Dodge: NASCAR Media Day

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Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes - Brad Keselowski Open Interview - NASCAR Media Day



DAYTONA, Fla. , Feb 10, 2011

- BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WOULD HAVE MORE OF AN ADVANTAGE IF THERE WERE MORE DODGE CARS ON THE TRACK? “No, not really. I think that it’s an over-reported story to be honest. I think that the support that we get from Dodge is equivalent, if not better than what any other manufacturer gives. Sure there are less numbers which decrease your odds in saying, ‘Dodge only won three races last year’. If you look at the dollar cost value of that, they’ve spent less and put in a good effort to still win races. I respect that. I think that they’re doing the best job of all the manufacturers of leveraging where they are at in the sport and taking care of the amount of money that they spend. I’m proud of Dodge for that reason. I really like their cars. I really like where we’re going with them. I got a sneak peek at the 2013 Cup car and thought that it was really awesome. Dodge is kind of steering the way on where the sport goes on projects like that. They showed that already with the (NASCAR Nationwide Series) Challenger. Dodge was a large part of the design process, through the Challenger of the new Nationwide car. I think that we would all agree, the car turned out better than the COT versions before. I think we’re going to see another evolution of that led by Dodge for the 2013 (Cup) model. That’s the story that should be reported about Dodge, not that there’s only two teams.”

IF YOU GET BOXED INTO A SITUATION WITH THREE OR FOUR LAPS TO GO AND HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUSH KURT TO A WIN, IS THAT OK WITH YOU? “Yeah, it’s OK. Some days you’re in the driver seat, some days you’re that pusher, that guy that’s helping. It would be an honor if I could push a guy like Kurt to win the 500. I wouldn’t be upset about it. That still doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win. If I have the opportunity to win, I’m going to take it.”

KURT’S CARS WE’RE, FOR THE MOST PART, VERY COMPETITIVE. WHERE DID YOUR CARS STRUGGLE LAST YEAR? “There were just a lot of different things going on. A lot of differences in approach. A lot of differences in the way that the cars were put together. We’ve got to get that figured out. Basically, Kurt’s team is a really good team that’s well established and done a lot of good things. Obviously, he’s a good driver and deserves some of the credit as well, whether that’s from his feedback or just pure skill. I always try to keep that in mind. I thought that there were times where we were better than he was. When we were better than he was, he was a 30th-place car and we were a 20th-place car. When he was better than we were, he was a top-five car and we were a 20th-place car. The highs and lows were pretty drastic on both sides, his especially. You try and keep that in perspective and think about what we can do to be better. I think that Paul (Wolfe, crew chief) and his approach to making the cars better will pay off and, in the end, help Kurt as long as Paul can do so.”

TALK ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BUD SHOOTOUT ON SATURDAY? HOW MUCH DOES THAT HURT? “It’s huge. To me, it’s nothing short of a (expletive) disaster to not be in the race. The way that practice is set up, nobody is going to practice all week. They’re going to practice the single car runs. They’re going to practice for the Shootout. They’re going to do a couple of short runs, but there will be very little practice all the way up to the Twins, especially after the Twins. I was very disappointed not being in it. There’s nothing that I can do.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT THE CRITERIA FOR THE SHOOTOUT SHOULD BE? “There’s just so many ways that you can pull on that. I’ve kind of given up giving any thought on that. It really doesn’t matter.”

IT JUST SEEMS LIKE IT’S NOT SPECIAL TO BE IN THE SHOOTOUT ANYMORE? “Whether you agree or disagree with a person like me being in a race, I think that we can all agree there are better ways for coming up with the field.”

DO YOU HAVE YOUR DRAFTING PARTNER PICKED OUT ALREADY? “You really can’t. You work well with who you find. You find a guy in the race that you have that right run, I’m gonna hit him, push him and he’s my guy. If you’re not moving together, write that down. I’m not working with that guy. You try to put that together. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I can’t answer why that is. There are just certain cars that go and ones that don’t. You just kind of pick through them all and find the one that work. You wish they had a sign on the roof that says, ‘This car’s good, this one’s not’ but they don’t.”

