	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NASCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 21, 2008

JOSH HAMILTON: Good afternoon, everybody and we will could come today's NASCAR CAM VIDEO teleconference in advance of Sunday's event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Pep Boys Auto 500, race No. 7 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Today we are joined by two special guests. Only up we'll have Marc Davis, who finished fifth in the NASCAR Camping World Series East and will be attempting to make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut on Saturday at Memphis Motorsports Park in the No. 18 DLP HDTV Toyota. After Marc at approximately 2:00 PM we'll be joined by Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell Pennzoil Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Marc is joining us from the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, while Kevin will be at Richard Childress Racing headquarters in Welcome, North Carolina.
Marc, you finished 16th in your national series debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series earlier this season; how did this race help prepare you for this weekend?
MARC DAVIS: It was definitely a great opportunity for us and a lot better race the way we finished off. We ran around 10, 11, 12 the whole race and it was a pretty good run for us and I'm really excited about the opportunity with DLP and Joe Gibbs Racing for our Memphis Nationwide debut.

Q. You already have a NASCAR start under your belt, is there a sense of confidence since this is not truly a big debut for you, but also with as good as the 18 car is, do you have a lot of confidence going into this race at Memphis?
MARC DAVIS: Yeah definitely, Joe Gibbs Racing organization had an awesome year this year, and especially the 18, as well. So I'm looking forward to being in the DLP car this weekend and go out there and perform my best and go out there and stay out of trouble and get way up front.

Q. Just kind of curious, you've actually I think been with Gibbs racing for a while through their development program. Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with Gibbs Racing and what they have meant to your career so far?
MARC DAVIS: Yeah, definitely, just everyone over here at Joe Gibbs Racing is like a huge family. This is my third year under contract with them. I started back in 2006 racing late models and two years in the Camper World Series, and now a good opportunity to make our Nationwide debut. So I'm really excited for these guys and looking forward to it.

Q. Also, I think you've been doing this for a while, but yet you are still so young at the same time. Talk about what it was like kind of growing up as a kid, racing, and just not what your average kid when they were in school, and I think you even might have switched high schools so that racing would be a little more convenient for you. Can you just talk about what it was like growing up and racing at the same time?
MARC DAVIS: Well, I started racing when I was six years old, and I've been in this sport for 12 years now and started out having fun with my dad racing in midget cars and did well, and it was all about having fun. That's what it's all about right now.
So moved up to the series and ended up moving to North Carolina. I'm from Maryland originally, so it was a big change to come up from Maryland and come down here, but I knew a lot of people already and so it was just one of those things that you got to do to commit to it.

Q. And also, Joe Gibbs obviously has a great stable of drivers and things. What kind of advice have you got maybe from some of the other Job Gibbs drivers, and you're obviously going to be filling the seat for Joey Logano, who has set things on fire since he started this year.
MARC DAVIS: It's really great to have such great teammates here. It's good to be able to bounce ideas off of each other. Joey Logano and I, we grew up together racing all the way back in core midget cars, and so it's good to have a good teammate like that to kind of relate to myself with.

Q. Obviously this is a massively huge opportunity for to you get a top-tier team like this. How did the whole deal originally come about? Did Joe or JD contact you and did you believe it was them on the other line?
MARC DAVIS: Yeah, definitely, we knew we were going to get a whole season in the Camper World Series again and hopefully up for a championship, and we fell short of that this year. And we had been talking about doing some Nationwide racing earlier in the season and just came up that Memphis happened to be the right time for us. And got that deal put together and really excited about that and go out there and have some fun and perform.
JOSH HAMILTON: You finished fifth in the Camping World Series East this year, your second full year in the series; how do you think that driving those cars the past two years has prepared to you drive in the Nationwide Series this weekend?
MARC DAVIS: It's definitely a great series to be in. The whole Camping World Series has definitely changed from what it used to be, and even between the last two years, definitely the competition level has gotten a lot better between last year and this year. There's a lot more Cup-affiliate teams in the series and a lot more development drivers.
So it's definitely a good series to step up to and get out with the stock cars and having the spec motor (ph), it's definitely a good motor and really reliable. So go out there and we get to run on some of the big tracks; ran good at Phoenix and Loudon and Iowa and Dover, as well. It's definitely a good developmental series and looking forward to some more drivers coming out of it.

Q. What do you think will be the steepest part of the learning curve as you move up to this level?
MARC DAVIS: Well, with the whole Nationwide Series, the big thing is probably just going to be getting used to the longer races. We have run some longer races in the past and just try and get the whole strategy deal worked out. And there's more pit strategy involved in the Nationwide races and the Cup races than there in the Truck Series or Camper World Series like I'm used to. That's going to be a learning curve, but I'm on a good team and good sponsors and good teammates, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q. What do you think that you've learned along the way already that's going to adapt the best when you start to race with some of the top racers in the league?
MARC DAVIS: Well, at Joe Gibbs Racing, they have the best racehorses, and the people around me, so I feel like I'm surrounded by some of the best people in the sport. And that's definitely something to learn from, so I'm looking forward to it, and all of these guys are helping me get to the point right now, and still a long way to go but it's definitely getting closer.

