Behind the Hauler Chat with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Impala SS

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Impala SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway during his behind the hauler chat interview session. Earnhardt talked about yesterday's announcement that he is leaving Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, on the amount of attention he's received, the reaction from other drivers, the challenges to finding a new team and other topics.

WERE YOU SURPRISED AT THE LEVEL OF ATTENTION YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT RECEIVED YESTERDAY? "Yeah, I am. It's a little bit overwhelming and you know just trying to find the positives in everything. One thing that I wanted to say was that we haven't began legitimately serious discussions about who we're going to work with and who we're thinking about working with. It's unfair for the other teams like RCR and those guys to have to have that going on. They're trying to focus on what they're doing this year and what their drivers are trying to focus on and it's not fair to them to have things on the TV and in the paper about speculations. Years ago speculation wouldn't make it to air and it's unfortunate these days that sometimes it does because what it does is number one, it gives the fans false information and number two, it just rubs those guys.in this case I guess yesterday or this morning at RCR, those guys have got a lot to concentrate on and they're trying to do a job and the last thing I'd want to do as a friend and out of respect to Richard and his team and his guys is to come in between anything they're trying to accomplish this year."

SO CAN YOU DENY THOSE REPORTS FROM YESTERDAY THAT THEY HAD A DONE DEAL? "Yeah, Richard's here with a press conference but he's doing something entirely different to do with his team and it's unfortunate for him or anybody in that position because he's trying to announce something, probably a new sponsor or whatever, that's going to be overshadowed by a situation like that and it's unfortunate."

AFTER SEEING ALL THE ATTENTION, WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET A NEW DEAL DONE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER? "I'll get it done when I'm ready to get it done. I'm in no hurry, no pressure from the media or any direction for that matter is going to persuade me to hurry anything or rush anything. Like I said, this is a real, real important decision for me personally that I have to make sure I'm making correctly."

WAS THERE A POSITIVE REACTION FROM YOUR FELLOW DRIVERS AFTER YOU MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT? "Well I mean there was a good camaraderie throughout the garage and I know that those guys I can lean on for advice or whatever. I know a lot of them have been in the same situation. I have gotten a lot of great reaction from my fans and I want to thank them for being really, really supportive. That means a lot to me. You have a lot of unknowns going into making a decision like that of who's going to support you and who's going to be by your side and I was really, really surprised by the positive reaction I've gotten from my fans so far. I was surprised by the attendance of grandmother Martha and my dad's sister Kathy at my press conference. That made me feel really good. Everybody's been great even Max Siegel blew me away with his conduct and how he's been positive, that's not a big surprise. Max has always told me he's a genuine guy and I try to believe people when they say that but it's a rough sport. But he's been really supportive and he wants to allow me to do this right and I appreciate that. My guys on my team are excited about the rest of the season and they're behind me and that's all good stuff."

IS IT GOOD OR BAD FOR NASCAR TO HAVE THE MOST MARKETABLE FACE OF NASCAR AS A FREE AGENT? "I can't answer that. NASCAR doesn't like all the publicity it gets but I didn't really have that in my concerns. I mean if it was going to be detrimental for NASCAR I would have definitely been concerned about my decision but my decision wasn't based on that and I'm not sure exactly where NASCAR is and how they feel. They're supporting me as well as DEI. They want to see DEI succeed like we all do and they're going to continue to support DEI and what it does throughout the sport and they'll do that for the drivers as well."

ON HOW THE LAST 24 HOURS HAS BEEN: "I thought I was getting a little more sleep than I did last night. Last night was harder to sleep than it was before the press conference. I'm just concerned with reaction from key people and I'm starting to learn what that is and becoming comfortable with that."

IS IT WEIRD SHOWING UP TO THE TRACK KNOWING YOUR DAYS WITH DEI ARE DWINDLING? "Not necessarily, it's not something new in the sport and you've seen drivers move from team to team before and this has happened before but I was happy to hear my guys say they support me into the rest of the season. They're glad to hear that we're going to race hard and try to have some fun and enjoy what we do. We all race for a living because we love it and we're going to try to continue to keep that attitude at the race track and stay positive. That's important to me. I hope that's the way it continues to stay."

WHAT'S THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF THIS PROCESS OF FINDING A NEW TEAM? "There's a lot of things that are difficult about it, really just the time and effort it's going to take. It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort to really decipher and make the correct decision. There'll be a lot of things I'm sure that will be tough to decide on but I know what I'm looking for and I think I'll be able to find that. Mentally and emotionally it's just tough, you know, because I've never been in this situation before and people say some bad things and people say some great things, people were supportive and people were angry. It's just coming from all angles and that's an interesting part about it, a little bit tough but I think that in the end once it's all said and done everybody will have an understanding of what went on and how we got to where we are today and why we will be where we are in the future."

ON HOW FIRST PRACTICE WENT: "I've been longing for a normal conversation over the last couple of days (laughs). It's been rough (and normal conversation) has been few and far between. I had my car going really good in race trim, I thought. We had some pretty good lap times there near the end. I can't really find my speed in qualifying. The car's not as difficult, not as big a shot in the dark as I thought it would be here. I was really expecting just about anything. This track is so slick I think that really the track's going to prevail over the car as far as how the race is dictated and what happens in the race. This thing has more control than we do when we're going around old Darlington."

HOW MANY TEAMS DO YOU PLAN TO HAVE DISCUSSIONS WITH ABOUT YOUR FUTURE? "I really don't know. I can't answer that. We just got through really the first part of this deal and we'll just sit down and answer the phone and just see. I'm excited about what my opportunities, possibilities may be. You know you daydream about what a good situation is to you personally and hopefully I can find that."

HAVE TEAMS ALREADY CONTACTED YOU? "No, not that I know of yet."

ON HOW HE LOOKED YESTERDAY AT THE ANNOUNCEMENT: "I really didn't know what to wear. I was like 'Should I wear a suit?' But I don't wear suits, so I want to look like y'all know me and y'all know me the way I dressed. I was in an uncomfortable position trying to be as comfortable as I could."

DO YOU FEE LIKE YOU HAVE A WEIGHT LIFTED OFF YOU? "Not yet, there really isn't a real feeling of relief. I didn't expect to be like 'Wow, (that's) a big weight lifted off my shoulders.' I'm glad that we're making decisions and moving forward, that is good but I'm having to work and talk with people now on a daily basis that are unsure about their future and unsure about our future together and that's difficult and emotional. I was glad to see my team today and they were supportive in me. I didn't get to talk to those guys yesterday, they were on the road when I went to DEI. They were really supportive of me and they all sat me down me and said 'Look man, we're behind you. We're going to have fun this year.' I'm really excited that they're having that attitude and I'm going to try as hard as I can to keep them around. I owe it to them, they've done a lot for me, so that was really good this morning. Max's has been pleasant and he's still interested in doing some projects away from the competition side which I think is a good idea. So those things were good but I still haven't gotten to where I'm sleeping good yet."

RICHARD CHILDRESS SAID HE IS INTERESTED IN RECRUITING YOU BUT SAID HE WILL GIVE YOU YOUR SPACE RIGHT NOW. "Yeah, that's why I feel like we won't really have contact with owners and getting to setting up those discussions for another week or two. I need to just relax, man, and take a little time to clear my head and get in that mode. That's just the way I'm gonna do it. I was sort of hurt or upset or disappointed that Richard was put in a position that he was this morning. Speculation wouldn't make it to TV a couple of years ago and these days it seems to make it there pretty easily. It's unfortunate because he's my. I guess he was having a press conference here today? Is that correct? What was it about?"

