Denny Hamlin 2022 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes

Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin

NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH (February 16, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media prior to the Daytona 500 this Wednesday:

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

What is your secret to winning so many Daytona 500’s?

“I think ‘wild card’ is a bit gimmicky because it’s not really true, but it is to some extent. We’ve seen a lot of first-time winners here which has all been really legit. I wouldn’t say Michael McDowell was a wild card winner because if you look at previous races, he’d been in the top 10 or top five pretty consistently. It wasn’t really an out of the blue shot there. But, in general, I just think I have a good understanding of the air here and how it moves around the walls. Talladega is different. If you look at our results, we haven’t won as much at Talladega, but we’ve been pretty good. Here, there is just something about – whatever it is – the banking or the width of the track, height of the walls or something that I just kind of know where those little pockets of air are it seems like that are a little bit better. We have a new car now and it’s going to move around a little bit different and we will probably be learning just like everyone else will be this weekend. I don’t know that the advantage really will be as big as what it was in the past.”

Why will the new Driver Advisory Council be different than those in the past and why was now the right time to get it back together?

“I think it’s been a long time coming. Certainly, I think that it’s been worked on for a while. I think this just kind of gives us one uniform voice. I guess we’re going to be speaking through Jeff (Burton) and Kyle (Petty) a lot. What it allows us to do is internally talk about issues that we see or things that we think could help make the sport better, talk about that and then let them deliver that one voice. Where a lot of times what happens in the past is that – and sometimes you see this in the RTA meetings — where the kids get chasing around a soccer ball and the next thing you know we’re way off topic and things just don’t really get done. I think this, if you just have one person in the room kind of relaying messages that it certainly will let that group collaborate and make things better.”

As you look forward, what are the things that need to be done?

“I do think that we’ve definitely created a lot of excitement within our sport and there’s a lot of really good reason for the positive momentum that we’re seeing. Whether it be the Next Gen car and then just the hope that hey, this is something that could be better. That certainly brings hope and optimism. When you go to new markets, whether it be Road America or COTA, we saw fan enthusiasm that we didn’t see at the tracks we’d been to over and over and over. LA as well. I think that those are all very, very good things in our sport that we’re doing. As a driver, you love to see it. As an owner really, we just have one question and that’s what is the cost of it? Any time you do things that are out of the ordinary or adding things there is a cost associated with that. That’s really all I care about on that side, but as a driver you look at this in general and say all these moves are very good for our sport and certainly it looks like we’re gaining some very important traction for us this year.”

From the Clash, is it possible to have a points race on a track that small? From an owner’s perspective, is it better with the cost savings with no pit crew, etc.?

“I always have to think through my answer to make sure I’m not making anyone really mad. From a driver’s perspective, it very, very good. We absolutely could run a points race there. That was a very fun race. They did a fantastic job with that whole – whether it be track, entertainment – it all was absolutely fantastic. It was really good and would love to go back there at that particular track. And even thinking about other venues that would make for a track similar to that. On the ownership side, again all we think about is cost. When we look at where our teams net there it was bad. It was really, really bad because it was very expensive for us to go there with significant damage to the 45. When you look at what we win versus what we pay out it just didn’t add up.”

How has Bubba’s activism helped grow the McDonald’s partnership?

“I think it was very important for our team in general to just be different. Our team is organized differently, we operate differently within our four walls. We probably look a little differently with our cars. There’s just a lot of things that we like to do that is just a bit different. If you look at the Jordan brand in general, you would say that their style is different than the norm. I think they’re more likely to reach out and test the barriers. I remember when we were talking about branding and things like that with our team with Michael (Jordan), he’s like ‘I would like to push the boundaries but let me know when I’m getting outside the spectrum.’ I think those are things that certainly when we saw our audience in LA, they don’t wear the norm, but it’s something that I guarantee that this drop of this special collection will get eaten up very, very quickly probably by the younger demographic and next thing you know you have people wearing NASCAR gear again.”

How much do you expect to see new guys run up at the front during the first part of the season with the new car?

“Temper expectations on that. The quote of level playing field is probably overused. Certainly, probably a tighter box from front to back but again it’s just teams find ways. If you look at single car runs yesterday, the same guys that have been on all of the poles have been the fastest. While technically you’re able to put the same parts off of his car on my car and my car on his car, what really has changed? Well, nothing really except maybe the motor is different and the body is different but they’re significantly faster. You’re still going to have the team’s resources to find a way to make the car faster than the teams that just bolt it together.”

What’s the difference in winning as an owner versus winning as a driver? How significant was Bubba’s victory in Talladega?

“It’s very significant. The timing of it was very significant for us certainly. If you can win in your first year as a team it’s a huge accomplishment, so it was very important just on so many fronts. It renewed enthusiasm. McDonalds hasn’t been in victory lane as a primary sponsor in decades before that. It’s just reinvigorating their excitement within our sport and certainly that goes a long way. When they come to us and now, they’re looking to sponsor Kurt Busch that’s a good thing right. These are all really good things for us. We’ve done a great job on the partner front. The team is really doing well. I think that we’ve been able to really keep the momentum with our team going from when we initially said we were going to start this 16 months ago to this point I think the enthusiasm for our team has kind of remained the same and it hasn’t just fell off a cliff and you’re now just one of the cars out there running. That has allowed us to gain some enthusiasm with our partners and them expanding to new and better levels, and certainly helps us to do the things like what we did this offseason, which is expand to a champion driver and a crew chief that have worked together that will have great results this year.”

How far do you think Bubba Wallace is away from being a Playoff contender? Do you think you can get both cars in the Playoffs this season?

“I do. I do think it’s possible. I think a goal for us to have both cars in the Playoffs. I think Bubba (Wallace) isn’t far off from that. It’s one DNF away – when you look at the standings of who is a contender to beat. I remember last year we were talking with two races to go from the Playoffs – two or three races to go – and it was like ‘We’re 30 points behind. That’s not that much.’ It’s not that much. You can gain a couple spots a week and on average change a drivers finish from 20th to 18th and you’re there. It’s not that much and you really won’t see that much but yet you’ll see a big change in the standings. That’s just the way our sport works. I think in general the average finish of the field is going to go up this year. Maybe not for the guys in the back who ran in the back pretty much every week, but really, you’re top 10 I would say in average finish probably will go up at least a few points than where we’ve been in the past just because of mechanical failures, wrecks, all those things will be up dramatically this year. It will be important to finish races and finish to the best of your ability and not stretching for one point and then making a mistake and losing 20.”

How can your prior success be brought to this weekend?

“That was our practice ultimately and I think that we all kind of knew that going into the test and I was pushing Kurt (Busch) pretty heavily and Joey (Logano) and I were blocking pretty heavily and pushing each other which that is what we’re going to be doing in the 500. I don’t know that you’ll see that really in practice here or even in the 150s. Simply because the way my team explained it to me is that if we crash here in the test, we have time to overcome it, but on the race week it will be very, very tough to overcome any damage. I think that was the moment where okay if we’re going to push the limits let’s do it here, do it now. So, that’s why we spent two days here being as aggressive as we were because my crew chief said to enjoy while you can because you’re not going to be doing it again until the 500.”

How do you figure out who to answer to with all your roles now?

“That’s a good question and it’s a tough balance honestly. It’s not a tough balance when you’re talking about how can we grow this sport together and make it better together. But it is different at times because you’re wanting your messaging to be positive, but you also have to be realistic. On the ownership side I’m probably more on the realistic side because we see all aspects of it. The driver side, I’m optimistic and then on the NASCAR front side and management and all of that I’m optimistic as well. It’s just each portion has a different level of concern and some of it is high, and some is low, but I always just try to be honest with my answers and try not to put on the rose-colored glasses and say everything is okay, everything is okay while a dumpster fire is going on right behind my back. It’s a tough balance because you want to do your job to help promote and make the sport a very positive place which in the general scheme of things it definitely is. But then there are concerns and little dumpster fires here and there that you’ve just got to make sure that you keep an eye out on and it doesn’t expand into something bigger.”
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Kyle Busch won two of first five Cup races at Kentucky Speedway

Kyle Busch is 5/1 to win at Kentucky on Saturday night.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 SNICKERS® Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing: 

What are your favorite moments at Kentucky Speedway? 

“I have a few favorite moments, actually. The first time racing in the ARCA Series, I won that race a long time ago. And then just a few years ago when I was able to win the race at Kentucky in 2015 during my championship season, just coming back from injury, and that was the first of three races we won in a row. We were able to pass Joey Logano that year late in the race and go on to win – that was a fun one, too. The track that year was really wide, we were running four lanes off the bottom and that never happened before. I’m also really excited to have SNICKERS on board with me this weekend and also have ROWDY as one of the new hunger symptoms on their packaging and also on my racecar.” 

Where do you have the Jukebox trophies from winning Cup and Xfinity races at Kentucky? 

