Virginia 500 - GM Post-Race Quotes

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO:

(WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN THE CLOSING LAPS?) "A guy spun and we had to check up for it. We started backing up and everybody got a run on us. Then, they just drove into us down in three, cut the tire down and we lost all the spots."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO:

(ON THE LAST RUN OF THE RACE) "We were just too loose on that last set of tires. We over-adjusted on it and started drifting backwards. With everybody beating on each other so hard at the end we slid back to ninth."

(IT WAS VERY PHYSICAL IN THE FINAL LAPS...WAS IT WITHIN REASON OR OUT OF CONTROL?) "It was getting out of control. But, what do you do? Everybody is beating on one another and then the '2' car races me back to the caution, which - you know -- gentlemen's agreement and you think it's there and it's not. I guess that's just part of it."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO:

(ON FINISHING THIRD TODAY) "We did have a good car all day. We led some laps and that was real fun, just being up front and putting cars laps down and trying to put the race away. But, right there at the end, Bobby got two tires and we came out behind him. I had a lapped car on the inside of me on that restart and I was sitting there thinking I was going to be OK because if I could get clear of these lapped cars I figured I could race Bobby and get by him. But, the '32' had a flat tire. We went down into the first corner on that restart and he just went up into the side of me and we went up the racetrack together. I know he couldn't have done much about it. We're both real lucky we didn't wreck or tear our cars up worse than we did. I got shuffled way back and had to fight back.

"But, we really had a top two or three car today and it was real fortunate to get that third place at the end there."

(ON WINNING LAST WEEK AND RUNNING WELL THE WEEK AFTER HERE) "That's basically what we did last year. We won Talladega and then we came here and run third or second or something like that. So, we've got these two tracks down pat.

"This track here is tough, now. You can come in here with all the confidence in the world and have a great race car, but you can sure get it tore up real quick and easy if you ain't careful. We dodged a bunch of bullets today and come out with a few extra blisters, but other than that, it was a pretty good day. I was real happy for my team. They did a great job."

(DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS A CONTENDER FOR THE POINTS TITLE?) "I'll believe it when we win it. This is a long season and a lot can happen. We were in this same situation last year, coming out of here with a top five finish. We were solidly in fifth or so in the points going into our first weekend off and didn't have much of a season after that until the end again.

"I feel like we can do this all year long. If we do, we do. We've got to keep trying to keep working hard. We can't get really lackadaisical or too confident. We have to continue to have a lot of respect for our competition and where we stand up against them at some of these racetracks we're coming up to - like Pocono and what-not."

(ON HOW CLEAN THE FIRST PART OF THE RACE WAS AND WERE THERE ANY COMMENTS MADE AT THE DRIVERS MEETING ABOUT KEEPING IT CLEAN?) "There weren't any comments. I really didn't pay much attention. But, I don't remember hearing any comments about keeping it clean.

"I think why the race was cleaner today was that there was just a little bit more rubber down on that bottom groove and it was almost tolerable at times to run down there, where when they first just ground it and we came here and raced at the end of last year, you couldn't touch it. You didn't want to be down there. You didn't want to be side by side with nobody and drove in the side of them every chance you got to get by them. This weekend you could run on the bottom, guys didn't knock the doors off of each other's cars. That's what I saw. When I was here in the fall when I was side by side with somebody, I carried them up the racetrack and made them get out of the gas and give up the spot - every chance you got. Today you didn't have to. You really didn't feel like you were having to force it. Both grooves were successful, so it was just good racing. The track is about where it needs to be - just a little bit more grip up off on the bottom and this is going to be a good race, I think, coming here at the end of the season. After that, they might have to grind it again."

