With 12 of the 25-car field sidelined in four multi-car crashes that forced a green-white-checkered finish which extended the race seven laps beyond the scheduled 75, Stewart pushed his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet to its limits in a drag race that delivered the closest finish in the 34-year history of the Shootout. The three-time NSCS champion had to settle for the runner-up spot by a mere 0.013 seconds to the race winner, Kyle Busch.

Stewart’s teammate, Ryan Newman, finished seventh in the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet, with Juan Pablo Montoya crossing the line in 10^th position behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet.

For the first time in his 20^th year career of NSCS competition, four-time champion Jeff Gordon took a wild ride in his No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet.  Caught up in a multi-car accident on lap 74, Gordon’s car rolled three times before coming to rest on its roof. Gordon was easily extracted from the badly damaged race car and after examination in the infield care center, emerged uninjured from the accident. He was scored 15^th in the final finishing order.

Rounding out the top-five finishers were Marcos Ambrose (Ford), Brad Keselowski (Dodge) and Denny Hamlin (Toyota).

Next on track will be qualifying for the Daytona 500 beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 19, 2012.

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/OFFICE DEPOT CHEVROLET FINISHED 2^ND

KERRY THARP:  Let’s roll into tonight’s post-race of the Budweiser Shootout.  We’re joined at the podium by three time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart.

Tony, talk about the way the race unfolded and your thoughts about how things went out there tonight.

TONY STEWART:  We took the first 25 lap segment easy and tried to watch guys, more to pay attention to what they were doing than really what was going on with our car, just kind of watch the trial and error process and see what guys could get away with and what they couldn’t, then after the break go back after it.

We got kind of separated at the point that Kyle (Busch) got sideways.  An unbelievable save, just a great save.  We tried running that pack down.  They had that big wreck in front of us and that got us up to where we needed to be to make a charge at the end.

It was definitely a lot more fun and you felt a lot more eager to be engaged in the race this way than in the two car deal.  I actually had fun racing at Daytona again which I haven’t had for a while, so I’m really, really appreciative to the work that NASCAR has done in the off season and the test session and even after the test of the changes that they made to try to make it better for us out there.

I don’t know what the consensus is from everybody else, but I had more fun as a driver tonight than what we’ve had in the past.

KERRY THARP:  We’ll open it up for questions.

Q.  Tony, unless I’m remembering wrong, in years past, the pack racing at Daytona, you weren’t that big a fan about it.  Tonight you’re speaking glowingly of it.  What’s different?

TONY STEWART:  You’re kidding, right?  Do you remember what we did here six months ago?

This is a lot more fun than the two car stuff was.  I still like the open motor races better where we can literally control our own destiny, but this is by far a lot better than what we had with the two car stuff.

Q.  Better than the two by two but not better than before?

TONY STEWART:  C’mon, work with me, dude.  I’m just happier.

Q.  How much of the style of tonight’s race will be tempered a bit next Sunday?  You have 500 miles, more strategy.  Tonight there was a lot of aggression, shorter race.  How much are you going to sit down and formulate what you can and can’t do?

TONY STEWART:  Historically you’ve always seen this race be a scenario where everybody sees what they can get away with and they use it for a practice session.  You do try to see what you can, get away with what you can.  Everybody, no matter what their outcome was tonight, learned something they’re going to take into the qualifying races and we’ll take into Sunday.

You can always push harder in this race than the 500 because we always run this at night and it’s a lot cooler.  We’ll have most likely a lot warmer conditions a week from tomorrow.  That will eliminate some of the stuff that guys were really trying to push the envelope on.

Q.  Don’t get mad.  It was fun for you, but three cars out of the whole field are the only ones that didn’t sustain damage.  A lot of accidents.  Jeff Gordon ended up on his roof.  It was fun for us to watch when you were battling, but none of us want to see the carnage we saw out there tonight.  What are we expecting for the Daytona 500?  Are you going to temper it back a little bit?  These new rule changes, it’s fun, but how do you think next Sunday is going to be?

TONY STEWART:  Do you have any better ideas?  I think everybody’s always open.  NASCAR asked the teams and the drivers what we could do to make it better.

My point is this is better than having to sit there and stare at the back of a spoiler for 500 miles and not be able to see where you’re going half the race.  We had control of what lane we got to run in.  We got to move whenever we wanted.  You didn’t have to not move because you had a guy behind you that you had to rely on making your decision on what he had to do also.  We had more control as drivers today.

Look at the history of this race.  They always crash here.  Go to Talladega, they crash cars there.  It’s a yard sale every time we go to a restrictor plate track.  I don’t know what you guys want.  Everybody complained about the two car stuff.  Now we got this today, and it’s better.  We’re telling you it’s better.  You guys are like, Is it going to be that bad next week?

It’s not that bad.  It’s the Bud Shootout.  Everybody pushes the envelope.  Everybody tries to see what that limit is, what that boundary is.  When it comes to Sunday, you have to race 500 miles, you have to make it last till the end.  It’s not that they’re not conscious of the fact you have to make it to lap 75 tonight, but you have the flexibility of not worrying about points standings and not worrying about the 500 title, losing it if you make a mistake tonight.

The competition is so tight, you have to try things tonight.  If you don’t, somebody else is and they’re going to learn from it whether it’s right, wrong or indifferent.  You had to be aggressive tonight and you had to see what you can get away with.  You have to try things.  It’s a great opportunity for trial and error.

As you saw tonight, it worked out sometimes and it didn’t work out a lot of times.  The guys that crashed, it didn’t work out, there’s something they took away from it and said, That didn’t work out so well.  Just like last night when I crashed Kurt, that wasn’t even close to what I had in mind for practice, but that’s what happened.  It’s part of the trial and error process.  You have to go through that.

43 cars can win this race a week from tomorrow.  If you don’t push yourself into figuring out what you can or can’t do, I would rather do it with my Shootout car than I would with my 500 car.

Q.  I don’t know if either one of you saw the two times Kyle nearly got sideways.

TONY STEWART:  ‘Nearly got sideways’?

Q.  How many drivers in the field might have saw that and how amazed were you?

TONY STEWART:  I was right behind him when he had the deal in one and two.  He had to catch it three times before he saved it.  You get 3400 pounds moving like that, to catch it once was pretty big, to get away from it and catch it again was big, and the third time was big.  That’s three big moments in one corner and he never quit driving.  There’s a lot of guys that wouldn’t have caught that.

He did a fantastic job with that save.  I’m sitting there and the green is still out.  I’m like, Man, that’s the coolest save I’ve seen in a long time.  It was big and it hurt us all at the time, but that was a pretty big moment.  Pretty cool to see somebody that went through two big moments like that come out and win the race still.

Q.  Let’s forget about the comparative degrees of craziness, it’s pretty rare when you go to the last lap and two guys are there and there’s not several nearby to worry about.  Having seen that, this is a matter of a few feet.  Who has the edge there?  You said you had a little room and almost did it.  Is that a pretty even thing or would you rather have been behind?  Where would you rather be there?

TONY STEWART:  First, I was just happy that I was in the pairing at the end, to be up there.  But I think history shows that you want to be that second guy I think in all reality.  Especially here, it just seems like for some reason you can make that move here.  Talladega for some reason, it seems like you make the move, the start/finish line being further around the tri oval, almost seems like it’s too early when you make it.  It just seems like that second spot is kind of the one you want to be in.

I’m not ruling out that you can’t win it from being that lead car.  You got to plan ahead for it.  As soon as we came off of turn two, I was already thinking about it.  I knew how much of a gap we had, the third and fourth.  Had that flexibility to do that without us getting freight-trained.  You knew it was coming; it was just a matter of what to do to guard against it.  Guys are figuring out what to do to get by, now you have to figure out what to do to not let them get by you.

Q.  Tony, with what you saw for 78 laps, did you expect the end to come down to a two car tandem as it did?

TONY STEWART:  Yeah, I think so.  I think it’s realistic that that’s what you’ll have at the 500, that it will come down to that.  The good news is we’re not going to have to do it for the entire day, all 500 miles.  You’re not going to have to worry about, Man, if I don’t have a partner, you’re going to be in big trouble.  I would say it’s a pretty safe bet.  No guarantee it’s going to have to come down to that.  Especially if it’s a lot warmer conditions, I think it will be harder to do that.  But I think that’s a good possibility that that’s the way it will come down to it.  Maybe even the qualifying races, that’s what it will come down to.

