An Interview With: RICK HENDRICK, JACK ROUSH, RICHARD CHILDRESS, J.D. GIBBS and RICHIE GILMORE

DENISE MALOOF: Welcome to this week's NASCAR teleconference in advance of Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. This is the finale for the 2006 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with five drivers still in contention for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Championship.

Today we have a very special teleconference lineup, and we're talking to the team owners whose drivers are in championship contention. That's Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush, J.D. Gibbs, Richard Childress, and representing Theresa Earnhardt, Richie Gilmore. We're going to be moving along here today having each of these gentleman on for approximately 15 minutes.

So let's get right to it and welcome five time car owner Series champion Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet driven by Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie takes a 63 point lead into Sunday's finale. Rick, thanks for joining us today. I guess your team is somewhere between being excited and anxious this week.

RICK HENDRICK: Well, I'll tell you, it's been quite a roller coaster ride. We thought we were out of it, then we felt like we were back in it and it's good to be able to go into the last race a little ahead rather than being behind.

Viv Bernstein, New York Times: I wanted to ask you, just looking back on what happened at Daytona at the start of the season, how concerned were you with the reputation Chad had acquired, and after all that happened back then, did you think he would get here today to this point?

RICK HENDRICK: I was real proud of the team, how they rallied at Daytona, and to win the race and come out and have a couple of good races right there back to back. Chad has done a great job of building a good organization. This team has got a lot of depth.

You know, once we got Daytona behind us, it was kind of – been a good year all year long, and so I was more concerned here when we just started having bad luck trying a few things right before the Chase and then early in the Chase with just the unfortunate situation we were in falling behind.

But the momentum all year has been real good, and right now we've kind of peaked again, and I feel extremely good about our competitiveness on the team, so we just don't need to have any bad luck here this Sunday.

Sarah Rothschild, Miami Herald: I was just wondering your thoughts on if you think after three years the Chase is really working like you think it should. Do you think even though there are five guys who are within 115 points that for excitement that it should be closer? And do you think that the system rewards consistency versus – do you think it should reward wins more?

RICK HENDRICK: Actually I do. I would like to see a guy that wins the race in the Chase get at least probably ten more points than we're getting now, and I think that's what it's all about, winning races.

It's hard to argue with the system. I thought we were out of it, now we're back in it, and actually leading it. But Jimmie has had a heck of a run with wins and a couple 2nds back to back.

But I would like to see more points for wins.

Mark DeCotis, Florida Today: Could you talk a little bit about what you saw with Jimmie when you first brought him on board and how you've seen him mature to where he is today?

RICK HENDRICK: You know, actually I've known Jimmie since he was probably 17 years old. Herb Fishel with Chevrolet called me about Jimmie way back, and we put him in a Late Model car. My God, I can't remember how many years ago it was. He was 16, 17 years old, I think.

You know, he's just been such a neat guy. I guess when I really started watching him a lot was in the Busch Series when he came back, and he was actually part of Ricky down in Darlington, and Jeff Gordon was helping Ricky, and Jimmie was like second fastest, I think. So we went over to ask him something about what his car was doing, and he said, well, I've only been here – this is my eighth lap on the track.

You know, just watching him and the kind of polished guy he was – we thought he was going to be really good but really was pleasantly surprised when we got him in the first test in a Cup car. He just really could handle the additional power and drive a car really loose and under control. Jimmie has just got the whole package.

I think, again, watching him mature now, and I think from last year to this year after kind of a heartbreaking end to the Chase in '04 and then again last year, coming back with kind of a different attitude, getting to be a smarter racer. Early on in the year if he had a 6th place car, don't push it, and I think Chad matured as a crew chief right along with him, I think not only this year in racing as the team kind of hit its stride, I think the two of those guys kind of hit their stride in learning how to deal with pressure, in learning how to focus on what they were looking for at practice, and it's just really neat to see them both mature. Jimmie, his feel for the car now, sitting in meetings and listening to him talk to engineers, he can dissect a corner as good as anybody I've ever heard.

Jim Utter, Charlotte Observer: Just curious if Jimmie were to pull it out this weekend, he would be the third driver that you have won a Cup championship with. You've won with Jeff Gordon of course and also with Terry Labonte. That must say something pretty good about your judge of talent and also the run of drivers that you've put together at Hendrick Motorsports.

RICK HENDRICK: Thanks. We've been very fortunate to have guys that can – and I think the organization has learned how to run for championships. It would be really nice to see Jimmie – he's just been so good the last three years – ever since he's been in Cup he's been competitive, but to be there, I'd like to see him kind of close the deal this year.

But no, I think when Terry Labonte came on, he helped us a lot with just his gentle nature and sharing information.

Of course Jeff was so good, has been so good and won those championships, and then he helped Jimmie, and I think it's just trying to keep people around and keep them together and just coming back every year and having the core, the company to know what it takes.

You know, again, you've got to have talent, though. If you don't have the right talent in the car, you're not going to be able to do it.

It's super competitive today, and just to see so many guys that are capable of winning races and winning championships, I'm real proud of the organization. I think they have done a good job of learning how to be prepared to enter this kind of deal.

Debbie Arrington, Sacramento Bee: Thanks for coming on and congratulations on a wonderful season. Considering how far Jimmie was back and his struggles trying to get to that first championship, how much would this championship mean to you as an owner compared to your past ones?

RICK HENDRICK: I think they're all pretty special. You know, you win three or four in a row and then all of a sudden you think it's easy and then you go through a drought, and then you have a year like '04 where you come so close, and then last year with both cars or two cars, and to have three of them in the Chase this year and then to have all the bad luck we've had just with all of the cars really, to see Jimmie come back, we were kind of – we said, hey, we're just going to race to win. Let's see how many races we can win. Then things started clicking. They didn't get frustrated.

It's going to be special because we were just so frustrated to be right there at the door a couple of times, three times, and just not close the deal. It's going to be special for Jimmie. I think he's going to make a great champion. He's just a great guy, and I think he'll be a great spokesman, and I know he is for our company. He's just assumed a leadership role with some of the younger guys. I just hope he can close the deal and we don't have any bad luck.

I think you're going to see him be one of the best champions that NASCAR has had.

Liz Clarke, Washington Post: I'm wondering as a car owner, to what extent are you aware or concerned about the downturn in TV ratings this particular Chase and if you've given it any thought? Do you think it has to do with anything that could be solved with a tweak in the Chase itself or a broadcast or is it just the maturation of the sport? Have you given – any obvious reasons to you for it, I guess?

RICK HENDRICK: I really don't know. I think the races have been good. There have been some races that were not as good, I guess, but you're going to have that every year.

You know, I look at it from a sponsor standpoint and the feedback I get from our sponsors and how the program is working for them, and it's working really good for all of our guys. Everybody that we're associated with has been real happy with the sport and with our organization.

I'm not that in tune with what's causing it, or I really haven't paid much attention to it. I feel like the racing has been good.

I think, too, sometimes you just can't sustain a rocket ride all the time. Sooner or later it's going to peak a little bit.

