SRT Motorsports Presents THE NUMBERS for The AAA Texas 500

THE NUMBERS for the AAA Texas 500
Texas Motor Speedway (all 23 Sprint Cup races included)
1 – number of wins from the pole (Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge, 4/9/06)

1 – fewest laps led by race winner (Jeff Burton, 4/15/07)

2 – fewest cautions  (4/14/12)

4 – fewest leaders (11/8/09)

6 – number of jet dryers available for track drying this weekend

6 – fewest cars on lead lap at finish (11/8/09)

10 – fewest caution laps (4/14/12)

12 – most cautions (three times, most recent 11/4/07)

13 – fewest lead changes (twice, most recent 11/8/09)

16 – different race winners

17 – most leaders (4/2/00)

17 – wins from a top-10 starting position

25 – most on lead lap at finish (11/6/05)

29 – fewest running at finish (three times, most recent 4/19/10)

33 – most lead changes (11/7/10)

40 – most cars running at finish (twice, most recent 11/2/08)

73 – most caution laps (4/6/97)

120 minutes – amount of time it takes to dry the 1.5-mile track after a significant rainfall.

278 – most laps led by race winner (11/5/06)

Key TMS Dates

1995 – construction began

1997 – first Sprint Cup race

2005 – first year track hosted two Sprint Cup events

2012 Caution Update

1 – fewest cautions this season (Fontana)

8 – races extended beyond scheduled distance (Daytona, Martinsville, Talladega,
Darlington, Sonoma, Michigan2, Atlanta and Talladega2)

14 – most cautions this season (Kansas2)

196 – number of cautions in the first 33 races of 2012; includes 91 for accidents,
50 for debris and 24 for spins

1,025 of 9,521 – number of laps under caution in 2012

1,392.952 of 12, 497.676 – miles under caution in the first 33 races

BONUS:  Three Texas tracks have hosted 32 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races with Texas Motor Speedway the site of 23 races since 1997.  Meyer Speedway in Houston hosted one race in 1971 and Texas World Speedway in College Station hosted eight from 1969 to 1981.

- Darnell Communications for SRT Motorsports Press Release

NASCAR Driver Press Conference Schedule - Texas

Press Conference Schedule,

NASCAR schedules driver press conferences at every race weekend event. These normally include the Top 12 drivers in championship points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, along with other drivers of note. The press conferences will last approximately 15 minutes each and may be viewed at NASCAR.com. Times listed are local time.

Friday, November 2:

10 a.m. – Danica Patrick (No. 10 GoDaddy Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series & No. 7 SEGA Sonic the Hedgehog/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series) and crew chief Tony Gibson – Media Center/deadline room

10:15 a.m. – Clint Bowyer (No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota), 3^rd in points (2265)/3 wins – Media Center/deadline room

10:30 a.m. – Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet), 1^st in points (2291)/4 wins – Media Center/deadline room

10:45 a.m. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet), 12^th in points (2151)/1 win – #88 hauler

1 p.m. – Tony Stewart (No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet), 10^th in points (2220)/3 wins - #14 hauler

2 p.m. – Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet), 6^th in points (2237)/1 win – #24 hauler

2:30 p.m. – Elliott Sadler (No. 2 One Main Financial in the NASCAR Nationwide Series – points leader) – Media Center/deadline room

Note: Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), 2^nd in points (2289)/5 wins will come to the media center following NSCS qualifying (begins Friday at 3:40 p.m.)

9:45pm (ET) approx for post NCWTS race Media Center

 

 

Saturday, November 3:

9:45pm (ET) approx for post NNS race Media Center

 

 

Sunday, November 4:

6:25pm (ET) approx for post NSCS race Media Center

- NASCAR 

Texas Chassis Selections

Not all teams announce their weekly race chassis'. Here is a list of those teams that do reveal the chassis in the teams race preview:

#1- Jamie McMurray -  Chassis #1106:  Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion and the No. 1 McDonald’s team will bring Chassis #1106 to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.  This chassis has raced previously this year at Bristol, Pocono, Kentucky and Dover, with a best finish of seventh in Bristol. 

#2- Brad Keselowski - The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-829 during Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Keselowski last raced this chassis to a sixth-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the second race of the Chase for the Championship in September. The featured tag line on the rear bumper of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge this weekend at Texas is “Proudly Brewed in Texas.” 

