FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES

Daytona Preseason Thunder Saturday, Page 1

January 22, 2011

Daytona International Speedway

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion, and Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion each took time Saturday morning before hitting the track at Daytona International Speedway for the last day of testing to discuss what they have learned this weekend, where the organization is heading into 2011 and more.

MATT KENSETH, driver, No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion – WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING TO ACCOMPLISH TODAY, THE LAST DAY OF TESTING? “Well, we are going to go out there and mostly do some more single car runs and sit in line for a half hour between every run and get to five o’clock.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE POTENTIAL POINTS CHANGE? “I need to dig into it and look at it and see what it would do. At first glance I think it would be a much bigger penalty to drop out and finish bad than it was before, so I think consistency would be real important which is fine with me. There have been a lot of changes in the last eight or nine years. Hopefully, eventually they will get to a system that they really like and we can leave it like that for awhile and get some consistency.”

WITH ALL YOUR CREW CHIEF CHANGES LAST YEAR, HOW IMPORTANT IS SOME CONSISTENCY FOR YOU IN THAT ASPECT THIS YEAR? “I think it is important to get consistency within the team and with the personnel and car builds and everything. I think that always helps. Last year we finished the year pretty strong. We didn’t get the win we were looking for but we still finished pretty strong in the points and got some good finishes toward the end of the year. Hopefully we can roll that into this year and keep it going.”

CAN YOU ASSESS WHERE THE ORGANIZATION IS COMPARED TO THIS TIME LAST YEAR? “You feel like you are better but every off season you feel like you have made changes and gotten things better than they were before. You really don’t know until you get six or seven weeks into the season and then you get a better idea.”

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT THE NEW NOSE AND SPLITTER SO FAR? “I haven’t learned anything yet. We haven’t done any drafting yet or anything. Being by yourself out there at the speeds we are running right now you can’t really tell a difference.”

EVERYONE IS SAYING THIS RACE NEXT MONTH IS GOING TO BE WILD, BUT WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT WE MIGHT SEE? “I think it will be just like Talladega since they paved that. Handling isn’t going to matter. I think it is going to be all about drafting.”

GREG BIFFLE, driver, No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THIS WEEKEND IN YOUR 3M FORD FUSION? “We have been doing single car runs so far on the new surface and have been learning a lot about where the speed is at. This afternoon we are going to get into a spot where we are going to be drafting with other cars and we will learn so more about what this race track is going to be like when we are under race conditions. Right now we are working on qualifying.”

CAN YOU ASSESS WHERE THE ROUSH FENWAY ORGANIZATION IS AT NOW COMPARED TO A YEAR AGO? “I think we are about where we were compared to the field. We haven’t lost any ground, which is really important, but I don’t know that we have gained a whole bunch. We are on a pretty level playing field with our competition right now.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE POSSIBLE CHANGE TO THE WAY POINTS ARE DISTRIBUTED? “I haven’t had a lot of time to think about it but it would be simpler for the fan. One point per position, 10 points behind is 10 points on the race track. As far as that goes it would be better, but I really haven’t had a ton of time to think about it and really dissect it.”

WHAT KIND OF EXPECTATIONS HAVE YOU SET FOR YOURSELF FOR 2011? “That is simple, to win the title. I want to win a bunch of races and win the title.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

January 20, 2011

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET, and JAMIE MCMURRY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET met with media and discussed the newly surfaced Daytona race track, fatherhood, the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s passing, possible changes to the point system, and more. Full Transcript:

THE MODERATOR: Jeff, new pavement. What do you think?

JEFF GORDON: It’s great. We were here in December doing the Goodyear tire test as well, so had a pretty good indication of what we had to deal with when we got here.

I mean, it’s going to be an exciting Daytona 500 for sure, drafting a lot more like what you have in Talladega, but yet with the uniqueness that Daytona still brings to it, I think it’s going to be very exciting, a lot of grip, a lot of three wide racing.

Yesterday we just worked on speed since we did do some drafting in December. And then we were hoping if it clears up today we can do some drafting, and it’s supposed to be clear tomorrow, so hopefully we can get some in then.

But still plenty to work on, but so far it’s been a great test.

JAMIE MCMURRAY: I’m with Jeff. The track is really good and the racing is going to be closer to what Talladega has except for the fact the track is quite a bit narrower. And I think when you see two cars get locked together, that if someone wants to pull up and block that, that you’re going to have the ability here too, which can be good or bad. Talladega is just so wide that you can really only block one time and then the guys can go the other direction.

It will be interesting whenever you get all 43 cars out there. I did the tire test with Jeff, and we really only got 20 cars on the track, and it’s a lot different when you get everybody out there. So I’m curious to see Shootout practice. I think they’ve got 30 cars, so it’ll be interesting to see what it’s like with more cars.

Q. Jamie, just wanted to ask about your new contract. Did that take a little longer than you thought? And everything go as expected once you got to that point? And a little bit about Rolex coming up as well, your experience with that car.

JAMIE MCMURRAY: Yeah, excited to get all the contract stuff out of the way. I don’t know that anyone really enjoys going through that, but happy that we’ve got all that put behind us.

And really excited about the 24 Hour car. Chip’s cars are just unbelievable in that series. They just really have their act together and it’s very organized and he’s had a chance I think to win like five in a row in the 24 Hour race.

So I’ve got a really good group of guys with Dixon and Franchitti and Montoya as teammates.

We had a great test down here. The repaving of the track, they didn’t repave the infield, but the transition from the big track to the road course is way better than what we had before. You can drive the car in so much deeper than what we had before. It’s really exciting.

So, yeah, excited to be back down here on Wednesday to start the 24 hour race.

Q. Jeff, this 500 will mark the 10th year of Dale Earnhardt’s passing. Can you, as a four time champion and someone who was close with him, talk about his legacy?

JEFF GORDON: You know, it still lives on, that’s for sure. I still have a hard time really even believing that he’s gone. I had such amazing experience racing with him, time I spent with him away from the racetrack as well.

You know, I think that’s a legacy that will just live on forever, especially when you come to Daytona, you just can’t help, especially for me, I guess the guy was just so amazing here. He just knew the draft and how these cars worked around the draft better than anybody.

You couldn’t help but be a student of that every time you’re out there. And he certainly taught me a lot that led to some Daytona 500 victories, I believe.

And then I think he just did so much for the sport, and I think today we’re still benefiting from everything that he put into it, everything that he meant, the fans that he brought into it, and it’s hard to believe it’s been ten years. It really is.

Q. Can you talk about the proposed changes or talk about the points, and do you think there really needed to be a change?

JEFF GORDON: I’m still so behind, I guess. I heard about the 43 to 1 thing, but, I mean, is that the proposed one? Which one are we talking about? We haven’t had our driver/owner meeting yet. I think they saved the Hendrick one for last so that we really just are told what’s going to happen instead of having input on what may happen.

I mean, if that’s what you’re talking about, then you know, I think that it certainly is important to make sure that the fans are and our point system relate to one another and are simple and easy. I think that you still want to I mean, I don’t think you’re going to do anything to a point system that’s going to push people to win more, because we’re already doing everything we possibly can. We want to win. It’s just in our nature. It’s part of the competition.

I mean, I think the win means more to you than anything else. The points and the money and whatever benefits can come from it are just sort of the icing on the cake.

You know, I think as long as we continue to see a point system that rewards that as well as create some consistency in there too. I mean, my thing has always been I think that the points should pay the same from about 30th on back, because we’ve got cars now that their reliability is so good, making sure that there are 30 or 40 cars out there on the racetrack, so from a competition standpoint, it’s pretty much happening 1st through 25th, maybe even 30th, and so if you crash or something, to have to go back out there to gain a few extra points I think is silly.

I don’t know if this system is going to be good for that or not, but I really haven’t even wrapped my hands or thoughts around it a whole lot. Until they say this is what it’s going to be, then I’m not really over thinking it, and I don’t know if any points system is going to make me race any different.

You know, you race to win. You go out there to get the best position and finish that you possibly can, and that’s what wins races and that’s what wins championships, regardless of the point system.

