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Written by:
Megan Englehart
01/13/2008 - 07:00 PM
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Crew Chief Tony Eury, Jr. (L) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., seen here at Daytona testing, are ready to get back to their winning ways. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR) » More Photos
Monday's NASCAR Preseason Thunder on SPEED recapped the opening day of the second session of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing at Daytona. John Roberts hosted the on-site special with assistance from Adam Alexander and Larry McReynolds. SPEED's coverage from Daytona will continue Jan. 15-17 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Following are excerpts from Monday's show, including interviews with Tony Eury, Jr., Dario Franchitti, Kevin Harvick, Sam Hornish, Dale Jarrett and Tony Stewart.
Tony Eury, Jr.: Since we left Homestead, I was ready to go. That was when I kind of took over. We've got some things we're changing around. Just trying to bring the level of the team up to where the 24 and 48 are. There is no doubt they are the best team in the Hendrick organization. We'll have four great teams. The job at hand is getting through Speedweeks. Nothing would make me any happier than we did back in 2003-2004 when we came down here and swept the weekends. Those days are precious and if I could do it again, I'd love to.
Dario Franchitti: The past 11 seasons, I've kind of known exactly what I'm going into -- the places and the same tracks and stuff but this is entirely new. It's going to be really cool. I remember before my first (Indy) 500 how nervous I was. Again, I haven't even been to watch a Daytona 500. I've watched it a whole lot on TV. It's going to be cool.
(KEVIN HARVICK)
John Roberts: Just how big would it be to get a repeat in the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500?
Kevin Harvick: "I underestimated the magnitude of winning the Daytona 500 tremendously. After we won the race, with everyone still talking about it, that's all anyone wanted to talk about. That's just the way it is because Daytona is what makes NASCAR what it is. It was great for our whole Shell-Pennzoil team and once you do it once, you want to do it again.
Larry McReynolds: Kevin, no matter what happens in January leading up to the 500, what matters is getting to the end of the Daytona 500. I go back to last year at testing, all of RCR was slow at testing and are slow this year. I think those three RCR cars were the slowest three cars for Daytona 500 qualifying but you got the car good for the race.
Harvick: We came to the test this year with a plan. We split up different things between six cars. We had to run through all the motors today and decide what was what. On the engine side, we've got twice as much to sort through this year with all the RCR and DEI stuff. We think we will come back better in the motor department. We came down here with a plan and don't look at the speed charts. Tomorrow we'll start working on the handling and work hard just like last year. I really think handling will be the key. Speed wouldn't hurt but handling will be the key for the race.
McReynolds: I think with the Car of Tomorrow, that certainly is one huge difference from last year. Luck has a big role in it but when I look back at the 29 team with the COT car last year, not a lot of bright spots. Any gains on the COT?
Harvick: I look back at the whole year
Sam Hornish: Having the opportunity to come into the first race of the year, which is also the biggest race of the year, knowing that you're guaranteed in is a big relief off your shoulders. Just being able to focus on the car real good and not worry about qualifying so much.
Dale Jarrett: A lot of this goes back to David Reutimann and his team being here last week. We got to skip a lot of the stuff they had to go through. It's made my job a lot more fun and a lot easier. We get to work on some more things they couldn't get down to try to find a little more speed.
(TONY STEWART)
Adam Alexander: What is the biggest challenge for you guys in 2008?
Tony Stewart: I don't really know. I think we're still trying to figure out the Car of Tomorrow and I think the motor side will take care of itself. We're just figuring out the things we need to do to this COT car to get it as good as some of the other teams right now is probably going to be our biggest challenge.
Alexander: A lot of people talking about Toyota going to Victory Lane. Can that happen here next month?
Stewart: We'll see. Only time will tell. None of us know yet. We all ran by ourselves and nobody ran in the draft yet. Nobody knows who was showing their hand and who wasn't.
(ON DALE EARNHARDT, JR.)
John Roberts: Just how big is this year for Dale Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports?
Larry McReynolds: I think they will stay under a microscope again this year because I think Dale Earnahrdt, Jr. leaving DEI was the biggest story of last year. Certainly, Hendrick Motorsports had a championship year last year, not only with the 48 but with the 24. When I look back at Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s season last year, it was a championship-contending performance. They just couldn't close the deal. I think right now, all he is focused on is racing and all the other things are behind him. I think he knows he's got the best shot he's ever had at getting his first championship.
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