Jeff Gordon Wins at Kansas - Sept. 29

Chevrolet's Jeff Gordon wins the NASCAR Winston Cup race at Kansas Speedway
for the second consecutive year; and rookie teammate, Jimmie Johnson, takes
over the Series point lead. Notes & Comments follow:


JFFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - (Winner - takes his 3rd
win of the season, his 61st Winston Cup career win) "I've got to thank
everybody at Hendrick Motorsports - and this entire team.  What a great
effort and pit stops by this team. The chassis department and body
department at Hendrick Motorsports - the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson), the No. 25
(Joe Nemechek), and the N. 5 (Terry Labonte) - all the guys did a great job.
The guys in the engine shop did a heck of a job too bringing us the great
horsepower."

(ON THE FORDS AND DODGES DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE RACE) "At the
beginning, we were moving forward but we could only get so far. It was
pretty tight in traffic. I thought we had a good car. We did a two tire stop
that we thought would work out and I got blocked in the pits so I didn't get
track position -and I had two tires. We fell backward. From then on it was
just four tires. The car was just so awesome on four tires that once we had
long enough green flag runs to pass people and maneuver though traffic to
get that track position, then my guys just busted off a great stop and put
us out second."

(WERE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE RED FLAG STOP & THE RE-START?) "Anytime you
see a red or a caution or something you don't want to see, you hope that
nobody is injured. But at the same time, you don't want to stop the race or
slow down your momentum - especially when you get a great re-start like I
did. But luckily, I got another one after that and it was smooth sailing
from then on. You know, after the re-starts when the tires cooled down and
the pressures were up, the car handled great."

(ON JIMMIE JOHNSON TAKING OVER THE POINT LEAD AND GORDON MOVING UP IN THE
STANDINGS) "That's great. Coming in here, I said that if we didn't make up
some points, we would be in trouble. We couldn't have done anything any
better than we did here today. Some of the guys had some trouble. It was a
great points day for us and I'm really excited for Jimmie and that team to
have the points lead. It's just so exciting to see a rookie driver - and to
know that he's my driver - leading the points. It's awesome." (more to
follow)

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Note: finished 10th,
but takes over the points lead for the first time in his career. "I was
wondering why everybody was standing around. There's more media people here
probably than there are in Victory Lane with Jeff (Gordon, race winner).
That's great. Unfortunately we had a flat tire. It cost us and we got down
but we had a great race car and a great team and we weren't going to let it
get us down. I want to thank everybody at
TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Post-Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 3

JIMMIE JOHNSON, Con't.
Hendrick Motorsports and Lowe's for their support. Who knows? It's been a
bad place to be leading the points these days. Everybody keeps having
trouble. But hopefully we can take it and hang onto it."

(GOING INTO TALLADEGA, DOES LEADING THE POINTS MEAN ANYTHING?) "No. It just
scares you (laughs).

(DID YOU KNOW ABOUT STERLING MARLING AND MARK MARTIN DROPPING OUT OF THE
RACE?) "I didn't know Mark (Martin) dropped out, but I knew Sterling
(Marlin) got in a wreck. It looked like a pretty violent one when I saw it
in the mirror. I am just glad that we were able to finish. When you see
people have trouble, you almost try not to look because you know you're kind
of jinxing yourself. I just minded my own business and it all worked out."

(WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THE NO. 24 TEAM WIN TODAY?) "The things that have
happened to them have been weird things. They've had the speed and really
turned the switch on at Bristol and I'm glad to see them back in Victory
Lane. This championship is far from over. Jeff Gordon knows how to win these
things and it's going to be a battle to he end."

CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (WERE YOU
CALCULATING THE POINTS AT THE END?) "You're not going to see a guy win seven
or eight championships again. The only guy that's possibly going to do that
is Jeff Gordon because he already has four under his belt. The competition
is too close. If you don't go out there every week and try to win the race
and try to lead the most laps, you're not going to win the championship. I
don't even know where we're at (in the points) right now. I don't care about
that. If we lead the points and we win the championship, we'll celebrate in
New York. Until then, we're just going to go out there and race."

