivers at last year’s Daytona 500

60 – most lead changes in the previous 52 Daytona 500s (1974).

68 – most starters for the Daytona 500 (1960)

120 – minutes, the minimum amount of time it takes to dry the 2.5-mile track after a significant rainfall

184 – most laps led by race winner of the “The Great American Race” (Richard Petty, 1964, 200-lap event)

265 – total number of cautions in the 36 Sprint Cup races in 2010; 305 in 2009 BONUS

39 – consecutive Sprint Cup races led by Bobby Allison (9/6/71 – 10/22/72)

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford brings a two-race win streak dating back to last season into Sunday’s Daytona 500 where he looks for victory for the first time. Edwards will start 22nd in the 500 and answered questions from the media on Friday.

CARL EDWARDS – No.  99 Aflac Ford Fusion –  CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BEING IN DAYTONA SO FAR, THE RULES CHANGES, THE CARS AND WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED GOING INTO SUNDAY?  “I think we have all kind of seen what is going on with the two-car drafts and we got to run yesterday, Greg and I had a lot of time in the Gatorade race to try to learn about that and I feel like we did. I don’t think anyone really knows how the race is going to be on Sunday. Have you guys heard if they are talking about any rules changes yet? Nobody has said anything? I don’t think we are going to have much more time on the track to look at what things are going to be like. We have seen what it is going to look like, generally. I feel like if that is how we are going to race, then we are prepared.” 

WITH THE APPARENT EMPHASIS OF THE NEW ENGINE ON COOLING PROPERTIES, DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT BEING ABLE TO DRAFT LONGER BASED ON WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN OUT THERE?  “I feel like Matt (Kenseth) showed us in the first qualifier, by pushing the 29 car, showed us what could be done by sticking the nose out there a little bit. I did not push anyone for a long period of time, so I didn’t get to see the temperatures and how it worked. I believe that one of the positive things about this FR9 that I didn’t really think much about until we got down here, is that it cools better or at least seems to. That could be really beneficial for us on Sunday. I still don’t think we have taxed these engines long enough to know where the breaking point is. We will find that out Sunday. Guys will be running right at the upper limit of temperature and RPM’s and I think engine failures will become a big part of the race. That FR9 engine seems to be one that can stay cooler, which is great.” 

IT HAS BEEN A BUSY OFF SEASON, HOW GOOD WILL IT FEEL TO GET OUT ON THE TRACK SUNDAY AND HAVE THE SEASON OFFICIALLY BEGIN?  “This season kind of snuck up on me. We had a really busy off season with a lot going on at the shop and traveling with my family. It feels like it has come really fast. I am excited though for it to get started. I am really excited about hopefully getting out of Daytona with a good finish and then Phoenix; we could not be going to a better track for us right off the bat. Vegas should also be great. I don’t know about you guys, but there is something about this season that feels different to me. It feels like all the teams and drivers and NASCAR and even the media are all positive. There is a lot of positive energy and coming off last season I am really excited about this one.” 

YOU MENTIONED PHOENIX, BUT THEY ARE GOING TO CHANGE THAT TRACK AFTER THE UPCOMING RACE, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?  “I will be out there laying in front of the excavating equipment trying to get them to leave it.  I really like that surface a lot. Everything they have done out there through the years has been better. The way they changed the outside wall off of turn two was good change at the time. I really liked that wall, I thought it was neat. I feel like the pavement will be positive. No matter how hard you try, I don’t think you can mess that race track up. It is the right size, the sun beats down and it gets slippery. It will be neat with the new pavement as well.” 

EARLIER THIS WEEK RYAN NEWMAN WAS TALKING ABOUT LIFT OFF ON SPEEDS. YOU ARE A PILOT, WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM SAFE SPEED FOR THESE CARS?  “That is a good question. I got that feeling driving with someone pushing me that if we had a little trouble, like let’s say I drive through turn one and blow a left rear tire and the guy behind me doesn’t realize it quick enough, I think there is a dynamic with two cars with one being sideways is bad. We saw that with Brad and I, unfortunately, with the car pushing the car that is sideways it does something to the aerodynamics and makes it more likely the front car will go airborne. With these two car drafts it concerns me a little bit that it could be more likely to happen. I think NASCAR has answered that by trying to keep the overall top speeds down to try to answer that. You just don’t know though, it is all about how the cars are positioned.” 

