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

HAVE YOU IMPROVED YOUR INTERMEDIATE TRACK PROGRAM? THIS WAS ALMOST A CLASSIC JEFF GORDON PERFORMANCE BY GETTING BETTER AND BETTER THROUGHOUT THE DAY "Yeah, I was really thrilled with the performance of the whole team. I've got to thank all my sponsors for being on board. It was really a cool day for us to be able to get back in the top five and have something for those guys and go forward. It's due to (crew chief) Steve Letarte and the entire team and their effort on pit road and just never giving up. I think we saw this same performance in California; we just didn't get the results. Today we did."

WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON'S WIN, YOU GET TO GO TO VICTORY LANE AS A CAR OWNER. DID YOU GET A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THAT? "I did, actually. I had kind of a front row seat. I was sitting back there in fifth. I went into Turn 3 and I saw Jimmie go to the outside of him (Matt Kenseth) and I thought man, if he could just get to his quarter panel I think he's got him. I saw him do it. I wasn't sure if he won at the line, but I was sure pulling for him and I'm very excited for that team. What a great start to the year they've had.

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 3rd:

A TOP THREE FINISH FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, YOU'VE GOT TO BE PLEASED: "Yeah, we're definitely pleased with that. The Ice Age Monte Carlo SS was pretty good today. It wasn't one of the best cars all day. Matt Kenseth had a very strong race car. Jimmie (Johnson) was pretty mediocre throughout the day. We were ahead of him for a little bit there and if you give Jimmie a green-white-checkered, and he's in first or second, he's going to put on a whale of a show for us and he ended up doing that today."

TALK ABOUT RACING TONY STEWART AND THE INCIDENTS ON THE RACE TRACK: "We never hit or anything, but I guess I have to go have another chitchat with him to figure out what I did wrong. I guess we can't race each other, I don't know. California seemed to go pretty well, but I'm not sure what I did wrong today to aggravate him or whatnot, but we'll go figure it out." More to follow

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS:

"It was a good day for us. We'll just keep working and trying to get a little better and keep improving. We're decent. We're not where we need to be just yet, but we can see it from where we are."

DID YOU SEE THE NO. 5 (KYLE BUSCH) AND THE NO. 20 (TONY STEWART) BUMPING UP THERE? "Oh, I saw them (laughs). I wouldn't want to be part of that. It wasn't looking very pretty."

ON THE RACE AND THE TRACK: "This is an awesome race track. It's a shame they're going to tear this place up. It's a travesty that they're going to take this race track apart. It's ridiculous."

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

HOW DID YOU CUT YOUR (RIGHT REAR) TIRE DOWN (ON LAP 263)? "I had to push so hard to get by Kyle (Busch). We just got tight behind him and brushed the wall (on lap 256). That's probably where we did the damage to the tire, but for sure it shoved the fender in. That's what made me tight and lost us all those positions. Then at the end, we cut a tire down and had to go to the back. I'm not blaming Kyle for that because that was after the last pit stop. You've got less than 30 laps to go, you've got to race at that point. I have no ill feelings toward him over me hitting the wall while I was behind him. What I'm upset about is that with 80 laps to go we're sitting there for 15-20 laps behind him trying to get by and he's holding us up for no reason. With 80 laps to go he's holding us up and we all have another pit stop to make. Work on your car and go on. There's just an etiquette. I'm frustrated with it and I honestly think I have every right to be. There's absolutely no reason to hold a driver up when there's 80 laps to go. That's the only thing I was disappointed about."

KYLE BUSCH POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS:

"We had a great race car all day. It was definitely one of the best cars I've had here at Vegas. We came up one spot short here from last year. But that might have just been been a tribute to being too loose there at the end of the race. My team did a great job giving me great pit stops and keeping me up front pretty much most of the day. I think the lowest we fell might have been 8th or 10th or something. So to have a good run like that in my hometown is definitely means a lot. It gives me a lot of pride. Being able to come out of here with another top three finish, we can go on to Atlanta and hopefully have a strong run there."

ON THE BATTLE WITH TONY STEWART: "The first time we really got going after each other was with about 40 (laps) to go -- maybe about 45 to go or something like that. That's the perfect amount of laps to go where it's time to dig in deep and get after it and get on top of the wheel and start going. There is no more rolling over and playing dead and letting guys go and stuff like that -- Mark Martin style -- it's time to race and it's time to get after it and that's what I was doing. If I might have aggravated Stewart a little bit, then I apologize to him for that. But if I give up one spot to him, then I get aero-tight behind him and then I'm going back five, eight, or ten spots like I did. I think I gave up third spot to either him or Kahne or somebody. And then I fell all the way back to 8th and then the pit stop got me all the way back up to 5th. It was definitely one of those deals where when you get stuck back in traffic, it's hard to get clean air and pick your way back through, especially for my car today for some reason."

