Media Interview with Watkins Glen Winner, MARCOS AMBROSE

Marcos Ambrose won an incredibly exciting race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday.  That last lap garnered much needed attention across all media as some things got pretty exciting on the track.

When Bobby Labonte starting dropping a fine mist of oil, things got very exciting and unfortunately, not in a good way for Kyle Busch.

When all was said and done, when spot #1 was exchanged a few times through that last lap between Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose, it was FUN racing to watch.

And afterwards, Brad even said, that's how fun racing can be without any cheap stunts being pulled.

Marcos got himself a win and is now a wildcard entry into The Chase for the Cup.  With that said, Marcos held a teleconference with the media.  Below are snippets from that media interview:

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Today's NASCAR teleconference.  We are going to open with Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports.

Marcos, whose win on Sunday at Watkins Glen International, put him in contention for one of the two Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wild card spots.  He currently sits 17th heading into Michigan International Speedway on August 19th.

On heading into Michigan:

MA: We've put the team within earshot of making the race.  If we can win one more race, we're pretty much locked into the Chase.  Keep winning.

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On Which upcoming track do they have the best chance to win again?

MA: Definitely the best track for us coming up would be Michigan, after having such good speed there in the first race.  Then I traditionally go pretty well at Bristol as well. 

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On consecutive top 10s

MA: Yeah, I mean, we have to be careful because we've just come off a road race.  Top 10s for me at road races are the normal.  That's what's expected.

We had a good one at Pocono to get a top 10 there.  We have momentum, there's no doubt about that.  We've got to keep that going.

But our team has had a lot of really great runs this year, we've had a lot of speed.  We've had trouble converting that speed into results.  Small issues, mechanical problems, driver error, wrong strategy, you name it we've done it.  We have to stop all that.

           

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How's his father?

MA: He was in Tasmania, Australia.  ...  He got himself a kidney infection.  He checked himself out of hospital to go home and watch the race.  I think he's doing really well.

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Did Marcos realize that last lap would be slippery?

MA: Well, for me it was probably four laps to go I started really struggling with my car.  It was inconsistent.  I thought I had a tire going down.  I could see that Kyle was slipping away.  I was getting pressure from Brad Keselowski from behind.  I think that was the start of the issues for me.

Once we got to about two laps to go, I could see the other cars start to slide around a lot as well.  I thought, man, this race, it's going to come to us here, anyone can win it.

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Does he have any thoughts on different ways to save fuel in a run?

MA: Yeah, I guess there is definitely technique in saving fuel.  There's no computer system in the car that's telling you if you're doing a good or bad job.  You just have to learn from experience.  Experience usually comes from running out of gas a few times to work out where you're weak, what you need to work on.

The manufacturers of the engines, the car engine builders, they're allowed to see what's happening to those engines through the EFI data.  They can really tell, okay, different drivers with different techniques that is making it easier for the drivers to learn what works well and what doesn't work as far as saving fuel goes.

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Does he have any sort of different feeling this week knowing you have a shot to make the Chase?

MA: Well, sure, I mean, it really helps that we're having this discussion because we're all talking about it as a team.  It's starting to sink in.  We've won another race.  It's our first this season.  It gives ourselves a chance to make the Chase.  It's very exciting for us.

We've got to stay really focused.  The question that keeps coming back to my mind again and again and again is, just like I did this time last year, you know, I can be so commanding and in control on a road course race, competitive all weekend.  We knew going into that weekend we had a chance to win and pulled it off.  How do we get that same mindset, feeling and result on ovals?  How do we do it straightaway?

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Was this maybe one of the reasons he isn't doing Montréal, is their idea they might be in Chase contention?

MA:  No, we're not that smart to make a decision like that.  It just really is the way it's worked out for us.

I would have done the Montréal race.  But we didn't have the same level of support to go back and do that event as we did last year.  So, you know, just wasn't on the schedule.

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How much confidence does the win give your team?

MA:  Well, it gives us a lot of confidence.  Absolutely it gives the team confidence.  As a racecar driver, you tend to be a pretty nervous individual.  You always feel like the world is on your shoulders, you have to really deliver.

You get a win, feel that breath of fresh air, really we're going to use that to really try to make these last four races before the Chase a fun time for us with a lot of upside if we have the weekend that we hope for.

(Editor's note: That first win makes everything you do up to that point, feel validated.  When I won my first bowling tournament, it made all the 2nd places worth it.  The next win just confirms why you are out there.)

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His thoughts about Dodge leaving NASCAR?

MA:  Well, as a NASCAR fan, it's disappointing to lose a manufacturer.  It's been great that we've had four manufacturers in our sport for such a long time.  I can understand the reasons.  There was a lot of talking about what RPM are doing.  We can really focus on the rest of 2013 knowing what Dodge are up to.  We can solidify the deal with RPM to move forward in 2013.

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On changing mindsets from road courses to ovals

MA:  I think all the drivers will switch straight into Michigan super high-speed oval mode on the first lap and get after it.  We're all pro racecar drivers.  We have a good feel behind the wheel.  We know what's going on.

...

I don't see any troubles.  We're all pro racers out there.  We know what we're doing.  From the first practice, you're really working on the car setup and your technique to try to get ready for the race, and that won't change.

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On that last lap, especially  with points on the line

MA:  I think that lap was one of the best laps of my racing career.  I'm sure Brad will tell you the same thing.  It was just a thrill to be in that position, to be able to duke it out for a Sprint Cup win in those conditions.

It's meant to be the toughest sport in the world, in racing, and it is.  I know it was a safety issue that some drivers said about the randomness of not knowing where the oil was, not being able to see it.  I've raced on road courses where there's been 10, 15 cars broken down on the side of the road, rubber and oil still on the track late in a long-distance race, and they keep that race running to crown the winner worthy of the day.

Definitely at Watkins Glen you had the fastest three cars of the race duking it out for the win on the last lap.  That's the way it should be.

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On the 9 and 2 teams being so thrilled by the ending, they were high-fiving each other.

MA:  Well, firstly, it shows you what kind of guy Brad Keselowski is.  What a stand-up guy.  He came over to my team down pit lane, was high-fiving my crew for us winning the race off him.

He's a great person, a great racecar driver, and a huge talent.  I think firstly, being so gracious in defeat is a credit to Brad and the guy he is.

Yeah, it was exceptional circumstances the end of that race, and I think that last lap was as good a last lap as you'll ever see.  To have two teams celebrating their drivers like they did, that was great.  That's what racing should be.

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Does a win like that wear off right away?

MA:  Yeah, our team's up, no doubt about it.  Wins are hard to come by at the Sprint Cup level.  Whenever you get them, you need to savor them as long as you can.

There's a race coming up this weekend at Michigan.  We're getting our car ready for it.  There isn't a lot of time to sit back and relax.  You've got to stay on your game and keep moving forward.  This weekend's race, it's as big a race as what Watkins Glen was.  Probably more at stake now.  We got ourselves a chance to make the Chase.  We really have to deliver on that.  You don't know what's around the corner.

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Does Iowa need a Cup Race?

MA:  That's a good question.

I think a lot of the racetracks that NASCAR Sprint Cup goes to, they work really well.  You have to keep looking at new venues, find out where the crowd likes the races.

