Jimmie Johnson Nextel Leader Chat at Dover

Jimmie Johnson Nextel Leader Chat at Dover Audio File

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS, met with media members at Dover International Speedway for the NEXTEL Leader Chat. Johnson discussed being the points leader, the advantages and disadvantages of having teammates in the Chase, NASCAR'S new generation race car, qualifying at Dover, conforming to a new sponsor, Kyle Busch, racing the Impala SS at Talladega, his comfort level with the Chase, drivers having success after converting from dirt to pavement, if the youngers drivers now have a better shot at the championship, how penalties could affect the Chase and battling for a championship with Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

ON COMING TO DOVER AS THE POINTS LEADER: "I'm certainly excited to be back here for the Leader Chat. I'm glad to be back. As we all saw at Loudon, like we've all suspected, it's a very competitive Chase. We had a decent performance. We felt like we were probably a top three or four car and ended up sixth so we left there wishing for a little bit more but certainly recognize that we're in a much better spot than where we were last year at this time and feel that we're doing the right things and still a very strong threat for this championship."

TWO DRIVERS IN THIS YEAR'S CHASE DO NOT HAVE TEAMMATES IN THE CHASE. HOW IS THAT AN ADVANTAGE FOR THEM OR IS IT AN ADVANTAGE FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS WHO HAS THREE TEAMMATES IN THE CHASE? "I've been through some different scenarios and I feel like when you're the only guy in the Chase there's a little bit more of an advantage because it's to the company's best interest that you win the Chase. Granted the engines are all the same but you get the engine with a couple more horsepower. You get all the focus. There's some small decisions that can be made that do give that one teammate just a little bit of an advantage, not a lot, not something that you can probably measure but it does make a small difference."

DO YOU FIND IT A DISADVANTAGE TO HAVE TWO OTHER TEAMMATES IN THE CHASE WHEN YOU GO TO TALLADEGA OR AS YOU GET CLOSER TO THE END OF THE SEASON? "It's a situation that I've been dealing with for a long, long time and very thankful to be dealing with, that I have such competitive teammates and championship and race winning teammates. It isn't a disadvantage but the year Jeff missed it, we felt like the focus was a little bit more 48 focused in the championship Chase but I won last year with my teammate being in it so there's just a very small advantage that they could be there, but having teammates is the most important thing and having good ones and I feel that having the great teammates that I do far outweighs that small advantage that I had, the one year that none of the other Hendrick cars were in the Chase."

ON NASCAR'S NEW GENERATION RACE CAR AND HOW HE FEELS HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS' PROGRAM RATES WITH THE OTHER TEAMS' AND IF HE FEELS THAT OTHER TEAMS HAVE CAUGHT UP TO HENDRICK: "Yeah, I think so. I think that's by design from NASCAR. We worked very hard over the off season to understand the Car of Tomorrow and we're kind of out of adjustments. NASCAR is happy to hear that. Us as a race team isn't happy to be living that but that's what the Car of Tomorrow is for. I do feel though that there are certain tracks that are good for certain drivers and teams and the races left in the Chase are very, very good for the 48 team, also for the 24 and the 20 for that matter, so I do feel that even though the gap has closed up that we're coming to some great tracks for me and I think that I can get to victory lane a few more times."

ON QUALIFYING AT DOVER: "It's probably one of the more intimidating tracks we go to for qualifying and even race situation. You have the concrete squares that have all been poured around the track so you have a little different feel in the car and the car feels like it's on edge kind of the whole way around. The ride quality isn't as smooth as some of the asphalt tracks we go to. The banking from the straightaway into the corners is a pretty severe transition on top of the fact that there is a lot of banking so everything that you do throughout the day is trying to be more comfortable and get into position to drive harder and by the time qualifying comes around you're driving at ten tenths, tongues hanging out, and out of control for lack of better words, which to me is a lot of fun and I really do enjoy this track for that reason."

ON KASEY KAHNE AND HIS NEW BUDWEISER SPONSORSHIP AND IF JIMMIE WHEN HE JOINED LOWE'S WAS A HANDS ON GUY AND IF HE HAD ANY CHALLENGES CONFORMING TO A SPONSOR THAT MAYBE WASN'T AN EXACT FIT BASED ON HIS BACKGROUND: "I had a father that worked in the construction world so I did work and do things and work summer jobs in construction so the Lowe's thing did fit. I've seen Kasey drink some Bud Light so I think he's a good representative of the Bud brand and there's more that goes into it from a marketing sense. There's no doubt that Budweiser losing Junior and what he brought to the 18 to 34 male demographic was unparalleled and an amazing relationship between the two but he's obviously chosen to move on. I think Kasey has the potential and the ability to really be a household name and a face that everybody can relate to and associate with and there's no doubt that he's a huge draw on the ladies and that demographic. So when they're trying to find a guy, I'm sure they didn't want to lose Junior, but I think that Kasey Kahne is a good replacement. He may not be the wild guy but he'll certainly drink his Bud Light and have some fun."

HOW MUCH DO YOU WORK WITH KYLE BUSCH EVEN THOUGH HE'S LEAVING AFTER THE END OF THE SEASON? "I'd say that our communication and the way we work together has stayed the same if not gotten a little bit better through these last few weeks. I give Kyle a lot of credit. He's been committed to Hendrick Motorsports, he's been committed to this championship and has been working real hard at our team debriefs to explain what he's feeling and doing and it's been a help so I give him a lot of credit, a tough time."

