FW: Team Monte Carlo Notes & Atlanta Qualifying - Mar. 8

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
MBNA America 500 Advance & Qualifying GM Racing Communications
Friday, March 08, 2002 nmwager@aol.com
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Page 1

Richard Childress Racing (RCR) announced that Kevin Harvick, driver of No.
29 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet Monte Carlo, will compete on a part time
basis in the 2002 NASCAR Busch Series with Sonic as the primary sponsor.
The following are highlights of Harvick's Q&A's with the media:

(How many Busch and Craftsman Truck races will you run?) "Well right now, we
have three planned.  Last year, Sonic put their name on the Busch car for
the first time at the Texas race. And they got spoiled and they wanted to go
back to Texas as the sponsor of the whole car because we won that first
race.  This has been a great relationship that continues to grow.

I'm actually going to run my (Craftsman) Truck next weekend in Darlington
and at Martinsville, and at Richmond; the two Busch races at Bristol, at
Texas, Homestead and Phoenix.  We're just putting them in here and there
when it's convenient. Obviously we're not going to do any of them that we
don't think we can win. This is the Chevrolet that I won five Busch races in
and then I wrecked it and they put it back together for these three races."

(How will racing part-time in Busch and Craftsman Truck, plus full time in
Winston Cup, be different for you this year?) "It was different last year
because I made a commitment and I had to race the Busch races. I had to be
at the Winston Cup races. But now, we're just going to pick the places where
we like to race and where we think we can win, and just go out and get
exposure for our sponsor and try to win the race. The only goal we have is
to try to win the race - whether it's in the Busch car or the truck. If
something comes up, I don't have to go do it.  I can change it.  There's no
pressure when you don't have to do something."

(What do you remember most about winning here last year?) "I had to go home
and watch the tape to figure out what was going on. This is where I won my
very first Winston Cup race so I will remember quite a few of the things
that went on for a long time. You can only do that (first win) once and
obviously Atlanta will always hold a special place in my racing career.  The
last five or six laps of that race were pretty crazy."

(How are you doing this year compared to last year?) "Well, three races into
this season, we're getting out butts kicked. Last year, we didn't really
have anything to compare to. There were a lot of good times and a few bad
times last year.  Anything that we consider bad can always be a whole lot
worse. The good teams are made from the bad times."
TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
MBNA America 500 Advance & Qualifying GM Racing Communications
Friday, March 08, 2002 nmwager@aol.com
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Page 2

(Going into the fourth race of the year, do you feel pressure to do better
quickly?) "Obviously, we're digging a hole here.  It's pretty obvious after
Rockingham and Las Vegas with myself and Jeff Gordon and Dale Jr. racing for
25th, that's not fair.  All three of our teams are in the back and I promise
you that we're better than that."

"We're behind the eight ball right now with the Chevrolet brand. NASCAR
knows that and they're going to fix it soon. There's all kinds of stuff
they're trying to clean up in the bodies, and unfortunately our cars are the
ones that are suffering the most.  In qualifying trim, it feels okay.  But
when you put them in a pack, it's a different story."

(Are the Chevrolets at a disadvantage?) "It's pretty evident. I'll be the
first one to tell you that I hate the politics of this sport. We have to be
on the other side of this and now we have to start complaining and whining.
But that's how it is. It's not because they're trying to mess up the
Chevrolets, it's because they're trying to make everything better. We're
just a little bit on the bottom. They'll fix it, but we're four races
behind. We got ourselves behind at Daytona when we crashed, but we've got
two other races where we didn't run very good."

(On changing rules) "Oh, they've changed a bunch of rules. This car that we
raced here last year is 60 counts worse on downforce than it was.  It's
changed a bunch.  It's all those little things that have added up to that
much.  And it's big. Sixty counts of downforce on a total car - 30 of it is
in the front - I wish you guys could ride with me and I'd show you what it's
like."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
MBNA America 500 Advance & Qualifying GM Racing Communications
Friday, March 08, 2002 nmwager@aol.com
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Page 3

Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 3rd:
"I wasn't wide open in (turns) one and two.  I should have been, and
probably could have been.  In turns three and four, I had it on the mat. I'm
real happy with Tony Eury Jr. and all the Bud guys. They've done a great
job. This racecar was great rolling off the trailer and that's what we need.
We missed that a little bit the first couple of races. And hopefully I can
get us a good finish this weekend.