DOES THAT CHANGE DURING A RACE? “I don’t see how cars get better. They get worse.”

DO YOU AGREE WITH NASCAR’S DECISION NOT ALLOWING DRIVER’S TO RUN FOR MORE THAN ONE CHAMPIONSHIP? “I think that it’s the right decision for the sport. At some point, we all have a role in looking out for the sport. At what level is debatable. That was the right role for the sport, in particular the series, to do what it needs. It needs more young drivers. Quite honestly, it’s to my benefit. The way that I’m going to get better in this sport is for other young driver to come up and for me to be more of a senior person who has the experience. You can look at it positively, or negatively. In the long term, I think it’s good.”

HAVE YOU NOTICES A CORRELATION BETWEEN THE NOSES ON THE NATIONWIDE CAR AND CUP CAR? “It’s hard until we get to all the tracks and get going. The biggest things that you notice so far are that it doesn’t have the splitter braces. After two years, the Cup car gets to remove its braces (laughs). That’s good. Looking at it, it just means that the cars are a little bit more durable which is good. Guys just won’t lose their splitter and be done for a day which means you can run a little rougher and rub fenders and not worry about the thing breaking off. I think that kept a lot of drivers from being as aggressive as they want to be. Everybody seems to be about aggressive racing. It was interesting toward the end of the year, although the media couldn’t see it, the sport changed a lot over the last 10 races, at least the cars did and the way that they performed. We saw a lot of side-by-side racing and a lot of it had to do with the nose and what people were doing with it. It’s almost a shame from that standpoint that we changed nose pieces because it took away some of the things that we were doing to it to make the racing more competitive and have more action. We’ll see if that comes back or not.”

WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU MAKE TO THE CAR PRIOR TO 2012? “I think that the biggest thing is that we need to make the cars run better, I mean run side-by-side and do all those great things. We need to reduce the effect of the splitter because it puts all the downforce so low and creates a lot of sensitivity to the car. When the car bottoms out, let’s say you drive in a corner underneath somebody, you have to drive it in just that little bit deeper to clear a guy and drag the splitter and about wreck both of you. It’s annoying as hell and keeps you from being as brave as you’d like to be to make a pass, make a maneuver on someone. Now there’s a high possibility that you’d knock both of you out. You want to pass everyone every chance that you can. There is some risk-reward for trying and not wrecking yourself in the process.”

WHERE’S THE BALANCE BETWEEN HOW THE CAR DRIVES AND DRIVER PERFORMACNE? “It should be about both. Right now, it’s like a car that’s damn-well impossible to drive which means you have to be perfect – which is good in some sense – at the end of the day. The only selling point at making a car to where it has to be perfect to where you have to be perfect – the selling point is for that – is that the best driver will make a difference. It’s still not that way. There are still enough differences in the car where the best teams are still faster like they were with the old car. Now, it’s just impossible to run side-by-side. We haven’t hit that balance like I think we could. We’re working on it. I think that the sport is working on it. There is a balance there. You don’t want the cars to drive easy. I don’t think anybody is asking for that. You should be able to get under a guy and put a little bit of extra “oomph” in it and make a move and not wreck you and him.”

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Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes - Robby Gordon Open Interview - NASCAR Media Day

February 10, 2011 , DAYTONA, Fla. - ROBBY GORDON (No. 7 SPEED Energy Dodge Charger)

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH DODGE? “I want to start off and tell you how excited I am about this opportunity. AT RGM (Robby Gordon Motorsports), we haven’t had a factory program for two years. We kind of rode it out with Toyota, but it wasn’t a factory program. We really didn’t get any help and that’s the truth of the matter. The motors were good. I don’t have any complaints about the motors or the way that the program went. They had their priority teams prior to us rolling in. My Gillett-Evernham program that was a Dodge program before was all through Gillett-Evernham.

