DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO SS:

HOW AWARE ARE YOU THAT IT'S THE 100TH NEXTEL CUP RACE AT RICHMOND AND IF SO, IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU? "Well, it's pretty cool, I suppose. But one hundred is not really that many. It would be cool maybe when they get to 1,000."

WHAT IS SO MUCH FUN ABOUT RIR? "The great thing about this place is that there is more than one way to get around and move around and run different grooves. The top works pretty good if you need to try to get up around people and get a run on them -- especially when they repaved it a couple of years ago. Before that, it was really awesome. But obviously the surface was breaking up a little bit in some places and needed to be repaved. But it's a great race track. Moving up the race track as the night goes on is a lot of fun -- up in the corners running high and trying to get runs on people. It's fun to have a lot of different opportunities to pass people."

ON RIR BEING CLOSE TO NORFOLK AND THE MILITARY AND THE NAVY: "Yeah, my momma lived in Norfolk and Chesapeake Bay for 20 years so we used to go up there and go around the base every once in a while -- especially when I was real young -- because they worked right near it. But, yeah, it's pretty cool I was supposed to go spend the night on a carrier during the week, but the rain out on Sunday (at Talladega) sort of backed everything up and we had to cancel that. But sooner or later I'll get the opportunity to do that."

STRATEGY-WISE, WHAT DO YOU TELL YOURSELF AS THE NIGHT GOES ON DURING THE RACE AT RICHMOND? "The thing that you normally fight the most is forward bite up off the corner and tight in the center. So you're constantly trying to figure out subtle ways to improve the car without making one worse than the other, you know. You've got to get your car turning in the center so you've got to give up something. So hopefully when they do help you in the middle, they don't make it difficult to get up off the corners. So you sort of struggle with those two issues all night long. Today (during practice) we were really good in and off the corner and I felt like I was a little too tight in the center.

"But we could run real fast lap times -- faster than most people or anybody, really. But at that time of day, we need to be a little loose. So I was a little concerned (about) being tight."

DID YOU EVER FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ENGINE LAST WEEK? "No. It broke a rod. Whatever broke, there were signs of stress fracturing or cracking something throughout the rest of the motor too. So I don't really know. You're going to blow motors every once in a while. I've got to give it to my engine department for trying all they can to give me as much power as they can. I'd rather blow up running out front than be conservative. It's really frustrating when you're trying to get in the gas and you don't get that much of a response. I'd rather have them be going for it trying to make me some power."

HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO RUN HERE AT RIR? "I expect to run well. I think my team is good. I think we'll run well this weekend, but you've got to have some luck. We've had a little bit of difficult luck over the last couple weeks. Starting out so far, it's pretty good."

WHERE IS THE EASIEST PLACE TO GET IN TROUBLE ON THIS TRACK? "Turn 2 is sort of a challenge. To get up out of that corner good is sort of a challenge. There are little nuances all the way around like Turn 1 at the end. If you go in that corner and a guy checks up sooner than you expect, it's really hard to get on the brakes without spinning yourself out. A lot of times a guy will not get on the brakes and run in and wreck the guy in front of him just to keep from wrecking himself. You see that a lot."

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS BEING THE FIRST NASCAR CUP RACE TO BE SPONSORED BY A HARD LIQUOR COMPANY? "I didn't really know who the sponsor is. I don't pay much attention to sponsorships -- not unless I'm looking at a trophy afterward (laughter)."

DALE JARRETT SAID YOU AND YOUR DAD DROVE SO MUCH ALIKE THAT IF YOU WERE TO HAVE SWAPPED CARS, NOBODY WOULD KNOW. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT? "That's a compliment, I supposed. He had to race against him more than I did. I don't think I'm quite as aggressive as Dad was early in his career. But maybe later in his career the sport changed more than he did. I think the tolerances in the sport changed everybody and he didn't necessarily change or cool off or calm down any. It's just that the etiquette on the race track was a lot different in '97 than it was in '87. So I think that yeah, we do drive a lot similar to each other if you take the last 40 percent of his career up against mine, I think we had a lot of the same nuances and attitude on the track and some of the same mannerisms."