You know, I've had more people calling me that want tickets this week, and I don't have any. So I guess it's a good sign.

Liz Clarke, Washington Post: If I could ask one quick clarification on something you said previously, when you talked about feeling that the win should be valued more, do you envision that as just the win for the chasers during the Chase races or all 36 races there should be a bigger separation between the win and second place?

RICK HENDRICK: I think through all 36, I really do. I think people go to the races – they like to see people compete but I think they like to see people win. I think a guy that puts five or six races together, I just feel like it ought to be more than ten points. I feel like it ought to be at least 20. That's just my personal feeling.

I'm not sure how the rest of the world feels about that, but I just don't think there's enough spread – I just think it ought to be more points there for every race in the year, not just the Chase.

Rick Minter, Atlanta Journal Constitution: I'm curious about your very first meeting with Jimmie Johnson. Where and when was it and what was your impression of him at that time?

RICK HENDRICK: He came in to drive in the Late Model car. I had heard so much about him from Herb Fishel. I guess Chevrolet has had their hands on Jimmie since he was 14 or 15 years old in motorcycles and getting into the stadium trucks and off road trucks. He was just a neat guy.

I can remember Ricky was running St. Louis – this is one of the neatest deals. Ricky had to go out in the first 50 laps, so I had told him he could ride home with us that night. And he didn't drive for us then, of course, and I sat on a plane for three and a half hours waiting for him to finish the race. He hadn't had anything to eat, so we went by and got him a Whopper.

The neatest thing about Jimmie Johnson is he's really no different around me and around people and fans than I remember him when he first started. He's still real genuine, super nice to kids, just a perfect gentleman everywhere you see him.

You know, I'm just very fortunate to have him in our car.

Tony Fabrizio, Tampa Tribune: There haven't been many constants in NASCAR over the last ten years, but I think every championship since '94 has been won by either you guys, Gibbs or Roush, and here it is the last race and it's those three teams and Childress, which had a good year this year, as well. How difficult is it the way things keep changing to stay on top year in and year out like you guys have?

RICK HENDRICK: I'll tell you, that is my – I look at that as my responsibility and job, and I think the key to that is keeping people together. It's hard to do. It is really, really hard to do because you have people that have opportunities. Your car chiefs get opportunities to be crew chiefs other places.

I think that is – if you ask any owner, keeping the chemistry right and keeping people together and not having constant turnover and growing your people, I think – I credit a lot of Roush's success this year to having three guys in the Chase to the fact that we kind of raced all of our guys that are crew chiefs. They all started in the shops, and Stevie, Jeff Gordon's crew chief, started cleaning up the shop when he was about 17, 18 years old.

Growing up in the organization, feeling a part of the organization, keeping him there I think keeps that chemistry in play. That's a critical thing.

To me that's the single most important thing that I look at right now is if we can't win this thing, can we keep everybody together, fired up and come back next year more determined and at least with everybody working toward that same goal.

Mike Forde, New York Post: My question is I was hoping to sort of pick your brain on the strategy of going into this race. Is it going to be sort of an all hands on deck for the #48, the 5 team and the 24, or is some of the attention only going to shift to the 48? How is that going to work?

RICK HENDRICK: All the guys want to win a race. It's really – you can't hardly prepare for what can happen during a race. Our guys are definitely – they want to race Jimmie hard for one or two spots, but if it comes down to Brian winning a race or Jeff winning a race, Jimmie will be probably quicker to yield his position to them just like with Kevin on Sunday. He got his nose under there, but it wasn't smart to go ahead and try to race him hard on the last lap and take a chance of getting wrecked.

The strategy is really going to be – everybody will be keenly aware that Jimmie is running for the championship. You know, you've got so many other situations there. You've got Jeff trying to move up if he can, Kyle and Brian wanting to win a race. Those guys are going to Homestead to win a race now. That's what they want to do is win.

They're on their own. These guys are so hungry to win another race – and we're very fortunate everybody has won a race and a pole this year, so we don't have the pressure that nobody went winless this year. Brian wants to win another one before he goes and Kyle has had some bad luck so he's looking at Homestead as a good track.

They're all conscious. I'll be on the radio if they start racing each other hard, like I am every week. I always come on and say, "Hey, guys, think about the big picture," even if it's the first race of the year. I hate to see them run that hard against each other. I think they'll be cautious but they want to win the race.

DENISE MALOOF: We've got a very full call today and we'll keep moving along to the rest of your peers who are going to join us. I want to thank you for leading it off and good luck on Sunday.

RICK HENDRICK: Thank all the folks for covering our sport so well. We appreciate it.

DENISE MALOOF: We're going to be joined now by Jack Roush, who is the team owner for Matt Kenseth, who is 2nd in the points standing.

Jack, I guess you have a similar situation; you've won a couple titles and you now have an opportunity to go for a third. I assume that you're also anticipating Sunday?

JACK ROUSH: Well, we're certainly looking forward to Sunday. The way that Jimmie Johnson car has run this year, in at least the most recent number of races in the Chase, he certainly deserves to be the champion. The only way he won't be is if he has some mechanical problem or gets involved in a wreck where he can't finish the race.

But I think if I was told correctly, he only has to finish 12th or 13th – I think if he finishes 12th and Matt would qualify – lead every lap – would lead the most laps and win the race that he'd still be the champion, 12th or 13th.

Given the fact that he's finished 1st or 2nd for the last half a dozen races, he's certainly the odds on favorite to win, and I hope that he can. I hope that it's not – I hope that his year is not frustrated with somebody running into him or with a broken part.

Now, on the other hand, if he would be beset with the kind of grief and disbelief that we've had in recent races where the cars that we had run previously well with – the car that we took to Phoenix we had finished 3rd with in the spring there, and of course it was not – it didn't have the same characteristics as it did before, and we protected that car to come back because it was such a great car. I think something happened or we might have won the race at Phoenix, I don't recall. But I thought it certainly was a competitive car and it could have won.

But if the things that have caused us to lose our mark, if those things are beyond a team's control, if they move around, I would be happy if what's been chasing us went someplace else. But I'm not wishing that on Jimmie. I hope that he can close the deal and win his championship, his first one. He's been very close several times and it won't be complicated by somebody that would frustrate him further.

Claire Lang, XM Satellite NASCAR: Two quick questions and I'll put them together. The first is what kind of a pep talk do you give Matt Kenseth because he's seemingly a little down in the dumps over the way it's going and yet he doesn't look that bad going into Homestead Miami? Second, with the all the motorcycles and F1 and Champ Car guys coming in, are you also kind of scouring the outside edges of the racing world and what do you make of that?

JACK ROUSH: Matt Kenseth is as mature as any driver I've ever worked with. He's competent with himself, he's wise in – he's not easily rattled in a circumstance where something happens which frustrates him on the racetrack. He's not going to beat himself.

We've just missed something on the car. There's some kinematic thing that's going on with the suspension, with the tires that we've got the last two or three races that just hasn't worked out, and it's something that we'll find an answer to eventually, and we've got enough engineers working on it who are eventually figure it out.

