BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS:

HOW DO YOU AVOID THE ROAD RAGE THAT PEOPLE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT HERE AT BRISTOL? "I don't think you can plan to avoid anything. You've just got to get out there and race hard and hope that you've got enough speed to be passing people. You usually find yourself in trouble if you drop a little bit and guys are getting into your bumper and with it being a one-lane track, trying to move you out of the way. The goal is to be moving forward instead of moving backward."

DO YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY KNOWING THAT GUYS ARE GOING TO BE RACING SO HARD BECAUSE THIS IS A SHORT TRACK? "No, if you've raced here before, I think you've got a good idea of what you need to do to stay out of trouble and do what you need to do get around the track. Everybody is striving for the same thing and when the flag drops for the race, that's when you'll see who's got what."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT RACING THE CAR OF TOMORROW NEXT YEAR? "I guess it is coming next year. I've been so occupied with this year and working on the current package, that I guess I forgot about that. I drove the car at Milwaukee and on the short track, from my experience, and what everybody tells me, there's not a lot of air involved in the aerodynamics. The car drives good. There is a little bit of an issue on two-mile tracks and 1.5-mile tracks and getting the car comfortable and get it to where it's competitive to pass. Jeff (Gordon) was just at Michigan with the car and that was his big complaint. In traffic and behind other cars, that car has such a big wing on the back and so downforce dependent aerodynamic dependent that when you get back in traffic, the car is very, very difficult to drive. I think there is still some work to be done on the car. I know that with our tests there, we've learned a lot. And hopefully we can make the right adjustments when we get back on the big tracks. But the short tracks and road course stuff, it's going to be a pretty easy crossover."

MARK MARTIN SAID BRISTOL IS AS UNPREDICTIBLE AS TALLADEGA AS FAR AS DEALING WITH POINTS. DO YOU AGREE, OR IS IT EVEN WORSE FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT CONTROL OF THE PLATE TRACKS? "It might be a little worse. I definitely back what Mark (Martin) said. At Talladega, if you want, you can drop out and ride around in 30th and try to dodge the wrecks. But here, you don't have a choice. It might be a little bit more dangerous here than at a plate track."

A LOT OF PEOPLE REALLY LIKE COMING TO BRISTOL, BUT YOU'VE MADE IT PRETTY CLEAR THAT YOU JUST WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE, RIGHT? "Well, I think I probably have more of a comfortable position than anybody. I've had some top five runs here. It's been a hit or miss track for me - for whatever reason. I'd really hate to be the guy in 11th, 10th, or ninth - that whole area - because it's so much out of your control here. Maybe I guess I've been a little more honest with myself; and the risks that you have here at the track. But a lot of people look forward to this track. It's a good track for them. When I walk in here, it's hard to not get excited. It's such a cool race track. But at the same time, It's a very risky race track."

DO YOU HAVE FEWER ROOTS TO SHORT TRACKS LIKE COMPARED TO SOME OF THE OTHER GUYS? "Yeah, I would agree with that. I had two years in ASA and two years in Busch, and then now in the Cup Series. But this track really reminds me of where I won my first pole at Anderson, Indiana. It was on a smaller track, but similar in banking and kind of like the flow of the track. I've always liked Anderson. I ran well here in the Busch car and I've had some good races in a Cup car. I've just got to figure it out."

ARE YOU ON THE EDGE HERE? "Yeah, you are so on the edge here. It's just so crazy. If you're half a tenth off, you're in the way. If you're a half a tenth faster, you're moving forward and life is good. It's just a really weird track. On top of that, the thing I do like about it, is that you can drive it three or four different ways - even though it is a single groove track. You can help the car a little bit with how you drive it, which is not very common at short tracks."

WHEN RUNNING BRISTOL, IS THERE ANY POINT DURING THE RACE WHEN YOU CAN RELAX? "When the caution comes out (laughs). I guess that's when you relax and catch your breath. Other than that, it's pretty tense the whole time."

AFTER THIS, HOW MUCH OF A RELIEF WILL CALIFORNIA BE? "California is a great track for us. I think everybody likes it when you have a little bit more room - especially this time of the year. Everybody is just in crunch mode. Every point counts. I think that's a common reaction from all the drivers. Everybody wants to get out of here with good points. I think Richmond is going to be exciting. I'm hopeful that I can lock myself in so that I don't have to have a lot on the line at Richmond and I know that everybody else wishes they were in that situation too. So we've got to put in a couple more good races and see where we end up."

EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE IN THE POINT LEAD, WILL IS BE A RELIEF FOR YOU WHEN THE RACE TO THE CHASE IS OVER? "Yeah, I think so. The first goal is to get locked in. The second goal is to be the champion going into the final 10, or be the point-leader I should say. We'll just take it from there. Either way, I think once we lock in, we're going to be in great shape for the championship. We've gained a lot of strength this year and a lot of maturity."

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO GET YOU THROUGH THE LAST 10 RACES? "We've matured as a team and I think there's a lot that comes with that. I think we're a lot stronger race team and a lot more mature. We're just smarter and more mature and a better educated race team right now."

WILL YOU CHANGE YOUR APPROACH FOR THESE LAST THREE RACES IN THE CHASE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP? WHAT'S YOUR MINDSET? "No, you can't change your approach. I think we're all in a points-racing mindset from Daytona on. And it's not that you're just going to ride around and be happy to finish fifth, but every point counts. You need to pass the guy in front of you. You need to try to win races. You've got to continue to have that attitude."

