Chevy Notes: Waltrip/NAPA press conf.-Chicagoland

CHEVROLET/TEAM MONTE CARLO NOTES AND QUOTES
TROPICANA 400
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY
JOLIET, ILL.
NO. 18 OF 36 EVENTS
NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES
SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2002

HIGHLIGHTS OF NAPA PRESS CONFERENCE WITH DALE EARNHARDT INC., AND MICHAEL
WALTRIP, NO. 15 NAPA PARTS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO:

TY NORRIS, VICE PRESIDENT, DALE EARNHARDT INC.:  "(I) Appreciate everybody
coming out today.  This is a day that Dale Earnhardt Inc. is very, very
happy to have.  Teresa Earnhardt called this morning.  She sent her best
wishes to Michael and Steve and just really happy that we¹re here today to
make the announcement we¹re going to make and so to make the official I want
to introduce to you the president of NAPA Auto Parts, Steve Handschuh."

HANDSCHUH:  "Good morning.  Just want to take a minute to make the
announcement that we have renewed our sponsorship agreement with DEI and the
No. 15 car for the next two seasons, through 2004.  And let me just take a
quick minute before I introduce Michael to tell you a little bit about the
process we went through.  I know it¹s not news to you, but any company
involved in Winston Cup racing it¹s a pretty important and obviously a very
expensive decision.

"We¹ve been involved with DEI since 1996 so it¹s been seven years for the
truck series, Busch Series, now Winston Cup.  And when we took a look at
whether or not we were going to renew our sponsorshipŠyou take a look at the
hard numbers, the ones you are familiar with, the Joyce Julius numbers,
which we assign our own internal value to, and then you look at some
intangibles and I can tell you one of the most important intangibles to us
was how our organization, 6000 NAPA stores and almost 11,000 NAPA Auto Care
Centers and all the thousands of people who work there, how they feel about
our involvement in Winston Cup Racing.  And I can tell you when we went out
to start taking a straw poll I was amazed at the unanimous support for our
involvement in Winston Cup racing and particularly with DEI and Michael
Waltrip.  Just completely unwavering support -- we need to do this -- even
people who aren¹t big NASCAR fans, because they know their customers follow
the sport.

"So that was really important to us and the third intangible, the final one
that I will comment on this morning, was one that meant an awful lot to us
and that¹s the fact that this was Dale Earnhardt¹s vision.  I can remember
the day that Dale called me and said I want to come down to Atlanta and talk
to you about going Winston Cup racing and I¹m trying to think to myself how
can I tell Dale Earnhardt no.  Because we had no intention of going Winston
Cup racing, really weren¹t interested in it at that point.  We were doing
events, we had a Busch Series team.  Dale came to Atlanta, got to our
office.  He was surly because the only rental car they had available was a
Ford and he said he slumped down in the [seat], and he got there and he was
just fit to be tied over the whole thing.

"Nonetheless, he laid out his vision and he said this is what I want to do,
and I¹m still thinking to myself how do I tell him no and then he said
something that really piqued my interest.  He says I think we can get
Michael Waltrip.  And I said, well, Dale, you let us know if you can get
Michael Waltrip.  He got on a plane, went back to North Carolina.  I think
he went immediately to your house, as I recall (directed towards Michael),
and Michael said (I¹m) due to sign a contract this weekend but right now I
would love to come drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc., so Michael called me that
afternoon to say how enthused he was about the whole thing.  Dale said we
had 48 hours to make a decision.  And if you know anything about corporate
America, you don¹t make a decision this big in 48 hours, but we did.  And we
were delighted to have done that.

"It didn¹t take long before Dale¹s vision was realized, obviously with
Daytona and we all know the tragic events that followed that.  So we went
through a lot of soul searching too.  Because frankly the only reason we
were in Winston Cup racing was because of Dale Earnhardt.  But as we
analyzed whether we were going to renew we realized it was the vision of our
good friend Dale Earnhardt that brought us there.  It was his vision that
his team would continue to perform like it¹s performing now.  So that
intangible I would tell you was probably as an important a reason as
anything for our renewing our sponsorship.

"We¹re delighted to be involved with DEI, with Slugger Labbe.
Congratulation, Slugger, on your first Winston Cup win last weekend.  And
with Michael Waltrip. Michael has not only been a great performer on the
track, but I think all of you know how Michael performs off the track, and
he has just been absolutely fabulous for NAPA.  It¹s with a great deal of
pride and a great deal of enthusiasm that we tell you that we¹ve renewed our
sponsorship agreement.  The blue and gold will be on the No. 15 car, Michael
will be the driver and Michael at this point I¹d like to bring you up to
make your own comments."