Is not for the drivers to really choose what tracks should or should not be on the schedule.  I think the track up there is fantastic.  But NASCAR has to go where they feel they're going to reach the most fans and put on the best racing.

I'm going to dodge that question the best I can because it's not really the drivers' choice to decide where they want to race.

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With the pole last time at Michigan, knowing that you ran really well there last time, does that add any pressure to you or your crew?

MA:  I don't think it adds pressure.  It probably relieves a bit of stress going to the track.  You don't really know what you got until you get started in practice, then you can start formulating how your weekend's going to look, what to expect from it.

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The above were transcript snippets from Marco Ambrose media teleconference, from ASAP Sports, via NASCAR.

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'Quicken Loans 400' Post Race Interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr. & Steve Letarte

The following are excerpts & quotes from a post-race interview after the Quicken Loans 400 from Michigan International Speedway!

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The interview is from race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. who drove the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew The Dark Knight Rises National Guard Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports to victory..  He is joined by his crew chief, Steve Letarte.

In the interview, Dale Earnhardt Jr. touches on this being his 19th win, on the challenges the team faced with the tire change-up late in the race weekend, & on his peers being happy for the team.

He also touches on comparing this win to his last win four years ago, on his trust and faith in his crew chief, on how they won the race, on Rick Hendrick, on how late they might have partied that night, and there's general overtone, that no matter what the question, you get the feeling this team is not just running races, but planning, plotting and seeing a plan come together slowly but surely, with this win validating that plan, and validating the team as a whole.

Dale Jr. touches on the faith of his fans and oh, yea, Steve Letarte pipes in, touching on knowing his driver still has the urge to win, and a few other points!

The Interview with Dale Jr.:

On his 19th Sprint Cup Win

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  We had some tough things to overcome this weekend with the tire issues and they made some changes and ... I wasn't very confident after the practice last night.  Steve felt pretty good.  ... I was a little nervous when the race started, the car was not quite where I needed it to be.  We were not in too big of trouble.

I worry whether he (Steve Letarte) knows exactly where I'm at or what I need with the car... But I guess he knows me well enough, because he made the right calls, and the thing took off flying.

Then, he made some pit strategy choices that put us toward the front to where the car could respond, and if we had a fast car it was going to happen, and it did.

From there on, did everything we had to to keep ourselves in the top five to stay in the clean air, because it was definitely difficult in traffic, especially from 10th on back.

He did a great job putting the car toward the front and the car responded when we got there.  I was running around behind people and learning about what my car was capable of doing, and pushed my car a little bit harder each time we ran around the corner and found where the car was comfortable and fast, and just tried to maintain a good pace.  I was worried about tire issues and stuff like that, even late in the race because our car kind of started turning better, and I was thinking, man, I'm going to work the right rear a little harder.

I saved a little in my pocket in the last 50 laps and ran only as hard as I thought I needed to, and at the end of the race, this thing was a rocket and I couldn't slow it down, it was so fast.

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STEVE LETARTE:  Yeah, it's been an eventful weekend.  I think it really started back in Pocono.  We had some concepts and some ideas in the race car we took there and it showed speed so we were excited to get here.

We were pretty comfortable with our car on Thursday and on Friday we were disappointed to see the tire trouble because we thought we had good speed but understood the situation and what needed to be done.

I can't say enough about our guys.  It was a long day yesterday and they left with as much energy as they came in with and were ready to go this morning.  The engineers put a tremendous car together and Hendrick engines stuck together.  We went over our laps, for sure, in practice; and to be able to run 200 strong laps today was a total team effort.

We had to make adjustments on our car today, we made them early and then worked really hard on our pit strategy.  Just kind of all worked out.  It was great.

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On the new tire combo on race day:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  The car was a real handful, especially being around other cars, -- when they change the tire, it takes away a ton of mechanical grip.

So the car really relies a lot on the aero grip from that point on, and when you get around other people, you lose that.  So when you have no mechanical and no aero, the car is a real tricky thing to get through the corner.

Then we were thrown into a deal where we had about an hour to figure it out...  but we only had 25 laps on our motor.  Our motor tuner would not let us run more than that,

I was desperate in that last practice to get something to work and when it ended, I still wasn't really sure if we were where we needed to be, and I woke up this morning just antsy not knowing how this was going to play out.

We had done so well up to this point, cognizant of the Top-10s and the laps we have ran and how steady we have been all year and I just want to keep that going each weekend.  I felt like we might be getting ready to have a difficult race.

we'll probably have to tire test here again and figure out something a little bit better than this, because this definitely ain't the answer.

...I would I have hated to see anything happen to anybody or even myself with a tire failure or something like that at this speed.

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On his peers thinking they could win the championship And being happy for them:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  I guess it means I'm an all-right dude.  (Laughter) When people are happy for you, they want to see you do good.

I feel like we are getting stronger.  One of the things that we did last year throughout the season was kind of maintain, and -- even though I was happy as hell to be with Steve and be able to run well and be competitive, I was a little disheartened that I didn't progress through the year really.

This year, we have gotten faster throughout the year.  We started off pretty quick and we have gotten quicker, and quicker, especially these last couple weeks.  So that's been a thrill for me.

I don't know really where we stand in the competition level and what-have-you, where we are, as far as being a threat to win the title.  I think that's a great compliment from Matt (Kenseth).  ...We just kind of kept our nose to the grindstone to try to win a race.  We'll just try to keep doing that and win the next race and see what happens.

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On Looking Back at his last win four years ago, compared to today:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  I was so nervous in the last few laps of that race four years ago, and today, this was the worst -- that's the worst feeling riding around there with 15 laps to go wondering what's going to happen or how you were going to lose (laughing).

I was just thinking, man, those laps could not go by fast enough.  I was like -- I've got a big lead, I'm going to take it easy -- no, I want to run it hard, get it over with. 

I kept thinking about Steve and the team and how hard we have worked and how we deserved to win, and how we should win, and was hoping it would happen for everybody.  You know, that was -- but that race four years ago was a fuel mileage race, and today we just whooped them really good.  So that felt good.

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Dale Jr. On Steve Letarte:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  It has.  We have been doing some great things.  He's hard to compliment, because he doesn't take it very well.  But him and that team, they can have all the credit -- my engineers and Steve sit in that lounge every weekend and make the car go.  ...They make it whatever I want it to do.  If I ask them, you know, this is my problem and this is where we are hurting, they get together and they fix it.

That's amazing to me.  ...it wouldn't have mattered who was driving it today.  That car was going to be the fastest thing out there and going to win the race.

Steve is just really sharp.  He called a great race.  I trust in him to do that every week, and I know he will.

...you can see how this team is as good as it is just by being in the shop and watching him sort of dictate and move pieces around like on a chessboard.  He's really sharp.

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Steve Letarte on Dale Jr.:

STEVE LETARTE:  I ...never in a moment or a day did I ever question his desire to drive.