IT WAS JUST A CHAT REGARDING THE INCORRECT TV REPORT. "I thought he might be announcing a sponsor or some new deal. That was a good idea. That was nice of him. I just thought that TV jumped the gun because he's got drivers and crew members over there trying to win races and trying to do the best they can this year. The last thing I want to do is get in the middle and confuse their minds and starting rumors over at his shop. You know how rumors move around in the shop and I don't want to create that over at Richard and give him a headache at this time."

WHAT'S IT LIKE TRYING TO GET THE NEW CAR TO WORK HERE ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS? "Fun as hell. (laughs). It is. It's a blast. I'm glad to be back in a race car today. Absolutely. That's where I hide from a lot of things."

CAN YOU GET THE CAR TO TURN? "I was worried. I didn't know what to expect when we got here and near the end of the practice on race trim I got my car driving to my satisfaction. Our lap times were really good, I thought. Compared to guys on 15-lap tires I was in the 31.30s, .40s and low .50s. A lot of guys are in the 32s already so I was really happy with that. Can't find any speed in qualifying trim, though."

SO HAS THIS CONTRACT DEAL MADE YOU THE HAPPIEST TO BE IN THE NEW CAR? "I suppose that's a good way to put it but I'm just glad to be in the car. I'm glad to be driving. I love race car driving and that's all I want to do. After the last couple of days this is the best medicine."

WOULD YOU SEEK OWNERSHIP WITH ANY OTHER TEAM? "That really has to be discussed, I would imagine. That's not really a deal-breaker, I can tell you that. That's not necessary but if that's some sort of a package and I feel like it's a good idea then there may be some interest. They can make it interesting, I'm sure. That's not necessarily something I'm seeking outside of Dale Earnhardt, Inc."

THE FANS WANT TO SEE YOU AT RCR - HOW MUCH CAN THEY INFLUENCE YOUR DECISION? "It's nice to know what the fans think but I'm going to try to make the best decision I can make. Influence is never a good word, most of the time. I'm going to just try to make the best decision I can make and hopefully everybody is happy with it and hopefully everybody is excited about it."

JEFF GORDON HAS SAID THAT HE THOUGHT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND DEI HAD SOURED AND THERE WAS NO GOING BACK. DID THAT AND OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS HELP YOU IN YOUR DECISION? "Public support is great. Public support is a huge factor. It doesn't weigh in any decision that I make, really, but it's just really good to have. Any time, it's just an 'atta boy' or anytime someone tells you you did a really good job on something. Wrote a great article or you get awarded for something, that's just a good feeling. It's really good to be told that for the most part they feel like you're making the right decision, that you're doing it the right way and you're acting accordingly and professionally. Hopefully those same people would tell me when I wasn't and not just you guys (laughs). I tune in to that. I have to admit, I tune into what the public opinion is about a lot of things."

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO BE HAPPY? "I really want to be happy with what I do. I'm not going to have any doubts, whatever I decide."

J.J. YELEY SAID THAT HIS FAVORITE STORY ABOUT DRIVERS AT DARLINGTON IS THAT YOU WERE HERE TESTING, TONY EURY SR. WOULDN'T GIVE YOU TIRES SO YOU STARTED DOING DONUTS. "I was a rookie, maybe it was in 2001 but I'd ran about 30 laps and I wanted new tires. I was terrible. I didn't know how to get around here. We were slow. I just wanted some new tires just to give me some confidence because I was losing it fast and he said, 'naw, you ain't getting no tires' so I actually pulled over there at the end of the garage and just done about five donuts till I felt like they were ruined and came in and got me some tires. We had a similar deal like that at Watkins Glen when I was driving in the Busch car. We tested all day and our lap times were good. We had another test the next morning and I asked Tony (Eury), Jr. 'how many sets of tires we got left?' and he said seven so I went off in the gravel seven times. And we were home by lunch."

SHANE HUFFMAN IS GOING TO BE DRIVING IN THE BUSCH RACE TONIGHT - HE TRIED OUT THE TRACK ON A SIMULATOR. "Yeah, he went to Armarillo's house. I call him Armadillo."

HOW DO YOU THINK HE WILL DO? "I haven't even seen the practice times. When Shane goes to a track like this I leave it really wide open and I can understand whatever the outcome is. This is a tough place to get around for a rookie. When I came here I could test, and we did, and he never had so I'm just allowing him to make the mistakes he's going to make and hopefully he'll have a good night."

DID YOU HAVE OPTIONS TO GO TO COURT TO GET CONTROL OF DEI? "That was never even of any interest in mind to take it to any kind of litigation or anything like that. I don't want to get into that kind of a situation."

DO YOU THINK IT'S EASY FOR PEOPLE THAT AREN'T IN THE SPORT TO UNDERSTAND THAT WINNING IS YOUR PRIORTY? "I would hope so. I could live without winning a championship but I would have to. That would be the situation. But I don't want to. I want to win a championship and I want to win more races. I want to win on a regular basis. That has nothing to do with DEI. That's just me. That's my opinion. That's what I want. I feel like I need to make a change and put myself in that situation and I think people can grasp that. That's pretty easy to grasp. It's nice to live the lifestyle you want and make a lot of money but money doesn't make you happy like the other things do. When you've got peace of mind and you're enjoying every day, not miserable half the time."

IS THE PHONE RINGING ALREADY? "I've got someone answering it if it is. I would like to take a week or two just to clear my mind a little bit. Drink a couple beers, have some fun and get normal. I've felt about as un-normal as one could feel the last couple of days and lost a lot of sleep. I want to just relax and clear my head, just sort of get a good football stance to go after this new deal that we're seeking."

DO YOU HAVE PLANS FOR MOTHER'S DAY? "Bringing mom to Darlington. I can't remember much Mother's Days. Probably more important to her to remember than me but I like bringing her here. She's coming tomorrow. That's really cool that they do that here. The moms really appreciate it and it makes them feel special and appreciate it. My mom certainly digs it. She won't come, though, until I tell her. I ask Kelley, when's mom getting there and is she coming early or what. She said, 'she ain't coming till you ask her'. I said she knows she's got to go to Darlington, it's Mother's Day. They do the ride-around. I told her some fans might be upset and to maybe be prepared for anything in the back of that truck riding around but hopefully they'll be supportive and respectful of my mother."

DO YOU THINK THE FANS ARE REALLY UPSET WITH YOU? "You know me, I can take it."

Behind the Hauler Chat with Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and talked about his reaction to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. leaving Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, the repaving of Darlington, Mother's Day and more.

ON DALE EARNHARDT, JR. ANNOUNCING HE IS LEAVING DALE EARNHARDT, INC. "You tell me, you guys are the media (laughs). I'm just focused on trying to drive the DuPont Chevrolet. Obviously yesterday I was anxious to see what all was going on as much as anybody else and like a lot of people, on one side I was shocked and on the other side I wasn't so surprised."

IS IT A GOOD OR A BAD THING? "It's obviously a good thing for some and a bad thing for others. I think for Junior it's a great thing, you know. It puts him in a position to go out and seek what he's looking for. If you're DEI it's not a good place to be."

DOES THIS BRING NEGATIVE ATTENTION TO THE SPORT? "Any attention that it brings to the sport is a good thing. I don't see it as a negative thing or positive, it's just a big story. I don't think it's a bad thing for the sport."

DO YOU SEE HIM AS A TEAMMATE? "I haven't really thought about it a whole lot. I think that he can go anywhere he wants to go. If I had to guess, and I haven't talked to Junior, this was not an easy decision for him. He struggled with it in many ways and I think that he wants to show his loyalty and I think his loyalty is to his fans and that has a lot to do with Chevrolet. He's loyal to Chevrolet and I think that's probably. I guess there are some areas where he's going to draw the line. It does sound like he wants to be with a Chevy team and that's a good thing right now. To me, the top three teams out there in this series right now are Chevy teams."

