Roush Fenway Drivers Still Looking For First Brickyard Victory

 

JACK ROUSH, Car Owner, Roush Fenway Racing – WHAT DOES INDYMEAN TO YOU? “In southern Ohio where I was raised it was a farming community and there was no race tracks, even dirt tracks around that people consistently went to for entertainment. On Memorial Day you had your radio on for coverage of the Indianapolis 500 and, of course, that was the only race I was exposed to until I was probably 15 or 16 years old. There started to be a little bit of radio coverage that we’d get in the north of the NASCAR races, but as a youngster the only big-time race that I ever thought about was the Indianapolis 500, which, of course, as an engine builder I built a couple of engines that won at Indy over the years, but I’ve never been a team owner and never really been at the race track when my engines were raced and we won. There’s a certain reverence that I’ve got for the track and for the fan base around the track based on the fact that it was something that I didn’t actually aspire to, it was something that I respected as a youngster just because it was an indication that people were out there doing something in racing that I actually thought was beyond my reach.”

 

WHAT WOULD WINNING THE RACE THIS WEEKEND MEAN TO YOU? “Until they added Kentucky I had won at every race track, except for the race in Indianapolis, so now I’ve got two where I’ve not been successful. Indy has eluded us, but there have been a number of occasions where our cars were good enough to have won and either because of a fuel mileage situation or the way it worked out by taking tires or not taking tires it didn’t work out. The decision you sometimes make late in the race will decide what the race has been in terms of where the strength was, and we had the speed to win on a number of occasions but just didn’t have things work out for us at the end so that we could close the deal.”

 

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion – “Having Sprint start the Summer Showdown this weekend is something I’m sure everybody is gonna be thinking about. I won the Daytona race and the first thing I thought about or one of the first things was, ‘Does this race qualify for that yet?’ And it hadn’t yet been announced, but that’s something I guarantee these next two or three guys that can win these races are gonna be thinking about. It gives us a little extra motivation to get the job done, but it’s great to be here at Indy. We’re coming off some good runs and having a special paint scheme is cool anytime. As drivers, we enjoy running a special paint scheme and something that’s different, but having one honoring Ned Jarrett’s Hall of Fame induction is pretty special, not only being a friend of Ned’s, but for what he’s done for the sport and what the NASCAR Hall of Fame means to us is pretty cool. We’re proud to have the colors on this weekend and thanks to UPS and Ford and the NASCAR Hall for putting it all together. I couldn’t be more happy to be here and get on the race track.” 

 

NED JARRETT, 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee – “Certainly this is a huge honor and I can’t think of anyone else that I would rather have carry the colors of my 1965 Ford. David grew up in a Christian home the way we did with a great family and good background with his father and grandfather having been racers, so I can’t think of anyone that I’d rather have carry the colors and to honor me this weekend, and it is a very huge honor, something I do not take lightly.”

 

DAVID RAGAN CONTINUED – WHAT MAKES THIS PLACE SPECIAL? “I think just running at Indy is an honor. Growing up as a racing fan, you always saw the open-wheel cars run up here and you never really thought much about, ‘Yeah, maybe we’ll get a chance to run up there one day.’ I know Ned probably never thought that, but to be here in a stock car is pretty cool. It’s a unique race track. There’s only one of a kind around, so we always enjoy coming up here in the middle part of the season. We can bring our latest and greatest designed race car and engine and I look forward to seeing how it performs.” 

 

ARE YOU USED TO THE HEAT AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON? “Yeah, it is what it is.   We know it’s gonna be hot. It’s the summer months. I grew up in south Georgia. At least we don’t have any gnats or mosquitoes or bugs to worry about here like we would back home. It is what it is. It’s the same for everybody and I look forward to these hot races. I feel like I can manage the heat better than some of the other guys, so I look forward to it.” 

 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NATIONWIDE NOT RUNNING AT RACEWAY PARK ANYMORE? “I’ve run the truck over there and the Nationwide Series. If I was driving Nationwide I would be real disappointed and being a fan of the series I’m disappointed. It’ll be cool for the Nationwide Series to be at Indy, but they can’t forget their roots of where the racing is at. In my opinion, the Nationwide race is gonna be pretty boring here. The Nationwide race at ORP is one of the best on the circuit, in my opinion. I was there last night. I bought a grandstand ticket and watched the ARCA and USAC races, so that race track is great and I’m really sad to see it. It’ll be a little different not seeing them run over there next year.”