ARE YOU SPENDING MORE TIME PAYING ATTENTION TO THE GAUGES IN YOUR CAR AND HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE A DRAFTING PARTNER?  “It is all there is. Yesterday the most important thing was the guy that was pushing you or that you were pushing. In my case, Greg was pushing me. That was the most important thing and there is nothing more important. If you come apart or are not working well with that guy and really helping one another to do the best you can together, then you are going to have no chance at winning. This race, I believe, is truly going to be the biggest exercise in team work that we have ever had to be a part of. You can’t just jump ship and go, not like a pack of cars is, you have got to pick a guy and work with that guy. You are going to have to work with him for the last 10 or 15 laps to be in a position to win.  As far as the gauges, I have never messed around with my radios and stared at my gauges and looked in my mirror ever at a race track. You have to pay attention. This will be a much more draining race. Much more difficult to keep the attention level where it needs to be to avoid disaster.” 

KEVIN HARVICK SAID THAT HE WOULD PREFER TO BE IN SECOND PLACE COMING TO THE FINISH LINE, YET ALL THREE OF THE RACES HAVE BEEN WON BY THE GUY BEING PUSHED, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BEING BEHIND OR IN FRONT?  “I think you want to be leading if there are a bunch of cars racing toward the finish line. For instance, if I am pushing Greg on Sunday and we are battling another two car group or two different groups, six cars total and we are two of them, I am going to just keep pushing. I want my teammate to win the 500 more than I want for both of us to lose to somebody. If you are out there by yourself and have that lead, then I think what Kurt (Busch) did by holding off Regan, that is not going to be the norm. It is going to be very difficult for the guy in front to hold off a guy in second if it is just the two of them. It all depends on the situation at the end of the race, if it is a whole mess of cars or just two.” 

GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT NEEDING PARTNERS AND FRIENDS OUT THERE, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT THAT EXACTLY? “You definitely want friends for sure. It also can change in a heartbeat. Yesterday, Greg and I got separated and I got lined up with David and all of a sudden David is the guy that I had to work with. That is likely to happen on Sunday too. You could work with someone for three hours and get stuck with someone else the last 15 minutes. You better get to like that guy really quick.” 

IF YOU ARE PUSHING A CHEVY DOWN THE LAST FEW LAPS LIKE BAYNE WAS WITH GORDAN YESTERDAY, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DEAL WITH THAT?  “Good question. I can just picture Jack Roush if I finish second and push some other manufacturer across the finish line. He probably isn’t going to want to say much to me. I guess you have to make those decisions at the last minute. There is going to be a lot of thinking and break power being used the last mile of this race and guys determining how much they really like that guy in front of them or that manufacturer or car owner. There is a lot to it. It really at the end of the day, for two guys to do well, they have to go with one another almost to the very end.” 

HOW DOES A DECISION GET MADE IF YOU ARE PUSHING SOMEONE OF WHEN TO SWITCH AND TAKE YOUR TURN IN THE LEAD, AND DO YOU LIKE THIS STYLE OF RACING?  “Coming to grips with the fact that you might not be the guy to win the race is tough. Jamie pushed Kurt first in the Bud Shootout I think, so that is a case from the outside looking in, that is pretty interesting. He just said that he was going to stick with it and push him and he wrote that race off. Now Kurt owes him a little bit and maybe that pays off on Sunday. You have to think bigger than this one race. You have to know we are coming back here in July, going to Talladega, come back here and have the same type of racing next year, and all of that makes that decision easier. It makes it easier to push a guy and know that maybe next time it will be reciprocated. Now I know it is the Daytona 500, but if you always abandon ship, trust me I have tried, I used to be the first guy to jump out of line and go for me, but pretty soon guys won’t work with you because they know you will jump ship and that doesn’t pay off in the long run. You are investing in future partners. Right now I am sitting here at this nice desk and once I have a helmet on sitting behind the wheel looking at the checkered flag at the Daytona 500 I think we all might think differently. Do I like this style of racing? I like racing where the driver and crew chief and the way you drive the race car are the things that dictate whether you win or not. This style of racing is not my favorite. I do think that the way the car is driving now where two guys can separate themselves I feel like there is a lot more control. I would much rather have that than just running around in a big pack of cars. I think this is a really big step forward, in my opinion, for restrictor plate racing.” 