It's strange given the circumstances that Matt was probably the – had the car that handled the worst of our five cars in the race, and that's not typical. That's a strong team that's been together – Chip Bolin, the engineer, has got the grasp of things, provides leadership for the entire team, and it's just an aberration that they're running that way.

But as far as Matt is concerned, the thing I've told him is don't question himself and to maintain our race and our strategies and hope it'll turn.

You know, we could have made a lunge for life and borrowed a car from one of the other programs that Matt was not familiar with. The cars are very, very similar, but they are a little bit different because of the preference in the aero map configuration, the preference the drivers have for where they like to have things optimized and where they're willing to take compromise that would make them a challenge to drive.

Matt has got his best cars lined up and has had what we believe were his best cars based on what he's done historically this year for the last half dozen races.

Anyway, yeah, there's not been a need for me to pick Matt up, to boost his spirits or whatever. He understands what's going on, and it's just a tough business. It's a really tough business. Right now you're having the brunt of it.

In 2003 we had things going our way, with everybody else having trouble that was there to challenge us and with having iced the championship with several races to go. It's just not that way this year.

We do have a chance. We'll see what happens. I know that Jimmie can run clean. I hope we can beat him by enough to have the issue resolved satisfactorily in that regard.

As far as the Champ Car and the motorcyclists that are coming in, I believe that the best stock car racers are the people that have been most familiar with it for most of their time in terms of gaining experience. You can come off sprint cars, you can come off from any other form of racing and do a good job, but my preference is to look around to people that have been mostly committed to stock cars if they've been involved, and lacking that – the sprint car guys that would come off of dirt at a young age, Tony Stewart obviously did that, a number of the guys have done that, Carl Edwards did that and made a transition. That's certainly not a detriment.

But I for one have certainly got no interest in motorcyclists nor Champ Car who have made that their primary career and now want to come back to stock cars. I think that's probably a bridge too far.

Godwin Kelly, The News Journal: Jack, you're a history buff in the sport. You probably realize the history is against you at this point with one race left and you're in 2nd place more than 60 points down. Is there any way to get your team up for this last run?

JACK ROUSH: Well, the team itself has got a very good grasp of the situation. They know that they can't beat themselves, that it's out of their hands. If misfortune befalls the 48 and they lay it down, we want to be standing by to pick it up.

But it's theirs to lose. They've done a great job. They deserve to win a championship, and we're not going to be downtrodden or down on ourselves or – we've had a great year with the 17 team, and not as great with some of our other programs that we're working to rebuild, but the thing we're trying to do for the 17 going into 2007 is just to get ready for the car tomorrow and find whatever demon has beset us with our cars the last several – we may be missing something in the tire information we're getting.

I'm just not sure that we've got a problem with our cars. I'm not sure that we don't have something that we're just overlooking that's real close to us that we're not taking into proper account.

Godwin Kelly, The News Journal: Statistically do you find that sort of amazing that in an over 30 year period there's only been twice where the guy leading the race has been overtaken in the last race?

JACK ROUSH: Well, I know of at least once that that happened with me and Mark Martin in 1990. I was leading going into the final race in Atlanta and we gave it up. I wasn't aware that there was another hapless program that had that happen to him.

By the time that you've gone this far, regardless of whether it was a Chase scenario or the full season competition which we had prior to the onset of the Chase, you know, generally the people that have done the best job throughout the year, they've arrived at 2nd in the – they've arrived 1st in the last race, then the guy at 2nd has been hard pressed to beat him all year for that matter in the previous nine races.

In the case of the 48, they had some bad luck early, like their qualifying position wasn't great at Phoenix and they overcame it by making up the shortfall points that they had early in the Chase, and they've just done a great job.

Although with the 17 we were very, very good earlier, we haven't had the same result we had earlier even though everybody is still in place and it is the same team.

Dave Rodman, nascar.com: Could you evaluate the 2006 season with the Fusion and Ford's interaction with you and your organization, particularly in the face of Chevrolet's strength this season? And what do you anticipate in the manufacturers' race in '07, please?

JACK ROUSH: The Fusion – this is our second year with the Fusion, which is as much an improved car over the Taurus that preceded it as NASCAR will allow. They pay close attention to the performance, the aero performance of the cars that you present whenever you have a model change.

The Fusion was just a smidgen better than the Taurus. Anything more than that would have been too much for their sense of humor, and they would not have approved it.

We had as much improved a car as we could. I don't think that we're handicapped by our car at all. I think our car is very competitive from an aerodynamic point of view and a drag point of view. I think it's just fine.

Chevrolet from the appearance side of it has sent a task force of people from Michigan down to Detroit down here to prop up their teams. I know that they had a team of engine engineers over at Childress' for a period of time, and that certainly has borne a good result for them. I know that they've got a good number of engineers moving around among the teams, committed to each one of them, not only to race against Ford and Dodge but also race against the other Chevrolet teams. So they've got enough people to provide a lot of technical help to the individual teams to their individual benefit.

Ford doesn't have that many people. They've got great people, but they rely more on me and on Robert and on the Wood brothers to really assimilate the information they need and to apply it and to ask for help when be need it. There has not been a case when we've asked for help when Ford hasn't been there for us.

But as an example, one of the things that Chevrolet has done that they've done really well and it really worked out not to my favor but to my detriment, but NASCAR told all the manufacturers that in 2006 they could get approved for 2007 a new cylinder block. They saw some disparity in the cylinder blocks, and they said don't do a cylinder head because we're going to make up new rules for the cylinder head in the year that follows and we don't know exactly where we're going with cylinder heads so don't give a new cylinder head proposal; just give us a block.

And Ford didn't work toward a new cylinder head, and Robert Yates and Doug Yates and I didn't work toward a new cylinder head. We took NASCAR at their word.

After Daytona they came back and told us there's some pressure from people wanting a new cylinder head. They said, but we're not going to yield to it. You guys are doing what we want. A block is all we want.

Then in late July they came back and said we're getting this pressure for this new cylinder head and we're likely to approve it. If you've got a cylinder head, put it on the table and we'll consider it. We'll probably give you a cylinder head to go with your block.

The problem is we hadn't been working on a cylinder head and it's a six or nine month task, and based on the fact that we hadn't had enough money and had enough people to do things that weren't seeming to be immediately worthwhile, we didn't make that investment.

Well, Chevrolet did. They looked at the prospect of getting something. NASCAR said they weren't going to let them have, made the investment, negotiated and got it.

That's going to bode poorly for the engine parity going into 2007 because the cylinder head that they've got is yet another improvement over the package they've had which has been very competitive and leaves us one more integration behind.

Now, we're going to have a chance to submit a new cylinder head with a new block in 2007 for 2008, but that speaks to – that scenario speaks to the way Chevrolet has done their deal. They've had adequate people and made investment in things that did not appear to be absolutely necessary, and then from time to time they've gotten an advantage from getting something that – from being ready to take advantage of a NASCAR – when NASCAR gave some relief that we haven't because we haven't worked without knowing for sure where things were going to go.