We sat down kind of when the whole deal came together.  We spent some time that off-season.  We went to Vegas for the banquet and a couple other things and I laid out what I thought would be a good plan to approach the season, no different than I would for any of the other years.  And he was completely on board, gave his opinion on things which were great.  Any time you can get an opinion of a veteran driver, a guy that's won that many races, that only makes your team stronger.  We went to New Smyrna to make laps, and from day forward, we have been all steam ahead.

One thing I can say, we have had bad runs, good runs, disagreements, agreements, but from the day we started working together, I hope he's never questioned my desire to improve the team and to run well and I never have questioned his desire and where he stands as far as the team and what our goals are when we came in here.

You know, that's hard.  It's a long season.  There are weeks you are cranky to come to the racetrack.  There are weeks they change the tire on you after you've worked two days, and you know, what else possibly could happen, and I could say, you know, it's not always been peaches and cream.  We have had disagreements.  That's great.  That's healthy disagreements.  But I can say really the devotion and desire was never questioned by me at all.

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What this win means to them:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  Yeah, there's a lot of things.  We're in the All-Star Race next year, so we don't have to grind it out in the shootout.

We are back on the Winner's Circle Program which is a big deal, to the company, as far as income and revenue.  ...I've never had bonus points for the Chase (chuckling).  So that's neat.

... I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.  We have to go to Sonoma and figure out how to get around there and how to get my first top-ten at that place.  We have a lot to accomplish this year.

I got moved into that shop a year and a half ago, and that shop's got all the trophies and got all the wins with Jimmie and Jeff, and they are used to success.  So it feels good to be able to bring those guys what they deserve, all the employees will get bonuses or what have you from this win.  So the whole company sort of gets to enjoy the effect of this.

We have got this victory bell that I get to take around for the first time since we built it.

STEVE LETARTE:  That's right.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  And ring the hell out of it... I'm going to ring that damn thing as hard as I can.  (Laughter).

So it's a big deal for me.  But I like seeing... on everybody else's face. 

It's so awesome to see how many other people it affects and how many people are affected by that kind of what happened today.

STEVE LETARTE:  The only thing I would say is what today does is solidifies decisions like last week, makes them a lot easier one way or the other.

You know, we had confidence in one another to make that decision because we knew the goal.  We had discussed the goal.  We know what the goal was.  The goal was to get as many points as we could to get out of there, and that's every week to, run as good as we possibly can.

...When you're down seven or eight runs in the ninth inning, bunts are not going to work.  You have to start putting guys on base.  This proves to us that our strategy is correct.

If you bring fast enough race cars, you don't have to get out of your comfort zone too far and you don't have to get super crazy with your pit strategy.  We say it all the time, you just need to put in hard work, hard work every Sunday and this helps us understand that we are not crazy; that our goals and what we have been trying to do has been working.

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Q.  What did Rick say?  And secondly, Tony Stewart said it's not a national holiday?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  I do.  For me it is.  (Laughter) I'm sure his running second for me won't be a holiday, either.

It feels good to win, and I'll enjoy it, and in a day or two, I'll be thirsty for the next one.

...I told him that I had to thank him for sticking with me and getting me back to victory lane and he went through hell and high water to make it happen and he should enjoy, enjoy the win.

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Did Dale Jr. think about his dad as the laps wound down?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  No, sir, as much as that would be a good story, I had not really thought about much even being Father's Day and I wished a lot of opportunities to wish everybody a happy Father's Day.  It just slipped my mind pretty much.  But it is Father's Day.

So I'm happy for that fact due to the circumstances and it makes it mean a little bit more to have won on Father's Day, and you know, get the opportunity to just come here and sit down and wish everybody a happy Father's Day after it slipping my mind all day long and missing it through all of the other interviews I've had to do.

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On the victory party running late?
STEVE LETARTE:  Not one day, I can assure you.  (Laughter).

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  I'll probably lead by example, but I'll probably just see what everybody else does and just kind of jump in the pool if the water is warm.  ...I don't want to get carried away.  We have a great thing going.  We want to be sharp and I want to be sharp when we go to the next race.  We have a tough one at Sonoma and we have a got like a chip on our shoulders to go there and run well because of struggles I've had at that place.

We will enjoy this and I cannot wait to go home and see my family and my friends.  I know that they are dying for me to get there.  So we'll have some fun tonight and you know, Steve will probably get home a little too late for this evening, but it's whatever.  We have got a couple of days off.
I have a promotion to shoot with Clean Coal on Wednesday so I need to get my ship righted somewhere around Tuesday morning to be sharp for them guys.  That will be that.

...We have a conference meeting on Tuesday with all of the drivers and crew chiefs and that will be a thrill since we won, but we have got to start talking about the next race.  We need to keep our eye on the goal...

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Q.  Are you more relieved or excited?
STEVE LETARTE:  Excited.  I think a little bit of both.  I think if it would have happened last year it might have been relief, because I don't know if we had the speed last year.  We had some good runs and we had some good cars, but we had some consistency, but nothing like this year.

I'm a true believer in statistics, and I don't think it's luck.  I think you make your own luck.  You get bad breaks along the way, but if you have a strong enough race team, and strong enough cars, then even the bad luck can't hold you down forever, and I think this year, we have earned this win.
...When you start to have winning cars, and then you finally win, it's excitement.  I don't think it's relief.  Because now you have winning cars and you know that the hard work is paying off.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  I would say the same thing.  I thought it would be all relief but it was no relief at all; it was excitement.

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Q.  ...At what point did you feel the fans?
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  I would imagine they were into it, I came off of turn four for the checkered and they were pretty excited all the way down the front straightaway.  And I felt good for them because they had -- my fans had went through a lot to stay dedicated and they stayed loyal...

...I felt the fan base.  I felt the excitement and the emotion from them immediately, almost immediately.  As soon as I got out of the car, that was my initial thoughts was about how many people were in their living rooms screaming at the top of their lungs and running out in the yard or whatever they do (Laughter).

I just wish I could see it all at once.  That was the one thing I kept thinking about.

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Q.  I believe out in victory lane, NASCAR president Mike Helton said, "I think Dale Junior declared today that he's the guy to beat this year for the Championship."  I know you already talked about contending, but what does it mean to hear that from him?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:  Mike's an awesome dude.  You know, between him and Rick, it doesn't come any better when it comes to having it all together and being a sharp person.  I trust him all the time for guidance and advice and leadership, because he's so awesome at it.

So it means a lot coming from him to say that.  I hope we can prove him correct and we'll just keep working.

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The man asking the questions was Kerry Tharp, transcript excerpts were from "Fast as fast ass FastScripts by ASAP Sports ..."

 

Press Teleconference Interview With Jamie McMurray

Last week Jamie McMurray spend a few minutes on the phone with the press answering some questions... below are excerpts from that NASCAR press conference where Jamie chats about his feelings on Ganassi programs, looking back at his first win, drivers have at, crashes in the industry and the changes that came to the All-Star race.

Check it out:

            Q. I was wondering if the All-Star performance or Showdown performance gave you any feeling that the Ganassi programs are making process?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: We have made probably some of the biggest changes after that race to our cars. The 42 car had a little different chassis than what I had, and I don't want to get into too much detail with you, but we fought some issues with my car even though it ran pretty good and the 42 didn't.

