Teleconference with R.Gordon & R.Childress, June 18

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Winston Cup Teleconference nmwager@aol.com
Tuesday, June 18, 2002 GM Racing Communications
 (727) 784-8465


The NASCAR Winston Cup Teleconference featured Robby Gordon, driver of the
No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet and Team Owner Richard Childress.

Gordon and Childress discuss their outlook for this week's Save Mart 350 at
Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California and the current status of the
team.  Gordon's best Winston Cup career finish at Sears Point Raceway was
2nd place to Pontiac's Tony Stewart at last year's race.  Gordon will pilot
a brand new Monte Carlo in this event, which the team tested last week at
Carolina Motorsports Park.

In addition to the Winston Cup race, Gordon is scheduled to compete in
Saturday's NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series race at Sears Point -- his
first career start in that division.

Q&A's with Robby Gordon:
(On last year's runner-up finish) "Last year was a bit of a turning curve
for me. I went there in Jim Smith's Nation's Rent car at the last minute.
Running as fast as we did and being as competitive as we were, changed a lot
of people's views. I look at Sears Point a year ago as a turning point for
us. We had a really good racecar. We probably could have done a couple of
things differently and won the race. But even after the way it ended up, I
didn't lose my cool and still finished second. I'm proud of that finish."

(On the crew chief and crew swap between the No. 31 and the No. 29 teams) "I
don't want everybody to get too confused. We missed it as a whole last
weekend (at MIS) at Richard Childress Racing. It wasn't how Kevin Hamlin and
myself worked together. I went into that race very open for anything Kevin
wanted to try. He has a lot more experience than I do at a racetrack like
that. We tried running some rubber bushings in the rear end and pretty much
every time I've run them, I've hated them. But I wanted to go into this race
with the attitude that Kevin has so much experience that maybe I needed to
learn how to drive with them and we'd be better. We left Michigan still
hating rubber bushings. So that's going to help Kevin Hamlin and myself in
the future."

(On the difference between running a road course in a Champ car vs. a
Winston Cup car) "There's quite a bit of difference. Before I raced Indy
Cars or Champ cars, I raced TransAm for four years for Roush. We won 53
percent of the races we entered and had a pretty good road racing record in
sedan-style cars. Winston Cup cars are heavier. You have to be easy on the
brakes.  And, they're long races. You've got to save something for the end.
That's something I've learned over the last couple of years. To survive and
be in that top five or ten with 50 laps to go and you have a shot at
winning."

(Having called the shots as a team owner in the past, is this a new Robby
Gordon that is more like a sponge that soaks in information?) "Yeah, I've
been doing that all year actually. That was my attitude last year when I
went to RCR a year ago and we won at Loudon, New Hampshire.

"These guys have won championships in everything they've been involved in.
I'm going to let them do their job and I'm going to do mine to the best of
my ability. And that is to drive the racecar and tell them what I feel and
where I'm having any problems."

(Do you think the media is picking on RCR?) "No, I don't. Every race team
struggles. We'd all be kidding ourselves if we said we didn't. Joe Gibbs
Racing is not up to par right now. My teammate, Kevin Harvick - who would
have thought he'd be 34th in points right now? Nobody could have ever
imagined that. As a race team, we just have to keep our heads down. People
are asking what's going on. Sometimes things change and we've changed a lot
as a race team. We've gone from a two-car to a three-car race team. And
we're all working together and trying to figure it out. I have a lot of
respect for Richard Childress. And I know that if I give him valuable
information on what I feel the car does, he and his group will go to work on
it to get the car to react better and to be faster."

(At nearly the mid-way point of the season, how would you gauge your
performance thus far - both on and off the track?) "I'd be kidding you if I
said I was happy with the on-track performance of this team. I'm not. I
don't think anybody is at Richard Childress Racing. I think there have been
a couple of things that have hung us out a little bit. With the one-engine
rule change, we were very conservative in the beginning. NASCAR has a new
technical inspector so now there is a different way of measuring our bodies.
You don't get away with as much as you used to. There's a bunch of things
that have happened that have hung us out.

"We're working together as a team and I think that's great. I haven't had a
problem with (teammates) Kevin Harvick or Jeff Green. With the crew chief
change, to me it didn't make a difference because we all have the same tools
at RCR. When we talked about changing crew chiefs, I thought whatever
everybody wanted to do was fine with me if it would make the performance
better. All the cars are prepared in the same shop and built in the same
place. There's nothing different between the No. 31 and the No. 29, or the
No. 30 compared to the No. 31. I 'm looking forward to working with Kevin
Hamlin because of his experience."