CAN YOU GIVE US AN EXAMPLE? YOU DON'T EVER WAVE THE FINGER "I've waved it a few times. I was going to start marketing Web Loves to keep myself from flipping people off (laughter). But I don't really know, other than kind of like a quiet consistency inside the car -- not race after race, lap after lap -- do you know what I mean? It's just being in the car and running consistent and smooth -- like Mark Martin said a couple of weeks ago. We race hard. We don't cause a lot of trouble on the track. I really try not to instigate or initiate anything with any driver on the track unless I feel wronged or like I need to address that situation right then and there. I just race hard every lap. He really wasn't real loud. He got his point across without having to be real loud and obnoxious about it."

ON THE TEAM'S PROGRESS SO FAR THIS YEAR: "I'm pretty happy. The team is working real hard. The cars have been handling pretty good. We started out the season and I was really happy. The last couple of weeks we have not finished well and I've been disappointed. I made a mistake at Phoenix that cost us a good decent finish and last week it was unavoidable with the motor blowing. But we had an ill-handling car at Talladega. That was really a surprise to me. You really don't have to worry about handling too much (at Talladega), but my car was bouncing around and sliding around and it was loose. I spun out there once and then the motor blew. But you've got to take your lumps and try to keep coming back. We came out here for practice this morning real calm and with a lot of confidence and run off some good laps and got the car to react to some of the changes we made and was real happy with the way it was coming along today.

"Right now, I think we've got a top 5 or top 10 car. And if you just remain calm and try to do everything right and get what you can get, you should finish in the top 10 or top 5.

"The last couple of weeks I've been trying to force it too much maybe. Maybe I should just relax and calm down a little bit and be a little more consistent."

HOW MUCH DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO DARLINGTON NEXT WEEK? "Well, it's difficult to look forward to it. It's been a tough track for me. It's really hard to race on with the way it wears the tires out. But it's a good thing that they started running it at night. That's a little bit easier on the tires. And it does add a little more grip to the surface because that's what everybody is always in search of at that track. I haven't had a lot of success there. It would be great to get us a win there because any time you win at Darlington, you really put in a good hard day's work. We've had some pretty good cars there; not really any great finishes, but we've had some decent runs there. Every time I go back, I feel like I'm a little closer to that opportunity of winning there."

WHY ARE DRIVERS MORE INTERESTED IN BEING TEAM OWNERS NOW? "Well it's not that the expenses have gotten any better. I think it has a lot to do with the challenge. It's quite a challenge being an owner. It's very difficult to motivate people and get the right people together and get them all working together. It's as difficult as an owner as it is driving, for me, and in my experiences. But the challenge is the lure. To get in there and really try to forage things into how you want them. You have this idea of what you think a great race car driver is and what you think a good crew chief is and try to find that in people and get it to work together. It's a fun thing when it does -- running in the top 10 is a fun thing. But it's difficult. I think there is a lot of success to be had by people who are good at in the Cup Series. I'm not doing it to make a living -- yet anyways -- but it would be difficult to make a living at it in the Busch Series. But in the Cup Series, there is a lot of success to be had.

"Finding a sponsor is not very easy. Getting $15 or $20 million from anybody is not very easy. Knowing where to spend that money is not easy, you know, to make it successful. I had some help. I talked to people who own Busch teams just recently, like Kevin (Harvick) and a couple other guys. I just asked them if they could start over, what would they do different and what didn't they foresee happening. There were several ideas like how they ran their parts department and how they did things.

"So just talking to those guys helped me a lot and saved myself a little bit of headache down the road. You have to be a motivator. The hardest part for me probably was to get people to take me seriously when I started my Busch team. Even the people that work for me now, it was hard for them to take me seriously. They really didn't know what I was really after when I started that deal. That's difficult for any driver, I imagine. Everybody wonders what your motives are and why you're doing it in the first place."

DOES RACING AT PLACES LIKE RICHMOND AND BRISTOL AT NIGHT SUIT YOU BETTER? "I really enjoy running at night on Saturdays. Aside from the cooler temperatures and the more grip the track has, there are a lot of great plusses to it like having Sunday off and being able to plan something with your family and friends. You don't have that many chances throughout the season to do that. So we always try to make Sunday a big day back home. But I like the shorter weekend. It's easier on the teams and on the guys traveling -- especially through the stretches of the races we're running. The guys will have a chance to be around their families on Sundays. Mr. Helton said he likes the mix that we have and there is sort of a tradition of racing on Sundays, which I agree. It's nice to go on prime time on Saturday nights on television for the audience. I can imagine there is a different feeling when you're watching a race on Saturday night at home than there is on Sunday. Sunday is sort of a lazy day for everybody. Saturday night is sort of wound up. Everybody is having a good time in the middle of the weekend. That's the way the feeling is on the race track too."