ON RACING NASCAR'S NEW GENERATION RACE CAR AT TALLADEGA FOR THE FIRST TIME. WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE RACING THE IMPALLA SS IN TRAFFIC? WILL THERE BE A FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE WITH THE WAY THE TWO CARS RACE THERE? "Yeah, the Car of Tomorrow drafts a lot differently than what we have with the current car. I'm still not sure what I need to do out there. In some ways it's probably going to look real similar to what we've seen in the past. It'll be tough to really tell by the naked eye what's going on out there. But I don't think that I want to be in the pack because the way car punches a big hole and the energy that's created. It's real easy to get to someone's bumper but then with the high drag package it's tough to get out and pass so I think we might just be stuck in a huge pack and a lot of aggressive driving taking place. So I'm really going to pay attention to the way practice goes and then the start of the race just to feel it out. I don't think any of us had enough experience in a big draft to say this is what I need to do, this is kind of where we need to be. All the cars drove really, really well. All the downforce the car has in them made them simple to drive and really closed up the gap so now we've got 43 guys that should run bumper to bumper all day long and I'm not sure in the middle of the Chase that's where I need to be. But we'll sort it out when we get there."

ON KYLE BUSCH'S PROGRESSION IN THE TIME HE HAS BEEN WITH TEAM AND HOW HE SEES HIM EVOLVING AS A DRIVER AND AS A PERSON: "I think as time goes on Kyle's experiencing the things that make you mature and grow in an emotional way. He's an emotional guy, an emotional driver and those emotions turn in to and look like aggression to a lot people. But when you're able to spend some time with him and work with him you can see how talented of a driver he is and you can see how hard he tries to be a better driver and tries to make his race car handle better and give that input back to the team. All those things are there. He does from time to time the emotions get the best of him and he may make a poor decision on track or he may say something that he probably wished he didn't but those are things that you just learn as you're in the sport and you grow and mature and I think this year has been a big growing year for him in that respect to be leaving HMS, going to Joe Gibbs Racing. I've seen personally a lot of things changing with him and a lot of growing going on to go with the amazing talent he has on track."

DOES KYLE SEEK YOU OR JEFF OUT FOR ADVICE? DOES HE TALK TO YOU ALL ABOUT ANYTHING? "Our conversations really are relative to the cars at the track and these team debriefs that we have. I can't say that I've talked to him. I'm not sure what Jeff and Kyle talk about but I haven't talked to him about his new opportunity and certainly when HMS turned him loose we didn't have any conversations about where'd he go, what he would do, so I haven't been advising him on any of those fronts. He's done a great job landing with Gibbs. They're obviously a great team."

BEING IN THE CHASE FOUR TIMES AND WINNING LAST YEAR, WHAT IS YOUR COMFORT LEVEL WITH THE CHASE AND ARE YOU IN COAST MODE RIGHT NOW? "There's no way it's coast mode, not when you have a Chase like we do and all the guys driving like they are and the teams performing. I've learned a lot over the years. I know that 10 races is a long, long period of time and you need to get what you can every day but it doesn't mean that a top 10 is going to take you out of it. So I think that being smart, trying to win when you can is very important, trying to lead laps is very important and it's impossible for us to know the pace you're going to need to win the championship because there's still nine races left and a ton that can go on that take people in or out of this championship battle so I'm showing up every practice session, every lap of the race, qualifying, giving 100 percent and getting all that I can."

ON CLINT BOWYER GOING STRAIGHT FROM DIRT TO PAVEMENT IN RACING AND THE DIFFICULTIES IN DOING THAT AND THE ADVANTAGES OR DISADVANTAGES OF THAT. WILL YOU SEE MORE OF THAT IN THE FUTURE WITH SEEING HIM SUCCEED? "I think so. I think that starting back with Jeff Gordon, as far back as I can remember, it's probably before that, Jeff and then Tony (Stewart) those guys really led a way of drivers coming in from a different background and there's a lot of great talent out there at these local tracks. They could even be off road tracks like where I grew up racing or motorcross. We're seeing guys like (Ricky) Carmichael and (Jeremy) McGrath that are showing interest. To a great degree, racing is racing and where you hope that you get some time and some patience as you're trying to get into stock cars and get into the Nextel Cup Series is that you can get two or three years with a team that's a great team, a good race team, that can get you the seat time. So I think that people can come from local short tracks, like Clint, (or) they can come from F1, they can come from motorcross but they need some time to understand these cars, understand these tracks and understand the way we race. Once th at takes place I think it's a wide open category out there. You can bring a driver in from anywhere."

ON CONVERTING FROM DIRT TO PAYMENT: "From my experience, it wasn't that tough to go from dirt to pavement. The cars were much more comfortable. Granted I didn't go that fast so getting used to places like Texas or Atlanta, it took a while to get comfortable with that but dirt to asphalt wasn't a big deal and I really think that my dirt background has helped me like a looser race car, which is beneficial over the long run and certainly as the race evolves tracks typically get tighter, so it's helped me. And then also on the dirt you learn about line selection and I see a lot of guys that even though it's an asphalt track there are parts of the track that get slick from all the traffic running over it and there are guys that don't search out maybe the cleanest or less used asphalt on the race track. I think the dirt guys search for that and can find new lines on the race track and make it work for them."

