JIMMIE JOHNSON'S THIRD VICTORY IN A ROW AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SETS HISTORICAL 150TH WIN MARK FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS; TEAMMATE JEFF GORDON FINISHES SECOND & DENNY HAMLIN TAKES THIRD

CHEVY DRIVERS CLAIM TOP-THREE FINISHING POSITIONS; MARK MARTIN RETAINS POINTS LEAD WITH FIFTH PLACE FINISH

Las Vegas - Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Monte Carlo SS claimed his third consecutive victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway today beating teammate Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS to the checkered flag by 2.795 seconds. The win on the newly configured 1.5-mile track is the 24th of Johnson's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series career and set the historic milestone of 150 race wins for team owner Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports.

"Man, there was a lot of great competition on the track," said Johnson. "When we unloaded Friday that we didn't have the right setup under the car. I just want to thank everybody on this Lowe's team for working as hard as they did. We got the car right yesterday in practice, and we felt good about today. Overcame some adversity today. I got in the wall coming off turn four and thought I hurt the car. But we kept adjusting until we got this thing right. I can't thank all the Lowe's employee owners for their support. Wish the Boss (Rick Hendrick) was here, this is the 150th win for Hendrick Motorsports, but unfortunately he isn't here."

Johnson came from the 23rd starting position to take the lead on lap 22 of the 267-lap race and led several times during the race for a total of 89 circuits. He rebounded from a penalty that sent him to the back of the lead-lap cars for a tire rolling out of the pit box during a pit stop and a brush with the wall.

The 2006 Series' champions win moved him to fourth in points, 47 out of the lead.

Gordon who started 36th raced his way to the lead on lap 109 and looked like the car to beat after leading the most laps on the day, 111 total, until Johnson got by the final time on lap 236. Gordon now sits second in the point standings, just six points out of the lead.

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx /Kinko's Monte Carlo SS, finished third with a steady day running in the top-10 the majority of the afternoon. The 2006 Raybestos Rookie of the Year climbed to eighth in the standings.

Mark Martin, No. 01 U.S. Army Monte Carlo SS, retained the points lead with his third consecutive top-five finish of the season. Martin's fifth in the final order gave Team Chevy four of the top-five finishing positions.

Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Monte Carlo SS, finished seventh and Kyle Busch with his ninth place finish gave the Bowtie brand six of the top-10 in the order when the checkered flag flew.

Round four of the 2007 NNCS season will be March 18, 2007 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

JIMMIE JOHNSON AND (CREW CHIEF) CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS PRESS CONFERENCE - Winner

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS:

ON THE RACE:
"It was obviously a good day for us. We had some issues. We had a tire roll away on a pit stop that caused us some trouble. And then I tuned on the car a little bit off of Turn 4 on the wall and bent up the suspension a little bit. Over the long haul, I don't think I really had the speed to run with Jeff Gordon or Jeff Burton. But at the end, we put right side tires on and make a tire pressure adjustment that really brought the comfort back to the car. I had that edge I could lean on and really push hard to get by Gordon and Burton and then hold off Gordon at the end. It was a great day for us. To overcome the adversity this weekend of coming back on a new tire and not having any experience on it, and working through all the issues we did, it was a very good weekend for the Lowe's team."

ON BOUNCING BACK FROM BAD SITUATIONS
"I don't know why it works out that way. I said this at Homestead and at Indy and I'll say it again today. When I have a great race car like that I can work traffic and take my time. Plus, the problems happened early enough in the race where we could overcome it. The timing of it's worked out and on top of that we've had great race cars."

ON WINNING FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE TIME ON A RE-CONFIGURED TRACK, WHAT WAS THE KEY?
"One thing I'm very confident and proud of is that the No. 48 team and Hendrick Motorsports in general seem to figure thing out on a fast pace.

"We might not be the first or the fastest with certain rules changes or on new tracks, when that happens, we always smile and think all right, this is a chance for us to step up and figure things out before other teams do. We've done that before and we were able to do that this weekend. Nobody had any new tire data to work with. So it was really between Chad and I to talk through the issues and the sensations I was having and we do a good job with that. A weekend like this allows that strength to show up."

