Chevrolet Notes & Quotes - NHIS Happy Hour, July 20

Robbie Gordon, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Monte Carlo - "I'm a
little disappointed to come back here and not be able to use the same set-up
we used last year. Kevin Hamlin (crew chief) came here with something real
close to that, but it just didn't work.  We've had to keep adjusting and
keep changing. We're real close to it but we're still working on it today,
Saturday going into the final practice.

"So I'm a little disappointed. The tires are different now; the track is
different. There are just so many different variables. But the good thing
about it is that we'll be able to use what we learn this weekend when we
come back here in the fall."

(On the track changes) "I don't think it's changing things much, it's just
leveling out the playing field again. We found something at the first Loudon
race last year that we were able to bring back to the second race and build
on it that worked real well. Obviously, with the competition in the NASCAR
paddock and all the teams that leak things to each other, before you know it
everybody has the same stuff that you had at a race six months ago.  So you
have to be careful to hold that stuff inside."

(Is having three different crew chiefs in as many Loudon races - Royce McGee
in '01 spring, Gil Martin in '01 fall, and Kevin Hamlin in '02 spring - a
challenge?) "All those guys were Richard Childress Racing employees and they
shared stuff back & forth very close. What we learned with Royce really
helped out Gil when we came back last year because we had a really good
set-up in that race. Unfortunately we had a bad pit call. We ran with those
top five cars all day long. We should have finished in the top five in the
first race. But we came back and we were able to capitalize on what we
learned at the first race and improve on it. Now, we come back with a new
racetrack, a different racecar, a different tire, and a different crew chief
again. We tried to start off with what we had with Gil Martin but it just
didn't work for us. The car was too tight. So, we've had to make adjustments
to make the car handle better." Note: the Monte Carlo Gordon is driving this
weekend is the same Chevy that he drove in the June Dover race (finished
8th), and at Rockingham, Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond this season.

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "First practice was
pretty good and we're looking forward to the second practice. We were
second-fastest in the first one so I think we'll be all right. With the sun
coming out, we're trying to understand how the track's going to change and
what the asphalt is going to do.  We've been fighting a tight condition, so
we're just going to continue to free the car up. But it's going to be an
interesting race with the new asphalt." - (More comments to follow)

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New England 300 Happy Hour Notes nmwager@aol.com
Saturday, July 20, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 2

Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "Everything's going to
be good. Our car is balanced and decent and we're really looking forward to
this next practice because we think there are some improvements we need to
make. We also want to learn more about the track. It's cool when you're
decent; you're close. You feel like you've got a baseline there and so you
can try to improve upon it.  I like the track. It's better than it was.
Anytime you can improve something that people thought was a mess and make it
to where it's better, is good."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "We've got a good
package.  It's working well. Our package is about mid-pack. The track's
okay. It's a little tough to run on that bottom groove because it is kind of
sloped the other way.  But it's all right. I've never been good here so if
I'm not last, I'm happy."

Steve Park, No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "Our practice was pretty
good. I mean, we're not where we want to be. But it's giving us a good
direction. It's good to be up in New Hampshire again and we're working
really hard to find what we need to win. The track is really good. The
improvements are really good. You can run the old groove - the outside
groove - but I think that during the race the inside groove will give you a
place to pass if you're good enough."

Joe Nemechek, No. 25 UAW/Delphi Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "We're just trying to
get good balance on our racecar. We're just going to keep working on balance
and making the tires live as long as they can."

Mike Skinner, No. 4 Kodak Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "We'd like to get a little
more speed. We like to get the car freed-up a little bit right in the middle
of the corner. Our Monte Carlo is just a little bit tight right in the
center. But it's pretty good coming off the corner. We're fine-tuning. We're
not quite where we need to be but we're gaining on it. We're trying some
different spring packages in the left front and a couple sets of shocks."