DO YOU THINK HE COULD BECOME YOUR TEAMMATE? "If he came, great. If he went somewhere else. I'm going to treat him the same way wherever he goes and I'll be happy for him and support him whatever his decision is. I don't know what kind of a teammate he'd be until I was racing with him. I'd be pretty surprised if he made that decision but he's in the driver's seat, man. He gets to do whatever he wants. I think that car owners are going to be willing to really do whatever they can to get them. He's a huge asset to an organization in a lot of ways."

DO YOU EVER WONDER WHAT YOUR WORTH AS A FREE AGENT IS? "No, I'm fortunate (in that) I never had to deal with that. I feel like I'm getting my fair share where I'm at. To me, if it was about money I would have probably gone out and pushed the limits of that a long time ago. I don't think it's money with Junior either. All I ever ask is to be treated fairly. That's why I'm at Hendrick. Every time that that has come up, Rick (Hendrick) is a guy that treats people very fair, especially if things are going well."

WHAT IS THE IMPALA SS LIKE ON THIS TRACK? "We did the tire test here and we didn't make any qualifying runs so we kind of guessed on what we thought we'd need. We had our hands full this morning. It didn't start out too good but then we went back to some of our basics. This is a challenging race track. When you take a car that has a higher center of gravity like this one that you've heard guys talk about, handling - you can't get it to turn in the middle of a corner. All those things are going to be a big challenge for this race track with this car. I think I've already heard plenty of guys comment on it."

WILL THIS RACE BE MESSY BECAUSE OF THE SLOWER CARS? "We've already seen guys brushing the wall and I've been saying for weeks that the biggest challenge you're going to have with this car at this race track. This is an abrasive race track. It gives up a lot of speed over a run because it just grinds the tires down and when you've got a car that doesn't handle as good as what we're used to then you've got to really have a lot of patience and be careful. The guys that try to push it a little bit too hard are going to be guys that are going to flat-side the right side in a hurry. I think you're going to see that the biggest challenge this weekend is just trying to stay out of the wall."

YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE REPAVING OF DARLINGTON: "I'm excited for them to do that. There's some big bumps and cracks and things that are out there on the surface that need to be fixed. I think it will make the racing better. I definitely think it's going to complement this car by having a smoother race track. Right now as rough as the track is, with some of the issues that they've had, it's only making it that much more challenging for us with this car. Obviously the key to any good pave job is that it starts with the foundation. It's what's going on underneath, how they pack it, what type of rock and different materials they use to compact it and how they compact it. To get it smooth, get those settling areas out that are underneath the surface and build it up from there. I think there are some drainage issues going on and different things - that they've had separation. So I think that they know what the issue is, hiring the right guys and getting out there and making sure they fix those things are going to be key."

THOUGHTS ON HENDRICK DOMINATION AND HOW YOU LIKE THE NEW CAR: "I've definitely been critical of the car and it's grown on me. The first time I drove the car it was a real handful and I wasn't crazy about how it drove. We've made the car better. I think the team is spending time adjusting and working through a lot of issues. We've helped make the car better. We're a long ways from where we were and hopefully we'll just keep getting better with it. I'm not going to truly judge this car until we get on a mile-and-a-half race track. This is a step towards that but it's not Charlotte, it's not Kansas or Chicago."

HAS THIS TRACK TURNED OUT TO BE A LOT DIFFERENT WITH THIS NEW CAR THAN YOU EXPECTED? "To me the first lap that you make is different than the second lap that you make and each time you make a lap and you give information back to the team then they seem to keep making it better. You go out there the first time and you go 'oh my God, I'm going to wreck'. And then five laps later you go 'okay, maybe I understand what this car needs a little bit more' and then the team makes the car a little bit better and it seems to get better as the weekend gets on. So far I would say that here and Bristol are going to be the two most challenging events. And then Dover. I don't know what it's going to be like at Dover too. Some tracks surprise you on how well it does, like Phoenix surprised me of how well the cars handled there. I expect it to be bad here but let's see. Most importantly I just hope it's a good race."

DO YOU THINK THE TRACKS USING THE NEW FORMAT TWICE THIS SEASON WILL CUT THE GAP THAT HENDRICK HAS? "Everybody keeps talking about this gap. You're looking at one column and that's the win column. If you look at laps led and what cars have been dominant, it's not the Hendrick cars. The Hendrick cars have won the races and have been consistently towards the front but Gibbs Racing and Childress Racing, in my opinion, have still put up some great efforts and they've had cars and teams capable of winning some of those races as well. To me, that's our competition. Them and Roush. I think also Penske is coming along too. It seems like they're getting better. I agree that second time around the competition is going to get better. Guys are going to learn more about it. I think we've got a little bit of a head start but I still think that we've got a little ways to go to catch some of those guys that haven't won but they've been a little bit faster than us."

ON HOW THE SEASON IS PROGRESSING: "I never expected us to come out and be this strong this year. As an organization we've been doing a lot of great things and it's fun; it's exciting to see our whole organization running this well, being this consistent. We've got to keep it going. It's still early - a lot of racing left."

HAVE YOU TALKED TO DALE JR. RECENTLY? "No, I have not. Back in the middle of last year we were parked next to one another in the garage area and I told him that his dad was good to me and was always a great guy to go to for advice and I offered that same thing up to him. And other than doing his radio show one time, that's about the only time I've talked to him."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A FREE-AGENT BIDDING WAR ALONG THE LINES OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FOR DALE JR.? "I don't think that's good for the sport. Let's work with the business model of race teams first. The whole key here is that you can't have a driver making so much money that he breaks the team and the team doesn't make some money along the way. Just because Dale Jr. is coming your way, whatever team he goes with, that doesn't mean that all of a sudden they're a gold mine and they're going to strike it rich. It has to balance itself out. You've got to make sure that sponsor dollars are adding up to the cost of everything else. If you just get into a big bidding war where everybody goes 'there's just a ton of money here to go around' then it's going to affect the entire sport because then you'll have other drivers that think 'hey, I'm winning championships and races, I should be paid more'. You've got crew members that are going to want to get more. It's a trickle-down effect. To me what the (New York) Yankees have done is a horrible thing for baseball and I think that it's only good for one person - and that's Roger (Clemens)."

CAN OWNERS RESTRAIN THEMSELVES? "They need to. To me, I don't feel like there's been enough communication with car owners, drivers and NASCAR and that's one of the things that I fear the most with our sport is the move forward. I'm in one of the most unique situations out here - not as unique as Junior is in right now - but I see what happens on the owner side of things. I see how the numbers match up and how they don't match up. So I think that the cost of this sport is escalating at a fast rate and if we don't all control it in some way, some how then it can get out of control."

IF DALE JR. WOULD BE UNITED WITH THE NO. 3 CAR, WHAT WOULD THAT DO FOR MERCHANDISING? "I don't think it would have much of an impact on other drivers. I think it would be huge for whoever is owner, I think it would be huge for Dale Jr. But he's already huge. It would be a spike that would then level off to right back to where he is now. He controls that market as it is and so I definitely think wherever he goes you'll see a big spike. You'll see a lot of people who will want to collect it. Then you're going to see his fans that always support him continue to support him."

DO YOU SEE AN ADVANTAGE TO WRAPPING THIS UP QUICKER FOR HIM AS OPPOSED TO LETTING IT DRAG OUT? "I think that it's a double-edged sword here because you don't want to make a fast decision but at the same time the media is going to be all over him until he makes a decision. And I think that's a distraction for the team that he has to finish out his season with and I think it's a distraction for him. To me that's the burden that's going to be riding on his shoulders that okay, it's great that he made one announcement that kind of cleared the air on that subject but now it's opened up another can of worms that is going to be a real challenge for him. I support him 100%. I think that this is something that is going to make him happy in the long run, to be able to pick and choose and go to a team that he really feels that he can elevate himself and that team to the next level. I think he's very capable of doing that and for whatever reason that wasn't there for him where he was at. So on a personal side, I'm excited for him but I think that he's got a tough road ahead of him until he makes that decision."

