CHEVROLET NOTES & QUOTES NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES COCA COLA
600 Advance LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
CHEVROLET NOTES & QUOTES
NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES
COCA COLA 600 Advance
LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
May 27, 2004
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RCR PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING THE "RIDE FOR RICHARD" PROMOTION
COMMENTS BY RICHARD CHILDRESS:
"A lot has happened at RCR. We've had some great times, great victories. We've won championships in all three series. Last year we won an Owner's Championship, something that hadn't been done. We've had a lot of sad times. We lost my best friend and the greatest race driver in the history of our sport."
"That was one of the lowest points at RCR. At that point, I was willing to get out of the sport. I looked around at all the people and I was convinced to keep going forward. I'm glad I did. It wouldn't have been right to have left. Dale wouldn't have wanted it that way. I'm sure he'd be proud today of us carrying those two paint schemes with the No. 29 and No. 31. Ricky Rudd drove the Piedmont car - that's the car we had our first victory in. I'm really proud of that. You always remember that first victory and I'll never forget that."
"It's been a hell of a ride. I'd like to say we could do it 35 more years. Hopefully we can. You have to think positive. I've enjoyed it. The best part of 35 years is the people I've met. You can't replace friends and memories of that."
ON MEMORIES WITH DALE EARNHARDT:
"We won a championship with the Wrangler car. It was our first championship. We won our first race, Dale and I together, with that Wrangler car. I think that was the car the 'pass in the grass' was done with. I think there's so many memories with that car and Dale and the race team and all the people involved in the Wrangler car."
"The silver No. 3 was probably what kicked off all the special paint schemes and all the things that came about. We had ran the black car for so many years and this was 1995 and we needed to change and do something to celebrate RJR's 25 years in racing. So I still autograph some of those cars that people bring in. It's a picture of Dale, myself and Bill France and T. Wayne Robertson standing behind the car at Charlotte Motor Speedway where we introduced that."
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - POST PRACTICE AND POST 'SPONGEBOB' PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT:
"To have a chance to come back and get in a Busch car is very exciting. Lowe's is doing a great promotion with Nickelodeon and the SpongeBob movie and it's going to be popular with the kids. We're at our home track and a place that I love to race at in a SpongeBob Lowe's car and I couldn't be more excited about it."
(ABOUT HIS SUCCESS AT LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY)
"This has always been a track that I love to race at. Hendrick Motorsports has always had good set-ups for here and good motors for here and the package works well. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) loves the track. When you get positives together like that, you're going to have a good run. That's really what it boils down to. We've had a lot of success here."
(ON WINNING LAST YEAR)
"It was a rain-shortened event that turned out good for us. We ended up winning. Last year is last year. There have been a lot of changes to the rules and the bodies and the tires. You really can't take last year and roll it into this year. I went out awfully early in the All-Star Challenge last weekend and thought I had a shot at the million dollars. My bank account is a little less than what I'd like it to be at this time of year. So, I need to come back and win the 600 and try to win again here in the fall - even in the Busch car that we're going to come back with."
(ON BEING ABLE TO ADJUST THE CAR AS THE NIGHT GOES ON IN THE 600)
"I really have to communicate everything that I feel and that goes on to Chad (Knaus). We've been here and tested for each of the 600's in the past. We have some good notes and have a pretty good idea of what adjustments we need at what time and as the sun is going down. But you can only build so much adjustability in the car and still have it be fast at the beginning of the race. So at some point you're going to have to take a risk on a pit stop and put spring rubbers in or take them out and make some major changes. Throughout the evening, everybody is going to have a slow spot in the race - even the winner will. So hopefully we're on top of things and can use our notes and apply them to the 600 because it's one of the most physical races to stay on top of and be good from start to finish."
HOW WILL QUICKEST IN PRACTICE TRANSLATE INTO QUALIFYING?
