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Chip Ganassi Racing Expects More In 2015

(L-R) Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi, co-owner of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Felix Sabates, co-owner of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, and Jamie McMurray, driver of the #1 Chevrolet, pose for photos during day 4 of the Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour.  [Credit: Jared C. Tilton/NASCAR via Getty Images]

 

Charlotte, NC— Celebrating their 25th year as an organization members of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates met with the media during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom and made it clear the team expects to make the Chase in 2015 and contend for the Sprint Cup.

“When I look back at 2014, I think it wasn’t exactly what we planned because we weren’t in the Chase and that’s unacceptable,” team owner Chip Ganassi stated, “We obviously want to be in the Chase and we expected to be there last year and we expect to be there this year.”

“I think we are building a good foundation and continue to strengthen our team in all aspects of it,” Ganassi continued, “A lot of that is contributed to our staff who have done a great job.”

Jamie McMurray returns to drive the organizations #1 Chevrolet coming off a season where he won the All Star race and 2014 Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson begins his second season behind the wheel of the #42 entry.

“I thought overall our performance each week was actually good and really around when we won the All Star race we had the opportunity to win some races,” McMurray said, “Like a lot of teams we had a lot of tire issues last year and that hurt our chances to make the Chase. But overall speed wise last year was probably my best season at a lot of different type tracks. Typically you go into the year and maybe struggle at the intermediate tracks or vice versa but I thought last year we ran well at every type track so I’m really just ready to get going. I’m ready to get back at it.”

New NASCAR rules for 2015 have not concerned McMurray as much as some others as he feels consistency is still the key to success.

“I don’t think there has been that much change to the car. NASCAR is pretty conservative when it comes to aero changes which I agree with,” McMurray stated, ”To me, the unknown right now is the engine package.”

“The no testing I think everybody is in favor of but it makes your off season really boring,” McMurray continued, “For me it’s really about being consistent and I thought last year was probably my best year of being the most consistent. My weakness has probably been taking your bad day and getting the most out of it. When you have a car capable of winning you can get there but when the car is not right or something happens late in the race I need to make sure I get a little more out of it.”

Larson said he looks to build on his strong rookie season a year ago in which he ran strong in several races to improve his performance in 2015

“The next step is to win some races and definitely make the Chase,” Larson said, “I thought we were close to winning a few races last year so I think we can go out there and win a few races this year and go for the championship as well. Had we made the Chase last year we would have been a contender up until the last round. I think we can go out there and do it better this year.”

The new automated pit road enforcement system will be a new learning process for Larson in 2015 as some of the infractions noted for this year came as a surprise.

“I know how many stalls there are when I come into my pit box but I never thought about leaving the box,” Larson stated, “We met with NASCAR the other day and they showed the video with the explanation of the penalties and I didn’t even know there was a rule about leaving the pit box. I don’t think anybody did. I mean, crossing too many pit stalls on your way out that’s not something any official pays attention to as they’re probably looking for lug nuts on the ground. Now that the cameras are there to catch you there are more things you have to pay attention to on pit road. That’s something we’ll have to go over as a team.”

With drivers being able to make some adjustments such as the track bar from the car in 2015, Larson said he is more concerned with driving the car as fast as it can go rather than attempting to understand the set ups.

“Mechanically wise, I don’t want to honestly because I’ve listened to some drivers even racing sprint cars and now NASCAR you have your drivers that are too into what’s going on that I think can hurt the way the car is performing,” Larson said, “It’s not my job to set up the car, I just tell them what I’m feeling and let them adjust to it. They have that Problem Solver of the Race award and we finished second. That award is for what crew chief gets their car handling the best during the race and we finished second so I feel like we communicate really well and get better throughout the race for sure.”

“I think if the car is not handling right rather than me complain about it I just try and make it better myself driving,” Larson continued. “Obviously I communicate still but I’m not the type of driver that just commits to the bottom all race long and tries to work on my car to be better on the bottom all race long. I’m the type of guy that if my car goes away down there, I’m going to move up and try and find a better line. If that line goes away I’m going to search again. I think that’s a good thing.”

 

 

 

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