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

ON THE HEAT COMPLICATING THINGS FOR YOURSELF, TEAM MEMBERS AND CAR: "It is not too bad as long as you are running good, you don't even think about it. But if you are not running too good, it gets to you a little bit.

ON FRAME OF MIND THIS WEEKEND: "We are just working on the car, working on the handle of the car. Just keeping my frame of mind in the right place. We have the car in a pretty good place in race trim."

ON MAKING CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY MORE EXCITING: "Probably dig it up and rebuild it. They can do it here, they have done it other places, I don't see why they can't do it here. It is a little bit too wide and it is flat down in turns one and two which is not indicative of good racing. We go 196 mph down the front straight away into a flat corner, how are you supposed to race into that? It is tough just to get around it uneventfully, much less trying to pass somebody. Turns three and four are a lot of fun, it is a good corner. They did a good job down there. It is just too flat down there in one and two."

ON STAYING IN THE TOP-1O IN POINTS AFTER THIS RACE: "I think it will be all right. I would have to have a pretty bad weekend to get knocked out of the top-10 this week. But we can't really afford that so we want to get out of here with a good top-10 finish. Last time we were here, we had a pretty good car, which gave us a better idea for this time around. I think we can get it together and get ourselves a good run out of here."

ON GOALS FOR NEXT TWO RACES: "Just got to stay under the radar. Out of the action. Either be out in front of it or far enough behind it to miss it. You definitely count points and figure out where everybody is and how people are running. Obviously you pay a lot of attention to the others in contention and have been for the last five or six weeks. You do want to know how the other guys are doing and the weekends they are having."

ON KASEY KAHNE'S POSTION TO GET IN THE CHASE: "I have a lot of confidence in him. We are pretty good friends. If it was between me and him it would be a lot better than having to race somebody you didn't like. Kasey deserves to be in the Chase, he has had a good season. We have worked really hard to get in the Chase, A lot of teams to and belong in the Chase, but not everybody gets a spot. I hope that he makes is, but obviously not at my expense."

WHEN SOMEONE IS TRYING THAT HARD TO GET IN THE CHASE, ON THEM BEING MORE RECKLESS: "People don't get too reckless at this level. They get aggressive. That is what they do. Reckless is dangerous. I think everybody is going to race with a lot of respect and determination at the same time. Everybody knows that they have to accomplish. They will race each other really really hard but there is a lot of give and take on the track."

ON RETURNING TO RICHMOND: "I am excited. I was hoping by this time we would have more wins than we do. But going back to a place where we have an opportunity. I know we have got a good enough car, so we might be able to pull it off. It is a very good track for me and I have a lot of fun racing there."

ON DEFINING MOMENT SO FAR THIS SEASON: "Maybe our third at Bristol. That is such a minefield especially starting 40th. Hopefully over the next couple of weekends, it will be a pretty smooth sailing and we won't have to get in to the Chase by the skin of our teeth."

ON BUSCH RACE IN MONTREAL: "There are a lot of things about Canada that I appreciate and I think it would be a lot of fun to go up there, I will look forward to the opportunity to go up there. One of my favorite rock bands (inaudible) is from Canada, lives and plays there. I have never had a chance to see them live so it would be cool to go up there and see them. I have done a couple of appearances in Ontario. My Dad went up there a lot time ago to race and won. It was probably the tallest trophy he ever had in the house. I think it is way overdue and I think it is a good deal for us to be racing in places like that. We need to be racing in Canada, South America; I would like to go to Brazil. I would rather go on a weekend that I didn't race so I could enjoy the sites and all rather than go there just too race. But either way, it is a cool."

ON ATMOSPHERE AMONG EIGHT GUYS BUNCHED UP FOR LAST SPOTS IN CHASE: "It is the same as it is every week. I might let up in the corner and let some one go by if they are faster than me. If I thought we would miss the Chase, I probably wouldn't. I know that sounds mean. I drive on the side of caution all the time. I am not really going to change my style. I drive to finish a race and finish respectively. Some guys are more aggressive every single lap might change their approach. I don't have to really make any adjustments on how I drive to finish these races. The last lap is probably the worst as far as nerves and being fairly miserable. Going into Bristol, I mean I love Bristol. But three races from the Chase, if you are even close to something, you are close to not missing it. But we got through there. Hopefully we will come out of here with over 100 points over 11th, I will feel great. It would be great heading into Richmond with at least 100 point gap."