#5- Kasey Kahne - For Sunday’s race, crew chief Kenny Francis has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-739. Kahne has raced this car twice this season, notably recording a 12th-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

#9- Marcos Ambrose - The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 754 for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Texas Motor Speedway. This Mac Tools Ford was run previously this season at Martinsville, Dover, Loudon and Chicago.

#14-Tony Stewart - Chassis No. 14-736: This car debuted in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., where Stewart qualified 29th and rallied to lead three laps before finishing sixth. Chassis No. 14-736 made its second career start in October at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, and it had to rally again. After starting 32nd, a lap-16 run-in with Brad Keselowski necessitated numerous pit stops that dropped Stewart all the way to 36th in the 43-car field. But Stewart used Chassis No. 14-736 to claw his way back to a respectable 13th -place finish. The car will make its third career start Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

#15- Clint Bowyer - Primary chassis No. 740 is the race winning car from the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte. Backup chassis No. 716 raced earlier this season in Las Vegas, Kansas, Charlotte, Kentucky and Indianapolis. Chassis No. 716’s best finish was sixth at Las Vegas.

#16- Greg Biffle - Primary: RK-809, last ran Dover – finished 16th; Backup: RK-803, last ran Pocono – finished 15th. Chassis RK-809 is the same car that won the spring race at Texas and also won at Michigan.

#17- Matt Kenseth - Primary chassis: RK-821, last run at Charlotte.

#22- Sam Hornish Jr. - Hornish and the Penske Racing No. 22 Team will be utilizing the "PRS-821" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger in this weekend's AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Hornish and team last raced this chassis in the September 8 Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, where they started 11th and finished 11th. This is the same car that AJ Allmendinger raced in the April 14 Samsung 500 at Texas (started 12th and finished 15th). The car was also raced again in the June 17 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan (started 20th and finished 19th). It has been completely updated since and will be making its fourth start this weekend at TMS. The "PRS-820" will serve as the backup Shell-Pennzoil Dodge. It was last raced in the Sept. 23 race at New Hampshire (Dave Blaney qualified 10th & Hornish finished 21st).

#24- Jeff Gordon - Gordon will drive HMS chassis 24-718 at Texas. The car finished 21st at spring Kansas, seventh at spring Charlotte, sixth and 28th at Michigan and 35th at Chicago in 2012.

#27- Paul Menard - Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 351 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend’s AAA Texas 500. This Chevrolet was last raced at Kansas Speedway in October where Menard drove it to his season-best finish of third. This chassis was also utilized at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September, where Menard started 18th and finished eighth, in numerous test sessions this year and was raced last season at Texas Motor Speedway (April – started 19th/finished fifth), Kansas Speedway (June – started ninth/finished 19th) and Dover International Speedway (October – started third/ finished 16th).

#29- Kevin Harvick - Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No.404 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the AAA Texas 500. Built new for competition in 2012, Harvick raced this Chevrolet at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October where he collected a 16th-place result after starting from the 11th position.

#31- Jeff Burton -  Jeff Burton will race Chassis No. 367 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable this weekend. This No. 31 Chevrolet has been utilized four times this season at Kansas Speedway in April (started-12th, finished-22nd), Pocono Raceway in June (started-20th, finished-15th), Michigan International Speedway in August (started-32nd, finished-19th) and Chicagoland Speedway in September (started-32nd, finished-24th).

#39- Ryan Newman - Chassis No. 39-748:This weekend, Newman will pilot Chassis No. 39-748. Its first outing came at Charlotte Motor Speedway three weeks ago, where Newman 
qualified third but had to forfeit his starting spot and drop to the back of the field before the start due to an engine change. Unfortunately, he never could get the car to handle to his liking during the race and was forced to settle for a 20th -place finish.  

#42- Juan Pablo Montoya - Chassis #1218.  Crew Chief Chris “Shine” Heroy and the No. 42 HUGGIES team will bring Chassis #1218 to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.  This chassis has seen track time at Kansas Speedway, finishing 16th.

#43- Aric Almirola - The No. 43 team has prepared chassis No. 752 for Texas.  This car has run previously this season at tracks including Atlanta, Pocono, Michigan and Charlotte. 

#48- Jimmie Johnson - Chassis No. 720 serves as the primary for Johnson at Texas. Chassis No. 714 serves as the backup.

