21st, JOE NEMECHEK 23rd, DAVID REUTIMANN 25th, MICHAEL WALTRIP 29th, KASEY KAHNE 30th, KYLE BUSCH 31st, BOBBY LABONTE 32nd, BRIAN VICKERS 33rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 34th, JOEY LOGANO 35th,TODD BODINE 36th, KEVIN CONWAY 37th,CASEY MEARS 39th, STEVE WALLACE 40th, MICHAEL MCDOWELL 44th, DENNY HAMLIN 47th, DERRIKE COPE

NOTE – Above time trial results will determine the starting positions for the two qualifying races that will set the starting positions for the Daytona 500 that will take place on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011.

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM FM Energy Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Qualified: 21st How do you feel about your qualifying lap? “I’ve got to thank all of my guys on this team. Philippe Lopez, my crew chief, did an awesome job. We got a new sponsor onboard with AM FM Energy.com. You should check it out. We’ve got all kinds of great products on there. It’s just great to be back here at Daytona. We struggled yesterday and didn’t really know what was wrong with our car, and we made a lot of adjustments last night and this morning. I never thought it would run that fast. You’ve got to get what you can get during qualifying. The guys tuned the motor up — Triad, thank you very much. It was a good lap.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Qualified: 23rd How do you feel about your qualifying lap? “It was a really good pick up from where we were in practice to where we are. Obviously not a contender for the pole, but proud of my guys. They did a good job and they gained us a lot of speed there with some of the stuff they did. It is what it is and we’ll have to see where we end up.”

Do you have to race any differently now after watching that race? “Nobody has told me this for sure, but I’m quite sure NASCAR will do something before we come back. Who knows what it will be, but I’m sure it will be something that will probably change the complexion of what we’ve got. That race is probably a once in a lifetime shot the way things went down. We’ll have to see what NASCAR changes, if anything, but I would speculate that there are going to be some changes so we’ll have to see how it plays out.”

Will changes from NASCAR be a big adjustment for you and your team next week? “I think in the end we just have to wait and see what those adjustments are and when the changes are. There’s some talk of making grill openings different. Then again, these are just things that are floating around the garage area that may or may not happen. Realistically, grill openings and making the grill openings smaller as far as the air intake so you can’t push cars as long without getting hot — everybody’s motors operate at different temperatures. Some guys can get away with more temperature than others. I don’t know if that is really a fair way to do it. It’s just all stuff you hear about doing. In the end, it’s up to NASCAR and if they change something, if anything and we’ll just try and have to adjust to it. Depending on how severe the change is going to be, you just don’t know what it is. It’s like most things in racing, you just react to what happens and try to make the best of it.”

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Qualified: 25th How was your qualifying lap? “I wrote on Twitter this morning that @MW55 would run a 48.919 and I would be happy and I ran a .92. A .922 is a major accomplishment for these boys. We raced our [butts] off last night because I wanted to give my boys something to be proud of and we got crashed. Today they gave our whole company something to be proud of — bringing this car that we’re only going to run a handful of times and making it the second fastest Toyota so far. That’s a major accomplishment.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Qualified: 29th How was your qualifying lap? “It was good. We picked up from yesterday close to three-tenths so that was good for our team and the guys did a nice job. The car drives great and I’m really looking forward to it. I think this feels like a little bit better car than my Shootout car. I feel like the 150s will be good for us and I’m really excited about the (Daytona) 500.”

What did you learn from the race last night? “I learned a little bit for those first eight laps and then I watched the rest and paid attention to what guys were doing. I had been out there a little so I knew basically what it was like and what they were doing too. It was good. It wasn’t a bad thing to watch and get a few laps as well. I wish we could’ve stayed out there longer because we actually had a really fast car. I think we had a good shot at running upfront and being part of that finish.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Qualified: 30th How can you communicate with the driver behind you in the draft at Daytona? “I don’t know — we’ll have to get brake lights or flashers or throw up a road flair or something. It was just a product of what we had last night. It will be the same thing probably in the Duels and of course for the (Daytona) 500. All in all, today’s qualifying day. We knew we didn’t have a shot at the pole with our M&M’s Camry. But we are looking to be top of the class today for the Toyota guys. Unfortunately, we all just don’t seem to have the speed we’re looking for down here, but our stuff races really good. It’s really fast in the pack and obviously we saw that last night with Michael Waltrip and I teaming up and hitting 206 (mph). We feel good about the race and what happens here later on this week. With what happened last night, we just have to all talk about it and figure out how to make a better way of communicating with each other somehow.”

Is it really that simple to drive around Daytona by yourself in qualifying? “Of course it is. Anybody can do it — come on down and give it a shot. It’s a little bit more challenging. There’s still some stuff out there that we’re doing. We have to hit our shifts right, we have to make sure we do our fan switches and everything if you have that to do. It’s all just a timing thing. Overall, our M&M’s Camry we knew wouldn’t be a shot for the pole, but we felt pretty good about how it would be in race trim. We noticed how fast it’s been in the pack and with Joey (Logano) and I getting teamed up together hitting 203 (mph) and then yesterday Michael (Waltrip) and I getting teamed up together and hitting 206 (mph). It’s been pretty good. Our cars have been really, really fast we just need to find out how to get a dancing partner that we can live the whole day with.”

What did you learn for Thursday’s Duels? “The biggest thing we learned is we better stay in line and we better stay lined up at least. You can’t get off center of each other or you might spin somebody out. That is basically the product of what happened to us. It’s just unfortunate the way that the racing is right now with what we’ve got. I would like to see it a little bit differently. You try to learn and you try to pick up on the deals that will help you and will help you get to the front.”