IS THERE AN INHERENT DANGER IN THE CHASE WITH THE GUYS WHO ARE NOT THE BIG STARS HAVING A BETTER CHANCE THAT THE YOUNGER GUYS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS SINCE THE PRESSURE IS OFF THEM AND MORE SO ON THE BIGGER NAMES? "I haven't thought about it in that light but I look at it and I think that for guys that are really in the Chase for the first time or second time, I think of Hamlin, these are some talented guys that have been able to get a couple years of quality experience and over a 10 race period of time can be a big threat. So I see it more in that respect where Truex, he's been a great champion through the Busch Series, rock solid, now he's in the Chase and we've been waiting for Truex to be able to have a run and he's on a run and he started it here back in the spring. Hamlin, he's shown time and time again how smooth he can be, how good of a talent he is. Then you go to Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, so there's a lot of talent out there and I look at it more as threat that these guys have some quality experience now and can pull together for 10 races."

ON NASCAR GIVING OUT 100-POINT PENALTIES FOR POST-RACE AND PRE-RACE INFRACTIONS, WHAT ARE THE EXPECTATIONS ON NASCAR DURING THE CHASE? IF ONE OF THE CHASE DRIVERS GETS HIT WITH A 100-POINT PENALTY, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU CAN RECOVER FROM? "To recover from it would be tough, there's no doubt about it, and as a competitor and somebody that's been nailed on things, all we ask for is consistency. There's some big question marks with the body on the Car of Tomorrow and the gold template versus the templates that fit. We got nailed in Sonoma, all the templates fit, but a gold template that's a scanned computer image didn't, didn't look right. So as we move forward we just hope that the sanctioning body is as consistent as possible and if you're wrong, you're wrong. We're well inside that box now. We've been known to push the envelope but the message has been made crystal clear to Hendrick Motorsports and I think the to entire garage area that you don't mess with the Car of Tomorrow and that's where we are. We feel like we could potentially could be soft in some areas and leaving something on the table but we can't afford to be lose 100 points or lose a crew chief in the Chase and all that we hope is that the sanctio ning body is doing everything they can to keep it even and balanced throughout."

ON HIM, JEFF GORDON AND TONY STEWART ALL IN THE CHASE AND BATTLING IT OUT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND BEING AT HIS BEST FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE CHASE HAS BEGUN: "To be honest about it, I'm really excited about it. My dad always told me growing up in order to be the best you got to beat the best and I think that this year we're seeing not only the more recognizable drivers putting up strong performances but we're also seeing some guys like Martin Truex and Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer now, other guys that are getting in this mix so whoever the champion is at the end of the year, you want to look back and say 'I beat the best at their best' and this looks like the year for that. I certainly hope that I come out on top but I'm excited. I'm excited of it being a head to head battle with Gordon and Stewart and all these guys. This is what I've wanted to do my whole life.

"When you expand to 12 the odds are more difficult at that point and we've got the 12 best guys in this sport and there's six or seven right now that all have momentum and it's going to be a great battle all the way to the end."

Jeff Gordon, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Dover

Jeff Gordon Dover Hauler Chat Audio File

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS met with media and talked about sponsorships and changing sponsors, having teammates in the Chase, racing at Kansas next weekend, on Kyle Busch as a driver and teammate, and more.

Select quotes from driver interview:

WHAT TASTES BETTER, JEFF GORDON ENERGY DRINK OR AMP? "I don't know what AMP tastes like (laughs). I've never had it. But my stuff's good. I know that."

HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR CAR OF TOMORROW TEAM? "I think the stats pretty much speak for themselves. We've been very strong and I'm extremely excited about all of the Car of Tomorrow races, from a competition standpoint, that we have coming up."

IS THERE MORE COMPETITION NOW THAN THERE WAS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR? ARE YOU STILL THE TEAM TO BEAT? "It's like anything else. You take a car where everybody is put into a box and you introduce it, there will be some teams and drivers that are going to hit on something early on. But as time goes by, everybody gets more knowledge and experience with it and the competition is just going to get tighter and tighter."

WHAT'S IT LIKE HAVING A TEAMMATE IN THE CHASE? "Two teammates. I've battled with Terry Labonte in the past and actually Jimmie (Johnson) and I have battled before as well. It's challenging, as you get closer down to the wire, especially if you really are battling one another. It definitely gets challenging. We pride ourselves on sharing information and that information sharing is what has gotten us here. Hopefully it is what's going to get one of us to the championship. So you've got to take that into consideration and continue to keep that open book policy going. But on the race track, you're competitors just like you are anybody else and you race hard."

ON THE KANSAS TRACK: "The only track you can really compare it to in my opinion is Chicago. But there was just a period of time where a lot of 1.5-mile tracks were being built so it kind of got labeled that. But it's unique to itself. It's a great race track. I really like it. The way that track has matured over the last couple of years it's turned into a track that offers great side-by-side racing. I'm looking forward to going back there."

HOW HAS KYLE BUSCH GROWN AS A DRIVER AND AS A PERSON? "Kyle is a guy who is very determined and very talented. But like all of us that come into the sport young, we have a lot to learn about ourselves and the sport and how to keep that aggression that you have as a young driver but bring the patience along with it. He's done an excellent job but there is always room for improvement. He'll probably be the first to admit that sometimes he gets himself into situations by saying too much or saying something he wished he hadn't. Those are things he has to learn from. You know, everybody has their own unique personality and Kyle's got his. He's got to learn how to adapt to all those things into what's going to make it work for him. I just hope that at Hendrick he's been able to learn from a top-notch organization and that he takes whatever he can from that and only grows that for himself as he moves on to Gibbs."