#55- Mark Martin - PRIMARY CHASSIS #729– finished third at Dover in September. Car won pole at Dover in June, finished third at Texas and 10th at Atlanta with Martin behind wheel.

#88- Dale Earnhardt Jr - This weekend at Texas, crew chief Steve Letarte will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-726. Regan Smith most recently raced this chassis at Charlotte in October. Earnhardt last raced this chassis to an eighth-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in September.

#99- Carl Edwards - The Aflac Team will be unloading chassis No.RK-820 at Texas this weekend. This car last raced at Dover in September where it finished fifth.

- Reported in Team News/Press Releases

Texas Driver Statistics

Not all teams announce their weekly race previews'. Here is a list of those teams that do reveal the information in the teams race preview: 

#1- Jamie McMurray -   McMurray has made 17 starts at Texas Motor Speedway.  In those 17 starts, the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet has accumulated three top-five, six top-10 finishes. McMurray has completed 5,468 out of a possible 5,688 laps (96%) with a total of 70 laps led.  He has an average start and finish position of 24.9 and 17.8, respectively.  His best start at the half-mile oval was fourth in 2008.

#5- Kasey Kahne - Kahne earned his win at Texas Motor Speedway on April 9, 2006, after starting from the pole position and leading 63 laps. The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet also has four top-five finishes and five top-10s in 16 Cup starts at the Fort Worth, Texas, oval.  Kahne scored a seventh-place result in his most recent start at the track in April and crossed the line third one year ago.

#9- Marcos Ambrose - Ambrose will be making his ninth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career start at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. The Australian native's best finish (sixth) came last season and his best start (seventh) came in both 2011 and this season's spring event. He has completed 2,549 of 2,672 laps attempted at the Texas track, leading two of them. Ambrose enters this weekend's 500-mile race in 18th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.

#14-Tony Stewart - Stewart has one pole, two wins, five top-fives, 11 top-10s and has led a total of 727 laps in his 21 career Sprint Cup starts at Texas. His average start is 18.0, his average finish is 13.1 and he has a lap completion rate of 98.5 percent.

#16- Greg Biffle - Biffle has led a total of 732 laps in 17 starts at Texas Motor Speedway, making Texas his number one track for total laps led on the Sprint Cup circuit and he ranks second in laps led at TMS. 

#17- Matt Kenseth - Kenseth has achieved two wins, 11 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes at Texas in the Cup series. Kenseth holds the record for the most top five (11) and the most top 10’s (14) in Cup action at Texas.

#18- Kyle Busch - Busch has four top-five and five top-10 finishes and has led a total of 441 laps in his 14 career Sprint Cup starts at Texas. 

#22- Sam Hornish Jr. - In Sprint Cup competition at TMS, Hornish has a 15.0 average start and 24.8 average finish. His 17th-place finish in the 2009 spring race is his best result to date. In Nationwide action, he has a 19.6 average start and a 16.8 average finish. His seventh-place finish in last November's race is his best result. Hornish won three IndyCar races (2001, 2002 & 2007) and had five podium finishes at TMS. He started ninth and finished 12th in the April 7, 2006 IROC race there.

#24- Jeff Gordon - It has been feast or famine for the driver of the No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet at the Texas track. In 23 starts, Gordon has one win (2009), two poles, eight top-fives and 11 top-10's. He also has seven finishes of 25th or worse.

#27- Paul Menard - Menard will make his 217th Sprint Cup Series start this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. In 12 previous starts at TMS, Menard has earned one top-five and two top-10 finishes, completed 95.5 percent of his laps (3,836 of 4,018) and led for two circuits. He has an average starting position of 19.6 and an average finishing position of 20.8, with his best finish of fifth coming in his April 2011 visit to the 1.5-mile facility. Menard logged his best start of fourth in the 2011 AAA Texas 500 (November).

#29- Kevin Harvick -  Harvick will make his 428th career Sprint Cup Series start and 20th appearance at the 1.5-mile track. The 36-year-old driver has collected three top-five and nine top-10 finishes in his previous 19 starts, has completed 99.8 percent of the laps contested (6,342 of 6,356) and is credited with five laps led. Harvick maintains an average starting position of 20.7 coupled with an average finishing position of 12.7. 

#31- Jeff Burton - Burton was Texas Motor Speedway’s first two-time Sprint Cup Series race winner after visiting Victory Lane in the inaugural Sprint Cup Series event in 1997 and again in 2007. Burton has also tallied three top-five and nine top-10 finishes while leading 180 laps at the 1.5-mile facility.