(With all your road course experience, will you step-up and give more input
than you would normally?) "When I had my own race team and knew there were
places we'd be real strong, we focused on those race tracks. The road
courses we thought would be our specialty so we worked real hard on our road
course package based on past experience. I've got a pretty good baseline
set-up. I've got exactly the set-up that I put on the No. 7 car last year
that was off my 2000 car at Sears Point (finished 9th). We just bolted it
right on. I don't think we changed anything.

"We put that set-up again on the car for Watkins Glen and we gained and
fine-tuned on that package. We found some better shock absorbers. We found a
couple things that worked better on a Monte Carlo than on a Ford. And then
last week, I went with Kevin Hamlin down to Kershaw (Carolina Motorsports
Park in S.C. to test) and we worked on some forward bite on turn 11 at Sears
Point so we can get some traction coming off that. And we worked on a couple
other areas. We're now working as a team to improve on that baseline
set-up."

(What's your opinion on NASCAR's red flagging at the end of the race?)
"NASCAR does a great job at racing. They know how to put on a good show.
Last weekend's race (MIS) could have easily ended under caution. The fans
and the drivers don't want to end under a caution, we want to race to the
finish. I think a red flag at the end and bunching us all up and getting
after it is great. I appreciate it and I'm sure the fans do too."

(What's the relationship between the regular NASCAR drivers and the
road-course specialists?) "I don't consider myself a road-course specialist
anymore. Five years ago, I would have. I don't think they think of them any
differently. The biggest thing is that maybe they're a little intimidated by
them because they have so much experience.  Guys like Ron Fellows and Boris
Said and Scott Pruett have a lot of experience. They're probably not excited
about them coming in because that's three or four more cars that are going
to be competitive on race day. But in their own right, if those guys qualify
for that race they deserve to be in it. I think it makes the racing more
exciting. We enjoy competition."

(Is there a 'west coast style' of driving on the NASCAR circuit?) "I don't
know if there is a big west coast style thing. I live in North Carolina now
and I enjoy living there. If you look at fads and things, they start on the
west coast and then hit the east coast - whether it's cars or clothing or
anything. Jimmie Johnson has come into the Winston Cup Series this year
(from California) and people forget that he's lived in North Carolina the
past five years working on his ASA and Busch programs. He brings a different
flamboyant style and he's doing it with class and being really competitive
week in and week out."

(Lately, are the California drivers having more of an impact as a group in
Winston Cup?) "I think that probably has a little to do with it but not a
lot. The biggest thing was that the timing was right for everybody. A lot of
west coast drivers have ended up in competitive Winston Cup rides right now.
The driver is one part of it, but the team is so much of it. If Jimmie
Johnson was in a different situation, I don't think he'd be second in the
points right now. He has positioned himself to get with a top-notch team and
he has the experience of Jeff Gordon. Right now, I don't know how or why
he's out-running Jeff Gordon, but he's doing something right. And I've got
to congratulate him on that."

(Are you close to signing a contract extension with Richard Childress and do
you see yourself at RCR for the long haul?) "First, we have until August 1st
to talk about 2003. I have a lot of respect for Richard. I really enjoy
working for him. It's been a lot of fun. We did get our first win (Loudon,
'01). We have struggled. Richard Childress is a racer and I enjoy driving
for a racer. 'No' is not an answer at RCR. We're going to find a way to get
back to top. Everybody there has a lot of desire. Richard gives us the tools
to do that. There hasn't been one time that we've had a conversation about
doing things differently. He's very supportive. If he wants you to do
something, he has a way of going about it that he's not breathing down on
you or pushing on you. He's a great leader. I'm looking forward to a long
career at RCR."

(Because there aren't a lot of places to pass at Sears Point Raceway, is
patience a key to success at that track?) "Patience is a lot of it. Another
thing is obviously the racetrack. I give up a couple of corners there to be
fast in a couple of other corners that will allow me to make up lap time but
not abuse the tires on the car. Sears Point is a good racetrack. I like
going there. I'm glad that Winston Cup goes road racing because that's
what's cool about a Winston Cup champion driver. He's competitive on road
courses, on superspeedways, short tracks, intermediate tracks, things like
that."

(Where is the best place to pass there?) "I like turn 11. That's that
hard-breaking turn down into the hairpin. That's probably the easiest place
to pass with the least risk. And I look at risk as you've got to be around
at the end of this deal. Fenders are real important."

(What do you think makes Dale Jr. such a good restrictor-plate racer?) "Tony
Eury and those guys at DEI have found something with either their engines or
their bodies or the way they are getting the air around the car. But they're
doing a great job. His dad was good at restrictor plate racing as well, so
maybe it's something he taught him or it's a natural knack that he just
picked up."