(IF YOU HADN'T GOTTEN CAUGHT UP IN THAT RESTART, WOULD THE OUTCOME HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT?) "I don't know. The '24' car was really good all day. Maybe at times, he and I were back and forth as far as being the best. He was really good at long runs. You saw the difficult time he had getting around Bobby, so I can't say whether I would have won or what. The '24' might still have won, Bobby might have won, who knows? We might all have wrecked. But, I feel like I would have had a better chance. When we got pushed up the racetrack, the caution came out, there were about 40 to go - it's real hard to get by them guys. You saw mostly that track position stayed the same all day. There really wasn't a lot of passing, as far as the top three or four or five cars. Those five stayed in the top five the majority of the day, so I knew when we got pushed back there - winning the race was pretty much out of the question and just tried to get what we could get and not spin the tires off of it trying to get back to the front - just try to get third or second or whatever we could get."

(WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE IN A SHORT TRACK RACE, AS FAR AS BUMPING THE LEADER OUT OF THE WAY?) "It depends on if you're running second. It depends on who is leading, too.

"There are some guys that you won't knock out of the way, for respect reasons, and there are some guys that you disrespect and you want that opportunity to knock them out of the way for the win. I can't say if that was a factor today. But, I think Bobby is probably one of the most respected guys on the racetrack and I saw Jeff lean on him. But, that's all Jeff could do. Jeff had to muscle him. Jeff didn't just send him up the racetrack. But, it was pretty good racing from where I was sitting. There was a little bit of bumping and carrying on, but I guarantee you that three-quarters of the field would have done a whole lot worse."

BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO:

(ON THE LAST RESTART) "We came in and got two tires - was the biggest thing to help us from fifth to first on that restart on the last caution where we all pitted. That helped us out to get that track position, but the two tires - we had a lot of laps to go on them and a lot of hard laps to go on them because we had a lot of pressure from behind. The guys did a great job in the pits. Fatback made a great call of taking two. He asked what I wanted - track position or tires. I said, 'Can I have a little bit of both?' He gave me two tires, which got us track position also. It was a great job on their part because I know we couldn't have passed them if we had restarted fifth because our car wasn't as good on four tires all day long on a restart, so it was a good call by them to get us a second place finish."

(DID YOU HAVE A SHOT TO GO FOR THE LEAD?) "We held Jeff off as long as we could. Again, those two tires were going to be giving up. I saw that all day. I wish we had a few less laps to run when we got those two tires, but more probably would have gotten two tires also. We rubbed a little bit. But, that was hard racing. That was good, clean fun. We respect each other and I have to echo what Dale said, too. If I'd have been second and Jeff had been in front of me getting two tires, I would have raced him as hard as I could, as clean as I could and wouldn't have sent anybody up the racetrack. You just do that, obviously, with the respect for the person that you're racing - how he would race you. It was good, clean fun."

(HOW IMPORTANT IS PATIENCE HERE TO FINISH WELL?) "I guess we were almost too patient there for a while at the beginning of the race. We were running two cars from the end. It didn't seem like it was too long and they said the leader was right behind us. I know we had passed a few cars. But, our car was really good all day and it was better in the long run. Thank goodness we had some long runs early in the race to get us past some cars and get us ahead of some cars for track position, so that helped out. But, we had to be patient all day. I ran the brakes pretty hard for the first half of the race and had to really be careful of that. I still had plenty left. But, this place here - whether you start up front or in the back you've got to be patient because it is such a grinding race on the race car."

(DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR MOMENTUM WILL CARRY OVER?) "We've been running good week in and week out. But, I'd like to think that we've been competitive week in and week out. We didn't get a chance at Talladega to even get warmed up...and I screwed up at Texas and got the car too loose and spun out off of turn two, so we had two bad weekends. We needed a good rally today and today was a good day. We take it one race at a time, but feel like we've got a good race team."

(IS THE GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT OFF WHEN YOU KNOW THE RACE IS GOING TO END UNDER CAUTION?) "The '97' car was over there in turn two and we knew it was going to end under caution, and we raced back as hard as we could. I don't think we could have passed each other anyway. We ran just hard enough where nobody was going to pass each. Obviously, if somebody would have stopped I think they would have gotten passed. But, we weren't going to stop. We were just going to hold up our end of it just to make sure we all got back just like it was racing back to the flag and making sure we just kept everybody honest. I don't think that would have come into play today."