Q. Two things quickly, Jeff: Are there any changes in the way you guys are processing information? The coverage here on TV at the test is like Jeff’s just walking over, and any time you go and ask a question, is Jimmie going faster, or even with the switches, people are making more of it and I’m getting emails from fans like are they really sharing information the same way. Has anything changed that you would have done that before but now there’s more attention to it? Secondly, apparently you’re leading the poll on Regis and Kelly to be the co host. Did you know that you’re leading from the fan vote on who should host that show?

JEFF GORDON: That’s funny. I don’t know where that’s coming from. But that’s cool, I guess, in a way.

No, I think probably the reason that there’s attention to it, because that was such a big move that was made at Hendrick Motorsports with and I like to say the driver changes, not crew chief changes, because the drivers moved to different teams, so it’s really driver changes. And I think that everybody is I think when a move that big is made, it sparks up a lot of conversation about why would that have happened and what caused that to happen.

And so I think when you get here and you’re parked next to one another, I think that it allows you to kind of analyze, or at least the media and the fans to analyze the vibe.

And when you see we come in the garage area and me and Steve are laughing and talking about things, and same thing with the 48 and the 5 and everybody is happy and good and ready to go out and try to win the Daytona 500, I think that it maybe answers some of those questions.

The only issue I had yesterday is I drove into the wrong garage. But it wasn’t I didn’t drive into the old 24 garage, I drove into Mark Martin’s garage thinking I’m the 5 team.

Other than that, everything was pretty good. And we had a great day.

You know, I’m excited about working with Alan, and we’ve been very busy over the off season. The things that he pays attention to are things that are really I’m excited about, and hopefully the results will show on the track.

Q. This is for both guys. Jeff, you’ve had a couple hard hits, Vegas and Pocono come to mind. I don’t know what’s the biggest in your mind. But since the passing of Dale Earnhardt, there’s been a lot of additional safety measures, safer barriers and so on and so forth. To you, what has been maybe the biggest as far as safety goes when it comes to you guys and what you do and the advancement of that process?

JEFF GORDON: Well, I think there’s a number of things that have come along. You can look at any sport and certainly look at Motorsports beyond NASCAR, and I think Ayrton Senna comes to mind for me. I think the advancement of safety and Formula 1 went to a whole ‘nother level when Ayrton Senna was killed. Same thing with Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

I would say if I had to pick one it was the implementation of the HANS device. I think while it was optional and some people were using them, they were uncomfortable. If you didn’t have to have them, sometimes we are pretty hard headed as race car drivers, and while you look at safety, there’s certain things that you just wouldn’t compromise on.

By implementing that as mandatory, it forced HANS to make HANS devices that fit each one of us, made them more comfortable, more lightweight, allowed us to have more be able to move our heads around, and I think that now I can’t imagine getting into a race car I can’t stand getting into my streetcar without one. To me I think that would be the number one on my list.

I think the seat design would be next and how we mount the seatbelts, and then the next would be the safer barriers.

JAMIE MCMURRAY: I agree. I was just going to repeat what he said.

Q. For Jamie: What’s it like being a new father? How has that adjustment gone? And for Jeff, what’s the adjustment been like going from CV to the pride of Ormond Beach?

JAMIE MCMURRAY: What’s your question about?

JEFF GORDON: The pride of Ormond Beach.

JAMIE MCMURRAY: I don’t get it.

JEFF GORDON: I’ll explain later. Go ahead.

JAMIE MCMURRAY: Oh, I get it now.

Becoming a dad has made me a little dumb, obviously.

Being a dad has been I was telling Jeff up here, it’s been all your friends that have kids try to explain to you the feeling and how exciting it is and how great it is, and you think you get it, but until you get to experience it for yourself, you don’t.

And it’s been wonderful. And I’ve told everyone this is really the first time I’ve left Carter since he was born. And before I left home, Christy had told me it’s going to be really hard for you to leave. And I was like it’s not going to be that big a deal, I’m going to be okay.

And when I got ready to leave, I was like, man, this is really hard. And you go in there and you kind of give him a little hug and you get a good smell before you leave, because babies smell wonderful. There’s

Why are you laughing at me? I’m being serious. I’m being really honest. The scent is wonderful.

JEFF GORDON: You’re bringing a tear to my eye, man.

JAMIE MCMURRAY: You’re no one to talk about emotion over there, okay? That’s definitely the pot calling the kettle black.

JEFF GORDON: I’m saying I’m getting emotional listening to you.

JAMIE MCMURRAY: It’s all good.

JEFF GORDON: You know what? I’ve known Alan for a long time, just working with him at Hendrick as he’s had different drivers. And I think it’s been known for a long time of what a great crew chief he is.

In a way I’ve kind of always wanted to work with him, and the opportunity came about for that to happen. And very, very impressed. The guy works really hard, he’s really smart. And every crew chief has a different approach, you know, and where they’re primary focus is. He’s been really big on getting me comfortable in the car, with my seat, with steering, with just a lot of car things that are very cool.

And then the other part of it, like we came down here to test in December, and part of that was to kind of just get acquainted with the team and everything. And we weren’t very fast. And we came back this time, and I didn’t expect anything any different. And we were fast. And I was like, man, what did you do? And he’s like, well, it made me mad.

So it’s impressive to watch him at work and he does a great job. The whole team seems to be excited to the whole switch, I mean, I think the same thing with Jr. and those guys as well as Mark and Lance, it’s just the change was big and abrupt, but at the same time, as it’s sunk in, everybody is like, God, this is very cool. And it’s been a very positive thing, especially for us with the 24 car.

I will say it’s been pretty cool getting to know Alan a little bit more and knowing his background, working with Smokey, and his background in racing and how he got to where he is. It’s a unique story that probably doesn’t get told enough.

Q. Jamie, perhaps outside of Denny Hamlin, it might have been kind of a difficult off season for you, just reflecting on not making the Chase and given the success that you had on some of the tracks and the victories. Assuming some of these tweaks that are reported come to fruition, would you welcome some changes that might have some wiggle room for drivers who have victories but perhaps not as many points in the top 10?

JAMIE MCMURRAY: Well, just so you know, I had like the best off season of my whole life. It actually was pretty great. I appreciate you ruining it for me there. No, I’m just messing with you. (Laughter.) I’m just being honest.

I mean, the everyone has asked me about the points and the Chase because it would have put us in it last year. But, I don’t know, my thought on the points is that they set those points at the beginning of the season, and everyone knows the rules, and if you make it, you make it, and if you don’t, you don’t. It’s not like they make exceptions throughout the year and change it. I mean, it is what it is. If you’re not consistent enough, then you don’t make the Chase.

So, you know, I don’t want to say that I don’t care, because I do, but as long as it’s the same for everybody, it really doesn’t matter to me.

Q. For both of you guys, you kind of touched on the new father aspect. You added a son and you’re a brand new father, but for both of you, how has that parenthood changed through your perspective over all in your career and your life and going forward? Maybe for you, Jeff, maybe thinking about stepping out of the car a little sooner and just the overall feelings on how it’s changed your perspective on your careers?

JEFF GORDON: It’s making me drive longer, I can tell you that. I start looking at tuitions for schools, and yeah, the bills are definitely going up.

No, I think really for me what I notice is just the pride that I take in what I do. Takes on a whole new meaning. I’ve been racing for years, and my family has been involved in what I do every step of the way. And so a lot of times what I did out there on the racetrack was as much for them as it was for me.

And now when you have your own children and you go home and you hear them say little things just like, Pop, I was watching you race the funniest thing that happened, and I can laugh about it now, both me and Jeff Burton can laugh about it now, but I went home that night after the Texas event last year, and I got home late, but Ella woke up in the middle of the night so I went in there to lay down with her to help her go back to sleep.

So she realized it was me, and she said, Papa, were you wrestling with another guy out there on the track today? And I said, Well, kind of. She said, Why? Why did you do that? And I said, Well, I got angry. She goes, Why were you angry? She wouldn’t quit. It’s three in the morning, and these are the things that are on her mind. It just brings everything into perspective, and it’s just so raw and it’s so fun.

And then to make the story even better, then I called Jeff Burton two days later to talk, and so he told me his story. You know, he said, Well, I’ll one up you easy on that because I’ve got, whatever, I think 12 or 14 year old, and they were like, Dad, I’m going to kick Jeff Gordon’s butt and blah, blah, blah, and I had to explain to them, No, your dad kind of made a mistake.