(WHEN THE TIRE WENT DOWN AND YOU FELL BACK A LAP IN THE RACE, DID YOU HELP
TO KEEP JIMMIE FROM OVERDRIVING THE CAR?) "We came in and changed those two
tires and Jimmie went out there and he was busting off some laps that were
just incredibly fast. I got backed him down a little bit. I said, 'Hey look
there, buddy - there's no way you're going to catch the leader. You're 15
second behind him. You're catching him four-tenths a lap but that's not
going to do us any good. There's not enough laps even in the race to get
that lap back.' He needed to
TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Post-Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 4

CHAD KNAUS Con't.
settle back down and pass as many cars as he could and gain as much track
position as we could so that if it did come down to a green flag stop - like
it did - so that we would still have a chance to get a good track position
at the end."

JOE NEMECHEK, NO. 25 UAW/DELPHI CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (finished 4th) "I've
got to thank all the guys on this crew - especially all the guys back at the
fab shop. They tuned this car up and they know who they are and they know
what they did. And, I've got to thank the motor shop for an awesome motor.
They picked up the horsepower and the thing just ran strong all day. Peter
Sospenzo (crew chief) and this entire UAW/Delphi team gave me what it took
to run in the top five. I kind of told everybody a couple of weeks ago that
by the time we come to Kansas, our season would be turning around. And it
is."

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO FROM
THE MEDIA CENTER:

"It was a good day for us. When we unloaded off the truck on Friday, we were
pretty awesome. I felt good from our win here last year and from the test we
had with Goodyear. I was a little disappointed when we qualified 10th. I
thought we were capable of being a little bit better than that. Yesterday in
practice, we were one of the fastest cars on the track. You just had that
feeling, you know. You could just sense that we had something that was going
to be strong for today. When they dropped the green (flag) and I drove by a
couple of cars, I knew right then it was going to be a good day.

"We got a little bit tight and I don't know if the track freed up or if we
freed the car up. Track position was also key. We had to overcome some
adversity. One time when we stayed out with Ryan (Newman) and everybody else
peeled off and I told the guys that I was sorry right then because I knew
that that could bite us. We lost track position and never really got the
long green flag runs that we needed to gain those positions back. We tried a
two-tire stop and I got blocked in the pits and didn't take off. There were
some times when I was shaking my head thinking today wasn't the day. But
once we got those long green flag runs, we just found out how good our car
was. We drove by some great race cars and drove up into the top five and
then came in and the guys just busted off a great stop. From then on, it was
our race to take control of."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Post-Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 5

JEFF GORDON Con't
(REGARDING THE POINT STANDINGS, HOW MUCH DID YOU REALLY NEED TO WIN TODAY?)
"Well, we've won three out of the last six races but those other three were
really not good. I don't know if we needed a win, but we needed a strong
finish. We needed to gain some points. Obviously, we couldn't ask for more
than we got out of it today. It's funny how things happen. Last week I
thought this was not meant to be. And this week.....whew....we got 'em.
We're on top of our game and we've got a shot at this thing (title).  These
last seven races are going to be really interesting. We can't focus on what
other guys are doing - whether they're doing something good or having
trouble - all we can focus on is our own program. That's how we've won
championships in the past and that's how we're going to win them in the
future. It seems like we're coming into our own here towards the end of the
season where we're getting better and that's got me really pumped up and
excited to go to each race. Talladega is kind of a wash because it's a
restrictor-plate deal. But we're going to go get what we can out of there.
And then when we go to Charlotte, we're going to be on a mission. It's going
to be exciting."

(ON THE TIRES NEAR THE END OF THE RACE) "I was really disappointed with that
last set of tires. When we took off and I was in clean air, I was driving
hard. Literally, the thing was just wrecking going into turn one and turn
three. I felt like I was losing a lot of time on the track. Maybe other guys
were fighting the same thing and I just didn't realize it. But it was
everything I could do to just hold onto it. So when the caution came out, we
got the idea that maybe we needed to come in and get tires. It would have
been interesting to see what would have happened. But when I looked in my
mirror and I saw a line up high. I wasn't sure if they're coming and Robbie
said for me to make the call. I saw they weren't coming and I crossed my
fingers and hoped that when we went back green that baby would stick. And
actually, that was the best the car had been all day was when the tires
cooled down a little bit and the pressures were up, that thing was on a
rail."

(TELL US ABOUT YOUR TEAM MEETING LAST MONDAY) "I was not real happy after
last weekend's race (Dover) and I think everybody knew that. It wasn't
anybody's fault, but you see it get so close and then you see it start to
fall apart. It's frustrating. You want to win the championship and every lap
and every position counts. I was pretty upset. When we left, I said it right
there on TV that if we didn't do something in Kansas, we'd be in trouble.
I'm glad I said it now, but at the time I wasn't so sure it was the right
thing to say.

