Texas Motor Speedway

Live Streaming Video Of Chase Driver Interviews And Post-Race Press Conferences From NASCAR Season Finale

TMS Media Relations — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:56:00 GMT

Throughout the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, www.texasmotorspeedway.com will be providing you with the special opportunity to watch the Chase driver press conferences as well as the post-qualifying and post-race press conferences LIVE from those respective speedways.

Now you not only can watch the Chase for the Sprint Cup races each week (ABC-TV), but find out what your favorite Chase drivers are saying as they prepare for the next event in addition to interviews from the top finishers following the conclusion of each race.

It’s easy – all you need to do is click on this link http://americaneg-nascar-liveevent1.wm.llnwd.net/americaneg_nascar_liveevent1 during the scheduled times (see below) to find out what the drivers are saying each week during the Chase.

Here is this week’s schedule of interviews from the media center at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. for the 10th and final race of the Chase.

In addition to the Chase interviews, NASCAR also will feature media interviews from its other series, including the champions in the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. The times below are CENTRAL TIME.

FRIDAY

8:40 a.m. – Ryan Newman (9th in points); 9 a.m. – Carl Edwards (11th in points); 9:15 a.m. – Juan Pablo Montoya (6th in points); 9:30 a.m. – Jimmie Johnson (1st in points); 9:45 a.m. – Mark Martin (2nd in points); 12:30 p.m. – Greg Biffle (7th in points); 1:15 p.m. – Brian Vickers (12th in points); 1:30 p.m. – Kurt Busch (4th in points); 2:15 p.m. – Kelly Bires (Nationwide Series); 3:40 p.m. (approximately) – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series post-qualifying press conference; 8:40 p.m. (approximately) – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series post-race press conference (top three finishers and series champion).

SATURDAY

11:50 a.m. CT – Tony Stewart (5th in points); 6 p.m. (approximately) – NASCAR Nationwide Series post-race press conference (top three finishers and series champion).

SUNDAY

5:30 p.m. CT (approximately) – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series post-race press conference (top three finishers and series champion).

Johnson Widens Chase Lead With Win At Phoenix

TMS Media Relations — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:43:00 GMT

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Photo Credit: (Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

(November 15, 2009)

AVONDALE, Ariz.—From his fiasco in Forth Worth, Jimmie Johnson rose like a phoenix in—where else?—Phoenix.

A week after teasing his Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors with a 38th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway—his worst of the season—Johnson regained control of his championship run by winning Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

In a dominating performance in which he led 238 of 312 laps, Johnson increased his advantage over fourth-place finisher Mark Martin (second in the standings) to 108 points. With a finish of 25th or better in the season finale next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Johnson will lock up his record fourth straight championship.

Johnson, who won for the seventh time this season and scored the maximum 195 points (winning and leading the most laps) for the fourth time in the Chase, will eliminate the other 10 Chase competitors as soon as he takes the green flag at Homestead.

The victory was the 47th of Johnson’s career, breaking a tie with Buck Baker for 13th on the career win list.

“First of all, I have to thank this race team for having the strength and mental attitude and everything that they do to bounce back from last week and show up and just put a butt-kicking on everybody today,” Johnson said.

“At the start of the race, we were a little loose but still running second or third. As soon as we put new tires on, the car came to life. We made a couple of small adjustments that really, really helped it, and I could get out to a nice comfortable lead, ride, protect what I had, work my way through traffic—not with ease, but better than other guys.”

The race ran caution-free for the final 134 laps. Johnson lost the lead briefly when he pitted for four tires and fuel on Lap 243 at the 1-mile track, but he regained it on Lap 248 when Matt Kenseth came to pit road.

Johnson kept his No. 48 Chevrolet out front the rest of the way, as third-place finisher Denny Hamlin and runner-up Jeff Burton, who passed Hamlin for second on Lap 284, took turns in pursuit. Johnson’s only anxious moments came when Hamlin teammate rookie Joey Logano made Johnson work especially hard to complete a pass.

“I was trying to be smart through traffic,” Johnson said, “and the 20 car (Logano)—I’m not sure if he was just trying to stay two laps down and didn’t want to go three laps down, or if he was really trying to help his teammate out—but, either way, the 11 car (Hamlin) caught me. Once I cleared him (Logano), I got back going, and everything was fine. But the 20 car wasn’t being all that friendly.”

Johnson, who started third Sunday, plans to take an aggressive approach to qualifying at Homestead to try to avoid a repeat of the early crash that took him out at Texas.

“I think qualifying 12th (at Texas)—even though that’s a good qualifying spot—put us in harm’s way, and I was a little cautious, maybe, in qualifying,” Johnson said. “We need to show up down there and treat it like any other race.

“The farther forward we start, the better off we’re going to be, track-position-wise, the better pit stall selection we’re going to have. Until we get in the race and see what we really have, we’re going to treat it like any other race and just go as fast as we can.”

Notes: Johnson’s margin of victory over Burton was 1.033 seconds. … Polesitter Martin Truex Jr. finished fifth, his first top five of the year in his next-to-last race for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Truex will drive Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 56 Toyota next year. … Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon and David Reutimann finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Venturini Motorsports, Hoosier Debut ARCA Series To Texas Motor Speedway

TMS Media Relations — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:39:00 GMT

TOLEDO, Ohio (November 12, 2009)—The process of bringing ARCA Racing to Fort Worth’s Texas Motor Speedway is in full swing as exhibited by a private Hoosier Tire Test at the 1.5-mile Speedway Motorsports, Inc.-owned facility on Thursday.

Led by Hoosier Tire Engineers and ARCA Officials, veteran team Venturini Motorsports and driver Steve Arpin tested various Hoosier Tire Codes at Texas Motor Speedway on Thursday in preparation for the April 16, 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX race date at the track. The full day test marked the first official ARCA-sanctioned racing activity at the track in more than 11 years.

“My first impression? Texas Motor Speedway is an awesome, incredible, wicked track,” said Arpin. “It’s a lot of fun to race on this track. It’s fast but real comfortable to drive on so I think we are going to have an awesome race here. There are a few good, fast lines around here that should make for an exciting race.”

