Jimmie Johnson Scores Chevrolet its Fourth Impala SS Victory

1-2-3-4 Finish for Team Chevy in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. - Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS and last year's NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion took his fourth victory of the season and the ninth for Chevy in an uncharacteristic day race at Richmond International Raceway. Rescheduled from Saturday night due to rain, the 400-lap (300 mile) race saw Chevy Impala SS drivers sweep the top-four finishing spots. Seven out of top-ten finishers were Chevy drivers.

"This means the world to me to win here," said Johnson. "We haven't been that strong here. It reminds me a lot of Indy last year where we came back and we were able to beat a track that's tough on us. I think this car has been an opportunity for myself and for the team to kind of learn the right setup; feeling the right the rhythm at this track."

Johnson ran near the front for most of the event, taking the lead for good with 20 laps to go. He finished ahead of teammate Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Impala SS and local favorite Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Impala SS, who finished second and third, respectively. Finishing behind Hamlin was the polesitter and another teammate of Johnson's, Jeff Gordon of the No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, who keeps his points lead in the driver standings (now held through six consecutive events) with his fourth-place finish. Johnson's win moves him up to second place in the standings up from fourth.

This was the fourth race for Chevy's new Impala SS race car. The Impala SS has won all four new-generation race car events this season with Johnson's team Hendrick Motorsports claiming all of them. Chevy drivers also hold nine of the top 12 spots in the series standings. Chevrolet has won nine of 10 races in the '07 series to date and leads in the Manufacturer's Cup chase with 87 points.

The 36-race tour now moves to Darlington Raceway on May 12 for Round 11.

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS - Winner

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO WIN HERE: "This means the world to me to win here. We haven't been that strong here. It reminds me a lot of Indy last year where we came back and we were able to beat a track that's tough on us. I think this car has been an opportunity for myself and for the team to kind of learn the right setup; feeling the right the rhythm at this track. We did well at being here. I was hoping one-two-three for Hendrick Motorsports, it was awesome racing with my teammate Kyle Busch."

ON WEARING THE VIRGINIA TECH HAT: "I feel honored to win this race here in Virginia. Obviously what took place, no one could ever describe. It's just so sad, I don't even know where to start. I didn't go to school there, have a lot of close friends that did, great people that work at Hendrick Motorsports that have and certainly want to dedicate this win to them."

Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Impala SS - Finished Second

"That was a good run for our Kellogg's/CARQUEST Impala SS. You know we struggle in qualifying with these things but we seem to get it when the race turns around so we also want to thank all my sponsors and all the people that are behind us."

DID YOUR CAR FALL OFF ON THAT LAST RESTART OR DID HIS CAR JUST GET BETTER? "Well both. I think mine fell off a little bit and his got better, because we kind of gapped out. Normally we could run together but the restart before I was a little bit better than he was and I got a good start and I got down in one and two and got a good jump on everybody but that last caution came out again. I think he would have caught us anyway. He was a little bit better overall than we were but it's still a good day for Hendrick Motorsports - one, two, four, I believe."

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Impala SS - Finished Third

ON HIS RACE: "We definitely had an up-and-down day but for the most part our car was pretty good. We were coming on there at the end and got caught behind a lot of cars. It seemed like the fist couple of cars could clear and we just had a tough time running on the outside. For the most part I was happy about it. The FedEx Chevrolet was a winning car there at the end but we just didn't have the track position."

DID YOU NEED A SHORT RUN? "No, we definitely needed a long run. It took our car about five laps to come in. It seemed like we'd run about five and the caution would come out. Still a great day for us."

ON THE CAUTIONS NOT BEING GOOD FOR HIM TODAY: "No it definitely wasn't out there at the end but our FedEx Express Chevrolet was really good and I can't think of a better way to kick off the "Wear Your Heart on Your Helmet" campaign for everyone at FedEx this year with the special paint scheme on our helmet. It's a great way to start off that campaign and the perfect way to keep our season going in the right direction and I'm very happy with our run."