#39- Ryan Newman - The AAA Texas 500 will mark Newman’s 402nd career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 19th career Sprint Cup start at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Newman has one win (March 2003), two poles, three top-five finishes and three top-10s in 18 starts at the 1.5 mile oval.

#42- Juan Pablo Montoya - Montoya looks to make his 12th start this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.  In his previous 11 starts he has led 12 laps and earned two top-10 finishes.  Montoya has completed 3,479 out of a possible 3,679 (94%). His best start was third in 2007; and he earned his best finish of seventh in 2009. The driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet has an average starting position of 15.5 and an average finishing position of 22.5 at Texas Motor Speedway. 

#43- Aric Almirola - Sunday's race will be Almirola's fourth at Texas in a Sprint Cup car.  His best Cup career finish in the Lone Star state is 21st (2010).

#48- Jimmie Johnson -  Notes of Interest: One win (November 2007). Eight top-five finishes (44.4 percent) and 13 top-10s (72.2 percent) in 18 starts. One DNF (did not finish – April 2007). Average start of 9.3 and average finish of 9.7. Completed 5,818 of 6,022 laps (96.6 percent) and led 275.

#55- Mark Martin -  In 23 Sprint Cup starts Martin owns a victory (1998) and eight top-five finishes. He’s led 208 laps. He started fourth and finished third in April. 

#88- Dale Earnhardt Jr - Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, earned his first career Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series wins at Texas Motor Speedway. He was just seven races into his rookie season when he recorded his first Cup win on April 2, 2000. In 20 Sprint Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Earnhardt has scored one win, two pole positions, three top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. He has an average starting position of 11.4, which is his second-best at all tracks, and he has led at least one lap in 13 of those starts for a total of 448 laps.

#99- Carl Edwards - Edwards has accumulated three wins at the 1.5-mile Texas track, the most of any active Sprint Cup driver. Edwards’ average start at Texas is 14.8 and his average finish is 15.0. He is one of only two drivers to win both the spring & fall events in the same year at Texas.

- Reported in Team News/Press Releases

Texas Motor Speedway History and Notes

At Texas Motor Speedway:
History
· Construction began in 1995.

· The first NASCAR race was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on April 5, 1997.

· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was on April 6, 1997.

Notebook
· There have been 23 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one per season from 1997 through 2004 and two races per year since 2005.

· Four drivers have competed in all 22 Texas races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.

· Jeremy Mayfield was the first pole winner, in 1998. Qualifying for the inaugural race in 1997 was canceled.

· Jeff Burton won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

· 16 drivers have scored poles, led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. with two.

· 16 drivers have won races, led by Carl Edwards, with three. Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle each have two wins.

· 17 of 23 races have been won from a top-10 starting position. Only one has been won from the pole - Kasey Kahne in 2006.

· Matt Kenseth started 31st en route to his victory at Texas in 2002, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.

· Both Jeff Burton (1999) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000) scored their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Texas, and 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne made his first series start at Texas (11/07/10).

· Martin Truex Jr. (11/04/07) and David Ragan (04/09/11) scored their first series poles at Texas.

· Matt Kenseth (8.6) and Jimmie Johnson (9.7) are the only active drivers to average a top-10 finish at Texas.

· Jimmie Johnson (9.2) is the only active driver to average a top-10 starting position at Texas.

· Roush Fenway Racing leads all owners in victories, with nine. Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have three wins each.

· There has been two season sweeps, by Carl Edwards in 2008 and Denny Hamlin in 2010.

· Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway winner: Ryan Newman (3/30/2003 – 25 years, 3 months, 22 days). Oldest NSCS Texas Motor Speedway winner: Dale Jarrett (4/1/2001 – 44 years, 4 months, 6 days).

· Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway pole winner: Brian Vickers (11/5/2006 – 23 years, 0 months, 12 days). Oldest NSCS Texas Motor Speedway pole winner: Bill Elliott (4/8/2002 – 46 years, 6 months, 0 days).