Q. We talked to Joey yesterday, and he said that since he's going to be coming back from Atlanta in the first lap, he's going to see the first lap of the face -- he's been doing a lot of practice on the video games. Have you been doing that sort of same kind of preparation, or are just going to come straight in and hit the practices really hard once you get to Memphis?
MARC DAVIS: Definitely. We use them a little bit to get used to the racetrack. It's not exact details but gives you a good game plan to go to the race track. You know what to expect somewhat. So done that and watched some of the Memphis tapes from the previous years and go out there and get some practice going. So I think we'll be pretty good and definitely, the 22 will probably use us a little bit to bounce ideas off of since Joey won't be in the car for practice.

Q. Just kind of curious, have you sat down yet and really looked at the rest of the year and then looked on to next year and kind of come up with some kind of game plan or have you got your own personal goals ahead to the future? And I guess Joe Gibbs Racing, have they handed you some goals of what they would like to see you achieve in the future?
MARC DAVIS: Well, we have been sitting down the last week or two and trying to -- helping me put some goals together and get some game plans going since the off-season is coming up pretty soon here. Looking at some more races for the end of the season. Not sure what all going to happen exactly. We are looking at some deals next year being outsourced from Joe Gibbs Racing to some of our tier teams (indiscernible). So nothing is laid out in stone yet, but it's looking that way right now.
JOSH HAMILTON: Marc, thanks a lot for your time today, thanks for joining us, and good luck this weekend attempting your first Nationwide Series race.
We welcome Kevin Harvick. Kevin comes into Atlanta sixth in the series standings. Kevin is it safe to say that Atlanta is a special place for you to return to as you got that first memorable NASCAR Sprint Cup win there back in 2001.
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, it's definitely a cool place to go back to just for the fact that your first win is something that you only do one time. Obviously every time we go back there, that's what a lot of people want to talk about, and we are excited that we ran good in the first race there this year, so we are looking forward to going back this week.

Q. Had a question for you about Shane Wilson, since he's been named crew chief for Clint next year and you worked with him during the 2006 Nationwide championship season, how do you think those two will fit together?
KEVIN HARVICK: I actually did not know he had been named the crew chief, so I guess I'm a little bit out of the loop. Obviously Shane has done a great job with everything that's gone on in the Nationwide Series. We had a lot of success over the couple of years that I ran the car and won a lot of races.
I think he and Clint are going to have some success together, and I'm really excited for Shane just for the fact that he's had so much success at RCR and been able to accomplish so many things that he definitely deserves the opportunity on that car.

Q. Do you think NASCAR should changes up the tracks from year-to-year just to make things a little interesting?
KEVIN HARVICK: Well, you know, obviously I think it's tough to build a consistency in knowing where you're going and what you're doing and put the schedule together so many months in advance. That would be probably something that's pretty hard to do and probably take a couple years in advance to make those things happen.
Obviously I think the schedule is mixed up a little bit next year, not a whole lot, but you know, it's hard to tell what the right mixture of what racetracks are in the Chase, but they have Talladega and leading up to the race you have the Bristols and Richmond races that obviously have a lot of excitement.
You know right now, I think our Chase format is really good for our sport and leads up to the 26th race and has a lot of excitement over the 13th, 14th, 12th, 11th place guys that, you know, sometimes we don't get the exposure if we're not racing for a championship and we're not up in the points. I think it's created a lot of excitement in races in the past that have not had that.

Q. Have you heard anything about the tire this weekend since I guess the racing was awkward in the spring race; do you expect it to be better this weekend?
KEVIN HARVICK: I don't know about the tire to be honest with you. Obviously I'm not a Goodyear engineer, so I didn't build the tire, and obviously the race at the beginning of the year was tough to drive. But that's what we get paid to do. So it all depends on what you're looking for when you're watching the race I guess.

Q. In 2006, you won 14 races between Cup and Nationwide but did not win the title, and I guess somewhat overshadowed what you really accomplished that year. Do you think Kyle Busch is going through the same thing this year because he's not going to win the Cup title this year; that the 20 wins he had will be overshadowed?
KEVIN HARVICK: I think obviously he's had a really good year. The way that our sport works is if you're not hot at the right time, you don't come out on top and win the championship. It's all about being consistent through the whole year, no matter whether it's the old-style points or the new-style points, with the year he had, he would not be on top.
When you have a year like that, obviously you want to finish it off with a championship and we were fortunate to finish our year off with a Nationwide championship, and I think we finished third or fourth in the Cup points.
It's obviously going to be tough for him to have won that many races and not win the championship, but that's just how tough our sport is.

