BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS, MET WITH MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA AT NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY. HE DISCUSSED RACING THE NEW CAR AT LOUDON, CHALLENGES DURING SUSPENSION OF CREW CHIEFS, FATHERHOOD, AND OTHER TOPICS:

ON TED MUSGRAVE'S SUSPENSION FROM CRAFTSMAN TRUCK: "I don't really know a whole about that. I didn't see the truck race. I don't think I'm the best one to comment on it. From what I do know, I think those are obviously going to be judgment calls in NASCAR's position of how deliberate, how dangerous those situations were and obviously they made a call there and I don't know, I haven't seen it to know what the deal was."

ON THE CAR OF TOMORROW: "Well I feel like we've definitely seen some good racing. I think that until we get to the mile-and-a-half tracks, which the majority of our tracks are in those high-speed speedways like that. I don't know if we can really evaluate it. I personally think that it still needs some work. I think that we just don't have enough front downforce in these cars. We're just not able to pull up behind a guy if we're faster than him and maneuver around him so I think there's still a little bit of work to do but I think for the most part they're accomplishing it. I think it's a safe car. I think that the cars are very equal to one another as far as the competition standpoint but ultimately what they want is great racing and I think that they've so far seen pretty good racing and either we've been really fortunate or the car offers that and I'm not sure. I'm still unsure on where we stand on that."

ON RACING THE IMPALA SS AT NEW HAMSPHIRE: "So far I'm actually pretty happy with this track, probably one of the better ones that I've felt this car was going to be. We've been real comfortable right from the beginning. I think that as flat as this track is and as narrow as this track is, until we get out there and start racing one another and running with on another, really not sure because this track we typically get a really bad aero push when we're behind other cars. It's very hard to pass here so with this car there's two things that happen with this car. One, it doesn't have as much grip so you have to search around for grip so usually that will widen a groove out a little bit. If that happens then maybe we can get more side by side racing.

But the other thing this car does is it punches a big hole in the aerodynamics when you're behind another car go away drastically so you can't drive behind another car and make those passes. Those are some concerns that I have on a especially flat track like this but everything felt pretty good this morning so far."

ON HAVING A LOT OF SUCCESS OFF THE BAT AT THIS TRACK AND NOT HAVING THAT HERE LATELY: "Well maybe not the wins but we've had strong finishes. That's just teams and drivers that have done their homework and have been strong here. We've been good, but we haven't been good enough. I think a lot of it starts on qualifying day here. It's important to qualify really strong here. The Childress cars just completely outclassed us last year, especially the first race, maybe even the second race. Yeah, I guess the second race. That kind of came out of the blue. That was like where did that come from? It's impressive so we had to go back and do some homework. Other than them we had I think one of the cars to beat."

ON DOING WELL SO FAR THIS SEASON: "We're having a great year. We've got a great race team and we're fortunate with the situation that we're in this weekend and the next five weeks after this that we've got a lot of depth, we've got a lot of good people that have made this team what it is and we're going to try to take advantage of that and keep this season going strong for us."

WHAT KIND OF ADJUSTMENTS DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE WHEN YOU HAVE AN INTERIM CREW CHIEF? "It's just getting used to dealing with somebody else on the radio, communicating. It's all about communication when you're here practicing, trying to fine tune the car. It's about giving good information and getting good feedback from one another and just building the chemistry and that's something that Steve (Letarte) and I did immediately. We had great chemistry and so now I have to do that with Jeff Meendering and so far it's gone very well. I mean he's very in tune with what goes on with this team, with our setups and he and Steve are really close so they can communicate a lot with the preparation coming into the weekend."

HOW WAS YOUR FIRST WEEK BEING A DAD? "Amazing, absolute amazing. Fortunately I didn't have a lot going on with my schedule this week so I was able to just spend a lot of time with Ella and with Ingrid and just loving every minute of it. It just seems to get better each day."

IS IT HARDER TO COME TO THE RACE TRACK NOW? "It's harder to leave but once we get here, like today, your mind is so focused on driving the car, being competitive, that it doesn't enter into your mind a whole lot so it's only times like this when I get asked about it and it reminds me and I get excited about going home. When I'm in the car (it's the) same way, I'm focused on that. Anytime I have to go do an appearance or leave to come to the race it's much tougher but it's also a lot more exciting to go home when I do."

HAS YOUR SLEEPING PATTERN SETTLED IN? "I'm getting less sleep that's for sure. It's not so bad, it's been good. Ingrid's been fantastic. I don't know how she does it because she's got to be up every three hours but the baby's sleeping good, feeding good, so that's helping both of us."

ON IF A DRIVER NEEDS HIS REST HE SHOULD PRETEND HE'S ASLEEP: "When she comes to the race track, that's going to be the determining factor of all those things when you have the three of us in a small area in that bus. I had to get up early the other day to fly to Charlotte and I was able to sleep and Ingrid was just very understanding about that and let me get my sleep in and didn't wake me but I like to be there for the feedings and helping burp her, helping her change the diapers, all that stuff. If I don't have anything to do the next day then I'm going to be up all night if I have to lose sleep. I'll gain it back somewhere else."

HAS THE BABY SPIT UP ON YOU YET? (Laughs) "Yes. I'm pretty good about having the little rags around me and stuff and the bib on her but I haven't had the projectile yet."

DID YOU LIKE THIS TRACK MORE IN THE 1990s WHEN YOU WERE WINNING ON IT OR DOES IT NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? "No, I've always felt the same way about this track. It's a fun track, it's a challenging track and it's just all about everything involved - cars and setups and drivers, everything just changes, tires and so you have to keep up with that. We were on top of it back in the mid 90s and late 90s and we lost it for a little while and I feel like we're starting to get it back again."

