Chevy Happy Hour Notes: Talladega

CHEVROLET/TEAM MONTE CARLO NOTES AND QUOTES
EA SPORTS 500
TALLADEGA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
NO. 30 OF 36, NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA, AL.
SATURDAY, OCT. 5, 2002   Contact:  Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501

HAPPY HOUR NOTES ­ Page 1

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (seventh in Happy Hour):

HOW DID THINGS GO TODAY? "Great. Real happy with the car. Qualifying being
rained out yesterday wasn¹t a big deal, the important things were coming
here today -- getting two good solid practices in, feel the car out; the car
feels great."

ON THE CONCEPT OF SKIPPING SEVERAL RACES YET STILL BEING IN THE POINTS
CHASE, AS SUGGESTED BY STERLING MARLIN:  "I don¹t know about that. I think
that they can maybe stop paying points from like 25th or 30th place on back.
That way if you do have a 40th place finish or even if you miss one or two
races it maybe would work itself out. Right now, for us to go out there and
wreck and have to put the car back together and get out there and run the
minimum speed just to finish 38th, I don¹t think that¹s necessary these
days. You¹ve got a lot of cars trying to compete and a lot of cars that end
up on the lead lap that finish races and when those points were structured
that way that was one of the reasons was to keep a lot of cars out there. We
really don¹t have that problem anymore. I think that it would allow guys to
maybe give up some races or some days and not be as devastating.

"Yeah, we got a lot of races, we have a hectic schedule. To me, it¹s like
going to a race and saying this race might not count and to me every race
should count."

DO THE FUEL CELL RULES TAKE PRESSURE OFF THE DRIVER AND ON THE CREW CHIEF?
"They do, somewhat. I¹ve got to get to pit road really hard and fast and get
slowed down and be in my box on my marks and then those guysŠyeah, it¹s
going to be real important for them to flow and be smooth and consistent all
day long and doing great stops. I don¹t think you¹re going to see four-tire
stops; it¹s all going to be a lot of pressure on that fuel guy that¹s
putting that fuel in there because every drop¹s going to count and then the
crew chief on whether or not we take any tires or take just two."

WILL WE SEE ANY FAKING COMING INTO THE PITS? "No, you¹ve got to (pit).
You¹re going to run out of gas if you don¹t come in. I think you have to."

PETER SOSPENZO, CREW CHIEF, NO. 25 UAW-DELPHI CHEVY MONTE CARLO:  GOOD HAPPY
HOUR FOR THE CAR (Joe Nemechek second fastest): "Yeah, It was a real good
practice for us. We learned something that was an advantage in the first
practice, so we¹re going to combine them and hopefully have a little bit
better race car for Sunday." ON THE PIT STOP STRATEGY BECAUSE OF SMALLER
FUEL CELLS: "We pretty much talked about all that. We know what we can pick
up in our
fuel cell. We ran it out here just to kind of verify it. We know how much
fuel we can pick up and then we¹re going to try to talk to the other
teammates hopefully tomorrow morning and get a game plan where all of us can
work together and if we can do that we¹ll definitely be a lot better off for
the race tomorrow. We¹re going to try to talk about it and see if we can¹t
make it happen."

CAN YOU TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU GOT INTO THE FUEL CELL? "It¹s not as much as we
used to put in it (laughing)."

ARE THERE ANY TRICKS TO GETTING MORE FUEL? "I tell you, NASCAR does a good
job now. They¹re really getting strict on the fuel cell area and there are
not many things you can do to carry more fuel. I don¹t think you can do much
more. They¹ve got the rules now where they need be, and I think that¹s fair
to everybody."

ON EXTRA PIT STOPS AND HAVING PARTNERS WORKING WITH YOU: "Well, the extra
pit stops, I don¹t know if I agree with that. Because that¹s twice as many
opportunities that you¹ll have a problem on pit road. I don¹t think you¹ll
have the whole crowd coming in at one time, but you¹ll have two big packs
coming in twice as many times as they used to. The opportunity to have a
problem on pit road is definitely out there double as much as it used to be.
I don¹t really agree with that part of it. NASCAR had to do something, I
guess, and they figured this was the best way to break the packs up. We¹ll
deal with it and go on and hopefully if the four teammates can work tomorrow
I think we¹ll be in pretty good shape. It just depends on when we come down
pit road. If 30 cars come down pit road and two of the guys are in the front
and two of the guys are in the back it¹s kind of hard to kind of stay
together. If we¹re all together on the race track and we come down off the
road and show up with the same thing on the pit road at the same time, then
we should come out the same time."

A LOT OF PRESSURE TO HAVE GOOD EQUAL PIT STOPS: "That¹s for sure. I think
all you¹re going to see is either two tires or gas anyway. I don¹t think
you¹ll see anybody doing any four-tire stops. That¹s kind of the plan that
we have. So, you¹ve got a half opportunity to mess up instead of two
opportunities. It¹s not that bad; I think we¹ll be OK."

KEN HOWES, DIRECTOR OF COMPETITION, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS: HAVE YOU BEEN
WORKING ON PIT STRATEGY WITH THESE SMALLER FUEL CELLS? "Well, you can work
up some kind of strategy at these type of races but it won¹t last very long.
Things happen that will make you change your mind and other people will
force you into doing something that you may not want to do. It¹s not that
complicated other than there will be more pit stops than normal. You can
agonize and planŠ(just) deal with it."