Arpin concluded his rookie season of ARCA competition in 2009 with four top-5 and 11 top-10 finishes. Season highlights included a career-best fourth-place finish at Pocono Raceway in August and fifth-place finishes at Mansfield Motorsports Park on June 20, the Illinois State Fairgrounds on August 23 and Salem Speedway on September 19. While Arpin was the first fulltime series competitor to make laps at Texas in an ARCA RE/MAX Series stock car in anticipation for 2010, additional series competitors will have the opportunity to log laps at the track in the coming months via an ARCA Open Test prior to the April 16, 2010 race date.

“The Venturinis and Steve Arpin are doing a great job of providing feedback,” said Doug Barnes, ARCA track services manager for Hoosier, the official tire supplier of ARCA since 1995. “We’re focusing on short runs and long runs with various tire codes to determine what will be the right combination under race conditions. This track is very fast and has abrupt changes so it’s challenging to come out with the right combination.”

When the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX makes its April 16, 2010 appearance to Texas Motor Speedway it will mark just the second time that the versatile touring series has competed at the track and the first race date at the track since a companion event with the IndyCar Series on September 19, 1998. The 167-lap/250-mile 1998 race was won by Winder, Georgia’s Mark Gibson, who has since gone on to become a winning car owner in ARCA. The ARCA pole sitter at Texas in 1998 was Frank Kimmel (31.143 seconds/173.393 mph) who went on to win the ARCA Driving Championship in 1998-his first of nine series titles.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX joins both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series for the Samsung Mobile 500 race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway on April 15-18, 2010. The week opens on Thursday, April 15, with practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will practice and qualify on Friday, April 16, followed by the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX race. A final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice and the O’Reilly 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race are on Saturday, April 17. The race week culminates Sunday, April 18, with the 14th edition of the Samsung Mobile 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Tickets to Texas Motor Speedway are available by calling (817) 215-8500 or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com.

For more information on Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., visit www.hoosiertire.com.

For more information on the ARCA RE/MAX Series, visit www.arcaracing.com.

Live Streaming Video Of Chase Driver Interviews And Post-Race Press Conferences From Phoenix

TMS Media Relations — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:01:00 GMT

Here is this week’s schedule of interviews from the media center at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., for the ninth race of the Chase. In addition to the Chase interviews, NASCAR also will feature media interviews from its other series. The times below are CENTRAL TIME.

FRIDAY

11:45 a.m. CT – Juan Pablo Montoya (6th in points); Noon – Jimmie Johnson (1st in points); 12:15 p.m. – Mark Martin (2nd in points); 2:35 p.m. – Greg Biffle (7th in points); 2:50 p.m. – Kasey Kahne (10th in points); 3:25 p.m. – Carl Edwards (11th in points); 3:45 p.m. – Kurt Busch (4th in points); 4:15 p.m. – Denny Hamlin (8th in points); 6:15 p.m. (approximately) – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series post-qualifying press conference; 9 p.m. (approximately) – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series post-race press conference.

SATURDAY

11 a.m. CT – Tony Stewart (5th in points) and Ryan Newman (9th in points); 6 p.m. (approximately) – NASCAR Nationwide Series post-race press conference.

SUNDAY

5:45 p.m. CT (approximately) – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series post-race press conference.

Dinner with Santa!

estallcup — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Following Texas Motor Speedway’s Official Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

When: Monday, November 30, 2009

Direct from the North Pole, Santa (with his list checked twice) is thrilled about starting his busy Christmas season with a stop at The Speedway Club. Festivities begin in the early evening with our friends from Speedway Children’s Charities hosting Texas Motor Speedway’s ceremonial Christmas tree lighting. The flip of a switch brings North Texas’ largest real Douglas Fir Christmas tree to life. Then, enjoy Speedway Children’s Charities’ distribution of over $1 million in grants to local North Texas non-profit organizations helping area children in need.

After observing the joy of Christmas through the heart-warming magic of charitable giving, it’s time for “Dinner with Santa” in The Speedway Club’s Starlight Dining Room. The Speedway Club is opening its doors for this very special occasion for both members and nonmembers. There will be special dinner selections for kids, plenty of cookies to decorate and carolers singing all your favorite Christmas classics. We look forward to seeing all of our Speedway Club families for another amazing “Dinner with Santa!”

Space is limited. Please call (817) 215-8434 for reservations. Chef’s Table: $39.95 (+tax) Kids under 12: amount charged = to age

God Bless Our Fort Hood Troops

TMS Media Relations — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:19:00 GMT

Texas Motor Speedway honored the fallen soldiers of the Fort Hood tragedy during the Dickies 500 weekend by painting the logo above on its frontstretch field. Texas Motor Speedway is 150 miles north of the site where 13 soldiers were killed and 31 others injured Thursday, Nov. 5.

During Sunday’s pre-race festivities, prior to the start of the Dickies 500, 40 soldiers from Fort Hood unfurled the giant United States and Texas flags during the National Anthem. Forty-five members were scheduled to attend, but five of those were wounded during the shootings. In tribute, those members were not replaced during the ceremony.

Busch Brothers Dominate Dickies 500 Weekend

TMS Media Relations — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

FORT WORTH, Texas (November 10, 2009) – In NASCAR’s 61 years of existence, there have been many seasons of brothers competing against each other.

There have been the Woods (Glen and Leonard), Pettys (Richard and Maurice), Bodines (Geoffrey, Brett and Todd), Wallaces (Rusty, Kenny and Mike), Burtons (Jeff and Ward), Waltrips (Darrell and Michael), Allisons (Bobby and Donnie), Flocks (Tim, Fonty and Bob) and Texas natives Terry and Bobby Labonte. In the last few seasons, a new sibling duel has emerged with Kurt and Kyle Busch, who may be considered one of the most successful brother combination when they are finished.

