NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

AMP ENERGY JUICE 500

TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES                                                

October 30, 2010

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET – POLE WINNER: ON HIS LAP: “This Target Chevy is pretty good. We always run really good here. We always have good race cars. Right now get ourselves a good pit stall for the race and then see what happens. We’ll be ok. Talladega is more about how the car is going to be in the draft and everything. We came with the same thing we had here in the spring, we ran really well. Both cars (No. 1 Jamie McMurray) ran really well. It is what it is.”

DESCRIBE WHAT A LAP LIKE THAT FEELS LIKE FOR YOU: “Oh, it takes forever, believe me. This place is the draft, there is nothing like it. This place by itself, there is nothing like it either but on the other end.”

DURING PRACTICE YESTERDAY, THERE WAS A LOT OF BEATING AND BANGING ALREADY: “I did two laps yesterday so I wasn’t part of the beating and banging yet, leaving that for the end of the race.”

YOUR THOUGHTS OR A STORY ABOUT JIM HUNTER: “Everything about him was always fun. It was always fun to be around him. He was a great guy. He was a great golf partner. We played a lot of golf together. We shared a lot of moments together. He was fun and it has been really hard for us.  He moved to a better place.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 BB&T CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND: ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP: “Close but no cigar. But a good qualifying run helps with a lot of things, ego, just everything. The guys work hard to make sure they are fast on qualifying day and build the fastest thing possible. They come close to it.  There is just not a whole lot to look forward to on qualifying day and when you are that close (to the pole) then you are really frustrated. But hats off to the guys, Shane (Wilson, crew chief) and the guys back home. This is his baby, he’s worked hard on the BB & T Chevrolet. Scott (Miller, interim crew chief and director of competition at RCR) and everybody did a great job. ECR, that is ECR right there. That is the front row so far. We just didn’t have enough tape on it. It is too cool out and I think with just a little more tape, we probably could have beat that.”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CAT FINANCIAL CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH : THE ECR ENGINES LOOK PRETTY GOOD OUT THERE TODAY: “Oh yea, those guys have worked exceptionally hard and have taken our plate program a long way. They have done a really good job. Everybody at RCR and ECR, everybody is just working hard. It is good to see results.”

ON THE PASSING OF JIM HUNTER: “It is a sad day today losing Hunter last night. Hunter was a great man. He was really good for our sport. It was a good day for us but a sad day for his family and for our sport.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 THE LEGEND OF HALLOWDEGA AMP ENERGY JUICE/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 6TH

NICE LAP; YOU’VE GOT TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT

“Yeah, I’m pretty happy. We didn’t make a run yesterday so we didn’t know what we was going to do. The car’s got a lot of good speed in it. Yesterday I was pretty happy with it in practice and race trim so we were pretty pleased with that qualifying run.”

SO YOU HAVE A GOOD CAR FOR SUNDAY?

“I do. We were happy in practice and the car is really pro-active and should be a fun race.

JIM HUNTER SAID ‘DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT’

“Yeah, sad news about Jim Hunter. We’re definitely going to miss him. He was one of the good ones. He took care of me and was always great to me.”

RICK HENDRICK SAID YOU WERE ON YOUR TOES AND FEELING GOOD AND HAD A LOT OF CONFIDENCE COMING IN HERE AND EVERYBODY THOUGHT YOU COULD WIN. WAS HE JUST SAYING NICE THINGS?

“I think he’s just being nice. I always like coming here and it’s a fun track. We’ve got a pretty good car. We normally bring a good one here. We had a couple of chances of being in the mix there in the last few and just had some things happen and hopefully we’ll have a good opportunity to make it right this time. The car ran a good qualifying lap and has good speed.”

AFTER A GOOD RUN AT MARTINSVILLE DO YOU HAVE HOPE THAT YOU CAN END THIS SEASON WITH GOOD STRENGTH?

“Yeah, we ran good at Texas the last time we were there We drove up and led some laps in that race. Phoenix is something we need to work on but we tested at Homestead with Goodyear and hopefully that will help me get there and do a little bit better. We had a good car there last year until I drove it in the fence about three times. It could end on some good notes here.”

YOU MUST HAVE MET JIM HUNTER A LONG, LONG TIME AGO

“Yeah, I can’t remember the first time I met him. I was little. But one thing I remember about Jim is that every time I went to New York for the banquets I was always like a fish out of water. I would go to those dinners with him and (Mike) Helton and whoever else and he was always the one who would talk to me. I didn’t really know anybody else at the table. There were people that I couldn’t speak their language and he would sit there and we’d just talk and he’d make the night go by and get those boring old dinners out of the way. But every time you saw him he was happy to see you and he was one of the good guys. It’s a general statement but there’s a lot of toughness and ruthlessness and he was one of the genuine and good people that looked out for everybody and always did what he could for you. I just really appreciated knowing him.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW HUNTER WAS QUITE A STORYTELLER?

“Oh, that was the thing about it. We would always sit down and he would talk about Talladega or some of the experiences he had here when he was working and just his path through the sport was quite unique and one for the books and I’m sure they’ll be a book on it one day.”

HOW FUN WAS YOUR CAMEO APPEARANCE IN THE LEGEND OF HALLODEGA?

‘It was fun. AMP Energy Juice put a lot into that and I applaud them for their efforts in trying to make something unique. And it’s definitely unique and hopefully everybody enjoys it for what it is. It was pretty surprising to be able to be in the middle of something like that and they do some pretty creative packages and promotions and I think it’s good for the sport. It’s something unique and different and I think it should be appreciated.”

