Talladega: Pole winner interview

Kevin Harvick -- #29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet

Note: First pole at Talladega. Third career pole.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CHANCES FOR THE RACE?

I think that over the past couple of years, here and Daytona, we always look forward to coming to the superspeedways. Obviously, everything at RCR is really good on the superspeedways. This year we went and destroyed both cars at Daytona, so we had to go home and build two brand new cars and it's been a lot of work and it's not something that you can do overnight. We had to build new chassis, new bodies, new everything. So, a lot of work and a lot of effort. I know when I called Todd Monday night and asked him what he was doing, he was still working at 9:00 at night and was ready to throw in the towel because he had enough of working on superspeedway cars. Hopefully we can carry the success from today and on until Sunday.

DALE EARNHARDT'S BIRTHDAY IS TODAY. HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THAT FOR YOU TODAY TO TAKE POLE POSITION?

Yeah, obviously it's really special for everyone at RCR and the whole GM Goodwrench Chevrolet crew and it means a lot to everybody and everything that's happened here in the past. Hopefully we can open a new chapter in that long book of history that Dale and Richard and everyone at RCR have shared here and get a win. We've been really close several times, so hopefully we can knock that door down.

YOU RAN A FEW LAPS IN PRACTICE BUT TOOK A BIG LEAP IN QUALIFYING

I think when you look back at most of the restrictor plate races, we usually just make one run and try to run our motor as little as possible. We don't chassis dyno our stuff or anything like that. We feel that our stuff is better when you don't put a bunch of laps and heat cycles on it and come in and cram cold water on it and things like that. That's always been the philosophy of myself, or Todd Berrier. All I do is hold the wheel here. Todd and everybody to run as few laps as possible. We put everything we think we have on the car. When you push it off the truck, it's pretty much what you've got. The brakes are pulled back and the thing is pretty much on keel at that point. There's no reason to beat a dead horse. It's all we've got.

TALLADEGA JITTERS? IS THIS TRACK SPECIAL TO YOU?

I love restrictor plate racing and this place. It's like a big chess match. It's like going to the local go kart track with a bunch of your buddies and beating the heck out of each other. It's fun, I think, to race. Some people would definitely disagree on that. I think a lot of it is how you approach things. I don't get any more nervous for a race here than I do anywhere else. I look forward to coming here because our cars are really good here. I get excited.

ARE YOU OVERDUE TO WIN HERE?

Well, I feel that we've put ourselves in a position to win. I felt that way at Bristol and we knocked that barrier down. You know, it's something where you can't really complain about finishing second. We've finished second or third here and always been in contention to win the race. Eventually that wall is going to fall down. That's kind of one thing I've learned that you can't beat yourself up over circumstances that have already happened. You go into the next race trying to make sure you approach it with a positive attitude and do everything you can to put yourself in a position to win.

THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE THE GREEN/WHITE/CHECKER ORIGINATED. DO YOU THINK THAT HAS BEEN BENEFICIAL?

Yeah, I think obviously the fans deserve to see a checkered flag under green finish. After St. Louis in the Truck race last year, we had to put a few extra stipulations into that. I thought it was fun to watch-St. Louis-but obviously I don't think tearing up 15 cars would be the right thing to do. I definitely think the green/white/checker is a good thing and good move to make it a part of our sport.

DO YOU FEEL THAT SOME GUYS COME HERE AND PLAY DEFENSE?

Yeah, there's definitely a group of us that have a different attitude toward restrictor plate racing. That attitude can reach out and bite you hard sometimes. It bit us hard at Daytona and I spent the first four weeks crippled, basically, in the driver's seat to try to keep up with everything. That's the chance you take. It's definitely something where I feel like the odds on your side if you're on the aggressive side and if you can keep the car at the front of the pack. I don't know the percentage you can put on it. 75-85% of the time, you're going to be in front of the wreck. The wreck could start up front, it could start in the middle, but a lot of the time, it's going to be back further in the back than if you're in the top 5.