 

NED JARRETT CONTINUED – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BEING THE GRAND MARSHAL? “Certainly if I was ever to be a Grand Marshal at an event this would be the one that I would have dreamed of being the Grand Marshal. It’s very special, especially since David will be carrying the colors that I used in 1965. I have something extra to be here and look forward to during the race on Sunday, so it’s a huge, huge honor for me.”

 

DAVID RAGAN CONTINUED – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT BEING CLOSE TO THE CHASE? “That’s exactly what we are is close. There are seven more races and probably 10 guys that are close. I think any one in that top 20 and obviously Keselowski and Regan Smith right outside the top 20, they’re close too. So, yeah, there’s no time to feel secure with our points position. We’re sitting 13^th in points, but I feel like we need to be in the top 13 or 14 to make it on one win, but we’ve got seven races to go.   There’s no reason we can’t get to the top 10 or top 8 or top 7 in points. It’s right in front of us if we continue to run well, but we can also drop out of the top 20 if we lose our focus and we have some bad luck, so we’re ready for the challenge and I think our teams are ready to make a run for the Chase.” 

 

DO YOU THINK ANOTHER WIN IS MANDATORY FOR YOU TO MAKE IT? “It’s gonna be very close. I think Tony, Montoya, Biffle – some of the guys right around us are gonna get a win – so it’s gonna be a dogfight for points.   I think you can make it in with one win, but you’ve got to be 11^th or 12^th in points. Another win is what we go for every weekend.   We’ll try to win this race. We’re gonna try to win next week’s, so we’ll just keep racing like that. That’s what has gotten us here today, so we’re not gonna change the way we race any.” 

 

HOW MUCH DOES HAVING A RACE WIN LEGITIMIZE HOW YOU FEEL OR HOW OTHERS FEEL ABOUT YOU? “That’s what we come here to do is win races. You can sit on poles and lead laps and get top fives and top 10s and that’s good, but it’s not like winning. That’s what everything is measured off of, but after you win one, now you just think about winning a second one and then a third one. It’s definitely a start. I feel like we’ve given away some wins in the past, so it was good to get that one. Hopefully, that will help us realize when we are in a position to win a race to not let it slip away from us. It feels good to have that win, but we don’t really feel any better about ourselves. We just feel like we need to go win again.”  DID YOU TALK TO MARK MARTIN AT ALL ABOUT WINNING? “It was cool for all the 6 fans, a lot of fans who have been Mark Martin fans over the years and Ford fans. We really didn’t talk much about it. ‘Hey, good job. Congrats,’ and that’s really about it. Mark is right there in that position that if he wins a race he’s there in points that he could get in the Chase, so, as a competitor, he probably didn’t want to see it. But I’ve got a lot of respect for Mark and what he’s done for Roush Fenway and certainly my career and a great guy. I really look up to him, so it’s something that we’re both racing hard for that spot. He probably liked it, but on the surface he wanted to win too.” 

 

CAN YOU SUMMARIZE THE SEASON WITH ALL THESE DIFFERENT WINNERS? “I think that just shows the competition of our sport today. There are so many teams that have alliances with big teams, guys that run ECR engines, Roush Yates engines, there’s a lot of common components and parts, where years ago it was like every team had their own car and had their own engine, so there was a big disparity in competition, but now there are 20 guys that could win on Sunday and none of us would be surprised. Any given weekend there are 20-25 guys that can win and that would be normal, so that just shows that our sport is healthy. There’s a lot of competition and it’s good to see everyone be real competitive on any given week.” 

 

CAN YOU RELATE TO THESE CREW CHIEF CHANGES GOING ON RIGHT NOW?   YOU DEALT WITH IT LAST YEAR. “Yeah, I can relate to it. Last year we were to a point where we knew we weren’t gonna win the championship, we knew that our season was winding down, so we were working on 2011. We made the crew chief change, which was tough because I like Donnie Wingo a lot. I got along with him great, but it was just kind of stale on the 6 car. Sometimes a little chemistry is all it takes to turn things around and, obviously, our race cars are a lot better this year than they were a year ago. Sometimes even a successful crew chief you see someone like a Jeff Gordon go from Ray Evernham, and everybody thought that the 24 team might shut down, and then Robbie Loomis came in and they won a few more championships and races, so I guess it’s all about finding the right connection, not only between the driver and crew chief, but the team engineer, the pit crew, the management staff. I think they’re wise by making that change now and setting the tone and figuring out what they need to do.” 

