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

WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE THE LAST FEW DAYS? “It’s been pretty nice really. To be in the Chase, I’m happy about that and to know we have a shot to do better than 10th. It’s been cool. We went to New York and had some really good dinners up there with the France Family and the Nextel people and the other nine drivers. It was a good time. I had some fun with it. I’m a lot happier doing this than sitting at home like I did the past couple of years.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT A RULE CHANGE FOR THE CHASE TO ALLOW WINS TO COUNT MORE? “The way I look at it, I don’t care what they do with the points. That’s up to NASCAR. Right now it’s so much more exciting than it was four years ago. The way they’ve done the points, the way you fight to get in the top 10. You can have five wins and still battle if you’re not consistent enough. The championships Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt won, you have to be consistent. I think that still should be some what of wins the championship. That’s what’s going to win it in these last 10 races. I think that’s what should get you into The Chase also. We weren’t consistent enough for about six weeks there and it dropped us to 11th in the points. We got good in the last four races and got right back to where we’re at. I just think there has to be some consistency to get in The Chase and to win the Nextel Cup. Right now it’s about consistency. It’s about winning. It’s about a lot of things, and it’s pretty exciting. I think it made for a great Richmond race and these final 10 are going to be just as exciting.”

WHAT WOULD YOU THINK OF GIVING THE WINS A LITTLE MORE OF AN EDGE? “If you look at it that way, I would say you could lose a lot more by falling out of a race by having an engine failure or a flat right front. All types of different things can hurt you, and a win doesn’t help you as much as you can get hurt by other situations, so maybe 10 points, 20 points, I don’t know. I guess there’s a lot of ways you can look at it. The way it is right now, I’m happy we made it in and weren’t the one with five wins and missed The Chase. That’s good, but yeah, maybe a few more points for a win. Maybe that makes that guy get in comfortably or if you have the most wins and you’re within so many points you’re in. I don’t know. There’s so many ways you can look at it. Winning should mean a lot. It means a lot to the fans, the drivers, the teams, but it’s not a huge benefit in the points.”

DO YOU EXPECT AN EMOTIONAL RACE HERE SUNDAY? “I don’t know what to expect. I was with the top 10 all week and it’s the calmest, nicest I’ve ever seen these guys or I’ve ever been around them. I’m usually around them at the racetrack. We had fun. We all kind of hung out, and it was fun. It was weird. It was different than what I’ve been around the Jeff Gordons and Kyle Busch. I hung out with Kyle. I hung out with Denny Hamliin. We had a good time in New York and everyone was calm and happy. This weekend could explode. Who knows?”

HOW DO YOU CHANGE GEARS FROM MAKING THE CHASE TO WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “I feel like we need to keep doing the same things we’ve been doing the past four weeks, and that’s keep running hard every lap. I think I raced as hard as I could the past two weeks, every lap but the final four at Richmond. I kinda backed off there. Other than that it’s been wide open. Kenny (team director Francis) has made a lot of adjustments and not just a half turn here and a half turn there. It was one turn or two turns. You feel the changes a lot quicker. It’s been a big help, so yeah, we’re going to stick to that plan and we’re also going to stick to the plans of making the right decisions and not taking ourselves out at a place where we shouldn’t.”

IS THERE ANYWHERE WITH THE CHARGER WHERE YOU THINK YOUR TEAM IS AHEAD OF THE OTHER DODGE TEAMS? “The thing I see is you don’t know how people race their cars, how they set them up. I have no idea how anybody does it except our three cars. I think one thing about Evernham Motorsports is you can take either one of the three teams and especially the 9, and we can usually make it better and better throughout the night. By the end of the race we’re probably as close as we’ve been all night. Other teams whether it’s Chevrolet, Dodge or Ford that don’t get better, they fall off. I don’t know if that’s setup or adjustments. It could be either way. I know last year we struggled with setup and our car would be back by the end of the race even making the right adjustments. You can also just miss on adjustments and not be as good by the end of the race. There are different ways that can happen, and I would say that’s where we’re at our best over some of those teams. Our setups can last throughout the whole race and our adjustments can make our cars better.”