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kroger / USO Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Qualified: 31st What was the biggest lesson you learned in the Shootout last night? “We didn’t participate in the January test because we did the tire test in December. I felt like we learned as much as we could there, but last night was a little bit different for us because we weren’t ready for that. Obviously, you’ve just got to be hooked up to somebody and we got hooked up with Tony (Stewart) at the end but his radios were out so he didn’t want to really be up there in a mess without a radio. I think we had a decent run after the first segment and learned a lot for Sunday. If everything stays the same we’ll have our plan a little bit better than going into last night at the race. I’m looking forward to it. Qualifying today was a little better than we practiced yesterday so we’ll take that and see where we end up.”

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kroger / USO Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing (continued) What are some of the things that you learned from last night’s race? “As far the two-car draft goes you want somebody behind you that’s fast and obviously you’ve got to be careful about getting somebody turned around sideways. We saw that a couple times last night. I think pushing the right way and finding that guy to push with, but at the same time what I saw the biggest worry is going to be with a 500-mile race or even last night you can get lapped. On a two-and-a-half mile track you wouldn’t have thought that you would get lapped in 18 or 20 laps. You’re really going to be like, oh my gosh it’s going to be so important that you got a partner somewhere throughout. Is there going to be two-two-two-two because even three or four cars that aren’t touching aren’t going to be fast enough. If the rules stay the same a lot of strategy is going to go into it which is fine. That’s what racing is all about. It will be interesting to see and hopefully we will figure out what we did last night and didn’t do that will help us come next Sunday.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Qualified: 32nd What is it like to be starting the Daytona 500 after battling the medical condition last year? “Honestly, I don’t have the words to describe it. Everybody ke eps asking me, ‘What’s it like?’ I don’t know. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe it. I speak half a language already and it’s barely English. I can tell you that it’s everything you can imagine and more — to go through what I went through last year and then to be back in the Daytona 500 again.”

What did you see in the Shootout last night that you will take into the Duels on Thursday? “It’s a different race. A completely different race than it used to be. It’s definitely a chess game. I think it’s more of a chess game than it used to be. I think it used to be a little bit of a chess game, but a lot of a crap shoot. Now it’s mostly a chess game. When to be, where to be, how to be there, who you’re going to be there with. I have a big question for NASCAR at the end of the race. My understanding is — the rule doesn’t say that you can’t go below the line. The rule says you can’t advance your position below the line. I watched the race and I watched the replay many times and I didn’t think Denny (Hamlin) advanced his position. He (Denny Hamlin) was ahead of the 39 (Ryan Newman). In the replay his (Hamlin) left side tires were above the yellow line after he passed Newman. He had already taken the position and was ahead of Ryan Newman and his tires were still above the line. Then he went below the line to try to get some extra speed, not to advance his position. The way I interpret the rules, that’s legal. You can go below the yellow line — people go below the yellow line all the time to avoid wrecks or to do whatever, to save a car that’s loose they drive below the yellow line and come back on the track. As long as they don’t advance their position. That’s how I saw the race. Now the caveat that I would add to all of that is that if you really want to resolve the issue — A, you need to clarify the question I just asked. I would like to see NASCAR clarify that. Is it that you can’t go below the yellow line no matter what? Or you can’t advance your position below the yellow line? The 11 (Hamlin) had the position already. The caveat I was going to add was if you really want to solve the problem just say anything goes after turn four. Then it’s irrelevant. I really don’t mind NASCAR making judgment calls like that the first 499 miles. That’s fine and that’s part of it. I just don’t know if I was them, I wouldn’t want to be in a position to make that call for the checkered flag of the Daytona 500. If we want to go through the apron, if we want to go through the grass — so be it, let them go. A lot of people have said, ‘Boys have at it’ last lap. I disagree with that and here’s why. Because of the original intent for the rule — you don’t want us going five- wide into turn one on the apron and stack the whole field up because that’s not going to be an exciting finish either.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Qualified: 33rd How was your qualifying lap? “It’s better than what we expected. It was a good pick up from yesterday. The guys did a good job with the car. We’ve just been off the pace in single car runs. Even in testing. We kind of knew what we had coming down. I expect the car will race fine and we look forward to getting into the Duels on Thursday.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip (continued) What was your impression of the racing in last night’s Shootout? “As a fan, I wasn’t as excited as normal. I obviously got to watch it last night and the thing that I noticed that I didn’t like was you really knew who was going to win or you knew how it was going to work out with eight or 10 laps to go. Those four guys had gotten out front and you knew kind of what the deal was going to be. Normally here its 20 or 30 cars and you never know who’s going to win until the last lap. It was a little bit of a pre-determined outcome as a fan watching. At least that’s what my opinion is. I think they are going to try to do some things to change it around a little bit. It is what it is and whatever it is we will go out and race and try to get the NAPA Toyota up front and in victory lane.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Qualified: 34th How was your qualifying lap? “I just kind of went out there and I felt like I ran the right line — our first lap was pretty quick and our second lap wasn’t so I think the wind had a little bit to do with that. I think we had a pretty good head wind on the backstretch, but I don’t know if that was like that for everybody or not. We’ll just see. Qualifying is whatever here because we still have the Duels to run. I’m sure it’s good — it’s the same car we tested with when we came down here last month and the car was really fast. I’m sure we’ll be fine when we get to a little bit of Duel practice and then into the Duel.”

What did you learn from last night’s race that can help you next week? “I learned a lot. I learned I want to be around for the end of the race — that’s the big thing. My car was fast. I learned a lot about how we’re pushing and what’s the best way and kind of getting that chemistry worked out with drivers and stuff like that. That and obviously the new pit road stuff and the new fuel cans and all of that. I think it helped our team a little bit, but we just didn’t get the finish we wanted there.”

