Friday, Sept. 17, 2010
Denny Darnell
Scott Sebastian
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Dodge Motorsports PR
Sylvania 300

Post-Qualifying Quotes

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 12 AAA Dodge Charger) Pole Winner “That run was pretty awesome. We’ve worked all year, this whole team, but haven’t gotten the results until today. This is certainly one of the sparks that we need to get this team energized and run up front. We just need that spark; hopefully, this is that spark. We’ve had a really good race car in qualifying trim since practice started today. We weren’t very happy with it in race trim, but it was really good in qualifying trim. We felt we had a shot at the pole. I feel really good about that lap, it should at least be in the top three. I’m really happy for everyone on this 12 team. We’re really proud for the effort by our AAA Dodge Charger team. We were fast in qualifying trim today. I know it was down to hitting the perfect lap, hit the marks right and put it up there. It was a good lap.

“There are just a lot of things going on this year. From changing sponsors and teams and cars to next year having Miller Lite on board; even this weekend having AAA on board, everything is going crazy, up and down. This is just a great spark for our team for what has been a tumultuous period. I’m really happy for my team. I’m proud for them than any stat that I may get out of it – track record or first pole. They’ve really dug hard for me all year through adversity; it’s great to see them smile. It’s great to see the look on their face. It feels really good.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS POLE THAT MAKES YOU FEEL “LEGITIMATE”? “Hell, we don’t have a top 10! We have work to do. It’s been a great year on the Nationwide side, leading the points. It’s been really frustrating this year (in Sprint Cup). I don’t feel bad about sharing that. You shouldn’t be happy being 26th in points and not having a top 10 when you’re with an elite team like Penske. This is a breath of fresh air that legitimizes our team as being able to get up front; being able to have a sponsored ride with Miller Lite next year. There are not a lot of teams out there that can say that. From that standpoint, it really legitimizes us and the ability to run up front when things get right. We’re all committed to that. I sit down and talk to Roger Penske probably once or twice a week, talking about how we’re going to make things better. This is a really good piece for doing that.”

DID THE SUN COMING OUT HAVE ANY EFFECT ON YOUR QUALIFYING LAP? “It’s really hard to tell. The sun was going in and out at the end quite a bit. It’s back cloudy now. The lapped time fluctuation was really hard to predict. If the cars that ran after me would have had faster first laps, I would have said that it was a factor, but they didn’t have faster first laps because that heat in the track should have heated their tires up faster first and slower second. But we didn’t see that. Just from that I would think that it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

HOW HAVE YOU STAYED POSITIVE THROUGH ALL OF THIS? “That’s been a luxury, having a guy like Roger and his staff to tell you we’re going to keep working on it and keep digging. To have the Nationwide program be successful and be surrounding by great people on and around the race track, that keep you going.

“It makes you feel good about yourself. I feel good about that. I feel really good about the people I’m surrounded with. We’re all in this together. It’s been tough. You still try to keep a focus on it and remember how lucky you are to do this. There are only 43 drivers any given weekend and I’m one of them. I’m one of those guys and even through the rough weeks, you sit down and think about that and think about how fortunate you are when there’s thousands of short-tracks racers across the country that have talent and aren’t here and are jealous. I was one of those guys. I was one of those guys who didn’t have a ride and wanted to be here. So now that I’m here, there’s a level of pride of just being here even when things are rough that helps carry you through that period.”

DOES HAVING THE MILLER LITE SPONSORSHIP NEXT YEAR HEIGHTEN THAT EXPECTATION? “Absolutely. You should have high expectations when you’re with a well-funded ride. The 12 car is a well-funded ride as it is right now. You should have high expectations no matter what. Driving for Miller, there’s a brand to live up to. There’s a brand of excellence and performance that’s been established well before I was even born. I want to continue that. I want to put this car in victory lane. It’s won races every year that I can remember. Kurt’s carried on that tradition, making the Chase and winning races. There’s definitely a torch to carry on there and I look forward in having the opportunity to do it.”

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE “VALLEYS” OF THE SEASON THUS FAR? “I guess to have the good you have to have the bad. It’s not that I want to focus on the bad, but the two Michigan weekends were really painful. To not run well at home on the Cup side, that’s rough. After the first one I went home and talked to my whole team and told them and apologized that I was a jerk that whole weekend. I was just upset that we ran as bad as we did. Those were definitely the low points for me. In the summer race, winning the Nationwide race (at Michigan) kind of helped out. Those were probably the low points for me. Obviously, there were the Daytona races – those were races that I felt we were one of the cars to beat and got wrecked out. Those were a struggle, but you could understand and accept them, just not being fast. Pulling in after practice and seeing your name on the wrong side of the sheet is every driver’s worst nightmare, at least mine. To have peaks and valleys – it makes me appreciate it more to have those valleys. In a way, I’m very thankful to be with a car owner who is patient and understands where we are at with the program and has been with me and as supportive as he has. It’s the valleys together that make you stronger as a team and together as a relationship. They make you appreciate the good moments. I appreciate today’s success more than I appreciated any success that I’ve had on the Cup side. Whether that’s running in the top 10 or even winning Talladega, because I’ve been through some lows this year. In a way, you appreciate it more.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT PLAYING THE SPOILER ROLE IN THE CHASE? “I would love to be the spoiler of the Chase. I would live for that moment, to be able to capitalize on it; the increased attention to the sport with this being the Chase. To be that guy that can run up front and be there; I’m not going to sit here and say that I will be. We have a lot of work to do. This is a great start. Qualifying never means anything unless you’re on the pole and we are. It feels good.”

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON? “I’m not the type of person that puts numbers on things like, ‘We have to average a 6.3 finish.’ I just want to run up front and be competitive. I want to be one of those guys that you look at and say that he’s a threat to win today. That’s all I want.”

WILL IT DISAPPOINT YOU IF YOU DON’T BACK UP THE POLE ON SUNDAY? “It would disappoint me if we had a great year and we didn’t back up this moment. Absolutely, but you have to keep things in perspective and worry about the things that you can control and try not to get frustrated about things that are outside your control. I will be disappointed on Sunday if we’re just not fast. Other than that, it’s just part of racing. I just want to be fast.”

WHERE DO YOU AND YOUR CAR FALL INTO HELPING KURT WITH SETUPS? “Every once in a while, we’ll revert back to what they had if we’re a ways off. There haven’t been very many weekends where it’s been the opposite and they’ve been able to do that with us. That’s a little bit of a cool deal to be able to do that for qualifying, but in race trim they’re a little bit faster. They have a little bit different car spec than we have; the 2 car does, so I’m not sure how much of would even matter.”