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Post-Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 6

JEFF GORDON Con't.
"But Robbie (Loomis) meets with the guys every week and I had a crazy week
so I wasn't really around. But in today's meeting, I told the guys that
unfortunately we needed a win today. But fortunately, we're capable of a win
today. I said we should just go out there and show them what we're made of.
Sometimes you've got that feeling you're going to win and sometimes you
don't have it at all and you go out there and win. It was just awesome today
to see how the team worked together and never panicked. Everything really
fell in place for us."

(AFTER THE ACCIDENT IN DOVER, WERE YOU HAPPY TO GO TO KANSAS?) "Yeah, I knew
that we were good here last year. And we were good at Chicago earlier in the
year and these tracks are similar. I was just glad to get out of Dover. It
didn't matter where we were going, I just wanted to go somewhere else and
get another race under out belt and show that we could go out and win. But I
do like this track. I'm probably more excited about coming back here next
year than I was this year."

(IN THE NEXT FEW RACES, WILL YOU BE AN ADVISOR OR A COMPETITOR TO JIMMIE
JOHNSON?) "How am I supposed to advise a guy who's been wearing me out all
year long? There are some people that have it and some people that don't.
The guy has got it. There's just something about it. When it's crunch time,
he knows how to get the win. What's amazing to me with these young guys -
especially Jimmie - is the head they've got on their shoulders. We've put
him in great equipment, but there are a lot of guys out there in great
equipment. He's spectacular. It's more than just his driving ability. It's
the way he thinks and how he handles himself.

"We talk a lot. We've become great friends. But I don't know if we talk
about that. I guess maybe we need to get a little bit closer to the end
before I can offer him anything. I haven't seen the pressure get to him.
Right now, I really don't want him to be thinking about it. I just want him
to go out there and run his races the same way we are. What I've seen so
far, he doesn't need anything from me."

(WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WILL YOUR WAY TO TWO WINS?) "Well, I know what you're
saying. I was putting the pressure on myself and the team at the same time.
I don't normally like to do that. Sometimes it's just crunch time when
you've got to perform and you don't have a choice. It's like a do or die
situation. After the last three weeks, I just felt if we had another week
like that, we were done. Whether that's the case or not, it popped into my
mind. So, I guess I'll start willing us into some more wins."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Post-Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 7

JEFF GORDON Con't.
(CAN YOU PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE CHANGE YOU'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH THIS
SEASON?) "It's hard to really put your finger on why you win some races and
why you don't win. I can't say that we're really doing anything different
today. The communication's always been good. The effort's always been there.
There are silly things that can knock you out of contention. At Bristol
(first round), I had the car to win the race but spun out and crashed. The
first Darlington, we had a car capable to winning and I got caught up in a
wreck. Now we're back in Kansas. But this time, we brought more horsepower
than we've had all season long. That's probably been the biggest gain.
I hope we can keep bringing this stuff the rest of the season because that's
going to get us some more wins and make us a serious threat for the
championship."

(HOW MUCH OF YOUR WIN TODAY WAS ENGINE AND HOW MUCH WAS THE NOSE KICKOUT?)
"I just think it's clean air. Ryan (Newman) was one of the best cars and
he's in a Ford. When he got out front, he drove away. I think that's really
what means the most is getting the car out front. Horsepower is big for us.
The No. 12 and the No. 2 have had it all year long. Maybe we're closing the
gap in some areas and learning more about the kick and making more out of
it. I think we're just on more equal ground. We haven't been a threat for
the win on these types of tracks most of the year. I'm thankful that NASCAR
gave us the kick, but I don't really feel like it's made the difference of
whether you're competitive or not."

(WITH THE FOUNDATION OF THE NO. 48 TEAM BUILT ON THE NO. 24 TEAM, CAN YOU
BEAT THEM?)  "Everybody out there is beatable. If we're on top of our game,
I don't think there's anybody better. But we know what we're up against
there. We know what the cars are and we know what the power under the hood
is. There are places where they're good, and places where we're good. We
can't beat them if we get knocked in the back like we did at Dover. If we're
flat-out racing them, there will be some when we'd beat them and some when
they'd beat us. Usually championships don't come down to that. They come
down to failures and they come down to mistakes. They rarely come down to
just a guy outperforming. But if this thing stays the way it is, that's what
it's going to come down to in the last few races. We'll have to wait and
see."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Post-Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 8