YOU’VE SEEN THE WHOLE THING. IS IT FUNNY? IS IT SCARY?

“It’s not scary. Well, I don’t think it is. It pokes fun at the history and the truth and the lies about this place.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 U.S. ARMY CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 8TH

ON YOUR LAP, IT WAS A GOOD ONE WASN’T IT?

“Well it was good for a while. I don’t know where we’re at now. I didn’t know what to expect. I just went out there and do my thing and hit all my marks and do what the crew chief tells me and see how fast the car is. This is really his play place up to the point of race day as far as getting the car fast and making sure it’s drivable and all that stuff, and getting the vibrations out of it and getting it right on the splitter and drag-wise and horsepower that’s 99% of everything that goes on before the race itself in Sunday.”

ON PIT SELECTION, IS IT A BIG DEAL HERE?

“I don’t think it will be a whole lot. I think we’ll see a lot of green flag tops and I think you’ll see guys that are pitting when the boxes around them aren’t pitting so I don’t see it being huge like it was at Martinsville or it will be at Phoenix, but it definitely has its potential to mess you up but of all tracks left, this is probably going to be the least pit selection oriented.”

WHAT ABOUT DURING THE RACE ITSELF, DOING THE TWO-CAR BREAKAWAY EARLY MIGHT NOT HELP ANYBODY, BUT WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT?

“Do you think it might not keep you out of a crash that happens behind the guys trying to chase the two cars? I mean I don’t know, I’m just saying. It’s going to be a deciding part of the race, I don’t know so much of who, but when and how far they can push. We saw here in the spring last year when the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) was pushing me and the No. 09 and the No. 99 (Carl Edwards) were together and it was a tag-team event; almost like WWF where it was two guys going at it and it was. Two of us were down for the count and the other two guys finished the race.”

YOU’VE HAD A ROUGH COUPLE OF WEEKS. HAS IT BEEN HARD FOR YOU TO KEEP YOUR FOCUS?

“No. We had a really good car at Charlotte and I lost control of it and crashed it and at Martinsville when we lost that gear it was kind of a freak deal and we had a really fast car and led some laps and drove it to the front really.

“That’s something that hasn’t been one of our characteristics this year per se, so yeah, I’m disappointed but not in our performance, just in our finishes.”

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING BACK TO PHONEIX?

“Absolutely. The fact that it’s the race we won in the spring and we have a great short track program at Stewart-Haas and do what we can to help (Tony) Stewart get that championship.”

IS YOUR SHORT TRACK PROGRAM STRONG?

“It’s been our strength, numerically and performance-wise; short tracks are where we’ve been the most successful.”

NASCAR HAS ANNOUNCED GOING TO DAYTONA FOR JANUARY TESTING. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?

“I’m not a big fan of the testing but I understand the point of the testing and for Goodyear to get a good tire that’s not only good performance-wise, but good safety-wise for a brand new race track that’s probably going to be ripple-free and extremely full of grip. So I understand the point of the testing. Maybe three days is a little tight or a little tough but it’s all for the greater good. It’s a big race and we all need to start the season with a great show and not have what happened in the spring at Daytona happen again.”

ON THE PASSING OF JIM HUNTER

“Jim Hunter was a great guy; obviously a big fan of the sport and of the drivers and really understood the business and the racing part of it as well. He’ll definitely be missed. He’s not a guy that I went out to dinner with all the time but I could carry a conversation with him. I think anybody could any time you met him or saw him or whatever. Thinking about all the people who are going to miss him and we’ll definitely think about him this weekend and for a long time.”

WHY DO YOU THINK THAT JIM HUNTER COULD GO TALK TO DRIVERS IN THEIR MOTOR COACHES WHEN THEY WERE ANGRY AND BE THAT SORT OF A PRESENCE?

“He just had that calming personality and the way he could carry a speech or a conversation, you would listen to him. From our standpoint as drivers, it’s nice to be listened to once in a while.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 REALTREE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH: ON THE PASSING OF JIM HUNTER: “Well, my first year, I didn’t make too many friend. I think as we went through the first year and even into the second year, if it wasn’t for Jim Hunter, I probably would have run myself right out of the sport. He was kind of like the mediator between myself and NASCAR and he was somebody that I could relate to. I always felt like if there was anything wrong, I could go talk to Jim and usually when I did something wrong, he was the first one to tell me. He just had a good way of putting things to let you know that needed to go about it differently. If it wasn’t for him, there’s a good possibility I probably wouldn’t be where I am at today.”

ON HIS LAP:

“I am just really ecstatic actually. Didn’t really expect it to go that fast and they have just done a great job all year. To go as well as we did in qualifying there with all the things we do for race trim to make it pull up and do the things that I like it to do, it is just a great effort.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWES CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 19^TH:

ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP

WHAT’S YOUR APPROACH TO THE RACE TOMORROW, ARE YOU GOING TO LAY BACK AND WAIT FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT?

“I want to be up front at the end. That’s all that matters to me (laughs).

ON THE PASSING OF JIM HUNTER, WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF HIM?

“Just his perspective on things. I’d get caught up and wound up about things and he would always come in and pull me aside or call me on the phone about different issues that I found myself in and just put it in perspective. It wasn’t something that he needed to really work on because that’s the world he lived in and the way he looked at things. I just appreciated his command and his perspective of our sport and life and the way all this stuff works in the circus we call racing. He will be missed so badly and it’s just a very sad day. I got the news this morning and we’re going to miss him dearly.”