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FOR CASEY MEARS BEING THE NEW GUY AND THE SPECULATION THAT HE COULD BE REPLACED BY DALE JR.? "I hate that for Casey because Casey is new to the team. A lot of new people on that team and he hasn't gotten a fair shake. I think that it's important for those guys to really start putting some things together and I hate to see that kind of added pressure on somebody but it's not because that's a potential. It's just because of the speculation of what the media talks about. Those guys have started out rough and to me, you've got to have at least a couple years behind the wheel with a new team before you can really know where you're headed. I think that the most important thing for them right now is to continue to show improvement as the year goes on. When Steve (Letarte) came on board with us it took us a whole year to get where we're at now, if not a little bit longer than that. I think too many people are speculating and trying to answer questions that can't be answered yet and they're including other people and hey, I'm sure it's exciting and fun for everyone to do that but it's making it very challenging for some of the guys that are out here trying to do their jobs."

IS IT AS DIFFICULT TO RETRIEVE MOMENTUM AS IT IS TO ACHIEVE IT? "It's a lot harder. Sometimes gaining momentum is just a natural process of the team getting better and that takes time. When you get that momentum it's not easy to maintain it but it's a whole lot easier to maintain it than to lose it and try to get it back."

WHAT DOES THE NAME A.J. FOYT MEAN TO YOU? "When I was a kid growing up watching Indy 500s, because I watched a lot more Indy races than I did NASCAR races as a kid growing up, it was all about A.J. Foyt and Johnny Rutherford, Mario Andretti, Al Unser. That to me, as a kid, that was my dreams. To one day be in those shoes and to race with somebody like that or to be as successful as he was and looking back at how he was good in a sprint car, stock car and an Indy car is pretty impressive."

HOW POWERFUL IS KELLEY EARNHARDT ELLEDGE RIGHT NOW? "I would say she's probably the next most powerful thing next to her brother. She's in a power position. He can't do all those things on his own. I think she's made very conscious, smart decisions. I don't think they've jumped into anything. The little bit that I know her, and my dad knows her pretty well - he used to work with her at Action, I've heard nothing but good things. I'm pretty impressed so far with the way things have been handled."

DARLINGTON WAS IN DANGER OF LOSING ITS CUP RACES AND NOW IT'S SELLING OUT. "That's great. I love racing at this track. Yeah, they've got some surface issues that will hopefully be resolved with the repaving but this is a track that I hope never goes away. To me it's important for us to maintain our history and to me there's no place more historical than this one."

YOU WERE NOT IN FAVOR OF THE CONTRACT THAT THE YANKEES GAVE ROGER CLEMENS? "I think it's great for Roger. I think it's a move out of desperation. You hear about salary caps and all these things and then that happens. To me it doesn't seem like it's a very positive thing for the sport, to be able to do that. And I'm a Yankees fan but I'm not a fan when it comes to things like that. One thing NASCAR has is they really maintain a way to keep things as equal as possible. Just because we've won a bunch of races at Hendrick doesn't mean that it's lopsided. As far as everybody having the same opportunity to do what we're doing, it's out there. And I do think there's some areas here that it's gotten out of control even in NASCAR with some of the engineering and technology money that we're spending in certain areas. I think this is the first time it's really showing up, with this new car. Trust me, as someone who is involved with the owner side, it makes me nervous when I see some of the things that are going on. I'm happy that we're running good and we're applying it to the car but where does it go from here. When does it stop."

YOU KNOW THE YANKEES RUINED BASEBALL. "They did? I'm a fan of seeing them win but maybe sometimes the way you go about it can be a little bit rough. I'm guilty of that with my fancy football team. We bought our championship last year. It's about the league and the rules allowing you to do that. If they allow you to do that then it's all free game. I'm not blaming the Yankees as much as I'm blaming the league allowing them to do that."

WHO WERE SOME OF THE STARS YOU BOUGHT ON YOUR FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM LAST YEAR? "Well, all the ones I had ended up getting injured and we had to go buy a bunch of other ones. I can't remember all the guys."

WHAT ARE YOUR MOTHER'S DAY PLANS? DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOUR MOTHER ON MOTHER'S DAY? "My mom is going to be here at the race. I'm excited about that. They do a special thing here for the mothers and then Sunday I'll be spending time with her and the mother-to-be - my wife - and my sister. So I'm definitely going to be with my family on Mother's Day. I've got the best mom and I've got a great relationship with her and I look forward to that time. Very seldom do we get the time to just talk about life away from racing. My life has revolved around racing so much that it's that quality time that you get with your family, especially your mom, that really makes for a special day and I'm looking forward to sharing that time with her and hopefully giving her a special day."

IS YOUR MOM MORE EXCITED ABOUT YOUR SUCCESS THIS YEAR OR THE FACT THAT SHE'S GOING TO HAVE A GRANDCHILD? "That's a good question. I think she'd be torn between that but probably more on the grandchild side of things."

THE RUMOR IS THAT YOU ARE RETIRING NEXT YEAR? "I'm not going anywhere."

WHAT ARE THE EMOTIONS IN THE CAR WHEN YOU ARE RUNNING WELL AS OPPOSED TO WHEN YOU ARE NOT? "The funny thing is that when you are running well the intensity level is just as high because you want to maintain that level of competition. When you don't feel like you've got the car to win.I've been more intense this year having second- and third-place runs then I've been in the last couple of years having a 15th-place car at Texas or something like that. I'm a competitive person and we've got a seriously competitive team here. It's a great feeling when you're running good, doing it consistently and there's nothing better than seeing that checkered flag and knowing you're the first guy across the line."

Behind the Hauler Chat with Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and talked about what makes Darlington unique, his reaction to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. leaving Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, on preparing for the upcoming races in Charlotte and more.

ON HAVING SUCCESS HERE AND WHAT HE FINDS BEST AT THIS TRACK: "It's just such a different track where most tracks you can follow somebody and worry about their line and worry about the competition, what that individual driver or the other guys on the track. Here it's not that way and that's probably one of the first lessons I learned. You've got to worry about yourself, you got to keep it out of the wall and your car will have an area where it performs, you just have to wait for that, it might be at the start of the run, it might be at the middle of the run, it might be at the end but you just have to be very patient and run your own race and that's something that I've been able to pick up here earlier on because it's such a challenging track and I've also made mistakes in my career where I got racing other people and was too focused on the short term gain and caused problems for myself. So it's just really a place where you have to race the race track and we hear that from time to time but there isn't another track on the circuit where it's more meaningful than here."

ON HIS REACTION TO DALE EARNHARDT JR. LEAVING DEI: "Just surprise that Teresa and Junior weren't able to put something together. Junior has certainly made an effort to go out and further his career. He's also show a lot of respect for DEI, I think through the press conference and the things I saw yesterday. So I know life's changing for DEI and for Dale and I certainly wish them both the best. We need Dale Earnhardt Incorporated in this sport succeeding and we also need Dale Jr. doing the same."

DO YOU EVER SEE DALE JR. AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS IN? "(Laughs) No, the rumors I've heard floating around, we're use to silly season with the normal drivers and now with our sports biggest driver silly season is going to be 10 times larger than it's ever been. I think Junior has done a good job of thinking through what he wants to do on his own private time and he is a hot commodity. There isn't a team owner or sponsor in this sport that wouldn't want to be with him. The ball's in his court and I'm sure Hendrick is an option for him. I don't know where he would ever go. We've got four drivers signed up and we can't add a fifth car. I've heard rumors that he's starting up his own team and if that's the case then I'm sure he'd look at Childress engines, he'd look at DEI engines, he'd look at Hendrick engines, probably those same teams and also Gibbs for a job to go drive for them. It's just going to be a lot of what ifs right now and it's going to make for good media across the board. For the next two months before he decides we're all going to be trying to guess where he goes."