IS THIS FIELD MORE COMPETITIVE THAN IN YEARS PAST? "Absolutely. I feel like every year gets more competitive and then you take this car and it only makes it that more competitive and tightens up the field that much more. I feel like every year car owners are putting better drivers in their car, they're getting better funding and NASCAR is doing everything they can to tighten up the competition from their standpoint as well."

ON THE INTERNATIONALISM OF THIS SPORT AND IF THAT AFFECTS THE COMPETITIVENESS: "I think that makes it more competitive. I think it also helps it grow and I see it as nothing but a good thing."

ON THE TRANSITION WITH JEFF MEENDERING: "Steve and I clicked right from the beginning and to me the hardest part about this penalty is losing Steve. I know Jeff's going to do a great job and we've got a lot depth in this team but losing that momentum and that chemistry that we have. We got it instantly and we've been able to only make it better over time. I think Steve and I are going to stay really close through this whole time because we're going to talk a lot on the phone. I'm going to see him a lot away from the race track and we're going to talk on the phone in between practices and all those things. I think in some ways this is going to bring the team closer together. It's going to bring me and Steve and our communication closer.

The only thing that we're really lacking is him at the track and him on that box and that's huge because even though it's a small amount it's huge because those are crucial times and he's done such an amazing job calling the races. I mean look at the pit strategy he's pulled off. Even last week, you know we might not have won the race but we can from 42nd, 41st, whatever it was all the way to seventh or sixth, where ever we ended up. Had those guys not made it on fuel we would have been a top two car but to me his pit strategy is what pulled that off. He did some amazing calls again. That's about the fourth week in a row he's done that."

WOULD WILL YOU NOW BE TAKING A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN THE PIT STRATEGY WITH STEVE LETARTE NOT ON THE BOX? "No, no. I think it's the crew chief's job, the engineer's job to evaluate everything that's going on out there. They have much more resources at their fingertips to figure what the best strategy is and information that I don't have. All I have is I can tell you what the car is doing, I can tell you what the three or four guys head me and three or four guys behind are doing. That's all I can do so from that standpoint I'll do as I normally do and I'll give them as much of that information as I can from the car but it'll be pretty much standard practice for me and I rely on those guys to make those calls because they're the ones that are best qualified to do it."

WHAT DID BILL FRANCE, JR. DO FOR THE GROWTH OF DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY? "Oh my goodness, I don't know where to begin. I think that the vision that he had, the vision that his father had for the whole sport, especially Daytona International Speedway, and the fact that he helped build that track was really incredible. It was instrumental to the growth of NASCAR, to the growth of the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400 and of NASCAR and their presence in Daytona Beach and throughout the country.

I still am having a hard time grasping that he's not with us anymore because the more time I spend in this sport, the more I respected him, the more I appreciated him and the things that he had to say. When he was talking you listened. He was a powerful guy even if he wasn't doing anything, he got your attention and I'm going to miss him because I felt like there were times when he was talking to you, whether it was me directly about race teams, about race tracks or about the sport in general. It was interesting to me to learn that side of it from somebody who had been around the sport and seen it grow the way he had. He was instrumental in getting it to the point that it is today."

THE PEPSI 400 WILL BE THE LAST RESTRICTOR-PLATE RACE FOR THE OUTGOING CAR. YOUR THOUGHTS: "I think until we go to Talladega with this new car I don't really know how to compare what it's going to be like vs. the old car. We deal with it the best way that we can and I hope that this car does what we want it to do - puts on a great race.

I think it's going to be hard for Daytona and Talladega to not put on great races. I think the fans are always going to get something exciting. I look forward to the challenges that come along with this car when we start testing at Daytona next year."

WHAT DO YOU SEE IN DENNY HAMLIN WHERE HE IS ABLE TO FINISH CONSISTENTLY HIGH AND STAY OUT OF TROUBLE? "He's a great driver. Bottom line. There's nothing more you really need to say. He's been extremely impressive with how competitive he is, how fast he is, how he uses his head in the race. He knows when to save and when to push. To me, those are always the characteristics of what makes great race car drivers out there. When you're consistent like that, it's just a matter of time before you win races. He's winning races as well as being consistent and he's impressed the heck out of me for sure."

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ABOUT USING HIS HEAD? "I think there are just some guys that are able to think rationally in the heat of the moment. There's some guys that aren't. Guys that can sort of slow down everything going on around them and make good decisions. That could be two guys that are racing really hard in front of you trying to run over one another, and some guys will just put themselves in that mix and say 'I'm going to take them three wide and get by them'. Some guys will slow down, step back and let them do their thing and have patience and I think that a guy that has as little experience at this level as he does, I think he's got a great balance of patience and skills and abilities to do the job."

WHEN YOU CAME INTO THE SPORT, HOW CHALLENGING WAS IT TO BE PATIENT AND DRIVE LIKE HAMLIN DOES? "I came from a different type of racing. I came from sprint cars and midgets that you just go, go, go. The hardest thing for me was to learn the patience of the longer races. I'm not exactly sure other than I think he was running either Hooters Cup or something like that, late models. I don't know how many lap races those were so I think that it's moving up in competition. It's moving to a heavier car and then longer races. That's what you've got to adapt to. Some guys it happens immediately, some guys it takes longer. Certainly when you're with a good team like he is it makes it easier to adapt because you've got experience of other teammates, experience of data and information at your fingertips and I think that they capitalize on that. He's done a great job as well."

DID YOU EVER THINK YOU WOULD BE SO SUCCESSFUL IN THIS SPORT? "No, not where I am today. Heck no. Just deciding to be in the Cup series and to me I just wanted to be somebody that maybe could win a race and be competitive. I had no idea we were going to go on to win 79 (races) now and win four championships. Never in a million years would I have thought that."

BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS IMPALA SS

JEFF BURTON, LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS IMPALA SS TALKED WITH MEDIA ABOUT NASCAR PENALTIES AND GOING TO DAYTONA NEXT WEEK:

ON THE NO. 24 AND NO. 48 PENALTIES HANDED DOWN BY NASCAR: "Well, they are severe. There is no getting around that. NASCAR has made it very clear that they are not going to tolerate anything. It was a very, very harsh penalty - more severe than I would have anticipated. On the other hand, NASCAR has made it clear about their intention with this car. They sent a very clear message to the garage area. It's gotten everybody nervous. Everybody is on pins and needles, but that's what they want.

"We can't think the same way any more. This has been a game of 'what is NASCAR going to let you get by with' and it's no longer that game. There is nothing they want you to do with these bodies. There is no wiggle room. There used to be a process of the presentation of the car. And if they didn't like it - within reason - they'd let you fix it. That isn't the case anymore. If they don't like it, then you're going to get penalized. It's much tougher today than it was. But that was their intention with this body and with this concept. They're just trying to execute it.

ON MUSGRAVE BEING SUSPENDED FOR ONE RACE DUE TO MILWAUKEE TRUCK TRACING INCIDENT "Well, again. NASCAR keeps stepping up penalties. That was a huge penalty. To get suspended for a race is unbelievably hard and strict. Driver points are so important to winning the championship and where you finish in the points. That's a really severe penalty. NASCAR keeps stepping it up and making an example of people. Their point has got to be clear to us that they're not going to put up with it."

ON GOING TO DAYTONA NEXT WEEK "I don't know if we're looking forward to it or not. That's one of those places that - especially in July - it's going to be really slick. Handling is going to be really important. We saw that at the Daytona 500. Those last 40 laps were just really intense. When the cars aren't handling really well and you're trying to run three-wide, it gets pretty wild. I anticipate more of that."

BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT IMPALA SS

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT IMPALA SS TALKED WITH MEDIA ABOUT RACING AT LOUDON, ARIC ALMIROLA AND THE MILWAUKEE BUSCH RACE, AND MORE:

ON RACING AT LOUDON "You always like going to tracks where you've won before. This is a fun stop for us."

SINCE LOUDON IS THE FIRST RACE IN THE CHASE, DOES THIS MAKE IT MORE IMPORTANT? "Well, the conditions will be different when we come back. I'm sure it'll be a lot hotter. The surface temperature stay hotter through the summer than it is right now. What you can learn here this weekend can help you the second time around, for sure. But it doesn't mean that if you win the race in the spring that you're guaranteed to win the race in the fall."

COULD YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE IN RUNNING A LAP IN THE CAR OF TOMORROW VERSUS THE PAST WHEN YOU WERE HERE? "We're running the Busch car too, so there is a huge difference. The Busch car has a lot of downforce and the Car of Tomorrow doesn't drive nearly as good obviously, but that's the way it's designed too. Now it's our job as teams and drivers to figure out how to make it go faster."

WITH IT BEING SO HARD TO PASS, DO YOU PLACE MORE EMPHASIS ON QUALIFYING? "Passing is hard everywhere. Every week qualifying is important. It's important for a good pit selection and obviously the fewer cars that you've got to work to pass, the easier you can be on your equipment and try to save your car for the end of the race that way."

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR ARIC ALMIROLA AFTER WHAT HE WENT THROUGH AT MILWAUKEE LAST WEEK? "Oh, to just keep his head up. He obviously did a good job. He's put that car on the pole two years in a row there at Milwaukee and I thought he did a really good job in the race. It's kind of a weird set of circumstances and he got the worst end of it obviously, but at the same time I think something really positive will come out of it."

ON COMPARING HIS RACING SUCCESS TO DENNY HAMLIN'S PROGRESS: "I think we're comparing apples to oranges too. In the era that he's doing it, his stats are probably more impressive that mine were in all reality. I think the competition is so much tougher now than it was when I started. It's harder to do the things that we did. What he's done has been extremely impressive.

"He knows how to handle things and he just knows what to do. You can see confidence in the way he drives. You can tell when guys are timid in their race cars and you can just tell when guys are comfortable in their cars. When you're around him, you can tell by the way he drives that he's very comfortable with what he's doing and the way his car drivers and he's doing his drive. I wish I could say that he does something magical in there, but we're all doing the same things in the car but you just see subtle differences that give you that impression."

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE COT AND THE DIRECTION OF THE NASCAR CUP SERIES IN GENERAL? WHAT COULD THEY DO TO IMPROVE? "I'm just a driver. You're asking the wrong guy. You're asking something that we're not qualified to do and that's to figure out how to take a multi-billion dollar racing series and try to improve on it. That's why they have high executives to do that job. They know better than the drivers do on how to make it better."

BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL IMPALA SS

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL IMPALA SS TALKED WITH MEDIA ABOUT ADDING A TEAM AT RCR, RETURNING TO DAYTONA NEXT WEEK, AND THE PROGRESS OF THE NEW GENERATION RACE CAR:

RICHARD CHILDRESS HAS TALKED A LOT ABOUT ADDING A FOURTH TEAM. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT AND WHO WOULD THAT BE? "I think a fourth team brings a lot of things. That's where the sport is going. That's where they set the limit at so I think that everybody wants to get there. It brings more people. It brings more money. It brings more ideas. It's just a matter of how it is all going to fit together and it needs to have the right chemistry with our teams. And you've got to find the right driver and crew chief to go together with what we already have."

DO YOU THINK THE RCR ORGANIZATION IS STRONG ENOUGH NOW TO MAKE THAT KIND OF MOVE? "I don't know if it is or now. I think if you're going to do it, you've just got to take your lumps and do it. You know it's going to be a lot of work for everybody in the beginning, but I don' think it's going to be detrimental to the program. I think an even number of teams is better than an odd number of teams."