Q.  Tony, the accidents tonight appeared to all have been caused by a guy in the back hitting a guy in the front.  Is there anything NASCAR can do with the shark fin of the spoiler to alleviate it or is it up to the drivers?

TONY STEWART:  I think it’s in the drivers’ hands.  Everybody, people that didn’t even run the Shootout tonight, will watch and saw better than we did behind the wheel how the scenarios played out in each one of those accidents.

I think that’s kind of to a certain degree what NASCAR had in mind when they came up with this package, was to put the decision in our hands.  You don’t want to make it obvious that we have that opportunity to do it.  We’re all thinking twice of do we want to put ourselves in that position so it makes that guy that has that opportunity to push to think twice about is that the right time and do I want to take that risk at this point of the race.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing.  I kind of like us having the decision of whether we want to put ourselves in that position or not.  I think everybody will look at that and determine at what stage of the race that’s going to be an important decision for them to make.

Q.  Tony, do drivers almost have to get acclimated to pack racing?  Kevin Harvick said there was too much of guys hitting in the left front.  Is there going to be an adjustment back to this style of racing because there was so little of it the last year?

TONY STEWART:  I don’t think so.  I think people, especially guys at this level, pick up on it pretty quick.  Like I said, even the drivers that didn’t run tonight will have learned a lot even though they didn’t get to be in the race.

I think the fact that we got practice on Wednesday, then the qualifying race on Thursday, that is a lot of practice to sort it out and figure it out.  I don’t think it will be that big of a drama for everybody to get used to it again.

It’s no different driving on the interstate and driving on city streets.  Two different styles of driving, but you’re still driving.  It’s not that big a deal.

Q.  Tony, this is so dramatically different to last year.  Is this a field like we had two, three years ago at Talladega or Daytona or is it still different because the packages are different?

TONY STEWART:  No, I think it’s very similar to what we had two, three years ago.  Probably three, four years ago in all reality because I think we already switched over.  But I think it is very, very similar to that.

You still sit there and you try to figure out, like being on the freeway in rush hour, which lane is moving and whether you want to switch over.  I was the best at switching over and that line stopping all of a sudden, switching over, seemed like that line stopped.  It’s still kind of back to figuring out, like a chess match, sitting there, who can hang on and not get blocked when they’re pushing a two car deal through there again.  It’s definitely a lot better deal.

KERRY THARP:  Tony, thank you so much.  Great show tonight.  Can’t wait for the rest of Speedweeks.

“It was a good lap,” said Newman, who has a best finish of second in 2002 to go along with two other top-10 finishes in nine previous Sprint Cup starts at Watkins Glen. “I had more speed in the car – I felt that afterward – but I was really proud of the effort. We spent some time in qualifying trim yesterday in first practice and I think that was a definite gain for us as far as just knowing what we had, speed-wise. I think a top-six qualifying effort here is our best, at least in my memory (equaling his 2009 qualifying effort of sixth for SHR). Our lap was not better than I expected. I gave up what I thought could’ve been a pole run, in hindsight. I had more in the car. But I’m happy getting the top-10 run that we did.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start seventh after turning a lap of 70.426 seconds at 125.238 mph.

“Yeah, I’m definitely happy with that,” said Stewart, who has five wins and seven top-five finishes in his 12 previous Sprint Cup starts at Watkins Glen, including a win from the pole position in 2005. “It was a good run for us, for sure. We struggled this weekend so, hopefully, this is a sign that we’re getting things turned around. I’m proud of (crew chief) Darian Grubb and all the guys on this Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy. They really worked hard yesterday. We threw a lot of things at this car. We just can’t seem to find the balance of what it’s wanting. But it was much better in qualifying here so, hopefully, we’ll be good tomorrow. It was a pretty uneventful lap, otherwise. I just made sure I didn’t over-drive any of the corners. We’ve been watching qualifying today and watching guys who are forcing themselves into mistakes. So I just tried to not make that mistake and to have just a nice, clean, solid lap.”

Kyle Busch eclipsed the track qualifying record in capturing his first pole of the season, his first in seven Sprint Cup starts at Watkins Glen, and his eighth in 244 career Sprint Cup starts with a record-setting lap of 69.767 seconds at 126.421 mph. Jeff Gordon set the previous qualifying record in August 2003 with a lap of 70.798 seconds at 124.580 mph.

A.J. Allmendinger will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 69.977 seconds at 126.041 mph. Marcos Ambrose was third (70.009 seconds at 125.984 mph), while Jimmie Johnson (70.188 seconds at 125.663 mph) and Juan Pablo Montoya (70.193 seconds at 125.654 mph) rounded out the top-five.

Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Dave Blaney, Brian Simo and P.J. Jones.

As far as manufacturers went, Toyota claimed the top spot thanks to Busch’s pole-winning mark. Ford took the next two spots courtesy of Allmendinger and Ambrose, while Johnson was the fastest Chevrolet. Last week’s race-winner Brad Keselowski, who qualified 12th (70.612 seconds at 124.908 mph), carried the flag for Dodge.

The Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

Kyle Busch, HBO Pay-Per-View Sports GM and VP Tammy Ross and Tony Stewart - Credit: Ron McQueeney

Moderator: On behalf of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I want to thank them for allowing us to hold this event and hosting us.

Thank you very much for being here, and first off I would like to introduce our panel: Tony Stewart, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, as well as the owner of Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. In the middle, Tammy Ross, the general manager and vice president of HBO Pay-Per-View Sports; and Kyle Busch, Gillette Young Guns and most recent winner on the NASCAR Nationwide Series down at Texas.

And, of course, the reason why we are here is to give you the details of the 2010 Prelude to the Dream. There’s a lot that’s the same and a lot that’s different.

So first off, Tony Stewart, tell us a little bit about what’s going on with this year’s Prelude to the Dream, not only with our title sponsor but with a slight tweak to the format.

Tony Stewart: Honored to have Gillette come back and be part of this for the second year in a row. They were great to work with last year and have really helped take this event to the next level, and I appreciate their support, as well as everyone from HBO.

We have thrown a little bit of a twist in this year. We are trying like everybody else to try to find ways to make it even that much more exciting, and we think we came up with a really neat idea this year. We have got four children’s charities: We have Riley’s Hospital for Children, Cincinnati Children, Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte and St. Jude’s Research Center in Memphis, Tennessee, that are the four beneficiaries of the Prelude this year.

The cool part is what we have done is we have taken the field and basically divided them up into four different teams, so we’ll still have a race winner just like we always have. But at the same time, there’s a race within a race, and the four team captains are all Gillette Young Guns. It’s pretty cool. That way everybody’s spot, the top-five finishers on each team, their points will count, and you’ll have a race winner and you’ll also have a team winner. And the team that wins gets 45 percent of the proceeds, the second-place team gets 25 percent, and the third and fourth place teams get 15 percent.

So it’s added a little, a little added incentive. Even if you’re racing for eighth or ninth, that spot can be the difference between your team and your respective charity getting a little more money going their direction. Pretty proud of it. Very, very proud of all the drivers and guys like Kyle that donate their time to come up and support what we are doing there, and it’s a great cause.

It’s a real cheap ticket to be able to buy and sit and have a good time watching your favorite Cup drivers. They are a little bit out of their element and doing something for charity and doing something … These guys, every year, we get the spots filled quicker and quicker because these guys are so great and support each other as far as the charity side goes. So really honored to have Gillette back with us and HBO and guys like Kyle come back.

Moderator: This year’s Prelude is the sixth annual event. It is the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream. Each team is captained by a Gillette Young Gun, and Kyle Busch, as a Gillette Young Gun, is captain of Team Levine. And Kyle, tell us about being a Gillette Young Gun, but late-model racing is something you’ve really adapted to and seem to enjoy.

Kyle Busch: It’s fun for me. I love being able to go to this event every year and putting up a great show for the fans in Eldora and have a great race on the dirt. And like Tony said, it’s out of our element; it’s something we are not really accustomed to at all.

For me, my first-ever start on a dirt track and a late model, I was in the Prelude to the Dream a couple years ago. I ran second to Carl Edwards, and last year we finished second again to Stewart. So I’m hoping he either has to start in the port-a-john or at the back of the field, something that would at least entice him to get up toward the front.

But, you know, it’s been a great event. And Tony has done a very nice job, and doing the charity work that he’s done with his foundation. I remember I think was the first year, and then just a couple of years ago, it was for the Army and now this year going with the children’s hospital and with the incentive, the four teams and myself being a Gillette Young Gun and having the Gillette ProGlide as the title sponsor to the event, I know what it means to them and how big the event can be and will be, for sure.