I've been told that virtually every year Chevrolet designs a new engine with the hope that some new component would be useful to the engine they have or to put them in line to make an appeal for consideration. We just simply haven't done that. We're not staffed for it.

Dave Rodman, nascar.com: Very quickly, taking into account the fiscal uncertainty of the automotive market, if Ford cannot commit to either more people or more funding, are they looking at a bleak '07?

JACK ROUSH: Right now '07 is pretty much committed. They've given us pretty much everything we've asked for. We're anxious to have some more test pictures. Given the fact that NASCAR doesn't allow the track testing that would be cost efficient in that regard, we're forced to go to predictive fixtures that would allow you to simulate things that aren't being realized on the racetrack, and that requires more expensive people and more expensive equipment than just actually buying tires and going to the racetrack. But that's the box NASCAR has put us in.

Anyway, Ford has agreed to support me and help me get these fixtures and the required engineering talent that's required for it. And all of our programs have been historically funded by Ford.

We're yet to see what the long term impact of Toyota's involvement. There was an expectation that they'll try to buy up the people – not only the best people, but also people that would – their leaving would pose the greatest problem to the people that they compete against. So if I have a good person or one of the Chevrolet teams has a good person and Toyota comes and takes them, they don't only get that person, they end up creating a hole in the team that lost them.

What that winds up doing to the model is yet to be seen. But as far as the manufacturers' concern and what they've historically done for support, for all appearances Chevrolet hasn't backed away and I know Ford hasn't. They've given me every encouragement that they're going to stay the course and meet the challenge Toyota brings, but we don't know how big that challenge is going to be.

Sarah Rothschild, Miami Herald: With the third Chase almost being over, how would you evaluate the Chase format in terms of the championship being decided possibly going down to the last lap at Homestead like it did in 2004? And with this format do you think there's enough emphasis on a driver taking risks and being rewarded for that?

JACK ROUSH: I don't have a criticism of the Chase. I think NASCAR has done a great job with it. It has created a playoff kind of a format and excitement that has followed the last ten races here. I was heartened to find that the manufacturers – that the sponsors and the teams that weren't in the Chase have gotten ample coverage and have maintained their interest in spite of the fact that they weren't actually going to be in competition for the championship.

There is the prospect, unlike was the case for the prior format for determining the championship and not having the Chase, there is the prospect of having it resolved at Homestead among any one of five teams, depending on what happens to the other four. I think that's the kind of interest and excitement that they want for the fans and for the TV audience, to be able to celebrate the champion.

I for one really don't care. As long as my sponsors get a value based on the excitement that's generated, I don't care what the rules are for determining the champion.

You can make it a – I told Robin Pemberton at Phoenix, I said if you wanted to come back – there was all this question of how you could make the thing better. And I said, for me I don't care if you took every race. He said, the same thing you did after 26 races was establish an order with 50 points between 1st and 10th or 45 points between 1st and 10th. I don't care if you do that nine times; do it for the ninth race and all the way through the final race. That would allow you to have ten cars that could be in the position that five are here.

The idea of saying is there enough emphasis on winning, the emphasis has been – was historically with Bill, Sr., was on making sure as many drivers and as many teams as they would go to all the races, and that was the basis for saying how important it was to be durable and to be consistent and to have good average performance.

Whether there is an opportunity to get more people to follow the sport by having drivers that would be willing to take more risk on moves that they would make at races that were impacting their championship prospects, I can't say.

As a for instance, if you made twice the number of points for winning a race as you did to finish 2nd, then you could win a race, and every third race you could crash as you're trying to win, and you'd be ahead for it.

As it is right now, if you took a lunge for life, even on the last lap and wound up finishing the last car on the lead lap because you couldn't get around, you'd pay a price that you couldn't recover from if you made a practice of that.

You know, the nature of the racing and how much risk the drivers take and whether that resulted in more fan interest and sponsor interest is unknown by me, but certainly I'm happy to be part of NASCAR's program and willing to accept any rule that they give me. As long as it's published and applied consistent, we'll organize a strategy to allow us to compete for a championship for an eventual win.

Tony Fabrizio, Tampa Tribune: Only one of the last dozen championships have not been won by Hendrick, Roush or Gibbs, and I wanted to ask you, how difficult is it with all the changing dynamics in the sport and all the turnover to field a team year in and year out that contends for the championship?

JACK ROUSH: Well, I thought it was a piece of cake after putting five of them in there last year. I said all I've got to do is put a little tweak on this thing. Last year was the first year for a new Fusion, and generally the second year you'll figure out how to do a better job than you did the year before.

We had more engineers and more fixtures around to do simulation testing in the shop, so I was very confident. We didn't – had all of our crew chiefs in place, we hadn't lost a key person in any position, but it just didn't work out for us this year.

The strategies we had used the year before and the hardware trends that we were on proved to be not what we needed as the year moved on. People made more aggressive moves in going to previously unknown strategy with emphasis on components, some of the dynamics of the front suspension and some of the dynamics of the rear suspension that were not seen before as being an area that was worth pursuing.

Anyway, we got behind because we were in front, I think, and that wound up. Then first thing you know you lost a little of your chemistry and your crew chief is not able to help your driver and the driver doesn't interact as effectively because it's in an area that his experience doesn't help much. And the first thing you know, the people that you had before, and I'm talking about the support group for the driver, and the technology you had which had taken you very close, which we did last year, having two drivers that finished tied for 2nd in terms of number of points issued between Greg and Carl was resolved by the fact that Greg had won one more race than Carl had, and that gave him the 2nd place rather than the 3rd.

I thought that we were all set, that we didn't need to do much in terms of look at people and say, all right, we need an engineer with a different skill set and you needed to have an arrangement with a team to go do some testing for you that would give you information back that you couldn't get for yourself based on NASCAR's policy.

You know, we just didn't see the kind of conflict or the kind of challenge that we had this year, and based on that we were slow to make the adjustments.

Next year I think that Hendrick or Evernham or Childress or Gibbs or myself are likely to – I'm not trying to make somebody mad by leaving them out, I hope I've mentioned everybody that's got the momentum to go forward, but I think that those guys will be championship contenders, and it would be hard for a startup team, regardless of who the manufacturer is, to get in there in a short order.

And of course the same thing is true of teams that are established that are not multi entry teams that don't have the momentum and don't have the people with the can do experience.

DENISE MALOOF: Jack, I think you're done. We appreciate you joining us today. Thanks for spending time with us, and good luck on Sunday.

JACK ROUSH: As always, it's a pleasure to be in front of you guys, and I especially like it when I haven't just crashed or when somebody said something that was unfortunate or some frustration they've had. But at any rate, it's a pleasure to be with you guys. You guys are a really important part of the sport, and anything we can do to make it interesting for you and your readers, just let us know.