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS - Finished Fourth

ON HIS RACE: "We've got to be proud of that. This has been one of our worst tracks. To come out here in the top five just tells you what kind of improvements we've made with the DuPont Chevrolet team. We had great track position and we were able to maintain that. That probably helped us out for the most part. At one time I thought we had the car to beat and then we made some adjustments trying to keep up with the changing conditions of the track and just lost it. I've got to congratulate Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. Those guys drove one heck of a race. We're so proud to have those guys at Hendrick Motorsports. I was trying so hard to get that one-two-three Hendrick finish but just couldn't pull it off. Denny Hamlin drove a great race as well. Congratulations to Jimmie and all those guys. We'll just take our top-five and move on from here."

LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD A PROBLEM KEEPING THE CAR ON THE BOTTOM LATER ON. "Yeah. I want to look at everything afterwards because I had my hands full there at the end. I was having a lot of trouble getting in the corner. I don't know if it was in the brakes or something in the chassis but we're going to go back to work and look at them, make sure that whatever it is we make better for the next time we come back here."

IF YOU COULDN'T WIN IT, WAS YOUR MAIN GOAL A ONE-TWO-THREE FINISH FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS? "Well your goal is always to get the best finish you can and we had the position in third and it would have been nice to get that one-two-three finish for Hendrick but we just had a problem. I don't know what it was, on the re-starts my car just wouldn't take off, I was really loose getting in the corner so I didn't want to back it into the wall or anything and so I really couldn't put up much of a fight with Denny."

ON GOING DOWN SWINGING AIMING FOR THREE STRAIGHT WINS: "Oh yeah, no. We put up a great effort, to have a top five coming out of here at Richmond, that's a huge improvement compared to what we've had the last four races here. I'm so proud of this entire team and Hendrick Motorsports and the kind of runs that we had today. We just didn't have it, we had it one time, I thought 'We're looking good' but something happened there at the end and we'll have to find out what it was."

ON HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS BEING FOUR FOR FOUR AT IMPALA SS RACES: "It's pretty incredible. I was a little surprised today because I didn't think we had the best cars when I saw Harvick and Hamlin up there but don't let these guys work on it, you know at Hendrick Motorsports, don't give them track position because their solid teams and they're going to take advantage of it. I really was surprised that Jimmie was able to get back by Kyle, that was a great effort there. It's very exciting for Hendrick Motorsports to see what kind of things are happening for us especially with the Impala SS and hopefully we can keep it going."

ON IF IT'S DIFFICULT WHEN YOU MIGHT HAVE SECRETS AND HAVING TO KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF: "No, you know what, if there were any secrets it's hard to keep them in this garage area because we take the shocks apart and the teams get to see everything we're doing. But we constantly continue to improve and work and move forward every weekend. We learn something and we try to make it better the next time around and the competition has to do the same thing. We felt like we were getting beat at Bristol. We went to work and felt like we've made some big improvements and seem to have a pretty good handle on it right now. We'll find out in Darlington in as well."

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Reese's Impala SS - Finished Seventh

"Our Reese's Chevrolet was pretty much the class of the field and we screwed it up."

HOW BAD WAS THE CAR AFTER WHAT HAPPENED ON PIT ROAD? "It wasn't bad. That just goes to show you how good this Reese's Chevrolet was. We came back up through there and battled up to I think seventh and it's just unfortunate but that's the way it goes."

ON WHAT HAPPENED ON PIT ROAD AND IF HE JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND IT BEING HARD TO CALL: "I hadn't heard anybody tell me he's coming yet so we got to get our stuff together."

ON HAVING A STRONG CAR: "Yeah, it's a good thing that we crashed because it was going to be a no contest - the Reese's Chevrolet was really good and it's just unfortunate."

Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Impala SS - Finished Eighth

"We really weren't that good at the start, but Zippy (crew chief, Greg Zipadelli) made some big changes to the car and we got it right just before the halfway point. We were able to get into the top-five, but we just couldn't stay there. A little disappointing."

Greg Zipadelli, crew chief No. 20 Home Depot Impala SS

"Again, we had a top-five car and finished eighth with it. It seems like that's our M.O. this year. But at the beginning of the race, we had top-20 car, if we were lucky. We made some major changes and gave up a lot of track position and we got some long, green flag runs when we needed it to get our track position back. But when it came down to it, we didn't do that well in the pits, and that kind of got us behind when we needed it. Then we got in a wreck. Just one of them days. We're a little frustrated. It seems like our whole season has been that way."

