Behind the hauler chat with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Monte Carlo SS:

ON MISSING A DAY OF PRACTICE: "No, it was just qualifying practice, so it is kind of nice actually to just get it in race trim, and get going."

ON POSITION IN POINTS RIGHT NOW: "We have to run really, really good this weekend, and go to Texas and Phoenix and do the same thing. We have to try and put ourselves in a great position."

ON MAKING UP SOME POINTS THIS WEEKEND IN ATLANTA: "We will just go out there and do what we can do. Just go out there and just do what we are capable of doing."

ON WHY HE RUNS WELL AND LIKES THE ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY: "I like it because of the top groove and you can really move around on the race track. It is a really wide race track, and you can pretty much run anywhere in the corners."

ON THE RETURN OF THE CHEVROLET IMPALA TO THE NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES: "It makes no difference to me. I think the Impala is a great car, it is pretty cool. I bought one for my mom a couple of years ago, and my grandmother drives an Impala. It is a great car for the market of Chevrolet, as far as publicly, and I think it is a wise choice."

ON THE MARKETING SLOGAN "MY GRANDMOTHER DRIVES AN IMPALA": "My point was that I bought a few myself." (Laughs)

ON BEING "CAUTIOUSLY AGGRESSIVE" IN REMAINING RACES IN THE CHASE: "We just have to go out there, and be a little more aggressive out there, I think. In the situation we were in last week, we had a great opportunity to get some points, and I got over-aggressive. That put us in a situation now that I have no choice but to be aggressive to get the gains we need, so I will try to be smart at the same time, we have to run good."

ON WHETHER THE CHASE HAS BEEN SLOPPY: "We have all sort of been here or there. We could have, as a team, had a little more cut and dry, but you are only human, and are a bunch of guys just trying to make it happen, you can't expect everything to go smoothly all the time."

ON WHETHER THE CHASE IS HARD ON HIM AS A PERSON: "It's not that hard on you; you beat yourself up a little bit, but it sure is exciting and is great to be a part of it and I am just thankful to be so competitive in a sport that I love so much to be challenging and be up there and be doing it. You have to realize that every once in a while you get a little greedy and forget that it's quite a privilege to be here in the first place and to be lucky to be in a car that is competitive enough and to be around guys that are really, really talented on your team. It is something that is rare and I am really thankful to have a chance to be in the Chase, and to be racing in the Chase, but we have a great chance. Like I said, we just have to work real hard the next couple weeks to make some gains back."

ON APOLOGIZING FOR LEADING THE CHASE: "Apologize for being in the lead? Heck, I wouldn't." (Laughs)

ON RACING IN TEXAS NEXT WEEK: "I am looking forward to it. Martin Truex Jr. (DEI teammate, #1 Bass Pro Shops Monte Carlo SS) has been running a little bit better over the last several months and his test at Homestead was very promising for DEI. Those guys are going to be a big bonus for us as far as helping us out on our setups and stuff, and produce some ideas and whatnot. I am feeling really good; we have a great setup, great cars, plus Martin is going to be able to add to that."

ON 1.5 MILE PROGRAM AT DEI: "Absolutely. Really, really happy with it. We have some cars that we really like to run at these tracks and the setups are really comfortable."

ON GETTING OFF TURN 4 SO WELL: "It is just running at the top; the top has a ton of momentum on the long runs, the track gets slick on the bottom and it's hard to get full-throttle on the bottom, and you can beat guys down the straightaway by running at the top. "

ON DIFFERENCE OF RUNNING ATLANTA AS A ROOKIE COMPARED TO NOW: "A little bit. It gets older, and it has turned into quite a mature race track. It is a lot of fun to race on, and I think you have to look at the other mile and a half tracks and see them going in the same direction. These tracks are cookie-cutter when they are first built, but I think the older they get, they get to have their own little personalities and their own little tricks and trades, and things that you can do on them that are different than the others. They become a lot of fun."

Behind the Hauler Chat with Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Monte Carlo SS:

On adversity early on in the Chase: "Looking back at the past few seasons of the Chase, we felt like maybe we gambled at the wrong times, and tried to develop parts and pieces for the car and setups at the wrong time, and this year we really stuck to a good plan and developed our stuff at the right time, and started showing a lot of strength when the Chase started, which this year has worked out. We feel like we have a good approach, and the way things have gone has really made this an interesting and crazy Chase for all of the competitors. We have made good changes, and we have been let back into this deal, and we are ready to go.

