Front Row Motorsports Logo

NASCAR Veteran Strengthens Front Row Motorsports Leadership Team

Statesville, N.C. (February 8, 2012) - NASCAR veteran Pat Tryson will join Front Row Motorsports as the crew chief for David Gilliland’s No. 38 Ford.  The move is the latest of numerous off-season improvements for the Sprint Cup Series team and allows interim crew chief Derrick Finley to return full-time to his role of Director of Competition.

Tryson comes to Front Row Motorsports with more than 15 years of experience atop the pit box and race-winning credentials, earning victories with drivers Kurt Busch, Elliott Sadler and Mark Martin.  He most recently worked for Michael Waltrip Racing, where he served in crew-chief and consultant roles.

“We made some pretty big changes this off-season to really take this team to the next level, and adding Pat is just one more critical piece that we’ve put in place for our 2012 season,” said team general manager Jerry Freeze.  “With Jay Guy on the No. 34 car and Derrick returning full-time to the competition director role, the depth and experience of our leadership team is better than it’s ever been before.”

Tryson has worked with some of the sport’s best organizations and drivers over the years.  This season will be his first time working with Gilliland, but he is ready to step in and help the team.

“I like what this team has done in the last few years, doing the right things and making the right changes to get better every season,” said Tryson.  “Gilliland’s a competitive driver – he’s got the fire in his belly – and I’m really looking forward to working with him.”

Gilliland, who scored a season-best third in last year’s Daytona 500, is ready to hit the track next week in Daytona Beach with Tryson running the No. 38 program.

“He’s a great ‘get’ for this team,” said Gilliland.  “There’s just so much that he brings to the table with all his experience.  I can’t wait to get started.”

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant and transportation entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception.  The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Ford driven by David Ragan and the No. 38 Ford driven by David Gilliland.  For sponsorship inquiries contact Robin Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer, at (704) 904-4347.

Source: Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

Front Row Motorsports Logo

Sport Supplement Company to Sponsor Ragan, Gilliland, Pit Crews

Statesville, N.C. (February 8, 2012) - Sport supplement company Maximum Human Performance (MHP) will bring its message to NASCAR fans for the first time, joining Front Row Motorsports as a multi-race, multi-year partner in the team’s Sprint Cup Series campaigns. MHP will be a primary sponsor for multiple races in both 2012 and 2013, including the upcoming Budweiser Shootout exhibition race on David Ragan’s No. 34 Ford and the season-opening Daytona 500 on David Gilliland’s No. 38 Ford.

MHP will also be the official sport supplement line of Front Row Motorsports and an official sponsor of the Nos. 34 and 38 pit crews. Company experts will work with the team’s pit crew coach and trainers to develop nutritional and fitness plans to improve and maximize the performance of the over-the-wall crew throughout the season.

“This is really going to be a unique program,” said Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins. “Sponsors, of course, help make your race programs better across the board via funding, but this is a case where they’re also going to make our pit crews healthier, stronger and faster. Everyone knows that a couple seconds on pit road can make a huge difference on the track. This partnership is focused on getting our athletes in the best shape possible to deliver maximum performance when it matters most.”

Fairfield, NJ-based MHP was launched in 1997 by bodybuilder Gerard Dente to develop premier science-based, research-driven sports supplements to help athletes achieve their greatest physical potential. The product line is used by world-class athletes, pro bodybuilders, powerlifters, strongmen and fitness enthusiasts alike. Products are sold in vitamin/supplement retail stores and online at www.MHPStrong.com.

The deal marks MHP’s first partnership in NASCAR. With Ragan and Gilliland both being skilled restrictor-plate racers, the February 18 Budweiser Shootout and the February 26 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway provide the perfect platform to introduce the company to an audience of millions of race fans.

“I am really excited about the opportunity to work with a first-rate racing team like Front Row Motorsports,” said Dente, CEO of MHP. “This unique sponsorship will not only connect our brand with millions of NASCAR fans, but more importantly it will showcase how our supplements will help improve the performance of their pit crew and drivers. I’m looking forward to working with pit crew coach Gary Smith and seeing how improvements in the pit crews’ speed and strength translate into better track times for the team.”

“MHP could have teamed up with any team in the sport, and they selected Front Row Motorsports,” said team general manager Jerry Freeze. “In the off-season, we upgraded our driver line-up, our pit crews and shop personnel, and our front-office leadership. It is reassuring when prospects like MHP conduct in-depth due diligence and confirm that our value proposition is compelling.

“Plus, it will be even more compelling after MHP helps get our over-the-wall guys performing at their maximum performance potential. That was an area that needed improvement, and in MHP we have a partner that is going help us do just that – continually improve.”

For more information about MHP, visit www.MHPStrong.com.

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant and transportation entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception. The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Ford driven by David Ragan and the No. 38 Ford driven by David Gilliland. For sponsorship inquiries contact Robin Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer, at (704) 904-4347.

Source: Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

2003 Winston Cup Champion Matt Kenseth

Kenseth, No. 17 team dominated 2003, leading 33 straight weeks and winning Championship by 90 points

CONCORD, N.C. (Feb. 7, 2012) – The NASCAR media named Matt Kenseth’s 2003 NASCAR Cup Championship as the top moment in Roush Fenway’s “25 Winning Years.” The 2003 Championship won the vote, much in the same fashion as Kenseth meticulously dominated the 2003 season, receiving almost 50 percent of the vote. As part of the launch of Roush Fenway’s “25 Winning Years” program, media were asked to vote for the team’s top moment at its stop last week on the annual NASCAR media tour at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

On display at the event were over 50 trophies from Roush Fenway’s 299 wins, including a trophy set as the centerpiece of each of the 25 tables at the venue.

“We have had a lot of big moments over the past 24 years,” said team co-owner Jack Roush, who founded the team in 1988. “Matt Kenseth winning our first Cup championship in 2003 ranks up there for sure.

“It took us 15 years and a lot of battles from the time we got started to get to the top of that mountain. To be honest, I wasn’t sure that we’d ever win a Cup title and I had pretty much given up on thinking we might win a Championship; we had missed it in so many close calls with Mark (Martin).”

Roush Fenway finished second on four occasions prior to that season, but Roush and Kenseth finally broke through in 2003. The No. 17 team, then led by current Roush Fenway general manager Robbie Resier, clinched the title one week before the season’s end at Rockingham and took home the sport’s top honor by a resounding 90 points.

Kenseth won early in the season at Las Vegas and grabbed the points lead with a fourth-place finish the next week in Atlanta. He and the team never looked back; leading the standings for the remaining 33 weeks of the season; setting a modern-era record for most weeks at the top of the standings. The season was a show of unprecedented consistency, with the team spending 35 of 36 weeks inside the top 10; finishing the season with one win, 11 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes.

NASCAR changed the point system and moved to the “Chase” format the following season.

Roush Fenway is the last team to win the NASCAR Winston Cup championship under the old point system and a year later became the first team to win under the “Chase” system with Kurt Busch hoisting the inaugural Nextel Cup trophy in 2004.

Busch’s 2004 championship along with Kenseth’s 2009 Daytona 500 win, Biffle’s 2000 Truck Series Championship (Roush Fenway’s first) and Mark Martin’s 1989 win at Rockingham (the team’s first) all received several votes in the poll.

Roush Fenway Racing is the winningest team in NASCAR history, fielding multiple teams in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series with championship drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne. Celebrating 25 winning years in 2012, Roush Fenway is the leader in NASCAR marketing solutions, pioneering its exclusive Roush Fenway OnTrack sponsorship measurement services, motorsport’s first team-focused TV show and its award-winning social marketing channel RickyvsTrevor.com. Visit www.RoushFenway.com, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow on Twitter at @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries call John Bauersfeld at 704.720.4621.

Source: Roush Fenway Racing, Press Release

ARCA's 60th Anniversary Season Logo

Founded in Toledo, Ohio in 1953, the Temperance, Mich.-based company will begin 2012 with a refined business plan and offer new opportunities to increase the level of on-track competition and off-track growth within the racing industry.

“Entering our 60th season, we’ve done some internal alignment to best position ourselves going forward,” said Ron Drager, ARCA’s president and chief executive officer. “Our moves will offer continued stability and a responsible pattern for growth at an important time in our company’s history.”

Drager announced the promotion of Jeff Brehmer to executive vice president and chief financial officer. Brehmer, 47, of Tecumseh, Mich., had been the vice president of finance and administration since joining the ARCA staff on a full-time basis in 2008.

Brehmer’s involvement with ARCA stretches back to the early 1980s, when he sold programs and stubbed tickets at ARCA’s two short track properties, Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. He advanced to become the tour director for the ARCA Figure-8 Series, and returned to ARCA over three years ago after spending 20 years working in the cement and building products industry.

“Jeff has the best comprehensive base of knowledge across all of our properties, from our on-track racing activities to our business interests,” said Drager. “His experiences in racing and the strong business acumen he has developed over the years make him a worthy leader for many of our efforts going forward.”

Brehmer will directly oversee the business operations of the sanctioning body, including: the flagship ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards; Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways; the ARCA Truck Series; and the newly formed sanction agreement with Champion Racing Association and the ARCA CRA Super Series.

In addition to Brehmer’s promotion, Drager also announced changes in the marketing department, including the promotion of Mark Gundrum to vice president of business development and corporate partnerships. Gundrum, 49, has been the vice president of marketing and communications since 2004, and will now focus more of his time and efforts on business development and sales opportunities.

“Mark’s ability to bring new business opportunities and marketing partners to our company in challenging economic times has been extremely valuable,” Drager said. “Our new structure allows him to spend more time on the sales and corporate partnership side of the business, and with the growth and development of the marketing department as a whole, this is a logical progression.”

ARCA’s director of marketing, George Mergen, will be charged with the added responsibility of public relations. Mergen, a former Ford Racing agency representative who joined ARCA in the spring of 2010, will oversee the marketing and communications department.

2012 will be the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The season begins with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 18. The event will air live on SPEED.

The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series will visit Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time; ARCA’s first visit to Minnesota will give ARCA a race in a 29th state.

Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.

- Automobile Racing Club of America Press Release

Ford Focus ST-R

Daytona, Fla. – Jan. 27, 2012–

Jamie Allison — Director of Ford Racing – On track incidents are things you don’t plan for, but are normal occurrences in racing. Unfortunately for the Focus ST-R, we got caught up in one today, but that does not tack away from the continued development we look forward to on the ST-R. We’ll have two Focus ST-R on track as we move forward, carrying the flag for the performance offering of Focus. Special thanks to Multimatic Motorsports, led by Larry Holt and Sean Mason as well as our drivers Gunnar and James, for a strong debut cut short by the on-track incident.”