Texas Motor Speedway Data
Chase Race #: 8 of 10
Season Race #: 34 of 36 (11-04-12)
Track Size: 1.5-mile
Banking/Turns: 24 degrees
Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 2,250 feet
Backstretch Length: 1,330 feet
Race Length: 334 laps / 501 miles

Top 12 Driver Rating at Texas
Matt Kenseth............................. 107.2
Greg Biffle................................ 103.3
Tony Stewart............................. 102.5
Jimmie Johnson........................ 100.6
Carl Edwards.............................. 99.2
Kyle Busch................................. 96.8
Denny Hamlin............................. 94.6
Dale Earnhardt Jr........................ 92.8
Jeff Gordon................................ 91.3
Clint Bowyer............................... 90.9
Mark Martin................................. 89.0
Kurt Busch.................................. 89.0
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2012 races (15 total) among active drivers at Texas Motor Speedway

- NASCAR Statistics

NASCAR This Week on ESPN

NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series at Texas
The NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth this weekend with races on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3-4. ESPN will have a live telecast of Sunday’s 500-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the eighth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, with NASCAR Countdown at 2 p.m. ET and the race’s green flag at 3:16 p.m. Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race also airs on ESPN, with NASCAR Countdown at 7 p.m. and the green flag at 7:41 p.m.  Also from Texas, ESPN2 will televise NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying on Friday, Nov. 2, at 4:30 p.m. All NASCAR programming on ESPN and ESPN2 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets with the WatchESPN app and WatchESPN.com.

Announcers:
Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer Allen Bestwick (Sprint Cup); Marty Reid (Nationwide); analysts Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree.
Pit reporters: Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch.
NASCAR Countdown: Nicole Briscoe (host); Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham, Brad Daugherty (analysts).

NASCAR Now Schedule
ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now will preview the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway in the one-hour edition airing Sunday, Nov. 4, at 8 a.m. ET. Host Mike Massaro will be joined in the studio by ESPN NASCAR analyst Ricky Craven with reporters Marty Smith and Ryan McGee at the track. Massaro and Craven will review the race Sunday night at 10 p.m. while ESPN analyst Rusty Wallace joins for more review on Monday’s show at 11:30 p.m. The week’s schedule:

Date    Time          Show                  Host              Network
Mon., Oct. 29 3 p.m.  NASCAR Now Marty Reid            ESPN2
Tue., Oct. 30 3:30 p.m. NASCAR Now Marty Reid            ESPN2
Wed., Oct. 31 3 p.m.  NASCAR Now Marty Reid            ESPN2
Thu., Nov. 1 3 p.m.  NASCAR Now Mike Massaro       ESPN2
Fri., Nov. 2 4 p.m.  NASCAR Now Mike Massaro       ESPN2
Sun., Nov. 4 8 a.m.  NASCAR Now Mike Massaro       ESPN2
Sun., Nov. 4 10 p.m.  NASCAR Now Mike Massaro       ESPN2

- ESPN Media Zone  

Dale Earnhardt Jr Driver Press Conference Transcript October 26, 2012

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET AND CREW CHIEF STEVE LETARTE, met with members of the media at Martinsville Speedway and discussed returning to competition this weekend and the process Dale has gone through in healing his concussion. 

TALK ABOUT HOW THINGS HAVE BEEN GOING SINCE WE LAST SAW YOU AT CHARLOTTE: “It’s been just a lot of time off. A lot of time on my hands. Just exercising, and doing what the doctors told me to do. Feeling better every day. Just going through the process. You just have got to be patient and let thing happen. I’ve learned a ton, just about what I’ve went through. Feel like I’m a lot smarter. A lot more prepared, and understand the situation a lot better now than I did beforehand. So, that’s really good. It’s been a good experience. It’s something I’d rather not have went through; I learned a lot from it. It’s been good for me. I’m just excited to be back to work. Get back in the car, and get back to normal. Get back to the life that I’m used to.”

STEVE – WE KNOW DALE RAN SOME LAPS EARLIER THIS WEEK AT GRESHAM MOTORSPORTS PARK AND YOU WERE PLEASED WITH HOW IT WENT: “Yes. Part of the sequence of events that the doctor laid out was that Dale and him had things they had to work through. But then from a team standpoint, they expected us to take the car to the race track and just run some laps. We went down to Gresham; it’s a nice little short track that we were able to run. I think we ran 125 laps. I thought the laps were great; the times were great. His (Dale, Jr.) feedback was as good as it always it. So, that was really encouraging. Excited to have him back here at Martinsville.”