On Matt Kenseth's comments regarding the Chase and Johnson position as "the favorite": I think Matt isn't really good at fooling people, I think he is pretty honest about things. (Laughs) With me sitting here, I am sure you would like to torture me sitting in the back the last thing you would want one of his competitors to hear is that. I have had a lot of respect for the #17 team, and I continue to, those guys have always been great competitors and champions. I think we have been a favorite throughout the season, we have led a lot of the points battle, the Chase started and everyone is familiar with how things have gone, and it is nice to be back in this thing. It is nice to have the other teams thinking about us and worrying about us.

On competitiveness of the start of the race in Atlanta: It might be competitive in the first few rows, but I think the majority of the guys will look at it and say nice break for us, we didn't have to take any chances in the beginning of the race, and we have track position. We may be out of where problems typically take place in the middle of the pack, so I think it will make things a lot more comfortable for the Chase contenders. Personally, I wish that we could get qualifying in, but there is no telling where we would all shake out, but maybe it would keep somebody from getting five points, and five points may determine the championship. So, we will just have to see, there is no way we will get any on-track activity today.

On upcoming charity event for the Jimmie Johnson Foundation: The Foundation has been great. We have spent a lot of time this year just trying to find out what a Foundation is all about, and the different avenue to pursue, and there is a lot of paperwork and filing that I had no idea took place. It's been a lot of work, and the director of the foundation has done an amazing job, and we did some strategic planning in the last month or so for next year, and we are hopeful to have some more events, any events period. We have been involved with a few different things, and Sprint/Nextel have been awesome to include us and have us be the recipient of a fundraiser. Hopefully, we will have some good things to announce shortly, and it's great to give back. I have had a chance to go to the Victory Junction Gang Camp and spend some time with the President when he was there, and to see the construction site and the pad cut for the bowling alley as it is coming along, as the first project for my Foundation. It is exciting to see it all come together. It has just been papers and e-mails and a lot of discussions and now to actually have something together and seeing it and knowing that we can give back to the children. It is getting interesting right now and is going to be a lot of fun as time goes on.

On his reaction to the closeness of the Chase thus far: I am really shocked with that, as I think we all are. Championship battles, and I think of Tony (Stewart) last year and how rock solid they were, he did have some bad luck, but it seemed like every week he was in the top-three or top-five. I am shocked that it has turned out this way, and the slow start that we had, I am happy to see it be this crazy and out of control so that we can be back in this thing. I hope to get a championship for this race team. We have worked so hard and have been knocking on the door for five seasons now, and hopefully this can be the year for us.

On the keys to winning the Chase: I agree with the statement that it is a four race Chase now, and I think the one thing that none of us has had from the start of the Chase is consistency. If somebody can string together four straight consistent runs this year, they will be the champion. It is so close and so tight, and that has been the one thing that has been missing in the Chase so far is consistency. There has been a lot of great performances and teams have showed strength, but for whatever reason no one has been able to string together a series of races. (Jeff) Burton did, and then he head his back luck last weekend, and Talladega wasn't too strong for him but I think that whoever can string together four good races is going to be our champion.

BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS MONTE CARLO SS:

ON WHAT TEAM NEEDS TO DO THIS WEEKEND TO MAKEUP POINTS LOST AT MARTINSVILLE: "We feel good coming to Atlanta. Obviously, last week (Martinsville) didn't work out the way we wanted it to. I think everyone has had trouble in the Chase, more so than anybody would have wanted to have probably. Last week was certainly disappointing and not what we were looking for. That is what happens in racing, nobody wanted it to happen but it did. We ran really well here (Atlanta Motor Speedway) in the spring, thought we had a top-five car all day. We had problems late and ended up not finishing where we should have. Nevertheless, our mile and a half program has been really good and we feel good about it."