WHAT WOULD YOU THINK ABOUT WINS BEING WORTH MORE IN THE CHASE? “I would say it would probably be the same if you’d do it in the first 26 than if you’d do it in the final 10 also and do a little more for a win. Make that spot pay more for points and if you’d get three wins you’d be looking really good for points in the final three races. If you didn’t get any, you’d really need to work to get a win and that’s probably what the fans come to see. They come to see wins. You don’t see the crowd any louder than win the guy wins and does his burnout or gets out of his racecar. That’s a pretty exciting part of the race. If they made some more points there it might make it even more exciting.”

COMMENT ON YOUR WINNING STRATEGY “The last four races we were points racing as hard as anybody, but we were also racing for wins as hard as anybody. There was nobody else on the track trying to lead more laps than I was at those races. Kyle Busch was doing it but not because I wasn’t trying. Every lap I was wanting to race with him and pass him. We were able to do it at California and at Richmond he did it more. I really don’t know. That’s a tough question. Everybody does say that. I hear it all the time, too.”

WHAT DOES POINTS RACING MEAN? “Consistency. That’s what I would say. You have to finish. You can’t go out there and try to make a pass too early and spin out or something like that. You have to make it when you can clear the guy and when you know you can pass him and not get in a bad situation.”

TALK ABOUT THE INTENSITY LEVEL IN THE PAST TWO RACES “It was up. It was everything I thought about, everything I worried about for a month. After I got a little behind after Indy and Watkins Glen, it was intense. It was exciting. I was glad I was in a situation where I could do that. It was a lot better than being 12th or 13th where I had no shot at making The Chase. I think I had this question a lot of times before last Saturday night. It was ‘how did you sleep last night?’ I was like, ‘oh, I slept fine. Everything was good.’ And I did until last Saturday night. I realized Saturday night how bad I was sleeping the past month because I was out like a light that night. It felt pretty good waking up at noon the next day.”

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR YOU LOOKING TOWARD THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “I think Talladega is going to be our most challenging track to get that top 10, top 15 out of. Other than that, just showing up at the race track and understanding what I need from my race car before the race. I think the last month we’ve been able to really do a good job in practice and talk to Kenny about what the car’s doing and what I need to do better to be fast in the race. At times I’ve missed that over the last couple of years, especially early on. I feel like the last four races I’ve figured out how I want the car at different race track because every track is a little different. If I can keep that up in the final 10 it’ll help a lot in the point standings. I think that’s where Matt Kenseth is so good because he knows these tracks well and he knows just where he wants his car to start the race on Sunday and how it’ll last throughout the race and still be good at the end.”

WHO SHOULD BE CONSIDERED THE FAVORITES? “The way I look at it, I think Matt Kenseth for sure. It’s hard to say. You don’t say the right guy and he wins the

Chase and you’re completely wrong. You guys will forget about this before then. I think we’re going to be very good. I think the 9, 5, 17, 29 and 48, 8 – just go off the first three I gave you.”

HOW MUCH COULD THE LUCKY DOG RULE HELP? “The lucky dog rule is good, but hopefully we’re not in that situation. Usually if you are it’s because something happened. At this time of the year, if the 5 gets a Lucky Dog it’s because he got a flat tire, like at Martinsville and fell back a couple of laps. I’d say that’s how it’ll be for a lot of these guys in the top 10 and it’s good at that point because these guys just had a little problem and they’re getting back where they need to be. It’s a good rule. It’s tough at certain tracks where you keep having cautions and keep bringing guys back on the lead lap that probably don’t deserve to be on the lead lap, but they keep coming back because of the cautions. I think that’s where it’s a rule that should be looked at, but other than that it’s pretty good and keeps everybody going.”

COMMENT ON FEELING BAD FOR TONY STEWART NOT MAKING THE CHASE “I didn’t feel bad for him. I don’t think I ever said that, either. I may have said I’m surprised Tony Stewart’s not in, but that’s racing. I would have been surprised if we didn’t make it, too. It was a surprise. He was last year’s Nextel Champion and now he’s not in it. The top three are not in The Chase, so it was definitely surprising, but that’s racing. It’s up and down. That was a tough weekend for him, but I’m in and that’s all I care about right now.”