“One of our jukeboxes is downstairs in the play area, where we have the downstairs bar and pool table area. And the other one is in (son) Brexton’s playroom. He knows how to turn it on, goes up there and it’s playing whatever music is on. Brexton loves the jukebox, for sure.” 

How big of a challenge do you have with turn one and two versus a completely different turns three and four at Kentucky? 

“I think the biggest thing we saw last year is that the groove goes from being so wide coming out of turn four and down the front straightaway, it kind of narrows up getting into turn one and the racetrack width narrows up, not to mention the groove is probably only one car wide. Then, on the other end getting into turn three, the track kind of widens out down there and you have plenty of room, but again it narrows down and there’s only one groove. We tried our best to get it rubbered in during the test. It seemed, in turns one and two, the rubber laid down well but it was more of a challenge in turns three and four. We’ll see how it is this weekend.” 

How does it feel to know you’ll always be the inaugural Cup Series winner at Kentucky for the rest of your career? 

“I think it’s cool. You look at some of the new venues we’ve been to over the years and Jeff Gordon got to win a number of inaugural races, like the Brickyard, Fontana, and Kansas. He was always the guy who was known to figure out places the fastest, but we were able to be the ones to do that at Kentucky. There aren’t many opportunities these days to go to a new venue so, for us, being able to win the first race there was extra special, and we’ve really kept that going there by finishing in the top-10 in all the Cup races that have been run there. We’d certainly like to keep our record going there this weekend with our SNICKERS ROWDY Camry.” 

Is Kentucky a special place for you? 

“I love Kentucky. It was special there in 2011, when we were able to win the first Cup race there, and it stayed that way during our win there two years ago. I look forward to going back every year. It’s a pretty challenging racetrack. It used to be a place that lends itself to different kinds of setups because it was so rough. Fast lap times at Kentucky come from momentum. The place is so round that there’s not a ton of banking compared to some other 1.5-milers. It’s all about how round the corners are and just being able to maintain corner speed and stay on the gas. We certainly think we have as good a shot as any to get back to victory lane there with our SNICKERS ROWDY Camry. It’s a place we get excited about, for sure.”

Kevin Harvick 'riding wave' talks with media Friday at Phoenix

Kevin Harvick has finished 1st or 2nd in his past six Sprint Cup starts

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S/BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed his relationship with his crew chief, Rodney Childers, his approach to the season now that the No. 4 team has a win and many other topics. Full Transcript:

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE RUN OF SUCCESS THAT YOU ARE HAVING? WHAT HAS BEEN THE SECRET TO THAT SUCCESS OVER THE LAST SIX RACES?
“I think that just comes down to the guys on my race team and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing for just bringing really good cars to the race track. Particularly the No. 4 team and being able to capitalize and manage the weekends, races and keep the cars together, as well as, doing all the things that it takes to just make laps and keep yourself in contention. Just really proud of everybody on my team for everything that they have done. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling. We will try to ride the wave as long as we can.”

NOT JUST THE FACT YOU ARE ON A ROLL IN THE LAST SIX RACES, BUT HERE AT THIS RACE TRACK SIX WINS, WINNING THREE OF THE LAST FOUR RACES. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY THAT SUITS YOUR DRIVING STYLE?
“I was so mad at Bryan (Sperber, Phoenix International Raceway track President) when he told me they were going to repave the race track. In hindsight I guess you could look back on it and say it’s probably been better for us than the old style Phoenix International Raceway. It’s just a place that I really enjoy. I think (Turns) 3 and 4 still have a lot of the same characteristics that the old track did. We were fortunate to be able to come and test here several years ago, when they repaved the track and for whatever reason just fit everything that we were doing.

“Last year was as good of a year as you can have here. I look forward to coming to this race track every year. Like I said last week in Las Vegas, these are places for me that I have raced at since the mid ‘90s. To come and race in front of these race fans and be able to hear stories about people that watched you race in the Southwest Tour, Winston West or the Truck Series through the years it’s a lot of fun for me. Just to see old faces and friends and also get to race on a race track that used to be probably, between the Copper World Classic and the 300 mile race that we used to have here, at the end of the year for the Southwest Tour cars, this was our biggest race. To grow up racing and come here was our Daytona 500 every year and to be able to come back and do that now as part of your job is something that for me is a lot of fun.”

YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH A LOT OF CREW CHIEFS OVER YOUR CAREER AND HIRED CREW CHIEFS FOR YOUR TEAM WHERE DO YOU RANK, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP THAT YOU AND RODNEY (CHILDERS) HAVE?
“I don’t know where it compares to anything else, but I can tell you that Rodney and I get along like we are long lost brothers. Sometimes you get in situations where you are talking about the car and you will type things at the exact same time. We have a very similar background of how we grew up. His demeanor is a little bit different than mine. Obviously, we are different ends of the spectrum as far as he is about as laid-back as you could possibly be and still be awake. I can get pretty wound up. I think that balance is good for both of us, to push each other and kind of find that middle road. I think the other thing is just, I know a lot of you guys have heard me talk about it before, but we are very similar in age. We have a lot of the same interests in life in general. I can’t tell you a day that has gone by over the past year and a half for sure, that we haven’t spoken in a text or conversation about something to do with the race cars. On occasion when he doesn’t have anything going on, which is very race, it will just be ‘hey how are you doing today’. That communication has carried over into the rest of the team.

“I think that when you look at our race team everybody was assembled, after we put Rodney in place. Everybody was assembled to come to the race team to race with us. Gene (Haas) and Tony (Stewart) gave us the ability to go out and buy race cars and trucks and trailers and pit boxes and everything was just kind of custom built I guess you could say to what Rodney wanted to put into the team. All of those guys have the same goal and they knew what they were getting into. It wasn’t like people were placed on the team because they didn’t have somewhere else in the company or ran out of guys to interview. Everybody wants to be here for the exact same reason that we are experiencing right now. We are just fortunate to have the resources and the money and the assets, as well as, the people to be in this position. We don’t like to talk about it much, just for the fact that you don’t want to jinx yourself and you just want to continue doing the things that you are doing. Because we are having a lot of fun at it, but I can tell you that the guys will come into the garage this week and they will most likely have forgotten about winning last week and worry about where we are with practice for this week and what is going on.”

IS YOUR TEAM OUT ON AN ISLAND OR ARE YOU TRANSFERRING ANY INFORMATION? WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE TO THE DISPARITY IN FINISHES BETWEEN YOUR TEAM AND THE REST OF STEWART-HAAS RACING? WILL KURT (BUSCH) BE ABLE TO HELP NOW THAT HE IS BACK?
“I think there are a lot of questions to form into one answer. I think when you look at the changes that we made at SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) this year I thought on paper they would be really good changes. I think they have been really good changes. I know that the No. 4 and the No. 14, all those cars are built side-by-side and put together by most of the same people. I know that all of our notes are live when we are in the garage and everybody shares information. But there are different characteristics of driving styles and interpretation of what you think you need and things like that. I think the No. 41 car ran well at the end of last year. I think that you will see that car run well immediately this weekend and have a good weekend. I think Danica last year I thought she had, until the very end of the year, had a really good year.

“I thought she raced well, didn’t finish, some of the situations she was in to capitalize on a top-15. I think for her situation 10th to 15th are realistic goals and really trying to build on those finishes and get some top 10s along the way, which she did. At one of the toughest race tracks at the end of the year last year at Atlanta. Kansas she ran really well, so I think we are fortunate to have had a stable situation.

“I think when you look at the No. 14 they have had a lot of things to work through. They have had a lot of changes on their team this year and it’s just going to take some time to figure out exactly where they want their cars and what they need to do. I tell people all the time from when I owned race teams in the past, you can put an all-star group together and buy all the best parts and pieces. In the end it’s really about the details and the things that happen at the race track. And evolving that foundation of where you think you need to be in order to move forward and make it better every week. I don’t think that Tony’s team has really had time to really get into that situation yet. Like I say, that is a new group of people and kind of starting over. We are three weeks in, they have not had a great start and I think everybody is aware of that. I think as you look at everybody at SHR, they are doing everything they can do to try to make that as good as possible.”

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT BEING FAST OFF THE TRUCK GIVES OTHER TEAMS SOME ROOM TO MAKE SOME HEAD WAY? LIKE GUYS LIKE MARTIN TRUEX, JR.?
“I don’t know anything about anybody else’s situation, but I can tell you that I approach our team as I’m just a source of information. That is really how Rodney (Childers) and I had decided that needed to go in the beginning. I can help control the direction of a lot of things that are happening whether it be development or things that are wrong with the car and just push buttons. That is what I always tried to do as an owner was push buttons and try to trigger conversations that would hopefully maybe lead down a road of finding something better or solving a problem. In order to do that you just have to be in communication with the engineers and the team and everybody involved that is working on these cars on a day-to-day basis. I’m just a piece of the puzzle that tries to feed as much information and participate in as many things as I can to understand and be involved in what is going on. But this is a science project now-a-days with the engineering staff and the crew chief. That is really way out of my league as far as how to make the car even stay up off the ground. Or what springs you need to put in it. It’s way beyond me. I just try to be involved in it to try to keep pushing forward.”