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU GUYS THAT THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS YOU'VE HAD SO MANY RUNS THAT HAVE STARTED OUT HORRIBLY, BUT THAT HAVE ENDED UP IN TOP 10 FINISHES? "I think it's good. It's a great boost for the team. Each year, we've been some adversity that we've had to overcome. We've been through a lot of different things - some things that we certainly didn't want with the tragedy of the airplane going down a couple of years ago. We fought through that and came back. So, it's going to be a long 10 races. And as we all know, a lot can happen in two races, let alone 10. If you can make it clean throughout the final 10, I think you'll be a shoo-in for the championship. But the last couple of years, everybody has had a problem and has had something to fight back from."

HAVE YOU FELT CONFIDENT THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS THAT YOU CAN OVERCOME BAD PARTS OF RACES TO GET GOOD FINISHES? "Yeah, it's always a boost when you go through it and come out the other side and come out of it. We do have some confidence from it, but I think more than anything, we're just a more mature race team right now."

WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN YOUR OFF-ROAD DAYS THAT HAS HELPED IN YOUR NASCAR CAREER? "I really think I've learned how to race. I didn't learn anything about set-ups and the way to work on these race cars, but I learned the basics of racing. And I learned how to push the envelope. On the dirt, you can really flirt with the envelope and if you end up upside down, it's not a big deal."


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

ON RACING AT BRISTOL: "Bristol has been good to us. I like this track. We've run good here. I'm hoping to put together a solid effort. I feel like we are pretty good here. Obviously we're in the middle of the Chase with a few races to go and we've got to perform well and have a solid finish coming out of here. Our objective is to put a solid effort car out there but not put ourselves in bad positions."

THERE ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 6TH AND 10TH IN THE POINT STANDINGS THIS CLOSE TO THE CHASE: "You really can't even pay attention to where you are in the points right now because it's just so easy to lose those points. It's easy to be shuffled in and out of that top 10 right now. So for us, it's really just trying to put together our best effort and just focus on what we're doing and not pay too much attention to the competition. I think all we can do the next two weeks is just give it our best and then assess where we're at in Richmond and make some decisions as to how we're going to approach that race."

ARE YOU ON THE EDGE HERE? "Well, you've got to push hard to run good here. Running good at any track - if you're comfortable and have confidence and you're equipment is good, you're able to push to the edge a little bit more than normal."

WHEN YOU HAVE A REALLY GOOD CAR AND YOU DON'T GET THE FINISH THAT YOU DESERVE, HOW MUCH OF THAT DO YOU THINK IS OUT OF YOUR CONTROL? "I think a lot of it is in our control and that's what we've got to focus on and work on and obviously the first step is qualifying good to get a good pit stall. We've qualified very well here in the past; and then, just making sure we don't make any mistakes. You know the pit strategy is what has gotten so interesting over the last couple of years. We watch the Truck and Busch races and try to learn as much as we can as to when we should pit and shouldn't pit, because track position is extremely important here."

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM YOUR BATTLES DOWN THE STRETCH LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR? "I can't really compare last year to this year because this year we have momentum and last year we were just fading. We were struggling. Right now I feel like our team is really strong, and our cars are great. We just need to make sure that we put ourselves in good positions like we had at Watkins Glen and Indianapolis. Last week in Michigan is a perfect example of what we're capable of when we put ourselves in good position."

HOW AGGRESSIVE AND CRAZY IS BRISTOL AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON? "Desperate moves can get you in trouble here, so I think you've got to know who you're racing and what this takes. Anytime you come into Bristol, to have a strong finish, you've got to be smart about when you're patient and when you're aggressive and I think obviously in qualifying, you've got to be aggressive and get a good starting position. When they drop the green flag, you've got to get yourself into position and then just start running your own race from that point on."

DO YOU LIKE BRISTOL? "I love Bristol. Bristol is one of my favorite tracks. It reminds me of tracks that I raced on back in the Midget and Sprint Car days. And I've always liked the high-banked, fast short tracks. They're a blast."

CAN YOU EVER RELAX DURING A RACE AT BRISTOL? "No, not really. Even if you're out front leading, it's not long before you catch the tail end of the field and you're in lapped traffic and that's sometimes when things get even hairier for you because guys are fighting so hard to stay on the lead lap. So, no there are very few times that you can relax here."

IS BRISTOL AS UNPREDICTIBLE AS TALLADEGA? IS IT WORSE? "It's definitely as unpredictable. I think there are a lot more cautions here, so in some ways it's more unpredictable. The difference is at Talladega and Daytona, when that big one comes - even though it's usually not that often - it's usually much bigger. I compare the two to be the same. You have a little more control over what goes on, but you have very little control over how to stay out of it if it happens in front of you."

DURING A RACE THIS INTENSE, DO YOU HAVE ANY TIME TO EVEN THINK ABOUT THE POINTS? "In the closing laps, when you're battling with somebody, the risk versus reward thing comes into your mind. But during a race, I'm never thinking about points. I'm thinking about how we can get the best possible finish we can."