WHY WOULD HE BE LISTENED TO BY DRIVERS? WHY WAS HE ABLE TO GET INTO THEIR HEADS AND WHY DID THEY LISTEN TO HIM?

“Not everyone did. I know guys that didn’t understand his perspective and didn’t care to and really didn’t want to. It’s kind of unfortunate. In my eyes, I look back at the old timers in this sport and the fact that they have seen a lot has always meant something to me and helps me have the patience to sit and listen. And sometimes they might be a little dated and maybe what they’re thinking about doesn’t apply to what life is today, but someone like Hunter knew how to blend the two together. He had seen every hot shoe come in this sport and have success and watch them fail and everything in between, and when he said something to me I knew it was coming from a place of experience. And I chose to listen and had a lot of fun listening to him and certainly had a lot of fun playing golf with him. I’ve never seen a guy torture his friends on the golf course as much as Hunter did and it was an absolute blast.”

ON RACING HERE WITH JEFF GORDON, SOME PEOPLE HAVE SAID HE SHOULD BE MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH KURT (BUSCH) OR WITH YOU. IN GENERAL, DO YOU SEE HIM NOW AS YOU DID YEARS AGO?

“Jeff is just as hungry as I can ever recall seeing him being. I think that’s what leads to some of the frustrating moments and the conflict that takes place on the track. The guy is trying as hard as he can and with my experience there were a few things that I saw that I didn’t appreciate so then I pushed back. The deal with Kurt last weekend; I would assume there’s more pages in that book to come. I wouldn’t think it would end that easily or that quick or maybe they’ve talked and it is over. But Jeff is one of the best at applying pressure and filing things away and using it in the right way. We’ve watched him do the bump and run and win plenty of races and there have been times when he was wronged and he had to make it right and I think of the Martinsville race with Matt Kenseth, I don’t know how he took Matt out of position to win the race like he did when he had cars surrounding him and really not a clear shot, not even in the same lane as the No. 17 and pulled it off. So I think he’s one of the best at it.”

GOING BACK TO TEXAS, TALK MORE ABOUT HOW YOU AND JEFF GORDON BANGED AROUND ON EACH OTHER EARLIER THIS YEAR

“Yeah, it wasn’t really a product of that track. We spoke a lot following that race and are a lot closer from a teammate standpoint than we’ve ever been and I think conflict really helps teammates get closer. It’s interesting to see some of Jeff Burton’s comments based on what happened with (Kevin) Harvick last weekend. It really reminds me of a personal relationship. When you get to a tough point and you both have the nerve to sit down and talk out your issues, you come out of it so much stronger (whether it) takes place with your girlfriend, your wife, you teammates, your crew chief, whatever. I’ve been through it all in all fronts and after every bit of conflict I’ve had, I’ve come out stronger.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 26TH: ON HIS LAP: “They decided to give me full throttle this time, they thought I might be able to handle it (SMILES). This is a day that is not about the drivers. It is about the crew guys and the hard work those guys do at the shop. Proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing and proud of the Hendrick Engine Department. They have all have been working hard to make us better here. I think they have definitely done the spring, we are a lot better.”

HIS THOUGHTS ON THE PASSING OF JIM HUNTER AND WEARING A HAT IN HIS MEMORY: “This is for Jim Hunter. We lost him yesterday. Jim was a great friend of mine and at the same time was a guy that was really big in helping me understand why and how NASCAR worked and operated. He helped me through a lot of the tough times when I was struggling and fighting with NASCAR, he was the guy that came in and helped me see it from a different perspective. I lost a good friend but the whole sport lost a great mentor and somebody that has really been a behind-the-scenes guy but very much a big part of this sport being successful as it is.”

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 30TH: ON LAP: “i was surprised that it wasn’t faster because the car was so fast in race trim. Certainly no worries. It is going to be a fast race car on Sunday and that’s all you need.”

HIS THOUGHTS ON JIM HUNTER: “I just remember a lot. A guy who put his heart into this sport. A guy who was here before I got here and that I greatly respected.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 31^ST:

ON HIS LAP: “That is about what we expected from the National Guard/DuPont Chevrolet. We didn’t make any qualifying runs. We didn’t expect to qualify good. It doesn’t matter where you start in this race, we feel like we are going to have a good race car. We learned a lot. We just haven’t put a lot of effort recently into qualifying here because you can only do so much and we know we can race from anywhere in the field. We just focused on drafting yesterday and the two-car draft. Pushing and getting pushed and knowing what we are going to deal with in the race tomorrow.  The car felt good. Smooth. We ran about what we thought.”

ON THE PASSING OF JIM HUNTER:’

“We send our thoughts and prayers out to Jim’s family. I know you’re going to hear this alot today and in the future of just how much people respected Jim, what a quality person he was, and how passionate he was for our sport. He is dearly going to be missed by all of us and I’ve had a lot of great memories with Jim at the banquet over the years, at Darlington, and I’m sorry I never got a chance to play golf with Jim. But you know what? He’s just one of those types of people you’ll never be able to replace in this sport.”

