JEFF GORDON -24- DuPont Automotive Finishes Monte Carlo
HOW DID YOU HANDLE THE DISAPPOINTMENT AT DAYTONA?
HOW'S IT LOOK FOR SUNDAY?"I just did what I always do when I don't have--a good run. You know there's another race, and if that one doesn't go good you just go on to the next one. That's just the nature of this sport. Every race isn't going to be the one you're looking for. These are just tests to see how tough you are. We won the championship last year, now we've got to see what we can do this year. I feel like it's a test for this team.
We're willing to face the challenge. This might not be our year, but we're going to push real hard and fight real hard and try to and win some races. We're going to show ourselves that last year wasn't a fluke and that we've got & team that can challenge for it every year. Every race to me is important. I don't want to have any bad races. I don't want to finish 43rd in any event. The Daytona 500 didn't go the way we planned it to. We want to win that race someday, so it's disappointing. At the same time, it's encouraging. You leave there knowing it's over with. You've got a clean-slate. "I'm surprised Dale Jarrett won, but I'm happy for him. I think he was kind of a longshot to win, but he had potential. We had some good tight racing down there. That's good, but it causes more wrecks. I was a little surprised at all the wrecks down there. I left the the track to beat the traffic for the last 10 laps. I listened to the end of the race on the radio. When I'm not in the race, I'm still a race fan. I was pulling for Schrader. I told Dale, 'I feel sorry for you. Nobody wants to help you out.' He said, `yeah, but they haven't won yet, either.'
RAY EVERNHAM Crew Chief -24- DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo"We're pretty happy with the way we're running. We need to pick it up a little bit, but I think we're back on track. We're going to have to be right on the money. We can't be off even a little bit The other guys (Ford and Pontiacs) might be able to be off a little bit and still be competitive, but if they hit it right, they're going to be tough to beat. The Fords will be tough, but especially the Pontiacs. I've been saying for a long time that when we leave Daytona you'd better watch out for those Pontiacs. If the teams can come together and put it together, they're going to be real tough. I think the best teams right now are the Chevrolets and the Fords, butt the Pontiacs won last year and I don't see why they can't do it again. "They've got good downforce, but they've got good balance also. That's what you need at a track like Rockingham. Once' you start letting off the gas and turning and then getting back in the gas, that's when you really need downforce and balance. I'm not sure what we (Chevrolet) need. If you just give one area to us, it'd help us somewhere and hurt us somewhere else. We need a little here and a little there. Whether it be a little bit in the roof or a little bit in the nose or rear. We're not going to say anything yet. We're going to wait and see how things go. We're going to take what we've been given and make the best of that. Right now, I think we've got a decent car, but the long runs will be the big test"
"I could be 100 percent wrong, but I think when the tires get 30 laps on 'em the Chevrolets are going to be in trouble Sunday. Chevrolet's got good race teams and good drivers, so that might not happen. But I feel like we're going to have to work twice as hard to be half as good. You're going to be coming in for tires after 50 or 60 laps. The Fords and Pontiacs might stretch it a little more, but we came every 60 laps here in the spring last year and they were screaming after 50 laps in the fall. I don't see that being a lot different. "We made a 23-lap run today. That's enough to tell the trend it's going to take. There's no sense leaving `em out there any longer. They're going to go' so slow, somebody's either going to run into you on fresh tires or your driver is going to be so mad at you he's not going to talk to you the rest of the day. In 13 laps, the tire has given you all it's going to give you. That's not Goodyear's fault. That's just the way it is. Down here at Rockingham and Darlington, it's just this part of the country. This is a big boy's sport, so whoever figures out how to handle it is going to do good. "They call this part of the country the Sandhills and whatever aggregate is in that pavement and the weather down here kills these race tracks, That sand settles in there and it takes the grip away and I don't think there's anything they can do about it short of putting a dome over it,
COMMENT ON BOUNCING BACK FROM DAYTONA
I don't know if we've got to bounce back or not. Either you're a champion or you're not. Are you a champion when you're doing good and then you're not a champion when you're in adversity. How you finish at the end of the day doesn't make you what you are. We could run in the fence the first thing Sunday morning, but that wouldn't mean this team is no good. We ran a lot better at Daytona than it showed, and we're OK here. This is a good race team. Last year we dodged a lot of bullets. If that doesn't happen this year, it doesn't mean we're any less of a race team. We unloaded off the truck here three tenths slower than the 5 car and we missed the pole by two one-hundredths of a second. We did the same thing last week at Daytona. Every day we gained on it. We'll continue to do that, and when it's our day, it's our day."
WHAT's THE PLAN FOR SUNDAY IF CHEVYS CAN'T KEEP UP?
"I'm not going to cry about the Fords and Pontiacs. I'm just going to go to work until we have the best Chevy. We're not as good as I think we could be right now. When I feel like we've squeezed every last drop out of the car and no other Chevy is faster, then... I'm not going to get involved in all that other stuff that goes on. I think it's bad for the sport."