BECAUSE OF YOUR STATUS IN THIS SPORT, DO YOU EXPECT MORE OF YOURSELF THAN OTHER DRIVERS DO? "Well, I know what I'm capable of and I know I haven't reached those capabilities over the last couple of years. So that's disappointing. These are good years for me and my career at this age. And to not be able to reach that potential and not be able to accomplish the goals is difficult and disappointing. You just try to remedy whatever you feel like the faults are and try to maintain a positive attitude. That's probably the most important thing is to stay positive around your team. Negative attitudes sort of spread through the team and spreads like a virus through the team and can really self-destruct the whole program."

ON NOT WINNING YET THIS SEASON: "I feel like it's still early in the season. I want to go to victory lane as soon as possible. Everybody does. But I have a lot to be excited about. I see some good things going on with my team and we've had some good cars and there is a lot of communication and there is determination and the work ethic is there. When my guys work as hard as they do, that's all I can ask of them. We're capable as a team. I'm a capable driver. And we should be running better right now than we are. Over the last four or five weeks it's been a little bit of a struggle. But we started the season off on pretty good finishes and I feel like we'll be all right. We've just been sort of struggling the last couple of weeks and I've made some mistakes and had engine failure and whatnot. But you've got to try to be cool if you don't really have the car you think you expect every week, you're got to really try to get what you can get. A lot of times I push the issue trying to get more than that and find myself in trouble. So I've just got to be a little more consistent."

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS:

ON RICHMOND NOT BEING A GOOD TRACK FOR HIM THE LAST FEW YEARS: "You're absolutely right. Those types of things are real challenges for us and we try to focus on the areas we have been weak in. This has been a good track for us at times. The last couple of years we've just been missing something. We've worked on a lot of things testing here. Actually we didn't have a very good test here. So far today I'm feeling a lot better about it in race trim and qualifying trim. I definitely think we're making some gains here."

HOW AWARE ARE YOU OF THAT WHEN YOU GO TO A TRACK YOU HAVEN'T ALWAYS RUN WELL AT? "It's not about what you've done in the past. It's about how the car is feeling at the time. Every time I go somewhere I'm optimistic we're going to make it better if we have struggled in the past or if we're going to maintain if we're good there. As soon as we unload the car here, I just go right to what it (the car) is doing for me right now, what do I need to go faster now, how do we stack up against the competition right now, not about what we did in the past."

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE HOW THIS YEAR IS UNFOLDING FOR YOU SO FAR? "We've had consistency which is why we're where we are at in the points. We've finished a lot of laps but our performance needs to step up a notch or two. I'm hoping that we continue to see a trend of our performance getting better and better as we get closer to that Chase."

DO YOU EXPECT MORE FROM YOURSELF THAN OTHER DRIVERS DO FOR CONSISTENCY VERSUS VICTORIES? "I only expect what we're capable of. I think what we're capable of is victories and battling for championships. We really got knocked down a couple of notches last year and the year before that. There were some race tracks that we just really struggled at and then other tracks that we were mediocre at. That doesn't get turned around overnight. It takes time and in that sense, I am very realistic and recognize the competition, recognize that there's no magic as far as me being able to drive the wheels off of a car.

"It takes a whole combination - the team, the set-up, the driving, the pit crew, everything. We've been very focused and committed to that. I feel like we're slowly but surely making gains but we're still behind and we recognize that. I put that type of pressure on myself and this team as well but I'm also very realistic to understand that it is what it is right now. We're working on getting it better. We don't just go out there and win races because my name is Jeff Gordon and I'm driving the 24 car. It's because we got all the right ingredients out there and that's what's won races and championships for us in the past and that's what's going to do it in the future."

WHY DO THE DRIVERS REALLY LIKE THIS TRACK? "It is a nice track. It's a track that has a couple of different lines and grooves that you can run on it. We see side-by-side racing. It's not any easy track by all means. It's more of a driver's track I guess. If you want to drive straighter into the corner and run around the bottom, then you can. If you want to arc in and run the high line, then you can. The driver has some flexibility in what you can do with the car. Any track that you go to that has that - Atlanta, Michigan, those types of tracks - the drivers are going to like it."

