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Stewart-Haas Racing Looks Ahead To 2015

Tony Stewart, owner and driver and drivers Danica Patrick, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch pose for photographers during the Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour at the Charlotte Convention Center.  [Credit Bob Leverone/NASCAR via Getty Images]

 

Charlotte, NC— After answering many of their skeptics questions a season ago to the tune of the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, members of the Stewart-Haas Racing organization met with the media on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom to express their outlook on the 2015 season.

“Last year we sat here and everybody wondered what the chemistry of this group was going to be like and I think we proved over the summer that what everybody thought was a time bomb actually was a really good combination,” team co-owner and driver Tony Stewart stated.

The 2015 Stewart-Haas line-up consists of the defending Sprint Cup championship team of Kevin Harvick in the #4 Chevrolet with crew chief Rodney Childers while Stewart returns to the #14 car with crew chief Chad Johnston. Danica Patrick will once again pilot the #10 Chevrolet with new crew chief Daniel Knost and Kurt Busch will drive the #41 entry with crew chief Tony Gibson. The crew chief swap between the #10 and #41 teams occurred late last season and will continue on into 2015.

“We have four drivers and crew chiefs and owners that have the same passion and drive and desire to win races and championships,” Stewart said,” It’s been a good combination.”

”The rules package is considerably different from last year and the fact that the testing policy has changed put more emphasis on our simulation programs, “Stewart continued, “It’s been a very exhausting process but at the same time it has shown us some strengths in our organization and we feel confident we’ve been able to take the areas we have the capability to make improvements and execute them.”

“To win the championship in the first year says a lot about the company and the resources and commitment that everybody has to it,” Harvick reiterated, “I don’t know it has set in 100% yet because you work so hard just to keep everything going on a daily basis and when you accomplish your goal, you don’t want to let your guard down the next year because you don’t want to fail. That’s really our motivation for the year is to not let everybody down on the second year.”

”Being able to experience what you’ve asked to experience and then to be able to actually experience it and verify that it is way more fun to win the championship than it is to lose it is very motivating in itself, “Harvick said, “I think that’s why it hasn’t sunk in as much for me as it probably needs to is just for the fact that I’ve never been a real believer in gloating in anything. You just want to move forward and try to continually do your job the best that you can. The great challenge at this point is being able to manage your time and I’m sure there will be some people that will be mad because they don’t get what they want but in the end it is all about winning races and the championship and I feel like we know from a time standpoint how we need to control it and do the things we do to continue to win and race for the championship.”

While Harvick’s team enjoyed the championship, there were some rough patches for the organization and Stewart went winless for the first time since breaking into NASCAR’s top series in 1999. Stewart told the media members in the audience he has put those difficult times behind him and is ready for the new season to begin.

”I’m really good actually. I just stayed home and relaxed and enjoyed time with my family and friends so from a personal side that was the best thing I could have done during the off-season, “Stewart admitted, “This is the best I’ve felt since I got hurt in the accident almost 2 years ago and I’m excited to get back in the car. It has made my desire stronger than it has ever been. I have not been happy with the last two years of my life by any means so it’s given me more drive and desire to go back and get back to the old form that our fans and sponsors are used to seeing us in. This is the most prepared I’ve been for a season.”

Kurt Busch, driver of the organization’s #41 Chevrolet, divulged that the drivers on the team have diverse driving styles as he and Stewart preferring cars set up looser while Patrick and Harvick tend to like race cars that are tighter in their set-ups.

”Each driver has their own driving style and things they would like to make changes on with their crew chief to get the balance you are looking for, “Busch explained, “If you are feeling like you are driving into the corner and are waiting for something because it is not your set-up then you are a half a tenth behind and in this day and age, a half a tenth means a lot. You have to find the balance within the trends of the set-ups so I’m looking forward to this year with the horsepower reduction and the down force reduction I’m finding that the key balance is what Tony Gibson and I will be working on. “

“We would like to continue to build on success we had from 2014, “Busch continued, “We won a race and made the Chase but that’s not what we are here to do, we are here to race for a championship. It’s team chemistry. Using the last three races of last year with Tony Gibson our average finish was 8.7 and we qualified in the top ten in all three races. Those are the types of races that we know we are capable of putting together and we need to do that in the first 26 races in 2015.”

Danica Patrick who will drive the #10 Chevrolet, agreed stating her goal for 2015 is to work on team communication while looking ahead to implementing new ideas with new crew chief Daniel Knost.

“I think in my second year in the Cup series there were certain things I wanted to work on and we wanted to work on as a group and I feel there was drastic improvement there even though the championship position didn’t really show for that, “Patrick stated, “There was a lot of improvements in areas that we wanted to so I consider that a success. Moving forward with Daniel Knost just opens up new possibilities and we’re going to be working hard to put all of our best ideas together and stay positive and make our goal happen. Daniel will definitely bring a different point of view as he is much more of an engineer.”

“We have to use all our resources too,” Patrick continued, “Smart guys like Daniel (Knost) tend to believe in what they have learned because they are very intelligent and that’s how they got there but we have a lot of resources at Stewart-Haas Racing within as well as outside so it’s about using the other crew chiefs and what they’ve learned. Using all of our resources is the challenge. It’s almost like you are spread too thin before you really ever start so you have to focus and let the work that affects the speed of the car be the biggest focus and every now and then change to some other things that need attention.”

 

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