So we both really laughed about those stories and what kids do to your life and to your career, and from every aspect of the enjoyment of sharing a victory to the agonies of defeat and embarrassing moments. Jamie’s just now getting into these things. Once they can start walking and talking, you’ll understand.

But, no, it’s amazing. To me it’s not it’s not about to me, no matter what your job is, it doesn’t matter if you’re a writer or a race car driver, when you have children, it doesn’t make you less passionate about what you love to do. I think if anything it makes you more passionate about it.

And you’ve got to understand, we don’t sit up here and think of the dangers of the sport; we think of what do we have to do to win. It’s dangerous. Yes. But when you get to this level, you’ve been through it, you know the safety features, you know what you’re in controlling of and not in control of.

And so I think most people just automatically assume when you’re in a dangerous sport like this that when you have children it makes you think “I don’t want to do this.”

You know, to me, it makes me more inspired to want to do it better. That’s all.

Q. Jeff, in hopes that I had mentioned to you that NASCAR listened to fans and fans have a lot of opinions about change, and I asked you what changes you’d like to see and you said, Tell me what the fans want and I’ll tell you whether I agree with it or not they liked that, by the way. And by the way, most of the fans are really kind of happy. It took me a while to go after as many fans to get what they really wanted to change.

JEFF GORDON: Well, agreeing on the change is what was probably challenging.

Q. I picked out some of them. I’ll go over them again real quickly. But it’s get rid of the Chase, more autograph time at races, rotate the tracks for the Chase, make the race cars look more like factory cars, heat races, and stop the wave around.

JEFF GORDON: Stop the wave around? That right there just proves that our fans are listening and watching and paying attention and know their stuff a lot better than I think sometimes we think that they do.

I got to say I agree with a lot of those things. I think that our fans mean so much to us and this sport and our sponsors that doing more autograph sessions I think is an obvious one. And I wish that we could incorporate organized sessions. Maybe we rotate different drivers in and out on different weekends. But I certainly agree with it. It would be cool to do that.

I think we all sign quite a few autographs throughout a weekend regardless, but it’s sort of as you’re walking through the garage area and things like that.

You know, I think the one I might disagree on is the Chase, taking the Chase away, because I think if you went back to the old point system, I think that we’d be bored in a hurry with the fact that somebody just won the championship with about four races to go, and we went down to Homestead and we didn’t have a championship on the line with maybe three or four drivers battling it out. And I think that’s pretty exciting, and I think that’s great for the sport.

And even though I wish they would have incorporated implemented it about two or three years later so I could have maybe gotten a couple more championships, I still I’m a big supporter of the Chase.

I don’t know, Jamie, what are your thoughts?

JAMIE MCMURRAY: I agree. (Laughter.)

Q. Jamie and Jeff, I was just wondering, as far as personal dealings away from the track, do you have a favorite memory that boils to the surface when it comes to dealings with Dale Earnhardt that you can share?

JEFF GORDON: I mean, I guess because I’m in Daytona, I think of a few different ones. I think they were building the Daytona USA out here and they did a groundbreaking, and I remember part of that groundbreaking and somebody in here can correct me if I’m wrong on the timing of this or why we were here and there was a big tractor out there that they set up this sort of promo of, hey, we want you guys to get on this tractor. And it was like me, Rusty, and Dale, and I don’t know who else may have been there. Maybe Dale Jarrett or something like that.

But we were going to get on this tractor and drive through this area and somehow do the groundbreaking that way. And they were like, you know, who wants to drive the tractor. I mean, it was pretty easy answer. We knew who was going to drive the tractor, and that was going to be Dale.

And I guess I didn’t realize Dale’s skills on a tractor until that day. I mean, this is a big piece of machinery. This is not just some little tractor. I mean, it was big. And we got on that thing, and he was like, dodododo, I mean, he had the bucket going. It’s like he had one at home or something. It was so impressive. And so that was pretty cool.

And then another Daytona one was we were here practicing for the IROC race and we went out I think there was probably three or four of us out there, and I know Dale was one and Schrader was one and I was one. And I was pretty new to the IROC series and learning those cars and the way they drafted and everything. So I was just kind of a kid in a candy store having a great time.

And I remember that I think Schrader was leading, I was running second, and we came off Turn 2 and Dale gave me a pretty good push. And I got underneath Schrader and I was like, Cool, I’m going to go right by him. And then before I could even look in my mirror, Dale was inside of me three wide down the back straightaway.

And it just seemed like the longest back straightaway I’d ever experienced. Like in all my laps around Daytona, it just seemed like that back straightaway went on for like five minutes, because the moment stood in time, and I was just there like taking it all in.

And I just remember I looked to the right. And back in those days you had no headreast, you could pretty much see all the way inside the car. And I remember looking to the right at Schrader, and he was just looking ahead, focused, because we’re three wide. And I looked to my left, and Dale is over here like he’s kicked back he’s got one hand over here, one hand on the steering wheel, he’s looking at me with this big grin on his face.

And I realized at that moment I’m three wide in between Schrader and Earnhardt. And back then you couldn’t go three wide into Turn 3. And I was like, now, which one of us is going to lift? I’m not going to lift. I’m not going to lift.

As we got closer to Turn 3 and I look over at Dale, I realize I was going to have to be the bigger person in this moment and lift. And thank God I did, because I lifted and Dale went in there sliding all the way up three lanes, got in front of Schrader, and it would have been a heck of a wreck.

But I’ll never forget that look on his face and just how relaxed he was in that race car at that moment when I was freaking out because we’re three wide.

And it’s just one of the many stories that stood out for me with Dale.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen, for your time. We enjoyed it. Good luck out there.

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT January 20, 2011  

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway and discussed the new track surface, rumored changes to the points system, Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and other topics.  Full transcript:  

THE MODERATOR:  Welcome, Kevin.  Let’s hear your take on the new surface and all that you discovered.  

KEVIN HARVICK:  Obviously the surface is going to be pretty exciting for everybody just for the fact that it’s really smooth, it’s got a lot of grip.  They did a great job paving the racetrack.  So it’s basically everything in the car will be what we have at Talladega, and you come here with the most speed that you think you have and everything that you need to do to do that.

            So it’s going to be a little bit narrower than Talladega, so the chess match will still be the same.  And should be the same exciting racing.  So you just don’t have to worry about the handling aspect of it for a while.  Just put the speed in your car and play the game.              

Q.  Some teams have talked about the fact that they don’t plan to draft at all here this week.  How do you guys stand on that?  And I guess they’re concerned about getting in a wreck, losing a car, or whatever.  Is that    would you not learn enough from being in a big pack on the new surface with a lot of cars to equal that out?

            KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, I think for us we came with a checklist, don’t care what the score board says, don’t care if you hit on something, you’re going to run down the checklist, you’re going to run through the things that you want to run through, and that’s it.

            I mean, that’s what we’re going to do.  We’re not going to draft.  We felt like they did what they needed    they learned what they needed to learn at the tire test down here with Paul and Jeff, so it’s    you’re going to get plenty of time when you come back for Speed Weeks to kind of do whatever you want, but practice is just not going to be at a premium like it used to be here because of the fact you don’t have to worry about the tires, you don’t have to worry about handling of the car, you just have to play the game and try to get yourself in position and get the most speed out of your car that you can.         This is what’s the date today?  It’s late.  It’s almost February.  So that’s these cars, it’s unbelievable the amount of time and preparation that go into these particular cars.  You know, a normal race car you can put a body on in four days, and these particular race cars will probably take twice that long just in the fab shop, and these cars all run through the wind tunnel once or twice at a minimum and then you take them and usually run them somewhere in the desert.

            So there’s just hours upon hours put into these race cars, and they’re not like a normal downforce car.  So when you tear one up, you’re looking at putting yourself behind a month on one car to properly do it.

            Sure, you can build the car and you can paint it and you can put it all in there, but the final details of the car take months and hours and hours.  It’s just not in the rotation at this point in the season to tear your car up.

              Q.  This 500 will mark the ten year anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s passing.  As his successor, can you talk about that legacy?

