{"id":5077,"date":"2011-05-05T21:58:06","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T02:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2011-05-05T17:59:05","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T22:59:05","slug":"team-chevy-driver%e2%80%99s-seat-darlington-raceway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/team-chevy-driver%e2%80%99s-seat-darlington-raceway\/","title":{"rendered":"TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER\u2019S SEAT AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY:"},"content":{"rendered":"

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE\u2019S\/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET \u2013 2ND IN STANDINGS:<\/strong> \u201cWith Darlington being a one-time race, it’s tough to know how to unload. I was just in some team meetings at Hendrick Motor Sports, and drivers, crew chiefs were all present, and we’re trying to figure out what we go back with. When we raced there last year, our cars were completely different; technology has changed so the setups are different. The tire that we’re running on is different. We don’t really know what to show up with, and with the practice sessions like they are now and the four sets of tires that we get, there’s not a clear strategy going into the weekend what to do. This is obviously a very special Mother’s Day for my family with it being Chani’s first Mother’s Day. Obviously my mom has done so much for myself over the years and has really raised her boys right. It’s always good to do something nice for her and be able to celebrate that with her. It’s just going to be an awesome day.”<\/p>\n

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY SUGAR-FREE\/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET \u2013 4TH IN STANDINGS:<\/strong> \u201cDarlington is a slick track. It is a difficult track to drive around. It is real smooth, and you have to find that edge. There is a lot of load change like driving into Turn 1 and then the load comes out of the car through the center and then the load increases on the exit of Turn 2. The car just really changes a lot as you are going around the corner, and it can just snap on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET \u2013 5TH IN STANDINGS: \u201cThe track was originally not designed for the cars to be running as fast as they are today. The track\u2019s very narrow and you carry a lot of speed. From a driver\u2019s standpoint, it\u2019s very challenging just to keep the car off the wall, but it\u2019s also a lot of fun to drive, too. Any lap around Darlington is a lap where you have to be paying attention to what\u2019s going on because you can get yourself in trouble at any point on the race track. You carry a lot of speed into Turn 1 and you run right up the banking right up next to the wall and right back to the throttle. As you come back down the hill you might have to breathe the throttle a little bit, but it\u2019s a lot of fun coming out of Turn 2 as it kind of shoots you down the backstretch and really (Turns) 3 and 4 are probably the hardest because you carry so much speed off of (Turn) 2 into (Turn) 3 and the line kind of moves around a bit there. Probably the easiest place to get in the wall, well it\u2019s pretty easy to get in the wall anywhere, but definitely the easiest place to get into the wall is the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4. It\u2019d be pretty awesome [to win at Darlington] just for the fact that everyone knows the significance of the Southern 500 and to win at Darlington is something as a driver that you want to check off your checklist when you have the opportunity to. We\u2019ve been close at Darlington, but we\u2019ve just got to put that check in the right box.\u201d<\/p>\n

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 BB&T CHEVROLET \u2013 7TH IN STANDINGS: \u201cShe (Darlington Raceway) has definitely been kind of a love\/hate relationship with me. We have run well there and have also struggled. We have good car, but just can\u2019t get everything put together for a solid finish. Hopefully we can capitalize on that this year. We really need a good run there. In the past, the month of May hasn\u2019t been really good to this team and Darlington is a big part of that. When I first came here, we didn\u2019t always have the best package. Until last year when we were good and I just flat out wrecked it. We had a good car off the trailer and I wrecked it in practice. Then during the race, we suffered a brake problem. I think it was a brake line or something broke and we had to pit twice under green-flag conditions during the race. You know, it was just on those bad races, a bad weekend overall. You can\u2019t afford to have those anymore. It\u2019s so important to be solid week-in and week-out. If we want to be a championship contender, which I think we are, you can\u2019t have those 32nd-place finishes on your resume. You need consistently and wins.\u201d<\/p>\n

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 TORNADOS CHEVROLET \u2013 8TH IN STANDINGS: \u201cI look forward to Darlington. It\u2019s one of my favorite race tracks. The tire test was a good tire test. Just for us, when we went down there, was to validate what they had and make sure because of the situation with the asphalt that the track hasn\u2019t changed that necessitated a tire change and it didn\u2019t. So it was an opportunity to do down there and validate things for Goodyear and work on our race car at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT\/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET 10TH IN STANDINGS: \u201c[The prestige of getting a win at Darlington] \u201cA lot of it has to do with the history of the track. If you can say you won a race at Darlington \u2013 that\u2019s a feather in your cap. That\u2019s something to be proud of, knowing that you\u2019re in a group of drivers with names like Pearson and Petty \u2013 the pioneers of our sport who you hear stories about the races they ran there and the races they won there.<\/p>\n

\u201cDarlington is such a tough track to get a handle on and to be good at all day. You don\u2019t see a lot of guys who have a lot of success there. You see only a handful of guys who religiously run well there. That just shows you how difficult Darlington is to get a handle on. If you can have a good day and win there, it\u2019s a track that\u2019s like winning at Bristol. It\u2019s the same type of feeling \u2013 knowing that you conquered something that\u2019s very hard to obtain.\u201d<\/p>\n