THE GOODYEAR GUYS SAID THERE WAS HARDLY ANY WEAR ON THE TIRES AFTER 60 LAPS. HOW DOES THAT WEIGH INTO YOUR STRATEGY?  “I guess if wear is not a problem then we just have to worry about temperature. I haven’t heard anything about blistering or anything, so I think you will see guys go as long as they can and somebody will test the limits of the tire. I hope we aren’t the ones to find the limit. Goodyear has done a great job and obviously has a great tire and the surface is nice and it is all working out well. I don’t think that will be a big factor in the race.” 

YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW MENTALLY GRUELING THIS RACE WILL BE. MENTALLY, WHAT DO YOU GUYS HAVE TO DEAL WITH AND WHAT IS THE THOUGHT PROCESS THAT IS SO GRUELING?  “You have to think about so many things. Communication with the guy pushing you or the guy you are pushing. For instance, Greg was pushing me and the guys wrecked in front of us, so I am yelling in my radio to slow down hoping Greg hears it. There is that and the anxiety that goes with that. We have to monitor the temperature of the car and run in a position so the guy behind you can get his nose out. You try the best you can to keep guys from breaking you apart and all that stuff. You are thinking essentially about two cars instead of your own which is a different style of racing which is much tougher.

Daytona Beach, FL (February 18, 2011) – The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season marks Robby Gordon’s seventh year as owner/driver of the No. 7 Robby Gordon Motorsports team.  RGM, one of the few single car teams in NASCAR’s elite series, announced last week that they are partnering with Dodge Motorsports.   Robby Gordon will start the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 piloting the orange and black No. 7 SPEED Energy race car, representing one of his new energy drinks, “Fuel”.   Gordon started 19th in the second Daytona Duels on Thursday and finished 17th. He will start Sunday’s 200–lap event from 30th position. 

  “With the new surfaces, the two-car pack, and the new rule change limiting the inlet air to the radiator, we used Thursday’s Duels as a learning experience to see how these events were raced and ultimately won. Thursday’s results gave us an opportunity to strategize and create a solid plan for Sunday’s race. I am really looking forward to the season-opener,” commented Robby Gordon.

  Past Daytona performances – Robby Gordon made his Daytona debut in the 1991 Daytona 500.  Since that time, Gordon has competed in 22 events at the 2.5 mile superspeedway.  In the 2003 Daytona 500, Gordon recorded his best qualifying position in 3rd place and went on to finish the race in 6th place.  Gordon later tied his best finish of 6th in the 2008 July event at Daytona.

  Around Town–Gordon made several appearances promoting his sponsor, SPEED Energy, this week.  On Thursday, February 17th, he was at the 7-Eleven located at 2150 International Speedway Blvd. from 10:00-11:00 a.m.  On Thursday night, the Ocean Deck Bar on 127 South Ocean Avenue in Daytona hosted a Robby Gordon autograph signing and SPEED Energy promotion at 10:00pm.  On Sunday, February 20th, SPEED Energy will have a sampling promotion at the 7-Eleven on 2655 West International Speedway Blvd.  Gordon will not be at this location, but don’t miss your chance to check out his street legal show car and sample SPEED Energy. Gordon will be appearing at the Dodge display at 9:45 am on Sunday. Stay tuned to www.speedenergy.com and SPEED Energy’s Facebook page for updates on this week’s activities.