MICHAEL WALTRIP:  "The team is where we had hoped to be about a year ago
with our performance and the way we¹re running on the track.  I think that
we have the second best starting average in all of Winston Cup from the
beginning of the year Œtil now.  I believe that¹s correct, maybe only Jeff
Gordon has a better starting average than us.  And at the last six races or
so we could be leading the points but we¹re definitely top three.  Six races
is not a season, but it¹s certainly enough events to say that there¹s a
trend there.  It all comes down to performance as far as the driver is
concerned.  When there was a lot of talk about what I was doing or whether I
would be back next year or not that didn¹t affect me or Slugger at all.
Because we understand that the race track is where we want to perform.  If
we go out on the race track and do our job all the rest of the issues will
take care of themselves.  And, if we can¹t get it done together and at DEI,
then we¹re wasting our time staying there.  It didn¹t affect me or this team
at all.  And the big reason that we were able to really perform during this
difficult time is because of the leadership role that Slugger plays.  He
went to the shop, he said don¹t worry about what you read, don¹t worry about
what you hear, just worry about what I tell you.  Line up behind me, guys,
and we¹re gong to do this deal.  I really appreciate and admire Slugger's
leadership skills and I think they¹re as important of a reason why we¹re
standing here today as anything.  More often than not the driver gets way
too much credit.  And more often than not he shoulders more of the blame
than he deserves.  This is a team sport, and we¹ve got a great team right
now.  Thank y¹all for all your support lately."

TY NORRIS:  "Steve got a chance to see what a nicer, gentler company we are
because we gave him three months this time instead of 48 hours.  Again,
today the testament to what Michael and Slugger didŠ They put this thing up
on their shoulders and said no matter what they knew that performance was a
key issue and it was a key issue for NAPA, key issue for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
And Michael has shown the most class of anybody I¹ve ever been around in
this time, because it was very difficult for all of us.  He said, you know,
don¹t worry about it.  You¹re right.  Let¹s perform at a racetrack and we¹ll
get our heads together, and he put this team up on his shoulders, and that¹s
why we¹re standing here today.  It¹s a thrill to know that he¹s going to be
around the organization because of what he brings to us, not only from a
friendship standpoint but from a leadership standpoint.  He likes to be
involved in decisions just as much as Dale Jr. likes to be involved in them
these days.  It¹s really key for Teresa and myself to have someone like
Michael who owns a team and has been around this business as long as
anybody, even to be as young as you are, to be able to give us advice
because we certainly need the advice."

WALTRIP:  WE¹RE A LONG WAY FROM RICHMOND: "Yeah, it¹s a long way as far the
way it looks on the track, but to get from where we were at Richmond to
where we are now we had to be right where we wanted to be at Richmond.
Because you don¹t just flip a switch and fix everything.  And, so, while we
weren¹t performing likeŠ I couldn¹t understand. I was getting a little bit
concerned because we were doing everything we wanted to do and it wasn¹t
working.  We went to Martinsville and finished 13th and just had a real
solid run all day long.  Talladega, second, at the next week.  Since that
point I think we¹ve averaged to finish around 10th or 11th and that¹s pretty
good in Winston Cup racing over 11 races or so, whatever it¹s been.  Just a
testament to preparation.  We were getting our stuff all lined up to go at
them."

SLUGGER LABBE:  YOU¹VE SAID ALL THE TEAM NEEDED WAS BELIEF, BELIEF IN ITSELF
AND ITS DRIVER.  HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT¹S JUST WHAT THEY NEEDED?  "We could
tell by the preparation of the cars.  Like Michael said, we¹re not doing
anything really different than what we¹ve been doing; it¹s just that the
guys believe in the goals. Last year they tore up a bunch of race cars and
this year we haven¹t.  We¹ve been more prepared at the shop, so (when) we
unload at the race track, we¹re 100 percent prepared.  You win races in the
shop, make sure nothing falls off the cars and just the guys needed
reassurance that NAPA¹s coming back, Michael¹s coming back and I was behind
them and I needed them behind me.  The whole combination really paid off."

WERE ALL THE REPORTS THREE MONTHS AGO INACCURATE, WAS THERE SPECULATION THAT
WAS WRONG OR WAS EVERYTHING RIGHT BUT IT CHANGED?  WALTRIP: "You asking that
of me?"

