Chevy Happy Hour Notes: Pocono W.C.

CHEVROLET/TEAM MONTE CARLO NOTES AND QUOTES
PENNSYLVANIA 500
NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2002

HAPPY HOUR NOTES:

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE¹S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (third in Happy Hour):
"I guess I¹m the only happy guy.  We came back with a very similar setup and
the same race car from the race earlier in the year [that] we finished third
with.  And (we¹re) just trying to improve on that a little bit.  Found some
different lines out there this time and different ways to approach the
corners that I think helped me out in the second practice.  We¹re third
fastest on the board and on the long runs we looked really, really strong as
far as lap times were concerned.  Hopefully nothing changes overnight and we
can go out and have a great day tomorrow."  DOES THE DAILY WEATHER CHANGE
AFFECT WORKING ON SETUP? "If  tomorrow is different it will mess up our race
setup.  Right now with the clouds there¹s a lot more grip, and you can get a
lot more aggressive with the setup on the car.  If we wake up tomorrow and
it¹s sunny, all the crew chiefs are going to be running around the garage
trying to tighten the cars back up because it will get real slick.  We
learned a lot in the race a month ago.  There were segments in the run where
the sun was out and it went away and the handling on the car changed
suddenly.  I think we will be a lot better as a race team, especially myself
as a driver coming back for a second time."

STEVE PARK, NO. 1 PENNZOIL CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (fourth in Happy Hour):
"The Pennzoil Chevrolet is running good.  We just need to be just a little
bit better.  The guys worked so hard to improve the race car, to make it a
good race car, that I feel we can run in the top 10 and put ourselves in
position with pit stops and stuff to win.  I feel we can do that.  You need
to be out front at the end of the race to win these races.  Track position
is so key.  We¹re going to continue to work tonight, and talk, and try to
make it just a tick better and see what we¹ve got on Sunday."  ON CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS, DOES IT MESS YOU UP?  "Yeah, it does.  It don¹t mess me
up, but for these guys who are chasing the setup in these race cars it¹s
making them have fits.  Right now we¹ve got to look at the Weather Channel.
The Weather Channel is our friend right now.  They¹re talking about having
sun come out.  It might warm up a little bit, but I feel that through the
first couple of pits tops we¹ll adjust the car to make it what we need to
have."

JOE NEMECHEK, NO. 25 UAW-DELPHI CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (22nd quickest in
Happy Hour):  "Just trying to find balance.  It¹s up on springs, down on
springs, just trying to find balance.  Can¹t really find what I want yet."
DOES THE DAILY WEATHER CHANGE AFFECT WORKING ON SETUP?  "I think there¹s
going to be a big difference from today to tomorrow.  If the sun¹s going to
be out tomorrow it will change everything."

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 4 KODAK FILMS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (40th in Happy Hour):
"We¹re struggling extremely here at Pocono.  I don¹t really know. We¹ve
really worked with the balance of our Chevy; we tried really hard a lot of
different things.  Got the car driving pretty good right now; we just don¹t
seem to have a lot of speed in it.  We¹re gaining on it."  YOU RECENTLY WENT
INTO THE WIND TUNNEL WITH GM RACING; DOES IT HELP ON A TRACK LIKE THIS?
"Absolutely.  I think it helps tremendously.  I don¹t think you can go one
time as a learning process and fix all your cars in your shop.  I think it¹s
going to take extensive work and a lot of changes.  We got a lot of bodies
in different locations, a lot of different things.  It¹s a good-looking body
on this race car, I can tell you.  I¹m really puzzled that were running slow
Œcause it¹s way better balance-wise than the car we brought here last time.
Hopefully we can figure it out."

ROBBY GORDON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (30th in Happy
Hour);  "I think we know where we¹re missing it, and the ball is in Kevin
Hamlin¹s (crew chief) court.  He says he¹s going to fix it and we¹re going
to be good tomorrow."  ON CHANGING WEATHER:  "If it¹s raining (tomorrow),
let¹s put rain tires on and let¹s get it on; then we¹ll handle just fine
(laughing).  I don¹t think we¹re chasing weather; I think we¹re just chasing
a good balance all the way through the corner and then trying to get the
best balance for all three corners.  This is a give-and-take race track.
You have to give up a little bit somewhere to gain somewhere else.  We¹re
not junk; we¹re just not quick on new tires.  The board is a little
deceiving there (looking at the timing chart).  We¹re not eight tenths off;
we¹re probably two to three off on old tires to the best guys.  I think if
we can find that, we¹ll be OK."

