NASCAR's One Billionth Blog

DALE EARNHARDT JR. Q & A

2006-07-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet, met with media following Friday's practice at New Hampshire International Speedway. Dale Jr. enters the race weekend third in the Nextel Cup point standings:

What do you think about Juan Montoya’s jump to NASCAR?

“It’s pretty cool. It’ll be cool to see how he does.How difficult do you think it will be for him adjusting to these cars?“I’ve never been in a Formula 1 car, so I don’t know what he’s up against really.”There’s a good chance that Jeff Gordon could tie your father in victories this week. What would that mean to you if that happened?“That’s a pretty good accomplishment for anybody. I’d have to shake Jeff’s hand, because any time you tie my daddy in anything, it’s something to be proud of.”The fan base for you and Jeff is kind of like the Yankees and Red Sox. How do you think the fans will react?“I really don’t know.”Saw a lot of springs coming out of the trailer in the first practice. How’s your car today?“Ahhh, it’s alright. I mean, it’s OK. It’s sort of frustrating trying to get it to where it will run in practice.”What’s the challenge of this race track? What’s the key to having success here?”“Turning in the middle… about like everywhere else.”You’ve run against Jeff Gordon your entire career. How do you compare (Jeff and your dad) as race car drivers?Well, dad was really aggressive, and Jeff wasn’t very aggressive. It seems like he’s getting more aggressive as he’s getting older. Jeff is really, really smooth, where dad was sort of barbaric with the race car. They were very different in their driving styles.”Are you going to watch the Busch race from your pit box tomorrow?“I don’t know, I haven’t decided.”I know you’ve done it in the past. What do you like about being on top of the pit box?“I don’t like it up there. I get mad, get angry, I want to drive. I want to tell people what to do, so I try not to put myself in that situation. (Pause) I usually watch it from the bus or somewhere. When you’re on the pitbox, man, you either want to be driving the car or tell everybody what to do, and it’s hard to sit there and maintain your position, know what I mean? It’s hard to stay in your place as the owner, so it’s sort of frustrating to be out there. It pumps the guys up to be out there, but at the same time they gotta know it’s frustrating at times.”There was so much retaliation at this track last fall. Do you think that will happen again?“I can’t remember what happened here last year.”Robby Gordon throwing his helmet… Michael Waltrip…“Oh yeah, that seems like two or three years ago.”Do you think we’ll see that again?“I don’t know. That sort of stuff ain’t really characteristic with this race track, so I don’t know. We’ll just have to see.”What’s going on with the race car right now?“I’m just hot as hell, man. I mean, I don’t know, they got this air cooler box that ain’t worth a damn. It won’t work. When we qualify, they take all the stuff that dissipates the heat in between the exhaust and the chassis off the car, so it’s just frustrating. We’re not real fast, and it’s just frustrating as hell. I just want to run better. (I’m not frustrated) at any one person… just at the race car.”Did you guys get all you want out of the Indy test? You guys left after a day…“Well it was raining real hard, and I told (Tony Eury) Junior when we got up in the morning that if it was raining that I would come pick him up, but I was going home. We had a pretty good day on Monday. Junior felt good enough about that to cut the test short, but (the weather) didn’t look great for Wednesday either.”There’s been a big rumor about Danica Patrick might be considering running here. You know what it’s like being a media star. What do you think it would be like for her if she came over?“It would be tough for her, but that probably has no bearing on her decision with whatever she wants to do with her life. If she wants to drive stock cars, if that’s what she wants to do, no media pressure or anything like that is going to deter her decision. Obviously, she’s got a good idea of what it would be like, because she’s probably had a lot of pressure on her so far from the media. Ya know, she probably would have a tough time with the schedule because their schedule is so short. I believe she’s already commented on the schedule as being a turn-off, and it is to pretty much everybody else. I think she’d have fun, and she’d probably have a better time or an easier learning curve than Juan (Montoya) would, but Juan with his experience and his draft-knowledge of race cars over the years and his success, he’s not going to have any trouble. He’s been in a different world. I think the biggest thing Juan is going to face is the change in the culture itself.”What did your dad think of Jeff Gordon?“They had a great respect for each other, and had a few business deals together. They worked together off the race track. They had a great relationship. They were really good friends actually.”Do you think he would be pleased to see Jeff move in on his win mark right now?“Yeah, sure he would, but it still ain’t first. Y’all act like it’s the big 200. How many did Dad have, 71 wins? Something like that?”Seventy-six wins.“Seventy-six. Yeah, well, when you look at the success Jeff has had, it’s really no surprise.”