ON THERE ONLY BE SO MANY MARQUEE DRIVERS IN THE SPORT: "Outside of the garage area and outside of our sport there's really one or two names that really carry and I'd have to put Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon in that category. Inside the track there's a lot of names and a lot of guys than run well and perform and Junior is certainly one of those as well. From inside the garage area with my competition hat, Junior would be a good teammate. Junior would do a lot of things right and be an asset to Hendrick or to whatever team he went to race for. I probably look at it more as what my teammate situation would be like if that scenario ever came out then anything. Like I said, we've got all four guys that are signed up and I just think that's a rumor. I don't where in the world Dale Junior would go at Hendrick."

COULD THIS RACE BE A GOOD SEPARATION OF THE GOOD AND BAD CAR OF TOMORROW RACE CARS THAT ARE OUT THERE? "The way things have been so far - I think Bristol has been the same Bristol, Phoenix has been the same, Martinsville was the same, Richmond was the same. You've got teams that are going to be fast and teams that struggle. I think that's just the way racing is so I don't expect anything different here as far as what the fans will see or what we'll see on television. Inside the cars there're going to drive probably different than what any of us have been used to. I was just thinking about this before I came out, I've never been to this race track with a 1990-style car so when I think of people that should excel here. I think of Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, guys that in the late '90s with this type of car, this type of setup that were really, really fast and that's why Jeff Gordon owned this place. So I feel that it's still going to be the same racing but I think it's going to be more in the drivers' hands than what it's been in the past."

SO IT WILL BE EVEN MORE OF A DRIVERS' TRACK? "When you think of drivers track, this is the first one that comes to everybody's mind. I think that the car that doesn't do what you want it to, you need a driver in there that can hang onto this thing and a driver that can look for the right areas to find speed. That's one of the big challenges with the Car of Tomorrow and I think the opportunity is brought myself. It's a challenging car to drive and you really got to search a lot as a driver to find out how to make it work. Yeah, they don't turn but we're all in the same box. The rules are very, very similar for all the cars. From Kenny Wallace's car to my car, there is very, very subtle differences just because the way NASCAR has put it. It puts a lot in my hands and also in the crew chiefs hands for strategy and the adjustments in the race."

SHOULD THERE BE ANY CHANGES TO NASCAR'S NEW-GENERATION RACE CAR AT THIS STAGE? "I think we need to look if there are any safety issues. The first thing that comes to mind would be overworking the brakes. Maybe we could think something through that gets more airflow to the brake system, at least get it equal to what we had with the old car. We haven't seen any major problems. There's nothing there that alarms me but that would be an area that I hope NASCAR would consider. Then you look at what's going to put on for better racing. So far we've had side-by-side finishes, some of the closest finishes we've seen at the tracks this car has been on. I would love to see changes based on fuel alone but I'm trying to put NASCAR's hat on and I just don't see that yet. It's just not in the cards yet."

DOES THIS WHOLE SITUATION WITH DALE EARNHARDT, JR. SHOW HOW MUCH OF A BUSINESS NASCAR IS? "It certainly is a team sport in a lot of aspects, every aspect for that matter when we have 560 employees at Hendrick and 89 just in our 24/48 shop assembling cars, then you break it down to the 15 that show up here working on race weekend. It is a team sport. Sometimes you have the best people put together and it doesn't work out and you've got to shake that up and make some changes and I think that's where Junior was looking for control, control of the 8 car so he could get in there and start making decisions that he felt was right and it appears that they weren't able to find that agreement so he's going to take it down the road and see if it works somewhere else."

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY A DRIVER NEEDS CONTROL IN REGARDS TO OWNERSHIP? "I don't know his situation. I'm sure there's a lot to it and we all know how tough this has been for him to decide on so I can't speak clearly or from the right place on Junior's behalf. But at the end of the day for him to make such a bold move there's something there that he's looking for and hopefully he finds it."

ON THE CREW CHIEF RACE IN CHARLOTTE, WILL YOU BE GIVING CHAD ANY TIPS? "They have me involved somehow and I can't wait to get on the radio and yell at him about corner entry because he's always on butt about it (and saying) 'Don't overdrive the entry, you're using the brakes to much.' Hopefully I can be on the radio and start screaming at him.

IS THERE ANYONE HE HAS TO BEAT OUT THERE? "Really I hope he doesn't do all that well because then it means my job's at stake. I think there's a pretty good rivalry right now between the crew chiefs involved. I just have a suspicion that it's going to turn into a bumper car match out there once it's all said and done. The racing's not going to be all clean."

DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO CHARLOTTE WITH AS MUCH CONFIDENCE AS YOU ALWAYS HAVE? "I do especially after the test we just had. We really had a really strong two-day test session and I feel that we addressed some things that hurt us last year in those two races where we ran second. We've found some speed there so I'm really excited for the next couple races."

WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS HURT YOU THE LAST COUPLE OF RACES THERE? "I'd say we didn't have a good balance from the start of the run to the end of the run. The track gets so tight and the way that that tire works with the track and the demands on the car, at the end of 10 laps the car has massive understeer in it but you're starting off wrecking loose so you've got to balance that out and we've found some things that really helped us not lose too much time at the start of the run because the car was loose and then as the car built tight we didn't get too tight and were able to maintain some higher speeds."

HAVE YOU RACED THAT CAR IN CHARLOTTE BEFORE? "I'm not sure if it's raced there before but I think it's our Vegas car so it's certainly a proven race car."

ON WHAT HE'S DOING ON MOTHER'S DAY: "Hopefully I'm going to be at home. With the rain in the forecast hopefully we're not here racing at Darlington on Mother's Day. (I'll) be at home, make some phone calls to my mom and to my mother-in-law and then we have two small dogs so of course I got to do the corny route and wish my wife a happy Mother's Day even though we aren't really parents."

ON WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT THE ALL STAR RACE: "I don't know, maybe the million bucks on the line. We all enter it and say it's not a points race and I certainly think that makes everybody a little bit more aggressive but when the purse is that large you also take on the mindset of a points race because you want win. I think it gets really intense. It's a place where we can try new setups and I think sometimes cars aren't driving like they typically would so guys more are on the raged edge in some areas. It's just the combination of everything."

WHAT MAKES THE CAR OF TOMORROW SO DIFFICULT: "We lost probably 30 to 40 percent of the handling of the car going from the current car to the new car and not looking at time sheet to find out where you're ranked but just going off of fuel alone and you feel terrible, you feel slow. I've been guilty of this a few times where I go out on the track and the car and I'm like 'This thing is terrible' and all I know is what I felt last year at that track and what I felt for the last six years and then I come in and look at the board and I'm third on the board and running competitive times and it's like 'Really? I'm good after that?' So that's probably the hardest thing to deal with."

ARE YOU CONCERNED THAT THE REPAVING COULD MESS THIS PLACE UP NEXT YEAR? "I am. The speeds that we run and granted we're going in the Car of Tomorrow so it's going to slow things down, but the track was built to run 140 miles an hour around it and we're far above that. Now with the new technology and asphalt and how fast the cars are, you bring that within these small confines and I'm not sure the racing is going to be that good. It's really going to be a single file race track and they should actually consider reworking the width of the track and the transitions in and off the turn so we can run side by side. With new asphalt there's so much grip it's just going to be single file."