JEFF GORDON Con't.
(HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A POINTS RACE LIKE THIS ONE?) "Not that I've been a part
of or that I've seen. Typically, when you're in a season you have that
mindset that it's your year. Something clicks to give you an edge that
you're going to do it. You just feel good and the right things are
happening. Many times this year, I haven't had a clue. It's been an up and
down year. Other than '97, when it came right down to me and Mark (Martin)
and Dale Jarrett, I've never seen a year like this where so many guys are
capable of winning it and yet none of them seem to be a dominant force to
take it. I really don't know what it's going to take or who's going to come
out on top, but I do believe it's going to come down to either the final
race or at least right there at the end. Somebody has got to get some
momentum. After we won those two back-to-back races I felt like momentum was
on our side. We were 60 points out. I'm hoping we can start over and get
back in that groove.  All year long, nobody has really stood out."

(ON TALLADEGA NEXT WEEK) "I don't know what this new fuel cell is going to
do, but hopefully it'll spread the field out and we won't have as many
cautions. But if we don't have any cautions, it's going to come down to fuel
mileage. And I don't know how that's going to shake out. Talladega is
anybody's race. We know that going in."

(ARE YOU THE MAN TO BEAT RIGHT NOW?) "A lot of guys have won their first
championship and it isn't always based on experience. We won our first
championship in '95 and we were up against the best: Dale Earnhardt and
Richard Childress Racing. If you've got the cars and the confidence and the
ability, you're capable. The team is capable. It doesn't matter how many
championships you've won in the past. I know how a team functions by having
a championship under your belt, it puts you in a position to go through the
ups and downs and ride the waves. If I thought somebody had a clear-cut
advantage, I'd tell you. Based on us winning the race today, I'm feeling
pretty good about our efforts. We've got to get further down the road before
we know who's going to take this thing."

(ON NASCAR'S MEDICAL POLICY OF MANDATORY FOLLOW UP?) "I think it's a good
idea. If you can't clear a CT Scan, you don't need to be out there in a race
car. You don't need to be out there on a football field. I'd also like to
see them get us some water and something cool when we're out there during
red flags.  I'll put that one in for today."



TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Post-Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 9

QUESTION FOR ROBBIE LOOMIS, CREW CHIEF
(WHAT DID YOU DO DIFFERENTLY ON THE KANSAS SET-UP THIS YEAR FROM LAST YEAR?)
"Things really do change so much that aerodynamically the car is a lot
different this year than last year. And the tire is probably the biggest
change. We had a different right side tire. We had Jack Sprague out here and
test and we learned a lot from that. Jimmie and Chad went to Kentucky and
tested a couple of times and we learned a lot from that. From that, we came
up with some good stuff that obviously worked."

(DO YOU HAVE TO TALK TO JEFF ON THE RADIO AND MOTIVATE HIM DURING RED FLAG
SITUATIONS LIKE TODAY?) "The one thing you don't tell him is that you've got
a cold drink of water up there (laughs). Jeff is a self-motivator. I knew he
was fine out there. He came on the radio and said he wouldn't be surprised
if some of the drivers passed out (from the heat), and he didn't mean
himself. He had visions of seeing that checkered flag when he came back
around there."

QUESTION FOR RICK HENDRICK, TEAM OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
(ON JIMMIE JOHNSON TAKING OVER THE LEAD AND JEFF GORDON NEEDING TO WIN
TODAY) "To come out of here with the lead and to gain points is really good.
It's going to be a war to the end. There's a bunch of good cars there and
they're running hard every week. Nobody can put it on cruise control.
Everybody's got to race as hard as they can every week. It's anybody's
championship, I think. We're just glad we've got two (teams) in the hunt and
hopefully we can have some good luck and one of them will get it. It's going
to be quite a contest between now and the end of the ear because there are
some really good tracks coming up for them."

(WITH THE SPORT BEING SO COMPETITIVE, IS IT POSSIBLE TO MATCH OR BEAT THE
NUMBER OF CHAMPIONSHIPS WON BY DALE EARNHARDT OR RICHARD PETTY?) "Oh, I
think so. Jeff Gordon is only 31 years old and already has four
championships and is going for the fifth one. The competition is stiffer.
But if we can control the failures and finish every race, we can leave the
rest of it up to Jeff Gordon. The answer in my heart is yes."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Post-Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 10

RICK HENDRICK Con't.
(HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A TIGHTER BATTLE FOR THE TITLE?) "I've never seen four
or five cars that were in this position. If Ryan Newman or Matt Kenseth
hadn't had any bad luck, they'd be right there too. In the past, maybe you
had four guys you had to beat. Now, you've got 10 or 15 guys you've got to
beat. The competition has changed. I don't think a guy that can start in the
middle of the pack and never lead and just conserve and wait for the end of
the race has got a shot out there anymore. That's the way it was when we
first started racing. But now, you've got 10 or 12."