DALE, WHAT SORT OF SUPPORT DID YOU GET FROM OTHER DRIVERS, FROM YOUR FANS DURING THE TIME YOU WERE OUT OF THE CAR? “I was really kind of shutoff from everything. I got some text messages from people that it was nice to know people are thinking about you. Most of the guys that I got contacted by were just wishing I was at the race track. Wishing I was racing with them. That it just didn’t seem normal not to be racing with me. And, I felt the same way. It wasn’t normal for me to be sitting at home. I had great support from the fans, and my family and everybody.”

A LOT OF SPECULATION THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE REST OF THE YEAR OFF. DID YOU EVER CONSIDER SITTING OUT THE REST OF THE YEAR? “I left the table of options really kind of open.  Like the decision to get out of the car in the first place; I wanted the doctors to make that decision instead of me. If I could race, I wanted to be at the race track. It’s what I love to do. If the doctors felt that I was healthy enough to do that, I wanted to be doing it. I’ve really kind of left all that up to them throughout the whole process. And, I’ve been honest and upfront about how I felt every day and when we go through exercises – how those are affecting me.  I’ve been pretty honest, and so far they’ve been real pleased with what they’ve seen, and feel like I can get back in the car. That is what I want to do. I felt like I could have raced in Kansas for sure, and probably ran at Charlotte with no problem. I feel foolish…you know…I feel kind of foolish sitting at home feeling okay, and not being in the car. It feels really un-natural. I feel good, and the doctors say it’s okay, I want to be in the car.”

WHAT HAVE THE LAST TWO AND HALF WEEKS BEEN LIKE FOR YOU?  HAVE YOU BEEN SCARED? HAVE YOU BEEN FRUSTRATED OR DO YOU KIND OF GO WITH THE FLOW? “Just probably more going with the flow. There have been times when it’s frustrating because you want your brain to clear up, and the fogginess to go away, and all those symptoms to go away. Every concussion is different. They’re kind of like snowflakes. Everyone is different and you react differently to each one. Like I said, I’ve learned a whole lot about it. I feel good knowing what I know now about it; know what I’ve learned about it. It’s just been really frustrating at times. Regan (Smith) did a really good job for the team. I told him that I was worried about the momentum we’d built as a team, and he maintained that. I feel like we didn’t miss a beat and I can get back in the car as if nothing has really been changed. That couldn’t have went better. It was really hard to see your car out there running around turning laps without you in it. That was difficult. I just know we had a really good test up until the tire blew at Kansas, and I was really expecting to go there and run really well; so it was frustrating knowing how good of a car we had, and not being able to enjoy that with the team. But, you just kind of have to be patient and stay in regular contact with the doctors. Once I got to know the guys at Pittsburgh (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Center for Sports Medicine Concussion Program -UPMC), I was on the phone with Micky (Dr. Michael Collins) twice a day, just talking about everything that I was doing and everything I was feeling, because I just wanted to do it right. I didn’t want to take any chances, and I wanted to get back in the car as soon as I could. But, I wanted to make sure it was not too quick.”

WITH ALL THAT YOU HAVE LEARNED THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS, WILL YOUR APPROACH GOING FORWARD CHANGE WHEN IT COMES TO ISSUES LIKE THIS AS FAR AS YOU LOOK AT ANOTHER INCIDENT IN THE FUTURE? “Yes, absolutely. It changes the way I feel about it to where if I know I’ve suffered another concussion, or if I have symptoms after an accident, I’m definitely going to be a lot more responsible about it. I can understand people’s opinions that they would try to push through it, or they would ignore it to stay in the car because I did the same thing in the past. Some concussions are kind of light, and the symptoms are real light. If you don’t have another incident, you feel like you can get through it. Some concussions are really bad, and I don’t care how tough you think you are, and your mind is not working the way it is supposed to, it scares the shit out of you. You are not going to think about race cars. You aren’t going to think about trophies. You are not going to think about your job. You’re going to be thinking about what do I got to do to get my brain working the way it was before. That’s going to jump right to the top of the priority list, I promise you.  I definitely take it more seriously now after everything I’ve learned. I’m glad I did what I did. I hate the attention that it got, and hate kind of being in front of you guys talking about it. But, I’m glad it did what I did. I’m glad I took the time off and made the choices that I made. They were hard to make, but I had to do it. I had to do it. I didn’t have a choice. I knew something wasn’t right. You can’t ignore concussions. It’s really dangerous doing that. You read about it in the papers, and I was going through it. I was living it. So, I had to make a choice, and I feel like I made the right one.”