YOU ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE RUNNING THE TRUCK AGAIN AT KHI. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER PLANS FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION? "Right now, Camping World resigned for the whole deal so Camping World and Chevrolet are already put together for the whole year for Ron and everybody on the truck program. Right now we plan on keeping everything just the way it is. We just started working on the Busch stuff."

ON THE PROGRESS OF THE CAR OF TOMORROW "I think as we go, the handling of the car gets better and better. I think that's a good thing. Everybody is starting to get a better understanding of which way we need to go. We've raced the same car every race except for Infineon last weekend. So I think cost-wise, it's doing what they want it to do."

EVERYBODY SAYS THE NEW GENERATION RACE CAR DOESN'T TURN. AT NHIS, TURNING IS EVERYTHING. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO COPE WITH THAT? "We spent a couple of days at Milwaukee just trying to make our car turn. Hopefully everything translates to this particular race track. We have a pretty good place to start."

ON GOING BACK TO DAYTONA NEXT WEEK AFTER WINNING THE DAYTONA 500 IN FEBRUARY "It's going to be busy, I know that. There are a lot of things going on. But it was such a big deal for us to win the Daytona 500 and knowing everything that goes along with that now means so much. People ask what it means and really, you can't explain it until you've been through it. It's been a neat experience for us and to win the biggest race of the year is something we're all pretty excited about. So to go back, we're all pretty pumped up to roll in there and see how it feels."

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO RUB SHOULDERS WITH RICHARD PETTY AND BOBBY ALLISON AND STERLING MARLIN - ALL THE ELITE DRIVERS WHO HAVE WON THE DAYTONA 500? "It's an elite group of drivers and the who's who of our sport. We've been fortunate to win a lot of the big races like the Brickyard and the Daytona 500 and the All-Star race, and that's pretty neat to be a part of that club."

NEXT WEEK'S RACE AT DAYTONA WILL BE THE LAST SUPERSPEEDWAY RACE WITH THE REGULAR CAR. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? "We'll race it again after that. I know it'll be the last race for it at Daytona, but it doesn't really matter to me. I don't have any sentimental feelings toward it."

WITH THE CHASE, THE 26TH RACE MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. DO YOU LOOK AT IT? "Well, if you're going to win the championship you obviously need to be close when the Chase starts, but you also have to be able to step it up when it's time to step it up. That's what we're working toward. We've had a lot of things to do with the new car and the new motor and the current car and just keeping everything going in the right direction. Hopefully by that time everything will be settled down and we'll have our fleets all completely built up and the new engine will be where it needs to be and we'll be ready to go."

WHEN A YOUNG DRIVER JOINS THE CUP LEVEL WITH A REALLY STRONG TEAM AND GOOD EQUIPMENT, HOW CHALLENGING IS IT FOR HIM NOT TO OVERDRIVE IT AND STAY OUT OF TROUBLE AND TO BE PATIENT? "The first thing that happens when you go to a good team and things aren't going good, they look at the young driver and say obviously he can't get it done. Sometimes that's not right and sometimes it is. It's a hard situation to be in because there are so many things that can go wrong.

It's hard to succeed after you've been here for a lot of years - even with a good team. Our sport is tough and if you don't have the right chemistry with that particular race team and things aren't going exactly right, you can be off in a hurry. It's hard to start a team and have everything go right and be where you need to be right off the bat - let alone be a young guy coming in and trying to make a name for himself in the sport."

ARE THERE ANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN HOW YOU WERE ABLE TO HAVE SUCCESS YOUR FIRST YEAR AND DENNY HAMLIN'S SUCCESS SO FAR? "Some guys just come in and fit right in to a situation. I'd been with the organization for a couple of years already and I kind of knew the ins and outs of everything that was going on. I had a team that was ready to race for a championship and had guys with a lot of experience. And now you see teams coming in that haven't been together with a new guy and it's just hard to make all that click and be ready to go."

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF THIS TRACK AND SUNDAY'S RACE? "They've changed the banking and the car is going to push. We're going to have to work on it and so I'm going to go to work now."

Clint Bowyer, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Loudon

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Camping World/Jack Daniel's Impala SS, met with media at New Hampshire International Raceway to discuss where his team stands, new sponsors and his expectations for Daytona.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHERE YOUR TEAM IS WITH 10 WEEKS BEFORE THE CHASE? "Last week certainly was a breath of fresh air. I wasn't expecting a top-five finish there; road courses are definitely not my most favorite race tracks to be on. But it was a good finish and gave us a little bit of breathing room there. Not much but still it's more than two points than we had going in there. You just have to go out and approach each one of these weekends like you're going to go there and win the race. You always expect to go onto a race track to win and that's certainly not going to change. We've got to be careful on our decisions throughout the race. Pit strategy-wise I need to hit my marks and do the same things I've been doing to get me here. We've got to keep the top 10s coming and stay consistent. Hopefully stay out of trouble."

ABOUT RUNNING THE CAMPING WORLD CAR IN BOTH BUSCH AND CUP RACES: "Looking forward to it. Camping World has been a good sponsor so far for us and we're looking forward to having them on both cars this weekend. They are a really good company. Obviously everybody needs motorhomes so that's a pretty cool sponsor to have. With them sponsoring the Busch race, got a good hot rod over there and looking forward to getting that Camping World Chevrolet in Victory Lane."

YOU ENDED UP ON YOUR ROOF AT DAYTONA LAST TIME YOU WERE THERE - ARE YOU EXPECTING SOMETHING BETTER THIS TIME AROUND? "Just slightly (laughs). I made it to the end, though. That's always good at one of those places. You never know what you got. That was a really good race car and unfortunately it won't be back. It's in the museum over there so we'll be bringing a new car back. That's what's too bad. You build a brand-new race car for one race. That's a lot of money basically blown, in my opinion. Hopefully we can get out of there with a good finish. Daytona has always been a good track for me and we run well there. Who knows, I can't think of a better place to get your first win than Daytona so we've just got to. that's hard. Everybody seems like they've been winning their first race this year and we still haven't done that. You want to make this Chase; that's what this series is all about. Being a part of that Chase and racing, having a chance to win the championship. But I w ant to win a race as well."

