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

NOTE: Kahne has scored two victories in the past four races and ranks third in the series standings, 31 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. The 26-year-old driver from Enumclaw, Wash., will make his 80th career Cup start at PIR Saturday night.

“This is a track we can race good at, but we just need to work on it. We finished fifth here in my first race (2004) and haven’t been back in the top 10 since. We have some work to do. This team has done a great job of giving me good cars this season. I think we’ll be all right. The poles have been good to us this year. We’ve been able to capitalize on them. It would be great to have a good pit stall up front here.”

WHAT’S THE BIG DIFFERENCE FOR YOU THIS SEASON? “I don’t think there’s been a lot, but Kenny Francis (team director) has put together a great team. They’ve been together for awhile. They like each other. They work well together. The cars have been flawless, and that’s what we need.”

HOW MUCH HAVE YOU CHANGED AS A DRIVER? “Last year when things weren’t going right, like in the Texas race we dropped 12 positions because the car was so loose, sideways trying to get it around the racetrack. Last year I might have tried to drop eight spots instead of 12 and get myself in trouble that way. This year we take what we get and when it comes down to late in the race and we’ve got a shot we’ve got to charge and that’s what we do.”

COMMENT ON OTHER TEAMS MAKING CHANGES “Some of the drivers may have been happy with what they got and some of the other drivers may not have been. I think it’s just people trying to find the right chemistry so they can work well together. Changes can be good. I took about four days off. I didn’t hear about any of the Roush changes or Ganassi changes until this week. I was definitely surprised about a few of those, but I’m definitely happy with my career. I feel like I can learn a lot from the people I’m working with.”

WHAT HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS BEEN LIKE WITH JEREMY MAYFIELD THIS SEASON? “I’ve talked to him a few times and he just wants to figure out how to get his stuff better. They’ve struggled. I know they’ll be fine at some point, but when will they get it turned around? Hopefully it’ll be this weekend at Phoenix. I think Jeremy is great, and he’s got a lot of great guys over there. It’s just a matter of figuring stuff out and listening to each other. I think it’s a big deal to listen to each other and know what each other is talking about. We’re getting along just like always. He’s always been behind everything I’ve done, and I’ve been behind him. I just hope they can get it figured out. I know Scott Riggs and I and our teams are working well together. We’re running similar setups and hopefully they’ll start doing some of that, too.”

ARE YOU HAVING MORE FUN WITH MEDIA INTERVIEWS THIS SEASON? “It’s nice to talk to people and try to figure out why we’re doing so well and why things are going like they’re going. Really I think everybody is doing a great job, and I’m having a blast driving these racecars this year. We know why we’re running well. We have a lot of people working hard and a lot of smart people working on my car. Kenny Francis is definitely one of the best guys at Evernham Motorsports, and I’m just fortunate to have him on my side. All the guys on the team are doing a great job. That’s what happens when you have Ray Evernham as an owner”

DO YOU FEEL EXTRA PRESSURE NOW THAT YOU’RE WINNING? “I don’t feel extra pressure. When you know your cars are good, it’s just fun to be part of that. The pressure is making The Chase, and right now we’re well on our way to that. We just need to keep doing the same stuff.”

COMMENT ON RACING AT PHOENIX “It’s definitely different than anything we’ve been on this year. We’ve got some ideas. I feel like we should have a good setup. It’ll definitely be a change. We ran good at Martinsville and Bristol. We’ve been good at the two and a half mile tracks.”

HOW HAVE YOU MATURED? “I think I’ve matured as a driver and communicator. I think communication is huge, and that’s what we’ve been able to do this year. As a driver I think I have a lot more confidence. I know what’s coming and what’s going. I feel better each day we’re at the racetrack. It’s a lot better to know we’re running good and have people asking ‘what’s the key? What’s going on? Why are you guys running so well?’ I’d lots rather talk about that instead of why we’re not running good. It’s more enjoyable running good and know you don’t have to worry about wrecking racecars and things like that. I feel good about what everybody is doing this year. You can relax and not have to worry all the time like I did last year.”