GORDON TALKED ABOUT WHEN BURTON GOT OUTSIDE OF HIM, YOU POUNCED ON THAT OPPORTUNITY TO GET BY. DID YOU SEE IT THAT WAY?
"In clean air, from third to second spot is a big difference with the air. Burton had the top working. I followed him through (Turns) 1 and 2 and stayed on his bumper and when he got to the outside of the No. 24 and was able to capitalize on that and get up there and work on Burton. The No. 31 (Burton) was pretty consistent all day long. The No. 24 (Gordon) had a big advantage on the run before and it seemed like something changed. I'm not sure if the track cooled down and affected their set-up, but they kind of lost a little and we made the right adjustments that helped us out. And it really put our car where it needed to be."

HOW FAR BACK WOULD YOU HAVE TO BE TO COUNT YOURSELF OUT OF A RACE AND FIGURE YOU CAN'T WIN IT?
"Laps down are really tough to get back from. If you're on the lead lap, you can work strategy. The fortunate thing is when we've had bad luck, we've had a good car. There have been days when you're two laps down because you don't have the speed and there is just no way you're going to adjust the car enough on pit road to get it back. But after yesterday's practice we felt really strong and we knew we could be patient starting 23rd and prove to ourselves we can work through traffic. When you have a good car, it makes it look easy. It's not all that easy, but it worked out."

HOW MUCH OF THE TRACK CRITICISM WAS DESERVED AND HOW MUCH WAS OVERSTATING THE CASE?
"There were discussions of wanting to save money as a sport and we try to put that into place. We had a test session out here and spent three days working on a certain tire and fuel cell and then we go home and it changes. I think that's when the frustrations started. If we could have tested with the small fuel cell and foreseen the problems and knew what was coming - and we had the three days that we had before on this tire with this configuration, it would have worked out and there wouldn't have been any frustration. But when you go home and work on your data and try to sort everything out and then it all changes, it really complicates things. You don't know what to do. You don't have any data. And it's really trial and error. When you have a short amount of practice like we don on race weekends, it continues to ramp up the frustration."

DID YOU WATCH THE BUSCH RACE TO SEE ABOUT THE TIRES? WHAT WAS YOUR MINDSET TODAY?
"No, I didn't see the race. This morning I turned on the TV and saw the highlight of the finish and that was really it. There have been times when I've been in the Busch race and thought I learned something - and took it to the Cup race and it didn't work. So I don't put too much into it. With Alan Gustafson crew chiefing Kyle's car, there is some really good information that comes out of that to the Cup side. I believe in that more than anything."

ON MAKING CONTACT WITH THE WALL
'I saw Jeff Burton up on the top in Turns 3 and 4 and he was really making some ground. I was trying to find the right rhythm up there. I tried to get a little bit more aggressive and made a late exit and the car lost control and started sliding on me and I didn't have a lot of room left and got into the wall a little bit off of Turn 4. I think I bent something, I don't know. The car started hopping and bouncing under a heavy load through the corner and I had a tight condition in the center of the turn, which I didn't have before that. I gave Chad the information and apologized on the radio that I killed our chances of winning this thing. He said don't give up and don't even say that and he made the right adjustments to get me what I needed."

CHAD KNAUS JOINS THE PRESS CONFERENCE:

ON TODAY'S STRATEGY
"It all changed as soon as we had that unfortunate pit stop and had to get a little more aggressive than we wanted to at that point to get back to the front of the race. The car was really good yesterday in practice. Coming into the day, we had a pretty good plan of what we wanted to do and how to maintain track position. Once we got to the back we had to get a little aggressive for a couple of pit stops, but once we got back in the top five, we felt pretty confident that we were going to stay in the top five and then we just had to fine-tune and work on the car to get him comfortable for the end of the race. I thought the sun was going to set a pinch sooner than it did and was surprised about that, so we had to adjust a little more midway through the race. But it all worked out okay."

WAS THIS RACE WILDER THAN THE CAUTIONS MIGHT HAVE INDICATED?
JOHNSON:
"I had two or three incidents myself where I lost control of the car. With the sun beating down on the track and this hard of a tire and the lack of practice, it's just tough. If we continue to work with this tire, we'll figure out how to make it work. But when you don't have much practice, and you don't have any data, you're just shooting in the dark. That's why the ill-handling cars.

If we stay on this tire, everybody is going to be smarter and the issue will go away. But when you're thrown this issue on race weekend, you don't have time to prepare for it."

WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOUR TEAM THAT YOU CAN KICK IT UP A NOTCH IN ADVERSE SITUATIONS?
KNAUS:
"I don't understand what it is. We had some issues and these guys really ramp up when it's go-time. We've got a team that's full of racers. That's something you don't see on a lot of other teams. These guys go out there to win races. We had a meeting before the race started today and we just reminded them that the reason we're here is to win races and championships. Everybody on our team is the same way. When the chips are down, that's when these guys buckle in the hardest because they want to try to win the race. When the caution came out at the end of the race and we were talking about pitting or not pitting and the tightness you feel in your stomach is why we race. Everyone on our team is the same way. I felt like I was going to throw up trying to make the decision of whether or not to pit. And those guys are right there along with it. They have a deep desire and pull from their inner-depths to try and do it."

ARE YOU COMMUNICATING SOMEWHAT SECRETLY WITH YOUR TEAM ABOUT YOUR MOVES DURING THE RACE?
KNAUS:
"Yeah, it's tough because of the media, the TV and everybody is listening every time we want to make an adjustment - whether wedge or air pressure or whatever - and you're going to say it on TV. So we've pretty much completely gone away from that unless it's a last minute call. We do it through hand signals and play calling and passing notes. The competition is so tight right now, a small adjustment can take you from a fifth place car to a car that can potentially win the race and we don't want to let anybody else know what we're doing."

THREE YEARS AND THREE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BELTS - ONE OF THE MORE UNUSUAL TROPHIES OTHER THAN THE GRANDFATHER CLOCK AT MARTINSVILLE. IS IT A FITTING SYMBOL OF THE RACING EXPERIENCE HERE?
"Yeah, it certainly was a fight this weekend to get through it. I really can't say I had a perfect car and that it was comfortable to drive. You really had to be on your toes all day long and fight hard for it. It was a lot of fun racing with Jeff Burton. I knew he was going to leave me room and I knew he wasn't going to cut me an inch. But I knew we could race hard and put on a good show. It was a good fight, but very rewarding."

WHAT ARE THE LESSONS THAT NEED TO BE LEARNED REGARDING THE TIRE CHANGES AND PROBLEMS?
JOHNSON:
"I think Goodyear is learning more and more each time. It's clear that the speeds the cars are running is something NASCAR is focusing on bringing down and also Goodyear going with the harder tire. We look at the COT and the higher center and the heavier vehicle and less downforce - internally, looking at the sport, we're at a point in the sport of bringing the cars down a little bit and then let us, with technology, build it back. As that process goes on, it's frustrating to go through the teething pains. But I think when we go to new surfaces, they've got to be on the conservative side and we need to be able to test it. To show up and not test what you're going to race, is where all the frustration comes from. I do understand that Goodyear wants to build a strong and safe tire and not everybody is going to agree with building a hard tire. But if we can test it, I think we'll find a way to be comfortable. On Friday when we were out there, I was afraid to hold it wide open down the straightaway. I could spin the tires..even today in the race, I was inside of the No. 01 car and we were racing real hard. With the side drafting he did pulled me sideways and I almost spun out on the straightaway. That's how slick the combination of the new track and tire is. We need to get some data on that so I don't feel like I'm going to bust my butt out there.

"I know Goodyear is working very hard, but we've got to bring the right tire. I don't know how we get there - if it's more tire testing or bringing more cars to the track for tire testing. Right now they bring three cars to the track. Something needs to be addressed to where we know we've got the right tire. The sport is too big to be making last-minute changes. We need to focus on getting it right for the new surfaces."

KNAUS:
"Goodyear and their engineers and tech reps do a great job of trying to adapt to a race track that nobody gets on. That's the big thing. I understand what NASCAR is trying to do to limit the testing and even out the field. But when Goodyear is forced to develop a new compound or new construction, they need to get track time on it. And a lot of these race tracks we go to, there is no testing involved. We're going to have similar situations at the race tracks with the new COT. They have no idea what's going to happen. When you only have three cars (at a test) it doesn't do you any good. We have to get back to the point somehow, someway so there is more testing for Goodyear. It's not the tires that are bad. You don't get bad sets of tires. It's bad information as to how the tire adheres to the race track and that's something we need to get better at as a sport."