HAVE YOU SAT DOWN AND FIGURED OUR WHERE YOU GUYS ARE LOSING SPEED FROM QUALFIYING? It’s different every weekend. Qualifying has been our strong suit this season, specifically on the short-tracks. Richmond we just got beat by the Gibbs cars that were just faster through the center of the corner. We fought that and the Gibbs cars have a really good short-track package. I think that’s the weakest part that I see. It’s different at every track. I feel good about the power that our cars have. I feel pretty good about the effort that’s put into them, we’re just a little bit off and inconsistent. It’s so fine. That’s that thing about this car, when you’re off it’s just one fine screw and when you find it three weeks later you say, ‘Oh, if we would have turned this screw three weeks ago….that’s what’s so hard about this level and makes it about a people sport and so perfect – finding those things and anticipating them.”

JAY GUY (Crew Chief, No. 12 AAA Dodge Charger) “We’ve been working really hard on our short-track program at Penske Racing. We learned something from our teammates that went out before us in qualifying and make some slight changes. It’s good to get up front, put this Penske Dodge up front. A lot of hard work goes into this, so it’s really good for the guys, all the people back at the shop and the folks at AAA and Dodge. We hope Mr. (Roger) Penske is watching over in Japan right now, he’s getting ready for the IndyCar race.”

KURT BUSCH (No. Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Qualified 12th CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP? “It was an exciting lap with our Miller Lite Dodge. We changed a couple things right before qualifying, knowing that we were going out second and weren’t quite sure what the track was going to give us. Overall, I was pleased because we picked up a little bit of time from where we were in practice earlier today. A track like New Hampshire, with it being overcast, it’s crisp and cool and it’s tough to get that grip.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS TRACK POSITION HERE AT LOUDON? “It’s important, but it’s not do-or-die. It’s nice to be up front and if you do have a slightly ill-handling car in the race, you can hang onto that track position. If you have to start in the back and work your way up through the field, it makes for a really long day.

SAM HORNISH JR (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) Qualified 15th “We were a little too free in practice, so we tightened the car up for qualifying. I don’t know if it was this set of tires or how the track changed, but the car was very tight through the middle of the corner. We fixed the issue off the corner, but had to wait on it too long to get back to the throttle, just too tight in the middle. It’s not quite what I wanted out of it, but the Mobil 1 Dodge was good in race trim in practice. The important thing was just being smart, keeping the car all together and getting the opportunity to race well on Sunday. This is one of my favorite tracks. Even though it’s a flat track, there’s a lot of room to race. Qualifying wasn’t what we wanted. Hopefully, the race will be a little bit better.”

Loudon, N.H. (September 17,2010) – Four Team Chevy drivers scored top-five starting positions at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first race of the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Clint Bowyer, No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet and the 12th seed in the Chase field, will start on the outside of the front row. Tony Stewart, the sixth seed in the Chase, qualified his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet in the third starting position.

Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing teammates Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet, and Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Energizer Chevrolet, qualified fourth and fifth respectively to give Team Chevy four of the top-five starters in the Sylvania 300 43-car field.

Other Team Chevy driver seeded in the Chase qualified as follows: Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet (10th seed) – 13th; Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont/National Guard Facebook Chevrolet (eighth seed) – 17th; Jimmie Johnson, No. 24 Lowe’s/John Manville Chevrolet (second seed) – 25th; and Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet (third seed) – 27th.

Brad Keselowski (Dodge) was the pole winner for the 300-laps/317.4-mile race scheduled to start Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Live broadcast coverage will be provided by ESPN TV, PRN Radio and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER QUALIFIED 2nd:

ON HIS LAP: “The sun looks like it might come out here in a little bit. Maybe we will hold onto it. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that was a good effort. That’s what it takes to be at this level. We weren’t very good in practice and we made a couple of really good adjustments there and gut us where we needed to be. That’s what this team needs to get better at and that’s exactly what we just did.”

YOU WERE 20TH IN PRACTICE, SO YOU MADE A BIG JUMP AHEAD: “Yeah, that’s a pretty big jump. I think our fastest lap in practice was an .84 and we just ran a .53 so that’s big on a short track.”

TALK ABOUT HOW BIG TRACK POSITION WILL BE HERE: “It’s always big on any race track, but these short tracks, it’s hard to pass here, so that’ll put us somewhere up front.”

A NEW TRACK RECORD, WAS THAT A WHITE-KNUCKLE RIDE FOR YOU?: “The guys really made an awesome adjustment there between practice. We were off a little bit and just down on grip; tightened up a little bit and made an air pressure adjustment and it really made good. But actually I see some blue sky and hopefully some sun coming up pretty quick, so hopefully that’ll bust out and we’ll hold onto it.

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 3rd:

YOU SEEMED PRETTY OPTIMISTIC AFTER PRACTICE, WHAT HAPPENED THERE IN QUALIFYING? “I just missed it a little bit (laughs). I tried a little too hard, I think. We’ve got a really good race car. I’m pretty proud of the guys. It drives awesome. We’ve got a great engine from Hendrick this week like I’ve been getting all year. This Old Spice Chevy with Office Depot on it is pretty fast. It may not have gotten the pole here but we’re going to be something to deal with, I think, on Sunday.”

ARE THE TRACK CONDITIONS STAYING ABOUT THE SAME? “I think so. It looks like it’s probably going to stay pretty consistent through the session. I think guys’ times are going to be pretty honest times.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALDS CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 4th: ON HIS LAP:”We really struggled here at the first race and obviously Jean (Montoya) ran well. So we came back with a similar set-up to what they had. I was really sick the first race. I don’t really know what we would have had because I was sick all weekend. But that was good. I’m pretty happy with that. It’s better than we practiced and that’s all I think you can ask for is to just try to better your car from practice. I didn’t really think we had a shot at the pole.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CHANCES IN THE LAST 10 RACES?

We’ve done a really good job. I feel like we were really inconsistent at the beginning of the year and we’ve taken our 25th place runs or 20th place runs and made those 15th’s now. So the last two weeks have been really tough. We haven’t raced very well but we’ve finished okay. So, that’s good.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 ENERGIZER CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT: “We had a very difficult practice. I think we unloaded too far off. We unloaded very close to what we normally run here and it was for some reason really bad so we did a lot of changes but we couldn’t really get close when we did two runs in race trim. Then went to qualifying trim and did one run, it was ok, it was really really loose. Went to do another run and it started raining. So, it was just one of those days when everything went wrong. When you don’t build momentum to qualify, it is very hard especially when you go out to qualify and you have no idea what the car is going to do.”

HOW TEMPERATURE SENSITIVE IS THIS TRACK? “It is one of those deals that is going to be hard because I think the weekend is going to get hotter so it is a little bit of a guessing game. I don’t think it is as much as it is when we practice in the daytime and race at night. So it will be ok.”

POST QUALIFYING TRANSCRIPT:

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD:

TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT; YOU GET A GOOD PIT SELECTION AND HOW WILL THAT COME INTO PLAY ON SUNDAY?