ON RACING WITH THE GUYS WHO ARE CLOSE IN POINTS: "I know there are a lot of strong guys right around us. This is a great track for Dale Jr. He's right in there. It's a great track for Tony Stewart. It's really about us focusing on doing our best. We've run good at this race. We've run good at California. We've struggled at Richmond lately, but I feel we're capable of running good there too. So I try not to focus too much on what the other guys are doing and concentrate on what we're doing."

ON THE GORDON - KENSETH RUN-IN AT BRISTOL IN THE SPRING "Every race is important. When you've got a strong finish like that at a track that you know is a good track for you, you want to come out of there with a strong finish. Matt got shuffled out by Kurt (Busch) and I think he had a little bit of anxiousness and aggressiveness built up there from that. And then I came up there and moved him out of the way too. I really don't believe he meant to spin me; but I know he meant to hit me. So it was just one of those situations where I couldn't home my frustrations back when he's walking up to my car on pit road after the race was over."

ON THE CAR OF TOMORROW TEST: "I have some concerns; there's not doubt about that. I feel like it's a work in progress. They've come a long way with the car. I feel like a car punching that big of a hole in the air, in a pack, that it has a lot of challenges. It seemed to me like the lead car was in full command of being able to control the field. I don't think that's really what we're looking for. I thought we were able to make some passes and do some maneuvering but it was because we had a five and six-wide race track at Michigan instead of just the car being able to do that. I was pretty happy with the way the car drove on it's on, and with some of the adjustability in the car. But I feel like we still have a ways to go. We'll see.

"I think the one good thing that came out of it was that every test that happens, we get more teams and drivers involved and get more input to take to NASCAR. I think the more we get involved with it, the more they're going to be open to ideas. The biggest thing was to get them to sell us on the fact that we're actually going to be running this car. I think for the longest time, none of us believed it and supported it because we thought that it was just a phase. Now we realize that that's not the case and we've all got to get serious about it. And we are. I think NASCAR is going to get serious - they've been serious, but I think now they're going to take a lot more of our criticism and our ideas and maybe incorporate them in there."

WOULD YOU RATHER SEE THEM PHASE IT IN LIKE THEY PLAN TO DO IN '07, OR TELL US WE'RE RUNNING IT EVERYWHERE? "I'd rather see them wait until 2008 and just run it everywhere. The things that we're having to do as a team to try to build two different cars that are inspected totally differently - we're even having to change different things in the engine for that car. It's basically like running two different series. I think it's kind of crazy, but I think that's their way of telling us, hey we're serious about this. This is coming; get ready for it. I do wish we could just phase it in 2008 all together completely every weekend."

IS KURT BUSCH THE CAR TO BEAT AT THIS RACE? "Kurt's program has really been strong and has pretty much controlled this race for the past several years. I definitely think they're the car to beat. They look fast in practice and I look to them to be the car to beat."

DOES EVERY DRIVER NEED TO GO THROUGH SOME HUMBLING TIMES DURING THEIR CAREER? "Oh, yeah. You learn from all your experiences - the good ones and bad ones. But there is nothing wrong at all with having some not so good moments or bad things that happen that are really eye-opening experiences that you learn from. Sometimes you learn more from the hard times than you do from the good times. If we're in this thing long enough, it's going to happen to all of us."

HAVING BEEN IN THE PUBLIC EYE YOURSELF, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEBODY LIKE ERIN CROCKER? "I think there are certain areas that are off limits. I think that what happens here at this race track and involves racing, you'd better be prepared for what comes. The best thing you can do is to try not to take it too serious. You have to he media has a job to do. It's not personal. It's just their job. We're doing our best to get through everything and recognize that you are open to certain things and to try to go with it and work with it. Sometimes have fun with it and laugh at it. Other times, know where that line should be drawn."

HOW IMPORTANT IS QUALFIYING AT BRISTOL? "It's extremely important here because it's not an impound race. This is one of the most important qualifying sessions we've had in a long time because it's a very difficult track to race on and there are very few good places to pit the car at this race track."


BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 REESE'S / GM GOODWRENCH MONTE CARLO SS:

ON BEING "BRISTOL PROOF": "I don't think anybody is Bristol proof. This is one of those places that no matter how good your car is, where you are at, or whatever the case may be, you are kind of proned to get in to trouble. You are always on the verge of wrecking anyway, no matter what. Then getting out there with 42 other cars, your odds increase of getting in to trouble. It is just one of those places that you just go as hard as you can and however it plays out, it plays out. That is why they feel the grandstands up and so many people come to watch."

ON APPROACH TO COMING HERE WITH A GOOD CAR AND GETTING CAUGHT UP IN SOMETHING THAT ISN'T YOUR DOING: "We come here expecting to run good and be competitive and have a chance to win the race, but you have to have the frame of mind that if you get in to trouble, this is Bristol and things are going to happen the way they are going to happen."

ON BEING MORE CONSERVATIVE AT BRISTOL BECAUSE OF CURRENT POINTS POSITION: " No, I think we have to go and do what got us here. If we are in the position to win the race, in the top-five or top-10, you are in control of your own destiny. For me, I would rather control my own destiny rather than have to worry about what everybody else is doing. You just try to put yourself in position to win and go as hard as you can."

ON ENJOYING ANOTHER SITUATION WHERE RUNNING SECOND TO KURT BUSCH LATE IN THE RACE: "Absolutely. This morning our car was really good in race trim and pretty good in qualifying trim. Last time we just didn't have quite enough laps. We were probably a little bit better than him, but we just never could get to him."