Moderator: Tammy Ross, HBO Pay-Per-View is back to televise the Gillette ProGlide Prelude to the Dream. Tell us a little bit about this event and also what it means to HBO Pay-Per-View sports.

Tammy ross: This is my second favorite day every year. The first, day of the actual race, because it’s tremendous.

HBO has been involved for four years. It’s our fourth annual event, and every year we make it bigger and bigger. This year we are putting some interesting marketing angles, bringing the fans into voting which team they are picking. On the PreludetotheDream.org website, you’ll be able to do that soon and hopefully be able to make some online charity donations to these wonderful charities.

I’m flattered to be sitting in the middle of these two drivers. I’m actually a little humbled, but the real reason we are here is this gentleman, Tony Stewart, is the reason why we are all looking forward to coming together. His heart and generosity is the reason why we are here, and to bring in the children’s hospitals this year is really tremendous, something that everyone believes in. And in tough times, in so many catastrophes in the this world, to bring it back home to kids is so important to all of us. We welcome all of the charities.

And certainly the time that Kyle and all of the other drivers give to this event is tremendous. It’s our favorite event every year, and we look forward to it.

Obviously the dates, June 9, Wednesday, 7 p.m. live on Pay-Per-View, we will do an immediate replay for those that have different work schedules. We will have a very long time block that night, so no excuses for people not getting it.

Also this year as a special treat: It is the fourth year; we do have Preludes One, Two and Three we will make available On Demand on cable and satellite and in the three weeks leading up to it. So check your On Demand schedule so fans can go on and watch and get their appetite whet for racing night.

Again thanks to everyone. We will be in 72 million homes, maybe 73 this year. Everybody can get it, and we are looking forward to a great night, so thank you.

Moderator: Just a reminder, the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Gillette Prelude to the Dream June 9 at Eldora, obviously these two guys and a lot of the other guys who will be participating in the Prelude to be back here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the July 24 Brickyard 400. So a great time for you to come get some quotes for not only the Prelude but for July 24 at Eldora.

Q: What Mike just said, time is probably the one thing you don’t have enough of for all of the hours in the day and the obligations; why do you keep giving up your time when obviously there are other things you could be doing to help out those people and kids that are less fortunate, especially?

Tony Stewart: It’s an easy decision for us. You know, first, we always are looking for an excuse to go race somewhere, anyway. This is coming from a guy that races three days a week, anyway.

You know, none of us got to this level on our own. I mean, somewhere along the line, somebody helped, whether it was somebody helping with gas money to get to a race or somebody letting you sleep on a couch when you couldn’t afford a hotel room or whatever. It’s nice. I know that whenever I got to the Cup level, it was nice to finally be in a situation where I could kind of give back and not forget what was given to me along the way.

So it’s nice to be in a situation where we can do something positive, and it’s a positive thing all the way around. Obviously, the charities that benefit from it are the reason we do it. We as drivers get to go out and have fun and not have to worry about points and all the other dramas that we worry about every weekend and the fans get to see us do something different, which is an added bonus that I think the fans really enjoy is seeing us do something a little different.

So you know, I think it’s something that we did that the response was so positive, it made sense all the way around no matter what angle you looked at it from.

Kyle Busch: Great job. Stewart hit it all. To reiterate for a second, the biggest part about it is it’s fun for us, the drivers. Tony has done a great job of that of making it fun and not making it a chore to do this event. We want to go out and put on a great show for the fans who want to come out and see us out of our element doing what we love to do most, which is racing, getting behind the wheel, something different, and just having the opportunity to go out there and have some fun on some dirt.

So for me, you know, to give some time to Tony and do this event is nothing new for me. We have the Kyle Busch Foundation, as well, which we help out young children, as well, too, that are in what we call residential homes or living situations that are not of their own doing.

So it is very unfortunate for them, and I work a lot doing some stuff and visiting some homes all around the country. We have eight homes that we work with, and so to see those kids and to help them out and kind of lighten their spirits a little bit is all fun and great to see them smile and have a good day.

So to now do this as far as children’s hospitals and everything, it’s exciting for me to bring it back to the kids again, because that’s where I hit home.

Q: Kyle, you talked about having fun, but the way you are, last night, you won last night, the first race. Are you out there to win, too? And same with Tony.

Kyle Busch: I’m just out there to beat Tony Stewart. (Laughter) My first year, goal was accomplished, and last year I missed out a little bit.

Yeah, we want to win. I think it’s just kind of a little extra incentive for bragging rights. Something neat to go to the next race, which is going to be Michigan this year, and push your chest out and be like, ‘Yeah, I beat you guys on the dirt.’ So, you know, it’s always fun to have that angle when you get back to the circle-track stuff with NASCAR.

Tony Stewart: Yeah, there’s no doubt, it’s almost become a bounty on me, I think, to a certain degree there.

Yeah, there’s no way you go there and not want to win. I mean, for me, obviously, it’s a special track that I was very intimidated by the first time I went there, and now years later, I run the facility. It’s pretty cool that there’s nobody there that just shows up to ride around, I promise you. There’s guys that go practice and test and take days off to go get ready to run the Prelude, which is pretty cool. And everybody takes it pretty serious.

Moderator: It’s a beautiful day outside. The one added element of this is the winner of the Indianapolis 500 will receive an invite to the Prelude to the Dream, and we certainly hope that person takes it up, whether it be a he or a she; they will be racing at the Prelude. Thank you, everyone.

HOW HAS THE FIRST HALF OF THIS SEASON GONE FOR YOUR TEAM?
“I’ve been excited, obviously. This was a big weekend for us a year ago. I don’t think any of us would have predicted that a year from then and today that we would be here leading the point standings and have three wins this season. Very excited about it. It’s been a long road — it’s been a long year, but one that’s been very gratifying and a lot of fun at the same time with a lot of work. Been very, very happy with that. I know before we even get started that everybody is going to ask about Kyle (Busch) and yes, I have talked to Kyle (Busch) this week and had a very good conversation. We talked for about 30 minutes on the phone and I was very pleased with the conversation that we had. That’s all I’ve got on the Kyle Busch topic and Daytona last week was fun, but we’re on the Chicago this week.”

DO YOU WANT TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT KYLE BUSCH SAID EARLIER TODAY?
“I’ve already seen the transcripts from it. Like I said a second ago, I talked to Kyle (Busch) on I guess it was Tuesday when I spoke to Kyle (Busch) and had a good conversation with him. That’s the conversation I’m going off of. That’s all I’m going to talk about Kyle (Busch).”

WITH OTHER DRIVERS DEFENDING YOU FROM DAYTONA, DO YOU STILL FEEL THE SAME WAY?
“We sat in a media center for 40 minutes last week and talked about it. It’s the same deal as it was last week after the race was over.”

IS THERE ONE THING THIS YEAR THAT HAS GIVEN YOU THE SUCCESS OR MANY THINGS?
“I think it’s a collection, in all honesty. There’s so many factors and so many variables that are part of the equation to make a team either good or bad. I just think we’ve had really good chemistry with the people that we have in place, with Bobby Hutchens and Darian Grubb, Ryan Newman and Tony Gibson and our entire staff at Stewart-Haas. I think everybody has come in with a fresh attitude and a very open mind. That’s something that a lot of times when you take people from different organizations they come in with a mindset that this is hoe things have to be done and that’s one thing that everybody was really good about coming into this season was having an open mind about everything and not saying this is how it has to be done. We all sit and talk about things and we spend a lot of time on Mondays in our competition meetings. The good thing is that everybody will bring ideas that they know, but they know that we’re very open about everything as far as open to different ideas and then we all decipher what we think is the best way to go about things. I think that’s what has really made us successful this year is the group that we have.”

IS THIS CONSIDERED A ‘STAGGERING ACCOMPLISHMENT’ TO HAVE BOTH CARS IN ‘CHASE’ CONTENTION AND WILL IT BE A DISAPPOINTMENT IF YOU DON’T CONTEND FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I think if you still go back to the beginning of the season and just saying that if we got both of these cars in the ‘Chase’ it was going to be a huge accomplishment for a first-year organization. There’s cars, if you look at the way the ‘Chase’ is and you look at guys that have one bad race and it takes them out of the chance to win the championship at the end of the year, but they still make the ‘Chase,’ it’s hard to consider that an unsuccessful year because you have one race that takes you out of a chance to win a championship. I think what we’re grading it off of is our consistency each week and if we’re still consistent at the end of the year and still just not good enough then we’re still going to consider it a good year. We’ll just work harder to see if we can make it better for next year. I think we’ll have to see what those last 10 races are and see what the scenarios are that go with it to really, accurately evaluate where we’re at and whether we’re successful or not.”

DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE A LEGITIMATE SHOT AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR?
“I don’t know why at this point leading the point standings we wouldn’t feel like we would. I don’t think there’s any other team, if they were leading the points wouldn’t feel like they have a shot at it at this point. I feel like we have just as good of a shot as anybody else that’s out there right now. I’m really proud of our organization. I’m proud of our relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and how we have worked with them this year. It’s been a much smoother transition than I thought it would be and really proud of the way everybody is working together. I do feel like we’ve got a shot.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU DO DIFFERENTLY TO PREPARE FOR THE ‘CHASE’ AND WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I don’t think so. I think every week we’re going out there and trying to win races every week. I think that preparation, if it’s different for the ‘Chase’ then we should have been doing it before anyway. I’m sure the guys will spend, if they have the time available, they’ll spend the extra little time to just make sure for that last 10 week stretch that they take a couple extra minutes on every little detail and make sure that nothing gets overlooked. They’re really good about doing that anyway so I really don’t see there being a whole lot of difference.”

WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND A YEAR AGO AND WHAT HAS BEEN THE DIFFICULT THINGS AND WHAT HASN’T?
“A year ago I was about half scared to death. Obviously I had made a decision at this point that was definitely a life changing decision and a career path decision for sure. It was hard to anticipate what exactly the reality of the changes were going to be and what the rules were going to be. We thought we had an idea of what it was going to be like and it hasn’t disappointed us, but it’s been smoother than I thought it was going to be. At that time we didn’t have a competition director, we hadn’t hired a crew chief — we had a lot of variables that were unknown at that point. Once we got these key people in place, it’s made my job a lot easier and been a lot smoother than I thought it would be at this point. Like I said, we’ve exceeded our expectations to this point. Not that we really set goals and said this is where we want to be at any stage of it, but I think this is much higher than we possibly could have expected it to be at this point in the season.”

DO YOU RECALL WHEN YOU MADE THE TRIP TO GOODYEAR EARLIER THIS YEAR AND I’M SURE NOT TOO MANY OTHER DRIVERS HAVE MADE THAT TRIP?
“Actually a lot of them have and in the history of this sport there has been a lot of times when drivers and team owners and crew chiefs have been up to Goodyear. It was shortly after Daytona was when we made that trip because I remember it was about 17 degrees that day so it had to be in February or March. It’s good to go up there. A lot of times you don’t realize what all goes into what they do and then when you go up there and get a chance to see it, it gives you a better understanding and a better picture or fuller picture of what goes into making a tire. I felt like that was a good, positive trip for us.”

IS THERE ONE THING OVER THE LAST YEAR THAT HAS BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING AND IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENT?
“It’s hard to sit here leading the points and say that you would do anything different. It’s all been hard, but it’s all been fun at the same time. I don’t know that I would have changed anything. It was fun going through the process because it was like I said about starting my open-wheel teams and opening my race tracks and hiring people for that, it’s just 10 times bigger than that. There’s more people, there’s more positions that needed filled and obviously the challenges along with going — you had meetings with people at midnight at the shop when you knew nobody else was going to be there so the rumors didn’t get started and stuff leaking out that you were even talking to people. That’s just little things that I never had to do with my open-wheel teams and with the race tracks, but at this level you have to do to ensure that you are keeping the security of what’s going on in place. I don’t know, like I say, it’s been such a smooth transition that there hasn’t been that one hang up or hiccup that’s happened that has put us in a tail spin.”

DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE AN ADVANTAGE AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY AS A REPEAT WINNER AT THIS RACE TRACK?
“I think every time we come here, we only come to this race track once a year so there’s so much in the technology and aerodynamics that change from year to year that it’s hard to get a comfort level. You know that you’ve been fast in the past and that’s the only comfort you have is that what you did in the past was good. It’s no guarantee and no security that what you’re going to do this time or what we’re going to do in a half hour is going to work the same way or work at all.”

DOES KYLE BUSCH STATING THAT HE THINKS YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN BLACK-FLAGGED CHANGE YOUR OPINION ABOUT YOUR CONVERSATION WITH HIM?
“No, not at all. I talked to him and the conversation that I had with him was a good conversation.”

DID HE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT YOU GETTING BLACK-FLAGGED IN THE CONVERSATION?
“No. I’m not biting on your lure and you haven’t been around here as long as most of these guys and they know I’m not biting on it so I am damn sure not going to bite on yours. Sorry.”

HAS THE CHICAGO AREA BECOME MORE SPECIAL TO YOU RECENTLY?
“There’s a lot of places on the schedule that are special to us. This is a time of the year that we really enjoy. We like racing here and we’re excited about racing at night again this year and then we get a weekend off to prepare for Indy and that’s obviously a huge weekend for us. These three weeks in particular are a three-week stretch that I really look forward to. We don’t get very many breaks anyway so the race leading up to a break, you enjoy and the one after one we enjoy too. We’ve got a lot of great fans in this area. We run a lot of sprint car and midget races in this area and we’ve got friends from the RC (radio-controlled) car industry that I own that are from this area and Joliet in particular. And a lot of friends and family in this area so it’s a big weekend for us.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CAR OF TOMORROW AND THE WAY DRIVERS ARE ADJUSTING TO IT AT DAYTONA AND TALLADEGA?
“I think just as time goes on drivers get smarter and Dale Earnhardt was the best at it of learning the side draft. As time has gone on, more drivers have figured that out and got better at it and now it’s just an everyday part of what we do at superspeedway races. It was kind of funny because the topic came up earlier this week with a friend of mine and they reminded me that the first TV race between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison crashing on the backstretch was very similar. David Pearson and Richard Petty off of turn four. This isn’t something that’s new to this sport, it’s more frequent because guys are getting better at the aspect of it and instead of having two cars up in a pack, now there’s 32 cars in the pack. That’s really the only variable that’s changed. It’s not the car, it’s not restrictor plates — this has been a topic forever and it’s just part of it. Obviously nobody wants what happened on the last lap to happen. It doesn’t matter who it is, it doesn’t matter if you’re on the giving end, receiving end — if you profit from it or lose from it. Nobody wants that to happen, nobody wants to be in that situation because we all respect each other as drivers too much. Like I said, it was happening long before we all got here and it will be here long after we’re gone.”
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ON THE HALL OF FAME LIST, IS THERE A LEGEND THAT STANDS OUT FOR YOU?
“The race here at Daytona had Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough. That was one of my first memories of NASCAR and one of the most memorable. I was racing go-karts at the time and you felt bad because you knew how hard it was to get there at the end of the race and to see it come down to the last lap like that and neither one of them made it to the end. That’s definitely something that sticks out in my mind for sure.”

IF YOU HAD A PREFERENCE FOR THE FIRST OR SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON? IF SO, HAS THAT CHANGED NOW THAT YOUR ROLE HAS CHANGED?
“No, because we’re going to all of them anyway. It doesn’t change that fact. Historically, we’ve always been better the last half of the season; and the second, third and last third of the season in particular. This is the best start we’ve ever had to a season in the Cup Series. I don’t know what’s different about it. I don’t know what’s changed. I just know that I’m happy with the performance up to this point and we just hope that what we’ve done up to this point, we can have that last ten-week stretch and have a shot at winning the championship.”

WHEN YOU BUILT YOUR TEAM, WERE THERE SPECIFIC TALENTS YOU WERE LOOKING FOR IN THE PEOPLE THAT YOU PUT IN KEY POSITIONS? IF YOU HAD TO DO PERFORMANCE REVIEWS, WHERE COULD THESE PEOPLE GET BETTER?
“You always think you can do better. I can do better behind the steering wheel. There are always things and variables that you think you can make better and that’s what you strive for every week. I’ve been happy with our performance. I’m not sure exactly what I was looking for. Obviously you look at their credentials on paper and you say this is somebody that I want to meet with. But I think it’s more that you just have to sit with them and see how your personalities match and just listen to them talk. You listen to their ideas and thoughts and their passion. If you see their talent on paper is what you want, then at the same time see their passion when you meet with them and talk with them, and you get along with them well, then it seems like a good fit. It’s kind of a two-phased deal. It has to make sense on paper first before you meet them and once you meet them, you hope their personalities are a right fit for the organization too.”