EDDIE GOSSAGE (TRACK PRESIDENT AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY) ASKED ME TO REMIND YOU THAT THEY HAVE VICTORY LANE AFTER THE CUP RACES ALSO. I GUESS THAT IS AN INSIDE JOKE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU. IS WINNING AT TEXAS AT SOME POINT IN YOUR CAREER ON YOUR TO DO LIST?
“Yeah it’s definitely on the to-do list. But just in case Eddie doesn’t know, there are a lot of other race tracks that we can win at. So maybe there is something wrong with his track (laughs). No, it’s just been a place where we have run well, we just haven’t been able to put together a weekend. Eddie gives me a lot of grief because we have had a lot of success in the Truck Series Victory Lane. And I would see him a lot on Saturday’s with the Xfinity car, so he gives me a lot of grief about Sunday. We came close there in the last race last year. It’s definitely something you definitely want to check off the list and I feel like we have run well enough there in the past to get to Victory Lane. I’m sure he will continue poking fun at me.”

I CAN REMEMBER A 7-TIME CHAMPION IN THIS SPORT IN GREAT BELIEF OF YOU AS YOU MOVED UP IN YOUR CAREER. DO YOU EVER SPEND TIME THINKING ABOUT HIM WHEN YOU HAVE SUCH GREAT FINISHES AND HOW HIS BELIEVE WAS THAT THIS IS EXACTLY WHERE YOU WOULD BE?
“I don’t know that is 100 percent true. I think obviously Richard (Childress) hired me and we had some success the first year. And I’d been a part of the conversations between Richard and Dale (Earnhardt, Sr.) that were really just about not racing on Saturday and racing on Sunday because there was a lot more to achieve. There was a lot more financial gain on Sunday’s; especially at that particular time. Dale would prod at Richard on occasion to make it happen but that was really only one year. There wasn’t a lot of interaction with Dale. I think as we went through 2000 we did a lot of the testing for his car. But, other than that, those guys were always pretty busy and we were pretty green and scared to death to walk up there and go in the lounge and talk to him, first off. But it was definitely an interesting time in the sport that I think you’ll see again in six to 10 years just for the fact that there’s going to be a lot of open seats.”

WHEN YOU’RE ON A ROLL LIKE THIS, WHAT ROLE DOES PATIENCE PLAY ON YOUR END IN LETTING THE RACE OR THE CAR COME TO YOU? CAN YOU AFFORD TO HAVE PATIENCE AT THIS LEVEL?
“I think you just have to try to balance everything and really just approach it like you do every other week and not get caught-up in a lot of the things that are surrounding the events and the attention and all the things that come with everything we’ve been able to accomplish. For us, it will just kind of be the same approach that we take in order to go out and practice the car and try to get the balance right and try to go as fast as you can and like I said, there’s not going to be anybody on our team that’s walking around beating their chest. It’s just going to be a normal approach to going out on the track and doing the same things to show up for another race and try to do the same things again. So, it’s a pretty simple approach that fortunately I’ve been able to be around a lot of situations and experienced enough to have been to a lot of these race tracks that you just take that approach and try not to worry about the rest of it.”

WHAT TYPE OF VIBE IS THERE AROUND THE ORGANIZATION TO HAVE KURT BUSCH BACK AND HAVE HIM ELIGIBLE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I think everybody is just excited that we’re able to just kind of put it all behind us. I don’t really know much about it other than it seems like it’s on its way to being over. And to have Kurt back in the car is an asset to everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing and from a performance side; and everything that he does inside that race car is a benefit to us. So, we’re definitely looking forward to just worrying about racing the car.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS RACE TRACK?
“A lot of the same characteristics exist in (Turns) 3 and 4 that used to exist with the apron and up the race track and through the middle of the race track and the options that you have down there, and Turn 1; there’s a lot of little things that help get the car turned to the center of the corner. And for me, one of the things I liked about this race track is just being able to pick out really simple markers; things to aim for and things to let off at. For me, any time I can have good reference points, it’s easier to repeat what you’re doing. And that’s really one of the things that we concentrate on is just trying to get our car to drive as good as possible so that you can be consistent and run the same lap times lap after lap.”

BACK WHEN YOU WERE MORE THE ‘FRUSTRATED’ KEVIN HARVICK….
“I only got frustrated because things weren’t going like they are right now.”

EXACTLY. BACK WHEN IT WAS THAT WAY, YOU KNEW YOU COULD BE A CHAMPION AND KNEW YOU COULD HAVE TIMES LIKE THIS. DID YOU KNOW OR NOT KNOW WHAT IT WAS THAT YOU NEEDED TO GET HERE?
“Well, I always pushed. And sometimes I think that was interpreted as being a jerk or being in a bad mood. But, it’s just not accepting the fact that we weren’t running like we wanted to run. And asking questions and pointing things out can be received as being a jerk, I guess. For me, I come to the race track and want to be competitive and that what drives me is to be competitive and race up in the front of the pack and try to make your car as good or better than the guys next to you. But it’s like I’ve always said in the past. If that’s how I was perceived I think in the past we got the most out of whether it was owning our own teams or driving at RCR, I felt like we got the most out of the people; and there were a lot of them that didn’t like me and I still don’t care because we were winning races and running well and I think that was just an approach that we took to try to be the best that we could. That’s just how I am. I like to try to push buttons and try to get the most out of a situation and out of people. And even when it’s good, it can be better. I’m not just going to sit on my hands and accept anything that you have. You have to constantly keep pushing forward.”

DID YOU KNOW WHAT YOU NEEDED?
‘I don’t think you ever really know; but I know that we had won at everything that I’d ever raced and for the most part, won races and championships whether it was owner or driver, and the Cup stuff was kind of that piece that you wanted to achieve. So, yeah, it was frustrating and I think everybody around me was frustrated as well. But you can’t be scared to be the guy who speaks up and says this is not right or that’s not right. You have to be willing to point things out. And that’s usually what pushes a conversation into a direction to make something better.”

AFTER WINNING LAST WEEK IN LAS VEGAS, HOW MUCH DOES THAT OPEN UP THE PLAY BOOK FOR STRATEGY THIS WEEKEND AND FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON?
“It’s not like you’re going to do a lot different. But, I think you’re willing to step out of the box and try some things during practice. But as far as the race goes, you still want to win as many races as you can to try to keep other people from winning and to gain bonus points in case something happens in the first round. And it’s just good for the morale of your team to continue that momentum and try to keep winning. For us, it’s going to be the same approach and we were fortunate to win the second race last year and really work through a lot of problems. Hopefully we don’t have those durability issues like we had last year because everything was so new. Hopefully this year we can just work on making the race cars faster and really have a good plan when we head to Chicago for the first race of the Chase.”

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Optimistic Denny Hamlin talks with media at Phoenix Friday

Denny Hamlin won at Phoenix in 2012

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How do you feel about the car here at Phoenix?
“We just raced here not too many races ago – we had a decent run there. We actually had a bad run, but we finished well. It’s a different package, different setup for us that we’re trying. This is a very important race when it comes down to the championship. You want to make sure that you come here and be prepared to try some different things and obviously with the testing policy, this is going to kind of work out as a test weekend for us to try to make sure we’re good when we come back here in November.”

How does the team focus on beating the other teams that seem dominant right now?
“We try to identify the areas that we’re getting beat and right now it’s a little bit of everything in my opinion. Some tracks just work well for drivers and they have that special chemistry and their driving style fits a particular race track. We all know or most of us know what it takes to go around here fast, but getting that out of our race car is the challenge and what they’ve done is they’ve gotten it out of their race car. That for us is our biggest focus – not trying to beat necessarily one car, but how can we come here and be more competitive than what we were last time here. We weren’t just beat by one car, we were off quite a bit. I think it’s just improving upon how we ran here in the Chase race.”

What have you seen in Martin Truex Jr. this season?
“NASCAR racing so much today is about how fast your car is when it unloads from the trailer. He (Martin Truex Jr.) was with MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) during the tough times and he was there in the good times and won some races with them. Then obviously when you go to a single car team you typically think that performance will drop, but I think he’s done a really good job of optimizing over these last few years with Furniture Row with what he’s been given. Now that it looks like RCR (Richard Childress Racing) has gotten better they probably reap some of the benefits of that. Resurgence of drivers and downward spiral of drivers, I hate to say it’s mostly not because of the drivers. It’s just because the teams are going through lulls or what have you or their manufacturer is. I think he’s running to the full potential of what his cars are and right now they look like they have top-five speed every week. That is more the resurgence of Truex is that he has a better machine under him than he’s had over the last few years.”