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Impala SS - Finished 13th

ON THE NEW CAR: "We were running eight degrees of camber in the right front. That's ridiculous. It looks ridiculous and it's even more so to be doing it. But that's the only way you really get the things to work. That's my opinion and my position and hopefully they work on it."

ON DARLINGTON AND TESTING AT CHARLOTTE: "We have this test, then Darlington and the Dover test. A test in two days anywhere is tough on a team. Hopefully we can get through it and have some success and learn some stuff. Then you go to Darlington. A weekend at Darlington is tough on any team. I'm talking about the mental capacity of the team and everybody. camaraderie and what not. Then we're going to test two days at Dover which everybody avoids. You know what I mean? Nobody tests at Dover even when they can. Frustrating but hopefully after that it will be home free and a couple days off."

Mark Martin, No. 01 U.S. Army Impala SS - Finished 17th

"We just weren't really able to get a grip on it today. We had a really hard time with the car's handling, especially how it rolled through the center. But we soldiered on. Ryan (Pemberton, crew chief) and this U.S. Army team refused to give up. They kept on battling and we were able to fight our way back onto the lead lap and to a respectable finish. I'm so proud of these guys today. We still have our work cut out for us, but we are just going to keep working with the Car of Tomorrow program."

Tony Raines, No. 96 DLP HDTV / Shrek The Third Chevrolet Impala SS - Finished 22nd

"The car was pretty decent there, early on. We just got loose on that long middle run and it hurt us. We couldn't ever really get it fixed and we lost track position. I thought it was pretty good. I think it was a top-10 car, but what are you going to do? At one point, we got outside of a lapped car and Jimmie (Johnson) checked up real hard and I checked up real hard and it felt like I messed something up in the brakes because after that it never was really the same. I don't know. There are positive signs, though. We ran strong and led a lap and there are things to build on. We just kind of fell off there at some point. But, we can fix that."

Ward Burton, No. 4 State Water Heaters Impala SS - Finished 35th

ON HIS WRECK: "The No. 22 came out with a lot of smoke from the left-front and went high. I didn't know what his problem was. Went in between; I was going to back off but I knew it was three wide. I think the No. 14 hit me. He'd been getting a little bit impatient there the last few laps. I'm not positive but I'm pretty darn sure that's what happened. Virginia Tech, it was really nice having them on the hood. I really appreciate ITT joining us this weekend; State Water Heaters. We weren't the best out there. We were having a decent day but that's going to come around, I can promise you that. That will be repaid."

Jeff Burton, No. 31 LENOX Industrial Tools Impala SS - Finished 43rd

ON WHAT HAPPENED: "I broke the engine. I don't know why I broke the engine. We were only turning like 3800 rpms here with this car. It just ate itself up."

ON THE SOURCE OF HIS FRUSTRATION: "That's a pretty stupid question. You have a good car and I'm sitting here going to finish dead last, that's pretty obvious."

DENNY HAMLIN POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Impala SS, Finishes Third At Richmond

ON YOUR RACE: "We had a really good run. We stayed in the top seven pretty much all day long. When that green-flag run happened we had to make that green-flag pit stop and our car just never was right after that. We spent what seemed like the rest of the day trying to make up for it. just not enough there at the end."

HOW DO YOU LIKE RACING HERE NEAR WHERE YOU GREW UP? "I can't drive any harder than I drive ever single weekend but it seemed like I always crack a little bit more when it comes here to Richmond. We've run really well here in the past. It feels good to be competitive here, leading laps and I definitely noticed when I see my apparel out there more at this racetrack than any other. A lot of people support. Virginia is a very, very tight state and it seems like everyone is kind of rallying around me, trying to get me a win but we just come up a little bit short each time."

WHAT WAS IT LIKE OUT THERE WITH THE CRASHES? "All that stuff happened behind me. I really didn't see anything in front of me - we stayed up front most of the day. I tell you, it was so track-position sensitive that I could see why guys were being as impatient as what they were because if you were out front you could hold them. No matter how good our bad your car was, if you were 15th then your car was terrible. We saw the No. 2 and the No. 29, it took them all race to try to get back to the front. I experienced that same thing in Phoenix. I can see why the accidents happen because when you get back in the back, it's just very frustrating as a driver to know you have a good car, you've just got a guy in front of you who's slower that you can't get around."