Kurt owns a 2004 Sprint Cup Series championship and 20 career wins while younger brother Kyle has 16 Cup wins as well as an impressive 61 across NASCAR’s three national series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World Truck Series). And both beefed up their resumes this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Kyle was three laps away from making NASCAR history in Sunday’s Dickies 500 as he was looking to become the first driver to sweep all three national series events in a single weekend. He dominated Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350k Camping World Truck Series race and Saturday’s O’Reilly Challenge Nationwide Series race, but ran short of fuel on Lap 331 of the 334-lap Dickies 500 on Sunday and older brother Kurt inherited the lead and went on to earn his 20th Sprint Cup Series victory.

It was the second victory of the season for Kurt, whose other win came at Atlanta in March, and first Sprint Cup win at Texas Motor Speedway. This win, however, was fun but bittersweet in the sibling rivalry.

“You know, it was quite a bit of fun,” he said. “I felt it early on in the way that each of us would beat each other out of the pits, and then we would play cat and mouse on the restarts the way we would take off and separate ourselves from the pack. I knew it was the 18 (Kyle) and the 2 (Kurt).

“To have him going for his sweep this weekend, I was rooting for him. But it's bittersweet because we took the sweet part, which is the victory in Cup. Sundays, you want to win on Sundays. I think it takes five wins, Nationwide and Truck, to equal one win in the big time show. But we raced him hard. It felt like old times, the way that we raced Legend cars with each other, coming up through the ranks of racing. To do it at the Cup level for a win, this one's definitely one of those fun days.”

This hasn’t been the first NASCAR weekend the Busch brothers have dominated as they earned back-to-back wins at Atlanta this season in April (Kurt winning the Sprint Cup Series race and Kyle the Camping World Truck Series race) and at Bristol in March of 2006 (Kurt in Sprint Cup and Kyle in the Nationwide Series).

Kyle’s back-to-back wins in the truck and Nationwide series this past weekend marked the fourth time he has posted two NASCAR national series wins in the same weekend. His WinStar World Casino 350k win Friday marked his first truck series win at Texas. He earned his fourth consecutive Nationwide Series win at Texas in the O’Reilly Challenge, tying Kevin Harvick for most career Nationwide wins at the track and joining Brendan Gaughan for most consecutive wins in a single series at the 1.5-mile speedway. He also moved one victory closer to tying Dale Earnhardt’s record of five consecutive wins at one speedway. Earnhardt dominated the Goody’s 300 at Daytona International Speedway from 1990-1994.

“We love coming out to Texas,” Kyle said. “This is, for some reason, one of my best race tracks. I seem to really like getting around here. This car was flawless again today. We’ve had cars that have been flawless like this for the past four races here. This is a testament to this team. They do such an awesome job preparing these cars with all the extra hours at the shop and all the guys that do a great job.”

Dickies American Worker Of The Year Cashes In

TMS Media Relations — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:37:00 GMT

Kurt Busch walked away with the biggest payout for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, collecting $440,575 for the victory in Sunday’s Dickies 500.

But Busch wasn’t the biggest winner of the day.

Michael McGee, of Broken Bow, Okla., won $1 million in conjunction with the Dickies American Worker of the Year promotion. McGee, who was announced as this year’s winner Oct. 30 during the Professional Bull Riders World Finals in Las Vegas, received $50,000 and a VIP trip for two to the Dickies 500. McGee, 25, had the opportunity to add $1 million by randomly selecting the winner of the Dickies 500.

During a press conference Saturday at the speedway, McGee would select one of 12 Dickies models carrying a number of each of the 12 Chase contenders. McGee decided to go with his lucky number seven for the model and she held the No. 2 of Busch. It appeared as if Kurt’s younger brother Kyle was going to spoil his day, but Kyle ran out of fuel while in the lead with three laps to go. Kurt inherited the lead and McGee suddenly found himself as a millionaire. His plans for his new-found wealth?

“I think I’d like to pay off my house and maybe start some sort of scholarship program for some kids going to college, maybe pursuing some type of career in agriculture,” said McGee, an agricultural teacher and horse training business owner. “At my age, it’s truly an honor to be recognized for my hard work and achievements from a respected company like Dickies.”

Helping McGee win $1 million also was a special moment for Busch. He said to help a hard-working individual like McGee “hits true to home.”

“I’m a working man’s man, one that goes out there and gets his hands dirty, wears Dickies clothes when I’m out hunting, working on the cars,” Busch said. “To have their type of program, it’s really neat to see what they’ve done for a special someone like Michael.”

Season First For Four-Time Champion

TMS Media Relations — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:07:00 GMT

Four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon has been “streaky” at Texas Motor Speedway this year.

Gordon’s victory in April’s Samsung 500 snapped a 47-race winless streak and during his return visit for last week’s Dickies 500 he extended a streak. He captured the Dickies 500 pole Friday – his first since, you guessed it, last year’s Dickies 500 – to extend the record of 17 consecutive seasons with at least one pole.

Gordon also became the second driver to win consecutive poles in the same event at Texas Motor Speedway, joining Texas native Bobby Labonte (2003, ’04). The pole was the second of his career at Texas Motor Speedway and it placed him in a tie atop the list for most poles with Labonte, Ryan Newman (2005-S, ’05-F) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2001, ’08-S).

“It’s an honor to have 17 straight seasons,” Gordon said. “To finally get it, it doesn’t matter to me if it happens the first race or the last race really, other than it just takes a little bit of heat off you if you do it early. But the fact that we did get it and to do it here at Texas, a track where we have struggled at until recently, this is a great place to do it and we’re focused on ending this season the best we can.”

Post-Race Comments From Dickies 500 Winner Kurt Busch

TMS Media Relations — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:09:00 GMT

POST-RACE COMMENTS FROM DICKIES 500 WINNER KURT BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 2 MILLER LITE DODGE CHARGER:
"Unbelievable! I’m proud of our team and everybody pulling together hard. Racing my little brother head to head for the win is bitter sweet. I was rooting for him, but at the same time, we wanted to put our Miller Lite Dodge in victory lane. We raced hard. It was cat and mouse on those restarts. Then it came down to the crew chief, Pat (Tryson) putting in the right calls and getting us the fuel mileage to bring it home."