CASEY MEARS (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger)

NOTE: Mears ranks 10th in the series standings after seven races. The 28-year-old driver from Bakersfield, Calif., will make his 116th career Cup start at PIR.

GANASSI HAS MADE SOME CHANGES THIS WEEK. IS YOUR TEAM STILL INTACT? “I’ve been here in Phoenix all week when most of the stuff went down. The 42 team is intact. There have been some changes in the organization, but I don’t think it’s going to affect us this weekend at all. Change is inevitable in this sport. It happens. For the right or wrong reasons, sometimes it makes guys step up to the table. We’ll find out what kind of leaders we’ve got. We’ve got a great organization. Whatever Chip decides to do I’m behind him. We’ll just have to see how it plays out here the next couple of weeks. I don’t think it’s going to be a negative thing.”

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IN PHOENIX? “Just relaxing. Some guys take off and go somewhere on the off weekend. I just ended up staying at the house and spent a little time at home. I decided to come to Phoenix a little early and call it a vacation.”

COMMENT ON THE LAST FOUR RACES “They just haven’t been that good. We haven’t had fast racecars. Not only that, at Texas, we were capable of having a top 10 run and for some reason the team just had an off weekend. We ran good in the Busch race with the same guys and had excellent pit stops. We were just off a little bit on Sunday. We’d come in 12th and go out 18th. It was hard to pass at Texas and we didn’t have a car that was blazing fast. I could only pass so many people on a fuel run. It was tough to get inside that top 10. I think if we could have gotten there we could have stayed there.”

IS PHOENIX A GOOD TRACK FOR YOU? “We’ve struggled here for the most part, but a couple of years ago we had a really good car here. We challenged for the win before we blew a left rear tire. I think this can be a good track for us. We’ve just got to make sure we’ve got the car right.”

DO YOU HAVE THE CHARGER RIGHT? “I think there’s always work to be done. I think 99.9 percent, the Charger is a good car. That’s why we’ve stuck with it. We know it has some small weaknesses, but we’ve just got to keep working with that. We’re working on making some changes for next year, but for this year, I think we’ve found ways to make the Charger work. There’s a small window to make it work, but when we get it right it’s fast. We’re really not looking at it that way. I forget there’s an issue with the Charger. We just do what we can do to make it fast and run up front.”

ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE POINTS YET? “You realize you’re in the top 10 and you see where you’re at, but that’s not going to help our cause, really. We know what we need to do. We need to click off more of those top 10s and top fives and have competitive racecars. I think the points will take care of themselves. I know a lot of people say that, but that’s the way it is.”

ONLY 19 MORE RACES TO QUALIFY FOR THE CHASE. “It’s really a 26-race season. It really is. You’ve got to think about the last 10 as a 10-race season. We’ve just got to focus on staying inside that top 10. We’re in good position right now. We don’t have a cushion either way. If we maintain and do better we can hang inside that top 10. As long as we don’t have any major issues I think we’ll be fine.”

YOU FINISHED SECOND AT DAYTONA. ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT GOING TO TALLADEGE NEXT WEEK? “We’re taking a different car to Talladega. It’s actually the car Jamie (McMurray) ran so well with at Talladega last year. Daytona and Talladega are actually a little bit different. Daytona is more of a handling track. You try to bring a car that’s a little slicker, a little bit less drag to Talladega. You can bring something that’s a little bit faster there because handling isn’t that important. I’m optimistic about going to Talladega, but I’m optimistic about wherever we go now. I feel like we’re capable of winning races. We’ve just got to stay focused, and I think we’ll be fine.”

