Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Monte Carlo SS Weekly Top 12 Hauler Chat at Indianapolis

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Monte Carlo SS, met with members of the media and discussed the Ginn Racing/DEI merger, racing at Indianapolis, Mark Martin, Aric Almirola, JR Motorsports, new teammates, having Andy Pilgrim race for him and the new race car.

ON THE DEI/GINN RACING MERGER: "I'm happy for DEI. It looks like they're kind of going in a new direction which is good. The chance to be teammates with Mark is going to be cool. It's something I can always say happened and I think we'll enjoy and get to know each other a little bit better. I know that Mark will appreciate it too because he's that kind of guy. It's going to be a lot of fun working with him for the rest of the season and he can probably help me figure out what we need to do to get to Victory Lane and try to stay there."

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU LIKE TO WIN THIS RACE? "That's probably right behind the Daytona 500. It's a pretty important race of the season."

WHAT KIND OF THINGS CAN MARK MARTIN TEACH YOU? "I don't know. What did he say?"

THAT HE CAN'T WAIT TO WORK WITH YOU. "I've always liked Mark. He taught me and he taught Matt Kenseth and a lot of guys that raced against him in the Busch Series so much about racing and etiquette and patience and how much there is out there in your race car. I've seen him do things in a race car that I just couldn't believe. Those are the things that you have to see with your own eyes to understand. He would go down in the corner at Charlotte in the Busch car in '98 or '99 and just do a lot of things that I didn't know were possible. You just don't know the limits when you're at that age and when you're where I was experience-wise, he was out there teaching me and Matt and a couple of other guys how to get it done and how to do it right. So we built up a pretty good respect for each other since then. He's always spoken well to me personally and about me within the media. We just have a pretty good respect for each other and I think we have a good friendship. When you talk about friendships with drivers it's no t so much about hanging out, it's just the dependability. If you ever called him or needed anything you'd expect him to be there. I'm glad and another thing for Martin (Truex, Jr.), I know Mark hasn't expressed any interest in running full time or doesn't really clarify his plans for the next two to three years. But it's good for Martin too because Martin was really worried about what kind of teammate he was going to have come in there and Martin expressed to me that he wanted out of the three, now four teams that there would be a veteran there that he could go to. Mark's super for that. Martin's going to have so much more at his disposal now and for the rest of the season to. So we both got great shots at making the Chase and even better now that we have a teammate in Mark Martin."

WITH THE ASSETS THAT DEI HAS NOW GAINED, WOULD YOU HAVE STILL LEFT IF YOU HAD KNOWN WHAT WAS TO COME? "I don't think that my decision would have been any different. We all forget, you know. I didn't leave because we didn't have a seven-post. I didn't leave because we didn't have 25 CNC machines. It didn't have anything to do with whether we were a three, two or four-car operation. There were things about the team that. in racing, you always have to progress. You can't never sit still and everybody at DEI knows that. That was just something I wanted to aid in and be a bigger part of but the things that are happening now are great for the company. I believe they're going to be good things for the company. I don't think it's a bad move but it wouldn't have changed my opinion, I don't believe."

DO YOU THINK YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE WOULD BE LESS INVOLVED WITH ALL THE NEW PEOPLE COMING IN? "No, I don't think so. I don't think they're bringing in any key high-rolling guys. They're going to have a lot of employees. The hard part about it is they've got 700 employees now and they've got to get down to about 400. In Mooresville, 300 people are going to be losing their jobs and that's the tough part about it."

ARE YOU SURPRISED TERESA GAVE UP HER STAKE OF OWNERSHIP? "I don't know even know anything about that. I don't know what she did or what the percentage was. I don't know anything about how much the check they wrote was for or anything. I don't think anybody will ever know."

RICHARD CHILDRESS SAID THAT HE THINKS YOU'LL END UP BACK THERE ONE DAY. IS THAT REALISTIC? "I think that working with Rick (Hendrick) is going to be a lot of fun. I think that we have anticipations of things that we want to accomplish and do. That will be a good relationship and that will be a chapter or two that we'll write together and then I'll decide whether I want to go back or do something else. I that decision is ultimately mine. You never know. Max (Siegel) and I have stayed in heavy communication with each other and that's sort of a bridge that we haven't burned. Neither one of us. I still haven't talked to Teresa but the fact that I'm in contact with Max I think means that we're keeping the relationship open in case, say ten years from now, I might want to come back and drive and/or work there, some way, some how. But that's just such a long ways down the road. There's so many things that can change. The sport could be in a whole different place. Who knows what we'll be doing then."

WHY DO YOU THINK THERE'S SUCH A PUSH FOR FOUR-CAR TEAMS? "I think that the big push in the DEI deal was to get the No. 15 in the race, not only here but for the rest of the season. So DEI makes a play to get the No. 15 a guaranteed spot plus they get another car that's guaranteed in, that's just a bonus (the No. 01 car). I think that that's what it was all about. Because if they don't get that No. 15 in the races they lose Menard's to something else next year. Those are the questions you've got to worry about. Plus they're trying to get sponsorships and stuff lined up next year for cars. They've got to be at the racetrack doing things right and showing up and performing well. So I think it was a smart business decision on their part just to solidify the future of that company. I don't feel that you need four teams. If you've got two or three teams that's good, you can do well with that. But four teams is really, really tough. I think that's very hard to do and I think it's only for a select few owners in the sport. It's going to ta ke guys like (Roger) Staubach and (Troy) Aikman, it's going to take them a while to get to where they should go to four teams. Now whether they go to four teams in three years, that's their decision. But they're doing it the correct way, by the way they came into the sport and eased their way in. They've had mild success and they are starting to put more pieces into the puzzle as they get more successful. I think that's the way to do it without really falling on your face. So I think it's still an opportunity for guys to come in as owners but that's getting harder and harder because the chips are stacked against you with the other owners having such power in the sport and such a presence. They already have such a presence with all their teams and there's so much competition going their way it should be tough for guys to come in. Again, the Staubach and Aikman deal is the perfect example. They have really had to bust their butts to show some signs of competition and running t owards the front every once in a while. That's got to be very difficult."

DID YOU EVER TALK TO YOUR DAD ABOUT RACING AT INDY? "No."

DO YOU LIKE COMING HERE? "Yeah. It's fun. I remember when they first started talking about the cars coming here and testing. I was interested to see what a stock car looked like on the race track. You've seen open-wheel here so many years on television and it's really unique to see the cars on the race track and go driving through the garage. It's just like a strange visual but it's been fun. I enjoy racing here. It's a very historic track and a very big deal to win here."

DO YOU THINK THE WINNER HERE ON SUNDAY MAY BE A FAVORITE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP? "I think the guys that win here are the big teams. The heavy hitters in the sport. It's sort of like a Daytona 500 in a way except you don't see any fluke winners here. You don't see guys luck out. You always see the dominant teams, the No. 24, the top car at RCR, those guys have won this race. It's just that hard of a race to win and it's so hard to put it all together. Obviously it takes a real, real good race car. Those are the teams that were producing them over the years."