COULD YOU FATHOM HAVING TO CHANGE A SPONSOR? "To me, what I love about working with DuPont is that they know me and I know them. I know what works for them. We've been able to really get a comfortable schedule over the years to get the most for them and work within my schedule to make sure that I'm focused on doing my job. It's a great balance. When it's working for them financially, from a business standpoint, it feels good to know that they want to continue to stay with you. But, I could see also where if a change came, like it has for Junior, he might be really excited about it. It might be something he might be looking forward to and doing something different. But I guarantee you there will be some growing pains. That's going to be challenging to work through those things. I know what kind of company Pepsi is. They're a great company. I think he's going to be very happy with them."

IS IT FAIR THAT DALE JUNIOR HAS TWO DIECASTS TO SELL WITH AMP AND NATIONAL GUARD? "It doesn't matter (laughs). He sells twice as many anyway (more laughter)."

Tony Stewart, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Dover

Tony Stewart Dover Hauler Chat Audio File

Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Impala SS, met with media members at Dover International Speedway and discussed teams closing the gap with the Car of Tomorrow, his qualifying lap, if Hendrick Motorsports is still the dominant team with the Car of Tomorrow, racing at Kansas, transitioning between the Impala SS and Monte Carlo SS and what he expects to see at Talladega.

Select quotes from driver interview:

ON HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS BEING DOMINANT WITH THE CAR OF TOMORROW AND THE GAP BEING CLOSED WITH OTHER TEAMS: "Well everybody's closed the gap. I mean the more time you get with the car the better it is obviously. Hendrick, they were one of the first teams to ever build the Car of Tomorrow and they tested a lot before last season. Anytime that you've got a chance to run a new car before anybody else builds it and runs it themselves, I mean they didn't have an unfair advantage they just did their homework and did a good job at running it before anybody else did. As time goes on and the teams get a chance to run, we've done a lot of testing this summer as all the other teams have with the Car of Tomorrow probably, so eventually you're going to close that gap up some."

ON THEIR PROGRAM WITH THE IMPALA SS: "I think we're alright. Obviously the last three weeks have been really good for us. Our average has been really good so I think we're right where we need to be. We just got to find that little bit extra to put us on top every week."

ON WHAT HE EXPECTS TO SEE AT TALLADEGA AND A LOT OF DRIVERS SAYING IT WAS LIKE A TRUCK THERE: "I don't know, I haven't ran the truck there honestly, but it didn't seem like the cars pulled up quite as good as the old package was but they're very drivable. I mean the cars drive like slot cars. I can teach you to drive it in five laps and you can run the same line I did and run within a tenth of what I ran. Now, when you get in traffic it's a little different story obviously but I don't know that we ever got in a big enough pack to really know exactly what these cars are going to do. The first Friday practice is going to tell us everything we all want to know."

Clint Bowyer, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Dover

Clint Bowyer Dover Hauler Chat Audio File

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed winning at Loudon, his role in his teammates' Chase runs last year, Daytona testing, not being considered a favorite to win the championship, Kansas, racing with Carl Edwards a long time ago, on coming close to winning in races previous and racing in the Busch Series this weekend.

YOU HAD A BIG WEEK LAST WEEK - WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEK? "Just coming off a victory like that, I was so excited for our race team. That's exactly what I feel like this team needed confidence-wise. Built a little bit of momentum for the rest of these races."

WHAT ROLE DID YOU PLAY IN YOUR TEAMMATES' CHASE COMPETITION LAST YEAR AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ALL THREE OF YOU IN THE CHASE NOW? "I got to sit back and watch those guys race for the Chase - both teammates. Burton led the thing and looked like he was going to be a strong contender for that thing and some bad luck threw him out of it. This year, just excited. I learned from those guys last year. I sat back and watched what they did and how they were at what race tracks. This year I've spent learning from them. Asking them questions - if I get somewhere where I don't really know what I need to do or whatever, I've got both my teammates there to help me out. So it's been a big help."

DID YOU FIND YOUR TEAM HELPING THEM IN ANY WAY LAST SEASON? "I think that's what's separated this year from last year. Last year I was learning. I was learning as much as I could from them and unfortunately I couldn't bring much to the table for them because I didn't know what it was supposed to be like anyway. But this year I just don't think there's an A, B and C team anymore at RCR. I think we've picked up. I've picked up in the race car and I think our team has certainly picked up. We're all three equally as competitive."

DO YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO DAYTONA FOR TESTING NEXT TUESDAY? "Please don't say that's so (laughs). I think that's the case. It is what it is. It was a monsoon down there. We tried to get it in; Goodyear did everything they could, certainly the track did everything possible. It just wasn't going to happen. It sounds like we're going to have to go back."

WHAT KIND OF CHALLENGE DOES THAT PRESENT FOR YOU? "To be honest with you, I enjoy going back down there and being able to spend some time with the guys and be able to celebrate our victory. But more so than disrupting what I've got going on, it disrupts some dirt racing back home in Kansas. We're going to have to cover some miles in the old plane right after. Hopefully they will let us out a little bit early so I can make a race Tuesday night in Kansas."

FOR YOU AND OTHER DRIVERS THAT AREN'T CONSIDERED THE FAVORITES FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP, IS IT ANY EASIER? "I don't think so. Certainly we don't have the pressure and the exposure that those guys have bearing down on them. But there is a lot of pressure. We're inside the Chase; we're fourth in the points now. We've got a legitimate chance of trying to win this championship. We've got just as good a shot as anybody so certainly, that's a big deal. It's important. This is for all the marvels and certainly there's pressure involved.

"Probably the difference between us and them is we don't really know any better right now. We don't know how to handle the pressure if it's on us or not. So they definitely know it's there."

