Chevy Rock & Roll 400 - Chevrolet Friday Quotes

Jeff Gordon
#24 DuPont Chevrolet

WHAT IS THE MINDSET GOING INTO TOMORROW NIGHT?
Well, we came here and tested and felt really good. We've got a brand new car. We gave it everything we had at that test. We felt like there were some areas where we could improve in and some areas we were really good in. We came back today and practicing in the heat of the day like this for a night race and qualifying. It was slick out there and a challenge for us, so I didn't feel like we were great but I feel like we made some gains there at the end. We didn't get our best qualifying run so hopefully we will be able to pick up some more when we qualify tonight. All in all I feel like we've got a great car this weekend.

WHAT'S IT LIKE KNOWING IT'S ALL OR NOTHING THIS WEEKEND?
You know, I don't know if that's really on my mind. I go into every weekend to win, you know and focused on getting the car to go as best we can. To qualify best we can and race best we can. And that's all I feel that I'm doing this weekend. I don't know if it will really sink in until the race is all over. I think, you know, like the last few weekends once you get in the race, the intensity builds as the race goes on and until the finish of the race is when reality sinks in. Lately it's been up and down of frustration versus being pretty happy with things, if you look at Bristol versus California. And, I just hope that when come out of here we can hold our heads up high and say, hey, we did everything we could regardless of the results.

HOW DO YOU COME INTO RICHMOND AS TO HOW YOU NEED TO APPROACH THIS RACE?
Well, we're not in the position where we have to do that unless the other guys are up front. We're basically coming here to try to win the race like we would any other time. You know, I think that all we can do is give it everything we got and at the end of the day see where those other guys finish versus where we finish.

RE: PRESSURE RIGHT NOW
Well, I'm not on the race track battling with those guys right now. You guys are like pussycats compared to that. Again, going back, until you get out there on the race track and are battling head-to-head with those guys and you see where your car is at versus their car and how your night is going, that's when the pressure really builds. Right now, we can sit here and say our car is good, we're going to qualify good, we learned this and we learned that.but until we get out there and put it on the race track and put the performance out there or not, that's where we're going to feel the pressure.

RYAN NEWMAN SAID HE'S GOT EACH NUMBER IN HIS HEAD ABOUT WHAT HE NEEDS TO DO AGAINST EACH ONE OF THE CHASE CONTENDERS. ARE YOU DOING THE SAME WITH YOUR SITUATION?
That's pretty much the difference between me and Ryan right there. You know, not at all. To me, it's going to come down to driving our hearts out, doing everything we can and then trying to get ourselves in the best position. And I'm sure there will be a point where Robbie's going to say to me, this position is ahead of you, this guy, you're good, keep it there, or you're not and we need you to push, push, push. When it comes down to that time, that's when that information is going to be fed to me and I don't want it any other time.

HOW AGGRESSIVE DO YOU EXPECT THE DRIVING TO BE?
I think there are going to be certain guys that are going to be more aggressive and some guys that will be less aggressive. I think it just depends on who you're talking to because some guys have more on the line than others. Obviously when there's more on the line, it pushes you to drive harder and be more aggressive. I definitely expect there to be some aggressive driving out there for sure.

WHO ARE THOSE DRIVERS?
Well, obviously you have an idea about who needs to make it in for the Chase. You've got guys out there that are trying to win races that maybe haven't won races this year. You've got guys out there trying to make the Chase. You've got guys battling to make the top 35 in points. You know, spread out among a lot of different competitors and you don't know how aggressive someone's going to be until you're racing side by side with them

RE: ROBBIE LOOMIS AND HIS FUTURE AS CREW CHIEF
Yeah, it's one of those things where our focus has been on trying to win the championship this year. Get ourselves in the Chase and talk about that at a later time. Unfortunately with us not having that great a season and speculation and all that stuff, I've been getting asked constantly about Robbie being the crew chief. He and I had talked about his future with Hendrick Motorsports organization prior to the season even starting. And a lot of it had to do with his mom, his family and his priorities. You know, the intensity that comes long with being a crew chief and whether he wanted to continue to do that, for how long. I love Robbie as my crew chief and unfortunately because we haven't put the performance out there, that speculation just continues to build as the season goes on. I want more than anything to get ourselves in this Chase, go with that championship and it would be Robbie Loomis as the crew chief. But, the future is what it is and it's based on a lot around what his desires are and his life.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE SOMEBODY IN HOUSE COME OVER (AS YOUR CREW CHIEF)?
Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. Let's get through this weekend.