TODD BODINE, No. 60 Tire Kingdom / Valvoline Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Qualified: 35th How was your car during your qualifying run? “It was bad loose. Got sideways in turn four coming for the checkered and that cost us a lot of speed. Other than that it was uneventful. We lost some speed from the test and we don’t really know where that went. We didn’t figure on qualifying in on time so we know we have to race and hopefully we can get it driving good. Bad part about it is that you have to find a partner and hook up the draft. To me, that ain’t racing. You have to do what you have to do and we’ll be there racing.”

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 97 Extenze Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Qualified: 36th CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Qualified: 37th How was your qualifying lap today? “It was terrible really. We expected it to be much better. Everybody on the GEICO Toyota worked very, very hard to come here and we had a little bit of a plan and for some reason, when you leave pit road you go through all four gears and usually how soon you get to fourth gear is a good indication of how good it’s running. I got to fourth way later around the corner in one and two than I even did in practice. For whatever reason it just didn’t accelerate well, it didn’t run up through the gears real good. Right away I knew and I was looking at the RPM and we didn’t have anything better than we had in practice. You could tell it wasn’t going to be a very good lap. Now we just have to focus on racing in when it comes to those Duels. It’s a totally different game now with guys teaming up the way they are and hopefully we can be a part of one of those guys that hook up and stay up towards the front in that race. Looking at the Shootout and how many wrecks there were, I’m sure there will be a few more cars than that in the Duels so hopefully we don’t get caught up in one of those.”

STEVE WALLACE, No. 77 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing Qualified: 39th At what age did you first think about running the Daytona 500 in your career? “I really started thinking about it when I was six and then at eight I was determined that I would. We ran a 49.30 and we ran a 49.50 in practice so it was a two-tenths pick up for us. That’s really exciting. I was not quite as fast as I wanted to be, but we’re locked in the race so time really doesn’t matter to us. I think the car will draft really well. I just want to thank 5-Hour Energy and Aspen Dental for coming on board to make this whole thing possible. We are going to get back in the garage here and work on this car to get it ready for racing.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing LLC Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Qualified: 40th

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Qualified: 44th What happened at the beginning of your qualifying lap? “It’s a different steering column and not what I’m accustomed to. That was about it. It was a very eventful two laps. We pulled the brakes back and everything so when the steering wheel comes off and goes left it’s not very fun. For me, we just had to put it all back together and of course it knocked the grill out. We were kind of stuck right there.”

Are you disappointed with your qualifying effort? “We knew we were going to qualify pretty bad, but obviously that didn’t help too much. We knew we were going to have to come from the back because we changed the engine and transmission and everything. This is just kind of a trial run to see where we stood with our teammates.”

Are you frustrated with the opening weekend of Speed Weeks? “It’s tough. We had that transmission issue yesterday and whatnot so for us so we’re going to have to start in the back. It’s frustrating, but for us it’s kind of one of those things where we use this just as a testing barrier to see where we are from our teammates because we were off from them quite a bit all day yesterday.”

Are you looking forward to next week after the finish last night and what happened in qualifying today? “Yeah, at least for a couple days off anyway. It’s not the best start to Speed Weeks, but we know we’ve got a great car for the 500 and I’m sure it will race just like our car did last night. This FedEx teams works pretty hard. We’ll bounce back.”

DERRIKE COPE, No. 64 Sta-Bil Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Qualified: 47th

THE NUMBERS for the DAYTONA 500

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)

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)

Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011 Denny Darnell Scott Sebastian

Daytona Int’l Speedway Dodge Motorsports PR

Two-Car Tandem Racing 101 Howard Comstock, Dodge Engineering Travis Geisler, Penske Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

http://twitter.com/teamdodge www.media.chrysler.com

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• New Smoother Track Allows for Bumper-to-Bumper Racing In The Corners

• Two-car Tandem Lessons Began at Talladega Last Season

• New Off-Season NASCAR Rule Inspires Teams

• New Dodge Charger Front Nose Passes Superspeedway Test

HOWARD COMSTOCK (Dodge Motorsports Engineering – NASCAR) WHY HAS THE TWO-CAR DRAFT BEEN SO DOMINANT DURING SPEEDWEEKS AT DAYTONA THIS YEAR? “The two-car draft has been possible because A) the track has a lot of grip; B) the track is really smooth in the corners. When the track was bumpy in the corners (before the repave), there was no way the cars could maintain contact through the corners because of the undulations (waves and bumps) in the track. Now that the track is smooth with a lot of grip, the cars can go wide open through the corners. Remember, everyone said that you could go wide open at Talladega, but you can’t go wide open at Daytona because of the lack of grip and bumpy corners. Previously, if two cars stayed together in the corner, you’d run the risk of crashing. There wasn’t enough grip. One of the cars would slip. It was too bumpy and when the bumpers wouldn’t align, the cars would make contact. Now the track is smooth and has a lot of grip, especially last night – 50 degrees and no wind. You couldn’t get any more perfect conditions for a race. (Two-car drafting) was magnified in the race because there was good grip in the track, no bumps, cool temperatures, no wind; the cars were going to go fast.”

WHEN DID TEAMS NOTICE THIS TWO-CAR TANDEM OPPORTUNITY? “It was pretty obvious (during the Daytona test) that the two-car draft was going to work.”

WHY DIDN’T A THREE-CAR DRAFT WORK LAST NIGHT? “It’s really hard for three cars to stay in line and go through the corners and not lose contact. There’s so much orchestration there that it’s all but impossible. The second car that is doing the pushing (in a three-car draft) doesn’t get the air taken off his spoiler so he’s got enough air on his spoiler that he can maintain grip in the corner and continue to push. You couldn’t go as fast as we go now because you couldn’t maintain the speed in the corners. You would have to get off the other car. Now you don’t have to get off the car in front of you. You just push it all the way around. If you push all the way around, that momentum is going to build and now you’re racing really fast.”