ON KURT BUSCH RUNNING WELL AT BRISTOL WHETHER IN FORMER ROUSH RIDE OR CURRENT PENSKE CAR: "Rusty ran good in the No. 2 car as well and Kurt is good here anyway. I think their (Penske Racing) setup was pretty close for him to come in and go fast. But obviously, he does a pretty good job here and gets it done."

ON BEING MORE EXCITING RACING AT NIGHT ON BRISTOL: "I like racing at night, but I think it is just more Bristol than it is anything else. The place is just a different animal when it gets dark and comes in to the night. You are just at Bristol, it is just a place where there is never a dull moment."

ON SIGNING SPONSOR FOR KHI TRUCK TEAM: "It is exciting. Now we don't have to hear the talk about whether it is going to run or not or what is going to happen. It makes it good for Ron (Hornaday) and all the guys to know that everything is set for next year. We were at the point that if something didn't happen, we were probably going to shut it down at the end of the year. We made that decision a couple of months ago and the marketing guys did a good job and we just kind of fell in to something with the AES people. It is exciting for everyone to know that everything is set. Ron (Hornaday) has a contract through next year"

ON DIFFERENT ASPECT HE WOULD INTRODUCE TO CHASE IN TERMS OF EXCITEMENT OR STYLE OF RACING: "I don't know, I hope we get to experience that opportunity. I feel like if we get in the Chase, we will have a chance to do what we need to do barring any circumstances performance wise. Once you get in it, you can pretty much let it all hang out and go for it. It is a 10-race shootout and that is the way we are going to treat it."

ON KEEP TRACK OF STATISTICS SUCH AS IN THE LAST 10 RACES BEING THE DRIVER WHO HAS SCORED THE MOST POINTS: "It would be nice if it was the last 10. Our cars have been really good and everything has been going our way. If we can keep the momentum on our side, and get through these next three races and put ourselves in position for the Chase, I feel like if we can keep that, we will be in good shape. The performance of our cars has been really good, it was good at the beginning of the year, even through the bad luck. Performance wise, it has kept us in the game. So hopefully that will continue."

ON RACING IN FONTANA, NEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS: "It is nice to go out there, I don't treat it as time to go see family and friends, I treat it as a job and go out like everybody else. We get there the day before everything starts on the track so I don't spend a lot of time with them. It is cool to have them all there and obviously we are supported well there but we still have to go out there and make it happen. "

ON AFFECTS OF ABOUT 50 FULL-TIME CUP TEAMS IN 2007: "I think there are going to be a lot of them coming in affected. There are probably going to be some hurt feelings in the first five races and it is going to be tough for them. It is already tough, but I think it is going to be a situation where there are going to be some good teams with no points and too many champions and not enough provisionals. There is certainly a possibility of a lot of things that can happen."

ON DIFFERENT EMOTIONS FROM LAST YEAR FIGHTING SO HARD AND NOT GETTING IN CHASE AND THIS YEAR BEING IN A BETTER POSITION: "It is still really stressful because you don't want to have a hiccup and lose a bunch of points in one night. We are at Bristol and then go to California, which I feel is our worst track. I felt Michigan was our second worst track. It is just a lot of pressure on everybody to make it happen. The year that we have had, it would be a shame not to be in the Chase but there is still that possibility that it could happen. But until it happens, we aren't going to count our chickens before they hatch and it is a lot of pressure on everybody."

ON IMPORTANCE OF HANDLING AT BRISTOL:" You want your car to be consistent. Obviously it has to be fast, but you have to be able to drive it every lap and it has to be something to where you can manhandle it to a certain degree. You also have to be patient and get by people. Usually the cars that win here aren't torn up very bad because they have been able to pass cars and do what they need to do all night without having to run over somebody to get it done. When you car is not handling very good, sometimes you have to run in to people to get by them here and that usually causes a crash."

ON CHANGING LUCKY DOG RULE: "I don't think so. You could line up all the stars in the Kyle Busch situation at Watkins Glen and it won't happen again for 100 races. The intent of the rule was to keep people from racing back to the caution for the safety of the drivers and the paramedics. I think it is fine, I think the Watkins Glen situation is just out of character for the whole series and what happened. How many times have you got to a race and there is a guy five laps down and no one between him and the lead lap cars?"

ON RACING IN NASCAR TOURING SERIES IN EARLY YEARS OF RACING: "You learn how to race and the things you need to do to go around the race track. It is one of those things you just go through the ladder and just race. You have to learn the things you have to do to take the next step."

ON RACING AT MESA MARIN IN BAKERSFIELD, CA: "It is one of those places where you had to race hard and the tires fell off. It is just a shame that they tore it up."

ON WHY CALIFORNIA IS WORST TRACK: "it is just that our finishes haven't been that good there. We have run really bad there and we have run really good there, we have just been kind of hit or miss. It has been that same way at Michigan for us. We have been decent at Michigan both races this year. We are pretty comfortable with where we are going back to California."

ON ANY AFFECT ON YOUR TEAM WITH JEFF BURTON MOTOR PROBLEMS AT MICHIGAN: "We talked about it Monday and everybody is of the opinion we just need to go do what they need to do and race like they have been all year. Stuff is going to happen, things like that are going to happen to other teams and our teams.

It is all about how you recover from it. He is really good with those situations and I believe it was handled really well."