JEFF GORDON UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

2006-07-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Chevy which is getting booed by race fans more and more these days.

JEFF GORDON CORNERED BY MEDIA

2006-07-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

The media corners Jeff Gordon for an interview at the track.

MATT KENSETH IN CAR ACCIDENT IN INDY MONDAY

2006-07-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

QUESTION TO MATT KENSETH MONDAY AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
HOW HAS YOUR TEST BEEN SO FAR?

“We didn’t really get too much accomplished. On the way to the race track I got ran into by a student driver. That was the start of my morning. I was at a stop light and Biffle was following me from the airport and he always runs into me, so I thought it was him joking and it wasn’t, it was a student driver and instructor who just pile drove into the back of me, so that was exciting. I didn’t even stop. They wanted to stop and fix it, but I didn’t care if the bumper was laying on the ground or not. It was a rental. I would rather pay for it than mess with that, so, anyway, we got here and ran a couple laps and didn’t run too good. Then we took the second car out and I wrecked that right away, so it’s been an eventful 24 hours. The beginning of our test hasn’t been very good to answer your question.”

MONTOYA GOING STOCK CAR RACING

2006-07-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates announced today (Sunday) that Formula 1 ace Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the No. 42 Dodge in 2007. Montoya captured the 2000 Indy 500 in a Ganassi-owned car. No driver has ever gone straight from F1 to Cup in the history of racing. Montoya is expected to make a number of starts toward the end of the 2006 season to prep for 2006.

Oh yeah, Ganassi is paying Montoya a huge amount of money. Contract details were not released, but it will be a dump truck load of money.

JEFF GORDON'S NO. 24

2006-07-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

Up close and personal with Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Chevy. Fans enjoyed booing it when it was being pushed around inside the garage area at Daytona.

Shouted one fan: "Get that #&@* outta the way, will ya!"

WORLD'S BIGGEST LOGO

2006-07-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

Ground level on the tri-oval grass at Daytona International Speedway. Please don't step on the Pepsi 400 logo!

WRITING ON THE WALL

2006-07-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

In the hours before the Pepsi 400, race fans are allowed on the track and many of them like to scribble a message on the outside retaining wall near the start/finish line at Daytona International Speedway.

STEWART'S NO. 20 ROLLS INTO INSPECTION

2006-07-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

Tony Stewart's Pepsi 400 winner shown here hours before the race being rolled toward one of four inspection areas. Stewart has won the Pepsi 400 the last two years.

TONY STEWART WINS DAYTONA

2006-07-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

Tony Stewart won the Pepsi 400 Saturday night in Daytona leading 86 laps. He leaves Daytona with two wins this weekend -- the IROC Round 3 on Thursday night and Saturday's 400.

RACE FANS CRAM DAYTONA

2006-07-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

Race fans streamed into Daytona International Speedway all day Saturday to watch the Pepsi 400. At left, fans mill around the grassy tri-oval area. At right, fans sneak a peek at drivers and teams from FanWalk.

BORIS SAID SHOCKS NASCAR, WINS PEPSI 400 POLE

2006-07-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Boris Said reacts on pit road after winning the pole postion for the Pepsi 400. Said said: "I was like a monkey driving a space ship."

OLD CHAMPIONS GATHER

2006-06-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hall of Famers Ray Fox, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison share some old stories in a recent meeting during race week at Daytona.

MAX PAPIS TESTS IROC CAR

2006-06-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

Max Papis has had a busy race schedule. In the last 5 weeks he's raced in the Indy 500 and last week was in the 24 Hours of LeMans. On Thursday he's gonna win the IROC Round 3 on the Daytona road course. Here he is testing an IROC car at Daytona.

JEFF GORDON STOMPS GRAPES IN WINE COUNTRY

2006-06-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

Jeff Gordon, after winning at Infineon Raceway today, snapping a 19-race losing streak:

“I knew this team was something special. We just haven’t had a chance to really show it. They gave me such an awesome racecar this weekend that I had to get them this win. If we didn’t win with this car, we can’t ever win. What a great day, you know. Just kept working on it. We weren’t the best all day but we got that track position. It was great. It was awesome. Man, I didn’t know if we were ever going to win another one of these races. I’m speechless. What an amazing moment this is, a very special weekend for me and this race team to get back to victory lane.”

