GM RACING NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES--HOMESTEAD QUALIFYING

GM RACING WINSTON CUP NOTES & QUOTES; WINSTON CUP QUALIFYING; FORD 400; HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY; NOV. 14, 2003

 

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "The way we were in practice had us about 20th, 21st, so I'm not sure where this is going to put us. We made some big changes and we're trying to get up to the top of the board, but it's still too early to know exactly what's going to happen. Hopefully, this Lowe's Chevy will be up in the top 10 or top 15 and we'll just go racing on Sunday." IS THIS LIKE ANY OF THE OTHER 1.5-MILE TRACKS WE RACE? "It's its own race track. This place has changed a lot. There's a lot of grip in the corners, but you don't pick that up until about the center of the corner which is a lot different than a lot of places we go. There's been a lot of thumbs up in the garage."

 

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 00 BACARDI SILVER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I haven't been loose since I got here, and I was loose as heck [during the run]. I'd like to thank Michael Waltrip and the rest of the guys at DEI for giving us a chance to run this Bacardi Silver Monte Carlo. I think we can make the race with that. I'm a little disappointed in myself. We freed it up a little at the end of practice, I talked Bobby Kennedy into it. Ryan Pemberton told him, 'don't let Skinner talk you into loosening that car up, because he's always loose in qualifying.' I did and I was."

 

BOBBY LABONTE, NO, 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "Hopefully, we'll be able to get a good starting spot out of that, and we'll see where it ends up. It's been a pretty good week so far. These guys did a great job with this race car, and we didn't have to do a lot to it, so hopefully it'll stay that way."   

 

JOE NEMECHEK, NO. 01 U.S. ARMY PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: NOTE: Nemechek has qualified in the top 10 in each of the four races he has run in the U.S. Army Pontiac. "We'll take that. I think the track is heating up a little bit, it's getting a little slick out there, hard to find some grip. That was all we had." HOW HAS BEING WITH THE TEAM THIS LAST FOUR RACES HELPED FOR 2004? "It's been really good getting a jump start on next year. This is a team that can definitely win races, and they have two poles this season. We're just trying to bring the pieces together, and we are trying to have some good runs and be up front at the end of the races. We definitely have a steep learning curve ahead of us now."

 

TONY EURY SR., CREW CHIEF, NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We really don't know what's up with the car. We were real good on Wednesday, and real happy with the car, but then we got it in qualifying trim and it started raining so we didn't get to make any mock runs. We got it in qualifying trim this morning and haven't been happy with the car all morning long. He pushed all day long and when we finally got the push out of it and when he qualified he was sideways. We'll just start in the back and see if we can get it running as good as we did on Wednesday."

 

BRIAN VICKERS, NO. 25 UAW-DELPHI CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "Man, I thought the hump we had to get over was Ryan Newman, We finally beat him and now Bobby Labonte has the pole. Bobby had it hung out. This UAW-Delphi crew did an awesome job getting the car ready for qualifying and I'd like to thank all the fans for coming out today."

 

TERRY LABONTE, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/got milk? CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I thought we would be a little better than that. We were a little too tight there, and I tried to run two laps and it was even tighter on the second lap. We'll just see what that gets us, probably around 20th or something like that, and we'll work on it for Sunday."

 

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DuPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "It was just grip. The sun came out and the track temperature went up. My car was still balanced real well like it was this morning, and I talked to Jimmie and Brian, but I just couldn't drive it as aggressively as I did this morning when it was sticking so good. I'm not disappointed with where we are now; I'm just disappointed because we were on top of the charts all day and we wanted to back that up."

 

WARD BURTON, NO. 0 NETZERO HISPEED PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: "We were pretty fast in practice on Wednesday, but since we put the qualifying setup in it we've been struggling. Sunday is really important, and we're going to be working really hard the rest of the day and tomorrow to get the right race setup in it. I'm kind of disappointed in the qualifying package, but that's all right. We made the race and we'll work hard to run good on Sunday in the race."

 

ROBBY GORDON, NO. 31 CINGULAR CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I don't know what happened. We were 10th in practice, and the car handled pretty good. We went down into Turn 1 the first time and it turned completely sideways on me. The second lap, I backed out a little bit, but it was really loose all the way around. The track changed a lot, at least for our Cingular Chevrolet. We're pretty good in race trim. We did race practice all day on Wednesday. We ran a 29.80 in practice, and I think we just freed it up too much."