ON PRESSURE INCREASING WITH TIGHT POINTS IN CHASE AND JUST FOUR RACES LEFT: "I think the pressure has affected more people, because more people have a chance to win a championship. I don't just any one single team is affected because more people have a chance but I think if there are seven or eight or nine teams that have a chance, everyone of those teams is feeling the pressure. If you 10th in points and you don't think you have a chance of winning, then your pressure level is different than a team that does think they have. For me personally, I haven't felt an increase in pressure just yet. I am sure if we can stay in the Chase, it will get there, but right now, I am pretty proud of myself, I still believe you race this thing one race at a time and you put every effort you can in to that race. Spending time, effort and energy about things you can't control is a complete waste of time. I feel pretty good about things, but as this sport goes, you have a lot of time to sit around and wait. There is a week between each race and you have a lot of time to sit around and think about things you probably shouldn't be thinking about. The key is finding a way to get yourself back to thinking about what you should be thinking about, or, completely get away from it. That is not a bad option either."

ON RCR RESURGANCE: Things are going really well. We are aggressively working right now to make sure they continue to go well. We did an awful lot of work to get to this point and we understand that our competition is doing a lot of work to take us from this point. We are working exceptionally hard on making sure we are prepared for next year. It feels good to be a part of it now. We have fought a lot of things that I feel good we have been able to overcome, but there is still a lot to fight. Where we go from here is a great reflection on what we did two months ago. In my opinion how we run next year will be a great reflection on what we do today."

HOW NARROW OF A MARGIN IS THE CHASE GOING TO COME DOWN TO? WHAT ARE THE KEY FACTORS FOR THE NEXT MONTH?: "I think the one key factor is running well. I just don't think you can win this championship without running well. We now have a four race championship with a lot of teams and chances are that one of those teams will find a way to go through these next four races without a major problem. It's my opinion to win this championship you're going to have to run well and put yourself in position to win races. You're going to have to gain points. Where we are right now today, I don't think it's going to come down to a lot of people of having problems. I think the quality of these teams, several teams will put together a four race strategy with no major problems. It's my opinion to win it you're going to have to run well in these four races."

HOW DO YOU GET TO THAT POINT OF WHO RUNS THE BEST? ARE YOU HAVING TO DO THINGS THAT YOU WOULDN'T NORMALLY DO BECAUSE IT'S NOW A FOUR RACE CHASE?: "We're not in the position yet to change anything. That's not to say we're not in the position where we need to improve because it is, but we aren't in the position where we need to go try to push and make something happen nor are we in the position that we can just ride around and finish 20th and win this championship. So what we have to do is just focus on doing our job. At the end of the day, that's what I think it will come down to. I will look back on this championship and in my opinion this championship is going to be won or lost in these next four races. Obviously every race pays the same amount of points. But it's really odd if you look at the top three in points right now; this was the same top three in points before the Chase started. They're in a little different order but it's still the three guys. Then the spread amongst the guys, we entered the point race 40 points back well now we're 40 some points back so it's almost like we wiped the slate clean. That's my feeling. We kind of wiped the slate clean and now we're starting over again. It's not zero to zero because 40 points is hard to make up but it's kind of like a zero-zero deal and the fourth quarter is getting ready to start. That's the way I feel about it."

DOES IT SURPRISE YOU AT ALL THAT AFTER CHARLOTTE YOU WERE UP 45 POINTS AND PEOPLE ASKED HOW CAN YOU LOSE THIS AND NOW YOU'RE DOWN 45 POINTS AND NOBODY IS REALLY TALKING ABOUT YOUR TEAM? "When I sat in the media center at Dover after winning the race and told you guys that this was a long race and 10 races is an eternity in this sport, that's what I was talking about. You can think you have everything going your way and then one race all that changed. I'm not surprised. I do find it humorous. In the same way with Jimmie Johnson, c'mon raise your hand, who didn't write Jimmie Johnson and those guys off? I read enough and listen enough to know that some of you guys are like 'It ain't going to happen. He can't get it done.' And Kasey Kahne too. Well guess what. This is a fast moving target. To be honest the only reason I know how far we are behind in points was because we were listening to the end of the race going home and they did a point run down. That's the only reason I know it. At the end of the day I just think you've got to go do your job but it is a moving target and that's what's fun about it.for you (laughs)."

ON MATT KENNSETH'S COMMENT ABOUT CHASE BEING SLOPPY AND MARK MARTIN RESPONSE: "I don't think like that, I try to be a realistic person. But I haven't spent my days thinking we have something bad coming to us. I have spent my days, trying to focus on the good things we can do. I don't believe the Racing Gods - If you are out there, Sorry - you have to cover your butt, right? (LAUGHS) That was kind of funny.