HOW MUCH DOES THE DIFFICULTY OF THE RACE TRACK PLAY INTO ALL THAT? "It's actually not that difficult. It's just hard to get the car to go around it as fast as you want to beat the other guys. That's the hard part. That's sort of the way it is everywhere but more so here. It's just a hard track to get the car to handle right. The corners are different, like Turn One is really, really tight. Turn Two you run wide-open because you're coming out of there with less speed. You go into One, you're going so fast the car. the way that wind blows and how the grandstands are built and how it controls how the wind blows around the race track changes how each corner drives. It's just a wicked little deal you're in there. But the actual track itself is not that difficult. It's pretty self-explanatory. You just have to figure out what the wind is doing and how to get your car to go around there better. We don't really work on 90 degree corners at any other point in the year except for road-course racing. So that's the only thing I can compare it to."

WILL ARIC ALMIROLA BE IN THE TEAM MEETINGS AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HIM BEING ON YOUR TEAM? "Aric is a good guy. I've been friends with him for a long time. Back when he was running late models he would come by our shop and he was friends with McFarlane and them guys. He'd come around. He's a good guy. I've been watching and I'm happy for him to be in the situation he's in. I know that Gibbs was sort of limited in their possibilities of giving him a lot of action and getting him on the race track so I know he's happy to be knowing what he's going to be doing. I look forward to talking to him. I haven't talked to Mark. I look forward to talking with those guys and really sort of getting to work."

DID YOU SAY EARLIER YOU HAVEN'T TALKED TO TERESA SINCE YOUR ANNOUNCMENT? "Yeah."

WHAT WOULD YOUR DAD THINK ABOUT THE TEAMS COMING TOGETHER? "I guess that it's something he'd probably be positive about because it's a good move. I think it's a good move. I think he would be for it."

YOU'RE TWO RACES INTO A THREE-RACE DEAL WITH BRAD KESELOWSKI. HOW'S HE DONE? "I think he's done real good and the team's real happy with him. They still want to get a better finish but I'm looking to try to get him nailed down to paper for the rest of the season and hopefully he'll show us a couple signs of some things that will give us good reason to work with him next year. I think he's a great kid and he's got a great attitude. I think he has some talent. I think that there's some areas within my program that I need to improve to give him a better opportunity. If we can both do ourselves that favor in the next three or four weeks as far as me giving him a better opportunity to get good finishes and him putting them together when we do, we should have a good relationship. We're going to run Andy Pilgrim in the next two road-course races and I'm pretty excited about that. For Kesolowski, I know he'd probably like to run the road courses but I've always wanted to do this with Andy and I had a window of opportunity to do it. Whoever we run next year we 're going the full season, at least in preparation."

CAN YOU GIVE US UPDATES ON SPONSOR PROGRESS? "Not really. We're always making progress."

HAVE YOUR NEW TEAMMATES WELCOMED YOU TO THE TEAM? "Yeah. They've said that and done those things but we've got the rest of the year to run and there's a lot of focus on what's going on now and what your job is now and what you're doing the rest of the year. You can't turn your back on this season. You've got to work hard."

HOW MUCH DOES THE NO. 8 MEAN TO YOU? "I'd like to take it and use it the rest of my career. I'll give it back when I retire but I'd just like to run the No. 8 the rest of my career. But if we don't run the No. 8 then we've got some other options that I like a lot. So I won't be as tore up as much of my fans will."

WHAT IS THE STRATEGY FOR TODAY? "Today's strategy is to get in the car and see how fast it goes and how it handles and work on the race setup a little bit. We'll run some qualifying runs there during the practice. Hopefully the car is good. You've just got to hope for the best and prepare for the worst every week."

DO YOU FEEL LIKE INDIANAPOLIS HAS ACCEPTED NASCAR? "It's been accepted, I think. The fans have really accepted us and our series here. They turn out to the race and I think that when we first came here. I still feel like this is always going to be an open-wheel race track and the history, there's no denying the history of this race track and where it came from, all the way back to the 1900s. I've read the books and understand the impact of open-wheel here and we're just a chip in the block of history. So we have to be mindful and respectful of that because a lot of guys have made their careers here and it's just fun to be here and fun to have an opportunity to race around this race track."

DO YOU FIND YOURSELF NOW TORN BETWEEN TWO TEAMS? "Not really, because it's easy for me to focus on what I'm doing now. I don't have to put a lot of focus or attention towards the future until this year is over with. I think everybody would respect that. Rick Hendrick will understand that and know that I will want to do the best I can in the Bud car. So I'm trying to do what I think is respectful and right and working really hard the rest of the season."

DO YOU HAVE THREE NEW ALLIES OUT THERE NOW? "No, not until the season is over with" (laughs).

HOW MUCH HAS JEREMY MCGRATH DONE FOR YOU THIS YEAR? "He's ran a few. He does alright. He's just having some fun."

WILL HE DO ANY MORE THIS YEAR? "It's up to him. He does whatever he wants. I've got a car sitting there and it's however many races he wants to run it. It's really kind of a real casual deal. I've known him for several years; he called me up and said he wanted to try some stock-car racing and just wanted to do it under the radar a little bit and see what he thought about it. He'd never done it before and I had a car that had been just sitting there, we weren't using it, and I said sure, come down here and drive it as much as you want. So he comes down every other weekend, maybe once a month. He's going to be there this weekend."

HOW DID THE TEST WITH ANDY PILGRIM GO? "I just called him and said 'how fast are you going'. I don't really monitor it too much. I trust Andy and know that he's not going to do anything ridiculous and he's not only talented, he's got it figured out as far as equipment and how to take care of it. I knew they would go down there and do decent and they ran really good. I didn't have many doubts that he wouldn't. It's just like Ron and them guys hopping in these cars and going right to work. That's what I expected and that's what I got."

DID THE BREAK HELP YOU RECHARGE? "Yeah, I think so. The off-week was good. I don't really count the weekends. I know what my job is and I just show up and do it. It's not that hard anymore. It used to be really hard but it's not that hard on me anymore."

WHEN DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MERGER AND WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO IT? "I can't remember when I heard it. Sometime in the last week. I was pretty excited to be working with Mark and anxious to hear his thoughts on the whole deal. I was obviously interested in knowing what employees they were going to keep and who they wouldn't. I know some guys over there so it would be interesting to see who's got a job and who don't. We'll never know really how the deal is put together but that would be interesting to know too."

HAS YOUR ROUTINE CHANGED? "No, I don't know why it would. I don't see why it would other than I have another teammate to go to. I'll probably have to keep reminding myself of that over the weekend and maybe the next week until you get used to be able to change. To change right now is going to take a little bit to get used to but it will be good. It will be really good."

HOW DO YOU LIKE THE NEW CAR? "They're two totally different cars. Comparing them is really hard because they're so different. But they both have their good things and bad things. I like the new car because I like the room inside. The car that we drive here this weekend, I don't like how compact the compartment is. I think most of the drivers have gotten used to the new car and the room in it. So when we get in these cars we feel like we're in a capsule. Little things like that. The new car will be fine, I think."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SIT AND TALK WITH MARK MARTIN? "Yeah. We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other better. We know each other pretty good now but the teammate thing is unique. It's a unique situation and he make the most of everything and really tries to enjoy what he can about his situations, whatever they may be and I like that about him. He'll be pleasant to have on the team and will be fun to be around."

Tony Stewart Weekly Top12 Hauler Chat at Indianapolis

Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Monte Carlo SS, met with members of the media and discussed his off weekend, returning to this track with a win under his belt this season, his relationship with teammate Denny Hamlin and other topics.