DO YOU ANTICIPATE SEEING 20, TWO-CAR PACKS DURING THE DAYTONA 500? “If you noticed last night, there were two or three two-car breakaways and the rest of the pack was having trouble getting organized into two-car teams. If you’re not organized, you’re so much slower and end up falling back with a bunch of cars in a huge pack. When that happens, it looks like guys get frantic and that’s when the big wreck happens.”

DODGE INTRODUCED A BRAND NEW FRONT-NOSE FOR 2011. WHAT ARE THE EARLY RETURNS ON ITS PERFORMANCE? “There’s enough grip. Downforce and drag doesn’t seem to be a problem. We led better than we pushed and that’s a function of a lot of things, but when you can lead better than you push, it tells me that our Dodges have the right aero.”

TRAVIS GEISLER (Director of Competition – Penske Racing) HOW DID PENSKE RACING PREPARE ITS CARS FOR THE TWO-CAR DRAFT? “There’s been a ton of work that’s gone into the two-car draft. I think that you saw it starting at Talladega last year for us with the 77 (Sam Hornish Jr.). We went from the back to the front a couple of times by hooking up with somebody and we could drive away. That got everybody working on it and NASCAR made a small rule tweak with the way the engine oil cooler was going to be located in the car and how it was going to be plumed. That got everybody stirred up with new possibilities. The rule change (NASCAR allowed teams to have two three-inch hoses running to an auxiliary oil cooler behind the radiator) this winter made it much more interesting. The reason never wanting to run it before was the location. It had to be up in the upper-right corner, outside the frame rails. So it was really fragile to bump drafting or any kind of contact. So teams never ran it. So NASCAR moved it to the frame rails, basically between the radiator and the engine, where there is a nice little cocoon that it would be protected. That decision got everybody working on that part of the car. That motivated different areas of our shop focusing on, ‘How does that affect my area’. Then everybody puts their head together to see how this can work? The shock guys get involved. The seven post guys start to work on it. We came down for the test last month and the entire three-day test teams did two-car runs. There were no big pack runs. The message was clear to the teams that a two-car pack was what everybody was planning. That test was really valuable for our Dodges because we were able to take the information that we got from that test running two-car drafts with Brad (Keselowski) and Kurt (Busch) and look at attitudes on the seven-post, wind tunnel, etc. Everything that we could do to refine the cars to make them better came into play. The two-car tandem is going to be here all SpeedWeeks. I don’t care if they (NASCAR) change the restrictor-plate. I don’t care if they (NASCAR) changes oil cooler rules. I think the biggest thing that may change two-car tandems will be ambient temperature. We just need to adjust for the warmer temps.”

ANY EARLY INDICATIONS ON HOW WARMER WEATHER WILL AFFECT TWO-CAR TANDEMS? “The biggest issue will be how long guys can stay tucked up and push. If NASCAR is concerned about anything, it’s that two guys can hook up and run away from the pack. If it gets too warm and we can’t keep the engine cool enough, they’re going to have to swap positions to avoid overheating. As soon as you do that, the pack reels you in because you slow down so much. If it gets warm enough that you can’t go an extended period of time tucked in nose-to-tail, the whole two-pack deal may fizzle a little.”

DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT YOU HAVE TO BE BOTH A GOOD “PUSHER” AND “PUSHEE” FOR THE 500 NEXT SUNDAY? “I think the key will be to make friends all day and figure out how to have someone on your bumper at the end. I think that if you’re a good pusher you’ll probably be someone’s best friend lat in the race, but getting pushed is where you want to be. You’re going to have to make friends. Maybe it’s running with a lot less radiator grille tape for the first part of the race so that you can be a pusher all day and build your credit up with some people. Maybe you put a bunch of tape on the grille at the end of the race. It’s just going to be a gambling act at the end.”

YOUR AERODYNAMIC PACKAGE (FRONT NOSE) CHANGED THIS YEAR. WHAT ARE THE EARLY RETURNS ON ITS PERFORMACE? “We worked really close with Dodge and NASCAR to design a front end that met NASCAR’s criteria and looked like a Dodge Charger. It’s been great here at Daytona so far. There have been no negatives with it so far. I think the appearance, if nothing else, is far and away better. Once we get to Las Vegas and those kinds of track, we’ll really start to see how it performs. Here we need it to be slick and smooth and it’s been fantastic.”

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) Race Winner “What an amazing win. To get to victory lane for Shell/Pennzoil is incredible. This Dodge Charger was fast and I have to thank my “teammate” Jamie McMurray so much. What an unbelievable experience – this two-car draft. I had no idea what to expect going in. I was just going to take it one lap at a time and see how it plays out. I wanted to learn as the race went on how this Shell/Pennzoil Dodge raced. (McMurray) was the man tonight. He stayed with us. He stayed true. I can’t thank him enough for doing that tonight. I hope it was the show the fans wanted to see.”

TALK ABOUT WHEN YOU DECIDED TO MAKE YOUR FINAL MOVE? “I wanted to give those guys a push hard getting into Turn 1 and I never got to them. Then my game plan changed to take whatever I could get. I knew the 11 was going to split away from the 39. I was hoping he would do it soon enough. It worked out in our favor at the end because McMurray stayed with us. For Shell/Pennzoil to believe in Penske and me, this is unbelievable to deliver them a victory in this 22 car.”