            KEVIN HARVICK:  Yeah, you know, I think it’s been    you guys all know, I was very uncomfortable with it in the beginning, didn’t like it, didn’t want to be a part of it, and you know, as the last three or four years have come, I’ve learned to become more comfortable.  And I think the biggest reason is we’ve been able to accomplish a lot of things on our own.  So that for me is something that makes me a little bit more comfortable with it.             And the hardest part for me to learn was just the fact that a lot of times it wasn’t somebody trying to make you do something like he did, it was just somebody complimenting on things that he did and things that we’ve been able to do.

            So it’s just    you know, the day was tough for everybody at RCR and everybody involved in it and for the whole sport in general, but as we look back ten years, I think when you look at the safety of the tracks and the safety of the cars and the attention that NASCAR has paid to those things that have changed really the racing world, not just NASCAR in general, it’s changed the world of racing from top to bottom.  And those are the things that you can draw so many positives now out of something that was so devastating for the whole sport.

            A lot of things changed on that day.              

Q.  Turn 2 and Turn 4, the transition, Tony Stewart and I think Martin Truex were both saying that it’s even more abrupt than what it was before.  It’s real smooth and you guys would like to run three wide through there, but can you talk about Turn 2 and the way it drops off under you?            

KEVIN HARVICK:  I think the higher you get the more abrupt it is off of 2, but that’s basically how it used to be.  It’s just    the hardest thing for me is the lines are    the yellow line like at Talladega is actually painted I believe on the racetrack and the one here is off the racetrack on the apron.

            So yesterday I touched the apron and about wrecked, so I think that that’s going to be the biggest deal is just keeping your car off the apron because it seems like as you go into the corners there used to be a little bit more transition as far as the banking, leading up to the actual banking itself.  That, or it was just so wore out that you couldn’t really tell.

            But it seems like the apron is going to be a big deal if you touch it.

              Q.  I have two questions, two totally different topics.  The first one is what you were saying when you were uncomfortable those first few years, why?  What about that was difficult for you?  And the second question, much lighter, how has the adjustment been working with Budweiser?  How have you enjoyed that, settling into such a different realm of sponsorship?

            KEVIN HARVICK:  You know, I think the transition has been easy.  We’ll answer that one first.  Obviously our sponsor Budweiser has been in the sport for a very long time and has just a    it’s an iconic brand worldwide.  Everything that’s happened has been a lot of fun to say the least, and it’s fun representing a brand that’s    you enjoy representing, so that makes life a lot easier.  It’s one of those things that when you look at the back at the drivers and the people that have been in the Budweiser car, it’s just part of NASCAR, and to be in that car and have the car black and RCR is pretty cool.  We’ve definitely had a lot of fun, and we will continue to have a lot of fun.             But as far as being uncomfortable with the Earnhardt stuff, I think everything we did was backwards.  I went into 2000, and we never had anything.  We had always    beat my own path as we went along.

            Same thing happened in 2000 with starting the Nationwide program, get to 2001 and you’re planning on racing for a championship in the Nationwide Series and then coming out and running a few Cup races, just signed a new sponsor for Cup the year after that, and then it all changed.  Instantly it’s like everybody knows your name, everybody knows what you’re doing, so you start from the wrong end of the spectrum and you don’t have time    a lot of times when you come into something new you have time to learn.  You have time to learn what you’re supposed to say, when you’re supposed to do things, how you’re supposed to do it.

            I think as we went into that situation you start off with the biggest press conference that you’ll ever have in your whole career and you have more fans than you’ll ever have and you don’t know how to manage your time, you don’t know how to manage your money, you don’t know what to say, and all of a sudden you have all that stuff at once.  So instantly I just put up my defense and it was easier just not to talk about it.

            So I was 25 and didn’t really know exactly what direction that life was going to go, and instantly you had everything that you wanted but you didn’t have to do anything for it.  So it just didn’t all make sense to me.

            And I think as I went through the years and we were able to kind of do the same thing as we had done in the previous parts of my career, I think I became more comfortable with that just because it wasn’t anybody just trying to tell you how to do something, it was everybody trying to compliment you on doing a good job.

            You just happened to be in that car and that car is important to the sport, and the history that Richard and Dale made will always about at RCR, so it’s not something you need to try to get away from, it’s something that you need to understand and respect, and I think as you look at the sport, it’s the same way.  There’s always going to be a part of the history of the sport and a big reason for the sport is at the level that it is today.             So I think it’s important to kind of continue that legacy at RCR, and so far it’s going okay.

              Q.  Coming off a season with momentum, this season what would be a dream season for you and, conversely, what would be a nightmare season for you?            

KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, you can look back two years and see the nightmare.  You can still remember that, and I still think that’s a lot of what drives the whole company, including myself.  Those are the things that you don’t want to experience is 2009 all over again.

            But the biggest thing is it’s all about winning a championship at this point, nothing else.  Nothing else is good enough at this particular point in time.  So it’s great to have a good year, and we had a good year last year, but in the end it’s all about taking home the one trophy that we don’t have, and that’s the championship trophy.  It’s been a long time for Richard and it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to experience that as a company, and we’ve experienced that a lot together as far as Nationwide championships and things like that, truck championships as owners.  But those aren’t good enough, either.

            So I think it’s just one of those things where I felt like the last ten weeks last year taught us a lot about who we were and who we need to be and what we need to do to race for those championships, because it’s just different.

            And to keep that level for ten weeks is something that we’d never done before, and we did that last year, and I felt like we learned from those experiences.  And whether we win or lose again, you still know in your mind how it needs to go and how the preparation needs to be from a team standpoint and from a mental standpoint, from a driver’s standpoint.  It’s a different level.

              Q.  What does Daytona mean to you?  You seem to be one of these guys that really loves this place rather than it’s just another racetrack.  You seem to have a real connection here.             KEVIN HARVICK:  This is not just another racetrack.  This is our biggest race.  This is what the backbone of our sport is on a week to week basis as far as racetracks go.  To win a Daytona 500, we’ve been fortunate to experience that.

            There’s no comparing it to any other race.  A lot of people talk about the Brickyard, and you look at the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard, and there’s no comparison to those two, either.

            It’s just our biggest race and it leads off the year and the anticipation coming into the Daytona 500 every year is bigger than any other race times ten.  So from a driver’s standpoint, there’s nothing like rolling to the green flag at the Daytona 500 because you have a whole winter of anticipation, you have your shiniest, best new car, everybody has got everything brand new and it’s the best that anybody will be prepared for the whole season.

            There’s no better feeling than getting through Speed Weeks and rolling to that green flag for the first time.

              Q.  You had sort of an emotional attachment to this place?            

KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, when you look at RCR in general, this place has been good to us from start to finish, from the first days of Earnhardt coming here and winning races, and they won a lot here, and we’ve been able to win some races here and always run well here.  So it’s just    Richard puts a lot of effort into these types of races, and with effort comes success.

              Q.  How much do things change or not change between the end of last season and now, and how much do you know like you had the year that was bad, you did so well last year, other teams may have caught up, you may be making changes during the off season yourself, changes at Richard Childress Racing, you have a fourth team.  How much can you really expect to worry about or think about how things have changed since we left Homestead Miami, including being in a new car that may change your perspective on how you feel about everything?            

KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, I think when you go through those types of things and you’re as hungry as our team is to try to accomplish what we didn’t accomplish last year, we didn’t change anything.  I tried not to get out of my routines.  I work out on the same days, I went and had my physical on the same day I did last year, and we’re doing the same things that we did last year.  The only thing I did was change my phone code to 4848 so I don’t remember who I have to beat.

              Q.  (No microphone.)            

KEVIN HARVICK:  I think the biggest thing for us is everybody is just excited.  Everybody has enjoyed the way that Budweiser came in from a team standpoint and had the announcement at the shop and involved everybody in everything that we’ve done.  Even in our commercial that we shot last week, the team is involved, it was shot at the building.

            So everybody feels like they’re a part of it, and that’s just something that sometimes sponsors forget that it’s not just about the driver, it’s about the team.  Those are the guys that make the thing happen.  And they feel like they’re a part of the program, so that’s something that’s pretty cool.

              Q.  You guys have been pretty successful in getting sponsorship at a time when sponsorship isn’t exactly that easy to get, and there are some teams, let’s face it, that have pretty much a lot of the same performance you guys do on the track who are struggling to find sponsorships.  What do you think the key is?  What are you guys doing differently, without revealing maybe any secrets, but what do you think is different that’s making you guys    helping you guys be so successful in that area?

            KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, we’re very aggressive as far as if somebody has got    every company in the world has a different budget, and some people have small budgets and some people have big budgets, but I think we’re good at adapting to whatever your budget is to make it work and make you get something out of it.  Because the bottom line is, if it doesn’t work for both sides, they’re not coming back.

            So you’ve got to stake a chance every once in a while on somebody saying that they’re going to come in small, and a perfect example for us is    I guess Ring would be a good example.  They started at the quarter panel on my Cup car and now they’re 35 races on the Nationwide car, half of that being with Menards this year.             You just    truck racing in general is a gamble on a week to week basis.  You’re not going to settle for a full season.  If you do, you’ve hit the jackpot and it’s probably not going to happen again.  I think truck racing has been a very good training ground for us because you have to put week to week sponsorships together, you have to go in market and put small packages together so that you can sell your primaries for less.

            So it’s just being creative and being aggressive, and I’m on them every day as far as somebody is going to have to tell me what they did today, and we only have one guy, so it’s not real time consuming.

              Q.  Everybody is talking about how crazy the 500 is going to be and how it’s going to be big packs all day and hard to get away.  Is this going to be a race that’s going to be determined by who doesn’t make mistakes more than what you do positively to win the race?

            KEVIN HARVICK:  I think it’s definitely going to be one big pack, and you’re going to have    it’s going to be    it’s Talladega but narrower.  That’s really what it is.  It’s going to be the big pack and you’re going to have the guys that don’t want to race hanging out in the back and then trying to make time at the end.

            But the thing that doesn’t work quite as well here is the two car breakaway.  It seems to not be as effective as it is at the Talladega.

            So it’s going to be exciting.  You have all that.  On top of it you have just the first race anticipation and everybody is jacked up.  And everybody brings their fastest cars, and this year everybody is going to bring their best stuff and their shiniest stuff and you’re going to come to a new racetrack, and everybody is aggressive.

            And it’s going to be    could be one of the best races you’ve ever seen here in a long time, just the fact that nobody is going to get away unless they intentionally want to get behind, and that’s the only way you’re going to get away from the pack.  So it’ll be fun.

              Q.  NASCAR is supposedly going to change the points schedule next week and announce that.  First of all, do you think there needed to be a change in the points system?  And do you like what you’re hearing about what they’re going to do?            

KEVIN HARVICK:  Yeah, I have not    I only read and hear what I see from you guys on the points thing.

            For me, and this is just putting it into perspective, as you look at I got done with the season last year, and I got a text from Joe Girardi, he says, Hey, man, great year, good job; I don’t understand how you can have the best year and not win.  I don’t understand your points system.

            And for me, I think if you look at the new point system, I think it’s easy to understand.  And those are the people that need to understand it are the people who aren’t here every week, live it, breathe it, and really understand how the sport works.  It’s the casual fan that we need to recapture and make it exciting and easily understandable.

            So however that point system works out, I want it to be easy to understand for those types of people.

            That just caught my attention as the season ended there.              

Q.  (No microphone.)             KEVIN HARVICK:  Losing is never good, but, you know, I think as you look at what I think is proposed, I think it’s easily understandable.  But you don’t ever want to lose.

              Q.  What was your reply to Joe Girardi?            

KEVIN HARVICK:  You know, at that particular time, it was the same day that the season ended, so I didn’t really    honestly, I couldn’t even tell you what I replied.              

Q.  What do you expect out of KHI this year, and are you comfortable that you’re at the level you want to be at with the organization?            

KEVIN HARVICK:  I feel really good about our Nationwide cars.  Bringing Elliott in is going to give us our first good shot to race for a driver’s championship.  We’ve been competitive for the last couple years and racing for wins and building it to that point, but we’ve never had that experience behind the wheel.  We took Ernie Cope and the old 33 team and put them with Elliott, so you have a really experienced team to race for a championship, and that’s really what it’s all about.

            You know, as far as the 33 team we brought David Hyder in with a lot of experience, and then you have myself and Clint and Paul and Austin behind the wheel at a lot of the races.  So you still have that same experience on that team.  So as far as the Nationwide program, I feel very good about where it’s at.             Short program was a total disaster.  I know we won seven races between the teams last year, but, in my opinion, that’s just not good enough.  And it was just a wreck.

            Ron struggled, not because Ron struggled, Ron struggled because the trucks just got into total disarray as the year progressed at the end of the year.  I feel good about the direction that it’s gone over the winter bringing in Jeff Hensley and Chris Carrier, promoting a car chief from the 33 car to the 2 truck, is    it feels good in the shop.  You never know until you get to the racetrack, and right now we’re just trying to get everything back organized and correct, and I think when they unload at Daytona they’ll be ready to go, when they unload at Phoenix they’ll be ready to go.

            It’s just they’re a little bit further behind because we just had to revamp the program.  There was just too many people, too much change inside the organization last year as far as people go to get Ron where he needed to be, and I feel like he and Jeff are comfortable with each other.  They’ve had a good test last week at Orlando.

            And I feel like that’s where it needs to be.  As far as the winter goes, we added Nelson Piquet to come in.  He was up to speed last week right off the bat last week.             So everything has been good.  The truck program is a lot of work over the winter.  It’s always a lot of work on the sponsorship side just to keep them on the track.  But it just feels a lot better than it did halfway through the season, and looking at the wind tunnel numbers and all the things that go with that, it’s just    there was nothing there to support what Ron needed to race for a championship.

            And I feel like over the winter we’ve put all those things back into place and should be good.  There’s a lot of experience down there, and that’s what you need in truck racing.              

Q.  Just personal dealings, is there a favorite memory that comes to the surface when it comes to dealing with Dale Earnhardt on or off the track as far as that goes?            

KEVIN HARVICK:  Probably one of my favorites was just the first time that we went and tested his car in Homestead.  It wasn’t the first time, but it was the first time we got in trouble for testing his car.  But we went to Homestead in    I guess it was 2000, right at the end of the year, and we went down and tested and we ran really fast.  And we got to Phoenix the next week and he was irate because we had gone and tested his car and nobody told him, so he had    he drug myself and Kevin Hamlin and Richard, and I don’t know why Dale Jr. just happened to be in the trailer that day, but he was really pissed that nobody asked him to go.  And Hamlin, I’m sure    you guys all have talked to him, you know how he talks, in this kind of smart aleck way    he says, Well, every time I ask you, you just don’t want to go.

            So we went anyway and ran faster than anybody else, and he was mad because everybody was asking him when he was going to retire and why people were testing his car and why he wasn’t putting an effort in.  So he was mad that day.

              Q.  Helton and Pemberton are coming in in about a half hour.  We assume they’re going to talk to us about the points as far as drivers declaring which points they’re going to go for.

            KEVIN HARVICK:  Oh, okay, those points.              

Q.  Yes, those points.  (Laughter.)  Obviously you’ve seen your license application, you know the rule what do you think of it and what does it do as far as the chances of Sadler winning the title?

            KEVIN HARVICK:  I think as far as Elliott running for a championship, I think that’s why we’re so excited about what Elliott brings to the table.  I feel like he could race for a championship either way just with the experience that he has and the experience of the team.  You just don’t go win races in the Cup Series, whether it was six, seven years ago, last week.  You don’t win those races and not know how to win at that level.

            So he knows how to win.  He’s won    he won a truck race last year.  He ran well in the one Nationwide race that he ran, and we expect to go out and be competitive.  I think anything less than him being competitive for the Nationwide championship will be a disappointment.

              Q.  (No microphone.)            

KEVIN HARVICK:  I don’t know what rule you’re talking about.  I didn’t read my form.  I just signed it.  Every time I’d look at it, it’s already all filled out.  If it was on there, I’m assuming somebody must have done that.  Am I supposed to read that stuff?  I just sign it and figure I’m going to have to sign it anyway if I want to race.            

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FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES                    

Daytona Preseason Thunder, Page 5   

January 21, 2011            

Daytona International Speedway  

Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley/Dewalt Ford Fusion, spoke Friday at the 2011 Daytona Preseason Thunder about his return to Ford Racing after a long history with the manufacturer, what it is like to drive for The King and his relationship with teammate AJ Allmendinger.