TALK ABOUT GOING TO KANSAS AND NEXT WEEK: "I can't wait to get there. Like I said, if I couldn't get it before then, that's where I really want to win someday. It's not like you're going to do anything different or pull a rabbit out of the hat when you go to Kansas, that's just one of the places. that's your home. You want to win there. Hopefully someday we can do that. Hopefully we've got a good enough car when we get there. You always pretty much have a good idea of what you've got for a race car on Saturday and practice. So I can't wait to get practice over and hopefully we're going to be on top of the board and have a fast race car and a chance at winning."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT A RACE BETWEEN YOU AND CARL EDWARDS IN MISSOURI ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO? "You people pay attention a lot. If you do one interview, you've got to answer questions about it all day long (laughs). No, we were just having fun with it. I'll never forget that day. It was my first asphalt experience and it was a Modified race. I had a guy let me drive his race car. It was the nicest thing I'd ever driven. It was pretty, shiny, chrome bumpers. It was an asphalt car. I'm used to dirt cars with beat up fenders and sledgehammer marks from beating them back out. I went down there and he showed up in what I consider a dirt car that was beat up and all smashed up. You could hear the engine from the back straightaway. Literally, if he was on the front straightaway and you were on the back you could hear him on the race track. And by God, he was cheating. He had to have been cheating. He beat us."

HOW TOUGH WAS THAT TRANSITION FOR YOU? "It's hard. I don't think it's as hard as going from asphalt to dirt but it's definitely a huge transition. Especially once you get to these heavier race cars. Because you're just not used to that weight and how lazy they are and things like that. It just takes time. You're used to having it on the right-rear and kind of feeling the rear end underneath you. You can't have that in asphalt. You've got to be able to feel the right front and feel it working around the front tires."

MOST DRIVERS DON'T WIN THEIR FIRST RACE THE FIRST TIME THEY COME CLOSE. YOU DOMINATED NEW HAMPSHIRE. "...I blew quite a few shots at winning, I felt like. The week before Richmond, I drove from 20th to passing for the lead in that very same race car that won last week. I screwed up and blew our shot at having a chance to win. You've got to learn, you've got to make mistakes to be able to learn, unfortunately. I'm a pretty slow learner so it took a little longer than most (laughs). I definitely feel like the win was at a perfect time. It couldn't have been any better as far as that. To start the Chase off with our first victory of the season and the first win of the Chase and get a good points base established, that's important. We got started off on the right foot and hopefully we can keep it."

YOU'RE RACING THE NO. 21 CAR IN THE BUSCH SERIES THIS WEEKEND. THAT'S THE CAR YOU STARTED IN - HAS EVERYTHING COME FULL CIRCLE? "Yeah, it has. But I already got pulled out. I got fired already before I even got in the car. No, they put (Tim) McCreadie in it and I'm happy for him. You've got to develop drivers and the only way to do that is put them in there and learn. That's how I learned. I had a boneyard behind the shop. That's what I told Tim. I said 'hey, you haven't even crashed a car yet. You're doing pretty good. I crashed about five or six in three weeks. You've got to be able to learn and you've got to do that. They were kind of debating on whether to pull him out and I was all for letting him race and helping him develop because that's the only way I know how to do it.

"After last weekend, it's like I didn't really want to anyway. I want to stay honed in and focused on the task at hand. Once you get this close to a championship, being able to lead the points, that would be awesome to be able to come out of Dover going into your home track leading the points. That would definitely be pretty cool."

Kyle Busch, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Dover

Kyle Busch Dover Hauler Chat Audio File

Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Impala SS met with members of the media to discuss racing at Dover, having teammates in the Chase, the Car of Today versus the Car of Tomorrow, the Kansas City track, M&M's sponsorship, the difficulty of working with a team after announcing a move to another team, talking with other drivers, chasing the championship and more.

Select quotes from driver interview:

ON RACING AT THE MONSTER MILE: "It's tight quarters here and if you have a problem, and you get wrecked or something like that you're going to probably hit more than once. So you definitely can ruin your car and ruin your day pretty easily. The other thing about it is that I always tend to run well here. So whatever reason that is, hopefully that will lend itself to being able to have a good finish here on Sunday."

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND/OR DISADVANTAGES IN HAVING A TEAMMATE IN THE CHASE? "The advantages are that you know that you're going to be competing against those guys and you know that you're going to be able to race with those guys probably better than anybody else out there. But the disadvantage is that you've got to race against your own set-ups and your own cars and your own equipment and stuff like that. So it's going to be tough. Of course with names like Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, it is extra tough."

NEXT WEEK, YOU WILL HAVE HAD THREE CONSECUTIVE CAR OF TOMORROW RACES. IS GOING BACK TO THE OLD CAR A TRANSITION? "It's not bad. We've done it all year long and it's something that probably the guys will be doing all year next year with the Busch cars. So that's why we get paid the big bucks, I guess, is because we are able to transition like that back and forth.

"I remember growing up and racing Legends cars and Late Models in the same night. So it's something I'm accustomed to and that I enjoy."

HOW FUN IS IT TO RACE AT KANSAS? "Kansas is a pretty cool place. The biggest thing about it is when you're able to run the top side. It's just pretty cool. It's like California. I would say it's probably about a seven or an eight."

WORD IS THAT M&M'S MIGHT BE ONE OF YOUR SPONSORS IN '08 "I have no idea. You know what? JD (Gibbs) never called and told me anything, so I don't have anything to announce. I wish maybe he would have given me a better heads-up so I would have more for you."