Q: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT TONIGHTS WIN?

KURT BUSCH: “A full team effort all the way around. From the pits stops to pit strategy to the guys back in the shop building a fast race car that I was a little apprehensive to bring to the race track. It shows what I know and what they know. Just keep me in the car and let them do the engineering. And in the end, this makes a real solid team. We were well rounded tonight with power, downforce, handling, and in the end, strategy is what played out for us to come out on top. A small bit of fuel mileage we had to play, but it wasn’t very much. For us, just one lap shy (of making it to the end). Our Dodge (R6) engine gave us the fuel mileage we needed to come out on top of everybody.”

ROGER PENSKE (Team Owner, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Winner
“I think it's a real credit to Kurt. Great job tonight. He had to pick up a lap on fuel. We told him early on, Pat, it's your call there to stay out. Kurt had a little vibration, but stayed out longer. It gave us not very good track position when we came out, you could see that. He had to race pretty hard to get back up there. But we were really picking up on the 18 and the 00. He took his time. At the end, I really wasn't concerned because the guy said we only needed one lap. I knew he could make at least one lap. You could see that.

“Pat, great job for you. Appreciate the commitment you made in these last races. I want to say that publicly. I know you're a first-class guy. What a great win for you and for the team.”

Q: WAS IT AN EASY DECISION TO STAY OUT CONSIDERING WHERE YOU ARE AT IN POINTS, OR IS IT ALWAYS A DIFFICULT DECISION WHEN YOU PLAY THE FUEL MILEAGE GAME?

KURT BUSCH: “For me sitting inside the car, when I came out with two stops to go, or one stop after we just initially stopped, Pat said, save fuel. I looked at the scoreboard; I saw 120 something (laps) to go, if I'm not mistaken. I did the math. Divide that by two, it's 60 something on a tank of gas. For us, it wasn't necessarily as big a risk as you might think. We could play it out the way we wanted to. We stayed out a little extra on the first run. That enabled us to stay out on the second run. I could feel it. I knew that's what Pat's direction was going to be. To risk fuel, I didn't think we were in that zone of risking.”

PAT TRYSON (CREW CHIEF, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) “This biggest thing is when you're doing that, worrying about a caution falling late because you're giving up track position. That's how Kyle got the lead from us the first time, by short stopping, making up half second a lap there for three or four laps, gets him by us. You know, the only concern was a caution falling before everybody had to pit.”

Q: WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING A COWBOY HAT?

ROGER PENSKE: “I don't know. Sorry about that. I got my Dodge hat on. I don't know where it is.”

KURT BUSCH: “He's got the more important one (Dodge hat) on. Any hat that he wears is more important.”

Q: HOW MUCH FUN WAS IT TO RACE HEAD-TO-HEAD AGAINST YOUR LITTLE BROTHER KYLE FOR HE WIN?

KURT BUSCH: “You know, it was quite a bit of fun. I felt it early on in the way that each of us would beat each other out of the pits, and then, we would play cat and mouse on the restarts. The way we would take off and separate ourselves from the pack. I knew it was the 18 and the 2.

To have him going for his sweep this weekend, I was rooting for him. But it's bittersweet because we took the sweet part, which is the victory in Cup. Sundays, you want to win on Sundays. I think it takes five wins, Nationwide and Truck, to equal one win in the big time show.

“But we raced him hard. It felt like old times, the way that we raced Legend cars with each other, coming up through the ranks of racing. To do it at the Cup level for a win, this one's definitely one of those fun days. Not to mention Michael McGee, from Dickies’ sponsorship, won a million dollars. I had an angel riding along with me. A million bucks for a fan and beat my brother on the sweep.”

Q: THE FUEL STRATEGY GAME STARTED BEFORE THE LAST STOP?

PAT TRYSON: “Yeah, it was pretty much made the stop before the last one. So, it was two stops. You know, you're sitting there figuring if it stays green, how far you can go. We had to stretch it a little bit that first run. I think we picked up just about everything we had in the cell.”

ROGER PENSKE: “You could see the 00 pitted four laps before we did. The 18 pitted. I think we ran two laps longer than they did. We knew if everything went to the end, with Kurt having to pick up one lap, we were in pretty good shape. We weigh the fuel after every stop so we know exactly what the fuel mileage is. I think he ran probably a little more of a fuel mileage run at the end, the last 10, 15 laps.”

Q: HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO SAVE FUEL AND NOT HAVE A HEAVY FOOT ON THE THROTTLE?

KURT BUSCH: It's definitely challenging in all aspects. You have to make sure when you're letting off the throttle that you do it a proper way or when you pick up the throttle you're doing it a proper way. Maybe there isn't the right way to do it, other than I worked with my dad racing cars at an entry level. We had to take care of our equipment. We had to race it for what it was worth, ginger it, make it to where it could be brought back next week. That's the mindset that you go into. I asked Pat, I said, 'Do I have to worry about the 18?' He said, ‘No.’ I don't even know that he exists on the race track is my thought process. I just have to be in front of the 00. Then I radioed in and said, he told me I was a lap ahead of him. We really didn't conserve fuel till the last 20 laps. Otherwise, we were hammer down, Get our car back the track position that we lost. That was the give-and-take. We lost a lot of track position by stretching it an extra two laps. We had to really hammer down, get those spots back on the track. We had to pass Mark Martin. We had to pass Matt Kenseth. We had to pass the 00. We were as far back as sixth place on the racet rack. We hammered down to get through these guys.”

Q: WITH WHAT HAPPENED TO JIMMIE TODAY, IT LOOKS LIKE HOMESTEAD IS NOW IN PLAY. DOES THAT SPEAK TO THE POWER OF THE CHASE WHERE ONE BAD RACE CAN DERAIL YOU OR DO YOU THINK THE POINT’S SYSTEM STILL NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT?

KURT BUSCH: “It's very competitive, no matter who is in the lead or who is behind trying to gather points. We hope it always goes to Homestead and there's five, six guys eligible, like the first year, 2004. Jimmie Johnson, they've won an incredible amount during this Chase.