ON NOT FEELING PRESSURE DESPITE HOW TIGHT THE BATTLE HAS BEEN: "I would feel real bad pressure if I had made some mistakes that had put us in this position. We have some mechanical failures and things like that. I look for satisfaction in the effort and not the results. It is not all about statistics and numbers. I look at things by how our season has gone. I feel like the guys have worked really hard; I have worked really hard. We have a lot to be proud of, Chase or no Chase, this is a great race team with a lot of potential. I think we have a chance to make the Chase, a really really good chance. I my concern really is that is if this team makes the Chase, how are we going to step it up to win the Championship. Making the Chase is great, but it is the Championship I am after. We have to make sure that with all the worrying of making the Chase, I don't want to forget that this team needs to win the Championship."

ON HAVING A MENTAL EDGE BECAUSE OF NOT FEELING THE PRESSURE: "I have always depended having a mental edge or having that extra bit of confidence or whatever it may be to carry myself through tough situations. I have been around this sport for a very long time and I feel like that if anybody should have the mental part of it figured out, I should be one of those guys. I should be in that group. I try not to be psyched out by other guys on the race track and things like that. I try to stand my ground when I am on the race track. That is mental thing as much as it is actions, it is mental. I feel like I have that part of the came figured out or at least am in the top five percent."

ON THINGS LEARNED THIS YEAR BEING A TEAM OWNER: "When you are a team owner, you are concentrating a lot of trying to save and manage your budget. We have had to do without a few things. We had more personnel in a certain field than we needed so unfortunately we have to funnel down some cost and let people go that we wanted to keep but didn't have the necessary funding for. Understandably, when you are only doing a two-car team, you only have a need for a certain amount of people and you can't hire everybody that you want and everybody that knocks on the door. That has been the tough part; learning how to manage the money and the financials and to position the team to go forward into the next season. When we first started the team, all the cars we had were bought from other people. Now we have about 15 cars and only three of them are the ones that we bought. We got rid of the other ones and built all brand new stuff. It has been a great evolution and a lot of fun. My team is prepared. I am hoping that Shane Huffman pans out to be a real man with a lot of aggression and a go-getter."

ON LOOKING AT PRO CUP DRIVERS: "There are six or seven drivers there are sorta going to make it. If Shane doesn't, it isn't his fault all the time. Maybe the cars weren't good enough; maybe the equipment wasn't good enough. There are all kinds of variables that play in to that and not necessarily his fault if it doesn't work out. We are going to give him the best opportunity we can, he has a strong mind and lot of fire and that is what we need. He doesn't give up, stays calm in the seat."

ON NASCAR'S CONSISTENCY WITH RULES: "I think they are really consistent in how they penalize people, how they distribute the fines. Everything has been very consistent for several years. They have always punished people when they need to be punished. The only problem I have, it is obviously just me being honest and it will probably come back and bite me in the butt, but the fines aren't tough enough. I have paid $5,000 fines and I never felt it. The points hurt. They take 25 or 50 points, man; you will learn your lesson then. That is a real way to get somebody's attention. The dollars, I don't know if that really matters so much unless you are in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. With some of the things that have happened over the last five years, if I was the president of NASCAR, I would have probably thrown down a $150,000 fine on some of these guys and myself maybe in certain situations maybe."



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

ON THE WEEKEND SCHEDULE AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY: "I must say, I haven't talked to NASCAR about it, I know I have spoken with them in the past, but it is frustrating to come out here with this track schedule. It just doesn't make any sense from when we practice to when we race. Probably the only thing half way decent is when they schedule qualifying because it starts a little later. We practice in the heat of the day when it is really hot and slick. The biggest concern is we race starting at 5:00 on and we don't have a single practice in the early morning or late afternoon or evening to get even close to the same track conditions we will race on."

ON CAR SETUP FOR ENGINE LIFE AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY: "We leave that up to the Hendrick Engine department. They know we need the most power we can possibly get that will last all day. The guys in our engine department are the best in the business in my opinion and they know. The only adjustment we may make is where we want to move the power around based on the camshaft. We may play with the power up off the corner, we may play with it a little bit more at the end of the straight away. I feel like our engine department is strong and good right now and we always keep our fingers crossed that it is going to last because these hot conditions are tough on engines. These long straight aways, they don't get much of a breather and we just hope they hang in there."