(ON THE FIRST HALF OF THE RACE BEING SO CLEAN) "It was. We started 39th, so I got to see a lot of race cars all day. You've still got your typical Martinsville beating and banging, but at the same time, both grooves were working pretty good. My car actually worked better in the bottom groove all day the last 50 laps when we got two tires, so I don't know exactly why I moved up. But, it seemed like it worked better for me. Last fall was the first time on the track after it was ground for whatever reason, so this was the second time around, so people were probably understanding it better, trying to figure it out, trying to get a better setup on it. That probably helped it out a little bit that the groove was a little bit better on the bottom and the top side was still working, too.

"I think everybody had the same goal and that was, 'Let's try to finish 500 laps.' I didn't see anybody go off the deep end."

(ON TODAY'S SECOND PLACE FINISH ADDING TO HIS CONFIDENCE THIS YEAR) "This whole year - other than a couple of problems that we had that we really couldn't help on our own - we've had good finishes. That's what we try to build ourselves on in consistency and everything.

"We're really excited. Plus, we had a lot of pressure on us. My nephew finished second last night and my son finished second in his quarter midget race, so we had a lot of pressure on us today."

(WHY DID YOU FEEL IT WAS IMPORTANT TO GO TO VICTORY LANE TO SEE JEFF GORDON?) "I just wanted to congratulate him. He had a great car all day. They qualified on the pole. They had a fast car. He almost lapped me at one time. I just wanted to go to victory lane to congratulate him because he did a really good job. He passed us fair and square. His car was fast and we tried to hold him off. But, he is obviously really good here, so we were really fortunate to finish second after we got two tires. We held him off for longer than probably I thought (we could).

"I just wish we could have had a few less laps in the race. I just wanted to congratulate him because he did such a good job. He told me, he said, 'Man, I thought we had you a lap down at one time.' I said, 'No. I knew when they said you were right behind us, we took off.' But, it was just one of those deals. It was good racing."

(WOULD YOU HAVE BUMPED JEFF AT THE END TO TAKE THE LEAD?) "Definitely. He didn't move me up the racetrack. We were racing pretty hard. We ran a lot of laps side by side and never touched. All that racing was good. This is Martinsville and I thought it was good racing. He did acknowledge me on the back straightaway. He kind of motioned to me. We respect each other a lot on the racetrack. We don't talk to each other a whole lot off the racetrack, but I respect his ability in a race car and I think he does the same for me. Again, it was a good hard race and nobody got into anybody hard. It was just good racing."

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO:

(REGARDING THE CONTACT WITH BOBBY LABONTE AT THE END OF THE RACE) "I race guys the way they race me. Bobby raced me clean, but he was definitely crowding me. He was cutting the entry of the corners pretty short. So, I got underneath him a couple times and knew that it was going to be pretty tough to do it without either running him up the track or us touching a little bit. Basically, that last time when I got by him I just ran straight. I didn't really turn into him. I just ran straight as he turned into the corner and we touched a little bit.

"I basically was just watching my mirror, watching the guys behind me. I had a little bit of breathing room. It looked like the '20' car started going away and he started fading. I kept cooling my tires off good behind Bobby, would run him down, get inside him and just see what I could do with him. But, each lap that went by that got closer to the finish, the bumps were going to get harder and harder and harder. I was pretty determined to win this race. This team worked hard today. They did an awesome job. It was a great call by Bobby and the '18' team with what they did there and it almost got them the win. It got them a second, so that was still a great call for them. I don't think anybody would have done any different. We were definitely better. It was just hard to pass out there. I would have expected the same thing from anybody else."

