Alba Colon
March 12, 2014 – “This weekend the circuit heads to Bristol Motor Speedway. We will be celebrating the first short track race of the season, a race that is always full of a lot of excitement.
“Bristol Motor Speedway is a very demanding place on drivers, teams and equipment. This high-speed half-mile track offers its own unique set of challenges. Having a well-balanced car and staying out of trouble are the keys for success at Bristol. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes between the teams and Chevrolet racing engineers in looking for ways to make our race cars handle better. A good handling car is for sure a factor to a strong performance at this track.
“With three races under our belt this year and with the new NASCAR Sprint Cup rules package, we have been pleased with the performance of our Gen-6 Chevrolet SS Race Cars. There is still a lot of work to do, but we have developed a good base to work with.
“We are looking forward to some great racing at Bristol and to celebrating a great win on Sunday afternoon.”
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT:
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – POINT’S LEADER
(ON THE TEAM’S STRONG START TO THE SEASON.): “This is a good start to the season for sure. Yeah, the confidence is up 
there. When we first got together we’d run our guts out to run in the top 15. Then the next year we’d run our guts out to run in the top 10, and you wondered when you’d get up to fifth and start running in the top 5 regularly. We started doing that last year, and so our team keeps stepping up this ladder. It just makes total sense to me how that process has went, having lived it and having seen the progression. So the sky’s the limit for us, and if we are smart and keep our composure and don’t get foolish and don’t get too proud of ourselves, just keep it in perspective, we’ve got a great opportunity this year to be this competitive every week.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – 3RD IN STANDINGS
“We had a rough race last time at Bristol and got caught up in a wreck. Bristol is going to be interesting for sure. Everyone is still trying to dial in their cars with the new rule packages. We’ve had a decent start to the year – as well as our teammates on the No. 88 – I’m really proud of the entire shop. It hasn’t been easy this year – we’ve been working really hard on these cars.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – 5TH IN STANDINGS
“The groove at Bristol has changed the last few years. It used to be right around the bottom, then it moved to the middle and now 
it’s at the top of the track. I think it makes for some of the most spectacular racing that we have on the circuit. That’s what makes Bristol so special.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – 11TH IN STANDINGS
“I am really looking forward to Bristol. This is one of the tracks that I really enjoy racing at and we have had some good runs there. With the new qualifying format it will be interesting and crucial to have a good starting spot for Sunday. It is pretty tough to pass at Bristol so track position will be important.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BAD BOY BUGGIES/REALTREE CHEVROLET SS – 13TH IN STANDINGS
“I enjoy Bristol Motor Speedway. I enjoyed the last NASCAR Nationwide Series race there. I don’t know what to expect for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars because there is so much horsepower in that little bullring. In the Nationwide cars I felt like it took me about two years to get the hang of it. During my fourth race I felt like that was the best race I have had, so experience will be big at Bristol Motor Speedway. We’ll just have to learn. We have those 
rookie stripes on the back and it will be one of those places where you just have to stay in the race the whole time and fight until the end.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – 14TH IN STANDINGS
“Bristol is a track where I’ve had a lot of good results in the past. We’ve run well so far this year, other than a parts failure last weekend, but we’re still getting established as a team. Every week is a new page in the notebook for us and I’m looking forward to getting on the track Friday and seeing exactly where we are speed-wise, how the car feels and all of that.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS- 15TH IN STANDINGS
On winning at Bristol in March 2013: “It was pretty awesome to win a Cup race at Bristol. We were close for a while and to finally pull it off last year was pretty neat. We were really solid in both races last season so I look forward to going back there this weekend. I’m excited because it is a track that suits us pretty well, and it’s a track we can get some more wins at.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – 23RD IN STANDINGS
“I’m really looking forward to the race at Bristol this weekend. Our Target Chevy has been really fast the past couple weeks, and 
the crew has done a great job setting up the car. I had really good finishes last year in two Nationwide races, so I’m excited for my first time at Bristol in a Cup car.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – 27TH IN STANDINGS
“Bristol is one of those places where you’ve got to have everything kind of go your way. If you have one hiccup, it’s hard to recover from it. We’ve only won one race there and we’ve kind of been all over the board. It’s been feast or famine for us. It’s like if you have one problem in the first half of the race, it’s hard to recover from it. It makes for a very long day. We’ve had more long days than good days.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – 28TH IN STANDINGS
“Bristol is one of those tracks that when you hit the right set-up it will work for a little while. Some tracks you hit the set-up and 
you only get the one win out of it. Bristol to me is all about how you get the car to carve through Turn 4. If you are good in Turn 4, then Turn 2 the exit there should handle itself. Now (after the repave) Bristol is not that mean, tough and ugly track. It’s a very generous track now and doesn’t have the sharp banking transitions and it seems like the outside groove is the preferred groove.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – 33RD IN STANDINGS
“It was huge. When things go bad, it can snowball quickly, but everyone kept their head up and kept working hard. And that can be hard to do when things get tough. The biggest thing I kept reminding myself was that we had really good cars; we just got taken out in accidents that we didn’t start. Our cars have been awesome all year and that’s a product of a lot of hard work by Tony Gibson and all the guys. I’m proud of their effort and I think we’ve got a lot of good days ahead. I’m excited for the next few races.”
AUTO AND TRACK NEWS 