(Courtsey of Wix Filters)

BORIS SAID SAYS......

2006-06-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

Boris Said, driver of the No. 60 Sobe No Fear Ford Fusion, qualified fifth for tomorrow’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race. Said, who has formed a business relationship with Jack Roush, plans on qualifying for at least three more races this season including next week at Daytona, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen. He spoke about his goals before Saturday’s practice session at Infineon Raceway.

BORIS SAID – No. 60 Sobe No Fear Ford Fusion – YOU ARE KIND OF BECOMING THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF PERSEVERANCE WITH YOUR EFFORTS TO BECOME A FULL-TIME CUP DRIVER. “Yeah, I mean my whole life people have always told me no. You’re too poor or you’re too old or you’re too ugly or whatever, and that’s always been my motivation. I’m gonna succeed at this and I had to start my own team to try to do it. Now I’m kind of controlling my own destiny. Yesterday was one of the most nervewracking days because not having any points to fall back on, it wasn’t so much me if I screwed up and went off the track and didn’t make the race, but just the effort we’ve put in the last two months with this team and putting it together. There was more to it than just driving for somebody else. To qualify good, it’s like the weight of the world is off my shoulders and now I just can’t wait to go race.”
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ARRANGEMENT YOU HAVE WITH ROUSH RACING? “We’re buying some cars, leasing some back-up cars and leasing motors from them. A lot of people can do that, but the biggest thing he offered us was to share his black book – to help us with setups and help me at Indy and help me at Daytona. That kind of information is priceless and the trade for that is I’m opening my books to all of his guys and trying to help them in their road racing program, including all these young guys coming up the pike. I think it’s a good trade for both of us.”
YOU TOOK SOME GUYS TO ROAD ATLANTA RECENTLY. “Jamie, Greg and Matt went to Road Atlanta and then I actually came here and spent two days one-on-one with Carl Edwards. I would think we’ll do more with the other guys before Watkins Glen and then before the Busch race there we’ll do a bunch of stuff with Danny and Todd again.”
SO WHAT’S THE LONG-TERM PLAN FOR THIS TEAM? “We’ll do four or five races this year. We need to build up our inventory. First, we’re gonna try to wait until there is more Car of Tomorrow stuff, so we don’t have to have that extra expense of building cars that are only good for one year, so next year we’re hoping we get to do 10 or 15 races. That’s kind of what we’re looking for because we’re basically looking for sponsorship.”
WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE TO DATE DO YOU FEEL YOU’RE CLOSER THAN EVER OF REALIZING YOUR GOAL OF BEING A FULL-TIMER ON THIS CIRCUIT? “Yeah. When I get on a road course, I know the absolute limits of the car and my limits and on an oval I don’t because I don’t have the experience. But everytime I get in I’m getting better and better. Driving the number 9 Busch car the last few weeks has been a big help and last week I had a lead lap finish, 14th place, so I think I’m really starting to get it. I think all of that is gonna help me when I get to Indy in another month and that’s something I’m looking forward to more than anything in the world this year.”

TONY STEWART PLAYS POKER AT DAYTONA

2006-06-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

The 2005 Nextel Cup Series champion played about 90 minutes of poker with media and some of his friends from the circuit. To the right of Stewart in the photo is NASCAR vice president of communications Jim Hunter.

"Hunter never lays down," Stewart said.

Stewart hosts card games with his friends on race weekends. Hunter plays with Stewart "3 or 4 times a year."

TONY STEWART ON THE COUCH

2006-06-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

Tony Stewart surrounded by print and radio media at Daytona on Tuesday. He was in town to promote the upcoming race weekend in Daytona Beach.

TONY STEWART VISITS DAYTONA

2006-06-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

Tony Stewart dropped in at Daytona International Speedway Tuesday to pump up ticket sales for next week's Pepsi 400.

Here he addresses the media about the upcoming Nextel Cup Series race.

KASEY SPEAK

2006-06-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)NOTE: Kahne scored his circuit-leading fourth victory o. f the season and the fifth for Dodge at Michigan International Speedway since Dodge rejoined the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup circuit in 2001. Dodge has won more races at Michigan than any other track and is tied with Ford with five wins each at MIS since 2001.