IS IT FRUSTRATING TO SEE THE HENDRICK DRIVERS WIN ALL THE NEW-CAR FORMAT RACES? "It's tough. I'm looking in my front windshield and I see all the Hendrick cars and me. And then there's some sprinkled behind me. I'm happy that I'm the only other guy that's really being competitive week in and week out with them but at the same token I think we're as good as them. Myself, Tony (Stewart), J.J. (Yeley). Our team is as good as Hendrick, it's just they seem to be in the right place at the right time. Today we got beat. We didn't lose the race on our own. We got beat because we got too far back mid-point or three-quarters of the way through the race; it just took too long to get back to the front three. We were turning lap times at the end as good as the No. 48 and No. 5. Better then them. But we can't get so far back mid race."

DO YOU THINK IT'S DISCOURAGING FOR THE FANS TO SEE HENDRICK DOMINATION? "You can argue that Hendrick has all the best drivers. It's tough to beat when you've got four very, very good teams. When you've got four like they have and they're all competitive, all up front every single week. The information they exchange is going to be better than if you've got three cars and one runs front, one runs middle, one runs back. You cant really exchange information. With all their cars, they can fine-tune them a little bit more so we need to work on basically getting our team cars closer together each week."

DO YOU SEE ANYTHING THE HENDRICK GUYS ARE DOING THAT MAY BE GIVING THEM AN ADVANTAGE? "Nowhere, really. We're as good as they are, we're better at times and we're worse at times. They've got all the wins because they haven't made any mistakes. I've made mistakes, my pit crew has made mistakes. Tony's guys have been in contention to win races. It's just they put themselves in a position to win at the end of the races where nine times out of ten I'm having to battle back from something. This race I didn't have to but I got too far back on that long green-flag run and just took too long to get back to the front. The cautions didn't help us at all. So when you've got three Hendrick cars that are very, very good up front and you keep having caution after caution, one of them is going to win. You may be put myself or somebody else second or third, yeah, maybe we've got a shot at it. But they put themselves in a position to win and that's how they do it."

IS IT FRUSTRATING TO ALWAYS BEING SO CLOSE TO WINNING HERE? "It's frustrating but I'm leaving here very happy with our run. Nothing bad happened on pit road, thank goodness. It was just a smooth race for us. We got beat on the race track today. We didn't beat ourselves and that's fine. We can work on our race cars and things like that but it's hard to swallow when you've got the best car and you don't win. Today, we didn't have the best car. We did at times but not at the right times."

HOW DIFFERENT DOES THIS TRACK RUN DURING THE DAY? "I mentioned to my crew at one point in the race that thinking about the characteristics of what our car did in the test from day to night, that I though ' if we were in this race last night, we were going to be really, really good'. We had a nice sunny day when we qualified and we looked at the weather; it didn't look too bad on Saturday so we set up for night. For us it's a total different setup. We spent most of the day taking rubbers out, rubbers in. A lot of track bar and wedge adjustments. I'm happy that we have that adjustable of a race car but I knew that if we raced last night our car was going to be really good, beating the characteristics that we had today during the race."

KYLE BUSCH POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Impala SS, Finishes Second At Richmond

ON THE RACE: "It was a good car, a good run for us. Our Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet was decent there most of the day. We came through the field and got up towards the front. Once we got up near the front, we were just kind of picked them off one at a time and steadily made our way towards the front until you get up and run with the leaders. It was kind of a quiet day, thankfully and we were able to come out here with a second place and just run as well as we needed to. Hopefully we gained some ground on the points."

A LOT OF DRIVERS SEEM TO HAVE TROUBLE IN THE CORNERS. WAS IT HARD TO TURN? "I think it's the new car and the way it just doesn't want to turn through the corners very well. With our old cars we could get them to steer a little bit with the back and you could use the throttle a lot more. With these cars you're just waiting on the front tires to finally grip before you can go. You're turning the wheel to the left and it's just not gripping. It's just kind of sliding that tire and everything kind of slides and builds heat. That could have been a product of it. It could have had a little bit too much camber here. I'm surprised we really haven't seen more tire failures then we have. At Martinsville there was a few because of brake heat and tire. they were starting to pop beads. Here it's another place where you're really hard on the right front brake so that's probably a reason. It's just getting too much brake heat in it and popping the bead. When the things don't turn you've got to use the brakes. We're maxed out on our cooling. We left ours all the way open because we knew that if we had any tape on it we would just burn the brakes up. There's some areas of improvement we could make on these things, definitely."