(When you were a road course specialist, how did the drivers treat you?)
"Very well. I had a lot of friends in Winston Cup that I'd met in my early
career. Those guys knew me from when I raced at Roush in the road-racing
car. Everybody is real competitive in Winston Cup. I don't see any problem
with a road racer coming in. I think they welcome the challenge. It would
have been real easy seven or eight years ago to come in here and dominate
the road courses. But these teams and drivers have picked up the road racing
game. It's just not that easy to come in and dominate the road courses
without being a full-time regular. Pits stops have a lot to do with it and
strategy has a lot to do with it and horsepower if you can get that right
engine package. I think the NASCAR teams welcome it and it brings in fans
from other series' that watch those drivers as well."

(Given your success in other competition, how frustrated are you with your
current lack of success in Winston Cup?) "Obviously I'm a little
disappointed. But I'm not throwing a temper tantrum and giving up. I know I
can do this. We're competitive with Kevin Harvick week in and week out. Not
that I like to gauge on my teammate, but that gives me some sort of a gauge.
We're working on this team as a whole and trying to find out what we all
need. All of us have a lot of experience."

(With your experience in several other racing series, do you consider
yourself a stock car driver now?) "I considered myself a stock car driver in
2000 when I left Indy Cars and started my own Winston Cup team. I thought
that's where I needed to be in my career. I enjoy racing a lot - enough that
we did the double (Charlotte & Indy) a couple of weeks ago. I felt that's
where I needed to be in my career. If you enjoy racing, Winston Cup is the
place to be."

(On being a Winston Cup outsider at last year's race at Sears Point and on
the incident with Kevin Harvick) "I'm not going to dwell on it too much.
It's over and gone and done. We knew we had a car capable of winning that
race. Things just happen. I learned something at that race. I've got to be a
little bit smarter of a guy at the wheel and not let stuff like that bother
me. A couple of months later, when I was driving the Lowe's car for RCR, if
we hadn't of lost that TV box, we would have won that race. Very easily, we
could have won three races last year but ended up only winning one.

"I'm not too concerned about what happened at Sears Point last year. Harvick
is my teammate now. We obviously have to work together if we're going to
build this team and be competitive with all three cars. I have no grudge
against him. So I don't see a problem there.

"As far as being a Winston Cup outsider at that point, yeah, I was in
between jobs with the No. 4 car and then drove for Jimmy Smith there and
then for A.J. Foyt a little later and then for Richard Childress. I don't
consider myself an outsider, its just competition. I think anyone who
doesn't race (Winston Cup) every week is going to be an outsider."

(With only one place to pass at Sears Point, do you think they'll eventually
create more places to pass on that track?)  "I've got to be honest with you.
I think I can pass in every corner there. So I don't believe there's (only)
one place to pass. I know of four places I can pass cars. So I don't think
they need to change the track at all. I liked it the way it used to be when
we had the corkscrew. But there's plenty of places to pass there if you know
how to pass on a road course."

(Have you tested the new track?) "I did not test there. Richard has allowed
us to run the Southwest Tour there that starts Thursday of this week. That
will allow us to get some track time. And we did test with our Winston Cup
car down in Kershaw, but I have not driven with the new configuration and
the way they've changed pit lane. I have seen a tape of Jeff Green's test
there with a Southwest Tour car. I have seen what it looks like from a
driver's perspective. But by running that Southwest Tour race on Thursday,
we'll all (Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green) be able to get some experience at
that racetrack even though it's a different type of car. But you know, laps
are laps."

(At Sears Point, do you think ahead about who and how you're going to pass?)
"Passing there is different passing on an oval. Talking about a slide job or
whatever you call it when you kind of dive down underneath a guy and come up
in front of him and kind of block him from coming back around you... It's
the same kind of thing on a road course where you kind of out-brake the guy
going into the corner. You don't have to turn at the apex. You can go five,
eight, or 10 feet past the apex and still make the corner okay. With a
Winston Cup car, once you're inside he's either got to let you go or he'll
get shoved out of the way. That's the big difference in Indy Cars is that
you can out brake somebody.

"The biggest thing is tires. You can out brake somebody and burn up their
tires or flat-spot them because these cars are heavy. You only have so many
of those opportunities as the day goes on. And you try to use them for the
right people. Maybe if it's a lapped car, you don't jeopardize your tires at
that point and you set him up in a different corner. And then if it's a
leader, you wait until the last couple of laps and then you shove your nose
in there - kind of like what Tony (Stewart, last year's winner) did to us. I
was racing Kevin (Harvick) real hard - trying to keep him behind me because
I wanted to keep a car between Tony and me. And Tony got around both of us
and shut us out. I was real impressed with the move he put on Kevin and me."