GIVEN THE NEW CHALLENGES THIS SEASON AND THE FACT THAT YOU LIKE TO FIGURE OUT THINGS AHEAD OF THE OTHER TEAMS, AREN'T YOU GOING TO HAVE FUN THIS SEASON?
KNAUS:
"We're very fortunate to be able to do that. If you look at the schedule and the races we're going to be going to with the new COT, the team that wins the championship is the team that runs the best in the final 10 races with the COT. That new race car is going to be a turning point. I think our team does a very good job of looking forward and building cars that are prepared well. We've got a good opportunity. I think this will be the easiest championship for anybody to win. I really feel like the person who hits it is going to hit it and run away with it."

WAS THIS A RACE OF SURVIVAL? TALK ABOUT THE 150TH WIN FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS.
KNAUS:
"It's been a long time since we've gone to a race track and we've seen a difference in race car speeds like we saw today. Guys were two seconds off the pace compared to the leaders. We had a new race track and a new tire and a lot of obstacles to overcome. It's funny though. The cream always rises to the top. I think that's cool. The guys you usually see up front did the same thing. But it was a day of survival."

JOHNSON:
"Before I had a full-time ride at Hendrick and I was running my three races for them, I was on campus to celebrate the 100th win and I thought man, I hope I can win a race for Mr. Hendrick some day. And now 24 wins later and winning his 150th is special and a real honor. I think you could see the team spirit that we have with all the crew guys and drivers in victory lane."

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS PRESS CONFERENCE:

ON TRACK CHANGING TODAY AT ALL OR GET ANY BETTER: "My car was pretty good in one and two. I would get down there and get in to the banking. For some reason the banking in one and two would hold me better than three and four. Three and four I felt like I was on ice from lap one to the last lap. The last lap I made running there behind Jimmie, I was just trying not to spin out coming off the corner. That is how it was for me all day. I been hearing or somebody said that Goodyear might bring a harder left side tire to Charlotte and I am doing their tire test at Darlington this week, I am going to have a long talk with those guys or take them to dinner or something. I am not totally putting them at fault here, we are all in this thing together. But we have to find a solution together as well. There is no reason for us to show up at race tracks and go through a white knuckle experience throughout a whole weekend like we were this weekend. They have too smart of people, they have been doing this too long and we have smart people and NASCAR has been doing this too long that we have got to figure out how not to bring tires like this to the race track. And again, I am not blaming them 100% because we fed the camber to it, we have lowered the air pressure on the tires and we've blown the tires out. We have made these cars go faster with downforce. We have got to be able to figure something that the teams can contribute, Goodyear can contribute, NASCAR, the race tracks, to make sure we don't come back like this."

ON HAVING A COMMITTEE MADE UP OF DRIVERS, TEAM OWNERS, NASCAR OFFICIALS, ETC., TO GET INPUT FROM EVERYONE WHEN A TRACK IS REDESIGNED: "Yup, but that would be too smart wouldn't it? That would make too much sense; I don't know why we would want to do that. I will say, I give a lot of credit to Bruton Smith's folks, they have come to me and I think they have come to a lot of drivers every time every time they have talked about redoing or building race tracks. This is not the track's fault. Would it have helped if they didn't put quite as much banking? Yes. Maybe, but the track is not the problem here. We gotta to be able to figure out how to either come back on the car so we don't abuse the tire so much or they have to be able to figure out a left side tire that will work. The only reason they brought this tire was to slow us down - period. Because we were just killing the right front tire and the right rear. So would a little less banking and keeping variable banking be a better solution? Yes, maybe. We are saying that now, but who knew that before. But I will say, they have come to me and I know the have come to other drivers, and I am not saying I should be on that committee, I am just saying drivers input, somebody from a team that is like a crew chief, somebody from NASCAR, somebody from the track, here is no doubt about that. We don't have a lot of time. We are trying to build race cars and do sponsor commitments and everything else. I remember when they came to me for some stuff about Bristol and I had an hour to give them and that is unfortunate. I do think that we have to get more people involved just to get as many thoughts out there as possible. When need Goodyear involved when these things are happening."

