Chevy Notes: Talladega qualifying canceled due to rain; Jimmie starts on pole

CHEVROLET/TEAM MONTE CARLO NOTES AND QUOTES
EA SPORTS 500
TALLADEGA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
NO. 30 OF 36, NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA, AL.
FRIDAY, OCT. 4, 2002 

POST-QUALIFYING ­ Page 1

Qualifying was canceled due to a wet track and the late hour, even though
the sun is shining. Rookie JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE¹S CHEVY MONTE CARLO,
will start from the pole position, as the leader in Winston Cup points
coming into this race.

JOHNSON:  "Šif this fuel cell strategy works out that NASCAR¹s trying and
we¹re able to have a single-file race, starting up front with track position
should allow us to get strung out and to hopefully get away and avoid having
the big group that we¹ve seen in the past. So, there might be some
advantages to it, that we can all run up there, and we¹re around one another
and we know we¹re going to respect one another and we¹re all trying to get
to the prize at the end. I think it will start off that way, but I think
it¹s going to turn into a typical speedway race. One caution¹s going to
bunch everything back up, and I think it¹s going to take two or three
green-flag stops to separate the field due to the new fuel cell rules. My
gut feeling is it¹s still going to be a race that we¹re used to always
seeing."

AS CRAZY AS THIS POINTS RACE HAS BEEN ALL YEAR, WOULD IT BE MORE BIZARRE
TWIST, HAVE A DIFFERENT DRIVER WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP FOR A CAR OWNER THAN THE
DRIVER WHO STARTED THE SEASON? WOULD THAT BE A FITTING WAY TO END THIS CRAZY
CHAMPIONSHIP?

"I think the fitting way for it to end would be a rookie win the title. The
possibility is there and the 40 car is in great equipment. I think Jamie¹s
(McMurray, driving for Sterling Marlin) going to do a really good job in the
car. It¹s going to take him a little while to get up to speed, but I think
the possibility exists and I think this race is going to probably be the
hardest one for him. He doesn¹t have much experience racing with these guys
and it¹s going to take him until probably the end of the race to have anyone
really work with him and push him through traffic and not hang him out. I
think he¹s going to do a great job, but crazier things have happened all
year long and, who knows, maybe that situation will come down and the 40 car
can still end up winning the championship. It¹s very possible."

HAS NASCAR EXPLAINED TO YOU THE NEW FUEL TANK RULE?

"From what I understand the reasoning behind the fuel cell is we will have
to pit more; whenever we have the green-flag stops it really stretches out
the field due to the difference in pit stops, how you get on and off pit
road, it strings things out. And if we have more green-flag stops it¹s going
to continue to string things out more and more. I really think it¹s going to
take three or four rounds of pit stops to get everybody strung out; (that¹s)
how I think NASCAR wants it to work. They¹re trying to do anything they can
to get us spread out a little bit so we don¹t have these huge pileups."

YOU¹RE NEW IN THIS POINTS RACE THING AND YOU DON¹T KNOW WHAT THE PRESSURES
ARE SUPPOSED TO BE. DO YOU THINK THAT WORKS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE?

"Our whole team is very fortunate to not have been in a points battle
before, and we don¹t have the fears or that at night, when you¹re laying
there wondering about three years ago, you lost it by a few points; whatever
those things are. We don¹t know any better and all we know is that we¹ve
tried to have an open mind and a realistic mind of the season and (we have)
blown away all the expectations that we set out to achieve and we¹ve got a
shot at doing something that¹s never been done and that makes us smile even
more and makes it more fun for us. I hope we¹re able to continue this mind
set in years to come, but I think a lot of it is just due to the fact that
this is our first time in a points battle and we¹re able to kind of play
dumb in some respects, that we don¹t know any better. It¹s been a lot of fun
and the guys are having a great time with it and I know that I am as well."

AT THIS STAGE OF THE SEASON, DO YOU STILL CONSIDER YOURSELF A ROOKIE?

"Yeah, believe me, I feel like a rookie still out there. You make mistakes
and do things. I¹ve crashed in qualifying, crashed in practice; I¹ve had
some different things go on that when you look back on it you¹re like, ŒOK,
if I would have been patient here, if I would have tried this or that.¹ So,
yeah, I still feel like a rookie. I feel, though, out on the race track
racing with everybody I¹m very comfortable around everyone out there and
give them a lot of respect, and I see that respect coming my way now. Maybe
in the competition heat of the moment side I don¹t feel that way, but I know
I make mistakes and I put a lot of it on being a rookie. But I¹m sure
everybody makes mistakes and you just try to find a way to justify it
somehow."

A YEAR AGO YOU WERE SWEATING MAKING YOUR FIRST START AT CHARLOTTE. HOW LONG
AGO DOES THAT SEEM?