            We went back and made all of those changes that we had to our car so I'm pretty anxious to get out and see if we still fight the same issues. It's been such a good track for me and it's one of their tracks that I really look forward to. Our cars are definitely better than where they were last year but we still have a ways to go.

 

            Q. Is it difficult to stay kind of patient, with y'all making so many changes in the off-season, to obviously you want those changes to provide results but know that sometimes it can take time.

            JAMIE McMURRAY: Yeah, I don't think that -- -- I mean, there are certainly different per all ties that react different, differently.

            I don't think it does any good to voice your opinion publicly of how you think things are going. And so, you know, I know that there's a tremendous amount of work going on at our shop and that Chip is making a major financial contribution to getting everything where it needs to go.

            I mean, the fact is that if it was easy, everybody would run well, and it wouldn't be the challenge that it is, but it's a lot of work. When you get to have years like we did in 2010, it makes it even harder to not run well because you have the capability of doing it.

 

            Q. NASCAR made the tweak last week where they raised the side skirts a bit. Did that make a difference and would you like to see them do more with something?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: I didn't think it made a difference. I mean in the race that I was in, the 22 car was significantly faster than I was. And he got, you know, same thing, he got within ten car lengths of me and it was super hard to make the pass.

            But I mean, you know, there's no criticism there of NASCAR or anybody, because every former racer fights that; when your car is dependent on air and down force and you lose that, it's harder to pass. It is what it is, and when you're running the speeds we are running, you want to be the car up front. But I didn't think that -- I didn't think the side skirts made any difference.

            Q. Talking about Charlotte, does that help when you guys are working to make big strides that now you come to a track where you really know what you want and the feel that you want?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: For sure, because you do go to some tracks that you don't run well at you and don't know what you're looking for or if you're driving in the track just right.

            But Charlotte has always been really good for me, and I seem to be much more critical of the cars when we get there, because you kind of know what you want it to do.

            So it's a great place to feel comfortable at because we get to run there so much.

            Q. Does it seem like it's been ten years since your first win at Charlotte?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: No. Honestly, I always watch all of the races back before we go. Like I'll watch the 600 back from last year just to see if there's anything that you can pick up on, whether it's pit road speeding penalties or just what the track did from day to night.

            I stumbled across, actually, on YouTube, the 2002 win, and I watched a little bit of it just out of curiosity, and when you look back and they interviewed Jimmie and Ryan Newman and some of the guys and then you see the names of Rusty was still in the field and Bill Elliott, I looked back at that and I actually paused it and took it to Kristy and I was like, you've got to look at this and look how young everybody looked.

            Makes me feel very old today. It's been a long time. I feel really lucky that I've got to do this this long, but it's been a long time for sure.

            Q. What's the difference between the champion Jamie McMurray in 2002 and the Jamie McMurray of 2012? What's the main difference in you as a driver?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: Certainly seem much more educated but you still make mistakes, make not the same mistakes but there are still things that you can do better.

 

            Q. I would like to ask you a question about your spotter, Lorin Ranier, and can you speak to how that relationship works and how it's evolved through the years?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: Lorin ended up being my spotter when I first went to Ganassi in 2003 and he spotted for me for three years, and then I went to Roush and he was under contract at Ganassi still and he actually worked there selling parts and stuff.

...
            You feel like the guy understands you and kind of knows what you're thinking, and then, you know, also, I think Lorin's passion for the sport goes a long ways with his commitments. I have always enjoyed working with Lorin and been together a long time.

            Q. Is there anything that you like for him to tell you, either before a race or during a race?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: No. I'm actually really quiet on the radio. I don't really -- I always tell Lorin or anyone else that if you want to talk, we can talk afterwards. When you're in the car, you just really just want the essentials.

            Q. Some of the things we have heard recently like Tony Stewart after Talladega, if we don't have enough crashes, we need to do whatever we need to do to make it as zany for the fans as what we are asking for, and this past weekend Kurt Busch talked about WWE racing after Darlington and that's what the fans want and it needs to be that entertaining. And I'm wondering if there is not now with these kind of expressions some kind of backlash after 'Boys Have At It', which was so exciting for race fans and to see all of this conflict on the track, how do you absorb that, when you hear statements like that, do you feel like what drivers are looking for out of NASCAR racing is at odds with what fans are hoping for? What's your take?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: Well, I think sometimes the media makes more of what drivers say than what there really is. My opinion is, when NASCAR said 'Boys Have At It', that didn't change any driver's way of going about things. It's not like we all got together and said, let's get rowdy. It's coincidental that it happened then.

            As far as Kurt, I didn't really see exactly what Kurt said. I don't know, I think that there's -- I believe that there's some fans out there that like to watch racing, and then there's other fans that maybe like to watch the drama, maybe some that like a little of both.

            I mean, to me, if you like racing, then you should have loved Bristol. Why they changed the track, I don't know. To me that was one of the raciest tracks that we went to. There weren't crashes anymore. But as far as racing, if you were a race fan, that was good racing. I don't know. I think it was a little mix of both.

            The cars, we just don't seem to crash as much as we used to, and I don't think they are ever going to get that back. It doesn't really matter what the rules are or what NASCAR does to change the cars. I mean, the crashing just comes from, I think people getting smarter and racing smarter. I don't think it really has anything to do with them giving us more of a tolerance with our attitude.

 

            Q. I wanted to ask about the All-Star, I know fans were not happy about segment winners were put back into a final segment. What's your take on how the All-Star Race played out and should changes be made to it?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: This has been a topic of discussion throughout all race shops throughout the week. Personally I wasn't a big fan much the format, of the All-Star Race. I wish that they would do it more like a normal weekend and maybe let 43 guys start the first segment and then start eliminating people at every segment; whether you eliminate 20 people in the first segment or get it down to the ends where you only have five guys left or ten guys left that are racing it out.

            So then you have ten laps to go if you're not in the front four position, you have no chance of winning anyway. But I think it would be cool that if you had to make everybody race really hard every single segment and then you start eliminating people, I think that would be really interesting to see how that plays out.

            Q. How much has helping the people of Joplin or other charities helped your racing career.

            JAMIE McMURRAY: I don't know that helping anyone has helped my career at all, but, I don't know, I think that you that you get in a position where you can give back or you can use TV cameras and all of the exposure that we have in NASCAR for the better. I think that that's the most important time to use those tools.

---
            I think it's maybe the other way; maybe getting to be at a type of racing at the level that I'm at, you have access to so much media to get exposure and help raise money, that it maybe works the other way.

            Q. How surprised were you by the number of fans and media and drivers that stepped in to help?

            JAMIE McMURRAY: Yeah, I think that's just part of NASCAR and everyone seems to have a big heart and wanting to give back. Yeah, I think that's a no-brainer for those guys to want to help with that.

            FastScripts by ASAP Sports.

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Press Teleconference Call with NASCAR Kasey Kahne

Last week NASCAR held a press teleconference with Kasey Kahne and the press.  In the teleconference, Kasey chatted about his upcoming time in the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet with Hendrick Motorsports, working with Kenny Francis, the idea of points swapping, and a few other tidbits.  Check it out...