YOU TOOK YOUR MOMENTUM ON VACATION AND BROUGHT IT HERE? "I didn't forget to leave it in the bag when I left vacation and came straight here. So it's here."

IS IT EASIER TO COME HERE WITH ONE (WIN) UNDER YOUR BELT? "I think so. It's like I told the guys. If you have to have a string where you don't get a win and then you get your first win the week before you come here is the perfect week to do that. That, plus the vacation time; that's just a bonus for us to get ready for this weekend."

DO YOU SENSE ONE OF THOSE MID-SUMMER STREAKS COMING? "I hope so. I'm not feeling like we are not going to have one. I feel like we've got more opportunity to have one than to not have one right now."

SIX OF THE LAST NINE WINNERS OF THIS RACE WENT ON TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. IS THAT LUCK OR FLUKE OR WHAT? YOU WERE ONE OF THOSE DRIVERS: "I remember that. I don't know. I think it's probably a sign that the type of track and type of program that you have to have to win this race. If you've got a good package for here, it's a good package for the race tracks that we have to run in that 10-week stretch that get you to the end. So if you run good here, you've got a good shot at winning the championship."

DOES THE WINNER ON SUNDAY LEAVE HERE AS THE FAVORITE TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP? "I don't know. That's for you guys (the media) to decide. We still take it one week at a time, so I don't look at it from that standpoint. Anything can happen. It's a pretty neat stat though, if you're a betting person. You always bet on the odds and the odds are, yes. But there are no guarantees. I'd rather bet on a guarantee than I would the favorites."

WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THIS RACE TRACK? "You're kidding, right? You don't know the answer to that already? You really don't know the answer to that? Do you want me to find somebody to tell you that real quick so we can go on with the stuff that people don't know the answer to yet? If they don't know that by now, they won't figure that out. That's been asked for nine straight years. And it hasn't changed. So if your viewers have watched for the last eight years, they'll know exactly what it means."

HAVING WON AND GOTTEN IT OFF YOUR BACK, DO YOU FEEL ANY DIFFERENT NOW? DO YOU FEEL MORE RELAXED? "I think so. Definitely last year, the stress level wasn't as near as high. It wasn't trying so hard to win. Now we've won. It's not that you don't try to win, it's that you've got that bit of pressure off

your back to win the first one and you have the knowledge of how you won the first one. So it's actually a lot less pressure because you're not sitting here trying to figure out what you have to do to win. You know what it takes to win. You just have to figure out how to make those things happen again."

DENNY HAMLIN SAID HE FELT YOU WOULD BE MUCH STRONGER TEAMMATES GOING FORWARD NOW THAT YOU'VE AIRED OUT THINGS THAT NEEDED TO BE AIRED OUT FOR A YEAR OR TWO. IS THAT RIGHT? "Yeah, absolutely. We worked better at Chicago than we've ever worked in a Cup race and in the Busch Series. The thing about Denny and I is that we both get along really good and occasionally we've got to sit down and hit the button and get back to square again if there are little things that are a little bit off par. But we've never had any big problems and we never will. Denny is a good enough kid and we get along good enough that I don't think you'll ever see us having major problems."

IS THIS A PLACE WHERE HE CAN RUN GOOD? "Oh yeah, absolutely. In my opinion, he's probably the only guy who could win in his second year here."

IF IT CAME DOWN TO THE TWO OF YOU IN A RACE, HOW WOULD YOU RACE EACH OTHER? "If it came down to the two of us, we'll both race hard at the end. But the thing is, we'll race each other with respect. That's the main thing."

WHAT HAS MORE IMPACT, BEING CALLED IN TO TALK WITH JOE GIBBS OR BEING CALLED TO THE NASCAR TRAILER? "Having to deal with guys like you that ask stupid questions like that. That's worse than either one of those two things."

HOW MUCH DID JOE GIBBS HAVE TO DO WITH YOUR MEETING WITH DENNY HAMLIN? "Well, he was there. That's stuff that you guys don't need to know. We take care of that stuff in-house. It's not stuff that you guys (the media) all have to know about. That's how he has become successful as a coach and a team owner. It's by not telling you guys everything that you guys always want to know."

WHAT DID YOU DO ON VACATION? "I had fun. I had a blast. I got to go run the Midget in Macon, Illinois on Friday night and then got to hang out and be somewhere where people didn't know who I was and I had a lot of fun hanging out with my buddies. It was a perfect thing to do before coming here."

CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU WENT? "Nope."

IS THIS A TYPICAL BRICKYARD WEEKEND FOR YOU TO STAY AT HOME? "No, I actually stay here at the track. But the thing that's good is that we have a suite over in Turn 2 so my family is here for all three days. My close friends are here and that's something that doesn't ever get to happen the rest of the season."

SO THIS IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT? "Yeah, but we still have a lot of obligations. We have had four appearances in the last two days plus a tire test scheduled, so it's been a busy week. But like I said, having the vacation week coming into it with all the obligations you have to do let's you hit a reset button. That way, when you've got all that stuff you don't feel like you can't get a break and you can't catch your breath."

HOW BAD DOES IT HURT TO NOT HAVE MUCH TRACK TIME BEFORE THE RACE DUE TO RAIN, ETC.? "The biggest thing is that it's the same for everybody. I think with the way we ran at Chicago, I think our package is pretty good. It's not the same setup, obviously, but the approach is the same. I feel confident that the shorter amount of practice time we have, the better opportunity we have of being better than everybody else."

DO YOU HAVE THE SAME SET-UP THAT YOU'VE HAD THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS HERE? "Yeah, we'll take what this new car likes already and translate it to what we've had here in the past, I think."

COMING INTO THIS RACE, IS THIS A GOOD STRETCH FOR YOU? "Every day is just a new day. It's not about really a stretch, you just go out and do what you do and we're having fun as a race team doing the things that we're doing. I'm able this time of year to go out and run a lot of mid-week shows and that's something I like to do. I've had a vacation mixed into it. So it's a good time as far as just having time."

Jimmie Johnson Weekly Top 12 Hauler Chat at Indianapolis

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Monte Carlo SS, met with members of the media and discussed racing at Indianapolis, the prestige of this race compared to the Daytona 500, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, this morning's practice, the Chase, the disagreement between Tony Stewart and Hamlin and changes to his team next year.

YOU WERE ALREADY ON A ROLL LAST YEAR WHEN YOU GOT HERE. WHEN YOU WON THAT, WHAT DID THAT DO FOR YOUR MOMENTUM FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR? "I think it really put a lot of confidence in the team to come to a track that has been one of our toughest, if not the worst and come through that and win, really did a lot for the team in boosting out confidence and boosting the momentum that was there and carrying us on. We got into the Chase now, got off to a slow start, I keep forgetting that part of it but I keep remembering the five second-place finishes that we had, just chugging along and doing a great job."

HOW SPECIAL IS IT FOR YOU TO COME IN HERE AS THE DEFENDING CHAMPION? "It is such a neat situation to be in, to show up at the track as one, the series champion and two, the champion in this event. I have pulled into this facility the last five years nervous and worried about what was going to happen and to come back this time with a smile on my face, like we really have a shot to win and knowing that we are going to be committed is a great feeling."

WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT WHEN YOU WERE HERE LAST YEAR, WHAT KIND OF A ROLE DID THAT PLAY IN GETTING YOU GUYS OVER THE BIG HUMP AT THE END OF THE YEAR? "It was certainly a step along the way. I don't think that this race would have. that it made our championship season come together, nor, if we didn't win, would it keep us from winning a championship. But it did work in a positive way for us. It did help out. It did help build momentum for us moving forward. Now if this track was like, one of the short tracks or one of the mile and a half ovals that we run on, what you learn here could carry over. But with this being such a unique track, nothing really carries over from here to Kansas or to Texas or any of that stuff. It is really tough to say that what we learned here carried over, but the mental side of it and beating a track that has beaten us for so many years really helped."

SO IS THIS REALLY JUST A PRESTIGE TRACK, TO JUST WIN IT? "Yeah, absolutely. Winning this race can make a drivers career, without a doubt. We have seen it through Nextel Cup. We have seen it in IndyCar as well. I mean, if you win at this facility, you have done something that very few men have done,"

DOES THE WINNER SUNDAY LEAVE HERE AS THE FAVORITE TO WIN THE CHAMPIOSNSHIP? "It depends if I win. Then I will have a different opinion. I don't know, it would be hard, based on the statistics to not favor that person. The stats usually ring true, but you know, there are exceptions to it and we have seen that. I think that it is even harder now, with the Chase format for that statistic to stay true. These final 10 races with the re-racking and the seeding process, it has the possibility to really change the outcome."

YOU MENTIONED THE DIFICULTY HERE. WITHOUT GETTING TO TECHNICAL, WHY IS THIS PLACE SO HARD? "There is really one lane and with the track being as flat as it is and being stuck in traffic, you don't have an option, you don't have a lane to go outside of someone or move around and find any extra grip so you are really stuck and you have got to be considerably faster to get through that arrow push that the cars have, to make positions, to make passes. It is just a really tough track to race on."

IN REGARDS TO THE DAYTONA 500 AND BRICKYARD, ARE THEY APPLES AND ORANGES OR ARE THEY COMPARABLE IN TERMS OF PRESTIGE? "They are comparable. They are not totally different. I am asked the question often and it is so hard to answer it because they both have a certain feeling that just kind of fulfills inside of me. I can say that my little trophy case, and the way that things line up, I have my Nextel Cup championship trophy as the centerpiece and then on either side of it is the Daytona 500 trophy and the Brickyard trophy. They are very, very similar and I think for the history of our sport, Daytona has a little bit more to it, but Indy is right there, is not on par with it."

WHERE? ON THE RIGHT OR LEFT SIDE? (HA-HA) "Brickyard is left and the Daytona trophy is right."

DID THIS VICTORY LAST YEAR, KIND OF PUT YOU OVER THE TOP, IN A SENSE? "It didn't put us over the top. It helped, but we. it is a big race and a unique track and it certainly did help us but I don't think that winning or not winning that race would have changed the outcome, would have changed our approach to the Chase, would have changed the fortune and misfortune that we had in the Chase. You can use the momentum in different ways, and this momentum did help us. In the past, it hurt, but it still didn't keep us from being competitive in the Chase. It is just a great shot in the arm if you are able to do it."

YOU HAD BEEN CHASING IT FOR SO LONG. "Yeah, well that part helped the team keep the thirst for the championship and showed us that we could overcome things and getting started in the Chase, we had such a rough start. Maybe the experience here prepared us or helped us in a small way for the start of the Chase. To try to look at how momentum benefited us that would probably be that way I would reference it."

YOU SAID YOU USED TO COME IN HERE NERVOUS, JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST. HOW DO YOU COME INTO THIS WEEK THIS WEEKEND? "I come in very excited. I feel that what has gone on since last years race here until now, there hasn't been a ton of growth in the mechanical side of cars. Cars have kind of been in a certain spot, the rules package has stayed the same and we don't really have a lot to come back with that is new. So I feel that what we had last year is going to be very competitive and I think that understanding the track and understanding how long the race is, opportunities to pass.there are some things that I learned last year that I can apply and bring in this year. I am very excited to be here and I think that hopefully we will be able to show all of that on Sunday."

YOU HAVE JEFF GORDON FOR A WHILE NOW AND WHEN HE FIRST WON HERE, THAT WAS 14 YEARS AGO, DOES HE SEEM OLD TO YOU OR IS HE STILL A LITTLE BIT OF A KID? "When I first came in, he was I think 31, and I was like man he is 30 something and now I am 31, so I am like wow, time flies. He is that veteran guy in our sport and the one that everyone looks up to and I think that it is something that I believe everybody thought Earnhardt would have that position and unfortunately he is not here. I think that it had kind of found its way onto Jeff's shoulders. I think that Jeff is accepting that role more and more now and not only is he the senior wise man of the crowd, he is also winning races and fighting for the championship. He is in a great spot and I certainly look up to him and everything that he has done."

DRIVING-WISE, IS HE ANY DIFFERENT FROM WHEN HE WAS 31 AND YOU WERE 20 SOMETHING? "It is hard for me to say at that point. I was so far behind trying to learn my way through the sport. It is tough to tell."

BY WINNING DAYTONA AND THE ALL STAR RACE, AND THIS RACE, IT IS KIND OF LIKE THE GRAND SLAM OF THE SPORT. IS IT NOT? "Yeah, I think so. All-Star, Brickyard, Daytona, and the championship. We got all the majors and the title to go with it."

IN TERMS OF WHAT KEVIN HARVICK HAS DONE THIS YEAR AND WINNING TWO OF THOSE ALREADY? "Yeah, he is off to a great start with those. I am sure he has his eyes on this race and also the championship. It would be wild if he was able to repeat that and have that happen for back to back years. Obviously as a competitor, I want to see that happen. I want to get out there and win this Brickyard and then go on and win the championship."

HOW DIFFICULT IS THAT FEAT, TO DO THAT, TO WIN THE "MAJORS" AND THEN TO GO ON AND WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP? "I think that when it happened last year, we were so caught up in the moment and focused on the championship that maybe we didn't understand what we did. And now, as this year has gone on and we are looking back on it, it's quite a feat and I think that the stat alone shows how tough it is to do."

IS THERE SOMETHING SPECIFIC ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT THOSE DRIVERS, THAT YOU CAN POINT AT AND SAY THAT IS WHY THOSE DRIVERS RUN WELL HERE? "It is a very line-intensive track. It's a track that takes a lot of finesse even though it is a larger race track. So I think maybe drivers that understand that balance and how to finesse the car. I think Rusty (Wallace) had a great balance in knowing how to drive a flat track and how to drive a banked track. I think Jeff (Gordon) has that. I think of Matt (Kenseth) and how well rounded he is as a driver. I think this track should suit someone like Denny Hamlin who has had a lot of success a Pocono and has a great flat-track balance. It is just a quirky little place and it clicks for some people and it finally clicked for me and I hope that I can hang onto it."

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF THIS RACE, THE BEST OF THE BEST WIN THIS THING. THE GUYS THAT HAVE WON HERE, INCLUDING YOURSELF, ONLY RICKY RUDD AND KEVIN HARVICK ARE THE ONLY GUYS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN CHAMPIONS. WHY? "I think from exactly what you point out, how tough this place is and I think that it challenges all of the teams and drivers so intensely that the top people rise. The top teams rise to the top in the finishing order."