ARE WE GOING TO SEE THIS ACTION NEXT SUNDAY FOR THE 500? “Absolutely. It’s going to be those two-car tandems. No matter who you’re hooked up with, you’ve got to be able to go. It’s going to be interesting to see what NASCAR does and if they shake out the rules. I believe in what we’ve got. NASCAR’s done a tremendous job to give us this package and we’re happy to race it. Shell/Pennzoil on-board, putting Dodge back in victory lane, we’ve got AAA, Coca-Cola, a bunch of great sponsors. And I’ve got the greatest crew in the garage.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO WIN AT DAYTONA? “This is a special day. I’ve tried very hard over the last 11 years to break through on a restrictor-plate race. To pull into victory lane at Daytona, I knew that this was a special moment and I sucked it all in. You never know when that chance will be again. I’ve always respected this race track. I’ve always thought of the times that I’ve finished second here, not just in Cup cars, but in the Truck series and IROC. I can’t get mad. I can’t get discouraged. I know that one day it will come back for me. And with the fresh pavement and a new outlook on what this draft was going to be about, basically this is the old-school-style racing with slingshot with two cars tied up together. That’s what it reminded me of. I had flashbacks of slingshots, but you have to have the guy behind you. It’s an unbelievable experience to win here at Daytona. To win a restrictor-plate race at Daytona after years of trying – it’s not a point’s race – but it’s a very special race and heck, we knocked out the All-Star race last year in Charlotte and we got the Shootout tonight. Steve and I are doing pretty good at knocking out big events together.”

STEVE ADDINGTON (Crew Chief, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) “We felt like we couldn’t push like the other guys. We got hooked up with Mark Martin there in the beginning and Kurt said that he was going to go talk to him (during the break). We decided to add some tape to our car because we couldn’t push and felt like if we were going to be pushed all night long, we needed to add some tape to the front of it. We did that. We got separated from Mark and then he got in trouble – he and the 18 car got together – and we lost him. I thought that we were in trouble. When Juan (Pablo Montoya) got knocked out and Jamie (McMurray) was out there by himself, he committed himself to us and that helped us. They can say what they want about the pusher, but the guy driving that car leading that tandem has to know what’s going on and pay attention. Kurt did an awesome job tonight.”

TALK ABOUT WHY THE TWO-CAR DRAFT WORKED BETTER THAN THE THREE-CAR DRAFT? KURT: “Well, I think we all have been to a Saturday-night short track and seen chain races where they put a big I-beam through the cars and they don’t put anybody in the middle. There’s a guy up front with a motor and then there’s a guy in the back with the brake. This is opposite; this is where the guy in the back has the motor, the guy in the front has the brake. Two cars just hook up and it seems like the air comes off the front car and clears that second car perfectly. If you have a third car, the air comes off that front car, lands onto the third car and that third car can’t break through. That’s my philosophy on it. Having open mind tonight is similar to the approach that I had when I ran for the Chase back in 2004. Nobody knew what to expect, nobody knew how to win it, and I felt like just having an open mind and not getting frustrated with anything kept me in this. I have Jamie McMurray to thank for everything tonight. Having a guy that’s won here at Daytona is also a key ingredient because he knows how to get it done.”

YOU HELPED YOUR FORMER TEAMMATE TO A WIN HERE A FEW YEARS AGO. DID THIS TRACK OWE YOU SOMETHING? KURT: “I always think that Ryan will know that I helped him, and he’ll jump in behind me if things are getting busy out there. You have to have as many alliances as you can. And to not win at this track ever before until tonight, I still kept feeling like maybe I’ll find my day here, and tonight is my night. I’m going to absorb it, take it all in. It’s fun doing it with a new group like Shell Pennzoil. It would have been cooler to win with the Miller Lite car in the Bud Shootout, but hey, we’re with a great group with Shell, with Pennzoil, with Dodge, and maybe it was just a little bit of Lady Luck on our side tonight that gave us this win. But true credit goes to my team and to McMurray. I was just trying to hold a pretty steady wheel.”

YOU BOTH HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE HERE AT DAYTONA. HOW MUCH DID THAT EXPERIENCE HELP? ADDINGTON: “I think we saw it coming. I mean, it was inevitable that this was going to be the way the racing was going to be. I think when NASCAR stepped in this morning and took a step with the oil cooling and tried to get the temperatures up so guys couldn’t do that, they thought they could break it up with that, but it didn’t happen. The guys are still going to do it whether it’s two laps or eight laps; everybody is going to work towards that direction to be able to do this.”

BUSCH: “We saw it coming. That’s why Brad Keselowski and myself teamed up during January testing. I have Brad to thank, as well, for the education, so to speak. We taught each other how to do this two car draft and I felt very comfortable going in tonight knowing that it could be a key factor to win. And it was. One thing I’m thinking of sitting here tonight is it was 50 degrees out tonight. It’s going to be much warmer on Sunday, and that will shake up how guys are able to push with their temperatures, their radiator and their oil coolers.”

WITH TWO-CAR TANDEMS SO IMPORTANT, WILL YOU SPEND THE NEXT WEEK TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO YOU CAN PARTNER WITH? BUSCH: “Yeah, I would say that that’s going to be a key player in it. There’s going to be so many elements that fall into place that you really can’t just focus on just one thing. You have to go back and review a lot. I’m going to go back and review the tape and see who are the pushers, who are the pushees. It looks like the RCR cars have some good steam under the hood to push really well, and those engines, those ECR engines, those guys are great pushers. For us, we need to have as many alliances as we can. We’re the only Dodge team out there. I can’t wait to get Keselowski out there, see how we team up. Whether we’re in the same 150 or not together, and then it comes down to these restarts at the end. You can have 450 miles of racing with somebody and it gets shuffled around. The thing that’s most important in my mind is you can’t try to hook up with your buddies too soon and then guys are trying to check up and stay together and you’re still in a big pack. Then, boom, cars are wrecking. It’s almost every restart you’re looking around, thinking who can I team up with.”