(Could this jump-start your season?) "Yeah, we need a good finish. We need a
couple two or three top five runs in a row to get us up in the points where
we want to be and where we should be. We came into the season thinking we
were really going to be the team.  We've still got that feeling, we just
need back the finishes up."

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 8th:
"Anytime you finish a lap or two here at Atlanta, you're happy because you
can breathe again. We came down here and tested and the guys have done a
good job on this Goodwrench Chevy. I just had to crack the throttle a little
bit off of (turn) two and that hurt us a tenth or so. But our big concern is
the race and seeing what happens when we untape the car. The Chevrolets have
been so far behind the eight ball here lately when it comes to race trim,
that we're a little nervous about that now.

"If you look in the record books, every time we qualify good, we race good.
This is the same car we ran here last year at both Atlanta races.  We raced
it at Texas and Charlotte and all the mile-and-a-half high-banked
racetracks. We've just got to keep up with the car."

Terry Labonte, No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 13th: "We
were kind of disappointed with our qualifying for the past two races. This
is a brand new Chevrolet and the guys have just done a great job. We didn't
get a chance to test it. It felt like it was pretty good right off the
truck. We were a little disappointed with our practice qualifying run
because we were too loose. We made a couple of spring changes and some air
pressure adjustments and I was a little too tight in qualifying. But
everything is going good and that was a good run for us. We're looking
forward to Sunday."

Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 17th: "It
cooled down a little more than we anticipated. We played the guessing game
and we were a little off.  We were just a little to tight this time around."


TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
MBNA America 500 Advance & Qualifying GM Racing Communications
Friday, March 08, 2002 nmwager@aol.com
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Page 4


Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 15th: "We
didn't have any provisionals, so it's a great accomplishment for everybody
on this Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo team to make the field for the first
four races.  Luckily, we didn't have any rain or anything to interfere with
us. Hopefully we can continue to run this solid all year long and not have
to worry about provisionals at all.  But if we do, we know that we're going
to have one so we're pretty happy about that.  It was a great lap. I
chickened out a little bit between (turns) three and four.  I drug the brake
a little harder than I should have and I was yelling at myself the whole way
off of (turn) four. The car took it. I should have stayed after it a little
bit, but we're solid.

(Do you feel confident about Atlanta after finishing 6th in Las Vegas last
weekend?) "I feel real confident about the race pace and what you need to do
in the race. Qualifying-wise, I was a little too cautious in Las Vegas and
came here to sep it up a little bit. We had a great car to do it. So it
looks like we'll have track position and a good pit box.  So we should be
all right as long as we don't pit and the caution comes out again. But here
at Atlanta, you're definitely hauling the mail here. You're getting it
done."

Robby Gordon, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified
23rd: "At least we're consistent.  Every time I go to qualify, it's my best
lap of the day so far.  That's a couple tenths faster. Gil Martin (crew
chief) and all those guys did a great job tuned and feeling comfortable for
me.  I'm pleased. If we can just qualify in the top 20, I'll be happy.

"Traffic has been my problem.  The Chevrolets are missing it by a little bit
right now. If we can pick that up a little bit - find some downforce
somewhere - a Christmas present maybe?"

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
MBNA America 500 Advance & Qualifying GM Racing Communications
Friday, March 08, 2002 nmwager@aol.com
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Page 5

Additional comments by Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte
Carlo:

(Do you feel like your team has struggled or is it just circumstances?) "It
was circumstances at Daytona. We struggled through Rockingham. We fought a
tight car all last weekend at Las Vegas. Rarely do you dial-in a racecar at
the race track. If you can't produce a great racecar from the shop, it's
hard to be a great race team.