Behind the Hauler Chat with Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Impala SS

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Impala SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and talked about what it would be like to have Dale Earnhardt Jr. as a teammate, on how the Impala SS has exceeded his expectations here so far, on why drivers like the All Star race and more.

ON HIS REACTION TO DALE EARNHARDT, JR.'S ANNOUNCEMENT: "He's doing what he wants to do. I know through past experience talking with him he's had ideas of leaving for a while. He's just finally going through with it."

ON POSSIBLY HAVING HIM AS A TEAMMATE: "He'd be a big asset to Gibbs as a whole. He'd definitely bring a lot of sponsors, a lot of money and that in turn would help all of our race teams. I think the communication between myself and him is a good and I know him and Tony are fairly tight. Yeah, it'd be a great fit. We'd love to have him. There's a lot of things that got to be worked out."

ON IF IT'S GOOD OR BAD FOR NASCAR TO HAVE THE MOST MARKETABLE DRIVER A FREE AGENT? "Sure, it's a good. It probably takes all the media away from debris cautions, Car of Tomorrow and this, that and the other. It'll probably be forgotten in about a month or so after this is all done. I think for NASCAR's sake it's a good thing."

ON IF HE'S WATCHING HOW THIS PLAYS OUT AND HOW THIS COULD AFFECT HIMSELF IN HIS NEXT NEGOTIATION: "It's a lot different with him than it is with us. He's bringing so many different souvenir sales and things like that. Teams can pay more for him because he brings more money to the team than someone like myself for sure. You can't always use that as an example. I think eventually it's probably going to drive the cost of the drivers up."

HAS THE IMPALA SS BEEN AS HARD AS YOU EXPECTED COMING HERE? "It really drives a lot better than what I expected. I talked to Jeff Burton a little bit and he thought it drove a lot better than what he expected. I talked to (Jeff) Gordon to last week and he tire tested here and he said it is going to be extremely tough just not to hit the wall so that kind of had me a little bit skeptical there but after practice I felt it was pretty good. I got a lot better things to say about it then what I would have normally."

WHAT MAKES THE CAR BETTER THAN WHAT YOU EXPECTED? "I think this track just demands so much more mechanical grip than aero that people aren't complaining as much about the aero issues that we usually have with these cars. I think Darlington should make for a good race simply because the tires wear out, we're going to fall off a lot and you'll probably see more side-by-side racing in this race than you had in any other Car of Tomorrow races."

ON IF THE IMPALA HAS HELPED THE AERO PUSH OR IF IT'S TOO SOON TO TELL: "I don't know that it's going to make the aero push deal better but here you're not going feel it as much. I got behind different cars in practice and really didn't notice it as bad as even the Busch car at some point. I think slowly but surely guys are starting to figure this car out and when they go it's going to make for better racing."

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE ALL STAR RACE THAT MAKES IT SUCH A BIG DEAL? "Obviously the million bucks means a lot for sure but everyone gets to see their driver go 100 percent every single lap because we really don't have anything to lose other than maybe some guys were thinking about running that back car for the 600. But most of the time there's a big wreck and it takes them all out anyway. That's what the excitement is for the fans, why it draws so many fans is it's all out and there's no letting a guy pass or anything like that. Everyone has to earn it."

DO YOU LIKE THE FORMAT OF THAT RACE? "No, I like it. I think it's good. The shorter the better. The shorter (it is), it's going to make obviously for tighter finishes and is going to make for more intense racing."

ON HIS PLANS FOR MOTHER'S DAYS: "Mother's Day plans are probably going to be out on the lake for sure but I'll definitely have my mother with me. They moved down this past week so it's going to be exciting to have them with me on Mother's Day and hopefully she'll be here on Saturday night to watch us win."

Behind the Hauler Chat with Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Impala SS

Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Impala SS, met with members of the media and talked about racing at Darlington, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s announcement that he is leaving DEI, the Impala SS and more.

THOUGHTS ON HEADING INTO THE RACE TOMORROW NIGHT: "A lot of anticipation coming into this race. Darlington is the most historic track that we run on. It's rich in tradition. It's a throwback to the way things used to be and then we bring a car - that we're still learning a great deal about and have a whole lot to learn about - on a track that's the slickest, toughest track that we go to. So a lot of challenges for this weekend, a lot of anticipation, a lot of nervousness about where we're going to be with our handling. That's Darlington. It's fun to be part of. It's really neat to come here, knowing all the challenges of the racetrack and also knowing the challenges of the new car. So it's a huge challenge and hopefully we look back on it with fond memories but I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I feel really honored to be part of this weekend with all the changes with this car and the last race before the repavement; it's a neat weekend."

WHAT DO YOU THINK IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE FOR THE NO. 8 TEAM TO KEEP THINGS TOGETHER FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON? "We've seen it before where teams know that early in the year something was going on; a driver was going to do something different. It's their job to stay focused. It's their responsibility as competitors to stay focused on the job at hand. I think that they'll do that. I think they'll put effort into doing that at the very least. Whether they're successful at it or not is another story. It will be difficult to do. That team is under the microscope every week more so than all the other teams. Which in some way has prepared them for this and in some ways it makes this easier because they're used to the exposure and used to the attention. But it will be difficult for everyone to stay in line. Whenever a driver raises his hand and says 'hey, I want to go somewhere else because I don't think I can have success here' then what he has said is that we're not doing the things that are correct. Then it's also hard to turn around and look the guys in the eyes and say 'hey, you guys are doing a great job and everything is going to be really good. It's hard to do both. I think that that team will put a lot of effort in. I think (Tony) Eury, Jr. is a real intense guy, a real competitive guy and I'm sure he will rally the troops. (Dale Earnhardt,) Junior will too. Junior has a good repertoire with those guys. He's got presence in the garage, not because he has so many fans but because he has respect for the sport and he treats the people in the garage with respect. I think he'll get that back. I think they'll give a lot of effort to make it work but it will be a challenge."

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE DIFFERENCES RUNNING THIS TRACK TO THE SHORTER TRACKS AND DO YOU THINK YOU WILL BE ABLE TO APPLY WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED TO LONGER ONES LATER ON? "It almost seems like every week it's a new chapter on the new car. Every week we say that 'this is the biggest test'. Next week 'this will be the biggest test'. That's why I was cautioning myself because I was getting ready to say 'not only do we have this week, we also have the test at Dover on Monday and Tuesday'. Which will be an even bigger test than this. So we have progressively ramped up the types of race tracks that we go on. The speed has gone up. We started at Bristol then went to Martinsville - two of the slower tracks we go to. Then we went to Phoenix and Richmond: flat, faster three-quarter to one mile race tracks. Now we're at almost a mile-and-a third, whatever you want to call it. The speed comes up again, the G-force and lateral loads are just completely different here than they are at Richmond. In addition to that, this track is very rough. Lot of chance of bottoming out and hitting the splitter. So you've got to find a way to stop the car from traveling and not hitting the splitter. Which is a harder problem here than it is at Richmond and at Phoenix, but the speed is up. By the way, this is the slickest, low-grip race track that we run on. There is no slicker, low-grip race track than this race track. So because we are in the infancy of this car, we keep throwing new challenges to it. But I do believe that we can apply the things that we learned at Richmond to Darlington and the things we learned at Phoenix to Richmond. I think that it is a building process. This is a big test. It's not the ultimate test. It's not the end-all of tests for the car, by any means. But it is perhaps the largest test to date because of all the challenges that this race track offers. With more travel in the front of the car, less lateral grip, a slick race track - all those things will make the cars drive. they'll be a handful. It will be very difficult for these cars to get around this race track so this is a large test."

