PAUL MENARD, NO. 15 MENARD'S MONTE CARLO SS:

"The car was awesome for a long time, then it started to get tight, really really tight. Then we just lost the draft. I don't know if we had a slow leak but we ended up blowing the right front tire going through the tri-oval. I guess that is just the way it goes. We have a heck of a race car in the Busch Series so we will work on getting our Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevy up front in that race."

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT MONTE CARLO SS:

On feeling a vibration in the car: "I'm not sure what we've got going on. It sounds like (Ken) Schrader and I here are together here having similar problems, whatever it is, it sounds like a wheel was loose. We took off on the restart and everything was fine until we got up to speed and got some lateral load in the tires. It was rolling good in a straight line but when we got load in it, we had a pretty bad vibration. Shrader is having the same thing so I was just talking to Fatback (crew chief of the No. 21) and I told him we've definitely got to come in. We've got too good of a car to take a chance."

JEFF GREEN, NO. 66 BEST BUY MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 11th:

"It was pretty good on new tires, but when the tires got hot, the car drove me more that I drove it. It just slid around too much. If the sun had been out, it would have been a lot worse. For our first time out, we had pretty good pit stops. We recovered pretty goo there on that last green. It gives us a pretty good starting spot for Sunday. We just have to make some changes so it will drive a little better. Racing wise I think our season really starts next week in California. This is just a test for us and we feel like if we can come out of here with a decent finish, maybe a top-20. If we can do that, we have a decent start for the season. We are just looking forward to the rest of the season and I am glad to be back in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS where I belong."

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 8th:

"I'm not going to stand here for 10 minutes and go over comparisons between Sunday (Bud Shootout) and yesterday. We've got a lot of work to do for Sunday and I'm excited about it." HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE RACE IN GENERAL? "It was good when we were up front. We had a loose right rear wheel and to come in and when we got in the back, we got tight. We just need to stay up front. The balance was pretty good when were up front." WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE FOR THE 500 NOW AFTER LEARNING MORE TODAY? "We've got a car that's good. Make no doubt about that. Even with as tight as we were, we were still decent. We'll be fine. The good thing is that we've got Friday and Saturday to work on it, so we'll be fine."

BRIAN VICKERS, NO. 25 GMAC MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 20th:

"There were a couple of incidents there at the end that just really hurt us. It seemed like it was a little hard to pass out there. Everybody was a lot more conservative, you just kind of ran side-by-side. It was hard to work your way to the front. The first run, the car was handling pretty decent, it was a little tight. The second run, the car was handling great. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time a couple of times. First time when the 99 got loose and Schrader checked up, I think we lost about 10 spots. Then that next time when they wrecked on the front stretch after the caution came out. I ran across some debris and slit the right front pretty bad so we couldn't go back green on that. So there we were, you can't make up much time on a green white checkered. We still have to work on how the car sucks up in the draft to other cars. It seems to be bogged down a little bit. We definitely figured some stuff out that we can take in to Sunday.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 4th:

ON PROVING HE HAS QUITE A TEAM AFTER WHAT HAPPENED EARLIER IN THE WEEK "It was nice to be out on the race track today. That's old news. There's something else to talk about now."

HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO COME THROUGH THE FIELD THE WAY YOU DID? "I'm very excited. I did also realize that there were some cars that were handling much better than we were. We had a great pit stop that got us some more track position. We just need to go back and get a little bit better. We need some more front grip in the car but all in all a lot of a excitement and a good practice run for this team in Chad's absence."

ON DARIAN GRUBB FILLING IN FOR CHAD KNUAS "He's been somebody that's been a very important part of the 48 team for a lot of years. It's just natural. It works better and it flows easily because we have this time and experience together. So all in all it looks good."

ON IT BEING CALM OUT THERE "It was much more relaxed. I think the 500 will be that way as well until you get down to the final 15, 20, 30 laps. We know what we should do, but we're racers. We get out there in that environment and we want to race hard. If there aren't any points on the line and a trophy on the other end, we're going to race and be crazy and do the things that we know how to do. Unfortunately that causes some wrecks at time. Today was good and smooth. I think the biggest threat was everybody trying to dodge the debris on the front stretch. All in all a good day."

ON HIS HOPES FOR A WIN SUNDAY "Well we're definitely excited. We're off to a good start. The handling of your race car is going to be a big key for everyone in the 500 and we've got a little bit of work to do there still."

ON WORKING WITHOUT CHAD KNAUS "It's definitely different but the good thing is that Darian has a lot of experience with the team and has been a voice that I've listened to on the radio for a lot of years. It's as seamless as to be expected but all in all, it went really well. We had a good, smooth day today. The pit stop was good. The adjustments were good. So you know, life is good."