YOU THREW OUT THE FIRST PITCH AT DIAMONDBACKS GAME WEDNESDAY NIGHT. DID YOU DO BETTER THAN KURT BUSCH? “Absolutely. I heard how bad his pitch was, so when I got there I had a little practice on trying to throw it straight. They said I did a pretty good job. At the end of the day, that’s not our job. Our job is driving racecars. If I can throw a better pitch than him that’s great, but I’d rather beat him on Sundays and Saturdays. I threw it over the plate. It might have had a little loft to it, but it was straight. I knew I could throw a good pitch, but then I thought about it not making the highlights like Kurt’s did. I thought about throwing it in the crowd so I could get some air time, but I decided to save face. I just went out there and had some fun. It was an honor to go out there and throw it. We had fun at the game. A bunch of my guys came out and it was a fun day.”

DAVID STREMME (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Charger)

NOTE: Stremme, a Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender from South Bend, Ind., will be working with new crew chief Steve Lane this weekend

COMMENT ON TEAM CHANGES “We haven’t been running that good. We showed a little better at Texas, but I’m not happy with how the season has been. We just needed a change. We mixed some people up in the organization. I think it’s going to bring the cars closer. This will be our first weekend with Steve, but I know him from being in the shop. This whole team is new. I think the truck driver is the only guy who’s the same from last year. We made some changes, and I support what Chip and Felix have done.”

COMMENT ON RACING AT PHOENIX “This is one of my favorite tracks. I finished third here in the spring in the Busch race. I made my first ever mile experience here. I came out here in a Tour car in 1999 and finished second that day. I got beat on the last lap. I’ve always run well here. We brought a Dodge here that we haven’t raced at all this year, and it’s probably closer to our teammates’ cars than it’s ever been. I love night racing, too. I don’t care where it’s at. It’s fun. It’ll be a little different here, but not much.”

COMMENT ON RACING AT TALLADEGA “I want to get in the top 35 this weekend if we can. It’s all tight, but I can do more here qualifying. When you go to Talladega and unload it’s going to be tough to get in if you’re off. It’s not like you can change a bunch of stuff. I think once we get in the race, I love plate racing. We got up to 12th in the Daytona 500 and ended up breaking a transmission. I enjoy that part of it. Who doesn’t like going to Talladega? Everybody loves it. We’ve got different bumpers going there this year, and I don’t think you’ll see the hard bump drafting. Daytona probably ranks up there with Phoenix for me, but it’ll be good next week at Talladega.”

COMMENT ON VISIT TO AMERICAN IDOL IN LOS ANGELES WEDNESDAY NIGHT “We had a crazy flight from Charlotte. We had to make an emergency landing in Albuquerque, N.M. Two people on the plane were having medical issues. We barely got there in time for the show, but it was pretty cool. We got to meet Randy Jackson and Taylor Hicks and Chris Daughtry. I think both of those guys are going to come to a race. We’re going to get ‘em out. The show was a lot smaller than I thought it was. I follow it about every week. I think Chris Daughtry will win. It’ll come down to him and Katharine McPhee. I’m a pretty big fan. My spotter actually belongs to the Taylor Hicks fan club. He’s all about it. All of those guys are really good, but there’s only one winner.”

STEVE LANE (Crew Chief No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Charger)

WHAT KIND OF CHANGES DO YOU SEE FOR THE 40 TEAM? “We’re going to try to make our cars in line with the 41. Being in the hole like we are, we need to get closer to those cars so we can use more of their information. Some of the stuff we’ve got right now with where we are in the points, we’re going to have to get in line with one of our teams, and I think it’ll be the 41. I really appreciate the opportunity Chip and Felix gave me. This is the perfect opportunity for me, so I hope I can make the most of it.”

WHEN WERE YOU CREW CHIEF FOR KYLE PETTY? “I went there in 2001 and Phoenix was my first race with them at the end of 2001. Things are definitely a lot different now. Things are so much more technical now. Back then we made some major adjustments. Now with the way the cars are and the way we do springs, smaller adjustments get the job done, and I’m going to have to be careful not to go over that edge. The cars have gotten better, everything has gotten better. The bodies are better, and we’ve got better drivers.”

COMMENT ON YOUR DRIVER – DAVID STREMME “We’ve definitely got a good driver. There’s no doubt. He is our guy at the 40 car, no matter what. The main thing is we give him everything he needs to win races. He’s proved he can get it done. He’s finished third here in a Busch car. I definitely believe in David.”