"I don't believe in a lot of that stuff. You just have to race every race, you know what I mean and I know you guys get tired of me saying that. In retrospect, like I said a little while ago, I feel like because we blew an engine, the slate was wiped clean. Like I told you after Charlotte, the reason our engine blowing up last weekend (Martinsville), the reason that wiped the slate clean was because other people had had more problems than we have had.

"So, they opened the door for us, we didn't slam it on them. It was a missed opportunity and for that I am truly upset about as is everyone at RCR. At the same time, that is racing and stuff happens. By no means did I go in to Martinsville nor did I go in to Charlotte thinking 'Oh, my gawd, we have a bad one coming.' By no means did I think that.

"As far as the Chase, there is no question the closer it is the more exciting it is for the fans, I mean, there is not question about that. And also, there is no question this has been a sloppy five or six races. No one team has taken this thing and grabbed, it is mine. We were doing a pretty good job of that but no we are not, now we didn't. It is not that the teams haven't run well enough - if you look how the No. 48 has run, if you look at how the No. 24 has run, if you look at how we have run, I mean, the No. 9 car. Teams have done their best to grab it, but circumstances haven't allowed them to do that and keep it. So, I agree with both of them. I think that Matt is right, it has been sloppy, no one has put together a run like the previous two champions in this format have put together. No one has done that. That is why I believe the championship is going to be won over the next four races. Someone will. Someone will."

ON HAVING UP TO 51 POSSIBLE SPONSORED TEAMS AND IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE TO MAKE THINGS MORE AMENABLE TO THESE PEOPLE OR IF IT IS SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: "I'm nervous about this. I'm nervous about having manufacturers, sponsors, millions and millions of dollars put into this program for marketing reasons without the product on the race track and that's going to happen to major teams and major corporations. In the long run, I don't think that's good for our sport. I do believe that there is a survival of the fittest mentality in this sport that has worked for a long time. In today's economy and today's competitive nature, I believe there needs to be some changes. I don't believe that it is in our sport's best interest, being that without corporate involvement we are nothing. We can't even come close to running our programs on the purse. It's not even a thought. It's NASCAR's charge to find a way to make that work for everybody. In today's economy and today's marketing situation that we have, the current program with locking in the top 35 is the best we've ever had but it's time to find a way to do it better yet again.

"This is what I honestly believe in my heart. I believe that a franchise system, and I hate to use the word franchise but some sort of a franchise system, is the right thing to do for the investment of the car owners and primarily the investment of the sponsors. On the same token, if you pull a Florida Marlins you win the World Series and then you dump everybody, there ought to be a way you can lose your franchise. You shouldn't be able to operate with a continuing losing record. You should not be able to keep your franchise without putting a competitive team on the court. You should not be able to do that. There should be some sort of if you can't do this for a certain amount of time your franchise becomes available for sale. But I believe that we are to the point where our car owners have so much invested and our sponsors have so much invested that we've got to find a way to protect them. Again the top 35 thing works exceptionally well but in next year's environment it's not good enough.

"Well I don't know. It may be my problem in the future but I don't have to have the answer to fix it and I haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about it. I think it should be a moving target. I think the amount of cars you lock in on points should be dependent on how many full time sponsors and (how many) well equipped teams do we have in this sport. It shouldn't always be 35. If the economy takes a down hill spiral and we end up with a different situation and you want a more competitive nature, fine back it down. But what we've got going on for next year is an extremely, extremely scary situation for car owners and sponsors. I know you guys think if you're not in the top 35 in points you don't deserve to be the in race. Think about this for a minute. How many good teams go to the eighth race of the year 39th in points because of having problems that other sports aren't exposed to. Other sports aren't exposed to the variables that we have that allow you to be knocked down to 39th in points. That to me that is the biggest impact that Toyota coming in has brought upon us, is that when they came in they didn't take old race teams and convert them. Essentially with the exception of Davis, it's all new race teams. We're going to have more cars than we have spots by a large numbers and all those teams are going to be well funded and well equipped and it's not in the best interest of our sport."