"The track is going to change a lot. The speeds are going to pick up and the track is going to change. We go out dead last. Fortunately our teammates going in front of us and will give us an idea of what the track is doing. We've got a real good shot tonight. We were very fast in practice, we'll have a late draw to help us plus our teammates and their information. Hopefully we can put this Monte Carlo on the pole for the (Coca Cola) 600."
ARE YOU SATISFIED AS SECOND IN POINTS AFTER ONE WIN?
"We've been really strong. We've been in contention for wins each week. We have one win in a place I'm happy to win at - Darlington. It's been a solid year. We've been collecting a lot of points for doing well. Where we're at in points, we can afford to take some risks right now and try to win some races. A couple of guys have two or three wins. I'd like to get up there in that department and have a couple more wins in the next few months. When we get in the final ten, I'm not sure how that strategy is going to play out yet. I think you'll have to side on consistency and lean that way."
DOES MISSING THE PITT IN 2002 BOTHER YOU?
"You learn from your mistakes. I let one slide through my fingers there. I was able to come back and get my victories here last year. I think I'm in contention again. I don't think from '02 I have any unfinished business. It's a new year and a new track."
HOW WAS REGIS & KELLY?
"It's a lot of fun to go to New York and to be a NASCAR driver and help bring our sport into the mainstream market. I enjoyed going up. There's a lot of interest in all the major cities now from requests to go on to MTV, to Regis & Kelly and the Today Show. There's a lot of things that NASCAR drivers in our sport are having the opportunity to be a part of."
COCA COLA 600 QUALIFYING NOTES
LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
May 27, 2004
RICKY CRAVEN, NO. 32 TIDE CHEVROLET
"I feel really good about the improvements that we made on the Monte Carlo at the very end of practice. We expanded on that here in qualifying and it was encouraging."
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH CHEVROLET
"It wasn't bad. It wasn't great by any means. It was just a little bit too tight. I couldn't get it off through turns three and four. Hopefully it doesn't cool down too much."
BRIAN VICKERS, NO. 25 GMAC CHEVROLET
"It's not a bad starting spot. Hopefully we can hold onto it. There's still some good cars left. It was a good effort for the GMAC team. We were a little tight off of turn four in practice. We fixed it but not enough of it."
(ON COMPETING IN A LONG RACE AND STARTING TONIGHT): "It doesn't affect much. It does factor in today's race. You want as good as start as possible. It's a long race. It doesn't matter where you start or what happens to you. The biggest thing is just being there at end and adjusting the car throughout the race."
(ON HOLDING ON TO HIS SPOT): "I think Jimmie Johnson has the best shot at it. He was the fastest in practice. He goes out last. He has the best qualifying spot. The later you go the faster it's going to get."
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET
"From the car to the engine to the people, the whole effort was awesome. We unloaded and we were a little bit off. We were pretty conservative when we unloaded. We kept attacking and putting our best effort out there. Track conditions are fast right now and you can get really aggressive. That's a great effort. I'm really proud."
(HAS THE TRACK CHANGED?)
"Look how close I was. I was pretty far off of him in practice. Jimmie Johnson has a heck of a shot as well as a few other guys. The shade certainly helped most of the track right now. It's only going to get better, the engines are going to get better and time should only get better."
(ON BEING OFF THE NO. 12 IN PRACTICE): "Those guys were really fast. We were pretty tight. We were creeping up on it. We were trying to deal with things last weekend that we learned at the All Star event that we wanted to try this week. We had a great decision making process from the end of practice to that qualifying lap."
HIGHLIGHTS OF POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE:
JEFF GORDON - Qualified 3rd
"It's been a rough couple of weeks for Robbie's (Loomis, crew chief) mom. Every week he's been flying down to Florida to be with her. She took a turn for the worse this week and so he wanted to be there which we totally understood. Our prayers are going out to her. I talked to Robbie a little bit earlier today and he said she was doing a little bit better. I told him what we were fighting during practice but that I thought we'd be able to put a pretty good lap out there.