BOWYER: “The importance of qualifying is so big. It’s very hard to pass here. I’m just very proud of the guys. That was a team effort. We were off in practice there and made a couple of adjustments and the car really came to life and got us a good lap. That’s the stuff you’ve got to do to compete with the elite crowd that we’re in in this Chase. You’ve got to be able to pick it up when you’re down and it was a good step in the right direction, there.”

STEWART:

“I was happy with it. We didn’t really make any changes after practice. It felt pretty balanced. We ended on top of the board there and not necessarily sitting on our hands thinking that what we had was good enough, but I just didn’t really know what to ask him for to go faster than what we ran. I felt like my balance was good, it was just a matter of what the track was going to do. I think there was a little driver error (laughs); I tried too hard but I didn’t lose too much time and had a good run.”

THERE ARE ONLY FOUR CHASE DRIVERS IN THE TOP 10 (STARTING LINE-UP). DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE A LEG-UP ON EVERYBODY? IN TERMS OF THIS RACE TRACK, WHAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOW THESE CARS WILL RACE VERSUS HOW THEY QUALIFY?

BOWYER: “We’ve got a leg up on them for Friday (laughs). After that, they’ll run you down and it will be a race. The same old guys there always is. That’s why they’re in the Chase. But I tell you, it keeps getting closer and closer. I think the level of competition just keeps getting tighter and tighter with each and every race. I think that’s why you’re starting to see guys that don’t normally sit on poles, sit on poles and everything else. This is a track where it’s time to go. A lot of people are making big strides at their set-ups and their chassis and it’s showing.

STEWART:

“I agree. It’s never an indication of how the race is necessarily; it never has been so I don’t know why anybody would think that now. You’ve been to enough races. You know this isn’t the way it is.”

DO YOU FEEL WITH THAT SEPARATION IN THE FIELD THAT IT COULD CREATE SOME HAVOC FOR THEM TRYING TO MAKE THEIR WAY UP? THE TOP TWO SEEDS ARE LOOKING LIKE THEY WILL HAVE TO START PRETTY DEEP IN THIS FIELDS

STEWART: “We’re not reinventing the wheel, guys. It’s the same thing we do every week here. This is no different than everything that everybody has done to get in the Chase. So, you’re seeing the same thing that we’ve always seen here. There are always guys that race a lot better than they qualify and just miss it in qualifying. Its two laps to hit or miss, but you’ve got 300 laps to make it right for the race. Don’t over think this. It’s not that complicated.”

BOWYER: “To answer your question, you hope so but probably not. (laughter)”

STEWART: “Right; exactly. It’s always easy to start up front. It’s easier the first 26 races if you start up front. That theory hasn’t changed for 60-plus years in NASCAR. It’s always better to start up front in any form of racing.”

HOW DOES COOL, DRY WEATHER AFFECT YOUR DECISION-MAKING DURING A RACE?

STEWART: “It’s much easier than cool, wet conditions (laughter). It makes me a lot happier. I don’t like it when my shoes get wet.

BOWYER: “You tend to get hot when it’s hot outside and it’s not much fun. But they gave the track a lot of grip. That was a track record I think so it just shows you how much you pick up the race track. Once you get into racing conditions, all that goes by the wayside. You’ve got to be able to handle on lap 25 and not necessarily on the first lap. So it’s going to change, big time, throughout the weekend.”

YOU’RE NOT TRYING TO REINVENT THE WHEEL. IS THERE ANY TEMPTATION IF YOU’RE NOT RUNNING AS WELL AS YOU’D LIKE TO MAKE BIGGER CHANGES OR TAKE BIGGER SWINGS?

STEWART: “I think if you’re not in the Chase, then yeah, you have the flexibility to do that. I don’t think there’s a huge sense in pride in being 13th in points. I might be wrong but I think guy, at this point in the season, that aren’t in the Chase, are already looking toward next year. Obviously there is a reason those guy didn’t make the Chase. So those guys are trying to find a chunk and trying to experiment and figure out things in these last 10 weeks that they can do to help their program for next year and hopefully give them an opportunity to be in the Chase. I don’t think at this point anybody that’s in the top 12 is going to do anything really radical outside the box than what they’ve been doing that got them here.”

TONY YOU ARE ONE OF THE FEW GUYS IN THE CHASE WHO DIDN’T BRING A NEW CAR THIS WEEKEND, IS THIS THE SAME CAR YOU FINISHED SECOND WITH JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, OR HAS IT EVOLVED SOME? “I’m sure it probably has. I didn’t know about that until somebody else asked that question. Again, to me, it is whatever car is in the garage when I get here, that is the one I am driving so that is the one I am going to concentrate on. I’m not going to worry about something that is sitting at the shop or something that we are bringing here for the first time. You know, there are pros and cons to bringing new cars out. The pro to it is obviously if it is a new car, it’s something that you think is better. The negative to it is that you haven’t ran it so you don’t know if it’s not a guarantee that just because it seems better or you think it is better that it is going to be better when it gets on the race track. Some cars historically, I mean they all come out of the same jig and they are welded all the same, but sometimes you get cars that you just like better than others. That is the negative to bringing a new car to a race in the Chase like this. It doesn’t affect me either way. If Darian (Grubb, crew chief) said hey, we are going to bring a new car, I trust his judgment that there is a reason we are doing it. The car that we brought only has one race on it so it is relatively new, it just has one race. We at least know what the history of this car is over that one night and how it reacted to change.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

DO YOU HAVE TO ADJUST HOW YOU RACE TO WHAT THE COMPETITON IS DOING DURING THE CHASE? “You can’t focus too closely on one guy per week. I think that you have to look at a group of guys over a few weeks time. I look at the Chase as being broken into three, six, nine (races) and then you have the final Homestead race. If you’re in position at Homestead, that’s when everything is crazy. The first three races, I just kind of group them together and hopefully we finish in front of half of the Chase field and find ourselves in good position. But if a guy goes out and wins these first three (races), you have to change your game plan because you have to keep up or you’re going to get left behind.”

YOUR ONE OF NINE CHASE DRIVERS USING A NEW CHASSIS THIS WEEKEND; ARE YOU A LITTLE BIT NERVOUS? “It’s just giving the confidence to engineers and the groups building the cars. You hope that the quality control is there and that if it’s something new, it must mean that it’s better. The way that three months can go by and you find new speed in the car, the game changes that fast and you have to bring the best piece that you can. Even though it’s not proven yet, you hope that quality control gives you the confidence that you have the best piece out there. And when you feel it out on the race track and it feels different, then you just have to make adjustments to it and hopefully, you’ll have the speed to be there at the end of the day.”

IS IT SIMPLE SET-UP STUFF? “We were able to calm the car down with one big rear-end change. That’s not something that we normally do, but it asked for it, we gave it to it and it picked up speed today.”

CAN YOU LOSE THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE? “Absolutely. I won (the championship) in ’04 by winning this race. I lost it in ’05 by being taken out on the third lap. I was dumped by a non-Chase guy and I finished 40th. That whole Chase, we were digging out of a hole and when you dig out of a hole, you stretch yourself thin, gamble on a pit stop when you’re not supposed to. We got impatient. It’s easy to get impatient when you’re behind.”