A couple years ago, we thought the Chase format needed adjusting, so we gave more points to race wins. Now he's so far ahead, we're thinking we have to adjust it again. We can't keep doing that. They're that good. For them to stumble today puts everyone back in the picture, within a reasonable amount. For us, I'm kicking myself for what happened to us last week at Talladega. Running sixth place with a lap and a half to go, I put the car on the hauler at 30th. I didn't do my job last weekend. We find ourselves too far behind, but we're still within a reasonable distance.”

Q: JIMMIE TOOK A BIG HIT IN THE POINTS. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE NEXT TWO WEEKS WILL BE LIKE FOR HIM?

KURT BUSCH: “I don't want to give all of the mental approach on what Jimmie Johnson has to do because his game has now changed. They definitely have to look over their shoulder at who is around them, who is behind them, because the other guys feel like he's vulnerable now. Who knows. I mean, we race the races. That's why we do it. We don't do it off paper. We go challenge ourselves to be the best at Phoenix and challenge ourselves to be the best at Homestead in two weeks to try to see how we can move up in points. We don't wish any bad luck upon anybody else. I have a great car owner, great crew chief by my side, great engineering staff. We're doing what we can to put ourselves in position.”

Q: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RECENT PERFORMANCES?

KURT BUSCH: “You know, I didn't quite hear your full question. I'll go with a report card type status. If we can get 10 grades, we got an A-plus tonight. If we grade ourselves throughout the Chase, I would say we're a B-plus. We had some A-plus runs so far. We had a C at Martinsville where we finished 17th. But that so far is our worst finish, but we did finish 30th at Talladega. That kills you. Talladega, overall we came from two laps down and battled back. That's what you have to do as a Chase contender. But right now, I can't give ourselves A-pluses in all categories. Right now, the 48, they have A-pluses all the way till this weekend.”

Q: YOU PUT BRAD IN THE 12 CAR THIS WEEKEND. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE STRATEGY BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T NAMED A CREW CHIEF FOR THE 2 CAR FOR NEXT YEAR?

ROGER PENSKE: I think from a crew chief perspective, we're focused on Phoenix and Homestead. Pat is fully committed. We got some great guys internally. Right now, we're looking at internal candidates and external. For one thing, we're not going to announce what we're going to do until after the season, right, Pat? “

PAT TRYSON: “We're going to go finish it off.”

ROGER PENSKE: “I think we're going to finish it off. I think the guys have done a terrific job. This gives us some momentum for the last two races, and certainly some direction from a car, from an engine. And certainly the driver lineup we have, we think we're going to have a great shot to do even better next year.”

Q: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHY YOUR WIN IS BITTER SWEET?

KURT BUSCH: “It's fun having a sibling out there to race with and to challenge. For us to do it at this top level, there's just so many emotions that go with it. For him to be going for the sweep this weekend, winning the Truck and Nationwide race, for our car to be competitive, for him to be competitive, it's that thought that you have as a young teenager growing up in racing. I see my little brother, my dad is helping us out a lot. Maybe we'll make it to the top level one day and be able to race each other for a win. It wasn't quite the door to door, nose to tail, fender banging, 'green white checkered' like we would have hoped, but it came down to strategy and it came down to who could persevere with their team. Right now, with the way that we're situated, it's bitter sweet because, hey, Pat is leaving. We wish that we could stick together. We want to get the best we can out of these last few races. It's bitter sweet to beat Kyle. He was going for the sweep. We took it away from him. I don't think he could have picked a better driver to lose to tonight. So it's fun (smiling). It's really fun. We race each other to the bone, but we pat each other on the back at the end of the day.”

Q: A 73-POINT LEAD FOR JIMMIE IS STILL A BIG LEAD. ARE WE (MEDIA) CLAIMING THE POINT’S RACE IS TIGHTER THAN IT ACTUALLY IS?

KURT BUSCH: “We're not the guys 73 points out. That might be better served for Mark Martin, who is in that position. For us, we have nothing to hold back. We may as well go for broke and see if we can't bump up in points before the last couple races.”

Q: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DODGE R6 ENGINE AND HOW IT WILL HELP MOVING FORWARD FOR YOU GUYS?

ROGER PENSKE: “I think if you go back, you really got to go back to last year. Kurt agreed, we'd started running the R6 last year. We've really been running it all season. I think we had to get it to a level of power of the R5. You can see Kasey Kahne has had some good runs with the R5 even this year. I think each step has been a little bit, we saw it in the restrictor plate last week with Stremme. Kurt didn't have one because we were worried about reliability here. We had probably the best engine we've had all year. I think that, along with the new car, it gave us at least a piece he could drive. There's no question in his ability to drive it. We just need to give him a car that's competitive. The engine side looks good. We got a lot of work to do to make it better, to be competitive every weekend with the top teams. But I think overall, we're very happy with the Dodge commitment.”

Kurt Busch Wins At Texas; Johnson Wrecks Early

TMS Media Relations — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:43:00 GMT

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 8, 2009)

FORT WORTH, Texas—In recent weeks, Jimmie Johnson has worn out the already threadbare phrase, “Anything can happen in our sport.”

On Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, it finally did.

Capitalizing on superior fuel mileage, Kurt Busch drove his No. 2 Dodge to victory in the Dickies 500, after disaster struck Johnson like a lightning bolt and made a race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup after all.

Johnson suffered a Lap 3 wreck that sidelined his No. 48 Chevrolet for more than an hour as his team made extensive repairs. With a 38th-place finish, Johnson lost 111 points of his 184-point lead in the Chase to second-place Mark Martin, who finished fourth and trails Johnson by 73 points with two races left.

Busch won the race at the expense brother Kyle Busch, who ran out of fuel three laps short of completing an unprecedented weekend sweep of races in NASCAR’s top three divisions. Busch had won the Camping World Truck Series race on Friday and the Nationwide Series event on Saturday.

After pitting on Lap 269 of 334, Kyle Busch was leading and trying to conserve fuel when he ran out on the backstretch on Lap 331. “I’m out! I’m out—coming to you!” he radioed to crew chief Dave Rogers, who had replaced Steve Addington on the pit box after last Sunday’s race at Talladega.