ARE YOU THE FAVORITE TO WIN THE TITLE CONSIDERING ALL THE MILE AND A HALF TRACKS IN THE FINAL 10? “I don’t know if it’s favorite or not, but it definitely gives us some good tracks to go to. It gives us some tracks we can definitely win at.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE A NEW LEASE ON LIFE AT THIS POINT COMING INTO THE CHASE JUST 45 POINTS BACK? Oh, yeah. I feel like we have as good a shot as anybody at this point. We’ve had one of the best seasons, my best season, so far. Five wins. We’ve been very competitive everywhere we’ve went. We just had about six races there where we weren’t consistent enough to be further up in the points. But, over the last month, we’ve been really good again, and I feel like we can carry that into the last 10 races and give these guys a good shot.

IT’S ALREADY BEEN SAID THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE SOME TWEAKS AND CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM IN THE FUTURE. SHOULD MORE BE GIVEN TO WINNING RACES?

I guess you could. I guess you could give more to that and just make it a bigger deal. I don’t know what that will exactly do, though. I think you do need to be consistent to win a championship, and you probably need to be consistent to make the Chase. You know, five wins and consistency, we would have been way up front. It’s been good how it is and whatever anybody wants to do. If they change it, we’ll race with those new rules.

DO GUYS IN THE CHASE HAVE CONCERN ABOUT GUYS THAT AREN’T IN THE CHASE, THAT THEIR ONLY GOAL IS TO WIN AND MIGHT TAKE A FEW MORE CHANCES SINCE THEY’RE NOT IN THE CHASE AS MUCH AS THOSE IN THE TOP 10? I don’t know. I feel pretty good about everybody out there. I think that the guys that are racing for 11th and racing for 15th are good guys, they didn’t make the Chase. I was one of them last year, and all I wanted to do was win races at the end of last year. And you know, we raced as hard as we could and didn’t take people out or anything like that. I don’t think we’ll have any problems with anybody, but you know, just racing hard.

YOU ARE ONE OF SEVERAL OPEN-WHEEL GUYS WITH THIS BACKGROUND HERE IN INDIANA AND THE MIDWEST THAT HAS MADE IT IN NASCAR, THE CUP. WE’RE GOING TO SEE SAM HORNISH JR. RUN SOME ARCA AND BUSCH (SERIES) NEXT YEAR, (JUAN PABLO) MONTOYA IS ALREADY CONFIRMED FOR CUP. WHAT KINDS OF THINGS DO THESE GUYS HAVE IN STORE? HOW TOUGH OF A TRANSITION, ESPECIALLY STARTING AT THE CUP LEVEL, IS IT? I think the biggest thing is just getting used to the short tracks and the heavier race cars. I mean, just driving those types of tracks with a heavy car that slides around and it doesn’t have as much downforce as an IRL (Indy Racing League) or IndyCar, whatever they’re coming from. That’s going to be their biggest learning curve, and once they get that, they’re great race car drivers that are going to be battling up front with whoever is up front in a NASCAR race. It’s going to be good.

YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT YOUR NEW TEAMMATE, ABOUT HAVING ELLIOTT SADLER JUMP ON BOARD SO LATE IN THE SEASON, HOW HAS THAT RELATIONSHIP WORKED SO FAR? So far it’s been great. I think it’s been a huge relief for Evernham Motorsports. We have a guy that really wants to work with myself and Scott Riggs and do a lot of the same type of setups. We’ve already learned a lot since Elliott’s been there already, and we’re looking forward to the end of the year. I hope Scott gets a win. I hope Elliott gets a win, and I hope we get some more. It can be good. I know Ray Evernham has put a lot into what we have there. Elliott’s just going to be a bonus to making ’07 better than ’06.

WHEN IT COMES TO RACING AND TEAM ORDERS, WE ACTUALLY THINK OF FORMULA ONE MORE THAN WE THINK ABOUT NASCAR. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT RIGGS, WHAT CAN ELLIOTT SADLER, WHAT CAN YOUR TEAMMATES DO TO HELP YOU IN THESE FINAL 10 RACES TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP? Just what they are doing right now. Race as hard as they can and try to get all the spots they can. Every spot they get will help me. So if they are finishing up front and I’m up front, that’s knocking some of the other guys back, then that’s big. I’m just hoping that those guys hang in there. They’re doing a great job, and we all learn together and finish up the season strong.