WHEN YOU LEAVE LOUDON IN A HOLE, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO TELL YOURSELF THAT YOU CAN STILL WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “It’s tough. You get shot in the leg and now you’re dragging a limp leg the whole time. You’re hoping that the other guys end up getting shot in the leg and they come back to you and they’re easier to catch. You have to sit there and go, ‘We have to race the same way, but we need help now.’ In the end, if you have a top performing car that can run in the top-three every week, you can overcome that type of battle. If you don’t…if you’re a team that’s been running sixth-to-12th all year, it’s tough to make up that kind of ground.”

DID YOU THINK THAT YOU WERE OUT OF IT IN 2005? “That first week was rough. I think that we went to Dover and were running third with 10 laps to go and blew out a right-front tire, so we were behind again. It just seemed like we were behind the whole time. When you have that feeling, it’s hard not to think of it.

“When I had cars that were fast, when I won the race, I had a car that was good on long, green-flag runs. That was key for us. The race that I won on fuel mileage, we had enough fuel to make it to the end and it’s just that the rain came in and we happened to be in the lead. We had short pitted to do that. So you have to be smart in the pits, but ultimately, I think cars that win the races here are the best cars on the long green-flag runs because this track doesn’t chew up tires like some other tracks.”

7th, David Reutimann 9th, Kyle Busch 16th, Martin Truex Jr. 18th, Casey Mears 22nd, Denny Hamlin 23rd, Marcos Ambrose 28th, Scott Speed 29th, Robby Gordon 31st, Joey Logano 34th, Landon Cassill 35th, Joe Nemechek 36th, Mike Bliss 37th, Reed Sorenson DNQ, Johnny Sauter

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 7th How will your car be in Sunday’s race? “I hope it’ll run real good. We got to do a little bit of race stuff early on today and we weren’t really where we needed to be with that. Hopefully, tomorrow, we have couple hours of practice, we can get the TUMS Toyota a little bit happier and the driver a little bit happier and have a good race here and maybe repeat what we did in Chicago.” How important is starting up front at New Hampshire? “Everywhere we go, it’s really, really important. It seems like the smaller the race track, the more confined the area is, the more important it is to start up front. It would be great to stay up in the front and get a good starting position and good pit selection to pay off on Sunday.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 9th How is your car after practice and qualifying? “It wasn’t bad. You’re really slow getting up to speed trying to save the tires to make sure they stay under you and you don’t over heat them too fast. Overall the M&M’s Camry has been good today. Dave (Rogers, crew chief) has done a good job. We unloaded smooth in qualifying trim and did some little changes trying to make it a little bit better, trying to get some speed out it. You know, we are happy with that, its better than where we were in the spring starting wise and better than some of the other guys we’re racing with. I feel good about it, it should be a good pit selection hopefully and stay in the top 10 and go race on Sunday.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 16th How was your qualifying lap? “It was a big improvement from practice. We completely changed the setup to what one of our teammate’s had. It was a big help. It’s hard to go out there and haven’t driven it before. It was so much different. I could’ve done a better job driving it, had I ran it in practice. But, big improvement for us so I’m looking forward to working on it tomorrow.”

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: 18th What do you think of the performance of your race car? “I’ve been having a lot of fun with all the GEICO Toyota guys here. It’s been a slow progress here. We’ve been working with the MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) guys as much as we possibly can to get all the information we can to get a good base. Bootie (Barker, crew chief) has been doing a great job. I’ve really enjoyed it. We’ve been fast, we’ve had competitive race cars. I think we have to sort out some little things around the program and I honestly think we’re going to be really good. I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to next year that if we get a full season we’ll be really good.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Small Business Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 22nd What issues were you facing in qualifying? “We were just searching for grip. We had much less than we did in practice and that hurt us on that lap but this FedEx Small Business Toyota was good in practice so we feel okay. It took a while for the tires to come in with these cooler temps. We’d like to start closer to the front and have a better pit selection but we think we have a car that can pass and with two more practices tomorrow to fine tune we know we’ll be fine.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Kingsford/Bush’s Baked Beans Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 23rd How was your qualifying lap? “We missed it a little bit there. We were really good in practice. We lost a couple tenths there, it’s disappointing for us. The field is so close and very small things make a difference. We were just a little too free there that run compared to practice with our qualifying run, too bad.”

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 28th

ROBBY GORDON, No. 7 SpeedFactory.TV Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports Starting Position: 29th

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 31st

LANDON CASSILL, No. 64 Little Joe’s Autos Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Starting Position: 34th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 35th

MIKE BLISS, No. 55 Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Starting Position: 36th

REED SORENSON, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 37th What happened during qualifying? “We were going for it. I hate it for these Red Bull guys, but they do a great job. I think we’re going to fix this one. Just barely hit the tires. I didn’t think we were going to hit it but we did. Get this one fixed and work hard tomorrow. We have 300 laps to get up towards the front. We’ve had two really strong finishes the last two races, so trying to build that momentum a little bit. This will slow us down a little bit, but we were going for it. It was just a mistake.”

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

Ford Racing Qualifying Order:

10th – Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing

6th – AJ Allmendinger, Richard Petty Motorsports

8th – Paul Menard, Richard Petty Motorsports

21st – Kasey Kahne, Richard Petty Motorsports

33rd – Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing

14th – Greg Biffle, Roush Fenway Racing

11th – David Ragan, Roush Fenway Racing

19th – Elliott Sadler, Richard Petty Motorsports

40th – Travis Kvapil, Front Row Motorsports

39th – David Gilliand, Front Row Motorsports

42nd – Tony Raines, Front Row Motorsports

DNQ – Jeff Green, Latitude 41 Motorsports

KASEY KAHNE – No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion (Qualified 21st) “It wasn’t very good. After I took the checkered it felt really loose in one and two. The front tires wouldn’t come in on either lap so I was waiting on that. I tried to scrub them in on the straightaways but I needed one more lap I guess.” DO YOU THINK GOING FIRST WAS A DISADVANTAGE? “Well we struggled with those same things in practice. I feel like we have a good Budweiser Ford for race day.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Qualified 14th) “We are just trying to get a hold of this race track in qualifying trim. We probably needed to arc it into one and two a little better. I should have rolled across there to carry more speed. That is a tough lap because the majority of guys will probably be in the 50’s and 60’s so that is going to put us pretty far back in the qualifying order. We will just have to work really hard on Sunday.”

PAUL MENARD – No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion (Qualified 8th) “It was good. We picked up dim practice and I think the track is hotter right now. We will see how it holds up. We helped the front end turn a little bit between practice and qualifying. We gave up too much off of turn four. Overall I’m pretty happy with it.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Qualified 10th) “I wasn’t as fast as I wanted to be on the second lap. Our Aflac Fusion was good. I just didn’t put together the perfect lap. This is one of the toughest places to qualify. I’ve never done that well qualifying here but I think this will be a top-10 and that will be just fine. That will be a good start and now we can go work on race trim which is totally different. Long laps are going to be really important.”