Gunnar Jeannette – Co-Driver, No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Focus ST-R – “For a first weekend, I’m pretty pleased. Obviously, it’s hard to say that after an incident that takes you out of the race and hurts the car as bad as it does. But we’ve got a lot of potential. We know the areas we need to work on. We’re going to go back, do some homework, probably spend a lot of time on this one and try to rebound with a win. Because nothing would make me feel better than to go from a race-ending wreck like this to its first victory.”

James Gue – Co-Driver, No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Focus ST-R – “It was a pretty good weekend overall. Obviously, this isn’t the way we want to end it. All things considered, with a brand-new car, we’ve done a lot of testing with it. We’re making huge strides with the car. We still have a long way to go with it, but you know it’s obviously competitive right out of the box. We were seventh in qualifying, which is great. We ran in the top-five for the first hour of the race, but unfortunately we got tangled up. I’m pretty pleased with the weekend. You always want to do well and keep putting miles on the car and learn more about it.”

About Ford Racing – North America

Ford Racing – North America, based in Dearborn, Mich., is responsible for major racing operations in North America, including NASCAR (Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, Camping World Trucks), Grand American sports car racing, NHRA drag racing. In addition, Ford’s action motorsport programs involve Global RallyCross, Formula Drift, RallyCar and Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. The department also oversees the development and marketing of Ford Racing Engines and Performance Parts, the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts, and the marketing of the Ford Racing brand through initiatives such as Team Ford Racing. For more information regarding Ford Racing’s activities, please visit www.fordracing.com.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

Source: PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Ford Racing

Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr. reach victory lane with the No. 61 Ford Mustang Boss 302R in the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway.

• The victory is Roush Performance’s first Grand-Am win at Daytona International Speedway

• The victory is a complete turn-of-fortune, after incidents ended the day early for the No. 61 Ford Mustang Boss 302R each of the last two season-openers at Daytona

Daytona, Fla. – Jan. 27, 2012– Each of the past two seasons, Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr. have brought their Ford Mustang Boss 302R home from Daytona International Speedway with disappointment, their days ended early with incidents beyond their control.

Friday marked a complete turnaround, as the duo reached victory lane in the No. 61 Roush Performance Boss 302R in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season-opener, continuing their strong showing since their last Daytona disappointment.

After a treacherous run early, thanks to the drizzly rain and slick surfaces, Roush Jr. handed the car over to Johnson within striking distance of the leaders. Johnson darted through the field, leading the final 18 laps and held off a charging field with an outstanding restart with three laps to go.

“It feels great to finally get that monkey off our back after two very bad race weekends here,” Johnson said. “The last two years we’ve started off the season with no points and trying to dig ourselves out of a hole for the entire year and it’s always a heartbreak at the end of the year. We hope with this victory, that we can continue that trend and hopefully take home the championship at the end of the year.”

Johnson and Roush Jr. are no strangers to winning, after taking home a win and multiple podiums throughout the 2011 season. However, even now after winning Daytona, they won’t let their attitudes alter much for the remainder of the season and will stay focused on the ultimate goal.

“It was a fun race for sure, but there’s a very high bar been set by my father and I take that very seriously,” said Roush Jr. “Even the days that we win a race, we walk away critiquing what went wrong and try to improve. It’s just part of who we are. We’re constantly trying to get better and do as well as we can.”

The victory also marked another special moment for Ford Racing.

“It’s the first victory for a 2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302R, and for it to happen at Daytona in the first race of the season, we hope it bodes well for a great 2012 Grand-Am season,” said Jamie Allison, Director of Ford Racing.

“Congratulations to Jack and Billy, as well as the entire Roush Performance team, for carrying forward the excellent performance that they are known for. They make everyone at Ford Motor Company proud.”

The victory is the first Grand-Am checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway for Roush Performance. The 2012 Grand-Am CTSCC schedule continues on March 30 at Barber Motorsports Park.

About Ford Racing – North America

Ford Racing – North America, based in Dearborn, Mich., is responsible for major racing operations in North America, including NASCAR (Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, Camping World Trucks), Grand American sports car racing, NHRA drag racing. In addition, Ford’s action motorsport programs involve Global RallyCross, Formula Drift, RallyCar and Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. The department also oversees the development and marketing of Ford Racing Engines and Performance Parts, the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts, and the marketing of the Ford Racing brand through initiatives such as Team Ford Racing. For more information regarding Ford Racing’s activities, please visit www.fordracing.com.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

Source: PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Ford Racing

· Ford Racing Focus ST-R will make its competition debut this Friday afternoon running the Grand-Am 200 in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST class as part of the Grand-Am weekend at Daytona International Speedway

• · Despite its close resemblance to the Focus ST road car, the Focus ST-R is purpose-built for the track by Ford Racing in North America as a fully prepared competition car. It features a powerful 2.0-liter EcoBoost^™ engine, FIA-regulation roll cage, uprated brakes and track-tuned suspension

• · Focus ST-R is the first global vehicle to join the turnkey race car family, which includes the Mustang FR500C, Mustang FR500S, Mustang Cobra Jet, Boss 302R and Boss 302S

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 25, 2012 – Ford Racing’s Focus ST-R will make its competition debut this Friday afternoon in the Grand-Am 200 at Daytona International Speedway in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge as part of the ST field during the Grand-Am weekend.

After nearly a year in development and countless tests, the newest offering in the line of Ford Racing turnkey race cars is ready to make its competition debut.

“The competition debut of all our FR family of turnkey ready-to-race cars has not been the completion of the journey but the transition to a new phase of the development process,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing. “Our partnership with Multimatic Motorsports has led to past success with the FR500C and the Boss 302R and their contribution to the product that will take the track at Daytona later this week has been critical.”

“Having delivered the successful Mustang FR500C and Boss 302R production-based race cars, we have a well-established process with how to develop such cars with Ford Racing. We employ the same approach for each – we start with the production car and go through each subsystem on the car and change what is needed (and allowed) to provide a competitive race car,” said Larry Holt, team principal, Multimatic Motorsports. “Really, the direction from Ford is that this car should be as close to the production car as it can be. Ford really wants to show that the Focus ST is a capable performance car.”

Focus ST-R is the first global vehicle to join the turnkey race car family, which includes the Mustang FR500C, Mustang FR500S, Mustang Cobra Jet, Boss 302R and Boss 302S.

Focus ST-R to compete across several series

Don’t be fooled by its close resemblance to the Focus ST road car, which is intentional. The Focus ST-R is purpose-built for the track by Ford Racing in North America as a fully prepared competition car. It features a powerful 2.0-liter EcoBoost^™ engine, FIA-regulation roll cage, uprated brakes and track-tuned suspension.

The all-new Focus ST-R has been crafted by engineers at Ford Racing – with technical support from Ford’s Global Performance Vehicles group – to allow it to compete in a huge variety of series, including Grand-Am ST, World Challenge TC and Canadian Touring Car Series. Ford also hopes teams will race the car in key European motorsport series and major national events such as the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Its linkage to the new Focus ST road car is no accident.

“From the beginning, the Focus and new Focus ST were designed to be drivers’ cars,” said Jost Capito, director of Global Performance Vehicles and Motorsport Business Development. “The road-going Focus features best-in-class brakes, handling and powertrains and the design and functionality of the various vehicle systems have helped us to develop a global technical specification for teams wanting to race the new Focus cost effectively. Ford Racing in North America has taken this effort and developed the new Focus ST-R. It is a perfect example of how a great production car inspires a competitive race car for enthusiasts.”

Initially targeted for homologation for American and Canadian touring car racing, Focus ST-R will be available to order from Ford dealers in North America by seasoned hardcore professional drivers, amateur racers and track-day enthusiasts as well. Ford’s vision is to broaden availability to additional regions in the future.

“We’re thrilled to be taking the Focus ST-R from concept to reality for motorsport enthusiasts initially in North America and potentially around the world,” said Allison. “The previous turnkey race cars we developed for North American racing have been hugely successful, so we are hopeful the ST-R will be the first such vehicle for global series and as a direct result of the company’s global platform strategy and our technical support program for motorsport applications of Focus and Fiesta models.

“This is a competitive turnkey race car that will allow our customers to compete successfully in multiple series around the world with minor modifications. And it shows the ongoing alignment of Ford Racing with our Performance Vehicles development group.

“Because the Focus ST-R is a production-based road race car, it features stock body panels and production parts where possible,” Allison added. “People who buy one will get a fully prepared race car that will only need communications equipment and the customer’s decals to go racing. Because of this, we’ve already had significant interest in this vehicle from numerous established race teams.”

For North American customers, the Ford Focus ST-R is the latest in a long line of turnkey race cars offered by the company including the Mustang FR500C, Mustang FR500S, Mustang Cobra Jet, Boss 302R and Boss 302S. The ST-R offers clear links to the Focus ST road car.

Development work on Focus ST-R will also result in a range of Ford Racing parts to be made available to racers and enthusiasts around the world.

Performance for the road or the track

Focus ST is powered by the 2.0-liter Ford EcoBoost engine, which offers an uncompromising mix of performance and efficiency. Ford’s lightweight, all-aluminum EcoBoost engine provides the power of a larger engine in a fuel-efficient smaller displacement using three key technologies.

High-pressure direct injection, low-inertia turbocharging and twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT) all help to create an advanced combustion system that brings new levels of performance and fuel efficiency to Ford’s gasoline engines.

Ford’s Global Performance Vehicles group has taken this technology and developed an estimated 250-horsepower high-output derivative of the 2.0-liter Ford EcoBoost engine for Focus ST.

Redesigned intake and exhaust systems with unique engine calibration deliver the ideal level of power and responsiveness.

The engine has strong torque levels in a broad, flat torque curve peaking at a projected 265 lb.-ft. The responsive torque output, a trademark of EcoBoost engines, is maintained despite the impressive peak figures.

Mated to the engine is a six-speed manual transmission, which has specially revised gearing to produce the maximum punch from each throw of the gearshift. The Global Performance Vehicles group paid significant attention to detail to ensure the ratio of sixth gear was perfectly in tune with the Focus ST, giving the driver optimum performance while remaining long enough to help maintain excellent fuel economy on longer runs.