  Race Coverage – The 2011 season will officially commence with the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 20th.  Live coverage of the race can be seen on FOX beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST.  MRN and Sirius/XM Radio will begin their live reporting at 12:00 p.m. EST.   About SPEED Energy – SPEED Energy is available in three flavors: Unleaded, Fuel, and Octane, which provide the human machine with the fuel it needs to keep up with the SPEED of life. Each drink contains a potent energy blend of B-vitamins, caffeine, taurine and ginseng. SPEED is packaged in 12 ounce sleek cans with a stylish black top and sexy body and is available in singles, 4 packs, and cases.  SPEED Energy is be available at major retailers, convenience stores, grocery stores, bars and nightclubs. For a retailer near you, please visit www.speedenergy.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES 2011 DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT February 18, 2011            

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET met with media and discussed pushing & pulling, choosing partners, the Duel Qualifying races, and other thoughts about the paired racing, and more. Full Transcript:  

ON THE WEEK SO FOR AND LOOKING AHEAD TO SUNDAY’S DAYTONA 500 “Yeah, it’s been a busy couple weeks for me. We’ve been down here (Daytona Beach) since two Sunday’s ago. I’ve been having a lot of fun. SpeedWeeks is always important to me. I love it down here. As a fan of motorsports, you get your fix. There’s Volusia, the dirt races, there’s New Smyrna, really good asphalt racing going on over there. It’s just exciting. The (Budweiser) Shootout, the Duels, Nationwide, the Truck race, the Cup race, there’s just so much going on down here it keeps you busy.

“But I’ve learned a lot. I think we’ve all learned a lot. I think NASCAR has learned a lot about the new surface. Who would have thought in a million years spending $20 million on improvements would create some headaches for you where you have to make some pretty major adjustments like they’ve been having to do all week long. Hats off to everybody and their efforts to make Daytona one of the best race tracks in the country. So, like I said, the Duels were good. We learned a lot from them. I think the 500 is going to be good for us. Our cars are all fast. We work well together as a team; and doing a good job of managing everything. I think the results have spoken for themselves.”  

HOW VALUABLE WILL IT BE FOR YOU TO RACE IN THE NATIONWIDE RACE JUST TO GET MORE TIME? IS THIS A ONE-TIME DEAL? “Oh, I think we have eight (8) on the schedule. I’m really proud of the Rheem (Tankless Hot Water Heaters) folks. Kevin (Harvick) brought me an awesome car. It’s fast. We’re going to have a shot at that one. That’s what’s so much fun about coming down here. This track means so much to you and when you’re in equipment that you know going into the race, before the race, that you’re going to have a shot at winning if you do the right things, that’s a good feeling. So, absolutely. The extra time on the race track, working with your spotter, working the draft, trying to figure out things. The thing is, as a race car driver, all of us know where we need to be and where we want to be, but you have to figure out how to get yourself there. And we have to get yourself in that situation so you can have a shot at winning. That’s a lot harder than it looks.”  

YOUR TEAMMATE SAID YOU SHOULD HAVE WON THAT RACE (DUEL QUALIFYING RACE ON THURSDAY), AND YOU WAITED TO LATE TO MAKE YOUR MOVE. “Who’s that?”   KEVIN (HARVICK). “Oh, he must have waited way too long (laughter). Where did he finish?”   HE WAS IN THE OTHER RACE. DO YOU AGREE OR NOT? “I know that. I think he finished third or fifth or something. But obviously, I did wait about six inches too long. But there was so much there. You had to, in that situation; I needed to take care of RCR. Those guys were pretty close to us. I was worried, coming off of (Turn) 4 if I moved out that it was going to break our momentum and those guys were going to suck up on us and neither one of us would have won. Richard (Childress) would have been not too happy. That was going through the back of my mind. Obviously if it was the 500, in a different situation, I would have gone for it a little bit more. But like I said, I was really happy for Jeff (Burton). After the ending to his season last year, he needed a win. I was happy. Obviously you always want to win. You want to win for your team. But that situation wasn’t all that bad.”  