HOW DIFFICULT HAS IT BEEN TO CONTINUE RACING WITH HMS THIS YEAR WHILE TRANSITIONING TO JGR? "No, not at all. It's been a learning experience. It's been something that's been different. I'm still building on trying to make sure we finish out this year strong, and that we're able to compete for the championship. That's the ultimate goal right now."

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? "Well, the biggest thing is that you grow as a person. Obviously, for me; I'm 22 years old, so I've got plenty of room to grow as a person and understand the dynamics of this world, I guess. That's just a part of it."

Martin Truex, Jr., Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Dover

Martin Truex, Jr. Dover Hauler Chat Audio File

Martin Truex, Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Impala SS, met with media members at Dover International Speedway and discussed returning to a track he's won at, remembering Sept. 11, 2001 here, help from teammates in the Chase, his responsibilities at DEI since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. picked his new team, running the Busch Series, rating DEI's Car of Tomorrow program, the younger drivers' chances in the Chase and racing at Kansas.

IS THERE A DIFFERENT FEELING RETURNING TO A TRACK THAT YOU'VE WON AT? "Yeah, it's definitely a different feel and this is the only time I've been able to be in that position in the Cup Series so it feels good and it's cool but at the same time I think everybody here will be better than they were last time and we'll have to be to win it again. So we're just doing our normal deal, working hard and trying to get the car the best we can get and so far here in qualifying trim we're a lot better than we were last time in qualifying trim so hopefully that will be great for the weekend. Surely I know we qualified better than we did here last time so we're looking forward to qualifying tonight."

ON WHAT HE REMEMBERS HERE ABOUT SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: "I remember the day got cut short and the ambulances had to leave and go up there. Everyone was in disbelief. We didn't really understand what happened or why it happened or how or anything. It was just kind of an empty, hollow feeling."

WHAT KIND OF HELP DO YOU GET FROM TEAMMATES IN THE CHASE? "The same help we get throughout the season. We just compare notes and we talk after practice and before practice and all that and just try to do the best job we can do putting everyone together. There's no real secret to it, it's just comparing notes and if one of our teammates is better than us, we can look at what they're doing and try to use some of what they're doing."

ONCE YOU WON HERE, DID THAT GIVE YOU THE CONFIDENCE THAT YOU WOULD BECOME A CHASE CONTENDER OR DID YOU FEEL YOU WERE ON YOUR WAY THERE ANYWAY? "I don't know. It didn't really change the way we approach the racing or the confidence we had in our abilities or anything. It was a great feeling to finally get a win. We knew that was one thing we could cross off our list of accomplishments and goals and one of our goals was to be in the Chase so that didn't change - winning or not winning, that didn't change our strategy or anything. We felt like we could be in the Chase before the year started and that never changed no matter what the situation."

ONCE DALE EARNHARDT, JR. PICKED HIS TEAM, HAVE YOU FELT AN INCREASE IN RESPONSIBILITIES AT DEI? "I don't know, I've had to talk to more reporters (laughs). I've had to answer more questions. That's about it. Nothing else really changed. I'm just focusing on our cars and working with Bono (Kevin Manion) and my whole team and just trying to get the best we can get out of our cars each weekend and that's really the only thing I've had to worry about here in the last month or two."

HOW DID IT COME ABOUT WITH YOU RUNNING THE BUSCH SERIES RACE HERE THIS WEEKEND? "I'm not really sure. I wanted to a run a few Busch races throughout the year and I hadn't really gotten a chance to do it and the guys at DEI said they wanted me to run here just because I like coming here and they were kind of doing it as a favor to me. And then for them to put Sea Watch on the car like we used to run with dad's cars, it's pretty cool, kind of a little tribute deal for my old man. He's really pumped up about it. One of his plants is just down the road about 20 minutes and he's got a bunch of employees coming for the races so it's cool for him and it's fun for me to just jump back in the Busch car and go have some fun."

IS IT KIND OF A WAY TO RELAX AND HAVE SOME FUN AMID ALL THE PRESSURE OF THE CHASE? "Yeah, but we still want to run well and we had practice over there this morning and the car wasn't turning good so we'll just have to see what we can get out of it."

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE IN THE CHASE WITH ALL THE BIG NAME DRIVERS GETTING MOST OF THE ATTENTION OR DO YOU FEEL LIKE ONCE YOU'RE IN IT YOU'VE PROVEN YOU BELONG THERE? "People go off past races and experience and results and them guys had the results because they've been doing it so long so you can't really say that they're overlooking us or anything. We just haven't had the results over the past few years. That's kind of the reason why I think that happens. They have all the statistics and that's what they go by. We're not even on that sheet yet. I don't know, it doesn't really matter. I feel good about my team and what we've been able to accomplish so far and we've got some great race cars and I'm looking forward to this weekend. It's going to be a lot of fun."

HOW WOUD YOU RATE YOUR TEAM'S CAR OF TOMORROW PROGRAM? IS HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS STILL DOMINANT WITH THE IMPALA SS? "Ours has been pretty good. I mean we've been right there with all them guys I think every week. We had a good run last week, certainly wasn't the best car. It just depends on who hits it right on that day. There's a bunch of guys here that can do it and that probably will throughout the year."

ON THE POSSIBILITY OF ONE OF THE YOUNGER CHASE DRIVERS STEALING THE CHAMPIONSHIP: "We could and not because nobody is looking at us or talking about us. I don't think that has anything to do with it. I think we're good race teams, all of us are running well, there's no reason why we can't do it. It has nothing to do with who thinks we can or who thinks we can't, as long as we think we can do it and we do the right things we can certainly win this championship."