“I was happy either way, whether they started the race back or not. I thought we had a good shot. The team has done a great job this season and they give me a car capable of winning every week. I made ‘em work a little harder this weekend, but everything worked out. They did a great job with the car and that’s the fourth time we’ve won with it this season. “We had a great car. We had a problem early on with debris. We got some debris on the car and it overheated. We had to pit. I was trying to pass Jeff Gordon, racing with him and then we just had to pit and get it off the nose and go from there. We fell back to 38th and started battling back from there. Kenny (team director Francis) took two tires one time and passed some cars on pit road and the pit crew probably passed 10 cars with pit stops. It was a great car to drive and a great team to work with.” COMMENT ON YOUR NEWFOUND PATIENCE “You do need patience on these type of race tracks. The air is such a big deal and if you put your car in the wrong spot against another car or certain areas in the corner you can spin yourself out in a second. You do need patience, but at the same time you need to charge up there. We knew the rain was coming. I knew it would be here sometime around lap 100. We did all we could to pass cars. I think I was four-wide at one time and three-wide another time. My spotter said that wasn’t being patient, but I was like ‘well, it was open. I really couldn’t tell it was four wide.’ It worked out and we’re just happy to be in victory lane.” COMMENT ON YOUR BACKUP CAR “It wouldn’t have been good if we’d had to get the backup out because we had no time on it. Things change. It’s probably a great car. I don’t even know which car is back there. Kenny would know. (Told it was the California car). It ran fourth there. It’s a good car, but we knew what we had with the car I was driving yesterday and just needed to make the repairs to it. It wasn’t too bad. It was bad enough it took a long time to fix, but it wasn’t bad enough to pull out there spare. We knew where that car was, and that’s the car we wanted to race.”

Text courtsey of Dodge Motorsports
Photo courtsey of Getty Images

BIFFLE TO BEAT; HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL

2006-06-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Who's gonna win the race today?

Take Greg Biffle. He's a horse at Michigan. His last three starts, he has two wins a sixth place finish.

It could easily be a Roush sweep.

And, it's Father's Day, so give the old man some special loving!!

KASEY KAHNE WINS MICHIGAN POLE (SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?)

2006-06-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

( Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Comments courtesy of Dodge:
KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)
NOTE: Kahne captured his fourth pole of the season, beating Jeff Gordon by a whisker.
“Our Dodge Charger was really good today. That was a great run, and we’ll be starting out front on Sunday. I’m looking forward to it. This will be a great track to keep those Chargers up front. It’s so close to Detroit. It should be a lot of fun. I was worried when Jeff Gordon went out. He always qualifies well and I’ve seen him get the pole here before. It ended up close, but we were able to get it. I was sweatin’ for sure. We were a little free in turn three and then I got right back in the throttle. It carried a lot of momentum and stayed right where I wanted it on the track. It was better than it was in practice. I was happy Kennis Francis and the guys made a few adjustments, and it went the right way. It was a good run for us. When you see the 24 going last and the 16 and 18 and a lot of good cars going late, but the track had stayed really close. I was hoping the sun wouldn’t go down or anything like that and it didn’t. It was really a pretty fair test for all of us. I was waiting on Jeff. It was maybe he will and maybe he won’t, but I was definitely nervous.”

THIS IS THE CHARGER YOU’VE WON WITH THREE TIMES THIS SEASON. WHY IS IT SO GOOD? “I don’t really know. They built it during the off season, the guys at Evernham Motorsports, and we’ve just had some great runs with it. We’ve been up and down in all of those races. We’ve probably fallen back to 20th or in that area in all of those races and fought our way back. It’s very sensitive to being off. You can get it off, but you can also get it right back. Small adjustments really work on the car. If you can keep it in that area, that good side of things, it’s fast. That’s what we’re looking for on Sunday. We should have a great starting spot, and we’ll just make fine-tune adjustments throughout the race and hopefully we’ll be there at the end and have a shot.”

HAVE YOU PUT MORE EMPHASIS ON QUALIFYING? “We really haven’t. We made one run today, one lap in qualifying trim during practice. We worked on our race setup the entire time and got the car comfortable. We wanted to keep working on it, but we ran out of time. We figured out the changes we needed to put us in the ballpark when it came to qualifying from where our car was in race trim. We made one run and ended up on top and ended up on top in qualifying. It’s a really good group of guys.”

COMMENT ON POINTS RACE “When I came into this season, I put down some things I was going to work on, and I gave it to the team. One of them was to bring home the cars in one piece and the other was communication with Kenny Francis and my guys on the team. So far we’ve been able to do a good job with that. We’ve been able to make the cars better every weekend and bring most of the cars home. If we keep doing that we should end up in the top 10. If we get sidetracked or I start wrecking cars, we’ll probably miss it. We’ll just keep trying to do the same things we’ve been doing.”