Focus prominent in motorsports strategy

Focus ST-R is part of an aggressive motorsports presence for Ford as its strategy to support motorsports development across its core global vehicle platforms gains traction. Ford is applying engineering and development expertise for vehicles like Focus ST-R to spur success in competition, similar to that being enjoyed by the Fiesta in RallyCross and X Games.

As the ST-R seeks to make its name on the track, the production Focus ST gives sporting enthusiasts an opportunity to enjoy a performance vehicle on everyday roads.

About Ford Racing – North America

Ford Racing – North America, based in Dearborn, Mich., is responsible for major racing operations in North America, including NASCAR (Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, Camping World Trucks), Grand American sports car racing, NHRA drag racing. In addition, Ford’s action motorsport programs involve Global RallyCross, Formula Drift, RallyCar and Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. The department also oversees the development and marketing of Ford Racing Engines and Performance Parts, the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts, and the marketing of the Ford Racing brand through initiatives such as Team Ford Racing. For more information regarding Ford Racing’s activities, please visit www.fordracing.com.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit http://corporate.ford.com.

Source: PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Starworks Motorsports

THE PLOT:

The Fort Lauderdale-based team will have four Venezuelan-backed Ford Mustangs in the stable. With support from Duncan Batteries and RS21 footwear, the team is hoping for a debut to remember when the action gets going in the Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge at the Florida track on Friday.

Starworks have saddled up some of the hottest driving talent around — with regular Grand-Am Rolex Sports Cars Series stars Ryan Dalziel, from Lanarkshire in Scotland, and Venezuelans Enzo Politcchio and Alex Popow joining current FIA GT1 champ Lucas Luhr. John Dalziel and Miguel Potolicchio will team up in the third car with Gianni Potlicchio and Maurizio Scala in the fourth car.

Starworks Motorsport are hoping to reap the benefits from a successful test at Daytona earlier this month, and aim to get the Duncan Batteries-backed Ford Mustangs first past the post when the checkered flag comes down on their first outing in the Continental Tires series.

THE QUOTES:

GS team manager MARCUS HASELGROVE:

“We have been very busy since the test. We will be running four Ford Mustang cars at Daytona.

“The test was very successful because we managed to cycle the drivers through new cars, we ran every session and worked on an improved set-up.

“Since the test all the cars have undergone a major heat shielding upgrade and a couple of different brake packages that are tailored to the drivers.

“We are, in effect, a completely new program within the Starworks organisation and have had a lot of extra work with race prep and building up our pit equipment.

“In addition to our Venezuelan sponsors we have added sponsorship from Motorola, NOS energy drink, TuranAir carbon air tanks, Slacker Inc. Motorsports apparel, OMP racewear and Oakley and we have many more in the pipeline to be announced before Barber.

“We know it’s going to be very competitive out there — there will be 70+ cars so we need to stay out of trouble. It is hard to say how the yellows will fall but we have a strong driver line-up with Ryan and Lucas supporting Enzo and Alex.

“Enzo and Alex were also both within a second of the best GS times at the test. That says a lot about their commitment and the Venezuelan support.”

Starworks driver RYAN DALZIEL:

“I am excited to see how much progress has been made because we only got the cars a little over a month ago. We went to the test and made massive gains. I think we will have a very strong package. It may not happen straight away, but we will have a car that we can fight with at Daytona and we can build on that for the future.

“We were as high as the top six in the test and we felt we hadn’t much more than put fuel in it. I have had a blast driving it, but it is definitely more fun when you race them. I am really looking forward to getting to Daytona and putting on a good show for the guys.”

THE FACTS: Practice and qualifying for both the BMW Performance 200 and the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona will be held on Thursday, January 26.

The BMW Performance 200 starts at 1.30pm on Friday (January 27), and the Rolex 24 At Daytona starts at 3.30pm on Saturday (January 28).

All 24 hours of the Rolex 24 will be broadcast live or via internet streaming on SPEED television and speedtv.com. The BMW Performance 200 will be televised on SPEED television on Saturday, February 4.

Source: Starworks Motorsport, Press Release

Meet the 2013 Ford Fusion NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car - Photo Credit: Ford Racing

Ford Racing unveils 2013 Fusion NASCAR Sprint Cup redesign at Charlotte Motor Speedway during NASCAR Media Tour. 

• 2013 Sprint Cup car features full redesign by Ford designers to mirror 2013 Fusion production car and return brand identity to the track.

• New Fusion race car will debut at Daytona 500 in February, 2013.

CONCORD, n.c, Jan. 24, 2012 – Manufacturer brand identity is back in NASCAR.

The 2013 Ford Fusion NASCAR Sprint Cup car, unveiled today as part of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour, was worked on by Ford designers in an effort to bring brand identity back to the sport.  The result is undeniable with the 2013 Sprint Cup car mirroring the recently unveiled 2013 Ford Fusion production car.

Featuring a completely redesigned sleek new silhouette and fresh face, the 2013 Fusion Sprint Cup car was designed to be the face of a new era of stock car racing.

”We wanted Fusion to be the car that helped return ‘stock car’ to NASCAR.” stated Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing.  “I think fans, when they see the car, are just going to smile and cheer. It is going to reengage them with the sport and make the sport better because there is just something natural about seeing race cars that look like cars in their driveways.”

This marks the third time Ford simultaneously launched production and NASCAR versions of a new model. The first dual launch came in 1968, with the sleek fastback Ford Torino. Legendary NASCAR driver David Pearson drove theTorinoto back-to-back NASCAR championships in 1968 and 1969. The second time came in 2006, when the then newly introduced Ford Fusion appeared in showrooms and on the track.

Ford took a different approach with the development of the 2013 Fusion racer.FordDesignCenterstaff, led by Garen Nicoghosian, and Ford aerodynamicist Bernie Marcus, spent the past year doing the early design development, freeing up the Ford race teams to concentrate on weekly NASCAR competition.

“This is a seminal moment in the sport where we had a chance to get it right once again and make sure the race cars are race versions of street cars.  And I am proud because I believe we have accomplished just that,” continued Allison.  “The 2013 Fusion is a stunning car and the 2013 NASCAR Fusion is even more stunning and I can’t wait to see it perform on the track and connect with race fans.”

Ford designers, led by Nicoghosian, addressed three main issues to mirror the 2013 Sprint Cup Fusion to the 2013 production Fusion found on showroom floors.

Design Features of the 2013 Fusion Sprint Cup Car

• Designers addressed the overall proportion of the race car to reflect proportions found in the production Fusion.
• Brand and design cues in the side of the vehicle.
• An identifiable front end grill with the distinctive look of a Ford.

“It looks fun to drive and very much eager to go and tear up the track.  It has a very aggressive stance from the outside and the inside.  From all angles the vehicle exudes performance and I think it reflects our general attitude of how we go about setting up our cars very, very nicely,” said Nicoghosian.  “It brings a certain level of nimbleness and lightness and agility to the NASCAR platform, much like we do in our production cars, because all of our production cars have that nimbleness and agility and eagerness about them.”

The new NASCAR Fusion entries will be tested throughout the 2012 campaign in preparation for their racing debut at the 2013 Daytona 500 in February.

# # #

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit http://corporate.ford.com.

Source: PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Ford Racing

The morning session on day two of testing at Daytona saw the Ford contingent run mostly single car runs with the exception of the two Richard Petty Motorsports cars. The 43 of Aric Almirola and 9 of Marcos Ambrose teamed up for drafting practice and third and fourth quickest laps of the session. Both talked afterwards about how the test is going so far and what they expect going forward.

Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion – WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR DRAFTING SESSION THIS MORNING? “It feels very similar to last time. NASCAR changed the rules to try to make it harder for us but we are still doing it. The speeds are up and the restrictor plate is pretty open. It is a lot faster and drafting the way we are, the technique and everything hasn’t really changed that much.”

DO YOU NOTICE ANYTHING DIFFERENT FROM YOUR SEAT WITH THE FUEL INJECTION? “Not really. You run these things wide open when you are drafting anyway. The switch over has been very smooth though and I have been very impressed by how all the teams and manufacturers have been able to adapt to the new rules.”

WHAT IS THIS PACK RACING THIS AFTERNOON GOING TO BE LIKE? “It is going to be interesting. We have a meeting to find out how they want to conduct it. We will just have to see.”

YOU HAVE A NEW TEAMMATE THIS YEAR, HOW IS IT GOING SO FAR WORKING TOGETHER? “Aric is really great. We are working well and drafting with each other and we will just take it a day at a time here and build that relationship. I know that he really wants to do well for Richard Petty and his 43 team and I want to do the same.”

Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Foods Ford Fusion – HOW IS IT GOING SO FAR OUT HERE? “It is going well. Our Smithfield Ford is running pretty good. We have been working with Marcos this morning on drafting and that has gone really well. Our cars are drafting really well together and are really fast. They are really stable too which is important. I am gelling right along and it has been fun to work with Greg Irwin and all the guys on this team. Richard Petty Motorsports has a great group of guys. I have learned that in the two weeks I have been here. It has been good.”

YOU GUYS WERE THE FIRST TWO FORD CARS TO GO OUT AND DRAFT. WHAT DID YOU LEARN? “Well, our cars are fast and they are stable. I think that is the biggest thing, making sure that your car is stable now with this smaller rear spoiler and the softer rear springs. That is going to be the biggest thing, making sure you can hang on when you are being pushed at 200 miles per hour. I think that is the biggest thing.”

HOW LONG WERE YOU ABLE TO PUSH? “It felt like we could do it for quite awhile. I think everybody is a little different but I felt like we could go for a good five or six laps with no problem.”

YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO GO OUT IN A BIG PACK THIS AFTERNOON. HOW DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT GOING? “I don’t know. I think it will be pretty calm to be honest. We are testing and nobody wants to tear their stuff up. I think it will be pretty calm. I think you will see some people come and go in the pack but for the most part it should be relatively calm. I am sure it will get three wide because it should be really easy to get three wide but I don’t know, it is a big unknown at this point.”

WHAT IS THE GOAL FOR YOU FOR THE REST OF TODAY? “Just to keep on working on speed. We have to keep working on getting speed out of our car and getting me and Marcos to keep switching. That is going to be important. If the rules stay the way they are we are going to be able to swap and be able to keep our engines cool. We are working on our switch and making sure we are very comfortable drafting together before we get back down here in February.”

Greg Biffle, who only participated in single car runs in the morning session, talked about what he has learned from the test thus far and how he anticipates the afternoon session will be.