(HOW BIG OF A RELIEF TO GET YOUR FIRST WIN THIS EARLY?) 'I know it's a big relief to me. There are so many sweet things about getting a victory early in the season. In the first third of the season, I think it means so much. It just takes that weight off your shoulder. We don't have to go each weekend going, 'Ok, it's been 18, 20, 30, 40,' however many races it's been since we won. Plus, we go into an off-weekend, so we get to enjoy it for a little bit longer than just a regular win. Any win is special and it was awesome and it was great to be able to do it from the pole today.

"This team - I think they've been right there week in and week out to get a win. We've been close and let it slip away and it's awesome to finally get it - especially early on."

(DO DRIVERS REMEMBER THINGS LIKE THE BUMP TODAY?) "I expect them to. When he is going for a win and I'm leading and in the same situation, I expect him to remember that - absolutely. Bobby is a guy that, he's a nice guy. He runs hard and clean, but he doesn't mind getting the job done doing whatever it takes to get that win, also. He came up to me after race and congratulated me and we laughed about it. It wasn't like I just went down in there and took him out. I don't know what the etiquette is. I know that when you're on a short track, you get down the finish, if you can get to his bumper, then there is usually going to be some contact somewhere along the way.

"I thought I was kind of nice about it, to be honest."

(DID IT SURPRISE YOU THAT BOBBY HELD YOU OFF AS LONG AS HE DID AT THE END?) "I saw where my car was working better than his. He couldn't keep it on the bottom, so I just saw a hole and I went for the hole. I got inside of him and I thought I should be able to get him. Then, I noticed him crowding me getting into the corner. I was doing everything I could just not to wreck myself and him at that time. Then, we ran there for a couple laps and I was like, 'Ooh, this is going to be a lot tougher than I thought.' Then, I saw the '20' and the '8' and the '40' all coming and I said, 'Alright, now I need to get back in line and cool my tires.' When I got back in line behind him, all of a sudden I started to spin the tires and he drove away from me a little bit and I was pretty nervous at that moment. I was like, 'Uh-oh, this is not good.' But, all it was was just I had overheated my tires and needed to coo them down a little bit. The breathing room that I got was that the '20' car faded. When he faded and was holding the '8' car up and they fell back, it allowed me to make some maneuvers where I could go high going in, get a run on him and do some different things. Then, I could just keep getting inside of him and keep working him and working him, hoping he'd make a mistake. Bobby doesn't really make many mistakes.

"I think what happened was I ran down in there and he crowded me pretty good. That pretty much gave me the sign, 'Alright, it's OK for me to lean on him a little bit.'

"I think Bobby knew he was not as good as me. He only had two tires and he was going to work me over as hard as he could to make me work for it and not just give it away."

(ON RACING BACK TO THE YELLOW) "I think when it's coming down to the finish, you'd better race as hard as you can back to that line. I never let off - no matter what lap it is."

(ON MOVING GUYS OUT OF THE WAY) "The competition is extremely tough. Track position is hard to get and it's hard to pass. This is a neat short track, but it's extremely hard to pass. Any track that we go to where we can't pass you're going to see guys moving guys out of the way and getting everything they possibly can."

(ON BEING THIRD IN POINTS...SATISFIED?) "I am considering we were 15th in points about six races ago. I'm very happy with the performance. These guys have just been bringing the best cars to the racetrack. We've been leading a lot of laps, we've been qualifying great and pit stops have been phenomenal. I can't exactly put my finger on why some races have slipped away from us - just little things here and there that have kept us out of victory lane. I think the only thing I'm disappointed with was me hitting the wall at Darlington. Other than that, I think we've been great. I'm very happy with everything that has taken place. For us to get back up to third and really make a charge here at this point in the season - yeah, I'm pretty happy with where we're at right now."