NORRIS:  "No, I hear what you¹re saying.  I think I understand the point of
your question. We weren¹t saying that what you were writing was wrong.  We
had a lot of pressure on us not knowing what NAPA¹s long-term goal was going
to be in Winston Cup.  And to be able to convince NAPA that this is where
they need to be and to be able to, if NAPA didn¹t stay, to sell our team to
someone and to another sponsor, which we didn¹t want to do, we had to show
some promise.  That was the pressure that we put on ourselves early because
we had a meeting in April with Steve and his group and we put more pressure
on ourselves than we probably should have, but I think what we¹re saying is
there was a lot being said and I made a lot of mistakes at Richmond in the
things that I said.  And that put some undue pressure on a lot of people.
You learn from your mistakes.  But what was being said probably should have
been more private.  In that case, Slugger had to say don¹t worry about what
the papers are saying, don¹t worry about Jayski, don¹t worry about what
you¹re hearing from day to day.  Believe in yourselves.  And I¹ve gone down
and been with the 15 guys at their Monday morning meetings to talk to them
about everything. What it comes down to is it wasn¹t what you were reporting
was wrong, it¹s what you were reporting should¹ve been private.NORRIS:
WHERE DO THINGS STAND WITH THE NO. 1 CAR?  "I knew that would come up.
We¹re working hard to get through that.  We¹re in the middle of a lot of
conversations with Steve (Park) and with Pennzoil and with everyone involved
with that team to try to make it better, but we¹re not in a position to talk
about any of that right now.  Not today, anyway?

IS PENNZOIL BACK NEXT YEAR?  "Absolutely.  Pennzoil is back for next year,
No question about it."

WALTRIP:  "Let¹s talk about me-e-e."

YOUR BROTHER (DARRELL) SPECULATED THAT YOU WOULD NOT BE BACK.  WHAT DO YOU
HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT?  NORRIS:  "We invited him here, but they were
covering a race."
WALTRIP:  "No. Yes."

HANDSCHUH:  DID NAPA SEE THE GRASSROOTS FAN MOVEMENT TO KEEP MICHAEL WITH
THE TEAM?  "Yes, we did.  It was overwhelming.  Ty and I talked about it one
day.  It gets kind of personal too.  Basically, Œif you guys don¹t sign I¹m
never coming back to a NAPA store and I¹m telling my friends not to come
back.¹ That kind of grassroots effort does make a difference and when we
started seeing that ­ that was before we actually started to take the
temperature of our own organization ­ and it was obvious there was a ground
swell of support out there and, as I said, when we went out to test the
waters with our own people I was absolutely blown away at how unanimous it
was, because when we first got into Winston Cup, in our organization it
wasn¹t split down the middle, but there were those who said absolutely not.
Now everybody said this is the right thing to do.  Nothing has worked as
hard for us and as well for us as this has.  Yes, the grassroots effort
meant something."

NORRIS:  "Yeah, that¹s one thing I probably failed to talk about was it¹s
amazingŠ the race fans how passionate they are.  We get in our little cocoon
here when we travel around in this little garage.  We can be in Chicago one
week and Watkins Glen another, but it¹s still this little garage and we kind
of sometimes get caught up in our own little world and don¹t realize how
passionate the fans are about individuals and I definitely saw that with
Michael and you see it with Steve and you see it with Junior and you see it
with everyone we have at DEI.  Actually, that¹s very, very positive for us.
My personal e-mail address and direct phone number being posted on the
Internet wasn¹t too cool, but other than that it was all right."

WALTRIP:  DOES IT FEEL GOOD TO FINALLY HAVE ELIMINATED ALL DOUBT?  "It felt
pretty good to win the Pepsi 400 last week.  That was an exclamation point
on what we¹ve been working toward since last September when Slugger joined
us.  This announcement is more about NAPA than me.  I think the commitment a
company like NAPA Auto Parts or anyone who wants to sponsor a first-line
Winston Cup team makes to our sport is news to me. I¹m a footnote because I
feel it¹s a huge commitment on their part and I¹m so proud that they believe
in us and they are happy with how we¹ve been representing them over the last
couple of years and want to continue doing so.  The big deal for me was
winning the race last week.  I knew I would work everything out with DEI,
but to have a great sponsor in these days and times when those commitments
are getting more and more difficult to sign is what this story is all about
to me.

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