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On Coming Into the Fold of Hendrick Motorsports:

 

The last year Kasey spent driving for Red Bull, was a year of anticipation of where he was headed.  Finally sitting in the No. 5 car at the Daytona testing it started to feel real.

Kasey Kahne thinks that being in the same garage as the 24 team is "really good."  (He's such an understater!)  He calls it fun to chat with Jeff Gordon and seeing how they sometimes look at the same thing in different ways is enlightening.  He feels that working with Gordon is a great opportunity.

Kasey is pretty excited about coming to Daytona with a team that has a great record at the track and is excited about qualifying.  Kasey Kahne's first impressions of Hendrick Motorsports was "very very impressed," with a lot going on.

With his contract with HMS, he has a short-term form of stability and it's something he hasn't had to date.  Up to this point in time, he's learned a lot and now is the time to take advantage of what he's learned and the situation he's in now.

A Quality Chat With Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton is a classic fan favorite. At least he is here at NBaP. He's been around long enough to know what it takes. He's adapted well enough to stay in contention, and it's just great to see all his hard work get rewarded every now and then and not watch Jeff fade into obscurity like some other drivers may have with time.

Earlier this week, Jeff Burton sat down with the press to chat about a few things. Let's see what he had to say on a few different subjects:

Coming to Phoenix, Jeff has won twice here so you would think it's a good track for Jeff. Despite that, he has some concern being as the team has not done as well as they need to. They're hoping to turn the tables this week for the 12th place sitting team.

His Take On The Economy
It's not as bad as they initially worried it might be, Jeff's take is that sometimes people just have to

"..buy milk first before rather than going to a race, and that's OK. That's a decision people should make."
Regardless, he knows the sport has lot of loyal fans, and he appreciates that.

His take on Marco Ambrose as a driver.
He said he hasn't had a lot of interaction with him but added that everyone is impressed with what he's been able to do this year as far as running competitively, barring engine issues.

Like any rookie, he's feeling his way through it and he thinks what Marcos has done is good.

NBaP LOL Moment:

Jeff was asked if he could understand Marcos when he talks with him.

Jeff said "I grew up with Ward, so I can understand pretty much anybody."

About drivers reaching out to more fans:
A lot boils down to how much time the drivers have to spend. The sponsors have always been the driving force behind the fan interaction with autograph sessions, sweepstakes and other things. Now that racetracks are stepping up to the plate and holding fan events. Everyone needs to do as much as possible on a race weekend to make the experience fun for everyone.

On the lug nut issues at Texas, where lug nuts are falling off because of the new
stud rule, gluing issue.

"Well, the stud length rule, the theory behind that, is that if you don't have enough threads on the nut side of the wheel, it's dangerous. The problem is the more threads there are, the longer it takes to tighten it up. In a competitive-based business, when our tire changers are paid and given the charge to do it quicker than the next guy, making it take longer – it doesn't make it safer. In some ways that can actually make it less safe because you have to stay on the lug nut longer."
He feels the idea behind the rule is sound, but the practice of isn't working out quite yet.

Yet, he doesn't lose sleep over the impact the issue can have on him. His focus is abut the things he can control such as getting on pit road, getting on good, putting the car where he needs to put it and all the other driving parts to the equation.

Otherwise, he says his guys work exceptionally hard and he feels like he's in good hands.

About Sponsors Demanding More For Their Money These Days

Jeff replied, "It's a buyer's market. I don't care what you're buying, except for maybe handguns and ammunition, it's a buyer's market."

His take is that corporate America is really smart and that's why they're where they're at. They're always gonna be looking for added value, there's no question about it.

And with that, teams need to be proactive in what they offer, but it's a fine line between getting a great deal and pricing yourself out of the position to be competitive.

Having "owned" Phoenix earlier this decade, does he think that if they unload a halfway decent car, can he contend for the win?
He feels they can contend for the win and it will take the entire team to do it.

"I can't just sit back and say, I've won her before, you just got to give me a good car. Getting a good car has a lot to do with the driver's input, what the driver thinks he needs out of the car. There's a lot to it other than unloading it. I believe we can go to Phoenix and compete at a high level and contend for a win."

On The Challenges Of RCR Adding A Fourth Team
It's been very difficult, having to build 25% more cars and have more employees. Despite new issues from having four teams, he feels that ultimately it will make them stronger.

Does a racecar driver have to ignite the fire in their belly or does it burn constantly?

He says everyone is human and they have their up and down days. There's even different times in your life or in your day even where you're not as motivated as others. He feels it's important to stay focused.

Despite getting older, he hasn't lost the competitive edge everyone says would happen. Yet he can't predict anything.

"I may only go to Phoenix for three or four more years. I don't know. I want to go for 10 more years, but I don't know if I'll be able to."
"I'm more motivated today than I was when I was 18 because I understand how special it is. I've lost it, and now I have it back. I want to make sure that I don't lose it again."

Tony Stewart On Where He And His Team Are At

Earlier this week, Tony Stewart sat down with some media members via teleconference and fielded some questions. The following are excerpts from that interview with Tony Stewart

On his new team: He's pretty happy with how things are going. Especially with the great day they had at Martinsville, both teams finishing in the top 10.

Not knowing when the organization was going to hit its stride, but they did right off the bat was a great thing. Obviously he's overlooking the bad luck Ryan's had, and focused on the fact that he's had a 7th- and a 6th-place run consecutively.

He feels they clicked sooner than anticipated.

NBaP Warning: It's a long read folks but I didn't want to leave too much out. Get some coffee and kick it a few!

On thinking more as an owner than a driver when racing:
TONY STEWART: I haven't. I catch myself worrying sometimes about where Ryan is, you know, with some of the bad luck he had early in the year and that's probably the only difference between what I normally would do and what we're doing now.

For the most part, I stay strictly in that driver mode and concentrating on what I've got to do to get to the front.

On feeling any pressure to not get involved in the controversies that come along during race weekends?
TONY STEWART: If anything, it's made me feel like I could get involved in them if I chose to.

It's been easy to kind of stay out of the controversy. We've got enough stuff to keep us busy that I think it's a little better to put it all in perspective and realize that some of those controversies aren't worth the time and effort.

On the idea of building a Cup team from scratch, like Michael Waltrip Racing, and on the improvement from MWR:
TONY STEWART: Definitely seen a great improvement. With Reutimann and Marcos, they have had two great weekends in a row.

I can't honestly imagine building an organization from scratch. I don't think I would have tried to take that on.

On where the 20 car is now in points, feeling bad for them? Has Joey called for comfort?
TONY STEWART: He hasn't. But I feel bad for those guys because I know they deserve better than that. It's just a matter of time before Joey hits his stride and gets used to being in a Cup car full-time.

He's more than capable of doing it. He's going to hit his stride soon. You can see his confidence building every week.

On the rush or feeling of satisfaction out of having a business success (wins):
TONY STEWART: I am proud of our guys. I've left Martinsville after a third-place finish and left mad 'cause I knew we had a shot at winning the race or a shot at at least a better finish than a third. This weekend a third was like a win to us. A year from now it won't necessarily be like that. I think we'll constantly adjust the yardstick as far as where we expect to be.

But six races in, to have a top-three run like that, then to find out Ryan had a 6th-place run, I felt that was an awesome accomplishment for a young team to be able to do that in just six races.