Greg Biffle, No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE FROM THIS BIG PACK RACING THIS AFTERNOON? “I anticipate somebody crashing. I don’t know who and I hope it isn’t us. We have to get out there and figure out what the car is going to do and we will be bumping and shoving a little bit and be in the big pack. We already saw in the two-car pack someone get turned around and some people squirrely. With the shorter spoiler and increased competition or whatever you want to say with the speed, we are going a lot faster and something is going to happen.”

HOW MUCH FASTER ARE YOU GOING TODAY WITH THIS NEW RESTRICTOR PLATE? “About six-tenths or something like that, so a bit faster. What is weird is that it doesn’t slow down in the corner as much as it did yesterday. Yesterday you would go 195 on the straightaway and 190 around the middle of the corner, 189 to 190. Now it goes 196 or 197 and then 195 in the corner. So the more power keeps it up against the aero. It is almost like the more plate you give it the constant the speed stays. It doesn’t slow down to speed up like a car normally does. It is interesting to see how the dynamics of the aero and the more power equate to each other.”

WHAT HAVE YOU NOTICED WITH THE FUEL INJECTION? “The biggest thing I notice every time I have driven it is that it runs so good in the garage. Letting the clutch off, driving off, driving down pit road. I know it sounds stupid but that is part of it. My hat is off to these guys because these race engines don’t like to run below 4000 RPM and now they run below 4000 RPM really, really good. It is a matter of getting air and fuel right and with fuel injection you can do that.”

Source: PCGCampbell for Ford Racing Press Release

Carl Edwards (right), driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford, stands in the garage area beside his crew chief Bob Osborne during Daytona Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 12 in Daytona Beach, Fla. - Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

An Interview With: CARL EDWARDS

KERRY THARP: Carl Edwards is going to wrap up today’s test day number one. He’s driving the No. 99 Fastenal Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing. Carl, of course, came within a whisker of winning last year’s championship.

Carl, talk about coming here to Daytona, a whole new mindset I’m sure on your part. What would it mean for you to win the Daytona 500?

CARL EDWARDS: Well, it would be huge. That would be an understatement. That is an understatement. Last year we were so close following Trevor across the start-finish line. I learned a lot. I feel like our restrictor plate program is better. I feel that Greg and I have grown together to be able to do well at these races. I mean, it’s the Daytona 500, and I’m very, very excited about it.

You know, the past month or so we’ve been running all over, doing all sorts of different things, and it’s been fun, and there’s been one common thing that I’ve found is everywhere we go people are pumped about this season. I don’t know if you guys are feeling that, too, and noticing that. We were in New York the other day, filming stuff at a bunch of different places, and people were genuinely excited about the season. It’s really, really neat to be a part of this right now.

But I wonder, I’ve been a little bit out of touch. What’s going on? What’s the big news today? Anything happening?

Audio: 2012 NSCS Preseason Thunder at Daytona Press Conference with Driver Carl Edwards

Q. You did so well after the race and in Las Vegas. Was there ever a point that you mourned or your heart was broken or anything like that?

CARL EDWARDS: That cool-down lap after the race was not fun. But I mean, I was open with you guys and told you how I felt about it. I haven’t sat and really — I haven’t thought about it much beyond, hey, what could we have done differently, what did we learn, what could we have done differently, and one of the neatest meetings, we sat there with Robby and Jack and Bob, and Jack brought in each driver and crew chief and said, hey, let’s talk about the previous year and what we’re going to do and do you have any ideas. And right off the bat, Jack’s a competitor, what could we have done different. I’m sitting there thinking, maybe there’s something — and Bob said without hesitation, said, If we ran it over again I’d do the exact same thing. He said, We did the right things and we did the best we could, and if we do that every time, we’ll be fine.

I looked at Bob, and I thought, Man I’m glad you’re my crew chief. That reminded me when I go back in my mind and think of specifically those last few races, I’m personally proud of the way all of us performed. You know, the pit crew at Homestead, they were on their game. They were the best pit crew on pit road that day. If we would have had another caution I feel like we would have beat everybody off of pit road. They were dying for a caution. If the rain would have come, if we would have had four tires. I mean, any — we put ourselves in a position to win, and Tony and those guys just — they just did a better job, gambled more than we did and won. That’s racing.

So I guess your question is did I really mourn it. You know, I truly wish I would have won it, but I mean, I understand what happened and how it happened, and I’m just glad that I’ve got chances. I’m glad I get to race this year and next year and go fight for it again.

Q. You sort of just addressed it about Bob and his good attitude and outlook, but did he really struggle at all? He looked devastated when he didn’t go to Las Vegas.

CARL EDWARDS: Well, he didn’t go to Las Vegas not because he was upset. He was working. After the race I could tell he was upset, just as I was and everybody was. But I mean, that’s it, that’s the — if we weren’t upset about it, if it wasn’t something that made you just want to — or that frustrated you, then you’re probably not in the right sport. But I believe, I’d like to believe that we’re wise enough to not let that get the best of us, to just go out and perform and do the best we can. That’s competition. That’s life. You’ve just got to keep on going and do the best you can.

Honestly I really wish we could talk about this year. I mean, I showed up — let me put it this way: After the whole off-season, we parked the airplane over at the airport, and I felt like I was excited. I’m excited for the season to start. I feel more like true — I feel more true confidence than I’ve had in a long time, I feel that we’re doing well for the right reasons, we’ve got everything lined up, and I don’t think that would be any different if we would have won or lost. This season is going to be what it is, and I feel like we’re going to be good.

Good question. I just — it’s weird.

Q. Kind of a follow-up, you’ve always been someone who is intent on trying to find out what you could do — what you could have done differently or done better. I remember after winning the 500 you talked about going to see Trevor that night and asking if there was anything you could do different. You just said how Bob said — would have done the same exact thing. Is that an acceptable answer for you? Can you accept that answer, that you would have done the same exact thing?

CARL EDWARDS: Yeah, it is. What we didn’t want to do is we didn’t want to give up the championship. We didn’t want to do something and take ourselves out of it. We wanted to put ourselves in the best position we could and force Tony and Darian and those guys to rise to the occasion and to really beat us. We weren’t going to hand it to them, and we didn’t. But they rose to a level that we thought was pretty improbable.

I mean, in my mind, whether it’s right or wrong, I think that if we performed the way we did each year, I think we’d win about eight or nine out of ten championships. So the mission for us is to perform that way, to not run around like idiots and say what did we do wrong, we need to change everything. We need to go out and perform that way.

So yeah, from Bob, that’s an acceptable answer to me. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter to Bob. He’s going to do what he thinks best.

Q. It seems like a lot of years, recently whoever finishes second in the championship one year drops off the map the next. Do you think about that and how do you guard against it?

CARL EDWARDS: Yeah, I think I’m one of the ones that kind of started that deal in 2008 and 2009. We’ve lived that. It’s really painful. I hope that that kind of takes us out of that — keeps us from repeating that statistic. I hope that the experience that we had before in 2009 will keep us from doing it again.

But this sport is tough. Your success last year does not guarantee you anything right now. That’s just the way this sport is. We’ve made the mistake of resting on our laurels and saying we’re good, let’s focus on a couple little things. But you can’t do that, you’ve got to keep looking at every little thing.

Q. Can you talk about today? What happened out there? How do you like the car? How does it feel? Do you think these rules are going to work?

CARL EDWARDS: I didn’t get to run in a two-car draft, so I’m not sure. What did you guys think about it? What did everybody say?

KERRY THARP: We’ll probably find out more tomorrow.

CARL EDWARDS: Maybe we’ll find out more tomorrow. I don’t know what our plan is. I don’t think we’re going to do much of it. I think we’re going to work on our car because we have this opportunity to be out there on single-car runs, work on our Fastenal Ford by itself. And then if we do get to draft, I’ll probably go work with Greg and we’ll get together and kind of go through our standard practice stuff together, and then that’ll be kind of a separate thing from the car.
But Bob wants to get the car stuff done first, which is probably smart, considering the car might not be exactly the same if Greg and I get out there and mess around too much. I think we’ve got a good plan.

Q. As a follow-up, Darby and Pemberton were in here and they’re going to ask everybody to get out there to run a pack. Are you going to accept the invitation tomorrow?

CARL EDWARDS: I might watch that. That would be fun to watch. No, it would be fun to go do. It’s really up to Bob and how that fits into our plan and whether or not he’s comfortable doing it. We’re racers. That would be the most fun thing we could go do. But it could be expensive.

Q. It didn’t sound optional.

CARL EDWARDS: Oh, all right. Which car is Darby going to drive? I’m just kidding. It’ll be fun. I mean, the track is smooth, the cars are safe, and it seems like there’s tons of grip. If we go run like that, we’ll go do it. As a driver you want to go do that. It is truly a matter of whether Jack and Bob will let me go do that.

Q. I’m sure Randy has updated you that you’re due in Charlotte next weekend for the Fan Fest. Has he informed you of that?

CARL EDWARDS: I didn’t know that. Am I due? Am I going to be there?

Q. In all seriousness, NASCAR is trying to rev back up the old Winston Preview.

CARL EDWARDS: I’ll be there for that.

Q. Just your thoughts on having 50 drivers from all the series in one location, the Charlotte Convention Center. I know you’ve got fan obligations tonight, but that should be a pretty cool deal.

CARL EDWARDS: Yeah, I don’t know the entire history of that, but I know fans throughout the years who said they wished that we did that. If that’s what the fans want, then that’s what we need to do, and it’ll be fun. We’ll go have fun with it. There’s some other stuff we’re going to do around that, I can’t remember. We’re going to do the All-Star commercial, pretty neat one that sounds like it’s going to be fun, so that’ll be a fun day, and I look forward to it.

Q. You were talking about that true confidence that you feel more than ever, and that makes sense obviously given the way you ran last year and the way Matt ran last year. It was a good year for Roush. It was a little bit of a tumultuous off-season with Roush having to go from four to three cars in the organization. Does that give you any pause?

CARL EDWARDS: Well, I think it makes all of us realize that we’ve got to just do the best we can all the time, not just on the racetrack but we’ve got to be the best we can with our sponsors and our teams and the fans and do everything we can to make the business of this sport work. I think that you guys have experienced it in this room, we’ve all experienced it. When it really comes down to it, you have to — you can’t take anything for granted. That’s what that’s reminding me of, seeing all the changes that have gone on in this sport over this off-season, it’s reminded me — those changes have reminded me that I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in. I need to do the best I can for not just my 99 team but our Roush-Fenway team, for Ford, for the sport in general to try to have these opportunities, for me and for the next guy that’s coming along.