ROBBIE LOOMIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET - Answers media questions regarding his continued performance as crew chief:

"The only big announcement I have, and we've talked about this all week, is getting this thing in the Chase. That is it. I don't have a thing. There are a lot of questions. I know when Jeff (Gordon) was on the (weekly NASCAR) teleconference he talked about some stuff with my mom. I've had everybody in the world calling me. My mom is doing great. She's doing awesome. Through what I went through with my mom last year, it helped me refocus my life. Personally I grew more last year through my mom and through the (airplane) accident in October. I told my buddy over the winter that I've never been so uncertain in all my life about my future. But I never felt so good about where I stand with everything. In life, always for years, I've had racing, God, and family. I'm trying to get it God, family, then racing. To do that, I've got a lot of things I've got to work through. We're working through them right now. But I've been trying not to talk with anyone or do anything that's going to take my mind off getting this car in the Chase."

SO WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR? "That's the thing. I talked with Rick Hendrick a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying to put all my focus into putting this car in the Chase. If I get the car in the Chase, the next 10 weeks I'm going to put all my focus into getting that car, the DuPont Chevrolet, to win the championship. I'm excited about where we are today. I just want to make sure we get the job done."

DID YOU TELL A REPORTER EARLIER TODAY THAT YOU WOULD NOT BE BACK AS CREW CHIEF? "I probably used the word 'probably'. I think that what I'm looking as is that at the beginning of the year, I knew my contract was going to be up at the end of this year. Many of you might know when you're under a contract, then they hold a lot of your destiny. I think that being that it's up, it's a good time for me to reprioritize my personal life and get things figured out there."

WHAT IS THE POSSIBILITY OF YOU RETURNING TO LEVEL CROSS AND VICTORY JUNCTION GANG CAMP? "Whether I'm back in Level Cross or at Hendrick Motorsports, I'll do things with Victory Junction Gang Camp. I think that's a great deal and a great avenue for kids and all. But I'm serious. My total focus is on getting this car in the Chase and for the race tomorrow night. Right now, I feel like the DuPont Chevrolet is great."

BUT THOUGHTS OF LEAVING ARE ON YOUR MIND? "They're hard. I've talked with Rick (Hendrick) and Jeff (Gordon) a lot over the past three or four months. I've told Jeff and Rick it's hard for me to even imagine working anyplace else because Hendrick Motorsports has 500 great employees. It speaks for itself the quality many Rick Hendrick. And to have a driver like Jeff Gordon -- I think he's the greatest driver in this garage area. It's hard to imagine being anywhere different, but at the same time I think it's a time in my life that I've got to make sure that if I'm going to commit for the next three or four or five years somewhere, I've got to make sure I'm making the right decision."

IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE THE CHASE, WOULD YOUR DECISION BE A LITTLE EASIER? "I don't know. I don't even want to think that thought. I want to be in that Chase for sure. But I think there are a lot of things.. I've spent more time talking with my mom and my dad and my sister about ways that maybe my mom could move to North Carolina and spend the summers. That's the thing I want to get energized and work on. I feel like the good Lord gave me some extra time and I want to make sure I utilize it the right way with her. I've missed Mother's Day, birthdays, and stuff -- usually a week or two late anyway -- but I want to make sure I get my priorities right with that and fix that."

ARE YOU STILL GETTING SATISFACTION OUT OF BEING A CREW CHIEF? "It's funny. I remember when we won the Daytona 500, and missing the pole killed me. I just really felt we had a great shot at sitting on the pole and we missed it. And then we ended up winning it. Nowadays, at my age, it's more of a thankfulness whenever you accomplish anything or get it. It's not the high or that we outsmarted them all. I tell people a lot of times, when you go to the track now, I know a lot of times we might make the car two or three-tenths better. And with a driver as great as Jeff Gordon, he'll run it a half-second better."

