Tony Talk
Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Impala met with media to discuss teammate Denny Hamlin, renewing his contract with JGR, and on focusing on the Chase
Select quotes from driver interview:
DENNY HAMLIN SAID HE FEELS MORE COMFORTABLE IN HIS SKIN THIS YEAR. DO YOU NOTICE THAT?
“I think so. I think it’s like we’ve always said, you don’t just come into this series and feel comfortable. Your life totally changes when you come here. There is no way to prepare for it. You just get thrown into it and it is what it is for a while. It takes guys a little while to get used to it.”
DOES HE HAVE A LOT OF CONFIDENCE?
“I think so. From day one, he’s had confidence. Obviously, winning his first race at the Shootout didn’t hurt that.”
WITH BOTH OF YOU IN THE CHASE, CAN YOU HELP EACH OTHER?
“Well, we do every week. It’s not going to be any different these next 10 weeks than any other week. We always help each other. It’s not going to be any different in the Chase. Now granted, if it’s down to just him and I with two races to go, I’m sure we won’t help each other quite as much. There is nobody in this garage that’s going to do that. We’ll help each other as much as we can to get one of those two cars in a situation to win a championship.”
HOW CLOSE ARE YOU TO GETTING YOUR CONTRACT SIGNED?
“I’m not even going to work on it any more until the season is over. Seriously.
SO YOUR MAIN FOCUS HAS TO BE ON THE CHASE, PERIOD?
“Yes. Absolutely. All these things like right now, are a total distraction to what I’m trying to accomplish the rest of the season and that’s why I’m not going to do any more than I have to do until the end of the year. My goal is to win the championship and focus on the things I have to focus on to get that done.”
-gm racing-
I am a Denny fan along with Smoke and a few other drivers… I see Denny holding the Cup sometime… maybe not this year.. but it will be his eventually.
I totally agree Denny will definitely be a champion. He has too much talent not to be