ON HAVING A LARGE AMOUNT OF MILITARY STAFF ATTENDING THIS RACE: "The armed services are huge supporters of our sport. We're huge supporters of what they're doing for our country. I think we recognize how important they are. We recognize this is a sport. This isn't something that has to go on but it's something that is entertaining and we've very fortunate to be able to do it. Because of the men and women that fight so hard for our country, we're able to do that."

ON IF HIS TEAM IS STARTING TO MELD TOGETHER TO WIN RACES: "I hope so. Like I said, every weekend I'm optimistic that we're going to get it turned around but I'm also realistic where I know it's not going to happen overnight. I feel like we're making gains. We're learning some things that are going to take this team to the next level. Have we hit on it yet? We'll find out tomorrow night but we're getting there. We're definitely getting closer. Every time we test, we seem to get closer and closer. I thought we had a good test in Charlotte. We had a miserable test here but I felt like we learned a lot. I think that it's actually paid off for us. Even though it didn't go well for us, I feel like it's paid off for us to come back here and be a little bit better."

ON TESTING MORE THIS YEAR AND IF THEY HAVE LEARNED MORE ABOUT THE TEAM AND HOW TO IMPROVE: "We're limited on how many times we can test so we're not testing anymore than anybody else. I think I look back on it now and maybe last year we should have gone to some more tracks like Kentucky just to try some things that have gotten away from us. I feel like we're creeping back up on it now. The team is getting aggressive with the set-ups. I'm comfortable with the way the car is driving and the speed is coming back and we're fine-tuning instead of being out in left field. We're in the ballpark somewhere."

WHAT DID YOU LEARN AT THE CHARLOTTE TEST AND HOW HAS THAT TRACK CHANGED OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS? "Well I can't tell you everything that we learned but I can tell you what we learned about Charlotte. They did a fantastic job with the repaving. I think we're going to see some awesome racing there if not this next race coming up in the near future. Obviously we're all a little bit concerned with how hard the Goodyear tire is. We're all trying to get our cars comfortable as fast we can on that tire."

ON HAVING ONLY ONE PRACTICE SESSION BEFORE QUALIFYING TODAY: "Had we not tested here I think it would have been a little bit more difficult. It's the same for everybody. Everybody has the same opportunity to go out there and adjust and make their cars faster. I like that we just go out there and work on the race the whole time. We make one qualifying run because that's basically the set-up we have to run. I kind of like it. You like it if you're running decent. You don't like it if you're not. There's times when you need more time but then there are other times you wish that they'd cut practice off a half hour early. I think at certain tracks that we don't get a chance to test at it'd be nice to have a little bit more time on the track."

HOW DID LAST YEAR'S DISAPPOINTEMENT IMPACT YOU AS A COMPETITOR IN TERMS OF MOTIVATION? "The frustration builds and it gets tougher and tougher each and every weekend to stay motivated but at the same time it really inspires you to want to get it fixed and what am I doing as driver, what are we doing as team, our cars, looking at our teammates, everything and just trying to figure out what we can do. That's one of the things that we did.

"We stopped trying to go off of set-ups that we were hearing about that other teams were running, that our teammates running and (instead look at) what's going to work for us and for my driving style. I think that's where we started picking up speed and we started getting better. I think our team overall is so much stronger right now and that's why we're where we are at in the points. Our pit crew is awesome. That was an area that we really needed to focus on and we did. I think our cars and set-ups are closer but we're still not close enough to be out there running for victories at some of these mile and half race tracks."

WHAT IS A REALISTIC TIMELINE BEFORE YOU GET TO WHERE YOU WANT TO BE? "I would say June or July. I think every weekend we'll gradually, hopefully get closer. Some weekends we might miss it. Even though we weren't great at Texas we learned a lot because we tried something that we never tried before. We were still going to be 11th or 12th before we cut down the left rear tire. We found out what we can do and what we can't do. I think that that race right there is going to make us better. It has and it's pointed us in a direction springs and shock-wise. Now we have a direction and we're just fine tuning on that. I feel like we're getting better and better. I want to be realistic. Obviously you've got to be on top of your game before you come back here in September. You need momentum going into that Chase. I think 10 races prior to that is when we really need to be on top of it."