Have you spoken with Kyle Busch and how is he doing?
“He (Kyle Busch) seems well. He’s somewhat chatty through the texts that we have. He’s definitely paying a lot of attention to the races and what he sees from the outside. I think he’s very engaged and obviously making the best of the situation that he’s got. I know when I was out two years ago, it just gives you a different perspective and a different way to look at things. I’m sure coming back he’ll probably be a lot more appreciative of the time he’s got inside that race car because he knows how quickly it can go away. It’s a shame because we just had our driver line-up right where we wanted it with the four of us and we felt like this was going to be a good thing and I was looking forward to hearing some more feedback from Kyle, but obviously David (Ragan) has done a great job, but we’re excited to get Kyle back just as soon as we can just for the reason that this is the four driver dynamic that Joe (Gibbs, team owner) put together and we hope to bring our race teams, all of them, up to a higher level. Right now we’re just missing just a little something.”

Are you satisfied with Auto Club Speedway from a safety perspective?
“I haven’t seen the race track. I think more and more now we’re starting to put more eyes on where SAFER barriers are so I haven’t seen it. I haven’t asked to see it, but I’m assuming from talks that I’ve had with Jeff (Gordon), I believe the meeting he had with NASCAR was well and they’re doing everything they can to make sure the changes are happening as fast as they can. I’m assuming that the job is going to get done quickly and right. When we get there we will have somewhere safe to race on.”

Is your team struggling with the new rules package?
“It’s really tough to say, I wouldn’t think this rules package would suit me and my style particularly. I’d rather have 1000 horsepower than 700. The less downforce I would say probably does suit me a little bit better, but I think we’ve just kind of optimized where we’re at. We’ve been a top-five car every week and it’s a shame that we made a mistake at Atlanta and spun out, but we were top-five for sure going to finish there I thought. We’re top-five, but we’re still just a little behind on speed from where we need to from the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and then the Hendrick cars, but it’s all about for us trying to find that little bit of extra speed. We’re way closer than what we were with our 11 team at this time last year. Pretty optimistic about what’s to come in the months and hopefully if we can make it in the Chase then we can make another run at it.”

Did you enjoy racing the XFINITY Series at Atlanta?
“I do like it and I didn’t like it for many, many years. I enjoyed last week even though we didn’t run that well. There are some times that it can benefit you and I think the rules packages are now a little closer to where it probably can benefit you to run a few XFINITY races. For me, I thought it was time for me to kind of get back and start running a few more just to see if I can find anything that can make me better on Sundays. Even though I typically don’t like doing double duty, the stats show that I always run better Sunday when I raceon Saturday. I don’t know why, but it’s happened.”

Are you shifting here at Phoenix?
“I wish NASCAR would really come up with a ban on that. There is no reason why we should be shifting on a one-mile race track. This is a short track, not a road course. Make the gearing so we cannot shift because it’s just dumb for us to have the option to be able to shift. Everything that they’re trying to do with the whole gear rule and less horsepower, it throws that all out the window when you’re able to go out here and shift. It will be an option and people will try to do it. I’m sure late in the runs it will be effective, but it’s just with the gear taken out and the horsepower, we’re just lugging off these corners and you’re just flat footing it. As a driver, it’s tough to be able to race that way so we’re having to shift to try to get up off the corner. Hopefully looking forward we can change it to where you don’t have to do that.”

If other drivers shift, are you forced to shift?
“I think on restarts most everyone will shift when you’re all bottled up. I think people will be successful both ways, but it’s just that option. Come one, we’re on a short track, why are we shifting?”

Are you practicing for qualifying or for the race?
“We practiced mostly for the race. Obviously, like I talked about before, the few laps we have around here for the next two days is our test session to try to get better for November. This is one of the most critical races when it comes to the Chase so we’re trying to do everything we can to focus everything on race trim and getting better in that format.”

What is your motivation for running well at Auto Club Speedway next week?
“I was really excited, especially that we had ran happy hour and we thought we were a car that could compete for a win. I’m just as motivated. The last race laps I ran around there was when I got crashed on the last lap racing for a win. Ultimately, my motivation is to go there and perform at a really high level. It’s been circled for like a year or two now to run well there. I just didn’t get a chance last year and hopefully I will this year.”

Why were so many drivers swapping the lead in practice?
“You might have to ask that on Sunday. Passing will be difficult and passing has been difficult here really ever since the repave, but I think it will be even more difficult with less gear, less horsepower – tired aren’t going to wear out as much. I think passing will be difficult. You can’t really go by practice because different people are going into qualifying trim at different times. They jump up to the top and then the guys that have been in race trim will go into qualifying and jump back up. I think a lot of the switching you saw and speeds in practice isn’t really indicative of what we’re going to see for racing.”

How much is Kyle Busch’s feedback missed at the race team?
“You definitely miss that feedback and really you miss it more during the week than the weekend. Kyle’s (Busch) usually running XFINITY races so for years on end it’s been me just kind of sitting in the hauler debriefing with all the crew chiefs and all my other teammates are running XFINITY so I don’t get a whole lot of input. This year with Carl (Edwards) not running any and Matt’s (Kenseth) running less, there’s more communication now than there’s ever been even though Kyle’s missing. We miss him more during the week listening to how his race went, how we can improve upon that. He’s an important part of it. Until the fourth car came this year, he was 33 percent of the information that went through that race team and it’s just a little different there without him for sure.”

- Toyota Racing

2013 Talladega Aaron's 499 Practice Notes: Hendrick Cars Look Strong on Friday

6-time Talladega winner Jeff Gordon looked sharp in Friday's practices

Keselowski fastest among only 27 drivers participating in final practice session

The final Aaron’s 499 practice session at Talladega Superspeedway was spent by the teams in single-car qualifying runs, and at the end of the session it was Brad Keselowski with a lap at 195.896 mph on top of the speed chart.

Second fastest with a lap of 195.544 mph, was David Stremme followed by Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola with identical speeds of 195.540 mph. And then Travis Kvapil (195.445) was fifth fastest. Only 27 drivers participated in the final practice session.

Rounding out the top-ten fastest were Tony Stewart (195.365 mph), Jeff Gordon (195.277), Jamie McMurray (195.015), Bobby Labonte (194.896) and Carl Edwards (191.965). Edwards was fastest in the early session while drafting.

The teams will return Saturday afternoon at 12:10 pm (ET) to determine the starting lineup for Sunday’s race, which is scheduled to get underway around 1:20 pm (ET).

Edwards fastest in first practice session with every team running

Carl Edwards, with a lap speed of 199.675 mph, was the quickest at the end of the first Aaron’s 499 practice session at Talladega Superspeedway.

Second quickest was Martin Truex, Jr., with a lap at 199.650 mph, and was followed by Marcos Ambrose (199.608 mph), Joey Logano (199.596) and Ryan Newman (199.542).

Rounding out the top-ten quickest at the end of the session were Matt Kenseth (199.467 mph), Denny Hamlin/Brian Vickers (199.317), Jimmie Johnson (199.222), Jeff Gordon (198.722) and Kasey Kahne (198.664).

The top 10-consecutive average lap speed was owned by the Hendrick trio of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. The Daytona 500 winner, Johnson, led the way with the most laps (38) of the session. 

Driver Quotes from Friday:

Denny Hamlin on how it felt to be back in the car in practice today? “Obviously it’s really good to get back and run some speed and get somewhat adrenaline pumping again. I’m thankful for everything Brian (Vickers) has done over these last four weeks and what he’s going to do this weekend. We appreciate that and FedEx for sticking through it with us and obviously showing us a lot of support. So, it’s definitely good to be back in a car and really just starting with hopefully what will be a good run in these next 17 weeks.”

Clint Bowyer on if he has to judge where the finish line is at Talladega to make a last lap move? “Yeah, you’re natural instincts off of four, ‘Here we come.’ Not to mention the run you get through the corner. That’s usually where a run starts and it progresses and you catch them and you make a move right there at the exit of the corner. You’ve got to be careful when you do it, because it is a long ways to the start-finish line. You’ve definitely got to keep that in mind as you’re making your moves. But at the end of the day, if the run’s there, the help’s behind you, you’ve got to go. If you drag your brakes right there in that situation, they’re going to get to the outside of you, stall you out and your opportunity is going to be gone. You’ve just go to make sure that when you make a move that you’ve got the help and they’re committed. You’re at least halfway confident that they’re committed behind you, because you can’t do it by yourself unless you guys are just out by yourselves gone like I was — Jeff Burton and I were a couple of years ago. It makes it tricky. You definitely have to think about where that start/finish line is as you’re coming, approaching that last lap.”

KEVIN HARVICK ON WHAT HE LEARNED AT DAYTONA EITHER BY RACING OR WATCHING THAT WILL HELP YOU HERE WITH THIS CAR? “Winning is a lot more fun than wrecking. (SMILES) That is what I learned. We won the whole week, and wrecked on Sunday. But, that’s just kind of the way it goes. I think it is all going to be the same here.”

