Ray Evernham (Crew chief No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo)
"These Rainbow Warriors make me look awful good. I believe we've got the best race car driver to come along in a long time. All the guys back in the motor shop and all the guys who build these cars did a heck of a job."Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Automotive Finishes Monte Carlo)
"This has been a real tough place for us. When we first started running here, we couldn't get a good finish. I really respect this race track and the guys who have won at this race track. Itreally means a lot just to be in here one time last year at the Southern 500, but it means a lot to be here today. We were real consistent all day long with everything we did whether it was with me driving or with the guys getting us out of tile pits first. They had some great pit stops. It was really key to get out first today. It was hard to pass and you'd get behind somebody and it took awhile to get around them and you'd use up your tires., Those guys would get me out first and I've got to say thanks to them.. The car was right from the first green flag. We didn't know if we were going to be right or not, but we just had to tweak on it a little bit. We've had good communication this weekend. When he (Dale Jarrett) first got by me they said not to worry because he had to stop. I kept asking them if they were sure because the way he was driving, it didn't look like he had to stop. We were both pushing pretty good. I tried to pick up the pace a little bit, but it was just wearing out my right front even more. I thought we might have a shot at him. I was going to try to come back up to him, but I don't know if I could ever have passed him. We were pretty much gambling that he was going to run out, but we might as well put the heat on while we can. I believe he had to go to the outside of a lapped car, and he got into the wall. When he did that, I put the pressure on him real hard. I knew he probably had a tire rub, and that was my opportunity to get back in front because it was hard to pass. These guys tell me what the fuel is going to be like, and they didn't tell me I had to conserve. They were probably crossing their fingers. I was driving hard all the way to the finish. This team has got a lot of momentum right now after a tough start to the season. They're back on top of their game just like they did last year when we would get down. I was afraid that off weekend might mess up our momentum, but we showed that it didn't today . Slowly but surely, we're working our way back up to where we want to be and that's in the top 10.""We actually were a little bit loose and had to tighten it up. We improved, but a lot of other guys improved there at the end. You've got to be there at the end. You've got to have four corners on the car. You've got to stay out of the wall, and that's not easy to do. We had some patience today. We had some great pit stops too, and that certainly made it easier on me to be patient and to really hold the car and not use the tires up. I really never had to push hard to come from midfield because those guys made good, consistent pit stops.
"We got caught up in some lapped cars, and lapped cars had been going my way up until that point. I had been catching the cars just right on the straightaway and getting by them without any problem. We came up on a group of four or five that were really hard to get by and he (Jarrett) caught us. I was so focused on getting by those lapped cars and trying to be careful and trying to see what they were going to do, I didn't know he was coming as fast as he was. They told me he was coming fast and he had to stop. I didn't fight him real hard for the position. If I had known he was going to go all the way, I would probably have fought him a little bit harder. He got to the inside of me, and he wasn't driving like a guy who was going to stop for fuel, I tried to pick it up to see if we had anything left. We had a little bit, but he was pretty tight. So was I. I wanted to keep my car in his mirror and if he slowed down for fuel, I wanted him to know that we were going to be right back on him.
"We were pretty much where we wanted to be all the time. That one time the 18 car got a lucky break, we had to make up a lot of ground. It seemed like we had a few more cautions in the middle of the race and there weren't as many at the end. My pit crew kept me up front most of the race. It was just hard to pass. If you were a little faster, it was hard to set them up to get past them. You had to be real patient. That one time with Sterling, he had 10-15 lap older tires than I did, and I didn't think there would be any problem. He was tough, I would have hated to see what he would have been like on new tires then.
"This sport can humble you real quick. Even at other levels, you can think you're on top of the world and the next thing you know you're spun around backwards and things aren't going like you think they ought to be going. We're coming off a championship season. You might think things are going to go a certain way, but I think (rough start) might have been a blessing in disguise. I hate for those things to happen and for us to be 40th in the points two races in, but since then, I've never seen a group of guys work closer together and have better communication and be on top of their game. Our finishes have proven it. I thought Goodyear had a real good tire. It was fast for the race, and our sets were real consistent. It seemed like we were able to make fine adjustments and notice them when we made them. Ricky Craven did a good job today. We used our stuff up a little bit, but wanted to stay out front. I felt the tires going away, so I started conserving, It was just our day, and everything worked out."