ON DARLINGTON AND WHAT IT TAKES TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT THAT RACE TRACK: "Darlington is one of those odd mixes with the way we're setting the cars up. You've got Darlington where the asphalt is worn our. It wears the tires out. You have to have a lot more finesse there and patience than you do at most of the tracks we're going to these days. I always look forward to going to Darlington. It's one of my favorites and I'm sure it always will be."

WHAT DOES RUNNING 500 MILES AT DARLINGTON DO TO YOU MENTALLY? "That's exactly it. It's very mentally draining. Unless it's hot outside, it's not a real physical race track. You can't run fast enough and hard enough to really push yourself, your body. You just have to be careful not to push too hard because the car is slipping and sliding at all times and it's all about staying out of the wall."

HOW DO YOU TAKE CRITICISM ABOUT NOT BEING 100 PERCENT FOCUSED? "I don't pay any attention to it. If someone within our organization was criticizing me of that, I would take it very seriously and I would take issue with it. Anybody outside our organization, it's so easy to criticize when you're up in the booth or you're watching from on top of a trailer and you don't know all the details of what's going on the inside. I always use this as an example. In 1998 I was building a house in Florida. I spent probably the least amount of time at the race shop that year. I had so many distractions because every spare moment I had was working on plans, architecture, designing this house, working with the construction people and the headaches that going along with building a house. Every week there was something coming up and I won 13 races that year and killed them in the championships. I think one of the best things that my race team and my office does and Jon Edwards (PR manager) and the folks at the PR department do is organize my time in making sure that I am focused. I take that very seriously. I've been doing the same thing for the last several years and that's what is important to me as a team. That part is there. I like vacation. I take vacation when I can. I feel like I'm more focused when I do because I work so hard when we're not vacationing. I would not be ashamed to say that I'm probably one of the hardest working guys in this guy area. Maybe it's not always on the race track at a test somewhere but it's between racing, testing, appearances and things that I have to do for sponsors and to be a part of this sport. I know I'm busy so I look forward to taking that time off."

DOES COMING TO RICHMOND GIVE YOU A LEVEL OF COMFORT TO GET BACK TO TOP-FIVE AND TOP-TEN FINISHES? "No, not necessarily. We struggled at this race track last year and we struggled at the test here too. I was really not sure what we were going to have coming in here. I think we made gains based on what we learned from the testing even though it wasn't a good one and the things we learned today and things really we've been learning in general week in and week out. We're pretty decent right now and I'm happy and excited about that. I hope that we can maintain that the rest of the weekend."

ON COMPARING WHERE HE IS NOW WITH CREW CHIEF STEVE LETARTE VERSUS WHERE HE WAS IN 2005? "I think we're definitely ahead of the game. Our team overall is just stronger partly because of Robbie (Loomis, former crew chief). I think Robbie left this team with some really good things intact. We didn't have to reinvent the wheel. We just had to massage on some things. We made our pit crew better. That was one of the things he was working on before he left. That's one of the things Steve (Letarte) progressed through and really made some big gains in. I think our race cars have improved. I think we're still missing some things on our set-ups but for the most part we're much better at this point in the game especially looking at where we're at in the points and how we're going to get stronger as the year goes on."

DID YOU TALK TO YOUR TEAMMATES BRIAN VICKERS AND KYLE BUSCH ABOUT THE FIVE WIDE SITUATION THAT HAPPENED ON LAP NINE IN TALLADEGA? "I did talk to Brian Vickers because he flew back with me. I thought Brian did a great job driving all day long and seeing huge improvements. We did talk about that incident. I felt like it was definitely too early to do some of those things. He's a great listener. He's like a sponge. He learns a lot. I think that if he had to do it over again he might back off there before he got inside that 99. As far as the No. 5 car (Kyle Busch) is concerned, I couldn't tell. I didn't see enough of the video to go back to see if he had done anything but we did not talk about."