ON THE LARGE NUMBER OF GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED FINISHES LATELY: "I don't know. But I had the best seat in the house for today's finish. It was definitely pretty cool. I was hoping they (Kenseth and Johnson) were going to wreck each other, but I knew they weren't going to. That would have given me a pretty good shot to get on by. But Kenseth and Johnson are two of the best racers out there, so it was going to be one of those deals where if I could get close enough, I would have a chance at making it three-wide at the finish. But my car was just so loose in the last run of the day I could barely hang onto it. I changed my line a little when Kahne got by Stewart and he was catching me and I was able to pick up about two tenths and I was running those guys down just a little bit, but it wasn't going to be enough time for me to catch up to them. I knew as soon as that caution came out, I was actually kind of frustrated. I was like, man, couldn't we just finish this thing? I don't know where I'm going to finish now, but I was able to come out with a 3rd place finish."

TONY STEWART IS UPSET WITH YOU. DO YOU THINK HE'S PICKING ON YOU? "No, I wouldn't say he is picking on me. I would just have to say that maybe there was something that I did that I couldn't tell. I'm inside my race car and I can't see what I'm doing outside of it. If I slipped up and slid in front of him one time, and whatever, then it was just my mistake on that part. We need to have another sit-down I guess and try to figure out exactly what I did wrong so I can try to change it and fix it."

ON THE LAST 15 LAPS OF THE RACE, YOU TURNED THE FASTEST LAP SEVERAL TIMES. WERE YOU HOLDING TONY STEWART UP, OR WAS YOUR CAR REALLY. "When I had Tony behind me, he was always charging into the corners real far and getting up underneath my spoiler and getting me loose. That was one of the problems why I was holding him up. If I could actually get some clean air on my spoiler and get away from him a little bit, I could drive away which is what I did. I kept having to run a line that would keep my car stable getting into the corners which was making it slower for me because I couldn't arc it in as much as I wanted to. Otherwise, I'd spin out and back it into the fence. It was just one of those deals where being able to try to get a little bit of clean air surrounding my car was going to be better for me and that was what happened."

AT CALIFORNIA, TONY STEWART SAID HE WELCOMED YOUNG DRIVERS SEEKING HIM OUT AND TALKING. WILL YOU GO SEARCH FOR HIM NOW AND HAVE ANOTHER CONVERSATION? "Yeah, definitely. I'm sure he's already left the race track here. If I can't catch him at the airport, I'll try to find his phone number during the week or go find him in Atlanta before practice starts to try to clear the air and get it over with and get it behind us."

MANY DRIVERS HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF AGGRESSIVE DRIVING. HOW DO YOU KEEP FROM DRIVING ON EGGSHELLS? "I just go out there and do my best. All I can do is go out there and drive my own race car to the best of my ability and the best it is capable of doing. That's what happened today. I was probably if not a 3rd place car, a 4th place car. Kahne was strong until I changed up my line. I was stronger than probably the front two runners, but just track position hurt us. It wasn't too bad today, but being able to keep it up front definitely meant a lot to us."

WHY ARE YOU ACCEPTING ALL THE BLAME? "I don't know if it's because I'm 20 years old and I'll accept all the blame, or whatever. But I can't see what I'm doing from inside my race car outside. You have to go back and look at the film. But I don't remember running into his door at all today or getting under his rear bumper at all today, but I tached out a little bit down the back straightaway one time from him. So, I'll have to go back and figure out what I did."

DO YOU FEEL LIKE NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, OR THAT ANYTHING THAT GOES A LITTLE WRONG, IS GOING TO BE ATTRIBUTED TO YOU BECAUSE THAT'S THE MODE RIGHT NOW? "It seems as though that's happened so far this year -- ever since the Bud Shootout. But I don't know. The Bud Shootout was a tough spot there because I was waving for a lap and a half trying to come to pit road and Denny Hamlin passes me down the back straightaway and then I tried to get down in front of Stewart and he was there and there wasn't enough room. We rubbed fenders there and then I was racing with Mark Martin and stuck my nose in a little bit too far where it shouldn't have been. I thought he was going to pass for the lead and I wasn't going to go with him because I knew he wasn't going to be able to get it done. I was just going to stay on the bottom and he tried coming back down and we touched. But then in the 500, Stewart and I got together with four laps to go. When there are four laps to go in the Daytona 500, what are you going to do? You're going to try to block somebody or are you just going to get him go and get freight-trained all the way back to 30th or whatever? The race track is not only theirs, but it's mine too. That's the only thing that I'd like to try to gain a little respect on. I race fine with (drivers like) Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne today -- everybody I was ever around. For some reason, it's 40 laps to go and I'm digging in deep and getting on top of my steering wheel and not letting Tony Stewart pass me and for some reason, I've got a problem. So I don't know."