YOU GUYS WERE LIKE MR. CONGENIALITY ON THE RADIO. FOR AS FURIOUS AS IT WAS, IT SEEMED VERY CALM. DID YOU HAVE A TEAM MEETING PRIOR TO IT TO LAY OUT A GAME PLAN? “You do a little bit. I think calmness in that situation is key. You’ve got to stay calm. You’ve got to have a spotter that stays calm and lets you know your surroundings at all times. And the calmer it is, the more you can slow it down, I think the better off and the better shot at making the right decision, you have. Funny, before the race Jeff Gordon kept asking me, ‘What are you going to do? Are you going to go with me? I know you’re going to go with your teammate. I know you are!’ And I’m like actually, let’s just get going. I’m going to push you and of course, when I get a chance, I’m going to get with my teammate and I’m going to beat you (laughs). But for the time being, let’s get going. He kind of made our decision right off the bat. I planned on pushing him for a while. But he moved over in front of the No. 21 (Trevor Bayne) and that gave (Jeff) Burton a chance to get over behind me.

“So that was funny, the kind of wheeling & dealing that was going on before the race. And then, he screwed it all up (laughs). As soon as he moved up, Burton slid down and it was perfect. I was laughing all the way down into “Turn) 1 because I don’t think anybody really knew what the plan was.”  

HOW DO YOU THINK SUNDAY’S RACE IS GOING TO TURN OUT? “Time will tell. After watching the first Duel, I fell asleep on the couch. I’m not going to lie. I was watching it and I literally fell asleep (laugh); and I woke up and I thought man, I’d better wake up ‘cause I’ve got to go race. The second one was obviously a lot more intense and more interesting for me in the car. You were able to get out, but it would cycle back around. They’d run you back down and suck-up on you and you constantly had to manage that cycle and try to put yourself in the right situation and be back up front when the time came. The caution came out and kind of enabled Jeff and I to get gone. There’s a lot to it right now.

“You can push, a two-car push, but you can only push for a certain amount of time and you’ve got to get out and breathe and manage your temperatures. And then that slows you down and enables them to suck back up on you and then the cycle starts back up again. So, it’s difficult to keep that going. And the switch. They come up on you so much faster that it forces them to make a pretty evasive maneuver at times and that gets pretty hairy.

“But I thought it was a lot more interesting race, the second one, than the first one. Not pulling any punches or anything, but I think the second race probably had more of the cars that I think I’ve got to beat for the 500, in it than the first one did. That is why you saw more racing going up front and that’s what I thought the difference was.”  

IT SEEMED LIKE WHEN CARS GOT PAIRED UP IN THE DUEL RACES YESTERDAY, THEY STAYED TOGETHER FOR THE ENTIRE RACE; EVEN TO THE POINT OF WAITING FOR EACH OTHER ON RESTARTS AND ON PIT ROAD WITH VERY FEW CHANGES BETWEEN PARTNERS. DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE THAT IN THE 500? “I think you saw a lot of teammates and a lot of agendas there. There’s a lot of teammate communications meetings and so forth going on before the race and making a plan to help each other get to the front and achieve your goal. But I think that was the case. The first one (race) the teammates weren’t quite there. Paul (Menard) couldn’t get to Kevin (Harvick) and it forced him to find a new dancing partner and him and Matt (Kenseth) did a good job of getting out front and managing their situation to where they were up front all day. But the key is being able to push.

“I was watching the race and Darrell (Waltrip) and them were talking about everybody and Matt (Kenseth) pushed Kevin (Harvick) around the track the whole race and he never said anything (laughs). And I’m like, hello? The No. 17 (Kenseth) hasn’t swapped yet. You need to start talking about that. They finally started talking about it. It’s going to be interesting to see who can push the longest and I think whoever can do that is going to prevail.”  

DO YOU THINK THE FORDS ARE THAT FARTHER AHEAD IN TERMS OF A COOLING SYSTEM THAT THEY SEEM TO BE ABLE TO STAY BEHIND ANOTHER CAR FOR A MUCH LONGER PERIOD OF TIME? “A Ford? Surely not.”   YOU TALKED ABOUT THE WHEELING & DEALING GOING ON, ON THE GRID; AND TEAM MEETINGS. HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT FINDING OR IDENTIFYING DRIVERS YOU CAN WORK WITH? “Well, it all goes according to plan until like I said, Jeff (Gordon) pulled out right off the bat and then your plan and all the talking you’ve done goes out the window. But it’s the same for everybody. You’re going to have to find somebody that you can work well with. And I’ll tell you another thing, going back to what you’re thinking and what your thought process is and what you’re going through as we’re learning about this, you’re going to find cars that you just flat can’t run the speed with. And that’s a big thing. You’re going to have to realize, hey; if he’s not pushing me fast enough, let’s swap and see if I can pick up. And if you don’t, you need to get with somebody else pretty quick or you’re going to have a long day.”  