ON DRIVER CONCERNS ABOUT THE TIRES AFTER TESTING IN CHARLOTTE: "It's a better problem than having tires that are too soft and blow up. I think Goodyear went the conservative route. Unfortunately that's the corner they were put into and that's what we're dealt with. I think a lot of us wish we had a little bit softer tire. The track is fantastic. I don't know how we're going to qualify there, that's my concern. You can't get any heat in those tires in two laps so that's a concern. Other than that race-wise at least we've got multiple grooves already so that's a good sign."

HOW MANY PIT STOPS DO YOU THINK YOU WILL HAVE IN CHARLOTTE? "I think that's the thing that compounds the issue. It's one thing to have a hard tire but it's another thing to have such a small fuel cell. I think Goodyear and NASCAR need to get together. I think they've gone overboard on being too conservative."

DO YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE RACING SOMEBODY WITH THOSE TIRES? "I think you're going to see multiple grooves because the track offers that up but I don't think you'll see guys racing real hard side-by-side just because the grip is not there for guys to be comfortable enough to be aggressive like that."

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Monte Carlo SS - Currently first in the NASCAR Nextel Cup driver standings with 1,394 points

YOU'VE HAD SUCCESS ON TRACKS LIKE THIS. WHAT MAKES THIS TRACK DIFFERENT FROM TRACKS YOU'VE DONE WELL AT? "Looking at our history, the year that I did run well here at Richmond I did have success at Loudon and Phoenix. We had the right stuff and it was a very good time. Fortunately we've been trying to get that balance back. I haven't had the speed at Loudon or here. Phoenix is a good race for us. We got too tight at end but we're coming in here with some high expectations. We felt like we learned a lot with the big test session that we had here. We took that stuff to Phoenix and did well there and now we're coming back here. Hopefully we're on to the right thing."

WHY IS THIS PLACE SO FUN? "It's the right size track. Aerodynamics can play a role here but we're still going slow enough where we can race side-by-side, lean on each other, use the bumper if needed. I think the speed is the right speeds for our race cars. It's a wide short track with a lot of room and a couple of lanes for us to race side-by-side."

ARE YOU WORRIED THIS COULD BE THE PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE A BAD RACE? "I feel comfortable where we are in the points and we can afford to have a bad race or two. I certainly hope that we don't have that here. This track is really important to us because when we come back the last race going into the Chase we race here and we want to have that race be a good one for us. If we don't have the performance that we do here we're going to be really paying attention to what went wrong and why and try to make the adjustments so when we come back we can lead off with the Chase with the right speed of the car and the right attitude and really get the results that we need."

ON EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS TRACK: "There are tracks that you go to where you're expectations change. I show up at every track thinking that I'm going to win and have that in my heart that when I come here I always have a little bit of nervous energy of what is going to happen and how it's going to work out."

ON GOING TO DARLINGTON HAVING HAD SUCCESS THERE: "I'm so excited to go back. I know it's going to be a good track. There's some very hungry guys. I know (Greg) Biffle, he's had a tough start to the season and he's always strong there. I know Jeff (Gordon) is going to be good. There's a few guys like Matt (Kenseth), (Jeff) Burton, guys that are going to be really strong there. I love that race track. There's not a track that I smile about anymore going to it. I really, really enjoy going to that race track."

WHAT DID YOU GET OUT OF TESTING IN CHARLOTTE? "The track is much different. The tire has a lot less grip and we were still searching for the balance of the car trying to get things right. We have all the data. All five (Hendrick Motorsports) teams were there. We're working through everything. We didn't leave there as happy as we wanted to or expected to so we have some work to do before we go back."

A LOT OF TEAMS HAD TWO CARS AT THE TEST. WHAT WAS THE REASON YOU AND JEFF GORDON ONLY BROUGHT ONE CAR? "The 48 only brought one car so we could just focus on that car and make more runs. Our cars are so similar that we didn't feel like we needed to bring a second one. We've raced our All Star car and our (Coca Cola) 600 car. We just brought a car over, worked on our stuff there to keep things easier on the guys, not burn them out and myself, and just move more smoothly through the test."

DID YOU EVER FEEL YOU GOT INTO A RHYTHM AND HAD THAT COMFORT LEVEL THAT YOU HAD IN PAST SINCE YOU WON SO MANY RACES THERE? "Not yet. We're still working on that. We're getting close though."

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HAVING THE DOVER RACE TAKE PLACE AT NIGHT? "Night races in general are great for our sport. Fans enjoy them more and (so do) drivers, teams, everybody. I would expect to see more tracks run night races. Dover is a hot track so a night event would be easier on everybody."

