Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Clint Bowyer Give Chevy Monte Carlo SS Second and Third Place Finishes at Fontana

Team Chevy Continues to Lead NASCAR Nextel Manufacturers' Cup Points

FONTANA, CA - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Monte Carlo SS, brought home a strong second place run in the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway. The run moved Junior from ninth to sixth in the point standing with one race left to the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Championship.

Earnhardt was closing on race winner Kasey Kahne (Dodge) but ran out of laps and settled for the runner-up spot in the finishing order.

Raybestos Rookie contender Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniels Monte Carlo SS scored his NNCS career-best finish with a solid third at the checkered flag of the 250-lap/500-mile.

The Race to the Chase points battle continues to rage with just 147 points seperating positions three through 11. Just one race remains to set the 10-driver battle for the Chase.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS moved to fourth in points with his fifth place finish in tonight's race. Raybestos Rookie leader Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express finished in sixth place, which dropped him from sixth to seventh in the points.

Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg's Monte Carlo SS, drove to an eighth place finish in the race, moving him down one position to fifth in the standings.

Defending NNCS champion Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Monte Carlo SS, captured ninth at the finish, keeping him eighth in the point standings.

Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Monte Carlo SS, took the biggest hit in the points dropping from seventh to 10th after finishing in 16th place. He is 30 points ahead of Kahne who sits 11th and the only other driver mathematically able to make the Chase.

The Manufacturer's points are as follows following the Sony HD 500: Chevrolet 186 points, 14 wins; Ford, 147 points, 4 wins and Dodge 142 points, 9 wins.

The final Race to the Chase is the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Saturday, September 9th at Richmond International Raceway.

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO - Finished 2nd; Post Race Press Conference Transcript

ON THE RACE: "It was pretty uneventful to be honest with you. We just pitted when we needed to and ran up high, sort of out of the way, and stayed clean all night. The top was really good for me and we were a little bit faster than everybody for the most part of the race, we just didn't have track position."

DID YOU NOTICE THE TRACK TEMPERATURE? WAS IT A GRADUAL CHANGE? "I don't know. I don't think we can really tell you when the track is changing as far as temperature-wise. I would be able to tell you when it's tightening up a little bit and how the track tightens up as the sun goes down. When Turns 3 and 4 goes into the shade, it obviously has a lot more grip than it did before and a huge difference in grip from (Turns) 1 and 2. Turns 1 and 2 is a parking lot to begin with (laughter) and when you go there 190 mph, everybody is sideways and spinning out. That's just a characteristic of the race track. Even at night it was pretty slick on the bottom. Neither the rear nor the front was giving away. But as the track cools off, the track gets faster. The track maintains most of it's characteristics, but it does gain a little grip."

ON GOING TO RICHMOND: "Yeah, I'm pretty excited going to Richmond. We wish we would have had a win or two in addition to what we got at Richmond earlier this year, but we haven't had that kind of luck. It's an opportunity to get a win and an opportunity to run good. At worst, hopefully we'll come out of there with a top 15 or a top 10. And that's sort of the mindset anyway, do you know what I mean? But anything can happen to you if you get involved in crashes or there would be something stupid. So we'll try to be smart. I think it's great for the sport that the points are as they are right now. It's very exciting to be a part of it. I think it is doing exactly what it was intended to do, which was to create a lot of excitement and drama right in a particularly boring part of the season. So it's made it pretty exciting."

THIS IS ONE OF YOUR STRONGEST RUNS AT THIS TRACK. YOU SEEMED TO REALLY PICK IT UP IN THE LAST 30 LAPS. DID YOUR CAR REALLY KICK IN THEN? "I wasn't that great for the first five or fifteen laps of a run. I was sort of in the way. But I tried to hold my position the best I could because after 15 or 20 laps, we'd really get to going around the top. If I had to run the bottom like most guys did, we wouldn't have run well at all tonight. The top works for me pretty much at 60 percent of the tracks we run at on the circuit. I like running up there. I don't know why. But I try to set my car up to do that. We are probably off five percent or whatever from some of the really fast cars that we're competing with up front; in the engine department, we've gained a lot this year. But running the high side sort of carries the momentum of the car and helps you on the straight-aways quite a bit. We're gaining a lot in our motor department; it's not a hack on them at all. But it really helps to run up there. It keeps the momentum up."

ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAST YEAR AND THIS YEAR AS HE LEAVES CALIFORNIA TO RACE IN RICHMOND: "Well, our team is starting to really peak at this point of the season. We are running well at almost every track, every week. This is a great time for us to really be sort of peaking. We'll try to take advantage of it and hopefully it will last for a few more races and we can put ourselves in position to win that championship. There is a lot of great competition and it's going to be very difficult to win, but I think we've got the tangibles that it takes as far as the people and personnel and cars and whatnot. But I'm just really proud of my team, to be honest with you. A lot of credit goes to them. I haven't changed much and I don't think I'm much different than I was last year. I'm just really proud of my team and they give me such a great effort every week and it really means a lot."

GOING TO RICHMOND, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO ONLY HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ONE GUY, KASEY KAHNE, POSSIBLY KNOCKING YOU OUT OF THE TOP 10 INSTEAD OF THREE OR FOUR AS IN THE PAST "Not so much. You have to really look at the obvious there. Any one of these guys can knock you out. It ain't so much Kasey. Kasey might make it and somebody else gets knocked out. But I don't think Kasey is really to blame for whoever doesn't make the Chase is what I'm saying. It's so close in points. I like Kasey a lot and I don't want to look at him a in an adversary in that way. I want to enjoy racing with him. He's a great competitor and a lot of fun to race with. Whoever does make the Chase deserves it, and I hope we're a part of that program."

CASEY MEARS CAME IN AT ONE POINT AND TOPPED OFF WITH GAS WITH THE INTENT OF TRYING TO MAKE IT TO THE END. WAS THERE EVER ANY CONSIDERATION IN YOUR PIT TO DO THAT? "No, not really; absolutely not. There was probably zero discussion because of the track position. We weren't in great track position at that time. We had a good car and Tony Jr. sort of knew there was a 90 percent chance you'd run out of gas. And you saw that Clint (Bowyer) was the only guy that made it. So, you didn't see a lot of guys take that chance. If it was a clear bet, you'd see a lot of people do it. And it was so close and there was a rare chance to even make it so only a few guys would give it a shot. You guys (the media) always ask do you race hard, do you race for the win, or just to get points, or take it easy to just try to make the Chase? Those are the instances where you're maybe not taking it easy, but just being conservative. You don't give up track position if costs you. If you lose to Clint Bowyer and three other guys, at least you finished ahead of the people you needed to be ahead of. But you race as hard as you ever do on the track itself. But that's where you make different decisions. Early in the season, you might go for it, but now you've got to be pretty conservative on the pit calls."

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 15th

"We knew this was a little bit of a struggle for us overall, but we did good. We were just a little bit too loose there. We probably should have put two tires on, but that was my call. So, shoulda, woulda, coulda. It was a decent night for us."

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 16th and dropped 3 spots in the point standings, from 7th to 10th:

"We got real good at the end; it was just too late. We just struggled during the middle part of the race and lost a lot of track position. At the end, we finally got good. But these guys were just so far in front of us we couldn't do more; we ran a bunch of them down but we just ran out of time. So I'm not real happy with the way we ran. Nobody is. We sure expected more than that, but we'll go to Richmond and give them all we've got."