JEFF GORDON ON IF THERE ANY REASON THIS COULD BE DIFFERENT THAN DAYTONA? “No. The only thing that is different is this is a wider race track. You don’t have to worry about handling where handling was a little bit of an issue at Daytona. You don’t have to worry about that at all here. You might be able to push a little bit more aggressively and we’ll look at the temps, but I think it’s going to be just as challenging and difficult to jump out of line and to get a line formed on that inside to move up there. It certainly could happen and it could have happened at Daytona, it just didn’t seem like enough guys really wanted to get organized to do it. They were pretty committed to stay in that outside lane so it made it very challenging and I would think you are going to see a lot more of the same here.”

Driver Notes & Quotes for 2012 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

Harvick doesn't like Charlotte, but results show it likes him (Getty)

KEVIN HARVICK ON CHARLOTTE: “Charlotte (Motor Speedway) is a track where we haven’t excelled performance-wise in the past. We won the May race there last season, but overall I just never had a great feel for that track. There is nothing wrong with the surface or the shape of the track; we just haven’t gotten the consistent results we would have liked there.”

HARVICK ON DIFFERENCES AT CHARLOTTE FROM SPRING TO FALL: “The main difference is the temperature change. Once night falls during the October race, Charlotte (Motor Speedway) becomes completely different than what we practice on during the day. You can bet on the fact that the track will be really fast as the temperature drops and we’ll gain a lot of grip.”

HARVICK ON PREVIOUSLY STATING CHARLOTTE IS NOT ONE HIS FAVORITE TRACKS: “It has nothing to do with the facility or the people or anything like that. Charlotte (Motor Speedway) is just a place that’s been tough for me to totally understand the feel that I need in the car to make it go fast and be competitive. We’ve continued to make improvements in our performance each time we go back and have collected some decent finishes, including our 2011 Coca-Cola 600 win.” (Note: Harvick has finished eighth or better in his past four Charlotte starts)

HARVICK CHASSIS CHOICE: Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No.404 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the Charlotte 500. Built new for competition in 2012, this Chevrolet will make its first competitive laps this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

JEFF BURTON CHASSIS CHOICE: Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 359 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This No. 31 Chevrolet has been utilized twice during the 2012 NSCS season at Bristol Motor Speedway in March where Burton piloted the RCR machine to a top-10 finish (sixth-place) and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where a broken brake rotor late in the race relegating the team to a 32nd-place finish.

CLINT BOWYER ON CHARLOTTE: “This race at Charlotte is huge – for everybody. Not just for the drivers, but for the team owner, the crew – this is home for all of them. A win here right in your own back yard – it doesn’t get a whole lot bigger than that.”

BOWYER CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary chassis No. 740 finished 10th at Chicago in its only race of the year. Backup chassis No. 716 raced earlier this season in Las Vegas, Kansas, Charlotte, Kentucky and Indianapolis. Chassis No. 716’s best finish was sixth at Las Vegas.

MARTIN TRUEX JR ON CHARLOTTE: “I always look forward to this race. I especially like racing this close to our home and the race shop. This is another race where I have a lot of friends and family that come in for the weekend. It’s kind of a home game for all of us. I really like the track schedule and enjoy qualifying on Thursday night. It’s always a neat qualifying session. With the weather we have been having, the track is going to be lightning fast. Charlotte has been a challenge for this NAPA team so we have a little work to do. I think we are still very capable of going into it this weekend with a chance to contend for the race win and have the NAPA Toyota up front.”

GREG BIFFLE ON CHARLOTTE: “I’m excited to be at home this week and racing at Charlotte. We ran well there in the spring and led a lot of laps. We also ran well there in the fall last year, so maybe this weekend will be our first Chase win. Charlotte changes the most out of any track we race at from evening to night. We’ve been fast, but as the rubber gets down the handling changes. We’ve got to stay up with the track to win there Saturday night.”

BIFFLE CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-817 Last ran Chicago – finished 13th; Backup: RK-803 Last ran Pocono – finished 15th

CARL EDWARDS ON CHARLOTTE: “We just couldn’t catch a break in Talladega, but we head to Charlotte Motor Speedway this week where we have had success. The strategy is the same. We will just go for it and do everything we can to put our Kellogg’s Ford in to victory lane. It’s a fast mile and a half and the track is very challenging. It’s an important race for the team. It will be exciting and the atmosphere is always intense under the lights in front of family, friends and the home crowd. We just need to go in there and win.”

EDWARDS CHASSIS CHOICE: The 99 team will be bringing chassis RK-782 to CMS. This car was last raced at Atlanta where Edwards was running in the top 10 when he had engine issues.

MATT KENSETH ON CHARLOTTE: “Charlotte this weekend is really about car set-up and being able to get your car through the corner along with great race strategy. We’re taking this Chase one race at a time right now, and we’re going to go out and win some races to hopefully start climbing our way up in the points. Charlotte has been a pretty good track for us lately. I’m looking forward to getting in there this weekend and seeing how our stuff performs compared to the competition. I’m really curious to get there and look at how we’ll be competitive because typically it’s been a great track for us in the past.”

KENSETH CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-821 (Last run at Chicago)

ARIC ALMIROLA CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 43 team has prepared chassis No. 742 for Charlotte. This chassis has run previously this year at Dover, Chicago, Pocono and Darlington.

- From Team Press Releases

2012 New Hampshire Sylvania 300 Driver Notes & Quotes

Newman a contender this week using winning chassis from 2011 (Getty)

RYAN NEWMAN ON LOUDON: “I think the track is the key when it comes to being aggressive and patient all at the same time. There is a different style of driving that you have to have there. You can’t really be overaggressive at that racetrack. It’s kind of a combination of patience and aggressiveness. You want to take what the car will give you because the track is flat. With banking, the faster you go, the more it pushes the car down into the racetrack. We don’t have that there, so it’s just a matter of feeling that razor-blade-edge of grip and getting everything you can and I’ve been successful at it there. It’s kind of clicked with me since the beginning. I really like the racetrack and obviously know how to drive it, which is a big part of it. It’s a good place to start up front because it’s a short race, and it’s not the easiest place to pass.”

NEWMAN CHASSIS CHOICE: With one start already this season, Chassis No. 39-645 is no stranger to victory lane. In its first start in 2012, Newman drove this chassis to the winner’s circle at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Newman won despite falling one lap down early in the race after receiving a penalty for speeding on pit road. And, once he got back on the lead lap, Newman took advantage of every spot in front of him. He took his first – and only – lead of the day on lap 504 of 515, when he dove under the leaders after they collided in turn one. He held off another driver on the final restart in a tough duel before pulling away on the last lap to win. The chassis also earned a 10th-place finish at New Hampshire Motor
Speedway in Loudon in July. The chassis made four starts last year – two at Martinsville and two at New Hampshire.

This chassis was also the race winner for Newman last July in Loudon, when Newman started on the pole and led 119 of 301 laps en route to his third victory at the track. In five total starts, chassis No. 39-645 has two victories, two poles (both at New Hampshire last year) and three top-10 finishes.

TONY STEWART ON LOUDON: “It just has long, sweeping corners. The corners in comparison to where we normally race, we’re used to having a lot of banking, but New Hampshire is pretty flat. It’s one of those tracks where you’re either fighting entry-loose, entry-exit and nice in the center, or you’re fighting tight in the center and you’re good on entry and good on exit. It’s a juggling act trying to get the car balanced for all three sections of the corner.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON ON LOUDON: “It’s tough because the balance when you have clean air and the whole race track to yourself you need a racecar to drive a certain way. When you get in traffic you need the car to turn a lot stronger to run a tighter radius and inside of someone. It’s tough to blend those two worlds. That is the thing we fight so much is we work in practice running by ourselves. You get in the race you are rarely by yourself then trying to find a way to make your car work in traffic.”

KASEY KAHNE ON LOUDON: “It feels really good to go back to New Hampshire during the Chase. The win in July was a big turning point for the team and should give everyone some more confidence this weekend. I think we found a good setup for thecar last time, so we should have a good place to start from when we unload.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR. ON LOUDON: “New Hampshire kind of lends itself to the short track mentality and that style of racing. I enjoy racing at short tracks, have a great track record at all the short tracks we run at. I feel like that’s a bit in my wheelhouse, and this place sort of fits toward that.”

JEFF GORDON ON LOUDON: “It was a disappointing result (in Chicago), but we had a fast race car. We had a great run from 19th to inside the top five, and I would have liked to have seen if we had anything for them at the end, but we’ll put that event behind us and focus on trying to win Loudon this weekend. There is still a long way to go.”

“I really enjoy racing here. It’s not an easy place to get around, though, with the long straightaways, flat corners and hard braking. Recently, we have led laps, run well and been in position to win. We just need to put ourselves in that position again and capitalize on it.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 51 PHOENIX CONSTRUCTION CHEVROLET – 26th IN STANDINGS:
“New Hampshire is a track that has been pretty good to me since I started racing in the top series of this sport. I raced there for the first time in the Truck Series and won that race. Then it’s a track where I have three wins in the Cup cars and, when you’re able to go to a track where you’ve had that kind of success, it just gives you that confidence. Because of the wins and everything, it’s a place we go to where I feel like I especially know what it takes from the car and the driver to be successful.”