I think all of us realize that, and yeah, it’s sad at any time to see someone lose their job or be laid off. I mean, nobody enjoys that.

Q. (No microphone.)

CARL EDWARDS: No, I don’t think it would — yeah, as far as our performance, we have amazing support from Ford, from the Fenway Sports Group, from all of our sponsors, and most importantly I think from Jack Roush and Robby Reiser. Those guys have made sure that any changes we’ve made have not let us suffer any performance setbacks. Jack and Robby are very smart racers, and they’ve both raced with nothing. They’ve both had to prioritize for a large portion of their careers, and I would say that if it were a game of racing with the least amount of resources, those would be the guys you’d want.

I feel good about that. Robby and I talked about it a little bit. He feels confident, Jack feels confident, and from a resources side, I don’t think we’ve lost anything, engineering, all of our simulation programs, the support from Ford, all of that stuff stayed almost intact, or grown actually. Some of it has grown.

Q. You looked really natural hosting the Kelly show, looked great.

CARL EDWARDS: That’s because they told me you cannot screw it up. They told me the worse you screw it up, the better it’ll be. They said say whatever you want, which was pretty great advice.

Q. Do you want to do more of that, especially in the future, and were there any amusing things that happened that day around the set that we didn’t see on camera?

CARL EDWARDS: Kelly is really funny. When the camera shuts off she’s just the same except for a little more vulgar. She’s really funny. She goes into stand-up comedy mode as soon as the camera shuts off and she grabs the microphone for the crowd, and it’s really funny. I just stood back and laughed with everyone else. That was really fun. I like doing different things like having opportunities to do something that’s a little bit outside my comfort zone, and that was definitely right there. That was a very interesting experience. It is truly the fastest hour of my life. When they said it was done, I would have sworn that it was 15 to 20 minutes that we just spent, and it was an hour. That was pretty interesting.
I would like to do more stuff like that, specifically things I haven’t done, things that are different and fun like that, and challenging. To be honest with you, I’ve never been more nervous about a TV appearance in my life. I had so many people tell me, I mean, tons of people, they’re like, Hey, I’m going to be watching tomorrow. I mean, people that I had no clue watched the show. I’m not going to name any names. But they’re like, We’ll be watching, don’t mess it up. So there was a lot of people.

Q. NASCAR is going with a bigger plate in the morning and they’re closing the grille by one inch on each side and making the pressure release valve 25 from 30. How do you expect that to change the car?

CARL EDWARDS: Why did they say they’re doing that?

Q. I don’t know, it was in the meeting.

CARL EDWARDS: When did they decide that?

Q. (No microphone.)

CARL EDWARDS: So they want the cars to be — they want them to be faster? Hmm. So they close the grille up, they lower the pressure five pounds, and they gave us a bigger plate? This is going to be wild.

At the end of the day, NASCAR walks a fine line of — I believe they do, of making the cars hard enough to drive that they’re not in a giant dangerous pack and that people aren’t super aggressive with them. So they’ve got to make them hard enough to drive that we drive down the corner and we aren’t quite sure what’s going to happen with the car. You know, it slides, and then they don’t want to make it so hard that the race is — one guy runs away from the field and it’s not exciting for the fans, because let’s face it, the fans come to Daytona to see an exciting, crazy race, a pack of cars or two cars teamed up, and that’s what fans — it seems like to me that’s what fans come to see.

In my opinion, one of the neatest races I’ve ever been in as a driver here was one where I guess everybody thought Goodyear got the tire wrong. I thought they got it just right because it was so slippery, you’d drive in the corner and have to lift and slide the car, and it was like driving a big two-and-a-half-mile dirt track. It was a blast. But I guess it was really boring to watch.

I’m all for higher speeds, less grip, make the cars harder to drive. That’s fine with me.

KERRY THARP: Carl, thanks a lot. Appreciate you being in here, and good luck the rest of the week.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Source: NASCAR, Press Release

Matt Kenseth - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season got started in earnest Thursday afternoon when cars hit the track for Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway.  The main focus of the test is for teams to work on their final preparations for 2012 Speedweeks – in particular, the 54th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 26. Teams will also implement and test the new Daytona rules package for 2012 which came as a result of information gathered during recent tests at Talladega last October and at Daytona last November. Matt Kenseth took time to talk about the test and rules changes with media members Thursday afternoon.

Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Best Buy/Valvoline Ford Fusion 
YOU HAVE WON THE DAYTONA 500, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR A DRIVER TO GET THAT PRESTIGIOUS TROPHY?  “That was huge for us obviously winning that race. It is a very unique and different race but it is still the sports biggest race of the year. I think everybody that ever grew up watching stock car racing or wanted to race stock cars has dreamed of winning the Daytona 500 so that was certainly a cool day.”

Audio: 2012 NSCS Preseason Thunder Press Conference with Matt Kenseth

DALE JUNIOR SAYS YOU OWE HIM $2,500 FOR A BET. DO YOU HAVE HIS $2,500?  “How did I know that was going to be the first question? I will try to scrounge it up somewhere I guess. This should count though; this is like three days (beard growth). Back when he was younger he would have had enough beers in him that he wouldn’t have remembered that.”

TELL US ABOUT THE BET. WHAT ARE THE DETAILS?  “Well, I kind of grew a beard in the off season for awhile, for a couple reasons. He had a ‘70’s party and I put a picture on Twitter so I am sure you saw it but I had a fu manchu going and the pork chop things. He bet me that I wouldn’t keep at least the fu manchu through the test. I was actually going to and it looked really stupid but I hate losing any money and he kept upping the money and upping the money until finally I said okay. I checked first to make sure I didn’t have any photos and then I get a call saying that I had a photo shoot here and an interview there and anyway I guess I lost. Although technically this should count, it is three days old.”

YOU HAVE BEST BUY NOW AS A SPONSOR, HOW DOES YOUR SPONSORSHIP SITUATION STAND NOW AND ARE YOU AS CONCERNED NOW AS YOU WERE AT THE END OF LAST YEAR?  “I am really excited that Best Buy has come on board for nine races. That is a good start. They have a lot of races that are empty on our car, still two-thirds of the season, but I am grateful they came on for the Daytona 500 to get us started and are an associate on our car all year. They are with Carl’s car too. They have been a great sponsor of the sport and been around a long time and I am proud to fly those colors and hopefully we can have some success with them.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THE DYNAMIC WILL CHANGE AT ROUSH WITH ONLY THREE CUP CARS THERE THIS SEASON?  “I don’t know that it will change a lot. It is still pretty big. We have the three cars and Ricky is running some races, at least the 500 he is here testing, and you still have the two Petty cars in there too. I guess if there is anything to be concerned or to think about it is the important people we have lost through the off season. People in the organization that had access to everything and are now pretty much at every single different team in the garage. Anything you had that you maybe thought was an advantage last year with things we learned have disappeared. That will make us work extra hard to find something that is better to get an edge on some of those guys again.”

A LOT OF PEOPLE GOT SPREAD OUT THROUGH THE GARAGE TO OTHER TEAMS. WHAT WILL THAT DO TO COMPETITION? CAN IT MAKE IT EVEN CLOSER THAN LAST YEAR?  “The more rules they make and the more people that leave and come and go and do all that stuff certainly makes it more even or gets information around the garage. It seems like there has been some downsizing and less teams. It will be different. I think the competition has been great and I think will be as even as it was. I don’t know how anybody is going to get a big advantage, at least for very long this day in age with all these rules anyway. It won’t spread the field apart farther.”

DOES THE CAR FEEL DIFFERENT WITH THE FUEL INJECTION AND SMALLER SPOILER AND ALL THAT?  “Well, we are doing single car runs so it is hard to tell as far as handling or anything like that. Our speeds are way up compared to what we are used to doing the last couple years. I am interested to see if they try to race this restrictor plate I think we will be going really fast. I have seen 195 on the straightaway today by yourself and if you get locked together you probably to another 10 miles per hour. That I think the cars will have to handle. I am anxious to get into a group and see what it is like and if you can draft normal and if it is going to be two cars. I am anxious to see that and feel it from the car and what the handling is like. I like the ideas they have come up with as far as the smaller spoiler and going faster and trying to make the cars handle because it is going to be hard to make them not handle here because of the new pavement but if you can make them not handle it is going to be harder to push someone around the track.”

CAN YOU COMMENT ON TWITTER, YOUR ROLE, WHAT IT DOES FOR NASCAR AND FOR YOU?  “I don’t know. It seems to be kind of the, I don’t want to say the craze, but it is a new outlet to reach more people. I think everyone is using that, not just in NASCAR but all sports. It seems less people pick up the phone and talk face to face. More people text and tweet and Facebook and all that stuff. I guess it is just the way it is. I have enjoyed it as a different avenue to interact with my fans mostly and show a different side of me. More than anything I use it to interact with the fans more than I can at the race track when I am pretty focused on what I am doing and more serious. I think it kind of gives me a chance to pick it up or put it down whenever and interact with them a little.”

ISN’T GETTING THE CAR NOT TO HANDLE WELL CONTRARY TO WHAT MOST RACE CAR DRIVERS WANT AND IS THAT THE SECRET TO THE DRAFT?  “You still want your car to handle better than everybody else’s but in general if everyone can hold it wide open, even if their car isn’t set up as good as somebody else, everyone can do it without thinking about it then it makes everyone group up more or push more. If you look at a few years ago, probably two or three years ago on new tires everyone could run wide open and it was two or three-wide and a crazy race. Then it was two wide, then single wide and you would see the cars that could handle really good could almost pass by themselves without someone drafting. From most drivers point of views I think that was the most fun restrictor plate racing that we had. I don’t think you are going to get it back like that for probably not as long as I drive because it will take a long time to run the tracks down that much to where they slip and slide that much, unless they get a really small hard tire on them or something. If you are having a hard time getting around a corner by yourself you can’t get pushed or you will get spun out. I think that is some of the idea of putting a smaller spoiler on there is to make them a little harder to drive.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

A.J. Allmendinger - Richard Petty Motorsports

December 1 2011 (Charlotte, NC)– While AJ Allmendinger is off to the races once again, this time contesting the Red BullKart Fight in Orlando on Thursday, the elves back at the shop have been keeping busy and have an exciting announcement to make as “25 Days of Dinger” launches today.

“25 Days of Dinger” will see one lucky race fan win one of 25 different gifts each day from December 1st right through to the 25th.