Q. Looking back at 2005, Carl Edwards burst on scene by winning the Atlanta race and following up in Texas to get into Chase contention; what do you remember about him as a driver and person there, and what do you think of him now?
KEVIN HARVICK: I don't remember much, so I guess I'm the wrong person to ask that question.

Q. I would like to ask you about Shane Wilson, because Richard Childress Racing named him today as Clint Bowyer's crew chief for '09, and you have experience with him; did you talk a little bit about that?
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I guess have I would liked to have been in that RCR loop with the naming of Shane Wilson as the crew chief, but I guess I was a little bit out of the loop here.
Obviously Shane has earned that right to get that opportunity with the 33 car and I'm excited for him as a person, and he's a good friend of mine and I think obviously with Clint's situation, I think Shane will be a good fit. It's great to see pep get promoted within the company and get the opportunity to do that.

Q. Are you saying you didn't know about that until now?
KEVIN HARVICK: That's what I'm saying.

Q. Wow, okay. Well, what did you like about him so much? What can you tell us about him as a crew chief?
KEVIN HARVICK: Shane is just a really, really organized person. He's really good with his people and understands what it takes to keep his people headed in the right direction, and that's the majority of the battle of what we do on a week-to-week basis is keeping our people happy and keeping them understanding what you want to do next to accomplish on that side of it.
So he's really good with that and always has done a really good job on the Nationwide side of it. I think he'll do a good job in the Cup Series.

Q. You've done so much for the feeder series and Craftsman Truck Series and Nationwide, can you talk about the health of the Craftsman Truck Series particularly with both Ford and Dodge pulling back their financial support?
KEVIN HARVICK: I think as I look at the entry list for the races this weekend, and obviously the Truck race is pretty solid. And you look at the Nationwide Series, I think there's 50 cars in it for the Memphis race. Obviously this is a tough time in our economy and sponsors are waiting a little bit longer than what they had before to place their sponsorship than in the past.
So everybody is just kind of wait and see on who the president is going to be and where the economy is going to turn. I really feel confident in the fact that we have been through this before with the manufacturers supporting the Truck Series.
The Nationwide Series has really never had any manufacturer support other than technical support. So it's going to be more like it was before Toyota came into the Truck Series and kind of be back to the same formula as far as sponsorship dollars that you need to make your Truck team function.

Q. Do you feel like you've gotten a strong return on investment?
KEVIN HARVICK: I don't really look for investment to be honest with you. I race because I like to race in the Truck Series, and you know, the main reason that we race the trucks is to win races and make sure that on the day, had something to do; that was the biggest reason that we stayed in it in the past. I thoroughly enjoyed being in the Truck Series garage, and that's what I like to do in my spare time.
We don't necessarily look -- we don't look for investment at all on a return for the Truck Series.

Q. Some drivers and some professional stick-and-ball players think that butterflies are a good thing to get before race day or a big day. Do you agree with that, and do you still get butterflies, and is there a best way to handle them I guess?
KEVIN HARVICK: I don't necessarily know that there's ever butterflies anymore. But there's definitely that anticipation of what's going to happen that day and what you need to do with your car depending on how it was in practice and how you think the track is going to change for that particular race.
I would say the anticipation of what you need to do to your car and the things inside that you can relay back to the team are more on your mind than being nervous for sure.

Q. Yesterday Yarborough was on and we were talking about the drivers of the past without the benefits of power steering and stuff like that; do you think the drivers of the past had to be a little bit more athletic to handle those cars?
KEVIN HARVICK: I would definitely say the drivers of the past are not near as athletic as the drivers of today, for sure. Obviously the guys that raced in the past are just pretty much just brute, strong guys and that was just kind of the nature of the sport at the time.
So I would definitely say that today's drivers are more athletic than the drivers of old.

Q. I'm totally thrilled to see that you're putting Ryan Newman in a truck this weekend. I cannot personally wait to see him race in a truck. I talked with him today and he was so psyched. Can you talk a little about Ryan racing a truck?
KEVIN HARVICK: Well, Ryan and myself and our wives are really good friends and we are really excited to have Ryan in there. We're excited to make the change. We're just excited as an organization to kind of have fun with the two trucks as we head towards the end of the year here.
Ryan was able to drive the truck, and so it will be fun to just kind of share that experience with your friends, and he gets his first experience with a truck and obviously taking him to Atlanta for the first time is probably the best place that we can take him with all of the success that he's been able to have with the poles and as well as he runs there.
It will be fun to watch and we are excited to give him his first start.
THE MODERATOR: Kevin, thanks a lot for your time today. We certainly appreciate you joining us and good luck on Sunday.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297