YOU HAVE FIVE TOP-FIVES IN FIVE CUP RACES HERE. WHAT GIVES YOU SUCCESS HERE? "I think it's just this track, for some reason. It took the new car to get Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson back on track here. We were pretty decent here for the past three years or however long I've been running here. Jeff and Jimmie tend to have a better feel for the new car then I do but I kind of came into a rhythm there in the beginning and towards the middle of the race that I knew what I needed to do. Still, towards the end I was screwing myself up by driving in too far. These things really like to be babied into the corner and stopped and turned and drove off. I made a comment on the radio that's kind of funny - the driver's going to go broke racing these things because they're dropping corners every corner trying to get the thing to stop and turn."

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS IS DOMINANT AND MAKING IT LOOK EASY - IS IT REALLY THAT EASY? "It's not easy, that's for sure. I think Denny (Hamlin) alluded to it pretty well. We've got great race teams and I'd say that it's four of probably the best 10 or 12 drivers out there. It's hard to beat the best drivers and the best equipment with the best teams. You just have everything all pieced together correctly. Today Jeff and Jimmie started up there at the front and we had to battle all through the field so it was a tougher day for us, I believe. At times we had a pretty good car. At times Denny said he had a pretty good car. The No. 2, he came roaring through the field and blew by all of us so Kurt (Busch) looked really, really good there for a while. I'm not sure what happened to those guys. We just steadily ran our own race today and were able to finish second. If it was easy to win I'd be in the winner's circle every time, talking about how great it was I'd won the race. But I'm talking about second."

ON THE LAST RESTART DID YOU THINK YOU HAD A CHANCE AT HOLDING JOHNSON OFF? "I knew he was coming; I knew he was a little bit stronger than I was. I wasn't quite sure how long it would take for him to get by me but I figured he would. He just had a little bit better car there than I did at the end of the race. I was a little bit too tight through the center of the corner. We were trying to work on the drive-off - the drive-off was better but it was just killing me through the center. We were battling back and forth with that for the past two runs. Still too tight through the center and too loose off the corner but Jimmie was a little bit better than I was. I tried doing what I could. The second-to-last restart I got a really good jump and I felt like my car was the best right there. I was actually surprised at how fast it went and how big of a gap I got on Jimmie back there but that caution came out and slowed us all back down. It caught everybody up and I just overdrove turn one a little bit too much. I wasn't able to get the car turned quite quick enough and Jimmie was able to turn underneath me and battle his way by."

DID YOU LEARN A LOT FROM THE TEST HERE? "I was 34th in practice so we were the same all weekend. I qualified 34th. Nothing we seemed to do helped it get a quick lap. I don't know what it takes to get a quick lap out of these things. Those guys can go out there and swipe a lap time for some reason where I can't. When the race turns around and we get a long run going, we seem to pass everybody. I don't know what the deal is with that. It's probably me, not necessarily the car. I've still got some work and some learning to do on it. Maybe I've got to talk to (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) about going to test some more and get a better feel for these things."

DID YOU SEE ANY PROBLEMS AS A RESULT OF THE RAIN DELAY FROM LAST NIGHT? "No. I didn't really notice any big problems out there. I'm not sure. there's a problem with the No. 25 car there, he got spun out or something. I don't know what transpired there. Our car seemed to run pretty well all day long. The brakes stayed with us; the carburetion was good. Nothing I could tell you."

DID YOU GO THE LAST 140 LAPS ON THE SAME SET OF TIRES? "It was at least 100. I'm not sure about any more than that."