ON THE DIAGNOSTIC ON YOUR ENGINE FROM LAST WEEKEND AND THE STATISTICS SHOWING THAT WE COULD LIKELY SEE THE SAME THING FROM SOMEBODY IN ATLANTA: "There was a continuing evaluation going on with the engine program as far as what happened to our engine at Martinsville. It appears that we broke a valve spring and then it went downhill from there. We believe we know why that engine broke a valve spring and the other three didn't. I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to say and what I'm not supposed to say about that so I'm just going to say nothing. Other than to tell you I'm not lying. I'm just telling you I don't know what to tell you so I'm not going to tell you anything. Richard (Childress) is in my trailer right now. You're welcome to go over there and ask him because I know he loves talking to y'all especially after an engine breaks. We think it broke it a valve spring and why it did that is up to conversation.

"Engines in Atlanta are obviously an issue and have been an issue for a long time. We don't come here with a different package than what we had. At Charlotte we did have a different package. At Martinsville, because Martinsville is different than Charlotte, we had four engines in the race and one of them broke and it happened to be ours. But we don't come here changing anything that we're doing based on what happened in Martinsville because we believe what happened there is a Martinsville specific problem, not an Atlanta problem. That's not to say we won't break an engine here but we don't anticipate any problems. Of course we didn't anticipate problems in Martinsville either. That's the really difficult business of trying to develop every horsepower you can and also make it reliable and I have all the confidence in the world that my guys did the very best they could and we just pushed it a little harder than we should of and it just didn't work out for us."

BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS:

ON WEATHER DELAYS: "I know we really wanted to get qualifying in today for our sponsor, Georgia-Pacific, that was sponsoring Pole Day, but I know they were really disappointed in that. But, we haven't been a threat for the pole here for a little while, and so we weren't really sure what we had in store. Our average qualifying is around No. 12 or so, so to be No. 9, we'll take that. I just want to make sure we get on the track tomorrow, and then really get the set-up for the race dialed in."

ON HOW CHASE IS SHAPING UP AFTER CRAZY WEEKEND IN MARTINSVILLE: "It's been really crazy. To know that we have had three horrible finishes, and are only 141 points out is certainly, that says it all about how crazy it has been. That is what makes the Chase so exciting, you have so many guys that are going to be a part of this thing until the final race in Homestead, and that you are never out of it, and can never give up. That is the philosophy that we are taking. Yeah, we are No.9, we are way back, and we have said: "Hey, we've got nothing to lose". We have to be a lot more aggressive, and be bigger risk takers where we are at, but we also know that we are not out of it."

ON HOW WIDE OPEN THE CHASE IS WITH FOUR RACES TO GO: "It is extremely wide open. You have four unique tracks that I think you've got guys run good at one or two of them, and another guy that runs good at the other two. It's going to be about the guy who doesn't have problems, or the least amount of problems from here on out, and can be consistent on those four tracks, and that's been the issue with where we are at. We have to go out there and be spectacular, and not have any issues."

ON HOW NO ONE HAS REALLY RAN AWAY WITH THE CHASE: "Well, I thought (Jeff) Burton had done that up until last week. It is just a true sign that anything can happen to anyone at anytime, and ten races is a lot longer than people think."

ON KASEY KAHNE'S PERFORMANCE AT UPCOMING TRACKS IN REGARDS TO THE CHASE: "I think that Texas, he is definitely strong there. A track like this it is really a track that wears out, and the groove moves around as much, he isn't usually as strong at a track like this as he is as some others. But, I think Junior runs good here, and Junior runs good at Phoenix. Jimmie is just an all-around solid competitor, as is Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton. So, I don't know, I don't see how you can pick anybody. I think we have performed as good or better than most guys during the Chase, we just haven't been able to put those finishes together. It's not necessarily about the guy who is dominant; it is about the guy who doesn't have a big issue."

ON LOOKING TO THE FUTURE IN THE CHASE AFTER PROBLEMS IN PAST RACES: "One thing that we are good at is that when we do have a problem, we make sure that it doesn't happen again. Those two issues that we had were issues that had never happened to us before. They are new, and we have addressed them, and I feel confident about that. But, two out of the three mile-and-a-half tracks I feel great about, Texas I am still questioning and am optimistic and looking forward to the changes that we have made with the car and the team, set-ups and everything to get back there. Then, Phoenix, I feel we learned a lot the first trip out there where we should be a lot better out there the second time."

ON CHANCES OF FELLOW COMPETITORS IN THE CHASE: "I think that the fact that you have ten guys that are still mathematically in it, you aren't going to have seven guys that are going to have trouble. Eighth, ninth, and tenth place guys are going to have to be spectacular, and not have problems. The guys in the top five or six, they just need to be solid and not have a lot of problems, and any of those guys can win it. If I was in the top five or six, I can tell you that I would be playing the points game, and I would still be trying to win races, and would be more conservative side to not have problems than I would be on the aggressive side."