HOW SPECIAL WAS IT FOR YOU TO FINALLY GET TO KISS THE BRICKS HERE? "Unbelievable. I thought that it was something that was never going to happen. When we were out there kissing the bricks, I was in complete and total shock that we were there."

DO YOU JUST AS SOME POINT DURING THE OFF-SEASON WHEN THINGS SLOW DOWN, DO YOU THINK I AM NOW WITH THE FOYTS AND UNSERS AND ANDRETTIS AND GUYS LIKE THAT? "I didn't. I was, I guess my thought were more on the championship. Coming back and getting prepared for this week, those thoughts started to then run through my mind watching the ads run on the television and reading the paper and seeing things. I was like, man, we did something pretty cool. So, I am enjoying today and I am sure that I will enjoy everything through the weekend and hopefully have another trip out there to the bricks."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT BEING HERE TODAY? "The car does save us from a lot of things. It is an honor to win this race and to be back and have the chances to talk about it. It has been really cool. It is a part of our sport that we are busy and it is a good thing that the sport is so popular and that we have these demands. Coming off of a great off weekend, looking forward to getting this race going and then buckle down for the Chase and then fight for the championship."

YOU HAVE GOT SOME EARLY TEST LAPS; DID YOU NOTICE ANYTHING ABOUT THE TRACK? "No, there is nothing that can carry over. I had a few fans hanging on for dear life so that was kind of entertaining first thing this morning."

AND YOU WON A REMOTE CONTROL RACE THIS MORNING TOO. "Yeah, I won the remote control race so I am off to a good start. Hopefully that is a sign of how the weekend is going to turn out."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS EVENT AS FAR AS GIVING MOMENTUM? "I think all teams, we all look at ways to benefit our group and anybody that has played in team sports knows that if a coach or someone, even if you loose, will find a way to pick you up from it. And I think that is just kind of how sports works. When we won last year, we used it as a, hey, we overcame a track that had been beating us, we can go on and win a championship. Times that we have lost here, we have been like, well we don't race here in the Chase, (laughing) there is not another track like it, don't sweat it, move on. So you try to find the angle to benefit your team. Last year it really did add a little bit of momentum to our championship effort. We got off to a slow start in the Chase and I think that, you know, we have been able to do that as a team and overcome some big adversity and win races and win key races so I think that we fall back on that as a team and make the most of it."

HAS IT STARTED TO HIT HOME THAT THE CHASE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER AND WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND? "It really does hit home. It is kind of, there is just a few races left. We have slipped some in the points. We have had great performances, we've had a car to win races with, but for whatever reason, we have had some wild things happen to us here lately and we have lost a lot of ground. So we want to make sure that we safely transfer in. We don't want to be in a thrash going into Richmond and have to count on that. So, first priority is to get top tens, top fives, then obviously for a position to win and go for that. We really need to find bottom here on the bad luck that we have had and get things going in the right direction."

ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THAT BAD LUCK AT ALL? "Well, the only way that we can really look at it is that we have had some bad luck and there is not a whole lot that we can do about it, but we can't hide the fact that we have lost a lot of ground and if we go through another five/ six race spell like we have, we could be out. So, we are faced with that reality that even though it has been bad luck, we can't have any more of it and we have to capitalize on the strong performances that we have been having and try to find a way to keep tires from blowing out and keep things from taking place like that."

AS A TEAM DO YOU KIND OF DRAW ON THINGS LIKE THE BAD START OF THE CHASE DIDN'T HURT LAST YEAR. DO YOU LOOK AT THAT? "Yeah, I find myself as a coach, Chad Knaus as a coach, even Ron Malec, trying to point things out to the guys and say hey, don't' sweat it. We have the speed. We have the talent. We have shown that. We have just had bad luck. The Chase is an example of that. Even last year's race here, were we were fast and we blew a left-front tire early in the event and we fought back. So, we use those things to try to motivate everybody."

ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT (DENNY) HAMLIN STOOD UP FOR WHAT HE BELIEVED IN, AS STRONGLY AS HE DID, IN CHICAGO? "I didn't have a chance to see all that took place, but I did notice that neither of their cars were on track at that one practice session and I thought. Anyone, not just singling out those two, when you know that you are right, you have got to stand up for it. I think that Tony (Stewart) had an opinion and felt that he was right and I think that Denny (Hamlin) had an opinion and thought that he was right. I guess that it is resolved. I noticed that their race cars finally got on the race track that day." (laughing)

HAMLIN SAID PARTLY IN JOKING, THAT THIS IS THE PLACE THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO PICK A FIGHT WITH STEWART. AT INDY, BECAUSE HE IS WOUND UP A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN NORMAL. DO YOU SEE THAT AT INDY? "Yeah, this is definitely a track where his intensity turns up and I can also say from having a teammate from Indiana that you can see things sort of elevate and turn up. I am sure that I am that way when I go back to the California Speedway. There is nothing like racing in front of your home town."

WITH THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND BRICKYARD WIN COMING TOGETHER, IS IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHICH CATAPULTED YOUR CAREER FORWARD MORE? "Both are huge. I would have to think that the championship did more and I might not feel the effects of it now, but being a champion in our sport really says a lot. You think of Rusty Wallace and the amazing career that he had. I think that he only had one championship, but he was a champion in our sport. So having a championship really will elevate my career status more than anything."

WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TREND TOWARDS BIG TEAMS LIKE YOUR TEAM? IT LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE GOING TO BE A LOT MORE FOUR-CAR TEAMS. "I guess that I really haven't thought about it to be honest with you. Every team is going to do what they can to be competitive. There is no doubt that having the fourth car out there is a benefit and is helpful. You bring in more capital, you have more resources, more people, another car on track for notes and experience and all those types of things. So, it doesn't surprise me that it is going that way. With the rules set as they are, you would be foolish to not try to go that direction and try to maximize your team's potential."

DO YOU THINK THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVING KYLE BUSCH IN THE TEAM THIS YEAR AND HAVING DALE EARNHARDT, JR. ON THE TEAM NEXT YEAR? WHAT THAT IS GOING TO MEAN TO YOU AND TO JEFF HAVING A DIFFERENT TEAMMATE FOR NEXT YEAR? "Yeah, it certainly is going to be different and that is something that on the competition side, that Jeff, myself, Casey (Mears), the crew chiefs, everybody is excited and waiting for December to come around when we can start testing and start working with one another and understand what our differences are and setups and what we like and don't like. So that is the part that I am eager to get to. He obviously brings in a ton to Hendrick Motorsports that we are very excited about. But we really don't know the competition side until he gets into one of our cars and until we are able to talk shop and compare notes."

Jeff Gordon Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Indianapolis

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS met with members of the media and discussed the weekend in general at Indy, what it takes to win the Brickyard 400, how the Brickyard compares in prestige to winning the Daytona 500, if he thinks this is a championship year, on his experience as a NASCAR driver, on any differences he sees in Jimmie Johnson since he won the Brickyard, about the recent changes in his personal life, strategy going into the Chase, women drivers in NASCAR, on the Canada market for NASCAR, and more.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND'S ALLSTATE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD? "Oh, it's an exciting week. It's one of those weekends when everybody really gets fired up about it; especially coming off an off weekend. I think we're rested and relaxed and ready to get back after it and start this long stretch of races that's going to decide the championship for this season. I always love racing here at Indianapolis. It's just such a cool place with so much history. We've had success here so I really look forward to being here this weekend. I felt like we had a strong car here last year and we had some issues early on that got us behind, but I think we made up like three laps last year and had a good car. So it's something that has gotten me excited about what we're going to have this weekend, especially with the type of year we're having."

