YOU’RE WITH A NEW TEAM THIS YEAR.  HOW HAS IT GONE SO FAR?  “There are a lot of new
things.  Obviously, I’m with a new team, but another big thing is I
had never driven the 2013 car yet, so I have some things to learn in
both directions.  I’m driving a Ford again, so I’m excited about that,
but it’s been interesting for sure.  I think Todd and I are working
good together and learning each other.  I think he’s trying to figure
out when I say it’s tight, how tight is it?  He’s trying to get a
reference on the magnitude of adjustments we need to make, so I think
we’re getting there.  We’re making some changes on the car.  We still
need a little bit more speed in it, which you’ll never have enough
speed because you’re always working on that more and more, but I think
so far, so good.  I think we’ve had some good direction to go back to
the shop and work on and try to find some more.”
 
HOW WAS YOUR USO TRIP AND WHAT IMPACT DID IT HAVE ON YOU?  “It was
really cool because we got to go to Kuwait and Germany.  Kuwait was
definitely an eye-opening experience.  It was actually a lot different
than I thought.  I was kind of expecting to go there and see a bunch
of mud hut type houses and things like that, but it was really nice.
There is a huge city there, but then you go out in the desert and you
meet a lot of the troops that are out on the bases and it’s a
different world out there.  But all of the Kuwaitis were really nice
people and welcomed us, so I thought that was really cool, and
obviously to meet the troops and hear some of their stories about
what’s going on.  We got to go for a ride in a Humvee and a couple
other vehicles out there and check out their toys out there, so I
thought it was interesting.  I learned a lot and then we flew to
Germany and I figured out it was a lot colder there because it’s
snowing there right now.  I froze my butt off, but it was cool because
we went to the hospital where a lot of the guys go who are fighting in
Afghanistan.  We met a lot of the troops and doctors, so it was
definitely worth it to me.  I thought it was definitely an eye-opening
experience.  It’s the least I could do for what they do for us.
They’re possibly sacrificing their lives.  It’s pretty easy for me to
just fly over there and say hello, so I should at least do that.”
 
DID YOU DO THE HORSEPOWER CHANGE YESTERDAY AND WHAT WERE THE PLUSSES
AND MINUSES OF THAT?  “My initial thought when I jumped in the car
with the horsepower  was it was like a Nationwide car on steroids, and
then when they took the horsepower away I said, ‘Oh, it’s like a
Nationwide car.’  It was kind of what I expected.  Personally, I’m
more for the horsepower.  I think most drivers would probably say
that.  I think more horsepower the better, personally.  That’s just
human nature.  You always want more horsepower in your car driving
down the road too, so it’s the same thing as a race car driver and I
think it puts on great racing out there.  I think if you watch the two
practice races or whatever you want to call them out there, I thought
the one with the horsepower was a little bit better, personally.”
 
WILL WE SEE TRACK RECORDS BROKEN THIS YEAR WITH THIS NEW CAR?  “You’ve
got a lot more downforce, but these cars have more drag, so you don’t
really feel like you’re accelerating that much down the straightaway.
That’s why I’m saying when you take the horsepower away you don’t feel
like you’re accelerating much at all, but, like I say, you’ve got
downforce.  You’re going through the corners a lot faster than what we
did before because you’re in the gas a lot more.  I think at certain
tracks you will and certain tracks you won’t.  It’s interesting.  It
is cold out, so that’s a lot of temperature and that’s a lot of speed
in the race track right now.  And with it being cooler out today,
we’re going even faster, so you take all of that with a grain of a
salt.  I think speeds will be up.  I think there is definitely some
possibility for track records being broke, but we have to kind of wait
and see what the package is gonna be when it’s all said and done here
from NASCAR.”
 
WHAT HAS THIS TRANSITION BEEN LIKE FOR YOU AND HOW DO YOU FEEL YOU AND
BRAD WILL COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER?  “It’s been pretty cool, for sure.
We’ve been working with each other throughout the off-season and kind
of getting a gameplan on and what’s gonna happen, but yesterday was
the first time we worked together at the race track driving a race car
and then sitting down with him and talking about, ‘What do you think
about this?  What’s your car doing?’  Back and forth, and it’s been
really good.  The lines of communication have been very open between
both teams and I’m really excited about that.  I think that’s
definitely one of the biggest things I like over there right now.  I
think that’s definitely cool having Brad working with me and vice
versa.  I think it’s gonna be good.  I’m excited about it.  They
include me a lot, even with the decisions on personnel, so I like how
they include the driver a lot.”
 