ON BEING CONSERVATIVE WHILE IN THE TOP-FIVE: "It is only tight because guys have had problems, so make sure you don't have problems. I would lean more towards, and we only have four races to go. You have to make sure that you are finishing in the top-ten every weekend, and it is not about going out and leading the most laps and then winning races, and then the next week finishing No. 20. If you could do top-10 the next four races, you are going to win this thing."

ON WHETHER WINNING THE CHASE THIS YEAR IS MEANT TO BE: "Martinsville changed it a little bit, because Burton had his problems. But, it is going to take something pretty spectacular for us to get ourselves a real, legitimate shot in Homestead, and I am not saying it can't happen, we are definitely going to push and take chances and get outside the box an try to make that happen, and if it is meant to be, then we will find out."

ON THE AMOUNT OF RISK BEING TAKEN IN THE CHASE: "Well, it hasn't been the case for us, that is not why we had our problems, we have been running that stuff the whole year. Charlotte was a rare occasion, it was cold, the track was extremely fast, and we were turning the engine harder than we had all year long. That is why we had the issue that we had, it was not like a test product or an unproven product, I am not sure about other guys. I think for us, we have not done anything experimental until we started having problems in the Chase."

ON CHANGES HE WOULD MAKE TO THE CHASE FORMAT: "The thing I have been leaning towards recently, is having those guys in the Chase, have their own points standing within the Chase. We all hear about, there are 43 cars out there and we have to race against other drivers that are not in the Chase. I think to have them still on the race track, but to no have them be as much of a factor if you made your own points system, which would make things really cool and positive."

ON HOW MUCH TIGHTER CHANGES WOULD MAKE THE CHASE: "It would tighten it up a bunch, and you know NASCAR wants that. I don't think they want any driver to go into Homestead and not have a legitimate chance."

ON TREATMENT OF WINS IN THE CHASE: "I think that you have to reward the wins a little more that what we are now. I think that everyone is trying to win, but there are moments that you don't want to risk the gas and go or the two tires or even stretching the fuel because I would rather get a fifth or sixth place finish instead of going for the win. So, if you make the win worth more, then it might be worth the risk."

ON WHAT IT TAKES TO GET AROUND THE TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: "I wish I knew. (Laughs) Obviously you haven't seen my previous performances the last couple of races there. It is a difficult race track, it is very fast, the transitions in the corners are very abrupt, and the walls come at you pretty fast. It is just a track that challenges all of us, but it is one that I enjoy. I just haven't had the chance to win there. I am looking forward to heading there again, and having two races there a year will help us get our first win there."

ON WHAT THE LAST FEW WEEKS WILL BE LIKE FOR THE TOP POSITIONS IN THE CHASE: "It gets more and more intense as the weeks go by, and it gets more and more intense as the weeks go by. I think that is the toughest thing as a team and driver, to handle the pressure with the media, and knowing how close you are to pulling off that championship. Someone like (Jeff) Burton, or Jimmie (Johnson) who have never won it, or someone like (Denny) Hamlin, who is a rookie, the Chase format is just that spectacular and that hard to win. And, it is that much more rewarding, as well. What stinks is that you have to go out there, and you run well here at Atlanta, but yet you are thinking about just not having a problem. You know that if you don't have a problem, and don't get caught up in a wreck, that you are going to finish in the top-10, and know that that is what you need to do, but yet there are those unknown factors that come into play."

ON THE CHALLENGES OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLES IN THE PAST COMPARED TO THE ONES RECENTLY: "To me, the most challenging one I ever had was where we were battling with (Mark) Martin and (Dale) Jarrett in 1997. We came down here to Atlanta, and that was the final race and that was probably the most stressful day's I have ever had in my career. Until I get to that situation, we had a close situation- we were the guys chasing, which was a few years back when Kurt Busch won the championship down in Homestead, when we had the opportunity to win it when he had his problems."

ON NASCAR'S DECISION NOT TO APPROVE DAVID RAGAN FOR ATLANTA: "Let's just say I was one of the victims. Not much as much of a victim as some of the other guys, but in Martinsville I was one of the ones who wasn't really pleased with some of his actions and watching some of the things he was doing. I question more if he wasn't ready for Martinsville than he wasn't ready from here. I think he probably would have been fine here."