Kyle Busch, Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Loudon

Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Impala SS, met with members of the media at New Hampshire International Speedway. He discussed his outlook on driving the Impala SS this weekend, the status of his plans for next year, his timetable for making a decision about 2008 and other topics.

WHAT'S YOUR OUTLOOK FOR YOUR CAR GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND? "Well it's going to be a different weekend than what we're accustom to here from the past with the new COT and everything at Loudon. It's always been a tough place to pass on so I think it's going to be even tougher to pass now with this car because we seem to have a tough time with it at Phoenix a little bit there and Phoenix and Loudon somewhat resemble each other so it's going to be a daunting task to try to pass out there and we'll just have to see how it goes but all in all it's just going to be something for everybody to try to get used to and try to get out here and get a baseline because this is one of the tracks where we didn't test with the new car so we'll have to see what we can figure out here in the first practice or so."

ON THE STATUS OF TALKS FOR NEXT YEAR: "Well we've been talking with a few people. Penske is not one that I've sat down and talked to with. If those teams want to reveal that, that I've talked to them, then I'm going to let them go ahead and be the ones to do that. There has been one that we haven't heard from yet and hopefully that we will hear soon and eventually maybe but I'm looking forward to being able to hear from McLaren."

HAVE YOU ENJOYED THE PROCESS OF MEETING WITH TEAMS AND SEEING WHAT YOUR VALUE IS? "Well the value hasn't come out money wise. Value as far as talent and them wanting to sit down and discuss things with me, that's of course there. It's been great and it's been something that's been good for me, I believe, being able to go around and see some different things and see different aspects of different organizations and see exactly what they've got going on and what their future holds for them and what they're going with and what they have now. It's been a good process I believe and I'm looking forward to being able to sit down and do some more discussions in the next couple weeks and try to finalize something maybe and get on the road and be done with it."

IS YOUR TIMETABLE A COUPLE WEEKS TO FINALIZE YOUR PLANS FOR 2008? "Well the teams have their timetables with their sponsors and stuff like that, that they have to let them know so we don't want to have to hold them up too much or anything like that. My timetable, I'd like it to be a little bit longer than what some of theirs are. So for me, I would say that mine's probably about four or five weeks away but as far as theirs, there's a couple of teams out there that would like to know within the next three to four so they might have to push back letting their sponsors know by one or two weeks which hopefully wouldn't be a big deal."

COMING HERE WITH A BRAND NEW CAR, DO YOU HAVE TO THROW EVERYTHING OUT OF THE OLD NOTEBOOK OR ARE THERE THINGS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO YOUR SUCCESS HERE THAT WILL CARRY THROUGH WITH THE IMPALA SS? "I don't know. We haven't tested here yet so it's kind of an unknown. You know definitely the setup and everything like that is thrown out. We had a couple different sets of springs that we would run a couple of different times that worked and a couple different sets of shocks that would work so I believe all those are out with the new bump stops and everything on the front and the rear wing being different. We used to have to prop the cars up as much as we could get them, now I don't think you have to prop the cars up as bad with the wing. So the biggest thing is just basically trying to find a good balance, trying to get the thing to turn, being able to roll through the center and keep the car turning while you pick up the throttle and not get too loose or get too tight. There's defini tely going to be a balance we're going to have to find so hopefully we can figure it out."

WITH THE COT BEING HARDER TO PASS, DO YOU PUT MORE OF AN EMPHASIS ON QUALIFYING FOR TRACK POSITION? "I haven't qualified better than 24th with that thing yet so I'd love to qualify better but I just can't seem to do it. Jeff's obviously gotten four or five poles with the thing so he's been qualifying pretty well with it. You know in the race for some reason, like I remember Richmond, we qualified 38th or something and we were up in the top 15 within 35 laps or something like that. That place was a little bit wider, it was a little more forgiving, you were able to pass a little bit more and the drivers have to allow you to pass. You have to have some room out there, you have to do the give and take stuff and hopefully it's more giving than it is taking. The biggest thing with being able to pass out there is just trying to get alongside somebody. These cars are all so equal, it's hard to get alongside somebody. With the left side weight the way it is, these cars are basically a 50/50 car - 50 percent front and rear, 50 left to right - and it hurts sometimes because we lock up that left front tire and we can't ever get enough weight on that left front tire to keep it from locking up so if you try to dive bomb somebody into the corner or out brake them or something like at a road course. You can sort of do it here but you got to be easy on the brakes and you can't go in too far because then if you go in too far the thing will never turn in the center, then you'll run somebody up the race track so it's hard."

ON FINDING A TEAM THAT WILL OFFER HIM THE LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE HE'S USED TO AND WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT HE'S LOOKING FOR IN AN ORGANIZATION: "Well just what you just said, somebody looking out for Kyle Busch, somebody that will back me. Somebody that I guess when I'm right back me up and when I'm wrong take me off to the side and tell me and sit down. Just an organization that will be to the point and tell you to your face. I don't need somebody or something or people that will be sort of two faced, they'll be telling you something 'Oh, you're great,' this, that, everything else in the front and then go behind closed doors and talk to somebody else and say 'Man, he's out of control. What are we doing?' this, that or whatever.

"It's just something that you want to have the personnel that's behind you. You want to have the people that are backing you. You want to have the sponsors that appreciate you and that are backing you. And of course being able to have a good relationship with not just the team owner but everybody within the organization."