 

WHAT’S THE TOUGHEST PART ABOUT THAT TRANSITION PERIOD? “Yeah, it’s a new guy coming in and saying, ‘Hey, this is the way I want you to talk on the radio. This is the way that I communicate with your spotter. This is the way we’re gonna dissect the race weekend on Monday. Here’s what time I want you go to be here.’ So, yeah, it’s just a little different feel, but, like I said, everyone is a little bit different and it’s a good feeling when you get that common ground and agree a lot with what the crew chief has to say.”

 

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – THOUGHTS ON THE SPRINT SUMMER SHOWDOWN AND BEING HERE AT INDY. “This race track is always good to compete on because there’s a lot of history that surrounds this race track. It’s fun to race here. There’s a lot on the line because everybody wants to win the Brickyard, but the Sprint Summer Showdown is a neat deal. It rewards people for winning and that’s what we need to do is win. I feel like we’re getting close. I feel like we keep making steps in that direction and I think we’re gonna get there one of these first weeks.” 

 

WHAT WERE YOU LOOKING FOR IN A NEW CREW CHIEF? “Not necessarily chemistry, but we needed a different approach. We needed to look at it differently and I don’t think just changing the crew chief is gonna fix why we’ve run out of gas so many times and our fuel mileage and other things that we’ve had going on, but it gives a fresh look at it. ‘OK, what can we do to fix our issues. What can we do to be a better team and compete more competitively every weekend.’ Not really compete more competitively because we have been fast everywhere we’ve been, but how do we finish where we’ve been running. What do we need to do to finish where we’ve been running? One is to run the same amount of laps as the rest of the field is on a fuel tank. Two, get good, decent pit stops, and pit strategy – when to pit and when not to pit, when to put two on and when to put four on. That’s what we were missing. We had good, fast cars and still do. We just needed to finish and close the deal. We weren’t closing and we just needed a fresh look at it.” 

 

WHAT’S THE TRANSITION PERIOD LIKE WITH A CHANGE? “One good thing about it is Matt doesn’t have any background in this. Matt’s figuring it out as he goes. Let’s give Matt more credit than that, he’s been a crew chief and knows how to make calls and knows track position is important and all those things, so he’s aware of what he needs to do, but I don’t think the transition period is really all that much. I feel like he’s really in tune with the race cars. He’s working hard. He’s down there at night babysitting them. He’s working with his guys and has a plan. I think it’s gonna be good.” 

 

IS THERE A TERMINOLOGY DIFFERENCE? “Yeah, you always have that. You have a little bit of what this guy is used to and that guy. Maybe this guy likes to move the track bar a lot or he kind of tends to want to run it a certain way, so you have some of those things.” 

 

DO YOU TARGET THE OPEN WEEK FOR A CHANGE LIKE THAT? “We made the decision before that. We just had to change something. Whether it was right or wrong, we had to do something. We weren’t gonna make the Chase the direction we were going and we very well still may not make it, but we had to make a decision.” 

 

WE’VE SEEN 5 CREW CHIEF CHANGES THIS YEAR. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE THAN PAST YEARS? “For us, I’ve had the same crew chief since 2007, so we’d been together a long time. This is really technically my fourth crew chief in my Cup career. I had an interim of Pat Tryson for seven or nine races, so I had (Randy) Goss, Doug (Richert) and (Greg) Erwin. I think everybody has so much pressure to perform and to win races and be competitive. I don’t know what everybody else’s issues are, but I would imagine they’re the same. We just needed a fresh look at what we were doing to try and be better.” 

 

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO RUN AT RACEWAY PARK? “That, to me, was really one of the most fun races of the year was to race over there. IRP, ORP, Lucas Oil Raceway Park – it’s been a bunch of different names, but that is a fun race track. That’s back home, drives kind of like Darlington but smaller. You can diamond the thing, run the bottom, run the top. I love that race track and I find it hard to believe that they’re not gonna race there anymore after putting on such a good show.” 