DALE EARHARDT, JR. IS A FAN FAVORITE HERE

Yeah. If we win the race, they can throw stuff at me, too. I don't care. I'll be the target of some frustration from some race fans. I think there was a lot leading up to that. I think there were a few races and a caution if I don't remember right. And obviously it came down to a television camera deciding who was in front of who, so you can't really evaluate all that when you're sitting in the grand stands and you've drank 12 beers. You probably react a little differently than if you're sober. It was definitely a little bit chaotic. If they want to throw stuff at me, they can do it as long as we get to go to victory lane.

YOUR QUALIFYING GIVE YOU AN EDGE?

It makes you feel good but I think I'd have to agree with them that it doesn't matter where you start. A lot of it has to do with where your car runs compared with other cars. Staying out of the wreck. Putting yourself in position the last few laps and you're only as good as.a lot of times if someone is behind you can't go out of line and pass two or three cars by yourself. Even if you have a car that's faster than everyone else's, you can definitely win it from anywhere.

ENGINE PROGRAM AT RCR? PROBLEMS LIMITED TO RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACKS?

Let me think about how I can answer this without getting my ass chewed here! We've done a lot of work to make our engines better. I don't think we've had a distinct problem on our superspeedway stuff. I know we've done a lot of work to make them better. We still aren't where we need to be on the unrestricted race tracks. But we've made an improvement and are on track to make a better improvement through the year. You know, I've always been the first one to jump up and say that our engines aren't what they need to be and we need to go to work. Richard and everybody is listening to everything I have to say. Jeff Burton has helped with a lot of things at RCR since he has come in. A lot of the things that we talked about the last couple of years kind of came to a head and we've made progress and our going in the right direction for sure.

IN WHAT WAY HAS JEFF BURTON MADE THE ENGINE PROGRAM BETTER AT RCR?

I don't think Jeff Burton himself or myself or anybody has made it better other than Richard has taken it upon himself to go down and be a part of the engine shop and we came to a solution where we felt we had problems. And so, we've made a lot of progress. We've been behind and that's obviously not been something that I haven't said. It's not something that I'm trying to say to knock anything. I'm just trying to get better. We've made our bodies a lot better since Jeff has come along. That has been his biggest help, getting the bodies and the aerodynamic side of it better. There's not one person who has made it better. Jeff has brought his part to the table. You know, I brought my part to the table and Dave and the crew chiefs. Everyone is working together well. We all work together and try to make everything better, but you can only do so much in a certain amount of time.

IS THERE A RIVALRY BETWEEN RCR AND DEI?

I don't think there's a rivalry. There's definitely not anything like it used to be as far as sharing information and stuff going back and forth as when Dale was alive. I didn't get to see that before on the Cup side. There's really, other than Chevrolet's stuff, not much shared between the teams anymore.

HAD YOU NOT GOT IN THAT WRECK IN DAYTONA, DO YOU FEEL YOU COULD HAVE WON WITH THAT CAR?

I feel had we had that car on Sunday, we would have been in contention to win the race, so the car we had in the trailer is the same car we had here today. The same car we had in the Daytona 500 and wrecked. The car we had in the 125s was definitely substantially better than the car we ran in the 500 and that car would have contented for the win, definitely.

QUALIFYING TAKES A LONG TIME HERE. IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO DO IT?

Yeah, there is. I think we should do Busch qualifying today and Cup qualifying so we don't have to come on Thursday. But to answer your question, no, there is no better way to do it. Jeff Burton said it best that it's a formality and you have to go through it. Two laps here takes a lot longer than somewhere else. I think the process will be a lot better when they're impounding and you can't go all the oils and change the brakes and do all the things. You'll have a lot better show because the two hours of practice, it will be all race practice. Nobody will care about qualifying. It will be just like Busch practice. I think once we get to that point in the schedule, it will definitely be a better show because you'll get to see everything. If you don't feel like sitting around and watching qualifying for three hours, you can leave, but they'll be something else to watch once everything goes into effect on that side.

HAVE YOU EVER ENJOYED THE INFIELD EXPERIENCE HERE?

I've heard a lot of stories but never actually enjoyed the experience myself. I figure if you go out too late at night, you might end up in the Talladega jail. If I was in the Talladega jail, it would give you guys a lot to write about, but it wouldn't do any good for me.

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