CAN YOU COMPARE WHAT YOU ARE ACCOMPLISHING NOW AS AN OWNER/DRIVER TO WHAT ALAN KULWICKI DID IN 1972 WHEN HE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I think it’s an unfair comparison. He had to work a lot harder than we did because he had his own engine program. He had to do his own chassis. That’s something we have had the advantage of having this year with our alliance with Hendrick Motorsports and knowing that we don’t have to worry about the engine package each week. We don’t have to worry about the chassis and how they are evolving. We have that luxury that Alan didn’t have. I think still, to this day, that’s one of the most remarkable accomplishments I’ve ever seen in this sport after having been in it for a while.”

AS A WINNER IN BOTH INDYCAR AND NASCAR, IF DANICA PATRICK CAME TO YOU AND ASKED YOUR ADVICE ABOUT JOINING NASCAR, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL HER?
“Nobody knows whether she can do it until she gets out and tries. I don’t think she’s ever been in anything but an open-wheel type car or Formula 1 type car. I don’t know that she’s ever driven a heavy race car. The only way to find out is to get in it and do it. If it’s something she wants to do, she has to make the commitment to do it. This is not a sport and a series, and especially with the three touring series, you aren’t just going to show up once in a while and be good. That’s what happened with me in ’96 and ’97. In ’98 when I ran 22 Busch races, I started getting it. But I was in the car just about every week to start learning that feel. And it was hard to bounce back and forth and be good in both.

“Obviously she’s gotten where she is because she has a ton of talent. You don’t back into winning races and getting to the upper levels of racing by not having talent. Nobody knows for sure what level of talent she’s got as far as a stock car until she actually just gets in one. If she’s serious about it, I don’t know if she needs to get in a Late Model first and run some laps and then try to get back to a radial-tired car. Only time will tell. If she’s really serious, it’s kind of a crossroad for her. I know it’s been a topic of discussion but if it’s something she really wants to do, she has to be committed to it. It’s not something that you can kind of sneak up on. You’ve either got to do it or not do it.”

BEING AN OWNER/DRIVER AND PUTTING DOWN THE MONEY IN THIS ECONOMY, WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS AS YOU WENT THROUGH THAT PROCESS?
“Well, I didn’t start from scratch. I got to join an organization that was already established. They already had the race shop and equipment and it was about just coming in and having to really just fine-tune the people that they there. It is scary because you know that it takes a lot of finances to fund these teams, but at the same time I was with a co-owner that was financially stable to start with. That took a lot of that fear away initially.”

DUE TO THE TOUGH ECONOMY, DO YOU HAVE A GREATER APPRECIATION FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE COMING TO THE RACES NOW THAN YOU MIGHT HAVE WHEN TIMES WERE JUST ROLLING?
“Well, something you probably didn’t know is that I used to have to sleep in my car. People used to invite me to stay on their couch when I was running open-wheel cars and Sprint Cars and Midgets. I didn’t come from a wealthy family. I’ve always know the value of a dollar. I’ve always known the value of people lending a hand-out. So it’s not something that once you got to this level that you suddenly forgot about the value of it and what it’s meant to everybody. The economy has affected everybody. It’s affected us as team owners and as drivers and as a sanctioning body. But whether it’s a packed house here this weekend or not, there are still millions and millions of people that are watching this weekend, whether they’re here live, or watching from the comfort of their homes and watching it on TV. So, just because there’s an empty seat doesn’t mean that the sport is failing or that there is a big drama. Everybody knows what the state of the economy is and it’s affected everybody and people are having to be smart about how they spend their money. So, the people that it’s the hardest on are the promoters that promote these big races. But I’ve got Sprint Car teams and World of Outlaw teams and I’m a race track owner. I see it every week. It’s not something you just see at this level, you see it across the board.”

HOW WILL THE NEW DOUBLE-FILE RE-START RULE AFFECT THE RACING THIS WEEKEND AT DAYTONA?
“I don’t think it will, honestly. As quick as people get shuffled forward and backward here anyway, I don’t think it matters. I think last weekend was more critical on which line you were in. But I don’t think for Daytona, I don’t know that anybody is going to sit there and say well, I’m going to ride third here because I want to restart on the inside. I mean you know don’t know if you’re going to get a caution. You don’t know when it’s going to come out. Nobody’s going to plan their strategy around a caution and where they’re going to re-start with it.

“You’re not going to decide. You’re just going to try to get to the front and stay at the front. If you can do that, you’re a much better racer than I am because I can’t think that far ahead. Nobody is going to be able to plan and put themselves in those kinds of situations. You’re just going to have to take it as it comes. It’s no different than if four guys pass you on one lap, that’s where you’re at when you restart. So, nobody’s going to try to plan that and say well, I’m just going to ride third so if we have a caution and have a restart then we can do something.

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A RACE IN THE HEAT LIKE WE’LL HAVE THIS WEEKEND?
“Oh, I just stay in the air conditioning as long as I can, honestly. Every time you go out, it’s a thousand percent humidity here and 80 or 90 degrees, so it’s hot. It’s hot for everybody. The best way to stay hydrated is to stay cool to where you’re not sweating the fluids out and just keep pounding away at it all week. We’ve been drinking water and trying to stay hydrated since Monday. That’s about the only way you can combat it right now.”

AS SOMEBODY WHO HAS DONE THE DOUBLE ON MEMORIAL DAY. IF THE NATIONWIDE RACE IS RAINED OUT TOMORROW, THEY WILL DO A TRIPLE-HEADER ON SATURDAY. KYLE BUSCH IS SUPPOSED TO RUN IN ALL THREE RACES. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?
“It will make for a long day for him, for sure, if that happens. The good thing is he’s young and he’s pretty fit. If you had a guys that you’d have to put in that situation, that’s they guy you’d want to have in it for sure. He’s been doing it all year. It’s not like this will be the first weekend that he’s tried to have a heavy schedule for the weekend. I don’t think it’ll be easy for him by any means, but at the same time I think he’s a guy that can handle it if that situation comes.”
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On Thursday, July 9th at 9PM, 10PM & 1AM ET, CNBC presents “Inside Track: Refueling the Business of NASCAR,” reported by Darren Rovell. CNBC takes viewers inside the world of NASCAR, once the fastest growing sport in America, NASCAR is now threatened by an imploding car business and loss of the corporate dollars that are its very lifeblood.

Unlike any other sport, everything in NASCAR is controlled by one family…the France family. They have maintained an iron grip on a sport where television ratings, corporate sponsorship and the number of fans have seemingly defied gravity. But, after a race to the top, attendance and television ratings are starting to decline and the car manufacturing business, for decades the foundation of the sport, is crumbling. Rovell goes one-on-one with NASCAR chairman & CEO Brian France to discuss how he plans to weather the storm.

Win on Sunday, buy on Monday…once rang true of NASCAR fans, but the Wall Street crisis has changed everything and the companies that pay top dollar to have their logo emblazoned on the hood of cars are carefully watching their investment. Is NASCAR sponsorship paying off? Is the sport still a good fit for corporate America? Rovell speaks with the key people behind the iconic American brands that have stuck with this sport that was born more than five decades ago.

The program also takes viewers inside the garage of driver-turned-owner, Tony Stewart. When Stewart, the fiery, two-time Sprint Cup champion, isn’t racing, he’s Tony Stewart-the businessman-and he is just as competitive off the track. For years, Stewart has owned racetracks, open wheel teams and a remote control car outfit-owning 13 businesses in total. Rovell interviews Stewart about his successful rookie season as a driver-owner and the Stewart-Haas team, which according to Forbes magazine, is worth $80 million dollars.

This hour also features a look at the future of NASCAR and the ways in which the sport is trying to broaden its fan base, add foreign automakers and going green.

Rovell also speaks with NASCAR super stars Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards , movie star Kevin Costner; Marcus Smith who runs Speedway Motorsports Inc. and Julie Geary, the ultimate NASCAR fan.

Jeff Pohlman is the Executive Producer of “Inside Track: Refueling the Business of NASCAR.” Tom Rotunno is the Producer, Nick Stantzos is the Editor and Tyler Mathisen is CNBC’s Managing Editor. Ray Borelli is the Vice President of Strategic Research, Scheduling and Long Form Programming.

For more information including web extras, slideshows and extended video clips, log on to nascar.cnbc.com.

“Inside Track: Refueling the Business of NASCAR” will re-air on Sunday, July 12th at 10PM ET and Monday, July 13th at 10PM ET on CNBC.