 

HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED SINCE BECOMING A DAD. IS IT WHAT YOU THOUGHT? “I think I had looked around and really saw my teammates and friends who had kids what they were going through and how it changed and what they had to do, so I guess I want to say I was halfway prepared, but you’re never prepared 100 percent. I was expecting to change diapers and be taking care of her, but probably the one thing I underestimated is them needing to eat like every two-and-a-half to three hours. I didn’t really think about that as much, and then I expected her to be awake and have her eyes open in between those times and all she does is sleep or fusses. That’s how they tell you something is wrong and they need something, so it’s different than what I anticipated, but I kind of mentally prepared for the worst and it’s been fun so far.” 

 

IS IT BIGGER THAN YOU THOUGHT? “No, I don’t think so. I think it’s just a little bit different than you always anticipate. Going on a trip you’re thinking this or this or this and you don’t know what to expect.” 

 

IS SHE WITH YOU THIS WEEK? “Yeah, this is her first race. She’ll probably camp out in the motorhome the entire time, but she’s here.” 

 

HOW MUCH CHANGE HAVE YOU SEEN IN THIS INITIAL PERIOD? “A lot and you can start to see the personality start to develop. When she does this she wants that. It’s kind of interesting how you can predict what they’re gonna do, at least you have an idea of what you think they’re gonna do.” 

 

HOW HAS IT CHANGED WHEN YOU GO HOME AFTER A RACE – GOOD OR BAD? “It was killing me at Kentucky and Loudon because I couldn’t wait to get home to see her. It’s pretty neat to go home to and a lot like my dogs. I couldn’t wait to get home to see them, so it’s all the more reason with her as well, so it’s pretty neat.” 

 

CARL HAS BEEN IN THE EYE OF THE SPECULATION HURRICANE. HOW DO YOU THINK JACK WOULD RESPOND IF HE ANNOUNCED HE WAS LEAVING AND STILL HAD SOME RACING LEFT WITH ROUSH? “It’s obvious that it’s coming to a head, kind of like whether we’re gonna approve the debt ceiling or not. At some point he’s gonna have to say that I’m not coming back. He’s not gonna be able to wait until Homestead, we all know that, so Carl is a big boy, he’s a man and he has to make his own decisions. Eventually, he’s gonna have to make a decision and it’ll be best for everybody so, one, we can plan for sponsorships and drivers and teams and people. There are a lot of people’s jobs on the line – if we’re gonna be three teams or four teams – so the sooner the better. I understand contract negotiations take a long time and there is a lot to them, but truly if you know or you’ve made a decision, then it’s time to give everybody enough opportunity to make their decision on the back side of that.” 

 

YOU’VE LIVED THIS SO YOU HAVE GOOD CONTEXT OF WHAT HE’S GOING THROUGH. “Right. It’s tough, but one thing I always did is when I knew what I was doing, then I said, ‘This is what I’m gonna do.’ You can’t have a deal done or plan to have a deal done and not let everybody know, so that it’s fair for everyone to go make a plan on what’s next.” 

 

JACK HAS NEVER HAD A CAR WIN HERE. DOES THAT SURPRISE YOU? “For how successful as we’ve been as a company, yeah, it kind of surprises me a little bit that we haven’t won here.” 

 

COULD THIS BE THE YEAR? “Yeah, this could definitely be the year. We finished third last year and probably had a car that could definitely win. We’ve tested well and I really think that one of our cars has a good opportunity to win.” 

 

WOULD IT BE COOL TO GIVE JACK THAT FIRST WIN HERE?  “Yeah, it would be. It would be cool to get the 16 a win this year and Jack’s first win.”

 

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion – “I’m looking forward to the Brickyard. I think it’s our second-biggest race of the year, for sure, and everybody looks forward to coming here and winning this race, so that’s a big deal. The Sprint Summer Showdown is an exciting program that they put together. It reminds me of the days when Winston used to do the Winston Million, so it’s cool to be a part of that and hopefully we can win one of these next five races and have a shot at Atlanta.” 

 

WHAT MAKES A GOOD CREW CHIEF? “I’ve learned over the last couple of years that a crew chief dynamic isn’t just a crew chief/driver dynamic, it’s a crew chief/driver/team dynamic and making all of that work. I think every team is unique, every crew chief, every driver and the combination it takes to make that successful is unique, so I don’t think there’s an exact formula that makes a good crew chief. I think it’s the whole group together and how they work together and how they operate together that makes it either successful or not successful.” 

