Brickyard 400 Winston B'Fast Club - Jeff Gordon, Aug. 2

Today's NASCAR Winston Breakfast Club Luncheon featured past winners of the
Brickyard 400 at IMS.  Among the guests was three-time Brickyard 400 winner
Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo (1994, '98, &
'01).  Highlights of Q&A's with Gordon and the media:

(With the history of IMS, is this race almost bigger than going to the
Daytona 500 even though that event is considered the Superbowl of the
series?) "Going to high school and growing up here and driving by this
speedway as a kid, I always dreamed of racing at Indianapolis. When you're
racing midgets and sprint cars all around here, everybody's goal and dream
is to get to Indianapolis. I didn't know it would happen in a stock car. I
thought if it happened it would be in a rear engine Indy car. For me to be
able to come here and race here and win here is extremely special. The more
that I know about NASCAR and in the sport as long as I have, I recognize the
history of the sport and especially the history at Daytona. It's extremely
special. Winning the Daytona 500 is the ultimate event for us. For me,
personally, Indianapolis just brings something a little more special to the
table."

(Is this a race where experience comes into play more than other races?) "I
think it's the team and the driver is a part of the team. For the guys that
win here, it's more than just experience. It's how well the team clicks and
how well they're working together at that point in the season. That's why I
think for the last three or four years, we've seen the teams that have won
here have gone on to win the championship because those are the ones that
have their act together. They're horsepower is there. They're aero package
is there. They're communication is there. The whole thing is just clicking.
Those are the teams that rise to the top and are the teams that battle for
the championship."

(If you don't perform well here, does the pressure get more intense?) "Yes
(laughs). It's a double-edged sword. I've got so much support here in
Indiana from so many. It's refreshing to come here and hear a lot more
cheers than boos. That to me is not pressure, that's incentive. But on the
other side, there is going to be a lot of pressure for us to perform. Last
year we didn't qualify very well (27th). I thought we were the last car that
was going to win that race, but we won it. Indianapolis is one of those
places where anything is possible. We took some risks and chances last year
because we had to.  We didn't have the track position. We had to take the
chances and they paid off for us. Sometimes being further back in the field
can pay off for you.

We didn't have a very good test here. We brought two cars here (to test) and
we didn't bring either one of them back. Neither one was worth bringing
back. We've got another
TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager or Judy Stropus
Brickyard 400 Advance nmwager@aol.com or jstropus@earthlink.net
Friday, August 02, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (727) 784-8465 or (203) 438-0501
Page 2

car that we feel has been real reliable for us this year. It's a good
racecar - a fast car. I think we're going to be in good shape here. I'm
excited about it. I know what we did last year to win this race means that
no matter what position we're in this year, if we make the right calls and
work together and communicate well, we can win this race also."

(How much will your experience help with the new retaining walls?) "You
don't even know they're there. You don't see them. Until you hit the wall,
you're not going to know any different. It doesn't really come into play in
the way a racecar is driven around this track. It doesn't have any affect as
far as the performance of the cars other than in an accident."

(In '97 and '98, you dominated Winston Cup's biggest events. With more
people winning, will there be a day when that happens again?) "Never say
never, but as competitive as it is these days I find it hard to believe that
nobody is ever going to win 10 races again. It's certainly possible, but it
seems like it gets harder and harder all the time because of what it takes
to get to victory lane these days. The cars are so equal and track position
is so important. We're seeing younger guys and younger teams taking bigger
risks and chances. You're seeing so many different people go to victory lane
these days that I don't know if we'll see that. And the tracks are a lot
different. If you run well at one, it doesn't mean you're going to run well
at other ones. In my opinion, it comes down to the teams that have made the
best efforts in finding the best technology and coming up with the best
combination that's going to go out there and win the championship. I think
that has a lot to do with it too. The way this championship is won is by
being consistent and not falling out of races and by being the best you can
on as many different tracks as possible. It doesn't mean you're going to
necessarily dominate and go out there and win on all those different types
of tracks."

(Is there a place where there is a greater premium placed on strategy?  If
so, why?) "It's kind of like a road course. You kind of hope you're on pit
road getting four tires when the caution comes out. At most other places,
you dread that. Also, the tires are so much better. It's just the tires, but
it's the amount of downforce that we have on these tires. If you'd given us
these tires six years ago, we probably wouldn't have been able to stay on
the racetrack. But because of the amount of downforce we've put in these
racecars, we're able to really make these hard tires grip well. And because
they're hard, they last forever. We're able to maintain that speed from the
time we get on the racetrack to the last lap of that fuel run."


TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager or Judy Stropus
Brickyard 400 Advance nmwager@aol.com or jstropus@earthlink.net
Friday, August 02, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (727) 784-8465 or (203) 438-0501
Page 3


(With the historical significance of this racetrack in your life, have you
thought about joining that list of four-time winners here?) "It's hard for
me to compare the Brickyard 400's to the Indy 500's. When I was a kid and
came here for the first time, you look for the driver you want to look up to
and you walk through the museum and you see A.J. Foyt's name written on
there four times you think, 'Wow, this guy must be really good.' You become
a huge instant fan. Rick Mears won four of those races and I became a huge
Rick Mears fan. I got a chance to meet him and get his autograph and I'm
still a big admirer of his. For me, I guess there's still a lot about the
history of the Indianapolis 500 and how it started from the bricks and how
there were very few three and four-time winners. For me, to compare myself
to an Indy 500 winner as a Brickyard 400 winner is kind of difficult. I'm
just thrilled to be able to say I've won three of these races. I hope that
someday I'll get the opportunity to say that I'm a four-time winner. But
even if I am, I don't think I'll put myself in the same category as those
guys."

(Does this sport need a dominant driver?) "Yes. I'd be happy to put my name
on that list (laughs). I hope that what the fans and the media want to see
is the same thing that we (drivers) want to see which is a great race.
Battling all the way to the end and not knowing who is going to win the race
is exciting. That's what it's all about.  Competitive racing with a lot of
people capable of winning the race is what's exciting."

(Are you and excited about the possibility about trading places with Juan
Montoya?) "It's not that we're changing places. There's an opportunity for
us to swap rides for a day that we're working on, but nothing has been
completed. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that it happens and then we'll
all learn more about it when it does happen for sure."

(Are you in favor of the "greenhouse" car?) "Right now, I think I'm in favor
of taking downforce off these cars so we can get back to softer tires. But
without diving the car or really knowing exactly what I'm dealing with, I
say that optimistically. At the same time, I think that it would be good
safety-wise for everybody. I'm kind of in a unique situation. I'm one of the
smaller guys out there. With the greenhouses that we have right now, it's
not as difficult for me to get out of these cars. But I certainly can see
that with all the safety measures we've taken to put into the seats and the
padding and the support that we have out there now, that we need more room
to get in and out of these cars - especially when you see a situation like
Steve Park was in this past week at Pocono. That would be extremely good
safety-wise. Performance-wise, I'm not exactly sure what it would do. In
theory, it sounds good."
TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager or Judy Stropus
Brickyard 400 Advance nmwager@aol.com or jstropus@earthlink.net
Friday, August 02, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (727) 784-8465 or (203) 438-0501
Page 4

(At this point in the season, how deep in the point standings could someone
be and still have a chance to win the championship?) "I think it's up to
those first couple of guys. If they perform well, it takes the guys that are
deep out of it. But right now, it's so tight a long way back. There are guys
that can get on a streak and perform and make up a lot of points. Tony
Stewart is a guy that if he got hot, could do the same thing. A lot of guys
have potential if they get on a hot streak. I think Sterling Marlin had been
criticized up until last week that he hadn't really stepped it up. But boy,
he sure stepped it up at Pocono. It's a sign of some things that they've got
to come. They're in the driver's seat if they can keep that up. A lot of it
depends on those guys who are up at the top of the list. If they step it up,
it's going to be hard for anybody to catch them."

(On the young drivers and teams) "They sometimes take a few more chances and
risks. With us being Winston Cup champions from last year and winning the
races that we did, maybe we've taken a little bit different approach in
letting them test some of those things and let them take the risks, six out
of 10 times it's not going to pay off for them but those four might payoff
big for them. In this day and age, taking big risks seems to payoff more and
more all the time. They've been a little bit riskier on their set-ups and
pit strategy and it's paid off for them. It's certainly something that we've
evaluated the first half of the season to do better and different for the
second half of the season."

(After last year, how high is your confidence level going into this race
this year?) "I think that's one thing we're looking at right now that we're
looking at right now because we were able to do that last year. I look at
Pocono for instance. That was not a stellar performance for us. We started
pretty deep. We got up to 12th, but we were never a threat to win. Coming
off of that and after not having a great test here, it's comforting to know
that we started deep in the field here last year and were still able to win
the race. If things fall our way and we have the right cautions and all, we
definitely can win this race. This is a place where we come in with
confidence that we're going to perform well. It doesn't matter where we
qualify, we can still find our way to victory lane."

(Are you more likely to take chances now after watching the young guys' way
of doing things?) "Definitely. I think you're going to see us approach it
somewhat that way the rest of the season. We want to win. We want to win the
championship. It's not our goal to finish 4th or 5th in the points. Our goal
is to win. If we haven't won races at this point in the season and if we're
going to be a threat for the championship, we're probably going to roll the
dice and be a little bit more risky."

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