To be eligible to win, fans just need to either follow AJ on Twitter (at www.twitter.com/ajdinger) or LIKE him on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AJAllmendinger).

We can’t say everything that’s on offer this month, but we can at least hint that in addition to some great stuff in from the AJ Allmendinger merchandise warehouse, there will also be some cool prizes from the folks that have helped out all year long like Best Buy and Ford Racing.

Since it’s getting a little cold out there, the first prize up for grabs to kick things off today will be an AJ-branded sweatshirt, the Prevail, for one winner. Stay tuned for updates!

- Walldinger Racing, LLC., Press Release

Ford Racing

MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion –

HAS THIS SEASON BEEN A SUCCESS IN YOUR MIND? “Oh, yeah. You can’t reflect on one race and feel bad about this season. We’ve had a great year and I’m looking forward to 2012 and making it better.”

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion – WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENGINE? “It’s just engine trouble. The guys at Roush Yates do a great job and that was probably just pushing the issue. We are here racing for a win and had a fast car and that is our fourth engine failure of the year. You can’t make the Chase, and you can’t go for a championship having problems like that. They do a great job; we just pushed the envelope too much and were being a little aggressive on our car with not a whole lot to lose. We were trying to find a little horsepower and it didn’t work out.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY WARNING? “No we were cruising around and made that green flag pit stop and our car had been real free for most of the race. We had a good car I think, no warning, just broke something big going down the back straightaway.”

THE 9 CAR LOOKS LIKE IT DROPPED A CYLINDER. IS THIS SOMETHING CARL NEEDS TO WORRY ABOUT? “I don’t think so. I think Carl probably has a real conservative piece. I doubt they will have any issues. Myself, Marcos and even Greg and AJ, not being in the Chase, we have a little R&D going on. We just got the short straw.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – “The engine just gave up. It’s really weird the symptoms we’re having because the oil temperature, water temperature, everything is good. We’re not revving them that high, so there must be something weird going on with them. They make great power and we’ve had good engines all year.” WHAT HAPPENED? “It looked like maybe we had a valve problem or something like that. It’s kind of odd because we’re not revving them that high and the temperatures were really, really good. It must be something with the parts because we’ve had three of them break that I know of and that’s really unusual for our engines. Our engines run really good, really reliable and make really good power. I know Doug and all the guys have worked really hard on durability on this FR9, so this is an unusual problem for us.”

DAVID RAGAN SAID THEY WERE TRYING SOME R&D STUFF. WERE YOU? “I don’t know all the specifics. We could have possibly been trying something for next year. It made good power, it just didn’t quite make it far enough.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Fusion – “It looked like he (Jimmie Johnson) got loose up high and gathered it up, and then it was like he made a hard left like he was gonna come down pit road and I just got in the back of him. We had just got a break there and got back on the lead lap. We were working on the car and even though it wasn’t where we wanted it, we were working hard to try and get it there. We just came up a little short.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion – PIT ROAD INTERVIEW – “I just have to say congratulations to Tony. Those guys earned it. They won half the races in the Chase and he is the champion and did a good job. My guys did a great job. We pushed him to the end and that is all I got. That is as hard as I can drive. I think it is really important to give Tony the credit. Those guys did a good job. That is everything I’ve got. I will go home and work harder for next year and be back and make it just as hard on them, hopefully harder. I am proud of Ford, Aflac and our fans. Thank you for making this fun.”

THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES THE SPORT HAS EVER SEEN. WHAT IS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW? “Let me thank my sponsors, Aflac, Ford, Kellogg’s, Subway, Scott’s and all the fans. This night is about Tony Stewart. They beat us fair and square. I gave them everything we’ve got and my guys did a really good job. We came here and sat on the pole and led the most laps and Tony still managed to do a good job with their strategy, come out in front of us and that was all I had at the end. That is as hard as I can drive. I told my wife, ‘If I can’t win this thing, I am going to be the best loser NASCAR has ever had and I am going to try really hard to keep my head up and know we will be just as hard to beat next year and the year after that.’ I just hope everybody is proud of the way we performed and our effort. I appreciate everyone’s support. I wish so bad we had that trophy, it just wasn’t meant to be tonight.”

FOR 40 LAPS YOU WERE LOOKING AT THE TARGET AHEAD OF YOU, WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? “It was good because I could see what Tony was doing and I tried all sorts of stuff and that is as hard as I can drive that race car and that is it. I said before this thing started that I would give my best performance and I would be happy with that. I am not quite happy with it, but this is what we’ve got. We will make the most of it. I can tell you one thing, if we are in this position again next year those guys better watch out because that was a lot of work to stay calm and focused and perform the best we can, I learned a ton.”

DID YOU KNOW YOUR FATE DURING THE LAST 20 LAPS? “No, I don’t every quit. I was waiting for his car to run out of fuel coming to the finish line. The only good thing about tonight is that we didn’t make any mistakes, we didn’t mess up and we didn’t beat ourselves. We made Tony and those guys come out and beat us and they did. Congratulations to him. He is the champion and he earned it. I learned a ton, a lot about myself and competition at this level and I will be ready to battle it out just like this every year if I get the opportunity.”

HOW TOUGH IS THIS MOMENT FOR YOU RIGHT NOW? “This moment is pretty tough but not nearly as tough as it could have been if we had a mistake or a problem. We just got out-raced tonight. They did their jobs and came back from adversity and did a good job.”

WHAT DID YOU JUST TELL TONY AT HIS CAR? “I told him I hope we do the same thing next year, it will be fun. That is a good racer. He did a good job. His team did a good job. My guys did really well too. We aren’t going to walk away here feeling like we didn’t give our best performance. We did well and I stand behind all my guys and we will have that same group if I can do anything about it next year and they are going to have to beat us.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion – “It was a good run for us. I kind of hit the wall early and this Crown Royal team did a great job getting it fixed up and keeping it really competitive. I just wasn’t as good as the top two. The 56 was better at times and I was a little better than him at times, but the 99 and 14 just had us all night. I don’t know what I would change to make it better. We had the balance pretty good. We had great stops. We did all that stuff, we just didn’t have the grip and the speed they had.”

NICE RUN. “It was. It was pretty good. The Crown Royal guys did a great job. They made great adjustments after we kind of got off and hit the wall a little bit early. We had the car pretty good, we just weren’t as good as the 99 and the 14 and the 56 at the end. Those guys were just a little quicker, but, overall, we had a good car and had a good day.”

HOW MUCH FUN WAS IT TO RACE ON THIS TRACK WITH SO MANY OPTIONS? “It’s a fun track. Before the red flag I hit the wall right in front of Martin and they were laughing at me at the red flag, so I was following him there at the end and he was leaving himself a good half-inch to the wall, so I was kind of waiting for him to return the favor so I could get back around him, but he’s really good at that and he just hung it out right next to the fence and I just couldn’t get by him.”

THE 14 AND 99 DOMINATED THE LAST THREE RACES. WHAT’S IT LIKE AS A COMPETITOR TO SEE A TITLE BATTLE GO DOWN LIKE THAT? “It’s crazy. I don’t know how Carl could have put together a better 10 races. They took bad days and turned them into good days and did all they could, but Tony got on that tear and won all those races on different style race tracks. I’m not sure how he made it there at the end on fuel, but he did. I thought it was Carl’s, to be honest with you. He had tires and Tony didn’t and I thought he was gonna run him down, but he just couldn’t quite catch him.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion – “It’s a little bit sad. We accomplished our goal being top 15 in points, but I want so much more though. It’s one of those things that they deserve a little bit more and I wish I’d given it to them. We’ve got some stuff to work on in the winter. We know that. I love working with Greg because he’s helped me so much. I know I still have a ways to go. We’re making steps and we know the areas we need to work on. I wish I could have won for them, but we’ll get them next year.”

TREVOR BAYNE – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – “We were awesome until the rain came the first time. I guess they saw where our rear-end housing was leaking a little bit, I guess where I got in the wall and knocked a bolt loose, so the first half of the race I was pumped. We were coming and we got to 11th and I thought we were gonna be really good and then that happened and put us back in the field. Then I got in the wall a couple times and then when they crashed on the backstretch we lost our left-front fender when the tire blew, so it wasn’t exactly what we were looking for at the end, but it was really fast and I just wish I could have got a better finish for these guys. I enjoyed working with them all year long and, hopefully, I’ll get to do it again next year because it’s been a great group of people to work with.”

CARL EDWARDS POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE OUT THERE TONIGHT AND THE EFFORT – “Well, the effort was all season. We finished the last two races last season very strong and we believed in what we were capable of this year and I think we proved to ourselves that even with adversity and the things we faced throughout the Chase with the bad runs we had and mistakes we made and recovered from that we can compete for these championships. I guess the only thing I am able to take away from this that is really positive is something I think is really important and that is at least we know that we can compete with any of these people. We can compete with a two-time champion, three-time champion now, and winning half the Chase races and still score as many points as them. That is a big deal. I know there are a lot of tests in life and I think the last three or four weeks have been a huge test for me and my team mentally. For us to keep our confidence up and keep our cool and go out and do our jobs, I am really proud of that. That is it. That is my maximal effort right there and Tony beat us. He is a champion and deserves to be the champion. He did a good job and now we will go home and work even harder and if we are faced with the same test next year hopefully we will do even better.”

CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR THOUGHTS THE LAST 10-15 LAPS? “Well, for me I thought back to a lesson I was reminded of at Iowa the second race with Ricky Stenhouse and that was to never, ever give up, period. I was fully prepared for Tony to run out of fuel or have a tire problem or for anything to happen. For a caution to come out and have a restart and that is all I can do. That is my job, to be as prepared as I can be. I didn’t really let myself think about the consequence of what was going on, I just had to drive the hardest I could and I did. I drove to the edge and beyond and that is all I had.”

I CAN’T HELP BUT THINK YOU WILL SPEND THE OFF SEASON THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO COME BACK AND BE EVEN BETTER THAN YOU ARE RIGHT NOW. IS THAT PRETTY ACCURATE? “Yes. Here is the deal. Whether we won tonight or we lost, tomorrow is the start of the next season. I was prepared before this race began to do exactly what I am going to go do and that is to be even better next year and apply what I have learned here. We knew we could come into this thing and we knew that of all the circumstances that could happen this one was the least probable. For us to finish like that, tied, fighting for the win, that is the least probably outcome. I was prepared for anything. I knew that this was a possibility and I was prepared for this. I told myself and my family that the one thing I am going to do is walk back to that motor home win, lose or draw and be a good example for my kids and work hard and go be better next season. We talked about it before the race. Even if we won this thing you get halfway through next season and struggle and it is quickly forgotten. As painful as this is right now I know we are fortunate to go to Daytona and start all over again and go race.”