HOW DO YOU FIGURE OUT WHO TO DRAFT WITH? BUSCH: “You have to have a guy willing to stick with you and stay behind you. With the way the two cars hook up, it’s just the length from the front bumper to the rear bumper of the two cars. So it’s just taking an overall measurement, and the air comes off that first car and must land right behind the spoiler of the second car because if you hit there and try to draft a foot apart, you can never hook up. You never get that extra speed. So it’s just a distance thing. I think if we all stood in the wind tunnel, and made some measurements, we would see exactly what we’re seeing out here on the race track, but it’s very difficult to simulate wind tunnels versus what happens here on the asphalt track. A lot of it is just being able to read the car and feel the RPM and know when you’re getting bogged down versus when you actually have extra speed with the draft.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY WAS SAYING THAT THE REASON THAT HE STAYED WITH YOU IS BECAUSE YOU GUYS WERE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS? BUSCH: “It’s really just the camaraderie and the way that we’ve shared off-track experiences. Whether it’s hanging out together, whether it’s going to events together. We did flip-flop sponsors or rides in a sense. He took over at Crown Royal on that 97 car, turned into the 26, and there was a little bit of spite in the beginning with me switching over to Penske, him being part of the deal at Ganassi. But it’s just funny how things come together. There are just people that you see in life and you gravitate towards them. He and I have done that. We live fairly close to each other in the Charlotte area, and there’s times when we find each other hanging out and we don’t even know.”

WHEN DID YOU DISCOVER THIS TWO-CAR PHONOMENON OF THE TWO-CAR DRAFT? BUSCH: “Just to finish up, I consider Jamie McMurray a true friend, and it takes somebody like that to push you to a victory. It reminded me of the time when I shoved Newman to win the 500. The product of tonight’s event and how everything unfolded, it’s everything, the way the bumpers line up, the fresh asphalt, the tires, and the grip in the tires. We saw a little bit of this at Talladega and now here at Daytona with the cars hooked up; there’s virtually no tire wear and you’re just worried about staying in that two car draft because it’s four seconds faster a lap than it is if you’re out there by yourself. So just the discovery one bit at a time, here, there and everywhere. And Keselowski and I saw this coming; we teamed up and spent a great deal of time in January testing and trying to polish up on it.”

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT NASCAR CAN DO TO BREAK UP THE TWO-CAR TANDEMS? ADDINGTON: “I don’t want to see that happen. I think it’s cool that we’re running over 200 miles an hour. Kurt might not like that, but I think he likes it.” BUSCH: “It’s fun as hell.” ADDINGTON: “I don’t know. I don’t want to give my opinion, give them any ideas, so I just think that they tried to do it with a little bit this morning with the oil coolers, but we went back to the package that we tested with Kurt and Brad down here in January and felt pretty confident in it and just played it safe with opening up the tape. I don’t know what they’re planning on doing, if anything, but I don’t think that if we go to a smaller plate it’s just going to be a slower two car deal. It’s not going to separate the guys doing what they’re doing tonight. They may shorten that length of time, but I don’t think they’ll end it.”

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAD WON THE RACE? BUSCH: “I’ve been in one of these .002, .003 things before. I was full throttle and I let go of the wheel to try to free up the car. I’m looking down at the 11, I’ve got him beat, no problem, and Addington said that scoring had the 11 car (winning), and I’m saying no, no, I’m the winner. I won. You can’t take this away. I’ve around been through one of these 002, 003s and came out the loser. When I got on the back straightaway, Steve said that they have the 11 scored as the leader by three thousandths of a second, and he also said that he went below the double yellow. I said, well, of course he did, of course he did. So he advanced his position below the double yellow, which was a rule that we didn’t think would come into play tonight, but it did. And it didn’t look like Newman forced him down there; it looked like the 11 took that option. It obviously was the shortest distance around. But my game plan was to stay hooked up with McMurray the whole way through, and I have him to thank. For us to come out on top with the way that the ruling went, it’s a correct ruling. I think that we can take this win on home for Dodge and for Shell Pennzoil.”

WILL YOU BE OK IS NASCAR MAKE A CHANGE THIS WEEK? ADDINGTON: “Do you think they’re going to come ask me? If they make a change, we’ve just got to deal with it. I wanted to get out to talk to Scott Currier, the engine builder over at Penske Racing Engines, just to see what he thinks on RPMs, where we’re at, where we’re running, and I’ll be on the phone with him and gathering all the information I can from him. We’ll just wait and see what the decision is on what they do. I can’t say one way or the other what they’re going to do. But if they were going to do something, I’d like for them to let us know before Wednesday morning to start practice so we can be prepared for it. They may let us know tomorrow. We’ve got all day tomorrow. We’ll be hanging around.”

DO YOU THINK THE FANS ENJOY THIS TYPE OF RACING? KURT: “I’m glad I waited for your question because after Bob’s question, I’m sitting here going what is the perspective from the outside? What did the fans view tonight? How exciting was it? NASCAR is going to eventually do that, ask the fans. From what I was told from some of the interviews I did previously, the fans were on their feet, they were jumping up and down. They just saw this whole new style of the draft. We all knew this coming in on the fresh repave, what is this going to bring. The way the cars are set up, the way the restrictor plates work, the way that the bumpers align themselves, this is fresh asphalt, this is a whole new look. And so I don’t want this win not to feel like it’s a win because we’re all writing that this is too many unknowns tonight. We do need to get the fans’ opinion to find out, and if the fans agree and there’s a general consensus that this was positive, then I hope that our win is glorified even more. Right now, I’m getting the feeling that this didn’t count because there were too many unknowns going in, and who knew that this was going to be a two car draft. But to pull into victory lane with new sponsors and a car number that nobody knew anything about, I was just hoping to fly under the radar tonight and everybody think that we were Ward Burton or Bobby Allison or Fireball Roberts running the 22 car and we’ll sneak up on them and win, and we sure as heck did.”