ON IF IT WILL SPOIL THEIR (No. 31 team) SEASON IF THEY DON'T MAKE THE CHASE: "It would spoil everything that they have accomplished this year to a certain degree. You could make good with it just for the fact they have had a good year, I think in the end it would be a letdown if they aren't in the Chase."

ON HUMBLE ATTITUDE OF KURT BUSCH: "I think Roger Penske has a lot to do with that. Roger is really good with people and understands how things work, understands how the business world goes around. I believe if there is anyone to credit, it would be Roger. He has rubbed off well on Kurt, on a lot of us actually in the garage. He just knows how to handle situations. We all do things wrong and stuff happens and you go from there."


BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO SS:

HOW IS YOUR CAR? "There was something wrong with the way the car was driving, but we found it there at the end. So I don't know how good we'll qualify, but I'm really glad we fixed it."

ON THE CRAZINESS OF DRIVING THIS TRACK AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON: "It's a great race track and an historical part of the sport. It's very indicative of the different type of tracks we race on. I wish we ran on more short tracks. They're fun and they're wild and they're exciting. I think it's great that we get to come to Bristol twice a year, no matter when we race."

WHAT'S IT LIKE OUT THERE WHEN GUYS HAVE SO MUCH AT STAKE RIGHT NOW IN THE SEASON? "It's wild. It's hard to describe."

AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE THIS PLACE AND SITTING 10TH IN THE POINTS, WOULD YOU RATHER BE AT SOME OTHER TRACK THAN HERE? "Well, it is what it is. I'd love to be in third, first, or second. It is what it is. Racing is racing and here we are at Bristol. I know that Bristol is dangerous and you can get in accidents here very easily compared to other race tracks. But other race tracks have different things about them too that sort of bring up a question mark about whether you're going to be all right or run good or whatever."

IS BRISTOL MORE PREDICTABLE THAN TALLADEGA? "It's a little more predictable than Talladega. I can't describe it any better than anybody else. It's a great race track. It's a lot of fun. I wish I would have had a chance to race on it when it was asphalt because it looks like a lot of fun. But I'm proud to say that I won a race here, because it's very difficult to pass."

DO YOU RUN THE RACE LESS AGGRESSIVELY THAN MOST PEOPLE DO HERE? "I don't really know. Some guys run really hard and aggressively and charge the corners. You'll have a lot of success setting yourself a comfortable pace and sticking with that. Before the Lucky Dog, you could stay on the lead lap and finish 10th. Now, with the Lucky Dog, it changes the whole outcome of the race. You've got 36 cars on the lead lap on the end of each race at a short track - if you had 10 cars on the lead lap and you had a caution with 30 to go, the leader ain't pitting but the guy in sixth might. And he might have a shot at challenging for the win where that's not a factor as much anymore. The Lucky Dog changed how you approach this race. Now, it's more about being smooth and keeping track position - not making mistakes and not tearing the fenders up banging on people."

ON RACING KASEY KAHNE: "He's tough. He's a great race car driver. There are some other good ones who ain't even close that ain't going to have a shot at it. I like it because he's a good friend of mine. I won't be too dejected, I guess, by being outrun by him rather than being beaten by somebody else that I don't have as much respect for."

JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO, YOU WERE IN THIRD PLACE IN THE POINTS. NOW YOU'RE FIGHTING TO STAY IN 10TH: "Yeah, well we blew two motors."

WAS CARL EDWARDS' $20,000 FINE APPROPRIATE? "I felt like years ago, we should have been stepping the fines up into the $100,000 - $200,000 range. Nothing against Carl or the situation, but $10, $15, or $20 grand don't mean anything to these guys - myself included."

DID CARL EDWARDS APOLOGIZE TO YOU? "He apologized for what he did. I don't feel like I wrecked him intentionally and he felt like I did and he wanted me to apologize for that. But I did feel sorry and apologized to how his race ended up and told him I didn't take much pride in winning that way. It wasn't like I ran home bragging to Momma about it. But it was a tough situation for him and myself. I can't say I would have handled it any different than he did, but I hope he learned a lesson just like I did."

WHEN THE CHASE IS OVER, WILL YOU BE RELIEVED WHETHER OR NOT YOU MAKE THE CHASE? "No, not really. I'm always relieved. I really don't get worked up over stuff because it just aggravates you and gets under your skin and can't go home and enjoy yourself. It's just always on your mind if you let it. So, I just focus on racing. When I'm on the car, I just focus on what it takes to get around the corner faster."

THE WAY YOU RAN AT MICHIGAN, DOES THAT GIVE YOU HOPE FOR CALIFORNIA? "Yeah. My guys are real excited so I'm just sort of following their lead. Hopefully once we get there, I'll feel like I've known my way around there all along."

ON GETTING AROUND BRISTOL: "I've gotten this question 150,000 times in my career of what my Daddy told me. Well, this is one of the things he told me. And I guess I must have been doing it pretty bad for him to have to actually speak up. But he told me a few things about getting in the corner. Personally, once I get in the car I back myself up about 10 percent just to be on the safe side and that seems to really take care of the car - especially here and at Martinsville - and that seems to take care of the car. When I first came here I was running hard and deep and running the tires and the car all to pieces. Now, I just relax. I know what the car is capable of and I really just try to let that happen and don't really push the issue. Most of the time, no matter where you race, you'll come out with a lead lap finish or still be in one piece and that's really important here. I try to be careful, more so running down in the corners beside people. I'm a lot more careful than a lot of people about that."