HOW BAD IS CHAD MISSING THIS WEEKEND? "I know can only imagine."

STERLING MARLIN, NO. 14 WASTE MANAGEMENT MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 26th:

We just looked over to switch the oil cooler fan off, there was debris or something on the track and when I looked up, everyone was stopped. I hit the brakes and started sliding but I just couldn't get stopped. These speedway cars just don't have the brakes there, so I guess I will take the blame for it.

I am not sure how bad the car is. It is a really good car, it stays down by itself before the first caution came out. We lost a few spots when someone got sideways but we have got a good car. We will get it fixed and be back ready to go to the front.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Monte Carlo SS Post Race Press Conference

DALE EARNHARDT, JR. NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 3rd:

ON HIS RUN TODAY:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: We started off the race real, real tight. We've been fighting tight in the practices we've had. Car got real, real tight. We didn't really fall to the back on purpose. I was having to lift a lot to keep from hitting the wall.

We made the change on that first opportunity to get tires. That helped the car quite a bit. Obviously, we were able to get back to the top five or up in the top five. We still got some work to do. Still I'm not real happy with the way the car handles. But Tony, Jr. and them guys understand what we need to do. We'll talk and practice a little bit more.

I know we can get it worked out. So I'm pretty excited about, you know, coming up. I think the car runs great. You guys want us to get out there and run up front, show whether we're dominant or not. But we got a great car. We get our turn we'll be able to do that.

Q. DID YOU HAVE ENOUGH TO GET UP TO THE FRONT?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, we had enough race car, just not enough time. We got a couple good shoves there at the end. I was able to get side by side with Carl coming to the line. I feel like Jimmie would have helped me in the case if he had to choose between the two.

We might have been able to make a stab at the 38 there. We just didn't have enough laps. We had a pretty good car. We still were pretty tight there at the end to make the kind of runs we're accustom to making on people, having the kind of car we're accustom to having.

Q. WAS THERE AS MUCH BUMPING GOING ON AND DID YOU GUYS TAKE TO HEART WHAT MIKE HELTON SAID BEFORE THE RACE?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: You know what, it goes back to what type of race the shootout is, what type of race you got to expect when you're running the sprint for 200 grand, whatever it pays.

It's just like the All Star race and the 600, big difference there between the mentality and attitudes out on the racetrack. I don't know what the big surprise is. So, you know, when we got to these 125s or 150 qualifiers, you're going to take care of your car. Your car is going to push, handle bad. You ain't going to be able to get up on people like you can in the shootout. The 500 will be the same way. We'll make pit stops and stuff like that under green. Just the different race, and it was.

Q. CAN YOU JUST TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK THE USEFULNESS OF THIS RACE IS NOW THAT THEY'VE CHANGED THE FORMAT.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, I think that they need to go back to the way they used to do it as far as letting the first race be the inside line, the second race be the outside line. This will be the only race we run qualifying races, this should be the only race that would be different in how they line up the field. It's very confusing for the drivers. I don't know, the 38's on the pole, right?

It gets confusing when who is locked in the field, who is not locked in the field, who is racing in. Last year, the most ridiculous thing I ever saw when they sent Robby home after he finished in the top 10. Got to get rid of stuff like that.

Q. WITH ALL THE "TO DO" ABOUT THESE ORANGE LINES ON THE TRACK, BUMP DRAFTING, SEEMS LIKE KIND OF A NON STORY. DO YOU THINK EVERYBODY WAS ON HIS BEST BEHAVIOR?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Yeah. I mean, I knew the mentality was different. The shootout is a night race. Hell, we all came from night racing, banging Saturday night, a lot of money, a little bit of time to get it, a lot of hungry drivers ain't been on the racetrack all winter.

Q. DALE, DO YOU WISH THAT MAYBE NOTHING HAD BEEN SAID AT ALL ABOUT THIS BUMP DRAFTING STUFF? THEY'RE JUST GOING TO CREATE A PROBLEM THAT WASN'T INTENDED TO BE?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, it creates, you know you know, it comes down to, you know, knowing what you're doing out there. There's guys where, you know, not naming any names obviously, but there's guys out there you don't want to get bump drafts from, and there's guys you're glad to see in your mirror and know they know how to bump draft. I like getting bump drafts when it's done for the purpose of improving both our positions. A lot of guys rear back, just slam you. They don't go anywhere. Hell, if you can hang on, you might get a little bit out of it. For the most part it don't do anybody any good when you do that.