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET \u2013 12TH IN STANDINGS: \u201cI think Darlington\u2019s a cool place. It\u2019s always very tricky, but it\u2019s fun. I think it is the hardest race track to get onto the pit lane. Leaving is not so bad, but I think it\u2019s the hardest place to get into the pit lane. Darlington is a track where people learn to give and take because if you try to go side-by-side into turn one then the guy on the outside is usually going to hit the fence. We\u2019re looking for a clean race and a good finish for the Target team going into this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST\/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET \u2013 13TH IN STANDINGS: \u201cDarlington is known as one of the tougher tracks on the circuit. All the drivers like it because it\u2019s a track that really puts the race into the driver\u2019s hands. It\u2019s intense for sure. I\u2019m a driver that likes to slide my car all around the race track, but that\u2019s impossible at Darlington. If you slide at all, you\u2019re going to end up in the wall for sure. I really have to work on my driving style for this race and Lance (McGrew, crew chief) and the guys will really have to work on a setup that gives me the best of both worlds. It\u2019s tough. It\u2019s only a two-day weekend but it\u2019s a grueling one. It\u2019s the kind of challenge that I look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n

PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 TURTLE WAX\/MENARDS CHEVROLET \u2013 15TH IN STANDINGS: \u201cThey will probably have to rename it now [the Track Too Tough to Tame]. Since it was repaved, it\u2019s a totally different race track. The old surface had no grip at all; the tires would wear out in a couple laps and you would slide everywhere. Now, you run as fast as you do at the end of the run as you do at the beginning. You still have to run up by the fence which leads to right side damage and the infamous \u2018Darlington stripe.\u2019 Driving a foot off the wall, things are still going to happen. It\u2019s not as tough as it used to be, but it\u2019s still pretty tough. Darlington is definitely a throwback race track. You drive into this little town and all you see is this huge race track. It definitely allows you to feel the roots of NASCAR.\u201d<\/p>\n

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET \u2013 16TH IN STANDINGS: \u201cThat track can just reach out and bite you so easy and you have to race the track. It\u2019s a one-groove race track typically so it\u2019s not one of those tracks — it\u2019s just one of those tracks where you can be riding around by yourself and just make the slightest little bobble and you\u2019re in the wall. We\u2019ve seen it just eat up race cars and competitors over the years. It\u2019s just one of those tracks that you have to stay on your toes at all times because it can be a very tough track. It\u2019s not as tough these days as it used to be when the pavement was extremely worn out. You were really on the edge. As the pavement wears each and every year, it starts to get back more and more to the too tough to tame. It\u2019s definitely one of those tracks that challenges your nerves. You have to be really committed. It\u2019s a fast race track, but you have to be really committed to the line that it takes to go fast around there, which is right up next to the wall. You have to be committed to the gas, especially qualifying. To me, you just have to be able to go for it there and then just to get the balance right you have to keep that car on the edge through the corners and then compromise because one and two is totally different than three and four for what it takes to get the car through the corners.\u201d<\/p>\n

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET \u2013 20TH IN STANDINGS: \u201cWith no disrespect to any other race track, Daytona is the centerpiece of our sport but, Darlington, to me, has the most historic meaning of anywhere we go. Darlington has changed. It is not the way it was 40 years ago, but, it is the way it was 30 years ago. It still has that character. There are no fluke winners at Darlington. It requires you as a driver to push hard, but penalizes you when you push too hard. You have to be precise. It is a track that people that like to drive race cars like to go to. Some of the race tracks we race on, you are a rider more than a driver. This is the type of place where you can make a difference in the car. When I go there, I look at it as a huge challenge because I know that if I operate at 100 percent of my capability and my car\u2019s capability, we\u2019ll get the best finish we can. If I am at 97 percent, then we\u2019re not. That extra three percent at Darlington gets you something. It did for Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. It is the same race track. I know the suites are cool, but, to me, going there is like stepping back in time and you don\u2019t have all that there. It is just a race track that was built around a pond that is the same way it was then. I think that has some special meaning to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS\/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET \u2013 24TH IN STANDINGS: “Darlington has been a good track for me, and a place that I really like to race. We won the pole there last year, ran up front all night and led a lot of laps. I hope that we can back up that effort and improve one spot from our second-place finish in this event last year. Darlington is unlike many of the other tracks that we will race all year. We run so close to the wall there in the corners to carry speed, you just try not to hit too hard when you get that \u201cDarlington Stripe\u201d, that seems to be inevitable. <\/p>\n

REGAN SMITH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET \u2013 29TH IN STANDINGS: “It might be one of the toughest tracks, but Darlington is one of my favorites, dating back to when I raced in the former Busch Series. The past two races have been somewhat encouraging for us with 15th and 17th-place finishes in Talladega and Richmond. It’s not where we want to be, but considering what we endured the previous six races our Furniture Row Chevrolet is heading in the right direction. We need to stay patient and get as many points as possible. We have a lot of ground to make up, but I am confident that we’ll get it done.”<\/p>\n

DAVE BLANEY, NO. 36 GOLDEN CORRAL CHEVROLET \u2013 32ND IN STANDINGS: “I\u2019m excited to go to Darlington. Our team has a lot of momentum right now, and Darlington has always been one of my favorite tracks because of its history and uniqueness. Everybody has to change driving style to be successful there. You race to not make mistakes on the racetrack instead of racing other people. There will be guys hitting the wall all weekend. You just have to take care of your car all weekend and not get excited to early.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE\u2019S\/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET \u2013 2ND IN STANDINGS: \u201cWith Darlington being a one-time race, it’s tough to know how to unload. I was just in some team meetings at Hendrick Motor Sports, and drivers, crew chiefs were all present, and we’re trying to figure out what we go back with. When we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[15775],"class_list":["post-5077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5077\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}