On comparing winning a race yourself as a driver vs being an owner.
TONY STEWART: A win is more of an individual feeling, whereas a team owner you're happy for the whole organization.

Being a car owner has helped put it in perspective, that it's not just a personal accomplishment.

On feeling if he and Darian have broken each other in yet?
TONY STEWART: I think so. Every week we have spent more time with each other. The one thing that's happened from day one is we felt very comfortable around each other. So from that side, it's been really easy.

At the racetrack, obviously it's taken me a little bit of time to get used to his package, the cars that we're bringing to the racetrack. But every week that we go out and have a good run, I gain that much more confidence in him, in that relationship that we have, with the communication just getting stronger and stronger each week.

NBaP: I told ya it was a long read!

On the government involvement with GM and if he thinks it's going to impact the sport:
TONY STEWART: I don't know honestly. I know that talking to the people at Chevrolet they're very committed to the racing program. They realize the value of it with not only the rest of corporate America but what it does to our nation. It still goes back to 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday.' This is a sport that's been good for the auto industry and vice versa.

I know it's a tough time for them, but they're very committed to not only the racing product, but also the products that they build for the Americans out there in tough times. I'm very confident that the racing side is going to be fine.

On how he looks at the new loop data and their performance potential at Texas:
TONY STEWART: We're pretty comfortable with it right now in all honesty. I mean, we've been to California, which was two-mile. We've been to Vegas, a mile-and-a-half. I feel like our superspeedway program is really good. Our mile-and-a-half package is really good, even though we've really ran one of 'em.

I've got a lot of confidence going into this weekend. Texas is a track that I really enjoy. It's a lot of fun. I feel like we're gonna have a good run this weekend. I have that gut feeling.

On whether they've set goals with the team and if so, where are they with those goals right now:
TONY STEWART: Honestly, we didn't. We go to the racetrack with the attitude that we're going to try to get a hundred percent out of whatever we've got that weekend. I think when we sat down early in the year, you look at everything on paper, and it's supposed to be successful. All the pieces are in place. I feel like all the right people are there, all the right tools are there. So on paper it's supposed to work. It's just a matter of how soon are all the personalities going to click with each other. You start building momentum.

On the recent success being a morale booster back at the shop:
TONY STEWART: It is. You know, perfect example was yesterday. (Monday) We have our competition meetings on Monday. Ryan and I are both there, both the crew chiefs. Bobby Hutchins, our competition director is there. The atmosphere at the shop was unbelievable. Since I've joined that organization, I've not seen everybody in such a good mood and the morale so high. It's a good feeling.

On whether it's too early or just about time to size up where everybody is?
TONY STEWART: I think it's starting to shape up, at least who has the opportunity to be in the Chase. I'm not sure it's an accurate assessment of who's a championship contender or not. I think by now we're all starting to get an idea of who the contenders to be in the Chase are.

I think the next three or four weeks will be an indication of who those people are really going to be that are really solid to be in the Chase this year.

On being a satellite teams and what they might be doing different or better than other teams:
TONY STEWART: I don't know honestly (laughter). It's the first time I've done this. You know, I feel like the biggest key to making all this work is having the right key people in the right places and having the right tools in place.

I feel like Haas Automation, Haas CNC Racing did a great job of building a foundation long before I got there. I can't take credit for all of it. I think what we were able to do, what I brought to the table, was helping to attract some other people that they weren't able to attract in the past that helped make the difference and take it from a team that, you know, kind of was so-so to now a team that can run in the top 10 I feel like consistently.

Megan Fox, trying to figure out if the Ford Transformer is a Toyota or a Chevy!
Just because you've lasted this long reading the article!

On any discernible difference driving a Toyota to a Chevy?
TONY STEWART: It is feeling-wise. It's not so much physically as much as it is in your mind. I'm proud to be back in an American car. That being said, I mean, the physical part of it is it's a motor difference really and decal package. You know, there's that feeling and pride of knowing that you're in an American car, that we're out there racing with some of the best manufacturers in the world. So that sense of pride is the biggest difference.

On the differences between Atlanta and Texas, since they both look the same:
TONY STEWART: They're night and day, in all honesty. I'm not sure that everybody realizes, even though if you looked at the top of the tracks, there's shaped almost identical. But Texas is built quite a bit different than Atlanta is and Charlotte. What most people don't realize is the bottom of the racetrack, the apron, is paved all the way to the inside wall. That's different to what you see at Atlanta, Charlotte, some of these other places. The reason, that's what the IndyCar track was supposed to be. IndyCars were intended to run on the apron. That was going to be their racetrack. The transitions going into the corners and coming off the corners are a little more abrupt and later. The banking comes in a lot later, then it falls off a lot earlier than we have at the other tracks. That's to accommodate what was going to be the IndyCar track. That poses its own unique challenges.

But obviously the grip level at Atlanta is a lot less than what we have at Texas, too. But that's what makes Atlanta so much fun. But, you know, Texas every year that we go through, it's getting better and more worn in to where the groove moves around the racetrack and cars are running from the bottom to the top. At least from a drivers standpoint, we enjoy that part of it. We enjoy not having to be line committed. Helps us out on the aero side. We can help ourselves out as drivers versus just being stuck behind somebody.

On if running Nationwide races are beneficial anymore?
TONY STEWART: I don't think you learn a ton. I mean, you might learn some stuff air pressure-wise. Aside from that, as far as the actual setup of the chassis, they're night and day different now between the two series. I don't think you learn as much as you used to.

On any doubts going into Cup team Ownership:
TONY STEWART: I was eager. I mean, I don't think if I didn't have the background of ownership with the USAC side, the World of Outlaw teams, I don't think I would have been as comfortable making the adjustment to the Cup side. But it's having a great owner like Joe Gibbs that I learned from for 12 years, being in his organization, having that experience at a smaller level.

On the (premature) idea of expanding to 4 teams:
TONY STEWART: I'm not sure we've got that far yet. Obviously when we had our first meetings with Joe Custer, he filled us in on their intentions to be a four-car team eventually.

My opinion on it right now is I don't want us to try to expand until we get two cars really successful. I don't want to expand till we know that they both have an opportunity to win a championship. Once we get to that point, then I feel comfortable expanding the operation.

Question: This was a long read. Should NBaP have broken this up into more than one article? Thanks for coming by.

JEFF BURTON Preseason Thunder Interview

Here's some insider news from one of the many press interviews held at Preseason Thunder at Daytona last week:

Jeff Burton will be driving the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing racing this year.

They're pretty excited about the upcoming year though like everyone else, still holds a bit of reservation with the no testing rule. Despite that, they feel their engine program has improved and they feel good about coming to Daytona, despite the unknowns.

He touched on how though we've been hearing about the proving grounds in relation to questions about the testing ban, it's was interesting to hear that the proving grounds are nothing new to the major players (teams) and that teams are headed to Rockingham and anything else they can do to get some testing under their belts.

And as I've observed and about to mention, he put out there that this is not a literal testing ban, but it's more a testing restriction. So teams will still be testing, but it's just seems so much more apparent due to the lack of track time the fans are used to seeing at Daytona.

