GM RACING NOTES & QUOTES--MICHIGAN

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GM RACING NOTES AND QUOTES; ADVANCE:
MICHIGAN; JUNE 14, 2003; PAGE 1
BROOKLYN, Mich., June 14, 2003 - For the first time since Joe Gibbs Racing went to a two-car effort in 1999, two cars from the stable owned by the former Washington Redskins head football coach will start a NASCAR Winston Cup race on the front row. Bobby Labonte, the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, won the pole for Sunday's Sirius 400 in his Interstate Batteries Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and teammate Tony Stewart, the 2002 Winston Cup champ and winner of the most recent race at Pocono, will start outside. The two cars have started 1-3 and 1-4 before, but never 1-2. 

Gibbs has owned cars in NASCAR since 1992, and his teams have won NASCAR titles in two of the past three seasons. With Labonte's pole-winning run here Friday, Gibbs cars have won 29 poles, 36 races and more than $57 million in prize money since his first season. 

BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "It's pretty good. We're excited about it. It's a good place to start." YOU'RE ON A STREAK OF TOP-THREE FINISHES IN FIVE OF THE LAST SIX RACES, AND TONY WON AT POCONO. IS IT A COINCIDENCE THAT BOTH TEAMS ARE ON THIS KIND OF A ROLL? "It's just the fact that it has come together for both teams at the same time, more than anything else. Everybody always works hard to make sure that everything is right, but there are so many things that can happen that won't allow it. Yesterday was a situation where we were able to put fast laps up for both teams."

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GIVE JOE GIBBS HIS FIRST FRONT-ROW SWEEP? "It's pretty neat, actually. Bobby and I have finished 1-2 in races, but we've never started that way before. So it's kind of another chapter in the book and another piece of what, two years down the road, will be trivia. It's neat to have in the press kit that Joe Gibbs Racing has had 1-2 finishes in qualifying and races and that we've both won championships." BOBBY'S BEEN ON A ROLL LATELY, YOU'VE BEEN STRONG AS WELL. IS THAT COINCIDENCE? "Our teams work so well together. In my opinion, we are the best team as far as multi-car teams who communicate and share information and work together to make each other better. When one of us is on a roll like that, the other one seems to find a way of getting on a roll and that keeps us both up at the level where we want to be. If something happens and one of us is having a bad day, the other one is at that level, and they can say, 'here's what we're doing' and it helps us out. I feel like it's a combination that has worked since we started as teammates in 1999." HOW INTENSE IS THE LEVEL OF COMPETITION BETWEEN THE TEAMS? "Yesterday, I was pretty comfortable. I knew Bobby was probably going to get by us, but it didn't bother me. I just didn't want anyone else to get by. On days that I run second, if Bobby beats me, then I'm happy. If someone else beats us, I'm not so happy. I think we both feel that way. We both want to win races, but we are a team and we look at it that way. If Bobby wins and I run second, I'm tickled to death. If it turns the other way around, he's happy too and we're happy for each other. We feel like if we have a 1-2 finish, that's the ultimate deal for our team. To get two cars and two teams to be good enough on a given day to where we can go out there and win a race and run second, you can't ask for any more than that. That's the ultimate deal for a weekend for us. We really don't care too much, as long as we're finishing like that."

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GM RACING NOTES AND QUOTES - SIRIUS 400 HAPPY HOUR
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY; June 14, 2003; PAGE 3
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (ON GOING TO INFINEON RACEWAY NEXT WEEKEND) "We're looking forward to it. We had a strong car out there last year and unfortunately we had some problems. As little time as we were able to run at VIR, I think we actually learned some things that are going to increase the speed for us so we're excited about trying those things out also.

"For me, it's exciting to go out there. I have a lot of family and friends there and I've had a lot of success at that track over the last few years. I guess I got a little road racing in the other day (swap with Juan Montoya's F-1 car at Indy) so I'm ready to get to a track and start turning right and left. It's just a beautiful area out there. I look forward to going out there because I just enjoy it so much no matter whether I'm on the track or off the track."

(WHAT'S YOUR TAKE ON THE ANNOUNCED SCHEDULE CHANGE FOR 2004?) "I think it's a good move. California Speedway is a great track. I think it will go over well. It's unfortunate for Rockingham but when you look at the sport and where it's at and where it's headed, I think that's the right thing to do. And you know I'm excited about Darlington being moved to the end of the season because I love Darlington.

"You've got to constantly grow and try to get better. I think they've stepped it up. I think NASCAR has also kind of told some other track owners if they want a second date then fine. Move one of your other dates. That's pretty much what they did. I think they're smart in recognizing that as much as I like Rockingham as well, (you've got to) look at where it's located, look at the attendance, and how many times we're already in that market. It's hard not to see that as being one of the tracks they take off the schedule."

(AT MIS, DO YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO RUN PRETTY MUCH ANYWHERE YOU WANT TO IF YOUR CAR IS GOOD?) "Yeah, you do. If you're car is right, you can run high, you can run low, you can go in high and then come off low. It's a great track. It's one of my favorites. It's not an easy track to get the car balanced on. But when you get it right, you're going to have a lot of fun all day."