"It's amazing how much this track picks up and how much grip it has when the sun goes down and you go out to qualify. I wasn't expecting it, that's for sure. Earlier in the day, I was thinking I'd be happy if I'm in the top 10 and really happy if I'm in the top five. And then when you get that close to the pole, you think man, if we'd have just done this, this, and this, we'd have been on there. Of course that was before Jimmie (Johnson) put a really good lap up."
(IS THERE ANY WAY TO COMPARE A QUALIFYING RUN ON A TRACK TO RACING ABOUT THE SAME TIME?)
"No because we have so much nose weight in the car and different springs and shocks. Everything is so different that about all you can compare is the grip level. Even though this race is run at night, it starts during the day. The track will definitely change quite a bit from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Those are the conditions that make this such a challenging race - not to mention 600 miles. You have to be pretty adjustable and know not only what changes to make but when to make them."
(REGARDING TO THE FAIRNESS OF SOME DRIVERS QUALFIYING WHEN LATE IN THE DAY COMPARED TO EARLIER IN THE EVENING)
"I think had Ryan Newman gone out last - or if I had - who know what would it have been like? It's just the luck of the draw. It's how our sport works. Every week it doesn't matter whether we qualify during the day or we go from day to night. It's whatever number you draw is a luck factor that goes into racing. Sometimes you draw the right one and sometimes you don't. I wish there was a way to make it a little bit more fair and start a little later in the day. I was surprised I hung on as long as I did in there. I thought the conditions were going to change a lot more and that the track was going to get a lot faster for a lot of guys. It seemed like Jimmie (Johnson) took full advantage of having a good car and having a late draw."
(ON JIMMIE JOHNSON'S RUN OF SUCCESS AT LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY)
"He's got a great teacher, I'll tell you (laughs). I don't know. At Hendrick Motorsports we pride ourselves in power and putting every effort out. I've had great success here. The No. 48 team is one of the factors of benefits from the No. 24 shop. Anything good that we have they can benefit from it and take it from there. And they certainly have. They've stepped our level up at some tracks and we've stepped their level up at some tracks. Jimmie knows how to get around this track very well. He's very aggressive and Chad (Knaus) is aggressive on the set-up. Those two combinations can make for a fast race car at a place like this."
(BECAUSE OF THE CONDITIONS, DOES PRACTICE MEAN ANYTHING ON SATURDAY MORNING?)
"The only disappointing thing I've seen from last week and this week is that the practices are absolutely ridiculous. Maybe a morning practice might not be too bad if it's not too hot. But I don't get it. We race at night for the All-Star event but we practice during the day. We're racing late in the day on Sunday and we're practicing in the morning on Saturday. I definitely am in favor of trying to have practice sessions - especially for the races - at a much closer time to when we're going to race."
CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY - Qualified 1st:
(IN QUALFIYING AT LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY, HOW MUCH OF IT IS THE CAR AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS THE DRIVER?)
"I'm going to say it's the car, how's that? No, I'm just kidding (laughs). Hey. It's definitely a group effort. This is a driver's race track. This track is so rough and so bumpy and so out of control, the driver's got to have a very good feel of what the car is doing and be able to describe to the team and the crew chief what transitions are going on during the race to make the proper adjustments. I'm not going to say it's a driver's track and I'm not doing to say it's a car's track. It's a team's track."
(ON JIMMIE'S SEASON TO DATE)
"Honestly, the biggest thing that has helped us early on this season is what NASCAR has done with the points system. They basically allowed us, I'm not going to say a free 26 races to get up to speed, but they've taken the pressure off us. Right now, going into the final races before going into the Chase for the Championship, we don't have to be first in points. We don't have to be tenth. And that puts us in contention to win the championship. So that's taken a lot of pressure off of us as long as we stay in the top 10. We've been able to do that.
