Chevy Happy Hour Notes - Tropicana 400

Chevrolet Notes and Quotes
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Tropicana 400 - Happy Hour Notes
Chicagoland Speedway
July 10, 2004

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet
(ON GOING FOUR IN A ROW) "I think it's like anything else. It takes a combination. It's not just one factor. The team has certainly done a lot to give me a confidence in the race car. That confidence is leading to good results and good communication. Right now we're just really on top of our game in every aspect." 
 
(IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN PIN POINT TO YOUR SUCCESS?) "When one thing steps up, other things follow. When we qualify up front, then we seem to have the car close. We were able to fine tune on it. The communication steps up. Then on race day the pit crew steps up as well. It's all a domino effect. It's no different when the momentum is going the opposite way. It's hard to get it back because it keeps going that direction. When the momentum is going in a good way, it usually keeps going in that direction as well. I can't really point to any one thing. Our horsepower has certainly gotten better. Our combinations of the chassis set up have gotten better also."
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet
(WHAT HAPPENED IN PRACTICE?) "It (the transmission) got stuck in two gears at one time. We ain't been good. We put everything we got in the trailer underneath the car. I don't know if it's a combination of different things or what. It sucks. The car is not any fun. Things ain't working out for us right now at all."
 
(ON HAVING JAY GUARNERI BACK ON THE PIT CREW) "That just might make a better pit stop. It might not. You never know. I'm real happy Jay is here. That change right there isn't going to make a difference on how fast the car goes around the track. It just gets it going off pit road better hopefully. We're not performing like we need to perform and I'm getting sick of it."
 
(ON NEXT WEEKEND BEING AN OFF WEEK) "Time off is always good. I'm going to go run a Corvette though and have a little fun. That will be a good time. Right now I don't know. We're so darn bad I don't know we're ever going to get better."
 
(ON A GREEN WHITE CHECKERED FLAG FINISH) "I could take it or leave it myself. Whatever rule we got, I'll do with it. Green white checkered sounds like a lot of fun. A lot of guys think it's not a good idea. I see their point. I see both sides of it."
 
 (HOW DO YOU TAKE YOUR FRUSTATION AND USE IT TO LEAD THE TEAM) "We try in practice to try different things. It doesn't help. The car has a loose condition getting in the corner. You make a couple of changes and it gets tied off. Then you make a couple of changes and you get loose in the middle. We can't get the car to drive comfortable. We just try not to point fingers at one another."
 
(WAS THIS ONE OF YOUR PRIMARY ONE AND A HALF MILE CHASSIS CARS?) "This is a good car. I think we might of won Atlanta with it. They're all good cars. We don't have one better than the other. They all run kind of decent. In the Busch Series we used to have one car that hauled ass everywhere we took it. We don't have that any more really. Right now we're just not a good race team."
 
(ON FOCUSING FOR TOMORROW) "What you got is what you got. Good, bad racing will come and go. We've had all weekend and we ain't got it right. That just pisses you off. Sunday when it's over, it's over. I don't carry it with me no more like I used to. It ain't worth it."
 
(ON DEFENDING HIS PLACE IN THE POINTS) "You stay optimistic. You never know. We might start to race and do pretty good, have a good run and have a fun day. Then all this worry, disappointment and frustration today will be all for no reason. That's happened before. There's some guys out there that go so fast. I want to get my car around the corner like they do and I can't. It makes you mad and you can't figure it out."
 
(ON THE POINTS SYSTEM) "It's the same system we had last year. The change is the ten race shoot out at the end. It hasn't happened and I don't have an opinion on it. It's the same system we've always had and it's working pretty good I guess."
 
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet
(ON THE NASCAR TALK THIS MORNING ABOUT ADJUSTMENTS TO SCORING) "I saw a sheet in the truck but to be honest I really didn't look at it or read much into it. It doesn't change a lot on my part. It's something that happens from the tower. It's making things safer. It is going to be different where you can't speed off of pit road. That's something that we've been able to try to beat the pace car or leader by. You can't do that now. That's going to be the biggest change from the drivers' seat. Aside from that we just go where they tell us to go anyway." 
 
(ON A GREEN WHITE CHECKERED FLAG FINISH) "I'm in favor for that. There's certain things that we need to look at and address to make our fans and spectators get what they pay for. I think they get a good race. They've obviously been very unhappy about finishing under caution. I think it's a good thing. What's weird is all the series that I race in up until now; we all looked at what NASCAR did. We said they're the biggest sport in the world and we should do what they do. Now there are a lot things changing for entertainment. I can imagine it will shake up the rest of the racing world and what is right or wrong. NASCAR has been the rock solid thing to look at and say there's been success there so let's judge and base our series off of that too. You have to listen to fans for certain things. This is something they want to see is a green white checkered finish."
 
(FROM PRACTICE TO THE RACE) "We're very happy with the way the car finished. We're looking at the weather to see what it will do tomorrow. If the sun stays out, based on the sun we saw today, it will make the track pretty loose and slippery. I think more so than what we've seen the past. With that in mind I think it will widen the groove, make for better racing and make it more of handling race than it has been in the past. I think it's going to be a good show."