 

RON HORNADAY, JR., NO. 90 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "These guys have been working real hard. We came down here to test this car for next year with a small spoiler and Richard Childress decided to run it. These guys have been working their guts out, and after what I did to the ACDelco car this morning in Busch practice, they'll be working their guts out for a while. I have to thank Richard and everyone at RCR for this opportunity." WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO WIN THE BUSCH TITLE TOMORROW FROM THE BACK? "I just have to keep my cool. This whole RCR team is awesome. We know we have a good backup car, which is just as good if not better than the one we qualified. I learned something in the Busch car where I didn't do it in the Cup car. It actually worked out as the slower you go the faster you go. I'd like to sit a little farther up, but we're in the show and that's all that counts."

 

RICKY CRAVEN, NO. 32 TIDE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: "It's nothing to do with the track. The track is fantastic and they did an outstanding job and I'm really excited about racing here. But I've had a very difficult time with this Tide Pontiac getting down into the corners. It's a car that we went to late Tuesday afternoon and then it began to rain. We're paying the price for it a little bit right now. I am looking forward to racing on this track." 

 

MORE BRIAN VICKERS AND BOBBY LABONTE TO FOLLOW

 

BRIAN VICKERS POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE: NOTE: Vickers qualified third fastest for Sunday's Ford 400, his third straight top-three start in four races in the UAW-Delphi Chevrolet. Vickers' qualifying speed, 180.729 miles per hour, was exactly the same as Labonte's, but since Labonte ran first, he earned the second spot.

 

HOW WAS YOUR LAP AND HOW IS YOUR CAR ON THIS NEW TRACK? "It was a great lap, The UAW-Delphi crew did an awesome job in practice, and we tried some things. Some worked, some didn't, and we made some educated guesses like we did last week and it all worked out. I think doing the Busch qualifying helped me a lot, I kind of knew what the track was going to do from practice to qualifying like it did yesterday. I lost a lot. We were just excited this week about finally beating Ryan Newman, and then Bobby Labonte steps up to the plate and shows us how it's done. I guess that seniority outweighs.I must not have paid my dues enough."

 

WOULD A VICTORY IN THIS LAST RACE OF THE SEASON MEAN MOMENTUM FOR THE OFFSEASON? "I think so. Anything that happens that's good-good finish, good qualifying-and it keeps the momentum and the spirit and the team motivated during the offseason. That's a long stint where they don't really get to see that car go out there, the one they've worked so hard on and put their heart and soul into during the week, and it runs good, they enjoy that. They lose that sense during the offseason, so a good finish here will definitely help the offseason go and some good tests during that and then you go to Daytona."

 

THIS GOODYEAR TIRE IS SUPPOSED TO BE MORE LIKE WHAT WILL BE RUN NEXT YEAR. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON IT? "The tires were falling off, and we're not used to that. I don't really know what the older tires were like, but these new tires seem to fall off a little bit. I haven't been around long, but I've been around long enough to know that a tire that falls off as it goes, you do have to change four tires and you have to conserve. It just puts it more back in the hands of the driver and the crew."

 

YEARS AGO, YOU WERE HANGING AROUND THE HOUSE WITH BOBBY LABONTE AND NOW YOU'RE UP HERE WITH HIM AFTER QUALIFYING. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT? "It wasn't too many years ago Bobby was shooting pool at the house and showing me how to play NASCAR video games when it first came out. He was real big into that and, obviously as a punk kid, I was too. I've known Bobby for a long time, and anytime I've ever had a question growing up racing, no matter what series it was in and especially now, I could call him up and he would help me the best way he could and give me a lot of advice along the way. Now, to be here in this position, I'm very grateful and thankful and blessed. The opportunity that Hendrick Motorsports, Papa Joe and Rick and Ricky, to drive this car, to be sitting up here with Bobby Labonte.it's been exciting."

 

ARE YOU GLAD TO SEE THE SEASON END? "I love racing and I'm excited to be here, but it's been a long hard season. I'm looking forward to a little bit of off time. Ricky and I are going somewhere as far away as possible. I think that's important, to get some offtime, so you can be that much more focused when you get back. I love racing, and it won't be long before we get back racing again. We're going to stay down here for a week or so and try to have fun, go back and start testing, just like Bobby said."