WHAT'S IT LIKE KNOWING IT'S GOING TO COME DOWN TO THE FINAL RACE OF THE FIRST 26 TO TRY TO MAKE THE CHASE? "That doesn't surprise me at all. The No. 9 Kasey Kahne was just way better than we were tonight. When we go to Richmond, it'll be a dogfight for sure, but we'll go there and give it all we got and that's all we can do. I look forward to it. I'm excited about it. I feel like I'm going there with a good team and good race cars.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN UNDER THIS MUCH PRESSURE BEFORE? "Pressure is when you don't have a chance in hell to do anything. This isn't pressure. This feels good. We have a chance to have something good happen. It's still ours to win or lose; we've just got to get it done.

"I'm disappointed on how we ran in the middle of the race. I'm not disappointed about how we ran in the end. We got beat by four or five cars that seemed to go the whole way on gas and we couldn't. We weren't good in the middle part of the race and then we couldn't go as far as some of those other guys could and all that stacked up on us. There at the end, we were hauling. We were really fast at the end."

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS, Finished 5th:

ON TOP-FIVE FINISH TONIGHT: "It has been a tough time for us here and on 1.5-mile tracks in the past, but not this year. Steve Letarte and all the guys at Hendrick Motorsports and this DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo team have got this stuff dialed in. Man it is a lot of fun to be out there driving a car like this. You know I hate we had our problems (possible loose lugnuts) because we had those guys in our sights. The No. 9 was tough, he was going to be tough to beat so was the No. 8 but I think would we not have had our problems, we would have been close to them and had a shot at them. Hey, it was a solid night for us, we did what we needed to do in the points. We are not solidly in for Richmond so we are going to have to perform there, but this finish is going to make it a lot easier."

ON BEING FOURTH IN POINTS HEADING TO RICHMOND: "We have had our troubles at Richmond in the past but I am confident right now with the way our cars are driving and with the way the team is performing, I feel like we are going to turn Richmond around like we have these other tracks."

ON THOUGHTS WHEN TOLD OF POSSIBLE LOOSE LUGNUTS AND NEEDING TO COME BACK DOWN PIT ROAD : "I didn't doubt that could get back up in the top-10, I just didn't know if we could get back in the top-five. There was a string of green-flag runs where we able to put some good laps together and get some of those positions back. I thought Steve made a great call on the gas and go to do that gas and go. We played it conservative really, we weren't sure the lugnuts were loose that time, but we came in anyway to be sure. When we came in on the gas and go, we played it a little conservative on how much gas we took. So hey, it still got us a fifth place finish and that is what we need to do, is to be really solid."

ON TONIGHT'S FINISH: "I am happy with the way we performed. I am happy with the way we finished and I am happy with where we are at in the points. I have to look at the numbers, I don't know exactly where the spread is to 11th. I know that Kasey had a great night but we will just see what other guys did."

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S MONTE CARLO SS, Finished 8th:

ON TONIGHT'S RACE: "We just kept missing the handle of the cars on the end of the runs. We were very, very fast at the beginning we could kind of take off and lead for a couple of laps but then it started falling off. It was a good run for our Kellogg's Chevrolet tonight, that is all we needed. We just need to keep fighting like we have been and fighting for these top-10 finishes and top-five finishes. That is as good as we had for them tonight. It is kind of weird coming down to the end of these races like that and fend off fuel mileage and tires. All in all it was a good show for the fans and we had a lot of fun passing cars. The weather ended up being a good cool night, so now we will go on to Richmond." ON GOING TO RICHMOND FIFTH IN POINTS: "I feel good about Richmond. Last three runs there we have finished better than fifth so if we can go there and do what we have done the last times and have a good solid run, I think we will be fine. I think you will see the Kellogg's Monte Carlo strong in the Chase and going to Loudon trying to win that one."

ON THINKING ABOUT POINTS THE LAST SEVEN DAYS: "You can't. All you are going to do is upset your stomach and put everything else in an uproar. So you might as well just go after it when you get to Richmond."

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT MONTE CARLO, FINISHED 9TH:

ON CHANGES FOR MAKING THE CHASE COMING DOWN TO THE FINAL RACE AT RICHMOND: "We have been pretty good at Richmond but so do the guys who are with us in the Chase. We have one more week, we will see. I am not very comfortable at all with 41 points. But if we go do what we normally do at Richmond, we should be all right, but it is no gimme by any means.