WHAT DID YOU SAY TO BOB OSBORNE WHEN YOU GOT OUT OF THE CAR? “I just wanted to make sure that Bob knew I believe he’s the best crew chief here and he will be my crew chief for as long as he wants to be and I will be behind him and his decisions 100 percent. As tough as it is for me, it’s tougher, I think, for those guys – the guys that prepare these cars and determine which things we’re gonna work on through the year and what strategies we’re gonna use. I mean, they make some very, very big decisions that they can’t turn around and change in a heartbeat. As a race car driver, I can make quick decisions out there and I can fix things and make things happen. They make some very, very thought-out decisions and I’m sure their disappointment is as great or great than mine.”

IS THERE ANYTHING COMPARABLE YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH LIKE THIS? “No. I wish I could do this every day. There are lessons that I learned and things I learned about myself, about competition, about failure, about success – things that I could not have learned any other way. If there wasn’t any pressure, there wouldn’t be any diamonds. That’s what my trainer says. We dealt with a lot of pressure and I feel very proud of the way our team and myself and everyone has handled everything through this, and I feel we made it all the way through and although we didn’t come out with the outcome that we wanted, that we are better because of it. I’m not trying to be philosophical or anything, I’m truly telling you that if I’m in this position next year, I’m gonna be better at it. I’ll be better, so that’s cool. That’s something you don’t get every day is a lesson like this.”

WERE YOU PREPARED FOR THIS AND HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH TONY’S TRASH TALKING? “It’s easy. I talked to you guys one time and I said Kipling’s poem, I can’t remember the title of it, but when he says ‘you have to meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same,’ and that’s the truth. There’s nothing saying that this loss here tonight won’t spur a chain of events that could lead to some serious success in the future and you guys are looking at someone who is not gonna miss out on that. I’m very aware that time is a funny thing. You can’t go back and change anything, but you can sure as hell change what’s gonna happen, and I will be better and I will do a good job. And, yes, to answer your question, I was prepared for this. I thought a lot about this. Like I said earlier, I feel like personally I passed the test. I didn’t fall into the trap of the trash-talking. I didn’t change the person that I am to go compete at my highest level. I felt like I did it my way and I’m proud of that.”

THE LAST THREE WEEKS YOU AND TONY HAVE GONE HEAD-TO-HEAD. IS IT NOT SURPRISING IT ENDED THIS WAY? “Like I said earlier, I think it’s been a true test. It’s been a battle. As best I can, if I step back away from this and I look at it and I say, ‘OK, here are two guys – one of which has a lot more experience in these situations than the other, won half of the races in the Chase and the other guy stood his ground and did a darn good job of forcing these guys to perform their best.’ I’m proud of that and I think what you just said, the fact that it was that way, that it just turned into this man-to-man battle, that was very interesting. That was something you don’t see in this sport. It shouldn’t happen. I believe it only happened because subconsciously everybody on these teams just raised their level of performance and, to be honest with you, I was very, very impressed with Tony. I think that for all the talk and all the chest-pounding he did, I could see that he was nervous about this too. They had to perform at a very high level and I honestly thought there was a good chance tonight of them making a mistake, of him over-driving, trying too hard, and they showed a lot of mental toughness to be able to watch us go lead the first half of this race essentially and not panic and not make mistakes. I thought they did a really good job.”

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THE FACT IT ENDED IN A TIE? “I’d compete with him in just about anything else to break that tie if we could set up something. That’s pretty amazing. I’m telling you guys, I’m not just saying this because I didn’t win the thing, but I think we could run this race 10 times and it’s a 50-50 deal. A little different pit stop, a little different restart here, 10 pounds of spring somewhere in the car and this race could have been a lot different – not a lot different, but the roles could have been reversed. I think it’s just amazing. I’m sure there will be people who will say this is fake, that this was set up, because it’s just so unbelievable. It’s like a movie.”

WHERE WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND TONY, AND YOU SEEM TO BE PUTTING ON A GOOD FACE. IS THIS HOW YOU FEEL? “I’m telling you, guys, this is how I feel. This is me. I’m not b.s.’ing you. This is me. I’m not gonna go rip the door off my motorhome and freak out or anything. I’m gonna go hang out with my family and we’ll go to the beach tomorrow and go celebrate Ricky’s championship. I think it’s important to look back and to come up and look at things you could do differently to really analyze everything and to see where you did things wrong and where you did things right. My true feeling right now, my gut feeling in my heart, is that I’m obviously disappointed we didn’t win. That would have been a spectacular result, but I’m very proud. Some of the best races I’ve run in my life were this Chase. Kansas was unbelievable. Martinsville, I’ve never used my head as much as I did at Martinsville. I’ve never been able to put down my frustration like I did at Dover. If I look back on this Chase with some of the things we salvaged, I mean, we shouldn’t be tied, we should be a lot farther behind. I’m proud of my guys and proud of every one. There’s not one thing where I say, ‘Man, I wish I’d have done this or I wish I’d have done that.’ This whole season has gone very well. I’m truly proud of this season, but it’s over and we didn’t win it and they did. It’s not like the squeaked by. They came with a vengeance and they did their jobs.”

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOUR OFF-SEASON? “What we now have to focus on, we have to be very careful of is not being frustrated and not letting this disappointment tonight affect us for next season. That’s something you’ve got to do as a competitor, especially at this level, you have to realize that the past is history, it’s done, we have to go be the best we can and, truly, we’ve never run any better than this and there’s no reason we shouldn’t start the next season just as tough or tougher. I think that’s something we’ll talk about, hopefully, really soon after everyone relaxes and gets done with Thanksgiving. We’ll decide how we’re gonna be the best we can next year and build off of this and not let any of this disappointment bring us down. We have to make sure we’re just as tough next year.”

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE RAIN CAME AND YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT FUEL MILEAGE WITH 50-60 TO GO? “What they did was they stayed out. I think they almost ran out of fuel. They came down, pitted. They did a really good job of staying on the lead lap. I’m sorry, I’m mistaken, it’s not hard to do because we pitted, too, so it ended up working out fine for them. But they pitted for four tires, the rain came, caution came out, and we only had a couple laps on our tires, so we came in and we were kind of stuck in a box where if we took four, we were gonna lose a bunch of track position to him, and then if it rains we lose the championship if they say the race is over. So we took two tires while we were cruising around under caution we still had the points lead, so if the rain came really hard and they for some reason shortened the race, we’d have won it that way. That’s the box we were in, so we restarted and as it turns out the guys that took four tires didn’t move forward a bunch, so, looking back, I don’t know if we’d have taken four tires if that would have made the difference or not, but it doesn’t appear so. I think if we had it to do over again, we’d probably do the same thing, we would hope that that rain didn’t come and then we would get another caution.”

WERE YOU SURPRISED HE STAYED OUT SO LONG? “I was and I was trying to figure out what he was doing, but they were just gonna try to make it on that one stop and then save fuel, which is pretty risky, I thought. I really thought for a second, ‘We’ve got ‘em. They’re on the ropes here and they’re trying something that maybe they shouldn’t.’ The Gods were shining down on them. It worked out and it just worked out perfectly, and then they were able to hold us off at the end. I’m telling you, the best minds up there looking at all the possibilities and it both teams did something that they thought was best and it was darn near identical. It just wasn’t much different.”

WERE YOU NERVOUS ABOUT YOUR ENGINE AT ALL AND WHAT DID YOU DO DURING THE RAIN DELAY? “I went back to the motorhome and had some popcorn and hung out with the family and that was pretty fun. I wasn’t worried about the engines because I saw Doug’s interview on TV. He said that the 6 was a different engine, so I’m sure they were trying some stuff and if there was a problem, Doug would have told us, ‘Hey, you’ve got to take it easy on the engine,’ but we didn’t have any trick engine stuff or anything that I was aware of – nobody told me anything about it, so I wasn’t too worried.”

TONY CAME FROM THE BACK TWICE. HOW MINDBOGGLING IS THAT? “They did a good job. I think that’s why the fans saw such a good race is because this track allows you to do that. If you’ve got a fast car and you do your job and you drive hard, you can pass people here. The fans got to see that and that was just a good job. They did a really good job of recovering from that stuff.”

YOU HAD A 4.9 AVERAGE IN THIS CHASE. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT BECAUSE THAT WOULD HAVE WON EVERY OTHER CHASE? “We performed very well. I feel like over the whole season we performed really well. I don’t know if anyone scored more points in the whole season than we did, I’m not sure about that, but there’s a lot of pride in that. We did that in 2008 and I think we did that now. We just performed the best we can. Every week we put out the best effort we can and we were one point shy. That’s just the way it is.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS RACE? “It’s neat. It’s neat to be a part of something like that. It’s not neat to lose, but, like I said earlier, that’s a position – I can’t think of another thing I could go do that would capture my attention and my effort, my focus and all of that like this has, so it’s neat to be a part of something like that. I think it’s good to be a part of things like this and I think, in the end, it’ll just make me a better race and a better person to deal with stuff like this. It’s amazing.”

HOW DO YOU THINK BOB WILL HANDLE THIS? “I think Bob will handle it well. Bob is a very, very mentally tough person – very tough. He’s hard on himself. He’ll figure out things that he can do better, but that’s one of the neat things about Bob, he just keeps his head down and works. I think this will be good. We’ll come up with things we can do to be better, but, really, we rose our level of performance. We rose to the occasion, and I truly don’t think we could have done much better in this Chase with, like I said, the circumstances we had and the way things went. I was very proud of every point we gathered through the whole thing.

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hoists a championship flag after clinching the NASCAR Nationwide Series crown at the Ford 300 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, Nov. 19. - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES

Ford 300,

November 19, 2011

Homestead-Miami Speedway

RICKY STENHOUSE JR. POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP?

“It is unbelievable. There are a lot of people that have worked really hard for this. My family has sacrificed a lot. Jack Roush and all these guys on our team, they were with us when we were struggling and they never gave up last year. Everybody at Ford Racing, Blackwell Angus Beef and Cargill, everybody has worked really hard and rallied together to be a team effort. Our cars back at the shop are phenomenal and all the guys that work hard there. Everybody at Roush Yates engines. It is a total team effort and it means the world to bring this championship to Jack and be a little bit of the history that he has in this sport. For Ford to get the manufacturers and Jack to get the owners it was for sure a huge team effort. Mike Kelley never let us down. He rallied us, even when we weren’t good and I would get a little mad out there on the race track he straightened me up and helped us keep digging.”