DO YOU FEEL THERE IS LESS PRESSURE ON THE YOUNGER CHASE DRIVERS? "I think there's definitely less pressure. There's less expectations. I can't speak for them but I know for me the only pressure I feel is what I put on myself and what I feel that I owe to my race team. Other than that, the rest of it doesn't matter."

ON HAVING NOTHING TO LOSE: "I've got stuff to lose, I want to win. So we'll just have to do what we can."

ARE YOU LESS LIKELY TO MAKE CHANGES BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT WORKED IN JUNE OR HAS THE TRACK CHANGED SINCE THEN? "It doesn't change and I'm sure we'll go back to what works and hopefully we can tune on it a little bit more and get it a little better. The thing about having something like that is if you try some stuff and it doesn't work you can always go back to it. A place like this doesn't change all that much so hopefully we'll be able to put that stuff in there that we ran."

ON NOT DOING MANY BUSCH SERIES RACES SINCE HE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND IF HE MISSES IT: "I miss it a little bit. I was kind of surprised at how different that car felt than what these are so I'm a little concerned about doing more next year now that we'll be running COT every week."

HOW WEIRD WILL IT BE TO NOT SEE DALE JR. IN THE NO. 8 CHEVY? "I think it will be weirder for me not having my teammate than seeing him a different car. I don't know. Paint and numbers change. People get in different cars every year. I know it's Dale Jr. and all but it's just a different car, not a big deal."

GOING BACK TO SEPTEMBER 11, HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT IT? "Honestly I don't really remember. I guess the track us that the ambulance had to leave and all that. We didn't really get any of the details until we got home so it was kind of weird."

DID YOU GO TO A TV OR RADIO TO TRY TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON? "I don't even remember. I think we probably heard it on the radio on the way home from here."

WHAT KIND OF FEELINGS DID YOU HAVE? "Weird, just eerie, a scary feeling. You didn't know what was going on. It's just weird to know something big like that happened and not exactly know how it happened or who did it or why they did or anything. Things like that don't happen in the U.S. so it was a weird day."

WERE YOU HERE WITH YOUR DAD? "Yeah."

ON GOING TO KANSAS AND RETURNING TO DRIVING THE MONTE CARLO SS: "I'm looking forward to Kansas. It's been a great track for me. It's one I really enjoy and we ran very well there last year so we're looking forward to it. Our old car has been really good for us at the bigger tracks - the mile and a half, two milers - so I think we can go there and be very competitive. We're looking forward to it."

IS THERE A COMFORT LEVEL GOING BACK TO THE MONTE CARLO SS? "It's different. Just when you first sit down in it, it feels a lot different. The window net is closer to you, you can see a lot better out of the windshield. It's just a different feeling and as soon as you start it up and you go out on the race track you're just in another race car so it isn't that big of a deal."

WHAT MAKES KANSAS UNIQUE? "I don't know, it's sort of like Chicago but without the curved back straightaway but it's a fast track. It's not really banked like Texas or Atlanta or places like that. It's a little bit flatter but it's got a lot of grip and asphalt and it's definitely a fun track to race on. The groove gets real wide and that's probably the best part about it."

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO 10, HOW FUN WOULD YOU SAY KANSAS IS? "Last year it was about an eight. It was real good. The top groove came in and we were able to run against the wall and it make it a lot fun."

Denny Hamlin, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Dover

Denny Hamlin Dover Hauler Chat Audio File

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Impala SS met with members of the media to discuss returning to Dover, last week's race, whether it bothers him that international racing stars are coming into NASCAR when short-track drivers are having a harder time getting in, how important pit stops will be this weekend, on new sponsors for Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and on how the influx of European drivers will affect Busch drivers.

Select quotes from driver interview:

ON LAST WEEK'S RACE "I think a lot of it. I think qualifying is at more of a premium in these race cars than with the other cars. You could see with the other cars, you could have a guy and he could qualify 40th and he could be in the front by a quarter of the way through the race. There was just not much to it. With these cars, you can't really go anywhere. With an exception, maybe one car, two cars, really went from mid-pack to the front. But for us, we ran the same lap times as about the fifth- or sixth-place guy but just. they were half a straightaway in front of me and could just never catch them. We never lost ground to them, we just never made up ground. Really, it's just because we qualified there. We finished right where we qualified pretty much, that's where we ran all day. Our car just wasn't as good as what it was in the spring for sure and I think a lot of that is we were getting away from what we knew worked to try to catch up to what I think the Hendrick cars were doing. And it ju st didn't work for us."

DOES IT BOTHER YOU THAT SHORT-TRACK GUYS ARE HAVING A HARDER TIME GETTING INTO NASCAR NOW THAT A LOT OF INTERNATIONAL RACING STARS ARE COMING INTO THE SPORT? "I think a lot of it. short tracks are tough to learn. I know how big of a transition it was for me to go from the short-track ranks to running a mile-and-a-half to a mile race track. Those were my huge downfalls in my very first year coming to stock cars in the Busch series. I think that's a probably even bigger transition from what those guys are running to what we're running now, especially short tracks. I think that you tend to get in trouble a lot. I don't think in particular (Montoya's) getting as many problems as what he was in the beginning of the year but still, it takes time to learn it. I haven't had too much of a problem. But for the most part, I think a lot of it is how strong is your race team and I think he's performing at the level that that team is capable of right now."

Kevin Harvick, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Dover

Kevin Harvick Dover Hauler Chat Audio File

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed racing at Kansas, transition back to the old car, how he feels about the performance of the two cars, having teammates in the Chase, the trend in open-wheel drivers coming to NASCAR and the team dynamics as the Chase progresses.