ON THE RIVALRY BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR BROTHER, KURT, WHEN HE WASN'T RUNNING WELL TODAY, WAS THAT ON YOUR MIND? "I was watching a little bit today under caution to see where he was running. I wish he was running better today. It's not something like yeah, I beat him and I'm the hometown hero today. I wish he could have been battling with the best of us up there today, but I guess his car wasn't meant to be."

WHAT DOES A THIRD PLACE FINISH MEAN TO YOU TODAY? "It means a lot. At Daytona, I think we had the 5th highest running average of the whole race. At California, we struggled a little bit. For some reason I struggle there in the daytime. I run better there at night. Today we were able to get a third place finish. It just shows my guys have been really working hard in the winter time to come up somewhat like the Roush cars are running and we've been really working on our front ends and trying to get them to handle better."

ON THE TRACK TEMPERATURE CHANGES, HOW DID THAT AFFECT YOUR DRIVING? "I was going to come over the radio and ask if the weather had changed because I started getting a little looser. We kept loosening up my car all day and finally it got so loose that I was barely hanging on. We had to come back off those changes in the last pit stop. But we didn't come back off enough because I was still too loose at the end. Last night in the Busch race, it was hot and then it got cold and I just kept getting looser. It wasn't too bad out there, but the little bit that it changes, seems to change your car."

JIMMIE JOHNSON AND (CREW CHIEF) DARIAN GRUBB, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS:

SINCE THIS TEAM IS DOING SO WELL, SHOULD CHAD KNAUS STEP BACK AND LET DARIAN GRUBB BE THE PERMANENT CREW CHIEF? "Chad started this race team and picked Darian to be the race engineer and has brought him through the organization and has really shown us all what we're made of and what our talents are and what we can do. Chad is a huge asset to this race team and has built this team and has been at home working on the races ahead of us so we're prepared and ready when we get to them. We've had a very good record so far. Our cars have been very strong from all the work that Darian and Chad and everyone has done over the off-season. It's just really a team effort. I'm very pleased with this start. We're looking forward to having Chad back. We're all learning with you -- with everyone out there. We thought that we could, but we didn't think we'd be in this position. We're very grateful. We're all more confident in our abilities. We've all had to assume new responsibilities and more responsibilities."

ARE YOU FEEL YOU'RE ON THAT HOT STREAK AGAIN? "In a way I do. Fontana was good for us. Today we didn't have the fastest car at times but we got it right at the end of the race. I'm happy and confident in the team's ability to listen to me throughout the day and Darian's ability as I'm telling him what the car is doing and he's making great adjustments. He's put us in race-winning contention at the end of every race this year so far. We wanted to be off to a nice start and this is more than that. We hope to keep this momentum rolling."

ON THE GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED FINISHES "I personally feel that the green-white-checkered is a great compromise. If I was a paying fan and sat in the grandstands and the race ended under caution, I'd be upset. I think one attempt at a green-white-finish for the competition side and for the fans. I don't think I would have caught Matt Kenseth. I was slowly catching him. If we'd have had a long run, I think I could have been up there racing with him. But if it stayed green, I believe Matt had it in the bag. When the caution came out, I could get right on his bumper and could work out my game plan from there."

WERE YOU BIDING YOUR TIME FOR MOST OF THE DAY? "It was tough. I don't want to make a mistake and crash the car trying to get extra speed out of it. There were times today where we were a little too tight and some cars were faster than us and I just pulled down and let them go. I really tried to focus on my car for three-quarters of the race and make sure I had the best driving race car I could. The game plan was to stay in the top five and be smooth and clean all day long and then from the second or third pit stop from the end, really pour it on. That's what we did. I didn't think it was going to come together that well. But it played out. If the caution hadn't come out, we would have been closer to Matt's bumper, but we wouldn't have won."

HOW NERVOUS WERE YOU AND WERE YOU THINKING ABOUT BEING CAREFUL AT THE END?
"Throughout the race, I was thinking points and racing just hard enough. But when you're that close at the end, all the sensible thinking is gone and you do all you can to win the race."