That handed the lead to Kurt, who had pitted on Lap 271 and had saved enough fuel to make it to the finish line.

Denny Hamlin took advantage of the pervasive gas shortage to finish second, 25.686 seconds behind Busch, the largest margin of victory in a Cup race since the inception of electronic scoring in May 1993. Matt Kenseth ran third, followed by Martin, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart. Those were the only six drivers to finish on the lead lap, the fewest since six cars finished on the lead lap in June 2008 at Dover.

“I knew what we had for fuel mileage—I was confident in our guys’ numbers,” Kurt Busch said in victory lane. “They gave me what I needed to win today. We were fast, we were playing cat-and-mouse with Kyle on restarts—you know, it’s the first true time that Kyle and I have raced each other hard for a victory like this.

“For us to come away and knock him off his sweep—he was trying to go for it—it’s bittersweet. I was rooting for him, but at the same time, this is for us.”

Johnson’s heretofore flawless run to a record fourth straight championship hit a major snag after a tap from David Reutimann in Turn 2 started Sam Hornish Jr. sliding up the track into Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet.

Johnson fought for control before spinning back into Hornish’s No. 77 Dodge and slamming into the inside wall. Johnson was off the track for an hour and eight minutes while his crew worked frantically to repair the car, which suffered heavy damage to the front and rear.

The No. 48 Chevy returned the track on Lap 115 and gained five positions through the attrition of other cars.

Johnson stayed in the car through the entire repair process.

“Just sat in the car, was thinking through what went on, how I could have done something different,” he said. “(I was) on the outside lane, driving by a couple cars, and I didn't really even see the 77 get loose. I got clobbered from the side. Around I went.

“I thought about those things sitting in the pits. Watched the guys, hoped that they could get the car fixed and on track. I could see the televisions, was watching the race. Just kind of paid attention to where the 5 (Martin) and 24 (polesitter Jeff Gordon, who finished 13th and trails Johnson by 112 points) were on track.”

“I guess after enough time sitting there, I finally calmed down some and caught my breath and relaxed. But the first 20, 30 minutes of that were pretty painful.”

Notes: Kurt Busch gained two positions to fourth in the standings and trails Johnson by 171 points. … Brad Keselowski was the victim of a Lap 175 crash and finished 35th in his debut in the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge. … Juan Pablo Montoya, who triggered that wreck in Turn 2, came home 37th and dropped two positions to sixth in points. … Busch made a $1 million winner of Michael McGee, the race sponsor’s American Worker of the Year. McGee picked Busch to win in a random drawing on Saturday.

Fin	Str	Car	Driver	Team	Laps	Pts	Bns	Winnings	Status
1	3	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite Dodge	334	190	5	$440,575	Running
2	25	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Office Toyota	334	175	5	$368,900	Running
3	30	17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt Ford	334	165		$267,515	Running
4	7	5	Mark Martin	CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet	334	160		$207,800	Running
5	24	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet	334	155		$219,078	Running
6	4	14	Tony Stewart	Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet	334	150		$181,098	Running
7	10	33	Clint Bowyer	Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet	333	146		$153,225	Running
8	8	16	Greg Biffle	3M/Super 33 Tape Ford	333	142		$149,925	Running
9	42	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevrolet	333	138		$170,631	Running
10	16	44	A J Allmendinger	Ford Drive One Ford	333	134		$124,025	Running
11	5	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota	333	140	10	$172,748	Running
12	26	39	Ryan Newman	Haas Automation Chevrolet	333	127		$142,454	Running
13	1	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Chevrolet	333	129	5	$164,376	Running
14	27	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet	333	121		$143,640	Running
15	19	47	Marcos Ambrose	Little Debbie/Kingsford/Clorox Toyota	333	118		$125,098	Running
16	13	00	David Reutimann	Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota	333	115		$129,298	Running
17	17	6	David Ragan	UPS/Boys & Girls Clubs of America Ford	332	112		$114,575	Running
18	31	82	Scott Speed #	Red Bull Toyota	332	109		$119,148	Running
19	14	20	Joey Logano #	Home Depot Toyota	332	106		$149,076	Running
20	22	26	Jamie McMurray	Crown Royal Ford	332	103		$114,975	Running
21	36	07	Casey Mears	Choctaw Casino/Resort Chevrolet	332	100		$119,250	Running
22	33	19	Elliott Sadler	Stanley Tools Dodge	332	97		$112,300	Running
23	40	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	331	94		$112,950	Running
24	41	34	John Andretti	Taco Bell Chevrolet	331	91		$112,050	Running
25	9	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet	331	88		$118,900	Running
26	15	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota	331	85		$131,523	Running
27	29	7	Robby Gordon	MAPEI Toyota	331	82		$121,760	Running
28	21	02	David Gilliland	Farm Bureau Toyota	331	79		$99,800	Running
29	39	98	Paul Menard	Vertis/Menards Ford	331	76		$132,506	Running
30	38	96	Erik Darnell	Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford	331	73		$127,529	Running
31	28	71	Bobby Labonte	TRG Motorsports Chevrolet	331	70		$99,200	Running
32	32	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet	330	67		$98,975	Running
33	2	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser Dodge	330	64		$143,173	Running
34	43	21	Bill Elliott	Motorcraft Ford	311	61		$99,575	Transmission
35	35	12	Brad Keselowski	No. 12 Penske Dodge Dodge	262	58		$130,865	Running
36	18	43	Reed Sorenson	Valvoline Dodge	248	55		$135,501	Running
37	20	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Dream In Color Chevrolet	231	52		$132,523	Running
38	12	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's / KOBALT Tools Chevrolet	205	49		$151,901	Running
39	6	99	Carl Edwards	Aflac Ford	174	46		$146,406	Accident
40	11	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	AAA Dodge	88	43		$116,110	Accident
41	37	36	Michael McDowell	Wave Energy Drink Toyota	20	40		$97,125	Overheating
42	34	87	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO Motorsports Toyota	13	37		$96,925	Electrical
43	23	70	Mike Skinner	TRG Motorsports Chevrolet	6	34		$97,218	Brakes
# Denotes Rookie Average Speed: 147.137 MPH Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 24 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory: 25.686 Seconds Lead Changes: 13 among 4 drivers Cautions: 5 for 26 laps Attendance: 167,000

Win a Trip to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet

Eddie Gossage — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:53:00 GMT

Beginning Monday November 2 through Friday November 13, you can register for your chance to win a trip to the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet. Watch this video for details and click here to enter!