(In the keyhole at the top of the hill at Sears Point, would you run a
different line in a Winston Cup car than you would in an Indy Car?) "Yes,
it's definitely a completely different line.  We ran out wide and then came
back and did a really late apex. Winston Cup cars like that. On Winston Cup
cars, the tires are only so wide and the cars are heavy. They don't like to
accelerate and turn at the same time. So, I get the car turned and get it
pointed in a straight line and get back on the power.  It's kind of a point
and squirt, and more of a diamond shaped corner than what you'd do in an
Indy Car. The Indy Cars have big wide tires and you have down force. The
cars can handle so much more side g-load because of the weight of the car.
They only weigh 1500 pounds and a Cup car is 3400 pounds."

(Same thing with that final turn as well?) "Yes. I've got a niche for that
final turn at Sears Point. Last year, every lap I could beat it by
three-tenths in the final turn. I'm not going to tell you how I do it, but
I've got a niche for that final turn."

Q&A's with Richard Childress:

(On Robby Gordon's future with RCR) "As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to
see Robby around for a long, long time. Right now, Robby Gordon is a lot
better (driver) than the team and the cars we're giving him. We've got a
great team, but we've just got to figure out what we've got to do to get
these cars working. I'm very please with what he's done, I'm just not as
happy with what we've been able to do with our cars. If we get him the right
equipment, he'll be winning races."

(Have you seen any signs of change or improvement for the second half of the
season?) "We ran a brand new car Sunday (at MIS) that has a body style that
really showed some good promise. We're going to have one for Robby to test
at Indy. Jeff Green will have one to test at Indy. We're just starting to
cut bodies off to try to do this other one if it works good for Indy. We're
going to be testing there in a couple of weeks. Then we'll have a better
direction. But we did see some positive things with that car and it's going
back to the wind tunnel this week. That's what we've got to work on."

(Is Kevin Harvick free to look for a new ride or do you want him back for
next year and beyond?) "Kevin and I have talked and he's got another year on
his contract. We're even talking about going further down the road with it.
Right now, we want to get our cars back to running where they're supposed to
be. It'll make the pressure a lot easier on everyone. When you're not
competitive and you know you're supposed to be, little things just cause
bigger problems. That's what we've got to work on right now. That's my
number one goal is to get these cars back like they're supposed to be."

(In comparing last season to this season, can you put your finger on why
Kevin has gone from one end to the other?) "I think we just got off to a bad
start. We were running second at Daytona and got turned around there. We've
made some changes in our bodies and adding a third team probably hurt us a
little bit. I could sit here and come up with a lot of reasons that we think
it is. We've got some really good ideas and some great people trying to fix
it. My interest is in getting all three teams back up front."

(On his philosophy of team ownership and how it encourages the people that
work for him) "It's just the people that surround RCR. We've got a lot of
positive people. We've been behind before like this. You never give up. You
find the reasons. You don't accept excuses for nothing. You can't fix and
excuse. You can only fix it if you know what the reasons are. That's our
philosophy."

(Do you see something of Dale Earnhardt in Robby Gordon?) "Robby is an
aggressive driver and a very intelligent driver. I think that could have
been one of his problems - if he had any - in the past with people just not
understanding. He really understands the racecar. He knows what he wants. We
all believe in him because he shows us what he wants in the car and we do
our best to give it to him. And yeah, he has a lot of traits of being a
'great', that's for sure."

(If Kevin Harvick had an opportunity with another team, would you let him
pursue it?) "Commitments, not only in contracts, but in life, are big. I'm a
big believer in commitments. We've committed. We've got 11 or 12 sponsors in
that racecar and it's just hard to up and walk from commitments."

(What can you do to make the entire team better?) "Just getting back on
track with our cars. We're all in one building now. We've got a lot of
positive things going at RCR. It's a matter of testing, and testing at the
tracks. The combination of crew chiefs and drivers and teams working
together is really positive. Things I've seen in the last two weeks have
really been positive. I'm excited about the second half of the year. I want
to get some champagne sprayed on me."

(On Jeff Gordon quietly moving up the points) "The whole season for everyone
has been kind of strange. Look at some of the cars that ran good last Sunday
and some of the ones that didn't run good on Sunday. It's been that kind of
year for everyone. The No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) has been solid and a couple
of the Roush cars. It's like whoever wants this championship, it's out there
for them to take. This would be a great year if you have your act together
running for a championship. Sterling Marlin and that team have done a great
job. But then again, they hit those racetracks where they're totally off.
It's been a strange season. We're not the only team scratching our heads and
wondering why we're not winning."

(Have the events of Sept. 11 affected your race team as far as security,
travel, fan mail, etc?) "It doesn't matter if you're in racing or not,
you've always got to be on your toes when it comes to security in this world
today. But we're not doing a lot different than we ever have. You just take
an extra look at a lot of things if it looks a little strange."

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