MIKE KELLEY, crew chief No. 6 Ford Mustang – WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE THE CREW CHIEF OF THE 2011 NATIONWIDE CHAMIPIONS?

“Just like Ricky said, it means a lot. I heard Carl say the other day that it isn’t about the trophy that you get but the journey you take to get there. I couldn’t say that anymore for working with Ricky the last 16 or 18 months together. We had tough times last year and it was documented very well. Anyone could have walked away. Jack could have turned his back on him, Ford could have and our guys could have. There were a lot of tough days and grim nights back at the shop. Nobody did though. I am so proud of my guys and Jack and Ford for sticking behind Ricky and seeing it through. To come through what we did all last year and during the off season we really put our heads down and we weren’t picked to be the favorite and that is probably what helped us the most. We were kind of overshadowed by the Elliott Sadler’s and the Allgaier’s and Sorensen’s and that kinda gave us a fight and desire back at the shop to make sure we came out strong. It was a total team effort. It wasn’t me. I have a great engineering staff and we moved our shop. Jack let us move down to the Cup shop in Concord and that was a big plus for us. The cars that we get are second to none out there and the engines are second to none. We never quit. We had bad days at the beginning of the year and we learned as a group on fuel mileage and strategy. I feel like we gave up a couple wins based on that. I am proud of the effort of this team during the hard times. We dug in there and finished off strong.”

JACK ROUSH, owner, No. 6 Ford Mustang – WE MADE HISTORY TONIGHT AS A TEAM WON THE DRIVER AND OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP WITH TWO DIFFERENT PRIMARY DRIVERS. CONGRATULATIONS JACK.

“When Carl won his Nationwide championship in 2007 I didn’t win the owners championship and I didn’t know what I did wrong. I didn’t do anything more wrong than I did right this time. It is an honor given to team owners that is really at the mercy of the efforts of the crew chiefs and drivers and the crew. I am glad to be sharing the honors with Carl and with Ricky and with Mike Beam and Mike Kelley. One thing I want to say, and I have been doing this for my 24th year and this is my third Nationwide championship that I have helped a driver win, but Ricky sits here tonight because of the sacrifice and dedication of a great family.

Without his mother and father, I am looking at his mom across the room here, without their sacrifice and dedication and determination to see to it Ricky had everything he needed to develop into the driver he has become it wouldn’t happen. People like myself or Tony Stewart or other owners that have the race cars would never find a Ricky Stenhouse without the family doing all they have to do and the dark days before it really goes public. Mike Kelley did a great job this year, Mike Beam did a great job behind the scenes. Carl Edwards provided great leadership from a driver point of view. Trevor Bayne did a great job challenging Ricky in some ways and supporting him in others. It has been a great team effort that we are celebrating tonight but I am especially thankful and respectful of the sacrifice of the whole Stenhouse family that they made to get Ricky where he is.”

STENHOUSE CONTINUED – IS THE THE BIGGEST THING TO HAPPEN TO OLIVE BRANCH?

“I would say so. It is going to be cool. I plan on taking the trophy when I got to the Christmas parade as Grand Marshal December 3rd. It will be a good homecoming for sure. There are a lot of people back there that are really supportive of what we are doing. The whole school system and everybody down there. It is really cool to have a community behind you like that.”

YOU WERE IN THE TOP FIVE IN POINTS ALL YEAR BEFORE MOVING TO FIRST AND STAYING THERE. WAS THERE A MOMENTUM SHIFT AFTER YOU GOT TO FIRST?

“We look at it as one whole year. We got the lead a couple times and lost it but that last time we got it we were bound and determined not to give it back. We wanted to seal it up before coming to Homestead. We did the best job we could and it was just a whole year of total team effort and really working to not make mistake on pit road and not making mistakes as a driver and crew chief. I think at the end of the year we really limited our mistakes we made in our first half the year that gave those points leads back to other people. That was the main thing we focused on.”

WHAT WAS THE ONE BIGGEST LESSON YOU LEARNED FROM JACK DURING THE TROUBLES LAST YEAR?

“The one biggest thing I think I learned from everything Jack has done for me is that he cares about me as a person and really wanted me to succeed. If he didn’t care he wouldn’t put me in the body shop. That is one thing I learned from my dad. He was tough on my growing up but it was always for a reason. Jack has been an awesome team owner. He has done a lot of great things in NASCAR and I am glad to be a part of this one little thing. He has been doing it a long time. He has his ways of doing things and you have to look at the positives from it. I think that was the biggest thing I learned.”

JACK ROUSH CONTINUED – WHAT WAS IT YOU SAW IN RICKY THAT MADE YOU INSIST ON PUSHING HIM TO THE POINT TO SEE IF HE HAD WHAT IT TOOK?

“Ricky was extraordinarily talented. Every challenge we gave him with a new race track or problem with a car as we changed the car Ricky was bright and quick and talented in meeting those challenges. The thing that was always there when you would reach a situation when it was clear that you could go down this or that path and Mike Beam or Mike Kelley or myself decided to go down a certain path Ricky always went along with it. He never called his dad for support and said we were being to hard on him, he just went along with the program. That is what a rookie needs to do. He needs to go with the program with the people looking after him and our group had his interests in mind.

The other thing was that he was just driven to be competitive to the extent of self destruction to start with. It is much easier to temper that and deal with that that it is for someone that doesn’t want it as bad as those next to them. They couldn’t realize the ultimate prize. Ricky wanted it bad and he raised himself to be a race car driver. This was his opportunity and he tried to hang on to it too tight to start with and couldn’t realize the success there for him but very quickly we got over that.”

RICKY STENHOUSE CONTINUED – THIS IS THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP UNDER THE NEW FORMAT. YOU ARE THE CHAMPION WITH TWO WINS. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING THE FIRST CHAMPION IN THIS NEW FORMAT?

“It means just as much. We race week in and week out with those guys. We gave them a run for their money here tonight. Ultimately my goal is to go out there and win the drivers and owners championship. We finished third in the owners championship so we ran really strong all year. We beat Carl, we beat Brad, we passed those guys and raced Kyle Busch. I think as a race team and me as a driver I felt like we are just as good as those guys. I think that racing up there and beating them definitely makes this championship worth it.”

YOU FINISHED STRONG.

“This race track is one of my favorites. I wish we came here twice at least. Last year was the first year here. I had a lot of fun and this is just my style of race track. You can drive it in hard, let it slide up to the wall and get back in the gas and really hang it out, it just reminds me a lot of sprint car racing. Last year, we finished fourth and ran really strong and this year we just came up one spot short and maybe one corner short, but, man, it was fun racing those guys. We were sideways, turning right, trying to keep it off the fence, getting into the fence every now and then, and to race up there with Carl, Brad, Denny, Clint Bowyer, Elliott Sadler, they’re some of the best in the business and to be up there racing with them is fun.”

AT WHAT POINT DID YOU KNOW THE TITLE WAS YOURS AND DID IT CHANGE YOUR PHILOSOPHY?

“We were going 100 percent there from the start. It’s tough to get me to back down any. I’m not good at riding around, so I’m not sure what lap it was, Mike Kelley came over and told me we were good to go, that we had won the championship, but we still stayed focused and I think I drove 110 percent after that, so that was the only thing that really changed.”

WAS THERE A TURNING POINT FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM THIS SEASON?

“I can think of two. Early in the year when we led laps at Bristol, ran up there with Kyle and I was kind of playing around with him the whole time. Talking to Kyle after he was like, ‘Man, you had the best car.’ We made a mistake on fuel mileage and we made a mistake as a race team getting lined up and we got caught two laps down, so I think we rallied together and we worked on our fuel mileage with Ford and everybody at Roush Fenway and Roush Yates, worked on our fuel mileage, and we kind of got a direction there and that really helped us. And then Indy when we led 190 laps and we came up a couple spots short. That was pretty tough for us, but we were bound and determined to win some more races and really run up front and dig hard, and Mike was the one that kind of rallied everybody together and kept everybody digging.”

MIKE KELLEY CONTINUED –

“I kind of agree with him. Early on in the year we kind of made a few mistakes and left a lot of points on the table, a lot more than we ever thought, and I really feel if we would have been a little smarter, a little better earlier in the year, we’d have been right in the middle of that owner’s championship, and that was our goal from the beginning. But the thing that meant a lot to me is we sat down in January and we circled a bunch of dates on the calendar for Ricky’s experience level on the road course races, we kind of had a goal, we said we’d have to be 25 points in the lead coming into the last two road course race swing knowing that Elliott had a lot of experience and Ricky had never been to Watkins Glen.

We knew we’d take our lumps there, but if we could get out of there, we didn’t care if it was a one-point lead or a two-point lead, we would tell ourselves on the way home that we came out of there with the lead and now it was ours to hold on to the last 10 races of the year, kind of really laid into Ricky’s schedule – a bunch of short tracks thrown in there with some mile-and-a-halfs that the cars have been good on.

When we made it through those two road course races, I don’t know if it was six, seven, eight points or something, we came out of there with the lead and I remember looking at him on the plane and I told him, ‘Picture that we came in here five points behind and we actually came out six points ahead and we’ll look at it that way, instead of saying we lost 10 today.’ We got the guys rallied back at the shop and said, ‘We’ve only got to turn left from here on in and Ricky can do that as good as anybody out there.’ Lack of experience or not, he’s as talented as anyone I’ve ever seen behind the wheel.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR. CONTINUED – AT THE START OF THE YEAR MANY PEOPLE DIDN’T HAVE YOU IN THEIR TOP FIVE. DID YOU USE THAT AS MOTIVATION?

“We definitely used that as motivation. We felt like at the end of last year, Mike Kelley and I were sitting down at the banquet watching Brad get the trophy, we told each other right there that as strong as we were running at the end of the year, running up in the top five with the Cup guys, that we were going for that championship and that was before they ever changed the point system. Obviously, they changed the point system and we still weren’t in sight to do that from the media’s perspective, but we felt like as a race team we could do that, I felt like as a driver I was just as good as anybody else out there, and if we put everything together, then we knew we had a shot at this championship. But it was just fun. You all have been doing this a long time and I’m just getting started, so it was good to come out here and get this championship.”

- PCG Campbell Press Release