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Sylvania 300 Qualifying, Page 2

September 17, 2010 New Hampshire Motor Speedway

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Qualified 11th) – “Our UPS Ford was pretty close when we unloaded this weekend. It’s probably the best we’ve ever unloaded here in New Hampshire. We took a lot from what the No. 9 ran here in the Spring. I would have like to have picked up a little more, but that should be close to a top-10 or top-15 starting spot. Our car seems to be good. It will be back to normal happy hour sessions on Saturday and hopefully we’ll have some time to work on it for race trim.”

A.J. ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Qualified 6th) “I am mad at myself for that. I don’t know if the sun hurt us a little bit or what, but I got in the middle of three and four and got a little bit tight. The times are so close. I probably lost a chance at pole right there. I guess if I am fifth and mad about it then things aren’t that bad.” YOU WERE PRETTY QUICK IN RACE TRIM, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SUNDAY? “The car is really good. I really thought we had a chance at pole there. I think the weather hurt us just a touch. If I had just hooked the line a little better in three and four we would have had a good shot at it. The car is really good which is what I am frustrated about. I think we had a chance to be really good there and be on pole. We have had two really good solid weeks in a row on flat tracks and I think we are even better in race trim, so we will go from there.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

SYLVANIA 300

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONAL GUARD FACEBOOK CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and discussed outlook for the weekend at NHMS, approach to the Chase, sponsorship, momentum in Chase and other topics. Full transcript:

TALK ABOUT YOUR OUTLOOK COMING INTO NEW HAMPSHIRE AS THE EIGHTH SEED IN THE CHASE: “It certainly is always a good thing to start the Chase off right, build some momentum. I guess maybe for us being a little bit further back (in points), I mean 60 points back is certainly not insurmountable but you are going to have to put 10 solid weeks together for sure. That all starts here at New Hampshire.”

CAN THERE BE A SLEEPER IN THIS CHASE AND IF THERE COULD BE, WHO DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE? “The way I look at is I feel like there are 12 guys that can win it. Anybody can get on a streak. I feel like all of these teams are solid, good teams, good drivers. I don’t really see a sleeper. I feel like us, Bowyer, Burton, any of the guys that haven’t won races yet to this point I guess, if you were going to consider anybody a sleeper, I would think that the media would think that these guys aren’t really going to be the ones to beat. “

WHAT DID LOU HOLTZ SAY TO YOU, WHAT PROFOUND WORDS OF WISDOM DID OR MOTIVATION DID YOU GET FROM HIM YESTERDAY? “Man you lost me already with the profound words (LAUGHS). (SMILES) Probably nothing I can talk about here. We spent some time with him in the green room yesterday. There is no question why he is such a great coach. It seems like all the great football coaches are these incredible motivators that just have a way with words and the way that they think. Him being one of the greatest of all time coaches out there, you could spend hours listening to him and all the things that he had to say. I would kind of like to keep those moments to myself. You saw the rest on ESPN.”

HAS THE SPONSORSHIP THING BEEN DISCOURAGING FOR YOU WITH NOT HAVING DUPONT THE WHOLE SEASON AND THE WALMART THING, ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT A DRIVER OF YOUR CALIBER IS EVEN IN THIS POSITION? “I’ll be honest, as a driver, it’s not something that I put a lot of thought into. I mean, I certainly would like to see us with a sponsor that could be really good for our organization. Good for the sport and good marketing and wants to be a part of our program and get behind it. Right now, my focus is on driving and trying to go out there and be as good as we can be in the Chase. That is pretty much the message that has been sent to me through Rick (Hendrick) is don’t worry about it. We have got a lot of people working hard on it and it’ll come together. The Walmart thing was a little disappointing because I feel like everybody was wanting to see that company in this sport for a long time and we would have loved to have represented them. But, I’m so excited to be involved with DuPont and Pepsi and sponsors that we have had for a number of years. I think we still have some things that are going to come together.”

HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED IN YOUR APPROACH TO DRIVING FROM YOUR FIRST YEAR TO NOW? “Well, I mean, throw out the first year. In ’93, I had no clue, I had no confidence or no regiment. I was just being thrown into it and just didn’t know what to expect and my head was just spinning off my head trying to keep up with everything I was learning. In ’94 things settled down a little bit. For me, I have always approached racing one race at a time. I’ve never looked too far ahead. I’ve always tried to be in the moment when I am trying that car. I am trying to focus on what it takes to make the car go as fast as I possibly can right there. I don’t think about tomorrow. That is just the way. Now, that is not my personal life. In my personal life, I worried like crazy about what is happening tomorrow, but in racing, I’ve always just focused one lap, one race at a time. I don’t feel like that has changed a whole lot. That first year might have been a little bit different, in ’93. I feel like I have stayed pretty consistent with that over the years and it has worked well for us so I try not to change it.”

WHEN THEY ANNOUNCED THE INITIAL CHASE IN 2003 AND THEN IT DEBUTED IN 2004, DID YOU THINK OH, THIS IS GREAT. 10 RACES, I CAN WIN THESE THINGS. OR, DID YOU THINK WITH ONLY HAVING 10 RACES IT WAS GOING TO BE TOUGHER TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS? “I was not looking forward to that change from the beginning. When I first heard about it and I think maybe Mike Helton was the first one who sort of threw the idea out there to me. And I laughed and I said, ‘Ah, that’s never going to happen’. Then I think I saw Brian France somewhere down the road and he told me it was going to happen, and I was like, oh my gosh. At that point, I wasn’t thinking whether it was good for the sport or not, I was just purely being selfish and thinking how’s it going to work for us? And my strong suit is consistency over a lot of tracks. I think the first thing that came into my mind was the 10 tracks that close out the season. They’ve never been my best tracks. New Hampshire has been pretty good but Phoenix is not a good track for me. Homestead is not necessarily a good track for me. Texas. So we’ve had to work really, really hard at being better at those 10 tracks. So we’ve put a lot more effort into it because to me that’s really the most important thing now about the season. It’s not really anything other than those 10 tracks. You want to go to other tracks and try to run well and try to get the bonus points and win the races but what you really want is to build your program up so in those final 10 races at those 10 tracks you’re awesome. So I don’t like that it comes down to that but that’s the way it is. And it’s a real big challenge. I think it’s more difficult, certainly for me, I feel like it’s more difficult to win it this way than any other way. I like that challenge. That’s just the way our sport is going to be from now on. So we have to figure out how to win it under that format.”

