ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

WHAT’S THIS WEEKEND GOING TO BE LIKE FOR YOU? “Honestly racing this weekend for me is going to be fun. We’re going out there and try to do the best we can. We’re going to try to lead laps. We think we’re pretty safe in the points’ situation. As a race fan, you cannot be a race fan and not be excited about what’s going on here this weekend. Everybody that’s involved in The Chase and has a shot to win this championship, there’s some kind of story you can write about it.

“If Jimmie wins, I think you can say this can be one of the most successful seasons a racecar driver has had by winning the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, five top-two finishes in a row to win the championship. You put that all together.

“If Kevin wins, it’ll be the first person to win the Busch and Cup. If Denny wins it would be the first rookie. If Junior wins it’ll be the best comeback season in NASCAR history. We’ve all made fun of Matt Kenseth because he’s the reason we have The Chase format. We could win the championship under two different formats, so as a race fan, I think everybody’s got to be excited about this weekend. There’s something good going to come out of it on Monday morning for everybody.”

WHAT SURPRISED YOU WHEN YOU WENT TO EVERNHAM’S? “The biggest thing I’m surprised at is there are no egos on that race team. We’re one race team with three drivers – Kasey, Scott and myself. I was really surprised that Kasey and Scott really welcomed me in, really rolled out the red carpet. We share information like there is no tomorrow. I joke about it. I know the last time those guys had to go use the bathroom. We share that much information. From where I came from to where I am now, I think that’s the biggest difference. It’s cool to be a part of a team like that. Ray has got his hands in everything. He’s into it. He’s got a lot of fire. He wants to win. He wants to run good. He wants to be competitive no matter what it takes. They’re the two biggest things I was really surprised about. I’m happy about it. I’m just looking forward to the future racing with these guys. I think we’re going to get better. We’re working on our language barrier a little bit, and we should be fine.”

WHAT BRINGS ABOUT THE SHARING OF INFORMATION? “An owner can say, ‘guys, we’re rather you share information’ or not, but if you don’t want to work together it’s not going to work. It’s all about communication. That’s with every race team. You see the 24 and 48 always work well together. For some reason all the Joe Gibbs cars always work well together. Certain teams in this sport seem to have it working for them. Everybody wants to help each other on that race team at Evernham’s. It just starts at the top with Ray and goes to the team directors and all the way down the line.”

COMMENT ON THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS WEEKEND “It should be a big event. You look at our sport and how many Fortune 500 companies are part of it and how many fans we have. This would be a special weekend for everybody. I think they need to do whatever they can to hype it up as big as they can. We have the longest season of anybody. Why not make a big splash at the end of the year to crown our champion that has been a part of the sport since February?”

DO THINK IT’S GETTING BIGGER EVERY YEAR? “I think so, and I think The Chase has helped with that and they keep playing with different things, different rules that they might come with in The Chase to make it bigger and better. I think we have to do that to keep the fans’ interest, to keep the people coming to the stands and keeping those full. Sometimes you’ve got to do that. What’s wrong with trying to make some big splashes? What’s wrong with trying to do some things away from the racetrack top try to help with that? I think when race fans come to a championship weekend, it should not be just a green flag, 400 miles and then a checkered flag. Some things should go along with that.”

COMPARE MAKING THE CHASE VERSUS NOT MAKING IT “Making The Chase is so much more fun. Making it in 2004 and being a part of it is a big deal. It’s big for your sponsors and big for your team. When you’ve got more than 300 employees that work for your race team and all of them are trying to win a championship and be a part of The Chase, it makes them feel good. It puts a little hop in your step. Even though these guys are probably stressed out because it’s a tough weekend, it’s still fun to be a part of The Chase. Those 10 guys have had a great season, no matter what.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

ARE YOU IMPRESSED WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON’S RECENT PERFORMANCE? “It looks like it’s his year. They’ve been really, really good. They’re right there every weekend, and if you look back six weeks ago… They’ve done an awesome job. I don’t think you can take anything away by running second.”

WHAT KIND OF CHAMPION DO YOU THINK JIMMIE JOHNSON WOULD BE? “I don’t know. It’s tough to say. I think he’d do a good job because he’s really proud to be where he’s at and he’s very proud he’s been able to do the things he’s done as a driver for the past five years. I think he’d do a really good job there.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HAVE A CAR LIKE MATT KENSETH’S THAT’S GOOD ONE WEEK AND NOT SO GOOD THE OTHER? “I’ve been there, but I haven’t bee there while in The Chase. He’s had such great race cars and he gets to The Chase and his cars are not as good. It couldn’t be easy on him, but he’s still done a good job. He’s still second in points. That shows why he’s been a Nextel Cup champion in the past.”

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO IN THE OFFSEASON? “I’m going to keep building my sprint car team up. We’re going to start a couple of new teams. We’re going to build that up and build up a nice program, and then I’m going to Australia for a couple of weeks and enjoying myself. I’m going to actually drive in two sprint car races in Australia over New Year’s and relax for nine days over there and go up the coast. I’ve never been there and always wanted to go. It should be pretty fun. I’m taking about 10 people with me, so we should have a good time,”

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TIME OFF? “I’m ready for it to be over, but I could keep it going another month if you want me too. I’m the happiest and feel the best I’ve felt in three full seasons in the Cup Series. I’ve really enjoyed it this year. When you have good Dodge Chargers it really helps everything out. When you work with Kenny (Francis, team manager) and everybody on our team it makes your season go by a lot easier and a lot smoother. I can’t wait to go to Australia and take a month off, but at the same time, I could keep going another month.”

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING IN THE CHASE THIS YEAR THAT WOULD MAKE YOU TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT NEXT SEASON? “You just see what it’s like, how easy the points change, how easy each position swaps because of finishes and consistency and running up front. Driving and working on the car, communication – I think we do an awesome job right there. I think our team is really good, one of the top three or four teams in Nextel Cup I feel. I think if we keep doing those things we’ll be back in The Chase next year.”

IS THE CHASE WHAT YOU EXPECTED? “I feel like I was definitely ready for it. It just depends on how things go for you, how things fall in place. We’ve had a great year, a great Chase, but at the same time we’ve had some bad races. Some of the time it’s been my fault and other times it’s just been bad luck. Things like that happen in racing and you just have to live with it. That’s why racing is such an up and down, humbling sport.”