 

WHAT DO YOU LIKE WORKING WITH JIMMY? “I like everything about working with Jimmy, but he’s just the right mix for the team that we have and probably for me for the things I like and don’t like, but it just fit better with the whole team dynamic and who he’s got working with him.” 

 

IS THERE STILL A MAGICAL FEELING COMING TO THIS PLACE? “Yeah, just having the week off and we’ve been running pretty good most of the year, so it doesn’t feel like a long season so far, so it’s always cool to come here to Indy. It’s always one you have circled on your calendar and you’re ready to go when you get here.” 

 

JACK IS STILL LOOKING FOR HIS FIRST WIN HERE. ANY THOUGHTS ON WHY THAT IS? “I’ve never really thought about that, to be honest with you. In the past we’ve had some really good runs and some really good cars and haven’t always had the finishes, but it’s probably circumstances more than anything. I think we have equipment as good as anybody, we’ve just got to figure out how to make that all work for here and for the race and strategy that goes into being successful here.” 

 

WHAT ABOUT YOU AND YOUR TEAM?   “I feel good. It’s a little bit different race than some of the other races. It’s not a real wide track to pass on and passing is tough, so track position is real important, so it’s a little different race. I think this is one of the races where not necessarily the fastest car always wins. I think you’ve got to have a fast car, you’ve got to have great strategy, great pit stops, do things right on the restarts – do all those things to be in position.” 

 

DO YOU THINK THE FR9 ENGINE COULD COME INTO PLAY THIS WEEKEND WITH THE HEAT? “I think it comes into play every weekend. You can never have too much horsepower, so you always look forward to that. I don’t know how much better it cools than another manufacturer. It cools better than the old engine we had, but I don’t know if it’s really an advantage on every other manufacturer or not, but it’s certainly been a good piece and it’s been a big reason for our performance picking up this year.” 

 

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THIS TRACK? “It’s pretty much a one-groove track. All four corners are unique and a lot different, so certainly it’s important to, first of all, have your car driving right, but to hit your marks and get everything you can. If you miss one of these corners here, especially turn two is always a trouble spot for me, if you miss the entrance to that corner, you certainly have a big penalty to pay down that long straightaway, so it is important to not mess up on your marks and make sure you get in every corner.” 

 

WHAT MADE YOU START TWEETING ON TWITTER? “Just because I told everybody I would never do it. I was sitting around and I was like, ‘You know, maybe I’ll start for awhile and see what it’s like.’ I can’t guarantee how long I’ll do it, but I figured I would check it out. I was actually watch some other people were saying. I was on some different websites and on NFL.com watching what was going on with the labor situation and they always have a tweet of the day from some football player on there, so I started following some of them a little bit and watching a little bit and figured it was maybe time to get out of the dark ages and try it.” 

 

IS IT SOMETHING YOU’RE GONNA STICK WITH FOR NOW? “Well, it’s been a whole day (laughter). I don’t even know what I’m doing yet, except for entering what I’m doing and pushing ‘send’. It’s only been a day and I think I’ve only sent three of them, so, yeah, I’ll stick with it for a little while longer than that.” 

 

HOW MUCH OF THE ATTRACTION OF BEING A RACER WHEN YOU STARTED WAS JUST GOING FAST? “Honestly, the attraction for me wasn’t necessarily going fast, it was always the competition. In everything I’ve done I’ve always enjoyed competition, whether it was playing board games with my family or riding our snowmobiles or whatever it was. That was really the attraction, not necessarily to just go fast, but to go faster than everybody else and figure out how to get your car faster than everybody’s and being able to win. That’s always really been the attraction, not necessarily the speed. To me, it’s just as big a thrill to win at a half-mile track as it is a two-and-a-half mile track. It’s not the miles per hour number, it’s the competition and trying to be successful and beat everybody.” 

 

WHAT’S THE FASTEST YOU’VE EVER DRIVEN A CAR? “I guess in one of these cars probably here or Michigan or wherever your top speeds are the fastest. I don’t know – 210 I guess or something.” 