IS KURT BUSCH STILL THE GUY TO BEAT HERE? "It's definitely going to be dominant because of the history of that car and him. That combination has got to be lethal here. I look for him to be one of the guys to beat."

ON THE PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE HEAT IN SUNDAY'S RACE: "Yeah, this is more difficult than a road course to me. It's really tough. The air doesn't move and the carbon monoxide and the heat and everything just sits right around the track and you can't get a whole lot of cool air. You just drink a lot of water."

DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO BRISTOL? "Once I get in the car and I'm racing and I'm away from everybody, I don't feel a lot of pressure and expectations and I'm enjoying what I'm doing. But this whole week is about as moody as I get. If there is a time when I'm tough to be around, this would be the week."

DO YOU THINK YOU GOT A "SUPERSTAR" BREAK AT THE END OF THE BUSCH RACE?" "Not really. I'm going to see it differently. NASCAR is watched so closely for that - especially in the past - that they are more aware of it. I'm not in those situations all too often, but they really are careful not to give that perception and they go out of their way to make sure that people aren't going to say that hey man, they cut him a break. But they told me not to go to pit lane - we're going to watch the tape. And they watched the tape and watched the tape and finally decided it was all right. They give us the benefit of the doubt - just like everybody else. I don't feel like I get treated any differently. Of course I ain't been in that situation enough to know. If I was in it more often, I'd have a better idea of whether I was or not. But I have a lot of respect for those guys in there and I've done the best I can to represent the sport well and not embarrass any of the employees or anybody at NASCAR. I try my best to be mindful of that as I get older. I feel like maybe it would have been a whole lot different if what happened after the race hadn't happened. Maybe there would be two fines. Or maybe there would have been some sort of probation for myself."

NASCAR DOESN'T LIKE TO DETERMINE THE OUTCOME OF THE RACE: "NASCAR expressed to me that they weren't negative toward my actions on the track, but they were negative toward how we allowed the race to finish and how ugly it was. It wasn't a very pretty finish. It wasn't. When I got in Victory Lane, I didn't have a lot of pride in what just happened. I was happy for my team. They work hard. But for myself, personally, I was not really getting a whole lot of excitement out of it. That was one thing they told me is that in that situation again, I could have done something different and I would have allowed that to play out differently and that I should try to look at the options in that situation. They just don't want the race to end ugly like that and have to deal with that type of stuff.

"I know right from wrong and I know good from bad and I know what's fair and unfair. Sometimes you fall in the gray area and you're not quite sure. And I'm not going to jump up and down and scream and holler over what happened Saturday. It wasn't necessarily fair for Carl (Edwards). I'd be ticked off if I was him. You know I didn't have intentions of wrecking him, but I would be mad with what happened and how it went down. Like I said, my team worked really hard. That's all they do is build them Busch cars. It's not like they just pitch in. That's very important when they show up. They want to race for the win. I was happy about that and I was excited that we had a good car and all, but I don't like having controversial finishes. I like having clean, exciting finishes where we come down and are running side-by-side the last three or four laps and race clean."


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

ON BRISTOL: "Bristol is a very tough race track. It's obviously part of the game and trying to stay out of trouble and making it to the end. But we're coming here to compete like we do every week. We've got ourselves in position to hopefully transfer in because we've raced a certain way and we're not going to change. We're going to come to every race and try to win. That's what's gotten us to this point, and that's what we're going to continue to do."

IS THERE EXTRA PRESSURE LEADING INTO THE FINAL CHASE? "The reality of what we do is that we do the best we can every week. The outcome is the outcome. But the effort that goes into it is always the same. All you can do it do your job and hope that it all works out and the outcome is what you wanted. If it's not, then you learn from it and go home. But for me, there's no more pressure. This whole team is very relaxed. We understand the sport we're in and the position we're in."

IS RACING MORE FUN NOW SINCE YOU'RE IN THE TOP 10? "It's great to be in the mix. The cool thing about all this is I love to race. It's great to have people say oh golly, they had a bad week last week so now there's a lot of pressure on them. Pressure is when there is nothing good going on - when you're 25th in points with not a chance in hell of getting in it. That's what pressure is. What we're doing is what we tried to do. That's added pressure on us because we want to fulfill our goals. We're close enough that we can see it. The kind of pressure we're under right now is good pressure. That's the way it's supposed to be. This is a performance-oriented business and if you're not producing and we're always looking as to why a team isn't producing and certainly the driver has a huge impact on whether the team can produce or not. So when a team is not producing, the driver is looked at and scrutinized, as he should be. I don't think the Chase really impacts that a great deal. I think the Chase puts more pressure on more people because at this point four years ago, there were three or four cars that could win a championship and at this point right now, there's about 12. More teams are feeling the heat. But that's a good thing.

ON CALIFORNIA AND RICHMOND COMING UP "At California and Richmond we ran very well. At Richmond we had a great chance to win the race and I got us on pit road too early. At California, I don't remember where we finished, but I know we ran well all day. I feel good about the race tracks we're going to and the team. But we've got to go make that happen and earn it. But I like the tracks coming up. But so does Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch. There's nobody in the Chase hunt that you can look at and say they don't run good at that race track. Nobody. That's why there's a group at the top right now and they run good everywhere."

DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT'LL BE 11 GUYS FOR 10 SPOTS? "I think it's 11 with the possibility of 12. Somebody can get on a roll in these last three races and get some help with some other people having some trouble. As we saw last week, I went from fourth to ninth. If people do that like I did, and then the guy in 12th wins a race, we might have a 12-car race. It's possible. But the 12th place guy can't afford any problems. They've got to be clean. They've got to have really good runs."

ON THE PROGRESS OF CLINT BOWYER: "I think Clint is doing a really good job. I'm impressed with Clint. I thought he started doing very well and I think he's continued to improve. If you look at his record, it's not indicative of how they've run. He's really been mature and conservative and smart. I've been impressed with what they've been able to do. They're part of this company. They're helping us. We're just not helping them. Whenever you have a rookie driver, that's a good sign."

ON THE CAR OF TOMORROW TEST "Any time there is something different, there is mad panic. It isn't going to work. The sky is falling; the sky is falling. Everybody is going to go to work and make sure their sky doesn't fall. When we run that race car for the first time next year - which will be here - do you know what's going to happen? We're going to have a race and somebody is going to win. Somebody is going to wreck or break a motor or have a fight and it's just going to be a race. At the end of the day, the more we'll learn about it. It think the separation, performance-wise, will be wider than eventually it will be. Some will figure it out before others. Some will perform well and some can't. Eventually there is a possibility for a little less competition throughout the field, but in the long run it's just another race car and another race and it's going to be fine. We can complain and moan and groan about it or we can just go to work. The teams will go to work and they'll figure it out."

IS THIS BECOMING A NEW ERA OF DRIVERS AND CAR OWNERS MAKING SWITCHES EARLY FOR THE NEXT SEASON? "It looks like it is. I don't know if it'll continue, but without a doubt, the trend is for people to make changes early and commit to each other and try to make that happen quicker than we used to. People ask me why and I don't know why. I think there is a lot of pressure from sponsors to know what's going on, but I really don't fully understand the trend.

"When you've made the decision to change, or the owner has made the decision to do something different, I think it's in everybody's best interest to get that relationship building as quickly as possible as long as we don't negatively impact the sponsors. We can never forget, that a sponsor's approval is paramount to this thing. When we start messing with the marketing and the merchandising and what the sponsorship requires to be successful, that's a bad thing. As long as the sponsors are good for it, the quicker you can make that move, the better."


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

ON WHAT YOU NEED TO LEAVE BRISTOL WITH TO KEEP IN THE POINTS RACE: "We don't need to lose points leaving here, but it is a big deal at this place. You have to try to come out of here with a strong showing and do what you can do."

ON PRESSURE OF BEING IN THE TOP-10 IN POINTS RIGHT NOW: "It is a lot better than it was a couple of years ago. Last year there were 16 cars that were eligible, the year before that there were like 13 or 14. This year there are 11 cars. There is an opportunity for Greg Biffle to make up some ground and make it 12 cars, but it is a little less stress because we have to worry about two guys rather that six others."

KEY TO GOOD RUN AND FINISH AT BRISTOL: "You have to have a good handling race car of course. You not only have to get through the corners, but over the bumps as well to get off the corners. The biggest thing here is to get a car that will go through the center really fast and get a good drive off. Drive off is probably more important than the center is for example. But just to be able to get a car that goes through the whole corner fast is awesome."

ON EMOTIONS WHEN GREEN FLAG DROPS AT BRISTOL: "It is pretty crazy. You hope that everyone settles in and rides for a while. It is 500 laps long, you have all night in order to get yourself better, do some pit strategies, trying to get guys off on tires and what not. You would think that the wrecks would come from 43rd up to like 38th, that is where the wrecks should be because they are trying to move their way forward and get out of the way of the leader coming if they are already a lap down.

But most of the wrecks are coming from 14th to 20th. It is like 'What are you guys doing?' They are racing their hearts out and we are 20 laps in to the thing trying to get up to the front. You have got no pressure; there is no reason to do it. But that is just racing here at Bristol."

ON HOW CLOSE TO OUT OF CONTROL YOU ARE EVERY LAP AT BRISTOL: "All the time. Cars here are always loose in and loose off and it depends on how well you get your car rolling through the center of the corner as to how you can get through the corner. You are always on edge with being loose so you are trying to always find the maximum point."

ON PRESSURE TO STAY IN TOP-10 "It hasn't been too bad until we got to Watkins Glen. The weeks before that, we had been doing pretty well, looking pretty good. We had a third, a second, a first, an eighth and something else. Then at the Glen we had a bad beginning to the race, we were able to come back and get ninth. Then last week at Michigan, we knocked the wall down several times and ended up 39th or whatever it was. There is pressure there, but we only have to worry about one or two guys, not six or seven. "

ON LUCKY DOG RULE: "I don't think it should be changed. If a guy has a problem early enough in the race, there should be an opportunity for him to come back and have a strong run if the car is capable of that. Especially at a road course, you know, you aren't able to lineup on the inside at the roadcourse, so there is no chance to drive past the leader to get your lap back. It is a good thing they had the lucky dog rule there because otherwise we would have had to blast our way through the field trying to get our laps back. We might have gotten two back, but I doubt that without the lucky dog, we would not have finished as well as we did."

