Koolerz 300 - GM Post-Race Quotes

JEFF GREEN, NO. 87 CELLULAR ONE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX (drove pole-winning car in place of Joe Nemechek, who was ill on Saturday; finished 36th following an accident on lap 91):

(ON THE INCIDENT THAT ENDED HIS DAY...) "I'm fine. I'm just a mad a little bit because I wanted to do a better job for Joe Nemechek and those guys. I just couldn't drive it with the shocks and stuff he had on the front of it. It just pushed all day.

"I was feathering it a little bit up off the corner and the '10' car just run over me and turned me around. I'm glad it didn't tear it up any more than it did. I hate tearing somebody else's car up.

"Those guys are nuts. Those Busch guys, they know no fear. I'm a little older than they are, so I know a little bit of fear. I wish we'd have made it to the end, but I'm glad it's over now."

MIKE WALLACE, NO. 4 GEICO PONTIAC GRAND PRIX (4TH):

"We had a really good race car today. We just couldn't get the help when we needed it. We could help a few other guys. I'm real happy with fourth, but I'm a little disappointed, to be honest with you, because I thought we had a car that could at least run up there and run second or third. But, hey, you know you can't be disappointed. All the guys on the GEICO team - Tony Lambert our new crew chief - did a great job, and we're just really, really happy with the finish. We missed this race last year and we came back and finished fourth today, so all in all it's a great day. It's in one piece and we can take it to Talladega."

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 21 PAYDAY CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (3RD):

"Dale Jr. had a strong car. I think ours was just a little bit better. But, they were so equal, that was a heck of a race for the race fans. It was a lot of fun. We just made one little mistake there in the pits and once we gave up the lead it was hard to get it back."

(DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING THAT MAY HELP YOU TOMORROW?) "I learned that it won't take these RCR cars long to get from the back to the front."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 OREO/RITZ CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (1ST):

(FROM VICTORY LANE...) "We're real happy. That was a great car the guys built for me. I couldn't have done it without the strength under the hood from Richie Gilmore. Everything has gone so well for us with the Busch team this weekend - practicing and qualifying - the guys really were dialed in. They just stayed loose and didn't get too much pressure on them. They were great under fire today during the pit stops. We needed to get out front. I knew leading the race was where I wanted to be and I needed to get there as fast as I could. We took two tires there the last two stops. That's what we did last year. I don't know why Richard (Childress) and them didn't do it again because that's where I learned it. We had a great run."

(DOES IT MAKE IT EXTRA SPECIAL, KNOWING THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT BROUGHT THIS DEAL TOGETHER FOR YOU?) "It's hard to beat winning a Winston Cup race. But, I remember the feeling that I had when I built my first late model and took it to victory lane and that's a special feeling, too. It's two totally different things. I'm having a great experience with these guys and I hope they're enjoying themselves. We've got a long ways to go. This can just keep getting bigger and bigger. We're having a great time. If we keep going to victory lane, we'll be alright."

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 21 PAYDAY CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (3RD):

(FROM POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE...) "We led the first 50-some laps, I think, so we had a pretty good car, but we just made a mistake and left the catch-can in the car. That pretty much put a big dent in the way we were trying to go. But, all in all, it was a great day for what we're trying to do with the whole RCR organization. We just made a mistake. When you're dealing with the caliber of cars that you're racing up there with, it's hard to pass the leader. Unless the outside groove comes in, it's probably going to be that way tomorrow. But, everything was great all. The car was fast right from the get-go, and was probably fun to watch when we had to start dead last. You just can't make a mistake and expect to beat the best of the best."

(ON WHY TURN FOUR WAS SO TOUGH TODAY) "The wind was blowing that direction. That's what I think it was. Most of the time my car would go through there great, but on the last lap when Matt got under me my car pushed really bad getting in the corner. I actually had to go all the way up the racetrack and let off the gas.

"It felt like that was probably the problem today with turn four, plus it was a lot hotter."

(WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET A GOOD ENOUGH RUN TO PASS OR HAVE PEOPLE GO WITH YOU TO MAKE A PASS?) "Put an '8' on the back of your car and they'll follow you. He's got a really fast race car and everybody knows that. It really makes it fun for him to drive. I kind of got to experience the same thing coming back up through the pack. I was able to get a run and pretty soon, I had five or six cars just following me up through the pack. We were able to drive inside, outside and do whatever we wanted. But, when you get up there, something has got to happen or he has got to make a mistake because that's just how it is. It doesn't matter who it is. Unless you've got five or six cars and you know they're going to follow you, you might as well just stay on the bottom because as soon as you go out, they're going to drive by you."

(WILL TOMORROW'S RACE BE EASIER BECAUSE OF TEAMMATES?) "I don't think so. There are five Roush cars. There are three DEI cars. There are three RCR cars and it will be really hard to get them all lined up together, unless you get to the front of the pack. If we can get to the front of the pack and line our three cars up, you probably won't see them come undone because I'm willing to finish third in the Daytona 500 and have one of them win. If you can stay out of the mess that could happen and you can take a top three and go on because, I'll tell you what - a 41st doesn't get very much momentum going for the rest of the year.

"I experienced that last year. If that is what it comes down to, I think it will help. But, all 43 cars tomorrow are competitive, so it's going to be a little bit different style race because of that factor."

(ON THE MECHANICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A BUSCH CAR AND A CUP CAR) "My car was quite a bit tighter. My Winston Cup car is quite a bit better behind cars and in traffic. It's probably just the body style and the front downforce that it has on the front of that car.

(ON THE COMMENTS DALE JR. MADE EARLIER THIS WEEK ABOUT THE UNITY AT RCR) "I think you saw today that everything was fine. Dale, Jr. and I talked before the race and he explained to me what he said. Unfortunately, for you guys (the media), it wasn't exactly what he said. It was twisted and turned and unfortunately it got turned into something bigger. He apologized that it got out of hand. Everything is fine between the two teams. It should be fine. We're looking to work with our three RCR cars and they're looking to work with each other. But, I think as you saw today that is the way it's going to work out. You just work with who is around you and all the stuff that has been written, I believe has a little bit of 'false' to it.

"We directly appreciate everything Richard (Childress) has done for us. He appreciates everything Richard has done for him. Richard Childress made RCR what it is today with Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt made DEI what it is because he was at RCR with Richard Childress. We all understand that, we all respect that, we all have very strong relationships with Richard and that's the way it is."

(ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF COMING UP THROUGH THE PACK) "Fortunately, when you get back there and you get seven or eight car lengths back, you get a hell of a run at the pack. If you've got some holes you can carry that momentum up, down, all around and pretty soon, I had five or six cars behind me. I never had to slow down. I was just fortunate that nobody ever pulled up and I had to hit the brakes, so I didn't have a whole lot of a problem. But, it's the same way in the Winston Cup car, but usually somebody sees you coming and you have to stop."

(ON THE YELLOW-LINE RULE) "It's kind of like the restrictor plate question. Nobody has a better answer. The restrictor plates are going the thing they're intended to do and that's 'keep the people in the grandstands safe.' I think that might be part of the reason why everybody is on the bottom because you know you can't go below the yellow line. But, heck, I don't know. If somebody has a better idea I wish they'd tell us. It's just the way it is. It's still a good race, and if you get enough cars you can go to the top and do what you need to do anyway. Right now, it's like a wall."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 OREO/RITZ CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (1ST):

(FROM POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE...ON TODAY'S VICTORY) "It was a good race. We had a great car. From last year's race I knew I needed to be up front to win. I couldn't pass Kevin when he was leading at the start of the race and I knew that was kind of the situation anybody would have behind me if I could get the lead. So, we just kept doing two tire stops until the end of the race and had about 90 laps on our left-sides.

"That's exactly what we did last year and it worked out fine. My car kept turning good. It never got tight or started sliding around - plus we had several cautions throughout the period of the race, too, to help out.

"It was a good job by the whole organization. As small and new as it is, they're doing a good job of performing. There are a lot of expectations, but they're doing a good job."