YOU SEEM TO WIN HERE EVERY THIRD YEAR, SO THIS MIGHT BE YOUR YEAR AGAIN. WHY IS THAT? "I think it is just evolution of set-ups and cars changing and technology changing and other teams becoming more competitive. I think what happens is that we build our team up like the team we have this year and this is a track that really takes a great package. You have to have the total team package here from power to good handling and obviously the driver has to do his part along with the pit crew as well. So you have to have the whole package. The best teams win here. In years where we've won here, they are times when we were really on top of our game. And so that's sort of the coincidence of the past couple of years year with Jimmie (Johnson) winning and then winning the championship and Tony (Stewart) winning and then winning the championship. Those were the best teams at the time."

IN TERMS OF PRESTIGE, CAN YOU COMPARE THE DAYTONA 500 AND THE BRICKYARD 400? "It's a matter of personal preference. The Daytona 500 is our biggest event. There is no doubt about that. But on a personal note, I like Indy. I like the Brickyard. My biggest win, and I don't think I'll ever top it, was the inaugural Brickyard 400. It's always going to be the biggest win to me, personally.

And I don't know how other people rank it, but it's the one that stands out in my mind. I want to win the Daytona 500, but there is just a little something in the back of your mind when you come to Indy and you think, man, I really, really want this one. The other thing is, that's a restrictor plate. A restrictor plate race at Daytona takes a little bit away from your chances. It makes it sort of not that anybody can win it, but a lot more guys can win it. Where here, the driver plays a really big role. The team and the set up play a big role and so that's why I think there is a little bit more consistency with who wins this race. Maybe the driver makes it a little bit more prestigious."

THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF PERSONAL CHANGES FOR YOU WITHIN IN THE LAST YEAR. YOU'VE GOTTEN MARRIED AND NOW YOU ARE A FATHER. DO YOU THINK THIS HAS HELPED YOUR RACING CAREER? "I think what helps you with life and work is being balanced out. I have a great relationship with (his wife) Ingrid and that has certainly helped balance out my life. I'm happy because of that. And work is going well, so I'm happy because of that. I had issues in the past with my family and now my dad is working for me and my mom is a grandma and everything has just really come together. I think all the experiences I've been through, good and bad, have just helped me be a better person and know a little bit more about what I want out of life. And so, I think these days I just appreciate it more and I enjoy coming to the race track probably more than I ever have and having a baby and being married again is only making it that much better."

IF IT WOULD EVEN BE POSSIBLE, WOULD AN ADDITIONAL WEEKEND OFF BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE SEASON BE WELCOME OR WOULD IT BREAK MOMENTUM? "It depends on how the momentum is. If the momentum is good, you don't want to stop it. If the momentum is bad, you hope for change. I think it would be really nice to have a break after Richmond, and before the last 10 Chase races start. I think it makes sense. It would actually allow Nextel and NASCAR to really hype up the start of the Chase and spend a little more time with some marketing and some media and things like that. It would be a nice break in this long stretch at the end. But I don't see that happening anytime soon. So, we'll just take the off weekends when we can get them."

Denny Hamlin Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Indianapolis

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Monte Carlo SS, met with media and discussed Aric Almirola's new ride, his relationship with Tony Stewart, his outlook for the upcoming races and the Chase, if switching from the Monte Carlo SS to the Impala SS affects him, why he thinks he's an underdog for the Chase, on going to Pocono, Matt Kenseth, how the weather will affect qualifying, comparing his season last year versus this year, J.J. Yeley's talent and opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing, the difference between the Cup and Busch Series cars next year and the effect it will have and Kyle Busch.

ON WHY ARIC ALMIROLA MAY HAVE MADE THE SWITCH TO A DIFFERENT TEAM: "I think for the last year or so everyone at Gibbs has been trying to figure out where Aric's going to fit in. We kind of had a situation where we didn't know where he was going to fit in in the grand scheme of things. (Joey) Lagano is coming up in the next couple of years, myself and Tony are there for the long haul and I think J.J.'s getting a ton better. So yeah, they want to go to a fourth team eventually but it wasn't their immediate future and I think he just got offered a better situation for immediate success with Ginn at the time. They asked me opinion of it and I definitely thought he made the right decision and taking the job opening that he had immediately because ultimately.that's what got me my chance. You never know if he stayed with Gibbs, when was he going to get that full-time ride or part-time. We didn't know. We don't have a car for him right now. They had a situation where there had a seat open for him so I told him if worse comes to worse you get y our name out there and that's going to help you get a ride somewhere else if you're not successful there and I definitely think it was a good move for him."

WHEN YOU'RE HAVING STRESS WITH ONE OF THE MORE POPULAR DRIVERS ON THE CIRCUIT, WHAT'S THE PUBLIC REACTION YOU FACE? "For the most part, people have just come in to me - I'm not trying to pat myself on the back - but in the way I handled it and taking the high road and I think I would still do the same thing today if we had another incident. I'm going to take the high road because the controversy and all, it's not worth it. I think he learned in the long run too especially with a teammate that it's not going to be good to blast me on TV or whatever because all it did was cause two total weeks of stress for us. It was a pain to have to deal with it and at the end of our meeting, we were like 'now we can just tell everyone it's over and it's done' and I think it was really getting to him as much as it was getting to me that we hadn't talked and really that's why I chose not to talk to him because I wanted to get in his head a little bit that look, just because you're the elder here and the team leader doesn't mean I'm just going to roll over for you."

ON THE MOMENTUM A VICTORY HERE BRINGS WITH THE RECORD OF MANY BRICKYARD WINNERS GOING ON TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP: "I'm watching TV and I see all the guys that have won the championship and the Brickyard in the same year, I think it's because every team just pulls out the best of what they have here at this race track. They don't reserve it for next week, where a lot of race tracks we go to they don't want to race their good car because they want to save it for two weeks down the road. I think that everyone brings their best here and the guys that win have obviously the best stuff and their the best drivers and that just shows that really it's the guys who are up front every single week that run well here."

ON LOOKING AHEAD TO THE UPCOMING RACES: "I think the important thing for us is we need to capitalize on the weeks that we know we can win - here, Pocono, Bristol in a few weeks. There's a couple of other of race tracks that we have really good shots at winning the race and on the race tracks where we feel like maybe have a shot at a top five but a win would be a stretch, then we need to venture off and do different things to try to help us for the Chase. We're not locked in by any means but we feel like we're in a somewhat of a comfortable position right now so right now it's just all about trying to capitalize and not start too far behind the Chase starts. Right now we're 30 behind that's if those guys don't win another race before the Chase starts which odds are they probably will so we need to win two, three races between now and the Chase."

Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Mobility Monte Carlo SS Weekly Top 12 Hauler Chat at Indianapolis

Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Mobility Monte Carlo SS met with members of the media and discussed racing and winning at Indianapolis, the Busch race in Montreal, DEI, Mark Martin, the direction of the teams in Cup, benefits of adding a fourth car, testing at Indy and the affect of the new-generation race car on the Busch Series.