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4th, Joe Nemechek 9th, Casey Mears 13th, Jeff Fuller 16th, Kasey Kahne 17th, Denny Hamlin 18th, Martin Truex Jr. 20th, Michael Waltrip 21st, David Reutimann 25th, Joey Logano 29th, Scott Speed 32nd, Kyle Busch 35th, Marcos Ambrose 42nd, Robby Gordon DNQ, Landon Cassill DNQ, Johnny Sauter

JOE NEMECHEK Starting Position:  4th How was your qualifying lap? “I think we did four qualifying runs and strictly worked on that.  I’m proud of the whole team.  We take a lot of pride in our speedway stuff and normally run really well when we come to the restrictor-plate tracks.  Our engines come from Triad – have to give those guys all the credit because what’s underneath that hood is mainly how fast you go.  John Dysinger (head engine builder, Triad Racing Technologies) and all those guys work really hard.  We’re going to run the whole race and hopefully we can be around at the end and we can make a difference.”

CASEY MEARS Starting Position:  9th

JEFF FULLER Starting Position:  13th

KASEY KAHNE Starting Position:  16th How did your can handle in qualifying? “It was good – it felt really good.  The car just felt like it cut through the air pretty good.  I was happy.  It was smooth and we will have a good starting spot for Sunday.  The car felt real good in the draft.  We had a little issue with a little shake or vibration, but I think we got that figured out and fixed in final practice.  Myself and Scott (Speed) were doing some drafting together just to make sure both of our cars were fixed as far as the vibrations went.  Mine was smooth and his was smooth so it should be a good day for Red Bull.”

DENNY HAMLIN Starting Position:  17th How was your qualifying lap? “It was good.  Everything was smooth.  That was one of the better qualifying efforts we’ve had at this race track thus far.  Pretty happy about what we’ve got.” What were your thoughts on the team meeting you had yesterday? “I think it was important that we get everyone together, especially to realize that Toyota has been a big part of NASCAR racing for the last 10 years.  Everyone has spent a lot of time, money and effort over the last 10 years trying to get to this point to where Toyota has an opportunity to win a championship.  It was important that everyone get on the same page as far as that’s concerned.  I think not just us, but everyone in the Toyota camp to ensure that we don’t do anything stupid and take each other out.” Do you feel like other Toyota teams are willing to help Joe Gibbs Racing with the championship? “I think so.  I think that was a big topic.  No matter what – we’re extended family.  If one of our teams – the 18 (Kyle Busch) or 11 can win a championship, it will benefit Michael Waltrip Racing and the financial parts.  Toyota has a plan to be in this sport for 100 years and so we’re just breaking the ice for hopefully what their potential is.  I definitely feel like I’ve had the support of the MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) guys and the Red Bull guys.  Everyone has raced me extremely clean and given me a lot these last few Chase races.  I think everyone gets the grand scheme of things.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR Starting Position:  18th Do you enjoy racing at Talladega? “You never know what to expect here.  Our car showed a lot more speed than we did here last time.  I was real happy with it yesterday in practice.  That was a good lap for us compared to where we were in Daytona and here in the spring – speed wise.”

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 Aaron’s 55th Anniversary Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Starting Position:  20th Are you pleased with your qualifying effort? “This was a great effort to get this car prepared.  We don’t run very often so to have a group of guys that can throw together a car that can qualify top-20 and be ready to go racing.  There’s no tricks – no belts or hoses off – just straight up ready to race.  I love Talladega – it’s a place that I’ve had success at before and I feel like I know how to do it as much as anybody.  I feel like I have a car here that I can win in.  Obviously that makes you feel pretty good.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position:  21st

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position:  25th How did you feel about your car in qualifying? “I think we’re okay.  I think we’re not too bad.  The car drives pretty decent – drafting, sucking up and all that seem to be pretty close.   I feel like we’re not as good as the last time we were here.  Maybe we’ll be better tomorrow.  I know we made some changes last night.  I don’t think we expected to go out there and be really fast.  We will take that lap and get going tomorrow.”

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position:  29th How was your qualifying lap? “It was pretty good.  Whenever you’re fast here in qualifying at Talladega, it’s just kind of a bonus.  I don’t think anyone really works too hard at it.  It’s one of those things where you go out and qualify and just see what you’ve got.  I’m not going to complain as long as we have a reasonable starting spot.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position:  32nd How did you feel about your car in qualifying? “Thought we had a lot more than that in our M&M’s Camry, but evidently not.  Real disappointed in that, but no different than any other effort at a restrictor-plate track – always disappointed.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Kleenex/Clorox Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position:  35th How did your car handle on your qualifying lap? “Smooth – my grandmother could have done it.  It’s a great track in the race, but qualifying, it’s just about technology really.  It’s about getting the least amount of drag in the car and getting the most horsepower to the ground.  We’ve got a good piece and I’m excited about the developments that Toyota and TRD have done here.  Our plate program has gotten substantially better here over the last 12 months.  Large part because we have a lot more power coming out of the Toyota engines and we’re really working with the tools we’ve got to make our bodies better too.” Do you enjoy racing at Talladega? “It’s such a wide race track and yet you get out there on lap one of the race and it’s as narrow as anything because you’re running four or five wide the whole day.  It’s a great track.  One of those races that you just love to get through and you enjoy it when it’s all over with.  At the time it’s a little daunting.  I’ve been practicing holding my breath in the swimming pool.  I’ve made it to about 55 seconds so I am going to have to breathe sometime during the race.”