HOW DO YOU COMPARE DARLINGTON WITH RACING HERE AND CHARLOTTE AND OTHER TRACKS? "Darlington is different than any other race track out there. You cannot go to any track and take that information or driving style or line and apply it to Darlington. It's its own track. That's what I love about it. It's so unique. The corners are different. You run inches off the wall. It's bumpy. It's rough, tearing tires off the car. It's its own race track."

HOW WAS THE RACE TRACK DURING THE TEST AT LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY? "The track seemed fine. I was there a month ago and broke a tire. (I) had a lot of speed. The Hendrick cars were set up just right. We came back with a harder tire and had less grip and struggled a bit. I don't think it has anything to do with the track. We just need to get the right set-up and really understand what that tire needs so we can see how we are."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE ALL-STAR RACE MOVE FROM CITY TO CITY OR STAY IN CHARLOTTE? "No, I think it needs to stay in Charlotte. The month of May in Charlotte, there's so much going on at the race track. It's easier on the teams. Believe me, (with) the grandstands and the seating capacity, I really believe in my heart it should stay in Charlotte."

IS YOUR CONFIDENCE AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH? "I would say my confidence is up. I wouldn't say it's as high as it's ever been. I would say in '04 when I lost the championship by eight points and we were winning a lot of races in the final stretch, my confidence was really, really high and it was at the right time. Right now I think if any team gets too confident it might hurt them in the long run. We're still learning as a team and you've just got to stay focused on refining your product so when you have 10 to go you can make it."

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

ON PRACTICE: "So far, so good I guess. We're doing what we need to do here in Richmond, Virginia. It's going all right. The Busch car is not too bad; it's second on the chart. And the Cup car is not too bad either. We're looking forward to this weekend."

ON POSSIBLE RAIN: "I haven't heard anything about the weather."

ARE YOU WORN OUT FROM THE SHORT WEEK? "Oh, no. We probably will be after the race tonight, but we've got a short day tomorrow. It doesn't start until about 5pm so we can sleep in for a long time. So that'll be good."

HOW WAS THE TRACK TODAY? "It was good. The more rubber they got put down, the better the track got."

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT THE TRACK AT CHARLOTTE? "The tires are hard. There wasn't a whole lot of grip. But once we were able to put some tire rubber down and get a lot of cars out there, it got better. Everybody was fighting the same problem. Everybody was really tight. Wasn't a whole lot of grip with the tires. It's going to be a slow-paced race. It's going to be a long (Coca-Cola) 600."

IF IT GOES GREEN THE WHOLE WAY, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE 11 PIT STOPS: "If it stays green, you're going to see 11 gas-n'-gos is what you're going to see because you can go 600 miles on tires, I'll tell you that. I think the way the tires are now, they're not going to see any problem. So they can go back to the larger fuel cells and I think it'll be a lot better for the racing. But they'll keep it the way it is because the rules are already set for that weekend."

WHAT WOULD YOU THINK IF THEY MOVED THE ALL-STAR RACE TO ANOTHER VENUE? "It would be a little bit difficult on the teams and the truck drivers, because right now it's so close to home that everybody can go home and stay at home. Since we're in Charlotte for two weeks, a lot of people come to Charlotte and I think the greatest thing about the Hall of Fame coming to Charlotte is that people that come in for the All-Star race stay a whole week and they can go to the museum and enjoy all the race shops during the whole week they have prior to the 600. That's probably the coolest thing about bringing the Hall of Fame the Charlotte."

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT RIR? "It's an okay track. It's tough because it's a very, very fast short track. There are not a lot of short tracks like it around. You go to Bristol and Martinsville and those are the types of tracks where you get into the corner, you stop, you turn, you leave, and you go. At this place, you're carrying your speed the whole time around it and it's very difficult. It's a fun place but it's still difficult. There are a lot of different things that you fight here. You can fight loose in or tight or loose off. There is just a whole array of different things that you've got to work on here."

DO YOU THINK THIS RACE WILL GO GREEN THE WHOLE WAY? "You're going to see some pit stops here of course, and you're going to have some cautions. A couple weeks ago we ran for a pretty long while, so it's possible for it to go green all the way tomorrow night."