Chevrolet drivers thoughts heading to Dover International Speedway

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

TEAM CHEVY IN THE GARAGE DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY – PAT SUHY, MANAGER – CHEVROLET RACING OVAL TRACK GROUP: “Congratulations to Kasey Kahne on his first win for Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series race this past weekend in Charlotte. It's always nice to add another name to our long list of winners in NASCAR's top series.

“This coming weekend, the action moves to Dover International Speedway, aptly nicknamed the "Monster Mile". It's a challenging one-mile high-banked track with bumps and heaves that challenge the chassis specialists at every team to provide setup options to maximize grip and maintain a stable aerodynamic platform. The drivers can also ‘tune’ on the car by searching out a line that works for the car at any given time and keeps them from losing too much time if the car isn't perfect on any given run. Our Team Chevy engineers have a suite of tools that complement our teams’ chassis engineers’ tools and skills. Over time, that powerful combination of the right people with the right tools has proven to be a winning one, making us the manufacturer to beat in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

“On Sunday afternoon the fans will get to see another great race at Dover, and there's a good chance that they'll also get to see a Chevrolet driver doing a burnout with the checkered flag waving as he heads to victory lane.”

TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET – 4th IN STANDINGS: “Dover has been good to me at times and a challenge at times. I like asphalt better than I like concrete, but as high-banking and as fast as Dover is, concrete was the only thing could really put down that would survive. Once the concrete ages a couple of years, it gets joints in it, and it becomes kind of like a wooden deck. It gets bumps in it and you just hop all the way around the racetrack. That’s just the way it goes.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S MADAGASCAR CHEVROLET – 5th IN STANDINGS: “I honestly don’t know. It just suits my driving style and I guess you could say my stats show that. You really have to learn how to get through the corners there. If you get it to turn in the center and you get good forward grip off of the corner you will typically turn a good lap. That’s the tough part though, figuring out how to get your car do that. I’m looking forward to seeing what we’ve got for it though.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 JIMMY JOHNS CHEVROLET – 7th IN STANDINGS: “We’ll have to have our Jimmy John’s Chevrolet handling well because the track is so fast and there are so many things happening so quickly at Dover (International Speedway) that the driver has to be comfortable in the car. It seems like at Dover (International Speedway) they always have one of those runs where you have green-flag pit stops and halfway through that run the caution comes out, so you have to be a little bit lucky to not end up on the wrong side of that.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/OFFICE DEPOT CHEVROLET – 9th IN STANDINGS: “Dover is a track that is kind of a two-phase deal. It’s easy to get your car too tight in the center (of the corner) trying to get it to drive up off the corner nice, and it seems like if you get it to rotate through the corner, then it’s way loose off. Those are the two things that you really battle there. It’s the sacrifice of where do you want to be a little bit off to accomplish having a balanced car.”

PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MENARDS/PPG CHEVROLET – 14th IN STANDINGS: “Dover (International Speedway) is one of my favorite tracks. We’ve run really well there, and we’ve run badly there in the past. It seems that Goodyear has changed the tire compound every time we go back there, so you have to start from square one to figure out the tire and what the car needs. Dover (International Speedway) and Bristol (Motor Speedway) are the two tracks that you get your greatest sense of speed. Darlington (Raceway) is like that, too. There are a few tracks where you feel like you’re going as fast as you are, and Dover is definitely one of them. The name is very fitting.”

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET – 15th IN STANDINGS: “We were really strong at Dover last fall, so I’m looking forward to this weekend. It’s a challenging track with a tight pit road. Qualifying well and getting a good pit stall will be important. I hope we can keep building on the momentum the (No.) 5 team and our teammates have right now.”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 BB&T CHEVROLET – 17th IN STANDINGS: “Dover (International Speedway) is a track where we normally run well. The track is pretty consistent between the two races in June and September. I really like the track. It is fun and you must be aggressive. We’ve had some good race cars there and won a race in 2006. It’s one of those race tracks where I’m really comfortable and feel like we should run well. If you say Dover (International Speedway) doesn’t intimidate you, you are lying. I couldn’t think of a more perfect nickname than the “Monster Mile.” You have to be exceptionally aggressive, but if you cross the line, you will be in trouble. It’s an incredible race track and a huge challenge, but I like going there. As long as I’ve gone to Dover (International Speedway), it has always been a fight between how loose I can be so that I can make speed, against how tight is too tight. It’s like that every time. You always know what the fight will be going into Dover. You see drivers go there and run well for a certain period of time, but then fall off for certain periods. For me, I know what our struggles will be going in and have an idea what we need to do to get into contention for a victory.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET – 18th IN STANDINGS: “I’ve always liked Dover. It was the first place I felt comfortable with the Sprint Cup car because it has a lot of banking, grip, you can pretty much run every line and it has fast corners like in open wheel. It is a fun place. When you have the car right, it is really good, but when you are off, you are way off and it’s hard to get the car turned around during the race. You’ve got to get the handling under control before heading into the race. We’re hoping for a strong run this weekend and getting this Target team back on track.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/ALLSTATE CHEVROLET – 21st IN STANDINGS: “I always look forward to racing at Dover, I think it is a really fun track, however things can happen real quick when the track narrows off the corners. This is one of the places that you have to race the track as much as the cars around you. I have had some good runs there in the past and would really like to get our Bass Pro Shops team back on track after our two weeks at home in Charlotte. We have some stuff that we are doing with the track and the Autism Speaks organization this weekend with their relationship at Dover and really looking forward to playing in their golf tournament on Thursday and meeting with some of the families on Sunday morning prior to the race. “

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET – 22nd IN STANDINGS: "Dover is very fast and very challenging. Our team has always excelled at tracks that have been the most challenging. But we haven't been as successful here recently as we would have liked. We've been constantly looking for that combination that will get us back to our winning ways here.

"Getting to pit road at Dover is very tricky, so I prefer to be conservative during green-flag pit stops. You don't want to attack (the entry) - I think you're better off being conservative and losing a little bit of time getting there safely than trying to get there super, super fast.”

REGAN SMITH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/CSX PLAY IT SAFE CHEVROLET – 23rd IN STANDINGS: "You better be ready with the right setup for Dover's monster mile or you'll be lapped quickly. That's a given. Dover is a fun place to race at when it's going well but on the other hand it can be awfully miserable if you're off the pace. It doesn't take long to be down a few laps. We've had some better performances at the past two Sprint Cup races, but still need to step up our program. We just need to keep hitting singles and not look for the home run. Keeping up the momentum is what we're looking for with our Furniture Row/CSX Play it Safe Chevrolet."

KURT BUSCH, NO. 51 PHOENIX CONSTRUCTION SERVICES INC. CHEVROLET – 25th IN STANDINGS: “Dover I think is our best chance at really doing well. It’s not a mile and a half but it races much faster than the mile that it is. We had a Goodyear tire test earlier this year. They actually changed the left-side tire. So we’re one of the few teams that have had that opportunity to drive on it. Our car had a lot of speed there during the test so I’m pumped up about it.”