ON IF AND HOW HE WILL ALIGN HIMSELF WITH A BRAND AND DEMOGRAPHIC THAT FITS KYLE BUSCH: "That's not as important as the competition side. The competition of course is number one. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. we have to remember is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He can sell a chocolate popsicle to a woman in a white dress. It's easy. Or people have said a ketchup popsicle. Kyle Busch, he wouldn't be able to sell a favorite candy bar to a kid I guess. I've got work to do so I know that and I understand that but I'm looking forward to it. Whichever demographic I get with, whichever sponsor I get with, I want to work with it the best that I can whether it's anything that comes about that fits me or doesn't fit me, I'd like to make it fit me."

HOW DO YOU FEEL THE CAR OF TOMORROW REACTS IN THE DRAFT? "Well we haven't gotten to any big tracks with it yet. You might be able to ask some of the guys that have tested them at say the Michigans or the Talladega or the Charlotte, some people have tested the new car at those tracks. I haven't. I've been aero tight at some of the places that we've been to so far. I've been aero tight at Darlington. I had a little bit of it at Phoenix. I had some of it at Infineon last week. I was going through turn nine and when I was by myself I would turn through turn nine pretty good and when I'd get behind somebody I'd push out. That was something that I've never heard or seen before at a road course so it's definitely something they look forward to."

IS THERE ANY TALK OF GOODYEAR CHANGING THE COMPOUND OF THE TIRE FOR THE NEW CARS? "That would be a great question for a Goodyear representative. I have no idea. I don't know if they're going to change it. I don't know if they're going to stick with what they've got. So far they've stuck with what they've got so I don't know what their future entails."

IN CONTRACT DISCUSSIONS FOR NEXT YEAR, HOW DO YOU MEASURE WHAT YOU NEED TO DO ON THE TRACK WITH WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO OFF THE TRACK TO MAKE SURE YOU GET INTO A COMPETITIVE SITUATION NEXT YEAR? "The biggest thing for me is just competition and being able to stay on top of the game on the race track. I think the off the race track is an important task but it's not as important as on the race track. I believe that there's certain things that you can do to try to help that out and there's people that are out there that can help you do that stuff. The on the race track is me and the team. The off the race track is me and a separate team, a marketing team or people that are behind you that will help you out and do different things. I can't build a race team but I can have people that can help me build a marketing team behind me."

ON LOOKING FOR SOMEONE THAT WILL BE BEHIND HIM 100 PERCENT AND NOT SOMEONE THAT WILL SAY ONE THING PUBLICLY AND SOMETHING ELSE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AND IF HE THINKS SOME OF THAT WENT ON AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS: "I knew I was going to get this. No, I don't feel.I didn't see it but I've heard it so I'd rather just look and find somebody that does stand behind me, that I know stands behind me, that I hear it from everybody that they're standing behind me and everything like that instead of hearing it through the grapevine that there's different things being said."

ON GOING TO DAYTONA NEXT WEEK: "Daytona has been an up and down race track for me. I've run well there and I've got taken out of some pretty good finishes that were coming my way I guess. I'm looking forward to being able to go there. It's going to be the last regular car race on a restrictor plate track so hopefully we can make the best of it. I believe we've either got a new car or a car that we've run there before. I'm not quite sure but I think we'll do alright. I think we've got a pretty good shot at being able to run up front. Last year we finished second to (Tony) Stewart there at the end and I believe we had a shot to win there coming down on the last lap when they threw a caution for debris or something like that. We'll see how it goes this time around but I believe that just running the 400 miler there, it's going to be fun and normally we run pretty good there."

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

Martin Truex, Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Impala SS met with media at Loudon and discussed his sponsorship, increased media attention, racing at Loudon and other subjects.

ON RACING AT NEW HAMPSHIRE: "June has always been a good month for me throughout my racing career. I am glad that it is still June and we are in New Hampshire, I love coming up here. I got to see a lot of guys yesterday that I used to race with. So that was cool, but we haven't done so well here in the Cup car last year and we are trying to change that. So, I look forward to the weekend."

THERE WAS A REPORT THAT BASS PRO SHOPS HAD RE-SIGNED FOR ANOTHER YEAR WITH YOU. WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THAT RIGHT NOW? "That is a great question. I think they signed it but I am not exactly sure. I don't know, so I will find out and get back with you."

BEING THE BUSCH SERIES CHAMPION TWO YEARS IN A ROW, HOW HAS THAT HELPED YOU DEVELOP AS A NEXTEL CUP RACER "It's helped in many ways, obviously just the experience of working with the race team that I am with now, which is the same team that we won the Championship with, going to all of the same race tracks, working within the same organization, all of those things played a huge role in where we are at now. There is no substitute for experience, especially good experience, which is what the Busch series gives you. That was instrumental for sure."

TALK A LITTLE ABOUT POCONO AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN THE FUTURE WHEN YOU ARE BACK ON THE OVALS. "Well, I felt real confident going into Pocono. We had really fast cars there in both races and had some unfortunate things happen to us. I felt real good going back there. I really enjoyed the race track. So, I was pretty confident going in. I really felt like we could go there and do what we did. I think it surprised a lot of people, but it didn't surprise me or all of the guys on my team because we kind of expected to go there and run well. It hasn't really changed much. We go to the race track every week thinking that we can do well, but always working towards our goals and working towards improving the things that we think we need to improve on and that is no different here this weekend. We have been decent on the flatter tracks with the new car, not quite as good as we would like to be, so we are still working hard on getting this thing to turn around these flat corners."

IF BASS PRO SHOPS HAS SIGNED WITH YOU FOR ANOTHER YEAR, WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT MATCHING UP WITH THE LENGTH OF YOUR CONTRACT AND HAVING A SPONSOR THAT YOU KNOW IS GOING TO CONTINUE WITH YOU LIKE THAT? "Well, Bass Pro Shops has been an awesome sponsor for me. I have become real close with Johnny Morris, all the people that work with him and all the people that work for him and I wouldn't want anyone else to sponsor my race car right now. I feel like we have built the kind of relationship and hopefully in the future, we can continue to build that relationship together as far as me and them. So, hopefully they will stay with me for a long time, no matter what happens. Hopefully we will both be at DEI for a long time winning Championships. That is the plan right now."