ON THOUGHTS ABOUT KASEY KAHNE WHO IS 11TH IN POINTS: The coolest thing about worrying about him is he doesn't run good at the races until in to the Chase, so we will see how that goes. At Richmond last year, he won, but he didn't do well there this spring. California might be a race where he might run well at, I don't remember how he did there this spring. The way his Michigan luck has gone he might be all right."

ON GOOD FINISH AT CALIFORNIA CLINCHING SPOT IN CHASE: "It is so close, you won't know you are in the Chase until after Richmond. No one is going to be able to count themselves in except the top two guys. It is going to be a dogfight all the way to the end, but we feel like we are in a good spot. We finished eighth here at Bristol in the spring, ran a clean race, did our own deal the whole time. We ran in the top-10 all day at California in the spring. We need to get a little bit better there. At Richmond, we always seem to run well there, so we just need to keep it going."

ON ENJOYING THE CHASE BATTLE: "The biggest part of me enjoys going out there and driving the race car. That is what we are here for. The points battle isn't too much fun. The biggest part of it is that you are under so much stress now trying to get in to the Chase. Then when you get there, it is just another whole load of stress down to the end of the season. Instead of, well, right now we are some 400 points behind the leader, if we had a good consistent stretch to the end of the season under the old points system, we would have a shot at it. It is what the sponsors want to see, it is what they pay us to see. It is what Rick (Hendrick) wants to see from us, the biggest thing for us is to keep going with what we know how to do and what has worked so far and try to solidify our position."

ON HAVING EMOTIONS MORE UNDER CONTROL AT BRISTOL THAT PREVIOUSLY: "I am way better. I got dumped Wednesday night in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and saved it and wasn't too mad about it. You just have to go on and do your own deal. I guess if I had wrecked, I probably would have been more upset but will see. If it is on purpose, then you really have a problem."

ON BROTHER KURT BUSCH'S CHANCES TO MAKE THE CHASE: "I don't think so, he is just too far behind."

ON DIFFERENCE IN STRESS LEVEL IN CHASE VS OUT OF CHASE: "There definitely is a difference. There are some aspects to it, to where if you are 20th in points or something like that, you are out there racing and your biggest worry is trying not to wreck one of the guys that are in contention."

ON REACTION TO PENALTY LEVELED AGAINST CARL EDWARDS VERSUS PENALTY HE INCURRED EARLIER IN THE SEASON: "It was a Busch Series penalty, so you have to look at that aspect of it. It happened in the Busch Series. If you are in probation, are you under probation in NASCAR or are you under probation in Nextel Cup? That is the way I look at it. If he got in trouble that bad for being on probation in the Cup Series, then I should be able to do the same thing in the Busch Series and not get suspended for a race because it was a Cup Series penalty. I know darn well I am not going to put myself in that predicament because I don't want to find out. The biggest thing is - was a light penalty - probably. If he would have done it in the Cup Series, he would have gotten what I got."

ON PRESSURE IN GARAGE BECAUSE OF ON-TRACK ISSUES: "I am not going to go there all the way. I am just going to say that the team recognizes it and we need to keep our emotions in check and go on doing what we know we have been doing all year long that worked.

ON HIS UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WENT ON AT MICHIGAN (CONTACT BETWEEN DALE EARNHARDT, JR. AND CARL EDWARDS): " For me, you hate to try to lay a bumper to anybody, but when you do, you don't try to wreck them. If you lay the bumper to them to move them out of the way, that is better than wrecking them and putting them back. Last Saturday (Michigan), Carl Edwards had a very fast race car there and had a real shot at winning the race until that last deal there on the last lap. All he had to do was take it down the back straight away and into turn three and he would have probably been all right, but he didn't get that far. I would have waited until the next corner, put it on the outside and put it on kill again and try to beat him back to the start/finish line. They weren't on the white flag lap yet, they had just taken the green on a green-white-checkered so there were still three more corners to go."

ON DAILY IMPACT OF SPONSORSHIP: "If you ask any driver in here, I am sure they some support from their sponsors. If you ask Jeff Burton, I will guarantee he has a Cingular phone. Ask Matt Kenseth; I guarantee he has DeWalt Power Tools at his house. Me, I get some Kellogg's stuff and I am able to go to Lowe's. The thing Lowe's does is incentive based. If we win or sit on poles, I don't know the amount, but we get money put on our Lowe's card, which is a nice benefit they give to us. As far as any of the other ones, I haven't gone that far."

ON GETTING ANYTHING YOU WANT OF A CERTAIN CEREAL OR WHATEVER YOU LIKE: "I have actually bought more Kellogg's products in the grocery store than I have received for free. We don't get anything free out of Lowe's, nobody does because of all of their vendors."

ON GETTING RECOGNIZED IN A LOWE'S STORE: "Yes, of course. When I go to the grocery store, people see you there and want autographs. When I go to the airport, I get recognized and asked for autographs. Same thing at baseball games. If people are in to racing and recognize who you are, they will come up and ask for an autograph. It is not a problem. You don't want to have people who have stalkeritis after you all the time."

ON PEOPLE TELLING YOU BECAUSE YOU REPRESENT LOWE'S AND KELLOGG'S THAT THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO BUY THAT PRODUCT: "Yes, they have told us that before. Some people have told us about the Lowe's deal 'We love Jimmie Johnson and we love you racing in the Busch Series, you have done so great' and all that kind of stuff. We have heard it from the Kellogg's side as well.