WITH THIS FORMAT AND WITH THIS GROUP, CAN SOMEBODY LOSE THIS CHASE THIS SUNDAY? “Well, (crew chief) Steve Letarte and I have talked a lot about this. I think he’s put it best that you can’t win the championship this weekend, but you can certainly lose it. I think all you have to do is self destruct and you’ll make some big mistakes and come out of here; what will really hurt you is to have a really bad finish in the first Chase race it’s really hard to rebound from that because you still have Martinsville and you still have Talladega and these tracks that chances are good you could get caught up in something. You want to try to get a few races in. You know that you’re going to have a bad week. It seems like everybody always does. But you don’t want to start it off that way because then that means you have to put nine really good ones together.”

NINE YEARS AGO WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WON A CHAMPIONSHIP. WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO WIN A FIFTH CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR? “Well, it’s not a fifth championship. I know that’s what the stats and the records would show but it’s really a first championship because with the points change, to me the history is different. I don’t compare these championships even if I wanted, to what I won before. It’s equally or more prestigious today. That’s the part that makes you want to go out there and get it. This is the sport we’re in. This is what we live for. And there’s nothing sweeter, nothing more difficult than to win the championship. We’re proud to be in the Chase with that shot at it. I think we’ve got a really strong team this year. We’ve shown that all year long. And we’ve got to step it up in these final ten and to hoist that trophy really, to me, would just be the ultimate. To be at this point in my career, knowing how long it’s been since we’ve won a championship and a race, that’s how you appreciate those moments more than you ever have before. So I can’t even describe the words what it would mean to win this championship. But I don’t compare it to the other ones.”

SO MUCH HAS BEEN MADE ABOUT JIMMIE JOHNSON THE LAST FOUR YEARS, AND CERTAINLY YOUR POST-SEASON SUCCESS. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT DENNY HAMLIN AND THE SUCCESS HE’S HAD THIS YEAR, AND THE MOMENTUM HE BRINGS INTO THE CHASE? “Yeah, he looks really, really strong. I really go back to last year at the end of the season and I felt like they had the team to beat. They had their issues that took them out of championship contention. It looked to me like they were building their team and their momentum for this year. With him winning six races and with him being strong in Atlanta; and winning at Richmond, I don’t think anybody has more momentum than that team does right now.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion, enters the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings, 60 points behind new leader Denny Hamlin. In 12 NSCS starts at NHMS, Edwards has achieved two top-five and two top-10 finishes. Edwards’ best finish at Loudon is second place, captured in July of 2006. In 26 starts this season, Edwards has accumulated six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, as well as two poles. Edwards talked with members of the media about this upcoming race, the Chase and the Race of Champions.

THERE IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU OVER THE NEXT 10 RACES ISN’T THERE? “Yeah, there is a great opportunity for us. This first practice was great. I believe we were the fastest in first practice. We had a little trouble with timing and scoring, so I am not certain of that. I think that qualifying is going to be very important here. We focused on it today. Track position is going to be important. It is very difficult to pass. The way we have run the last couple of weeks I feel very confident for our chances to get a good start to the Chase here at Loudon.” LOOKING AT THE 10 TRACKS, IS TALLADEGA THE ONE YOU FEAR THE MOST BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY? “I think everyone fears Talladega the most, you know what I mean? It is because of the uncertainty and because anything can happen. That can go two ways though. You can also look at that place as an opportunity. If you play it smart and maybe have a little bit of luck you can gain ground on people there. It could go either way. For that reason, Talladega is kind of a wash. It makes you nervous, but you never know. The one that worries me a little bit is this one because we’ve had an up and down record. Charlotte worries me the most. For some reason, we have run very well on the mile-and-a-half’s but with that one, the way the tire works with the race track, we’ve had days we were just terrible. That is the one that, performance wise, I am most worried about.” ARE THERE ANY DISADVANTAGES TO HAVING TEAMMATES IN THE CHASE AND IS THIS THE MOST OPEN COMPETITION FOR THE CHASE YOU’VE SEEN? “The disadvantage, the only one, to having teammates in the Chase is if you start to get competitive too much with your teammates. You are all competing for the same thing. At the beginning of this, all of us want to get a jump on the other one. As long as we can keep that healthy competition, then it is good. I think the advantage is that we’ve struggled for so long that we’ve kind of built a better bond as teammates in the shop and on the race track. I think that all three of us being out there gives us a chance to work together all weekend from start to finish. I think that is good.”