DENISE MALOOF: We are joined now by Richard Childress, who is the team owner for Kevin Harvick's #29 team. Kevin is 3rd in the points standings heading into Sunday's season finale at Homestead. Richard, you've done this before with other drivers, but this one would be special, I know, to try to win that thing on Sunday.

RICHARD CHILDRESS: It would be, but if you look at the numbers, it's going to take a whole lot of things to go right to win it.

Like I told my guys today at our luncheon is never give up until you're mathematically out of it. That's what we will be doing; we'll be going in there and trying to win the race.

Jim Peltz, Los Angeles Times: Can you talk for a moment about the evolution of Kevin Harvick over the last five years, getting to the point where he's at today, on the edge of possibly winning the title?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: I knew Kevin was going to be a great race driver. He's won championships in previous series, and came in and won the championship under the most difficult situation any driver ever could have been put under, getting into a car when we lost Dale in 2001 and winning Rookie of the Year and finishing 9th in the points that year and missing a race and still winning the Busch Championship. I think that said a lot about what Kevin Harvick was made of in those days.

He's just maturing constantly. I see new things about him, I see his attitude, I see so much that I think he's just matured so much over the last three or four years.

Claire Lang, XM Satellite NASCAR: Good luck this weekend. I want to ask you about the state of the Chase as you look at it now. What do you make of going into this final race where everything is shaking out, and if anything should be changed, what should it be?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: This is our first year in it, and we're still trying to get a grasp on it. I can't see – even when we didn't make it the first two years of the Chase, I couldn't see a need for a lot of change.

I think the biggest thing was the hype that's built up around it. I didn't really realize how big it was until we were in it this year. I knew it was huge, but it's been an eye opener for everyone at RCR and I know our drivers.

We were just happy to be in it this year, and now we are down to the wire and sitting there in 3rd and some things have got to go our way to win the championship.

Q. What, if anything, do you do this week? Are you going go to go out on a limb and be aggressive to try to go for it?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: We tested really well with Kevin and Jeff and Clint, all three of them tested really well, and we're going to go out and give it everything we've got, and Kevin will definitely be going for the win. We've got to try to come out of there with 185 points just like we did this last Sunday.

Liz Clarke, Washington Post: Thanks for being on. Could you just talk a little bit about how you weigh the pros and cons of having a driver who competes in the Busch Series and is really in the mix for a title? I'm thinking particularly about Kevin continuing to compete after clinching, and now that you're so close, any kind of second thoughts about how you draw the line about what your drivers can do and can't do?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: No, Liz. Where we're at on that is we made commitments earlier in the year to sponsors and to companies, and you have to live up to your obligations at whatever the deal is. We just felt that we needed to live up to those obligations, and that's what we did.

I know we caught flak for going to Memphis, but I don't think that had anything to do with our performance. We felt we were pretty good when we left that morning after that practice.

I wouldn't change anything. It's always been our belief if you tell people you're going to do something, you've got to live up to your obligations.

Godwin Kelly, The News Journal: You touched on this when you first got on the conference call about you have a lot of ground to make up in one race. Is this sort of surprising you that over the last 30 or so years that there hadn't been a scenario where it was closer and drivers were catching the leader at the last race?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, it has been. I can think back to – I think we lost the championship to Rusty Wallace in '89 by 12 points. We lost it in 2000 to Jeff Gordon by less than 100 I think it was, and there's been several close championships. When Alan Kulwicki won it I think three or four different guys could have won that. So there has been some good close challenges for the championship.

But if you think what's happened over the last three years, you're sitting here now with a huge group of guys that could have been in it with ten to go, and when you re ante, you've got ten guys that's in it.

All of us can look back, Jimmie Johnson can look back and say if this hadn't happened, this is where we'd be, or the guys at 10th, Kevin or Jeff. We led the first five races the Chase and we won three of the Chase races, and here we are, we're still sitting in 3rd place with Kevin.

You can't look back and say "what if" because every driver in that Top 10 could say the same thing. You don't look back; you've got to look forward and say, hey, we're going to Homestead, try to get 185 points and go from there.

Debbie Arrington, Sacramento Bee: Thank you very much for coming on and congratulations on another win this last weekend. You mentioned that here you were, 1st place for five races, you've had three wins in the Chase, and yet it's been such a roller coaster ride. If Kevin can pull it out on Sunday, do you think that this would rank this championship as one of your best?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, any time you can win, back then in Winston Cup or now in NEXTEL Championship, every one of them were the best. Even the last one we won with Dale in '94 was the best. This one will be right considered at the best.

All championships if you get to that level of just running for it, it's great. But the guy that walks out of there Sunday night at Homestead with that championship, it will be his best championship because they're so hard to come by.

Dustin Long, Landmark Newspapers: I had a couple questions. First off, this is a new experience for the Chase. What has this Chase taught you about what maybe you need to do more with your teams for future chases? What did you guys learn about this Chase?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: That's a great question because that's kind of what I touched on this morning with all three of our drivers in a meeting we had.

We would definitely do a few things a little different. I think going into the Chase, not that we weren't prepared, I told everyone if we made the Chase, we felt we would be a challenge for the championship, and here at the end we are making a challenge for it. I just feel bad for Jeff Burton.

We would probably look at a couple of things a little different.

Justin Long, Landmark Newspapers: How so?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: I can't tell. If you tell you'll lose your secrets then.

Justin Long, Landmark Newspapers: Certainly Jimmie Johnson deserves a lot of praise; five straight finishes in 1st or 2nd certainly got him back into this Chase. Has the Chase been as much about guys letting things slip away? Johnson was down 165 points after three races. I think back to a lot of teams that had problems; your team with Jeff had tire troubles in two different races, with the engine at Martinsville, Kevin and the engine at Dover and Atlanta has not been a track he's figured out and other guys have had problems. Has this been not only Jimmie having success but everybody else letting him back in it when it looked like you guys had him down after three races?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, again, I said earlier that all ten of these drivers could look back and say "what if." The engine problems and the transmission and engine on Kevin and the engine on Jeff will plague us because those were things that were in our control. Cutting the tires down like Jim did in those two straight races, that's something I really haven't got an answer for.

And Kevin, we just flat missed a setup in Atlanta. And I'm sure Jimmie could say, hey, if I hadn't have wrecked at New Hampshire, or Kyle Busch, who I think may be 10th now, could say if this hadn't have happened, I'd be up there for it.

All ten guys in this Chase I think deserve to be there, and Jimmie has just had such a strong run these last few weeks. If those guys had done their homework they'd be performing.

Dave Rodman, nascar.com: Chevrolet has dominated in '06, and in your mind what has GM done to enable that? And given that Jack Roush had five cars in last year, did you expect more from Roush and Ford this year?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: I did, but this sport, I've been in it a long time, and no one ever stays on top. It's kind of hard to keep coming back and repeating and repeating, and in the years we've won championships we'd have two good years and a bad year, two good years and a bad year. You look through the history of the sport, and it's just hard to stay there year after year after year.

A lot of it is personnel; people hire your personnel or there will be a driver change, or for whatever reason, things just don't click. Something will change in the bodies or engines or something that makes a difference, and I'm sure that we haven't heard the last of Jack Roush's organization for sure.