YOUR OPINION ON DALE EARNHARDT, INC. CONSIDERING WHAT THEY ARE DOING: "I think that much to DEI's credit, they've served notice that they are here to fight. They're here to race, they're here to be here and I think a lot of people thought that when Junior left that they would just cave in and go away. I think they're making it very clear they're not going to do that. They've sent a message to everybody that they're here to compete at a high level and I commend them for doing that. We see that with ownership every year. All the owners try to step up; all the owners try to make it better. They try to make their team more competitive and that's what you're seeing with DEI. They should be commended for putting forth effort to be better."

IS THE SERIES IS MOVING TOWARDS LARGER TEAMS WITH FOUR CARS EACH? "Yeah, I think we are moving.If you look at what you've heard Ray Evernham say, if you look at what Richard Childress is saying, if you look at what Gibbs has been saying, there's no question about it. There's a lot of effort to buy teams, to merge, to create a larger pot to pool from. There's no question, an effort to consolidate more to try to be more competitive. Long term, when multi-car teams first started, everybody was like 'that's the end of racing' but the reality of it is, it's impacted racing in a very positive way. If you look at the competition on the race track, it's very positive because if you have an ownership group that's very good, that means that they're putting three, four or five teams on the track that are very, very good. And I think that's a good thing. I think having parity in our sport is a good thing and I think that you see that. The competition level has been stepped up and the amount of drivers and individual teams that can compete is higher than it would have been without multi-car teams and I think that will continue to happen."

DOES ADDING A FOURTH CAR AUTOMATICALLY MAKE YOUR TEAM BETTER? "I don't think that's the case at all. I think that having more resources potentially can be better. Having more people, cars, equipment and more stuff to deal with is not necessarily better. You cannot go from a team that's not competing how they need to, that's not organized like it needs to be, to adding teams and having that fix it. That only makes it worse. You have to have a plan, you have to have an organization that understands there's a mission and then execute on that mission. If you do not do that, then having more is just more problems. We aren't immediately better by any means by adding a fourth team. As a matter of fact, we have to fight against being worse. We have to make sure that if we add a fourth team that we're doing the things that are necessary so that it makes us better. And that requires a lot of time, attention, focus and planning and anything less than that would be a bad thing."

Clint Bowyer Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Monte Carlo SS, met with members of the media and discussed his off weekend, what it takes to be successful at the Brickyard, the prestige of racing and possibly winning here, going to Pocono, how he prepares for the next 17 races, the Bristol test, the momentum he could gain by getting a victory at this race and what is it about this track that brings out the best in some drivers to go on and win the championship.

ON NEEDING TO HAVE THE WHOLE PACKAGE TO BE SUCCESSFUL HERE: "You have to have a well-rounded package when you show up here. It starts in the shop, Gil (Martin) and everybody prepared an awesome race car last year obviously and we brought that same race car back so hopefully she still remembers how to get around this place."

ON IF HE FEELS THE AURA WHEN HE PULLS INTO HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME: "Absolutely, there's not a track we go to that's anywhere close to this. Heck, you can get lost going to your motorhome at this place. It's a very cool place to be at, a lot of people, and a lot of focus and attention on this track media-wise and certainly race-team wise."

HOW HE PREPARES FOR THE FINAL 17 RACES: "I just woke up, just try to be ready for it and try to stay focused on the task at hand and try to stay in tune with what's going on on the race track and everywhere else and the shop and stay on top of things on your end of it. They say you're the quarterback of this deal and that sets the pace for everybody on the team so you just try to keep upbeat and keep everybody on the same page and don't let them down, do your job."

ON WHAT A WIN HERE COULD DO FOR THE REST OF HIS SEASON: "Momentum and confidence and everything else is so important to everybody. Obviously you can get burnt out, it's such a long series and such a long season. Not only you as a driver, everybody gets burnt out and you got to keep 'em upbeat and ready to go and working hard in the shop and bringing you good equipment so you can go out here and win these races and you're as big a part of that as anybody."

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

Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Monte Carlo SS met with media to discuss racing at the Brickyard, being hailed as the new face of DEI, on Mark Martin becoming a teammate, the value of teammates overall, on Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaving DEI, on expanding to a four-car team, on the impact of losing two practice sessions Friday, on the importance of qualifying and more.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT RACING HERE AT THE BRICKYARD THIS WEEKEND? "I'm looking forward to it. This is a really fun race track. It is real unique. It's not really like anywhere else we go. Our Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet has been running real good. They put a lot of emphasis on the engines here and we've got some great engines lately. I know we broke one last week, but they've been running real strong. So I'm looking forward to it."

NOW THAT MARK MARTIN IS A TEAMMATE, WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM HIM? "I'm real excited about it. I think it's going to add a lot of great things for us. I'm a huge Mark Martin fan. I always have been I like the way he goes about his business. I like the way he races. The amount of knowledge he's got is incredible and I look forward to tapping into that. I've talked to Mark for 20 minutes already today. I've always gotten along with him really well and I'm looking forward to learning things from him in the future. He's going to be a great asset for our whole organization."

WITH DALE EARNHARDT JR. LEAVING AT THE END OF THE SEASON, ARE YOU READY TO BE THE FACE OF DEI? "I'm excited about it. It's going to be a lot of fun, I think. The first thing is we need to run well, obviously. We've been doing that and that's the first step in the right direction. It will be a lot of opportunity for me and my team. They'll have a lot more eyes on them and get a lot more recognition for the great job they're doing. It'll be great for all our sponsors."

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR TEAMMATES TO GET ALONG IN TERMS OF OVERALL BUSINESS? "Its really important. The exchange of information and the more people you can bring together and help information flow throughout the teams helps everyone. It's no secret that the teams with more cars and more drivers seem to be more successful. We've had three and I think having a fourth is going to be even better; especially with having Mark (Martin) on board. He's got so much talent. He's been there and has done everything. He's one of those guys who has been around for a long time but continues to run at the front of the pack no matter where we're at or what he's in. He's going to be a great teammate. But just having guys that you can work with and guys that will work well with the other teams, not just the drivers, goes a long way."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT JR. LEAVING DEI? "Well, it stinks, obviously. He's a great friend and has been a great teammate for me; not just this year, but the past couple of years. When I drove his Busch car I learned a lot from him just by being with the same team. But we've got some great stuff going on and I'm real excited about this deal with Mark and his whole team. We're still looking for that fourth driver for next year. So I'm excited about the future. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can learn hear short term from the 01 team and the things they are doing and seeing how much better it can make all of our teams. So it's going to be interesting to see how they do things and how we can incorporate that into all our teams. And it's the same for them. It's just more notes to look at and more information and more knowledge to pull from. It's only going to make all of us better."

Mark Martin Hauler Chat at Indianapolis

Mark Martin, No. 01 U.S. Army Monte Carlo SS, met with media to discuss the DEI / Ginn Racing merger, his new teammates, his '08 schedule, his role in the driver development program, the Car of Tomorrow and former teammate Matt Kenseth.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE MERGER? "It is pretty overwhelming. Monday was my first time at the DEI shop. When I opened the door and stepped in, I realized the magnitude of this. It's something that I could have never scripted or dreamed that it would happen. It just wound up that way. It transpired very quickly. But I'm really excited about it. There are a lot of distractions right now for my team and me and all of us and I really can't wait to strap in the race car and get on the race track so that we can focus on the performance, which is what the U.S. Army team really needs right now. We need to get on the race track and get to work and focus on the performance of the race car. It's been a difficult week for everyone. As we move forward, we will hopefully be able to integrate and make our performances even stronger. This week, we're in two different chapters. We're not on a different page, but in a different chapter with everything. I can't wait to get on the race track."