Burton also noted how other facilities are looking to update their tracks with the intent of now being usable as a testing area.

The one thing Jeff sees as to what the team needs to improve on is speed. They need to lead more laps and be in the position to win more races.

He added it's not just about throwing money at the car, but it's also in the hands of the driver as "The drivers have a huge play in how fast our cars go, so we have to be willing to look at ourselves and try to find a way to be better, as well."

This in my mind would equate to how aggressive or not one would be hitting the corners, coming out of the corners, the meticulous approach to ones line. They all play a factor. It's been my experience that the less aggressive one is at the front of a fuel run, and you get to run without a yellow interrupting your fuel run, then there is a slight reward at the end of the fuel run as far as how much your tires have fallen off. It's not the most aggressive approach, but it has it's merit. This is just one example I can think of off the top of my head.

On Carl Edwads winning the championship this year: "The question is from a competition standpoint, have other people narrowed the gap, have they become complacent? Carl is going to drive hard and drive very effectively, but this sport is a moving target. You know, it's hard to go into a year and pick a team, but if you had to pick a team, the 99 team would certainly be one of those that you would pick."

Another insightful conversation with Jeff Burton folks.

source: nascar media; photo: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

Casey Mears Press Conference At Preseason Thunder

Casey Mears will be driving the No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in 2009.

With a new team and new situation, here's hoping he can kick in gear and make it work! Considering how well the team performed, he's got mildly big shoes to fill.

Like everyone, he noted how they're not in the car as much with the new testing rules, though they have done some testing "here and there".

He knows he's landing in a great organization and he wants to continue the cars success it had from last year. He feels he's a good fit into the RCR team. He said that not only did the team gel quickly, but some of their test showed they were pretty quick on the track too!

When asked about how the teams are skirting the "no test" rules on NASCAR sanctioned tracks, obviously NASCAR left the "out" on the sanctioned track part, but he feels there might be better ways to approach this testing ban to get it in the right direction because he feels it's not fair to the rookies coming in.

He almost made a good argument for the test ban here at Daytona. Noting that sometimes you can make a ton of changes for 1/10th of a second. But in the process, you'd go out on track, test, make changes, then sit on pit road for 30 or 40 minutes to get back out there and test the changes. Heading off to the GM proving grounds like they did, it was a different fashion of testing.

I keyed in on how the sponsor guys from Jack Daniels are a great bunch of guys to hang around. Dang, I'd like a Jack Daniels sponsor on my blog! I'm thnking product samples! Hmm.. might mess with the writing though!

He also pointed out that though he's not racing on the same team as his good friend, Jimmie Johnson, he said once you get to the track, that's all moot. It's business in the office so he doens't necessarily miss his bud while on-track.

As far as any inclinations of pondering his going into IndyCars, he said the best racing is right here in NASCAR and when you beat NASCAR drivers, you're beating the best.

GOOD LUCK TO Casey Mears for the 2009 season from NASCAR Bits and Pieces.

Do you think he can take the Chevy to victory lane this year? And make a repeat appearance for the No. 07 in the chase year? Chime in and let me know!

NASCAR Media
Photo Cr: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson At Preseason Thunder

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series reigning champion Jimmie Johnson has been battling a cold, but says he's ready to get back into race mode during a news conference during Saturday's Preseason Thunder Fan Fest at Daytona International Speedway.

(Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)







Jimmie Johnson said the break was odd because he hasn't been in a race car in a while and he's happy to be in the 24 hour race. He really enjoys that event. He is looking forward to trying to get a fourth championship. Notice has been served people!

As far as how much time it will take to get the feel back, he thinks with all the on-track activity, everyone will be pretty much up to speed pretty quickly. That said, he noted this is a restrictor plate race and that once everyone gets to California, that may be another matter all together.

Of course, one of the first questions that really was of importance was his ever-developing beard. Will it be permanent? He doesn't know. He said "I typically grow it out in the winter and just decided to kind of stick with it a little longer."

On his over-the-wall team: It is a team sport, and what those guys contribute on Pit Road is a huge part of their success. He feels lucky to have these guys on his side. Chad has made some little tweaks to things over the years to keep it fresh.

In regards to Mark Martin coming on board, he feels Mark will be a great asset to the team and that he's very intrigued by the man. He's curious about how Martin can drive a car as loose as he likes his cars to be. He thinks he can learn something from Martin. If that's the case, Johnson's gonna probably walk with even more titles!

On the idea of branding, Johnson said that most drivers think about that making themselves a brand, but at first it takes success. The on-track success some of the drivers have is the key ingredient to their potential brand success. He feels that 2009 will bring him the opportunities he's been looking for to expand on his brand.

Jimmie feels that this year, the threats to his success are the No. 99, 24, and 18 cars for sure.

Someone asked him about the adage if it ain't broke, don't fix it as far mucking with the car setups to generate their success and he made an interesting observation. His three championships started with the older car, the 2nd one was the mixed season with the old and new cars and last year was the COT. They did it across these three differentiating season. So there is nothing they can say they've consistently used across the three years.

According to sources, his off-track behavior is much different than his polished look on-track. He's known to be able to cut it up pretty good. He says he doesn't make an effort to seperate the two, but his in-car persona is his focus and once away from that, he is who he is. As he put it, "Off the track I'm usually leading the charge to something that could lead to trouble, in a good way. I love to have fun, golf cart surfing, as long as you don't hurt yourself you're fine. I love having fun, I really do, and I have a great group of friends and have plenty of fun off the track. This winter has been pretty hard on me. My liver is not proud of me right now. It's kind of hating me to be honest with you, but it's what you've got to do when you win three in a row."

With that said, I think I just might look at the man a little differently. He parties pretty hard it seems, married hot, and makes the bucks. Oh a day to be in his shoes.

Jeff Gordon Interview From PreSeason Thunder

Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, explains to the media how three men -- Dale Earnhardt, Rick Hendrick and his stepfather -- have had a big impact on him. Gordon met with the press and fans during Saturday's Preseason Thunder Fan Fest at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

The press got a chance to chat with Jeff Gordon, the driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet. They touched on the off season, looking forward to speedweeks, his other team, Mark Martin and his creating his own brand and the testing ban and how that's actually helped.

Let's get to it, shall we?

See the transcript of this article over on NBaP's new spot, under Jeff Gordon's Interview

Kyle Busch at Preseason Thunder Fanfest

Press Interview with Kyle Busch at Preseason Thunder:

Being joined by KYLE BUSCH for the NASCAR media group, he answered a few questions posed to him. Let's get right along to it:

On the confidence levels of coming into the Daytona 500: Because they had such a strong restrictor plate program last year, he's coming into this years 500 with a bucket load of confidence.

On Running both the Sprint Cup series and Nationwide, full schedule. He will be running the full Nationwide and the full Cup schedule. At least that's the plan. On top of that they looking at 12 to 14 Camping World Truck Series races and about 10 to 12 late model races of my own team.

On getting over the last 10 races of the year last year. Did it take long to get over it?: "Not really. Pretty much as soon as it was over, it was over. I was glad it was over."