(IS YOUR CAR RIGHT?) "It's very close. We're happy with it. It's been good since we unloaded. We don't really know what other guys had on for tires (during practice), so we're just going to play around with that a little bit. But things are good."

(NOW THAT YOU'VE DRIVEN AN F-1, DO YOU WANT TRACTION CONTROL IN YOUR WINSTON CUP CAR?) "I want a lot of things that I had on Wednesday (during the swap at Indy). But it was a cool experience and it was a lot of fun. I was glad I was able to do it. It is something I'll remember forever."

(DO YOU EVER SEE WINSTON CUP RACING HAVING TRACTION CONTROL AND IF SO, HOW WOULD IT CHANGE THIS SPORT?) "On these big heavy stock cars, I just don't see it. I think there are some things that we can do. I don't see why we can't have telemetry. Everybody has it. Everybody runs it - especially when we're testing. I don't think it would be a bad idea to have some of that on the cars on race weekend. But the Formula 1 guys look at these cars and think they're so primitive. But at the same time, they look at how great the racing is and how the costs have stayed low compared to other forms of motorsports. So, I think we all want to continue to do that and just keep the racing as good and as close as possible." 

(WHAT STANDS OUT IN YOUR MIND AS THE MAIN DIFFERENCES IN AN F-1 CAR?) "Where do I begin? Nothing is alike. It's just so different. You drive the car so deep into the corner. It has so much braking power that you're able to do that. But when you go to the brakes, you'd better be really prepared to make that turn. You had better be prepared to slow that car down in a hurry. It took time for me to adjust to the speeds going in the corner and learning how to use the traction control. It was just an awesome experience. It's like flying a fighter jet with tires. That's what an F-1 car is like."

(ARE THERE ANY OTHER CARS YOU'D LIKE TO DRIVE?) "The 24 Hours of Le Mans are going on and those are like Formula-1 cars with full bodies on them. I think that would be really cool to do some day. But it just has to be the right time and the right situation. It's no different than if I get a chance to go scuba diving. If I can work that into the schedule then boom, I'm there. If the opportunity comes up then I'm going to take advantage of it."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (ON GOING TO SONOMA NEXT WEEK) "I'm looking forward to going out there. This year, I'll have a little bit of experience behind me. At the end of the race last year, I was so much smarter and knew what I need to do. We still had a great run. We were running 7th and broke a rear end gear. We've made some changes to make sure we won't have that failure again. Hopefully we can go out there and get a top 10 finish. I'm not going to be greedy and look for anything further than that. But I think based on how we ran last year, the few things we learned (testing) at VIR, and with more experience behind me, a top 10 would be a realistic goal."

(DID YOU KNOCK OFF THE COBWEBS?) "Yeah, that's what VIR was really for to get me used to shifting and down shifting and all that again. We tried a couple of small things but there is only so much we can play with and so much we can do anymore. Our cars are pretty tapped out."

(ON CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY GETTING A SECOND DATE FOR 2004) "There are a lot of things to look at. We need to make sure our sport continues to grow. And NASCAR has been able to grow it to what it is today based on the decisions they've made. We've got to line up behind them and see where they take us. Obviously, it's a huge market out there. And there's no way to hide the fact that Rockingham and Darlington probably haven't been sold out. I know the Rockingham races are pretty thin. We need to get out sport in front of as many fans as possible. It's a tough deal. I know it upsets a lot of people who live in that area. There are also a lot of states that could support a Winston Cup race that we don't even go to that would take it to the next level and grow our fan base."

(ARE YOU HAPPY ABOUT GOING HOME TO CALIFORNIA FOR ANOTHER WEEKEND?) "I think it will be great to go back home. The way a lot people look at it is that it's another east-to-west coast trip we've got to make. Out and back is a lot of traveling. But we'll go wherever they have us go. With the success I've had at California Speedway, I look orward to going back out there and being with family and friends."

(YOU ARE ONE OF 8 CALIFORNIA DRIVERS TO GO TO SONOMA NEXT WEEK. ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT THERE ARE SO MANY CALIFORNIA DRIVERS AT THE TOP LEVEL?) "No, I'm not really surprised. There is a lot of racing on the West Coast. It's just taken a long time for people on the East Coast to recognize the talent that's out there and to give those guys a chance. Now that people are getting the opportunity and running races out there like Winston West, I think you'll start seeing more and more West Coast drivers in NASCAR racing."

(HOW IS YOUR CAR FOR SUNDAY'S RACE AT MIS?) "We've been struggling a little bit. At the spring race last year we were good. At the fall race we weren't so good. We've tried some stuff through qualifying that worked good for us in the first practice it didn't really do much for us. So we changed again and we're still struggling a little bit. It's a long race and we'll have time to work on it. But the problem is that if you don't have a good car, there are so many green flag runs that you can get way behind. We set our goals high and want to be one of the cars to beat. Right now, we're not the car to beat. We've got a little bit of work ahead of us. There are some races when we started as the car to beat and wrecked - like at Dover. The best approach is to be unexpected and show up when it's time to take the checkered."

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