IS YOUR PLAN TO HAVE YOUR CARS STAY TOGETHER? "I think that will happen
inevitably because the fuel consumption is going to be close for everybody.
I suspect everybody will pit within a lap or two of each other. Yeah, if we
get the opportunity to pit together, but again where you are on the race
track has a lot to do with when you pit. You may not be able to get clear on
the lap that you want to pit, so you have to be aware two or three laps
before you¹re pitting of where you are on the race track and find your way
into the lower lane and be able to pit without having a problem. I expect
there will be some problems tomorrow because not everybody is going to get
it right. Some guy will run out of gas on the upper groove of turn 4." DO
YOU LIKE THE IDEA? "I think it¹s worth a try. Anything that will do
something worth looking at. We¹ll know more tomorrow. It will be
interesting."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE¹S CHEVY MONTE CARLO (31st in Happy Hour): HOW
DID EVERYTHING GO TODAY? "Today was great. Both Happy Hour sessions worked
out good. I had a couple of close calls, but you¹ll have that with
restrictor-plate racing. The carŒs been performing really well. Chad (Knaus,
crew chief) knows a lot about the speedway races, and with the support we
have from Hendrick Motorsports I think we¹re going to have a really good day
tomorrow." WHEN YOU LEFT CHARLOTTE IN MAY, DID YOU THINK YOU¹D BE IN THE
POINTS HUNT? "No way. I don¹t know. We felt like we were becoming more and
more competitive, had a shot at winning the 600 until I sped through the
pits, so we knew we would have success at times; we weren¹t sure or knew if
we would ever have success and be in competition for the championship. We¹re
in this position, we¹re having fun with it, dodge this bullet this weekend
and see where we¹re at from there." HOW DO YOU HANDICAP THIS THING THE REST
OF THE WAY? "I put a lot of weight in the ability of Jeff Gordon and all of
Hendrick Motorsports. He knows how to win championships and he¹s got such a
different outlook, I believe, on how he approaches it. I¹d handicap him as
probably the favorite going into it. And I hope we¹re right there with him."
ON YOUR ATTITUDE, YOU HAVEN¹T BEEN HERE BEFORE AND YOU DON¹T KNOW WHAT TO
EXPECT AND THAT¹S A GOOD THING? "Definitely. I think energy follows intent.
And if you have negative energy and you¹re worrying about breaking motors or
worrying about losing the championship you¹re going to create that stuff. If
you¹ve got a positive outlook on it and you¹re looking forward to going
racing and running up front and being a part of it it seems to work out that
way. Not all the time, but we all know we¹re going to give 100 percent and
give everything we got, so we might as well have fun through it all and not
be stressed out and having nervous breakdowns over things. We just want to
keep a positive attitude. We know we¹re going to be around for a lot of
years to come and hopefully have some more opportunities to win a
championship. If we give 100 percent and this doesn¹t work out, that¹s OK;
we¹ll be back next year."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF DROPPING A CERTAIN NUMBER OF RACES
AND STILL BEING IN THE POINTS CHASE? "That would be interesting to see. As
long as it¹s the same for everyone, so everyone has the same opportunity.
That would be a hard one to swallow. We¹re so used to the system being how
it is. It would be interesting."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (18th in Happy
Hour): HOW ARE THINGS LOOKING FOR TOMORROW? "Everybody¹s a little bit more
competitive than we saw here before, but our car is still just as good. A
lot more passing, for me anyways. To be able to start 13th, me and Michael
(Waltrip) will try to work our way up to the front and get there just as
soon as we can and just hang around there. There¹s a lot of pit stops, so
just have to be careful getting on and off pit road so you can stay up in
the lead pack."

WILL THE SMALL FUEL CELL WORK, OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE NASCAR CAN DO TO
MAKE THE RACING SAFER? "It¹s not going to spread us out. Making the fuel
cell smaller is really not going to change how competitive the pack is. Just
more pit stops, is all. Just have to be careful getting on and off pit road,
(make sure) you don¹t tear the transmissions up or break an axle. These
things are really difficult to get going because of the gears we run; it¹s
real hard to get it off the line, get it out of the pit box. So you just got
to be real careful." WHAT AT DEI DO YOU GUYS DO AT THESE RESTRICTOR PLATE
RACES THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS DONE? "I wish I knew what we did Œcause we¹d do
more of it. We just concentrate real hard on the cars and aero and try to
build good motors too. It¹s difficult staying competitive in the motor
business because everybody kind of learns something as the year goes by. And
everybody is a little better or a little worse each year, a little more
competitive, a little less competitive each year. You can really tune on
these bodies and get these bodies to cut the air really good."

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR DAD ABOUT RESTRICTOR-PLATE TRACKS: "I had the
same opportunity everybody else has as far as learning from him. A lot of
these guys raced against him for a long time and know quite a bit about his
style and probably picked up on a lot of things that he did. I think he had
a lot of confidence, I guess, (and maybe there¹s a hint) that I have the
ability to carry that out on the race track. It just seems to have an effect
on the rest of the field. I don¹t know. There are a lot of guys that seem to
want to work with me. And when you get a lot of help out there it really
makes it really good." IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE A RESTRICTOR-PLATE SPECIALIST?
"Yes, but the gauge is quite wide and large. The cars are such an important
factor in restrictor-plate racing that it¹s difficult to tell whether
somebody is better than any other guy. I feel like I definitely know what
I¹m doing out there." ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: "It¹s really interesting.
It¹s a great opportunity for Jimmie to really do something that¹s not been
done in a long time. I really look forward to it winding down to the last
race and hopefully it will still be a good tight battle. You¹ve got Jimmie,
a good friend of mine. I¹d like to see him win it. You¹ve got Mark Martin
who¹s had an opportunity just came not quite close enough on several
occasions. It would be good to see him win it too."

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