WERE THERE CONCERNS WITH THE TIRES? "There was so many cautions, so no. We got caution after caution there. I think we ran, in the last 100 laps, we probably ran 30 caution laps. Everybody was kind of skeptical about making it on fuel and on that last stop we were like 'okay, here - we can't go the rest of the way so just do what you've got to do'. All of a sudden we've got all our cautions and we're staying out with 40 to go. I'm like 'we're not coming in anymore?' They're like 'no, you're done. We can make it now.' Okay. There were just too many cautions."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S IMPALA SS, POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

Winners' Press Conference with Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS and Crew Chief Chad Knaus

ON HIS DOMINANT PERFORMANCE THIS SEASON:
JOHNSON: "We were just strong all day long. I think that we certainly had a good car and it was helpful for me to be around the 29, 11, 24, some of those guys that really know how to get around this race track. The early parts of the race I was able to follow them and just find a little bit in each corner and try to help the handling of my car and having the rhythm of the track, that's something that I've been searching for here. I think once we got to the end I knew where I needed to be. We had good adjustments that fit with how I was driving the line and the car on the track and it really came together for us."

ON PIT STRATEGY AND THOUGHTS ON THE RACE:
KNAUS: "Going from the impound pound procedure to a night race is stressful enough but when we had to come back in today and the sun was shining, the stress was high. Jimmie and I spoke about it yesterday even before they called the race. I said 'Buddy, if we have to race this tomorrow what do you think?' And we started talking about what we were going to do for race adjustments at that point and came in with a game plan of what we thought was going to help the car and fortunately enough it did and it was good. I was really nervous at the end of the race, there was a caution with about 60 laps to go and last year the 29 car pretty much had the race in the bag and they opted to stay out and everybody else on the race track pitted so I had visions of that going through my head at that point but we were fortunate enough that everybody stayed out when we stayed out and Jimmie drove a great race and we were able to bring it."

ON SOME TEAMS SAYING IT'S DIFFICULT TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS ON THE NEW GENERATION RACE CAR YET THEY'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO IT SO WELL:
KNAUS: "I think if you really watch, the reason people are doing real small adjustments at this point during the races with these cars is because we don't know the cars that well. So you don't want it to step out somewhere to where you can't return if you make an adjustment so we've been actually focusing on making very small changes until we get comfortable with the car. With the other car, a minor adjustment can make a big difference as well but we're more comfortable with that car so we're more apt to go out there and maybe do a Panhard bar and a wedge adjustment at the same time to where with this car, you just don't know enough about it yet. I think that's everybody's approach at this point."

ARE YOU SURPRISED AT HOW SUCCESSFUL HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS BEEN WITH THE IMPALA SS?
JOHNSON: "In some ways I am surprised that we've been able to win as many races as we have. We've had a lot of great competition from other teams but we put a lot into the current car, our restrictor plate programs and also into the Car of Tomorrow. So I am surprised to see at the end of the day Hendrick is still at the front and we're taking trophies but we've had a lot of competition. I think today the 29, 11, 24, there's different points in the race the 2, those guys were really, really strong but they had some issue. I know the 2 pitted early, the 29 had a problem on pit road, there's things that have been eliminating people from fighting for the win. That's one thing that I've been real proud of my team - our pit stops just get stronger throughout the day, Chad's amazing with strategy and not getting us into a hole, we keep making the car better. All the things are building for that finish and we've done a great with that and I think that's why as a whole Hendrick has been getting to victory lane so much. We've been able to close on top of having great cars but there's been other great cars out there than just the four Hendrick cars."

ON DENNY HAMLIN RACING STRONG HERE AND HOW THAT MIGHT CHALLENGE HIM:
JOHNSON: "I can imagine how excited he is to come and race on his home track but Denny regardless of where we are at, he does a great job behind the wheel and he races really smart. That's probably one of the biggest things that I think as a driver and throughout all the drivers, you know the certain situations and he does play the give and take game really well but when it's time at the end of the race to get a job done he's smart, fast, aggressive, really has a good balance on how to race through the course of an event."