There is no prize money, no points, no sponsor obligations — just 26 drivers in dirt Late Model stock cars going for a trophy and bragging rights among their peers. All drivers want the trophy, but for 25 of them, if they can’t win, they want to beat Eldora’s owner, Tony Stewart, a two-time Prelude to the Dream winner.

It’s Stewart’s house. He bought it in 2004 and has won at Eldora in about every type of car. So the 25 drivers he has invited, including Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch, would like nothing more than to beat Stewart in his own backyard.

The following are quotes from selected drivers competing in the fifth annual Prelude to the Dream. The event, which will give the winner bragging rights for a year, will take place at 7 p.m. EDT on June 3 at Eldora Speedway and will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View®.

For those who want to see the Prelude to the Dream in-person, tickets are available online at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling the track office (937) 338-3815. Act soon — the race has sold out in each of its four previous years and only a few hundred general admission tickets remain.

The live, commercial-free broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT), followed by an immediate replay. HBO Pay-Per-View’s racing telecast has a suggested retail price of $24.95 and is available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming in the pay-per-view industry. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at www.hbo.com.

TONY STEWART (Two-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion and Two-Time Prelude Winner; Owner of Eldora Speedway):

How unique is it for 26 of the top drivers in the country to race at a half-mile dirt track in the middle of Ohio cornfields?

“It’s unreal. I guess it would be like Tiger Woods taking all of his buddies and going to play the local putt-putt course, or Michael Jordan taking all of his friends to the playground and shooting hoops. These guys all converge on this track and it’s fun, and it gets us back to our roots — why we got into racing to begin with. There are no points, no prize money. Guys pay their own way to get there and it’s for a worthwhile cause — the injured and fallen soldiers and their families.”

Why is racing on dirt so much fun for you guys?

“I think what’s fun, or challenging, about dirt is that the surface is never the same. When we go to Charlotte or Daytona or Talladega, the conditions are pretty much the same every time, as far as the surface goes. Dirt tracks are always different from the last time you were there. So, for the guys who are preparing the cars and doing the setups on them, they kind of have to guess ahead and try to plan for what they think the track is going to do. The drivers have to plan accordingly, too, and they have to make adjustments while they’re out on the track because the conditions are constantly changing. That’s what’s so fun about dirt — it’s never the same twice.”

Why should someone order the Fifth Annual Prelude to the Dream and watch it on HBO Pay-Per-View?

“The Prelude to the Dream is a race that we hold prior to ‘Dream Weekend,’ which is one of our biggest weekends at Eldora Speedway. Professional dirt Late Model racers from across the country are racing for $100,000 to win. The Prelude to the Dream is on the Wednesday before, and it’s a race that myself and 25 drivers from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NHRA compete in for bragging rights, but also to raise money for charity. It’s a fun atmosphere for the drivers, crews, fans and the people watching at home on HBO Pay-Per-View. Most of these guys don’t race on dirt very often, so it’s a chance for a lot of us to go back to our roots and have a great time. The viewers at home get to see us much differently than they would on a normal race weekend. There are no points, no pressure, just a lot of fun. This year, we’re helping out injured and fallen soldiers by raising money from the Prelude to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, Intrepid Heroes Fund, Operation Homefront and Fisher House. The men and women in our armed forces fight for our freedom to make sure we can continue to have fun at events like the Prelude, and everyone who tunes in and buys the event on HBO Pay-Per-View will be helping our troops all over the world.”

When you guys go to Eldora, the routine is totally different from a normal race weekend. Is that part of the challenge, or the fun for you guys, getting adjusted to the dirt and getting away from your normal routine?

“Yeah, I think if we could get an hour of practice like we do at a (Sprint) Cup race, most of these guys would really pick this up really quick — and they do, anyway. But they have to do it in probably a total of 10 to 12 laps, and that’s something they’re not used to having to do. I mean, they’re used to being able to have a lot of practice time, where on dirt tracks, you just can’t spend that much track time without it affecting the racetrack. So, where you used to have two warm-up sessions for the race at a Cup event, now, all of a sudden, you get two five- or six-lap sessions to get ready to go qualify right away, and that’s not a lot of time for a professional driver to try to figure out a different racecar and a different racetrack and surface.”

How gratifying is it for you to see all the drivers come together to help you with such a great cause?

“That is the best part of it. To me, that is the biggest compliment — that they are willing to take a day out of their schedule. You know, our schedules get more and more hectic every year. So, to give a full day out of your schedule, that’s giving a lot. And, for these guys to all do this once a year and come to our facility and race at a place I am very passionate about is something that is very humbling, but at the same time it shows their passion and compassion for charities and the fact that they work very hard to give back to communities.”

Robby Gordon finished second last year in his first-ever race in a dirt Late Model. How surprising was that to you?

“I had told Robby for three years before he actually came to the Prelude — I said, ‘You will be perfect in these cars.’ I’ve always said that he was one of the most naturally talented drivers that we had ever raced with, as far as car control. I mean, he got in the car and it took him about two laps to figure it out. He had one of the best in the business with Scott Bloomquist as his car owner. But, it gave him a good car where he could learn that much faster and, with a guy who is a great driver, great engineer, and chassis builder. But Robby, I mean, it took him about five laps and it looked like he grew up racing on dirt tracks. He kind of did, to a certain degree, in off-road trucks. But Eldora and a dirt Late Model are a lot different than a Trophy Truck is. So, seeing him out there, it was like, ‘I told you, you were going to be good.’ It was just fun to watch him learn and how quickly he took to the dirt.”

Why did you decide to change your mission for the event, as far as who it benefits?

“The first four years, we’ve always worked with the Victory Junction Gang Camp and donated the proceeds to it. This year, we just wanted to do something different and we kind of came up with the idea. Maybe next year, we will change it a little bit and pick a different charity each season. So, when the U.S. Army came on board with Ryan Newman’s (Sprint) Cup car with Stewart-Haas Racing, it was a partner that you didn’t look at as a sponsor, but you looked at as a partner. To realize how many millions of fans we gained because the U.S. Army is on one of our cars, it was like, how can we do something to give back and do something to support our military? When we sat down and tried to figure out who we would donate to this year, it was a no-brainer. We all picked the same thing on the list. It just made it a natural force. It just made a lot of sense. We’ve been on a run here where our military has been really active and very busy. I don’t think people really realize how much support not necessarily our friends in the military, but their families, also need. It made it very worthwhile and made it make sense to us.”

What does an event like this mean to the military and families that benefit from it?

“The thing about soldiers in the military is they are some of the toughest people I have ever met. There are people who have lost arms and legs and all they want to do is get healed up and get back to service. All they want to do is serve their country. If nothing else, we as civilians can support the soldiers and the men and women we have who are fighting for us and making sure that we have a nation like we have.”
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JIMMIE JOHNSON (Three-Time and Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion):

What’s so special about racing on the dirt at a place like Eldora?

“I grew up racing on the dirt, but not in cars like we race at Eldora or on a track like that. Everything I did was on a straight line, going over jumps, bumps, hillsides and through river beds and stuff like that. So, the whole experience at Eldora last year was really a special one to me and I got to feel the horsepower, grip, track conditions and the banking on a high-banked dirt track. It was quite an experience last year and I love just being in different environments and challenging myself. On top of that, coming out and supporting Tony. Tony’s done a phenomenal job starting this foundation. He’s been very helpful with the tasks that my wife and I have for our foundation and we just like to help him out, as well, with his causes. So, all in all, it’s a great time. It’s a fast format. I mean, you show up, you get two or three laps of practice, you’re qualifying and then you’re racing. So, this year coming back, I will have a little more experience and be more competitive.”

What were your first impressions of Eldora last year?

“I remember the fact that we had rain throughout the day and that Tony had been out on the track for a day or two trying to get the track in good condition because of the weather issue we had. But, you look at it and we’re kind of used to seeing banking. So, when I first looked at it, I thought ‘You know, that’s not that steep. It’s okay.’ But, when I got in the car and found out that you can literally run flat-foot around this dirt half-mile racetrack, that was quite impressive to me.”

Can you compare running a Sprint Cup car and a dirt Late Model?