ON BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, A.J. ALLMENDINGER AND OTHERS COMING FROM OTHER SERIES: "The biggest challenge is if you have been driving a certain kind of car long enough that you have become adapted to that environment, whether it be road courses or rear engine, high downforce cars, anything other than a big heavy stock car on a high-banked oval track. The guys who usually do well in series are the guys who haven't spent too much time in one series. They have been able to come up through the ranks fast. Tony Stewart ran IRL but he was midgets, sprint cars, dirt, pavement, high banks, flat tracks, short track, big tracks - but he wasn't road racing. That, to me, is the biggest challenge is the guys without it. We see it. Why do some guys like Boris Said and others come in and do so well on the road courses? It is because it is a totally different type of driving style that it takes for the road course versus the ovals. But to be successful in this series, you have to be good on ovals. You have to get used to a big heavy car that doesn't give you the feedback, doesn't give you the feel, and doesn't have the grip. You are also racing around other cars that change how your car is. Those are the biggest challenges. I think the cool thing is you have Montoya, Allmendinger; these guys have a tremendous amount of talent. They have what it takes. They have teams that want to support them and back them and take the time that it takes to get them comfortable with this series, these cars and it is just going to take time."

ON HIS BEING ON THIS WEEK'S WIND TUNNEL AND ADMITTING COMPLAINING: "I kick myself when it is all over. I say why did I say that, why did I do that. But when you are in the heat of the moment and you are on the radio and you are trying to win races, sometimes that intensity takes over. I am not going to apologize for it, but I will admit that it does happen sometimes. I love that show. I think Dave Despain is one of the purest, most honest, unbiased racing show on TV that is out there and that is why I enjoy getting to do it every year. You talk about other types of racing and a lot of other things. Trust me, I don't want to talk about myself all the time; I want to talk about other things too.

ON THE RAIN: "It is unfortunate. I just feel sorry for Ed Clark and the people at Atlanta Motor Speedway. They move the dates and they still get rain. Long as we get it done by Sunday, we will all be happy. Starting ninth isn't a bad start. I don't know if we had a shot at the pole anyway, but it would have liked to be out there for the opportunity. I think we all just want laps."

ON NASCAR HAVING A TRAVELING SAFETY TEAM: "My opinion is yes they should. I kind of share what NASCAR's feelings are and what say, the IRL, has done. You have to have local medical staff that knows the area, local hospitals and staff but then you have to have a specialized group that is trained for these cars, the kind of conditions we are in that travel with the series everywhere we go. You can have arguments on both sides, but I think it would be a big plus for all of us."

BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH KYLE BUSCH, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S MONTE CARLO SS:

ON JUST FOUR RACES TO GO, STILL BEING IN THE CHASE: "Realistically, no. Mathematically, yes, we are still in it so that is the way we are looking at it. We need to have some good finishes and every time we are in position for a good finish, something happens. Last week we were minding our own business throughout the whole race, didn't have a mark on the car, the No. 06 got spun out in front of us, I went to avoid it, got into the marbles and the thing went straight in the fence. It killed the toe and everything else. Stuff happens to us, stuff you don't normally expect."

ON CHANGING STRATEGY TO PLANNING FOR 2007: "We just keep going out doing what we know how to do. Try to make the cars the best they can be, try to make them handle the best they can in order to win races. So we haven't changed anything. We have restructured anything, moved anybody around. We have kept everything the same for the rest of this year.

"We didn't change anything coming in to the Chase so I don't think we learned anything significant that we should change. Our cars have been better the second half of the year and I believe we have been better at most places we have gone. To have that, it some of the greatness of the Chase. Yes, being in, is cool but we have run really well, we just haven't had the finishes at all. That has been the bad part of it.

"I have confidence in the guys, the team, the organization that we have cars that are capable of running up front and winning races. Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) both have been running up front lately, Brian (Vickers) got his first win so everything is just coming together as a whole.

"You have teams that come in and are on a hot streak like Roush did two years ago and last year that were really good and Tony Stewart last year was really good, two years ago and last year, RCR struggled. Nobody really said much about us. Hendrick Motorsports, thank goodness, knock on wood, is always on a plateau, we are always just there. We can run top-five, top-10, we are always just there. If we can win, then we win. We are not always the dominant team, we won't be a dominant force like Roush was or Tony was, or RCR is now, we are always just right there being contenders."