When you're relaxed and you don't have a lot of pressure on you, it's easy to go out there and find your rhythm early in the season. Typically, if you have difficulty early in the season like a lot of team's do, you can't catch up. Well, right now you can just kind of go out there and cruise. If you've got an opportunity to win the race, take the opportunity. But the key is to not take yourself out of a top 10 finish. I'm not saying it's simple, but that's the mentality you've got to take. If you're running third, you want to do something that might make you win the race, but you don't want to do something to make you finish outside of the top 10. And that's the approach we've taken and it's definitely working."
(ON SET-UPS BASED ON DAYTIME PRACTICE FOR A NIGHT RACE)
"We're definitely going to have to base of lot of stuff on our notes from the past. We weren't able to run a lot of laps during the All-Star race. We'll practice at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, and that's the closest we're going to get to actual track conditions on Sunday. The track will be somewhat cool. There are supposed to be some rain showers coming through. That'll give us some indication."
BRIAN VICKERS, NO. 25 GMAC CHEVROLET - Qualified 5th
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN: "I felt like it was a pretty good run for the GMAC Chevy. We were third quick in practice. We came out in top five for qualifying. It's our third top ten start in a row and we're happy about that. We were obviously going for the pole. We had the pole for tenth and a half going down the backstretch but we lost it in three and four. We struggled in three and four in practice too. We were tight off of turn four all day. We worked toward fixing it. We got it a lot better. We thought we had it fixed, but we didn't get it fixed enough. The car got really tight off turn four and we lost all of our time there. I knew the way we got through one and two, it would be an awesome lap if we got the car fixed for turn four. Unfortunately we didn't but they did inform me we had it by a tenth and a half going down the backstretch, which doesn't really matter now."
ON THE CONSISTENCY OF HIS TEAM: "It's definitely getting better. This team has grown and come into its own. We went through some of the same stuff last year. This series it more difficult, more challenging and more races. Everything about it is tougher. It's taken us a little bit longer. At the same time it's not a bad thing. Last year there were teams that were out running us at the beginning of the year but we still came back to win some races and the championship. It just took us a little bit of time for us to really grow as a team and for me to get some experience and seat time. It all worked out in the end. Hopefully we can have a good end of the season this year."
IS TEN OR ELEVEN RACES A REALISTIC GOAL TO GET ACCLAMATED? "I wish we won every race this year. I don't really set a number. Ten could be one, twenty could be one, five could be one. The reason I don't set a number is that it all depends on the people. Everybody on this planet is different. You have to learn and adapt and learn how to communicate with each person differently. You may be able to get to the same result in the end but you may have to go about it in a whole a different route. The time it takes to learn that chemistry and to learn that communication and adapt to each other is important. Obviously the driver and the crew chief are very important, but the spotter, the entire team, the owner, everybody in the race shop that's involved plays a key role. Sometimes it takes more time but it doesn't mean that it still can't come out on top in the end."
ON PRACTICING AT THIS TRACK: "I don't really understand whey we're practicing during the day. We're practicing the opposite of when we're racing. On one side everyone is practicing at the same time under the same conditions. You're going to have some guys that hit it right and some guys that miss. It's kind of more of a guess when really it's adapting to the race track and get it as good as you can. I feel like it would be beneficial for everybody and the race would be that much better if we would practice when we race. That takes a lot of the guess work out. Instead of having two or three really fast cars that guess the set up right, you'll have five or ten really good cars because they can actually work in the conditions they will be racing in. I'm sure there's a reason they did it the way they did. I don't know all those reasons. I would definitely ask them to think more about trying to let us practice when we race."
ON RUNNING A 600 MILE FOR THE FIRST TIME: "You got to physically and mentally pace yourself more. You have to adjust the set up. I'm very fortunate to have a great teammate like Jeff (Gordon). I can kind of lean on him for that and what the car is going to do at the beginning race compared to the end of the race compared to practice. There's so many things to change on this weekend. Last year at my very first Cup race the Busch race got rained out Friday night. I had to run the Busch that morning and the Cup race that night - that came out to 800 or 900 miles or whatever that was. Six hundred is kind of cutting back. To me if you can make it 400 or 500 miles, you can make it 600 miles, looking at the physical condition of it. Mentally that's a long time sitting in the car.