AS YOU REFOCUS YOUR GOALS, IS THERE ROOM TO BE A CREW CHIEF? "That's a good question. I've asked myself a lot. Can you spend the time and do the things you need to do with a personal life and family? I've talked to some of the other crew chiefs out there because there are some of them that have kids and seem to do a pretty good job of balancing it. I don't know. At this level, it's extremely tough, I'll tell you. You've got to have blinders on the whole time that you're doing it. It's been great. I look forward to many more wins and I just want to make sure we get this car in the Chase and get that championship."

WHAT ABOUT A POSSIBLE MOVE INTO A MANAGEMENT POSITION? "That's some conversation we had back over the winter last year. You just have to understand that any of those things outside of being a crew chief -- I've been a crew chief since 1991 -- any thing outside that talk is hard for me because I don't know what that role really is like or (what it) means. So it's definitely a different challenge when you talk of anything outside of being a crew chief."

DO YOU STILL LOVE RACING AS MUCH AS YOU ONCE DID? "I think I love racing every bit as much. I wish it were a 25 race schedule instead of 36. And I'm sure you all do. You guys (media) do the grind on the road. But I definitely love it, that's for sure."

CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF ONE DAY FILLING THAT ROLE BRIAN WHITESELL FILLED WITH THE NO. 24 AND NO. 48 TEAMS? "That was one thing that we kicked around over the winter as things move along. Do we work it where we have the team manager's style in there? It's something that definitely interests me. I saw Brian's demeanor and how great an asset he was in this team. So it's something that definitely interests me. But like I said, to think of anything outside of being a crew chief is going to take a different mindset. For me, right now when you're doing it day in and day out, it's hard to slow down and think about okay, what is next if I'm not a crew chief, what am I going to do next?"

HOW MUCH HAS BRIAN WHITESELL'S ABSENSE HURT THE NO.24 AND THE NO. 48 TEAMS? "I think it's definitely hurt both of us. I think he had a very calming affect on the days when the waters were wavy. He's a very smart technical guy. At the same time, we have everybody in place. That's the thing I've been most proud of. I tell everybody. If everyone could see these guys attitudes on this DuPont race team and how hard they work -- the pit crew and the pit stops.. I got them together last week and I said, 'I'd like to be standing here telling you guys it's the end of the world. But the reality is, it isn't the end of the world. Now I might tell you that next Saturday night after the race. But it's not going to be the end of the world then. The sun is still going to come up Sunday. There are a lot of races to win and we've still got a good shot of getting this thing into winning the championship. And the championship can still come from Hendrick Motorsports.' If we can do that, we all feel a great part of it."

SO, NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE? "No. The only decision that has been made was made last September or October really, is that I'm going to spend a lot more time with my family."

Kyle Busch
#5 Kellogg's Chevrolet

The car is good. We unloaded off the truck with a dynamite race car. We're just trying to keep working on it and trying to make some adjustments to make it go faster, obviously. We ran some long runs there to kind of see where we were and try to figure it out from there.

We did one qualifying run. We're not a very big fan of the impound procedure. If we can try to get a qualifying effort somewhere within the top 20, I think that'll be good for us. I don't remember where we qualified in the spring (started10th, finished 4th in Cup), but I don't remember it being out of the ordinary or exceptional. So we're just going to kind of go out there and see what we can get. I know we have a good race car where we can bring it to the front like we did in the spring.

COMING OFF OF A WIN LAST WEEK AT FONTANA, AND HAVING WON THE MAY '04 BUSCH RACE AT RIR, HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND'S RACES?
I wish they repaved Richmond every time I came here. That seems to be the only way I can get around here really well. The older the asphalt gets, obviously, it makes for better racing. Guys can slip around a little bit more and do stuff like that. But I haven't been able to be that successful here lately because of the fact that there is less grip. So I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to get all that back. The track is a lot different from the spring. We'll just have to see how it plays out.

WITH THIS BEING THE FINAL RACE LEADING INTO THE CHASE, DO YOU EXPECT THE RACING TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN USUAL?
I think it'll be normal Richmond racing. I think you'll have some good side-by-side racing. We saw that here last night with the Truck Series being able to pass on the outside. It should be a pretty good race to just have everybody racing side-by-side. The track will widen out, I think, even more so in the Cup race. So you'll have probably even more then two lanes.