Johnson and J.Gordon lead Chevy to 3rd and 5th in Pocono 500
CHEVROLET NOTES AND QUOTES POCONO 500 2002 NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES NO. 14 OF 36 RACES POCONO (PA.) RACEWAY SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2002 Contact: Judy Stropus, GM Racing Communications, 203-438-0501 TWO CHEVYS IN TOP FIVE IN POCONO 500: JOHNSON THIRD, JEFF GORDON FIFTH JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE¹S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO, had another stellar performance in the Winston Cup Series, placing third in today¹s Pocono 500 as first rookie and first Chevrolet Monte Carlo driver. With Sterling Marlin's fourth-place finish, the points margin between leader Marlin and second-place Johnson remains the same, as both earned 165 points today. (Marlin earned five points for leading the first two laps; Johnson led none). JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO, led laps 3 through 32, but placed a strong fifth, despite a loose car and spinning in the pits. Dale Jarrett, in a Ford, won the race. Mark Martin made it one-two for Ford. JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "It¹s a long day here. This is a very intense track where you can easily lose a couple of tenths and you have to stay up on the wheel all day long with your upshifting and downshifting. The guys did an awesome job in the pits today and us top four-five cars wear dead even and it was just how we got through traffic. I hate to see Ricky Rudd have the luck he¹s having. The poor guy, he can¹t get a break anywhere. This Lowe¹s Monte Carlo was awesome, and third, that¹s good deal." FIRST RACE HERE FOR YOU, BUT YOU PRACTICED HERE: "We came up here before when we went to Dover and had a real good test and real good to come back." JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We had a good car in the beginning and then it got real loose. We were getting it back, got it tightened up and (when) I came on to pit road the brake pedal went to the floor and I couldn¹t get it slowed down. I tried to downshift, wheel hopped it and spun out. I couldn¹t get it back started; it was a mess. I don¹t know how in the world we stayed on the lead lap, but the car was good enough to be able to drive back up through there; I was having a lot of fun with that." HAPPY WITH THE FINISH? "We¹ve got to be happy with fifth, the way our day went. We started out great, the car was awesome and, man, we got real, real loose. We were trying to get the thing tightened back up and get back up there and just as we did I came on to pit road and couldn¹t get the thing slowed down. Downshifted and wheel-hopped it and spun out. Nobody¹s fault but my own and this team never gave up. I don¹t know how we stayed on the lead lap, but we did. To come back and have that good a car to drive back up through there all the way to fifth (I¹m) real, real happy with that." GORDON: ON TAKING FOUR INSTEAD OF TWO TIRES AT THE END: "We thought about it, Robbie (Loomis, crew chief) thought about it. I think originally we were going to take two and the more they thought about it the more they thought it would be a better idea to take four, which was definitely the right call." GORDON RELATING HIS PIT SPIN EXPERIENCE TO JOHNSON: "I spun out on pit road. I was sitting there for a long time. I came in there and the brake pedal just went way down and I couldn¹t get it whoa¹d down and I went ahead and tried to downshift, (and it went) puh, puh, puh, puh. I was like sliding that way, sliding that way, and finally it came all the way around. And then I couldn¹t get it started. I mean I sat there for it felt like a minute. I don¹t know how I didn¹t lose a lap. We had a good car at the end. Good job, man." CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48: ANOTHER GOOD DAY: "Wonderful. To come here and not get to qualify and to get qualifying practice and go out there and kind of start cold turkey we were real happy with the way the day ended. To come out here finishing third his first time here I think it¹s pretty good. We didn¹t get out of the pits like we needed to and that hurt us a little bit there at the end. Our car was fast. We didn¹t have anything for the 28, I don¹t think. Next time we come back we will be a little bit better. We had a good car, we really did have a good car and we came in and a lot of people took two tires, we decided to take four and fuel, and that put us back to about 10th; we just drove our way up." DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "The day was tough. Tony (Eury) Jr. (car chief) and the guys really had some gas mileage figured out and had an idea for us to try to win the race, but things changed. I was there with him, I was behind him 100 percent. I was a little