TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET – 1ST IN STANDINGS:
“The hardest thing is just making your car turn in the middle of the corner and being able to have enough forward drive up off (at NHMS). 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. I always look forward to going to New Hampshire. I like that type of track because it’s flat, similar to the tracks out west where I started my racing career. There’s a lot of braking. You have to really work on getting your car through the center of the corner and still have the forward drive you need up off the corner.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/OFFICE DEPOT CHEVROLET – 2ND IN STANDINGS:
“It’s a big motor deal (NHMS). With the corners being so tight, you’ve got to put a lot of gear in the car to get it up off the corner. Forward bite is always an issue there too, so it’s hard to get up off the corners. Then you’ve got long straightaways where you can kind of relax a little bit. Coming into the corners, you use a lot of brake, and it’s hard to not only get the car stopped, but to get it to turn. Then you go through that challenge all over again. Obviously, I like it because I’ve had success there. But at the same time, it’s a tough track to pass on. You can be a couple of tenths faster than a guy, but it still takes you 20 laps to get by him. There are other tracks on the circuit where it’s hard to pass, but we still go out and put on good shows there, too. Every race at Loudon seems to be a pretty good race. So, I like it. I enjoy racing there even though it is hard to pass. But when you’ve got a good car, it’s always fun to race. We were really good there in the spring. I am hoping that, that is a scenario, where what we had is going to be really close to what we are going to want this time around again. Both Ryan (Newman) and I were really fast all day long, so I am hoping we can have a similar weekend.”
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET – 5TH IN STANDINGS:
“I like Loudon. Just getting the car to turn in the middle is important. That track is really flat and it is very hard to get a car to rotate in the middle of the corner really good.”
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Groveton, NH – Bradford, VT’s Derrick O’Donnell strengthened his ACT Bond/WIX Tiger Tour point lead with a win in the Johnny Clark Memorial 101 at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH on Saturday, September 17. O’Donnell came from the eighth starting position and took the lead after Joe Steffen suffered a flat tire on the final restart of the event.