WHAT QUALITIES WOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN HAVING DALE EARNHARDT, JR. AS A TEAMMATE? "Any teammate that I look at, the thing that I want no. 1 to be is a person that understands the common good of the company is in his best interest. We have to have teammates that are very competitive but that also understand that the mission is, for us collectively, to do it better than everyone else. We have to have each other's interests at heart, we have to have talent. There are a lot of qualities that make a good teammate - honesty. we don't have time not to be honest. If Clint Bowyer is mad at me, he has free reign to come to me and say 'hey, you pissed me off and here's why'. And we can talk about it. You've got to have that kind of relationship. In any teammate that's the things that we will demand and expect. When I don't live up to those then I've done wrong. I'm not going to go into the good things that Dale would bring if he was a teammate but those are the things that we would expect of anyone. From the outside looking in, there's very few people in the garage that I believe couldn't bring that. It would be nice to have Junior as a teammate, it would also be nice to have Mark Martin as a teammate again. It would be nice to have a lot of people in the garage as a teammate and I understand that the way things work, when someone says 'I'm going somewhere else' and 'we've got to go right now where he's going' I think you guys are jumping the gun just a little bit on where he's going to end up. There's a lot of time between here and then and we'll see what ends up happening. If he does come and that does work out, then we would be excited about it for sure. But there are a lot of things that have to go on between now and then. Richard (Childress) has got to get committed to a fourth team and we're not there yet. I know everybody says that that we are definitely doing a fourth team. That's not true. There's talk of doing a fourth team but we're not to the point of saying we're doing a fourth team. So that has to happen first."

WHO WOULDN'T YOU WANT AS A TEAMMATE? "Next question," (laughs).

IS IT AS DIFFICULT TO RETRIEVE MOMENTUM AS IT IS TO ACHIEVE IT? "I think it's difficult to achieve it and it's easy to lose it. One of the things about having success in the sport is that I think sometimes you over-analyze it. When we're having success we tend to say 'here's why we're having success. We know we're doing this well, we know we're doing that well.' When you're not having success you tend to thing you know exactly why you're not having success. I think that some of that has a lot to do with things you don't understand. I can tell you that we certainly, all the last three races have had no momentum carried over. The last two races we ran well; things just didn't work out for us. Had we not well at Richmond and finished 20th, had we not run well at Talladega and finished 30th, then I'd be much more concerned than the things that have happened to us. It's really important to do the analysis of what caused you to finish where you finished. If you get caught up in only the finish then sometimes there's too much euphoria and sometimes there's too much panic. You have to understand why you're in the position you are in from a - at Richmond, for example, we broke an engine. We can't break engines. At Talladega we got in a wreck that we couldn't avoid. Nothing we do about that. You just can't lose sleep over every single thing. You have to focus on the things that you can control. It is easy to get backed into a corner and feel like you need to come out swinging and you come out trying to press things and I feel like that's the worst thing you can do. I think you can't change who you are as a driver, you can't change who you are as a team. You can look to improve it but you can't change it in a week. We can't will our way into a win this weekend, we've got to work our way into it. I think that's important."

TALK ABOUT THE EMOTIONS INVOLVED WITH MAKING A TEAM CHANGE: "When you leave a team that you think fondly of and have good feelings about, it's different than when you are leaving a team that you are ready to get away from. There are some occasions when the team wants (to get) rid of you and you want (to get) rid of them. And the sooner you can get away from each other the happier you are. In my case and Junior's case - I shouldn't speak for him but from what he says - it's much more difficult than that. You have an attachment to people and you have relationships with people and you're walking away from those relationships, professionally. You try really hard to build camaraderie, you try really hard to build a team concept and then you raise your hand and say 'enough of that, we'll go do something different'. You almost feel hypocritical and there's a lot of emotions that go on. You're sad for leaving and you're excited about the future. You're nervous about the future. No one has a crystal ball, no one knows what's going to happen. You lay in bed at night awake trying to figure it out before you have all the information. It's a difficult time. It's not something that I enjoy, to be perfectly honest. I do enjoy being part of a new group and trying to build something new. That is an enjoyable thing. But getting from point A to point B is pretty much hell. It's no fun. Junior won't look back on this as being a fun experience, I can assure you. It's not fun. Some things in life are just tough."

Behind the Hauler Chat with Kyle Busch, No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Impala SS

Kyle Busch, No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Impala SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and talked about Hendrick Motorsports' success with the Impala SS, on racing the Impala SS at Darlington, his feedback on repaving Darlington and more.

ON HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS SUCCESS WITH IMPALA SS: "We have worked really hard and sort of have gotten ahead of the game a little bit I guess. Just proves that Hendrick got a bit of a head start on everybody else and have worked a little bit harder to get further ahead."

ON DALE EARNHARDT, JR. LEAVING DEI: "It was kind of surprising but when stuff doesn't go quite the way you want it to go or would like for it to go, then it is time to make a change. I guess Junior felt that way. I can't speak for him but whatever he feels like is in his best interest that he needs to do for his career is pretty much what happened."

ON WHAT KIND OF FIT HE WOULD BE FOR HENDRICK: "I am not so sure he is coming here. We have drivers that are locked in for a few years so if he is coming here, it probably isn't until 2009 or 2010. I think he would be just fine. I think Hendrick is already a pretty big powerhouse and to have Junior's name would be just that much more."

ON DARLINGTON WITH THE IMPALA SS: "You have a car that doesn't have any grip already so I am not sure. It is going to be will be wild and crazy. Jeff (Gordon) came here and tested and had a pretty decent test that went well he thought so we will see how it goes. All in all, it is probably not going not going to be that fun race for me because these cars are so hard and this track is even that much harder. You are definitely going to make your money this weekend."

ON RACING HERE AT NIGHT: "No, no different preparation. This track in general is just different. There are going to be a lot of differences that come out this weekend."

ON THE CHARLOTTE ALL STAR WEEKEND: "The two weeks in Charlotte are nice cause you are home. This race here is close to home so you can drive home after the race and be at home and sleep in your own bed and have Sunday off. That is nice. Then next weekend, I am running the truck race, then the All Star race and have another Sunday off. Just being at home is nice. You can just hang out at home the morning of the race and then come in early before the race to beat the traffic. We still bring our motorhome in case there is times we can go hang on in that or whatever.

"It is just fun to race at Charlotte. It is one of my favorite tracks but the tire isn't. It is just really hard, not a whole lot of grip and slides around a lot."

ANY ADVICE ON WHAT TO DO WHEN DARLINGTON IS REPAVED: "Well, I understand they want to keep the same character about this place. I don't think it is wide enough for these cars, they are two inches wider tread width than what are other cars were. I would make it a little bit wider for us so we have more room to race, especially so we can race two wide off turn two and make the exit off turn two a little bit easier, like I said, you have to give and take so much over there you can't run side by side over there. So if you make it a little bit wider, the entries and exits to the corners, I think it would be pretty good."

ON WHAT HE WOULD DO TO CAR OF TOMORROW: "I think we were pretty good with the car we had but I don't think we are going to be going back to that car, I think this car is here to stay. We have done so much work with that other car and all the safety advances came with that other car, I think it is pretty safe. We can do all the same things to that one we have done to this one. They want to take all the aero out of equation, they want to take the aero grip away. That is what they did with this car and now they think they did too much so they want to give some front aero grip back. They are kind of battling a double edge sword I guess. There are too many issues to deal with, when they go to fix one, they screw up another.

"Slower is faster with car so actually being able to just slow it down and to calm down and get through the corners smooth is what it makes it better. It is what makes this car faster. That is what brings the competition also close together. You can drive a car easier, you can't drive a car harder. That is something you can't do with this car, you can't drive it any harder to make it go faster. It is just a tough deal for me because anytime I want to go faster, I try harder."

Behind the Hauler Chat with Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Impala SS

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Impala SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and talked about Dale Earnhardt, Jr. being a free agent, on what it would be like to have Earnhardt as a teammate, on racing the Impala SS at Darlington, the upcoming All Star race and more.