“When I went to their (Chrysler) facility 65 to 70 days ago, I was thoroughly impressed. One, with what they are producing for cars. Second, what their facility is compared to the other two in Detroit. Whoever hasn’t been to Dodge, it’s a beautiful facility. They have all the tools to do what they need to do. I feel with guys that they have in charge with Ralph (Gilles, president and CEO of Dodge) and Bryan (Viger, Head of Dodge Motorsports), and all the guys in the motorsports program, I’m excited about the direction that they’re headed with Dodge and there is multiple opportunities with Robby Gordon Motorsports.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT USING PENSKE ENGINES? “The best that we ran with the COT is when I had my split with Gillett-Evernham. I knew I wasn’t going to partner with them. I bolted a Penske engine and we ran in the top 15 pretty much every week. I’ve known Roger (Penske), heck, for my whole career. I’ve idolized him and love the way that he runs his programs. I respect him tremendously. He’s the Captain. Back when we raced Indy cars he was the top, top team that everybody idolized. I had one opportunity to drive for Roger and I choose the Felix Sabates stock car program because I thought that was right direction for my team, for me as driver at that time. Roger’s cars handle on the straightaway. You have to handle on the straightaway. When 85 percent of your lap at most NASCAR races is full throttle, you better handle on the straightaway. The new Dodge engine (R6P8) that they came out with last year, the way that they ran being the two fastest cars here in Daytona (during speedway test), I’m excited about the package that I picked.”

HOW MUCH DID YOU HAVE TO SELL DODGE ON YOUR PROGRAM? “This program actually started about a year back. If Penske would not have reduced down to two cars, there wouldn’t have been an opportunity for me just because they (Dodge) had their program. When that happened, it opened up a great opportunity for us. We get to play in the ‘Fast and the Furious’ program with them which fires out the whole month of April which is perfect for SPEED Energy. SPEED is about a fast and speedy lifestyle.”

DID YOU GET TO WALK THROUGH DODGE’S WIND TUNNEL WHEN YOU VISITED DETROIT? “I toured the place when I negotiated our deal. They were unveiling to their employees their new vehicles. So it was perfect because I got to see their new product line coming out not only for 2011, but what was coming out for 2012 and 2013. They’ve got some very exciting cars on the horizon.”

WHAT DOES YOUR 2011 CUP SCHEDULE LOOK LIKE? “It’s an interesting question. Last year Jamie McMurray started off a little uncertain on how their program was going to be. It’s just amazing how a good result at Daytona can change your season one way of another. Right now, I’m gonna say that we’re good for 18 NASCAR events. There are other things that I want to do. It’s not that I don’t want to race. There’s other event that I’d like to do. With my specialized situation that happened with SPEED, that put us back about 60 days. That probably jacked our Indy 500 program. We’re really starting to gain some momentum. We’re (SPEED Energy) selling product and that’s a good thing. We’re gaining more distribution on a daily basis and we’re kind of controlling our own destiny. Our program is different with sponsors than it was before. We’re really not selling sponsors, we’re selling, ‘Hey, the spots next to Red Bull and Monster. Those are the spots that I want on your shelf and I’ll give you Daytona.’ So we’ve been able to do deals with GNC. We’ve done deals with Basha’s. We’ve signed up multiple, multiple Budweiser distribution deals. Our product is just starting to roll again. We control our own destiny. I am the driver. I am the owner, kind of the sponsor, except for our sponsorship with Dodge. We can be as creative as we want to do.”

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Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes - Kurt Busch Open Interview - NASCAR Media Day

DAYTONA, Fla. , Feb 10, 2011 - KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T)

HOW DOES THE 500 PLAY OUT IN YOUR HEAD? “There’s a ton of variables. I respect Daytona different than other race tracks. I feel my time is around the corner to break through for a win. You can’t expect a win to happen; you have to put yourself in position to win. Over the years, to finish second early on, that was a nice surprise. To do it the second time against Jeff Gordon – I had a move I could have made on the back straightaway; I saw the draft filing in to my inside and I had to block my position and finish second. And (Ryan) Newman, pushing him to victory in ’08, the thought was to go three wide and try to win it for myself on the back straightaway. And the way that things positioned, it was push him because we would have stalled out next to each other. What’s good is that I’ve been in position to make those thoughts, to be there on the final lap and that’s what we have to do again this year, put ourselves in position to win the race. There’s so many unknowns – the two car draft, fresh pavement, tires not wearing out, new fueling system; there’s a lot of new variable going into this year’s race and I like that. I like when there’s newness to a situation similar to when the Chase started back in ’04. It’s up to the guys that are able to adapt to the changing circumstances to win. I don’t feel like I’ve been cheated or been robbed or disappointed that I haven’t won here yet at Daytona. I was even leading in an IROC race with a quarter of a lap to go and lost it finishing second to Newman, which is funny. You just have to be there and be in position. This year, I think survival is going to be one of the key elements.”