COMMENT ON ROAD COURSE RACING “I tested last week with Boris Said one day, and I feel like I learned some things. I feel like we can run in the top 15 and keep the car on the course. That will be the big thing. I don’t feel like personally I can go there and win the race. I don’t think that I’m good enough road course driver yet to do that, but I’ve made gains. I think we can finish in the top 15 and with a little luck maybe better than that. The key will be to keep it on the road and bring the car home in one piece.”

COMMENT ON YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THE TEAM “It goes back to preparation, and my team has done an awesome job ever since we hit on some things in off season testing. We’ve been able to fine tune and come back to them. I think the communication is there and as long as we keep doing that stuff we should keep showing up with great racecars.”

WHY THE BLACK HATS?

2006-06-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Jeff Burton, left, and Ryan Newman, right, buck the NASCAR trend of wearing Nextel's yellow hats? Why? Because their sponsors are competing wireless phone companies. Cingular and Alltel were involved in NASCAR racing before the arrival of Nextel, so they were grandfathered into the series. When they take "official" NASCAR photos, they were NASCAR hats.

(Photos courtsey of Getty Images)

NEWS ABOUT ERIN CROCKER

2006-06-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

ERIN CROCKER RETURNS TO MIS IN HOPES
OF BUILDING ON SEVENTH-PLACE FINISH FROM A YEAR AGO

LOCAL FAVORITE JOHNNY BENSON ON HAND TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE

BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 14, 2006) - One would think that a driver who had finished seventh at MIS just a year ago would need no further help on the two-mile oval, but Erin Crocker’s drive for racing keeps her wanting to build on the result which made her the second-highest female finisher in track history.

As a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Crocker also plans to run a limited schedule in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2006. In preparation for the June 16 Hantz Group 200 during MIS’s ARCA testing session on May 23, she was accompanied by Michigan native and fellow NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Johnny Benson in the garage. Though she acknowledges a certain recognition of how to run well at MIS, the humble Crocker maintains that there is always more to learn.

“Evernham Motorsports and Ray Evernham have done a lot to help me,” said Crocker. “Sometimes it’s hard to relate with a crew chief who’s never been a driver, so it’s just good to have a driver coach. Johnny’s been nice enough to come out here and help as a mentor.”

Count Benson as a believer in the young Crocker. The Grand Rapids native who calls Michigan his home track and has made 24 starts at MIS (including five top-five finishes) would normally have to make a much more thorough explanation to a young driver like Crocker if called upon. However, he already believes Crocker understands how to succeed and that he might not need to help her so much at Michigan.

“I think the experience that I have here will help some, but I can probably help her more come race time,” said Benson. “She can go fast, but she just needs a little bit of help with some race stuff. They’re throwing her to the wolves, going from the dirt cars to this type of cars to the trucks. That’s just a huge, huge jump, a bigger jump than I’ve ever taken. I think she just needs that little bit of a foundation and once she gets that, she’ll be fine.

“As long as they get some people to help her out, which is kind of what I’m doing, this will be a good thing for her and for the sport. For her to come and get some success will be good for racing. She’s got a lot of desire and I think she’s got a lot of talent too. She’ll have to get through that learning process the best that she can and with as much help as she can.”
Even as seasoned drivers like Benson and others continue to realize Crocker’s potential not only as a female driver but as a driver in general, a certain novelty still surrounds her status as one of the only females in the top levels of motorsports. Crocker understands that there are two sides to the coin, which drives her to succeed.

“I’ve gotten used to (the recognition), but like I say in every interview, there are positives and negatives to being a female in this sport,” she said. “If I do well, it gets recognized right away but if I do badly, it also gets recognized right away.”

If Crocker knows how to benefit from teaching and learning experiences (likely as she owns a bachelor’s degree in industrial and management engineering), then her racing career should carry some exciting moments in the future. Crocker admits that both the ARCA and Craftsman Truck Series have helped her immensely, and it appears that she understands what to learn from each different style of racing.

“ARCA’s been an excellent training ground,” said Crocker. “The top levels of NASCAR right now are really, really competitive, and the ARCA series is a great place to learn because it’s not too cutthroat or anything. Honestly, it’s a confidence booster for me to come over here and run well at any time.”