Bobby Hamilton, No. 55 Square D Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "We never put on new
tires, we stayed on old tires and we were actually the quickest car on old
tires (in the first practice). We just tried to keep up with it like that.
We've got a shot at winning this thing. We've definitely got a shot at a top
five (finish) if we don't get in trouble. It's going to be more of a gas
situation in the race, I think. They've got such a good tire here that you
might take on two, you might take on none in certain portions of the race
you might take on four - it just depends on how the cautions fall."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New England 300 Happy Hour Notes nmwager@aol.com
Saturday, July 20, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 3

Jeff Green, No. 30 AOL Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "We found out that we could
pass a little easier than in the past. The surface is good. It seems like
the more we run on these tires, the faster we get. It should be a great
race.  The track is really not different. We're still racing on the same
part of the racetrack we always did. It just gives you a little bit better
exit where you can use that lower groove a little bit. You can exit off
there a little bit easier. It just should make for a better race and it'll
be a little bit easier to pass."

Terry Labonte, No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Monte Carlo:  "Practice was not as
good as we'd hoped for. We're making some changes, but we're not where we
need to be. Our car is way too tight.  That's kind of a characteristic of
this track and it still is even though it's been disguised with some new
pavement. It still reacts the same way. We've got to get our car loosened up
a little bit."

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "The sealer on the
track was coming up. It reminded me of the way the Richmond race went. It's
hard to adjust the car when you've got sealer coming up and the sun coming
out. We're going to be guessing a little bit as to what the conditions are
going to be tomorrow and what set-up we need. But I feel with the No. 24
team's past experience here and how well we've all been working together,
we'll be in good shape.

"I think the sealer is coming up. You could see the color in the track
changing. It felt like there were patches that I would hit where I would
lose grip in the car. It seemed like a sealer change to me. Between turns
three and four was the most visible place it was happening - in the middle
of three and the exit of four. I could be wrong, but it just seemed like it
was coming up.  We saw something happen at Richmond where the heat of the
day and these heavy cars brought the sealer up during the day. At nighttime
at Richmond, we didn't have any issues. But when the sun came out today
(second Happy Hour session) it seemed like it started softening up the
sealer.

"There are a lot more mental aspects to NASCAR Winston Cup racing than I
ever gave it credit for before. There's a lot to the morale and energy
within the team. We had a very rough week in Chicago, but what we
accomplished on Sunday afternoon as team turned that around for us. You want
to think that a few conversations and a little bit of talking can motivate
everyone and tell them it's okay, but proving it on the racetrack is what
really does it. You can over-analyze things, put pressure on yourself, try
too hard - there's a real fine balance between trying too hard and not
trying hard enough. It's hard to hit. From the driver's standpoint, if you
climb in the car and you're upset about something, and you carry the car in
the corner a mile an hour faster and it won't stick,
TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New England 300 Happy Hour Notes nmwager@aol.com
Saturday, July 20, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 4

you can blow the whole lap. It's really hard to remember what you did in
practice or what you did the lap before so you can go out and repeat it.
That's 90 percent of the battle - especially in qualifying tri - to go out
and repeat what you did in practice. That's part of the whole mental game of
remembering your reference points and not letting the two hours between your
last lap of practice and the time you go out to qualify play any mind games
on you.  That's the kind of stuff I'm trying to work my way through now."

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "It's going to be a good
race. Even the start is going to be interesting. You've got the preferred
line that's the outside, but then you've got a guy who's got the inside
lane. When we go down into turn one, I don't know what the heck is going to
happen. The fastest way around the track is not the inside, and yet if that
guy just slides up a little bit and pushes you out of line, you're going to
see some guys going backyards. So it's going to be interesting to see how it
all unfolds. I think you're going to really have to think about making your
passes and being extremely careful. In practice, I tried some moves on some
guys and if it didn't stick, the guy behind you got some passing momentum to
just drive right by you.

"If you ask me today what it's going to take to pass, it's getting position
and going in there and just sliding that guy right up out of the groove. And
that's going to make a lot of people mad tomorrow."