"I am just glad to finish where we did. We didn't gain or lose on the pit strategy there at the end, we just need to be better than we were.

"Tonight is over, so we just need to forget about it and go on to next week."

ON PRESSURE NEXT WEEK AT RICHMOND: "I think we just have to go out and do what we always do. That is how we have won two championships and how we have been in the top-10 in points every year I have been in the series. It is what I have been doing for eight years and it isn't going to change next week. It is just a matter of going out and doing our job and not worrying about it. At the end of the day, we will see where we are."

ON TONIGHT'S RACE: "We just fought tight in the center all race long. It was just one of those bad days that from the drop of the green flag, we fought tight and could never really get it roll though the center of the corner, so we have a little work to do."

ON HOW HE WAS FEELING FROM SPRINT CAR CRASH WEDNESDAY NIGHT: "It was fine, it wasn't different than any other time. Trust me, sprint car drivers flip all the time. We just had a problem with a steering gear breaking. I wanted to run the whole night, I was having a lot of fun, it is a neat race track (Skagit Speedway) and it was the smallest track I have ran with the winged sprint cars and it was a lot of fun."

J.J. YELEY, No. 18 IMITREX MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 19th

DID THE RACE TRACK CHANGE FROM THE START OF THE RACE TO THE END OF THE RACE? "The race track changed a lot. You'd use a line for awhile that was maybe using the car up, then all of the sudden you'd go 10 laps real good and the front tires would get mad and just give up two or three tenths (of a second) just like that."

TELL ME ABOUT THE CAR. WHAT TYPES OF PROBLEMS WERE YOU DEALING WITH THROUGHOUT THE RACE? "If it would have just been one thing, it would have been easy to fix. Steve did an excellent job. It was just that the car would get loose in, then tight in the center, then loose off. Then 15 laps later it would still be loose in, tight center, but tight off. I was just trying to find a balance. The race track kept changing. I felt like the last two runs, the car was at its best. It took me awhile to find a line that the car really liked. I went high in (turns) one and two early in the race and it just didn't work out very good. I never tried it again. I kind of gave up on it. When (Martin) Truex (Jr.) passed me, I thought "you know, maybe I need to get up there and try that line." All of the sudden the car had a lot of grip entering the corner. I could get it turned and get back on the throttle pretty good. I was able to focus on some other things. The times started picking up. I thought we had a good shot there, but I didn't know what Steve was planning. I knew we were getting close to the end on laps. I know our lap times had picked up a little bit, so I kind of backed down a little bit to see what the plan was. He said we were a lap too short on making it. Those guys are pretty precise, so we would have been a lap short."

YOUR LUCK SEEMS TO HAVE TURNED AROUND A LITTLE BIT: "Yeah, you know, I was thinking mid-race there that if we could finish top-15, top-20, I'd be real satisfied. After finishing 19th, it's pretty disappointing now after it's done. I know that we had a car that was capable of running real close to 10th, but I guess it's better than the alternative. Over the past couple of weeks, we've had the (car) coming back on the hook. It's still in one piece, not a scratch on it."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 2nd

"This is my best finish here. We are happy to get a second any where but especially here at California. These kind of race tracks, we have really turned these around. I am really proud of my team. Congratulations to Kasey (Kahne, winner), maybe we won't be battling each other when we get to Richmond."

ON BEING 6TH IN THE POINTS: "Hey, it is just good runs for us. I am always one week at a time and having good finishes is having fun and that is what it is all about. I don't really feel any of the pressure of the Chase, about trying to make the Chase, most of the pressure is trying to run good, no matter what. I am just so happy for my team. Tony (Eury), Jr. made great calls, the team did great and I can't say enough about everybody at DEI and my team. They have really done all they could for me this year and I am just so proud of them."