ON WHY HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS WON SEVEN OF EIGHT RACES:
JOHNSON: "We're not exactly sure ourselves, I guess is one thing to say. We put a lot of hard work into everything and we're happy to see it working as it is right now. You think back to Roush and what they did a year or so ago and then times change and it's tough to stay on top. I think one, we're motivated because we're afraid times will change and think we'll get caught behind but this is what Rick Hendrick had his vision back when he started the first two-car team that was out there. He has had this vision. You may remember comments 'We don't want to unravel this thing. We've worked too hard to put it together to get to this point.' Rick really has been driving that and us working together and us doing all these things. I think that is a large part of it. You just can't wave a magic wand over it and get it working. All 560 employees have to buy into it and drivers and crew chiefs probably lead the brigade. We've had tense moments racing with Jeff and Kyle and Casey but still the drivers and chew chiefs, we're showing the company that hey we need to keep pulling the same direction and this is why and it keeps working."

COULD A RIVALRY DEVELOP WITHIN HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS? DOES ALL THIS WINNING GIVE YOU ENOUGH PADDING FOR A SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGE FOR THE CHASE?
JOHNSON: "That could be the case but it's pretty early. To have four wins in any season is a great accomplishment so I think we're off to a great start and that should I imagine keep us in the top two or three if we make the Chase and as long as the season doesn't fall apart on us and we have a lot of back luck, we should hopefully be in the Chase but we just don't know. There's still a lot of racing between now and then.

"I think that when it comes down to the end of the race there's as much competition between us teammates as there is anyone else we race against. I think we'll have more respect for one another on track and I think back to Martinsville and how hard Jeff was trying to get by me and used the bumper but didn't dump me. So that's the only exception is that we have respect but there's no one I want to beat more especially when we're sitting there one-two-three in the later part of the race. I'm like 'I want to carry the banner home. I'm highly motivated right now to win this race.'"

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE TO DO TO GET BY JEFF GORDON IN THE POINTS?
JOHNSON: "The way this works out this year, when you go into the Chase it doesn't matter who's leading, it's all on victories. So that's one aspect to it. We certainly like to be leading the points right now but we've had two DNFs if I remember right and the 24 has been clean for the most part so I think that's really what it boils down to and the way he's been running I don't think us having two DNFs that we're just going to catch him by outrunning him because it's only by two or three spots each week. We just need to keep focused on the Chase - one, transferring into the Chase and two, being ready for those 10 races when they get there."

EVEN THOUGH THE CARS ARE MORE ALIKE NOW ARE THE TEAMS REALLY MORE DIFFERENT THAN ANYONE COULD HAVE IMAGINED?
KNAUS: "I think if you look at timing and scoring over the last few Impala COT races, it showed that the level of competition right now is very, very close. I told Jimmie today at one point first through 15th we're all running within a tenth of a second of lap time. So where that makes a difference now that you've got to make sure you've got the best team around you possible, that's not just pit crews, that's the guys preparing the cars and the guys calling race strategy and spotting and then obviously our quarterback with the driver. I think that the strength of the team right now since the cars are so close is really going to show huge dividends. The teams with the best drivers, the best pit crews and the best strategists - those are going to be the teams that win the races."

CAN YOU FEEL SYMPATHY FOR THE OTHER TEAMS RIGHT NOW?
JOHNSON: "I'm not sure sympathy is the word I'd use, empathy (maybe)? (laughs) We've worked too hard to get to this point. Our biggest job right now is to stay focused and keep advancing our equipment. We're off to a great start but when you get into the Chase it's its own animal so right now we have to keep our goals in check and that's making the Chase and then racing for a championship. If we keep it simple, we won't over think things and make mistakes."

IS IT UNUSUAL FOR A YOUNG DRIVER LIKE KYLE BUSCH TO EXPERIENCE THE SUCCESS HE IS HAVING SO QUICKLY?
JOHNSON: "I think so. It's taken me six years now to understand this place so I'm certainly amazed that. I think after winning the race today and having the success I did on-track, I understand from Kyle's driving style why he's so good here. There's certain things in his driving style that applies to a track like this. I can see why and he's done a great job with it. There's no doubt he's committed to running fast and trying to win for his team. It's great to have him a part of Hendrick Motorsports. He brings a lot to the team and today we raced with a lot of respect for one another and put on a good show."

ON THE LAST RESTART WITH ABOUT 20 TO GO AND IF HE THOUGHT HE WOULD HAVE A HARDER TIME PASSING KYLE:
JOHNSON: "I felt like I had a stronger car after a few laps and I noticed when Kyle was behind me, he was sideways off each corner and then when he was in front of me he was sideways too and I knew at some point the tires would start to fade. But he was so strong on the restarts, I couldn't hang with him on the first coupe of restarts. I made some mistakes and then the last restart I was with him and was able to challenge him into one. I knew we had a good car after three or four laps. I was just hopeful I could clear him and get in front of him since I knew once we had position I felt I could get a comfortable gap on him and we were able to do that."