ROBBY GORDON, No. 7 Speed Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports Starting Position:  42nd

LANDON CASSILL, No. 64 Little Joe’s Auto Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Starting Position:  DNQ

JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 66 Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Starting Position:  DNQ

Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010

Dodge Motorsports PR

Talladega Superspeedway

AMP Energy Drink 500

Post-Qualifying Quotes

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Tweets by TeamDodge

www.media.chrysler.com

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Operation Home Front/Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Qualified 3rd “It was a great lap for us. It’s nice to see all those Penske Dodges up front. Our Dodge ran faster than expected and I’m really excited about our chances on Sunday with the speed that we show by ourselves. That’s the closest I’ve ever been to a pole at either Talladega or Daytona.”

YOU’VE BEEN KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF A RESTRICTOR-PLATE WIN. YOU MUST BE EXCITED ABOUT TOMORROW? “This is one of the biggest moments of my Friday career at a restrictor-plate weekend, to come into the media center after qualifying. I’ve never been in the top-three. I had a shot at the front row all the way until (Clint) Bowyer went out. It’s a whole different feeling. To see the crew guys slapping high-fives and Steve Addington having that smug smile on his face knowing that he achieved something special. And it gets further back than just the guys here at the track. Our engine shop and fabrication shop who are committed just to build restrictor-plate bodies. It’s really exciting to see our chances unfold in front of us and to be third overall and come into the media center after a qualifying effort after a restrictor-plate track, this is new for my 10 years. I’m savoring the moment. It’s neat. We have our work cut out for us tomorrow. That’s what it’s all about; being in the position and so far we’ve had a great run with our Miller Lite Dodge.”

YOU WERE REALLY STRONG IN A TWO-CAR RUN YESTERDAY; “We were working on stability as far as how the car would handle in the bump draft. It showed that the changes we made to the car helped and now, it’s a matter of being on the right sequence and right strategy for tomorrow. All three Dodges are fast and if we can work together during the race and be there with 20 laps to go, we’ve got a pretty good shot at a win.”

CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE LOSS OF NASCAR’S JIM HUNTER? “I’ll remember the ability he gave me to go talk to him about anything and the way he took me under his wing early on in my career and say, ‘Hey kid, you can do things the hard way or do things the right way.’ He really helped me out and was a good friend of mine. It’s tough to see him go.”

SAM HORNISH JR, (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) Qualified 10th “I think all three of the Penske Dodges are really fast. I think we’re all excited about tomorrow and think that we’ll be able to work well together in the draft. If we help each other, we should be really strong all day. The Mobil 1 Dodge is really fast in race trim. We weren’t sure what we were going to have in qualifying trim, but it worked out for us. I’m pretty happy with where we’re at so far this weekend.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (NO. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) Qualified 11th HOW IS YOUR CAR HEADING INTO TOMORROW? “Our Dodge Charger is pretty good. This race is the great equalizer. I feel like we are all pretty equal. You’re gonna have to make the right moves in the draft and put yourself in the right position. I think we’ll have a shot at a win tomorrow.”

HOW WAS YOUR CAR IN A TWO-CAR DRAFT? “We did a couple of two-car runs and our car was good. It felt solid and seemed to push and get pushed well. It’s a little hard to tell. Small changes in pack size really make a difference in the performance of the car. It definitely looked like the Gibbs cars and ECR-engine cars are fast. We’ve got our hands full, but our Dodges are fast.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Insignia/Best Buy Ford Fusion (Qualified 36th) – “It’s funny. It really doesn’t matter that much where you end up in the qualifying order. It’s one of those things where you’re just out there kind of riding along trying to not move your hands very much, just out for a Sunday drive. It wasn’t a big deal. We’ll start where we start and go from there.” HOW WAS THE LAP OVERALL? “I fell asleep at one point down the back straightaway. I took a nap, but woke up for three, luckily, just in time to make the corner. Other than that, there’s some nice scenery down the back straight. There seems like a nice party still going on from last night, so that was pretty good. I was pretty excited about that. I think I know where to hang out tonight, but, other than that, that was about it (laughing).” HOW CHALLENGING IS IT RIGHT NOW? “Ultimately, you can only control what you can control. I can control racing the car right now. I wish I had answers. I wish I could tell my team guys it’s gonna be okay. I wish I could have answers that everybody wants, but I don’t. Robbie Loomis is the guy to talk to about those answers.

For me, all we can do is just like last week, we go to the race track and come with the guys, have fun, put our heads down and try to win a race. It’s not easy. I’m not sitting at home just thinking everything is peachy. I’m a guy that stresses a lot about everything, so, in the end, we’re here racing the car. Hopefully, next weekend we’re at Texas racing the car, but we’re here, we’re having fun and it’s the same goal – go out there and win.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Qualified 34th) – “Qualifying laps at Talladega are not very exciting and it was uneventful. The car feels like it’s going turtle speed when you’re out there by yourself and it’s so big, but we’ll see where it stands up. Maybe the wind will come up a little bit and it’ll warm up and help us out.”

WILL YOU EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR CAR AT THE START OF THE RACE TO SEE WHAT IT CAN DO? “I think so. I think you’ve got to try some stuff tomorrow. I didn’t get a chance to in happy hour yesterday because we were working so much on the vibration, so I’m looking forward to trying a lot of stuff tomorrow.”

PAUL MENARD – No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion (Qualified 38th) – “Qualifying here is never eventful, but the race makes up for it. We lost a little bit of time from yesterday. It’s a lot less windy today, but we knew we weren’t gonna start on the pole. Hopefully, we can stay out of trouble because we’ve got a really fast race car.

We’ll try to stay out of trouble for the first 450 miles and race them the last 50.” WHAT IS YOUR PLAN FOR TOMORROW? “We’ll see where we end up in qualifying, but we tried a lot of things yesterday. Our Fusion sucks up really well. It can push the car in front and there’s no problem with handling. I can put it where I want to, it’s just a matter of being in the right line at the right time.”