(DOES THE POSSIBILITY OF WINNING FOUR RACES IN A ROW HERE ADD PRESSURE TO YOU?) "Yeah, it does. I wasn't really in the right frame of mind Thursday after the 125s. I was kind of upset because that just worsened the odds a little bit. But, I guess that they're so out of whack now that it really doesn't matter. I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow. We worked on our car today. We ran quite a few laps, trying to work on the setup of the car and get the car more comfortable. It wasn't running too good this morning, but by the end of the day we were pretty happy. Other than that, we'll just see how it works out. Like I said, there is a lot of parity in the '500' and a lot of things can happen. There are so many turning points and things that are going on during the race. But, I'll just try to stay out of the way and in the way at the same time."

(HOW DOES TERESA FEEL ABOUT THIS WIN?) "Me and Teresa share a 50-50 role as owners in the team. I'm real happy. It really didn't dawn on me that I was sitting in a car that I owned until I was driving the car out for the first practice. I remember when I built my first late model from the ground. I made everything on it. I won my first race with it and there is no feeling like that and this is kind of similar to it. This is my little baby in a way. I was real proud of the team and real proud of the guys. They had a lot of pressure on them because none of them have a lot of experience. They just wanted to be able to hold up their end of the bargain. They were so worried that they were going to make mistakes on pit road or the car wasn't going to be right when we got here or we just weren't going to be able to back up everybody's expectations. I felt pretty bad for them. But, we just kind of kept a level head and everything just went real smooth for us."

(HAVE YOU MADE PEACE WITH THE RCR DRIVERS?) "Yeah, a little bit. I didn't mean to piss them off. But, I guess what I said would piss somebody off. It would piss me off. But, I talked to them. We all qualified right up there in the top three, so I saw them today at (driver) intros and talked to each of them. What I said and what I wanted to say were kind of two different things. It was a little asinine, the way I was acting in here the other day. But, sometimes you do that."

(ON TRYING THE HIGH LINE WITH ABOUT FIVE LAPS TO GO) "It's really tough to pass the leader in the Busch Series, but if they do drop back far enough they can get such a run on you that they'll just go right by you. So, whenever somebody would get too far back or I felt like they were purposely falling back to make a run, I was trying to run high and force them to make that ground back up through the corner, so that they weren't hauling butt once they got to me."

(DID YOU REPORT THROTTLE PROBLEMS DURING THE RACE?) "Actually, I didn't have full throttle for most of the race. But, yeah - believe me, I wasn't too happy about it. I was running behind Kevin and I couldn't even pull up on him. Michael (Waltrip) kept running up to me and running up to me and I'm thinking that my car just wasn't running like it was yesterday. Then, we had that pit stop and we took two and we got the lead. I was thinking, 'Alright, we'll be OK because there is always this little cushion - you can't really pull up to the bumper of the leader.' Michael kept pulling up and pulling up and I'm thinking, 'Man, what is wrong with my car. It just ain't running.' It was like 90 percent throttle, but that was enough to where I could tell a difference."

(HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW BEING CALLED A FAVORITE TO WIN THE '500?') "Every time we did something, I got a little more worried because it's tough. Nobody has ever won it all, so I'm kind of like shocked or don't know what to think about it. But, I could stand to be the favorite for the championship. That would be nice. But, just being here all week and the microscope and the focus and all the things that are happening can be a heavy load sometimes, especially when the main reason you're here is to win the race that hasn't happened yet. It's really a tribute to a lot of different people and it's great to have the success we've had up to this point. We've got a lot to be proud of to be doing what we've done during Speedweeks. But, we know nothing equals up to that Daytona 500 victory."

(WHY DOES BEING A CAR OWNER HOLD SUCH SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR YOU?) "I never thought I'd want to be a car owner after my driving career was finished. And, I still don't know if that is what I want to do or the direction I'm going to go. But, I wanted to have a team of my own that I could understand from Teresa's point of view or the people that are working within the team - their point of view - so I could kind of turn around and almost look back at myself in a way, and see what I'm doing wrong - not in the car in the Winston Cup Series, but outside the car - what I can do better with the team, communication, with my PR people, understand more about what the load is that everybody else is carrying. When you're just a driver, period, it's always, 'Woe is me. I've got all this (stuff) to do and I don't want to do it.' Well, now hopefully, being on this side of the fence I'll get a little understanding of the (stuff) everybody else has to go through to be on the ride, too."