  MARCOS AMBROSE, driver, No. 9 Stanley/Dewalt Ford Fusion – YOU HAVE A LONG HISTORY WITH FORD, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE BACK?  “It feels like it has come full circle for me. I started my professional racing career with Ford Australia and now here I am in the heart of my NASCAR career and come straight back to the Ford family. It feels great and I am looking forward to this year and looking forward to building on the relationships that I had in the past.” 

WHAT KIND OF GOALS OR EXPECTATIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR 2011?  “We need to win, no doubt about it. We expect to win. We have a company behind us with Stanley and Dewalt that want to win races and it is what we are here to do. If we can win races and be consistent then you never know what is possible.” 

YOU HAVE A HUGE FOLLOWING IN YOUR NATIVE AUSTRALIA AND THOSE FOLKS HAVE BECOME BIG FORD FANS HAVEN’T THEY?  “Yeah and it keeps growing. Ford, in Australia, is one of the big two manufacturers and a lot of my fans there are very loyal Ford fans. I think they are going to really kick up in 2011 trying to make this year as good as we can. Obviously on track success will help things a lot. It is great to have Australian fans checking out NASCAR and more importantly being Ford fans. 

WHAT IT IS GOING TO BE LIKE FOR YOU DRIVING FOR THE KING, RICHARD PETTY?  “Well, it is a little intimidating. Not only now will he say ‘Good-day, how is it going?’ but he will also want to know why I didn’t win the race. There is a lot of prestige being associated with Richard Petty Motorsports and it is a real honor for me to drive for The King and I never thought I would get that chance. I am looking forward to the opportunity and hopefully he is going to be proud of me, just like I am of his company.” 

WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS SO FAR OF THIS NEW SURFACE AT DAYTONA?  “It is a really racy surface. I think we will have some of the best racing you have ever seen at Daytona. There is a lot of grip and drivers are going to get really confident. The drafting packs are going to be really tight and I am looking forward to it. I think it is going to be three or maybe even four-wide out there. This place is narrow and steep so I am sure there will be lots of action. 

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CREW CHIEF TODD PARROTT?  “We are learning each other and it is all new. Through time and working with each other it will garner a respect for each other. I am learning my team and learning Todd. I am really proud to be associated with this bunch. They are a great group of people. Todd has won a Cup championship and Daytona 500 rings so I have a lot of respect for him. I am looking forward to blending into this group as best I can and letting them really make the most of me. I have a lot to learn and I am sure Todd is going to take me to the next level so I am excited about it. 

HOW ABOUT WORKING WITH NEW TEAMMATE AJ ALLMENDINGER? WHAT IS THAT DYNAMIC LIKE?  “He is trying to talk Australian and make Australian jokes (laughter). He and I get on great. We have known each other for a few years now and it is going to be fun to have him as a teammate and hopefully we will work well together both on and off the racetrack to make Richard Petty Motorsports as good as it can be.”  

THE TWO OF YOU HAVE QUITE A COMBINED ROAD RACING BACKGROUND. HOW DO YOU THINK THAT WILL HELP YOU GUYS OUT?  “I think that both of us really want to just be known as NASCAR contenders. I know AJ had a really good second half last year and has momentum. I am trying to catch up to him as quickly as I can. We just want to be known as contenders every week. We want to be known not just as road race specialists, but NASCAR drivers in general.”

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Daytona Test Notes & Quotes — Joey Logano Daytona International Speedway — January 21, 2011

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Are you confident that you have a chance to win the Daytona 500? “It’s going to be a big deal to win a race here. I feel like our team is where it needs to be to be able to do it. Me and Greg (Zipadelli, crew chief) are working good together. The guys at the shop are bringing new pieces to the race track that keep getting better all the time. We showed that at the end of last year. As long as we carry that momentum over, keep the communication going with me and Zip good — Daytona is always a crap shoot. You never know what can happen here. I think it’s even more of a crap shoot now since they repaved it than it used to be. We’ll see what happens there and then head to some of the short tracks and mile-and-a-halves and really see.”

What was behind the surge you had at the end of last year? “I think it is a lot of things. I think the biggest thing is me and Zip (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) started getting along really good and we started really understanding each other and what kind of makes each other go. I think that was kind of the big thing and then once you kind of get that momentum going you get all of that confidence. That’s the biggest thing. You start to unload and if you have a bad car to unload, we used to be junk the whole weekend. We were to the point that we can get our car better and even if the race starts and we’re not good we’re able to get our car better and get a good finish at the end of the day. That’s what we’ve got to do all of the time. We’ve got to do that all year. That’s how you make the Chase. Every one of these guys that make the Chase every year are doing that. I feel good that we were able to do that at the end of the season. We’ve just got to do that all of the time.”

How much different do other driver’s race you than when you first got into the series? “It’s changing, and I think it changed more towards the end of the season than ever. You’ve got to be up there running with them every week to get that respect from them. I think if you’re up there one out of every three or four weeks they don’t really care. You’ve got to be up there all of the time to get that respect back and forth. It’s pretty typical. You race harder for a 20th place finish than you do a fifth place finish because everyone back there is fighting and they’re all mad. It’s frustrating back there, and plus you’ve got all of the dirty air and all of that. It’s a mess. When can start to get up front you start to get that clean air, there’s a lot more give and take up there. That’s easier said than done getting there.”

Have the incidents that you had with other driver’s last year helped you grow? “I think everyone has gone through it. I don’t think you can talk to one race car driver in this whole garage that says he’s never been in some kind of scuffle with anybody. I think they’d be lying if they said that. That’s part of it. Last year I felt like I got pushed around a little bit too much and I started pushing back a little bit, and I think that’s what you’ve got to do to earn that respect. When I first started I was a rookie, I came in and it’s hard to push back. Now it’s to the point that, okay I’ve been here long enough. I feel like I’m considered one of the guys — if you want to say that. There’s no reason to take that stuff anymore. You’ve got to stand up for yourself.”

Is that respect something as a young guy you have to take from them or do they gradually give it to you? “I don’t think you want to come in here like a bull in the china closet hitting everything. You don’t want to do that. You’ve got to be respectful towards them. They are not going to give you respect until you show them respect. It’s not the other way around. It’s not like they’re going to give you respect before you give them respect. It just doesn’t work that way. That takes time to earn that from all of these guys. Those are some of the struggles I think anyone is going to have to go through coming into the series.”

Do you feel like you have to make the Chase this year after your finish last season? “I think we are definitely coming in here with a lot of confidence and the feeling that we can do it for sure. We definitely want to do it. Like I said earlier, there’s no reason why we can’t do it. I feel like I’ve got the guys behind me, I’ve got the cars behind me so as long as I don’t make any mistakes and as a team we don’t make any mistakes we should be able to do it. We’ve just got to do what we did the last 10-12 races at the end of the year last year. If we do that, it will be easy, but we’ve got to be able to do that throughout the whole season. That’s where we struggled last year. We took off good and then through the summer months we shot ourselves in the foot.”

Does the confidence you have built come with any pressure? “I think confidence takes the pressure off of you, actually. I think it’s because you know you can do it.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) What felt different to you about the last 10 or 12 races of 2010? “Like I said earlier, it’s a bunch of little things. It’s the communication between all of the guys and the confidence. I was starting to feel like I am on the Nationwide side over there. You know what you want, you know what’s going on more, there’s not as many questions that you have and you start to figure this whole thing out. That’s the big difference. Over there in Nationwide, I know exactly what I want all of the time and for the most part I was a lot different person when I first started over here than I was on the Nationwide side. Now, I’m about the same driver on both sides so I think that’s what you’ve got to have.”

How many Nationwide Series races will you run this year? “I think I’ve got 22 races scheduled right now and I could do up to 27. I’ve got five races that I’ve still got to sell.”