You know, I think the veterans need to stand up a little bit and talk to some of the rookies coming into the sport. Obviously, they'll talk about it in the rookie meetings and stuff. Obviously, maybe they don't talk enough about it. Rookie meetings used to handle that kind of stuff. Get some of these guys walking around in the garage, talk to some of these drivers, if they'll listen. That usually fixes the problem in NASCAR. Normally you don't have to step in.

Q. DALE, A WEEK AGO BEFORE YOU EVEN GOT ON THE TRACK MEDIA DAY, YOU SAID YOU HAD THE CAR TO BEAT. ARE YOU TEMPERING THAT AT ALL AFTER WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE TODAY?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I feel pretty good about my car. If we can get it to rotate in a corner, get around a corner, we got a fast race car, good enough car to win. I was really, really tight out there. I was having to run lines I don't want to run, don't normally like to run to get the car to go around the corner. A lot of times, you know, like that first run, we were second to last there for a long time, all the way to the end of it. We got a better car than that. We just got to work on it, needs a little bit of practice we have left.

Q. ON THE DEBRIS WITH JUST A COUPLE LAPS REMAINING UNDER YELLOW

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Yeah, I was going to follow Sadler. Right out of the corner of my eye I saw I had a car beside me, which was not I wasn't expecting it to be there because we were under caution. I had to go somewhere else. I don't know how the banging got going on.

We run the caution. Like I say, I mean, a lot of guys are rusty. Everybody is on top of each other, trying to get the best position they can. Maybe just a little too anxious there in the back.

Q. DALE, JIMMIE JOHNSON SAID THE OTHER DAY THAT EVERY CREW CHIEF OUT THERE BENDS THE RULES A LITTLE BIT. DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT? DO YOU THINK THAT'S WHY THERE WAS NO OUTCRY WHEN JIMMIE GOT CAUGHT?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I think the outcry, there was no outcry because, you know, there was more stories that kind of overshadowed that, the bump drafting, there was something else. Obviously, the tribute, the three tributes that have been on TV and all that stuff. I think, you know, a lot of things have overshadowed what Chad did. Guys get cheating all the time. I think what Chad did is nothing new in the garage. That's all I really got to say about it.

Q. YOU ARE GUARANTEED IN THE SHOW ALREADY. THEREFORE, IS THERE ANY LUSTER LOST AT ALL WITH THE DUEL, MAYBE THE WAY IT USED TO BE WITH THE TOP 35 RULE? STILL LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE RACING PRETTY HARD.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: It's kind of like heat racing. Heat races are a blast, always enjoy running in a heat race. Gives you an idea about your competition going into the 500. You get to learn a little bit about your car obviously. I think any time you line us up, we're going to go for it. I think the qualifying deal, the rules they have now, it takes a little bit away from what it means, other than win it.

Q. NASCAR IS ALREADY WORKING ON REVISIONS AT THE R&D CENTER TO THE BUMPER. BY THE TIME WE GET TO TALLADEGA, MAY NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SPOTTERS AND THE NO ZONES. DO YOU THINK THAT SHOULD HAPPEN?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: They can change the bumpers and stuff. We'll still run into each other with them 'cause that's what we do. You know, it will change how the cars overheat and all that stuff.

I think it's best left in the driver's hands and the crew's hands on how they handle this issue.

I don't think that NASCAR can step in and make any improvements. They'll probably make the situation a whole lot worse for all of us anyways.

If you can't if you can't get up against somebody and push 'em a little bit down the back straightaway, it's going to be real hard to pass. Guys just get stuck side by side. If you watch any of these races out here, you see these guys when they're side by side, it takes somebody to push them back. If you take that away, I don't know what we'll be doing.

Q. CAN YOU SIZE UP THE FIELD? YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT YOU KIND OF HAD AN IDEA OF WHO WAS WHERE, WHAT THEY HAD. OBVIOUSLY, ALL THE SANDBAGGING HAS BEEN PUT ASIDE. WHO IS GOING TO BE YOUR COMPETITION ON SUNDAY?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Typical people. Roush, Hendrick, Yates, Gibbs. Pretty much all those guys.

Q. ANY DARK HORSES?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, dark horses? I don't really see any.

Q. IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A CREW CHIEF TO MAKE A CHANGE TO A CAR, LIKE CHAD DID, AND THEN NOT TELL YOU THAT THEY'RE GOING TO MAKE THAT CHANGE TO THE CAR?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I don't think so. I mean, in a situation like that, your crew chief, no matter how great a relationship he has with the driver, the less people that know about it the better. If you're cheating, the less people know about it, the better. You're not going to tell your driver. At least I wouldn't. I wouldn't tell anybody.

Q. DID TONY, JR. EVER TELL YOU TO CHEAT?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: No, he doesn't. He knows I got a big mouth. If he's cheating, he ain't telling me.