ARE THERE ANY TRACKS COMING UP THAT ARE UNKNOWNS FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS?
KNAUS: "I think Darlington is going to throw a bunch of challenges out there for everybody. It's going to be unique. It's a tire that we haven't raced with at that track before. Obviously we have a different race car that what we haven't raced there before. But where we sit very, very proud is that we've got the drivers that know how to go out there and race that kind of race. Jimmie, that's probably one his strongest if not his strongest race track just because it suits his driving style so well. Jeff is a great driver at that race track. The key to that place is going to be to go out there run the entire fuel run and keeping the car out of the wall. I know that sounds very old fashioned but that's kind of the way it is. You've got to keep the car out of the wall and you've got to keep the car underneath you."

ON THE DECISION NOT TO PIT ON LAP 280, ON IF HE WAS SURPRISED SOME TEAMS DID PIT AND ON WHY HE EXPECTED MORE CAUTIONS TO COME:
KNAUS: "If you look over past history and this race there's a lot more cautions - 30 to 35 cautions and I think about 10 cautions per event and we hadn't gotten there yet so they've got to come from somewhere but I was nervous. I really thought that some of those guys would pit at that point in time. That's what happened to the 29 car last spring and they ended up losing the race so I was nervous about that but once we got past that window and went the next 10 laps everybody was committed at that point so nobody running first to 15th were going to pit since they were going to lose those next 10 positions so once we got past that window we were OK."

HOW EXCITED ARE YOU THAT THERE ARE FIVE CAR OF TOMORROW RACES IN THE CHASE?
JOHNSON: "I'm excited now that you mention it. I forgot all about it. I know that the Car of Tomorrow is a big part of our sport now and it's something we need to stay on top of along with the current car. I'm excited that we're going to have a good mix of those races but it's so far from now there's no telling what technology is going to come along, what the cars are going to be wanting, tires, there's a lot of variables that can change between now and then. We're doing the right things now. We just need to try to focus in for the next six, seven months to stay on top of things."

ON PREPARATIONS HE DID SINCE THE CONDITIONS CHANGED:
KNAUS: "Well I started by watching the motorcross race. Then I went to Jimmie and Chandra's bus and Chranda was playing Suduko. Then I went over to Stevie's bus and watched the fight and then I went to bed. That was it."

ON IF THERE COULD BE ANY BACKLASH TO HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS' SUCCESS:
KNAUS: "I don't think there's going to be any action taken. I don't know what anybody could do. But I do know that with what we've got going on now our team is in full stride. This is a very circular sport. You get your time at the top and then you fall to some degree. What you've got to do is make sure when you're taking your time at the top that you don't get too full of your self to when it's your turn to fall just a little bit it doesn't break you apart. That's one thing that we really focus on is that the team is very humble, they work very hard, they don't take things for granted because it's easy to do that obviously coming off the championship and then having these victories. I'm not saying we're prepared for failure but we know that it's right there, there's going to come a day where we're going to be running 10th instead of running in the top five and we've got work hard to maintain that."

JOHNSON: "I think that doubt never really leaves any team's mind. I'm not really sure how it works in baseball or other sports what their mindset is but as Chad says it's cyclical and you enjoy it while you've got it but we know somebody is going to figure something else out. We just hope the valleys aren't that low and that the valley isn't in the final 10."

ON IF THE FANS ENJOY SEEING THEM KEEP WINNING:
JOHNSON: "We're doing our jobs. That's what it's about. It's just part of it. We're doing our jobs and I think we put on good races and we've been racing hard for these victories even amongst our teams. I don't think you've seen like you would in F1 where the red car is winning all the time and there's team orders and things like that. We're really racing for these victories and that's why NASCAR is such a great sport."

KNAUS: " You've got to realize the 24 car just not too long ago was winning 10, 11 races a year and the likelihood of that happening is probably pretty slim so I don't think it's going to be quite like it used to be."