IT SEEMS THE MEDIA PRESSURE ON YOUR TEAM HAS INCREASED AFTER THE DOVER WIN AND EVERYBODY ON THE TEAM IS WONDERING WHY THE INTEREST IN YOU AND NOT THE NO. 8 TEAM. IS THAT TRUE? "Yeah, it's cool. I think obviously it's came with not just winning but being in the Chase and in the top twelve right now, you get a lot more attention. So, that has been great for Bass Pro Shops and everybody on our race car, and it's been great for me. It has been really cool to see the guys' reaction when they are around the car and they see cameras coming and they see SPEED out there and it makes them feel good. It makes them feel like people appreciate what they are doing. You know, it seems like they really enjoy that kind of thing."

ARE YOU STILL WITH THE GUYS FROM YOUR BUSCH TEAM? "Yeah, a lot of them. Pretty much my whole Busch team is still together over here. So, we have lost a few and gained a few, but for the most part most of them guys are still around so it is pretty cool."

WHAT DOES YOUR CAR CHIEF CONTRIBUTE TO THE TEAM AND DO YOU EVER SEE HIM AS A CREW CHIEF AT DEI? "Haskell is just a really good guy. He is the hardest worker in the garage. I used to call him the human broom because he is always dirty and he has always got everything off the floor around him because he is always under that race car. He works really, really hard and puts a lot into it and he is a lot of fun to be around. He is good for our team morale. Everybody seems to get along with him pretty good."

DO YOU SEE HIM AS A CREW CHIEF? "Yeah, I don't' know, it is hard to say, if he gets the right opportunities, I think so. I don't think that Bono would let him go too easy."

WITH DALE EARNHARDT, JR. LEAVING DEI, DO YOU FEEL A NEED TO BECOME A NUMBER ONE GUY FOR THE TEAM? DO YOU THINK THAT THERE IS PRESSURE IN THAT NOW THAT HE HAS LEFT THE TEAM? "Well, somebody has got to do it. Right now, we are the first in line to kind of take that responsibility. We have stepped up our performance, which has definitely been needed. That is part of being the number one driver at any team, is being your performance on the race track. So, if that stays where it is and all things keep going the way that they are going, we are in a good position to be that team leader. I look forward to it. It is going to be, I am sure it is going to be challenging at times. There will be things that are going to be different than what I am used to but I am looking forward to it. I am open minded. I am having fun. As long as we can continue to be successful on the race track, I feel like we can take care of everything else pretty easily."

WHAT WILL YOU HAVE TO DO TO PREPARE FOR THE MONTREAL BUSCH RACE AND HOW HARD WILL IT BE TO RUN THAT RACE AND THE CUP RACE? "I'm not running Canada so I don't really know. But I remember I ran Mexico and it wasn't any different than running here. When you get to the race track it doesn't matter where it's at. You're focused on the track and what needs to be done to go fast and win the race. That's basically what those guys will be focused on when they go up there."

WHAT IS IT LIKE FOR A YOUNGER DRIVER TO FIND A BALANCE BETWEEN OVERDRIVING WHEN YOU HAVE A BAD CAR AND KEEPING IT COOL WHEN YOU HAVE A GOOD ONE? "There's a fine line there and it's easy to cross the line and go to far. It depends on the track. It depends on the race car. It depends on who is around. There's a lot of things that go into it. For example, you take the new car and at New Hampshire it's real easy to overdrive the car. So trying to do too much is probably a bad thing at a place like this. Say you go to a place like Atlanta and you've got the current car and you're out there driving your guts out, you can usually get a little bit more out of it than even sometimes you thought you could, by trying harder. It depends on the race track and the situation and the car and all that stuff. The flatter tracks are better for finesse drivers, guys that try to get exactly what their car will give them and no more. Some guys always try to get more and they're better suited to bi gger, faster, more-banked race tracks."

DOES DENNY HAMLIN HAVE THE FINESSE STYLE? "I think so. But you've got to consider that his race cars have been fast since he got here too. If you're running up front it's a whole lot easier to finish races than if you are running in the middle of the pack. That's been a big part of it. Denny is a smart race car driver; he doesn't put himself in positions where he feels like he's taking chances. He's pretty smart about that. For me it's been, the last year and a half. most part of last year we were just trying to find our feet and we did get caught up in some things we shouldn't have. Even this year we have. I feel like most of it has been bad circumstances and unfortunate things with motors and tires and cautions and hasn't really been driving wild or driving where we had to get involved in wrecks. We really haven't torn anything up in a while."

WITH YOUR SUCCESS IN THE LAST FEW RACES, WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEXT FEW RACES AS THE CHASE NEARS? "I've been real happy with the way our cars have been running all year long. For a while there we were working hard and seeing changes and seeing improvements in our performance on the race track. I know most people haven't seen that on paper because their finishes weren't all that great for a while there. We could look and see a lot of constant progress and then all of a sudden we get to Darlington and Dover and we start finishing - obviously we won at Dover and we finished in the top three three weeks in a row - and everybody's like 'wow, where'd that come from?'. We've been working on that for a while. We finished second at Homestead last year; we've had great cars all year. We've had a lot of things happen to take us out of a bunch of races but we've seen constant progress and improvement and if that continues and now we've got the monkey off our back and we can challen ge for top fives each week, there's no reason why we can't go out there and make the Chase and have a shot at this championship. There's 12 guys that are going to have a chance at it and there's no reason why we can't be one of them."