On generating a different outcome than last year: Granted, the first two thirds went really well. Looking back at Loudon, they shouldn't have made the changes on Sunday morning that we did, the change in the length of the sway bar arm and the length that the angle of the dangle didn't fit together, it ended up pulling apart.

They couldn't do anything different about Dover. They never figured out the carburetor problems they had at Kansas and the rest of the season was a little bit good luck and bad luck. They've been working on braking and being able to turn the car at flat tracks with a little testing at New Smyrna, and have a test planned at Rockingham.

Does he have names for the cars that don't perform? They're cut up and thrown away or made into show cars. (Sounds like a vengeful take on his losing cars if you ask me!)

On what, if anything he learned from last season:
"When you lose luck it just changes everything it feels like. The biggest thing that we learned was just for me to work on the bad days. He says he just can't accept running bad, can't accept stuff falling apart and not being able to challenge for a win every week." (Like we didn't notice the fits!)

On what might keep him from running a full Nationwide season:
"Same thing as last year, just right at Milwaukee, Infineon, doing that trip. If you're too far behind in the Nationwide schedule, just skip out on it, forget about it. We've got some leeway in there. There's a couple races that I think J.D. didn't sell that we're just going to put like Gibbs Racing Oil on it or something like that that's our own sponsor, so we've got some room that we can play around with if we want to."

On possibly dealing with fewer wins this year and maturity, what kind of a challenge will it be to deal with less than what you accomplished last year?
He says this will be his biggest challenge and all they can do is work their hardest to continue to perform.

He was asked AGAIN about how he'll be different (Emotionally) this year on the racetrack compared to the past? I found this funny: He was honest and said he didn't know but is hoping that hopefully Tony Stewart with his new team can make it exciting, or Carl Edwards, or anybody else out there that wants to get down and dirty and grind up on each other.

On a possible scenario of running smaller fields while weathering the tough spell:
There is no rule that says there have to be 43 Cup cars, 43 Nationwide cars or 36 trucks but we'd be sacrificing better racing. He says the Truck Series will have 10 trucks that have legitimate chances to win every week. A higher number of cars in the Nationwide Series and the Cup series, even more. With all the folk that are looking for jobs, he thinks that some of the Cup guys available could go to Nationwide teams, helping them get better, mixing up the competition.


Source: NASCAR press relations

Dale Earnhardt Jr. At Preseason Thunder

NASCAR SprintCup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. at a news conference Saturday at Preseason Thunder Fan Fest at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)





The press was joined by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and they chatted about the Daytona 500 and your 2009 season with the No. 88 Chevrolet.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR. is looking forward to going into the season 2009 season and pragmatically has the same perspective I do about things when he said that "It will get here when it gets here," because we still have a few weeks and a Super Bowl to watch. He too is curiously wondering how the testing ban will affect everyone though he feels it won't really affect his team / organization.

With no testing, he basically indicated that "That really only takes a couple laps really to get reacclimated," and "it should just be like an old shoe, you know, your favorite pair of slippers or whatever."

In regards to comparing the old car to the new car, he was asked "How is the new car different here to rate in the draft strategy wise?" and Dale said that "This car is a little bit more difficult to move through the pack." The new car punches a bigger hole when two or three cars get lined up which effectively eleminates the the center lane which used to be an option in the past. The center lane effectively makes it harder on the car to "get any grip out of the car." due to less downforce.

He did say the reason the racing is so much better at the end of the 500 is "The great thing about the 500, though, is it starts in the daytime and ends at night, so when the sun goes down the temperature goes down, the grip comes up a little bit, so the racing right at the end of the race it's a whole lot better than what you've seen all day long."

Dale was asked about a lifetime supply offer of BBQ from Memphis barbecue and his reply kind of cut to the quick, at least for Memphis BBQ:

Basically he said those kind of deals get under your skin because even though he hasn't been there in quite some time and probably won't be in the area for any time soon, they use his name to try to sell tickets and get a "plug for no damn reason." But the Rendezvous dinner was his favorite and that Memphis has great barbecue ribs

He was asked if he evernamed any of your race cars: "Yeah, just for fun. We used to name them all the time. I built some street stocks. My granddaddy Robert G. used to name his race cars all the time. I had the Mach 5 and the car I raced at Myrtle Beach and the late models I built from the ground up, we called it Wild Eyed Crazy Mary." A Pearl Jam song name.

In regards to his first year with Hendrick or his take on the DEI Ganassi merger, he was real happy how the season started but the 2nd half of the season was a bit of a disappointment. As far as the merger is concerned, "I'm pretty happy, I think, for them." Dale says no one can get a word out of Mark Martin about it... "He's like talking to a rock."

"I don't know what they're doing, but I hope that it's good. Merging has always been pretty decent for everybody that I've seen it happen to. Chip has some real strong views, and he's a tough, tough, tough competitor. He's got a reputation, and I think that will be good for them because he's certainly visible at the racetrack, and that's good as an owner for them, and Teresa didn't really like coming to the track and didn't want to be around the racetrack. So now they've got one of the owners that will be at the racetrack. A driver has questions and he needs to talk to an owner sometimes on a Friday night or a Saturday, so that will be good."

When asked about all the people he's met, who is the one person you've come across that you were really surprised to find out was a NASCAR or a racing fan? His take was that he really appreciated LeAnn Rimes for being so kind to me and her husband was a big fan, and she, too, is a big fan, and they're just really really she was always just really pleasant.

Dirks Bentley is a big fan and that was great and they've become pretty good friends. But there are a lot of different people.

He was asked the inevitable about the Car of Tomorrow what he thinks it will take to win Daytona this year. Dale Earnhardt Jr said he's got to be fast, like the 18 and the 11 were last year and you need to handle good.

It's all about making the right choices near the end of the race but that every battle for position is a potential battle for the win.

When asked about the Bud Shootout this year and NASCAR's expanding into 28 entries Dale was hoping to avoid this particular question, but he said:

"I don't like the new format. You had a race for guys who won poles, you had a race for guys who won races in the middle of the season, and now neither one of those are hardly recognizable. I haven't asked NASCAR why they changed it, so I don't feel like I can rightfully say much without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves for their reasons. But apparently there were some reasons they changed it, and it's obviously better for the manufacturers with this new format for the Shootout. But it's less about why the race was started in the first place.

It just sucks because I'm such a historian of the sport, and I just like all the history and I like all the cool things about the history, and I like looking back on the guys who were in this race in the '80s and '90s and why they were in it and how they got in it and who missed it the next year and made it the next year. I don't know, just sort of things change. Maybe there's nothing wrong with this new format. Maybe I just hate change. I like the old format.

On Aric Almirola having no guarantees after Daytona and the 8 car being in question for the rest of the season he says he's emotionally connected to the number and he hopes the No 8 can run all year. As far as Almirola, because he's had to put off this season. He's been pretty excited the last couple of years looking forward to this season and now it's up in the air.

"So much has changed in the last six months in this sport, in the last 18 months a bunch has changed, and I just hope we can get all settled down somehow and start having a little bit of order around here and start rebuilding, everybody getting some stability financially to where we can have more expectations than we have questions."

That wraps up some of the material he touched on yesterday in Preseason Thunder! Hope you enjoy