 

BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: Qualified 2nd: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS


 

HOW WAS YOUR QUALIFYING LAP? "I thought it was off a little bit, but not a whole lot. We ran just about the same speed we ran in practice. We didn't make any changes to the car after practice because I thought it was just about right. And I didn't want to make too many changes because I didn't get to run yesterday and I didn't know how the track would change for my car. We basically left it alone. We practiced real good on Wednesday in race set-up. This morning we had a qualifying type of program just like we do on a normal weekend. We started out mid-pack and kept getting better and making changes. At the end of the day, we were at out best. So that was encouraging that we made all the steps we could make to go the right direction for qualifying."

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW CHANGES TO THE TRACK? "It has a lot of positives to it. They did a great job. I think all eyes will be on the Truck race today and the Busch race tomorrow. I think it's going to be a two-groove race track easily - if not more. But when they get out there and do it and see how much speed they lose racing side by side and making the passes and seeing how much your car will push in the longer runs and what you've got to do to adjust for it. Those are things we don't know yet. We're going to have to figure that out tomorrow. I'll know more Sunday night than I do right now of course. It's kind of hard to predict what the track is going to be like. But they've done a job and this is a great facility. Not many people have gotten to race on every single track that they've had here. We've been coming here for six year and they've had four different race tracks. It's all looking good. It's looking smaller. I think it'll be just like Bristol in another eight years."

 

PEOPLE HAVE CALLED THIS TRACK AN 'OLD ATLANTA'. WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THAT? "To a certain extent it is. As good as everybody is, I don't think they can build two tracks the same. It's just not going to happen. But it does compare to the older Atlanta in a lot of ways. I always liked it. But there are always going to be some differences to it."

 

WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO PASS? "Well, let's see. The pits have usually been the best place to pass for the past three years now so I don't see where that's any different. Track position, fuel mileage and all that stuff will still play into it again. I ran a little bit around Kenny Schrader on Wednesday. That's the only person I ran around. I thought the best place to pass was up off the corner. It's no different than anywhere else. You're not going to pass them getting into the groove because it's kind of narrow. As it goes out, the groove gets a little wider and you might be able to hook the bottom and go underneath the guy and get him by the time you go into Turn 1 if you don't clear the pass. Mid-corner exit is going to be the place to pass."

 

WITH THIS BEING THE LAST RACE OF THE SEASON, HAS YOUR APPROACH OR STRATEGY CHANGED? "Mine hasn't. We're not in a position where we haven't won a race yet so we have to win or we haven't won a pole yet so we have to win a pole. We do want to finish in the top 10 in points. We don't want to screw that up. Every weekend you go to every track you try to do the best you can."

 

WITH THIS BEING THE LAST WINSTON RACE, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THAT, OR WHAT THE TRACKS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE? AND WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WINSTON MEMORY?  "This track doesn't look red and white to me. It looks like Sea World or something. It's different colors than anywhere else we go. But it is going to be different with Winston going out. They're probably going to throw a heck of a party with Winston going out. The biggest thing is to thank them for everything they've done to this point. Nextel is going to come in and they're going to take us to the next level because they have the resources and desire and ability to do that. We've got a great sponsor going out and a great sponsor coming in.

 

"A great moment in my life was the banquet in 2000. That was obviously special. But I was at the banquet in 1984 when they handed out $100,000 dollars to Terry (Labonte). They made you feel like family then just like they do now."

 

HAVE YOU SEEN ANY DIFFERENCE IN THE NEW GOODYEAR TIRE? "Since we're on a new race track, it's kind of hard for me to tell. We've got a lot of grip and more banking now than ever. But it looks like we've had some falloff in the speeds after a few laps. Looking at a few guys on TV this morning, it looks like they mostly got tighter as they went. If you run the first lap the fastest, that's good. But what I don't really care to do anymore is run 50 laps at the same speed and then come in and get two tires and run 50 laps faster than you ran the first 50 laps. That isn't racing in my vocabulary. I made 10 lap runs and fell off almost half a second. It might level off somewhere but at least it feel off some to start with. That might be a good thing if it happens everywhere. I hope so."

 

ARE YOU GLAD TO SEE THE SEASON END AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO IN THE OFF-SEASON? "It doesn't matter. I'm going somewhere next weekend and the weekend after and then the week after. And then we go to Daytona. My wife is going with me because we're going racing with Tyler during these weekends off. It doesn't matter because I'll be doing the same thing but on a different scale. I'll be traveling the same on Thursday afternoons."