(ON THE SEASON AFTER DAYTONA, AND THE IDEA THAT THE CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE STARTS THEN) "I'm well aware of that. We'd come out of here with a positive attitude. We'd go to Rockingham and by the end of that deal we'd be so fed up with each other. It sets the tone. It does, whether you want to realize it or admit or not. You create the atmosphere that you're going to be working in. Hopefully, we'll get in and out of Rockingham with good fortune and good luck, good runs and a good finish. We've got a great team. We came out of Talladega last year (eighth race) - we came out of there fifth in points. Only a third of the way through the season we were fifth in points. We have more to prove to ourselves than we do anybody. I want to see my fans rejoice in a championship season that we may have one day. But, what we have to prove to ourselves is monumental compared to what we have to prove to the press or anybody else.

"I think this is going to be a great year for us. I'm having a good time. We're winning races. This is almost like a little mini-series in itself. But, I've still got one part of my mind already focusing on the next week."

(ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WINNING A RACE AT DAYTONA) "It's huge for your career. I can guarantee you the Truck win yesterday for (Rick) Crawford was huge for him. If you have any idea of where anybody comes from or whatever their roots are, you know that when they get to Daytona that that is the race they want to win. We keep coming here year after year after year and you forget where you've been to get here. Whoever wins the race tomorrow will certainly have an interesting past and an interesting road that he traveled to get to the win of that race. If you want to sit down and judge one track from the other, a win at Daytona is bigger than any other."

(YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO SWEEP THE EVENTS DOWN HERE TOMORROW, WHICH IS SOMETHING YOUR FATHER NEVER DID...) "I'm a little nervous because nobody has ever done it, so it doesn't bode well for my chances tomorrow. But, we've got a good car and I'll just go in there with the most positive attitude I can have. I feel like we are one of maybe just a few teams that are favorites tomorrow. And, with the success that we've had up to this point this Speedweeks we've got to be the favorite. But, regardless of what happens, what we've done so far up to this point is a lot to be proud of. We've come in here and done a lot of things and made a lot of improvements over the last few years. We've always been strong on the plate tracks, but we had done more in Speedweeks than we had done previously. Our qualifying effort was 10 times better than it had been in the past. We've never really been good qualifiers here. And, I did win two races that I ran second in two years in a row, which was the Shootout and the 125."

(DO YOU LIKE BEING THE GUY THAT EVERYONE IS POINTING AT?) "I said yesterday that being the surprise is more fun. That's pretty much the way it has been all my life, is to come in and do things and you appreciate somebody saying, 'Man, it was awesome that you did that...didn't expect you to do that, ' or, 'you did a good job,' instead of, 'Alright man, we got what we thought we'd get. Let's move on.' That doesn't sound like as much fun. Being the favorite is good because it lets you know that you've reached a certain pinnacle or certain stage within the sport and within your career. I feel like I'm really coming into my own as a driver, as my own driver - being myself - being a driver's driver and a team's driver and crew chief's driver - being the guy that everybody would like to have as a teammate or like to have as a part of their team. Like I said, I would just much rather be called the favorite to win the championship later on this season. That would be better than anything."

WHAT DID YOU MEAN TO SAY ABOUT THE RCR DRIVERS?) "I said that I didn't have a problem with any of them guys...I didn't intentionally want to take a stab at any one driver or any of the group of drivers. But, I wasn't in the best mood that day, either. But, that don't matter. I run my mouth a little too much. But, my point was that I feel like if me and Michael team up tomorrow, everybody else on the track will just be battling for third. I feel like me and Michael can really work together, especially with Michael - his car is really, really good. Our car is pretty good, but I feel like between the two, the daytime favors Michael's car and the nighttime favors my car. We always run better in the '400' and Michael always runs better in the '500.'

"I didn't upset Richard too much and that was really the only one I was really most worried about."

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