“The two styles of racing are different for a lot of reasons. You don’t have a spotter and I got in trouble. I got on the outside of Ron Capps and expected him to leave me the lane because I’m used to racing with spotters and, of course, he didn’t know I was there and came up and we got sandwiched together. But, at the end of the day, when you get into the cars, the same principles apply if you’re on dirt or asphalt, regardless of the car. If you could slow it all down and really be precise with what you do and save tenths of a second around the track, you’re going be the fastest guy. Showing up new to it, I was pretty violent with the car and, once the track slicked off, I was probably using too much brake. Threw the car into the corner too hard and took a little while to figure out how to use the cushion. I’m not used to running on a cushion, period, even with the off-road racing I did. It was nothing that we ever really worried about.”

How fulfilling is it for you to be a part of raising awareness for injured and fallen soldiers?

“I’m very honored to be a part of it. Through my years of racing for Lowe’s, we’ve done a lot together to give back to the troops. It’s amazing. It feels so good to thank our troops in some way, shape or form, so I understand where Tony is going with it and certainly support him. Hopefully, we can show them that we appreciate what they do to keep our country free and out of harm’s way.”

Why should fans watch on HBO Pay-Per-View?

“Well, I think dirt-car racing is one of the best forms of racing to watch and you also get to see us out of our element. That works in a couple of ways. One, in the cars, there might be some good bloopers to check out. Two, we don’t have the corporate pressure of a race. We’re just there having fun and I think that really comes through.”
[nichemate]0,1,2,’Jimmie Johnson’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]
JEFF GORDON (Four-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion and Brickyard 400 winner; Three-time Daytona 500 winner):

When you mention the words Eldora Speedway, it just conjures up so many great images for so many people. Why is it so special to you?

“I grew up watching Sprint cars, then racing Sprint cars and Midgets. Everybody will tell you it’s the ultimate dirt track and I will never forget going there for the first time and driving in there going, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I mean, it was just big, it looked fast and it was fast. It’s just an awesome, awesome dirt track and an intimidating dirt track and right in the middle of corn fields in Ohio. Some of the best race fans around the country all flock to Eldora.”

What makes this event so special and so big for drivers that they want to have the invite, they want to go and they want to experience the Prelude to the Dream?

“You know, it’s different for everybody. Some guys maybe dreamed of racing on the dirt and never got the opportunity to, and so it is just fun and a cool new experience. For me, it is about getting back on dirt, something that I grew up with and got me to this level. It’s an opportunity for me to go back and have a bunch of fun.”

Are bragging rights on the line at the Prelude to the Dream?

“I will say, after the first year a lot of people were like, ‘Man I was impressed with that,’ and I took a lot of pride in that. Not that many people saw me race on dirt and so, to go out there and have your fellow (Sprint) Cup drivers say, ‘Man, I didn’t know you could drive like that on dirt,’ that was very cool for me. And even though I didn’t win it, I still had some bragging rights, and Carl (Edwards) had bragging rights, and now Tony, of course, he’s got the bragging rights. I think we are going to add some extra weight to him so we can make it even.”

You and your former crew chief, Ray Evernham, have a fun rivalry by racing each other at the Prelude. Is there any wager on who finishes higher?

“It’s just all pride. If I don’t finish in front of him, then I am not going to be able to hold up my head very high the next time I see him. No offense to Ray, he’s impressed me, but with my dirt experience and being a (Sprint) Cup driver, I should be able to beat Ray Evernham on dirt.”

How fulfilling is it for you to be a part of raising awareness for injured and fallen soldiers?

“I think it’s fantastic. Obviously, with the Jeff Gordon Foundation, we focus a lot on kids. I know that Tony’s foundation does, as well. With everything that is going on with the economy, with the war and especially for me with my involvement with the National Guard, I have already been to Walter Reed (Army Medical Center) once this year. I plan on going a few more times and really getting a chance to meet the true heroes. To be able to recognize them, to be able to benefit them, especially those who aren’t with us anymore, I think that’s just an awesome thing that we can do and I will be very proud to be representing that on that day in June in Eldora.”

Why should fans watch on HBO Pay-Per-View?

“I think there are so many reasons why you want to watch this event, whether you are there or at home. You don’t want to miss it, that’s for sure, because you see drivers in a totally different, relaxed atmosphere. They are having fun, yet are still competitive. You see them throwing around an awesome car — these dirt Late Models are amazing cars — on the most incredible dirt track in the country at Eldora, and it’s going to benefit these fallen heroes and different charities. You just can’t have more fun and more excitement and have a better race and do it for a great cause than the Prelude. It’s the ultimate.”
[nichemate]0,1,2,’Jeff Gordon’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]
CARL EDWARDS (2007 Prelude to the Dream Winner; 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion):

What did you think when you first saw Eldora Speedway?

“I just remember walking in the place through that little tunnel under the back straightaway. I just had my helmet bag and I was standing there looking at the back straightaway in turns three and four. It was just cool to be there — to see it, finally. I’d heard about it, seen pictures in old open-wheel magazines and stuff. But to be at Eldora, to race there, that’s cool.”

What did your victory in the 2007 Prelude to the Dream mean to you?

“It’s big. My win at that race a couple of years ago is still, to this day, people come up and they’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s great, NASCAR and everything, but you won Eldora!’ You know, they’re pumped about it, so that was a big win for me.”

Can you describe the atmosphere and what makes this event so special?

“To me, there are two things that make this special. Number one, it’s Eldora. I mean, growing up in Missouri, Eldora was just far enough away that I never went, but I always heard about it. To race there is cool. Just as special is the fact that the money raised goes to a good cause. All the fans see you in the grandstands. The cars are lined up for miles down the road. You know that everyone is there, knowing that they’re participating in something bigger than any one of us. That’s cool.”

How important, or how much more special is it, that you are going to be in this event knowing that the mission has changed this year?

“One of the greatest parts about doing this — for all of us, me, the fans, the other drivers — is that we are doing something for a good cause and to know that this money is going to go to help our soldiers who have been out there, some of them for years, protecting our freedom and sacrificing. That’s pretty cool.”

Why should fans watch on HBO Pay-Per-View?

“If you are a dirt fan, you know exactly why to tune in. And if you’re not a dirt fan, just tune in once and you will know why we all started racing.”
[nichemate]0,1,2,’Carl Edwards’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]
KYLE BUSCH (15 wins in Sprint Cup; 24 wins in Nationwide Series; 11 wins in Camping World Truck Series):

When you hear the word “Eldora,” what do you think about?

“When you think of Eldora, you think of a high-banked, fast, dirt half-mile racetrack. You also think about all the fans who surround the place. They are just — they’re packed — jam-packed into the place. The grandstands are full, the outside of turns three and four are full. The only thing Stewart has left to do is fill the back straightaway with a big Bruton Smith grandstand or something.”

Every driver wants to win, but if they can’t win, they don’t care where they finish as long as they finish ahead of Tony. Is that the theme for you too?

“No. For me, I accomplished my goal the first year and that was to wreck him. (Laughs) I wrecked him the first year. The second year, I tried to either keep up with him or wreck him again, and I couldn’t do either. So, I failed miserably the second year. The third year, hopefully we will keep up with him and we can beat him.”

What did you think in 2007 when you came to Eldora to race in the Prelude to the Dream for the first time?

“Dude, it was serious. When I pulled in the first time, I was like, ‘Man, what are these people doing here?’ There really is no place to stay at around there. You are just out in a bunch of cornfields. So, the cool part about it is that the fans camp out and they don’t care if it’s raining, pouring, snowing, sleeting, whatever — they are going to be there to watch some dirt Late Model racing.”

Can you describe the atmosphere and what makes this event so special?

“It sort of takes us back to our roots. It takes us back to our local Saturday-night short track. We are able to hang out in the pits and mix and mingle with each other and the show moves along — it keeps going. It’s just a neat atmosphere. You are just there having a good time. You are, like, what you were in the local short-track days and it brings back sweet memories.”

How fulfilling is it for you to be a part of raising awareness for injured and fallen soldiers?

“This year, it is going to be special because of the fact that we are helping the injured soldiers and their families and that is fun to do because we have such a spot for them in our hearts for everything that they do. Everybody should. They do so much work and try to fight and give us our freedom that it is just a little something to give back and to raise money for their benefit. I think it’s something that is pretty cool. We get to have a good time and enjoy it, doing what we love to do and, yet, we are doing it for a good cause. So, whether it is the Victory Junction Gang, whether it is for the Kyle Busch Foundation or the military, injured soldiers of the military, you know, it is all a part of doing something that feels good.”
[nichemate]0,1,2,’Kyle Busch’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]
RYAN NEWMAN (2008 Daytona 500 Winner; 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Victories ):

Can you explain to the average race fan why you guys have such a passion for dirt racing?