How long did it take before you felt like the Home Depot sponsorship and colors on the car were yours? “It’s funny you bring that up, I was talking about that last night with my buddy (Joey) Civali — he does all of my stuff. We were sitting there talking about it and probably towards the end of last year. It’s cool because you feel like all of the guys are behind you. You feel like it’s your team. I went through the same thing on the Nationwide side. You’ve got the 20 car winning all of the races and then I jumped in there. You’ve got Denny (Hamlin) driving it, Smoke (Tony Stewart) was driving it — all of those guys were driving the thing. Now I feel like that’s my team over here. I am to that point over here now. I think it took me a year and a half to feel that way before it actually did that.”

Which one of your teammates drives most like you? “I think it depends where we are at. We’re similar at different places than others. I think of Denny (Hamlin) and he’s definitely always got his corners backed up. He’s always a little bit slower in the corner. I think I drive a little bit more like Kyle (Busch) than I do like Denny, but some places it’s the other way around. That’s why I’m always going from one trailer to the next talking to them. Just to see what they’re doing. It’s something to try or what guys are doing to their cars and stuff like that. I think everyone in this garage has a different driving style one way or another. I feel like I’m probably a little bit closer to Kyle’s driving style, but some places it’s the other way around.”

Is this the first year where you expect to make the Chase? “Yes, for sure. Last year, I didn’t feel like we were ready to make the Chase. We weren’t — or I wasn’t good enough for it probably. The year started and we were rocking in the beginning and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we can do this. I’ll be good. We’ll make the Chase. We can do it.’ And then the summer months came and we shot ourselves in the foot. But, this year I feel like there is no reason why we can’t do it. We ended strong last year so that gives a ton of confidence. I always used to listen to everyone saying ending the year strong was a big deal. I never really understood it and I understand it now. It’s a big deal.”

Did you move out of your parent’s house and get your own house? “I’m loving it. It’s awesome. You’d be surprised at how much money I spend at The Home Depot. Man, I’m there painting. I was puttying holes the other day. We do it all there. It’s been fun, though. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve got my own house now and just having a good time with it. It’s an empty house. I don’t have nothing. I moved over there with one pick-up truck full of my clothes. I threw an air mattress on the ground and off I went. But, I’ve got a bed now so that’s good. We’re getting there slowly but surely. It’s been fun, though. It’s a cool adventure. I’m enjoying. We’ve got all of the TV’s working so that was one of the priorities. We’ve got the TV’s going, we just have to sit on the ground to watch the TV’s. No, I’ve got a couch in there now. It’s coming along. The simulators are in there — that was another priority we got done. It’s like a little bachelor pad in there. Me and Coleman Pressley live together. The iRacing is basically on until about 1 o’clock in the morning — every night we’re racing on those things.”

Where is your house? “It’s in Huntersville. Coleman (Pressley) has got one room in there. We’re rooming together I guess. It’s my house. I don’t want to be home alone. I’m the type of guy that’s always got to have someone around me. I get bored easily. I’ve got to have someone to talk to or something to do. It’s good and I’m gone the weekends so someone is taking care of the house and stuff like that. It all kind of works out.”

Are there a lot of women in and out of the bachelor pad? “No. I’ve got a girlfriend and he’s (Coleman Pressley) got a girlfriend. So there’s only one and he’s got one, so there’s actually only two. It’s not the typical bachelor pad because I’m pretty reserved. The good thing is that he is too so it works out alright.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Do you think you can jump out this season and win three or four races? “You never know. I think you’ve got to go to the race track every weekend thinking you can do it. Thinking you can win. I think we can go out there and win a couple races and see how that goes. You’ve got to go one week at a time. I can’t sit here and say I’m going to win five races this year. You never know. This is hard. It’s hard to do. I just think I’ve got to go out there expecting I can win every week and see what happens.”

What was the reason that your team slowed down during the summer months last season? “Probably 60 to 70 percent me. I think a lot of it was just me learning. It takes some time, but I feel like I’m there now. In the summer months a lot of the race tracks that I’ve struggled at before so that was one problem. Maybe we’d have a bad pit stop that week and pushed you back to the back. Atlanta — we blew up there. We got in wrecks a lot through the summer. That takes you out of the points battle quicker than you’d ever think. Those are the things that cost us. Those are the things that we’re working on.”

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Daytona Test Notes & Quotes – Greg Zipadelli Daytona International Speedway – January 21, 2011

GREG ZIPADELLI, crew chief, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Are you bringing momentum from 2010 into this season? “I hoped that we would pick up somewhere that we left off the last 15 or so races. We’re continually making progress. So far down here at Daytona, I feel like our car had speed, it was pretty good and we made gains all day. It doesn’t mean a whole lot right now. Encouraged by all the work that everybody has done back at the shop. We were kind of hoping to get in some drafting practice today just to see how our car ran there. As a corporation we’re working hard, working together and trying to get all three cars in the Chase next year. I don’t know if you guys know, but I’m not really sure what it’s going to take to get in the Chase and I’m not sure that we know that. We’re looking forward to this year. I feel like we ended the season pretty good. I think we learned a lot and most importantly we all built some confidence in each other that we are capable of running top-10, top-five every week and now we just need to take that next step. Get in the top-five, leading laps and figure out how to lose a couple races so we can figure out how to win some. You know how that goes. That will come in time. I think Joey’s (Logano) pretty excited about the year. I think he’s built a lot of confidence in himself that he can do this. He figured a lot of things out towards the end of the year. Honestly, I don’t think we’re anywhere near close to where we could be. That’s encouraging and that’s the exciting part for myself and my guys is I don’t feel like we’re really close to being as good as we’re going to be. I think we’re 50 or 60 percent there. That part’s encouraging to all of us. We’re looking forward to it.”

Is confidence the biggest difference you saw in Joey Logano last season? “Confidence and experience, they kind of go hand in hand for him (Joey Logano). He’s going back to these places a second, third, fourth time. First couple times, it was just figuring it out and trying to stay out of trouble and trying to run the whole day. Now it’s progressing, the pressure is on him to try to go out and run in the top-10 and he’s been able to do that a bunch more the second half of the year. I think they kind of have helped each other, they work hand in hand.”

Do you remember the talks you had with Joey Logano to help him turn things around? “Yeah, we’ve always had those at times. That’s where it will stay, we’re not going to get into that. Him (Joey Logano) and I needed to work closer together. I needed to change a little bit in what I was doing and how I was dealing with him because he was not the person that I had dealt with for 10 years prior to that and the same for him. I don’t think he quite understood, bringing him in at such a young age and so little experience, I don’t think he knew the responsibility that as a driver over here, you have. It’s not just show up — its show up, do your job, understand what it is and how to do it and give good feedback. We did mid- season have some opportunities to spend some time together and trying to do more of that as people spending time together. It’s been fun. It certainly helped us and he’s responded well to his responsibilities here the second half of last year here.”

How have Joey Logano’s actions with other drivers helped him establish his place in the garage? “I think it’s all back to confidence. That’s all a little bit of confidence and it’s all part of it. It’s all him (Joey Logano) earning his spot. Let’s face it, he came in here at 19 years old and he got put in a car, arguably one of the best drivers the sport has seen. He had huge shoes to fill in a lot of ways. From Tony’s (Stewart) performance on the race track to his spirit off the race track. There was a lot of different things that he got thrown to the wolves. I think it took him the first year just to get through that and see who he was going to be here. I remember Texas the first year and media was asking and he wasn’t going to be in the car and who’s going to be in it and that kid was just crushed at that point that that could possibly happen to him. I think we got through all that stuff at the end of the first year and was able to put that behind us and make some gains last year and him kind of make his mark or scratch off his territory and let a lot of these people know that he is here. You can’t go out and do some of the incidents until you do what he did. Pocono, he ran top-five all day, he earned it, he raced well all day and somebody took it away. Hats off to him, he should be mad. If he wasn’t mad, I would have a bigger problem with finishing like we did. The Ryan Newman incident — that was a racing deal. That’s not the only time that’s going to happen. We’ve talked about it, aired it out, he’s not going to run off. That’s all part of growing up, it’s all part of taking the responsibility for your actions in the car and the people around you and learning how to race each individual differently, each race track differently. That goes back to confidence, but most importantly it goes back to experience. You’re going back to some of these places, you’re racing these guys. The better we run, the better he runs, the harder it is for him because he’s racing people. Nobody wants to give up a top-five, you have to race them. Certainly so, you shouldn’t. You’re racing for top-fives in order to make the Chase. You have to have that consistency factor. I think he’s done a good job of learning those things, but like I said earlier, I don’t think we’re to where we should be, can be or I think we will be.”