HOW DO YOU APPROACH THIS WEEKEND? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN GET IN THE CAR AND BE THE OLD DALE?  OR DO YOU KIND OF HAVE TO EASE INTO THE FIRST PART AND KIND OF GET YOUR BALANCE? “I feel like I’ve been out of the car for a year. It doesn’t feel like a couple of weeks. But, I think we can go right to it. I felt good at the test. I like this race track, and I feel like we can run good here, and I want to do a good job over the next four weeks. I want to run hard, and I want us to go into every weekend trying to do what we’ve been doing all year long.”

YOU MENTIONED BEING SHUT OFF FROM EVERYTHING, JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD TALK ABOUT THE LAST TWO WEEKS WHAT YOU WERE LIMITED TO AS FAR AS TELEVISION, AS FAR AS CONTACT WITH THE TEAM.  WHAT DID YOU DO DURING THE LAST TWO WEEKS?
“The first 48 hours they told me not to do anything so I just kind of didn’t do anything.  I slept a lot.  No TV, just basically just standing walking around the house doing nothing.  It was really weird. So I went back to the doctor and I told him that I couldn’t do that anymore that I need to watch TV or play video games or something.  I needed some kind of entertainment.  I went to Pittsburgh and they put me on a physical and mental exercise program that I did every day.  That really made the biggest difference it was really crazy because I went to Pittsburgh a mess.  I was just really mentally a mess.  The doctors up there we talked for the whole day and went through these exercises and did a lot of stuff and in 12 hours I felt really good.  I felt completely different, I couldn’t believe it.  It’s been pretty normal the last 15 days or so have felt a lot better and everything about my life is back to normal except for the driving part.  I just haven’t been able to do my job so I’m glad to be doing this.”

YOU KNOW BRAD KESELOWSKI, HE DROVE FOR YOU, HOW IS HE GOING TO HOLD UP IN THIS SITUATION?  A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY HE MIGHT CRACK UNDER THE PRESSURE:
“I don’t think he’s going to crack.  I think he’s going to be hard to beat.  I think he will be a tough competitor all the way through.  Brad has been waiting on this opportunity all his life so I don’t expect him to crack under the pressure.  I think he will be tough.”

YOU SAID YOU WENT TO PITTSBURGH FEELING LIKE A MESS AND I KNOW THAT THE TEAM RELEASE SAID YOU HADN’T HAD ANY HEADACHE SYMPTOMS FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS, BUT WERE THERE MOMENTS HERE LIKE UP UNTIL YOU GOT IN THE CAR AT GRESHAM AND UP UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY GOT CLEARED TUESDAY WERE THERE MOMENTS YOU THOUGHT MAYBE YOU WOULDN’T MAKE IT BACK, MAYBE THIS ISN’T GOING TO WORK OUT?
“The part of the two concussions, I’m trying not to get long winded, but the two concussions were completely different as far as where my brain was injured.  As far as I can understand what the doctors have told me.  The first one at Kansas was your typical concussion where the frontal lobe and the headaches and the fogginess that you typically feel.  The one that I had at Talladega was a vestibular is what they call it.  It’s more in the back or the base of the brain where the brain and your spine sort of connect.  It sort of mixed up a lot of anxiety and emotional stuff so they symptoms were more like anxiety driven.  If I would get into sort of a busy situation I would just get a lot of anxiety.  I was already that way anyways I’ve never really been much on being around crowds and a lot of people.  So the two concussions were completely different.  I was dealing with different symptoms.  When I went up there to Pittsburgh I was just really frustrated, when I say I was a mess, I was just really frustrated and having a lot of anxiety about, man how long is this last, is this ever going to be right again.  I had no answers, didn’t know anything.  These guys up there are the professionals and I just asked them everything I wanted to know.  Then we went through all these drills and exercises, they ran me ragged.  It was a fun day.  By the end of the day I felt like I understood what I was dealing with, understood what the process was and I felt a whole lot better.  If I ever got any doubts I would just call Mick up and we would talk about it for an hour.  Really that was the best therapy for me just kind of understanding what was going on.  The typical symptoms of being foggy and having headaches those were really prevalent in the first concussion, not so much in this one.”

