Friday
Raybestos Rookie Scott Speed THIRD in Sharpie 500 Qualifying
Press ReleaseWhere the Raybestos Rookies will start at Bristol:
Speed, 3rd
Logano 8th
Papis DNQ
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER QUALIFYING QUOTES FOR THE SHARPIE 500 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, AUGUST 21, 2009, PAGE 1.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 THE HOME DEPOT TOYOTA: “I was very surprised how fast we were with the Home Depot Toyota. After that lap I thought we were going to be in the back with that one but actually it was the fastest. I think the track picked up a lot of speed. I got to figure out how to beat ol’ Mark Martin. We’ll figure it out. We’re getting closer and closer every weekend which makes it a lot of fun.”
THAT WAS A GREAT LAP. “I’m not wicked excited about it. I don’t know how good that will hold up, really. I hope it stays in the top-10 but I think for the most part it was great for The Home Depot Toyota. We came here the second time we unloaded good and was just really easy with most of the stuff we did in practice, real methodical with it. The last two weeks, at Michigan it was kind of the same way. Hopefully this keeps getting a little easier as we keep going and get the 20 in the top-five here.”
YOU ARE FINDING YOUR GROOVE. “Yeah you figure out what you need and I think Me and Zippy [Greg Zipadelli, crew chief] are working better than ever together now. I’m sure we’ll keep getting better with time. I’m just happy things are getting better, believe me. I’m lucky to be with a great team that I’ve got and I’m happy everything is getting better.”
YOUR CAR HAS BEEN PRETTY GOOD IN PRACTICE ALL DAY SO YOU MUST BE EXCITED ABOUT THE RACE ON SATURDAY NIGHT. “I’m pretty pumped up about it. The second time around is a lot better for me. It’s good. It helps the team, having notes, helps me to know where I’m going and what I’m looking for on the racetrack. I’m very excited. You don’t know how tough it was when things weren’t going good in the beginning and to see light at the end of the tunnel make you feel a lot better.”
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW THIS TRACK? “The first time I came here I was like ‘Oh my God.’ I was 16 years old and I thought it was cool, this is Bristol. It was really neat. I’m looking forward to driver intros actually coming out and seeing all the people and this place under the lights. It’s going to be awesome so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve got a good racecar too so it makes better. ”
SCOTT SPEED IN THE No. 82 RED BULL TOYOTA WAS THE TOP RAYBESTOS ROOKIE IN SHARPIE 500 AT BRISTOL.
NOTES:
* Speed will start third in Saturday’s race here in Bristol, his best qualifying effort since he claimed the second-place starting position earlier this season at Chicagoland (race No. 19).
* Speed and fellow Raybestos Rookie Joey Logano (eighth) both qualified inside the top-10 this evening.
SPEED: YOUR CAR HAS BEEN GOOD HERE ALL DAY. YOU WERE SEVENTH OVERALL IN THE FINAL PRACTICE JUST BEFORE QUALIFYING. “It has been good all day and believe it or not that was the conservative lap [smiles]. I mean, the guys gave me a great car. Starting up front here is definitely something you want for the race. So far I’d say the weekend has gone off good.”
SO IS BRISTOL YOUR NEW FAVORITE TRACK? “It’s been one of my favorites just because the way the track is. I mean it’s really cool to be able to come to a place like this in front of so many people and race. We’ve always been good here in qualifying in the truck and in the Cup car. Maybe it’s just one of those tracks that I like, I don’t know [smiles].”
THIS IS A PLACE WHERE YOU GO AS HARD AS YOU CAN FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN. “It is an interesting racetrack and now I think obviously I wasn’t here before now that they have the track the way they are and you’re sort of able to run two-wide it really makes it one of the best tracks to come to throughout the year.”
CAN YOU COMPARE RACING AND QUALIFYING HERE TO ANYTHING YOU’VE EVER DONE? “No, not motorsports, just because it really feels like a football or baseball stadium. It feels like the whole thing is surrounded by fans. It might be like that at other tracks but this is the one you where you really feel it.”
SPEED PRESS CONFERENCE
“I don’t know, I guess this is a track where we qualify well as soon as we came here in the trucks. I guess it suits my driving somewhere. I haven’t figured out quite why but we’ve always been pretty quick here. I have to say that today, from a team standpoint, was one of the most satisfying just because when we got here we were so poor and it seemed like everything we did to the car made it faster. As a team, especially as a racecar driver, that’s definitely not always the case [laughs]. So to make so much progress through practice and then to top it off with a good qualifying run, I mean, we’re a happy team this evening.”
COMMENT ON THE MINDSET COMING INTO A RACE HERE AT BRISTOL. CAN YOU COMPARE IT TO SOME OF THE OTHER RACING YOU’VE DONE? “I can honestly say there’s nothing that I’ve done in my past that’s like this. I mean, not only because it’s an oval and that’s different, but just because you know something is always happening quicker here than even in a Formula One car because there’s so many people around you and the corners come so quickly. It’s definitely one of those places where you’re working for your paycheck here as a driver. It’s always something. You’re always having to think and do things and it’s not like that everywhere else.”
Raybestos® brand brake and chassis parts are produced by affiliated companies in Affinia’s Global Brake and Chassis Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and chassis parts in the transportation industry. The brake line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts, while the chassis line features tie rods, ball points, idler arms and sway bar links. Raybestos brand braking and chassis systems are also the only systems used by NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing in competition. For more information about Raybestos brakes, visit Raybestos.com. For more information on Raybestos Chassis visit RaybestosChassis.com
Affinia Group Inc. is a global leader in the on and off-highway replacement products and service industry. In North America the Affinia family of brands includes WIX® Filters, Raybestos®, AIMCO® and BrakePro® brake products, and McQuay-Norris® and Raybestos™ Chassis parts. South American and European brands include Nakata®, Filtron®, Urba® and Quinton Hazell®. For more information, visit affiniagroup.com.
* Affinia Group Inc.’s affiliated companies include Brake Parts Inc. WIX Filtration Corp LLC, Affinia Products Corp LLC and other high quality manufacturers of the Affinia family of brands.
- Camp & Associates, Inc., for Raybestos, Press Release
Article Tags: BMS, Bristol Motor Speedway, Joey Logano, NASCAR, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Raybestos Rookie, Raybestos Rookie contender, Raybestos Rookie Contenders, Ryabestos, Scott Speed, Sharpie 500