FOR BOTH RICK HENDRICK AND ROBBIE LOOMIS: (ON ENGINE DEVELOPMENT)
HENDRICK: "You always try to improve it. We did step it up a couple of weeks
ago and we've been running all kinds of tests and simulations on the dyno.
But we brought more power and turned more rpms. That's pretty tough to ask
the engines to do that all at the same time. But we have a lot of confidence
in Randy Dorton. He's been there since the beginning. We've got a great
shop. If we wanted to step it up, Randy felt comfortable. When you look at
races, it's hard to say you got beat by horsepower if you go back and look
at all of them. Durability is something. The first priority is that you've
got to be there (finish)."
LOOMIS: You have to always keep the big picture in mind. I knew we would
have had this a lot sooner if Randy had 100% confidence in it. The nice
thing about Randy Dorton's engines is that when you bring them out, you can
sleep good on Saturday night. You know it's going to be rock solid on
Sunday."

DALE EARNHARDT JR, NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET (Finished 6th) Quotes provided
by Jade Gurss, PR Rep:  "Somehow we took a first or second place car and
finished sixth... NASCAR needs some sort of award or stat for passing the
most cars, because I think we would have won that award at the last five or
six races. We had a nice little race car - a great car -- today. We were
never too far off of the set-up all afternoon. At times, it was really easy
to pull up and pass cars in traffic. We had a disaster of a stop when I
didn't mash the brake pedal hard enough and the left front hub was spinning,
making it tough for the guys to put the new wheel on. We fought back and
seemed to have them beat on fuel mileage. Then, we had the red flag, and I
didn't know if I was going to win the race, but I knew I was gonna drive my
butt off to pass those three guys in front of me. Matt (Kenseth) laid back
on the start and tried to get a run on me, but ended up ruining the start
for both of us."

TEAM MONTE CARLO Contact: Nancy Wager
Protection One 400 Race Notes nmwager@aol.com
Sunday, September 29, 2002 GM Racing Communications
Kansas Speedway (727) 784-8465
Page 1

MICHAEL WALTRIP, POLE SITTER FOR SATURDAY'S MR. GOODCENTS 300 BUSCH SERIES
RACE - Note:  Waltrip was sidelined on lap 155 of the 200-lap event.
According to Goodyear engineers, the right rear tire was cut.

MICHAEL WALTRIP, NO. 15 NAPA CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I was passing Tony
(Stewart) and when I got to turn one the car just wouldn't turn. It went
dead straight into the wall like it had a flat. Tony and I had a little
contact as I was passing him. I had already made the pass and he hit me in
the back. But I think that's because when I got to the turn I didn't turn
left. I just kept going straight. He didn't know I had a flat. Neither did
I. This is disappointing. We had a lot of optimism for this race. Goodyear
makes great tires -- the best in the world. There's nothing wrong with the
tire. You can't run over metal at 200 mph no matter what. We just seemed to
find metal in both races this weekend."

GIL MARTIN, CREW CHIEF, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH SERVICE CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO -
Note: After being diagnosed with acute bronchitis Saturday afternoon, martin
traveled home to Concord, NC. Driver Kevin Harvick, car owner Richard
Childress, car chief Scott Naset, and crew chief of the No. 21 Busch Series
entry Butch Hylton will assist in calling the race.  Martin is expected to
return to the series next week at Talladega.

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 4 KODAK CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "Man, we've had some bad
luck. This is a good engine. About a three or four-dollar rocker arm
adjusting screw broke. It was jumping around in there. We'll probably fix it
and go back out and just ride around for our sponsor, Kodak. But I'll tell
you, we've had some back luck. But we're not going to give up. This team is
going to get it's act together and things are going to be just fine."

STEVE PARK, NO. 1 PENNZOIL CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "The guys are racing too
hard. I was inside the No. 40 car (Sterling Marlin) for what seemed like 10
laps. It was a racing deal, but there's a lot of laps left in the race and
we probably shouldn't have been racing that hard. But what am I supposed to
do?  I should just pull over and let those guys go I guess. Who knows? We
had a good race car today and now we're in the garage again - fixing the
Pennzoil car. It's just not what we want to do."