FW: Monte Carlo Qualifying Notes - California, April 26

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
NAPA Auto Parts 500 Qualifying nmwager@aol.com
Friday, April 26, 2002 GM Racing Communications
California Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 1


Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 4th): "Chad
Knaus (crew chief) has just given us such great racecars.  They brought a
racecar here that unloaded near the top of the board. I'm very proud of this
team."

(Has this cold weather made the track faster?) "It picked everybody else up.
When I was sitting on pit road waiting my turn, I was blown away by how fast
everybody was going. It's just amazing about what the cold temperature is
doing and how much a little bit of speed around the whole racetrack will
equal up to on the track. This motor is running awfully good to."

(On being a top qualifying team?) "Track position is so important these days
in your pit stall pick. If you can qualify in the top 10 or 15, you're
giving yourself a great chance for Sunday."

(If there's a change between now and Sunday in the weather, will that cause
you to chase the track a little bit?) "As long as the track is similar from
Happy Hour to the race, it will be very similar. But I don't have any notes
here from a Cup car, but Jeff (Gordon) has always run will here. So, we'll
just roll the dice - that's what I've done all year long."

(What made your lap so great?) "The only reference I had about how fast our
lap was that the rpm light came on down the straightaway a lot earlier than
normal. The grip was very similar through the corners. It's just amazing how
much a little bit of pickup around the track can do."

Jerry Nadeau, No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 5th):
"These guys did an awesome job. I didn't know if we'd even be in contention
for sitting on the pole, but that was an awesome lap. The car got a little
loose getting into turn one, but I held on to it. I got back on the gas real
early and the car stuck really good. So I knew turns three and four were
going to be really good. I'm pretty happy. This is a team effort. You've got
all these guys working their tails off, and we really analyzed everything in
practice and put a set-up underneath of this thing that we didn't really
even know what it would do. But it held on good and I was pretty excited."




TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
NAPA Auto Parts 500 Qualifying nmwager@aol.com
Friday, April 26, 2002 GM Racing Communications
California Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 2


Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified
6th): "Slugger really helped these cars a lot. I'm just the driver. He is
making our car better and that allows us to do things and learn things to
make Dale Jr. better. Junior and his guys have been together a long time and
so they're close to maybe winning a championship.  We're a relatively a new
team and we're just trying to gain every week. Hopefully we will spend
enough time in development so that we can win a championship one day. We're
real happy with where we're at."

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 9th):
"We borrowed the set-up at the last minute there from the NAPA Chevrolet and
Michael Waltrip. We tried some stuff that we tested, but it just wasn't
working out for us. I'm really proud that we've been able to get what we
got. That's a real good lap for us. I just trusted what he was telling me
about his car. That was a great lap for him too. He (Waltrip) loaned me his
set-up so he ought to be faster. I'm real proud of him and the job they're
doing. They (the NAPA team) just keep going after it. They have a lot of
hunger and determination and drive. It should be a good weekend for all of
us at DEI."

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 17th): "We went
on stickers because we didn't get to scuff any tires there in the shortened
practice session. The car was great. These guys did a lot of work to get the
car handling better. We weren't very good in practice. Unfortunately, I left
a little bit there on the first lap. I think we could have gone faster. But
I'm real happy to pick up a second from practice. The track is certainly a
lot of it, but the car drove a whole lot better during practice.

"The whole track was a lot faster than I thought it would be. That sometimes
happens when it rains and washes the rubber off the track. It can get pretty
fast. I think that's what we're seeing right now."

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