DO YOU EXPECT THIS CAR TO ACT MUCH DIFFERENTLY IN TRAFFIC THAN THE OLD
CAR?  “It did seem quite a bit different.  I think we’ve got to
fine-tune it still into being able to race better.  You always want to
keep the racing as good as possible and that’s the whole reason to get
this ’13 car out there is to hopefully improve the racing.  I feel
like it was good for us to go out there, run in a pack, and see what
it’s like.  I know some of the things I used to use to pass cars, some
of the tools I would use, doesn’t really work anymore, so I to kind of
learn and try something else.  I think throughout the whole field
drivers are gonna have to be doing that – to find new ways to pass
guys and change things up because these cars are different.  I think
there will be some more fine-tuning to try and help us race around
each other easier throughout the year.”
 
CAN YOU TELL ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE CAR AS FAR AS WHERE YOU ARE
OUT ON THE TRACK?  DOES IT REACT DIFFERENTLY GOING INTO THE CORNER?
“I think as far as the line, it’s still a race car.  My line is fairly
similar.  My line has gone more to a Nationwide line, I will say that.
 Having more downforce it doesn’t feel like you have as much
straightaway speed, so you’re able to arc the corners more.  The cars
handle better, so it goes more to that.  The big thing, I think, in
traffic that I think changed the cars a lot is you took a lot of that
yaw away, so the cars aren’t sideways anymore.  It doesn’t seem like
there’s as much air going down the left side, so sticking your
left-front out and trying to get air on your left-front fender didn’t
seem like you got the reward as you used to get.  I think that’s
probably one of the biggest things that has made these cars drive
different in the pack.”
 
ARE THERE WAYS YOU THINK BRAD IS GOOD AT THAT CAN HELP YOU AND VICE
VERSA?  “He won the championship, so he’s pretty good.  He seems to be
pretty good.  It’s really cool to have a teammate that’s a student of
the sport, that really studies it and will push me to do things
differently.  I think the coolest thing that Brad is able to do is
he’s able to think outside of the box – like way outside the box.  I
think that’s interesting to me, to see the way his mind works.  I’ve
learned a lot the last couple days and the ways he thinks through a
race car is a little bit different than normal, and I think that’s
cool. I think it’s good to have a little bit of both on a team, so I
can learn a lot on the way he leads a team and drives a race car and
the way he sets up his car.  I seem to be a little bit different, the
things he looks for.  There are a lot of different things.  The way he
drives his car is a little bit different than me, too.  Taking some of
his techniques, I’ve tried them out there and there are pros and cons
to everything, but it gives me a few more tools to work with when I’m
out there.”
 
CAN YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF HOW HE THINKS OUTSIDE THE BOX?  “There are
definitely plenty of ways.  When I say think outside the box I’m
thinking just the way he drives his car.  I don’t want to let his
tricks out in the open, but just the way he looks into a long run
differently than I do or I’ve really seen out there before.  So it’s
kind of interesting to see that part, for sure.”
 
DO YOU HAVE ANY CHRISTMAS OR NEW YEAR’S PLANS?  “I’m gonna stay home.
I have plenty of stuff to do here.  I’m trying to catch up from being
on the USO Tour.  I don’t really have many other trips scheduled.
We’ll have a few appearances coming up.  I’m gonna go on a Shell oil
rig, so that will be kind of cool to check that out, but, for the most
part, I’m staying here.  We’ve got a few more photo shoots to do, so
we’ll stay busy trying to acclimate myself with Penske Racing and I’ll
be over there as much as I can to get the team ready.”
 
WHEN IS THIS OIL RIG TRIP?  “It’s coming up.   It’s in January at some
point, so it will be kind of cool.  They take you out in a helicopter,
so it will be cool to check it out.  It’s going to be neat.”
 
YOU’RE DOING SOME ICE SKATING AS WELL?   “My parents are running the
outdoor ice rink at the drag strip (in Concord, NC).  They teamed up
with Charlotte Motor Speedway and they have the rink down at Extreme
Ice Center in Indian Trail, so they’re trying to promote their rink
and they’re going to run the one up here, too.  My sister is a figure
skater, so that’s where the ice skating stuff comes from, so I’m gonna
go out there tonight and skate.”
 
YOU PLAYED SOME HOCKEY GROWING UP, RIGHT?  “Yeah.  That’s why I drive
race cars now (laughing).  I wasn’t very good.  I was laughing and
joking with Brad.  I said, ‘Both of us aren’t very coordinated.
Everyone would laugh if we had a basketball game against each other.’
I think it would be the funniest thing you’ve ever seen.  It would be
hilarious.  I think I might have him beat, but I’m pretty bad.”