ROBERT RICHARDSON, JR. – No. 34 A&W All-American Food Ford Fusion (Qualified 44th) – “It was pretty uneventful. You just take it easy around this place in qualifying and try to run smooth and make a consistent lap. I’m not sure if it was better than the mock-up run we made yesterday or not, but I imagine it was. I’m about to go talk to my crew chief and see how it stacks up.”

ARIC ALMIROLA – No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion (Qualified 37th) – “That was good. It was good yesterday in race practice, so that’s what I’m more worried about. I’m just gonna go race. I know there’s a lot of people on a lot of different agendas, but the beauty of the situation that I feel like I’m put in is I have absolutely no pressure. I’ve got a great opportunity next year to go drive Dale Jr’s. Nationwide car, so I’m not auditioning for a job or anything like that, so I can just go race. It’s kind of fun for me, actually.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 37 Taco Bell Ford Fusion (Qualified 43rd) – “This is the easiest track for qualifying from a driver’s point of view of anywhere we go. That was our first qualifying run of the whole weekend. We obviously focused everything on race trim yesterday and getting the car to drive good and draft well. I feel like our Taco Bell Ford Fusion will be good for tomorrow and that’s what’s real important.” IS THIS TRACK AN EQUALIZER FOR A TEAM LIKE YOURS THAT HAS OLDER EQUIPMENT? “Yeah, I feel like we have a better chance here of getting probably our best finish of the year than anywhere else we go, just for the simple fact that you can get up there and anything can happen. I feel if you’ve got the car driving well, you’re in the mix.

A lot of other tracks it’s hard to take a three-year-old car to a Charlotte or anywhere, really, and be competitive and feel like you’ve got a chance. But I feel like here with the way we had the car driving yesterday and the way the draft works here, and everything else that can unfold, that we actually really have a chance. It’s a good feeling and I feel good about tomorrow.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Qualified 27th) – “We’ll see where it stacks up at the end, but the car is still in race trim so you don’t really know what you’re gonna have for sure, but it seemed like the speed was reasonable, so that’s good. I’m just gonna try to race for 500 miles. All of the fans pay a lot of money to come and watch us race and I think we probably need to race all day. I’m gonna go out and run hard. Anything can happen at anytime. You can wreck the last lap as easy as you can the first lap, so you try not to put yourself in a bad position, but I’m gonna go out and race and see what we’ve got.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Subway Ford Fusion (Qualified 23rd) – HOW WAS YOUR LAP? “My qualifying lap was uneventful, which is what you want.

The car drove really well. I think we were competitive speed-wise and now we’ll just go race and, hopefully, we can get some of these Roush Fords nose to tail and make something happen at the end of this race.”

ANY STRATEGY? “I think we’ll try some things early in the race, but it’s still the same Talladega. There is still huge risk involved and you just want to be there at the end and then go for it.” THOUGHTS ON JIM HUNTER. “We all know Jim Hunter. I’m not too proud of the way I met him. I had a little traffic citation on the way to one of the race tracks and it was when I was running the Truck Series. I was real nervous about it because I never really had to deal with that away from home, so I didn’t know who to talk to or what to do and Jack Roush said, ‘Jim Hunter is the guy you need to go talk to.’ So I went and talked to Hunter and he put his arm around me and said, ‘Alright, we’ll take care of you. We take care of all sorts of things like this.’ From then on, to me, he was like a father figure, a guy I could trust when I went to get his opinion. He could always help me, and the traffic ticket worked out fine. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was only because of Hunter.”

ELLIOTT SADLER – No. 19 Hunt Brother’s Ford Fusion (Qualified 33rd) – “That was a normal Talladega lap, you just hold it straight and hold the gas down, and where you qualify is where you qualify. We’ll go get ‘em tomorrow. We’re definitely gonna race, at least at the beginning and see what happens, see what kind of position we’re in or how wild it is, but it’s gonna be a pretty wild race tomorrow with the two-car tandems we’ve figured out and all the bump drafting. It should be a really good race for everyone tomorrow to watch.”

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Amp Energy Juice 500 Qualifying, Page 3

October 30, 2010 Talladega Superspeedway

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Qualified 28th) – “It was a little windier than when the session started, but I think we’ve got a great UPS Ford Fusion for tomorrow. If we could have gone out in the top five or ten, I think we would have been a few tenths faster, but it is what it is here. It’s a little windier than yesterday or what we hoped it would be, but our car is fast and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We’ve got a lot of confidence. Our car drives well. It’s got good speed, so it’s a lot of fun to come to a track where we’ve got a good chance. Obviously, you can’t control those B factors sometimes, where you get caught in a wreck or misfortune of someone else’s doing, so it’s tough to say where we’re gonna finish, but I know we’re gonna run great.”

TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion (DNQ) – “Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do to make it any better, or hurt it for that matter. When you come to Talladega and Daytona, Talladega especially, you’ve got what you’ve got as far as what the race car is capable of and that’s all we had. That was the fastest we ran all weekend. We knew after our first laps yesterday that we probably weren’t gonna be in very good shape today, but we threw everything at it that we could and that’s all we’ve got. We’ll see how it shakes out, but it’s probably not gonna be good enough.”