 

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE CREW CHIEF CHANGES AND THE TRANSITION PERIOD LIKE? “In our organization it’s a little bit different because it’s so big and everybody shares and we all have meeting together. There are recommended setups that get passed out, so it’s a little bit different than maybe what it used to be. I don’t think somebody comes in and changes the world right away, but I think it can work several different ways. I know a lot of people that whenever they get somebody new in there they’re kind of in the honeymoon period and everything goes great and they get along good and they start running better right away, and other guys maybe just don’t take hold right away, so I think it’s just kind of a trial and error depending on where you’re at in the season and how you’re doing, and if things aren’t working, it’s probably a good time to try something else if you’re already looking at trying to improve your performance this year, but are you looking toward trying to build on it for next year.” 

 

DID YOU KNOW WHAT JIMMY LIKED WHEN HE CAME ON BOARD? “I don’t think it’s so much how he wants to set up a car, I think the biggest thing to learn is learn each other’s language and during a race how much you need to adjust. Loose to me might not be the same as when he worked with Kurt Busch, so to give each other information and make the right changes and what you like to feel, so I think that’s the biggest thing.” 

 

IS NASCAR AT ITS GREATEST LEVEL OF COMPETITION NOW? “It depends. I guess you could play point/counterpoint with that because Jimmie has won five straight championships and nobody has ever done that, either. But I feel like every year the competition gets tighter. There are more and more rules. It’s harder to get an advantage on anybody. I think every year it seems to get more competitive. The times seem to be closer together and everybody seems to be going closer to the same speed, so I think every year it gets more competitive.” 

 

IS IT NASCAR’S RULES OR MORE GOOD DRIVERS? “Today, compared to maybe 20 years ago, there are probably more good teams. There are more big teams, more sharing of information. There are less motor builders, so there will be less of a swing from top to bottom in power, and the rules are a huge part of it. There is so much less room to work than what there used to be.” 

 

WHAT CHALLENGES DOES THIS TRACK PRESENT TO YOU TECHNICALLY?  “It’s not really that difficult to just drive around it depending on what your car is doing. If your car is driving exactly like you want it, it’s a fairly easy track to drive around, although it is one of those tracks that when you try to get that little extra there’s actually a big payday for that usually if you can get through there just a little quicker, so it’s a fun track to drive around. The hardest part about here is figuring out how to pass, especially if everybody is running the exact same line as you. It’s a tough one to pass at, so that’s probably the toughest part.” 

 

HOW DO YOU ASSESS YOUR TEAM’S CHANCES THIS WEEKEND?   “As an organization I think our chances are as good as anybody’s today, but we need to get on the track and see how our cars stack up. I certainly think there’s a lot that goes into winning this race. Pit strategy and not making mistakes getting on and off pit road, having good restarts on the track and not making mistakes there, and getting everything you can those first couple of corners when the cars are bunched up, there’s a lot that goes into it and I think everybody has to do a perfect job from strategy to pit road to the driver on restarts, like I said, getting on and off pit road – all that kind of stuff – to have a chance because I don’t think you can come out of your last pit stop 15^th and have a chance to win. I don’t think that can happen, so you’ve got to figure out how to get that track position and keep it all day.” 

 

WHAT HAS MADE CARL SO SUCCESSFUL THIS SEASON? “I think you need to ask him that. I think our organization has been a lot better since about 10 weeks to go in the season last year. I think our cars have been faster. As of today, I think three out of the four are in the top 12, and we’ve probably got a chance for the fourth one too, so I think all of our cars have been running a lot better. Carl has been able to, I don’t think really have any bad finishes and he’s been real competitive and won some races earlier this year. Carl is really good. He’s always been real competitive.” 

 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS RACE WEEKEND EXPANDING NEXT YEAR WITH NATIONWIDE AND THE ROAD COURSE RACE? “I don’t really have much of an idea, to be honest with you. I think it’s cool the Nationwide cars are coming here and I hope I can get one to drive because it’ll be neat to get an extra race on the track. But on the other side of that, kind of being the traditionalist that I am, I’ll miss ORP and being out there and those guys being out there because that’s one of the greatest short tracks I think there is anywhere in the country. It’s always put on a great race and I remember when I started running that race and the stands were always packed and people were sitting on blankets on the hill. It was just a cool Saturday night short-track environment like we all grew up in, so it’s sad to see that go, but I think it’ll be neat for the Nationwide guys to be able to race here.” 