ON DEALING WITH DISRUPTIONS SURROUNDING ENHANCED MEDIA ACTIVITY: "It is sort of hard to get to the car. I am parked too close to the No. 8 car."

ON IF IT IS GOOD OR BAD FOR NASCAR TO HAVE DALE EARNHARDT, JR. AS A FREE AGENT: "Well, it definitely brings all you guys to the track. So anytime we can do that it is a good thing. I was just telling Gil (Martin, crew chief) that man it would be hard to focus on what you are doing with all the hoopla around him.

ON POSSIBLITY OF HIM BEING A FUTURE TEAMMATE: "I'd say anybody would be lucky to have him as a teammate. He bring so much to the table sponsor wise, fan wise and everything else so I am sure where ever he lands it will be good for them and him both."

ON BEING A LANDMARK SITUATION REGARDING THE DOLLARS AND CENTS INVOLVED: "I'd say if anybody could bring you money, it would be him."

ON DALE JUNIOR FITTING IN AS A TEAMMATE: "Absolutely. I know him a little bit off the track and definitely like his style, he is a good guy. I think he is a good team player, a good person for everybody. I don't think there would be a team that wouldn't welcome him with open arms."

ON RACING THE IMPALA SS AT DARLINGTON: "I am hoping it comes together good. I am lacking grip or common sense or something; I kept running in to the way out there in practice. I got that out of the way so I am hoping that we can keep that to practice and have a good race. The car was really fast in qualifying trim so we are happy about that. I have to calm down in the car, and rely on these guys, they always seem to make it up for me."

ON JUNIOR APOLOGIZING TO OR FEELING BAD FOR RCR FOR ALL THE DISTRACTIONS: "Well obviously, any prospective team it is causing a distraction for. I can't believe for him, every time he gets out of his car or walks out of his truck, he has 40 people to talk to. If it were me, I would put a clown outfit on and be running."

ON WHAT HE WOULD TELL JUNIOR IF HE CALLED ABOUT ADVICE OR INFORMATION ON RCR: "He probably knows Richard better than I do. He has been around him his whole life. I don't think I could tell him anything he doesn't already know about Richard. Richard is an unbelievable guy. He is a really good guy to work for and a lot of fun to be around."

ON CHARLOTTE ALL STAR WEEKEND: "I like it, it reminds me of local, short track racing. You were always racing for championships but when you would go down 300 or 400 miles from the house and try to whoop up on the best of the best there at whatever race track you went to, is what it reminds me of. It kind of reminds me of going to a National or something like that where there are a lot of cars and you are just trying to beat the best of the best. The only difference is between back then and now is a million dollars, back then it was about a thousand dollars."

ON ADVICE FOR CREW CHIEF RACING THE CREW CHIEF RACE: "My only advice for him is good luck. Go fast. I have a lot of respect for Gil, he is a lot of fun and been very instrumental in my career and one of the best things that has ever happened to me. So I am all for it. We will try and get him amped up for it."

Richard Childress, Owner of Richard Childress Racing

Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing, answered questions from members of the media at Darlington Raceway on Friday morning.

ON HIS THOUGHT ON DALE EARNHARDT, JR.'S ANNOUNCEMENT YESTERDAY: "Let me kind of tell you where I'm at on it. Dale Jr. just made a major decision in his career and in his life yesterday and out of the respect for Teresa, Dale Jr. and this situation, let's all give him some time to make the decisions that he needs to make and be fair. He's got a lot of tough decisions coming up with the direction he's going. I just think it's fair if we all let him have some space and some time to kind of think about what he wants to do in the future."

DO YOU WANT HIM? "We will sit and talk, I'm sure. You know I'm hoping he's considering us but I think right now we just give him some time and space to do his own due diligence on the race teams that he's looking at."

DO YOU REQUEST HIM OR DOES HE REACH OUT TO YOU? "Well I've been friends of the family for many years and I'm sure the time will come we'll talk."

HAVE YOU HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM YET? "No, not on this part of it. No, he just made his decision yesterday."

ON THE REPORT THAT THERE'S A DONE DEAL AND IF THERE'S ANYTHING TO IT: "No, it's nothing to that."

ON IF HE WOULD WANT TO BRING THE NO. 3 BACK FOR DALE JR.: "Like I said earlier, it's just way too soon to even talk about it. I apologize but we're here at Darlington, I got three teams that we're here trying to come down here and win the race with. Junior's going to be trying to win the race and I just think being fair to everybody, I think this is just something that has to be kind of settled. I know you're doing your job, everybody here is doing their job trying to talk about it. I just think right now let us concentrate on Darlington, give Junior a little time and a little space and he'll make the decision and he'll make the right decision and I want to see him go (with) what's best for Junior because I've known Junior since he was a very, very young man."

ON IF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH TERESA EARNHARDT MAKES IT AKWARD: "I'm still friends with Teresa, the whole family and Dale Jr. and we'll see how it all pans out."

Tony Eury, Jr., Crew Chief of the No. 8 Budweiser Impala SS

Tony Eury, Jr., crew chief of the No. 8 Budweiser Impala SS, answered questions from members of the media at Darlington Raceway on Friday morning.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON DALE EARNHARDT, JR. LEAVING: "Me and Max talked about it. It is as good to be expected. Both parties had a big decision to make yesterday and Dale Jr. chose to go somewhere else and drive somewhere else. You got to respect him from his standpoint. He is doing what he thinks he needs to do.

"We knew this was going to happen, one way or the other. We are committed to race to November and try to win a championship. That's all we can do. We just will take it for what it is. This isn't the first time the team has controversy around it but this team is tough and we are going to try and win a championship. We want to get one for DEI. Time is short so we got make sure we get it this year.

"I told Dale Jr. in January it was his decision. I didn't want to influence him one way or the other. It is his dad's company and when you make a decision like that, nobody should be able to make it but yourself. We are all going to support him and Teresa in the same way and make sure the company stays strong."

ARE ALL YOUR CONTRACTS MATCHED UP SO YOU COULD GO WITH HIM? "Me and Max are going to sit down and talk about it. We aren't going to comment on it at this time. We just want to do what is best for both parties and go with it at that."

WHEN DOES YOUR CONTRACT EXPIRE? "2008."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY WITH DALE JR.? "I would like to stay with Dale Jr. I want to do whatever is best for Tony Jr. and leave all my options open. We will just leave it at that."

WHAT DOES DEI HAVE TO DO TO BE MORE COMPETITIVE? "We got a little issue with the motor department and we need a little bit more engineering. Max has done a great job since he has been here. You aren't going to build something overnight. It takes time to build things. Max is a great leader and kind of missed that over the time here. I think it is going to take time to get it and eventually be there."

WHAT DID THE EMPLOYEES AT DEI THINK? "Everyone is kind of in a stunned mode but I grabbed them all and Dale Jr. talked with everyone on the No. 8 team. Our goal is to win a championship here and it is not going to change. The bottom line is we got to win a championship and this is our last year to do it at DEI with Dale Jr. We just got to take it as a positive and turn it around."

HOW DO YOU FOCUS YOUR TEAM? "We got a lot to prove right now. We have run great in every race this year but we have just had some bad luck on our side. I think we are going to turn it around and make it a positive. We will be fine the rest of the year. The biggest thing is we need to be in the top 12 at the end of the year."

ON BRINGING THE IMPALA SS TO DARLINGTON: "(laughs) It will be interesting. They are going to use the foam up in the right side, no doubt. Four cars got to tire test here and those will be the ones with an advantage so far.

"I just want everyone in the media to help my team stay strong and don't aggravate them and let us do our job. Dale made his decision so let DEI be strong and let us continue on what we need to be doing."