BILL ELLIOTT – No. 26 Air National Guard Ford Fusion (Qualified 41st) – “That’s all we had. Tomorrow we’ll just run and roll and do the best we can and try to survive the day. They’re trying to pick up points and trying to do what they need to do on that end. I’m glad to help them get in the race from my standpoint. When Frankie asked me to do I knew Bobby (Labonte) was gonna be here and the first thought I had was if I’m not running good, then I’m pulling for Bobby. We’re gonna make the best of it.” ON JIM HUNTER. “Jim was a super guy. He meant a lot to this sport and he did a lot for this sport, and he’ll certainly be missed by us and everybody else. I loved his family. My wife knew his son real well. He’s the kind of guy that would come up and ask you do something and you’d just have to go do it. Jim came around this sport and he understood it as well as anybody in here and I think that will definitely be missed.” HE TOLD A LOT OF STORIES.

DID HE TELL YOU A FEW? “He always told stories, whether they were true or not that’s totally irrelevant, but, like I said, Jim was a super guy.”

Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010

Denny Darnell

Scott Sebastian

Dodge Motorsports PR

Brad Keselowski Open Interview

Amp Energy Juice 500

Talladega Superspeedway

ddarnell@darnellcommunications.net

ssebastian@darnellcommunications.net

Tweets by TeamDodge

www.media.chrysler.com

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger) WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON POTENTIALLY CLINCHING YOUR FIRST NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP? “That’s pretty cool. Awesome. I never thought that I’d get to that level. To be there and insight of it is a pretty awesome goal. I’m still running worse case scenarios through my mind like don’t break a leg getting out of a rental car and stuff like that, hope that the airplane doesn’t crash or something. But it looks really good and I’m proud of what we’ve done to get to this point.”

IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT CLINCHING THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT TEXAS THAT WOULD MAKE IT MORE MEANINGFUL? “A couple things that I like about Texas. Obviously, it a great place to race at and we seem to get great crowds. I certainly want to win for the fans, as many fans as possible. That would be cool, kind of unique. I made my first Cup start there. That track has a few things that I really enjoy about it.”

HAVE YOU TALKED TO ROGER ABOUT THAT IT’S GOING TO BE PENSKE’S FIRST NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP? “A little bit, yeah. I think he’s along the same lines as I am, you don’t count your chickens before they hatch. They’re ready. There’s a crack in the egg; they’re not hatched yet. I feel pretty good about it.”

EVEN AT THIS STAGE WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE YOU COULD CRUISE THE REST OF THE WAY? “Yeah, you know me. I’m not going to cruise. You just don’t count anything. Anything can happen. I could break my leg tomorrow and not be able to drive the last three races. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to do anything stupid. It is a pretty awesome accomplishment. I hope it’s something that I can look back on for years to come and think about how awesome this year has been. I’m pretty proud of it.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN THE KEY? “The consistency. It’s still the old point’s format in the Nationwide Series and I’ve always been a big fan of it. It rewards smart racing. Smart racing is finishing and getting the best finish that you can every week, setting yourself up for strong, consistent runs week after week after week. It’s about average finishes. We have a great average finish. Obviously, we’ve won six races which helps. It might not be as many as Kyle (Busch), but you set yourself up for when you have that one race where it’s like, ‘man, I can really drive way over my head to win this race and the odds are that I’ll probably crash and finish 30th or 35th.’ That’s all offset by if you win four of those races instead of finishing second or third and you have that one wreck, it wipes it all out. I think that there’s a style that comes with running a race with that mentality.”

IS THAT A LEARNING PROCESS THAT CAN CARRY FORWARD FOR YOU? “Yeah. It’s a lot different over here (in Cup) from the standpoint of how the Chase affects the way that you race. There are some things that you can carry forward. I think more or less, the commitment and the drive that it takes to run the whole season, that’s probably the largest part that you can take.

“I still have moderate respect for everyone in the Chase because with 10 races to go, it’s easy to be ready for the off-season. I’ll give everyone the runs in it, especially Jimmie (Johnson). He seems to be able to turn the wick up where everybody else seems to be sinking. That final charge, where if you were a runner, there’s that last two or three miles where it’s going from running eight-minute miles to six-minute miles and he’s able to do that. It’s like everyone is running a mile in 7:35 and fall off to an 8:30. That’s pretty special.”

DO YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THAT POSITION? IT’S A LONG SEASON. WHAT DO YOU DO TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF AT THE END OF THE SEASON? “There’s not one thing that you’re going to be able to do. You have to have fun at what you do for it to be tolerable. There’s going to be spots where it’s just not fun. There are races that we all have where you say, ‘God dang, get me out of here.’ You need to have fun. You need to enjoy the people you work around; that’s probably one of the major keys. You take a vacation when you can. The biggest thing that makes it fun is when you have fast race cars. You just need to execute. It keeps you from stressing out. I think the guys up front have way less stress than the guys in the middle of the pack just from that standpoint alone.”

WAS THERE ANY POINT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON THAT YOU HAD DOUBTS IF YOU COULD WIN THE NNS CHAMPIONSHIP? “I expected to run good. But there was an expectation that breakdowns would be a problem. Normal problems with a new team, parts left loose. Without testing, you don’t have a real chance to really R & D things or look for failures. You would think that those things would pop up, but knock on wood, they haven’t. I would say that there was an expectation that it’s going to be hard to win a championship with a new team from that standpoint alone. Who knows, maybe those gremlins will jump up at the end of the year or even next year and I’ll have to pay for this later down the road. I think that it was a lot to ask coming into the season to win the championship this year. It just makes it that much sweeter.”