ON ATTENTION PAID TO OTHER CARS WITH CHASE POSSIBILITIES DURING RACE: "It just depends on where you are running. If you aren't running good and you are in the back, you just have to get better. You just have to focus on your own program. We try to do that as often as we possibly can. I think as we wind down now that we are closer to Richmond and then New Hampshire, we definitely are aware of where they are at so anything you can do to stay ahead of them is great. It is just like last week in the closing laps, we were battling with Denny Hamlin. I battled really really hard to stay ahead of him, probably more than I normally would."

ON DEFINING MOMENT SO FAR THIS SEASON: "There are numerous races that you go to that you feel like the fight you put up was the one that got you in the Chase or won you the championship. Silly things happen along the way that take you out. There are so many, it is hard to really pinpoint one. I would have to kind of go through them and be asked about them individually."

ON AFFECT HEAT HAS ON EVERYONE: "It is hot here and the track is slick, so it definitely affects the competition. Everyone is trying to get grip on the racetrack. It is the same for everyone so that is the good thing. You know what, when you are in the race car you really don't think about it much. When a caution comes out, or sitting in the garage area, you realize how hot it is. When you are out there at that speed, you are so focused on what is going on you don't really pay any attention to how hot is really is, even though it is really hot."

ON HOW TO IMPROVE CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY: "This is a nice race track. It could be done a little bit better. From what I hear there are plans that are happening to consider doing some things to make some improvements. I don't think the whole place needs to be torn down. I just think that turns one and two are a little bit too flat for this size race track and I think they could do some things that would help and make a little bit more side-by-side racing. Turn one is just so tricky. You are 200-plus mph getting in there, especially in these hot, slick conditions, you drive down to the bottom and the car just doesn't have a lot of grip downforce wise, it is there but the banking isn't there to hold the car."

ON BEING COMFORTABLE IN POINTS POSITION FOR THE CHASE: "I am probably more comfortable than the guy in 11th, but no, there are really no comfortable places out there right now other than the guys that are locked in. Every lap of every race and every position and point are just so crucial that can't take anything for granted and you have to fight as hard as you can until the checkered flag waves. I guess I was a little bit disappointed with a fifth place last week at Bristol because I knew they guys I am racing in points were right around me. We had a car capable of finishing better than fifth and we didn't do it. It is all about living up to your full potential and we have been doing a great job of fighting here lately, we have some top-fives, but there are two races that stick out in my mind, Watkins Glen and Indianapolis, we didn't have top-10s but we fought really hard to get the finishes we did get. Here we are fifth in points but it is certainly not a very comfortable fifth."

ON COMFORTABLE AT RICHMOND: "It is a place that I look at where I have been consistent the last few races. It is probably the track where we have not had the success we would like to have but we are certainly optimistic to turn that around. That hasn't been the case the last few times we have been there. We really need to capitalize this weekend here in California as much as we can. We are going to do everything we can to be better than we have in the past, and turn that luck around. We certainly don't want to go in there and rely on just Richmond. It is just added pressure that we would like to not have."

ON EQUAL APPLICATION OF RULES IN INSPECTION BY NASCAR: "Every year, NASCAR learns more about what the teams are doing and how to inspect the cars and how to create less gray areas. The thing is that even though there were more gray areas a few years ago, we didn't really know how to capitalize on them as much as we did today so they have to narrow that down."

ON KYLE BUSCH: "Definitely over the last year and a half, he has matured a lot on the race track. That just comes from laps on the race track. We have all been through it, he is still very young and a great talent and a very aggressive driver. The younger you come in to the sport, the longer it takes to learn those lessons, but he is doing a great job."

ON RACING IN SOUTH AMERICA: "I think if it wasn't for such long travel, we could do that but our schedule is so tight and compact now, it would be tough. I think we would love to break in to those markets, especially with Juan Pablo (Montoya) coming in to the sport next year I think there is a real impact that we could make in those countries. We just can't. We tried Japan; we just can't afford the time of the travel further than Mexico or Canada. Those are our limits."

ON MENTALLY PREPARING FOR RACE DAY: "When you have been doing this as many years as I have, it just kind of comes naturally. Basically it is just a routine. It really isn't mental preparation because I am really busy on race mornings. I do a couple of hospitality tents for my sponsors, when I come back from that, I go to the driver's meeting. After that, when I come back to the transporter with the team is when I start thinking about the race. When we start talking a little bit about the plan for the day, when I start stretching and really loosening up my body, that sort of clears my mind." ON LEVEL OF NERVOUSNESS BEFORE A RACE: "A little sometimes. I am probably not the friendliest person in the world moments before the race. I try not to be distracted more than anything else. Some races are more than others. It seems like Daytona, the first race of the year, I seem to have more butterflies, or be a little more on edge at track, it is a big race for us than maybe some others."