(ON KNOWING HOW MUCH OF A BUMP TO GIVE SOMEBODY) "I learned from [Dale, Jr.'s] father, I think just like him. There are certain things you can do out there, just like Bobby was doing. He wasn't really hitting me, but he was definitely making it close to impossible for me to get by him. Basically there at the end, I had a fender right inside his left rear bumper and when he turned in the corner I just didn't turn. That's usually a good way to, either, loosen them up or sometimes you're going to touch them a little bit. And, on the short track, it usually takes a little more than just air to move them around.

"I try to not do anything to where I'm going to send the guy off to the wall or spin him out. I try to work him over, race him, and try to pass him as clean as I can - then, you start going to other motives."

(DID YOU ANTICIPATE THIS COMING DOWN TO YOU AND JUNIOR FOR THE WIN?) "I knew he was going to be pretty tough. I knew Bobby was on two tires. Bobby surprised me more than anything. I really thought we might run there for 10 or 15 laps and then he'd fall back, but he didn't. My car wasn't real good on new tires. My car was much better on the long run. Junior was extremely good on new tires and I think Junior probably would have gotten by Bobby a little easier than what I did because his car really seemed to just cut the middle really good on new tires. But, I think over the long run we still would have been battling with him for the win, which we still were in a way. But, I was pretty concerned with him. He was very good. Track position means so much. My car - if I could be the leader and in some fresh air I could pull away. But, if you put me behind a couple cars, it took a full run before I could get back up to the front.

"I was pretty concerned. I don't know exactly what went on there. I saw Craven come up there and get him and slide up and man, I just stood in the gas and said, 'I'm going to take advantage of this situation,' because I knew it was going to be big. If I could get by Junior, that was half the battle right there."

(DO YOU THINK JUNIOR WOULD BE TOUGH TO CATCH IF HE HAD THE POINTS LEAD?) "I think I'm aware of him being tough, no matter whether he's got the points lead or not.

"They're definitely running good at a lot of different tracks. In the past, they've had some weaknesses. I think the team has matured, I think Junior has matured and they're showing that week in and week out. We've got to hang with them at the places that they are really strong - Daytona and Talladega - and we've got to take advantage of some of the tracks that they're not as strong at. I didn't know how strong he'd be today, so today was somewhat a surprise of how good he was today. Short tracks are important to the championship. We never really focus on any one guy. We just focus on our own program. We've always done it that way and we know that if we do our job that that is what is going to put us up there for the championship. If we don't do our job, that is what is going to prevent us from getting it."

(WHY WAS THIS RACE SO CLEAN EARLY ON?) "I think the grinding of this racetrack has changed this racetrack tremendously. Basically, there is not much of an inside groove. It used to be nothing but an inside groove. Now, there is more of an outside groove. The grinding of the track grinds the tires down so bad that the tires go away, so you basically have to float the car in there and there is just no grip up off the corner - so, you get in the gas and the tires just spin. It's real easy to get the car sideways or smack the wall. Even getting in the corner, I had a lot of trouble today getting loose getting in the corner.

"To me, I'm driving this track totally different. I feel like we're setting the car up different and the race is just being run a lot different just because of the way they ground the track."

(IS IT TOO EARLY TO BE LOOKING AT THE POINTS RIGHT NOW?) "I think so. We certainly keep track of it and we pay attention to it. But, I think it's too early to be racing for points. Right now you just need to race as hard as you can for those top fives and top 10s and get those wins when you can. I think the points come by racing that way. We do everything - every lap of every race - to get the best possible position we can and that usually pays the most points that we can get in that event. We've been leading a lot of laps here lately which is nice to get those bonus points. But, we're really not looking at that just as the championship. We're just looking at that as bringing great cars to the track and trying to win with them."

ROBBIE LOOMIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO:

(ON POINTS RIGHT NOW) "We really don't pay a lot of attention to it. But, when you have a day like you had today where you lead the most laps and you win, that's when you start looking at it and gaining confidence. But, it's not something that we sit there and focus on - especially on a bad day. I hardly even look at the sheet going home."

©Copyright 2003 Race 2 Win