DO YOU THINK THAT 206 MPH IS TOO FAST? KURT: “I’m with you. I was beginning to get these shots up here, like what’s going on. I feel with the way the cars would wreck back in the day and the reason for restrictor plates came out was because the cars didn’t have enough downforce on them to keep them planted to the track. They would spin out sideways or get backwards and have the air lift them up. We saw that happen with the Truck Series the first time here with Jeffrey Bodine’s horrific accident, and I think that’s because the trucks lacked downforce the first time which was back in 2000. I think these cars have enough downforce. They’ve got the roof flaps and the safety equipment to protect the drivers, but obviously once we start getting over 200, we have to make sure that we keep these cars in the ballpark. That’s the main concern. If I had to throw something out there, I would throw on bigger spoilers and a bigger plate that we can’t go faster if we’re getting to 206. It’s an unbelievable experience to race out there in this two car tandem and to be able to feel the air around you and to have that guy behind you pushing. It is so much fun inside the car when you have things going your way. I bet the guys that lost the draft are out there just sitting there filing their nails going down the back straightaway because they’ve got nothing else to do.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

February 12, 2011

Team Chevy Starts 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season with Strong Showing in Budweiser Shootout

Daytona Beach, Fla (Feb.12, 2011) The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season is officially underway as the Budweiser Shootout is now in the record books.

Team Chevy had a field of 12 strong contenders for the 24-car field race that doesn’t pay points but carries a tremendous amount of prestige for the winner and a good test for the teams as they get prepared for Daytona 500.

Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet finished second followed by Ryan Newman, No. 39 Wix Filters Chevrolet in the third finishing position.

Five-time defending NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, was fourth at the checkered flag of the two-segment 75-lap race.

Rounding out the seven Team Chevy drivers that finished in the top-10 were Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, in sixth; Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, seventh; Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet was in eighth and Clint Bowyer, No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet in ninth.

Other Team Chevy finishers were as follows: Tony Stewart, No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet – 11th; Mark Martin, No. 5 GoDaddy Chevrolet – 17th (accident); Dale Earnhardt, Jr. No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes Budweiser Shootout — February 12, 2011

10th, BOBBY LABONTE 12th, DENNY HAMLIN 14th, DERRIKE COPE 15th, MICHAEL WALTRIP 16th, KYLE BUSCH 18th, JOEY LOGANO 23rd, KEVIN CONWAY 24th, KASEY KAHNE

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Reese Townpower / Highland Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finished: 10th How was your race tonight? “It was obvious that you had to be hooked up with somebody or you could go a lap down. We went a lap down in the first segment and right there at the end, Matt (Kenseth) was kind of the odd man out and got lapped. It was kind of weird how it is — just two by two by two by two and if you’re not in a two then you’re not going to be up to speed. A lot of it’s just trying to find the right guy to be with and stay with him. A couple guys could make you loose and some of them didn’t.”

How do you find the right drafting partner? “You find somebody that’s by themselves. If you’re by yourself, you find somebody by themselves.” Do you expect the same type of racing in the Daytona 500? “Yeah, it’s just going to be brighter because the sun’s going to be out.”

How was your first race with JTG-Daugherty Racing? “I think we ran the gamut. We got a lap down in the first segment and got it back. Had a pit road penalty, which I get about one a year so I got that over with. It’s fine, we just need a little more speed to be able to push a little harder. We could get there with the 14 (Tony Stewart) behind us, but something would happen and he would pull off. We were going to be right there in the middle of that pack if he could have stayed with us, but something didn’t work out. We dodged all the wrecks and got a car we can still use again. We’ll go with that.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finished: 12th What is your feeling about the ruling that you went below the yellow line at the checkered flag? “That yellow line is there to protect us and the fans in the stands safety and I just chose to take the safer route. A win in the Shootout is not worth sending the 39 (Ryan Newman) through the grandstands. For me, as fast as we’re running — if I get into his left rear, that car will go airborne. For me, it was a tough position. I probably should have gone high just to avoid that whole thing. I was faced with a decision and obviously I didn’t want to have contact with the 39.”

What did you do on the final lap? “I went to the inside of Ryan Newman and I saw quickly to dart down to the bottom so I moved my car down to the bottom to try to avoid contact. I thought it was a great three-wide finish, but obviously I used some pavement that we shouldn’t have.”

What did you think of the racing tonight? “I thought it was good, I thought the racing was great. It was really hard for any two groups of cars to stay up front. For me, I was hoping to put ourselves in position for the win and made a little mistake.”

Why did you go down to the bottom below the yellow line? “I didn’t want to cause a wreck, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth sending a guy through the bleachers. The rule is you can’t go below the yellow line and I went below the yellow line so that’s about it.”

Were you expecting NASCAR to call Kurt Busch the winner? “I don’t know. Half of me was, half of me wasn’t. It’s just coming to the checkered and you’ve really got no room to work with so you try to use all of the asphalt that you can. It’s just in the heat of the moment you’re just trying to do the best thing and not cause a wreck.”

Would you stay right at the yellow line next Sunday in the Daytona 500 if you were in the same situation? “It’s tough to say with the situation. In hindsight you would, maybe I would’ve had enough room anyway so it’s tough to say until next weekend.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Would you make any changes for next week if you were NASCAR? “Of course this is me involved now, but even with the Regan Smith deal way back in the day you’d like to see coming to the checkered that you can use all of the race track that you’ve got. Use the grass if you want. Unfortunately, that yellow line is there to keep us save and obviously that’s what I was trying to do. I went down there to try and keep everyone safe.”

Do you think NASCAR should make any changes with speeds? “It was fast. The track was very fast. The bump drafting incidents that we saw today was just from some people having to check up — you can’t see. The guy in second can not see anything so it’s just a tough predicament.”

