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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400September 12, 2015Chip GanassiRICHMOND, VIRGINIA THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Chip Ganassi, car owner. Thank you for joining us. I know you've had an interesting couple of weeks. First and foremost, congratulations on making the Chase with Jamie. He was very excited. We want to congratulate you and talk a little bit about how you're feeling. It's been several years since you made the Chase. Talk about your thoughts and looking ahead to the next 10 races. CHIP GANASSI: Obviously it's a little sweeter tonight with Jamie. I know with Jamie in the past, when they took 10, I could be wrong on these numbers, seems when they took 10, we were 11th. When they took 12, we were 13th. When they took 16, we were 17th or something. So this was a little sweeter to get him punched in there pretty solid. Really, really happy for the team. The guys worked hard, Max, Matt, Roy, all the team, Tony, all the engineers. They worked tirelessly under the radar week in and week out. My hat is off to them for the job they have done with the team. Like Jamie said, been consistent all year. We had speed at times, not when we needed it most. Like Jimmie said, the components are there to win the race. We have all the same components as some of those guys that can win. We just need to make a better mousetrap, as he says, with what we have to work with. THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions for Chip. Q. Chip, you won the IndyCar championship. Surprised people with that one. Can you do that again this year? Do you think your team can take that next step? CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, I mean, obviously it's what we prepare for. It's what we prepare to do. Obviously we haven't done it in the past. I mean, you put all your ingredients into your team each year and you do the best job you can with what you have to work with, the resources you have. You know, I think we can give it a shot here. I think we can drill ourselves deep into it. The final four, looks like it might be one team the way I'm looking at it lately after the last couple of races. I noticed for a while we were running first and second in class, but I think we were fifth and sixth. It's going to be a challenge, but I certainly think we can drill deep into it. We'll have to see from there. We'll need a little bit of luck from there. Q. Chip, comment on how happy you are for Jamie, what this means to him. He's had some moments, but making the Chase is something he needed to cross off the bucket list. CHIP GANASSI: Obviously Jamie has had some big wins, but we haven't had the consistent speed that you need I think to win at any time. I think we can run well at any track, but I don't think we're in a position to win right yet at any track. We have to work on that. We've obviously won some big races, but we need to do a little better job of that. We need to work a little harder, dig a little deeper. For Jamie himself, I couldn't be more pleased. I don't think there's anybody in the Chase that is more deserving of being there, that has worked so tirelessly over the years, been under the limelight, has had a couple disappointments along the way at times. In past Chase scenarios, he's had some disappointments. So really happy for him. Really happy. Q. Chip, Kyle Larson, what were your expectations for the season? Coming into this race, did you think you had a shot at getting in there? CHIP GANASSI: I'm not one of these guys that gets disappointed because one guy's in and one guy's not. When you can punch somebody into the playoffs, that's good for the whole team. We had an IndyCar championship a few weeks ago. That's good for the whole team. That's good for everybody. That just builds upon itself. Success is a snowball type of thing in the sports business. It's an infectious thing. People gravitate to those kinds of events and those type of people that are successful in those events. Sure, would I like to have two cars in the Chase? Yes, who wouldn't? It's not to be. I probably don't feel any differently than the other team owners that don't have all their cars in. You're happy for the ones that are in and sad for the ones that are not. The fact that you have one in there makes it good for the entire team. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Chip. Congratulations. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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