ON MAINTAING MOTIVATION TO RACE AT THIS LEVEL: "The thing that has kept me interested in racing all these years is the competition and the challenge of getting in to victory lane. That challenge gets greater and greater every year. The challenge gets greater and greater every year and that keeps me motivated and keeps the team motivated. If you are not where you want to be and have experienced success in the past, you are constantly on that search to find it again. It is not hard to lose that edge. The rules change, the tires change, the competition gets greater. Everybody is out there constantly trying to get better and better. Sometimes if you are successful that can be your worst enemy because that makes you want to make less changes for the next year because you had a good combination and sometimes that can get you behind."

ON NEED TO WIN TO SOLIDIFY PLACE IN THE CHASE: "I would like to win. I don't think we have to win, I don't think you have to win a race to win the championship at all if you are consistent. But would we like to win, yes, that is why we are out here. Matt (Kenseth) has two wins in a row and he has the momentum to build their confidence. Somebody has to break that down and we would like to be one of them to do that to really to give ourselves the momentum for the championship run."

ON ANY OF SETUPS OF HENDRICK CARS BEING THE SAME: "None. The setups are completely different. We share a lot of information among the teams, all of them to try and make ourselves the best we can. We are all running pretty good and pretty good here."

ON ANY ADDITIONAL AGGRESSIVE DRIVING AMONG CHASE CONTENDERS IN POSITIONS FOUR THROUGH 12: "You have to be careful not to be to aggressive too early. You have to finish the race first, to get the solid finish. If you get to aggressive, then that can get you in trouble. I think if you are racing those guys late in the race, you have to weigh out the risk versus the gain. For us, it is so tight between fourth through 10th that it is really about making sure we are ahead of the guy who is in 11th. We want to come out of here with a solid finish. Like any race, there is a time when you are patient and a time you are aggressive."



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

ON MINDSET OF TEAM AS CHASE GETS CLOSER AND ATTENTION TO OTHER TEAMS IN CONTENTION: "We are paying attention to our program. On doing what we need to be doing. Making sure we don't have things like lug nuts coming off or tires rolling across pit road. Just making sure we are keeping things under control that are in our control. That is what our main focus for this weekend."

ON PAYING ATTENTION TO OTHER CARS IN THE CHASE DURING A RACE: "The only car we really have to pay attention to is the No. 9 car (Kasey Kahne) and what he is doing. He is the only guy out there right now that is looking for his way in. But the other guys in eighth, ninth and 10th, you pay attention to but if you just do what you can do on the race track and make results happen for ourselves and things will be ok."

ON PINPOINTING ONE EVENT THAT MADE YOUR SEASON: "Not yet, it is going to be tough. The quickest thing that comes to mind was that we had a good race car at Lowe's Motor Speedway and got knocked out of contention there and what kind of points that we lost. Of course, the 25 points that we lost there as well. That is probably one of the events that we can look at to try something different and try to change up."

ON CALIFORNIA BEING AS IMPORTANT AS RICHMOND: "For us the big thing right now is about positioning ourselves in the Chase. I think we have a legitimate shot at being in it right now. It is all about trying to get up to that third spot. We can't catch the leaders, but if we can get up to there and have good results to get to third, we will only be 10 points behind the two leaders coming into Loudon. Then we will have a better shot at winning the championship. It doesn't really matter how you do, what you do throughout the final 10, but you never know how much those five points could be worth coming down to the end of the year."

ON RICHMOND: "Richmond has been good to me, I am not sure totally what the deal is. I have run really well there for some reason. We just to just keep that trend going. We had two fourth place finishes there last year, we had a fifth place there this spring. If we can get another fifth place finish or better, that will be great. That will just add to our success we have had there and of course our chance for making it."