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

“To be back at Phoenix, defending race champion, this place has always had a special place in my heart just because it’s so close to Vegas. Coming down here to race Southwest Series, truck series races and then to have that going into the Cup level… I’ve completed all but one lap in my eight races here in the Cup series. It’s special to come back here to Phoenix because I enjoy this racetrack and of course everything that has gone on in the past six months. To have my 50 hours complete, that definitely is a breath of fresh air to have that completed and done it such a short amount of time. I was able to do that with support from my Penske teammates. Many people were involved in this and many great sponsors within the Penske organization. We did 100 percent of the effort here in the Phoenix community to make a huge impact with the children in this community and some of the sponsors and mainly just the overall atmosphere with Kurt Busch in this community is definitely all buttoned up.

“For us to run our first Penske chassis that’s brand new. This is Penske chassis 103. It just seems fitting to end 102 with Rusty’s rank at Penske. This is a brand new chassis with a low center of gravity. It’s good for the flat mile and flat mile and a half tracks as well as Martinsville if we need to use it there later.

“We have so many things going on this week. (Roy McCauley) was a big surprise to me and the team. He’s suffering from an illness. He’ll be in the hospital the next couple of days recovering and he’ll be back at Talladega next week. My crew chief Matt Gimble from the Busch Series program will run both (series at Phoenix). Him and I are going to get to know each other quick being attached at the hip the next three days. A lot’s going on. Just wanted to get that out and make that clear to everybody.”

COMMENT ON THE COMMUNITY SERVICE “We had an off week leading into the Phoenix week, so that helped looking at the schedule. We planned things around that. When there’s an off week, usually it means testing or it means relaxation and then there can be come extra curricular things as well. We did Richmond testing last week. Since last December we’ve been putting this together to make an impact in children’s youth sports which happened with the Westside Recreational Program. Two hundred or 300 kids involved in little league baseball, we supplied them with Rawlings gloves, bats, shin guards, baseballs, helmets, you name it. A large donation, over $10,000 worth to their youth program. They’re going to spread it all over the west side of Phoenix, which is Peoria, Sunrise, Sun City, here in Goodyear, Avondale with youth Little League baseball. The Diamondbacks were instrumental in putting things together here in the community. A large sports franchise such as the Arizona Cardinals, we got together with them and Kodak. We had cars in the midway where people could go and take pictures with the Penske Truck Rental car, with the Miller Lite car. We donate that money toward the charity of Kurt Busch, Inc., as well as the Westside Recreational Program. We did a PSA, a public service announcement, with Sherif Joe Arpaio about safe driving in the community. That was fun to meet with him. He was very surprised with my demeanor and how open I was to him and some of his sarcastic jokes about last year. We definitely had a great time meeting one another and going through the personal service announcement as well as looking to the future when I come back here in November.”

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE OBLIGATIONS OF BEING A CELEBRITY? “When I came in to Nextel Cup racing I came in just after six months of racing late models at the short track and bull ring in Las Vegas. Six months after being taken out of what was just a hobby and now is a profession, my first approach was to absorb it as I just wanted to be a regular guy hanging out, a small fish in a big pond. I took that approach as just a regular American Dream kind of guy. As a plumber working on mane breaks, I made it big. Then I won a race. Then I won another race and things escalated, but I still wanted to be just a regular guy. I never really adapted to being a race winner or multiple race winner or a guy who could lead the points or a guy who could be in the top five all the time. I’ve now adjusted to that obviously with the (2004) championship. Kids recognize me when I’m out. If I could just have that one kid who says ‘that’s my guy.’ To be able to represent him going, ‘I’ve always wanted to race cars. I’ve always looked up to Kurt. He’s the guy I want to follow.’ If I could just have one kid root for me then that’s the motive to go out there and do these types of things.”