With a veteran on her side, a solid team in her back pocket, and the clarity of mind to understand what it takes to win in different types of racing, Erin Crocker seems to be ready to engineer her own success behind the wheel of any vehicle.

BUSCH BANTER FROM KURT

2006-06-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

KURT BUSCH ANSWERS SOME MEDIA QUESTIONS FROM A TUESDAY TELECONFERENCE:

Q. In regards to what is often referred to as "silly season," where drivers and sometimes sponsors switch rides, last summer you announced you would be leaving Roush. In terms of being bombarded with questions about that decision week after week, looking back, how difficult was it to cope with that, and in the same vein, during the next few days, weeks and months ahead, how difficult is it going to be for Brian Vickers and Casey Mears, who are in sort of a similar situation, until they announce their 2007 plans?
KURT BUSCH: You know, it is interesting. This has come about lately, some of the drivers that you see in the NEXTEL Cup, different types of motorsports as well, are always confronted with, am I running well enough, is it my own self, is it the team, where are things wrong and why should there be a change.
So Brian, he's made the announcement that he wants to switch teams or he wants to go in a new direction. I don't know the details. I don't even know if he signs for three or four more years; I don't even know if his contract ends this year. What I do know is that he's trying to position himself for a position where he thinks he can go and win races. He's with a very competitive team. Is he high enough on the ranking order? Who knows, because we see the success that Jimmie Johnson has, Jeff Gordon, as well as my little brother, Kyle Busch, over there. Why isn't Vickers running well; who's to know. So he's looking around for other opportunities to try to win races, because we all believe that Brian Vickers is very talented.
So he's got now with the media and the questioning that's going to come about on why he is switching, where is he going. And the advice that I did give him at Pocono is to know in his mind that things are going to be a bit out of the ordinary in the next upcoming weeks and months and that when you jump in the race car, that's when you get to the fun and drive that car as far as you can and try to pick up a win.
Q. Ryan Newman was in town next week, met the Governor and was in the capital of Lansing, and he was asked how his relationship with you was, and he said it was pretty excellent; that you guys are working as a team; you have no issues. Although, there's a lot of work to be done. How do you rate your relationship with your new teammate, and secondly, what's the difference or the main difference between running for Penske and Roush?
KURT BUSCH: On the first part of the question with the team communication and the camaraderie, I think everybody is doing a superb job, and the way that the information is being shared. Secondly, out on the racetrack with Ryan, it's definitely something where the two of us can help each other, whether it's a restrictor plate race at Daytona or Talladega, we've strapped in real well together; or a short track, if one of the car is faster than the other, we let each other go by. You know, those things go a long way and one little small thing can add up to be a big difference. And whether you're running for a win or helping a guy get a Top 10 finish.
So far, everything has gone very well working with Ryan Newman. I feel like he's a great teammate and the two of us will definitely be able to make one another better as we continue forward. And the second question, it's just the family atmosphere around Penske Racing and the way that he runs a tighter ship, not everybody wearing the white collared shirts, but everybody here is smiling and having fun, and it's definitely an atmosphere where it's easier to work in.
Q. Looking at where you are in the standings, you moved up the spot to 17, and we've got 11 or 12 races left. Is the sense of urgency, has that become focused in your mind as far as it looks like the Top 10 drivers are going to go this year and the 400 points count?
KURT BUSCH: Yeah, I believe you're correct in the 400 points. You definitely have to race to the Top 10, and the Top 10 guys will be in. And so we look at it where there's still plenty of races for things to go wrong and things to go right. Hopefully we're on the right side of things with our team because we have had our share of bad luck and misfortune, so when we are able to put a good race together, just like we did this past weekend at Pocono where our crew won the checkers realtime award for the least amount of time on pit road, we raced well and are competing in the Top 5 all throughout the day. So if we can continue to do that and position ourselves, we can make this Chase, and we'll have an opportunity to do that in these next upcoming races to see what we have.
Q. As stated earlier, you have one win at Michigan. Your teammate, Ryan Newman, has two. How much help or is there any help coming from that side on what you should do with the Dodge there?
KURT BUSCH: There's been a tremendous amount of help with getting the aero balance correct and with the general, I guess you could say, setup characteristics. Both of us have won there. We each know how to get around the racetrack. But when we sit down and talk about it, he let's me know things he's done in the past, and I let him know of some small things that I've done and the two of us can make each other better. So I believe the team communication is going very well, as well as the driver communication to help us both do better.