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (19th in Happy Hour):  ON
POINTS CHASE; AND STERLING MARLIN HOLDING ON TO POINTS LEAD:  "I don¹t
really look at him and what he¹s doing; I look at what we¹re doing. If we do
what we¹re capable of we can make gains.  Yeah, he¹s maintained the lead,
but I haven¹t seen him do something that just has really put a damper on
everybody else.  Other than he¹s just had a good solid team and cars and
what he¹s done all year has been very solid.  He hasn¹t had any big
failures, hasn¹t made any big mistakes or anything like that.  At the same
time, they haven¹t just come out and wore everybody out, either.  That is
how you win a championship.  But if any of us can get on any kind of a
streak or roll where we can get a lot of top fives and some wins there¹s no
doubt that he¹s capable of catching"

HOW DOES THE BRICKYARD 400 RACE RANK AT INDY?  "I don¹t know.  Does it
matter?  We¹re there, we¹re racing, we¹re happy; that¹s all that matters.
The neat thing that I like about Indianapolis is that there¹s just a lot of
race fans.  I don¹t know if they necessarily look at it as, ŒOh, I have to
go watch open-wheel cars.¹  I think they just like to see cars going around
that track fast, and a good race, like the rest of us.  The point of view
that I¹ve always had is that I just like racing.  It doesn¹t matter to me
what¹s there; if it¹s a good race, it¹s a good race.  If it¹s unique and
different, then I¹m interested in it.  Like the F1 deal; I think that¹s
cool.  I¹d love to go watch those cars go around there.  I don¹t really put
a ranking on it."

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT INDY?  "For me there¹s a lot of things.  Obviously I
like winning there.  I like going to Indiana, I like racing at a track that
I went to as a kid watching the Indy 500.  I just think that any kid that
was there that was in awe of that or drove quarter midgets or grew up in
racing just wanted to be at that speedway -- out there where other people
(were) watching them go around and competing.  To be able to win there is
just an added bonus.  I guess because of me growing up around Indiana; I
have so many people that pull for us there; so that makes it a lot of fun
too."

ON GETTING FIRST WIN THIS YEAR:  ŒI¹m eager to get it.  We know that we
can¹t really do anything other than what we¹re already doing.  We¹re working
as hard as we can; we¹re working well together, communicating, putting good
cars out there on the track.  If winning is meant to happen, it will happen,
hopefully."

DESCRIBE YOUR SEASON:  "A big test in patience.  It¹s been decent because
we¹ve been in the top five in points for a long time and we really haven¹t
done anything spectacular, in my opinion.  We¹ve had cars capable of winning
and we¹ve led laps; we just haven¹t put it in victory lane.  That certainly
is frustrating, Œcause we want to do that.  As each race goes by, it¹s going
to get more and more frustrating.  So we hope that it happens here pretty
soon so we don¹t have tons of pressure on us in the last four or five races
of the season."

ARE YOU GETTING GRUMPY ABOUT IT?  "I get grumpy when I haven¹t eaten and
when I haven¹t had enough sleep, not when I haven¹t won.  I¹ve been racing a
long time and it really doesn¹t matter to me. I¹ve been very successful.  I
realize that there¹s ups and downs and you appreciate the good times more
when you have the bad times.  When you¹ve had the good times it makes you
work harder through the bad times."

 ARE YOU PULLING PRANKS ON JIMMIE JOHNSON AS A ROOKIE?  "I¹m not a real
prankster.  I can¹t say that I do.  I like to go out there and deep bang on
him a little bit.  But he¹s been running pretty good so it¹s been hard for
me to get up there and bang on him."

THERE¹S A LOT OF TALK OF NOT HAVING A 43-CAR FIELD:  "A lot of it just has
to do with the economy.  I think this sport is in a really stable, strong
position right now.  Racing¹s really good.  I think it really just has to do
with sponsorship.  The sport is extremely expensive.  You can only use your
own money for so long.  This, to me, is a great venue to be able to offer
marketing and get exposure for companies, but if they don¹t put the money
behind the marketing and start to pull away from sports marketing, then
that¹s going to put us in a position to make it tough to fill the fields.  I
think that¹s really more where we¹re at right now."

DOES IT MATTER TO YOU WHETHER IT¹S 38 OR 43 CARS?  "No.  No.  Sometimes I
think 43 is too many, anyway."