Q. You've raced Ford for a long time. Do you see anything different '05, '06, going into '07 than you did in '93 and '94 when you and Dale were winning championships?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Not really. I mean, there's been some really strong runs this year by the Fords. They've won some races.

Greg Biffle has had some terrible luck; he's been very strong in a lot of races. I think with Robert's teams right now, they're going through some challenges right now. It's just been a thing that's caused them, and I think Jack and those guys will figure it out if I know those guys.

DENISE MALOOF: Richard, thanks for joining us today. I know you have an obligation you have to meet. Thank you very much. We appreciate you taking the time, and good luck on Sunday.

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Thank you, and thank all the press for everything y'all have done for us this year. You've really done well for RCR and our drivers, and I'd just like to take this time to thank y'all.

DENISE MALOOF: We are moments away from having our next guest. If you would be so kind as to hold on, I believe it's J.D. Gibbs, we will come right back and we will resume our teleconference, so please hang on and we will be right back.

We are joined by J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, whose driver, Denny Hamlin, is in 4th place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings heading into Sunday's season finale at Homestead Miami.

J.D., not only do you have the 4th place driver in the standings, you have a rookie in the standings, so it's got to be an exciting prospect for you guys this weekend.

J.D. GIBBS: It is. It's been really enjoyable this year after the hard year we had last year with the FedEx team, #11 car, to come back this year and watch Denny and watch him grow and mature, really just on the track and off the track too has been kind of special for us. I think for us that's a big deal.

Liz Clarke, Washington Post: My question is about keeping sponsors happy, and specifically I'm wondering given the hard year you had with the 11 recently, and then I know this year hasn't been what you wanted from the 18, can you talk at all about the challenge of keeping the sponsors happy or content when performance does vary, particularly when there's someone as high profile as FedEx or as long term as Interstate?

J.D. GIBBS: I think for us, each sponsor kind of wants something a little different out of the racing program. Some early focus on hospitality; you can make that work well for them. Some are focused on print media and commercials and advertising. Some are really focused on B to B, business to business. I think we really can make effort to make those areas work.

At the end of the day, though, when you're on that track running and kind of representing them, they want you to be up front, and that's a big deal for each of these sponsors we have. You are in a way their high school football team. If you're running well and going up front, that's a big deal. If you're not, it can be really discouraging.

I think each for us, initially we've had a great run with Denny, Tony has obviously come on strong, missed the Chase but running well now, that's a big deal. And the 18, with J.J., really it's a heartbreaker for Interstate, and you want them to succeed. And we're doing the same stuff with each car, it's just that's how hard this sport is. Even within our own team, we can't get all our cars performing the way we would like.

Rick Minter, Atlanta Journal Constitution: If Denny were to pull out this championship, what would it be worth to him financially, not just this year but on down the road to him throughout his career?

J.D. GIBBS: It would be worth quite a chunk of change to Denny. I laughed, when he moved down to Charlotte a couple years ago running Late Models, he was my neighbor. I'm thinking, hey, Denny moves in next door and my kids are over there harassing him. And a short year and a half later he's my dad's neighbor. I said he's going to need to win some stuff just to afford the house. He got himself a plane, but we were really – I think for him, what he does, he's really done a good job, I mentioned earlier – on the track, I know he can do the job on the track. Off the track, you're always concerned when somebody comes in and starts making all this money, all this exposure, you try to get him so he doesn't wear himself out, but really financially most of the drivers get roughly half the winings so you've got that sitting there.

But I think with endorsements and I think for us, I think you get a lot – he'll be making a lot of money, and I think more importantly he'll probably get a lot of opportunities he wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Jill Erwin, Richmond Times Dispatch: Quick question, did the approach from Joe Gibbs Racing towards the Chase change having a rookie in it as opposed to having Tony who had been there and done that before?

J.D. GIBBS: I don't know if it changes. I know going to the Chase, Denny got pretty nervous there. Are you going to be in it, you're on pins and needles. I think once he got in it, he was still a little nervous.

I think what we were able to do with him, Tony really did a good job monitoring him. Hey, just enjoy it. No one expected you to be here anyway so just enjoy it and appreciate what you're going through. I think that probably helped him out as well as Mike Ford and the team. A lot of those guys, it was kind of new to them. Mike had been there previously, but for a lot of the guys, just take this opportunity to enjoy it because next time you come back to it you're going to be expected to be there. And when you've expected to be there it's a whole lot more difficult than when you kind of show up unannounced.

I think for him we really didn't change anything as far as technically. We've been through this a few times with Tony and with Bobby, so we had a pretty good idea what to expect from that end, but I think emotionally and mentally he was able to enjoy this one more than he might be able to in the future.

Jill Erwin, Richmond Times Dispatch: As a follow up, you said it's been special for you to see him not only grow off the track but on the track. What changes have you seen in him from maybe Bud Shootout until now off the track and dealing with the things at the track?

J.D. GIBBS: I think for Denny, really he ran Late Models, went from that so quick, ran some Truck races, went from that, ran a year of Busch. So he's got a pretty good idea of what goes on around the racing world.

I think when you make that next step to Cup it's a whole other world as far as sponsor obligations, media commitments, just working with your team. He's running Busch and Cup, so much stuff going on. I was just worried he was just going to wear himself out.

These guys are good guys that really surround him. He did lean on Tony some, and he did a good job of scheduling this year instead of just going crazy. I think he's really matured. I think he kind of knows what it takes off the track now to make it work on the track. That's a big deal for all race teams, and I think at the same time he hasn't lost that passion.

At the end of the day, he's there, he knows the race cars that do a good job on behalf of JGR and our partners. So I think for him, I've just been really impressed with the way he's handled that, and the guys on the team the same way, they've done a really great job of being a tight knit unit. He went through some stressful situations.

Tony Fabrizio, Tamp, a, Tribune: You guys have won three of the last six championships and you still have a mathematical chance at this one. How difficult is it to year in and year out put yourself in that position with all the turnover there is in the sport?

J.D. GIBBS: Personally I think it's extremely difficult. My dad laughs and said he won a Super Bowl his second year in the sport. Over here it took about nine years to do it.

I think the reality is, to your point, almost every team is within an hour's drive, so most every guy in the shop – obviously you have contracts with a lot of them, but most every guy could probably leave here, make more money somewhere else and go right down the road, not even have to move.

So I think our guys do a great job of we've got some great leadership here, Jimmy Makar has been here from day one, Zippy has been here for a long time, we've got a lot of key guys in key places that have been here for a long time, and I think that's what the guys that work here really – I think they appreciate that.

We try and make it as much of a family atmosphere as we can, and at the end of the day you have to win and run for championships, otherwise people aren't going to be excited about working here. We've tried to make every commitment we can, and obviously we've been blessed along the way as well to make some good decisions and avoid some things that obviously could have impacted us.