HOW COME YOU AND CREW CHIEF PAUL WOLFE SEEM TO CLICK TO WELL? “I think that we have good communication and he builds fast race cars. Between the two, that’s what it takes. I think the approach that I have towards racing is quite a bit different than a lot of drivers and for some reason, we just complement each other. Some of the areas that I think about are different areas that he thinks about. I feel trapped when I don’t have a fast race car because I don’t necessarily know how to make it fast and Paul knows how to make it fast. The way that I go about racing and breakdown the races, I try to be a step ahead of the race, there’s not a lot of drivers that do that. I think that it’s very helpful to Paul. There’s not one magic thing, it’s everything. You do everything right and it just clicks. You have to have chemistry and Paul and I have that.”

HAS THAT MADE IT MORE FRUSTRATING ON THE CUP SIDE? “Absolutely. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had weeks where I’ve felt that we’ve run good, but the majority hasn’t been that way. We still have a lot of work to do.”

HAS THE NATIONWIDE SERIES TAKEN ANYTHING AWAY FROM YOUR CUP PERFORMANCE? “I think that I get stronger by running the Nationwide car. There have been races, like Loudon for example, that I qualified on the pole and thought that was a direct reflection of not running the Nationwide car and being able to focus on a qualifying run. But I noticed that as soon as I got to the race, I felt less prepared as usual. So I think that there’s a tradeoff there. You might gain something one part of the weekend and lose it at another part.”

WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THE PENSKE TEAMS HAVE BEEN SO STRONG WITH THIS NEW NATIONWIDE CAR? “I think the Dodge in general is a really good car, the way that it’s been designed. There were concerns about it at the beginning, the way that the front fascia has this huge gap inside the headlight area, that inside the wind tunnel it would create a downforce discrepancy against the other makes. But we’ve seen that hasn’t been an issue. We were really worried about that. I don’t have a great answer for that other than the approach that we’ve taken with the program, the crew chiefs have taken and engineering has taken, almost treating it likes it’s its own identity. I think a lot of other groups and teams have treated it as an old Cup car. We’ve treated it as its own entity because it is different than a Cup car and requires different things.”

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KNOWING THAT EVEYONE IS CHASING THE PENSKE CARS, HOW DO YOU GUYS KEEP DIGGING AND MOVING FORWARD? “You just keep working. You keep your eyes open and stay sharp and you have to keep finding speed. It’s a never-ending challenge. They only way to do that is to work your butt off 24-7, whether that’s testing or whatever it may be.”

IS IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT ROGER HASN’T WON A NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP? “It is. It’s very strange to walk through the building and see all those Indy 500 pictures where’s he’s won and not see a NASCAR championship. Don’t get me wrong, there’s pictures of him with Ryan (Newman) or Kurt (Busch) throughout the years and even Rusty (Wallace). It’s unbelievable that there’s not one of him holding a (NASCAR) championship trophy. When I came to Penske Racing, that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to win him a championship. That makes it more special.”

HOW GOOD DO YOU HAVE TO BE INSIDE THE CUP GARAGE NEXT YEAR? “I have this question in my mind a little while back with leaving Hendrick. You always talk about your stock rising and dropping. I try to look to other people and get their opinions and asked them, ‘Where do you think that I am in this sport right now?’ I was like, ‘Winning this championship is pretty cool.’ I think winning the championship on the Nationwide side kind of keeps my stock level. If I was solely on the Cup side and judged, I think a lot of people would say the stock has dropped. It kind of levels it back out which is something that I appreciate. From a garage perspective, not just my team, but it keeps everyone thinking about it from the point that this sport is about attracting top people to your team, whether it’s pit crews or over the wall guys or mechanics, or spotters. And when you win and your stock is at a high level, it’s easier to do that. It’s easier to get the 12-second tire changer because of that. That’s really important for a driver to be successful because this is such a team sport and when you run well and they see that, you attract talent and it keeps you going.”

YOUR’RE WIN AT TALLADEGA LAST YEAR HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON YOUR CAREER? “It did have a big impact. I don’t know how my career would have been different if I hadn’t won it. I wish that I could say that I had it planned that way, but I really didn’t. I would have rather just passed him cleanly and just won the race. Looking back at it, every time growing up through the sport, from the Late Model level to the Trucks to the Nationwide to the Cup, there was always that instance where you’re rocked back on your heels and you’re like, ‘This sport is about to kick me out.’ You’re like a prize fighter, you’re dizzy. You’ve taken a couple punches and when that moment happens, I don’t know how, I consider it pure luck and things have just worked out in my favor. I got an opportunity to win a race or to get in great equipment and kind of fell back forward and something has happened. I had that opportunity in 2007 to drive that Germain truck when I feel like my career was over. And then ‘boom’ instantly back on the map, but I didn’t win a race. I was right there leading a race and got wrecked. I was like, ‘Alright, there will be other days.’ It was about a year and a half later driving Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Nationwide car when I was leading at Vegas and felt like I had a strong shot at winning and got wrecked again. Every time that it happened, whether it was those two lows or at another level, the people that were involved always said the same thing, ‘Hey man, I’m sorry. You’ll get another opportunity. You’ll get another break.’ At that moment you don’t know that. At the moment, you’re on the back of your heels. You’re like that could be it. What if I never get the opportunity to win again? What if my cars go to hell? What if I lose an edge? You don’t know. So when that moment came at Talladega last year, the same thing ran through my mind.”