 

WILL A LOT OF CUP REGULARS WANT TO JUMP INTO THAT NNS RACE NEXT YEAR? “I think everybody will try to run it. I think just like this year sponsorship will dictate a lot of that and whether you can get it or not, but I think everybody will want to run it. I don’t know anybody that wouldn’t want to race here an extra time.” 

 

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Scotts Ortho Ford Fusion – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT COMING BACK TO THE BRICKYARD AND HAVING A CHANCE AT THE SPRINT SUMMER SHOWDOWN? “This race is huge. You guys know how big it is. This is one of the biggest races that a NASCAR driver can win. Sprint has upped the ante and made it even bigger with the Sprint Summer Showdown and that’s something that we’re taking really seriously. We want a chance at this $3 million. We want to win $1 million for the team, for our charities and for our fans, so these next five races, especially in our position with our 99 team running well in the points. We feel like we can pull out all of the stops, we can gamble on pit road, we can be aggressive on the race track, and maybe have a shot at that Sprint Summer Showdown. That’s huge.” 

 

ANY CLOSER TO MAKING A DECISION ABOUT NEXT YEAR? “We’re working hard on the contract stuff. I’ve heard a lot of different ideas out there, but it still remains the same. I’m gonna make the decision that’s the best one I can make and I’m gonna do that outside of the media. That’s the way I want to keep it going right now. I have signed a contract and that’s the contract I signed in 2008 to race for Jack in ’09, ’10, and ’11 and try to win the championship, so that is my mission. That’s the only contract that I have signed right now and that’s the one that I’m gonna honor, so that’s what I’m doing.” 

 

DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO? “I can’t tell you. I’m not purposely withholding anything, other than to just be able to get the business side of everything done. When I’m able to talk about next season, if it’s appropriate, I will talk about it and I’ll tell you guys.”

 

HAVE YOU MADE A DECISION IN YOUR MIND OR ARE YOU STILL ON THE FENCE? “I’d just rather not say. I appreciate it guys. You guys have been very good to me and I appreciate it.” 

 

DO YOU FEEL THAT REGARDLESS WHAT DECISION YOU MAKE YOU CAN STILL WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR? “Of course. I do, I feel like no matter what happens that we have a great thing going here. Jack Roush and Ford and Aflac and everyone, this is our mission right now is to win this championship and that’s our goal right now. I feel like it’s the goal for all of us, so whatever happens will happen, but I think that’s reasonable to believe that it can happen no matter what.” 

 

YOU DON’T THINK THIS HAS DISTRACTED YOU FROM ALL OF THAT? “There are a lot of distractions in life, but we’re doing really well. We’re leading the points and we’re doing well. We’re doing what we need to do, so I’m a competitor. My job is to do the job that I’m hired to do and whatever distractions there are out there I have to be able to shut those off and go race, and that’s what I do.” 

 

YOU HAVE NOT WON ONE OF THE MAJOR NASCAR RACES YET. HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THAT AT ALL? “As a fan, I remember who wins those big races. I feel like there are some really great drivers who maybe haven’t won those big races, but at the end of the day, that All-Star win was huge to me because I thought, ‘This is one of the marquee events.’ It was huge to win it and there’s a lot of pride in that. This race would feel the same way, but I think if you run well enough and you’re a good enough driver, you will eventually win these races and, hopefully, I get to but I don’t really measure someone by whether they’ve won these races. But I think if you’re good enough and you run well enough over time that you will.” 

 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RACEWAY PARK? “Lucas Oil Raceway Park is a blast. That’s one of the neatest race tracks that I’ve ever had a chance to race at. I’ve raced the baby grand stock cars there, USAC Silver Crown cars, the old style cars, the newer style cars that they ran for awhile, the trucks, the Nationwide cars and every style of car race there has been great. It’s been really fun. I think we all recognize that’s one of the greatest race tracks in the country and that NASCAR shifting the Nationwide Series to the big track here is a risk, but we also realize that the opportunities for the teams, for the driver, for the sponsors to come over here and run the Nationwide Series is an opportunity that you just can’t pass up. It’s too big of an opportunity, so I have a feeling we’ll be back at Lucas Oil Raceway Park in the Nationwide Series and the Truck Series. It may not be next year, but I have a feeling we’ll be back. It’s just too much fun.” 

 

DO YOU HAVE A COLD? “Yeah, I’m just getting over my cold, but I guess that’s the deal with having kids. She had a runny nose for a couple of days and now I have. I feel really good, but I don’t sound great yet.” 