KEVIN HARVICK ON KEY TO LOUDON: “The hardest thing is just making your car turn in the middle of the corner and being able to have enough forward drive off the corners. It always seems like the New Hampshire race comes down to a track position strategy call on two tires or four tires toward the end of the race. Track position will play a big part, but getting your car to handle right will probably play an equal part.”

HARVICK CHASSIS CHOICE: Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No.400 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend’s SYLVANIA 300. Built new for competition during the 2012 season, this RCR Chevrolet will make its first competitive laps this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

JEFF BURTON ON LOUDON: “New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a very challenging track. It’s one of those places where if you are off a little bit, it shows a lot on the leaderboard. There is a fine line between being really good and not very good. It’s definitely a tough race track. The car must turn in the middle of the corners at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Rear grip has become less of an issue since we first started racing there. When we first started going there, rear grip was everything. If you could accelerate off the corner before your competitor, you were in good shape. Throughout the years, that has really changed. You must rotate in the middle of the corners. If it doesn’t rotate, your lap times will suffer. To me, rotation in the middle of the corners is the most important key to being strong.”

BURTON CHASSIS CHOICE: Jeff Burton will race Chassis No. 382 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable this weekend. This No. 31 Chevrolet was utilized in February at Phoenix International Raceway where engine issues thwarted Burton’s top-five run and relegated him to a 33rd-place finish. This was car also raced at Richmond International Raceway in May where an on-track incident knocked Burton and the No. 31 team out of contention, forcing them to settle for a 31st-place finish. Most recently, Burton piloted this machine to a 21st-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July and he notched a top-10 finish at RIR two weeks ago, finishing sixth.

PAUL MENARD ON LOUDON: “We had our best race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when we were there in July of this year, and we still weren’t where we needed to be. At New Hampshire you need to find the right package. You’re hard on the brakes there. The track is flat with tight corners and long straightaways. You need to have the right setup on the car in order to get down the straightaways and through the corners.”

MENARD CHASSIS CHOICE: Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 349 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend’s SYLVANIA 300. This Chevrolet was raced earlier this season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July) where Menard finished 17th and Martinsville Speedway in April where he finished 26th.

JAMIE MCMURRAY ON LOUDON: “New Hampshire will be an exciting weekend for us. We will have LiftMaster on board as the primary sponsor for the No. 1 car this weekend. It seems like forever ago that we announced in January at media day that LiftMaster would be on the car for this race. We will look to improve on our 20th-place finish from the race in July. We had a decent car, but with some long green-flag runs in that first race it made it difficult to make any major adjustments without losing too much time on pit road. I enjoy racing on flat tracks like New Hampshire, so hopefully we can have a good result for LiftMaster and all our partners.”

McMURRAY CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion and the No. 1 LiftMaster® team will use Chassis #1008 for Loudon. Chassis #1008 has been used previously this season at Richmond finishing 22nd.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA ON LOUDON: “To tell you the truth, New Hampshire was terrible for the Target team earlier this year. It was a tough race; we never had a decent car to balance. If you have a good car to start out with you’ll have a good car all weekend. It’s a matter of how well prepared you are when you get there. We’ve done a little bit of testing before we go there so hopefully we found some new things to help us run better this time around.”

MONTOYA CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew Chief Chris “Shine” Heroy and the No. 42 Energizer team will travel to Loudon with Chassis #1110. This chassis was used during several tests, but will make its race debut this weekend in Loudon.

MARCOS AMBROSE CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 728 for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire. This Stanley Ford has only been used as a backup car and has not seen primary race action this season.

GREG BIFFLE ON LOUDON: “I’m looking forward to Loudon; it’s been a good track for us. I have a win there and I feel like it’s a track where we can get back into the hunt. We certainly aren’t out of it, but a good run will help. Hopefully we can get a good top-five finish or a win in our 3M Ford this weekend.”

BIFFLE CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-822 Last ran Richmond – finished 9th; Backup: RK-778 Last ran New Hampshire – finished 9th

MATT KENSETH ON LOUDON: “New Hampshire is a really challenging track because it’s a one-mile track that drives like a flat short track. It seems like you’re always fighting for position there because the track is so narrow that it’s difficult to pass, so we really rely on good pit stops to help gain positions. Loudon has been a place that I’ve struggled at but our goal is to get a good clean run on Sunday in order to make up some of our position in the point standings that we lost last weekend at Chicago.”

KENSETH CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-806 (last run at Richmond)

CARL EDWARDS ON LOUDON: “This track is big for us because it’s the home of the Red Sox and our partnership with Fenway Sports Group so it would be a huge honor to be able to win there for them. Qualifying is very important. Everyone is going to be pulling out all the stops, doing every strategy trick they can and I think having a good pit stall will be important, starting up front and having clean air. If there’s a long green-flag run, you don’t want to be mired in the back going a lap down. All of that stuff comes from a good qualifying effort.”

EDWARDS CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 99 Aflac team will be bringing RK-815 this weekend to New Hampshire. This carpreviously ran both Pocono races finishing 11th and seventh, and Darlington where Edwards finished seventh.

BRAD KESELOWSKI ON LEADING IN POINTS: “The points lead is nice. It means we won the first race in a 10-race playoff format. But that’s really about all. I refuse to let it sink in because there is so much work left to be done. We need to keep our eyes looking forward. I’m going to focus on the next nine races and I know everyone on the Miller Lite Dodge team is going to do the same. It would be a disservice to Sunday’s win if we allow our focus to get away from tomorrow’s workload.”

KESELOWSKI ON LOUDON: “It’s always a lot of fun when we go up to Loudon to race. The fans really love what we do and they show it by filling the stands. It’s one of those tracks we can go to and almost guarantee that it will be sold out. The racingthat we put on at New Hampshire sometimes gets a bad rap, but I think it has produced some of the most exciting finishes over the last few years. It’s a one-mile track, but it races like a short track. There is a lot of beating and banging going on and the fans love to watch it unfold. Loudon has been an underrated track for us over the last couple of years. I think we can run well there again and keep the points lead.”

KESELOWSKI CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Chargerteam will race chassis PRS-829 during Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). This is a new chassis to the No. 2 fleet.

SAM HORNISH JR ON LOUDON: “In the first Loudon race, we really didn’t know what we wanted or needed in the car going into the race. It was really my first full-blown opportunity back in a Cup car in quite a while. The Nationwide cars and the Cup carsare different and I had not had the opportunity yet to get a good grasp on the transition. During that race, we struggled with the car being really free on entry and that plagued us the whole race.

CLINT BOWYER ON LOUDON: ”I look at the short tracks and think the best opportunity to win races is on those short tracks. We did okay in Chicago, not great, but just okay. New Hampshire — we have a pretty damn good roll going to New Hampshire. I think we can win at New Hampshire and get things started off right. If we can do that and keep this buzz going at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing), I think we can compete. The 1.5 mile tracks, I’ve never won on one of those, I know that and everybody else does. I have to pick up my game on the 1.5 mile tracks — but we’ve been running better than I ever have with these MWR cars on that type of track. I think if I ever could win on those, it would be in the Chase in the last 10 races. If I can do that with the success I have on the short tracks, again we can be a force to be reckoned with.”

BOWYER CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary chassis No. 718 won and was pushed to victory lane in Richmond on Sept. 8. The same car also started fifth, finished third and led a lap at New Hampshire in the Spring. Backup chassis No. 712 raced earlier this season in Phoenix and Richmond.

MARTIN TRUEX JR ON LOUDON: “New Hampshire hasn’t been one of my best tracks since joining Michael Waltrip Racing. I don’t know why. We’ve struggled a little bit. In the spring race, we had a decent run and showed some gains. It is a tough track to get a hold of. It’s almost impossible to get your car to turn in the corners and the tires chatter. It’s the same for everyone, it is just a matter of being smarter. I feel like we are taking some new stuff back there and our NAPAToyota should be a whole lot better. Hopefully, we can go there and continue to run up front like we have been doing lately. It’s a place that has always been special for me. I enjoy going there so I hope I can keep our momentum going and have a strong run.”

- FROM TEAM PRESS RELEASES, MORE TO COME 

Driver Notes & Quotes: 2012 Richmond Federated Auto Parts 400

Denny Hamlin comes in with a lot of confidence this week (Getty)

DENNY HAMLIN ON HIS TEAM JELLING RIGHT NOW: “This has been something in the works for a very long time, and obviously I have a lot wins in my career because of two very important guys — one is Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and the other is Mike Ford (former crew chief). Mike put together 80 percent of a championship-winning team, and Darian has just filled that gap and put the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together. The foundation has been laid. He’s (Darian Grubb) just putting the cap on it, and Darian is getti ng the most out of our guys. I’ve never seen our crew just so happy to be at the race track every single week. Even in 2010 I didn’t see that from our guys. That’s when you get the most out of them, and for me I’m just happy to be at the race track every single week knowing I can win a race. It doesn’t matter the race track anymore, it’s just I know we can win. Darian has just taken this program to that next level, and obviously anyone can go on a 10-race run. He did it last year, and hopefully he’s got some of the magic saved up for us here in the next few weeks.”