ON SEASON SO FAR WITH CHANGES IN LIFE, BABY ON THE WAY ETC.: "I think I would have won the race today if I didn't have a baby on the way because...LOUD LAUGHTER...because I guess that was my distraction out there, I just lost concentration out there thinking about that baby and what I am going to name her and didn't win the race today. LAUGHS There is nothing that is going to take away from what we do as race car drivers when we get inside that car. Honestly I have got so many distractions all ready, I don't see how it could get a whole lot worse. I feel like I am lacking in sleep now, and I know that is going to get worse, but you just deal with it once you get to the race track. There is nothing that is going to be more exciting or more motivating than to actually have an addition to my family. That is something that I am very proud of. I would have to go back today and tell my daughter why I didn't win the race so I want to take her to victory lane. It is a great start to the season. I feel like we are a much different team than we were last year at this time and even the team we had in 2005. I am excited about what we have in store for ourselves. We are bringing great race cars, having a lot of fun no matter where we start in the field. Steve Latarte has really stepped up as a leader, it is making it a lot of fun for me as a driver."

ON MOVE THAT WON RACE FOR JIMMIE: "I don't want to make excuses because we just basically got beat. We all had an equal opportunity to come in and get tires and fuel and adjust on our race cars and we had the position. I will say that I think it would have been a lot different had Jimmie been behind me and not Jeff Burton because he was the only one who could make the outside of turn four work. When he got that little bit of bumper, just like yesterday in the Busch race, when he got that little bit of bumper to the outside of me, when he got to the outside of me, I was so loose up underneath him, I was just kinda stuck on the bottom and Jimmie just took advantage of that. Jimmie deserves a lot of credit, he drove from the back, he had a fast race car, he saw an opportunity to get by us and he did, then he went up and passed Burton. You have to give him credit for that too. Burton seemed like he could take off for about four or five laps and then he faded pretty bad after than, even though he had some engine trouble earlier, he did that same thing. That is where we got beat."

ON WHAT IS THE KEY TO GETTING THE RIGHT TIRE AT THE BRISTOL RACE TRACK: "I agree that what should happen is getting input from Goodyear, NASCAR, competitors and the tracks. Like I said, I trying to fit things in my schedule, if they come and request, hey could you come and spend some time with our engineers and look at some things, then I am going to try and give them my time because I do feel like multiple driver's input is important because we are the ones running 500 miles out here and we know a lot about these race tracks. But we don't know everything, we don't know about paving and drainage and grading and all that stuff. It takes a group of people together. I wish if that request came in, it was a group meeting and we had more time and we had representatives from Goodyear, NASCAR and other teams and drivers. I don't know their process; you can talk to those guys about it.

"I am pretty excited about some of the things they are going to be doing at Bristol and I hope my input helps. I don't know if it is going to help Goodyear out any but, one thing for sure they don't need to have the amount of banking at a lot of these tracks that we do. Short tracks I think are a little bit different and concrete is a little bit different too. Concrete can work on a short track, they can keep it fairly smooth and if it is rough, we can get away with it. Tracks like this it is very, very tough to have a concrete race track. But the nice thing about concrete is you can form it a lot different than you can pavement. With pavement you have a machine that lays it flat and even the variable banking is very difficult to do. Other than the bumps in one, I thought they did a nice job. We are just running so fast, it made the cars grippy, that we are really abusing the tires."

ON JIMMIE WINNING THREE RACES IN A ROW AT LAS VEGAS: "He and that team are fighters, they don't give up. They proved that today and they prove that every win they have here and other tracks as well. Jimmie is an excellent driver, 100% every time he is on the track. Those guys click well together, that is why they won the championship last year. That is why they will be a threat this year to win more races and the championship as well. It is funny, even with the changes in the race track and the changes in the tire, you drove the track kind of similar. There were times in three and four when I felt having similar characteristics to what it had before which I thought was kind of strange. But three and four wasn't that much different. So maybe past setups could have contributed. But I think mainly those guys are really a solid team and they did their jobs well."

ON MARK MARTIN: "I would take a long vacation and man I would enjoy it while it lasts and say I went out on top, that is what I would do. LAUGHS. I don't know, you know he made a decision and I think when he made that decision there are things that come along with making that decision that could be more rewarding and more positive to him than even leading the points. I think it might be a little bit different if we didn't have the Chase, he might stick around a little bit longer. But with that Chase format in there, everything changes when you go in to the last 10 races and not saying that they still wouldn't be a factor and be strong because he has done a fantastic job, it is just showcasing his talent. To move to a different team has kind of been exciting, I know it has been exciting for that team. I know we are all going to be curious when we show up at Bristol.