IN RACING YOU CAN TAKE SOME FEARSOME HITS, BUT WHEN YOU COMPARE IT TO SAY FOOTBALL OR HOCKEY A PERSON MIGHT TAKE FIVE FEARSOME HITS IN ONE GAME.  I JUST WONDERED WHAT YOU HAD LEARNED OR IF YOU HAD THOUGHT ABOUT THAT AND THE FACT THAT YOU DO HAVE RECOVERY TIME? DOES THAT MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT LESS TROUBLE YOU MIGHT GET IN THIS SPORT THAN IN OTHERS?

“I guess you could say that.  I don’t have any statistical facts or anything, but I was surprised to hear how much more often the guys in the NFL have issues than we do.  We were talking about how many concussions I thought I’d had in a year and it was somewhere between four… or how many I had in my career and it was somewhere between four and six.  They were saying that most of the guys in the NFL have that many a season.  I just can’t imagine.  That would be a scary situation to be in.  The symptoms alone are frustrating trying to just go through your everyday life.  I would compare it to like a computer that has too many processes running in the back ground that slows it down and it just doesn’t work as fast.   Programs don’t start up as quick and things sort of hang up in the middle.  That is kind of what it’s like.  The G-forces are way different for the different sports and everything sort of happens differently in the event itself as far as a race car versus a guy having a helmet to helmet hit.  The even itself is quite different in the way the brain handles the traumas different.  I felt like that our sport I do have an opportunity to get back in the car probably sooner than you would on the football field because on the football field you are going to go out  there and you are going to run into somebody head on the first opportunity you get.  You better make sure you have your melon in good shape if you are going to do that.”

DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL AT ALL LIKE YOUR CAREER COULD BE FLEETING AT THIS POINT WITH LAYERING?  DO YOU WORRY THAT ONE MORE BAD ONE AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO STOP?
“I guess I don’t really think about that too much.  The one thing that I can tell you is that I’m definitely going to be honest with myself and honest with the doctors.  I’m going to do whatever they tell me to do.  I want to be able to live a full life and not have any issues down the road, but I feel pretty fortunate to have recovered from this concussion rather quickly.  I feel lucky that I made the choices that I did to give myself that opportunity.  I think that had I tried to push through this second one I would have really put myself in a lot of danger.  I think we can just hope that I don’t have any more big hits for a while and race another five, 10 years and have some fun.”

WHAT WAS THE SINGLE THING YOU MISSED MOST ABOUT BEING IN THE CAR?
“The team, just working with the team, working with the guys, we’ve got a pretty good relationship and I really enjoy working with them and being at the track.  Just going through practice, making a change, it working and everybody getting excited about that just that small improvement that we made.  It’s hard to put your finger on one detail, but when you are sitting there watching the race go on I miss hearing Steve (Letarte) and T.J. (Majors) voices and just being in the car and going through the process.  Begin out there and competing watching all my peers compete and just wishing I was in the mix being out there doing it.  Just being around the guys, every one of my guys we’ve gotten a great relationship built over the last couple of years.  It’s fun to race with them, it’s fun to go to work with them.”

GROWING UP DID YOU SEE YOUR DAD HAVING THE SAME SYMPTOMS AS YOU HAD AFTER HE TOOK HE TOOK SOME HARD HITS?
“No, it’s really hard to tell when somebody has a concussion unless they speak up and say something.  Concussions are pretty easy to hide.  I’ve never known anyone that had one or been around anybody that had a concussion and wasn’t being honest about it.”

ON WEARING A NEW HELMET THIS WEEKEND: 
“I am going to wear a new helmet this week.  I know that is going to draw a lot of attention it might not.  It’s a Stilo helmet and I had worn one before.  I like the helmet back then a couple of years ago when I decided to wear it back then, but there was a particular part about the helmet that I didn’t like that they weren’t able to make an adjustment for at the time so I went away from the helmet.  I’m going back to it.  This was all sort of in the process prior to all this concussion stuff.  I didn’t want anybody to really put two and two together thinking that I’m changing away from my Impact helmets because of the concussions. That is not the case at all.  I have just wanted to try to the Stilo helmet since they made some modifications to it.  It’s definitely not a final decision I’m just checking it out because I liked it before.  It’s a nice helmet, but I’ve enjoyed my Impacts too but I’m going to try this one out and see how it works.  I’ve enjoyed working with Impact and I do like their helmets and I just didn’t want anybody to get the wrong idea there.”

- Team Chevy Racing