 

WHAT CHALLENGES YOU MOST AT THIS TRACK AND HOW DO YOU ASSESS THE ROUSH CHANCES THIS WEEKEND? “The challenges of this race track are multiple. You have to have really good low-end power because you come out of these really abrupt 90-degree corners and you have to really get the car going down the straightaways, so that’s huge. The second thing is you have to be able to turn in the middle of the corner without being too loose on exit, so the car has to be free enough to really change directions and it not be loose off of the corners, so that’s really tough. The pit crew has to be really good because you have to have that track position. It’s so difficult to pass. Qualifying has to be great so you get a good pit stall and that helps with the track position. All of those things are what we’ve been working on at Roush Fenway Racing. I feel like our team has been stronger in those respects. I feel in 2005 we had a really good shot to win this race and I think we’re better than we were then now, so I think this will be my best shot to win this race. It remains to be seen because we haven’t practiced, but I’m pretty excited about it.” 

 

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH PARITY THIS YEAR? “There’s a lot of parity in this series. I think this car, to the frustration of the drivers a lot of times, all the cars are so close that it really comes down to your pit strategy, your luck, your ability to really get past cars on restarts. It’s really tough, plus the new point system really penalizes you for a blown engine or a wreck or something. You can get as little as one point, so I think all of those things have combined to make one of the most competitive points races that I’ve ever seen. I didn’t predict this. I didn’t predict the number of winners we’d have, the points this close, it’s pretty interesting.” 

 

IS IT FRUSTRATING THAT YOU MAY HAVE THE BEST CAR AND NOT WIN? “Yeah, it’s really frustrating to not win with the best car. We’ve had a couple of races like that this year, but, in the end, like with most things in racing, it’s the same for everyone. I’m not convinced that NASCAR doesn’t want everybody to be frustrated because that sometimes ends up making for better TV, so they’ve got us trying everything we can do and we’re still neck and neck. All of these drivers, we’ve had 13 different winners. That’s a lot, so this is a season unlike any other and that’s what we need right now. NASCAR needed this season.   We needed to have Trevor Bayne win the Daytona 500 and we needed Regan Smith to win the Southern 500. These are great stories and as frustrating as it was for me to finish second in both of those races, it’s one of the neatest seasons we’ve had for awhile.” 

 

IS THERE A WAY TO STEP UP YOUR GAME FOR THOSE FINAL 10 RACES? “The pressure of being the points leader is an interesting pressure because you don’t want to lose the points lead because it feels good to be leading the points, but with the way the Chase is structured, we’re not really leading the points right now. We’re third or fourth if the Chase were to start today, so you can be fooled into thinking, ‘Hey, we’re leading the points. We’ve got this under control.’ When we lost the points lead a couple of weeks ago, it reminded us and I think it was good for us that, hey, we’ve got to be able to beat these guys regularly. We can’t just hang on to a five or six-point lead. That’s not gonna be good enough, so it is an interesting pressure. Right now, it’s fun but I know when that Chase starts it’s gonna be a whole new level of intensity and everybody is gonna be trying harder. I feel more pressure to win right now than I do to hang onto this points lead because the wins are the only thing that are going to positively impact the chance of a championship.” 

 

JEFF GORDON SAID THIS TRACK CAN BE REALLY HOT. DO YOU AGREE? “Yes, I’m conscious of how hot it’s supposed to be in the race car this weekend. It’s gonna be extremely hot if the weather is as predicted. I think Jeff is right. The grandstands and everything calm the wind. There are a lot of people here and a lot of pavement. The temperature is supposed to be 91 degrees. The sun will be out and two or three o’clock will be the hottest part of the day and we’ll be about two-thirds of the way through the race frustrated, sweating, it’s gonna physically be one of the toughest races of the year I believe.” 

 

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF AS A PERSON THROUGH THIS SEASON SO FAR? “I’ve learned a lot about myself as a person this year mostly just realizing as frustrating as the last two years were, we came off 2008 and it was very frustrating not to win for 71 races and then what I’ve realized through our most recent success is that if you just keep digging and you keep working and you work well with the people around you that you can turn things around. It’s so easy to second-guess yourself and it’s so easy to think that you’re missing something, but you just have to keep forging ahead and that’s what I’ve learned the most.”