Chevy Practice NASCAR New Hampshire Qualifying Notes

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New Hampshire 300 Practice Notes nmwager@aol.com
Friday, September 13, 2002 GM Racing Communications


GREG BIFFLE, NO. 55 SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "The guys
brought a really good car here. It's similar to the one we ran last week in
Richmond. It just drove really good right off the trailer. We haven't made
many adjustments. We kind of went in a circle and ended up back where we
started. It just drives real nice and goes down in the corner real nice. I'm
pretty happy with it. I think we can get a top 10 qualifying spot here. I
know that these Winston Cup guys pick up a ton when it comes to real
qualifying, but hopefully I can keep it up there in the top five or 10
anyway. The car is handling real well.  The track is in great shape. We're
just running on the bottom for qualifying trim, but when race practice
starts, we'll start moving up the track a little bit. And then we'll see how
it is. But right now, it's really good."

MICHAEL WALTRIP, NO. 15 NAPA CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We were 10th quickest
and the car drove really well. Actually, the car was a little loose, so
we're going to adjust it a little bit. Hopefully those changes will give us
a chance at the pole. We're close enough now that if we can just improve a
little bit, we'll have a shot at it. The track is fine for qualifying today,
but the track wasn't good when we left here in July.  So if they haven't
done anything to it, there's a good chance it'll tear up. Our cars just make
so much downforce and our tires stick to the road so well that it doesn't
appear that the track is capable of holding our 43 cars in lap after lap.
But we'll see.  We survived it last time.  You have to get all the grip you
can to go fast, and that's what's messing the track up."

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 4 KODAK CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We were a little timid
after our crash the other day (testing at Kansas Speedway) and I think we
were second fastest the second time we went out. We got off on the chassis a
little bit and lost the car a little bit and then toward the end of the
practice, we started getting it better and better. They're making some
changes on the car, but we're really satisfied with the car right now. We're
just trying to figure out this front-end stuff with the softer springs and
all that we're running. We're excited. We feel like we still could
contribute to the Monte Carlo camp before we go to Pontiac next year. I'd
like to go out with a bang for them.

"I'm sore. I'm beat up a little bit. We thought about not driving. And then
I decided to try it for a couple of laps. If I didn't feel right, we'd just
get somebody else. But I felt okay and we started working on the car and the
next thing I knew, practice was over. We'll just see how it goes."



TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New Hampshire 300 Practice Notes nmwager@aol.com
Friday, September 13, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 2

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (ON THE TIGHT POINTS
CHASE): "Yeah, it's exciting. It seems like nobody is really taking control
of it and walking away with it. It seems like that's going to keep it pretty
interesting all the way to the last race of the season. I think if anybody
can get on any kind of a roll here in the next five or six races, they'll
get some momentum and be able to take control of it. But we'll just have to
see."

(NOW THAT YOU'VE WON 2 RACES, DO YOU HAVE A SHOT AT IT?) "Oh, absolutely.
We're still carrying momentum and excitement and confidence from those two
wins. This place wasn't real kind to us the last time we were here. With the
track problems, we really struggled. We really weren't that good this
morning, either. We want to qualify up front. This is a place where track
position is real important - especially if the track has any problems.
Hopefully with the adjustments we're making now, we can pick it up for
qualifying and come out of here with a strong finish. It's been a good track
for us in the past and hopefully it will be again on Sunday."

(ON THE TRACK CONDITIIONS NOW) "Well, they didn't do anything to it that I
know of. It's got good grip, but it's pretty much the same. If they put some
sealer down, that's certainly a good thing. I hope that the temperatures are
cool because that will certainly help. But the potential is there (for the
track to break up) until they do something different."

(DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE FEWER FANS ALLOWED IN THE GARAGE AREA?) "I
don't know. There needs to be a time and place for when to do interviews and
when to sign autographs and when to work on the car. We want everybody to
continue to have access and everything, and yet respect the time that we
have with the team and the car. I don't know how you balance all that out.
We all just try to do the best we can. We walk and sign and go in the trucks
to talk to the team. But it seems like the number of people in the garage
area has really grown. It makes it more difficult for them to get autographs
and it makes it more difficult for us to do our job. We just all have to
find a balance. I don't have a solution for it."

(HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO GO THROUH THAT LONG SPELL WITHOUT A WIN?) "It was
very difficult to go through. There was a lot of pressure from outside.
There was a lot of pressure from inside because we all want to win and we
all want to be a threat each weekend. It was very frustrating. The greatest
thing about that win at Bristol was how it gave us some relief. We finally
got it off our backs and don't have to worry so much about getting a win and
now we've got two. All we really need to do now is just
TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New Hampshire 300 Practice Notes nmwager@aol.com
Friday, September 13, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 3

JEFF GORDON, Con't.:
focus on this championship and on being as good as we possibly can every
weekend. The burden is gone now. It's like we had extra things going on. We
were trying to stay in the championship and win races, but you're also
trying to shut everybody up (the media) from talking about the losing
streak. The more they talked about it, the bigger story it became with each
race that went by. We were asked more questions about it and got more
frustrated about it."

(WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO IMPROVE THIS RACE TRACK?) "I don't think we'd really
complain a whole lot about it if the pavement hadn't come up that last time.
That was a real issue the last time we were here. Whatever they do to it,
the pavement should not come up. If they have to put a sealer on it or
whatever they have to do, it shouldn't crumble up or come apart. That's a
real dangerous situation.

"If it were up to me, I'd want to see ten degrees more banking in the track.
I love the efforts that Bob Bahre and his group have put into this place.
They want to please everybody and put the best facility out there. I hope
they can find a solution. All I really care about is that this pavement
doesn't come up."

(SHOULD THEY JUST BULLDOZE AND START FROM SCRATCH?) "I don't know. That's
not my money. I think the fans want to see a good race. In order to put on a
good race, there are more ways they can work with this track like more
banking. It's just way too flat as far as I'm concerned."

(ON JIMMIE JOHNSON) "He's been amazing. He's done a great job. I love having
him as a teammate and as my driver of that car. It's been neat to see the
team's chemistry come together that fast and keep it strong all year.
They're real fighters."

(HAVE YOU TAUGHT HIM A LOT) "Not necessarily on the race track. He does a
good job on his own. I've probably learned as much from him as he's learned
from me. But off the race track, there are a lot of experiences I've been
through like championships and just the business of racing as a whole and
dealing with the sponsors and all. I've kind of been there for him when he
has questions or needs help."

(HOW DO YOU SPEND TIME AWAY FROM THE TRACK?) "With friends and family.
Motorcycling and boating help me to step away from it all. I find a lot of
things to do, but spending time with friends and family is probably the
biggest thing."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New Hampshire 300 Practice Notes nmwager@aol.com
Friday, September 13, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 4

(AS YOU LOOK TOWARD THE TITLE, ARE YOU FOCUSING ON ANY ONE DRIVER AS YOUR
BIGGEST CHALLENGE?) "To me, it's just all about focusing on our own program
and fighting for every position, every lap, every race and making sure
you're there at the finish and getting the points. I'm not really looking at
any one competitor out there - especially as tight as it is right now. We're
just focused on our own thing. We try to capitalize on race tracks that are
good for us and try to get better on tracks where we've struggled. We have
to be smart."

(ON THE TIMING OF BAD LUCK BETWEEN GORDON AND STERLING MARLIN) "I went up to
him today and told him to stop having bad luck. I told him he's messing my
deal up. It's been weird how every time he's had back luck, and we've had an
opportunity to really gain in the points, something happens to us too. I
think that's just coincidence. That's why we've got to focus on our own
program. And that's kind of why the points are they way they are right now."

(ON HOW PERSONAL DIFFICULTIES CAN AFFECT A DRIVER AT THE RACE TRACK) "I know
what I've gone through and it hasn't been fun and it hasn't been easy. I
feel like I've been able to deal with it and get through it and put that
aside when it's time to go to work. That's what makes us professionals.
You've got to put that stuff off to the side when it's time to do your job.
I know that what Tony (Stewart) is going through right now is no fun and is
difficult. It doesn't matter how difficult it is. We've all got to find a
way to get through it and not let it affect our performances."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New Hampshire 300 Qualifying Notes nmwager@aol.com
Friday, September 13, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 5

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We didn't go super fast
in practice. I was hoping the track would slow down a little bit and it
certainly has. I don't think drawing an early number is going to help a
whole lot. It's going to get faster as the runs go on. But it was a good
solid lap for us. The car was well balanced. It didn't have the grip that it
needed to go any faster, so we'll work on that and hopefully we'll end up
pretty decent for Sunday."

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "It was not good
(qualifying effort). We were way off, but we'll race good."

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "Anytime you go
in the first three or four here, you're in big trouble. But that's all
right. We'll race good. We've got a pretty cool looking paint scheme
representing our country this week. We're racing for a reason. GM Goodwrench
took their name off the side of the car and put the American flag in their
place. Everything that we win this weekend - Richard Childress and I - we're
going to donate to the 9/11 Relief Fund. GM Goodwrench is going to build a
few thousand die cast for their dealers and all those proceeds are going to
go to the Relief Fund. We're going to start in the back, but we couldn't
control that. But we've got a pretty cool-looking car to represent this
great country.

JIMMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLT MONTE CARLO: "It was a good lap.
We've been struggling a little bit or I've been struggling a little bit.
It's taken me a while to figure it out. I brushed the wall over there in
Turn 4 a little bit during practice and put us behind. I don't have a lot of
experience here. Today's been a little harder on me. I've got to stop
hitting things on Fridays. Luckily, I've got a great team. We put an okay
lap up there. I don't know where it's going to put us in the end, but if we
beat the boss, we're doing okay."

TERRY LABONTE, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "Our car is not quite
as good as we'd hoped. This is actually our back-up short track car. We tore
up the other one last week at Richmond. So we really hadn't planned on
running this one. I don't really think it's going to be that bad. But it's
just not quite as good as the other one. We're going to be making some big
changes."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New Hampshire 300 Qualifying Notes nmwager@aol.com
Friday, September 13, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 6

GREG BIFFLE, NO. 55 SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "The guys
brought us a great car here in this Square D Chevy. It's been running really
good since we got here. We were just a little bit too free on that lap. That
was the best I could do. Hopefully that'll get us a top five starting spot.
I think we're going to have a good car."

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 4 KODAK CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "The wall grabbed me. It
felt pretty good on the first lap. We were a little bit loose getting in and
a little bit tight off. The second lap was just a little bit tight off and
pushed off the groove and got into the marbles. I'm a little bit
disappointed because qualifying is so important here. But we'll have to work
our way up during the race. We're going to change a lot of stuff on the car
now. We'll put stuff in that's closer to what we raced (and won) here last
time and we'll be better."

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 4 KODAK CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I'm little sore (from
practice crash at Kansas Speedway last week) but we thought we'd come up
here and give it a try today and see how things go. We really want to do
something for Monte Carlo. We've had a great relationship with Chevrolet and
before the year is over, we want to win a race for them. This has been a
good race track for us but I think I had a bad Turn 2. I'll have to go back
and look at the film. I really thought we were better on the second lap, but
we were slower. The tires just gave us all they could give us and I probably
overdrove second turn a little bit. So, that's just all we had for them
today. We got close, but that should get us a good starting spot for
Sunday's race."

(ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE A RELIEF DRIVER STANDING BY ON SUNDAY?) "Well, I told
Chris (Carrier, crew chief) that since he's always wanted to drive we could
get him suited up and give it a try. I'm sure we'll know a lot more after
Happy Hour in the morning. I don't know how many cars are here, but if
anybody has to go home we'll probably ask him if they want to stay around
until after practice tomorrow and see how I hold up. Right now, if I was to
make a guess, I'll be okay."

HERMIE SADLER, DIXIE CHOPPER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We were a little bit
too loose. We were tight in practice. We tried a couple of things and we
loosened the car up too much. It was too loose to go fast. We'll be starting
in the back, but we started in the back last week and worked our way up. We
hope to be able to do that again this week. We're disappointed. We wanted to
qualify a little closer to the front."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
New Hampshire 300 Qualifying Notes nmwager@aol.com
Friday, September 13, 2002 GM Racing Communications
New Hampshire International Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 7

STEVE PARK, NO. 1 PENNZOIL CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I was just loose getting
into turn one and got out of the groove. The track is pretty slick up high.
We tried to catch it, but got into the wall with the right side. I'm
disappointed for the Pennzoil team because we were running good in practice
and thought we had a shot at the pole. It was a combination of just going
for it and getting a little bit loose and we swept the wall.  We'll have to
come from the back." Note: Park goes to a back-up car, which is the Chevy he
ran at Martinsville in April - finished 24th).

JOE NEMECHEK, NO. 25 UAW/DELPHI CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We didn't run as
fast as we thought we should have. We slowed down quite a bit from practice,
which isn't good. But, we've got Peter Sospenzo (new crew chief) over here
now to finish out the year and this is a car I've never driven before. So,
there are a lot of new things this weekend. But I think we're doing pretty
good."

MICHAEL WALTRIP, NO. 15 NAPA CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO:  "I don't know if it's
the track or what, but it just didn't stick. Everybody is slowing down
(compared to practice), so I guess the track gives up some grip after it
sits for a while. We went on stickers in practice. So it wasn't the fact
that I had hot tires. It seems like the track is changing."

JEFF GREEN, NO. 30 AOL CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We just don't qualify very
good for some reason.  I can't put a finger on why. We practice good and
race good. I guess if I had to pick one, racing would be more important than
qualifying. But we want to try not to have a hole to dig ourselves out of
every week and that's what we've been doing all year basically.  We're just
going to try to get ourselves up front and in position when the checkered
flag fall. Track position will be everything again like it always is just
about everywhere we go."