Ultimately three out of six is just a great testament to all the guys that really have been here for the past 15 years

Q. What are your plans for Aric next year?

J.D. GIBBS: Aric is going to run – right now – he ran the Truck team this year and some Busch stuff for us. We're probably going to wind up doing a lot more Busch races with Eric, probably not a full season. We're probably going to load him up on a bunch more Busch races and probably run – do some Cup R & D with him next year and really kind of get his experience level up. I assume he'll do some truck stuff, but probably not a whole season.

Claire Lang, XM Satellite NASCAR: Out on the grid after the race this past weekend, Denny told me he had a lot to learn, and I said, "Well, how long do you think it'll take you to learn it?" He said, "Two to three years." He's so talented and not know what he doesn't know and that's the refreshing part about where he's at right now, and in those two to three years, oh, my gosh.

J.D. GIBBS: Good for us, if he's got that much to learn. I think the reality is hey, there's some things that are really – we talked about this last week. It's almost easier sometimes when you come into a situation and you don't know what to expect as opposed to coming into a situation and you kind of have an idea what you like or feel in the car. And when you come in with that presupposed idea of what that car is supposed to feel like or what do I want to get out of a race, I think it almost makes it harder sometimes as opposed to coming in just really kind of naοve, and I think he struggled with that a little bit.

As he gets more experience, he kind of knows what he likes, which is good, but it also makes it – it's always hard to year in and year out get that same kind of feel. The good drivers always kind of adapt.

My guess is probably referring to the fact that it's really only his second time at most of these tracks, so going forward in the years to come, I think just knowing the racetracks and what happens over a 500 lap race or a long race, that stuff I think he's still got a lot to learn. I think he'll admit that some of those tracks he still doesn't feel comfortable.

I'm excited to get to the point where he's comfortable, but at the same time you've got to keep an eye. He's done so well so quickly that in a way it's kind of a load off your mind because you're not trying to figure out what happened here last time or five years ago. You kind of come out of the box and don't have that. He's got a great team with Mike Ford and he'll be able to figure that out.

Q. How do you not overcoach him because you don't want to overcomplicate things for him and tell him more than he needs to be thinking about right now?

J.D. GIBBS: We talked about it. This is – he's still under the radar. No one really expects him to win the championship. He actually has a chance to do it. We were kind of going back early this morning and kind of comparing notes of championships in the past that have been decided in the last race and how close do they get and how far apart are they, and the reality is he's got a chance. I think we want him – all the guys to be able to focus and enjoy it and at the same time not wear yourself out.

Hey, the pressure really, we were there last year, the pressure is on Jimmie. Sometimes that's a more difficult spot to be in than having no pressure on you and going forward with that.

Rea White, NASCAR Scene: Along those same lines, Denny has said repeatedly he's just happy to be here and would be pleased with wherever he finishes, but do you think there is a lot of pressure on him going into this weekend and do you think there's anything you can do to help with that?

J.D. GIBBS: I really think – I think he's pretty good about this weekend. I think he felt going into his last Chase, he felt a lot of pressure getting into that Chase. Wednesday he got in it and really refocused, I don't think he's feeling any kind of pressure right now.

We certainly encourage him, me and Mike and everyone at FedEx, hey, you've done a great job, just keep doing what you're doing. We had a couple races there a few weeks back where we struggled a little bit, not that great. Still wound up with a couple top tens, went back to Phoenix and wound up with a 3rd and really could have done better than that if he had a little more time.

I think the reality of the last race is a lot of it is out of your hands. We were laughing last year at Homestead, I think he wrecked two cars within a half hour's time between the Busch and the Cup side. He was just happy to finish that thing. Going back down there, I think he's got a lot more confidence than he had last year.

Viv Bernstein, New York Times: I know certainly Denny has got a shot, but it's really, I guess, Jimmie's title to lose at this point. You've been in this position with your drivers before. I'm wondering with Jimmie, how will this change him if he wins it? You've gone through it with Tony and Bobby; what's different if you win it?

J.D. GIBBS: I think for Jimmie, I think what's his experience, and he's come so close, I think there's going to be a good bit of pressure on him. But ultimately – he's been doing this he knows – he and Chad and Rick, their group is so tight, I don't – unless it's something outside their control, I don't foresee anything really knocking them off course.

They've done such a great job this year bouncing back from adversity. I don't see him being stressed out this week. He's done this so long, he kind of knows the whole routine.

But I think will it change Jimmie? I don't think so. I've known him – I used to race against him years ago back before I got fired from driving cars. I haven't seen him change at all. From the time he came here from California and was running Late Models at Carraway and hanging out, he's got a pretty good head on his shoulders. I think he'd be a great champion.

Viv Bernstein, New York Times: Since you brought up adversity I figured I'd ask you about that. As an opponent, do you look back at Daytona and say that was an aberration, or do you say, well, here's a guy who started out that way and maybe should be winning titles?

J.D. GIBBS: You're talking about Jimmie?

Viv Bernstein, New York Times: Jimmie, yeah.

J.D. GIBBS: No, I really think that, hey, they had a year – again, we've been in the same position in years past. I think they had a few rough runs in there, but for the most part they've done a pretty good job of putting together – let's say you're running the whole system, not in the Chase, you go back and look at the top two guys up there, it's Jimmie and Matt. Either way, it's Jimmie and Matt.

I think both of those guys, even though Matt might be struggling a lit bit more here lately, both of those guys have done what it took all year long and they deserve to be there.

Viv Bernstein, New York Times: So you don't look back at what happened at Daytona as an issue with Jimmie?

J.D. GIBBS: No, I don't.

DENISE MALOOF: Thank you for joining us today and spending an extra little bit of time with us. We appreciate it very much, and good luck on Sunday.

We are now joined by our last representative today, and that's going to be Richie Gilmore, who's the vice president of Motorsports for Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated, and Richie's team is the No. 8 of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., which is in fifth place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series standings. What's your organization's frame of mind going into Sunday?

RICHIE GILMORE: We're excited about this race, and have had a lot of pressure on us the last few weeks. There's a lot of pressure off us because all we can do now is go out and try to win the race. Not that you hope for anybody to have bad luck, but we're going to have to have some guys in front of us have some trouble, and we've just got to try to go have some fun and try to win the race.

Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times: Two parter here: What's been the difference this year for you guys? And second, just if you would, discuss for us how important chemistry is in putting a team together to have success.

RICHIE GILMORE: It's no different than any other sport. The chemistry is a huge part of success and people. Putting Tony, Jr., and Dale, Jr., back is a big part of success this year with a teammate.

But a lot of the company this year has really rallied around Tony, Jr., and Dale, Jr., and Martin Truex and Bono, all them teams – the two teams working together is probably the biggest factor that I've seen the big turnaround this year is the communication among both teams.

Sarah Rothschild, Miami Herald: Dale, Jr., talks about how he really thinks his team has really come a long way and he also has personally. How have you seen him evolved over the last couple years?

RICHIE GILMORE: I think his focus is really – this year has been really, really strong, the time he's putting in with his team and being around the whole organization.