YOU MENTIONED HOW HARD IT IS TO PASS HERE BUT IN JUNE WE SAY GUYS RUN FULL LAPS SIDE BY SIDE. HOW DO YOU RECONCILE THOSE TWO FACTS? “Well, that is just it. You run full laps side by side because you can’t complete the pass. It looks good, but boy it is hard to pass. So let’s say you were out there running around and I was two-tenths of a second faster, which is pretty good, and I caught you. I could pull next to you and then you can make it really hard on me to get by. From a distance that looks like a good race, but what we are doing right then is slowing ourselves down and I would be negating my two-tenths that I had on you and maybe the guy in front of you. That is the struggle we have out there. It looks good, but man it is tough to actually make ground up through the field.” SOME OF THE CHASE GUYS ARE ADAMENTLY OPPOSED TO SEPARATE POINT SYSTEM FOR CHASE GUYS. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE POINTS SYSTEM? “Everything that you do there will be an unintended consequence or the potential for one. So if we have our own point system separate from the other guys, then that give you the opportunity to have someone really benefit and not someone else, based on chance. If I run 12th at this race and 11 guys in front of me are Chase guys, then yeah I am the 12th slowest Chase guy. If I run 43rd and everyone else runs one to 11, then I don’t know if I really deserve to be counted as right behind that 11th place guy. You have a chance to have a guy that runs a way better average year finish behind a guy because of the way it shook out statistically. I think the way it is is fine as long as we are all competing under the same rules it will be good. The Chase by itself automatically gives the opportunity for someone to win that maybe was not the strongest team that year. I think once you add more it is going farther down that slope.” IF SOMEBODY LEADS 150 LAPS HERE SUNDAY AND WINS THE RACE BY THREE SECONDS, HOW DOES THAT IMPACT EVERYONE ELSE IN THE CHASE? IS IT A DOWNER GOING FORWARD EMOTIONALLY OR MENTALLY? “If it happened here it would be frustrating. I sure would like to lead by that much and win, that would be good. I think that everyone knows that the meat of the Chase is mile-and-a-half tracks like Dover and California. We know that if someone goes to the first mile-and-a-half track and does that, then that is a little scary. Here the only thing that is really going to relate to is turns three and four at Phoenix. You definitely want to get a good start, but I don’t think anyone can set the tone of the Chase here, just because it is kind of a unique track.” EVERYONE IS GUNNING FOR JIMMIE. WHY COULD YOU BE THAT GUY TO KNOCK HIM OFF THIS YEAR? “I think that we have proven over the last 10 weeks that we can score more points than anyone in the series, and that is what it is going to take. Jimmie did a good job last week of explaining that you have to have something to hang your hat on going into this thing. You either have to have wins or you have to have been very consistent. You have to have some sort of thing to build your team around. That is what we are building our hopes on, the fact that we have shown over an extended period that we can score better average finishes than everyone else. Now we just have to go do that. That is what I am counting on, the ability to go do that.” DO YOU TAKE THE FIRST THREE OR SO CHASE RACES AND TAKE THEM MORE CAUTIOSLY TO YOU DON’T GET BEHIND? IS THERE A POINT WHERE YOU GO AFTER IT? “That is a tough call to make. I have thought that way and then I started thinking that maybe it is better to go out here and try to gain something the first few races and take advantage of everyone being cautious. The bottom line is you don’t want to be behind after these first few races. I think you have to drive aggressively and take chances up to the point where you are wrecking or doing something really silly like running out of fuel. If you don’t then someone else is and they will be the guy leading after three races. It is a really fine balance between not wanting to go easy but also you can’t really screw up. I still haven’t decided how I am going to do it.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE ROC IN GERMANY NEXT MONTH? “It is going to be fun. We are going to Dueseldorf with Travis Pastrana. I got to talk to him for the first time about it live last night on ESPN. I was a little shocked that his excitement level was that unlike other forms of motorsports they let you into the wall one time on each run at the Race of Champions. I was like ‘Travis, that is not how we need to approach this.’ He is a very fun guy and he is a living legend and it will be fun to go race alongside of him and represent the United States. He is an extremely accomplished Rally racer and I think I will learn some things. Really it is just really fun. You guys should go over there if anyone wants to go cover it. It is a neat event. Sebastian Loeb, Michael Schumacker and a bunch of guys will be there. We had a good time the last time I was there and it is just different cars and a different environment. It is in the soccer stadium which I think has a retractable roof and I think it is the biggest one in the world. It will be fun. It is an honor to go do it and hopefully we can go win.” HOW DOES IT WORK EXACTLY? “The Race of Champions itself is an individual event and then they have the countries compete against one another in a points elimination thing. We will be racing for America and then racing for ourselves.” IN THIS SEASON OF ‘BOYS HAVE AT IT’, IF SOMEBODY THAT IS NOT A CHASE CONTENDER GETS A PAYBACK ON A CHASE CONTENDER, HOW SHOULD NASCAR VIEW THAT AND SHOULD NASCAR TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION IF THERE IS TO BE ANY KIND OF PENALTY THAT IT IS A CHASE GUY AND IT COULD IMPACT A CHAMPIONSHIP? “I think that you just have to look at every situation and I think NASCAR does a pretty good job of that. I don’t see that really happening. I think we’ve all shown that we race pretty well together and even when we do have issues, we have been able to kind of compartmentalize those or keep them isolated to one track or something. That has been pretty good. I don’t really see that happening. I think that it will be fine.” IF IT DOES HAPPEN, SHOULD IT BE A CONSIDERATION THAT A CHASE GUY IS INVOLVED? “I just can’t see somebody really doing that, you know what I mean? But you never know. I mean heck, I guess we will just see what happens and deal with it if it happens. I don’t think it will though.”

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion, enters the first Chase race of 2010 in 11th position and starts at a track where he has earned five top-five finishes and 11 top-10 finishes in his career. Kenseth has yet to win a race at NHMS, but does own a runner-up finish that came in 2004 and has led 88 laps here in his career. Kenseth talked about NHMS and the Chase.

WHAT IS YOUR OUTLOOK FOR SUNDAY’S RACE? “Well I will probably have a little better idea after tomorrow’s practice. I thought we had a pretty good day today in our race trim. We seem to be a little faster than we have been in here. Our car seems a little better than it was last time. It was more like what we had last weekend. I feel good about it. We are all in the same spot right now. We have to see how qualifying goes and go from there.” IS THERE A TRACK IN THE CHASE THAT PARTICULARLY CONCERNS YOU? “All of them really. We haven’t had particularly great results here at this track lately. This one is probably front of my mind right now. I think you have to perform well every week and certainly Talladega is probably the biggest wild card race, but this one is on the front of my mind right now. Hopefully we can get through here with a decent finish and then we will have confidence going into Dover, more than the rest of the race tracks. You still have to get it done every week.” YOU HAVE A NEW CHASIS FOR THIS RACE, IS THAT NORMAL AND DID YOU ALWAYS DO THAT IN YOUR OTHER TIMES HERE FOR THE CHASE? “No, I am not worried about it. I don’t recall if we ever had a brand new car here before or not. Since Jimmy has been here he has tried to build the cars the way he wanted to do it and make them better. Last week was our first week with one of those new cars. It seemed to be better, even though we didn’t get the finish we were hoping for. We performed at times in Richmond much better than we have actually since they went to the COT car. There is one time we drove up into the top-five which is better than we have been. We feel they are better cars and we have four of them built that we will rotate throughout the Chase to use the final 10 weeks. We feel like they are a lot better than what we had a couple months ago and we are trying to bring our best stuff.” WERE THESE CARS MADE JUST FOR THE CHASE? “It is just the timing of it with Jimmy coming on kind of late. I think that if he would have been there in November, I don’t know. We probably still would have had newer cars about this time of year because you are always trying to evolve and make things better. We have made small changes and we think we have made things better to get our better stuff when it counts.” WHY ARE YOU NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT? “If you look at our last season and a half it isn’t like we have won a race and have a few cars that we really run exceptional with. If that was the case, which we used to have some cars like that back in the day that we were real comfortable with and real fast, if we had cars like that we would maybe rethink that a little bit. We really don’t have even one cars that we like really a lot better than others. Jimmy has worked really hard on these new cars the last couple of months. Getting them in the wind tunnel and making them lighter and stronger. We really feel like even though they haven’t been on the race track , these are the best pieces we have in our shop.”