KYLE BUSCH ON OUTLOOK FOR RICHMOND: “Richmond is definitely a place where we would like to go win — obviously, that would really set things easy for what’s going to happen in the Chase. If we’re not capable of winning then we need to know what else our game plan is going to be. We were in this situation in 2009 and we had to go to Richmond and we had to finish five spots ahead of Brian Vickers and we finished fifth, which was great, but Brian Vickers finished eighth, so we missed the Chase that night. Not necessarily one that you bankon going there and getting a win or anything like that. You just do what you need to do to run as well as you can. There’s definitely never any guarantees you’re going to show up to the race track and win. You’ve just got to work hard, communicate with your crew chief the best you can and not get too frustrated when things aren’t exactly correct, but yet be determined enough that you can get them fixed and get out there and make the most of your opportunities.”

KYLE BUSCH ON CONFIDENCE OF MAKING THE CHASE:Chase? “I feel normal. I’m not saying that I’m for sure going to be in because anything can happen. Jeff (Gordon) is no slouch at Richmond either — he will be fine. I feel like that’s the guy we’re racing — the 24 car. We’ll just have to see how it all plays out. Jeff could give us a run for ourmoney.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR ON RICHMOND: “Richmond obviously has the ability to be one crazy, wild, exciting race. It’s been that way in the past and depending on who is in and out of the wild card spots, things are definitely going to get exciting, so we’ll just have to wait and see. I think Richmond is definitely a good place to settle things — some good ‘ole short track racing — and it will definitely get more exciting there than it would be anywhere else.”

MARK MARTIN ON MWR RACING: “It’s an amazing survival story. I know it was tough, tough, tough. We are all real proud of the organization. The thing I like about MWR is the people here. They really want to be working here. They don’t want to be somewhere else. They want to be here. There are a lot of happy people here and that makes it a pleasure to be part of.”

MARTIN CHASSIS CHOICE: 714 – won pole at Phoenix and Richmond with Martin behind the wheel. Backup – 708 – has not raced in 2012.

CLINT BOWYER CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary chassis No. 718 started fifth, finished third and led a lap at New Hampshire. Prior to New Hampshire, No. 718 served backup duty at Phoenix, Bristol-1, Richmond and Dover. Backup chassis No. 712 raced earlier this season in Phoenix and Richmond.

JAMIE McMURRAY CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate team will use Chassis #1108 for Richmond. Chassis #1008 has been used as a back-up at several raves this year but will make its 2012 season debut this weekend at Richmond.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew Chief Chris “Shine” Heroy and the No. 42 Target team will travel to Richmond with Chassis #1203. This chassis was used this season at Phoenix, finishing 11th, Richmond, finishing 12th, and Loudon finishing 25th.

RYAN NEWMAN CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend, Newman will pilot Chassis No. 39-691, which has three starts and two top-10 finishes to its credit. It’s most recent start at Phoenix International Raceway in March looked to be a lock for the chassis’ third consecutive top-10 finish, but 56 laps shy of the checkered flag, Newman was sent spinning into the turn four wall after contact with another car while racing side-by-side for fifth place. The incident relegated Newman to a 21st-place finish. Last season, the chassis competed at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in September and Phoenix in November. At Richmond, Newman started 18th and fought his way into the top-10 near lap 100 and virtually stayed there for the remainder of the 400-lap event finishing eighth. Newman finished fifth at Phoenix in November.

JIMMIE JOHNSON ON RICHMOND BEING ONE OF HIS WORST RATED TRACKS: “It took me a long time to sort out Richmond, just like at Bristol. Talladega, when you go plate racing, you’ve got to rule in other factors. We’ve all seen this year, with my plate results, that they just haven’t been all that good to me (laughs).”

JOHNSON CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis No. 689 serves as the primary for Johnson at Richmond. It last ran at Phoenix in March, starting 4th and finishing 4th. Chassis No. 590 serves as the backup.

DALE EARNHARDT ON RICHMOND: “I like short tracks. Richmond has been a good one for us for a couple of races. I have always enjoyed running there, and it’s a fun track. It’s not your typical short track with the way the front straightaway is. It definitely makes each corner unique from the other and the way you drive the track can change throughout the race. It’s a lot of fun for a driver.”

EARNHARDT JR CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 crew will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-709. Earnhardt raced this chassis to a 14th-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway in March and most recently to a second-place finish at Richmond in April. In 26 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Richmond, Earnhardt has recorded three wins, nine top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. He has led a total of 427 laps and completed 99.1 percent of all laps he's attempted at the short track (10,308 laps of 10,403 total).

KEVIN HARVICK ON RICHMOND: “Richmond (International Raceway) is a good track for me in general. Since I started racing, it seems I’ve been successful on the flatter-type race tracks; they really seem to fit my driving style. On paper, this is one of our best tracks. Over the past two weeks our team has really been stepping up our game and avoiding big mistakes. As long as we stay focused, avoid mistakes and make the right calls, we should have a shot to get the Budweiser Chevrolet back to Victory Lane.”

HARVICK CHASSIS CHOICE: will pilot Chassis No. 320 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend's Federated Auto Parts 400. This former #33 racer was transformed into a No. 29 entry during the off-season and has been was utilized at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June (started 12th, finished eighth) and Martinsville Speedway in April (started second, finished 19th).

TONY STEWART ON RICHMOND: “It is my favorite track. It’s not one of them; it’s the favorite track of mine on the circuit. I’ve just always thought it’s the perfect-sized track for a Cup race. The other short tracks we run – Bristol and Martinsville – they’re cool in their own right, but there’s a lot of congestion at those two tracks. But at Richmond, it just seems like that extra quarter-mile, and that three-quarter-mile shape, and how wide the groove gets there, allows for good racing. It seems like we have to race ourselves and race the racetrack versus racing each other a lot of times. You do have to race each other, obviously, but there are a lot of times during the race when you have the flexibility to move around on the racetrack and try to find a spot your car likes better than somewhere else. A lot of times on a short track you don’t have the flexibility. You’re more narrowed down with what groove you’re going to be in.”

STEWART CHASSIS CHOICE: Stewart and crew chief Steve Addington are bringing Chassis No. 14-710, this car debuted at Richmond in April, where it qualified 22nd and led four times for 118 laps before a late-race caution canceled Stewart's two-and-a-half second lead and forced him to settle for a third-place finish. It was then tested June 6-7 at Pocono and again during a Goodyear Tire Test June 12-13 at Bristol. New Hampshire marked Chassis No. 14-710's second career start. There, a new tire compound from Goodyear confounded Stewart and crew chief Steve Addington, and they labored to a 12th-place finish. The car returns to Richmond for its third career start via Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400.

KASEY KAHNE ON RICHMOND: “We had a solid finish at Richmond in the spring, and we need another one this weekend. Our cars have been really fast on the short tracks all year. We need to put together a full race and get ourselves into the Chase on Saturday night.”

KAHNE CHASSIS CHOICE: For Saturday's race, crew chief Kenny Francis will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-663. Kahne has raced this car three times in 2012, most notably winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July.

JEFF GORDON ON RICHMOND: “We’re going with guns loaded ready to do battle. This race is always intense and I expect it to be a pretty crazy night. It’s a little bit different because it’s a short track (compared to last week’s race on the 1.54-mile Atlanta track). I think everybody expects there to be a little more pushing and shoving on the short track. I’ve been saying all along that I think it’s going to come down to the last lap at Richmond – and we’re going to fight all the way down to that last lap.

“Our focus won’t be on what ‘this team’ is doing or what ‘this driver’ is doing. We’re just going to focus on our own program like we always do. We’ll focus on tuning the car, communicating and working the setup the best we possibly can to try to have the fastest race car. I’m not going into the race thinking that we’ve got to finish 12 positions ahead of Kyle (Busch). I’m thinking we have to win.”

MARCOS AMBROSE CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 805 for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Richmond International Raceway. This Mac Tools Ford was run previously this season at Phoenix, Richmond, Pocono and Indy.

CARL EDWARDS ON RICHMOND: “We’re going to Richmond to win. We need some luck and we need it to be good luck. We’ve passed more cars in the last month than we’ve passed all year. I wouldn’t go to Richmond with any other team, in any other car. I feel like the No.99 Cheez-It Ford is the favorite there because of how we ran in the spring and we’re settling for nothing less than victory lane.”

EDWARDS CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 99 Cheez-It team will be bringing chassis RK-801 to Richmond this weekend. This is the same car that led 206 laps in the spring and nearly won the race if not for a late-race penalty on a restart.