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Kyle Busch Wins O'Reilly Challenge; Will Chase History In Sunday's Dickies 500

TMS Media Relations — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:03:00 GMT

FORT WORTH, Texas (November 7, 2009) – Kyle Busch (No. 18 Z-Line Designs/WWE SmackDown vs. Raw Toyota) continued his march toward NASCAR history with a win in Saturday’s O’Reilly Challenge Nationwide Series race, leaving him one victory away from an unprecedented weekend sweep of all three NASCAR events at Texas Motor Speedway.

“We definitely had a great race car today and that is a testament to a great team. I’m really happy the way things went today,” Busch said. “…To come out of here three for three would be pretty special.”

The stage is set for Sunday’s Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, where a win will allow Busch to become the only driver in the sport’s history to sweep NASCAR’s three national series – Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series – in the same weekend.

Busch put himself in position for a unique piece of NASCAR history by opening the weekend with a victory in Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350k Camping World Truck Series race. Having won three consecutive Nationwide Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch was a heavy favorite Saturday to repeat and did not disappoint.

He put on a dominant display in the 200-lap O’Reilly Challenge as he led six times for 179 laps en route to a 3.154-second victory over runner-up Casey Mears, who subbed for Jeff Burton in the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet. The 179 laps led established a track record for the Nationwide Series as Busch eclipsed his own mark of 178 set in April’s O’Reilly 300.

Polesitter Matt Kenseth (No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford) led the first 10 laps before Busch wrestled the lead from him. Busch went on to lead 179 of the final 190 laps, and relinquished the lead for the most part during pit stop cycles.

The win was his fourth consecutive Nationwide Series win, tying him with Brendan Gaughan for most wins in a row in any major series to compete at Texas Motor Speedway. Gaughan won four in a row from 2002 and ’03 in the Camping World Truck Series. The four wins also tied Busch with Kevin Harvick for most career Nationwide Series wins at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch was followed by Mears, Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota), Kenseth and Brad Keselowski (No. 88 Degree Chevrolet), respectively. James Buescher (No. 1 Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet), a native of Plano, Texas, finished 11th.

Fans wanting a chance to catch a glimpse of possible history being made can still purchase tickets for the Dickies 500 by calling (817) 215-8500, visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com or stopping by the ticket office on race day.

Fin	Str	Car	Driver	Team	Laps	Pts	Bns	Winnings	Status
1	6	18	Kyle Busch	Z-Line Designs/WWE SmackDown vs Raw Toyota	200	195	10	$68,270	Running
2	14	29	Casey Mears	Holiday Inn Chevrolet	200	170		$52,875	Running
3	3	38	Jason Leffler	Great Clips Toyota	200	165		$49,543	Running
4	1	16	Matt Kenseth	CitiFinancial Ford	200	165	5	$35,525	Running
5	7	88	Brad Keselowski	Degree Chevrolet	200	160	5	$32,468	Running
6	5	33	Kevin Harvick	Jimmy John's Chevrolet	200	155	5	$24,500	Running
7	9	32	Brian Vickers	Dollar General Stores Toyota	200	146		$22,960	Running
8	2	6	David Ragan	Discount Tire Ford	200	142		$21,520	Running
9	8	60	Carl Edwards	Ortho Ford	200	138		$21,425	Running
10	10	11	Mike Bliss	Ridemakerz Toyota	200	134		$26,518	Running
11	28	1	James Buescher	Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet	200	130		$25,193	Running
12	16	27	Jason Keller	Scott Ford	200	127		$24,643	Running
13	11	99	Trevor Bayne	Aaron's Outdoors Toyota	200	124		$24,518	Running
14	24	40	Scott Wimmer	StopRepairBills.com Chevrolet	200	121		$23,693	Running
15	37	34	Tony Raines	Long John Silver's Chevrolet	200	118		$24,518	Running
16	18	62	Brendan Gaughan #	Loan Star Title Loans Chevrolet	200	115		$24,343	Running
17	29	28	Kenny Wallace	U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet	198	112		$23,218	Running
18	27	09	John Wes Townley #	Zaxby's Ford	197	109		$25,193	Running
19	33	24	Eric McClure	Hefty Steel Sak Ford	197	106		$22,968	Running
20	31	26	Kevin Conway	Extenze Chevrolet	196	103		$23,693	Running
21	23	66	Steve Wallace	5-hour Energy Chevrolet	179	100		$22,718	Accident
22	26	15	Michael Annett #	Germain.com Toyota	177	97		$22,593	Accident
23	42	81	Bobby Hillin Jr.	T-Rex Companies Dodge	167	94		$22,868	Running
24	21	20	Joey Logano	GameStop/WWE SmackDown vs Raw Toyota	152	91		$15,875	Accident
25	17	12	Justin Allgaier #	Verizon Wireless Dodge	144	88		$22,193	Running
26	40	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Mahindra Chevrolet	138	85		$22,218	Engine
27	34	58	Josh Wise	Cavi Clothing Chevrolet	134	82		$15,475	Electrical
28	19	01	Mike Wallace	Nutone/IQ Drive Chevrolet	119	79		$21,843	Accident
29	22	96	Michael McDowell #	my123backup.com Dodge	118	76		$15,300	Accident
30	4	10	Kasey Kahne	Great Clips Toyota	112	78	5	$15,550	Suspension
31	39	70	Shelby Howard	ForeTravel Motorcoach/WCF Chevrolet	109	70		$15,195	Ignition
32	36	89	Morgan Shepherd	Lagina Plumbing/Eldora Speedway Chevrolet	103	67		$21,603	Accident
33	20	0	Jeremy Clements	Saxon Group Chevrolet	103	64		$15,100	Accident
34	43	83	John Borneman III	Twisted X Boots Ford	50	61		$15,065	Ignition
35	15	07	Danny O'Quinn Jr.	Dynamic Technology Chevrolet	32	58		$21,478	Handling
36	38	87	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet	25	55		$21,443	Electrical
37	41	61	Kenny Hendrick	Specialty Racing Ford	15	52		$21,408	Rear End
38	32	05	Mark Day	31-W Insulation/CertainTeed Chevrolet	8	49		$21,353	Transmission
39	30	47	Chase Miller	ConstructionJobs.com Toyota	6	46		$21,313	Vibration
40	12	90	Johnny Chapman	MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet	4	43		$14,805	Overheating
41	13	91	Terry Cook #	MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet	4	40		$14,740	Vibration
42	35	92	Dennis Setzer	K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge	2	37		$14,700	Overheating
43	25	49	Mark Green	GetMoreVacations.com Chevrolet	2	34		$14,627	Handling
# Denotes Rookie Average Speed: 126.790 MPH Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 21 Mins, 58 Secs. Margin of Victory: 3.154 Seconds Lead Changes: 11 among 5 drivers Cautions: 7 for 34 laps Attendance: 76,000