"I still feel we can turn around with three or four good finishes in a row.
And I think we're the kind of team that can have three or four top fives in
a row. There's a chance. We always run good here. We've just got to figure
out how to finish here."

(On his luck at Atlanta Motor Speedway): "I don't really feel like I have
bad luck or bad karma here.  I love the race track and I look forward to
coming here. You can move around here. For drivers, this is one of the best
racetracks that we run on. There's always a good three or four car battle
here at the end."

(On the one-engine rule) "I feel like we don't have the speed that we had in
qualifying last year. A lot of the teams don't. I feel like our race motors
are so conservative (vs. qualifying motors) that we're really not qualifying
as good as we should have. I'm the type of guy to push the envelope a little
bit and try to get the horsepower out of the motor even if it's a risk.  I'd
rather blow-up running first than run 20th all day. I feel like we're really
soft on our motors. I feel like there's a lot there that we're not taking
advantage of. Also the new rules of the components being a certain weight
has really hurt our engine program as far as the race motor goes. We've just
got to find ways around that. I like the one-engine rule, myself.  It's very
cost effective for the programs. I give it a year or a year and a half, and
it'll be old news."

(Are the Chevys at a disadvantage?) "Last week, I thought the Chevrolets
were at a huge disadvantage as far as front aerodynamics. But when we come
to a track like Atlanta or Charlotte, we seem to be able to compete pretty
well, if not a little bit better than the Fords and Dodges and even the
Pontiacs. It seems like certain styles - certain shaped tracks - are good
for certain cars, teams, and manufacturers. The Chevrolet teams have
something to be learned or gained at flat track programs. But when we come
here, it seems like we're as good as anybody else. But we are at a
disadvantage at flat race tracks. I don't know why, or where on the racecar
we need to go to improve it. I think overall, the balance of our cars is way
off. The Fords and Dodges have a good balance. We have
TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
MBNA America 500 Advance & Qualifying GM Racing Communications
Friday, March 08, 2002 nmwager@aol.com
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Page 6

way too much rear downforce compared to what we have on the front and it
makes our cars real tight. I'd give up 40 on the back to get 40 counts on
the front."

(On Steve Park returning to the No. 1 car) "I have mixed emotions. I'm
excited about it. Kenny Wallace and I were friends before, but when he came
to DEI I learned a lot more about him and got real close with him. He's the
kind of guy that you would like to see the opportunity he probably deserves
and be with a competitive team. He's definitely a good spokesperson for a
sponsor. He's got a good attitude and he's fun to be around. And he's a
talented racecar.  I hate to see us unplug him and plug Steve in, but that's
the way business works sometimes.

"But I'm glad to have Steve back. It's probably real emotional for him to
make his return at Darlington. I can't speak for him.  He wants to get in
the racecar and run good. He's ready to come back."

(Do you think NASCAR's decisions are still under scrutiny?) "I think if you
have to ask that question, the answer is probably yes. Before the TV
contracts and long before  NASCAR came into the public eye, they had run the
business 'as is'. I don't think they thought about the kind of scrutiny that
would come to them because of the decisions they made. They have to make
some decisions at the blink of an eye. There's not really time to sit around
and talk about it. Apparently we have learned something from it. But I hate
to see in the news that their credibility is being questioned. Some of their
decisions haven't been that great. But I don't really know what they could
have done different.  It's not good to see that in the headlines instead of
who won the race."

(Is it too early to worry about the end of the season?) "I started worrying
about the season at Daytona. You really want to get off to a great start.
We've made such a steep hill for us to climb in the first three races
already. I wanted to come out with good finishes and be in the top 15 in the
points at this point in the season, but we're not. So there's a sense of
urgency, but also caution. As much as I want to get a great finish out of
here, I know that I have to be smart to get it and be reserved at times and
not take too many seasons. Maybe this isn't our season.  But we'll go week
in and week out. We might be good at one and totally miss the set up
someplace else. But there's no one thing that plugs in your team that puts
you up front. It just evolves."

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