disappointed and upset; (I¹d) rather take the chance than not. It¹s a tough deal. Ran out of gas coming down the back straightaway, got in the pits, made our lap back; that was a good thing. A good highlight to the day." HIGHLIGHTS FROM POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON: ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED? "I¹m not disappointed by any means. To be this competitive at this place, or to be as competitive as we have been everywhere, it¹s just been amazing to me. And to be here at this track and run in the top five all day long, like we did, is a great accomplishment. I don¹t think I¹ve really been to a track that¹s more mentally taxing than here, with the upshifts and downshifts. It¹s easy to make laps, but downshifting and staying off the brake and not slowing the car down too much and carry speed through the center is the key. And it¹s hard here when you¹re downshifting because you¹re making sure you get the car whoa¹d down downshifting in a straight line. It¹s just a very mentally taxing track. I had a blast, great to finish third. It¹s just a great day for the Lowe¹s team." HOW DO YOU LEARN A TRACK LIKE POCONO, WHICH IS A CHALLENGING PLACE? "We tested up here on our way to Dover and ran a lot of laps the first day. The second day we worked on qualifying runs, so luckily when we entered Happy Hour yesterday I knew the rhythm of the race track and we were just fine-tuning the car. And, in the beginning of the race I was real loose and I just didn¹t think I needed to be overdriving the car. Just drive and get what I could get; this race is really long, and at the end we still weren¹t right through turn 3; we were decent everywhere else. It seemed like the top four or five cars all day long were extremely equal and I think that¹s what NASCAR would like to see, and I believe it was a great race all day." JEFF GORDON IS MULTI-RACE WINNER HERE, DID HE OFFER YOU ANY SAGE ADVICE? "Before we came up and tested we talked about everything and different gear ratios and shifting points, how to get through the corners. But they (Hendrick Motorsports) haven¹t been up here in a long time, the 24 car really, (or) anyone at Hendrick has, so it was very good for us to come up and get some data on the race track. Last time they were here was before they even had data acquisition for the cars. We went home and learned a lot as an entire organization, but I definitely picked up pointers from Jeff before I came." DID THE WATER SEEPAGE PROBLEMS EARLIER THIS WEEKEND AFFECT TODAY¹S RACE? "The track was fine. I wouldn¹t know any better; (it¹s my) first time here." POST-RACE QUOTES, CONT'D: TERRY LABONTE, NO. 5 KELLOGG¹S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (38th), went out after 102 laps with an engine problem: "It dropped a valve. It suddenly lost a cylinder, and then it lost all of them." JOE NEMECHEK, NO. 25 UAW-DELPHI CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (41st), crashed on lap 30 at the exit of turn 3: "I got to apologize to Rick Hendrick, all these Hendrick guys, UAW, Delphi. The car was good, we were fast, we were going up through there. Been having a little trouble with the transmission and they were trying to tell me to pit, and by the time I keyed the radio I think it popped out of gear, because just all of a sudden it turned sideways and I couldn¹t keep up with it. It¹s my fault. I just can¹t believe our luck right now. I¹m not doing my job, I¹m not finishing these races. I had an awesome car, it was really fast; we passed anybody we¹d come to. We just got to start finishing races." CAN YOU GET BACK OUT? "I think we¹re pretty much done. It basically knocked the rear end out from underneath. I¹m fine." (more quotes): "We were going to the front, we weren¹t as good as the top five, but we could pass anybody we were coming toŠ I had the transmission pop out a few times before thatŠ" KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (39th), pulled into the garage on lap 81 with a clutch problem. The crew was unable to make repairs to the transmission and retired the car: HARVICK ON ARRIVAL IN GARAGE: "It¹s either the transmission, or a steering gear or something; we don¹t really know at this point. Going down the back straightaway it just went into neutral, spun the motor about as high as it can go. The GM Goodwrench car at least was running good." POINT STANDINGS: 1. Sterling Marlin, Dodge 2064 2. Jimmie Johnson, Chevy 1928 3. Jeff Gordon, Chevy 1899 4. Mark Martin, Ford 1852 5. Rusty Wallace, Ford 1826 6. Tony Stewart, Pontiac 1820 7. Matt Kenseth, Ford 1794 8. Ricky Rudd, Ford 1728 9. Jeff Burton, Ford 1706 10. Kurt Busch, Ford 1699 MANUFACTURER'S STANDINGS: 1. Ford 95 (5 wins) 2. Chevrolet 76 (3 wins) 3. Dodge 73 (3 wins) 4. Pontiac 64 (3) ### ###