KASEY, I’M SURE YOU DIDN’T CARE WHO YOU KNOCKED OUT OF THE FINAL 10 TO GET INTO THE FINAL 10, BUT OBVIOUSLY IT IS THE DEFENDING CHAMPION, IT’S TONY STEWART. HERE IN INDIANAPOLIS, THAT’S A PRETTY BIG DEAL. HOW SURPRISED WERE YOU THAT OF THE GUYS YOU COULD HAVE KNOCKED OUT OR THAT YOU COULD HAVE KNOCKED OUT TO GET THAT FINAL SPOT, THAT IT WAS THE DEFENDING CHAMP THAT YOU SENT HOME? Yeah, until the race was over, I didn’t know if we were in or out or who was in or out. When I found that out, I was really surprised. Tony is as good as they get in a race car and to not have him in the Chase was surprising. I know that the 10 drivers that are in the Chase, that if any one of them missed it, I think would have been somewhat surprised as good as everyone has ran this year. It’s too bad. I think Tony would have had a shot at winning the NEXTEL Cup as good as he and his team is.

I’M CURIOUS ABOUT SAM HORNISH’S DECISION TO START TESTING AN ARCA CAR. I WAS WONDERING IF AT THIS POINT IF THERE IS ANY POSSIBILITY OF CROSSOVER IN THE OTHER DIRECTION. WOULD IT EVER BE IN THE FUTURE A POSSIBILITY FOR YOU OR SOME OF THE OTHER CUP DRIVERS TO GO IN THE OTHER DIRECTION AND STEP INTO OPEN-WHEEL CARS? I don’t know for anybody else. I know personally, I really like where I’m at. I really like the team I’m with; being a part of NASCAR is really awesome. I really enjoy it. You know, in time if we can win a NEXTEL Cup, if we can win a lot of races, then I would definitely hope to get a shot to do some testing in an IRL car and eventually do the “500.” That’s something that I’ve always hoped to do and hope to do before I turn 29 or 30 years old. We’ll just have to see what happens, but I know I have to perform in NEXTEL Cup first and get Ray Evernham a big trophy if I want to be able to go and do anything else.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD BE THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF THAT PARTICULAR TRANSITION? Every bit of it. I think, just doing the proper testing and being prepared when I got into a car or into an actual race and qualifying and that type of stuff that I was ready for it. I think doing the testing and being prepared. I’ve driven an IRL car before, I’ve driven a Champ car and with the NASCAR experience now, I feel like I could do it if I had the right test.

IN ALL THE OTHER SPORTS, WE ALWAYS HEAR ABOUT PLAYOFF INTENSITY AND THAT SOME HOW IT GOES UP A NOTCH WHEN YOU GET INTO THE PLAYOFFS. DO YOU SENSE THAT IN A RACE AS YOU GO INTO THESE FINAL 10, OR IS IT INTENSE EVERY WEEK? I think it’s pretty intense every week. I know the last four weeks were really intense for us, and after we won California and gave ourselves a shot at the Chase, you know, going into Richmond, that weekend was really intense, too. NASCAR racing, in general, is intense and the pressure is always on to perform for the sponsors and everybody that supports us. And, you know, these final 10, the closer you get to Homestead, it is going to get more and more intense.

AND IN THE WAY THAT YOU HAD TO RACE YOUR WAY INTO THE CHASE, HOW MUCH DID YOU HEAR FROM YOUR SPOTTER, FROM YOUR CREW CHIEF ABOUT WHERE THESE OTHER 10 GUYS WERE? AND IN THESE FINAL 10 HOW MUCH DO YOU MONITOR THOSE 10 GUYS DURING THE COURSE OF A RACE? Well, myself and my spotter didn’t say a word the whole race. We just tried to race at Richmond, tried to pass as many cars as we could, go as fast as possible and see where we ended up. I know Kenny (Francis) and the team were probably looking at where they were and what they needed to do or where I was on the racetrack to make sure we were good in points and once I crossed the start/finish, they told me everything was cool and that we made it. You know, I was relieved at that point. I never asked. I never really worried about it. I could only do what I could do, and that was drive as hard as possible. In the Chase it’s going to be, uh, I don’t know, I haven’t been in the Chase. I’m just going to race as hard as possible and make good decisions and be consistent and try to win a few more races. I don’t feel like we’re done winning races for the year yet.