HOW DID IT GO WITH THE DIAMONDBACKS ON TUESDAY? “That was quite the experience to be able to drive the Miller Lite Dodge on the warning track, all the way around the field. When I was driving the car, people were taking pictures and the sound was echoing through the field. It reminded me of when I was a kid and went to the Monster Truck Challenge and the engines would roar and jump over the cars and cars were in a place racing where they shouldn’t have been. I had a chance going around the warning track, jump out and when the announcer announced my name and affiliation there were cheers. When Barry Bonds came up to bat there were all the boos. Poor guy, I know what you’re going through. I had an interview earlier in the day and I was asked if I expected to get booed louder than Barry Bonds? I said, ‘there’s no way dude.’ It was well received. My pitch wasn’t quite a strike, but we had fun with it.”

HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE BOOS? “It’s motivation to go win the race. There are guys in this sport and there’s not much reaction. That’s the guy I don’t want to be. There’s no way you can be the fan favorite around here with Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon being the top two guys. There’s only room at the top for so many. If I’m a guy who’s going to run around and win races and be competitive and have a chance to win the championship each year, then that means I’m beating some of their favorites. I’m beating some of their heroes. I’m just right in there in the mix with guys like Jimmie Johnson or Tony Stewart or guys like Matt Kenseth or Biffle. They’re winning races, they’re competitive, they’re right in there in the mix.”

WHAT ARE YOUR CHALLENGES GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND? “We do have quite a bit of stats riding into this weekend with our Busch car winning at Texas. It’s our second start with that car. We haven’t necessarily rearranged the team, but people have stepped up. We’ve got people covering the Grand National program. Matt Gimble is going to be primarily with me on the Cup program. Winning last year’s race, bringing over as much knowledge as I could bring in for the car setup, the car at Phoenix has run well in the past. Travis Kvapil got a top 10 here last year and Rusty is on the lap leaderboard here with so many competitive, so it’s just a matter of doing our job. That’s what I do best, get behind the wheel and race the car.”

WILL ROY McCAULEY BE IN TOUCH WITH YOU THIS WEEKEND? “With as much coverage as there is in this sport now, I’m sure he could live to live coverage. We told him just to relax.”

HAVE THE DODGES AND FORDS CLOSED THE GAP IN THE PLATE RACES? “Absolutely. With the way we came out of the box at Daytona so strong. That was my first race in a Dodge working with teammate Ryan Newman. We were poised for victory that day. We came up just a bit short. We worked together with him. He drafted to a third-place finish. If I could have been there we would definitely had a shot to run down Jimmie Johnson at the end and pushing a Dodge into victory lane. To be able to come back to Talladega and freshen up on our cars a little bit more and just get in that restrictor-plate mind, it’s definitely something we’re looking forward to and see if we can’t break the Chevy stronghold on the restrictor-plate tracks.”

COMMENT ON SOFT BUMPERS FOR TALLADEGA “I think it’s a great change. Safety is something we’re always concerned with. When we first went to bump drafting, I guess it was at the beginning of 2002, maybe a little in 2001 when I was a rookie, that’s when I noticed it. We didn’t have those big bumpers on the front end, and we had to come in and take tape off the radiator grille because they were overheating, because they squashed in their front bumper area. This will go back to some of that. If you bump draft too hard, you risk the chance of overheating. I think it’s a great implement to throw into the mix and that will take away some of that hard, aggressive bump drafting.”

COMMENT ON PROGRESS WITH THE CHARGER “When I first arrived at Penske we had the Charger built and Intrepid built. Roger was trying to help Dodge understand that the Intrepid had more rear downforce because of some of the templates that were out there. What we’ve learned over time is that the Charger has definitely taken some massaging and we’ve now gotten it to the point where it is equivalent to the Intrepid. I was right there to run along with Ryan Newman with what he thought about the ’04 car. We’ve been able to polish on our Charger and make it a more competitive car. I think we’ve got closer to that. We won with it at Bristol. Kasey Kahne has won with it twice, so we’ve had seven races and three wins. Those three wins equal the number of wins Dodge had last year. We’ve definitely gotten things rolling forward, and we look forward to the mile and a half tracks where we can polish up on that program as well.”