Select quotes from driver interview:

YOU HAVE THREE IMPALA SS RACES AND THEN YOU GO BACK TO THE MONTE CARLO SS - IS THERE ANY TRANSITION? "Not really. You've got such a package that everybody kind of understands with the old car that you get acclimated pretty fast once you go back to the other car."

DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO GOING BACK TO THE OTHER CAR? "They both present different challenges. You just race whatever you have underneath you and whether it's the COT car or it's the old car, you become acclimated to what you have going on that particular weekend."

ON HAVING TEAMMATES IN THE CHASE: "It doesn't really change anything that we do. We all share everything anyway so it really doesn't change anything that we do."

DO TEAM DYNAMICS CHANGE THE FARTHER ALONG YOU GET INTO THE CHASE? "I don't think it can for us. We have good communication between our teams and we all share the information and get along well so that's what we'll continue to do until the last race."

Jeff Burton, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Dover

Jeff Burton Dover Hauler Chat Audio File

Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Mobility Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed winning at Dover last year, whether or not having teammates in the Chase is an advantage, working last year in the Chase with Clint Bowyer, Bowyer's victory last weekend, catching up to where Martin Truex, Jr.'s team was at Dover in June, the transition from dirt racing to pavement, inspections and penalties, open-wheel drivers coming into NASCAR, teamwork in the Chase and whether a points deficit is more daunting then having 11 other Chase competitors.

Select quotes from driver interview:

ALL THREE RCR DRIVERS ARE IN THE CHASE - IS THAT A BENEFIT OR A DISADVANTAGE? "I think the reason that teams are in the because of the quality of teams. Having teams in the Chase is a verification and a result of the work that's been done at our company as well as the other companies too. I think it's good to have as many teams as possible from your company in the Chase. We're going to work together the same way we've always worked together. We're not going to quit that communication and quit that effort because we're racing each other for a championship. That is our goal. Our goal from a company standpoint was to get all three teams in the Chase and then have a chance for all three teams to win a championship. So those have been our goals all along. Not that those goals are easy to achieve but we were able to achieve them. Hopefully now we can finish the second part off. I know there's a lot of concern about teams continuing to work together as they're competing truly in the playoffs, competing for the championship. But we don't have that concer n internally."

LAST YEAR, WHEN YOU WERE IN THE CHASE AND CLINT WASN'T, WERE YOU ABLE TO TAKE RISKS WITH HIS CAR TO IMPROVE YOURS? "Not really. That's not fair to the No. 07 team. That wouldn't be fair to any team. One of the cool things about our sport is that even though we are teammates, we all have different sponsors. We owe it to our sponsors and we owe it to our teams and our drivers to be able to give them their best shot to win. If you have a team that's not in the Chase, certainly, if across the engine dynamometer, there's a better engine, they're not going to get it. They get disadvantaged in some ways because if there's some sort of new technology that you're limited on the number that you can produce, the teams that are in the Chase are the ones that are going to get it. At that point, those teams deserve top priority. So you can't do that to them and then also put them off on a mission. if a team is working effectively, then if a team is off trying to do a better job, we know about that anyway. So we don't send them off on a mission to say 'look, you need to go do a better job to help these other teams'. If they're off on a mission to help themselves, (it will) ultimately help the other teams."

Mark Martin, No. 01 U.S. Army Impala SS Driver Availability Chat at Dover

Mark Martin, No. 01 U.S. Army Impala SS met with media and talked about ongoing changes at DEI

"I'm excited about where DEI is headed with the whole shop and all the things that have to do with competition. This merger has opened up opportunity to analyze every facet of it to see if it can be improved and that's great. It means that all the processes that were being done by Ginn Racing are up for review and all the processes at DEI are up for review. We're working to combine all of that and taking the best of all of it and putting it together. It's been an enormous about of work to get through this merger. Maybe we have 40 percent behind us, which is exciting, because we've got some of it behind us and a lot in front of us. For me, I think it's an exciting time. Some of the most difficult parts of it are behind us now and the exciting stuff, like making better race cars and making better processes are all in front of us. I'm excited about all of that.

"It's still going to be next year before we see really the product. For now, what we have to do is support Martin (Truex Jr.) and Dale Jr. and the No. 8 team with everything that we can because those two really work closely together. And to give Martin his best shot at this championship, our focus is really to help them maintain what they're doing and not change their program or process, and at the same time, work on the No. 01 and the No. 15 and start working the merger back, sort of, behind those scenes The No. 8 and the No. 1 are still over at the DEI shop and the No. 15 and the No. 01 are really in the new shop. We're already molding it all together and starting the process.

ON MAKING ALL THESE CHANGES IN THE MIDDLE OF A RACE SEASON "It's been real painful to try to do this in the middle of the race season. But to have us already started with the No. 15 and the No. 01 in the building and starting to the process and getting a lot of the difficulties behind us is probably a plus for the other two teams. And for now, we just need to leave that unhampered with so they have no disruption in their quest for a championship. At the same time, everybody is working at the new shop and we've got some of it behind us. A lot of it is still in front of us."

ARE YOU SPENDING MORE TIME AT THE SHOP NOW? "I don't go every day, but I do go to the shop regularly. But I was at the shop Tuesday and at the shop a couple of weeks ago. I'm getting up there regularly. It's been more work than anybody than anybody could every probably know for Max Siegel and John Story and for everyone involved. There has been a lot more to it than meets the eye."