Johnson Fastest In Final Dickies 500 Practice

TMS Media Relations — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:02:00 GMT

FORT WORTH, Texas (November 7, 2009) – Three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and current Chase points leader Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) was the fastest during Saturday’s final practice for the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson posted a lap of 186.670 miles per hour on his opening lap of the final practice for Sunday’s Dickies 500 to claim the fastest lap among the 41 drivers that ran during the session.

Defending Dickies 500 champion Carl Edwards (No. 99 Aflac Ford) was second fastest at 186.265 mph and Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota) was third at 185.810 mph.

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet), the polesitter for the Dickies 500, was 15th at 183.748.

Frontstretch tickets remain for the Dickies 500 and are available by calling (817) 215-8500 or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com.

Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Time	Speed
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's / KOBALT Tools Chevrolet	28.928	186.670
2	99	Carl Edwards	Aflac Ford	28.991	186.265
3	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Office Toyota	29.062	185.810
4	16	Greg Biffle	3M/Super 33 Tape Ford	29.110	185.503
5	21	Bill Elliott	Motorcraft Ford	29.206	184.894
6	6	David Ragan	UPS/Boys & Girls Clubs of America Ford	29.210	184.868
7	7	Robby Gordon	MAPEI Toyota	29.246	184.641
8	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet	29.261	184.546
9	00	David Reutimann	Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota	29.297	184.319
10	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet	29.305	184.269
11	44	A J Allmendinger	Ford Drive One Ford	29.311	184.231
12	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite Dodge	29.312	184.225
13	26	Jamie McMurray	Crown Royal Ford	29.350	183.986
14	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Dream In Color Chevrolet	29.363	183.905
15	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Chevrolet	29.388	183.748
16	39	Ryan Newman	Haas Automation Chevrolet	29.396	183.698
17	33	Clint Bowyer	Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet	29.406	183.636
18	43	Reed Sorenson	Valvoline Dodge	29.446	183.387
19	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet	29.457	183.318
20	14	Tony Stewart	Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet	29.502	183.038
21	71	Bobby Labonte	TRG Motorsports Chevrolet	29.521	182.921
22	12	Brad Keselowski	No. 12 Penske Dodge Dodge	29.558	182.692
23	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	AAA Dodge	29.570	182.618
24	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet	29.587	182.513
25	82	Scott Speed #	Red Bull Toyota	29.605	182.402
26	96	Erik Darnell	Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford	29.643	182.168
27	17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt Ford	29.663	182.045
28	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota	29.715	181.726
29	5	Mark Martin	CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet	29.742	181.561
30	07	Casey Mears	Choctaw Casino/Resort Chevrolet	29.748	181.525
31	87	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO Motorsports Toyota	29.788	181.281
32	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevrolet	29.790	181.269
33	02	David Gilliland	Farm Bureau Toyota	29.818	181.099
34	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota	29.827	181.044
35	47	Marcos Ambrose	Little Debbie/Kingsford/Clorox Toyota	29.857	180.862
36	19	Elliott Sadler	Stanley Tools Dodge	29.884	180.699
37	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser Dodge	29.949	180.307
38	98	Paul Menard	Vertis/Menards Ford	29.959	180.246
39	20	Joey Logano #	Home Depot Toyota	29.961	180.234
40	36	Michael McDowell	Wave Energy Drink Toyota	30.052	179.689
41	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	30.146	179.128
# Denotes Rookie

This Week's Chase Driver Interviews And Post-Race Press Conferences - Texas

TMS Media Relations — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:30:00 GMT

Here is this week’s schedule of interviews from the media center here at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas for the eighth race of the Chase. In addition to the Chase interviews, NASCAR also will feature media interviews from its other series. The times below are CENTRAL TIME.

THURSDAY: 9 p.m. (approximately) - NASCAR Camping World Truck Series post-qualifying.

FRIDAY: 10 a.m. - Marcos Ambrose (No. 47 Little Debbie/Kingsford/Clorox Toyota); 10:30 a.m. - Ryan Newman (No. 30 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet); 10:45 a.m. - Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Target Chevrolet); 11 a.m. - Mark Martin (No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet); 11:15 a.m. - Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet); 1:35 a.m. - Tony Stewart (No. Office Depot Chevrolet); 2:45 p.m. - Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge); 5 p.m. (approximately) - NASCAR Sprint Cup Series post-qualifying; 7 p.m. (approximately) - NASCAR Nationwide Series post-qualifying; 10 p.m. (approximately) - WinStar World Casino 350k NASCAR Camping World Truck Series post-race.

SATURDAY: 2 p.m. (approximately) - O'Reilly Challenge NASCAR Nationwide Series post-race.

SUNDAY: 5:30 p.m. (approximately) - Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series post-race.