DENNY HAMLIN, NO. 11 FEDEX MONTE CARLO SS:

ON TODAY'S RACE AND THE TRACK CONDITIONS: "That is a lot to take in, but it was exactly what I thought it would be going in, the racing wasn't good. When I saw the finish of the Busch race yesterday, I said dang it, because I didn't want that to be the reason that everyone thinks - oh look what they did and they had great racing - -because 99% of the race was terrible.

"There was no side-by-side racing and you just couldn't the cars were so loose. We could not get our car tightened up all day. When you tried to pass somebody, especially on the inside, you can't do it. Unless, they just gave you the spot. If they wanted to hold you up, they can. The groove is not widen out enough which is understandable, the track is new and that will come in a few years. But I would rather run fast for a few laps and then slow down instead of just running qualifying laps every single lap and that is what we are doing on these hard tires."

ON NOT HAVING A SOPHMORE SLUMP AND HAVING GROOVE BACK: "No not really, we don't feel like we have our groove back yet from the end of last season. We were running more top-10 consistently near the end. We ran our best during the Chase. I don't feel like we have that kind of feeling back yet. Yes, when we get to the shorter tracks, we know we are going to be fairly good there, hopefully. We have the Car of Tomorrow so things could change. It takes us a while. It took us to about mid-season last year before we got on a roll; it is just the characteristics of our race team. This is a good run for us, it is a good place to start."

MARK MARTIN, NO. 01 U.S. ARMY MONTE CARLO SS – Finished 5th:

“I was just telling Ryan Pemberton that he is one of the best I have ever worked with -- what a strong crew chief. The U.S. Army Chevy was fantastic. We were looking like a third place car but then on the (final) restart the car picked up a real bad push. It was a great run -- I am so proud of this team -- I am having the time of my life driving this car. It's going to be hard to get out of it.”

AS LONG AS YOU KEEP COLLECTING THESE POINTS WE'RE GOING TO ASK YOU ABOUT BRISTOL -- ANY CHANGE OF MIND? “You keep asking -- no change yet.”

DESCRIBE HOW THIS SEASON HAS UNFOLDED FOR YOU SO FAR A dream, just a dream. I was telling Ryan he's one of the strongest crew chiefs I ever worked with. So proud of this U. S. Army team. We had a better car than fifth; it was a third. I couldn't run with those first two -- Gordon and Johnson. On the (final) restart it just picked up a real bad push. I don't know if we had a tire going down or what. I just had to stop going into the corners. I'm thrilled to get a top five when we weren't at our best at the end. It's really a privilege to work with these guys. I am just loving life.”

DID YOU EVER IMAGINE IT WOULD BE GOING THIS WELL? “When we made the announcement in Talladega in October I saw a lot of headlines like Why Mark, Why? I believed this was the place for me and I am really happy I made the move. This is a fantastic organization. It isn't as good as it's going to get. We're going to keep working. I think they want me to hang around for a long time and I like that because I love racing and I love the fans and I'm having the time of my life.”

IF YOU'RE STILL THE POINT LEADER GOING INTO BRISTOL WILL YOU STILL STEP ASIDE? “This was an awful good car today...I was out there having fun. I don't want this to get away as far as having a great team and a great opportunity. We made this deal, they made the deal and Bobby Ginn told me a deal was a deal. I am still happy with the decision I made. But I will tell you with cars like I had at the last three races -- especially today because this was a race I was dreading with this tire and racetrack -- but it was just a dream.”

HAS THE THOUGHT AT ALL ENTERED YOUR MIND THAT YOU NEED TO ALTER YOUR PLANS A LITTLE BIT AND CHALLENGE FOR THIS CHAMPIONSHIP? Let's just worry about that later. I was happy with the run; I'm happy with the team and happy with what I laid out. We don't need to be talking about that right now.

WHAT WERE THE CONDITIONS LIKE TODAY? “Not as bad as I expected. Maybe I had a better car. I am just tickled with this U.S. Army Chevy. I expected it to be one of the most painful days on the racetrack that we've had. All the drivers did a fabulous job. They were very careful around each other. I'm not a good driver on this kind of tire...it's not my specialty. I love this car, but we can't take it next week (to Atlanta). And what Ryan (Pemberton) is saying right now, I'm believing. Whatever he says I am taking it to the bank. He's on it.”