ON KASEY KAHNE WINNING FOUR RACES THIS YEAR AND NOT BEING IN THE CHASE: "It is tough to know what changes you would make, you have a guy who can win four races during a year at the mile and a halves - the Lowe's, the Texas, the Atlanta- where ever he has won. They are all relatively the same. He tends to struggle at some other places. So maybe that is something they need to work on trying to make themselves better at the places where they have struggled. At lot of it was bad luck, so he needs to keep some luck on his side. He is one of the most talented drivers out here today. He definitely has got the resources and the support behind him. For him being on the outside looking in, I can imagine it is a tough situation."

ON QUALIFYING AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY. "It doesn't matter where you qualify here. A year ago the spring race, we qualified on the pole and finished 25th and then last year, we qualified 25th and finished first and this spring we qualified seventh and finished 10th. We will just have to see how it goes for us, it isn't really a place where qualifying much matters, it is just a place that being so wide and the asphalt has aged you are able to search around for a place to run." ON BEING BOOED? "I like noise. Noise is good. Good or bad. As long as they are making noise. That was the famous words of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and I am going to abide by those."

ON CONFIDENCE COMING TO CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY AS DEFENDING RACE WINNER: "I feel good about it. I think we have a good shot to run well, I am not sure about our shot to win. It is like any week, you never know who is going to be good until after the first round of practice or so. I feel like this is a place we run well. I like coming to the two-mile race tracks. We run well at Michigan and we run well here. I think it would be a good weekend for us."

ON CHANGING MENTALITY WITH CHASE LOOMING IN FRONT OF HIM: "I think the way it is now, being this late in the season, if you have a shot to win, yes great, go for it. But I can't put myself in a particular spot that will put you in a position to do something negative toward your entire effort. The biggest thing for us is to make to with what we have got we just have to finish. If we have a top-five car, then finish fifth with it. We don't need to push the issue. Fifth is just fine relative to how the other guys in the Chase are doing."

COMFORT LEVEL OF HAVING JIMMIE (JOHNSON) AND JEFF (GORDON) TO LEAN ON FOR CHASE: "We all have our team meetings, so the biggest thing is we just go out there and do what we need to do to make each other better and each team stronger. For us to work with each other, that is what we need to keep doing. We just need to keep making sure that everybody at Hendrick Motorsports runs well. The other biggest thing is that with all three of us in the Chase, that means we have to battle one another for the championship, so that will be the tough spot. It doesn't matter to Rick (Hendrick) who wins the championship, just so he is at the head table in New York. Two years ago when my brother won the championship, Jeff and Jimmie were battling for second and third and they weren't giving each other much room. I look forward to that, I think it will be cool. Hopefully you will see three teammates battling for not only a win at a race, but for a championship."

ON WHAT HE WOULD HAVE DONE IF HE HAD GOTTEN TO MATT KENNSETH LAST WEEK IN BRISTOL: "I wouldn't have spun him out. He has never done anything dirty to me. We have always raced each other really really clean. I have a lot of respect for Matt. He has always been very cool to me and helped me out and things like that. I would have tried something out of the ordinary to get by him, but with all the lapped cars around the way they were, that would have made it exciting."

ON COMPARISON TO CUTLER (Jay, Denver Bronco quarterback): "Oh yeah, definitely. He came in there and played well. He was playing very maturely and doing a bunch of things right, not making any mistakes. I think he only made one mistake last night. He threw an interception, but you're going to have that every now and then, especially being as young as he is. He's not even into his first yet; he's still in the pre-season. So I think that there are a lot of traits there with me."

ON SUCCESS AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY: "It is a cool play for me, I like coming here. I first came here 2001 with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and was very fast but wasn't able to race. I was successful then and have been pretty successful here the last couple of years in Cup. In Busch, I haven't done that great in that. I am not sure what it is, but I look forward to coming here. The weather is great for me. It is what I grew up with. Some people think it is too hot, but for me it is perfect."

ON MATURITY AS A DRIVER: "I feel like I have become a smarter racer. Before, I was just always out for the win and maybe just being too erratic and sometimes putting myself, not in a good spot where I needed to be. This year, now understanding the racing a little bit better and understanding how to points race, I think it has probably come down me maturing as not only a driver but as a person. My biggest mentor has been Rick (Hendrick). He has been the one to come to me and talk to me. Being able to watch Jimmie and Jeff and talk to them during the race weekend, it really helps me out and gives me a better sense of what I should be trying."

ON HIS REPUTATION: "You want to do what is right for yourself, your team, owner and sponsors but you want to be yourself. You don't want to be labeled as one of the poster children of NASCAR, or whatever, you do want to be yourself and your own person."