ARE THERE AREAS ON WHICH YOU WANT TO IMPROVE IN THESE NEXT TEN RACES? "Obviously we want to be consistent. I think we still need some work. Our Impala SS on these flatter tracks is probably our Achilles Heel right now. Here, Richmond, Phoenix; so we're working real hard on that right now. Hopefully we'll have a good weekend here. I feel like our car is a lot better than it was at Phoenix and at Richmond right now so we'll see how this weekend goes and we'll take it from there."

HOW DO YOU LIKE THE NEW CAR AND IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE IMPROVED ON IT? "I don't mind it. Obviously we've all got the same thing out there which is part of the reason why we love NASCAR racing so much, because everybody's got a fair chance. Obviously I got my first win in so I love it. I've had some bad runs and when I don't run good I hate it. It just depends on the race track. It's a huge challenge for us to get these cars working well, especially on the flatter tracks like here, Phoenix. The cars just feel slow and heavy but that's the way they are built. I don't have any problems with it. We just need to get a little bit better with it right now."

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU NOTICE THAT MAKES IT WORSE CAR TO DRIVE? "No. I think they can make them handle a little bit better, drive a little bit better then it would be more fun. It's really hard right now to get the thing to turn on these flat tracks. They're not letting us travel in the front enough. I feel like maybe if we get some left-side weight in them and get that splitter up off the ground a little bit more so we can travel and get these things turning a little bit better it would be a lot more fun."

IS THERE AN ADVANTAGE THE TOP 12 HOLD RIGHT NOW AND HOW SHOULD THEY PREPARE VS OTHER DRIVERS? "I think they feel a whole lot safer. They don't feel like they're standing on the edge of a fence. I think they can take a little more risks, little more gambles, maybe work and try new things that they probably wouldn't if they were borderline and had to be on the safe side so I don't know. It sure would feel good to be about fifth right now but it is what it is."

BEHIND THE HAULER CHAT WITH DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER IMPALA SS

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER IMPALA SS, MET WITH MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA AT NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY. HE DISCUSSED THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS IMPALA SS AT NEW HAMPSHIRE, HIS THOUGHTS ON THE PENALTIES HANDED TO THE NO. 24 AND NO. 48 TEAMS, THE HIRING OF TONY EURY, SR. AT JR MOTORSPORTS AND OTHER TOPICS.

HOW IS YOUR IMPALA SS AT THIS TRACK? "It's good. My car is driving good. I have got no complaints."

IS THE CAR OF TOMORROW DOING WHAT NASCAR INTENDED IT TO DO? "Yeah, pretty much. I am pretty satisfied. We struggle with the car in some places, but we ain't never really consistent or that perfect before. It is hard to tell whether it is us or the car sometimes but here it's great."

CAN YOU GIVE US YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NO. 24 AND NO. 48 PENALTIES THAT WERE GIVEN OUT THIS WEEK? "I really didn't know what they did. I didn't see exactly what the infraction was on the fenders but NASCAR is making a statement - don't play with us, don't mess with this car, don't try to slip nothing on this COT. They are getting that message loud and clear. Anybody gets caught with anything here on after, they have got to expect that kind of a penalty."

DO YOU THINK THAT THE MESSAGE IS THAT THERE JUST REALLY ISN'T A GRAY AREA ANYMORE? "Yeah, it is a good message."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HIRING TONY EURY, SR. OVER AT JR MOTORSPORTS? "Yeah, we are real excited. You know what he did, you know what he has done, you know where he has been. He has done a lot of great things and my company can really use somebody like that and he can really be a huge benefit for us as we move forward with our programs. We are not running as good as we would like to on the Busch side. I hope he can help us a whole lot there. I hope he can motivate my guys and straighten out the ones that ain't right (laughs).

"We have got to always keep watching out the window of the office to make sure that everybody is on their toes and working hard. Make sure nobody is taking advantage of you. Pops, his eyes are doing that 24/7 when I can't be around. But he will just motivate people and get people to work and he always had that ability to really put a fire under people."

DID TED MUSGRAVE'S SUSPENSION GET THE ATTENTION OF CUP DRIVERS? "No, not really. When you get wrecked or whatever, you just don't run into another guy's car. It is hard not to do, as you saw with Ted (Musgrave). Ted is not that type of guy.

You know, Ted just lost his cool. You have just really got to keep reminding yourself in that situation what the repercussions are. Everybody knows that any time you are going to run into somebody after an accident or under caution or whatever you have got to be able to expect a pretty heavy penalty there. You have to try to remember that. You get mad and you really want to go after a guy, but unfortunately that is the tough part about this job, you can't bite back. Sometimes you have got to suck it up and turn the other way."

ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RACING IN FEBRUARY AND JULY AT DAYTONA: "Well, the night race you have got a little more grip in the track. The track doesn't heat up and the tires don't go away as bad, pack stays a little tighter. That is really the only difference in the car. The track is a little freer, turns a little better. The Busch cars (were) really loose there last year. The Cup races in February were push, push, push real bad. When it is night and it is dark and the track has got more grip you can turn a bit better and the cars handle better and you can stay in the pack a little better."

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS NEXT WEEK AFTER THE WAY YOU RAN IN FEBRUARY? "I don't think that we ran that good. I don't know, you know, just go out there and do the best you can. I don't really have any, just show up and see what you've got. Whatever you got, whatever you unload with, that is pretty much what you have got for the rest of the week."

ARE YOU A LITTE BIT SURPRISED? "Well, I don't recall really running that well in the 500. I actually ran kind of bad so we have got a little work to do on the plate tracks but I traded it in for the mile and a half's with the good Lord a couple of seasons ago and I guess he took me seriously."

ANY UPDATE ON CREW CHIEFS, CAR NUMBER, OR SPONSOR FOR NEXT YEAR? "No update."