“I grew up dirt racing — not as much as Tony did, but I grew up dirt racing. My first Midget win ever was on dirt up in northern Michigan. To me, short-track racing is typically dirt racing and that is where so many people grew up and got interested in racing. That is all there was, back in the day, was dirt tracks.”

Why is Eldora so special?

“I think Eldora is special because the effort that Earl (Baltes, former owner) put into it, making the special races, the big races, the fact that it is the fastest half-mile dirt track in the United States, the high banks. It’s just amazing, the excitement, the speed, the raw energy that comes out of that racetrack. And then, what Tony has done to expand it and, obviously, all the great races are there, the World 100, the big (World of) Outlaw shows, the Big One, and the Kings Royal. Big dirt racing happens at Eldora.”

Being sponsored by the U.S. Army in the Sprint Cup Series, how important is the event for you, considering it supports injured and fallen soldiers?

“It’s definitely special. This is my first year with the U.S. Army on my chest and to know that there are a million soldiers out there fighting for our freedom and to have recognition for the ones who have been injured, it is really special. It’s great what Tony is doing with the race and what he is trying to make of the whole event and how he respects what those heroes are doing for our country.”

How big of an impact will this event be on the families and soldiers?

“We are just trying to make an impact and it is our way of giving back. Luckily, we get to do something that we love to give back to those people. Those are our heroes. Those are the people who sacrifice a lot of things to put themselves in position to fight for our freedom. It is an honor for me to do something to try to help them out. It is small on my part, but it can make a really big difference.”

Why should fans watch on HBO Pay-Per-View?

“Anybody out there who enjoys NASCAR, who enjoys the IRL, we are taking it back to where we all started with big-name drivers at a great racetrack and you should check it out. It’s a blast. As drivers, we sit in the coach lot and we watch re-runs of the race. We will make an effort to watch the re-runs of our race at the dirt track just because we have so much fun that night.”
[nichemate]0,1,2,’Ryan Newman’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]
ROBBY GORDON, (Finished Second in 2008 Prelude to the Dream ):

What were your first impressions of Eldora?

“Well, last year was my first time ever being at Eldora and I went there after an invitation from Tony and with Scott Bloomquist. It was fun. It was a neat racetrack and the fans were amazing. You know, they lined the streets for a mile getting into that place. So, that was really cool and I am looking forward to going back.”

How did Scott Bloomquist help you last year?

“Scott took me testing in Nashville and we ran at a track there and it worked out well because it was a track that was fairly similar. We did 70 to 80 laps there and then rolled off to Eldora and qualified sixth and ran second in the race. So, it was fun for us.”

Why is the Prelude so special?

“Well, I think, obviously, it is the event that Tony has put together. The program that they put together really seems to work and all the drivers seem to really enjoy it, so there are a lot of things that make it successful. It definitely starts with Tony, and then the Speedway, and then the promotional things that everybody gets behind and does to help promote it.”

What will it take to beat Tony at Eldora?

“I don’t know. I mean, Tony is so good there. It would be like Tony coming to Baja — it just takes a while and it doesn’t matter what kind of racing it is, NASCAR or IndyCar, off-road trucks or even a dirt car. The experience is the one thing that you can’t just learn overnight. It takes time. I was happy with our result last year and I would like to go back there and beat Tony there. I think everybody would. It’s Tony’s track. It would be like Tony racing me down my street coming home to my house. I think I could drive that route blind.”

Why should fans watch on HBO Pay-Per-View?

“Because we are going for Tony.” [nichemate]0,1,2,’Robby Gordon’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]

The finish was Stewart’s second runner-up result in the past three races, as the two-time Sprint Cup champion finished second at Phoenix International Raceway on April 18. It was also the same result Stewart posted in his last visit to Richmond in September 2008, where he finished .365 of a second behind race winner Jimmie Johnson. Stewart has now finished in the top-10 in eight of his last nine Sprint Cup starts at Richmond.

In the Crown Royal 400, Stewart finished 2.751 seconds behind Kyle Busch, who swept his slate of races at Richmond by winning a Late Model stock car race at nearby Southside Speedway Thursday night, the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night and the Sprint Cup race on Saturday night. It was his third Sprint Cup win of 2009 and the 15th of his career, on his 24th birthday no less.

“I’ve watched Kyle this week, raced with him Thursday night, got to watch him run last night and tonight,” said Stewart, who teamed with Busch all of last season while with Joe Gibbs Racing. “When you get on a string like he’s on, you have so much confidence and momentum on your side. That means so much in this series.”

In Stewart’s new role as a driver/owner with SHR, he’s proven that he can not only juggle the dual responsibilities, but thrive.

“I’ve been racing 29 years with a lot of different series. Momentum’s everything. That gives you such a head start when you get to the next track that weekend,” Stewart said. “For us as an organization, with that momentum, I can’t wait to get to the shop Monday and see the smiles on the guys’ faces. That’s the payoff for me. That’s the stuff that will carry us into Darlington next week and carry us into the All-Star Race

the week after that.”

Fellow racer Jeff Burton, who finished third, agreed. “It’s been impressive to watch the change, the mentality that Tony has brought in there about not being there just to be there, but to be there to win. I’m not sure I remember a team changing possession, with a new owner stepping in and the turnaround being what it’s been. He’s making other people want to go and own their own cars. That’s probably not a good thing (smiling), but it’s been real impressive to watch.”

Stewart’s strong run, which was his fourth top-five and seventh top-10 in the 10 races held so far this season, bumped him up one more spot in the championship standings to third, where he is only 39 points arrears new series leader Jeff Gordon.

“I told somebody that I would rather have five second-place finishes in a row than I would have a win, a 32nd, an 18th, a 43rd and a seventh,” said Stewart, co-owner of SHR with Oxnard, Calif.-based Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world. “That consistency and that momentum of being up front every week and knowing that you have an opportunity to run for the win each night, that’s what carries you into that week-after-week stretch. That’s what you need going into the Chase. You need to have that momentum. You need to have that confidence that goes with the momentum to feel like every day when you go out there, you have a shot to win the race.”

Making the evening that much sweeter was the performance of his teammate, Ryan Newman. The driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS started 10th and led four times for 45 laps before finishing fourth. It marked the first time both SHR drivers finished in the top-five and the second time both drivers finished in the top-10.

“A great effort for Tony Stewart and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Newman, who vaulted from 13th in points to 10th, 243 markers behind Gordon and solidly in the 12-driver Chase for the hampionship field if the season’s final, 10-race playoff were to begin today. “We keep doing what we’re doing here and we’ll get what we want.”

“Ryan drove his butt off tonight,” Stewart added. “Really proud of all our guys and really proud of the whole organization.”

Fifth-place in the Crown Royal 400 went to Phoenix race winner Mark Martin, while sophomore driver Sam Hornish Jr., scored a career-best sixth-place finish. Jamie McMurray, Gordon, Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were a race-tying 15 caution periods for 79 laps, with six drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the May 9 Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race begins at 7:20 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 7p.m.
[nichemate]0,1,3,’Tony Stewart’,,US,,,,,,,,[/nichemate]

Happy birthday and congratulations to Kyle Busch who joined Cale Yarborough as NASCARs only drivers who won a Cup race on their birthday. Additional info to follow.

On April 30, 2009 Hamlin will host the second annual “Short Track Showdown” at Southside Speedway in Richmond (Va.) to benefit the Denny Hamlin Foundation, and this season Hamlin is being joined by some of NASCAR’s biggest stars. Two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart will join Hamlin’s current Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, and race day spotter Curtis Markham, in a race against some of the South’s best short-track talent in a 175-lap Limited Late Model race.

Last year, Hamlin presented a check in the amount of $50,000 – an amount raised almost entirely from the proceeds of the race – to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“I was thrilled with what we were able to do last year – it was a great event for a great cause and this year it is our hope to double that donation,” said Hamlin. “It means a lot that Tony, Kyle, Joey and Curtis are committed to helping me raise money for my foundation and I know we all want to put on a great show for the fans.”

The Denny Hamlin Foundation was created in 2008 to aid in raising awareness and funding for Cystic Fibrosis research and treatment, as well support other not for profit corporations that focus on aiding children with debilitating illnesses.

Online ticket sales begin Tuesday, March 17, 2009 exclusively at www.dennyhamlinfoundation.org. All proceeds from ticket sales, the silent auction and raffles will benefit the Denny Hamlin Foundation.