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES TO HAVING TEAMMATES IN THE CHASE FIELD AND ARE THERE ANY DISADVANTAGES? AND IS THIS THE MOST COMPETIVE CHASE FIELD? “For me, having three teammates, I don’t think it really matters whether they are in the Chase or not. I think that we work together exactly the same. Being a teammate isn’t really necessarily about Sunday. It is about the rest of the week. It is about today and comparing information and comparing our cars. Talking about how we approach the track and how changes felt. Working together and when we get belted in on Sunday, it is every man for himself. It is one against 42 at that point. Certainly you realize who your teammates are out there and you try not to do something dumb around them, but you race them how you race everybody else. You try to beat those guys. You are racing those guys for position and points. We share the same amount of information and put in the same effort to helping whether we are all in the Chase or just one of us. As far as the Chase field, that is hard to say. I think we will have a better idea in a few weeks. It is a talented field with a lot of great teams. Each year with the rule changes I think the field keeps getting more competitive and closer to the same speed each season.” IF SOMEONE WINS AND DOMINATES THE DAY SUNDAY, DOES IT THROW THE REST OF YOU INTO PANIC THAT SOMEONE IS DOMINANT THE FIRST TIME OUT OF THE CHUTE? “No. Ten races is a lot of racing. The championship isn’t going to be won or lost here at New Hampshire. If your performance is good enough to be a legitimate contender throughout 10 weeks then one race isn’t going to make or break you. I don’t think anybody want to be behind. All 12 guys want to be leading the points when they leave here obviously, but I don’t think one race is enough to panic.” THIS IS YOUR THIRD CREW CHIEF, IS IT A GOOD THING THAT MAYBE YOU ARE HITTING YOUR STRIDE WITH JIMMY GOING INTO THE CHASE? HAS IT GELLED AT THE RIGHT TIME FOR YOU GUYS? “I hope so. I have known Jimmy for a long time and we have always gotten along well. We worked together in the Nationwide series and I used to follow him around when he was Mark’s (Martin) crew chief. I used to follow him around and bug him and ask Jimmy a million questions. We have known each other for a long time and we get along fine. I think our chemistry is fine. Jimmy is one of those guys that never rests. He is always trying to figure out how to make the cars faster and better. That is one of the things I really like about him. It is never good enough. He is always trying to make the stuff faster.”

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, are in the seventh position in the new Chase standings heading into the first Chase race of 2010 this weekend. The No. 16 is 50 points behind leader Denny Hamlin and have a 10-point lead over positions eight through 12. Biffle’s first Cup Series start came at New Hampshire in 2002 when he drove the No. 55 car owned by Andy Petree. Biffle took time to talk to media members Friday about his car this weekend and his Chase prospects.

YOU GOT OUT OF THE CHUTE REALLY QUICK HERE A FEW YEARS AGO AND WON THE FIRST TWO RACES IN THE CHASE. CAN YOU DO THAT AGAIN? “I think we are capable of doing it again. We came of the truck pretty decent and kept picking up speed. We switched over the qualifying trim and the car was real good. We got some ideas going back to race trim what we will try a little different for tomorrow. I think we have as good a chance as anybody to win here Sunday.” YOU HAVE THREE ROUSH CARS IN THE CHASE AND THEN DAVID RAGAN. DOES HE BECOME THE TEST BED ESSENTIALLY FOR THE COMPANY DURING THESE FINAL 10 AND WHAT YOU GET OUT OF HIM; CAN IT BE AS RELIABLE AS WHAT YOU GET FROM MATT AND CARL? “David’s performance has picked up tremendously since we changed this front suspension. Maybe if there are engine things or stuff like that they they might try. The other thing we have are the four RPM cars. We’ve got those guys over there that can be trying things. They are the same cars and same engines, same everything. We are looking at those guys to help us a little bit. I think it is kind of a collective effort between the whole organization, both RPM and our side.” IS DOVER ONE OF THE TRACKS THAT COULD SURPRISE FOLKS AS FAR AS MINDING YOUR P’S AND Q’S AND SECONDLY, AT KANSAS, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR INTERMEDIATE TRACK STUFF? “I feel really strong about our mile-and-a-half program. We were really good at Michigan, Pocono and Kansas. We were good in Indy and Chicago. All those places we were super fast and it felt like the cars were driving well. Dover is one of my favorite places to go. I have a couple wins there and a bunch of top-fives. I am looking forward to going back there. This weekend, so far so good. The car is pretty decent. I think we ended up in the top-10 in practice there. Hopefully grab a top-10 qualifying spot. I think we have the same opportunity as all these guys here this weekend.” WITH STRONG TEAM TIES TO BOSTON, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE FUN STUFF YOU HAVE DONE HERE, DRIVING THE DUCK, WORKING A DUNKIN DONUTS DRIVE THROUGH? “Yeah, I have had a lot of fun so far. They told us we were going on a duck tour and I was thinking I have seen a lot of ducks in my life. I wasn’t sure what we would be looking at. Come to find out it is a vehicle that takes you around Boston. Then the vehicle goes in the water as well. I learned a lot. I found out what a duck tour was and I recommend it highly for people that get an opportunity. It handled great, but not very fast so don’t be in a hurry to get anywhere. This morning, if any of you stopped by Dunkin’ Donuts I was working the drive thru. I stopped to get some coffee and I got behind there and packaged up some donuts and made some coffee. Being partners with Fenway sports group based in this area allowed us to have a lot of fun in the area. I got some free coffee out of the deal which is what I was mainly interested in. It was a lot of fun.”

DOES THIS CHASE SET ITSELF UP TO BE DIFFERENT IN THAT NOBODY COMES IN WITH ANY TRUE MOMENTUM AND COULD THIS BE THE CHASE THAT 11 PEOPLE LOSE? “Yeah, it really does. A lot of people have asked me who my pick is or who the favorite is besides me. You have to put all the names in a basket and draw one out because it is a lottery draw at this point to me. I couldn’t pick one guy over the other for who I think is going to win this thing. It is as close as I have ever seen it competition wise. You look at the speed charts on the weekend and where everybody is running, it is going to be like that for 10 weeks. I think it is going to be the guy that has the least amount of mistakes or the least amount of damage. Damage control on the race track will be a big part. The guy that salvages a 13th place finish somewhere where things are going bad, versus finishing 23rd or worse is what is going to be the guy that wins it. The guy that can minimize the down side versus winning four or five of these things.” SIMPLE THINGS LIKE A LUG NUT AT TEXAS, WHICH COST YOU A CHAMPIONSHIP. COULD IT COME DOWN TO SOMETHING LIKE THAT? “Yeah, definitely. It could come down to a pit stop. In Atlanta we got a lug nut behind the wheel and we went from running fifth to the back of the pack and then got in an accident. Any of those things can happen. Texas in 2005 I had a loose wheel and lost a lap when I came in and there were no more cautions. There can be heart break as well. That is the damage I talked about on the downside. The guy that minimizes that, a guy that gets a flat, comes in, gets a lucky dog and finishes 13th. That is the kind of championship caliber drive it is going to take.” SOME OF THE DRIVERS HAVE SAID THAT YOU CAN’T WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP HERE AND YOU CAN’T LOSE IT HERE. IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO THAT THEORY, WHEN DOES THIS CHASE REALLY START IN YOUR MIND? “I think that we all have our own opinion about it. My opinion is that you can lose the championship here. This race. If you do something boneheaded and back into a fence and finish 38th or 40th then you have a ways to go. I think that come Homestead, you lose it by 35, 40 or 50 points, you could say ‘Well, I made a mistake at Loudon and that was the race that cost it.’ We tend to look at the later races. For instance, the 39 not getting in to the Chase because he didn’t run well enough at Richmond. What about in the middle of the season when he did whatever? That one race cost him a chance to be in the Chase. You can pick any one of these 10 and say that it was the reason why you didn’t win the championship. It can’t be won here either. I won the first two in 2008 and I finished third in points. It can’t be won here, but you can certainly lose it.”