WERE YOU SURPRISED ABOUT ALL THIS? "Bobby (Ginn) and I had a long range plan. I don't think either he or I anticipated it. We wanted to get to a certain place in five years. Well, in six months, we have arrived almost there. We have taken kind of a bumpy, crooked road here, but this is a huge step in reaching where we wanted to go. And it's something I don't think either one of us anticipated. It did happen really fast. It was something that needed to happen. I'm excited about it. I think it makes for a really, really strong and exciting opportunity from the marketing side, from Bobby's side, and the things that he can bring and from DEI's side and the things they can bring. When we put all that together, I'm still able to do all the things I'd hoped to be able to do when I signed up with Ginn Racing, and more. So for me, it's terrific."

HOW MUCH OF A CHANGE WILL THIS MAKE FOR YOU THIS YEAR AND NEXT YEAR? "My duties have increased. Everything that I did at Ginn Racing, I still have those duties, but they are even more now. I have all the things with the driver development program and the leadership and all those things. There is more to do now."

DO YOU REALLY LIKE WORKING WITH THE YOUNG UP-AND-COMERS LIKE MARTIN TRUEX JR, REGAN SMITH, AND PAUL MENARD? "I do. I've always wanted to help people that wanted to help. For them to think that I can provide some kind of leadership to help them, is great. I'm not sure I can. But if they think I can, then I will. That's what is special. I'm not sure that I have had any impact on Kurt Busch or Regan Smith or anyone else that's come along, but they think so. So that really makes me feel good. I know that Paul Menard is a tremendous raw talent. He's excited. He wants to absorb that 25 years of experience and hopefully those guys can sort through that stuff that's been official and the stuff that's just old fogy stuff. I know when I came in and I listened to the old timers, they spent a lot of time talking about how much better it was back in the old days that it is today. I wasn't really interested in that. I was more interested in how could we make today and tomorrow better. Hopefully they'll be able to sort through that when they're around me. Hopefully I can have some positive impact on their careers."

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE CAR OF TOMORROW? "Well, it's a step backwards in technology. The car is definitely as step back from a speed and a technological standpoint. But if everyone has the same car, then we'll work on it and make it better. A year from now, those cars are going to handle good compared to how they handle today, as the teams figure out how to make them better and better through racing them and through experience. So I think the Car of Tomorrow is what it is. It takes some more creativity away from the teams and that's different."

Aric Almirola Media Availability at Indianapolis

Aric Almirola, No. 01 U.S. Army Monte Carlo SS, met with members of the media and discussed moving to the Nextel Cup Series, his role at DEI, the U.S. Army sponsorship, Regan Smith's future, the merger of DEI and Ginn Racing, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Busch Series, Max Siegel and his relationship with him, the length of his contract with DEI and why he signed for Ginn Racing although he knew they were in financial trouble.

DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHEN YOU ACCEPTED THE DEAL WITH GINN RACING THAT THEY WOULD MERGE WITH DEI? "I didn't know that. I was going to Ginn Racing as far as I knew and I was going to be a partner with Mark Martin and that was what I was excited about. The thing that I was excited about still hasn't changed. I'm still going to drive the No. 01 U.S. Army car with Mark Martin. So that doesn't change for me one bit and I'm still just as excited as I was before. Maybe a little bit more excited."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS WITH REGAN SMITH? "That's a tough situation and I don't know the best way to answer that question, really. I wasn't under the impression that all this stuff was going to come about. It wasn't like I went in there and knifed him in the back. We were supposed to be teammates and a week ago we were. Coming to Indy he was driving the No. 14 and Mark was driving the No. 01. Come Watkins Glen he was going to be driving the No. 14 and I was driving the No. 01 and I was excited about that. So I don't feel like there was anything on my part that I could have done any different."

WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE RACING FOR JOE GIBBS RACING IN THE BUSCH SERIES AND RACING FOR DEI IN CUP? "It's awesome. To tell you the truth, I'm getting to race. So it's the one thing that I don't know if people just don't realize or understand, being a young guy in the sport, the only way to get better is to race. So Joe Gibbs racing has given me the opportunity to race and when I took thins opportunity with the Army car and Ginn, which is now DEI, I'm excited about it. I think the whole deal with Joe Gibbs racing let me run the rest of the Busch races I had signed up to do. I tip my hat to them. Because everything that they told me they were going to do from day one they've done. It just worked out to where they didn't have the opportunity for me. We felt like I needed to run a full-time Busch car next year and that really wasn't panning out. So J.D. and Joe both looked at the opportunity I was presented here with Mark and they told me it was a no-brainer. To go and have Mark Martin as a mentor is a pretty silly thing to pass up."

Tony Raines Hauler Chat at Indianapolis

Tony Raines, No. 96 DLP HDTV Monte Carlo SS, met with members of the media and discussed racing at the Brickyard, returning to his home state of Indiana, how the weather could affect the weekend, their road course program, the Car of Tomorrow program, if he feels refreshed after the off weekend, if the 17 week stretch is daunting, the dynamics of qualifying on Saturday, if they are trying to work on getting a second car, if he feels like they're the fourth team of Joe Gibbs Racing, the performance of their team this season and their team owner expectations.

ON HIS STRONG RUN HERE LAST YEAR, HEADING INTO THIS YEAR'S EVENT AND THE CHALLENGES AT THE BRICKYARD: "We actually ran well here a couple years in a row, that was our best finish obviously, but it puts a little pressure on you too because now you'd like to do that or better and this is a race that everybody really works hard for. A lot of teams build new cars so the competition is always really tough but I think having had a good run here it certainly will help our confidence going in.

"I think this is a track that you either love or hate because it's unique compared to what we typically run on and one of the first truck races I ran was at the Homestead layout that was similar to this and I really enjoyed that so when I got to run here for the first time it felt good but it's a hard track. A lot of the good drivers will tell you that these long straightaways and them tight, tight turns one and three aren't the easiest corners of NASCAR racing. But just the fact that we're racing at Indianapolis and it's one of the two biggest races of the year, everybody gets jittery about it."

ON RACING IN HIS HOME STATE AND MEETING WITH AREA FANS: "It's good. It's actually been a lot of fun and it's been somewhat relaxing but as you get here and you start getting a little bit closer to practice time and everything, you start getting a little bit more nervous because you do want to run a little bit - not that you want to run better here because it's this race track but just every race we get keyed up for - but because it's more in my backyard, my hometown. I got a lot more family here. A good run here would mean a lot more to us than at some other places."

ON THEIR GOAL FOR THE SEASON: "Our goal is to be 20th or better. Last year it was 25th and we were 26th. Everybody was pretty pleased we were on target and I feel like this year we were better. We've been on pace a little better except for the bad luck. I was telling somebody last year we left here 22nd in the points and three weeks later we were 33rd and we worked our way back up to 26th. If we can have that kind of surge from now to the end we can be top 20."