Mr. Goodcents 300 - Rookie Friday Quotes

Note: Earlier this week, Chase Montgomery was named the driver of the No. 27 TrimSpa Pontiac for Brewco Motorsports. Entering Saturday's race, Montgomery has made eight starts this season, seven of which came with Brewco Motorsports. His best finish was a tenth place effort in February at Daytona. He has been Raybestos® Rookie of the Race once this season, taking the honor at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.

CHASE MONTGOMERY, NO. 27 TRIMSPA PONTIAC:

"I'm excited. I said at the beginning of the year and I'm going to say it again, I've got an awesome opportunity in front of me. Brewco Motorsports has proven that they can be competitive with David Green, currently fourth in points just 65 out. I'm able to go talk with David any time I need help and they've got the experience that's going to help learn it that much faster." DOES BEING IN THIS CAR EARLIER THIS YEAR HELP? "Absolutely. I mean, we've got some new guys over here but as far as working with Terry Shirley and Sandy Jones, I got to work with them at the beginning of the year so there's a comfort level there and there's some trust there. We've just got that connection and chemistry and we're going to build on that and we'll hopefully make some things work." HOW DID THIS OPPORTUNITY COME ABOUT? WHEN DID YOU LEARN THAT YOU WERE GOING TO DRIVE THIS CAR? "I guess the middle of last week. They wanted to make a change and they were comfortable with me getting back in the car. That kind of said some stuff to me and it all worked out. It's going to be a lot of fun. We started the year off having fun and we're going to end the year having fun." WHERE DO YOU STAND FOR 2004? "As we sit here, I don't know. We're working on some stuff for next year with Brewco Motorsports. Hopefully that will turn into something because I love it here. It's so much help having David on the other side. I could just walk over there and talk to him. He's open to whatever I need. Hopefully that will turn into something for next year. If not, we've got some other things that will maybe work out. But this is where I want to be in 2004." AS A DRIVER, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO STAY SHARP? "Playing Play Station (laughs). I've been running some ARCA races, a Craftsman Truck race, that was a learning experience. I've just been getting in what I can when I can. I think I even ran a late model race somewhere in there. I'm at my shop everyday, tinkering with ARCA cars trying to learn what I can there. We've done some testing in the ARCA car. Just trying to stay in the seat as much as possible was the biggest thing." WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON? "This is a good solid team. I've been out of the car most of the year. I want to get back in and pick up learning where I was when I stepped out. There's a lot to be learned. I want to learn what I can. We'll keep these cars in one piece and be there at the end of the day." WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE? "I don't see a whole lot of challenges. I'm here with a solid team. I know that they stand behind me 100 percent. I'm going to give them what I can to be able to perform and we're going to have some fun. We're going to make the most out of whatever comes our way." WHAT'S BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT RACING IN THE BUSCH SERIES? "Nothing has been too hard. They're not a whole lot longer than an ARCA race I guess the hardest thing this year was sitting home watching it on TV. Stepping back out of a car that I was in, it's always hard to sit there the next week and watch it on TV. That was difficult. Not knowing what was going to happen next is difficult. I've been preparing myself for the longer races. The biggest thing that I've had to learn and work on was the communication part between Terry and myself. There's a lot of stuff that I didn't know that I learned with Terry and that helped with having experience here. I really feel like I learned so much more in those seven races than I did in however many ARCA starts I had last year. Not to take anything away from ARCA, but I've got 36 Frank Kimmels over here compared to one over there. There's a lot to be learned from as far as the competitors on the race track and a lot to be learned from on this team." WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CARS IN ARCA AND BUSCH? "Not a lot. Of course, there's less horsepower in a Busch car and they have a shorter wheelbase. Last year we had a rookie team in the ARCA series so they were learning as well as I was and here I step into an experienced team, an established team that's been doing it awhile. Of course you know differences are there because they've been to these places and they know what's going on which kind of helps me learn it that much quicker. That's been the biggest difference that I've noticed." HOW'S YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ALICE COOPER? "He's still involved. He's a marketing partner and right now we're working hard on stuff. He'll be involved for next year. He'll be here in some form or fashion and we'll have fun with that."

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