DO YOU BREAKDOWN A PLATE RACE INTO SEGMENTS? “You break it down by whose run well in practice, and then you see who’s been practicing well. Over the years, you develop your buddy system. There are guys that haven’t won that hang out together. A guy like (Kasey) Kahne, myself, (Juan Pablo) Montoya, it’s almost like you have to battle against those guys that have won before with (Jimmie) Johnson, (Jeff) Gordon, (Dale Jr.) Earnhardt. As the race progresses at the old Daytona, you had your tire cycle – who is good on the longer runs. Now we don’t have that. Everybody is going to be fast every single lap. You’re going to have guys who flat spot their tires on pit road and come back out different in the cycle of either yellow-flag or green-flag stops. Then you break the race down into quarters- first quarter, second quarter, third quarter etc., and the different lap segments that you can make on fuel. In the end, you have to be positioned with two stops to go and be one of the cars that people have respected all day long up front.”

WHO DO YOU LIKE WORKING WITH IN THE DRAFT? “Those are the guys that have been running a few years on the circuit. I know that when I first started, there wasn’t one guy that chose to stay with me and I got ousted so to speak. It’s just an unwritten law that when you’re a veteran, you don’t really work with the rookies. You go through those hard times; you want to give those hard times back. Guys like me, Kahne, Vickers, Montoya, and Newman – of course, we’ve worked well. I’ll really be counting on (Brad) Keselowski this year. He’s a good plate racer. He’s smart and we’re expecting to team up when we can. You find those guys that you can work with. I’d like to say that I’d work with the Hendrick guys, but I more or less use those guys when I need them because I know they won’t work with me in the end when it counts.”

YOU HELPED NELSON PIQUET JR. OUT LAST YEAR. DID SOMEONE HELP YOU OUT WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER? “There’s always that one key guy that you can look up to for experience and I feel like Mark Martin was my guy being teamed up with him at Roush Racing. I met Nelson Piquet Jr. through my firesuit company in Italy. They said that he’s a cool kid, just a little lost in the NASCAR world, go say hi. It was just an instant connection.”

WHAT’S IT GOING TO MEAN TO YOU NOW THAT PENSKE ONLY HAS TWO CUP CAR TEAMS? “In a sense, we have the best quality people that we can possibly bring to the race track. We have just two teams – Sam Hornish’s group, we’ve cherry picked them. We found the best key guys to help the 2 car and 22 car get stronger. We’re now bringing an extra engineer to the track each week, one that filters information solely off the seven post and wind tunnel and who helps our lead engineer communicate to the crew chief and myself better. There’s a stronger debrief session now that we’re going to have after the practice sessions.”

HOW WAS YOUR VISIT TO SHELL/PENNZOIL HEADQUARTERS LAST WEEK? WE’RE THEY PRETTY EXCITED? “It was neat to see the excitement level from that type of executive group. Here we are with some of the people that are in Europe, in Houston, they know what type of money that they are spending on the NASCAR program as well as what they’re receiving on the business-to-business side with Roger Penske, with all of the oil and fuel that he needs for his car dealerships. To get the “101” and get all the tag lines and see all the big promotions start to hit the street now is neat. When I win now, if you have a Shell Gas Saver card from Shell, you save twenty-two cents a gallon on Wednesday at the pump. This is a huge promotion that not just NASCAR fans will see, but any person that goes to a Shell station to fuel up. Who want to save twenty-two cents a gallon? Everybody.”