Are the two-car packs an acceptable way to run the Daytona 500? “It’s an art. There’s an art to it whether it’s a big 40-car pack or it’s a two-car tandem. There’s an art to all of this. For me, it was hard. It was strategic trying to get back up to the front during the right time. Ultimately we didn’t get it done, but still I think the fans saw a great finish. It was three-wide at the line for a win and I see the Daytona 500 being no different.”

DERRIKE COPE, No. 64 Sta-Bil Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Finished: 14th

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finished: 15th

What happened to take you out of the race? “I started to turn a little higher than I had been entering and I don’t know if it threw Tony (Stewart) a curve because I went in — you can’t see so he doesn’t have any idea what I’m doing and I don’t know if it threw him a bit of a curve and he pushed me a little different. It just got me sideways.”

How did the two-car packs develop and what does it mean for the rest of the week? “It developed from two cars going faster than anything else. Race car drivers aren’t that smart, but we figured that one out in a hurry. It’s hard to say. Most of the time when they push you don’t wreck, but then when circumstances change it just got me loose and I wrecked. You do it lap after lap after lap and it gets a little bit hairy. If you remember correctly it’s always been hairy here so maybe it’s a little bit lesser of two evils.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finished: 16th What happened that took you out of the race? “I don’t know. Just unfortunate circumstances I guess. We’ve been doing the same thing all week — all since testing. Mark (Martin) said it, I said it — just a product of mismatch I guess. He didn’t do anything wrong, I don’t know that I did anything that I haven’t done all night. Just got screwed up. There’s an opportunity there and I think Michael (Waltrip) just had the same thing happen to him. It’s unfortunate for us and our M&M’s team. We wanted to come out of Daytona with a good start to the weekend for next week in the (Daytona) 500. Just wasn’t meant to be for us tonight of course. It would be a lot harder to swallow in the 500. I’m sure we’re still going to have some of those in the 500, but being the Budweiser Shootout, it is a ‘go-for-broke’ kind of race. The best footage of the night is probably me getting back to the garage area because I got lost everywhere. I was like, ‘Man, this gates going to be open — nope that gates not open. I’ll got right here — no.’ There’s TV cords out there so I probably split TV cords somewhere with the splitter and how low these things are to the ground. Hopefully nobody is too mad at me.” Is 206 mph too fast at Daytona? “I don’t know that there’s a problem with the speed. Maybe with what we’re doing with the speed we’re carrying, but it’s just a product of what we’ve got here. To me, there’s no relation in speed as to why we’re wrecking. It’s just the maneuvers and the by-product of the game right now.”

What does it feel like to come up on a single car when you are in the two-car draft? “It’s a little nerve wracking because you know the guy behind you can’t see so you have to make slow, subtle moves. You can’t make too fast of moves because otherwise you get spun out. I don’t know why Mark (Martin) and I — we were locked up for a whole lap and a half already. Just unfortunate that it happened the way it did and we got knocked out of the race.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Is this type of racing acceptable for the biggest race of the Sprint Cup season? “It’s going to be what we got. It’s not going to change here in the next week or two unless we go back to the rules where you can’t push each other through the corners and NASCAR’s going to police it. It’s just what we’ve got going on and guys have to try to be careful and we’ve been trying to be careful. Eventually there’s going to be a mismatch somewhere, somehow and it’s not going to work out for the best of somebody.”

Should NASCAR do something to protect everyone from the two-car draft? “I think so. I think it would be a better race to see us all grouped up rather than the two car deals and pushing each other around. Having a better opportunity of having a crash like we did. We just saw Tony (Stewart) and Michael Waltrip have the same problem that Mark (Martin) and I did. It’s not that we did anything wrong. We’ve seen it a few times tonight. Unless we want a 10-car shootout at the end of the race, I don’t know if that would be a good Daytona 500.”

Are the higher RPMs a concern for you next weekend? “We’ll have to take the motor back and find out. We were told not to go above 8800, but tonight we were up above 9000. Good question for Mark Cronquist (head engine builder, Joe Gibbs Racing).”

Did you see any different with the NASCAR rule change today pertaining to extra air ducts? “There’s a little bit of a change. I couldn’t push more than four laps. Some other guys are pushing seven or eight laps, but those are mostly Chevrolet teams who could run their motors to a higher degree than we can. Our temperature — we’re limited at a certain degree and those guys can go further than us.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finished: 18th What happened that took you out of the race? “This just stinks for us. We had a really fast Home Depot Toyota. Felt like we had a good shot at winning the thing. I was pretty pumped up about that. We had a long ways to go in the race. I don’t even know what started it. I saw the 99 (Carl Edwards) turn sideways and then hook the 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and he hit the wall right in front of me. I got tore up in that and I think I got hit about five times. It’s unfortunate. I thought we had a shot at winning this one. I was having fun out there and thought we were going to be good. It’s frustrating, but at least it wasn’t for points. I just want to win here.”

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 97 Extenze Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finished: 23rd

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finished: 24th Did you have any indication that there was a problem while you were out on the race track? “No indication. The Red Bull Toyota was fast, we were upfront and we were good with (Clint) Bowyer and then really good with Carl (Edwards) pushing. It was just a matter of figuring out how to pass for the lead. We were working on it. We were getting closer and closer and something just gave up under the hood. We’ll have to really look into it because it’s way too early in the race when we have a 500-miler coming up next week.”

Were there any surprises on the new surface tonight? “It was really what I was expecting. The thing that was a little different was that everybody was expecting the same so as soon as it went green you picked up a car — you picked up your partner. So it was more of pack of two cars kind of. We got away a little bit. I was really good with (Clint) Bowyer and then he ditched me. I think he wanted (Dale Earnhardt) Junior. Then I got with Carl (Edwards) and me and Carl were actually pretty fast and we were working on passing Junior and Bowyer. It’s disappointing to be out this early, but hopefully we’ll get it figured out and be strong next week.”