I think last year going through some of the struggles we had at the beginning of the year and putting him with a leader like Steve Neal was really – really helped Dale, Jr., in a lot of ways to see – putting him with all the years of experience with Steve, and he brought that back over with Tony, Jr., this year, and they've just carried that on from the end of last year into this year.

Sarah Rothschild, Miami Herald: If I could just follow up, I mean, Dale, Jr., said he's kind of been surprised the team has been as successful as they have this year. Could you have envisioned a season like this?

RICHIE GILMORE: We really did. I mean, the whole team was excited about getting back together. We ran the last ten races, and starting out at Loudon, the team was in contention to win that race. They felt like they could come right out and be a team that could make the Chase, but not only make the Chase but be in contention and win the championship.

Claire Lang, XM Satellite NASCAR: Thanks for coming on today. My question to you is where do you think the team is at positioned for the championship this year as perhaps compared to next year? And second question is someone called yesterday, some of the fans kind of got the idea that maybe there's kind of a little disagreement over setup as they try to figure out what the best setup is amongst the driver and crew chief and whatnot?

RICHIE GILMORE: Well, I think this year was a year to get back together, and for the whole company I think it turned around in the second half of the year on our engine side and the guys in the fab shop putting bodies on have gained a lot. The guys worked so well together.

The 1 team has shown so much promise, and when they got better it helped the 8. I think that you'll always have that with Dale, Jr., and Tony, Jr., the radio chatter, and it sounds – the way they communicate a lot is it sounds like disagreements, but that's really how they communicate.

As far as the setups this year has been so tricky with the coil bind springs and the shocks and the different things we've run this year setup wise, it's a challenge. But I think this year we've been frustrated when we finished 8th and 9th.

Junior was very frustrated at Phoenix towards the end, but we finished 9th. I think that shows that that is a championship team, when top 10s ain't good enough; you have to get up there and contend for wins every week like the 48 has been doing.

Claire Lang, XM Satellite NASCAR: What's the one thing – I know you're proud of how far they've come, but what's the one thing you think you've conquered this year?

RICHIE GILMORE: I think the biggest thing is the organization of the 1, the communication between both teams for every department, from the crew chiefs and drivers all the way to the guys working in the shocks and springs and the communication nets. That's what we have to get as a company. We made some big steps, but we've got to get even better at that.

John Sturbin, Fort Worth Star Telegram: Is it a concern of yours and your company's that in a year when Junior and Gordon were back in the Chase, the TV ratings have kind of flattened out and there's been in some venues a drop in attendance? Is there a concern at Budweiser even?

RICHIE GILMORE: I think that's a concern. I think the sport has grown so fast, it got so popular so quick, it's grown every year. I think we look at how it's – I don't know if decline is a very good word. It grew so fast and grew so quick that right now football is doing so well and they have so many teams that are competitive.

I think with the TV packages and all the TV stuff they're doing, we're probably going to have television that's going to have to get a little more creative on the time slots and maybe not go head to head with the NFL because I think they're two great things to watch, and it's hard to split the people.

There's so many great fans out there that watch football and racing that like both, and we should try to get it where they can watch both and not have it where they're on at the same time.

Dustin Long, Landmark Newspapers: A couple questions. First you alluded to earlier with the crew chief change, right at the start of the Chase last year, looking back, having the extra ten races, what kind of an impact did it have on this season? And I guess might you be surprised that maybe other teams may not have taken advantage of that when they were eliminated from the Chase this year?

RICHIE GILMORE: I think it really helped us last year. It got us a head start because when Tony, Jr., and Dale, Jr. – last time, Tony, Sr., was the crew chief and Tony, Jr., was the car chief, and that was their first chance of being the crew chief and driver, and it was their first chance of getting on the coil bind springs and the setups we run now, so I think it's a big head start for us.

Dustin Long, Landmark Newspapers: I know there's been a lot of talk in the last week with Robert Yates Racing and maybe kind of a deal with purchasing part of that. Where are you guys in relation to that? Yates has said there may be an announcement this week.

RICHIE GILMORE: Well, I've told a lot of our guys, stories definitely grow in the sport. Maybe it's a slow time of the year with the Chase not being quite as tight as it should be.

I think it's one of them stories that grew. I told Teresa maybe if – Teresa was going to go get a cup of coffee at 8:00 o'clock in the morning. By noontime she's going to buy a Starbucks. I think the story kind of grew that way. It grew legs for sure.

But right now we're just focused on getting Paul ready for next year and building organizations here at DEI. I think that was a story that grew a lot of legs this weekend at Phoenix, maybe on a slow media weekend.

Dustin Long, Landmark Newspapers: So nothing going on or nothing to it about purchasing the 88 or part of that organization?

RICHIE GILMORE: No.

Dave Rodman, nascar.com: I hope you enjoyed your weekend away from the desert. Chevrolet has kind of dominated in '06. In your mind what's GM done to enable that? And given that Jack had five Fords in the Chase last year, did you expect more from Ford in '06?

RICHIE GILMORE: Yeah, I really did. To be honest, I think a lot of people at the beginning of the year would have been hard to bet against Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle and the organization that Jack put together. I think that Jack kind of whooped up on everybody last year, and the Chevrolet teams got to work. I know we did and Richard Childress has had unbelievable turnaround and DEI has both, and Hendrick, every year they seem to put a very strong program together every year, and Gibbs, also.

But I think last year the GM teams really went to work very hard to try to catch up with them, with Jack Roush, and I don't know – I know we probably didn't work any harder than they did, but it's one of them deals, they'll be back next year. They'll be a team to beat again.

Dave Rodman, nascar.com: Did GM step up its support, whether it was engineering or finance or anything else?

RICHIE GILMORE: GM has always been there for us as far as an aero program, and we have a great partnership with the key partners with us and Gibbs and Hendrick and Childress to work on the engines. They've been there for us. Maybe we let them down more in 2005 than they helped us in 2006, but really all along, they've been there for us.

I think it was more the owners and the teams just bear down and got to work, and Chevrolet teams were – we had very good cars this year and very good race teams.

Debbie Arrington, Sacramento Bee: You've got a car that's right there up in the top of the Chase, but is there any tweaks to the Chase that you would make? Would you reward more points for winning or qualifying or any of those things? And do you like the mix of races that are in the Chase?

RICHIE GILMORE: Those are great questions. I think it depends if you're attempting the Chase or you're winning whether you like it or would like it to change. I think there should be maybe a little more bonus for winning races because I think that's one thing, if – definitely being from Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated, and being around Dale, that's the number one factor you look at is you want to win championships but you want to win races every week, and I think there should be a little bit more of a reward for winning races.

But I think the Chase is – it's a great format, and I don't think they have to tweak it a lot. It seems to be very successful.

Debbie Arrington, Sacramento Bee: Do you like the mix of races?

RICHIE GILMORE: I mean, I think it works out good right now. The ten races we have, we have big tracks, short tracks, the mile and a half tracks. I think it really works out. It doesn't really favor one driver in any way.