ON QUALIFYING RAINED OUT AT ATLANTA: "I think it is awesome, Ryan Newman didn't win his seventh straight pole or something like that and the Kellogg's Chevrolet crew gave he a great, awesome car to qualify 10th, so we are pretty pleased with the day's efforts. (SAID IN JEST, LAUGHED). We got the night off, come in tomorrow morning to do some happy hour hopefully and I have tomorrow night off too, I don't have to go to Memphis, so I am happy this weekend."

ON BEING A ROLLER COASTER CHASE: "It has been. We are just looking at it as going on race to race. We can't just quit now, pack up and wait for next year. We have to keep going and finish out the year. It is no different than anybody else outside the Chase has been doing. They have been trying to run well and win races. Tony (Stewart) was successful at that at Kansas. We need to try to get as much as we can the rest of this year."

ON THE PRESSURE HE FEELS NOW: "I think it was off after Loudon, no it was Dover. Especially Dover, nobody expected us to come back and win a championship. If we could finish in the top-five in points, that is what we really want to do and what we are really working forward to. We will just take what we can get out of this year and go in to next year having a better feeling and trying to start further up in the Chase."

A Q & A WITH MIKE FORD, CREW CHIEF, NO. 11 FEDEX CUP MONTE CARLO SS:

On missing most of second practice: Sitting here, we are playing a little bit of a guessing game as to where the track went, and talking to Tony (Stewart) and Zippy (Greg Zipadelli) to see what they learned during the second practice. Just trying to juggle that and make the best changes based on that for tomorrow.

On starting the race during the day, and finishing it at night: The biggest thing with having Denny (Hamlin) being a rookie, you have limited laps here, and this track is tough. We have a very small notebook, and you want to grow that for what you need to change for tomorrow, and where you need to be, but we've got teammates to rely on, and we'll try and make the car adjustable, and we do have some time during the race, since it is a pretty long race. Hopefully, we just get a big window and narrow it down at the race goes on.

On the changes of pressure as the Chase tightens up: Pretty much the majority of the guys on the team have been in this position before and being the guys that aren't supposed to be in the Chase, we're not really-I won't say feeling the pressure- but if we are, it is because it is brought on by yourself, but we handle it pretty well. It is a little different to be here and not really be expected to be here, than it is to have the pressure of having to be in the Chase. We are enjoying it. At times it is a little frustrating, but you have to come back and say okay, this is a rookie driver and a second year team, and put things in perspective at times. But that is good, because that shows that everyone is a competitor and wants more out of this season than what we have gotten so far. We are looking forward to it, we try not to put the pressure on, but it is there at times when you have a day like today when the practice gets cut short, you feel like you have one arm behind your back, but sometimes that works out for the better because that makes you think more and be more aware of the changes and your thought processes. Hopefully, we can turn it around and make a positive out of it.

On maturity in Denny Hamlin in the 2006 season: I think the thing that surprised me is the longevity he has shown. He came in at the end of last year and we had some good runs. It's a lot easier to run a good race than it is to run a good season. He's been very patient, and he doesn't act like a rookie, so I don't treat him like he hasn't been here before. I treat him like a race car driver, and I don't view him as a rookie, because he doesn't make the stupid mistakes that rookies are stereotyped with. The longevity of the season has been very consistent, from the drivers standpoint he has kept himself in decent shape in both series, and figured it would be more of a physical demand on him than what its been, but he's handled that well, and we're as competitive now as we were in the beginning of the season and midpoint of the season. That is probably the No. 1 thing that surprised me."

On Success Of Season With Or Without Winning The Championship: "Absolutely we have had a successful season. You don't ever look backwards when you are in the fight. But to put things in perspective, sitting here in January if we weren't the ones to win the championship, we would look back and have a smile on our face just because we accomplished something. There is more on the table and we know what is possible and the competitor in you wants to get everything. Right now that is what we are looking at but, if we look back at it, we can say, yes, we did what we had to. There are things we have dropped the ball on and things we have made mistakes with during the course of the year, but everyone can say that. This is a very very tough series. It seems like each year multiplies three-fold. We are very pleased to this point with the season and I think that is what can keep smiles on our faces right now and not let the pressure get to us."