GIVEN WHAT YOU’VE SEEN AND EXPERIENCED YESTERDAY, IS SECOND STILL THE PLACE TO BE COMING FOR THE CHECKERED FLAG? OR IS IT NOW SWITCHING TO BEING OUT FRONT? “Well, both races were won (being) pushed to the win. But like I said, if it was the 500 I would have made a little more attempt at winning than I did there. But you don’t know. I don’t think you’re going to have two cars break away for the win like that. I’m a fan of this thing too. I want it to be the best race ever and I want it to be four, six, eight cars in a pile going for the win at the end like it’s always been here. I really don’t think, unless it’s a green-white-checkered, that you’re going to have that. And even if it is a green-white-checkered, you may not see just two cars going for it in the end. I hope not.”  

WHY WERE THE TWO RACES SO DIFFERENT? AND IF YOU FEEL ASLEEP DURING THE FIRST ONE, WHAT DOES THAT SAY FOR THE FAN WHO DOESN’T WANT TO FALL ASLEEP DURING THE DAYTONA 500? “It’s like I said, I think the second one had a lot more cars that are going to be contenders for this 500. No offense to anybody, but I felt like there were a lot more cars that are frontrunners week in and week out in the second one. I think that’s why you had a lot bigger battle. You had four to six two-car packs that were battling and that swapped in a cycle for a lead. So I don’t think you’re going to see that first race play out with 43 cars out there; I know you’re not. I think it’s going to be even more so than what you saw in the second race.”  

WHEN THE CARS WERE DOING THE PUSHING IN THE CORNERS, THEY WERE JUST SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT OF THE CAR DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THEM. WAS THAT ALL ABOUT TRYING TO SCOOP-UP SOME FRESH AIR, OR TO TRY TO AVOID SPINNING THE GUY THEY WERE PUSHING “Well, you don’t want to find yourself on the left side of their bumper. You’re going to turn them around. It seems where it happens is in the corner. When you’re sucking up on somebody, you go to move out and change your angle and then you’re pulling on the wheel to keep the arc of the corner back in. That’s when you find somebody on your left-rear taillight and it can spin you out. For whatever reason you want to be perfectly behind him and then if not, over to the right side, it seems effortless as it pushes them around. But if you get over to the left side, they’ve got their hands full and if they don’t save it, it’s probably going to wreck you too. So, as a pusher you’ve got to be sure you don’t do that to them because it’s probably going to wipe you out too. But as a pushee, you’ve got to make sure they don’t make some evasive move in the middle of the corner where it changes their arc and puts you in that situation.”  

HOW MUCH OF THIS IS A PHENOMENON AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS A TREND? “Well, we’re stuck in this sandbox for now. This is the sandbox we’ve got to play in and we’ve got to make the most out of it. As far as the future goes, my personal opinion is that I don’t see them having this situation play out. You know, we’ve got four of these (restrictor-plate races). Now that both big tracks (Daytona & Talladega) are repaved, we’ve got four races just like this. So I think they’ll make a change, I don’t know what it will be, but I think they’ll make a change and attempt to make this go back to three and four wide, massive wrecks (laughs) and go back to normal on superspeedways. That’s the way it’s always been. Hopefully, surely, they can get it back that way.”  

YOU SAID EARLIER THAT ONE CAR BEHIND THE OTHER MIGHT WORK AND THEN WHEN THE SWITCH HAPPENS, IT WON’T. IS IT THE AERODYNAMICS OR THE DRIVERS OR THE MAKE OF THE CAR? “Well, I can tell you, bragging on my ECR boys, but when we’re pushing we go pretty fast. I’m just really proud of your efforts. It’s a lot of fun to be able to come down here and know you’ve got the horsepower under the hood to get the job done. Certainly there are water heaters that produce a little more heat than others.” 

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