GREG ZIPADELLI, crew chief, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) How has Joey Logano fit in with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing? “They’ve all got different personalities. They all kind of do their own thing, but when they need each other, they can lean on each other. They all do well in our meetings together explaining what they’re doing. As far as that goes, I think we’ve got a great mix of drivers and personalities. There’s competition, but every one of them has a different role because of their personalities and things. As far as that goes, that’s been really good and just has happened. Joe (Gibbs, team owner) and J.D. (Gibbs, team president) have done a good job with trying to keep the communication open amongst those drivers and encourage them to lean on each other to kind of figure out what each one is doing differently. That certainly helps us.”

How much of a difference will the new nose make? “Obviously, it’s a little bit of an aero change, not significant. I think the biggest thing is us figuring out when we get to California and Vegas and places like that, the aero trends that we see from the wind tunnel and our studies, are they real?

How sensitive is it? Is it going to make it better in traffic? Is it going to make it worse? I think those are the things that we don’t know now. I said yesterday, I wish we were at a place like Vegas or California or had that opportunity to go and work on that. Just because I’m kind of curious just to see what it is. I think it’s better. My heart tells me it’s better. It certainly looks better. It looks more efficient, it is more efficient. To me, that leads to everything being better. Are we going to see a big, huge change in the racing? I don’t know. We won’t know until we get 43 of them and we drop the green flag and everybody is in a big group to see how they really talk about their cars. I don’t think it’s going to be a monumental change, but I do believe it’s in the right direction.”

What were your thoughts of the Toyotas in the two-car drafts yesterday? “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t pay much attention to it. We did all single-car run stuff yesterday. We had a pretty big list of stuff that I wanted to get through. I was happy with our Toyota and our speed off the truck, which was very respectable. Hopefully we can get on the race track today and kind of see where we stack up in drafting practice and pushing and things of that nature. I heard a lot of chatter on the radio, but honestly I did not watch or see any of them pushing each other. Was it just the Toyotas that did it? It looked like a lot of GM camps never even went.”

Will the two-car push still work at Daytona? “I think it will. I don’t know that it will be as good as it is at Talladega. When you’re racing in a group and there’s more cars around, I think the turning radius here is a little different. I think it will make it a little easier to get people in trouble than it is at Talladega. That will be yet to be seen. Maybe this afternoon we will be able to get a big group of people out there and really kind of see what we have here.”

Were teams not drafting yesterday in order to protect their race cars? “I agree. We talked about it and I didn’t want to be in there early. This is my 500 car and when we planned and put the schedule out, it wasn’t necessarily going to be, but as it turned out, it seems to be my best car right now. I certainly don’t want to take a chance of wrecking a car. It doesn’t give us time to go home. If you tear it up a little bit, a quarter panel is one thing, but it’s so easy just to destroy a car, throw it out and go home and have to build a new one. Not that we couldn’t do it in the next couple weeks, but it would certainly take away from our downforce and our other things that we’re working hard on for Phoenix and Vegas races, California that are coming up here. That’s important that we keep everybody at home on track.”

Do you feel like this team has to make the Chase this year? “I think we do. Honestly. Us and 25 other guys out here too. Our sponsor has been very patient with us as far as growing and they jumped on board with this and starting this program over. Joe (Gibbs) and J.D. (Gibbs) have been, but I think honestly, it’s not been said, but I think we all feel exactly that sentiment that we need to make the Chase. We need to learn, we need to get there and then we need to learn what it is and what it’s about. It’s something he’s (Joey Logano) never experienced. This is a whole new deal again. What I do like about him is he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes so I think when he figures out his own like he did the second half of last year, that’s what’s going to make him a good racer on the week to week basis. If you look back the first year, he didn’t tear nearly the amount of stuff up that a lot of people do. He’ll run to his comfort zone and when he figures it out, he’ll take the next step and when he figures it out, he’ll take that next step. When the points system is like it is and it’s about consistency and you go back and look at who’s the best at that — Matt Kenseth. He kind of reminds me of that a little bit with a little more fire. He’s very smart, very aware of what’s going on, where he is, what he needs to do and I think all that is going to get better with time.”

Where does the dirty air start? “I think it just progressively gets worse. If you run in the top-five or you run first, second or third and you see it at California, you see the first three guys, they just take off. All of the sudden on the next pit stop, somebody else will be there and it’s like, he fixed his car. No, he put it where he needed to be. Then I think you get fifth to 10th and it gets a little worse and then from that point back it gets pretty bad. I think each race track is a little different too.”

GREG ZIPADELLI, crew chief, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Do you think Joey Logano is better equipped with confidence now to get through the year? “Obviously you go back and look and hope that the two years that he’s had with all of those ups and downs and the emotional roller coaster will make him (Joey Logano) stronger for the future. I think from dealing with him and some of our talks and conversations and things of that nature, he has matured and has much thicker skin than he did two years ago. I think that’s all part of it and it’s all that maturing process. There’s obviously room to grow, but he’s very mature for his age.”

How long did it take Joey Logano to consider this his crew and his car? “I think the first year he (Joey Logano) certainly battled that. I think last year as the year went, he earned that. I think he earned that through the garage and he’s certainly, by what he did last year, his attitude and his efforts, I think the second half of the year, he did it with our guys. He did it with our people in the shop. You could just see the shift in momentum and attitudes and spirit towards us. Those things take time. Just because we had a good second half of the year doesn’t mean, everybody knows how tough this sport is and we have to work at it. It’s not going to just happen. Everybody else around you is working to be better. We have to continue to do that. Like I said, the good news is that we probably have more room to grow than the guys to the left of us and the guys to the right of us here just because we’re still new at it.”

Does the new fuel can worry you at all? “I think their going to mix up a few things. How much fuel did you get in it? Are you full? Are you not? How much did you spill? There’s definitely a little bit of worries there. As a team we’ve worked and still are working very hard to try to answer some of those questions. We have done more pit stops and live pit stops with fuel at the shop and things of that nature with the guys than we’ve ever done in our life just to be sure that we’re not one of the ones that have the problem. I think that if you go back and you look at when they changed the stud rule, there was a lot of loose wheels if you look back a year or so ago. It took a little bit of time, but it took care of itself and I think you’ll see some of this with the fuel mileage. You’ll see that it’s going to be a little bit harder to predict and make sure that your numbers are where you think you’re at. There was a couple of checks before. You had a catch can, you had a guy that saw the fuel, you had the catch can that you could weigh and dump the fuel out and see what was there. There’s a lot of those little things that we’re going to have to work through the first eight, 10, 15 races.”

Does the car get fueled at the same speed? “No, it appears to be a little bit slower right now. We’ve made some gains with just a lot of practice and things. Right now, it’s still a little bit slower than what we were last year. Somewhere between a half a second depending on who you’ve got doing it. The other thing is that your tire carrier or your fuel guy, depending on what it is, is now going to have to make the adjustments that our catch can guy did. You can say we’re a second slower because he had to do a track bar and a wedge change. But it’s only a half a second if we’re not making changes and we’re just doing air pressure. I think we’re trying to work through a little bit of that right now and refine that to try to give us the best opportunity for solid pit stops every time. Honestly, there’s just been tons and tons of stops, doing things different, each person trying to do things. I think it depends on the people that you have on your team. For us, it may be really good because we’ve got a tall rear tire carrier, for him to make the adjustment. For other teams, that may not be the case, they may elect to do something different with their people so it may change how they do things. I don’t know that it’s going to be like it was last year or more of a blueprint of that this is the best way to do it and the fastest, most efficient way to do it. I think this year it will be how your group and the group of people that you have and how they’re able to adapt to things.”

Will the speed of stops matter with everyone in similar circumstances? “You still want to be faster than the people you’re racing. I think it’s almost more important now. You’ve got an opportunity to gain or lose. I think that there’s — without the extra guy and rolling the tires and some of the things that we’re all trying to carry the tires — both to the front or all these other things. I believe there’s a little more potential for disaster on every stop than there was. The team that does a good, solid job of not making mistakes, making sure that the details are detailed will certainly start out the year and everybody else will progress six, eight, 10 races into it.”