GREG BIFFLE CHASSIS CHOICE: Biffle and the Matt Puccia led #16 3M / Owens & Minor Ford Fusion team will bring Primary Chassis RK-822, which is a brand new chassis to Richmond. Backup chassis is RK-778 which last ran New Hampshire finished 9th.

MATT KENSETH CHASSIS CHOICE: Will run primary chassis RK-806 at Richmond. This chassis last ran at Darlington in May finishing 6th. Best Buy will be the sponsor for Kensth at RIR. In 25 Cup starts at Richmond, Kenseth has completed 9,758 of 10,003 laps (97.6 percent) and led for 223 laps

- FROM TEAM PRESS RELEASES

Driver Notes & Quotes for LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire

Edwards painted Red Sox colors on his car for 2010 Loudon race (Getty)

KEVIN HARVICK ON LOUDON: “New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) is a track that I enjoy. It’s a track where you have to have a good handling car, you have to have track position, and you have to have everything go right. If you get yourself stuck in the middle of the pack you’re not going to have a very good day, unless you have a really good car. Overall New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) is a track that I enjoy and hopefully we will run well.”

CONGRATS TO DELANA AND KEVIN, IT'S A BOY: On Sunday, July 8, the Harvick’s announced the birth of their son Keelan Paul Harvick. Affectionately referred to as ‘Baby Otis’ during the pregnancy, Keelan was born Sunday afternoon weighing in at 6.8 pounds and 19.5 inches long. He is the couple’s first child.

HARVICK CHASSIS CHOICE: Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 320 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301. This former No. 33 racer was transformed to a No. 29 entry during the off-season and has been used once this season at Martinsville Speedway where Harvick notched a 19th-place finish.

JEFF BURTON CHASSIS CHOICE: Burton will race chassis No. 382 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This No. 31 Chevrolet was utilized in February at Phoenix International Raceway where engine issues thwarted Burton’s top-five run and relegated him to a 33rd-place finish. This car also raced at Richmond International Raceway where an on-track incident knocked Burton and the No. 31 team out of contention, forcing them to settle for a 31st-place finish.

BURTON LOUDON STATS: This race marks Burton’s 35th start in “The Granite State” and 638th-career Sprint Cup Series entry. He has amassed four wins, eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes at one-mile facility.

PAUL MENARD CHASSIS CHOICE: Menard will pilot Chassis No. 349 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This No. 27 Chevrolet was last utilized at Martinsville Speedway in April where Menard started 11th and finished 26th.

JAMIE McMURRAY CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate team will bring Chassis #1210 back to New Hampshire. Chassis #1210 was raced at Martinsville earlier this year, where it finished 20th.

JIMMIE JOHNSON ON LOUDON: “It’s a tricky track with the lack of banking and the tight, fast corners. I was able to sweep it there one year and, since then, we’ve been OK. It’s a tough track. I think, for a good day, it’s all about good fuel mileage and good track position.”

JOHNSON CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis No. 715 serves as the primary for Johnson at New Hampshire. Johnson drove this car to a sixth-place finish at Richmond. Chassis No. 689 serves as the backup.

RYAN NEWMAN CHASSIS CHOICE: With one start already this season, Chassis No. 39-645 is no stranger to victory lane. In its only other start in 2012, Newman drove this chassis to the winner’s circle at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Newman won despite falling one lap down early in the race after receiving a penalty for speeding on pit road. And once he got back on the lead lap, Newman took advantage of every spot in front of him. He took his first – and only – lead of the day on lap 504 of 515, when he dove under the leaders after they collided in turn one. He held off another driver on the final restart in a tough duel before pulling away on the last lap to win. The chassis made four starts last year – two at Martinsville and two at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. This chassis was also the race winner for Newman last July in Loudon, when Newman started on the pole and led 119 of 301 laps en route to his third victory at the track. In five total starts, chassis No. 39-645 has two victories, two poles (both at New Hampshire last year) and three top-10 finishes. 

TONY STEWART CHASSIS CHOICE: This car debuted in the Capital City 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in April, where it qualified 22nd and led four times for 118 laps before a late-race caution canceled Stewart’s two-and-a-half second lead and forced him to settle for a third-place finish. It was then tested June 6-7 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and again during a Goodyear Tire Test June 12-13 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon will mark Chassis No. 14-710’s second career start.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew Chief Chris “Shine” Heroy and the No. 42 Degree team will come to New Hampshire with Chassis #1203. This chassis has two races under its belt this season: Phoenix where it finished 11thand Richmond where it came across the line 12th.

KURT BUSCH CHASSIS CHOICE: Sunday’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 will be the third race of the 2012 season for Chassis No. 662. This car’s best finish was also its first race of the season when the team competed with at Phoenix International Raceway in early March. Busch qualified 19th and raced the car to a respectable 15th-place finish. The team also used this particular car at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in May, when perpetual issues with blown tires relegated the team to a 28th-place finish.

CARL EDWARDS ON LOUDON: “Loudon has been really hot and cold for us. It is a great race track for us because the Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group are based up there. A win would be huge to have there. It is a flat, simple track and that makes it really hard because most people know how to get around it but you have to have the car perfect and drive perfectly. We had a chance to do the tire test up there a couple months ago and I think that helped me a little bit. It is a deceivingly tough track.”

EDWARDS CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 99 Fastenal Blue Team will be bringing RK-801 this weekend to New Hampshire. This car previously ran at Phoenix and Richmond this year. Edwards led 206 laps with this car at Richmond.

MATT KENSETH ON LOUDON: “Loudon has been a track that we’ve struggled at for the past four or five years but our last outing we ran pretty competitively so I’m looking forward to building upon that. New Hampshire is an interesting race track because it drives like a short track even though it’s a one-mile track, and it’s challenging in the fact that there isn’t a lot of room to pass, so track position is very important there. We’ve just got to run a clean race, with a good afternoon in the pits as well, and hopefully we can have a solid run there.”

KENSETH CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-802 (last raced at Dover)

GREG BIFFLE ON LOUDON: “I’m looking forward to Loudon this weekend. I like that racetrack and I have a win there, so I’m looking forward to going back and getting a good solid top-five finish, and possibly a win to get away from these two 21st-place finishes in a row.”

BIFFLE CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-778 Last ran Richmond – finished 18th; Backup: RK-759 Last ran Phoenix in ’11 as the No. 6 – finished 33rd

ARIC ALMIROLA CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 43 team has prepared chassis No. 804 for Loudon. This car ran earlier this season at Phoenix and Richmond.

MARCOS AMBROSE CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 754 for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire. This DEWALT Ford was run previously this season at Martinsville and Dover.

MARTIN TRUEX JR ON LOUDON: “A lot of people assume I consider Dover my home track. But I believe Loudon is. It may be further from New Jersey, but I grew up going to the track with my dad. I watched him race there a lot. Then I started racing in the Busch North Series and we raced at New Hampshire Motor Speedway four times a year. I’ve actually logged more laps at Loudon than at Dover. I have a lot of experience at New Hampshire. I’ve won a bunch of races. I have a lot of great memories there. It’s a home track for me. It’s a place I really enjoy going to and it would mean a lot to me to be able to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event there.”

BRIAN VICKERS ON LOUDON: “Loudon’s a fun, fast, flat track. The entry is really important into each corner. A lot of guys will slide the left front into the corner and ruin the lap. If you get the entry wrong, you can’t roll the center, which is really key to getting a good exit off for the two long, high speed straights.

CLINT BOWYER CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary Chassis No. 718 has not raced in 2012. It served as backup at Phoenix, Martinsville and Dover and tested at Nashville and Bristol. Backup chassis No. 712 raced at Phoenix where it started 16th and finished 30th. It also raced at Richmond where it started 23rd and finished seventh.

BRAD KESELOWSKI ON LOUDON: “It’s always a lot of fun when we go up to Loudon to race. The fans really love what we do and they show it by filling the stands. It’s one of those tracks we can go to and almost guarantee that it will be sold out. The racing that we put on at New Hampshire sometimes gets a bad rap, but I think it has produced some of the most exciting finishes over the last few years. It’s a one-mile track, but it races like a short track. There is a lot of beating and banging and bumping and running – all of the things that the fans love.”

KESELOWSKI CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-810 during Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) in Loudon, N.H. Keselowski last raced this chassis to a 15th-place finish at Darlington Raceway in May.

AJ ALLMENDINGER STATEMENT: “I have informed NASCAR that I have requested that the “B” sample be tested, following the steps according to NASCAR’s 2012 rule book regarding this situation. I fully respect NASCAR’s drug usage policy and the reasons they have it. I am hoping this can get resolved as quickly as possible so that I can get back to driving the No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge. I am sorry that this has caused such a distraction for my Penske Racing team, our sponsors and fans. Obviously I would never do anything to jeopardize my opportunity here at Penske Racing or to my fellow drivers. I am very conscious about my training andhealth and would never knowingly take a prohibited drug.”

- FROM TEAM PRESS RELEASES