"Actually, it was a year ago today. Leading up to the whole Lowe¹s week,
what happened (was with) my Busch duties and my Winston Cup duties, I was
stressed out. I didn¹t know what was going to happen. To not have any
provisionals and anything to fall back on, I¹m in the Lowe¹s car at Lowe¹s
Motor Speedway and my first time trying to qualify and we were able to
qualify 15th. So, once we cleared that hurdle that was huge. Today the 4th
is the day that I have a lot of happy memories of from qualifying for my
first Winston Cup race, but it¹s also the day that Blaise Alexander died
last year. In that same day I lost my best friend and then I made my first
Winston Cup race in fine fashion. So it was a very weird day."

YOU HAD A GOOD RUN IN APRIL. WITH THE EXPERIENCE NOW THAT YOU¹VE HAD WITH
THE DRAFT ARE YOU MORE COMFORTABLE RETURNING HERE?

"With both Daytona races and the race we had here earlier in the year, we
were running inside the top five at the end trying to make some moves to get
to the front and win. We stayed there all day long. I really learned a lot
from the three races that I ran this year. The biggest thing that I¹ve
learned is you need to spend 90 percent of your time looking in the mirror,
blocking and keeping the guys behind you and the aero bubble that¹s kind of
on the front of these race cars to keep you in front of them. You¹ve got to
spend more time doing that than you do looking out the windshield. As the
season¹s gone on and the more experience I¹ve gotten in restrictor-plate
racing I¹ve become a lot better at that and I¹m looking forward to Sunday. I
think we¹ve got a shot at winning the race."

Following quotes are courtesy of Raybestos Rookie of the Year:

CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 LOWE¹S CHEVY MONTE CARLO:  "I was looking
forward to qualifying. We typically qualify really well on the
superspeedways. We sat on the pole last time and sat on the pole down in
Daytona, so I was looking forward to it. The Lowe¹s Chevrolet Monte Carlo
was running really good. We¹ll start on the front row and see what happens."

HOW BIG IS IT TO GET A GOOD STARTING SPOT HERE IN TALLADEGA? "It¹s pretty
important. The big reason why you want to have a good qualifying effort here
at Talladega is to get a good pit pick. The one thing that we have for us
right now is that starting on the front row possibly we could lead that
first lap and that would be five bonus points. That might help us out a
little bit."

WITH MORE PIT STOPS HERE SUNDAY, HAVE YOU TOLD YOUR GUYS TO BE EXTRA
CAUTIOUS? "No. We¹re only going to be doing about five stops and, shoot, we
do more than that usually in half a race at most other places, so, no,
that¹s not going to affect us in the least."

***

COMMENTS FROM DALE EARNHARDT JR., PRIOR TO WINSTON NO BULL 5 PRESS
CONFERENCE:

STERLING MARLIN SAID THAT IF HE HAD BEEN ABLE TO WEAR A HANS DEVICE TO KEEP
HIM FROM MOVING SO MUCH THAT HE MIGHT NOT BE MISSING THE SEASON RIGHT NOW.
DO YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE AVOIDED YOUR CONCUSSION IF YOU HAD WORN A
DIFFERENT DEVICE?

"Not really. I don¹t think you could have avoided having a concussion in
that crash I was in. It was just the style you hit, it wasn¹t really a
nose-to-tail or anything it was just flat on the door. You could have had
all kinds of stuff holding you in in there. It¹s not really your head
hitting anything, it's your brain moving around in your head, (that) bruised
it."

ARE YOU STICKING WITH THE HUTCHENS DEVICE?

"Yeah, until I get any problems, other than just banging it on something."

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE WITH KEVIN HARVICK FROM THE LAST TIME HE WAS HERE AND
NOW?

"He¹s a little more low key, but I think it¹s because his car isn¹t running
too good.

STERLING MARLIN SAID TODAY THAT HE THOUGHT THERE SHOULD BE A RULE THAT MAYBE
THEY SHOULD THROW OUT A FEW RACES SO A DRIVER COULD SIT OUT, GET THE COBWEBS
SORTED OUT THEN COME BACK (AND STILL EARN POINTS WITH SOMEONE ELSE DRIVING).
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?

"I think it should be up to the drivers. Because we know to what extent
we¹re injured. We know whether we¹re capable of doing the job. There¹s not
really a test that you have to apply and do to accomplish to get a license
to race in this sport, so how can they regulate anything else?"

WOULD IT BE NICE TO SIT OUT A RACE IF YOU WERE HURT?

"Well, if I was hurt that bad, I¹d sit out. I¹d make my own decision."

WOULD IT BE HELPFUL TO STILL GET POINTS FOR YOUR TEAM?

"I don¹t know. Because then we all might all sit out the road course races
and let Boris Said drive our cars. I thought about doing that anyway,
because I ain¹t no good at it."


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