GRUBB: "Those last couple of laps, I was nervous because our job was done. The pit crew did a great job all day. I don't think we lost any positions in any stop except for the stops where we did major adjustments. That took time. They did a great job every stop getting the most they could. They didn't make any mistakes. We got Jimmie back out there that last stop. He came in second and we go him back out there in second. That's all we can ask for. It would have been nice to have come out in the lead, but Kenseth had a great stop as well. But Jimmie just got out there and got it done after that."

THIS IS YOUR 20TH WIN. IS IT MORE FUN TO WIN WHEN IT COMES RIGHT DOWN TO THE FINISH, OR TO HAVE A13 CAR LENGTH LEAD?
JOHNSON: "To win like this is the best. In Matt's defense, I lost one to Carl Edwards like this and it's the worst way to lose a race."

DID CHAD KNAUS HELP YOU PREPARE DURING THE COURSE OF THIS WEEK? ANYTHING SPECIAL?
JOHNSON: "It' not just over this last week, it's really from the inception of this race team -- the start of it. We just have a mindset in the way that Chad runs and operates things and the cars and the direction the cars are going. Darian has been on the box with Chad helping him make decisions. So it's been an easy transition for us to work together. We have a couple of other crew chiefs who could jump in at Hendrick Motorsports. But I didn't want to start that communications process over. Darian has been there. He's extremely talented and deserving of the chance."

GRUBB: "I guess I have to thank NASCAR for this. Chad's at home seven days a week working on these cars. It's pretty easy to unload fast when you've got a mind like that back at the fab shop working on it. Those guys are working unbelievable hours just trying to keep things going and keep them up front because they know we can. The cars and preparation are just second to none. It makes my decisions easy. I can look back at past history and use Jimmie's input and then talk to Chad at night and just see if he's agreeing with the changes we've made."

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS?
GRUBB: "If you started on the pole and you led every lap, then maybe you don't learn anything. But we're really working on it. We're improving our qualifying and working hard on every pit stop. The guys make suggestions to me. We keep learning. It might not be the same track or the same circumstances, but it still goes back in the back of your mind. The things we've built in the last three years I've been here and the four years Jimmie has been with Hendrick, there's a whole lot to build on. Hendrick cars are up front. They were all up there all day. That just goes to show the strength of our whole program."

HAVE YOU AT ANY TIME FELT A DISADVANTAGE BY NASCAR'S PENALTY?
GRUBB: "I'd definitely say so. Chad's leadership is second to none. We really miss that. But then it's also given us a chance to expand on our role. We get to grow within our positions and it makes us a tighter team so we really cannot wait until Chad to get back to put his leadership back in his team and everybody understands their role that much better and how much input they can have to the team and how much better we can make these race cars and make Jimmie happy on the race track. You can all see what Jimmie can do in the last two laps."

JOHNSON: "If you were inside our minds and the transporter and the garage, I think Darian explained it perfectly. We're learning as we go and expanding in our positions. Between Darian and I, we look at each other and gauge by each other's intensity and we say all right, let's try this -- where Chad says we need to do this. It's been good for us to expand and learn. It's making this race team stronger and me a better race car driver and leader. It's making me more sensitive to what's going on underneath me in the car. So we've been performing well, but it's been a challenging road. It hasn't been as easy as it looks, I promise you."

DO YOU FEEL YOU'LL HAVE A WEAKNESS IN ATLANTA?
"No, I don't feel that there is a weakness. We're a very strong race team. My goals this season were to win a plate race, a road course race, and Bristol. Fortunately we got the plate race out of the way. I'm strong at all the tracks on the schedule so I feel good about it. We're learning the new Monte Carlo SS every day and we're making it better from week to week. You can only learn so much in the wind tunnel and we've really been developing the car and we're very happy with it and making some more gains. After Dover last year, when the shocks were not available for us to use any more, we had a lot of time invested on the back of our cars where Roush and other teams had worked on the front. On the off-season, we really worked on finding the right balance we needed. All the crew chiefs and engineers at Hendrick spend a lot of time working on the suspension and geometry to get the front of these cars better. I think we're off to a great start."

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE IDEA OF HAVING A CREW CHIEF AT THE SHOP AND ANOTHER ONE ON THE ROAD?
GRUBB: "That's definitely been talked about. A lot of people see how the F-I races go. You have to have a huge team of people to call a race correctly. It's nice to have technology and all those things going on, but you have to see the things in person. You can't sit and look at every car on the track on TV. You can tell a lot more by being here."