" From what I experience as a fan, you see a big difference in that last hundred miles. Not just guys falling out of the seat but just trying to stay focused for that length of time. This race track has so many bumps and tricks to it. You have to stay focused all the way around the race track. The cars, the crew chiefs, the teams have been out that long. These cars are built to go 400 to 500 miles every week. We get all we can out them for those 500 miles, not 501. One a year we expect these cars that are built to run 500, go 600 miles. Time on the motor is very important."
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET - POLE-WINNER:
"I'm just so thankful to have the crew guys every week that I do and Chad Knaus. There's just something about this track that Chad likes and that I like. We have the right package from Hendrick Motorsports and we've been good here. Thankfully, being the Lowe's driver at Lowe's Motor Speedway, I'm glad that this is one of my strongest tracks. It was a great effort and we've felt very comfortable and confident about our chances throughout the whole month of May when we were practicing and qualifying last week for the All-Star event.
"We were a little nervous because we didn't test for the first time coming into the month of May here. We were able to get some things sorted out right away in practice for the All-Star event and felt like we were on track. So we were very pleased."
(DID YOU SENSE EARLY ON THAT YOU'D BE ABLE TO TAKE THE TOP QUALIFYING SPOT?)
"I did. The way I got though Turns 1 and 2, I knew that the car was really hooked up. When I got into Turns 3 and 4, I was pretty loose when I went back to the gas and had to pause on the way down with the gas pedal and kind of let things straighten up. I was a little nervous coming off of Turn 4. I wasn't sure if I had enough to get it. I even came on the radio and said, 'Man, if I've got this, let me know'. Shortly thereafter, he (Chad Knaus) was screaming and yelling so I figured that was good enough."
(ON ALREADY BEING CONFIDENT AND COMFORTABLE AND THEN LEARNING YOU HAD SUCH A LATE QUALFYING DRAW)
"It's amazing the roller coaster that you take on confidence. When I saw a pole on the pick there, my confidence skyrocketing. I watched Ryan (Newman) bust off that lap and it kind of leveled off. And then I watched Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers go out and my confidence began to rise again because I knew we were better then they were in practice. We at least had a chance, if we made the right adjustments, to beat the No. 12. We were able to step up and do it."
(NOW THAT IT'S BEEN A YEAR, HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO REALIZE WHAT AN ACCOMPLISH IT WAS TO WIN BOTH THE ALL-STAR AND THE 600 LAST YEAR?)
"That's not something that I do. I'm going to hang onto all my photos and the trophies and everything and someday when I slow down and hang the helmet up, I'll go back and reflect on it. But in our sport, if you spend to much time remembering what you did, somebody else around you is really hungry. Our sport doesn't really let you savor much for long."
(IS IT A HIGH PRIORITY FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS TO RUN WELL AT THIS RACE TRACK?)
"I don't think there is any more importance on it. All the teams want to run well every week. There's a lot of hype building up to the 600. Everybody pumps themselves up. But it's equal for all the teams. When the green flag drops on Sunday, I'll be in my own zone doing my own thing like I do every week. But we want to win this race just as bad as any other one.
"We have a very strong baseline set-up at Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon has had a lot of success here. Brian Vickers isn't scared to sit on the gas. I've had success here. All that plays into it and we all had a good showing."
(ON THE DIFFERENCE IN THE TRACK FROM PRACTICE TO QUALIFYING)
"The track changed a lot from the beginning of practice. Even during practice it made a drastic turn. And then it seemed to stabilize. I expected to have a bigger advantage going later. But the evening temperature really hasn't dropped a ton. There definitely was an advantage to going late, but it wasn't as big as it has been in some years."
